0:00

Welcome back to a new episode

0:02

of the show. This week, we're talking about

0:05

some of the fantastic fun moments

0:07

from the playoffs from around the league.

0:09

Obviously, we're gonna talk about what's dope about the NBA

0:12

and dig a little bit deeper into the

0:14

mind of our guest today podcast

0:16

producer actually one of the producers of this

0:18

show and the host of his very own show,

0:20

Jobari Ali Davis. I'm Miles

0:23

Gray, I'm Jack O'Brien, and

0:25

this is Miles

0:27

and Jack God mad

0:29

Boost crushed

0:33

it. Okay, everybody, welcome,

0:35

Welcome, Well, we are here,

0:38

we are doing it. It is the

0:40

playoffs. Yes, who better

0:42

to have fun? Who better to have than you? And I,

0:44

Oh you mean the guest of course, No, No, I

0:46

was just talking about you. Oh yeah,

0:50

someone we know very well, someone who

0:52

we've actually known for a few years. Has been a guest on

0:54

our other podcast, The Daily See guys

0:57

very well known in the NBA world.

1:00

Old especially if you're writing about the NBA,

1:02

maybe you're on NBA Twitter, maybe you like

1:04

NBA podcast because this man is also

1:07

the host of the new podcast NBA

1:09

Finals File with Robert

1:12

Rory. Please welcome Jabari Ali

1:14

Davis. What

1:17

appreciate you having me appreciate you. I'm

1:19

just right here. I'm here to sing. Yeah,

1:23

alright, it's good to have you. That's

1:25

cool that you are hosting with

1:27

a big shot rob big

1:29

shot Bob. He's good at basketball

1:32

and knows the thing. Where two he's been in the

1:34

finals before, right, Yeah, at

1:36

the time is at the time he retired. I think

1:39

he had one played in in one

1:41

of the All NBA first Yeah.

1:45

Wait, that's real. Huh,

1:47

that's real. Yeah, I'm just say I'm actually doing the bath

1:50

And I was like, oh, no, that's act.

1:52

That's that's facts. That's

1:55

gotta be hard because like on this show,

1:58

like I can just say whatever I want,

2:00

because you know, Miles has been in I

2:03

haven't run the math recently,

2:05

but I don't think his percentage

2:08

of NBA finals is quite that high. So I feel

2:10

like I can just say any anything,

2:12

uh, and not be contradicted. But like, when

2:15

you're talking to one of the

2:17

all time goats of NBA

2:20

playoff basketball, what what is?

2:23

How do you feel about that? I'm gonna be honest with you.

2:25

I play it pretty straight, like I I told

2:27

him. I told him from the start I'm an NBA fanatic,

2:29

I told him from the world, not a fan of

2:31

ears. You know, he's okay Laker

2:35

fan. Can't really remember anything where

2:37

you really got my hairs to stand up

2:39

on my neck. No,

2:42

all jokes aside, like he's fantastic. It's

2:45

one of those where he lies

2:47

to me and says stuff like, hey, I'm a fan of yours too,

2:50

and that makes me and you know what that does.

2:53

It shows me he's been a part of team. Yes,

2:55

he's like to

2:57

get the young fellow a little bit of confidence real quick.

3:00

That's good. Yeah, all right, young man, Like thank

3:02

you Robert as somebody who

3:04

has talked to Robert Ory before,

3:07

because that is something that we talked about on

3:09

this show sometimes, is like the intangible

3:12

those things where you know, everybody

3:15

all the ink gets used up by the

3:17

like, oh, they added this blue chip and

3:20

like that will give them a big

3:22

three and therefore they're gonna contend

3:24

next year and you know, at least

3:26

during his career. The thing they should have just been

3:28

tracking is, oh they added Robert

3:30

Ory. He wins almost every

3:33

every year, but he's on a team.

3:35

Um, So, like, do

3:37

you have a theory of the case of like,

3:40

what what it is other than you know,

3:42

him just being big shot Bob or

3:44

I already let him know, Like, for one, he

3:47

is that he is the NBA equivalent of like remember

3:49

the old Kevin Bacon game, six degrees of separation.

3:51

You know, with Kevin Bacon, he

3:54

comes into the league, he competed against Jordan's

3:56

he competed again, you know, you know, all

3:58

of the grapes of the of the mid and late

4:00

nineties. He plays alongside a team,

4:03

he plays alongside Shack and Kobe, plays

4:05

alongside Tim Duncan and their triplets.

4:07

It's just it's absolutely nuts. But yeah,

4:10

he's he's had a charmed existence. But the reality

4:12

is this. He was a versatile six ten guy that could put

4:14

the ball on the floor as well as knock it down from

4:16

deep and was you know, could guard several positions

4:18

on the defensive end. So beyond him being

4:21

you know, just an all around good guy and a guy

4:23

to have in your locker room, it doesn't hurt when you're

4:25

pretty much just a basketball Swiss Army Knight, right

4:27

exactly. Yeah, six ten can shoot

4:29

threes and defend is pretty uh

4:32

like he take that, Yeah, I

4:35

think people would be less surprised if

4:37

he was on a bunch of finals teams. Now, not

4:39

that they were surprised, but I feel like it, you

4:42

know that that has become like the one

4:44

of the most sought after things in the league

4:46

now, I mean speaking of the league

4:49

playoffs, the basketball league,

4:51

the NBA Basketball League, Oh, the NBA

4:54

Basketball playoffs, the postseason

4:56

of the National Basketball Association. Yes,

4:58

yes, I mean it's getting I'm

5:01

I continue to be spoiled. I continue

5:03

as a neutral. I'm jabari. Obviously, maybe

5:06

people have can deduced this at this point, but you and

5:08

I are both where Angelino's and lifelong

5:10

Laker fans, so we are watching this as neutrals.

5:13

This year, I'm

5:15

I'm I'm liking what I'm seeing. I like

5:17

that we had a few I mean, there are a lot of stuff happened

5:19

over the weekend, and things are yet to

5:21

happen. But uh, what what what? How

5:23

are you feeling? What's your how's your how's

5:25

your heart feeling? Watching all the games. It's

5:28

going to sound crazy, but this is the most I've enjoyed,

5:30

actually physically enjoyed. And

5:33

you know, the postseason in you

5:35

know, a couple of years, obviously, the Lakers

5:37

had you had a down stretch prior to the you know, the

5:39

most recent years. But honestly,

5:42

to your point, being a neutral makes it that much

5:44

easier. You can just go into you can go into each game,

5:46

each series just as a fan, and I've been

5:48

absolutely loving right. I had

5:51

a few, you know, a few game fours where

5:53

I was like, come on, even it

5:55

up, let's not get let's not go to a three

5:57

one, And I got three of them.

5:59

Three of them. My wishes were answered. Uh,

6:02

and that was I mean, again, just

6:04

long may it last, because I think just the level of competition

6:07

again is at a point where

6:09

you can see just the sort of athletic

6:11

conversation go back and forth. They're like, okay,

6:14

you hold that out, let me go back. Now

6:16

it's time for you to see what I can do.

6:18

Um. And yeah, I'm surprised

6:21

even like people like my dad who get

6:23

real casual with it, are now really

6:25

getting in the weeds because I think

6:27

it's just it's it's easy to root for everybody

6:29

you're watching too. Yeah, there's like a level

6:32

of like young talent that are as

6:34

we've talked about before doing things we haven't

6:36

seen before. There's also like

6:38

I'm Yeah, as I

6:41

talked about pretty regularly

6:43

on this show, I'm like against the determinists,

6:45

the people who seem to think every game

6:48

is the final game of basketball ever played,

6:50

and like when a team loses, they're like blow

6:52

it up. So from that respect,

6:55

it was very fun to watching

6:57

one of those series Donovan Mitchell come

7:00

through lib to Gobet for the game winning

7:02

dunk Jazz tie of the series to Too.

7:04

Not usually like earth hugest

7:07

jazz fan, but that that is the

7:09

team I am pulling for in that series. Here

7:13

comes Mitchell, go bad. You

7:17

takes the league.

7:23

Another moment, I'm like, I can find

7:25

you know, go to Too too, you know, just

7:28

just to make it interesting because again my

7:30

heart, my purple and gold heart, usually

7:33

doesn't have me pulling for the

7:35

team in Utah. But again I even found

7:38

myself like, no, no, no, I like, I like

7:40

what I'm seeing. So let's allow this to continue

7:42

to cook a little bit. I've just I've just been

7:44

taking to your approaches. I'm ignoring with the name on

7:46

the jersey says, I'm just looking for good basketball,

7:49

just good basketball. And you to your point, Jack,

7:51

the ending of that game was absolutely fantastic.

7:53

You know that Honestly, you

7:56

hear all the dialogue. You hear folks, and

7:58

you know I won't you know, weigh down

8:00

by going too deep here, but you hear all of

8:02

the stuff where like you know, to your point where everything

8:05

is die the liver die, or if

8:08

you know, if you lose, you're the worst, or any

8:10

of that stuff. More than anything, I just appreciate

8:13

basketball. So it

8:15

doesn't matter like I'm going to place

8:17

aside my allegiances, you know,

8:19

for your for this run, just this single singular

8:22

run, I'll be back being my you know, usual

8:24

toxic Lakers fans, so next season, but

8:26

for this one, its particularly I'm going to

8:28

right right right. One team, one

8:31

young team that was not on my list

8:33

of like, all right, you know, I think we talked about

8:35

the nets potentially putting it together. It would

8:37

be fun to see them make a deep run. Doesn't

8:40

look like that's happening as

8:42

of yet. They are down three TV

8:46

and the game has already started, so their posts

8:48

might be over by the time you

8:50

listen to this. But Golden State

8:52

was one of the teams were like, man, if they fall,

8:55

three of the Splash brothers have

8:57

going and Clay is high

9:00

and they've delivered. They've been a lot of fun

9:02

to watch. I did not have the Pelicans

9:05

on my uh list of like,

9:07

man, I am excited to watch

9:09

these guys, and I was wrong,

9:11

very wrong. I think I fell into the very

9:14

uh sort of elementary

9:16

analysis of a team. I'm like, well, zions

9:18

out all right, that's

9:21

that can't be good for them, Therefore my

9:24

attention will go elsewhere. And no,

9:26

I mean that, man, Brandon

9:29

Ingram is looking real good.

9:31

That guy that kids looking like a

9:33

real good basketball player. I gotta

9:35

say, well, if we're being honest

9:37

about it, you know, you and I have that extra

9:40

little wrinkle when it comes to the publicans. Well, I'm I'm

9:42

certainly never going to be a Pelicans fan. The

9:44

fact that Brandon Ingram is there, the fact that Larry Jr.

9:46

Is there, Yeah, there's a kinship, and plus

9:48

you know, hidiots fantastic to see brandon Ingram kind

9:51

of come into his own. Yeah, And I think I feel

9:53

even in like a part of me. You can see there are

9:55

parts of especially Laker fans, who will look at

9:57

that and just like raise their fists to the heavens

9:59

and thing things like that. But part of me also

10:01

feels good like when he was playing for the Lakers.

10:04

I was like, not, there's something, there's something

10:06

in there. This kid, he's gonna he could do something,

10:08

and to see it, I'm very happy for him

10:10

because he's just coming into his

10:12

own and I can't be mad at that. So

10:15

Ingram has been very exciting. He's like

10:17

putting up you know, thirty in some of these

10:19

games. He's doing what

10:21

I think a lot of people saw

10:24

for him the future. There's that one dunk

10:26

where he drove into traffic

10:29

and like a split second

10:31

later, his head was at the rim

10:34

and he was he was throwing it down in traffic.

10:36

The I think, yeah, the Pelicans were

10:38

up in the third.

10:41

It was, you know, a tough

10:43

moment, like one of those playoff moments

10:45

where they're like, well you know this is this is where

10:47

the experience comes through. And he

10:49

just came through. And there's

10:52

something about the physics of him being

10:55

like a little bit lighter than

10:57

the other players that allows him to jump

11:00

super high and super quick. And also

11:02

he's much stronger than I think people give him

11:05

credit for because he absorbs contact and

11:07

then like I said, a split second later,

11:09

his his his hand is in the net.

11:13

The surpris brands, which

11:16

God also

11:21

his smile coming back down the court. That's

11:23

what I love though, too, when you're like, yes,

11:25

it's even when you're a professional

11:27

and you're doing it, is still feels just as

11:30

good all the time. At the end of

11:32

the day, they're playing a game, Like, I know, we take

11:34

this seriously, and obviously you know we're taking

11:36

it is seriously enough for you guys have a show about

11:38

him. But at the end of the day, they're playing a game. And to

11:40

Jack's point, it's fantastic to see him in his first playoff

11:42

action three consecutive thirty point games

11:45

at one point, this is this

11:47

is It feels like a coming out party. I'm

11:49

really hoping that we get that. Yeah.

11:51

Yeah, And I want to talk about herb

11:54

Jones so uh,

11:57

I like it's legendary in our office.

11:59

Uh not, let it. Like just I

12:01

I am weirdly obsessed with that one

12:04

zion block where he

12:07

in college like blocked to three

12:09

that the person like squared up and started

12:12

their shot when he was like under the rim and

12:14

then he just jumped like

12:18

uh and blocked the three like that

12:20

had left the person's hand. It's seemingly like

12:23

five seconds ago. Um,

12:25

And so that's always just seemed

12:28

amazing to me because it's not a thing that you

12:30

see players do that often or

12:33

that I could remember seeing is like jumping

12:35

across the lane and blocking

12:38

a three. Um Herb Jones just did

12:40

it twice in a single game.

12:42

Um Herb Jones a rookie for the Pels.

12:45

This was the first time I had googled him since

12:48

his Alabama days, and I remember being like,

12:50

he's like he has so many

12:52

tools, like he's real

12:54

deal, and especially on defense, like

12:57

he has two blocks that again

13:00

in appear impossible and appear like

13:02

he's too far away for the player squaring

13:05

up to shoot to even be considering

13:07

that he's about to block their shot, Like

13:10

it doesn't seem like it even enters their mind. It's

13:13

because like when I look at the blocks, I'm like, all right, because

13:16

what was he like seven ft tall and you're like nice six

13:18

seven just

13:20

crazy wingspan and also yeah,

13:23

just manages to stretch his body out and

13:26

hitting me with the go go gadget

13:28

rejection, like like let me just

13:30

add a like four ft to my arm really quick

13:32

to just stuff this the corner ball look

13:34

away his channel corner. The

13:38

Lake. Are you kidding him

13:41

too? That

13:44

one? That one,

13:46

like, I don't even in my mind,

13:48

I'm like, yeah, that can't get blocked, and

13:51

that's a good look. That's what the offensive players are thinking.

13:54

The one before that, the one on Macau bridges, for instance,

13:57

when Macau catches the ball, herbs foot

13:59

is still in the way. Yeah, that's just

14:02

it doesn't make sense, right.

14:04

Yeah. And when when you look back at

14:06

the Zion clip, the dude setting up

14:08

to shoot that shot has the wind

14:10

up that I had when I was in high school,

14:13

Like he is taking his sweet time. There's

14:15

a hitch in the shot before he releases

14:17

it. This is happening an NBA game with like quick

14:19

releases and people who are trained to

14:22

like always know the correct amount of space before

14:25

you let one go. And he's

14:27

just getting up there and blocking it. Yeah

14:30

every time again, So

14:32

Herb Jones is very

14:34

exciting, Herb. Yeah. I mean it's like, as

14:37

much as I love I love some good

14:39

offensive play a block, there's

14:41

it's because they're not as you know,

14:43

that's not they're not as frequent. So when they're

14:45

done well and emphatically

14:47

like that, you're just like no, no, no, no, no no, that's

14:50

those are those statement plays that you love to see. May

14:52

I offer your first mad boost these prediction

14:54

from a gift. Okay,

14:56

both of those two individuals that that I mentioned,

14:58

Herb Jones and the Cole Bridges will be

15:01

in the Defensive Player of the Year running

15:03

for the next five to ten years. M okay,

15:07

like it? In the running

15:09

be meaning that they will be NBA players who

15:11

are eligible or what are we talking about

15:13

here? I mean, and I expect two or three awards

15:16

from them over the next five I

15:18

think I think they're that and it's

15:20

kind of incredible to see from young players. And

15:22

look, I love the prediction, Adam Silver,

15:24

I think you heard that. So this I still

15:27

have to go for another six years to

15:29

to verify these claims, but I like that. I like

15:31

those odds for sure. It's it's also

15:34

cool because like this was the one

15:36

of the first years Marcus Smart of course was

15:38

the Defensive Player of the Year came to

15:40

the game last week rocking the

15:42

Defensive Player of the Year like Heavyweight

15:45

Championship bout robe um

15:48

looked awesome, but it is

15:51

you know, people don't win that award at

15:53

that size and like generally it's

15:55

not a perimeter player, like the

15:58

guy who wins Defensive Player of the Year usually a

16:00

big and for

16:03

Yeah, I I just the stuff,

16:05

the sorts of things we're seeing with those sorts

16:07

of blocks. You know, we we've

16:09

talked before about some job blocks,

16:12

but it does feel like the perimeter defense

16:14

game is something we're seeing people

16:16

take to a new level. Uh yeah,

16:19

in the past couple of years. I mean, I mean we didn't

16:21

even talk about the Celtics, but yeah, the defense

16:24

being led by Marcus Smart, there's they

16:27

played with a lot of energy and intensity.

16:30

Craziest thing about that is the fact that you know,

16:33

time Lord, if he doesn't get injured, he probably

16:35

wins Defensive Player of the Years. I'm

16:37

talking about his teammate, right, He's

16:39

absolutely crazy. Right. It's

16:41

really a testament to the you know, to the job that emo emo

16:44

emokas. Yeah,

16:46

and that back on the Pels, Willie Green

16:49

uh is you know, doing an amazing

16:51

job with that team. There was a

16:55

comprehensive like attitude

16:57

that they brought into that game when it came

16:59

to uh, you know, the

17:02

Chris Paul matchups and like sort

17:04

of the gamesmanship that was pretty cool

17:07

to see. And you know,

17:09

they started the season one and twelve, so

17:12

like that's impressive to just you

17:14

know, be unwavering in the face of

17:16

that, but also like it

17:18

indicates that they figured something out. With

17:21

thirteen games of the season since that time,

17:23

they've been pretty pretty impressive.

17:26

And then of course they traded for c. J. McCollum,

17:28

who amazing score.

17:31

So it's excited. It's an exciting

17:33

UH series and an exciting team.

17:36

Yeah, whether they do it this year or not,

17:38

I'm up for surprises too. And yeah,

17:40

like we said, Golden State is delivering

17:43

on us saying most excited team

17:45

potentially heading in cominga

17:48

Every once in a while you get a commenda dunk, can

17:50

we do a quick look at this cominggo dunk?

17:53

Quick breakaway? Just to be ore

17:55

are concerned elderly viewers

17:57

of the league, like, you can't jump so high,

17:59

kids, Universe yourself

18:02

up there, Yeah you

18:04

can't. Yeah, right, exactly,

18:06

like I would die if I jump that high.

18:08

Jonathan Sleeper, turn your

18:10

head just to the

18:12

poke it away. Steph gets it ahead to him

18:18

from outside the lynn. Those

18:23

fans behind them, the business

18:25

decisions they saw. Yeah,

18:27

Yoga puts a hand up, like is getting

18:30

close to the ball. He just like moves it to the side

18:32

and then like dunks are two handed.

18:35

Uh. And it's it's as if in

18:37

that moment, right like Joker's

18:39

arm extension, I'm like, oh, is he trying to go there

18:42

with me? Is that what he's trying to do? And I think once

18:44

the process that Joker was like, I don't need I don't

18:46

need to get posters. Uh that

18:48

he like that. Even then even cominga mid

18:50

air is like, okay, so I don't need to do like power

18:53

slam. And now he's like, but I have elevated,

18:55

okay, just get it in easy. It was just

18:57

in the split second you can see like all that control

19:00

happening. Yeah, we've all played basketball at

19:02

different levels. I'm well,

19:04

I shouldn't say I'm sure. I don't know if

19:06

you guys have almost or been dunked on before.

19:08

I had no problem with that business business decision

19:11

because quite frankly, when you when

19:13

you're coming up as a defender, you know you know your elevator

19:15

doesn't go up that high. Oh yeah, I

19:18

mean I died only

19:21

time I got out

19:23

the way the last the only time I had ever

19:26

allowed myself to be dunked on. It

19:29

was clear it was like me versus the person. It was

19:31

just who was coming with far

19:33

too much velocity towards the hoop. I

19:35

was like, I can't get up, static, like I

19:37

can't just gather from here and get up. I

19:39

was like, nah that I got

19:41

dunked on conservatively twelve

19:44

times in a single game by Dan get Zurich

19:48

seven footer. Eventually

19:51

he went to he was a brewin right, Yeah.

19:54

He he came out of a small private school

19:57

in New England, and you know,

19:59

I was, I was there.

20:01

I was like, you know what I'm gonna I'll

20:04

stick him and it's not after

20:06

me, like two handed dunks.

20:09

It was very shock like. It was like he you

20:11

know, it was shock like if

20:13

Shock were playing against a high

20:15

school basketball team. Right. So,

20:18

yeah, you get to the point where so many dunks

20:20

were like people in the audience were getting sick watching

20:23

you get like posterized

20:25

over and over like please, Jack just stayed

20:27

out, stayed out. I think

20:30

it was maybe his girlfriend,

20:32

I don't know. One of the cheerleaders came over to him

20:34

and she had a tear in her eye and she whispered something

20:36

and he stopped dunking on me after that. So,

20:39

but I mean, I'm I'm not gonna say

20:42

you want easy on me. I think you could tell that I had had

20:44

enough and he

20:47

knew I was a real animal, you know, just

20:50

being able to just eat those up

20:52

every time. Yeah,

20:55

really flip it on and be like, yeah, you like, I ate all

20:57

those dunks, like sir,

21:00

if it makes you feeling better. Baron Davis

21:03

matched up with my high school team and my

21:05

senior year. Off the tip, he

21:08

ended our point guard against the backboard and

21:10

he dumped on him. Yeah, like against

21:13

the backboard, took it on down and dumped right over

21:15

the top of them. Sorry.

21:18

Yeah. In the playoffs my high school against

21:21

Tyson Chandler, it

21:23

was it was big problems. It was

21:25

big problems from my high school playing

21:28

and I mean it seen. Who

21:30

you know, which of those anecdotes more embarrassing,

21:33

Like obviously Baron Davis one of the all time

21:35

great uh Tyson Chandler

21:37

contributor on championship

21:40

team, you know, but both of those things

21:43

happening to other people that you knew,

21:45

versus me getting dunked on thirteen times

21:47

by Dan Getzerich. Uh. You know,

21:49

yeah, we all have our rough moments, but

21:52

who's to say which one is more embarrassing. Yeah,

21:56

I don't know listeners about right

21:58

in, but the way I looked, did I get

22:00

poster eyed or did he eat those?

22:04

You know? Those are those like had

22:07

I been a three point specialists, it could

22:09

have been part of a plan where you

22:11

know, he's taking twos, but I'm coming

22:14

down during the three. Unfortunately I was not a

22:16

three point specialist night,

22:19

but you were an earlier exactly

22:22

like, yeah, I'll take that too. I also found

22:24

him on you know at least a dozen of those.

22:27

Uh So alright, well let's

22:29

talk about big men. Uh in a moment when

22:31

we come back, I'm talking about Joe

22:33

l embiid Uh. Well, we'll talk about

22:35

him right after this and

22:46

we're back. Uh. And you

22:48

know we have super producer Jabari

22:51

on the show. He preps

22:54

the dock every week. He

22:56

knows I'm a Sixers fan. Uh.

22:58

This week he came through with Uh,

23:01

let's let's see what his one Sixers

23:03

highlight was. It was it

23:05

says former six or that young

23:08

six or on six or crime um

23:11

and it is that young crossing

23:13

up Joe LMB to make him fall in Game

23:15

four when the Raptors beat

23:17

the Sixers um

23:19

So, I don't know if we even need to watch

23:22

that. It was, I mean, not that remarkable.

23:25

I think it was remarkable because I didn't

23:27

know that this year the NBA was

23:30

allowing players to wear winter

23:32

skis on their feet while

23:34

playing basketball. At least that's what it looked like based

23:36

on the slipping. I saw Fred

23:41

Young former Sixers

23:45

being three hundred pounds

23:48

uh and moving in one direction,

23:50

has trouble reversing direction, and

23:52

that Young pulls up for a

23:55

jumper the game winner or was

23:57

that a game winner? I just wanted

23:59

to was just curious if that was.

24:02

The Raptors

24:06

did win that game. So that

24:08

and that must be indicative of how the series

24:11

is going, right, because

24:13

you put it in there, that must be the thing that

24:15

sums up the Raptor Sixer

24:17

series. Oh wait, no, okay,

24:20

so the Sixers are up three one as this recording.

24:23

Um so, just one other

24:25

thing that happened in this series

24:28

was Top three m VP candidate

24:30

Joel embiad excepted an inbounds pass

24:33

with point nine seconds on the shot

24:35

clock and two seconds left in overtime

24:38

tie ball game, hit a turnaround

24:41

three feathery soft. This

24:44

is this man is the size of shock and

24:46

has just the feathery ist

24:49

lightest touch, even lighter

24:52

lighter than a pilot spider webs.

24:54

That's how light this touch was. Yes,

24:56

feathers, feathers do not do it justice.

24:59

Fall Why that was clean though? That

25:02

was so clean the body control that

25:04

it takes to be able to do that, and you know, as

25:07

a normal sized person let alone.

25:08

Oh I'm not joking. I

25:10

almost hurt my back trying to are

25:13

trying to wash, like scrub the lower part

25:15

of my back in the shower and

25:17

this guy's full trunk rotation

25:19

to like catch and shoot again. I

25:22

am the furthest thing from a professional athlete.

25:24

I'm a professional podcaster, which

25:26

means shooting in the gym

25:28

means two k while sitting down. But

25:31

yeah, it's you know that that

25:34

was very poetic too, because you know that arena

25:36

has also been the site of some terrible

25:38

emotions as well for Joel Embid.

25:41

I'm not sure what we're talking about, but so this

25:43

was ah never

25:45

heard of there.

25:48

There was a lot of significance. This was game

25:50

two. So this is the difference between

25:52

it being a two two series and the three one series.

25:55

Um, this is the same arena.

25:57

Where Kawhi Leonard with

26:00

the fade away falling out of bounds jumper

26:02

the bounced fourteen times

26:05

in the heart of Joel Embiad

26:07

and Sixers fans. So it was it was

26:09

cool for him to have this moment.

26:11

So that that was not in the dock, I had to add

26:14

that one. So the thing that was in the dock

26:17

was Thad Young making

26:19

Joel Embead fall down like he was on skates.

26:21

The thing that was not was the

26:26

amazing shot, the

26:28

awkward celebration. That was

26:30

one of the things I loved about it is that he has

26:32

not thought through what like cool thing

26:34

to do after hitting a game winner. He's just jumping

26:36

around like a nine year old who

26:39

just opened and sixty four on Christmas morning

26:41

in the nineties, just jumping around,

26:43

just just pure joy. And

26:45

then also has

26:48

done away with throwing punches in the air,

26:50

which I think is better for the

26:53

health of him and everyone around him.

26:55

Since there there have been moments where he like

26:57

fist pumps and it comes within like

27:00

uh an inch of like

27:03

ending the game because because

27:05

somebody's faces right there. Uh

27:07

so, I I love it. I

27:10

loved this moment. Uh it put me

27:12

in a good mood for three days in

27:14

a row. Yeah,

27:16

so Jack, do you love this moment?

27:19

I wasn't clear on that part. It was the touch

27:21

feathery soft, It was spider Webbiley

27:24

so right, which

27:26

is a spider web drifting in the breeze. Truly,

27:29

truly, truly. Again, I like the diversity

27:32

of clips that we talked about on the show, um

27:35

because it gives us moments like this. On one hand,

27:37

Jack, you had to gather yourself to to watch

27:39

that young put Joel Embiid

27:41

on roller skates and then that

27:43

gave you the emotion you responded,

27:46

you know what I mean? That was game one, Jabari in game

27:48

two is Jack saying, well what about this play? Really?

27:52

It was a test. It was a test because remember

27:54

a few weeks ago we all agreed we were going to

27:56

go into this and you know, essentially

27:58

cheer for other teams other in our own. So

28:00

I just want to I want to see how that right?

28:03

Right? Exactly right?

28:05

Could you hand out some roses right there with

28:07

that? Like? Does that mean that we can't even talk

28:09

about when one of our teams has

28:11

the defining game winning shot

28:14

of the playoffs so far we just leave that

28:16

out? Is that so we're going, Okay,

28:19

I guess you got a point. Yeah, you've been making

28:21

content alone a lot longer than I

28:24

come. I mean, come on, I mean come on, guys.

28:27

Yeah, you're gonna sound like that one guy Bobby

28:30

from the other sports podcast. I never heard

28:32

of it. Uh So I

28:34

also want to talk about the

28:37

Nuggets and one

28:39

Nicola the joker Yoki,

28:43

because they've had a rough go because

28:45

they're playing the Golden State Warriors. Yes,

28:49

and with six Man of the Year

28:51

Steph Curry down oh three,

28:53

exactly down oh three, they put

28:55

together a gutty win um

28:58

in which he made the perfect

29:00

pass for the game winner, which is what

29:02

he's been doing all season. He also predicted.

29:06

So they they pulled him for defensive

29:09

reasons and also I think just

29:11

to like give him a little extra gas on the

29:13

offensive end. Um. But he

29:16

was from the bench telling the

29:20

players who remained in the game, the Nuggets who remained

29:22

in the game, exactly

29:24

what play the Warriors were

29:26

about to lob over the top, Yeah,

29:28

and they intercepted the lab then

29:31

he came back in through the perfect pass.

29:33

And we we've had on here for a while.

29:36

Yoki just passing this season is

29:40

one of the coolest things

29:42

I've seen anywhere in basketball. Like

29:45

he has these bounced passes or

29:47

outlet passes that

29:49

seemed like they're traveling around

29:51

people's legs or just like passing

29:54

through their bodies like their force ghosts.

29:57

It's or it's like the timing of

30:00

like it's the equivalent of like those like um,

30:03

those like optical illusion things were

30:05

like, focus on this thing in the room, and they're like, I

30:07

bet you didn't notice there were nineteen bears in the

30:09

background playing hop scots because you were focused

30:11

on this. It's like the timing of his passes

30:14

is like the same equivalent of those

30:16

kinds of exercise. We're like, well, that's not that's

30:18

not an angle, that's not a passing angle, or

30:20

that's not the moment to pass the ball. And then he exploits

30:23

that with a mastery that we've you

30:25

know, not really been able to see some for some time.

30:27

The outlet passes. Let's start with the outlet

30:30

passes. Here, real quick block

30:33

shot his second look

30:37

off, where again

30:41

the look off is so complete that

30:44

he throws it right through the hands

30:46

of an opposing audacious

30:49

because this speed is not moving out of inhumane

30:52

like I could barely keep up with where the ball

30:54

was. It's just a quick no I'm

30:56

looking over here, and I was like,

30:58

okay, but no, no, Look,

31:01

he's not a good passer for a sinner, he's

31:03

a great passer. He's a great general.

31:06

Yes, his feeling for the game is that of like

31:08

one of the great point guards. It's absurd.

31:11

Yeah, when we were talking about Mellow

31:13

a couple of weeks back with Roy Wood Jr.

31:16

Like that they're passing reminds me like

31:18

when Mellows at his best and

31:20

throwing those passes that again

31:22

feel like, you know, why how are

31:24

they not getting picked off?

31:27

But it's because nobody

31:29

saw them coming except for the player. Those

31:31

two remind me of each other. But Mellow

31:34

is like a point guard who you know, his passing

31:36

was the most heralded thing about his game. And Yogich

31:39

is also putting up you know, and

31:41

ten all right here, This

31:44

one is um

31:47

he he gets a pass in the in the

31:50

high post and immediately

31:53

I think this is the one where he immediately throws it over

31:55

his head without having looked

31:57

behind him to see that they're

32:00

as a teammate there or where the opposing

32:02

players are. It looks

32:04

like again a move I would

32:06

have tried after seeing the Harlem Globe

32:09

Trotters for the first time as a kid and trying

32:11

to do something like that in the game, except I would have just

32:13

threw it out of bounds and like, what was that?

32:15

This couldn't

32:19

convert? They put the

32:21

placement of that as well. You notice he

32:23

doesn't just can't you just hit him. He throws

32:25

it to a location where only he could

32:27

have caught it the fingers on his on his back for those

32:30

who aren't watching, he

32:32

catches it, kind of looks over one shoulder

32:35

and then gives a second where he's looking

32:37

in front of him, and then throws it directly

32:39

over his head, like you

32:41

know, like somebody who's never played basketball

32:44

before, and it's just giving up um, right,

32:46

But and it goes within

32:49

one inch of the three defenders

32:51

between him and his teammate

32:53

that he's passing it to um.

32:56

But because the timing

32:58

is so perfect, is like one of those like

33:01

Aaron Rodgers passes where he drops

33:03

it into like one square inch that only

33:06

his receiver could get it. But he's

33:08

doing it without looking

33:10

over his head. Um.

33:12

And when you watch it in extreme slow motion,

33:15

you notice that like the ball

33:17

will pass over a defender's head and then like

33:20

his reflexes will catch up and he'll like put

33:22

his hands up, but it will have just

33:24

passed over his head. So again like

33:26

just a level of having

33:29

having figured things out that um,

33:32

I don't know, it seems in human

33:35

like he has that thing when I'm

33:37

talking about Lebron, Like I think

33:39

Lebron when he has the ball in his

33:41

hands is making It's

33:44

like a chess computer that like

33:46

knows every single angle and

33:48

is thirty moves ahead, like

33:50

he's always making the right play.

33:53

And I feel like Yo Kich is doing that too, and

33:55

it's it's wild to watch point

33:58

he's doing it like it like half speed for NBA

34:00

players, Like he's just

34:02

like just methodically plowed along and got

34:05

it. Feels like like me playing with like

34:07

older uncles or cousins who like weren't

34:10

as fit, but they were smarter. They're like,

34:12

I've played so much more basketball than you. Watch

34:14

me just face my chest in this

34:16

direction and you're going to be completely

34:18

disoriented when I'm start, you know, just throwing

34:20

no looks and things like that. And you

34:23

know, I really, like I really enjoy

34:25

watching him because his he's such a cerebral

34:28

player, and he's playing

34:30

in a way that feels like he has

34:32

like his own way of playing. And like even to

34:34

that point of the him calling out that lob

34:36

that Austin Rivers ended up intercepting,

34:40

and he said it after the game, He's like, you know, we

34:42

watched so much tape and he's like, I

34:44

could just see the shape and I knew what was going on.

34:46

And I think the fact that he's so

34:48

so in like intuitively already

34:51

doing all that kind of analysis all the time

34:53

and his you know, real asymmetrical

34:55

passing is just it

34:58

really put throws people off. And I I I

35:00

say this about European players. I

35:02

really, I really think the reason

35:04

that they're passing is so good is

35:06

from soccer, because that's

35:08

a bigger sport out there, and that's

35:10

all about predicting where someone's

35:12

going to be putting the ball. They're drawing

35:15

a defender out by first, you know, rotating,

35:17

like a lot of those A lot of those fundamentals

35:20

apply to basketball, but we see them in different

35:22

ways. Like I feel like pal Gasol really brought

35:24

that to the Lakers too early on, and I was like,

35:26

wait a second, and this is like coinciding

35:28

when like the Spanish national team was doing very

35:31

good in soccer. I was like, no, this all makes sense,

35:33

Like the fluidity of passing

35:35

is people are using different parts of the

35:37

brain when they're coming from Europe.

35:39

Yeah, there's another pass we'll put in the

35:42

foot notes for this episode where he throws

35:45

it again at a weird angle that

35:47

travels all the way across the court.

35:49

And it's also not clear like how

35:52

his arms are making the ball move because

35:54

the passes, like is this such a strange

35:56

angle? It's like sort of a side

35:59

arm like behind him

36:01

pass. But again

36:04

it just leaves the defenders looking

36:06

like my kids chasing a butterfly because the

36:08

ball is right there. There's like one

36:12

more time, one more time, joker, I'll get it this time.

36:14

You're not gonna get me. Like even more demoralizing

36:17

than getting dunked on twelve times in a single game.

36:20

More demoralizing than eating up twelve dunks

36:23

and not getting locked down nom

36:25

nom nom every time dun.

36:29

He's like, this dude is so weird. Why to

36:31

keep so

36:35

that's your kitchen. It

36:37

turns out he's pretty good. Yeah,

36:39

but passing like does feel to me.

36:42

I don't know about you guys, but it feels to

36:44

me like it's just getting better

36:46

and better. They're shooting from deeper.

36:49

People talk about that a lot, but the passing is

36:51

just like some of the passes are so

36:53

dope and next level, and like it

36:56

doesn't make sense with the conscious mind how they knew

36:59

to do that. If it has to do with I

37:01

mean, obviously there's still one on one play, there's still

37:03

plenty of isolation ball, but there's less and

37:05

less of it in more motion offense.

37:07

I wonder if it has to do with that. You know, players

37:10

and teams just simply having to pay more attention

37:12

to detail when it comes to those things. Well,

37:14

the players are becoming more and more complete,

37:17

you know that We're seeing these

37:20

big men with like soft hands can

37:23

just have a ridiculous vision. I

37:25

can only imagine what that's gonna do down

37:27

the road, because we're inherently just

37:29

kind of like the sport is evolving because we're

37:32

not we don't see like kids developing. Me

37:34

like I'm gonna learn to do this one thing really well, It's

37:36

like no, I want to. I want to be as complete as I can be. Homebren,

37:39

He's coming out he's coming out this year in the draft. You

37:41

seven ft three or seven ft four, like

37:43

you guys ball skills can do everything on the court.

37:46

I agree with you. Um, alright, let's

37:48

take another quick break and then we'll come back

37:50

and talk about some some mic dups and

38:02

we're back. Um, and before

38:05

we get to favorite miked up

38:07

moment of the week, Jabar,

38:09

we do like to ask our guests, as

38:11

you know, well, what's the

38:13

craziest thing you've ever seen somebody

38:16

do on a basketball court? Honestly,

38:19

over the years, there have been so many things, but I'll

38:21

say my favorite of the crazy things

38:23

was it came on a play I think from

38:25

the two thousand three season. If I'm not mistaken

38:28

where it's on, it's it's on an inbound

38:30

or he's taking the ball out.

38:32

He throws a length of the court pass the

38:34

Kobe, who catches it in stride, goes

38:37

around the back with it, and then there's

38:39

like a one eight on top of a denvernck.

38:41

I don't reven remember who the who the guy was right,

38:44

being able to do all of that at the same

38:46

time when one fluid motion is probably the craziest

38:49

thing I've seen. Again, since we love making comparisons

38:51

to other sports. That's like catching a like

38:54

hail Mary pass but then still

38:57

having to put it around your back and

38:59

then do a three sixteen all

39:03

in one motion with the defender right there

39:05

in your grip. Right. Because Jabari,

39:07

you grew up in l A. I'm

39:09

from l A. We very quickly we're like, okay, we're

39:11

both from the valley. We started talking.

39:14

We're like, wait, what what do you wh

39:16

where did you play? Who? Who do you know? What have you

39:18

seen? And very quickly we realized that there

39:20

are parts of the valley where we may

39:23

very well have been in the same place at the same

39:25

time. And I guess what's

39:27

interesting. I want to ask you right because I respect

39:29

your basketball pedigree or acumen

39:32

and that you do know the valley. Is

39:34

there a basketball culture in the San Fernando

39:36

Valley and what has that? What? What have you seen by

39:38

being in the valley playing basketball

39:41

without a doubt? So, for one,

39:43

back in the day, the tars and a recreation center

39:45

adult league, all types of the

39:47

former players or you know, guys that were playing

39:50

overseas and all types of actors that actually

39:52

had some games, you know, they used to play in that but

39:54

in particular, you know one that we that

39:57

we've shared the same experience that do you

39:59

remember the old Jeaneste the park days where

40:02

I'll be honest with you, out there, for instance,

40:04

you might have Shack and Pete Rose watching

40:06

you play basketball, and in out of nowhere,

40:08

Brian McKnight will come up, like

40:11

like, so there was one you know,

40:13

I can remember a Saturday night

40:15

Brian McKnight. Brian your

40:18

mind that Bran no time,

40:21

Yes, that branding Knight out

40:23

the buckets. Yeah he made them. Yeah.

40:26

You know what he did? Did you keep scoring for us?

40:28

Yeah? Keep scoring? Exactly

40:31

know what he did was he came up to a park

40:33

where there were four games waiting, and

40:35

he said, who's got next? I told him me. He

40:38

offered me five bucks, and I said, I

40:40

think I'm good man. I'm not gonna wait. I'm gonna wait

40:42

an hour and head Also, Bryan,

40:45

aren't you Brian McKnight, you're giving me five dollars.

40:48

I'm just saying, let's negotiate. I'm just here. But

40:50

Janesta Park was the you know, at least

40:53

at the time when we were coming up. You know, it's

40:55

definitely did you ever catch the eye of

40:57

any of these luminaries who were courtside, That's

40:59

what I was saying, Like there there were well,

41:01

for one, as crazy as it sounds, Shack was

41:03

there on a regular, semi regular basis,

41:06

like at night just he would roll up at ten thirty,

41:08

eleven thirty at night, sometimes even twelve o'clock. But

41:10

there was one night in particular, and I think, you

41:13

know, we we determined it. This was the time where we were in the

41:15

same space at the same time, you know, twenty

41:17

for knowing one another. Where the

41:21

example I gave wasn't a joke. Pete Rose and Shack

41:23

we're watching and critiquing us play. I'm

41:26

I don't know why, but I chose to

41:28

dive for a ball. This is an outdoor port,

41:31

you know, asphalt. Pete Rose

41:33

loved it so much he stood up and shot, gave

41:35

me, you know and chat, gave me the you know, the Arlie

41:40

Hustle and a big Shack Diesel thumbs

41:42

up. That took like, yes,

41:45

I would get that. I mean, those are two people with

41:47

some of the most famous diving

41:50

onto Like obviously you

41:52

know Pete Rose, Charlie Hustle, just

41:54

you know, he he revolutionized the

41:57

sliding game. Right head first, just

41:59

reckless and then Shack had that one.

42:02

I mean, he's a he's had a couple but when he would

42:04

just slide across the court and nothing

42:07

was stopping him because he is

42:10

he's pretty big. Yeah,

42:13

so yeah, I had my Shack and Pete Rose moment. I

42:15

mean, I know why you just dove on that court. You

42:17

were inspired that, like

42:19

had you not dive on the court. But that's that's

42:21

very cool. Like I'm also a madman, so

42:23

like it was one of those where I just didn't think about

42:25

it and say, oh, well here, yeah

42:28

bad man. You know a lot of injuries

42:30

from reckless diving, but hey, it happened.

42:32

Yes, it happens. There are a couple

42:35

of clips like you you pulled um

42:38

once again. Kevin Durant, big

42:41

fan, also great at calling

42:43

out like when a young player

42:45

is going to be good that you pulled out

42:47

this clip from November

42:50

where he played against NBA

42:53

Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, and

42:56

somebody was like, what do you think of Scottie

42:58

Barnes, And he just had here. Let's

43:01

play the clip. Actually, it's like very

43:03

just clear and concise and

43:05

a great description of

43:07

Scotty Barnes, he

43:11

tell me what he saw from that. In terms of this

43:13

competitive sport, will

43:20

you know, I think it's rare. I mean, you got a lot of

43:22

guys who love to compete and love to

43:24

win and um. But what's more

43:26

rare about Scotty Barnes is his i Q

43:28

for the game, his length, um,

43:31

you know, his enthusiasm for the game. All

43:34

of that stuff shines bright when you watch him play, and

43:37

you know, you can tell you just want to be there for his teammates.

43:39

He makes he makes winning basketball plays.

43:42

But I think a lot of young guys in the league had that competitive

43:44

fire. But he has something a little extra as

43:46

far as just seeing the game a little slower,

43:48

you know, And that's rare for

43:51

a guy. How does he nineteen? I

43:53

mean, she's you know, he knows

43:55

that I played the right way and he's only gonna

43:58

get better. Honestly, beyond him

44:00

having a clear eye for talent,

44:02

I appreciate that he just gives it up, you

44:04

know what I mean. And I'm not saying that other NBA players

44:06

don't do that, because you do see you do see

44:08

that. But Kevin Durant, considering,

44:11

you know, he's literally an all time great. He

44:13

shows you know, he shows the new players, the old players.

44:15

He shows everybody the same amount of love if you if

44:17

you basically, if you're a Hooper, you you're

44:20

you've got a You've got Katie as a fan. Not really

44:22

do appreciate it. Yeah, yeah,

44:24

it's I think. I mean, but I think that comes with like

44:28

the great players who know they're great, they

44:30

have no they have no issue with watching

44:32

the game progress past the things that they

44:34

could do, you know what I mean, Like, I think they're

44:37

okay, Jack's poet faces

44:39

sometimes sometimes I'm talking

44:41

about you know, but I'm saying the that

44:44

is a sage like wisdom that comes with it

44:47

putting your ego aside. Now that's its own

44:49

thing obviously, but I

44:51

think you can only arrive at that level like where

44:54

Durant is giving it up like that because he

44:56

understands that things evolved, that things

44:58

change, that he also has his own

45:00

level of skill and talent that he possesses

45:03

and is able to identify that and doesn't have to be

45:05

like, well I wouldn't have done this or this and a thing.

45:07

He's like, wow, that's cool, Okay, wow,

45:09

okay, you know it's like it. It feels

45:11

like he feels good that he sees the game being

45:14

put into the hands of people that he also feels

45:16

respected and are going to, you know, push

45:18

it forward. Yeah all right, well

45:21

that has been another episode

45:23

of Miles and Jack. I'm mat boostiees

45:25

in the books. Jabari, such a pleasure

45:28

having you on Mike. Where

45:30

can people find you? Follow you here?

45:32

You all that stuff. The pleasure is truly mine

45:35

to be on the mic with two legends, Um

45:37

Jabari Davis NBA on Twitter A k

45:40

A Joelian beat the biggest fan the

45:42

easiest place. Again, I

45:44

appreciate the opportunity for you know

45:47

it was mentioned earlier, but make sure you check

45:49

out NBA Finals File. Episodes will

45:51

drop each Tuesday and Thursday. It's

45:53

with myself and Robert Ry and basically it's

45:55

me fan boying with an all time

45:58

great about the greatest moments in

46:00

matchups and finalist. I can't imagine

46:02

a better person to like pair

46:04

Robert Ory with who has like the wits

46:07

about them to pick that brain. Uh

46:09

so, y'all definitely check that show off for sure.

46:12

Yeah yeah, Miles, where can People find

46:14

You? Just at Miles of Gray

46:16

and uh check you know, Jack and I always

46:18

doing the daily Seitgeist. You don't need to know about I'm

46:20

just I'm just nobody. I'm just in there. They might anyway,

46:24

yeah, or you know, come on unleasure

46:26

your hot takes in me at Miles of Grade

46:28

g R A y though, and you can find me on Twitter

46:30

at Jack Underscore O'Brian. Uh.

46:32

And we really would appreciate it

46:34

if you would go rate, review, subscribe

46:38

to the podcast Miles

46:40

and Jack got mat boost Yes this one, yes,

46:43

because I I keep trying to use

46:46

this as proof that I

46:48

have Matt boost these But I think I think we

46:50

need more reviews and ratings.

46:53

Please. We need you all to comment in the reviews.

46:55

Writer us a review because right now Dan get

46:58

Zurich is only talking about how many times

47:00

he dunked on Jack, So we need to offset

47:02

some of those reviews with people saying it sounded

47:04

like Jack actually gobbled up those

47:06

dunks every time and you came like hungrily

47:10

yeah with his green gobbled

47:13

up those America runs on

47:16

duncan Ye. All

47:19

right, we will be back

47:21

next week. Thanks guys. Bye,