Transcript of A Jokic Fest, the Worry Scale, Rather Have, and Favorite Movie Girlfriends LIVE From Denver With Ryen Russillo

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$1,000,000 Picks. So I am going to do a podcast after Packers Lions tomorrow night. So the we are ending up doing 3 episodes this week. The 1 today, right now, that you're listening to. And then after that packer's lines, a reaction with some other stuff that I have banked that I'm pretty excited about.

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So glad we did this. And if you wanna hear 2 guys talk about Nikola Jokic for a couple minutes, you've come to the right place. Marcello and Simmons live from Denver next. First, our friends from. I should've worked out today.

I I feel feel scrawny. Thanks for coming out. Thank you to State Farm because I always forget to thank them before we start this stuff. But, Owen Story. Thank you to Story.

Here's how this show happened. I texted Priscilla, and I said Jokic is in playing Golden State in the NBA Cup game on a Tuesday. Live show?

And he was like, fuck yeah.

Why do you love Denver so much?

You know, I think it was, I had a bunch of friends. Like, there's a big Vermont, Colorado thing. Right? There you go. And I think once they were like, alright, I've kinda done the JV version of things in Vermont.

I'm gonna head out to Colorado. And when I left ESPN, and I was kinda going, like, alright, Manhattan Beach or Denver, it was, like, really close.

Was it a toss-up?

It was. It was ocean or friendship, and then friendship lost out to the ocean.

I think that people in Denver, every time I'm here, they're disarmingly nice. That's what I that's what I notice over and over again. I'm like, oh, man. People are just nice here. But then I wonder.

I think those are my friends, by the way. Then I wonder if

it was just they're stoned.

I I can't tell you. 1 of the Friendship.

So we're gonna try to do a version of the pot that we would do on Sunday nights because we haven't done Sunday nights this year because That's right. We should wait till when the when the football season's over. Yeah. We have a lot of basketball stuff to talk about. But the real reason we're here, let's be honest, Russell and I both love Nikola Jokic.

We're not gonna hide it. We love how the guy plays. He's about as reliable as it gets from an entertainment standpoint, not just sports music, movies, TV. I feel like Succession got to this point for me, Succession episodes where I

was like,

I just know this is gonna be a good episode. We just love Jokic, and we wanted to surround ourselves with 1100 people who also love Jokic, which is why this first segment is gonna be called Jokic porn. We're just gonna porn it up.

We don't have a slideshow for this show.

Is that oh my god. He did he we were sitting behind the scores table yesterday, and, he came up, and we were just kinda marveling at him. We're like, look at that guy. Oh, man. Just amazing.

Where do you wanna start? Do you wanna start with notes from last night? Do you wanna go big picture? Where do you where do you wanna go?

I the only thing I would say is that, you know, Bill and I have been doing this, whether it's together or separately for a really long time, that I know personally, like, players that I start to like or start to hate have a lot to do with how the fans talk to us. So there's just players I know nothing about, and I despise them just because of what their fan base has said the entire time. And Denver and Nuggets fans are seriously maybe the only, like, modern history intensely annoying fan base about 1 guy, and you were totally right about it. So I think that needs to be said because more often than not, I'm like, nah. You were wrong.

You guys are just annoying about the whole thing. And I don't think it was ever that we didn't They just got to appreciate him, I think, quicker than we did because you you were watching it happen. And whether it was the draft, and you're like, hey. That that fat guy is kinda, like, fun to watch. Yeah.

But what like, what's he really gonna be? And And then you're like, oh, he's gonna be, like, without question. Like, I mean, the list starts at 1, and I don't even like, I love Giannis. We all love Luke and everything, but the the gap between him and the next guy right now, I think, is significant. I

this is great. I'm already having a great time. I think what's crazy about this year is he somehow got better. I mean, he already won 3 MVPs in a title. See, I told you, we're gonna pawn it up with Jokic.

And I I think the best way a friend of mine described it, and I'm gonna steal it from him, where Jokic was always playing chess when he was out there. Right? He was always, like, 2, 3 moves ahead. He was just so smart. It it was always so admirable to watch how he just processed the game.

But then Minnesota boo. Minnesota threw some stuff at him. Right? They were like, yeah. We're we're actually fine with you taking those threes.

We're gonna beat you up. We're just gonna throw big guys at you. We're gonna try to wear you down. And now this season, it feels like he's he's moved into this speed chess mode, where it's not just chess. He's down solving stuff instantaneously and watching him in person last night.

I mean, Golden State was like, you're not doing the thing you always do. We're you're not we're not giving you 14 assists tonight. Right. You're you're gonna we're gonna take away everybody else, and you're gonna have to do the thing you hate to do, which is score a lot. And he's like, alright.

Fine. Fuck. And ends up with 38. He's 6 for 7 in the Q4, makes all the big shots, but I just feel like he's solving stuff faster. Does that make sense?

Yeah. Because I I think he knows he needs to. And I think that 1st week, like, I both hated and loved it. Like, we all get geared up for the start of the season. We all know we were worried about the bench.

Look at me. I'm saying we like I actually moved here. But, you know, when you you knew there were gonna be some serious problems with the depth and letting KCP go and the draft picks, you know, still kinda like a massive question mark about whether or not they're viable rotation pieces. And he took, I think, 13 shots in that opener against OKC, and it gets smoked. The next 2 games, he takes 27 and 26 shots.

And I was so happy about it because it was like this immediate thing within 48 hours where he went, I guess this is what I'm gonna have to do. I mean, he's not shooting it that much, but he's shooting it more now this season than any other point in his career. And yet his efficiency is in line with the best season he's ever had, which is probably the 1 he had 2 years ago. So he can unlock anything in every single game at that size in a way that I don't know that we've ever seen before.

I haven't seen him in Denver. I've seen him obviously all over the place, but not here. He he did 2 things last night. You know, you could pick up most of it on TV. 1 of the things was he was just trying to read what Golden State was gonna do from what Kerr was telling his players.

So he would, like, run down, and he'd be in the paint on the Golden State side just watching Kerr, what he was saying, and what he was flashing. And then he was yelling to his teammates, they're running 53, and Kerr would

be like, what the fuck? Like, you're cheating.

He was getting mad, but he was calling out other place, everything they're doing Curry, which has been a recurring theme. So that was 1. The other 1, they're up to there's, like, what, 16 seconds left. They're playing keep away, and he gets the ball at the top of the key. Normally, when a guy gets it, they either throw it back out or they dribble out.

They're just trying to they know they're gonna get fouled. And he was like, oh, they're gonna foul me. I'm actually gonna lurch forward, drive into this guy, and see if I can get a 3 point play, which I don't think I'd ever seen anyone process it that fast. So 2 little things, but we left. We were just, like, beaming.

We we didn't know what to do. We were like, that was amazing. We it was like the Chris Farley show with Paul McCartney. Remember when we saw Jokic? That was awesome.

Yeah. We if if he had been in town and would've declined the request because he would have. Right. If we would ever get the chance, like, I think I would be such a loser in that interview. Good.

Like, remember when you did that thing? Like, what what what were you thinking about when you did it? And and I think, honestly, I think, like, the hard part with it too, and it's the same back to his drafting. Like, when the draft comes around, I'm an athlete snob, and you go, I don't know. Is is this is this going to work?

And then it starts working, and then you start comparing them. And we had all those nasty MVP conversations, which I just made me root for him, I think, even more. Because it just it just was ridiculous. Like, some of the stuff and I had no it turns into propaganda, and it becomes really political. And it's like, okay.

But if your any of your points are tearing this guy down, like, you just you're not you're either not watching or you're not being fair or you're not being honest or you can't see the things. And I I think it's such a visual thing with him that we've talked about in the past is other basketball players have done things that are just esthetically more pleasing. I've seen him get back in transition where I thought he was gonna have a heart attack.

Right.

I was like, does he have does he have, like, polio? Like, what the fuck is wrong with him right now? And and yet he's always in position. He knows everybody everybody what they're gonna be doing ahead of time. And, you know, when I say no one's he's unlocked the game at his size, I mean, certainly LeBron, and I'm I'm just giving because Jokic has got an inch on him or 2, and then Magic the same thing.

But, like, to be straight up a center and then know, okay. Well, if they're doubling me, then it's all of these things. If they're not doubling me, he's just sitting there in the triple threat at the free throw line going up against, TJD, and he's just he's just been like, alright. If you're gonna give me 1 on 1, and I'm just gonna just jab step you and hit this free throw. Like, Like, I would like a night where he just did it 35 times.

Like, score 60. Right.

They won by 4 last night. He played 40 minutes and was plus 23. So try to figure that 1 out. They're minus 19 when they didn't play.

Well, those first 3 minutes of the Q4, as you know, are the most horrifying. Just panicking. Like, there are horror movies that are more fun than those 3 minutes of every Q4 where you're, Like, they they were minus 8 in those 3 minutes. I'm like, Golden State has to win this, and they won it, and then they still lose the game because he comes back in.

1 thing sorry to get big picture on this. But 1 thing I was thinking with him, there's still, like, mystery with him. I don't know a lot about him. And I and people are trying to figure out, like, NBA ratings are going down a little bit. What does this mean to people like the product as much?

Is it too easy to follow the sport, without actually watching the games game in and game out? But I do think a piece of it is there's no mystery with any of these guys. They they're all on social media. You know them. Like, they're they're doing, like, the infomercial documentaries about themselves.

They're all over the place. They're super available. And I feel like I know all of them, and and when you think, like, when we were growing up, we didn't know anything about anybody we watched. And Jokic is, like, 1 of the last I know he's got 2 brothers. I know I know he likes horses.

I I know he goes to Serbia as soon as the season ends, and that's it. Like, I don't even know, like, what kind of car does he drive? Nothing. Right? What do you know?

Do you know anything other than that?

I know I I think it pisses everybody else off that this guy is this dominant, and there's not gonna be a workout program that he's gonna share. Right. Right? Like, there's not gonna be a mamba mentality rip off of Jokic that it's like you know, I remember I know Mike Singer wrote the book about him, and I was listening to an interview that he did. So there were some excerpts, and it was he hated practice.

He didn't wanna do any of these things. So it's it's like the opposite of everything that you would tell your kid. Like, this guy hated all of the extra stuff, and yet he's this dominant. But it's it's about his instincts and his vision and just simple things, like watching people play basketball, like I have now for for, like, 40 years. And you watch the ball come out of his hands, and, like, even when it's off, it's, like, no, it's just soft.

It's perfectly soft, and it, like, cuddles with the rim a little bit, and then it falls back in. It's his hands. Like, I know that it was the water pole thing, but, like, however he was taught to look at the game, it's really special stuff because he he just he just sees in a way that you have to kinda be born with that I I just don't I don't even know if that can be taught.

See, I told you it was gonna be Jokic porn. You guys didn't believe me. You guys were like, ah, they'll do 5 minutes. Yeah. It would be interesting, like, if Jokic started doing stuff that the other players do, how how startling it would be, whereas, like, Jokic just formed a production company.

Like, what? He wants to make independent movies. I wanna

tell stories about un underserved stories. Right. Or he just he has an IT band thing on Instagram. All of a sudden, he's running. There's no days off.

You're like, what?

Jokic just bought a woman's soccer team. He did? Big picture. Well, it's 20 games. We're not gonna do the he's gonna win the MVP.

He's certainly on pace. He's averaging 30 and 13 and 10. He's shooting 56%, and he's shooting 52% from 3, which is more than half in case you can't do math. And if he gets a 4th MVP here, now we're in the club with Jordan, LeBron, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Wilt Chamberlain, and that's it. What's interesting, 2 things are in play now.

Well, 1, he's kinda clinched, the the best guy of the 20 twenties. Because now

once he gets some time still.

Well, we got so when we're halfway through the decade. We're heading toward the second half. I don't know who could make a run at him in the second half if you just look at the candidates. Like, the resume he already has, if he won 4 MVPs, like, who would be able to match that in the second half of the decade? We're talking this is a lot to ask for LaMelo Ball is my point.

Yeah.

Yeah. He has some work to do. Yeah. You know, scoring a lot. I think we'll get to him maybe later in the show.

But, yeah, you're right. I mean, that's kinda why it gets back to even I've never rooted for the nuggets necessarily. Like, I'm never I don't have something that back in the day. Yeah. I would have probably started 2 years ago and and tapped out after this off season.

But That's coming up later too. There could be somebody that gets well, you're right. We're halfway through it. So who gets a second ring? That would be the the dumb ring count thing that gets in the way, I think, of of just being honest about who players are sometimes.

So you're right. You might be right. To be

a guy that has to meet that is in their twenties that makes a huge leap over the next 3 years. So, like, I'm not well, Wimpy, would he have enough time? So you guys are gonna laugh, but the only guy I think could could be in the running is my guy, Jayson Tatum. Yeah. I said it.

Getting booed? Just just if the Celtics won a bunch of titles. That's it. But I don't think that's gonna happen.

Alright. Is Tatum a more athletic Jokic? There's

no bad ideas in a race.

Come on. Yeah. Yeah. But no no 1 has ever look. Tatum, I think, is actually underrated at this point, but don't worry.

Don't worry. Don't worry. Wow. He's never once and never will be considered the best player in the world. Right.

That's why it's not gonna happen. Best center since Kareem is in play for him too. But, yeah, I was looking back at the What

else is in play? You're good at Well, I was looking update this stuff a lot. I do. But I like it. You're keeping track.

It's 1 of my things when I'm bored on an airplane when we haven't taken off yet. I'm like, I think I'll work on the pantheon.

How many times have you ranked the top 20 players of all time in your life?

I just did it 4 hours ago.

He sent me the text.

It's interesting. I mean, doing best part by decade isn't totally fair because sometimes people can peak starting in the middle of decade or whatever. But if you go back, like, 2,010 is LeBron and Curry And probably, like, in that order. Right?

It's LeBron. Yeah. I mean, I mean, you can do the ring count thing, but, you know, even if Curry was winning MVPs and I

thought he had better season, she was there. Could make a Curry case, he wouldn't be right. 1. In 2000, it's Duncan and Kobe, and that's a bloodbath argument that we're not gonna have right now.

Shouldn't shouldn't be.

Yeah. I have Duncan, but other people would say Kobe. 19 nineties is MJ alone. There's no other person in the combo. Eighties is Magic and Byrd.

Seventies is Kareem. Is it Magic? And sixties is Russell Wilt.

Longer run, those Pistons finals?

Kareem in the seventies, Russell Milt in the sixties. The point is Jokic doesn't even really have a rival for the 20 twenties yet, which I think is interesting. I guess it would be Giannis if he could

I think Giannis is the 2nd best player. You know, as much as I'm, like, in love with the the Jokic part of it, there there's a health element to the Giannis discussion, how he'll age. The

playoffs last couple of years were tough.

Yeah. But

well, here's the problem. Dramatic pause. I think he's had the worst luck with teammates of any great player if you're talking about the top 15. Never played with an NBA guy. Murray gets hurt.

When he got hurt, cost 2 playoffs. Now he's got Murray and Porter taking up 40% of the cap. And I hate to say it. I hope he's not here. I doubt he is, but the owner was a fucking cheapskate.

Like, spend some money. Give him Nikola Jokic on your team. You have 1 of the best 15 players of all time in his prime. Go into the 2nd apron, motherfucker.

So you have 4 you have him 14th as of today. For all time? Yeah.

I need to see how this plays out, but he is in the 9 to 13 range for me now.

You could argue you could make an argument for him as the 9th best player of all time today.

Depending if he wins a 4th MVP, I think it's in play. Here's where I laid out. The 8

and see who he's hypothetically in range of.

You the list just because you guys all Jordan first because he's the GOAT until I die. LeBron Russell Kareem, that would be the Mount Rushmore. Magic Bird, Duncan, Wilt. And then it's like, I originally had core Curry Kobe West, and then Hakim Shaq Moses, and Jokic is somewhere in that last 6. But if he wins a 4th MVP and he carries his Denver team to, like, the western finals or better with what we watched last night, where where he can't even come out of the game for 2 and a half minutes, like, he literally couldn't come out of the game.

The Mike Ballon had called time out because the team was cratering. So I think he's somewhere in that range. But I think for me, just as somebody who's watched basketball my whole life, I like, he's he does the same stuff Bird of Magic did, and he's been doing that for 6, 7 years.

Do you think he see, this is the ring counting thing because I

This is it, but this matters. The ring part matters, though. Obviously, he has 1 rings.

Especially when you put together that list. I mean, Moses just has the 1. Right. Hakim's got the 2. So then it

Shaq's got 3 or 4.

Right. He has the 4th, and then the Miami West

only had 1, though.

Yeah. But the West 1 when you're losing to the Celtics every single year in the finals, like, I almost think we should just round it up to 3 for him. When Jokaju when it's all said and done, if he stays in this pace, like, say, another 4 years, you know, as the MVP, I think the simpletons will just count the rings and be like, you can't put him ahead of those guys. But from just an impacting a game at that level and, again, you know, we're we're assuming a lot in the next few years, but the guy stays healthy. It's not like he's this wiry dude who's has all these muscle pulls all the time.

Right? Like

Well, what happens if he does remember Larry Bird that 1 year when he came I think it was the 87, 88?

Not as well as you do. I think.

All of a sudden there, the big off season storyline was Larry Bird has quit drinking beer, and he's in phenomenal shape. And he showed up for the season. He had this follow-up 2 hand dunk at a preseason game. We're like,

oh my god. The legend. He's in shape.

And then he got hurt with an I

don't know if I believe the quit drinking beer part.

Well, probably not. But I they to me, Jokic, like, apparently has never really lifted. I don't even know what his off season change program would be.

Whatever he's doing, it's fine. Yeah. Keep it going, Jokic. Sometimes, I I think the guys it's like the old quarterback thing where Dilfred used to tell me, like, I want to come in, like, £20 overweight. He's like, I wanted a little spare tire down there so that I could as I tapered off, I at least had something to take the damage.

I'm not necessarily saying, like, that's what

somebody that too, I think.

And Bede's been trying. He's like, this is ridiculous. You know, those those next 5 guys that when you get to 8 or whatever, like, is just a player, I don't know. I mean, it's tough for me to put anybody above Duncan just because of of how perfect he was and how sustained it was and how long it went. But the fact I'm even suggesting it's possible is is the win as of today.

So you loved you loved Moses and you loved Hakim

I love Moses. And Shaq.

But he'll get you at least swimming in that world.

I don't think I appreciated Shaq enough, but I was also, like, a shithead kid, and he was on the Lakers.

Yeah. We had some weird things against Shaq where he was, like he made a rap album. We're like, what's he doing?

Foo Shnick.

He made he made Shazam or Kazaam, whatever that movie was. We're like, what a dick.

And then Dwight tried to do all of it, and we're like, alright. You're definitely Yeah.

You you are the dick.

I actually appreciate Shaq, like, way more now than than I think I did. And that might have been just a Boston weirdo thing that some of us grow out of.

Alright. Last section of Jokicorn. We were we were saying, like, we try not to have biases, especially because we have votes for NBA, and and I I like to think I'm level headed even, like, with the Celtics. Like, I know when the Celtics No. Listen.

Let me let me talk this out.

Right down the middle.

There's been seasons where I'm like, they don't have it this year. Something's wrong. I don't like this. Like, I I try to be objective. It's really hard for me to be objective with with Jokic, and I think it is you too.

So what are your other actual basketball biases that you can admit? Do you wanna go back and forth?

Yeah. So we're admitting that we both want Jokic to get that second ring. So the commoners

As long as it's not at the expense of the Celtics. Yeah. Like, if the Celtics can't win, I would hope that he would be the 1 that won would be my bias.

Yeah. Because, like, the Curry 4th ring for me was such a big deal and him too. But I I felt In that order. I felt like it it just changed. It gave I don't even know that that many people hate Curry.

I mean, if you wanna find hate, it's pretty easy to find right now. But with Curry, it it just kinda changed. I think it changed a lot of the way he was looking at it.

Yeah. It was very similar to, like, the John Elway Super Bowl and oh, I forgot. We're in Denver, the John Elway Super Bowl. But John Elway was like this stats, couldn't get it done, and they they could drag a team to the precipice, but not and then all of a sudden he won, and we never talked about it again. And Curry was the same thing.

It's like, ah, well, he had to run. And that 1 year in 2015, all the Cavs got hurt, and there was always an excuse. Now there's no excuses. The NBA hit the quarter mark of this season, and FanDuel, America's number 1 sportsbook, wants you to catch all the action. They're trying to help you.

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Alright. So bias.

Give me another bias. Let's go back and forth.

I'll give you a small 1. I'm rooting for the Pistons. I have a lot invested in my Kay to Cunningham position. I think that that's come around after some scary, like, early developments. Jaden Ivy being allowed to play in front of Killian Hayes seems to be the right decision.

I wonder if Monty Williams has watched 1 Pistons game on league pass because I know he didn't watch 1 before he got the head coaching job. If I own the Pistons, I might have been like, we're gonna fire you. You're gonna keep the 75,000,000, but you're gonna be an analyst for 45 games this year.

Dylan Hayes is down in the league.

No. And they had the same records as the Wizards last year. Think about that. The same record. And, like, nobody wants to hear your pistons are sneaky kinda good.

You know, we never did that monolog, luckily. But I I would go, how there's no way. Like, just even if all these guys are morons, they're way more talented. There's no way they're the wizards. And we've seen with a little shooting balance, a little spacing, that if you don't lace them up for the Pistons on the wrong night Yeah.

So I I just

seems like that this year.

I like seeing a team that is they're the more like, I just I just like them being somewhat more entertaining because I probably watch too many Pistons game because it's the always the first game on in the West Coast, like, at 4 o'clock when I don't wanna be inside.

My first bias that I'll admit won't be a surprise to interview. Hate's a strong word with sports. I always like the word sports hate. I don't actually hate anything, so it's in the context of sports hate. I I hate the Lakers.

I I just I just do. Like and I think it's healthy. I think it's a good thing. I think there should be teams that you just don't like, and, part of it's their fans. Like, they started out well, right, 1st couple weeks, and their fans got super chirpy about how we took the under.

Right? Yeah. They lost by 40 tonight. Maybe, like, 41. But it's just more it's more fun for me personally when they're not doing well, and I might be a bad person.

I can apologize. It is weird.

You know, when you're from the northeast, you don't think anybody cares about sports as much as you do, and there's some elements of that. But then when you go out to LA and you're like, oh, these guys are all soft or whatever, the Lakers thing is very real.

Yeah. They have they have good, passionate fans.

I gotta

hand it to them.

The other thing I've never understand is that there's just Kobe fans that aren't Lakers fans. Yeah. And they just hang out. You know? And I remember there was, like, a Lakers like, it was a big Lakers game, and I think I was recording it.

So I was like, I'm gonna go out, get outside. I'm gonna go to the beach, and then I just see all these guys in Kobe jerseys at the beach. And I'm thinking, like, this is a huge game. Yeah. What are you guys doing?

It's like, well, you know

Talking Kobe. Yeah. 1 bias we have together is So

there was nothing else to that Lakers thing? There's no is there a version of that that you want? Like, do you have kind of a thing you don't wanna share what you hope happens this season?

The the Lakers panic trade would be really fun. Like, if they talk themselves into, you know, Zach LaBean's contract, something like that. Just like taking more money on to try to save, but I I think they know. I think they're so bad on defense. They're 1 of the top 4 worst defenses in the league.

That'll be a weird time, though, before the deadline because when you're 30 and you're LeBron or, hell, even when you're 35 and LeBron, you can kinda get away with putting the pressure on them. But so far, the Lakers have kinda shown, like, yeah, we're not. Like, the the picks became eligible. They didn't do anything. I actually think they did a great job in the draft.

There's Yeah. Me too.

There's a version of a rotation here that should work where they're in the playoffs, but if they go through a weird stretch and they don't they're not active or anything, the the subliminal messages and that kind of stuff, like, you're gonna have a good couple weeks.

If you're a scoring point guard or a scoring wing and the Lakers are on your schedule, you're fucking pumped. You're, like, calling family members. Like, hey. Make sure you watch tonight. I'm gonna have 48.

1 of our biases we share Okay. We both, are rationally rooting for Scoot Henderson. Russell and I have a pretty big scoop position, and, unfortunately, we live in the era of people could just cut out clips from your video podcast and then torment you with them over the next, 2 to 20 years. And, we had some some pretty passionate pro scoot takes during the draft, and they're not aging well.

He got off to a good start. I thought he looked bigger. I'm like, this is great. They're bringing off the bench sort of like a mental reset. The numbers are just as bad as they were last year.

Yeah.

I even got so desperate. I called, like, 1 GM that I'm I'm pretty close with who I don't think lies in. I was like, you like Scoot too, though. Right? He's like, is this off the record?

Yeah. Like, no. Just just tell me that that you liked him too. Right? It's like, well, a team took him 3rd, so I think a lot of people liked him.

I'm not giving up, but I

I'm not giving up. I'm preparing myself for the day I have to. Like, when I had Jalen Suggs on last year because Jalen Suggs had whatever it was, it was, like, the worst offensive rating of any single player his rookie year. Like, anybody that actually played. And then I was looking up historically, like, who else had done it, Scoot did.

And then I was like, oh, well, Jalen Suggs did. You know? And then we had Jalen Suggs on after that, and he's turned it around. And I brought up that entire, like, stat profile to him. And then I was like, what do you think about Scoot?

And he was, like, raving about Scoot. He's like, he's gonna be so good. I was like, all these guys, what's he gonna say? Like, no. He actually sucks, dude.

So you don't think, like, 8 years from now, he'll be in Portland doing a Scoot porn intro to our live podcast? Probably not ruling that out.

We probably get the venue now Yeah.

If tickets are available. What else? Give me another bias.

I'm not sad about the sixers. And it actually circles back to the Embiid Jokic propaganda year where I don't know I don't even know who I'm really mad at. You know? I think Daryl's a great GM. He and I don't exactly I don't think we like each other that much anymore, but it's okay.

We'll get through it. But he they did such a good job, and yet all of us that have been around it long enough, you're like, alright. Like, I can see the good version of this, but are you investing in the right people? But you also do have a choice to invest in other people, and you don't. And then when Embiid took the extension like that, and it was kinda lost in all the mayhem.

I think it may have been lost in the wage wake of him being out, you know, and then the Embiid extension happens. And it's almost 1 of those extensions where when it's done, you wonder if you're the team, you're like, he took it? Like, he was like, yeah. Sure. Let's tack on 3 more years.

Yeah. Keep adding them. I we were texting a lot during that time, and the sixers were checking a lot of boxes that I would say would would I would call Priscilla trigger boxes. The guy saying just openly that it's all about April now and and not playing back to backs anymore, the off season workout stuff, the victory lapping before we've seen the team yet is 1 that will trigger you from time to time. What else did they do?

Well, then they also had, Embiid. Everybody kinda knew that he wasn't really the locked in guy that you need to be. Like, if you look, it's a very simple timeline in the NBA. Top draft pick, score a bunch of points, you're gonna get your max extension, And then it's like, you're 7 or 8. I think something kicks in for a lot of the special players.

We're like, okay. Maybe it's not about all the points, and I'm gonna get the accolades. I'm gonna make all star and all this stuff. But, like, I almost have to figure out a way to be a more productive basketball player that's not just about the stat line. And I think there's a lot of stat line players out there that people talk about being really special that I'm like, I don't know.

I know they're good at scoring, but I don't know that they're great at, like, all the things that you need

to do. Winning?

Right. And as talented as Embiid is, and I've always really liked his game. I loved him before the draft, but we knew there was the weird injury stuff with him. I actually always loved his personality. I liked that he cried after the Kawhi shot losing to Toronto when he got shit for that.

I was like, that's ridiculous. Like, this this matters to him. That's a great sign. So there was all these things for him that I was kinda rooting for, and then you started hearing more and more of, like, he's actually not taking this stuff serious enough. And you were wondering if that story was gonna get out, and then it gets out within the own team meeting leaking.

Yeah.

And And then he's like, I don't know who said this. I'm like, you know what?

He got mad about the leak.

Yeah. You can be mad about the leak, but be mad like, you at some point, you have to get more mad at yourself. And I know he's had all these different injuries and all these things, but I've just there was, like, a tipping point for me and you when I did the preview show with you where

I went I cleared the floor for you.

Because I remember Zach Lowe, like, yeah, just was waving everybody to the side. Yeah.

He was like, I saw.

Well, just like LaMelo. But I I I remember Zach Lowe, who we love, like, did his top 5 players, and it was this, like, unarguable list of of the 5 guys, of Jokic, Giannis, Luka, SGA, and Embiid. And I went, I think we need to stop just penciling him in despite that we know what he was statistically to start that year. And I think people are starting to because it's not like, hey. Finally, we're all on the same page or realizing, but, you know, get out of the 2nd round.

That's it. We don't

we don't value durability enough when we talk about players. It's 1 of my big lessons of the 20 twenties. That's why Boston's here. Hypothetical and not yeah.

But those 2 guys for Boston play

all the time. Yeah. They wanna show up. They play back to backs. Quick biases for me.

I want Seattle to have an NBA team again, and I'll root for that team. And along what you just said, if you're not in shape, it's really hard for me to like you that much. And I I feel that way about Luca too. No. Not you.

But I just feel like when these guys are making the money they're making, it'd be nice if if if you worked out in the off season. Doesn't seem crazy to me. Right? It's your job. Which is

weird because Ben Simmons works out more than anybody. Right.

My other bias is quickly I still defend Kevin Durant. I don't know why. It's like being in a bad marriage. Like, he You don't put something on social, and I'm like, you don't understand. He was upset.

They lost last night.

Because if you wanted to just like, if you were forced in, like, debate class, like, you have to be the anti Durant guy, This is gonna be easy, actually. Right. And I don't wanna be that guy, so I understand that bias.

I have 2 more biases. What do you have before

Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead.

Well, 1 of them is yours too. I hate heliocentric basketball. I'm just never gonna like it. I'm just not and I really respect what Harden and the Clippers are doing this year. It's it's way better than I thought.

Their over under was 37a half. They I'd it was almost a lock for me, and he's playing great. I just don't personally like watching it that much, and that's not gonna change. And then my last 1 is I want Jordan to stay the GOAT. And I I just I just feel like he's the best, and the years passed, and people forget.

And, I just think he still levitates above anyone I've seen in person, even Jokic. I have

1 last 1 little off the menu. Mhmm. I was so happy that you were able to witness not just the greatness of Jokic. It wasn't the best Curry game, but it's alright. We'll get through it.

To see Tyler Ford handle a review, He's he's my favorite official in the NBA, and we had a front row seat to it. And I kept nudging the group. I'm like, watch this. He doesn't fuck around.

Yeah. I didn't realize you had a referee bias.

Yeah. Well, I mean, he knows how much I love him. Like, he gave me the shout out before the game starts, and starts, and my friends are like, the official say hi to you. And, he He asked us

when the Sunday pod was coming back. I was fired up.

Yeah. And I think the other guy I tweeted a picture of being like, I like french fried potatoes or whatever. And then I was like then so then he was kinda like, fuck him, Priscilla. But Tyler you know, Bill Kennedy, I think, has a SAG card. Oh, but he's doing the reviews.

He does the reviews. And so He's doing a 1 man show. Right. And then Tyler Ford is like, efficiency, efficiency, efficiency.

If you don't who Tyler Ford is, he looks, a lot like Jim from the town, which is 1 of the reasons Priscilla loves him.

Also a plus.

Because he looks like he's gonna, at any time, say, whose car we taken? Alright. New gimmick here. We're moving out of Jokicorn. We're moving to what we're calling the worry scale, where I'm gonna listen to Thomas.

You were having fun the first 30 minutes.

I didn't wanna lose the crowd, but he might be coming up at some point. The worry scale, 1 to 10. Curry ever getting a 5th title. 1 to 10, how worried are you?

Well, worried because it's probably not gonna happen, but it I the 4th 1, like, I don't worry about his next ring the way I would about somebody who I think deserves the recognition.

Ties Kobe, though.

Yeah. But well, I guess the number 1 option thing Kobe was the number 1 option for what? 2 of them. 2 of them. Yeah.

2 for Steph. Yeah.

I I'm a 9 out of 10. I don't know how they do it with this Warriors team.

I don't know how they do it either.

Do you

think he'll ever be on another team? I don't. Do you think Lycop is just

I gotta say, I I think not to suck up to the crowd, but I don't think Jokic is ever not gonna be on Denver. I don't think I don't think Curry will ever not be on Golden State, and I honestly don't think Tatum will ever not be on Boston. I think I think those are the 3 that I see staying whole career. Luka Luka is an interesting 1. I don't I don't know if I would bet on Luka staying in Dallas.

I keep waiting for

the first mad international guy because it doesn't it hasn't really happened yet.

Yeah. Who's the betting? I mean,

Nurkic seems to get upset, but he's not really on the level of what we're talking about here. But when you look at, like, the next pissed off NBA star that forces his way out of something, I don't say this because I think it'll never happen, but it's just something that you notice that it it hasn't happened yet. I think you're nuts to put Tatum in that group with the other 2 guys, by the way.

You think he would leave?

I just think it's he's still so young. Never on another team?

I just think those would be my 3 if I had to pick 3.

Trey Young Hawks, because if they haven't traded him yet

LaMelo, Charlotte. Next Warriorscale. Houston fucking up this cool Rockets roster that we love. How worried are you?

On a scale of 1 to 10, it's a 3 because it's an awesome problem to have. But I like you, they're 1 of my favorite league pass. They might be my go to.

They're the MVP. Right.

Because I'm not only entertained, I'm trying to figure out how they're going to figure it out. And Ime is the best coach for this because he's just like, hey. Guess what? You're benched for the Q4. Yeah.

And he'll bench Jalen Green. He'll bench Jabari. They have to play VanVleet. They kinda make this defensive decision where they'll go with Thompson over Jalen in some of these spots, then Tar Heesen comes in to wreck shop, and they're like, alright. We don't need Jabari spacing.

So there's lineup stuff that they're matching there. Long term, I don't know how like, they're probably better off getting out of the depth for the next guy. I don't know who the next

guy is. For 1.

Because what'll happen is you're gonna end up ruining the value of your own guys because there's just not gonna be enough minutes for dudes. Yeah. So it's a concern, but not concerning enough that they look. They're winning games too. So we'd like that 3.

So the Rockets, they're in the, they're in the NBA Cup. They play Golden State, and they're I think they're 7 to 1 on FanDuel to win it. I think they're a pretty live bet. I I was I watched their OKC game on Sunday the next day because it was against football. And, hey.

It reminded me a lot of Minnesota last year where we nobody wanted to say that Minnesota was ready in, like, December, January, but they kinda were. And it was like, wow. This would be soon. And then it just kept going, and I think Houston that's how I feel when I watch them. They're so good defensively, and they're so athletic, and they have so many different lineups that they're just a bitch to play.

I love that game because it was 1 of those you know, we've had some really cool regular season games, and I feel like Houston's in a lot of them just because of the effort alone. But with no Chet, like, I didn't that game will be so different with the Chet decision and how they wanna pull Chinguun away or maybe they close with Jabari. Like, that's what I love is that Emane is like, I know where you were drafted. I know you get paid this. You don't get paid.

Right. He did he could care less.

This is what I'm gonna do tonight. And it's he's actually the tough love, no bullshit thing is the best version when, normally, it's like the hand holder for all the young guys.

That game, if you guys didn't see it, you ever see those Instagram videos when the 2 cats are fighting, and it's just, like, amazing to watch the how athletic the cats are.

And you're like, oh my god. Wow. They just jumped off a table.

You watching

a lot of cat videos? I I I think the algorithm knows that I like them. But they Your wife picks

up your phone, you're like, I'm no longer worried.

But they were just so young and athletic. It was a it was a treat to watch. Next Warriors' Scale, Towns in New York. I was probably an 8 before the season. I think I'm, like, a 2 now.

Seems like they like him, and he's playing really well.

I think the defensive part of it, though, like, their identity their identity is entirely changed. So maybe But

that's what happens when you trade for Karl Anthony Towns.

True.

Which is funny Stein.

Which is funny that he's not on Minnesota, and now their defense isn't what it's supposed to be, which doesn't really make a ton of sense even though I think, like, look, nobody stops Jokic. But in that series, like, he bodied them up, and the fact that it stayed in front of him is better for Towns than having to move around. The Mitchell thing is another 1 of those things I can't wait to see because Tibbs won't care. The cats already paid. Yeah.

You know? He needs he makes he might have closing lineups where he's like, I don't want spacing. I don't want 5 out. I want some resistance at the rim or maybe the Knicks are like, as long as we're top 5 in offense and 15th on defense, we have a chance. But yeah.

And he hasn't look. If they lose, then they're gonna get on his case. They'll be like, what's up with these interviews? But right now, everybody likes it.

He's kinda thrown a no hitter right now. I don't think he's had 1 weird interview yet. I keep waiting

for it. Maybe the PR just keeps turning down all of these invites and not even telling him.

Smart. Well, conversely, you mentioned Minnesota. Ant Minnesota warriors scale, I'm like an 8a half.

Yeah. So

team, the body language doctor does not like what he's saying with Minnesota. And then Ant called it out. Ant had that press conference after. He he was like, we we're all we're too negative. Every we're we're all doing our own thing.

It was really kinda crazy. Yeah. Look. They started 16 and 4 last year.

Yeah. And they were the best defensive team in the NBA. So, I mean, this is, like, Knicks, like, to another level of disappointment to who they are defensively, but they moved out Cat. They didn't bring him in. So that part of it's really weird.

But, look, there's nights where Ant doesn't look like he loves playing defense. And even though he's making a ton of threes, I'd rather him not take 11 a game. Divin Genzo hasn't been good. And Randall puts up numbers, but it's it's all kinda on his terms a little bit. So they look very disconnected, and it's a team offensively that I thought may get in their way of preventing them even making it to the Western Conference finals as much as I like some of the guys on the team.

Last year, it really felt like they had an identity. I knew what it was. I didn't know if it was gonna translate to any 4 playoff rounds, but there was something unique about them. They sure I don't know when I watch them. I don't know.

They just seem like another team.

Well, at least they had the defense. They knew they could rely like, that Phoenix

stops. They could take they could take out Jokic as well as anyone. Nobody takes them out, but they were at least you know, big guys, they had a real effect on, and they could guard Jaylen and Jason as well as anybody. Now it's I don't know. I don't see it.

I don't think it gets better either. Where does Randall rank for you on guys you wouldn't wanna play pickup basketball with 4 hours a week? It's like, oh, man. I'm on Julius' team? Fuck.

He saw me.

You know what I mean? Me over. I I always think it's funny is when, like, people just knock the NBA product and, you know, there's always, like, this weird push. There was even an NFL push this year even though there's a few Sundays where I was like, this wasn't that much fun, but it's like, hey. It's the NFL product.

It's always somebody with some kind of agenda, but there's a lot of the the NBA part of it. And I'll have nights too where I'll watch a game, and I'm like, there's way too much 3 point shooting tonight, or why is that guy taking that shot? And then I go, do you miss post ups? Do you miss them? Do you watch these games?

You'd be like, I miss an Al Jefferson, like, entry pass so bad. And Randall backs guys down. It's like, hey. It's right there for you. Right.

Like, there you go if you miss it.

I had this coming up later, but I'm glad you're bringing it up now. We they this became that that that 1 clip went around. That was, like, 2 minutes of terrible Lakers' sun threes.

It was bad.

You guys must have seen that. Right? And it was just terrible 3. Terrible 3. And people were like, this is basketball now.

And I'm watching it because I'm old, and I'm like, you guys don't understand how bad the nineties were. Like, watching Bobby Phils trying to post up whoever, watching Anthony Mason trying to split a double team.

Like, that is where we're at. Rule because your post ups took too long.

And how slow it was. Right. And, like, that remember that Cleveland team with Brevin Knight where they Fortelo, like, his whole goal? No. Remember he slowed it down slowed it down to try to have, like, 65 field goals a game?

Like, there's 90 down.

There's 1 person in this audience that's YouTubing Brevin Knight possessions.

No. Someone in the back's like, finally, Brevin Knight is No.

But I was thinking, like, that clip sucked. Alright? And if you show that clip to see and there's plenty of games. There's some D'Angelo Russell Warriors games where I go, I might have to take a year off from this team before they get rid of them. But then I think, like, okay.

What are you talking about that you miss? And it there was no movement. It was so much slower. Like, even last night's a nice reminder. And I hate this.

This is my thing. But somebody post 1 clip of a Pistons hard foul, and they act like that was every fucking possession of every game from, like, 1978 to 1996. And you're like, actually, that's just a really hard foul, and we thought that was hard when it happened at the time. And then you're watching guys cut and how physical even last night's game is with 2 teams with 2 teams that wouldn't even be suggested as, like, oh, those are the 2 most physical basketball teams. The guys are so much bigger.

They're so much fat like, they're hitting each other off the ball. The game is so physical, and yet these dudes on TV just never want to admit that it might it it might be as tough even if there's more space.

Somebody did a study about how much more running there is now. And it it's I just think basketball Those have 4 sets. It's way harder to play basketball now.

As great as that stuff and and how much we can get nostalgic over it. Like, I'll watch a Celtics playoff game from the eighties. Once the ball is crossed half court

Everyone stops.

Everybody stops. There's times I'm talking about, like, big playoff moments where they're not picking somebody up who has the ball in transition. They're letting them because there wasn't, you know, the the the I would say the lengthening of the court or the threat of deeper shots because people just didn't take shots back then the way they do now, but they would just almost let people get in to setting up what they wanted to do. And I would challenge anybody, like, go watch some of that stuff for 30 minutes, and it's hysterical how different it actually is in the way people talk about it today.

Yeah. We have a league where somebody's trying to win the 4th MVP, and he's shooting 52% on threes, and his 10 assists, and he's a center. People are

like, this sucks.

And everyone forgets that the mid 2000 when we we actually, it was like a crisis with the pace of the game and just how much it sucked to watch that they had to change these rules. Anyway, next 1 for the, the worst girl. We just gotta get it over with. Jamal Murray. Oh.

Listen. We're all friends here. Let's talk it out. I don't want this to be like the sopranos intervention where somebody charges me. Let's just let's talk it out.

Jamal Murray, how worried are you?

Not as worried as you are. You I don't know if I'm bad at it or you're dangerous. But you went in, and you were like, I don't think he's moving well. And I went, I he's not Pete Westbrook, so it's it's always a bit shifty into his

I studied a lot. I studied how he's walking.

Couldn't stop talking about him. He actually I think the quote was, he's not the same anymore. And I went, forever? And then he goes, now.

So we decided no. That was a game. Doesn't have it right now or doesn't have it anymore

Right.

Are 2 separate things.

Right. But you

still right now. Because he looks slow. He doesn't look like he's in the same shape.

He was bad last night. It was bad to see you live.

He walks I'm gonna do some walking for the Here

we go.

He does He just looks looks creaky. Like, I, you know, I want my guys to walk around the court. Like, guys making 40,000,000 a year with their chest out. I just was I just was worried. I left the game thinking, that guy doesn't seem a 100% healthy to me.

That was that I don't know if I'm right or wrong, but that was what

I saw. Beginning of last year when he came back, it looked different because he was coming off the injury. Right? Yep. And then I think you could tell when it when you know, you try not to just go by, like, oh, he's scoring more.

Everything is fine now. But he's a tougher 1. I'm not as good at this as you are. I'm admitting. I I can't because he is not somebody

It's not like I have my own CBS show where I'm like the mentalist.

Would you turn down?

Mentalist. That sounds great. The 2 here are the 2 things I noticed that he used to have

Elevator bitch.

Doesn't seem to have the same way. When he's going coast to coast and he's going fast and he's got the defender on his hip, he always had, like, a little super blast where he could get ahead of that guy and get his shot, and he doesn't seem like he totally has that yet. And then he has that little where he goes to his right, that little 12 footer, the Chris Paul shot, which always used to go in and was, like, his kind of like, that was his shot, and it's not going in anymore. And it doesn't seem like he has the same lift on it. So that's just what I saw in person.

We'll see if it's fixed, but it's here are the Nuggets. Like, your ceiling depends on what happens with him over the next 4 months because you know what you have with the other guys.

Yeah. And he's been so great in huge playoff spots. Everybody knows that. And, like, when you can do that, that tells me everything about you that even if you don't have the accolades of the other guys. I think the no all star team thing is completely overblown because if you go through it, like, every single

year, I'm feeling where

he was and when he was healthy and when he wasn't. The other guards that made the team, it's it's not as egregious as it's always pitched every time it's a national broadcast, which seems to be some rule like Jalen Hurd squatting. You have to bring up that Jalen, Jamal Murray hasn't made an all star game. But What

are the other ones like that?

Well, the all timer was Kershaw and Stafford went to high school together.

Oh, that's a good 1. Jim Harbaugh and John Harbaugh are brothers.

What Russell Wilson won? Yeah. Did you just yell Russell Wilson?

Nice. Trying to throw us off. I have a I'm an 8a half for Jamal Murray for word.

Put me down as a 6.5. He's too young. He's

too young. Conservative with this. I'm always, like, more panicky, and you're more conservative. Yeah. Yeah.

And b George Philly, just as a group. Removing all your whatever. I'm like

an 8a half. See, I think you're right. This is why it's an 8. It's not a 10. Okay?

The Pelicans are an 11.

Yeah. Philly,

there is, despite the time we just been talking to them. There's a version of it coming together. Well, the thing is they only have

to be, like, the 10 seed. That could be 34 wins.

With Maxi, George, Embiid

Yeah. Like, yeah.

And McCain. Yeah. They have talent. I mean, Oubre, who I can't stand, has been pretty good for them for a couple of years.

Not crossing him off, but it's not great.

Like, when Oubre has to play somebody tough defensively with all that length, like, he's he's into it. He's kind of a different cat now, so I gotta give it to him. So at least with Philadelphia, as bad as it is, it's kinda like the Clippers thing. Yes. It's a huge worry, but now it never worked out for them, and maybe it doesn't work.

The odds are against Philadelphia, but there's something there that's in place where I don't see why they couldn't put together a couple of months, and we start talking about them being like, hey. That's gonna be a weird that could be a weird 1 8.

Here's why 8a half might be low because Embiid was in the Olympics. Looked slow. Looked creaky.

Do his walk.

See, that that 1 will be tough. I don't know if I could do that 1. Then before the season, it's like, we're taking it easy with him, but he's doing great. His knee's good. Sign the extension.

That was a red flag. I was like, why did he grab that extension so fast? That was weird. Then it was the ESPN sent who is it? Bond temps to write the big feature about their whole master plan for it's all about April, May, and June now.

I was like, that's weird. Why are they telling us that? And then all of a sudden, Embiid not playing tonight. It's like, ah, the season started. That seems like a problem.

And then he played. He looked terrible. Then he got hurt. Then he was mad at his team. The team meeting happened.

And then we haven't seen him since.

He got suspended for

Oh, yeah. Oh, and he ain't got in the fight with the reporter. Not the fight, but the the Chevy thing. And then I saw today, another red flag, Embiid is ramping up. What does that mean?

It generally means you've been disappointing. What other Parents just started using it. How's Doug ramping up this summer?

Like, if my son's grades if I'm like, hey, Ben. How are your grades? And he's like Yes. I'm ramping up. But how are your grades?

As long as you're ramping up.

Like, how's it going with the ladies? I'm ramping up. So you're single. LaMelo Ball, worry scale. Where are you?

Really high. Well, you're high.

It's averaging 30 a game.

He's 2nd in the league in scoring, and I'm worried. Now I know there's a large segment. Not the great city of Denver. Never wanna hear Bill and I talk about LaMelo speaking of Scoot Takes. And that's totally fair.

I didn't like the Australia footage. Don't know how many times I can say it. Having said that, he's a incredibly talented guy at that size, the passing, the I talk about the time, like, his size, the start, stop, start again thing is is just stupid. But when I watch the games and I see like, he took 35 the other night, and I'm like, you know what's not a good shot is a 1 foot 3 from 30 feet out with 16 seconds left in the shot clock. And I think when you're allowed to just do that forever because he is their attraction, he is kind of the Trae Young thing in Atlanta where this may not be great, but the kids love him.

I wonder now on another coach who was supposed to be the guy and by the way, when he benched him in that nets game, I don't think it was about the Q4 because I went back. I was like, where is the moment where Charles Lee's like, I'm benching you in a tight game? He made 9 more substitutions in under 4 minutes. He was subbing in for offense. He was subbing in for defense, and he never put LaMelo back in the game.

And I thought it was about the overall approach that he has to have. He's obviously more talented and a more productive player than I thought he would be before the draft, but I think there's a tendency of, like, he just kinda gets out there and does his own thing. I think it sucks to play with, and I think it's losing basketball. And this is a habit that he has to break to be something in this league other than just a box score guy.

Year 5. Good stats, bad team guy. He's probably the captain.

And his stats are awesome. Stats are great. Like, even even with the bad threes, like, look at the 3 point like, the numbers. He's a better shooter in the NBA now than he was at any other level. Like and it was immediate.

I've made this joke before and I'm gonna make it again. His destiny might be social media 15 years from now with clips of people saying

LaMelo Ball was a problem.

And just like a 1 minute highlight tape of crazy shots he made. And that's where we land. We'll see. Next 1. Rory scale.

A stringer Avon situation with Franz and Paolo when Paolo comes back. Are they gonna be in the balcony together? Franz is like, this is kinda my team now.

Here's why I'm not worried about it at all. Because when you watch Paolo at Duke, he actually wanted to get other guys involved even though he was clearly the best player. He was gonna be the number 1 pick.

Yeah. So he likes this.

Paolo is totally fine getting other people involved, which is why I like him probably. I mean, when Binyama's in his own planet, but I but Howl to be that good, that young, and not have to have the 7 year run of, I guess, I have to kind of find a way to play with other people. Like, that's in him already. So with this front I think this is just a nice Franz reminder tour of what he is and how pissed people got him with the Cavs series. So I I'm not worried.

I think this is actually 1 of those weird injuries where it may be better for the rest of the Magic.

It certainly helped France. Yeah. Because he Olympics wasn't great. For start of the season wasn't great.

The Cavs series, people were reacting like he sucked.

I was 1 of them. No. It's good. Orlando's on my radar. I I'm the most worried about the Cavs in the east, obviously, because I think they're really good.

But I think I'd put Orlando next for teams I'm worried about. Because if Franz keeps up For

Boston or in general?

For Boston. So if Franz keeps this up

The Boston threats are Cleveland, Orlando to you?

I think Orlando because of the defense and because if Franz can be the second guy that you never know who's gonna have the 35 point game, I'm not as I just can't be as scared of Milwaukee with the with not knowing what I'm getting from Middleton. I just don't know if we're ever seeing that.

But it's good to see that they turn it around because Giannis has been insane.

And the Knicks are, honestly, just not good enough defensively. It's never worked. When once you get to round 3, round 4, you have to be able to get stops, and I don't know if they can. Next 1, warriorscale. LeBron going 89 Kareem on us as this year goes along.

Revisit 89 Kareem for those that don't remember.

So it was 36 years ago. It was the farewell tour season. Kareem was amazing. I mean, he was he had 1 of the most amazing careers in any sport. He was the finals MVP, I think, in 71 and 85.

In 87, they ran the biggest play of the game for him in game 4. He made it. He got fouled. 88, Piston series, biggest play of of the entire series. They ran for him.

He's, like, 42. So he he was an amazing aging player, but he was obviously old. And then all of a sudden, 89, it was grim. It was it was bad. And LeBron, like, he put up 29 to that.

Offensively, he can still do it. The defense is, you can't even call it defense because he's not playing it. So he's, basically, he's become a DH in basketball. And you still play pickup, and

I think you have a lot of pride in your pickup. I

you're trying to figure out how to be insulted by that.

I had a run-in pickup when I was

in my early forties where I really tried to keep it going, and then, eventually, you start learning all these tricks to survive in a pickup game when you're old. And LeBron's doing a lot of those tricks now where I'm like, I used to do that, where he'd be, like, on defense under the basket where he's just kinda doing this. And then no. Get that get that guy. And and he's just not covering ground?

This is the worst comparison you've ever made.

Thank you. Look. I can tell when somebody's trying to conserve their energy at a basketball court because I

don't comparing it to your pickup game in the forties.

I'm an only child. What do you want?

I hope someone that despises you tweets that you said this at this show tonight with no context whatsoever. I might even repeat

what I mean, though.

You know what I mean? I know exactly what you mean.

You're supposed to be my friend on stage, and then you're undermining me.

Well, I think it's always good to be you know, every now and then, I gotta I gotta just No. You know

what I mean, though, when

the dude don't move. I know what you mean. But, I mean, if I said, like, hey, man. I always hit the cutoff guy in softball. Nobody trust me.

As somebody that tried to do that a few times like, I was trying to explain why my type of strength.

And pick up? What's that? Do you still move on defense and pick up?

I mean, it depends on I usually will like, if you make 3, I'm like, shit. Like, Matt Liner's kid just destroyed me couple weeks ago.

So how many years left for LeBron in your opinion?

Well, everything you said is right, but don't you feel guilty holding them to a standard that we shouldn't hold them to?

Well, it's year 22.

Yeah. That's what I mean. So, I mean, some of this defensive stuff he's been he's been doing for a while. I mean, he's had the worst defensive assignment for years, which I think is smart to try to pace him. I mean, I've been But now

they have Austin Reeves and Knecht out there too, and it's like,

And D'Angelo Russell. Russell. To the Russell now to lock it down. Now the

Who's got John Marin? Anybody?

I, I think I'm at a stage, and I I've I've talked about this before, but I'm I'm with you. Everything you said is right. And when Denver played him, they had LeBron's guy stay baseline. So LeBron was the baseline help kind of in the dunker spot. And they were running these cuts like it was a hand off at the high post, and then somebody would cut down off of it.

And LeBron just never ever rotated over, and they're like, we're just gonna keep doing this over and over and over again.

He's had some tough fast break defense plays, though.

What what did I mean, I thought he'd be I thought he'd be on TV 3 years ago. You know? Go back to 2010, and we're talking about him and holding him to the standard defensively. So this part, I actually feel guilty about even though you're right.

I guess my reaction is based on the the dialog about him heading into the season, and all the people in the media were like, he's still a top 5 guy. The answer is no. Next do you have

him in your top 100?

He was not in the top 20. Woah. That seems low. I'm sorry. I like defense.

Do you have Rudy 3?

Next word next worry scale. You still have worries? I have 1 more. Alright. The Celtics ending up with a crappy owner.

Oh,

alright. I'm I'm laying out. Let's talk this out. Well, no. Go.

Because this is your world.

This is I don't know what's gonna happen. Owner's insider. I'm always nervous when I have a good owner, and now I don't know what I'm getting with the next owner. I'm just gonna naturally be nervous about that. So I'm like a 7.

What if the next guy comes in and it's like a ARAD Mark Lohrey situation? They're like, hey. We gotta trade towns. We gotta trade towns. He's too expensive.

Like, that that's the shit that starts happening when you have the wrong owners.

What if it's John Henry? Those guys have won.

We're moving on. I'm gonna save rather have right now because I wanna get to your top 5 movie TV girlfriends. I asked Priscilla. We're gonna break up the slide. Show

us the hoop

of the little pop culture. 5 movie TV girlfriends that when you watch the show or the movie, you were like, I'm in.

Well, Meghan Mark is available again. Right?

Is she available? Can you believe the word in the street?

After, I think that podcast thing didn't work out.

I think she's still married, though.

No. But it was it was a we played in a celebrity flag football game together, and it was all of the swimsuit models. So nobody was really paying any attention to Markle. So I was like, that's my lane. Like, she's probably she's probably down herself a little bit right now, and she's never been more obtainable.

And then I mean, I got the game winning touchdown over Deion Sanders. No big deal. And I was like, yeah. You know, I shot her a DM. She did Shot

her a DM?

Yeah. And then somebody was like, do you know who she's dating? I was like, I don't know. I don't pay attention to any of this stuff. And, it didn't work out.

And, no, it's the funniest thing. And so then the joke kept going because when Pierce Morgan would lose his shit about it, I would always quote tweet above and be like, it gets better, man. Like, don't worry. And I was basically only doing it for, like, Sarah Walsh and Carissa Thompson because they knew the story. They thought it was so funny.

So, like, nobody really knew what the joke was, and I kept doing it over like, again, I don't do it that often. But maybe once a year, Piers Morgan would have some other Meghan Markle thing come up. And then I would just be like, don't worry, dude. I'm here if you need to talk ever. And he never responded.

And the funniest person the you would never guess this. The funniest person ever to reach out to me after 1 of those Piers Morgan tweets was like, dude, what is wrong with you? She's not that great. Like, have you paid attention to this Harry thing? Like, you're way better.

And first of all, you realize she wasn't gonna go out with me. Right? So there's that part. Jeff Van Gundy. Come on.

Jeff Van Gundy texted me to tell me that I was better off without Meghan Markle.

That's a thing that actually happened?

And I was so, like I was at home solo, and I'm I'm on you know? I'm like, what's Van Gundy want? Because I don't we don't text a lot. And I was like, oh, no. He thinks that Pierce Morgan tweet is real.

So then I had to explain the whole thing to him, and he was like, I've lost interest now.

Then Mark Jackson texted.

Hand down, man down.

I don't think Mark Jackson I don't think he was ever gonna text me after that that 1 monolog that I did where I was like, why does everyone keep asking why he's not getting a head coaching job? And I just went through, like, a 10 year timeline. So not not

on your speed dial?

Thing is too is I loved him. He's a Johnny.

Wait. 1 more question? Yes. What was the DM to Meghan Margo? Is it like was it like, what's shaking?

It was not what's shaking.

Are you?

No. It was really it was Hey.

It's Ryan?

No. It was a soft it's a very soft sell. It was, hey. I know the new season of Suits is coming out if you ever wanna come on

the show. Oh, no. Come on the show. Yeah.

It was really professional.

Mhmm.

And it was like a gaging of interest. Like, if I got an emoji back, who knows? And I didn't. It was ice cold. It was, oh, I don't know anything about sports, but thanks for the offer.

Next 1. So Meghan Markle, who else?

Well, is it weird to go all the way back to The Goonies? No. I left the movie theater in love with that girl. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

No. This is

Not not the 1 with the glasses, but the other 1. Like, yeah. I don't I don't know what the deal was, but the It's never happened? Yeah. And and who was that?

Brolin? Was Brolin the bad guy?

Brolin might have stepped in. Yeah. I

was like, what is she seeing him? He had a car, though, and I think I was, like, 10. So I think that was the first 1 where, like, I went to a movie and felt a little different after I left. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

You don't know what the hell is going on, but you're like, why do I why am I looking at Bob Magazine at the CBS the next week with her on the cover of that? So that's 1. Did you have ones that I we we don't have a slideshow for this. Right? Because this now feels incredibly awkward No.

After I told the Markle thing.

Slideshow would have been good. My moment for that was the Charlie's Angels Hawaii episode. I was like, I'm just a different person now. What about the town? Alright.

Let's just get to it instead because I don't I don't so Blake Lively in that movie like, I had a stretch where I was in Boston where I would see the Blake Livelys and

It's 1 of the most accurate characters in the history of movies.

When you guys do the Oscar revisit thing, have you ever nominated her for, like, supporting actress?

I mean, you you don't even need to. It's just a given.

She nails it because she's so dangerous. She's the worst idea ever, and you know that you're in. And I thought And has a kid.

So With 1 of the most dangerous gang members in town.

I love kids. So is somebody smoking?

We're in Denver. Everything's possible.

I think she might be back there smoking. She would smoke in the car when she met your parents the first time. The reason why she was modeled is she was modeled after these girls that, like, none of us really knew how to talk to, but at the same time, like, you never I wanted to date 1 and have everyone of my friends tell me how terrible it was. I wanted to lie to my parents that I wasn't seeing anybody, and I wanted to date her all the time. And I wanted to go up to, like, Medford.

I wanted to go to these dangers. Like, I went to Revere 1 night to when I was in my twenties to scope this out. Like, I was like, I'm going to Revere. I just wanna see it for real. And I was like, I think I'm gonna get my ass kicked here tonight, so I'm gonna have to leave.

So it never really quite worked out for me. I knew what kinda hair was gonna be like a bad dye job, like sort of a Jennifer Aniston thing that was way out of style, and then the streaks that weren't blended properly because she went to some cheap place in a strip mall. Like, I had it I was like, look. I'm on TV for the Celtics. There has to be some like, oh, he gets he gets fucking great seats.

Yeah. You know? But I

was losing my hair, and I was losing my confidence a little bit. So never happened.

She's still the ideal, though. Right?

I think I have a little different standards now.

Should we tell the story about when we met? Yeah. Because that guy that guy would have loved the Blake Lively character.

That guy I actually was to be totally honest, there was 1 deal that was sorta close and I got dumped because she got on a reality show. I wasn't bummed out. That was the best thing is that you know what's bad for you, and when you get dumped, you don't even care.

Like a cable show or a network show?

No. It was, like, fairly fairly popular. Prominent show. Yeah. And then when she was that was, like, you didn't even win.

Now you want me back? Yeah. So we met.

Do you remember tell that story? Well, it was it was the 1st great Celtics moment in 9 years. It was the game when the playoff game against the Nets, game 3, where they were down, like, 25, came back. Really ugly game, but really fun, and it was everyone was just so happy. The Celtics had, a nice happy playoff moment.

It was like it just literally, 9 years is forever. And it was a day game, and everyone went out. And it was 1 of those just drunk, drunk, drunk Boston days, and that's where I met Rossello. And he was not sober.

It wasn't that game.

I thought it was. No. Was it a different game?

It was a Pacers playoff game. It was the week. It was the week.

Also a great game. That was the Paul Pierce over at I knew it was a playoff game from back then. So Are you sure it wasn't that night? I think I might be right.

No. Because you were getting married that week.

You're right.

And I had just started at that station, The Zone in Boston. Yeah. And you had just left and gone on to other things. And so we had just kind of missed each other, like, just missed each other. He came on, like, did a phone or he was he was nice enough to to find some time for us.

And then I hadn't actually met him, and a bunch of my guys from Vermont came down because it was like the first time I'd ever been able to, like, do my friends a favor with a hookup. So I got us, like, 4 seats in the suite. And, like, in you know, that age, you're just gonna get after it because your friends are in town. And then I was, like, tight white T shirt. I mean, I looked like an extra That I remember.

The outsiders. And Bill's there with, like, his soon to be wife, I think her parents, your parents. But it was at the fours, I think.

Is it the fours? I have a completely different memory.

And so he was down This is great. It's like we're down a few tables, and I was like, well, we're colleagues. So I'll go say something. And I was just like, hey. The Heathcliff slocum trade for Veritec and Lowe was the best since Andy Dufresne bought that rock hammer from Redline, man.

I'm like, that was that was something else. You know? And I've got, like, a Coors Light, and I'm like and, like, yeah. Well, we're getting married tomorrow, so you were nice, but it was it was over. And I I didn't I realized 30 seconds later after it was over, I was like, oh, I guess this is over now.

And that was the beginning of this.

That's not what I remembered. This is what happens when you get old. You have these memories, and then they morph into a different memory.

I mean, it'd be really weird if we had met after that Nets game and then, the but I know where I was after the Nets game.

Can we play some rather have right now?

Yeah. I got a list. I'm excited. Embiid

or Kawhi? Who would you rather have?

I have the same 1 down for you. That's hilarious. Embiid because he doesn't have a ring.

I think I would rather have Embiid too.

What's the Kawhi argument?

My Clippers guy was telling me Kawhi is coming back before Christmas, and he's I think, he's ramped up. He's ramped up, ready to go, but, I think the Embiid thing just doesn't feel like it's headed toward a good place. Right? Like, what what give me the best case scenario for the Embiid situation. Like, comes back.

He's like, you know, the team meeting. I really I did some soul searching.

He needs to follow the Duncan model. He has to get lighter. Alright.

Well, that's not gonna be this season. Zion or Trey?

Yeah. It's actually Trey.

I mean,

it's Zion's place.

Believe that? You were, like, Zion's number 1 guy.

I'm no longer his number 1 guy. What about Zion or Jah? Jah. August, what did you say, Jah? See, Chenida.

Willie's.

Well, that's here. Should we have done the live show at Chaka and Willie's? Oh.

I know a guy. Apparently, yes. Jesus. See, I had Ja The gun.

Ja or Halliburton.

Ja or Halliburton? I think this room's a little high on Ja. I'm still in on Ja. He's he's awesome, but, I mean, he basically said the other day he's gonna stop dunking. That seems alarming.

Yeah. Because I do I would like, every time I'd watch him, I go, I I I love this. And, like, those grizzlies, like, spikes that didn't really amount to anything because they were always hurt. Like, they put together some really nice stretches. Like, maybe this 5, and I think the front office does a really good job with everybody.

But I thought there was, like, a jaw Zion off the court thing. Did you see Zion hit up that ring girl from Alabama? I did. Well,

I guess the question for me is if they

Maybe I could take a couple lessons. If they

could get out of the Zion contract after this year, do you do it? Is a question I can't believe we're even asking, but I think it's a serious question.

He's reevaluated in 2 weeks, so I'm excited for that. But that story today that the Pelicans aren't gonna waive them. Like, there's sometimes you're like, maybe this isn't really updated information. Like, no shit. You're not gonna wave them.

Right.

Next, rather have Bo Nix or Jaden Daniels?

Jaden.

I agree, but can you believe this is an argument? No. No Knicks looks like Drew Brees. Like, it's like Peyton has just sprinkled Drew Brees Kool Aid all over him for 8 weeks.

Well, think about this. Like, McShay and I did this 2 weeks ago of the alright. So it's 6 quarterbacks in the top 12. Panix hasn't played. JJ was hurt.

So we've got Caleb. We've got Jayden. We've got Drake. We've got Bo. And if I asked you right now, hey.

If in 5 years, any 1 of them were the best of this group, it's all still on the table. Right.

Except it's not because it's gonna be Drake May. Hey. I'll fucking leave. Drake May is amazing. I'll say this with Knicks.

I watched that Jets game. What do you have? 60 yards and the bad weather and the Jets kicker missed the field goal and the Broncos somehow won? It was before the Broncos turned the season around. And it looked like he was gonna be, like, out of the league in 3 weeks.

And you watch the guy the last couple weeks, and he just looks completely legit to me. Like, he can make every throw. He runs around. He'll make, like, 2 mistakes, but, I like his leadership. I like that he gets in fights with the other team, starts barking at defensive linemen.

And

That Max Crosby highlight got you?

He just has it. I I I think he's got it. I think he's got charisma. I like him. I don't know what the ceiling is, and I I know he's, like, 25, and maybe this is the ceiling already.

But he's he's a he's an average to above average starting quarterback.

There's no question. Like, if he ends up being, like, a real guy. You know what I mean? You and I were talking about here signing up for 10 years. You know, I don't know if we start counting Super Bowl rings here.

But he answers your quarterback question for a decade, which is really what you're hoping for with with any of these guys. You may have to just start drafting guys, but, like, how many games have you played? You haven't played 50 in college?

We don't

we don't want anything to do with you because they have many reps that he's gone. And when you look at how many games he's played, how many games Jaden's played, like and maybe it's just trends and it all kinda changes year to year, but it seems like there's real value in avoiding at least avoiding the guys that have, like, 25 starts to their their career in college.

The situation piece, which everyone talks about, I mean, he he came into an incredible spot too, which can't be understated. Right? Like Sean Payton is like, I'm taking this guy 12th. I'm making this work. I'm going to turn him into a QB.

This is, this is all I care about. And it actually happened.

I also thought it was

going to be, he's going to be in the playoffs. Yeah.

Like, when he got into it with Sean Payton, then it kinda turned into a thing where it was like, oh, so Bo Nix can do this, but Russell Wilson can't. And I just wanted to be like, maybe Bo Nix isn't the most annoying human being in the NFL. What did you have? Alright. Matherin or Peyton Pritchard?

Let's just say I I handed in a ringer 100 top players list. No. You didn't. Is Oh, not only did I, I put him in the eighties. He's been incredible.

He's the best he's the best bench guy in the league.

He's been awesome. I mean, there's metric. When I was going through my top 100 and doing it, and I was looking at, like, you know, just all the different things you wanna prioritize or are there any secrets in here, some of the metric stuff for Pritchard. I'm like, how is he he's up here with these guys. And by the way

wake got scratched the other day, and I was like, Pritchard's going off, man. Watch and he had, like, 29. I can't believe you're not in on this. He's been he's been the best bench guy in the league. It's

20 games. 80th best player in the NBA.

It's a 350 player league. It's in the top quarter.

Or 450.

McCain or Scoot?

Pass. Okay. We don't pass, Tina.

How about Tatum or SGA?

SGA. The advanced stuff is like

You used to be on the Tatum side of that.

No. I love Tatum. I I think Tatum doesn't get enough credit for sorry to steal your routine here, but his his setting the table, like, even some of the bad shooting nights through the playoffs last year, like, watching those, you know, look, the Curry MVP thing in 15 to this day is gonna bother me the rest of my life. When I die, I hope the first thing someone says will be he was still really mad about Iguodala getting the 2015 MVP because everything that happened was dictated off of what they were doing to Curry. Like Yeah.

You know, and Iguodala got it because LeBron was held to 40. And so when I think about Tatum's impact versus all the other people that benefit from it, I think that part of Tatum's game isn't discussed enough because he also, you know, can be a bucket whenever he wants. But the SGA thing is it's kinda hard to deny some of the advanced stuff there that he's just at a dozen level than Tatum.

I have Tatum's slight edge. Alright. Shocked. I listen. I I had SGA over him.

I thought the last month Tatum played was the best I've seen him play on both ends. Everything he's doing, I I just feel like he's gotten to another level. His shot, he fixed it, rebounds. He plays hard every night.

Thanks a lot.

Harder to find 69 guys than guards. Is he East

Coast Jokic? No. I would never say that. Played center on defense in the NBA finals, played point guard on offense. Yeah.

It is. Love horses. I got 1 for you. Jordan Poole or Draymond Green? As a roommate.

I think that would be a

fun 1 for road trip, Jordan Poole. On my basketball team, probably Draymond Green. Dinner? Interesting. Maybe Draymond.

Draymond. Definitely. Good stories.

Yeah.

How about Ohtani or Connor McDavid?

Give me Mc Jesus.

I think I agree.

I started, like, putting Oilers games up on Waughler NBA playoffs games, and I had this I had to turn off Mc Jesus because I would turn back to the NBA games. You you haven't watched

like, missing it. I was

like, I haven't watched 20 minutes. I have no idea what happened. Anthony Edwards or Drake May? Anthony Edwards. I don't care about the patriots anymore.

So, post Brady, don't care. Ant, a 100 times out of a 100.

May has it. You've heard me.

Did you say any of these things about Mac Jones? He is

comparing him to rookie Mac Jones is insane. He's so much better than Mac Jones. Mac Jones had a good first 3 months. He was good. I remember

he was a little Mac. Little Mac is giving off early Brady vibes.

It was 2,001 Brady vibes.

That's what

I have. That's what I was saying. Right? Vibes. Yeah.

Game management. Love that. Jason, Jason.

It's a great Peyton Manning rule, and I I need to do these. I'm gonna track these, maybe write a small book on it. But whenever a rookie QB has a 1,000,000 interceptions, they're like, oh, Peyton had 30. I'm like, okay. I guess he's gonna be Peyton Manning.

And anytime a quarterback didn't do a ton, but they just won games, he's like,

get him to get that done.

Like, great. I guess it'll be Tom Brady. You or me here. I got a couple left. I got, like, 2 left.

Go ahead. Mobley or Lively?

Mobley. You like Lively that much?

I just wanna see where you were at with it.

I'm still I kept my Mobley position.

But you're aware he's not going to be like that. Right?

I'm not giving up. I'm an optimistic guy. We'll see. Okay. Team's playing well.

How about this 1? Sean Payton or Jim Harbaugh? Wow. A lot of Harbaugh's.

Harbaugh's my new neighbor. Give me Harbaugh.

I think I would take Harbaugh too, but I think Payton's done a really good job with the Broncos. Jamal Murray or Dame Lillard?

I thought Malone's comments last night were pretty interesting because, like, Jamal was getting hunted late in the game. Like, that was the primary thing that Golden State wanted to get into. And then Malone was like, I hope he knows, and he takes pride in the fact and, like, make sure that doesn't keep happening. Having said that, Dame will be hunted defensively. He's hunted on the way to the game.

So he's a he's probably a better, like, peak holy shit score. But, see, as I say that like, Dave's had more of that in his career, but those Jamal playoff games are a huge deal for me. So Jamal and the age thing

I would take Jamal because I I feel like there's another level to where he can get to where Dame is, where he is now at the age he's at, and who he is.

Dame's a much worse foul bater too. It drives me crazy.

Roger Goodell or Adam Silver?

Silver. Silver. Well, if we both pick silver, people are gonna think we're do although if you pick silver, I think people would understand why. I'm gonna go with silver just because I felt like the NFL had a stretch there. And, again, the commissioner is the mouthpiece of ownership, so you always have to remember that.

But the NFL ownership run there was just so gross and so arrogant and so dismissive of people. Like, the NBA's never had a run like that.

That's well put. I think if I was an owner, I would rather have Goodell.

Is that because of

your human being? I would rather have Adam Silver. But if it's somebody to run my business, like, right now, like, because Paramount got bought, the NFL has it out in their deal. And you just know Goodell is gonna be, like, fucking Tony Soprano with it. Like, he's like, you're gonna pay us more, and that's how it's gonna play out.

And he's just it's who he is.

Yeah. The TV thing is a lot like college football to me because anybody that's heard this rant, I'm not I promise I'm not gonna do it again right now, but, like, there has to be a point of diminishing returns of having, I don't know, Cal play SMU in an ACC fucking game. Alright? So when I look at people losing track of who's where and how dumb and imbalanced the schedules are and leading to all sorts of nonsensical results from the season, it's like, okay. How much further can college football push the money grab to where it maybe start turning people off?

And clearly

You think the NFL's there?

Well, no. Because I think the live rights thing is we both know, you know, whether it's our time at ESPN and understanding of being the priority, which it should have been. But they are treating it like cocaine, and they are cutting it up as much as they possibly can. And they're putting it on every single corner, and you're like, I still have an NBC streaming subscription. I'm like, how the how did that happen?

And when they did that last round of packages, it's like, they don't even care. And it's actually kinda smart. It's like, why are we doing deals with 2 or 3 networks? Put it on 8, and everybody will get their little piece, and that'll drive up the price. And I I always wonder if there's a moment in time where it's like we did too much of it, and it actually kinda hurt it.

I don't know. I don't know.

I wondered that as well, and then I was so excited there was a Black Friday game. I was like, hey. I apparently, they could have the NFL every day of the week. Yeah. 3 Thanksgiving games.

I was like, wait. The Raiders are playing? I get to watch, Aidan O'Connell. I don't know. It's a Chiefs team that doesn't care.

I'm in. Do you

guys remember that Denver Thursday night or 2 years ago? The Colts. Right? Denver Colts. I was in Vermont.

I was in a hotel room. I'm watching it on my laptop because I couldn't get Prime on the TV, and it was 1 of the worst things I've ever watched. And I remember this amazing, like, empowering moment where I went, I'm gonna turn this off. Yeah. Like, I don't have to watch

this. Done a better job with the Thursday schedule this year.

Thursday schedule's way better. Right?

It's Packers, Lions on Thursday. That's the

other thing the NFL does. The NFL is like, as soon as you get a couple games, you're like, we're gonna give you some really weak product. Yeah. But first

Well, even, like, the Christmas games, the games are pretty good. Well, they matter. Might actually matter.

The nice thing about the NFL doing their Christmas thing is that Goodell told us that that's because football is family.

I'll say this. It it really bothered me that the NBA got rid of Thanksgiving games and that they're so scared of the NFL now.

Well, what about the Thursday TNT thing? Like, we have to wait basically now so that and look. I used to love betting on Aaron Brooks at UVA in college when it was the Virginia Thursday night ACC thing. Like, that was my shit. And that was 1 of the great college games, and it was so awesome to have that on a Thursday.

And now we could get Everyone's

just so terrified of them, but I thought the NBA I thought it was nice to have those 2. And instead, they have 15 games on a Wednesday. You can't watch, you know, as you can't watch all of them at the same time. And I just I don't know. Like, I feel like they've moved too far away.

They already got the TV deal. It's not like, oh, ratings are down. People always look through this with the email. The ratings are down. Well, who cares?

They just signed an 11 year deal. You think they give a shit? Like, they got the money already. So put more games on times when I wanna watch. I don't

even know what ratings being down means, because every time it happens, then the TV deal triples the previous 1.

I don't either.

I don't know.

I've never been a ratings guy.

When you have them?

No. I'm just like when it became like a thing about, oh, ratings are down 12%. I was like, alright.

I like fastest growing show in America.

Oh, that's a good 1.

There was a couple shows at ESPN that just were at a 0, and they were ramping up. Or they replaced the worst show possible. Yeah. Right. And then I'd be like, who keeps track of fasting show in America?

That would seem like a huge deal. It's like, well, if you start at 0, who can really say 7 100 shows.

I have

1 more for you. Yeah. Would you rather watch nineties NBA players at the TNT desk after a Wizards Hornets game or m an MSNBC panel after the election?

Can I pass up both? I got 1 more for you. Yellowstone or land man?

Early Yellowstone, there's a version of events where if I had moved out here, I would have modeled my entire thing after rip. Dually, super inefficient gasoline, the wind visor hat probably would definitely get my ass kicked more than Rip did. But, you know, there's sort of, like we're all you know, we can be a certain age, but this is all a little make believe, I would hope, some of us. So, yeah, earlier Yellowstone rip is is really high up there for me. Although, I think that the show, its tentacles went into a bunch of different directions there.

I love Landman. Have you watched?

I've seen the clips. I've not I've not dug in yet.

Landman is unbelievable. It's Billy Bob Thornton clearing out LaMelo on the Charlotte Hornets style. He's just like, can I shoot 35 times today? And Taylor Sheridan is like, you can. And Ally Larter comes in, and she's like, can I just be, like, a way crazier varsity blues older person version of that?

He's like, absolutely. And then they're like, should we do stuff with the daughter that's kinda inappropriate with older characters on the show? And Taylor shared it's, like, done. It and then things blow up every once in a while. Can you It's great.

Where are you with Jon Hamm texting? Can you text him after an episode? Yeah.

I would not.

I would not. I Yeah. But I think that's, like, a a real you and him actually have someone

if I liked it. But I wouldn't be like, I don't know about episode 4.

Well, I didn't expect you to do that. That would be actually be an amazing friendship.

The funniest thing is Did you realize you peaked? The the funniest thing is Demi Moore's in this show.

Good for her. I actually like what share Sheridan's casting is awesome. Finish.

She doesn't have any lines.

Oh, I haven't watched it.

I think she's had, like, 5 lines in 4 episodes, but they make it seem like she's in it. But she's kind of like Joel Embiid on the sixers, where it's like, is that he's not playing again? So I don't I don't know whether they were doing her a favor or she couldn't be for the first 5 episodes or what's going on. Maybe it's Here's

the deal. We want your comeback story to be this, but you don't have to do anything. I haven't I haven't watched it. I've I'm in a I'm in a deficit here.

I really liked it. But you do watch old Succession episodes.

Yeah. I love it. I it I think I had an epiphany recently where it has surpassed everything else as my favorite show. And, like, we could all go with The Wire and Sopranos, and I love Mad Men. I loved it.

But there's something about Succession where the show found a way to put stuff in it that it didn't need. Like, I'll use a small example here. I promise not to go too long on it. But the election night episode where they already have everything they need. Right?

It's gonna be this close election. The Roys are gonna have to be put in a situation where they're gonna have to make this decision and call the election for Mencken, and Shiv is gonna fight against him. So they got the back and forth, and Tom has just lost in all of it. But the fact that in that dramatic, I don't know, hour long show, but in that moment, it's a few minutes, that Greg gets wasabi on something so that their data guy, like their Nate Silver, gets wasabi in his eyes, and Greg is dumping lemon flavored LaCroix into his eyes. And in the end of the script, Greg is yelling, it's not that lemony.

It's just a hint of lemon. Yeah. The brilliance to be able to write, like, all the stuff that matter. And that that episode could have not had that, and it still would have been a great episode and the tension of the election night Yeah. And now what's at stake and how wrong they could have got it and everything that develops off of that, that they were like, let's just have a moment where Greg gets wasabi in the data guy's eyes.

It's just not a lot of shows that

were pulled that out. So you've been binging Succession. I've been binging Sopranos. And, I might have to I I I did the full circle. Mhmm.

I started on, like, right at the end of of season 4, went all the way through to finish because if there was a marathon, I'm like, alright. I wanna keep watching. And I got to the end, and I was like, season 1? And then now my and my wife is just furious now. She's like, what the really again?

You just did this 2 years ago. So maybe I need to shift to Succession. Because I feel the same way about The Sopranos that you do about Succession where I could just watch the same episode over and over again and just learn find new things. You know?

You know what I love when I rewatch? And I think AJ was awesome.

Yeah. He really was.

He was so

good. AJ got food.

That doesn't seem very nice. He didn't

Well, let's let's end with this. How many cities could you have actually lived in? And I mean actual cities. They can't be, like you can't say off the beaten path. Like, cities that have to have at least 1 sports team.

How many kids have to

have at least sports team?

You have to have

at least 1 professional team.

Yeah. Hartford's out.

That's Hartford was gonna be 1 of my go to's. Well, I always wanna move to Manhattan Beach Accomplished. I did wanna live here. It was close, but I could live here. I love it here.

Great group of friends. I've just never had a bad time coming to Colorado. So Wyoming, we're o for 1.

I just got that. Thanks. For me, Boston and LA, which I've already done. I absolutely could live here. I really like it here.

What about San Anton? Texas, I'm out. Chicago?

The the extreme weather, I'm out. That's why I love Boston. Seattle, if they had an NBA team, I'd really consider it. And that's that's about it. It would take a lot to get me to leave LA just for like, it was on Thanksgiving, it was 70 degrees.

What about where the Panthers play?

Where's that?

I don't know.

So that's it. So you could move here, but you would

Well, once you said NBA town, it screwed up my whole Saint Bart thing.

Since NBA, you could have any team. No. Because I think we're all like Nashville's getting momentum now.

No. Because you guys think I bought this boat for, like, luxury purposes, and it's actually my exit strategy. Saint Bart's rye, boat captain, NBA pod once a week to cover the boat excise tax. Boat? No.

It just needs something to cover the taxes, which I know I'm not supposed to bring up anymore. But

So you'd have the boat in Saint Bart's

I don't know. I would live there.

But you'd have YouTube TV?

Yeah. Unless they do some weird thing of, like, are you here permanently because you just keep clicking on visiting?

This would all lead to you disappear and we do, like, an 8 episode ringer podcast

Well, there was yeah.

Narrative thing about what happened to you.

There was a South of France thing where I was looking at something on Zillow where I was like, I could just have the worst schedule ever and do NBA pods from here.

Like, I don't at 5 in the morning?

I don't have anything telling me I can't do it. And then, I think something came up, and I was like, I can't.

What was the shortest amount of time where you decided that you were flying somewhere that wasn't in this country and then you were actually going on the plane.

Alright. This is actually kinda funny because when I flew to Reykjavik in Iceland, the flight from Minneapolis to Reykjavik is, like, 5 hours, 4:45. And I was like, dude, if I meet just some smoke show from Reykjavik, like, I could just, it's not that bad a flight. It's it's 2 and a half to Minneapolis from LA, and then So

you could live in Minnesota. You get the Timberwolves?

I could live in LA, and then I could commute through, and then I could be a Reykjavik. We'd split time.

You went through this thought process.

I just couldn't it was it was like you sit in the like, I remember when I flew to Greece once, I was, like, all pumped up, and I, like, turned to the guy next to me. I was like, what do we got? Like, 6, 7 hours here? Because I was so used to the East Coast Europe thing. The guy's like, 11.

And I went, fuck. Like, I have not mentally prepared myself for 11.

So what was the fastest you've gone on a trip, though?

Right. So that was that was the the Iceland 1. Once I sat down and I saw the thing on the graphic, I'm like, 4:45? Like, could I should I look at property? Yeah.

And it was all because the idea wasn't 7 hours. It was under 5. It was really stupid. I mean, all these things are stupid that I do. I I'm a San Sebastian applying for a job.

Do you tell people when you're, like, all of a sudden on your way to some country? Do you do you are there 5 people you're like, hey. Just FYI, I'm I'm gonna be, in Spain for a while.

No. I actually was in New Zealand hop hopping on, like, this this prop plane over Milford Sound, and you had to sign all these waivers. And I was like, I probably should tell somebody. So I I remember I forwarded my trust and will to my brother, and I was like, hey. I'm in New Zealand.

I was like, did you get that email? And he's like, what the fuck are you doing right now? He's like, are you alright? I was like, no. I'm fine.

I'm going to where they film Lord of the Rings.

You're like, so Scoot Henderson gets 10%. You get 40. 5% to Jokic so you could buy another horse.

I just hope Scoot gets a second contract, and he won't need any of my money.

Last thing. What's your prediction for the Denver Nuggets this season? How many rounds?

I don't know I don't know what you're trading, unless you just pull a plug of Michael Porter junior and you think it's an upgrade.

You look at the

Kinda. The

contracts, it's it's It's tough. Gonna be a quarter.

Who's who's the impactful person that then makes you better? Because Gordon, like, I love Gordon on this team so much. I don't know that I would Yeah. There actually, there's no version of him I would like as much as this 1 because of Jokic and the baseline stuff and all that stuff. But Well,

the other thing is it's harder to make trades now, which I didn't I'm still kind of figuring out the machinations because we gotta get it ready for when we start doing fake trades and about Yeah.

But it's not even what the penalties are in place. It's the fear of what the next 1 will do to you. Yeah.

But even also just matching the contracts and be like, no. No. You actually can't do that because you're over this apron, so you can only it's I I didn't get into sports to actually have to figure out fucking math. I gotta I'll tell you that much. And it's the most confusing it's ever been, but, like, even you look at it and go, well, why wouldn't they trade Michael Porter for Zach LaVine?

That would be an interesting trade. Right? And it's like, no. You can't because then you gotta give him Zeke Nagy. It's a hypothetical.

Some Porter fans,

Jimmy Butler's another 1. I I think it's a matchup thing. Like, I I think some teams still have real, like, question mark. There's some teams that wanna close small all the time. Like, I'm noticing it more and more where teams will just, like, match each other with small lineups.

I'm like, here we go again. So it depends on the draw, but they're certainly not the favorites. But here's Phoenix who's falling apart again.

Well, how many West teams do you really like? Because for me, it's like assuming Chet comes back,

which we

we have no idea. OKC is the only 1 I feel great about.

Yeah. Dallas is turning it around. They're gonna be good, but I don't know if they're locked

in with a 2 seed.

But if it were Dallas, Denver, I mean, it'll also has to see how it looks in March April. But

I'm trying to think of a single team in the west that would be psyched to see Jokic. I'm gonna say the answer is 0. But OKC would be you know, they're just like, take your 40. We'll take out everybody else. We have a way better team than you.

And I I don't I that'd be a really tough 1. So I would have OKC, and then I I just think it's TBD. I liked Phoenix, and we went big on them in the over unders. And, you know, Durant's been hurt twice now already. We're not even in When

they're together, they're really

good. December. Yeah. But it might be 1 of those. Yeah.

1 of the things I'm I'm thinking about with this season is just, do we count on these mid thirties guys too much? You know? Forget about LeBron, the age he's at, but do even Curry 36, Durant, and the 2007 draft on and on, and we see, like, the best case version of them when they're actually playing. But the season's, like, too fucking hard now. All these teams are good.

The style of play is really hard to play, and you're flying up and down, then you got 4 playoff rounds. It's like maybe, you know, somebody like Curry, how realistic is it that he could get through a season like this where he's carrying the burden he's carrying and then win 4 straight playoff rounds.

No way.

It's not.

Look. I wanna defend Curry all the time. The second player isn't good enough. I don't even know who it is. For a playoff team to get through multiple rounds in this west

2 years ago or 2 and a half years ago, they barely got there, and they got a lot of luck. But, you know, I just wonder if this is the year where it's like Boston, Cleveland, OKC, these young, talented, hungry teams, and it's just those are gonna be the 3. I think Cleveland's in the conversation, though. I I believe in them.

I do, but I do think it's gonna be tough to close those 2 bigs, and that's why they're benching Jared Allen down those stretches. And I think that's what it looked like, and that's probably their best chance to not I just don't know how you can play 3 out with 2 nonshooters in a game in the playoffs in today's league, but I'm not done with Minnesota. Phoenix is a tough gamble. Denver Denver's in that mix with those 2 teams. Minnesota?

No. It's December 4th.

I'm done if this is the roster.

I'm not.

Who booed? I thought you guys all hated Minnesota. It knocked you out last year.

Lot of there's a lot of transplants in Denver, Bill.

I do not like the body language or the ball movement on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

You know what I want from you?

Like the dueling banjos. Your turn, my turn. I'm out. When that was When we

get ready, when we do our 1st NBA Sunday pod

Yeah.

I want your 5 favorite body language teams.

5 favorite bad body language teams.

5 favorite body language teams. Oh. Like, raving about high fives.

Oh my god. I thought Golden State was great last night. There everybody was standing. Body language doctor noticed that. OKC, I like when they all do the postgame interview together.

Heartwarming. Boston, I think, has has great stuff. Everybody's pulling for each other. You can see. You can tell which teams like each other.

Looks like you heard you of the segment. Be easy to prep.

Hey, Denver. This was great. I'm glad we came. We, we got an incredible Jokic game. That was the other reason we came.

He delivered. He was great to watch in person. What a treasure. I hope you guys appreciate him. We love being here.

Any last words?

We'll see you at the gun.

We will not see you at Shotgun Willie's. Thank you, Denver. Alright. That's it for the podcast. Thanks to Kyle Creighton and Steve Sarutti for producing.

Thanks to Russillo for joining me in Denver. Thanks to Elizabeth Fehrman as well. Thanks to everybody who came out for the show. It was great. Don't forget to check out the ringer.com's relaunch.

And don't forget, 3rd podcast of the week coming Thursday night well after that Packers Lions game. And don't forget, $1,000,000 picks. Packers plus 4a half would love to throw for at least 200 yards with 200 k on that. That is a very, very nice parlay. Minus 101 on FanDuel, wherever you can find FanDuel.

That's it. I will see you in 24 hours.