• 2 months ago
A. Sherrod Blakely, Gary Washburn, and Kwani Lunis bring you another episode of the Big 3 NBA Podcast! In today's show, they discuss the Celtics closing out their preseason and turning their attention to opening night against the New York Knicks.

0:00 - Intro
1:02 - Tatum for MVP
6:03 - Load management for Holiday
8:44 - Roster decisions discussed
10:38 - Lonnie Walker's value
14:43 - Mazzulla's coaching style
17:12 - Team's biggest challenge
19:51 - Preseason standout players
22:41 - Utilizing players effectively
25:14 - Jordan Walsh's growth
27:40 - Importance of development
30:39 - Focus for game one
33:40 - Conference Finals overview
36:00 - Coach respect discussion
42:27 - Ticket search tips
44:02 - Journalism bias discussion
46:00 - Covering teams fairly
50:59 - Media threats discussed
54:20 - Society's polarization impact
56:47 - Wings and charity event


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Transcript
00:00The Big 3 NBA podcast is powered by PrizePix and the Game Time app.
00:24Hey everyone, welcome into this episode of the Big 3 NBA podcast.
00:29The usual crew is here, HRI Blakely, Gary Washburn, I'm Kwani Lewis, and we are right
00:36as the Celtics preseason has come to a close, the Celtics 4-1 in preseason play.
00:41But also more importantly, it's time for the regular season.
00:45But before we get right into that, let's talk about that last game, that loss against Toronto.
00:51What would you say was your biggest takeaway from their first loss so far in the new season?
00:57Let the Tatum for MVP candidate candidacy begin right now.
01:01Tatum was good.
01:03I mean, that was like the Jason Tatum that if he plays that well consistently, there's
01:12no way in the world that he'll be in and outside of the top three for the league MVP.
01:15He was really good, knocking down shots, getting guys involved, rebounding the ball, defending.
01:19Didn't play a ton of minutes, but was extremely effective and efficient in the minutes he
01:23got out there.
01:25To me, it was a Jason Tatum that I think the Celtics are going to need if they're going
01:29to have a shot, a legitimate shot of repeating as champions.
01:33They're going to need that Jason Tatum to show up night in, night out.
01:35And this is the thing that I think is a little bit scary about the Celtics right now.
01:39They go up the T-dot and basically, they go deep into their bench, guys who we are not
01:46going to see much of, if at all, rest of the season, and they damn near win the game.
01:51I mean, they literally had that game after getting down big and they were in position
01:55to potentially pull it out.
01:57Guys, the Davidson kid, who's on a two-way, made some big free throws in that game.
02:02You start looking at other guys on the bench coming up big, knocking down shots.
02:06It was the kind of game that I think reminds everyone that the Celtics core group is ridiculously
02:11talented and those guys at the end of the bench, they can do some things too.
02:15This is a deep team.
02:17It's a really deep team.
02:22I mean, I thought it was a nice finale.
02:25I mean, you know, like-
02:26You go, Gary.
02:28What?
02:28Bring us down, Gary.
02:29Go ahead.
02:30No, I'm not.
02:31I mean, I thought it was a decent ending.
02:33Like, I thought the whole preseason went well for them.
02:36I thought it was good to see Al Horford, first game, back in action.
02:40He didn't shoot the ball well, but he scored two points.
02:44You know, he got, I think, 23 minutes, so he got his burn.
02:48He said he felt good after the game.
02:50The main goal of this game was to keep everybody healthy.
02:53He didn't want any injuries, no pulled hamstrings,
02:56nothing that could affect the impact of the early season.
03:01Nothing came out of that.
03:04I thought their defense, Toronto had a lot of tough shots.
03:08Like, Scottie Barnes and Grady Dick both were just very good.
03:11Scottie Barnes hit four threes in like the first five minutes.
03:15Grady Dick was beating them down the floor.
03:17I thought, though, the one thing that I did not particularly care for
03:20in that game was their defense after main baskets.
03:24Toronto were literally six, seven seconds after a main basket score layup,
03:29because the Cells weren't getting back on defense.
03:31They got to watch out for that, because teams are going to take the ball
03:34at the hoop, run it up the floor.
03:36And if they don't get back, they're going to get burned on that.
03:39So that was the one thing I took away that didn't look so good.
03:43Other than that, they outscored them in one stretch, 26 to 2.
03:48And then they made some mistakes in the third quarter.
03:51Toronto hit some shots.
03:53Yaka Pertle kind of got going.
03:56And then, like you said, Sharive, the bench guys,
03:59the training camp guys made a run, kind of a ticky-tack foul on JD Davidson
04:03to give the Raptors go-ahead free throws.
04:07And then Jordan Walsh looked like he was fouled at the end.
04:11They didn't call it.
04:12The kid out of Utah, Carlson, came off the bench and blocked the shot.
04:18I think everybody was ready to get the hell out of there, so they just didn't.
04:21They just let it play, and the Celtics lose.
04:23But overall, you would love for them to blow out Toronto by 30 and go 5-0.
04:33But it doesn't really matter.
04:34You don't really remember preseason records.
04:37You just want the first five to play well.
04:38They did.
04:39Peyton Pritchard shot over 50% or, sorry, 19 for 39.
04:45I've got to get the total numbers for the three-point line.
04:48He was, sorry, 21 for 39, I want to say, or 21 for 41.
04:5521 for 41, I want to say, or 44.
04:58I'm sorry.
04:59He was 50% damn near from three-pointer into preseason.
05:03He looked comfortable.
05:04No true holiday last night.
05:06He didn't make the trip.
05:08He left some guys at home just to rest, and they get a couple of more days off
05:12before they return to practice on Friday.
05:14So all systems go with this team.
05:17The preseason couldn't have gone any better in terms of no one else got hurt.
05:22Porzingis is making progress.
05:24Al Horford said he felt good after playing his first game.
05:29Tatum looked like he's adjusted.
05:32Brown making every two he takes.
05:35Pritchard playing well.
05:37Derek White.
05:37So all systems go for this team.
05:40Gary, you just touched on something that I think is really important
05:45about Drew Holiday.
05:47I really hope we see more load management used on him this year.
05:51Because I think he was such a low-key, high-impact player in the postseason.
05:57When you look at the mileage that brother has racked up in his career,
06:01it's kind of at that point where you need to start treating him this year the way
06:04you treated Al Horford last year.
06:06Especially when you've got a squad where you can miss him for
06:11a game here and there, and not miss a beat.
06:14And to me, you need to obviously, I think Peyton Pritchard has earned a right
06:19to feel that void when he's not around.
06:21He's definitely earned that.
06:23But if you're looking to add some depth on the bench with Peyton moving to that
06:27starting lineup for Drew from time to time,
06:29you might want to turn to your boy, Gary, Lonnie Walker, the fourth.
06:33I don't want to hear about the third or the second.
06:36I only want the fourth.
06:37I don't care about, Lonnie Walker, the fourth is the one.
06:42Gary, your boy is good, yo.
06:45I will give you credit.
06:46Gary has been on Lonnie Walker more than anyone else was.
06:51Gary invested in him the way I used to invest in Romeo Langford.
06:55Irrationally deep-pocketed investment.
06:58And Gary did that with Lonnie Walker, and I respect that.
07:01Lonnie has done everything you could possibly want a guy to do in his
07:06situation to make a case to stick around and get that 15th spot.
07:11But as we know, that's a whole lot of cheddar for your 13th man, or
07:16your 10th man, or your 9th man.
07:18So I don't know if the sub's willing to cut that check.
07:21That's real.
07:22Yeah, that's the whole controversy.
07:24What do you do with him?
07:26Because let's be honest, the other 29 teams are looking at the Celtics.
07:35They're looking at Walker.
07:36They might clear a roster spot for him.
07:39He's gonna get an opportunity elsewhere.
07:41I just don't think he's gonna be in Maine for long.
07:44I think the Celtics, if you wanna lose Lonnie Walker, send him to Maine.
07:50That's what I think.
07:51Because another team is gonna snap him up.
07:54He's 25 years old.
07:56He's athletically fine.
07:57He can score.
07:58He got off to a slow start, but
07:59I thought he had a couple of good ball games in the two games in Boston.
08:03He can help a team.
08:05So if you wanna lose him, please send him to Maine on an Exhibit 10 contract,
08:10a non-guaranteed deal.
08:11He's gonna get, some team is gonna sign him.
08:14You're gonna have to figure out, do you wanna pay $10 million?
08:17Because even if he gets a minimum,
08:18that's how much it's gonna cost him, the luxury taxes.
08:21Is that worth it to have him on the roster?
08:24They've got to determine that before Saturday.
08:26I think it is.
08:28I think what you do is you figure out a way to use them.
08:32You can't have too much depth.
08:34This is a team.
08:35And then you can, like you said, Shirai, you can give other guys a break.
08:38You don't have to play true holiday major minutes every night.
08:43You don't have to paint 34, 35 minutes every night.
08:45You can add a new wrinkle and element to your team.
08:50And so to me, I think it's worth it for one year.
08:55Now, if you really like, let's say, Jaden Springer,
08:58if you think he's gonna make an impact, the question as well is that too many guys,
09:04too many cooks in the kitchen, you have to figure that one out.
09:08But I think Lonnie Walker helps his team probably more than Jaden Springer.
09:13But they gotta figure that out.
09:15And that 15th roster spot, and I think as we're seeing with this new CBA,
09:20a lot of teams are holding on to 14 cuz it just ain't worth it to pay 12,
09:2410, $8 million for a guy making $2 million because you're paying 6 million in
09:29luxury taxes.
09:31Well, here's the crazy part about that, Gary.
09:33If we're being honest and keeping it 100,
09:35Lonnie is worth $10 million in this day and age of NBA.
09:39He probably would have gotten that maybe in another year.
09:42He probably would have gotten a mid-level exception contract.
09:45I'm not sure what the word out is on him.
09:48I just don't think he'll last in the G League.
09:50I just think that's a mistake unless you, now you wanna do him right.
09:54And you wanna say, okay, Lonnie, we're gonna send you to the G League.
09:59You're gonna get signed by another team.
10:02But we thank you for your service.
10:06We know we can't hold on to you.
10:09But a team who's really needs them can sign them, but
10:13it's probably gonna be a minimum deal, right?
10:16So if you wanna do that as a hookup to him, but if you want him for
10:21yourself, and you know that you sign him, do you sign to a two-way deal?
10:28Would he accept that?
10:29I think if I'm his agent, I'll probably say, no, my man gotta have an NBA deal.
10:33He's an NBA player, he's not a two-way player.
10:36But we'll see.
10:38I mean, they got a Saturday to decide it.
10:40They haven't spared any expense now, then, over the last few months.
10:46Why start now?
10:47But I understand, and it is the last roster spot.
10:53And the rest of the guys that we can talk about, a guy like Jordan Walsh,
10:56is starting to look a lot better.
10:59You got Shireman, who's occupying a roster spot, he's on a contract.
11:05You gotta figure out what to, you're not gonna do anything with him.
11:08You're gonna hold on to him, and you'd have to figure out, okay,
11:12do you trade Springer for a second round pick or something?
11:17Do you kind of give some guy away to clear cap space, to sign Walker?
11:22Or do you just take the hit?
11:24I, if the Celtics, if you're talking about one year, you take the hit.
11:29Thankfully, that's above all of our pay grades.
11:31Shout out to Brad Stevens, he can figure that one out.
11:34Off the top, Sherrod, you gave some flowers to Jason Tatum and
11:36his performance so far.
11:38We have our big three, but the Celtics, their own big three.
11:40Let's acknowledge the other two that make up that trio, Jalen Brown, and
11:45of course, Coach Mazzullo.
11:47What have you two taken away for Brown in this preseason?
11:52Gary, what you got?
11:55I thought Brown has been fantastic.
11:58I thought he's been well.
11:59He's done what he's supposed to do.
12:01He looks like he's ready for this season.
12:02He looks like he's motivated after the Olympic slide and all that.
12:06White, I mean, I think White's been fine too.
12:13I think there's nobody who has, you look at and you're just like, man,
12:18they're not ready.
12:19Everybody's ready.
12:21Drew looks ready.
12:23White looks ready.
12:24They all look ready.
12:26The only thing that you might think about, Celtic fans,
12:30is do you start Luke Cornett and bring Hal Orford off the bench?
12:34That's the question.
12:35Or how much does Luke Cornett, how much does his role increase with
12:42Porzingis out and having to kind of limit Orford's minutes?
12:45Nemeus Keita, what do you do with him?
12:49You give him a bigger role.
12:50And then obviously, Xavier Tillman.
12:53That's the only thing.
12:54But the rest of the big three, the Benz and the White and
12:57those guys are all, I have nothing.
13:03They all come in great shape, look like mid-season form.
13:08And that's a very encouraging sign.
13:10What about Colts?
13:12You're good, Shara.
13:13Yeah, I was talking about Joe Mizzoula.
13:16Yeah, she wants you to talk about your boy Joe Mizzoula.
13:19Yeah, there's a delay, I think, but.
13:21I thought you said the big goal.
13:23Well, we- Talk about your boy Joe Mizzoula.
13:25You're framing it as the three more important people on this.
13:29Okay.
13:30Say you're Brian Mizzoula.
13:32I didn't know you meant Mizzoula.
13:34That's what I said.
13:34Coach Mizzoula.
13:36Are you playing vision ball?
13:40What have you seen from coaching in the preseason?
13:42Well, I thought that Mizzoula was fine.
13:44I think their philosophy is a little different.
13:47They're taking more threes because they have, I think, better shooting.
13:52We'll see how that works.
13:54We'll see whether the only thing I was concerned about was the lack
13:59of perimeter defense last time on Jacob Perl.
14:04I thought that he kind of dominated the paint.
14:07And when you have a big lumbering center like an NB,
14:10how are the Celtics gonna deal with that without Porzingis bringing them
14:13away from the basket, Ken Cornett, Ken Horford at this advanced stage.
14:19Defend guys like that.
14:21And I just thought they struggled last night in that category.
14:24But I thought, overall, Mizzoula has been fine.
14:28He's short-tempered as he usually is.
14:32He has not patted anybody on the back.
14:35He is motivating these guys.
14:36These guys seem like they're ready to go.
14:38So, and I think they're gonna be a little bit different this year with,
14:42I said, with the shooting and without Porzingis trying to figure out ways to
14:47score, they're not gonna be as interior-oriented because they don't have that
14:52major interior scorer or that guy who can, you can just kind of throw a hoop to
14:57maybe Cornett here and there, but they don't have that.
14:59So they're gonna have to figure out other ways to score.
15:02No, I like feisty Joe,
15:05because I think that's what we're seeing a little bit more of now.
15:08And Joe understands all too well that winning a championship is hard.
15:15The only thing harder than winning a championship is winning another one
15:17right after it.
15:18And that's what they're, he's prepping his guys for that.
15:21He knows that however mentally tough they were,
15:24whatever that level peaked at last season,
15:27they gotta take it to another level this year because it's going to be so much harder.
15:31And I think Joe is going to be harder on those guys and
15:33is going to expect more from them and is going to challenge them more.
15:36And we started to see kind of glimpse of that in the preseason.
15:39No one should feel comfortable on this team and Joe Mizzoula,
15:42I give him credit, he's setting the tone with that.
15:45And I give Tatum and Brown credit.
15:48They are taking that pressure of repeating and
15:52they're channeling it the way you're supposed to.
15:54Tatum, I think is right now, he's showcasing, look, yeah,
15:57I can get 25 points in my sleep, but
15:59I need to improve the mechanics of my jump shot so that I can be even better.
16:02Jalen Brown, yeah, I played a certain type of physicality last year, but
16:07I gotta get stronger, I gotta be even more physical.
16:09I gotta bring bully ball to another level this season, and
16:12he's been able to show that.
16:13And you start looking at this roster, and as you pointed out, Gary,
16:16there isn't that one guy that you're looking at like, damn,
16:19somebody spent a little too much time at the tiki bar this summer.
16:23Somebody spent a little bit too much time doing the wrong kind of pull-ups,
16:27doing these kind of pull-ups, instead of just absolutely working on the body.
16:32They don't have any guys like that this year.
16:33You look at their roster, I mean,
16:35those guys look physically like they're damn near mid-season shape.
16:39And that to me, the things that scare I think most teams about the Celtics
16:44right now is one, they brought the entire band back.
16:47Two, they brought the entire band back and damn near all of them are as good or
16:51better in some facet of their play as they were.
16:54And three, the end of their bench is deeper than they were now.
16:58I mean, they got a guy who's on a damn exhibit 10 contract who can get you
17:0120 points on any given night.
17:04That's how incredibly deep they are.
17:06And you don't gotta be scared to Celtics, you don't, no, absolutely not.
17:10But when the ball goes up and you find yourself down by 15 points,
17:14three minutes to the game, then you're gonna realize, damn,
17:17they haven't even opened up the vault yet of the riches they got in this squad.
17:22And we're getting a head smash.
17:24This team, to me, their biggest challenge is buying the hype.
17:30Because to me, the hype is real.
17:32We're not talking about them as if that, we think they might be able to do this.
17:36And we think this guy might be able to do that.
17:39This is the beautiful thing about this team is that all the talk and
17:43adulation that people have for them is based on what they've done.
17:47Not on what we think they can do, not on what we, in a best case scenario,
17:51this can happen.
17:52This is who they are.
17:53This is what they do.
17:54And this is what you gotta deal with.
17:56And looking at Tatum, looking at Brown, looking at Joe Mizzoula and
17:59just the roles that they play in this team's growth and success.
18:04I just don't see a lot of paths for teams to knock them off the top.
18:08I just don't.
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19:52Well, final look at the preseason before we are officially over it.
19:55Well, let's look at three big preseason winners, Luke Cornett,
19:59Lonnie Walker, the fourth, and Jordan Walsh.
20:02Who do you two think has the best shot of making a major impact
20:06this regular season, even though we've-
20:09I'm going to go- Marty.
20:10I'm going to go with Luke.
20:11I'm going to go with Luke.
20:12I want to go with Lonnie, but I'm going to go with Luke simply because Luke could
20:16potentially be in that starting lineup.
20:18And I do think as the season progresses,
20:20I think Luke will have moments where he'll be with the first group and
20:23obviously moments where he won't.
20:25But what he's showing now, and as I was mentioning earlier about just guys as
20:30good or better, Luke looks like he's better at rim running now than he was before.
20:35Luke looks better defensively.
20:37Like, he doesn't look like he's going to get tossed around like a dirty rag anymore.
20:42Now, in B, that's a different story, because in B, you do that to everyone.
20:46But Luke, he just looks more like an NBA player.
20:49And the thing that always frustrated me about Luke Cornett was he would get
20:54into the game and seem to be happy and complacent with just simply setting screens.
20:59He's actually positioning himself to be more of a threat on offense, and
21:03they're going to need that from him, particularly when you look at Al's game
21:07and where Al's game is just, let's be honest, Al's on the other side of
21:10the mountain, that downward spiral.
21:12And that's okay, because Al has done a lot of great things in his league.
21:15And he's definitely, I love the fact that when he won that chip,
21:19went back to the Dominican Republic, got his flowers, got flowers,
21:22got the key, got the whole shebang.
21:24Love that for Al.
21:25But the reality is, he's just not the same player.
21:28He doesn't make the same kind of impact just because father time always wins.
21:31Luke has an opportunity to really position himself to be a player
21:37that the Celtics can lead on.
21:38I think his rebounding is much better than we've seen in the past.
21:41I think his defense has gotten better.
21:42And again, he's starting to make himself present and available as a scorer.
21:47And the thing that Gary said I thought was interesting was when he talked about
21:50how offensively they might be a little bit different just because of just
21:53how they're made up.
21:55I really wish Joe would just take only one page,
21:58only one page out of the Doc Rivers playbook, and
22:02find a way to utilize one player the way Doc used Avery Bradley.
22:07Avery Bradley could not score much at all, but those baseline cuts,
22:12just that off the ball movement that Avery played with,
22:16he gave them another scoring option that teams couldn't really defend.
22:20Because you're not worried about your fifth option.
22:23You're thinking about, I gotta deal with Paul Pierce.
22:25I gotta deal with Ray Allen.
22:26I gotta deal with these Hall of Famers.
22:29I ain't got time to worry about this little six foot two inch rabbit running
22:33around here.
22:34But then next thing you know, he got five laps and ten points in eight minutes.
22:38And so now you got a problem.
22:39I wish Joe would come up with some type of way to utilize.
22:43I look at a guy, for example, like Lonnie Walker.
22:46If he's on your active roster, Lonnie could be that guy.
22:49Whether it's cutting to the baseline, whether it's just freeing him up.
22:51Because if you put Lonnie Walker on the floor with Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown,
22:56Derek White, and any other player, at worst, he's your fourth or fifth option.
23:04I got a 20 point score as my fourth or fifth option.
23:08And if your boy Porzingis comes back, and you put, my goodness.
23:13I'm hoping that Joe comes up with one or two wrinkles offensively to utilize
23:19his players in a way that teams just don't see coming.
23:21And I see having guys being able to score off of really sharp,
23:25crisp cuts to the basket off ball movement.
23:27I see that as a way that they could actually steal a few points
23:31without really doing anything significantly different or
23:34drastic to what they do offensively.
23:36I wish Joe was just one or two sets like that.
23:39Just give me like four points a game like that.
23:42If I get four to six points, because that all of a sudden, for
23:46whoever is getting those points, it makes them feel more involved in what
23:49the offense is doing.
23:50And for the opponents, it becomes another thing you gotta worry about.
23:54And that's what you want.
23:55You don't necessarily need guys to score a bunch of points.
23:57You need teams to worry about a bunch of guys scoring points.
24:01Yeah, I mean, I agree.
24:06I think obviously with Cornette having more equity in terms of the franchise and
24:12the confidence of Joe Mazzulla, he'll play more, he'll contribute more.
24:18I'm intrigued to see what Jordan Walsh can bring, age 20, second year.
24:25And like a lot of these youngsters, probably came out of school too early,
24:28wasn't ready for the league last year.
24:30But playing with more confidence and had a real rough summer league.
24:33But playing with more confidence now, I was impressed with what I saw last night.
24:39Just his overall flow, he's getting into the rhythm of the game.
24:43He's not acting like, I guess you can use an example.
24:47Like you look at Bronny James, and I watched the Warriors Lakers last night.
24:53And Bronny is like that freshman kid playing in a varsity game.
24:56He's just trying to stay out of people's way.
24:59He's just kind of running around, he's not aggressive.
25:02If he gets the ball, he passes it and sets a screen.
25:07Or it's shoot it, shoot it, Bronny, and he shoots and he misses it or whatever.
25:11Like, that's the stage he's at.
25:13And that was a stage Jordan Walsh was at last year.
25:16Now he seems like all those years, sorry, months,
25:20weeks playing with Tatum, playing with Brown.
25:22That he's kind of learned, okay, I should, I gotta act like I belong here.
25:26I gotta fake it till I make it, even though I'm still only 20.
25:29I still probably should be at the University of Arkansas.
25:32As he would be only entering his junior year, believe it or not.
25:36I mean, he left as a freshman, he has gotta act like he belongs.
25:41That's how you stay in the NBA.
25:43You can't do the deer in headlight thing too long.
25:46And I'm impressed with how he has adjusted after a tough summer league.
25:50Cuz I think the expectations were, okay, second summer league.
25:56He's not the young guy anymore, even though he's still really young.
25:59He's gonna go out there and show us some things.
26:01And he really, really pressed.
26:03And so for me, I feel like it was good to see him take that step forward.
26:10So I think he might actually have a role on this team.
26:12It might not be right away.
26:14But like Sherrod said, if you wanna arrest somebody.
26:17So I'm pointing to Jordan Walsh.
26:19I think we all know what to expect from Coronet.
26:22But I think Walsh is a guy that can have a sneaky good contribution to this team.
26:27Occasionally, not all the time.
26:30But as a wing off the bench, give Jason a break or give Jalen a break.
26:35And make some plays, hit some shots, make a defensive play, get a steal, rebound.
26:40Because that's what he's gonna have to do.
26:41He's gonna have to be that three and D guy.
26:43He's gonna have to be that Swiss army knife.
26:45He's not exceptionally skilled at anything.
26:48And that's the one thing that I don't know why some of these kids come in to
26:53the NBA and you're okay at everything.
26:56But you ain't, Sherrod, second round picks ain't making a whole lot of money.
27:01But you know what?
27:02You're talking about cats- Except Ronnie James.
27:06That's the exception.
27:08But the thing is, Jordan has got to get good at everything and not just okay.
27:13And he's getting better, better defender, better rebounder,
27:17better in the flow of the game, better screener, things like that.
27:20So it's gonna take time, but I do see the progress.
27:24And I think that's one of the encouraging things.
27:26And even Jaden Sprung, I didn't get a chance to see Jaden all that much
27:31in terms of his contributions.
27:33But it looks like he's making a step forward.
27:36And I know Jordan's taking a step forward.
27:38So I think that's the encouraging thing in terms of,
27:42I think Cornette's gonna have a bigger role.
27:45But look out for Jordan Walsh to have some type of contribution as that eighth or
27:49ninth man to get out there and get something done.
27:54He could be there, Avery Bradley.
27:56I mean, when you look at just what they are going to be looking for from him,
28:00they're gonna be looking for the same things Doc was looking for from Avery.
28:03Just bring the energy, play good defense, and keep moving without the ball.
28:07Because if you're going to be in position to score,
28:09the ball's gonna find you.
28:10Now you're two best players.
28:13Tatum, I think, last year made that necessary leap to becoming a better
28:17facilitator.
28:18And Jalen Brown has talked about that being one of the focal points of his game
28:22going into this season.
28:23And we all know when Jalen Brown puts his mind to improving in a specific area,
28:26that usually gets done.
28:28He usually gets it done.
28:29So now, if you're playing with those guys, you have a much better chance to get
28:34the rock and a chance to score than if this were two, three, four years ago.
28:38So yeah, I mean, Jordan Walsh, he could be a new one.
28:42And Gary Jordan, if I do believe, check me on this if I'm wrong.
28:46But Jordan came into the league before NIL money was being dispersed, right?
28:50Or was he?
28:51No, I think he probably could have gotten a little NIL.
28:54I mean, he was only two years ago.
28:56Okay. I don't think he got the fat check.
28:58Yeah, he wasn't big enough to make.
29:01Yeah, I mean, but I honestly do think he could have.
29:05But I do think he definitely probably got a little bit of money from playing
29:09at Arkansas.
29:10But if you look at that Arkansas team that he played on with Black,
29:15the guy who went to Orlando Magic, another guy, Smith, who went to Charlotte.
29:22There was a very, very deep team.
29:24He was like the seventh man on that team, which I think probably took
29:28Eric Musselman, who was then the coach, now he's at USC.
29:31Then kind of by surprise, Walsh came out.
29:35But what's done is done.
29:37But I do think seeing him play with that confidence is an encouraging sign.
29:42Because when you're the Celtics at this point, and we're not talking only this
29:46season, but in the future, development is gonna be critical.
29:50Cuz these guys don't make no money yet.
29:51Shireman's development, Anton Watson's development,
29:54Jordan Walsh's development.
29:56Because you're gonna wanna keep Tatum and Brown around.
29:58And eventually, then you still got a few more years of Drew Holiday and
30:02Derek White.
30:03So you're gonna have to cultivate your guys in the system to where they can help.
30:09Cuz they ain't making no money yet,
30:10because you're not gonna be able to sign free agents.
30:13Right.
30:14October 22nd is when it all officially begins.
30:17Gary, you've been saying from the get-go, they need to focus on basketball.
30:22Of course, the banner will be raised, the rings will be distributed.
30:25But once that's over,
30:26they need to get back into the headspace of trying to win another one.
30:30What do you both think they need to be focused on for
30:33game one, other than winning?
30:37To me, I think it's the Knicks and what they're gonna come out with and
30:41how different they're gonna play with Karanthi Towns.
30:44I'd want them to punch first.
30:46Just come out there with some momentum.
30:48The Knicks are gonna be fired up.
30:50They're gonna probably watch that ring ceremony.
30:52They're gonna go, hey, that should be us next year.
30:54Next 12 months from now, that should be us at the Madison Square Garden on TNT.
31:00Unfortunately, it might be Amazon Prime or
31:03whatever station takes from TNT, cuz it won't be TNT anymore.
31:07It could be NBA 2K5.
31:10Yeah, whatever.
31:11Netflix, Tubi, Hulu, whatever it is.
31:20Might be on social media.
31:22Yes.
31:23Could be on Twitter.
31:24HBO Max.
31:25On Twitter.
31:26Yeah, BET.
31:28Anyway, whatever, they're gonna look at that and say, that should be us next year.
31:35And so they're gonna try to punch first, and
31:37the Celtics are gonna have to punch first.
31:38Come out fired up.
31:40Home fans are gonna be raucous.
31:41Everybody's gonna be excited and emotional with getting the rings and
31:45watching that banner raised.
31:47But you gotta come out there and be ready, cuz the Knicks are gonna be ready.
31:50And I know we don't like the Celtics.
31:52Mikael Bridges don't like the Celtics.
31:53Towns, all of a sudden, he ain't like the Celtics.
31:56Brunson, none of them do like the Celtics.
31:59They ain't there to play the part and be a pass, they there to smash.
32:04You remember that game years ago?
32:06I think it was, I think it might have been Miami.
32:10What team, Sherrod, you remember?
32:13Like, it was like the 07 Heat.
32:19I think they played the Bulls on opening night, and the Bulls beat them by like 40.
32:23Or whatever.
32:23It was like years ago after the Dwyane Wade championship,
32:27when they beat Dallas, before LeBron got there, that 07, and the Bulls just-
32:32That's probably the Heat fans, fun fact.
32:34Embarrassed them on opening night at the house, at Miami.
32:38The Celtics don't wanna be that guy.
32:40Don't be that guy.
32:41Don't get smashed at home.
32:43Be prepared, mentally prepared, physically prepared.
32:47Enjoy the ceremony, but put them rings away, take them to the back, and
32:51get ready to ball, because the Knicks are gonna be ready.
32:54I don't think that's gonna be an issue with this group.
32:56I don't, because their post-championship journey,
33:02whatever you wanna call it, was unlike any other post-championship.
33:06It wasn't as joyful and as, man, this was awesome that we won a championship.
33:12It was like, damn, our best player cannot play on the Olympic team.
33:15Damn, our second best player who got NBA finals isn't even on the damn team.
33:20Damn, our head coach, one of the youngest coaches in the NBA,
33:26has a championship.
33:27He can't even get one damn vote for the GMs as one of the best coaches.
33:31This team is not going to be lacking-
33:34Chris Finch at Minnesota did.
33:36Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
33:39He didn't even get to the conference finals.
33:41So there's so much baked into this team,
33:47not falling into the consistent traps that championship teams fall into
33:52on opening night.
33:53I don't worry about that.
33:55I would not be surprised if they beat the Knicks by 50 points on opening night.
33:59I'm gonna say it.
34:00I would not shock me, Gary.
34:02And I don't think it would shock a lot of people who have watched this team play,
34:07watched how, frankly, there's some gears that this team can shift into that
34:13they are not shifting into, and that's the scary part.
34:16They can beat you by 30 points and have a subpar game and do so.
34:19They're built like that.
34:21And when you take the talent that they have, you take the motivation that they
34:24had just by naturally winning a championship, sprinkle in the fact that so
34:28many of their core players clearly felt disrespected and
34:32are playing with a little bit extra energy, extra mojo.
34:35And your damn coach talking about cross hairs between the eyes.
34:39We want that bullseye.
34:40We want that smoke.
34:42Gary, this team, I'm telling you now,
34:46if they win by 50, would not shock me at all, not at all.
34:52I wanna add to the head coach conversation we had last week.
34:55Julian Benbow, who is Gary's colleague-
34:58Gary's guy.
34:59But also he is a religious listener of the big three, so shout out to him.
35:04But he sent me a message after he went back and
35:06looked up the survey the year after Spell had won his first title.
35:11And guess who was voted the best head coach that year?
35:14Spell.
35:15Pop, Spell actually had no votes in the top four for best head coach.
35:21So it seems to be a trend for the NBA, but obviously still not necessarily.
35:27He got a vote, he did get the vote the year after when they won again, but
35:30it's very telling that I guess maybe the sample size wasn't enough for
35:35the coaches and they had to really prove themselves.
35:37But Missoula clearly, like you said, is already on that tour of proving-
35:41They need to try to treat him like he's second row Joe.
35:43Right.
35:44They need to put some respect, Gary.
35:47They need to put some respect on your coach's name.
35:49Look, his name, your coach's name, your guy.
35:53My guy.
35:54I agree that he's not getting the respect that he deserves after
36:00leading the team to a championship, and I wanna set the record straight.
36:06Twitter still thinks that I've never,
36:11ever, ever, ever, ever called for his firing.
36:15I don't know where that came from.
36:17Honestly, a colleague of mine at the Globe called for his firing and
36:20then wrote a column and said he was wrong, which I respect that.
36:24But I've never, even when it got low, I said, I pondered on TV whether he might
36:30be the right coach after they fell behind 3-0 to Miami, but I've never called for
36:35Mizzou's firing, I've never written that, never said that.
36:39So I don't know who keeps saying that.
36:42I think people love hating you and
36:44they really just think you're the biggest hater.
36:46Yeah, which is fine.
36:48They create narratives.
36:49But it's not even about being a hater.
36:51And then I run into Scout in Toronto, goes, well, yeah,
36:55every time they take a lot of threes, we mention your name on the air.
36:58So that leads to this narrative that I hate threes and I'm upset,
37:04which is funny.
37:05I got a lot of things in my life to be upset about,
37:07that the three tells taking threes ain't one of them, folks, believe me.
37:11If they take 60, I still got a job tomorrow.
37:14It's like, I'm not, let's worry about bigger things.
37:18But I didn't wanna set the record straight.
37:20I have great respect for Mizzou.
37:22I think he's a great coach and he's a rising coach.
37:24So I think he's number one coach in the league, no.
37:26I think there's other coaches who are more established, but
37:30he's only in his third year.
37:32He's not supposed to be the top of the league.
37:33If he was the top of the league,
37:35it's like ain't nobody the best player in the league in the third year,
37:37except maybe Michael Jordan.
37:39And even him in his third year wasn't the best player in the league yet.
37:43He was getting there.
37:44So I think Missoula should use that as fuel that he didn't get a vote.
37:50And who knows what the future holds for him in terms of maybe getting
37:54a coaching year.
37:55But I think, obviously, if you lead a team to a second September championship
37:59that's heavily favored, it's unlikely to get coaching year.
38:02Some other coach is gonna get coaching a year who maybe led a team to
38:05the conference finals or whatever.
38:07So the respect's not gonna be there for Joe overall from the voters or
38:13the media or whatever.
38:15He's gonna have to earn it himself, which he has done.
38:17And I don't think he really particularly cares what people think of him.
38:20And that's another thing.
38:21Joe gives two expletives what you think of him as a coach,
38:27as long as his guys like him and his guys like him.
38:30The players like him.
38:32They know he's off the chains.
38:33He's got his way, just like, I like Sharad.
38:36Sharad's crazy.
38:38Sharad got his, Sharad's off the chains.
38:40Sharad-
38:41We still like him.
38:41We still like Joe Mizzou so much.
38:44I still like him.
38:45Joe Mizzou, that's my guy.
38:47Yeah, Sharad crazy, like we all know.
38:50You know, Sharad off the chains.
38:54Sharad might have one screw loose, one-
38:58We're all a little insane.
39:00He might have 11 donuts in the boxes at a 12.
39:05That's because I ate one.
39:06At the end of my eat, George.
39:08I ate one at the end of my eat, George.
39:10But we love Sharad.
39:11We love Sharad's our guy.
39:13So, I guess the same with Joe.
39:15I think his players understand.
39:17You know, he might have a little, you know, something not quite, you know,
39:22but he's an unusual guy, but they love him.
39:24And that's all that matters is that they love him.
39:28We don't have to love him as media.
39:30I have a high line of respect.
39:31I think Joe's a great guy.
39:34He's unusual.
39:35And I watched, it was funny, last night at this reporter,
39:41this Spanish reporter.
39:43I think he, I've seen him only in Toronto.
39:45I think he's based in Toronto.
39:46He asked Mizzoula, which was an interesting question.
39:50But you got to, you know, when you ask Joe the out of,
39:55off the cuff, out of the cuff-
39:57You got to crush somebody.
39:58Yeah, you got to be careful because he might not answer the way you
40:02want him to answer it.
40:03So, he asked Joe.
40:04And this is something we can discuss.
40:07Yeah.
40:08Do you, would the Celtics be up to playing, like,
40:11the best team in the EuroLeague and really having a world champion?
40:15Right?
40:16You know?
40:17And he asked him, and Joe was like, we'll play.
40:19He said, I don't care.
40:22Shocker, because I was sitting there, because I'll be sitting there
40:26when people ask these questions, just like during the finals.
40:28He's just glad it's not him now.
40:30Yeah, you see that me and him didn't get into nothing during the finals.
40:34I was sitting there chilling.
40:36I'm like, y'all, y'all, ask Joe.
40:38See what Joe says.
40:40Go ahead.
40:41Go ahead.
40:42Go ahead, Vinny.
40:43Go ahead, Vinny Goodwill.
40:44Ask him questions.
40:45You'll find out.
40:46My favorite one will always be, did you see the Royal Family?
40:50He said, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
40:52We're not having that.
40:53Not having it.
40:54So, Joe said-
40:56Joe was like, I don't care.
40:57And he goes, we'll just play whoever's on the schedule.
40:59That was his answer.
41:00OK.
41:01You know?
41:02Oh, that was a good question.
41:03Tatum was like, you know, Tatum, he asked Tatum the same question.
41:06Tatum was like, you know, well, that's kind of what we're living in.
41:09It's not really reality.
41:11They were going to sit there and play the EuroLeague champ.
41:12But, you know, we would never play him.
41:15We'd play him in an exhibition game or in the preseason
41:18when we're not serious.
41:19But Joe, five words.
41:22And I was just sitting there like, good try, my man.
41:26Good effort.
41:27Good try.
41:28A for effort.
41:29I love Joe.
41:30I love Joe.
41:31We all love him.
41:32But that's what you get used to.
41:34And I said, during the finals, I just sat there.
41:37And all the national reporters was like-
41:40Let them.
41:41This is their playground, right?
41:42Go ahead.
41:43I've been here 82 games.
41:44That's a long time.
41:45Y'all think it's me.
41:46Y'all think it's me.
41:47Go ahead.
41:48Go ahead.
41:49I'm a shitster.
41:50Go ahead.
41:51I'm a shitster.
41:54Basketball season will be here before you know it.
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43:28What time is it?
43:29Game Time.
43:30Well, this is a perfect segue because I actually had a chance to talk to Gary last week about
43:36his life, his career, growing up in LA, now covering the Celtics for over 15 years.
43:41And we did have a conversation about what journalism really is, or at least what it
43:44used to be when you two were firmly trained, and we do have a conversation about not necessarily
43:50showing bias.
43:51But as you can see on social media, people still send Gary hate because I think there
43:55is this misconception that he's supposed to be rooting for the team, and that's not really
44:00how it's supposed to be.
44:01So...
44:02That would be Joy.
44:03That ain't about Joy.
44:04There's nothing joyful about Gary.
44:05He's talking about Joy.
44:06He's Mr. Anti-Joy.
44:07You can't root for him.
44:08I'm on the team with Joy.
44:09I love her.
44:11I love what I do, but I just know that it's not my job to be a Celtic hunk, fan, supporter.
44:18When they write, when they play well, I'm going to be the first to write it.
44:21If they don't play well, I have questions, I'm going to be the first to ask Joe or whoever.
44:25And if that's me being a hater, which I think is a term that's thrown around way too much
44:32these days, I'm not a hater, I'm just going to ask the fair questions.
44:37I, and Shirai the same way, I'm sure, and you're the same way with BC, I'm a big Cal
44:43Berkeley fan.
44:44I watched my team blow a 25-point fourth-quarter lead to Miami a couple weeks ago.
44:50I watched them blow a field goal against Pittsburgh.
44:53I don't want my football coach to be asked softball questions about bad losses.
45:00Like, I want to know why the hell did you call that damn play?
45:04How the hell you let my man run for 72-yard touchdown?
45:07How the hell did you let a bad kicker decide to give him a chance to win the game when
45:13he done missed eight kicks in the last three weeks?
45:17That's what I want to know, because I want them to press the coach.
45:23And I don't understand the whole like, well, you're too, I'm a fan of those schools and
45:29that school, and I want to know the answer.
45:31I want the truth and I can handle the truth.
45:35So-
45:36Okay, Nichols.
45:37Great.
45:38Well done.
45:39Well done.
45:40That's my whole thing.
45:41Like, I don't understand it, but like, I'm, you know, if you want, like, I think we have
45:47a situation in journalism now where a lot of younger people grew up fans and they're
45:54covering their local home team and they're still fans, even though, like, I'm just not
46:00comfortable with that.
46:02And I'm sorry.
46:03And, you know, it's not me being from LA or a Celtic hater and all that, that was 40 years
46:09ago.
46:10Like, Bird, like, that was, that's a long time ago.
46:13I'm extremely tight with Cedric Maxwell.
46:17Never thought I'd say that in my life, that's my main man, you know, like, things are different,
46:25but I just think that you have to cover the team fairly with, now, if I say they're good,
46:31when they do good and say, when they go, go, that's how I want my team covered.
46:35If I was a fan, my Dodgers are about to play at a Met, they threw the bullpen game the
46:39other day, terrible mistake by manager Dave Roberts.
46:43I want somebody, I want to know why he didn't have a starting pitcher for the LCS, like
46:47relief for semifinals, while he's throwing some rookie out there to get the grand slam
46:52a lot.
46:53Like, that's what I want to know.
46:54The tough questions.
46:55I don't know.
46:56What do you think, Shirai?
46:57What do you think, Kwame?
46:58Well, I mean, this could be an entire episode in its own right, but I mean, a lot of what
47:05we're talking about when it comes to journalism and folks who are in that space is just implicit
47:11bias.
47:12And before, you know, for the longest time, when you had a bias towards a team, you found
47:17ways to suppress it.
47:18You made an effort to suppress it.
47:21But now, you don't have to, because it's widely accepted and it's embraced.
47:26When you look at folks who are on broadcast networks and they're talking about the various
47:30teams that are covered, they are not the least bit ashamed to say, I love that team.
47:36I grew up here.
47:37I've had his poster on my bedroom wall since I was like seven years old.
47:43And you know, that's unusual for my generation because we were taught that, no, you have
47:48to walk that fine line.
47:50One of the things I talk to my students all the time about is like, you want to be that
47:53golfer who keeps the ball on the fairway, because as long as you keep it on a fairway,
47:57you got a shot at being successful.
47:58But when you're trying to hit a hole in one, or when you're just trying to whack it as
48:01hard as you can, you find yourself way out of bounds.
48:05And but we've embraced that in this day and age of journalism, not only in terms of the
48:10people who report the news, but also the people who are consuming it.
48:14That's why reporters do it, because they know there's an audience that wants to create these
48:19echo chambers.
48:20And again, there's a lot of benefits to having those type of voices, but there's some significant
48:27downsides to it.
48:28And we pretend as if those downsides don't exist.
48:31Like, it's great that everyone loves their team and writes about their team and gets
48:35on Twitter and talk about their team and talk about this, that, and the other without any
48:39type of context, often.
48:41And that lack of context is where the problems come in.
48:45You know, like, getting on Gary about hating on Joe is easy, it's lazy, it's not based
48:54on facts.
48:55Now, getting on Gary about voting for Carmelo Anthony as MVP, yeah, that's a legit gripe.
49:04That's legit, because that's based on facts.
49:06So you know, and shout out to Gary for owning up to that, because when it first came out
49:12that Carmelo got one vote for MVP in Boston, you know who caught most of those early day
49:17strays, right?
49:19The one dude who went to Syracuse who lived in Boston.
49:25That makes sense.
49:26Yeah, yeah, yeah.
49:27I mean, it got to the point where folks from the league office said, Sherrod, look, I know
49:31this wasn't you, but I'm just letting you know, MVP's vote coming out, and there was
49:36a vote in Boston.
49:37I know it wasn't your vote, because I've seen your votes, but you might get some emails.
49:42I'm just like, who the F voted for him for MVP?
49:46Even I voted for LeBron.
49:48And they said, Dabu, Dabu voted for him.
49:56I was so happy when Gary owned up, though, because that just took a lot of pressure off
50:01of you.
50:02Yeah.
50:03I was proud.
50:04How many times can you write, I did not vote for Carmelo for MVP, I voted for LeBron?
50:12I'll say this about revealing the votes, and I know the WNBA had a situation, won last
50:21year when Adrian Wilson got a fourth place MVP vote, and-
50:26This year?
50:27Yeah.
50:28Right.
50:29One person who-
50:30No, last year.
50:31It was unanimous this year.
50:32She didn't win last year, because someone voted her fourth, even though it was pretty
50:40obvious who would vote her fourth, right?
50:42And then this year, Kaitlyn Clark didn't get unanimous, because someone voted for Angel
50:49Reese.
50:50The thing about revealing your vote is you're going to get, obviously, I've gotten a lot,
50:58still to this day, and it's been 11 years, a lot of flack and a lot of negative responses
51:04and hate mail and kids on Facebook sending me notes-
51:09I hate you, Gary.
51:10I hate you.
51:11Don't let me see you in the streets and all that.
51:13Send the real semi-pro.
51:14Don't let me see you in the streets.
51:17So that's fine.
51:19That's fine.
51:20Fans, you want to come at me, fine.
51:22It's when media members, and I've seen this from people on, oh, who voted Asia for it?
51:30Or who like, you better not show your face.
51:33You're not going-
51:34You're bullying.
51:35You're not going to get that person to reveal their vote by threatening them on social media.
51:40They're going to continue to hide.
51:42If you want full transparency, you've got to respect the vote, even though you might
51:46not agree with it.
51:48And I know voting Angel Reese for Rookie of the Year sounds extremely unreasonable, and
51:54I would like to hear the reasoning for it.
51:56But if you are threatening or you're telling that person, I better not see that person,
52:01and I've seen other reporters say that about things or the fourth place vote for Asia,
52:08which sounds very unreasonable, you're not going to get transparency because the person
52:13is not going to come if they're getting threatened.
52:15So unfortunately, let's, you know, like, you got to, or let the person come and explain
52:21it.
52:22And if you want to, like, I don't care what people think.
52:25People disagree with me.
52:26I got my stance and I stand by it.
52:28I think I was, you know, if I vote for a candidate, the independent candidate for president, not
52:34this election, but let's say I wrote for Ralph Bader, you know, and you and we've had people
52:40or Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, you know, they're not going to win.
52:45But David Dorster, the former KKK leader, that's just a random fun fact that I saw.
52:51Yeah.
52:52But like, if you look at if you vote for them and you can argue, well, you know, you know,
52:56they're not going to win.
52:58I knew Carmelo wouldn't go win, but that was my vote.
53:01So I think, unfortunately, we can't, as media members and going back to the biases, we got
53:05to control calling people out or other voters out because you're never going to get transparency
53:11if that happens.
53:12You have to respect their opinion.
53:14And even though, you know, and if it, but if it's biased, if it's like, well, I didn't
53:19vote because I didn't like her, like, then that's a whole different topic.
53:23I think going back to your original question, Gary, though, when you even mentioned politics
53:28we are and I was on the brink of learning what journalism truly is, but also seeing
53:33how social media has influenced the way we as individuals consume news and sports.
53:39But I mean, politically, of course, there are stations where, you know, if you have
53:43one specific view, that's where you go to get fed exactly what you're looking for.
53:48And I think algorithms have done the same where you're going to only follow Celtics
53:51related accounts if you're a Celtics fan or Lakers account.
53:55And as a result, if anything is in your algorithm, in your feed or on your TV station, that doesn't
54:01suit what your original biases were already that you already had were, then you're already
54:06going to shun the new information that comes in.
54:09Not everyone is like that, but I think as a society, we have enabled this mentality
54:14of it's okay to go where you feel comfortable.
54:17And we've unfortunately gotten into a plan going to the politics side of it, where people
54:22that are on different ends of the spectrum, a lot of times don't feel comfortable having
54:28conversations with people that don't have the same opinions with them, because either
54:31it'd be approached with, you know, animosity or some kind of like, there's always this
54:36level of like, well, if you think this one way, then you're stupid, blah, blah, blah.
54:40There's no room for constructive debate anymore.
54:43And I think that obviously has seeped into the world of sports as well.
54:46But I don't think it's a healthy way to go as a society, because I've grown up in a
54:50society and at least a household where it's like you can understand both sides.
54:55You may not agree with both, but at least be open to listening.
54:58But with sports, it's the same where if you're not a Celtics fan, then I hate you.
55:03Well, not everyone, but there are people that are like, well, I don't want to hear anything
55:06else because Celtics are this and that's all that I want to consume as the, you know,
55:11whether it's news, social media, whatever the platform may be.
55:14So I think that's where we are as a society, unfortunately.
55:16But hopefully we'll get back to the core of really what information should look like.
55:23And it should be us giving people information and then hopefully forming new opinions as
55:29a result. Yeah, I mean, the societal polarization has seeped into the sports
55:36ecosystem. I mean, there's no doubt about that.
55:40And a part of that has to do with the fact that we as a society have been able to
55:45monetize those what used to be fringe perspectives where you had this echo chamber
55:51mindset, this echo chamber approach.
55:54And that has been monetized in a way that, frankly, is attractive and alluring.
56:00And, you know, we live in a society where it's about capitalism and that's this is part
56:05of the capitalism play. This is straight out of the capitalism playbook.
56:08What can you do or create or position to generate more revenue, generate more wealth?
56:15And it's much easier and much more profitable to hate the Knicks, to hate the Nuggets, to
56:23hate Minnesota than it is to acknowledge that the pretty damn good teams, you just love
56:27your team better. And that's it's just where we're at.
56:33It's not fun to be in this place, but it's the reality of where we're at.
56:38And so you just try to make the best of do with what you're working with and keep it
56:42moving. Well, that was a fun little tangent.
56:46The conversation I had with Gary is on NBC10Boston.com slash Quanie has questions.
56:51Sherrod, you wanted to talk about Wings before we go?
56:55You know what? This is sad.
56:59OK, now, a couple of weeks ago, Quanie brought up the fact that we have or excuse me, she
57:06has some wings, Quanie Wings at Buffs Pub.
57:10I had my doubts about how good they were and then I had some and I kind of had to give
57:17it up to Quanie for the wings.
57:19The wings are pretty damn good.
57:20And the first time I went there to get some, I was getting a to go order and somebody
57:27else was there to get to go order and they ordered Quanie Wings.
57:29And then I went again and someone else was there to get some Quanie Wings.
57:33And then my son, who's in town this weekend, he went by there.
57:37And to me, he's like the most finicky human being I know.
57:42So I'm thinking, like, OK, he's going to come back and he's going to be like, these wings,
57:44they aight, but they ain't.
57:47He was like, yo, these wings is kind of tasty, yo.
57:49I'm just like, what did you do with my son?
57:52Because that's not what he do.
57:55He don't talk that language.
57:58And so I was pleased to find out talking to Quanie that proceeds from the wings are going
58:04to go to charity. So not only is it.
58:08Tasty, but it's actually there's a there's a cause behind it.
58:10So Buff Pub, Buffs Pub, Quanie, Sauce.
58:15In Newton, Mass.
58:17In Newton, Mass, yo.
58:18You can also buy the bottle if you like it enough.
58:19And I told Sherrod, he was like, that would mean I have to cook.
58:22So I will get the wings and they cook it and put them in the wings.
58:26I ain't, I ain't, nah.
58:28No, no, no. But yeah, good.
58:30Like you said, good cause, good wings.
58:32Obviously, shameless plug again.
58:34Gary got it. Yes, we have to get him some too.
58:36Gary, we plugged the book three weeks in a row, man.
58:39Damn. Actually, I look right here too.
58:45I'm a real one. OK, I support my colleagues.
58:52OK, so we plugged the book four weeks in a row.
58:54OK, we good.
58:55Eddie, Sherrod, anything you need to plug?
58:57Because all I'm doing is just trying to teach these young folks at BU.
59:02That's all I'm doing. That's all I'm doing.
59:05If you guys have jobs that you're hiring journalism students, reach out to Sherrod.
59:09His students are looking for jobs, internships all the time.
59:13All right. Well, we went on a little bit of a tangent,
59:16but we appreciate you guys sticking with us this episode of the Big Three
59:20NBA podcast right before the regular season tip off.
59:24We'll be back next week with a review of what ends up happening
59:28during that game, before that game, after that game.
59:31But until then, for A. Sherrod Blakely and Gary Washburn,
59:34I'm Claudine Lewis. We appreciate you listening.
59:36Time for the season.

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