Transcript of Dan Le Batard Reacts To His New York Knicks Winning Game 1 | Local Hour New

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Are you guys sure you don't want to come to my side on this? It's pretty fun being a fan of this basketball team. It's, it's one of the greatest playoff teams of all time.

I'm here with you, Dan. I've been here.

No, I don't feel like anybody's been with me on this. I feel like you've all been against me on this. You guys don't like Sam Morrill. You don't like him just because he's a Knicks fan.

That's not why. Or at least not just why.

Yeah. You don't like that I've become a Knicks fan because they're a lovable team. Every last one of their guys has been questioned. Brown, Brunson, Bridges, KAT. Every last one of their guys.

Except when 3/5 of that starting lineup won national championships. Multiple times over.

Yeah, Brunson's too small. Bridges is too many draft picks. Brown shouldn't have gotten the job. And KAT is, uh, his greatest game was practice when Jimmy Butler undressed him. Yeah. And on the other side, the 7'3" guy. Like, you guys are on the wrong side. Tony's not pro-Nicks. He's anti-Wemby.

I've turned pro-Nicks though. I like this team. I, I, I've been, I've been, I've liked Brunson for a long time. A traitor to your own town. Not to my own town. I like, I'm, I'm a man of the shield. No, this town is a New York town. I was at a bar last night after bowling and It's a Knicks bar.

Like, every bar down here is just infiltrated with Knick fans right now. You guys are sleeping on how amazing a story Brunson is. Stoic. Doesn't have to tell you how much he cares like Wemby. Shows you. Wemby's telling you all the time how much he cares. The little guy who was coached by his dad. His dad wanted him to be better than his dad was, and he was hard about it. Brunson does. After Game 1, yeah, played terrible, whatever. Did it at the end, but not happy with how we played. Totally stoic about winning a road game.

Mavericks let him walk for nothing.

Also questioned that nobody thought he was a number one player. Nobody. Mavericks certainly didn't. Nobody thought— the Knicks were the only team, the only organization that thought that was a number one player. You guys are on the wrong side. Are you going to come to my side? I know you can't do it.

No, no, we're— no, we're, we're Heat fans, so we still have some disdain in our hearts for the Knicks. You know, they haven't been super relevant in this rivalry for two decades. And now we're— the shoe's on the other foot. I don't really think they think about us.

They've gone from 25 years of being laughed at to one of the greatest postseason teams ever already.

Oh, thank you for contextualizing that. I had no idea that that was a story arc heading into last night. It's refreshing to hear. All right. I'm sick of their fucking shit.

You guys are missing out. I'm done. Brunson walked to the locker room. It's the best moment they've had since Willis Reed.

He was faking it. He was—

there was some Dwyane Wade going on.

He was faking that. Like, we're just milking it. He was absolutely— nobody more than Dwyane Wade, when he falls down, he would be like, oh my God, what kind of Miami show is this?

He's out for 2 months.

No, that was super smart of him. He's like, just in the event that I have one of those inefficient Brunson performances with the bright lights on, let me establish that someone bumped into my knee. You're gonna let him do this to you?

No, they're gonna come around.

You're gonna let him do this to you?

This is only game 1. Before the end of this, they're going to sway. They're just— they're— I'm not wrong, I'm just early. Must win for this.

Thank you. This is the Dan Levatar Show with the Stugatz Podcast. If anyone is questioning whether or not Skip Bayless still has his fastball, he's dubbed Wemba Nyama with a new nickname, Dan.

The Earthling. WFAT! Can I tell you something?

I don't know if you guys are aware of this, okay? Dan, who is trying to bring us to his side, his side being the Knicks, alright? Dan, like, I don't know if you guys know this, Dan is leaving the show early today. He's leaving the show early today and flying to New York!

True story!

Leaving early Going to New York too? Be with his people.

W-F-A-T!

What kind of bullshit is that? Little birdie told me, so are you. Okay, but I'm going tomorrow night.

This isn't— you know what, I don't like that you just did that. Why is it a little birdie? Suck up. Why is it a little birdie? Great question. Why is a little birdie telling anybody anything, and why are you as a young person using that phrase?

It's, you know, That kind of thing. What a, what a, what a kiss-ass you are. Me? Yeah, you. No, I'm calling you a sucker. I'm trying, I'm trying to be— You're the kiss-ass. You're the one flying— No, you're the one flying to New York to follow the boss. If a little birdie told me something, I'd be terrified. Back row Chris.

Put it on the poll at Levitard Show. If a little birdie told you something, would you be terrified? Uh, yeah, I want to tailgate because the game's in San Antonio the next one. I want to get there early because I want to celebrate Cat's first championship. I want to celebrate the fact that everyone mocks somebody that Wemby can't handle. This ain't chat. This guy will make you look slow on defense, big fella. Earthling.

There was a moment towards the end of the game where ABC was taking these natural reaction shots from Knicks fans. However, they were all in good seats. So every person that they thought was just an ordinary Knicks fan, —had a celebrity tie of some sort. Like, they were going to Knicks fans and one of them just so happened to be Sam, you know, like they all had some level of celebrity. There's a crowd shot and you recognize, oh, that's Fat Joe in there. And I swear to God, I thought I'd see you there.

Well, I'm going to be with him in New York and celebrate the fact that some ghosts are going to get conquered by the best postseason team we've seen in a minute. Because to get into some of the details from last night, the stats are pretty crazy. But Brunson's already an all-timer late in game. Games. Like, and when you talk about experience, like Amin was telling you, Spurs too young, Spurs too young, Spurs too young, at home in the Finals, last few minutes of the game. Brunson's not going to be scared of anybody who's ever held a basketball. And so people are going to talk a lot about Brunson today, but I do really think they're missing the story here. The way that team was down, Brunson limping, Brunson missing, and yeah, he rescued him in the fourth quarter, but they were down 14 in the third quarter, and the Spurs scored like 27 points the last 18 minutes of the game. Wemby couldn't do anything against KAT anytime KAT guarding him. And what KAT does that Chet did not do is, hey, big man, you got to guard me out here because I'll win a 3-point contest from out here and I'll blow past you.

That's the thing that Chet can't do. That Chet vanished on Wemby because Wemby did— had to respect the 3 but didn't have to respect that KAT will blow by you because he's the biggest, best shooting big man there's ever been. Big men don't win the 3-point contest. And so does that neutralize Wemby, this combination that I'm telling you? Because I don't think enough people are talking about this when they talk about Brunton. This is one of the few guys in the league that takes Wemby out of the paint. You gotta get out of there. What are you gonna block now when you have to come guard me out here? And if you guard me too much out here, I'm gonna be the one who blows by you at the rim. Wemby got outclassed last night by a playoff player who has playoff experience and has also been hardened by this. As everyone talks about Brunson's toughness, I don't know if Jimmy Butler is going to win a championship, but Andrew Wiggins won one. And the other guy that called— got so called soft on that Timberwolves practice team, uh, might win one too by going through the earthling.

Because what's happening with KAT right now, whatever it's been to be him on the internet when you're his age, okay, because everybody's gone de por gusto. Like, he's big guy soft. Sam hits him with a little gay, which is what people in New York are talking about when it comes—

I'm familiar with that trope when it comes to KAT. It's the go-to insult with him.

Yeah, because he talks soft. But what are you gonna say when the guy who talks soft takes out Wemby and does it because it's him? Because that wasn't Brunson last night. Brunson did what Brunson does. He's very comfortable in the fourth Butler, and he made incredible shots. It's what he does. I don't want to underestimate it, but KAT won that game. And the next time he has a bad one against Wemby, because he's tough to play, New York will fall on him in a way it'll never fall on Brunson. That's what he's been living with since you told him he was soft because Jimmy Butler had a practice that Amin reported on.

You? Well, everyone. Yeah, everyone. Yeah, I mean, he did it while wearing a watch. It was a pretty tough look. Wow. That was also several years ago. I do think it's a funny foil for Wemby because it's rather unlikely. Wemby looked off from the jump and we've seen it in the playoffs where he looks tired at the end of games. Wemby looked gassed in the first 3 minutes.

He looked slow though, too. And when you say from the jump, he lost the tip. I never expect him to lose a tip. He lost the tip to, to KAT and he lost the rest of the game to him too.

But you're not going to do the he was— he's tired.

No, I'm saying this is a matchup problem for Wemby. He's not experienced and this team is. His team's not experienced. Look, that game was won late. It was one late by a team that has been there.

Because we are going to get that lazy analysis today that Wemba Nyama is tired. And we've done this several times throughout the postseason. And then the very next game, Wemba Nyama is awesome. Okay. I thought it was pretty evident. And it's more obvious with a big guy like him that he was tired. I don't know what was going on there. He had a poor game. But he looked like he looked physically limited because his wind wasn't good. He looked like— what's so special about Wembenyama is at that size to be graceful, to float from end to end, and he's lumbering. Like, he looked like uncoordinated. I mean, he just had a massive 7-game series war against the defending champions. Last played on Saturday. I get you. I mean, but he's been playing for, for 10 months. Oh, but like, this all catches up to you.

This is a place that we talked about this some yesterday, and I just do think that people underestimate what it is that we're watching even as we cover it, because we say 3 days of rest, young guy. The sport's breaking all of its people and most of them don't have the pressure that this guy has. And so when I compare the two guys, Katt and Wemby, I think you're all right. I think he looked really slow, but when I say he looked beat, he looked beat tired and he looked beat by Katt because Katt was better in a way that no other— I was asking Amin, he hasn't answered me yet, it's one of those late-night texts. I was at, who's another big guy who can have that particular skill set big enough to bother him on defense? I think Wemby was like 2 for 8 when when— or 2 for 10 when Karl-Anthony Towns was on him. But also, you gotta guard me where you guard Brunson, because I can make it from out here. I'll get offensive rebounds when we're down 14. I'm gonna, I'm gonna crash the boards.

Probably just one other player, it's Davis. That's it. But he's never healthy.

Okay, so is that it? That's my only— that's my only comp on what presents a problem if I'm now throwing the bodies at Wemby, who's beat both ways. Now I'm going to throw Anunoby at him too, because this is a team where Josh Hart will get you the 15 rebounds. And hey, look, tonight it's, it's Sham it, it's Bridges back and banking in a 3 ridiculously because this team has a little something that is feeling like belief.

And the conventional big man also has a say in things because Mitchell Robinson, that, that's a load to handle, right? That, that, that's a big frame that is banging up against a smaller frame, a lankier frame, and that attributes to the, the general wear down of Wemby. The other big body is Nikola Jokic who dominates Wemby, right? And you look at his size, his ability to shoot from outside, his ability to play inside and grab boards, and he's thicker. He dominates 2 and B, you look at his splits, it's like, oh wow, he averages like a triple-double.

I think I said Bridges banked the 3. It was McBride. Yeah, McBride. But the team is feeling— I was like, I got something lucky.

But this is where, like, the changes that Mike Brown made at the beginning of this postseason were so beneficial during that Atlanta series, which is, hey, we're going to run a lot of offense through Cat. Like, we're going to use him as a guy at the top of the key who can be a playmaker for us. He was a guy who was creating, I think it was 18 field goals per game as an offensive player in just being able to set up other guys throughout this postseason. And that benefits this team more than just relying on Brunson one-on-one so that down the stretch he can pull that off.

The builders of the New York Knicks, okay, I don't know if this is what they envisioned when they, uh, traded 5 picks for Bridges because we're gonna beat you with 7 ways. Hart's going to grab 15 rebounds. We're going to throw Mitchell Robinson's weight at you for offensive rebounds. Shamet's going to hit threes like— I do want to at some point have a Hall of Fame of players associated with just a couple of plays like David Tyree. I want to do a Hall of Fame of putting people like that because Shamet's going to be remembered here by a generation and then disappear from the sport for a while because he's on a team. I played the under on him.

Because I'm like, naturally he's gonna come back down to earth. The building— you get the over in like the first 30 seconds.

When Leon Rose is protecting James Dolan's legacy as one of the worst owners in sport, the building of this team that chooses correctly— Brunson is a number 1, don't care what you think. Brunson's gonna play at a discount. Gonna trade Julius Randle. He's big and tough, you like it. Whoever it is that's calling, whoever it is that's conveniently calling Carl Anthony Towns, a little gay, whatever the opposite of that is in the playoffs. Julius Randle, in terms of physicality— how do we feel about that— also has some fadeaway miss jumpers that made him a bad playoff player. And so they traded him for a player that a lot of people would not have traded for given the reputation and the contract, correct?

Oh, I always attribute that to Sam when you say it. I will. I mean, I, I think after the 2 losses this postseason, the Knicks fan was trading Carl Anthony Towns. Summer always hits different once the big games start stacking up. Now you've got finals games on every other night, baseball's rolling all week, racing on the weekends, and suddenly everybody's looking for an excuse to get together. The other night, a buddy texted me, "We've got the game on, come through." I figured I'd stop by for maybe an hour. That was optimistic. Next thing you know, everybody's locked into the game and we're all part of the coaching staff. Somebody's yelling at the ref, somebody else is suddenly an expert on pitch strategy. And nobody's even pretending they're leaving early anymore. It's one of those nights where you take a sip of Miller Lite, look around, and realize, yeah, this is exactly what summer is supposed to be. That's why Miller Lite is always part of these nights for me. It's clean, refreshing, easy to drink when it's hot outside, and perfect for long nights hanging with friends, watching games. An all-American summer starts with an all-American beer.

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Don Lebatard. I'm just here to say one thing: the Knicks are back. Stugatz. Tyrese Halliburton, 6 points? Fraud. Everybody was like, yo, he's better than Jaylen Brunson, he's better than— the Knicks should have drafted him. Fraud. This is the Don Lebatard Show with the Stugatz. So that guy though, the thing that I want to point out to you, as you just saw, a not experienced player in Wemby get to the finals after making an experienced champion in Chet look scared. Wemby is now facing, as the second best player on this team, a guy who has one of the most unique skill sets in the history of the sport. Somebody that size has never shot like that. Somebody that size doesn't win a 3-point competition. And so wherever it is, you guys know how much I love to talk about sort of the evolution of sports and man. Wemby's physical evolution when it meets KAT, that's an interesting matchup. And while it's only one game, a series of factors. Nike commercials, pressure on Wemby, voice and face for a league, voice and face for a country. He's only 22 years old. Hey, would you like the entire league?

Look, the only one standing in your way is the one who got embarrassed while wearing a watch by Jimmy Butler in a practice because he doesn't care enough, you say, and then call him a little gay.

Sam, Dan, he was the one that saved the season for the Knicks, if you want to be honest. I see. I'm gonna, I'm gonna You see Jalen Brunson walking into the locker room. You got 19 people behind him. All of New York is like, oh my God, what is about to happen? They were in big trouble. I thought it was a sweep. They were down 10. Big trouble. And then they were down 10.

And your guy is like, when I'm joking, I'm making fun. When Mike says I say too much, this is the best the Knicks have felt since, since Larry Johnson's 4-point play. Brunson limping back into that game to win it is the best they felt since Willis Reed did something like that. Willis-Reed had 2 points, I learned. Yeah, he had like— he played for like 4 minutes.

Yeah, I think it was his only basket.

Back when Game 7s were won at home.

At what point do we drop the underdog thing though? Yeah, well, they're not a favorite.

You can't say they're a favorite.

They are now. They are now. They are now. They are. And if they, if they end up winning the championship, they're going to have one of the more dominant postseason runs ever. And I know you're going to laugh in my face, but they're the first team ever to win the treble in that league. They've won the in-season tournament, the Eastern Conference, and the NBA, and the NBA championship. So at that point, you gotta point to them and say, this isn't— forget like just the greatest Knicks team of all time, this is one of the best teams of all time.

Dan, they're -140 now to win the series. Okay, but it's not yet though. They have to win 3 more and they will be forgotten by history. Forgotten by history if they do not. Not by New York fans, but by history. This is where the stakes are climbing and you're gonna see games and points that matter in Madison Square Garden with all of New York feeling like it's behind a team that's fated to do this. A team that's lucky, a team that feels lucky, but not lucky the way you dismiss champions. Lucky the way you say all champions need some good fortune when things feel destined, when things feel pure. New York has— you're, you're talking about the tiny guy, maybe the most beloved Knick ever already because he's the tiny guy and they trust him the most in the fourth quarter and should because he's the best fourth quarter player in the league empirically. Like, that's not not somebody's opinion. What this guy has done— I'm going to give you some of the stats. I gave you one of these before, but this one, uh, total clutch points scored in the playoffs since 2023: Jalen Brunson's at 144, and next back at 84 is the 2-time MVP.

Then behind him by 15 points is Jokic, and then Tatum, miles back. Brunson, when basketball's decided and we're talking about face of the league, nobody talks about Brunson. But the biggest killer in the league The biggest Kobe in the league. It's not Doncic. Doncic doesn't have this many 30-point games in the playoffs. It's— the biggest killer in the league is the smallest dude. And they've got him. And now they've got somebody who's a specific set of problems for Wemby. That we can say, right? Whether you think Wemby's tired, whether you think he looks slow because he looked slow, or whether you think he was just beat by another man. I did not have in Game 1, however it is that I had Knicks losing because that kind of rest, you always come out slow. You always come out sluggish. That, that's too much rest. This game's too fast. I did not have KAT— the big surprise, KAT being better than Wemby in one game. That happened. And I— and efficient. And I couldn't believe it, really, because if you didn't know anything about basketball and were just watching basketball for the first time, you would say KAT is better than Wemby.

It is fun. It is funny, though.

The Spurs were ahead with under 2 minutes to play. They were up 1, like a minute 55 left. And you look at Brunson's numbers. Now, granted, he had to make some shots down the stretch, too. Giant ones. Giant ones. But the Spurs were ahead with under 2 minutes left, and Brunson for the game shot terribly. Like, if the Spurs would have held on in that game, if Brunson doesn't make a couple of those shots late—

he shot so bad, and Wembenyama had the terrible game. This is the reason though, this is the reason that I think the Knicks should be favored now, and I don't think it should be hyperventilation. The Spurs just lost on their home floor to a Knicks team that played one of its worst games in the last 12 games. That's the game to take from the Knicks. That's, that's the bad Brunson game.

Can't you say that's the game to take from the Spurs? That's right. Wemby was 6 for 21.

No, but no, what I'm, what I'm saying, you're the team at home. Yeah, he was 6 for 21. I feel like that was done to him. Brunson was, Brunson was 12 of 31. I think that that was done to him. These are both top 5 defenses.

So, so if it was done to Brunson and it was done to Wemby and this game was close down to the wire, wouldn't it be said that it will continue to be close games down to the wire and you can expect one team to make shots and maybe not another? I think we're going to get a classic series.

Yeah, I, I don't know how gassed Wemby actually is. I don't know whether KAT can do that to him the entirety of the series. I don't know what the adjustments are that are coming. What I saw, though, was the Knicks just won a game. Are you guys arguing with this, what I'm saying? The Knicks just won the worst basketball game they've played in the last 12 games.

Also, more aggressive Dwyane Wade needs to be a little bit better in the Finals. The actual Dwyane Wade, he's 21. Wemby seemed to be comfortable with how this all went though. Like, ultimately Wemby struggled, but he acknowledged himself after the game that like, this is just a different matchup. Every team guards differently, you know.

I'm gonna figure it out.

It's, uh, yeah, I mean, I was bad tonight. It's not more complicated than that.

We've down in the series before, never in the finals, obviously.

But I'm not kicking myself about anything, really. I mean, I'm not worried the slightest.

Dan Lebatard. Ahoy, it's Captain Slappy. Stugatz. Is this Chum Bucket? This is the Dan Lebatard Show with the Stugatz. We will get back to this Knicks game in a second. I assume that it'll dominate a great deal of the conversation, but I did want to, over the last couple of days before I get to New York. My, you know, I was born in Jersey City. I was— I'm a Jersey guy.

So homecoming for you today. So how are you not construction ready?

It's a hard hat summer. Respectfully, I'm headed out to talk to New Yorkers about New York things and the greatest time we've had here since either Larry Johnson or Willis Reed in the entire city. Jersey City is very close. I think put on the poll at Levittard Show. Do Jersey City people consider themselves New Yorkers? Yes or no? I feel like I'm quite— I'm just close enough. To, uh, to be a New Yorker today because it's, it's on my birth certificate, like right there. It's sort of— I'm in as in New York as the Jets are. I think the Giants— yeah, the Giants also play in Jersey, right? So I'm, I'm as much a New Yorker as the Giants or Jets and Nets for that matter. How did you decide when you were growing up if you were going to be a Nets fan or a Knicks fan? Well, I decided when this run started. It's great to be a front runner. I miss the one when it was the Miami Heat.

This run that started a couple of seasons ago. Let's be real.

Right. But it ran into some roadblocks. It's really 12 games ago that I— well, I proclaim myself the great, the great national hater after what happened against Atlanta. But now I'm headed to New York. But before I go to New York to celebrate with my people, I wanted to talk a couple of— about a couple of things in, you know, little old Miami, the little University of Miami program. One day it'll be as good as Rutgers. The University of Miami has obviously a star wide receiver for a couple of seasons because they got him locked in by the rules. Uh, Malachi Tony is not allowed really to, uh, go pro too early so he can be on the COVID of video games and he can become a highly paid superstar while in college.

Yeah, he's locked into college, but he's not necessarily locked into Miami because of the rules. So, you know, keeping all your guys is a skill too.

Yes, this is an important player and you're counting on some loyalty when anybody would want him because it's fairly rare for a freshman to be somebody everybody's like, oh, that's a star. Like right away. Got it. Got it. Yep. Played in all the big games. You thought Carson Beck played in a lot of big games before he got drafted? He didn't start as young as, oh, he's a star. He's an important player, important games as Malachi Tony did. But now he's the face of the sport on, on the COVID of a very popular game. And he's got cultural cachet. He is already a a demigod in Miami. He's high school football Miami. He's proud from inside of the deepest parts of Miami, which is how Miami will keep him when everybody comes sniffing around. Because can you imagine what that even looks like? If you're Malachi Tony, how many schools do you think are trying to poach him? Like, how does that work for a sophomore in college? Like, in terms of what's showing up at your doorstep? Not just whatever other college team is there, just what's showing up at your doorstep with gifts, handing you things because they want you to come them to their school.

Like, how do you even manage that? I mean, how would any of you have managed that as sophomores in college?

Probably really well. Yeah, I'd have been able to do it.

Be fun. It would be great fun. I imagine it's a great deal of fun to be Malachi Tony right now.

Well, it's a great deal of fun to be a Miami Hurricanes fan, not just because you have Malachi Tony, but you have what seems to be a roster that is built for the long haul. Miami famously did a lot of damage in the portal, and they were always on the fringes of top 10 classes. But right now, with last night's flipping of Jayden Bryant, they are firmly locked in as a top 3 recruiting class. We like him. He's good. Yeah, 5 stars are pretty good. Can't go higher than that. Sometimes you go 6 stars. It's a 5-star system, but sometimes you can go 6. Well, I'm not— you officially— no, sure, no, but I mean, that's a— he's flying to New York.

Are there— put it on at Leverett Show— put— are there 6 stars?

Yeah. But this team is loaded, and now recruits across the nation know that we have a program that as knows what it's doing when it comes to the NIL game. But also these recruits have proof of concept that Miami being good is not a story handed down from generations. It's something that is playing out in front of a nation. They were national runners-up. So now you're starting to get the high-end high school talent. Miami had just signed a 4-star quarterback. They're, they're cooking in ways in the high school levels that they haven't been really doing, despite what the reputation is of Mario Cristobal. This right now appears to be his best class. And you couple that with they got a lot of veteran leaders on this team now. Half the team made it to a national championship last year, and Mark Fletcher is the unquestioned leader. I've never seen Mario Cristobal kind of step aside and let somebody else speak for the team. He lets Mark Fletcher speak for the team. Great mentality, and his family is amazing. Here is a sound and video of Mark Fletcher's mother, who drives to every game that Mark Fletcher plays in.

Here's video of her seeing Mark Fletcher on a billboard on US 1.

Oh my God, y'all, I just had to U-turn.

Oh my God. Okay, y'all, look, look at this, look at this, look at this, look at this, look Who that? Who that on the billboard? Who is that?

That's my baby! Thank you!

It's all about you! Oh my God!

Are you sure that's not Abuela Cristobal having a torrid love affair with Mario Cristobal?

Perhaps. No, that is Mark Fletcher's mom. She is a lovely lady. And that is just heartwarming video.

It is lovely. And I think she should be someone that is on our show. I think we should talk to her. But I want to step a couple of steps back on everything that you just said there, because Malachi Tony on the COVID of this video game is a cultural announcement, right? We've been talking so long about is the U back? Is the U back? This isn't quite Jazz Chisholm on the COVID of a video game because baseball wants to be Black and younger. This is the biggest electric star in the sport. That loves its quarterbacks. Like, the idea that a freshman wide receiver who started last year at 17 years old is so good that he's taken the spot on cool from all the quarterbacks gives Miami a different feel than when you kind of slice me with, back when football was nostalgia in Miami, back when it was handed down from generations, the greatness. This makes Miami a different kind of cool.

This player is the centerpiece. Yeah, and I think for most people, that know Malachi Tony, they think he's a star just because of what he did on the field for the University of Miami. An electric player, game breaker, super exciting, no doubt. There's more. Yeah, locally, why it's not really a threat that he'd ever leave, but it's a bit of an icon. He is a street icon. Yeah, people have no idea that this is a story arc when it comes to Malachi Tony. This was, this was written in the stars. He was a legend on the youth level, in the high school level. Everybody knew who Baby Jesus was. If you followed local high school football down here in Miami, Malachi Tony was a name you were familiar with. The Baby Jesus moniker was something that you heard. Um, Mario Cristobal has said the story that— Mario Cristobal's on it from a recruiting, uh, standpoint, as we'd all, uh, agree. You've mentioned it. It's no—

there's no need to mention it anymore. I think Jeremy rolls his eyes anytime you do mention— we know that he works really hard, right?

But Mario Cristobal shared the story that it was Mario Cristobal's son that said, Dad, do you know about baby Jesus? And he watched the tape. And, you know, Mario Cristobal, it's easy to get 5 stars. I mean, easy to identify the talent there. But that wasn't what Ruben Bain was. That wasn't what Malachi Tony was. And these were guys that he had an eye for talent and realized that these guys are better than their, their ratings. But yeah, Malachi Tony is a local South Florida legend with plenty of high school football lore and youth football lore. And when he shows up to practice and Mario's got all those youth teams out there, it is unlike anything I've ever seen at Green Tree. And in my lifetime, I don't think Miami has had a bigger star on their roster. Remember, Cam Ward ended up being the number 1 pick and a Heisman finalist. He didn't come in with that kind of juice. Malachi Tony now comes in as a cover boy on a video game. He is a bona fide local superstar and he is idolized by kids playing 7v7, Pop Warner, high school. He is going to be the reason that a lot of kids come to Miami.

They are going to talk about him in ways that I talk about Sean Taylor. And it's really cool to see that play out again at Miami. Zazz, you want to revisit the 6-star thing or no? Because I'm pretty sure you're really wrong. You're wrong. Well, how am I wrong? They don't have 6 stars. It doesn't exist. Oh, but you could be 6 stars. You want to say that again? Yeah, you could be— don't try and make up for your, you know, verbal diarrhea yesterday. My verbal diarrhea? At least I was, I was on the right track. Okay, but you're way off, buddy. You're a nutsman. I know what I'm saying, all right? Yes, he's rated 5 stars, but you could be better than 5. You could be 6. You can. If you're better than all the other 5 stars, Like, it's not an even playing field. It's like, oh, this is as good as you can be. If you're 5, everyone's the same.

No, no, if you're better than the other 5-star guys, you're a 6-star guy. Sazh, I'm sorry to do this to you. Go sit in the cuck chair. Oh, I, I want to— if you're going to make ridiculous points like that, do it from somewhere else in the room. And like, there are no 6-stars. They just told you factually there are no 6-stars. And I, I need to ask the poll question differently because I said, are there 6-stars? And people are going to think that's the the Galaxy, and they're gonna say no. Are there 6-star recruits? Because I've never heard that said, because it stops at 5 stars.

Everyone knows that. It's a complete— it's a complete makeup from Zas. Like, he had no idea what he's doing. The guy covers college football every Saturday, travels every single day, and all of a sudden doesn't know that there isn't 6 stars? Every day? You travel here, don't you? Every day? The, the rating system is a rating system. If a restaurant gets a Michelin star, there isn't like another star that they could get. Yeah, but you could be better than 3. Be better. By the way, little news and notes here on Miami. Through industry sources, Canes Inside can report another name in the Miami athletic director mix. It appears that, at least for the moment, Michael Yormark has drifted out of that. Jim Favola, Jeff Purinton, who had some Alabama ties, Mario Cristobal, and this is the most recent name I've been able to confirm through industry sources, uh, FAU AD Brian White.

If you guys have been listening to this show for a while, you have seen Mike's love of this program. He's never been as hurt as he was by sports, them coming that close against Indiana. And the project that he has with Canes Insight is really strong. If you care about Canes football, you've seen the growth of Mike as an information person because he's really made his way into the NIL of it all. And when he talks about some of the things we're talking about, what's cool to see about the reinvention of Miami when you're talking about Malachi Tony, you're talking talking about Miami having a different style than it did back when it was all swagger, but it's swagger, and it's swagger for young people who make everything popular. And there haven't been a lot of Miami guys— for all of them who have played for Miami, there have not been a lot that are this kind of great, who everyone who watched him watched him do this as baby Jesus when he's 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 years old. Wherever it is you're— Santana Moss are. Michael Irvin is from Broward. No, no insult.

Ray Lewis is up the state. Edgerrin James, up the state. Like, they, they got their followings when they got to Miami. This guy got to Miami with a following because of what high school football means down here. But the Baby Jesus nickname is soiled. He's the second one in Miami to have it, and the last one who had it, Jesus Baby Jesus.

I mean, just look how cool this looks to anybody playing a video game right now. Kurt Cignetti? Yeah, Kurt Cignetti. I mean, even behind him, like, Malachi has two different cool poses here with the shush, but the gabos on the eye black, uh, the new number 1, which is supposed to mean something at the University of Miami until JoJo Trader ruined it all. But he's throwing up the U. He's proud to be Miami. Malachi, like, repping the gabos.

Stars and he's better than them, he's a 6-star guy. It's not that hard to understand. Zaz somehow still closer to the mic than my dad.

The internet does say 6-star is a colloquial term for the guys who were ranked 1 through 3 in the overall prospects of their high school recruiting class. So not an actual thing, but at least, you know, mentioned before. By the internet. Well, you can't trust anything on the internet. This guy's reading large language models over here and giving stats. Going, what's this, Zaz? No, I'm finding the Bleacher Report article that large names. 2011. Yeah, mentioning Jadavian Clowney.

The part though, Mike, that I think is cool, because you talk about how much Mario Cristobal, uh, works, works, works at recruiting and why they're good at recruiting. Something else that has always helped recruit Miami is that the program is cool, that the program— you're— what you're selling isn't just we've got the most money. It's not just we're a pipeline to the pros, it's that being here is a cool thing to be around because we've got the players who matter, the players who have style. And, and so to have this guy as the freshman hood ornament on that for 3 years on the rebuild, and to have him at the center of, of all of it, uh, makes recruiting all the easier. It's why it's not merely that the U is back, it's why, um, he's fixed it. Like, he was worth the money, we had to concede that last year, but the great squandering at the University of Miami, and one reasons they need a new athletic director is because basketball shouldn't have fallen apart after it got to the Final Four. Baseball shouldn't be losing 22-10 to the Gators because baseball doesn't have any pitching because JD Arteaga is a former pitcher here and we can't pitch at Miami.

Like, the whole program needs help, and football being cool has always been the thing that helps the other programs. And so that's why you're talking about new athletic directors, because because you can't blow this opportunity. And frankly, whoever the athletic director is, whoever you are, one of the many reasons your mark weren't— wasn't going to work, buddy, you work for Cristobal now. Like, you're here to help him. Like, that's the deal. You want your program built? Stand at his side. And the CEO is where all the problems go. Get out of— get out of his way and get Mario money. Get him support because the program's rebuilt. And this right now Now is a golden job. Like, it's not usually in Miami. Business is impossible in Miami. Like athletic directors, no matter how good— Maggard, Jankovic, Dee— impossible. But not if your football program is the coolest, best thing. Then it's easy.

I mean, we kind of saw it with Dan Radakovich, right? He was made the highest paid athletic director in the nation. Never even really cared that much to relocate his life down here. A lifetime administrator. And I mean, the success is there, but he didn't wow anybody with his energy because this machine was built by Mario Cristobal. We got the collective thing worked out with a good collective, thank God, early on. And you, you coupled a coach with unparalleled energy when it comes to talent acquisition with a really organized and And apparently across the board, 100% clean, because when they burst onto the scene with John Ruiz, everybody was looking to take them down. I mean, the spotlight is always going to be on that, you, so you better make sure your nose is clean. This is a great job. Now, this is a prestige brand yet again, and it was all about getting the initial hire right, which was why I— you could talk about in-game stuff, which Mario Cristobal has quietly improved on a lot better. Lot better because one thing that I'm blown away by Mario Cristobal is his ability to adapt.

He recognizes the mistakes. He sees everything. He's aware of what his reputation is, so he works as hard at that as he does at acquiring talent, no doubt. But they needed this kind of energy. They needed an ass kicker, and hopefully the AD reflects that.

Uh, put it on the poll: does Mario Cristobal see everything? Uh, can you look up for me please why someone's nose is clean? I don't— I know the expression, but I don't know why it's an expression. And I'm, I'm itchy, and I have not been able to figure out why it is that I'm itchy. And it's because we haven't talked about the Knicks in a few minutes. Like this— yeah, what we did there didn't feel good, those last 10 minutes. Let's get back to the Knicks.