On this episode of the Big 3 NBA podcast, A. Sherrod Blakely and Gary Washburn discuss Neemias Queta, the Big man situation with the Celtics, Jaylen Brown and his injury, and Joe Embiid's 3-game suspension following an incident in Philadelphia. All that, and much more!
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SportsTranscript
00:00The Big 3 NBA Podcast is powered by PrizePix, the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the
00:23CLNS Media Network.
00:25Hello folks, welcome to another edition of The Big 3 NBA Podcast, it's H. Rob Blakely
00:31with Gary Washburn.
00:33Kwanye Lunas is not going to be with us today, but she promises she'll be back in the mix
00:37next week, so that'll be good to hear.
00:40Good to see Kwanye back, getting, Kwanye getting a little downtime.
00:45What's going on, Gary?
00:46How you doing?
00:47Pretty good.
00:48Everything's good.
00:49Yeah.
00:50I mean.
00:51Good.
00:52Good.
00:53I mean, we're still in our world, but, you know, just like everybody else, just waiting
01:00for the results and figuring out what direction we're going in.
01:04Yeah.
01:05Yeah.
01:06Yeah.
01:07And for those who have been under the rock for the last three and a half years, Gary
01:11is referring to the U.S. presidential election, which is taking place today.
01:16And you know, and Gary, we've both been around long enough to know that or have experienced
01:22it being kind of over that night.
01:26That ain't going to happen, this go around, and we may never see that day again where
01:31it's done in a night.
01:33It'll be interesting to see how all this plays out.
01:37But obviously, all we can do at this point is just wait it out.
01:41But I tell you what, your boss in Celtics ain't waiting to put that beat down on people.
01:48That was a terrible transition, but yeah, you know, OK, good job.
01:54Good effort.
01:55That was a great transition, but we get it.
02:01As I was saying, Gary Washburn, you're down in Atlanta.
02:06You saw what happened with the Hawks, Celtics with a 30 point win, lots of different players
02:11stepped up in that game, obviously do a lot of really good things, but I wanted us to
02:15kind of kick things off talking a little bit about you, about your boy Kato, got his
02:19first NBA start.
02:20What were your impressions of what he was able to do out there?
02:23Well, I thought he got a little tired early, lacked a little energy, but he was able to
02:29work himself into the game and get up to the tempo because obviously a fast tempo when
02:34games started, probably a little bit faster than he expected.
02:39But I thought he did well.
02:40I think he's learning out there.
02:42I think he's doing the things that everybody kind of envisioned when they saw him when
02:46he first came on to the Celtics and he was seven foot guy, looks menacing, you said another
02:54guy you don't want to see in a dark alley and looks like with the right coaching and
02:59direction and development, he can be a difference maker in the paint.
03:03He's not going to be a superstar scorer.
03:06He's not going to average 25 points a game, but he's going to get your rebounds and get
03:10your block shots.
03:12He's a rim threat in terms of rim running and alley-oops and decent free throw shooter.
03:19So a guy that the Celtics can really work with for the long term future.
03:24He's only 25 years old, so he's got quite a few years ahead of him.
03:28So I just think he's starting to turn into the player that we envisioned.
03:34He's been now a full year in the Celtics system.
03:37Last year, obviously, most of the time on a two way, played a few ball games, played
03:42a couple of playoff games, didn't really make that much of an impact in the playoffs, but
03:47just was there for the ride and is in there to practice and get better and he's starting
03:52to get better.
03:53And I just think that was a real vote of confidence to start him alongside Al Horford in Atlanta
03:58and he ended up doing well, plus 31 in his 23 minutes, which was tied for the highest
04:04in that game along with Derek White.
04:07He's a volume rebounder.
04:09He's not Andre Drummond out there or anything where he's going to be pulling down 18 boards,
04:13but he'll get you some boards, he'll get you a block shot or two, as I said, a threat at
04:17the rim.
04:19His whole thing is defensive positioning, being in the right place and staying out of
04:23foul trouble.
04:24If he can do that, he can develop into the center of the future, a guy who can put in
04:31the paint for the next five years to join Tatum and Brown, a guy who can play and start
04:37in this league.
04:38Yeah.
04:39I mean, the thing about him that I really like, first of all, he's actually looking
04:44to make an impact beyond setting screens.
04:47He knows he has more to offer than that and his second jump defensively is what really
04:53jumps out to me.
04:54It's as close as we've seen to Robert Williams, Time Lord, since Time Lord left, his ability
04:59to not only contest shots, but even when teams get that offensive rebound, he's able to contest
05:05that second shot, too, because he's got such a quick spring and he's nine feet lengthwise
05:11every day and Sunday.
05:13So there's a lot to like about Keita.
05:17The biggest thing I like about him, though, and Gary, you kind of touched on this a little
05:20bit, is his upside.
05:22I mean, he's 25 years old.
05:24I mean, he is a young pup by any person's standard and he's just starting to, I think,
05:31scratch the surface of how good he can be.
05:33He grew up in Portugal where he was a late bloomer when it came to embracing the game
05:38of basketball and it seems that he's slowly but surely getting better and better.
05:43The more he plays the game, the more opportunities he gets and he's in this kind of really awkward
05:49position with the Celtics because he's a young guy that you want to develop, but he's on
05:54a team that's trying to win a championship and usually those two things do not coalesce
05:59together.
06:00And yet the Celtics are still finding ways to continue to be an elite team, continue
06:05for a championship while still developing young guys like Keita, young guys like Jordan
06:10Walsh.
06:11Peyton Pritchard, he's no OG by any stretch of the imagination.
06:16He's got some upside to him as well.
06:19But Keita specifically fits, it seems like a need that they have as far as developing
06:26that next big, possibly that big of the future.
06:30Along those lines, Gary, you touched upon him playing with Al Horford, going with the
06:35double bigs.
06:36How do you feel about the double bigs, particularly with him and Al, because that's a different
06:39kind of double bigs than Al and Luke?
06:42Yeah, I think it allows Al to be a little bit more freer, offensive leader, to play
06:48the four position and shoot threes.
06:51I thought Al was active last night, had to hit a real tough layup that I think impressed
06:55his teammates, kind of a spinning layup.
06:57Up and under.
06:58Yeah, I mean, I was impressed with that.
07:01You know, and I just think at this point with Al, you're just working him in and you're
07:05just trying to get him to break a sweat, to get in great shape.
07:10I'm not saying he's in bad shape, but just get in a playing condition because he didn't
07:13play much in the preseason and you're trying to save him for the postseason.
07:17You're not trying to play him 30, 35 minutes.
07:19I think now the good thing about it, I'm not crazy about the double big lineup.
07:28I think it's effective though.
07:29I don't use it all the time, but I think with their versatility and now you got guys like
07:34Jordan Walsh.
07:35The great thing about the Celtics, I think, the difference between this year and last
07:41year is they have a better bench.
07:44And what I mean by that is like you have last year, you know, it was your buddy O'Shea
07:50Brissett.
07:51He was a disappointment.
07:52You know, Grant Williams had left.
07:54O'Shea was supposed to come in there and play a pivotal role.
07:57He didn't.
07:58But now you, if you look at it, Peyton Pritchard's taking a full step forward.
08:04Jordan Walsh is actually useful in games now, you know, he's going to get left open a lot
08:09for three pointers.
08:10He's going to start hitting those consistently, but he is starting to play quality NBA minutes.
08:15Not, you know, great NBA minutes, but he's taking that step forward in his second year.
08:20And then Keita and Cornette.
08:23So those are four guys and Houser really hasn't shown all that much because of the back injury.
08:29He's just working himself in, but this bench is better and we haven't, you know, we haven't
08:35seen, you know, much for, you know, like, you know, there's JD Davidson who's on a two
08:39way and Drew Peterson and Anton Watson.
08:42The Celtics sent down Shireman to the G League, which I just think is probably a good idea
08:48because he's not going to play much and he needs to start getting some reps.
08:52And then James Springer, we really haven't seen much from him either.
08:56But I think the good news for the Celtics is that their bench has all taken a step forward,
09:03right?
09:04And so that takes less pressure from Al Horford.
09:06You don't need to play Al Horford 30 minutes a game, playing 22 to 23.
09:10Cornette, very useful.
09:12Keita, very useful.
09:14Like that's the thing.
09:15When you have a team that's so highly paid, when you have White on an extension, Porzingis
09:21on an extension, Drew Holley on an extension, and of course Brown and Tatum, you're going
09:26to need to develop and have cheap talent working for you.
09:30You can't go out there and just sign free agents.
09:32And so the Celtics have, what they've done better than they have in the past is they
09:37developed a guy like Houser.
09:39They developed now Keita.
09:41Now they're developing guys who will not make any money for a while.
09:46Now Houser signed an extension, but Keita's at the league minimum for this year and next
09:52year.
09:53So he's not going to make any real significant money until the 26, 27 year.
09:59And then you look at Luke's coming back, doesn't make a lot of money, but they're playing pivotal
10:05roles.
10:06And that's what you need.
10:07If you're going to make so much money on your high end players, your lower end players,
10:11the lower paid players have to come through and play pivotal roles.
10:15And I just think with the Celtics are doing this year, the difference I see in a very
10:20positive way is their bench has gotten better.
10:23Peyton, six man of the year candidate.
10:25And as I said, so you can, Joe has last year, he couldn't have played Cornette and Keita
10:32at the same time.
10:33Not very much.
10:35He would have to rely a lot on Al.
10:37And we're not even talking about Porzingis, who's probably about a month or so from coming
10:43back.
10:44So you've got depth, they're winning games and they don't even have their starting center
10:49yet.
10:50So I think what this season has allowed Joe to do is to mix and match and be as versatile
10:56as he can be.
10:57Yeah.
10:58And that versatility, Gary, it's a big part of why this team won a title last year.
11:05And it's a big reason why they're picked to win by many to do it again.
11:09The one thing that I think is kind of unique about this group is that when you start looking
11:17at this roster, and Gary, as you accurately pointed out, the bench is better.
11:22But are they better because they're getting more opportunities or is it because of more
11:27opportunities they're better?
11:28I mean, which do you think is the bigger factor?
11:32I just think Peyton, remember Peyton was not always such a reliable shooter.
11:38He has become a very reliable shooter.
11:40Keita is, you know, was always in foul trouble or he's goaltending.
11:45Now that's not really an issue anymore.
11:47Cornette, you know, we all wish we'd be more forceful around the rim and start dunking
11:52on people as a seven footer should, but he's played the game the right way.
11:58He does all the right things.
12:00He's so unselfish.
12:01And then, you know, Houser is Houser, he's going to knock down those three pointers.
12:06So I just think the bench has gotten better.
12:08And I think Joe has had to trust those guys because now you have Porzingis out.
12:13Now Jalen's out, you know, for maybe a couple of more ballgames.
12:18So he's going to have to, and then Jordan Walsh, who I think has been probably, I would
12:23say Peyton's been the biggest surprise because he's played so well, but Jordan, I don't think
12:29any of us knew, especially after summer league, he really struggled in summer league.
12:32I think, I think a lot of us were like, well, this might be another transitional year for
12:36him where you'll have to spend most of the time in the G league and maybe next year he'll
12:42make an impact.
12:43But he has flipped the switch, done a 180 and become a different player than he was
12:49in the summer, playing with more confidence and he'll knock that shot down eventually.
12:54He'll become that three and D guy that they want.
12:56So I think the bench has improved and they've gotten also opportunity.
13:01Yeah.
13:02Now you mentioned Jordan Walsh because Jordan is a guy that you weren't really sure what
13:09the heck you were going to get out of him this year.
13:11What part of his game do you think he has made the best or the most growth in that has
13:16allowed Missoula to have a little bit more trust in him than he had obviously a year
13:20ago?
13:21Just making the right plays and understanding his positioning on the floor, spacing, getting
13:25that open three, his shot will go down.
13:29He'll be better at that.
13:30He's working on it.
13:31But I just think basically being an adult on the floor, not playing like you're the
13:37peewee kid in the varsity game where you're just running around and, my God, I don't know
13:41what to do and let me just die for this ball.
13:44Remember the early days of our friend Aaron Neesmith?
13:47Neesmith, yeah.
13:48Who played with his hair on fire because he was not ready.
13:52He was not ready for the league when he came to Boston.
13:55He was still probably should have stayed his ass at Vanderbilt.
13:58You know, he's a first round pick and he's worked out for him.
14:00He signed an extension.
14:01So good for Aaron.
14:02I think we all like Aaron and all have seen the kind of play he's developed into.
14:06But that wasn't the Aaron that we saw in Boston is the one who's in Indiana.
14:11And so I think not playing with his hair on fire, playing with a calmness.
14:15I belong now.
14:17He's 20.
14:18He's still obviously not old enough to buy a drink and not legal.
14:21However, he has been around those guys, this veteran team.
14:26Now he feels like he's part of it.
14:28Last year, I'm sure he's just like, wow, I'm in the NBA.
14:32This is amazing.
14:33Oh, you know, like, which is great.
14:35But that's not really gonna, you know, you gotta be, you gotta belong.
14:40And I think he feels like he's belonged.
14:42So I just see, I don't see it overall like, oh, he's scoring more now.
14:46He can score more.
14:48And I think he has the ability.
14:49But I just think the overall comfort is what I see the improvement.
14:53Like he looks like he belongs on an NBA floor.
14:56Like we all, we talk about our friend, Bronny.
14:59And Bronny does not look like he belongs in an NBA floor.
15:03Maybe two years from now, he will, when he just kind of gets his feet under him.
15:08But that process is not easy.
15:10And I think Jordan is going through that process to where he can feel like he belongs.
15:16And it's not like, oh my God, I'm playing with like all stars in the league and oh God,
15:21take a picture of me.
15:22No, like he feels like I can, I can contribute to this team.
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16:43Yeah, I mean, when you talk about comfort, Gary, I don't know if there's anybody who
16:49is looking more comfortable, particularly at the beginning of games right now, than
16:52Jason Tatum.
16:54He's putting up big numbers, night in, night out, but what he's doing in the first quarter
16:59has been ridiculous.
17:00I mean, he leads the lead in first quarter scoring, 13 and some change of game.
17:07We saw against Atlanta, he had 22 in the first half and finished with, I think, 27,
17:1128, something like that.
17:12What is it about Jason Tatum at the start of games that's allowing him to get off to
17:17such a red hot start?
17:19I mean, is this just making shots or is there more to it than that?
17:22Yeah, I think he's being more aggressive.
17:24One, he's playing the whole first quarter.
17:26Jalen's not playing, like, remember, I think there's been times where Jason's played half
17:31the first quarter, then come in and start the second, and then Jalen's played the whole
17:35first quarter.
17:36The way I look at it, Jason's playing the whole first quarter, he's getting 12 full
17:41minutes out there, and he's being more aggressive.
17:44He's being that primary scorer, and a lot of those shots are going down, and he's not
17:49needing to play the full four quarters because the Southerners already have the game put
17:53away in the third quarter.
17:54Like, last night, he had two points in the second half.
17:57The game, the Southerners are up by 21, 74, 53 at halftime, and then they're up, they
18:05extended the lead in the third quarter, so it was kind of a game that was over.
18:10So Jason didn't need to do much, but I just thought, like you said, 26 points in the first
18:15half and three balls going down, too.
18:18When a three ball goes in, it makes everything so much easier for Jason, and that's the hard
18:23part.
18:24Like, it's just been up and down.
18:25He was four for 18 from three in the two games in Charlotte, but last night, he went six
18:30for 14.
18:32He's got to be more consistent from the three, and I don't know if that's just a matter of
18:37just getting reps in with his new form, a new shot, but you'd like to see him at that
18:4339, 40% as opposed to 34, 35, 36.
18:49You want him seeing near 40, and he's approaching that.
18:53He told me in Charlotte that when he took 18 threes, that was a career high in Indiana.
19:00He made five of them.
19:01He said he'd settled.
19:02Took too many.
19:03He said he took five at the end of the first quarter, and he just said, I settled.
19:11And what you don't want Jason doing is settling because he's a great dribble driver, and he
19:15can get to the rim with his length, and he can finish well.
19:20So you want him to do all those things, everything in his toolbox, as opposed to settling for
19:25the three.
19:26But I just think he's not settling as much.
19:30The shot's going down, and he's being more aggressive.
19:33Yeah, and the lack of settling, I think that's maybe the most notable change slash improvement
19:40in his game, and this is a guy that doesn't have a whole lot of room to get better because
19:44he's really, really good now.
19:46But that settling, Gary, I'm just curious, because you go back and you look at the Charlotte
19:51game, and there was that Grant Williams kind of cheap shot that got everyone in a tizzy.
19:58Go back to the Indiana game, where it seemed that the paces were being pretty physical
20:03with him too.
20:04How much do you think those stretches where we see him settling, how much do you think
20:09that is because of the physical play?
20:10Because you tell me if you've noticed this, but it just seems as though teams are looking
20:15to be more physical with him now than ever.
20:19And by physical, I don't mean just bodying him, I mean trying to put him on his ass more
20:25than maybe some past years.
20:27Are you noticing that or do you disagree with that?
20:30What's your take on that?
20:32I think overall, teams are trying to be more physical just with the Celtics as it is.
20:37And Jason's not a demonstrative guy, Jason's not a guy who's going to get in your face
20:41and he's going to push you back, he's going to get up and go to the free throw line.
20:45I think people are just told, I mean, be physical with these guys, you've got to knock them
20:49on their butts.
20:50That's the old 80s, 90s basketball.
20:54You're Detroit Pistons, that's how they play.
20:57Nothing's coming easy for you, you ain't getting to the rim and gliding and two-handed dunking
21:02and hanging on the rim like that.
21:04And I think that's fair, but I think Jason, like he is, he's handling it like a pro.
21:11And I think there's going to be a point where Jason probably gets to the point like, okay,
21:18I'm going to have to say something here, or I'm going to have to get in somebody's face.
21:21Because the Grant thing, obviously, we can talk about that.
21:25That was so unexpected.
21:27I mean, I'm looking, I was at the game and I looked down, all of a sudden, bodies flying everywhere.
21:32And I'm like, wait a minute, what just happened?
21:34I was writing my story, because it was two minutes left in the game, trying to finish my story on deadline.
21:39And I'm looking and all of a sudden, Jason's in Grant.
21:41I'm like, what just happened here?
21:44And because the Celtics were up nine, they were about to put the game away.
21:49So it wasn't like one of those tight, like it was like, okay, they got this.
21:54They eked it out after having a big lead and it looked really good.
21:59And then Charlotte made a run and all of a sudden, but they pulled away.
22:04And all of a sudden, you see Jason walking to the free throw line and everybody's like, ooh, and booing.
22:09And I'm like, wait a minute, what the heck is going on here?
22:12And I thought, quite honestly, we all love Grant.
22:19Grant's a good kid, but sometimes he does a little too much.
22:25As we all know, we've all seen, and I just think that's one of those examples.
22:29And I think Grant needs to be careful with, one, you don't want to, like how I put this.
22:37I think of a guy like, there's two guys I think of when I think of Grant.
22:42From, one is a guy, you remember him, Danny Fortson.
22:48Danny Fortson was a, I think he might've been a first team All-American at Cincinnati.
22:56He was a bulldozer guy, typical NBA four, could score on you, get to the rim, like all that.
23:05Man, had all the skillset, goes to the league and he's a little undersized.
23:11So the league turns him into an enforcer.
23:14So by the time I covered Danny in Seattle, he was a hack, right?
23:20He was just like a guy who was just laying hard fouls.
23:24And I just remember talking to him, I'm like, Danny,
23:28in Cincinnati, you were like a 25 and 12 guy, you were not some hack, you know?
23:35And he was just like, the league pushed me into being, I was undersized,
23:40he was like 6'7", 6'8", they pushed him into being this kind of enforcer.
23:47Use your body, push a guy over, use your bull.
23:50And it also reminds me of Big Baby Davis, where great,
23:57the nice, good college career, LSU was a scorer.
24:02And then goes to Orlando after the Celtics.
24:06And then becomes like, I remember seeing him hitting the mid-range,
24:09hitting an average of 17, 18 points a game, then he got hurt.
24:14Then suddenly he becomes a hack, where he's just running the guys, and
24:17hard fouling, and he's showing up to the crowd, and he lost his game.
24:25And I don't wanna see Grant lose his game to be some kind of goon,
24:30enforcer, and doing these stunts like this, he's too young for that.
24:35And he's gonna get that reputation of like, man, we don't need some goon.
24:39We don't need a guy to just lay hard foul.
24:41We need game, hit a jumper, post up, hit the mid-range.
24:47Because Grant, as you saw him in Tennessee, he was a scorer, right?
24:52And he showed the ability to screen seven threes in that game seven
24:56against Milwaukee, biggest game of his life, stepped it up.
25:00And so I wanna see Grant do that.
25:01I think we all root for Grant, we all like Grant.
25:04He's a great kid, talks a lot, so what?
25:07He's not in trouble or whatever, he talks a lot, so what?
25:11A lot of athletes doing a lot of negative things, and
25:14Grant's not one of them, he's a positive kid.
25:18Unfortunately, he just does a little too much.
25:20And being like that, running into your friend like that, and
25:24flagrant too, that's gonna get you a bad rep.
25:28And the league will tab you and
25:30put you, stereotype you as a certain kind of player.
25:34And you see, that's why, unfortunately, our friend who's now headed to prison,
25:38Big Baby Davis, was out of the league because he lost his game.
25:44And he just focused on bumping guys and never got in the great shape,
25:49so that's another topic.
25:51But I don't wanna see Grant turn to Fordston, or I don't wanna see the league
25:56push him, or just push him into being a goon.
26:00And that's not his game, and that's not his personality.
26:04He's a hard playing guy, he'll get his nose dirty.
26:09He'll get in a guy like Jimmy Butler's face,
26:11which I never had a real problem with.
26:13And so for me, I just hope that Grant learns from this situation.
26:20Says, okay, maybe I went too far, no more of the rough stuff.
26:25I'm gonna be rough, I'm gonna be hard playing, but
26:28I'm not gonna be laying dudes out like that.
26:31Yeah, yeah, cuz I mean, it's sad when you see that happen.
26:36Because Grant has the skills to be a solid contributor in this league.
26:44But the thing, I'm not as worried about him as Big Baby and Danny.
26:51And no disrespect to either one of them, but Grant's a pretty smart dude.
26:56Grant, I think, understands that there are limits to where he can go.
27:03And I think he understands he's at that outer edge of what he can get away with,
27:09and not be labeled as a thug, and not be put into that box.
27:13Because it's easy to put cats in that box,
27:15particularly when you are on a bad team, which he's on.
27:19They're getting better, but they are categorically bad team.
27:23And you don't wanna pick up bad habits and get a bad rep for that.
27:26There's no doubt about that.
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28:51Speaking of bad reps, your boy, Mr.
28:56Beating Up On Reporters, Joel Embiid, full transparency on this one.
29:03The columnist that he had beef with, Marcus Hayes,
29:06I used to work with Marcus in Syracuse.
29:09Marcus, in fact, was that?
29:11Okay.
29:12Yeah, I've known Marcus a long time.
29:16And that column, I remember reading that column, and it was,
29:20this is what I was, this is, for me, it was like, there's the journalist in me
29:27that says, you know what, these players gotta have big skin.
29:30I mean, if you're gonna let some narrow birds and
29:32adjectives get you all, get your panties bunched up,
29:35like, you got bigger problems than me.
29:37But the human person in me is just like, if you're writing about me and
29:44you invoke my dead brother and my son, we might have some beef.
29:50We might have some beef.
29:51And I'm sure you've heard by now, certainly our listeners have,
29:55that Joel has been suspended three games for
29:59the shoving incident with the Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, Marcus Hayes.
30:03And that'll begin when he is supposed to return, I guess next week,
30:07next Tuesday, I think, is when he's supposed to make his season debut.
30:11But Gary, I mean, again, as someone who has, you've been around the league for
30:15a long time, we both have had our issues with players where we had,
30:19it got a little heated, to say the least.
30:23Are you surprised that Joel got three games?
30:27Is it too much, too little, about right?
30:30How do you see the punishment the league doled out to him for that incident?
30:36I thought it would be at least five games.
30:39Obviously, they talked to all parties involved, and
30:41maybe the altercation wasn't as, I don't know what the push was like.
30:46I don't know whether he fell to the ground,
30:48whether he just kind of put his hand on his shoulder, who knows?
30:52And obviously, I'm sure they talked to Marcus Hayes.
30:54They talked to NB, they talked to witnesses.
30:57The league doesn't do this lightly.
30:58They do their heavy and extensive investigation into these things.
31:02So if it's three games, it's three games.
31:06As a columnist, a reporter, you have to be careful.
31:09You can't get personal with guys like that.
31:12You can't bring up family members.
31:14You can't, I think NB was fair.
31:17Hey, you can rip me, tell me I'm lazy, fat, all that.
31:21But just don't touch my family.
31:23Don't talk about my deceased brother, who I think was 14 years old or
31:27something like that when he died in a car accident, and his son.
31:32And reading the column, he didn't even need to mention that.
31:36He just, that was just kind of like, that was a cheap shot.
31:42And the one thing I applaud Marcus for doing is he came to the arena the next day or
31:48whatever, and he was there.
31:50Because there are columnists that we've worked with in the past that will write
31:54something from their spacious homes and never come to the arena to confront
31:59the athlete, and then you as the beat writer, if you're at that paper,
32:05end up having to take the brunt of it from the athlete who's like,
32:08where's your boy at?
32:09He needs to come out here and talk to me.
32:11But I ain't talking to you because you work at the same paper as he does.
32:14You're like, wow, I ain't even think of writing that.
32:17Like, that ain't me, but it messes with your job, your ability to do your job.
32:22So, and that's journalism stuff and stuff that we've seen.
32:27And it happens, it used to happen a lot back in the day.
32:30It doesn't happen as much now.
32:34That type of stuff happened pretty often where there was altercations and
32:37arguments between reporters and athletes.
32:42And some reporters was like, don't let this reporter thing fool you.
32:47We can do this, and others were, some people backed down, some people didn't.
32:53It was fascinating to watch.
32:54And we've both been in altercations where your manhood's kind of tested.
32:58And you say, listen, man, I'm not like as much as,
33:02I'm not gonna let you just disrespect me in front of your teammates.
33:06Because when you do that, essentially, your teammates,
33:11their teammates look at you like that's the dude who just backed down.
33:14Like some of them are good with you being like, damn, that dude got some heart.
33:21He stood up for that young lady, got some heart.
33:23She stood up for her convictions.
33:25That's the way you're supposed to.
33:27So for me, I think Joelle was dead wrong.
33:33But I also think Marcus could have written it a lot better.
33:37And needs to, should have apologized and said, hey, man, I went too far.
33:43And here's the crazy, well, not crazy, but the one aspect of it was that
33:48Marcus actually went back and did modify the lead, I think.
33:51Yeah, and so I guess to me that that's, I think that may have had something
33:56to do with the league only giving him three games because it's like, yeah,
34:01what he did was wrong.
34:03But let's not act like this reporter was completely in the innocent and
34:07didn't do anything that even he acknowledged was not good.
34:11And so, I mean, I felt three games was adequate.
34:16I forgot, you had to say, Joelle had to be punished in some capacity.
34:21And I don't think a fine would have done it.
34:23I think he had to actually miss some action for that.
34:26But let's not make it something ridiculous like 5, 10, 15 games.
34:30To me, it wasn't that deep.
34:32And again, this wasn't like Marcus wrote a column that just kind of picked
34:37on Joelle a bit or pointed out how he's just not showing up.
34:42This, there was a very specific passage in this column that Joelle had issues with.
34:49And you will be hard pressed to find anyone in that damn press room,
34:53reporters and non-reporters, who wouldn't have some issues with someone writing
34:58about, again, their deceased brother and their child.
35:01In that regard, when as you pointed out, Gary, he didn't need to do that.
35:05And as he recognized after the kind of the initial backlash,
35:09he went back and changed it.
35:10And so he recognized after the fact he didn't need to do that.
35:13So I was happy that they were able to kind of handle that and resolve it and
35:18kind of get it out the way and keep it moving.
35:22And as we keep the podcast going and moving, we're going to move on to MVP talk.
35:29And for once, we are not going to talk about Jason Tatum.
35:32I think JT is in that conversation.
35:34But a guy I'm curious to get your take on is Donovan Mitchell.
35:39The Cavs are balling, man.
35:40They are balling hard.
35:42Now, Donovan Mitchell, there's been little murmurs about him possibly
35:48being someone that's in that mix now.
35:50Do you see him as a legitimate MVP candidate at this point in the season?
35:57Yeah, as long as Cleveland keeps winning, and it seems like they're going to be
36:01a factor in the East for the entire season, I think he's got to get consideration.
36:07We're talking about, I think the front runner right now is SGA,
36:11considering how good Oklahoma City's doing.
36:15There's two undefeated teams, Oklahoma City and Cleveland.
36:18Mitchell's got to be in that conversation along with Luka.
36:22And we'll see if there's somebody else that emerges down the road
36:27who comes back and has a great season themselves.
36:30But for now, I think you've got to include Donovan Mitchell in that race,
36:37because he's playing so well, and Cleveland's playing so well.
36:41Anthony Davis, though, Anthony Davis leading the league in scoring.
36:4432 points a game, he's averaging basically 33 and 12.
36:51Man, that's a hell of a year so far.
36:55But Mitchell, 23 points a game, 40 from three.
37:02So Garland is really having a strong start to the year.
37:07So Mitchell is 23rd in the league in scoring, but
37:11he's only playing 30 minutes a game.
37:14He's playing the fewest minutes of anyone on that list ahead of him.
37:20He's playing less than 30, all the guys ahead of him are playing 30.
37:24And Tyrese Maxey playing 41 minutes a game, my goodness, that's old school.
37:30They got no choice.
37:32Yeah, Tatum playing 34.6.
37:35Jokic is still having, obviously, Jokic averaged a triple-double.
37:40Luka, only 32% from the three-point line, not a great start,
37:4540% from the field, but he's averaging 29 a game.
37:48But you gotta look at Mitchell,
37:51his numbers probably need to be a little bit better in terms of the scoring.
37:57However, to me, I think he's definitely a candidate because Cleveland is winning.
38:04You know what, I put him in the same boat as Jason Tatum, and here's why.
38:09He's having a good season, he's putting up good numbers, but so
38:13much of his success, you can't look at his success in an isolated
38:19box of its own and not recognize the cast around him.
38:23Mobley is playing like an all-star.
38:25The Evan Mobley that we're seeing now is the one that we thought we just saw last
38:29year, the year before.
38:29He has been insanely good.
38:31Point guard play, off the charts, the big fella, Allen, he's playing well.
38:37You start looking at the guys around him, and
38:39they're all playing their best basketball right now.
38:43And that, to me, takes a little bit of the shine off of Donovan Mitchell.
38:48Because even though he's playing well and he's having a great start,
38:52their success, in large part, is because of what those other guys are doing.
38:56I watched him play Milwaukee the other night, and granted, Giannis wasn't playing,
39:00so that, in itself, you should be able to dominate.
39:03But just the way that they are on one accord, I mean, this is what we're seeing.
39:10Remember when Kenny Atkinson was coaching the Nets, and
39:13they just played harder than damn near every team they played?
39:16They weren't winning a lot, but they played hard.
39:19Cleveland is basically that Brooklyn team with better talent.
39:23And the result is that not only are they outworking people, but
39:27they've got more talent, and they're outworking you with more talent.
39:30That's why they're winning, and Donovan is a big part of that.
39:33But the way that Anthony Davis is playing in LA,
39:38the way that SGA is getting it done in OKC, there's at least three or
39:43four guys, without even doing a deep dive search, who you could put ahead of Donovan.
39:48But that being said, you give him his respect that he should be,
39:52if you're talking like the top five candidates, he's my fifth.
39:56I can't see him being any better than that right now, in part because, again,
40:01so much of the success that his team is having, while he's a key to that.
40:06Mobley, Allen, those guys, and Garland,
40:10those three guys in particular are all having career type seasons.
40:15And the biggest concern I have, if I'm a Cavs fan, is this team peak too soon?
40:20Because when I watch, I've seen him play a couple games this year,
40:24they look amazing.
40:26This team looks on a completely different level, and
40:29I just don't, I'm not confident enough in them to sustain that.
40:34If they can, they're gonna make things interesting for the Celtics,
40:37no doubt about that.
40:39But I got this weird feeling that they're gonna hit that lull at some point and
40:43just kind of take a step back and, again, be a good team, but not a great one.
40:50Yeah, yeah.
40:52So, and the last thing, I wanna kind of just end it on this,
40:55because we're taping this on election night.
40:59No, there's still some of the early voting and
41:03some of the early results have started to pour in a little bit.
41:06And we're not gonna get too deep into that.
41:08But what I wanted to talk to you, Gary, about just the NBA in a broad sense.
41:12It seems every election cycle, they try to go above and
41:16beyond to let it be known that you need to get out and vote.
41:20And different voting initiatives.
41:23What are your general thoughts about just the NBA kind of putting itself in that
41:27particular space, that to be, I guess the easiest way to describe it is just
41:31to create more civic engagement.
41:34I think it all started with the bubble.
41:37And I think that one of the main issues, obviously,
41:41as the 2020 election was approaching in the bubble, was making
41:47NBA arenas polling centers.
41:49And I think the players finally realized that a lot of the NBA owners
41:55had political ties and were contributing to certain campaigns and
41:59certain political parties.
42:01And they wanted those owners to put their money where their mouth is in terms of
42:05making arenas polling places and encouraging, put more money toward
42:10encouraging people, especially younger people, to vote and
42:13understand their civic duty.
42:14And I just think that has continued.
42:17I think it was a good idea as much as I think we all would love to watch some hoop
42:21right now and watch a couple of NBA games just to take our mind off things.
42:27It's good that they have a full day off to vote or to be with their families and
42:31take their families to vote or vote with their wives or their parents or
42:36family members or things like that.
42:37They can do just what normal Americans do.
42:41And I just think that that's important.
42:43And I think it was kind of cool that the entire league played last night.
42:47Everybody, 15 games in the association on Monday, and
42:50we'll get back to the grind on Wednesday.
42:53So I think the NBA is doing a fantastic job of encouraging the player and
42:59putting it in the players' heads.
43:02Like just because you're rich and you think you've made it,
43:06you need to contribute to society and do your civic duty.
43:09Whatever ways you lie, wherever you go, and if you wanna represent those ways and
43:14you wanna take the heat for being on, supporting a certain political candidate,
43:20that's fine, but just be okay to have some good reasoning behind that.
43:26And so for me, I think it's good that the league is just saying,
43:31hey, go out there and vote.
43:33And make your, because I think a lot of young people look up to these people.
43:36And that's the thing to me, the one thing that I thought was regrettable
43:41about the 2016 is a lot of young people were upset about the result, but didn't vote.
43:48And it's like, well, that's what you got to get there and vote.
43:52Yeah, like you can't talk about, you can't protest now and you didn't vote or
43:57you didn't think your vote was important, I only got one vote, it doesn't matter.
44:01And so I think the league has done a fantastic job in the Players Association.
44:07And I think that that's important, you've got to reach out to the community,
44:11you got to reach out to the people, you got to reach out to your fans.
44:14And have them understand that they're citizens too, and
44:18we're all citizens and we should carry out our civic duty.
44:22Yeah, absolutely, I mean, you're spot on with that, Gary.
44:25Cuz I remember a time, and I'm sure you do too,
44:27when the league did not make any type of concessions for Election Day.
44:32I remember being in Detroit and players were pissed at, they would basically say,
44:38we're going to be late for practice because we need to get in line and vote.
44:43And you'd have games on Election Day where you've got shoot around in the morning.
44:49So if you don't vote before then, then you got to disrupt your midday routine.
44:55And then you got a game to play and it's like, it's a lot for
45:00players to have to put off to the side when in fact, they shouldn't have to.
45:06Because at the end of the day, they may be NBA players, but
45:08they're still citizens of this country, most of them.
45:12And they want to participate in the process.
45:15And there was a time when they just weren't necessarily given enough
45:19freedom to do that.
45:21And so the league making it,
45:23giving you no, setting no barriers in your way for voting.
45:28I think it's been a great thing.
45:30And I'm hoping that most players were able to do this today.
45:34Because it's really important.
45:36I have been voting ever since I've been able to vote.
45:39I have not missed a single presidential election.
45:42And I'm old school and from the standpoint of,
45:46I like to physically fill out my ballot and be there in person.
45:50I know that you can do mail in and that's great.
45:52My mama do mail in, she loves that.
45:55I don't, I like to be there.
45:57But regardless of whether you mail in or whether you showed up in person today,
46:03participate in the process, folks, participate in the process.
46:07And that is it for this week with the NBA Big Three podcast.
46:14Kwanee Lunas will be back with us next week.
46:17So we'll have more engaging, thought provoking conversations
46:22about the 18 time NBA champion, Boston Celtics.
46:28We need to have a conversation about this whole world champion thing too, Gary.
46:31Cuz I-
46:32Yeah, that's a good idea.
46:33I got some issues with that world champion label.
46:36Cuz anyway, we may have a conversation about that another day, another time.
46:41But again, for Gary Washburn, for Rob Blakely, this is the Big Three NBA podcast.
46:47We out.
46:48We out.
46:48We out.
46:49We out.