Is Brad Stevens Working On Something + Could Celtics Pursue Joel Embiid?

CLNS Media Sports Network

Join Bob Ryan, Jeff Goodman, and Gary Tanguay on their latest podcast episode as they try to read the tea leaves with the delay in Jaylen Brown signing his extension in Boston. Are the Celtics having second thoughts? Is Brad Stevens working on something behind the scenes? Besides discussing Brown's contract scenario, Bob Ryan reminisces about the "Dream Team"!  0:00 What is the holdup on Jaylen's extension? 3:00 Does JB finish contract in Boston? 5:45 Joel Embiid and his future with Sixers 6:45 Goodman: Beginning of the end for Philly  11:50 Jaylen for Embiid? 13:10 James Harden and his future 14:10 Is Maxey a #2? 15:15 Villanova reunion in the Big Apple 17:16 Bob Ryan's story time on the Dream Team  23:00 Team USA + FIBA teams  This episode of the Bob Ryan and Jeff Goodman Podcast with Gary Tanguay is sponsored by:  FanDuel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network! Visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON to get up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in bonus bets! Take your first swing at betting MLB on FanDuel and get TEN TIMES your first bet amount in bonus bets - up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS – win or lose. 21+ and present in MA. First online real money wager only. $10 Deposit req. Refund issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at fanduel.com/sportsbook. Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

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00:19 - All right, folks, it's that time again.

00:21 Gary Tangway, Bob Ryan, Jeff Goodman,

00:24 Ryan Goodman, Tangway, along for the ride podcast.

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00:44 Okay, guys, here we go.

00:46 Let's start with the rumor mill.

00:48 By the way, we will get to Bob Ryan's T-shirt

00:50 later in the show.

00:51 It's just, he is so hip right now.

00:53 He is like retro cool.

00:55 - Retro, he's had that, wait, wait.

00:57 He's had that T-shirt for how many years?

01:00 I'm not sure it's retro.

01:01 I think he bought it and still has it.

01:02 - Yeah. - 31.

01:03 - Anytime I see Bob Ryan in an uncollared shirt,

01:09 it's like a holiday.

01:11 Here we go.

01:12 So I think something's afoot with Jalen Brown.

01:17 Bob, I'll start with you.

01:18 Something smells rotten in Denmark to me.

01:22 I just, I'm reading the tea leaves and this is what I read.

01:25 I don't think Brad wants to pay him.

01:27 I think Jalen doesn't wanna be here.

01:29 And the only way he'll be here is if he gets paid.

01:32 I think that Brad Stevens has shown

01:34 that he can be cold and heartless and all about business

01:37 when he traded Marcus Smart.

01:38 Something smells with this Brown thing.

01:42 Your thoughts.

01:43 - I'm not as deeply suspicious as you appear to be at all.

01:48 But I must say the one loose end in my mind

01:53 is that he's never expressed complete fidelity

01:56 to the city or the cause.

01:58 He's had opportunities, I think,

02:00 and he's had people wondering

02:02 what's he really think about being here.

02:04 And we know that A.

02:06 B, there's this lingering issue of how good he thinks he is

02:11 and whether he should be regarded as the equal of Tatum.

02:15 And does he wanna go somewhere to quote,

02:18 have his own show, unquote, a la Kyrie years ago.

02:23 This is all speculation 'cause he's never,

02:25 he only leaves you wondering.

02:29 He doesn't say anything about it.

02:30 But I still think they'll get it done.

02:34 I just think they gotta pay him.

02:36 I wish they didn't have to pay him to max.

02:38 I've gone through that because that's the reason

02:39 they have to pay him to max is a stupid reason.

02:42 'Cause he made second team all week.

02:43 I mean, that's absurd.

02:44 They should never have been codified.

02:47 But anyway, it's the reality.

02:49 And so I'm worried, but I'm not worried.

02:54 I'm anxious to get it done.

02:57 I still think it'll be done.

02:59 - Again, I said this last week a little bit.

03:02 Is it dragging a little bit because Brad Stevens

03:05 is so smart for lack of a better word

03:10 and just saying like, I'm not gonna rush into this thing.

03:14 Who knows what the asking price is gonna be

03:16 for Damian Lillard in a week or two weeks.

03:19 Let me slow play this a little bit.

03:21 And who knows, maybe the asking price comes down enough.

03:25 Also the fifth year player option is important in this one

03:31 because otherwise you're basically giving

03:33 Jalen Brown control for five years.

03:35 And again, listen guys, do we really think,

03:40 unless they win a title, do we really think

03:42 there's any chance Jalen Brown is here

03:44 for five more years after this year?

03:46 - No. - No chance.

03:48 - Zero. - No.

03:50 I don't even think Tatum's a long time.

03:52 - If they don't win a title, you could be right.

03:56 - If they don't win a title, I think he's gone.

03:59 - I don't know if he's gone because he's still the guy

04:03 and beloved here today, but you're right.

04:06 If he doesn't win a title next year,

04:08 does the fan base start to turn on Tatum and Brown

04:13 more than they turn on Brad Stevens?

04:16 This year is Joe Mizzoula, right?

04:18 Mizzoula was the fall guy this year for the most part.

04:22 He was the one everybody was expressing their anger at.

04:25 But I think next year it flips and it becomes,

04:29 whether it's Tatum or Brown or a combination of both.

04:32 - But I also think that the Mizzoula thing will linger

04:36 until and unless they do win.

04:39 - Yeah, they gotta win in the playoffs.

04:40 - I'm just saying, he's a handy target.

04:46 - Particularly, my God, if Houston has a turnaround year

04:51 next year.

04:52 - They won't, Bob, you don't have to worry about that.

04:54 I mean, they may turn around and win 10 more games.

04:56 - And a turnaround year would be '38 and '44, right?

04:59 So yeah.

05:00 - I just, to wrap this one up, I just have a feeling

05:03 that the player doesn't really wanna be here in Brown

05:06 and the Celtics don't want him at that money.

05:09 And that's just what I keep coming back to.

05:11 Now Bob's right, everything Bob said is factually correct.

05:15 So it's almost like a forced marriage, you know,

05:18 which I don't like.

05:20 I really don't like that.

05:21 So we'll see, but I--

05:24 - Why can't we get Embiid?

05:25 Let's trade Jalen Brown and get Embiid to Boston.

05:27 - That's good, now there's a segue, kid.

05:29 So we have Porzingis and Embiid shooting threes.

05:33 That's what we have, two sevens and two threes.

05:36 So Embiid has said that he wants to win a championship

05:40 regardless of where it is, right?

05:43 Your thoughts on that, Jeff, and Darrell Moore,

05:45 had some comments on that.

05:47 - I mean, Joel's always spoken his mind.

05:49 It's funny, I mean, he's really, I think,

05:51 matured the last couple of years.

05:53 I spoke to him when he came here to Boston about it

05:56 and he said a lot of it is because he had a son recently.

06:01 So in the last couple of years, you look at Joel

06:03 and again, the Joel that I've known, the happy-go-lucky

06:09 talking shit on the court, isn't there as much.

06:13 He's more focused.

06:15 I think his whole deal is, listen, I've been in Philly

06:18 for all this time.

06:19 I had to deal with the tanking at first.

06:22 I then had to deal with playing with Ben Simmons

06:25 and look how Ben's turned out.

06:27 Now I got James Harden, like what the hell is going on here?

06:33 I'm sure he's frustrated.

06:35 I'm sure, you know, he's kind of at the end of his rope here

06:38 is, you know, he signed a what, four year, $215 million deal

06:42 that goes through 2027.

06:47 So I would think, to me, I think this is probably

06:50 the beginning of the end for Philly, just because

06:53 I don't think they're gonna get enough for Harden

06:55 and look at that roster now.

06:56 I mean, Tyrese Maxey is clearly,

06:58 Maxey and Tobias Harris are nice players.

07:01 They're nice players, but they're not more than pieces

07:05 and you need a second star type player.

07:08 Philly is not gonna have that 'cause they're not gonna,

07:11 James Harden doesn't command that.

07:13 Most teams don't even want James Harden in the roster.

07:15 Nevermind give anything of value up

07:17 for James Harden right now.

07:20 - He is now, he's 28, he'll be 29 in March.

07:22 That's the stage for sure where guys start to say,

07:29 okay, I wanna win for sure, if they haven't done that.

07:33 This is a textbook scenario that we are in a modern NBA

07:38 that we're looking at here with him, okay?

07:40 He's been a bridesmaid.

07:41 He's never even been a maid of honor.

07:43 He's only been a bridesmaid.

07:44 They get knocked out in the conference semis four years,

07:48 I believe it is, okay?

07:49 So he's tired of that.

07:52 You identified he had a play with, first of all,

07:55 he had a delayed start in his career, two years,

07:58 and then he gets, he has to live with the Simmons scenario

08:02 and you're right about that and Harden not.

08:03 So it doesn't surprise me.

08:05 I think no one should be surprised at this at all.

08:07 So I'm just nodding.

08:09 Yeah, no, no kidding, no kidding.

08:12 Tell me when there's new news.

08:14 I wouldn't miss any star 28, 29 years old,

08:17 whether it's Joe Embiid or anyone else you can name

08:20 that would make that statement, I would be going,

08:23 yeah, what else you want him to say?

08:25 - Well, here's my trade proposal for both of you.

08:28 Here's my trade proposal.

08:29 I don't even know if the numbers work,

08:31 but let me throw it out there for you.

08:33 Jalen Brown and Malcolm Brogdon

08:35 for Joe Embiid and PJ Tucker.

08:39 - What, you're in a heartbeat?

08:41 - Oh.

08:42 - You're in a heartbeat.

08:44 But with Philly?

08:46 - Yeah, that Philly would laugh, don't you think?

08:49 - Probably, yeah, probably.

08:51 I mean, again, for-

08:51 - Although, yeah, I mean-

08:54 - You get a young player, if Jalen Brown,

08:58 think about it, if you're Jalen Brown,

09:00 you're the guy then.

09:01 You get what you wanted, so you sign the extension.

09:04 You're in Philly, you get to show Boston,

09:07 hey, I'm better than you thought I was.

09:09 I am a number one guy, which I don't think he is.

09:12 And Boston, yeah, you get an injury-prone-ish big man

09:17 who, yes, he can shoot threes, Gary.

09:20 He can also dominate in the post.

09:22 - Well, yeah, I mean, you want him in the post.

09:24 I mean, I was kind of joking with about,

09:26 when you have he and Port Zingas,

09:27 you definitely want him in the post.

09:29 Look, I think we all agree, we would do that tomorrow.

09:32 You just mentioned the injury thing.

09:33 That's the selling point.

09:34 If you're the Celtics, you go, look, well,

09:35 indeed, what's he gonna play, half a season?

09:37 So, but if I'm Philly, man,

09:40 I don't know if I'm doing that deal.

09:41 - You're probably not.

09:43 You're probably not until the point when you realize,

09:46 and you know what?

09:47 If you're Boston, I'd throw in two first round picks.

09:51 Those two first round picks-

09:52 - I would too. - Take 'em.

09:53 Take all the second round picks we just acquired.

09:55 Take 'em all, because if you throw Tatum and Embiid

10:00 out there, okay, I mean, again,

10:03 a lot of pressure on Derek White,

10:05 but there's gonna be a lot of pressure

10:06 on Derek White next year.

10:07 - Oh, yeah, I mean, to me, that doesn't matter.

10:10 Well, first of all, the great thing about trade talk now

10:13 is as soon as we say, take the numbers out of it, we're good.

10:17 But I will say this, Bob, to Jeff's point.

10:20 I think that if we're thinking about it,

10:24 Brad Stevens is thinking about it.

10:26 And I think Brad Stevens is thinking about everything.

10:30 Everything.

10:32 Because last year was a debacle.

10:35 So I think as far as Stevens is concerned,

10:37 based on what we've seen him do so far, guys,

10:39 we know he's not shy to pull the trigger.

10:42 He's not shy to make moves.

10:43 Brad Stevens is looking at,

10:45 he is turning over every stone in the NBA.

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11:39 - I would buy that.

11:45 - So here's what I'll tell you.

11:47 I'm looking at the numbers as we speak.

11:50 Jalen Brown's at 31-8, Brogdon's at 22-5,

11:54 that's about 54, and Bede's 47-6,

11:59 and Tucker's 11, that's about 58.

12:02 The numbers work, guys, and you know what Tucker does?

12:06 Tucker fills a lot of voids that this team needs,

12:09 one being a vocal absolute killer.

12:12 So, I mean, listen, for the Celtics,

12:16 that would be an absolute no-brainer, in my opinion.

12:19 - Of course it's-- - Yeah, for the Sixers,

12:21 you're probably saying, "Hey, we need more,"

12:23 but the more may be, again, first-round picks,

12:28 maybe, I don't know if they have another young player,

12:31 that's the--

12:31 Like, give 'em Robert Williams.

12:32 Give 'em Robert Williams.

12:33 If you want him instead of Brogdon, you can have him.

12:36 - If you're gonna import him, Bede, you know.

12:38 - Right, right, give 'em Robert Williams, too,

12:40 and we'll take on whoever they don't want.

12:43 Whatever the guy is that they don't want

12:48 down the end of the bench, take the dead weight on.

12:51 Who cares?

12:52 - Well, and Bede would be rejuvenated.

12:54 There's no doubt about it.

12:54 He's more serious.

12:55 He wants to win a title.

12:57 Again, you'd have to look around the NBA

13:00 if you're Philadelphia

13:00 and see if there's a better offer out there,

13:02 but I like the way you're going, Jeff Goodman.

13:05 That's what we do in the summer.

13:06 We make stuff up.

13:09 We pontificate.

13:10 I like it.

13:11 - Meanwhile, back to Philly for a second

13:13 and the Harden situation,

13:14 which Joe Mori addressed yesterday,

13:16 and that is, "I want a start player back."

13:19 Oh, gee, really?

13:20 But Harden is an odd duck, obviously.

13:25 Jeff's already stated, you wonder who would really,

13:27 after all we've seen, and now,

13:31 we've got plenty of, what is he, 31, two?

13:34 He's been in this league a long time.

13:35 People know what it is.

13:36 There's no secrets at all.

13:39 People know what you're gonna get,

13:40 and I would think that more teams

13:42 don't wanna bother with him than would wanna bother him.

13:44 - Agreed, Bob.

13:45 - Harden turns 34 in a couple of months.

13:47 - Oh my God.

13:48 - Yeah, forget it.

13:49 - So, of course, Darrell, of course you would,

13:52 but no, they're-

13:54 - Mori's delusional.

13:55 He's delusional, again,

13:58 remember when the whole Ben Simmons thing happened?

14:00 He held out, held out, held out, and got Harden,

14:03 and that was considered a win.

14:05 Well, now looking back on it, a little bit of a win.

14:08 - I wanna back up very, very quickly

14:10 to something that you said, Jeff,

14:11 and I wanna identify myself as a paid-up member

14:14 of the Tyrese Maxey fan club.

14:16 I think he's a little bit bigger than you implied there.

14:19 He is certainly not the same level as Harris.

14:21 He's a better player, and he's got a better future.

14:24 Harris is older, of course,

14:25 but he's gonna be a much better player.

14:28 - Yeah, I mean, can he be a bona fide number two

14:32 for a team that can go deep in the playoffs?

14:34 That's my big question with Tyrese Maxey,

14:38 is I don't think Tobias is fine as your number three,

14:42 but I don't think Maxey's,

14:44 I'm not sure he's ever gonna get there

14:45 where he's a number two guy,

14:47 but I didn't think Jalen Brown would ever get there,

14:50 and he did.

14:50 - I didn't think Jalen Brunson, as much as I loved him,

14:55 he's exceeded my expectation, and it's possible maybe,

14:58 although his edge is up here.

15:02 - Yes, his intangibles.

15:05 - You can't implant that into anybody else,

15:09 but he, that's impossible, so.

15:13 - Yeah, speaking of that, as we go to,

15:15 as you guys turn to Villanova Knicks,

15:16 with Devin Cienzo, Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson together.

15:20 Jeff, you know these guys very well.

15:23 How do you see this working out?

15:25 - I mean, those dudes are just winners.

15:28 Like, that's what they are from Villanova.

15:30 They won titles.

15:31 Brunson was, I think, the only guy to win two titles.

15:37 He won one coming off the bench,

15:39 and then won one as a starter there in the modern era here.

15:43 Bob talked about his intangibles are just off the charts.

15:48 His toughness, everybody questioned him.

15:50 Now you bring in Josh Hart and Devin Cienzo,

15:55 two other Villanova guys on those championship teams,

15:58 and you're just building a Knicks franchise now

16:01 with good culture, right?

16:03 Good culture.

16:04 Are they talented enough to make the next jump?

16:07 I'm not convinced of that, but I think now,

16:11 first of all, you're adding more trade equity

16:13 that if you do need to make a move,

16:15 you've got some other good pieces that people like,

16:18 which Devin Cienzo and Josh Hart are.

16:20 You gotta make a move at some point.

16:23 The only way you're gonna take that jump

16:25 and be, to me, Eastern Conference title contenders

16:29 is to move one of Julius Randle or RJ Barrett or both

16:34 for a better star to play along with Brunson.

16:38 But again, they've done a good job

16:41 getting to this point.

16:42 I think they're a little bit maxed out

16:44 with their current roster right now,

16:46 but man, Brunson has been everything and more

16:51 that they could have asked for.

16:52 - You know, I mean, I'll go back to what I said a year ago

16:54 that I said, I love him, but they're over,

16:57 they're treating him as a star

16:59 when I think he's an auxiliary player.

17:01 Bob, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa,

17:04 Bob Ryan, you were wrong.

17:05 Happily wrong.

17:06 I love being wrong in that matter.

17:08 And the guy had a sensational year

17:10 and there's no reason why that won't continue.

17:12 - Now let's get to Bob's t-shirt.

17:16 Now Bob's t-shirt, I absolutely love.

17:19 And for those maybe who don't know,

17:21 and I don't know why you wouldn't,

17:22 there's Larry Bird, there's Magic Johnson,

17:24 it is the dream team.

17:26 And we're gonna talk a little FIFA basketball,

17:29 and I'm gonna introduce this topic with a story.

17:32 Ron Borges, who was, I believe,

17:35 rooming with Bob Ryan at the Seoul Olympics?

17:38 - No, in Barcelona.

17:39 I'm sorry, not Seoul, Barcelona.

17:41 So Borges tells me,

17:44 they were both working for the Globe at the time.

17:46 He says, "I asked one question to Bob Ryan

17:49 and he answered it over the next 48 hours."

17:54 (laughing)

17:55 Borges said, he said to Bob,

17:58 "I mean, all these pros playing, what's the big deal?"

18:01 And Bob went, "Whoa, what do you mean,

18:04 what was the big deal?"

18:05 I mean, Bob, I remember that

18:07 and we know that it changed the scope of the Olympics

18:11 and amateurism was gone and we loved that and so forth.

18:14 But that was just such a monumental cultural moment

18:18 with Jordan and Magic and Larry

18:20 and all those guys on the same team.

18:22 Take us back to that if you could.

18:24 - It was an extraordinary experience,

18:27 one of my favorite memories

18:30 of a 44-year career with the Globe.

18:32 And it exceeded any expectation

18:36 for the scope because it was not about winning and losing.

18:40 Everybody knew they were gonna win.

18:41 - Yeah, yeah.

18:42 - This was about exposing and the whole purpose of it.

18:46 Americans will still, some people just refuse

18:48 to acknowledge what I'm about to say

18:50 because they just don't understand.

18:52 And that is, this wasn't America's idea.

18:54 This was the idea of Boris Stankovic,

18:56 the executive secretary or whatever the title was,

18:59 the big cheese, the big kahuna of FIBA at the time.

19:03 He was a Serb and he had been a basketball player.

19:07 Anyway, he was the cheese

19:09 of all the rest of the world's basketball FIBA.

19:12 He wanted to raise the bar to show the rest of the world

19:15 where they have to be by bringing in the America's

19:18 best players and showing, you know,

19:22 this is what you gotta strive for.

19:24 And we wouldn't even vote for it, by the way.

19:27 So we reluctantly went into this, Stern went along with it.

19:30 And we constructed this dream team in 1992

19:35 to go to the Olympics, the first professionals,

19:38 but it wasn't our idea.

19:39 Okay, so the tip off was immediate.

19:43 We get to Portland for the tournament.

19:45 We had to qualify, by the way, for the Olympics.

19:48 We had to qualify.

19:49 And it was a tournament of the Americas,

19:51 the North America, South America.

19:53 It was in Portland, Oregon.

19:54 And our first game was against Cuba.

19:58 And before the game started,

20:00 Cubans asked to have a joint team photo taken

20:02 as a keepsake.

20:04 Then we went out and obviously buried the Cubans.

20:06 And a great line from the Cuban coach

20:08 about that scope of the American splendor of this team.

20:12 It was, "One finger cannot cover the whole sun," he said.

20:15 And so, you know, that's began a ritual.

20:20 Before every game, the team had the photo taken.

20:22 And my favorite isolated moment

20:24 of the entire Olympic experience

20:26 was we're playing Argentina.

20:28 They had a guard named Marco Milanesio,

20:30 who was 6'5", a good player.

20:32 I'd say, Jeff, the kind of guy he would be,

20:35 could be player of the year in the MAC, you know?

20:37 And he'd get drafted, but he wouldn't make the team,

20:39 but he'd make somebody work hard.

20:40 You know what I mean?

20:41 That kind of guy.

20:42 Anyway, good player, 6'5".

20:44 He finds himself on a switch

20:47 where he is being guarded by Magic.

20:50 And he's posting up Magic on the switch,

20:53 the Magic switched off.

20:55 And he's facing the Argentine bench.

20:57 And he's yelling to them, "Fotografia, fotografia!"

21:01 (Jeff laughing)

21:03 Something to show to grandchildren.

21:05 - Oh, totally.

21:06 - I want to see that photograph.

21:07 Okay, so anyway, now we get to Monte Carlo,

21:12 and that was another experience, and for a week.

21:16 And point being, everywhere they went,

21:19 and in Barcelona, they were rock stars.

21:21 They were complete rock stars.

21:23 It was, you know, and everybody else lived in the village.

21:26 They lived in a four-star hotel, you know,

21:28 and nobody cared.

21:29 Nobody thought, they heard nobody mind.

21:31 Anyway, and then, you know, the games go,

21:33 and we're showing them how to play basketball.

21:35 And we trailed once for one possession

21:39 in the entire Olympics.

21:40 And that was against Croatia in the championship game,

21:43 where we fell behind, something like in 1918,

21:46 something like that.

21:47 One possession lasted less than 20 seconds

21:50 because Barkley came down and drilled a three

21:52 to put us ahead, and we never looked back.

21:56 And here's the great one, guys.

21:58 Chuck Daley, in the course of the entire tournament,

22:00 never called a timeout.

22:02 (laughing)

22:04 And so, you know, there was no need.

22:07 So anyway, never needed to call a timeout.

22:10 So that's that.

22:11 I mean, but the experience,

22:13 now here's how I'm summing it up.

22:14 You think we would have had 100-plus international players,

22:17 which we have every year now in the NBA,

22:19 absent the Dream Team?

22:21 The answer's no.

22:22 We spread the basketball gospel.

22:24 That's what Boris Yankelevich wanted.

22:26 We spread the gospel.

22:27 And so for people who think we just were sulking

22:32 and sore losers 'cause we got beat by the Russians,

22:35 or the Soviets, excuse me, in Seoul in '88,

22:39 no, had nothing to do with that.

22:42 This is that everything to do with Boris Yankelevich

22:44 wanted to raise the bar,

22:45 and we went along with the program.

22:46 - And it worked.

22:47 - It's worked, look at the NBA today.

22:49 - Well, we're better for it, though.

22:51 - We're much better for it.

22:52 Hey, our last three MVPs, who are they?

22:55 A Greek? - International guys, yep.

22:57 - A Serbian?

22:59 And a Cameroonian.

23:02 - Yeah, and we love the way they play the game.

23:04 I mean, we love to watch them.

23:05 - No, and that's just a tip of the iceberg.

23:08 We have a little Slovenian in Dallas, he's not too bad.

23:11 Anyway, it's-

23:13 - And you get a Frenchman as your number one draft pick.

23:16 - Okay, so now you wanna know about the shirt.

23:18 - Go ahead.

23:19 - It's the last day in Portland

23:21 at the Tournament of the Americas, it's Sunday,

23:24 and I am writing at the scores table after the game,

23:29 and I hear an announcement over the PA

23:32 that they were having a closeout sale on merchandise.

23:36 Anybody interested, now's the time.

23:39 I went up to the stand and found this T-shirt,

23:44 a Larry Magic T-shirt, and on the front,

23:47 you can see their images.

23:49 On the back, done as the respective 10 commandments

23:53 are their achievements at the time, 99 by 92.

23:57 So I've had this shirt for 31 years,

24:00 and it's one of my great possessions, I love that.

24:04 I break it on important occasions such as this one.

24:07 - And now you have some thoughts,

24:09 you have the schedule for international basketball.

24:11 - Yeah, now we gotta-

24:12 - Bobby, you gonna get a FIBA World Cup 2023 shirt too

24:16 with Paulo Banqueiros?

24:18 - Paulo Banqueiros or Bobby Portis, you know?

24:23 No, I mean, we will discuss this in depth

24:26 when we get closer,

24:27 because it doesn't come until the 25th of August.

24:29 But just so people know, the FIBA World Cup,

24:31 which of course FIBA wants to make it

24:33 to a more important championship than the Olympics,

24:36 and the rest of the world has always honored it

24:38 a little more than we did.

24:39 We're gonna have a team coached by Steve Kerr,

24:45 and it's on the 25th of August

24:47 in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia.

24:49 How about that, ladies and gentlemen?

24:51 And we are in group C with Jordan, Greece, and New Zealand.

24:56 I'll just run down the roster quickly,

24:58 and you can contemplate it.

25:00 Our roster, Paulo Banqueiros, Mikael "Mike" Bridges,

25:03 Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Halliburton,

25:06 Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Jaron Jackson Jr.,

25:09 Cam Johnson, Walker Kessler, Bobby Portis,

25:13 and Austin Reeves, that's our roster.

25:16 - What, LeBron's not making a trip?

25:17 - It's a B, what would you say, Jeff?

25:20 - A B-plus roster?

25:21 - Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to think who,

25:24 you know, you've got some, Paulo's gonna be a star,

25:27 you know that, Brunson's on the verge of it,

25:30 Anthony Edwards could be a star,

25:32 Halliburton's one of the best 25 players, I think,

25:35 in the game right now, Jaron Jackson's terrific.

25:39 So I think you've got a handful of future stars,

25:42 and then some good young pieces.

25:44 Obviously, you know, the names that are missing

25:46 a little bit that you thought might be on a team like this,

25:49 you know, Zion Williamson, if he was healthy,

25:52 John Morant, obviously, is not gonna be

25:54 on this roster right now, but, you know, Tatum's,

25:58 Tatum's at the next level now, right?

26:00 He's already established himself.

26:02 These are guys that are on their come-up.

26:04 - I was looking at big men, we got Jaron Jackson Jr.,

26:09 who I forgot, frankly, he was a defensive player of the year.

26:12 - Oh, he's awesome, awesome.

26:14 - I didn't know his nickname, the Block Panther,

26:16 I didn't know that, I left that.

26:17 - I didn't either.

26:18 - No, that's what they claim it is on Wikipedia,

26:20 by the way.

26:21 Walker Kessler should be honored, huh?

26:24 - Yeah, he's--

26:24 - He can block shots, though, can't he?

26:26 - Hey, listen, he's been way better,

26:28 'cause he's not super athletic, but elite shot blocker.

26:33 Have you looked at Canada's roster?

26:34 - I'm looking at Canada, I'm just gonna give you

26:35 one more name that a year ago, you would have absolutely,

26:39 you know, said, "Okay, Bob, you've taken leave

26:41 "of your senses."

26:42 There's not, this guy has zero chance of being on any team.

26:45 Austin Reeves.

26:46 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's an--

26:48 - Talk about upward mobility.

26:49 - Undrafted, undrafted to,

26:53 he could shoot the hell out of the ball.

26:54 - Okay, here's Team Canada, American.

26:57 - Yep.

26:58 - Jamal Murray, Shea Gildas Alexander,

27:00 RJ Barrett, Dylan Brooks, Lou Dort,

27:03 Nikhil Alexander Walker, Kelly Olenek,

27:07 Dwight Powell, Celtic O'Shea Brissett,

27:11 and Corey Joseph.

27:13 Missing, big missing, Andrew Wiggins.

27:17 I don't know what the deal is there.

27:18 - Wiggins is just a different dude.

27:20 He's always been a different dude.

27:21 He's kind of done his own thing, but listen,

27:24 Murray and Shea--

27:25 - They got perimeter power there.

27:27 - Yeah, Murray and Shea are great,

27:29 but I'll tell you what, I love the Brunson,

27:31 Hal Burton point guard, young two point guards

27:34 for the US that are elite.

27:37 And they just, they got guys on the team

27:39 that can shoot the hell out of the ball.

27:40 That's the thing, like Mikkel Bridges,

27:42 Cam Johnson shoots the hell out of it.

27:44 So I just, I like the way they're constructing these teams.

27:48 They may not be the most talented,

27:51 but it's the right way to construct them for the most part.

27:54 - Yeah, and I love who the coach is.

27:56 We're in good hands with Steve Carr.

27:59 So anyway, that's it.

28:00 The other country, we won't go through it.

28:04 Germany, just quickly, Maxi Kleber, Dennis Schroeder,

28:08 Daniel Tice, and the Wagner brothers,

28:11 Fritz and Moritz, that's the five NBA players

28:13 on team Germany.

28:15 But anyway, when we get closer, we'll dissect this more,

28:17 but just alerting people that it's coming up

28:20 and that our honor, our national honor will be at stake.

28:25 - Well, I love the Bob Ryan dream team stories.

28:28 And just as I wrap things up,

28:31 I cannot think of a better coach for that team

28:33 than Chuck Dillon.

28:34 - Chuck was perfect.

28:35 He was central casting,

28:38 sent a coach whose ego would not get in the way.

28:41 And let me give you Chuck Dillon moment

28:44 and then on our farewell, right?

28:46 So of course I knew Chuck from BC back in 1969,

28:49 and we got very friendly.

28:50 And as a matter of fact, when he left BC to go to Penn,

28:52 take the job, he invited my wife and myself over

28:55 with our infant son to dinner in Jamaica Plain,

28:59 where he lived.

29:00 Anyway, and Chuck and I were friendly.

29:02 So we find ourselves in Monaco at the end of the day,

29:06 up at the swimming pool at the Lowe's Monaco,

29:09 where we stayed.

29:10 And Monte Carlo, where we stayed.

29:13 And I'm laying on one, the van,

29:16 and he's laying on the next to me.

29:17 We're looking out at the Mediterranean and he says,

29:21 "God, whoever thought it would come to this,

29:24 for both of us."

29:27 So there you go.

29:28 God bless your soul, Chuck Dillon.

29:30 You were a tremendously fun guy to know.

29:34 - I love the guy.

29:35 I mean, I think he was great for the league.

29:36 Bob Ryan, always a pleasure.

29:37 Jeff Goodman, until next time.

29:40 This episode of Goodman, excuse me,

29:43 Ryan Goodman, tagging along for the ride,

29:44 Pod and Zoom is brought to you by FanDuel,

29:46 the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network.

29:49 Gentlemen, until next week.

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