Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan

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Download the PayPal app today Save those offers Start scoring rewards. Terms and exclusions apply. See payPal d. com slash rewards terms, credit card points subject to issuers terms and conditions All right, we're coming to you live on Netflix between Game two and game three of the NBA fininals. Adam Friedlan coming up in a little bit first time. He's ever been on the BS podcast. I'm excited to talk to him I have a bunch of random reactions coming off game two heading into the rest of this series and because I'm an experienced professional who's had a podcast for over twenty years. I feel like I can do this on the fly I wrote down a bunch of stuff. First of all Most incredible Nicks playoff win since LJ's four point play Brunson goes seven for twenty five for twenty points and they still win. They don't get a single call for ninety minutes other than a challenge that they challenged and won the challenge to get the OG three They still win They blow a fourteen point lead in the last six minutes of game two. they still win. They have towns Absolutely destroying Weemby in the first half of the game to the point that at halftime Shack and Kenny had to do like a long Mia Copa. I was right there with them to cement his sudden arrival is one of the twelve most important guys in the league. We will talk about that a little bit later Yeah, Bridge is leaving his own body and officially making everybody who's ever criticized what they gave up in that nets trade Myself included in the last year just because they gave up all the assets they would have needed to get Yonest, but who needs Yonest now? You're two wins away from the title Uh So we had this incredible bridges game And then you had Wemby Closing A really horrific three point airball that got lost in what happened next a horrible two for one foallaway twenty two footer. The Surs did two things in the last forty seconds of this game that I hate One is we got to get a two for one and you end up getting a terrible shot. I'd rather just get one awesome shot And then the fou to give I just have always hated And and they did the fail to give, which of course when one be fs Brunson went ten seconds left. You have no fl to give, and suddenly he' shooting free throw You have an all time iconic People screaming out loud as it's happening, bad turnover with Weenby, which we'll get to in a second. You've already heard people talk about it for two days. I have some additional thoughts. And then you have a wide open eighteen foot miss twenty two year old guy that was actually a really good shot The question is whether that's the right play and the right moment for somebody like that who's been kind of skiing backwards in the last two minutes of the game the castle play Throwing the ball off his back I think was the closest We've seen in the NBA to the Chris Weber time out playay in college against North Carolina for a bunch of reasons. O The coach is standing next to Weemby And he's doing this. He's telling him to go to push it because he doesn't want to call time out to set up a play. I don't know why he was so excited to have his seven foot seven center dribbling the ball up with ten seconds left and a must win game. I probably would have rethought that. There's a great angle of Weenby from the other side and he's got both of his point guards to his right doesnn't even look at him Looks forward. Castle I'm torn on this because I think Castle thinks Wendby's going to take the ball down, which he's done in the past. So he's starting to put his head down and run But I also feel like if you're a real point guard, You want the ball. You're going to come to the ball. you're ready for the ball and Castle's, you know, he's a guard. He's not a real point guard. If that's Fox or Harper They're turning around. they're trying to get the ball from Weby because they they want the car keys in that moment And it was just just an absolute cluster fuck. and u kind of couldn't believe it as it was happening It was, I think one of the all timers for an Ohh no And everybody had that reaction. there were great reactions that people captured all over the place, but When I think about you throw that play in and then how the game ended and just blowing An incredible comeback The most damaging non clinching Non injury finals of the last fifty years. So we're removing all the game sevens. We're removing stuff like Hallibberton last year against OKC because that's probably number one, like losing your best guy in a game seven. Um I went to the JR Smith game in twenty eighteen, which was another oh no Um, where they get the rebound and just okay, and you couldn't even believe it as it was happening. The Ray Allen shot game six, twenty thirteen against Miami Ivis I was at that game too. The crazy Celtics game for a comeback in two thousand eight U totality of coming back from twenty four and then feeling like they completely broke the Lakers at the end Wade Salvatore game five Miami, Dallas, two thousand six Now we've blended game three and game five together in our heads and just thought Miami got all the costs for both those games. and they did get a lot of costs in game three Game three was a much better game and also had I think Dirk missed a big free throw at one point, U The heat climb back, a lot of people were involved. That was just more of a traditional awesome comeback. Game five A was was pretty awful in the moment and culminated in Miami winning and Cuban doing the thing where he he just stared at David Stern from the court. He was so angry I wrote a very upset com about after that game. that was pretty egregious and you just felt like He felt like the house was done after the game. The Nick Anderson game which a lot of people brought up in nineteen ninety five is another one the four miss free throws I see the comparisons with the ninety five magic and this spurse themam what happen, but you can't really compare ose two games for this reason Um the magic had the game, it was over And he missed four straight free throws and three and four were like you're watching somebody's career flash before their eyes And when he missed it, then it goes in OT, I think, and then they they end up losing U. That was much more of a we had it. oh my God, I can't believe we blewed this game Whereas the Spurs game, they clawed back. they almost won. they had to make a couple You know, playays stops, it was a back and forth game and even though it was devastating, trust me, it was not like the Nick Anderson game Isaiah sprained ankle in nineteen eighty eight where the pistons are up three two. They're better than the Lakers that year Isaiah gets hurt, still is a twenty five in the third quarter and then They end up blowing it late Magic Junior Skyhook. I was at this game, nineteen eighty seven, game four. Sels are up six with two minutes left and it just becomes an operatic collapse culminating in the junior Sky hook and then Bird missing, which we captured in the Seltholk City documentary, Bird missing the three porter to win it by aboutbout one one hundredth of an inch. That was the most devastated I've been after a game And then Henderson Steeeel. In game two of the nineteen eighty four finals, the Lakers are going to finish off the Celtics and probably sweep or win in five and then Um, Wthy throws of Tennerson goes in overime So that from the last fifty years those are the worst ones. and I really do think that game too with the spurs is on that list Because having your best guy and the guy who's supposed to be the next guy L LeBron in two thousand seven was twenty two and he made the fightals. They just got their ass kick. Nobody remembers a single thing about that finals. there wasn't anything you could really hang on LeBron and be like, o, that play Um Mbe is just about po ever to have u Like a really dope play like that happened to him We'll see how he responds over the next couple games but that was about as bad as it gets for a great player And I think If I'm doing blame pie Castle twenty percent for just turning around and running forward. I'm just trying to get the ball from my center. Mitch Johnson, at least fifty percent for not calling a timeout and then weemby I just think brainfarted and kind of panicked when he should have been like, where Where's Harper and where's Fox? Those are the two guys that need to get the ball to So I'd put him at like thirty to thirty five percent. That's probably too much blame pie. I thought might' have been one hundred and five percent of a blame pie, whatever Here's another thing that that came out of this game that I was Stuned by Even that night as I was thinking about it, the spurs have five the worst playoff losses. And I think their're five is worse than anyone else's five. They lost the Reayo and shot game, which is the worst loss Anyone's had in the history of the NBA finals Derek Fisher zero point four shot in two thousand four where The Spurs were just better than the Lakers that year and that's still a pretty stupid series And Fishher just getting a jumps shot off in four tenths of a second I don't even know if that's legal by the rules we have now, but That was devastating, especially because Timmy had made a big before that to give them the weed That's two Mayu fouling dirt U upp three in the last like twenty seconds game seven two thousand six Um, And we love mananu and M is a great player and it was just he was trying to challenge the play. I actually don't think he did the wrong thing, but he fouls dirk gets the three point play goes in overime Dallas wins So Wimby Castle Pass has to be up there And then that famous Rod Strickland nineteen ninety play I was in college for that one. I think I was probably out of classes by that point. but But that was an all timer. throws it over his head backwards And u endnds up Portland ends up Not only did he turn the ball over by throwing it over his head with like thirty seconds to nobody Portland gets a fast break which he then hardfouls the guy in the fast break and I think it ends up being two free throws in the ball So Those five plus, you got to go with game the sppurs in nineteen seventy nine blew it Three one lead to the bullets And in game seven Bobby Dandridge kills them with ten seconds left. Now that wasn't like a But it was a really horrible like collapse. We thought George Graven was going to be in the finals And then Dandridge matches them. I think Gervin had forty two. Dandridge had like thirty five, thirty seven And he made the big shot with ten seconds left I think I put some thought into this. That's the worst five losses. If you're going to top five worst losses by franchise. Nobody can touch that Ray All Fisher M who Fallally Dirk So Wendby Castle pass and Rod Strickland. I needed either one or two words to explain each of those moments and you knew what I was talking about. So Um That part's nuts Another one, a Nick final sweep, which I think was sixteen to one on Fandor. before the finals I think would be one of two craziest outcomes in the history of the finals If you're just talking, I'm not talking about upsets, craziest team that won. I'm just talking about outcomome a next sweep onlyn thing you can compare to that is ninety five the u, the rockets sweeping Orlando, which I can't remember. I bet on Houston and that' one of my favorite bets I ever made betting on Houston that series that did not have the sweep. I don't think But that Pistons in five Over the Wakers in two thousand four Um I think if you thought the pistons were going to win that one, you wouldn't have thought it was going to be that decisive And then I think the ninety one Bows beating the Lakers in five would be another one because that was a classic. It was a little like this series actually. Is the young team ready The old team with know how veterans. who do you have? I pick the Lakers that serious Dad on the Lakerers that series. in the bows one and five But I would think this is one of the two most shocking outcomes along with the Houston Rolato Seep. The other thing is if they win the title I think this becomes our premier NBA example of experience over youth because it used to be the ninety five Rockets over over the over the magic I think it would now flip to this because that ninety five magic team did have at Bran Shaw that Horace Grant wasn't like this, It was this completely young team. I think the sppurs feel younger to me than that team. A writer named Noops Christensen. a mailbag writer. said I had a thought about Nick Spurs. I present the YMCA test Imagine if it were the championship game for the best league at your local YMCA Team A has five very talented players, ages twenty one, twenty two, twenty four, twenty five and twenty eight they're playing team B, which might be slightly less talented but still talented and their players are twenty, twenty nine, twenty nine, thirty one and thirty Are you taking the more talented but younger team A or the betterveteran team B, the YFCA test I kind of like this. There's been some other YMCA battles. like I think the A really good one was the twenty eleven Thunder against the twenty eleven Mavericks was one of my favorite ones for these. But then you'll have the next year We the twenty twelve Thunder, we thought that was another YMCA test series and they beat the spurs. So it doesn't always work I did enjoy this. All right. so what do What do the sppurs have to do to flip a series downown to games So you can either be down twoz or three one in a series. I went back and I looked at all the times We've been in this situation, the finals. And what you learned is you need some sort of dramatic Karma changing, momentum changing, something You don't know what it is It could be as simple as presresident decided to go to game three. I'm sorry, too soon Um two twenty one sus. they won. I'm sorry, they They u won the first two at home and then blew the series to the bucks, right But what happened in that series Post COVID, a little weird That was the that was then the stands would Some people were messed, other people it was just a weird vibe for that whole thing. But Game five had one of the craziest sequences, that game's in Phoenix, the series is tied to two after Milwaukee won their two at home And then u You have that one where Drew Holiday comes fine in. Steals the ball from Booker to get the fast break the other way and the awesome crazy all time athletic ally of Tianis And it was one of those sequences you're like, holy shit, Walk is could win the finals now. That's one To that, but twenty sixteen Cavs was a bigger one. That was the Draymon suspension after game four And I've talked about this before, but the cabs lose game for att home to Golden State. It's one of the best games of the twenty ten s. The waars are better than them They finish them. and then at the end of the game, LeBron goes Draymon into the technical And that flips that one two thousand six heat You have that game three comeback I mentioned earlier where they're down teen with six minutes left. The heat score twenty two points in the last six minutes and they get dirk to miss one of two free throws that in the last ten seconds that gets him to win it That flips littleal they win game four and then game five has have been in Salvatory game And then the ninety the nineteen seventy seven Blazers is the other one. They're down two out of Philly And at the end of that game There's a huge fight. with Darryl Dawkins and Maurice Lucas and Dawkins is so mad after the game that he like destroys the locker room. He feels like the Sixers didn't help him. And it kind of fucked the team up So I would say that counts for Some sort of momentum shift There's one time Out of all those, so I have the twenty twenty one bucks sixteen calveszero six heat seventy seven blazers, which is. Your best hope for the sppurs because Almost fifty years later, they're very similar to that seventy seven Bazers team Core Wey is Bill W Fall down zo two in the finals, Everybody thinks the series is over The ninety three sons goo down o two. to the Chicago Bulls They have a crazy game three That's like one of the lost great NBA games triple overtime Triple overtime, game three and the Suns win. They beat Michael Jordan in Chicago feeles like they flipp the momentum back. What happens? Bs have Michael Jordan and he scores fifty five in game four and basically just says no way. you're not coming back So that's the one time when the momentum shift happened and then the team that was up to zero that I could think of sted it off. So How do you flip a series down two games You need something crazy to happen in game three. I don't think it can just be a win. I think it has to be either The next collapse, the vibes are weird Uh Weby puts up a fifty thirty something something crazy has to happen Monday night for this series to flip. It can't just be o, the Spurs played better and they won It's got to be like a tangible flip because No team has ever lost the first two at home and then won the series. So you would need something Really dramatic. The goodness for them is they do have a really great player even if he hasn't one hundred percent played like it in the finals so far Um, which brings me to Wendby So This is something I remember talking about two years ago with Anthony Edwards after game three of the Dallas series, which was really bad for both him and toowns. and U on the Sunday IPod was talking about A there levels of this with the playoffs And you don't know it until you're in it. and it's just really hard for Guys, twenty, twenty one, twenty two, twenty three As everything gets harder as you're seeing the same same team You know, maybe seven times in two weeks, there's There's levels to it There's ways you get pushed mentally and physically that you've just never dealt with before. And sometimes you can see young players no matter how great they are You can feel it start to break their brains And It happened a little with Edwards. He did rally back in that Dallas series and his last two games were pretty good U LeBron and in the two thousand seven finals, he was twenty two. shot thirty six percent had almost six turnovers a game Tatum At age twenty three in the twenty two finals against Golden States, a good example. He just really unraveled. and It was fatigue and how the worriors were defending him. He shot thirty seven percent, but you could feel it in the last few games. that you just could feel him losing losing control of all the stuff that he was so good at Sack in the ninety five finals just getting killed by Hakkim KD is a good one. He's age twenty two in that Dallas series, I mentioned. Both him in Westbrook just felt really young in that series. Katie only shot forty two percent in that series, but Dirk really took it to him Um An underrated one was Derek Rose in the twenty eleven Miami series when it was like, is it too early for Derek Rros? Like that Miami team was pretty limited. They I mean, they basically had the three guys in Haselland. U Rose shot thirty five percent just just couldn't put it together in that series. The one example of somebody pretty young I thought acquitted themselves well and actually didn't feel at all like they were young was Lua in that Golden State series in two thousand Oh two. retty good in that series. go back and you look at the stats. He was not the reason they lost and his stats in general, Luca has never really been by the finals. The Celtics probably did the best job against him in twenty four, but or not by a playoff series, not the finals. But Luca' the only example. the point is When you're a young player and you're great There's still levels to this and it's still like solving the video game. And I think you could really feel that Webby. Webby was so bad in the first half Tows just took it to a And u He did respond in the second half. So if I'm F the spurs, you know I'm going to get to that one second Kleimcoo, a listener, wrote in Where does this Weby game two collapse rank for you on the tragic Johnson C Web time out Freddie Browns pass to James Worthy in eighty two Bird steals the bff from Isaiah, etcera. scale. We don't know yet because we don't know how the finals is going to turn out. This is a sweep I do think that play gets mentioned big picture do you think Webby Castle, I just think you'll know instantly what it was. It will take you right to that moment and it'll be What are the weirder brain fire plays that we've ever had There was a really good slow mo from behind the hoop where Castle's turning as W' throwing. When you slow it down you're like, why is he throwing it? Castle's already turned But in real time He's dribbling, there's ten seconds. There's a bunch of stuff going his head and he's like, I should give that to Castle and he's thring it to him, but Castle's already turned around. It's just the kind of play that would never happen if he was twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine. He's been in the league for a few years. He would have looked for his point cards This goes back to the whole youth versus experience thing This was why we were wondering whether they were the ninety Bowls of the ninety one Bowls all season This is my hesitation with them for a long time and that I finally bought in on them the last couple of rounds. O You just can't quantify it until you're there. And that play to me is the perfect example of You just don't know until you're in a moment like that. when you're on a stage like that with that many people watching when you've had a crappy first half when you're trying to climb back when you're tired when you feel like you have to do everything and you just kind of panic Magic Johnson' is one of the seven best partars of all time. You go back to the eighty four finals. He's Terrible. L his worst play in that whole finals was the end of game two, he dribbles out the clock versus giving the Ba a Koream. They didn't get a shot off on the last play of regulation. He just like brainfart him and this is kind of stuff to happen. All right. So if you're the Spurs, What's your roadmap for coming back I think you have to look at it this way You didn't get your ass kick You're used to the speed of the finals now. likeike you understand what it takes You you really found something in the last six minutes of game two You've had big leads in both games Double digit leads, I think, in both games. You let game one with two minutes left cameame back from fourteen. you led game two with fifty seven seconds left. So this wasn't like Like I was there for Spurs heat twenty fourteen because I was on the SSPN show and I felt like that series was over after game three. Like it was like the Spurs are just better. Like this is a rap. This is Wh is not coming back from this So you feel one of the things you look at when you're looking at a matchup, deciding whether a series is overad is Is the team just laying it on the other team, right? Are there twenty point leads? Is it What are the this has been a pretty even back and forth series The Spurs last two fifty, fifty games, right? small sample size. So you would talk yourself into that. you would talk yourself into you completely throwway game two. It was one of the more ridiculous losses in recent finals history Brunson defenses worked He's nineteen for fifty six. He's takaking fifty six shots for fifty one points So now you could say all the stuff you're doing to stop Brunson has now led to people like Bridges getting hot, towns has been borderline dominant U But still that's If you had said after two games fifty six for fifty one I'm feeling pretty good about that I'm feeling pretty good about maybe a little less castle going forward Um I love Castle. He's probably one of my ten favorite players in the league The fear with him was always that there was this little bit of a Westbrooke side with him, this irrational confidence side that No matter what the moment was, he He has so much confidence in himself. he's kind of meander in situations you shouldn't be in and you could really feel that game too. I just think Harper has been their second best guy And is the guy I probably trust the most other than Wendby U And it's weird because Castle is a great playayer But I think they need his defense and his intangible stuff way more all handling. likeike I wonder will you figure they're going to make some adjustments. Would they put him on towns? in game three a little bit. What are they going to do to try to disrupt towns? Castle has been the guy disrupting Brunson, but do they try to flip it around and move him around and just try to unleash him as this like intangibles force versus somebody that's You know, it seems like he has the ball a little bit more than he should and Harper doesn't have the ball enough. So When I think of the moves, Less Castle Uage lower castle usage rate would be my first one I would use Carter Bryan as the backup center against towns. I like Cornett, but we've just seen too much of the playoffs. Cornette comes in and you immediately feel like the spurs are going Gone at two to ten opposite of a run I would use Brian against toowns. I love Brian I actually don't think they're using him enough to this say. I know he's nineteen. I know he's a baby And I mean a baby like literally, he's like a young young M day part is tears away from being able to legally drink I think they need his physicality because if you're talking about the one thing this firsts team has been missing all season, it's been prrototypical. physical four put next to Wimby that could guard like the towns, Julius Reynos, those type of guys. It's really Carter Bryant And ire them I would lean on him more and I would lean less on Cornet. And then the biggest thing is Harper has to be on the floor even more and they have to use Harper Cunch timee. I think he only played four minutes in fourth quarter game one to played more ended up thirty two minutes, but he's the least afraid guy they have on this team. I don't know why, but he just is the guy' like born for this I really am careful to bring this up and I think I've even said this before, but the two thousand Kobe cameame for Indiana, which was like really the beginning of the Legend of Kobe Shack fouled out And I was living in Boston back then And likeike so many people my age and younger, like really really thought Kobe had a chance to be the next Jordan or C cllose And when Shaq fouled out, I think everybody had the same thought. Huh, what do we have here with Kobe? It's time. Let's see it. And I think the thing everybody thought in the moment was this guy, whatever happens, this guy is not going to be scared Harper is not scared He's the opposite of scared. I actually feel like He's the most agro ready for this of anyone on their team Does't make sense. He's twenty years old. We've talked about on pods on the past about young point guards This doesn't make sense. It just doesn't It's the reality of the situation This guy' not scared. He needs to play more and he P probablybably needs to have the ball. like you think about some of the terrible shots they had in the last three minutes of the game, which are always like these followway twenty two footers, these tested threes, like these shots in traffic I like all the decisions and situations harpers in with the ball I just feel the best about. I don't understand why they don't to pick and roll with him and Wimby. I just I just would have the ball in his hands way more than than they do. And maybe that will be This episode is brought to you by Netflix. The World Cup is finally here and the coolest thing right now, FIFA World Cup, launch edition on Netflix, a fast and fluid game where your phone is the controller and your TV is the stadium. Play as as any of the forty eight teams in sixteen real world stadiums and itents included in your membership. Yeah Go to the games tab in your TV and play Fefld World Cup Lunch. addition now This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a fifty page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online makes sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responssees set upp required compatibility and availability varies eighteen plus Um couple other things for them. you already know you can win on the road in the haariest situations possible. They want a game one in a game seven OKC I know this next game's going to be a mad house tomorrow and cameame for. and it's the crowd's going to be incredible and I honestly can't wait OKC's crowd is really loud. It's not really going to be a louder crowd than OKC. Like if OKC if you could criticize their crowd or anything, it's like a constant loud noise That year You kind of head your head hurts after two hours of it But it's not going to be louder than that crowd. and they went in there and they won. So U I don't think they're going to be scared unless this game two loss was just the most damaging thing ever. Trump's going to screw up the game three U and I don't mean it from being there. I'm not talking about politics two hours to get in there U The game will probably start fifteen minutes later than it should. Which means like these games are already starting around like eight hundred forty, eight hundred forty one East Cast time. The game will probably start closer to nine. And if you remember like in the twenty two finals They were starting the East Coast game super late And I went to game three and I went to game six. I didn't go to game four thought it I thought it affected the crowd The game would started at like nine fifteen. the crowds out, they've had dinner, they've had drinks, like they've kind of peeak around seven thirty to ten range and by the time you get into the second half, it's late. it's like past eleven o'clock, you feel like you've had all this energy and It's it's a weird dynamic. I just think This is if I'm the Spurs, this is the kind of kind of crowd slash time situation you're going want where it's just going to feel disisjointed and you want disjointed when you're on the road. And then the last thing is Weby. Weemby' is a great player. Wey in the second half of game two at twenty two points. U I thought he was all over the place, defensibly covering the rom. He's taken some shit because when he's twenty five feet out from the basket, guys have gone by him. Guess what? He's a center Named anyone over seven feet that that wouldn happen to. I just think like If you're criticizing Mby's defensveness, you're nuts. And But he hasn't been the best part in the series and I'm not even sure s been the second best part of the series. So What is is he it going to dig deep Is this? be like that game too is the before and after of That hardened him, that taught him how to win or is he just going to go sideways like Shaq did in ninety five? We will see. If you're the next You got no calls in game two, you still one on the road. You got no calls I actually I didn't do a fan doual pick for game two. I did bet on the Spurs money line with an adjusted over because I thought the officiating was going to be what it was in that game and it was what it was. We outside Sta even rescinded the Mitchell Robinson teechnical after the fact, which was an idiotic, ridiculous techical at the time. The towns game, the third and fourth thousand towns We're atrocious So you still win that game and you could argue if the offfficiating was a little more balanced maybe when that cameame by ten Um, if you're the next have to assume Brunson's shots are going to start falling that he's he's just even down the stretch. they miss some wide open threes. Brunntson missed some shots he normally makes. So U you have to assume he'll be better You have to assume the crowd's going to be incredible and that's Almost definitely ne your benefit. We'll see. We'll see what the how disjointed it is and you're going to be ready for more Harper in this game. You know, that's like the The one thing that sppurs can do is unleash sharper a little more. So you got to be ready and gota plan for that. Okay Last thing Carl Anthony Towns I thinking about this a lot because I don't really remember Anything totally like this happening before in an NBA playoffs where somebody that was a really good Pretty flawed star who I think made the last three worst contracts draft that I did with House and Was But we all thought he was good Anytime we did a ring or one hundred, he was always in the top thirty or thirty five He's made Two second team onbays or one second team onay in two thirds He's averaged twenty three and eleven for his career for the regular season fifty two, forty and eighty four shooting percentages. If you just look at G. in the history of the league who've played at least seven hundred games and average twenty two and eleven Crazy? twenty two and eleven. seven hundred plus games Yokage, Wilt, Elggin, Barley, Kareem, Bob Pettet and Carl Anthony Towns This is somebody that the stats always favored U someomebody that I think after his career, we probably like in the basketball reference looking back Ea, the stats would have been more favorable to him And yet with somebody none of us trusted. And that's just the way it is. When you think about Nicks make this trade two years ago and they're they basically they don't have a center because they lose Heart andstein Hartenstein getting poison pilled basically by Oklahoma City and the next losing Hartenstein leads to the town straight They're heading toward this season and they decide. We have no chance unless we have some sort of center Towns's contract is scary We can give up rand on defense and get them. And they basically just bet on the pedigree. They bet on a guy that Wes and Leon had known since he was fifteen years old when they were when Wes was trying to recruit him. A Kentucky they' known himorever They' betting on the pedigree Now, sometimes this doesn't work. Didn't work with Darko Remember, I think Orlando traded for Darko didn't work So be Did the beat ever have pedigree? He was taken seconds Michael Beasley's a good one. Michael Beasley, always one of the best two or three high school playayers in his class all the way up putut up, I think twenty five and ten in college was a little out there To say the least personality wise, but there was pedigree there and a bunch of teams took chances on him. never happened Ben Simmons was a good one Oh, he's fine. It just the Pilly thing didn't work out. You just got to change the scenery. Well, that didn't work D Andre and sort of Portland and the Wakers just doesn't always work and there's a million more examples than that. but there's This is something GMs think about. if somebody who was a top five pick, a top three pick The first pick in the draft. Maybe they were in the wrong situation. Maybe you could putip them in another situation. It works way better in baseball It's worked in football sometimes where especially with quarterbacks where they flip teams and things can change In basketball, Wiggins was a great example of this in Golden State. Wiggins, we'd all kind of given up on as a meaningful player and made a bad contract, Ges to goolden State. He's their second best guy in the twenty twenty two finals team. Eric Gord is sort of like this He was the fifth pick in the draft. We all love Aaron Gordon never Never really had it in Orlando, right? Goes to Denver, becomes Crucial guy in their twenty three team Rashid was a good one. Rashid had been in some big moments and had had probably more success than Towns U but was too much of a hothead the technicals record And by the time he lands in Detroit, the question was It wasn't for me because I likek to trade, but Um that too risk you want to be in business with Rashid Wallace? Well, they end up in the anakers that year Chaunsey Bhillips is a great one for this Chaunsea Billips, I was in Boston going into all those games because my dad never wanted to go Patino's first year We traded him after fifty games. in a Kenny Anderson trade and U I remember kind of liking the trade when it happened. I didn't know what what Chauncey was C couldn't tell if he was a point guard or shooting guard or what he was U he could go to the basket. He was a really good athlete But I learned a valuable lesson from that, which is don't give up on on young guards and especially young point guards because He bounced around. He went to Toronto, He went to Denver Minnesota. and then finally ends up in Detroit. Detroit bets on the pedigree and guess what? he becomes You know, one of the better playoff players we had in the two thousands Parish is a good one for this. He was I think the sixth pick in the draft And Golden Stake kind of cooled off on him and when Red Arback wanted Mcale ends up trading back from one to three and getting Rober Parish So those are probably Wiggins, Gordon, Rashid, Billips, Parish are five really good examples of this of bet on the pedigree And it makes you wonder when you're watching what's happen with towns. Two lessons. one Do you look at a couple guys we have in the league now a little more closely I don't think Evan Moby accounts for this because Evan Mobble iss already good. I think he's on at least one OMBA team Clevel made the Eastern Cerence finals, like he's a Max guy and I don't, I wouldn't put him in the towns camp Jabari Smith Scot Henderson. Not nearly neither of them have had as much success as Towns has had over the course of his career Zayah towns, but No playoff footprint at all and not as durable as towns Joh Maran off the field off the court stuff with John that I think towns had red flags like that. So maybe it's Zion. as somebody Bea the thinking is when somebody hits their mid late twenties Do they mature Do they aroundround into something different than what we know now, right? The case for Zion would be What if he just became more mature and got in awesome shape and went to the right team and could be unleashed as this different kind of force And That's one lesson is Think about the pedigree, Are there other guys like this? The other one would be don't overreact to a bad series So in twenty four against Dallas. Towns was awful Really awful When Towns was bad, he's b like Towns, people. people in my life, some people that have had pods for the ringer or have left the ringer. Um, we're just completely out on towns. Towns in that series was twenty and eight, but he shot thirty eight percent, twenty four percent from three. Dallas was fucking with him in all these different ways. and it just felt like the dumb foul stuff was never going to end. And I remember after three h I went and I actually found this text Uh Minnesota is down threezo to Dallas in twenty four And I started texting House at halftime of game three towns was going to be on the wizards next year and House was really mad. It's like, stop it. That's not funny. It was like a lot of epathets from House Um That's how bad it got for talents. So when they traded for him Huge contract And we were just coming off the worst series of his career. Well, what happens playayoffs, he's unleashed And I don't really fully have an explanation for it because I can't think of Another example like this of somebody that I hadd already decided on as a player completely surprised me in a completely different way. U I got an email from Mike from Toronto. After game two, Charles Bararkley said he was criticized in Minnesota, criticized in New York. Kat is the finals MVP I actually think he might be the now if there's two more games, but I think he would be the leader for me Barkley said it was the best two games. I've seen a big man play that feels a little strong. U Is this the greatest change of opinion about a player we have seen? It's a really good question because I think all of us had decided on towns and What we had decided is Good stats seemeems like a really nice guy U Pretty flawed is going to dump foul and do dumb things at the worst possible times. and that's just who he is as a player decided that U So I was thinking about An actual change of opinion, there's got to be three three qualities here has to be somebody we were really down on H to be somebody who is good enough to at least make it all NBA team or be in the mix in a conference finals or even a finals It has to be somebody that either won a title or kind of came close. So that rolls out Vince Carter Because Vince Carter to me was the most disappointing player of the two thousands just for what the potential was, but You know, the peak of his career was probably that losing the seven and to Philly and round two. It wasn't ever like he got close Chris Weber is a really good one. Chris Weber was going to be the best forward of the nineteen nineties U And the timeout, I think changed him in a bunch of different ways and I don't even think that's an opinion. I think that kind of sap them of something And You know, the Golden State thing got weird. He went to Washington and um just was really disappointing, right and gets traded to Sacramento for an older Mitch Richmond And at that point It felt like a good flyer Sure Chris Weber maybe and then he turned into one of the best five guys in the league there. m, But they never even made the finals. And then the one that's probably the closest to this is Dirk post two thousand seven. after They lose zero six finals and then they lose to Golden State in the zero seven playoffs and eventually that leads to him doing the Australian trip. I had just given up on Dirk being the best guy on a championship team. I didn't think it was possible Um, and then in twenty eleven He had one of the great resurgences slash rejuvenations in the history of the league blows through everybody. I think he beats the Lakers. he beats OKC maybe us or San Antonio and then Miami and the finals, but just It was a murderer's row and he just went through it and demolished everybody Dirk is still the number one thing for this, but in Dirk's case, he'd won an NVP He'd made the finals He was one of the best players of the two thousands. Towns was never as good as Dirk thing the town's thing Towns becoming this cerebral Awesome. never has not made dumb plays at all. And the entire playoffs. Like it's like it's almost like Thank you if you changed your meds for a little kid or something, like you had a like a hyperactive little kid And the little kid went on meds and just became a different kid. were like, Hey, what's different about that kid Towns, it's like he's having like somebody changed his meds series, even though I don't probably isn't on meds It's been so dramatic, I almost can't believe what I'm watching That first half you played in game two was one of the best halves I've seen best. Both end halfves. I've seen a center play. and I think the guys at halftime were totally red. I think Wenby was shook by it. He's like, I thought I was going to have huge advantage of this guy. I went into the series thinking Towns was going to be the number one reason that they They were going to be in trouble for this series and it's been the opposite. So Watching this town's resurgence has been fantastic couple more emails and then we're going to Adam Freeden Max V says, Livia Matt and I could say this is the most excited. I've seen this city Um possible championship people are going fucking nuts. The odds are obviously against it knock on whatood. if the N below this are is not putting that out there, but he's he wrote this as an email Bow this series Would this be the biggest gut punch loss of the twenty first century All right, I thought about this And The formula would be how long was the drought? How gigantic is your fan base and how egregious was the collapse So the eighty six Red Sox is a great example of this. The Red Sox hadn't won in sixty six years That would have us sixty eight years eight years. I can still do math Redxs had less than sixty eight years thirteen strikes to win the World Series and lost And that was the biggest gut punch, I think of the twenty first century for a sports team and a fan base. years to recover. I think it was actually genuinely damaging for a whole generation of younger fans, including myself The ninety four Rangers are a good example of almost having this happen, but they didn't because you forget, they're up three one in the finals against Vancouver Come home for game five It's it's almost like this Nix areas right now. Prices are through the roof. Everyone wants to be in the building for when they win Blow game five at home. They lose game six in Vancouver And now there's two days off before game seven And I knew some Rangers fans and still do. It was an all time people freaking the fuck out forty eight hours span And then they end up eking out game seven. winning it. so it was all fine. but I would say if the N blow this at this point I don't know if it wouldd have a parallel this century. becausecause it's unlike the Falcons Patriots where it's twenty three, you blow a game in an hour and a half. This would be You would have to blow this over a week and a half And u B All time historical laps because nobody's ever won the first two on the road and then lost the finalsal so And James from Brooklyn wants to know if Towns wins the title. Would Minnesota fans be more bitter about trading Kat or Garnett And then he says, how long until Aunt leaves for a title somewhere else? That was me and James And be more bitter about the cat trade. Garnett wanted to leave the team The team should have traded him even two years before they did and he had no chance to win a title there and you had to trade him and you had to rebuild. That was the right move Kathine. really did seem more financial than anything and they had had success with him already. They just made the conference finals with them. I mentioned that was a tough series for him and for the team too me was a financial trade It was a chance to reset a year from now with new ownership and try to get Randa on a lower deal and just not have to pay in the fifties for Kat and Anthony Edrids at the same time. And I don't think a lot of teams would have made that trade. I think teams would have probably tried to suck it up with towns for another year. It was a financial trade But it was also a trade that happened because he sucked in the Dallasars. So U I would be a little more bitter about that one. Ricky wants to know with the way Kat is showing how the best antidote to Wenby is someone who could stretch them out to the three point line and leverage their strength to get to the basket on offense. Can I introduce you to joel hands and bead Hanzibbey, Joe Hanzibbeat He's a long timee sixer spint, by the way, this guy He said in their matchups th far and beat is averaging a meager thirty eight and eleven. He needs multiple, if not all athletic, high level long wing defenders A few West teams have just that more to trade for Mbed is a savvy team in the West looking at what cat's doing and thinking this might be a decent idea. I laughed at this when I read this and then Id put some thought into it and I was actually wondering if this might make sense for somebody. The problem is you go look at Ibid's contract and it's catastrophe, but U Maybe a year from now. possibility. Scottty in Phoenix wants to know So Everyone knows the Nicks haven't lost since april twenty third Two days later they start the win streak. It was also the same day poor Dante D Foncenzo tres Achilles. Was that like a sacrifice to end the fifty three year drought, pooor Dante I do think they should have him at one of these games. It's he got the rawsdle out of everybody, right? He's like, I thought we were all doing this phone over thing. What happened It is weird that he got hurt the same day of this. And then um Kevin Portland wants to know the next one to guarantee their first championship in fifty three years Dan needs to invite Oaky back for game three at MSG Can you imagine how the crowd would react seeing them there in San Antonio wouldn' it stand a chance This would be a great, great, great This would be like a pro wrestling moment. They hug at mid courourt where they bring out Oakley, almost like a wrestling entrance where like they play, I guess Oakley doesn't have music But u pretty good idea. I think if the crowd had the choice between Oakley and Trump, they'd probably pick Oakley And That's enough four point. We're going to bring in Adam Friedan and things are about to get wacky. That's next Our roll battery is the same That's like asking if all soccer players are the same. Take Messi, the most decorated player ever. Is there any other player who has achieved that? No, just him. Now take Duracl. Is there any other battery with power boost ingredients inside? No, just Duracl. Remember, goats only trust goats because they're built different. and Messi only trusts Duracl Take your flexibility beyond the mat PayPal Pay nothing at checkout. Then enjoy a flexible monthly payment plan that works for you. With no sign up or late fees. findind yours then, and an easy way to pay. With PayPal. Download the PayPal app to get started. Subject to approval pay mononthly consonsumer loans made by Webank. Available through PayPaling N ML nine one zero four fivety seven. Learn more at payPal d. com slash pay monthly All right, so we bank this part of the podcast early afternoon and this is take two. This is the first time I think this has happened since COVID when we were having these audio issues We did a whole, we did like a hundred minutes this morning And I could have gone my entire life, Bill. It disappeared. It's ironic, Adam Freedeland because This is your first appearance on the pod. You were excited about it. and somehow you brought like a black cloud with you and it vaporized the technology. Why are you blaming me? I'm blaming you. That was Belle, the producer here said that was the greatest podcast. literally, she said the best podcast. We're gonna run it back. We're just doing it. We're doing ac I was so sad I text the boys when I realized afterwards that this is what I've been preparing for my entire life. I didn't even know We're just talking about Ball with it Listen. Well listen, here's the thing. now that now it's gone into history, the only only like seven people know the magic of the first time we did it. and now we're just going to redo it. It will be better, will be worse The only ones that are going to know are us. It'll be most certainly worse. But like on a sincere note, I grew up pod father ran out on our family as a kid And I felt like for ninety minutes I had found a p A real pod father? I won't tell him, I won't say his name. He's become but his show, his podcast is called the Joe Rogan Experience. but I don't w to He left us and he said it was my fault And I was growing up my biological podfather, of course, but And I was like, you know, he' He's not the step podfather. He's the podfather who stepped up Yeah. Bill Simmons No, but I realized it was like yeah, it was just I was telling you at the beginning of the last one, but it's just so It's so sick you get to just do this for your job. Yeah, So the first time we did this, which we're just gonna do again, you were interrogating me on what my life's like. We'll get to that a second. Well I open with a comment about how beautiful your eyes were. Oh I for. Do you remember that? that got us off to a strange start. was stunning Listen business first, the Adam Freedelan showh Yes, joining Spotify in July You're relaunching your third season with us. So you're ly on the ringer team, but more importantly next month On the Adam Friedelland showhow, you're doing a special soccer podcast, a minis series called The Beautiful Pot Okay We are off to a disaster start. I screw this up on Wednesday Uh we are start you said this month Well, this month. Yeah, June. I this month on Wednesday. Yeah. Yes. at the Adam for that show, we'll be we're going into pre production on season three, where we returned. We are now part of the Ringer something or other. Yeah. A do you get Classier ads. They do classy ads, right? I think it's a win for everybody. I've been selling boners Halo ten years. Yeah no more I've been selling some disgusting offshore gambling scams and Yeah. Y buildays are over. I had the I had the mayor, mom Donny on the show and we had a we had a rectile dysfunction ad like in like booked. So I was like, we gota just We got to lead off with the with a do you have trouble getting a eirection? Yes, but I'm yeah, we're doing a u we're going part what was it rigor Spotify partartner. The Aphy of the show is now Spotify partartner. But beyond that I am now do the World Cup coverage for the R ringay. I couldn't be more excited And And we loaned you CR, Chris Ryan Yes, you did Well, I mean, it was like with soccer, they loan the players, right? They could do that for like a year. I just loan my striker. I'm a second division team. I loan my strike. I got relegated We didn't get relegated, but we're loading CR to you anyway Well you loan like like a young guy that you want to get minutes to like a crappier team or you like SR has the most minutes at the ringer. I think he's on seventeen podcasts, but you're l. Yeah. Yeah, you're like, we can't find space on the roster for this gu This is like messy. This is like messy going to Miami Yeah, this is where he's going to end his career on the beautiful pod a Taft's original mini series. Yeah. so I know, I genuinely I'm so excited to talk just about sports instead of whatever the hell I do regularly. Aually I really enjoy doing that in Freelent S showow. It's like pretty cool but it'll be a nice change of pace Um But like now that I've like yesterday, I was like writing jokes for it all day and it's just, u This is just what I should just be This is what I wish I would do for the rest of my life. Yeah come to the dark side. J waste your life talking about sports and getting paid from ninade. Yeah, it's really You probably don't even know what a tariff is ro probably Y life is amazing. I don't know. See Y your life is incredible Do we have a president or a prime minister here? I don't even know. I regret to inform you that things are terrible But we have that One of the things I want to talk to you about was you're in New York City. you live in Brooklyn, but New York with the Kicks Um it's there's been a unifying thing happening in the city that all my friends are saying and they've never experienced anything like this ever Yeah. They' Well first off, New York's been it's been difficult here with the Mam Dani's Institute of Sharia laaw And Ben the Nicks have given those I'm sorry. See, the first joke was funnier. What did I say? Oh, yeah, this is anti Semitic You're like How was New York? No, this is anti Semitism. I'm now remembering all the jokes and you can't tell them a second time. I said Bill was like, how is it a New Yorker and And I was like, well, the antiemitism is rampant. And no, But honestly, what's happening right now is like special. I've never lived in a I've been here since twenty fourteen and I was in DC before that, but I've never lived in a city that's just like going so hard for for their boys right now. Blue and arange everywhere. watchatch parties Pople wearing homemade jerseys. Wesley Morris was talking about it. He's He was delighted by this. He felt like Beause I remember in Boston in two thousand four They're in theOCS and then the and then the World Series. Yeah it felt like the entire city just mobilized into this giant Red sox machine and you could see it. It was like everywhere you went, you just saw hats jerseys and it feels like New York's like that right now. Yeah, peopleeople are like out on the street. That's the cool part about it. Like people are like just running outside. you Outside your window, you hear people screaming and stuff Fire peopleeople are lighting fireworks right now It's like pretty cool. Yeah, hopefully revolently What do you mean?? I mean, Es are a good thing. Yeah, they're mly been own Oh yeah, people are doing crimes after every naked Yeah, crime is through the No. No, yeah, people you're seeing fireworks and it's really just genuinely I've it's really special I mean it's New York should have a better basketball team, you know They should be like a dynastic like, you know, it's New York, right And it's u I guess there was those Larry Johnson years in the nineties, but like it's It's like kind of wrong. kind in the Larry Jetson years that I've had many years No, I was saying the Greg Anthony years in the nineties. Yeah. The Anthony Mason years in the nineties. The John Stoneers right. I remember as a kid, it was just, I remember the fights. I remember the heat heat makes fights And those were that was really cool. But u Yeah, beyond that, I, you know What was it seventy eight was last year? No, that I mean, they had good st two They Yeah, seventy three was the last t three Yeah goodood stretches in the eighties. likeike I think the Bernard King stretch before he got hurt was great. Yeah couple a really good bumps in the nineties like when they battled MJ the first time the physical K teams in the nineties and then it just everver since I got TSPN there, it kind of died Yeah When I when I got there in two thousand one, it was like they were relevant one play it. Yeah No that was twenty thirteen. Yeahah. Oh yeah. Yeah, I guess that's even later. Yeah. Yeah, I guess I yeah, I like U it's like going to the garden is special, right? Like it's it is like a cathedral of the game, right? I would even inv that as a Southic fan. I would feels special. right? I mean, you're not necessarily rivals even with it's your rivals with us mean. Why do you live there? I'm not going to move to Boston Beyond the outside that Outside of that. It's like the stadium where the star on the other team Qion. What you were like you have disgust for all the people that. Well when I grew up, I hated the Lakers and it the moment I moved here, I was like, this is weird. It's nice. But but it's nice. Yeah, it's really nice. The weather is prettyice. Yeah, ye nice. Anyway, but Yeah, it's it's the stadium where the Sar on the other team like has his fifty piece, right It's like the state where Kobe like has his like, you know, like like just takes bows, you know, like it's like a place that brings out the best in the other teams, but It's cool. even if they're out of playoff contention, it's the end of the year And someone does the half court shot at half time. Like everyone's And he misses. everyone's like, goo fuck yess out. it's got an energy about it Like the stadium is still sold out and it's u But it's like spilled outside to the streets. It's really incredible to see Yeah I was there It's been a long time coming to. It got to the point where you started to wonder Is this ever going to happen again for this team? between the mismanagement, the bad luck someome of the dumb contracts And It really was like it took COVID to really shake the shake the dcks out of it. Was It was post COVID all of a sudden, things got better. But there is something about like yeah, Kat, I mean, I've just never seen him at this level. I went to the first round against the Hawks and I didn't see it Yeah I genuinely didn't see it. And u There was something that was missing there. and I was like, what's the philosophy of this team? And then something clicked. I mean, where's the last time they lost a month ago moreore than that. It waspl april twenty third. And it's been like remarkable Like they've had these likeom Like this as we were saying in our the best podcasts of all time, we're really are we hitting it Can I ask you a question? No I I think we're very every woman that I've ever had sex with How was that for you, Bill? I had a great time. I M had a great time. No, Yeah, there is there's something that clicks and like You know, like, uh, It's just yeah, I don't understand. Like Kat, I've never seen him at this level before. The stuff with the mom is like made me cry like I lost my mother. There's just something special. And you were saying the last show, but like as they seeing them collectively defend and deal with Wemby Yeah, and like And then seeing the level of the basketball just in these finals, it's like I just keep saying, this is such good basketball And it's like it's been such a fun series. and The guy that's about Darth Vader that's in waiting about to take over the entire like league for You probably play thirty years We'll probably be still waiting for him to get hurt R We're like, Oh yeah at that fifty two. is fifty two and he's unbelievable. Yeah But yeah. ye it never really cool. It never happened to Kareem So that would be the role model for Wemb. Edy He wasn't bulky too, right? now He stayed Korean stayed skinnier. He did yoga and karateate and all this stuff to kind of stay limber and and we haven't really got karate guy Yeah ye They're both karate guys. Well y Funny the I wrote and I had. I had a bunch of people in my life preers to win the series. And I had a bunch of people in my life who were like, this is crazy. You didn't pick the Nicks. like You wrote this whole basketball book and the premise was the secret of basketball and how it's not about basketball and it's unselfishness and teamwork and fighting off the disease of more and putting your Putting the team ahead of the person and I had multiple friends say this to me like How do you not see that this is what's happening with the Knicks? And I was just I was in that mo Ns. Well, it was the Nicks and I was also in that modote of wow, it was Cleveland It was Philly with like breaking down and Bed. It was Atlanta with three players like I just think San Antonio is a horrible matchup for you and isn't turned out the next probablyably a horrible matchup for San Antonio as well Yeah. I mean, uh I guess Mitch has dealt with whenbe kind of maybe Maybe the best is in towns fair to say in towns yes. I really have taken it to them So I think and also there's still just terrible when he's not playing. Like it's it's remarkable what he's done at twenty two And like, uh, Yeah, we were talking before about like It's not a real R like it feels series over, but like It does also feel like anything could happen in this series. Well we Game three is going to be weird because Trump is going It's going to take two and a half hours to get in there Right. And And the game will probably be delayed. The game's already starting like eight hundred forty, so it'll probably start closer to nine And I always found like this happened in twenty two with the Celtics when they for some reason the games were starting in like nine, ten. PM. Easter time And it definitely the crowd got a little weird as it got later and later and just didn't have the same energy as it did in the beginning. So I'm going to be interested to see Did the crowd peeak too early? Is the Trump thing like this crazy wild card that Is the game like disjointed? Is the crowd disjointed Or is it going to be like the romantic version of it is This is you this is the end of the Saw shank reedemption for the Nicks fans. This is two games of bliss The crowd's incredible Surs are scarred from what happened in game two and it's just a sweep. I honestly don't know. I don't even know how to pick it. It's still it's it's like still you just have seen this franchise like fuck up so many times. It's like I'm an Arsenal fan. We It been twenty two years and We'd like been in first place and then finished second for three straight years. Yeah. And this season this season was terrifying. every match because the prospect of finishing second ath a fourth time afterfter we werere up nine points on the table. like We almost fucked it for a fourth time. I don't know how we would have been able to manage it And like I also like none of us believe that it could ever happen too. Like I'm sure like a lot of Nick fans are too. Yeah, I mean. Well, there was this moment I talked about in the first segment of the pod, The Rangers in ninety four when they had' one in fifty four years. And then took a three one lead heading in a game five and game five was in New York. Yeah And everybody's like, oh my God, I got to be there when they win the cup and then they lost. And then they lost game six and People were just it was the every Nick fan or every New York fan I knew was it was the most horrifying Like four days, but then they ended up winning game seven. I felt like I had a nightmare scheduled. I'm like, yeah, it's tomorrow three. I'm going to watch a nightmare. Yeah' just like so scared about it. It's like it's I have to watch. Yeah. good question for you. Bloody socer was like, Thealtimore Yeah, it must have been the most incredible thing that you've ever seen in sports. That's right The baby wait the four days in a row against the Yankees is my highlight as a sports fan. Yeah, that series was unreal. But it meant more, right? because because of the curse, right? Oh, yeah. this is Yeah, this is the It's the losing virginity as a sports fan of it's the only way you can do it when you've had a drought for this long And then all these great things happen and it's never going to be as good as the first time. It's just not. How do you like, but like as a pats fan? likeike, how did you like getting boners. likeike you don knowt like what I'm saying? It has to like not D druninks you did You took that I took it Po cod a Pomo code if you addam Po code Tomrady. Adam for twenty. No, but I'm saying like does it feel it diminishes in its like excitement orr you or Boston guys just like If we don't win, it's just No the past thing was great because we went from we were basically like if the Jets had won the Super Bowl, right? We were likeack. He was like a child. He was a backup. Yeah. And it was so improvible. It was right after nine eleven. so there was a patriotic thing. So I think people are riding with us But by the it was n right after nine eleven the name of the Patriots. Well, it was say, you know, the beautiful day, You two at the Super Bowl halftime show. There was like you very American Super Bowl It was because of your name, the Patriots. They did it for nine hundred and eleven. Yeah That was part of it He you rememember the YouT twobe halfttime show? where the streets have no name with all the nine eleven names was emotional. I remember the Janet Jackson halftime show for., that's when it probably turned. Then the third one everyone got tired of us. We became Duke. And then the b happen and we were villains The best was Prince in the Rain in Miami. Do you remember that?ud purple rain Oh, you were saying But like the America turned on us, which actually was great because then all we had was each other. The other Pats fans was galvanizing. Th then where we were like rejuvenated It what we were talking about with Kobe. It's like you're heaped with praise and then yeah, that's the arc, right? Brady was like this backup, right? And it was like a romantic thing And then like eventually we're like, fuck those guys they win all the time. Well, there's there's the kinds of titles you win where like that one, nobody ever They were two touchdown underdogs in the Super Bowl. and I think they were like thirteen point underdogs in the AFC title games. The next one's a little different because it came late But it's not Once we got to the finals, I think the sppurs were favored, but I knew a lot of people that thought the Kicks were going to win. and I think it's not like shocking that they're winning. you know, I think I had no idea how to call it I just didn't know becausecause you don't know. because you I went to twenty two Yeah He's twenty two, but he's that I don't know not He threw the game deciding pass off his teammates' back. so Well he's twenty two. He's twenty two and his team they twenty one when he's on the pass They're incredible when he's playing and they stink when he's when he's. I mean, they stunk last year. how many wins did they have last week Who did those furs? Well it'sbe didn't play half the year I know. Yeah they the turnaround is like is it the Biggest turnaround Every one of them the the first bird Celtic year, they gain like thirty one wins, I think from the year before This has might be the record Oh really it is. I asked you, u Be you live in Brooklyn. We got to stop saying that we talked about this the last time because nobody heard the other time. I knowak now. it's fine. It'suse you already heard it. Are you you have to fake laugh? No. I haven't fake laugh once I know, I'm just kidding. You live in off the You live in Brooklyn. You live near Barquways and I was asking you Yeah with what you've seen from the Kicks. And how this city rallied around the ne. If you're the nets, like Pidential center, Newark going home. Yeah, what's the Wednesday meeting like where Joe sigh's like, Hey, man, we have to figure out The Liberty are more popular than us in Barkwaysays. the Kicks have ninety nine point nine percent of the NBA fans. what's our plan? We can't keep this going He had to have known already, right? is worse than he ever could have imagined, I think. The atmosphere at any home game is they play like They play every game is like kind of a rogue game for the for the for the players on the nets. It's tough. I feel bad for them. Yeah. The one the last year and it's a I still think about Hyrie and Durant being on the same team and how cool that was and we never got It was a tow, right? Yeah. And it was over. And u the that was the I was at the the game won the blowout against Gianis And that was like there was something like happening and it was exciting. But it's just since then it's kind of the toe is kind of the end, right? There's no question. It's the before national of those two guys being on the same team though at that stage in both their careers, it was like It's such a what if for me, St Well it wasn't just that they were on the same team. They the Kicks also wanted the two guys and they chose Brooklyn over the Nicks, which had happened repeatedly like Dorant didn't want to go there to the Nixson sixteen Bron turned them down famously in twenty ten They weren't even a choice for people. and I they made T's video for them. Right. You saw that, right? Oh ye But I think what's changed regardless of whether they win the title or not and they're big favorites now. but They' now destination again, I think for players, which was just not the case for twenty years It's crazy. I almost forgot that they chose the nets over the Kicks That's how to that brand was. Yeah. That's insane. It feels like how is that possible You're right? Like, u But yeah, it was a better situation over there And like, u Yeah, it's such a what if because Kyrie just does the impossible and makes it look easy for him. and then everythingthing that Durant does looks easy, but it's really hard to do what he's doing. Like they're like the opposites. Like Durant is just making everything look effortless. Kyrie's making everything look so insanely hard and he's somehow doing it And it's like the combination of those two like offensive like Svants, like on the same team. It's just It really bongs me out. I was like, I wish we got to see more of it, but And H got hurt the one time he actually cared about that team Your favorite playerver is Kobe. 'ess it what. Oh yeah, you was a question. No, there no nobody missed it. This is the first time ever here full throated apology for his mistreatment mr. Kobe Br. No not sure. I just read that was late to the party appreciating how good he was. I know, you were, you were. But something about you is like I've always been like, how dare would he say that about Kobe? But then I'd be like, if I was Bill I would be rocking with my boys in the same way. There's always like this Do you think you were like the first to disclose your allegiances in media? Horry I asked you a question back. Sorry I did the thing where I interview you back. Well it was kind of a new thing D deffinitely was a new thing. because when I came up when I was writing for ESPN U And I was writing from like the sports fanford It was basically just newspaper columns and that's it. Everybody is supposed to be very down the middle You weren't supposed to have favorite teams, and I was felt like the The people that I enjoyed reading, I always felt like we were fans of sport or the team and like I talked about it this William Goldman book that I loved called Wait till nextxt year where he wrote from the perspective of the New York fan. I was like, that's That's kind of how I want her Write my column. Now it That was pretty cl It's also bullshit, likeike you would have to be like right down the middle. you could If you love your team and you love your guys, like you should rather just be honest with it And so people can see where you're coming from, right? I think it's different if you're if you're like Brian Winhorse and you're in locker rooms and you're talking about it in a different way. I think it would be tough for it to be like, I'm also a giant cavs fan That's look He loved LeBron, right was he love his gu covered him forever I ask Nick I asked Nick right I said when they had that the Wimpy LeBron thing, I was like, didid you say to yourself when And then there was one It What he say? He he laughed it He's got a windy. He's like Windy's a great guy. It was diplomatic But ye Yeah, but it's definitely different now. I think it's and it's basically because there's way more media, there's way more opinions There's all kinds of ways to get Um to become noticed and build like at least a small level of fans. So there there's no one method now in the two thousands, there really wasnt one was you did I think it's kind of a trailblazer kind of thing Nothing I'm not listen, you were I have no respect for you. No You were very unfair to Kobe. No, no, but I mean I think you kind of change things Like I don't know. we didn't know where Walter Kronki's like allegiances I mean, not's saying that you're you're doing more of like a you were just a writer about sports from a perspective of a fan, I guess, right? Yeah Like I was reading the I remember the article in two thousand two I read it like when I was in high school, the the nine eleven one. Oh I was like Yeah. I was like, this is this is Do you think do you remember back to that? I'm not asking you questions this a bullshit. I don't want to do that, but yeah, do you remember like, did that feel like a seminal kind of like moment for you I don't I remember not being happy with what I wrote, but feeling like I had to write something, but the bigger thing is I remember Beautiful I remember wondering like if I was still gonna have a job L you didn't Nine eleven was was so horrible and so impactful to everybody, even people, you know that had I didnn't know one person that died there, but It felt like just everything was going to be different from that point on. I' never experienced that before. So I was like, whoa Nobbody's going to want to read about sports and you know, fucking bad takes on movies and then I remember at some point Um Everybody just started like, All right, I got to do my job again. And I remember within like a week, I went to go see hardball with Keana Reeves with my buddy Jacko. The best. And And I wrote a colem about it And I was just like, this is my job. L You have the coolest job. Like this is like maybe people read this and they'll take their mind off shit for ten minutes. but I think that was That's the only time in my life I ever remember America like that where Yeah where everybody was kind of like, what do we do? Like Are we all going to work tomorrow and then we kind of figure it out You've gott be really afraid because I've had to You know 'm recording the World Trade cetera right now. I was scared enough as it is the first time. It's That would be a fool me chame on me situation It's weird to go there and not think about its weird. Like because the sppotify offices are there. That's where you are now and you go and when you read the word on the text, this is where I have to go. I'm like And it's twenty five years ago it was so long. you gre up in you grew up in California. I grew in Vegas Yeah. Yeah, yeah. but I'm an LA sports fan. Yeah. But you weren't in you hadn't, you didn't get to New York until the mid twenty ten. so you weren't there forridine eleven. Yeahight. I wasn't there. But I remember in high school I was a freshman and I was like I was like a no it all asshole And I was like, actually, it's probably the al Qaeda network of terror because they recently did an attack on the USS coal S I was like, shut up.' like sorry I was like I was looking back on it like Everyone likes politics now and it was it used to be like something that if you liked it, you were a loser. And I think it kind of should go back to that Too many people are obsessed with politics though I got made fun of for it and as well I should have, right? And But it's weird to see that nowadays, but a Yeah, no, I wasn't here for that, but u Yeah I was born in LA I'm an LA sports strike because my dad immigrated in ' eighty one to LA. and he got in American sports to have something to like share with his kids. My dad was at the Gibson game. Wow in eighty eight.ike How amazing is that? I was a baby. Yeah We're amazing that he stayed He's good dooger games and people get the F out of there, before the ninth innings really like you're making a choice. It's like say it's an extra two hours. It's the worlds here. I mean yeah, it's true. No you'd be surprised because I went to the eighteeenh inning game in October and and I was surprised how many people left My My friend My friend was there. Yeah. and he said that it was weird. He said the ball wasn't carrying because there was like there was like a high pressure system or something There was like an insane like vibe there. It must have been agony to be sitting there for hours and hours. I loved it. No, I really had a good we had great seats, but I really a good sererving beer? Oh yeah. They stopped serving You just if I had another beer, I'd be fine I be like, can you guys open it back up? We're going to be here another Yeah, nine innings of extra. What you said was the key thing because I forget somebody had would just clearly seem like it was going be a Homer and the thing just died. and we were like, arere we ever le many warning tra shots. I remember, yeah. Yeah. I was like I was a big dodger fang initially, but then yeah, I guess my teams out Lakers in the Arsenal And I watched like soccer a lot now, which is the I was as I was saying in the last podcast, the worst kind of American you could be It's like something that's I shouldn't It does feel lame Um I to be an American soccer fan. I just think because America because we haven't really had a truly great player because the team in the World Cup the whole Wld Cup our chances feel like We're in a worse spot than we were fifteen years ago, even though everyone I know who likes soccer insists that we have the most talent we've ever had. It's just that everybody has more in talent. I don't know what's way Yeah have no swag. There's not one they have no swag. They don't have that one dude that Like a nine year old kid would be like, I want to wear that guys jersey Maybe it'll happen to the Wor Cup th The center back Tim Reem, I saw on my Instagram algorithm, he was like doing advocacy for When I was a kid, I wet my bed and he's like, one and five kids wet the bed. I'm like, God before the cup Stop before the World Cup. Don't do bed wedding advocacy. Come on. it do a cigarette commercial. I don't even know if they make those anymore. Do it do beer Who would make us look Who would be if he was if he was in our country who would be the coolest? like who would be the guy that actually owns soccer for America What O of any player? Yeah person they just happen to be American messy too be m. don't have to be somebody young Someone younger? Someone cool? No don't know I mean, it has messy's u you you register that it's the best, it's the best we've ever seen ever. I was not even I'm aware. I was there for He's like twice as good as Ronaldo And he still might cook this time around It it's weird. How old is he now? Is he forty yet U, I think like late thirties somewhere Yeah. Yeah. He's kind of hurt he doesn't have to u go back on defense. He gets to just walk around and then Uh, there's this so there's this thing that happens inside of them and then it'll be like twelve seconds of chaos And then it'll be in the back of the that He's you know he's like a bizarre guy. I think he didn't speak until he was like eleven There's something like he was just given by God for this one purpose. and Uh, But no, I mean, who would be cool to be American I don't know It u I don't know. It would be cool if American athletes were played soccer Like I I speculate on that. It's like speculating what would if if LeBron played tight end or something like God. I don't know. Thinking about like our best athletes, like if Kay R played soccer I mean, I would imagine he'd be like one of the best K' a Gay one. I always thought Iverson was my favorite one for this game because even there's high school football footage of Iverson where it's like He's incredible and it's just any sport that he played, he just would have been incredible It's my favorite YouTube, just watching Iverson. What do you think? do you think he would have been like top five football player of all time. Was he like Deon? What do you think he would have projected us I think he would have been like anything. I think he would have been like almost like what we want Travis Hunter to be except he just would have been at a whole other level athletically. Travis Hunter is an awesome athlete Like he justort try like a recever. type of person I think. Well he was like an option quarterback as well, right? But I guess everyone's a quarterback in high school. like a Yeah you could tell hisis throw motion was a little But he he had a big arm though. He did, but it wasn't like the mechanics were off. But then when he took off, He would just run through people. It was like when the gym teacher gets to play with the fifth grade class and he's just ding everyone. Yeah. Well, it's it's I watch that video all the time. I also watch a there's a video I really like of Derek Rose doing a Chicago footwork where he was like the dance battle against someone in high school And he's an unbelief. Yeah. If a guy like Derek Rose played played soccer I mean it'd be yeah. cononversely Randy Moss playing basketball was great. Like there's some guys are just like the greatest athletes we've ever White chocolate. Yeah. They' on's the same team with white chocolate, right? Yeah. Unreal. Yeah. So it was that that that commercial. Do you remember the Nike commercial? Yeah Just a good old boy.. Yeah. I love that shit. I think Kye would have been interesting because You know, he's basically ambidextrous, right? He does E So he would have been able to kick perfectly with both feet his footwork and everything would have been great. I don't know, like it's his center of gravity too. likeike ye, he gets in these weird angles though likeike who's the best six three soccer player There's so many. Yeah. I mean, like Zlaton is doing Zatan sixty five, I think, right? Yeah What's cool is that you could be five five, five, six and be in the best of the world. Well, that's why So how it was five ten six You could be six four and be the best in the world. Like u Uh Yeah, they've had guys that are like close to seven footers And Peter Crouch was amazing U and he was technically gifted too. He wasn't just doing headers. He like he could use his feet But you know, you be amazing? as like a sweeeper slash a six. Um castle Oh my go That's like dog. He's absolute maniac, super physical. like ten out of ten athlete and relentless. And if you just put him at the six, he would have been out of control. Yeah, I mean yeah, thinking of like a like a Like a I guess a free safety or a or a like a linebacker playing like in the back line Like think of guys like that, I mean, I don't know Yeah It's it's actually we that's the disappointment is that it's just u I guess, I guess we haven't been able to sell it yet. You were saying in two thousand two, we thought that it was like a moment where we could sell it But like it was coming because it started at ninety four. That was like the first real moment we're like, Oh, maybe And then U Yeah, the Oo two World Cup That was when my first yearDSPN like writing columns and it felt like people cared and twenty fourteen was another one when it felt like It was the year we lost of Portugal, right? Yeah. I like the landed Donoanhavi thousand And there's a spirit about them. felt there was a moment when Joseie felt like he was going to be the next guy and it felt like we actually had older guys and younger guys and guys on the way up and then All of the sudden, we were not qualifying for the World Cup and wondering what happen a good subplot in the World Cup this year is the Canadian coach Burrhalter was our coach. I remember. he is just talking shit. He said that it's what it is is the athletic association. He said the U S. soccer is is An issue. It's structural, he said And u But he's also just running his damn mouth which is a kind of a cool subplot because we're co host in this World Cup But uh Yeah, I just don't I don't know. mayaybe I'm completely wrong. There are people that disagree with me, but I see I see them underachieving. There's always a bump by being a host nation, though But uh, Its like it's weird. It' Uh, are you seeing where they're doing their uh where they're doing the like training camps, like base camps Oh man, it's amazing They have a They have like Bosnia, Herzegova is in a Salt Lake city They have Ivory cooast in Philly Which is sick. Just imagine that is sick. Yeahah. Qatar Santa Barbara. I appreciate. the nice they bought the nicest place obbviously Um there's so many I have a list mom. There's one that was just killing me Oh now it's bad podcasting, but I gott to find it. But yeah, this is I thought you were a better podcaster this. I'm sorry, dude. I didn't have this prop. I ask you a question about the Canada cohost thing Yeah. Is this like in college you're having a party at the main house and you're having it with somebody else, but it's kind of their houses over there and more people are in the big house or they actually soost Are they an actual cohost or are they kind of glomming ono us Which Canada? Yeah. I think that they have hate in their gut. and I think that Mexico is a mess right now. Mexico, I think I see them completely. Honestly, what am I spicices as Mexico crashes out of the group sayage because their fanbase is toxic They don't have any players that like have any pedigree play play in Europe They act like they're Real Madrid and they they've never won shit. They lose to America now. They should be ashamed of themselves And Canada has this like resentment that comes from their coach. Yeah. We have like this pressure of like, it's kind of America's World Cup still, right What is it name Vancouver in Toronto? It's like two places, right? Like God It doesn't I think we're the main show here Yeah. and I think it's the most p Cana. It's our show Yeah, it is kind of a but there's I feels really bad, but it's going to be worth it. No we're know's just so Wait, there's one that is so funny. They have So you like right. Iort Portugal is in Palm Beach which is like Christiano's definitely going to go Mor Lago For sure Argentina, this is real. Argentina is in Kansas City. ight in the summer. So apologies to Nick Wright. That sounds like shit And they'd like Literally there was a tornado warning first day they were there L like Messy was just like standing silently and still in the middle of a tornado So like it takes also There's another aspect that like in Europe, the stadiums are closer to the metropolitan areas. So like you have the fans like kind of marching towards the stadium. Kind of like how MSG is, like it's in the middle of the city And u going like three hours to fucking bad life. L it's just like you don't have that same atmosphere like around the stadium and stuff. And it's u Also, I'm like a little bit worried, I'm not gonna whatever. You know they ban water bottles? That's the other fun of thing Can I just ban water bottles? Can I say something Is this off for the record Don't ever apologize to Nick Wright, not on this podcast All right, whatever. screwed that guy.' sucking up the fucking li U No no, I'm just kidding. No, we like Nr. We like. They ban water bottles Yeah, FIFA's not letting them bring in water bottles. so they have to buy water. It's like the ticket prices are really expensive. What's going to happen is this. we're going to say, doing a podcast about it. We're gonna to say like, Oh guys, like It's too many teams as well. That's the other issue. They like expand the field. There's no groups of death where like a big team doesn't qualify because they want the big teams in the group stagation. I hate that. I love the groups of death I love seeing like Germany crash out in of the groups. It's like it's really it makes it exciting from the beginning. Yeah. But something is going to happen and that the world is going to explode is like there's a high probability we're to see Messi Ronaldo in a knockout And I don't know if I can handle it. It's it's really just like he has to lose. Ronaldo Hastel, I can't see He's going to be so self satisfied and smoke about it. He has a better team Um Also there's just like, yeah, I was telling you before that like element of Iran being here in the middle of a war And then potentially if they get second place in the US getting second place in the groups, they play in Dallas You know, Is it on the fourth of July or is it not? I thought it was it was in the vicinity of it. Yeah, they would play America And there's America getting second place is conceivable. Like that's fav. Turkey are flop artists also. I'm not as afraid as Turkey as people 're giving them credit for. People are always like, oh, Turkey has something and they always them' in Belgium They're just like chronic underachievers. And Egypt during Mosul has been the same way Like They're all in the cup and like I think they all kind of Aur blay stinkers. Are you gonna try to go to a game or you don't care if you go? I'm going to Norway Senegal. Okay. I'm only going if it's free, Bill I'm not going you're invited. I'm going It's a hundred thousand dollars for what? It's less than the game for next tickets Well, that's game four if the N win game three, game four and next ticket will become the hardest sports ticket of all time Beuse that's like dbar or baseball. it's twenty thousand seats total It's it is really, we were saying it before, but it's cy. I'm just to stop saying that It is crazy to conceive of where Trump is going to be sitting Like if he's courtide and like we're just watching it the whole time Like it's going to be distracting for a viewer He's just like sitting there, like It's I imagine he's going to beat in a box of some sort. Oh, Id see, I completely disagree. I think he's going to absolutely be courts side I think imagine like his secret service guy standing in front of Timothy Shallon. It's going to be like when Floyd Mayweetather goes when Floyd Bayweather sat courtside they would have his security guards would behind him Yeah. And so I guess that would happen. Timo can't watch the game. his girlfriend. The funny the thing I was thinking Fs courtside You know, the way Trump sits because he doesn't cross his legs and he sits with his legs out with his with his doing the But the diamond the diamond the Yes. Yeah. But on court side, the seats are like this and it's not you can't spread your legs out at all like that. subway. Whoever's on either side of him is going to be miserable the entire game because Trump's going to take up three seats Kendall Jenner is gonna be like smoosed K That's the other thing. there's, you know, courtside, you're walking by people. there's handshakes. There's going to be people who aren't going to want the handshake It's going to be biz and everybody filming it. So if you do the handshake, it's on film I don't just say I just don't the thing that's nice about sports is we don't have to deal with politics It's like it's like a crazy time right now. It's like There was like a Jewish There's like this player that could we don't Named Max Dowan for Arsenal. Yeah. And I was like I was like I was like I told my friend I was like, just look up if he's Jewish. It would be huge.s like He's up next, right? I was like, canan you imagine? if we get one Becauseuse for us, it's just insane if we get one. And uh And then I like realized I was like, I don't want him to be. I'd rather him not Because it's like, yeah, he's going to have they're going to ask him about the war of the Middle East and stuff and he's going just don't like don't like it's too much pressure Like just don't be like an evangelical or something. L Be like what like Sunni Islam, just Please don't be I always talk to my friend Chang about this because he loves when there's An sort of Asion Mina Cimes is big on this too, but we were text on this week and about. Dylan Harper The Filipino mo. I know. Yeah. So this is and I feel like they haven't gotten gotten excited enough about this. And Clarkson too Yeah got two in the finals. But Harper might be I mean, he's one of the best young guards that's coming into the league in thirty se real I think we forget it we're missing how good he is because it's just a Wbie. There was that game in the last Every series of theirs has been musty TV I love watching them. I said in the segment before you came on I think this part of the key to the series with the Spurs is realizing that Harper is their second best guy. They just have to accept it He's twenty. comes off the bench like you just throw it out the window. It's it's I think Cy was you should you just got to like upset that. this l dy. do it. Yeah. I think you should swip ship swi swiper. That's what I would do. I mean, they got to figure out how to win this series. They can't think about next year yet but Ultimately, I would mean if he has boxes in there. The team is really bad when he's not playing, right? When they add a couple pieces, it's terrifying There Yeah. In fact, the Nicks have to win because this is not fair. But well that's the thing at the K Nicks Lose game three. Then that will open up. There's only forty eight hours for a game four and that will open up the whole. They have to do this now. This is the best chance I're going to have. Okay he's going to have everyone back. San Antonio would be a year older. Indiana' getting their guys back Boston's getting theres guys.ike this is your window right now, New York And it's also just the ghosts of the past Ghosts of the Garden. I mean, it's scary. It's very scary. If they lose game three, it will be terrifying again Be they were so fifty fifty, both those games, right Oh they could have lost either them Yeah. And it's like Usually you win away it's it's game over like it a series. you have to they're not going to win four or five, but like I'm like, I don't know.. It could it feels like this series, anything could happen It's like every game is just so It's like just actually the best basketball I've watched in so long And it's like a There's like there's we were saying before, but theres there's so much kids in the team There's so much like a hard nose like M You know, they they just get to like play less minutes now. They don't have to play like in in March, but they don't have to play forty eight minutes or whatever, you know? One of my weird sports there Fresh back The The more baggage you have The more likely it is that stuff will happen along the ride to the end of your exorcism journey. likeike for the Patriots when we beat the Rams We had his game winning u Game went in defensive touchdown That got called back because of a penalty As guys running down the sidelines, it's like, there's ten minutes like, o my God, we just won the Super Bowl and then it got called back and all these skeletons popped up U And then the Ram scores here. And ye, and it's like, Oh, why did I let my guard down? I should have known. and I think for the nexticks you got to you got to taste a it when Brunson, when they fell into his knee in game one I was like Oh my Godd. whyy didn't I whyy didn't have my guard up? And it's just there's no, there's no easy path 're getting rid of all the skeletons. You have to have a couple of those as it goes because you think it's going to happen again and you know how bad it is. Yeah. Like with Arsenal, the saying is the hope that kills you any Every single year, I think something good might happen Yeah. and then and then it doesn't And it's kind of a reminder you're going to die one day Like if you're if you're like a fan of a team that wins every year, you are like you you're like I'm going tove forever. I'm going to cheat my tax. I'm cheat on my wife I'm like, yeah, I'm just your life is a cocaine just fever dream and you're so happy. And you don't think about death ever. But if you're a team of like a team or fan of a team like that, you're like You're just expecting everything to fall apart all over again. And you're like, I haven't talked to my family in months. wasas it worth it? L like I'm just been sitting in this living room. And ye and my wife's like, did your team lose? And you're like, what does that mean? Did my team lose Th then you get mad and you yell, you go for a walk, you go for a stress walk, load I used do that a lot when I was younger. A lot of dog walks after tough losses. I went for a walk in the neighborhood. I went for a walk after the tuck game I wait for we I'm a Rider fan, but like I think actually I stopped liking football kind of after that I was like fuck football. This sucks. Like Charles Wiston was my favorite player Good for you, good for you. goodood for you. So if you had to guess would game three Do you think it's going to be It an all time memory those g of b Would you go Mem game memorable game Um disappointing game or just fucking weird all night from start to finish because that's where I v is off. I think the vibe is going to be super weird the whole game. The vibe is off I think it's the Trump of it all And bigig Z iss there, but M Donny's there too. Big Z. How many arere you the only one that calls a bigig Z? Is that his nickname? Is Drunulus Eguskcus? No no, M d it's just like, Yeah, Trump, if Trump is court side And he's making out with Kendall Jenner. and Timothy's crying What are we gonna do? Are we to be watching that game Can you imagine like I played Bob Dylan The truth is you didn't even pay for this ticket gave. I mean, did I, but they're giving it to me because of me because I would go to the Oscars now and you're making out with the president How darary? No, I mean, it's it'll be weird I think the truth is he shouldn't go because not It's just like It's too much of a distraction and too much of a hassle for a game that's already complicated enough. likeike in the league, obviously if the president wants to go to the game, you should go, but like No normal president would go to this game. They would go to a game in February against like the Raptors. They're not going to go to like Game three of the finals uproot the entire four hour infrastructure before the game and it's just Well you go to a game where they're going to go nuts if you walk, you go to MMA. You don't like Yeah But he might think that's going to happen. I think's people don't think he's doing a good job. He got booed when he went to his polling station in twenty sixteen. Yeah. And he like changed his residency to but he misses New York, I think. U This is I've heard that. Yeah. This is like his way to get back to trying to start dating us again Yeah. Hey guys good. been like when JLo and Afflet got back together I'm living my best life in Palm Beach. just so you know, I don't know if you saw the pictures. Wait both This episode is brought to you by Acccenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at Acenture d. com slash Spotify If roaches are getting comfortable in your home, it's time for STEMs multi intsect spray. Made with botanical extracts, it's safe to use around people and pets when used as directed killing ants, roaches, and flies without the fuss. And with no added dyes, fragrance or harsh chemical odors, you can spray it inside and outside your home Live life never bgged, but stem. Visit stTemforbugs. com to learn more. We have to do something quickly on your podcast So you were on a come toown on ABC One of my favorite sitcoms. It wasn't a s It was a improvement. It was called home impmrovement. Yeah.. Your initialass was Cumpown and you guys never realized ever that you'd actually make money from it And then all of a sudden you're making money from it and turned it into an actual Aing that Everything that's happened in my life has been accident. Well, you thought the podcast was going to promote like your comedy on the weekends and all of a sudden people like them Yeah, we didn't know that you could make money from podcasting and then so that we kind of like, u I think, Yeah, we didn't know how I was growing. They used to ask us for like interviews and stuff and Nick had like a no media policy. Smart. And I didn't And it's just like, at a certain point then you're like, I had work two hours a week and Id became the laziest man in the world It so like welcome Yeah, then I was just like But it sucked I mean, you're watching sports for work Yeah I'. I was so jealous of you. Now that's you. That's going to be you during the World Cup Oh beautiful pod She's not going to respect it. I'm telling you, she's still she's not going to respect the my I'm a I'm a sports pundit now no. No, in reality, yeah, this new show started and it was a joke and it's really credit to my old co host, Nick our Stavos, who's our friend who he was exhausted and he left C toown And I was like but we should keep doing it, Nick. We have a brand. you know, we should v it. And he was like, no, you gott There's more to come and come toown. We got to keep going. I'm gonna turn you into a public intellectual into like in the vein of Dick Cavt But like we very publicly pronounced, I think it was a joke. I mean, it's like I was the least beloved member of the three by far, but probably least talented by far too, and not probably definitely. I mean, they're like geniuses, the two of them. U and then I guess I decided to try the first time. I never had, I think I was thirty five. It's really scary too. You know that It's scary because if you try as hard as you can and then it sucks. you feel bad. That's why That's why it's a sport like Wenby was like like this because he tried as hard as he could Rnda Yeah, it sucks. like if it does go well. That was Sack in the two thousand season. He's like, I'm really going to go for this and try to win the NVP in the finals, but it's scary because if it doesn't happen Now you feel but you feel terrible rightight. And it's like U Yeah. and so then I just somehow it fell into We didn't know how to make a television show. We publicly pronounced to the world we're making a TV show and they were like so we should getess cameras, maybe Then we got an office in like some building and then we built out a set. It was like all happening in real time. and then eventually it's become a real thing. And Well one of the best things is you have a crazy guest list I would say ecclectic It's the right word for it, but you'll basically You'll interview anybody. you don't care I had Sarah Jessica Parker and then I had one of the Nelk boys in the episode. Yeah, it's I kind of like that is having an unpredictable kind of like rollout of guesss kind of makes it fun and feel feel fresh But yeah, that's one of the things that I enjoy the most about it, but I don't know, I really like doing them because It's you were telling me you used to do interviews, but it's cool. I do a lot of research. I do like two weeks of research for each guess. And I haveve researchers that we hire like some of the journalists and like, you know, people that we bring in and like do research packets for me. But like 's what's really cool is try to account for what someone is like that you've never met And then like building together the evidence that you find them, you know, that that's been like prepared for you. It's like being an FBI profiler. You want to disarm a guest, right? You want them to be comfortable so they'll open up more So you have to like plan for like whatever trip wires there are So you can like continue to like, u to like keep them com comfortable enough. I think the way I do it kind of maybe a little bit is just to present to them that I'm so unserious, they really don't It's they don't have to worry like I'm a pretty dumb guy and like, you know, they let the guard down I used to be on a show called Com Town there's a time I poop my pants during an episode and Literally, I was laughed at by thousandousands of people. And I went home and I was like, I just feel like I it was like in front of the whole school and I'm like, ye And they might I might have kids that're going to hear about that. They're going to respect me as a father. and she's like, I think her getting a little carried away out. I was like, dude Why would you even No, why? And how happy it made them ps in short They got you No, and now I'm talking about Gavin Newsom and it's really shame on them. I don't I'm not fully aware of why this is happening, but I'm not asking any questions. I guess the show iss good But like It is really, I don't know Like, it's insane How fast this has been. It's been a year since I relaunched the show and made it weekly Yeah. And it's grown like so rapidly And now I gets to talk to my She wrote I built Aavin Newson. Oh, I build Ss posters in my wall. I think I make Av a Newson I sports guy articles and pin up girls Id your articles that they to pit up girls And me and the rest of the GIs, we used to whistle at your articles. No you had all these Yeah, I noticed something was happening because you started to do really smart press people write these features about you and I know Is he the millennium John Stewart I was like, this is great. He he's figured it out All my friends made fun of me for that because are you the millennial j and the pictures that they use every time I'm just like every single they use one of me like this. And I'm like every comedian is going to make I like went to to this building for the photosohoot. They like had me go on the floor with a microphone like this. and I was like I like stopped them. I was like, can we not do this one? And they made it the main picture Like every comedian group chat was like . I was like but then I guess that's every comedian group chat anyway Yeah, of course. was just it's just resentment and barbs. Yeah I don't theh, Yeah, I guess I like the other couple ones I didn't know they' were writing. I think they were like reviews, but it's just you know what it is? I think it's really sad I think it's sad that they don't have anything better than this Well, there was a whole theory post the election about, well, where is broke manis. Where's the other version of this? and I don't know I never understood it. A guy that wants to be the president is talking to me. Yeah, to me. talkalk about sports ism I'm like excited because we're going to go Like I get to take a break from the show and I'm just a banking episodes and I' going to pre production U Yeah, yeah, yesterday, tweeted at Hunter Biden. apppparently he likes he's coming on the show And something like banking episodes and building out a rollout for season three. Wow. And in the meantime, I get to do the sports thing And uh I get to watch like, you know Ivory cooast versus you know, Australia and tell my girlfriend that it's important And this is business and she's like, My parents are here right now And you think France France and Spain are the two favorites. I think And you like Brazil plus eight fifty on Fandoz of dark There's I do. There's so many arguments for and against everyone. That's what's kind of fun Brazil has like the magic of Don Carlo. Yeah. the magic of like the guy that's just he just eats food. It just tells them just have fun out there. And somehow it's just like has this energy, like this vibe about him that's just like this just yeah. like I was Pp cardiola used to just be in a lair next to a Candel Labra the night before the Champions League final just with like just constructing most psychoic like tactics. And like this is he'll never see this coming and then just lose to to Don Carlt the next day It's just it was a perfect likeike u just a destruction of like u someomeone that's overly thinking everything and someone that's just like just have fun You guys are so good at sports. Can you imagine when you were little if that you knew you were gonna do this? That's awesome. You know, He's probably saying stuff like that And uh But like, you know Portugal has the bestid The Portuguese midfield is disgusting It's a joke. I mean, they' Nvez, they've Bruno and they' Vatinia It's it's like a There's like so many the the Dutch backline is the best, you know, and it's just, but there are like issues there holes you could convince yourself of it u I think cononventionalism is like the France or, Spain do it And like does America get out of their bracket U the bracket. I don't know if do they got the bracket the group. I think they win the win the group crash out first first knockout that's my prediction It just feels like that to be I think that there's something there's something just like there's no energy there And America, the country isn't just going nutso for them right now. What under twenty five poer do you think Tommy Alter's going to say? Hey, I'm going to dinner Tonight with so and so. It's between games. Do you want to join us? one which one is he to glam ono? Yeah at a vetting country I don't know Oh at the World Cup. You know soccer players too. I just feel like he's going to add it to his arsenal. Yeah he's going to go to like a hookoo bar like chang your mall. B and Bape' in town. We're gonna to go to the ballery tonight if you want to meet us They're of ye Who would I want to well, who would I want to chill with Tommy Altter? I mean, Zacka is my favorite player B cryoack He's uh, he's like the guy It' the guy at seventeen who pulled oursal out of just the worst period in our history and had been there since he was like eight years old And uh, Yeah, it's just like there's something there's something special about that. He's also another guy who he had a rough season, but a I'm say he's at a world class talent level in sports. But he's uniquely u Dent as a human being Like there is an aspect of like you have to shed your like u Humanity kind of sometimes There's a like Jordan and Kobe kinda had to build themselves into psychos to like achieve what they achieved, right And that we there's an understanding we're like, yeah, if you're going to be like, I want to take the last shot at the buzzer and miss You have to be crazy. You have to be like it has to be me, right? you have to like K kind of a Build yourself into a sociopath And that's what we trying to do Webby has it. We love He took the last shot of game too. like I don't feel like Shaq would have done that in the second year of his career thirs se. What even is that? Yeah. I don't know if you like He's Durant and he'st what even is he But u But yeah, could you think of anyone in sports who is like just like one of the best players in the world and is just a good guy? I can't think of it actually I think of like you have to kind of build yourself into a monster to be you like Does that make any sense to you or no? I think you have to I think there has to be a little bit of a zero sum game mentality to really dominate a sport. How could you like get ready in the locker room before a game and just be like a lovely person It doesn't make sense. You have to kind of be like I would I want to kill today and I and I want to humiliate other people lookook at Brady now Brady post NFL and people are like, wow, he's kind of weird. It's like yeah, because you got to be kind of weird to be the best quarterback of all time. we had no idea Go beet her now I had no idea that he was weird while he was playing Yeah, we started near the end. He's so offended. It's so real to you. It's so funny., he's a family member. He brought us six Super Bowls. Did he kiss you on the lips? No, Who did he kiss out the lips? The son son Yeah. And so did Belgiic the daughter There's kind of a nice thing about kissing on the lips Do you want to leave on that note So, u No we have to wrap up though I know o. I've just been thinking about this last podcast the whole time Now' fine. We're fine.. Now we hit a lot of the same stuff. It would have changed do that. Why don't you do this? You told a great story about Kobe and Michael Jackson in the last I story because it was a really good anecdote. I had never heard it Did you look it up afterwards? D I didn't state any facts. I didn't look J just look it up on your computer.' looking up. No we gott to go. tellell the story We were talking about Kobe And no no seriously. Well we were talking about Koben and about how Itk a while to round in Nacobe and all the twists and turns and then you told the story I' never heard We're talking about yeah, there was something about like him just having his whole thing about mentorship, right? And then yeah, but after Bald had Kobe Rokie year Sab Dg Champion Apparently he decided he wanted to have a man's body. but he needed a man's body, notot he wanted But he was a child. I mean, he looked little Like LeBron is Rokie year looked like that was a grown ass man, but Yeah, apparently, he was like at Gold's Gym. he's like lifting weights. And he got a call and he was like, Kbe It's Michael. And he was like, no inside. He hung up and he's like, Yeah, Tob me, I swear it guy is Michael. like D don't hang, please, please, please It's always like you want to come out to Nt, likeike I want to meet you and say what up taught it would be great to be So he went out there and he gave him this book This It's like a child's book Jonathan Livingston Seagle And he said, this is I've watched you and you're like me and people are gonna to heat you with praise and give you everything you want and then they're going to take it away. And you just have to remember that one moment when they take it away that you can't stop. like you can' stop Like just like what's driving you. And it's kind of like that is kind of a good assessment of Kobe's career. and a good understanding of it because But he does this four years before the trial. Right? So it was like n ny nine range. So it was about two like apparently yeah. Yeah ye. So apparently they were like in touch. well before that and but prior to but since that. And then afterwards h I think they both have legal trouble, the Eagle Colorado thing and Wait the second trial. they stop talking But um, Yeah, he was like, u just just you can't forget like you have to just You you have to just push yourself as hard as you possibly can and and do not let them like take that away And it's like it's kind of for me personally, like I was so sad Bea how old was he when he had three? He was like twenty four Probably yeah Yes, which is so many chips at such a young age. And then we're like asking ourselves like what could happen now? Like he could just win a zillion right But you know, being back there Being an adult during that, it was always shack and KoVD together. How many were they going to win together C they win eight and they were always a team And then The catch should be Can these guys stay together and then that eventually became the issue So my dad, who got really into American sports and Los Angelesorts after the piston series, stood up with about two minutes to go in the fourth and he stood he shouted.' like We never go on family walks Really what That is like, everyveryone get your shoes on And he was walking like five feet in front of us, just pissed Like u this is Joe Rogan? My dad. Oh Max, my real dad U Yeah, My father Joe wrote, no, yeah. I didn't say his name. I just said that he was a host of a show called The Joe Ruan Experience. U No, but it was so I have this memory of like M me and my mom and my sister, we were like He was like ten feet in front of us and we' were trying to walk fast. He was walking as fast as he could. It was He was just so mad the Ben Wallace pistons. Yeah. that was a that was an awful Be a Laker fan, it felt terrible I mean, that was that series. moreore stunning result than the series we're having now because I kind of. even though the spurs were favord, a lot of people, but a lot of people are picking the nexticks their center was seeven How big was Ben Wallz B he was like six nine, but he was six three, Yeah.. And he was bodying shack It was like, yeah, what was that team? was Bhillips, Teeshon? It was like we never saw that coming And, uh Yeah, whatever. But that yeah, that ever since then tell me how my ass taste Iack Chack has kind of gifted a fourth ring. D Wade goes on like a historic U. It was laughing at Kobe now. shhut up. Shack. was pretty important on that team. He was pretty important. How it defend Shack he rides Deeway's co coattails to the to the to a fourth And no, u U didid you ever have get my favorite player? And I was like, but he's Also, I think he was blamed for the breakup of that team unfairly. and I think the it was really the busses that wanted to break the team up. And I think that in retrospect, like You don't think There's been a lot of books written about this Kobe Kobe wanted his own Kobbe was ready for his own team, and I think he was incredibly frustrated.ushark gets Sush Parker on the phone. No, but I think he was I think him and Chack were notant T me Brown on the. They were not meant to be a long term marriage and I don't think All the stuff that happened off the court didn't help either. but You know, I say that Kobe was it Kbe'sault No, but in reality, I think that it's just like you see it. It's just like LeBron after the the decision. The guy who's beloved just everyone's like ha haa. L we love seeing We love seeing people destroyed somehow in society and then because of them backacks. Yeah In America, we do. In the UK they don't. It's weird where I watch like British sports. they don't have the concept of comebacks insane Like what Tiger wouldood, I cried, right Like becauseuse I was like, I never thought I'd see him again And I was like, was when I was a kid, he was like sports illustrated for kids. And he was like he was also a kid like me and he was winning by like twenty strokes. Making Phil Michkeollson want to kill himself every Sunday. eat shit every Sunday. This is how I felt when I saw the town. I was like Afflex fucking back We are out of the woods. My guy is back Let's go for a ride You reminded me that you did this whole bit about Tibbs and Steve Karn and you wanted to redo it. So Let's pretend we Let's pretend you're adlib in this from scratch. I ask you start. if you were Tibbs's best friend Watching the next two games away from the finals What would you say to Tipbs? I would say first of all, it's great to be best friends with you You're an incredible guy Youre you shout a lot And also like what's going on with your throat? L you always horse Should I make a little tea with honey? I've echinacia. are you sick U Do you think it was necessary to play everyone forty seven minutes in November Why didn't you trust Shamon? No, but you're trying to lift them up though because the Nicks are too in the finals Y your DNA runs through these boys. I mean, they that is a fair point to be honest. Like he like built how hard knows they are and especially like seeing them collectively deal with Wemby. There is something about like they're like He's made them tough. Like all they even I know Kat Kat's been had a new coach for a year, but like It's it's a cat that we haven't seen yet, right? Yes. And it's like, but then But I do I feel bad. I do for like Mark I felt really bad to Mark Jackson But he was doing the ABC broadcast the year after he retired or retired. He was asked to leave because it was just like How must he have felt Like watching that. It must have been like watching your wife Having sex with a man was the biggest penis in the world and not a orgasm after orgasm Just sitting there saying, hand down man. That was good people better. Just like he's whispering in her ear And you have to not only Not only do you have to watch your wife having sex with the guy that's giving her the sex of her life You have to play by play on ESPN and APC for the next five years You have to do Yeahah, now he's now he's reverse cow growl. That was that's a great reverse calgory. whatever you done. That's hand that's good deep, but better o. He out. I mean, I think I would hope that Vang Guy was just nice to him new Come on, man, you're a good gu You're good guy. she wouldn't have known that she was going to love it. like this until she went through the marriage with you. Yeah had, no way of knowing. I just I didn't even know what. This would have happened with you. Yeah, this would have happened with you if you just hung around You were great. I mean, it's, you know, do are you sure for a job you want to be doing the play by play Breina is saying bang over and over again excitedly Every time your wife Curry bang. Bang. All right, we're wrapping up Freedan S show coming back in July and the beautiful pod starting in June on Wednesday Chris Ryan many others maybe I'll have the hat.. Signing ceremony. Signing ceremony, G see. All right. Thankks Adam Breat All right, that's it for the podcast. Thanks to State Farm for sponsoring today's show. Thanks to Adam Friedand. Don't forget he is coming ab booard. Go check out his podcast if you haven't listened to it. It's great, really fun interviews of the whole. variety of eclectic people He's really good at what he does. exxcited to have him with the World Cup. excited to lend him CR for a few weeks. You know. We don't always do that. A lot of people want to borrow CR Thanks to Ca and Eduardo and everybody from my side as well. Here's the plan Monday night Game three. It's going to end. And then Rob Mahoney and I are going to be live on Netflix breaking down is sure to be memorable game in some respect. I don't know what's going to happen. I'm prepared for anything. newew rewatchables is coming Monday as well. We did single white female. We're in the middle of from Hell mononth. Also we put up a maail bag on Thursday if you missed that one justust about an hour, but bag through some Really fun questions for that. I will see you. In thirty two hours, thirty six hours, something like that. ennjoy game three Must be twenty one plus in President select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas Star Casino Or eighteen plus in presresident DC, Kentucky or Wyoming Game probleom call one hundred gambler or one eight hundred My reset. callall eight sevenenty nine seven seven seven seven or visit CcpG dot org slash chat in Connecticut or MDgamblinghelp dot org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelppline MA dot orga or call eight hundred three two seven fifty fifty for twenty four seven support in Massachusetts or call eight seven seven eight NY or text hope NY in New York for Louisiana callall eight seven seven seven seven zero seven eight six seven