FULL NBA TODAY | Lakers’ Big Moves? Horford to LA, LeBron’s Fate & Trae Young Exit Buzz
FULL NBA TODAY | Lakers’ Big Moves? Horford to LA, LeBron’s Fate & Trae Young Exit Buzz
the season with ring night against KD and the Houston Rockets. We’ve got the Christmas Day slate on ESPN and ABC. Cavs Nicks, could that possibly be an East Finals preview? We also have LeBron’s record 20th Christmas Day game on a packed night. Another important date for the league. We have the full MLK day schedule for January 19th. Of course, ATL always front and center here. They will host the Milwaukee Bucks. And now hot off the presses, we have the NBA Emirates Cup schedule that just dropped this afternoon. Here are some of the biggest dates starting in the West. The 2025 Emirates Cup slate is full of those big matchups. West Group C features the Warriors and Nuggets. Steph leads the Warriors to play Denver to play Joic on November 7th. How about West Group A? They’re headlined by the reigning champs, the Thunder, and the team they beat in the Western Conference Finals, the Timberwolves. Those teams are going to meet on November 26th. West Groupy has the latest chapter of Luca Donuch against the Mavericks. Last time Luca faced off against his former team. Of course, he dropped 45 points in what was a very emotional night. Those teams will play on November 28th. Hi everybody, I’m Vanessa Richardson. I am in for Malikica Andrews. We’ve got Shane Gumay. We’ve got Mark Spears with me to sift through all of this information. Let’s start with the big game that everyone can now circle on their calendar. Mavs at Lakers. Now you add the NBA Cup. All of that drama into the mix. Jana, what are you watching for that first matchup? I’m watching two things. First things first, Cooper Flag. What do we say about him? He’s built different. He’s built tough. I want to see him go up against LeBron and Luca. We know that will bring out the best in the young rookie. But also, if you’re going to try to go micro a little bit, the weakness of the Los Angeles Lakers, they address by getting DeAndre Aton. I want to see the front court as well. But as we look at Cooper Flag, we know it’s going to be showtime. I mean, this has all the tentacles. You have the competitive firepower. You have the inside outside game. You have him just trying to exert his dominance as a rookie against LeBron. Like we’re going to get those moments that we’re going to play on highlights here on this show for years to come. But then also that front court, that’s what I’m looking at. Like Gaffford, Lively, AD, they’re going to be wanting to punish the Lakers, especially knowing that the Lakers that’s the area that that’s where Luca made. He helped make them and now it’s like you flip-flop, you roll reverse. So I think on both sides of the ball, whether it is the guards, the post, the wings, the forwards, like there’s so many cool story lines. So you ready for the video? What’s the movie? I’m going to still call it Staples. I’m never going to change that. You have to. The video can’t give it the time. The return to Anthony Davis, his return playing against the Lakers for the first time. I’m curious to what the Lakers fans feel about him, feel about his legacy in the Lakers uniform. I mean, he averaged 25 points and 11 rebounds and two blocks a game for his five and a half season career. Is it worthy cuz he’s going to be in I have a feeling. Is it worthy of putting that jersey in the rafters? H Jamal Wilks, he’s in there. He played couple more seasons, eight seasons, but Anthony Davis won a championship, won an NBA cup. I don’t know Lakers fans care about that. They like the championship more, but Oh, do they? Did he do enough to get his name in the rafters? I don’t know. I’ll have to think on that. Speaking of LeBron and AD, guys, there’s always drama on the gram. You know, there’s always drama on Instagram. Did you see this yesterday? They both posted the exact same images. LeBron and AD to their Instagram accounts. Quote, “Becoming the best version of yourself sometimes comes with a lot of goodbyes.” End quote. We have no idea if there’s a deeper meaning here. But Mark, what do you think of this post? And I feel like we have to pull out the Brian Winhorse. Why is that? the same quote on the same day. I I don’t understand the AD part of it, but in terms of LeBron part, the tea leaves are there. It’s the end of the road. Should we should we get boys the men playing or something? We’ve come. Oh, don’t do that. We’re not trying. Oh, you talking to her or to me? Both of y’all. Um, he said that we’re going to miss him when he’s gone. Using Drake, right? Or Jay-Z. And then now he’s golfing. When do people start golfing? They start golfing cuz they have free time. Especially athletes, they start golfing when they need something competitive to do, right? Golfing is the thing you can do until Why is he starting to golf now? Maybe he just has a new hobby, Mark. That’s a hobby that OG’s take when they don’t have to work no more. OG athletes take. So, I’m I’m just wondering if all these tea leaves are there and this latest tweet that tells us it’s the end of the road. Hey, don’t send the bill to I did it. Did I do it better? No. No, don’t send the bill to me. All right. I don’t want to be messy, but like at first I was like, how’s the relationship between the two? I know that was a tumultuous last year, but I we all know these guys are brothers. So, going off of what you’re saying, if this is the end of the road for LeBron, you see him playing golf. I don’t read too much into that. I more so watch him doing Pilates alongside Queen Savannah. That’s what I watch because that’s what keeps you top tier form. Pilates is like the ultimate foundational every woman. I’m speaking the language right now across America. Like Pilates, we’ve seen multiple players do it, but it just shows that he is so great at his craft and it starts with his body work. I mean, if LeBron wanted to play probably two, three more years, he absolutely can if he made that choice. If he wanted to play golf during the free time, he absolutely can. I’m not trying to play one and two can play more, but if this is we do know we do know that LeBron James does do subliminals and so if this is the beginning, you know, we better soak everything up. I love the videos of LeBron and Steph and how hard they’re still working out at this age, too. I mean, guys that are OGs, guys that are veterans that could just coast, but they’re putting, like you said, Pilates, so much into it. All right, let’s continue to talk about the cup. The East Side of the Emirates Cup, Group B, has one of the oldest rivalries in NBA history. You’ve got the Celtics and the 76ers. They’ve met in the playoffs more times than any team in league history. They face off, let’s get spooky, on Halloween. Speaking of playoff matchups, group A sees the Cavs looking for revenge against the Pacers, who of course knocked them out in 2025. That meeting happens on November 21st in Indie. And group C has the Knicks who have very high hopes heading into the season, taking on the Bucks at Madison Square Garden. That’s going to be on November 28th. Giannis and company will look to run it back after winning the cup last season. So that first Sixers Celtics game is going to be interesting. Last year we saw a total of 15 games. Just 15 with Embiid, Paul George, and Maxi on the floor together. Chennet, are the Sixers the biggest wild card in the East? Absolutely. If health is on their side, we’re saying like we always do and sometimes it makes us feel the biggest if in the NBA. What What’s the saying? If ifs were fifths, we’d all be what? Drunk. Drunk. If it beats healthy, this is a team. This is a guy that’s an MVP. This is a guy that can pace, you know, the NBA at the top three or five in scoring. This is a guy that can also win DPOI. They also have Paul George who’s a certified 20 plus bucket whom we need to see consistently as well. They have Tyrese Maxi who has been dubbed the franchise by Joel Embiid. And people sleep on Jiren McCain out to injury early in the season. He’s someone that was definitely in that rookie of the year convers, you know, conversation. They have a lot of strong players. But if I am a betting woman, would I bet on them? Absolutely not. Because we have yet to see it all come together. And I feel for Philly. They’re really excited, I’m sure, about those young players, but this team and their success rely absolutely. But their their success is going to be due a lot of course uh Mark to those older guys. I’m waiting for it. I’m waiting for it. I I I think they need to give their trainer a raise. Yeah. Or or therapy. make sure they have therapy. But the but the my wild card, I’m gonna go with the Orlando Magic. I I think a lot of people expect them to take a jump. Can they take a jump in terms of competing for the Eastern Conference? Yeah, they’re they’re definitely the wild card and it’s because of that guy right there, Paulo Bancer. He’s outstanding. Vagner is going to make his first All-Star team along with Paulo. They’re going to have two allstars this year. Getting Bane from Memphis is huge. Quietly huge. They needed some more shooting. They needed some defense. They needed a veteran leader who’s played in some big games. He could do that getting Taius and then their young talented players get older. Just keep an eye on these guys. I I I really expect Powell to make a MVP caliber jump. All right, we do have breaking news this morning. Another NBA team is changing hands. Shams Shirananya reports that NHL Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundan has agreed to buy the Trailblazers from the estate of Paul Allen for a valuation of over $4 billion. Mark, anytime you have someone buy a team that does not live in that team city, the questions always begin, will the team stay in Portland? Yes. Uh the Allen estate has made it where anybody that bought team has to keep the team in Portland. So Blazers fan fans, you could certainly take a breath of relief. The team’s not leaving. And their new owner is quite interesting. Uh yeah, he’s a Texas guy and Carolina guy, but he turned around the Hurricanes in uh in terms of, you know, making them a winner. And he also has refurbished their arena. He’s going to refurbish this arena, get it ready for the 2030 uh final four women’s final four. And let’s see if he could add some extra juice. But he’s an owner that will be a new NBA owner, but I think because of his NHL background and pickle ball and other things he owns, I think he’s going to do it the right way. Do you play? I was going to say pickle ball’s hot. I’m scared of my Achilles. All right, still to come on court for you. Still to come on NBA today, the Fevers comeback falls short against the Wings as Indie remains without Caitlyn Clark. We’ve got an update on her status with the playoffs a month away. Plus, opening night in OKC, baby. The Thunder will raise their first championship banner with Kevin Durant in the building. Is Oh, and my beloved Rockets fans won’t have to wait long for Kevin Durant to make his Houston debut as KD will lead his new squad to his old stomping grounds in OKC on opening night. We now welcome NBA reporter Tim McMahon who covers all things Texas NBA, all things Rockets. Kim, what were your first impressions when you saw the league schedule makers worked their magic and decided to have KD in OKC as the Thunder raised their first ever banner? Howdy, Vanessa. I had a deep appreciation for the NBA’s feeling for uh how to create a little bit of drama. How do you create drama with a bunch of boy scouts raising a championship banner of the rafters? You bring back the guy who spurned that city almost a decade ago. And look, Kevin Durant’s free agency departure has kind of loomed over the Thunder franchise for years now. They got out under from under that shadow last year. Obviously, this is about Shane Gildas Alexander and the Thunder, a championship team perhaps a dynasty that’s bloom blooming in Bricktown. But look, even game seven of the NBA finals, what was the biggest story of that day? It wasn’t game seven of the finals. It was Kevin Durant being traded that morning. Kind of his pursuit of happiness continuing now to a fifth stop of his NBA career. And where better for that edition of Kevin Durant’s career to begin where it all began back in Oklahoma City and they’re finally celebrating a championship there. However poetic opening night may be, do you think it’s going to serve as that closure for the Thunder organization and their fan base? I mean, this will be one heck of a litmitness test. Is this going to be about the angst of Kevin Durant, or the celebration of Shay Gildas Alexander, of Jaylen Williams, Chad Holgren, and this team that just reeled off 668 wins, just won a championship, has a chance to potentially be a dynasty. If they are ever going to not forgive, but kind of forget about the the anger towards Kevin Durant, it will be on this night. Having said that, I’m not sure that he will ever be fully forgiven in Oklahoma City. I’m not sure that number 35 will ever be up in those rafters alongside that championship banner. Might I add that Steven Adams and Jeff Green will be there, too. Maybe that’ll soften things up a little bit. I don’t know. Mark, do you think the bad blood is there to stay? It’s time to let it go. At least from the Thunder franchise. I I I don’t know that the Thunder fans are going to let it go anytime soon, but like I covered Carl Melo Anthony his first eight seasons in or his first four seasons in Denver and that bad blood has never like went away and now it looks bad. Carmemelllo’s going into the Hall of Fame and there’s still not a olive branch between him and the Nuggets and and I remember seeing Vince Carter tear up when he went back as a player to Toronto and they healed. Melo never got that. So, what do the Nuggets do now? You know, now Luke uh Joker is wearing his jersey. He deserves his jersey to be retired there. He’s one of the top scorers of all time. And and I think the Thunder need to get ahead of it. Do some things to make Durant feel good about his time there. He he won an MVP. He led him to their first finals. He’s going to make the Hall of Fame. Be the bigger person and get him back into the fold. Be the bigger person. Asking that fan base that was in their feelings. Thunder as an organization to beat the bigger. Oh, you’re saying the not the fans. Good, good clarification. Kevin Durant is a legend of the game. One of the three players that we are celebrating yesterday. I called him the trifecta. Lebron, Steph, and KD. KD coming back. I don’t think it’ll be welcome arms, always cheers. But it is momentous because it showed that the franchise has turned the page. They won a championship and now turning the page maybe allows you to appreciate the past and having kept and Durant is great. The one thing that I love about this game is not just you know what’s happening outside the lines, what’s happening within the lines. These are two teams that will compete for championships based off of their construction for the years to come. The Rockets finished number two in the West and they added the piece that mattered, the one that will help boost their offense. They already have Eay. They already have the defense. They have maintained their young core which includes an all-star and Alper and Shangun and now you have the generational player that is going to hopefully bring them to the promised land. But the team that is literally trying to stop them, we get them on night one when they get their rings, when the banner drops, when you have the MVP and SGA, when you have these rising stars of Chat Homegrren and obviously JDub, it it could not be a better situation. But I do think that there is some kind of absolution in the fact that this is the only franch like this is the first time the franchise has a championship since Seattle, you know, ever since it moved to the OKC. So, there’s some peace there, but I don’t know if the piece is going to like mean KD is going to be crying. I don’t think KD’s going to I don’t think I I don’t know. I don’t know that KD is going to be shedding tears. And the NBA schedule makers definitely have a flare for the dramatics. That is for sure. All right, bringing it back to the here and now. The Rockets made a big splash trading for KD, but despite Houston being eligible to sign Durant to a two-year, $118 million
FULL NBA TODAY | Lakers’ Big Moves? Horford to LA, LeBron’s Fate & Trae Young Exit Buzz
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FULL NBA TODAY | Lakers’ Big Moves? Horford to LA, LeBron’s Fate & Trae Young Exit Buzz
FULL NBA TODAY | Lakers’ Big Moves? Horford to LA, LeBron’s Fate & Trae Young Exit Buzz
the season with ring night against KD and the Houston Rockets. We’ve got the Christmas Day slate on ESPN and ABC. Cavs Nicks, could that possibly be an East Finals preview? We also have LeBron’s record 20th Christmas Day game on a packed night. Another important date for the league. We have the full MLK day schedule for January 19th. Of course, ATL always front and center here. They will host the Milwaukee Bucks. And now hot off the presses, we have the NBA Emirates Cup schedule that just dropped this afternoon. Here are some of the biggest dates starting in the West. The 2025 Emirates Cup slate is full of those big matchups. West Group C features the Warriors and Nuggets. Steph leads the Warriors to play Denver to play Joic on November 7th. How about West Group A? They’re headlined by the reigning champs, the Thunder, and the team they beat in the Western Conference Finals, the Timberwolves. Those teams are going to meet on November 26th. West Groupy has the latest chapter of Luca Donuch against the Mavericks. Last time Luca faced off against his former team. Of course, he dropped 45 points in what was a very emotional night. Those teams will play on November 28th. Hi everybody, I’m Vanessa Richardson. I am in for Malikica Andrews. We’ve got Shane Gumay. We’ve got Mark Spears with me to sift through all of this information. Let’s start with the big game that everyone can now circle on their calendar. Mavs at Lakers. Now you add the NBA Cup. All of that drama into the mix. Jana, what are you watching for that first matchup? I’m watching two things. First things first, Cooper Flag. What do we say about him? He’s built different. He’s built tough. I want to see him go up against LeBron and Luca. We know that will bring out the best in the young rookie. But also, if you’re going to try to go micro a little bit, the weakness of the Los Angeles Lakers, they address by getting DeAndre Aton. I want to see the front court as well. But as we look at Cooper Flag, we know it’s going to be showtime. I mean, this has all the tentacles. You have the competitive firepower. You have the inside outside game. You have him just trying to exert his dominance as a rookie against LeBron. Like we’re going to get those moments that we’re going to play on highlights here on this show for years to come. But then also that front court, that’s what I’m looking at. Like Gaffford, Lively, AD, they’re going to be wanting to punish the Lakers, especially knowing that the Lakers that’s the area that that’s where Luca made. He helped make them and now it’s like you flip-flop, you roll reverse. So I think on both sides of the ball, whether it is the guards, the post, the wings, the forwards, like there’s so many cool story lines. So you ready for the video? What’s the movie? I’m going to still call it Staples. I’m never going to change that. You have to. The video can’t give it the time. The return to Anthony Davis, his return playing against the Lakers for the first time. I’m curious to what the Lakers fans feel about him, feel about his legacy in the Lakers uniform. I mean, he averaged 25 points and 11 rebounds and two blocks a game for his five and a half season career. Is it worthy cuz he’s going to be in I have a feeling. Is it worthy of putting that jersey in the rafters? H Jamal Wilks, he’s in there. He played couple more seasons, eight seasons, but Anthony Davis won a championship, won an NBA cup. I don’t know Lakers fans care about that. They like the championship more, but Oh, do they? Did he do enough to get his name in the rafters? I don’t know. I’ll have to think on that. Speaking of LeBron and AD, guys, there’s always drama on the gram. You know, there’s always drama on Instagram. Did you see this yesterday? They both posted the exact same images. LeBron and AD to their Instagram accounts. Quote, “Becoming the best version of yourself sometimes comes with a lot of goodbyes.” End quote. We have no idea if there’s a deeper meaning here. But Mark, what do you think of this post? And I feel like we have to pull out the Brian Winhorse. Why is that? the same quote on the same day. I I don’t understand the AD part of it, but in terms of LeBron part, the tea leaves are there. It’s the end of the road. Should we should we get boys the men playing or something? We’ve come. Oh, don’t do that. We’re not trying. Oh, you talking to her or to me? Both of y’all. Um, he said that we’re going to miss him when he’s gone. Using Drake, right? Or Jay-Z. And then now he’s golfing. When do people start golfing? They start golfing cuz they have free time. Especially athletes, they start golfing when they need something competitive to do, right? Golfing is the thing you can do until Why is he starting to golf now? Maybe he just has a new hobby, Mark. That’s a hobby that OG’s take when they don’t have to work no more. OG athletes take. So, I’m I’m just wondering if all these tea leaves are there and this latest tweet that tells us it’s the end of the road. Hey, don’t send the bill to I did it. Did I do it better? No. No, don’t send the bill to me. All right. I don’t want to be messy, but like at first I was like, how’s the relationship between the two? I know that was a tumultuous last year, but I we all know these guys are brothers. So, going off of what you’re saying, if this is the end of the road for LeBron, you see him playing golf. I don’t read too much into that. I more so watch him doing Pilates alongside Queen Savannah. That’s what I watch because that’s what keeps you top tier form. Pilates is like the ultimate foundational every woman. I’m speaking the language right now across America. Like Pilates, we’ve seen multiple players do it, but it just shows that he is so great at his craft and it starts with his body work. I mean, if LeBron wanted to play probably two, three more years, he absolutely can if he made that choice. If he wanted to play golf during the free time, he absolutely can. I’m not trying to play one and two can play more, but if this is we do know we do know that LeBron James does do subliminals and so if this is the beginning, you know, we better soak everything up. I love the videos of LeBron and Steph and how hard they’re still working out at this age, too. I mean, guys that are OGs, guys that are veterans that could just coast, but they’re putting, like you said, Pilates, so much into it. All right, let’s continue to talk about the cup. The East Side of the Emirates Cup, Group B, has one of the oldest rivalries in NBA history. You’ve got the Celtics and the 76ers. They’ve met in the playoffs more times than any team in league history. They face off, let’s get spooky, on Halloween. Speaking of playoff matchups, group A sees the Cavs looking for revenge against the Pacers, who of course knocked them out in 2025. That meeting happens on November 21st in Indie. And group C has the Knicks who have very high hopes heading into the season, taking on the Bucks at Madison Square Garden. That’s going to be on November 28th. Giannis and company will look to run it back after winning the cup last season. So that first Sixers Celtics game is going to be interesting. Last year we saw a total of 15 games. Just 15 with Embiid, Paul George, and Maxi on the floor together. Chennet, are the Sixers the biggest wild card in the East? Absolutely. If health is on their side, we’re saying like we always do and sometimes it makes us feel the biggest if in the NBA. What What’s the saying? If ifs were fifths, we’d all be what? Drunk. Drunk. If it beats healthy, this is a team. This is a guy that’s an MVP. This is a guy that can pace, you know, the NBA at the top three or five in scoring. This is a guy that can also win DPOI. They also have Paul George who’s a certified 20 plus bucket whom we need to see consistently as well. They have Tyrese Maxi who has been dubbed the franchise by Joel Embiid. And people sleep on Jiren McCain out to injury early in the season. He’s someone that was definitely in that rookie of the year convers, you know, conversation. They have a lot of strong players. But if I am a betting woman, would I bet on them? Absolutely not. Because we have yet to see it all come together. And I feel for Philly. They’re really excited, I’m sure, about those young players, but this team and their success rely absolutely. But their their success is going to be due a lot of course uh Mark to those older guys. I’m waiting for it. I’m waiting for it. I I I think they need to give their trainer a raise. Yeah. Or or therapy. make sure they have therapy. But the but the my wild card, I’m gonna go with the Orlando Magic. I I think a lot of people expect them to take a jump. Can they take a jump in terms of competing for the Eastern Conference? Yeah, they’re they’re definitely the wild card and it’s because of that guy right there, Paulo Bancer. He’s outstanding. Vagner is going to make his first All-Star team along with Paulo. They’re going to have two allstars this year. Getting Bane from Memphis is huge. Quietly huge. They needed some more shooting. They needed some defense. They needed a veteran leader who’s played in some big games. He could do that getting Taius and then their young talented players get older. Just keep an eye on these guys. I I I really expect Powell to make a MVP caliber jump. All right, we do have breaking news this morning. Another NBA team is changing hands. Shams Shirananya reports that NHL Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundan has agreed to buy the Trailblazers from the estate of Paul Allen for a valuation of over $4 billion. Mark, anytime you have someone buy a team that does not live in that team city, the questions always begin, will the team stay in Portland? Yes. Uh the Allen estate has made it where anybody that bought team has to keep the team in Portland. So Blazers fan fans, you could certainly take a breath of relief. The team’s not leaving. And their new owner is quite interesting. Uh yeah, he’s a Texas guy and Carolina guy, but he turned around the Hurricanes in uh in terms of, you know, making them a winner. And he also has refurbished their arena. He’s going to refurbish this arena, get it ready for the 2030 uh final four women’s final four. And let’s see if he could add some extra juice. But he’s an owner that will be a new NBA owner, but I think because of his NHL background and pickle ball and other things he owns, I think he’s going to do it the right way. Do you play? I was going to say pickle ball’s hot. I’m scared of my Achilles. All right, still to come on court for you. Still to come on NBA today, the Fevers comeback falls short against the Wings as Indie remains without Caitlyn Clark. We’ve got an update on her status with the playoffs a month away. Plus, opening night in OKC, baby. The Thunder will raise their first championship banner with Kevin Durant in the building. Is Oh, and my beloved Rockets fans won’t have to wait long for Kevin Durant to make his Houston debut as KD will lead his new squad to his old stomping grounds in OKC on opening night. We now welcome NBA reporter Tim McMahon who covers all things Texas NBA, all things Rockets. Kim, what were your first impressions when you saw the league schedule makers worked their magic and decided to have KD in OKC as the Thunder raised their first ever banner? Howdy, Vanessa. I had a deep appreciation for the NBA’s feeling for uh how to create a little bit of drama. How do you create drama with a bunch of boy scouts raising a championship banner of the rafters? You bring back the guy who spurned that city almost a decade ago. And look, Kevin Durant’s free agency departure has kind of loomed over the Thunder franchise for years now. They got out under from under that shadow last year. Obviously, this is about Shane Gildas Alexander and the Thunder, a championship team perhaps a dynasty that’s bloom blooming in Bricktown. But look, even game seven of the NBA finals, what was the biggest story of that day? It wasn’t game seven of the finals. It was Kevin Durant being traded that morning. Kind of his pursuit of happiness continuing now to a fifth stop of his NBA career. And where better for that edition of Kevin Durant’s career to begin where it all began back in Oklahoma City and they’re finally celebrating a championship there. However poetic opening night may be, do you think it’s going to serve as that closure for the Thunder organization and their fan base? I mean, this will be one heck of a litmitness test. Is this going to be about the angst of Kevin Durant, or the celebration of Shay Gildas Alexander, of Jaylen Williams, Chad Holgren, and this team that just reeled off 668 wins, just won a championship, has a chance to potentially be a dynasty. If they are ever going to not forgive, but kind of forget about the the anger towards Kevin Durant, it will be on this night. Having said that, I’m not sure that he will ever be fully forgiven in Oklahoma City. I’m not sure that number 35 will ever be up in those rafters alongside that championship banner. Might I add that Steven Adams and Jeff Green will be there, too. Maybe that’ll soften things up a little bit. I don’t know. Mark, do you think the bad blood is there to stay? It’s time to let it go. At least from the Thunder franchise. I I I don’t know that the Thunder fans are going to let it go anytime soon, but like I covered Carl Melo Anthony his first eight seasons in or his first four seasons in Denver and that bad blood has never like went away and now it looks bad. Carmemelllo’s going into the Hall of Fame and there’s still not a olive branch between him and the Nuggets and and I remember seeing Vince Carter tear up when he went back as a player to Toronto and they healed. Melo never got that. So, what do the Nuggets do now? You know, now Luke uh Joker is wearing his jersey. He deserves his jersey to be retired there. He’s one of the top scorers of all time. And and I think the Thunder need to get ahead of it. Do some things to make Durant feel good about his time there. He he won an MVP. He led him to their first finals. He’s going to make the Hall of Fame. Be the bigger person and get him back into the fold. Be the bigger person. Asking that fan base that was in their feelings. Thunder as an organization to beat the bigger. Oh, you’re saying the not the fans. Good, good clarification. Kevin Durant is a legend of the game. One of the three players that we are celebrating yesterday. I called him the trifecta. Lebron, Steph, and KD. KD coming back. I don’t think it’ll be welcome arms, always cheers. But it is momentous because it showed that the franchise has turned the page. They won a championship and now turning the page maybe allows you to appreciate the past and having kept and Durant is great. The one thing that I love about this game is not just you know what’s happening outside the lines, what’s happening within the lines. These are two teams that will compete for championships based off of their construction for the years to come. The Rockets finished number two in the West and they added the piece that mattered, the one that will help boost their offense. They already have Eay. They already have the defense. They have maintained their young core which includes an all-star and Alper and Shangun and now you have the generational player that is going to hopefully bring them to the promised land. But the team that is literally trying to stop them, we get them on night one when they get their rings, when the banner drops, when you have the MVP and SGA, when you have these rising stars of Chat Homegrren and obviously JDub, it it could not be a better situation. But I do think that there is some kind of absolution in the fact that this is the only franch like this is the first time the franchise has a championship since Seattle, you know, ever since it moved to the OKC. So, there’s some peace there, but I don’t know if the piece is going to like mean KD is going to be crying. I don’t think KD’s going to I don’t think I I don’t know. I don’t know that KD is going to be shedding tears. And the NBA schedule makers definitely have a flare for the dramatics. That is for sure. All right, bringing it back to the here and now. The Rockets made a big splash trading for KD, but despite Houston being eligible to sign Durant to a two-year, $118 million
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