NBA Weekend Winners, Sixers Shut Down Embiid & LeBron Blasts Negative NBA Media
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Sir, any thoughts on the Academy Awards?

F*** this. Okay, thank you. Very nice.

Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the No Dunks Podcast on The Athletic Network. It's Monday, March 3rd, 2025. I'm J.E. Skeets, here in the Classic Factory, alone at the big desk today, but over yonder, making the magic happen, Super Producer J.E. Hello. There he is, and paying off last month's pick'em loss, all week long, joining us live from the can,

It's Tass Mellis. Oh, it's already flushing. Here I am.

At first, the Pickham payoff was just a man wearing a toilet hat. Yep. But then it just got worse and worse over the weekend where JD just wanted to get creative. He started wiring the bathroom and here I am. Here I am. That's right. For our podcast listeners, going to encourage you to check out the YouTube stream today because Tass is not only wearing... Well, there's going to be so many references to the bathroom this week. Not only is Tass wearing a...

Look, let's be honest, a pretty incredible toilet hat. It is very nice. Yeah, that is amazing. But he is sitting on the can as he podcasts all week long. Do you have that little potty stool that you guys like? Oh, the squatty potty. The squatty potty, yeah. Oh, I would love a foot stool. We'll get you one. We'll add you one. Well, yeah, because I've got potential hemorrhoids this week. But otherwise...

Everything is great in here. We call it a pick and payoff for January. February, I should say. But it feels like it was for January and November and December. For like 20 years. I mean, this is a payoff of...

Big depth. Yeah, I guess so. Unfortunately, no TK here today. He'll be joining us on Tuesday. But yeah, this is going to be an interesting week with Tass sharing his takes from the bathroom. I do, I mean, look, we got a long week here. A very bad take by one of us, be it myself or when Trey joins us.

Maybe just a straight up flush? Yeah. That's a great call. Down the drain? That's your call. Use the studio space in there. Oh, God. JD's got sound effects, too. Oh, my God. JD's really enjoying this. Yeah, of course. Yeah, I know. I know. All right. So on today's show, we're going to go through some NBA weekend winners, and we'll touch on the latest news. But first, we have...

We had a wedgie. Wedgie number 33. It was in Boston, nationally televised game. Al Horford and his beautiful eyes sticking that wedgie tass on the three-point shot. So had been a while since we had a wedgie, and there's number 33. Al Horford.

Doing it for us. Appreciate it, Al. Thank you, Al. All right, Tass. So much to talk about from a very busy NBA weekend. Let's do a couple rounds of NBA weekend winners. You get us started. Who's your big winner from the weekend? Well, the Cleveland Cavaliers going into Boston and getting a big win on Friday night. This feels good for the Cleveland Cavaliers because this is something that they can go back on and say, wow,

we won a game where Boston looked great to start this game. They truly were out there to show the Cavs why they won the title. They get up big in that first quarter. Jason Tatum was on fire. Jason Tatum was 18 in the first quarter. They get up 25-3. You can see the camera hit Jason Tatum say, get the cat out of here. Now, I don't know if Tatum's just saying, Cavs, get the cat out of this arena or he's talking to all the media who are talking about him and whether or not he should have more limelight and all that. But

But Donovan Mitchell went to the huddle and said, listen, we have allowed 38 points in a quarter before. All we got to do is stack. Good quarter after good quarter after good quarter. That's what Donovan Mitchell did. 12 in the second quarter, 14 in the third quarter, 12 in the fourth quarter, which was a part of the Cleveland closers. And I'm calling them the Cleveland closers because the three guys of Donovan Mitchell,

Evan Mobley and Darius Garland had every single one of the points for the Cavs in that fourth quarter. And if you're thinking about the Cavs as a potential playoff team that's going to go to the NBA Finals, they need those guys to support. Now, three minutes left. It was a tie game. Donovan Mitchell got into the lane, hit that floater.

Next play, got downhill, hit a beautiful left-handed sexy layup high off the glass over sexy Eizal Horford. And then Darius Garland really sealed this game with the step-back jumper over Sam Houser. Sam Houser's guarding him. We'll get to that in a sec. Why is he guarding him? But Darius Garland has been extremely clutch. He is shooting 59.5% in clutch situations. That is the best percentage of anybody who's taken a minimum of 30 attempts before.

But Evan Mobley started this fourth quarter. He had the first nine points for the Cavs in the fourth quarter. They had a switch on him and Derek White was in the post. So Evan Mobley took care of him, hit a couple of threes, had a putback at 11 points in the fourth quarter. I thought this was just a fun game for the Cavs because of

Everything they got from a bunch of guys. But as I said about Jason Tatum, he was amazing. He was phenomenal. He finished with 46, 16 boards, 9 assists, and 3 blocks. Jalen Brown had 37 himself, but the Celtics didn't have any support.

They didn't have a third guy really step up. They didn't have Kristaps Porzingis in this game. Or Drew Holiday. Or Drew Holiday, yeah. I was a little disappointed with that because I thought the Cavs wouldn't got DeAndre Hunter for this matchup to be able to switch defensively and Hunter be able to take Kristaps Porzingis just to add a little height at that small forward position. But he didn't start. I imagine he'll start when it comes playoff time if they do meet them in the conference finals.

All that to say, DeAndre Hunter was part of the bench that was phenomenal. They outscored the Celtics 35-6 when it comes to the bench. The Celtics just went seven deep, especially because they had no Drew Holliday or Chris Epps-Porzingis. They just went to Peyton Pritchard and Luke Cornett. Only two guys come off the bench.

Cavs were just having fun. This was Kenny Atkinson saying, well, let's get a work here. They were playing different lineups. Evan Mobley started at center in the fourth quarter. He played like six and a half minutes of the fourth quarter. Then they went to Dean Wade for a couple minutes. And then they brought Jared Allen and Evan Mobley off the bench to finish with...

at the center spot after Dean Wade was playing center. Dean Wade was playing center. So they were trying fun stuff. And Donovan Mitchell, I think they can smell it a little bit. Don't you think, Skeets? I don't know. You're the one in the bathroom. Who's smelling what? I think the Cavs finally say to themselves...

Listen, I know they were in the finals, but they also just gave up a huge lead late season in Boston. These are things that Donovan Mitchell and the team can talk to each other about. And Donovan Mitchell come through as the lead guy. But again, all those other guys really supporting is huge. Yeah, I think it was Ziller wrote in his newsletter this morning, like pointing out, OK, Celtics missing Drew, missing KP and.

And if they are to meet in a potential conference finals, I think the Celtics will still be the favorites, even though they likely won't have home court advantage. Oh, no. Definitely not. You don't think so? Definitely not home court. No, not home court. That's what I mean. I think they'll be very marginal favorites. Fully healthy, I think so. Yeah. But Ziller's point was it doesn't even matter because the Cavs do not fear the Celtics, right? Yeah. And a big part of that is while they don't probably have the best player in the series...

Donovan Mitchell thinks he's the best player in the series. And against the Celtics has been unbelievable. I mean, he's averaging something like 35 points per game against Boston in all of their games this regular season. And that, you know, that can help you. That just like not being afraid of the champs. I mean, I just hope we get it at this point. And, you know, maybe the Knicks or maybe some other team will spoil it. And we don't even get to see that matchup. But,

It feels, Tass, like we're headed towards that. And that is a quality win. And the way they came back and the way their guys came through in the clutch in Boston there. Yeah, Mitchell, as you said, four games against the Celtics to be averaging 35.5. It's got to feel good for them. But, you know, he has done a good job of allowing the other guys to take the lead.

And, you know, scoring less than he did last year. And so this team has, yeah, a belief in themselves. But I mentioned that play where he got into the paint to hit that floater. The Cavs are doing a great job of scoring inside against Boston. They kicked their butt and points in the paint in this game. And yeah, it would have been different. I would say if Drew Holiday was guarding Darius Garland at late in this game rather than Sam Houser. So there is that going for them.

but either way, Cavs just win games and they won Sunday against Portland without Donovan Mitchell. When the Virginia bros, DeAndre Hunter and Ty Jerome, 32 and 25, they're racking it up. They got the best record in the league. They are going to be the one seed. There's no doubt that definitely sealed the one seed in the Eastern Conference.

because Boston just can't come back. Yeah, and Boston, to their credit, did follow up the loss that they gave up the huge lead and beat the Nugget. Now they gave up a lead again, but held on in that one and Sunday sort of marquee game there on ABC, beating Denver by, I believe, seven in the end. So both these teams, yeah, after that great game on Friday night, take care of business, so to speak,

be it Cleveland beating the Blazers, like you said, or obviously Boston beating Denver. Yeah. A tip of the toilet seat to both of them. Oh, wow. Very nice. Oh, man. I didn't know the toilet seat lid lifted up. It does. It doesn't stick. Wow. Drops. Wow. What's in here? What is in here? Is that your hair right there you're touching when you go inside the Tollable hat? That's a mystery of the week. Oh, okay. Maybe we'll find out later. Yeah, you could pull things out of there. That'd be great. All right.

Alright, let's keep it moving here. My big winner of the weekend is the New York Knicks, or as I'm sure Knicks fans are calling them, the Cardiac Knicks, because this weekend, holy crap, wild couple of games. On Friday night, OG Ananobi made the go-ahead three-pointer with about five seconds remaining as the Knicks beat the Grizzlies 1-14, 1-13, 1-2.

back and forth affair clutch shot sort of matchmaking between the two teams but they get it done in the end and the good news for the Knicks was Mitchell Robinson came back in this game he made his season debut after recovering from left ankle surgery finished

finished with six points five boards played about 12 minutes so not a lot of time he was out there on the floor task for the final play um i think he sort of got lucky because uh john morant you know missed a tough left-handed layup that was challenged by the knicks defenders and then mitchell robinson looking a little sluggish looking like a guy who hadn't played basketball in a long time santi aldama sort of out tipped him to that ball oh yeah and it just didn't drop uh so he got really lucky there but

I thought overall looked decent for a guy coming back. So that was huge. OG sort of hitting the clutch shot. And then it continued because on Sunday, Jalen Brunson, he scored 31 points as the Knicks overcame a 19 point deficit to the Miami Heat. They win in overtime, 116-112. And this one, man, the Knicks are down four with like a minute to go and they scored four straight to get it into overtime. It was OG and Inouye again playing the hero. Gorgeous.

off a missed Jalen Brunson jumper, just like perfectly timed, got that one to drop, and then Brunson had like a little running layup in sort of semi-transition. The defense hung on, and then they took care of business in overtime. So the Knicks winning two like crazy games this weekend. OG was huge. And you said Darius Garland, awesome in the clutch.

Unfortunately, he's going to lose Clutch Player of the Year, I believe, to Jalen Brunson. I know TK has that take as well, and probably rightfully so. Brunson is very good. 54.5% in clutch situations. I had to look it up. That is very good. He's taking a lot of shots. Now, Garland's percentage is a good five points better. So that being said, we know that the pressure is on.

Mitchell in Cleveland, and the pressure is on Brunson there in New York. It was an awesome three. I thought that Friday night game against the Memphis Grizzlies was the game of the weekend for me to start. It was just super fun. Felt like we were back in 1995 watching on the Vancouver Grizzlies floor there because they had the throwback floor going. But just the way it ended, punch for punch, it looked like John Morant was...

Going to win that with that beautiful layup, as you mentioned there. And then I thought Aldama had the tip. I mean, that was a great tip. But just to see OG also grow. I mean, that three-point shot. And then, as you mentioned, those plays against Miami, I thought a bigger –

or a bigger positive from the Knicks side is to see that guy when he sees a little bit of floor in front of him and the attention is on Brunson or Cat and he gets the ball and there's that floor. He is making great beelines. That is what he needs to do when he sees that floor and he did a great job against Miami.

Looking very, very good. Very fun endings. It always seems like the Knicks go down to the wire in a close game. Yeah, and there's always some crazy plays or a hustle Josh Hart play or an overturn call. And it's like, yeah, it's been a wild ride. Knicks are now 40-20. So they're hanging on to the third seed there in the East. They're only two and a half back.

from the Celtics for the second seed. So maybe something to watch. I'm with you. Feels like the Cavs have the number one seed, and then it's going to be Celtics or New York in 2-3, depending where they land. They have one game left against each other. And Boston, of course, is taking care of business when they played the Knicks. They can't beat them, New York can't. But one game left. I think it's April 8th. So really, right at the end of the regular season, it might mean nothing. Could mean everything.

if they're close enough. So maybe keep your eye on that. Yeah, that's a good point. We will be watching those games. There's just good games every single night in the NBA. This show doesn't have Stephen A. Smiths on it. We're just positive guys. We'll get to Stephen A. Smiths later in the show. Yeah, we'll get to that. We love basketball. All right, let's do another round. Who else do you have for a winner of the weekend?

Got to give it to the Lakers, obviously. Six wins in a row for the Los Angeles Lakers. They beat the Clippers twice at home, both in Crypto.com Arena on the weekend. And that's coming off a win on Thursday, Thursday.

Minnesota. So three wins in four nights, they're just beating everybody. And on Thursday, they had to finish with Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent in that game. And then they started on Friday because of injuries to Rui Echamora and Austin Reeves. And I mentioned those guys because the Lakers have depth. I just didn't buy it when the trade was made that they had enough depth, but

Luca's getting support. Let's start a little bit with Luca because the second half of that Friday night game against Los Angeles Clippers.

He looked awesome. It's starting to look like everything is clicking. 20 points in the second half, nine free throw attempts in the second half. That's Luka. That's Luka, baby. And then Sunday night, he started game two against the Clippers on fire. He looked great. He's hitting threes. He's using the thumb to count up to three like a real Balkan bro. He looked great. And then he was setting up Dalton Connect for a three. Speaking of depth, that's when Ty Lue said, okay.

they've got they've got this guy here they didn't make that trade for mark williams maybe it worked out for them even better we need a timeout so tyloo talked about it then luca came back and it was just luca again

But the worrisome part was late in the first quarter, about a minute 40 left, Luka hits a couple free throws and then goes straight to the locker room. He starts pointing at his hip. I guess it's the gluteus median on the outside. Do you want to show us? Do you want to stand up and show us? Oh, yeah, I guess I am sort of pointing at it, actually. No, I'd rather not. But he goes, but he came back. And so the worrisome part was, oh, no. Oh, no.

Oh, Lucas hurt, but he did come back and he looked great. Finished with 29 points, 5 of 12 from three-point lens. So that initial, oh, can he shoot threes anymore? Is he banged up below the waist because he had the calf injury? That's not a worry anymore. And I have to mention the subs for their injuries. Dorian Finney-Smith now starting. Gabe Vincent now starting for Rui. And Austin Ruiz hopefully don't have long-term injuries. But Sunday, I mean, Dorian Finney-Smith plus 24 points.

That's the most important stat of his. It doesn't matter how many points he scores. He just keeps continuing to produce. The guy does it all. When he was on the bench, he was strictly like... He was everything. I say strictly the backup center, but he was also on the perimeter. Whether or not he has to fight over a pick on a ball handler, he'll do that, and then he'll recover to contest the shot at the center spot. I mean, his on-off numbers, because he's just so good, are ridiculous. He's plus 14.5 on...

His on-off number is very, very good for him. I mean, the difference is so drastic. So now he's starting. He's going to finish games, as I said, against the Timberwolves. They can just pick. Okay, Rui, you can start and do your thing, but we've got him to finish off games. Gabe has come in and played well for Austin Reeves. Dalton Connect has played well. And on the other side, quickly,

For the Los Angeles Clippers, Norm Powell came back for the first time since before the All-Star game on Sunday. That was a guy that I wasn't worried when I picked the Clippers over the Lakers against you, Skeets. I said, all right, the Clippers have got this series. I thought Norm Powell wasn't the worry. We all worry about Kawhi.

Maybe James Harden. But Norm, you never worry about Norm's injury. But he came back in this game and then left with a hamstring injury. So that is scary for a guy who came back. It looked like just to play the Lakers. The Luka was asked about it after the game. It seems like everybody comes back from injuries and plays the Lakers. And he said, yeah, I think that is true. Everybody comes back. And it stinks for him. They're currently in the sixth seed. It's such a tight race. We'll get into it later. But Luka...

The Lakers have moved up. They moved up to the second seat. I can't believe it. I have to put my hands on the wall here in the, in the bathroom. I just have to hold myself. I just, I can't believe the Lakers have gone up that high. It's they're currently tied with the nuggets. So they're,

their percentage points ahead of the Nuggets. And we'll see where they finish, but a fantastic, fantastic run here for Luca and everybody, their depth. Again, they don't need a backup center. They got Doreen Finney-Smith. It is phenomenal. Yeah. And they're winning all these games because they've ramped up their defense. Right. And now of course you have Luca, so you have enough offense and defensively is what winning them all these games over the last, like whatever, like three weeks, it feels like at this point. But you're right up to second seed because you had Denver losing, you had

like I talked about with the Knicks, you had the Rockets, for whatever reason, they can't beat the Kings, so...

Here's LA all the way up to the second seed, which is wild. This was like not long ago. We were like, they're fighting for their lives in the play-in tournament. Yeah. Right? And now they've come all this way up and they freaking added Luka Doncic. Thanks, Nico. So Lakers, that's a good quality winner of the weekend, but you slipped it in there sort of holding your breath a little bit, hoping that the injuries to Reeves and Rui are nothing too serious because those guys are super important.

to at least their like playoff hopes or championship hopes at that. Yeah. No, there's no doubt about that. And yeah,

LeBron's going to have an off game like he had on Sunday. It would help to have Austin Reeves shot making. He's a very good player at that. So, yeah, they're needed. Yeah, so LeBron, one point shy of 50,000 in his career when you're including the playoffs. That's unbelievable. Well, you're bracing yourself again. 50,000. Even I had to look that up, and I know he's number one in NBA history, period. But, yes, LeBron.

The plus playoffs. It got me. That's cool. It got me. 50,000 sounds cool. It does sound cool. That sounds like a lot of points. Finally. Yeah, exactly. Finally, it's a round number. Finally, he has a lot of points. Yes. Danielle has taken up painting. Oil painting, acrylic painting, other painting. I don't know what that painting type is, but it is just incredible. If I can convince her to open up a Shopify store, I know she'll be hearing the...

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All right, let's keep it going here. I want to give a winner of the weekend to what I'm dubbing the career high boys. Grimes and J-Dub. Sounds like a show coming up on TNT. Grimes and J-Dub coming up next after Inside. In Philly's first game since Dwell and Bede was shut down for the season, Quentin Grimes.

Went for 44 points. Shot 18 of 24 from the field. Six of nine from deep. In a win! In a Sixers win! Unbelievable. Against the Warriors who were missing Jimmy Butler. But still, that's shocking. And this surprising scoring explosion is nuts when you consider Grimes had...

points on one of four shooting the game before so there's that and he only had one game ever where he scored at least 30 points this season before Saturday so just out of nowhere Grimes was on fire that was just wild to see 44 he also had like a clutch hoop in this game he got by on drove on Santos put the Sixers up to and then Yabasele hit a corner three the next time down and that gave him enough space so that was wild you have any quick thoughts on on Quinton Grimes there yeah

Always been a Quentin Grimes fan. You have. Didn't know a 44 spot was happening in an NBA game, but the smile he's got, he's got great teeth. The huge smile he had, it reminds me of Trey's had that maniacal laugh on our show last week where he had those big teeth. Lots of compliments on his teeth. Lots of compliments on Q's teeth. I mean, Quentin Grimes looks...

Looks great. And this whole Paul George thing, I'm not going to podcast anymore. That has to be a benefit for the team in some weird way that they're at least he knows that despite Joel Embiid being out for the season, which we'll get to at least Paul's dedicated and

It's a weird race in the Eastern Conference for the 10th seed, but those games are interesting. They're playing Portland today. That'll be our pick-em game. I'll be picking it from the toilet later in the show. Don't pick it out of the toilet. No, it's not there. I was going to say, shouldn't Quentin Grimes be upset that Paul George isn't podcasting anymore?

This would be awesome. So we can get more minutes? Yeah, he might go on. He might have him on the show. Talk to him about his 44-point game. He's like, come on, man. Bring it back. Give me some more buzz. Hey, listen. Just like us, there's off-season shows to fill.

Come on in the offseason. Okay. So that was one of the career high boys. And then Jalen Williams, like I said, J-Dub, he had a career high 41 points. Sort of surprised me a little bit. Like, oh, wow, that's his career high. Okay, awesome. 4-0 KC as they beat the Spurs 146-132. This was on Sunday. They spoiled the Spurs' homecoming there following a very long-ass road trip. They had been gone forever. But J-Dub dominated the second half.

This guy was muscling his way to the rim time and time again, and he was hitting crazy little circus shots, little and ones left and right, but that dude is a bulldozer. And he was the reason they won this game because OKC was leading by two with like 14 minutes to go.

And then, you know, he just went off and they ripped off another one of these crazy runs because the Spurs couldn't miss a three-pointer in the first half. They gave up another 77-point first half, OKC did. But then they scored 38 fourth-quarter points and J-Dub scored more than half of those. So he added to the 41, six rebounds, seven assists, four made threes and zero turnovers tasks. So pretty damn impressive game from him and getting his career high.

Always tough coming back from a long road trip like that. Charlotte Hornets also just coming back from a long road trip. That's my excuse for them stinking at home. Because of the All-Star break, they were not home since before the All-Star break. That's a nine-game road trip, just like the Spurs had a ridiculously long one. And yeah, we...

We'll talk about that later. I don't want to talk about the nut dust bowl and the Hornets losing again. No, no, no. Not now. No, this is all about the career high boys. But fun stat from the Oklahoman. So J-Dub and then Shea Gildas Alexander, who finished with 31 points, eight assists, and zero turnovers. Those two became just the second duo in NBA history to tally 40 points and 30 points respectively with zero turnovers each. Only happened one other time.

You want to take a crack at it? You got to go back to the 90s. So two teammates. Two teammates that scored 40 and 30 in a game, but both had zero turnovers. Could it just maybe because I said the Charlotte Horns? It's not them, but Del Curry and Glenn Rice? No, no. Guys who don't pass. But a 90s team that was super popular and everyone had their starter jackets. And you know the one, I mean, we both, well, both of these guys have been on our show in the past year.

One loved wedgies, one loved grilling. So Dennis Scott obviously loved grilling. Yep. And Shaq loved wedgies. Shaq and Dennis Scott, the only other duo to do that. 40 and 30 and then zero turnovers. So now it's SGA, or I guess I should say J-Dub and SGA respectively. Crazy. Also had a little ejection in that game. A little scuffle, I should say. I don't know if you saw that. OKC and San Antonio, Champagny, Kenrich Williams, and then Luke Dort got tossed out.

because he came sort of screaming in and got into it with Sohan. But it was really Champagny and Kenrich Williams. Kenrich did not like that he took sort of a bow to the face when Champagny was throwing it. Though, like...

Kenrich Williams was like in his shorts, so I don't really know what he expected. It's like he's trying to get rid of the ball, man. His elbow might hit your face because you're right up against him. But anyway, no punches thrown. I did not see that mudflap battle. All right, one more round of weekend winners. Who else you got? Well, I'm going to the Western Conference, and I just deem anybody who's going to watch Western Conference playoff games a winner because it is going to be a scrap. Just think of these standings.

Below the OKC Thunder. It is incredible. Two through five, there's only a game and a half separating those four teams. It's pretty phenomenal. And then even deeper, six through ten are separated by half a game. They essentially all have the same records. It's a 32-28 for the Clippers, a 32-28 for the Warriors, a 33-29 for the Wolves, a 31-28 for the Kings, and a 32-29 for the Mavs.

It is going to be a blood battle. And those are the teams, along with OKC, that are going to make the Western Conference playoffs because the Suns lost to the Timberwolves on Sunday night. It is officially over. They're done. It's done. Flush them. Flush them. Flush them. This is for you, Phoenix. Oh.

Do we have a sound effect? Yes. Toilet flushing and a real toilet flushing. Wow. We doubled down. Dolby sound. Yes, that's a 6.0, baby. Suns are done. Mathematically, they're still alive. I think they're only four games back, but they're absolutely done. I think it's more likely that they finish 11th than they even finish. Excuse me. Excuse me. It's more likely they finish 12th than they finish 11th.

The Blazers are right on top of them. The Suns have the toughest schedule the rest of the way. The Blazers are only one game back. They have a pretty tough schedule, too. All right. Water has filled up in the basin. Yeah, I was going to say, the sound effect goes a little quicker than the real flush, doesn't it? But it feels like the Blazers are going to catch the Suns. The Suns are just absolutely done. Either way, the Western Conference playoffs...

with the suns out of there are going to be fun all those teams i just mentioned are going to be fun playoff series fun play in games to get in there they're gonna be real tough real tough all five of those teams the clippers warriors wolves kings maz are gonna be ridiculously ridiculously tough it's good for the mavs with all these injuries that are happening

if there is some sort of bright spot on their season, it's that they've survived because it's highly, highly unlikely that the Suns are going to be able to recover and beat them.

Despite all those injuries, they'll still be all right and they'll still make it, at least to the play. Because we'll have guys be coming back for them. But anyways, a fun, fun time if you watch Western Conference playoff basketball. Oh, for sure. I mean, it is crazy how close it is. We'll get into the whole Phoenix Suns and what they need to do this offseason. Are they going to trade Kevin Durant? Probably. Probably.

Where will he be traded? That's interesting. I think we can do that on tomorrow's show when TK joins us and we have a little more time. But yeah, I'm with you. Like...

Flush them. They're done. If we were doing losers today as we usually do, winners and losers, I mean, it would be Suns for like the third or fourth straight weekend, I feel like. Did you see Anthony Edwards scored 44 points against them and then tried a pretty audacious alley-oop attempt that Bradley Beal was not having any of, and he literally pushed them in the air. We were going to have at least one of the best alley-oops of the season off the

bounce from Dante DiVincenzo. I mean, definitely clowning them a little bit, but Beal said no, and it got upgraded to a flagrant one because he's completely exposed in the air, and then Ant was upset about that, but...

Yeah. A bounce pass alley-oop. That doesn't happen. Happened in the All-Star game. Was that a Stefan Yannis combo? Yeah, a couple years ago, yeah. That was fun. But it would have been fun to see Ant do it. Don't see it in a game all that often. Yeah, I mean, Ant was skying, too. He nearly grazed his head off the backboard. It would have been crazy. All right, a couple other honorable mentions for winner of the weekend.

The Raptors tasked... Yo, baby. They executed the ethical tank job versus the Bulls on Friday. I wish Trey was here. You think that was on purpose? Yeah, a little bit. Because when they sit Yaka Pirtle, they stink. Worse than the bathroom you're in right now. I mean, it's pretty amazing. They nearly did it again against the Magic. You'll take Pirtle out and suddenly there goes the lead. But they held on. They got that win, but...

Yeah. I mean, like yes and no. They are up in the fourth. Yeah. It looked like it was over. It looked like they were going to win, but they somehow just gave it a bad offensive possession after bad offensive possession.

These are the things they need to work out. This is great for them. This is great for them. And maybe don't foul the three-point shooter when you are up four like they did to Kobe White. Oh, that's terrible. De'Aaron Fox, honorable mention. Hit a game winner for the Spurs. That was big. I mean, we had sort of pointed out De'Aaron Fox was brutal offensively.

for like the last week or so, but he had that game winner. That's why you get a guy like that moving forward when Wemby's back. You know, you're going to see probably a couple more of those, I would assume next year. Steph Curry notched his first slam dunk since he was a kid.

since 2019. He said it's his last dunk. Yeah. As well, he's like, I will not be doing that again. And he said, I'm calling it. He barely got it in, really. I mean, it sort of grazed over the rim. He said it took a lot out of him in that loss. That was in that loss to the Quentin Graves game. That may be why he doesn't want to do it again because he barely got it.

got over it. Yeah. He's like, that's the last one, so enjoy it. So that's pretty crazy. And then you already slipped it in a little bit, but the Pelicans defeated the Jazz 128-121 on Sunday. That's huge in the nut dust bowl standings because I have the Pelicans. They improved to 17-44. Trey has the Jazz.

They fell to 15 and 45. Big swing. That's like any of these games you're talking about in the Western Conference right now. You know, these two teams play each other. It's a huge swing potentially in the standings. That's one there in the nut dust bowl standings. Yes, you're safe. It looks like you're not going to have the worst record of the three teams. The Utah Jazz are trays. You're lucky you got the Pelicans. You're good. You're good. I call the Charlotte Hornets...

Now they have lost all four games to the Washington Wizards this season. That's weird. That's a weird one. The Wizards have 11 wins and four of them against Charlotte. Charlotte coming home after a nine-game road trip, I say it's all right to lose your first game. It's always a little tough. And again...

They haven't been home since before the All-Star game, so that's a long time. And then it takes you a while to get used to it. It was a weird road trip where they beat the Lakers on the road trip. So we'll see. I'm one back of Trey, but yeah, I'm just doing stupid poopy things here at the end of the season. So I'll be...

I'll be eating something. So we'll keep our eye on that. I am feeling pretty good having a couple games clear of you guys. But my final win of the weekend, I'm going to give it to the Milwaukee Bucks because on Saturday, Giannis and Damian Lillard combined for 57 points to lead the Bucks over the Mavs. What am I hearing right now? Well, I was hearing something in the studio, so I had to stop talking for a second. There's some weird noises. I don't know. Yeah.

I can't. JD, is that you? Or what's going on? It's not me. Okay. I just picked up my paper. Oh, okay. Just a second. My knee cracked as well. I don't know if you heard my knee crack. It's that. It's JD. There's that. He's plopping something. No, JD's plopping something. He's plopping. Okay. Okay.

Stop plopping, JD. This is a professional basketball podcast under the athletic umbrella owned by the New York Times. Jesus, man. I just had to close my legs because I saw them open up there for a sec. Yeah, Giannis and Dame, 57 points as the Bucs beat the Mavericks. And Gary Trent Jr. added 20 points. He's on a bit of a run right now. That guy's a streaky guy. We've seen it with the Raptors. We've seen it with his previous teams. Right now, he's on a little bit of a hot streak. But the Bucs won for their sixth time in seven games.

And they have now sort of gotten up into fourth place in the Eastern Conference. I wanted to show Milwaukee some love, even though they only played that one game there over the weekend, because Bucs fans were upset that we didn't discuss their team beating the Nuggets late last week on the Drop Podcast. Because they beat them on Thursday night. We had a bunch of other things going on the Drop Podcast. So this is a nice way to like...

Give them a little love from that win. And they continued it there on the road where they haven't been great. They haven't been very bad on the road, but got that win in Dallas. Yeah, it's a win.

It's nothing really to write home about. Okay. And we give... Giannis is like the brother I never had. Okay. That's too far. But I give... What I'm trying to say is I've shown him plenty of love. That's a bad diss to your actual brothers. Yeah. Well, that's true. But really, it's a love relationship with Giannis. We talk about him all the time. Yeah. Yeah. You can't ridicule us. You can ridicule Stephen A for not talking about Jason Tatum or whatever you want to talk about, but...

Now we talk about Giannis plenty. And so they beat the Mavs. Yeah, obviously a short-handed Mavs team, but I like this. Giannis was brutal this year. Once again, from the free throw line, I think he was shooting 58% when he entered that game on Saturday, but he went 11 for 13 at the free throw line. So you're going to need to have some of those in the playoff games if they're going to advance. And he had a good one, but him and Dame, he talked about it too. He's like,

Like, they're the leading duo in the league when it comes to scoring. Giannis and Dame, right? And he's like, so, you know, he's being asked about that. He's like, well, we're number... Like, we're the best. So things are obviously working. And you are seeing a little more, like...

Doc Rivers is like, he is focusing on like Dame and Giannis action. Like let's go more, more, more. So that's a good sign. And Dame had a good game as well. Yes. We'll see if they can take that over to the last six minutes of a fourth quarter in the playoffs. You definitely see the chemistry working and, and,

Yeah, that's why I start to think that is the brother I never had. My brother could score. There's no doubt when I played with him. But, you know, he's not Yanis Adedokunpa. No, I assume not. I'm just looking at my phone, see if he's listening, see if he's texting me yet.

Not yet. Okay. Phone fell in the toilet, so I'll get it later. All right, let's get to some NBA weekend news. We'll start with the injuries here. 76ers star Joel Embiid's season, it's done-zo. Team announced late last week that Embiid has been ruled out for the remainder of the season because he is, quote, medically unable to play.

Embiid and the Sixers had been trying to sort of manage the pain and the swelling there in that left knee, which did require surgery in February 2024. But they officially have shut him down. Not a surprise task. We'd been really basically calling for this. I know you had been for weeks now, and they're going through on it and shutting him down. Yes, and they came out and said he and his doctors don't know how his knee will be fixed, and that is obviously very surprising.

scary to hear because this isn't an injury that he just sustained. This is something that happened after last year's playoffs when he had to undergo surgery and, or excuse me, he had to undergo surgery after he was landed on. And this is just,

Rolling into this year. That was last year. That was almost a full calendar year ago. He's played a lot of basketball since. But for them to come out and say this, quote, he's unable to play and will miss the remainder of the season to focus on treatment and rehabilitation. He's working on a treatment plan. He told Lisa Salters a few weeks ago, I might need surgery. What we're trying to say here is there isn't an answer. And from the positive side of things, the doctors have said no.

Maybe he can get closer to 100% at some point if we remedy him some way, but it just sure feels like without a clear answer, without a, hey, he's going under the scapula for this type of surgery, it's really just a hope that this surgery, again, after early 2024, he hasn't been able to recover. And the medical team has said there's no conventional operation available

Right.

Like when it would come and go, like it would suddenly just flare up like after a good game or after a good practice or workout. So it's like, what do you do? But it's got to be a concern here for the Sixers moving forward task, right? He's 31 this month. So given his age, his overall physical condition, his track record, of course, with these knees, it feels a little weird or maybe even absurd to think he can regain his MVP form.

I don't know if we're ever going to see that peak and beat, right? Because of all this, which sucks. And especially when you consider he's owed nearly $250 million over the next four seasons, all of which is guaranteed money.

So, man, you got to pray and hope that whether it's rehabilitation, whether it's another surgery, whatever it is, that it works to some extent where the guy can just even play and get to 80% or 85% of MVP and beat. Otherwise, this is bad. Right. Yeah, it's unlike that first contract that he signed that required him to remain in shape. This one is guaranteed the rest of the way.

I guess if, again, rose-colored glasses, you say, well, the guy will play again. It sure feels that way. Yeah, okay, and I believe that. Right. Yeah. Because he could be playing now. I know they've deemed him unfit to play and that he's had to undergo things every single game, every single day, as you said. And let's be honest, they want to lean into being bad. Yeah. They want to keep their pick. Yeah. They're not going anywhere this year, whether he plays or not. Yeah. Yeah, and as you said, he's getting older. Yeah.

The reason why I think it's even a little late that they shut it down, because you want a longer roadway here to next season. You just want this guy who's into his 30s to be back and playing as well as possible and everything to be all happy as possible and podcast recording interviews with Joel Embiid about him coming back. It just...

Seems like a very long time, as he told Lisa Salters. It may require surgery. It may take a long time. So he's going to slow play going into next season, which he did for this season. It is just such an up and down. You combine that with all the fines for the Philadelphia 76ers, the suspension that Embiid had when he was frustrated with the writer there in Philadelphia. There's a lot that happened this season. It is a terrible season, period. Oh, my God.

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Embiid's career scoring average is 27.7 points per game. That's behind only Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, and Luka Doncic. Career scoring averages. It's pretty crazy. He obviously won an MVP, two scoring titles, seven-time All-Star, five All-NBA teams. I guess what I'm getting at here, if Embiid never plays another game, he's still a Hall of Famer. Like, he would go into the Hall of Fame, I believe, with those accolades.

despite being the only NBA MVP who has never let his team be on the second round. Like he has that sort of against him, that playoff success that sort of has failed him. And he's never played in more than 68 games in a season. He's only topped 63 other times. So that's always been the knock on him, unfortunately. But he's a giant dude. And this isn't the first time we've seen a giant talented big man whose career is maybe shortened or derailed because of injuries. Because I keep thinking, Tass, now,

If this is the beginning of the end, let's say for Joel Embiid, how is he remembered in NBA history moving forward? And I think it's like sort of a combo of a couple guys. Because on one hand, other talented big men like Yao Ming, Ralph Sampson,

They had injury-shortened careers, right? That kept them from potentially even higher levels of success, both individually and team success in trying to win a title. So they come to mind. Then another one is maybe like a little Tracy McGrady, Joel Embiid comparison. Incredible peak for both those guys. Scoring titles for both those guys.

But some banged up years, obviously, and then very little playoff success. You know, McGrady, like Embiid, is there. And then just finally, and this is a bit of a weird one, but Patrick Ewing, I think, is going to come to mind when we talk about Embiid 20, 30, 40 years from now. Both men, Hall of Fame-worthy centers.

beloved I believe more by their fan bases than maybe the general public and I think a part of that is because of the elite contemporaries that they were battling at their position for their career Patrick Ewing it's like Shaq and Akeem Olajuwon maybe even David Robinson and then it's sort of Patrick Ewing right there whereas Embiid will have battled and is battling for

Jokic and Giannis. And it's like, he's always going to slot, I think, behind them at the end of the day. And a big part of that, of course, is titles and lack of them. So I don't know if you want to add anyone or agree with those, disagree, but that's sort of like where I'm thinking of Embiid. And I know I'm talking about it like he's done. I don't think he is. I don't think he is. But MVP Embiid? Probably. I do believe that.

To me, the TMAC comparison is the best one. It was flying around in our chats, and I thought that was the most accurate one. We've got to get that chat available for our fans to take part. Why the heck not? People are doing it. It's a modern-day...

Email thread. I mean, it's fun. I think the most accurate comparison, strictly because all that scoring, not a lot of playoff success at the top of the game. Still Hall of Fame player. Yeah. It feels like the requirements for Hall of Fame are definitely changing, altering. What are they? It is difficult to tell. But I think Embiid is...

guaranteed to get in. I mean, if the quiet doesn't get the bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce and beat is in his first conference finals because he hasn't reached a conference final. So that's why the TMAC is perfect to me, obviously a different type of player. Like your, your Ewing comparison is, is,

He's good in that light, that's for sure. But Ewing got to finals. Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, you can... Yeah, we can go all day. That's for sure. But hopefully he comes back. Other injury news. Magic guard Jalen Suggs is going to undergo surgery to remove a cartilage fragment in his left knee, and he's out indefinitely. The team announced this Sunday afternoon. So Suggs' return will be based on how his rehab goes. He's expected to make a full recovery, but...

I don't know if we'll see Suggs this regular season at all, maybe playoffs, or maybe we don't see him until next year. But this really sucks, obviously, for the Magic, because this guy, it's pretty obvious he's the heart and soul of this team. Without him, they're a different team, and we're not going to have him here for a long time. Yeah, I've been following this closely because when he goes down,

Yeah, this team is so different. And so he was deemed to have a quad injury when he left the game against the Pistons on January 25th. He's been out five weeks. It was a quad injury, so I was just confused. I got into it. I'm looking down here, and I know, J.D., you had to get off my camera because you saw me looking down at my notes. Because I need the pronunciation, the proper pronunciation of this injury that he has. The trochlea injury, I believe, is what they're calling it. The trochlea is...

It isn't a ligament. It's not a muscle. It's not a tendon. That's the weird part. So what is it? It's part of the femur bone. It's the bottom of the femur bone. The femur connected from the hip to the knee. It's the part that's sort of underneath the patella. It's right at the bottom, but it's part of the bone.

And so it's odd to call it that. I did the Dr. Brian Suterer check in to see what he had to say about the trochlea. But you've got the patella just basically it slides over.

over the trochlea. It's just the thing that's underneath the patella. And when he went out with that injury, he grabbed the back sort of like kind of his hamstring. And then he put his hand sort of over his knee and he kind of ran into Cade Cunningham. And now they're thinking that it's...

Well, there, I don't know what their thing, but to say it's the trochlea, there's some cartilage behind the trochlea and that's what it could be. But it is just a part of the bone where the patella slides up and down and it's

It was Tuesday after a workout. They said, okay, it's not that quad injury. There's a discomfort. We got to do an MRI. And their MRI revealed that it's a trochlea injury. Yeah, he was close to returning. Like he was playing like two on two. He's doing defensive like drills and slides, I read. So he was probably ramping up to come back. But then, yeah, still had that discomfort, still had the swelling, I guess, in that knee area. They're like, we better take a look at this again. And this is where they...

They found this out. I mean, no better podcast right now could be explaining a knee injury than a man sitting exposed...

on a toilet. I mean, this is perfect. You were breaking it down there. You're the new doctor. I don't realize that as soon as I start breaking down, it feels like I'm at a speakeasy. I open up my legs and I shouldn't be doing that on a toilet. Like I'm really digging in here to knowing what's going on. I just forget sometimes I'm on a toilet and working for the New York Times or the Athletic. Anyway, it's a shame because he had back spasms earlier this season. He left that Raptors game, was out

early January for weeks. Comes back for one game, sustained what was deemed a quad injury, and now it's the old trochlea. And so Brian Suter, MD, he was confused by what this trochlea injury is, and it just seems like it's something that's, hopefully they found out what's going on, but it just seems like, again, the back spasms, it just seems like things are rolling here for Jalen Suggs, who said that,

I hope to be back later this season. And I know guys say that all the time, but with this guy who just plays through injuries and you see him hobbling, I wouldn't be surprised to see him back helping the Magic in a play-in game because that's where it seems like they're destined to be. They are sliding. Paolo Franz Wagner and Suggs.

in six games together this year. They played like a hundred minutes together. That's nuts. They played pretty well. Like they were four and two. Their minutes together were good, but just obviously one of them was always banged up. It was Paolo first and it was Franz. And then unfortunately, of course it's Suggs. Um,

You say he plays through injury. I'm with you because he is a hard-nosed player. But unfortunately for him, because he is so extreme and so locked in defensively, he picks up a lot of injuries. This is really the third out of four seasons where...

He doesn't play a majority of games because he's always banged up because he plays so balls to the wall. Like last year was a good year. Last year was a pretty healthy year. I think he played 75 games those first two years. And now this year where he's going to finish like easily under 40 games played, uh,

That's sort of the thing with Suggs. It's the blessing and the curse with some of these guys, right, Taz? They play so hard that they're prone to pick up a lot of these injuries and a lot of knees and backs and stuff like that because they're always hitting the floor and locked in on the defensive end. Suggs. Yes, that's a very good Suggs. It does Suggs. But yeah, he ran into Cade Cunningham and it looked just like sort of a random, maybe a knee-on-knee that he started grabbing his leg.

But you're right. He plays extremely hard. I didn't think of here in year four the number of games that he's really missed. Maybe because I just deem him as this hard-nosed player. I think he plays a lot. But this year...

obviously not so much. Yeah. Just to back up what I thought was true. And it is 48 games played in his rookie season, 53 the next year, 75, like I said, in year three. And then this year he's at 35. So it might be 35 to 40 if he somehow comes back at the end of the regular season. But yeah, the way they're playing right now, you know, they might just have to be like, okay, this was not really our year in terms of a

you know, good health and we have fallen and fallen. Maybe it's a play in battle or whatever, but maybe you just rest him and bring them back next year. We'll see. All right. Final piece of news. We've been alluding to it all show Stephen A. Smith. He spent a significant portion of screen time on Friday discussing LeBron James recent criticisms against how the league is covered across the major networks. Now, Bron must've been watching.

because he fired some tweets off in response to Stephen A. But the back and forth started when LeBron spoke about the state of the NBA media following Thursday's game.

outlining how there's like this weird energy amongst media members. And that's exactly why players like Anthony Edwards doesn't want to be considered the next face of the NBA. So that was LeBron's sort of reasoning. No wonder Ant doesn't want to be face of the league. All you do is crap on the NBA. He's talking about your major networks and the NBA media. Naturally, this prompted Stephen A to discuss LeBron's comments, and here we are, Tass. I mean, this has been going on for a couple days now. Do you have any thoughts on...

All of this, I guess. And whether you think there's some truth to what LeBron was saying or not. What do you think? Well, LeBron is one of the greats. Simply saying too much of the talk about the NBA is negative. He just wants more positive about an incredible sport. I think that's what he's implying now. It's definitely different in proportion, social media versus TV, because I don't think TV is...

As much as social media and social media, we know what gets amplified. It's the negative stuff. So that has become more popular to speak negatively about it. I would say it is a higher portion on social media. So,

For Stephen A to say, hey, he's talking about me. He didn't address Stephen A. Smith. And I know Stephen A. Smith has made a very, very popular show because of the takes, because of a lot of negativity. And that's how you get people coming back on first take. And am I promoting it now? I guess so. But there is a lot of that talk.

on his show and he's made it more popular because of it. So yes, I will say though, you know, he went on to say LeBron has a media company too.

Doesn't mean he speaks negatively about the sport. His media is all about breaking down plays. It's all about pin downs, double screens, the way the game is played, the positivity about it, which when I say that you might think, oh, that's not going to get anybody watching shows. And that's the unfortunate part. And I think that's what LeBron was saying is that those beautiful parts of the game should be talked about more. I think it's as simple as that because I heard that on Thursday night.

I came back into our Friday show. I didn't think a thing of it when LeBron had that interview. Maybe it's because our show doesn't do what Stephen A. Smith does. It doesn't do what a lot of the negativity out there is about. That's partly, you know, me patting myself on the back. But I just think that that's all he's saying. And it is unfortunate. That's the whole picture, I think. And when he went on and talked with Scott Van Pelt after the Clippers game, he was interviewed about it.

He really respected Scott Van Pelt. He said he knows that Scott Van Pelt just talks about...

The cool things about the game. And he'll talk about things off the court, but he will... Now I'm deeming SVP a great broadcaster, because he is. He is. And he just not only talks about the game, but he talks about things off the court, but he doesn't really get negative about stuff. And so that's all LeBron's saying. I don't think there's really any harm in what he said. Yeah, we usually avoid this stuff because it very quickly becomes an echo chamber, this shit, because it's like... I mean, you see it, how it happens here. This is like...

this is everything for Stephen A. He wants to hear this criticism because then he can just do another 20 minutes on it and then you get another one. Or call it criticism because it really wasn't. Yeah, right, right. I mean, I think we can infer that LeBron, when he was saying these comments, he did mean probably Stephen A.,

probably ESPN to some extent. The hot take shows, probably inside the NBA because there's always been like, oh, these guys don't actually like the game. I'm talking about Barkley and Shaq and Kenny, and it feels like they're the ones always crapping on today's game. Like, okay, it's all this stuff that's been said a million times. But the other part of this is like, okay,

The NBA media, it's not the entirety of the NBA media that hates the NBA. It's like what you're saying. It's just what gets amplified because unfortunately that's what people care about and like to share, I guess, that negative sort of connotation. But this is also the classic, like I wrote a blog for a long time, man. I get it. You write something or like we do a podcast. I mean, just use that as an example. You'll get 100%

to, you know, a thousand people saying, I like this take. I like this blog post. I like this podcast. That was a great take, Tass in a toilet hat. You get a thousand of those, right? But you get one comment that's like, I hate that. You suck, whatever. And like, that is like just the...

Human nature is like you're like, focus on that. And for whatever reason, you disregard the thousands of compliments or positive things. And I think that happens with everything in today's society, with today's internet and social media. Like, that's just...

That's just the way it is. But I will say the LeBron, the one thing I don't like about the LeBron comments is like, I think this whole face of the league thing, these are like two separate things, like the crapping on the league and crapping on the NBA and then the face of the league. And that's why Ant doesn't want it. I don't think those are actually one in the same. Like,

You don't get to pick who is the face of the league, right? Like, that does sort of happen organically. And it's been LeBron. Maybe you believe it's Steph Curry, but really it's been LeBron for the last, like, 20 years. And then we're going to see who it's going to become after LeBron is finally done kicking ass at basketball. He's still amazing. But, like, you don't really pick

That's not how it works. We don't say, that's the guy now. It might be Wemenyama. It might be Anthony Edwards. It might be somebody else. Hell, it might be the Thompson twins for all we know. We don't know and it just sort of happens organically. Big part of it, of course, is playoff success and championships. I think you have to have those. But then you have to have something else about you that people click with, be it your personality or whatever. So that part was a little strange to me that LeBron was trying to

sort of jam in there, I thought. I hear what you're saying. I think if he was to specify when you are ridiculed by the media and when that fades away, I think it's when you don't win at the first part of your career. People were all over LeBron getting swept in the finals in 07. And people were...

And people were all over Michael Jordan. And people were all over Dr. J. Like, I mean, there's nothing new. Yeah. So you just have to win. I don't think you really have to have a ton of personality even where you change the game. I mean, Steph, I don't think he's really extremely well known about everything he does off the floor, but he changed the way the shot...

is made the way, the way three point shots are done. So, so there's that. I mean, you just have to win and then you get the limelight and then people stop ridiculing you. People stop hating you. And yeah, LeBron just needs, um,

I think LeBron should say that. I think they should have a breakdown. I mean, that's what his media company is great for. Break it down. He started his own podcast to at least address what he thought was a vacuum in the space, right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's like what Kobe did with ESPN when he was doing the details. It was called detail, right? Yeah. I'm misremembering. When he was getting into just breaking down footage, breaking down each play.

But it's hard work. It's hard work to do that. It's hard work and it's not going to be for everyone. Yeah, yeah, of course. And that's fair too. Like this is the whole point. There's going to be all these lanes for people. There's going to be a podcast where a guy can sit on a toilet wearing a toilet hat, breaking it down, breaking down the knee structure.

And the groove of the trochlea. Yeah, it's the groove. It is so interesting. It is so interesting. But that may not be for you. Guess what? The good thing is there's a bunch of other shows. There's Thinking Basketball with the man Ben. There's that type of stuff. Yeah. And yes, there is both. And I get why people are all over Ant here before he finishes or before he wins.

I'm already deeming him as a winner. But, you know, if he gets to that point, then I think people stop and just, all right, everybody here is saying he's great. Then I got to say it too. And so there's less of the, oh, this guy sucks, that part of it. But...

Yeah, I think LeBron, yeah, calling it just a weird vibe, a weird energy. Yeah. I mean, it really has changed, you know, since we started potting. This, I do, you know, it's weird. I guess you can call it weird, but there's, it's just what's amplified.

Since LeBron, because our careers here are kind of like in the same era as LeBron. Since we started, yeah, people weren't like this. But the game has changed, you know, midway through his, well, I guess it wasn't midway through his career. But yeah, people started to hate LeBron.

But then they had to like them. There's still people that hate them. Oh, there are, yes. But when you're the best, you're going to have haters, for sure. Or at least one of the best. All right, let's hear what everybody thinks out there. In the stream team, in the YouTube comments, on Twitter, on all those social media channels, let us know. Okay, pick them. We start with a clean slate. Like, you just wipe that ass, Tass. Maybe you got a bidet in there, for all I know. I don't know. Yeah. Did you install one, JD, in there? No. Not yet, not yet.

What's it called? The Tushy... Is that one of them? The popular ones? The brand name? Yeah, there's something like that. I think there is one called Tushy. Yeah. Yeah, anyway. We're zero and zero as my point asks for the month of March. So what's our game here tonight? I'm looking forward to Portland visiting Philadelphia. Now we got some other good ones.

We've got a Rockets game. Rockets Thunder. Rockets Thunder. But Portland visiting Philly is interesting to me. Philly's favored by three and a half. I actually think that's a big line. That feels too big for me because Portland is kicking butt. They just had a great game against the Cleveland Cavaliers where they almost won. They're playing extremely well. Shaden Sharp is playing out of this world right now.

They're looking to make the play, and they're five games out. It seems like it's a little too far, but I think the race for 11th is real. Them and Phoenix, I think they could... Race for 11th, hang the banner. They could easily pass Phoenix. So I'm taking them tonight, as are you, Skeets, and Trey and Ash. They're taking the Sixers to win by four or more while we've got a few points to play with. Yep, we're split on this one. Makes sense. I think you can talk yourself into either of these teams, either covering, in Philly's case, or Portland.

getting it done because they have played really really well over this last couple of weeks so I'm with you which I'm a little afraid of because you had a really rough oh that was that was a very rough February yeah so I've I've now lost two months this season you've lost one Trey has lost no I lost two didn't I yeah I ate a pumpkin pie yeah and I was in the bookshelf oh wow yeah we did one for October we weren't messing around we've all lost except Esh he hasn't lost one yet

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We got to get Ash in there. Yeah, let's get Ash. Come on, let's get him a now. You mentioned that game. You mentioned the Rockets Thunder game. Some good ones on tonight. Decent schedule. And you never know, right? You look at it and you go, ah, it's not the most exciting. Then we get good games or good performances and suddenly we're all hyped on tomorrow's show. But we're going to be on playback tonight.

for an hour or so, probably starting around probably 9 p.m. Eastern, let's call it, tonight. Might jump on a little earlier than that, but that link is in the show notes. If you want to come hang out with the No Dunks crew and watch some games. Seven games on total, but we'll probably catch the ending of a lot of the first games, maybe catch some of the Rockets, Thunder, Kings, Mavs, and so on. So hopefully you'll join us on playback tonight. If not, we will see you here tomorrow.

Some of us from the Classic Factory, some of us from the John, like Tass is right now. Still got feeling in your legs?

No, sir. He's going to fall over when he stands up. Yeah, I was going to stand mid-show, just loosen the legs, but I didn't really want to show everything to the camera. How's your neck, too? Because I've tried on the toilet hat, and it's made of foam, but it's... I don't know if it's because of the tank. It's a little heavy at the back, I feel like. I literally... I just came from the gym. I pick up this toilet, and I was like, oh, that's his light, and I put it on my head, and

I need to go for a neck workout today. Yeah, yeah. Strengthen it. It seems so light when you pick it up. But on a head, it's very, quite different. Yeah, I guess it is. It looks so good. As you said, the basin at the back.

Yeah. It's way too back heavy. It's back heavy for sure. So yeah, painful week here for Tess. Sitting on the can talking about the NBA. Yeah, it's tough. It's tough. All right, guys. Thank you so much for joining us. Until tomorrow. Clipper Bro. You heard it here first. Have a great time. Turn up. Love you guys. Awesome.

Thanks for joining us. And remember, the trochlea is where the kneecap moves onto the femur. It just slides back and forth. And this is the sound it makes. I just think that my knee is going to crack. Okay. So it's not the trochlea, but it's a knee crack. Here we go. Got one. Many to come this week. Embrace the day, people. Holy crap.