Transcript of Everyone Is Wrong About the Miami Heat | Local Hour

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There is nothing casual about football season. You can tell yourself you're just gonna watch one game, and 6 hours later, you're emotionally invested in a 4th quarter between 2 teams you don't even care about. That's what I love about this time of year. The entire weekend becomes football. You're texting friends, tracking games, second-guessing coaches, convincing yourself you saw something before everybody else did. And then Monday comes around and you get to do the whole thing again. Those are the weekends you remember. And for me, some of the best ones have usually involved some good people, a great game, and a cold Miller Lite. No matter what triumphs are in store this season, legendary game days start with Miller Lite. Cold, crisp, refreshing, that clean finish. And it's part of plenty of memorable football weekends. Make game day legendary. 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. Game time is Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

Roy, can you see if you can quickly get Andrew Hawkins to fill in for me, please, as quickly as you Ken, I'm headed to Tampa. I'm getting a flight out to talk baseball with people who want to talk baseball and to celebrate the American League Championship. So I'm going to leave because I got an early flight. I just want to talk to people about the Guardians bringing in Cade Smith in the 7th inning so that Junior Caminero wouldn't do anything, because nobody can hit a home run off of his splitter, and Caminero does exactly— Caminero is what I should be saying. They need to Latin this whole thing up. But I'm leaving here, so can you try and get Andrew Hawkins on this?

All right, I'll call him.

Thank you. And I'm thrilled to see Cody here because I'm surprised by Cody being here. I was worried that you were going to boycott today.

Well, I'm surprised by you being here because I was going to boycott you, not the show, but you. And now you're here, which is just a shock to me.

Okay. It ruins it, but I'm not going to be here. I'm going to leave now.

So you don't want to talk baseball with me?

I'm going to go to Tampa now to talk baseball with anybody in Tampa who wants to celebrate the American League Championship with me.

Big crowd you're going to draw?

I hope so.

20, 30 people?

Just in the street. It's just in the street. I want to— is it Duval? I'm going to just wander. Is it Duval?

No, it's Jacksonville.

There's not a Duval?

That's Duval County.

Yeah, but I think there's a Duval Street. I'm lost here. I'm going to be found in Tampa. I'm leaving now.

You are listening to the Dan Levitan Show in partnership with the DraftKings Sports app. Now live in all 50 states. Look at this crew we got here. I don't think this crew's worked together yet. We got Greg, Cody, and the return of Andrew Hawkins in studio with us.

Yeah.

Why do some people call you Walter?

Um, um, I gotta ask Cody that. Cody, how you doing? Walter. Pleasure to meet you. Yeah, it's been a— it's a pleasure.

Pleasure to be here.

Pleasure to be around. This is our first show together.

History.

Look at that. This is gonna be great.

I can't tell who you're looking at. You're wearing sunglasses.

I know. I'm only wearing them because I felt like you're not a sunglass indoors kind of person.

Are you looking at me?

Yes, I'm looking at you.

It's hard! I know who he's talking to. Who's he talking to?

All right, well, Walter's back. Um, Andrew Hawkins is back. Amin, Roy, Jeremy, good to see you guys. It's been too long.

What's up?

Where is everybody? Can someone answer me that?

Yeah, where is he?

It's a skeleton crew.

Literally.

Amin, why— okay, so Amin, are you Odysseus?

I'm someone from The Odyssey, but I'm not Odysseus.

All right, so you're just gonna spout out lines and we're gonna have to figure out who you are?

I already did one line and nobody figured it out.

Yeah, I'm surprised I didn't pick up on it because everybody knows I love The Odyssey.

You ought to see who he is.

Jeremy's so happy that he got laughed at.

I need everyone in Jeremy's party dead. in the ditch with their throat slit.

We, we have a lot to get to today, but first we got to address the elephant in the room, which of course is Greg Cody is here today, unexpectedly here today. You were— you have been threatening to boycott the show today.

Yeah.

You've been threatening, you're protesting, all right? You're signing the P to the scorer's table in baseball. One of my favorite things in sports is the umpire who still, in today, the year 2026 of our Lord, with all the technology, we have. We are still— we are signaling the P for protest in Major League Baseball. When you arrived today and Dan was here—

Yeah, I didn't expect that.

Right, that threw you off a little bit.

Yeah, it threw me off a lot. I had to make nice with him and pretend like I was happy to see him. And I'm boycotting Dan, I'm not boycotting the show. Like, Dan's back on the show tomorrow, so I'm not because of that.

You're not going to come in tomorrow?

No. No, I'm boycotting. The only reason I'm in today is because my son, who should know, told me that Dan was not going to be in today.

Right.

So I didn't expect to see him. That's the only reason I'm here.

So you were shook when he walked in?

I was surprised, to say the least.

Yeah. Well, well, okay, so let's say that you— that you're a man of your word and you don't come tomorrow, that you are going to protest.

I am a man of my word, unlike Le Batard.

We'll see. And if you are a man of your word and you don't come in tomorrow, what's going to— like, You're gonna have to come back at some point. What's gonna make you stop your protest?

You know, I haven't given it that much thought, to be honest with you. An apology from Levitard would be—

That's what you want? You want an apology?

It'd be a nice start, yeah.

Okay, okay.

Do you know what's going on here, Hawk?

I have zero idea, and I'm gonna remove these glasses. They work for Juju, they don't work for me.

Okay, good.

I think they work for you.

I don't know, because everyone was like, I'd say stuff and there's an awkward silence because—

Yeah, I don't know who you're talking to.

Who am I looking at? Which I now Playing it back in my head, I'm like, okay, that was a bad choice. We can, we can all be accountable here. But now, to your, to your question, I have no idea what is going on. Why is there beef with Dan and Cody?

Okay, first of all, the sunglasses made you look like you were headed to a poker game, which I love.

You love it?

I love that look.

They might come back.

Okay.

Which is, which is, which is douchier at the poker game? The guy who wears the sunglasses or the guy who Gets a massage during play.

Oh yeah, absolutely massage. Hands down massage. 'Cause there could be a bunch of good reasons why you're wearing sunglasses. There's never a good reason to be getting a massage during a poker game.

They have that— they have the masseuse, masseur, I always get those mixed up. They have those at the Hard Rock Casino now. Like, you can be playing a $10 blackjack table and getting a massage. It's like ridiculous.

It is ridiculous, yes. Okay, so explain to Hawk what's going on here, why you are mad.

Well, Dan, a few weeks ago now, Dan volunteered— I didn't ask him, he volunteered— to write a guest column for my new Substack. And I took him at his word, and he wrote a very nice column. I held it about a week because I wanted it to run yesterday, which it did, to great reaction. But in between that, and in the column, Dan writes, I'm so pleased to be the the official guest columnist of Substack, and I'll only be appearing here. And before that, Dan writes for other podcasts— or podcasts— other Substacks. And so he betrayed me. He went back on his word that I would be the first to host his writing comeback.

Yeah.

And I'm pissed off.

But that article wasn't published. As of yesterday, it was published, but it wasn't published before, right? So technically, I wouldn't say it was ratified that he was making a writing comeback because it wasn't published for the public to see.

Now, if you need a full update on what's been going on here, so Greg Cody has his Substack, 10 Day Tony has his Substack. Now I have a Substack. That's where, that's where Dan's first article went, was Tony's Substack. So now I created a Substack. It's called Jeremy's Leotard Sub Sub that I report on all things in terms of gossip between Greg Cody's Substack and 10 Day Tony's Substack.

We're going deep cuts here on these Substacks.

Well, in case you're like, your head is spinning and you're like, ah, I don't know what Jeremy's talking about, whatever. I've created a Substack.

Okay.

Where I kind of basically recap and summarize what Jeremy says on his Substack about Greg and 10 Day Tony's Substack. And mine is called Amin's Jeremy's Levitard's Sub Sub Sub.

Amin's Jeremy's Levitard's Sub Sub Sub.

Okay.

Is there any other exclusive writers on any of these Substacks, or does Dan just—

Yeah, Dan.

Dan just writes for everyone exclusively.

Dan hasn't written for Amin's Jeremy's Leotard Sub Sub Sub Sub yet.

Or Jeremy's Leotard Sub Sub. Not yet.

You haven't published yet?

No, I don't have an article from Dan yet. I am looking for his exclusive World Series Rays article, although his ALCS Rays article went to 10 Day Tony, which is what initially caused some of the kerfuffle that we now see here with Greg.

I want to be clear. I'm sorry, real quick. I want to be clear, I will never accept anything from Dan Le Batard on Amin's Jeremy's Le Batard Sub Sub Sub because I respect, unlike the rest of you people, I respect the— well, the people here are just like, whoa, you didn't publish it. I respect exclusivity. That man has the copyrights. That man over there, Greg Cody, has all the legal standing to have to be the exclusive home of Dan Le Batard's writing, and I will not violate that for anything.

Thank you, Amin. I really appreciate that. He gets it. He knows. He knows the story. He's affiliated with Pablo Torre. He knows. He can dig deep. He knows the legal ramifications of everything, and I appreciate that. And I want to make it clear, I'm not mad at 10 Day Tony. 10 Day Tony is the unwitting pawn being used by— He's being used. He's a martyr. Right, exactly. And I believe Dan has now written not one, not two, but 3 stories for 10 Day Tony.

That quick?

Yeah, I believe so.

In like a week's time?

It's unbelievable.

Are we sure that Dan knows what exclusive means?

I'm not sure.

Okay. What was your article about versus what were the 10 articles he wrote for Tony about?

Okay, what he wrote for Tony about was like, I think all 3 were baseball related. I'm not sure, which is just guaranteed to attract readers.

Wow.

But what he wrote for me, he wrote a column about his friendship with me. And I did not ask him to do that. I told him it was open-ended, he could write about whatever he wants. He chose to write about his, you know, 3-plus decades friendship with me. And it was very good, it was well received, it was well done. Typical of Lepitard, a combination of acerbic, cutting humor and sentiment.

So if we can just— if we could bottle up, if we just— in a vacuum, Dan wrote a column about his friendship with you Wow. And the result is you are now protesting his show.

Right.

Ended the friendship.

Yeah.

So his friendship article— maybe it was an exclusive just around friends. You're his exclusive friendship article destination.

Yeah.

Which I was going to make a run at for my Substack. Walter's, Amin's, Jeremy's, Leotard's Sub Sub Sub.

That's a good name.

One more sub.

Sub Sub.

With one more sub in it.

Yeah.

It's a good name.

I'm gonna start another Substack. Can you have more than one Substack?

I, I don't even know what Substack is.

Okay, I'm gonna start another Substack and I'm gonna call it Wassub. What do you think of that?

I like it.

Okay, Wassub.

I'm all on it.

Okay.

You oughta see Wassub.

I really need Walter Zemeens Jeremy's Leotard Sub Sub Sub Sub.

Although, to be fair, I don't know if it's still available, so you may want to jump on that.

That could be taken.

It's also like kind of ridiculous to be covering— like, we're getting too in the weeds here. I mean, why would you ever want a Substack that covers another Substack that covers 2 other Substacks?

And you don't know, there could be, there could be a demand for it.

For sure.

I think there, I think there will be.

People are on the go.

You want me to go check? I'll check on the handle of Walter's Ameen's Jeremy's Leotard Sub Sub Sub Sub.

Please do.

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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 liqueur, 35% alcohol by volume, imported by Mast-Jägermeister US, White Plains, New York.

Down, Lebatar!

Is there Back in My Day?

There is, actually.

What?

Were you not gonna tell anyone?

It's a Tuesday.

Wait a minute.

You guys, guys, it's a Tuesday.

Greg Cody, here's your guy. Greg Cody with Back in My Day.

Shit, I hope I have it. Okay, here it is.

Sorry.

Adultery!

Oh yeah!

Yeah, wait a minute.

We've been waiting for this one.

This is the Dan Levitan Show. Greg, it is good to see you today. Uh, we obviously don't know if you'll be here tomorrow. You're claiming you won't. I don't know, we'll see. He's claiming he won't, so Want to make sure we get all the opinions out of you today from over the weekend. For sure, the Hurricanes, number one. I took issue yesterday with the way that this show handled the Hurricanes this weekend. I didn't like Dan and Mike Ryan's tone regarding the Hurricanes. I didn't like that they were taking more of a negative slant because the Canes did not kick the crap out of FSU.

Right.

Uh, I wanted to celebrate. the Hurricanes being number 1 in the country for the first time in 24 years. When, you know, very much NCAA tournament style where survive and advance. There are teams that get knocked out. Hey, you're moving on. Well, in college football this weekend, you had Georgia and Indiana and Alabama and Notre Dame. They didn't survive.

All right.

The Canes did survive. They survived and advanced. I think we should be celebrating the Canes, even if it was a double overtime win.

historic week for college football— weekend, I should say. First time in history ever that 5 of the top 7 teams lost the same weekend, and UM almost made it 6. The reason people are getting on UM is that they were plain lucky to win. They were lucky to get that holding call that negated the touchdown. They were lucky that, that, that they were able to, to win that fight for the ball in the end zone, and it seemed like a 50-50 thing. And if it's a toss-up, that goes to the receiver. So they were, they were lucky on a couple of fronts, but they deserve number 1. I think Ohio State, despite a loss, had a case to be number 1 because they beat Indiana, a number 5 ranked team, whereas Miami barely beat an unranked team. But they deserve it. But I'm sort of on the Mario Cristobal train, which is I don't even want to talk about number 1. It's too early in the season to worry about who's number 1. Let's worry about not blowing it at Pitt. Or it's home against Pitt.

This year.

It's versus Pitt. Yeah. And then it's at North Carolina and the dumpster fire of Bill Belichick. So, no, Miami deserves what they got. I think they're the best team in the country. They're not the best defense in the country, but I do think they're the best— man, Malachi Tony just continues to be, to me, the— I know everybody's talking about the Ohio State receiver. To me, Malachi Tony is the Heisman leader right now, man.

I wouldn't argue that. I think he is. I won't say he's as good because he is as good. I mean, Jeremiah Smith is a freak, obviously. Like, it's built-in, a lab-style receiver. But I almost give more credit to Malachi Tony in his game because he doesn't have that size advantage that Jeremiah Smith has. But when you watch him play, when you watch him practice, when you watch him in pregame, when you watch the way he carries himself, I think he is honestly the biggest star in college football that probably everyone knows, but they don't talk about nearly enough because he's, he's very special and he's a huge reason why they're number 1.

No, I agree with you. He, he has the moves. Like, when I watch Bijan Robinson in the NFL, he has a move that's gonna embarrass a linebacker, you know what I mean?

Yeah, and I think you love Bijan Robinson.

I do. I think he's— I think 2 or 3 years from now we're gonna be talking about him as the best running back of all time.

Wow.

I think he's that good.

All time?

Yeah, I think so.

He said this last week too.

I think so. And the problem is he plays for a team that's not very good, a lower radar team. He doesn't have a great quarterback. They don't have a great defense. He's underrated in that respect. But I just think the world of him. But on the college level, I think the same when I see Malachi Tony with the ball in his hands. ready to make a move and embarrass somebody on defense. He's just great. Absolutely great.

I mean, how excited are you for the NBA starting today? The NBA starts at 3 PM. 3 PM Eastern time today. Very, very strange. You got Pistons and Celtics, but holy shit, do we have good matchups tonight. Uh, you got Knicks raising the banner against the Sixers. I mean, opening game, Knicks raising the banner, LeBron, Sixers, that whole deal. That's something to get excited about. And then Thunder-Spurs as the late game tonight. The NBA is getting things going with a bang today.

Yeah, I'm curious about everyone's opinion about the 3 PM game. Pistons-Celtics. Big game or not a big game?

I'm fine with it. Like, why would I object to it if I'm sitting around in the afternoon and somebody can say to me, would you like to have an NBA game on to watch right now, or would you not like to have an NBA game to watch? Yeah, I'd like an NBA game!

I'm not asking about how do you you feel about the 3 PM game? I'm asking, how do you feel about Pistons-Celtics being the 3 PM game?

As opposed to what?

A better matchup.

Other teams.

I think it's a good appetizer. It is, it is exactly that.

Yeah, the afternoon game should be an appetizer.

Greg's right. Better games.

Yeah, I would— I think I'd— if that's the case, I'd rather have like an up-and-coming team, right? I guess the Pistons.

Aren't the Pistons that good?

I guess the Pistons.

Or the return of Tyrese Halliburton.

Yeah, like, right, Pacers-Pistons maybe. Celtics.

Well, we'll do a lot of NBA today, all right? The NBA is starting today. The Heat begin tomorrow. The Heat are here against the Wolves. But I gotta tell you, I was, I was taken aback a few days ago, right? Tony, Tende Tony, sends me a text a few days ago, Hawk, where it's a clip of Stan Van Gundy, who of course we like very, very much. And Stan is usually pretty pro-Heat, all right? You know, people could say whatever they want about Stan's relationship with Pat Riley, but Stan certainly has a great relationship with Erik Spoelstra. Alright, that's for sure. Everybody knows that. And so Stan is usually pretty pro-Heat. Well, let me, let me play this clip for you here, Hawk. This is Stan Van Gundy. He was on with— on the Zach Lowe Show, the podcast. And here's Stan. You might be surprised, he's not that high on the Heat.

I'm not as high on Miami as a lot of people are. I just You know, they did go out and add some shooting around those guys, but the shooting that they added compromises them badly at the defensive end of the floor. I'm not sold on Davion Mitchell as a full-time starting point guard though. On that team with Giannis, he doesn't have to carry a huge shot creation role. Giannis is another guy. I mean, we talk about all these guys with their health. This guy's broken down badly over the last few years. Yeah, I don't see them as one of the top teams in the East. I'd actually be surprised if they were in the top 6. They've sort of been a play-in staple for a long time here. I mean, I think people still look at Miami because of some of their playoff runs, which they've done a great job, and because Spo does such an incredible job. This team's been mediocre in regular seasons for a long, long time now. This has not been a really good team. And I still— I'm not a fan of their rosters. I mean, of their roster. I like the addition of Hardaway.

Klay, I don't know. I think Wiggins is a little underrated, but I think Bam is a little overrated, particularly at the offensive end of the floor. I don't know. I just—

I'm not—

I'm not sold on them.

So there are a couple of places we can go with that. And the first place I want to go is like Heat fans, I think, will hear that. Like when Tony sent it to me there, he was like, man, I'm so disappointed. in Stan. But the way that I see it is I think a lot of people are biased against Miami. I think a lot of people are biased against the Miami Heat. I don't think Stan is biased against the Miami Heat. So Stan's allowed to have his opinion. He's allowed to— like, I don't think he has an agenda where he's gonna— it's not like all those Boston guys where they're gonna say bad things about Miami no matter what. Stan's allowed to feel that way. Stan's also allowed to be wrong, okay? So like, I'm okay with Stan feeling that way. The part that I think is strange, Amin, I don't know why Stan is bringing up the last several years where the Heat have been a play-in team and like, you know, they, they haven't been very good, this, that, and the other. What do any of those teams have to do with the team they're going to put on the court tomorrow, which is led by Giannis?

So yeah, so a couple things. Again, I have a love and a respect for Stan Van Gundy. Totally a tremendous person and a tremendous basketball mind. However, As you said, I can love you and you can still be wrong. So number 1, Giannis's health. He breaks down the last several years.

Huge misnomer.

So last year he played 36 games, yes, but remember, he played 36 games because the Bucks sat him out. And I've told the story many a time where the Bucks beat writers would come early, watch the guys warm up before, you know, the game. They'd come an hour, an hour and a half before the game starts, guys are warming up, and Giannis would go through these most intense workouts And everything ended with a vicious dunk. Reverse, windmills, like dunking hard as a demonstration to everybody like, I can play right now, they're sitting me out. So then you say, OK, well, that was last year. What about the year before that? He played 67 games the year before that. Well, OK, what about the year before that? He played 73 games the year before that. What about the year before that? He played 63 games. If you go— the lowest number of games he's played in an 82-game season—

I think 61.

Is 63.

Before last year.

In an 82-game season until last year. So, okay, health, kind of, maybe that's overblown. All right, we put that aside. He said they added shooting, but I think it compromises them on the defensive end. Count the plus defenders on the roster and count the minus defenders. You know what, I will even allow— let's call Klay Thompson—

I think there's more plus.

Let's, let's call Klay Thompson a minus defender.

Sure.

Let's call Tim Hardaway Jr. a minus defender.

Who else?

Who else on the roster is a minus defender?

Yeah, no, who's gonna be in the rotation?

Who's gonna be in the rotation?

I mean, if Jović is in the rotation, I suppose you'd say he's a minus.

Okay, alright.

But outside of that, I think everyone's a plus.

And by the way, also think about who they lost.

Yeah.

Were those guys plus defenders?

Yeah, Herro was a very minus defender.

And even—

Hockens is average.

Hockens is average.

Where?

Where was average too, to be honest? Shot blocker, but average defender.

Average in the sense of sometimes great and sometimes awful.

Yeah.

OK, so that seems to be overblown. But then the biggest thing is to say, I don't think they're gonna be a top 6 team. He can say they're not gonna win the East.

I don't see it.

I'm with anyone who says that. I'm not gonna argue like, yeah, maybe they're not.

Oh, don't worry, we're gonna get to that, Amin.

But to say not a top 6 team is, to me, that's like, wow, alright, well—

Like what teams? So let's do it like this. What teams— the NBA season starts today, the Heat start tomorrow. What teams in the Eastern Conference are you— can you confidently say will have a better record in the regular season than the Miami Heat?

The Knicks.

Anyone else?

I think the Celtics still.

Really?

Yeah, really.

That's—

I'm—

see, I'm very curious about the Celtics optimism because what they did was they took away a guy who was a workhorse for them And they replaced him with a guy who's podcasted more than he's played over the last couple of years, right? And then you say, well, it's okay, he's not our number one banana. Our number one banana is Jayson Tatum. Like, he's still recovering from an Achilles injury. Like, yes, he's gonna play. Last time we saw him, he looked pretty rusty, right?

And then he also couldn't make it through the postseason.

Yep.

And then the rest of their supporting cast is what? Mitchell Robinson, who is a very unique talent in terms of if you need rebounding and shot blocking, he's great.

But he's also never healthy.

And he's also never healthy. And but if you need anything else outside of that, I was like, sorry, that's not— that's not— that's above.

But you know what, let's, let's, let's take— let's agree with what Greg said. New York, Boston, and Philly. You, you are— you can confidently say Philly will have a better record than Miami?

To me, those are the top 3 in the conference. And then I think it's a jumble. Like, I think Miami has a pretty good chance to to be the 4 seed and get that home court.

Because I'm with Amin, I can only confidently say one team in the Eastern Conference will have a better record than Miami, and that's New York. I'm not saying that the Heat are going to be second, but I'm only saying there's one team who I, who I believe for sure will have a better record than Miami. So to, to say that they're not going to finish top 6, I don't, I don't see it. Dan Le Batard.

Let's throw it to my boy Jeremy Tashay, who's sideline right now. Cash Money. Whatcha got for me?

Jeremy Tatché!

Thanks, Jax!

This is the Dan Le Batard Show!

I think the reality of this is Stan is also not a Bam guy. Like, that, that colors all of this. When you don't think that Bam Adebayo—

Has that been a known thing for a while?

Yeah, he said he was the 13th best center in the NBA.

I didn't say that.

Yeah, you did.

Stop it.

Yeah, it was Stan.

It was Stan.

And the reality is, is when you're not, when you're not a big Bam guy and you don't believe that he's talented enough offensively, or you don't believe that he's the anchor of a defense that allows Giannis somehow to be the 2nd best defender on your team, then you're not going to believe that the ceiling is as high as someone else that understands what Bam does for your team.

And it—

the thing that surprises me about that is that like we know what Spo thinks about Bam. And so to hear Stan not echoing some of those things does surprise me.

But like, the flip side is, if anything, this is going to be Bam's easiest season.

Yeah, exactly.

Like what he's just gone through right now, that was the toughest part of his career because so much has been expected. You have to do these things in order for us to have a chance to win. Now it's like, oh, he's got it. Like, all I got— I can fall back into a role, basically. I know I'm not calling him a role player, but he gets to fall back into a role and let Giannis be Superman.

Should I be worried about Klay Thompson right now? And what— the reason I ask that is because, you know, we can, we can say whatever we want about Klay Thompson's defense coming into this season, that he's not a good defender anymore. The fact is, the fact is he's been a good defender this preseason. He hasn't been able to shoot. All right, he's 3 for 20 from 3 in the preseason. Am I supposed to be worried about that? I don't feel like his shooting is going to— he was, I think, 39% from 3 last year. I don't feel like that's going to fall off a cliff, but he hasn't been able to make shots this preseason. Should I be concerned about that?

That was 39%, that was the worst 3-point shooting year of his career. That's all— I'm destitute.

And not playing with anybody around him who's going to attract double teams and allow him open shots. I have to figure he's gonna get open shots this year.

Yeah, I'll put it this way. This is very easy. We're coming down the break. You're a defensive player. Klay's here in the corner. You leaving him?

I mean, I—

He's 3 for 20. He's 3 for 20 in the preseason.

Oh, I see what you're saying.

Are you leaving him? No, no, that, that's where he's there. That's what he's there for. He's not here to be 61 points off of 2 dribbles Klay. He's there to make you say, I should help on Giannis, but I can't, man. Okay. That's all he's there for.

The reason Klay's going to start is not necessarily because he's the better player than, say, Pelle Larsson, who does more things for you, or even that he'll shoot a higher percentage than Tim Hardaway Jr. It's that fact right there. It's the gravity. It's the thing that Spo really loved having in Duncan Robinson was he was a guy you couldn't leave. And so it opened up things for Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. And by the way, going back to the Giannis health and an easier season for for Bam Adebayo. The most games that Jimmy Butler ever played in a Miami Heat uniform in a regular season was 64. During that stretch, the fewest games that Giannis played in a regular season was 63. So you're, you're looking at a year where things should open up, where Bam has that guy, and they're going to play minutes together at the beginning, they're going to play minutes together at the end, and then they're basically going to alternate. One of those guys is going to be on the floor at all times surrounded by several-plus defenders when you have Andrew Wiggins and Pelo Larson and Bobby Portis and all of these other players.

And plenty of shooting because they have it. And Ryan Conwell eventually is going to be one of those guys that, that earns his way. And Spo ends up saying, hey, he's one of those guys who, who made me watch him in practice and then he made me play him. That's a classic Spoism. And Ryan Conwell will be one of those guys as well.

Hawk, do you ever get asked, you know, maybe it's the beginning of NFL season, yeah, or, or maybe it's before the Super Bowl, you know, do you ever get asked to be one of the experts who make the expert picks on ESPN.com?

Um, let me think about this.

I got asked once. One time I got asked. It was, it was, I think, the beginning of last NBA season. I got asked to participate in that stuff, and I made my picks over there.

What'd he say?

I do. I do get asked.

Yeah?

Yeah.

That's exciting, right?

It's exciting.

I mean, did you used to get asked when you worked there?

Dawg, I always did that shit.

I love it, right?

I didn't care for it.

Oh, I like it. I love it.

You love it?

Why do you love it?

I hated it. I hate it because you get held to it and you got to make that determination like so early before things happen. Yeah, no one ever forgives you and says, oh, okay, so you pick the Chargers to go to the Super Bowl against the Rams in LA and then they both suck. They just be like, you don't know what you're talking about, we should take your job.

Also, like, there's so much shit that happens between Like, you're making this prediction before the season starts.

I love it.

And then there's like an entire season of people getting hurt and traded and suspended.

Yes.

And someone's like, I thought you said like— yeah, I didn't know that like a worldwide pandemic was gonna happen and not gonna happen this season. Sorry.

I love it. Anyone, if anyone at ESPN right now is listening, I want back in. All right, I want, I want back in as an expert. But whenever a season starts, like the NBA season starting today, I can't wait to go onto ESPN.com. It was the first thing I did yesterday when it came out. I can't wait to go onto ESPN.com. I gotta see the expert picks. I gotta see who's suspect, alright? I gotta see who everybody's picking. And as you would imagine, there's a lot of people who are suspect. So I look at— I wanna see the NBA Finals, NBA champion predictions. Nobody has the Heat.

Nobody.

Okay, fine.

But hey, somebody, somebody must be picking the Heat to at least be in the NBA. Like, there's gotta be one expert who has the Heat winning the Eastern Conference. Well, let's take a look here. All right. ESPN's expert picks to be the Eastern Conference champion. Jamal Collier, he picks the Pacers. You sus. Ben Goliver, he picks the Celtics. You sus. Vincent Goodwill, He picks the Sixers? Ya sus!

Aw, come on, Vinny.

Danny Green? He picks the Knicks? Ya sus! Zach Kramm? He picks the Raptors? Ya sus! Tim McMahon? Knicks? Ya sus! Bobby Marks? Knicks? Ya sus! Dave McMenamin? Knicks? Ya sus! Dean Oliver? Celtics? Ya sus! George Sedona?

Well, George is from Miami, so it's kinda—

What a traitor! What a traitor! He picks the Sixers? Ya sus! Ramona Shelburne, Sixers, you sus. Anthony Slater, Knicks, you sus. Mark J. Spears, he picks the Sixers, your buddy sus. Jeremy Wu, he picks the Celtics, he sus.

And Michael C. Wright, oh, that's my buddy too.

There's one more. Does he come through and pick the Heat? No, he picks the Sixers. You sus, y'all sus.

What about Stan? Who did he take?

Not a single— well, he's not ESPN anymore. Not a single person Picks the Heat? I can't get a single person— somebody picked the Raptors!

I know.

I can't get somebody to pick the Heat?

Yeah, that's why Stan Van Gundy said what he said. That's why he thinks they may struggle to make the top 6, because those guys, those experts, they reflect the betting odds. Like, nobody is impressed by the Heat getting Giannis except for people in Miami. That's what we've learned this offseason. We all thought it was a seismic deal. Riley finally got his whale. Excitement in South Florida. 305 active, right? Just lively, parading, banging pots and pans. What a season ahead! Nobody thinks so. The betting odds don't think so. Van Gundy doesn't think so. And that list of predictions doesn't think so. Disrespect or reality? It can't be both. It's got to be one or the other.

I'll tell you what the funniest, weirdest thing about Stan's little clip that we played is he said, I hear all these people. Who, Stan? Who are they? I, I'm the opposite. All I hear is that Miami's gonna be no good, right? I haven't heard a single national voice—

Straw man.

I haven't heard a single voice outside of South Florida be optimistic about the Miami Heat. Not anyone.

You're right. You're sus. They're all sus. You're sus. I love the ESPN.com expert picks. And you know what? I make it sound like I'm mad by calling all them sus, and they are all sus. You're sus! But I like it.

You know what I love?

I secretly love it.

Like, 5 minutes after me agreeing with Hawk, it's like, yeah, and they hold you to these weird expectations for a whole season's worth. But the moment the Heat do anything, I'm gonna be like, oh, I thought y'all said!

Hawk, tell the truth. Did you really pick the Chargers and the Rams?

On multiple platforms.

Whoa.

No, see, okay, let me, let me, let me—

I'm not gonna lie.

Let me school you to some game. This is what you do.

I follow— I thought it was a script. I was like, I went for the script.

LA, LA, LA.

I'm like, LA, LA, in LA? Come on, man. You couldn't write that any better.

Eric, no, no, no.

Hawk, it's like having fantasy teams.

Yeah.

You can't have the same roster in every league.

Yes.

You gotta make a pick here and then somewhere else make a completely different pick.

I do that as well. But my problem is, I think the other teams that I picked also aren't— I think I picked the Bengals to go to the Super Bowl as well. And it's—

Bengals, Bears.

You try to mix it up, you know, but when all of your picks suck, that's when it gets tough.

You're right though.

We got 3 minutes, bro.

Who are all these people who are high on the Heat where Stan's like, yeah, you know what, I'm going the other way, I'm, I'm down on the Heat?

Who's the national voice?

Who watches the show?

It's us. You know what, maybe he only watches us.

That's it, he watches us and he's like, oh my God, enough of that. Just like our audience.

Today my younger son turns 15. Turned 15 today, my younger one. And we, we woke him up this morning, we got him for his birthday an authentic Giannis jersey. How about that? He was very happy to see that.

He must be so excited.

He is very excited. And we're gonna see the Heat on the road a couple times this year. We like, we like making it like, we like going to Orlando to see the Heat.

Hawk, let me ask you a question. You're a family man, you've got kids. I got kids in high school, all that stuff. If you were like planning a family trip, you say, guys, we're gonna go have a whole Wholesome family trip.

Orlando's one trip we're doing, but go on.

We're gonna go watch our favorite team play on the road, right? That's a cool, nice family thing.

Bringing the whole crew.

Would you pick New Orleans on New Year's Eve?

Um, how old are my kids? 21? Their 21st birthday?

They're— at the time they will be 17 and 15.

Are you like, it's time to become a man, son? I don't know what the New Orleans—

Well, my wife's coming also, so—

Okay, that's a family trip.

Family trip, kids and all?

We're going to see the Heat at the Pelicans!

Yeah, you're gonna see a lot more than that.

That's alright! They can handle it!

It's gonna be— how old are your youngest kids?

My youngest one is 15.

15? Okay. So by that time you've had most of the hard conversations?

Yeah.

Yeah, okay. I was gonna say, 'cause you're gonna see some stuff for some toddlers, man.

You can have a conversation. Have a conversation.

Speed it up.

Do you wanna see some titties with your kids?

That's the point. That's a conversation. You gotta, you know, on New Year's Day for the family trip? I don't know if that's what I'm doing.

Son!

Let me tell you about how the way the world works.

We all remember the first time we—

these are beads, son.

We watched a movie and there was a sex scene with our kids. Like, we all remember that, right? Took our boys, I guess it was 2 years ago. We saw Oppenheimer as a family and the sex scene's kind of something in that movie. You know, Florence Pugh, you know, she's just sitting there naked. Got the 2 boys next to us. I've told you before, the most awkward I've ever been with my parents watching a movie. I was like 16 and I watched Silence of the Lambs with both my parents.

Okay.

That was tough. When— well, yeah, when Buffalo Bill reveals his mangina and he's just standing in front of the mirror and he's dancing with the mangina out. And it's like—

I've never seen Silence of the Lambs.

What?

Wow.

Me neither.

What?

Thank you.

Sorry. Thank you for not letting me stay out there.

We're always on the same page, you and I. Most similar people on this show.

Happy to be back because of you, brother.

So what's up?

So to put this all in context, I also saw Oppenheimer with my dad in the theater. IMAX. We saw it on IMAX.

Oh man.

And let me tell you something, Florence Pugh, like, it was the weirdest split in my brain, which is almost like, oh my God, Florence Pugh. Then I was like, oh, I'm here with my dad. Oh, this is so awkward.

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