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(00:00) Thunder win NBA Title
(28:41) Does Kevin Durant make the Rockets contenders?
(46:39) Are Shedeur Sanders speeding tickets a distraction for the Browns? / Does Aaron Rodgers have anything left?
(1:00:15) Truth Lounge
(1:08:58) Pacers exit interview
(1:21:00) Matthew Stafford passed over $400M in on the field career pay
(1:24:22) Speak Up!
(1:28:00) Final thoughts
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welcome to Speak this is a very very big Monday we got a lot going on i’m Joy Taylor joined by two legends super Bowl champion Keesan Johnson NBA Finals MVP Paul Pierce and we saw it last night the NBA crowned a champion and Kevin Durant has himself a new team so after another huge weekend in sports who is walking around like the man on Monday and I feel like this is going to happen every single Monday but I’m taking Otani the LA Dodgers not only the DH but also the pitcher think about it one inning struck out two check this out he threw 18 balls 12 of them were strikes then he flipped the bat around five ribbies okay he ran He got five runs he c it’s like it’s crazy what he doing out there on the baseball diamond man it is crazy he like a man among boys out there he’s different who you got for the man on Monday my man on Monday is the obvious congratulations to the OKC Thunder the man on Monday Shay Gilis Alexander first player to win a scoring title MVP finals MVP Western Conference MVP in multiple game sevens in a single season highest scoring average in a championship season in NBA history i had to look at that and say “Really jordan never done that cuz Jordan won scoring titles and a championship but when you post up 32.7 a game lead the score in the league and win it all that’s different right there shout out to SGA that’s different he was They’re both different and I’m going to give it to Chad this week cadet played a massive role i had some questions about how it was going to look overall but he set a record on Sunday night by blocking five shots the most ever in the NBA Finals game seven since blocks began being recorded he averaged 12 points per game played a huge role in them winning that game last night which was very very competitive and let’s talk about that game seven no better two words in sports game seven and a lot happened last night in Oklahoma City the Pacers took an early lead before losing Tyrese Halleurn in the first quarter Indiana was able to hold on to a small lead at halftime before the Thunder pulled away in the second half for a 10391 victory the Thunder talked about how it felt to bring OKC It’s first title it doesn’t feel real um so many hours so many moments so many emotions so many nights of disbelief oh yeah so many nights of belief hell yeah dude it’s crazy to know that we’re all here but this group work for it this group put in the hours and we deserve this they bring a joy to to work every day that is that is unique you know it’s a long season and it’s even longer when you’re playing deep into the playoffs and you get into the the finals and winning so just the joy and the camaraderie that we have is is second to none like these guys make it easy to show up and go go to work every day they behave like champions they compete like champions they root for each other’s success which is rare in professional sports they are I’ve I’ve said it many times i’m going to say it one more time this is an uncommon team and now they’re champions we are joined by Fox Sports senior NBA analyst Rick Buker welcome Slick thank you thank you thank you good to be here very very big nights but Paul we’ll start with you former Finals MVP how impressive was the Thunder title run it was very impressive because when you’re when you get the pressure in the preeason from start to finish and you and you fulfill those expectations because you know the Celtics were probably the preseason favorite I believe and then as the season went on everybody was like “Okay see.” And now the pressure is on them the youngest team in the league they had to follow up what they did last year having a number one seed coming back with a number one seed going to a game seven against Denver that was impressive the way they handled that series minnesota who everybody was calling Ant-Man the next face of the league took care of them and then you get to the finals against a gritty well coached Indiana Pacers team who pushed them to seven who everybody said “Hey this could go either way.” Even I was saying that anything can happen in the game seven and for them to have the fortitude for them to have the maturity i mean this got to be the most mature young team I’ve ever seen truthfully like even I was we were just saying this I’m looking at Shay celebrate it was like you know uh it wasn’t really celebrating it was like you know it just doesn’t feel real and you know it just all the hard work like you’re supposed to be out there like we we got it we did it oh we made it anything’s possible you know all the celebrations over the years he’s just like you know uh it just doesn’t feel real like a 26 year old for me to see that i’m like whoa that’s telling me he’s not satisfied he’s one he’s going to enjoy this feeling this summer he’s going to put the work in to try to do this again that’s what I kind of got out of this but the run was very impressive hats off to the Thunder and just looking forward youngest team in the league cap room which they’re going to have to fill that up pretty soon with the extensions coming up coaches I have my doubt about coach pull through with his adjustments so hats off to the Thunder this could be a making of a dynasty i’m not even going to lie to you it’s It’s definitely got the infrastructure for it and I’ve said it before yeah the success has come pretty fast what is it six Six years for him now yep so that’s fast six years in six years in six years so you you’re not really going to see the tears and all that yet if if he’ have pushed it to 10 then you going to see cuz he was fighting this is just easy like you think about it it’s just it’s easy impress but you got to be impressed with a team like Paul said from wire to wire they’re the first team 69 plus wins to finish the deal the Bulls did it back in uh 96 97 68 you know yeah 68 so when you think about the plus side of it including the playoffs yeah yeah um you know they have the largest point differential in NBA history at 12.9 highest turnover differential in postseason they created a lot of turnovers especially against Indie indie was just hey we going to help you reach that milestone second youngest NBA championship team yeah it’s the last 70 years fourth team to record 84 wins in the regular season and the postseason i mean you just you got to think man cuz most of the time it feels like teams that have them 68 or 60s or whatever and they they they’re the number one team they don’t finish the deal they somehow stumble up along the way but it didn’t happen to OKC and he didn’t shrink all he continued to do was grow and then the rest of his teammates grow grew if you look at Chad you mentioned it in our man on Monday Joy he stepped up especially on the defensive end and protecting the rim something that we need as a Laker we need a rim protector i just want to throw that in there all right i just want to throw that out to you Rick we got to get us one of them dudes that can help us a little bit i’ll get right on that but no it was impressive it It was I didn’t think it was going to be fun to watch and I have to admit it turned out pretty damn fun to watch right i mean it really it really did cuz I I was like “Okay we’re all about accountability on this show.” Yeah were you not entertained you were no I was but but I actually appointment watch you know what I’m saying like it was it was one of those deals where it was appointment watch it was like “Okay 5:00 i got to go you know I got to get there i can’t mess around with y’all right now i can’t I got to go home.” And I didn’t think I was going to be that way i was just like “Yeah can you give me a little corporate key uh doing Shay?” No no no i ain’t I ain’t doing that it just doesn’t feel real won the championship it just doesn’t feel real you’re very composed no that’s when you should be the most excited this is Paul okay so check this out though that’s true but when you’ve been in the league as long as you have played as long as I played and we finally got that chip we was like man it’s almost over with our careers we He ain’t got a whole another 10 years to go i’m not asking for tears like we got from Well not even not necessarily tears but more enthusiastic expected that it’s hard when you’re this young you know what I think it is you know I think it is and this is what this is what I found so impressive is that they went from when you get to your talk please Rick just go it’s Monday what I found what I found so impressive is that they had never been anywhere close to this before i think that’s maybe why it came seemed sort of like a surprise as opposed to I’ve been trying to get this for so long thank god I finally got it is because and again this is what impressed me the most like they’d never been out of the second round and they’d been to the second round once but they was and then they regular I mean knocking for how long they they knocked they knocked and they knocked once nobody answered they knocked again but then okay we’re here think about what Sam Prey did he said okay I need to go make some moves I make some changes and one of the first things he did he went and got Alex Guso said I need I need a veteran kind of you know guy that can help us on both ends yeah but a role but but a role player yeah but you could be a role player and still help inside the locker room and on the floor for sure isaiah Hartenstein was a nice addition too right key key additions but these were supplementary pieces to a core that had never come close to this as Shay Gil as Alexander go winning MVP in his sixth year as a a Thunder and eighth year in the league and then going all the way through two game sevens against the Denver Nuggets a prior champion and having their back against the wall a couple of times where they were behind in a series and they were corporate through the whole thing shay Shay wasn’t just like this at the end he was like this through the whole thing yeah we’re down 2-1 you know we just need to come back and get back to our game and we’ll be fine you know I mean he was he was an accountant he was just You know what’s so crazy he showed more emotions in the loss that one loss to Denver when he was walking through the tunnel smiling remember that he showed more emotion during the loss cuz like he knew something that was clear let me ask clearly did let me ask you this though because you’ve covered the league for the last 40 years or whatever and and I consider Shay an international player you know do they have emotions when they win big though they’re international players cuz I don’t I don’t remember like you don’t remember Joic Joic I think Joic might have had more uh expressed more when he got back home than he did over here but oh Joic gives Noah more he even left the trophy do you remember that he left he wanted to hurry up to get back right he wanted to get back oh but but behind the scenes um you remember him getting tossed into the cold pool or the cold tub they dove into Yeah I remember yeah they dove into the So there was I think there was there was more of that to see it on like that speech initial speech after that’s where you want to see it but Giannis too no Giannis gave it giannis Giannis gave it to I was just gonna attribute that to maybe from an international standpoint they just don’t celebrate tears we did not get enough tears last night you guys they haven’t suffered enough for this because all the because all the champions that I’ve seen but most of them like I said are probably a little bit older and they waited maybe the younger guys are more in touch with their emotions throughout their day so they don’t have to have it all pent up for one you know one interview i I do think also the Pacers gave us enough tears yeah I do i I do think also you know like the coach said uh they behave like champions they are they have this very unique makeup of personalities of fun of youthfulness they have this this enjoyments of the game that isn’t isn’t brash it it’s it’s a very unique thing to watch it’s a very joyful form of basketball they’re very good it almost feels innocent it is it is okay but that’s what it is it is and they’re And they’re great and they finished what is an incredibly impressive season no no we can’t We can’t have it every which way we can’t ask for great basketball we can’t ask for majority and then be like “Where’s the drama?” We’ll get plenty of that soon enough we’ll get to the We’ll get to the big trade in in just a minute but I think they’ve had a really really impressive season and maybe because there wasn’t a lot of controversy maybe it because they all get along and they all do their interviews together and it’s Oklahoma City and they are a little bit unexpected they haven’t been knocking for two decades to try and get there that it doesn’t feel that way but they have had one of the more impressive seasons of all time i mean you listed a bunch of look like they celebrating right that’s Yeah i mean Caruso had to teach them how to see it didn’t even look right at first it’s like how to open the beers are we old enough to open we’ve seen we’ve seen them do this on TV how did how do they do it exactly but but it is impressive to have expectations all season long to come in and have be sh be expected to be in the MVP conversation to win it to then go on and have the scoring titles then go on and win Western Conference Finals MVP to win finals MVP and to go to a game seven with a team that kind of in a lot of ways had the hearts of the fans like the Pacer not mixed fans obviously but you know the Pacers were this underdog story we like to root for the underdog it’s not like there was animosity against the Thunder but it did seem like you know everyone was kind of in a way rooting for the Pacers i think the the polls showed that the greater far greater part of the nation was behind the Pacers than they were behind the Thunder we like we like an underdog story and that’s what the Pacers were the The Thunder were expected to be here they were expected to have a great regular season they had the best regular season in the NBA shay was in the MVP conversation before the season started they delivered on everything but in some ways that really makes it impressive to me you talk about this all the time that having expectations is a privilege but it does also mean that there’s a target right and that raises that raises the pressure and especially on a young team that you know has Caruso obviously but isn’t you know riddled with veterans who have been there before no they they they pressure was a little different than ours too because as from what I remember we came in after we did the trades we had the favorites i mean we was on the cover of every magazine like and then people was like they ain’t won nothing like you know what I’m saying they It’s like they already That’s why they they had already pretty much crowned us before the season started so that make it like a little more pressure like so when you going into a game seven for us in the first round after all of that you like whoa we we can’t go we can’t get out the playoffs now where where does this where does this put SGA at Joy and in hierarchy in the NBA i mean I think he’s right now he’s at the top i mean he just of the new generation of stars just talking about like right now when you just look at it in the NBA by far and he was the league MVP Western Karma’s finals MVP had the scoring title and won the NBA championship and NBA finals MVP and was great throughout all of those series reliable consistent and gotten better and made his teammates better i think because we haven’t seen him struggle over the years he’s not getting as much credit for what he has accomplished well that’s why I asked Jos I don’t I don’t really think you need to participate in the suffering Olympics in order to be great yeah but I think but I think we’re used I think we’re used to that well he’ll have plenty of time to prove himself against the rest of the league struggle like Well because they’re he’s so young and they’re so young sometimes we feel like you know even the Celtics right the Celtics breaking through and winning that championship because they went to the Eastern Conference Finals because they went to the finals it was like okay they’ve they’ve had they’ve been so close and then just not getting there and then they finally like there’s always like this like finally and the Thunder don’t have that right they they they were never in the playoffs the playoffs and then the next year they win it like but the thing is they didn’t skip steps though like they they beat champions on the way there yeah like people forget they’ve been in the playoffs for four of the last five years the first time but this is the first time they’ve been in the West no no no is this the third third year or second year it’s only It’s not not more than three years and last year was the first year that they got past the first round yeah they haven’t been it’s not like they’ve been habitually in the finals or Western Conference Finals it’s four it’s probably four the last five because CP3 they went with CP3 that’s what I’m trying to tell you yeah but that was a different team that’s true but we just talking about the organization that was a different team i’m talking about with Shay there yeah Shay was there they’ve been to the past where Yeah but Shay wasn’t Shay wasn’t this Chris Paul was there shay was Shay was being tutored at the time should we uh before we move on to Tyrese should we remind everyone of our picks at the beginning of the season why not i Who are you picking for your MVP this year mvp since I said uh I’m going to go Shay Gilas me too that’s that’s that’s awesome i think it will be a harder road through the playoffs this year than it was last year obviously health is uh something that plays a role for everyone so we’re just we’re making these predictions based off of if everyone is healthy which is why I have the Heat over the Thunder in the NBA finals okay so it’s a little wrong about the Heat but okay um I had the Thunder in the NBA finals we both picked Shay to win finals MVP i had OKC in Boston in the final and Boston winning but just to clarify uh they went to the conference semiis last year rick want to get it right yeah they they’ve been to the play playoffs two years in a row they had not been in the playoffs the previous three years yeah so they have the previous three years so quite a stretch since the Chris Paul Chris Paul was there chris Paul was they’ve been twice in the last five years no yes cuz Chris Paul was on the team in 2021 what do you mean he about to get a new computer man wait no you know and you know the funny thing is I’m sitting here the new update no but I’m sitting here looking No man i’m looking at the computer and I’m looking at some of the faces on these dudes i’m like them dudes is old that’s been That’s not That’s the Sonics has been to the playoffs i’m looking at these old faces so So Rick Shay has been to the playoffs four times right wait twice with the Clippers it would have been twice with the Clippers the computer right there that’s We had the wrong team i’m looking at the Thunder you had the wrong team nobody had the wrong team you just had Seattle up there that’s because that’s where the Thunder came from oh okay all right all right all right cuz we’re talking about the Thunder but he got Seattle up there looking at them I’m like man them dudes oh definitely shay has been in the playoffs four times the Thunder have been in the playoffs twice in the last five years okay so they’re new no no no they went to the playoffs with Chris Paul in 2021 they went to the playoffs with CP3 that’s what I thought chris make the playoffs chris no they did not in 2021 they did not make the playoffs i thought they did i did too i just thought that off the top of my mind all right let’s move on to Ty computer are you kidding he started hot in game seven scoring nine points in seven minutes before suffering a season ending Achilles injury heartbreaking to watch hallebertton had a historic playoff run hitting a record four game tying or winning field goals the last 5 seconds of the fourth quarter in overtime just this postseason also he set the Pacers franchise record for most assists in a single playoffs hallebertton started games six and seven after straining his calf in game five but Rick should Hallebertton regret playing through the injury after sustaining this Achilles injury he should not because I understand why he would want to play and insist on playing but the Pacers should regret allowing him to play why because because of Kevin Durant because of Damen Lillard because we’ve seen this we’ve seen this play out before and not only did they lose him look if it was just it was the kind of injury where okay you know what we lost him in the game and we lost the game fine but you’re now losing him for the entire following season and so you’re running the jeopardy of not only did you not win this championship but you’re putting yourself behind the eight-ball in fact take your take yourself out of the running of of competing for uh the next championship after going to the finals they have to resign Miles Turner as an unrestricted free agent this summer benedict Mathan and a ton of guys are uh are extension eligible the following year tj McConnell is going to be 35 years old by the time that Tyrese Hallebertton is playing again uh Pascal Seakum is going to two be two years old he’s going to be 33 34 like you you not only you not only risked it now but you risked all of next season and after seeing what happened to Kevin Durant I just think it’s it’s the responsibility of the team to say we’ve seen how this plays like this isn’t a calf injury in fact I don’t even know that we should talk about it as being a calf injury at this point because every calf injury turns into an Achilles problem and I haven’t seen a achilles a slight Achilles problem i’ve seen Achilles tear that results in a guy missing an entire year so I as hard as it may be as hard as difficult as convincing him not to play might be you have an investment in Tyrese Hallebert i’m just as a team I I Rick I’m going to steal something from our meeting okay a hundred of a 100red guys Yeah would play 100 out of a 100red guys want to play so they would play if they can’t if they can get out on i’m not giving him a uniform i’m not letting him i’m I’m taking his shoes you know this cuz you know this barefoot no he’s just saying he’s taking his shoes so he doesn’t go back out on the court i know i was saying he would go out barefoot but but he shouldn’t regret playing and neither should the organization this is an opportunity and a chance for them to do something if you know if you know what Yeah there’s a lot of possibilities a lot of Who was the last guy who played with a calf injury and didn’t suffer an Achilles that’s okay he was good enough to go out Florida dog think about it think about this though ronnie Lock cut his finger off before the Super Bowl just to play in the Super Bowl okay think about that i know you go play if you can no matter what the consequences are at the end the organization the head coach they need him on the court they need him on the court i understand what you’re saying about for that cuz they ain’t going to have him on the court i understand that i understand that but if they lose this game which they did and he didn’t play guess what we would be sitting up here saying only if they had Hallebertton if he could have played man if he could just play if he could have just gave him 13 if he could have just gave 13 points if he could have just gave him 12 that’s what we’d be saying he couldn’t play listen listen he played seven minutes rick Keith Joy when I left in the wheelchair I knew there was a possibility I can come back and tear my ACL that was a possibility because I had a strain i thought it was a miniscus i had a strain MCL but he could have to I could have further injured it yeah but when you have a once in a-lifetime opportunity get him Paul when you know you you this a chance you might never have this opportunity again and I’m sure they say I never heard this information now you’re you saved this information for this moment well I’m saving it for my book the injury this injury has taken like six different turns documentary I got to say so we need to add a produc We need to add a producer pam uh but I’m saying like like I’m sure you don’t be watching Darnell if I was reacting this is going on okay what happened you risked everything i really I could have I could have ended my career going back out there but I wrapped my knee up and I took that chance i’m sure they sat Hallebertton down said “Listen this is the risk you taking.” Well it’s two games left in the whole season it was one game okay he trained it in game five yeah so you got six and seven well actually he he got hurt in game three I think it was right game two game two initially but this is the finals how many times y’all hear the players say “If it if it wasn’t the finals then if it was the finals I would play.” Yeah yeah yeah they say that if it wasn’t the Super Bowl if I would like you know not every injury risk is equal though who hasn’t risked who hasn’t played hurt in the finals that that that got hurt i I I’m looking at Achilles injuries in a different light because there you’re guaranteed that if it goes a whole year but it’s not a you he played through it the way he was moving the way he went out there he went out there with nine point he got out there and went out there for the nine points seven minutes everybody uh oh he good he good there’s there is no other option than playing in game seven of the NBA no other option there is no other option this is what you play the sport for and looking around the NBA which we’ll we’ll get to later in the show we know obviously there’s no guarantee that you’re going to get another opportunity like this but now in today’s NBA it is almost guaranteed that you will not get another opportunity like this and it’s game seven of the NBA finals this is what you dream of your entire life if you can walk you’re on the court obviously it is a massive risk and the worst possible scenario happens but you may never get another opportunity to have that happen so you have to risk it you It’s It’s the pinnacle of the sport the regret that you would have by not playing in that game would so would absolutely surmount any kind of pain and suffering from rec recovering from this injury which he will recover from but you may never he will recover from this Achilles injury and play NBA basketball again that is a guarantee there is no guarantee that he will ever play in an NBA finals or a game seven of the NBA finals ever yeah he play he’s played in he played in the NBA finals and I get from the players perspective I would want to play we would all want to play anybody and the the player would want to play it’s not I am saying from the from from the organization and they wanted him to play that’s why they let him play cuz they have a bad organization that’s a mistake i need to pro I need to protect a player from himself as a from this is this is somebody has to lose this is no without question to say we would have won even if he did if it was available but we tried and and you must try there is no do there is only try like you cannot you cannot risk sitting your player forget the backlash that we would get that they would be everyone would fire everyone fire everyone if you don’t i’m not so sure about that so they have after looking at what happened to Kevin Durant what’s happened to Clay Thompson worry about that i can’t worry about that cuz I’m trying to get a ring i can’t wor I can’t look at somebody else’s body somebody else’s injury from another organization when I’m trying to get a ring but I want a chance to win i want a chance to go no you’re not i want a chance to go again next year no you don’t you want a chance in game seven last night at 5:00 p.m when it started that’s the chance the only problem you can solve is the one in front of you you can’t predict i can’t worry about something two years from now i can’t are they a better team with him on the floor were they a better team with him on the floor just answer it simple yes or no yeah then there’s no question okay so that’s why you We may not even have a planet next year like we’re like this you know you got to you got to do what you got to do right now leave coming kevin Durant found out he’ll be playing for this coming season we’ll tell you what the Rockets ceiling is with KD that’s next on Speak and don’t forget you can check us out every day on the Fox Sports channel on SiriusXM well we time to check in on our social life kevin Durant found out he was traded to the Rockets while on stage during an interview panel at Fanatics Fest yesterday katie’s first reaction to the news was quote “We’ll see we’ll see.” Paul are you uh you buying this is the first that Katie was hearing about the trade yeah for sure because for the most part athletes entertainers a list don’t answer their phone for the most part when his agent was probably trying to get in touch with him and that’s common now you know most players find out via Twitter X uh Instagram SN however you want to your social media outlets is that’s common in in the last 10 12 years as far as I’m concerned so you know I found out some stuff i didn’t answer my phone but that’s what happens you were busy and found out later i did u Yeah I was actually uh I was there yesterday so I talked to uh to Taylor right afterwards it was It was pretty crazy he might not have known that it had gone down but he knew where he was going 1 th000% he knew where he went 1,000% i think he he probably had a little bit of a heads up that something was happening but it was no I mean he wanted to go to Houston but he didn’t know the timing of No no no that’s the part might have been But the smile was Oh okay finally happened well yeah as opposed to he didn’t know he was going to be traded like that would be a little bit more dramatic like we had a list of places that he wanted to go yeah but the reports are making it seem as though like he had no idea was going down it was a shock it was a shock no way you know no way he didn’t know well it couldn’t be that much of a shock because we know he was going to get traded but he but he had told he had told his people and he told the Rocket or I mean told Phoenix Houston’s where of all these choices this is where I want to go yeah that’s what I’m saying so like even if he didn’t know it was going to happen while he was on stage doing a panel at Fanatics that would have been the the surprise like and and it happening while he’s doing a panel with watching his like reactionary you know yeah that was a shock to his system probably sitting there at the panel but he certainly knew that it was going down and it could happen at any hour wait does he have a no trade call uh he did not that I knew of no but power and power i mean player empower yeah deeper i’m just curious would you have played it off like that how would you have played it if you if you found out while you were doing a public appearance i I didn’t see what happened i just ran over like he was just on stage and looked at his phone or something or how did it go down i think like fans were like you just got I think Taylor told him on our phone and then yeah it sound like it was planned since it was on stage but they knew what time they did not do it you go from it’s a complete surprise to now it was you know in a world I think he handled it well cuz if if he genuinely didn’t know it was going to happen while he was on stage you don’t want to say something that like you know puts you in a bad spot your reaction you’re doing a live event with thousands of people and that’s legit though you I’ve been in situations that I know something’s going down i just don’t know when then all of a sudden somebody says something to me it’s like oh yeah they just And then you go “Yeah.” And then somebody says something to you and you kind of play it off but he knew that Houston was his next destination he just didn’t know when right right that’s the only thing that’s why I don’t mind how he handled it i did it at all yeah couldn’t put yourself in a It’s like Well Paul traded the guys from Boston to get his guys he They Everybody played dumb right everybody played dumb everybody play AG Ray all of them just played dumb oh my see you later Twine looking deeper at the Rockets with KD um oh god paul does Durant make Houston a legit title contender he absolutely makes them a title contender cuz a team I saw this year well coached from EA from the young court that they have when I watched them they’re they’re they’re very disciplined they play great defense they they needed a star there now I don’t know how much KD has left in the tank uh to carry this young Rockets team but he’s going to certainly have a lot of help and he can be a guy down the stretch that you can go to they ended up number two in the West and you add a KD to that while taking away Jaylen Green and and of course uh Dylan Brooks who was you know a heartbeat to their team i got to believe he does you know I think they still going to maintain their depth they have Junior over there uh coming off Jabari Jr coming off their bench or May start you still have uh Aquaman he’s still there uh Steven Adams you still got him and a couple other young pieces so you know as far as when I look at the temperature in the West they’re up there in the in the uh they’re up in the mix they’re they’re going to be in my top four I believe yeah i you know at first I had to think about it because when we talked about it I originally went away from it saying “No I don’t think so.” Mhm but then as I started thinking about over the last hour or so it it feels like he could make him a contender because they swapped out Dylan Brooks and then the young Jaylen Green KD is an upgrade from that even if you combine them two together that’s a that’s a major upgrade here’s a dude no matter what age he is he’s still dropping 26 on your head night in and night out you know his consistency is the key point for them now when you start talking about you know is he a is he a voice leader guy type that’s not who he is so they got to try to figure out where do they get that from does it come from EA and the bench because that’s just not who he is as a player he just wants to play basketball help his team try to win um but like Paul said they got players still they young they got some some juice they ready to go i just think that in terms of being a like one of them real strong contenders I don’t know that they gonna be that strong but I think they could be if he just hits on all cylinders and erase that Brooklyn stuff erase that Phoenix stuff out of his mind and get with Eay somebody who coached him at Brooklyn and he has an a relationship with and an understanding they could wind up shocking all of us and find themselves in a position that many of us probably think they wouldn’t be in the leadership is going to come from Fred Van Vleet who has the the ability to say to KD I I saw you in the finals and took one from you so I know how to get this done as well as as well as you do i’ve got a ring to my name and that’s what he’s that’s that’s the role that he served with the Rockets but no I don’t think that he he makes them a title contender he makes them better for sure but to say that they were the second best team in the West they had the second best record they were 52 wins they were 16 games behind Oklahoma City and they were only four games ahead of eighth place the eighth place Memphis Grizzlies so it’s not like they were a dominant team in the regular season in the way we look at Oklahoma City or even Cleveland uh over over in the Eastern Conference um he’s exactly what they need as far as a go-to and I would say that he makes them a more dangerous playoff team uh but regular season you lose two guys like Jaylen Green and Dylan Brooks who were very good regular season players they just got exposed in the postseason so uh does he make them better yes can he get them further in the postseason yes are they going to be the second best team in the Western Conference and the biggest threat to Oklahoma City i would still give that to the Denver Nuggets and that’s actually the team to me that was the ideal team for him to go to if he’s dictating where he’s going to go he’d be closer to a ring going to the Nuggets than he would have to Houston see I think he does make them a legit title contender because as much as we think the West is harder than the East and I do think that the the West is deeper than the East for sure there’s been a different champion for seven straight years in the NBA so I I don’t even want to start talking about dynasties or repeats or any of that stuff it’s just it’s not it’s it doesn’t happen anymore like there’s hasn’t happened it hasn’t happened in seven years that’s that’s a pretty legitimate amount of time so the Thunder have a lot to prove if we’re talking about like what they’re going to do next not taking like it’s they should enjoy every second of this NBA championship but when we’re talking about what the Rockets can do and if they’re a contender I think they’re absolutely a contender i know that they weren’t necessarily the second best team in the West but who’s who’s truly scary take OKC the current champions out of it who’s truly scary in the West right now who makes you nervous lakers no no denver denver no denver denver they don’t They don’t They Denver needs some help they need they need a little bit help they need to get their infrastructure together all right but are we comparing them to the Houston Rockets like who do you who do you favor between those two i’m looking at the matchups i’m taking the Rockets over Denver right now in the matchups when I look at the matchups listen you got a up andcoming star in Aman Thompson he could be an all-star as early as next year son is already an all-star durant is still an allstar that’s three all star right there with Van Van Valle the ultimate role player and then you got Jabari Jr he to me he got star potential he got star potential and then they got the uh the young backup point guard from Kentucky i forget his name uh what’s his name uh Aaron Holiday or um no um Kentucky the the the draft pick they drafted right there um I can’t Oh Shepard oh Shepard yeah shepard and then they have uh he didn’t play that much no but he’s going to play next i forgot about him yeah but he’s But they have a solid roster and solid role players and they have a good coach and and not that they ended up being the second best team in the West when we got to the postseason but they did have a great regular season and added someone with a with who who we already know what Kevin Durant is so I I’m I’m more saying if we’re talking about who the contenders are in the West because I I think there’s just a little bit there’s a tiny little bit of propaganda being uh fed out there about the Western Conference and then when we really look right when we really look Minnesota overall was kind of disappointing when we’re talking about at least what happened in the in the Western Conference Finals they still could go they just they got to get a couple pieces too they could but everything everything that we’re talking about here outside of OKC because OKC just won the championship and had an all-time great season so let’s just take them out of it everyone else in the West is a could maybe needs a piece little unsure maybe needs to adjust here are we positive they have the right coach so if we’re talking about whether the KD makes the Rockets a legit title contender if we’re just focusing on what they can do in the Western Conference I think he absolutely does if we’re saying there’s six or seven title contenders in the Western Congress I think there are because there’s not that many that are you going to put your your mortgage on on anybody other than OKC right now in the West uh no and maybe not maybe not OKC no I think it’s I think it’s wide open i think this is my concern is 52 win team take out two pieces and perhaps most important KD couldn’t move the needle with Phoenix kd couldn’t even get them to the layoffs or the playin but maybe that Phoenix that type of three-headed monster didn’t doesn’t work for him okay but still your KD if you’re if you’re if you’re everything we’re saying Kevin Durant is and capable of being and he and the numbers that he had just didn’t do anything like I I’ve seen great players take and at least get to the plays kevin Garnett did it year after year after year there’s no question that last season was a disappointment and and I think the Suns overall very much learned their lesson that that’s not the way that you can build a winning team in this NBA but what what are the spaces that Kevin Durant has thrived in the most teams with good culture established leadership good coaching i think Houston has that i can see it i can see it as the model um I guess when I think of title contender I think of like four or five teams in the entire league that I put in that category it’s hard for me at at this stage if we want to look at there’s five or six potential teams in the Western Conference then I’m I’m more open to what you think in the Western Conference right now so OKC Minnesota Denver OKC Minnesota that’s it yeah okay pretty much everybody else I’ve got a bigger question mark with depend like I don’t know what the Warriors are going to turn Jonathan Kaminga in assuming that they’re going to move him if they can get somebody who can contribute and they’ve got Jimmy Butler from the beginning of the year staying healthy Clippers know uh they they they’ve got to make some changes they need a point guard you know Harden is the point guard he’s up though right yeah I think he is yeah I think he’s up I just The better way to say it is the West is wide open yeah the West is wide open so if that’s the case then I think the Rockets are in there rockets match their youth and athleticism coaching is there they’re only They will get better they’re going to be better i I truly believe they will be better so who won the KD trade the Rockets or Sunsaw i think if you saying shortterm the Rockets definitely won because this puts them in contention for the next couple years I believe and sometimes your window opportunity is only open for 3 four years you know we we’re not all fortunate to have windows of opportunity last as long as the Golden State Warriors or the San Antonio Spurs you know we watched the Miami Heat their window was four years i could see that happening with Rockets to where they have a four-year window our our ours was four years when we got together we said “Guys our window’s four years.” So whatever we can do in that and you got to be good and you got to be lucky you got to stay away from the injury bug so short term it’s the Rockets but long term I feel like Fenix can build some pieces around Jaylen Green the draft pick uh I also would probably trade Booker and go young all the way since Booker start he’s in his prime and probably not going to win that’s as projected see if I can get another few pieces for Booker so long term it’ll be Phoenix yeah it’s it’s Phoenix long-term and short two-year window in Houston this is why they did that they they want to win right now they not thinking four years from now you know cuz four years from now KD will be damn near 40 years old so or maybe he will what is he 37 now 37 he’ll be 37 this season so he’ll be into getting close and into the 40 year no not at all hey so in in all in all I think Phoenix wins because they get young they got a couple picks in the second round picks or whatever you never know they may be able to package him up and find something else but I kind of agree with Paul maybe they look to get even younger if somebody want to grab Booker and bring him along and give him something for him in terms of value but it’s definitely it’s definitely long-term is Phoenix because it’s a short-term situation in Houston i think it’s to be determined uh I I’d lean rockets in the immediate because they it he automatically makes them better yeah that’s why they did it did they have to um assure him of an extension and what’s that extension look like because that’s the price on the back but I need all mine okay okay well that’s a price that’s a price depending on KD staying healthy that may bite you on the backside and then the other part is with Phoenix is is what are you turning Jaylen Green and Dylan Brooks into yeah exactly rick continue to go seriously continue to go seriously no you got to turn I don’t expect that Jaylen Brooks and Jaylen Green were were acquired to be part of the team i feel like I’m having two conversations here oh I think it’s too soon to tell uh it’ll it’ll depends on what I think Jaylen Green ends up being obviously KD is going to be 37 this season so this is this is a small window for the Rockets to take advantage of and I think that’s good because as we’re saying there’s a new champion every there’s been a new champion every single year for the last seven years in the NBA this idea that you’re automatically just because you won going to repeat or get back to the finals or build on some sort of dynasty it’s it’s really difficult to do and because of that I think there’s a lot more parity and it’s wide open for everyone health obviously plays a huge factor there’s a lot of teams that we expected to be competing at a high level that next year will not be doing that because of major injuries yeah and that’s across the board so I I think there’s a lot that they can do if they do end up staying healthy but it’s too soon uh in in totality maybe in three years years we’ll end up knowing who actually won paul how do you see Alpurn Senon and KD playing together because I feel like they play I feel like they play two different rhythms well I like KD with him with Sangon in a half court setting see they’re going to be they’re going to be they’re going to be a great transition team because they have athletes on the perimeter and they going to be a great halfcourt team i think they’re going to work well together i mean they probably won’t be putting pick and rolls too much but uh playing off of one another dribble handoffs things of that nature getting switches taking advantage of mis message uh yeah that that’ll be a great tandle well coming up will Caleb Williams regret taking a jab at Packers fans that is next on Speak [Music] caleb Williams and the Bears beat the Packers in Green Bay 24-22 in the last game of their regular season this past weekend Caleb made sure to mention that he is 1 and0 against the Packers at Lambo speak up Caleb after the game after we won it at Lambo uh 1 and0 at Lambo right now um we so so obviously you try and do the Lambo leap and we actually try to jump in the in the crowd where our fans were um and they just I mean they start throwing everything at you they push you off and and the Lambo leap it’s a it’s a it’s a real leap it’s not a it’s not a little baby jump you actually have to high jump basically um and then you know they’re they’re pushing you mushing your face right there keith did you uh like Caleb taking the Lambo league athlete after uh the win last year right on you got to think Jordan Love only played 35% of the snap so it’s not like they was you know at full tilt so to speak but if he’s going to do that he’s got to win more than one game at Lambo right i mean like seriously though he’s going to have to own them like uh Aaron Rogers owned the Bears but it’s fun he’s having fun now so let’s Yeah Aaron definitely can say he owns the Bears that’s for sure i’d just say be careful when you go to these events and you start opening your mouth talking and giving them bulletin board material it can come back and bite you in the behind you know what I’m saying like Rick said so like especially being a guy who’s trying to make a name for himself still in in the NFL like come on you don’t want to you got to be careful what you say sometimes these events you don’t want to get bit in the behind no not at all in the behind right so you know that’s all I say cuz them that’s one of the most loyal fan bases one of the best fan bases in football i’m surprised they didn’t like push him i wonder if they pushed him you know you dive in they usually Yeah they shove you back if you’re not a a a Packer a Yeah did they do that to him yeah yeah I think he said that they they were aggressive to push him yeah i don’t Let me see that’s that’s that’s not him though who is that that’s Santa’s picker watch out get in get us down get out okay lady get out of here that’s kind of That’s bad tape now they all want to jump that’s bad tape to have oh they’re pushing you back get down get out just like get down look she mushed him we run that back from the beginning why they get mad y’all want jumped up to them yeah man get out get out but like it’s like it’s a big jump so you better get up there if you’re going to get up there he said “Yeah no disrespect.” I scored a touchdown one time and tossed the ball in the stand they threw it back oh yeah all right let’s talk Shador Sanders he’s been pulled over twice in June for speeding according to body cam footage and court documents shore was first allegedly going 91 miles per hour in the 65 on June 5th then last Tuesday he was pulled over for going 101 in a 60 mph zone so key are Shador speeding tickets a distraction for the Browns you know it it it’s not yet it’s not yet but it it could could be very fast now whatever he’s doing wherever he’s coming from or wherever he’s going to Mhm maybe he should think about taking one of the lifts or the Ubers or something along those lines or having a driver cuz it seems like he likes to put that lead foot down on that pedal mhm and that’s that’s d you know we talked about this before it’s a little dangerous um so whatever he’s doing he’s got to slow it down and I’m not even talking about just from being a distraction standpoint anything could happen to him and to somebody else so you know not you know how it happens just like you do it one time you get a little ticket you do it again they like it’s a different officer this time they get a little ticket then the third time it really becomes like oh this young man has a real problem speed problem like he really likes to go fast i mean we all have driven cars fast in our lifetime I’m sure mhm but he’s been ticketed twice and it’s public well yeah i mean listen I think it could become a real issue though Joy it really could i I understand i I cannot uh I cannot set myself up and be a hypocrite and talk about speeding cuz I have a fast car and I go fast you have a lead foot no you know I have places to be so places to be people are seeing how to get there huh yeah i mean I’m obviously not trying to put anybody in danger and I don’t think that uh I don’t think um pull to the side let me go by i’m trying to get somewhere um no in all seriousness though like obviously I’m not advocating for reckless driving but the bigger conversation here is not whether or not you know he should be speeding or not we all speed i speed it we all speed it’s about the fact that everything that he does is going to be put under a super microscope like this is not something that all of us have not participated in i was speeding today okay don’t pull me over don’t want to take it but I was speeding today um coming to work and I’ll I’ll be speeding tomorrow probably coming to work um and yeah exactly what street were you on cuz I definitely don’t want to it’s fine i’m I know what I’m doing the point of the matter is is that he has a microscope on him and everything that he does particularly things that involve the police even if it is just a speeding ticket is going to become a headline like that’s what it is so if he doesn’t want these things going on he’s just going to have to be extra particular about how he moves around right now and that’s just the that’s just the exchange of what this is whether it’s silly whether it’s exaggerated whether it it makes any sense whether we’re all hypocrites for even talking about it that’s what’s going on right now and he just has to understand that i don’t think we we are hypocrites for talking about it at all Joy i think when you look at the Well I can’t say I’d want somebody to stop speeding if I’m speeding no but you said it we all have speeding in our DNA we We just do i you know they put speed bumps in my neighborhood when me and Paul used to live by each other because I was a speed demon so I get it i understand that and like you said it’s the it’s the it’s the microscope that he’s under it’s not a distraction today but it will be tomorrow if it continues right now the coaches and the front office people are sitting there telling him say “Hey man you got to slow down.” These are the conversations they having they said “Don’t you got to slow down.” And if he does it again now it becomes even bigger news because he’s going to be deemed as hard-headed and not listening and not paying attention and then they take that part of it and turn it into something even more and say “Well if he’s not listening to what you’re telling him about speeding and obviously they’ll let throw in reckless and all the other stuff cuz that’s what they have to do.” Then they’ll say he’s not going to listen to the coaches and he’s not picking up the offense and it’ll go from one thing to the next and that’s how they’ll get him in a position where we’re starting to look at him totally different than we are now yeah yeah it’s not a long-term distraction but it is for that day you know like when I any day I got to come to practice and answer questions non-foot related that’s a distraction because as a young player who hasn’t stepped out on the field yet all I want to talk to with the media is how am I doing on the field how am I making adjustments how is this teammate that teammate you know how comfortable are you are these are the conversations I want to have i don’t want to be talking about me speeding and in the media for that because right now you as a young player you you got to you you you already creating your rap sheet you know and you know the more and more things get on your rap sheet when things don’t go well it’s always going to keep coming back up and you don’t want that as a young player you want to have a clean rap sheet you don’t want to cuz next thing you know uh you you somebody step on your foot you arguing nothing happened but you just caught arguing now that it’s just little things become big things and so for the future you know let’s just hopeful be hopeful that he can just keep it all football when we talking about Shadrew we talking about him what he’s doing on the field and not these little petty things and that don’t end up being a long-term distraction that’s all well sticking in the AFC North after Aaron Rogers was after Aaron Rogers went to the Steelers one former Steeler Super Bowl champ is excited joey Porter senior said that he was excited about the Rogers signing and that he believes that Rogers still has quote a lot of juice left in the arm he do you agree Rogers has a lot of juice left yeah I I think he has enough for this season um can they coach him up can they get the best of what’s left out of Aaron Rogers this season for these next 17 games 18 weeks can they get that out of him and I think and I think they could i mean I’m not there um watching him throw the ball around like Joey Porter may have and he I don’t have the inside intel like Joey Porter so I’m sure I’m sure he’s heard from his son and other people because he was once upon a time on the staff that Aaron Rogers could still push the ball down the field and this is why he feels that way having played against him and watching him and understanding who he is he sees it probably in him that just for this year he can do it usually and I I talk to you about this key almost every other week when you start moving around to different teams those last three four years you know what that mean the gas is running out the gas is running out of the tank rogers been on what three teams in four years when you start seeing that that fuel get low and not to say that he can get not not to say he can’t get through this season but usually when you got a lot of juice left in the tank you still with the same team you going to be with the same team you know what I’m saying you ain’t going to be bumping around being a band-aid for 14 so I truly believe that this is Yeah i truly believe that this is going to be his last year in the NFL uh whether he’s able to push Pittsburgh to heights they haven’t seen in quite some time we have yet to see but I’m not sure that’s there or he would have been with Green Bay probably still at this point or even with the Jets right now he’s turning into like a one-year rental and you know a run one year rentals are like lemons and I’m not saying he’s a lemon but there’s not much left in that tank i know that mhm um you know he’s got enough for one like crisp glass of OJ might start a little hot and then over the course of the season I think it could uh kind of take a kind of tail off i mean as a Steelers fan I’m hopeful that it’s not a complete disaster and I don’t think that it will be but I’m not confident that they’re going to be better than they were last year i think their ceiling is the same as it was last last year um yeah i don’t I don’t think he has a lot of juice left i think it’s one of those I’m not as good as I once was but I’m as good once as I ever was and I don’t know if that’s enough in the AFC to take the Steelers through all of these young upand cominging teams going up against Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson and yeah I look CJ Strad and Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert and getting into the tournament though Joy i I hear you i don’t know that they’re going to be in the tournament if he can get them into the tournament then all bets are off anything else anything can happen once you’re in the tournament you know we can talk about young quarterbacks all we want and but when you got to go out a certain way and I think he has to go out a certain way he can’t go out as a dud he just can’t yes he’s going to go in the Hall of Fame he’s going to do all of those great things and he’ll probably be working in TV when he retires all of that but he cannot go out as a dud can’t do it that will people you know would look at I don’t think a long time ago i think the only way that we will remember this season or ever talk about this season is if it goes extremely well beyond what most of people are or extremely bad and that extremely bad is a dud even missing but a dud to me is like what happened with the Jets last year think about it they were going to the playoffs without you and you come and now they don’t go to the That’s a dud but yeah but they’ve also just had winning seasons and not gone to the playoffs so like as long as you don’t have a losing season i I don’t like I there’s there’s just a lot of competition you’re going to have to have that high level of competition within your own division i just I don’t know if I might be different for him now anyway because he’s married newly married and everything so things might calm down for him you know we will see coming up we’re heading to the Truth Lounge to wrap up the NBA season and celebrate the Thunder title uh what Zena Dino where’s your hoodie what’s going on here that’s next on Speak [Music] welcome to the Truth Lounge thank you Dino the Thunder wrapped up the NBA season last night by winning the finals so uh Paul how’s the VIP room looking right now the VIP room is still have one team left they’re still in the VIP they’re going to open up the They going to leave when the lights come on yeah the VIP lounge Indiana Pacers hats off to a great season overachieve and get into a game seven of the finals they’re still in the VIP but we’re going to have to move the OKC Thunder out of the VIP into the respect room now oh we’re adding a room okay oh yeah we remember the respect room with all the former champions remember earlier in the year we in the playoffs renovation okay we put Denver and all of them in there cuz they are former champions we’re putting the OKC Thunder in the respect room hats off to them going wire towire shay MVP of this MVP of that MVP of everything so crazy though when you were saying that earlier you know you we were talking earlier and you was running off everything that he did and he was like and I’m saying Michael Jordan ain’t never done that jordan did that jordan did it kareem did it uh Shaq did it okay because I was sitting there I was like damn like he won scoring title MVP of the league finals MVP champion yes yeah but he he didn’t win Eastern Conference Western Conference i know so he got one up on He got one up on everybody cuz that’s a new award but uh what a year by him man uh hats off to whatever they was able to Are you uh totally out of champagne in the respect yeah they got they got that special champagne you know back in the day when we went to the club key they had the moette but then you had the you had the rose moette that was talking about understand the rose moette that was that the ros yeah the rosette you thought you was doing extras when you got the ros they was like that was so crazy though people won’t even buy moette right they look at you like you crazy get a moette i don’t want that right that was that’s that’s hard we you get the you get the rosé moet you like okay they got they got some bread oh yeah oh yeah and then they in the respect room with the mosa roette uh Mo West so hats off to them once again youngest team in the league right now they doing their thing man i I don’t know it’s going to be tough to beat them it’s going to be tough to beat them moving forward who has a brighter future the Thunder or the Pacers you got to say the Thunder cuz they the champs they’re the youngest team i don’t know the extent of Halle Burton’s injury problem right there you know you know everybody’s is expected to be out for the rest of the reportedly Achilles so he will be expected to be out for the rest yeah just so many question marks with Indiana you know you got him out you got to resign Miles Turner you know uh and then they don’t have the same type of stars in Indiana you know like you understand what Caliber was he was like the uh conductor for them you know he orchestrated cuz you know it look different when he not out there doing his this and and and you know when the orchestrate or when the conductor is not there they just they just playing notes they don’t they don’t know which direction they going in and and so it’ll be interesting to see you know who’s going to be running the show for them next year whether it be TJ McConnell the starting point guard or they bring in another point guard but right now it has to be the OKC Thunder who has the brighter future it it’s definitely OKC mentioned Halle Burn’s injury um Seakum going to get a little bit older they got a soler and people going to try to figure out you know how to pull him from them so you just don’t you just don’t know where they’ll be beyond 2026 we talking about 2027 before you even get Hallebertton back at full strength yeah yeah it’s not it’s not looking good the question and OKC ain’t really they ain’t really I mean they ain’t really got no issues to be honest with you no issues none at all i don’t see no weaknesses on this team you got MVP you got good role players your your second best player like it’s an argument on who they second best player is cuz like is it JDub or is it Cadet it’s it’s JDub it’s Jdub though but you see how Chad affects the game rebound and block shot that’s what he’s supposed to do that’s what I’m saying but like if JDub his shot is off if his shot is off how does he affect the game like check you know what I’m saying so that’s what makes him a great third option or even on some night second option they going to be tough for a long time i mean I think the Hallebertton injury makes it by default the Thunder cuz everything that we’re talking about with the Pacers has to be after Hallebertton gets back unfortunately getting hurt in game seven of the NBA Finals pretty much assures you that you’re going to be out for the entirety of the next season so everything that they’re doing now is for two seasons from now not next season which you know just puts them in a completely different space players get older it’s time for play different players to get paid you have to figure out who is going to maintain the organization until then so it’s really obviously a devastating injury to happen and in the time it was that it happened but the Thunder are just in a better position right now so who should be the favorites in the East considering everything that’s going on with the Razers that’s a good one with all these Achilles injuries to the Celtics to Indiana to Milwaukee I have to say the favorites would be Cleveland Cavaliers they won the most games this year 64 games new York was right behind them uh so it’s got to be those two teams so it’s looking like the East is thinning out but don’t watch out for two teams that I’mma see is gonna be really good orlando Magic and the Detroit Pistons detroit is a lot of ways are built like the OKC Thunder they got a lot of young pieces that are really good they just need to grow together with a few other veterans over there and they could be really good next year no it’s definitely it’s Cleveland and depending on who the Knicks hire as a coach you got to put them in there and I don’t know what Boston I mean I know Tatum isn’t there i think they’ll be in the top four or five still but they still going to be right at the top somewhere but we’re talking about the favorites it’s going to be It’s going to be Cleveland it’s going to be Cleveland has to be Cleveland i would like to say the Knicks but until we see who they hire I don’t I have to give it to Yeah they got to make some moves too well does Kevin Durant get to the get the Rockets into the 2026 Truth Lounge start of the season it’s going to be a very busy Truth Lounge man when we reopen we’re going through a remodel this summer when we reopen the Truth Lounge yeah we got to get Houston in there oh yeah kd and the Rockets houston has a section or they’re at the bar they they man they got to start off at the bar Paul yeah they at the bar they at the bar they They got in though they in the lounge it’s going to be some people standing out in the line you know teams like Charlotte teams like Sack man y’all might as well don’t even show up to the Truth Lounge claire you can’t get in man i think uh they can get in i think we going to have we’re going to start having Monday nights going so we we’ll get there they got to pay they got to pay a cover and go by the bar man they got they got to get Monday nights you know Monday night lights is light do you think it was smart for the Heat to pass on Kaitie man this is the window opportunity this was the window right here when you look at the East broken down with the injuries the Heat if they had have got KD and teamed him up with Tyler Herro Bam Adobayu they would have been in the mix i’m shocked that they didn’t make a better offer to get KD with the window opportunity open like this i think uh moving forward that’s going to be a move they regret cuz I don’t see no other moves out there that can put them in contention uh you know with the Knicks with uh Cleveland Orlando you know I think they’re a tier below that yeah it it it’s one of them situations where they should have figured out how to get it done early and not play around with it and I think Pat from what I’m hearing Pat and company played around with it so at the 11th hour they said “You know what ain’t no coming back you we we we don’t you know going once going twice uh-oh already gone to Houston.” cuz they had an opportunity and they just play you know they just messing with it well I think there was like a don’t Well you don’t the price was too steep for the Heat they didn’t want to part with that many young players in their core but I I would have loved to see Katie there and I think it would have been good well it is Truth Lounge it’s the Truth Lounge great NBA season at the Truth Lounge uh Pacers still in the VIP room but the Thunder moved up to the respect room coming up cheers to the champs cheers to the champs what grades do the Pacers deserve after the season we’ll go through Indiana’s exit interviews next on Speak thank you Dino i keep everybody out i am also taking OKC um I’m taking OKC in seven the NBA finals are tied at one game apiece by the way I haven’t switched my pick yet i think that the Pacers are going to push us to a game seven at home game seven they’ll play for an NBA title on Sunday night in game seven am I the only person who has kept their prediction in place i I had OKC in seven i thought it was going to be a long series that’s why I predicted that it’s over at Pac Center final in game seven the Thunder 103 the pace is 91 the final chapter reads the Oklahoma City Thunder of the 2025 NBA champions whale well well not only did I correctly predict the series but I also never changed my pick you guys can tell me how great I am if you want to or we can just won the NFL last season with the best record then called out the champ you finished number two and then she called out the champs in seven hey you might need the crystal ball take me off the crystal ball get the predictions right uh well it’s time to look at the losing side of the finals let’s do our exit interviews for the Pacers we’ll start with their leader Paul what grade would you give Tyrese Hallebertton my class is a class you want to be in Joy especially if uh you’re trying to get to college tyrese Hallebertton a+ without a doubt for the simple fact you You just carried you helped carry a Pacers team that had no business in the finals you got them out you beat Milwaukee you beat the Knicks you beat Wait who who was who else they beat uh Cleveland the number one seed come on now a lot of that listen this is going to be a run even though they win a championship we’re going to remember some of the big moments he had throughout this playoff run a+ for Allebertton don’t frown up over there Rick what are you looking for first of all oh hey A++ oh wow a perfect season that’s for joy oh what for joy oh oh thank you thank you thank you thank you you wanted your flower oh that was holler no that was for a Come on dang it now here come the real grade i’m going to be generous i’m going to be generous generous i be generous mr rick’s classes is tough i’m going to give him dudes i’m telling you i’m going to give him a B if it wasn’t for his performance in the pop quizzes he would be getting a C or worse because there were just too many there were too many days where he didn’t show up you got too many absences right mhm so uh look turned in some some assignments that had some missing work but uh he killed those pop quizzes he showed up in a couple of moments but in my class it’s a matter of are you doing the work on a full-time basis oh so you one of those you one of those teachers and you got to show your work i’m telling you but you got to show your work you can’t just can’t clip notes all right what you got Keith i’m giving him an A minus for some of the same reasons that Rick is talking about it was some games that we even had this on the conversation on the show only shooting the ball what was it six times in one game or maybe it was eight in one game he didn’t contribute much on the defensive end okay yeah he hit some big shots at the end of some games you know in particular you think about the the Knicks game in boom back down through the basket it turned into something you know he gave the the choke sign a little too early but yet and still he winds up in the um in the finals in the game seven they fought back hard but it was too many missed assignments that he didn’t turn in at the right time a minus yeah man give him a Yeah he’s a minus it’s a minus because like Paul said they went through a little bit of a a gauntlet although Cleveland has some players missing what a team i ain’t That’s why I can’t take this class though rick class no we ain’t doing it i’m going with an A i will say I’m I’m struggling as I’m looking through the uh extra interview grades where I’m going to put blame for all of the turnovers in the finals because I do think that was a major issue so I might have given him an A minus being the leader in the face of the team as being the one responsible for that but I can’t do that we did not expect the Pacers to be here they went to a game seven with the Oklahoma City Thunder a team that we have just spent most of the show talking about how incredible their run is how remarkable Shay’s season was how definitively better they were than everyone at least in their conference for them to take this team without with Seakum as the the all-star not even Hallebertton as the all-star this year to a game seven with them and look you know things got away from them in the second half but overall a very entertaining game seven while losing your leader in very early in the game so I’m I’m very impressed with with the Pacers overall but I have to give him an A because he’s you know the season ending the way that it did for him with this injury is obviously devastating but I don’t think that we’ll ever talk about him the same way because of the way that this finals run went like his life has forever changed how we think of him as a player has changed because of how he’s played in this in this finals uh run so I have to give him an A all right pascal Saka what grade are you giving him Paul like I said you love going to Mr pierce’s class pascal Siakum did everything he could for this team and he’s probably one of the more underrated players in the NBA making an all-star team helping carry this team throughout the playoffs getting them to the finals along with Hallebertton Seakum i feel like with his versatility and the way he left everything out on the floor my hats off to you man a for the season all right let’s see oh my gosh one line when I see the line here you already know you already know what’s happening oh oh okay okay all right what’s Mr uh he did i’m giving him a B+ he did not raise his hand enough times when there was a question posed to the entire class okay all right um he did have his best postseason ever efficiency wise he was better even then in the championship year with the Toronto Raptors uh but and the class projects were infinitely better when he participated he just there were times again just like Tyrese where I’m taking attendance in my class and I where’s Mr seakum where’s Mr hallebertton um B+ I think that’s generous no I’m giving him an A i’m giving him an A because I think he I think he did participate at times especially with Hallebert the finals or something and I missed it what what what are we doing here i mean they did we’re throwing around like they’re freaking gummy bears when Hallebert was struggling see Akam came and pulled the chain to help he didn’t sit back that wasn’t TJ you’re not confusing him with TJ McConnell mcconnell had one or two good minutes let’s not go there benedict Mat but I think when you look at it they didn’t lose game seven because of him they didn’t lose game two because of him they didn’t lose the championship because of him okay he participated in it did they win he participated in it but you just a tough grader though cuz cuz if they had won and he wasn’t and he didn’t get dominated he didn’t get dominated in the playoffs then I would be sitting there saying “Well he should get a B minus B+.” But he never got dominated i’m going to also give him an A i think that uh Oh ace there we go a A in Miss Joyy’s class uh I think he did a a nice job i’m not gonna give him an A+ i would have gotten an A+ if he would have you know taken them over the edge say last night and won the championship but it’s really hard for me to give anybody on the Pacers a low grade for this season it was an an excellent season in which they absolutely overachieved they did overachieve and when you think about it at at once upon a time we were having a conversation if they won who would get the MVP between him and Holliver we were no were we not Joy yeah yeah that’s all I’m saying who what grade would you give the role players paul the role players were outstanding this team was compiled full of role players more than usual i give them a B+ because on any given night we had different role players show up from Matin TJ McConnell Obie Toppin and that’s just off the bench when you talk about N Smith and Nimhard those guys are role players they did all they can listen they I’ve never seen this amount of role players without any superstars carry a team to the finals you know i’ve never seen it and then you want if you want to talk about that Detroit team like they were similar to that well listen I will tell you Chanty Bis was a superstar ben Wallace was a superstar on defense that was an elite team rasheed Wallace might have been the most talented player on that team and so when you look at this team this is probably the most overachieving team to make a finals when you talk about 1990 I believe 94 95 Rockets they were like a fifth seed that went and won a championship well 95 yeah 95 they were fifth seed well they had a guy named Hakee Lajuan who many place him in the top 10 all time i don’t really see that with this Pacer team so for what what they were able to do for the season you get a B+ mr rick straight line oh an angle oh wow whoa for all of the reasons that Paul just gave because in the games that they won and in the fourth quarters in particular those seem to be group projects those seem to be efforts where you got something from everyone benedict Mathan gives you a 27point game tj McConnell does with I mean he’s carrying the team for an entire quarter that’s a guy off of the bench um Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nemhart the defense that they played on Jaylen Williams and and SGA like I to me the secret sauce to this Indiana Pacers team was that they had good stars in Tyrese Hallebertton and Pascal Seakum but the real strength of this team was its depth and its versatility and getting contributions for so many different places and if you told me that Andrew Nehart was going to be able to do that kind of job on the league MVP cuz I think he did an admirable job um just across the board everything that they got TJ McConnell in his first in his first finals being the kind of lift that he was off the bench benedict Matan giving you a big game i I just I was I I the the secret sauce for me was the Indiana Pacers and and they deserve the highest grade well that role the role players get a B from me and the reason they get a B from me is because there were times especially on the road the road players wouldn’t show up they just for whatever reason they didn’t show up on the road at times for Indie but be still a nice grade and I understand what TJ did and I understand uh Benedict played the way that he did but at the same time it wasn’t enough at the times on the road if they won those road games and they had played better on the road then we might be having a different conversation i got to go a I can’t put any of this on role players role players are role players for a reason it’s supposed to be on the stars and I thought they were excellent and also went well beyond what could have been expected from them um on any other team so I agree with you a team that this many role players expected to perform every single night on the road or at home i think they they showed up in a big way and were a massive part of the reason why they were in a game seven in the NBA finals to begin with coming up Matthew Stafford is getting ready to enter a very exclusive club this season not the Truth Lounge but we’ll tell you what it is and what record he is about to set that’s next on Speak [Music] after an off season of questions Matthew Stafford enters year 17 in the NFL with a new extension here in LA stafford won a Super Bowl with the Rams but many NFL players have done that but by the end of this season Stafford will have done something that no other NFL players have earn $400 million playing football aaron Rogers can do this as well but it would have to be him making the Super Bowl to hit the incentives necessary to do that $400 million there you go that’s what I’m talking about he does Stafford deserve to be the first player in the $400 million club man every penny every dime that they gave him every dime they’re going to give him he just go put in his bank account he deserves every single penny i don’t care how many championships he’s won played in how many playoff games not he deserves every single penny and if they willing to give it to you he certainly ain’t going to say “Oh you know what i don’t want to give it back.” Like what no he that’s that’s good for him that’s good for him and his family if Stafford had never won a Super Bowl if Stafford didn’t throw the for the amount of yards he threw for and he still was the first one to go over 400 million I always say this any money they willing to pay you is the money you deserve yeah for sure you know what I’m saying if you got a slick agent or or you just something whatever it is whatever they willing to pay you is what you deserve so shout out to him being that guy even though he’s a Hall of Fame quarterback Super Bowl champ we love him down here in LA for the Rams i can’t wait to this season um a deserve is a weird word yeah it’s like you know that that word kind of throws everybody um I mean he’s he’s won a Super Bowl he’s been a premier player in the league for his entire career like obviously the time in Detroit didn’t have the success that they wanted it to and now Detroit’s in a different space but that’s not his problem yeah i mean you you get you you get what they pay you and that’s like you know outside of you know the deserve part of it and you know making it to this club which will have many other many other members very soon as the as the you know CBA changes and the amount of money the salary cap continues to go up um so he certainly won’t be alone but what these guys do to be able to play football every single week like you’re not going to get Yeah you’re not going to get me caught up in the what’s your deserve or you’re not you’re just you deserve what they pay you and that’s every single penny and you should get all of it when when he retires whenever that is and after a couple years retirement he going to be a doctor a lot he’s going to see the doctor a lot because his body every year 17 years in the NFL is No but his body alone they done had to put his body back together every single year to get him ready to play a full season yep get No we won’t be giving any of it back mr stafford keep it all coming up Alex Caruso said his championship of the Thunder was quote a real one shots fired said is that shot shot fired at LA then he said it not me he said it he didn’t mean it that way yeah he did the Thunder won the NBA Finals and Alex Caruso is now a two-time champion but after the game Caruso seemed to be throwing a little shade at his first ring he won with the Lakers speak up Alex yeah now I got a real one now nobody can say anything um yeah I think just because of the way the team is constructed now versus the team I had in 2020 like it it was much harder with this team just because of the experience see this what I’ve been trying to tell everybody about go to how they talk about the I think he uh I think he had a little immediate regret after saying that no he didn’t he It felt real what what what do you make of him knocking the No he he just I think he’s still kind of a little mad cuz we didn’t resign him you know and he had to go to Chicago now he OKC and you know what I’m saying i think he a little mad but it’s cool it is what it is you know what I’m saying so he should just give it back though mail the ring back to Genie Busing Company and just keep it pushing he said he got a real one finally like I’ve been saying he didn’t have to go he went on the road to Denver how many teams in the NBA like 30 so it’s 30 teams in NBA and they all was in the bubble to have a chance to win correct but you didn’t have to go on a road you you have to go fly 3 hours different time zone you got the crowd and all of that so you stuck playing pickup basketball for however many months they were there i’m telling you it’s it’s tough to go on that road to go in there you couldn’t see your family you were eating whatever you eat there was good meal chefs was in there yeah but but for the most part you know what I’m saying was right it was a whole lot of other stuff lou Williams had to leave to go get Disneyland was there mickey Mouse mickey Mouse was there left to get with I think he’s just saying that he is relieved to have won this one out of the bubble as well because now people won’t talk trash about Maybe that is what he said him being a real champion yes i don’t think he should have said it at all um it’s the truth cuz then then you can’t call yourself a twotime champion then yeah that’s what I said he should just mail me you only say you have one if that’s what you believe they got UPS FedEx what’s the other little HL HL EL PHL they got all them they got all that other little one what’s the smart guess i don’t never use what is the biggest threat to a Thunder repeat ball the biggest threat to the Thunder repeat is going to come out west I believe next year is going to be the Denver Nuggets cuz they still feature in a lot of people’s eyes and even mine the best player in the NBA in Jokage and when you have the best player you always have a chance yeah it could be Denver but I Minnesota would be there they just need a piece at the point guard maybe get a little younger there in terms of Connelly move that out the way uh and then if if if some reason the Mavs can get healthy they might be a tough out i think everyone is there’s more competition than ever both sides both conferences are wide open and we’ve had a different champion seven years straight in the NBA so every time we have one we think the Nuggets are about to be the new dynasty and the Celtics and now we’re talking about the Thunder i I it’s a lot of parody and I’m really interested to see what happens next year because they do look like just like the Nuggets did just like the Celtics did just like the Bucks did a team that was poised to go on run after run and it hasn’t been that way for some time so I think it’s I think it’s wide open coming up Shi Otani was back on the mound Sunday but he did more than just pitch we’ll check in on his Dodgers next on Speak [Music] speaking of Show Otani yesterday he pitched one scoreless inning striking out two batters he also hit a home run and had five RBI’s so how excited are you about how Shi has been looking cool you know so far two pitching two games you know one inning a piece let’s extend him over time so just give him a little bit more a little bit more from a mound standpoint his bat I’m not worried about i was worried about it at first because I wasn’t sure the endurance standpoint pitching and then going to hit but it hasn’t affected me so far you know we talked earlier in the show about the Lambo leap and we have we have tracked down some footage of Key oh he couldn’t get up there key what you doing man i stepped on a bag that’s No that’s not Lambo look at me i tried it again look that’s that’s the Jets that’s at the Jets that’s a high wall though doggy look look so Oh god no i stepped on a bag though Paul i thought the bag was a water cooler i was going to be able to use it and I couldn’t how are you going to explain this it’s hot no that thing is hot though it’s like What were you thinking man i was hyped i had just scored a touchdown and I don’t know i just He couldn’t get it it was a cameraman’s bag i thought But I looked at it i thought it was a water cooler oh my god that’s a first
1 Comment
They really balled out