A. Sherrod Blakely, Kwani Lewis, and Gary Washburn recap the Celtics sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals and reflect on Jaylen Brown winning the Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP over Jayson Tatum. They look forward to the NBA Finals and make their guesses on how Tatum will perform in that series, and discuss the recent Stephen A. Smith comments regarding Jaylen Brown.
0:00 - Intro
1:31 - Celtics' impressive victories
5:38 - Jaylen Brown MVP
7:51 - Jaylen's winning plays
10:05 - Jaylen's leadership qualities
13:50 - Tatum's Dominance
16:00 - Perception of Jaylen
20:29 - Jaylen's motivation
23:01 - Criticism in sports media
26:13 - Jaylen's resilience
27:55 - Rookie salary scale
30:56 - Looking ahead to NBA finals
34:04 - Durant's injury update
37:56 - Concerns about Howard's performance
39:51 - Anticipating NBA Finals
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0:00 - Intro
1:31 - Celtics' impressive victories
5:38 - Jaylen Brown MVP
7:51 - Jaylen's winning plays
10:05 - Jaylen's leadership qualities
13:50 - Tatum's Dominance
16:00 - Perception of Jaylen
20:29 - Jaylen's motivation
23:01 - Criticism in sports media
26:13 - Jaylen's resilience
27:55 - Rookie salary scale
30:56 - Looking ahead to NBA finals
34:04 - Durant's injury update
37:56 - Concerns about Howard's performance
39:51 - Anticipating NBA Finals
Prize Picks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS
Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply. Go to https://gametime.co !
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SportsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:03 >> Larry Bird scored 60 points.
00:05 Look at the Boston players smiling.
00:07 >> Michael Jordan is not only the best basketball player, but
00:10 he's the most exciting basketball player to ever play.
00:12 [MUSIC]
00:15 >> 51 for Jason Taylor.
00:18 >> The Big Three NBA podcast is powered by PrizePix,
00:21 the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS Media Network.
00:26 The Boston Celtics are officially heading to the NBA Finals.
00:30 You're listening to the Big Three NBA podcast,
00:32 A'Shad Blakely, Gary Washburn, and Quanie Lunas.
00:35 Guys, they swept the Indiana Pacers.
00:38 Let's just recap the series overall.
00:40 What do you think was the biggest takeaway as they head to the NBA Finals?
00:45 >> They made it, and they made it in almost no significant amount of time
00:50 relative to the rest of the NBA.
00:52 I mean, to go through the multiple series that they've gone through,
00:56 three series, and to only lose two games, it's very impressive.
01:00 And I think the scary part for most of the NBA at this point is that
01:04 the Celtics have been able to win, and you really don't feel as though
01:10 they played one of their best games.
01:12 You don't feel as though you're getting that Celtics team,
01:15 that smash teams by like 50 points in a regular season.
01:18 You feel like you're getting a good version of the Celtics,
01:21 but you haven't really seen a good, good version of the Celtics,
01:24 which again, for them, it's perfect because you want to be trending
01:28 in the right direction as far as how you're playing,
01:30 and that's exactly what they're doing.
01:32 You don't want to peak too soon.
01:33 And the way that they're playing, clearly they've got room to get better,
01:37 room to grow, and yet they're still finding ways to manufacture victories
01:41 along the way.
01:42 And it says a lot about this team.
01:44 It says a lot about Joe Mazzulla and that coaching staff,
01:47 and they are exactly where you'd want to be at this point in the season.
01:53 Yeah, I think it's an example that they have learned from their past failures
01:57 and their shortcomings and some of the bad things that have happened
02:00 over the last playoff years, going 12-2.
02:03 And as I recall, keep repeating that great '08 team that everybody said
02:09 was the greatest, one of the great--they went 16-10 in the playoffs.
02:14 By the time they got to the finals, they had already lost eight times.
02:19 They were 12-8 entering the NBA Finals.
02:22 The Celtics are 12-2.
02:24 So this year, the Celtics are 12-2.
02:27 Now, obviously, the competition was better.
02:30 They faced some great teams.
02:31 They faced LeBron, all that.
02:33 So I'm not saying that their team was worse, but I'm just saying,
02:37 put in perspective, the '08 team, the one that everybody talks about,
02:42 lost eight playoff games at this point.
02:44 So the Celtics are finding ways to win.
02:47 "Well, Indiana could have been up 3-1."
02:49 Well, they weren't because they couldn't execute.
02:52 Just like the Celtics could have been up 3-1 in the finals in that Game 4
02:57 and they didn't execute, and they didn't execute in the Game 6 either,
03:01 or Game 5.
03:03 What separates the good teams from the great teams is execution down the stretch.
03:09 And the Celtics, for years, did not have that,
03:11 did not have that execution, and now they do.
03:15 And I think that just says a lot about their growth,
03:19 the presence of Drew Holiday, the improvement of Jalen Brown,
03:23 the playmaking of Jason Tatum, Derek White, I mean, all of guys.
03:27 So I just take away from the first two rounds--
03:33 sorry, three rounds, my fault--three rounds that this team knows how to win,
03:38 and we'll see how they adjust because obviously it's going to be
03:42 the ultimate challenge in the finals, whether it's Dallas or Minnesota,
03:44 likely Dallas, but to me, you can't--
03:49 if they had smashed all their opponents, everybody would say,
03:53 "Well, we smashed them all, so what? They go to a competition.
03:57 They won't know how to execute down the stretch."
04:00 Then they win close games, "Well, you should have blown Indiana out.
04:03 You would have been some hell of a burden."
04:05 There's no winning for this team because look at the other teams.
04:09 Minnesota's got their flaws. It's flaws.
04:12 Dallas looked terrible in their first round,
04:15 game one against the Clippers. They got blown off the floor.
04:19 They got blown off the floor and lost in game one against Oklahoma City.
04:23 They've had all their flaws too.
04:26 So the Celtics got blown out once, that Cleveland game.
04:32 The Miami game, they were highly competitive, but Miami had
04:35 that record-breaking 3.9, but to me, Celtics have handled their business.
04:39 Now they get more than a week off, chill, practice, reflect.
04:44 I think, like Howard Horford pointed out, I kind of forgot.
04:48 They won that game in Miami. I think that--I forgot if that was a Friday
04:52 or Sunday, but it was like game one was Thursday in San Francisco.
04:57 They had to basically go home, get their stuff,
05:01 and then travel the next day to San Francisco for media day.
05:05 I want to say it was like a Thursday or whatever it was.
05:08 So they didn't have any time to decompress, get healthy, reflect, relax, nothing.
05:14 They had to go play the Warriors.
05:16 This time, they got some practice time, tried to get Porzingis back,
05:21 but to me, taking care of your business, TCB.
05:25 Youngsters don't know what that means.
05:27 That's something me and Sherrod grew up with.
05:29 TCB, taking care of your business. Take care of business.
05:32 -Look it up. -Business.
05:34 Take care of business.
05:36 Yes, sir.
05:37 All right, Jalen Brown named the Eastern Conference Finals MVP.
05:42 Gary, you actually had a vote and voted for Jalen Brown.
05:46 I think this one would be less controversial than your Carmelo one, but--
05:50 -Well done, Karlie. Well done. -Wow.
05:53 -Wow, you got to bring that up. -I had to.
05:55 Every few months, you have to bring it up.
05:57 -That one dude. -Were you too surprised?
06:01 Obviously, Gary, you voted so you wouldn't be that surprised,
06:05 but were you, Sherrod, at least surprised that Jalen won?
06:09 Surprised as he said he was too.
06:12 He was like, "I don't win bleep."
06:15 A little bit, only because it wasn't that I didn't think he deserved it.
06:21 I just didn't think he'd get the credit for what he did.
06:24 You look at his numbers in those four games,
06:26 he averaged damn near 30 points, five rebounds, three assists,
06:29 shot 51.7% from the field.
06:32 He did everything for that team in his four-game sweep
06:37 and clearly was the best player overall.
06:42 Tatum had moments where he was really good
06:44 and reminded us why he's such a special talent,
06:47 but in terms of elite consistency, Jalen Brown was the best player on his team.
06:51 Jalen shot better, at least 50% from the field in all four games.
06:55 I don't know if Jalen has ever had a four-game stretch in his NBA career
06:59 where he shot that well from the field over a four-game period of time.
07:04 So surprised that he got the credit for it,
07:07 but not surprised in him deserving it, if that makes sense.
07:12 No, I agree with you. Gary, what made you vote for him?
07:15 Well, it was close.
07:17 I was talking with another reporter in the press box
07:19 and we were both going, "Who are you going to vote for?"
07:22 It basically came down to who had the better gain in game four
07:27 was probably going to get the vote.
07:29 And then Tatum was playing well, but then Jalen hit that early three,
07:37 because it was 89-82.
07:39 Remember, Jalen hit that step-back three off Myles Turner,
07:44 and during the timeout, they said it was after the shot clock expired,
07:49 so they took it back. So the Celtics were down seven.
07:52 It was like, "Oh, boy." I thought then they were done.
07:55 They're down seven. They're not going to make it up.
07:58 But then Jalen came right back and hit another three, making four points.
08:02 And then just his playmaking, that block on Nimhard,
08:06 and then that draw in, sucking in the defenders
08:08 and passing to Derek White in the corner, to me, that was the plays.
08:13 He won them. He was the reason why they were able to win game one
08:17 with that three-pointer. Game two, he came back with a 40-piece.
08:21 Game three, he was okay, solid.
08:24 That was more Tatum game than game four.
08:26 He just made the winning plays.
08:29 So Tatum, I mean, if he had won, I would have had no problem with it.
08:34 It was 5-4, but I just felt like Jalen had just made
08:39 those decisive winning plays when the game counted to lift the team,
08:43 because this was a close series, even though it was a sweep,
08:47 and Jalen was responsible for essentially three of the wins.
08:50 I mean, if you look at his numbers, which I've done, 29.8 points,
08:57 five rebounds, three assists, two steals, 51% from the field,
09:04 37 from the three-point line. Tatum, 30.3, 10.3 rebounds,
09:10 6.3 assists, 1.3 steals, but 46% from the field
09:15 and 30.6% from the three-point line.
09:18 So Jalen had more steals, better shooting percentage,
09:22 better three-point percentage than Jason.
09:28 So it's close, but then you put those winning plays,
09:33 and to me, that was what put them over the top.
09:38 Yeah, and that was the separator between those two,
09:41 the fact that Jalen made significant impact plays.
09:45 Tatum is going to get you 25 points in his sleep.
09:49 He's that damn good, but a lot of the points that he was getting
09:53 really weren't game-changing, game-altering,
09:57 putting the Celtics over the top type plays,
09:59 and Jalen made a lot of those plays and made them at both ends of the floor,
10:03 and that, when you talk about someone as the MVP,
10:06 whether it's MVP of a game, of a series, of a league,
10:09 that's what you have to do.
10:11 You have to put your imprint on games in winning fashion,
10:15 and Jalen did that at just a consistently high level,
10:19 much more so than Tatum did.
10:22 There have been jokes and memes, and people create their own narratives
10:26 of how Tatum may have felt about not winning,
10:29 but I imagine this would stoke up a flame in him to want to perform
10:34 at an even higher level in the finals, right?
10:38 Tatum's going to be finals MVP.
10:40 I'm going to say it right. Tatum's going to be finals MVP,
10:43 and he's going to earn it.
10:45 He's going to have the stats to back it up.
10:47 He's going to have the game to be that dude
10:50 because he knows that he's supposed to be the face of the franchise,
10:55 and Robin, his sidekick, showed him up.
10:58 Jalen was better, and the thing about it is there's nothing--
11:01 if you're Tatum, you can't hate on him for that because he was better than you.
11:05 He was absolutely better than you.
11:07 So I think Tatum is going--
11:11 we're going to see the best version of Jason Tatum in this series.
11:14 I have very, very little doubt about that.
11:18 - Yeah. - Moving on.
11:20 - Oh, yeah, I agree. I mean-- - He's like, "I-- you know."
11:23 I think Jason could have won it, but I also think it's inherently--
11:26 Jason is happy for Jalen.
11:28 I think he understands how hard Jalen works,
11:31 and Jalen's been through some-- you know, we can talk about that,
11:34 the criticism, not making it all NBA team,
11:36 and the stuff with Stephen A. Smith that, you know, really was unnecessary to me.
11:43 Unnecessary, and people want to tend to point out a lot of Jalen's faults.
11:48 "Oh, Jim, left hand, he's trash, he's left hand."
11:51 You know, this, that, the other, and the dude is a ball player.
11:55 He's a ball player, he's got some mean-- he's got a dog hitting.
11:59 And I think they are-- there's never been a time in their time together
12:04 that they blended together so well as they have right now.
12:09 And just along those same lines, Gary, the one thing that I think has jumped out
12:13 in this particular series is Jalen's leadership.
12:18 When you see just the conversations that the cameras are panning onto
12:22 in the locker room after games, you listen to what some of the guys
12:25 are saying about him when he was mic'd up for the one game where, you know,
12:28 he's trying to keep-- Tatum was having a not-so-great game, and he was saying,
12:32 "Hey, big deuce, we need you to do this, big deuce."
12:35 Little things like that that show his growth as a leader.
12:39 And I think it was your question in one of the postgame pressers
12:43 where he talked about having Marcus Smart move on
12:46 and how he wants to fill that void from a leadership standpoint.
12:49 It hits a little different when arguably the first or second best player
12:56 is taking on that role as a leader versus one of your better players,
13:01 which was the case with Marcus Smart.
13:03 Jalen's ability to just take that burden on himself, it has a much more
13:11 substantive feel about it for these players because you know that,
13:14 "Yeah, he's saying that he's on me and wants accountability,
13:17 but he is dropping 40 in a damn playoff game.
13:21 He is killing it at both ends of the floor.
13:24 Maybe I should just step my game up because he's clearly stepped his game up."
13:29 We finally figured out how this is going to work.
13:34 Jalen has to be, I think, that vocal leader that Jason Tatum,
13:37 I just don't think, is built to be.
13:39 And that's not a knock on Tatum, that's just who he is.
13:42 At the same time, Jalen is comfortable enough in who he is to go out there
13:48 and be a dominant player, but still make sure there's room for Tatum
13:51 to do what he do.
13:53 It feels as though these two have finally figured out the cheat code
13:58 for how they can coexist and be incredibly dominant players on the same night,
14:04 in the same game, and lead this team to where they are now,
14:07 and that's four wins away from Banner 18.
14:10 As the NBA and NHL seasons start to wind down,
14:13 things are just heating up in the WNBA and on the baseball front.
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14:43 For me, one of my go-to guys has been Jason Tatum of the Boston Celtics,
14:46 who, when it comes to rebounding, I'm going more almost every time.
14:51 He was great for me during the Eastern Conference Finals against Indiana
14:54 when he reached double-digit rebounds in three of the four games.
14:57 That's what I'm talking about, JT.
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15:17 Darryl, you mentioned the Jalen Brown-Steven A. incident.
15:24 I guess we should talk about it because Steven A., for those that didn't hear about it,
15:29 Steven A. cited an anonymous source saying that people don't like Jalen Brown
15:33 because he's not marketable and he has a big ego, which I think the three of us would agree
15:38 that we've never really seen that.
15:41 Jalen actually quoted it asking Steven A. to state his source,
15:46 and then Isaiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons, not Celtics, he gets on Twitter and starts defending Jalen.
15:53 What do you two make of this incident in general?
15:56 It just feels like a distraction, to be honest.
15:59 Yeah. Gary, you talk to him about it. What do you got?
16:02 I feel like, how do I put this? I think ever since Jalen entered the draft, he's a very smart kid.
16:11 He's a kid who, I mean, this is my alma mater, he's a kid from Atlanta that went to Cal.
16:17 That only happened once before with Sharif Abdul-Rahim.
16:21 Who went to the same high school as Jalen.
16:23 Yeah, and went from Atlanta to go to UC Berkeley. That just don't happen.
16:28 Jalen's a thinker. I think he is just a guy where guys are going to Cancun and going to all these.
16:36 He's going to Africa. He's going to Egypt. He's learning about the pyramids.
16:40 He's going to Spain. He's learning different cultures.
16:44 He's learning different philosophies and ways of life. He practices Ramadan.
16:48 I think he has a lot of things on his mind.
16:52 When he said he wanted to help men bring together and close the disparity gap, wealth disparity gap between blacks and whites in Boston.
17:01 Who says that? How many people say that?
17:04 I mean, he's got a lot on his mind. He's got the world on his shoulders.
17:08 And I think that since he's entered the draft, that's rubbed some people the wrong way.
17:14 Some people like their ballplayers not all that damn smart.
17:18 And I just think, let's be honest, that's how it is. And you talk about if it's a race thing or whatever.
17:24 But some people like their ballplayers just to be about ball.
17:29 I mean, I think maybe like a certain quarterback who stood on his knee, stood at the knee of the anthem, was never got back to the NFL.
17:40 So I think that that is what intimidated certain people.
17:44 I think if you are looking for someone to be smiling in your face and shaking your hand, Jalen's not that guy.
17:50 Jalen can be intimidating. If you look at him and you want to be buddies with him or whatever, you know, sometimes you got to talk his language, you know, and it's not rap music and it's not, you know, it's not Kendrick against Drake.
18:06 It's not some of the things that made me get other guys his age going.
18:10 And so I understand what his perceptions of him has been over the years.
18:18 He's a guy who came out of college and did not hire an agent for three until his first rookie deal.
18:25 He went without an agent. Why should I pay an agent? I'll just hire somebody pro bono and just negotiate.
18:31 This ain't that hard. Like that's what that pisses some people off because he's going against the grain.
18:38 And Jalen's been that guy. And so I do think that there's people that probably think negatively of him or think he's a know it all or he thinks he's all that or he thinks he's smarter than everybody else or smarter than people.
18:51 But I didn't understand the concept of bringing that up randomly from a quote unquote NBA source, which is very vague.
18:58 The day before the final game.
19:00 You know, and it just, you know, I said, like, I don't think Steven feels that way.
19:05 I think he was trying to add some perspective into the conversation.
19:09 And it probably and it was hurtful because Jalen, as much as we can, you know, he's 26 years old, 27 years old.
19:16 I'm like, you know, like when someone says something about you, when you get to a certain age, you don't care.
19:22 But when they say something about you, 27, you're like, what you say, what you're talking about, why you say that about me?
19:28 What's up with that? Like, you know, we've seen the sensitive athlete.
19:32 Kevin Durant is mad sensitive. There's grown athletes who are extremely sensitive to what people say about them.
19:40 So I think it was an unfortunate incident.
19:43 And I was Stephen Ayer said, hey, I didn't say that about him. I think the world of him and we continue to talk about him.
19:48 That was just one thing I brought up. But when you bring up something that someone said anonymously, you know, it's like someone saying.
19:57 Anybody said about us? Yeah, Kwanee, someone told me you.
20:03 But I ain't gonna tell you who it is. And, you know, I'm not.
20:07 And I don't feel that way, but I'm just saying this is what I feel that way.
20:10 I'm not going to take a perspective. I'm not going to tell you if they're close to you.
20:14 You know, we've all had that somebody, you know, someone said, well, when you found out who it was, like, I don't even talk to that person.
20:21 Like I've never had two conversations with that person. And they're like saying that I'm this like we've never even had a we've never even talked for more than three minutes.
20:31 Like, how are they making a statement about me? So I understand where Jalen was coming from.
20:38 And he probably needs to get over it because I don't think it's that important.
20:42 But I think that's a testament to what he feels like throughout his career.
20:47 People have been, you know, criticize him not make it all NBA, always being kind of the number two guy to Robin on this team.
20:55 And I think he respects Jason. I don't think he blames Jason at all.
20:59 But I think he's like, how come I don't get some of that some of that piece of that pie either?
21:04 You know, I'm a marketable guy. But also, I think it's like Jalen, we want you to advertise this product.
21:10 He's probably like, well, I don't use that. I'm not advertising that.
21:13 Or what's how much you got? How much money you going to contribute to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Roxbury?
21:18 And they're like, nothing. Well, I ain't going to talk about because Jalen was there when they put that Kobe Bryant court.
21:26 He showed up to the girls, boys, girls, the Roxbury a couple of months ago to dedicate the jail.
21:32 I mean, the Kobe Bryant court, Kobe and Gianna Bryant.
21:36 What about, you know, I said what some people are mad about because we put a Kobe like, oh, wait, kidding me.
21:46 So I think Jalen is just I think he's putting all this together and using it as fuel, using the motivation.
21:55 But I also think it's unfortunate because I think it's unfair to him.
21:58 Some of them like just some of the criticism Jason's face has been unfair.
22:02 This playoffs, you know, and there have to be conversation pieces.
22:07 There's a big guys that always want to talk about things.
22:10 And that's just the society that we're in today, that someone's someone at the blue has got to have a comment.
22:16 You just got to talk about something, even though you don't know a lot about it.
22:20 You just got to have your two cents. Like I remember when Sherrod and I grew up, it was like, don't talk about stuff you don't know about.
22:28 And don't put your two cents in, you know, unless you really, really ready to defend your opinion.
22:34 Don't just say something to say something. Don't put your two cents in like that, especially you don't know what you're talking about.
22:40 But now people, everybody with social media, everybody has an opinion.
22:45 Everybody is an insider. Everybody knows what they're talking about.
22:50 You got insiders who haven't even been in arenas.
22:53 It's like the Chappelle skit where it's like, who wants to hear what Ja Rule thinks?
22:58 Like, nobody cares. But one person, this insider was criticizing the crowd at the TV Garden for game two because it wasn't loud enough.
23:10 But it wasn't at the game. Watched it on TV.
23:14 It said the crowd at TV Garden's got to step up. They was quiet.
23:19 You know what ESPN does? The TNT doesn't. ESPN suppresses the crowd sound.
23:25 So it doesn't sound as loud. How you going to criticize a crowd?
23:31 Crowd noise and you weren't at the game. That's different.
23:35 Yeah. Like you weren't even there, man. Yeah. Like how you.
23:39 But that's what we're doing here. That's what we're doing.
23:43 People are trying to be relevant, really not without an apology.
23:47 No apologies. No. Hey, my bad. I wasn't there.
23:51 You know. You know, it's just like people.
23:54 I want, you know, like people like, oh, were you at the incident?
24:00 No, I wasn't. I didn't happen to me, but I was emotionally scarred by watching it.
24:05 So I'm very I'm I'm filing a lawsuit.
24:09 Like she wasn't even there, man.
24:13 Where was you at? Well, I wasn't there. I came there later.
24:17 But what I know that you expert, like, no, you're not an expert.
24:21 So this is sad that that's how it is.
24:24 And that's what these young athletes have to deal with.
24:27 Everybody's an insider. Everybody has a comment.
24:30 And no one apologizes and says, hey, I didn't know what I was talking about.
24:34 Or I had some bad information, you know.
24:38 So Jalen is needs to move on. Look forward to the finals.
24:42 And I think you know, the NBA finals have finally arrived and will once again be one of the hottest tickets in sports.
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26:12 And I think in many respects he has.
26:15 I think one of the things that helps him deal with this type of stuff is the fact that he literally came his birth into the NBA, was getting booed on draft.
26:26 And that is something that, you know, it is something that he has kept with him all these years later.
26:33 I know because whenever I brought it up, he was like, oh, yeah, I remember.
26:37 I'll never forget that. And it's understandable why he's like many athletes.
26:42 He's often trying to find that one little extra something that can give you that little added motivation to go out and be the best version of yourself.
26:50 And Jalen never has a shortage of opportunities to do that because he has often been second guessed and doubted and criticized for things that just don't really make a lot of sense.
27:04 Jalen is one of those players that is very comfortable with those around him being uncomfortable.
27:10 He's not trying to make sure that everyone around him is happy go lucky.
27:16 That's not who Jalen Brown is. He is about his business. He is about more than anything else.
27:22 He's a thinker. And you don't have to agree with all that he's thinking about.
27:26 But, damn it, he is going to put thought into pretty much everything he does.
27:29 And often what happens is that when you do that, you actually use this thing we like to call common sense and make decisions.
27:38 And often that's not what people are going to judge you on.
27:41 And so that's where the rubber meets the road where he's making decisions. For example, as Gary pointed out with the rookie salary scale, I never understood why players as rookies get agents because there's a scale for rookies.
27:55 You literally already know what you're going to get the moment you get drafted.
28:00 You know what the max is, you know what the minimum is, and you can just kind of negotiate from there.
28:06 Your agent, that's just agents, they steal money off their rookie contract. If we're being honest and real, Jalen gave us thought clearly and realized, why am I going to let this man steal money from me when I can just have the services that they would provide for less money?
28:24 It's just thinking it makes sense.
28:27 So Jalen, to me, I love it when I hear the second guessing and criticism because I know for a guy that's always looking for that, he doesn't have to look far.
28:37 And he shows time and time and time again that he's one of the best players in NBA.
28:43 And as I touched on earlier about Jalen, the thing that impressed me the most during his recent run is just his leadership.
28:50 It was the one thing that I thought this championship squad absolutely needed someone to really grab the bull by the horns and take control and be that steady presence, that voice on and off the court.
29:03 And as much as y'all know I love me some Marcus Smart, that's my dog for life.
29:07 He wasn't able to elevate the guys around him the way that a Jalen Brown can.
29:13 Even though they may have very similar messages and they may have very similar intentions, the fact that Jalen Brown can go out there and get you 40 and it not really be that big a shock is different than Marcus Smart going out there and get you 40, which I don't think has ever happened.
29:27 And that ability to be an elite player, impact difference maker on and off the court, that's what separates him.
29:36 And frankly, the fact that he's doing it in a way that doesn't align itself with how many people in the media want him to do it and folks who are looking to market athletes want him to carry himself, it robs people the wrong way.
29:52 It makes people wonder if he's just hard to get along with it.
29:57 I mean, again, we can have a much deeper conversation about just the implicit biases that a lot of folks have towards Jalen Brown, based upon how they perceive athletes, particularly black athletes are supposed to be and how you're supposed to act and how you're supposed to just fall in line because you should be thankful that you got this job making 300 million or 285 whatever number you want to use.
30:19 The bottom line is this Jalen is an individual and he is an uncompromising individual.
30:26 He does not try to move at the beat that you set. He moves at the beat that moves him. And sometimes that rhythm is not one that most people can understand comprehend or embrace.
30:37 And I personally like that about him.
30:40 There are some decisions that he makes that I don't agree with, but I respect the fact that the decisions he does make are well thought out.
30:47 And that to me ultimately makes for a better decision in the long run.
30:54 So looking ahead to the NBA finals, we still don't know exactly who the Celtics will be playing, but they're most likely playing Dallas, which would be interesting because then we get the Kyrie Irving Boston Celtics.
31:06 It's juicy already in itself. But one person that hasn't played since the April 29th game, which was against Miami, is Chris Asprzingis.
31:18 So it's not lost upon any of us that the Celtics have been able to get this far without one of their stars.
31:24 So if he's not ready for the NBA finals, which would start on June 6th, what is your level of concern that he might not even play for the rest of the season?
31:36 I would be a little concerned because he has had, I mean, there was this period of time where they said there were reports that he might be able to play in the Indiana series.
31:48 And obviously after they went up three zip, you pretty much knew he wasn't going to play in game four.
31:54 If he's not able to go now that he's had an additional week and some change to get his body right, and all they've been saying all along is that this is precautionary, this is precautionary.
32:05 We have moved beyond precautionary because you are at the point where you literally, this is why you traded for him for the NBA finals.
32:15 This is why he is here. And if he's not able to go, that is a major red flag that whatever he's dealing with, either it's worse than they've led us to believe, or there has been some type of setback that they're not being completely or even partially transparent about.
32:32 And that has the potential to derail what has been an amazing season for this team.
32:39 Yeah, you would like to think he'll be back for game one. You'd like to think that he's going to spend this week off working out, ramping up five on five, getting himself completely prepared to be in that starting lineup for game one.
32:52 But we really don't know. I mean, he does walk normally. He's at shoot around. It's not like he's got a boot on. He's way past that.
33:03 We haven't really seen him work out in about a week. We didn't see him work out at all in Indianapolis. I'm not saying he didn't, but by the time we were allowed him to shoot around, you know, he was sitting there and he was done.
33:15 So we don't really know what his status is in terms of like, oh, he's closed. We keep hearing he's closed.
33:23 I just think talking to a doctor about this injury, there was three kinds of strains. And I think the most severe was four to six weeks.
33:33 But I think what I keep hearing it was the second most, which was two to three weeks.
33:38 And now we're at four. And like Sherrod said, the fact they're up three nothing, it's like, why are we going to throw them out there for 12 minutes in a high level game?
33:48 Indiana's desperate and he hasn't done a whole bunch of five on five.
33:53 That's foolish. Now you have a whole period of time practice where you can get these three on threes and then get on to five on five and be up to par, although he's not going to be in great basketball shape.
34:05 It doesn't happen to you playing games, but at least he'll be ready to play maybe 20 minutes in game one.
34:11 And then you get two days off, I believe, before game two and then get ramp up even more and be probably 100 percent by then.
34:19 So I don't think that it's a situation where I don't think he's going to play the finals.
34:26 But I do think it's getting to the point like, OK, he's got to ramp up here.
34:31 Like this is the time he needs to be doing sprints and figuring it out.
34:35 If not, it is a worse injury than we were told.
34:39 We have not been told what kind of strain it is or whether it's a third degree strain, second degree or first degree strain or whatever.
34:49 I think the second degree is what it is, but it could be a third third one, which which means he probably wouldn't be back at all or maybe make the series.
34:59 But I just think, quite honestly, that he is going to be ready for game one.
35:06 Before we close out, let's look at the bench, because obviously Jaylin and Jason Drew and Derek, they can only do so much.
35:15 But Pritchard has had his moments of strong play throughout the playoffs.
35:19 How's there, Sam? How's there? Not necessarily.
35:21 But that's a minute. Cornett have been a roller coaster of a ride.
35:25 So one, who do you guys think is a reserve that needs to have a big impact in the finals?
35:33 We got Gary. I don't know what to make a Hauser, but he was terrible.
35:40 I mean, he was one for 14 from the three point line in the Indiana series.
35:45 He averaged less than two points. You know, he just made some mistakes in terms of getting some bad fouls.
35:53 He got beat on defense. You know, maybe it was just a bad stretch for him.
36:00 Right. But you need somebody to stretch the floor. You need a shooting out there.
36:05 And if it's one, if you're going one for 14, there's it could be mental out there because he is just not even close to somebody's wide open looks.
36:15 He's getting and he makes everything so much easier for the Celtics when he's knocking down those three point point shots.
36:25 So I'm kind of intrigued as to what they're going to do with him.
36:29 Will they give. For a sec, more playing time.
36:35 I mean, he actually played 21 minutes in this series and he was decent.
36:39 He was a plus when he was on the floor, didn't score much, but was able to be active defensively.
36:46 Get a get three steals in his 21 minutes.
36:50 But I'm how to the guy that I'm concerned about, because this is kind of what happened in pre sorry, playoff seasons, post seasons past where he just kind of disappears.
37:05 And he's not a factor and he's not a defender or plus rebounder where, well, he did not hit a shot.
37:12 He could make other plays and he was able to get eight rebounds. So, you know, a defensive rebounds forces to steals two blocks, but still not nearly enough.
37:23 He scored seven points in the series in 59 minutes. Like that's just.
37:29 And I said a lot of those open looks. Yes, it gave for you had a lot of he hit one.
37:35 And he hit a layup. I'm sorry, he got found a layup in a couple of free throws. But, you know, he's just been awful.
37:43 And I don't know whether it's mental schematic where the defenses are, but he's got to start knocking down shots because he can really open up this offense.
37:54 If he could be a factor in the fight. Yeah, I mean, I agree with Gary.
37:59 It has to be how he's the one guy on that second unit that you really when you look at what they did up to this point, it's it's bad.
38:10 I mean, others have had moments where they look really good and other times they struggle.
38:15 Hauser has not had any good looking moments in the postseason up to this point.
38:18 Certainly not in the in the, you know, in the conference finals against Indiana.
38:23 And I don't think it was a schematic thing that Indiana did, because, again, as Gary pointed out, he had a lot of great looks.
38:29 Tatum and Brown had the ability to force defenses and suck them in like a black hole and kick it out to him for wide open or lightly contested shots that he just simply did not knock down.
38:40 It was mental. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that what he was going through was a mental block that he has to get over.
38:47 And the thing about guys like Sam Houser is that they're too good to stay in a slump forever.
38:54 The law of averages tells you that they're going to go through a stretch where they're just not going to miss.
39:00 We're just like he's going through now where we're stressed, where he can't make a shot.
39:03 So I expect him to be a significant impact performer in the finals because the law of averages says so.
39:11 He's a guy that when all is said and done, he's going to be shooting anywhere from high 30s, low 40s, from three point range.
39:19 And for that to happen, he's probably going to have to be shooting on the north side of 50 percent for most of the finals,
39:25 which is something that he has the ability to do not only because of his talent, but also because of the talent around him and their ability to create opportunities for him to knock down those type of shots.
39:35 So I anticipate a big NBA finals series from Sam Houser in just simply because he's due and he's too good a shooter not to have a stretch like that.
39:49 Well, by Tuesday evening, we'll know exactly who the Celtics will be.
39:52 Well, we might know who the Celtics will be playing.
39:56 She already got them sweating.
39:57 I know.
39:58 It's like, wait a minute.
39:59 It's like, hold up.
40:00 Anything is possible.
40:02 All I know, all I know is I got an email from the Timberwolves saying that that gave a limited number of game five tickets are on sale.
40:09 So they're ready.
40:11 They expect that dub in the D.
40:14 It's just like, oh, really?
40:17 OK, there's a refund with that, right?
40:20 Look, I'm just saying.
40:22 I'm just saying.
40:23 Right. That's a good point, actually.
40:24 But until then, this has been a great kind of wrapping up of the series, the playoffs so far for the Celtics.
40:31 Obviously, they've been doing great, great run.
40:33 So, of course, we're all looking forward to the NBA finals.
40:37 And we appreciate you guys sticking around with us here on the big three NBA podcast.
40:41 So when we find out who they're playing, we'll be back.
40:44 We'll debrief.
40:45 We'll preview the NBA finals formally.
40:48 But until then, Rayshard Blakely and Gary Washburn.
40:50 I'm Spottie Lunas.
40:51 And thank you for listening.
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