00:00If what we got last night with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs is any indication of
00:06what it's going to be like this year throughout, I'm all for it.
00:11I love that kind of rivalry. I love that it isn't in two of the biggest markets, but that became
00:18must-watch television, Craig.
00:20When those two teams go against one another, they don't like one another. It gets chippy.
00:26Yeah, I mean, I think we might have to circle all the games that those two teams are going to
00:32play against each other.
00:33I can't say that about a lot of teams, but I think those two teams are kind of must-watch
00:38television this year.
00:40Yeah, it was really the only team that had Oklahoma City's number all last year during the regular season and
00:45in the playoffs.
00:46So, yes, I do think that there's something extra in that game, which is rare because it's not like just
00:52a general rivalry.
00:53It was a made rivalry, which is so cool in sports.
00:56And when you think about the competitive nature of those two teams, and I know there's a lot of discourse
01:02today, as an example, going on around baseball and the markets and the salary cap and the salary floor.
01:07And I know that there was a big article in The Athletic today that said that, oh, you know, because
01:12the two teams, you know, the small markets they ended up getting in the World Series, that like sort of
01:19ends the deal.
01:19Like now at this point, you don't need it.
01:22I mean, it's the craziest thing I've ever heard.
01:24I mean, look how good Oklahoma City is and look how good San Antonio is, not just for one year,
01:29but every single year.
01:31You know, and look at the Cleveland Cavaliers winning championships, you know, please.
01:36Like it's apples and oranges when it comes to these conversations, at least in my opinion.
01:39But as you see there, OKC should be the favorite.
01:42No question, San Antonio had their number last year.
01:45So that puts them right in the mix.
01:48I think that the interesting, you know, teams in the West in particular, Minnesota, this is the one year that
01:54they're high up on the board.
01:56They've worked their way up the last couple of years toward the end, but they enter the season high on
02:01the board.
02:01And then naturally the one team that I look at in the West and I wonder, but I do the
02:05same thing.
02:05It's my same conversation, Dallas Cowboys, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Los Angeles Lakers.
02:12Like Los Angeles Lakers, if they were in any other city, they would be at the bottom.
02:17But because they're the Lakers, the books have to protect.
02:21You know, someone always told me a story about sports betting where like public teams like that, where in the
02:29past, you know, when you couldn't bet legally on sports, people would go to Las Vegas.
02:32And they would go there for a good time and they would go there to see a show.
02:36And then you would go with your wife or girlfriend or whoever, and you'd go to the sports book.
02:40And you really didn't, let's say you didn't know about sports, but you would look at the board and you,
02:44I just want to make a sports bet.
02:46What do I bet on?
02:47Well, you look at the board.
02:48Oh, Notre Dame.
02:49I know who they are.
02:50Boom.
02:50You bet Notre Dame.
02:51Oh, Lakers.
02:52I know who they are.
02:53Let me bet them.
02:54Always overrated.
02:55The Lakers every single year, just like Notre Dame, just like Dallas.
02:59Every single year.
03:02Yeah.
03:02And you've got Luca taking out, you know, full page ads, getting the city of Los Angeles and the Laker
03:09fans excited for the season.
