A. Sherrod Blakely welcomed Michael Curtis, the Dallas Mavericks beat writer for the Dallas Morning News to the BIG 3 NBA Podcast to preview the NBA Finals. They discussed Luka Doncic's health and his contributions beyond the stats, emphasizing his attention to detail, which is crucial to the team's success. They also talked briefly about Dereck Lively II and P.J. Washington. Additionally, they covered Kyrie Irving's reflections on his time in Boston, what to expect when he returns, and how he has evolved and grown since his stint with the Celtics.
The Big 3 NBA Podcast is Powered by:
PrizePicks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS
Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply. Go to https://gametime.co !
The Big 3 NBA Podcast is Powered by:
PrizePicks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS
Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply. Go to https://gametime.co !
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 (Casting)
00:26 Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the Big 3 NBA podcast. I'm your host A. Sharon Blakely and I'm joined by the Dallas Morning News, Michael Curtis, who covers the Dallas Mavericks, who folks around this part of the country are interested in hearing what's going on in D.
00:43 What's going on, Michael? What's going on with you, boy?
00:45 How you doing, man? Glad to be here.
00:47 I'm glad you're here.
00:49 Yeah, I feel like it's a full circle moment right now.
00:52 Man, listen, for those who don't know Michael, we'll get into what he did before he got to Dallas.
00:59 But I mean, when y'all hear me talk about going from Ashy to classy, the story of his brother's career, where he's at now versus where he was like a year ago right now, man, you talk about, yes, big transition indeed.
01:13 But before we get into all that, we want to talk about what we really want to talk about, and that is this NBA finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks.
01:22 Boston took care of their business in five games against the Indiana Panthers. Seems like forever.
01:27 They've been off waiting for their opponent and their opponent has arrived in the form of the Dallas Mavericks, who surprisingly took care of the Minnesota Timberwolves in short fashion.
01:39 Beat them in five games, and before that they knocked off OKC in six, and then before that they knocked off the Los Angeles Clippers in six games.
01:48 So you look at the road that Dallas has taken to get here, Michael, and clearly it has not been nearly as smooth as the one that the Celtics took.
01:56 What are some of the takeaways you have from just the path that Dallas has taken to get to where they are now?
02:02 What jumps out at you about their success in getting here?
02:05 Yeah, I think if anything stands out, it's the fact that this team is battle tested.
02:11 They answered the postseason as a fifth seed in the Western Conference, and it hasn't been easy road.
02:16 They had to go through the Clippers, a veteran team who most people thought were probably going to be contenders in the Western Conference if they were fully healthy.
02:26 Granted, Kawhi Leonard wasn't available for the majority of that series, but I think just them being able to hone in on defensive end has gotten them as far as they've gotten right now.
02:38 They were able to go through a really tough OKC team, who a lot of people probably thought were going to be contending with the Denver Nuggets, but the Minnesota Timberwolves took care of that.
02:51 And then when you go through one of the emerging stars, Anthony Edwards, and the best defense in the league, I think if anything, this Dallas Mavericks team is battle tested.
03:03 They've come back from double digit deficits multiple times in the playoffs, and they're riding the backs of their two stars, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
03:12 And we will get into Kyrie at some point because you can't have a conversation about the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks and not get into Kyrie a little bit.
03:23 I'm probably not going to get into him as much as some of the folks in this neck of the woods will for too many reasons to get into.
03:30 But the guy that you mentioned that I do want to talk about now is Luka.
03:35 For years, he has been one of the promising on the rise superstar talents.
03:40 You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who believes he's not a top five player.
03:44 Some would argue he's the best player or one of the top two or three best players in the NBA.
03:50 Now, during this journey, there were some reports that he was kind of battling some injuries early on.
03:55 But it seemed as the postseason got deeper, as the Mavericks got deep into the postseason, his health seemingly got better.
04:03 What's the latest on him? I mean, is he from a physical standpoint, is he good to go right now?
04:08 Yeah, he's been listed as questionable pretty much every game due to right knee soreness and left ankle soreness.
04:15 He banged that knee pretty good against Ivanka Zubas in the first round against the Clippers.
04:22 And he's been hindered by it ever since. But still, he's played every game, limited or not limited.
04:30 He's he's pretty much gone out there and put his best foot forward to be available for his team.
04:35 And based on how he's performing, you wouldn't think that he's hurt.
04:40 Honestly, I think it was the other day they posted the picture of him from the Western Conference Finals.
04:46 He's holding a trophy in his right knee. Blood is seeping out of that right knee.
04:52 I don't know how he's doing it, but it seems like he's just battling through what he considers a right knee injury.
05:00 And I think he was asked back in that Clippers series if this was a regular season game, would you be playing?
05:06 So probably not. But the fact that he is available and he's given it all on a nightly basis, putting up the numbers, the triple doubles that he's putting up.
05:15 I think he's pretty much the reason why the Mavericks are in this position to kind of get their first championship since 2011.
05:23 Yeah. Yeah. And he really is, I mean, one of the latest and maybe potentially the greatest part of this international barrage of superstar talents who are putting their teams in positions to lead and win a championship.
05:36 You look at Giannis Antetokounmpo, you look at the Joker, you look at what he's doing and they really push back on that narrative that for many of us had for so long about international players and that they're soft and they can't play through pain and they can't win the big ones because they're not.
05:52 Built to do that or whatever the heck that that means. But Luca has shown a durability and a toughness that I think you have to first of all, you have to admire and respect.
06:06 But for a lot of people, it really is refreshing to see him just find ways to win with a team that you take away Kyrie Irving and you look from from take Kyrie out of the equation.
06:19 You look at the rest of the roster and I'm not sure that looks like a championship caliber roster.
06:24 And yet here they are four wins away from winning the franchise's second NBA title.
06:31 When you spend time around Luca and we see the numbers and we see the, you know, the sidestep fade away three ball and just all the things that he does on the floor.
06:42 Are there things about Luca that for those of us who aren't around him, we should know about that, that he does or things that he says or just something about him that maybe doesn't necessarily catch the eye immediately, but that being around him,
06:56 it kind of it sticks with you as kind of one of the main reasons why he's so great and why this team so good.
07:02 Yeah, I'm still fairly new to covering the beat, but the one thing I've noticed about Lucas is being here is just his attention to detail and focus before and after games.
07:14 He's locked in. He's he's gone to his pregame workouts 15 minutes earlier than he was in a regular season.
07:22 And he's trying to get as much work as he can to get I want to say, get that neat working to be available throughout the game, because once he's in, he's playing the majority of the minutes on a nightly basis.
07:35 He's averaging somewhere around 38. I want to say minutes a night, especially in postseason for the Mavericks, and they need every bit of it.
07:44 But one thing on on the floor that has stuck out to me, I know a lot of people see the score and they see the highlights, but just his passing ability.
07:52 He has a few touchdown passes to Kyrie Irving in this postseason where it's like, how did you place that ball where it needed to be?
08:01 And I want to say in the last game for he had an alley to Derek Jones, Jr., where he pretty much led him.
08:10 He threw he threw the ball and Derek Jones Jr. was at the three point line.
08:15 But by the time the ball was in the air and at the rim, Derek Jones Jr. was able to dunk it through.
08:20 So I think his passing is really what sticks out to me so far. Yeah, he is certainly showing himself to be elite at that particular facet of the game and really elite.
08:31 And pretty much every metric you want to come up with offensively as the NBA and NHL season start to wind down, things are just heating up in the WNBA and on the baseball front.
08:42 There's no better time than now to join Prize Picks, America's number one fantasy sports app with more than five million active members.
08:50 With Prize Picks, you can turn ten dollars into one thousand dollars in a single game.
08:55 Watching your favorite sports team this summer, you can make a Prize Pick lineup in as little as 60 seconds.
09:01 You just need to pick more or less on two to six players, stat projections, and you're locked in.
09:07 For me, one of my go to guys has been Jason Tatum of the Boston Celtics, who when it comes to rebounding, I'm going more almost every time.
09:15 He was great for me during the Eastern Conference Finals against Indiana when he reached double digit rebounds in three of the four games.
09:22 That's what I'm talking about, JT. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to one hundred dollars.
09:30 That's right. Just download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to one hundred dollars.
09:37 Pick more. Pick less. It's that easy.
09:45 Defensively, this is where I've been really surprised. To me, of all the things that Dallas has done to get here,
09:53 teams inability to take full advantage of Luka defensively has been surprising.
09:58 And then I went back and I looked at the numbers and just I looked at specifically how the guys shoot against the Mavericks when Luka was a primary defender.
10:08 And guys are shooting damage 60 percent in the playoffs when Luka was guarding them.
10:13 And I didn't do game five because the numbers weren't available when I was doing a research, but I'm just pulling it up now.
10:18 And team guys were like basically around that same number, 60 is percent.
10:24 And I guess here's the thing I'm curious about. How have they been able to not allow that to be a factor?
10:30 Because the Celtics, without even necessarily making a focal point of the game plan, they're going to be looking to go at Luka.
10:38 And if for no other reason, just to make him work a little bit harder on defense.
10:42 So maybe he'll have a little less juice on the offensive end.
10:45 But what has been the key to Dallas not allowing some of his shortcomings defensively to become issues in them getting to where they are now?
10:54 Yeah, there have been a lot of instances this postseason where teams will schematically look to target Luka just because they know defense is not his specialty.
11:07 I think it's interesting because he's actually like stepped up to the challenge of guarding throughout this postseason.
11:13 And he I think is translating over to the rest of his teammates.
11:18 I spoke to Derrick Jones, Jr. a couple of games ago, and Luka had five steals and one block.
11:24 It was a career high five steals. And he joked with me and said, all first team defense.
11:30 But he pretty much said, like, hey, if the best player on a nightly basis is going out and accepting that challenge to defend, then who am I to say I can't go out and defend?
11:39 We know Derrick Jones, Jr. is one of the best defenders and perimeter defenders in the league.
11:44 So I think it's just because they have a team that that is pretty good defensively.
11:51 You add Derrick Jones, Jr., PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford.
11:56 They're able to kind of make up for when guys get past Luke or guys get past Kyrie, that they're able to come over and pretty much deter those shots at the rim.
12:08 Now, the one on one step backs that Anthony Edwards and Shea, James Harden and Paul George, they were hitting.
12:15 I mean, you just got to live with those because those are dynamic shot makers.
12:19 But I think it's been it's been pretty widely known that Lucas stepped his defense up this postseason.
12:25 Yeah. And particularly at moments when they needed to stop.
12:29 I mean, he had that one, I think, deflection or stop against Gobert.
12:32 And I can't remember was game three or four. That was a big, big play.
12:37 And that game and I was a little bit surprised to be candid with you when I started looking at the numbers, because I thought Lucas, the eye test was telling me he was defending better than the actual data was saying.
12:52 Because, again, I didn't see I saw greater effort, I guess, more than anything else in him defensively.
12:57 And a couple of guys that you just mentioned, I wanted us to talk about them. And I was thinking about them after I saw, I think, a video that you posted on X and retweet on X with PJ and and Gafford, who, you know, started from the bottom.
13:15 Now they're here, you know, and the fact that they were in two of just the crappiest NBA programs, something you, my friend, are familiar with.
13:25 They're coming from Charlotte and Washington and to come from that's that type of, you know, back of the bus, end of the league, bottom of the standings position to now being four wins away from an NBA title.
13:37 Talk to me a little bit about just what those two guys in particular have brought to the table, because it really does seem that when you go through all the things that this Dallas team has done well, their emergence, as well as lively, throw him in there too as well.
13:51 But their emergence specifically as guys who are in really bad on bad teams has really been one of the things that has fueled this team's run to get to the finals.
14:00 Yeah, definitely. When you look at the trade deadline acquisition of PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford, he was in Washington.
14:08 PJ was in Charlotte. I got a step for you right here before acquiring those two.
14:13 The Mavs are twenty nine and twenty three in a regular season after acquiring them.
14:18 They went thirty three and fourteen and finished the season. So obviously that's a significant improvement.
14:24 And I think this team was no primarily for his offense before those trades, but they've added a defensive dynamic that's pretty much helped them get to where they are now.
14:35 And I think when you look at a guy like PJ Washington, who can defend the best perimeter player on any given night, that probably wasn't highlighted as much in Charlotte because there were there were fewer expectations of a team who was not destined to make the playoffs.
14:53 Now, when you get in the spotlight, you're playing with a guy like Luca and Kyrie, for that matter.
14:59 Your role is going to be magnified a little bit more. We saw what he was able to do against the L.A. Clippers.
15:07 It's become a meme. He's pretty much said he was standing on business that night.
15:13 And I think he's also added a toughness dynamic to this team that they didn't have before.
15:19 Then when you look at a guy like Daniel Gafford, we all know he's capable of fifth year big man.
15:24 He's a lob threat. He's a rim protector. That's added a different dynamic to this group as well, because when you got two guys like Tyree and Luca who can penetrate and get to the hole, the fact that you're able to win defenses, choose to come up and defend those guys, you can just lob it up and Gafford can finish.
15:44 And that goes the same for likely as well. I think he made all 16 of his field goals in the conference finals, which is an insane when you think about it.
15:53 Yeah, but of course, majority of those were dunks. But still, when you're a rookie planning your first playoff appearance to have that type of success at the rim is paid off in dividends for the Mets.
16:06 Yeah. And rookies typically don't get a ton of burn in the postseason, no matter unless they're like the face of the franchise or they're one of the core guys.
16:14 And and he you know, I was being good. He's not that that player per se, but he is an integral part of what they do.
16:20 And it'll be interesting to see how the Celtics match up with those guys, because the thing that, you know, Boston has been able to beat teams for the most part because they're just deeper.
16:29 Their top five, top six are just you know, they're better than the most top five, top six when you look at it in its totality.
16:37 So it'll be interesting to see how they match up with some of, you know, the non Kyrie and the non Lucas on this Mavs team.
16:44 But before we get any further, I just want to make sure that we talk a little bit about our good friend Kyrie Irving, because he is as I think for Celtics fans,
16:55 there may not be another more polarizing individual in the last 15, 20 years than Kyrie Irving.
17:03 For those who have been under a rock for the last, you know, five, six, seven years.
17:07 Kyrie Irving is a former Celtic who at one point, you know, basically said, if you want me, I'll stay here.
17:14 And then a few months later said, psych, kidding. I don't want to be here.
17:18 And then he went on to, you know, a couple of different days, went to Brooklyn and now he's in Dallas.
17:26 And when he went to Brooklyn, he formed like a super, super, super team with him.
17:32 Kevin Durant and our good friend James Harden did not work out because for various reasons,
17:37 they just never were able to collectively get on the floor for any extended period of time.
17:42 And now he is in Dallas where he's doing. He looks very much like the Kyrie Irving that played with LeBron in Cleveland,
17:49 where he was the clear number two guy and he was OK with that and did exceptionally well in that.
17:56 Michael, you have not been around here when Kyrie Irving is in the building.
18:00 So that will be an experience for you. Whatever, like the worst experience for a player on the road is like,
18:07 just multiply that times about four or five hundred. And that's kind of what you will be seeing when Kyrie comes to the TD guard.
18:14 The level of disdain and hatred that Celtics fans have for this brother is insane.
18:22 Now, obviously, after you guys get after the Mavericks get to the finals and it's clear you play in Boston,
18:29 I imagine he's been asked a few questions about coming back to Boston.
18:32 How has he handled those questions? Because I know he can be a little prickly sometimes, as you probably have experienced.
18:39 But, you know, you get a sense pretty early where he stands on things.
18:43 How has he handled those type of questions? Because they've already, I assume, have come and they're going to continue to come until, you know, this series is over.
18:51 Yeah. So I want to say the first time he was asked about it was by Ernie Johnson from TNT on the broadcast.
18:59 And when he was asked about facing this old team, Boston, he pretty much said he kept it short.
19:04 Boston is just another team that's in the way of our goal. He's been like that all season.
19:10 He's tried not to look ahead. He keeps saying the job isn't finished, which is an ode to his late mentor, Kobe Bryant.
19:20 I think it's interesting because he's just he's just had a different level of focus since the playoffs started.
19:26 And I want to say when he was talking to Scott Van Pelt from ESPN the same night, he admitted to not being, I want to say, the best version of himself.
19:37 Back when he was in Boston, he said he was going through a lot off the floor and that contributed to whatever happened back then.
19:45 And I think he's embracing the challenge of playing in front of those Boston fans.
19:50 We know how, you know, especially how rowdy they can get. He's encountered a couple of fan interactions throughout the playoffs.
19:59 He had a fan that he was going back and forth with in Oklahoma City.
20:04 And I think he and Lucas, especially they feed they feed off that type of stuff.
20:08 Like they love getting heckled. They don't want it to go to a certain point or to the point where they're being disrespected.
20:16 But they like the fan interaction, the engagement, silence and crowds.
20:20 I think this is going to be something we probably haven't seen in a while since maybe LeBron went back to Cleveland as a member of the Heat.
20:29 So I'm looking to I'm looking for looking forward to see how Kyrie and the rest of the Mavs kind of take how he's going to be received.
20:37 But when we talk about what he's done on the floor, it's been phenomenal.
20:40 Just his ability to score is there. He's also taken interest in defending and his leadership is there for this team.
20:50 He's the vocal leader. He's trying to keep his guys together on the sidelines in the locker room.
20:56 He's just been, I want to say, the best version of himself that we've seen in a while.
21:02 The NBA finals have finally arrived and will once again be one of the hottest tickets in sports.
21:07 You want to be there and not have to mortgage a family home or take a second job to do so.
21:12 Right. Game time makes getting NBA finals tickets even faster and easier.
21:17 Prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to the tip off with killer last minute deals.
21:24 All in prices, views from your seat and their lowest price guarantee. Game time takes the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets.
21:32 That's a huge get when it comes to the NBA finals, which will start in Boston for games one and two.
21:38 Those tickets are going to be super pricey. So waiting to the last minute and take advantage of the game time app makes a ton of sense.
21:46 Here in Boston, every season is sporting season.
21:49 So for me, the game time app makes it super easy to find tickets for just about every sport in my area,
21:55 which is great this time of year when family or friends pop into town at the last minute and you're scrambling for something to do that won't break the bank.
22:04 Like, you know, getting tickets to the NBA finals. Game time has you covered.
22:09 So take the guesswork out of buying NBA finals tickets with game time.
22:12 Download the game time app, create an account and use code CLNS for twenty dollars off your first purchase.
22:19 Terms apply. Create an account and redeem code CLNS for twenty dollars off your first purchase.
22:25 Download game time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed.
22:30 I would agree. I would agree. I mean, I've seen, you know, even before the playoffs started, I saw at least half a dozen Mavericks games this year.
22:38 And the thing that jumped out to me about Kyrie that was very different than when he was in Boston was when he was in Boston,
22:47 he was kind of cast in this alpha top dog leadership role that I don't know if Kyrie was ready to embrace it to the level of which the responsibilities that come with being in that role come with.
23:02 Like Kyrie is great at doing his thing and he's great at, you know, getting other guys involved.
23:08 But to be the to be the adult in the room, to be the one responsible for that, for the success of everyone like he was in, he's ready to be a mentor to Tatum.
23:18 But I don't know if he was ready to be Jason's leader. Same thing with Jaylen Brown.
23:21 And because all of those guys were looking at him to be their leader because he was the best player on the team.
23:26 And when he was doing a little bit more, he just didn't really know how to, I think, fully get the best out of them.
23:36 And I think a lot of it just had to do with he just wasn't ready for that role.
23:40 And part of it, I think, had to do with the fact that that's a role that he isn't necessarily built for.
23:45 Kyrie is a phenomenal player, but I don't think it's a coincidence that the best versions of Kyrie Irving are the ones that we saw with LeBron James and the one that we're seeing now with Luca.
23:54 And I don't think it's a coincidence that those are the only two scenarios in his entire basketball life where there was a guy on the team that was better than him.
24:02 And I'm just curious, how has he been with the non-Lucas on the team?
24:08 Like, how has that engagement interaction been? Because to me, that for Kyrie, to me, that's critical that he gets that part of things right.
24:17 And it seems like he has from afar.
24:20 Yeah, you mentioned it right there. Back then when he was the alpha on the Celtics, I think he was like he admitted he wasn't in a space where he could be that leader.
24:31 Now, he's been through a lot since he last went to the NBA finals with Cleveland.
24:37 And he has the experience factor. I think that's the important part of his leadership.
24:42 He's been there at the highest level. We all know the shot he made in Game 7.
24:46 So he has a certain level of credibility when it comes to speaking to these young guys on the maps.
24:53 One player in specific who I want to highlight is Jayden Hardy, second year guard.
24:59 He's from Detroit, which is obviously where I was in my last stop.
25:03 But he's kind of taking a mentor menteeship or type of relationship with Jayden Hardy.
25:12 We spoke to him at practice last week and he pretty much said, like, I'm trying to do everything.
25:18 I'm trying to soak up everything I can from Kyrie when it comes to just how he carries himself on the floor, off the floor.
25:25 And just especially like he has the ability to use his dribble and use his handle to get to the rack.
25:33 Similar to Kyrie, he says he's trying to take his moves as well.
25:36 So when it comes to other guys on the team, I look at a guy like Hardy. I look at a guy like Josh Green.
25:44 I look at guys like Lively who are still fairly young in their careers and they're looking to Kyrie because he's been there.
25:52 So I think his words carry a little bit of weight when it comes to this team, just because he's seen it at the highest level.
25:59 And before I get you out of here, I wanted to talk a little about Chris Stapspor-Zingas, who has missed several games for the Boston Celtics with a calf injury.
26:06 He should be ready to roll come NBA finals time.
26:10 What impact does a player like that, you think, have on just what the Mavs are looking to do?
26:15 Because at six, seven foot two, he has the ability to score on a block.
26:20 He loves to knock down shots from the elbow, can shoot the three ball as well.
26:23 How does a guy like that change or modify the Mavericks approach to this series?
26:30 Yes, it's going to be a difficult matchup for sure. And I think honestly, I think he's the X factor for this Boston Celtics team.
26:36 Obviously, they play really well without him. But when you add a guy at that size who can do all the things you just mentioned, it's a nightmare for opponents.
26:45 And it's interesting because Carl Anthony Towns, not similar build, similar build size wise, but book wise, of course, he's bigger.
26:53 But I think the Mavericks did a really good job in limiting him in this last series.
26:58 He was struggling really, really badly from three point line until that game four when he hit three clutch threes in the fourth quarter.
27:09 I think if the Mavs can pretty much do the same defensive scheme that they did against Cat, I think they'll be successful.
27:15 But if if Chris stops is as healthy as we think he's going to be, he's going to pose a big night.
27:22 He's going to pose a matchup problem for the Celtics, for the Mavericks bigs, because you've got to bring Gafford out to the three point line.
27:29 You've got to bring Lively out to the three point line. He can he can stretch the floor and knock those shots down.
27:33 So I think it'll be a big match. Yeah. Yeah. And not only not only for his own office, but one of the things that the Celtics missed with him is the spacing that he provides, because like you said, he if you have your big defending him and that big is way on a three point line.
27:48 That means Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown and Derek Wyatt and Drew Holiday, they've got more access to get into the paint and less worries about help side defender.
28:00 And if and if a guy like Lively or Gaffer who's defending Chris Stapps is out there on that three point line and they they go downhill to try to help out, they're going to kick it out to his for what will maybe be a wide open or lightly contested jump shot or three pointer.
28:16 So it really they really do what Porzingis put you in kind of a pick your poison place for sure.
28:22 For sure. I think he's going to get an interesting reception once he returns to Dallas.
28:26 Well, we talk about Kyrie going back to Boston.
28:30 How do you feed me that you put that you put that you put those crumbs on the table as less eat, less eat.
28:38 How do you think he's going to be perceived because people forget that he spent some time and he's played with Luca.
28:44 Yeah, he's played with Luca, spent a couple of years with him here in Dallas.
28:48 I think that was the ideal pairing when he was brought over here from Washington and it just never panned out.
28:56 He was he was he wasn't healthy when he was here. And at times I don't think him and Luca really connected in a way that obviously he and Kyrie connect in the ways that I'm sorry, Luca and Branson connected.
29:10 That pairing just really never fit. And I think Mavericks fans haven't forgotten that the Christoph Porzingis error.
29:18 So I think he's going to hear when he when he comes back for game three.
29:21 I'm looking forward to doing a little comparing contrast.
29:24 Like how will the reception of Kyrie rank against the comparison of Porzingis?
29:29 Who's going to get who's going to hear more from the home crowd?
29:34 I'm not I'm thinking it's going to be Kyrie in Boston for sure, though.
29:39 For sure. For sure. And before we get out of here, I wanted to definitely touch on something you touched on earlier.
29:45 And just to give people a sense, you're this is your first year on the Mavs beat.
29:50 So some may wonder, where did he come from? Let him know where you what you were doing before you came to Dallas and why that would give them a sense of why I'm saying this brother has gone from ashy to classy in the business.
30:02 Let them know where you came from, Mike. Yeah. So I'm actually a month and a half into being on the Mavs beat.
30:09 And the previous two seasons I was covering the Detroit Pistons for the Detroit Cubs.
30:15 So they they had the worst record in the league back to back years.
30:21 It was bad. The leagues, they tied the league's longest overall losing streak this year.
30:27 Twenty eight consecutive losses, which they were actually up on the Boston Celtics by 20 at halftime.
30:35 Last time I was at TD Garden and you just had a feeling that it wasn't going to last.
30:41 And Boston just walked them down in the second half. They got focused.
30:45 They stopped shooting those threes and they played more to more on the inside.
30:50 It was it was curtains from there. But right after that game, ironically, they broke the streak against the Toronto Raptors.
30:58 It was the same day that O.G. Ananobi was traded to the Knicks. But yeah, it's been an interesting path for sure.
31:04 Leave in two weeks with two late two weeks left in the regular season to go cover a team that's now in the NBA finals.
31:12 Man, it's been a journey. Yeah, but man, look, you have paid your penance for this, man.
31:17 I mean, you went through probably two of the toughest seasons for a beat writer because as much as you were impartial and you just want to cover the games and you enjoy that process.
31:26 You want to cover a team that's winning some games, too. It gets a little tired after a while.
31:32 You know, the team you're covering lose game after game after game.
31:36 I don't have a ton of experience about that because when I used to cover the Pistons back in the day, they were nice.
31:41 Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, they were nice.
31:45 And after that, not so much. But it's great that you are finally getting a chance to really see what the other side of the NBA life is like.
31:56 And again, again, continued success covering this Mavericks team. And we'll see you up here in Boston very soon.
32:04 And again, Michael Curtis, Dallas Morning News, cover the Dallas Mavericks.
32:08 And before we get out of here, just want to do one last quick shout out to PrizePix, the exclusive Daily Fantasy partner of CLNS Media Network.
32:17 And also GameTime, which takes the guesswork out of buying last minute tickets to your favorite sporting events.
32:22 Just download the GameTime app, create an account and use code CLNS and get you $20 off your first purchase.
32:28 Terms apply. For Michael Curtis, this is H. Rob Blakely and this is the Big 3 NBA Podcast.
32:36 (music)