Transcript of Pablo Torre Hobnobs With Oprah Winfrey In Cannes | Hour 1

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Wow, that was excellent. Excellent job, Dominique.

Thank you.

So LaMelo Ball has been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, new running partner for Anthony Edwards, and Nas Reid goes back to Charlotte. And an unprotected first round in 2020— in 2033, which if you want to do the math right now, whoever they select there is currently 12 years old right now.

That's right. That does open up a whole new portal to improve this roster that I hadn't considered trading picks from a decade from now.

Isn't that funny, Dominique? Whoever they select is likely 12 years old right now.

They did give up a lot of picks for Rudy Gobert. So I was wondering how— when I heard that they were in the mix, I'm like, do they even have picks to trade? I didn't know that you can do so from, you know, well into the next decade.

This is interesting. Go ahead, Dominique.

Can I ask a question?

You're very distracted, I can tell right now.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

I'm not distracted. I think what's distracting me is I'm trying to understand the reason for this move. It seems like this time of year, we see all the teams addressing the issues that they had last season. And I'm looking at Minnesota, and I thought that they moved on from KAT because they thought Nas Reid was like a better, cheaper version. Moving on from Nas Reid to bring in LaMelo Ball, I guess maybe they feel like they need more ball handlers, which that wouldn't be the thing that— or, or more playmakers. They want to move Ant off the ball. Is there someone else who has a theory about this that makes more sense, that makes it clear to me why they would want to do this? Because it doesn't seem like it makes a ton of sense for them.

They have supreme belief in Jaden McDaniels. That's what it tells me. Like, they were missing a point guard last year. They had all these bigs and all these movable pieces that could play the 3, play the 4, play the 5, and Julius Randle and Nas Reid. They didn't have a playmaker at the, at the 1. They— Dante DiVincenzo tore his Achilles, right? Like, they were looking around saying, all right, who can get Ant Edwards the ball in space, allow him to create? Now they have one of those guys who's also a great playmaker on offense, creating and getting his own shot. But now they have Jaden McDaniels, who'll slot in there and be like, all right, we don't really need Nas Reid at a max number.

I think it was also shown that size wasn't what beat the Spurs. Like, if you're in the Western Conference, what really helped the Knicks was being able to outrun the Spurs and be athletic enough in the way you moved your offense. They still have Rudy Gobert to anchor the center of that defense. He'll still be the guy that squares up with Wemby. But in moving off of Julius Randle, moving off of Nas Reid, they probably feel like they can fill their big rotation from there in a different way and be able to just now run with both LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards. I think it's combustible, but I get the leverage.

Yeah, that part I think they probably—

we like that down here, right?

We'll revisit this. They, they probably just destroyed their chances of keeping Anthony Edwards by bringing in LaMelo Ball.

Anthony Edwards is a guy, I can tell you, I know, I happen to know, I happen to know Anthony Edwards. Do we have 'I happen to know'? He happens to know Anthony Edwards is a guy who has flirted with the Miami Heat. Like, this is a guy who the Miami Heat obviously would be interested in, and a guy who through back channels has told, uh, the Miami Heat there could be a time where he'd be interested.

So wise.

So a couple, uh, couple days after this trade, we have found our lane. It is develop some talent, trade picks from two decades from now, and get Anthony Edwards after LaMelo Ball ruins all the team chemistry.

Would you rather do that, or would you rather now convince Charlotte to unlock that other pick, use a first-round pick, Jović, and Wiggins to go get Kevin Durant, and then sign LeBron in the MLE.

Okay, my, my brain isn't big enough to understand what you just told me. I, I'm just happy for us in the audience because you're back of a Giannis pursuit. You'd think that would finally be over. No, this marks the end of that, but the start to the Anthony Edwards chapter of our program.

Well, and, and look, this sounds ridiculous what I'm gonna say, but it is true. We understand the way this machine works. We understand the way the NBA especially the NBA media operates. And for a few years before, Damian Lillard was the guy. Lillard's the guy that we have to talk about. You got to get out of Portland. And then eventually it happened. And then for a couple of years it shifted. Giannis. Giannis then became the guy. You got to get out of Milwaukee. And he did. And now who's going to be the next guy that the NBA media says has to force his way out of his current situation, and it feels like Anthony Edwards is going to be that guy.

It does. Anthony Edwards hasn't really played ball there. I know you, you happen to know he's flirted, but he hasn't done the disgruntled superstar thing quite yet. And I know this seems like a go-for-it move, and I think we should salute Minnesota. They know that they can't get guys via free agency, so they develop guys and make impactful trades that work for them, their team, and their market. So that's a good job out of them. But if I'm Boston, I'm floating Jaylen Brown around that franchise and being like, all right, what's a, what's a plan here? Are you worried about long-term Anthony Edwards? Because we have one of the few stars in this league that is available that while he's not the same kind of talent level, he's still a star. He's a Finals MVP. We can put him in a package.

I want to talk about the LaMelo Ball side of this for a second, which I think is interesting. Number one, This trade kind of came out of nowhere. And when I say it kind of came— like, it broke last night. Shams Charania, who by the way, you know, and I went on a whole rant a few days ago how the NBA media has embarrassed itself during this whole stretch with Giannis and Miami. Shams really just showed up from his slumber a few days ago on Monday, I believe, and was dropping the Giannis bombs. Shams has been a star this week. Like, he's been all over it. Everyone else, I think, has embarrassed themselves for the most part. But Shams is having a great week. And last night he breaks the news that there's serious engagement, serious interest in Charlotte moving LaMelo Ball. And they do today. So the first part that's interesting, Dominique, is why— like, why did they do it before the draft? Because did they— did they not want— or maybe, maybe they couldn't. Maybe Minnesota was not willing to give a pick in this year's draft, or Minnesota's pick, I'm sure, was very low in the first round.

But you don't normally have a superstar being moved you know, after immediately following the draft, you would want it right before the draft, you know? So there's that part that's weird, right?

Yeah, that's a little weird. And also, I mean, I get the criticism of LaMelo Ball's style of play, but the Hornets were like good and interesting and exciting for the first time in a long time. And LaMelo Ball was a part of that. So the decision to move off of him, I guess this does make them a little bit more of a complete team, but it does like break up the little bit of motion that they did have. And I know LaMelo Ball is not— Mike already made this point.

Point.

He's not— he's a unique personality, and it may not work out, um, in Minnesota in the same way that eventually it didn't work out in Charlotte. But I was excited about watching LaMelo Ball. And we haven't— you guys talked about potential players on a better team now. Yeah, you talk about potential players coming down here. Why didn't you guys get excited about bringing LaMelo Ball down here? He's not a Heat culture guy. You don't want— you know, that's not— no. Everybody laughing, looking crazy at me, you know, on LaMelo Ball. No, no, no, no, no.

I don't think LaMelo Ball is a winning player. And, and I understand, Mike, like the last half of this past season, he started to change his style of play and the direction of the team went way up. Like for the first time, this Hornets team felt like, okay, maybe we have something going. But I feel like there's a big enough body of work where I don't believe this is a winning player.

I hate him because he hurt Bam.

That's true. I am biased against—

Totally right.

But I felt this way before anyway.

And he almost ran the guy off the road.

Yeah.

And then the second time too.

He's a liability behind the wheel. So we'll see how that plays out. I do think that this could be spun into a win for Charlotte. I understand why people don't think LaMelo is a winning player. We were workshopping back here. This probably means Colby White, who's developed quite nicely, killed the Heat. He's, he's your PG-1. This also shows a distinct belief in them that Concanipple is their guy. Nas Reid is going to be a nice piece.

And Brandon Miller is a nice enough player too.

Yeah, I was wondering like, what's, what's my Heat prism on this? Did Charlotte just get weaker because Charlotte bounced Miami from the play-in and I was worried about their ascension? I think you still got to be worried about them. They're going to be in that playoff mix.

Yeah, I got to be honest, if you're not watching on YouTube, please Just for today. Like, I don't know if you could sense that I've been a little bit distracted so far, but I can't look as— as—

What?

I can't, man.

Look at me!

Look at me! You look like a 60-year-old Fred Durst. It's— the glasses make you look like if Ben Franklin had a mixtape. I can't— it's insane.

I love it.

It looks great.

I've never worn glasses before. This is my new look now. I'm wearing glasses. I always like when my wife wears glasses. She normally wears contacts, okay? But every now and then, I guess she gets bored, you know, she doesn't want to put the contacts in, pain in the ass, and so she wears the glasses. I like when she wears the glasses.

That's how my wife reacts to me when I do what I'm doing right now.

She doesn't like it?

No, she loves it. Yeah. Loves it.

Yeah.

I like a girl that wears glasses every now and then.

The chat says you look like an insurance salesman that DJs in his free time.

Right, but I'm not. I'm a sports talk show host.

Uh, no, no. You got a mixtape coming out that's called High as a Kite.

I like this. This might be my new look. I'm not sure yet. I'm still workshopping.

The glasses have motion, Zazz. I like it.

Yeah, man, that's what I'm saying.

The combo with the baggy back— who has a baggy backwards hat?

It's great.

It's a little bit baggy.

Backwards fit it is. There's a reason why no one else in the industry does it, Zazz.

They say you look like a washed speakeasy poet.

If I was wearing a Kangol.

I don't know why this looks like a real-world audition tape.

Yeah, that's not bad. If I was wearing a Kangol, I think I would fit both of those profiles.

Radio host Malone.

Juju, put it on the poll. Juju, put it on the poll. Do I look like radio post Malone?

Radio host Malone.

Radio host. That's what I said. Radio host Malone. Listen better, guy. Listen better.

Glasses for your ears.

So LaMelo Ball traded to Minnesota. I'm not willing to sit here and tell you exactly what seed I think Minnesota is now. This is not Fast Take. All right. But that is obviously a huge move with LaMelo Ball being moved. Did you see Austin Reeves' new contract yesterday? Oh, holy moly. Yeah.

I—

what was that like?

I mean, I get excited when guys get paid, man. It makes me so happy. It brings me joy.

Is that right?

It may. Yeah. It's uncomfortable how happy I am for when players get big, big checks. It's— I get even more happy when it seems like they don't deserve it. When people are mad that guys got that money. Oh, brings me so much joy. But that team, like, it's an interesting thing. They got Luka, and we all thought that they would be championship contenders soon and they would make the moves. And I guess this is the cautionary tale for the Heat excitement, although the Heat have a different track record than the Lakers. But they got Luka, and we're like, you got this piece, you're going to be a championship contender. And it seems like in the, the second apron era, it's a lot harder to build a team. They have to re-sign Austin Reeves, and it makes them a very good offensive team with some defensive liabilities in a very difficult West. It doesn't seem like they many options for how to become like a real threat. Although I'm super happy for Austin Reeves getting that paper.

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Dann, Leber, for 5 minutes I was watching everyone just like, nope, not letting you in, not letting you in. So when I got up there, I had to say something, and I said it: Cheaters never prosper. Chris Cody, my buddy, was saying, not today, not today. I think that was what he was adding.

Yeah, I'm telling you, the response I got from this guy, what I said was Amazing.

Cheaters never prosper. This guy yelled as angry as he could.

I ain't cheating. This is the Dan Levitan Show.

There is a cool photo that his wife or girlfriend showed when he like looked at his phone and saw that the deal was done, and he was on the golf course and she snapped a shot of him just like lying down on the green and he was super excited. That is cool, alright? But what's not cool is the Lakers backcourt next year doesn't play any defense and they're making a combined $90 million. And the place that I go to is like, I feel like I'm not saying that the Knicks— the Knicks— that the Lakers should have let Austin Reeves walk, alright? But what I am saying is it's not a coincidence that the Knicks did what they did when their best player was making $33 million. And if you're— I just, I don't understand how we got to the place where if you're a good player, and certainly Austin Reeves is a good player, where if you're a good player, it means you, you have to be paid the maximum amount of money in a salary cap sport, the maximum amount of money that you're allowed to be paid. Because we just saw with the Knicks, you need to have players outperforming the value of their contracts.

And We could say Austin Reeves deserves his money, but he ain't gonna outperform that contract.

So I think sometimes I run the risk of going like too deep into the nerdy stuff, especially when we get around— so stop me if I do, but like this is a basic psychology thing. It's like when you make the— the league instituted these max contracts in order to try to reduce salaries, but when you introduce this like landmark of a max contract—

what do you mean by that, in order to— meaning so we don't go above that number?

They wanted the max contract to be able to control the superstar players from being it, from able to take up the entire salary cap. But by doing it— and this always happens in CBA negotiations— is that there are some unintended consequences. By putting this particular landmark, this is a max contract, this is what the best players get, you pull people down. Like LeBron, through the course of his career, people who would have made more, you pull them down to it. But what ends up happening is you pull a lot of people up to it who aren't at the level of superstar because they're like, This is the number. There's nothing to negotiate. This is what you pay one of your big— your top 2 guys get this money. So it's going to happen. It's a result of CBA negotiations. So if you didn't have that, then some, um, great players would get paid more. Guys, as they age and their performance decline, they will get paid less, not more, which happens now. It's like your play starts to decline, you pay more. And now people would look at Austin and say, all right, you're really good, you're not as good as this guy, so you should get a little less.

But this is like they've, they've asked for and they've gotten it. They put that out there and it's going to drag a bunch of people up.

You know what helps too? When you talk about outperforming your contract, $184 million is going to be tough. You talk about the Knicks and what they're doing. Jalen Brunson took a massive pay cut to be the best guy on that team to help.

Well, not a pay cut. He left money on the table.

Left money on the table. But that's basically a pay cut. Like he would have, he would have had all that money. It's easy because obviously Luka is not going to take a pay cut. Austin Reeves is like, I'm going to get this money. So that's a once-in-a-generation type thing that happened in New York that ended up winning a championship.

Right. But I mean, his— the general manager of that team was his former agent. His current agent was the son of the general manager. His dad is on the coaching staff and his godfather is the president of the team. Pablo, like, if it comes down to like trust is why you'd be willing to do something like that, it's pretty easy to trust your whole damn family. Like, I understand why no one else would do it and he would be comfortable doing it. But yeah, get popped. What are you alleging?

What are you alleging there?

I'm not alleging anything.

I'm saying you're alleging something.

Are you? You— if you want to allege it, you can allege it.

I'm not alleging it. You're alleging it.

I'm only saying that in order to do a move like that, it requires a lot of trust. You know who I trust? My dad, my former agent, my agent's son, and my godfather. I trust them. That's all I'm saying.

Bank of the Cayman Islands?

Nope. Just saying I trust them. Good.

That's all.

That was a test.

Did I pass?

Yes.

Alright, well.

What's going on in Cannes right now? 'Cause this is not the Cannes— this is not the film festival.

Cannes Canipal? There's a lot of stuff going on there.

No, no, no, I'm talking about France. Cannes, France. This is not the film festival, right? What's going on in Cannes right now? Yes, I look a little bit like Ed Harris in The Truman Show. That is true.

I don't know, I know Pablo Escobar did.

This isn't the film festival? No, they can't possibly have two events in that city.

They do.

They cannot.

This is something with like podcasting.

It was like—

it's some creator.

Yeah, this is not the Cannes Film Festival. It's going—

why aren't you there?

Great question.

This doesn't make sense.

I thought Trista was there as well.

Yeah, Trista's there because she, she has her Daily W Sports. Trista Crick is doing an old thing.

Podcast convention should be in like Lawrence, Kansas.

That's in Cannes. It's in Cannes. Everybody's having a great time there.

Austin, Texas. There's a good spot for it. Perfect.

Con. Can only imagine how obnoxious Pablo looked there.

Oh, I mean, that's his element, right? Like, I've never met someone who hobnobs like Pablo. He is the best hobnobber in the history of hobnobs.

There isn't a knob right now that isn't getting hobbed by Pablo Torre.

Look at this photo with Oprah. He met Oprah.

That's the biggest—

Pablo Torre.

That's the face that Pablo makes. For the video audience who can't see it, like, that's crazy. That's the face that Pablo makes when he's taking a photo with Oprah Winfrey?

You get one picture with Oprah in your life and that's what you look like?

That's the face?

Can we play the live photo just so we saw how this really happened? I love this.

1, 2, 3.

Oh, I love a live photo.

Me too.

The countdown in the background.

Yeah, I like that too.

It feels like a dirty secret you're being invited into.

Oh, I love when you hear something. It's like, ooh, I could see you you move. You didn't intend that because it's just a still photo.

Don't get that millisecond of me actually posing.

But how many faces did he make in this live shot? Yeah, let's see it again.

1, 2, 3.

At least 3.

I know what's going on there, because if you do the live photo, you can then scroll your finger through all the action and you'll land on a good face.

Oh, so you think he did that intentionally? And I thought that maybe he was panicking.

He was like, this is not good. So he has multiple photo options?

He was like, Scared, happy.

Yeah.

You're not going to ask Oprah to do it again because you don't like the photo. So you might as well throw a bunch of faces in there and land on what's best once you have it.

Interesting.

I also don't want to miss the opportunity to point out Oprah hated this experience. You could tell by her body and her face and her hands. She's like, I hate this. I don't like this man. I know he wants to hop on all the knobs. I don't like it. I've been hopped too much.

Not everyone gets to meet Oprah at this thing. I'm wondering if there's like a certain little, like, maybe pull surprise section that she finds herself in.

So she'd be more willing to take pictures of the Pulitzer Prize winner.

He's got the wristband. She doesn't need one. Yeah, her wristband appears to be her face.

Can you imagine her walk into the area where you need the wristbands and they stop her like, where's your wristband?

I mean, you get fired now. You get fired.

Talk to my supervisor really quick.

I—

later. What's her last name? Winfrey with a W. I would be—

I'd be intimidated to ask Oprah Winfrey for a picture.

I feel like that the more famous the person is, like, I'm not a picture guy. It's like insecurity and ego, I think. But you can't—

In that situation, you need to have a friend with you that's like, hey guys, get together for a picture!

Oh no, his producer definitely went up to her and was like, here, Pablo would like to meet me.

No, no, no, no, I think—

No, no, no, let's get a picture.

Yeah, I think that you're a pro because I wouldn't have done it. But I would always, of course, appreciate a picture with a famous person, but I would never ask. But if someone else— it like puts you on the same plane as them. If someone's like, hey, you guys are together, cool. You got to have somebody with you.

Pablo, Oprah's ready for you.

It needs to be a coordinated effort.

Yeah. No, I think, Chris, you're doing something different.

Pablo's in a corner of the— of like over in this little roped-off area. He's just looking away. And then his producer Chris is like, Pablo, she's ready for you.

Okay, yes.

Like, he's just looking off into a corner.

So you walk up and you're like, hey, hey Oprah, I don't want to bother you, just wanted to say big fan, love what you're doing. And then you have to say big fan? You don't have to, you just have to make the acquaintance, you have to engage her, and then you can't ask. I think that's what Mike is doing, is you don't ask, you have someone walk up and pretend as if as if this is a great opportunity that these two celebrities are next to each other, and you're like, hey, let's get this pic, guys, because you don't want to be the one like, hey Oprah, can I have a picture?

Juju, put it on the poll, would you be nervous to ask Oprah Winfrey for a picture? And also please, uh, Juju, put it on the poll, is Pablo the greatest hobnobber? Oh yeah, I would be like, I, I think I, I don't think I'd like, I feel like there's this aura around Oprah Winfrey. There are very few people that I would be like nervous to talk to. I mean, like, I work in sports for the last 20 years, you know.

Um, 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.

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.

You a one-time or two-time championship broadcaster?

Two. Oprah, two.

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

Well, and I would say, yes, I do, Oprah. Yes, I do.

Have you seen Weapons?

But the kids.

So speaking of Con, Jalen Brown is in at Con. Oh, is he? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Jalen Brown is doing like, I don't know if he's doing an episode of his podcast or I don't think he's on Twitch in Con, but he's doing a sit down with someone. He's doing a live like interview kind of deal.. And Jaylen Brown, he decided to, to, to continue the conversation about Stephen A. Smith being, you know, Stephen A. Smith going after him for his comments that he made about this being his favorite season.

Leader behind that was ESPN. ESPN is unethical. And Stephen A. Smith is the head face of that. But, you know, the organization The players, they were all in agreeance. They all knew what I meant by that. Our team was basically salary dumped. You know, we lost a lot of players.

How about, how about, how about the, the, the lonely clap after Stephen A. Smith is the leader?

That person didn't even feel that strongly about the topic, but they were like, oh, we're all going to clap here.

Oh no, no one's clapping.

Okay, I'll stop.

Does that person know what he's actually even talking about?

Not in kind.

I do love at a setting like this. Not that I've ever been there, but in like a speech setting, I love to be the person that starts the applause, that gets the whole crowd going. I love that.

Did you realize that the Boston Celtics were just a salary dump team?

Yeah.

No expectations for them whatsoever. They were just this franchise. Hey, give us all your bad contracts. That's what they were.

That's right. Jaylen Brown. Jaylen Brown's teammates this past year should feel really good. You're a salary dump team, all you guys. This is a salary dump.

Am I the only one who, like, finds myself on Jalen Brown's side in this.

Well, no, the guy that clapped.

Oh yeah, me, me.

I hate Stephen A. Smith.

Was that you during that clip?

Girl, I mean, I'm sorry, woman.

Definitely not the Stephen A. Smith part. Down levitar.

I hate that Carolina is going to get this moment just because they waited us out. Jonathan Sassalo.

But I love that Buffalo is going to replace the Panthers in this situation because those fans absolutely deserve it.

Not going to the playoffs 14 straight years?

I deserve it! We deserve it! I don't care.

We won twice already!

I deserve a third one before they deserve anything!

I deserve all the attention to hockey. I live in a swamp. Give me 3 in a row.

Sabers.

Buffalo deserves. Eat shit, Buffalo. Why care about Buffalo?

This is the Dan Levitan Show! But it feels like up until this point, the general consensus around Jaylen Brown is like, he's annoying and kind of spoiled and grumpy, and like, he shouldn't have said this was his favorite season. Like, I'm thinking back over the course of his career in Boston, and like, he has a right to be upset. Like, he was the 3rd overall pick in 2016, and the Boston Celtics fans booed him when he was drafted. They followed a year by getting another player at a similar position in Jayson Tatum. Then every time they go to the playoffs or lose in the playoffs or lose in the finals, the reason why they lost is Jayson Tatum can't dribble with his left hand— or not Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown is the problem, he can't dribble with his left hand. Every year it's like, we want Kawhi, let's ship out Tatum. We want Durant, let's ship out Tatum. He's a part of every single trade rumor. He gets snubbed snubbed for the All-NBA team. You know what? Kawhi drops off of the USA team and they're like, yeah, let's find a player. Uh, let's get a Celtic.

You know, Kawhi Leonard, a real rangy, great defensive wing. Let's get Derek White from the Celtics. He just gets snubbed and snubbed. Then he's the MVP, the Finals MVP for this team. You know how they reward him? With that Giannis looking like, we got a Jayson Tatum for that Giannis. And then the man does a couple Twitch streams and we're all like, He's kind of mean. He's like selfish and whiny. Like, I would be upset too if I did all of this stuff and no one seems to want to appreciate me and they want to shit me out at every chance they get.

Well, you're talking about it in totality.

Yeah. You're also talking about it like someone who has totally fallen for what he's been trying to do this entire offseason.

Exactly right.

Which is garner sympathy. And this is what it looks like. This is what the sausage looks like when the disgruntled star actually wants his way out of there. But kudos to you for falling for it.

Is, is it falling for it if there's a line of facts that—

by the way, I don't think I need all like the window dressing that he's doing right now. I'm Team JB here. I think they're backing Jason Tatum. Like, this seems like it's a me or he, uh, me or him thing, right? And I'd side with Jaylen Brown here. More proven commodity, not coming off an Achilles. I, I get where he's coming from.

That's the only point I'm making is like, I'm not saying that I would behave the way he behaved, or I think that having a Twitch stream or saying this was favorite season was right. I'm just saying that we are missing the point while we focus on the way that he demonstrates that he feels like underappreciated or disrespected. Maybe you don't like that, but he has been underappreciated and disrespected considering what he's contributed to that team. That's all I'm saying. And we keep going like, hey, he's picking on Stephen A. Smith, or he's doing this thing that's weird, he's doing that thing that's weird. None of us seem to be willing to say You know what? The Celtics, the organization that ran Isaiah Thomas into the ground and told him to get missing, is the same organization that is now treating him this way.

You working for PR for him or what? What's going on here?

Again, no one is directly refuting anything I'm saying. We're just like going these sideways.

No, you made good points. You made good points. That's all. Also points that he would make, right?

Like he—

So you want to make the points that Brad Stevens would make? Knock yourself out. We're all making points that one side or the other would make. I just happen to be on the side of the people. Oh, I'll respect that.

Refute the part about, you know, and defend essentially ESPN and Stephen A. Smith in that—

Me too, I love ESPN and Stephen A. Smith. He's dead wrong about that.

But I'll refute the part from Jaylen Brown. I'll refute the part from Jaylen Brown where he's calling ESPN and Stephen A. Smith unethical because they took— like, he's doing the move where he says something, and then if other people react unfavorably to the thing he said, that means it was taken out of context. No, no, no. Yeah, we, we heard what you said. We watched the whole thing. You claimed that a year that ended in embarrassment— for the first time ever, the Celtics lost a series after leading 3 games to 1— you called it your favorite season, when just 2 years prior you won a championship and were Finals MVP. But this one was your favorite season, a season also, mind you, when all these years it's been Jalen or Jason and do they get along and can they play together. Your favorite season wasn't when the two of you won a championship together. This is not being taken out of context. You said this. Your favorite season is the one where Jason didn't play and you got to be the man.

So to me, that sounds like you've decided what side you want to be on and you found the thing to grab onto and make the point because I think that considering the track record— I won't run through it again— that I just gave you, it's reasonable. Maybe shouldn't have said it, but it's reasonable for him to say that at every turn, even after I was the Finals MVP, that felt like a notch in the belt of Jayson Tatum. We still talked about Jayson Tatum. Jayson Tatum did an offseason interview where he's like, I'm chasing people like Larry Bird. He's thinking, I was the 3rd overall pick also. I was the wing that put the finals— put the finals in Boston again, that brought Boston a championship again. I'm the guy. I'm the guy. And at every turn they're like, you're the guy that will ship off for a better guy. And he's like, no, I'm doing the things that you want him to do. I'm doing it. The one year that he's out, you know what? We're a 3 seed. It's not just him out. We lose Porzingis, lose Jrue Holiday, lose Al Horford. We lose all the pieces and everyone's like, Boston, gap year, maybe they'll get a high pick.

You know what, we're third and I'm in the MVP conversation. And then the result of the offseason is maybe we'll see if we can ship him out of town. Okay, maybe he shouldn't have said exactly what he said, but the point is, if anyone in all of this is wrong, I don't really think it's Jaylen Brown for his reaction to doing all the shit you said he couldn't do. And then you say All right, if you do all this, we'll treat you like a superstar. We'll treat you with the respect that you deserve. He did it all. He got better every offseason. He addressed the issues, and then he wins a championship. Tatum gets hurt, he balls out, and then in the offseason they are dangling his ass around to trade again, and he's pissed. That's all I'm saying. He's right to be pissed. That's it.

Dominique, I— all that stuff agreed with. Okay, fine. The issue is we don't know what he's like on a day-in and day-out basis inside that locker room, inside that front office, inside that building, right? If you have all those medals and all those accolades and all those things, but you're still an asshole— not saying he is, right? But I'm saying if you're, if you're somebody that people don't want to be around in the office, like, it's tough for you to stick around.

Let's stop making him Manny Diaz. When Miami was approaching Mario Cristobal, he was dangling that ass on his own.

I think so. I guess my point is now you guys are willing to say, all right, the way he's acting, it's okay for him, for them to shop him. Why don't we extend him the same grace that we are extending to the team? But it's okay for—

it's his intention to be Dangle. He wants to be the guy and he gets to point a finger at the team saying, oh, this is unfair, garner sympathy. This is what— this is what the superstars in that league do. They— outside of James Harden, This is how you garner— they want to be victims here.

So that's fine. But it feels like to me that we are not— we're more critical of Jayson, of Jaylen Brown for doing that thing than we are of the Celtics for saying so. I assume that Jaylen Brown was not this difficult to deal with. I think that some of this is a part of who he is and some of it is a part of the way that they've treated him. We don't treat other superstars this way when they want to dangle that ass. And we do not treat teams this way when they want to dangle a player. That's all I'm saying.

The issue with us, at least with me, is I feel like Jaylen Brown always tries to be the smartest guy in the room. Just ask him about it, right? Like he's trying to outsmart everybody at every turn. That's like, you've, you've on the court, you've done what you've needed to do. Granted, you've been incredible. You worked on your game. You actually ended up getting a left hand. You became Finals MVP. You helped the Celtics through a team that are a bridge year. Where they thought they were going to be a lottery team and you got into the playoffs, but then you lost to the Sixers and Joel Embiid and the carcass they had. And now it's all of a sudden like, oh, now I got to get out of here because I want to be the man. Like when you try to outsmart everybody all the time, people kind of lose your— lose the like on that.

But to Jaylen Brown's credit, like he led them to that. And then Jason Tatum came back and then they lost in the first round as he deferred to Jason Tatum. Throughout at different moments. He deferred to him throughout their championship run, but then he stepped up in the Finals and won Finals MVP. And ultimately all he said was, this was my favorite season I got to play as the lead guy. And as a team that overachieved, they had a ton of expectations every other year that he was in the league with Jayson Tatum. This year everyone said, oh man, maybe they're going to be a play-in team. And then he led them to more success than they anticipated. That's allowed to be a fun year. Even if you fall short of the ultimate goal, especially if you've already been a champion. I feel like the way that we're treating him and the way that he's handling this and the lack of credit that, that he's getting in Boston, it feels more like Kevin Durant and the way he was treated with the Golden State Warriors, where it's like, you're not our guy, you're not our lead guy.

We're going to heap the credit onto Jayson Tatum regardless. And Jaylen Brown, I said it 2 weeks ago, he should be asking out and he's not even doing that.

Jeremy, it's not allowed to be his favorite year. Owner on the franchise that routinely tells you the only banners we hang— not division, not conference banners— are the championship banners.

Totally fair.

Like, that's totally fair.

That's totally fair. But it can be his favorite season. Like, it's fair to say he didn't meet expectations, and it's not their favorite season. He did individually.

So I think all I want is for everyone to accept what Tony said. Y'all don't like him. You're looking for a reason to pile on him because you don't like him.

Oh, I've got my reasons.

I like him.

That's— I mean, that's what it comes down to.

I had my reasons.

And I could understand that and accept it. I think the part that frustrates me is the move that Zazz is doing. And it's not just Zazz. It's like, we're going to focus on this one thing and say this is the reason. No, like, it's because you don't like him.

How do people not like Jaylen Brunson? Like, he's been a quiet guy for most of his career outside of social causes. He's the perfect guy to pair with. Maybe that's what's going on with some people, but like, this is the first time he's ever been vocal, really.

He—

has he always been Twitch streaming? This is the only time it's ever made news. That's why I'm not overthinking this. This is, you know, there are some long-term relationships where a person doesn't have the heart to break up with the other person but they start behaving in a way that makes it seem like it was the other person's idea, right? So they can throw their hands up and say, you know what, you're right, this is probably for the best. I think that's what's going on here. It's meta. It's working, by the way, especially with this news cycle, which is how dare they do this to Jaylen Brown, a Finals MVP, pursue Giannis. You guys know you're good enough to win a championship. So he gets to be a victim. And it's all because the original sin, which was what we keep referencing, This was my favorite year. This was my favorite season.

Whoa.

We got another breaking news.

Brian Winhorst has called Ja Morant, quote, flagrantly available. He says his 2-year contract is making teams hesitant to take on the risk. Flagrantly available.

Miami passed on an opportunity to get him on the cheap.

He makes like $50 million a year, doesn't he?

In terms of giving stuff up, like they don't have assets. I mean, I would review it.

It would be the opposite.

It's negative. It's sunk cost. So Memphis would have to attach a pick to Ja Morant to get him to move.

That's right.

Now, how do you go from available to like— what then makes you flagrantly—

like the front door, like it could be locked, right? And then you have the front door that's unlocked that you can walk in the front.

I feel like it would be if there was no door.

Exactly right. The door is off the hinges right now. Just come in and get whatever you want.

Jovič is behind that door too. It's like New York City, come get anything.

Dangle that ass.