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Well, it's about that time. Another week, another opportunity for the Jim Jackson show here in Vegas. In Vegas covering the crown tournament put on by Fox. And as always, you can join me at Jim Jackson show on IG, but also YouTube rich eisen.com.
Listen, or wherever you download your local or all your podcasts, you can download the Jim Jackson show there too as well. But like I said, I'm in Vegas. I was just in Newark last week for NCAA tournament. Sweet 16 Elite Eight got to see who I think the best team in the country is, which is Duke. And Florida is not too far behind, but here for the crown tournament put on by Fox is the first year people saying what's the crown tournament?
Well, it's an opportunity for teams, the power for power five conferences who did not make the NCAA tournament to be able to play for $300,000 or ancillary prizes money wise in one place in Vegas one stop. Make some money, have some fun, play some more basketball. So here doing this, but in the midst of this NCAA tournament winding down the NBA season. Speaking of which, getting closer to playoffs, a lot of questions, of course, can OKC finally win it and break through and win it? Are the Lakers a legitimate threat right now third in the West? Can Minnesota make a run in the Eastern Conference? Who's there to beat Boston?
Is it really the time for the Cavs to step up after making some moves in the Knicks? Be a viable threat me so many questions, but I still think OKC and in Boston are the top two tier teams. But if the Lakers play OKC in the seven game series in the Western Conference finals, man, it's hard to bet against. Uh, LeBron or Luca course, my Clippers are sitting in 7th. I love the matchup, a 2-7 with Houston Rockets of us advancing.
If it stays that way, hopefully we can get to 6 and avoid the play in. Kawhi is looking like Kawhi right now. Had shout out to Kawhi 2 and his team for despite despite all the noise for taking the time to rehab right to get back to help kind of push the Clippers forward right now. Healthy and I think this would be the year where Kawhi is able to sustain that level of play and make it through the playoffs. However far we get.
Hopefully it's all the way to the Western Conference finals into the championship. Of course, but a lot of stuff going on. Happy to be a part of it. I got a great guest coming on. I've been trying to get for quite some time former sports writer for the New York Knicks back in 96 to 2018.
Also now doing studio analyst work with the Brooklyn Nets or the yes Network. My my guy Frank. I sold he's been through it. He's seen it.
New Yorker. He loves the NBA loves College, but it's going to be a great conversation looking forward to getting him on the show for a while. So. Join me with that is going to be exciting going to be a lot of fun a lot of information and I'm going to discuss with him why he's so cheap and don't want to tip finally I can get Mr. Frank. I sold on the show who has more jobs than I do. So I finally get him on. Of course former sports writer to with the next from 96 to 2018 currently on ESPN also has I love the starting lineup show with you and scale. I mean the best you guys have so much fun in the morning. So I'll tune in and listen to that. Let's see what else you you work in Europe.
You work in South America. I do the net games on yes, hopefully we'll get a high draft pick. So we do well since we're going down that road. I've always been an admirer of yours ever since you were playing at Ohio State and I still remember writing when you know when it was clear that the dream team was going to add a college player. I wrote a story that you should be the guy because you were a versatile player.
I said you'd fit in perfectly. I loved your game and you know, I covered Jeff Van Gundy when he was in New York when Jeff first got the job. So when you played for Jeff in Houston, I was always a big fan. I don't even know if we had met. I don't it's like it's weird. We never we crossed paths across paths. We never just met met. Yeah, but I remember telling Jeff I was like, what's Jimmy Jackson like what's he like and I guess you and he hit it off famously.
That's what I had heard people said. Oh, Jeff, Jeff, let's Jimmy do whatever he wants. That's not that's not like Thibodeau right there. Hey, no, but Jeff, you know, the thing about Jeff was just by playing for Pat Riley. I got a sense of the mindset. Jeff had that mindset, you know, but wasn't as dictatorial as. As Pat, yeah, he demanded a lot but his conversations more of a people person a little bit more lenient in some ways, but was very specific on how he wanted you to prepare. I mean, I just sit there and watch him drink all the Diet Cokes all day long.
Just like it does. So a Frank he switched. He said this is how you cut back.
He went from a 16 ounce to the 12 ounce and that he cut back. So so Jeff is the assistant coach under Don Nelson. That's my first year on the ball and you know, it's you know, you have Patrick's on the team and Charles Oakley.
You got Derek Harper. You got like, you know, like legitimate NBA players that are like the real deal, you know, playing through injury. So Don Nelson gets let go in Philadelphia and you know, this is before the internet and you know, we know that we hear that Jeff's going to become coach. So me and two other reporters, we actually went to the rich Carlton in Philadelphia and like we found out what door, what room he was and we knocked on his door. He let us in and we interviewed him and I, and I love busting Jeff's chops because that night the Knicks played the worst team in the league, Philadelphia.
I believe that was like the Dana Barrows team and they lose to Philadelphia. The next day, Jeff runs a three hour practice and the next, and then Sunday it's selection Sunday for the NCAA, which always happened about like six o'clock and the Knicks were playing the 72 in Chicago bull. So Jeff had a shoot around at Madison square garden for a five 30 game after having three hour practice on Saturday, I go to the shooter and at the garden and Derek Harper's he's exhausted. And he says, Frank, he says, I don't know if you gamble. He goes, but I'm telling you, we're going to win the game tonight. And sure enough, they ended up beating the 72 when Michael Jordan, Chicago bulls and Derek, like in the fourth quarter, one on this run, Phil Jackson finally calls a time out and where's the visit days. We sat, you know, court side and I'm sitting court side and Derek Harper just kind of leans over.
He looks up at me and he goes, I told you, Frank, I was like, this is, this is cool. This is like, that's the NBA. But back then it was, so when I got to Dallas, Derek was still there. Yeah. So you remember, do you remember a guy named Stu Inman? Yes. So the second year they hired Quinn Buckner.
Quinn is a good friend of mine, but we had our, we had our run in. Okay. But Stu, they, they, and so fat lever was on our team at the time, but fat, you still could play, but he had the knee injuries. He wasn't the old fat lever from Denver.
Okay. They brought us in one day. This is, I knew it was going to hell in Dallas. And that year we only won 13 games.
This is all brass for a second year. They said, Stu Inman said, Derek Harper is not a point guard. Okay. Yeah. And that they wanted fat to start. And that's how Derek got traded to the Knicks. Yeah. Okay.
This is what I was dealing with, but the heart was like my old head when I first got in. So he kind of showed me, you know, all the things necessary, not just to be a really good basketball player, but to be a pro, to be a real pro. But I'd never forget that conversation when they said, Derek Harper is really not a point guard. He's a two guard, but we're going to start a two guard who's playing point, which is Lafayette lever, who was just older. I mean, those days in Dallas, Frank were, I mean, three, I had three owners, four coaches in five years. Yeah.
Bananas, bro. You know, and Derek, you know, I like all those Chicago guys. Cause Derek is kind of that Isaiah Thomas, you know, doc rivers generation, Eddie Johnson, who's got the, you know, also has a show on serious, you know, for all of them always thought it was interesting with the whole Jordan thing, because those guys all have a lot of pride that come from Chicago is, you know, being a Midwest guy and you know, every, I always used to, I would always bust Eddie Johnson and say, Hey, let's face it, man. When you say Chicago basketball, everybody automatically thinks that a guy that was born in Brooklyn, Michael Jordan, and you know, and I got to cover Isaiah in New York. And when you talk about guys that are proud, Isaiah Thomas is like at the top of the list. So I think that always drove them a little crazy.
So I used to tweak Derek with that. But how about this though? Tell me this is, and you know, Jeff, so the Knicks win that game. They fly to Dallas the next day. It's a Monday.
They think they're going to play the Mavs on Tuesday. Jeff has practice on a Monday with the practice wraps up. And then Jeff says, he goes, let me ask you guys a question that had really never happened before with Don Nelson. Don was like, he did his press conference when we were waiting to talk to players after practice. Don Nelson was leaving.
There was no film or anything. So the day before though, Phil Jackson, because now Jeff's in his second day is the job. Everyone's convinced that Knicks are going to go after a big name coach, Rick Pitino, Larry Brown, Phil Jackson. So Phil did his classic, you know, maybe it's a job I could be interested.
You know, it's the Knicks. He does the whole thing. So Jeff says, let me ask you guys a question.
Because what did you think of Phil Jackson campaigning for a job while he still has a job and while somebody else holds a job? So we're given like the, uh, I guess, I don't know. Jeff says, I thought it was bull, you know what? And then Jeff starts ranting and we're like, can we write this? He's like, yeah, you can write it.
And we're like, things are about to be different. And that's what resonated. That's what resonated with the public, with Jeff. He was like the working man and I'm going to fight and I'm going to go after the establishment, which is big bad Phil Jackson and the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan. That's what the fans in New York like.
And as media people, we absolutely loved it. You know, Jeff is the best. It is funny, full circle, being able to pick his brain and talk to him now that he's with, of course, a couple of Clippers and he's with the Clippers and where he's at in his life. Because, you know, he had many opportunities for coaching before and, you know, while he was doing TV at ESPN.
But like he indicated, he said his daughter was still in high school at the time and that he has spent so much time away coaching that he did not want to go back into it if he chose to until she was she had moved on and was out. So the timing was perfect for me to kind of reengage with Jeff. I know there's something that I have wanted for a few years now that he's been coaching to have Jeff a part of it. I tell you what, it's interesting that the guys that are on the team, they know Jeff from TV, not the coaching side, but the respect that he gets when he talks and lays out a game plan.
I mean, it's incredible. I mean, because he's so precise into his game planning. He's really specific and defensive rotations on expectation, but he has this little sense of humor to that guys can resonate with.
So when he's killing you, he's laughing at you, you know, and he's telling a joke and it's been great to kind of see that whole thing. Whole thing worked for Jeff and for Tyloo. Yeah, he's and you know, you know, Jeff's, you know, the guy that he always got on all the time was John Stark because John would be combative and John could also take it. So all the players were constantly busting John's chops. You know, Patrick would call him Pinky because when John got mad, his face would kind of turn pink. So that was, that was Patrick's nickname for him. And you know, the job that Jeff has done with the Clippers and Tyloo is a great coach and it says a lot about him that he'd bring a guy in like Jeff, knowing that Jeff is going to be loyal to Tyloo. And I've spoken to Jeff too. He loves, you know, Ty and he loves Steve Ballmer and everything that they've done there. So I guess it's March 28th when the Clippers were in Brooklyn, which was last Friday.
And you could see the impact that they have. And I'll tell you another thing, Kawhi Leonard, cause you know, you would have been, I guess, you know, you would do an NCAA tournament stuff, but at that game that night, Kawhi Leonard in the first half might put on one of the best performances for a half that I've seen in person in a long, long time. He had 25 points and he absolutely dominated the game at the defensive end.
I'm texting Brian who's in San Antonio, Brian Scalabrini. I said, I said, Kawhi Leonard is an absolute stud. He said, you can make the case when you're watching him play that he's the best player in the NBA. And in that moment, he looked like the best player in the NBA.
Offense, defense, he was absolutely unstoppable. You know, but it goes, it goes back to this, is that the, I guess the catch 22 here is that what happened, I think what happened to Kawhi by being misdiagnosed in San Antonio plays a lot into why when it comes to rehab and timing and coming back, a lot of that is on his time, his doctors, not the team. And in this case, being able to take the time to get healthy because when he came back, Frank, he actually looked lighter, was in shape, not game shape, game shape. But you can look at his body because the year before when he came back in training camp, he looked heavier, but not out of shape, but he just looked heavier. This year when he came back, you can tell his body was ready for the action and the way they staggered the minutes in the games and led up to him now playing a 35, 36, 37 minutes.
The process has worked and this is a different Clippers team with him in the lineup than what it was before, of course. And it's going to be interesting. I got the last four games down the stretch and where we land, whether we can get to that sixth position. Yeah.
And avoid the playing game or have to kind of go through the gauntlet of, you know, the seven, eight games, seven and the nine, 10 game, and then end up playing the number one seed, which would be tough. But watching Kawhi now, man, it's his movements, his explosive explosiveness. And you said it defensively. Oh, incredible. It's incredible. It's speaking about players.
Where do you land on this, Frank? And I know you and Skal talk about this a lot on the show with the game that Jokic put up SGA before it was like, well, SGA. But Jokic has been putting up these numbers and that right there is 61 at 61 triple double. Where does that land with you in the MVP race?
You know, I get a vote and I always, you know, I wait until all the games. The one thing about Shagilas Alexander, you know, what are they, 14 games better than anybody else? And listen, he's got one guy on his team that's been an All-Star and that was this year, Jalen Williams.
I think, you know, the greatest thing you could say about Nikola Jokic is that his starting lineup does not feature a player that's ever made the All-Star team. And that game the other night, we joked around about it. I said, Brian, watch, people are going to make, somebody will say, yeah, but he didn't win the game. Sure, he didn't win the game. They had the ball up one under 10 seconds ago.
Russ misses the layup, then the foul was committed. And he's missing two starting players. I think the guy is the best player in the world. But to me, it's too compelling. The wins have to mean something. And I get it. People are going to say, well, how come you didn't vote Jason Tatum first last year?
That's a fair point to make. But you look, to me, he's got a great supporting cast. And I gave Tatum a top five vote last year.
I forget exactly where he was. Last year, I voted Jokic first, Shea second. It's hard not to pick Shea. You know, he plays all the time. They win all the time.
Jimmy, think about this. Now, they can end up losing any time now. But if they win their final six games, they'll finish the year on a 17 game winning streak. I'm not saying that's going to happen.
But if they do win the next six games, they're going to have 70 wins. And you could say, oh, the NBA is different now. Go look at all those teams in the West.
Start rattling off one through 10. There's a lot of good teams. And it's not SGA's fault because we thought Minnesota was going to be there.
A really contender, Memphis being back. So and Denver started off slow. So it's not OKC's fault because of all the other things that have transpired in the West. Nobody saw Houston coming and being second. Nobody saw that beginning of the year.
So they had to play what was in front of them. They dominated. And it's interesting that you say that, too, is that how dominant he has been. Why do you think like last year with the way how dominant Boston was, that yet still Jason Tatum doesn't kind of get that same kind of respect that other superstars in that situation would get for dominating the season from day one all the way through? Yeah, well, I think, too, for Jason Tatum. So I think a couple of things hurt him, which is, you could say, fair or unfair. He plays for a great team. So a lot of people are going to look at it that way. I think he needs to make himself a little bit more available to the media. Media wise or whatever?
Yeah, I think he needs to be, you know, you've got to present yourself and make yourself more likable. You have to understand, you play for the Celtics. So unless you live in the New England area, most people hate the Celtics because they have all those banners.
There's an arrogance about them. So I think and Jokic doesn't do that. I'm not saying that he does. I was going to say, Frank, pushback is Jokic doesn't do it. He doesn't, but he also doesn't play for the Celtics.
So there is kind of this underdog thing. Shay Gillis Alexander's Canadian, but, you know, he does, you know, he's available all the time. And there's something about him where I think he presents himself a little bit better. I'm not I think Tatum's brilliant. And again, I gave him I've given him MVP votes, I think at least the last two years.
It might have been the last three years. But what I respect about Tatum and it's the same thing about Shay Gillis Alexander. Go to basketballreference.com. Look at the games played in the regular season. Look how many total games the guys play in the playoffs.
The guy always plays. And to me that says something. And what I love about what Boston did last year and the league office, you know, they love this. Because everyone's going to say, oh, the regular season doesn't matter. OK, but the team with the best record cruised through the playoffs last year. This year, if Oklahoma City wins, I don't think the league's going to be disappointed. I think the league is going to say, you see what happened? This team started out the season. They sprinted to the finish line and then in the playoffs they steamrolled the competition.
But I think that's a fair point you make, because not everyone does kind of make themselves available. And Jokic, that's a that's a great way. Look at Luka. Luka could care less about the media, but I think it's just a little bit tougher for Tatum. Hey, listen, Tatum went to Duke. So there's a little bit of that.
Right. He's had a ton of success as a young guy. I like him. I give him votes.
But for him to get into that next level, maybe that's something to do with. We always identify him with Jalen Brown as well. Do we really identify Jokic with anybody else?
Do I identify Shay with anybody else in Oklahoma City? It's always kind of Tatum and Brown. Tatum and Brown is how everyone refers to this.
Yeah. And, you know, with with Murray kind of falling off a little bit, I think before was that deadly combination between those two, kind of the reincarnation of Stockton Malone in Denver. But then with Jamal Murray kind of not ascending and taking a step back, it's all been on the shoulders of Jokic, of Kerry and Denver. So his narrative is so much more different, like you said, then. I mean, not just Jalen Brown, but just the team in general of everybody in Boston, which makes it, quote unquote, a little bit easier for Jason Tatum to kind of do his thing, which is unfair, you know, from that perspective. But Jimmy, look at it this way, too.
All right. So if you look at Boston, forget about where they are right now in their careers. But Al Horford was an All-Star. Chris Epps-Przingis has been an All-Star. Drew Holiday has been an All-Star. Derek White almost made the All-Star team.
Peyton Pritchard's probably going to win six men of the year finishing in the top three. And then they have Jalen Brown, who was a finals MVP last year. So for Denver, again, except for Russell Westbrook, who really is what, the seventh guy on their team? Six or seventh guy, former MVP, but not that same player. All these other guys. Jamal Murray probably would have been an All-Star by now if the guy just could stay healthy, but I think that's also another thing.
I think everyone looks at Boston as basically this powerhouse team that has the two great players at the top. Let's talk O'Reilly Auto Parts, people. They're in the business of keeping your car on the road. O-O-O-O'Reilly Auto Parts offers friendly, helpful service and the parts knowledge you need for all your maintenance and repairs. They've got thousands of parts and accessories in stock, either in-store or online, so you never have to worry if you're in a jam. The team at O'Reilly Auto Parts can also test your battery for free in or out of your car. If it needs to be replaced, they'll help you find just the right battery for your vehicle. Need your windshield wipers replaced or brake light fixed or a quick service? Well, they'll help you find the right part or point you to the nearest local repair shop for help.
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Learn more at AmericanExpress.com slash Amex Business. Yeah, speaking of Boston, too, is this the year, and Cleveland has been great, legitimate-wise, and they are legitimate, but can they beat Boston in seven games? They split it during the year. That's one thing. You know, a seven-game series is totally different. Can they get them in seven?
You know what? I still would give the Celtics the advantage because of the experience, but the biggest thing for me, for the Cleveland Cavaliers, you look at the last couple of years. Jared Allen hurt. Last year, Donovan Mitchell missed the last two games. So, you know, the Cavaliers, kind of like with Kawhi in L.A., is he going to be healthy for the playoffs? That changes everything, and I love what the Cavaliers have done.
J.B. Bickerstaff did a great job. I thought it was a little unfair what happened to him, considering the injuries that they had come playoff time, but you tell me. I look at the Celtics. I still think when push comes to shove, you look at them play. Every time, like last night, they lost to Miami. They come off a long road trip, they lose, but four guys didn't play. Every single night, they never have their whole team together. It's almost like they've kind of load managed their way all through the regular season. They're so deep, so talented that they can kind of keep resting, guys, but something interesting did happen against Miami. After the game, Jalen Brown mentioned that his knee has been bothering him.
So I don't know. You know how this works. I mean, you've got guys have to stay healthy, and Boston stays relatively healthy all throughout the playoffs.
Who knows how serious it is, but that's something that should raise a red flag. Yeah, I think the Cavs getting DeAndre Hunter from a defensive perspective, because I thought they were too small on the wings, to really negate what Boston could do and give you. You know, does that one move really kind of level the playing field?
I think it does a little bit. I think it's still going to be some matchup issues sometimes when Cleveland goes big against the Celtics, but it's going to be interesting in the East to see kind of how that grind is, because the grind, I say, because the Knicks are going to grind you out, whoever they play. So does that where, depending on where the Knicks end up falling, you know, a Cleveland down or a Boston down when they finally get to the Western Conference Finals, because you cover the next year there in New York, you covered them before. But, you know, at the end of the day, that's a series, whether it goes five games, six games, seven games, that's going to grind into those legs going into the next round for whatever team they play. Not in the West. Interesting. The Lakers are third right now.
Yeah. They end up playing, if it stayed Pat right now, it would be Minnesota. Is OKC, I wouldn't say this, who can beat OKC? We believe in them, but yet we think, I think a lot of consensus is they're not the overwhelming favorite to come out the West.
I know. Yet the fact that they're so good defensively and they come at you in waves, you know, when they came to Brooklyn, they had just lost at home. That was the game where they lost to Minnesota. Remember, they lost like a 16 point lead or whatever.
Gave it up. Like the last like four. It was something crazy. So they came to Brooklyn and they must have thought this team's nothing. And they were getting smoked. And they were down at one point. I think it was like 16 or 18 points.
And then at the start of the fourth quarter, we shake this Alexander on the bench. I believe they wanted an 18 to run. And it was a guy, Cason Wallace.
It was Aaron Wiggins. I mean, when they want to turn it up defensively. So they're Joe. Exactly.
Another kind of no name guy. So those guys. So the fact that if you could defend that translates to the playoffs.
What would concern me about them is, let's remember, they were knocked out in the second round last year. I get it. No Isaiah Hartenstein.
No home. They needed that size. But I don't know. You go into a playoff series and you got to go up against LeBron and Luca. That's that would concern me a little bit.
Yeah. And that's where I was looking at the West. I was like, you know, it's not as clear cut and dry just because it now just like Boston. They had to kind of go through the gauntlet, get to the Eastern Conference finals, lose it, lose it, get get.
And then, boom, they broke through. OKC hasn't had that kind of adversity outside. I mean, again, losing last year.
But you had circumstances. They haven't gotten to the Western Conference finals with the expectations and then lost it. Yeah.
Kind of going through. So it's going to be very interesting to to see once the playoff pitcher shakes out where the Lakers land, where Denver ultimately lands. So I think right now with Houston, I love Houston. But as far as being a number two seed, they're not a number two seed to to meet.
Yeah. Regards to really threatening to get to a Western Conference because they might have an issue. Shoot, it depends on who at seven.
You know, in that first round, they could get the Clippers, they could get the Warriors, Minnesota. If we get set, stay at seven and go against Houston. I love our matchup. I do. I do.
I do, too. And let's let's remember the Golden State Warriors. And I keep thinking about Kevin Durant, who right now is nursing a sore ankle.
You think about what's happened in February. The guys that are your peers, you have LeBron James is in L.A., they go out and get Luca. Steph Curry is in Golden State. They go out and get Jimmy Butler. And you look at what's happened with both teams. Think about the way you view both of those teams now and opposed to before they made those trades. And then you look at Phoenix, which needed a trade they wanted to make when they would have made one if Bradley Beal didn't have that no trade clause. And here's Kevin Durant on the outside looking in. And if he doesn't come back soon, they're probably not going to make it. If you're him, how are you not sick to your stomach that LeBron at 40 has a chance to win a championship if things break right or get to a finals? Same thing with Steph Curry at 37.
And here's Kevin Durant thinking, man, I didn't even finish in the top 10. I know. And see, my issue is a good friend of mine, you know, the Michigan State and running a business and running a franchise. Buying talent is not the same. And I think Matt is learning that it's going to be interesting to see. James Jones is a good friend of mine, kind of where this thing lands this summer because. They're cap locked, don't have any draft picks, the only movable part parts are Booker and Durant, you're not moving Booker. No, I'm not doing that.
And it's and for you, like you said, for for Katie, from that perspective. This summer is going to be interesting to see what happens with that Phoenix. What can you get? What can you get from you think see that that's the problem because he's so as great as Kevin Durant is later stage, you're not giving up young talent, a high draft pick or locked in right now for Kevin Durant that may have another two years at this level. The K.D. is special, but a K.D. that's thirty five, thirty six is a lot different than a K.D.
at twenty nine thirty one. And I think that's the issue we'll run into with getting something of really great value back. Yeah. Let me give you a scenario. OK, the Knicks, let's say arguments take the Knicks rough and tough first round series and they win or even they lose. But then they get to the second round, they lose to Boston. If you could get a deal where you're trading Miquel Bridges back to Phoenix, obviously something else. You do it because and I agree you haven't won a championship since seventy three if you're the Knicks. You do it because Miquel Bridges was a stop guy. I mean, to fit it fit.
They like him, they like him. But in order to win it now for this window to really compete to get Katie for two years, that deal I could see being done. Let me give you another one. OK, how about how about you used the Houston Rockets under your scenario? Let's say they play the Clippers or somebody who finishes seventh and they lose in the first round. They have some assets. I wouldn't do it. You wouldn't do it if you're used to. No, no, I wouldn't mortgage my future because if you if you get Katie now, you're not winning that year.
All right. From my scenario, I think the young talent that they have. Is still mature and with EMA there, they're going to mature now. You give you get a Kevin Durant. You give up two to three of those pieces. Yes, you're going to be incrementally better. But you're still not winning the championship. It doesn't get you the championship now.
Nothing is guaranteed, as you know, anything can happen. But OK, are you still are you going to be better than OKC? Are you going to be better than a revamp? Laker squad is going through training camp.
And and you don't know how long to your point. You don't know how long you'll have them at a high level, especially all the injuries. That's why I always say one of the greatest trades in the history of the NBA, certainly the last 20, 30 years, is, you know, Masai Ojiri rolling the dice and getting Kawhi.
Yeah, they only had him for one year. But how many how many teams make trades thinking this could be the trade that puts us over the top? A Phoenix started with Bradley B.
Look where they are. They make a trade. They go get Kawhi Leonard and they win the championship.
A lot of things fell into place. He had the great shot against Philly to knock them out. Then Kevin Durant is hurt to start the finals. He blows at Achilles. The next game, Klay Thompson blows at his knee. It happens. But guess what? They made a great trade to get Kawhi.
They raised the banner. Kawhi is the finals MVP. And a month later, he's off to L.A. But it was worth it.
I think it's worth it. No, it is. But you look at those components, too, because with a Fred Van Vliet, with a DeMar DeRozan, with Kyle Lowry, you had drizzle veterans that had been there that lost. So their roster construction was a lot different.
Like the Knicks. Yeah. No, no. That's what I said. That deal with McHale makes a lot of sense to get it, especially the way you know, we don't know what's going to happen with Boston another year. Yeah. I figured I'd be back. But again, we're forecasting past this.
But I would do it if I was the Knicks. Listen. Interesting. You didn't you didn't hit me, too, when you came and saw Cooper flag, too. I told you. Well, you know what?
What was it? I saw you and you and you were in your seat. So for people who don't know, Jimmy and I texted the night before. I was trying to get him to come to where I live. This way I could look like a big shot.
Hang around with this guy. Well, you look like a 35 years old, for crying out loud, you son of a gun. Hey, you know why you drink water? Oh, that's what it is.
It keeps the stress levels down. So you do you drink like brandy with it or like. No, no. So I got away from the I got away from like the bourbon and scotches.
I have some red wine, some tequila, but it's too much sugar in the bourbon and scotches. So I got away from that. And that's how you keep yourself so fit. All right. So I was I you you were in your seat early before the game.
And I'll tell you what. I went to a couple of college basketball games this year. I went to see St. John's Yukon at the Garden. Yeah. Did you do that game? Yeah, I did that game.
All right. That it was the same kind of game in the second half. It was between seven and 13. You never thought I never thought you calm was coming back in St. John's in that game.
And at no point that I think Alabama was going to come back. But now that you've seen the guy up close a few times this year, but he's over there for the 30 point game. Like, what do you think about him? You think he's the real deal? I do, man.
I really do. And the reason why is because, of course, the high basketball IQ, the versatility, very unselfish. I mean, John Shrier has to really poke at it to be more selfish, which is a great quality. But as his motor, it's I think that's what separates him from maybe Ace Bailey. And that's not taking anything from Ace. Ace plays hard. But this young man plays hard all the time. Unselfish. You know, you don't have to motivate him to want to do it on the other end. OK. And when he when he sees an opening, he makes the right play.
And you think about it. He reclassified. He's supposed to still be in high school and to be able to play at this level, at that level, with the efficiency in which he plays. Now, keep in mind, I got I love Conca nipple to, you know, the young freshman for Duke. But he has the right pieces around him where he doesn't have to go out like an Ace Bailey and have to really dominate in order for them to win. Yeah. And his upside is I compared him a lot to size wise, not as tall, but like Keith Van Horn.
OK. And Keith was athletic and people forget how good Keith was at Utah. Yeah. But that with a little bit of Larry Bird, with a little bit of Jason Tatum.
Yeah. That combination of that, those is what I see with Cooper Flagg. You know, the athleticism, the intellect, but then he has some stuff in his game like Tatum, the pull ups, the mid range, the mid post.
He can make plays off the dribble. And just because I had him first when they play Illinois in the garden. So I got a chance to see him. That's when they won out. Right. Yeah.
They all they are. I mean, they Molly walked him, Molly walked him and then got a chance to see him, you know, sweet 16 Elite eight and watch how he's grown. I mean, it's just I love it. And you had to give my man scale a shout out for that. Yeah, we played that. We played that could be congratulating Brian for the job that he had done. You know, I like the fact that he rebounds. He definitely makes an impact on both of the court.
I give Duke a lot of credit because I said this to Brian, you watch them play. They got a lot of young players. I mean, they play like they've been together for like two or three years.
You know what it is, though, Frank? By with Sion James, when they put him in the starting lineup, maybe late December, he's older. Yeah.
That and Tyrese Proctor, older. So they stabilize the backcourt, which is very important in college. They stabilize the backcourt with veteran leaders. So Knippel, Malawach and also Cooper, who are younger, they don't have to worry about trying to make all the decisions. Yeah.
And I think that's very important. Then when you go to the bench, the Lee Brown comes off the bench. Bradley comes off of the young, but they're big.
Yeah. Nobody comes off the bench. Nobody plays under six five, Frank.
I know everybody six five and up. So that's why it's going to be interesting against Houston when Houston brings this pressure. And this is a different Houston team, because in the past, like St. John's, they didn't shoot free throws. Well, they didn't shoot the three.
Well, but this year is a different story. Yeah. Offensively, they're better. Couple that with their defense. It's going to be interesting to see how Duke handles that, because even though they played Auburn, even though they play Kentucky, even though they Kansas, they haven't played a defense like Houston.
Yeah. So I went and saw it was to the traditional Big Ten rivalry. It was Rutgers, UCLA. So I got a chance to see Ace Bailey play right in early January.
I think you're right. Like the first half, maybe there was a little of just kind of sticking them in the corner. But in the second half, he got more aggressive on both ends of the court.
And then you see the impact that he could make. He's also playing with Dylan Harper's got the ball in his hands. But I was impressed. That's one game. I was impressed with Dylan Harper.
And he really was good in the second half. But you could see the talent there. Yeah. No, man. It is.
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Go to Pesti dot com slash Eisen. I want to I want to say this because I love listening to the show with you and Brian. And there's some things that some quirks that you have on there, especially the one about you tipping and don't want to tip. So you you want to tip.
No, no, no. But you you asked a question like, why do I why am I required? What was it to tip the 20 percent for like a cup of coffee? A cup. Come on, man.
It takes three seconds to do it. Then you're under a lot of pressure. You know, so under pressure.
So so a bunch of like so I got a group of people here. We go second year in a row. We did it. We go to London in December, right around the time of the the NBA cup when there's that stretch of, you know, those days where there's no pressure.
You know, those days where there's no NBA game. Right. So we fly over there and we let we take the red eye going over with land. We get into our hotel. We go to a coffee shop there.
I order the coffee and they have the the same little thing and they spin it around and they were on it as it's a tip. I was like, I need to move to Europe. I got to move here. Hey, I delivered paper. So I worked for the New York Daily News when I was a kid. I used to deliver the paper and like, you know, you you want to get tips.
Tell me how many people you you know, if they know you three dollars for the week or whatever it was and they're giving you three dollars on my come on. I've always wanted a job where I can get tip. I'm telling you my next life.
I'm going to come back looking like you. My first job as a kid. I'm going to be a waiter. It's like 20 because I think if I were a waiter, I'd kill it because I could kind of BS people a little bit and I would hustle.
I'm I'm kind of jealous of people that could do that. My issue is when I say coffee that I turned puts coffee and hands it to me. I'm getting the milk myself. I got to give the guy a buck for that. Come on.
But the ways is they're getting it. I mean, I get what you said, but it's funny because you are you and Brian. The combination of the two is great radio because you give enough detail, you give enough insight, but it's fun and it's entertaining.
And it's not I'm a beat you up. You got to have this point. You got to have this. Yeah, it's like I listen to you today.
And what was the reporter you had on there? And he said that he would take Chris Paul said to Matt Jones. Come on, man.
And I like Chris. Come on, man. Come on. As I was like, I think and it's probably an age thing like magic.
I mean, come on. You do college and the dude won the seventy nine national championship game. I think it was in late March, March 30th, March 31st.
And by the following May, which I'm bad at math, was at 14, 15 months later. He's winning an NBA championship and he's the and he's the MVP of the finals. I mean, we want and I love Zion in college, but we were ready to build a statue of Zion. He got eliminated in the Elite Eight. Yeah, that's between a national championship play in the next season. And he's an absolute star.
You can't. Chris Paul is a great player. No question about it. But you tell me you play in the NBA.
Where's Magic Johnson? No, no. He's you know, you know what I always said about this. This this is where the unfair comparisons come in to me. You can't transpose back or forward somebody's game because training was different.
Mindset was different in how you played the game. It's like you can't take Steph Curry. People say, well, Steph Curry couldn't play back in the late 80s. 90s.
Why? I said D. Brown did. Dana Barrows did. Spud Webb did.
Muggsy both did. I said the difference is they grew up playing in the playground, in the park, in the gyms physical. So that's how they play. Michael Adams, they play like that. So you can't take stuff that's shooting all these threes and say you're going to take that game and put it back in the late 80s because he wouldn't grow up playing that way.
You're right. It's just like you couldn't take I say they said, well, Shaq played in today's game. He would dominate.
I said no. To me, Shaq will be more like an MB because and then be being pick and pop on the perimeter. He can post up every now and then. But from the time he was 12, 13 years old, he would be taught to play on the perimeter. So you can't take Shaq from there and put him in today's game and say he would be on the post getting the ball 20 times a game.
He didn't grow up playing like that. Here's the amazing thing, too, about the NBA with the three point shot. So Derek White broke the record the other day for the most three pointers in a season for made Larry Bird's.
He has so Derek White this season has more three pointers made in a season than Larry Bird had ever attempted in a season. And I remember like years ago, whether it was Dale Ellis or Ricky Pierce, even Steve Kerr, to a certain degree, Craig Hodges on the Bulls. There were like three point specialists. It was almost like you were left handed reliever coming out of the bullpen. You were kind of used in certain situations. And it was like a specialty.
Basically, it was almost like like a niche player. Now it's like it's amazing how many like threes in the you know, when you look at Steph and Dame Lillard, like we weren't watching that years ago. I remember doing the Knicks Miami Heat playoff games and Tim Hardaway was shooting like a couple of feet back.
And even back then, I was like, blew my mind. Look where he's shooting from. That's like a layup for Steph now where he was shooting from. But listen, but Larry Bird only attempted two and a half to three point.
I know shots again. So the numbers, of course, are going to be passed as far as sometimes the shooting percentage and the number of attempts and number makes because you're shooting now eight to nine a game. Whereas back then, if you shot two to three, three pointers, that was a lot. So the numbers don't really compare when you tumble who's the greatest shooter when you start putting the number of makes because the attempts are more.
So it's hard to quantify the two of those. And that's where I think it gets lost in the shuffle when people look at comparison with a Larry Bird or Reggie Miller or Dale Ellis, like you talked about. Even even even Adele Curry, who shot the lights out. That's right.
Another specialist. But but you're only shooting two to three a game. And and, you know, when the people bring up the physicality of the league, it's interesting because the other night you had the the incident with the Detroit Pistons in Minnesota. And I was and I was watching some highlights of Birdman. Lembier threw him to the court of Scrum breaks out like guys are throwing punches. Bird gets up. He throws the ball at Bill and then Rodman comes over to Larry Bird. All this stuff's going on. But back then, unless you watch Sports Center or you watch the local highlights, you are not going to see that.
That was not on Twitter. So the Pistons fight happens with Minnesota and the fans have cameras from like where from their seats. So we're seeing 19 different angles. Everyone's breaking it down like it's a brutal film with Kennedy being shot. Everyone's looking at from a bunch of different angles. Everyone's like, oh, my God, look what's happening. Look at the fights back then.
Didn't have the same reaction, Jimmy, because not everyone really saw them. It's not something that like was, you know, you turn on your phone because you have a phone and you could see the fight 100 times. And you have. And depending on where you're coming from, you say, look at Isaiah Stewart.
The guy's always involved in everything. Look at him here where you're saying Dante DiVincenzo jumped in. He never should have done that. Nobody was doing that really in the 70s and 80s when these like little skirmishes were breaking out. Because let's face it, what happened the other night happened in the 70s, 80s and even 90s in the NBA. Nobody made. We just didn't make. We made a big deal over, you know, Stephen Jackson and the Pacers going into the crowd in Detroit and rightfully so.
But we really never made a big deal. This stuff happened on the court. I was at a preseason game when I covered the Knicks.
Charles Barkley chose Oakley, got in a fight in a preseason game. Yeah. And they're rolling around.
The next day, nobody was really talking about it. Listen, how many people really younger people really saw Dr. J when he grabbed Larry Bird by the throat? That's right.
You know what I'm saying? So it or Xavier McDaniel getting into it. So and I played with Xavier.
So it was then and you really threw punches too. I mean, where did you play with X-Men? In the Nets.
Under Calipari. You know, because Charles, Charles played with him in New York. Yeah. And I think a couple of years earlier, they had, if you go on YouTube, you could see the fight between Charles Oakley. When he was in Seattle.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, when Xavier was in Seattle and Charles got into it at the Garden. Hey, we, when we first started doing NBA radio, this might've been like 07 and we interviewed X-Men. He might've been in South Carolina.
Cause I know that's where he's from. And he was in like a diner with his family and you just hear like plates and like, you know, he's kind of cursing a little bit. I, I loved Xavier McDaniel as a player because when he came to the Knicks only for that one year, he was, you know, with him and Oakley and they're going after Scottie Pippen and they're getting in Michael Jordan's face. The Knicks losing him to the Celtics was big.
That, that really hurt the Knicks because they needed that kind of toughness, that extra toughness that he brought. Listen, one time we were on the, we were on the bus playing cards and I was beating Xavier and he accused me of cheating. He was mad. We were in the back of the bus and I said, you know what? I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to have to take this L, but I can't let, I can't let Xavier get me.
And then the whole bus was quiet and Calipari was sitting in the front. It really wasn't nothing he could do. I said, I just, I said, I said, Xavier, what are we going to do, man? I mean, because I'm not, I'm winning. You mad?
You upset? I said, I'm going to, I'm going to have to go ahead and just take this L then. Because, but, but we're, we're great friends to this day. And what I loved about a lot of the old school guys was I think you get a misconception, like with Oakley, with Xavier McDaniel guys that really got into it. I played with Terry Cummings, nicest guys.
I covered him in New York for a year. But you, you get on that other side. Yeah, I know you get to that. They don't start stuff.
They don't start stuff, but you get to that other side and you can't peel it back. Yeah. I covered, I covered the next one year. I think it might've been 98 and they had Buck Williams, Charles Oakley and Terry Cummings, which, you know, like growing up and you're watching Terry Cummings. It was pretty cool. And I hang on when you run the nets, was Jason Williams on the team? Yes. Remember, Jason got hurt.
He had the wrist. All right. So in October, the nets had a game, a night game and I got caught. So I went to University of Maryland and Maryland was playing Syracuse at noon at Barkley center. They invited me, a buddy of mine invites me to the game.
I don't really want to go, but there's going to be some like kind of big shots there. Cause I know my day now, dude, cause as you know, listen to the show, all I do is complain. I'm playing soccer from seven to nine in the morning. I got to jump in the shower, get to Brooklyn. I'm going to be there from 12 to two 30 and then the net game doesn't even start till seven 30. So this is like a more than a 12 hour day in Brooklyn.
It was freezing cold. Anyway, I get to the game, the neck, uh, Maryland kills Syracuse, but who's at the game that night? Jason Williams and Charles Oakley. And you know, Jason looks great. You know, Jason has completely changed his life.
He's down in Florida running a, like a rehab, you know, um, rehab drug and alcohol center. He, he looked tremendous. And to be around those two guys was cause I love Charles and I covered Jason. I covered the nets before a few years before you got there. I was there when Derek was on the team and Kenny Anderson, we had a blast with those guys. So I saw Jason. Jason was there.
Of course, all the former St. John's alumni. It was great. Walter Berry was there. Oh, cool.
Um, and I grew up, I told Walt and Walt's a good friend of mine. I still got VHS tapes of the 86, 85, 86 big East, uh, championship game. St. John's and Syracuse St. John's.
Yes, it was St. John's Syracuse. And, uh, but Jason was there. So I got a chance to catch back up with him. Uh, that week, that weekend there, uh, at the garden, he looked really good, man. He did.
He was so happy for Jason, man. I am too. Let me ask you this. You're coming out of high school was Ohio. Who else was recruiting you?
So how about this? Kenny Anderson and I were number one, number two in the country at the time we took our Syracuse visit together. So we were going to the same school. So it was Syracuse, North Carolina, Georgetown, Ohio State, Michigan.
But it's funny because back then you had the rotary dial up phone. Kenny calls me at home and says, you know, Jim, I made up my mind. I'm going to Georgia Tech. I was like, Georgia Tech? We never even talked about Georgia Tech. You know, Bobby Cremins was good at getting. Yeah, I know.
You had John Salah, you got it. So I'm like, yo, I said, OK, I get it. But we never talked about Georgia Tech. So I look, that's how I ended up finally just say, you know, Ohio State was the best thing. But I was a big East guy through and through interesting when I was growing up, because that was think about it. They were on TV, ESPN. Yeah.
The battles with St. John's, Syracuse, you know, you know, Providence at the time, Georgetown, Georgetown. Come on, man. I'm a big time. You get a lot of credit for a Bruce Dalrymple reference.
That's pretty that's pretty good. This is what I love to ask guys like you. You're a big time college player.
So if you were entering college basketball today, forget what school you'd go to. How much money do you think you'd make? Because now everything's over the table. Would you be at about a five hundred to a million dollars a year? Or more than that.
Because just because of the market. Now, before this house versus the NCAA thing comes down, they're trying to pay these guys right now before June, before this gets enacted, when you have a cap of what the university can pay. That's not a cap on NIL. It's just a twenty point five million dollar cap of what you can pay all your sports.
But if you got the Abadza in AJ, in BYU making, he's going to make seven. Yeah, that's great. Well, think about this, right? Pearl Washington. My sister went to Syracuse.
I used to go up there. And when I was in high school and I'd watch him play the guy, they was filling the building up because of him. Think about how much money he missed out on. Patrick, Chris Small.
I'll give you one. The guy didn't even become an NBA player. What about Damon Bailey? How big he was in Indiana? How much do you think he could have made in NIL? He would have killed it.
Just Indiana alone? Oh, it would have been, I mean, he was a legend in the eighth grade. Exactly. So he would have been making money through high school. I mean, I think those guys like Pearl Washington, who, you know, only made a little bit of money in the NBA, like how could his family not be a little bit bitter? Look at Zion recently. How big was Zion in high school? Yeah, those those 30 games at Duke.
How much money would he have made? Yeah, man, it's it's it's it's a it was a long time coming, starting to regulate itself, trying to balance the playing field with these schools. But again, it's a difference with what the university and collective can pay to what still the young men and women can still go out and earn on their own NIL deal.
Even though it's a cap here, you can still go earn another five, six, seven, eight million on endorsement deals. All right. All right.
I asked you about, let me ask you about this. Why the media and why not coaching or front office? Is it just like you don't really want to get it? Hey, listen, being in the media is a crime. People think it's easy and you're good at it and it's not easy to be good at it because, you know, you got to know what you're talking about. So I get that part. But why media?
Why not coaching a front office? Because I love my free time. Yeah, I'm selfish with my free time with the media. I'm doing all this stuff during a finite period.
Yeah, October to depend on the playoffs mid-May. But then I have my time to go do and still, you know, be able to live a life with coach. And I always thought I thought about it before Frank. I would love to be a GM because I've been in so many different situations with coaches and players and organizations. I kind of know what works and what doesn't and be great at putting a team together. But then I thought about the grind.
Yeah. And I said to myself, if I was younger and maybe do it over, maybe think about it. But I said, I love what I do. I got a chance to kind of dictate a schedule. I'm in and out. I haven't lost a game since I retired.
Yeah. I don't have to watch. I watch tape, but not to scrutinize or try to put game plans together.
I read a lot, but it's fun. And I stay in touch with the game because this is your 18 for me. So the beauty of what I do, too, is I've seen a lot of guys, Draymond Green come in as a freshman and now he's in year 15, 16 and NBA. Yeah. So to be able to have that really good combination of watching young men play in college and then watch what they're able to do, either overseas or in the NBA and have a relationship with them and cover them on both ends has been the best.
Yeah. You know, I covered baseball for two years. I covered the Mets and it's hard work, man. It's like all summer. And I just want to be off in the summer. And I always want to cover the NBA. And I was lucky enough to get a chance to the Knicks. And I kind of like the schedule because, you know, like you don't really want to do.
I get it. Summer league in July, but you're off basically July, August and September, which is a great thing. Remember when the Atlanta Hawks owner, he came out, this is before the bubble and he was suggesting, why don't we have the NBA season like the finals end around August? I was like, are you out of your mind? I'm like, I'm out.
I'm covering college. You got to take it my summer away, bro. I do not do that. I'll go to August.
You out of your mind. We can't do that. Hell no. Hey, man.
Listen, man. I appreciate you coming on. It's been a long time coming. I love to circle back around once we get deeper in the playoffs and kind of really dig into the weeds once we see, you know, who's who, what, what's what and where we're heading, man. Now, I'm happy that I got to know you over the last few months or so.
I always been a big fan both on and off the court. Keep up the good work. And now you got to come on our show, but we won't torment you. We'll make sure you're somewhere in the East Coast. We're not going to wake up in the morning.
Not doing that. I got you, but I appreciate you, man. All right, Jimmy. Thanks a lot. Shout out. Thanks again.
Frank, I sold it for joining me as we wrap this up. Another, I think, great week. Another great show.
Another great opportunity for me. Now I'm getting ready for games in the quarterfinal tonight. A little golf tomorrow. Semi-finals on Saturday. Finals on Sunday for the crown. So enjoy it. Have a great rest of the week. Looking forward to another great show next week. Trying to decide who the next guest should be. If you got any ideas, any thoughts, send it through IG. Hit me up on Twitter and let me know your thoughts.
But until then, have a great weekend. A lot of great basketball coming up. Final four, of course, this weekend.
Don't know who you got. I still like Duke. Love to see Duke and Florida play.
But Houston is something special. Stay tuned. Could be a lot of fun.
Enjoy the weekend. NBA veteran Jim Jackson takes you on the court. You get a chance to dig into my 14 year career in the NBA and also get the input from the people that will be joining. Charles Barkley.
I'm excited to be on your podcast, man. It's an honor. Spike Lee. Entrepreneur. Filmmaker. Academy Award winner. Nick Stenzel. Now you see, I got you. But also how sports brings life, passion, music, all of this together. The Jim Jackson Show, part of the Rich Eisen Podcast Network. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.
