Two rookie podcasters meet a veteran podcaster when Chris Haynes and Marc Stein host Golden State's Draymond Green on #thisleague UNCUT. In Part 1 of their conversation, Draymond dishes on why this has been the hardest of Golden State's four title defenses, goes in-depth on his own mindset on D and the Warriors' struggles at the defensive end on the road this season and shares detailed insight on the way he approached the recent home win over New Orleans in which the defending champions came back from 20 points down in perhaps their most important victory over the season.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Until the next time Chris Haynes and Marc Stein connect for the usual serving of #thisleague UNCUT, Marc has an essay that focuses on Kevin Durant and the unprecedented nature of the Suns trying to win a championship after trading Durant at midseason ... with some ranting about a deflating final week of the regular season thrown in. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Entering the final week of the regular season, Chris Haynes and Marc Stein dig into the hottest news items in their notebooks in the latest edition of #thisleague UNCUT. They share insights on the NBA's new labor deal and proceed from there to Kyrie Irving's future in Dallas, Stephen Curry's suggested MVP vote and then the latest from the coaching carousel regarding Toronto's Nick Nurse and San Antonio's Gregg Popovich. Also: Haynes and Stein share some tales from their time as residents of the NBA Bubble in summer of 2020. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fresh off Sacramento clinching its first playoff spot since 2005-06, Kings head coach Mike Brown joins Haynes and Stein for a wide-ranging and candid convo that explains the approach he brought into this new job, some of the challenges involved in trying to change a culture, jobs he didn't get before landing Sacramento's, Xs-and-Os insights to explain some of the success De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis have achieved this season, how aware the Kings are of some West teams reportedly wanting to face them in the playoffs and some little-known history about what his playing career had in common with Dirk Nowitzki's. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the latest episode of #thisleague UNCUT, Marc Stein tells Chris Haynes that he thinks we already know the 10 teams that will occupy the top 10 spots in the final West standings ... because Stein contends that the Mavericks will not be able to rally from their two consecutive losses to Charlotte to even make the play-in round. From there the guys go deep on the Mavericks' nightmarish weekend, Luka Doncic discussing his frustrations, Dallas' struggles since trading for Kyrie Irving and how badly the Mavs miss the guy Chris just interviewed for Bleacher Report: Jalen Brunson. There's also much more on the West playoff race, LeBron James' earlier-than-expected comeback, Patrick Berkeley's impact on the Bulls and, thanks to Haynes' storytelling, more about Stein's motoring preferences than you ever expected to hear. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the latest episode of #thisleague UNCUT, after Chris Haynes' arrival for their latest recording was delayed slightly by a one-on-one chat he had to finish up with a Knicks star, Chris joined Marc Stein to discuss all the latest major injury news in the West surrounding Paul George, LeBron James and Zion Williamson and how injuries have affected the strange-looking West standings. They also naturally talked about the Dallas Mavericks' looming protest of their Wednesday night home loss to Golden State, delved into the tenuous climate for referees in today's NBA and closed, unexpectedly, with some moving remembrances of former Trail Blazers forward Jerome Kersey. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What can you expect from the latest episode of #thisleague UNCUT? Ifyou want injury updates on LeBron James and Anthony Davis that you can't get anywhere else ... and more rants about the uncharacteristic mediocrity that pervades the Western Conference ... and Chris Haynes' insistence that Mike Brown should be a UNANIMOUS Coach of the Year selection ... and Marc Stein's (let's call it untraditional) list of his all-time favorite hoops sneaks ... and another hard-to-fathom tale from Haynes about the time he almost had to cover a game on television with no shirt ... THIS is your podcast! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest edition of #thisleague UNCUT covers lots of ground, from our reaction to the NBA's Ja Morant sanctions to a breakdown of the very crowded All-NBA landscape for guards to our review of Damian Lillard's latest podcast comments to JJ Redick -- as well as what he said to this very podcast about a month ago. As a bonus, at Chris Haynes' behest, we also addressed some listener complaints after nearly two months of podding together. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the latest edition of #thisleague UNCUT, Marc Stein rants against the uncharacteristic  mediocrity throughout the Western Conference that, essentially 70 games into season, has begun to set him off. Chris Haynes isn't quite as down on the West as Stein ... maybe because he just connected with Kings coach Mike Brown and star guard De'Aaron Fox for an inside look at Sacramento's Cinderella season. The guys go in-depth on Chris' recent Bleacher Report story on the West's No. 2 seed and the Kings' long-awaited playoff push and also talk more about various award races, share some behind-the-scenes stories about what's been happening in Sactown in recent seasons and somehow wind up with an unplanned but revealing look at elements of Chris' college career.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the latest edition of #thisleague UNCUT, Chris Haynes and Marc Stein get together to talk about Joel Embiid's postgame interview with Chris from Tuesday night on TNT, how Embiid seems almost resigned to losing the MVP race to Nikola Jokic again, how both Haynes and Stein believe the race is NOT over, how they both approach MVP voting philosophically ... plus an extended discussion about James Harden's first full season in Philadelphia and the looming threat of him going back to Houston. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.