A man who knows Jayson Tatum very well…

Our next guest, who is one of the great Twitter follows ever, Mr. Lavelle Moten, the basketball coach at NC Central, future governor of the state of North Carolina, as I like to call him. On Twitter, he put out a picture of Jason Tatum. And I know you guys have a great relationship and you guys speak a lot. I don't know if he texted you after last night's game. What'd you think coach? But I'm sure you thought pretty highly of what Jason Tatum did last night.

Man, I thought extreme, extreme high, right? Because I'm number one, I'm just an avid Boston Celtics fan. Right. And obviously him and I got a great relationship and it's become like our ritual to text each other after playoff games. And you know, a lot of times it's tough conversations. A lot of times is, you know, Hey, what did you see?

And so on and so forth. And the only thing I told him, you know, prior to, I think it was the game before this one, I said, you know, he didn't have any points in the fourth quarter, but that wasn't, that didn't mean he wasn't showing up. Miami just plays zone at the beginning of the fourth quarter, virtually every game. And he was serving as a facilitator. And I said, you got to give that up and let market handle the ball.

And then you just go attack the high post area and get a score range. And he did that last night. I'm not saying he did it because of me, but I was just happy that he did it right. So him or Joe or somebody made the adjustment and, you know, I got Miami out there, out the zone and we ended up winning, right?

So that's what I was happy about. Long as we don't get swept. And so now we can go back home, hopefully we'll get this one and apply some serious pressure back to Miami. So the hurricanes are in the exact same spot as the Boston Celtics, Boston one game four on the road gets to come back home in game five. You know, they didn't do well in game five against Philadelphia, but different animal, I think, and maybe a different situation for Boston. Is it, is it a case where the Celtics ended and the level of desperation they played with last night, because the third quarter completely flipped the script on the game. Is there a sense that they can continue that? Miami is a really, really tough team to beat.

Yeah, they're tough because they have a, they have a system and they have a culture. I think what you're seeing right now in the NBA is a transition of individual play back to the systems, right? Like for so long, the Spurs had a system and, you know, now Denver has a system and now Boston has a system and Miami has a system. It's the cultural effect, right? Because those guys, you know, Spole has been there for a while, so he's not worried about his job and, you know, obviously Pat Riley is there, right?

And so you're going to do things to heat weight. So they're able to take some undrafted talent to guys and get them to buy in. Meanwhile, everyone else is like, you know, just trying to Frankenstein it a little bit and collect all the talent and, you know, the individualism.

And that really does not work, you know, anymore. And so Miami has been extremely tough because they're so disciplined and they're so tough in what they do. But what I, what I've told many people is that basketball teams aren't as tough when they're not making shots, right? The toughest dude at a gym is the guy that just made his last shot. That's the guy that beats his chest that yells, I'm him. And that's the guy that goes to half court and slap the floor. And now he's ready to guard somebody.

That's always the toughest guy. And last night Miami didn't make any shots. And so we look like the tougher team. Prior to that, we weren't making shots and they look like the tougher team.

So it's amazing the psychology that the basketball has when it goes in the hole on a basketball player. I love the fact that Lavelle Moten is using the term we as in relation to the, I do, I, no, that's good. In my position, it's hard to use weed, but I can't use, I'm a hurricanes fan, right? I can't use weed when I talk about, I have to maintain some level, but it comes out from time to time. And I'm not embarrassed by it.

I just try to limit it. But I mean, you have every right to be a fan of the Boston Celtics. You talk about culture. So the Celtics have managed to get this, this is not the first time they have gotten this far. It's like the fourth time that this crew has gotten this far. They haven't always come through in the biggest moments. They had a 2-1 lead at home in game four in the finals for the Warriors and lost the next three, including game four and game six on their home court. Is the culture, I've asked the question, is this team tough enough to win an NBA title? So what is their culture and can they overcome whatever they've had to overcome before? Well, the culture is very similar, I think, to the Warriors.

You know, we shoot, I go with we again. They shoot a lot of threes. They play together. They share the basketball. They have a bunch of buy-in and we really guard and defend. We haven't guarded and defended as well as we normally do in the playoffs. To answer your question, are they tough enough to win the championship?

I think so, but that doesn't matter. You got to show and prove that, right? And so some of the mishaps and unfortunate situations that's occurred in the last year. Well, I think that's part of the process to build an NBA champion, right? Like you start with all the great ones, whether it was Jerry West or Magic or Bird or Mike or, you know, Dr. Jake, they all had to go through LeBron. Yeah, they all have to go through the tough times. They had got to go through the adversity because that kind of builds your character and prepares you for the appreciation of the moment along the way. So I don't think the Boston Celtics is going to be excluded from that because I think everyone has to go through that process. It's just a matter of how much have they learned from the past and previous situations and how well can they apply, right? Because they're beyond the point of talking right now.

The expectation is to deliver. That's the truth of the matter. We haven't seen, and by the way, we're talking with Lavelle Moulton, NC Central basketball coach and avid Boston Celtics fan. We have not seen the best of Jalen Brown yet. Can they win another three without Jalen Brown showing that he is an all NBA player?

I don't think we can win three without him, but that's the beauty of a team. You know, in the seven game series, oftentimes, you know, even going back to, you know, and people don't want to hear this, right? Because everybody, and I love Michael Jordan more than anyone, you know, I love him because you and I were old enough to remember some bad games that he had, right? I don't remember any bad games, right? But, you know, there were times the teammates lifting them up way before the first half or second half or so on and so forth, right?

They're human. They're going to have bad games. They're going to struggle. But the beauty about seven games is that you can struggle once or twice, but over the course of a period of time, you have to be able to regain, you know, your NBA all star mojo to get everyone under the hump, over the hump. And obviously him and JT, him and Jason have been the two catalysts that's carried us all year, right? We can't expect Marcus to win an entire game series. We can't expect Malcolm Brogdon or Al Horford to win an entire series. We need those guys to contribute. But at the end of the day, you know, AKA grant Williams last night, he got us out of Miami. It was really instrumental in getting us out of Miami. He lifted and filled in for Jamis, right?

So I don't expect that from grants. When we go to Boston, I expect them to play well and play hard. But again, you know, those guys that you play this max money to, that's why they pay you the big bucks, as they say. And there's no question. Grant Williams, to me, I when I was like the players who had the most impact on the win, Tatum, obviously, I wrote Grant Williams second because that third quarter was exact. They needed a spark.

He gave them a spark that 16 0 run or whatever it ended up being completely changed the game. Let me go to the to the West real quick with Lavelle Moten. Do you think LeBron is serious about contemplating retirement? No, I don't. I don't either. Like, I love my guy.

I don't. I think he's thought about it. And I think it's crossed his mind, right? And so he's acted. He's at the stage in his career where it should.

Right. I told someone that I just told my staff recently, I said, do you remember, like, when you start playing basketball and then one day you just went to the YMCA and played all day and you remember how you felt the following day, right? Like the aches and the pains at 38, 39 years old, 40.

And then, like, the last thing you wanted someone to tell you was the next thing, let's go play again. I said, so that's what LeBron is going through right now. Like, time waits for no man. He's a human being. His body is getting older, although he's in phenomenal shape. But, you know, he's experienced some things that he's never experienced before. He's really so at the games now.

He's like, whoa. Right. My 40 inch vertical is now probably a 32. Right.

And so my lateral movement isn't as quick as it used to be. I've done and given everything to the game of basketball. And people got to understand he's been in the league over half his life.

That's crazy to me. So all he knows is NBA basketball. You know, most people play basketball, have their life. This dude has been in the NBA over half his life and he's coming off a year where he's average 29 points for his mind is like, do I have anything else to show for it?

So I think he's contemplating it. But at the end of the day, I think he'll be back on top of the fact that he had to declare he had to go to the LeBron James of foot doctors, which I always assumed was he just decided he was going to play through whatever pain he was dealing with, with plantar fasciitis, which anybody's ever had it. You understand how painful it is.

You can't do anything about it. I mean, I'm sure he's going to have some procedure after the season. So he's also had to deal with that injury, but he still played at an incredibly high level. I don't see him retiring. I don't like the rumors about Kyrie going there. I know they have won before with LeBron and Kyrie, but I'm not sure that Kyrie is what they, I don't know. Do you think Kyrie makes them significant? He certainly makes them more talented. Does he make them a better team? Yeah. On paper and for sports talk. Yeah.

It sounds good. However, their needs and I, you know, I know a lot of Laker fans and obviously as a Celtics fan throughout the, my brothers are like Laker fans. So he and I go at it all the time. Shout out, shout out to my brother, but I told him like, as long as LeBron is your best player, you're not going to win. And I don't, that's not a nod to LeBron. LeBron used to be, they used to try to, you know, pigeon, hold him in and find out what position he was. At the end of the day, LeBron was always a point guard. He always had the ball in the sand, he dictated pace, et cetera, et cetera. Right. And so he could control the game, control the tempo, go by his man when he wanted to do virtually what he wanted at 38.

He can't and shouldn't as be asked to do that anymore. So now you need a ball dominant guard that can get paint touches, right? Anthony Davis gets a lot of criticism, but he doesn't get any easy baskets. And a lot of easy baskets comes from guards being able to break people down. It's always been a guard's game and it always will be. And I just don't think you can win at any level, whether it's 10 and under a you high school, college, or in the NBA without elite guard play. And what you see it right now around the league, it's elite guard play, right?

And so once you back there to sprinkle that in with big man, that's what makes Denver so special. They got elite guard play, but then they have the, you know, uh, envy reigning MVP or whatever, uh, two times with joker. It's a hard stop.

So they just come at you for all angles. So when joke is struggling for three or four minutes, JCP is picking you up on Jamal, Mary's can go, Aaron, go, go in this thing, you know, carrying you. Now they got a bitch, all of those things fact. And I don't think LA have that. I think they need a ball dominant guard that can create and make life easier for everyone else. And I think they need two wings that can suit and defend. That's it. That's all they need. Those, you should be able to go to the store, uh, and, and, and get those real quick before.

I don't think you can get those at target. I think you have to go to a higher end store to get the ones that the Lakers want, um, real quick before I let Lavelle Moten go, uh, Nicole Jokic. I asked Jay Williams yesterday to compare him. And he's basically said he's a cross between our Vetus Simonis and Dirk Nowitzki. Uh, and I had always thought about our Vetus because just for the passing alone. Um, but I mean, we have not seen anything like this, the full game, the running, the break as a center.

I we've never seen this. Yeah. I think he's a cross between some bonus and Kevin McHale, right? Because I think he has incredible footwork. I think he has incredible fundamentals and I think he sees the floor so well, right? I think his greatest gift and skill set is, is passing the basketball for any of your listeners. That's listening right now. Who's not familiar with, uh, I mean, it's a bonus.

Well, in a nutshell, you can go Google them or whatever. He's a former Lithuania basketball player, but he's the reason we started sending pros to the Olympics. That's right. That's that guy. Right. And so, um, he was amazing.

Right. And so his passing ability, just his ability to bounce it and, you know, just play the Euro style game and bring that to the NBA. But, you know, I also sprinkle in a lot of Kevin McHale cause I see great post moves and he's heavy and he can score on the block. He could score with his back to the basket and that kid, I mean, that dude is special, right?

And he, he's a, he's a major, major problem. And for so long, a lot of people weren't familiar because he's not as quote unquote, sexy as, you know, the LeBrons, the Katie's, the calories, Donna rants, and you know, all of those guys. And again, he's in a low market city in Denver, right? And a lot of people who's casual basketball fans don't watch Denver play a lot, right? They're just like, how did Denver sweep LA? Man, Denver been the best team in the league since December 20th. But casual basketball fans wouldn't know that, but just looking at this guy, man, and seeing him elevate his play, you know, as, as the playoffs pick up, I just think he's phenomenal. So I would say he's a cross between Sabonis and Kevin McHale and some dirt. I give you some dirt getting there too.

He's just, it's just amazing. Lavelle, I appreciate your time, man. I'll talk to you soon. Good luck to your Celtics the rest of the way. Thank you, my man. I appreciate you having me on. All right. I'll talk to you later. Lavelle Moten, the absolute best.