Transcript of Amin's Weekend Observations From... MIAMI? | Hour 3

Selfish. So cheers. Oh my gosh! You're Bad Bunny!

Hey!

Let me tell you, Selfish, so cheers.

Huh?

Selfish, so cheers.

Wait, Bad Bunny is copying you?

Who's who?

That's weird, right?

Who most impressed you yesterday? Because I go Packers. Can anyone beat me if I not—

Good answer. Good answer.

I would say, I would say everything that Chicago has done the last two weeks after the acquisition of Simmons and surviving the type of horrific game they had from their quarterback and just turnovers and undiscipline all around, in a narrow defeat of the Bucks, I came away saying, man, Chicago is a really fantastic football team.

I lean toward Packers. I haven't been in on the Packers for a couple of years now, but Jordan Love was obviously terrific. I mean, those receivers, they couldn't stop him. And I mean, I know New England's kind of been up and down, but the game was in Foxborough and they crushed him.

Well, the Packers are playing a different kind of sport than everyone else is offensively, and it's weird to see given how they struggled against Atlanta at home a month ago when all of us were dismissing them as a terrible football team because of how they started the first month of the season. Do you guys realize that the NFC North has now combined for as many losses total as the Chargers?

Roy, go ahead and play the weekend observation music. Even though I do not see Amin there, I don't have physical proof that he's there, but I'm trusting you all that he is there.

It is time for.

Amin.

To share his game notes. No one in the media will tell you what happened better than my boy.

Amin.

Weekend Observations is brought to you by Millerlite. Legendary moments start with a lite. Dan? Well, the Hurricanes were bested by the infidel fighting Irish. Turns out Pep in for Malachi Tony. Really good game plan after all. Somewhere, Sister Jessica is laughing her haram ass off. The fix was in as soon as she told us she expected the Canes to win. That's when I knew.

Yeah, I got that.

Luca! You can't keep getting away with this! You can't keep getting away with this!

Serious question. This is a serious question. Hold on. Can the Giants win the Super Bowl?

No.

I'm beginning to believe. And if so, does that mean Jameis gets to win Super Bowl MVP?

No.

I don't know, guys. The football guys kind of owe it to us.

Did you see Chris back there? Chris is doing the impersonation of JJ McCarthy trying to throw a football on the sideline and then just falling to his knees because he's in so much pain.

That's the meme of the year.

On July 1, 1898, in the Battle of El Canary of the Spanish-American War, a small and trenched Spanish garrison held up much larger battalions of American forces and inflicted severe U.S. casualties. 128 years later, we got our revenge by sending the Atlanta Falcons to Madrid.

By the way, who was it was saying it's an advantage to have a club for a hand?

That Zaslo was saying it's a weapon.

Yeah. You know who the first person to say that was? It was me. Was it Shaq Griffin or Grissom, whatever his name is? The guy with one hand?

Grissom. Nailed it.

Grissom.

This was one of the all-time takes that Shaq Griffin had an advantage.

He had an advantage!

All you do is club people over their head with it. You don't have to worry about breaking a hand or a finger or anything. It's just a club.

It was so doesn't get enough love, that take.

Thank you.

CBS playing Gap Band outstanding on the way out to break as the Jets got smacked around by the Chiefs.

Somebody deserves a raise.

OKC beat the Washington Wizards 114 to 75.

Wizards.

I didn't know it was legal to score less than 90 points in an NBA game.

Hell, even the Kings put up 108 last night.

And again, they were playing the Heat.

Spo's going to have to check into a mental health facility at some point if nothing changes.

That defense, Dan. Woof.

What's going on there? I hear a lot of people saying that Giannis can no longer play defense well, which is.

That's people who don't know what they're talking about. They're just seeing a bad defense and saying, "Well, he can't play defense anymore." But the reality is, as a team defense, they are atrocious. They don't rotate. They don't help the helper. They don't close out well. And Spo is talking about, "Ah, we can tell you that later." Oh, we'll talk about it later.

Don't worry, no matter how bad it looks for Miami right now, I promise you, Milwaukee is so much worse.

I was watching them against the Celtics last night and woof. That is a bad basketball team. Remember when Kellel Ware was supposed to be some sort of Wemby antidote? Pepperage Farm remembers.

I just forgot about him. I can't believe they gave up Kellel Ware on our deal.

Guy can't even play.

If the Heisman voters kept it real, then Malachi Tony would have locked up the trophy this week.

But let's be real. Isn't that the greatest endorsement? Team fell apart without him.

AZ Fudd and Paige Beckers are no longer dating. They confirmed on their podcast, "Fudd Around and Find Out," that they have separated about a year ago.

Now, Dan, quick. Is that a real podcast name or did I make it up?

It should be. No, it should be, but there's no way that they named it that. But I wish they would have.

No way.

It is a real podcast.

No.

Fudd Around and Find Out.

Why are you lying?

It is.

Nope.

Yeah, that's AZ Fudd.

Nope.

No.

Just no.

I wanted to make a specific joke about Fudd and Beckers breaking up, but I was advised to be very, very careful. Listeners of a certain age will have no idea what I just did there. Rumors of the demise of Klay Thompson have been greatly exaggerated.

Yep.

That boy can shoot.

That's my dog right there.

It's good analysis.

So that's what having a writer's room looks like.

Or, or, or hear me out. Sit in front of your TV, Blake, and hate-watch sports all weekend long while jotting down unhinged missives in your phone's notes app that you will not understand when you eventually come around to writing the jokes.

Try it. It's quite breathtaking.

Pacers and Nuggets played a regular season game in Ciudad de México, or Mexico City, for those of you guys from November 3rd.

So many technical glitches. They couldn't get the Wi-Fi right. The broadcasts kept going down because they couldn't get the Wi-Fi right.

Before the game, Pacers forward Jarris Walker addressed the crowd in Spanish.

And Rick Carlisle looks like he just discovered that it's actually pronounced Jerris Walker. He was mind-blown that Jarris Walker spoke Spanish fluently. Jerris Walker, because it starts with a J. And as many of you know, in the Spanish language, words that start with a J make an H sound, like José. Unless there's a U, then it's a W sound. So Juan, J-U.

Carlisle's team best of four.

Oh, come on.

Well, he's in shape now. I shouldn't have done that.

Niners beat the out of the Raiders. Then fans of both teams beat the out of each other in the parking lot.

I saw this.

Did you see this one where the guy's knees are.

It's horrible. Yeah, when a guy's just laying there, we probably don't have to keep punching his face. It's horrible.

Football.

Also hell.

Herb Dean would never let that happen.

That's what I was, Herb Dean. I'm like, "Enough! Enough!"

Speaking of hell.

What just happened there?

I didn't realize he was here.

Those are the weekend observations.

Yeah!

Dan Le Batard.

DJ Laz is playing gulo in the back of my pimple.

I bet.

Here's Dave Dimichick and he's like, "Hey guys, Pittsburgh." All right. Everybody's like.

He goes, "What TV is this guy?"

Dave, dimichick.

He goes, "What TV's the Penguins game on?"

Who the hell is this guy?

This is the Dan Le Batard Show.

I did not know that Amin was here. Let's play that Giannis sound for Amin and get his analysis. I should have mentioned earlier that Doc Rivers ripped Giannis on the Bill Simmons podcast, said he didn't have the highest IQ, and said other things as well.

Well, I mean, can we hear what Doc said?

Well.

I don't see what the big deal is. Why is everyone getting their panties in a bunch?

Oh, jeez.

I said he's hard to coach because he's such a great player. He's downhill all the time.

That's what great players are.

And he's a good passer. I said he was a good passer. Why are you guys all, "What's the big deal?"

You said low IQ.

I did not say low IQ.

I thought you did.

I said he doesn't have a super high IQ. You know what? Sorry, guys. There's levels to this.

He did say that. You made an important clarification. The quote is, "He has this great passing ability, but he doesn't have a super high IQ at the same time." Let's see Giannis' answer.

That's like saying Dan Le Batard isn't super extremely rich.

I will say.

Does that mean you're poor?

I never thought he was Magic Johnson.

Let's listen to Giannis R.

You're not super thin.

Surprised and hurt by Doc Rivers' commentary, which he is clearly learning about for the first time in the locker room.

Doc Rivers was on the podcast and said that he felt like you can be not so easy to coach, that it's sometimes difficult to get the best out of you. Just what does it kind of feel like to hear that from.

Who said that?

Doc, from your old coach.

Oh, my God. First of all, he's not my uncle. He's not my coach. My coach is Coach Spo. But he's a coach that I've worked with in the past. Speechless. He made those comments when? Today?

A couple days ago.

Yeah, you got to go. You have his number, right? You do. I know you do. You got to go ask him why he thought that. That's on him. That's not on me. I just got to focus on my team and what I got to do and how I can be better and how can I help the team. But God, man. That's crazy. Never let, I don't know, bitterness or pettiness get in front of your goals and dreams.

Why did the reporter clarify when he said, "Doc, your old coach"? Is it possible Giannis thought he was talking about his primary care physician who said that? Like, "Doc, your former coach"? I don't know. I kind of get it now.

Pretty cold in that locker room, too.

Yeah, it was.

Nipples.

Good contribution by you.

It.

Amin, your thoughts on that back and forth?

So, yeah. I mean, I think it's sincere. We were asking back here if it was Giannis doing one of the Giannis things. Like, "What? That was said about me?" I think he actually did learn that for the first time right there. I like the clarification. He says, "He's not my coach. My coach is Eric Spoelstra. He's a coach I happened to work with in the past." That was a nice clarification there. But I think, Doc, obviously, there's a measure of CYA to what he said, right?

They were 31 and 13 when Doc took over.

Yes.

I mean, Doc's full.

Of course. But he's saying these comments at a time where it's very easy for him to find support for what he's saying.

Why don't all, like, are there people who are supporting? I mean, like, bad man.

Yeah.

Yeah, but bad messenger. Like, maybe there are people supporting what he's saying, but they're not supporting Doc.

Doug Christie was taking shots at Giannis. It's open season on Giannis right now. It's like a referendum for everything that's happened to him over the last couple of years. That, "Oh, see? It's all his fault and the Miami. He thought they'd be great and guess what? You're awful or whatever." But the reality is, I just think it's a case of they have to come together and get on the same page. The personnel is there. I don't think this is a team that's missing personnel. I just think they need better structure.

I mean, Doc did win a title in Milwaukee with Giannis.

Well, he didn't.

No, he did.

When? When they blew a lead?

No, no, he won a title at the Emirates Cup.

Great.

When he is speaking on Giannis, he is one of the very highest levels with this player. And maybe the Miami Heat should listen. Roy, play the sound of Doug Christie, the Sacramento Kings coach, also sort of going after Giannis.

Some of even the shot profile. Shot profile was Giannis shooting a mid-range contested shot. We're living with that tonight. He knocked him down. I'll watch him next game and he probably won't.

Doc Christie, you want to talk about your shot profile, your team's shot profile?

Yeah, get him.

I'm just saying, like, look, again, bad messenger. It's like, "Hey, we'll live with that." You're 1-9. You're living with everything.

Like, he's been a joke of a coach since he's 20.

What's the thing that Doug Christie won't live with? That's my question. He'll live with that. What's the thing you're like, "Oh, I won't live with that"? You're 1-9.

Joke of a coach. I want to circle back around here to something and see if you guys can find anything in the way of parallels in what it is that we're talking about here. We have spent a good portion of today's show talking about whether or not Elijah Lofton, the legend of Elijah Lofton, could have grown on Saturday, whether or not that was a catch. Given the amount of technological advancement that we have had in 2026, where you're watching the World Series as and they are able to tell you what a strike is or isn't within a fraction of an inch, given that you're watching football on Sundays and they have basically a simulated measurement that is computerized that we are all trusting when it is three and a half inches short on a fourth down, we are basically applying a microscope to everything that's happening in what are largely, hugely close games that then get decided by one play here and there.

I don't know if it's about getting it right because we have tremendous video replay of that play. It's about even with an explanation of the rule, we don't understand what the actual rule is. Like, the rules have become so convoluted.

I think we're just so predisposed to be looking at the hands and the ball and the bobbling. I think if you go into that, say, "Look at his feet" instead of "Look at the ball," then the prism changes. Jeremy was telling me something about that happened in the UCF game where the ref was like, "He's doing the replay thing." And he's like, "Wait, the crowd just reacted to one of the replays that we showed."

That's exactly what happened. They had looked at four or five angles already on what was going to be the game-tying and ultimately game-winning touchdown with a second left for UCF at Kansas. They've looked at four different angles. In the Big 12 replay center, they're saying, "Hey, we're going to uphold this call." But you hear the crowd in the background of the ref on the field's microphone. He goes, "Hey, wait. The crowd just reacted to an angle that I'm not sure we've looked at. You should keep looking." Are you kidding me?

Can you guys, though, explain to me if you are absorbing the stupidity in this the way that I am, where simply forevermore, history will show not just this year, but for always, that Miami lost that football game on something that if I replay that a thousand times throughout eternity for the rest of time, I'm still going to get arguments about whether or not that was a catch or not. The stupidity in that is breathtaking that we are not only just doing this. Instead of by the scoreboard, we're still doing this shit with judges.

Dan, I think the problem is you're trying to compare an event that exists on a spectrum versus a discrete event. So when you talk about baseball, balls and strikes, it's very binary. Either it is or it isn't. And we know and there's a line and the line inside it, you're good. Outside of it, you're bad. Whereas a catch, a check swing in baseball, a charge circle in the NBA, like, was he moving? These are all existing on a spectrum. Where on the spectrum did it land when the event happened?

It was fascinating because I think it was one of the in-stadium cameras. Because whatever that angle was, doesn't seem to be something that popped up on the replay review, which is that much more to the fact that this is all kind of ridiculous.

Yeah.

It is. And it's so subjective to whatever the initial commentary is in that instance. Because if the play-by-play guys that were on that game made mention of the feet being out of bounds.

Commentary?

Commentary. You have an entire nation viewing that differently, and the focus is highlighted on probably the thing it should have been. The thing that I'm saying, though, is how asinine the entirety of all of this is when we have better systems in place than we've ever had. I think most of the people listening to this would agree with my assessment that college football does replay better than the NFL. That by itself is asinine. Secondarily asinine, your measurement system is asinine for the entirety of what you're doing using judges to rule this.

Usually, when you have a play like that, I'll say something or people will say something like, "Hey, if they called it the other way, would everybody have complained?" And in this instance, the answer is yes. Like, no matter what was called on the field, someone was going to complain that they got it wrong.

I think that this is pretty glaring, and there needs to be sweeping clarity on this type of thing going forward because one of my observations afterwards was like, "Man, all right, that was a great result for the sport. And this drama, was it a catch, wasn't?" It's ultimately good for the sport. But man, if that happened in an elimination game, like, I would be cracked.

I've got a better one for you. I learned of a rule yesterday that I did not know. It happened during Cincinnati's game against Atlanta. They ran a play and the lights went out.

Saw that. I was trying to explain it. I'm like, it was like the Undertaker showed up in the middle of it.

So the lights went out and they canceled the play. Can you imagine that happening in a dramatic moment? Like, the play kept.

Did that happen in the Super Bowl?

Yeah.

It did, but I don't, was it during a play?

But not during a play. It wasn't like the lights go out and you hear the Undertakers go home.

If the lights go, can you imagine in a deciding moment, the lights go out, a play goes for a touchdown that decides the game, and then people learn that play doesn't count. As soon as the lights go out, that play is rendered null.

It was, the video is nutty. You guys didn't see this because it happened early in the morning.

I didn't see this.

I saw it online. And yeah, the ball gets snapped, the lights go out. And then there's a mystery. Guys are staying around looking what's happening. This thing is like swinging a baseball bat at like seven dudes.

I'll tell you. I mean, this was the Bangles Falcons game. What if when the lights came back on, Jonathan Taylor came running onto the field? He now plays for the Bangles. Are you kidding me?

And Bobby Heenan saying, "Which side is he on?"

Wait, it was dark already?

It was however much later it is in Madrid than it is here in.

Six hours.

It was still light.

Yeah. So what if the lights went out? We got the sunlight.

No, dude. Like, I'm sure it wasn't that bad in the stadium, but on the broadcast, because of just shutting off the lights and what that does to cameras, it goes pitch black.

Dan Le Batard.

God, I would love to see that interaction. Lord, let there be a day.

Hey, Oprah.

Let there be a day.

Oh, the color purple.

You like these glasses?

She would see these glasses. She'd be like, "This is someone I'll take a picture with." He looks sophisticated.

I love Big Game, Not a Big Game.

Jonathan Sassolo.

She would say that to me. Instead of me having to go up to her and say, "I'm a big fan." She'd be like, "I love Big Deal, Not a Big Deal."

Huge fan of your work.

Yeah, one-time or two-time championship broadcaster?

Two, Oprah.

Two.

You think Oprah would say like, "Hey, know about that book club?"

And I would say, "Yes, I do, Oprah. Yes, I do."

Have you seen Weapons?

But it was the kids.

This is the Dan Le Batard Show.

I saw yesterday, I mean, before we wander back toward football, because we never wander too far away from football on Mondays, I saw that the Lakers without Luca won at Detroit. I saw that Austin Reaves went for 40-plus points. The start that Luca is off to this season is an insanity. Is this just who he is now? He's somebody who can average for an NBA season 40 points in a game?

No. I'll give you the short answer. No, he can't average 40 a game for a season for a couple of reasons. I'm on mic, man.

We're learning here. We're learning.

I know, but I.

He was shot, yeah.

He's like, "Whoa, that was a crazy play."

I've never seen anything like that before.

Can we talk back here, dude? Play on. Like, what are you doing? I have some pretty loud.

Oh, man. So he can't, Dan, for a couple of reasons. Number one is, I think eventually defense is adjust. He's going to come back down to earth. Now, down to earth might be 35. It might be 36. 40 is a little much. He's also averaging a usage rate of over 40%. That's the highest of his career. And he's always been either one or two in the league. But this one is way more extreme than he's ever been in his career. I have sincere questions on can he stay healthy playing like this, 36 minutes a game, high usage, high leverage minutes.

If he continues down this path, it's the greatest shooting season we've ever seen. And also, that statement that he took out before the season is one of the more badass things you've ever seen. Like, "We're not going to defend the way that you're used to, but that's all right. I'll just score more. And I'll put it on my shoulders. And don't worry. I'll handle it."

I don't know what a mean's doing here. What's his average at now? Okay, because you say.

47. Oh, really? That high?

40.1.

You say defenses are going to adjust. And I'm like, "When?" Like, it's not like they don't know that this is how he's playing. And I don't know how you defend. He's falling out of bounds at the three-point line and making his shots.

So part of that is, again, we look at things that are characteristic versus uncharacteristic. Him scoring a lot, characteristic. Him shooting that well from three, highly uncharacteristic. Especially when you look at Ford's career, his three-point percentages tend to be underwhelming, mainly because his shot selection sucks. So given that it's not like, "Oh, now he's taking smart shots. That's why his percentage is higher." He's taking the same bad shots. They're just going in now. That part is like, I don't know how sustainable that is as far as the three-point shooting is.

If he can do it for, what's the number of games? If he can do it for 20 games, however many they've played so far.

They played nine. Well, he's played nine. Excuse me.

Yeah. What is the number I have to put at before you're like, "Okay, this is going to start going down now?" Because I keep expecting it to go down, and it keeps going up.

So what I would say is not the points per game. But if you tell me after 20 games, he's still shooting 40-plus percent from three, and not because it's buoyed by early season big numbers, and now he's coming back down to earth. So if, in other words, you look at his three-point percentage game by game, and if it stays consistently above 40% after 20 games, then I'd say it's real. But I expect it to come down to earth at some point in the 20-game mark, maybe the 500-minute play mark.

If we were doing today, NFL football measured the way college football is, what are your rankings starting to look like there? Because I don't think that we need to entertain the idea of the NFC East or the NFC South having any playoff teams. I think I could eliminate all of those teams, and I've got a more interesting spectacle if I just take the 10 teams I think that are best and don't pay any attention at all.

Well, but I think you get an automatic bid if you win your division, Dan.

I know, but I don't want that. I want to do it the way college football is doing it, where it's just a random, the judges think something, and the scoreboard doesn't matter, and the standings doesn't matter, and the standings don't matter, and the schedule doesn't matter.

Well, right now in college football, you get automatic bids. Now, next year, you won't, but right now, you do.

Dude, if you have an accent, you're bad money. I can't, this is crazy.

So many people have been accusing you of having a blackcent, and they've been so far off base. You do not have a blackcent. You don't have a blackcent. You don't.

You're not aware of this?

No.

Oh, yeah.

They've been accusing you.

They're incorrect.

They're incorrect. You have a bad bunny accent.

Well, maybe he has an accent like me.

You were there first.

That's right.

Speaking of which, Amin took credit there for the Shaq Griffin, the club, and not having a hand is an advantage.

Rissom.

And you thought, Amin, that that take has been stolen from you. But I'm going to allege that you stole a version of that take from me because I was arguing when Anthony Robles, the wrestler who didn't have legs, what kept getting the play of the day on SportsCenter. I'm like, no one's ever going to beat that. And I'm saying it's an unfair advantage that he doesn't have legs because now all of the strength that he has in his upper body doesn't need to account for the lack of weight that he has in his lower body. And so his upper body is too strong.

You know what? When you're right, you're right. You were first. You were first, Christopher Columbus. Because the other part of it, I think you used to say this too, is because the legs aren't full legs, it's less to get tangled. So it's easier to kind of wriggle out of it.

He tries to reach back and hit the leg right there.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was a highly controversial take at the time.

No, you did it. You were there first, man.

His upper body was twice the size of the guys that he was fighting.

Absolutely. And they couldn't grab his legs.

The wrestler, I don't remember this guy. Was he in WWE?

You don't remember Anthony Robles? Can you look up for me how many consecutive days he was the play of the day because people, I'm like, no one's ever going to knock that off. It's just the winner that day in voting would get to appear the next day. And this went on for months because how was anybody going to beat the legless wrestler? There wasn't going to beat any, there wasn't going to be any beating of the legless wrestler. Who is most impressive from yesterday? Because while during the break, I was saying that the Packers were, but Chris was arguing on behalf of the Bangles.

And Madrid, who the heck knows? You're overseas there. You change up your travel.

I don't know.

To your point on Burrow, five players in NFL history who've recorded at least four passing or rushing touchdowns in four straight games. It's Burrow now alongside Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Dan Marino.

One of the conversations that we were having last week, because I don't believe the MVP award is who's got the best teammates. I believe the MVP award should be who's playing best. And given that Jordan Love has no running game and is getting hit more than any quarterback in the league, I actually think he's playing best. He's got, I know you love their receivers, but he's getting hit a ton and still throwing the ball downfield. And he's got a bunch of systemic disadvantages that make the game a little bit harder than it is for Joe Burrow when he's throwing to Jamar Chase, T Higgins, and Mike Gasecki.

Well, I'm not going to make the argument that I love Jordan Love's receivers and not mention that Joe Burrow's got pretty terrific receivers too.

Well, but he's getting hit. Jordan Love is getting hit more than any quarterback in the league, and it's by a lot. Like he's getting pressured and hit more and still playing downfield.

I know the NFL has like the NFL Offense Player of the Year Award that the AP hands out. And that's when voters are like, "All right, this one can occasionally go to a non-quarterback." But I'm just, I'm slackjawed every game day watching JSN. I don't know how you can play the sport any better than that. And look at who he's carrying across the line.

What do you make of Jordan Love yesterday being 11 for 11 for 150 some odd yards when five people were being sent at him?

Terrific. Incredibly impressive. I've been super bullish on those wide receivers, but the guy that's actually my favorite, the guy that they go to when they need plays, is out with spinal surgery, right? Jaden Reid hasn't been there all season long. And now that these guys are finally healthy, I think they're flashing like what they're capable of. But you're right to mention the lack of the running game and the lack of blocking. Jordan Love, I think, yeah, you've convinced me, probably should be considered the favorite.

They didn't even bother using Tucker Craft yesterday. They're just throwing the ball 70 yards. LaFleur's been mad since the Ben Johnson game.

Anyway.