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00:00We got Kurt Heland of NBC Sports Now to talk Pro Rack.
00:04Kurt, good to see you.
00:06You and I were talking about New Orleans.
00:08Yeah, I've been there a bunch of times.
00:10Yeah, I've been to the Super Bowl there.
00:12I saw the Bears beat the Patriots there in 85.
00:17I also saw Indiana, my alma mater,
00:20beat Syracuse in 87 on the Keith Smart shot
00:24to win the national championship Bob Knight's third.
00:26So I have been there multiple times.
00:29I've done my show there multiple times over the years.
00:32And I've rocked New Orleans hard.
00:34Believe me, you.
00:35It's good to see you.
00:36I want to start with this.
00:37What was your initial reaction when you saw
00:40the talk of a 10-minute quarter?
00:44I rolled my eyes.
00:45I'm like, I think the headline of the story I wrote
00:47was like, really, Adam?
00:48Really?
00:49Look, I genuinely believe this was him floating a trial
00:53balloon that I was told later wasn't really anything
00:58with like, with it.
00:59It's something Adam likes that wasn't terribly popular
01:01within the league office even, but Adam floated it out there.
01:05And I know I wrote something about it.
01:07A bunch of media members did, but beyond us, forget us.
01:11Michael Malone ripped it.
01:12A couple other coaches ripped it.
01:13A couple of players ripped it.
01:14Like nobody likes this idea.
01:16So hopefully that burst the trial balloon and we're dead.
01:20Cause Scott, I don't like messing,
01:23like pitch clock is one thing,
01:25but you're now changing the fundamental essence
01:28of the game.
01:28Like it's not a pitch clock.
01:30It's making it a seven inning game.
01:34Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more.
01:35I thought it was relatively ridiculous.
01:39I have to ask you this question.
01:41So today we ran a clip of Zion talking about blame them,
01:46blame the Pelicans.
01:47They're the ones that are saying I can't play back to back.
01:50I work for them.
01:51They call the shots.
01:53Now we know he's been injured a lot
01:56and we know how young he is.
01:58But I said, I threw this salvo out there.
02:01I said today that that's the beginning
02:03and the end of him in New Orleans.
02:04He now is calling out his, you know, superiors, frankly,
02:10and the management and the team, the organization,
02:13calling them out and saying,
02:14you got a problem with me not playing back to back?
02:16Talk to them.
02:17And that's like saying my bosses are idiots.
02:21And how many people get away with that?
02:26I will say this one thing in his defense.
02:29We climb on players all the time for load management.
02:3390% of the time it actually is the team that's like,
02:36hey, I don't try, you know,
02:38hey, Kawhi, you're not gonna play as much.
02:41He's still on a minute's limit.
02:42It's usually the team that comes in harder
02:45and is more protective of its investment,
02:47frankly, than the player.
02:50That said, Zion's a different case, right?
02:52Because let's just say, Scott,
02:56as a guy who has spent a bunch of time in New Orleans,
02:58and if I had to spend a week there like you're going to,
03:02I'd probably come back 15 pounds heavier.
03:04Zion is not the best conditioned athlete
03:07we've ever seen in the NBA.
03:09He's maybe even better this year,
03:10but like he's gotta take care of himself.
03:14And that's part of the reason
03:16you've got to bring him along slowly.
03:18I don't think there's anybody out there
03:19who looked at that and said,
03:20yeah, they should be limiting him.
03:22Like, is there anybody who was like,
03:23nah, he should totally play more?
03:24No, you're 12 and 36.
03:27You're not making the playoffs.
03:29Don't push this guy right now and see what happens.
03:32Try to get him right for next season
03:34and see what happens.
03:34This is why their name comes up in a Jimmy Butler trade.
03:36I'm like, why?
03:38First off, Jimmy's not gonna wanna go there, but why?
03:41What are you gonna do with Jimmy Butler
03:42the rest of the season?
03:44Well, frankly, I don't care what Jimmy Butler wants.
03:48I actually am from the side of the river that says,
03:51you know what, I don't care what you want, need,
03:53where you wanna go, all your nonsense.
03:56Not only do I not wanna hear it anymore from him,
04:02I think he was throwing games, throwing balls away,
04:05shooting air balls, acting like a tool,
04:08behaving like a child, all of his demands and nonsense
04:13and back and forth with Riley.
04:16And you know what's funny is that nothing has progressed.
04:20I've been hearing about this guy getting traded now
04:22for a month and nothing's happened.
04:24And you know what?
04:25I did a special today, an hour shoot on Elgin Baylor.
04:28And I talked about his brilliant career
04:30from high school in DC, to Idaho, to Seattle,
04:34to the Lakers in Minneapolis, to LA,
04:37and to greatness and even running the Clippers
04:41and serving in the army.
04:43And I talked about this guy not playing for two months
04:47and then playing six straight games,
04:49winning all six and averaging 38 and 22 and a real baller.
04:54And then I got to deal with these prima donnas now
04:57in this day and age that never play.
04:59They get paid $200 million.
05:02I mean, honestly, we don't recognize the greatness
05:05of the past while we sit around and deal with this bullshack.
05:10Oh, by the way, Elgin might be maybe one
05:12of the most underrated former superstars.
05:14Like he was one of the first guys to play above the rim.
05:16Like nobody was playing above the rim
05:18when Elgin was playing above the rim back in the sixties.
05:21And I think he's dramatically underrated as a,
05:25I mean, he's a hall of famer,
05:26but I think underrated as an all-time great.
05:31Look, you were spot on about Butler, by the way,
05:33in this sense, particularly this sense.
05:36There is no market for him.
05:37There is one team that wants him
05:40and they can't figure out how to get him
05:42because they got to move Bradley Beal.
05:43And Bradley Beal is the one guy
05:45who has a worse trade value than Jimmy Butler right now.
05:50The Pelicans have talked about it.
05:52The Warriors came up, but I was told by a source,
05:54like watch the Warriors to go after Zach Levine.
05:57Like they need to, they want to boost their offense.
05:59And Zach's been playing great this year.
06:01And that seems more likely
06:03and more the direction they're headed than Butler.
06:05They're just, look, it's not like Butler's agent
06:09isn't trying.
06:10There's no demand for Jimmy Butler
06:12because they're not sure what kind of disruption
06:14he might be down the line.
06:15And nobody wants to pay him a hundred million dollars
06:17for a couple of years after this one,
06:19which is what he wants.
06:21You know, I saw today, we did a story today.
06:23I always love talking to you.
06:25You tell it like it is.
06:26I'm talking today about Bogdanovich, Bogdan Bogdanovich.
06:29Now they're interested in him and I,
06:31I'm shooting 61% from the floor in my league.
06:35And I'm like, Bogdan Bogdanovich, Christ.
06:38They've gone from Jimmy Butler
06:39to wanting Bogdan Bogdanovich.
06:42Christ, I shoot the ball better than him.
06:44What is going on with these terrible trade ideas?
06:48And how unbelievable is it
06:50that more people talk about the snubs
06:53than the actual guys that make it?
06:57That's the crazy thing about the all-star snubs
07:00is that you're like, and by the way,
07:02like Alperin Shingun is deserving of an all-star spot.
07:06Of course.
07:08Who are you taking off the list?
07:09Because the problem in the West,
07:10and like I did my, I had Shingun in on my list
07:13when I did it, but there are,
07:17there were seven reserve spots
07:19and there were 12 deserving guys,
07:21maybe 13 deserving guys.
07:23Guys are just, like, you're just,
07:24there is no good option there.
07:26You are going to leave off deserving players,
07:28no matter what.
07:29So it's where you want to draw the line.
07:31So, like, I, I think-
07:34I'm so glad you got through this without coughing.
07:37You were going to cough right there
07:39and you held out.
07:40That was, that was beautiful.
07:43Hey, listen, feel better.
07:45You're amazing.
07:45You never coughed.
07:46I love you.
07:47I always love talking rag with Curt Heelan of NBC.
07:50Have a great weekend.
07:51Feel better, Curt.