Speaker 1: Preseason has sprung, and so are we for some of
Speaker 1: these new teams, or at least teams that look different
Speaker 1: to me to my eye, and we're gonna talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about preseason action. We're continuing our team breakdowns, expectations,
Speaker 1: and predictions with the Los Angeles Lakers this week as
Speaker 1: we are joined by the writer in podcast for sp Nations,
Speaker 1: Silver Screen and Roll, Raj Chappol. I'm Miles Gray and
Speaker 1: I'm Jack O'Brien and this is Miles Jack god Man. Yes,
Speaker 1: but let's welcome our guests. Ros Chapolo. You might know
Speaker 1: him from Oz Jams, a writer. They're also a writer
Speaker 1: and podcaster for Silver Screen, a role you might know
Speaker 1: him from the I Love Basketball pod with Sabrina Merchant.
Speaker 1: Raj Chapaolo, Welcome to Miles, Jacot, Matt Boosteve. How are you.
Speaker 1: I'm doing great, man, Thank you for having me. I
Speaker 1: love you guys. Intro. I love that you just do
Speaker 1: that every single time. I'm not sure how you guys
Speaker 1: like hit it every time, hit every single kid perfectly.
Speaker 1: It's like that there's a brain meld where we become
Speaker 1: our mouths begin operating from the same brand, speaking exactly.
Speaker 1: I listened to the last few and I thought that
Speaker 1: was just something you like put in, But no, that's
Speaker 1: something yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, it's actually that chaotic
Speaker 1: when we reported Yeah yeah yeah, thank you though you
Speaker 1: honor us with that observation. Manh raje man uh so
Speaker 1: talk to us. You you write about the Lakers. Are
Speaker 1: you a Laker fan? Are you? Are you mixing business
Speaker 1: with pleasure? Okay, Now, this is one thing I gotta
Speaker 1: ask you up top, because every person we ask who's
Speaker 1: a fan who writes, they say, I'm less of a
Speaker 1: fan now of a team. I'm a little more objective.
Speaker 1: How did where do you put yourself in that? I know,
Speaker 1: if you support the Lakers, then you probably can't extract
Speaker 1: yourself from being a fan. Sometimes. Yeah, so I go
Speaker 1: the complete opposite. Honestly, I'm like even more of a
Speaker 1: fan now than I was before, Like covering the covering
Speaker 1: the team. To me, like I get more into it, right,
Speaker 1: I'm closer with like understanding the players and what's going
Speaker 1: on when you're watching growing up. When I grew up
Speaker 1: as a fan of the Lakers, of course, but um,
Speaker 1: I wasn't really into basketball that way the way I
Speaker 1: am now. Um, Yeah, I hear that a lot too,
Speaker 1: and I would hate that. I would hate to like
Speaker 1: lose my love of the game. I think that's kind
Speaker 1: of what makes me want to, you know, dive in
Speaker 1: and watch every single game. Watch again a team last
Speaker 1: year that stopped really caring after February, you know. I mean,
Speaker 1: like those are the things that make me, you know,
Speaker 1: still want to watch. So no, I'm the clear off dumps.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm still absolutely huge fan. Um. I kind of
Speaker 1: fell into like this type of you called it a business.
Speaker 1: I kind of fell backwards into it, right. I really
Speaker 1: just started posting online. I just wanted a community to
Speaker 1: kind of join, right, Lakers Twitter was kind of coming
Speaker 1: up when I started it, in like sen um, and
Speaker 1: I just wanted to be a part of it, honestly,
Speaker 1: and I kind of fell back into really cool opportunities.
Speaker 1: But now, man, I'm still just you know, as big
Speaker 1: a fan as I was before. And I think there's ways,
Speaker 1: obviously there's ways, there are people you're gonna be biased,
Speaker 1: and I think as long as you acknowledge those biases, right, Like,
Speaker 1: of course I want the Lakers to win, like like
Speaker 1: that's like definitely and that shows out in any content
Speaker 1: I do, UM, and you might lean a little bit
Speaker 1: more positive in some ways, but in some ways also
Speaker 1: you're a little bit more honest, right You're like, yeah,
Speaker 1: let's get this guy off my team. There's no like, oh,
Speaker 1: like he might be good or not? All right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know you're like, Okay, if I want to win,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be serious about how we get there. So
Speaker 1: I'm not going to I think some NBA fans are
Speaker 1: definitely biased, but I've never met a biased Lakers fans.
Speaker 1: Pretty much like you know, clear our feet version just
Speaker 1: on the ground, just thoroughly ground, connected to the ground,
Speaker 1: tent toes down. You know, that's just how we are.
Speaker 1: But Roge, how did you fall into your Laker fandom?
Speaker 1: Is just by being an l A guy. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: obviously grow growing up in l a Um, you know
Speaker 1: about the Lakers, right, you know about Kobe and check.
Speaker 1: But like when I was a kid and I played
Speaker 1: youth basketball, but I never really got into watching the
Speaker 1: Lakers until like my freshman year ending of high school.
Speaker 1: I was I was trying out for the team or whatever,
Speaker 1: and uh, when the guys just told me, like, I
Speaker 1: want you to go home and watch Kobe, you know,
Speaker 1: go watch Kobe play, And to me, just being a
Speaker 1: really arrogant, dumb ninth payer, I was like, why would
Speaker 1: I go watch Kobe? Like, I'm not trying to be
Speaker 1: in the NBA, you know, I'm just trying to, you know, play,
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to play basketball, right, And I went
Speaker 1: home and I just don't love the game. This was
Speaker 1: in oh seven oh eight, and I don't think I've
Speaker 1: missed a game like on purpose since then. It's two
Speaker 1: so um, yeah, that's kind of how I fell into
Speaker 1: it and just really fell in love with it, and uh,
Speaker 1: watching every single game and being able to grow up
Speaker 1: with the Lakers and then obviously they had their their
Speaker 1: downturn obviously once Kobe went out and retired. But that's
Speaker 1: how I got into it, really. Um. I fell in
Speaker 1: love in high school and I just never stopped and
Speaker 1: I worry, one day will it like and and it
Speaker 1: just as I get deeper and deeper into this and
Speaker 1: into the business of it, I all more and more
Speaker 1: in love with the game. So um that I'm still
Speaker 1: a huge fan of it. Yeah, I love to hear that.
Speaker 1: And how are you feeling heading into this this particular season?
Speaker 1: You said you were in the preseason game. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: I like to go to that, to the first preseason
Speaker 1: game went. Uh? I went last year as well. Um,
Speaker 1: last year Lebron didn't play played, uh played last night.
Speaker 1: It's strange, right, I mean, I think everyone expected the
Speaker 1: Lakers to be different than what they are now. Russell
Speaker 1: Westbrook obviously dominates any headline, any you know, conversation along
Speaker 1: the Lakers dominates around a Russell Westbrook trade. But you know,
Speaker 1: last night, I think that was like the best I've
Speaker 1: seen Russ play in like a year. Like I thought,
Speaker 1: he looked Okay. I understand all the caveats. I still
Speaker 1: don't like getting you know, thirty piece by the Sacramento Kings.
Speaker 1: I totally get we you know, we've ben started second unit.
Speaker 1: But I'm hopeful this is a better year. Darvin Ham obviously,
Speaker 1: I think, is trying to implement things that you know,
Speaker 1: work better for Russ. Hopeing hopefully we get Lebron and
Speaker 1: a d healthy, which I think is the number one thing.
Speaker 1: But I'm a little bit higher than I like. I
Speaker 1: think the expectations are so low right now, Like it's
Speaker 1: hard not to pass that bar right and the expectations
Speaker 1: are just to be competitive, which, uh, you know, I
Speaker 1: think Lebron and a D you would hope for higher,
Speaker 1: you know, bars to reach. But that's kind of the
Speaker 1: bar right now. That's the most realistic one. I was
Speaker 1: telling Jack before this, when I was talking to Jabari
Speaker 1: about the game, I said, hey, we look different from
Speaker 1: last season, and I like that. There's we there's there's
Speaker 1: clearly some kind of there's a new ethos within the squad. Now,
Speaker 1: the time it will take for that to get to
Speaker 1: whatever level of competitiveness is yet to be seen. But
Speaker 1: like you said, I I felt heartened enough that at
Speaker 1: least the ship was beginning to turn in direction. Now again,
Speaker 1: I don't know where that goes, but at least that
Speaker 1: was enough for me to feel less panicked. This is
Speaker 1: the point in the season that is like I love
Speaker 1: overreacting in a positive way, just imagining like amazing like
Speaker 1: the Net the Net Sixers game, like watching Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: back out there, like playing, just watching the highlights of
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons, like throwing some passes like behind his head,
Speaker 1: and like, you know, that got me so excited, and
Speaker 1: I'm just like picturing this season where like that's all
Speaker 1: that's happening is just Ben Simmons, just as the Queen
Speaker 1: and Chest just like moving all over the boy were
Speaker 1: like getting the ball to different people in like weird
Speaker 1: positions at just the right time. Um, that's what That's
Speaker 1: what's fun about this part of the season for me. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the same thing, like how I overreacted to Quinta Brunson
Speaker 1: posting a picture of herself on Twitter as James Harden
Speaker 1: and I was like, I think the Sixers could win
Speaker 1: this year. That truly was what was my take was
Speaker 1: there's something going on. What's happening with the Eagles? You
Speaker 1: said the Eagles are doing They're killing it right now then,
Speaker 1: and I said, what about the Phillies first playoff birth
Speaker 1: in eleven years. I'm like, okay, so the Sixers definitely
Speaker 1: getting past the second round off the strength of that
Speaker 1: quint Quinta Brunson pick, for sure, I heard, I think
Speaker 1: which on one of these the Sixers fan correct, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm six not the person who was frothing at the
Speaker 1: mouth when you're talking about the Lakers. I think there's
Speaker 1: some interesting, like you know, through lines between the Lakers
Speaker 1: and the Sixers, Like you guys are trying to rely
Speaker 1: on James Harden, which you know, good luck on that
Speaker 1: right now. I think I think James Harden the Russell
Speaker 1: Westbrook in this metaphor. So obviously James Harden is seen
Speaker 1: as a lot better than Russell Westbrook, which is totally fair.
Speaker 1: I do agree, um with that. I just think, like
Speaker 1: old guards, there's not like a ramp down right, It's
Speaker 1: more of a drop right there. The cliff is. It's
Speaker 1: a cliff drop. It's not just like a steady drop
Speaker 1: in decline. Um. So I'm interested when that happens with
Speaker 1: James Harden. He said he's lost a hundred pounds, which
Speaker 1: obviously I think it was that was just stretching it out.
Speaker 1: But I'm really interested. And I think you know, Embeed
Speaker 1: wants to win the MVP. I think that's something that
Speaker 1: that's definitely in his grasp. Um. I think Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: kind of sees himself in that. Anthony Davis was in
Speaker 1: that embed Yoka's tier, and it's crazy how he's dropped
Speaker 1: in terms of like just his reputation around the league. Um.
Speaker 1: But I think, you know, when he's at his peaking
Speaker 1: kind of reach those levels. But I just think like,
Speaker 1: it's an interesting kind of look at it, because I
Speaker 1: think Philly has a lot of expectations this year a
Speaker 1: doc Rivers lead team. I'm not really you know, I'm
Speaker 1: not really high on but okay, all right, I'm really
Speaker 1: interested in how they have. That is, by the way,
Speaker 1: that that is my exact thoughts said back to me,
Speaker 1: but said back to me by a Lakers fan. I'm like,
Speaker 1: I don't know, oh yeah, well, um yeah, every single
Speaker 1: thing except the source exactly. Yeah, I know, the Sixers
Speaker 1: are very exciting. I feel like the Sixers got people
Speaker 1: in the way that I'm talking about. Watching a couple
Speaker 1: of Ben seveonce highlights got me excited for the season. Like,
Speaker 1: I think there's just something about them, and like the
Speaker 1: idea of like a return to peak form James Harden
Speaker 1: and then the promise of Maxie that just has has
Speaker 1: everybody excited. I feel like I am uniquely situated as
Speaker 1: somebody who has like been uh you know, living and
Speaker 1: dining with them since them bead came into the league
Speaker 1: that I I feel a certain ceiling, uh that that
Speaker 1: they can't get past, which is the second round of
Speaker 1: the playoffs. But you know, Miles is right, maybe that's
Speaker 1: quin to Branson, James Harden, dude, maybe take a little
Speaker 1: bit out of my Lakers fan bag and and those
Speaker 1: in some magical thinking. You know, I'm here. Sometimes it helps,
Speaker 1: sometimes it helps. It's like prayer, you know. Um. But
Speaker 1: to touch on the Lakers again for a second, rage
Speaker 1: between Lonnie Walker and wants to Skonell Anderson, Thomas, Brian
Speaker 1: Troy Brown. Which which of them do you think is
Speaker 1: going to have the biggest impact. Yeah, So it's interesting
Speaker 1: they brought on a bunch of guards, right, I mean
Speaker 1: this team was like built for Westbrook Trade, Right, It's
Speaker 1: kind of that's kind of the build of it. Um,
Speaker 1: I'm you know, actually I think the name I don't
Speaker 1: think you mentioned that. I think Patrick Beverley is probably
Speaker 1: the most like known guy right on the team. Like
Speaker 1: he's the one that I think, you know what his
Speaker 1: skill set is, like I think Kendrick Nunn if it's
Speaker 1: really well as well, like he started last night, I
Speaker 1: think he's a perfect Like you want another ball handler
Speaker 1: out there. I was interesting watching yesterday. There was a
Speaker 1: lot of possessions. Russ was just in the corner, which
Speaker 1: I think is interesting how they're trying to run the
Speaker 1: offense through other ball handlers, and I think there's some
Speaker 1: diminishing return to that where you're not gonna get anything
Speaker 1: out of Russ if he doesn't have the ball um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, like Lonnie Walker, he's been interesting. I just
Speaker 1: think any team that gets let go by the Spurs,
Speaker 1: I'm kind of look at it and through it through
Speaker 1: a side I but yeah, I think Patrick Barley is
Speaker 1: going to be have the most impact. But I'm really interested,
Speaker 1: like if they can throw Lonnie Walker in the room
Speaker 1: with Phil Handley, Phil Handy and see what comes out.
Speaker 1: We had Austin Reeves he played yesterday as well. It's
Speaker 1: just like a bunch of guys who need minutes then
Speaker 1: where it goes. G t A looked fine last night.
Speaker 1: I think he's a guy that's gonna need to play
Speaker 1: with like starters, like because he just can't shoot us
Speaker 1: very he doesn't really have much offense to him, but uh,
Speaker 1: a lot of just unknowns man and it's really just
Speaker 1: Lebron and a d are gonna have to carry again
Speaker 1: and hope that Russ can have some kind of bounce
Speaker 1: back uh forrenched season there. But yeah, pet Beev is
Speaker 1: probably the one I see having like the best impact
Speaker 1: from the from the new Guards that we got and
Speaker 1: that's just not in sound bites. No, I feel like
Speaker 1: that's going to be the other blessing of the memes
Speaker 1: are going to be self generating for sure. But again,
Speaker 1: this is the time when the unknowns can you know,
Speaker 1: it's like watching a movie trailer where you know so
Speaker 1: often the movie that I see in the trailer and
Speaker 1: fill in all the blank spots with like, you know,
Speaker 1: they'll work that out. Uh, It's oftentimes not quite as good.
Speaker 1: Uh you know what once you see it up on
Speaker 1: the screen. But that is the point that I'm at.
Speaker 1: That's why I love this point of the season. The Warriors,
Speaker 1: like you know, James Wiseman came through with a twenty
Speaker 1: and nine in the preseason. I'm like, oh, oh boy,
Speaker 1: the Weston trouble they from last year and Wiseman putting
Speaker 1: up at least twenty and ten every game cominga in there,
Speaker 1: it's everyone's in trouble. Did you see the did you
Speaker 1: see the clip from that game though, when Ruey was
Speaker 1: talking to the crowd, Oh my god, as somebody who's
Speaker 1: black and knees, that clip couldn't resonate with me. Harder
Speaker 1: as somebody who is Japanese speaking have black person being
Speaker 1: there and sometimes you speak they're like, wait, you speak
Speaker 1: in Japanese, Like they'll look at you like is that
Speaker 1: Japanese coming out of your mouth? And then for the
Speaker 1: mic to be passed to Draymond and just say to
Speaker 1: the crowd and they lost. I just gotta play this
Speaker 1: really quick for people who haven't heard it, because like
Speaker 1: ruly is being very Japanese, Like he's doing the thing
Speaker 1: that athletes do when you address the crowds, like like
Speaker 1: you kind of basically you're selling the crowd on what
Speaker 1: the team's into. He's like, Hey, just to let you know,
Speaker 1: like we're working really hard, we're trying to take it
Speaker 1: to another level. Uh, and we're gonna give it. Are
Speaker 1: all in this game, so like I hope, I hope
Speaker 1: you'll will have our back to is what really is
Speaker 1: saying in Japanese month And they're like, all right, yes
Speaker 1: for you, Raymond, much louder, loud, but brilliant, brilliant moment.
Speaker 1: What was everybody thinking about the Doves this year? Embarrassment
Speaker 1: of Riches man, It's just, uh, it's it's crazy what
Speaker 1: they're able to get. I do think they're gonna miss
Speaker 1: Gary Payne, like I do think that was a loss
Speaker 1: for them. They let him walk obviously, UM in Auto
Speaker 1: Porter as well, I think, you know, it's an important
Speaker 1: part of them. But comingo, I think can step right
Speaker 1: in most moody. They get Clay Thompson back for a
Speaker 1: full season, They're just gonna them. And the Clippers I
Speaker 1: think are the two top of the West to me,
Speaker 1: and I think they're just coming in with a whole
Speaker 1: bunch of chemistry and stuff you just can't buy. I
Speaker 1: mean Clay, Clay, Draymond and Stepp and playing together forever.
Speaker 1: That's just stuff that like no team can catch up with. Um,
Speaker 1: the Suns were like the closest, and they look like
Speaker 1: they're burning like no pun intended, but like the Sun's
Speaker 1: just looked like they're gonna tear down. But the Warriors
Speaker 1: I think are gonna They're gonna run the season again.
Speaker 1: I mean, they have all things going for them. They
Speaker 1: have young talent that can you know, call them through
Speaker 1: a regular season. Yeah, I just I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: be really good again. One of our recent guests pointed
Speaker 1: out that there hasn't been a team that goes back
Speaker 1: to back years to their conference finals. So for the
Speaker 1: past four seasons, basically since Lebron left Cleveland, no team
Speaker 1: has gone back to back to either Eastern Conference or
Speaker 1: Western Conference finals, which blew my mind. It also like
Speaker 1: put into perspective, like what Lebron did for for nine years,
Speaker 1: nine out of ten years in a row, being in
Speaker 1: the finals was so wild. But yeah, there's just so
Speaker 1: much parody, so much talent in the league this year.
Speaker 1: I mean that also gets me excited because it's like
Speaker 1: we're going to see something new. We're gonna see new looks.
Speaker 1: Teams are going to come out of nowhere and surprise everybody. Um,
Speaker 1: but why the Dubs like looking as good as they did,
Speaker 1: and you know what, Wise been looking as good as
Speaker 1: he does? Gets me. That makes me think we we
Speaker 1: might be headed for a back to back Western Conference
Speaker 1: appearance from them at the very least. All right, let's
Speaker 1: take a quick break, uh, and we'll come back to
Speaker 1: talk some other Let's let's take you down Nunda when
Speaker 1: we get back from the break after this, and we're back.
Speaker 1: Jack who who was the one that was Ben who
Speaker 1: pointed that out about the no back to back in
Speaker 1: the conference finals. I mean the sixth or the not
Speaker 1: the six or so. I'm sorry. The Celtics have been
Speaker 1: there like every other season, but you know, there's been
Speaker 1: a lot of the same teams there, but it doesn't
Speaker 1: happen back to back because it is incredibly hard to
Speaker 1: do that because you know you're running, you're making a
Speaker 1: deep run, your best players are getting a lot of miles,
Speaker 1: and then it's it's hard for them to come back
Speaker 1: and play at that high level without breaking down the
Speaker 1: next season. So um exciting times. Speaking of down, another
Speaker 1: preseason action where it was a team I had never
Speaker 1: heard of and I thought, I was like, oh, I
Speaker 1: like that name, the Adelaide thirty sixers. Uh. They defeated
Speaker 1: the Suns in a preseason matchup that had me thinking
Speaker 1: there was a typos. I'm like, oh wait, they played
Speaker 1: the seventies sixers in Adelaide, and then that's what happened. No,
Speaker 1: this is the a from the National Basketball League in Australia.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, off the back of thirty five points from
Speaker 1: Craig Randall. It was. It was an interesting, interesting game,
Speaker 1: pretty competitive, Jack. I feel like you had a bit
Speaker 1: of a theory as to what we might be seeing
Speaker 1: with the suns. I mean, it's not a theory, it's
Speaker 1: just interesting like that the last game was Dallas, you know,
Speaker 1: Game seven of the Dallas series. That was one of
Speaker 1: the strangest you know, just performances from a team like
Speaker 1: prior to that series, and even prior to that game,
Speaker 1: I think most people thought they were gonna win and
Speaker 1: continue on and like reappear in the finals. They didn't
Speaker 1: know about the stat but that we just said the
Speaker 1: bank got yeah, but um, it's yeah. It's just a
Speaker 1: wild like I don't know if it's a mental block
Speaker 1: or you know what, what particularly is happening, But an
Speaker 1: NBA team hasn't lost to a non NBA team and
Speaker 1: you know, even in preseason for for a long time,
Speaker 1: and you know, Monty Williams came through and was like
Speaker 1: this is good. There's a learning experience and maybe it is,
Speaker 1: maybe it's what they needed, but it's you know, having
Speaker 1: those be the back to back home games, like appearances
Speaker 1: on your home court is it's just pretty wild. It's
Speaker 1: gonna again, like maybe makes it really interesting to watch
Speaker 1: them and see like what what happens with them. I
Speaker 1: think this is when I'm not overreacting to I like
Speaker 1: to react in a positive direction and be like Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons for m v P dark horse candidate, But with
Speaker 1: this one, I think I think they'll bounce back. But
Speaker 1: even so, like once they get back going, it'll be
Speaker 1: interesting to like hear them talk about. Okay, so what
Speaker 1: was happening in those two games months apart where you guys,
Speaker 1: you know, a world beating team where suddenly like couldn't
Speaker 1: couldn't make it work. You know, it's it's that they
Speaker 1: were supposed to get Kevin Durant right, like this timer
Speaker 1: like that's kind of forgotten now, but like that was
Speaker 1: the that was all the sourcing, right, Kevin Durant picked
Speaker 1: them as their teams in the offseason. Yeah, and it
Speaker 1: looked like, um, that's who they were going to get,
Speaker 1: and obviously the eight and stuff. It's just really strange.
Speaker 1: I mean that Sounds won sixty five games last year,
Speaker 1: Like that's insane. That's an insane amount of games. Um,
Speaker 1: I don't That's why I don't think they'll drop off
Speaker 1: that much in the regular season. I think, you know,
Speaker 1: they'll be fine. Like their playoff issue to me is
Speaker 1: like Chris Paul obviously is going to break down which
Speaker 1: is expected. He's like about thirty five or six or
Speaker 1: something like that. Um, I don't know his exact age,
Speaker 1: but just him and Booker and then I don't think
Speaker 1: they feature eighting enough and the Mavericks kind of were
Speaker 1: able to shut that off along with Luca being amazing.
Speaker 1: So I simply have playoff concerns, but I think they're
Speaker 1: gonna win a ton of games in the regular season. Again. Uh,
Speaker 1: Eiden looked like a guy that knew he was going
Speaker 1: to be gone in February. Just pa, But that was charitable.
Speaker 1: What Charlie's theron because we've had another old guard issue happening.
Speaker 1: You're welcome, shout out Netflix, what a reference is? Just
Speaker 1: pulled the plug on the podcast. He said, that's uh,
Speaker 1: that's the end episode Netflix Originals references. So about how
Speaker 1: long do you think it will take? Do you think
Speaker 1: this is like temporary, temporary blip like losing to a
Speaker 1: team that went ten and eighteen in their previous NBA
Speaker 1: NBL season will serve as like the bottom in which
Speaker 1: they will begin to bounce, or do you think maybe
Speaker 1: just give him a few more weeks and then let's
Speaker 1: start figuring it out. I mean, the thing I'd be
Speaker 1: thinking about as a you know, somebody who wants the
Speaker 1: Lakers to perform well is Craig Randall, Like what is
Speaker 1: his Can we get him on a contract? The guy
Speaker 1: who was just lights out score thirty five, like eight threes. Um.
Speaker 1: I was like, I'd like to see him in a
Speaker 1: Lakers uniform next year. Yeah, we use that against the Suns,
Speaker 1: real against everyone. Man oh man, Yeah, I mean I
Speaker 1: believe we do. We don't have an open two way left.
Speaker 1: We do have another roster spot left. Uh so so
Speaker 1: Cole Swider And Scotty Poton Jr. Currently Are are two
Speaker 1: way spots. Uh. We have Craig Randall. He had an
Speaker 1: incredible games. Just we have so many guards. I wanna
Speaker 1: be another guard to throw into this like seven eight
Speaker 1: guard man rotation. But I saw that game he killed him.
Speaker 1: They Phoenix was playing real players. It's not like they
Speaker 1: had there. They had like actual guys were going to
Speaker 1: be in their rotation out there. Um Tory Craig was
Speaker 1: like trying to lock him up and he was still
Speaker 1: able to like step back across and three of them.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think the sounds are gonna be fine, though,
Speaker 1: I like, I don't think preseason for a team that
Speaker 1: went to the finals and then lost in the second
Speaker 1: round the next year, I'm not sure how serious they're
Speaker 1: gonna take the preseason, especially with the amount of games
Speaker 1: they brought back. I'm interested what they get for Jay
Speaker 1: Crowder though, Like I think that's an interesting I think
Speaker 1: that's important. I think you know, his loss is actually
Speaker 1: like I think he brings similar stuff that like Pat
Speaker 1: Bev brings to your team, where like you hate you
Speaker 1: hate him watching him, but I think on your team
Speaker 1: he's one of those glue guys. So I'm just what
Speaker 1: they what they do with that. If I think Cam
Speaker 1: Johnson mcail bridges just dudes, they are going to help
Speaker 1: you win a ten of games, not a regular season, right.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think this brings us to our dumb
Speaker 1: pitch for the NBA this year. Um, not necessarily dumb,
Speaker 1: but so it's a left term from last week. Last
Speaker 1: week we pitched the Zion has warm ups that are overalls. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he has like caraway overall and rides a fan boat
Speaker 1: into the stadium. But like, substitution is not like he's
Speaker 1: sitting on the on the bench. A substitution happens when
Speaker 1: they start playing Zion's theme music, which we kind of
Speaker 1: put it credence, and then like the the announcers like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, what what is that? And then the
Speaker 1: smoke machine starts going. Zion rides a fan into like
Speaker 1: in through the tunnel, and he's choking out at Gator,
Speaker 1: to choking out Gata, choking out at Gata, then bite
Speaker 1: his neck and throw him in the crowd and then
Speaker 1: threw up the talcoulm out in the air like a
Speaker 1: like a bayou lebron. James, Yeah, um, so this is
Speaker 1: a little bit more straightforward. This is the one that
Speaker 1: you know that the NBA hasn't gotten back to us
Speaker 1: with notes on that one, but they might want to
Speaker 1: get back to us with notes on this one, because
Speaker 1: this made us ask, like what about relegation and promotion?
Speaker 1: You know what happens in a lot of soccer leagues
Speaker 1: in the world to keep it competitive where it's like
Speaker 1: to do well is not good for your team, you know,
Speaker 1: it's we can't incentivize the poor performance. You actually need
Speaker 1: to play for your survival to get out of the bottom.
Speaker 1: And I would look just to see a rotating thing
Speaker 1: where suddenly the thirty sixers or you know, we have
Speaker 1: an interesting group of eligible teams that can come in
Speaker 1: to be promoted to the NBA and then the suns
Speaker 1: for for the Laws are relegated to play on the
Speaker 1: prison island of Australia. I don't I don't know if
Speaker 1: they technically still consider themselves a prison island. That's probably not.
Speaker 1: But anyways, the like, I think that's fun. It's good
Speaker 1: promotion for the NBA abroad. You know, right, the economics
Speaker 1: of promotion and relegation don't work in US sports because
Speaker 1: of the stadiums that have to be built to house
Speaker 1: these teams, Like you can't you can't build a crypto
Speaker 1: dot com arena, get relegated and then be like, well
Speaker 1: what are we doing with this arena because we're not
Speaker 1: in the NBA Like that, it would be a massive detriment.
Speaker 1: So I wonder if it's like a hermit crab where
Speaker 1: it's like yo, bro, you lost, and then now guests
Speaker 1: who's playing there? The ADELA thirty sixers, Yeah, they're they're
Speaker 1: occupying your stadium now, and everybody wants to come at
Speaker 1: you if you have a really nice stadium. So the
Speaker 1: comes with great responsibility. The Los Angeles Knickerbockers, like they
Speaker 1: finally figured it out. It's l a weather plus the
Speaker 1: Knicks brand. Yeah, so they would they would not only
Speaker 1: take your spot in the NBA, they'd also take your arenas.
Speaker 1: That feels like gangster stuff, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: Like I take your spot and your arena. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: know the United Center take put a sheet over m
Speaker 1: J statue because right now this belongs to the Tokyo
Speaker 1: Apache or whatever the Japanese team is or whatever. So
Speaker 1: should we should we talk about so s I did
Speaker 1: their annual top one hundred list or you know, part
Speaker 1: of it. I haven't seen the top fifty yet, but um,
Speaker 1: they released fifty through a hundred. Uh MAXI was in there,
Speaker 1: I think, insultingly, so Man needs to be in the
Speaker 1: top ten at least um, but you know, big big movers.
Speaker 1: Westbrook was left off of their top one hundred list
Speaker 1: after coming into thirty four last year. So I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't think Westbrook needs bulletin board material at this point,
Speaker 1: but that's certainly you know, could be motivation. Westbrook was
Speaker 1: left off the top one hundred list, which feels right
Speaker 1: from last year. Honestly, Like I think good, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that's fair, and again the Lakers are hoping that,
Speaker 1: you know, he bounces back and gives them some kind
Speaker 1: of leverage and whatever deals they had, the Indiana deals
Speaker 1: that they were talking about. Um, hopefully, you know, if
Speaker 1: he plays well, they don't have to give as many
Speaker 1: first round picks. But it feels right Westbrook was just
Speaker 1: not good last year, so to one feels really like that.
Speaker 1: That feels kind of terrible for a guy who want
Speaker 1: MVP a few years ago, but bits for his game
Speaker 1: last year, right yeah? And then who else was Like
Speaker 1: Lonzo also wasn't on there. But I guess you know,
Speaker 1: with the season he had, you'd have to sort of
Speaker 1: compartmentalize it's just injuries, Yeah, you know, first half of
Speaker 1: last season. They specifically say through the first half of
Speaker 1: last season, he's top seventy five, but with the injuries,
Speaker 1: it's tough. And still having trouble, right yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 1: think he's had another surgery at the beginning of the season,
Speaker 1: so he's that they don't I I don't know what
Speaker 1: the timetable is for his return, but still still having trouble, yeah,
Speaker 1: untill he was not having trouble. Blake Griffin, Oh, one
Speaker 1: year deal with the Celtics where the number one got
Speaker 1: the nine one on him, the first player to play
Speaker 1: with that. I mean, yeah, that's the yeah. Look, that's
Speaker 1: the Celtics fans. They've come a long way. I know
Speaker 1: they've been wanting Blake Griffin from and I remember when
Speaker 1: they would like post like photoshoped images of him in Celtics,
Speaker 1: like in the Celtics uniform. So I'm sure for the
Speaker 1: fans are like it's one of those things like it's
Speaker 1: finally happened, but years later. All right, yeah, let's take
Speaker 1: you a quick break. We'll come back. We'll do rapid fire.
Speaker 1: And I feel like you're ready, man, You're you're on
Speaker 1: the top of your quick yeah. Yeah, he ready for this.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back and we're back, and get your
Speaker 1: joints ready. Stretch your neck out, because guess what, Raj,
Speaker 1: it's time for the rapid fire round of questioning, in
Speaker 1: which we are going to ask you a succession of questions.
Speaker 1: You just react, give us your first response, just chest
Speaker 1: pass that answer right back without thinking, because we do
Speaker 1: not have time for you to explain the answer further. Okay,
Speaker 1: I don't care what we say after. That's just not
Speaker 1: how this works. And if we get off task, it's
Speaker 1: on you to keep us on task. Okay, rog before
Speaker 1: we start the clock. Actually, let's just start to start
Speaker 1: the clock. Jack, should we go? Who wants you want
Speaker 1: to go first? I could go first. Yeah, I'm happy.
Speaker 1: I'm happy to go first, unless you would rather go first.
Speaker 1: To be honest, I was thinking I might go first
Speaker 1: this time, if that's cool with you. Okay, yeah, that's
Speaker 1: fine with me. Now, okay, we hold on. Now you
Speaker 1: said oh no, no, no no, Now you sounding like
Speaker 1: you didn't seems like you really want to go first. No, no,
Speaker 1: no nos, that's okay, you go first. I'm not playing. Okay, great,
Speaker 1: ok that sounds awesome. I appreciate you. Let fair, but
Speaker 1: I wanted to go See, you can't just do that.
Speaker 1: See that's go first, go first, go first? Start the
Speaker 1: clock again. I should have I should have started though.
Speaker 1: What are we underrating about the upcoming season? How much
Speaker 1: parody there's? Okay, go on, elaborate. Yeah, I think the
Speaker 1: Western Conference is insane. Like, I don't think people are
Speaker 1: understanding how insane the West is. There's like eleven teams
Speaker 1: who think they should be winning. They should be Yeah, Clippers.
Speaker 1: I mean, is it It sounds like you are the
Speaker 1: rare Lakers fan that gives gives the Clippers their due.
Speaker 1: How are you feeling about that? They're my They're my
Speaker 1: upset pick kind of dark horse team. I think they're
Speaker 1: gonna be great in the regular season. I hated the
Speaker 1: like trade from like a playoff standpoint, like I just
Speaker 1: don't like Gobert and Cat in terms of like in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, but I think they're gonna be great in
Speaker 1: the regular season. And high on Anthony Overts. I just
Speaker 1: thought that was a huge package to give up um
Speaker 1: to to get your one Starry and to join and
Speaker 1: be it how it Bi Gobert. I went to the
Speaker 1: Clippers uh Jazz Game six, and I just watched as
Speaker 1: the Clippers switch Reggie Jackson on a Gobart and Clippers
Speaker 1: the Jazz could do nothing about it. So I'm just
Speaker 1: I'm not hiding them in the playoffs, but in the
Speaker 1: regular season they're gonna be really good. Right, Maybe we
Speaker 1: need to rename this second because it feels like rapid
Speaker 1: Fire isn't clear enough for our guests sometimes. You know,
Speaker 1: Rog is a young man, you know, I wanted to
Speaker 1: make sure I didn't want to come at him like
Speaker 1: that all of a sudden, but rog, you gotta get
Speaker 1: it together, man, together, family, please, whatever your interpretation or
Speaker 1: rapid fires, the NBA about to cancel this show because
Speaker 1: this isn't paying off on what it's promising by calling
Speaker 1: being called rapid fire. Please, man, I got out with defeat. Okay.
Speaker 1: Next question, there's a hard one to ask. What's more
Speaker 1: likely to happen the Lakers or Clippers make a deep
Speaker 1: run in the postseason? Clippers sadly, badly, badly. I know,
Speaker 1: I know, I know, I know. I don't want to,
Speaker 1: but I know as a friend of many a Laker fan,
Speaker 1: I'm just like worried about how because there there's still
Speaker 1: unwillingness to deal with the reality of the situation in
Speaker 1: a lot of cases. Um sure, and I see that
Speaker 1: there's still the Clippers there, I know. And you know what,
Speaker 1: and if we see our Laker privilege diminished, you can
Speaker 1: guarantee a January six type response from Laker fans. That's
Speaker 1: the kind of levels of denial we're in, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. It's like we lost that election fan storming.
Speaker 1: I can't I don't want to see this, but it's true.
Speaker 1: I mean I can't like you're saying, like they've been
Speaker 1: more consistent and aside for me wanting to be toxic
Speaker 1: for the fun of it, Like yeah, I'm I'm I'm
Speaker 1: bracing myself to watch them just be They're not They're
Speaker 1: not playing the same league. Like they look at their roster.
Speaker 1: They have like ten dudes who make you know, ten
Speaker 1: to eleven million dollars a year along with p G
Speaker 1: and Kauai. They have absolutely gone all in. All in. Um,
Speaker 1: they're playing a different like level fields, so they're they've
Speaker 1: gone all in for this season. They'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: You're right, there's still just the clip. This is rapid fire,
Speaker 1: but I mean, yeah, that's true. Yeah, it's surprising to
Speaker 1: see them go all in with with the leader of
Speaker 1: the franchise like Steve Balmer, because he seems like a
Speaker 1: pretty reserved person, you know, Like I don't know if
Speaker 1: you saw that clip of him, absolutely, dude, he was
Speaker 1: even going nuts at the Climate Pledge arena for the game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what I'm talking about. I think about the famous
Speaker 1: Microsoft one. No no, no, no, he brings that energy everywhere. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Balman out of control. Um, alright, which new faces in
Speaker 1: new places or newly formed cores? Are you most looking
Speaker 1: forward to seeing this year of our lookwe NBA season
Speaker 1: newly formed cores. I'm definitely most interested in seeing what
Speaker 1: that like Minnesota team looks like. Really fascinated just to
Speaker 1: see it on paper thin Just it's really crazy to look.
Speaker 1: And they're going from like a team that was just
Speaker 1: fun to expectations. So Minnesota definitely rapid fire. I gotta
Speaker 1: remember that. Keep a rapid thank you, thank you man,
Speaker 1: stop with all the cabin Okay, here we go. Um now, look,
Speaker 1: the league did drop the Comeback Player of the Year
Speaker 1: award years ago, but because we do the show the NBA,
Speaker 1: the league said that we can give out this year
Speaker 1: a boost these bounce back player for three season. If
Speaker 1: the league lets us present this award, give us your
Speaker 1: top three candidate for the formally Comeback Player of the
Speaker 1: Year now known as the Boost He's bounce back player.
Speaker 1: Comeback player top three would be cool if it was
Speaker 1: like someone who dropped a hundred pounds or something in
Speaker 1: the offseason and just like look on sudden like their
Speaker 1: old self. I don't know, like any award Emmy Award
Speaker 1: winner it's just a thought that I'm just like, I'm
Speaker 1: just trying. This is rapid fire. I'm just helping with brainstorm,
Speaker 1: I know. And look you and and you're helping Rojs
Speaker 1: mess up the segment. Please get on. I'm biased, I hope,
Speaker 1: and I'm thinking it's Anthony Davis who's going to be
Speaker 1: you know up there. I think James Harden has just
Speaker 1: like his same issue. Not sure, I don't think hard
Speaker 1: yeah from the Sixers, Okay, um, yeah, Ben Simmons, I
Speaker 1: think you know, yeah, and Simmons should be back and
Speaker 1: uh can I give two Lakers on this, Like I
Speaker 1: would like to see if Russell Westbrook also like you'll
Speaker 1: come back to be competitive at least or like an
Speaker 1: NBA player. I think it's dropped off so far. But
Speaker 1: definitely Anthony Davis, like I think he should win the
Speaker 1: Boosti's award, Like hopefully I'm hoping he wins this. Uh,
Speaker 1: he wins this award. Yeah, Anthony Davis was playing at
Speaker 1: a level that qualified him for the high standards of BOOST.
Speaker 1: He's bounce back player of three. It would be like
Speaker 1: he's an m VP candidate also, which I don't know.
Speaker 1: We we haven't determined all the the is not that well.
Speaker 1: I guess our expectations aren't low for a d that's
Speaker 1: for sure. If we said he's bounced back then yet
Speaker 1: to your point, that would be a pretty massive show. Hey,
Speaker 1: well for and those those you know, yeah, you know
Speaker 1: m v P bounce back and it would be an
Speaker 1: interesting uh yeah, future episodes, we will have this debate
Speaker 1: as as we get closer and closer to the mountain
Speaker 1: Dew Boosts Bounce Back. Player of what I tell you
Speaker 1: about cutting us off and keeping the segment going, please
Speaker 1: surprise contender. No one's considering right now, no one. I
Speaker 1: think Denver is a lot better than people are are
Speaker 1: remembering and thinking, like I think they there are a
Speaker 1: lot better than people than uh people are expecting out
Speaker 1: of them. For sure, Jamal Murray might be a boost
Speaker 1: Boosts bounce Back contender. Um maybe, yeah, I think they
Speaker 1: might be interesting. A lot of people saw them go
Speaker 1: up against the Dubs in the in the playoffs, and
Speaker 1: that was a bad matchup for them. People are d
Speaker 1: you are losing control of this segment. Man, You are
Speaker 1: losing control of this segment. Man Jack over here talking
Speaker 1: about all kinds of stuff, Please answer this question. Rapidly.
Speaker 1: Who's a time All Star this season? Oh, Evan Mowley definitely. Okay, okay, okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: I can see that. I can see that. What is
Speaker 1: it about Evan Mobley that you see him ascending to
Speaker 1: the All Star heights this season? I think he just
Speaker 1: has everything. I remember like watching uh cows played the
Speaker 1: Lakers early last year, always year, and that dude is
Speaker 1: a defensive monster and shoot it, you know, has great touch,
Speaker 1: pick and pop can roll. Um. He said he was
Speaker 1: already like the you know, the hub of their defense
Speaker 1: really early on. So I think he's just been incredible.
Speaker 1: They already have a bunch of All Stars, and I
Speaker 1: think he might be the best out of them. Might
Speaker 1: not be as good as Donovan Mitchell, you know, got
Speaker 1: to but um, I think Evan Mobley's special. Uh possibly
Speaker 1: could have been an All Star last year as well,
Speaker 1: So um, I think he could get on the team
Speaker 1: this year. Rabbit fire though, Yes, yeah, you could be
Speaker 1: like this year's teres Max Rock, you know, because he
Speaker 1: oh wait, he didn't make it last year, so he
Speaker 1: would also be a candidate for the Oh wow, stop
Speaker 1: trying to walk people down. That's wild. Yeah, that would
Speaker 1: have been did you see him hit like three threes
Speaker 1: in a row around just like you're not just excited
Speaker 1: to get the season started. He was like, I'm bored
Speaker 1: with people not realizing how good I am and just
Speaker 1: came through and hit three threes right off the bat. Anyways,
Speaker 1: final question, Roger, this is the one uh we we
Speaker 1: always close out with um Jack or Miles? Uh? You
Speaker 1: really mumbled? Did I okay Jack or um Miles? Uh?
Speaker 1: I can't answer that. Jack four miles both. There's a
Speaker 1: great show. Diplomat. I love that dip set in the building. Okay,
Speaker 1: I like a diplomatic. Let's take it. This is the
Speaker 1: close come to a victory. You know, this is like
Speaker 1: you know, this is huge for me. This is go wait,
Speaker 1: white those tears from your eyes, man, White those tears
Speaker 1: from your face, big man, You'll be all right, sweat back.
Speaker 1: This is courage water coming out my eyes. Man. I
Speaker 1: told you about this, raje man, Thank you so much,
Speaker 1: ros Chapalu for joining us on Miles and Jack got
Speaker 1: mat boost these Where can people go check out your
Speaker 1: work and listen to you and all that other stuff? Man? Yes,
Speaker 1: dear man, this was This was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it on Twitter at roj Chapalu. Alat might
Speaker 1: work on Silver screening roll dot com and the podcast
Speaker 1: I Love Basketball is also on the surface screening Roll
Speaker 1: podcast Network, and find out anywhere you find podcasts amazing.
Speaker 1: Make sure you give us a follow too on Twitter
Speaker 1: at Matt boost ease a lot of you know, you
Speaker 1: get our upset picks, you get stuff like that super
Speaker 1: producer Jabari out there making it happen. Also make sure
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Speaker 1: Apple podcast to you know, let people know that this
Speaker 1: show is a massive movement that the sporting world can
Speaker 1: no longer ignore it. All right, until next time you
Speaker 1: do you and what keep doing us? All right? I
Speaker 1: like