Rachel Nichols joined Matt Barnes on the latest episode of All The Smoke Unplugged and they discussed Luka Dončić’s revenge game against the Dallas Mavericks and also shed light on all the chatter about how to fix the NBA All-Star Game format.
NBA fans were chomping at the bit to see Dončić go up against his former team. Although the Lakers were victorious and Dončić performed in true Dončić fashion, putting up a triple-double of 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists, Nichols believed the true revenge game would be in Dallas on April 9. She stressed that the CRAZIEST revenge game she saw in person was LeBron James’ return back to Cleveland after departing for Miami. Batteries were being thrown at players, and some even grazed sideline reporters. The noise level and crowd, she explained, were out of control. Nichols said we were robbed of the sizzle of the first revenge matchup because the game took place in LA, but also because Anthony Davis was not on the court, so fans couldn’t see who had the better team head up.
Make no mistake about it — the level of urgency has ramped up for the Lakers. Nichols pointed out what stuck out to her about head coach JJ Redick. One was his approach to the Lakers’ clash with the Denver Nuggets, where they ran away with the win, 123-100. Redick sacrificed hours of sleep staying up to prepare for the game — yes, you read that right, he stayed up hours to prepare for a regular season NBA game against a Nuggets team the Lakers have not defeated in Denver in three years. Nichols also added that after the game that Redick said he hoped the team could build off that performance. For his part, Barnes does not count out the Lakers, Nuggets, or Oklahoma City representing the Western Conference when all said and done. He still sees Boston as the top dog, but you also can’t forget about the Golden State Warriors, who have what he calls a Freddy vs. Jason complex where you have to wipe them out TOTALLY like a horror monster now that they have injected Jimmy Butler into their veins.
The biggest question for the Lakers remains whether they can play any defense. With James getting older, it is on the rest of the team to pick up their defensive intensity. Barnes believes that Dončić will get better with effort, but more importantly, he wonders how far the Lakers can go this season with solid defensive effort. Nichols observed how, in the past, it seemed like the Western Conference was trending toward bigs. However, the teams that followed that trend, like the Timberwolves, are not doing as well. Barnes believes the only time size will matter for the Lakers is if they face the Nuggets in the playoffs. He even pointed to the Celtics as not necessarily a big team but one that is very skilled. Barnes said that it could come down to whether the Lakers play great team defense and ride the wave. He explained that defense ultimately comes down to effort and mindset. A stat that should bring Lakers fans hope is that they have been top six in defense over the last five games.
Jumping back into the HEATED discourse around fixing the NBA All-Star Game that was ratcheted up by P.K. Subban’s comments on the NBA and its players, Nichols bluntly said the new All-Star format is DUMB. She added that, frankly, coming up with multiple ways to play a basketball game is asinine. A good basketball game is two teams competing and playing HARD. She explained that if you wanted to fix the game itself, don’t put it on the last day of the week, don’t put corporate talking heads in the stands instead of true fans who will call out a misstep from a player. As for the popular notion of a potential one-on-one tournament, Nichols spoke last year with players like Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Damian Lillard, and Anthony Edwards, players you would want to see in this tournament. She says that Irving shared that the conversation around one-on-one has to change. It can’t be about someone losing, followed by the media coming crashing down on them. Nichols says she was told if the networks are going to present it as who is going to embarrass who and players feel like they were putting themselves out there in a way that would be more negative than anything they would get out of it they wouldn’t go for it. She says everyone collectively would have to talk about it differently, where it is just something fun. Whether we can all agree to be nice in the Twitter era remains to be seen. And Matt thinks it would be hard not to fall victim to the memes and the outside noise and that potential blow to the players’ pride is what will keep a one-on-one tournament from happening.
Barnes leans more toward having a U.S. vs. the World tournament to restore pride in the All-Star Game. Nichols challenged Barnes to build out those rosters because she claimed that’s where it gets sticky. She contends that the owners of the teams in both conferences want their equal spots on the two teams for marketing purposes. She expressed that even though the World roster looks good, it is softer toward the end of their lineups. On the other side, for the U.S., you would have some rightful All-Star spots being taken away to fill out a 12-man U.S. squad. Think about the All-Star Game snubs from this year’s game. With the All-Star Game being a high honor, it would be impossible to have a U.S. vs. World matchup as it would not be fair to those who deserve to make the All-Star Game.
Watch or listen to the full episode below and keep an eye on DraftKings Network for new episodes of All The Smoke Unplugged every Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET!
SHOW BREAKDOWN
PK Subban Goes at NBA, Warriors & Lakers Cooking, Luka’s Revenge Game | ALL THE SMOKE
VIDEO:
Check out the DraftKings YouTube page and the All The Smoke Productions YouTube page for more. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on Instagram at @Matt_Barnes9 and @_Stak5_ as well as All The Smoke Productions.
The Crown Is Yours: Sign up for DraftKings and experience the ultimate host for games and betting experiences!
