00:00The phrase that's popping around in my head today is, it's not a big deal.
00:05It's not a big deal.
00:07I heard a lot of people say that about Tony Vitello yesterday.
00:10They're not wrong.
00:11It's not a big deal.
00:13For me personally, it doesn't have to be a big deal for us to talk about it.
00:19It's sports.
00:20I mean, I really could respond to you and go, none of this is a big deal.
00:25Steph's entire career.
00:27It's not a big deal.
00:28It's just sports.
00:30You don't even know him.
00:32I don't know him.
00:33You don't know him.
00:34Everybody listening to us doesn't even know him.
00:37He's not going to come to your house for dinner after his career is over.
00:40It's not a big deal.
00:41So I want to reject that statement for a second.
00:44And whether it's Vitello and the Giants, which we're going to get to on a number of fronts a little
00:50bit later,
00:50or if it's what Steph Curry sort of kind of essentially said over the weekend at All-Star Weekend about
00:58tanking.
00:59It's not a big deal.
01:01Mark Cuban, a series of tweets today suggesting, I don't know why everybody is screaming about this.
01:08This has been going on since the beginning of time in the NBA.
01:13And quite frankly, that's the way you do it.
01:16And so there's nothing really wrong with it.
01:18And it's, here it comes, not a big deal.
01:22And so my response to that is whether each and every one of us thinks it's a big deal or
01:28not,
01:28that does not remove it from A, being interesting and something we talk about.
01:35And B, it also does not mean that you should not address it.
01:39So I wanted to run this sound clip from the chef by you and by our audience and get your
01:50reaction to it.
01:51Much more important than my opinion or yours, dibs, is our listeners, the NBA and Warrior fan at large.
02:01You who puts hard-earned money down in some form to consume Warriors or NBA basketball.
02:11This can be in the form of tickets, popcorn, league pass, whatever.
02:16Whatever it is.
02:17However and why ever you consume the NBA and Warriors basketball, I want to know how this lands with you.
02:24Because the tanking question was out and about all over All-Star Weekend.
02:29And when it arrived to Steph Curry, this is what he said.
02:33How many teams are tanking right now?
02:35Even the teams that are in the play-in chase?
02:38The third of the leagues of 10 teams?
02:40Is it really that big of a problem?
02:42I'm asking.
02:43We feel like there's obviously a lot of competition.
02:46It's something I'm sure every year the NBA wants to address why the play-in tournament exists.
02:52Things evolve, problems arise, and everybody wants to shine a spotlight on all the negatives of the league.
02:58But let's focus on the positives of how great the competition is at the top.
03:03There still is relevancy regular season-wise of the seeding and playoff chase.
03:08I know there's a conversation around how many games we're playing.
03:10Again, that's probably where I would focus more, the attention.
03:14But let's not forget the league is in a great place overall in terms of the attention, the skill level,
03:22the global reach, all of that stuff.
03:25Every year you'll address the issues.
03:26I don't have those answers.
03:28Okay, so he literally asked, is it that big of a problem?
03:32And I just felt everyone in the room wanting to sort of jump forward and be like, ah, yeah.
03:40I mean, to some people.
03:42Depends on what team that you are a fan of.
03:44And beyond the tanking are the things that go along with it, like the Boxer and Gerson work injury attorney's
03:52text line.
03:53925 just sent us this, Dibs.
03:55I don't care about tanking.
03:57At what point does the NBA make players play?
04:00It's becoming unwatchable.
04:02Either play or stay home.
04:05And that's part of it, too.
04:07That's part of it.
04:08So how does that grab you?
04:09Everything in the NBA is great.
04:10Let's focus on the positive.
04:11Well, what he said is right at the top.
04:14Like, at the top, you've got really good teams and great players and great athletes, and they compete and they
04:19try to win.
04:20Steph, you're not wrong.
04:21And in the middle, you've got teams like yourselves, the Warriors, that are not at the top, and you're still
04:27mostly competing.
04:28You're still mostly trying to win, and you're mostly trying to put on a show for your audience.
04:33And then you have the other 10 teams, and he ran through them.
04:36And all those teams are, yeah, they're tanking.
04:39And you're going to be bad for four, five, and six years, and your fans aren't showing up.
04:43And if they do show up, if you're a season ticket holder, you're paying through the nose for a second
04:48or a third-rate product.
04:50So that, to me, is the problem.
04:52So for me, as a fan, I don't really care if you're tanking, if you're trying to win, whatever you
04:58are.
04:58I want to go and get money that I spend.
05:01I want to get entertainment value for my money.
05:03As a fan, that's really what you want.
05:06And for basketball, like, we have Steph Curry, and we've got this great team.
05:10We have a great arena.
05:11You've got a great product.
05:12Sure, if it's not going to be Steph, like it was in 2020 when he was out and Draymond was
05:17out,
05:17and you had Eric Paschal, and you had Jordan Poole as a rookie, well, I don't want to pay, you
05:22know,
05:22$400 to bring my family to go watch that.
05:25So that, to me, is the biggest problem with tanking.
05:28If you're a fan and you want to go and pay money to see something, you want to get value
05:33for it.
05:34It's interesting.
05:35You know, of the many thoughts that just went through my head listening to you say all of that,
05:40I'm kind of ready to say, at least in this, now this is a snapshot.
05:44And maybe I shouldn't say this on the flagship station of the Golden State Warriors,
05:49but they don't have a great product right now.
05:53They might on Thursday.
05:55Right.
05:55I mean, the product is Steph right now.
05:58It's no one's fault.
05:59But if you give me no Steph, no Jimmy, you trade the most talked about player for another player who
06:08doesn't play,
06:09and then everybody collectively doesn't play, and you're like, come to the game,
06:14Moody's going to hit some threes.
06:17That's not a great product.
06:19But maybe not the best example right now because, yes, injuries have led to that for the Golden State Warriors.
06:26I just think it's tough because when Steph says, is it really that big of a problem?
06:31And, again, if we go back to the phrase that I just brought up, it's not that big of a
06:36deal.
06:37Right?
06:37The tanking, it's not that big of a deal.
06:40The load management, ah, it just comes with the territory.
06:42It's not that big of a deal.
06:43I keep banging this drum, and that is that the NBA is kind of telling its fans that the games
06:52themselves are not that big of a deal.
06:55And so that, to me, that's the issue.
06:59And so it's tough.
07:01It's tough, man, because I don't fully know yet if players fully grasp the privileged spot from which they speak.
07:11When they go, hey, is this really a problem?
07:15The league's in great hands.
07:17The product is entertaining.
07:19We're doing XYZ at the highest level.
07:22But the fans are sitting here going, no, you're not.
07:26No, you're not.
07:27In fact, at the highest level, those are the guys who sit out the most.
07:30Yep.
07:32So I really wanted to run this by Warrior fans and NBA fans.
07:38888-957-9570.
07:41Steph Curry basically says, hey, the league's in great hands.
07:45Focus on the positive.
07:46Everything's going pretty well.
07:48Is it?
07:48Do you feel that way?
07:51Everything is awesome with the NBA.
07:54A couple of things that we could address, but largely everything is awesome.
07:59How does that sit with the NBA fans?
08:01I mean, it's team to team, right?
08:02Because right now, to get into the Warrior game on Thursday,
08:04the lowest ticket, according to the ESPN Secondary Market, is $152.
08:09The Philly game, they're hosting Atlanta.
08:12Tickets as low as $9.
08:14So if you're going to go to a Philly game, you can get it for $9.
08:18But here, it's $152.
08:20Is Steph going to play?
08:21And that's for one ticket.
08:23Correct.
08:23One ticket, no food, no parking, one ticket.
08:28So you're looking at, like, maybe $800 to $1,000 to watch the Warriors,
08:32and will Steph play?
08:33Will Porzingis play?
08:34You don't know.
08:35But everything's fine.
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