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00:00That's where my head's at. There are a lot of things. It's not just dessert.
00:05There are a lot of things in life that we do that are not for the best long-term situation.
00:13But they're fun! But they're fun, and that's how I view what the Warriors are doing this week.
00:19I don't think that it's going to be damaging, like, for example, if you happen to drink a quart of
00:25vodka one night.
00:26Yeah, that's not going to be good for you, and it might be hard to shake that off.
00:30If you win two play-in games, and you get to play OKC, that would be fun, and it might
00:36only cost you four spots in the draft, or even potentially one.
00:40You could fall down to number 14. There's a small sliver of a chance where you go from 11 to
00:4614.
00:46So, worst case, by winning these two games, you could go from 14 to 15.
00:51Wow, you lose one draft spot. Big whoop.
00:53Or, you win these two play-in games, and you miss out on winning the lottery and vaulting up to
00:58number one.
00:59So, ultimately, you'd love to have a chance to play and win four series and be NBA champs.
01:06That's not a very likely outcome, but go ahead and win tonight.
01:10And then Friday, I do like what Kalena was saying about Phoenix.
01:13Like, that's a good thing that it's not Portland, right?
01:16Because I think Portland is a better team and a really bad matchup.
01:19So, win tonight. We'll live a couple more days and see what happens on Friday.
01:23We can go from there.
01:24Let's hear from some of you out there. 888-957-9570.
01:29Let's go to Quincy in Oakland, who is back.
01:31Hey, Quincy, thanks for calling in. What's up?
01:35Hey, can you hear me now?
01:37Yep, you sure can.
01:39Hello. All right, what's up?
01:41Hey, I don't know if it's better that I went in.
01:43I mean, when I messed up before, but I wanted to say something to Kalena.
01:48He is one of the best brothers out there, because I remember meeting him on 14th and Broadway in front
01:53of Ryan A's.
01:54And then this was when Nelson was the coach, and I think CJ Watts was on the team.
01:59I was like, why did they take you out the game and put CJ in?
02:04And I think, I know Dave was on the team, but he must have been hurt or something that game.
02:08He was like, I don't know, man.
02:09But then I asked, I was talking about my organization, and he left us some tickets with a wheel call.
02:15He was a real cool brother, man.
02:16And I know we, that was the best people I ever had, because we were sitting next, right next to
02:22the, behind the bench,
02:23pretty much behind the bench, and I knew it because I heard we were sitting next to Beedron's family,
02:28and they were speaking in Russian.
02:29I'm like, telling my girl, like, yeah, that's Beedron's family.
02:32Like, yeah, they're speaking.
02:34And I'm like, oh, that was off the look.
02:36Hey, but let me get back to the Warriors, though.
02:38Like, I don't know, man.
02:40Whether it's a win or not.
02:42I just think, and I hope the Warriors get that Yaxel dude from Michigan or something.
02:49You know, I think that would be a better deal than even trading for Giannis or something, you know,
02:56because that could be something you could, like, you know, build around.
02:59You know what I mean?
03:00You know what I mean?
03:01But I don't know.
03:02But Willard and Dibbs, they all always do a great job.
03:05And I like how you be on the national thing but still be holding it down for the bay and
03:11all that.
03:12But y'all just keep doing y'all thing, man.
03:15God bless you.
03:16I appreciate it.
03:17Thanks, man.
03:17We didn't bring that all the way around.
03:18You see Kalena.
03:19You have a conversation.
03:21He gives you tickets.
03:22You learn a little Russian from the Beedron's family.
03:24You got my guy Yaxel Lendenborg into the program.
03:27I sold him short yesterday, 6'9", 230, and he's a guy who can fill it up from the outside
03:34now, Mark.
03:35Look, he's a good-looking player.
03:37But, like, okay, for two reasons, I'm not doing this right now.
03:41I'm not doing this.
03:42We're responding to the callers.
03:44I understand that.
03:45The pride of Penn Socket, New Jersey.
03:47But this is not the first time you've brought up Lendenborg.
03:50You love this guy.
03:51You love Yaxel Lendenborg.
03:53And guess what?
03:54You might be right and you might be wrong, and there is literally no other fact that we can say
04:01about it other than that right now.
04:03But there are two reasons.
04:05I'm not there yet.
04:06I'm not there yet.
04:08The Warriors are not in the lottery yet.
04:10So I hear you.
04:11I get it.
04:13There are exciting young players, all of that stuff.
04:16But every year I get blown away by how excited and lured we get by young players knowing through history
04:28that a healthy, maybe even slight majority of them do not become what we think they're going to become.
04:36And we hang on to that with such a death grip that that kind of goes to what Guru and
04:41I were doing on the crossover today.
04:43There are people who still want to go back to the young players of the Warriors' recent past who either
04:52sort of worked out, maybe worked out at times but didn't really work out, have gone on to other teams,
04:59mixed results, and it's like they still think that they would be the future and what we can hang our
05:06hat on going forward.
05:07If I hear one more person talk about what Jordan Poole could have done for this team, I'm going to
05:13yank hair out of the side of my head.
05:15He doesn't even play in New Orleans.
05:17Yeah.
05:18Like he's not a great player.
05:20He was a good player here.
05:22He's got some good aspects to him.
05:24But to think that those players mean something for the future of this organization, I'm sorry.
05:31I just don't get it.
05:32It just depends on the player and the fit and the timing, and I'm just kind of fixated on this
05:382020 draft, the James Wiseman draft, and if you go down the list and you look at who was taken
05:43in the lottery that is that guy for that team, Anthony Edwards is the dude for Minnesota.
05:50Take it number one.
05:51Although, like, and that has led to what?
05:55Well, I mean, they were in the Western Conference Finals last year.
05:57Great player.
05:58Great player.
05:59I'm not saying otherwise.
06:00LeBron is the dude in Charlotte, and for the first time, they're on the cusp of maybe being a playoff
06:05team.
06:06You look further down, and Tyrese Halliburton at number 12, taken by Sacramento.
06:11Adorable.
06:12He was the dude in the NBA Finals.
06:14So this draft is one where, and then you look at other players like Killian Hayes in Detroit.
06:19He's a good player.
06:21He's not their best player, but some drafts you're going to hit, some drafts you're going to miss.
06:25When you take Jordan Poole at the end of the first round, you take Pods at 19, Moses Moody at
06:3114, you're not expecting them to be the cornerstones of your franchise.
06:35But when you go Wiseman, Kaminga, and Moody, and then Pods as your first rounders, you're hoping that one of
06:43those guys can at least be something that pops.
06:46Here's where I'll meet in the middle, and I'll split the difference with you a little bit.
06:51I am right on the cusp of saying I don't think that the Warriors should include any first-round draft
06:57picks in future discussions due to the fact that their team is so old.
07:03They've got, like, I don't want to give up draft picks when the core of your team has all had
07:08their 35th birthday.
07:09Just by that fact alone, it doesn't really make sense to me.
07:14However, however, when people say, ah, you know, Giannis and Kawhi and LeBron, I don't want to do that.
07:23And then they'll go, here's what I want to do.
07:24And they'll bring up somebody who went to Auburn or something like that or Duke and be like, that's the
07:30guy.
07:31Well, you have no clue at all what that person is going to end up being.
07:36So I just, we've been here before.
07:39We grew up at a time where we did this every year where we would just sit there and talk
07:44about these draft prospects and how awesome they're going to be.
07:49And it's not a fun exercise because, spoiler alert, they're usually not.
07:54They just aren't.
07:55It depends on your team and where you pick and whether or not you can get lucky.
08:00And also, if you can scout and you do a good job of evaluating talent.
08:04And I'm looking at the 2021 draft.
08:07OKC picked sixth.
08:08They took Josh Giddey, who's a really good player.
08:11And they took Alperin Schengun at 16.
08:15Now, they would trade the goon and maybe the pick was already going to be conferred.
08:18But some teams are able to find talent at a higher rate than others.
08:22And right now, that's where Mike Dunleavy is in the spot for the first time, assuming that they are in
08:27the lottery.
08:28They may not be.
08:29But Mike is going to have a chance, theoretically, to make his first lottery pick.
08:34So I hope they're able to go out there and scout effectively.
08:37But you're right.
08:38That's a conversation down the road.
08:39And I'm not, like, anti-draft.
08:41I just, I'm more kind of of the mindset of, like, let's do that when we get to it.
08:47And I'm not of the mindset of let's spend this week, where Steph Curry is about to play some basketball
08:54tonight,
08:55sort of leaning in the direction of let's have the Warriors lose so that we can maybe get a little
09:02bit of a better pick
09:03and maybe find a guy that maybe three years from now is going to have an impact in this league.
09:09That's a lot of maybes, and that's a lot of hanging around.
09:13And I might be one of the last hangers on here, but I'm all in on Steph Curry's career.
09:20And it's not over yet.
09:21So I'm just more of the opinion of let's do that, and then we can worry about who's going to
09:26be next.
09:27Yeah, and you can worry about who's going to join him next year when this year is actually over.
09:32And for now, you look at what they're going to put on the floor tonight.
09:35And you were mentioning this to Kalena earlier that this, or maybe it was before Kalena came on,
09:40like, this is about the best group that the Warriors have put out there in a really long time.
09:44And Kalena was even making the point of you've got this experience, which should be in a spot to help.
09:51You've got Horford, who is a champ, and Porzingis has won titles,
09:55and Steph and Draymond obviously have the multiple titles.
09:58And so in these elimination games, that's where you want to be able to lean on your vets
10:03who've actually been through it.
10:05Bleacher Dave, West Oakland, next up here on Withered and Dibs.
10:08Hi, Dave.
10:09Thanks for calling.
10:10What's up?
10:12Man, what's up?
10:14Look, brother Philmo, Philmo Mike, you've got to listen to Moe, man.
10:18And Moe is telling you Moe business about what's about to Moe happen,
10:21because what are we really looking forward to here, right?
10:24I figure we're due.
10:27In that draft, that very first lottery draft, when all odds were equal,
10:32the Warriors had the worst record in the league.
10:36Finally, we're chewed up for the first-round draft pick,
10:38and as we all know, they froze the cards,
10:42and that allowed the league, that allowed Stern to go pick that one.
10:46They pooched up some other picks.
10:48I figure we got some good draft lottery juju coming.
10:53It's like dessert.
10:54It's not like these cheap donut desserts.
10:57This is like a cronut.
11:00This is high-quality dessert that we're looking forward to tonight,
11:04because what's going to happen?
11:06Do we want to win and have – do we really think we've got a chance
11:09to get OKC if we get that far?
11:11I mean, I'm thinking about the upsides and the downsides.
11:15You know, I actually cannot root for the Warriors to lose,
11:18but I would not be mad if they went into the lottery after tonight
11:23because I, too, believe in stuff, so let's go in here, get a ginormous draft pick,
11:29get the lotto, win the lottery, trade that for a player,
11:32and let's go after it next year when we're healthy, right?
11:34So, Dave, I actually agree with you,
11:36but here's where I would sort of kind of draft it a little bit differently.
11:41I look at tonight's game as being a little bit different – and, Dave, thanks so much, man.
11:47I think you're making sense, but here's how I'd sort of present it a little bit differently.
11:51I look at tonight's game as the kind of game that maybe you're interested in.
11:57I thought for years soccer's a really big deal here now,
12:00but for years soccer in America was this lesser sport,
12:05and every four years the World Cup would happen,
12:08and then everybody would act like they're soccer fans,
12:11and then they'd go back to their regular lives.
12:13So we would do chants and things like that.
12:15I believe that we will win.
12:17Oh, yeah.
12:18People would go to restaurants and watch the World Cup,
12:21but you damn well knew that Team USA is not going to win the World Cup,
12:26but you kind of wanted them to hang in as long as possible,
12:29and so your friends would gather around, and people would order a Guinness,
12:33and then USA would lose, and you would look at each other and go,
12:38all right, what do you want to do now?
12:39Yeah.
12:40Well, you want to order some food or something?
12:42Winning for the Niners now.
12:42Exactly.
12:43Like, that's how tonight feels.
12:45We know the Warriors aren't going to win a championship,
12:48but I'm going to go to a bar.
12:49I'm going to chant.
12:50I'm going to root.
12:51I'm not going to actually chant, but I'm going to, like, root for this to happen.
12:55But when it, if it ends in a Warrior loss, it is a little bit of a shrug
13:00because there is an inevitability to it,
13:03and there is a draft pick waiting on the other end that could move up.
13:08But the whole idea of Oklahoma City is not, like, there's no point to that series because the Warriors won't
13:16win it.
13:17That's where me and, for instance, Bleacher Dave, that's the only spot where you and I disagree.
13:23Yeah, how fun would that be?
13:24Yeah, exactly.
13:25And there is value in going into a series and having your younger players who are, you know, maybe doing
13:32it for the first time.
13:33Like, Guy Santos is going to be rotational and impactful in a series like that.
13:38If you get there, that actually matters.
13:40I made this analogy before, and it reminds me of Idaho this year in the NCAA tournament.
13:45I told the story.
13:46Alex Pribble, coach that played for Drake, went to Cal.
13:50Coaches at Idaho.
13:51They're eighth in the regular season.
13:53And then you win the Big Sky tournament, and you get Houston.
13:57So you know you're going to get pounded by Houston.
13:59I think they were getting 28 and a half on the point spread, and they lost by more than 30.
14:04But it doesn't mean that there wasn't great value for the coach and the program and the team and the
14:09school and all of the alums to, you know, have that chance.
14:13You know, what if?
14:13What if Cinderella and the slipper fits?
14:16But, you know, it didn't, and it was a pretty lopsided game.
14:19But it's kind of like tonight where the Warriors win, Warriors win Friday.
14:23Now you get OKC.
14:25For the first time, the Warriors would be in that Idaho role of, are you really going to beat OKC
14:30four times?
14:30Probably not, but you're going to try.
14:32Yeah, like even, you know, even what you're saying there where you kind of detail, oh, this is good for
14:38young players and experience.
14:40I agree completely.
14:41But I'll make it even more simple than that.
14:46I don't look at the Oklahoma City series as being, again, if it were to happen, I don't look at
14:53it as just being about whether or not you can win it.
14:55So when someone says to me, what are you going to do if you go play Oklahoma City?
15:01Well, you're going to play games.
15:02You're going to play games.
15:03There could be four of them.
15:04There could be five of them.
15:06There could even be six of them.
15:07Who knows?
15:08And no, I don't think they can win.
15:11But there's two more weeks of basketball.
15:14That's fun for us.
15:15What's actually on the line by percentages is not that much.
15:20It's two or three picks in the draft.
15:22Most likely.
15:24But, again, I just, who knows what could happen?
15:28Who knows what could happen?
15:30And I'm here for even if it's just two more weeks of basketball.
15:34And it's fun to watch this team play.
15:36And I enjoy watching playoff basketball.
15:38And there's that little piece of the what if part of it.
15:42You know, just maybe something can go your way.
15:46And, you know, things have happened where teams lost players or, you know, guys get suspended.
15:51We saw that in the NBA Finals where Draymond gets suspended when you're up three games to one.
15:56So you get into a series, anything can happen.
15:59And it's a little bit to me, Mark, like when you read a book and it's a really good book.
16:03And then that book becomes a movie.
16:06They make a movie out of the book.
16:08And so you know the story, but you like the story.
16:11So you're going to go see the movie anyway, even though there's no real mystery to it because you read
16:15the book.
16:15You want to see what's different.
16:17You want to see how it comes to life on the big screen.
16:19And if you liked it and you enjoy movies, you go to the movie, even though you know the story.
16:24Yeah.
16:25Although when you get there, there also might be a surprise.
16:28There might be.
16:29Like you'll be that guy at the movies.
16:31Wait a minute.
16:31That wasn't in the book.
16:32Right.
16:33Wow.
16:34Wow.
16:34Who knew?
16:35Didn't see that coming.
16:37Maybe they adapted it differently or we were watching some, I think it was a show the other day.
16:42And they made the second season of the show before the accompanying book came out.
16:47And so they were just kind of making up their own plot before the book actually came out.
16:51The show's supposed to be based on the book, but the book hadn't been written when the show was filmed.
16:56And so it's not based on the book at all.
16:59You can't remember the show.
17:00My wife has me watching all sorts of stuff.
17:02Who knows?
17:03Yeah.
17:04I mean, there's never been a week in my life where at least one point in that week, I was
17:09like, huh, I didn't see that coming.
17:11Yeah.
17:11I didn't see that coming.
17:13So, like, give me the Oklahoma City series because I don't know what's going to happen.
17:18I'll be with all of you.
17:19I predict that the Warriors lose in a quick series.
17:22Kukush.
17:23But I've been wrong.
17:24Yeah.
17:24A lot.
17:25You know, that's being human.
17:27Maybe Stiney for the first time will go against the grain and it'll be the Warriors.
17:31Don't pick the Warriors.
17:33Was it Mavericks in five?
17:34Was that what it was?
17:35Yes, Mavericks in five.
17:36The famous Mavericks in five moment.
17:38Oh, ridiculous.
17:38By the way, just real quick on the bleacher, Dave.
17:41Thing about the 85 NBA lottery.
17:45That's the year that the Warriors got Chris Mullen.
17:48So, I don't look back.
17:49Not like it went poorly.
17:50Right.
17:50I don't look back and lament that Joe Klein and John Koncak both go before Mully.
17:55Good point.
17:56And the Warriors sit at seven and they get Chris Mullen.
17:58Yeah.
17:58Go ahead, New York.
17:59Have Patrick Ewing.
18:01Seventh pick in the draft for the Warriors has been a very, very good spot to be throughout history.
18:06All right.
18:07888-957-9570.
18:09How about Kevin Pleasanton?
18:10Kev, thank you for the call.
18:12What you got?
18:14I hate to agree with Willard.
18:16He's right.
18:18He's right.
18:20He's totally right, man.
18:22But the only thing I would add to your caveat is it's the excitement is not there because Steve Kerr's
18:31offense is the way it is.
18:32So, unfortunately, man, the model Steph got on us because the way the offense is designed.
18:39And it doesn't matter who we bring in, young guys or not, it's still going to be the same product.
18:44So, that's my take, guys.
18:46I got, hey, Kev, can you stay on the line?
18:48I got two questions for you.
18:51You still there?
18:53He's gone.
18:54Yeah.
18:54All right.
18:54I mean, the shame of having to admit that he agrees with you, I think is too much for him
18:59to stay.
19:00That was one of the questions.
19:01I'm like, why do you hate to agree with me?
19:04Does that hurt?
19:05Or does it, like, do you have to take a lap when you do that?
19:08You have to abruptly hang up after you admit that.
19:10Do you stare in the mirror in the bathroom and you're, like, just questioning things?
19:14But the bigger question was about his comment about Steph Curry.
19:18The man is 38 years old, which is what I would blame first on why there's a lot of mileage
19:24on him.
19:25He's 38.
19:25The second thing I would blame is their own success.
19:29Yes, he's played so many more basketball games than most people year in and year out because of deep playoff
19:35runs.
19:36I don't know how many things I would have to mention on this list before I get to Steve Kerr's
19:41offense, which once again continues to appear in every radio show that we do, and so many of you have
19:49so many problems with it and rings.
19:52I'll never get it.
19:54I'll never understand it.
19:56Y'all can explain it to me as many times as you want, and we can have this discussion.
20:00I don't understand the disdain for something that has worked at such a high level.
20:06And I don't know if you're ever able to change it.
20:10I even asked Steve.
20:11I said, you know, Steve, when Steph is out, can you change the offense?
20:15Can you start doing things differently while he's not in?
20:17He said, no, you really can't do that.
20:19You run what you run, and if Steph's in, it works better than when Steph's not in.
20:24I mean, that's a captain obvious.
20:26I feel like Magic Johnson on Twitter right now.
20:28I mean, like, when you guys watch Warrior games and Steph is running around all over the place, all of
20:34that movement off ball, does it look to you like he's muttering?
20:38Like, when he runs the base.
20:39It's a stupid offense.
20:40Stupid Kerr.
20:41I'm tired of all these cuts.
20:41I mean, is that what he's doing?
20:44Poppy action again?
20:45Come on, Kerr.
20:47Or would Steph sit here and go, I kind of think the offense is pretty awesome.
20:52Yeah.
20:53I think it's been great.
20:53I think it's centered around me and what I bring to the table, and we've won a lot of games.
20:58Yeah, I mean, I sure run around a lot, but I'm able to catch the ball and fire threes, and
21:03they go in at a rate that no one would have ever imagined.
21:06And, yeah, we've played so well that I've played two additional seasons of playoff games.
21:13Draymond's at 169.
21:14Draymond's played in more playoff games than any current Warrior, but Steph is right above, I think, 160.
21:21Two full years worth of running around in that damn Kerr offense that just leads them to win after win.
21:28I just, yeah.
21:29I'm tired of running and winning.
21:32I don't get it.
21:33I want to get it.
21:35No, I do.
21:35I want to understand.
21:37I really do.
21:38I'm a curious person by nature.
21:40I want to get it.
21:44I want to understand what it is that he's done that has messed with this organization and these players.
21:53I want to, I do.
21:55I want to understand.
21:56Well, and if you think about just the Steph part of it, so this is year 17, is that right
22:01for Steph?
22:01God, yeah.
22:0316 or 17?
22:03I think it's 17.
22:04I think you're right.
22:05Maybe 16, either way.
22:06Whatever.
22:06He's played so much and so long and so well because of the way Steve Kerr designs the offense, but
22:13also because he's kept himself in phenomenal shape.
22:16He's fought through injuries, ankles, knees, and all the rest of it, broken hand.
22:20But each and every offseason, he comes back somehow stronger and as fit, even at 38.
22:28So no matter what happens today, maybe Friday, maybe the next series, whatever, he's going to go in in a
22:34lab.
22:34He's going to put in the work, and he's going to come back next year fit and ready to go,
22:39ready to run around in that Steve Kerr offense.
22:41All right, so once again, very, very special and direct invitation to any of you listening right now who actually
22:50would rather see the Warriors lose.
22:53Now, if you're a Clipper fan, that doesn't really count.
22:56Is there one?
22:57There was one?
22:58I actually know a few.
22:59That's crazy.
23:00I'm related to one.
23:02I have a couple cousins who are huge Clipper fans.
23:05That's crazy.
23:06Like actual Clipper fans.
23:07Like they care and everything.
23:09They go to games.
23:10Billy Crystal.
23:10Yeah, there's Billy Crystal.
23:12There's Clipper Daryl.
23:13You know who that is.
23:15Remember Clipper Daryl?
23:16It rings a bell.
23:17Does he still go to the games and shake all over the place like he used to?
23:21No, they kicked him out.
23:22They kicked him out?
23:23They didn't want him a part of the franchise anymore.
23:25Really?
23:25Yeah.
23:26That's when Ballmer, I think Ballmer got involved.
23:28Yeah.
23:29Oh, that's too bad.
23:29He's a nice man.
23:31So he doesn't go to games anymore?
23:33Not for the last couple years.
23:35At least three or four years.
23:36Okay, interesting.
23:37All right, anyway.
23:38Breaking news.
23:38Uh, no.
23:40I mean, now that you say it, it sounds vaguely familiar.
23:41I just figured it had resolved itself.
23:44I didn't know that it was just like, that just, that was it.
23:47It's kind of like Kobayashi in July 4th.
23:49Like, we're just never going to do this again.
23:51That's weird.
23:52Anyway, whatever.
23:53It's like Mitch in Jersey in the station.
23:55You banned me?
23:56Am I banned?
23:57I got banned.
23:58Every time you do that, he calls.
24:00You have to stop.
24:01Guy's like, am I banned?
24:02We're all gonna do this again.
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