00:00We do have our first Sixers-Raptors meeting of the season,
00:05and I think pretty appropriately,
00:07neither LeBron or Kawhi Leonard are playing in this basketball game.
00:13Great to be here with you, Gabe,
00:15as we set this thing up on a Thursday night.
00:18The ridiculousness of the NBA schedule.
00:21We can criticize the modern player.
00:24You can criticize the team and this and that and load management.
00:28Injuries happen, and they seem to be happening a lot this year,
00:31but it's ridiculous the amount of back-to-back games that NBA teams play.
00:37Like, it really does.
00:39It just taints the regular season.
00:41Like, it just does.
00:42There's no other way around it.
00:45Silver's more worried about building a new league in Europe
00:47than he is about, you know, fixing the league in North America.
00:51Like, it really is a problem.
00:53But, Gabe, oddsmakers,
00:55there's nothing that moves a line more than a team playing on the second night
00:58of a back-to-back.
01:00I've been betting the NBA every night.
01:01I'm sure you have as well.
01:03I would say a team playing on a back-to-back
01:06is almost immediately worth three points off the rip.
01:09Three points.
01:10And half the time, it's because they're expecting big-name guys to miss.
01:14I mean, it really plummets a number.
01:16Yeah, look at, you know,
01:17with the exception of the Houston Rockets, I guess, right?
01:21Rockets play.
01:21Like, they're still laying 17-and-a-half.
01:23But, guys, it's too early in the season to be at this point in the NBA
01:29where point spreads are, let's check from games that are tipping off
01:32coming up here.
01:3317-and-a-half, 13-and-a-half, 10-and-a-half, 7-and-a-half.
01:387-and-a-half is, you know, deemed a competitive game in the modern NBA.
01:43The Hawks and the Bulls, we got a 6-and-a-half as well.
01:45But you know what I'm saying.
01:46Yeah, I think some of that's tomorrow.
01:48It's a tricky handicap.
01:49It's a tricky handicap.
01:51Yeah.
01:52Look, 100% is.
01:54I sent out a tweet today.
01:56And it's a screw job for the fans.
01:58I don't want to get into a whole, like, modern player in Jordan and stuff.
02:01But Phil Jackson did an interview the other day.
02:03I saw the clip, and they were talking about low management.
02:06And he said, you know, Jordan, whatever, like, didn't take time off.
02:11And he basically did the old cliche.
02:14He said he knew he was only going to that town once a year, and that was the chance.
02:18That was the chance that people were going to get to see him play.
02:21And he cared about that.
02:23The modern player does it.
02:25Not just LeBron, right?
02:26The modern player does it.
02:27They blow off Indianapolis, Sacramento.
02:30They're like, whatever, dude.
02:31Oh, I'm playing MSG?
02:32Well, I'm not going to play the next night in Indiana then.
02:35Right?
02:35Like, it's just, it's constant in this league right now.
02:39And, you know, who loses here, Kevin?
02:41The fan.
02:42Let's just call it out for what it is.
02:43The fans.
02:44Yeah, but I also think, like you said, listen, yes, guys picked their spots.
02:48Luka the other night missed a game in Detroit so he could go play in Atlanta
02:52because he feels that the Hawks passed on him.
02:55And no surprise, there were clips of him yelling at fans,
02:59don't you wish you had me.
03:01So, yes, guys, absolutely pick and choose their spots.
03:04But you also just have guys.
03:06Guys, guess what?
03:07Steph Curry was one of the five best players in the NBA to start the season.
03:11He's out a month.
03:12It's not load management.
03:13He's hurt.
03:14You think Steph wants to miss time right now?
03:17You think that that was in the cards?
03:20Oh, it's absolutely amazing.
03:23I can't put my thing.
03:24The thing is, with the NBA injuries, it's all different types of players, guys.
03:30Can't say, well, you know what, big centers, yeah, they got bad knees.
03:32Or it's like, wow, Steph Curry's old.
03:35It's like the Cale Wilson kid got hurt.
03:37Yeah, yeah.
03:39Lookies are getting hurt.
03:4040-year-olds are getting hurt.
03:41Big men are getting hurt.
03:43Guards are getting hurt.
03:44You know what I mean?
03:46One win.
03:47The Bulls just can't catch a break.
03:49Yeah.
03:50But that's why it's like, you can't say, well, you know, Curry's old.
03:52I'm not surprised.
03:53It's like, no, no.
03:53Like, the kids are hurt.
03:54The old guys are hurt.
03:55The big men are hurt.
03:56The guards are hurt.
03:57Like, everybody's getting hurt in the NBA.
03:59I kidded, like, we're not going to make it to Christmas.
04:01Like, people always say it's the unofficial start of the NBA at Christmas time.
04:04Yeah.
04:05Yeah.
04:06We're not going to make it.
04:07But it's unfortunate.
04:09I guess you could say, well, if you're like, the Raptors are a good example.
04:13You got Barnes injured.
04:14You got Kawhi injured.
04:15Better that they're injured now than in March or April, right?
04:20You just hope that it's sort of a, all right, everybody's going to get hurt.
04:23And you just sort of hope that the timing works out for your team.
04:28Honestly, that's what it is.
04:29Because you're going to get hurt along the way.
04:31It's just, it's inevitable.
04:32It's just, it's inevitable.
