Transcript of Rachel Nichols is NOT in an RV | Hour 3

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The NBA gets going today, 3 o'clock, 3 PM Eastern time. Celtics and Pistons get it going. You got banner night at the Garden, Sixers and Knicks. And then tonight, maybe the best rivalry in the league is the Thunder and Spurs. That's a heck of a tripleheader for the NBA to get going today. When you're talking about NBA reporters, it doesn't get any better than Rachel Nichols. Her new show on SITV premiered yesterday. It is called The Story with Rachel Nichols. Hello, Rachel, good to see you.

What's up?

Hello, friends, how are y'all?

How, uh, how excited are we for the NBA starting today? It feels like, you know, last year— I don't remember exactly what the attitude was going into last NBA season, but there does feel like a palpable level of excitement for what this season presents.

I don't think we've had this much movement of big star players in an offseason in a long time, the way that we have since this summer. So that's, I think, a little bit of the buzz. Everyone wants to see what is this Sixers team going to look like? I mean, that's the biggest question, I think. But then also you've got like the renewed rivalry aspect. I mean, obviously Thunder-Spurs is going to be a bit of a bloodbath. We all want to see Chet versus Wemby because, you know, Chet put on 2 extra pounds this summer, guys. So he is really ready to rumble. And then, you know, the Knicks get in their rings. It's going to be really fun, too. I don't think there was a better story in basketball last year.

Okay.

So of, of the 3 games today and all 3 of them are pretty juicy, what is your What is your favorite storyline today?

My favorite today is the Knicks-Sixers one, just because I think it's got everything right. I mean, there is no other place like Madison Square Garden. It is the mecca for basketball. You have a city celebrating a championship for the first time in 50-plus years. But on the other side, you have this sort of last arc of one of the major characters in NBA basketball in the history of the sport. And it's going to be played out with these other huge stars all sort of grappling for one basketball. Can they do it? a great super team like some of the ones that have run over everyone before, or is this going to be the disaster like, you know, we saw happen with the Lakers when they tried to put together an all-star team? And we've seen it a few other times as well.

Rachel, I gotta ask, are you like going cross-country in an RV?

Where are you?

Hello, Amin.

Hi, Rachel.

Don't you like my plaid?

Where is— it looks like you're in an RV.

Yeah, it does.

I'm in a hotel room in lovely New York City as I go to tonight's Knicks-Sixers game. Yeah, but it's, it's sort of giving plaid cabin, don't you think?

It looks like a door is going to open right across from you.

I'm with you. I mean, I thought she was— I thought she was in like a travel bus.

Yeah. Going 60 miles an hour.

You're doing like the—

Yeah.

Just, you know, up I-95. I started in Miami this morning. I'm going to make it to New York tonight.

I love it.

So are the— Rachel, are the Sixers going to be out there watching the banner go up or are they going to hang out in the back?

You know, we see teams do different things. Last year we saw the Spurs go on the court. for the Thunder's banner raising because Wembanyama wanted to sort of feel it and see it and what it looked like when someone else had it instead of him. A lot of times though, we see teams stay in the back. I don't know. What do you guys think? What do you think this Sixers team is going to do? My, my guess is stay in the back, but I don't know. What do y'all think?

I mean, like, I think, I think they're going to be on the floor. I think they're going to be on the floor because I think, I think LeBron is going to use it as, hey, like, This is what we're trying to accomplish this year. Let's show the respect and be out there. And, you know, LeBron loves New York, Madison Square Garden. I mean, heck, he lives there now. Rachel, I think they're going to be on the floor.

All right. All right. Maybe they will. I'm not sure those guys, the veterans, need to know what it looks like when someone wins a title. But I do think you're right about him liking the limelight and liking MSG. So maybe he wants to be out there just to draw a little focus.

Are we making too much of LeBron in the helicopter, Rachel?

The helicopter itself, I have no problem with. I understand we all sort of feel the tragedy that befell Kobe Bryant and his daughter. And that is scary and that brings up a lot of memories. But it was a very different situation in terms of weather and flight and all of the other things. I think the bigger issue is really to ask the people of Philadelphia. It doesn't impact me. You know, I live in Los Angeles. I currently am in an RV headed to New York, apparently. But the people who live in Philadelphia, the other players who play in Philadelphia, is it something that people who live there feel a bit insulted by, by thinking, oh, he's too good to live here, or he can't live here like everybody else. He's got to go live up in another city, a city that we have a rivalry with. Right. So it could be it bothers no one. I'm not saying it should bother anyone. I am saying that is the question I would ask. And frankly, only the people of Philadelphia can really answer, fans of that team.

Being in L.A., being that you live there when you're not traveling on your—

on your—

in your mobile bus, when LeBron left other teams, when he left Cleveland, when he left Miami, fans are upset. They, like, they wanted him to stay, obviously. Do, do Laker— are Laker fans like, they're like kind of good with, hey, we're done with LeBron, we're happy, we're moving on from this?

I mean, look, I think it's hard to say as a group anything, right? I think there were definitely LeBron Lakers fans. I think it was a little overblown that like he was never accepted by Laker Nation. I mean, there were a lot of people with LeBron jerseys in that building night after night. However, I think it is a different situation than the other places he left because the other places he left were desperate to keep him. The fans were desperate to keep him. In this particular case, the administration of the team, whether from the ownership on down, was basically like, hey, we're good. And so if that's the attitude of the team, I think the fans take that on. And it was sort of like, okay, we all got what we wanted from each other. It was a lovely almost decade. They got a championship out of it, and now it's time to sort of part ways. It definitely felt like one of those divorce announcements. What was the, the Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, the conscious uncoupling or whatever? Yes, that's what that press release felt like to me.

Rachel, While we're on the topic of the Lakers, over the summer we saw a bunch of teams begin the process of switching hands. The Minnesota Timberwolves from Mark Lore to Mark Stadd. The Lakers from Mark Walter— a lot of Marks this summer— to Bob Iger.

Mark's the money apparently.

Maybe it's the other way around. Maybe if we all rename ourselves Mark, we'll be billionaires.

That's a good point. But I, when, when I kind of process all this, and I think it all happened in the span of a week. I, I said it's bad for basketball because it's turning owning a team into like a condo on South Beach. Yeah, I got a good price for it, lived there a couple years.

It's not supposed to be real estate.

Yeah, and then someone comes and offers me more. I'm like, yeah, take it. I don't, I don't have any family memories here. This is my family home that I grew up in. I don't care. And I felt like even though, yes, billions of dollars are being exchanged, it's not good karmically, emotionally. I don't know what the phrases, it just doesn't feel good. Is there any chance that anyone at Olympic Tower feels like that, or is it just the bottom line, hey, these guys are making money, so what?

It's not really up to the people in the NBA League office. That's the thing is you have to remember this is up to the owners. The owners make these decisions about who can come in, who can come out, what sort of stipulations they put on that. I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, when they started letting in hedge funds to invest in teams, you also have a lot of principal owners who sort of made their money in investments, hedge funds, tech. This is very different than the NBA of 20 years ago when a lot of the owners in commercial real estate and other sort of local businesses that tied them to the local community. Now you have a lot of team owners who look at it, as you said, as an investment, like a condo. I get, you know, this much into it, I get that much out of it. Owning a sports team and the appreciation on a sports team has proven to be one of the most profitable investments in America. You don't make that much money year to year. You, in fact, often claim losses, which, you know, helps your tax situation.

But the real payoff is when you hold a team and then sell a team. And that is a very different proposition than, oh my God, I grew up in such and such city. I always loved this team. I'm going to buy it. I'm a huge fan. I'm in the front row every day. I mean, all the, all the Mark Cuban stuff we saw with the jumping jacks on the sideline. And the biggest example for me of that is Portland. And what's going on there is that, you know, a decision was made to sell to a guy for reasons other than he loved the city of Portland and he wanted to keep the Blazers there. And now a city that is among the best basketball fans in the country, as far as I'm concerned, are fighting for their team. And if they keep it, they've got to pay a bunch of money that could go to public services. I mean, the education— public education in Oregon is ranked, I think, in the bottom 5 of 50 states. Maybe the money could go there and maybe the billionaire could pay for his own stadium. This is just my, my attitude.

And by the way, I know he rents it, but that's a whole different story of how that happens as well.

Rachel, it's fitting this hasn't come up here because, odd as it is to say, it seems like the Heat getting Giannis has sort of gone under the radar. None of the experts are picking Miami in the East. The betting odds suggest that, that they may struggle just to be in the top 6. What do you think of what the Heat did with Giannis and how close it comes to making them a contender?

I think it's a huge upgrade. I don't understand sort of that perception that you're talking about. I think you're right, but I don't really quite get it. If you look at this team and the regular seasons it has had compared to obviously really, you know, playoffs with ingenuity and sort of scraping and scrapping and getting these incredible returns. But during the regular season, it's been a lot tougher in Miami. I don't have to tell you guys. And I think this Giannis acquisition just raises the floor so much. I think he is pumped. He is ready. You know, he's in the Heat system now in terms of health and sort of injury management. I'm eager to see how that is because we all know it's the best in the league. So I think that is— it's going to be a really promising start this year. The only thing I would say about sort of championship odds and things like that is it's just a start. When you have such a seismic shift in your team and you bring in someone like Giannis and you bring out all the pieces that they traded out to make all of this work, it's not a 1-year operation.

I think they're going to be better this year than they were last year. I think Giannis and Bam are going to make a huge impact together. But I think then it's going to take another offseason of tweaking the roster and the parts a little bit when they have a little more flexibility, a little more money, a little more contract exchanges. And then you might be able to see the team that really could go for it.

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Dan Levitar. This is the quickest it goes. Hey, this is the quickest it goes.

Greg Cody.

Everybody, this is the quickest it goes. Yeah, this is the Dan Levitar Show.

Rachel, we have had 8 consecutive years of unique champions in the NBA. Will this be a 9th consecutive year? And if that's the case, who are the teams that have the best chance of extending that streak?

Well, look, I always give deference to the champions. I think it is so hard to win a title in this league, to ignore them the next year or just sort of patently be like, oh, they're not going to make it. I think that's a huge mistake. However, I think the Knicks are, are a little bit of an interesting case because chemistry and the way this team worked together was such an important part of why they won the title. Buy-in from a guy like Karl-Anthony Towns playing a role that he frankly didn't embrace at the beginning of the run. So I think all of that has to happen again. And I'm not sure it can happen again if the owner leaves 2 of his 5 starters without contracts that are settled for the year. And I think that's really one of the biggest problems they're going to have to overcome. Karl-Anthony Towns could leave as a free agent this summer, this coming summer. He has a player option. He could stay, but he also could leave. And there are plenty of teams out there who would hand him the max, no problem. He wants to stay.

He's told the Knicks he'll even take a discount to stay, but apparently it's not a discount enough for them. So they have broken off contract negotiations with him. And, you know, it's not a long runway. Like, if he could leave at the end of this season, you better get that contract done. Josh Hart's contract is not done yet, his extension. His contract situation is a little different, but he is the glue of that team, man. He, you know, I always say that Draymond Green sort of, you know, exponentially changes Steph Curry. Josh Hart exponentially helps Jalen Brunson. And if you don't recognize that, if you don't reward him for that in addition to what he does on the court, I think you're making a huge mistake there, too. So, look, Knicks management, I think they got a lot of smart guys in that front office. I hope they wrap this up, you know, in the next few months, because I think that is what would make them most likely to be able to repeat. Otherwise, you're looking at different champions all over again.

Rachel, have we fixed the tanking this year? We're going to have the new lottery system where The worst teams are essentially going to be relegated. It's the NBA's version of relegation. Is, is this going to be a fix to what was a major issue last year?

I mean, look, the biggest fix to the fact that there was so much tanking last year is the fact that this coming year's draft is nowhere near as exceptional as last year's draft or even the draft before it. So the biggest reasons you had so many teams, a third of the league, it felt like at times tanking was because if you were in the top 5 in this past draft, you could change the future of your franchise. And to me, the biggest issue with tanking isn't that, oh, teams are doing this to get better. It's that teams have no other path to get better. The CBA has really changed over the last 2 sort of labor negotiations and taken away a lot of abilities to trade for certain parts during the season. The way the second apron is basically a hard cap. There's all sorts of things with the luxury tax that make it very hard for teams who are really bad to improve by other means other than tanking. So if you only leave that as the road, for teams to get better, they will take that road. I just don't think that road is as attractive in the next few years because the draft classes won't be quite as good as we've seen the past couple years.

I mean, what's it going to look like? Like, when we get to the last month of the season, Amin, and you have those teams that are the 3 worst teams in the league, they're gonna be trying really hard, right?

Yeah.

All right.

Like, and, and the idea is, especially like Rachel said, this is a draft class that isn't so great, So you have a limited number of times you can finish at the bottom before, like, you start to get excommunicated out of that zone. You don't want to blow it on a year where it sucks.

That's a good point.

Right? So the idea is like, I think a lot of people are missing a point. They're thinking like, oh, well, they can't take— they can't take— look, they're going to be teams that are going to be in this situation under these rules where it's like, look, this is the only thing we can do at this point. Play the young guys, figure it out, hope to get a good pick. The idea is that you can't be in that situation multiple years. That's what gets you in trouble. And so for a year like this where the draft class isn't that good, yeah, I think you're going to see a lot of competitiveness at the bottom to not be at the bottom.

That's a good point.

But some teams are just bad.

Yes.

Like, that's the other thing that this new rule doesn't really take into account. There are some teams that don't win basketball games because it's hard for them to win basketball games against better competition. So I'm interested to see what happens there. Last year we had so many teams just outwardly taking, sitting guys who, you know, with quote injuries, that sort of thing. This year, I don't think you'll see that stuff, but I'm interested to see what happens with the teams that are just not very good right now, and then to penalize them further with these new rules again. Look, it could work out great. There's there's changes the league has made that have been met with a bunch of consternation, and it turns out they're wonderful. So I I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. But my concern is that the base problem wasn't tanking. Tanking was a symptom, and until you fix the base problem of bad teams having more routes to get better, you're going to see bad teams play poorly, whether it's on purpose or. not, frankly.

Rachel, I believe the term you're looking for is unintended consequences, because every time the NBA is like, it's enough of this, enough of this, we're gonna have a rule— every time they do that, it backfires. Just like, remember when they're like, hey, enough of these sign-and-trades and guys get the, the hometown deal on a sign-and-trade, get rid of it and we won't have anyone leaving via free agency. And what ended up happening is people like, well, I don't need you then if I can't get an extra year and I can't get the extra money. I'll just leave in free agency. Now you get nothing. And it's, it's continuous this idea of the NBA trying to curtail a certain behavior and messing up, really, because not in, in the primary action, but because there's all these unintended consequences.

Well, here's the thing to remember about all of these decisions. Do you know how they could have cured tanking even last year, even with all the derby for these top players, all of that stuff? Last year, if in January the owners had met at a Board of Governors meeting and decided, you know what, tanking is hurting the league, it's hurting TV ratings, It's hurting the reputation of the NBA. We need to stop it. Every single owner could have walked down the hall when they got back home to their general manager and said, no more. We're not doing this anymore. We have decided as a group we are not doing this anymore. And in one day, tanking could have been cured in the NBA. But the owners don't trust each other or themselves enough to do that. And so this new rule has to come in. So it's just sort of, you know, anytime there's a, oh, we don't want to overpay, so we're putting in a second apron and essentially a hard cap and all of that stuff, it's because the owners owners are regulating themselves in a way that if they just wanted to outright, they could just do it themselves.

They don't need the rule. They could just decide to. It's the owners making the rules about ownership, but they don't trust each other enough to do that, and they don't trust themselves to do that.

Of course they don't trust each other. Like, guys, all right, all right, no more tanking. Everyone in. 30s over.

Cool.

As soon as you walk outside, all these dumbasses are gonna stop tanking. I want you to tank harder now.

No, I'm not—

I'm not saying it's weird that they don't— that they won't trust each other. I'm just saying that you have to understand where these rules are coming from and why. That's all.

Rachel, at the end of this coming NBA season, who will we say won the breakup, the Celtics or Jaylen Brown?

Oh, I see. Look, I think a lot depends on health with both of those situations, right? Jayson Tatum looked great for large patches of when he came back at the end of last season. I mean, it was amazing. But obviously that leg kind of ran out of gas as they went through the playoffs and he didn't even play the last game, I believe. So if he, on that repaired Achilles, can sort of be Jason Tatum, I think that he will be able to give them a very good regular season. I think they still need pieces to add to that lineup to make it championship worthy. And I think the Sixers have the potential to be championship worthy. So I expect the Celtics to have a better season. I hope they make some changes at the deadline to make them more competitive. for a title. Otherwise, I would say between those 2 teams, the Sixers, who I think will have a somewhat rocky regular season if they're healthy— and that's another huge question with them— if they're healthy, I think they're going to be very dangerous in a 16-game tournament situation.

The Story with Rachel Nichols, weekdays on SI TV. You can also watch it on YouTube. We got Amazon Prime, Roku, DirecTV where you can get Sports Illustrated TV. You got to go on the record now, Rachel. NBA Finals pick. Let's do it. What is it?

You know, I mean, pretending that the NBA playoffs are about anything but health and the bracket, like who you play when, is kind of a fool's game. Like, the Spurs and the Thunder are my picks in the West. I think the Knicks and Sixers are my picks in the East to be in the conference finals. And from there, we'll see.

They're booing you back here, Rachel.

Oh, I know.

It's the Heat.

Do it. Do it. I think, as I said, the Heat are going to finish better than people think. I just think they need one more offseason. I mean, what do you think? You've You've watched this as long as I have. Do you think they need one more season to kind of tweak before they're really in a title change?

Here's the deal. I watched Giannis play the other— maybe a week ago or so. Their first—

He's exceptional.

Rachel, like, it can't— everyone thinks I'm just being kind of because I'm in Miami, I'm being a homer or whatever. I cannot express to you how healthy and how amazing he is, right? In a sense that it's not just energetic. It's forceful. There's, there's a force of nature to it. There's one play in particular that's just been burnt in my mind since a week ago or so, which is they're on the break and Tim Hardaway Jr.'s on the right wing and Giannis is sprinting from the backcourt. And as he's crossing half-court, you can see him— this is where we needed a lip reader— screaming, get me the effing ball!

Mmhmm.

And so Tim swings it to him, he takes one dribble and left-hand dunks on Yves Missy. and won. And I'm like, the Heat haven't had someone like this since LeBron, basically. They have not. Like, no disrespect to Jimmy Butler, but Jimmy's not that kind of player, a, a 25, 26 points per game every single night, and that energy and that force. And so you give that kind of talent to Erik Spoelstra, who we all see the GM surveys every year wins the best coach, the smartest coach.

Smartest coach in the league.

How do you give him this gift of top 5 in the league talent and say, Yeah, I don't know if they'll be a top 6 team, which is what Stan Van Gundy said.

But that's, that's crazy to me. That— I, I can't agree with that at all. I mean, they are going to be good with Giannis. Like, to think that they'll be anything but very good with Giannis Antetokounmpo is just crazy and silly. It's just when you get to that next round of could they win a title this year—

could they?

Of course they could. Anything can happen in this league.

Will they?

I think their chances are lower right now because they've only had one offseason to get this roster in And most of it went to getting Giannis Antetokounmpo. So I think that they will be so much fun to watch this season. I think they're going to finish a lot higher than a lot of people I see picking where they're going to finish. But I just think that, look, they could— obviously anyone can win right now. Well, maybe not anyone, maybe not the New Orleans Pelicans.

Not the Pelicans.

But almost anyone can win in an NBA season. We've just seen teams get to the Finals we didn't expect over and over over the last decade. But I think that to really be a championship-level team, I would give this excellent front office one more offseason to kind of tweak around the roster and build on what I think will be the high success of this season.

Rachel, the team to me that has the biggest delta between floor and ceiling is the Toronto Raptors. I don't know what to expect with them. What do you think? I mean, obviously they add Kawhi Leonard, but even factoring in that he's probably not going to play 75, 82 games or whatever. Where do you think the Toronto Raptors end up?

I agree with you. I think they're very hard to call. They're certainly the sweetheart favorite of NBA podcasters, right? I feel like the NBA intelligentsia group has sort of, you know, donned, you know, given the Toronto Raptors their seal of approval. I've seen people picking them for the Finals or even the title. I think they have a big swing because Kawhi Leonard is just such a big question mark. As you know, I live in L.A. I've watched this over the past however many years he was there. What was it? 7 years that he's healthy sometimes. And when he is, he's just still one of the most exceptional forces in the NBA. And also, I don't believe that he has finished a playoff series, a playoff round, meaning that like as far as the Clippers went, that he was able to finish with them, however you appropriately say that, that I don't think that he has been able to do it in years and years and years. Right. I mean, am I— is my math wrong? I don't think that he has been healthy through playoff runs. a long time. And so, look, if he's not— if they build their team around him, which they obviously are, obviously there's other— a lot of other good talent on that team, but he's going to be the crux of the team.

And then he's not there in the playoffs or for part of the playoffs. They're not going to win the title. So it's just there's no way to tell.

Great job, Rachel. Congrats on the new show. Good seeing you.

Thanks so much. I got to just ask, I mean, why are you in a cape?

It's not a cape. It's a— what's it, a Greek?

Yeah. Did you see The Odyssey, Rachel? Rachel, do you see The Odyssey? He's Antonis. He's that piece of shit Antonis.

Rachel, I'm just wondering, will someone get these beggars out of here?

Oh my Lord. Bye, friends.

There you go. Rachel Nichols again. The Story with Rachel Nichols on SITV.

Down, Avatar!

Yeah, very much.

If someone told you you couldn't have a Corvette—

I'm a grown-ass man who's not, who's not I'm not filthy rich. I can't afford a Lamborghini.

Greg Cody!

Well, I probably can, but that's besides the point.

Whoa!

Hey!

Oh, wow.

Okay, Greg. This is the Dan Le Batard Show.

Am I the only one who's not willing to anoint the Indiana Pacers as Eastern Conference champion? Like, immediately shooting back up the standings? Like, it's not like they were world beaters when they made the, the, the Finals 2 years ago.

They weren't good in the regular season. I mean, they were okay, right? They were okay. And they went on a great run.

They were a middle-of-the-pack playoff team.

I wouldn't even like say Haliburton got hot. I'm just saying like over 82 games, yeah, they weren't that great.

I gotta see it. Like, I feel like it's all the Pacers, they got Haliburton back, they're gonna shoot right up the top. I don't know about that.

You know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of Trae Young and the Hawks in 2021. Had a decent regular season, Got hot in the playoffs. Maybe, just maybe, if Trae Young doesn't get hurt— remember, Giannis did get hurt in the Conference Finals— maybe they could have gone to the Finals.

Yeah.

Maybe they would have lost to whoever, right? But, uh, who was it that year? The Suns or whatever, right? But the point is, they came back the next year and everyone was like, oh, the Hawks, that's one of the best teams in the East. I'm like, based on what, man? Of, of a— don't get me wrong, 2 and a half months of like the most important time of basketball, but again, this thing is such a slog. You gotta go from basically Halloween until Tax Day, every single day getting up and trying to be better than everyone else. And I just didn't see that.

You don't think the Zubac addition does anything?

I think it's a great addition. I like what they've done with their roster. I like Kelly Oubre pickup. I'm just saying, like, hey, that's not like the type of— that's not like, again, that's not like adding Giannis where it's like, yes, there's gonna be a massive leap. I think they've improved. I just think, man, there are a lot of other great teams in the East, so why am I giving them the benefit of the doubt? Why? Because the last time we saw them healthy, they went to the Finals. But you know what it's like? It reminds me of when the Lakers signed Gabe Vincent. Everyone was like, oh, they got, they got a shooter. I'm like, you must not have watched Gabe Vincent.

I love Gabe Vincent.

By the way, I should mention, when I went over the NFL injuries for this week, Terry McLaurin last night also looked like a really significant knee injury.

Whew, I was scared.

Love her books.

I'm so happy you got to football because I was My throat was getting parched because I had nothing to say on basketball for the last 15, 20, 30 minutes.

I do want to—

Football, I know football.

I do want to bring this— okay, so good. I do want to bring this up. Did you see over the weekend, you saw what happened with the player for Duke, Kamari Robinson, I think his name is?

Okay.

Where he got a ton of flack. He had to release a whole— well, had to, I mean he should release a whole apology where he smacked the female trainer's arm away when she came to check on his friend. And I thought his apology was pretty sincere. Like he was saying how this is a very close family friend of his who was hurt on the ground. He was very concerned. Certainly not excusing smacking away the girl's, you know, the woman's hand, you know, but yeah, I thought he gave— I thought he gave— I mean, everyone knows it. I thought they gave— I thought he gave a really sincere apology. He was suspended indefinitely by Manny Diaz. Were you surprised? Indefinite means like, we don't know when you're gonna be— a while.

Could mean one game.

Could.

Could. Is he a really good player for Duke?

I don't know.

What does his NIL look like?

He went suspended, not that much.

He went to St. Thomas Aquinas.

Oh, okay.

I feel like that does factor in.

That does factor in a little bit.

Okay, so I know nothing about him other than that, but I'll find out right now.

I know Manny's going to want to go back down to St. Thomas.

Yeah, that's right.

So he better make sure he treads lightly. I will say that, I mean, I was— obviously he had to apologize. You can't react like that to a woman trainer. If it was a guy trainer, I might have did the same thing. No chance I would have done it.

If it was a guy trainer, I'm not sure we would, we would care so much.

No, no.

But, but again, like, don't hit women, you know?

Like, so full stop. Yeah, full stop. So I'm okay with the suspension if that's— they have rules. Every team has like certain rules, and they have obviously certain consequences when those rules are broken. And if that is the case, you got to ride with it.

Even if it was a male trainer, why are you slapping his hand? He's trying to help your teammate. That's injured.

It's the Trying to back him up too, because it's like more of like a push, like, watch out, I'm here.

More so than like—

Yeah, I think that's more just toxic. Like, hey, you know, you can say, hey, watch out, I can hear, and then I can respond to your words as opposed to moving, physically moving me out of the way.

Speaking of suspension, CJ Gardner-Johnson was suspended a game for the spitting incident against the Raiders the other day. Have you ever been in a game where a player tried to spit on you?

Yes.

Really?

I don't know who it was, but you get under piles. There's a—

Oh, it's like in a pile?

Oh yeah, spitting, grabbing, twisting. Yeah, no, it gets—

I've heard all the stories. There's a lot of pinching, a lot of grabbing underneath there.

The pile sounds awful.

It's not a fun experience.

They're grabbing, they're sticking things in places.

I don't know, I didn't get that report.

No?

Nah, I didn't. I think—

Who wasn't in the pile then?

Yeah, not the pile you were in. No.

So I have no way of finding out whether or not Kamari Robinson is good, but I will say in College Football 2070, he's a 78 overall.

That's not—

That's all I can give you.

They told me this is how football was played.

Yeah, Greg, you're surprised with the pinching? Like, when they're on the bottom of that pile and like the guy has the ball, they're pinching that guy to get him to give up the ball. Like, like, they'll squeeze.

Pinching is putting it so lightly. Yeah, like, imagine somebody just grabs a piece of flesh and literally tries to rip it off your body.

To get him to release the ball.

The most vulnerable piece of flesh.

No, I mean, no, man. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I, I really want you to talk to somebody.

You might have a problem.

I'm just saying, like, it's just like, it's, it's not like it's the the undercarriage, right? And they're just—

The grundle.

Yes, they're grunding there, and then sometimes that hand just keeps going and you're like, well, I guess we're doing this.

The arm keeps going? The hand keeps going there?

I don't know what team he played for. I've never seen pictures of said team.

I mean, the hot cats.

I played for a Greek team.

Hot cats. Balls.

How often would you say underneath that pile—

Every time.

No, no, I know those things are happening every time.

Every time it happens to me.

But how often in that pile is the ball changing hands? Gotta be at least 50/50.

Balls. I don't know if it's 50/50. But if, again, if it's one of those where you truly don't have an angle and like, you know, ball is loose, pile happens, somebody may end up with it. It is a lot more frequent than you probably expect that it ends up in somebody else's hands and they get possession of the ball, and the only evidence is they came out with it.

Yeah, sometimes they go 2 hands, one's on the front and one's in the other, and I'm like, what?

So they're not trying to get the ball then?

They're trying to get it.

I mean, he's making it sound like an orgy, under there at the— on the pile.

Orgies sound fun though. This, this wasn't fun.

Why would anyone ever play this sport?

This is the unfun orgy.

This never happens when you're playing baseball. The only one touching that area is yourself.

Yeah.

I saw Joe Brady, the Bills coach, said that they're not going to cut CJ Gardner-Johnson. Like I mentioned yesterday, I thought there was a possibility they were going to cut him yesterday.

Secondary can't sustain that.

I know, but like—

Secondary's terrible.

Okay, but if they're bad with him, they could still be bad without him.

Yeah, but it's like like, you know, warm body. The spitting incidents included Ja'Marr Chase. He ain't getting cut, right? Jalen Carter, he ain't getting cut. And your argument is like, okay, CJ Gardner-Johnson, but to Tony's point, with that secondary, he might be Ja'Marr Chase to that secondary, right?

The guy who died in the secondary still playing, Zazz.

Why did someone try and spit on you?

I don't think anybody tries to spit on you. It's not like a, oh, we're in it. Like, that happens, yes, but in this version, it's just again, you get under a pile and you're just trying to get somebody to think or let go of, or you just— it's just a violent sport, man. It's just what happens.

Just sometimes the spit helps.

Stuff just happens.

Like, it reduces the friction.

Oh man, I mean, I don't know what game you're playing, dog. I don't know.

Roy, what is the name of the Calgary Flames goalie? Kevin—

It's Devin Cooley.

Devin Cooley. I was gonna call him Kevin Tooley.

Oops.

Devin Cooley is the Now, I believe that we have played clips of this goalie previously. Like, was he the goalie who said, none of this matters, we're all gonna die? I think, I think that was him, right? I think he was the goalie who is like super introspective. Well, he, he did it again. Greg, give this a listen.

Wonder about 34 saves in your night, just how you felt and what you saw as you looked out from your crease.

Yes, I felt nothing. The, the problem with me is that I have a lot of fun playing, but when I start having too much fun, it makes me into— from an unconscious goalie to a conscious goalie. And my conscious brain is really bad at playing goalie. So I have to like let my unconscious brain do the work because it reacts a lot quicker. When I'm having too much fun and I'm smiling and I'm talking to everybody and I'm hanging out, what happens is that shifts me into more conscious brain goalie, and then I can't react in time, and then I'm slow, I'm behind the play, and then I give up 7 goals, you know. But today it was just unconscious, like don't think about anything, you know. If you ask me how I made a save, I'd be like, I have no idea. Just my unconscious brain does it, and that's what you work in practice for, you know.

He's basically like Will Ferrell in Old School, right? Just black out and then takes care—

I love that guy.

He's the poster boy for goalies are weird, right?

I would pay to have that quote in a locker room that I was covering. Because we— Bobrovsky, for 4 or 5 years, you ask him a question like that and he goes, he's very good, and that's all he says. And this guy is actually waxing poetic in a way about his mind process. I love that guy.

I just can't get past the fact that at the beginning, the way they say about, they say about a boat. A boot.

A boat.

Tell your pop to buy a boat for my pops.

Hawk, you played in Canada.

I did.

A lot of boots out there?

A lot of bouts.

A lot of A's?

A lot of out and abouts. You played there, eh?

Sure. Yeah, Steve Martin was a prop comic too.

I don't like when you do that. I got a lot of things going on here when I sit in this seat.

He just said it though.

He literally just said it.

He said it a second ago.

All right, but there's a lot of tentacles when you're in this seat.

Hey yo, must be uncomfortable.

Bouncing a lot of plates here. All right.

Are the tentacles— are they grabbing and holding?

Okay, here we go.

Yeah, it's grabbing my grundle.

Congratulations, Junior.

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