Transcript of Hurricanes Coach Jai Lucas Says "Adapt or Die" | Local Hour New

You are listening to the Dan Levitan Show in partnership with the DraftKings Sports App, now live in all 50 states. Nice, we did it everyone, we made it to Friday. How about that? It's a Friday show everybody. The weekend starts in a few hours. You like my shirt today? Look, it's a new Sam Bennett shirt. It makes me want the Florida Panthers to come back. We're so close.

I thought it was a Colin Smythe shirt.

No, well, it's a— yeah, well, haha, I see what you did there. We had football last night and I was like, yeah, yeah, football's so close. I'm like, hockey's so close. Come on, hockey is so close. Let's go. Don't give me that look, Jeremy.

Baseball's right now.

Don't give me that look. All right, good job baseball, you did your thing. We'll take it from here. No, what?

But last night, wildcard race, 13-1, dude.

You know, Field of Dreams game. Everybody knows Field of Dreams game's the last game of the year. That means that preseason football is starting.

No more.

That's what we got last night. Does anyone here Did you wager on preseason NFL?

I did the Hall of Fame game.

Yeah?

I lost it.

How'd you feel about yourself?

Well, when Haynes King did it to me again, I'm like, at some point I gotta learn from history.

I was a little bit bummed last night that we didn't get Carson Beck against Fernando Mendoza.

They're treating him like QB1 over there.

Like, how cool would that have been? Like, I know Beck played last week, but still, Mendoza, Mendoza would have went 2 straight games National Championship, and then preseason, two straight games against Carson Beck.

Ah, would have been fine.

And they held him out. No, but I wanted— I wanted Carson Beck to get that getback. I want— I want to get that payback.

Yeah, it would have been equal.

He didn't—

he didn't have a chance to get the payback last night. Could have been 1-1. Beck won, Mendoza won, you know. Uh, did you take anything away? Did anyone take anything away last night from Fernando Mendoza? I mean, I saw him throwing some darts. He looked pretty good. I mean, preseason, who gives a shit, right? But he looked pretty good.

Yeah, I— there is— so he's a bit of a, you know, polarizing prospect to a degree because people like— when you watch him, he's a great college quarterback, but people question his skills at the next level. And I've always like— we'll bring in Dave when he's ready— but I— what I like most about Mendoza is a his ability to overcome when things aren't going well. And I think he displayed that in the national championship game.

Oh, it's a play of the game.

No, no, it's not just that. In the, in the first half, especially with those RPOs, Miami was getting home. They punished Fernando Mendoza. He took his lumps. And a lot like kind of Tom Brady in the end, where you know where the ball is going, he's going to Gronk. No, no, what I'm saying in like clutch, like, you know exactly what's coming. It's going to be that RPO Sideline route, try and stop it. Perfect placement, you can't stop it. He, he just rises to the occasion when things aren't going well, and that's how you win in the NFL.

Well, let's welcome in our pal Dave Dameshek. Dave, hello, good to see you. Your boy last night, Fernando Mendoza, were you pumped up for him?

No, no, uh, update: Fernando is no longer my boy. My boy is now Drew Aller, just for the record.

He looked good. That was a surprise.

I mean, kind of, sort of, yes, except let's keep in mind that Mike McCarthy is authentically a QB whisperer, and that's why he was hired in Pittsburgh, was to develop young QBs. And Will Howard or Drew Aller is, uh, is the goal with why Mike McCarthy is there. But yes, regarding Fernando, we do this forever, that we, we swoon over the guy who is 6'5" and has a cannon for a right arm, and I understand why, But ultimately, it's who's accurate, who is good pre-snap. Fernando is those things, and now he's learning at the knee of the best ever do it, Tom Brady. I suspect this thing's going to work out whether you like it or not.

You know, we, we have the Dolphins tonight, all right? Dolphins and Commanders, that's at 7 o'clock tonight, first preseason game. And I know everyone likes to poo-poo preseason football, you know, it's, ah, this is not good football, I'm not watching this. Like I won't watch other teams. Like last night, for instance, you had 6 preseason games. I, I didn't really watch any of it. Where if it's the regular season, I'll watch any game. I'll watch anyone playing preseason. I'll watch the Dolphins tonight. Like, I'm into the Dolphins game tonight. I want to see what the Dolphins look like. Gotta learn some of the players, you know. But like, Dave, I'll, I'll watch my team in the preseason, but I won't just watch any random game preseason.

Obviously, I advocate against watching the month-long lie for your eyes that is preseason football. It'll only trick you and make you think differently than what is going to be the truth come September when the games really matter. But I do have to make an asterisk next to that statement. I know my fellow drip driller over there, Mike Ryan, will agree. There were a couple of swoony games on the television last night. First of all, Did you see, I mean, the Cardinals in that all white against the Raiders? Oh my goodness. It could have been, it could have been, it could have been 1974 for all I knew. It looked like heaven to me. And then the big introduction to our eyeballs on an actual gridiron. What about those Tennessee Titans uniforms? They look grand too against the Niners. How say you, Mike Ryan?

The games were popping. The games were popping. Yeah. My favorite was the Raiders-Cardinals too. That, that needs to be the default look. No more Cardinal pants. That's good stuff right there.

That looks great.

So that, that's that.

Zazz. No value in watching preseason.

Yeah, no, I, I'll, I will. Yeah, I'll watch the Dolphins tonight. Uh, do we know about Malik Willis? I mean, we're, we're gonna see him some tonight. Like last night, Joe Burrow, he played a little bit, right? You had, uh, Jordan Love played a little bit. Both quarterbacks, I mean, you know, whoever's gonna start, probably Kirk Cousins, but Cousins and Mendoza both played last night for the Raiders. Malik Willis, I'm assuming, is going to play some tonight. So I'm, I'm interested in watching the Dolphins tonight. I'll be over that. Otherwise, you got a handful of preseason NFL games, and, uh, and there you go. So that'll keep you busy.

I'd like to say, is there a sweeter spot to be in as a professional athlete? I've long said that were I given a choice to do anything in pro sports, you can be a player What's your choice? I would be a platoon outfielder or a relief pitcher who doesn't have to do it every day. I'd like to be in the major leagues. I'd like to be a prize. I don't want to have to play every day. Come on, let me be out in the bullpen away from the skipper giving hot foots and all of that sort of thing. But preseason football, if the coach comes to you and goes like, you're too valuable, we're not suiting you up today, you get to wear a visor. Is there a sweeter moment in your career to get to patrol the sidelines in your street clothes, but you're a player, but you're too valuable for preseason.

Well, like, well, that's, that's, that means at one point you weren't that and then you get to that. That's what we're talking about, right?

Right, right. Yeah, tenured, but it's not just that you've been around for a while. It's that you've been too valuable by the staff to risk throwing out there in a relatively meaningless event. That's arriving, right? That's— you got to be like, you're the cock of the walk on the sideline going up and down like, yeah, too valuable to play, right?

I mean, like, I know you're saying that you'd want to be a fourth outfielder, a utility player for baseball. If all things are equal, being a baseball player would be the most enjoyable of all professional athletes, right?

I don't know. So you go— so if you're a baseball player then your life is for 6 months, you go to different cities, yeah, like 3-day or 4-day stretches, yeah, versus NBA and NHL, you go to the town for a night or maybe 2 and then move on. I think you're right, I think you're probably right, but I am always fascinated when you think about what it is. Imagine like 50, 60, 70 years ago, however long it was, these guys, uh, what was the lifestyle? You must have really enjoyed playing baseball because you weren't necessarily a multimillionaire for doing it, but you have to ride all across America on a train. I mean, every 3, 4 days you're back on a train riding for, for, uh, Jesus knows how long you're stuck on there as you go from St. Louis to, uh, you know, Atlanta or whatever.

Well, the travel schedule for baseball players is fantastic because you're not necessarily traveling always at all hours of the night. You have getaway day. They make the games specifically so the travel's not terrible. And you get to chill and hang out in cities for 2 and 3 nights. Like, I mean, I mean, did you ever used to travel when you were with the Suns? Would you travel with the team?

Yes.

Yeah.

And like, the travel— fans think the travel is fun. The travel is really shitty.

It's not that it's shitty, it's, it's taxing, right?

That's right.

Like, if it was like— you— everyone thinks about it like, oh, you guys got to go to Miami and stay at like the W South Beach, and then like, oh, that sounds awesome. It's like Yes, that one's awesome. Now try doing that for 14 days in a row.

Mm-hmm.

And every city you're in there for just like a day and a half at best. And we get on a bus after the game, which is usually gonna be around 11 o'clock or midnight, get to the airport, we fly out, we land at 3 or 4 in the morning, and get on another bus and go to a hotel and go into another room. And you start to forget what city you're in, what room I'm in.

Well, and like you're saying, it's cool if you're going to Miami. Okay, sometimes you're in Miami for, You're in that hotel, Miami, for 6 hours. And that's it, you're gone.

Zazz, until I worked on LeBretard Show, I had never actually been out in Miami.

Right.

Like, my entire Miami experience was airport, bus, hotel, bus, game, bus, airport.

Yeah.

And I had never seen anything. If I went out to dinner, it was a group dinner with everyone else. So I did not get to experience a lot of these cities as a member of the traveling party.

I always say, though, I mean, I'm curious about this. Jermaine O'Neal as the personification of like being an NBA player and all of that. And, you know, the long career. Jermaine O'Neal was a critical rotation player for his teams, and then he became something different. And yet he was willing to linger at the end of NBA benches for season after season. Which leads me to believe it must be even more fun than we realize it is. Because if you're willing to accept, like, yeah, I know I'm not essential to wins and losses anymore, but the NBA life on the road, that must be sweet. And there must be, for whatever you're saying about I never went out in Miami, there must be some allure to being a professional athlete and being out on the road, or else these guys, as soon as they have $25 million in the bank, they wouldn't be like, yeah, I'm gonna pile an extra $3 million on. They would and go about spending that money for the rest of your life, you— that they stay out in the NBA road again because it must be super duper fun.

So a couple of things. Number one, obviously I wasn't a player, so I actually had to work, right? So there's a player experience is very different in that way. Number two, uh, every year these guys are playing, these vets like a Jermaine O'Neal, for example, or Udonis Haslem, whatever, they're making millions of dollars so much every So it's just like, would you like to make millions of dollars to be a good dude around the locker room, get some shots up, be a mentor to guys and stuff like that? Absolutely yes. And Jermaine O'Neal was one of the great locker room veteran leaders and all that.

Heat lifer.

Number 3, and this is not about Jermaine or any specific guy, but in general, when your life since the age of 14, 15 has been about being around 10 to 12 other dudes, getting shots up, getting a lift in, having meals at a certain time, having naps at a certain time, getting on a bus, getting on a travel, da da da. And then all of a sudden you gotta go home and spend time with the family full-time. Not like, hey guys, we got 48 hours, let's have the best 48 hours. No, this is it every single day. That is a hard, hard adjustment. I believe every player who retires is because either A, like literally he can't get that job anymore, or B, physically this really hurts, right? And if they could physically just continue to show up, work out, and hang around, they would. Because it's not even that it's such a great lifestyle, it's just this is the life I know, and to go to anything else is insane. And that's why so many of them become head coaches, because it's the closest thing to that feeling. Steve Kerr, when he became a head— excuse me, a general manager, it killed him.

He was like, this is nothing like what I remember. What I remember is the camaraderie and all that. And I was like, yeah, that's the locker room, dude. This front office stuff is a lonely life. You're traveling by yourself. You don't have a lot of people to shoot the shit with when you're on the road. The coaching thing is the closest facsimile to a player's life.

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I used to say, when I turn 80, all bets are off. That's when the heroin starts. But then I moved it up to 75 a few years ago.

Dave Demacek.

I'm thinking now 65 years of age.

Jonathan Sasslo. I have a pact with a friend that if we both live until 90, we're gonna do heroin. This is the Dan Levatar Show. I always remember I was, you know, for those who don't know, I was on the Miami Heat radio broadcast for 12 seasons and I didn't travel. The only person on our radio team, you know, English, myself, John Crotty, Tommy Teig. The only person who would travel was the play-by-play man. So that was Inglis. He was the only one that would travel. And when we would leave a home game and the team is playing, like, tomorrow night on the road, so they're going straight to the airport to fly out to the next city. I'm walking out of the build— like, I'm walking out of the arena steps with Mike Inglis. It's like 11 PM at night. And I'm saying to myself, I can't believe you have to get on a plane right now. Like, that— it's a really nice plane. It's a charter. There's gonna be good food, they're gonna land and get to a nice hotel, and I'm thinking, I can't believe you have to get on a plane right now, that sounds horrible.

The food's alright on the plane. It's not that great.

But you get what I'm saying? I feel like fans think, oh, this is so cool, like, I don't know, man, I wouldn't wanna be getting on a plane right now.

But I think Amin points to the misery of like, you know, flying out in the wee hours of the morning, and you know, you get to a hotel and you only get 6 hours before you have to move on, and all of that. But I hear what it means picking up, because I'm picking up what it means laying down, I should say, because I've talked to a lot of players who talk about, man, you don't understand that for 20 years we've been sort of herded as a group and we're just become accustomed to a certain pattern of living, and it's hard to shake off a new way of living once you retire. I've talked to a lot of guys about that, but the counter to that is school. School sucks. I hated school. I couldn't wait for it to end. And the monotony and the tedium of all that, having to wake up early and everything else. And when it ended, I moved on quite neatly from that lifestyle. The difference is the money, right?

Well, no, it's, it's, it's also the experience, right? Like the experience. There are a lot of people who miss college, like, oh my God, we're out there, we're getting in the bars and stuff like that. Like that, that camaraderie of hanging around other people who are going through the same thing as you. Obviously you add millions of dollars to any equation.

Yeah, that part.

That changes obviously how we remember things. But it's literally, because you call school, you're thinking about homework and stuff like that, which is things that everyone hates. No one likes taking tests, right? But like, if you think about it from an athlete's perspective, homework is practice. There's some guys who hate practice. But there's some guys who get up for this shit every damn day. They love, and it's not just like, oh man, I'm here to get the best that I can. There are guys like, I love the bullshit, man. I like putting on my practice jersey around my neck like a cape. And messing around with this guy and bet you $2 I can't hit you with this lefty, lefty, uh, off my wrong leg shot. No, they love all of this pomp and circumstance, and when it's gone, there's a gaping hole of like, man, number one, who am I? My entire life and identity has been centered around me doing this thing every day, and now I don't. Who the hell am I? What, what interests do I have? When I try to have a conversation with my wife and I realize We have nothing in common.

And we're just like, yeah, like it's a very casual relationship. And yes, we love each other, but it's just like, as a person, as a human being, I don't really like you. Oh, it's not like I don't like you. It's like, oh, so how's stuff? Pretty good. How was your day? My day was the same. I watched Netflix and I watched SportsCenter and I yelled at this guy named Aminul Hassan on The Jump because he said that my career wasn't as good as so-and-so else's career. That's their day over and over and over again. It goes crazy. It's like, ah, just get me somewhere where I can bullshit with someone and put up a trick shot and say, 'Hahaha, you said I couldn't make that.' So the NBA released their full schedule yesterday.

I walked into my living room, uh, into the family room yesterday, Zazzle Mansion family room, and my, my older son, he said to me, 'Hey, see the Heat national TV games?' I was like, 'Yeah, they got a lot, right?' He goes, '25!' And that's fantastic. He's like, They only had 5 last year. I'm like, yeah, you know they traded for Giannis, right? So they got 25 games, which is awesome. And I will tell you, for the first time, I'm already planning. Pretty much planned it all last night. We're gonna go see the Heat play on the road as a family. How about that?

Wow.

A Zaslo family Miami Heat road excursion.

Where you going?

New Orleans.

That's a nice town to go on an excursion.

Yeah, and we're doing it for New Year's.

That's a bad choice for a family excursion. New Orleans on New Year's? You sound like a rookie right now.

Okay, but like, we're not partying. We're a family.

What do you think you're gonna be? You think everyone else is gonna— guys, guys, they're a family. Let's, let's be respectful.

We're not gonna be out on the streets at midnight. I mean, what, like, what are you gonna be doing? Well, you're going to New Orleans, but you're, you're gonna sequester yourselves?

Are you staying by the airport?

No, we're staying in French Quarter.

Oh, French Quarter! That'll be nice and quiet and idyllic.

Well, how did we go from that's a great stop to this is a terrible idea?

Because you picked New Year's of all dates!

Ah, please, it'll be fun.

Good news is the Sugar Bowl is a semifinal, so you won't get the college football finals there.

Oh shoot, what day is that?

Don't worry, it's not till the 15th.

Oh, I'm good. What are you scaring me for? Come on, man.

I said good news.

All right. Yeah, we're going—

You fear the Sugar Bowl more than you fear New Year's in New Orleans.

That's more people. More people.

Pfft. No worries, because I said they're not gonna go out, so it's not—

then it begs the question, what are you doing there then? Dude, we're gonna go to the arena. We'll go to a Miami Heat road excursion, another, another Miami Heat NBA adventure. That's what we're doing.

You're a rookie. You're, you're the biggest rookie of them all. The only way you could get even more rookies, like if I ask you, hey, what are you flying out? 5 AM, that way no one will be at the airport.

You're nuts. We, we booked a 7 AM. So we're going as a family. We've never done that before. Like, me and my younger son, we like to make it a thing now where we go to Orlando, we see the Heat play at the Magic. He likes that. Okay, so, but we're, we're gonna do like a real road family, you know, trip, and we're gonna go see, we're gonna go see the Heat play at the Pelicans. I'm just picturing in the Zazz mansion, like, Zazz, like, guys, I got an idea for a vacation. His whole family's like, yay, a Heat game. Yeah, no, they're into it. This was a good idea! We planned it all! Your wife's really excited. We bu—

yeah!

She went and bu— she loves planning trips. She's a little bit of a psychopath when it comes to planning trips. She planned it all last night. We already booked the hotel and everything. But anyway, what I do want to get to is, so the NBA schedule came out yesterday, but I don't know if you've seen this. A couple of days ago, the groupings for the Emirates NBA Cup came out. And you're like, "Zasla, who the hell cares? Why are you even bringing this up?" I'm bringing it up because you gotta look, you gotta see this group of death that the Miami Heat— I am not exaggerating— that the Miami Heat have been put into. The Eastern Conference, if you're watching on the screen, is on the right side. The Heat are in Group B. Look at this murderer's row.

That's hilarious, right?

In the East, in Groups A and C, there's one good team in each. So look at this, Group B, which is the Heat Okay, Mike, you tell me if I'm exaggerating here. The Heat are with the Pacers, the Cavaliers, the Sixers, and the Knicks. Okay? And for instance, go look at the Celtics. The way this NBA favors those assholes.

It's who's playing in the All-Stars.

It's the Celtics, and look at these other asshole teams that the Celtics are grouped with. The Hawks, the Hornets, the Bulls, and the Wizards.

I'm gonna stand up for Group C here.

Get the hell outta here.

I'm gonna stand up for Group C here.

Hold on.

No, first of all, that's some bullshit. First of all, the Hawks are going to be one of the best teams in the entire league.

Good. So they have one good team in their group.

Second of all, the Hornets, I think, are very underrated.

No, they missed the playoffs last year. I know.

I think they got better by getting Nas Reid. A lot of people are going to be like, oh, come on, I mean, they lost LaMelo Ball. I'm getting out in front of it. I think the Hornets are going to be better this year than they were last year. The Wizards are going to be better.

Oh my God, they're going to be better. Actually horrific franchise.

They're going to be better. They're going to be better. I mean, rank the groups. The groups? Okay, easiest to hardest.

Yeah.

Okay, Group A is the easy one. Come on now, what are we doing? Yeah, what are we doing?

Brooklyn and Milwaukee and Orlando, which is up and down anyway, and Toronto without, without Kawhi Leonard.

Well, Toronto without Kawhi Leonard was pretty good last year too.

I mean, it's not a bad team.

Oh, stop, stop.

Not bad.

It's not a bad team.

Like, Group B is insane. It's—

Group B is by far unfair.

By far. Yes, it's easily the hardest group of any of the groups, either conference. But I'm just saying Group C's not walk in the park.

Have they said how they do this? Yeah, how do we screw the Heat? That's how they do this. Is it by location? That can't be, it can't be location. No, it's not by location.

Orlando would be.

It's random, it changes up every year, so it's not by location. And that is the bullshit right there. Pacers, Knicks, Cavs, Sixers, the Heat finished last in that group.

Asshole teams.

It is!

Asshole teams.

Look at that Group C! Those are asshole teams!

That might be 5 non-play-in playoff teams right there. The Heat's group, like 5 out of the 6.

Yeah, the Heat's group, the Heat group, man. The Heat group could be 5 out of the 6 playoff teams.

I thought you were about to say the Wizards and the Bulls were going to be, man.

This is, this is sad sitting here in Los Angeles listening to you guys do this. This is what happens when your pro football team, your local collective, announces a year in advance we're taking the entire year off. This is what you're left to is debating NBA Emirates Cup Yes, they take every year off, Dave. They take every year off.

The Dolphins stink, okay? No one cares. The Heat are gonna be good.

They have Giannis.

It's exciting. And then they get put in this group of death that's ridiculous.

It's football season, fellas. It's football season.

What are the Pittsburgh Condors doing?

We need the Pisces back.

Did you, did you see this report here? So I'm wearing my Sam Bennett Consumites shirt. God, I love Sam Bennett. And hockey is really close, man. We're only a few weeks away from training camp. It's very exciting. And Sergei Bobrovsky is going to play goalie for the Toronto Maple Leafs this year. Well, how did that go down? We don't really know what happened there. It's, it's odd that he signed for what he signed with Toronto and we couldn't figure out how to keep him here, so he ends his career with the Florida Panthers. It's kind of sad that You know, this is— now it wasn't a nasty breakup, it was just kind of like, hey, you know, uh, take it easy. So there's now this report out there that what happened was Sergey Bobrovsky was willing to take a pay cut to remain and sign for less years, apparently around $6 million a season at just 2 years, to stay with the Panthers, which would have been ideal. That'd have been great. But the issue was that Panthers general manager Bill Zito was only willing to offer a partial no-trade clause, and the Leafs offered more money and more years, uh, and also a full no-trade clause.

Do we buy this report?

Yes, I absolutely— the reporting was done by Daria Taboltseva, who's very reputable when it comes to hockey journalism. And look, there was— it was weird seeing that play out because Bob wanted to be here and all reports locally were that the Florida Panthers wanted Bob back. And while there was a little bit more money, it's also Canada versus Florida and he's had a great deal of success here. So it kind of felt to me like from the outside that an agent really got involved here and that an agent just really drove a wedge and this seems to be a decent move.

I felt like it was one of those situations where you would see the player fire the agent.

I mean, a no movement clause seems to be like a decent tipping point.

Every NHL player's got a no movement clause.

And then we're all confused as to why. But yeah, I think Toronto is gonna end up regretting that. I— the no movement portion of it.

I have no problem with the Panthers not wanting to give him the full no movement clause. I hate no trade clauses in any sport. I think they're the worst thing that a team can, can give to a player.

And it makes sense for the Panthers considering that Sergei Bobrovsky is coming off the worst season of his career.

Yeah.

So they need to have that eject function.

Yeah. I mean, if you give a player a no-trade clause, you're allowing the player, whether he's an aging player or he's a superstar player, you're allowing the player to be in control of whether or not you can improve your team. And like, that's— that is not what I'm about as a fan.

In hockey, is there— which is In hockey, is there another form of movement other than trade?

Uh, no, it's— you're, you're being funny. I mean, no, it's a question because I didn't know, like, it's just the way that they turn—

why do they talk like—

it's just their verbiage, Dave.

You can be relocated to the minors. Yeah, as Roy's pointed out.

Yeah, I do think it all adds up. The 2 Cups for your Panthers and all of that, and then the year away because of all the injuries and otherwise. But then you get Brady Kachuk and you basically get whoever you want because like you say, with those no-trade clauses, one of the exceptions that all the big-ticket free agents are willing to make is, oh, I'm willing to go to Miami, Florida. Yeah, I'm willing to go to the state of the state of Florida. These are Russian kids. These are Canadian kids. Of course, it's appealing to go down to the Sun Belt where you are. But it does all add up to the Florida Panthers, especially given where they're clearly where they already are. And now they are doubling down on it. They want to be the Broad Street Bullies. They want to be a— they want to beat the hell out of whoever they're playing. Not just beat you, but beat the hell out of you physically. And given the advantage that Florida provides, you are now as close to an evil empire as the NHL has. And all that being said, I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.

But also, I know we've transitioned from the NBA to NHL, and that's closer because they wear helmets, but it's football season. Can we get back to talking about football already?

I'll get to the first part first and maybe get to the second part, I'm not quite sure. But yeah, like, I think it's important also to point out the main reason that this is happening is not because of the no state tax and not because the weather and it's Miami. It's because the Panthers are good. Because the Panthers were shitty for 25 years, for 30 years, and no one wanted to play for the Panthers. And we had all those great things that I just mentioned The one thing they didn't have was they weren't a good team, and so now they're really good, and that is the most important thing, right? Like, we— that needs to be said. There's no unfair advantage here that the Panthers have unless you count the unfair advantage being they're really well run and they're a really good team. Fair?

Sure, fair enough. That's a, that's a hard point. That's a hard one to push back on. And then again, I don't know, a lot of guys don't mind going to Tampa Bay. It is a legit plague. I mean, there it, it's not— there's no conversation that you— there's no argument to be made that Canada is being diminished by the Sun Belt teams because no Canadian team has won a Stanley Cup in forever.

Have we looked, Mike? Do we know when Toronto is here so that the Panther fan can give Sergei his due? Because that will be, you know, you've had the returns of guys like Ryan Lomberg.

Have you seen the crowds when the Maple Leafs come down to Florida?

Okay, good. They're going to cheer Bobrovsky also. Whatever. So everyone will be cheering for him then, you know. That's a game that I would want to go to.

Dan Levitar.

Yo, I'm not going to lie. Jonathan Sasselow. I look good in red. This is the Dan Levitar Show.

All right.

Are we ready? We're going to talk to the head coach of the Miami Hurricanes basketball team, Jay Lucas. Jay Lucas getting set to join us here. Is Coach ready to join us? Coach, how you doing?

I'm doing good, how are you?

Ah, there he is, Coach Jay Lucas, Miami Hurricanes men's basketball head coach. Always good to see him. Signed a 5-year extension a couple days ago. Coach, this is great news for the Hurricane fan because, and we certainly talked about it on this show during last season, where you had an historic first year as head coach with the Miami Hurricanes where, you know, we're wondering, hey, is, is Coach too good? For Miami Hurricanes basketball. Is somebody going to swoop in and take him away? So you are aware that this is, this is great news for the Miami Hurricanes fan that you already signed this extension.

I hope so. I hope they enjoy having me here. I love being their coach. And for me, you know, it's just taking it year by year. So last year is over. We got to take the next step as a program this year and then go from there.

What surprised you in your first year?

Everything. I think everything surprises you as a head coach. You know, you prepare, you got your notes, you got all this stuff you said you'd do for years. And then when everything starts flying and everything comes towards you, you got to just kind of adapt and adjust on the fly. And I thought we did that a good job as a program. And I have a great staff that helped me a lot. And we had great players last year that were mature and older, and they were able to adjust and adapt as well. So it made it a lot easier.

If we had— if right now we were to pump you with the truth serum, Coach, you took over a 7-win Hurricanes team that was really in shambles, not in good shape. Your wildest dreams, you guys have the year that you had last year, or was that beyond your expectation?

No, that's right where I thought we would be. You know, I thought with the roster that we built and what we were able to put together, It's just when it started to click and our season progressed the way it was. And then, you know, we get right there in the round of 32 against Purdue and we just kind of run out of gas, to be honest with you. You know, we played a smaller roster last year where you played really about 7 guys, 30-plus minutes almost. And it showed up on the biggest stage. And so you grow and you learn from those experiences. But I would be lying to you if I said it was a surprise. I think it's a surprise for everyone else. But for me, I felt like that's where we, we were going to be.

Hey, Coach, congrats on the extension. We in football, we always talk about building a fence around the tri-county area. In basketball, the state of Florida hasn't been really talent-rich, but that's been changing over the years. What started with Brandon Knight now has programs like Columbus being huge high schools of basketball talent. And last year's team had a lot of guys with Florida ties. What can you tell us about how Florida has developed as a basketball state?

Uh, it is probably one of the hotbeds right now in the nation, to be honest with you. You know, when I was growing up and when I was at Texas, it was Texas, um, and then it was California for a little bit, but now it's Florida, to be honest. You have guys like, uh, Kambuza, who was just the 3rd pick in the draft, you know, everybody you talked about before. And then you have a bunch of players like— I can't say any names, but the number 1 point guard in the nation is in Broward. You know, you have the number 1 sophomore in the country that is from Tampa that plays in Orlando. So all these guys are in the state of Florida. And I was kind of, you know, when I was looking at the job, I was going to take the job regardless. But I was looking at the job. I wanted to see what was coming down the pipelines and where, you know, this was headed with in-state talent. And I saw where this thing was headed and it trended in the right direction. And so it's my job to try to get these guys to come to the U.

Coach, your dad's a longtime coach, your brother's a longtime coach. How much family advice are you getting on a regular basis? Oh man, you should do it like this.

You know, they actually did a good job of just being family, uh, this year and just being around and trying to support me as much as possible. And they really wouldn't say anything unless I asked or I came to them or I called them, uh, which was shocking. You know, I thought it was going to be the other way around, uh, but they did a great job of just being a brother and being a father and just helping support me through this first year.

Coach, what do you make of the current state of college basketball? And do you have concerns where on a year-to-year basis you essentially have to recruit your own kids once again?

I mean, it's a day-to-day basis right now. I don't know what is going to come today, uh, that was not here yesterday. Uh, so I just gotta take it in stride, and it's my job as the head coach of the University of Miami to always try to have us at the front of everything. And so that's what I try to do. The state of college basketball, I can't say the language on the show, but it's not in a good place, you know. But we are trying to figure out what this is. You know, my biggest thing is just tell me exactly what it is and what it's going to look like, and I'll go from there. But right now they can't tell you anything. So everybody's just kind of trying to guess. And we're just trying to be the best at guessing right now.

There's a piece in The Athletic right now. There's a profile on Dusty May who left Michigan to coach the Dallas Mavericks kind of out of nowhere. And there's this anecdote from him where he showed up at the Big Ten meetings and he says, we're going to find some solutions. And he says, we left saying nothing's getting fixed here ever. Do you feel that way?

I'm starting to. I'm starting to. I just don't know how things are going to change with what's in place right now. I have to take something drastic. And it's a lot going on in the court cases and federal law and all that stuff. But I just don't see light at the end of the tunnel right now. And so I think it's going to keep trending in this direction for a while. And we just have to find ways to adapt or die. And that's going to be the difference between the programs that take off here in football and basketball and the ones that fall behind.

Yeah, Miami's pretty well positioned with the coaches to, to adapt to an ever-changing landscape. And speaking of that ever-changing landscape, they There was a court injunction that came down a couple of weeks ago that Miami might benefit from. I see the smile on your face right now, Coach. There, there's a big man down here that would really help this roster that was just granted an extra year of eligibility. So what can you tell me about Malik?

Well, he's in a court case. That's all I could kind of tell you, you know. And we're still trying to figure out, uh, and like everybody, you know, you see people signing these, but everybody's signing and picking these players without them being completely eligible. I mean, they're saying they're eligible, but they don't know. And I think Monday after everything closes out, we'll have a better feel of exactly what this looks like. But we do have an open roster spot. We have one more spot that we have open that we can do something with. So we're just kind of just waiting and see what happens.

Coach Jay Lucas here with us signed a 5-year extension a couple of weeks ago.

You're so happy for him. You're getting choked up.

I know. I got to—

I got it.

I got it.

You know this young man's story. It's great. It's great for him. In one year, getting— earning a raise and an extension.

There you go.

I know how emotional it makes you.

Was there, Coach, was there ever a moment last year where— I mean, I'm, I'm sure you're very confident. I'm sure you felt that you were ready to be a head coach. It's why you took the Miami job. But was there ever a moment where you did actually say to yourself, yeah, you know what, I— this was the right decision. This is going to work. I'm in the right place. And I got a good handle on this.

It felt that way from the beginning, to be honest with you. Once I met administration and then once I got to really, you know, you come to Miami, I saw when I came to Miami, it was like everybody else. It was South Beach, it was Brickell, it was down. But like once you got over here to South Miami and got a part and got to see how the city cares for the university, it felt like home right away. So I was trying to do everything to make sure it worked and that we had a great first year. But there never was— there was one instance where I was like, maybe I don't know what I'm doing, is when we're down 20 at Clemson. And I was like, well, maybe this wasn't a good idea. But besides that, it felt— I want to say I felt comfortable and confident because I had a plan and I knew what I wanted to do. But just seeing it execute to the highest level and seeing what we did made it feel good.

So, Coach, a lot of Miami Hurricanes fans, we obviously were over the moon with how last season went, and naturally we're worried anytime a big job comes open because we expect that your name is going to be atop those lists. But you've been around some pretty big programs. I know there were a lot of things that were appealing about Miami. We have very recent data to suggest the high-end ceiling of this program can be Elite Eight, Final Four, maybe National Championship game. What is the high-end expectation for Miami? Did you see that this could be a prestigious job and not just what a job that exists in a football school?

I do, and I did, and I still do. And I think it's because where college athletics is headed, like, this thing is going to be completely different next year and the years coming. You don't know what's going to happen with conference realignment. You don't know what's going to happen with salary cap or collective bargaining. And I felt like you needed to be at a university who has always tried to find a way to be at the forefront of everything. And our President Joe is that way. Our administration is that way. Our other coaches are that way. I felt like you wanted to be in a city where people wanted to come and live and enjoy their time, especially with kids having money. It's hard to enjoy life in, let's just call it, Starksville, Mississippi. I'd rather be in Coral Gables, Florida. And so seeing that, understanding that, and being somewhere that's committed to winning, I think for us we can be one of these premier programs of what you've seen Alabama basketball turn to, you know, things like that. I'm just using other football-centric schools.

Coach, I'm curious, you're a pretty calculating guy, it seems. Would you take your— you talk about cities that are appealing and everything else. Would you on New Year's Eve take your young children to New Orleans and stay on Bourbon Street?

No, I would not.

You wouldn't? Okay, well then you're not the same person as, uh, as Jonathan's ass.

All right, but Coach, Coach, I'm taking my family, we're going to see the Miami Heat play on the road, we're going to see them play at the Pelicans, and it's, it's, it's, it's during winter break, so the kids are all from high school, and all right, it happens to be New Year's, like, like, whatever, right, Coach?

Yeah, I guess. I mean, whatever floats your boat.

I wouldn't do it.

But I'm not going to judge you for trying it.

Coach, excellent job. Congratulations on the extension. And the Hurricane fan, the university, we're lucky to have you. Thanks for giving us some of your time here.

No, thanks for having me. I'm happy to be here for as long as they'll keep me.

There you go. That's the head coach, Miami Hurricanes men's basketball, Jay Lucas. Yeah, give it up for Coach. Yeah. All right, Jay. Appreciate him.

Go Canes.

Mike, is this basketball and football simultaneous as far as the coaches? Is this the best position they've ever been?

Hmm, that's a great question.

Uh, yeah, yeah, because Larranaga's whole tenure here, we're talking Randy Shannon and Al Golden.

Yeah, I mean, you, if, if you want to go two programs, they had some really good baseball.

Why are you playing me like that?

Because I just remembered your boy yesterday said, yeah, digging up that Al Golden. I like this.

No, no, it was I love this.

I love this. Al Golden, certainly for— certainly for Miami basketball and Miami football. Sign of genius.

Sweet moment he had.

You know, we've had some pretty incredible baseball coaches here and we've had some high-end success on the football side while they were going on. But certainly no doubt when it comes to men's basketball and men's— and men's football— football, unless the left gets what they want, then yeah, you're absolutely right. Chris Ball and and Jay Lucas are— were incredible hires by the University of Miami. And, um, whatever you think they, they are when it comes to talent acquisition, trust me, they're, they're far more, uh, obsessed with it. And they are so perfect for this day and age, which is imperfect in so many ways. He, he nailed it on, on the head right there. Like, you have to be able to adapt. The rules change every year. And I do agree with Dusty May, this eventually is never going to be fixed without collective bargaining, and the people in power are going to do everything they can to keep the players, the labor, away from a negotiating table and unionizing. And college athletics is kind of well-positioned to keep that grift going because there's always sports in season.

Do you guys have this? I have the same kind of FOMO— not FOMO, but this regret whenever we do an interview. As soon as the subject is gone, I'm like, oh, Should have asked him this.

I did want to ask him about Jay Williams and the spot that he put him in.

Which—

what spot is that?

Don't you remember? He was like, uh, you know, I'm hearing some stuff that if Spo ever moves into the front office, Jay Lucas would be the next head coach of the Miami Heat.

Oh, come on. You don't remember that? I don't remember.