Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Kalyn Kahler reflects on Seahawks winning Super Bowl & we talk Bulls tank (Hour 4)

Episode Date: February 10, 2026

In the final hour, Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote were joined by ESPN writer Kalyn Kahler to reflect on her week covering the Seahawks as they won the Super Bowl. After that, Rahimi, Harris and Grote wondered if the Bulls are willing to fully commit to tanking down the stretch of the regular season.

And the sideline keeps going to the 29. And that will do it. Brains above the ball in the NFL. The Seahawks, Super Bowl champions for the second time. Oh, I see what you did there, Mike Tariko. That courtesy of NBC, this is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, the score. And we go to our Circa Resort and Casino hotline, circle Las Vegas.com.

That is where we find Kaelin Kaler, reporter for ESPN, the senior writer. She was also the pool reporter for the Super Bowl. Very exciting. And she was on the bad bunny beat for a while. So Kailen basically did it all. Kalan, how are you? I'm doing well, Layla. How are you?

Good. Out of your reporting assignments, what was the most compelling for you? Yeah, being a pool reporter was actually really interesting. I had never done it before. So for those who don't know how it works, because I don't think a lot of us, do know who are just general NFL fans, but you get to actually watch practice during Super Bowl week. So like during the regular season reporters at most teams are not able to watch like literally any part of practice. You can watch them stretch so you can like take attendance and, you know,

make sure nobody's injured that you don't know about, but then you're ushered out of practice like very quickly afterwards. And so training camp is like the only time of year where you can see a full practice. I actually think Mike Tomlin with the Steelers, he would let reporters watch the whole practice, but that was like the only place in the NFL that you can do that. So during Super Bowl week, the team's practice is open to just one reporter per team. And so the pro football writers of America, that group basically, you know, people who are members of that, you know, rotate with that assignment. So I got to do it this year, which was my first time doing it. And it's really cool. I was very stressed because obviously Sam Darnold came in with an oblique injury.

And then on Wednesday, the first day of practice, rookie safety, Nick Emannwarnie, who is a huge part of that Seattle defense. He went down with an ankle injury during practice. So I'm like, oh, my God, I'm, like, sweating. Like, I'm the lone representative who has to, like, deliver this information to everyone. And so it actually was pretty stressful, but it was a really cool experience because you just don't get to see practice, like, at all. during the year. So I got to see how they run their practice. I got to, you know, take a bunch of

notes that I'll probably never be able to use because you're really not supposed to use anything that didn't make it into the actual pool report that was sent to all the other reporters. So it's a little bit tricky, but it was really interesting to be around them. And I will say, I wrote this in the, I think the Saturday report, the Seahawks were just like so, they kept saying, they kept calling themselves loose and focused, is like their identity, which, you know, a lot of times when I hear those sort of terms, I'm like, all right, that doesn't really mean anything. Like, you know, it's like, what does any of this culture stuff really mean? But I will say the Seahawks on Saturday, Friday and Saturday, they have this thing where they

shadow box all the time. And they did it actually during one of the media availability. A few of their defensive players, like literally we're at the podium, like shadowboxing each other. And then another one from across the room was like narrating it. And so on Saturday and Friday at practice, once they got into kind of the back half of the week, and things were like less serious. They were doing more walkthrough pace. They were shadow boxing like crazy on the sideline.

Like the players who weren't involved in the plays that were going on on the field were just nonstop shadowboxing each other. And I was like, okay, these cars are in like a really good mood. They seemed very confident. Like there was no, I don't know, it just seemed like a very normal week for them. They were very relaxed. Kaelin, that's what I was actually going to ask you about because I read about the shadow boxing and this whole loose and focused idea that Mike McDonald brought to the table.

And I was going to ask, did you get to witness the shadow boxing? Here you are telling us about it. He has so much of it. How much did it surprise you or did it surprise you because you had heard about this and just how they approached the biggest game for most of these guys in their lives? Yeah. I guess I wasn't surprised to see the shadow boxing because I had heard them talk about it like the morning that they started doing it because I think Mike McDonald was asked.

like, what are you going to remember about the 2025 Seahawks? And he said shadow boxing. And he said that, like, he'd asked his players that he was like, what are you guys going to remember about this season? And that's like what their answer was to each other. So it was kind of cool to see it actually kind of organically happening in practice. But it was like literally rampant on the sideline. And even like Nick, yeah.

And like even like Nick M. And Warrney, you know, he missed the practice after he got hurt that Thursday. He missed Thursday practice. He was not there at all. He comes back Friday. He does, he's a full participant Friday. And, you know, he's part of the walkthrough they had on Saturday as well. And, like, even he in the midst of, like, you know, trying to come back from this ankle injury that he himself, I talked to him Sunday night after the game.

I was like, how bad was it actually? You know, like, what type of treatment were you doing? He's like, oh, my God, I was doing cryo therapy. Like, I was searching up every remedy that I could. I was spending like, basically his entire day was devoted to getting his ankle ready to play on Sunday. And so, you know, it wasn't like a nothing injury. They, you know, they downplayed it publicly. But, you know, after the game, he's like, yeah, I was spending like all my time, all my free time, all my time, I was spending trying to rehab this ankle. But even he, when he came back to practice, was extremely loose.

He's like, there was one kid who was at practice, which I assume was someone's son. I'm not sure exactly who he was, but he's probably like eight or nine years old. And Nick was, you know, throwing the ball with him on the sideline a bunch, just like really chill. So even he was really kind of, you know, looked like he was in good spirits and really relaxed. And I will say, too, I think it's pretty normal for teams to like bring in former players or, you know, certain guests to practice. Like I think on the Patriots side, I was reading their pool report and they had Julian

Edelman there one day. The Seahawks brought Mill in it. they had NBC production crew and that was it. Like there was no extra people there. There was no sort of like hoopla in terms of, oh, this is Super Bowl week. And I asked Mike McDonald if that was like intentional. I was like, yeah, did you purposely not bring any guests? And he was like, well, I don't know.

I'm not aware of anything. And so, you know, because he was very, he's a really interesting coach. Like he's very Belichikian in the sense that he does not want any information. out there. You know, and even after I talked to him during the, you know, because you get to talk to the coach for a few questions after practice as part of being the pool reporter. And so, you know, I would ask him questions about injuries.

He would give me absolutely no further information. And then, you know, even when I'm trying to ask about, like, what pace the players were, you know, what I'm like, is this a walkthrough pace? Like, what percentage of work were they doing? And even that, he doesn't want to define. So he's very, very careful about what information he wants. out there and he's going to give you as little as possible. But he's also just a really funny kind of guy because he's got a very dry sense of humor. And so I think he's kind of very similar

to Bill Belichick when he was with a Patriots in that way where he's like wanting as little information to get out as possible, as little strategy to get out as possible, but it's also going to have a sense of humor about it. Yeah. Yeah, that is, that's really good stuff, Kailen, a nice job with the, like I could, like, you said the word stressful. Like that's what I would think. That's a huge responsibility, especially at that level. You know, we're not just talking about just a rank and file game in week seven or whatever. Right, right, where a pool reporter is used. So, man, I was, I was feeling the stress so good on you to get it right.

And then as you're there and you're watching the Seattle practice, was it also obvious to you that Kenneth Walker would be the MVP and the defense would dominate? what did you think of the Super Bowl? So I actually had an MVP vote. So I did not, I tweeted this yesterday. I did not vote for Kenneth Walker. I thought he had a good game. Absolutely.

He was clearly the best player on offense. There's no argument about that. However, he didn't score a touchdown. He did not score a touchdown. I think if Kenneth Walker had scored a touchdown, I would have been sold on him as the MVP. But to me, this was, I mean, to everyone who watched this game, this was a defensive game.

So I was like, I think a defensive player deserves to be the MVP in this game. And I think the reason it was Kenneth Walker and not a defensive player is because there were too many defensive players on Seattle's side that were having amazing performances. So because I know for fast, so I voted for Derek Hall, the linebacker who at the end of the third quarter had what I thought was the most important play of the game where he strip-stacked Drake May and Byron Murphy recovers it and gives the offense incredible field position for their only touchdown of the game. So, and at that point, they had a 12 point lead, I believe it was 12 nothing when that happened. So it was like, this game is certainly not put away.

Like a 12 point lead is, you know, I mean, with the state of the New England offense, it did feel like a comfortable lead probably, but it wasn't, you know. So, like, I felt like Derek Hall's strip sack turnover was the most important play of the game, the most pivotal play of the game. So I voted for him for that reason. And he had two sacks. He had two of Seattle's six sacks for 17-yard losses and a combined 17-yard loss. And then, you know, he was just a force during the first half, too, really disrupting May. But I know Chad Graff, who covers the Patriots, he tweeted that he had voted for, Derek, or not Derek, sorry, Devin Witherspoon.

So, and Witherspoon also had a great day. Like, it was hard. It was hard to choose between Derek Hall and Devin Witherspoon, I thought. And I went with Hall because I thought his play was the most important. So I think the voters, I only know, you know, of Chad, who also voted for defense. I'm sure there were more because they don't release how many players got votes. Like, you can ask the NFL for who the panel was, and they'll tell you who the panel was, but they won't tell you who voted for what player.

So I'm sure that the defensive players, like, can't let each other out because there was too many to choose from. And I think, like, me and Chad voting for two different ones, obviously didn't help one win. So I think that's probably what happened there, is there was, like, no clear consensus on who the best defensive player of the game was, whereas there was on offense. No kicker talk.

No shot amongst you guys. I would have loved to vote for it. I literally was chatting with the people next to me. A couple of yes to town people, I was like, God, because I would love to vote for a kicker for MVP. Like, that's so mean. I would love to do that. However, Jason Myers, like, I mean, his longest field goal was 41 yards. Yeah, I didn't even have a 50-yarder.

You're right. You're right. He made them all. Yeah. He made them all. Yeah, he made them all, and he set a record. That's amazing. but he didn't even have a pressure kick.

Like there was nothing. There was no high pressure that he faced, no long distance. So I was like he really did nothing to deserve this. Sorry to Jason Myers. You know, and the punter had an argument too, which is crazy. Because he had a great day. He had some incredible punts. So you had a punter that had an argument.

You had a kicker that had an argument. You had the running back who ended up winning. You had two defensive players. Like it was really, when you thought about the game from who should be the MVP, perspective, you kind of realize why Seattle won because so many different elements of the game were playing well. And, you know, I don't think Sam Darnold deserved MVP, but if you wanted to, you could argue that Sam Darnold by not turning the ball over and just getting them through that, you know what I mean? Like, and I mean, his escapeability on offense, honestly was like the X factor

for them on offense. Obviously Kenneth Walker is the reason they got down the field and extended drives, but like Sam Donald escaped pressure so many times where Drake May just crumbled and got fat. So I thought Donald actually had kind of an impressive performance despite missing a couple throws. We're talking to Kayling Kaler. She is the senior NFL writer for ESPN. You can catch her content on TikTok. K Dog Reports is her TikTok, which I believe it was her dad who tweeted at us and said that Peter King is the one who gave you that nickname. So we love that.

Yeah, he did. Additionally, so I'm just minding my own business on Instagram yesterday, and I'm like scrolling through stuff. And then what do I see? Well, if it isn't our plucky friend, Kaila Kailer, falling down. Okay, so there's a Yahoo sports headline that she reposts that says Sam Darnold checks on reporter who fell at his locker.

And at first I'm thinking, oh, this is just Kailen posting this funny story from the Super Bowl, until I realized the person falling down is you. What happened? Yes. Okay, so you guys know how, like, crazy it is in a locker room post game where you're, like, just trying to get into a scrum and you can't hear anything. So Sam was the last player to come into the locker room,

and I was writing about Sam. I had pretty much finished my story, but I just wanted to add in some scene from postgame. So I'm like, oh, I really need to hear what he says because I didn't go to his podium because the podiums were kind of far from the locker room, and I was like, I'm just going to go into the locker room. Anyway, so I start approaching the scrum.

I can't hear anything. So I'd go around to one side of him where it's like closest to his locker. And there was a folding chair in front of the locker. And I was like, great. If I kneel on this folding chair, I'll be able to get my phone in there and get some good video. And I also wanted to get a couple questions. And so I needed to be heard. I needed to be close.

So I kneel on the folding chair and the folding chair collapsed underneath me. Oh, man. Yeah, because you can never, you should never trust a full. building chair honestly, but it collapsed right away and I went like hands first into his locker because it's like a cubby. It's like a stall. Oh yeah. Right? So like I went I went straight into his locker and he had a beer sitting there and I knocked his little beer. Oh no! Oh, you spilled the beer! It gets worse. Yeah. Yeah. And so then he had to kind of stop what he was doing because like, I think his clothes were sitting there and they were going to get beer on them. Um,

Yeah, so then he mopped up the beer. He was actually really nice about it. He was like, are you okay? And I was like, yeah, I'm fine. And I was like, sorry, I knocked your beer over. And he was like, don't worry about it. What's important is that you're okay. So he was actually really nice about it.

And that's why Yahoo had posted it being like, it's the little things that matter. Because like, Donald really is like a really, like just from, you know, reporting teammates, talking to teammates, talking to former coaches. Like he really is a nice, genuinely nice guy. who cares about others. So his reaction to me falling into his locker was really in line with what I've already heard about him. It's good. It's important that you had the right human there at that moment, I think.

There's so many things. Oh, we call that cascading effects, Kaelin. You know, you're in the chair, then the chair buses up, and then you're falling, and then you're falling into the beer. It's tough in those locker rooms, you know? It's like there's a lot of hazards. There's a lot of hazards post-game in the NFL locker room. There really are.

You have to really watch yourself because if it's, It's not falling into a locker. It's tripping over shoulder pads. No doubt. You know, getting hit with a towel that someone threw. It's all very real. It's all very real. It's the part people don't want to know, but it's very real and it's very true.

Definitely don't want to experience. Yeah, no, you don't. Right. No. But the amount of times I've been in the path of somebody throwing dirty laundry into the hamper is like every time. The amount of times is every time. Between a bad bunny, pool reporting, and then finish. was spilling

Sam Darnold's beer. You had quite an experience. Yeah, I needed a beer. I was like, I was like, I need a beer now leaving this locker room. They have a whole cooler of drinks in there when the team wins. But, you know, I didn't take one because that wouldn't be professional. Right, right. I certainly earned one, I think.

Yeah, you did. I'm just picturing you, like, just finishing the job, like taking the beer out of the cooler and then leaving. Savage. I'm over it. Yeah. Wow. Kaelin, thank you for sharing this experience with us.

And the info about the shadow boxing running rampant on the sideline. That's incredible. Thanks, Kaelin. Keeping them loose. Yep. Yeah. Thanks, guys. Thank you.

If you want more of what Kail and K-L-K-D-D-Doo, you can find her on X at K-L-N-K-A-H-L-E-R. And yes, on TikTok at K-Dog reports. K-D-D-G. That was K-D-D-G who fell into the... who fell into the locker. That wasn't K-Doh. Yeah, that was K-Dog.

Yeah, that was K-Dog. Right. Man, it's true, though. You got to be careful. You got to be delicate. Locking in those locker. Knocked down, but you get up again. Oh, yeah, sing it.

I get knocked down. Nobody knows the words after that. None of us. Because you're never going to keep me down. Isn't it? Because you're never going to keep me down? I get knocked down. And I get up again.

Because you're never going to keep me down. Isn't it? I just know who drinks a whiskey drink. he drinks a vodka drink. He drinks a logger drink. He drinks the cider. So you are listening. Oh, man.

You are listening. I hate my brain. I'm hearing show karaoke night, anybody? Come on. Yeah, it is. You're never going to keep me down. I just looked up the lyrics. It's a shame about Ray.

That's what I was working at earlier, Lemonheads. Do you know? No, the one we were just singing. Which song was that? I get nagged down. Oh, yeah. Rumba Tumba, something like that. Tumba, what?

I did it for the plot. See? Sometimes you got to do it for the plot. Wait, what is the, what is it? Chamba Wamba. I guess I wasn't too far off. But I knew you were not going to say that. I was exactly wrong.

I knew he wasn't going to say that. That's why I asked the question. Aren't you glad I asked the question? What did I even? Tumba? What did I say? You know, I feel like I was in the ballpark. Yes, there was an um in there.

I feel like sometimes I'm so out of the area code with some of the things that I think that in this case, I should get credit for being close. You stay out of my. Down, but I get up again. And? The end's the next one. You're never going to keep me down. That's what I said.

I was right. I was not affected by your illness. Okay. Oh, my God. There's Dalent Terry news. My illness. Oh, there's Dalent Terry. He got a job?

Now what happened to Daletary. Ray has written this question, and it's the best question the way you wrote it. So I'm going to ask it. Are the bears? Wait, it shouldn't say bears, though. It supposed to be the bulls. Are the bulls? Are the bulls?

Are the bulls? Are the bulls? Are the bulls? willing to tank like the NBA's tankiest teams? I love it. Boles. Rumbah, tumba. Put some tank eye on it.

Next. Ding. Rahimi Harrison Grody. Midday's Tyndal 2. On Chicago Sports Radio, 104 3, the score. Eight seconds left. 123, 115 nets.

And this is going to be the ball game here. That's the Chicago Bullsville. have now lost five in a row and the Brooklyn Nets win the season series, three games to one. As the Nets came in, Bill, with only 14 wins, now 15 wins, three against the Chicago Bulls. Okay. I see what's going on here.

You two troublemakers. Na, nah, na, na, nah. So, this is Rahimi Harrison Grotia on 104.3, the score. That was Chuck Sworsky and Bill Littington on our Bulls Radio Network. And what's the symbol of the no-limit soldiers? Oh, that's right. It's a tank. I see what you did.

You two. You too sneaky sneaks. The opening line of the song from Master P is he's the colonel of the bleep tank. Campaign was the original tank commander. And we salute him. Let me explain something to y'all. Back in the day, the campaign, Joffrey Lever. and Tage Gibson and Doug McDermott trade.

You know, of course. Of course that was the balance. Campaign. What y'all know is that if you have a tank, you therefore need a tank commander to operate said tank. Campaign. So we have a Bulls team now that has designated themselves as tankers by decree of the vice president of basketball operations,

our church, Carnish Chavez, who said we no longer want to be where. in the middle. In the middle. But what he said was, I don't want to call it a rebuild. And then we're like, oh, okay, what about the word take?

We're driving the tank. Are we driving the tank? No, we're not. But you know what? The Brooklyn Nets helped them do that because the Nets only got their 15th win of the season last night. And three of those 15 are against the Bulls.

The Bulls have lost three of four games. That season series is over. So you have successfully... You have successfully tanked that portion of your... schedule. You really did. You really showed out with the tank.

And so you're thinking to yourselves, okay, the bulls are going to take the required nose dive in the standings to catch up with some of these other tanking teams that have been in tank mode long before you thought to even explore that avenue. Like the Nets, for example, who are way ahead of the tank. There are nine games ahead of the tank. The Nets have the fifth worst record in the NBA. And what that does, just to give you guys a sense of what that means, if the Nets finish in their current standing, fifth worst record in the NBA, they will have a 10.5%

chance at getting the number one overall pick, one in 10, better than one in 10, and they will have a 42.1% chance of getting a top four pick. Now here's the issue for the Bulls. They are 24 and 30, and despite having lost five straight and eight of their last nine games, 24 and 30 only puts them at the 10th worst record in the NBA. If the season ended today, They would have a 13.9% chance at a top four pick and a 3% chance of the number one overall pick. That's just not bad enough. It's not bad enough. And the issue is they already have 24 wins.

The teams directly behind them in tanking efforts, and they're not even necessarily tanking, are the Hornets with 25 wins, only one more than the Bulls. The Clippers also have 25 wins. The Trailblazers and the Hawks each with 26 wins. So if you win a little too much more, you won't even have the 10th worst record in the NBA. And you're thinking, well, why does this matter? The Bulls traded all their players. They've got seven new players on the roster.

This isn't a Bulls team that looks like it's tanking, even though they've lost five in a row. They are 0 and 3 since the deadline. I want to remind you, they're playing severely undersized because Jalen Smith is dealing with a hamstring injury. At the end of the third quarter of that game against the Nets last night, they were tied. At the end of the third quarter of Saturday Night's game against the Nuggets, They had a lead. They just ran out of gas because the new players on the team are not quite there yet in terms of style of play. I still think they would have lost to the nuggett.

Okay. Josh Giddy is not back yet. Trey Jones is also sideline. When those two guys come back, they're going to be a better team. Marshall, I love you, but you're dangerously close to. Just wait until we get Lonzo back territory. No. What?

So, no, the reason I'm bringing this up is because, they have to make a conscious effort now in the way that the Utah Jazz have made a concerted effort to commit to the tank. Here's what I mean by that. The Utah Jazz in their last two games, I know you heard they traded for Jaron Jackson Jr.

from the Memphis Grizzlies. He hasn't played the fourth quarter of either of those games, and Lowry Markinen has also not played the fourth quarter at either of those games. They're like, if the game is close, our stars all sit in the fourth quarter. and if that means the Bulls need to adopt a similar philosophy, I am all for it if your desired goal is to tank. Understand this.

Last night, Billy Donovan played nine players. Six of those nine players weren't even here last week. They're going to get better because they've got the All-Star break and they're actually going to get time together on the practice floor. Billy Donovan is not going to tank. Those players are not going to tank. Front offices tank. Coaches and players do not. Archerich-Karnas Chovas has to make the tough decision to tell Bill.

guys are not allowed to play their full allotment of minutes, except maybe modest. Patrick Williams didn't even start last night. That's how you tank. You put Patrick Williams in the starting lineup. But even for everything we just talked about, losing to the Nets, giving them their 15th win of the season. They didn't even start Patrick Williams.

If you want the tank, just looking at, they've lost five in a row. There's a real scenario here where this losing streak gets to nine. At least, at least, like I'm just looking at ball. Boston, like the next game. Then after the All-Star break, home against Toronto. Toronto, very good. Home against Detroit. Home against the Knicks.

I guess Charlotte is the next one where I would say, eh, Bulls could probably beat Charlotte, but I don't see them beating Boston, Toronto, Detroit, or New York right now. No, I don't either. Right? So you might have nine-game losing streak on your hands, whether they're trying to tank or not. And that's still not enough.

And I'm telling you, when Josh Gideon and Trey Jones come back, and just when these guys they have come back, together because they have not this is like pick up basketball what you've seen the last three times out of the Bulls basically. I think you have to make a more concerted effort

and what I mean by that is they have to make the decision and Billy Donovan probably is not going to like it but they've got to sit guys who can actually help them win. I don't know that that I don't know that Billy Donovan from a basketball sensibility standpoint is going to allow that to happen.

That's the other part of this. I agree with that. As much as players are not wired to take, neither has Billy been. Yeah, I watched his entire post game yesterday, and if I had to, well, we'll play a little bit of it here. But if I had to, like, just personally consolidate what he was trying to convey to the assembled reporters and to all of us, he would say, do you know how hard this is? What we're trying to do right now? Get off my back. Just listen to here.

Here it is in Billy Donovan language. Billy, another fourth quarter where the other team, you know, ran away from you guys a little bit. Are you seen any kind of consistent theme in these fourth quarter stretches? Yeah, I don't know if it's necessarily the fourth quarter. You know, we got back in the game. I even thought the third they got up by maybe, I think, 12 or 14 in that third. And then I thought when Nick was out there with that group, I thought his rim protection really helped us get out in transition and kind of climb back into the game.

You know, again, I think we had some turnovers. That's just going to be something we're going to have to work through is these guys get familiar with one another. You know, defensively, we've got to be better. Listen, it's an unprecedented situation. We're in right now, and I, like, just told those guys in there, you know, we'll have choices to make, you know, because if we just think we're going to have a bunch of guys come together with no training camp and we're just going to go out there and win basketball

games, it doesn't work that way. We're going to have to show a level of resiliency and toughness to, you know, expedite some of this stuff, you know, through film and through some of these walkthroughs. But just kind of the way it is. So I do think there's, like, a lot of things. it was probably some defensive coverage breakdowns. It was some turnover on offense. To me, the thing that we've got to do a better job of

that I don't want to say concerned about but just stands out to me a lot more is I think when we're getting into the teeth of the defense and the paint, one of the things we're doing a really good job of was spraying the ball back out. We're not taking enough threes, not enough assists. Now we didn't shoot a great percentage.

The assist numbers are not going to be great. But I'm anxious to see what the potential assists were. Like how many shots did we actually generate for each other? But those are just areas. We're going to have to work through you know, the stuff, and it's not going to be smooth sailing. I mean, it's just not. It's going to be a real challenge, and we all got to lean into it, the coaches, the players,

and, you know, we can't just expect it to happen. We're going to have to make things happen a lot quicker, you know, than probably is fair to them, but that's just the reality of the situation. Does that sound like a coach trying to tank, or does that sound like a coach trying to get his guys better and better and just start winning some games? The Bulls had 20 assists to 18 turtowers.

22 Brooklyn points. That is not acceptable. They assist a turnover ratio. Like, that's how you... But you're right. Like, the question becomes, how bad do you really want to take? And that's why it's got to come from upstairs. It can't come from Billy, because it's not going to come from Billy.

And it's definitely not coming from players, a whole bunch of them who will be free agents at the end of this season. Right. And that's the other issues. You traded away a lot of value for expiring deals, even though that value also was expiring. So that makes this even more difficult, because they do genuinely want to try to figure out who is a real long-term solution for this team. And they don't have a lot of time to do it. And I don't know how you do it accurately

with this collection on the floor. Here's some news that we want to pass along. Adam Aronson is reporting that he's of the Philly Voice. The Sixers are signing Dalyan Terry to a two-way contract. All right, Daly. He's back in the game. Yeah. I need a slower clapping that, Lila.

What a wild ride. And then the reply from Dunked Delphia was, interesting. This mean no Lonzo, and it all comes back to the Bulls. It's not going to be smooth sailing. Yeah, you'd write that one down. That's going to get a lot of play

over the next 28 games. Yeah, understand. I'll answer your questions. I got you. But at the end of every answer was, if you think that we could just put this together without one practice, you're crazy. Listen, it's an unprecedented situation. It is. I like Billy's answer, and then I like

Grody's dramatic interpretation. Yes, because that's what I was feeling as I was watching it. I'm like, Billy, Billy wants to order the code red. He wants to let you know what's really going on and how difficult it is to do what they're attempting to do, and that's why they've lost five. Billy is the dogged doctor from Gray's Anatomy, who spent a long time doing triage before he got to a fancy hospital,

and he is going to save the body no matter what. They have the 21st worst record in the NBA right now, which would get them the 10th best odds at the number, one pick and top four pick and all that. But I want to tell you all something. They're only a game up. And when I say game up, they're only a game behind the Charlotte Hornets. They're in 11th place in the East.

And if they were to win some games, they could end up in the very place that AK says they don't want to be, which is the play in. Do we just need you to like have 20 minutes uninterrupted on the mic to just air it all out and then figure out how you want to feel about it? Because I'm okay with that. But the thing is, I just don't know if I'm okay with understanding they want to change directions now with who they have in charge because there's no guarantee if you do end up with, say, the number six or seven pick in the draft that you're going to know what to do with it.

Yeah, I think you need 20 more minutes open mic where you just talk this out amongst yourself. And I'll be angry Billy. No, we don't. No, we just let him think it through. Yeah. Do you know how hard this is? The city deserves better. The city deserves better.

Billy Donovan is now playing a basketball coach with a taking team in the fugitive. And I don't know how that happens. You think this is easy, Casey Johnson? They switched my players. I'm like going back with Colonel Jessen. We live in a world with rules. We didn't have any of that practice yet. You can't handle the turn.

Get off our backs. You need me on that wall. What are you going to know about the fourth quarter? Turnovers? We haven't had a practice yet. Why are you asking about that? Assists ratio. Get out of here.

He couldn't have been more polite. I'd have even met some of these guys. He couldn't have even. more polite. Now here's Mark Roddy, who is answering and politely for Billy Donovan. That was his, inner Billy was crying. The anger translated. The Billy

Donovan anger translator. And inner billy is like, I am a, I'm a Hall of Famer. Do you folks understand what they've done? Seven new players I got to deal with. I got to answer about second round picks. Oh, we've got to have more of this. This is difficult. I got a guy flipping off the rim, shooting free throws. I don't even know what the hell's happening. This ain't

reality TV. All I learned is y'all going to be real mad if they mess around and beat the Boston Celtics. Real mad. You're all going to be real mad. That's when you're going to need your time. Okay, that's fair. That's fair. So Marshall's got to figure this out for himself. Mark is now taken on speaking for Billy, because Billy's too professional to do it for himself. I just get to sit here and listen and try to suss it all out, knowing that I don't know what the result is going to be, but they're not going to lose enough. So that's really the bottom line here.

Oh, you want to know why Billy, why Josh Giddy is still sitting out? you know this is very difficult there was something else I wanted to say 7 o8 has now called you Billy Larry V more arrogance from the reporters you try this

you try to what's the line from airplane I don't even know right now you try to run with Lanier and somebody else good luck we're all counting on you just want to make sure people on

understand because one of the texts are said that the jazz is a stupid example. Their top eight, their pick is protected. It's top eight. They've got to end up in the top eight. That's why they are tanking. That's why they're not playing their stars in the fourth quarter. They need to have a bad record to get their pick this year in a loaded draft. And to answer the Dunkin Delphia tweet, 630 says the jazz added Lanzo ball, too.

They're probably a top 16 in the West next year. Go on, Daly and Terry. Go enjoy the cheese. mistakes and the life in Philly. We're out here trying to figure it out amongst ourselves. Coming up next on Rahimi Harrison Grody. This is a story, a tale. We have to tell you next.

Rahimi Harris and Grody. Midday's 10 to 2 on 1043, the score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grody on 1043, the score. And I'm not going to lie, we just keep laughing at Grody, doing an impression of whatever this character is supposed to be as inspired by Billy Donovan. This inner Billy, what he's really trying to tell reporters and everybody is, you think this is easy?

I got seven new players. It's unprecedented. He used the word. Unprecedented. Billy Donovan, anger translator, Mark Greta. I am. Like, honesty translator. Like, he's trying to be really nice about it and answer everybody's questions, but it's more, do you know how difficult

this is? He is the consummate, like, pro and teacher, Billy. Like, it is hard to figure out when he's incredibly frustrated, when he's just explaining the scenario. He seems like he's, like, who knows, like, in all seriousness, like what Billy Donovan thinks about all of this? Like, does he want to be part of this into the future? I think he understands it, but he still, it's a lot to stomach.

It is, but he does seem capable. Like, his versatility as a coach, say what you want about him as a coach. He can take on any type, it feels like he's a team. teacher. So he obviously having come from the college ranks, he knows how to teach fundamental basketball, but he also knows how to hang with veterans and be a coach of a team that is winning. So he does have quite the skill set as a coach. It's a matter of whether he wants to put up with all this. Well, you say put up with all this. The bottom line here is... It's a matter if Grody wants to put up with all this. I got his back. I'm saying for him what

he wants to say. But everything that Grotie has translated, And everything, quite frankly, that Billy Donovan said after that loss to the Nets made sense. It was logical. It was practical. And the only thing that's going to be impractical is that the Bulls start bringing players along who can help them win games at this point. Don't do that. You mean, Anthony Simons getting 11 threes and three games? A Bull's record, by the way, is nonsense, isn't it?

But come on, man, to sign, but also, and I'm not arguing for this. But I'm just going to point out that to sign. Josh Giddy to a long-term deal where they gave him more money than his arguable market value. If they sit him for the rest of the year? I'm not saying that's even counter-counterbalancing their intent on signing him to begin with. I'm not saying that he needs to sit for the rest of the year. I'm just saying it would be very convenient a la Utah Jazz if he didn't play as much as he has been playing and maybe not in key sequences as he has been playing.

I know. It's just crazy because they theoretically could have just signed him before they really wanted to do this. And now they're in the midst of it. That's another question I would have. From the Department of What Year is it that I would like to discuss with Matt Spiegel next? If you told me that Justin Verlander would get paid to play baseball in 2030, I would have said, what the hell is going on? Reportedly, according to John Heyman signing a deal with $13 and $11 million deferred with the time. Tigers and the payments start in 2030. How old is he going to be then? 90? I don't think I'll be 90.

Yeah, I got you. Yep, yep, 90. 94 and a half. Just put it right in there. Let's discuss it with Matt and Lawrence next.