Transcript of Pat Riley's Retirement Press Conference? | Local Hour New

This is the Dan Levator Show with the Stugatz Podcast.

No one wants to work today.

What is this?

Look at this crew. What is this crew today?

It's light.

I mean, thank you. Scoops never worked together yet.

This one's true.

We got Amin and Greg here, and on the other side it's Chris and Roy and Jeremy.

Hey, good morning.

Yeah, that's right. Jeremy's very excited because he feels like it's gonna be a lot more opportunities for him to talk about the things he wants to talk about that nobody else wants to hear about.

Glee, right?

He's been— there's something Glee related.

We're not doing—

don't, don't even— you're not gonna leave with Glee. We're not. But there, there's something Glee related he's been trying to get to for like a week now.

It's true.

It ain't right now. All right, it ain't right now.

I just threw that one out.

What did my dad just write down is what I'm wondering.

Notes.

Notes, man.

Was that about Glee, like Jeremy Morse?

No, I'm doing prep work.

Oh, wow.

Prepping it.

That's damn right, prepping it. That kind of thing.

So, uh, look, I— Some knockly then. I gotta start by telling you, a week ago today, I sat in your chair right there, Amin, and I said these NBA playoffs are a dud.

You fool.

It was a week ago today, alright? And so now I gotta be fair, I gotta be honest. NBA playoffs have been very, very good.

Slow start.

Now, you know, the Western Conference, you know, you have one that's on the verge of a sweep and the others can all end in 5, so they may actually all be short series out West, but we got a lot of stories and we got series that are upside down like Orlando-Detroit, New York-Atlanta. I gotta be the first one to put my hands up, I was dead wrong about these playoffs.

You said it and I was like, what are you talking about? Even last week I was like, what are you talking about? We had a couple of blowouts, but we had a couple of good games.

Well, I said it after 2 days and after The first 2 days, 7 of 8 games were double figures.

I mean, it was— it was—

but I judged too early.

It was— it was good games. And that's what happens, by the way. The playoffs is all this— it's an ebb and flow of like you— everyone always thinks you win, you're never going to lose again, and you lose, you're never going to win another game.

Well, that's my favorite part about the— like, I don't think— I don't think the Stanley Cup playoffs are like that. It really feels like the hockey fan knows it's a war of attrition. And in the NBA, I feel like one team wins and it's a total disaster. I mean, after the Knicks lost— was it Game 1 that the Knicks lost?

No, they lost 2 and 3.

Okay, after the Knicks lost Game 2, Knicks fans were already talking about, you gotta trade Carl Anthony Towns. It's one game! And now that series is tied 2-2, and it's like, yeah, the Knicks are gonna win the series, you know, because winning a playoff series is hard and you're gonna lose games. I feel like it doesn't happen in the Stanley Cup playoffs. I feel like the fan is a lot more mature, or at least able to handle the swings of a playoff series.

I have a different answer. You don't have as many casuals in hockey because there are not that many casuals in it.

Yeah, maybe you're right.

Like, basketball invites a bunch of casuals who watch, and also there are a lot of people who watch basketball as if they're watching football or as if they're watching college basketball, meaning single elimination. So that one game means everything. Yeah. That's how their program works. Like NBA basketball, it's the best of 7 series. Hockey, if you watch hockey, you watch the NHL. What else are you watching? You're not watching—

Right, if you're a huge hockey fan, hockey is usually your favorite sport.

Absolutely.

You could be a huge basketball fan and it could definitely not be your favorite sport.

I look for interesting storylines in both. In hockey, I love that the Buffalo Sabers are kicking Boston's ass. Buffalo could win a championship in hockey finally after 55 years before the Buffalo Bills win a Super Bowl, which I think would be delightful. Uh, and in, in basketball, I know LeBron had a, had a tough game, a terrible game Sunday, but LeBron James for me won the first week of the playoffs. The way he played, the way he lifted the Lakers to a 3-0 lead, I think was the story, uh, of the early playoffs. And, and Wemby getting concussed and then finally coming back. That's something that even the casual fan pays attention to because Wemby is just outrageous to watch. I love watching him.

So you mentioned the Buffalo Sabers. I don't know what I'm doing with this Buffalo team, whereas usually like I have cities that I hate, like New York, Boston. I've always hated the Bills, but I like the Buffalo Sabers. I mean, obviously it's because they've stunk for so long, but I don't know, like I feel weird enjoying something happening in Buffalo, but I am.

I totally agree with you. I think the Sabers are the feel-good story of the playoffs, even encompassing basketball. I mean, not only have they never won a Stanley Cup, they've only been to the final twice in 1975 and 1999.

And they lost '99 in a heartbreaking fashion.

Right. No goal. So every quarter century they're due to make the final, and this could be their quarter century.

Is Dominik Hášek still playing for the Sabers?

He is. I didn't think you knew, but he is. I wasn't sure you were going to remember that. He's their goalie. We got a lot of NBA to get to today, alright? A lot of fun stuff happening. We'll do a little— we'll get Cody's thoughts on the draft, alright? The NFL Draft is in the books, that's right. He watched all 7 rounds, every single pick.

Every single pick.

Can I say something about the NFL? The one thing that they get right, they have 2 tentpole events. One's in February, one's in April. The February event, they have said, hey, New Orleans, Miami, Phoenix, uh, LA, Houston, maybe, uh, San Francisco, right? If you're not one of those places, you need not apply. Now the April event, everyone, let's go to Pittsburgh, let's go to all these corny cities.

I think they were in Green Bay last year, right?

Absolutely, because the weather's awesome now. And that's how you do it. And I look at the NBA and say, why can't we do this? Why can't we have our All-Star Weekend in the fun places? And then Detroit wants to host something? Give them the draft. Give Minnesota the draft. You get to have your whole event. The other thing that struck me as amazing about the NFL Draft, which I did not watch a single second of, not even on accident.

You didn't watch our Draft Watch on Thursday night? We did a great show.

I didn't watch either. I was watching the Sabers game.

We did a good show.

You were here, Roy.

I was literally watching the Sabers game on my laptop.

—It's staggering to me that that many people would come out to stand in a massive parking lot.

They said there were 300,000 people. I believe it.

I believe that. But like to—

It looked like Lollapalooza.

But to listen to names just get read. I know. It's crazy.

It seems miserable to just stand there. Just stand there! And by the way, you know it's a sausage party, all right? Of course! So you're squeezed up against a bunch of other dudes.

And they were there for all 3 days. The 3-day attendance supposedly was 805,000 people watching names being called, names they've never heard of after the first round. If you're cheering for the guy that your team picked with the, you know, 214th pick in the 6th round, you're lying. You're giving your team the benefit of the doubt. You've never heard of that guy, never seen him play.

Can I tell you my favorite part? You know, you're saying what the NFL does right compared to what the NBA does right. I'm gonna give you another part that the NFL does right that the NBA can't seem to get right. I think I know the answer why the NBA can't get it right. No players? What? So, at the NBA Draft, you got trades that are made. Yeah. And the players, like, the trades can't become official, so all the players are wearing the hat of a team that had them, like, 3 trades ago. And in the NFL, They make a trade, they push that shit right through! A trade happens, alright, we got a trade! This team now has this pick, this team has this pick. Everybody puts on the right hat. Why can't the NBA get that right?

'Cause they're lawyers, man. Lawyers say, "Oh, it's not consummated, you can't do it." Why is it okay for the NFL? I don't know, they don't have lawyers, I guess.

Two teams get together, they say, "We're trading picks." The commissioner says, "Alright, done deal!" And in the NBA, takes 3 weeks!

A lot of times it's, hey, this deal is contingent on July 1 happening and the new salary is kicking in because you're not just trading players, you gotta make salaries match. So the trade cannot be official. But here's a little secret: they will often have the kid wear the hat and take the picture behind the scenes. So even though you see him when he's walking around on TV, he's wearing the wrong hat.

But it's like, we all know that the pick was traded, and then Malika Andrews is interviewing him. Talk about the team you were just drafted by, who you know you're not gonna play for. Right.

Yeah, well, hey man, lawyers. What can I say?

That the NFL gets right. That's my favorite part of the NFL Draft.

Are you kidding me? The draft is the offseason Super Bowl. I mean, it's in its way, the first round of the draft to me is as big as the Super Bowl because the Super Bowl intimately involves two franchises. The Super Bowl's a little bit bigger. Yeah, but think about it this way. The Super Bowl involves 2 franchises, really. The draft involves every team.

And it's the hope funnel. Hope. There you go. Right. Because we're all undefeated, and this is going to be the guy or group of guys that are going to change our fortune. And that happens a lot more often in the NFL, where you have a good draft and then you become a really good team the very next year.

Imagine being a Raiders fan right now, a downtrodden Raiders fan. Is there another comp? Tom Brady is one of our owners. Now we have the number 1 pick. Mendoza is going to make us win? I mean, you know, it's traffic and hope, which is what all fans want, and only once a year do they really get that, and that's in the draft.

I'm picturing at the draft like a drug dealer-esque guy like walking around like, "Hey, I got some hope." I got hope.

I got that hope. I got that good hope. Trench coat? Is he wearing a trench coat?

Does he open it up like, "I got that hope." Has everyone calmed down about the Dolphins' first round? Yes.

Yeah. Oh yeah, because I haven't.

I have.

I feel like our show was way too extreme on that. Yeah, I know I was a part of that. We had our expert. I feel like our expert, uh, Brooks Austin, like just saying before the draft that this is the one guy I'm out on, I feel like that just gave us the on-ramp. I'm not saying that some people aren't criticizing the pick. There were some offensive linemen still available.

Saban contributed too.

Oh yes, but even in that Saban clip, he's saying it's manageable. I don't know, I just think talking to other Dolphins fans leaving our bubble, I do feel like we were a little hard on the pick.

I, I could not agree more. I think Levitard went overboard. I went overboard because I wanted them to take Reuben Bain, and I still think even though Bain didn't go until 15, uh, I, I still think Reuben Bain would have been a good pick for the Dolphins. But yeah, I, in, in a column I wrote, uh, online yesterday in today's print for the Miami Herald, I basically I basically said— What? No, I— You apologized? Yeah, and I do that occasionally. In print? Yeah, I still think, you know, they should have traded Marino back in '90 or whatever, but for this I apologize because I overreacted like most fans against Proctor because he wasn't Bane. And when I look at it now, anecdotal evidence, Mel Kiper Jr., Mr. Mock, had him going 12th, exactly where he went. So Kuyper thought it was a good pick. He graded the Dolphins draft a B, as in above average. I think Caden Proctor is going to be a great offensive lineman, and whether it's at right tackle or right guard, I think he's going to be a real pillar for that offensive line.

I don't take back the way that I felt on Thursday night about the pick because I think my— now, look, I have no idea if Caden Proctor is going to be any good. I hope he is good. But I still think my overall point stands where this is a pick, it seems very boom or bust. Like, he may be incredible because he has the talent, but it's the work ethic, you know? It's those questions, it's the weight, that kind of deal. I mean, Nick Saban called him a guy who does not motivate himself. And my overall point is not whether or not he's going to be a great player or not, but But it's— if you're a brand new regime, I don't want the very first draft pick you make, which we want to look back and say, this guy was the foundation. This was the first guy that we said, hey, you are our very first building block. I don't want that guy to have any questions.

And the way the Lions took Penae Sewell a few years ago was like the first pick for that or like that regime. And they turned that— he's a no-brainer.

He was a no-brainer.

I don't want that guy to have questions, and I definitely don't want the overriding question to be, "Does he have good work ethic?" Hey, it's Mike Ryan, and I wanna talk to you about the random midweek hang that you have with your friends. Maybe it's an NBA game, you get a text, "Hey, come over, you wanna watch the game?" And maybe you're like, "Ah, I don't know, I kinda just wanted to stay home." And then you think about it after your buddy hits you up, and you know just the thing that'll make that regular hang, that regular midweek hang around the basketball game into a special time, into a Miller Time. That's right, this happened to me just last week. I grabbed a 6-pack of Miller Lite, said I was on my way, and next thing you know, we're arguing about rotations like we're on the coaching staff, yelling about a missed call, and the game's coming down to the final possession. It was one of those nights that you look around, you take a sip, and you think, "Yeah, this was the right call, and my friendship's stronger for it." 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.

Going for 2 when you're up by 5. Switching the zone when man isn't working. Oh, and building your new stadium in the state your team actually plays in. In sports, some things just make sense. You know what else makes sense? Drinking Jägermeister shots ice cold. Drinking it any other way would be like punting on first down! Or letting your worst hitter bat first! Or like going for 2 when you're down 3 with a second to go! It wouldn't make any sense! So don't let the team down. When it comes to Jägermeister, drink it cold or don't drink it at all! Jägermeister. Damn, that's cold. Drink responsibly. Jägermeister Likör, 35% alcohol by volume, imported by Mast Jägermeister US, White Plains, New York. New York.

Don Lebatard. All right, we got to go back out there.

That was big. Wake him up. Uh-oh, he doesn't want—

he doesn't want to be bothered anymore. Now it's getting tense because he didn't need that. As a result, he needs something that happened.

Yeah, you can see him motherfucking up. Can we bother— are we bothering you right now?

Turn on your microphone, Greg. My microphone's on. Stugatz, paint the scene. The paint the scene is I gotta go to work. Good night.

This is the Don Lebatard Show with the Stugatz.

I know, but, but here's the thing. Everybody has a question, and, and that starts at the top. You know, a lot of people think that Mendoza is just the, the best quarterback in a bad quarterback draft. I don't think anybody thinks he's going to be the next Brady. Uh, Ruben Bain has the whole short arm thing, uh, where in, in the NFL this matters a lot. His arm, uh, span is, is 2-3 inches shorter than average, and, and that's a big deal to some people. So I think whoever you draft, no matter where there's going to be some question about him. Caden Proctor is a physical specimen who's quick for his size. He's quick coming out of his stance, which is huge. And to me, you can, you can teach motivation a little bit. I, it, you know, if he was overweight in college or whatever, if I'm the new Dolphin regime, if I'm Jeff Haffley, I'm like, I'm going to coach that out of him. This guy's going to be a worker. And, and that's the way you have to think. If he's perfect, he probably goes top 5 instead of 12.

If you didn't see the clip that I'm referencing from Thursday, this was Nick Saban. Here is Saban talking about Caden Proctor. Of course, he recruited and, and coached his freshman year.

Now, the issue with him is he's not a bad person. He'll do whatever you ask him to do once you get him in the building. But when he's not in the building, he might get a little overweight. He might not come in in the best shape. And those are the kind of things you got to manage with him, but I think they're manageable. In other words, he's not really a self-starter that's going to go out there and, you know, get in great shape and come to camp like you want him. But if you can get him to come to camp, if you got him there and get him ready to go—

I feel like it's worth noting that Saban only had this guy for one year when he was 18 years old.

Not even 18, because he's still 20.

Well, but I'd also like to point out to that effect, because I saw that you know, being said over the weekend, and obviously that's a fair point. Let's not pretend like Saban is not around there in Tuscaloosa. He still lives there. He's there. He's still really connected to the program.

So, to Greg's point of can you teach motivation, a lot of times when you go through pre-draft, you're asking these questions. You want to know what kind of player the guy is. Not so much like, "Oh, we only want guys like this." It's just, "I need to know how do I need to coach you?" There's some guys that are self-starters, self-motivated, I don't have to say much. There are other guys I gotta be on their ass. But I know that if I'm on his ass and he performs, then that's fine. I just need to know that going in. And I think that's what a lot of this is about. But I do want to point out something else from that video. The guys in the background, if we play that video again of Saban talking, take a look at the guys in the background over there. These guys right here, MVPs. Play it.

Now, the issue with him is he's not a bad person.

He'll do whatever you ask. Oh, is he doing the Ronaldo?

Get him in the building. Oh, look at that. In the building, he might get a little overweight.

He's got to come in and act like a chaperone. They know where they are.

Kind of things you got to manage with him. But I think they're manageable. And keep looking, keep looking.

I know it's a little swallowed out for the, for the audio audience.

The construction workers over Nick Saban's shoulder here, uh, it looked like one One of them did the Ronaldo soccer celebration, and the other one is doing some type of celebration.

They're putting on a show, baby. They know there's a TV on, and there's a TV camera on, and they're like, hey man, we gotta perform.

This is our one chance. So you now seeing, Greg, the entire Dolphins draft— I will tell— and I'll tell you, by the way, I didn't like what happened in the first round. I didn't even like the way they went about acquiring Chris Johnson at the end of the first round. Like, I didn't like the idea of giving up a third round pick to move up those 3 spots. I will tell you, the other picks, like, as far as positions that they addressed, I thought they did a really nice job. They did.

They, they had 13 picks, the most in the league. They covered 8 different positions of need, and, and believe me, the Dolphins had led the league in positions of need, uh, and they did that with 8 different positions, uh, taken care of, or at least with 2 or 3 picks in each. So Chris Johnson, I think, is, is a great, uh, lower first-round pick. He would have been a first-round pick without question if he wasn't coming off ACL surgery, which you have to figure the Dolphins vetted that and think he's fully recovered or will be by camp. One more thing about Caden Proctor. You alluded to it, I mean, 20 years old. He's going to be 21 in June.

He's really young to get to the NFL.

That's a plus though. Really young. That's a plus because nowadays sometimes you're drafting a 24-year-old. I think it's a real plus that he's still so young which means he's more of a gigantic piece of clay that you can shape a little bit mentally and physically. I just think— and, you know, Kuyper had him 12th. I had picked Francis Mauinoa to go 11th to the Dolphins, so I wanted them to draft an offensive lineman. And I think if Mauinoa was there at 12, maybe they would have taken him instead of traded down one to get Proctor. I don't know. I'm giving myself the benefit of the doubt on that.

The only head-scratcher outside of Proctor, which I, in hindsight, I'm not calling it a head-scratcher. I'm calling it slightly questionable, not a head-scratcher. The only other head-scratcher was in the third round taking a tight end that they're like, this guy only blocks, like Julian Hill 2.0. Outside of that, I love like the linebackers they got. Jacob Rodriguez, if we could throw that photo up there.

I like that dude. I just, I don't know, I look at him, that guy looks like he's gonna be a good player.

That's not a current photo. Yeah, all-time neck right there.

Yeah, look at that thing. Great stash. Oh. And Zach Thomas is a mentor of his. I'm in.

That's a great linebacker just based off the photo, just based off the width of his neck.

He's gonna be good.

I could look at that neck all day. But that was not a need for the Dolphins. If the Dolphins had any strength going into this draft, it was kind of linebacker. They had two solid ones. Yeah. So I just like best player available as opposed to let me take a corner because we need corners. What are you laughing at?

I could look at that neck all day.

Oh, that's it. Okay, I could. I stand by that.

It's a good neck.

Put that neck up there again.

It's an all-day neck.

Let them see that neck. Let them drink it in.

Yeah, it's a Pro Bowl neck.

It's not just wide.

And we don't get a lot of Rodriguezes either.

I like it. It's also long, dude. Thank you. His head is so much higher than his shoulders.

I know. So is mine. Are you?

I'm excited. He does have a long neck. Yeah, man. Like a bottle of beer, that guy.

It's a little Trubisky-esque, no?

That's a strong neck right there. Like, that guy can sustain a hit. He's gonna be alright. So that was the Dolphins draft this weekend. Got kind of a big day today, or at least maybe an interesting day here. Little—

that's still going?

No, no, no, no, no, that's done with. Alright, but we're looking ahead to another draft now. Right across the street at 1 PM Eastern time today is Pat Riley's annual season-ending press conference. I mean, you're going to walk on over there or Uber? You'll walk.

You know what? I believe in the environment, so I'm going to Waymo over there. Get your steps in.

So Amin is going to Waymo across the street to Cassaya Center, 1:00 PM Eastern today at Pat Riley's season-ending press conference. Are you the type like, will you ask any questions? No, I'm a listener.

Like, it's got to be something egregious. Or I've gotta be working on something. So I asked Adam Silver a question in a press conference at All-Star Weekend. This past All-Star?

Yeah.

What'd you ask? I asked him, well, 'cause I knew if I said, if I kinda said anything with aspiration or Clippers in it, he'd say, "Well, the investigation's still going on." So what I asked was, to what degree are you beholden to the collective bargaining agreement in terms of meting out punishment? Meaning, is there any tools that you can use that allow you to go above and beyond? And he was like, no, strictly the collective bargaining agreement. But then a bunch of people told me afterwards, that's not totally true. Yeah, he's— he can do more. He can absolutely do more. But yeah, so like, obviously it depends on what Pat says. Like, if he says something that is salacious in some way, I might have to ask a question. But for the most part, the questions are the questions. Everyone knows what are the main questions everyone wants to ask. So someone's got the Greg Codys of the world, Ira Windermans. They're going to ask the question. I don't need to ask the question.

If, if you— now you're still debating whether or not you're going to go, right, Greg?

Yeah. Yeah, I think I will. I mean, whether you— that doesn't—

you sounded like you weren't before the show. I didn't know.

I didn't know. Sometimes we don't get out of here until—

let's see how it feels.

If I can let people in behind the curtain, Greg basically was like, I'll go if I feel like he might retire. Well, no, no, here's the thing.

If it's okay, I'm not scheduled to write a column today. If news comes out of this, I would write it. God knows if, if he suddenly retires, obviously I'm going to write it. If, if he says something newsworthy, I might write a column that I'm not scheduled to write. But if it's just, oh, we got to be better, if that's the whole theme, it's, it's not newsworthy to me.

Greg, can I be completely honest? Yeah. The, the reason I'm going is if this is the day he retires. You think that's actually possible?

I'm sorry, what? That's not gonna happen.

I hadn't considered this at all.

I'm just saying, man.

You're telling me that in less than 4 hours my entire life could change?

I mean, pretty much. It could. I'm not saying he is. Now, I don't know anything. I haven't talked to anybody. I don't know anything. But I'm just saying, like, by way of example, 2 weeks ago, I'm at the Suns-Warriors playing game, and that's the game— remember, I said on the show, I said it was like the '27 Yankees of reporters there, Marcus Thompson and Kawakami and Wright Thompson and Jay Adande. And, you know, Wright's there because he's doing, I believe, a profile on Steve Kerr. Marcus and Tim Kawakami, although they're big deals, they're still kind of Warriors guys, as is Slater and all these other guys. So I asked Adande, "Wait, why are you here?" And Jay said, "If this is the end, I wanted to I wanted to be in that room and hear those guys talk. And by the way, they all absolutely spoke like this is the end. So I walked away from that press conference thinking to myself, oh my God, first of all, Raymond Ritter let them talk. Each guy went about 20, 25 minutes, which you never see in a postgame presser. So with that in mind, you want to put a percentage on it?

No, I don't, because it's not— it's not my prediction. It's just there's a chance it could happen. And if that, that chance happens and I'm in town, I want to be in that room.

Well, you know, with you saying that, and I, I think it's an incredibly slim chance that it happens. Sure. But it is a little bit weird that it's been kind of a story online over the last couple of days. Who's in charge of the Miami Heat? That's not real.

What's not real? That story that you're saying, that's not real. What do you mean? Like, that was someone basically either misquoted or just fabricated. Oh, I understand.

But, but, but for whatever the reason is, because it was misquoted or fabricated or whatever, it's been like a thing that's been talked about over the last couple of days. Who is actually in charge of the Miami Heat?

I don't think there's any question who's in charge, but the idea— Nick. Yeah, Nick Arison.

I think the part that people are confused about, or some people didn't realize over these last couple of days, is that Nick Arison is the boss. Okay. Like, he is the boss and he's been the boss for a rather long time now. But because the Arisons never talk, right? It's something's— wait, what are you talking— Pat Riley is not in charge? No, like the CEO of the team is in charge. Don Lebatard.

All these high-paid analysts, I don't want to mention names, TNT, ESPN, you know. Oh yeah, they, they are dead. They cannot— they They're not going to make it, you know, even if they win in— if they lose in Miami. I need to calm you down.

That's right.

They lose in Miami, they don't got a chance in Boston. Oh, they are going to have their ass, you know what, in Boston, you know. Stugatz. They were wrong. They were. Are they going to lose their job? No. Are they going to get a cut in pay? No. What are they going to do? Keep predicting what is the obvious. They are going to say, oh, the Nuggets are going to win. Oh, Denver, the altitude. And you know what? They're going to win it all. This is the Dan Levatar Show with the Stugatz.

So to that point though, about Pat Riley, and Pat Riley, Pat always been a very blunt, direct guy, right? Will tell people what it is. Players will have these press conference. You guys remember, you want to tweet something, tweet that, and hit the table. That was in one of these season-ending press conferences. Um, I was having this conversation actually last night. When Pat Riley leaves, whether it's today or 10 years from now, who is remaining in the front office level that tells it like it is? We've got some straight shooter coaches for sure. We've got some owners that will just blab away, usually out of ignorance. But in terms of front office people, it's all of these kid gloves kind of guys all across the league. Like Pat's the last of the Mohicans in that way. And I was just trying to think like, who is it? Who's that guy? I don't know.

And for people who think Eric Spolster is going to be that guy, Eric Spolster is not transitioning to the only front office the way Brad Stevens did it. Certainly not while he's head coach of USA Basketball. Right.

I mean, I look, I think that's the eventual succession plan, but it's not soon.

But it's not.

Yes, right. I could see that happening, though. Yeah. Yeah.

I think it will happen, but it's not soon.

Right. I hope Riley and he— I do give him credit for being blunt and honest. I hope he sets a tone that I'm embarrassed by 4 straight years in the play-in. We're not good enough. We have to make significant improvement. If that means significant change, we're going to swing for the fences.

Here's the problem that I would add real quick with that, like, and I would like Riley to say that also, that I'm embarrassed with 4 straight playing appearances, but if he feels that way and he is embarrassed by 4 straight playoff appearance— playing appearances, he wasn't embarrassed after 3 straight playing appearances? Like, because he didn't, he didn't have that attitude a year ago.

I can tell you what that was in the press conference, like what their arguments were. Their argument was the first year they made the finals. Uh-huh. The second year, Jimmy got hurt in the play-in and their entire team was hurt. And then last year, Jimmy tanked the season. So this year you're—

so we're going to go the excuse route.

Well, I'm telling you what the press conferences were the last 3 years. Each of those years, one of them they went to the finals. The other 2, they found legitimate, in their minds, legitimate excuses for why that was the case. Now, going into this year, they revamped so much of what they were doing offensively. They thought things were going to go a certain direction. I think they thought they were going to get Giannis at the deadline. And now we end up in this situation and you're looking at a conglomerate of 4 years that looking back look different in that rearview.

When you look at the way the last playoffs ended for Miami, I don't think there's any excuse for being blown out by 40 and 50 points. In a playoff game. If that doesn't slap you in the face and say, we're not good enough to compete in an improved East, we need to make significant change. That's why they swung hard for Giannis and might still get him this summer, who knows. But they need to. You know, they have some nice pieces. They have a couple of all-stars. Bam's great. But collectively, they're not good enough. And they got so much better on offense at the expense of defense. They weren't a complete team.

We got us doing this argument again where the assumption when you say that is that they had a chance to get better and they're like, "No, no, we're fine." The only argument to be made is, do you press the red button? That's the only legitimate fan argument there is. Hey, it's time to hit the red button, blow it all up, win 12 games next year, build all the way up.

The same as the panic button, for those wondering.

Yeah, the red button. It's the red button.

The red button is never a positive. Everyone understands that.

The nuclear option.

But I just feel like I thought more commonly said said is the panic button.

No, it's the red button. But the panic button's always red.

I think panic is set.

Everyone knows, put it on the poll, Juju, does everyone know that the red button is the panic button?

So that's the only argument. But whenever people say, I can't believe they didn't get a superstar, but yeah, no, they, of course they wanted to, they tried, but there's this thing called a trade, meaning there's another party, right?

You're not turning off computer assistance on NBA 2K. Here is my problem though with that, okay? And in general, I agree with you, Amin. Okay, because Pat Riley's greatest strength over the years when it came to improving this team was being able to get in a room with the free agent and talk to them about the Miami Heat and convince them this is where you should go. But now, because the way the league operates and the way team building goes, free agency is every single year. Trades are how to acquire players. Big stars don't hit free agency anymore. And so now being able to convince a player to come to Miami is not everything. It's one thing. The other thing is convincing the team they currently play for to trade him to you. So that's been a huge detriment to what always worked for Pat Riley over the years. But my main problem with the Heat and not being able to pull off trades over the last few years— and this has essentially always been the Heat's attitude, they're really stubborn when it comes to stuff like this— and what I mean by that is they don't make trades unless it's on their terms.

It's like, this is what we're willing to offer, we will not go any further, alright? Like, it's almost like they don't want— it can only hurt you, the trade, it will not hurt us. Like, sometimes it's okay for both teams to feel good about the trade, and I feel like the Heat are always, no, no, no, this is, this is the price, we're not giving anything else. And sometimes I think maybe it has to hurt a little bit. What's an example of that? Any of these deals that, that haven't happened over the few— over the last years. This is the offer, you know. I— and, and you see these other smaller moves that are being made. I know we always like to go back to the Pacers and Pascal Siakam and, and those kind of smaller moves, you know. But I, I just— and maybe I'm wrong with this assumption, maybe I am, but it does strike me as this is our offer, this is what we think the player is worth, we're not going above this. And I think sometimes maybe it's okay to go above that if you really want to get the guy.

I think a large reality that everybody has to deal with is that whatever Heat culture means, part of that is we ain't going to tank. We're not going to join the tank battalion. We're going to be as good as we can be, whether that's 3 games over.500 or 4 under. We're going to be stuck right in the middle. We're going to play hard. We're not going to tank. And we're going to come what may in the draft. We're going to pick 13th. You know, and, and if they tank— and the Dolphins have the same problem across town. The Dolphins are always stuck in the middle, right? You know, getting that, that mid-round pick. And this is, this is what happens. I'm not a tanking fan, but if you want to get a Wimby or a Flagg or anybody else who's a difference maker, you pretty much have to. Like, right there, they're stuck.

That's, that's been my, you know, a few weeks ago when I got in a shouting match with Mike, is like, that's my point. It's like Mike ideas that, oh, they could have gotten so-and-so and they didn't because they thought their team was going to— like, no, Mike, that's never the case. They don't have a superstar here. It's because they could not acquire them because you are dealing with another team. Talk about Damian Lillard a few years back, like the Blazers, literally to spite— out of spite, you didn't send them here. Sure. So there's, there's a level of—

now, now hold on. I'll, I'll get— I'll use that as an example too. Yes, of course. Like Joe Cronin was being a total dickhead. And wouldn't work with the Miami Heat. Right. And, and true or false, as a result of that, the Heat essentially were sitting back and, and waiting instead of maybe being aggressive and reaching out like, hey, we'll do this, we'll do this, we'll do this. It was like, oh, if he doesn't want to talk to us, I guess there's nothing we could do.

Oh, but I mean, I think they did that and he wouldn't talk to them. Okay. Because whether it was ownership or him or whoever was the case, they felt that there was some sort of manipulation happening to get Dame here. And as a result, they wouldn't even entertain it. And they just search high and low for any other deal. But absent something like that, like I said, just— they don't— these deals just don't happen. Like, there's zillions of trades that are discussed every season that never go anywhere and never get leaked or anything because that's this— that's this game. The only thing you can criticize them for is not hitting the red button. That, that, and that, and that— it's a red button. And then that is because they philosophically refused to tank, right? Which is, by the way, they're not the only ones. Indiana's like that, right? It just so happened everybody got hurt, and so they— the only logical play for them. But this idea that somehow, you know, it's, you know, Anthony Edwards was available and the Heat were like, I don't know, like, I really like Khalil Ware— that's not happening.

That's not happening. You don't think they want Giannis? And that's the other part. If they end up getting Giannis After all of this, is everything forgiven then? All you guys have been yelling with pitchforks, now all of a sudden, oh, they got Giannis, never mind.

Well, the trades and the whale hunting and Giannis now, that's only because they know they can't fix it in the draft. I mean, they have no choice but to be big in the summer in free agency, right? They have no choice because they know they're going to be too good to get a high draft pick, so the only alternative is for Pat Riley to go whale hunting again and to try to make a big splash. And, and that's tough to do, as we've seen the past 5, 6 years. You have—

splash! One question above all others that you're able to ask Pat Riley today, it's what? One question, the one question you need answered from Pat Riley today.

What is the imperative this summer to get Giannis or whomever?

Well, he's not going to comment about a specific player.

No, no, he— you're right, but it's to ask the question, it's obvious who we mean. A difference-making superstar. You know, how willing are you to really break up this entire team and do what you need to get the superstar you've missed? I always questioned whether Jimmy Butler was a superstar. I always thought he was a second-level superstar. Giannis, even at his age, is not second level. He's still top level.

I just don't want to hear we like our team again.

I know. Exactly. What about that?

We hate our team. Never said that.

Hey, it's Mike Ryan, and I want to talk to you about the random midweek hang that you have with your friends. Maybe it's an NBA game, you get a text, "Hey, come over, you want to watch the game?" And maybe you're like, "Ah, I don't know, I kind of just wanted to stay home." And then you think about it after your buddy hits you up, and you know just the thing that'll make that regular hang, that regular midweek hang around the basketball game, into a special time, into a Miller Time. That's right, this happened to me just last week. I grabbed a 6-pack of Miller Lite, said I was on my way, and next thing you know, we're arguing about rotations like we're on the coaching staff, yelling about a missed call, and the game's coming down to the final possession. It was one of those nights that you look around, you take a sip, and you think, yeah, this was the right call, and my friendship's stronger for it. 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.

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