On this episode of the Cedric Maxwell Podcast, Cedric and Josue Pavón are joined by Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Cedric, Keith, and Josue take a closer look around the rest of the Eastern Conference, as well as the rest of the NBA as the preseason gives way to the NBA regular season. Who stands in the Celtics' way? How much will the early injury trouble hurt the 76ers? And who is the dark horse in the East? All that, and much more!
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00:00:00Cedric Maxwell podcast is powered by price picks and the game time app.
00:00:17Back with another episode of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.
00:00:20I am Joseph Pavone alongside Cedric Maxwell, of course, and we had a very special guest
00:00:24to get you ready for the regular season guys.
00:00:28We got Keith Palm Bay from the fire to preview the Eastern Conference and of course the rest of the NBA.
00:00:34How you doing Keith, man? Appreciate you coming by. I'm doing well. I'm doing well.
00:00:37What's up fellas? You better keep that damn same energy when you just had on the air a minute ago.
00:00:44You were talking some shit. Yeah.
00:00:47Yeah, the Knicks don't come out to eat.
00:00:50The same energy you had before.
00:00:53Oh, yeah. You hold them back.
00:00:55You said Knicks gonna beat that ass.
00:01:01You've been pro Philly for as long as I've known you, you know what I mean?
00:01:05And I mean that in a good way. I don't mean that as like you're a fan or whatever,
00:01:08but I feel like you've always been like giving them the benefit of the doubt.
00:01:11This is the best team Joel and Beats had, if you ask me.
00:01:14So why the doubt going into the season?
00:01:17You know what? Here's the thing. I think that, you know, the Sixers are good.
00:01:22You know, right now this preseason though, you know, Joel and beat hasn't played yet.
00:01:27And I get it. They're talking about they want to rest them for the playoffs.
00:01:30And then you saw PG go down against Atlanta.
00:01:34So he hasn't played. And, you know, right now a lot of the talk is saying that, you know, Joel and beat is not going to play on back to back.
00:01:42So that's at least they got 15 back to backs. So he's going to miss at least 15 games.
00:01:47They're saying PG isn't going to play in all the back to backs. Right.
00:01:52So to me, on paper, the Sixers are good, but it comes down to continuity.
00:01:58And how many times have you seen teams go into the playoffs and and they don't have the continuity?
00:02:05That's why a lot of those in-season trades don't work.
00:02:09Right. For teams trying to win because you're bringing somebody in there and you're trying to say, OK, we got to turn it around.
00:02:16I think that when you look at the team like the Boston Celtics now, granted, the Sixers are good.
00:02:22But when you look at a team like the Celtics, they basically brought everybody back.
00:02:27So they know how to play. They play with each other. You look at the New York Knicks.
00:02:34You know, they they they up they made upgrades. Right. And these guys are playing together.
00:02:40My only concern with the 76ers are, yes, is a catch. Twenty two.
00:02:46Do you want Joel and B to get hurt? You don't.
00:02:50But at the same time, when you're like resting them, resting them, what what is going to be the team's identity?
00:02:56Is the team going to know what their identity is late in the season in the playoffs?
00:03:01So that's where I have some, you know, reservations about the Sixers.
00:03:06And I feel like a team like Boston and New York because of that are going to come.
00:03:11So here's the problem. Let's just say Joel and B, let's just say Joel and B is healthy, right?
00:03:19If the Sixers don't get, in my opinion, if they don't get a top two spot in the East,
00:03:27it's going to make the road tough for them because they lose home court advantage in the second round.
00:03:32Right. And so but if you're if you're basically going to forfeit these games, so to speak, by not playing Joel,
00:03:41well, then that sounds like you're going to be at best a third or fourth place team.
00:03:46And then we're talking and we're getting in a different animal when you talk about now you got a battle with Milwaukee.
00:03:53You got a battle with Indiana. So even though you have talent,
00:03:57I just feel like your playoff first and second round opponents are going to be a whole lot tougher.
00:04:05I mean, I think that is really good what you're talking about. And I do.
00:04:10I think there's a continuity that forms with almost every team and especially with the 76s.
00:04:17And so you go through the first half of the season and you're not playing with, you know, Maxi is the guy, your man.
00:04:26Maxi's your man. Maxi's playing. And all of a sudden you said, well, let's turn the ball over to Joel Embiid.
00:04:32You do have to have that balance. You have to have that smoothness.
00:04:36You have to be able to trust the guy and not to say Joel Embiid isn't one of the best out there, but man, that's that's really fragile.
00:04:45You can think about the Celtics right now and you say, well,
00:04:48you're not going to have Kristoff or you're not going to have Al all those those games.
00:04:52But you're talking about those two power forwards and those two guards, which have been the heart and soul of what you do.
00:04:59It's almost a luxury for the Celtics to say they're going to rest those two guys,
00:05:04where it's a necessity that you have Joel Embiid back.
00:05:10And I just can't believe Jay is going this way. He's that old now.
00:05:14You said 14 years. I was thinking like he was like in his 10th year or something.
00:05:19But man, the time is flying by. I do understand that.
00:05:25The Knicks, you may have to question that one thing you said, because I want to you know,
00:05:30we always try to keep it real on this damn pie. Yeah, we really do.
00:05:35You said it was an upgrade. I'm not sure.
00:05:40Upgrade to what? Because one thing they lose, they lose toughness and they lose smartness.
00:05:48And, you know, when when Hartenstein leaves and he's not there, that would he was a beast.
00:05:55He was a bitch last year. You know, it's a pain getting second chance opportunities.
00:06:00And then Vincenzo was arguably the second best player and the most important player that they had last year from a standpoint of attitude.
00:06:10And we know how Nick fans get behind their players.
00:06:14How quickly will they turn on Carl Anthony Towns if he's 0 for 0 for six and still chucking up threes?
00:06:23Because that's a different, different fan base.
00:06:27Only fan base I know that might be meaner than that might be the 76.
00:06:32So when you talk about upgrade with the Knicks neck and neck, I got a question that I'll ask you that very question.
00:06:44Hardenstein was a guy who run through a damn wall.
00:06:47If there was a fire out there, Hardenstein to get that basketball, he would run through it.
00:06:52What I know about Carl Anthony Towns, if there was a fire out there, he go get a damn glass of water and something to spray it down.
00:06:59But he's still gone. He wouldn't run straight through it. So that's the difference between those two players.
00:07:06What I mean is the upgrade. So I'm thinking so now in a perfect world, if you're if you're if you're the the the Knicks,
00:07:14you know, your team would have been, you know, keeping Randall, keeping Devin Chenzo, but having Hardenstein.
00:07:22Right. But I think when they lost him and then when, you know, Thomas Robinson went down,
00:07:29it's kind of like one of those things where you look at him like, you know, we don't really have a center.
00:07:35So what I mean by upgrade from what they had now, unfortunately, when you get rid of a guy,
00:07:40because everybody knew they were like the Randall situation was kind of like, is this really going to work?
00:07:46You know what I mean? As far from a locker room standpoint, you know, guys getting along.
00:07:51So when you when people know you're trying to get rid of someone, you got to give up someone to get what you want.
00:07:57So they lost Devin Chenzo, which I will say is a loss.
00:08:01But when I'm talking about an upgrade, you know, so now you have a center.
00:08:05The one thing about the center is when you said his personality, you know, I think in the past when Randall was there,
00:08:13no one had really knew who the leader of the locker room was or he didn't know.
00:08:17He thought it was him. Well, right now it's going to be Brunson. Right.
00:08:21But when I'm talking about upgrade is now you do have a stretch big who can play.
00:08:27Right. Because they didn't have one before that.
00:08:30Now, also, when I talk about the upgrade is I think that McHale bridges defensively and then, oh, gee, you know,
00:08:39they those are two guys who can be wing defenders, so to speak, you know, and play well.
00:08:46Now they still do have Josh Hart, who's a tough guy.
00:08:49But, yeah, in a perfect world, you would have brought back that team.
00:08:55From last year, Harkinstein, but once he got the bag elsewhere, I felt like they lost a lot.
00:09:02And I'm not Thomas Robertson, Mitchell Robinson.
00:09:05They lost a lot, especially when he went down, you know, because they don't even know when he coming back.
00:09:11So they really didn't have a center. So that's what I mean is an upgrade.
00:09:15Yeah. Let me ask you this.
00:09:17This is you saying that what black person knows is a perfect world.
00:09:27Black. I got a black man saying it's a damn perfect world.
00:09:36What in the world?
00:09:37Yeah.
00:09:38Out of all that you got, man. Damn, Max.
00:09:41No.
00:09:42Just wait. We keeping it 100, OK?
00:09:45No, no, that's cool.
00:09:47Perfect world, yeah.
00:09:50Yeah, well, I mean, I guess you got me.
00:09:53You got a point.
00:09:55You got me on that one. You got me on that one.
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00:11:17I just feel like New York is doing their best to match up with Boston.
00:11:20You know, and credit to them because they've done it in a way where, you know, the moves from last year coincided with what happened this summer.
00:11:27I mean, look, Hartenstein, obviously the Knicks fans love him.
00:11:30He was such a big part of what they were doing last year, but they just didn't give him the contract.
00:11:35You know what I mean? That was something I feel like sort of slipped through their fingers.
00:11:39But the way they sort of rebounded with this trade, I mean, I'll be honest.
00:11:44When I first learned about it, I'm thinking to myself, this could be a huge come up for the Timberwolves, right?
00:11:50But I don't think necessarily, you know, it's the roster looks worse than it did before the trade.
00:11:58I just think the Knicks, because of guys like Brunson, because of Bridges, who, if you ask me, man, those are guys who you're going to rely on big time all season long.
00:12:08Guys who they want to match up against, you know, any opposing wings, especially the Jalen Browns and Tatums and all that stuff.
00:12:15So I just feel like, again, in terms of their depth and their identity, that's a team to look out for.
00:12:20I think those are the two teams outside of Boston.
00:12:23I believe that, but I also believe that when you think about that team, the guys that you, both you guys have named, the people you've named so far, they, here's the thing they have in common.
00:12:35All those guys need the ball to be better.
00:12:39The guys that you look at before that left didn't need the ball to be, Hardenstein didn't need the ball.
00:12:46I'm going to get the ball.
00:12:48Whereas you look at Carl Anthony Towns, I need the ball.
00:12:52I need my, let me use that ugly word that they use in basketball, I need my touches right now.
00:12:57I got to have my touches.
00:12:59Bridges has to have his touches.
00:13:01And what we know is that the guy who has the ball all the time in his hands is a point guard.
00:13:09He's going to be able to distribute and tips to get everybody involved.
00:13:15I think that's going to be the key to what the Knicks are going to do.
00:13:18I didn't get a glimpse of it.
00:13:20Yeah, you can get into an arms race with another team and thinking like, yeah, I want to do this and I want to do that.
00:13:27It's like you having a house and then going like, yo, man, they got to, you know what, they put Rudolph out on their lawn and then they did this and they put Casper out there and you keep putting shit out.
00:13:38And they say, you know, your electric bill ain't being paid.
00:13:42It ain't working now.
00:13:44It's like there's a combo in there of things when you talk about trying to be like the Joneses that sometimes gets in your way.
00:13:53Now, let's call them the towns things.
00:13:55It could work, but he needs the ball and he's going to have to get off to a good start in New York because those fans right now are going to roast us.
00:14:06If he doesn't, those fans are going to roast him because he's already said, I'm the best shooting seven footer in the world.
00:14:13Yeah, well, you know, I put Porzingis out there before I put him out there.
00:14:18So you're talking about seven footers.
00:14:21So low you roll, big fella.
00:14:23You know, I know what you can do, you know, and the thing that I look for the Knicks, what they've always put their heads on.
00:14:30They've been tough.
00:14:32They that's last year.
00:14:34What got them where they were going?
00:14:35They were tough as fuck.
00:14:37And they and Harden's that made they came into the garden and they ran through the suburbs and one of those games because they were just tougher.
00:14:44Harden's got all these little rebounds.
00:14:47And, you know, it was just crazy.
00:14:50But, you know, I got to ask you guys a question.
00:14:52And I don't even need to move beyond this.
00:14:55I saw an interview today, a real.
00:14:58And what was the young man's name?
00:14:59He's the young man plays for the Lakers right now.
00:15:02And he was their point guard.
00:15:07Who? No, no, no.
00:15:09He was talking about the rookie.
00:15:10Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:15:11Rookie from.
00:15:12Yeah.
00:15:13Yeah.
00:15:14What the hell is that?
00:15:17He's crying because I missed Steph Curry.
00:15:21Am I confused here?
00:15:22I mean, I understand the emotion of the game, but I've never seen that before in my life.
00:15:29And if you guys know what we're talking about.
00:15:31Yeah, I know.
00:15:32There was a young rookie or for the Lakers.
00:15:36And they show the clip of him.
00:15:38And then they asked him a question.
00:15:41And he's talked about meeting Steph Curry.
00:15:43And he said, man, that was my favorite player.
00:15:45And he gave me his shoes.
00:15:50I dreamed of him.
00:15:53I'm like, dude, he will be roasted in.
00:15:59He will be roasted.
00:16:01He will get his ass roasted any place.
00:16:03No.
00:16:04Imagine being in the locker room and looking at him like.
00:16:06Oh, wait, that's the time you go.
00:16:11What were you doing?
00:16:13If I'm a veteran, I'm going.
00:16:16Oh, no, no, sir.
00:16:18He is a competitor.
00:16:20And I did that.
00:16:21And I remember that me doing that with Dr. J looking at him.
00:16:25Oh, yeah.
00:16:26I guarded him.
00:16:27I told people, I said, I might as well have been a matriarch.
00:16:31Because I didn't even ever touch the guy.
00:16:33I'm like, hey, man, this way.
00:16:34Damn, that was another nice move.
00:16:36But I've never said that shit on camera.
00:16:38Unless you're about to get ran out of ball.
00:16:40I mean, how do you feel about that?
00:16:47Or am I just being.
00:16:48No, I thought the same.
00:16:49I thought the same.
00:16:50I was like, yo, like, I understand you're excited.
00:16:53But you in there like crying.
00:16:55And, you know, the back story is, you know,
00:16:57the back story is one of those things where, like, for Christmas,
00:17:00he got the jersey when he was a kid.
00:17:02The Clippers, not the Clippers, the Warriors came to his town.
00:17:07And he was there with the jersey and Steph signed it.
00:17:10And you see video of him just looking at it like, oh, wow.
00:17:15And I get all that.
00:17:16But you're right.
00:17:17It's kind of like, you know, normally the difference is.
00:17:21And correct me if I'm wrong, y'all.
00:17:23But when you grow up, you got to have that confidence to whereas,
00:17:28even though they might be your idols, something inside you,
00:17:31you're saying, I want to go at this dude.
00:17:34I want to get him.
00:17:35Like, I have arrived.
00:17:36Like, you know what I mean?
00:17:38And him, it was, you know, one of those things where he was in awe.
00:17:42And if you're a veteran in the locker room, it's kind of like, yo, bro.
00:17:47You do know we might face them in the playoff.
00:17:50Can we mention the fact that they beat him by, like, 30, 48 points?
00:17:57How much was it?
00:17:58Like, they put a whoop on him.
00:18:00I know it was preseason.
00:18:01You do know that you got to go after him.
00:18:03You know, they might switch you.
00:18:05What you going to do?
00:18:06He just gave you an advantage.
00:18:08Yeah.
00:18:09They didn't even score 75 points.
00:18:10Like, yeah, I'm with you, man.
00:18:11If I'm the veteran, I'm like, really, man?
00:18:13You over there talking about you crying over your idol?
00:18:15Like, get to school.
00:18:16I mean, that to me this morning, I said, I know we're doing a podcast.
00:18:20And I said, I got to ask you guys about that.
00:18:22Because I was like, my eyes go, I was like, is he crying?
00:18:28I mean, you know what I'm saying?
00:18:29No crying to be.
00:18:30When you heard his voice crack, you were like.
00:18:32He's about to cry right now.
00:18:34And he even went like this and stopped for a second.
00:18:37And everybody was looking at him.
00:18:40I was like, who?
00:18:42Maybe it's the most sensitive moment.
00:18:46And maybe us old heads right now, maybe we don't have the sensitivity.
00:18:51But if I was on that team, if I'm LeBron James,
00:18:55I would love to see what LeBron James says about that.
00:18:58I mean, there are people who outlive LeBron and played against him.
00:19:03But I've been there.
00:19:04I've seen any of them crying.
00:19:07Yeah.
00:19:08Right.
00:19:09Yeah.
00:19:10Oh, yeah, we lost your mic.
00:19:15That hasn't happened at all.
00:19:16So that's funny as hell.
00:19:19But think about it.
00:19:20Like, your stuff has changed over the years.
00:19:23I mean, you know, back in the day, like, you didn't, like, pose for pictures.
00:19:27Like, if you had a ball and, like, y'all went to college together,
00:19:30it was like, you know what I mean?
00:19:32You might see him late.
00:19:33But it wasn't one of those things where you wanted to be seen out with your
00:19:36college teammate the night before the game or after the game.
00:19:39You know what I mean?
00:19:40It was just different.
00:19:41It was like, oh, yeah, I'll get back.
00:19:44We'll hook up on the offseason or something.
00:19:46You're right.
00:19:48I get that.
00:19:50Maybe that's what's happening now.
00:19:52And I'm getting desensitized to it and the fact that on one end,
00:19:57when you see guys during my era,
00:20:01nobody was posing with somebody else's jersey on the court.
00:20:04I mean, that was just, that just didn't happen.
00:20:07Now, okay, you're posing with somebody's jersey.
00:20:10You're going to a party later on in the Hamptons with the dudes hanging out.
00:20:15But now you're fucking crying when you see the guy.
00:20:19That to me, we're going, oh, I don't, I just didn't like it.
00:20:24It just, and maybe again, that's just me.
00:20:28You know, maybe me not being sensitive to whatever it is,
00:20:32but I guess I played in another era and yeah,
00:20:35that I got this gray on my face for a reason, but damn,
00:20:38I looked at that and I could not have, I was stunned.
00:20:45I was just, when I heard him get it emotional, I was okay.
00:20:50You know, okay.
00:20:51But when he's still wiping his damn eyes, I said, oh, hell no.
00:20:56Hell no, we got to talk about this shit.
00:20:59Oh, hell no.
00:21:01What if it just crept up on him?
00:21:03Like if you were in that situation, what would you do?
00:21:05Like you can't control that.
00:21:06You can't be like, all right, let me turn this off.
00:21:08It didn't creep up on him.
00:21:11It came like a speeding car.
00:21:13You could see it coming.
00:21:15Yeah, you're like, yo, my man, turn the mic off or something.
00:21:19Because it was like, he just, he went from, yeah,
00:21:23hey, how was it when you played against him?
00:21:26Oh my God, that meant everything.
00:21:28And I met Steph and then he went into, he was my favorite player.
00:21:32And then I had his jersey and I put it in my bed and I slept on it.
00:21:36And he's everything.
00:21:38And then he's still wiping his fucking eyes.
00:21:40I was like, man.
00:21:43I know Keith would have had like two balls.
00:21:45Keep the tears rolling.
00:21:49I had my camera.
00:21:56What do you think our guy would have done from Boston right now
00:22:00if he'd been doing the interview?
00:22:02What do you think we'd have done just the way?
00:22:04Our news reporter.
00:22:06Gary, what do you think Gary would have done?
00:22:08He would have wrote a column clown interview, wouldn't he?
00:22:13He might have turned it into a bestseller.
00:22:18That's a great question.
00:22:21Speaking of the Lakers, Keith,
00:22:23what's your team going to look like this season?
00:22:25Do they get Zach Levine?
00:22:27We were throwing out the bowl predictions a couple of weeks ago.
00:22:29I was talking about Jimmy.
00:22:31I don't know if Jimmy stays in Miami.
00:22:33If we're doing bowl predictions, that's mine.
00:22:35But what's your take on the Lakers?
00:22:37I don't think this team's going to look the same that it does right now.
00:22:40I don't think they look the same either,
00:22:42but my thing is what do they have to get a big-name player?
00:22:47What other assets do they have?
00:22:50Let's face it, and I hate to say this, but the Lakers are not the team that they used to be.
00:23:07You remember back in the day, most NBA players, because it was L.A.
00:23:12and then you hear the Lakers, Mystique, you know what I mean?
00:23:15All that stuff.
00:23:17Guys, I want to go there.
00:23:19I don't see too many players saying they want to go to L.A. now anymore.
00:23:23I just don't.
00:23:27So, yeah, you may get somebody, but you think the person is going to resign there?
00:23:32Do you think that – I don't see the Lakers as a team that can make one or two moves
00:23:38and then all of a sudden you're going to say they're going to win a championship, right?
00:23:42You know what I'm saying?
00:23:44You're just living in L.A.,
00:23:47and most of those guys live there in the offseason anyway, right?
00:23:51So, you know, I'm not – no, I'm not.
00:23:56I feel like right about now the Lakers, we talk about them a lot.
00:24:00Either it's because of Bronny James.
00:24:03Is it because of J.J. Redick being the coach?
00:24:07Now they're talking about a guy crying.
00:24:09There's always LeBron.
00:24:11There's always AD.
00:24:14But when we talk about it, what are they?
00:24:17The last couple years they've been a playing team.
00:24:20That's what they are.
00:24:22And they did make it to the Western Conference Finals,
00:24:24and then there's always a reviving door with the coaches too.
00:24:28Like they go in there and they like – it just doesn't work out.
00:24:32So I don't know.
00:24:34They can try to make a trade, but I don't know, man.
00:24:37Like that's not one of those places nowadays that I'm saying if I'm a player,
00:24:41I'm dying to get there only unless I want to live in L.A. full time, right?
00:24:47But taxes are high, everything.
00:24:49I don't know if I want to go there if I'm a player.
00:24:52Well, the thing you do know about it, it is Hollywood.
00:24:56And that seems like a Hollywood movie, you know, Hollywood Wives,
00:25:03Hollywood Basketball.
00:25:05Because now – and I am so in awe of LeBron James because he is so great
00:25:12and he's done so many things in this league that, you know, it puts him –
00:25:16if he's not the best, he's right next to the best.
00:25:20But what it does also is the fact that with LeBron James,
00:25:25he's holding that franchise hostage.
00:25:27And they can't move beyond him, and they can't move with him,
00:25:32and they're just – they seem like they're stuck in one place.
00:25:36And that, to me, is really – and as a Celtic fan, I love it.
00:25:41I absolutely – you know, because all those guys kind of have to drink Kool-Aid
00:25:46and all that stuff.
00:25:48And you look at the reporters when they talk about –
00:25:50and I think it was – I was looking at one of the games and Stu, who I know well,
00:25:55I could say, oh, and then he got to the point, oh, here it is right here.
00:25:59Ronnie and LeBron, they're on the court together.
00:26:02Like, dude, really?
00:26:04Is that – you know, I understand what has to be said,
00:26:08but that, to me, is one of those things where you look at that franchise,
00:26:12as great as they've been, until somebody decides to pull the plug,
00:26:18I don't think they're going – I don't foresee them going anyplace,
00:26:23especially with those teams out in the Eastern Conference,
00:26:25in the Western Conference.
00:26:28I can't see them going beyond that.
00:26:30And here's something else to say.
00:26:31Like you said, like, you know, LeBron's holding them hostage,
00:26:34but it's also one of those things is if you go in there
00:26:37and you're going to be the player, if they win the championship,
00:26:41you're not going to get any recognition for it.
00:26:44But if they lose, you're going to be the reason why they lost.
00:26:48So that's a tough spot to go to.
00:26:50And like you said, it is Hollywood.
00:26:52It is this and that.
00:26:53But you look at it, yeah, they did get the bubble championship, right?
00:26:56They did get the bubble championship.
00:26:58But you look at, like, them and the Celtics, right,
00:27:01the two most storied franchises in the NBA.
00:27:05Well, the Celtics just won the chip.
00:27:08The Celtics was at the chip two years ago, or you know what I'm saying,
00:27:12a couple years ago, and they were playing in, like, Western –
00:27:15I mean, excuse me, Eastern Conference finals, right?
00:27:18They just couldn't get over the hump.
00:27:20And they got younger players, younger star players than the Lakers.
00:27:25Like, I just don't see it, man.
00:27:27I don't.
00:27:28And, like, you can say, you know, you're a player
00:27:31and you don't want to live in Sad City, what have you.
00:27:34Well, nowadays, dudes don't have to.
00:27:37They just go somewhere, rent out a spot for X amount of months,
00:27:40and then they fly home when the season is over.
00:27:43So just saying you want to go to L.A. and all that,
00:27:46I just don't see the attraction until maybe they just blow it up
00:27:52and start anew and get new people there.
00:27:55And then people are like, okay, well, this is the Lakers.
00:27:58People are going to want to come here.
00:28:00But right now I don't see a lot of people, you know, like you said,
00:28:03want to go there and play with LeBron right now.
00:28:06I just don't see it.
00:28:08What do you think about the Phoenix Suns?
00:28:12Because, I mean, obviously you got those three stars.
00:28:15You wonder what the rest of the team is going to look like.
00:28:18Man, do they have any other options?
00:28:21They're really restricted in terms of cap and all that
00:28:25and just trying to improve the roster.
00:28:27It's not easy for these guys.
00:28:29But you still got guys out there, or at least one person I know,
00:28:32Kendrick Perkins, calling them dog boards to win the championship.
00:28:35I'm like, it's tough out there in the West, man.
00:28:37I don't see a path.
00:28:42I don't see that happening to be honest.
00:28:45But you look at those three stars and you're like,
00:28:47how are they going to be able to put this together again this year
00:28:50coming off of what happened last year?
00:28:52Yeah, and the problem with that team is when we look at it, you're right.
00:28:57You look at these power teams, right?
00:28:59You look at the Miami Heat back in the day when they won.
00:29:02You know, you look at other squads.
00:29:04The teams that had success were guys who had dudes who kind of like
00:29:08played different positions or played like different roles, right?
00:29:11Or you had your stars and you surrounded them with elite role players, right?
00:29:15Like all-star quality role players, if that makes sense, right?
00:29:19Like somebody talking about a Derek White, you know, stuff like that.
00:29:23When you look at this team, we talked about all three guys needing the ball.
00:29:28That's what they need.
00:29:30I mean, like if you go back five years ago, one of them was, what,
00:29:34third in the league in scoring.
00:29:36The other one was like fourth in the league.
00:29:38And the other one might have been sixth.
00:29:40So when you play together, you're not going to be that way.
00:29:44So at least two of them are losing their impact, or at least one.
00:29:49So I felt like that was a bad fit.
00:29:52And, of course, they blamed it on the coach.
00:29:54But, you know, when you go ahead and you go out and get these guys three
00:29:58max players, well, then you got essentially a bunch of mid-level exception guys
00:30:04and a lot of like minimum salary guys in there.
00:30:07And it's hard to win that way, especially when one of them,
00:30:12like when one of them is not a point guard, another one is not a center.
00:30:16It's basically you got three wings and somebody got to get them the ball,
00:30:20and one of them is extremely ball dominant.
00:30:22So, you know what, a lot of people say what they want to say,
00:30:26and it sounds good to say that they're a dark horse, right?
00:30:29And who knows, maybe they are if the coach can get it together.
00:30:32But the problem is I think that you got three dudes who play the same way
00:30:38and all three of them need the ball, especially Bradley Bill, right,
00:30:42when he was in Washington.
00:30:44He was the dude.
00:30:45So I don't see them, no.
00:30:47I don't see them coming out of the West.
00:30:49I look at – I like when you got Dallas, right?
00:30:53It just changed it a little bit.
00:30:55So you got Dallas.
00:30:56You got three.
00:30:57You got – I mean, we already know what Luca is, right?
00:31:02But then you got Kyrie who gave up a little bit, right?
00:31:07But now you're bringing in another shooter that's going to help space the floor,
00:31:11but at the same time they do have role players helping them.
00:31:15Then you look at Oklahoma City.
00:31:17So, no, I think Phoenix, they got caught up with a lot of teams
00:31:25that have been doing lately.
00:31:27Let's go out there and get big-name dudes.
00:31:30We don't know how it's going to work out,
00:31:32but it's all about we're going to get them.
00:31:34It's like playing fantasy basketball.
00:31:37And I felt like that's what the Phoenix Suns –
00:31:39Why don't you use your line, man?
00:31:41Black men in the perfect world.
00:31:43Why don't we go there?
00:31:46There ain't too many black men out there, though.
00:31:52I'll be honest.
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00:33:13Yeah, no, I just feel like that era's over, man.
00:33:17You can't just put three stars together.
00:33:19I mean, clearly, the NBA's trying to suck it up and all that,
00:33:21but even before that, it was organic.
00:33:24The rest of the league had caught up in the sense of,
00:33:26okay, we can't get perennial all-stars or whatever, so to speak,
00:33:30but let's get everything else.
00:33:32Let's get a supporting cast for maybe one or two all-stars
00:33:38and then go from there.
00:33:39I feel like that's sort of the makeup now,
00:33:41and that's where the NBA's going in,
00:33:43whereas it's just like, no, let's get this guy, let's get that.
00:33:47We got to the finals.
00:33:48We're almost there.
00:33:49Let's just get two stars and we'll make it happen,
00:33:51but the NBA's not like that anymore, I feel like.
00:33:54Well, you know what, Jeff, just the way you did it with Boston
00:33:58when you got KG to come over and play with Paul and Ray,
00:34:02but what KG was was he was the ultimate sacrifice guy.
00:34:07Right, right.
00:34:08I don't need the ball to be dominant,
00:34:12and you don't have any of those guys, those three guys you talked about,
00:34:16not one of those guys are going to say,
00:34:19look, I'm going to sacrifice myself,
00:34:22and I'm going to play defense full-out the whole time,
00:34:25and I'm going to rebound the whole time.
00:34:27They're more like Cadillac players, and I love Kevin Durant.
00:34:31I mean, he's going to go down as one of the all-time greats,
00:34:34but I think, as you said, not enough,
00:34:37nobody being a facilitator, nobody setting the table.
00:34:40I mean, essentially what you have, you have one of the –
00:34:44I'll go with my theme from Thanksgiving.
00:34:46You can have the best freaking meal in the world,
00:34:49but if the shit stays in the kitchen,
00:34:51ain't nobody eating it until somebody brings it out and puts it on the table,
00:34:55and that's the way this team is built.
00:34:57They have some of the best guys out there.
00:35:00The ingredients are great, but putting it together
00:35:03and getting it to the table to the people that eat it,
00:35:06that's where they have their problem with me.
00:35:08Exactly, and another thing, when you talk about that Boston team,
00:35:12also Ray Allen, because remember, Ray was the man,
00:35:16and then he came there, and it was kind of like everybody was like,
00:35:19they knew he could shoot threes, but that's when he start really –
00:35:22you know what I mean, thriving in that way.
00:35:24So they have roles, and I don't know how many dudes nowadays,
00:35:29especially on that Phoenix team, where you say,
00:35:31all right, bro, your role is just to get in the corner
00:35:34and stretch the floor, right?
00:35:36They're not going to want to do that.
00:35:38They're just not.
00:35:40It's also a different era too, man.
00:35:42It's an era now where dudes become all-stars
00:35:45based off of how many points they score and stuff like this,
00:35:49and they get these contracts, and they play a certain style,
00:35:52and then you go to a competitive team,
00:35:55and you don't know how to play team ball.
00:35:58Unfortunately, you just know how to go out there and get buckets,
00:36:01and it's not all about getting buckets.
00:36:04Well, how is our team – you know, Joe Sway is going to cover them now.
00:36:09Your team at OKC, Joe Sway.
00:36:11OKC, man. I don't know if you know.
00:36:13I don't know about them.
00:36:15Have fun. You can have fun out there.
00:36:17Yeah, yeah.
00:36:19Find the next black person that looks like you out there.
00:36:24That might be your only –
00:36:26No, don't say that, man.
00:36:28I haven't even been to OKC. It's not that bad.
00:36:30You haven't been there yet?
00:36:31No.
00:36:33Oklahoma, they're like, whoa.
00:36:35But wait, no, it's Oklahoma City though.
00:36:37It gets kind of cold out there though.
00:36:39It's like, yeah, so it gets really cold out there.
00:36:42But it's a lot.
00:36:44It's a lot.
00:36:45I'm excited for that. I'm looking forward to it.
00:36:47Yeah, man, new chapter.
00:36:48We haven't talked about it on the air, but we'll talk about it all summer.
00:36:52But, yeah, it's something I'm very excited about for sure.
00:36:54But, yeah, I mean, that's another team.
00:36:56I mean, again, you look at – we were just talking about the depth
00:36:58and, you know, guys knowing their roles and all that.
00:37:01And young. And young.
00:37:04Right.
00:37:05They're all 26 and under.
00:37:07And they made this humongous stride last year, I feel like.
00:37:10And you look at teams like the Suns or the Lakers.
00:37:14How could they even compete in a series against teams like that?
00:37:17They're so established now.
00:37:19Whereas the other teams are sort of leaning on their aging superstars.
00:37:24Yeah.
00:37:25The only how they could beat them last year was because, you know,
00:37:28playoff basketball is different.
00:37:30And then sometimes you got to go in there and experience it.
00:37:33You know what I mean?
00:37:34Like, once you get past that first round, it's just okay.
00:37:38Because the first-round attendance, like, if you're a top seed,
00:37:42you expect to beat the A seed.
00:37:44But then, you know, the playing team.
00:37:46But outside of that, it just becomes a different brand of ball.
00:37:49And they went through those growing pains.
00:37:52You know what I mean?
00:37:53But the one thing is you got to also realize, like, that's also a team.
00:37:58It's a young team, but it's a team where everyone knows who the man is.
00:38:03And they're comfortable with who the guy is.
00:38:06Now, when you start getting those squads where everybody think that, oh,
00:38:10it's me, it's me, and it's not him, it's me.
00:38:13Then that's when you have a problem.
00:38:15But everybody knows it's all about SGA.
00:38:17And the rest of them just filling in, knowing that, you know what?
00:38:21If I just grab rebounds, if I defend, if I hit these open shots,
00:38:27play hustle in this town, I'm not going to go.
00:38:31I don't have to pay for a meal as long as I'm here, and I'm going to be the man.
00:38:35Like, you know what I mean?
00:38:37That's what it's all about.
00:38:38That's old school basketball to me.
00:38:40Are we missing out and not talking about the team that won the championship
00:38:47before in Denver with possibly the best player in the league, Jokic?
00:38:53And are we not still talking about Minnesota after the strides that they made
00:38:58and Ant-Man coming on the scene saying, I'm that dude now.
00:39:02I'm that dude.
00:39:03He's saying, I can lock you up, and then I can beat your ass on offensive end.
00:39:08That, to me, is going to be fascinating to see how those two teams that we don't
00:39:12really talk about.
00:39:13And then also, we talk about the Lakers all we want to,
00:39:17but there's another team down in New Orleans that's pretty damn good down there.
00:39:21So how the Lakers even think about this and to see Golden State,
00:39:25what they're able to do, Houston getting better every time,
00:39:29and let's not forget the Frenchman down in San Antonio.
00:39:34What is he going to be like this year, his second time around?
00:39:37So the Lakers, to me, they're afterthought.
00:39:41When I start thinking about they're so proper, they're all these other things,
00:39:45but the real story is,
00:39:47I started looking at those other teams out there that may are, shoot,
00:39:51that can really give some people some problems.
00:39:55Yeah, I agree with you.
00:39:57And because, right, we didn't even talk about Minnesota.
00:40:02I mean, we didn't talk about the other ones.
00:40:04Now, the one thing I will say about Minnesota,
00:40:06Minnesota played the 76ers in Des Moines, Iowa,
00:40:10the night before the Sixers played Boston,
00:40:12and they rested their starters in the preseason.
00:40:15And they had fits with them.
00:40:17Now, again, it's a preseason game.
00:40:19And I know, like, shoot around, the shoot around,
00:40:22the morning shoot around for a preseason game is like the first day of a two-a-day,
00:40:27right, you know what I mean, the first practice of a two-a-day.
00:40:30But when you looked at it and you saw, like, the length,
00:40:34you saw as far as with the defenders that they have and the aggressiveness,
00:40:39and you also saw Devin Chenzo, right, you know, having that,
00:40:44you know, they traded me.
00:40:46Even though it wasn't the team that traded him, he still is holding a chip.
00:40:51And they didn't even have Randall or had Rudy.
00:40:55But at the same time, just their guard play, their perimeter play,
00:41:00and the post guys that they have, like the other guys,
00:41:03they look like a team they'd be wrecking with, but they do.
00:41:06And then the one thing about New Orleans that scares me is that
00:41:10Big Boy lost all that weight, right?
00:41:13He looks good.
00:41:14I mean, he looks good.
00:41:16You know, I'm like, yo.
00:41:18That's our boy, Stephen A. Smith.
00:41:21He did that on this podcast, and I feel like it really whipped him.
00:41:24And now this is when I feel like he's keeping it real right now
00:41:29because this is how brothers be talking.
00:41:31Damn, Big Boy down there, don't even give his name out.
00:41:33Big Boy lost all that damn weight.
00:41:35Yo, Big Dude.
00:41:37He did.
00:41:38So I'm like, yo.
00:41:42Backed away from all that Popeye's chicken down there
00:41:46and all that French cuisine and all that good food.
00:41:51And that made his way into the gym
00:41:53because obviously you can't carry that weight.
00:41:56You can't carry that weight later in your career.
00:41:59You think about Charles Barkley.
00:42:01When Charles Barkley was in Philly, he was shamed by Mos Malone.
00:42:07Mos Malone said that.
00:42:09And he used Charles Barkley's story and said, I cried.
00:42:12He said Mos said that.
00:42:14You know, his heroism was called into effect.
00:42:16He said, meet me here at this gym,
00:42:21and I'm going to run with you every day, and we're going to lose weight.
00:42:25And when Charles Barkley really became Charles Barkley,
00:42:28he was great in Philly, but when he went down to Philly,
00:42:31went down to Phoenix and lost all that weight,
00:42:34man, he became like one of the most dominant players
00:42:37ever to play the game at that position.
00:42:39He was.
00:42:40And we're talking about the guy talking about Zion.
00:42:42I'm going to say this.
00:42:43I remember-
00:42:44Call him that dude.
00:42:45Big boy, big boy, big boy from South Carolina,
00:42:49eating all that rice and all that stuff from South Carolina.
00:42:52I'm not going to lie.
00:42:54So come on.
00:42:56You know you're from North Carolina.
00:42:58You know the people in South Carolina love their rice.
00:43:00Yeah.
00:43:01They love their rice and all that.
00:43:03So the thing is, I remember they played the Sixers.
00:43:07And I want to say it was my, because his rookie year,
00:43:11I think he didn't play against them because he was hurt or something like that,
00:43:14but it was his second year.
00:43:16And it was, we go down there, man, and they had Ben Simmons guarding them.
00:43:23Oh, my gosh.
00:43:24He was destroying Ben.
00:43:26And at that time, everybody was like, you know, Ben Simmons,
00:43:29an elite defender, you know, this and that, da, da, da.
00:43:33He was just so much stronger than them and like explosive.
00:43:36So then they put Embiid on him.
00:43:38Embiid couldn't do anything with him either.
00:43:42He was like just like Embiid was about to foul out.
00:43:46And then all of a sudden they put Tobias Harris on him.
00:43:50Now Tobias was getting beat down too, but he was trying.
00:43:54So it was like after the game, we was all like, good one, man.
00:43:58Good one, good one.
00:44:00I'm telling you.
00:44:02When he comes to play, like it's just like, and he lost weight.
00:44:06So it's like this, that power, like he's extremely powerful.
00:44:10Like, you know, I remember back in the day when Shaq was breaking stuff
00:44:13and everything like that, he has that type of power that he can do the same.
00:44:17But the thing is, like you said, he had, whether it was off the court problems,
00:44:22whether it was like eating too much, it was, you know, all that.
00:44:26But it just seemed like he's locked in right now.
00:44:29And who knows?
00:44:31I don't know how far they'll go.
00:44:33I just don't.
00:44:34But because of the other teams we talked about.
00:44:37But he's going to be exciting to watch this year
00:44:40because he was already exciting when he was playing.
00:44:42So I feel like he's going to take a step up.
00:44:45Is that an ongoing issue across the league?
00:44:47Because I know it's something that Kevin Gardner brought up when he found out,
00:44:50he was mad about the whole, you know, report surrounding Drillby
00:44:55not playing in the second letter back-to-backs.
00:44:57And I don't know if he personified his take, so to speak,
00:45:00but he was like, he feels like a lot of NBA players aren't in shape.
00:45:04You know, they're not taking care of themselves during the summer.
00:45:06And that's why there's leading to all these injuries.
00:45:08And you're seeing all these guys getting hurt during the preseason.
00:45:10What's your take on that?
00:45:11You think that's, you subscribe to that theory?
00:45:14Well, yeah, I also think it's a different time.
00:45:16Like it goes back to when we first talked about it.
00:45:19Like, you know, it was one of those things where you didn't show emotion,
00:45:22no matter who it was.
00:45:23Like if it was Michael Jordan, you want to say, oh my gosh,
00:45:26this is Michael Jordan.
00:45:27It's like, yo, you know what they would say?
00:45:29You would say he puts on his jersey just like I do.
00:45:32Right.
00:45:33And we just want to go at it.
00:45:34But nowadays I just feel like, man, think about it.
00:45:37It became, there was never no low management before.
00:45:42It was kind of like you got respect for playing in all the games.
00:45:47Like it was like, yo, I played in all 82.
00:45:50I did this.
00:45:51You did.
00:45:52And you would argue,
00:45:53you would literally see players arguing with the coach for taking them out
00:45:57with the last 30 minutes or last 30 seconds in the game.
00:46:00Nowadays, I feel like guys are just like low management.
00:46:05I'm not trying to play as many games.
00:46:07I'm trying to rest.
00:46:09I'm trying to do this.
00:46:10I'm trying to do that.
00:46:11And I also think that's what leads to a lot of injuries.
00:46:14It's kind of like, you know,
00:46:16like a prime example and it's the crazy analogy,
00:46:20but when you lift them weights all the time and you getting into it, right?
00:46:23Your muscles and everything gets used to it.
00:46:25But then all of a sudden, if you go once a week, then the next day you're like,
00:46:29man, why am I so sore on this neck?
00:46:31Because you're not using your muscles.
00:46:33And it's just a different mentality.
00:46:35Like now, like, you know, I don't know.
00:46:39Like you didn't see these many injuries nowadays that you are now.
00:46:44Like now, again, you might,
00:46:46somebody will blow out their knee and they were done.
00:46:48Right.
00:46:49But now you have technology to fix it.
00:46:51But I just feel like it's different, man.
00:46:53I do.
00:46:54Like, I mean, covering the NBA now is like,
00:46:58especially two seasons ago where you would show up and it was basically a
00:47:04bunch of bench players because a lot of guys,
00:47:07although they played yesterday and we got to do load management or this guy
00:47:12has this injury.
00:47:13And it was like literally watching games and you didn't know who had these
00:47:18players work.
00:47:19It was,
00:47:20it's just a bad product because guys just don't play.
00:47:23So when he does say that it is different error because,
00:47:27and it wasn't that long ago, we're talking about like maybe 12,
00:47:3015 years ago, if that, but now it's kind of like,
00:47:33dudes just don't want to play.
00:47:36I think there's another aspect that,
00:47:40and we, we,
00:47:42we're going to keep it real again is the fact that if you are 18 and your
00:47:47product is out there, especially a Tatum or Brown, or, you know,
00:47:52these players, you want that asset to last a lot longer.
00:47:56And by, by, you know,
00:47:59having a guy being able to play 70 games in a year.
00:48:05And sometimes to me it hurts.
00:48:08It hurts the product.
00:48:09And the fact that if I bought my son to the game and, and, you know,
00:48:13Tatum didn't play, then, you know, you, you, especially the average,
00:48:16average, the average fan, not, not the black fan.
00:48:19The average, the black man will be like, Oh, hell no.
00:48:22You better give my damn money back or something.
00:48:24They'd be coming at you. But,
00:48:26but when you start to make a guy's career a priority and keeping them
00:48:31around, I think that's also built into it.
00:48:34The fact we did not see guys in the, in their prime.
00:48:37Now you look at a lot of these guys in their prime during the 11th and 12th
00:48:41year. When I got my 11th and 12th year, I was done.
00:48:45And I looked at Larry Bird by the time Larry got in the 12th and 13th,
00:48:49they were done. Some of the guys we look at right now,
00:48:52they're like in their prime because one,
00:48:54they took care of themselves and one that was low management.
00:48:57Larry Bird would throw himself into a damn brick wall and, you know,
00:49:02without even thinking, knowing he couldn't get the ball,
00:49:04but he was just going to just throw his body into it.
00:49:08Whereas now guys are more apprehensive about doing shit like that.
00:49:13They don't, they're not. And they think about,
00:49:16it's like with looking at Paul George, Paul George right now.
00:49:20And I understand what they're doing now. It's 14th year.
00:49:23They're trying to say, okay, we need Paul George for, you know,
00:49:27the playoffs. We need Paul George playoff, Paul George.
00:49:30But there's, we're saying to Paul George also has to be a shape.
00:49:34And then there's a shape and there's also game.
00:49:37And that's one of the things that really you think about when you play in a
00:49:41game and you have all that fluid going through you and you,
00:49:46you oiled up, you're ready to go. That's one thing.
00:49:49But when you come in and you play maybe next week,
00:49:52and then I'm going to play on a Wednesday,
00:49:54but I'm not playing on a Thursday, but on a Sunday,
00:49:58your body is you're saying what your weight's the same thing.
00:50:01It doesn't adjust well. And we think about,
00:50:05think about the best player I've heard this being said about Kauai Leonard,
00:50:10the best,
00:50:11the best ugly superstar in that we've ever had in the NBA guy who was a
00:50:16superstar, but cannot get on the court. I mean, ugly in that way. I mean,
00:50:22you guys look,
00:50:23you guys explain things shit that sometimes when you say shit,
00:50:26cause people are like, Oh, what do you mean? Oh yeah.
00:50:28I mean his career,
00:50:31you think about where he was with the way he was with he,
00:50:35he played with San Antonio and then what he went up,
00:50:39he accomplished up in Toronto.
00:50:41This guy got finals MVP twice on championship teams and that's not done,
00:50:48but he's gone out to LA and man,
00:50:50essentially he's been a no show out there because of all the injuries or
00:50:54whatever's going on with him.
00:50:56I can see Steve Naismith when he says, man,
00:50:59this is the most overrated,
00:51:02great player that we have in the NBA.
00:51:05And it's just kind of crazy because now we're not even at one time we were
00:51:09thinking about that team when Tyler was there and Kauai,
00:51:12we were thinking like, okay, that team is going to be in the finals,
00:51:16but that team has never made that quantum leap.
00:51:18Yeah, that's the thing.
00:51:20Now don't look like the one thing that we get back to Joel, right.
00:51:23You know,
00:51:24I guess your argument that like,
00:51:25as far as like Larry and I'm banging themselves up and you,
00:51:29when you got the 12 year 11,
00:51:3112 years like him,
00:51:33the problem is he's always banged up too.
00:51:36Right.
00:51:37But the problem is he started out banged up.
00:51:42He started,
00:51:43he started,
00:51:44he started,
00:51:45like he missed his first two years.
00:51:46He missed his first two years.
00:51:48And then the thing is people forget his third season.
00:51:51I believe he only played in 33 games and he was fortunate.
00:51:55Like he played in 33 games over that time.
00:52:00And he still got a max rookie max extension.
00:52:03So like the life is good,
00:52:05but now he's a good player.
00:52:09But the thing is,
00:52:10I feel like you also setting yourself up right.
00:52:14With the 76 is because like we talked about in the,
00:52:18in the early on,
00:52:19he's such a different player,
00:52:21right.
00:52:22To whereas when you have that PG style,
00:52:25you have that maxi style where they want to get out and go and they want to do
00:52:29all this stuff.
00:52:30Well,
00:52:31you got to incorporate him when he comes the difference between the Celtics
00:52:36and the sixes are,
00:52:37you know,
00:52:38you you're,
00:52:39you're all-star players are two wings,
00:52:41right.
00:52:42Tatum and Brown.
00:52:43The other guys are complimentary.
00:52:45They're good complimentary players,
00:52:47but they are complimentary players.
00:52:49So,
00:52:50whereas,
00:52:51but when Joelle comes,
00:52:52it changes everything.
00:52:53And y'all,
00:52:54we,
00:52:55we talk about fan base in Philly,
00:52:57right.
00:52:58New York and Philly.
00:52:59And Max and y'all both know that this team has to at least get to the
00:53:08Eastern conference finals.
00:53:10If not,
00:53:11they're going to say,
00:53:12this is a failure.
00:53:13And as much as,
00:53:14you know,
00:53:15we can argue about the New York Knicks.
00:53:17The Knicks are of our are a team that could beat the Sixers.
00:53:22Right.
00:53:23And if the Sixers,
00:53:24like they saying,
00:53:25we just weren't about the regular,
00:53:27I mean,
00:53:28the playoffs and they don't get a good seed and they get bumped in the first
00:53:32or second round.
00:53:33It's going to be a lot of unhappy people in Philadelphia,
00:53:36right.
00:53:37A lot of it.
00:53:38And the thing is,
00:53:39but then I understand why they're doing it.
00:53:41This guy has never been healthy for a post season.
00:53:45Never.
00:53:46Like,
00:53:47so it's a catch 22 to me.
00:53:50It really is.
00:53:51So we'll see what they do.
00:53:53We'll see.
00:53:54All right,
00:53:55fellas.
00:53:56I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up banner night,
00:53:58garden Tuesday night,
00:53:59max.
00:54:00I'm going to give you the floor,
00:54:02man.
00:54:03We got,
00:54:04we didn't tell her anything.
00:54:06I'm not giving you nobody's finger.
00:54:07I'm saying this ring night,
00:54:09you know,
00:54:10they,
00:54:11they called me in.
00:54:12They said,
00:54:13yo,
00:54:14send us your ring size.
00:54:15And you know,
00:54:16it's going to be exciting again.
00:54:20And I always say it's,
00:54:22it's for the rest of the league right now.
00:54:24It's ABC,
00:54:25anybody,
00:54:26but the damn Celtics,
00:54:27anybody.
00:54:28And when the Celtics win it,
00:54:34it's just been to,
00:54:36to have this banner again.
00:54:38And I have never seen people more sick than the LA fan base.
00:54:44Oh my God.
00:54:45They are sick right now.
00:54:47I mean,
00:54:48everybody that I know from,
00:54:50from worthy to Cooper to magic and,
00:54:53and all these guys,
00:54:55Michael Thompson,
00:54:56they are sick right now.
00:54:58And I,
00:54:59I absolutely love it.
00:55:01I think that's why when Michael will born was talking and I ran behind him,
00:55:05I said,
00:55:06how about them?
00:55:07Damn Celtics.
00:55:08Bye-bye Lakers.
00:55:09I,
00:55:10I,
00:55:11I love that.
00:55:12A lot of television after the final.
00:55:14I saw it.
00:55:15So how many rings do you have now?
00:55:19I have,
00:55:20this would be number four.
00:55:22I'm not caught up with magic or nothing like that magic.
00:55:28The number of rings.
00:55:29He won,
00:55:30but I still look at the way these franchises are trending right now that
00:55:35everybody said,
00:55:36once the Lakers called up with their championships that they add in from
00:55:40Minnesota Bay,
00:55:42there you say they add that in,
00:55:44but they add their championships up.
00:55:46They have the same number.
00:55:48And I,
00:55:49and last year when they won the end season,
00:55:51got the end season tournament banner,
00:55:53then they had it up in that building.
00:55:55I looked at it when I went out to LA.
00:55:57I said,
00:55:58that looked really weird up there.
00:56:00You know,
00:56:01they have that banner stuck up there and they,
00:56:03they just kind of laughed.
00:56:04I said,
00:56:05but you did win and they all just bust out laughing.
00:56:08But to,
00:56:09to have a,
00:56:10to have a banner night and to have possibly Bob Cousy come,
00:56:15Kevin Burnett will be there.
00:56:17Paul Pierce.
00:56:19That's right.
00:56:20Yeah.
00:56:21And,
00:56:22and yours truly is supposed to walk out there on the floor,
00:56:26handing over the trophy.
00:56:27It's going to be,
00:56:28it's going to be one hell of a night.
00:56:30Matter of fact,
00:56:31that night,
00:56:32I'm going to give you a clue here.
00:56:33I'm actually going to wear a gold suit.
00:56:35This is for the Lakers,
00:56:36but with it on.
00:56:38So I'm gonna hit them.
00:56:39I'm gonna hit them where it hurts,
00:56:40buddy.
00:56:41Hit them where it's hurt,
00:56:42but the excitement about winning another ring and the Celtics to,
00:56:47you know,
00:56:48kind of bypass the,
00:56:49the Lakers.
00:56:50And,
00:56:51but I think even bigger is the fact that the Celtics to me,
00:56:54they have an opportunity to run the state back with their team.
00:56:57John Grandy,
00:56:59my broadcast partner says,
00:57:00says,
00:57:01says,
00:57:02says this one thing,
00:57:03which I think is so true.
00:57:04He said,
00:57:05tell me how many,
00:57:06how many games is Porzingis going to play during the playoffs?
00:57:10He said,
00:57:11that'll tell me the story.
00:57:12So Porzingis is playing all the games in the playoffs.
00:57:14This Celtic team,
00:57:16they're going to be,
00:57:17they're going to be hard,
00:57:18hard to beat.
00:57:19The thing that I do worry about is exactly what we talk about is Porzingis
00:57:23coming back.
00:57:24And when he comes back and how you have to,
00:57:27are you going to change the style of your play to fit Porzingis in?
00:57:32And I really don't think you're going to do that because even when they won
00:57:36it without Porzingis,
00:57:37they had another style and,
00:57:39and everybody,
00:57:40the one thing I will have to say is everybody.
00:57:43So,
00:57:44oh my God,
00:57:45you know,
00:57:46right now I can't wait for this game when Golden State comes in town.
00:57:49And,
00:57:50you know,
00:57:51I,
00:57:52I think the reason why I'm telling you this is because I was a,
00:57:55I was a,
00:57:56I was a fan of Steve Kerr.
00:57:57I remember,
00:57:58I remember when Steve Kerr did not play Jason Tatum,
00:58:01I said,
00:58:02I think it was shit about that.
00:58:05Steve Kerr's job was to win a gold medal.
00:58:07He did that.
00:58:08And at the end of the day,
00:58:09Jason Tatum doesn't have anything to hold his head down about it all.
00:58:13I said,
00:58:14the young man,
00:58:15I talked to him just where I said,
00:58:16yo man,
00:58:17how are you feeling?
00:58:18championship, you won a gold medal, you got a new contract, you had a new baby, you got
00:58:22married, you're a great looking kid. You said, man, I don't know where they coming at because
00:58:27I am happy as is being. So that to me is a whole nother storyline that comes into play
00:58:34about this year. But but ring night, that's gonna be a special time.
00:58:38Just to know you're about ready to go. But I tell you as a kid growing up in Philly,
00:58:45we all hated y'all. Never tell you that. Yeah, I know. I didn't know that people in Boston
00:58:54were cool until I got on the beat and went to Boston. So like after the game, a couple
00:58:59of dudes that like, you know, they were like, Yo, you want to go out? So I'm like, I'm like,
00:59:03so I'm like, I got home and get home and call my buddy's like, Yo, man, remember all that
00:59:07stuff we said about the people? No, they're cool. They're cool. And they were like, what?
00:59:14I mean, dude, it was we were like brainwashed to think that y'all were like, like, just
00:59:18me. I mean, it was just crazy. No way. Let me tell you what you were brainwashed
00:59:23in. You were brainwashed to think that if you went out in Boston that you go see a guy
00:59:27with a white sheet on his head walking around. Yeah, that's what it was. I think that people
00:59:33talk about Boston as racist. And I always told, said this to everybody. I said, Boston does not
00:59:40hold a monopoly on racism. I was in the league covering this team for now 30 years. It must
00:59:48have been about, it had maybe 10 or 12 years ago. I was having to be in Philly during the
00:59:53Mummers Parade and famous parade they have in Philly. I saw a white guy ride on a motorcycle
01:00:02in blackface. I was like, what? And you guys are talking about Boston. I was like,
01:00:10are you serious? I mean, they don't do it anymore, I heard. But that Mummers Parade,
01:00:15man, I just, oh, that was crazy when they talked about Philadelphia.
01:00:20Yeah, Josue, most of the cities, these cities like are very, very similar in the history.
01:00:27But a lot of people don't want to admit it. This was, if we want to go back in history,
01:00:32this was probably, this was Jackie Robinson's least favorite city to come to.
01:00:39Wow.
01:00:39He hated coming to Philly. Did you know that?
01:00:42I did not know that.
01:00:43Yeah, he hated coming to Philly. So the history is similar. But in me, I didn't realize how
01:00:50some of the diversity, I didn't know that y'all had such a Spanish population. I was like, oh,
01:00:56okay, like, you know what I mean? But you're right. That's what it is. You think of one city
01:01:01and you think of racism. And then you don't realize that the people are welcoming. Now, again,
01:01:08we're in the Northeast, you know where to go when we're not to go. People like,
01:01:12you know what I'm saying? It is what it is. But yeah, that's what it is.
01:01:16They always told me, don't go to Southeast. So they always told me growing up, don't go.
01:01:19Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know not to go, yeah.
01:01:22I appreciate you stopping by. Always fun to have you.
01:01:27You know what, Josue, he kept it real.
01:01:30Yeah, he really did.
01:01:31But at the very end, we got him off on the right page early on when he started talking about the
01:01:39perfect world for black men. I'm like, we're in the world? So once we straighten him out,
01:01:44he's been good since then. I gotta give him his props. And we want to thank you for coming on
01:01:49with us, man. And we always talk about to our listeners and to our viewers, man, you only make
01:01:55us stronger with our podcast. But you've been a treat to have on with us for this particular
01:02:01podcast. And we can't wait to catch up with you again, maybe in mid-season.
01:02:05It's going to be a fun season.
01:02:06Thanks for having me, y'all. Thanks for having me.
01:02:08Absolutely. That's going to do it for this episode of Cedric Maxwell Podcast. C. Cedric
01:02:11Maxwell, once again, thank you to Keith Pombe for joining us. Check out his work
01:02:15at the Philadelphia Inquirer. I am Joseph LeBron. And a special shout out to my pops, man.
01:02:20Dad's birthday today. I'm going to go celebrate it with him. So I had to get that out there,
01:02:24man, for sure, man. I love you, Dad. I'll see you soon. That's the end of the episode.
01:02:28Man, we don't give no shout outs on my damn podcast, man.
01:02:41He's the big fan, man. He watches this show religiously.
01:02:46So shout out to pops. Yeah, I'll see you soon.
01:02:49What's going on, everyone? It's Joseph LeBron here. If you made it this far,
01:02:52that means you really enjoyed this video. Make sure you follow all of our social media platforms
01:02:56at Celtic CLNS. And of course, follow us here on YouTube.