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00:00A couple quick observations about one Steve Kerr who just joined us on the show.
00:05If you just joined us, whoops, you missed it.
00:08That's okay.
00:10YouTube, Odyssey app, 5 o'clock hour, 6 o'clock hour, there's going to be other opportunities.
00:18Yeah, you'll catch it.
00:19A couple observations, though.
00:21Number one, and, Grandy, you should probably be entered into this conversation, too.
00:26Did Steve Kerr still sound tired like he doesn't want the job anymore in today's conversation?
00:33Sounded a little bit more refreshed, and I think part of that is last time we talked to him,
00:37it was three games and four nights in three different cities,
00:40and this East Coast trip has been just a bunch of, like, bebop and short little flights,
00:46and you're coming off a win, and Chris Stapp's played well,
00:49and Steph, I do think, is trending in the right direction.
00:51We can talk more about that in a minute, but as far as how tired he sounded,
00:55no, he sounded a little less fatigued today, for sure.
00:59Yeah, yeah.
01:00Well, that's life.
01:01Like, there's days where, you know, like last week, you came in, you had a migraine,
01:04and I came in off two hours of sleep one day, and it's like, that's just life, you know?
01:09No, completely.
01:09So that's, like, I remember the conversation last week, and I was thinking to myself,
01:14boy, this is, at minimum, is probably more circumstantial than we're making it.
01:20Um, and I also think about the time and space when we're making that judgment,
01:26because it wasn't just about the conversation last week.
01:29I think people are watching Warrior Games on TV, and there are times where Steve looks like,
01:35oh, you know, yeah, he looks probably pretty beat up, but look around at his roster.
01:42You know, like this, all of this stuff takes a toll on everybody, but I also remember them saying,
01:48all the beat writers on that trip in Houston, that game they won two weeks ago in Houston,
01:53they're like, that's as lively as the locker room has been all year long.
01:56I was as happy as everybody has been all year long.
01:58So I was just like, I don't want to jump to conclusions.
02:01I think today, he sounded very, very upbeat, and got into a whole lot of stuff.
02:08And then my other big observation was, whoo, I loved the way he answered Anthony and Brentwood.
02:16And this is not to call out Anthony and Brentwood.
02:19The only reason I want to say that, and by the way, if you're still listening to Anthony,
02:24call back in, would love to hear what you think about what Steve said.
02:29But, like Anthony, thank you so much for listening and calling and giving your opinion.
02:34It was a great call, yeah.
02:34It was a pointed, opinionated call.
02:38But it got me to react earlier, because I kind of felt the same way Steve did,
02:43and I'll play the call for you again in a second.
02:46In fact, we got an even longer version that's got a little more context to it.
02:50But I'm sitting here thinking to myself, if that's how you feel, why are we suiting up?
02:56Why would we even, like, what are we doing?
02:59Why would we, why would we continue to go through the charade of plane flights, hotels, shoes, costumes, sweat?
03:08You're saving.
03:11Leon's.
03:12Williams, you know.
03:13That was perfect.
03:15You're saving.
03:16You're saving.
03:17I mean, nothing against the guy.
03:19No, but you go out and you get Omer Yurt saving, because you need bodies, because you're still trying to
03:25win.
03:26Yurt saving nothing.
03:27I don't know if you noticed their record.
03:29I mean, two minutes last night, he was a plus one.
03:33But you need bodies.
03:35To Steve's point, like, what do you want us to do, quit?
03:37So we're supposed to just quit?
03:40So I'm chilling in the kitchen today, and I got Evan and Guru on the smart speaker.
03:47House was empty.
03:48Just me and the dog.
03:50Oh, man.
03:51It's so good stuff.
03:52When the weather's like this, just open up the windows, and I'm like, we just take a minute and just.
03:58Listen to my guys and listen to a call from Brentwood.
04:03Hot in Brentwood, by the way.
04:04I can see where he's a little edgy.
04:06Yeah.
04:06So here's Anthony in Brentwood, and this is the longer version of the call.
04:10Here we go.
04:11Steph coming back with five games left.
04:13Let's get into the play-in.
04:15What are we doing that for?
04:16And I would never advocate losing on purpose.
04:19That's not what I'm saying.
04:20But I just, I really have to be the voice of reason with the fans, including you, my brother.
04:25Well, I hear you.
04:25This thing is over.
04:27And, like, Steph can want to come back if he wants.
04:30That's great.
04:31Steph can want to come back, and he can play.
04:33But we're not beating OKC.
04:35We're not beating San Antonio.
04:37We're not beating the Lakers.
04:39And we're not beating Denver or Minnesota.
04:43So, like, getting the plan for what?
04:46To get kicked out in the first round?
04:47We really, truly have to retool.
04:49And we also just have to come to terms with, like, this thing is over.
04:54Steph can be playing some great ball, but it's just not going to be enough.
04:58Steph, these young Thundercats on the other teams are head and shoulders above the young guys that we have.
05:05And that's the truth of the matter is the supporting cast around Steph is not good enough to give Steph
05:11a quality opportunity to truly compete.
05:13And that's truth, because we got poor seniors.
05:17We got Al Horford who doesn't play back-to-back.
05:19We got his brother on the bench that's only played two games.
05:22Like, at some point, we also got to call out this notion that getting older guys was going to help
05:28us.
05:29No.
05:29We needed to get young guys that are good basketball players.
05:33And we have young guys that are really just, like, really probably wouldn't get a second look on a lot
05:38of other teams.
05:39But these other teams have young guys that are actually, like, can really start.
05:43And we see it.
05:44You just see, like, the quality of supporting cast that we have that they can't hang with, most of these
05:50other teams.
05:51So, I'm, like, sitting in that kitchen.
05:52I'm trying to relax, cook a little food, get ahead on dinner, get some pieces of the whole pie kind
05:57of ready to go.
05:58And then here comes Anthony and Brantwood.
06:01And that's exactly what went through my head.
06:05You can feel that way all you want.
06:08But if you feel that way, why are we having a season?
06:13To me, there is a disease going on right now in many sports cities and for sure this fan base.
06:25Championship or bust is the most negative thing I could possibly think of when it comes to fandom.
06:32I hate it.
06:33I hate it with such a passion.
06:36And it's so widely accepted that if you don't feel championship or bust, you're made to feel like you're just
06:42a little weenie or something like that.
06:45You don't have that dog in you.
06:47Don't you understand championship or bust mentality is flat out unfair and unfun?
06:54Like, why don't you just cancel 98% of sports then if that's how you feel?
06:59You can be championship or bust, but you also, in my opinion, you have to play it all the way
07:05out until you're no longer possibly going to even have a chance to win a championship.
07:09They could be the 10, they could win the first play and they could win the second play and they
07:13could win 16 playoff games.
07:15They're allowed to go on a dream run until you are actually legitimately eliminated.
07:21Then you can still be in that mindset, even though a championship is probably not going to happen.
07:26It doesn't mean that you just pack up your tent with 17 games left to go just because you don't
07:31think you can beat OKC.
07:34I mean, you're allowed to fan that way, but I don't, I never as a coach or as a player
07:38looked at it in that fashion.
07:40Well, but I'd take that, I agree with you and I would take it even a step further though.
07:44Even if there isn't the math, do you know what I mean?
07:48Like, so let's look at this from the other lens of last night.
07:51Should the Wizards have not shown up?
07:54Should they have not come?
07:55Well, some of them didn't and some who did, you probably would rather have them not show up, Trey Young.
08:00Do you think that the fans who bought tickets to the game last night in Washington are morons?
08:07One, by the way, I had a very close friend who was at that game last night.
08:12Now that's because he's a transplant and he's a Warrior fan.
08:15There you go.
08:15So he went, he went to the game.
08:18But like, are they morons?
08:20Are they complete morons?
08:22Did you buy a ticket to go see the San Francisco Giants in September last year?
08:27I think I did.
08:28Am I a moron?
08:29Am I a stupid idiot who should not wake up in the morning and have any interest in the baseball
08:36team that plays in this town?
08:38I think the math was still there last year.
08:39Okay, but come on.
08:41You know what I mean?
08:41I know what you're saying.
08:42Like, I just, I don't know why, I don't know why we pound our chest that way.
08:47Like, you're just a fan.
08:49You don't need to look at it from that lens where it's like, if it's not a realistic finish to
08:57win the whole damn thing, then everything else is just pointless.
09:02And just shut it all down.
09:03What?
09:04Like, really?
09:05Well, I think people, fans are especially protective of Steph because he's 38 and he's got runner's knee, two of
09:12them.
09:12So you think that, okay, if they just shut him down as opposed to going out there and losing the
09:17play in whatever, maybe he'd be better off next year.
09:20But Steve captured it perfectly describing like what he thinks.
09:25And he didn't say the stupidity of it, but when you're in it and you're competing and you're a competitor
09:30at the highest possible level, you're going to want to take every absolute swing you can just in case there's
09:36a chance.
09:37Here is Steve's response when we played for him, the call from Anthony in Brentwood.
09:42What is the point of what we're doing?
09:44It's competition.
09:46We're playing to compete and to go and see what we can do and give ourselves a chance.
09:52Like, I don't understand the concept of, you know what, I don't think we can beat any of these teams,
09:58so let's just not try to win.
09:59Like, what is that?
10:01That makes no sense to me.
10:03Are we advocating to tank and get in the lottery?
10:06I mean, just give me a thought.
10:09Give me the counter to, hey, let's go compete and do what we've trained to do our entire lives and
10:15compete and give ourselves a chance.
10:18Like, what's the point?
10:19Other than that, you tell me, what are we doing this for?
10:22I mean, especially because, by the way, the lottery is not even available to you.
10:27It's not even available to you.
10:29Sure, you can fall out of the play-in and then you get a 1% chance.
10:32I mean, I don't think people tend to think that having a 1% chance is actually availability.
10:39That's not.
10:39I mean, Dallas won it in a similar spot.
10:41Yeah, you could.
10:42And, by the way, it may go that way, even if they try.
10:46They can try and it could still go that way.
10:50I mean, in fact, it's trending toward that being likely.
10:54In this moment, it is statistically probable that the Warriors will both try and end up in the lottery.
11:03Right now, that is the statistical favorite.
11:05And you're not tanking when you're out there trying and you happen to have a lesser roster.
11:09That's not tanking.
11:10So, to go into a play-in, which is where you're going to land, probably in the 9-10 game,
11:15and Steph Curry's been working hard to get back, you're going to tell Steph,
11:18you know what, statistically, I don't like our chances to beat Portland and then go beat the Clippers or the
11:247-8 losers.
11:25So, we're going to go ahead and not take the chance because, darn it, we don't really like the odds
11:30here, Steph.
11:30Sorry about that.
11:31I just, I don't, ugh.
11:34I find that to be, again, you said it.
11:37Everybody gets to, you get to see this however you want.
11:40Right.
11:40I just find that idea for me to be such a turnoff.
11:45Like, okay, we play with Grandy on this a whole lot, right?
11:49The whole Niners thing.
11:50Grandy, I don't know if you know this about yourself yet, but I can already tell you,
11:54when the Niners do win a Super Bowl, you're going to cry.
11:57You're going to cry.
11:58Yeah, probably.
11:59I know this.
12:00Big, sloppy tears.
12:02Yeah, it's going to be ugly.
12:02Don't have a girl there at the time because, boy, you're going to look like a wee, yeah.
12:07Why'd you break up?
12:08But that's been pretty through a touchdown.
12:12Do you know why you're going to cry, though?
12:15Because I haven't ever experienced it before.
12:17You went through the worst.
12:19You went through all of the stuff.
12:23Stop trying to leave when the stuff is going on.
12:28That's what makes the other side of the fence great.
12:31When you finally get there.
12:32Yes.
12:33And this is kind of the opposite of that because you've already been through the good stuff.
12:37And so now you've got all the good stuff.
12:39You've got four parades, three in Oakland, one here in the city,
12:42with a million of your closest friends, which you never thought in your wildest dreams you'd get.
12:47So now that you might be heading for the bad stuff, just stay there and ride it out because there
12:53will be brighter days ahead.
12:54So you need to hang in there, big guy.
12:58I just, I'm sorry.
12:59I can't imagine you sober whenever you use that line.
13:02And I wasn't.
13:03I know.
13:03Shout out JT the Brick and the vodka sodas.
13:07Number 16 seeds in the tournament since 1985 are 2 and 158.
13:13They've won twice.
13:14A winning percentage for the one seeds of 98.8.
13:17So call Sienna, who's facing Duke, and say, you know what, Sienna, you're 27 and a half point on your
13:23dogs.
13:23Don't show.
13:24Yeah, save yourselves the effort.
13:26Don't show.
13:27You're going to lose.
13:29But UMBC and Fairleigh Dickinson didn't.
13:31So even if the Warriors make it in the playing game, and they will,
13:34there is a chance that a one seed could lose to an eight seed.
13:38We've seen it before.
13:39Well, okay.
13:39So not only is there that chance,
13:41Like, I would attempt to answer it even differently than that, though.
13:47Like, so what if they do get their bell rung?
13:52So what?
13:54So what?
13:55Is it that much egg on your face?
13:58It's a stain on Steph Curry's legacy.
14:00Is it really?
14:01Is it really?
14:02He's never lost in the first round.
14:04Understood.
14:04He's also never played in a playoff series without any of those star teammates
14:10that he has won with before.
14:12He's never done that.
14:13He's never played without either Jimmy or Clay or Wiggy or Kevin or what.
14:20He's never done that before.
14:22I don't know if he's going to make this one.
14:24He probably won't.
14:26And, yes, I'm partially saying that so he'll hear me because it'll make him mad,
14:31and then he's going to try to go score 45 and get them out of the play-in tournament.
14:35But, like, so what if they lose 4-0 to OKC?
14:40Okay.
14:42I'd still rather do that than nothing at all.
14:45I mean, all because of a .7 chance of some sort of lottery system
14:51that we don't even understand that someone's just going to tell you about anyway.
14:55They're going to come out of the ivory tower with smoke and be like,
14:59the Hornets got the first pick.
15:01Like, okay.
15:02Like, I don't know.
15:04I just, that to me is such a fascinating idea,
15:08and I think it's circumstantial based on coming out of a dynasty.
15:13The fan base, some of you, in my opinion, have been poisoned,
15:20and you've sort of lost the ability to just watch sports for the sake of sports.
15:27It's like they're going to play in Boston tomorrow night.
15:30They're probably going to get their butts kicked.
15:31Oh, you never know.
15:32But you never know.
15:33Right.
15:33Because, by the way, the person who just texted, I've lost it on the board now,
15:37but someone hit the Boxer and Gerson work injuries turning sex line.
15:40It's like they're proving right now that they can't compete at a high level.
15:42Are you sure?
15:44Because they beat the Nuggets.
15:45They beat the Rockets.
15:46Let's see.
15:47They just took the Knicks to a three-point game at MSG,
15:50and I'm forgetting a few of the other near misses.
15:52That's not competitive?
15:54Well, they were competitive against Utah and couldn't quite get that one done.
15:57I'm not saying they're good.
15:59Competitive in OKC.
16:00Right, OKC.
16:01Like, I don't know.
16:03Let's play.
16:06Let's play.
16:06It's the whole reason why you're not just doing computer simulations of these games,
16:11where let's sim the game 10,000 times.
16:13Nobody has to fly anywhere, and we'll just determine.
16:15We'll let AI determine who's going to go ahead and win this game.
16:19It's basketball, and the whole thing about it's a make-or-miss league
16:22and all the other cliches.
16:24The reason why we watch sports and we enjoy sports is because it seems like
16:28the result has not been determined, and even the bad team,
16:33and we can go through the tournament bracket,
16:34there'll be higher-seeded teams that lose to lower-seeded teams.
16:38It's going to happen.
16:39You play 40 minutes in that tourney, and crazy stuff can happen,
16:43and the same thing can happen in the NBA playoffs as well.
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