Curry Ties A LeBron Record, AJ Dybantsa's Debut, Hornets Bench NAZ REID

0:05 Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the No Dunks NBA podcast. It's Thursday, October 29th, 2026. I'm Jay Skeets, here on the Classic Factory, and alongside me, as always, Tass Mills.

0:17 Podcast listeners, this is for you.

0:19 Next to him is my top shot hot boy, Trey Kirby.

0:21 Ayo.

0:22 Ayo.

0:23 And over yonder, making the magic happen, Super Producer JD. Hello.

0:26 There he is.

0:27 Here we are.

0:27 Hello to everybody on YouTube. Hello, podcast listeners, five-star ratings and reviews. Congratulations to John Hollinger, Rob Peterson, and the Milwaukee Brewers on the World Series win. The Brew Crew played 13 postseason games. They won 11 of them. They trailed in nine of those games.

0:49 Come on Wow.

0:52 Those are the only two Brewers fans. I know I think in my life Hollinger and Rob Peterson anybody else I'm.

0:57 Missing I think I Ernie Johnson being that he was from there originally, still got some Milwaukee ties. They're still enjoying it. Tristan Jass, I do believe. The trickster himself? I assume. I think so. I would love.

1:13 To see him do a jump spin off of the beer stein in left field and throw a strike at home plate.

1:20 Okay. I think he could do it.

1:21 You think he could do it?

1:22 I think he could do it.

1:23 He's got a crazy arm.

1:24 He does have a crazy arm.

1:25 It is cool, though, because the Brewers also were winning in game four. All the beer were ready to go in game four, and they lost that one in extra innings. And then they win game five. And now the beer are ready to go. Did you see those cans? Those are nice cans that they produced specifically for this World Series. Yeah, I did. Good cans. They've got the brewer's logo on it.

1:47 It's just nice, man. It's a nice matte finish. Congrats to them.

1:50 Congrats to them.

1:52 All right.

1:53 Cut the music. Sorry about that.

1:55 Thanks.

1:55 We had a wedgie last night, guys. Wedgie number four.

1:58 Yeah.

1:59 Victor Wembinyama's first career wedgie.

2:02 Wow.

2:03 I couldn't believe it. And you won't believe this. It was a block wedgie on Keontae George. He sort of got turned around on this defensive possession, but obviously... Quickly taps it out of there.

2:12 Yeah.

2:12 Yeah.

2:12 Didn't let it breathe. You can tell it's his first wedgie. No doubt. But wedgie number four. And this is really fun. Sixth grade teacher... Mr. VTAC sent in this photo the other day. His students are tracking every wedgie this season right along with us in the classroom. You got the logos there for all the teams. Right now, you got a couple ticks there besides the Sixers. This is from a couple days ago, like I said. Even the players, I didn't notice that at first, but the players' little photos on the far left. They're going to be breaking it down with us all season long.

2:45 That is awesome.

2:46 That is awesome.

2:47 It's awesome.

2:48 Brings some joy to your heart, doesn't it?

2:50 No doubt. No doubt.

2:51 Did you say what grade?

2:52 Sixth.

2:54 Beautiful use of time.

2:56 I love that.

2:56 It's a great grade. I've got a kid in that grade.

2:59 Wow. I wish she was learning about wedgies. That's why we got to educate at home.

3:04 Isn't that right?

3:04 Education starts in the household.

3:07 Yep. That's why I'm starting my whiteboard for my fourth grader. Let's do this. Let's do this at home.

3:14 I probably said this on the show once, but grade six... The great I famously started wearing jeans.

3:19 Interesting.

3:21 The track pants were set aside for jeans.

3:25 How many pairs of jeans would you be marking down that you wore in grade six? Just one.

3:28 Probably one.

3:29 Just every day. Same pair.

3:31 And now, like, this is obviously, we're talking the 80s here, I guess. Yeah, 80s, maybe early 90s, but like... They were real jeans, you know, like not these fake jeans now. They're like track jeans.

3:44 Oh, OK.

3:45 So they weren't the most comfortable things to wear. They really aren't even to this day. But when you're in grade six, definitely not.

3:50 I started wearing jeans this year, too. It's the year, man. Sixth grade, throw some jeans on your legs.

3:56 Grow up.

3:57 Exactly.

3:57 My fourth grader did, too. She hates them. I think they'll be back in grade six.

4:01 Yeah. Tried them out.

4:03 Not good. Way too early.

4:04 Way too early. All right, we had a lot of NBA games on last night, so we're going to do a staple here on No Dunks. We're going to draft our favorite games. So we'll do a couple rounds of this. I'll say in advance, we won't get to every game. We won't get to your team, every team. Sound off, though. Give us that algorithm engagement if you're pissed off we didn't talk about your game from last night. But Taz, you get us started here today. We'll do a couple rounds, like I said. What game do you want to draft first?

4:31 The Warriors beating the Wolves. Steph dropped 44. And most importantly, the Warriors just aren't a pushover. Any game, the Golden State Warriors will fight mainly because of Steph, but also because of their second best player, Yax Landerberg, who is also good. Steph dropping 44, the most 40-point games since his 30th birthday in NBA history. 46 times. He's done it more than anybody else in NBA history. I guess these guys can play... Until they're late in their lives and they can play harder than when they're 30 years old, because this is peak Steph right now. He was so good.

5:08 He was so good. The little push ahead dribbles trying to get Rudy Gobert out into the perimeter, but going past him, shooting the threes, obviously coming around screens, just doing whatever. 11 for 27, six three-pointers. eight rebounds, six assists. And he was Steph because he was fun. He did that lunge after that one three, you know, where I thought that knee was a little bit too far ahead of the toe. I don't want you to get injured out there. Just a little too far. He won't get injured.

5:33 The smile that he had at the third quarter dive. I mean, this is peak Steph, but he needs a second man with Jimmy Butler being out and Yuxa Linderberg was really, Really good. He was doing everything. How many decels did he pull out there? How many spins did he have? Whether it was on Rudy Gobert or another big Indian, or going by Trey Louser shooting over Io DeSuma.

5:55 He could do it all. And there's the talk out there right now about maybe he is allowing the Warriors to have this second timeline that they've been yearning for for so long. Marcus Thompson wrote about that because he is their second best player. They just drafted the guy. He's an old rookie, so that helps. But 44 for him, Steph.

6:14 to go along with 26 from him. It kind of negates that basically no one else was really in double digits. Brandon Williams got to 11, but that's it, and they still win. They need more than that, but the role players are doing enough to help out, just enough. I'm going to get my man D'Anthony Melton to come up with a key block in the final minute. They're not going to score a ton, those other guys, but enough to get you Ws and just to hold on until Jimmy Butler gets back to really really get to another level for this Warriors team to be really really good but I don't think they're a pushover on any night any single night and and Yaxel is a big part of that and Yaxel will be a big part of that I think on Friday night when they play the

6:52 Lakers again where you know he talked to the trash with Luca earlier this year.

6:58 I can't wait wow it's a cup game too right it's a cup game it is that's that's a big spotlight for Yaxel Lindenborg.

7:04 Yeah we'll see how he feels like a.

7:06 Guy that will respect the cup for sure he's already got an NCAA championship yeah exactly Two titles in one year?

7:11 It could happen for Yaxel. Peak stuff?

7:15 Yeah, maybe.

7:15 Definitely vintage stuff, because it felt like a 2016-era game, the way he was celebrating the deep threes he was pulling.

7:22 He had the finger roll scoop in the lane.

7:24 Late in the fourth quarter, he had the crazy handles finish at the rim as well. I thought Jaden McDaniels was really struggling with screen navigation last night for the Wolves. They put him in 8 million ball screens probably. So I'm sure there are some where he's doing a good job sticking to Steph, but there are also a lot where he's just getting screened off and kind of dying on the screen. Baron J sometimes I thought was ridiculously into a drop coverage, and that's just a layup for Steph Curry, even though it's from 30 feet away. The ball movement was really crisp. for golden state draymond pods and curry all had six assists a piece draymond in particular i thought was just making good decisions all night

8:01 long he's a great decision maker and i think he actually is too like he gets into these ball screens where he's the ball handler and he instantly knows the right play to make like you're saying if he sees trey lyles in front of him he's like you're not strong enough for me i'm gonna go straight through you baron j not quick enough spin move And then the little guys just finish over the top. That's the kind of savvy you get when you draft a guy who's 24 years old rather than 20 years old. He's not trying to figure out the game. He's just trying to adjust to the speed of the NBA and know where his attack spots are. So the Warriors would be absolutely buried if they didn't have a rookie who was able

8:33 to play the way he is right now. But he's looking great so far. Hasan Kalshi, he's the leader right now for rookie of the year.

8:39 Yeah, he's jumped up. All of a sudden, that's are unbelievable. They are. And he's mad at himself for how many turnovers he had in this game. I think it was seven. And yeah, there were some bad decisions, but he knows that he can get better. And he's being driven by his teammate, by Draymond Green and especially Draymond. And you got to like that. You got to like what they're doing as a team, as an organization to push for Steph here in his last run. maybe it's not this year, but I mean his last run, his last era with the Warriors.

9:09 Warriors a little fortunate here to catch the Wolves in their first game without Anthony Edwards as well, and built a huge lead and then sort of held on in this game.

9:17 Yeah, it was 24.

9:17 Yeah, they're up 24 and what? There was a couple stretches or plays near the end of the game where the Wolves could have cut it to a one possession game. I think the closest they got was four there. McDaniels missed a couple shots, but they clawed their way back, but I'm just saying, you know, again, the Warriors, you got to play who's in front of you. They just caught a team sort of scrambled a little bit here because of, oh my God, a guy that scores 33 a game is suddenly pulled from the lineup and Anthony Edwards with the injury. You know, it didn't start great, but I thought they started to find their footing a little bit as it went on. But we talked about McDaniel's going to step up, you know, not the greatest

9:50 lamella ball game. Cabingo was okay in the second half. We'll see if they can hold onto the rope for, you know, the next couple of months here until Ant gets back.

9:59 Yeah. on the floor, they're good enough to do it. I wonder if the chemistry is good enough to do it without Anthony Edwards just, you know, running the show out there because I did think they moved the ball well enough. They're 31 assists on 40 makes fantastic stuff. LaMelo can shoot a lot better. And you could see a post game. He was talking about pushing the ball a little bit more. And that's what he wanted to do.

10:21 And they could do that. And him, especially with Io beside him, they should push it a little bit more. So that should just unlock what they do, get them in the flow, and just get them some easy baskets. And there you go. I think they can be good enough to hold on. And I thought Kamingo was good against his former team. Yeah, he was.

10:39 All right.

10:39 Kevin Calabro was also making me laugh in this one.

10:42 He called Yaxel a powerful lad. and he called George Niang the barrel-chested man from Iowa State.

10:48 Yeah.

10:49 It's just fun to listen to that.

10:51 He's got the best voice, too. Yes, he does. One of the best voice in the league.

10:54 Yeah, it's just solid.

10:56 Okay, Warriors-Wolves off the board. 11 other games to pick from. Trey, your first pick.

11:02 I like the Sixers beating the Pacers. Another flip-the-switch win for Thrilladelphia. The Pacers had a 17-0 run to start the second half. They were playing with great energy, great pace, of course. They were doing a great job attacking mismatches. plus 23 in the third quarter for Indiana. So Philadelphia trailed by 13, headed into the fourth, outscored the Pacers by 18 to do the dub.

11:24 They've got four wins this season. The Sixers do. Three comebacks.

11:28 They had the tale of two-halveser against the Cleveland Cavaliers where they were down 24 at half, came back to win, came back from down double digits in the first half on opening night against New York and then last night as well. This is a team where it feels like there's always enough time. And that's exactly what the New York Knicks were like last season. So I wonder if the switch flipping has flipped to another team. That could be helpful for Philadelphia or they'll get burned.

11:50 We'll see. Nonetheless, Tyrese Maxey, he's coming for Clutch Player of the Year.

11:55 Hey, man, that was my call.

11:56 He's coming for it. 27 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists last night. He had 17 in the fourth quarter and hit back-to-back jacks. The snatch back three right in Neesmith's face put Philadelphia up 5 with a minute 10 left. And then the next possession down, a catch and shoot off a LeBron pass. Up six with 46 seconds left.

12:13 He is their go-to option. And everybody understands how can we get him the ball because he's either going to be able to make a play off the dribble. He's a great catch and shoot guy too. So I love to see the way that they're attacking with Maxie. And I also thought the Sixers are doing a lot better job now of getting Embiid the ball in his sweet spots.

12:30 In game one, he took seven threes. looked like he was just standing out there on the perimeter, looked a little bit lost, but now he's getting the ball at the free throw line quite a bit. He's posting up way more often. Like I said, seven in the opener, three-point attempts. Since then, four, three, and three attempts from the three-point line. Meanwhile, his two-point attempts are all in double digits. They're like, hey, wait a second. You're seven feet tall. You love the mid-ranger. Go inside, hit some jumpers.

12:56 Much better attack mode, I thought, for 76ers.

13:00 Yeah, this is such an interesting team. The way they turned it on, the way they got crushed in that third quarter, 36-13, and then they finish him off. And right up until the end when LeBron makes that incredible pass, as you said, for Tyrese Maxey's really dagger three to end it, his 10th assist of the game, another old man stat. LeBron, the oldest player to have 10 assists and zero turnovers, period. Which, yeah, he will find the guy that can seal it, and then I guess it's going to be Maxie a lot of the time on this team because he is their lead scorer, he is their guide to go to, and maybe he'll win Clutch Player of the Year.

13:35 Well, he was like 25 to 1 odds, if I remember correctly. It was a bit of a dark horse pick for me for Clutch Player of the Year.

13:41 Because he was the number one guy on this team, but still, that's him.

13:43 Yeah, right now he's 4 for 5 in Clutch Play. He's got 14 total Clutch Points. He's played in four games, so he has that benefit, but like Tatum, 19 Clutch Points, Ant, 17, Luca, 16, Pascal Siakam.

13:57 16.

13:58 Ty Jerome, who's, uh, was leading MVP votes after one week, 15, and then Maxie right there. So yeah, we expected the Sixers would play a lot of close games, and they are. And that means there's going to be a lot of clutch play, and he's their go-to guy. And he's lightning quick as the game goes on. He can obviously hit threes.

14:15 He can hit free throws. So it makes sense he'll rack up a lot of clutch points.

14:18 Never gets tired.

14:19 No.

14:19 So he's got legs. He gets faster. He gets stronger. That's what it is. It's like he stays the same speed, and everybody else gets slower.

14:25 Yeah.

14:25 So he looks even faster. And he's already maybe the fastest guy in the league.

14:28 Yeah. And I think they'll lead the league in most social media headlines, because I thought, as Jalen Brown keeps on getting questioned about the beef slash lamb chops, you also had LeBron James on the floor getting talked to by Jalen Slauson after the Slauson block of him. Slauson said something to him, and LeBron gave the, what are you saying, dude? As he walked away. So just, they're going to lead in social media talks, I think, overall this whole season.

14:55 News before that game with the Pacers Sixers. Tyrese Halliburton has been added to the guys who are injured list here he's out at least two weeks with a hamstring strain so no Halliburton in that game obviously on ESPN last night unfortunate happy to see it's only a couple weeks here and not like couple months like some of these other guys be it Ant or Jaron Jackson Jr but yeah any reaction to the Hallie news I mean You unfortunately called this one too.

15:22 Well, yeah, I was.

15:22 You guys are on top of it right now. You called Ant, Trey Kirby before that news broke, and then you called Halliburton here. You got a little concerned.

15:28 Yeah, we're watching the injury reports here. They do mean something here on NBA.com. And he was questionable yesterday with that hamstring that lingered way before the Achilles injury. That's what held him back a lot of that time. And it was specifically with this left leg. Are they saying this week-to-week thing just to shut people up for a while?

15:49 Because it's definitely a week, but it could be two, it could be three. I was most surprised by his sort of middle manager attire yesterday that he was wearing.

16:00 He wears some crazy fits.

16:02 But that wasn't crazy. That was just, pants and a dress shirt tucked in. Then he threw the leather jacket on it, but it looked like anybody going to work in a nine to five office job. I guess that's.

16:14 What I mean by crazy. In the NBA world, that's sort of crazy.

16:18 You're a little more flashy, I guess. I guess this week-to-week thing is a good sign in that it's not a major injury, first and foremost, and then he could be back soon.

16:30 But we hate hamstring strains.

16:31 We don't like that. It could be a linger. It lasts a long time. Yes.

16:35 Could linger. All right, my first pick here from last night's games in our draft. Give me Cooper Flagg with 26 points, eight assists as the Mavs ended up crushing the depleted Oklahoma City Thunder. I mean, a team obviously that just has the injury bug right now. Mavics, they're really impressed. This was an ESPN doubleheader game. This was the second game last night. They led by 12 in the first half and they pushed that lead. I think it got as high as 27 there in the fourth quarter.

16:59 So steamrolled them in the end. First time since Cooper Flagg joined the team that the Mavs are over 500. So they have gotten there very early. I thought Kyrie, we'll get to Flag, but Kyrie got the party started in this one. He was hitting threes, scored a lot of his points in the first half. I think he hit his first four shots. And the theme of the night was three-pointers dropping because the Mavs dominated from downtown.

17:23 They hit a season-best 16 three-pointers on 45 attempts. Even Daniel Gafford hit a three last night.

17:32 First in his.

17:33 NBA career, eight seasons for Gafford. Doesn't take a lot. I mean, he's only taken a handful, but.

17:38 I've never seen him shoot a three.

17:39 Yeah, I think he's only taken, it might be on one hand that you could count, probably less. So that was impressive. And then the Thunder, meanwhile, this was one of the nights where they couldn't hit threes, five of 32. So that's like 16%. But it's just as good, this is something to track here with the Mavs because last season especially, they were always on the opposite end of a three-point discrepancy. So this is good. They're taking a lot and obviously hitting a lot last night with 16-5, which is why we get a big, big score here.

18:09 But Cooper Flagg, holy crap. This guy's really good. He's 19 years old, and he's really, really good. I'm most impressed with the eight assists, zero turnovers from him. The scoring is the scoring. He's awesome at that. There's a couple of plays. I'm sorry to say this. I was like, that looked like Luka. That was a pass that Luka has made in a Mavericks uniform. There's one sort of like how he contoured his body and he threw it to the corner. I'm like, yep, I remember Luka doing that.

18:34 Obviously still does it for the Lakers, but seeing that in a Mavs uniform, but awesome start here. And I know you were talking him up the other day, TK, like, hey, this guy could be on the end of MVP ballots very, very early.

18:46 In his career. Absolutely. He will be.

18:48 He actually didn't make any plays defensively. Zero steals, zero blocks. But that's a rarity for him.

18:52 I'm with you.

18:53 The playmaking is the place where he has made. the biggest leap but i just think he is so savvy and so in control right now while also being able to harness his athleticism when he absolutely needs to the passing was great he's gonna make all nba uh this season as long as he stays healthy and hits the 65 game uh minimum 67 games.

19:14 65 65 yeah why that still exists who knows but yeah it's 65 A.

19:18 Couple of other guys that I think have been impressive for the Mavericks early on. Merez Johnson looks like just an active guy who does a bunch of stuff. 10.6 boards, three assists last night. Just seems like he fits in and will be a good glue guy for the Mavericks. And Zach Riesesche is making things happen. Like he did nothing but shoot when he was here in Atlanta. Oddly enough, he can't shoot right now while he's playing for Dallas, but he's doing everything else. Last night, six boards, an assist, a steal, a block. That's not that great, but he's like...

19:46 a block and a half, a steal and a half per game, six rebounds. The guy was never on the glass in Atlanta. And last night he was able to score for the Mavs as well. 13 points, hit a couple of threes. Looks like a rotation wing at the very least. Just needed somebody to believe in him and less pressure, I think.

20:02 Yes.

20:02 You're like, you are a number one pick, but now you're like, Our third best number.

20:06 One pick on this team.

20:07 Yeah, right, right.

20:08 You're a bench guy. And you are a defensive weapon, as you said. I mean, he's now 1.8 steals and 1.8 blocks a game. That's fantastic. And this was his best shooting night. He's been bad. But this was his best shooting game. But in the fourth quarter, I mean, it's good to mention the other guys on this team, whether it's Moe. or it's Marcus Sasser I thought was really key in this game. It's a good pickup. He just splashed a three. Caleb Martin also.

20:35 Caleb Martin is alive.

20:36 Yeah, man. When Cooper was on the bench in the early fourth quarter, those guys, it was Sasser, Risa Shea, and Caleb Martin that kind of held it all together. So Masai Ujiri has done a job here putting this team together and taking Dustin May has him playing really hard. Yeah, they haven't been above 500 in a long time, so it's great for them since March 2024. So it is interesting to see the depth of this team, and they look like a squad, especially when you've got Cooper, who the game has definitely slowed down for him, and he can see everywhere he's going to pass the ball. And so he looks great.

21:11 3-2 Dallas Mavericks. First loss for OKC there, 4-1. So they will not go undefeated if you had that on your bingo card.

21:18 They're just constantly spawning white guys.

21:20 Yes.

21:21 They had a Bennett, Sturtz, Brooks, Barnheiser, Josh Dix lineup out there last night. We got a Dick and a Dix in the league right now. They look spent. And you heard it on the broadcast all night. They just look like they suffered two terrible injuries and then had Caruso go out.

21:37 The team just looked exhausted.

21:38 Yeah. Shout out to AJ Mitchell, though, who's playing, who's balling right now.

21:44 Okay, let's do another round here. Nine games still to pick from the board.

21:48 Tass, back to you.

21:49 The Miami Heat got a win. Their first win of the season. They beat the Atlanta Hawks.

21:53 Hang the banner.

21:54 Yeah, they did.

21:56 They might in that arena.

21:57 Yes.

21:57 They like them.

21:59 Yeah, they like banners.

22:00 They like them a lot. This wasn't a convincing one, maybe because it's their first win of the season. What was convincing? I should start with. The fact that they just got into the lane over and over and over. Let's put it down the Hawks throat. It started from the beginning and it continued throughout the game. And maybe Bam Adebayo just needs to be called out by his teammate as Davion Mitchell did in his previous game. I know the line and the box score is going to be focused on Giannis 24 and 18 rebounds. Very good.

22:33 But I thought Bam Adebayo was really the key. Because he's that guy that they need. 24 points, nine boards, three assists and three steals. He just got after it in the paint. This whole team was just getting after it. In the first quarter, they had 10 paint buckets. So that's like one almost every minute. And then they had 20 when you counted at half. And then overall, 70 paint points, which is tied for the most in a game this season. So 35 buckets of their 51 buckets came the lane. That's what it's about. I don't think this is sustainable without Somebody else to play make in the starting lineup. I still think they have to move on from Clay to get a little bit of unlocking happening with a guy who can handle the ball a

23:15 little bit more to change things up. But Janice at Bam was in the paint. is the center of the offense. And so we'll see that going. And Tim Hardaway is starting to pick it up too as a three-point shooter, his best game finally. Hit some threes. Yeah, he hit some threes. His first double-digit game, he might be finding his flow as they unlock themselves. But I don't know.

23:36 It's just one game. And I don't think they're going to destroy teams the way they did last night just by giving it to an undersized Hawks team.

23:43 I was going to say, yeah, if their bigs are struggling against the Atlanta Hawks, then you're really in trouble for this season.

23:48 Right, yeah.

23:49 You know, it's a neck on Congo and it's Jock Landale and a mask. It's like, they don't have a lot of size on this team.

23:55 Hey, 25th and rebound percentage.

23:57 And you can feel it like they got that crushed on the glass. They play a lot of four guard lineups with your saying an undersized big inside. But the thing that really stuck out to me is that the heat played a much more traditional offense last night, way more post-ups for bam, way more post-ups for Giannis, way more pick and roll. Like they went away from pick and roll, got a lot of buzz last year, even though they finished right in the middle of the pack.

24:20 But Giannis was a role man last night. Giannis was a transition player last night. He was not the creator. It was set in screens for Davion Mitchell and actually rolling like a big man should do.

24:30 And guess what?

24:31 It completely worked. You saw some flashes of the dribble handoff game that used to be Bam and Duncan Robinson. That's now Bam and Klay Thompson or Bam and Tim Hardaway Jr. They ran when it made sense, but they weren't forcing themselves to run. They played like smart basketball rather than trying to fit these players that maybe don't fit the system they want to play. They just played normal NBA basketball and they had their best game.

24:54 Of the season.

24:55 Yeah, they moved it, definitely moved it more to the roller. And then, you know, here comes the hockey assist and all that. We'll see if there's if it's sustainable against a big team.

25:06 Yeah, true.

25:06 But I bet I don't know.

25:08 I would not be surprised if this is the most ball screens that Giannis has set. has set in the past, I don't know, three years, he was screening all the time.

25:15 He never screens.

25:16 It's true. We were talking about how he can be a little stubborn in how he plays. Maybe they've, maybe it took an O and four start to switch things up or try new things.

25:24 It just makes so much more sense.

25:26 Have the big guy set the screen for the guard rather than have a big guy set another screen for a big guy.

25:31 Yeah. Yeah. That's what they tried a little bit with Damien Lillard as the, as the games went on, but it, it kind of just, they just kind of went away from it. And Giannis was just the guy. Um, so it never really panned out there.

25:42 One, uh, positive for the Hawks. We got to show love to our guy, Kingston Flemings early in his NBA career. He played really well for them off the bench last night. Nine of 12 in 23 minutes, hit some threes, five assists, uh, two turnovers and even chipped in a steal on a block. So good for him. And I bring that up cause I am fascinated to see like how the Hawks end up approaching this season. What I mean by that is like, I want to, it would be nice to sort of like Give the keys, so to speak, to Kingston Flemings and find out and hope that he is sort of the point guard of your future. But, of course, they're still trying to win games and they had a good end of the season last year. So they're caught sort

26:20 of in between two teams, it feels like, a little bit.

26:22 Or could be.

26:24 I think they need to address their center situation too. I don't think he's going to be enough for a team to go really far in a postseason run, unfortunately. But anyway, Flemings.

26:33 That's our guy.

26:34 He was good.

26:35 Yeah, he was good.

26:35 He was.

26:37 We'll see how he plays further down into the season, because to me, the book is still not out.

26:41 The Heat just didn't know what to do.

26:43 Yeah, sure.

26:44 Like they were attacking him on closeouts.

26:45 He's not necessarily an outside shooter, but they were screaming out to him and just giving him driving lanes. And he was able to use his athleticism, had a monster dunk on the fast break as well.

26:55 He was playing with great confidence. He was flexing a whole bunch last night. This is a great game for Kingston Flemings.

27:01 All right, Trey, your second pick overall.

27:04 Oh, the Pistons got a bounce back win after getting smacked by the Knicks. They held off the Hornets yesterday. 30 points for Cade Cunningham. Seven assists, just one turnover.

27:13 That's great. Had 10 points in the fourth quarter, including the two biggest shots for Detroit. A couple of three-pointers.

27:19 Under two minutes left to really ice the game. Brandon Miller had it going on in this one too. 31 points, stroking it, crushing it, hit some deep threes, finished three for 10, but you know, he's getting them up, had a couple of big dunks, but I thought Cade really helped turn off the water for Brandon Miller in the fourth quarter. Only four points after a scorching hot start for him. Cade took the onus upon himself and D-ed up.

27:42 Something else that stuck out to me is a lot of one big man looks for Detroit last night. They did start Paul Reed and John Collins with Jalen Duren being out, but they only played a handful of minutes together, and I think in the second half they only played.

27:55 One minute together.

27:55 That's smart because you can match the speed of the Hornets. They also are usually only a one big man team as well, and it's their best way for Detroit to get as much possible offense on the court. So that was working for them. 12-2 last season on the second night of a back-to-back were the Pistons.

28:13 That was the best in the league. They're now 1-0 this season.

28:15 Yeah, just keep your eye on it. we got to talk about the Nas read of it all with the Charlotte Hornets too, who played okay in the first half, obviously put up some stats and then was benched in the second half. And Charles Lee was asked about it. And it was like, I'm paraphrasing, but it was like, yeah, he wasn't sort of up to our standards and sort of left it at that. I don't sure. I'm not sure if there's any been any more reporting on what the specifics of it were. If you have any theories on what.

28:41 Sort of went happen.

28:42 I know.

28:43 I tried to figure it out. Um, Was it just defensive schemes that he wasn't there for? I love this for the Charlotte Horns and why I'm so positive, bullish on the way they play, set up their both their coaching staff and their roster. And I love this demeanor calling out your guy for. I don't know what. That's my one issue, but they don't need to tell us.

29:12 It's not mandatory, but.

29:13 It's... He pulled him aside.

29:14 Nas seemed to take it okay, too. He was cheering his team on on the bench, so he wasn't pouting, I guess.

29:19 You've got to call out your guys. And I think Nas Reid is okay being called out. I just... The only video I saw was... It was from a fan. It was shared by Kofi, where he was pulled. He was just pulled aside. As they were going into half, he was pulled aside by Charles Lee and talked to. And that's... I mean, so it's just, yeah, I don't know.

29:39 No real idea. People can start linking it to the Minnesota days when Chris Finch, you know, recently famously said, hey, we're just not the same. We don't have the same attitude that we used to have when it was more about Julius Randall, it seemed like. But people were linking it to Nas Reed, that he didn't have a positive attitude.

29:58 It was an attitude thing. Yeah. I don't know. I thought it was more of a defensive scheme thing because it's not like he took a ton of shots and was hogging the ball. I don't understand what it was, to be honest.

30:07 He's through.

30:08 He scored the first five for the Hornets. And then I don't think he made a shot after that. And he was throwing up some nonsense for sure. He just didn't look like he was giving a huge effort, probably on the defensive end as well. But Charles Lee benched Lamella the same way early in the season last year.

30:23 And eventually the Hornets ripped off like their best stretch since being back in Charlotte. So he's trying to build a culture. it's a little bit different, I think with an established vet like Nas Reed. So we'll see how it goes, but this is probably something we forget about within a month.

30:37 Yeah.

30:37 I think it was shocking because the Hornets were leading at the half and.

30:41 They played way worse when Nas Reed was gone.

30:43 Right.

30:43 Right.

30:44 This is my point. And so I've seen some people go, I'm sort of with you guys. Like, you know, the coach needs to establish what he wants to establish and these standards. And maybe it was his attitude or what he was blowing out there in terms of schemes and stuff. We don't know. And maybe we'll find out more, but like, On the other hand, yeah, maybe you win this very low scoring game if Nas Reed is playing. I mean, I know you're thinking big picture here is what you're sort of alluding to, Tass. Yeah. I get that. But it is weird without really knowing what the problem was.

31:15 He didn't play in the second half and they could have won this game.

31:17 With Yeah, and I think, as Trey said, we'll forget about it even sooner than a month from now. When they beat Washington on Friday, I think they'll have a bounce back game. Yeah, I think this is a bounce back type of roster, bounce back type of attitude amongst this whole team. And again, I said it yesterday when we were doing our stock market buy, sell, hold. I think you got to buy Charlotte Hornet stock because they're going to beat bad teams this season like the Phoenix Suns did last year. And I think they'll beat the Wizards on Friday because I think they will bounce back.

31:48 Are the Wizards a bad team?

31:51 They're below 500, that's for sure. And that's my classification of bad.

31:55 Okay.

31:55 Yeah.

31:56 Well, they're much better than they have been. And they're actually my last game that I'm going to draft here. I'm going to take the Cavs beating the Wizards, 121-111. But I'm drafting it because of the number one pick of the draft, A.J. DeBensa's debut. And we'll start with that and we'll get into a little Cavs talk, but I thought he looked pretty damn good. Real solid. First possession of the game, this guy attacked the rim, got fouled, went to line, hit both free throws. So that's how he got his first career points. 27 minutes, AJ scored 19 points, 8 of 12 shooting. So he wasn't like forcing it. It was a lot in rhythm of the game.

32:32 Played some solid defense when he was matched up on James Harden, too, but he had three dunks. He had a nifty little step-through baseline floater over Jared Allen. That was pretty. Hit a mid-range fadeaway jumper. He splashed a three. Had a pair of assists. One was an alley-oop lob to Bilal Koulibaly for a dunk. Another one was a little driving kick pass to Alex Sarp. So, He was showing off his game here. Guy's a big ass dude.

32:56 And it was an impressive debut after missing the first couple of games with the ankle injury.

33:00 You can tell he has the physical tools with his size and his speed and the way he gets up the court and changes direction, all this kind of stuff.

33:07 But he's got a lot of savvy and polish. I couldn't believe that step through.

33:11 It comes off of a pump fake and then he steps through and then he hits a floater over a seven footer. And Jared Allen was playing great last night. He blocked like a billion shots. It felt like I was like, whoa, this guy's Rookie, this is his first game. He's coming off in an injury. He looked like a third-year player. He looked like Cooper flag out there Yeah, I thought it was super impressive what the bonzo was doing.

33:30 Yeah. Yeah, he was reminiscent of his summer league play like he just is ready And you wouldn't think that he's ready having come off an injury and having missed a little bit of time But no, he is totally ready His first basket and alley-oop from Trey young.

33:45 Yeah, cool.

33:46 That was cool. Do you want that as a as a rookie? I Do you want that?

33:50 First basket?

33:51 As an alley-oop. Do you want an alley-oop or do you want to show the package?

33:54 I mean, I'll take an alley-oop dunk in an NBA game for my first points.

33:57 That was a sweet pass.

33:59 Yeah.

34:00 What is it? Like a 60-foot pass. It was a bomb of a pass. I thought you were.

34:03 Going to say, do you really want your first points to be free throws? points do you dare miss them on purpose just for the record.

34:09 Points just clank them so I'm gonna do some cool stuff after this I don't know points are points and he had 19 but the Cavs did win this game I don't want the Cavs fans coming at us again.

34:21 Come at us I don't care I'm not I'm not convinced with this Cavs team.

34:24 Oh Jesus here we go I know it's about a win holy shit man well you know I super locked them as an over well they've got a nice little win streak after blowing a huge lead in the first game yeah.

34:36 Listen, we all want the best of our players, and this is not the best. Did you see how many dunks the Wizards had in that first half?

34:43 There was Lob City.

34:43 I told you this.

34:44 They had 14 dunks immediately. That's too many.

34:49 Too many.

34:50 That's a lot of dunks. This is, you know, it's kind of reminiscent a little bit of the Knicks or the Sixers. They are a turn-on team, and that's what they did against the Wolves the other night when they beat them. into overtime, and this is what they did last night as well. Third quarter, they absolutely put the lock down, and that's what they do. There was only 16 points in the paint in the second half. Well, they had 50 they gave up to the Wizards in the first half. It's a big, big difference. But yes, they feel like a team that can turn it on whenever they want. You see Evan Mobley, career high in threes, great.

35:21 Peyton Watson, his best offensive game, great. You know. I'm just saying. Playoff series, are they going to be able to go against it every single game in a long series? Well, this is the issue.

35:32 They're one of these teams that entered this regular season as it doesn't matter. I mean, there are things we're focusing on. How will Peyton Watson fit? And, you know, I think these last two games, finding his groove.

35:43 And his role.

35:45 How can Evan Mobley level up? He's the super important piece to them in the postseason, I think. And then the third is like the bench, like who can Kenny sort of find off this bench? And now, you know, he seemed to have found a rookie here in Malik Thomas who had another good game. But otherwise, they're just a team like, you know, they're going to win a lot of games. And it's like, all right, we'll see in the postseason and then try and shut us up then because you've disappointed in a couple of these runs.

36:08 Listen, it's taken a week for their offense to click. I shouldn't be premature in that thinking that it's going to just happen right away. They're literally their offense not moving, not clicking enough, but it's starting to happen. So there's that. That's the positive side of things. The defensive end and whether or not they're going to be tough enough, both with Donovan Mitchell and James Harden on the perimeter, plus Jared Allen and Evan Mobley. I think they need to be a little bit more ready to go. But anyways, in basketball, you can just turn it on and win here in the regular season in the second half. And that's what they're they're good enough to do that.

36:43 The defeat extended Washington's losing streak against Cleveland to 17 games, too.

36:49 What?

36:49 Longest active streak in the league. So the Cavs have the Wizards' numbers.

36:53 Yeah.

36:55 The Cavs have had a pretty good run in the past few years. While the Wizards have been down in the standings, I guess it adds up. But I do really like the way that Kenny Atkinson is using Evan Mobley this year.

37:04 He said, don't dribble anymore.

37:05 That's what it feels like to me. All of his baskets are in the flow of the offense. He's catching wide open three-pointers. He's rolling to the hoop. Last year, they were force-feeding him and saying, hey, can you create, do 100 spin moves and try and finish inside.

37:18 No longer.

37:18 They've got two creators outside in Mitchell and in Harden, so they don't necessarily need the creation from Evan Mobley, and it just makes more sense.

37:26 He's more of a play finisher. than a creator. And he's doing a great job of finishing plays.

37:30 And I think Atkinson is starting to understand the best ways to use Peyton Watson as well. They're getting him second side attacks. They're getting him dribble handoffs. They're setting screens away so that he can catch the ball with an advantage and just use a head of steam to get downhill. This is a new player for him. They're finding out how he can fill in the gaps, but it feels like Kenny Atkinson at least understands where the baskets should come from for both Mobley and for Watson.

37:54 Yeah, you're right. You're right about the space out there for Peyton Watson, because I think that's something that was unheralded in his Denver days. Everybody just talking about the month and how he went off. He is good at playing off other guys and getting into space and getting good at the decel and finding guys. He's good at that.

38:09 And then now there's space. You're right. The Evan Mobley, most threes of his career being taken right now, hitting the most threes of his career. Evan Mobley is like one.

38:18 Of the league's best three-point shooters early in the season. He's 12 for 18 from deep. 67% I think he's second only to Cedric Coward of the Grizzlies who's like 8 for 11 so he can't miss either with some few attempts but the 5 you said it was career high and he scored 10 in the 4th and like this was a close game I mean Wizards were up Cavs had to come back but I'm look I have shat on Mobley for years here on this postseason because I keep telling you keep being told like he's you know the next Tim Duncan you're like what I'm not seeing it man But right now he's coming through. And I think you're right, though, using him a little bit differently.

38:55 And Malik Thomas, just to give him a little love, another 20 minutes for the Rook. He wasn't splashing threes like he did against the Nuggets the other night. The Nuggets?

39:03 No, the Wolves.

39:05 But he scored 10, grabbed four boards. He was a plus 11 in his minutes out there off the bench. So, again, I like that Kenny went right back to him. And you've got to keep giving him 20 minutes if he's going to keep contributing like this.

39:18 Yeah, Kenny's going to the athletic guys, both defensively. Peyton Watson, Malik Thomas, and big butt Mario Hazonia. So, yes, they're clicking along with Jalen Tyson. They're clicking. Yeah, I'm just, you know, it's tough love for me. I want to see them be that version of themselves that was two years ago when they won, was it 61?

39:41 64.

39:41 64, yeah. I was saying 61. That seems low, but that's also a very big number. Yeah, I think they need to get back to that and they need They need the athleticism to do that, and Peyton Watson is a bit of an unlock.

39:53 So there were six other games we didn't draft. One of them was an overtime game. Wemby scored 36 as the Spurs clamped down late, or in overtime at least, to beat the Jazz, 117-111. Raptors crushed the Magic, 129-99. Good bounce back game from Scotty Barnes. Doing a little 360 dunk, putting on a show.

40:13 Pants didn't fall off.

40:14 No, they didn't. And did you notice Emmanuel quickly did a little 360 jump with him?

40:18 I did see that, yeah.

40:19 Did they both fart? Who knows? Who knows? Brunson scored 38 points as the Knicks beat the Bulls. It was looking like the Bulls were going to beat New York there for a second.

40:28 I got sad this game. Bulls up 19. Blew it all. Came back. Had a chance to tie it. Ball swings to Caleb Wilson in the corner. He'd made a three two minutes earlier. Shooting the ball well. Passed it up. I was like, what?

40:43 Come on.

40:44 Excuse me?

40:45 You trained with Lethal Shooter this summer. This guy is Mr.

40:48 Confidence.

40:49 You hear him in his interviews. It feels like he's an MVP. I could not believe he passed up that three-pointer. I never want to see it again. It was a little bit disgusting to me. I felt saddened by Caleb Wilson for the first time ever.

41:01 I was like, what?

41:03 Come on, bro. You got to shoot that. Fair, fair.

41:07 I think this is maybe going to be an unheralded win for the Knicks because it's the Bulls, but I think it was a good win for this championship team. Cat got hurt, kept playing. Shamit got hurt, kept playing. And then you have the depth that they're going to need because they are a team that takes off a few quarters. Jordan Clarkson, 18, Tyler Kolek, three threes, and your captain finishing the job with Jalen Bronson. So that's a key win that could have gone the Bulls way.

41:36 Van Vliet, Ahmed Thompson lifted the undefeated Rockets. They're still undefeated past the box, 132-100. I mean, just destroyed them. Jokic notched his 200th career triple-double as the Nuggets beat the Pelicans. Not a lot of scoring there from New Orleans. And the Lakers, without Luka, beat the Clippers 103-87. So some key names, obviously, not in the lineups last night.

41:57 But a lot of those outside of the Spurs-Jazz game were sort of more the blowout variety there, I guess, outside of the Knicks-Bulls, too. Yeah.

42:06 Jokic, triple-double number 200. Getting to Russell Westbrook's 209. Yeah, I'm pretty confident. He'll be there soon. Who are the top six active players when it comes to triple-doubles?

42:20 Okay, so Jokic is number one.

42:23 LeBron James.

42:23 LeBron is number two with 125.

42:26 James Harden's got to be high.

42:27 James Harden is four with 82.

42:29 Luka?

42:30 Luka's number three with 90. Let me look at teams. So we got two more. You just need five and six. Giannis? You guys are clicking. Giannis is number six. The number five is the... Sabonis? Sabonis, there you go. Six guesses, six hits.

42:45 Of the triple titles.

42:47 Hell yeah, man. 200, 125, 90, 82, 69 for Sabonis and 57 for Giannis.

42:51 Okay. We got some news. Ernie Johnson, the legendary sportscaster and host of Inside the NBA for... 37 seasons, has announced that this will be his final run hosting the iconic NBA studio show. He released a video yesterday and then they talked about it on Inside last night. Pulled one quote from his video. He said, quote, I've always prided myself on my preparation, the hours I put in every day getting ready for the next show. I've always loved that part of the job, but I've always vowed that if it ever became more of a challenge than it is a joy, then I'll know it's time to step away. I know after 37 seasons.

43:31 It's time.

43:33 Now, Ernie did make it clear. He's like not gone from television for good from our lives. Going to be doing March Madness still. Probably maybe a little baseball still. And he has his own YouTube production company now called 32 Bowties. So he'll be putting some of his energy and focus into that. But this will be his last run here with Inside after nearly four decades.

43:55 And... He's had heart issues the last couple of years, as he said, bypass surgery, something that I had no idea about, but that isn't surprising with Ernie Johnson. He's a humble, humble person. And it was wonderful to hear, as you said, the quote there about the work ethic, the discipline, because I think we all sort of emulate ourselves after Ernie in that regard too, because that guy, that guy goes to work. And that's what we do.

44:22 But then makes it look effortless when he's on TV. You think, oh, he just shows up and knows everything. No, it's a lot of preparation in advance of that. Yeah.

44:29 Not a lot of people in media have 100% approval rating, but Ernie is like 150% probably. The outpouring of support was awesome. I like the tribute they did on Inside with Chuck, Kenny, and Shaq. Very sweet, like hearing Chuck and Shaq in particular be so vulnerable about how much they love this guy.

44:46 I thought it was really, really touching. I thought it was very funny when Chuck talks, Kenny talks, and then Ernie's like, well, this is weird.

44:54 I'll just throw it over to the Shaq. Say how much you like me. The dude is literally the GOAT. He's like the kindest guy that's ever lived. I'll always remember he's the only person to reach out to us after we got canceled. Turner, I've got to find the text message somewhere, but he's.

45:11 A sweet dude.

45:12 Absolutely. Silver had a statement from the NBA yesterday. A few things that jumped out to me said, quote, few people have shaped the way fans experience the NBA as profoundly as Ernie Johnson. Facts there. And then this one, his brilliance as a broadcaster is matched by his character, compassion, and generosity. And that speaks to what you're saying there, TK.

45:29 An awesome broadcaster, the GOAT, an even better human. And we are fortunate to have had the chance to obviously have him as a colleague and even can say even as a friend here over this last, how long have we been down here? Almost 15 years, so. Yeah. So he gets a little swan song here, at least on inside. Yeah.

45:49 But he's also not leaving, which I love even more. You know, we're going to see still Ernie.

45:52 Yeah.

45:52 And he's 70.

45:53 That caught Shaq by surprise.

45:54 He's like, you're 70?

45:55 I thought you were 50.

45:57 It doesn't feel like he's 70.

45:59 No, not at all.

46:00 Not at all. What was his last line too? It was about his black friends. What was the final, like his final, how he wrapped it up?

46:07 His brothers? He calls them his brothers.

46:09 I don't remember. Was it black brothers or black friends? Yeah, that was... Anyways, it was a funny line.

46:15 Now here's the question. Charles Barkley has long said that he will retire when Ernie does, but Charles Barkley has threatened to retire multiple times. Do you actually believe Chuck this time? Will Chuck be off inside the NBA? Will inside the NBA be done for crying out loud? I mean, I don't know. It's somebody slotting into Ernie's spot. What do you think? What's your guess on that?

46:42 Do I 100% believe him? No way.

46:44 No, you can't.

46:45 Burned Wendy too many times. But I believe him more than I ever have. I mean, Chuck's getting old too.

46:51 Yeah.

46:51 And he said before the season even started on the Simmons podcast that I'm going to retire when Ernie does.

46:56 This is going to be my last season. So, I mean, he's kind of saying Ernie's going to go away. Ernie is going away.

47:02 He said last night, like, I knew this was coming. So it feels like he's at least planning to.

47:07 We'll see, you know?

47:08 Yeah.

47:09 It's hard to resist a big bag of money sometimes.

47:13 Yeah. I think you can offer that big bag of money in different ways with Charles. And that just means him doing TV in different ways. So there's a few moving parts here. It's also produced in Atlanta while ESPN is not produced here in Atlanta. So they allowed that deal to happen with Inside the NBA continuing on. So maybe they just say goodbye to the show and the whole thing. I think that is possible with Chuck being 64. Okay, the engine is gone in Ernie Johnson. And then if, I don't want to say if Charles goes, because let's say Charles says, I'll stay on. Do they say, okay, let's go get a host to sit in here in Atlanta and keep producing the show and be on ESPN with Charles, Kenny, and Shaq? I don't know. It feels

48:04 like Chuck's done for the first time ever. after saying it so many times, and that they'll move in a different direction as far as their daily, or I should say, during their live games, to have a different host and a different studio setup. Yeah.

48:24 I mean, I think we thought that was going to be what happened when the TNT was coming to a close, and then suddenly it was... this deal. And I think in large part, those guys and Ernie and Chuck, and we're like, Hey, let's keep all these people's jobs here. And we make a ton of money and they do as well by extension. So let's keep it going here.

48:44 And okay. It'll be simulcast or whatever we call it on ESPN. It's like that branding. Now they try that, do it for a couple of years. I'm like, okay, I'm done.

48:52 Move on.

48:52 Yeah.

48:52 I don't know.

48:53 I guess I'm with you guys. I sort of believe them that Chuck will, I just can't picture the show. Also Chuck was somebody else permanently. And then I can't picture the show with, like, Shaq, Kenny, and then you're telling me two other people? Like, I don't know. Like, those, I hate to say it, but those two are the most important two. Ernie, who runs the whole thing, and then Shaq is, I mean, he's the real star of it.

49:17 As great as Kenny is in his role, and Shaq is... obviously took a little while at the start but is almost he's almost now turning into I guess Chuck so I guess maybe you could argue that that he becomes the Chuck but they're so they're just so different personality wise because he was a winner and he lets everybody know that where Chuck is so He'll make fun of himself so much easier. That's what makes him brilliant.

49:40 Even coming until last week, he still does it. The who he played for, he still makes fun of himself. He's so self-deprecating.

49:47 That's what makes it the best.

49:50 I think if Chuck is gone, then the show goes away. As is. It's kind of Chuck is the linchpin. If he comes back and says, I'm doing it.

49:58 Matt Weiner, you're in.

50:00 Yeah, here's an Adam Lefkoe. I don't know. Who owns the IP?

50:06 I guess Skydance.

50:07 It was funny hearing him say that there was Skydance now.

50:11 Because, I mean, inside the NBA, great name for a show. No matter who's on it.

50:15 Yeah, it's true.

50:15 Right? Yeah, but it's just a name. It's like, whenever I think of him, I don't even.

50:21 Exactly, it's just a name. Who cares who's on it?

50:24 No, it's the opposite for me. I don't even, as I think about Ernie.

50:30 Yeah, but I mean, if their show was called Talking Hoops with the same four guys, you're going to watch it.

50:33 You're going to love it.

50:36 Yeah, that we don't disagree with, but we're saying if there's two guys that are not there and it's still called inside, it's not inside.

50:42 I agree with that.

50:43 I do agree with that.

50:44 We'll see with Chuck. We'll see. In the mood.

50:47 We'll try. You know, we got to reach out to Ernie. We'll see if we can get him on no dunks here. Maybe talk about this a little bit more in his final season, at least hosting that iconic show. Other news, the Charlotte Hornets are retiring the number one jersey of Muggsy Bogues, the shortest player in NBA history on February 11th.

51:03 The 5'3, Muggsy Bogues, man. Every time I read it, every time I say it, of course, every time I see a clip of him, 5'3. Spent 10 of his 14 NBA seasons in Charlotte, some from 88 to 98, and he's still the franchise leader in total assists and steals, but probably long overdue here, but they will retire. Muggsy Bogues, number one jersey. Your takeaway is TK.

51:26 I mean, the same as when they retired Del Curry's jersey. You haven't yet?

51:31 Yeah.

51:31 I think it's kind of odd.

51:32 Like, Those are two of the first guys I think of when I think of Charlotte Hornets. Muggsy, probably number one, even ahead of Del Curry. Like he was famous. He was in Space Jam. Charlotte Hornets jackets were everywhere when we were young. And part of it was because they look cool. And Muggsy Buggs was a unique player. He definitely deserves it. A franchise icon. It's just surprising that it hasn't happened for so long.

51:55 Yeah. They're recognizing and celebrating their past after 37 seasons. It took a while. There's few iterations that Slowed things down, but the new owners, when they purchased them in 2023, Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, they took over from Michael Jordan. They saw things a little bit differently and said, okay, we're celebrating our past, even though we didn't win. Maybe that's MJ's fault. attitude towards things.

52:20 Yeah.

52:20 Because they didn't win. They didn't win a lot.

52:23 But Muggsy was a part of the most successful era in Hornets history.

52:26 Mm-hmm. Right?

52:28 With Alonzo and Larry Johnson. Yeah. And I know it's not conference finals runs or finals runs, but they were a good team.

52:33 Absolutely. Yeah. And he's five foot three, as you said. I mean, he should be celebrated and he's still a big part of Charlotte in general off the court. So why? Why not? It took a while, but it is good that it is happening along with Dell who got celebrated. Last year, and to hear and watch Muggsy, see him, it got revealed it was a surprise for him, and he immediately cried.

52:58 They did the fake teleprompter on him.

52:59 Yeah, he started reading.

53:00 They did the I'm Ron Burgundy on him. Or he's just like reading some like promotion or something, and it's like, what? Hold on, you're retiring my jersey?

53:08 Yeah, I think it was an NBA junior thing.

53:12 Well, he's been an NBA ambassador, Hornets ambassador for decades now too.

53:17 Right.

53:18 Oh, yeah. He's been for so long. Yeah.

53:20 Have you ever called a coffee mug a Muggsy Buggs?

53:23 I never have. No, I haven't.

53:25 Wow, I thought that was going to be 100% yes. That's crazy. That would be an espresso cup.

53:31 I'm thinking when we move, guaranteed if I have a box of Muggs, it's called Muggsy Bogues.

53:35 On the box.

53:36 Jeez, that's good, man.

53:37 I like that.

53:37 I'm going to start doing that.

53:38 Yeah, you got to move.

53:39 Yeah.

53:40 I don't want to. I love my house.

53:41 Nobody wants to move.

53:42 So Bogues joins Bobby Phils, the late great Bobby Phils, number 13, and then Del Curry, number 30, as the only players to have their jerseys retired by the Hornets. But he was quite emotional and seemed genuinely shocked. that it was happening, but well-deserved. Like we said, I was scrolling through my phone here, Tass, trying to find photos of us, uh, meeting Muggsy Bogues or I don't know, where were we? We were in Tennessee at like the Jim Beam, uh, facilities. So we were sort of acting as hosts along with Robert Ori and Muggsy Bogues for people that won a contest.

54:15 Yeah.

54:15 So we got a chance to meet them.

54:16 The distillery there. Um, yeah, it's an unfortunate name. of the city that it's in, in Lynchburg, Tennessee. But Muggsy, yeah, he's just a great dude. I could see why he was surprised. He played a long time ago, 30 years ago. And they're celebrating him now, unfortunately. But the whole weird transition that happened, Hornets, new franchise, here we are, we're a bobcat now. So, you know, the whole thing was, has changed and it's changed hands. It was a few years ago that MJ moved on to these guys who, You know, it took them a couple of years too to say, oh yeah, this guy is memorable. Specifically Muggsy, I remember him more than Dell, who is also celebrated, Dell celebrated because he's part of the broadcast and Muggsy

55:02 hand in hand, not part of the broadcast, but part of the city. And so it's understandable that they would.

55:07 Do you think this is an unbreakable record? Will there ever be a player shorter than five foot three?

55:13 Honestly, no.

55:13 I doubt it.

55:14 I can't, no. There's no way.

55:17 It seems unbreakable.

55:18 Yeah. Like, it's, I mean, we, it's like, well, how tall was Matt Austin who we worked with for a decade? It's like, it's crazy to see Matt and go, and see Muggsy beside Matt and go, Matt is towering over him. It's tough to wrap your brain around. And like, it's not just like, oh, he was memorable or because he was short. Muggsy Bogues was a damn good basketball player too.

55:41 He was legit, really good point guard.

55:43 And in two seasons with 10 or more assists per game, like a good steals guy.

55:48 Yeah. Like he wasn't, Okay, I'm sure guys went at him because of his height, but it wasn't like, oh, there's an automatic two points. The guy was obviously stocky as hell, built a tiny little Mack truck. To make the league, obviously, just your mentality alone. He was damn good in terms of statistics and helping that team. I'm happy to see it. I was pumped to see it.

56:09 I think most people are, especially if you are a 90s basketball fan. You're right. Tell me a more memorable Hornets player.

56:17 You know, you get the LJ talk.

56:18 No, Muggsy by a mile.

56:20 Yeah. I mean, honestly. Oh, yeah. No question.

56:23 5'3, no, we're never going to see that again. I locked that one in. No, that is so small.

56:31 He's got a nice name of, nice list of nicknames here on Basketball Reference. Muggsy, Muggs, Apple, Billy, the human press, the human assist.

56:39 The PT boat.

56:41 The PT boat.

56:42 The PT boat.

56:43 What does that mean?

56:44 I have to do some research.

56:46 Don't know that one.

56:47 The PT boat.

56:48 Don't know that one, but.

56:50 The PT boat.

56:52 He was great when we got to spend that day or two with him there in Tennessee.

56:56 Didn't we have him on an all-star show in Toronto as well?

57:00 During the Saturday night, we.

57:02 Were kind of doing our live stream.

57:05 Yeah, he's been with the league forever.

57:06 Congratulations to Muggsy Books.

57:08 We'll wait.

57:10 Today's Woe Boy is sponsored by AK Vintage Store. Does that sound familiar? It should.

57:15 It does.

57:15 They've sponsored Woe Boy before. Alex and his eBay store. 99.8% positive feedback on eBay. Doing some good things over there at the AK Vintage Store. That's like over 1,000 items sold. 99.8%. It's like one person was upset. It was probably a mailing issue. Probably wasn't even AK Vintage's problem. Anyway, Steph Curry gets Woe Boy. 44 points. Tess already talked about it.

57:42 Number one game drafted in our best games draft. Shot 11 of 27 from the field. Sank all 16 free throw attempts though. That's the most he's ever hit in a game without missing. Eight boards, six assists, two steals in 32 minutes. So he did all that in just 32 minutes. Good game. I got a little trivia here for you though. Curry tied LeBron James for the most 40 point games after turning 35. So they each have 15 Can you name the next three guys, one retired and then two active?

58:15 Kevin Durant.

58:17 He's one of the active guys with nine, so he sits in fourth place all time. Again, 40-point games after turning 35.

58:24 One retired.

58:25 One retired.

58:26 Recently? No. Oh. No.

58:29 Kareem? No, he's only got four. Yeah.

58:33 Karl Malone? Nope.

58:35 Okay, I'm going to go back to our active guy, James Harden.

58:38 That's correct.

58:39 He's my new guy to always guess. He's like a Bob Pettit. Like, this guy put up crazy numbers.

58:44 I forget.

58:44 I agree with that.

58:45 So he's got six such games, 40-point games, after he turned 35. So you're missing number three. I wouldn't overthink it.

58:55 Michael Jordan?

58:55 There you go. Michael Jordan with 12 40-point games after 35. But Curry and LeBron still playing, still battling for this record.

59:06 KD as well.

59:08 True.

59:08 Harden, I suppose, as well.

59:10 Yeah, they're quite.

59:12 They got a lot of 40-point games behind, but yeah, possible.

59:15 Possible, especially with KD, I guess. All right. Before we get into Pick'Em, quick word from one of our sponsors.

59:22 This episode is brought to you by CalSheep.

59:24 It's an exchange where you can trade on what you actually think is going to happen in sports or whatever's on your mind. You're going up against other traders directly with no house.

59:34 Setting the odds.

59:35 It's just people putting their own opinions on the line. Trade $ 25 with code NODUNKS. They'll throw in another $ 55 instantly. Trade responsibly. Market we're looking at tonight. Cavs at Hawks here at the Fortress.

59:48 Hawks favored by one and a half. Cal Street Traders, it's 50-50.

59:52 Yeah.

59:53 That was a tough one.

59:54 Weren't you shocked by that a little bit, though? Cavs have shown to be the better team here early in the season.

1:00:00 Yes, Hawks desperate for a win. Both teams back-to-back.

1:00:02 Back-to-back, yeah. Yeah, I guess the Hawks didn't have to travel. Game starting a little later than normal because of the WNBA game today. Those people that have to change the floor there in the State Farm Arena. Hawks played, got to rip it up, put down the WNBA dream floor, rip it up after that. and then put down the Hawks floor again. But this is a big one for you, Tass.

1:00:23 I mean, you need the Hawks to win.

1:00:25 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:00:26 Because you're going to try and tie Trey Kirby here in the month of October with tonight and then tomorrow is the only possible nights left.

1:00:33 Yep. Lost five nights in a row.

1:00:35 Jeez, man. How do you do it?

1:00:36 It's hard. It's a hard skill.

1:00:39 This is our first just take the opposite of the other guy of the season.

1:00:43 Yeah.

1:00:43 Yeah, right.

1:00:44 Gotta make some moves.

1:00:45 Yeah, but you let him pick.

1:00:48 Yeah, because I'm wrong. That's actually smart.

1:00:52 So Trey is taking the Cavs. Tass, I'm with you tonight, though. And you know why? Why? Aren't you going to be in attendance cheering on the boys?

1:00:59 That's the plan.

1:01:00 Oh, God, and you hate the Cavs, too. You're going to be booing them out of the building. Holy crap, man.

1:01:05 You might get kicked out. Yeah, I hate it. Listen, I super locked them for the over. I demand a lot from my kids. And I demand a lot from all of them. Uh, me and Kenny Atkinson, we're going to do a pushup challenge before the game. Like he did earlier this season. I'm kidding. We're not doing that. He'll probably win. Uh, anyway, we'll see what the Hawks can do to respond. So yesterday they got, they got beat down. That was a beat down.

1:01:32 Okay. So Trey, again with the Cavs, Hawks got to win by two for me and Tass to get this. Tass is the really one, the one that needs it to have any chance to maybe get us into a bonus situation.

1:01:43 Bonus situation, hopefully. Otherwise, it's probably going to be me, one of us doing the pick-em next week, I assume.

1:01:50 Yeah, it sounds like it's going to be a week-long payoff.

1:01:52 Yeah.

1:01:53 Yeah. I got something arriving at the house a little later today. Excellent.

1:01:59 Got a good comment here in the stream team from Snook2026, following up on the PT boat. A PT boat is a small, fast, and heavily armored motor torpedo boat used by the Navy.

1:02:12 Okay.

1:02:12 Small and heavily armored. Perfect for Muggsy boats.

1:02:15 Sure.

1:02:16 The PT boat, as we all were calling him back in the day. Yeah.

1:02:19 Yeah. I see people calling him a fire hydrant, you know, small and tough.

1:02:24 He was.

1:02:25 He was.

1:02:26 Cavs Hawks, Kings Pelicans tonight, guys. Somebody's getting their first W of the season. We need it, Trey.

1:02:34 We need this one.

1:02:35 We desperately need this one.

1:02:37 Holy moly.

1:02:38 And then Grizzlies Blazers, somebody's going to get their first loss of the night.

1:02:43 Is that right?

1:02:44 Grizzlies have a loss?

1:02:44 That's right.

1:02:45 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so that's fun. Only three games on.

1:02:49 A little weird.

1:02:50 But we'll be back tomorrow to talk about those games. And we'll do some sort of like... Big questions with one and a half weeks of NBA season in the book. Surprises, newcomers, early MVPs. It's never too early for an MVP talk. We'll have some fun with that in the drop. Worst of the week, I'm sure.

1:03:08 Yeah, there's some bad ones out there.

1:03:10 Whoa, boy, rapid fire. We got lots for the drop tomorrow. Hope you join us at 10 a.m. Eastern. If you are a Survivor fan, join us at 1 p.m. Eastern today. That's later today here in the Classic Factory. No buffs, its own YouTube feed, podcast feed. Go seek that out and subscribe. Talking about episode six last night. Not the most entertaining episode in the world. Playful. Playful. That's a good way. They built a sack swing, Tass. You know what that is?

1:03:35 Sack swing.

1:03:36 Fun to say.

1:03:36 You ever put.

1:03:37 Your nuts on a sack swing?

1:03:38 You know what it is?

1:03:40 Specifically my nuts.

1:03:40 Because I didn't know what it was.

1:03:42 Like a potato sack?

1:03:42 You would put your nuts on it.

1:03:44 Yeah.

1:03:44 I've never seen it either, but it looked cool.

1:03:46 Yeah.

1:03:47 Looked fun.

1:03:47 Well, you've seen it before.

1:03:50 Sure.

1:03:50 Not built in the island, but I didn't know it was called a sack swing. It's like, you know, like you see the rope and then there's like sometimes like a little platform that you sit on, like a kid sits on and then you swing.

1:04:01 Sure.

1:04:01 That's what they built.

1:04:03 Okay.

1:04:03 A sack swing.

1:04:04 Why is it called a sack swing?

1:04:06 I mean, they turned a t-shirt into a sack, basically.

1:04:10 Oh, okay. So this specifically.

1:04:11 Yeah.

1:04:12 Okay. All right. Cool.

1:04:13 The farmer came up with it. Carter. Mm-hmm. They were having the time of their lives on it.

1:04:19 They had a lot of fun.

1:04:20 And they, like, built it out of, like, vines and stuff. Put some work into it. It looked like it took hours to make.

1:04:26 Yeah. I mean, they got the time. They got the time.

1:04:29 That's a great thing. I've seen it on some, well, on orchards. Not farms, necessarily. Okay. But, yeah, you know, you put a little base on something.

1:04:38 Yeah.

1:04:38 On a rope.

1:04:39 You do some sliding.

1:04:40 I can see why Carter probably loved it as a kid. Loved it.

1:04:46 Took him back to the farm, you're right.

1:04:47 Yeah.

1:04:48 All right.

1:04:48 We'll see you guys either later today for no buffs or tomorrow for no dunks. Did we do Clipper Bros?

1:04:52 No. Clipper Bros. You heard it here first.

1:04:55 Have a great time.

1:04:56 Turn up.

1:04:56 Love you guys. Awesome.

1:04:58 Thanks for joining us. And remember, name the pelican that's averaging more turnovers than assists.

1:05:04 Murray?

1:05:04 I don't know. A little guard. Not generous.

1:05:07 Fierce.

1:05:07 Fierce, yeah. Yeah, I just saw that in my stats, so I just threw that out there.

1:05:11 Appreciate it.

1:05:12 It's too bad. Are they going to blow it up? We'll see. Coming up on tomorrow's show. Yeah, maybe.

1:05:17 Good luck to the Atlanta Dream here. Force of Game 7. Let's go Dream.

1:05:20 Raise the date, people.