Transcript of Is Victor Wembanyama The NBA GOAT? | Local Hour New

Greg, your son has told me that you sent him a text and that you are withholding some content today in a protest, and I want to know what's happening because he hasn't given me details. He's just told me that you're tired of something that we're doing around here.

Um, no, I'm not tired of it. I'm just trying to protect my intellectual property over there at the The small private individual called The Greg Cody Show Podcast. You know, we're not a big company. We're small.

I don't think that's the name of it.

The Greg Cody Show.

That's not the name of it.

Well, with Greg Cody, but you know, we're casual around here. We're using the nickname.

Chris, can you read me the text that he sent you, please? Because he didn't give me the answer that I was looking for.

Oh, we're getting to it.

He just misnamed his podcast.

He said, remember my new edict. When it comes to DLS. They can have either the Catchphrase Countdown or the movies bit, but not both on the same day. And the movie bit should be confined to 1 hour and not recur the whole show.

Fair. Reasonable.

So the good content, you don't want us to have it?

Uh, it's, it's the property of my podcast. I, uh, I've been sharing the Catchphrase Countdown with you, Uh, only because I normally come out a day before I'm on here. But the movie thing, like on my current episode that dropped, uh, yesterday morning, we have a Greg Doesn't Know Movies. That's like a recurring bit that I have.

So it was a spiteful Greg Doesn't Know Movies, by the way. So he's like, they think they can have the movies bit, we're doing it this week on our show.

Greg, if I can play defense attorney for a second, not for you, um, for Dan.

Yeah.

Uh, can I argue that this bit is empirically different than the bit that you do on your podcast? And I'll tell you why. Chris has informed me and and your son Michael has also informed me, and Yeti has also informed me and informed the defense, that they don't actually play the clips of the movies on your podcast. They ask you questions, right? So in essence, us playing clips of movies to ask you if you know the movie clip and quote is a different game and a different, completely different thing.

Uh, you know, that's a valid, uh, point, Tony, uh, but I would argue your argument. I mean, there are movies there. How much or how little do I know about movies? That's the bottom line.

It's derivative though, and it's flattery, right, to do some copycat stuff that honors you as the pioneer is homage. It's not insult. And you're now actively denying us the good content. Anytime we get something that works with you, you take it away and you run— you take your ball and you run home with it.

That's not true. I like the metaphor though. Um, no, it's not true. I mean, I'm offering either.

What are the rules? Can I do one of them today and one of them tomorrow since you're in both days? Or are you just limiting us to I can't do it in a week?

Well, you normally only do the catchphrase countdown once.

Put it on the poll at Le Batard Show. If you can only do one, which one do you want? Uh, Catchphrase Update or Greg Doesn't Know Movies?

Go ahead, KM.

Uh, go ahead and pick one. Uh, I still don't understand what the rule is. What are you saying is the rule?

The rule is, and I hope you appreciate it, I just don't want to give—

I don't appreciate it, for the record. I do not appreciate it, to be clear.

Okay, these are things that that are a part integral with my podcast.

But we're promoting your podcast. Zazz's podcast has blown up, at least in part, because of being close to us, and as has yours.

I was going to say hard work, but okay.

Yeah, I'd like to take a little credit.

But it's grown by 8 times since you've been here. Like, it is also—

I can relate, Zazz.

Well, congrats, Zazz.

It can also be hard work, but it's also grown since you got here. That's not disputable. Both of you grew your podcasts after the affiliation with our show and the ability to— I don't want the credit, I want the material.

I think you're wanting the credit. This is the Dan Levatar Show with the Stugatz Podcast.

They canceled my podcast when I started working here.

Greg Cody of the Miami Herald is in with us today. He's already withholding his good material. We will find out soon whether we go catchphrases or movies today. I should tell you that Boog Shambe is going to be on with us here at some point this week, and my intent was to try and get some of your catchphrases on a Cubs broadcast as part of promoting what it is that Boog Shambe is doing with us. Do you still want to withhold it if I get some of your catchphrases on the Cubs broadcast?

Um, no, I'd like that. That'd be great.

So that's it. Your protest is over. I offer you a little candy that's national in nature and you immediately put down your protest.

What I'm really pushing for is to hear the phrase "very good" at golf galleries, like after a good drive, instead of the old tired "Get in the hole!" I will say Roy said yesterday, and I agree with him, we're done with the "Baba Booey" thing.

Like, I love The Howard Stern Show, love Baba Booey, but the Baba Booey cheer at golf, like, we need something new.

Yes. And "very good," that could—

yes, that's a good nominee.

It is. Thank you. And "Boog," likewise. Should push very good because it works after a home run. Imagine that as a home run call. It's over the fence and the announcer goes, very good. It'd be great.

A Cubs broadcast, traditional in nature. You think that that would fly?

Oh, like, is there a parrot in the booth?

Where is it? Like a drunk Harry Carey couldn't be heard saying that.

So no, we're going to act like Cubs games are above reproach. They're doing a beer snake.

Come on. He mentioned Harry Carey now in this. I wanted to get to Wembenyama, and we will in a second. Please get me the sound of how Pat Riley says Wembenyama. Yama, so we could celebrate an international name today. But since he mentioned Harry Carey, uh, Boog Shambi tells the great story. The Wrigley Field press box and bathroom specifically was unbelievably small, like it felt like something out of the 1920s. And so on a very cold winter day, he is awed because he is at the next urinal in a very tight space with Harry Carey. And Harry Carey is fumbling around in a lot of clothes and he just says to Boog by way of greeting— it's the first— Boog is meeting a legend for the first time. And what Harry Carey says is, I got so much clothes on, I can't even see my own dick. Very poor Harry Carey impersonation.

But a good anecdote, though.

That was all right, man.

I want to get into a couple of things specifically from last night's game, because I imagine every player in the West who who doesn't play for OKC and the Spurs, uh, calling their agent and asking for a trade, uh, because they see all of those young players and those two teams are built to last.

I think last night was a big night for the Miami Heat. All these players, these star players in the Western Conference, you don't think the Heat are in on them now? Last night was a great night for Heat culture.

There are a number of things here. Dwyane Wade is saying, look, most players have to suffer before winning the championship. But Wemby might be the 0.001% that doesn't have to suffer because he says 99.9% of the time I do believe a player has to go through pain. But every so often it's a special mother bleeper that comes around and a special team that comes around that they don't have to experience it. And so I want to talk about a handful of things from last night's game because I don't know what the better feeling is. What do you guys think is the better feeling? Put this on the poll as well. Who feels better today, Wembenyama or Alex Newhook? Who feels better? Who feels better today?

That's a great question. Newhook scores the game winner again in overtime.

The again's big because he's done this twice now. And has anyone ever done it twice? Has anyone ever done the game winner in a Game 7?

Former Panther Nathan Horton with Boston did it twice in the same postseason, actually. But Newhook advances Montreal to the conference finals. Conference Final. I, I'm tempted to say that, but maybe it's Wemba Nyama because it doesn't mean anything as far as the rest of New Hook's career. Like, Wemba Nyama obviously knows, but like everyone knows now, okay, this guy owns the league.

Wemba, yeah.

So I feel like maybe the answer is Wemba Nyama.

That is the answer. I would agree. Wemby is the answer. He made his statement.

It's Game 1 and it's Eastern Conference Finals. It's not an advancer. It doesn't finish a season, and it doesn't prevent the ending of a season. Those were two fantastic games last night, both of them. To have the stakes on that Montreal-Buffalo game, to have the people of Buffalo— they've never had anything in sports win anything— they were so hopeful. To take that away from them—

Dan, I had a real conundrum last night. So you know what, both these games, it's, it's overtime in Game 7 of the hockey going on at the same time as like late fourth quarter of Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

It was so awesome, I was like, sports!

But I had a problem. Do you know what my problem was, Dan? You could think about it. What was my problem if this is happening at the same time?

Well, are you on the tablet?

Are you under—

Yes!

You're in bed and you can't—

Yes!

You can't go to the bad couch and you still haven't gotten a better couch?

You couldn't wait for 30 minutes just to sit on the leather couch?

No, I— this is when I go to bed, okay? So I'm watching in bed. And if anyone wants to sponsor the Zaslow Mansion family room with a new couch, just hit me up. All right, my DMs are open. My DMs are open. So I'm in bed asking for a new couch. I didn't ask. It's a sponsorship. I didn't ask. So I'm in bed and I got the tablet on my stomach. Of course, I said to my wife, I go, can we also put the TV on? She goes, no, it's tablet time. And so I had the tablet on my stomach and the TV gets hot. It keeps her awake. And so I got the tablet on and I'm watching the game and I'm like, but damn it, I have to also watch the hockey, of course. So I had to break out my phone and you see how I got a kickstand here on the back of the phone.

You had both of them on your stomach? Are you shirtless? Do you sleep with a t-shirt or do you sleep with a— Shirtless.

Shirtless. Shirtless.

I had wrestling jammies.

Shirtless.

Well, we had the cleaning girl yesterday too, so brand new sheets, very comfortable.

Woman.

And so I have the, you know, the thing here, the kickstand, all right? So I got the iPad on my stomach and also the iPhone set up on my stomach.

Zaslo's really having trouble. You made him stammer with the girl-woman connection because I told him, I told him a couple of weeks ago, hey, it's girl under 18, it's woman after 18.

My boss.

And he says, that's been hard for me to get right. I've been— I'm having a lot of trouble with that one. The handful of observations that I have from last night, and I have many because I told you before, the NBA playoffs have kind kind of stunk. Atlanta-New York gave us a good game. We had an overtime game in, uh, you know, uh, Cleveland-Toronto, but it's kind of stunk. And yesterday you had what has to be the play of the season, and I believe we have now a call that rivals Do You Believe in Miracles in terms of being a better call. And I know what I'm saying. I know that I am going after— I don't even know what second place is historically on the best call of all time. I know, do you believe in miracles? 1980 Olympic hockey team. Let's play Al Michaels. Greatest upset in the history of American sports. You've got 10 seconds, the countdown going on right now. Morrow up to Schultz, 5 seconds left in the game. You believe in miracles?

Yes! Unbelievable.

Holds up for 46 years somehow. I don't know what you guys would put in second place behind that, but somehow hockey 46 years later, because of the moment and the politics and everything else, that became the greatest call enduring for half a century. Now, obviously, the stakes are slightly different yesterday in that the most giant guy who's going to be running the league for several years and, uh, God Almighty, I, I'm super tempted to say that if this stays healthy, it's not going to be a stoppable thing. That was a Wilt game. That, like, that's a— Shaquille O'Neal is the only one, prime Shaq, 2001, is the only one to go 40-20 this deep in the playoffs. And this is his playoff debut for this guy. Like, he's just getting started.

Shaq was in the league for like 9 years at that point.

It's just lunacy. And any amount of hyperventilation around him today will not be overstatement if you suspect that if he stays healthy and keeps growing with that team he can rival the best player ever. It's not overstatement because it's not a stoppable thing. They're trying to stop him with Caruso, but a handful of things here, a handful, okay? I remind you that the Spurs got De'Aaron Fox because he's the one who's got veteran leadership. Didn't even need him last night. Didn't have him, didn't need him. Win against OKC, and Wemby leaves the court OKC is 8 for 13 in the paint, 7 for 9 at the rim. He comes back on the court and they cannot do the same things. And at the end of the game, the Spurs go zone because they got beat on a 3 where— when they got beat where Wemby didn't rotate, and they're like, screw this, Wemby staying in the paint, you're gonna have to come do it in the paint, we're going zone. And OKC lost the game because OKC went zone and all of a sudden they couldn't get shots. But these are the things that I think are worth monitoring in that series.

I think the Spurs are going to wear down. Their guys played a lot of minutes last night. Wemby's never played that many minutes in a game. That's a career high for him. And all their main guys played a ton of minutes. And OKC, over the course of a series, can wear you down there. But what do you guys do when you see everything that happened last night? That shot with 26 seconds left is a truly terrible shot. It's a truly terrible shot unless you're maybe Steph Curry. History of the league, that's a truly terrible shot. Shot to take in that situation. I know the clock, but if he had missed it— if they're down 3, 26 seconds left, if he misses it, the bounce is going to make it so that it— they're still not going to have time. He's trying to rush that because they don't want to get to the fouls, and it is a terrible shot that he took, but no terrible shot gets remembered like that. Like, that's going to be— I don't know that he's going to have a lot of shots in his career more memorable than that one.

Yeah, the terrible shot became one of the greatest shots of all time, uh, and, and that's the way it works in sports with superstars who tend to do things like that more than mortal humans. When, when you say that Wembanyama is still growing, uh, you don't mean that literally, right?

I might mean it.

Imagine him as 8'1".

I might mean it literally. I don't know if you put it on the—

He's grown 8 more inches.

He could be—

Imagine him at 8'1".

He could be 8'1".

He might as well be 8'1" now.

Put it on the poll at Le Batard Show: do you stop growing at 22 years old, yes or no? Because it is possible that he grows a little bit more.

Oh yeah, 8'1".

Not that much more.

Market.

Howdy listeners, we're in that part of the sports calendar where you got multiple big games going on simultaneously and you gotta decide either to make the investment in multiple screens or to prioritize one thing. And one thing I always prioritize when I'm watching a game is Miller Lite. That's right, Miller Lite can make make your time spent watching these games with a buddy or pal even better. Oh, that moment where the game tips off, the NBA playoffs are rocking, you toast that white can, and you think immediately after that first sip you made the right call. That is the glory of Miller Lite. I reach for it every time. It's clean, refreshing, easy to drink, brewed for taste with simple ingredients, just 96 calories and 3.2 carbs. The original light beer since 1975. And it still hits different. Cheers to legendary moments with Miller Lite. Great taste, 96 calories. Go to MillerLite.com/Dan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

The NBA playoffs are here, and DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA, Brings excitement to every game all postseason long. When the lights get brightest, the best players in the world show you exactly who they are. Playoff stars turn it up round by round, and DraftKings turns it up with them from the first round through the finals. Bet player props, bet live, stay in the action the entire time. New DraftKings customers bet just $5 and you'll get $100 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app Use code Dan so you're ready for the moment. That's code Dan. Turn $5 into $100 in bonus bets instantly. In partnership with DraftKings, the crown is yours.

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET. New York, call 877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY. Connecticut, call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino in Kansas, wager tax pass-through may apply in Illinois. 21 and over in most states. Void in Ontario. Restrictions apply. Bonus bets expire 7 days after For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see sportsbook.draftkings.com/promos. Limited time offer.

Don Lebatard.

Quiet man. Yes. You know, I'm a married man. I don't cheat on my wife despite that gratuitous line in— back in my day. That you wrote.

Stugatz.

I wish you were here, my wife. I really miss her. No, I don't. That's the thing about being married, you know, you're not allowed to say, I don't miss my wife. I've been gone 2 days. I haven't been gone long enough to miss my wife. I'm sorry. I call her, I'm on the phone with her for 30 seconds. You know, what am I— hello, all right, all right, we'll see you, all right. And then, you know, I'm gonna see her in 2 days. How's Jumpin' Charlie? Good.

This is the Don Levitar Show with the Stugatz.

So I believe though that we have a call from that game to rival Do You Believe in Miracles, and it comes courtesy of the OKC broadcast team, which really rose to the moment here. They're up 3 and Wemby decides he's going to shoot from the logo. And here's the OKC call. Wemby Nyama has a left wing castle. Patrolling Wemby, lean in, 30-foot 3 to tie is in there. 26.3 to play.

It's in there. You're a little pizzazz.

The best moment of the basketball season called by the OKC radio team.

It's in there.

26.3 to play.

It's like he didn't even call it.

That's correct. That is why it is the greatest call in sports history. Has a left-wing castle. Patrolling Wemby, leaning 30-foot-3 to tie, is in there. 36.3 to play. That's it.

That casually says a 30-foot-3 to tie.

Best moment of the season. Has a left-wing castle. Patrolling Wemby, leaning 30-foot-3 to tie, is in there.

26.3 to play.

Listen to the Just listen after he says it's in there. Just that crowd stood for the first 3 and a half minutes of that game, longer than they've stood all season because they do not, they do not sit until the first basket is scored. And they were down early and they didn't score for 3 and a half minutes. This right here is exactly how you would call it first quarter, Game 9 against the Pelicans. Wembenyama has a left wing castle. The trailing Wemby leaning 30-foot 3 to tie is in there. 26.3 to play.

Do a sponsorship after that, right?

Just isolate for me the crowd noise. Go ahead and play the whole thing again just so that you could hear what it sounds like when a defending champion crowd gets punched in the stomach. Wembenyama has it, left wing castle, trailing Wemby, lean in, 30-foot 3 to tie, is in there. 26.3 to play. They're so deflated. And you do have to take it from the champions, like you have to take it from them. They are exceptional, and he went in there and took it from them. And then after the game, Wembenyama's, uh, postgame on, uh, when he's asked a very long question, his answer made it so that he can't get aggregated saying the cocky thing. They're not going to be able to put in headlines, Wemby says that he was bothered by, uh, SGA, uh, winning the MVP.

Just curious if that was in your mind at all, knowing that Shai had got that award and you were in the top 3 for it. And, you know, did any part of tonight feel personal? I had some of your facial expressions kind of look like you were really, really going for it.

Yeah, for sure. Everything you just said.

Go ahead and quote him on that. Yeah, for sure. Everything you just said.

He's kind of got a cartoon monster voice, right? Kind of like a Calais Campbell light.

Listen to it again.

Let's— I don't think he's got a friendly giant's voice. Let's see if he's got a Calais Campbell voice here.

Facial expressions kind of look like you were really, really going for it.

Yeah, for sure. Everything you just said.

A little bit.

Yeah, a little nasal.

Undercurrent of a pituitary problem.

Like a young— like a younger Calais Campbell. Like a little smaller monster, even though he's taller monster, but smaller.

So last night was— it was like Robinson Olajuwon, right? It felt like 1995 where Western Conference Final, Rockets-Spurs, and everyone knew Olajuwon was best player in the league now because Michael Jordan wasn't around. And well, actually he returned earlier that season, but David Robinson won MVP and Olajuwon was like Yeah, I'm going to destroy you. And the Rockets swept them.

That game last night under those circumstances, that person can run the league for 10 years. And I really do want to ask this question on the poll at @LevittardShow. Wemby going to ruin the league or going to save it? What's your answer on that one?

It'd be both.

Put up—

put both.

But make that the third answer. But make that the third answer. But, but, uh, gonna ruin the league, gonna save the league, and can it be both? Just put can it be both as one of the questions.

Why do we always pretend like we hate a dynasty? A dynasty is great for sports, no matter the sport, whether it's the Yankees or the Lakers.

Nah, unfair, unfair. Look, what the Dodgers are doing It feels unfair, but baseball can make it random. In this sport, the best guy being 7'3"— look, this is— I, I got— I, I don't want to lose sight of this. Just because you've been watching Wemby for a couple of years, it's as ridiculous as watching Shaq do it. Like, it doesn't make sense that that person's pulling up from 30 feet. That's— it's just total nonsense. My entire history watching basketball, the 7'3" guy only takes that shot shot if they're out of time and someone got him the ball by accident at the end of the game. That's not— it's just not a smart shot. What, are we in agreement on that? Do you guys disagree with that?

It's a 2-for-1 situation, so he's trying to get the ball up as fast as he can to get the rebound if they do have to foul, or they can wait a little bit to try and get some more time on the back end of Oklahoma City.

Yeah, but you can go for 2, like you can start the foul game. You guys think that was a good shot?

There are no bad shots if you're the greatest basketball player who's ever lived, Dan.

30-foot 3 to tie is in there.

He is.

He already is. This is just like Shohei Ohtani. You ask the question of, is this going to save the league or is it going to ruin the league? Just like Shohei, it can save the league because there is this freak of nature that you're watching and you know already early in their career, it doesn't matter what the actual career looks like. That's the greatest player of that sport that has ever lived. He might not have 6, 7, 8 championships. But what he is doing, what he does on a basketball floor, is more impressive than anyone who's ever done it. Forget Jordan. Forget LeBron. Victor Wembanyama is the greatest basketball player who's ever lived, just like Shohei Ohtani was immediately the greatest baseball player who's ever lived.

I don't disagree with you, but I think that consensus is going to take another 5 years or so. But I will say, Wembanyama, to get to that level, greater than Jordan level, has to make a shot like that. Even if you call it a bad shot, that has to go in to, to form the myth and the legend of this.

I don't, I don't want to do that particular hyperventilation today, only because also in my entire life, that player always gets hurt. Like, that player that size trying to do that sport that's breaking all of the other players who aren't that size, if he gets You're going to seem ridiculous saying that that's the best player who ever lived when Michael Jordan won 6 titles and we just got done watching LeBron.

We did say the same thing about Shohei Ohtani, and then he had Tommy John surgery and was the first 50-50 season ever.

That's why I say it's going to take 5 years for Wemby. Let him stay healthy, let him win a couple of championships, and then, then that's a conversation.

I don't actually want to do that conversation just yet. I do want to marvel at what it is that we're seeing play out out in real time though, because he can break the game over his knee. What I just told you, those numbers on the defending champion, when he went to the bench, they did what they wanted to in the paint and at the rim. They, they were very high percentage in the few minutes that he sat down. And how about this stat right here? The Spurs, since February 1st, when Wemby plays more than 15 minutes in a game, 37-3. Mumbai, yeah, 37-3. That is on pace to be better than the Golden State Warriors were for that season that they won 73 games. They— and that's just him playing 15 minutes. He alters everything in a way that is hugely unfair. We can agree on that, but we can also enjoy it for a while before we talk about how it is that it's going to be unfair going forward, because It— I understand that it is just one game, but he couldn't have made a louder statement in the one game.

There aren't a lot of games that I'm watching anymore, especially in bed, lights are off, it's real quiet because my wife's sleeping, where it doesn't involve my favorite team and like I'm gasping at what's going on in the game.

It's rare that a game that's around midnight and I'm like, "Give me more." I'm like, "I gotta go to bed, but this is fun." I want to ask you guys, uh, do you find it in any way disorienting that he, for example—

I know this isn't, uh, among all the things from last night, this is not one that people are going to concentrate on very much, but I believe he was 12 of 13 from the line, and Duncan Robinson was 75% this year from the line. So Wemby's like an 80-something percent shooter from the line. He's like 85% from the free throw.

I kept waiting for him to miss one of these monster free throws that he was shooting in the fourth or in overtime or in the second overtime and just making all of them.

He's playing more minutes than he's ever played and scoring all the points in the second overtime. And the, the Thunder were feeling real good about themselves when Holmgren blocks his shot at the end of regulation, right? They were feeling that, that arena was feeling such a great play. And yet, how about the sinking feeling in your stomach when you have that play and you realize, oh, he's just Chet. Like, our guy is named Chet and he's pretty good for size. I'd really—

like, needs a better name.

You're right, he's pretty—

hey, if it was Chaz, it was Chaz, we would think he's so much better.

I, I think that that play gets diminished because his name is Chet. It was a wonderful play at the end of regulation, but when your name is Chet, come on now.

Yeah, no, Chet's—

put it on the poll, are there Black Chets.

Don Levitard.

I want to address, uh, Tony and all men who would wear that shirt in public.

Stugatz.

Don't do it.

This is the Don Levitard Show with the Stugatz.

I think the only Chet is Chet Stedman from the Rocket, Rookie of the Year.

There used to be a great Chet in the NBA. I can't think of his last name.

He couldn't have been that great if you can't think of his last name.

No, no, I think he was a Bull. Help me out here.

You find it.

Yeah, yeah. Feel free.

I'm going to find it.

Thank you, Chris. Start doing that to your— start doing that.

I'm going to find it right now.

Chet Walker.

I think that's true.

Well, you couldn't remember his last name.

Verify that he was pretty good.

7-time All-Star.

Hello!

1967 NBA champion. Played for the Bulls from '69 to '75.

Yes, validated.

Let's do a movie with your father.

Oh, no catchphrases.

Okay, welcome back to Greg trying to name movie lines. Here's our first one of the day. It's simple, we play a movie line and you guess the movie. Greg, here we go.

Oh, what's in the box?

What's in the box? I have no idea. Come on, how am I gonna know that?

The same way that everyone listening knows.

Ah, what's in the box?

What's in the fucking box?

Do you know, uh, the voice? Do you recognize the voice? It's Brad Pitt. Does it help you at all to know that it's Brad Pitt?

We could give him so many— it's also Morgan Freeman. We can give him a lot of details here.

Freeman has a distinctive voice. Pitt, no.

All right, I'll give you, uh, and spoiler alert, I'll give you an even bigger clue. At the end of the movie, it's the only one where Gwyneth Paltrow's head ends up in a box. Oh, what's in the box?

What's in the fucking box?

It's her head, and I hope people listen to that spoiler alert.

Okay, her head's in a box.

30 years.

That's true.

Um, not attached to her body.

Brad Pitt, uh, in that movie, he got put in his contract— he loved the script so much that they were not allowed to change the ending. So many executives tried to change the ending of that movie because people do not want dark— they don't want to leave the theater.

It's pretty dark.

Oh my God.

The name of the movie is The Open Neck. Chop your head off, what are you left with?

The name of the movie—

Seven?

Is Seven, yes.

What is that? It doesn't make any sense. Why is it called Seven?

It's the Seven Deadly Sins. It's a movie about the Seven Deadly Sins.

Name the other six.

Uh, well, what do you mean? Seven is not one of the Seven. Like, what do you mean the other? There are seven of them.

My biblical knowledge is not great, Greg.

It isn't. I haven't read the Bible in a day and a half.

Let's see if we can do this. Gluttony, lust, pride.

The last one there was wrath.

Uh, greed, wrath.

Wrath. Sloth. Sloth.

Sloth. We're missing one. We're missing one of the deadly sins.

Envy?

Ah, thank you. Nicely done. It's not with a question mark, but yes, envy is, uh—

Envy? Wow.

Uh, those are the seven deadly sins.

They don't sound that deadly to me. They are I think they're indicative.

Her head was in a box, Greg.

I know.

So what happened?

Now that's a deadly sin right there.

Oh, what's in the box?

You're gonna murder somebody, at least do it politely. Anyway, so I got that wrong. You could give me 100 of those questions, I wouldn't get any right. 7.

All right, give him another one. Let's give him another movie question here.

Uh, all right, here's the next one.

I do like that theme song. We are back!

We are getting Doug back!

Okay, somebody's screaming, we're getting Doug back.

Yes.

Um, who's screaming that?

I can give you a little bit more here. I did, I did this this time, Dan, to give him a little help. We can add on to the line a little bit.

We are back!

We are back!

We are getting Doug back!

And we're the 3 best friends that anybody could have.

I have no idea, seriously.

Really? So what is the best comedy, what is the best movie you have seen in the last, I don't know, 15 years that you would say in comedy, the most famous comedy of the last 15 years?

The one where what's his name from SNL plays an anchorman.

Anchorman.

Anchorman, was that the name of it? Is it? Yeah, Anchorman, yeah, that's it. That was a great, now I'm sure the way time flies, I'm sure that was more than 15 years ago, But that's what I think of when I think of a great movie.

Uh, the one with Anchorman.

It is.

We will do more movies in a second.

It's The Hangover.

With The Hangover? Really?

You know the movie, right?

I've heard of it, sure. Yeah. Who's in that? Oh yeah.

You name any of the guys.

Galifianakis, whatever his name is.

Yeah, close enough.

Handsome guy in the middle.

Yeah.

And guy with no tooth.

Zippy and the Jews.

So I got one of them. I got one of the four.

What are we waiting for? There are a number of things to get to both nationally and locally. But I did want to— you wrote a column about Lionel Messi, and I heard this said the other day and I hadn't considered it, but it's, I guess, fairly obvious. The Messi transaction, the Inter Miami Messi transaction, is the greatest thing to happen in the history of American soccer, right? I mean, second place might be Pelé coming to the Cosmos in the '70s, but there is no argument on Messi coming to Inter Miami is by leaps and bounds the greatest thing to happen to American soccer. You're a soccer expert. You've been covering soccer locally and nationally for half a century. You would not dispute that, correct?

I mean, back in the '70s when the NASL was blowing up and it was big for a finite time, it wasn't just Pelé. They had Franz Beckenbauer from Germany. There were a number international stars, albeit late in their career. Uh, Georgie Best from England was another one, but—

Beckham, Zlatan, both of them did big things.

Right, more recently David Beckham was considered the guy who was gonna be the face of MLS, but now, yeah, there's no comparison. Messi is on a level all his own, and so the idea that— I don't know if you want to get into what the fans did, but the idea that the fans would not be satisfied just being being able to watch Messi on a field and need more from him is absurd. It's just totally absurd. Messi, the way I would put it, is nobody in the history of South Florida sports— you can say Dan Marino in his prime, you can say LeBron James— nothing compares with Messi in terms of what has happened in this market. LeBron James has, has about 140 million Instagram followers. Messi has 504 million, more than half a billion He's incomparable. He's, he's the greatest thing. He's lifted the entire sport in this country, not to mention an entire league.

I would say LeBron is comparable. I don't think— when you say there's no comparison, I think LeBron being the best of his time and among the best of all time, being here for 4 years in a sport that locally people care about as much— I'm not gonna say more because we've got such a Latin population down here that cares about soccer, but The Miami Heat, people locally here care as much about that as people locally care about soccer.

Yeah, but nationally, the NBA is not even the most popular sport in America. And globally, LeBron James cannot hold a candle to Messi, who is a true international star on a level—

What did you write about today? What did you write? What was your column about today in the Miami Herald?

The column was an unabashed appreciation of Lionel Messi, who's as good— he's about to turn 39. He scored at least a goal and an assist in 4 straight games. I'm not saying he's as good as he's ever been, but he's still good on a level that can compete in South America and in Europe. And that's why he's, again, barring anything unforeseen, he's going to lead reigning champion Argentina into the World Cup again. It's just an appreciation of Messi, and especially especially in the context of at the last home game where the La Familia fan groups staged a protest because they weren't getting enough love from the players. And my problem with that is in the first 4 games at the new stadium, they had 3 disappointing ties to lesser teams and then they had a blown lead loss against rival Orlando City. No fan in any sport is going to be in a mood to go, hey, let's hear the fans, fans after those 4 results. So they finally win a game Saturday night and, and the fans protest for 85 minutes by remaining silent. And, and I think that's— it's not about you, fans.

It's not about you. You got Messi on the field. Appreciate what you've got.

All right, let me quibble just slightly, okay? Because I think— please look this up for me to see if I have the numbers on this right— but since turning 38, I believe Messi has 76 goal contributions in 46 games. And the only reason I would quibble with you on the Messi-LeBron comparison is because LeBron is actually doing it against the best in the world and Messi's not. Like, it's clear that Messi's better than these people he's playing against. It's often clear, right? But he's not playing against the best people in the world. He's playing against MLS competition. And it shows because you shouldn't be able to put up those particular numbers at 38, and he wouldn't in the Premier League. He wouldn't be able to have that many. I think I've got the numbers right, but you can look it up for me. Since— so, so since turning 38, he's contributed to 76 goals in 46 games. That's, that's not against the premier competition in the world.

Well, but it's, it's— he got to 100 combined goals and assists 30 games faster than anybody else had in MLS. He had to do what he's doing to prove how great he still is, which is dominate MLS. And keep in mind, when he came here slightly less than 3 years ago, a lot of people thought he was washed. A lot of people thought this was a goat out to pasture. He was coming here to retire. Uh, he was gonna go through the motions and be pretty good. No, he's been astoundingly good, and he's dominated this league in a way that I think verifies realize how great he is still on, on an international level, not just an American level.

Getting back to Wembenyama from last night and the taking of that game from the champions, Mamba, yeah, playing on the road, and the Spurs are not nearly as deep. Uh, De'Aaron Fox is the one that's supposed to close those games for them. That's what they got him for, and he didn't even play in the game. So the number of minutes logged by the Spurs in that game was a lot different than what the Thunder do with all of their depth.

It does seem like we are just, because of how great he is, gonna let him have one bad game with SGA, because we haven't even mentioned him all hour, and he was pretty bad last night, right?

Oh, but I— but this is the thing though, this, this— I've been clamoring this for this for so long, Chris. I am so frustrated, okay? Especially when I see what Stephen A. Smith is doing with Jaylen Brown and an assortment of others that is a grotesque distortion portion of why it is we got into this business, to be threatening Jaylen Brown. We have turned sports argument into who can we blame, who can we blame, who can we blame. Last night is just, nope, that guy's great, and we just rarely get to do that one anymore. I do think SGA is going to skate, but it's not because he was merely terrible. He was made terrible by what they have in the middle of the paint. We can get into the larger discussion of whether that's going to ruin the league because He can make anybody look like that. SGA is obviously great at what he does, and the fact that someone 7'3" is in the paint to alter everything, to make Chet Holmgren look small, makes it so that the game gets totally distorted by a size advantage.

It's not only him protecting the paint, it's also the Spurs and Mitch Johnson doing an incredible job blitzing him the moment he passes half court, right? They'll send 2 defenders, and that's why Caruso was able to get all these open shots and open 3s because they're like, all right, we'd rather have Caruso shoot the 3 than SGA be able to get downhill and create offense when he gets to his spots at the elbow, at the low post, and stuff like that. So like, yeah, he missed a lot of shots, but they were playing defensively a great game against them.

I would expect, uh, because they play again tomorrow with those kinds of minutes logged, that tomorrow will be different. And then they, they play again.

I mean, they've got Friday and Sunday, every other day the whole series, I believe.

Yeah, it's Friday and Sunday. But so far, Amin's not looking great. I think the Thunder are going to destroy