“My question is whether or not this is the last time we see those 4 together on the same set”
[Music] welcome back to another Edition here of Francis Corner as we’re live at the Players Lounge barber shop in Davey I told Wes if he needs a haircut I got him covered down here and Davey good old tan of Davy down here Jose and Steve did a great job down here at this barber shop I love it and I infiltrate once or twice a week and I’m doing it here today with one of my my guests I bring on all the time I love talking to West Goldberg for locked on heat locked on NBA podcast writes for the ringer you see his stuff everywhere he’s got great opinions and he’s all over the place in the NBA first off welcome back to Cris corner and welcome for your first time here at the Players line Farm shop this is very exciting I’m absolutely honored this is great it’s it’s awesome I can’t wait to bring you here and you could see this incredible Place one day we’ll do it here one day live maybe we’ll uh we’ll see how the budget is that day right we’ll see how the we’ll see how the uh the Cris Corner budget goes that week and we’ll uh we we’ll bring you down here all right let’s talk some NBA let’s talk some movs but I want to start with this a little bit of business uh that I want to start with because it’s kind of sad to a point if you’re an NBA fan and yeah the NBA is striking New Deals and they’re going to be on NBC and they’re going to be on what Amazon and still G to be on ESPN there’s one kind of entity I’m leaving out there and that’s Turner TNT and does that mean Wes that that this season coming up is going to be the last time we’re going to see Chuck and Kenny and Shaq and more importantly I mean yeah Chuck’s the big part of it but more importantly are we losing Ernie Johnson at this point too because he is the best at being the referee for all those guys but is this what we’re kind of the road we’re leading to at this point for the NBA it certainly looks like it the reporting around everything is that next year will be the last season for Inside the NBA Turner got outbid or withdrew or whatever it was um by essentially NBC who’s replacing them and then obviously you’ve got the streaming part of it which we knew um the commissioner NBA Adam Silver has been very open about wanting to be on a streaming platform and have a major presence there so Amazon already had the NFL now they’re going to get the NBA and yeah that’s going to be the end of Inside the NBA which is just an absolutely beloved program there’s not a lot of sports programs that are pretty much roundly praised by like critics like like like critical people and just the Casual fan and you know Inside the NBA is one of them and and for all the like for all the reasons you already pointed out Ernie’s the best Chuck just W another Emmy it looked like um it’s it’s just it’s crazy and what makes that show so great is really two things it’s the fact that and I’ve heard Ernie say this before they don’t have scripts there’s not you talk for 30 seconds and then you talk for 30 seconds it’s a it’s outside of the hot takery kind of the scripted hot take stuff that you see on so many other shows and the entire segment is just talk about Pacers Celtics and then they just start talking and Barkley’s the best at getting a conversation started and then creating reactions then Ernie’s sort of the point guard and gets everybody else involved and then you got Kenny running up to the board with something that he’s got ready to go and and there’s and there’s not a lot of commercial breaks the also the best part about the TNT show is it’s at halftime and it’s postgame it’s not pregame and they’re not really having to worry about those time constraints so those are all the best parts about it and um it’s going to be the last year of quote unquote Inside the NBA my question is whether or not this is the last time we see those four together on the same set because I would imagine I know that they all sign new contracts I don’t know the details about them but there had to be an out like these are all smart business people like what’s like Charles Barkley just signed a new contract that probably takes him beyond the end of the TNT the Turner contract with the NBA there has to be an out in that deal somewhere he’s not going to just sit around nothing that’s not really what Charles parkley wants to do even if it’s just collecting free money so I don’t know Amazon you need programming why not just hire the Inside the NBA folks call it something different um and and just keep the good times rolling and then they really have no commercial breaks because you’re streaming probably I don’t know I don’t really know how that works but it’s you can just kind of let them do their thing if you’re NBC there’s already reporting that they’re going to do uh what’s the NFL tonight or football tonight is there show basketball basball tonight in America something like that right I saw that yeah all right like cool like nobody really liked foot nobody likes football tonight and nobody I don’t know what I don’t know who’s going to be involved with basketball tonight but I mean there’s another I don’t know what they’ve got planned but maybe another opportunity to bring those guys in right and and kind of do something similar so I while this will be the end of Inside the NBA I hope that either Amazon or NBC calls up those those four guys and says come on over heck even ESPN who has never figured out their show hire those guys bring them board and um I don’t know so the only thing is when when those guys get a hold of it you don’t want necessarily get you don’t want to get the network notes to those guys and be like yeah you know Inside the NBA has been a hit for more than a decade and everybody loves it but here’s how we’re going to change it don’t change it just hire them hire The Producers involved hire everybody not just the guys on camera everybody behind camera everybody involved with the production they’re all going to need jobs they’re all going to need jobs hire all of them and just transplant the show into whatever it is you’re doing and if you’re Amazon if you’re NBC or if you’re ESPN you’ll be like the winner early on of whatever the next when when we kind of move on to this next era of watching basketball on TV or streaming or whatever you’re going to be the favorite among fans between the three like this three- man race so that’s just what I think you’re 100% accurate you’re you’re right you’re speaking not just for the uh someone covering the NBA you’re speaking for the fan right there I don’t want to see the show leave there are no pregame postgame or any kind of shows on any network that are must-watch TV except for this one I didn’t care what CVS puts on before football on Sundays what Amazon has put on for Thursday Night Football Monday Night Football count none of that is must-watch Charles Barkley is must-watch Shaq has put himself in the has to be there with Chuck because they fight each other Kenny’s the kind of goofball in the background but also comes in with the the the facts whatever is I think the hardest thing out of all of this is going to be somehow someway trying to get Ernie Johnson away from Turner and I know that you’ve heard the same things that we I have from Ernie over the years I’m not going anywhere I’m not going to another Network this is my home he’s been there for like a 100 years since the beginning of Inside the NBA when it was him and Kenny and it was just like it was it was a vanilla show but it was their vanilla show that they kind of built together and now look what it’s done so I think the Ernie Johnson is going to be the best because I promise you this too my my opinion on this Charles doesn’t go anywhere without Ernie Charles knows how Ernie is Charles knows how Ernie could control the entire room I think Shaq likes the fact that that Ernie does that and obviously Kenny’s been a part of with Ernie forever I think Ernie is gonna be the hardest part the rest of those guys especially with am because let me here’s a full disclaimer for Wes Wes put out a great tweet right before we started hey Jeff basos just hire the Inside the NBA folks it you should get 500 million retweets for that and likes because it’s the truth it really is just the truth like do it somehow some way bring the entire crew like you said production guys guys in the back the people that you see when Shaq does something funny and Falls that helps him with his wiring every single person needs to come because the NBA shows are not the same without that and you made another outstanding point the four-letter Network ESPN with all the resources all the money and everything they have they have by far the worst pre- and postgame shows out of all the networks and everything why not try to Turn the Beat Around with that and bring these guys over make them the face of your NBA programing you’ve got the Manning cast make them like even if do that like while you’re watching watch have this second stupid streaming thing on ESPN watch plus whatever right that you can watch the game with Chuck and Ernie in their back room while they’re kind whatever like there’s options but you’re right about Ernie he’s also 67 does he want another job at this point you know he could just retire and just go off into the sunset as a Hall of Famer which he is um that would be fine I do wonder if maybe he could be talked out of his stance of never leaving TNT if he was doing it with his buddies on his terms and he can actually you don’t think of Ernie as maybe holding the keys here because Charles Barkley is kind of the the the strongest presence he’s the anchor on that on that desk there but um Ernie could be like well I’m not going unless we could do it our way right the way that has made us successful forever and also give me millions and millions of dollars but that so I don’t know I just my dream of having like somebody foot the bill of just taking that whole group and just bringing them wherever they need to be uh and and just letting them keep doing their thing it’s it’s a pipe dream like we just we know how these guys work there’s too many egos involved they’re like well we can’t just take the thing that Turner made and take it because that’s admitting that Turner had the better thing even though everybody on the planet knows Turner had the better thing it’s like well we got to ESPN this thing up we got to junk it up with moving cameras and weird sets and more touch screens and whatever it is or Amazon’s going to be like well streaming so we’ve got to have something it is like there’s too many egos involved to just leave it the way it is but I hope that there’s another version of it that’s that lets those four personalities shine right we’ll have to tag basos in this and when we post this to make sure he sees all of these comments and all the the one and the two for me and you here uh all right let’s talk a little Hoops uh all right real quickly uh the Knicks fell apart I have to go to that and start there first because obviously the Pacer Series in the Celtics started last night we’ll talk about that in just a second what you think of that Collapse by the Knicks and when I mean collapse this is not the same Knicks team that I love to watch lose like it’s been in the past they’re a little bit different and I kind of and I know this sounds weird especially coming from a diard Heat fan like me I kind of felt bad for the Knicks towards the end of that game because it’s like everyone’s out Brunson just broke his wrist the starting five has not been together for months it’s like uh if it wasn’t the Knicks I’d feel a little bit worse but they did lose they are outout they did blow a big lead in that series what you think about that whole thing with the Knicks and going forward for them yeah I’m with you and I loved watching this Knicks team and I I I also felt bad for him I I you know you know as Heat fans you have to be like well we hate the Knicks I’m like I don’t really hate these Knicks I really enjoy these Knicks they’re very there not the Knicks of the 90s this is a very different thing so um and they do all the things that the heat sort of have embodied over the years so if you hate the Knicks and whatever it is that they stand for you’re basically just hating laundry which is fine cuz that’s Sports but that’s there’s nothing about the way that they play that a Heat fan should dislike because they play much in the same way that the heat aspired to play this season uh in fact did it in a better way uh but they were injured they were hurt and if I’m the Knicks and if I’m a Knicks fan I’m not overreacting I’m not overreacting to this you were absolutely beaten uh down by the time the playoffs rolled around I do think that that you need to consider how Tom debido deploys his players and with for how many minutes I think that that’s something that has to be a consideration I understand playing Josh Hart 48 minutes in a playoff game but maybe not game one and game two of a series right uh and so and like who knows who knows like I don’t know the science behind all this stuff there’s there’s new reports saying that none of this even matters if you play you play and it doesn’t really matter what load you kind of have but they need to they need to get their depth back they need to really evaluate okay do we want to be in on buan bonovich do we really think oan noi is somebody who could could stay healthy for us going forward figure out the things that you got to figure out but I wouldn’t overreact I know there’s already talk about the Knicks going out and trying to get another star I mean do it do the due diligence you’re a front office that’s your job but I wouldn’t be in a rush to shake anything up and I would be out on Donovan Mitchell if I’m the Knicks because Jaylen brunson’s my dude if there’s another guy who makes sense for Jaylen Brunson go for it but the Knicks this ront office has done a really good job of finding value contracts and guys who fit with their number one player and that’s Brunson they found D chenzo they found Hart they found uh hartenstein they found all these guys for really great prices and that’s what has turned the Knicks into a respectable organization again for the first time in about 10 15 years and so um I would stick with it if I were the Knicks but also credit to the Pacers man right they did it uh and Tyrese halberton as the Knicks kind of got less and less healthy halberton kind of got more and more healthy right he was banged up the last those last couple months of the regular season and now he looks great I thought he had a great game against Boston in game one despite the the two turnovers late by him but um yeah you know I I don’t think that you need to overreact if you’re the Knick yeah I agree with you totally now build from what you have and go from there I mean obviously if a superstar gets thrown in your lap and you could make some moves to get him that’s fine but don’t don’t don’t pull the Carmelo Anthony trade where you traded everybody in all your draft picks for Carmelo because Carmelo was your New York hero and you brought him in there and then it just went to you know what after that they they went one playoff series here didn’t make the playoffs this year just they were good they were the two seed I don’t think a lot of people who don’t watch the Knicks realize they were two seed this year in the Eastern Conference unless you’re paying real close attention you probably just thought they were just in the playoffs no big deal the second best team in the East this year with the team that they had especially going into the playoffs all right I think if everybody’s healthy just the whole East the entire Eastern Conference if the entire East is healthy they’re probably still the second best team in the I agree I totally agree everyone was there for the series too I think the series goes in a much different Direction I think for for the next two all right you brought up the Pacers game last night against the Celtics what a waste of a game for the Pacers they had it they blew it at the end I was watching towards the end I was so excited the last like minute and a half two minutes of that game I was like wow the Pacers might might win this game game one in Boston this is not like Boston Boston normally blows game two not game one in their series and they just like you said halberton a couple bad turnovers at the end they just played like crap at the end losing overtime 21 turnovers I mean it was just a whole it was a whole bag of poop for that team I guess you could say towards the end what’ you think there and now Pacers do you think the Pacers kind of I don’t want to say or or you know kind of you know bitten from this but is this going to help or hurt them you think going forward in the rest of the series well you’ve got to be really disappointed with how that game ended and I think if you’re both teams you don’t feel great about that game right I know Boston ended up getting the win they escaped with it but this the Pacers did some things that really bothered them they’re they don’t have an answer for Miles Turner with Kristof porzingis out and even with porzingis in depending on what he looks like I don’t know that they even have an answer at that point and W reported last night that he’s going to be out at least until game four but who knows when he really does come back so that’s something that you’re the Pacers you feel good about but man it’s really hard like all you had to do if you’re the Pacers was inbound the ball make some free throws at the end of regulation and the game was over and you screwed it up in so many ways I don’t know why Rick carile didn’t call a timeout he did own it to his credit after the game but like cool you still didn’t do it right um you’re a veteran coach you should have known to take a timeout in that moment and then also the inbound was terrible like you didn’t have anybody running to the ball it I don’t really understand what the the plan was there just looked like flies with the when the when the moths when the light turns on just scattering it’s just like what what who was supposed to get the ball I don’t know I don’t think that Andrew nard knew and uh and so it was just it was bad all around and then I know they’re taking a lot of flack for not fouling at the end I don’t think they really had an opportunity to foul up three by the time Drew holiday he hits a bullet pass over to Jaylen Brown in the corner uh Derek White sets a like a brush screen on SE yakum who was Brown’s Guy and because of that bump there was no real time to foul Jaylen Brown even with an intentional foul so um all of that being said they that all happened and they just unraveled in overtime they still have a chance right the game was tied it went to OT they could have still won the game but they completely unraveled and Boston seated the moment and and and obviously won the game and to your point I do wonder if that is Meaningful going into game two do they do they remain unraveled or are they able to put this back together right bounce back and rally for game two because if they look anything like they did if they respond to that disappointment at the end of the regulation the way they respond in overtime then the series is probably over right but I don’t I also don’t expect that to be the case I think that this team will get back will kind of lick their wounds and get back into game two and they’re going to review the film and focus on the positives which is they don’t have an answer for Miles Turner we found time and time again a way to score on this defense we played to our Tempo and we feel pretty good about it and if we can get a few more free throws uh Boston outscored them by 15 points at the free throw line which was the only reason they were in that game and if we can if we can limit our own turnovers then we could still win this series so I had the Celtics in five assuming they were going to drop one of these games because that’s what the Celtics do and immediately I’m coming off of that prediction because I think the Pacers are way closer to the Celtics than than I anticipated I just don’t think the Celtics are the super team that like everyone was like oh this is the best team in the NBA I think they probably are at these four the best team left that’s fine you’d say that but this is not like years ago with the Golden State team going into the playoffs for Cleveland with LeBron and you’re like this team is going to roll through teams 40 40 40 to get to the finals Boston’s had their struggles and they had the struggle now in game one and they and listen they haven’t played great basketball you know like great basketball good basketball sure enough to win yes they’ve done that this is not a superstar team yet I I I throw this at you this is the best chance for Jason Tatum and Bost the Celtics to win a championship that’s been in the last couple years for this team this is it like if they somehow get to the championship and lose to someone on the west or don’t get away from Indiana what the heck do you do there in Boston knowing that this is it like you’re you the best team in the playoffs out of the 16 outside of maybe Denver if you still like the world Champs then that’s fine they’re gone young Minnesota’s there Dallas is there not a super team and then Indiana not a super team if you’re Boston it’s winner bust at this point I think for that oh 100% it’s almost the opposite of the Knicks conversation is if you lose in the second round of the Knicks don’t freak out things are going to plan if you’re the Celtics and you lose not even in this series if you lose in the series certainly but even in the finals immediately freak out like you have to freak out you have to question everything that you’ve done so I like what Brad Stevens did going into this year he said we got Tatum we got Brown let’s give Joe moula the team that he needs let’s just load up with Talent there is I think an awareness that Jason Tatum is not a Luca donic even Anthony Edwards type star he’s not joic he’s not one of these top five six guys he needs a little bit more help than those guys need but with more help can he kind of get them him and everybody else get them over the threshold and and win a win a championship and the east was so open and the path had been so easy for them and like you can only play who’s in front of you but there’s also no doubt this was an easy path for Boston right you got a gap Year from the Miami Heat you got jol and beid absolutely breaking down towards the end there you got Milwaukee just shooting themselves in the foot repeatedly like you didn’t have to go through the main boss battles that you usually have to get through to get to the NBA finals right and so you should be fresh by the time and if by the way Boston fans went well we’re dealing with the chrisop Sportz inas injury like River like look at what the other teams are dealing with um and by the way it looks like you’re going to get him back so I don’t it it is GNA be fascinating to me and by the way I I kind of think whoever wins the Dallas Minnesota series I think they’re going to beat Boston in the finals I like those teams better it just comes down to who do you have who’s the dude and I know that Tatum scored 10 points in overtime sick dude about time right like I you heard J Brown being like yeah JT finally woke up uh to the to the broadcast after the game like that says everything you need to say so I don’t know like I it would be if if Boston loses this year I don’t know that you could blow it up but you really got to think about what it means and if hayum is really the guy that you can that you can make your number one option right right like I just don’t know if he’s that I mean listen he’s a great player I’m not taking anything away from Jason Tatum and that’s fine but we’ve seen in the past even the past couple years a guy like Jimmy Butler be the ultimate alpha dog or one of these other guys be the ultimate Alpha Dog and you haven’t really seen that from Jason tatman unless I see it now now there’s still plenty of series left now versus Indiana and then if they win plenty of Series against those other two teams which we’re going to talk about real quickly now uh but yeah I think the question mark now is it’s winter bust for this Boston team this year more than it’s been in the last couple years let’s talk West for one second because I know me and you love having this conversation it’s my new man crush in the NBA I know it’s been yours for a while now we’ve talked about this an Edwards and that Minnesota team what a win to get you know what a series win versus Denver especially that on the road to end that series and honestly Dallas is pretty fun to watch too now with Luka and Kyrie kind of on the same page too this gonna be a fun series and there’s some pretty good Superstar power in here also I’m so excited about this um this is a team these are two teams that went all in on what it is that they have right now min is like we got Anthony Edwards they obviously felt really good about this before anybody else Felt This Good about it and they said okay we’re keeping car Carl Anthony towns we’re GNA go out and get Rudy goar we’re going to build a team that can beat that can win the West that can beat the Nuggets and can win the west and that’s what they did quite literally they did that and so now they’re on the you know on the verge of maybe perhaps winning the west and then for Dallas they went out and made the Kyrie move when nobody else wanted to make that move last summer out of desperation no doubt I don’t think a team that wasn’t as desperate as Dallas makes that Kyrie deal but hey man it worked out congrats like you got every once in a while you hit the you hit you bet on red and you hit red on the rouette wheel so um you got that and then you said all right we’re going to double down like the Grant Williams thing didn’t work out ship him out bring in PJ Washington even though it’s going to cost us some future assets we need we got Derrik Lively great we’re going to double down on a rim rolling Center let’s go get Daniel Gafford at the trade deadline like they just they have their foundational star they have the right co-star with Kyrie Irving and they said all right here we go proof of concept we had enough of it let’s go all in let’s push all the chips into the middle of the table both teams did it and it’s worked out to the point that they’re both now in the Western Conference finals and they are headlined by two superstars Luka donic and Anthony Edwards and if you asked me five years from now who are the two best players in the NBA I would tell you it’s Luka donic and Anthony Edwards this is not going to be probably the last time that they meet in the playoffs but it is the first time and be so much fun we may all be remembering it as just that like this is the first chapter of something very special a good rivalry that’s what we need I would love a good rivalry in both sides I wish there was a better one on the east also but yeah this could be really good and I think you’re right I think in five years that’s going to be the answer to everyone’s question about who are the top two guys in this league right now or two of the top three if someone else we inyama right I was about to say you can’t forget about the Giant in San Antonio just because how good he is but like that’s it there’s your future of the NBA here what do you like in the series please tell me you have a seven game 43 mat like and at the end of it because that’s what I have I have 4-3 Minnesota winning and then we have Anthony Edwards versus Celtics in the finals am I close to your prediction here if it was Anthony Edwards and versus the Celtics man if not if every Heat fan wasn’t already a fan of Anthony Edwards which they should be because he is the closest thing to Dwayne Wade that we’ve had in the league since 2006 Dwayne Wade but like him just ripping the heart out of the Boston Celtics title windows and ending them like like very jordan-esque it would be I mean I every every Miami Heat fan would be a Minnesota timber pools fan at that point so um that said I have this going seven and I really really really struggled with this pick for a few reasons Luca seems a little hobbled and I think if Luca was fully healthy I’d feel really good about taking Dallas in this series but he’s not and I don’t know what to expect so that’s the sort of the biggest wrench and everything the other part is you know what Dallas was able to Feast on against Oklahoma City with Second Chance points and Minnesota’s not going to give those up so they’re not going to have those opportunities Minnesota was also able to Feast on points off turnovers they pressured Denver full court got those turnovers I don’t know that Dallas is going to be as turnover prone as Denver was in that series uh and so maybe that’s not there for Minnesota but I I there’s a greater chance that that’s there for Minnesota than the second chance points are there for Dallas both of these defenses are locked in I think just on paper I would favor Minnesota but I’m expecting a bounce back from Luca as much as I love ant I still think Luca is the best player left in the playoffs and I don’t think it’s very close um and I think defensively they’re going to do just enough and they have a couple of guys who I think can actually get up into Anthony Edwards and I don’t know that the Timberwolves have anybody that can guard Luca right unless you’re putting that all on Ant which is tough they have they usually put they usually use Jaden McDaniels to guard Luca and again on paper that looks like a good matchup with McDaniels with his length and stuff but Lucas just shoves him out of the way that’s what he’s done over the last couple of years he’s like okay cool I like your length and all but I’m way stronger than you I’m just going to push you out of the way and that’s typically work Lucas had really good games against Minnesota’s defense they have not been able to stop him or limit him the way that they’ve even been able to limit yic so right all of that said I’ve got Mavericks in seven I’m going to lean towards maybe Luca gets healthy and Mavericks in seven but man this was really really tough I I kind of waffled back and forth it’s it’s going to be fun to watch just give me a seven game series no matter what so I could see these guys play you know you know seven times in the next 15 or 16 days like that’s what I want at this point uh and it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch that as well that’s good stuff and the and the Ant Edwards Crush don’t whether you picked alh or not I know you still have it so that’s okay with me too but the dream scenario of ant Edwards burying the Celtics oh give me that give me that all week long and twice on Sundays even Luca doing it this guy that everybody’s comparing to the new Larry Bird right like he like hey new Larry Bird just ended the Boston Celtics like honestly I’m not picky if somebody beats the Celtic help me you’re right my new favorite player listen there’s also a Side Story there with Kyrie playing the you know what I mean like Kyrie didn’t want wanted out didn’t want to be there anymore they threw him out Isaiah Thomas and the whole deal Kyrie goes into Boston he’s GNA get massively booed if they win and get in that series mass and he’s gonna love it he’s gonna try to go for 40 every single night so it’ll be fun Wes I love talking hoop with you I love talking everything with you this has been great we’ll talk again as the playoffs or the finals come around hopefully at this point he’s conference Western conf Finals both underway Western tonight Eastern already uh underway so we we’ll talk a little bit more and uh and like I said even when we’re out of NBA season we’re g to talk because I can’t wait to do offseason more offseason talks with you about this Miami Heat team I know you did a whole thing on the lock on heat podcast I saw that so go check that out also locked on NBA also check out all West’s great writing skills as well whether it’s on the ringer or anywhere else real gmes all over the place there West thanks for coming on granis Corner once again you’re you know that your Cris corner OG now I’m kind of putting those out there there’s a couple of guys and you’re now one of the ogs at Grant this corner so thank you very exciting glad I can share something with yonis hlam he’s one also right no matter what he’s one also Wes thanks for your time again on CR Square we’ll talk to you again soon appreciate it all right good stuff Great Hoops talk as we always do here with West Goldberg on Cris corner [Music] he
“It’s going to be the last year of Inside the NBA, my question is whether or not this is the last time we see those 4 together on the same set….Amazon, you need programming, why not just hire the Inside the NBA folks, call it something different and keep the good times rolling?”
Wes Goldberg from the Locked on Heat and Locked on NBA Podcasts joins Zach on Krantz’s Korner to talk NBA Playoffs and if we are really losing a National Treasure with the NBA on TNT.
