Welcome to episode 141 of the A List Podcast with A. Sherrod Blakely, Gary Washburn, and Kwani A. Lunis. In this episode, Sherrod, Gary and Kwani are joined by 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) of the Philadelphia Inquirer to talk about the James Harden scenario. Are the Philadelphia 76ers in a lose-lose situation with Harden?
This episode of the A List Podcast w/ A. Sherrod Blakely, Gary Washburn & Kwani A. Lunis is brought to you by:
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This episode of the A List Podcast w/ A. Sherrod Blakely, Gary Washburn & Kwani A. Lunis is brought to you by:
This episode of the A List Podcast is brought to you by Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. Visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and start earning BONUS BETS with America’s #1 Sportsbook! Because right now, when you bet on a Super Bowl Winner, you can GET BONUS BETS EVERY TIME THEY WIN IN THE REGULAR SEASON!
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Indeed! Visit https://Indeed.com/ALIST to start hiring now! Indeed understands the importance of making every dollar count when growing your business. That's why you only pay for quality applications that match your must-have job requirements with Indeed. If you need to hire, you need Indeed.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 The A-List Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS
00:05 Media Network.
00:06 Hello, everyone.
00:07 Welcome to the A-List Podcast.
00:08 We have a full house today because as you can see, we have a special guest on the podcast,
00:13 Keith Pompej joining us from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
00:16 Of course, H. Rod Blakely, Gary Washburn.
00:18 I'm Kwanye Lunas.
00:19 Again, thanks for tuning in.
00:22 You know we brought you in because there's always drama in Philly.
00:25 So let's just get right into it.
00:27 James Harden goes on this rant about Daryl Morey.
00:31 What have you heard about, from your perspective, what's Philly seeing and hearing about the
00:35 situation right now?
00:36 Oh, people in Philly are like fed up.
00:39 Like, they're really fed up about this.
00:41 They want, right now, some of them want James to go, some of them want Daryl to go, and
00:47 some of them want both of them to go.
00:49 But right now, it's a bad situation.
00:52 Because when you look at this in Philadelphia, this is the second player in three summers
00:59 who requested a trade.
01:01 And in both instances, that said player was supposed to be the co-star to Joel Embiid,
01:08 and they want out of here, right?
01:10 So you look at this, this is a bad situation.
01:13 But not only is a player saying it, it's James Harden who's saying it about Daryl Morey,
01:20 and they were supposed to be tied to the hit.
01:22 So it's a bad situation for them to be in.
01:26 And I'm here to tell you that they could be in for a long one.
01:31 Like, you thought the Ben Simmons stuff was bad.
01:34 I think when you see a guy like James, who is going to be a Hall of Famer, has made his
01:39 money, he could say, you know what?
01:42 I'm done with this, and you're not going to put me in a corner and make me beg to come
01:47 back.
01:48 I'm going to see how long it's going to take for y'all to trade.
01:50 Well, here's my thinking.
01:57 To your point, this is the second time in a very short period of time, one of the co-stars
02:02 has wanted out.
02:04 But the star, Joel Embiid, the MVP, I mean, what's his take on all this?
02:11 And could he be going down that same path that James and Ben have gone down sometime
02:18 in the near future?
02:19 It could.
02:20 Yeah, yeah.
02:21 I mean, definitely.
02:22 Like, you know, a lot of people in Philadelphia are, you know, are making a big deal out of
02:28 it and understandably so.
02:30 You know, what Joel did yesterday is he took his processing off of his Twitter handle that
02:37 was in his bio, and he took his location, the Philly location, right?
02:42 Now, yeah, that's a big deal.
02:44 And especially, you know, think about it.
02:48 He was out in L.A. around summer league, and he was on, you know, LeBron James' show, and
02:54 he said, "Look, I would like to win a championship in Philadelphia or anywhere else," right?
03:00 And so he tried to be passive aggressive and get that out of there.
03:04 But let's keep it real.
03:05 What it was is it was like, "Look, Darryl Murray, you're on the clock.
03:10 What you going to do?"
03:11 And then this James Harden stuff comes out, and again, "Look, Darryl Murray, I'm about
03:19 to do something or I'm about to ask something if you don't do something."
03:22 So yeah, like, Joel, and here's something else, y'all.
03:26 Let's be real.
03:27 The biggest, the worst kept secret is the New York Knicks have acquired all these draft
03:34 picks to get Joel Embiid.
03:37 And the thing about it is, you know, like, you know, they used to be Joel's agency at
03:43 CAA, right?
03:44 This and that.
03:45 So it's one of those things where they are heavily invested in getting Joel, and it could
03:52 happen.
03:53 I'm telling you.
03:54 If the Sixers mess this thing up, I could see Joel asking for a trade next summer.
04:02 So what's James' problem?
04:07 Like James ain't never happy.
04:09 Here we go again.
04:10 James ain't never happy.
04:11 I was waiting for it.
04:12 I was waiting.
04:13 James ain't never happy.
04:14 And that's what L.A. do.
04:15 You know, Audubon Middle School, James Harden and Gary Washburn.
04:20 They're just so great.
04:21 We went to the same middle school, not at the same time.
04:24 That's my guy, but-
04:25 That's my man, Kamiah.
04:26 We went to the same middle school as James Harden.
04:29 Yeah, so, but, okay.
04:31 So James opts in.
04:34 Like, can you explain the whole thing of the summer?
04:37 Like, he was supposed to be out.
04:38 He wanted Doc out.
04:40 They fired Doc, okay?
04:41 They got Nick Nurse.
04:44 Joel said, you was there, I was there, Keith, that he wanted Doc back.
04:48 Okay?
04:49 So when you go get your big man, and you fire the coach because James Harden's like, "Oh,
04:56 we cool.
04:57 We all right.
04:58 Like, he cool."
04:59 You know, like, "What'd you think of Doc Rivers?"
05:01 "Oh, yeah, okay.
05:03 We all right."
05:04 Like, ain't no endorsement.
05:06 We all know that.
05:07 So they fired Doc, they hired Nick Nurse.
05:10 What was supposed to happen here, and what ended up happening?
05:14 Because now, James don't trust nobody.
05:18 The Sixers don't know what to do.
05:20 And no one trusts James, though.
05:21 No one trusts James.
05:23 The Sixers ain't done nothing in the offseason in terms of free agency.
05:27 Like, they've been frozen.
05:29 It's sort of like Miami.
05:31 Miami's waiting for Dane Lillard to figure out something on how to get Dane Lillard.
05:36 Philadelphia ain't adding no pieces for Embiid to be happier.
05:41 Like, how did this all go wrong?
05:43 You know what?
05:44 I think it went wrong.
05:45 It started to go wrong last summer, like, afterwards.
05:49 Because when you look at it, the one thing that a lot of people forget is people talk
05:53 about, "Yeah, he opted in, and this and that.
05:56 They didn't talk to him."
05:57 But people forget, you know, James Harden took a $15 million pay cut in order for the
06:05 76ers to go out there and get P.J. Tucker and go home.
06:10 You have officially triggered Gary Washburn by bringing up that money.
06:14 He has been ranting about that.
06:17 He's a Philly dude.
06:18 You know hustle when you see hustle.
06:20 James hustled them fools, talking about acting like he, uh, there's been two times.
06:27 Two of them, Mandela, like he taking less money for the people.
06:32 You triggered him so that he gets an opt-in.
06:35 It's right.
06:36 You're right, though.
06:37 You're right, though.
06:38 But see, here's the thing, Gary.
06:39 Here's the thing.
06:40 Typically, when you take less money for people, and you got them thinking about it, and you
06:45 got more money, you're doing it because you're going to get, like, some more on the back
06:51 end, right?
06:52 You under the assumption that you're going to get more on the back end.
06:55 And not only that, like, I wouldn't have done it.
06:58 But not only that, you know, if he would have opted in or if he wouldn't have opted out,
07:03 he would have been eligible for a four-year, $233 million extension, right?
07:08 Would have been, now, would he got in or not?
07:11 But he would have been eligible for it, right?
07:13 So he gives up all this money so they can go out there and get these other dudes.
07:18 And now y'all saw how he played in game five and six.
07:22 So you could say he didn't deserve it.
07:24 But you at the table, when you do that, your expectations are, I'm about to get paid.
07:32 And they're like, nah, bro, you're not going to get paid.
07:34 So you're a little salty about that.
07:36 Now, another thing is, let's be real.
07:40 So you remember when Ben Simmons last year, yeah, we're going to trade him.
07:47 We're going to trade you.
07:48 You want to get out.
07:49 We're going to do whatever you want.
07:51 They were asking for everything for him.
07:54 And then when Tobias Harris came out, they wanted two starters, an all-star from Cleveland
08:00 and another standout starter, right, and a first-round pick.
08:04 So what do you think they were asking for James?
08:07 James knew they weren't getting that.
08:09 So it's kind of like, yo, what are we doing here?
08:13 So that's where, you done messed up my money, right?
08:16 Well, he messed it up because you ain't supposed to do that.
08:19 He always say, did they put it in signature?
08:22 Did they sign it?
08:23 Did they write it?
08:24 So they done messed up my money.
08:26 They didn't ask him to be Nelson Mandela.
08:30 They didn't ask him to be Mahatma Gandhi.
08:33 They didn't ask him to do that.
08:34 That's his fault.
08:37 I'm going to tell you, LA time.
08:38 You all better go back to that middle school teacher that y'all both had.
08:41 Yeah, I'm going to say--
08:42 I'm going to say to--
08:44 Hey, man, I'm going to say what they say in LA.
08:46 Hey, man, you a fool.
08:48 Not you a fool.
08:50 You a fool.
08:52 I'm going to take the A out.
08:53 You a fool.
08:55 You fool, you think you--
08:57 you fool.
09:00 I'm just saying, OK, so James is unhappy.
09:06 He thinks he's 2015 James.
09:09 He's not.
09:11 He still think he a front line top 10 player.
09:14 He's not.
09:15 But the Sixers need somebody or it's hell.
09:20 I mean, they're not going to compete in the East without him.
09:23 What happens now?
09:25 He got no trade value.
09:26 I mean, in the Clippers--
09:29 if you're the Clippers, Keith, why the hell would you give up any value
09:33 when this dude says he wants--
09:35 you're not giving up Terrence Mann, your young Brandon Boston.
09:40 You're not giving up young dudes.
09:42 You're like, you could have Robert Covington back.
09:47 That's your boy, Robert Covington's your boy from way back in the day.
09:51 Rob.
09:52 I'll let Rob.
09:54 You could take Marcus Morris, another--
09:58 you would love that trade, Keith.
09:59 Marcus Morris back in Philly?
10:02 Oh my god.
10:03 Oh my god.
10:04 You could take Marcus Morris, Covington, and we might get you
10:10 a late first round.
10:11 If we nice, we'll hook you up.
10:13 Why would the Clippers do anything to get
10:16 hardened that they don't have to?
10:18 I mean, they wouldn't, and that's the problem.
10:21 Because see, the thing is-- and that's why I think the Sixers came out there
10:26 and was like, oh, like, Rouge had that report,
10:29 like the Knicks were involved too.
10:30 Well, I called some people from the Knicks.
10:32 They was like, nah, partner, we don't want him.
10:35 What are we going to do with James?
10:36 Like, honestly, what are we going to do with James?
10:38 So when that happens, you're right.
10:42 They messed up the market value, and you're not really
10:46 going to get anything through James.
10:48 But see, the problem that the Sixers had, when you look at what Boston did,
10:53 you look at what Milwaukee did.
10:56 Other team than Milwaukee, we know they choked in the first round,
10:59 but Miami was a good team.
11:02 Boston and Milwaukee got better, you can argue.
11:05 I mean, now I know Marcus Smart left, and he was the heart and soul.
11:09 But you look at it, you can argue they got better.
11:12 They got a better coach and staff, the whole nine.
11:15 The Sixers, what they did--
11:16 and y'all pointed to this--
11:18 their best offseason move was signing the backup center,
11:24 re-signing the backup center for $26 million.
11:27 That was their biggest move.
11:28 So when you look at James Harden, you say to yourself,
11:33 he ain't going to get you out of the East with the way that roster is.
11:38 But if you get rid of James Harden, you don't have a point guard at all.
11:43 So you definitely ain't going to get out--
11:45 you might not even get out of this first round without him.
11:47 So the Sixers are in a tough spot, man.
11:51 But at the same time, the problem with James is teams are looking at James--
11:57 James came out and said, I want basketball freedom.
12:01 Well, it ain't really working out for you, bro, when they giving you
12:05 the ball like that.
12:06 That's not working.
12:07 Secondly, you making $35.6 million.
12:12 So that means we got to give up some quality players to match that salary.
12:16 And you got an expiring contract.
12:20 You like to party, a whole lot of things.
12:23 So it's kind of like a lot of teams don't really
12:26 want that in their locker room.
12:29 Now, the Clippers could take it.
12:31 They can handle it.
12:32 But at the same time, we're not giving up everything for him.
12:36 We're not going to do it.
12:38 So the Sixers have a problem, man.
12:40 And I think they're kind of like D if they do, D if they don't.
12:45 Because I think if they get rid of James and they don't get the right package,
12:50 they're going to struggle.
12:51 But with James, I don't see him beating the Celtics.
12:55 I mean, they couldn't beat him with him.
12:56 And I don't see them beating the Milwaukee Bucks.
12:59 It's a bad spot.
13:00 Bad spot.
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13:40 I want to go back to what--
13:45 Yeah, I mean--
13:46 [INAUDIBLE]
13:49 What I--
13:49 --dropped about Joel Embiid taking processing out of his bio,
13:53 and then the fact that the motto had been for years, trust the process,
13:57 trust the process.
13:58 Clearly, the process was not trustable this year as well.
14:01 The Celtics, unfortunately, swept them out of it.
14:04 But what do you think is the new process for Philly right now?
14:09 How do they bounce back from all-- every year,
14:11 they're in the news for the wrong reasons.
14:14 How does Philly regroup and figure out a way
14:15 to actually be relevant in the East at this point?
14:19 I don't think they can.
14:20 I mean, I think, unfortunately--
14:23 and I would hate for them to do this, because then it
14:26 was a waste of 10 years.
14:29 But their best bet may be to blow this whole thing up.
14:33 And you hate to see that, but you look at it,
14:37 the longer this is going--
14:39 Joel Embiid is in his prime, but he's injury prone,
14:43 and he's getting older.
14:45 And he can't do it alone.
14:47 But it's also, no matter who you get to play with--
14:51 and I'm not taking a shot at him, but he's a tough player to play with.
14:56 Because you got guys who the type of guys they want
15:00 want to be the man.
15:02 But you can't be the man with him.
15:04 You just can't.
15:05 You have to be the co-star.
15:07 So whereas the type of player they want to get,
15:10 he ain't coming to Philadelphia.
15:12 He's just not.
15:13 He's just not going to.
15:15 But you look at it, but I think they may just
15:17 have to blow it up, man.
15:18 They really do.
15:19 Because the culture is crazy.
15:22 I mean, when y'all think about this--
15:24 like, we're talking about James Harden now.
15:26 Last summer, we were talking about them getting court tampering.
15:31 The year before that, we were talking about Ben Simmons.
15:34 A couple of years before that, we were talking about how
15:39 they traded their first round pick, and their first round pick became an all-star.
15:43 And I ain't even talking about the Jason Tatum and Markell Folks thing.
15:48 So it's like, oh, yeah, and what about this?
15:52 The Twitter gate with Brian Colangelo.
15:56 So it's been like an ongoing circus, man.
15:59 Like, when y'all first met me, I didn't have all these gray hair.
16:02 I would.
16:03 You know what I mean?
16:05 They owe you a sponsorship.
16:06 Get the stuff out of me.
16:07 Y'all.
16:08 Yeah, I would.
16:09 I would have one if it grew.
16:12 But it's been crazy, man.
16:14 Like, you know, it's been bad.
16:17 I mean, and I know in Boston, they had some crazy stories.
16:21 But when you think about everything that happened in Philly, I mean, you could write a book
16:27 about this stuff.
16:28 Yeah.
16:29 You know, I'm handling the job.
16:30 Yeah, you sure.
16:31 I know, right?
16:32 Here's the thing, Keith, that I'm thinking about.
16:37 You touched on it a little bit a while ago about culture.
16:40 And other than the backup Big Man that they re-signed, probably the biggest addition was
16:46 Nick Nurse.
16:47 And I'm just curious, what the hell is Nick thinking right now?
16:51 Because the team that I think Nick envisioned that he would be dealing with didn't have
16:55 all this drama around it when he took the job.
16:59 The James Harden stuff, and specifically James Harden, let's assume that they can't get a
17:03 deal done because I don't think they can.
17:06 I just don't think it's going to be out there right away.
17:09 What the hell is Nick going to do with that dude running his team?
17:13 It's going to be crazy.
17:14 I think that the best thing that could happen to Nick, and I don't think James is going
17:20 to come back excited to be there, but the best thing that could happen to Nick is James
17:25 just saying, "I'm staying home.
17:28 I'll stay home until y'all trade me."
17:31 Because it's going to be real disruptive.
17:33 He can't do anything with them.
17:36 It's one of those things where, let's keep it real, if he's there and he's in there,
17:41 you only going to lower his value more if you don't play him.
17:44 So it's best thing for him to stay home.
17:49 But the thing is, you feel bad for Nick until you realize he's making millions and millions
17:56 of dollars, a lot of money.
17:58 But at the same time, you think about it, on paper, he thought you got Joel Embiid,
18:05 we're going to do some pretty good things, this and that.
18:08 I can work with it.
18:10 And we're probably going to go to the Eastern Conference Finals.
18:13 He said that was the goal.
18:15 Now you look at it and like, "Brud, you literally turned down the Milwaukee Bucks job?
18:21 You took your name out of the Bucks job to come here?
18:25 Like really?"
18:26 It just looks like a bad decision, man, by nerves.
18:31 It really does.
18:32 Because especially if Joel leaves, then if Joel leaves next year, he in Toronto all over
18:37 again.
18:38 Worse.
18:39 Yeah, worse.
18:40 Yeah.
18:41 Wow.
18:42 Gary's face.
18:43 I'm ready.
18:44 I'm ready.
18:45 Just go.
18:46 We can't hear you, Gary.
18:47 We can't hear a word coming out of your mouth, Gary.
18:48 It's a sign.
18:49 I'm kidding.
18:50 We don't hear you though.
18:51 My fault.
18:52 There we go.
18:53 Okay.
18:54 What does...
18:55 Keep that in there, editor.
18:56 I'll make it up.
18:57 I'll make it up.
18:58 I'm going to make it up.
18:59 I'm going to make it up.
19:00 I'm going to make it up.
19:01 I'm going to make it up.
19:02 I'm going to make it up.
19:03 I'm going to make it up.
19:04 I'm going to make it up.
19:05 I'm going to make it up.
19:06 I'm going to make it up.
19:07 Keep that in there, editor.
19:08 I'll make it up.
19:09 What did the Sixers think was going to happen with James?
19:15 Isn't this kind of like a we told you so?
19:19 Didn't people think that this wasn't going to end up well?
19:25 James, like you said, Keith, James likes to party.
19:30 He liked the club.
19:32 He liked going where the ladies take the clothes off and all that.
19:37 I came with you.
19:38 He goes for the chicken wings, obviously.
19:42 Yeah.
19:43 On the top of the way.
19:45 James ain't aging well, right?
19:48 I mean, you look at KD, you look at his class around the guys around him.
19:52 They grown men.
19:53 They got kids and families.
19:55 James is like, "Buck that.
19:57 I'm still 24.
19:58 I ain't settling down.
20:02 I ain't no kinder, gentler James Harden.
20:05 I'm still putting in work."
20:07 And y'all went to middle school together.
20:09 Damn, Eric.
20:10 They go way back.
20:12 What in the world did the Sixers think was going to happen by getting this
20:17 dude in their system?
20:19 It just seems like, and as much as you're right, Keith,
20:21 he's going to the Hall of Fame.
20:23 He's going to get his flowers eventually.
20:26 He'll be known as one of the great scorers of this generation,
20:29 one of the great players, left-handed players of this generation,
20:32 one of the great -- change the face of the game because of his -- I mean,
20:37 now dudes can travel before they take three-point shots.
20:40 Remember, I mean, him doing that little, you know, Pink Panther, you know,
20:44 tiptoe stuff was not legal until he got there.
20:48 Now everybody does it.
20:50 Now they do it.
20:51 James changed the game.
20:53 He did.
20:54 You can deny him.
20:56 He didn't change it probably as much as Steph did, but damn it,
20:59 James Harden changed the game for offensive players now to where he gets
21:04 fouled, like all of that.
21:05 He's going to get his flowers.
21:06 But he's not a winner.
21:08 I think we all know that.
21:10 I think that's his tab.
21:11 Like he ain't won nothing.
21:12 He's going to go out.
21:13 What did the Philly -- what did Philly think was going to happen?
21:17 Was he ever embraced by Philly fans?
21:19 Like your friends, the ones with the big, long beards,
21:23 the ones that have been sicks of fans since Doc got there in 1976.
21:30 What do they think of James Harden?
21:33 And what happens when he steps on the floor?
21:36 Is he going to get booed, stuff thrown at him?
21:38 Like what's going to happen?
21:40 Well, I'll start off with what people think about him.
21:44 He'll definitely get booed.
21:46 James is different.
21:47 Like James isn't like the Philly guy.
21:49 Like you can go places, and we call it a Philly uniform,
21:52 like unfortunately we all look alike, we all dress alike,
21:55 we all, you know, stuff like that.
21:57 Well, James doesn't do that.
21:59 You know, James wears the -- you know,
22:01 y'all saw the outfits he had on in the playoffs.
22:03 And that don't really go over well a lot of places in Philly.
22:06 Like dudes is like, nah, bro.
22:08 You know what I mean?
22:09 You look like, nah, like, you know what I mean?
22:12 The beard is cool because, you know,
22:14 like people in Philly don't really like that.
22:17 But it's also one of those things where if you balling,
22:22 then they're like, oh, it's cool, it's cool.
22:24 You know, let them do what they want.
22:26 We don't care.
22:27 But they saw them struggling.
22:29 They don't really like them.
22:30 So I expect them to get booed.
22:32 Now the thing is, the funny -- well,
22:35 not the funny part is everything you said is right.
22:38 But the one thing I found out about the Sixers and Sixers fans
22:42 and the whole nine, a lot of stuff is like marketing,
22:46 they kill it.
22:47 Like, you know, like everybody knew that -- everybody who knew basketball
22:51 felt like that thing with Al Horford and them wasn't going to work out.
22:54 Like him and then B, it ain't going to work, right?
22:57 But when you look at James, you say James lost a lot.
23:01 But James Harden and Joel Embiid, like you just -- you know what I'm saying?
23:07 So I think a lot of people got swept up in the fact that this guy was the man,
23:14 but they were thinking about James Harden from a couple years ago,
23:18 but they was also not realizing that this dude was taking all the shots
23:23 and being a ball hog and now he got to play with Embiid.
23:27 They didn't realize it wasn't going to work.
23:29 But the last thing I'm going to say is you look at it and you think, like,
23:33 another thing, like, yo, he did an exit strategy to get out of two spots.
23:39 But then you have Darryl Morey and you're saying he surely ain't going to do it
23:44 to Darryl.
23:45 Like, Darryl's his guy, you know what I mean?
23:47 He's surely not going to do it to him.
23:51 So I think you have all that going on.
23:53 But you're right, it just wasn't a good fit.
23:57 It just wasn't.
23:58 And, like, you know what, give James credit.
24:01 He led the league in assists this year.
24:03 He was a 20 and 10.
24:05 But at the same time, he didn't help them get past the second round,
24:12 something they haven't done since 2001.
24:15 Well, I just love James, just like an L.A. brother,
24:18 said what he said about Darryl Morey, then repeat himself.
24:22 That's what I said.
24:24 But those who didn't hear me, like, I mean,
24:29 I ain't the biggest Jay's Heart fan, but I love he was just like,
24:33 "Hold up, for those in the back, I'm going to say this again."
24:37 Your dad was back in middle school.
24:38 That's like an uncle.
24:40 "Fool you, hold on, say you want me to say it again?"
24:42 As if we didn't hear you the first time.
24:45 James was like, let me repeat myself.
24:48 Like, he made a point.
24:50 Like, he wanted to make a point.
24:51 He made it.
24:52 You know, I hope there's a place for him.
24:55 I do enjoy watching him play when he's on.
24:58 But, man, he is just -- he is acting a fool in his last few years.
25:03 I mean, like somebody was like,
25:05 "Why don't they just trade him back to Brooklyn for Ben Simmons?"
25:08 I probably --
25:09 I saw that.
25:10 I saw that.
25:11 Let me ask you this, Gary.
25:12 What would your middle school principal say about all that?
25:15 He ain't going to take his name off the court or something like that.
25:20 You know?
25:21 He's going to find that man.
25:23 Oh, my gosh.
25:24 That's all I got to say.
25:27 Well, that is Keith Pompey, Sixers beat writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
25:31 Make sure you follow him on the, I guess, app formerly known as Twitter,
25:34 Pompey on Sixers.
25:36 Of course, the preseason, the Celtics will be playing the Sixers.
25:39 So, we'll always have you on the pod.
25:41 But we appreciate you giving us some insight into probably the biggest story
25:44 in the league right now.
25:46 Yeah, unfortunately.
25:48 I had to come off a vacation, but it's all good.
25:52 Well, hopefully you can go back.
25:53 Thank you so much.
25:54 Appreciate you, Keith.
25:56 Thanks for having me, y'all.
25:57 Thanks for having me.
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27:40 All right, it's always good to hear from Keith Pompeii, but now let's pivot
27:44 back to Boston.
27:46 Gary and Charron, I believe you both were at the Hall of Fame festivities over
27:50 the past weekend, but Gary, you had a conversation with a well-known Celtic.
27:56 Who was it?
27:58 [laughter]
28:00 Gary's mad at me right now because I put him on blast about Cal.
28:03 Thanks for the mystery buildup, Kwani.
28:06 So I talked to Jason Tate for like 90 seconds at the Hall.
28:10 Oh, my gosh.
28:11 And he showed up.
28:12 He was there to support Dwayne Wade.
28:16 So he took it all in.
28:17 I thought it was good for him to -- I would assume it was his first time at a
28:22 ceremony.
28:23 I think it was.
28:24 And, you know, he was in good spirits.
28:28 The one thing he really didn't want to talk about was the Marcus trade, okay?
28:32 I asked him, I said, "You got some minutes?"
28:34 I said, "You got some time for me?"
28:36 He goes, "Depending on what you're going to ask me."
28:38 That's full-time All-Star talk right there.
28:42 I can hear him say that too.
28:43 Depending on what you're going to ask me.
28:45 Most of my time has gone up, Gary.
28:47 I will say, I like how he's become more confident in himself over the last few
28:51 years.
28:52 You know, I don't think he really wanted to talk much about in specifics.
28:56 Like, you know, I think he's still trying to digest the Marcus trade.
29:00 I mean, I think he's excited.
29:02 I don't think he's angry.
29:03 But I think -- I don't know if he wants to turn around and say, "Oh, I'm just
29:06 so happy Porzingis is here."
29:08 And I think he's still trying to figure things out and probably wait until they
29:12 get on the court and figure out what to do next in terms of how different they'll
29:17 be.
29:18 But he gave Jalen a ringing endorsement, said it was a no-brainer.
29:24 He's glad that he'll be playing with Jalen for years to come.
29:28 He's glad he got his bag.
29:30 And so that was, I thought, a encouraging sign for Celtic fans.
29:33 I'm not saying he was supposed to say, like, "What the hell?
29:35 Why are they paying him all that money or anything?"
29:37 But just that he called it a no-brainer and he was fully supportive.
29:41 And then, you know, I asked him, "Well, are you thinking about next year when
29:45 you get your bag?"
29:46 And he was like, "No, no, no, no, no.
29:47 I'm not thinking about next year at all, one day at a time."
29:50 He did the right things.
29:52 But he said he's excited about the season.
29:55 He's looking forward to it.
29:57 You know, obviously, we've got about, what, six weeks before training camp
30:01 starts.
30:02 So he said, "Hey, you know, I've still got some time in my summer to enjoy my
30:05 summer, but I'm looking forward to it.
30:07 I'm always excited."
30:09 And, you know, he said he'll be ready to go.
30:13 And it was, I think, for him, was, I think, good to be in the atmosphere around
30:18 all those Hall of Famers, all those guys who, you know, because he was one of the
30:22 few players there.
30:23 I know Chris Paul and Bam Adebayo were both there.
30:27 So those are the only two other, two current players that I saw.
30:33 Now, there might be one slip in or whatever, but it's good when I think
30:37 current guys go and they take in everything and they, you know, just see
30:43 what it's like.
30:44 And obviously, we're talking about it's going to be a long time now before, you
30:49 know, Tatum retires and four years after that gets inducted because I think he's
30:53 on a Hall of Fame path if he continues his career.
30:58 But I think it was a good experience for him to see it.
31:02 And he took it all in.
31:03 And he had a good conversation with Ime Udoka.
31:07 They were looking for each other at the Hall of Fame, so they caught up with
31:12 each other.
31:13 They had a good, you know, five--
31:14 No startling trouble, Gary.
31:15 No, no, no.
31:16 No startling trouble.
31:17 You know, it's obvious they hadn't seen each other in a while, so they had a
31:21 good five-minute talk.
31:23 You know, I mean, you got-- when it's over, you got, like, you know, all these
31:27 Hall of Famers milling around when the ceremony's over.
31:30 Then you got these young kids looking for autographs.
31:33 You got, you know, you got all sides of stuff going on.
31:36 So it's hard to sit there for 15 minutes and talk to somebody and let you go to
31:40 a corner or something like that.
31:43 Which they don't do that in public anyway.
31:45 No, no.
31:46 But it was a good-- like, you know, they were looking for each other.
31:49 Ime was in good spirits.
31:50 I talked to Ime at Summer League.
31:52 He was kind of, you know, not-- he was really very, like, measured and, "How
31:57 you doing?"
31:59 But in the Hall of Fame, he was in very good spirits.
32:01 He's obviously-- obviously moved forward.
32:04 And probably good to see all of his Spurs guys get into the Hall of Fame
32:08 because it was kind of a Spurs night.
32:12 But, yeah, they had a conversation, a good conversation there.
32:16 Don't know what they talked about, but obviously just catching up or
32:19 whatever.
32:20 And I think there's a still healthy appreciation there for Jason that has
32:23 for Udoka.
32:25 And obviously, let's be honest, I think Udoka still-- he understands
32:28 he's not the Celtics coach anymore and he kind of blew it.
32:31 And he's on to another team.
32:33 But he still feels probably bad he's not coaching Jason and Jalen and leading--
32:37 he wasn't able to lead this team to the next step after losing in the finals
32:41 his first year.
32:42 So, yeah, I think it was a good experience for Jason.
32:46 He seems to be in a good mental place.
32:48 He's enjoying his summer.
32:50 Obviously, we all got six weeks left before this thing picks up.
32:54 But it was good to see him.
32:56 And I think it was good to see when current players go and they appreciate
33:01 the past and they see guys that were playing before they were born
33:05 and all that.
33:06 I think it's good for those guys to take that in.
33:09 Agreed.
33:11 Yeah, I mean, the cool thing is that the relationship that these players
33:17 and coaches have, particularly when they go through a run of success,
33:20 never goes away.
33:22 They're always going to be in some way connected with EMA because of the success
33:25 that they had in that one year.
33:27 And even when that relationship is tested, which clearly it was,
33:30 how things worked out, it doesn't change the fact that they went through
33:35 hell and back with that dude and came with a couple wins of being
33:40 the last team standing.
33:42 So I think just in talking with players and listening to you, Gary,
33:46 talk about that engagement, that's kind of how it's going to be for, I think,
33:51 for a long, long time between EMA and the guys on that team.
33:54 And it should be that way.
33:56 I mean, the NBA, obviously it's a business at the end of the day,
34:01 but there's still relationships that are baked into that business that don't
34:04 just die or go stale over time.
34:07 And EMA, the relationship we have with those Celtics guys from that team,
34:11 that Eastern Conference champs who came just short of winning an NBA title,
34:16 that's always going to be something that they're going to build on
34:20 and stay connected to.
34:23 - All right, final thing on our agenda for this week,
34:26 probably the biggest news for the Celtics right now is the fact that Chris Tapps,
34:30 for Zingas, is out for the FIBA World Cup with a foot injury.
34:34 And obviously, understandably so, fans are very much upset about it.
34:39 But what is your level of concern for the fact that he can't even perform
34:44 at this point right now?
34:47 - I'm looking for him to give him 45, maybe 50 games this year.
34:50 So for him to be missing time in the summer, getting his body healthy,
34:55 I'm all for that.
34:56 You knew when you made the deal that this is a guy that is going--he is,
35:02 to me, he's the postage job for load management and why you need to have it
35:06 and why it can literally be the difference between you getting out of the first
35:11 or second round of playoffs versus winning a championship.
35:13 So they're going to be overly cautious from the jump with him.
35:17 The fact that he has an injury that he should be held in time for him to be part
35:23 of training camp is encouraging because I don't care what he does health-wise
35:29 in the summer.
35:30 I don't care whether he does not pick up a basketball until the first day
35:33 of training camp.
35:34 If he's healthy on that first day of training camp, that's all I care about.
35:37 And if you're a Celtics fan, that's all you really need to be concerned about
35:40 is will he be healthy at the start of training camp.
35:43 Now, if this injury is one that lingers into training camp and maybe
35:46 break of season, now we've got a problem.
35:48 But the fact that he's taking time now to shut it down so that he can hopefully
35:53 be ready to roll the start of training camp, I'm cool with that.
35:57 I'm cool with that.
35:59 Yeah, it's a plantar fasciitis, and that just needs rest.
36:04 Like the one thing you don't want is you want him to tear it,
36:08 but if it's irritating, you want him to stay off of it and be ready
36:11 and get ice it and treat it.
36:13 So, you know, that's it.
36:16 I mean, Chris is pretending he's got nothing to prove with the World Cup.
36:20 You know, it's nice that he wants to --
36:23 [Crosstalk]
36:25 Wow.
36:26 I'm not going to say all that.
36:28 I'm going to say what you think.
36:29 You know, Latvia ain't going to win nothing is what Sherrod is saying.
36:34 Like why would he play when he knows they're going to get smashed?
36:37 I'm not going to say that.
36:39 I think it's good for him to play for his country,
36:42 but I also think like the Nuggets did with Jamal Murray.
36:45 I mean, because Canada really wants to make the Olympics next year.
36:51 Like Canada has not made the Olympics I think since 2000.
36:55 They got all these Canadian ballers and Shea Gillis, Alexander --
36:59 Kelly O'Lennon.
37:01 -- and Alexander Walker.
37:02 They got a loaded team, and they still haven't made the --
37:05 Kelly O'Lennon, our friend Kelly O'Lennon.
37:07 So Jamal was thinking about playing, but the Nuggets held him back.
37:11 I think it's safe.
37:12 You know what?
37:13 Give him some rest.
37:14 Let poor Zingas get his summer off as opposed to playing in the world
37:17 championships, and then come on back to Boston, get your treatment,
37:23 or whenever you come back to Boston, then you can start working out,
37:27 ramping it up September 25th or whatever when he'll be --
37:31 when training camp kind of kicks off
37:33 and those guys start kind of practicing before camp.
37:36 So I think it's a smart idea.
37:38 You want to make sure he's 100% when the season starts,
37:43 and I think that's really, really important.
37:46 And also, you know, we could talk about the schedule, the --
37:51 what do you all think of this playing tournament?
37:55 You know, the Celtics are in a group that I think they can --
37:58 they should be able to win pretty easily.
38:01 If you look at the teams, Chicago, Orlando, Toronto, and the Nets,
38:08 and, you know, then if they win that, they get to the semi --
38:12 or the quarterfinals, and then if they win that game,
38:15 they get to Vegas for the semis and the finals.
38:19 So we got a little sneak peek of their schedule.
38:23 The schedule will come out on Thursday, the full '82 gamer.
38:27 Some teams get '83.
38:30 But what do you guys think of the playing tournament?
38:33 Is that something that intrigues you?
38:36 Shirai looks very excited right now.
38:38 Shirai looks thrilled.
38:40 He can't wait.
38:42 What do you all think?
38:44 Or is this -- is this, Shirai, just like the Maui classic as a Syracuse guy
38:48 or the great Alaska shootout or the Battle of Atlanta?
38:52 It's just a tournament that you --
38:54 It's a tournament for Boston College.
38:56 You won't forget about.
38:58 It's worse for the NBA because in those tournaments, like,
39:01 if you go out and you're Duke or you're Syracuse or you're Cal maybe,
39:05 if they have a team, whatever, and you go to one of these tournaments,
39:10 you're going to be playing your best players.
39:12 They're going to play.
39:14 With this NBA tournament, I think we're ignoring the whole
39:18 low-management dynamic.
39:20 Like, for example, the South, do I think Port St. Louis is going to play
39:23 each of these games?
39:24 No.
39:25 I think you'll miss some games.
39:26 And I think when you start looking at the top teams in the NBA,
39:29 they're not going to disrupt their low-management protocol for this tournament.
39:33 And because of that, it's not going to have the kind of sizzle that I think
39:38 the NBA is looking for.
39:40 And to me, if you really, really, really want to make it so that teams are more
39:44 inclined to play their best players regardless of low-management,
39:47 you put something beyond money on the table.
39:49 Put something like, you know,
39:51 the winner of the tournament gets home court advantage in the NBA finals
39:56 if they get there.
39:57 Or something that teams look like and be like, "Damn, if we had that,
40:02 we're going to be pretty – we're less well-allowed to get this thing
40:06 because if we can get that, that could be a different thing."
40:08 Like five extra wins or something.
40:10 Yeah, just something that gives them – oh, damn, funny.
40:14 Gary, she had to go to the ditch.
40:16 They fed up with me.
40:17 That's such a – Boston College would like to have five more wins.
40:20 I get it. I get it.
40:21 I get it.
40:22 But just give the players some more incentive other than, hey,
40:27 here's a little extra tenant for you.
40:28 I just don't think that's going to be enough to get teams to, again,
40:32 shift their low-management protocol in a way that will allow the best players
40:37 on every team to suit up and play.
40:41 No, I agree with you, Sherrod.
40:43 And it feels like a force.
40:45 I understand that this is something Silver has been wanting to implement
40:47 for a while now, but as an NBA fan, like the '82 game season
40:51 is already compelling enough.
40:53 The playoffs are perfectly fine at this point, so why do you need to add more
40:58 to their workload, especially when players are already –
41:00 like we talked about low-management.
41:02 They're already going to abuse that when they can.
41:04 So, like you said, what's the incentive for them to play in another game
41:07 that really doesn't make that much of an impact on their overall real goal,
41:12 which is to win a championship at the end of the season?
41:15 Gary, what do you think about it?
41:17 I mean, I was against it, and I still think it's kind of a ridiculous idea
41:22 in a sense because this isn't soccer.
41:23 This isn't European soccer.
41:25 But I do think if you put some emphasis on bigger regular season games,
41:31 I think the fans will get into it if you do have the Celtics playing
41:38 the Lakers in a championship or the Celtics playing the Nuggets
41:41 or something where you don't have teams that always play each other.
41:45 You have kind of an inter-conference matchup in that championship game in Vegas.
41:51 I do think that will get some buzz.
41:53 I don't know what the NBA is trying to do with this.
41:56 They're offering the players – you know, the winners get $500,000,
41:59 and obviously that's going to mean more to Peyton Pritchard
42:02 than it would be to Jason Tatum, right?
42:04 Right, yeah.
42:06 So the players are going to – it's going to motivate maybe the lesser-paid players,
42:12 and it's going to motivate the players that want to make history,
42:15 want to be the first to win it.
42:17 Like I was watching last night the WNBA game between the Las Vegas Aces
42:22 and the New York Liberty, and that was their Commissioner's Cup,
42:26 the same thing, mid-season tournament kind of thing.
42:29 Because remember, folks, the fans, like there's no tournament games.
42:33 These are regular season games that are just tabby tournament games.
42:37 So this isn't like a – they're not playing 10 extra games or something
42:42 or games that don't mean much.
42:45 But the championship game, which was last night,
42:47 and I watched the New York Spankdom in Vegas,
42:50 and it was a good game for the Liberty, it was competitive.
42:54 But those are also two of the team – two best teams in the WNBA.
42:59 They're going to meet probably in the WNBA finals.
43:01 So it was kind of like, well, we might as well –
43:05 we want to send a message to you all.
43:08 We want to beat you on your home floor.
43:11 And if we got to win this Commissioner's Cup to do it, that's cool.
43:14 So that was more like the rivalry.
43:16 But it makes sense for the W too.
43:18 The W is still growing.
43:20 People are still trying to understand what the rivalries look like.
43:23 I don't know.
43:24 For the NBA, we don't need that.
43:26 No, I agree.
43:27 I'm not thrilled about it.
43:29 I mean, it's Vegas in December.
43:32 You know, when NFL is going on – it's on an NFL week.
43:36 The championship game is an NFL weekend.
43:38 Is that going to draw any attention?
43:40 Are people going to still be watching NFL games on Sunday?
43:43 It's a chance.
43:45 And I don't know why Silver is gung-ho about this, but he is, and you knew it.
43:50 The moment he took over, he started talking about this,
43:52 and everybody was like, man, you're talking crazy.
43:56 And now in the new CBA, and I say to give some of the lesser players money,
44:01 the guys that are making minimum, the Delano Bantons and those guys
44:05 are going to be playing their asses off of that $500,000.
44:08 Because if you're making $2 million, $3 million, $500,000,
44:13 hey, that's a nice little chunk of change, right?
44:16 That's over your taxes for the year.
44:18 As opposed to guys who are making $42 million a year,
44:24 it's like $500,000 is like, oh, okay, thanks.
44:27 All right, thanks for this.
44:29 Thanks for $5.
44:32 Let me see. Okay, here you go.
44:35 Here's my charity.
44:36 Here you go, boys and girls clubs of Chicago, whatever.
44:39 So to me, I mean, I'm just trying to play optimist
44:45 and play wait and see on this.
44:47 I'm not crazy about the idea, but it's here.
44:50 So there's nothing they can do.
44:52 You know, I'm not crazy about the idea of the game.
44:55 I'm just trying to play optimist.
44:57 I'm not crazy about the idea of the game.
44:59 I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:02 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:05 I'm not crazy about the idea of the game.
45:07 I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:09 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:12 I'm not crazy about the idea of the game.
45:14 I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:16 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:19 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:22 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:25 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:28 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:31 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:34 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:37 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:40 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:43 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:46 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:49 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:52 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:55 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
45:58 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:01 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:04 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:07 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:10 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:13 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:16 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:19 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:22 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:25 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:28 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:31 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:34 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:37 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:40 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:43 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:46 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:49 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:52 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:55 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
46:58 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
47:01 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
47:04 So to me, I'm just trying to play wait and see on this.
47:07 - We'll see, maybe in December when there's, you know,
47:10 it'll be exciting and when the two teams get to Vegas,
47:13 and that's it, if it's two teams
47:16 that don't play each other often, Denver and the Celtics,
47:19 or, you know, Milwaukee and the Lakers,
47:23 where it's like two teams you don't see very often,
47:25 I think that's a good thing.
47:27 And maybe it will be, the championship game
47:29 will cause some hype and have some excitement.
47:32 - There you have it. We'll see, Adam Silver.
47:34 We'll see how your plan plays out.
47:37 Any last words before we close out?
47:40 - Nah, I just hope that Cal finds a home.
47:44 Cal Burke finds a new home.
47:46 - Cal, you're in our ACC.
47:48 - But it ain't gonna be in the ACC. We good. Thanks.
47:50 - Hey, let us in.
47:52 - He's knocking on the door.
47:54 - If you got a conference open for Cal,
47:56 please give me a call, give me an email.
47:59 Let us in. We need to play for 2024.
48:02 - Call your senators and the president of the United States.
48:05 - If you did not know, the Pac-12 is gone.
48:08 Eight teams have left the 12-team conference,
48:10 so Cal Bears need a place to play.
48:14 We need a place to play.
48:15 - It's not the PCC. It's the ACC.
48:18 All right? Y'all need to figure it out.
48:20 - We need a place to play, so give us a shout
48:24 if you got any ideas of where we could play next year
48:29 or where we could go, and serious answers only.
48:32 I know where some of us think you want us to go,
48:35 but we're not going there.
48:37 - Yes, the Quack and the Me-Act don't want you.
48:39 - Exactly. Quack, Me-Act, none of them, you know.
48:43 - Maybe Southland Conference, too.
48:45 - Maybe, maybe. Maybe the Whack.
48:49 - Health-appropriate. You can't be in a Whack.
48:53 Cal should be in a Whack conference. Absolutely.
48:56 - Anyway, that's all I got.
48:57 - So until next week, hopefully Cal will have a conference
48:59 by then for A'shad Blakely and Gary Washburn.
49:02 I'm Kwanye Lunas. This is the A-List Podcast.
49:05 Thank you for listening.
49:06 - Sign up at fanzool.com/boston
49:08 and make every moment more
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