IT IS WHAT IT IS - IS WEMBY GETTING SPECIAL TREATMENT FROM THE NBA, CARMELO SAYS PLAYERS SHOULD STREAM & IS UTAH LIT?!

Episode Date: May 14, 2026

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Welcome back to It Is What It Is. I'm Treasure Wilson, aka Stat Baby, along with your host, Mace, and Cam, and today we are joined with our analyst, Trista. Killer was good. Trisha, what's going on? Take that. It's good, everybody. How you all?

Yeah, good. Super, super good. Trista, how you feeling? Feeling. Feeling? Yes, I. Is that alluding to something? Yeah.

I know why she happy. Oh, and good. My goodness. I hope you don't have on anything orange. Just make sure you don't. No, orange. She ready to rain on somebody's parade. Well, let's get to it.

Okay. So game five, Cavs lead the series after beating the Pistons, 117 to 113 in overtime. So Tristo, what impressed you the most about this Cavs win? And I guess say what you got to say about Detroit because you're coming in hot already.

I don't mean to I'm just I'm awful I don't like things coming to fruition the way that I see it in my head ahead of time but Detroit led by nine

with two minutes and 30 seconds left to go before you even continue your fruition is mad late don't act like you've seen this dude called your fruition was last series Trish

go ahead stop with the forewishing go ahead With the fruition. That's wild. For Wishing is wild. Yo, Fawishin is crazy, yo. Go ahead, though. My dad, I didn't even mean to interrupt you.

But go ahead. For Wishing is wild. No, it was actually earlier on in the regular season when we were talking about, oh, man, is this Pistons team a problem? They're the one seed. Da-da-da-da-da. They should be the team in the east that goes to the finals. Everybody's excited.

Everybody's hype. And I just said, listen, pump the damn breaks, okay? This is a fun team. This is a young team. This is an athletic team. But this is not a real true title contender. So back to this game. It all was right there in front of us to see.

Detroit's up by nine. Two minutes and 30 seconds left to go. They never score again. They just continue to give the ball the K, which, you know, to be honest, that's kind of what it is. Duncan Robinson's back was injured so he didn't play, which I think really helped. really hurt Detroit. Osser couldn't do anything. Dennis Jenkins did some,

but he wasn't taking the ball down the stretch. They're blitzing Cade. And Cade just can't do everything by himself. I don't know where Tobias Harris was in the second half. You had Jalen Duren getting benched for B-ball Paul because that's how bad Jalen Duren was. Isaiah Stewart nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, the thing that was very impressive

outside of the fact that James Hardin did a lot of good things down the stretch of the game. I thought he was going to turn into a pumpkin at first, but he did a lot of good things down the stretch. But you had all of the role players doing good things for the cabs. They've just got a much deeper set of contributors. You have Max Trues turn the ball,

turned Kate over. He had crucial threes. He was D and Kate up pretty much in the second half in a great way. They're blitzing. of him. Mitchell didn't have a great game, but he's shooting threes, crucial ones at that. You even got Sam Meryl getting you threes. So all of the contributions from the role players came at one time where you got none for Detroit. And it just, it was hard to watch,

truthfully. It wasn't hard to watch. Paul, I like the way James Hardin was looking like the old James with the, you know, the 18 dribbles, the stepbacks, the three. everything he was supposed to do he did in this game and I like that. I think they caught on to that little move that Donovan Mitchell was doing a few times

down the stretch. I saw him try that same move. They slapped it out of his hand. So he's going to need a new move moving forward but they was able to get the job done and they was able to get the job done on the road. I know it's been stated that the playoffs don't really start.

The series doesn't start until there's a win on the road. This was that went on the road that they desperately needed. We know every time a team normally win the fifth game in the seven-game series, that's normally who takes the series. This is going to be really interesting to see if they could knock out the pistons. I don't know if they beat the Knicks, but this was a hell of a win for them. And everybody in the city of Cleveland should be extremely proud.

I mean, even when you see how Mobley, he was getting baskets. But, you know, when they come down to the stretch, it matters who got the most star players on the floor. And we know that Tobias Harris wasn't one of those stars if I had to match him up with a guy like Donovan Mitchell or a guy like James Harden. So the team that was supposed to win, I think, won this game. Let's see if Detroit could do better when they get Cleveland

and take a game back. But this is going to be a very, tall task for us to ask for them. Trish, only one team wins the finals. It's just one team. So every game, Detroit loses, you're going to find

somebody that I told you, I told you, I told you. You've been telling us this for a month. It's only one team that's going to win. I don't know what the hate for Detroit is about. I see what's going on, no. It ain't this show. It's on line now. People are in line harassing you about this. I see it in your comments on your page. You got to be with mad people in Detroit now on your page,

and I see you cursing them out as well. I see you getting at them. Why are you cursing out everybody in Detroit on your page, yo? Listen, they're like, oh, I blocked you. Oh, I'm on following you. I'm like, why are you still on my page commenting then? Oh, I'm going to wait. I'm going to wait till the next game.

Blah, like, okay, so say Detroit wins the next year. you're going to wait and want to hear what I have to say about the Knicks series as well. So you might as well hang around. And enjoy you so. Yeah, man. I see what's going on on your social media as well, man. But look, it came down to, look, when Cleveland, pardon me, when Detroit was winning them games, Tobias Harris went on a seven-game streak of 20 points or more.

Then it was eight out of seven, even when they was winning. He has to get 20 points. isn't like he isn't getting the shots. He shot 19 times. He just went, he was, he just went even five for 19 or six for 19. I can't remember right now. But whatever it is, he's not getting the shots. So it's seeming like Kaye got to do everything, but it isn't like the other players aren't getting their shots. Like you said, also Trish, German, how bad are you? You're the All-Star, supposedly, for the Pistons, and you get benched the whole fourth quarter. For the whole fourth quarter, you don't even get any minutes. So it goes to show they didn't

have any faith for him. Donovan Mitchell, he only had four. points in the second half until the very end of the game. But I think when he twisted his ankle, I think that had an effect on him throughout the game. I think he would have played much better. But he had a little ankle spray, but he still finished out the game. It was a dope game. I thought this game was very good. Pistons didn't close out.

They was up nine points with a little more than two minutes left in the game. And that's what it boils down to the inexperience. You have to close out when you're up nine points in a game five at your house. and going to the Eastern Conference Finals is on the line. That's just that. James Harden, a little blast from the past. You know, it's not the 40-point James Harden. I've used to see it when he's down in Houston.

But he did a significant job. Mr. Couple key free throws that he should have made. Got his own rebale and kept the thing alive. So shout out to Cleveland. They got it done. Bruce, hell of a world fucking hustle player. He kept them in the game as well, getting loose ball, 50-50 balls. But you said it right.

right just the role players on on uh cleveland did more than the role players on the pistons you know kais laverte out of great game last game subpart is this game they pushed jenkins into the starting line up i think jenkins played exceptionally well especially for his first time starting in the playoff game he did really really good but it was really just him and k uh the whole game and when i'm looking at this scenario right i'm sitting and saying to myself i love kate kind of I want to keep seeing him play. But I'm thinking about who has to play the Knicks next. And if I want to see a good exciting series, not saying Detroit won't be a good series,

I want to see the Donald and Mitchell Jalen Brunson matchup. I want to see that. I want to see how that goes. I want to see what McEl Bridges is going to do, or Josh Hart with James Hart. And to me, looking at this game last night and Detroit not closing out, I know they're the number one seed. I think they're young. I think they got some time.

and I love what Kay Cunningham's doing. But if I got a series that I want to see, actually see, I would prefer to watch Cleveland. Is that going to happen? We'll see in the next game or two what happens. But I'm just talking about camera. What I would want to see is that Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson matchup, James Harton,

Mobley against Carl Anthony Towns. I think they match up good against the next. So we'll see what happens. Yeah. That's a good question. And Trista, I want to ask you the same thing, but unbiasedly, I know you're on your Detroit. Detroit hate train. I guess that's what we'll call it. But what would you rather see the Knicks play next? Would you rather see them play the Pistons or the Cavs? And then Mace.

That's a good question. I think they both present their own challenges and they present some interesting matchups that I'd like to see. I would like to see Cade in the garden. You know, we've been hearing all year, oh, you know, what Cade's going to do when he plays the Knicks again. He wants revenge for the last first round where they lost to the NICS. Knicks and probably the Pistons had a good opportunity to win. But I think in terms of seeing a back and forth potential seven game series, I think right now Kate is just gassed. I was looking at the advanced analytics. Kate has the highest usage rate right now in the playoffs out of every starter. So, I mean, I think it's like 33% of the time he's involved in the action. They're running everything through him. And so I just think he's going to be too worn down for the Eastern conference finals to be a good series.

So all that being said, I think it's the Cavs for me as well. Okay. And then Mace. Yeah, I think either one is a great series. I just think the way the last couple of numbers that Cades had on the Knicks

makes him the prime usual suspect to play against the Knicks, right? You want to see him get that 30. You want to see him throw a 50 in the garden. I'm not sure if one of the Cleveland Cavaliers players can do that because they got somebody playing right next to them that can add 30 points. So if you're asking me,

which you are, I would go with Detroit. I think Detroit has beat them all year, beat them by 20, beat them another time by 20. So that would be the biggest mountain for them. I think even though that Cleveland is a good team for all, I think they run through the, I think they run through Cleveland. Okay. Well, we'll see what happens. Game six, CAS versus Pistons, moving on. So after Wembe was ejected for a flagrant tune was not suspended for Game 5, which was a big discussion there

and whether he would or would not be, a lot of people had mixed reactions with one person asking, if this was Dremont, how many games would we be asking for? So then Dremont actually sarcastically replied on X and he said, y'all have called for my career for less. So Trista, do you think the league treats Wembe

differently than other superstars? And how do you feel about Dremont's comments? Well, I think that Draymond will get people coming after his career for less. But that's mostly because Draymond does this all the time. Like he stepped on people's chest. He's kicking people in the nuts. He's, I mean, he's just like a guy who does this type of shenanigans. Playoffs, regular season, any crucial game, Drayman is down to do it.

So I think that the league has him on high alert. Anytime he even looks at somebody crazy, they're ready to restore. order back to their league where they don't want it to be a malice in the palace situation. I think Wembe does get treated differently. I think the way that he speaks to the media, the way that he comports himself within the league, he's so sophisticated. He's French. He's multilingual.

He's interesting to, you know, these media members who haven't seen a player like him who's talking about what kind of water-fill. does Rudy Goberra use? He's reading books in the locker room that nobody's heard of before, probably in another language right before the game. He's got somewhat of an innocent face. But Wembe's just as much of a dog and a savage

as, as Draymond Green is. He just seems, and he's new. He's new hotness, as you guys like to say. So I don't think he has the pattern of behavior where the league wants to crack down. And I think because he's gonna be the face of the league, and he's probably gonna be the best one, player on earth for the next 10 to 15 years, I think they want to see the ratings with

Wembe in them. So they don't want to suspend Wembe, just like they wouldn't suspend Steph if Steph would hit you with the elbow. That was a good, that was a good comparison. I think, I think there's no way they could have thrown them out the league, really, I mean, or suspended them for that case, because when you think of the playoffs, if you're not, watching Wembe in this playoffs, I don't think it's as exciting. It's exciting to think about the league taking on a new face. And right now, we're at that place where a new, a new face is going to be crowned. Either it's going to be SGA who becomes that dominant star in his time, or it's going to be him and Wembe going back to back. But I think this is the year that really

solidifies that so it was no way they was going to keep them out of this game and for Dray Martin even compare himself or to put himself in in the conversation with Wembe is this is what I hate about the internet you know people could just put themselves in your story connect themselves to your story add their name to your story and it just you know I'm over it that's just my theme for right now I'm I think when it comes to Draymond, he's been so dirty of a player for so long. I remember even Joe Dumas sat down with him.

And when Joe Dumas was sitting down talking with him, he didn't even understand what Joe Dumas was saying. So I think it's just the Detroit culture. He grew up like that, watching Rick Mahorn and Lamb Beer and all those players. And it's just second nature to him. But to put himself with Wimby is crazy. Yeah, Trist.

Yeah, Trist, what you said, I actually said the same exact shit on first tape of a day when I was on first day. Shout to Stephen A and my nigga Kendrick Perkins and Maherstaffer than Jay Will. Me and Kendrick Perkins said what was going back and forth about this because Kendrick Perkins felt the same way that Drey Moore and Green felt. And Kendrick Perkins was actually putting up his footage of when he was doing shit, he like was in somebody's face and he got suspended for two games. And I told him, I said, Kendrick, they wasn't trying to make you the face of the league. I said, ratings last year for the first NBA game, a game won between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indian Pacers was the worst TV ratings outside of COVID since 1988. Adam Silver needs motherfucking ratings. We talk about how bad the NBA product has been this season, the regular season we're talking about.

I think the playoffs actually been pretty good. but the regular season has been bad and we complain about the product. You're not going to keep Wembe off the floor when you need to get ratings. It's business. It's not personal. Secondly, when it comes to Draymond and Country Perkins,

you know, it's my nigga Perkins, you know, that's my nigga Perkins. Because I told him the same thing. If this was rap, Jay-Z's going to get more favors than Cameron gets. It's just the way it is. It's not personal. It's business. Secondly, with Draymond and Perk, your jacket is crazy. and for people that don't know what your jacket is,

unless you use a better word. Your rap sheet, you are a habitual crime offender when it comes to NBA shit. Y'all diggers have multiple things on your jacket. This is a first-time offender. Now, with the crime a little bad, yeah, it was bad. But at the end of the day, everything you said, Trish,

was right hitting the nail on the head. The way he talks, the way he speaks. He's sitting with monks. He's talking about where his water filter. Everything matters, and they're like, yo, he's saying everything correctly. He's walking to walk. He's talking to talk. This is who we like.

So, you know, I like how Anthony Edwards say, I don't want to be the face of league. Then after the interview is over, he come with a tank top warrant and the post coverances, has his stuff to the side like Tia. He's straight Atlanta. You know what I'm saying? So he's saying, I ain't conforming to what y'all want to be. I think Wembe is that without even trying. Not Anthony Edwards.

I'm talking about what people who want to be concerned. sit at the face of the league. So I think what you said, Trista's spot on. I actually said the same thing. Good combo there. Okay. On to the Sixers. So the Sixers filed Darry as president and keep Nick Nurse as the coach. So they've actually appointed former Warriors GM Bob Myers to take temporary interim control of basketball operations following his firing. So we know the Sixers got a lot going on, Trista, but do you think that this was the right move for the organization? I mean, I don't think that hiring Bob Myers is the right move. I know he's just there on an interim basis, but like, after Jerry West died, Bob Myers didn't do shit.

His drafting jacket is fucking absurd. Like, you look at James Wiseman, you look at Jonathan Cominga, and Jonathan Comingia is a good player right now in Atlanta. But he was getting DMPs for 15 games straight under Steve Kerr. And maybe that's an indictment. of Steve Kerr, but that's just an insane draft pick when you look at everybody else who is right there in the first round, and you got Moses Moody. You finally had some lottery picks to surround stuff with, and you didn't get anything good out of it. You let go a Jordan pool, you let the locker room go a mess, and then you got up out of there. So I don't like Bob Myers in Philadelphia

at all. In terms of firing Daryl, I feel like this was one of those scenarios where he just should have been demoted. Because when it comes to drafting, Daryl Morey is one of the. the like has one of the highest hit rates in the league like drafts tyrese maxi who becomes an all-star probably the steel of the draft you get b ball paul in the second round who just played an entire fourth quarter for the detroit pistons you get jared mccain at 16 and that looks like a steal as well and then you get vj o edgecombe who i think a lot of people had question marks around coming out of bailer and he looks like he's going to be a real deal two-way player with tirees Maxi. The problem with Darryor Mory is that he had the power to let those players go as well.

He let Julian Champany go because he wanted Matt McClung to be in the dunk contest. So it was like, didn't need to do that. He let Isaiah Joe go. He let Jared McCain go. So to me, it's like, just let him handle all the draft strategy and put somebody else in charge in terms of trades and in terms of other roster building decision-making moves. Yeah, I think, I think, I think, I think slightly different when it come to Mori. I think because of his history, like she said, you could have demoted him, but I don't think you demote him

with the things that he's been able to do and the teams that he's been able to put together. Sometimes if you bring some of these players over to be able to accumulate this kind of team, it takes a strategy, but then when they don't deliver, it looks bad. So I understand that portion. but I wouldn't have fired them, but I do understand if you get the players over here and they don't produce,

because who would have thought that Paul George would not produce at all, right? Who would think if you assemble this kind of a team with Maxie, with Joel and B. Joel and B, health just never allowed them all to be on the floor as much as they should have been in order to get the kind of wins. And it's sad sometimes, but you've got to blame somebody. do understand that portion. And for that reason, he had to go. But I did want to say that. I think Mori is one of those guys that really knows and understands what he's doing.

When it comes to Bob Myers, like she stated earlier, he's been a hit or miss. And I like what he did with Poole, but when he let Poole go, I thought that was the worst decision that Golden State could have made. They've been saving Dremont for a long time. I love Draymond as a player. I love what he brings to the locker room. But I think that's one of the biggest indictments against him. When you look back, Poole would have been a two-time champion, I believe, if he stayed in Golden State.

And we'll ever credit that to Draymai. So for that, I wouldn't have hired Bob Myers. I'm not mad at the decision at all. So I'm on the girl in Braine. you got to do what you had to do, my nigga. You're doing favors for James Hardin. You fucking sign of him. That's your man from Houston.

You gave a shitload of money in Houston. You couldn't win anything in Houston. You got him out the net situation when he went to the next. You're doing mad favors as your nigga. James Harden's that, nigga, nigga. And when that didn't pin out, he says, okay, cool, you're going to get Paul George. All right, fine. Get Paul George.

And it didn't work out. I don't think that he, you know, for me, Darry hasn't won anything. He just gives niggas money and it isn't winning. So that's like, like Macea said, somebody's going to get the blame. And you to blame, nigger, that's just the way it goes.

Outside of his draft, outside of what Trishda said with the draft, I think he's very instrumental with free agency. You don't get Kevin Durant without Bob Myers. You don't get out of Porta Jr. or Bob Myers. You don't get Gary Payton without Bob Myers.

You don't get Andre Iquodala without Bob Myers. These are all stuff for free agency that Bob Myers may happen. Not only that, what did he do? He steps away from basketball for a minute, goes over there to the Redskins and revamps them. So he's around winners, not saying that the Redskins won anything yet, but it looks like they're in the right direction. So when you know somebody who knows how to win or bid people in the organization that potentially lead to winning, I think it's not a bad higher at all, my personal opinion.

But the biggest move ever to me is convincing, not saying you don't have to help with Steph Curry and other players and so and so forth. You get Draymond, Carmen, Kevin Durrett, to come to Golden State, after you just won 73 games with Golden State. And not only that, eliminating the Oklahoma City Thunder that year before, you know, the sales pitch got to be immaculate. And that matters. And they equaled out to two championships,

and there probably would have been three championships of Kevin Durant and tears Achilles. So I think this is a move in the right direction. What he's going to do with the team has yet to be seen, but I'm not mad at this move at all. Okay. And then we'll see what the Sixers continue to do because I think we're seeing a lot of questions,

even just now the coach. It's like, do we keep Nicknors? Do we move on from him? What about Embed? So there's a lot of what ifs. And even me personally, I still not entirely sure about that Jared McCain-Trey. just because I felt like they didn't give him enough time on that team,

but he seemed super happy over a OKC, so that probably worked out better for him in the long run. But moving along, so we've had a lot of conversations, as Cam will call it as twitching or kicking and streaming in generals. Carmelo Anthony says NBA players should stream after games instead of doing press conferences. So he said, why give a press conference to a company when I'm my own IP? I can do my own press conference.

Streaming is the new. press conference. So then Jalen Brown actually saw that clip, sub-tweeted it with the bull's emoji. So Trista, do you agree or disagree with Carmelo Anthony's take? And then how do you feel about, I mean, not so much, how do you feel about athlete streaming? Because we've discussed that, but kind of using their, being in charge of their own narrative and using it as, like, press conference. I don't, I don't mean to say this disrespectfully at all, because I like Carmelo a lot. But, like, Carmelo sounds like he never read his CBA. in his goddamn life.

Because like, yeah, it just sounds like kind of dumb as fuck to me, to be honest. Like, you're fucking with the money, Carmelo. If you want to not go to the press conferences

and stream, you're going to get fined from the NBA, $35,000 off the rip. Then they're going to find the team, and then they're going to suspend the player. And I'm going to tell you

who's not going for that. Adam Silver's not going for that. The team is not going for that. And that means you are expendable if you think that you are bigger than the program and you can take your voice and go on a stream and avoid press conferences altogether. You want to have more conversations on the stream? Cool, that's fine. But you're not going to be able to avoid the thing that the union and the league have negotiated together. That's just

never going to happen. Also, to be honest, some of the dumbest shit we see are people talking on the internet to themselves or with their friends. So we saw what Jalen Brown did. He would not have said any of those things if he was up at a press conference booth because he would know that there's a serious situation where what I say is going to get quoted and put on the news and I'm going to be judged for that. When you're in your room, sitting in your sweats with your boys, you just don't have that same level of gravity for the moment. And so you can really damage your brand and reputation in the process for what reason? I guess a check. I guess relevancy. I'm not sure. would not recommend that as an idea at all.

That's an interesting take. Trista, I think people do that every day, say things that damage, that could damage their name and their brand. But since we're talking about that, you know, when it came to Carmelo Sanis, I also thought that that was a very, a very, like, risky move

if he was to take that move because, like you said, they already have this agreement, not to mention every time that people go and do things on their own, not only do they go bad, it seem like people don't have the same seriousness about what they're saying. They talk more freely. They're going to lose more deals. It's going to bring more dark light to the brand,

not just taking money away from the union and taking money away from the team, but it actually can diminish the brand, of basketball. And I think when somebody like Carmelo says this, not that Carmelo is a bad guy at all. I love Carmelo, I love his game, you know, everything that he's done for the sport.

But I think when he says this, and a person like Jalen Brown agrees with him, this is just more bad backlash for Jalen Brown. I wish he didn't say this, but he said it, so it's out there. It's just like, well, you know, one person, And it's not problematic, but never been like that golden person with a squeaky clean pass.

And then this other person who's now in the media being brand as like this black sheep, that's just not the dynamic you want. And I wish you would have stayed away from this because he's playing good basketball. But this could have a lingering effect. And Zach, can you tell me one more time with Carmelo said? Please. Yeah, basically he said, why give a press conference to a company? When I'm my own IP, I can go do my own press conference.

Streaming is the new press conference. So basically he was saying that that athletes should stream after. Yeah. Yeah, listen. Shout out to Mello. That's my bro, too. That's like, I love Mello. But Trish was right, too.

We've seen there for years and watch Marshall Lynch after games and say, I'm purely here so I don't get fond. I'm only here so I don't get found. fines for years. I'm only here so I don't get fines. Now, if you want to go to your press conference and say that and then go stream after a cool, but you're not, it's part of the deal. It's part of when you sign a contract. You have to go be obligated. You know how many niggas are frustrated after they lose and have to go sit and talk to media? And you got to sit there. You know, damn well, the nigger want to go home. He don't want to sit there and talk to people. You know what I'm

I remember, and this was in college, I was watching when the final four, when Chris Weber called that timeout, I don't know if our audience is old enough to remember the five, and Chris Weber called the timeout, they didn't have it possibly cost them. Not possibly, they lost the championship, but it's part of the reason they lost the championship. And he didn't want to talk to the press. And they said, Chris, you're going to the next level. You have to talk to the press. And he was so uncomfortable in the interview during that interview, but you had to do it.

it's part of being a professional. Now, I understand what the technology. You can go say whatever you want afterwards, et cetera. But you got to go talk to the press. Famous statement. Obviously, we're talking about practice. You think I don't know. I'm not talking about practice.

I know we're not talking about practice. That's still a famous mean to this day. But it's part of the job. Now, do you have your own social media, your own streaming, whatever you want to call it, to do what you want to do? afterwards? Yeah, absolutely, but you can't avoid not talking to the press afterwards. Now, if you don't want to talk to the press, what Carmelo is saying is this, right?

You could create your own narrative without talking to the press. You know, when you talk to the press, they'll probably ask you questions that aren't easy to answer, things that you may not want to answer, but it's things that people want to hear. When you're on your stream or on your platform or on your social media, it's only your narrative. And sometimes you turn your comments all, you name, respond to people, et cetera,

et cetera, so you're not giving the other side of the equation. And I think that that's not good if you're going

to be a professional athlete. So what you said, Trish, it's not going to happen. It's part of the deal. Adam Silver's not

happening. But for Jalen Brunson, pardon Jaylen Brown to put a bullseye on it, he's trying to solidify what he did

a few weeks ago and say, yeah, this is why I did it. Mello gets it. Yeah, right, Mello, you get it, nigger, right? No,

No, you got to go talk to the press, but you got to do that. Yeah, it definitely gave him validation. I understand where he's coming from because also to know those point, like, yes, after a game, especially when you lose, I know they'd be so irritated. They don't be wanting to answer half of those questions because although there are some good questions, there also aren't some of the best questions that people want to answer at that moment. So I get it. Imagine you could actually just go back, not specifically the locker room, but like everybody

go on, you get to answer questions from fans directly. obviously we know that dynamic's not going to happen, but it would be a cool concept if there was a world where that could happen, in my opinion, but I see both sides of it. So I understand where he's coming from. Go ahead, Trista. And to that point, Statt, like,

look at places like Amazon, NBC, ESPN. They're paying billions of dollars to the league. And it's not just to show the games. is to have access to do all the one-on-ones, to make them available for individual rights holder availability, and then outside of that so that media can speak to these players after the game because what they realize is, number one, we're paying for something, and it's not just the game footage, but two, like getting constant available access to players

is what helps grow the game. Maybe these questions are dumb, but at least we have pre and post game stuff to pair with pre and post game coverage from the talking heads as well. That's why you get paid $60 million a year is because these rights holders are paying billions of dollars which goes to the salary cap, which goes to you.

If you want to get paid less, then you can go ahead and stream and not be available and I'm sure there's a way to work that out as well. Yeah. And that point I get too, but on the other side, I'm thinking like there, and again, this is hypothetical, but if there was a way to collaborate on that, even if it was an exclusive live chat,

that's still part of that subscription, I think a lot more people, one would tune in, players would be more compelled to answer certain questions because they know it's not. Because I mean, at the end of the day, like, yes, journalists are supposed to be neutral, but you can kind of tell when they feel some type of way about certain players or narratives or teams.

I'm just saying, like, if there was a world where you could kind of do both, and maybe not so much on their own. I disagree for it being on their own because I don't think a lot of people are ready for to handle that type of environment, but in a controlled way, I don't think it's that crazy,

but I see everybody's points. That's what I'll say. But in the comments, let us know what y'all think about streaming, the press conference, traditional journalism, and all that jazz. Why would they take all that money and then? No, it would still go to the company,

but I'm saying, like, imagine if it was like an exclusive live chat that you're paying for through whatever subscription service. And in addition to reporters, fans were able to ask direct questions, but it's regulated. So they can't just choose the questions that they want to ask. But they would say, hey, like, these are a couple, you know, fan questions. We're going to ask you this as well based off of your gameplay today.

You're still hitting the heavy hitter questions, but it also gives the fans the opportunity to be able to talk to those players. I don't think that's a bad idea. I just think it should be regulated. What you're saying is that, and it should be half-fab. I agree with you because right now. now was big is the reason why the thing is Twitch or

or TikTok Live or whatever it's because crowd feels that they have interaction. Yes. That they're a part of it. It's like, right? It's like this, right? And I know whether people are like Cam is going left, but I'm being serious. I'm being totally honest with you.

You have a billion dollar industry when it comes to the porn industry, right? And I'm not joking. This is some serious shit. You can go sit there and watch porn for free, but you'll go give a girl $1,500 so you could interact with her personally. And she just may be dancing around naked, but it's live interaction.

These girls are making $20 million on only fans because niggas feel they have a personal interaction with that particular female. And she's there for them. So interaction now was really big, and that's why you have the consonants and the other streamers that sit in there doing interaction because people feel like it's a personal experience for them as well.

Yeah. That's basically the point that I'm trying to make. And then interaction does translate to dollars. Just like, you know, if you were to have a show and you said, I might be here after, you know how many people are going to sit and wait to see you potentially come? Even if you don't, just because you said that you might be there, I just think that that helps with viewership and, like, people, you know,

staying along for the ride just in general. It's a digital meeting. Yeah. Damn neat. So I'm not saying all the freedom to just go and yap and say whatever you want, but if they were able to do that in a controlled way, I think that that would not be a bad idea. I think because he didn't make the Olympics,

there's already people against them in high places, and he's the wrong person to ushering that brand idea. So potentially right, mess is wrong messenger. Yes, I think because he's already been positioned that's problematic, it doesn't make sense to be the person to do that because all this is going to come to do is come back to Harnham, just like it would do to an Ivesant, right? A person who was that classic, that brought that much stuff when it was time. At the end, you couldn't put him anywhere. They wouldn't show him any love.

They put him in the Hall of Fame, but other than that, he didn't get the real rollout he should have gotten. and that's when those things come back to harm them. So I think a person like Jeline Brown shouldn't be the person do that, and I wish somebody would have told them that. Well, that's fair. And wrong messenger happens a lot. Even kind of back to our first topic

regarding Draymond talking about his career in Wembe, it's like, well, if you didn't have a confidential of you go and nuck if you buck with so many people, maybe this could be a different conversation, but unfortunately that's just kind of the image that has been seen. Because he's very intelligent, right? but it can start to come across like he's anti-everything. Yeah.

You know, and if he's anti-everything, then there's going to be people that pull away from that. Like, sometimes I could walk in that same vein, but if you're going to walk in that vein, you've got to understand that in the long run what that's going to mean for you. Like, I'm not a person that plan on depending on people. So therefore, I could do whatever I want

because I don't plan at no point depending on people. So, but if he's going to be a person that's looking for his next bag to come from that or sponsorship or whatever it is that comes with that, then he's going to have to take a different approach because they're already behind the scenes. I remember like Stephen A. said one time, he said somebody told him something that was about Jalen Brown. And Jalen Brown was like, say who it is. So that means there's already rumblings behind the scene about his. his forward thinking that they're not ready to go with, and they want them to just play basketball. Good, good, good point. Well, speaking of moving and shaking behind the scenes,

that's what Utah might have to do. So, AJ DeBonsta, what happens next? We will discuss after the break. Welcome back. So there's been, of course, a lot of buzz around projected number one overall pick, A.J. de Bonsta and his landing spot. So it's been discussed.

He would prefer to play in Utah, which we know his Utah roots. Who has the second. pick in the draft, but we also know the Wizards had that number one pick. So Trista, what do you think should happen? Should Utah try and trade up? Where do you see this potentially going? Yeah, I think it's first and foremost just like odd because AJ didn't grow up in Utah. Like he went to Utah prep or whatever, you know, like high school was. And then obviously BYU gave him a crazy bag to stay in Utah. But I don't know anybody who would.

just choose to live in Utah over Washington, D.C. For four or five years of your career, maybe even longer. So that part was strange to me. I mean, D.C. is an awesome city. I don't know. I mean, we saw Russell Westbrook talk about Utah and how hostile it is for black players to go there. So I don't know if I...

I just thought that was like a little bit odd to begin with. In terms of what I think Utah should do, It feels like the jazz have been courting AJ DeBanza for like five years. And they've been doing everything that they could to tank for four years in a row since they got Will Hardy to get to this spot. And now they're in a position to do that. So Washington doesn't necessarily need AJ. They've already said they're open to moving down.

They've got Trey Young there. They've got AD there. Who knows whether those guys will stay or whether they're going to try and flip them. But they've got options. You've got Darren Peterson, you've got Camboozer, you've got Darius Aikoff. You have other players that if you can get a haul from Utah, and they've got a lot of players now that are potentially able to be traded, and they've got all those draft picks from the Rudy Gobert trade still.

You've got a lot of potential pieces to play with. You've got Ace Bailey. You've got Sharon Jackson. You got Lori Markening. So, yeah, if I'm Utah, it seems like you want Utah. Like, that's been who you've had your sights on. So, yeah, I think if I was them, I would go out and try and get them. Yeah, I think if I was Utah, I definitely would trade up to get them

because when you think about a player that's been in a system that long in the state of Utah, right, you got this person that's been there through college, this person that's been there through high school. what that's going to mean to the city is going to, it could revitalize the whole city. I remember when LeBron came to Cleveland, it wasn't just him coming there. It was what he meant to the city and being able to come to the city, all of the jobs that he provided. It was like millions of dollars that were being generated just by him being there. And that's why, you know, like it meant so much whether he stayed or go.

So I think AJ could have that kind of impact in the city of Utah, not bad. basketball game, not points, not numbers, but what he can generate for that town. The excitement, you know, the money spending, and when you can raise the economy by bringing a player, I think it's worth it if you could get him there. Now, when you think what would happen to what you call it, the Wizards, they would take Peterson. He's a 6-6-6 guard. It'll be somewhere in the same ballpark. Then you got cuff.

How do you say his name? Acuff. You got A Cuff. A lot of these guys will play well right alongside of Trey Young. But I think when Trey Young is that short, you definitely need a Peterson. But you could get something else from the Utah Jazz because I think they want A.J. that much. So you could make them break the bank off what they want, even if they have to add a lot of financial incentive.

So that's what I would do. Yeah, listen, Utah is not as racial as everybody thinks. Maybe when you go to them games and you're not living there as long as you is maybe Russell Westbrook was saying and maybe some other players. I didn't see players say the Utah's races that go there to play against teams. I've seen that before. But I've been to Utah, and that shit is nice. They treat black people nice where I was at.

She was pretty cool. Utah's not far from Nevada. That shit is right there. And then it's a big, It's a lot of Mormons in Utah and tongue in the community, Hawaiian people that's out there as well. So I don't think

it's as racist as everybody makes it out to me. Just my personal opinion. From the experience that I had, a few times that I've gone there, I can't act like I've been throughout the whole Utah and seen everything else there. But at the end of the day as well,

Utah got a lot of money. And it may be the best place for him to go as opposed to a D.C. situation where you could go to the club every night. It's called Chocolate City. He's got a nickname. The niggins be outside. D.C.'s a real city. And they may keep you out the way from doing things that you don't have to do. I think me personally, Trish, their family set up there, his mother's there, his father's there. They're probably treating them like kings and queens. You already know how they treat him. You already can imagine what they give me.

You see all the money they gave him just to go to BYU. BYU is not traditionally known for getting the number one player in the country. They paid that, man, stay there and had his family set up. You got to think about this. If you got everything set up, I know all the restaurants. I know an hotel. I know everywhere to go. This, and the third.

Not just for the player, for the family as well. You don't want to start over in another city with a team that's, even though they got some good kids. pieces right now, but you know they might not definitely win the championship. Let's start to build here. Now, he would have to produce in the next few years because they'll turn. I'm not saying they'll turn on them, but the same thing like D'Andre Aiton, right? He ended up going to high school in Phoenix.

Then he went to Arizona State. Then he ended up getting drafted by the Phoenix Suns. He was already set up in that city. Did he produce? No, they didn't really get the job done. And I didn't see him look as bad as he did on the Lakers in Arizona, and just didn't turn out as good with the Phoenix Suns. But I think when it comes to lifestyle, and to me, that matters.

Not saying that you don't want to be exceptional basketball player, everything else. But I think it's very family-orientated. His mother's already on the record saying she didn't want him to leave school and stay there and get his degree because when you're making $8, 9 million a year, you're like, why won't we make $40 million for four years in college? Not seeing me, like, going to get more when you're in the NBA. Cool, but you already got his endorsements deal from his NIL and everything else. So he's probably making over $10 million a year right now.

I don't think Utah is a bad place. If I'm in the Utah, jazz, I'm going to try and do what I can to keep AJ there, my personal pay. That's a good point. That's a really good point about having them set up. Yeah. Yeah, his mother and father's on the record, not to cut you off stat real quick, but yeah, his mother's like, you know, listen, don't get me wrong.

Of course you want your son to get an education and have the best education you get. But let's keep it real. The $10 million a year don't hurt neither. You know, it goes along with it. You know what I'm saying? So I think he's given $7 million a year from BYU and whatever endorsements he get. And like I said, I've been to Utah a few times. I haven't seen the clan out there and none of that shit.

The Mormons and say, yeah, they mind any business and make sure you love. I was treated good. No, I just want a second. I definitely vouch for Utah, too. Like, it's one of those states, especially if you grow up on the East Coast. Like, nobody's like, yeah, we're going to Utah. Like, I don't, that was until I moved on the West Coast where I was like, okay, let me start going to, like, the Utah's and, you know, the areas. Even Arizona, New Mexico's, like, that wasn't really a thing when I was growing up.

Like everybody would just want to go to New York, Florida, Georgia, Philly, you know, so it's new over here. But just to add to kind of what Cam was saying, I think, and Trista too, because I understand the logic. It's like, well, why would you want to go to the jazz? Like, if I had the opportunity to go number one overall and go play in D.C., why would I not want to do that? But there also might be a lot more upside to playing in Utah because obviously the background, even though he didn't grow up there, I know he is from Massachusetts, but still just the environment. knowing what you're getting into. I'm sure the whole play is already laid out for him over there. And then like, I know Utah is still rebuilding,

but you can be the star, not saying that he wouldn't be in DC, but then you got Trey Young, then you got AD. Like, there's kind of different people on that level that you gotta figure out how that dynamic would work. And then just the outside distractions, I know like Cam brought up the club, but like this is why Jaden Daniels' mom is the way that she is because she know what be going around.

Yeah, that's how it goes. So it's like, I don't know. There's pros and there's cons. You can be lit in different ways in different places. If you could be the man in one of the richest cities in the United States,

why not be the man in the richest city in the United States? And one of the richest city in the United States. You've been doing well there. This has been home for you every step of the way. If it worked for you in college, it worked for you in high school,

I don't think it would not. work in the NBA. I think it will be the perfect fit. I think actually that Utah will be better for him than D.C. I don't think anything could go wrong for him in Utah. I think they'll pull out every stop for him. I'm not sure if the same thing will happen in D.C. Yeah. And I know we're saying richest cities, but like, you know, D.C. is pretty well off too, like in certain areas, of course. But also D.C. is one of the littest cities. So you want to be the man in the richest city or the Let a city, because those are two different types of vibes. Like, you want to be cool in the Utah grounds,

or you want to be cool in D.C.? Chocolate City. Which one are you choosing, maybe? Yeah, you want a nice, you want a nice mansion in D.C. Or you want a mountain. A whole mountain. Yeah, a whole mountain. He would get a whole mountain in Paul's in Utah.

Somebody would give him one of those mountains. Do you want your own mountain? Do you want your own mansion? A mountain. Mount stat. That would be late. Yeah. It'll be Mount AJ next time you go skiing. Yeah, that is funny.

Trista, would you rather be the richest in the richest or the littest? No, the woman. That's what I'm going to say. The woman in the littest city or the richest city. And then Cam, I'll ask you next. Oh, man. I'm probably, I love D.C. I lived there.

I lived there seven years. I loved everything about it. You could live out in the suburbs and get nature and have, you know, be 30 minutes away from where all the action is. I just love the culture there. I mean, I think it just depends. For me, I don't go and do that much, but I do feel like D.C. has a lot of live events,

and there's a lot for me to do. But I also don't, like, I'm not really somebody who goes out to the club, so, like, the litus city from a distraction standpoint, wouldn't really fuck me up. So I think I'd probably be, rather be in D.C., but it's close. Okay.

And can't. For me, it's the money. I lived in Columbus, Ohio. It's the money for me. I make my own litmus with my money. I'll get up and move to Alaska tomorrow if I got to, if the check is right. That's for me. It's the money.

Like, it's just a stereotype when it comes to Utah. Like, you know, why the nays move in Utah? See, I'd be a young boy was in Utah. Yeah. He made, they think, this, randah. And they're like, oh, this shit is all right. Post Malone moved to Utah. Utah's all right.

You know all the, you know, you know, you know who runs all the casinos in Vegas now? Used to be the mob. You know who runs all the casinos now in Vegas? The Mormons? It's the Mormons. Exactly. They drive down there, come pick up that money,

take three, four hour drive back to Utah. We're on with Utah. Okay, that's a good debate right there. And I think even with the player personnel, right? And Killer, maybe you could chime in on this. And Trisha, would you rather play with A.J. Bailey, I mean, Ace Bailey, with that upside, pause at 6'9, or are you going to roll the dice with Tray Young and AD? Which one you think is a better team going in that direction for the future? Yeah, I mean, I think for me it's probably Utah.

That roster, Lori Markinen's been on ice for years. He's an awesome wing. I think he's dynamic. I like the upside for Ace Bailey if Jaron Jackson can stay healthy. And then you've got a guard who I think is really broken out in Kiante George. When it comes to Trey Young, I'm not a believer. I still think he's undersized. He can't really defend.

And Anthony Davis has always hurt. So I like the direction Washington is going. But in terms of roster, strictly roster, I think Utah is in a better situation. a much better situation. If we're talking about teams, I'm going to D.C. The reason, I agree with you, Trish,

but with all your points, right? Everything you said, spot on, spot on. Anthony Davis can't be trusted. Trey Young is undersized, but he's still very good. I think Trey Young's still got some good years ahead of him. But you have to deal

with the next 10, next 15 years Shea Gilles Alexander and Wendy You have to deal with that For 15 years to come At least 10 minimum 10 The niggas is 22 years old Stefan Castle is 21 years old

Dylan Hop is a rookie If they can keep that team together And no KC can keep this J-Dubb, Chet Hoggroom Shegills They already paid them niggas If you're talking about winning they're not about to win.

I'd rather take my chances on the East with the Knicks and then Boston and them, everybody trying to figure out. The only people that seem like they got it figured out at the moment, and this is at the moment this could change, is the Knicks. And if the Knicks don't win the championship, they may make trades. You might try and get Janus over there. Everything is tossed up in the air as far out of the Eastern Conference. but we know it's going on in the Western Conference.

They're going to spend that money to keep those two core teams together. And I think for the next however many years to come, as long as you keep them teams together, that's the competition. So I don't see any future for Utah getting past those two teams anytime soon. Now, could they climb up to charts and get some free agents over there and they can lower some players there? Yeah, but are they going to lower players there to beat San Antonio to beat OKC, to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves,

I don't know about that. That's a good observation. Yeah. Yeah, because the West is stacked. And even if you think about Luca and them getting another piece on that team, it's going to be some tough teams on the West. Super tough. But also a lot of what-ifs.

So I'm not mad at both answers because they're both good perspectives. But in the comments down below, let us know what y'all think. But that is all the time that we, we have for today. Trista, you know, it's always a pleasure to have you on the show. Thanks for having me. As always, love y'all. Yes. Thank you all for watching. And as always, it is what it is.