Transcript of It’s Their First Time At The Rodeo | Hour 1 New

Meditieren, Yoga, Joggen—

nichts entspannt mich. Echt?

Mich entspannt meine Steuer total.

Steuer? Wie Finanzamt? Die Steuererklärung?

Ja, ich hab ganz locker über 1000 Euro zurückbekommen.

Hast du geheime Connections?

Nö, nur die WISO Steuer App.

Wow! Und das ist einfach?

Klar, die macht fast alles automatisch.

Plötzlich fühle ich mich so entspannt.

Hol dir dein Geld zurück.

Tiefenentspannt mit WISO Steuer.

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Hach!

Sonne.

Hach! Park. Hach!

Picknick.

Und so viele Pollen.

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This is the Dan Levitard Show with the Stugatz Podcast.

This episode of the Dan Levitard Show is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours.

Yo, I'm going to see Disclosure Day tonight. That's right. How about that? That's the new Spielberg.

You nervous?

Oh, it's just a movie. What do you mean? Am I nervous?

All right. What time does your movie start?

Documentary?

Yeah. What time does the movie start?

Let me look at his own question.

You said you'd be watching everything.

I know you're trying to—

you're trying—

he said he loved the soccer. And then he asked me before the show what happened last night.

You're trying to make this a gotcha moment, all right? I think it's gonna— I think it's going to, uh, uh, it's gonna miss.

For the record, I, I have to defend Zaslow here. He didn't claim that he's a soccer enthusiast.

He said he'd be watching every second of USA.

He said he'd get a while. That's true.

All right, if I miss on— I was trying to have your back here.

All right, no, thank you, I appreciate it.

Why don't you have my back as an American? No, but this not necessarily as a diehard.

This gotcha moment's gonna backfire, OK, on these guys, because Disclosure Day starts at 6:00 PM.

What a loser movie time.

Guess what? It's not a loser movie time when you want to watch USA, and the movie ends at 8:45.

Most people are enjoying their, like, Friday happy hours, as going to a movie.

Play on, dork. Yeah, play on. Did you get Spielberg? Perhaps get lucky, because I would know for a fact if I was free and clear to watch the US, Men's national team.

Now, when I bought the tickets a week ago, for disclosure day, did I also check what time Team USA was playing on Friday night? Maybe not. But nonetheless, it's all worked out timing-wise. I will be home on the couch, that very uncomfortable couch, in the Zaslav mansion family room, watching Team USA. I will not be staying up.

So you're gonna watch it at home? Because I was just asking the guys, like, hey, what are you guys gonna do? You guys gonna go out? You're gonna watch it at home? What do you think?

I'm too old. I'm too old. No, too old.

The best part about— the best part for Americans of the World Cup, we have no shot of winning this thing. The best part is going out, being in the, the ruckus atmosphere.

It's the first group play game. They're playing at least 3 games. At least they better play more than 3.

You only get 3.

They better play more than 3. So I'm seeing— oh, you look, if you want me to come out and watch the game, you just ask.

Just ask.

That's it. Alright, so I'm not missing anything. But, gotta make sure we're all up to speed on everything, which brings us to our World Cup observations. It is time for Amin to share his World Cup game notes.

No one in the media will tell you what happened better than my boy Amin. World Cup observations is brought to you by Miller Lite. Legendary moments start with a light. Zazz and Demisek and Mike and Roy and Tony and Chris.

Nailed it.

Finally here. 4 long years of waiting for the opportunity to see Lamine Yamal at a Walmart. The picture will come up. The American World Cup. Maybe not.

Okay, we'll fix it in post.

Yes, I know Mexico and Canada are also hosting, but 70% of the games are here and 100% of the mess is ours. The American World Cup. From price gouging fans to preventing Iran from staying in the United States despite all their games being here, to denying entry to a Somali referee. Trust me, Mexico and Canada, you don't want no parts of this shit. The American World Cup. I want to talk about the Somali ref for a second because I know most of the people listening like to think of international travel going something like this: you book your flight, you show up to the airport on the day of the flight, uh, you land at your destination, you go through some sort of passport control and they stamp your passport, and you go about your merry way. That's to international travel. I just need to have my passport, right? That process is not the same for Omar Artan, the Somali referee. He would have to have applied for a US visa months ago. That means turning in his passport and supporting documents, including financial statements and an affidavit from his employer FIFA stating his purpose for visiting, where he'll be staying during his visit, how he will support himself during his visit, and when he's getting the fuck out of the country.

That means FIFA will have booked all his flights, his hotel rooms, and provided proof of compensation months before he actually steps foot in the United States. Months before he steps foot on that flight to the United States. They won't even let him get on the plane without that visa in his passport. The embassy or consulate at which he applied will have thoroughly reviewed all those documents. And done any necessary background checks. Again, months before the flight to the United States. So for him to be flagged on entry isn't some random surprise. Oh my God, it's plain to see it's prejudicial treatment because America is desecrating the world's game, the American World Cup. The cartels declared a temporary truce during the World Cup. If you're keeping track at home, all the murderous, ruthless organizations decided to chill out for the World Cup except for one. I'll let you guess which one didn't sit it out. Mexico, victorious in their home opener 2-0, which is amazing considering how shoddy they played. I've watched Mexican national team soccer for legit 40 years. They've never changed. The Brazilian referee on the microphone after the VAR. Ladies and gentlemen, he's no Billy Kennedy.

Canelo at the game looking fat and drunk. Celebrities, they're just like us.

I gotta tell you, I saw some of these Mexican fans. They got great fans.

Same. Yeah. South Korea too. Mwah. We are all the South African players trying to understand the words coming out of the Brazilian referee's mouth. Again, there were pictures, but we'll fix it in post. South Africa on the losing side of the opener. Gave up 2 goals and received 2 red cards. Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln? The Brazilian referee handing out 3 red cards. He's no Billy Kennedy, but he might be Billy Crystal. Hey, and then there's a picture of Billy Crystal from Forget Paris rejecting everyone.

I'm being told there are no pictures of me.

There were pictures in the document that I sent to multiple people, so they were sending a PDF, so it was wrong for me.

No pictures of me.

Oh geez. Yeah, next time appropriate format. All right. Now everyone, let's lay our swords down and realize we'll be better next time. It starts with us. Oh, and Ethan's not in today, so.

South Korea and Czechia. It's the same format I send the pictures in every week, but whatever. Again with the pictures. South Korea and— I'm just saying, like—

It starts with us.

All right. Every week, but you know, okay. South Korea and Czechia. Played a hell of a match in Gwanghwudang. And then there was a picture of Lou Dobbs, because that's funny. Hwang In-bum.

Hey, kill back here, back row. That has a historical context. I love that joke in me. And it was a banger of a game. A clash of styles.

Great game.

I was locked in.

I love South Korea. Hwang In-bum. Goal of the tournament. And I love that he grinned before the ball even crossed the line. Go back and watch the replay, or maybe see the picture that I had. Uh, like, the ball is still in the air and he's got a smile on his face like, oh, I got these guys nasty on this one. Love it. I love the World Cup. Zazz and Mike and Tony and Roy and Chris and everyone else, I'd like to debut a little sub-show within the show. Within the show. Keep it draggin' home. The show's The Dan Lebatard Show. We have World Cup Observations is a show within the show, and within that I've got a show within the show with the show called Back in My Day World Cup Edition. Back in my day you only had 2 subs. 5? You need 5 substitutions? Give me a break. Speaking of breaks, back in my day we didn't get a hydration break. You just toughed it out. If you got tired, you went by the goalie, he had a little water bottle there. Maybe you get to the sideline, they throw you a water bottle, you throw it back.

Oh, timeout! We need a hydration break, everyone. What the hell is that? Are we handing out orange slices too? And then I had a nice AI picture that I created of kids, soccer kids, eating orange slices. You know, I'm just— I'm trying to— I'm trying to describe for the audience. It's a theater of the mind thing.

It starts with us. I mean, it was 67 degrees for that Czechia-South Korea match, but I needed a hydration break.

What country is that?

My water break. Oh, I can, I can go on now. All right. Leave it to the American World Cup to give us the Mountain Dew hydration break brought to you by Dodge Ram. Again, because we were actively desecrating the game.

In laud we trust.

The American World Cup. You know who I miss? Mike, join me in this one. You miss this guy too? I miss Sepp Blatter. Sure, he was corrupt as all get out, but at least his corruption made other world leaders kiss his ass instead of the other way around. If he was still around, we'd have a World Cup held in North America as opposed to the American World Cup. Those are the World Cup observations.

Very good. Mike, what were you telling me before?

What, I'm the only soccer guy?

Come on. The show. All right.

And next time, all the references with this one, send some photos next time.

I mean, uh, what were you telling me? You were telling me about the broadcast of this World Cup this year that you like. You're— there are things you like about the broadcast so far and there are things you don't like, right?

So I was a little confused at— they had two matches and the presentations were a little bit different. Now international soccer is more vibrant. I'm used to the European presentation and FIFA has usually followed that. But they did some unique things before this match. I mean, I don't know if you felt the same way, but the in-stadium music that leads up to the kickoff, it's a festive atmosphere. They were actually feeding that through the truck and it was cool. You had Ian Dark and Landon Donovan going through the starting lineup as you have like Shakira playing in the background. Yeah, crystal clear.

Well, I like Shakira.

I mean, allegedly Shakira. Shakira body double. Yeah, allegedly Shakira. But the song was actually playing And I was like, man, this is, this is fun. This is vibrant. You can actually feel the watch party still dancing in place as we lead up to kicking off. And also they've introduced these goal songs after a nation scores that are, you know, in line with these countries in the style of these countries.

So Mexico— Free Bird for us.

I hope it's Free Bird. I don't know if FIFA ponied up the royalties or Even Flow. It'd be great. But they had a Mexican-style song with a big roar at the start. And I'm like, man, this is really cool. This is bumping. And in the second game, they kind of diluted the, the audio beforehand, which I kind of like that the international presentation for the World Cup, because it's one big party, is a little bit different. They took some risks and I thought it paid off.

You know what?

I'm tired of Freebird.

Nah, it's been overplayed, man.

We've had—

you're crazy. They're playing it all over the place on ESPN for the hockey coverage. And I was doing it. No. You're crazy.

Roy, get a clue.

You suck. Gold medalist forever. Thank you, Freebird. Thank you, Leonard Skinner.

Roy, Roy, hold on. Roy, I can help you out here. You won't have to worry about Freebird being played too much during the World Cup because the national team is going to shit the bed as they always do.

Oh yeah, that's true. That's a good point, folks.

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Summer always hits different once the big game starts 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, Miller Lite. 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.

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Don't let me talk. Doesn't matter anywhere. We could do it in Buffalo or Baltimore. Either. They say you could do it where? Anywhere. Oh, whoa. Oh, that's crazy. That's crazy. That's crazy. He said he could do it anywhere. That's crazy. Murder, murder. Tell him.

Stugatz. I had no idea Mean had that in his locker.

That might be his best.

That's crazy.

I'm not kidding. That's crazy, Killer. It's two Americas, Dad. You don't get it. This is the Don Lebatard Show with the Stugatz.

So I want to get to NBA stuff.

Oh, you got us.

With Amin here. We got Game 5 tomorrow.

I don't have to get you. The World Cup is going to get you. It always does.

All right, everybody.

It always does. And you got— we always do this every, every World Cup. We do this. I start by talking shit and, oh, me, oh, big guy, and then you guys fall flat on your face. And then I'm like, I told you so.

This— it starts with us. This whole us versus them thing when you're an American too.

I don't know.

I don't get it.

Come on.

Come on, boys in red, white, and blue.

I, I support the U.S. women's national team to the day I die. The men's national team, you guys are a joke. I don't, I don't respect any of you except for Tim Weah.

You're a front runner. So you're a front runner.

Luckily, Tim Weah is one of our best players, so hopefully—

I respect him.

Tim Weah is a good kid.

If the World Cup were determined by best flag, who would win the World Cup?

I, you know what, I don't know if this is a hot take.

I don't know if I'm wearing my patriotism. I think it's the US of A.

No way.

I think you're right. Finest flag.

I think you're right.

Stars and Stripes. On the big blue marble.

I like Portugal. It's a handsome flag. Canada's got a decent flag.

Oh God, Canada has maybe the best national anthem. France, or it comes down to France or Canada if that were the measure.

I would say best flag, hey, Cabo Verde has a cool flag. Kazakhstan got a cool flag. I like flags where it's like, it's not just, hey, colors It's like, oh, it's designed in Brazil. Brazil's got that globe with the, uh, Ordem e Progresso written around.

Croatia's got a banger.

Yeah, Croatia, because then the checker thing factors into everything they do.

I don't like Switzerland because it's smaller. It's not your prototype of a flag size. It's just a little square.

Switzerland, Canada, like, it's just like, oh yeah, this is the thing we know. Mexico's got a cool one. Because of the eagle killing the snake or whatever. They just put an eagle on the Italian flag and that's cool.

I like eagles.

Well, no, there's a snake too. It's got the snake in its clutches because there's a whole lore behind it. You don't know nothing about it. We got an eagle with a snake somewhere.

Hold on a second, Dave.

Tell these guys.

That's true.

We do.

Don't tread on it. Who has the— which nation has the best food, Amin and company?

Oh my gosh.

I have the right answer for this for you.

You ready? I love her Brazilian food.

It's the one I just said. It's the United States of America. That's the nation that has the best food. At worst, the US is the second best iteration of every style of food on the big blue marble, right? Okay.

Did you see our guy Freddy the German fan who's relishing and going to Buffalo Wild Wings? And where else has he gone, Mike? He's gone to Waffle House. He went to Waffle House.

Yeah, Buc-ee's.

I saw yesterday was it Buffalo Wild Wings yesterday?

Yeah. He also stumbled upon a Confederate monument. I'm going to vote for Mexico with best food. Best food.

Best food.

I already told you, Mexico, great fans.

Japan, best food.

Solo's fans? Good fans.

Korea, I had bulgogi last night, loved it.

Yeah.

Yeah, but if you want, right, and where did you have it? In these United States.

Oh, I think so.

So you could either be in Korea and have it and it would be delicious, but at worst, the 1A best version of any foodstuff you'll get is in the United States of America.

I learned something very important yesterday, that the most popular KFC location in the world— it's the one in Jamaica! And they got lines around all time because somehow like that they're making it different; they make any way like Jamaican slant so it's the most popular KFC if you go to KFC anywhere: Go to the one in Jamaica.

Amin? Can we talk about the NBA Finals here?

Sure...

So this clip is now floating around on Twitter throughout yesterday...

No no no no no. NBA Finals starts out an apology though.

The series isn't over! I mean, you're like Draymond Green telling Jalen Brunson, in a game from now, I'm going to congratulate you.

I'm not— it's not even about congratulating. I'm just telling you guys, that's what it looks like when it's your first time at the rodeo. Okay, all of these things are not happening. No, you're right, because all of a sudden they forgot how to play basketball. It's because they're kids who have never been here before, including the guy that everyone told me, oh, but he's got the playoff experience, he's played 7 games in his life.

Okay, so that's, so that's what I want to talk about. All right, De'Aaron Fox.

And— oh, is that who we're talking about?

Okay.

And so, like, I made the point yesterday, and I think I'm right, I don't think you could bring De'Aaron Fox back if you're San Antonio.

To the NBA? They shouldn't be back in the NBA.

Well, look, let me tell you something. Terry Rozier was watching the end of that game there tonight. He doesn't know what the hell De'Aaron Fox was doing. But De'Aaron Fox, for the money that he's making, like, they literally brought him in to be— I know you're making the point he's only played an X amount of playoff games— still a veteran. He's still a veteran of the NBA. They brought him in to be a veteran. And when you're making that kind of money, not only do they expect you to make the winning plays, you can't make the losing plays. So like, I, I don't think he's going to be back with the team next year. And it's also because Dylan Harper clearly is going to be the starter next year. And between Harper and Cassell and Wembenyama, you really don't need to pay De'Aaron Fox $200+ million. But that's not the point that I want to make right now. Yesterday, floating around the internet came that clip from over a year ago. It was in December of 2024, last season, where Mike Brown, coach of the Sacramento Kings, who featured De'Aaron Fox. So I'll set this up for you, right?

This was a late game situation, maybe against Chicago, because it was De'Aaron Fox— oh no, against Detroit. It was De'Aaron Fox guarding Jaden Ivy. Oh, Jaden Ivy, my God. Uh, guarding Jaden Ivy. It was a 3-point game. All right, it was a 3-point game, seconds remaining. Sacramento's on defense and De'Aaron Fox has totally slacked off of his player. Why? It's a 3-point game. Just don't give up the 3-point basket. And when Ivy, Fox's man, got the ball in the corner, Fox had to do a hard closeout. He fouled him. Basket was good. 4-point play. Game over. And it led to Mike Brown after the game— here's the clip again, this is from last year— Mike Brown talking about what happened on that final play.

If you're up 3, you gotta guard your man at the 3-point line, and there should be no closeout opportunity. No closeout opportunity. We told them that— they know the only thing that can hurt us is a 3. And, you know, I need to go back and watch the film to see exactly where Fox was, but there was no reason for, for there to be a hard closeout. We were okay with them scoring a 2 at the rim, so you should not be in position to help at all. You should be hugged up to your man at the 3-point line. Everybody should. And why there was a closeout by Fox, I'm not sure. I got to go back and watch the tape. But for sure, 100%, we We told our guys, can't give up a 3, can't give up a 3, can't give up a 3. Stay connected, stay on the high side, stay on the high side. I even drew an example of if your guy's on the floor, just hop on his high side. The only thing that can hurt us is a 3. And we close out and we foul with 3 seconds to go.

That's tough. Okay, that was in December of last season. That is a hard call-out of an individual player that you very— especially of De'Aaron Fox's stature— that you very, very, very rarely hear a coach do. He totally threw him under the bus, rightfully so I guess, but totally threw him under the bus. You just, you never hear that. Mike Brown was fired the very next day. He was fired the next day. And the point that I'm trying to make here is To me, I don't know if this is true, I mean, that sounded like a level of frustration from a coach that was likely built up over a long period of time with said player making, you know, maybe low IQ plays, which we saw several of them late in the fourth quarter of Game 4. That looked to me like a, like a coach who was fed up with a specific player And now you see what happened in Game 4 of the Finals, and Mike Brown, because of that player, is a game away from winning an NBA championship.

Dan Levitan levels of building up to a question that didn't actually come. You just wanted to make a point.

That was wild. In fact, even before the De'Aaron Fox question, there was another buildup for something that wasn't a question, just a take you wanted to get off the ground. I was marveling. It's the chair, pal.

I guess I can opine. On your statement, Mike Brown and De'Aaron Fox had a very good relationship according to everyone in Sacramento, I was told. If you go back and listen to me talk about Mike Brown's firing a year, a season ago, you'll hear me speak in no, in unequivocal terms that it was bullshit because this is an organization that is steeped in losing, that had not been to the playoffs in 3 collective bargaining agreements until Mike Brown came around. You talk about De'Aaron Fox, he's a player who, again, his entire experience in the NBA prior to this season is 2 seasons of being above .500. So we talk about a veteran, a veteran who was again steeped in losing. All he played was losing basketball. He's surrounded by losing basketball. Mike Brown came around. I remember saying this, like, wow, they're a lot better defensively. He's a lot better defensively. And De'Aaron Fox is like, no, I've been playing the same exact way. I'm like, bullshit, you have— you haven't. You're clearly exerting effort on this side of the ball. You've been playing a lot faster on the other side of the ball, like moving the ball, not, not letting it stick to you.

But this is a guy who thinks, yeah, what's the big deal? And so you see him make that mistake. And Zazz, I would argue the, the shocking part is not the mistake he made at the end of Game 4. The shocking part is afterwards he tried to defend it.

Yeah, he still did.

Again, I thought he did— he didn't understand what he did. It was nuts.

He's like, oh, I was trying to go up 3. I'm like, yeah, you know what, how else you go up 3? When they foul you and you hit 2 free throws. Like, it's just— I don't understand how there could any be any other kind of logic there. But again, I think when you talk about people who are veterans and veteran experience, I think that I— to me, I take that term very seriously, and I only apply it to people who have been around and have been around winning. And does that mean you have to have won championships? No. I talk about David West as an example. Years ago, David West was in Indiana, and they were on some very good teams. They won the Conference Finals. They couldn't get over the hump, which was LeBron and the Heat. David West ends up going to San Antonio for minimum And then he goes to Golden State. I'm like, this guy's a winner, man. He knows what it takes to win. He's been— he's played high-level basketball, deep May basketball several years. He knows what are the right things and the wrong things. And there are countless examples of these guys all over the league.

I told you guys about that with Jimmy Butler. The guy's a winner. Even when you're— oh, what has he ever won? Like, no, it's— these guys have been around and they know what the right decision is, what the wrong decision is. De'Aaron Fox, for as fabulous a career as he's had, he's made a lot of money, he's put up some nice numbers, but never forget, most of his Sacramento time, other than two years— one year they made the playoffs and one year they made the play and got knocked out— was losing. And he came to San Antonio last year, you know what they did? They lost. And again, I'm not saying it's his fault, I'm just saying he has not been around high-level winning. In his NBA career. And so for him to make that mistake, to me, it's just solidifying the point I made about all of them. It's their first time at the rodeo.

Don Lebatard, you getting started on the breakfast flan?

Oh man, I've been singing a song to myself all morning long. Breakfast flan, Stugatz. Have you never heard the breakfast flan song?

Hit me with it.

Okay. I wish I had some breakfast flan. Breakfast flan. Where can I find a breakfast like That. This is the Dan Levatar Show with the Stugatz.

I mean, two quick questions to kind of better understand that late game situation that they're even talking about still on First Take. Is that the craziest atmosphere you've ever been in covering all of basketball? Because that was— that seemed insane. You've been to a lot of great games.

Yeah. Game 7, uh, 2016, I think because of the stakes and, you know, all the big plays down the stretch. I always say in order for the Cavs to beat the Warriors in 2016, they needed Steph to be less than 100%, they needed Andre Iguodala to get hurt, they needed Andre— Andrew Bogut to get hurt, they needed Draymond Green to be suspended a game, they needed Harrison Barnes to have the worst 7-game series of his life. They needed Steve Kerr to somehow play the only 3 players with a negative plus-minus in the 4th quarter, which were Harrison Barnes, Festus Azile and Anderson Varejão. And then they still needed LeBron to make the greatest defensive play in NBA Finals history. They needed Kyrie Irving to hit one of the biggest shots in Finals history, and then they needed Kevin Love to be one-on-one versus Steph Curry to guard him. That's a lot of stuff that needed to happen in that, but it's like, that's what makes it so magical and special. It's like, this is sports. Right. Yeah, it sounds so far-fetched, but something like that could happen.

I'm more talking about the only thing that separates it is—

well, I mean, atmosphere was the same, it just was muted because they lost at the end. But the only difference in those two scenarios is that that was a Game 7 and this one was a Game 4.

The reason why I'm asking is because in watching the broadcast, not even the broadcasters picked up on what De'Aaron Fox did. So I'm curious if If that moment— it was insane. The Wembenyama free throw attempt was just, just bananas. I don't think I've ever seen a basketball crowd in America look that crazy.

Everyone says it was the loudest the Garden's ever been.

I'm just trying to understand what happened there. Was that a player that isn't the most mature, isn't the smartest player on the court, just totally caving with the atmosphere feeding into it? Or would he have done that in Game 47 at New Orleans?

What are you talking about, Wemby or Fox?

I want to talk— I'm talking about Fox right now.

Fox, by his comments after the game, it's pretty clear that's what I would have done. Like, he had zero regrets about that.

I think— I gotta say, I think, Mike, you're hitting on something that these guys have been around it for the entirety of their lucid lives. They've been in big spots. It came through my TV that that last few seconds of the game were owed to— there, there was a different level of intensity, a noise maybe in MSG. You felt that coming through the TV. And I don't agree with Amin that necessarily Fox would have done in Game 47 in a random environment what happened in MSG the other night.

That it felt—

you felt the pressure on those cats, right?

The pressure was there. I don't think it was the, the noise. It was loud, but it's not the loudest arena I've ever been in. It was pretty loud though, uh, but it was also— it's the pressure of we blew a 29-point lead, right?

Exactly right.

That's the pressure. The pressure isn't, oh my God, Mariska Hargitay is too loud. It's not that. It's, it's I blew a 29-point lead. But I say that to say that if you blew a 29-point lead in Game 47 against New Orleans, I think he makes the same dumb play because he's a guy who has not been in these type of situations before a lot. He's not a guy that, that I, I would consider to be a savvy veteran. Now, Wemby missing those free throws, absolutely. That's right, a bunch of shit earlier in that game. Oh, I'm in your head. And guess what? Karma's a bitch. The, the everything that was in his head came spilling out and went back in. And so he, uh, he absolutely crumbled in that moment. And that's why I keep saying all the greats go through this. And by the way, this might apply to Fox too, to be honest with you. All the greats go through this. They go through The, the hard times they go through. What I remember I said, Tragic Johnson for Magic Johnson, and, and Shaq getting swept, and Kobe's 4 air balls, and Michael getting beat up by the Pistons.

This is the way this league works, man. Nobody gets a pass. You get it, you come in, you get your ass kicked, and you have to figure it out. And the great ones learn from it and get better as a result. And the ones who are not so great disappear, like Ben Simmons getting scared of Trae Young. Like, what happened to him there was a pivotal, crucial crossroads. He could have came back a much better player— he didn't.

I agree that the NBA is distinct from the other leagues because of exactly what you say, and not just individuals but entire teams. It's a progressive quality to it, which is you get into the playoffs one year, you get that experience, maybe you make a deep run, then maybe you're ready to start winning titles. And that's a little bit different in the last handful of years than what it's been over the course of our lives. But I think what you just hit on there, I mean, is the key detail. De'Aaron Fox has taken up a lot of the oxygen that otherwise would be directed at Wemby. Wemby. You know, if you talk about all sports, some of the most memorable things are Ernest Byner's fumble and Bill Buckner and so on and so forth, and Chris Webber's timeout, young in his career as he was, and all of that. What distinguishes Wemby? He threw the ball into Cassell's ass with 9 seconds to go. Earlier in the same series and then miss those free throws. I wonder how much of a stink is going— when we get away from this, Zaslo and I went back and forth on this on Football America today.

Upcoming, he says Fox is the guy who people are going to target when this is all over, assuming the Knickerbockers—

I don't think his career's ever going to be the same.

I think Wemby has to wear this one though. This is on him. He blew it twice.

I think Fox has a, uh, like a very high kind of intensity point that people can easily— you can easily criticize Fox for two reasons. One, it's a universally dumb play— or three reasons, excuse me. One is dumb play. Two, he would not own up to it the way Wemby did after Game 2, say, yeah, that's my bad. And three, like, hey, no one's gonna ever criticize you for saying Fox messed up or Fox somehow was lesser than because they're some guy. Wemby has a glow. He's the golden child, right? He's the golden child. He went and he sketched a statue in Gramercy Park. Oh, he's meditating on the rooftop of the Ritz. Like, he's got this thing about him that's going to make people want to defend him, and over time, people are going to kind of erase the stuff. LeBron's big failing was José Juan Barea, like, locking him down.

You go José Juan instead of JJ, huh?

Wow. And so, but it's like LeBron at that point in his time was like a polarizing guy already because the way he came to Miami, right? Wemby hasn't had the polarization moment. There's the only people I think who really hate him are Knicks fans. They hate Wemby, man.

And Thunder fans.

They hate— Thunder fans don't hate him. There's another group of them. Wemby was not ringing from Paycom Arena.

Venn diagram is all I'm saying.

Yeah, so, so if you're mad, you hate him.

There, I said it.

Xenophobes, right? Exactly.

No, it's 100 batting average from where I'm sitting. I hate the guy.

I don't know, man. I, I think there's a lot of rank and file New Yorkers who don't like him. They don't like him. They think he's dirty. They think he, he tried to take out Jalen Brunson. Like, that's a real thing, dude. Like, the streets of New York hate Wemby. Hate him. Not like, oh, I'm rooting against him, or, oh, Like, oh, they need him.

But they were also looking for a reason to, because it was the only thing really missing from this NBA Finals.

Wemby's name's on the streets.

It was not that he hasn't done some stuff, not that he hasn't done some villainous stuff, but they were looking for a reason because that's what sports fans always do. And that market in particular, they were looking to get in somebody's head. They were looking to make somebody to direct their ire to. And Wemby fit the profile.

Mike, nobody threw an egg at James Harden. No one threw an egg at, uh, CJ McCollum. Remember when they were talking, oh CJ, you're the next Trae Young? No one threw eggs at those dudes, man.

No, but they hated Trae Young. But like, they didn't face any adversity with James Harden.

Yeah, I, I suppose. Yeah, I suppose. I don't— look, Trae Young never got an egg thrown on him. How about that? They still say they spit on him. Yeah, I'd rather get spit on.

That's wrong. That's wrong.

Halliburton's—

I think even you can make an argument even more hated than Trae Young. We just forgot about it because he didn't play. I mean, Halliburton would go to WWE shows in New York. Yeah.

And literally, that's good heat.

Beg them. That's him hamming it up though, right? Like, Wemby's not hamming it up. He's just doing him, which is By the way, here's one thing that I would want. I would want my best play— I would want my best player to, to be on the edge like that. I would. I really like— I think if he played for the Knicks, they would love him. But the fact is he doesn't play for the Knicks, and so they are looking at him like he is the worst thing ever, like he's Satan incarnate. Yeah, we're—

there's conversations about that in the group chats. But more importantly, I don't want my fate— my best player, my franchise face dribbling up a mountain that's that is dangerous where you can fall off and die, but that's another story that's probably fake. Anyways, getting to the point of getting people's passes, right? Mitch Johnson getting a little bit of a pass for some coaching decisions. Dylan Harper, where is he late in games? Playing Wemby a ton of minutes when they were up 20. Like, what do you think of Mitch Johnson, his coaching so far, and is he gonna skate on any sort of blame?

I think he'll get some blame, and again, I'll say the same thing about Mitch that I've said about his team. First time at the rodeo. I don't care how many times you've been there as an assistant coach, it's different when it's your call, right? Uh, David Blatt, years ago, we ridiculed him for saying it's like being a fighter pilot, the number of decisions you have to make. He wasn't wrong, man. Like, it's your— if it's your first time, it can be overwhelming. And Mitch Johnson, I think, got overwhelmed. Hell, after the game, as I'm walking to the press conferences, I'm thinking to myself, well, Mitch is going to come out and say, look, The fact of the matter is we've had a double-digit lead in all 4 of these games. We should be winning these games. We have to figure out a way to finish better, but I like where we're at. Or something like positive, something to look forward to. That dude looks shell-shocked in his press conference. Every question, he kind of just had a blank stare and had to like really process, you know, what did you just ask me? Because I was thinking about how we just blew a 29-point lead.

And I'm like, yeah, man, it's because it's his first time at the rodeo. The other thing, Tony, I'll say about Mitch Johnson because every time something goes wrong with the Spurs, you know, everyone says, oh, what did Pop say? You cannot outsource being a bad cop. He's got to learn how to be a bad cop with his team and let Pop be the uplifting grandpa. But it can't be Pop is the one that gives it to him real. And then I come here, it's like, come on, guys, we can do it.

Good job, Amin. Enjoy the weekend of games.

Enjoy the World Cup, baby.

Let's go. So brand new episode of South Beach Sessions. You want to make sure you catch. Dan was joined by Beth Stelling. Let's give you a little bit of that.

I think for the most part, the times I've worked with my mom mainly was the podcast that we had together and we would call Comedians' Moms. And my mom really loved that. And we were doing that during the pandemic and it was so sweet and so fun. It was meant to sort of learn more about the comedian and we always ended up talking to the mom and learning about her. So my mom sort of made like a bunch of new friends and I am so proud of my mom. Being someone who's able to like receive new information and change and grow as she ages and learn new things and be open to that. So yeah, even if she said something that was like, "Ooh, you know, that's like not really right anymore," or like, "That's not what we feel," you know, I would talk about it with her and she'd go, "Okay, thank you for telling me that. I didn't think about it that way." And people got to listen to that and hear the change like in person without embarrassing her or making it seem like she's a bad person or something like that.

And this is not something that happened often, but something to answer your question, like, were there challenges? And it's like, that's kind of the little minimalist part of it.

So was it— but it was a joy to do then? It was like all of it, just making it, connecting with her?

We even got to do Just for Laughs Montreal before the pandemic, and we did our podcast live with a couple of moms. And the cutest thing is like, we're finally live, and she'd be talking, and then just the microphone would slowly lower, and I'd reach over and put the microphone back up to her mouth, you know, because she's She's a little shy. She's not a ham. But she's funny in her own sort of amazing naïveté.

Yeah, no, when I think back on what it is that I did with my father, I would have liked to have been more gentle. And I wasn't not gentle. He required a great deal of patience. But the snapshots I have is he's doing his best. This isn't his chosen profession. He's doing it with me daily. I feel like I should have had endless patience with him.

Yeah, but that's hard. It is hard to do with your own parent. And I have a dark I've had a dark mantra that I have said to myself when those— I catch myself being an asshole, which is like, she'll die and your life will be over. So remember that.