Speaker 1: Oh, we've gone even deeper into the playoffs and we're
Speaker 1: gonna have to talk about a few people. Finally. I
Speaker 1: know you've been waiting to hear us talk about people
Speaker 1: like Janice. We'll get to that, but before we do,
Speaker 1: gott to let you know this episode, we have a
Speaker 1: fantastic guests, uh the CALVS sideline reporter from Bally Sports Cleveland.
Speaker 1: We got Sereno Winters in the building. I'm Miles Gray,
Speaker 1: I'm Jack O'Brien and this is Miles and Jack got
Speaker 1: mad crushed it. Okay, welcome, Welcome, welcome. We are deep.
Speaker 1: We're deeper into the playoffs, shedding some teams, some players
Speaker 1: are emerging even more. But yes, I just have to
Speaker 1: say thanks for joining us again and we are thrilled
Speaker 1: today to have with us someone who is talking about
Speaker 1: the league in a very very professional way, unlike us,
Speaker 1: which we appreciate it. It helps class the joint up.
Speaker 1: Please welcome today's guests, Serena Winters. Yo yo yo, Yeah, hello,
Speaker 1: I'm glad to be here. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1: Great to have you. Thanks. Sa Are you from so
Speaker 1: Cal Originally I am from so Call literally a little
Speaker 1: town called Honeyton, beach. Okay, hb okay, I hear you,
Speaker 1: I hear you. I'm from the San Fernando Valley, so
Speaker 1: I'm savvy. I'm savvy, okay, savvy. Yeah yeah, yeah, Well,
Speaker 1: good to have you on. Good to have And I
Speaker 1: lived in Dayton for five years. Yeah yeah, I'll represent
Speaker 1: that's where I am right now. You know, not exactly
Speaker 1: where dating is, but it's sitting here in my state,
Speaker 1: in Cleveland, Ohio. So hey, we're repping all around. We've
Speaker 1: we've we've triangulated precisely, precisely a little different than southern California,
Speaker 1: DA Ohio. So my largest chunks of my childhood were
Speaker 1: spenting Dating, Ohio and Wheeling, West Virginia, which I'm told
Speaker 1: is the Huntington's Beach of West Virginia. So yeah, yeah, yeah, beautiful,
Speaker 1: beautiful country. Um, well, thank you so much for joining
Speaker 1: us exciting season of Cleveland basketball. But before we dig
Speaker 1: into it, we we gotta we gotta talk playoffs. We
Speaker 1: gotta talk Janice. I think you know. So we've we've
Speaker 1: done the job episode. I think that was our first episode. Um,
Speaker 1: we've done a Kyrie episode, and we we had a
Speaker 1: feeling we were going to have the opportunity to do
Speaker 1: a Janice episode at one point, and Janice Hath provided
Speaker 1: Um with an amazing close out game against the Bulls
Speaker 1: thirty three nine on eleven of fifteen shooting against the
Speaker 1: Bulls and more importantly for his team, and just generally, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Game one against the Celtics. I think a
Speaker 1: lot of people, I think the Celtics were like two
Speaker 1: to one favorites to win the series. And then Joannice
Speaker 1: was like, oh yeah, sorry, I'm playing playing in this series.
Speaker 1: I don't know if y'all remembered. How's it been for you? Serena?
Speaker 1: Just feasting upon the wonderful playoff basketball so far. I
Speaker 1: mean it's bitter sweet, first of all, because to not
Speaker 1: actually be covering the playoffs. It's been a while since
Speaker 1: I haven't actually covered playoffs basketball, so it's weird watching
Speaker 1: it from my couch or from a bar in Ohio
Speaker 1: City or wherever I get to watch the playoffs. So
Speaker 1: it's you know, I watch it with the with a
Speaker 1: different lens, like you watch it with a fan lens. Right. Uh.
Speaker 1: Some of these games have been absolutely incredible. I mean
Speaker 1: Boston has had some incredible games. I mean it should
Speaker 1: be dissect Maybe one of the more interesting moments from
Speaker 1: the Bucks Celtics Game one, I think, which I certainly
Speaker 1: have my on it because I thought I was watching
Speaker 1: a highlight clip of me playing NBA Street on PlayStation three,
Speaker 1: which I think is the backboard. Let's play honest, going
Speaker 1: off the backboard Game one, let's roll the clip. Williams
Speaker 1: Stout stepped through the Celtics inside. Wow. Um, great bench reaction,
Speaker 1: which I I always appreciate. I feel like that always
Speaker 1: adds a little bit um. But yeah, I mean heading
Speaker 1: into the series, people were like, well, you know, the
Speaker 1: Celtics have the toughest defense in the n b A,
Speaker 1: and the Celtics were very tough on defense, and he
Speaker 1: was just like making up new new things you could
Speaker 1: do on a basketball court in a playoff game. Um
Speaker 1: to to get around it, in this case, stepping to
Speaker 1: an upfix, step through off the backboard dunk. I think
Speaker 1: I think people have done it before, but it was
Speaker 1: it was pretty it was pretty remarkable moment, very diff
Speaker 1: from our superstar so in the league, right, Like, that's
Speaker 1: exactly what we want to see in playoff basketball, those
Speaker 1: moments right where you're sitting on your couch or whatever,
Speaker 1: and you get up and you're just like, oh, you
Speaker 1: right exactly. I flipped my couch over when that happened.
Speaker 1: Who stands like ridiculously close to the tv? I don't
Speaker 1: know if you guys are like this or not, arms crossed,
Speaker 1: arms crossed, like in front of the TV like this, yes,
Speaker 1: And I don't know if it drives my husband crazy
Speaker 1: or if he just enjoys laughing at me. But I
Speaker 1: don't even realize that I'm that close or that I'm
Speaker 1: doing it. And I'm I'm I'm a solid this close,
Speaker 1: you know, right as I'm watching, especially in the stay
Speaker 1: at the end, Um, how do you guy? Do you
Speaker 1: guys watch it like that? Or do you sit back
Speaker 1: on your cow? How do you watch the playoffs? I
Speaker 1: have no stress when I watched because I'm watching as
Speaker 1: a neutral, as a Laker fan. I've I've had my
Speaker 1: injuries and wounds that I've addressed, and I can watch
Speaker 1: this with a neutral eye, So I'm relaxed. And yes,
Speaker 1: it does get me out of my seat. But when
Speaker 1: I'm a little bit more invested, or like at the
Speaker 1: end of that Grizzlies Timberwolves game, when like I was
Speaker 1: like oh, this is a game. I I stood up
Speaker 1: a little bit, I started pacing a bit. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I've been mostly relaxed with intermittent screams. Yeah, my body
Speaker 1: doesn't know how to watch basketball neutrally. So I I
Speaker 1: am watching the game and then I would look down
Speaker 1: and realize what I'm doing with my body. Oftentimes it
Speaker 1: is standing up. Um. I I will shout at the
Speaker 1: top of my lungs, like I did in the couple
Speaker 1: moments in the Grizzlies Timberwolves series. Um, the jaw dunk.
Speaker 1: I think my boy thought something terrible had happened because
Speaker 1: of my reaction. And then when he actually closed it
Speaker 1: out with with a game winning layup, Um, you know.
Speaker 1: Then she called the police but talked about a series.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, that was incredibly fun to watch. I think,
Speaker 1: do you ever do you ever do the thing where
Speaker 1: you watch where you physically get involved to like where
Speaker 1: you start like a shot goes up and you bend
Speaker 1: your torch, or like sometimes like my leg is straightened
Speaker 1: at certain points, I'm like, what do I think I'm
Speaker 1: doing from this center? But clearly I'm like no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: just get that leg out and now I don't know.
Speaker 1: Maybe it'll stay in bounce. I don't know. I just
Speaker 1: get I just get awkwardly close to the TV. And
Speaker 1: even though I can be neutral watching these games, like
Speaker 1: for example, watching that Griz's Timberwolve series, I was neutral,
Speaker 1: but I get so excited about the big moments of
Speaker 1: the games that I don't want to miss anything. And
Speaker 1: I'm worried that if I'm sitting back on my couch,
Speaker 1: I'm not close enough to the action. I think, like
Speaker 1: mo of not being there right right right, I've got
Speaker 1: to be as close as possible so i can see
Speaker 1: the plays develop. Um, But I mean, it's it's NBA playoffs, man,
Speaker 1: I just do you have any rituals or superstitions as
Speaker 1: it relates to watching your teams or before I know,
Speaker 1: Jack has a magical hat um that he's currently having
Speaker 1: a bad relationship with. Yeah, it's cursed. I'm a Sixers fan.
Speaker 1: It is a cursed hat. I've kept it off for
Speaker 1: the entire playoffs. After they closed out Toronto, I put
Speaker 1: it on and immediately read the Joel and Be had
Speaker 1: a fractured orbital and was out for Game one, And
Speaker 1: I take all blame, and I'm you know, I'm here
Speaker 1: too a tone, but by putting out this incredible podcast,
Speaker 1: I did burn it and bury it in my backyards
Speaker 1: as you could, as you especially. I mean, I now
Speaker 1: I'm a little upset. I'm a little upset a shoot
Speaker 1: and that reason I thought it was safe. It was
Speaker 1: after or a closeout game, you know, unbelievable selfish, selfish exactly.
Speaker 1: I was also having like a bad hair day, so
Speaker 1: I just needed to throw it on and uh, I
Speaker 1: paid the price. I mean, we have a clip of
Speaker 1: Janice closing out the bulls. Um. That's exciting. His passing
Speaker 1: has gotten really good. His mid range game has also
Speaker 1: gotten really good, um, which is exciting because he reached
Speaker 1: you know, he he kind of just outed himself as
Speaker 1: the best player in the world in the finals last year,
Speaker 1: came back from the off season, was like, oh and
Speaker 1: also I'm better this year. Um, and I think we
Speaker 1: saw that where we are seeing that in the in
Speaker 1: the playoffs so far, the first round series, I've great
Speaker 1: success all their whole floor as well. Bobby pulled st
Speaker 1: fresh shot with a thrown down. They're going to start it.
Speaker 1: I'm such a I'm such a honest fan. He's so
Speaker 1: much fun to watch. But also, you know, one of
Speaker 1: the things that we expect from our players in the
Speaker 1: off season is for them to work on something and
Speaker 1: then come back better and be able to see it
Speaker 1: that next year. And not everybody does that, And I
Speaker 1: think that that's what separates him as well. I mean,
Speaker 1: besides his ridiculous athletic ability and what he can do
Speaker 1: on the court, but the fact that he comes back
Speaker 1: and like you're saying, we're seeing him in the playoffs
Speaker 1: right now get to a new nice level. I just
Speaker 1: have so much respect for him, him improving the weaknesses
Speaker 1: of his game and us getting to see that right
Speaker 1: now in the playoffs scenarios like that's everything, you know,
Speaker 1: I just I just love to see that. Um So,
Speaker 1: I just have so much respect for him, and I'm
Speaker 1: such a honest fan. And he's so strong, Like I
Speaker 1: think he got stronger that that one play where he
Speaker 1: just spinned and Jayson Tatum was on the ground like
Speaker 1: three ft away afterwards was also exciting. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: like the Bucks are really given him problems and I
Speaker 1: was like this again, and a couple that with Janice
Speaker 1: and I'm I'm I'm feeling very good. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: watching as a neutral. I have no vested interest in
Speaker 1: you don't have any relationship Celtics or the Bucks. You
Speaker 1: don't know, I have nothing. I'm not putting my chips
Speaker 1: behind one team or the other. But I love you
Speaker 1: gotta say he's doing I'm on, I get to talk
Speaker 1: to the Lakers fan and his Sixers fan, two teams
Speaker 1: that I have worked for. This is why we were
Speaker 1: so excited to talk to you, because we're later on
Speaker 1: we're gonna I'm gonna be like, what was it like?
Speaker 1: For sure? So I mean I think to go along
Speaker 1: with it. Do you want to do we want to
Speaker 1: play one of the clips or should we go into
Speaker 1: some of the funny or honest stuff for a time on? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean the finals block we have, but I think
Speaker 1: everyone's seen that. I do just want we were talking
Speaker 1: about reactions. So after the finals block where he's uh,
Speaker 1: you know, guarding Booker as he comes into the land,
Speaker 1: Bookers throws the alley oop and then he gets over
Speaker 1: and uh manages to block eight at the at the
Speaker 1: catch as he's going into dunk is um. There there
Speaker 1: have been some there have been some blocks this year
Speaker 1: that are like you know, obviously supernatural and spooky, like
Speaker 1: Jammer jumping and almost hitting his head on the top
Speaker 1: of the arena. But that one was still like every
Speaker 1: time I watched it, I'm like that, wait, like you
Speaker 1: it's almost like you do you just want to keep
Speaker 1: watching it to see how he did it, like frame
Speaker 1: by frame here, Yeah, we can, we can play it driving.
Speaker 1: So I think the busiest way, because this is a podcast,
Speaker 1: I understand the easiest way to describe what is happening
Speaker 1: is any other time I was like, oh, that looks
Speaker 1: like a clean all. Oh my god, he block because
Speaker 1: the passer and the receiver in um in one second,
Speaker 1: which sho you usually can't be done. That one, I
Speaker 1: found myself just running down the middle of the street, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, three blocks from my house when I when
Speaker 1: I came to that was my reaction to that one
Speaker 1: that just burst through the front door. As a neutral,
Speaker 1: not having any history with the Phoenix Suns in that
Speaker 1: postseason at all, I was like, this is fantastic basketball.
Speaker 1: And I too, was very very celebratory in that moment,
Speaker 1: I must say. And then he started spreading rumors that
Speaker 1: he was going to sign with the Lakers as Lakers
Speaker 1: fans are want to do. Immediately he start putting the
Speaker 1: jersey's up. No, no, that's not me. I don't I
Speaker 1: don't have the following to start a rumor. I can
Speaker 1: barely you know, start rumors about myself that are good.
Speaker 1: But I think to go along with that though, I think,
Speaker 1: like we're saying on top of already is just you know,
Speaker 1: fantastic ability. I hate to use the word freakish because
Speaker 1: i'd be word just used all the time with him.
Speaker 1: But for me, the other thing I really love about
Speaker 1: your honest is obviously it's easy to can act to
Speaker 1: his you know, his talent as a basketball player, but
Speaker 1: his authenticity as a person is like this other thing
Speaker 1: that is very intoxicating about him that you can really
Speaker 1: tell that. I feel like I'm seeing the authentic person
Speaker 1: as he is every time I see anything of him
Speaker 1: off the court, and that's something I really appreciate, because
Speaker 1: the person that he kind of is off the court
Speaker 1: is a very fun, loving, sincere, kind person. So we
Speaker 1: got we got a highlight reel of Johannese being nice
Speaker 1: is what suproducer Jabari called it, and I think that's
Speaker 1: a good description. I love your moment. What do you
Speaker 1: think of your first cobblehead? I think they make me
Speaker 1: a little bit and I'm going to get someone for
Speaker 1: the game lunch cross bath really Ford digging my day
Speaker 1: off the motto, you know, enjoying my pepperoni pizza, my
Speaker 1: chicken wings, you know my smoothie. Uh you're you're okay? Hey,
Speaker 1: give me the steak one with the mustard Machi. I
Speaker 1: met good cheese please? All right? So just just a
Speaker 1: series of Johanna's enjoying food. Um. At one point, he
Speaker 1: takes a sip of a smoothie and makes a it's
Speaker 1: it's the face that John Travolta makes after he drinks
Speaker 1: the five dollar milk chicken pulp fiction Like me, He's
Speaker 1: just like, oh my, what the The persons like, are
Speaker 1: you okay? Like are you having gastro intestinal issues? And
Speaker 1: he's like no, this is just a really good milk shake.
Speaker 1: He just he uh is somebody you get the sense
Speaker 1: really enjoys being Janna Santa Takupo like, which, which is like,
Speaker 1: I think that's fun to see because I think we
Speaker 1: all feel like, yeah, I'd enjoy that too, But that
Speaker 1: looks fun to be able to eat whatever you want. Uh,
Speaker 1: and be the greatest athlete in the world. There's also
Speaker 1: clips in there where he is four inches shorter than
Speaker 1: he currently is and like has not like baby fat,
Speaker 1: but right now he appears to be chiseled from fine marble,
Speaker 1: and like back then, he just looks more like a
Speaker 1: yeah boyish, like yeah, still still growing, which is pretty wild,
Speaker 1: Like I think Jabari put it like, that's one of
Speaker 1: the fun things about his career is you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's a great joy of the social media um era
Speaker 1: that you get to just like watch the literal development
Speaker 1: of one of the all time greats in real time
Speaker 1: and then like go back and watch him be silly.
Speaker 1: I mean, how about his recent obsession with oreos? Wait,
Speaker 1: what's his How how obsessed is he with orios right now? Oh,
Speaker 1: you haven't seen. He's very orios. He discovered or It's like,
Speaker 1: it's like he discovered oreos, Like yeah, you got to
Speaker 1: watch him discover and discover oreos and also the trick
Speaker 1: of dunking them in milk. That's see, That's what I'm like,
Speaker 1: How can you not? What is there to dislike about him?
Speaker 1: And his love for the card game Uno, which is
Speaker 1: a personal favorite of mine. So it's ticking all the boxes.
Speaker 1: How does he stack up for you, Serena, Like with
Speaker 1: players you've seen in your time just reporting on the
Speaker 1: league in terms of like a likability factor, do you
Speaker 1: rank him as up there with some of the goats
Speaker 1: of likability in the league. Oh my gosh, Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1: I think that as NBA fans, what we crave from
Speaker 1: these athletes is the vulnerability, is the feeling like you
Speaker 1: actually kind of know the person right, and Janice gives
Speaker 1: us kind of that window into who he is, what
Speaker 1: it's like to be him, um, And then we all
Speaker 1: appreciate that. And not all players do that, and especially
Speaker 1: not all superstars. So I think that what's so unique
Speaker 1: about Janice is you have this superstar m VP player
Speaker 1: that you it to laugh with about their love of
Speaker 1: discovering oreos and smoothies, um, that loves to tell these
Speaker 1: dad jokes in postgame press conferences, Like, we don't just
Speaker 1: love the n b A because of the game. Most
Speaker 1: of us fell in love with the NBA because of
Speaker 1: our love of the game. But I think that all
Speaker 1: of us, whether you fell in me, fell in love
Speaker 1: with the NBA because of basketball. Some people fall in
Speaker 1: love with the NBA because of a guy like Janice, Right, Like,
Speaker 1: there's people out there who love the books because they
Speaker 1: fell in love with Janice as a person that got
Speaker 1: them interested. Um, And I think that that's what makes
Speaker 1: him so unique. And for me as a reporter and
Speaker 1: covering the league, I mean, what more can you possibly
Speaker 1: ask for an incredible athlete? Um, you know, championships in
Speaker 1: a small city, in a small market, and somebody who's
Speaker 1: so much fun. So I mean he winks right up
Speaker 1: there for sure. And there's like also the Rookie of
Speaker 1: the Year factor where you feel like you're watching him
Speaker 1: discover he has superpowers kind of all over the course
Speaker 1: of the career, his career where he's almost like whoa
Speaker 1: holy cow? That was? That was cool? What my what
Speaker 1: I just did? Like Peter Parker seventy two hours after
Speaker 1: the spider bite. Yeah, he's like hold on. It was
Speaker 1: like it's like hold on, how do I put this together?
Speaker 1: You're like, yeah, keep calling, keep going. And also he's
Speaker 1: like so joyful, like the stuff with the oreos and
Speaker 1: stuff with you know, the stuff with that smoothie. There's
Speaker 1: also um during the final celebration last year, there was
Speaker 1: like I think he's just face timing with his brother
Speaker 1: and was singing that pop smoke song for the Night,
Speaker 1: which I had heard before, but like seeing the joy,
Speaker 1: and he wasn't singing it well by the way, he
Speaker 1: was not hitting all the notes, but he was just
Speaker 1: so happy, and it like became my favorite song for
Speaker 1: like the last year because I don't know, I just
Speaker 1: associated with like the pure joy of watching Janice like
Speaker 1: really be in love with that song. Alright, let's take
Speaker 1: a quick break. We'll come back. We'll talk about a
Speaker 1: couple other playoff performances, and we will get to know
Speaker 1: you a little bit better, and we're back. So Luca
Speaker 1: continues to be amazing. Chris Paul, I mean, I think
Speaker 1: that was one of the coolest things we've seen in
Speaker 1: the playoffs in a long time. Was Chris Paul going
Speaker 1: four team for fourteen uh, one for one from three,
Speaker 1: four for four from free throws in a close out game.
Speaker 1: Anyone else expect him to decline and then he just doesn't. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's this is after he was supposed to not be
Speaker 1: Chris Paul anymore, and he's better than he's ever been,
Speaker 1: which again seems impossible, Like it doesn't it that that
Speaker 1: is another way, like we've talked about like some of
Speaker 1: the things like outlet passing and like dribble moves where
Speaker 1: they're putting English on the ball and then the heights
Speaker 1: the jaw jumps on on blocks like as being progressive
Speaker 1: and like things we've never quite seen before in the league. Uh,
Speaker 1: longevity of of players who really you know, take care
Speaker 1: of themselves and uh, you know, push the limits of
Speaker 1: sports science is also something that like we don't know
Speaker 1: the ceiling yet. We don't you know, we we don't
Speaker 1: know how good he can be for how long, but uh,
Speaker 1: he appears to be better than he's ever been before.
Speaker 1: Yea is it? I mean, I don't know if you agree,
Speaker 1: Sirena like it. It feels like there's a he's intersecting
Speaker 1: with this like intern His desire to win is like
Speaker 1: at the highest it's ever been, along with his like
Speaker 1: time generated wisdom of the game, and they're like feeding
Speaker 1: off of each other to make his just very efficiently effective.
Speaker 1: And if that's kind of like what we're seeing, it's wild.
Speaker 1: You know, you growing up in So calumb being a
Speaker 1: Lakers fan. You know, I think when I think Chris Paul,
Speaker 1: the first thing that pops into my mind is Chris
Speaker 1: Paul was almost a Laker, right, And um, I mean
Speaker 1: that's a story that that whole situation is a story
Speaker 1: for a for another day. But I think about that
Speaker 1: that time being potentially like what his prime. Yeah, what
Speaker 1: we thought, right, And that was so long ago, that
Speaker 1: was so long ago you look at him now where
Speaker 1: he is at. I mean, I can tell you that
Speaker 1: when the Son's got Chris Paul, I didn't think that
Speaker 1: they were going to be a championship team. I mean,
Speaker 1: I thought they were going to be much better than
Speaker 1: they were, but I didn't think be contending for a championship. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone proved me wrong. He proved off
Speaker 1: of us who didn't think so wrong. Um. And you
Speaker 1: talked to anybody around the league and players that have
Speaker 1: played with him, and they they'll talk to you about
Speaker 1: his his his competitive desire. I think it just goes
Speaker 1: back to what you said. It feels like they're messing
Speaker 1: right now. And look, we don't know for how long.
Speaker 1: But then again, I don't know who would have thought
Speaker 1: this would be happening right now, right, Yeah, and for
Speaker 1: us old heads being me, uh, you know, I I'm
Speaker 1: in my forties. I like to think I'm only getting
Speaker 1: smarter with age and bragged the young people about like
Speaker 1: how you have to get up much earlier in the
Speaker 1: morning to uh pull that crap around me. Um, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Chris Paul, I can now say I'm the
Speaker 1: Chris Paul of this podcast stuff. But you haven't. You
Speaker 1: haven't gone vegan yet though. That's the next part that's next,
Speaker 1: that vegan podcast diet. I think they googling that like crazy. Um. Alright,
Speaker 1: let's let's move on to uh, just get to know
Speaker 1: you a little bit better. Serena. So you're currently working
Speaker 1: for Ballet Sports Cleveland. Previously you've covered the Lakers, Blazers Sixers.
Speaker 1: We like to ask each guest this, like just one moment,
Speaker 1: one thing that someone did on the basketball court that
Speaker 1: was like the wildest thing you've ever seen someone do
Speaker 1: on a basketball court. Like it can be a single play,
Speaker 1: it can be like a game that someone had, like
Speaker 1: final game, Kobe dropping sixty. I've heard about this, Yeah, Miles,
Speaker 1: did you know that this had happened? No, I've heard
Speaker 1: tell of this Kobe Bryant, but not of this mythical game.
Speaker 1: Were you covering the team at the time. I was there.
Speaker 1: Oh goodness, So I mean I know I was. I
Speaker 1: was screaming up and down, like like embracing all my
Speaker 1: friends because we couldn't believe this, like fairy tale that
Speaker 1: was happening. What was that sensation like for you, as
Speaker 1: a human being who likes basketball, observing with your own eyes,
Speaker 1: what is happening right there? I can tell you that
Speaker 1: being in the building for Kobe's final game and watching
Speaker 1: him drop sixty, I mean I'm actually getting goose bumps.
Speaker 1: I can see them over this zoom call and We're
Speaker 1: not even a h D right now, and I'm sweating
Speaker 1: because I have a beanieon and I'm just talking about
Speaker 1: it and get my I mean, I literally have goose bumps.
Speaker 1: It was the single most incredible experience. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: not saying even sports experience. I have ever been a
Speaker 1: part of the energy in that in Staple Center. When
Speaker 1: Kobe drops sixty his final game game, it was it
Speaker 1: was like the only time where everybody was there for
Speaker 1: one thing, right, Like, so I was there for Game seven,
Speaker 1: um championship. Not everybody is there for one thing, right
Speaker 1: mostly Flakers fans there, not everybody there was Lakers fan.
Speaker 1: I was at that game, and I was there for
Speaker 1: the hot Dogs. Actually, I just really am a big
Speaker 1: fan of hot Dogs. Everybody in that arena was there
Speaker 1: for one thing. And it's hard to even put into
Speaker 1: words the feeling. Um. I remember, like Cody started off
Speaker 1: the game and everybody's kind of like, oh, man, like
Speaker 1: always final game, he's gonna go out like this. He's
Speaker 1: jacking a bunch of shots, missing shots, and then all
Speaker 1: of a sudden he's at like, you know, thirty five points,
Speaker 1: and you're kind of thinking like, okay, like he could
Speaker 1: drop forty in his final game, like that, that'd be
Speaker 1: a good that would be a good way to to
Speaker 1: go out dropping forty. And then he sur passes forty,
Speaker 1: and all of us who are sitting by each other
Speaker 1: like with each point, we're just looking at each other.
Speaker 1: But he's getting close to fifty and we're like, no way,
Speaker 1: he's gonna have fifty in his final game, like that's incredible.
Speaker 1: And then he passes fifty, and and then he just
Speaker 1: keeps going and then he encroaches on sixty. I mean,
Speaker 1: you just can't even you can't make this stuff up.
Speaker 1: You can't make it up and we all felt it.
Speaker 1: And I mean I know that when you're standing up
Speaker 1: as a media member or like your jaws dropped as
Speaker 1: a media member and I'm looking over at you know,
Speaker 1: guys like Ja donde Um or Bill Plashkey, like you know,
Speaker 1: we are taught to not show our emotion, right we're
Speaker 1: covering the game. All bets were off for this one
Speaker 1: because that was how could you not how could you
Speaker 1: not show your emotion? You were seeing something that you
Speaker 1: couldn't even put into words. So it was it was
Speaker 1: like twenty years of the most incredible basketball player packed
Speaker 1: into all the emotion from twenty years packed into those
Speaker 1: three hours. I mean for me, it was more like
Speaker 1: twenty four hours because the whole I mean, I was
Speaker 1: there from sun up till sundown. I pulled an all
Speaker 1: night or that night, I didn't sleep. I stayed at
Speaker 1: Staple Center and went straight from Staples Center to the
Speaker 1: practice facility. Actually because we had extra interviews the last day,
Speaker 1: so I think I took a half an hour and
Speaker 1: app in my car at the Lakers practice facility. Um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, that that was single handedly the most incredible
Speaker 1: experience I have been a part of. Even your description
Speaker 1: of it, it's very clear, like you trying to find
Speaker 1: the words. I was like, I was there too. Now
Speaker 1: I feel like thank you for that. I was, yeah,
Speaker 1: I can just off of your even you trying to
Speaker 1: find the words. I think even for somebody who made
Speaker 1: you know, we have listeners who might not have seen
Speaker 1: the game or new to the game. In that just
Speaker 1: your description alone, I think is a very compelling. The
Speaker 1: argument is why people should watch, go back and see
Speaker 1: that again. But it was incredible, so that that for me,
Speaker 1: as I was older and covering the league, favorite moment
Speaker 1: as a fan. As a kid, my favorite moment was
Speaker 1: point four d fish. I mean that that was my
Speaker 1: favorite basketball moment on the court before I was covering
Speaker 1: the league. But in terms of actually being there, I mean,
Speaker 1: nothing compares to Kobe's final games. Thread renters, we'll get
Speaker 1: a chance to take the lead, and look who has
Speaker 1: football with half of it. It's a play for the league.
Speaker 1: Body parts. League's so you s this is you know,
Speaker 1: think's legendary before this game. This is this Tysi and
Speaker 1: actually never level. I'm absolutely another level. And like in
Speaker 1: your time reporting, you've you interact with a lot of players.
Speaker 1: You're in moments you're like, I'm not surprised that I
Speaker 1: see you honest play so far, I can't believe I'm
Speaker 1: here for Kobe's game. What's been like the most surprising
Speaker 1: interaction or experience that you've had, like with the game
Speaker 1: where you you learned about a new dimension of a
Speaker 1: player or something you hadn't considered, And what is there's
Speaker 1: anything like that you can share with us? Sure, you
Speaker 1: know it's it's funny, not that this would maybe be
Speaker 1: the most interesting one, but for me, it's the first
Speaker 1: one that comes to mind when you ask the question
Speaker 1: because it's probably the most recent. UM and it's actually
Speaker 1: getting to know Rajon Rondo a little bit. M Yes,
Speaker 1: I grew up playing basketball. Why the Lakers Lakers Celtics
Speaker 1: rivalry And so when you're younger, right when you're in
Speaker 1: high school, when you're in college and you're not covering
Speaker 1: the league yet and you're watching Lakers Celtics games, um,
Speaker 1: and you're just a fan. You see your opposing team
Speaker 1: or your enemy, you know, like okay, um. And getting
Speaker 1: to no Rondo a little bit over the past couple
Speaker 1: of months after the Calves acquired him, that was really
Speaker 1: interesting for me because I didn't know him at all, um,
Speaker 1: except from being a fan of the NBA and growing
Speaker 1: up watching the Lakers and Celtics rivalry. Um. So getting
Speaker 1: to see him as a person and be around him
Speaker 1: UM and have a completely, I don't want to say
Speaker 1: complete different opinion because I didn't know him to have
Speaker 1: an opinion before the kid's acquired him. But getting to
Speaker 1: be around him and see how gracious that he is
Speaker 1: um versus the player that I grew up watching and
Speaker 1: yelling at at the TV. That was kind of eye
Speaker 1: opening for me. And he's like incredibly smart, right, Like
Speaker 1: isn't I guess he's like a very smart basketball player,
Speaker 1: but very smart basketball player. Yet, like there was a story.
Speaker 1: Who is which coach was telling this story? I want
Speaker 1: to say it was carl It was either Carlisle, or
Speaker 1: it might have been Doc obviously he played for Doc
Speaker 1: for so many years. But Um, one of the coaches pregame,
Speaker 1: I was asking about Rondo and he said, usually there's
Speaker 1: no player that would ever watch film more than a coach,
Speaker 1: Like coaches watch more film than any player ever would,
Speaker 1: except Rondo. And he was a guy where like in films, Acion,
Speaker 1: you better know what you're talking about as a coach,
Speaker 1: because if you make a mistake, he'll call you out right.
Speaker 1: There's a Scalbrini anecdote where like, uh, I mean Scalbrini
Speaker 1: tells it. I guess it's a Mark Jackson anecdote. But
Speaker 1: Mark Jackson called a play that was a bluff. He
Speaker 1: just yelled forty two cross for his team, but it
Speaker 1: was like a bluff. They didn't actually have that, but
Speaker 1: he was just trying to, like, you know, the way
Speaker 1: that like a baseball catcher will like throwout multiple hand
Speaker 1: gestures and like trying to try and confuse anybody trying
Speaker 1: to steal signs, and like nobody would know that it
Speaker 1: was a bluff. Rondo looked at Jackson and was like,
Speaker 1: for you two cross, for you two cross. You don't
Speaker 1: have a forty two cross. Mark Jackson was like, how
Speaker 1: the hell did he just know that? But he knew
Speaker 1: their entire playbook and also like I knew that they
Speaker 1: didn't hadn't edit it somehow, which is why were you
Speaker 1: talking to Did you ever roller skate with Rondo? Because
Speaker 1: I was the one little thing I learned about him
Speaker 1: when he was at the Celtics, and I was like
Speaker 1: he loves roller skating, and he's like good at him,
Speaker 1: like okay, okay, no, no, no roller skating And probably
Speaker 1: a good thing because he dealt with plenty of injuries.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, hammies could be be a tough thing. So
Speaker 1: maybe too much roller skating, you know, it was affecting
Speaker 1: the hammies could be Yeah, but you hear about him
Speaker 1: mentioned a lot as like if this guy wants to
Speaker 1: be a coach, he's going to be like an all
Speaker 1: time great if he's in the right situation. Um, and
Speaker 1: his teammates like always seem to respect him a lot.
Speaker 1: So yeah, he's like you know what I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: in the time outs the heddles, and I'm always listening
Speaker 1: in and um, he's that guy that's always always yelling
Speaker 1: or not necessarily yelling, but just like he's always involved
Speaker 1: in the time out. You know, like coach would come
Speaker 1: over and he's like all right, Ronald, like you know,
Speaker 1: sit down, I gotta hit me coach please. Yeah, things
Speaker 1: like that, And I mean it sounds like you've I know,
Speaker 1: I saw a post where you were talking about pau
Speaker 1: Gas Saul and that you two were close as a
Speaker 1: Laker fan. That warms my heart, because I've always been
Speaker 1: an admirer of his and always suspected he was like
Speaker 1: a very genuine person, and it was very nice for
Speaker 1: me to see your heartfelt post or you're like, no,
Speaker 1: this is a very sincere, sweet person. He's so sincere,
Speaker 1: he's so genuine, possibly the most genuine player I've ever
Speaker 1: met in the league. Look, so I was a I
Speaker 1: interned for the Lakers when Pau was there as well,
Speaker 1: and as an intern, you know quiet, you keep your
Speaker 1: head down. I was, I think I was, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I was working some event and it was by myself,
Speaker 1: and Paps came over to make small talk like just
Speaker 1: you know, something as simple as all a nice shoes
Speaker 1: like something like that, to to go out of his
Speaker 1: way to make me feel like, hey, it's all right
Speaker 1: to talk to me, and we're just doing being too.
Speaker 1: And I can't tell you how much that means to
Speaker 1: somebody um like me. So from I mean, I knew
Speaker 1: him as an intern, obviously covered him for many years.
Speaker 1: So I can tell you that whether I was just
Speaker 1: a little intern or a reporter or whatever stage I
Speaker 1: was at in my career, he was always the same.
Speaker 1: He was always genuine. He was always gracious and he
Speaker 1: was like that with everybody. So whatever you've heard about
Speaker 1: pal Um in terms of the genuine stuff, I can
Speaker 1: tell you first hand it is all true. Yeah, he was.
Speaker 1: I remember so my dad was coaching the Celtics during
Speaker 1: his draft and like they wanted him more than anybody
Speaker 1: in the in the draft, and he went over and
Speaker 1: interviewed in him and he was like, I think he's
Speaker 1: going to be a doctor if he doesn't get drafted
Speaker 1: in the NBA. Like that's he was saying that, and
Speaker 1: like his grades are that good, Like he's just like
Speaker 1: a super again. Uh like Rondo, very very smart, interesting guy.
Speaker 1: I feel I feel like with with the with the
Speaker 1: Rondo thing and like the intelligence, Like I feel like
Speaker 1: we've seen that a couple of times in the playoffs
Speaker 1: this year, where people predict plays before they happen. There
Speaker 1: was the Yokich thing where he like said that's something, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's been happening a couple of times like that. I
Speaker 1: feel like that might be something we're also seeing with
Speaker 1: just so much more tape available, guys are watching so
Speaker 1: much film now right, and like in the playoffs, you know,
Speaker 1: with the Calves, for example, they had books right for
Speaker 1: the plan for the teams, so books that had plays
Speaker 1: in them, and they're they're watching film with the assistant
Speaker 1: coaches are going over what the plays are it shoot
Speaker 1: around right, Like there's so much more of that now
Speaker 1: than there used to be. Yeah, I mean watching Uh,
Speaker 1: like my dad's career developed, like it went from when
Speaker 1: video first became a thing. Like they were the only
Speaker 1: people who could get like the cut down of like
Speaker 1: all right, every offensive play, like every offensive series where
Speaker 1: they run this play. But now like everybody can, like
Speaker 1: you could do that on your iPhone. Like that's it's wild.
Speaker 1: I was saying the scouts, um, well, oh, the Calves
Speaker 1: playing game against Brooklyn, and I had a couple of
Speaker 1: scouts next to me. We got to chatting and it
Speaker 1: was wild listening to them because we're watching the Calves
Speaker 1: nets and they're writing down every play. Um, And I
Speaker 1: asked them, like, you know, it's excited. It's exciting for
Speaker 1: you guys when you can call what the out of
Speaker 1: downs play is, right because before the play comes, like
Speaker 1: I can hear the guy next to call the out
Speaker 1: of downs play to the scout next to him and
Speaker 1: he goes no, he goes what's most exciting for us
Speaker 1: is if there's ever a new play like we haven't seen,
Speaker 1: because usually we've seen all of the plays and it's amazing,
Speaker 1: you know. They it's like they don't miss a thing
Speaker 1: um when they're there. But I don't know if they're
Speaker 1: sat next to scouts that are watching a game for
Speaker 1: other plays, but it's and then they give it to
Speaker 1: the team, and so everybody knows everybody's place, right, So
Speaker 1: the matter of studying the yeah, who's the more studious.
Speaker 1: That's like, yeah, that's the next thing we're going to
Speaker 1: see on the back of a basketball card. It's like
Speaker 1: studying studiousness off the charts. Well, Serena, it's been such
Speaker 1: a pleasure having you on Milon and Jack got Matt
Speaker 1: Boosti's I know you have to run, but thank you
Speaker 1: so much for joining us. Is there where where can
Speaker 1: people find you? Follow you all that good stuff from
Speaker 1: me on Twitter at Serena Winters. You want to go
Speaker 1: to Instagram, We're not at Serena Underscore Winters and someone
Speaker 1: to the old Serenat We hate that. Yeah, yeah, all right,
Speaker 1: well thanks so much for joining us. This is fun.
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me fellas all right, and we are
Speaker 1: going to go to a quick break and then we'll
Speaker 1: be right back to wrap it up with a couple
Speaker 1: of funny clips and we're back. Um, And that was
Speaker 1: It's like, it's there's nothing better. When I'm like, what
Speaker 1: were they like in real life? It's the only thing
Speaker 1: I want to know. Really, Yeah, we're blessed to be
Speaker 1: able to pick people's Hey, Miles, you know, one of
Speaker 1: the best ways to find out what people are like
Speaker 1: in real life is putting a microphone on making them up.
Speaker 1: That's right, it's Miles and Jack I mat boost Mike up. No,
Speaker 1: I just turned into a Morning Zoo dj um. So
Speaker 1: one is the ref Scott Foster is talking to Ed Malloy,
Speaker 1: I'm told, uh, and the it's the Celtics Bucks game one,
Speaker 1: I believe scanning the crowd. Who's that over there? Who's
Speaker 1: this guy? So Jack Harlow was at the game and
Speaker 1: like big celebrity presents and yeah, I I was personally
Speaker 1: I know who Jack Harlow is. I like his verse
Speaker 1: on that one little Nozac song. Um. But I'm kind
Speaker 1: of with Scott Foster in the sense that, like I did,
Speaker 1: I I was a little surprised by the amount of
Speaker 1: coverage that his presence at a playoff game was getting.
Speaker 1: But here's here's Scott Harlow's Mike Dop moment, Scott Harlow matchup,
Speaker 1: Scott Scott Foster's here's Jack Carlow's a guy over here,
Speaker 1: right here, it's in that white shirt behind you. Oh no,
Speaker 1: go ask you. I've never felt more like I never
Speaker 1: I never thought I would say this. I've never felt
Speaker 1: more like an NBA ref in my life. I mean, like,
Speaker 1: I know of Jack Harlow and I know what he does,
Speaker 1: but and that that that that was I've that resonates
Speaker 1: with me as I become an elder, geriatric millennial and
Speaker 1: I'm not up on all the new celebrities and I'm like,
Speaker 1: who's that huh in the white shirt? Okay, and they're cool, okay,
Speaker 1: cool cool cool? Yeah, knew that. Uh, And then I
Speaker 1: just liked, you know, Jordan pool Is. We we've talked
Speaker 1: a little bit about, you know, him being the third
Speaker 1: Splash Brother, but like he's you know, he has continued
Speaker 1: to be like maybe the most dangerous weapon the Warriors have.
Speaker 1: Like I don't know, it's a it's hard to compare,
Speaker 1: but uh, he's been so good. And at one point
Speaker 1: during so he was miked up and uh, there was
Speaker 1: a jump all that he was involved in and he
Speaker 1: was going up against Yokich and uh he he had
Speaker 1: a funny moment. Yes, so they're going so so they're
Speaker 1: about to do the jump all and he like puts
Speaker 1: his hand up like like the players, you know, like
Speaker 1: when they're about to do the jump all. They both
Speaker 1: put their hand up a little bit. But he like
Speaker 1: did almost like a kind of it felt like a
Speaker 1: Renaissance painting of like a bohemian dandy. Yeah. Yeah, he
Speaker 1: was like, so you're supposed to like lock arms with
Speaker 1: them or what is it? Uh? And by the way,
Speaker 1: that was Ed Malloy that he was asking. Look, I'm
Speaker 1: a big Ed Malloy fan. Alright, big Ed Malloy fan.
Speaker 1: Don't make fun of me just because I have an
Speaker 1: Ed Malloy ref Jersey. Most people don't know that that's
Speaker 1: what it is. But I got the number. People don't know.
Speaker 1: They said, if you and you always you always posted
Speaker 1: on Twitter you're wearing it, and you take a picture
Speaker 1: of the number and you always tag it I y
Speaker 1: K y K if you know you know, all right,
Speaker 1: a second there to do that joke, and right, all right,
Speaker 1: and then and then Luca was miked up well during
Speaker 1: the first round. And you know, I mean, I feel
Speaker 1: like we see a lot of Luca highlights, but you don't.
Speaker 1: You don't get to see the man behind Luca. And
Speaker 1: this is a fun miked up moment. Just about every game,
Speaker 1: different suit looks nice. He's just like talking about people
Speaker 1: looking nice. And he's he's started to talk like like
Speaker 1: my old uncle or something. He's like, all right, man,
Speaker 1: new suit every night, must be nice, like you're a millionaire.
Speaker 1: But I still like that the humility that you operate from,
Speaker 1: which is very endearing. Luca telling him he looks nice.
Speaker 1: You know, nobody, nobody doesn't like to hear, Hey, man,
Speaker 1: you look great. That's a nice suit. Just don't tell
Speaker 1: him that if it if it's not nice, because if
Speaker 1: you tell me a nice shirt sarcastically, I will be
Speaker 1: wearing that shirt three times a week for the next
Speaker 1: five years. So just like, don't mess with my oceans
Speaker 1: like that. Just it is what it is. Man. Alright,
Speaker 1: there's another one in the books, another one, other classic
Speaker 1: all time great uh maybe the greatest, maybe the greatest
Speaker 1: NBA Podcast of all Time, But another another week of
Speaker 1: playoffs to look forward to. Is there is there anything
Speaker 1: that you're this buck series I'm very excited about. I'm
Speaker 1: excited to get my boy Joel back. Yeah, I'm excited
Speaker 1: for I'm honestly every there's always something fun to watch,
Speaker 1: so I really can't complain. I'm really I've I mean,
Speaker 1: as of now as the recording with we haven't seen
Speaker 1: the Warriors grizz Game two. Yeah. I mean that's like
Speaker 1: we went through this whole episode and didn't even talk
Speaker 1: about like all time classic game one. Uh, the Warriors Grizzlies.
Speaker 1: That game was incredible. Yeah, I mean they've seen, they've heard,
Speaker 1: they know, but what a what a game? Man? Almost
Speaker 1: bit my nails off at then. Hm. I thought you
Speaker 1: weren't nervous Miles, you didn't care. Yeah, I am. I
Speaker 1: was just really hungry. You're just you're really hungry and
Speaker 1: waiting for this game to be over, to get a
Speaker 1: whiz whiz. I couldn't just leave in the middle of
Speaker 1: the game, so I said, you know what, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: eat my finger nails. That's what happened. Nervous deal. All right, Well,
Speaker 1: that has been another episode of Miles and Jack. We'll
Speaker 1: see y'all next week. Obviously, Bye bye,