Best of NBA News Part 2: Lakers HIRE NEW assistant GM + Anthony Edwards responds to dap up BACKLASH + Pat Bev calls Myles Turner a SNITCH

19:01Shannon Sharpe:In the military they say when you get captured behind enemy lines is name rank serial number. That's all you give them

19:08Chad Johnson:Yeah, what's your name?

19:10Shannon Sharpe:What's your rank? Give me your serial number Man, he done told them play a look at check this out. They go hit y 'all tomorrow about four o 'clock.

19:17Chad Johnson:Yeah Yeah, whoa

19:21Shannon Sharpe:Make them extract that information pull a couple of teeth shop me

19:26Chad Johnson:you know what I'm saying, water boy

19:28Shannon Sharpe:you just stop me

19:31Chad Johnson:and now these podcasts

19:33Shannon Sharpe:look, the thing is we're live, if you say something on here, even if you say man, hey take that, I can't, we can't take it out because somebody already if you go right now BP, somebody has already taken clips of what you, I, Joe and Ocho said and already got it up on their stuff so we can't take it out Now, there are times that you do stuff that's not live. We could be like, hey, man, can you do a me a favor? When I say such and such, can you take that out? No problem. But when you go live, it ain't no editing. It ain't no take out. It ain't no do over.

20:07Chad Johnson:Yeah, watch what you say type thing. Yes. For real. Hey, and BP, I think the reason why it went viral is because the guys who aren't in you guys' locker room, meaning fans, guys like ourselves, who don't get to see y 'all on a day-to-day basis and the work that y 'all put in. The fact that he spoke about Giannis, it's like everybody look at Giannis as like the hardest worker. You know what I mean? Like he don't take me for a guy who gonna show up late, who gonna half-ass you, who gonna BS you. You know what I mean? Like you got Doc, you got Doc Rivers in this position and you mean to tell me Giannis ain't gonna show up and give him everything he got?

20:44Chad Johnson:So that's why I think it went viral because it was Giannis and how we view him. You know what I'm saying? Yes. We view him as no guy who will be late or pan-fastened in the weight room or things of that sort. So that's why it was shocking to me. I ain't gonna lie. I'm like, damn, hold on. I don't expect that from Giannis. Right. Nah, man. Nah, man. Nah. It wasn't nothing like that. Giannis the hardest working motherfucker I've been around. Shit, for real, for real. Nah, nah, for real, for real. Shit, that motherfucker a little before the game. He a little before the game. Anybody tell you, He be on the ground doing all type of crunches and sit-ups and shit before the game.

21:21I be like, bro, you tripping, boy. Because I sit right next to him. You know what I'm saying? I mean, he's been my locker mate for six years. I sit right next to him and stuff. So, like, he the hardest worker. Sometimes, you know what I'm saying, Doc Rivers, he just a real linear coach. He a player's coach. I fuck with Doc Rivers, like, super on a personal level. Like, I really love that man. He a good dude, got a good heart. But, you know what I'm saying, sometimes in film or whatever it is, clear that part up. Sometimes in film, if you hurt or whatever it is, doc, tell you to go over there and get treatment.

21:51Sometimes in practice, if you hurt and you ain't playing, go over there and get treatment. You know what I'm saying? Or whatever it is. Go get your work in. You know what I'm saying? Go to the weight room. Go get some work in, whatever it is. Like I said, I was totally thrown off. I thought it was AI, man. You can go to my tweet.

22:06Chad Johnson:I thought that was AI. I ain't think that was real. Hey, listen. I'm the same way, fellas. It's like, you give me a good players, coach, and accountability that I'm going to hold myself to, you know, to show up for him, you know, make sure I'm ready to play. I ain't going to be BSing. That's how I was when I played, bro. Like, those are some of the best coaches, but everybody can't play for coaches like that. Yeah. I love that, man.

22:33Shannon Sharpe:Everybody is not mature enough to be responsible enough to handle it like that. Yeah. Because my thing is, don't you mess it up for everybody else because you know how it is one person messing up not we all got to come we all got to do this we all got to do that because what's the thing we're a team nah he effed up make him run but find that no no no don't don't don't do be all and so that was my that was my thing when i played amazon health ai presents painful thoughts why did i search the internet for answers to my cold sore problem. Now I'm stuck down a rabbit hole filled with images of alarmingly graphic sores in various stages of ooze.

23:19I can clear my search history, but I can never unsee that.

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26:25Shannon Sharpe:Ant-Man has also responded to the backlash of him dabbing up Spurs players with eight minutes left. Let's take a listen to what that man had to say about this. It was trying to make, you know, a big deal of you daffing him up at the eight-minute mark. Tell us why you did that. I mean, there was no reason why. Like, everybody just – I feel like everybody just got their own opinion. Like, he has eight minutes in the game, but we not going back in the game. When you win a playoff series, everybody's celebrating at the end of the game. Like, so they going to be smiling while we – while I'm pissed off that we just lost.

26:57So, I was just like, let me go and congratulate these boys because I ain't trying to be kicking with y 'all after y 'all done whooped my ass. I didn't want to go dab them up at all. Like, then what they would have been saying about me. Like, that would have been a whole other conversation. So, I gave them the respect they deserved, man. Like, I could have waited until the end of the game. That's what, that's other people's perspective. But, yeah, I did what I did.

27:27Chad Johnson:Yeah, it ain't, you know.

27:29Shannon Sharpe:So, it is no easy way when somebody kicking your ass to accept defeat. Ain't no easy way other than to go do it. Now, football is different. Obviously, you know, in basketball, Joe, y 'all right there, because a lot of times, hey, we just gone. I mean, a lot of times guys know each other. But like you said, I don't want to be kicking him, bro, because if I'm smiling, they're going to say, well, I ain't taking it that serious.

27:59Chad Johnson:Yeah. Yeah.

28:00Shannon Sharpe:I did what I did. He already accepted defeat. Bro, we down 30 with eight minutes to go. Ain't no coming back from that. So there's no easy way for Ant-Man to, I guess, they didn't want the situation with Isaiah where he doesn't shake the guy's hand and things of that nature. Hey, that's one of those situations, Uncle Joe. Damn if you do, damn if you don't. Yep. Then, obviously, all the talking heads, all the pundits, all the analysts say, oh, it's a sign of weakness to have your leader, you know, eight minutes before a game, shaking your opponent's hand and just getting it out of the way. But obviously, Ant had his explanation for it, and you know how he feel.

28:40He don't really care. He's going to continue to do it his way and march to the beat of his own drum.

28:48Chad Johnson:Yeah, I think it ain't – I wouldn't say that he don't care. I think he has so much respect for the Spurs and how they competed against them and basically how they whooped their ass, if you just want me to keep it 100. That, you know, after them series, I wouldn't necessarily say it's a key, key thing after they done beat you. Yeah, they happy, they celebrating, they moving on. You know, you just want to, as soon as the buzzer ends, Ant-Man thinking, man, I just want to get my ass up out of here. You know what I mean? So I'm going to take the initiative to just go and dap these boys up now. But, yeah, I know, man, the old school cats, it was never like that, bro.

29:24Chad Johnson:You know, you ain't, matter of fact, damn old school, you ain't never seen nobody go dab nobody up with seven, eight minutes left on no clock. You know what I mean? So I can see the drawback that he's getting from it. I can understand that part. But I can see it from his perspective as well.

29:40Shannon Sharpe:The thing is, if you up like that, you better get your ass out the game. Stay still, be in the game. and y 'all up 30 points and see what happens to you. See what happens. Oh, you still in here, huh? Y 'all ain't winning by enough. Okay. Okay. And it's different. Ocho, you know us. I mean, look, I'm coming to the A. Whoever I know, hey man, good game. Good luck. Stay healthy. Y 'all go win this thing. I'm out.

30:10Chad Johnson:Yeah.

30:12Shannon Sharpe:I'm out.

30:12Chad Johnson:He ain't want to eat.

30:13Shannon Sharpe:I ain't all that. You don't beat me. or you done beat me, even if you my friend. You done beat me.

30:20Chad Johnson:Because it's hard. It's hard in the moment when emotions are high. You know what I mean? Like, damn, bro, we done got our ass kicked on our home floor like this. I ain't really got no worries when this buzzer go off, man. Just let me get in that shower, get my ass up out of here and get home. Yeah.

30:37Shannon Sharpe:That's the best thing for you to do. Because you play by team and you been talking because I'm on the field. Hey, I need to go out there for the nil down. I need to be out there for the deal now. I need to be out there, Ocho. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, where are they talking? Whoa, whoa. Oh, Big Mouth Sharp ain't going to get nothing. Now, man, shut up, man. Hey, I tell you what, whoa, whoa, ain't no number fighting. You had 59 minutes and 50 seconds to fight. Now you want to fight after the game? Yeah. Nah, nah, I'm going to talk now. Now what you got to say? See, I'm going to rub it in. I'm that tight.

31:12Shannon Sharpe:I'm a sore loser. I'll be the first to admit that. but I'm a worse winner. Oh, boy, don't you let me win? Don't you let me win? You been talking crazy? Yeah. Oh, man. Yes, you're going to want to fight me. And I ain't stopping, punk.

31:30Oh, ask him.

31:31Chad Johnson:Yeah.

31:32Shannon Sharpe:I'm telling you, don't let me win.

31:35Chad Johnson:Hey, that's why you got cats. I'm the same way. I mean, as far as the winning part, I ain't like that, but I'm a damn sore loser. That's why I work hard as I don't know what, because I hate losing, bro. Yeah.

31:48Shannon Sharpe:So, if you think about it, if you hate losing, I'm worse at winning. I'm worse at that. Oh, yes. Because I'm going to talk. I'm going to make it hurt.

32:01Chad Johnson:Yeah.

32:02Shannon Sharpe:Because you shouldn't have been running your mouth. You have so much to say at the start of the game. Why you not talking now? You mad? Oh. Oh, that's the boys by the Steelers. We beat them in the championship game in three rivers? Man, shut up. You ain't finna swing nothing. You finna swing your ass off this field. Yeah. Look, we need to celebrate. We need the whole field to celebrate, and we need y 'all out so we can bring our little 5 ,000 fans to celebrate with us. Now, get your ass off this field. Man, please.

32:42Chad Johnson:Man.

32:43Shannon Sharpe:I don't know how, Joe. I'm going to be honest.

32:50Shannon Sharpe:I'm trying to think. Playoff game. What's the worst? Oh, we beat – we got beat – oh, man, Lord, have mercy. My last game I ever played, man, Indy beat us so bad. Yeah. Who's quarterback was? Peyton. Man, Marvin Harrison probably had like 150. Brandon Stokes. Go look at the wild card game. Broncos against the Colts, 2004. It was like. Dallas Clark was there? Huh? Dallas Clark was there? Boy, they beat us so bad. Peyton might have had a perfect quarterback rating. I mean, Joe Ocho. Man, when I say they beat the brakes off us, I don't know if I've ever got beat that bad. That's what I knew. That's what I knew.

33:38Shannon Sharpe:I was like, oh, yeah. Peyton probably had like 380, 350, 380, like four touchdowns. Because I think Brandon Stokely had two. Oh, he had 377. See? Damn. Five touchdowns. Damn. Marvin Harrison, how many?

34:00Seven catches for 133 and two touchdowns.

34:04Shannon Sharpe:Marvin had seven for 133 and two touchdowns. Brandon Stokely might have had more than that. Brandon Stokely had 4444 and two touchdowns oh they cooked

34:20Shannon Sharpe:hey but I'm telling you what I did I knew this was going to be my last game I said you know what I might have never get another chance to shake Peyton's hand dab him up I was out probably had like 3 5 for 31 Man, look here. And I ended up having to get two epidures. Man, my back was so jacked up, Ocho and Joe. Well, your back was messed up from lifting heavy, huh? No, my back was messed up because I was getting old.

34:54Shannon Sharpe:That was my back was messed up. Nah, I slept wrong with something. And it just would not. it spasmed up and it just would not let go I mean I don't know if anybody ever had back spasm but it ran into my sciatica man that sciatica ain't nothing to play with I was driving like this here Ocho getting sideways like that but I didn't pick up something and have to lay on the floor. Man, but I ended up having to have two epidurals for that. Hey, how you got rid of your cicadas? I got epidural. I had two epidurals. I ended up having to go to a doctor and they injected me twice. First time it didn't do because it had gotten so bad and then they come back in there.

35:50Shannon Sharpe:They put you under that machine. Pinpoint it. A big needle? Sciatica. I told you it's sciatica Cicadias are an insect That comes every so often Sometimes you have a 17 year cicada But a sciatic is a nerve That's what I said No you said cicadias

36:16Hey Joe you had Nah

36:19Chad Johnson:Sciatica Nah I ain't had no Joe Nah Yes But I had a homeboy who had it, and it would be times he couldn't even play. Like, you know, he'd walk in like he's just a sharp shooting pain down his leg.

36:36Shannon Sharpe:Yes.

36:36Chad Johnson:Yeah, he said he couldn't even play. Bron had it. Who had it?

36:42Shannon Sharpe:Bron missed all that time.

36:44Chad Johnson:Oh, yeah, yeah. Who?

36:45Shannon Sharpe:Bron missed 15 games to start the season with it.

36:48Chad Johnson:Yeah, that's what Bron had to start the season.

36:51Shannon Sharpe:This season, that's what it was? Yes.

36:53Chad Johnson:Yes.

36:53Shannon Sharpe:Hell no. When he was in Miami, he missed those two, three weeks. Yes. Man, that thing will tell you. Woo.

37:02Shannon Sharpe:Have you walking sideways?

37:07Chad Johnson:Ain't no words for me.

37:08Shannon Sharpe:I wonder what that's from. There got to be a reason. You have an impingement on a nerve. And sometimes you can't control body function. You pee on yourself. You poop on yourself. What? What? Yeah. Absolutely.

37:25Chad Johnson:That must be a severe case.

37:27Shannon Sharpe:Yes. Yes.

37:28Chad Johnson:Damn.

37:30Shannon Sharpe:Mm-hmm.

37:31Chad Johnson:But you know what? What's funny is I have a lot of people who come to my yoga studio who have sciatica. And they come in there to put their heat on there. Heat it up, stretch it out.

37:43Shannon Sharpe:Yeah.

37:44Chad Johnson:That's what you try to do.

37:45Shannon Sharpe:You try to open it up.

37:47Chad Johnson:Yeah.

37:47Shannon Sharpe:And that's why you try to keep your core tight. Yeah. You try to keep that pressure. you know keep because everything your body is like an automobile and it works in unison and when everything is working harmonious everything goes good but if the rear end you get a flat tire and you keep driving around on that flat tire or you put the donut on there you're only supposed to go x amount of miles on that donut but you keep going and now all of a sudden it's going to mess up your front end yeah then all of a sudden your rear end is going to be messed up that's how your body function. If everything is not an ankle or knee or hip, it's going to throw something out.

38:24Shannon Sharpe:And the next thing you know, you effed up.

38:27Chad Johnson:Gotta take maintenance on that body, bro. You start overcompensating. Next thing you know, hell, you're going to hurt something else. Hey, Joe, you ain't sent me the little vitamins you told me to take, right? Oh, you trying to get you some vitamins? I mean, y 'all, I mean, listen, I ain't never had no issues with my body or nothing, but I'm going to test it out. Well, I mean, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. You know, you seem to be doing pretty damn good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm just trying to beat it to the punt just in case something creep up on me, Joe. Hey, how'd it go today? Then you have a...

39:00Chad Johnson:Hey, Joe. Hey, Joe. Hey, boy, your boy had eight today, boy. You had eight? Yeah, I had eight today. I don't know where the hell he found these goddamn hoopers from. Boy, everybody on the goddamn call 6867, boy.

39:14Shannon Sharpe:Hold on. How you talking about you had eight? You called me and told me you had 1893. I said 8, 9, and 3. It sounds like 18. Shit, hey. Hey, Joe. Hey, T.T. Higgins must have played. He must have hooped in high school or something. He can play? Yeah. What? You know, T. by 6 '5". Yeah. They getting money. Man, they getting money, boy. Hey, them dudes, it's dudes that they from overseas. Yeah. Dude flew in from China yesterday, Joe. Young boy flew in from China. Hey, them boys were getting the money. We played against, obviously, here in Knoxville. I'm assuming it's like an AAU team. And some of the players, you know, some going to Tennessee.

39:58Joe, there wasn't nobody on the court. Maybe about three people shorter than goddamn 6-6-6-6-7. About three. And obviously, I'm one of them.

40:08Shannon Sharpe:Eight turnovers, three rebounds, Joe. Who? That's the 80 head.

40:14Chad Johnson:Oh, man. Come on. That's Unk making up numbers, Joe. I mean, hey. Where the footage? I ain't seen no footage.

40:22Shannon Sharpe:We making up numbers now. Yeah, I'm going to tell you. I'm going to tell you. She be that thing. They recall everything. I couldn't let you be the only one making up numbers. I'd make up my own, too. Hey, hey. Don't be hating on my little, eh? Hey, hey, hey.

40:33Chad Johnson:Send the video. Because you hit me earlier. I hit you back, but you ain't answer. Oh, I would hit you when I was in front of everybody so they could tell you, boy. I would get to the money on, boy.

40:44Shannon Sharpe:I don't know. That sounds suspect, Joe. I'm waiting for the footage. I'm waiting for the footage. The last time I was a suspect, that was in 87?

40:57Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, we saw you at the Big 3 All-Star Tournament. We tried that triple zero.

41:03Chad Johnson:Don't bring that up.

41:05Shannon Sharpe:Oh, Joe, you were there, so you saw it.

41:08Chad Johnson:No, you know, I was hurt. Oh, that's right, Joe. My bad. You're right. I watched it, though. Hey, Joe. Hey, Joe, don't worry about that. You know what you got coming, huh? What? Today was a nice warm-up, boy. So now I got a different perspective on dudes that's that tall. Yeah. Hey, Joe, that shit hard, boy, getting around that shit. Guess what? I'm going to give your ass another perspective. Yeah. I'm going to give you another damn perspective. Don't worry about it. Hey, I know I'll be on here talking trash, but it's a different ball game where you got somebody in front of you, 6 '8", 6 '7", and you got to get around that, boy?

41:47Man, listen here. Hey, boy, I had a hit of U-turn a few times. Hold on. How tall you think Joe is? Oh, Joe, I mean, in front of me, Joe, by 6 '1". Okay.

41:59Chad Johnson:Don't worry, don't worry. Don't worry. You're going to refresh your memory, Joe. I'm going to make his ass respect me. Hey, you're going to keep my name out your damn mouth. That's what you're going to do. Hey, everybody, I tell you something. The world going to call me the ISO stopper, boy, when we done, boy. You hear me?

42:14Shannon Sharpe:The ISO stopper. The ISO stopper, boy.

42:16Chad Johnson:Man, please. Nah, but all jokes aside, it put the game just in general. Because you know I don't play basketball. But be it on that court with them damn trees like that. I already know. How in the hell Jalen Brunson and all the dudes that, you know, whether you play above the rim or not. But if you 6 '3 and under, how the hell you play with these dudes? Hey, you know them dudes, them guys 6 '3 and under, Ocho, They know how to use their bodies. You know, when we talk with me, you and Unc talk about football, you know, you a footwork guy. You ain't really trying to let nobody get their hands on you.

42:55Chad Johnson:You ain't trying to let nobody touch you. Oh, no. And in basketball, at your size, you're going to have to be a little physical. You got to take some contact to be able to finish over them big guys. It's just part of it. Yeah, that's me. That's me. That's me. Yeah, I like it. I like it. I had a good time. I had a good time. That was fun, though. Hey, you knew Knoxville was small? Tennessee? Yeah. Small, small little town, boy. I mean, it's a college town. Hey, people nice as hell, boy. People real nice, boy. Real nice. Yeah, it's a college town. Amazon Health AI presents Painful Thoughts.

43:34Shannon Sharpe:Why did I search the internet for answers to my cold sore problem? Now I'm stuck down a rabbit hole filled with images of alarmingly graphic sores in various stages of ooze. I can clear my search history, but I can never unsee that. Don't go down the rabbit hole. Amazon Health AI gets you the right care fast. Health care just got less painful. Go on, get a little out there into the big heart of Nevada, where you can go off-road and off the map, on two lakes or on horseback. Dip into hot springs and dive into deserts. Climb a mountain or make your best effort. See thousands of stars in some of the darkest skies.

44:18Stake out haunted hotels. Can you make it to sunrise? There's always something new to see because we've got plenty of space to just be. Plan your trip at TravelMevada.com. Quick moment for Reef because comfort is kind of their love language. You probably know them for sandals, but the woman's Neptune is proof they're just as good at everyday shoes. This is the one you grab when your day is already moving. Coffee run, airport dash, errands that turn into plans. The crushback heel lets you wear it your way. The lightweight feel keeps things easy. And the soft quilted insole is the reason your feet don't complain.

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46:30Thank you. when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com slash podcast. Paid for by Public Investing. Brokered services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA, and SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, LLC, SEC Registered Advisor. Generated assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com slash disclosures.

46:56Chad Johnson:Yeah, yeah.

46:56Shannon Sharpe:Ant-Man is one funny guy. He spoke on when Wimby got ejected in the Wolves series. Let's take a listen to what Ed had to say, guys.

47:31Can you get some flavor too?

47:37He looked at us. They were made of magic. When were made of? I hope they suspend that. I'm in the email there right there. Hey man, y 'all gotta go review buddy.

47:54Shannon Sharpe:Shout and shout.

47:58Hey, that's exactly what you said. Yeah. Exactly what you said. And if there's any player who will tell it exactly like it is, it's not going to be politically correct, it's that goddamn amp, boy.

48:11Chad Johnson:Yeah. Yep. That's why you got to love him. Got to love him. You got to love his honesty. Because he only reiterated what we all been talking about the whole damn playoffs. Wimby just too damn much. Just by him being out there on defense. Look, and the fact that the Spurs already got guards, that sit down in the chair and really guard. Okay, let's say you do give them your best one-two and you get by them. Hell, look what you running into. That man letting you know. Look, you got to alter all your damn shots that you normally just... See, you got to throw that thing way old damn gold now. That's why, look, when we talk about Nas Reed, I say, damn, Nas, I seen Nas throw a running damn hook.

48:51Chad Johnson:I ain't never seen that man shoot a damn running hook. I ain't never seen that man shoot a damn running hook.

48:58Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. Yeah. He's nine foot tall. He's eight foot tall. No, he's probably about nine and a half feet tall. When he's standing up, up on the rim, and don't let him jump, you can't see it. You can't even see the rim. You have a couple of floaters and stuff like that, but you're not anticipating because think about it. You go from a regular guy playing defense, now all of a sudden his ass back there. Yeah, yeah. The shot I just shot the previous time down the court, I can't shoot that same shot now because you're big ass in here.

49:33Chad Johnson:Right, right.

49:34Shannon Sharpe:And then, Joe, you talking about his defense. Now imagine him giving you 25, 30, 35, 40. With his defense and giving you 40.

49:45Chad Johnson:Man, listen, I was watching the game yesterday because, you know, Wimby handled the ball a lot. So, hell, if he out there on the perimeter handling, The other guys are smalls. They're not going to be in the paint. They had five guys around the perimeter, and Wimby was at the top handling that thing, like going into his bag. Yeah. That's rare. You never see that, bro. It's always at least one guy inside the three. They had five guys outside the three. That's what's making... That's what makes the Spurs so much danger. I mean, hell, we all know. You know, Wimby a cheat code, bro.

50:18Shannon Sharpe:But I think they need to start him down lower, Joe, because he said, I got to make my guys better. How can you make the guys better? You ain't got nobody that can post up but you.

50:28Chad Johnson:Right. Yeah.

50:29Shannon Sharpe:I mean, that's not Castle's game. That's not Harper's game. That's not Bissell. That's not Champagny's game. So in other words, all y 'all got, they only really got one guy that can post. That's Wimby.

50:41Chad Johnson:Yeah.

50:42Shannon Sharpe:I'm not running no damn plays for Luke Cornette.

50:45Chad Johnson:Nah.

50:47Shannon Sharpe:Cornette, Hornette, nothing. No.

50:49Chad Johnson:Yeah. Hey, hey. I think the physicality that Hardenstein is bringing ever since game one, keeping a body on him, being physical with him. You know, Wimby is starting to try to offset by taking him out in the deep waters. You know what I mean? Like, okay, you think you want to play rough inside here? Well, when I bring your ass out here in the deep water and drown you, there I want to see what you do. You know, now he out there playing, tweening, because Hardenstein can't guard that out there, Arke Ocho. Right. Now, the only thing Hardenstein can do is hope that he missed. But if he's making them shots, that's what takes his game to a whole other level.

51:26Chad Johnson:I think the resistance or the physicality that the Thunder are bringing, that Hardenstein is bringing, it's starting to kind of wear on him a little bit. That's why he's been out there on the perimeter so damn much. He's talking about he got to make his guys better. You're right, he's going to have to establish position, you know, in the mid post, low post to where they have to double.

51:47Shannon Sharpe:Right. and so now I can get guys slashing and diving to the basket. Ain't nobody – man, you out past the three-point line, ain't nobody diving to no damn basket. You way out there and getting in the ball. You got to be on the block and have somebody when the double team come. Now you get somebody to dive to the basket. Now you got somebody – okay, you get the ball at the nail, and now you got somebody in the dunker spot.

52:08Chad Johnson:Yeah, yeah.

52:09Shannon Sharpe:But other than that, no, if all five guys at the three-point line, Joe, I ain't really worried about it.

52:15Chad Johnson:No, sir. No, sir.

52:17Shannon Sharpe:You need somebody because what OKC? OKC going to put pressure on that rim. Shea is looking to attack edges. He's looking to get on the edge. And if you don't build a wall, he going, hey, you better grill it. Because, hey, he's slippery.

52:34Chad Johnson:He going to get on the edge.

52:36Shannon Sharpe:Next thing you know, he going to throw his body. Like, come on, man. That wasn't no foul. But damn, it looked like a foul. Hey, look. You can't tell the difference in real time either, Joe. What's that? I mean, the foul baiting. Sometimes in full time and real time, as fast as those players are playing, I think people watching from home, you really don't understand how fast some boys are moving. When you watch from home, they slow it down on TV copy, and you can see the foul clear as day. But when they moving fast as hell, it's different.

53:08Chad Johnson:Yeah, and I think Wimby, yeah, he has to establish, you know, somewhere down in the low, close, or the block area and kind of spray out to these guys so y 'all can get second-chance opportunities. They don't get no second-chance opportunities with him standing his ass out there at the three or playing on the perimeter. You know, because if he the biggest guy, he got the best handle, he, you know, going into his bag, once that shot go up, hell, if he don't make it, they don't get no second-chance points. You know what I mean? We off to the races.

53:38Shannon Sharpe:Because think about it, Joe. Plus, also, when he's so far out, somebody shoot a shot, they put a body on him, he can't get the ball.

53:46Chad Johnson:Yeah, yeah.

53:48Shannon Sharpe:So the further you're away from the basket, the harder it is for the rebound. Yeah. He's going to have to set that post up. He's going to have to set it much closer to the basket, Joe. If I'm okay, Steve. He's going to have to. And guys are going to have to put pressure on the rim. And the number one thing they need to do, they got to stop turning the damn ball over the hook. That's the number one thing. You ain't got no chance. You're not even coming close to beating them. You dodged a bullet in game one. You're like, because Castle had what, 9, 10 turnovers in game one. And you won the game.

54:31Shannon Sharpe:Did you actually think that's a recipe? He had 11 in game one. Joe, do you really think that is a recipe to beat the Thunder? You got so lucky. Wimby walked in and hit a Steph Curry shot like he did. You remember Steph Curry walking in there and he hit that shot

54:50Chad Johnson:and he's going crazy. Ampho go.

54:54Shannon Sharpe:Yes. He hit one of those shots and it took a lot out of him. But if you think you're going to turn the ball over, 18, 20 plus times and be OKC you not because they're going to get some easy buckets on your ass.

55:08Chad Johnson:They thrive. They thrive off them turnovers. Hey, Uncle Joe, another thing too, right? Are you saying when we need to establish down there in the post, you know that double won't come fast. That's what I want. Hey, now the onus is on everybody else. Even with that slashing, maybe they don't get that up easy. You're going to have to be able to hit them shots from outside. too. Yes. You got to be efficient. I think if you OKC, you don't double him right away. I wouldn't double him right away. He had to make a couple on me, Ocho, for me to send a double team. Okay, damn it. If he done made two, three shots, all right.

55:47Chad Johnson:We don't really want him to get him rolling too good on the catch. As soon as he catch it, let's bring the double. But for the initial, they do a great job, but just physically, bro, just keeping him off the block. You know, like when When BP was on here the other day, we talk about doing your work early. As soon as he come across half court, if he come inside this three-point line, it's resistance the whole time. So by the time he catch the ball, hell, we done took some of his damn legs. He ain't got too much energy and effort to give. Just keep it in 100. You know what I mean? And that's, I think, with OKC, that's their game plan.

56:20Chad Johnson:Keep a body on his ass at all times.

56:23Shannon Sharpe:They are. That's why he only had four rebounds. Now, plus, he don't really chase no rebounds. because if you think about it, there have been times he had the rebound right there and the guard come take it right out of his hands. He's like, go ahead and get it. And I'm like, man, look here. If y 'all see me down here, don't y 'all come down here and get the ball. I'm for real.

56:40Chad Johnson:That's how bigs be, though, Unc. Yes. Hey, hey, hey, look, you'll have bigs tell you. They'll tell you during a timeout or a halftime after the game, hey, man, stay your ass down here messing my rebound now. You know, hey, hey, them bigs don't be playing by their rebound. But you're right, Unc. Wimby ain't got that, like, stinginess to him, They're greeting this to him on the defense end where he want to grab every rebound. That will come, though. That will come as long as he keeps – the longer he keeps playing and he starts to understand, you know, he wants to be an MVP. He's always going to be in the conversation.

57:11Chad Johnson:So, yeah, to be able to average 25-plus points, double figures and rebounds, he's going to lead the league in blocks for the next five, seven damn years. So, he'll have a – he'll definitely have an opportunity to being MVP conversation every year. And I think that would definitely be the difference.

57:30Shannon Sharpe:I also think the thing is, Joe, the Spurs second unit is going to have to do a better job of keeping the OKC second unit under contained. They got to do a better job. They can't let J. Will get that. They can't let McCain get that. They can't let Caruso do. They cannot. You can't get – Joe, you're not beating a team if you allow the team's bench to score 76 damn points. You're not beating them. Will they do that again, though? Will the bench be able to come out and have that kind of goddamn efficiency? Man, them boys are balling. The way they play, the way the bench played the other night, Joe and Uncle, they would be starting on other teams.

58:09Shannon Sharpe:But the problem that you have, Ocho, is that they outscored them by 32. They outscored them by 34. So even if they don't play like that, they're still outscoring them by 30-plus. You give up 30 plus, you let the bench consistently outscore your team by 30. You're going to lose. Yeah. You're going to lose because your starters can't play but so much. And when you go to the bench, you find yourself coming back in, you're down 10. You're down 14. Okay? You cut it back. You go back to the bench. You find yourself back down them numbers again. So you're never playing from an advantageous situation.

58:44Shannon Sharpe:You're always playing catch up. Yeah. And once they weathered that storm, I gave you everything I had. And, you know, she over there talking to me, I want some more, Daddy. Oh, no. What you mean, when? When do you expect this to happen? It's Sunday. I'll see you Wednesday. Yeah, I need a nap first. I need a nap. Yeah, a nap. I need a nap and my two or three meals in me. Build back up. I got to recharge this battery. And so when you look at OKC and you look how they come at you in waves, McCain doing what he does, J. Will doing what he does, Caruso has been there, done that. He's tried, true, and tested.

59:30Chad Johnson:So I guess the next step for the Thunder is who they start at the three since A.J. Mitchell going to be out. He out. You got Jalen Williams out. So that's two perimeter guys. You really plug and play.

59:42Shannon Sharpe:Caruso starting. Yeah.

59:44Chad Johnson:Caruso going to start.

59:45Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. Caruso and Lou Dort along with Shea and the two bigs. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, I'm glad you just said Caruso's name. Hey, Joe, give me give me a better explanation. As great as he is, Caruso is defensively. Hell, he do every goddamn thing.

1:00:02Chad Johnson:Yeah. With the disadvantage in height, and they still put Caruso on goddamn Wimby. What's the reason for that? It don't matter. It don't matter how big the dog is. It's how much fight he got in it. Yeah. Caruso got some fight, Ocho.

1:00:19Shannon Sharpe:Yes. And you got to look at, look at, Wimby is not strong in his lower bodies. So he's at a disadvantage. Caruso is wiry strong. If you remember, last year, they put Caruso on Jokic. And he did a great job of keeping him from getting where he wanted to go. Jokic ain't got that kind of feet. He ain't got that kind of movement. So he damn near, he not. Well, listen. I don't want to be disrespectful.

1:00:45Chad Johnson:He can't move like Wimby. Listen, the smaller guys always, to some degree, has an advantage because he has lower leverage.

1:00:53Shannon Sharpe:Right. He down here. Yeah, he does. You trying to push up top and he down here.

1:00:57Chad Johnson:It's hard, bro. And his feet is quicker than Wimby's. You know what I mean? So he can slide his feet, stay in front of him, keep him in front. And Wimby, yeah, he'll take a tough shot and make a tough shot over him. But you're going to live with that, bro. Live with it. Yeah, versus him being out there winding Hardenstein up, driving by Hardenstein. And once he take off on that launch pad, what are we going to do with that? We can't do nothing with that.

1:01:19Shannon Sharpe:Nothing. And as long as Wimby hasn't figured out consistently, And once I get the ball up here, I don't need to bring it down here to Caruso's sweet spot. I got to just, hey, I'm going to keep it up here and turn and shoot over the top of you. Because every time he bring it down, Caruso going to get it.

1:01:35Chad Johnson:Yep, yep. All he got, he still, obviously at 22 years old, man, y 'all know he still got some maturity and polishing. Got so much to learn. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he will be great over the next 10 to 15, 20 years, however long he gets a chance to play. You know, this is a learning curve for him, bro. But I know they want to win in this learning process. But I just feel like with the experience that the Thunder have, understanding what they have to do now, you know, as far as the type of physicality that they have to bring to the game, there will be somebody else who will step up for the Thunder, I think, for them to win this game for.

1:02:13Shannon Sharpe:I think the thing is you got to try. I think if you go back and look, they did a great job for, like, the first half on Shea, and then he got going.

1:02:24Chad Johnson:Yeah, yeah.

1:02:25Shannon Sharpe:And when he got going, now, like, damn, what do we do? If we send a double, guys are knocking down shots. J. Will are knocking down shots. McCain is knocking down shots. Caruso is knocking down shots. Wallace is knocking down shots. So, damn, man. I mean, so what do I do, Joe? If I go one-on-one, I know Shea going to cook me. If I help with Shea, guys are knocking down shots. It's like, okay, we brought the double. It's like the Lakers. Lakers say, you know what? We're going to make Shea give it up. Okay, he gave it up, but AJ Mitchell couldn't miss.

1:03:02Chad Johnson:Right, right.

1:03:02Shannon Sharpe:Caruso couldn't miss. So now, I mean.

1:03:06Chad Johnson:Hey, look. But the Spurs got defenders. It ain't like they've been playing bad defense. I think they've been playing them pretty damn good. I just think when you're a great player, you're going to take and make tough shots. Absolutely. And that's what Shea has been doing. He's been taking a lot of 17, 18, 19-foot jump shots right inside the three. Analytically, they would say them are bad damn shots. But look, those shots are shots that he will be able to get every game, bro. He just has to make them.

1:03:37Shannon Sharpe:But the problem is, Joe, that's a bad shot for most people. That is a sweet spot shot for him. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sitting like, ah, nah, nah, hey, this is where I want him. No, this is where he want to be. Yeah. Yeah.

1:03:51Chad Johnson:Listen, bro, I've been there, man. I'm talking about in the postseason to where it's so much attention on you. If you get inside the damn paint, they're sending the double so damn quick that you can't even turn your head fast enough to get off the ball. So you have to work on these long twos, long threes. And this is why you get guys like Dame Lillard and Steph Curry. they extended their range two, three, four steps beyond the three-point line. So you have to respect them out there. Now if you come out here and guard me, I got all this real estate to come down here and be able to work with. And I think for Shea, his three-point game ain't like that yet.

1:04:29Chad Johnson:He'll make a three, but his two-point game is so immaculate that he's able to get to his spots, pull up, and then he put them in that huckleball, Ocho to where you start to go for these pump fakes. Okay, boom, I got you. Now let me get to the line, give me a couple free throws, get a nice little rhythm. I done made two, three free throws in a row, four free throws. Now this jump shot done opened up. Now y 'all at my mercy. You know what I mean? So now I done done my job. Now if y 'all started to bring the double team, okay, boom. Now you got Chet wide open for three. Now you got the Wallace and the Carusos and J-Dubs.

1:05:01Chad Johnson:You know what I mean? Now the floor is opened up. So I think Shea understands that part.

1:05:07Shannon Sharpe:Joe, God ain't finna give Shea the ability to shoot the three like God dang on Steph and J-Dame. What the hell? Six, seven and be able – The way they can – because you got to understand, they whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop two or three times through the leg and pull up in your face. That ain't really Shea's game. Shea's looking to sidestep.

1:05:26Chad Johnson:Yeah.

1:05:27Shannon Sharpe:And they all – both Dame and Steph can sidestep, but the ability to handle the ball and shoot it like that from out there, man, he'll win like – he'll win eight MVPs in a row. you can't let that man be able to cause just think about it if you gave Dame Lillard with his ability to shoot the ball if you gave him Shea's height yeah if you gave Steph Curry his ability to shoot the ball you gave him Shea's height

1:05:57Chad Johnson:God ain't gonna give you anything hell no I mean

1:06:03Shannon Sharpe:so you won't you won't Shaq with his size and his dominance to be able to shoot 90 % from the three, I mean from the free throw line, and to be able to shoot a three-point shot. Let's just say a 15-foot shot. That's not fair. Shaq now is 50. Easy. I can't give him everything. I got to take something. It's like AI. Just imagine if AI was 6 '8". Can handle the ball like he handled it. Cat quick like he was. And play a ball. God had to make him 6 '6", a buck 65. that ain't fair

1:06:39Chad Johnson:yeah yeah

1:06:41Shannon Sharpe:look he gotta take something yeah but the thing is is that you know I've got to be able to live with something I gotta be able to live with something so if I shut his water off I gotta be living I gotta be able to live with holes popping up elsewhere

1:07:06Chad Johnson:Too good of a team, bro.

1:07:08Shannon Sharpe:I got a league somewhere. But I know Shea is the main. Shea is the main source. I want to neutralize that as much as I possibly can. Because if I don't neutralize that, I ain't got no chance. I don't. I have no chance of beating it.

1:07:21Chad Johnson:I think even though Shea is great, obviously two-time MVP, one-time champ, they're just too good of a damn team. As good as he is, I mean, you look at the guys who – They've been having a different guy pretty much every game outside of him to step up and really help win games since game one. Like, they have a plethora of guys so they can throw at you. And everybody, I mean, from top to bottom, bro, they know they roll. Do y 'all know how many games that went by to where the big J-Dub hadn't played? And you mean to tell me you throw his ass in there like this, game three, hostile environment, and that man give you 18 points with five or six from three?

1:08:02Chad Johnson:Come on, man.

1:08:04Shannon Sharpe:And that's the thing, Joe. He came in off the rip. As soon as he came in, they left him open. He hit a shot. I'm like, well, damn. And I know they're saying, hey, let's see if he can make a couple of those. Well, he make a couple of those, he going to get in the rhythm, and now you got hell on your hands. And then guess what? Jerry McCain come in. He's knocking it down. Wallace knocking it down. I think Caruso started three for three from the three. Caruso has been basically their second best player because he's been their second most because Shea's been the guy but Caruso's been right there because I say Joe ain't no way he gonna keep stay this hot he stayed that hot from the three point line what's Caruso shooting from the three he's probably shooting 60 plus damn percent

1:08:46Chad Johnson:yeah he's been hot he's been hot

1:08:52Shannon Sharpe:that's ghost pepper hot

1:08:53Chad Johnson:yeah Yeah, yeah. I'm looking for Chek Homer to step up, though, in game four. You know, I'm looking for him to be a little more assertive, you know, put his stamp on this series because he's an all-star. He's a hell of a player. And, hell, we acting like Chek ain't 7-1, 7-2, hell.

1:09:10Shannon Sharpe:Well, he damn sure don't want to deal with that 7-5 because they got Caruso, they got everybody else dealing with it, and you first team All-NBA. Oh, Joe, how that look? Hey. You the number, you defensive player, you a defensive player to your candidate. that you are all NBA, I mean, you are NFL defensive player and all of a sudden, nah, I ain't going to deal with Ocho. Hey, you go get, nah, hell nah. You get him.

1:09:32Chad Johnson:Yeah, yeah.

1:09:36Shannon Sharpe:Wow. Caruso shooting better from the three than he is from the two.

1:09:42Chad Johnson:Hey, look, for the Thunder, though, Ocho, you don't want Chet guarding him right off dump. I want Hardenstein guarding him off dump just so he can lean on him, and wear him down a little bit. Then, you know, in the second half, you'll start to see check on him a little more after, you know, you done kind of took some of his legs. I think that's the strategy that OKC is going with. And obviously, hell, since game one, you know, it's been pretty effective if you ask me.

1:10:08Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. But, I mean, Caruso shooting 61 % from the three.

1:10:14Chad Johnson:Hey, man, that's scorching, bro.

1:10:17Shannon Sharpe:And a championship. I mean, think about it. I mean, the guy might have a game or two, but that's the regular season. He's shooting 61 % from the three in the conference finals.

1:10:31Chad Johnson:Listen, they have a bunch of unselfish guys. Yeah. They have a bunch of guys who understand how to get the spots on the floor, meaning get inside that paint. We always talk about guys in basketball. Like, you got guards who always can find a way in maneuver and finagle the defense to where they can always get inside the teeth of the defense. man, you're going to be pretty damn good because if you don't score, you're always going to be able to create opportunities because the defense is always going to collapse and you'll be able to kick out for wide open threes and Caruso and Wallace and those guys, they've been recipients of a lot of them great passes, bro.

1:11:09Chad Johnson:All they got to continue to do is keep making shots here.

1:11:16Shannon Sharpe:The Lakers reportedly have a new assistant general manager who is literally, I mean, he's literally a rocket scientist. As head of the important offseason, as they head into the important offseason, Lakers hired New Orleans Pelicans vice president of strategy and operations Rohan Ramadas to be the assistant GM. Ramadas will be under team president Rob Palenka in his new role. Ahead of the 2024 season, the Pelicans announced they elevated Ramadas to senior director of analytics and innovation after he spent seven years as an analytics consultant for the team. He was also the draft analyst for the Miami Heat during the 2016-17 campaign.

1:11:58Shannon Sharpe:According to the Pelican announcement, spent the past 12 years supporting aerospace corporations, U.S. Space Force, and NASA as a rocket guidance, navigation, control, and missions design engineer. One Pelicans, the source told Dave McMenamin and Shams, he's literally a rocket scientist. And he used AI and coding models to help the New Orleans front office. Helping what? Are they trying to put somebody in space? What does that have to do with winning and playing basketball? Well, hey, maybe they're trying to go up in space. Joe, what is this?

1:12:45Chad Johnson:Man, I have no clue. Joe, that's your fault. How does my fault, Joe? I don't know, Joe. I need somebody to blame, so I'm going to just blame you. We're trying to win games over here. They're bringing in someone. I'm saying, he must have done a good job for New Orleans bringing in players or something. Why did the Lakers hire him? Do you see the players in that party? That's what I'm asking. That's what I'm asking. I'm like, damn, what did he do for me to be like, I'm happy for the Lakers? I don't know.

1:13:16Shannon Sharpe:I guess he's smart. I mean, if they tried to put people in space, that's the guy I would call.

1:13:27Shannon Sharpe:But as a basketball, what did your eyes tell you?

1:13:30Chad Johnson:That's what I'm saying, bro.

1:13:32Shannon Sharpe:What did your eyes tell you? How does he fit what you're trying to do? hey normally when they make changes like this you know they bring in uh assistant gm help and

1:13:46Chad Johnson:all this i mean it's from something so it's gonna hey it's gonna be some furniture moving it's gonna be yeah yeah yeah and they base everything on analytics look here i'm going

1:13:57Shannon Sharpe:to say hey sam preston i'm stealing somebody for you know what i'm stealing somebody from uh uh OKC. I'm stealing somebody from San Antonio because they seem to get it right. Yeah. Hey, at least copy what they do. Copy what they do. What is hell? Hey, Joe, you know, you look at the NFL, right? Every owner should be trying to copy Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie in the way they operate. Everybody. But when they go get coaches, where they go get them coaches from? the Kyle Shanahan tree, the Mike Shanahan tree from Sean McVay. Hey. They get them from Matt LaFleur. They get them from Andy Reid. Why?

1:14:42Shannon Sharpe:Because those guys have success. Hold on. When were the Pelicans last in the playoffs? When were the Pelicans last in the finals?

1:14:49Chad Johnson:That's what I'm saying.

1:14:50Shannon Sharpe:I'm confused.

1:14:52Chad Johnson:That must have been his partner or something, man.

1:14:59Shannon Sharpe:I ain't got no problem. I ain't got no look. Look, I think the thing is sometimes, like, when you run a business, you own a business, and, you know, you get people that you're comfortable with. People lie now, Ocho Joe, the way people lie on their resume now with this damn AI.

1:15:17Chad Johnson:They chat GPT.

1:15:20Shannon Sharpe:Oh, my goodness. Joe Ocho. Well, you know they're going to do a background check. It's hard to lie on a resume. No, it's not because that's your resume. man, how they going to do a background check? You might have graduated, but you ain't do none of the stuff that you said. Yeah. Well, you know, Uncle, you know you got to put it down to reference, huh?

1:15:40Shannon Sharpe:Ocho. Yes, sir? Let me ask you a question. If somebody called and said, man, Ocho, Ocho said he was with clubs, he was with NICAL for 10 years. Man, Ocho was great. Man, you might have been a jerk. Man, Ocho was unbelievable. Always on time. He ain't never late. The one thing Ocho going to do, he going to work hard now. Now, he going to give you everything that he got. He entertaining, see? Yeah. Yeah. See how I did that up? Hey, when I leave, I ain't going to say nothing bad about you. You don't say nothing bad about me. We're going to keep moving.

1:16:10Chad Johnson:Right. Right.

1:16:15Shannon Sharpe:I'm just trying to figure out what does a rocket scientist have to do with basketball?

1:16:21Chad Johnson:Man, listen. When you look over there on them benches, it's more assistant coaches and damn analytical people sitting over there than it's ever been, ever, in the history of the game. It's more coaches damn near them players now. I'm talking about look at the first two rows by the head coach and right behind them. Yes. Bro, it's so many coaches nowadays.

1:16:45Shannon Sharpe:You right, Joe? You right. You absolutely right.

1:16:55Shannon Sharpe:well look i don't know what he has to do but the lakers have done a terrible job of drafting players so hell i guess you try anything think about it the best player they've gotten in the last probably decade is an undrafted free agent yeah the reeves yeah let that sink in for Just for a second, Chad, let that sink in. The best player that they didn't draft him is Austin Reeves. No question.

1:17:32Chad Johnson:No question. Oh, my goodness.

1:17:37Shannon Sharpe:Damn, Lakers. Well, you know what? You got to think positive. Think positive. I'm thinking about where LeBron going.

1:17:48Chad Johnson:He may just end up staying in L.A., bro.

1:17:52Shannon Sharpe:Oh, Lord have mercy. Because I'm going to have to move my Laker jerseys around.

1:17:58Chad Johnson:You know, he ain't going to tell nobody when he's going to bust no move. You're just going to have to see him busting it.

1:18:05Shannon Sharpe:Hey, you're going to find out like everybody's going to find it at the same time. Yeah. That's one thing.

1:18:19Shannon Sharpe:Oh, my goodness. Lakers, what have you done? James Harden was asked after the game on if the Knicks are better than the Cavs. It was 4-0. But I don't think we had a chance as far as our best shot. Genuinely, I do feel like we are a better team. Series-wise, we didn't show it. Wait, he said, wait, they lost 4-0. They got swept, but they still feel like they were the better team series-wise, even though you lost said series.

1:18:53Chad Johnson:He sound like his damn head coach with all that analytical. Oh, man, come on. So the analytics said you were better, but you still got swept. It's bad. So analytics is messing up basketball, damn yeah.

1:19:12Shannon Sharpe:Analytics is messing up sports because it doesn't take into consideration momentum. Momentum. All it does is you punch it in numbers. Well, what about the momentum of the game? What coaches used to coach on gut?

1:19:32Shannon Sharpe:Now, analytics say we should go for it. Analytics say we should punt it.

1:19:37Chad Johnson:Analytics say we should shoot more threes. than two. What?

1:19:49Shannon Sharpe:If they had lost one game, you know what, Joe? Ocho, if the series was that first game, maybe I would probably believe James Harden. I'd say, you know what? They were. Had a little slip-up. Things happened. Right. But when you get beat like this every game, after game one, how can you even fix your mouth to say that you think you can't lose by 37 points? Ain't no way you can lose by 37 points and think you're a better team. Ain't no way you can lose in the manner in which they lost the other day and think you're a better team. There's no way in hell that you think you can get blown out. None of the games were even close, Joe, after game one.

1:20:39Shannon Sharpe:They ended up losing game one by double.

1:20:41Chad Johnson:Game one was so, it was too demoralizing, man. I'm telling you. It knocked them off. Listen, it rattled them, and they never were the same, bro. Like, they hadn't been close to none of the damn games ever since.

1:21:02Shannon Sharpe:Sometimes you just got to be honest, nah.

1:21:05Chad Johnson:We just ain't that damn good.

1:21:08Shannon Sharpe:We, we, hey.

1:21:09Chad Johnson:We ain't got enough.

1:21:10Shannon Sharpe:I like to think we're better, but at the end of the day, you are what your record says. Our record says 0-4 in the Eastern Conference Finals. That's what we are. Yeah. And there is a very, very rare occasion in which a team will win a series and not be the better team. Oh, Joe, how can I be lucky four times? I'm not going to hit no two game-winning shots.

1:21:42Shannon Sharpe:So even if I hit those game-winning shots, what happened to the other two games? I beat you. These games weren't close. I can see if they were, you know, nip and tuck, a game here or there. What 37-point shot you got? If they say, okay, you guys hit five shots in a row from half court, you guys win game four.

1:22:07Shannon Sharpe:James Harden now has played 191 playoffs games without a championship which is two behind Carl Malone for the most in NBA history those two players are tied for the most playoff wins, 98 without a title

1:22:31Shannon Sharpe:Mike Brown is back in the NBA finals for the first time since 2007. The 19-year gap is the longest by a coach in league history. His 11-game playoff win streak is also the longest by a head coach in his first season with a new team. Shout out Mike Brown,

1:22:50Chad Johnson:bro. Yeah, man. Perfect, perfect situation. Yep. He inherited a team that they just came off of them, Eastern Conference. Yeah. Finals lost, and for him to be able to get him back there and get him to the finals, Mike Brown, he going to be stamped in New York too, huh?

1:23:12Shannon Sharpe:Oh, yeah, Lord.

1:23:15Chad Johnson:Absolutely.

1:23:16Shannon Sharpe:And I think the thing is that what he didn't do that Tim did, he rolled them into the ground. He grinded them down to the nubs. They got the guys playing 40 and 42 minutes in the regular season, and then when they get to the postseason, they out of game.

1:23:30Chad Johnson:And I think Mike Brown understood it space and pace, you know, using Cat to be the passer, to initiate the offense, and letting Brunson be more of like an AI guy. You know, I think he got it right with this one. They got a good thing going. What's up? You don't know what? What you saying? What's wrong? What's going on? the Cavs and that performance that they put on. That was bad.

1:24:03Shannon Sharpe:We can't, hey. Now we just, now we. They should have just let the, what you call it, they should have let Detroit. I think Detroit gave them a better series than that.

1:24:13Chad Johnson:The problem, the problem with Detroit, we know defensively they would have been there. It's just they ain't got enough damn firepower neither. The score. To keep up with the Knicks. But I think, I personally think it probably, It would have been a better series just due to the defense that they can, you know, at the level they can defend. And they're not going to quit.

1:24:38Shannon Sharpe:They're not going to quit.

1:24:40Chad Johnson:Nope.

1:24:41Shannon Sharpe:Joe Mazzulla was named 2025-2026 Coach of the Year. Wow. Mazzulla led the Celtics to a 56-26 record in what most people consider an impossible situation, keeping the franchise afloat, considering Jason Tatum spent the majority of the season recovering from an Achilles injury. Joe Mazzula beat out J.B. Bickerstaff from the Pistons and Miss Johnson from the Spurs. Joe, Ocho, did they get it right?

1:25:05Chad Johnson:Yeah, I would say so. Considering that, you know, you got your best player, one of your best players down in Jason Tatum, a guy who obviously you play through. He controls a lot of what you do. And to be able to adjust that and put a lot of that on Jalen Brown's back, man I thought it was great they was plug and play they had a lot of guys play above and beyond themselves throughout this whole entire season obviously just came short of the goals Bocho did get it right absolutely I think they did get it right especially based on the circumstances with Jason Tatum going down the previous season going to the season no one really gave the Boston Shows a good chance they never gave them a chance at all and what Jalen Brown was able to do for them, keeping their head above water, steering that goddamn ship, and being second, coming out to East, you've got to give it to the coach.

1:26:02Even though I think it's more so the players as opposed to it being the coach itself, he still gets rewarded for what the players did on the court.

1:26:10Shannon Sharpe:I agree. I think if you take, I don't know, you could say Castle, So the second best player from San Antonio, you take whoever the second best player is. During the regular season, I guess it was Jalen Durant. I mean, clearly he wasn't the second best player in the postseason. And to get a 56-26 record? Yeah. Nah. Because he's not just – Jason Tatum was a three-time or three - or four-time first-team All-NBA selection.

1:26:43Chad Johnson:Yeah.

1:26:44Shannon Sharpe:He's been on two Olympic teams. He was a Larry Bird Eastern Conference player of the MVP. So he's just not a guy. And you're taking 30 points, six, seven rebounds, five, six assists. You're taking that away. And somehow you still managed to go 56 and 26. Yeah. I definitely think they got it right. And that's not to take away from those other guys, because I think J.B. Bickerstaff getting that team to the number one seed is a huge accomplishment. I think Mitch Johnson getting the Spurs to 62 wins, I think that's a huge accomplishment. But for the most part, they had all their pieces.

1:27:28Chad Johnson:Yeah.

1:27:29Shannon Sharpe:And for you to lose that piece, and considering what they let go, because remember, Joe, this was both, hey, hey, Przingis gone, Al Horford gone. Holiday. All these guys are gone. Holiday gone. Yeah. and somehow you still able to do this, yeah, they definitely got it right.

1:27:46Chad Johnson:Yeah.

1:27:46Shannon Sharpe:I don't know how close it was, but it probably shouldn't have been that close.

1:27:50Chad Johnson:Yeah. And look, JB, Jalen Brown was great all season, but those other guys around him, they played great throughout the season, bro. They had different guys step up in different times, and I thought it helped keep them at the top of the East. It did. Joe Mazzula, 2025 coach of the year.

1:28:14Shannon Sharpe:Well, well deserved.

1:28:40telling us what we can't do. Who cares what they think? We don't need their permission or forgiveness. We just get things done. So go ahead and doubt me. Judge me. Challenge me. But when the time comes, watch me. Bobcat. This is Sophia Donner from OK Storytime. This summer, find your next obsession on Prime Video. And listen, we're not saying you need another obsession, but there could be a lot worse ones. Steamy romance, addictive love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice, so why not watch them a third time? Off Campus, Elle, The Love Hypothesis, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen, and it makes you wish you were actually in that movie.

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