Zach begins by talking about the state of the Grizzlies with Chris Vernon (1:39): What does Ja Morant’s suspension mean for his future, and how much does he mean to the city of Memphis? Next, Michael Pina joins (25:23) to first discuss some fake trades involving Ja, as well as a potential disaster looming in New Orleans. Then, a trip around the Western Conference, with first impressions of Luka and the Lakers (44:12), the Nuggets (50:25), the Blazers (56:21), the Clippers (1:02:54), and the Wolves (1:10:44). All that plus some injury news, and where Game 7 of the World Series ranks among the all-time nerve-wracking games in sports (1:25:03)!

Host: Zach Lowe

Guests: Chris Vernon and Michael Pina

Producers: Mike Wargon, Jesse Aron, Jonathan Frias

Social: Keith Fujimoto

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This episode is sponsored by Anthropic, the team behind Claude. Try Claude for free today at Claude.ai/LOWE.

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