Speaker 1: Welcome back, Welcome back, everybody. The off season fun continues
Speaker 1: as we get into some of the latest news and
Speaker 1: notes before celebrating the art of one of our favorite moves,
Speaker 1: the crossover. I said the crossover, I meant the cross over.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. O'Brian was my nickname, exactly. So yeah,
Speaker 1: like when you're doing Sober February or Sober January cross exactly.
Speaker 1: And who better to have as a guest than NBA
Speaker 1: news and culture writer for The Athletic Jason Jones. I'm
Speaker 1: Miles Gray and I'm Jack O'Brien and this is my
Speaker 1: Miles and Jack mad time. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 1: Jason Jones, Welcome to the show. Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for stopping by. Thanks for having me. This could be
Speaker 1: a whole lot of fun. I'd like to have fun.
Speaker 1: So exactly, come do you come to the right place.
Speaker 1: You've come to the right place. We're just work up
Speaker 1: in names that we should have done for the show.
Speaker 1: The three man, We've man Dang, that would have been
Speaker 1: nobody has thought to call up. He's a basketball media
Speaker 1: that or a tiny bit of smoke instead of a
Speaker 1: touch of smoke. Smoke. I like, I like a touch
Speaker 1: of smoke. Yeah, it's almost like it's family friendly, like,
Speaker 1: not all the smoke, it's not you. It's like secondhand smoke.
Speaker 1: It's not all the hold on now. That's I think
Speaker 1: that's the wrap up show for all the smoke is
Speaker 1: secondhand smoke that they would a touch of smoke is
Speaker 1: like hot takes and hot ribs. Because I feel like
Speaker 1: it's a barbecue show too. Yeah, it sounds like a barbecue. Yeah,
Speaker 1: a touch of smoke is definitely a barbecue type situation.
Speaker 1: Second hand smoke is definitely the wrap up show. It's
Speaker 1: recorded at Johnny ReBs in Long Beach. Oh Man. So
Speaker 1: this was an interesting week. Obviously, we're still in the
Speaker 1: off season for those who didn't get the dope, but
Speaker 1: the summer league ended. We have some fun moments from there. Uh.
Speaker 1: But I think what caught a lot of people's attention
Speaker 1: this week is Zion. He's coming back. We've got our baby.
Speaker 1: All I needed was one video and I was like, see,
Speaker 1: everybody forgot about Zion, but I didn't go back pants.
Speaker 1: I need. I need to see that in November December. Yeah, exactly. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'd love to see that in December. Yeah, I'm right.
Speaker 1: I'm like lighting my candles to be like, please guard
Speaker 1: his body so we can watch this into the year.
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah that for for those that don't know,
Speaker 1: you gotta look up this dunk Zion. He just pulled
Speaker 1: up casually ripped the three sixty like windmill cash three
Speaker 1: cash three sixty. Uh and I I don't know. I
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, okay, this is I forgot. I mean
Speaker 1: I remembered, but you almost forget that this person is
Speaker 1: about to come back in the league on a pretty
Speaker 1: exciting Pelicans. Yeah, I mean it should be all. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it feels like Zion really haven't played yet. It
Speaker 1: feels like we've got a glimpse of him here and there,
Speaker 1: but it doesn't really he's played. So I really want
Speaker 1: to see that team, you know what, another shooter like
Speaker 1: c J McCollum, and just what can they you know,
Speaker 1: what can they be? Because I'm have a football background,
Speaker 1: so every time I look at Zion, I still think
Speaker 1: about him being like a dominant three technique or a
Speaker 1: le I just coming off. I mean, I just you know,
Speaker 1: but the fact that he's playing, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: he's got playing ball. I just I really just love it.
Speaker 1: I want to see him healthy and I want to
Speaker 1: see him play. I mean, I think I think it's
Speaker 1: good for the league, it's good for the city of
Speaker 1: New Orleans. You know, they could have two All Stars
Speaker 1: in that team, so that would be a lot of
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of fun to see. Now we
Speaker 1: we were talking before, who is bringing the ball up
Speaker 1: the court on that team? Because they were at their
Speaker 1: best the the year that Zion did play, even though
Speaker 1: he's on minute restrictions, I have the same feeling. I'm like,
Speaker 1: oh man, he was so good that one year when
Speaker 1: he was still on minutes restrictions and like getting back
Speaker 1: to shape still um, but like when when he was
Speaker 1: bringing the ball up for the up the court like
Speaker 1: he was, they were pretty unstoppable offensively, And now they
Speaker 1: have a pretty solid team without him bringing the ball
Speaker 1: up the court, right, It'll be interesting. Like on Pell's
Speaker 1: fan Twitter, everyone's like, I want to see Brandon Ingram.
Speaker 1: I want to see big point Brandon and you know,
Speaker 1: like there's a lot of there's a lot of energy
Speaker 1: around that. But yeah, like what's so, how are you
Speaker 1: looking at things, Jason. I think he was bringing the
Speaker 1: ball up a lot of they had no choice. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: he did it well, but I don't think you want
Speaker 1: to spend you know, eighty two games of Zion bringing
Speaker 1: the ball up. I like, I like Ingram bring bringing
Speaker 1: it up. I like c J bringing it up. I
Speaker 1: think ideally, you know, any team wants to have options,
Speaker 1: and I think dion is was that was more out
Speaker 1: of necess that people for get the I have missed
Speaker 1: a lot of time too, so this group really has
Speaker 1: not gotten a chance to really jail. So I think
Speaker 1: the way I see it, if you know, if b
Speaker 1: I is bringing the ball up, you can move Zion around.
Speaker 1: You know, you can set c J up. You know,
Speaker 1: you can do a lot of different things. But I
Speaker 1: think it's gonna it's gonna be conna. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: tricky just because Zion hasn't played with c J. So
Speaker 1: there'll be some figuring and figuring it out. But I
Speaker 1: think the way that offense have to I think that's
Speaker 1: the revolve around b I think he can do so
Speaker 1: many different things. You know what is the six nine,
Speaker 1: six ten. And as an l A guy, he was
Speaker 1: one of those guys who like they can they make
Speaker 1: the trade for a D and keep him. It was
Speaker 1: you know, you didn't really want to see him go.
Speaker 1: But you know, but I think he can do so
Speaker 1: many different things that even if he's not the leading score,
Speaker 1: he has to have the ball. You know, I could
Speaker 1: see a scenario resign lead them in scoring and then
Speaker 1: c J. Second is maybe Brandon's like, you know, twenty
Speaker 1: one point seven assists, just because he can do so
Speaker 1: many different things. Right, I know, before when we were
Speaker 1: talking Jack, before we recorded, you were saying, it's like,
Speaker 1: you know they have they have almost an embarrassment of riches,
Speaker 1: you know, right, yeah, they might like I don't know,
Speaker 1: because I do feel like they're both people who threatened.
Speaker 1: Like when Zion was bringing the ball up the court,
Speaker 1: it was working so well because I just think that
Speaker 1: that's like that is when he's at his most dangerous,
Speaker 1: rather than like coming getting the ball on the wing necessarily,
Speaker 1: Like that just seems to be what he's best at.
Speaker 1: So it could be one of those teams that it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: now they're adding Zion and Zion's healthy, and then it
Speaker 1: doesn't fully add up. I'm hoping it's not that, because
Speaker 1: that that is probably the team I'm most excited about.
Speaker 1: To like make that that Grizzlies leap um. And if
Speaker 1: you thought I got excited about jos Jah highlights before season,
Speaker 1: Zion in a track suit. That is part of the
Speaker 1: video though, him walking up, he's in pants. He walks.
Speaker 1: He doesn't even like jog. He walks up, which might
Speaker 1: be a bad sign, I don't know, but walks up
Speaker 1: and then just like flips the three sixty uh and
Speaker 1: almost rips the rim off And yeah, I don't know
Speaker 1: that that leads. That makes me like, oh man, he's
Speaker 1: not even trying. And that's that's part of it. I
Speaker 1: think you should play every game this season in a
Speaker 1: track suit is my pitch. You're the first one to
Speaker 1: wear pants on the court. They're like, hey man, you
Speaker 1: gotta take your terra aways off. I don't pants on
Speaker 1: the basketball quarter. Trending, I've noticed a lot of these uh,
Speaker 1: a lot of these clips. There's there's people who've been
Speaker 1: in long pants, uh more more than they used to.
Speaker 1: You sounded like high school principle, Like they're playing in
Speaker 1: their long pants on a basketball quarter. Pretty hip, pretty
Speaker 1: in right now. He could just wear when all one
Speaker 1: of his No Jordan brand outfits, the whole get up.
Speaker 1: Why not? Yeah, I mean that's fun. There was a
Speaker 1: picture of CJ, Zion and Brandon altogether like courtside and
Speaker 1: every you know they're dressed how they do off the court,
Speaker 1: and you can just tell like Zion is so focused
Speaker 1: on sports because he's like, what did Jordans sent me
Speaker 1: to wear? It's not everybody else, Like, check out my outfit.
Speaker 1: My drip is impeccable, and he's like, I'm sorry, I'm
Speaker 1: so focused on like other things, fashion is not one
Speaker 1: of them. I was just here's my outfit. And I
Speaker 1: always appreciate that when I picture him in the street clothes,
Speaker 1: that picture him and overalls. For some reason, did he
Speaker 1: like rock overalls to a game one time? Like I
Speaker 1: feel like I always see him and overalls or have
Speaker 1: seen him and over all the while because fashion boys
Speaker 1: comes back, so it wouldn't shot. I vaguely I want
Speaker 1: to say I remember something like that, but who knows.
Speaker 1: It could be could be anybody. The way fashion is,
Speaker 1: nothing will surprise me. I always just picture Zion like fishing,
Speaker 1: so then I think in my mind, I think of
Speaker 1: him in like coveralls that you'd wear like on a
Speaker 1: shrimping boat or something. But I don't know if and
Speaker 1: who knows what kinds of memories I'm conflating with that um.
Speaker 1: But one thing that we should note is like talking
Speaker 1: about him being healthy. He was asked recently at a
Speaker 1: press conference, you know, like, how do you look at
Speaker 1: your longevity and is that going to affect your game?
Speaker 1: And the answer is it's the stuff that makes all
Speaker 1: basketball fans smile for Zion. You know, so you can
Speaker 1: talk about longevity technically at dunk and a layup are
Speaker 1: worth the same amount of points. But we know you
Speaker 1: started onlineling energy that it can bring. I mean, just
Speaker 1: curious as to if you can use that as an
Speaker 1: example of how you're thinking about longevity. You really laughing.
Speaker 1: I'm a I'm a competitor, So when I'm on the court,
Speaker 1: I'm not thinking about let me lay this ball in
Speaker 1: hopefully it'll make me laugh. My career will lasts longer. No,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about putting that person through the rim. So
Speaker 1: as far as me duncan, that's good. That's gonna always happen.
Speaker 1: That's gonna stay happen. There's no matter what they're talking about.
Speaker 1: I'm always dunkey. Come on, man, you're you're a pro.
Speaker 1: He said, you're a pro to the journalist, I believe, Like,
Speaker 1: come on, And that was the post game press conference
Speaker 1: from that one dunk he did then the press and
Speaker 1: they did a press conference there. Hey man, that was sick.
Speaker 1: A couple of questions you in the back. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: appreciate the sentiment, but no, No, I mean I I
Speaker 1: kind of get as a reporter where he's where he's
Speaker 1: trying to go with it. Well, you know, but nobody
Speaker 1: wants to see Zion come back and drive down the
Speaker 1: court and laying off the glass or lay ups that
Speaker 1: much safer than dunks. Like dunks, you at least can
Speaker 1: like stabilize yourself and hold onto something. Yeah, guys turn
Speaker 1: their ankles on the rebound. So I mean should you
Speaker 1: just never jump again? Yeah? It's like almost It's like,
Speaker 1: do you know what dunking is? Like, It's I'm basically
Speaker 1: doing the same thing. I'm attacking the rim. I'm just
Speaker 1: maybe you know, dunking and versus being like gently placing it.
Speaker 1: But I still have to go the same distance upward
Speaker 1: and forward. It's gotta be the shoes gotta puts on
Speaker 1: and Chuck Taylor's you know that way we'll Yeah, chuck Tay,
Speaker 1: there's a little short hi socks. I mean, they haven't
Speaker 1: even invented the shoe that is right for him yet.
Speaker 1: I feel like they're still in a lab working on it.
Speaker 1: He ripped those Nikes in half. I feel like he
Speaker 1: needs like those magnetic boots from Face Off when they
Speaker 1: wanted the Royal rig prison, Like that's the only thing
Speaker 1: like made like strong enough for someone of that side.
Speaker 1: He needs like a football fleet, like like one of
Speaker 1: those offensive lineman high football fleets and just you know,
Speaker 1: put a basketball no bottom to it. You know, Yeah, Jason,
Speaker 1: you're just trying to like your soft pitching, hard pitching
Speaker 1: him being a football player, Like over and over. It
Speaker 1: seems like they just put him in some football cleet.
Speaker 1: See if he likes it, and if he and if
Speaker 1: he has an affinity for say Las Vegas. You know, hey,
Speaker 1: they got a team, got a team, and the team
Speaker 1: I happen to like. And you know, if he can
Speaker 1: get you know, twelve fifteen sacks, the NBA, NBA will
Speaker 1: be fine. Yeah, Zion, welcome to Raider Nation. Okay, we
Speaker 1: I don't think that's campering. I don't think I broke
Speaker 1: any rule by saying that no, not at all. I
Speaker 1: want what's the best for absolutely. Super producer Jabari is
Speaker 1: pointing out that Zion might be just like our glimpse
Speaker 1: of an alternate universe where nineties Bo Jackson just decided
Speaker 1: to be a one sport athlete and play basketball instead
Speaker 1: of football or baseball. Like safe, please keeps please keep safe?
Speaker 1: Um Elsewhere this week, I think a lot of people
Speaker 1: were also talking about the Drew. Um, yeah, man to
Speaker 1: see Lebron in action. Also, uh, who was with their Damar? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: Damar de Rosen and Lebron were on the same team.
Speaker 1: They only one by two points, but they seem to
Speaker 1: have fun. Yeah, but Lebron put up forty two and
Speaker 1: sixteen and for whatever kind of many says yet, but
Speaker 1: that was that was wonderful to watch. I always enjoyed
Speaker 1: the Drew. Yeah, how can you not? My My favorite
Speaker 1: clip from that is Stanley Johnson locking up Tomorrow on
Speaker 1: that one possession Yeah, And it was just funny reading
Speaker 1: the comments, They're like, hey, some random guy just locked
Speaker 1: him up, and it was like a guy plays in
Speaker 1: the NBA. In the fans that there are people are saying, man,
Speaker 1: DeMars just got locked up, you know, buy some guy
Speaker 1: off the street. It's like, no, Stanley Johnson, you know,
Speaker 1: plays for the Lakers, like with Lebron. Yeah, and as
Speaker 1: a l a guy that ga that made me smile.
Speaker 1: I said, well, maybe we'll see some of that, you know,
Speaker 1: next season. So I was just like, you know what,
Speaker 1: I'll take that Demors not a Laker, so maybe Stanley
Speaker 1: can lock up the mar and everybody else next season. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it did seem like Demor might have forgotten he was
Speaker 1: an NBA player because he was like kind of just
Speaker 1: messing around a little bit, you know, like he seemed
Speaker 1: like he was playing at like speed, and Stanley Johnson
Speaker 1: was just put bit it out of his hand every time,
Speaker 1: over and over, like getting to watch NBA players against
Speaker 1: even like you know it, maybe half of the roster
Speaker 1: were not NBA players, like half the opposing roster. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like that's man, that's fun. Like I think they should
Speaker 1: take what happened during the pandemic, like when when teams
Speaker 1: would have half of like half of their roster be out,
Speaker 1: Like they should take that and like have some rule
Speaker 1: thing where you just have to put in for people
Speaker 1: who have never played an NBA game before on your
Speaker 1: roster at all times, and just because it's just so
Speaker 1: it's the best way to like fully appreciate how amazing
Speaker 1: like the rest of the actual players are. Like Lebron,
Speaker 1: it was it was like a Lebron highlight reel watching
Speaker 1: him in that game, Like just the step backs, the
Speaker 1: fade aways, the footwork was he is just doing it
Speaker 1: all in slow motion and making it look so easy.
Speaker 1: Who is that number twenty one guarding him? That was
Speaker 1: maybe someone we know because I'm just it's all. That's
Speaker 1: the other part I love about watching the Drew is
Speaker 1: like when people are like I have to play out
Speaker 1: of my skull right now, like to be able to
Speaker 1: hang with these players. And it's like, there's this one
Speaker 1: picture of this guy trimed de Lebron and he looks
Speaker 1: like he's like looking to the Ark of the Covenant
Speaker 1: or something like. It's like, it's gonna take everything in
Speaker 1: me to stay with this man. Yeah, that's one of
Speaker 1: those that you're looking at it go, I'm gonna tell
Speaker 1: my kids and my grandkids that happened. Absolutely, get a picture,
Speaker 1: get a picture. Hurry, U h are you here? Well,
Speaker 1: I'm well, I'm low. Before he goes by me. I
Speaker 1: think the other thing that's that I love though, too,
Speaker 1: is like there was so much chatter two when people
Speaker 1: who like don't understand the dru Leigue or maybe basketball,
Speaker 1: were like, why would Lebron James playing a game like that?
Speaker 1: He could get hurt? And like this is there's not
Speaker 1: even the league going on. I'm like, do you understand
Speaker 1: these are these are hoopers at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: these are people whose greatest joyous to play basketball. So
Speaker 1: if there's an organized game somewhere that they can play,
Speaker 1: they're They're like, their first compulsion is going to be
Speaker 1: I would love to play basketball right now. And I
Speaker 1: think that's the other part of watching those games too.
Speaker 1: I just like to see the joy and everybody to
Speaker 1: have just been like, yes, just get me out there exactly.
Speaker 1: All right, let's take a quick break. We'll come back.
Speaker 1: We'll talk the crossover. Have you heard of this move,
Speaker 1: the cross over? The cross over? I've seen it on
Speaker 1: a video game. Yeah, okay, cool, and we're back. And uh, Jason,
Speaker 1: you're from southern California. Part of working for the athletic
Speaker 1: he spent sixteen years working for the sack b When
Speaker 1: did you start you started the sack b or the
Speaker 1: athletic or the sack BU was June of two thousand,
Speaker 1: two thousand two. Yeah, so I arrived. I arrived there
Speaker 1: fresh out of grad school wearing a Laker hat about releasa.
Speaker 1: So so after Game seven of the two thousand Twosment
Speaker 1: Conference Finals. Wow, so big shot Bob. Yeah, haunted the office. Yes,
Speaker 1: so I was very popular in the office when I
Speaker 1: walked in. Okay, so yeah, walk me, I I get.
Speaker 1: So this is like at the height of the Kings
Speaker 1: Lakers rivalry. What's your process? You know, You're You're like, well,
Speaker 1: I'm I want to write about the sport, but I'm
Speaker 1: this is where I'm reporting from. But in your mind,
Speaker 1: just like, I still gotta let it know. You know,
Speaker 1: it's purple and gold all day. See. What made it
Speaker 1: weird was that, honestly, I didn't want to be an
Speaker 1: NBA guy. I want to be an NFL guy. So
Speaker 1: I kind of figured, you know what, who cares? You know,
Speaker 1: I'm an l A guy. I'm gonna do what I do.
Speaker 1: And then I'm I covered the NFL from covered preps,
Speaker 1: then I moved over to cover in the NFL. And
Speaker 1: then they took me off the NFL. And here's here's
Speaker 1: what made it so funny. They decided, at that point,
Speaker 1: you know, the internet is blowing up. This is a
Speaker 1: big deal now, guys, we gotta start putting stuff on
Speaker 1: the internet. And so they had all of us do
Speaker 1: a bio. It's a basic bio where they had like
Speaker 1: a form, name college, favorite team. So I'm covering the
Speaker 1: Raiders and no one want to care. So I say
Speaker 1: my favorite athletes all the time, Maggie Johnson, my favorite
Speaker 1: team is the Lakers. Within a month or so, they
Speaker 1: moved me to the NBA. Wow. And so of course
Speaker 1: the fans are like, what are you doing putting this
Speaker 1: guy on our team? And then I happen to say
Speaker 1: things like, it's not really a rivalry because people in
Speaker 1: l A don't wake up think about the King. But
Speaker 1: at this point, the things did you happen to that
Speaker 1: happened to those I would say things like that, They're like, well,
Speaker 1: our arrival the Lakers, And I said, there's not one
Speaker 1: Lakers fan worried about the Kings right now. But at
Speaker 1: that point a thousand nine ten, they when I got
Speaker 1: on the beat, they had just won seventeen games and
Speaker 1: the and the Lakers were on their way to a championship. Yeah,
Speaker 1: my financial rival is Jeff Bezos. This is not this
Speaker 1: is not a rivalry people. And I didn't think that
Speaker 1: was saying that was crazy. Oh, but the fans hated me.
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, we'll be mad, and it was. It
Speaker 1: was just it just got It got funny for a
Speaker 1: while because I would know whenever the Kings would play
Speaker 1: the Lakers, my Twitter fee would be full of my
Speaker 1: alleged bias for saying things like Kobe Bryant has twenty
Speaker 1: points in the first half. Someone would reply and say,
Speaker 1: you're throwing it in our face. I'm like, I just
Speaker 1: told you the stat That's all I did. And but
Speaker 1: fans never understood. It was much easier for me to
Speaker 1: write those games when the Kings won rights like I
Speaker 1: got no joy out of watching the Kings lose fifties
Speaker 1: plus games. Like it wasn't like I was sitting there going, yeah,
Speaker 1: they're losing, right, Yeah, but it was you know, it
Speaker 1: was it was quite the adventure. And you know, I
Speaker 1: spent twelve years on that feat, so by the end,
Speaker 1: it was an interesting ride. You know, a lot of people,
Speaker 1: I made a lot of friends along the way. I
Speaker 1: didn't meet one Kings fan I didn't like. You know, actually,
Speaker 1: I mean all the fans I actually talked to were great.
Speaker 1: It was just you know, like you figure out the
Speaker 1: people on the internet are gonna say things because they
Speaker 1: actually meet you, and then they realized I'm like six
Speaker 1: to fifty and they go, oh wow, I go through
Speaker 1: a little bit. I'm like, nah, not a little guy.
Speaker 1: They're like, hey, can I help you? They're like, no,
Speaker 1: big can I take a picture with you? I was like,
Speaker 1: what I thought you didn't like me? No, because it
Speaker 1: turns out I really think you're cool, and I want
Speaker 1: to show my friends that that's the conclusion I've arrived at.
Speaker 1: And then, you know, I remember one of my old
Speaker 1: colleagues when I first met Doug Christie. He goes, hey, hey, Doug,
Speaker 1: you know, Jayson's a Laker fan, And I said, you
Speaker 1: know what, you do realize Doug play for the Lakers,
Speaker 1: right was a Laker. So I mean, I've had some
Speaker 1: real funny things. What's what's a wild reaction that you've
Speaker 1: had that you can recall, like a you know, just
Speaker 1: from being an outwardly you know person talking about sports.
Speaker 1: One of the weirdest ones I had was I'm gonna
Speaker 1: have a couple. But here's one weird one. I was
Speaker 1: the game at Staples Center. I don't never playing the
Speaker 1: Liggers of the Clippers. I don't remember, but I was
Speaker 1: talking to the woman who would become my girlfriend and
Speaker 1: outside and so the next day I'm checking my mentions
Speaker 1: or whatever and someone goes, hey, man, saw you outside
Speaker 1: stay Oh she's a keeper man. And I was like, dude,
Speaker 1: this is creepy. And then another time pretty cool, like
Speaker 1: hey man, Yes, I'm like, hey man, let me put
Speaker 1: my business out there like that. Man, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: you don't know what I got going right now. I
Speaker 1: don't Internet. And if someone like randomly took a picture
Speaker 1: of me at the airport and they sent it to me,
Speaker 1: and it was like I was sitting on the computer
Speaker 1: typing because the king to jet Fitz Carter and so
Speaker 1: someone took so you I'm like, you said, I'm like
Speaker 1: you could have just said hi, Like why did you
Speaker 1: like take a random picture of me and send it
Speaker 1: to me? Like like weeks later, Well, look, you're you're
Speaker 1: in the spotlight, you know, internationally known and locally respected.
Speaker 1: That is how I say hid. All my friends I
Speaker 1: hide in their bushes, usually take a picture of them,
Speaker 1: send it to them, and then they know that I
Speaker 1: was there and close by, but usually long gone by
Speaker 1: the jack stop lying. What you do is you text
Speaker 1: me and you say, hey, what you're doing right now?
Speaker 1: And I said, I'm busy, And then you take a
Speaker 1: picture of me playing video games in my house. You say, oh,
Speaker 1: reallyzy damn okay, okay, and I'm like what And then
Speaker 1: I look out and You're like, hey, I'm here. It's
Speaker 1: very unnerving, but it is what it is. Okay. So
Speaker 1: just to pivot we were talking, we wanted to talk
Speaker 1: about crossover because this video came out with Isaiah Thomas.
Speaker 1: You know, he's watching that, this two time champion is
Speaker 1: watching the famous clip of Alan Iverson on Michael Jordan's
Speaker 1: hitting him with that crossover, And first of all, it's
Speaker 1: just a brilliant clip because you loved to the rifle
Speaker 1: re continue, but also just got us thinking about crossovers
Speaker 1: in general. But like, let's just let's just watch this
Speaker 1: Isaiah Thomas clip really quick to refresh the top to
Speaker 1: key one A double crossover, wide opens crossover Jordan's which
Speaker 1: is you know. I mean when he came in with
Speaker 1: this crossover, no one had seen this type of crossover
Speaker 1: in the game before. Take a look at the crossover,
Speaker 1: Mike said, right said, yes, the crowd loves it. It's
Speaker 1: like an optical illusion mixed in with the crossover. The
Speaker 1: iverson one what shows like how like like how Isaiah
Speaker 1: saying He's like, no one was really crossing the ball
Speaker 1: like this, and the way even Michael is defending it.
Speaker 1: It's like like playing two K where the animations are
Speaker 1: used to one way of like defending a crossover and
Speaker 1: he's like, oh, they added a new step and I
Speaker 1: must update my software. What did he add to it?
Speaker 1: Like if you had to use like words to describe,
Speaker 1: is it like a fluidity of the body, like of
Speaker 1: the it's just that heavy, you know, it's it's that's
Speaker 1: the head fake and just giving you another bite of
Speaker 1: the apple to be like I got it right here ready,
Speaker 1: it's going back and with it. And Alan has crazy
Speaker 1: long arms. People don't realize that thought. Yeah, yeah, so
Speaker 1: you know, just when you see it, it's just like
Speaker 1: he's low to the ground, but the ball, I mean
Speaker 1: he just yeah, I think that's a big part of
Speaker 1: it to the people don't realize that he's really a
Speaker 1: little He's under six feet tall, with like the wings
Speaker 1: fan of a guy much taller than that. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: so I think I got of thinking just ball handling
Speaker 1: as I think one of our favorite skills to watch
Speaker 1: because it's you know, it's truly an art form. But
Speaker 1: I'm curious, Jason, who, like, we're just going in your mind,
Speaker 1: who are your top three favorite ball handlers of all time?
Speaker 1: If you if you had to, you don't have to
Speaker 1: be in a particular order, but if there're three people
Speaker 1: who's dribbling skills, you would mind Kyrie Irving. I think
Speaker 1: Kyrie is just like it's like watching the New York
Speaker 1: Street ball point guard out there sometimes with him. I
Speaker 1: got a second guy. People maybe talk about a lot
Speaker 1: Lamar odom Wow to be six ten and to be
Speaker 1: able to handle the way he did his peak. I mean,
Speaker 1: people forget how big Lamar was doing that. You know,
Speaker 1: the six ten lefty bringing the ball up, you know,
Speaker 1: bringing the ball, you know the way he did. So
Speaker 1: I got him, and then the third one. I think
Speaker 1: about some different guys. I mean a lot of guys
Speaker 1: this ball handling. I think is really fun to watch,
Speaker 1: you know, but I don't know, it's the tough one.
Speaker 1: I'll kind of go outside the box. So if I
Speaker 1: go outside the box, I'm gonna say dream. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: say a kimlaje wan Damn, I'm gonna go outside. I
Speaker 1: mean it's easy to pick. Guard's easy to pick it.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, just the footwork and the things,
Speaker 1: you know, the dreams, shaking all that. Yeah, it's not
Speaker 1: traditional crossover type stuff, but just about ball handling to
Speaker 1: be to be a center, and then after you retire,
Speaker 1: you're working with gall words on their footwork and everything.
Speaker 1: To me, that says a lot. That says a lot
Speaker 1: about That's what he was able to do with his
Speaker 1: footwork and with the ball. Is he candidate for best
Speaker 1: footwork ever? Footwork? That definitely definitely Miles Who you got? Okay?
Speaker 1: So I'm I love Tim Hardaway as a kid Like
Speaker 1: that was. I think I'm gonna I'm gonna have a
Speaker 1: lot of cards. Killer Crossover, The Killer Crossover, like the
Speaker 1: air Bacon was like the one of the shoes I
Speaker 1: always wanted but could never get my hands on. Uh,
Speaker 1: And like you know, I was about to wear like
Speaker 1: heat colors while being a Laker fan, and that outfit
Speaker 1: would look terrible. Then, I mean, Kyrie I love to
Speaker 1: watch just for the same reasons. It's he goes where
Speaker 1: he wants how he wants to, and just that way
Speaker 1: of movement. It's like Jack, what you were saying Burlier,
Speaker 1: Like he's like messy, kind of like the way that
Speaker 1: messy just like has the ball on a string and
Speaker 1: does it seems like there's a like it's just second nature.
Speaker 1: It's just on a string connected to him. Like Kyrie
Speaker 1: seems to have that where he's he's like impro rising
Speaker 1: in the moment, and it's not even the way that
Speaker 1: like you're not thinking about taking the next step as
Speaker 1: you're going down the stairs like at top speed. You know,
Speaker 1: your feet are just like kind of moving in and
Speaker 1: your unconsciousness doing it like that feels like how he
Speaker 1: does some of the wildest things I've ever seen someone
Speaker 1: do with the basketball like he does He's like, oh wow,
Speaker 1: that was that was pretty cool exactly the fact. I also,
Speaker 1: I mean, I love I love Steph too, but I
Speaker 1: would say personally, just to just to bring it back
Speaker 1: to my nineties brain, Jason Williams, he like got. I
Speaker 1: was so excited to watch a King's game, you know,
Speaker 1: just just for a glimpse of like maybe I'm going
Speaker 1: to see something like super fun and entertaining. So I'll
Speaker 1: always carry that with me because I I remember at
Speaker 1: a try out, I tried to throw the eltball off
Speaker 1: my elbow for a past and the dudes like, get
Speaker 1: out of here, you're off. He's like, get out of
Speaker 1: what are you doing. He's like that went out of
Speaker 1: bounds immediately, like you even execute. And I'm like, I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: I'm too hopped up on that commercial. Him and Randy Moss.
Speaker 1: We don't do that here, get out, we don't do
Speaker 1: that exactly. There was like a Lyn sanity moment where
Speaker 1: like he came on all of a sudden, all at once,
Speaker 1: and it was like, you know he went to school
Speaker 1: with Randy Moss too, and uh yeah, that was wow.
Speaker 1: That was a whole phenomena. That one clip we were
Speaker 1: watching before we started of him crossing up Gary Payton.
Speaker 1: Oh we gotta watch that here just just for good measure.
Speaker 1: This is this is a fantastic. It's like it has
Speaker 1: everything a great clip has because you have you got
Speaker 1: the O G. Gary Payton and he's getting crossed up
Speaker 1: by the young kid Jason. And there's a moment where
Speaker 1: even Gary Payton is like basketball a fantastic sports by two.
Speaker 1: Gary with the ball left side to up right to
Speaker 1: Jake brings up cross every one side and then leaves
Speaker 1: Gary Payton and Gary Payton has a trip him right there.
Speaker 1: Gary Payton sticks his for it out to try and
Speaker 1: trip him. He has while making a face that is
Speaker 1: the exact face of the boyfriend from the Boyfriend Name
Speaker 1: where he distracted boyfriend. Yeah. I just love how Gary
Speaker 1: Payton is trying to look at him. He's like you
Speaker 1: you got me, and he's grinning, and Jason Williams is
Speaker 1: trying to be like on his gangster like yeah huh,
Speaker 1: but he's also kind of like yes, it's like Gary's
Speaker 1: going I can't believe he just did that. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he just had to shake his head and say, hey,
Speaker 1: he got me, he got me. I do love when
Speaker 1: an NBA players like laughing at themselves and like it's
Speaker 1: just having fun with it and it's not having like
Speaker 1: an ego about it, like pulling a face or like
Speaker 1: looking at the court like what's supposed on the park,
Speaker 1: Like no Jack what about you Top three. I mean, Kyrie,
Speaker 1: I've done a whole episode just like Kye poetry. Just
Speaker 1: watching him play with the ball is so fun. Followed
Speaker 1: up the shot making, like he will put a dribble
Speaker 1: move together with like the most impossible shot. You know
Speaker 1: my answer, I'm gonna go boring. I'm gonna I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go Iverson. Um, you know what. We just watching the
Speaker 1: top ten of his best crossovers, and it's always like
Speaker 1: followed with him pulling up and shooting something that was
Speaker 1: just as pretty as the dribble move, and it's going in.
Speaker 1: Iverson did this thing to people where like he would
Speaker 1: get them on the wrong side of a screen and
Speaker 1: like set them up in a way that they would
Speaker 1: go flying backwards at top speed like they I mean,
Speaker 1: he would put them on a skate, but it's it's
Speaker 1: almost like they are falling backwards in an action movie,
Speaker 1: Like they're just like their arms are like waving to
Speaker 1: their side. Maybe the most iconic was what he did
Speaker 1: to Antonio Daniels Philly versus the Wizards, and he just
Speaker 1: puts him on his knee and then twice back. It's bad.
Speaker 1: First crosses right to the left and when he goes
Speaker 1: back to the right to finish, he's almost like Alan
Speaker 1: Iverson's like, man, I had two for you, but I
Speaker 1: guess the first one did you in, so you have
Speaker 1: to do It's like Antonio tried to get back up
Speaker 1: and say no, then he falls again. Yeah, it's that.
Speaker 1: That's definitely like a hard one to watch. It feels
Speaker 1: like the closest thing to like if Gladiator was like
Speaker 1: about basketball and like Maximus like we're just like, oh
Speaker 1: no too. He's like thankfully vanquished. Is what it feels
Speaker 1: like when Antonio Daniels is like really trying for that
Speaker 1: second one. Yeah, but I think of the of the
Speaker 1: top ten crossover is like Iverson had people moving in
Speaker 1: the most dramatic, embarrassing ways trying to guard his crossover.
Speaker 1: Um Strickland, we we could give a you know, I
Speaker 1: put Strickland on there too. I love I loved watching him.
Speaker 1: That's a good one. That's a good one. You guys
Speaker 1: didn't go weird like me and start picking seven footers.
Speaker 1: So look, it's all it's all balanced now, it's all now.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's just watching these moments, it's just so
Speaker 1: funny and I think again it's just like getting dunked on,
Speaker 1: getting crossed up like that too. It is just like
Speaker 1: a pure, just like me versus you moment that I
Speaker 1: love to see, and it's always encapsulated in the best place.
Speaker 1: Now all I'm back here, uh you know, speaking of longevity,
Speaker 1: I just wanted to say, like, the crossover is just
Speaker 1: as good as a standard uh stutter step dribble um.
Speaker 1: What do you think you'll stop doing the crossover for
Speaker 1: the purposes of longevity and just friendliness of your image, sir,
Speaker 1: no man. Jamal Crawford lasted what almost two decades with
Speaker 1: a crossover. Yeah, yeah, Jamal Crawford had some amazing like
Speaker 1: just when he was feeling himself. It was one of
Speaker 1: the most fun people to watch play basketball. That's what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. Like, it's it's so hard to even say
Speaker 1: this because as we're talking about oh yeah him too, Okay,
Speaker 1: at all nine of these people to my top list actually,
Speaker 1: because they're all all fantastic. But I do prefer to
Speaker 1: watch a like highlight reel of crossovers by a player
Speaker 1: who played after Iverson. So that's why I'm giving it Tiverson,
Speaker 1: because he he added something that was like a little
Speaker 1: bit of like theater to the crossover and that fluidity
Speaker 1: that is a thing of beauty. All right, let's take
Speaker 1: a quick break. We'll be right back to you. Already
Speaker 1: know what time it is. It's time for the rap fire,
Speaker 1: very quick segment that we do at the end of
Speaker 1: the show. We'll be right back and we're back. Uh
Speaker 1: you know what. I think, It's time for the rapid
Speaker 1: fire round of questions. Um, Jason, here's the This segment
Speaker 1: is one of the fastest segments in podcasting. It's very quick.
Speaker 1: We're gonna ask you questions and we just need you
Speaker 1: to reflectively, just hit us with an answer. Okay. We're
Speaker 1: not going to expand upon it. We're gonna keep it moving.
Speaker 1: We gotta run the clock. Run the clock. Okay, start
Speaker 1: the clock. Jack, you want to start first, Yeah, sure,
Speaker 1: let's do this. Okay, let's go and three triple triple
Speaker 1: threat position. All right. Um, we already said the part
Speaker 1: about it being quick right when he's not wearing a hat,
Speaker 1: so that that's gonna because sometimes it is distracting when
Speaker 1: the hat starts spinning around on people's heads because on
Speaker 1: so yeah, okay, perfect alright, Ready, ultimate one on one
Speaker 1: matchup could be you know, NBA player versus NBA player. Um,
Speaker 1: but yeah, probably prefably NBA player vers NBA player. But
Speaker 1: you know, you can take it across, like you could say,
Speaker 1: like peak this person verse peak that person. But I'm
Speaker 1: not going to tell you how to answer the question,
Speaker 1: like what what goes through your mind one on one matchup? Ultimate?
Speaker 1: Those words hit your brain? What do you think Kobe Lebron?
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean Kobe Jordan
Speaker 1: NB Jordan. Okay, Okay, Now Kobe, what year is Pete? Kobe? Ah?
Speaker 1: Two six? Okay? This is the same same answer as
Speaker 1: superducer jabari um Pete Jordan's ah. I want to see scoring.
Speaker 1: I want to see scoring Jordan. I don't want to
Speaker 1: see the mature he's been with Phil Jordan. I want
Speaker 1: to see that. You know, that young dunk contest Jordan
Speaker 1: against that gets at that point, they're they're not that
Speaker 1: far apart in age. I guess right. The airlines are similar.
Speaker 1: Airlines are similar too. That would be a good question
Speaker 1: for our episode where we're gonna interview Michael Jordan, where
Speaker 1: we like, who would win in a game between eighty
Speaker 1: eight Jordan's verse ninety three Jordan's you know, yeah, he
Speaker 1: just won't return our calls. That's the one thing we're
Speaker 1: still trying to get over. Anyway, this is rapid. I'm
Speaker 1: sorry we digress rapid questions. Fantastic, Jason, please keep us
Speaker 1: on track. Question number the two, what's your in arena music?
Speaker 1: After you make a three? What's blaring out this out
Speaker 1: the p A system? I have no idea? Somebies some okay,
Speaker 1: like how early we talked like bottles and B sides?
Speaker 1: Are we talking in w A probably uh probably probably
Speaker 1: probably a death certificate or actually know what? Nothing, nothing
Speaker 1: but a jeep thing. We're gonna go with Long Beach.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, there you go, Compton Long. Can everyone goes
Speaker 1: prase the young three something? This real mellow? Yeah? Right,
Speaker 1: because it goes in it's big, Yeah, exactly. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: I like that one to point to, like a line
Speaker 1: of his from right along to to you know, speaking
Speaker 1: of like things that people play, baffling things people played
Speaker 1: in NBA arenas. I once went to a Cavalier Celtics
Speaker 1: game in Cleveland with my friend who lived in Cleveland,
Speaker 1: and I think it was every time something like bad
Speaker 1: happened for the Calves. They would have somebody who was
Speaker 1: doing I think an Austin Powers impression come over the
Speaker 1: loud speaker and go, hey, hey, hey, what is this?
Speaker 1: And it wasn't a line from anything recognizable. It was
Speaker 1: like a canny piece of audio. It was so weird.
Speaker 1: And my friend and I still will just text each
Speaker 1: other every once in a while, heyy what is this? Hey?
Speaker 1: This is the rapid fire round? Jack continued. Okay, Game
Speaker 1: of Throne style scenario. You can select any shooter from
Speaker 1: history to knock down a half court shot on your
Speaker 1: behalf trial. By that you will die if they miss it.
Speaker 1: But you cannot select either of the Splash brothers because
Speaker 1: they have both had their heads squashed like grapes by
Speaker 1: the mountain. The mountain who's taking the shot for you?
Speaker 1: Played by Bryant Reeves, Yes, taking it, Kobe. Put your
Speaker 1: trust in his Put your trust in his hands. Okay.
Speaker 1: I wish I had more to say, if even for
Speaker 1: the bit of extending the rapid fire question, but that
Speaker 1: that sounds about right. Moving on, what's the next great rivalry?
Speaker 1: Teams are players that you can see developing over the
Speaker 1: next few years. Next great rivalry Memphis Golden state. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: because they already they're kind of chippy, yeah, kind of
Speaker 1: mad at each other. Speaking of Jordan Pool, who is
Speaker 1: my answer to the previous question? Oh, that's that's would
Speaker 1: be your champion. I can't believe you didn't even mention
Speaker 1: the best friend of the podcast, Robert Keith Ory. You know,
Speaker 1: Robert Ory is definitely the right answer because he's gonna
Speaker 1: knock it down and because he's one of my best
Speaker 1: friends in the world, so he's definitely gonna want to
Speaker 1: save my life. You can see my life, right, Robert, Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you got it? John or Jason or Jeffrey? What every
Speaker 1: name is? I'm Jack? All right? What clank? Is he
Speaker 1: clanking it? Okay? Jack? Going on? Yeah? Top three Sports
Speaker 1: Center anchors of all time today would have been Stewart
Speaker 1: Scott's fifty seven birthday. You don't choose him, but I
Speaker 1: was going to face Stewart Keith Olberman. Oh that's a
Speaker 1: tough one. Uh, I don't know. Yeah, I'm like, I'm
Speaker 1: just trying to go off the top of my head.
Speaker 1: I got the same first two and I got a
Speaker 1: third one that's nailed on for me? Is it? What's
Speaker 1: the third one? Killarn? Good one. There you cut. I
Speaker 1: like Stillborn so much. I want to see his show,
Speaker 1: Like on the CBS lot when he had that late
Speaker 1: night show, watched him interview Clint Eastwood, and all of
Speaker 1: his questions came from the perspective of like, you're the
Speaker 1: most grizzled badass of all time and Clint Eastwood's all
Speaker 1: of Clint Eastwood's answers were like, I'm a jazz musician.
Speaker 1: I don't know what you're talking about. A very awkward interview,
Speaker 1: but he was still nonetheless very right. This is d okay,
Speaker 1: we've digressed. This is all about rapid fire questions. Next question,
Speaker 1: what are some realistic expectations for the Kings this year
Speaker 1: under Mike Brown? What do you think? What's you feel?
Speaker 1: Definitely topped in in the West, that's realistic. Top ten
Speaker 1: in the West. Yeah, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: put him in the playoffs just yet, you know, which
Speaker 1: would end the longest streak ever. But if they're if
Speaker 1: they're in the play and that they they should be
Speaker 1: in the plan. I think I think there's enough. There
Speaker 1: are enough teams below them that aren't going to have
Speaker 1: the incentive to win, you know, based on their roster
Speaker 1: and the youth they have in those rosters. So I
Speaker 1: think if they Kings can't get in the plan this year,
Speaker 1: I don't know when they will. Okay, wow, yeah, I
Speaker 1: like that. And and I'm sorry, Jason, just to remind
Speaker 1: you again, this is a rapid fire question segment. So
Speaker 1: that was a little bit of a long answer. Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: my bad. Maybe just maybeould just cut it short and
Speaker 1: did Jack just asked the last question. Okay, best restaurant
Speaker 1: bar and or after our spot in Long Beach? Oh? Man,
Speaker 1: I can't think of the name of it. There's there's
Speaker 1: a there's a bar over and by Lake food Ball
Speaker 1: right by Long Beach City College, cheap drink. I can't
Speaker 1: liking on the name. But I know how to get there.
Speaker 1: I can get you they're blindfolded. I know how to
Speaker 1: get there. All you need is twenty bucks and you'll
Speaker 1: have a great job. Yeah. And what about food, Like,
Speaker 1: what's the what's the spot that you know because I
Speaker 1: know you are you're not because you don't live in
Speaker 1: but Long Beach anymore. Is there a place that you
Speaker 1: have to go back and eat at something that you
Speaker 1: you always miss eating. I have to go to Louis
Speaker 1: Burger on Atlantic in sixth Street. Okay, they got these
Speaker 1: chili cheese fries that are outstanding. I have to get
Speaker 1: him every time I go. And then if you want to,
Speaker 1: if you want to upgrade at the cheese fries, pastrami,
Speaker 1: chili cheese fries. Yes, I love all those words individually
Speaker 1: and collectively. Um so that sounds fantastic. Wait where's this
Speaker 1: bart How do you get there? Is it on Candlewood?
Speaker 1: Was it on Clark right? It's right across from the
Speaker 1: one time out Lakewood Mall. Yeah, there's a flower shop
Speaker 1: across the street from it. This is would have been
Speaker 1: funny if you just kept naming streets and long Beach
Speaker 1: like Lakewood. Down the street off Bellflower, first Street, second Street.
Speaker 1: Is it the Seahawk? No? Is it Boomer's Cocktail Lounge? No,
Speaker 1: it's not that. No, it's not harder. No, I guess
Speaker 1: I can't remember the name. Okay, that's fine. I know
Speaker 1: when I'm home, I know how to get there and
Speaker 1: meet up with friends. And it's like you ant I
Speaker 1: just bring you there seamlessly and find my way there.
Speaker 1: That there the you know, uh, you know, the bartender
Speaker 1: tends to be a little heavy handed, which is fine
Speaker 1: with me. Yeah, especially especially when the drinks are all
Speaker 1: like five six bucks. I know. That's my favorite thing.
Speaker 1: Like when you go to a just growing up in
Speaker 1: l A and living in l A and you go
Speaker 1: somewhere where drinks are achieving, like, are is this allowed?
Speaker 1: The beer was? The beer was three dollars and they're like,
Speaker 1: you know, how drunk I'm gonna get. They're like, he's
Speaker 1: the most expensive beer in the state. I'm like, wow,
Speaker 1: I am abused in California. Jason Jones, such a pleasure
Speaker 1: having you. Thank you so much. Anytime? Where can people
Speaker 1: find you? Follow you all that because stuff? Okay? On
Speaker 1: Twitter it's Mr under for Jason Jones Instagram Mr Jones LBC. No,
Speaker 1: the LBC is obviously Long Beach, California. I've heard of
Speaker 1: Jason Jones LBC. Alright, miss oh it's Mr Jones LBC. Okay,
Speaker 1: Mr Jones lbp j L. He used to tell me
Speaker 1: fairy tales like you used to play football. Okay, anyway,
Speaker 1: shout out to y'all the listeners. Uh, we'll be back
Speaker 1: next week, right, Joe, Yeah, I believe so. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: know what we're thinking very serious. We're strongly considering returning
Speaker 1: next week for another episode of Miles and Jack Got
Speaker 1: Mad Bluest. That was beautiful, all right, y'all, See you
Speaker 1: fight