#sportsreportsasordered - MARKET YOURSELF, PAL!

[00:00:07] Yes, you are now listening to the sounds of Sports Reports As Ordered. And those sounds are brought to you by the one and only, world famous, the world renowned. He was born in Texas, raised in P.A., representing Newt, Drews and everything about it. To the point that he said, Jersey had their own tea party at Princeton University.

[00:00:34] He broke into the damn storage room and threw all the tea out. But it didn't make the news because New Jersey was too small market. He is. Mr. Logical. Don't bring feelings to a backbite. Don't do it, yeah. New Jersey Tea Party isn't at the same. Yeah, just doesn't bring the same. And then of course you got me. Down in the Alamo, your unorthodox statistician going left so much you thought I was Southpaw.

[00:01:03] I do believe in Joe Hendry. I'm still picking OKC. I am. 2-5. So do us a favor out there, y'all. Like, review, subscribe, share, rate, do all the free things. Do all the good things with a little bit of liquid death in your hand. And so outside of the finals tonight, we're going to talk about small market themes. We're going to talk about NBA expense. But let's take it right from the top.

[00:01:32] So Mr. Logical. Yeah. I was watching this game last night. You know what I'm saying? I was at the words back ice house with Radical Jack. And we were sitting around and I said, yo, you know what the best two words in sports are? Game seven. But I don't want a game seven. I said, OKC is going to come out here. They're going to put their foot on Indiana's throat. And then after about the first quarter, I was the one choking.

[00:02:04] I turned the game on because I was out and I finally got to a couch and I turned the game on and the stat was on the screen. Indiana has started like 0 for 8. And then they were like 8 for the next 10, including like three or four threes or something like that. So that's when I turned the game on. And. It looked different.

[00:02:29] And and I would have like if I ever get a chance to like talk to an NBA player who play like big time playoff basketball, just any kind of environment, especially with this current environment where. The teams are putting people in the same color T-shirts that's you know, we're looking at 18,000 to 20,000 blue T-shirts gold T-shirts. If you're Miami to white T-shirts.

[00:02:55] And I want to know, like, does that do you see that when your shots not going in? Do you start to see that more? Because Chet Holmgren had an easy live from Hartenstein. In his hands, like when he went up, his hands were like this. Like, why are your hands ever this close? Yeah. Like he went up and I was like, oh, shit, it's Mark Andrews.

[00:03:24] So it's like, are the colors from the shirts and like the moment all like kind of like just closing in on you because the fans sit very close at NBA games is very weird. Well, they're like games up to and they're right on like they're literally right on top of the bench right next to the bench like NFL games. I sat in the second row at a Jets Falcons game.

[00:03:48] I would have to yell to get a player's attention because they were just like huddled up, you know, 25 yards away from me. Right. NBA games are like literally spilling your beverages on the 12th dude on the bench is, you know, sneakers. So just watching the game, I had to get up this morning to take my son to Naval Academy for a football camp. And I had to leave here like five, five thirty.

[00:04:14] So luckily it was a blowout because if it was like an intense game, I would have to like sit on a couch and like watch it. The game would have ended around midnight. If it was an intense game, then I got to drive home, get some sleep, wake up, wake him up, get down in Maryland. So luckily the game was pretty bad and I could leave at like 10 something to kind of like get home and get settled in from where I was at. But yeah, it was it was a good game. And I was I was telling my son because we were talking about it on the way back.

[00:04:45] I was like there was one play where Siakam got the rebound. I was like, I'm going to be a good game. I was like, I don't think he even thinks to make that pass in OKC. But something about the role players being at home, being comfortable.

[00:05:12] Like when I saw that play, I was like, OK, this is right because you can blow a 20 point lead in the NBA. A seven or run is quick. It's a layup. You miss a shot, a foul, miss another, you know, two free throws in the three. And now your 20 point leads 13 and your team is calling a timeout. But when I saw plays like that happening, I saw TJ McConnell doing the same thing he's been doing, like getting his hand to passing lanes and the ball bouncing straight up on the sideline.

[00:05:40] Halliburton on that Siakam dunk. He got knocked down on the other end. And I was like, oh, that calf. You know, sometimes the guys like they have those injuries and they're all good if they're on their feet. But as soon as you knock them down, they got to keep their balance like Embiid and beans was good in that New York series on his feet. But as soon as he hit the deck, it was like trying to pick a tree up to get them back up to get back up court. And I was like, you know, the Halliburton hurt himself more by falling.

[00:06:07] He gets up, gets back in the passing lane, gets a deflection, gets the ball, no look past dunk. I was like, OK, this is this is nuts. And then I think Richard Jefferson was saying like, hey, Mark Dagenau, like when do you pull your starters? Like you were down, they were down like 20. I think they were down 28 after that Shepard layup, maybe it was something like that. So for me, a couple of statements, a couple of questions.

[00:06:34] You kind of read my mind on where I was going to go, because if, say, last night, you know, game six, say Indiana wins that series for two. T.J. McConnell's my final MVP. You know, like he literally won game three for them. You know, he he did the thing last night. Now, granted, last night was more of a blowout. So it's hard to actually pinpoint one person because they all contributed.

[00:06:59] But the real key to last night was Pascal Siakam, but on defense, because he was the one that was cutting off Jada from getting to the basket at will like he was in game five. You know, but then when you and then when you look at that, I was talking about, hey, how come Mark Dagenau didn't have SGA and J-Dub screening off of each other? You know, they kind of went stagnant again last night.

[00:07:25] You know, then you got when I was at the words back ice house, you know, I ran into this guy that was cheering for Indiana. And he said, hey, he didn't even know I had a podcast. He was just talking to me like, hey, what's the key tonight? And I said, yo, OB Toppin. And you know what I mean? And that's the thing is that you need a guy like OB Toppin in today's NBA because he's a he's a lesser version of cat. But he has the athleticism that cat doesn't have that. He can threaten you.

[00:07:54] He can threaten you in a fast break. Right. So then you have to get back to stop him if he's running the lane in a fast cat's not going to remember. Right. So something else that you said you talked about the role players. So let's look into that a little bit. OKC in this series, three games at home, three games on the road. The three games at OKC, they've hit thirty nine three pointers. At Indiana, twenty one.

[00:08:24] You know, so that shows you your home court advantage right there and how it affects the role players. But I'm happy for game seven because this is the 20th game seven in NBA finals history. The home team, 15 and four. And of course, you know, the last one was that three one. That was the last seven game seven.

[00:08:46] You know, so, you know, as I look at this, this is only the fourth game seven we've had in the NBA finals in the last 30 years. So this is a moment. This is, as I like to say, this is an inflection point because OKC has been the best team all season. Sixty eight games they won on the season. Every game they've lost in the playoff, they've read they rebounded with a victory in the next game. So we are at the point now where I don't want to do the ring culture thing.

[00:09:17] But your season is on the line now, obviously. And I don't mean that from the standpoint of win or go home. I mean that because this one game to a lot of people out there is going to invalidate everything that you did this season. So on Sunday night. You need those fans. The charge up. You know, you need your MVP to be the MVP.

[00:09:45] And now this is my last question before I hand it back to you, though. All right. So one of the biggest things that people talk about in NBA history is the Willis Reed moment. The thing that's different about this is that was game seven. So can Halliburton do it again? Yeah, but a lot of people don't know that Willis Reed moment.

[00:10:08] I think he played like six minutes at like two points and like left the court like the moment was coming out of the tunnel. I think he had like two points that game or something like that. We've been hearing like one of the old head pundits talk about like, yeah, he had like two points that game. But the moment was enough to like galvanize people. I never thought that Halliburton wasn't going to play game six, mainly because it was like he played.

[00:10:37] All be it not like very effective in game five. TJ McConnell got off and they had him on the floor at the same time. And I think he was running a bit like a decoy. But I was like he was moving well. And I was thinking maybe they were thinking like, OK, this is more like a KD situation. And I was like, well, he had been out that long. KD was off like a month. So but yeah, he came back. He did his thing. And when that high R23 drops, it's just is this easy money? Mm hmm.

[00:11:06] And then you had OKC in the first half, you know, and you know, I know a lot of people don't always like to look at the stats, but obviously the stats tell a lot of a story, not the whole story. They're not the be all end all. They're just in addition to. So here's here's another stat, you know, before we before we wrap this one up, you know, at the end of the first half last night. Oklahoma City had three assists. That's not the stat.

[00:11:36] They had three assists and 12 turnovers, you know. Yeah. And I think they're everybody else besides J. Will and SGA have 11 or 12 points, something. There's something there's something that like you say, you mentioned T.J. McConnell's a finals MVP. I would give him honorary vote. Like if I if I like I think it's nine voters. I think that there's a 10th voter. It should be like, OK, this is the he's been the glue guy.

[00:12:05] The M.I. I think he's an M.I.P. Most important, impactful, insightful. Like I think he had that role. But it's something about they was they were talking about last night to say, well, when the defense comes down, he has the ball. The everyone's setting up because they run the offense through him. Right. And I've watched him for six games. Take whatever guy was guarding him one on one coming up the court.

[00:12:34] So he gets across half court 18, 19, 18 seconds on the shot clock. He takes a couple more dribbles. Everyone sets up and he just goes right at his guy. He takes him like at an angle, gets him into the paint and then either gets under him or hit someone like a quick turnaround. He's done it. He's done it. What's the boy named? Kaysen Wallace Wallace. He's done it to Wallace. He's done it to Wiggins when they put 34 in the game and they had him on Siakam. They did the pick a roll. He's done it to Hartenstein.

[00:13:04] But the way he's done it is like Hartenstein, I'm going to take you into the to the restricted area. Then I'm a spin out and shoot the free throw line jumper. Everybody else. I'm taking it from one. Even with Chet. He's like, I have you on the right side of the rim. I'm going up right handed and I'm coming up and I'm putting the lip. He's done the same exact thing. And it's like, are y'all just going to let him do it? And I'm like, so when when he's doing it and like Nimhar gets the ball at the next possession, I'm like, just give it back to TJ.

[00:13:35] And then they'll go a few possessions and then Carlisle like timeout. Like, man, just give it to TJ. And I don't want to be disrespectful. And I don't want to be disrespectful because TJ McConnell has been around long before this OKC team showed up. You know what I mean? But he looks like an OKC player at times. Like he looks like that you could just swap him and Alex Caruso and you wouldn't even know the difference.

[00:13:57] You know, he brings that element of the game to where, you know, they talk about beating people at their own game or, you know, here's a taste of your own medicine. That's what TJ McConnell provides for the Pacers in this series against OKC. So now we got Sunday game seven. You switching? I don't know. I'm keeping I'm reserving it to the end of the this show.

[00:14:27] I'll come up with something because like, honestly, I don't think I've picked a game in the last few games. I just watched the game. I wish there was a game seven. I was glad there was a game seven. I didn't predict they'd be down 30 points going into the fourth. Right. But yeah, we'll see. Yeah, I'm sticking with OKC. You know, like I said, their building is just electric. You know what I mean? Like just that on the line. Now, don't get me wrong. The pressure is all up.

[00:14:54] OKC's but the pressure is their pause. You know what I mean? It's up to them to finish off this magical season to do with Durant Westbrook and Harden could. This is OKC's task. So, you know, it all starts with and Mr. Logical brought this up a lot last year when the Knicks and the Sixers were playing in the first round. You know, why aren't you attacking Joel Embiid? He can barely walk. He can barely stand. Go at him.

[00:15:22] If Halliburton has this injured calf or whatever it is, make him play defense. Force the issue. Make him show that he can go lateral, you know, and that's how you win the game because they have to help. They leave somebody open. So I'm looking for OKC, but it would be so fitting. It would be so fitting for OKC to jump out by 17 or 18 and it come down to a Halliburton shot.

[00:15:52] It would be so fitting, you know, so as we look at making the most clutch player in the playoffs this year. I know I'm just I'm just poking bears. It would. But, you know, but speaking of this series, you know, it's been a great series, even though last night was a blowout. You know, it's been a great series. I've enjoyed the basketball like this is one of those series. And these are the teams that have Naismith was looking at them right now. He would think we were watching aliens with the way that they move the ball and how fast they are and all that.

[00:16:21] So why is it? That nobody's watching. Is it nobody's watching or we are having a lot of conversations about nobody's watching both because I'm not a big ratings guy, mainly because. Any app that you're using to watch the game.

[00:16:48] You're probably sharing with somebody like your YouTube TV on your TV is your boy that came over during football season. He's all man, don't don't buy it. I get it free with my job cell phone plan. Here's YouTube TV. It's on your TV. Like I had a 10 day free trial to watch the the conference finals on YouTube TV cancel because it's like $82 a month.

[00:17:15] And then if you're using the laptop, you can use some of these other sites for not promoting it because then I get in this giving us any money. So it's like we're not promoting it, but you can watch it on the laptop. You can watch it at a bar. You can watch at a friend's house. I think more people are watching it. I just feel as if the pundits. Who are talking about sports on television. They talk about what they like.

[00:17:42] And it comes off as what they know. Like I can talk about the Falcons print not during the season pretty in depth because I watch all the Falcons game. I watch the other games on TV, but I might not watch bears. If it's not on TV. So if we had to break down, you know, month on Tuesday, what happened over the weekend.

[00:18:09] I'm McGee everything I saw in the Atlanta game, the third and eight and the third quarter when cow pits was open. And then he could like, I have all that broken down to make it seem like, oh, this guy knows exactly what he's talking about when it comes to football. Like, no, I know what I'm talking about when I come to the Falcons. That's what I watch. I think a lot of these pundits don't watch these other teams, the Indianas, OKC's, Detroit's. And so when it comes to the finals, they're surprised at how well Shepard can defend on the perimeter.

[00:18:38] They're surprised at Mathren's ability to score 20 points in 12 minutes because they haven't watched them at all all year. So everything is like brand new. And we've had this conversation with people in our group saying like, oh, it's not enough popular names. It's like it's a popular sport brand. We all like basketball shoes.

[00:19:02] But well, there were so many shows where they had segments and I saw clips of people talking about the bronze statements over the last couple of weeks. He said like a couple of things like I saw one last week and he's talking about the files that was all over like my social media page. And then the ring culture conversation that he broached with Steve Nash. That was in it was like the like everyone was like so animated by this conversation.

[00:19:32] I'm like, yo, he's having a conversation with the fellow former NBA player. Drinking wine and you guys have more passion about that then. The great six basketball games we saw even this blowout was great because you had Halliburton, the guy whose rumors he was going to be ruled out. You had a guy like TJ McConnell, a journeyman that's really doing it. Don't get it. Halliburton was the most overrated player.

[00:20:01] Halliburton most overrated. I think it's because he I think he's getting the Drake treatment from the league. I think they just view him as like a corny light skin guy. But I really think he just I really think he just like a happy. I think he's just a happy guy. And I think these two teams are really on. I think they really like being around each other. And there's no animosity is no beef with no one's trying to get Carlisle fired. We talked about like the Lakers every week. It was like, is JJ going to get fired? How long this going last?

[00:20:30] It's LeBron interviewing his new coach is like, but there's no animosity with these teams. So we got to find something to be angry about. And we're just angry that they're two towns combined for like 4 million people. Well, to your Halliburton point, I think it goes back to last year and some of the things that we talked about where leading up to the NBA Cup and through the NBA Cup, because they made it to the finals, I believe, or right. Yeah, I think they made it to the finals last year. I think they played the Lakers, right?

[00:20:57] Yeah. And, you know, so he put his name on the map during that tournament. But then he got hurt. And we were talking about how he rushed back because his super max, you know, was on the table. He didn't get that 65 games under his belt. Right. So then he came back hurt playing like trash because he wasn't 100%. And then a lot of people, especially like Trey Young fans, Jalen Brunson fans, they were going off about like, I thought this was the guy.

[00:21:22] You know what I mean? And now this season, it's like, well, look at where he is and look at where those two are, you know. So but on top of that, I think so. So like last year, NBA finals was five games and game five was a blowout. But game five, it was never in doubt. Right. But from game five last year to this year, down 25 percent. You know, the finals itself as a whole down 19 percent this year.

[00:21:49] So I imagine that some of the things that you brought up, like the streaming and the free trials and all that stuff was around last year, too. You know what I mean? But what we had last year is just because you had a big city. I don't know what the population. Right. We had last year fans are everywhere. So they're a blue blood. You know what I'm saying? They have the most championships in the league. Dallas is a top seven city population. Their guy was supposed to be there. He tore an Achilles and, you know, it's been a wrap.

[00:22:19] So I can understand that if you are if you are a Boston fan and you are a Knicks fan. Like that large group of people kind of pulling out because you thought your team was going to be there. They were one of the best teams in the East defending champs. And then the Knicks and Knicks fans were just on like they were on the verge of making the NBA finals and you fall out.

[00:22:45] But if you're a basketball fan, I don't want to hear the small market piece as like your reason why you're not watching. Like if you're a basketball fan because let's keep it 100 percent. Cleveland is a small market. Well, to your point, we watched every single one of them, like those early seven years with LeBron struggling and getting to the Eastern Conference finals.

[00:23:11] It's one year to the final point. And then those four years after Miami, we watched all that. Golden State is not a big basketball market. It just became that after Mark Jackson got these guys lined up properly. But think about it. To your point, there's some parallels here. Like, you know, we talk with Residente a lot about how March Madness, you know, I don't know these guys. The NBA draft. Who are these guys? So so you got that in the NBA to a lesser degree.

[00:23:38] What do I mean by that? Stand by. Here we go. So like, for example, this season. You got. The Detroit Pistons, right? They made the playoffs. They were one of the big stories. They got a guy, Kate Cunningham, right? And they didn't even have 20 national games this year. You know what I mean? Then you got the Houston Rockets, right? The number two seed in the West. Now, obviously, exciting team. Right.

[00:24:07] Now, obviously, what I'm about to say, what I'm about to say predates them being the two seed. But to your point about, you know, this young team, they got Emei Doka as the head. They had 11, 11 national games. You had the Orlando Magic who made the playoffs two straight years. You know, so I'm not saying that they're a great team or anything, but their team that has been in the postseason. They got nine national games this year. So when you get to the national games, are you talking about like TNT?

[00:24:34] This is like your ESPN, TNT, you know, and TV. And you know what I mean? So when you so when you break it down like that, when Orlando gets to the playoffs, you know, and plays Boston in the first round, it's truly a lot of people's first time laying eyes on Paolo Bancaro. You know what I mean? Like when you look at the Pistons, right? I'm sure people have heard the name Kate Cunningham before. You know what I mean? But this is your first time laying eyes on Kate Cunningham.

[00:25:03] And the thing about it, Kate Cunningham is a 6'7", 6'8", point guard with size. Yes. Like Magic Johnson was a 6'9", point guard with size. Granted, he had a lot of flair. And then you had Larry Bird, a 6'8", shooter, 6'8", 6'9", shooter was like these two guys were anomalies when they were drafted. You had the whole in the NBA took that and like, oh, let's run with that. I'm like, that's the same thing you have with guys like Kate Cunningham.

[00:25:32] That's the same thing you have like Houston. Houston has a bunch of just runners on their team. I mean, J. Lee Green was the number two draft pick. Number two draft pick. And I'm in Thompson went number four. So it was like, you have two top five draft picks, young, exciting. You need to sell more jerseys because what's happening and it kind of like lending into like a, because I wasn't part of like a lot of these conversations about the ring culture.

[00:25:56] But what I was thinking about this morning, I was just like, I think we are, we are, we have seen all of the legends of our sport. And what I mean by that is like, I think the money is going to be so good.

[00:26:17] Like starting over like the last few years, like we have guys like I think Jalen Brown's getting like 50 something million cats getting 50 million. I think you're going to get guys like Jokic whenever his deal is done. He's going to be like, that's it. So if it's 12 years in the NBA 13, it's a wrap. SGA's deal is going to be like 358 million. I don't think you're going to get a lot of guys.

[00:26:47] They're going to play 16, 17, 18 years with one team, mainly because you're not gonna be able to pay all these guys. So guys are going to start moving. It's going to be these new guys coming up. But as far as like cracking that top 20, I think that top 20 is pretty set with the few people who have someone from 21 to 30 that they feel should be in it. But it's locked in. I see some of that LeBron legends, the stuff legends, KD to some degree.

[00:27:16] I think it's, I think it's over it. It's not a knock on these current players, but that iconic status that we're going to talk about. The incentive isn't there because you already got the grainy video. Like if you think about the first NBA 2K that Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and like LeBron, all those guys ran. It's crazy compared to now. And I think it's just going to stop. And the NBA is going to be in a situation where they're just going to have to just expand as we, you know, transition that.

[00:27:45] They're going to have to expand all over the world just to bring in like an excess amount of dollars because they're not promoting the guys stateside. And see, and back to the TV argument for a quick second. So the Lakers had the most national TV games. That makes sense because they're the Lakers and you need to fill West Coast time slots. So that makes sense. But real quick, what do you think that number is? How many national games did they get?

[00:28:14] So they have 82 games. If I had to guess, I thought I heard the number and it had a four in it. I can't remember if it was 34 or 44. It's 39. 39. Okay. So that's the most in the league. That's the most golden state 36 Boston and New York 34 Dallas and Phoenix 30 Philadelphia for some reason. And I mean, granted Embiid is a former MVP and everything. So they call George Maxie Philly loves basketball. Yeah.

[00:28:44] Okay. See, right. Okay. See, they were a trendy pick to get to the finals or, you know, to make noise this year. They ended up winning 68 games. They had 25 national games. So, so, so, so, so it's one of those things where the NBA, I think needs to change their approach because if you're not going to put these teams on TV, you have to put the players on TV because the NBA, because the NBA has become, or it always has been player centric. You know, it was never the bulls versus the bulls. They don't wear hats. They don't wear helmets.

[00:29:14] Right. So you know what? Put SGA in sports to market. Put SGA on the view. You know what I'm saying? You already had Jalen Brunson and Halliburton show up to SmackDown. You know what I mean? Have these guys hang out and resident. They brought this up yesterday. Hang out with Casanette, you know, hang out with, you know, your Drew skis and your people like that. I show speed noise. Yeah. And also just make sure it's regular to have like an NBA person. Like, you know, you can't be having like, you know, wow. Yeah.

[00:29:45] No, no, no random strippers and stuff like that. We got to get these faces out there because there's only a few NBA players that really have commercials even. You know what I mean? You're saying about it. Like I brought this up before. SGA has a skims deal because skims has a deal with, you know, the NBA. Right. That's Kim Kardashian's brand. Her family has like billions of followers.

[00:30:08] Like between Kylie, Kendall, Khloe and Kim, like over a billion people follow the board. Is it just me? SGA is not in their show or in, they're not courtside at his games or doing skims commercials. And I apologize in advance if they have already done this because I wouldn't know. But I'm like, if you're going to talk about the Kardashians, who better to pair up with the Kardashians than Mellow Ball? You know what I mean?

[00:30:38] Like have some LeVar Ball interaction with the, with the Kardashians. Have LaMelo and Lonzo. Like it writes itself. You know what I mean? But anyway, you know, so, so, so, so like, as, so, as we look at that, right. If I'm the Detroit Pistons, you know what I mean? And the Detroit Pistons, you know, back going back to the eighties, they were one of the franchises of that decade. You know what I mean?

[00:31:01] And then they won that title with Ben Wallace and those guys back in 2004 hall of fame, Chauncey Billups, you know, they won their 2004 title. They went back to the finals against the Spurs. And then it's just the Pistons disappeared. You know what I mean? And, and, and so, so, so like, I don't know, especially in this age. And I think what the NBA is saying is we got league pass, you know, we got this. If you want to watch the Pistons, you go watch the Pistons.

[00:31:28] The part they're missing is you got to give me a reason to watch the Pistons. That's the thing. You got to something. I think about this. I've seen a lot of plays like rebounds and I'll see, I'll see a kick out the Nim hard and I'll see him look up. Like, do I throw this rim run pass, but it's the finals. You can't waste possession.

[00:31:55] I think in a regular season, you try that. So a game, let's say Atlanta versus Detroit, where the casual fan doesn't feel is that much star power other than just like Trey Young. And Kay Cunningham is a good player. Uh, because that's great coach. They have a good team. They're building a good core, but like, once again, their personalities aren't out there. So you're just looking like if you're not a basketball aficionado, you're not going to understand like why he's a good basketball player.

[00:32:25] So that, uh, a sequence where it's a lot of outlet passes and like, you know, possessions and they can look sloppy and you don't have a star. You could turn people off in a game, but you still got to do it. And you could still get your fix. You want to have the Lakers and the Warriors on TV. Fine. Just haven't played Orlando and Detroit once or twice. You know what I mean? Like you could do, you could get the best of both worlds. You know, now I can try in LA should be your game.

[00:32:54] You don't like, I don't need golden state LA for my West coast game. I'm already as a, a Chinese fan. And he knows Steph Curry. She knows Steph Curry. They all know LeBron. Get me get LeBron on the court with whoever's playing important school Henderson, whatever the case may be in LA. Make it a big deal.

[00:33:24] Talk about it all week. Highlight the Portland players. The LA players are going to get so much social media buzz has nothing to do with the NBA. Just their fan pages. Like I said, the Kardashians are, you know, connected to them through relationships or money and agencies and so forth and so on and sitting courtside. Their Instagram following is 1.6 billion. Just them.

[00:33:50] So they're going to have their pitchers courtside entice them to come to that game. Because a lot of times I remember I was watching entourage. They were like Jeremy Pipps character was trying to off, trying to like bribe someone, like someone, he needed a favor from someone. He was trying to bribe them with Lakers tickets. He was like, who are they playing? He was like the Wizards.

[00:34:13] He goes, ah, but like even, even in like the TV shows, like they didn't want like the fictional characters didn't want to watch Lakers versus wizard. Give us a reason. Highlight them. Promote, promote the Wizards players. Because like I said, the Lakers is going to sell itself. I bet you doubt. I bet you Cooper flag going to be all over TV next year. Because he's because his name, image and likeness. That's why I said that's why I think it shouldn't be capped. I mean, he made like twenty million.

[00:34:43] But he's been ball. He's been on the radar of basketball fans and casual fans via social media for a couple years. Like I said, over time, these elites, all these other social media channels, NBA, connect with them. We talked about the slam dunk contest, connect with the people who are playing basketball in the States. I feel like everybody just kind of forgotten that America is like the epicenter for the sports and everybody wants to go global.

[00:35:11] I'm like, no, cater to the people here. Cater to the fan that's going to buy the jersey and buy the hats and come to the games and tailgate and pay, you know, $75 to sit in the arena and watch the game on the jumbotron. I'm like that fan needs to be catered to. I get it. You want to do it in Brazil to buy jerseys, too. But I'm like, yo, the dude in Oklahoma wants to buy jerseys. Cater to him.

[00:35:36] Well, speaking of which, you know, Mark Spears last night, you know, made the statement that a high level NBA official told him that the expansion announcement may be coming this summer. And guess what? Summer started today. We got the NBA draft on Wednesday and Thursday. So like what better time to roll that announcement out, you know, during the draft or after, you know, in the mix of the draft.

[00:36:02] So with that being said, I think the worst kept secret is Seattle and Las Vegas. You know what I mean? But we but you and I both know 32 teams. Yes. But especially going off of what you just said before I switched topics, we know they're going international again at some point. You know, so from so from a certain standpoint, I don't think it's very.

[00:36:30] Logistically feasible. To have European teams. You know what I mean? But I know there has been talk of a European league to offset. So maybe that becomes there you go. Maybe that becomes your new farm system, like the way the baseball has the minor leagues. Maybe you have your European buildup and that kind of supplies because we're starting to see these international players take over the draft.

[00:36:59] You know, there's going to be about three or four of them in the first round this year. That is not including the international dudes that played in college. So I'm talking about dudes that are in France right now and so on and so forth. So where do you see expansion beyond the Seattle, Las Vegas? I mean, back to Vancouver, like it would have to be Canada. I was thinking Montreal.

[00:37:28] Yeah, like it would have to be like Canada. I can't. It has to be in one. It has to be in these time zones. Well, you know, I'm not thinking like Hawaii. You shot me down. You know what I mean? Even though I don't like. I don't like Mexico City. I don't like Mexico City because I'm a true blue blood American through and through.

[00:37:56] And I think there's plenty of places here where you can put basketball teams. Like where? You could go here being like North America. No, no. I know what you mean, but I'm just saying like what do you have in mind? I think Seattle would be a great place. I mean, like not really a great place. Do you? It's not a great place. It's a place. If you're going to expand, you would have to do something drastic. You'd have to take a star from somebody's team. So you would have to like.

[00:38:27] You would have to take like. You'd have to like, hey, Boston, we get it. But we need Jalen Brown to be. The first pick of the Superstar. Of the Seattle Superstar. It's like, hey, OKC, part of your legacy. We need Jada or Chet. So like they're going to have to. They can't just give them a bunch of G League guys, put them out west and then put them on. And at 10 o'clock, no one watches. They're going to have to give up.

[00:38:57] I have to pull the flag deal. They're going to have to like legit, you know, say, hey, you got it. You got it. Every team has to put up. You can protect. Two guys. Yeah. Everybody else has to be available within reason. So, hey, what's that? Then they go through. So Vegas, I think Vegas was the Luca trade 10 billion for Cooper flag. Yeah, it's crazy how the money goes.

[00:39:26] Like I said, I'm still gobsmacked over the Luca deal. Well, that was a question that I was going to ask you. But Montreal, yeah. I think it's places like I just think that the games, getting people to the games and getting organic fans to the game. It's the NBA is like an American league. You can have a South American or Central American NBA league and have them play games in that region. Same way you can have in South America.

[00:39:55] How do you think the Lakers sale? We're not going to talk about the Lakers, but how do you think the Lakers sale impacts this expansion? Or does it? I don't think it does because no one in their right mind would do anything but leave the Lakers in those same colors in that same arena with the same banners and the same legacy and their same legends coming back to the game. I'm just meaning as far as the new teams coming into the league, though.

[00:40:23] Like, does that just hike up their valuation? I don't think so. I think the Lakers 10 billion is probably because you can sell a Laker jersey anywhere in the world. Like, the property that all the Lakers buildings are on and offices and office buildings attached to the team or in L.A., that real estate is crazy.

[00:40:50] I think that's more associated with all of the accoutrement that comes with being the Lakers. You're not going to sell the Houston Rockets for 10 billion dollars. You might get five. There's some change, but you probably won't sell them for 10 because it's like the real estate doesn't match up. I think that's a lot of the pieces. Like, most of these hedge fund guys, whoever manages this money, they're just buying. It's the same thing I saw a video. They're talking about Vegas.

[00:41:18] Most of the casinos are kind of run by, like, New York City hedge funds who bought the property as just another thing to just create money for this hedge fund. The expansion, like I said, the problem with the expansion is like, it's like, you know, you've got kids already. You ain't taking care of them. You want to have more? And that's the problem. So you have to be still wearing hand-meat-downs.

[00:41:46] The city has to be either a tourist destination or just a dope city that people love off the rip. I see. And that's why I like Montreal. They also have the Bell Center that is already ready for NBA basketball if necessary. You do have the language barrier because I know that Montreal, you know, is of the French background, you know, so that could cause some issues initially. But we're in a technology.

[00:42:14] Toronto Blue Jays and the Raptors are playing their games. They figured it out. Edmonton Oilers are playing. I do like Mexico City because, like I said, they already have a G League team. It's a bigger market than New York City. So, you know, whatever, you know, value you get from New York City, you're probably not going to get from Mexico City just because it's not a part of the United States. But it is a bigger market than New York. So there has to be some value there.

[00:42:44] Yeah, but are you going to get a bunch of fans? Like, because the ratings are pretty much an American-based system. Right. A team in Mexico City, who's – what region of America is the Mexico City Manadors? Like, where's their fan base? It's only, like, in Mexico. Well, you got to build that. You know what I mean? Just like when you talk about Las Vegas, right? Like, we see it with the Raiders already.

[00:43:13] You know, like, there's – their home games are not home games. You know what I mean? There's a lot of people who build Vegas trips into football games. So this Las Vegas team that's sitting in the 40th biggest market in the country, small market if you will, you know what I'm saying, is going to be transplants in non-Vegas citizens for the most part.

[00:43:35] Yeah, but that arena, 18,000 people to fill an arena, especially with the way you buy tickets in Vegas. Because when you get to Vegas is when you – like, you can make a couple of plans ahead of time. Like, oh, I want to see this show. Like, I just went out to Vegas. I saw Coldplay. Saw them at the football stadium. Now, I've been in, like – I've been to the Eagles Stadium twice.

[00:44:01] I've been to the Raiders Stadium, and I haven't seen the Eagles or the Raiders play football. I've seen Pink, Beyonce, and Coldplay. So I have a sports podcast, but I've seen a lot of great shows at football stadiums. And then after that, it was like, okay, we booked the show. I booked the Cirque du Soleil show, and then went to San Francisco Ligues. So when you're in Vegas, you just look up the deals.

[00:44:27] So if you only have to sell out 18,000 seats and people are there all week long – like, we were out on a Monday night in Vegas last week, and it felt like – it felt like a prime Thursday night. Like, it felt like the weekend was ramping up because, like, people come to Vegas Sunday through Thursday because the hotel's a little cheaper. So you'll be able to sell out with just casual basketball fans, especially if, you know, you get the right deal. Like, if you can – you know, a couple hundred bucks for a ticket.

[00:44:56] Like, I'll check out a – I'll check out a game on a Tuesday night since I'm here for this convention. Yeah, I mean, the NHL team is doing well. But you need a city that has, like, that kind of touristy influx already. Vegas is, like, just – it's a different kind of city where you can just essentially bank on filling whatever arena you're trying to fill if you can get the other prices right.

[00:45:21] Like, if you can get the hotel prices down and you kind of balance that out, you can fill the A stadium. You can fill the arena. You can fill the football stadium. So – We talked about – what was it? Another – like, was it South Carolina? You had an idea for another team in North Carolina. We were talking about this. That was baseball. Yeah, that was baseball. Okay, yeah. I was talking about Charlotte. You know, I know Residente brought up Charleston, but, you know, I don't know how that works logistically.

[00:45:50] I don't know much about Charleston, to be honest. But I was thinking maybe – I just know people love it. The people who live there love it and the people who visit love it and the people who moved away always want to move back. Well, I was thinking, you know, do you get some Kansas City slash St. Louis involvement? I know you got Mahomes has his thing with the Royals. You know, obviously he plays for the Chiefs. The soccer teams, that stadium's getting World Cup games. Yeah.

[00:46:18] You got them, you know, to a much, much, much, much smaller degree. You know, you got cities like Louisville who don't sound like destinations, but when you're talking about basketball, they're basketball havens. You know, and they got – Can you put a basketball team in Cincinnati? You could. There was one before, and that's the problem is that a lot of these cities – Right there in that basketball, that Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky region, they love basketball. Right.

[00:46:47] People don't know much – like if you travel around the country, like being in the military, you learn about people. And especially, like I was – remember I was playing intramural basketball. This one cop I knew, his name was Binion. He's from Ohio, and he was talking about like, you know, we were in the gym just on our day off, and he was just shooting the lights out. I'm like, okay, Binion, this goofy-ass dude, can't fix his collar on his shirt when we go out to put a basketball on his hand. And he's out there like Hoosiers just knocking it down.

[00:47:16] And he was like, yeah, we used to play the black schools, and they would cross us up, and we would fall. But he was like, they couldn't beat this bounce pass, this chest pass, this three-point shot. He's like, we'd win the game 65 to 40. They get a lot of Hoos, but like that region, like that Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky region, they really like basketball. Cincinnati has a cash pay. Sometimes you've got to cater to that fan. Stop trying to get the whole world to love you. Get the people around you to love you. Bring the Midwest back into sports.

[00:47:46] It seems like they're trying to relegate the Midwest out of sports and move teams out of the Midwest. No, like this is a sports town. A lot of your great football players are from this region, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nebraska. Like that's like the heartbeat of America. Well, Cincinnati has a cash because they have other sports teams, you know, like the Reds and the Bengals.

[00:48:09] But I've always said that, you know, Columbus could be a prime spot because it's one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. It's the capital of Ohio. But the thing – but Cincinnati is closer to that Kentucky region that you're talking about. Like Cincinnati basically spills into Kentucky. Yeah, you can fly into Kentucky and drive into Cincinnati. Yeah, and then you have another – I've been to some new city. Yeah, another place that I was thinking about. So I brought up Kansas City and St. Louis, one of the two at least.

[00:48:38] You know, that sounds good to me. You know, as I was trying to think, and I don't know if we want another team in Florida, but just looking at population and where it is located within the state, I was thinking, why not Jacksonville? You know, they're right on that Alabama border. Well, not on the border. And that's the opposite side of Orlando, right? Well, it's up north. It's up Georgia. You know what I mean?

[00:49:05] Because remember, the Gators in Georgia play there every year. Okay, that's the halfway point. Yeah. So it doesn't infringe on your Miami and Orlando because they're all the way at the bottom of the state. So I think there's enough between the cities that – What number would you – would you want two teams, four teams? As far as – oh, expansion? Your expansion.

[00:49:33] Like, would you go – would you add two more teams? Because we can say – me and you've been kicking around the Seattle-Las Vegas idea for years. I'm pretty sure the NBA has as well. So for me, just because, you know, I like everything being equal, I guess, I would say 36 because then you have the – every division has the same amount of teams. Okay. You know, with 36. But I don't like 36 because I feel like that's way too much.

[00:50:01] Because you would have to pull – like so – You would just border it down. If we call Seattle good. If we call Seattle and Vegas good. Yeah, Seattle's the 12th biggest market in the country. And then we go Montreal. And you said Jacksonville. Cincinnati. St. Louis or Kansas City. Whichever one. St. Louis, Kansas City. So I would say Kansas City because of the football and the World Cup stuff.

[00:50:31] The World Cup is going to – the World Cup gaming expectation is going to drive money to Kansas City. So figuring out how to get a stadium built for basketball with that influence. And I know Mahomes has brought up himself that he wants to help try to bring basketball to Kansas City. You know what I mean? But I'm a bigger fan of your idea from last week. You know what I mean?

[00:50:58] New Orleans moves to Vegas and, you know, somebody else moves to Seattle versus actually expanding. Yeah, because like I said, the expanding would work because there's so – like I said, there's so many teams that are only playing seven guys. And you could probably pull – you could probably pull a guy like Matherin. But if he was on Denver, I don't think he's in the rotation. Okay. You know, like because – That's interesting.

[00:51:25] One of the comments last night that Doris Burke said, she was like – she's like it's not – she's like it's not – it's not surprising that the two deepest teams in the league are – In the finals. In the finals. Whereas, I think a lot of teams just have guys on the bench that might have real talent. Like I talk about this guy, Cam Thomas.

[00:51:51] Could you put him in the Vegas Spades jersey and let him just catch fire? That's the only thing I can come up with. The Vegas – I mean, you can't do aces. We can do Vegas hearts. I know, it just sounds racist, man. It is. It's definitely full on. Like it's full on. It'd be like the – it'd be like the new – Could you do the Las Vegas gamblers? I mean, I would – I know the NBA is good with gambling, but I don't think they would want like dudes wearing it –

[00:52:19] like wearing dice on their uniforms. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean you'd call it Vegas Vipers or something. Maybe it's like a snake out there. They can name it after. But I think you could do that. Six is a lot. It is, but I think – I mean, they're trying to like shorten the game and shorten the season.

[00:52:39] It just – I think expansion is – as a concept makes sense if I felt your – like the NBA was like growing. But I think the NBA is kind of at its – I think they're stretched as far as they can go. But I think the NBA is growing. It's just international. You know what I mean? That's what I mean.

[00:53:03] Like I don't think – I don't think – yeah, I don't think Spain would care if we added six more United States NBA teams. It's like you have NBA Africa, but you're not – you're not having a team in Angola. Yeah. Have like – like have these – like okay, Europe has so many levels and so many leagues. NBA probably doesn't need an NBA Europe. Right. NBA Africa, NBA South Africa, NBA China.

[00:53:31] Like if you want to – I want to say infringe upon these other leagues or merge and make deals with these other leagues. Yeah. But I want to sound like this is like super American. But like leave it over there and allow like the American development. Because what's happening is like we aren't showcasing the young American talent enough to the point where those guys are going to China to play.

[00:53:56] But I would argue that's more of a proponent of the AAU system than anything else. I would get down to the AAU system and you already have a farm system. It just needs to be curated a little better. So can associate yourself with – because if you want to get fans in the United States on board with the NBA, do things from a grassroots perspective.

[00:54:23] Like the foundation of the NBA is your homegrown American stars. I think that we're getting that because remember we were talking about the draft and, you know, we're going to do our draft preview and all that on Tuesday. But we were talking about the NBA draft from the standpoint of with the NIL now. Guys are going to be going back to school. And, you know, so some of these underclassmen that are 18, 19 years old – Adam Silver needs to be at – he needs to be at college games.

[00:54:53] He needs to be at AAU tournaments. They need to sanction NBA – Go to a G League game. Go to like – it's like it needs to be head coaches from the NBA. Case of point, today my son went to the Naval Academy football camp. The head coach of the Naval – like they were – Ryan Newberry. Leading the – he opened the camp. It wasn't like he just came out, popped up, and then went back into the office.

[00:55:23] He was leading the camp. Every coach came up and introduced himself. Those coaches from other schools as well. And when they broke off in different groups, he was talking to different recruits. They had some guys they brought in. But the whole coaching staff all played a vital role. So the organization was there. The structure was there. So if you are an NBA team and you have G League teams and you have NBA Europe and you have AAU program, that seems to be a bit discombobulated.

[00:55:53] Send your people down there. Send your scouts. Send your – even like the ESPN people. Like get it on TV to where it's like, hey, we need a better product. Like when they started putting the high school football on ESPN. And we heard about guys like Tate Martell. And that's – you know, we started seeing guys like Travis Hunter recently. And then back in the day, Terrell Pryor. Like when they started putting like an emphasis, like man, you got high school games. Granted, they did it with LeBron, but he was like a female. But it was like, okay, cool.

[00:56:22] Let's put more Oak Hill versus Mount Verde on TV and look at it as worked out. Like just keep doing that. They don't need all these other grand ideas. It's like you have enough people playing basketball year round in this country every single day playing their hearts out. It's like this is where your talent pool is. Word, for sure. So like – and I also think that –

[00:56:51] Sounds like a real patriot over here. About to – America first, damn it. Grab my flag. You know, it's an America first, damn it. But also, you know, like you said, it goes back to connections and networking to some degree. You know, where, you know, these college teams have relationships with NBA scouts. Because, you know, I'm sure scouts stay at Kentucky. They stay at Duke. They stay at Kansas.

[00:57:17] You know, so yes, there is a bit of a grassroots element there. The problem is is that college basketball and the NBA just seem to be at odds most of the time. You know, like when it comes to stuff like the one and done and all that kind of stuff. You know, I think that expansion can be good because of the two cities that are going to be added if that is what ends up happening.

[00:57:45] But from there, it's okay, what do you do now? Because like I said, the divisions are going to be uneven. You know, you're not contracting. So, you know, so you got to fill it in some way somehow. And you still got to move a team over to the east as well. You know, since you're bringing – if those are the two teams. Because you're bringing in the two western teams. So now you got to figure out am I moving Minnesota? Am I moving Memphis? Am I moving New Orleans? Memphis and Minnesota or New Orleans and Memphis.

[00:58:14] No, if I get Seattle and Vegas. Yeah, you only need to move one. No, Seattle and Vegas will be in the west. Yeah, that would be 16 teams. And then you move one to the east to have 16 teams in the east. I'm adding two teams to the west. I'm not talking about moving New Orleans to Vegas. I'm talking about two new teams. Yes. Right now there are 15 teams in each conference. So, if you bring two in, that brings it to 17. It'll be 17 over here, 15 over here. So, you move to one over.

[00:58:44] Yeah. So, you just got to decide is it going to be Memphis? Is it going to be Minnesota? Do you like the Ant Edwards and Golden State OKC matchups every year? Or do you want Ja Morant? If Ja Morant – if Memphis is going to rebuild, I'd move them to the east. Just to have them on at 7.30 or 8 o'clock. If I'm looking at it from a futuristic – or I'm sorry.

[00:59:11] If I'm looking at it from a short-term standpoint, I want Minnesota in the east. And, you know, I mean, I guess they're already eastern time zone anyway. But – or, I mean, they're – Let's see. Let me see where they are. But anyway, the point being, if I can get Anthony Edwards – I'm going to see where the hell Minnesota is on the map. Well, it's right next to North Dakota and Wisconsin and Michigan on top of Illinois and Iowa. But Nebraska's in that area too.

[00:59:39] But I would think that I want Anthony Edwards in the east, you know, just from the standpoint of playing him against more eastern markets. So, you were talking about – Memphis is – Memphis is more east than Minnesota. It's pretty west, relatively speaking. No, but it's more east. It's more east than Minnesota. Yeah. Minneapolis, yeah. But I think I would like to – You want to be in Edwards. See, that's the thing.

[01:00:09] Ant Edwards is already box office, so you can have him anywhere. No, that's true. But I could also have – I could have him in the west just to keep that 10 o'clock game against Portland on TV. No, you're correct. You're correct. But my thought is I could have him against the Knicks four times a season instead of two. You know what I mean? I could have him – You talked about, yo, Chicago's the third biggest city in the country.

[01:00:36] You know, I could put Anthony Edwards against Chicago a couple times a year. Maybe they changed that. Maybe, like, maybe you don't need expansion. Maybe you need to, like, loosen up how many conference games you play. Like, if you're trying to sell it, it's like, you know what? Because, like I said, the Lakers and the – the rising NBA, Lakers, Celtics, Bird, Magic, they were playing an astronomical amount of games against each other

[01:01:06] for two teams that are, like, 3,500 miles apart. It's just like, we got to get this on TV. But, yeah, like I said, Memphis is just west of Chicago, but it's still more east of Minneapolis. I like Memphis because I think Memphis might have to rebuild. So I would rather have them on the east where I can keep them on TV

[01:01:34] where, like, we can start their games at 730 and people can still watch them because they still have a buzz. I mean, if they trade with other players, it might be different, but maybe they get some assets back. But they still have a good enough buzz that having them play against the Knicks or having them play against – granted, Memphis versus Charlotte might not be a big draw, but I think Ant's going to be a great draw no matter what. And I would rather just – I'd rather him feed my west coast.

[01:02:03] Memphis versus – or Minneapolis versus Phoenix next year when Phoenix to please their team, it's still going to be box office because Ant's going to go ahead and try against the Knicks. Bro, remember all season I've been talking about, yo, trade, trade young for John Morant. You got a rivalry. Like, just have them play each other. You know what I mean? Like, just have them – they can stay where they at. Just have them play each other. Yeah. And now you got Atlanta against Memphis as a big deal. You know what I mean? Big game in the South. Yeah, and that's the thing.

[01:02:31] Two flashy guys, small guards really out there just doing things differently. That's the other thing that the NBA needs to capitalize on. Whenever Trey Young plays the Knicks, it needs to be on TV. Has to be on TV. You know what I'm saying? OKC Minnesota, you got to choose that like the Lakers and the Warriors when they play each other because I swear every Laker-Warrior game – Warrior game is on TV. Then they show the replay. Then they talk about it for two days before and two days after. Yeah. Right. So that's another part of – not to get back into the promotion conversation,

[01:03:01] but that's another part of how you can grow the game too because that's what the NFL thrives off of. Now, free agency has made it a little bit differently, but it's still Commanders-Cowboys. You know, it's still Steelers and Ravens. You know, it's still Broncos and Chiefs. Saints-Falcons. Saints-Falcons, no matter what records can be. Even if Mr. Logical doesn't think that they really a rival. You know what I'm saying? But for some reason, it always seems to matter in a regular season. Right. Every year.

[01:03:31] So that's where the NBA can help themselves as well. And with expansion, you know, because you got – I guess you'll put Vegas in the division, you know, with the Lakers in the Pacific and everything, and then you'll put Seattle up there with Portland and Denver up in the – I forgot what the division is called. The Northwest. The Northwest or something like that. Yeah. You can have that going on. You know what I mean?

[01:03:56] So, like, you have the bones and structure of what you need to do. It just has to be implemented and enforced. Yeah. But I think the promotion should be the primary move with relocation of a couple of teams out of markets that just aren't fully taking advantage of them. And then you do your expansion. Right. Right. But we'll see.

[01:04:25] You know, like I said, hopefully during the draft they make the announcement official and then, you know what I'm saying, we just go from there. But speaking of the draft, ladies and gentlemen, we will be back on Tuesday, the day before the draft. You know what I'm saying? I've already been in the lab getting my notes together. You know what I'm saying? I still love Ace Bailey even though he hasn't worked out for anybody. What the hell is that? You know what I'm saying? But we'll get into that on Tuesday. But, yo, y'all have a good weekend. Game seven on Sunday.

[01:04:55] Enjoy it. We love you. Do not bring feelings to a fat fight. Don't do it. He is the world-renowned, the world-famous, the one and only Mr. Logic. And I am your unorthodox statistician 2-5. We got liquid depths in our hands. So all we're asking you to do is like, refuse, subscribe, rate, share. It's free. Do the free things.

[01:05:24] Hop on the good foot. And do the good things. Do the good things. You know what I'm saying? We'll be back. We love you. Peace.