All-Star voting exposed a truth fans don’t always want to hear: players judge stars differently—especially on defense. Ric Bucher and Brendan Haywood unpack why Jaylen Brown’s “best two-way player” self-proclamation isn’t just talk… and why Brendan says he’s buying the tickets.

Then the conversation turns into a full-blown All-Star reserves draft, where “rewarding winning” collides with stats on bad teams, and the East gets weird—fast. Expect pushback, tone-policing (family-member status granted), and spicy calls like Josh Giddey as an All-Star, Jalen Duren getting love, and a Western debate that forces one name back onto the list: Devin Booker.

And if you want the real tension point? The guys break down why players ranked Luka outside the top tier even when fans had him at the top—because in the NBA, two ends of the court still matter.

• 00:00 — Welcome to Finding the Seams: the college-to-pro + roster-to-starter podcast
• 00:42 — House cleaning: All-Star voting and why the 3 voting blocs disagree
• 01:23 — Jaylen Brown: “best two-way in the league”? Ric asks Brendan to co-sign
• 02:11 — Brendan: Brown is self-proclaimed… and he’s right
• 02:38 — SGA vs Brown: better offense vs better defense (and why roles matter)
• 05:16 — Celtics context: are we giving Brown too much credit?
• 06:03 — “Revisionist history”: nobody saw Boston here—why that matters
• 07:30 — Who else scores 25+ and locks up? The Kawhi comparison
• 09:11 — “It’s not what you said… it’s how you said it” + honorary family member moment
• 09:57 — All-Star starters recap: Steph over Ant, and what surprised them
• 11:05 — The shocker: Players snub Luka (and the defense explanation)
• 11:45 — Do players still resist international stars? (the old-school test)
• 14:14 — KG vs young players, Draymond’s “selective” edge, and who you don’t talk to
• 17:33 — EAST reserves draft: “casual fans are gonna say WHO?”
• 18:21 — Picks and debates: Towns, Barnes, Mitchell, Duren, Jalen Johnson, more
• 20:39 — “I’m getting GIDDY with it”: Josh Giddey All-Star case
• 23:03 — KAT discourse: defense, inconsistency, and trade talk
• 26:33 — WEST reserves: Ant, KD, Jamal, Kawhi, Sengun… and the Avdija curveball
• 27:28 — Devin Booker omission… and the emergency correction
• 29:00 — Kawhi: All-Star play vs games played
• 30:23 — Nuggets without Jokic + Peyton Watson prediction
• 32:17 — The Rosa Parks / “Ro Sparks” misunderstanding story
• 35:09 — ChatGPT “got the call” joke + Lakers/LeBron tease
• 46:01 — Avdija fan votes vs Ant: locker room All-Star debates + “pack a lunch” defense talk
• 49:47 — Wrap-up + where to watch/listen and join live

#FindingTheSeams #UnitedWeCast #RicBucher #BrendanHaywood #NBA #AllStar #AllStarVoting #JalenBrown #TwoWayPlayer #DefenseMatters #SGA #LukaDoncic #AnthonyEdwards #DevinBooker #JoshGiddey #JalenDuren #NBAPodcast #BasketballTalk #NBADebate

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