Welcome to episode 145 of the A List Podcast with A. Sherrod Blakely, Gary Washburn, and Kwani A. Lunis. In this episode, Sherrod, Gary and Kwani discuss Team USA's needed changes for the 2024 Olympics in Paris after failing in the FIBA World Cup, and LeBron James making a call to bring in The A Team for Paris!
0:00 Teaser
0:41 Intro
2:42 How will Team USA reshape themselves before Paris Olympics after embarrassing FIBA exit?
5:02 LeBron James trying to get current NBA stars back on the squad for Paris games
10:46 FanDuel Sportsbook
11:28 FIBA/Olympics cont'd
12:47 Many countries will be stocked up with international NBA talents for Paris Olympics
16:02 Kwani is worried about Paris
22:02 Daniel Theis and Dennis Schroeder showed out for Germany
23:35 OddsR
24:07 NBA 2K24 Ratings
30:37 Celtics sign Taylor Funk to Exhibit 10 Deal
35:26 Outro
This episode of the A List Podcast is brought to you by Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. NEW customers can bet $5 and get $200 in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Plus, all customers who bet $5 will get $100 OFF NFL SUNDAY TICKET from YouTube and YouTube TV. Now is the best time to join FanDuel! The app is easy to use and you can be on everything from spreads to player props and more! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season with an offer you won’t wanna miss.
21+ and present in MA. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at fanduel.com/sportsbook. Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234. NFL Sunday Ticket Offer ends 9/18/23. No refunds. Terms and embargoes apply. $100 off NFL Sunday Ticket, not YouTube TV. YouTube TV base plan required to watch YouTube TV. Redemption requires a Google account and current form of payment. Commercial Use Excluded. Subscription renews; cancel anytime.
ODDS-R! Ever wished you could navigate the betting field with the confidence of a pro? Enter OddsR. They're not a sportsbook, but they're the sports betting advisor you've always needed. It's like having a playbook for smarter bets right in your pocket. I've been absolutely loving the experience, and I think you will too. Especially since Pats Interference listeners get a 30-day free trial! Elevate your game day and join the smart betting revolution! Go get it at https://oddsr.com/celtics
0:00 Teaser
0:41 Intro
2:42 How will Team USA reshape themselves before Paris Olympics after embarrassing FIBA exit?
5:02 LeBron James trying to get current NBA stars back on the squad for Paris games
10:46 FanDuel Sportsbook
11:28 FIBA/Olympics cont'd
12:47 Many countries will be stocked up with international NBA talents for Paris Olympics
16:02 Kwani is worried about Paris
22:02 Daniel Theis and Dennis Schroeder showed out for Germany
23:35 OddsR
24:07 NBA 2K24 Ratings
30:37 Celtics sign Taylor Funk to Exhibit 10 Deal
35:26 Outro
This episode of the A List Podcast is brought to you by Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. NEW customers can bet $5 and get $200 in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Plus, all customers who bet $5 will get $100 OFF NFL SUNDAY TICKET from YouTube and YouTube TV. Now is the best time to join FanDuel! The app is easy to use and you can be on everything from spreads to player props and more! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season with an offer you won’t wanna miss.
21+ and present in MA. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at fanduel.com/sportsbook. Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234. NFL Sunday Ticket Offer ends 9/18/23. No refunds. Terms and embargoes apply. $100 off NFL Sunday Ticket, not YouTube TV. YouTube TV base plan required to watch YouTube TV. Redemption requires a Google account and current form of payment. Commercial Use Excluded. Subscription renews; cancel anytime.
ODDS-R! Ever wished you could navigate the betting field with the confidence of a pro? Enter OddsR. They're not a sportsbook, but they're the sports betting advisor you've always needed. It's like having a playbook for smarter bets right in your pocket. I've been absolutely loving the experience, and I think you will too. Especially since Pats Interference listeners get a 30-day free trial! Elevate your game day and join the smart betting revolution! Go get it at https://oddsr.com/celtics
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SportsTranscript
00:00 played teams that I think they underestimated guys who were
00:04 not NBA players. They respected them, the NBA players, but the
00:07 ones who aren't in the NBA, they didn't know about so that kid
00:12 the dude forty-two from Germany went off on him at that big
00:15 three. I didn't get a chance to watch the Canada game, but you
00:18 let Dylan Brooks go for thirty-nine like it's a pride
00:22 thing and I think once and then I watched the Lithuania game
00:27 and Lithuania hit a lot of big shots and it's just like that
00:31 was these teams are game planning. They're not afraid
00:34 of the United States anymore, especially they're not afraid
00:36 of Austin Reeves and Brandon Ingram. They're not afraid of
00:40 those guys. The A-List Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel,
00:44 the exclusive wedger partner of the CLNS Media Network. Hello
00:48 everyone. Welcome to another episode of the A-List Podcast.
00:51 I am Kwanye Lunas, A-Trod Blakely, Gary Washburn. They're
00:55 all here. I want to talk about Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum
00:59 being respectively Haitian and Cape Verdean, but we will not
01:04 derail. Gary's face is so confused. I am maybe why is she
01:09 throwing that bomb out there and just walking away? No, don't
01:11 do that. I'm chronically on the internet. So okay, I am going
01:15 only reason I'm going on this little rant is because some
01:17 people that listen are actually millennials like myself that
01:21 understand this, but why is she going to put a thing into it
01:24 Gary? Why can't she just speak? She's like, I know like what's
01:26 up with that, but go ahead like there are some people in black
01:31 Boston Twitter that have adopted Jaylen Brown into the
01:35 Haitian community and respectively Jason Tatum has
01:39 also been adopted by the Cape Verdeans. Very big populations
01:42 here in Massachusetts. I think it actually plays very well. So
01:46 I just needed to use my platform to make sure that I
01:49 wanted to say I see you guys and I agree with you. I do think
01:53 that this should be a thing. I don't even know what this being
01:57 a thing means. I don't know. It's just them being adopted by
02:00 the community. I mean for the record, so like we'll take Jaylen
02:03 Brown into the community. Does that get them some like
02:05 discounts or something like that? No, it's just like you
02:08 know, you know, there's always a connection like someone that
02:10 you can like you Gary love being from California. Now
02:14 you're in the ACC. You're Cal Berkeley. Sherrod, you love
02:17 being from Syracuse, even though it's a terrible school like
02:19 everyone takes pride in the little things that make you get
02:22 a connection. So I think for the people that yeah, and you
02:25 connect with BC because where exactly is BC? Yikes. I really
02:31 just threw myself under the bus with that one. You did. I
02:34 wanted to address the internet because the internet and your
02:37 friends on a record. Yes, very much my friends. But on a
02:42 serious note, now that I got that off my chest, we can talk
02:45 about some basketball. First of all, as you both know, the
02:49 Paris Olympics are slowly creeping up. But before we get
02:53 to the context of that Team USA embarrassed than us in front on
03:01 a world stage at FIBA, Germany ends up winning two former
03:03 Celtics on that team, which apparently prompted LeBron
03:08 James to call the Avengers and unite the team now. One of the
03:12 twin powers. Exactly to go to Paris and there is a whole I
03:17 don't know if you guys want to get into the commentary of
03:19 whether or not the NBA players are the best in the world. I
03:22 know you guys saw the trolling behind that. But first of all,
03:27 just FIBA itself. What do you make of the fact that the Team
03:30 USA obviously didn't send the best of the best from the US
03:34 for that game for that. Sorry for that whole entire series,
03:37 but now Germany is the winner and we're kind of playing
03:41 catch-up when you think about the way USA basketball is being
03:44 portrayed. Well, it's consistent with what we do and
03:49 what we've been doing for a number of years. We treat the
03:53 FIBA World Cup as if it's like, you know, the constellation JV
03:57 game and the Olympics is a varsity and we bring out the
03:59 varsity players. You look at the players playing for Canada
04:04 playing for Germany. Those players are not just really
04:08 good. They're like the best that country has to offer like
04:11 if you start going down the Rolodex of players in Germany
04:14 and you look at Dennis Schroeder, he's probably at or
04:16 near the top of that list. Certainly in top three top
04:19 four. You look at the Team USA. I don't know if there's a
04:23 single player that was on that fight that that Team USA team
04:26 that just got smoked that you put in your top ten. Nope and
04:30 and that and to me, that's the difference you are facing the
04:33 world's best players in their respective countries against
04:36 your B team. Maybe your B minus team if you're keeping it 100.
04:41 I mean on that Team USA, I think Anthony Edwards might be
04:44 the only guy maybe Austin Reeves might be the only guys
04:48 that you could see making the top twelve because Anthony
04:51 will probably be in a rotation coming off the bench. Reeves
04:53 probably wouldn't play and he can play. Yeah, he can
04:56 absolutely ball. So to me, it's not surprising that they go out
04:58 there and get smoked because they're not bringing in their
05:00 guys. You can bring the heat but LeBron as only LeBron will
05:04 do. We'll just like fellas fellas. Let's do our country a
05:07 service. Let's do our let's do our thing. I really don't want
05:11 to see him in the next Olympics. I don't. I he is it's
05:15 like thank you for your service. We are appreciative.
05:19 Now to to paraphrase what he told his mama back in the day,
05:23 sit your ass down. That's what I feel about LeBron right now in
05:26 the Olympics. Sit your let these other cats ball. To that
05:29 point though that has been the commentary even with the W
05:32 players when you think about the opportunity that it's a
05:35 once in a lifetime for some obviously a player like LeBron
05:39 or KD, they'll get maybe two or three opportunities in their
05:42 lifetime but the only do you think the onus is on him to to
05:46 kind of buy out what you wouldn't do to bow out and say
05:49 let me you know let the next man up take the opportunity.
05:53 Well, he doesn't let him but that's all the league wouldn't
05:56 let him know his ego wouldn't let him just bow. Yeah. If when
06:00 he sees how they struggle, you know LeBron, he low key has a
06:04 super superman complex. Of course. Uh wants to come and
06:07 save the day. Our poor. The humble. We were. You're poor.
06:12 You're humble. You're humble. Austin look Austin listen you
06:16 try young fella you try good try good try. Let let big daddy
06:20 handle this. I got this. Hey Tatum you you you are super
06:26 friends. Let's go. We got this. We'll we'll be back by dinner
06:29 time with the gold medal. So don't so you know you don't
06:31 wait up. We'll be back though. We'll be back. It's it's it's
06:35 such a it's it's a LeBron production waiting to be
06:38 produced uh and I'm curious what Gary's thoughts are though
06:42 on your boy LeBron. Well, I think that LeBron wants to play
06:46 kind of a Kobe role that Kobe had in the 08 redeem team. I
06:51 think he's he's uh I don't see LeBron out there playing. you
06:55 know it's a 40 minute game out there playing 33 minutes a
06:58 night against you know Montenegro. I think he'll play
07:03 kind of a old man sit on it. Just chill like remember Jason
07:07 kid played uh and it's I think the twelve team like uh and and
07:14 and Kobe in the 018 just being like the old head emeritus and
07:19 and and him saying because let's be honest. you're not
07:23 going to get Curry Durant um Tatum Chris Paul without the
07:29 other guys right. So I think LeBron takes the role of hey.
07:34 I'm just going to get these guys together. We're going to
07:37 put our best team out there smoke these fools and then come
07:40 back with the gold medal because I think unfortunately
07:43 for this team, it wasn't put together. Well, they expected a
07:48 lot out of a particular players who did not perform. Jaron
07:51 Jackson Junior couldn't stay out of foul trouble. Brandon
07:54 Ingram was useless. Um Jay Jaylen Brunson is not a point
07:59 guard. He's a two guard and the USA Threw him in as a
08:02 starting point guard where they probably should have started um
08:06 Halliburton from Indiana and then like they they were
08:13 refused to play a big lineup. So they got constantly pounded
08:16 it out rebounded and then they played teams that I think they
08:21 underestimated guys who were not NBA players. They respected
08:25 them the NBA players, but the ones who aren't in the NBA,
08:28 they didn't know about so that kid the dude forty-two from
08:32 Germany went off on him at that big three. Um I didn't get a
08:36 chance to watch the Canada game, but you let Dylan Brooks
08:39 go for thirty-nine like it's a pride thing and I think once and
08:44 then I watched the Lithuania game and Lithuania hit a lot
08:47 of big shots and it's just like that was these teams are game
08:52 playing. They're not afraid of the United States anymore,
08:54 especially they're not afraid of Austin Reeves and Brandon
08:58 Ingram. They're not afraid of those guys. They might be a
09:00 little afraid of Tatum and Brown and Durant and Curry and
09:05 all. Yeah, that's going to cause some some issues right,
09:10 but this team they weren't afraid of them and I think they
09:13 were poorly coached and despite the fact that the coaching
09:16 staff was Steve Kerr Tyron Lou Eric Sposer Mark Few. I mean
09:20 it's staggering the amount of great coaches in that staff and
09:24 they weren't well coached. I mean they inbounds plays they
09:29 like didn't even defend two two games two plays against
09:32 Germany. One uh they threw it in the 3 seconds left in the
09:38 clock. They threw it in the Wagner one on one hits a
09:40 fifteen-footer a few minutes later in the key stretch.
09:43 Daniel Tice our friend uh catches my dude. Yeah catches
09:48 up gets an open fifteen-footer and Daniel Tice look like you
09:52 know, Daniel Tice that he's like Dirk Nowitzki and the damn
09:57 game. It was like we ain't seen that Tice ever, but he he he
10:01 hits a pull up fifteen-footer with 4 seconds up. No one
10:04 guarded him like it was giving him. Yeah. Big plays. Yeah. Big
10:09 plays and just like defense terrible defense. So they need
10:16 do they need their best players and then I just think
10:19 there was guys who weren't on that team. John Moran. Now, do
10:22 you invite him given all the trouble he's been in Trey Young
10:25 still and I ain't playing like there's dudes who are probably
10:27 like I would have played but y'all didn't holler at me. You
10:31 know why not Trey Young you know um some of those guys you
10:36 know Brandon Engel just doesn't seem like he was into it. It
10:38 was just like he just he wasn't starting Anthony Edwards great
10:43 player took a lot of bad shots. Get ready for the NFL season
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11:24 the NFL.
11:27 Took a lot of hero ball shots cuz he was just like I'm the
11:30 man on this team. He was a hero. Yeah. Yeah. I'm about to
11:33 be Kobe. I'm just you know three three three D you know
11:37 it's like they never got a knock down three point shoot. I
11:39 guess Cameron Johnson never really developed into that guy
11:42 so it was a really not Grant Hill's best job. Hopefully
11:47 he'll do better compiling a team and I get it. It's 3 weeks
11:51 or a month commitment. You gotta go to the Philippines.
11:55 You're missing you know good chunk of your summer. So you
11:59 it's some guys just gonna be nah man I wanna be my kids. I
12:02 wanna travel. I got a trip planned here. I am not
12:05 committing that for no World Cup like nah it takes us
12:10 getting embarrassed for some of these guys be like alright
12:12 remember the nineteen team with Kimba and Marcus Martin? That
12:16 team finished seventh. Yeah. Right? So I mean this is this
12:20 is nothing new and in those teams other teams played
12:23 harder but for LeBron I don't blame him for doing this. I
12:27 think everybody knows okay we're gonna have to bring our
12:31 best guys are y'all down? Then it's Paris. It's a great city.
12:36 You know Japan was hard sell for some post cuz it was right
12:40 during right after the pandemic. There was a lot of
12:42 limitations. There'll be no limitations. It's Paris and
12:47 then let's be honest. The French are gonna be loaded with
12:49 probably Wimbayama. They're gonna be you know axe grind.
12:53 Canada's gonna be there. 48 on that French team. Yeah.
12:57 Germany's Germany, Serbia like you know there's gonna be
13:01 some teams that are like looking to to get at the United
13:04 States. So it's gonna be a competitive tournament. So if
13:07 I'm LeBron, I ain't no problem with him trying to get the guys
13:11 together but I don't think it's like okay I'm a star and all
13:14 y'all go like I think he might play that kinda like advisory
13:19 like old man role like I'll come in and help when it counts.
13:23 Um like Kobe did in 08. Yeah. I just think that the big one of
13:28 the big concerns I have is that Grant Hill, LeBron James,
13:32 whoever you think is putting the next team together is gonna
13:36 take this fantasy league mentality and putting together
13:39 taking like he's a really good player cuz I think this this
13:42 fiber team from a fantasy league standpoint, they should've
13:45 smoked the competition. Uh you got scores, you got guys who
13:51 are athletic but to your point, Gary, you got you got some
13:54 players that have the kind of flaws that get exposed in these
13:57 in these type of international competitions. Like Jaren
14:00 Jackson, the defensive player of the year. He's a foul
14:03 magnet. He he's one of the NBA's leaders in fouls
14:07 prevented play. You can't he's a good player when he's on the
14:10 floor but the problem is he doesn't keep himself on the
14:13 floor and you look at a lot of the fouls he commits to stupid
14:15 fouls. They're just being out of position, being lazy, trying
14:19 to make plays when all you need to do is make your presence
14:22 felt. You don't need to make the play. He's horrible at that.
14:26 Uh and that's a guy that this team was counting on which
14:29 again, that's a little scary. The other thing too and and
14:33 and this is this is just me but I'm not a big fan of Steve
14:37 Kerr as a coach of this team. I'm not at all. I would rather
14:40 see Spelstrom coaching his team. I'd rather see a guy who
14:44 has a track record of team building on the fly at the
14:49 highest levels. He's way better at that than Steve Kerr. Steve
14:52 Kerr got handed what? Three, four Hall of Famers in like a
14:55 four-peer period. It's kinda hard to screw that up. I give
14:58 Steve credit for not screwing it up but it's not that hard to
15:03 win when it's a game that's played with ten players at a
15:07 time and four of the top six are on your team. That you
15:12 gonna win more than you than you're not. Uh you look at the
15:15 teams that Eric Spelstrom has been put together. Um he's won
15:19 with some pretty mediocre teams. The Celtics know that
15:21 firsthand. You look at that roster that sent them home.
15:24 There's no way to hell you should lose a series of the
15:27 the Fools. But they played better and a lot of the the
15:30 the keys to their their success lie in Spelstrom. So that to
15:36 me their team their their they were flawed on two fronts.
15:39 Coach their leadership and the way they're they're put
15:43 together. They just it's just too fantasy league friendly.
15:45 Uh you need guys who can play. Not guys who put up stats. But
15:50 all of that to say now that the way everything has played out
15:54 no allows calling out NBA players saying that you know
15:58 the champs are the best in the world and then FIBA they move
16:00 it losing the FIFA tournament. I just now I'm just kind of
16:04 concerned about Paris. I know that sounds dramatic because
16:07 they are gonna still send the best players in the world but I
16:10 think that being said these other countries we already know
16:13 that people think the US were pretentious and you know
16:16 there's all these stereotypes about who Americans are but I
16:20 feel like the other teams are gonna come hungrier than they
16:23 probably have ever come before just in light of the I think
16:26 the events of the past few weeks. I could be wrong but
16:28 what do you two think? I think I think it's gonna be uh
16:34 totally um a tough tournament. France is gonna have something
16:40 to say. Germany feels like they can beat them. Canada is gonna
16:44 be there and then Serbia is always tricky team. Always a
16:49 good quality club and then you know you gotta I mean
16:52 Australia has had their star power. We'll see what they do.
16:57 Don't forget about Canada. You know, there's gonna be four and
17:01 there's four more open spots for the qualifying. So, who
17:04 knows what it'll be might be Italy or um Montenegro or
17:09 Lithuania. One of those teams are probably gonna qualify.
17:13 It'll be another tough out, right? Cuz you got four more
17:15 spots open. I think you gotta go a South American cuz we
17:19 don't we have not heard anything from Argentina. What
17:22 kind of team they're gonna feel? They've always been, you
17:24 know, they beat the United States almost 20 years ago.
17:26 What are you doing? Yeah. Australia's in there. You know,
17:29 so there's four more spots open for qualifying over over into
17:33 next year. So, I think yeah like these teams are not afraid of
17:38 United States but also the United States isn't respecting
17:42 the World Cup. I know Jerry Colangelo really tried to get
17:46 the get teams and then you know you get young hungry players
17:50 who wanna invest the time like Jalen Bresson postponed or got
17:53 married 2 months early so he could play like some of these
17:56 guys brought their families, newborn kids, and things like
17:59 that because they cuz you're asking these guys very knocking
18:05 on the door of the NBA season to commit three to 4 weeks and
18:08 be you're not gonna be in the United States. You're gonna be
18:11 in Philippines. That's not attractive to some of these
18:13 guys, right? But there is a load of NBA players that you
18:18 could have probably brought. You could have brought John.
18:21 You could've and you gotta figure out do you bring good
18:25 shoes you have asked Zion Williamson if he was healthy
18:27 like there's a bunch of guys who will play on this team. I
18:32 I don't know like and I just think that this is another
18:34 thing where it becomes an opportunity and some of these
18:38 guys aren't ready. You know, Paolo Banchero was should he
18:42 have been on that team? Walker Kessler should he had been on
18:45 that team? Uh and as as much as I as much as I like Austin
18:50 Reeves, he was a defensive liability, you know, but he,
18:54 you know, I'm saying Cameron Cam Johnson like some of these
18:57 guys are good NBA players but they're not stars. Some of them
19:04 will never be all stars. Yeah. So, you're throwing them out
19:07 there against teams who have played together for 15 years
19:11 since they were since they were in youth leagues. The
19:14 Germany. Germany, those are all these guys all know each
19:17 other. Like they've played together for it's it's
19:20 insulting if they don't play for their national team. Mm
19:24 hmm. So, they play, you know, and then who knows what
19:28 happened with Dominican Republic almost qualified. They
19:30 got Carr and he played this **** like they got there's
19:33 gonna be players like this is a big deal. So, they need to
19:37 organize a team now. They need to start getting commitments.
19:40 It's less than a year away. It's in late July. You know, so
19:44 they gotta make they gotta make some stuff happen and is you
19:48 know, I would assume Jason will be interested in going. He I
19:52 think he loved the experience of winning a gold medal. He's a
19:55 second best player in that team in Japan. Jalen didn't get a
19:58 chance to go because of his wrist surgery. He didn't. So,
20:01 and and somebody tweeted, I think it was Rudy Gay like, hey
20:05 man, y'all need to start having tryouts again. Y'all need to
20:08 go at it. Yeah, I believe it. He was like, y'all gotta y'all
20:11 gotta quit handing out certificates to this thing.
20:13 Y'all gotta start. Y'all gotta start going, bringing in thirty
20:16 guys for twelve. And going at each other and maybe that's the
20:21 maybe that's the the solution to the problem. I think it is
20:25 Gary because I mean, you think back to almost every Olympic
20:28 team from like basically 8092 going backwards. There was a
20:34 competition where someone emerged that we had never heard
20:36 of. Like some dude named Dan Marley from freaking Central
20:40 Michigan back in the day. No one knew who the hell he was
20:42 until he started dunking on fools left and right at the
20:45 Olympic trials. The next thing you know, he's an Olympian and
20:48 he's an NBA player who if it wasn't for an opportunity to
20:51 try out and compete against the best, we don't know how good he
20:54 would have been. US needs to get back to that. You need to
20:57 create competition and and and stop in this good try, good
21:01 effort. You're on the team. So I don't care what you did in the
21:05 eighty-two game season on that team that was twenty-four and
21:08 fifty-eight. It don't matter. What can you do when you are in
21:12 a you gotta go the way you do AAU. When you when you go
21:15 against the best players all day, multiple days, and
21:20 typically that's where the top five, top ten stand out. The
21:24 next top ten, top ten come out. And so then you get a clear
21:27 indicator of what type of talent you're dealing with. How
21:31 that that talent works with each other and basically you
21:34 get a better understanding of what you need to do to put
21:36 together a team that can win. Cuz you can put together good
21:38 players easily. Anyone can do that. Well, can you put
21:40 together a team? Can you put together ten, fifteen cats who
21:44 can ball out as a team and not just ball out and get their
21:47 stats. That's what they need to get back to doing cuz it ain't
21:50 happening now. Guys just showed up and they just said, I want a
21:54 team. Yup. Okay. Yeah. Boom. I mean, come on. Nowhere else in
21:58 life does that work that way. So, I hope you too. Oh. But we
22:03 were talking about Germany, two of, we said, two of our former
22:06 friends of the city, Tyson Schroeder, showed out for their
22:10 team. Would you wanna see either of them back here in
22:14 Boston? I'm so, Gary, Gary's like, hell no. That's what I
22:20 look at. He was like, Schroeder was not his friend. Gary, Gary
22:26 went all Bobby Portis on us right there. You see that? Not
22:29 Bobby Portis. That's it. That's it. Listen. Yo, not Bobby
22:35 catching straight. I love you too. And Bobby was balling out
22:39 by the way. True. He was balling out a little bit. No, I I I
22:43 don't think either one of those guys would be a good fit now.
22:46 Ty, I just don't think has anything to offer that you
22:49 could really benefit from over any extended period of time.
22:52 Uh and Schroeder, I just think that should have sailed. Um I
22:56 just think that when a cat leaves the kind of dough on the
23:00 table that he did, you sign him from basically like a just a
23:04 sliver of that and you still trade him in midseason, there's
23:09 there's something not quite right. There's a fit that you
23:11 don't see happening there and the fact that you know, his
23:15 coach at the time, Brad Stevens, is now the GM. He would
23:19 easily have made that call. Yeah. You ain't coming back. So
23:22 and and and you know, Dennis is a good player. Um I think he
23:28 showed a lot of people that he's not just a good basketball
23:33 player. He can actually lead a team. Ever wish you could
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23:43 betting advisor you always needed. It's like having a
23:45 playbook for smarter bets right in your pocket. I've been
23:48 absolutely loving the experience and I think you will
23:51 too. Especially since Celtics all access listeners get a 30
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23:58 betting revolution. Go get it at odds are.com slash Celtics.
24:03 That's odds are.com slash Celtics. Alright, well, moving
24:07 on, the NBA 2K ratings are officially out. I don't know
24:12 how much stock you two take into them. They just seem like
24:15 social media conversation starters but for those who
24:18 didn't get a chance to look at them, Tatum is a ninety-five.
24:22 Brown is a eighty-nine. Porzingis a few points behind
24:25 him with eighty-six. Brogdon's pretty high up there with
24:28 eighty-three and Warford, White, and Williams all have
24:32 eighty-two scores in NBA 2K. What are your reactions? What
24:38 does this mean for the eighteenth banner? I got my
24:41 thoughts but I really wanna be here with Gary. That's what I
24:46 wanna know. Uh I don't know man. I don't like I don't know
24:51 man. I don't know. Come on man. Who judges these things? Um I
24:58 I guess the players get into that like I know the the NFL
25:00 players really get into their rating and they're being
25:02 insulted or be you know that's too low. Um but I just wanna
25:07 see what this team does on the court. Um you know, let's see
25:11 what happens with Malcolm Brogdon. Whether he's healthy.
25:14 Uh you know, it's a couple of weeks before media day. Before
25:17 camp kicks off, right? And we there's still a lot of things
25:21 we don't know about this team that is being kept quiet or
25:23 we'll see what happens if anything gets done before uh
25:26 you know, the the whole training camp thing kicks off.
25:30 You know, there's a couple free ages out there, things like
25:33 that but um I'm not bowled over. Obviously, Tatum's our
25:37 best player. He should be a ninety-five. I'm sure he's
25:39 trying like why am I not a ninety-nine? I don't know who
25:41 is a ninety-nine. You know, is it Giannis? Is it Gokic? So,
25:45 I'm sure I'll be intrigued to see their scores, their
25:48 ratings. Uh what is LeBron? You know, but I think it's a good
25:52 start and in Brown, yeah, B plus eighty-nine. A lot of
25:57 things he can work on to become that A plus player. Um so, I'm
26:02 I'm not insulted. I think the ratings are fine. Uh sounds
26:04 sounds okay. We'll see if they can live up to those ratings.
26:08 Luca, Gokic, and LeBron are all ninety-sevens. That's the
26:12 highest. Wow. From last. Oh, that's earlier in April though.
26:16 This year, Giannis is ninety-seven at the highest.
26:21 Steph ninety-six, Gokic ninety-six, Durant ninety-six
26:25 as well. That was such a PR answer though. That's why I was
26:27 laughing the whole time. You really just was like, I'm
26:30 focused on the season. Yeah, like I was. I'm just doing
26:33 that. Right. I'm not into this two K phase. I thought that you
26:40 went to high school with Nia and I know you went to you went
26:42 to school with Marshawn so you just. I didn't gotta go to
26:46 school with Marshawn. I went to college. No, no, you you go
26:48 from the same neighborhood or. Yeah, I went to I went to
26:51 college with Snarlathan. Yes. And high school would be along.
26:56 I thought. Every two seconds, I learned. Everybody knew this.
27:00 Anybody else? Not the scoop. You went to law school with
27:04 Barack Obama. What about Brenda? Huh? Oh, Brenda. Oh,
27:08 yeah. Regina King also went to high school. Yes. Are you
27:11 serious? Yes. You're done. I'm you know what? I have trust
27:16 issues now. Regina King ran track at Westchester High
27:21 School. Yes. So. Wow. I wish I went to Westchester High
27:27 School just for a lot of people do it cuz it was it was
27:30 Westchester had a lot going on. I was not privy to those
27:35 things. I was not a you know. Yeah, I was not a popular kid
27:42 in high school. I was kind of in the middle but yeah. It's
27:44 okay. You're popular now. Yeah, we had we had actors,
27:48 actresses, Tim Story who who directed the first Barbershop
27:53 went to Westchester like there's a lot of people that
27:57 yeah a lot of a lot of very stars people have done great
28:01 things. So I have one degree of separation to all of these
28:04 stars now and obviously obviously Berkeley, you know,
28:08 but I had an Afro Afro American Studies class with
28:11 Sonali then during my final year of school. So yeah, we
28:15 all friends. We talk. We were like classmates. It wasn't
28:19 like we was homies. No. Yeah. So I got I got so much to say
28:25 Quani that we just don't got enough time for me to say all
28:27 I gotta say. We don't have time. You had all you had Tay
28:29 Diggs, right? That was it. Tay Diggs. I went to college with
28:33 Tay Diggs. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's all I do. I have no one.
28:36 I don't think I have. I got Tay Diggs. I got got dude named
28:40 Dorsey Leves was all pro running back at Green Bay
28:42 Packers. Come on now. I have Luke Teekley. Does that count?
28:47 I got me. Luke Teekley. Oh yeah. The linebacker. Yeah.
28:53 Yeah. That's very good. I thought you were going to say
28:55 Bill Curley. No. A little before me. Reggie Jackson.
29:02 Reggie Jackson. Reggie I miss Reggie by like a few lot of
29:05 years. Yeah. BC doesn't seem that you know. We don't have
29:09 that much going on. We had Justin Simmons who plays for
29:12 the Broncos now. These are all like defensive players. Yeah.
29:16 That we don't have famous people is that well that I
29:19 went to school with at least one day. They got you. One day
29:23 I'll be the famous person. Yeah. That's you. There you go.
29:26 They got you, Kwanee. Little famous person I know. That's so
29:30 sad. Anyway, thanks for sharing that, Gary. Wow, he's opening
29:33 up to us. He likes us. I think that was like I've told people
29:37 that before. I don't like it's not broadcast it. Yeah, it's
29:40 not a conversation starter but yeah like it's a long time ago
29:44 but yeah like if you look at my look at my yearbook Nia's in
29:48 it. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. So, yeah, that's a long time ago
29:51 but yeah, we all Los Angeles produced a lot of pretty
29:55 amazing people. So, I'm trying to see a yearbook. I can't
30:01 wait. I'd have to find my yearbook. Maybe I'll bring it.
30:04 It's a it's a it's around here somewhere. Let me know when
30:07 you're ready to start looking for Gary. I'll help. Yeah, I
30:09 don't look for it. I don't look to my yearbook very often. So,
30:12 I'd have to come. It might even be my mama's house. I don't
30:15 know. It might be here. I think it's I think it's somewhere
30:18 here. Let me I I let me call her up and see. I can I can
30:21 check. Call my mama up and see. This is what happens when you
30:26 share stuff like that. I get it. I get why you don't share it
30:28 often. Understood. But. Understood. Yeah, that's the
30:32 that's the story and I'm sticking to it. Yeah. Well,
30:35 good idea. That's all I got. I mean, we our guy Bobby Manning,
30:40 he reported the Celtics signed Taylor Funk from Utah on a 10
30:44 day. That's not really exhibit ten. Yeah. Oh, sorry.
30:47 Exhibit ten. Oh, you're right. You're right. This is a training
30:50 camp in right. Which I mean, I got one too. So, I'm also
30:55 going to be exhibiting my skills. I'm kidding. Sorry. No
30:59 offense to Taylor Funk but that's not really breaking
31:02 news. It's just more of a little nugget for y'all to take
31:04 home and chew on. Yeah, they got I think twenty-one players
31:08 can come to camp. So, they'll have, you know, they'll have
31:11 guys that they'll share guys in there. Our friend Jay Scrub
31:15 and JD Davidson, you know, they'll they'll have those guys
31:19 in there. So, it should be an interesting camp. I do think.
31:22 Yeah, I do think they need one more player but they need to
31:27 get add somebody but we'll see what happens over the next few
31:30 weeks but it's their year I think. I mean, honestly, people
31:36 keep asking me, what do you think? If there's a year for
31:39 them to do it, this is it. The window. Yeah. I mean, the
31:41 window is here and it's going to be hard. I mean, the Lakers
31:45 are loaded and but the east, Philadelphia got problems.
31:51 Brooklyn's not quite there. Milwaukee, Giannis just said,
31:55 he don't know if he going to extend. He wants to see the
31:57 future of the team and they got a first year coach. Miami has
32:01 done nothing this offseason. They lost Gabe Vincent. They
32:04 lost Max Struess. You know, I think they brought in like
32:07 Thomas Robinson, brought in a couple of smaller guys but if
32:12 the Celtics. Charlotte is a hot mess. Yeah. Oh. What can you
32:18 explain that, Juani? Can you explain that whole thing with
32:22 Kai Jones? What he was saying? Oh, so that one, okay. So, I
32:26 I knew he was Bahamian but he Bahamian as people from
32:29 Bahamas but when I saw the video, it looked like he was
32:33 on something but again, this is not, I don't want to just like,
32:36 I'm, I don't like assumptions. He could have just been really
32:39 excited but he basically went on live and was like, yeah, I
32:42 just talked to management and it sounds like I'm not going to
32:44 get cut, blah, blah, blah but it was a lot of excitement on
32:47 top of an accent. People in the comments thought he was like on
32:51 Perkins said, like, that's what the comments were saying. So,
32:53 it was just a lot going on and I just think that there needs
32:56 to be a more streamlined way to help them realize that you
32:59 just don't need to tell everyone everything on social
33:02 media. I get it. He's Gen Z so like now I feel like O head
33:06 where it's like, you know, you don't have to put everything on
33:09 the internet. Some conversations that you have, I
33:11 get it. He was excited but he's just a little too active online
33:16 and as you know, the entire roster, I just feel like they're
33:19 they have their own personal issues at this point. That's
33:23 for sure. A lot going on in the off season. We're happy for
33:29 him. We do. We are very happy. Terry Rose here. My boy T
33:33 Rose. Yeah, that's interesting team but yeah, I I said before,
33:39 Celtics, this is the year if they're going to do it. I mean,
33:43 it's, you know, it's there for them. I don't see another team
33:47 in the east that's as good. I say it with Philadelphia
33:49 Avenue issues, Milwaukee. We don't know what's going to
33:53 happen with them or are they going to start kicking in. So,
33:58 we'll see but I think I think it's going to be an exciting
34:02 season and I think over the next couple of weeks, you know,
34:04 they'll do the kind of folks will start reporting to Boston
34:07 and they'll start playing a little bit together and start
34:11 getting some runs in and guys will start showing up from
34:15 vacations and. It sounds like they've been doing already
34:18 which is cool. Yeah, they used to be those pictures of
34:21 Horford working out already. It's back in, you know, working
34:24 out in Boston and obviously, we all know the Taylor and
34:27 Pierce workouts and Jalen's been working out doing so. I
34:32 mean, if there's a year, this is it. First full year for
34:35 Missoula in terms of having, you know, this would be
34:38 interesting but full of timeouts. He's he's good.
34:44 But that's that's you know, I'm sorry, Gary. I didn't mean to
34:49 talk about your boy like that. My bad. My bad. I apologize.
34:54 You ain't gonna say nothing but a word. I'm good. I'm good
34:58 with Joe. Me and Joe are good. It should be a good we'll get
35:02 a golf to a fresh start and we'll see if there's any
35:06 changes to his philosophy. Timeouts, three-point
35:10 philosophy, we'll see. Yeah. We'll see the impact that
35:12 Charles Lee and Sam Cassell will have on him. I think that'll
35:15 be interesting to watch. Well said, Gary. Well said.
35:19 Election twenty-four, Gary Washburn. That's my president.
35:24 That's your politician. Well, as always, we appreciate y'all
35:28 for sticking with the shenanigans, listening to the
35:30 podcast, supporting, sharing. If you enjoyed this episode and
35:34 you haven't shared the podcast with a Celtics fan yet, feel
35:38 free to do so but until next week, I'm Kwanye Lunas, A-Shawn
35:42 Blakely, Gary Washburn. This is the A-List Podcast and thank
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36:15 needed. It's like having a playbook for smarter bets right
36:17 in your pocket. I've been absolutely loving the
36:20 experience and I think you will too, especially since Celtics
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