The Bill Simmons Podcast - Anthony Davis's Future With Justin Verrier and the Atlanta Super Bowl With Rembert Browne | The Bill Simmons Podcast (Ep. 437)

Episode Date: November 1, 2018

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Justin Verrier to discuss the bright future of Anthony Davis and Western Conference playoff teams (3:10) before Bill sits down with Rembert Browne to discuss what Super Bowl LIII could mean to the city of Atlanta, how to salvage the halftime show, and Rembert's favorite TV shows (42:00). Finally, Bill makes some NFL picks, and gets fired up for the Bucks-Celtics matchup (1:12:20). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode of the Bill Simmons podcast on the ringer podcast network brought to you as always by ZipRecruiter. You know, it's not smart coming over to my house for Halloween and then going out afterwards on a random Wednesday night and then showing up hungover for my podcast today. I'm not hungover. I'm just tired, Bill. That's nephew Kyle. Whatever happened to him last night. I know he's, he's not batting a thousand today. You know what else isn't smart?

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Never miss a big national matchup. All you need is the Yahoo Sports app. Get the Yahoo Sports mobile app and you are golden. Check out theringer.com. We have so much good stuff this week. I don't know. Our NBA coverage is just, just killing it right now.

I'm very happy with all of our basketball stuff. Check out the ringer podcast network as well, where we just launched the big picture, our movie podcast. I listened to the Oscars pod the other day with Sean and Amanda Dobbins. Really good. That's we're probably doing an update in that three times a week. A lot of rumors about the rewatchables coming back soon. A lot of rumors. And then what was the other one I listened to the other day that I loved? Oh, the Press Box

on Channel 33. Brian Curtis and David Shoemaker, the most underrated podcast on the internet right now. They talked about the Megyn Kelly situation and they talked about Mike Francesco's new media feud. Really good stuff. I just love those guys. And now they're doing it bi-coastal New York, LA. You would never know. Lifelong friends, Curtis and Shoemaker. That pot is just really good. I would check that out once if you like just really smart, semi-meta, but just kind of detached from the whole thing, media stuff. It's excellent. Coming up, we are going to talk to Justin Verrier about Anthony Davis's future

and also New Orleans's future in New Orleans. He was there for a couple of years and has a unique perspective on it. We're going to talk about the West and how we get a playoff teams out of that Western Conference. We're also going to talk to old friend, Grantland teammate and current Ringer contributor, Rembrandt Brown is coming on to explain some stuff.

And then I'm going to make some football picks at the end. I'm back. We're doing this. We're running the slate. And we're also going to talk a little bit about the Celtics-Bucks and why that game tonight, Thursday night, I'm taping this noontime Pacific Thursday, why that Thursday night Bucs-Celtics game

is a little more important than you think. That's all coming up. But first, Pearl Jam. All right, Justin Barrios here. He handles all of our NBA coverage here at TheRinger.com. Also lived in New Orleans and covered the Pelicans once upon a time. And I wanted to talk about Anthony Davis and his future in New Orleans, but more importantly, the team's future, because I feel like those two topics are intertwined. Sure. Yeah. I don't know what they are without him.

If they can't keep Anthony Davis, why have a team? I guess would be my first question. You were there. You were, it was a great team to cover in the sense that there was really no media at all. How many media members were actually covering that team? What years did you cover them and how many media members were there? So it wasn't this past season. It was the two before that. Yeah. And it was light.

I think it's the least covered team in the NBA. I mean, Brian Curtis wrote a really good piece about it. Yeah. Essentially looking at they have one of the top five players in the league. But as a media market, I think they're players in the league, but as a media market, I think they're last in the league, if not the last, or if not among the last two,

it's definitely a weird vibe simply because it's in the South and people don't think of it as the deep South simply because New Orleans is, is such a liberal city and it's kind of its own little, little thing. But it does have those influences and one of that is just everyone is steeped in football everything about sports fandom there is either lsu or the saints and so they have this attractive product elvin gentry is running nowadays pretty much a historic pace to his offense and you have a top five guy and there's

still you need to work in order to get guys to pay attention. So a couple of things going on with them. One, from a season ticket standpoint, I was privy to some numbers just on the season ticket stuff this year, which is one of the real indicators of health of a franchise. A team like Golden State is in the nine-figure range for season tickets. They're going to get just guaranteed $120, $125 million that they know they have. They're getting in March and April. They can keep that money for six to seven months. They don't have to worry

about chasing other tickets because they have all these tickets taken care of. Then you start drifting down to the bottom level of teams. And a team like the Pelicans is at around 20 million. And that's it. You know, now you're talking about cable money, not getting a ton there, especially compared to the big market teams. And then walk-in attendance, stuff like that,

the media coverage, which we just talked about, not extensive. There are all these red flag indicators here. On the other hand, they have a guy who is probably one of the three candidates to win the MVP right now, I think. It's him, Giannis, and Curry, I think would have kind of emerged as the three. So if they can't make it work with him, which I think they should be able to, right? Everybody in the NBA is doing great. Revenue sharing is kind of in what year five or year six, whatever they've done there. This should work unless he says, I want to go. And if he says, I want to go, they're in trouble. Yeah. I think another big part of it is just

there aren't a lot of Fortune 500 companies there. I think it's really just energy. And if you look at it, those are the type of not only employees, but just companies that are buying up a lot of the suites, a lot of the lower bowl tickets. And you've seen those sort of sections have been a little bit sparse in the past there. And so you do wonder how much can the organization even do in order to get to the point where people will come out. And by having said that, they are in this weird cycle as an organization where it's pretty much year to year. Even if they're good this year, they'll have to figure things out on the fly because Nikola Mirotic, I believe, is a free agent. Alfred Payton, another starter, Julius Randall. So that's essentially what, three of

their top five, six guys. And so they're really, that's probably part of it, that they need to sell something to the fan base. They need to say, hey, come out and see us. We have AD and we're going to be really good. But the way they've gone about that is basically just stealing from Peter to pay Paul, essentially, where they're just looking forward to the next season, not necessarily the big picture.

Right. And you mentioned the suites. I was obsessed with how, last decade, when I was writing for Page Two, I thought San Diego should have a team. I was like, you know what would be awesome? San Diego, you get free agents. It's California.

The Clippers should move back there. Whatever makes it work. What a great place for a team. And then everybody was like, no, it's actually a terrible place. They won't be able to sell the suites. They don't have the companies there. And it was like, yeah, you could get rich people, but you'd basically, so this led to another idea that I had that actually an idea that I really liked of the 9,000 seat stadium.

And it's just basically, you're basically gearing it for rich people. That's it. Which is the only way I'd work at San Diego. It's like what, basically what Golden State has in the lower bowl, where it's just a free for all for access and tickets and all that. You try to create that. But anyway, that's why San Diego doesn't have a team. New Orleans has the same problem with the suites. They also, another red flag that we didn't mention is the ownership situation where Tom Benson died. The estate is still, what's happening with that? My understanding, I haven't checked it out in a while, but Gail Benson, his wife, she owns the team outright. And there might be things down

the road, but as far as I know right now, it's in good hands with her. It's in good hands with her. Well, I don't know how interested she is in keeping the team long-term or like what her interests in and like to the sports franchises in general, but Tom Benson essentially saved the franchise from, from leaving. I mean, yeah, it was in disarray when the NBA took over. And then Benson kind of came in at the last second and they were able to keep it there. And I think he kept it there. Obviously he had business interests,

but he is a big advocate for the city in general. He grew up there and he's very New Orleans centric and wants to see the whole city still thriving. I think they really lobbied him too. I don't think he was 100 hundred percent sure he should do that. I think they really, the NBA really put the hard press on him. And I think the people in the community,

from what I understood, it was basically like, if he didn't do this, they were probably going to leave. Right. And he ended up saving it and feeling good about himself. But now, you know,

what's the lease up to? It's like 2023 or is it later? Yeah, I think it's around there, but he, the family or Gail now owns a lot of property down there. They obviously own, or I think they're partners with the Superdome. I'm not technically sure, but some of the buildings around there are under the Benson name. So from a business big picture standpoint, it might make sense for her to keep them there. Yeah. I mean, you look at some of the, um, the, the money driving businesses there, as we were talking about, there aren't a lot there. I mean, in terms of just as long as you're going to have the saints that that's always going to be a profitable business. Um, and I think it, I don't know what they're spending in terms of costs on the

Smoothie King Center or what they're generating in revenue. But, you know, having an NBA team in 2018 is just like these things aren't growing on trees and it doesn't seem like they're going to be adding more anytime soon, as far as I know. So I don't know why she wouldn't just hold on to it in terms of like an asset, even if she isn't interested in it, which I'm not really sure if she does. Well, you both made the case for them staying and the case for them not staying. Because as you said, nobody's selling a team.

I always judge this stuff by what teams are available. In 2010, 2011, when I wrote a couple pieces about it for ESPN at the time, and there was, I think, seven or eight teams that got sold and another seven, eight that were available. And there was, I think, seven or eight teams that got sold and another seven, eight that were available. And now nobody's available. You can't get into the league. Milwaukee, I think was the last chance. Minnesota, he keeps kind of dangling it, but then not wanting to do it. Brooklyn just kind of got sold, but the guy's not even taking it over for

a couple of years. And then other than that, you have Vegas, which now has the arena, they're ready for it. You have Seattle, they have the arena, they're ready for it. Now that they're revamping key and getting the hockey team, all that stuff. And at some point it becomes math. You know, if the Seattle ownership's like, here's $2 billion or here's 2.5, you know,

at some point, if she's not that attached to the team i think it would be a problem unless she has all these other businesses yeah i think it also i wonder what the league's participation in it is because i think part of the reason why they probably wanted to keep it there is like how do you rip a franchise away from a city after what happened with katrina and everything um and i know there were, I believe, rumblings that the Saints might go to San Antonio at a certain point around that time, and the city really turned on its head as a result of that.

Yeah. And so I wonder if- They were much more scared and upset and volatile about that. Losing the Saints was, I would say, a hundred times bigger of a deal than if they'd lost the Pelicans. Sure., I would say, a hundred times bigger of a deal than if they'd lost the Pelicans. Sure. Although I will say the one thing I've learned about New Orleans fandom is like, maybe they won't come out as much for the Pelicans, but if you tried to

rip them away from them, they would be up in arms. I remember walking down the street during All-Star talking to a friend of mine just about like how nobody was really there and then someone turned around like a New Orleans native and she like kind of shot back at me like no we love the Pelicans yada yada yada and I'm like I'm there every game I don't see you there and most people right she's like oh yeah sure but we love them and there's just I think it's it comes from just the the pride they have in the city in general and so I think there would be pushback in that regard. So I'm looking at, I went on SeatGeek, I'm looking at Pelicans tickets.

Chicago Bulls next week, November 7th. As you can imagine, not a hot ticket. You can sit in the fourth row on facing the Pelicans bench. I think the fourth row for a hundred dollars a ticket. It's pretty good. It's actually a phenomenal deal. Like we could actually probably buy season tickets for the Pelicans right

now for the rigor and just give them out to random people in new Orleans. I don't even think it would be that expensive, but that's probably not a great sign. Now, I will say, like, you can get Clipper tickets right now at a pretty fair price, too. But let me see. Do they have a good team? All right, so here's a good one.

The Celtics, Monday, November 26th. So that's three weeks away. Oh, my God. I could sit on the floor in row three for $300 a ticket. I can sit, I guess these tickets are a little pricey. 280 for row five. So that's not terrible. That's not the worst sign.

I mean, there's just so much to do in the city too. And like the biggest like industry in the city, I believe now is tourism. And so a lot of people, if you were coming into Denver, for instance, like you might consider going and popping into a Nuggets game and being like, all right, what's going on with this team? But like nobody is going to prefer a Pelicans midweek game against the Bulls over Bourbon Street when they're like five, ten minutes walks apart. Yeah.

It's just there's so much going on in the city. And if you don't have the history and if there isn't this kind of eventized strategy to it, I don't think people will be drawing there. Whereas the Saints are eight home games and whatever extra playoff game you get, and it's an event, it's Sunday afternoon usually, and then you go out after, it's a whole day. It makes a lot more sense.

I wonder if you even get used to that sort of rhythm as like a sports fandom, where you don't even think to check in on teams like during the week where it's just this one day is my day. This is our sports day and we're going to go for it and everything else. And the other thing is like how much is based in tradition like with New Orleans. It's like you have crawfish boils where and maybe this is thinking too deeply about this, but you have crawfish boils where everybody gets together on this one day and we do this one thing. And so that's what I'm talking about in terms of like, just not even knowing the rhythms of being an NBA fan. It can be a little bit foreign unless

you're used to it. And it comes back to, do they have the product to sell to the fans for them to be interested? Uber has been a game changer from New Orleans. I haven't been in New Orleans since Uber took off. When I was there in 2012 and then whatever for the Superbowl and for all-star weekend, I think one other time. And it was still like, oh my God, can we get a cab? We went to, what's the famous fried chicken place we went to? Oh man. I didn't go with you, but you know what I'm talking about.

There's that one famous and it's 20 minutes outside the area. And then you leave and you call a cab and you're waiting another 25 minutes. And now it's like Uber, go. The Smoothie King Center, I would say Uber would make it a little easier to get to the games. But I still can't remember a time, and now going back to Pete Maravich in the 70s, I still can't remember a time when it was like,

ah, New Orleans basketball, this is working. Can you remember a time or am I wrong? No, but I think their best time there probably was when they tried to take the team away and they had to rally to come up with enough season tickets. When was that? What year was that? I can't remember exactly,

but it was around the time of Chris Paul. Yeah, it was the late 2000s, right? And they took off as a result of that. I think, again, I think there remember exactly, but it was around the time of Chris Paul. Yeah, it was the late 2000s, right? And they took off as a result of that. I think, again, I think there is something like when you have something to rally around. I think there is a lot of passion in the city. It's about finding a way to tap into it, essentially. So you are, what would you predict? How would you predict this plays out?

The other thing we didn't mention is Davis signed with Clutch. And I did some digging around. And the big reason was like, he was upset. He didn't feel like anybody knew who he was. And the people around him were like, this guy was the best player in the league for the last three months of the regular season. And nobody knows who he is.

So now Rich Paul obviously comes in and say, man, we can blow you up, bring you in here. But the other implication that has Rich Paul, he's lifelong friends with LeBron and kind of de facto business partners. However, we want to say whatever actual piece or non-piece or however LeBron's involved in that business, he's definitely involved.

So the natural thing is like, well, obviously he's going to Lakers. And then you have the Celtics sitting there with all these assets just kind of waiting to pounce the moment they feel like he's going to become available. How do you see this playing out? is willing to stay if they can make it work there. I don't know what is in his heart and like what can change even in the next couple months. Like, I think we get way too far ahead of ourselves talking about like, well, I remember at all-star weekend where he really was like, like broadcasting himself as the host of that. Cause it was New Orleans and he was just saying how much he loved New Orleans food and yada, yada. And I'm just like, and then people started to ask him if he would stay. because that's the natural question to ask. And he's like, I'm here, I'm here.

And I'm just like, this is just way too soon. We don't know what's going to happen to the Pelicans this season, let alone in three years when he can even test the waters. And as we saw that weekend, they traded for DeMarcus Cousins and everything changed and everything has since changed even in the past couple months. I think they really need to prove that they can win on a high level this season.

And I think they need to- I think they have to make the playoffs and win 50 games. Yeah, and what is enough there? He was already talking in the first round where they blew the Blazers off the court that that wasn't really success in his mind. He sees himself as a western conference finals competitor each and every year and so even if the pelicans get to round two again like is

that going to be enough to sway him to the point where he can start looking at a super max this summer and this is really the summer where we'll figure things out can he uh can he see himself getting over the hurdle over a team like the Warriors, or even on that level going forward? Yeah, it's tough because I actually think he's the best player in the league. I agree. I would say LeBron, in the right situation

for six weeks in the playoffs, if he had breaks between games, is probably the most impactful. But I just think Davis' greatness is the easiest to him night after night after night. He's ridiculously good. The quotes in the Windhorse piece a couple weeks ago confirmed something that I had noticed with him,

which is just the night after night. I wrote about it for The Ringer, I think, in, I don't know, April, maybe late March. It's like, this guy's having the greatest run in the history of the power forward position, basically. I thought Tim Duncan was the best power forward I ever saw. Davis is just putting up 40 and 15 casually. And he said in that Windhorse piece, I just want to be the best player night after night. It can't be every other night.

It's got to be a switch. I have to be like Westbrook, which I thought was a really interesting way to phrase it. Westbrook, you know, love him or hate him. He brings it every night. He plays with 100% intensity every night, which LeBron James definitely does not do. Yeah, and he and Westbrook are friends. AD and Westbrook, they shared an agent up until AD went to clutch. And this was the concern with him a few years ago.

I think after that 2015 post-season where they kind of broke through as a franchise, they hit all those injuries and AD really started getting knocked for not playing enough defense, not trying enough on defense. And not playing the five all the time, which he's just naturally equipped to play better than anybody on the planet. Right. And they still have little tricks there. I think when Horace got to this in his piece,

where they're not really messaging him as a five. He's a five. He is a five. But even like Nikola Mirotic was taking on some of the bigger bodies, like a Yusuf Nurkic in the in the first round because i think he still does want to free himself up there but in terms of like two-way impact i don't know who comes close to him other than kawaii and kawaii is still kind of kawaii took two games off this year right and like that's another thing with ad he's already missed two

games because he had an injury yeah yeah and so i i that's really the only thing stopping at this point he is definitely more engaged than i've ever seen him play and you've seen the way it's rippled throughout a team as a result uh they've really built this team in the image of him and drew holiday in a way that they hadn't in the past they tried it two years ago where they after they lost um ryan anderson and eric gordon and they kind of surrounded them with middle-tier guys that they overpaid like Solomon Hill and Etuan Moore because they wanted to get good on defense because they were never good on defense with that previous core.

And it didn't really work, not only because the talent wasn't there, but also because Drew Holiday missed the first couple games sending to his wife in North Carolina. And then they traded for cousins, and then everything spiraled as a result. But now you're back to it being an Anthony Davis-Drew Holiday team, and they really play like it,

and they really kind of take on that sort of scrappy, sort of defensive image that you saw in that first round series. Right. The reason I wanted to do this today on the pod, I just was thinking about that last night watching that Warriors game. He's not close to them. No. He has no chance in a playoff series against that team.

Now, does anyone have a chance? I don't know, but I know that team doesn't have a chance. And he could be the best player in the league and possibly not make the playoffs or get swept in round one. Might be his destiny is zero. I'm looking at the playoffs right now. I mean, there's some teams that were nine games,

six, seven, nine games in the season. But the West is just kind of, it's deeper. I don't feel like it's better, but I think it's deeper. There's more teams in the mix night to night. And I've tried to watch a lot of basketball these first two weeks, but you watch a team like Memphis, you're like, oh, Memphis is pretty good. Yeah. Not bad.

Even the Kings. The Kings, it's like, yeah, they're pretty good. Yeah. And the Clippers, it's like, yeah, they got a lot of good players. You can't really take a night off against them. And I think it's going to be really hard to make the playoffs. I think, I don't know who the second best team in the West is. Do you?

Who's the second best team in the West is. Do you? Who's the second best team in the West? I really love the Jazz. The Nuggets are playing well, but I expect them to fall back. I think there's going to be some course correction there. Maybe the Jazz, but the Jazz are playing Jay Crowder and Crunch Time? He's shooting well. I live the Jay Crowder experience.

I still feel like they have a trade to make. They have some expirings. There's some dudes out there. My favorite trade for them, which I know will make the Knicks fans happy, but Tim Hardaway Jr. for Alec Burks, Alex Burks and Alec Burks, and one more expiring. But basically, I think Hardaway would help them.

And if you're the Knicks and you're like, wait, I get to get rid of Hardaway's contract for the summer? Where do I sign up? We'll give you a pick. Well, I get to get rid of Hardaway's contract for the summer? Where do I sign up? We'll give you a pick. Well, I mean, we talk about the Pelicans. If they make it past this deadline with their first round pick still,

it would be a godsend. They've never done that. They trade all their picks in order to make their current team better. And we saw it last year pay off. Although that was one of the rare times that that was actually a great trade. Oh, yeah.

I love that trade for them. It really works for them them and they do it all the time omer ashik was oh my gosh one of the worst moves in recent history considering what they had and they finally got off of them in that meritage trade but it did cost an extra asset i i could see them adding maybe like a kent basemore type like a wing some more to fill it out. Because Solomon Hill I saw is just... Bazemore's available. Bazemore's very available. Solomon Hill, is he even expiring

or he's like got one year after this? I believe he has one more year after this, which is going to make it tough. And he is not shooting well. I saw someone put up a stat, whereas he's like in the one percentile in terms of some sort of shooting stat. And they could potentially trade Randall in January.

Yeah, yeah. And he's a guy, I mean, he's good for them. And they could potentially trade Randall in January. Yeah, yeah. And he's a guy, I mean, he's good for them. And I think he fits what they're trying to do, the pace and really just like, like cramming it down team's throat at the rim. But at the same time, like he's probably not playing crunch time for you. So if you can get a guy, it probably makes sense.

That was my issue with them is they're four best players. I don't feel like you can play three of them together in the last five minutes of a game. Yeah. But I still like what they've put together. I think they can threaten for that number two team simply because when they've had Davis outside of this Warriors game, they have looked really good.

I mean, that Rockets win doesn't mean as much now as we've seen what the Rockets are, but they really took it to them in the way where they kind of asserted themselves and they seemed confident in what they have and what they do. Whereas before they were really trying to figure things out. Like even when DeMarcus Cousins and AD was working,

it was like they were making the best of a situation. Whereas this team really fits what Alvin wanted to do with them, Alvin Gentry, like since he got there. So another thing that I think is fascinating about this, if Davis misses the playoffs this year, I think he would be the best player to miss the playoffs having been healthy for the season.

I had to go back to Moses Malone in 1982, the year before he got traded to Philly. Not only is he one of the best three or four players in the league, but he is an all time player. He is somebody that if he stays healthy, we'll go down as one of the best 30, maybe even best 25, maybe even best 20 players of all time to miss the playoffs during kind of

his, the beginning of his actual peak slash apex is almost impossible. Now, part of that's bad luck with the West. His team's not great. But I think that's really going to have an effect on him. Hey, let's take a quick break, talk about 99designs. What do Carmelo, Della Vadova, DraftKings, Tim Ferriss, The Ringer, nearly half a million entrepreneurs and businesses have in common.

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All right, back to Justin. If we go through the West, Golden State's a lock, right? Is Denver a lock? Probably. Say 95 percent lock yeah portland maybe a 60 percent lock 70 sounds about like the way they're playing man we saw their over under was 42 this year right there was such a recency bias thing there where like they just got blown up yeah and everyone forgot that what they have is just really solid and it works. House and I talked about that in the over-under pod and we were just so flustered

by that over-under. I ended up going under because I was like that's too there must be some trade going on that we don't know about. San Antonio? I feel like that's a playoff team. It feels like it. DeRozan is kind of the stealth MVP candidate. Right. But their point differential is like,

it's like one something right now. It's like they're, they have been winning games and it's encouraging to see DeRozan take over late, but I would like to see more there because they are kind of patching over some, some injuries. And I wonder if an injury hits like a,

one of their core guys. Yeah. Rudy gay right now is like a critical member of that team. Yeah. I don't trust a team with Rudy Gay like that. Well, me neither. They,

there's a possible trade for them though. They do have some contracts they can move especially when we get to December. I can't imagine they stay with these point guards.

And point guards are a relatively easy position to address you know, as the season goes along. I think they're a playoff team. I gotta say like at some point it matters

when you have DeRozan and Aldridge on the court in the last five minutes of a close game and those guys are two of the best 30 guys in the league. Right. And when everybody in the league seems to be figuring themselves out and figuring out how the game is being played now at this pace

and with the new defensive roles, they know who they are and what they can do and there's something to be said about that. Memphis and Sacramento, I do not think, are playoff teams. No. 100% no. Sacramento's caught a nice little schedule breaker. Kudos to Sacramento. They look great.

I wish they had taken Luka, but they don't have their pick next year, and they're playing like they want to win the season, and they're doing a good job. The Fox heel backcourt's great. Kudos to them. I don't think they're a playoff team though. Utah we both think is a playoff team. New Orleans, we'll get back to them. I think the Clippers are a playoff team.

They're just so solid. That's my hottest take of the year. Even they're four and three, but they were up 13 in OKC in the third quarter. I don't know. I just feel like they have three guys who can get 30 at any point. They have rebounding. They can protect the rim a little.

Perimeter defense. Really good defensive guards. And a coach that knows what he's doing. Who's not incompetent. I think Tobias has taken a small little step forward. Enough where he's not like your 1A guy

but like he could be a second or third option on a really really good team I thought I think that they've like woven Shea Gil

just Alexander in there in interesting ways who we all like here at the ring he's really good yeah I was a late bloomer to that one

but he's impressive I like how he cares himself I just feel like that's a playoff team I'd be surprised if they didn't make it. They have caught some schedule breaks early. Like they caught two Rockets game, which if you're going to have two Rockets games, like now is definitely the time. But yeah, I think if, if the West is going to be what it is now, where it's kind of like a little bit over 500 is going to get you in the mix. Uh, I do think like

they're just so solid that they're not going to be, if they keep all these guys and they don't make a trade, that I think they're going to be hanging around. They also have guys in contract years, which is one of my favorite things. If I was a GM, I would just always want somebody playing for a new contract. Tobias Harris, Beverly. Who's the other one? Gortat. There's a fourth one too.

You're looking like Milos. He's in a contract gary looks like milos if you if you want a mental picture very looks like milos's clean clean shaven brother boban's a free agent yeah all right so i have them in minnesota i have no idea what to make of which is we don't know what the butler trade's gonna look like i thought there was really something extra with the Derrick Rose 50 point game that Butler didn't play and the team really rallied around him. But there was also like a little bit of an FU Jimmy Butler. He has handled this as horribly and as badly as I've seen in a while. And I don't understand why anybody would want to invest in him. If I was a team looking to get Jimmy, I would definitely put in a trade offer

the second Thibs walked off the court. Yeah. Because his whole thing is that he's believed in Derrick Rose this whole time, that he could be this player again. And now if he thinks that going forward, I would try to pry Jimmy away in a second. Yeah.

Lakers, I think, are a playoff team. OKC is the big hmm. What they're doing now, it's a tight rope because one three-week Westbrook injury or one four-week Paul George injury or whatever, I think they missed the playoffs. I think they have to get 155 to 160 games from those guys

to make it because they're not good enough I think that Westbrook could probably win enough games to make the playoffs like as much as he could shoot. But what's enough like 48? That's the question I don't know what the West is going to settle in Do you think that's a 48 win team? They can't shoot. I know but I just think it's a lot of Alex Abrinas

I know that's my guy though. A lot of Alex. The supporting cast is so confusing. They seem like they just have this type where they just love these athletic guys who can't really shoot, but like maybe can shoot down the road. Are we past the point now in the NBA where like, we're just off guys who we could teach how to shoot because it really hasn't worked for a ton of teams. It worked for Kawhi and maybe a couple other instances, but it seems like it's pretty fundamental. If you cannot shoot by the time you hit the NBA, you're probably not going to get there. The one thing that seems that can get better is three-point range coming into bloom later.

We were talking about on the Slack, Kemba became a really good three-point shooter. You go back in his stats, he's at 29%, 30% for four years. And now all of a sudden he's 40%. I think you can add that. Dennis Smith is a very polarizing guy on our Slack. He is. I saw him last night and he definitely takes a backseat to Luka every single time. Yeah. I think they need to trade him. I don't want to cause a riot on DallasBasketball.com or whatever those sites are, but I just don't think he's a good fit with Luka.

But for him to be effective in the league, he's got to learn how to shoot threes. Those OKC guys, none of them are going to learn how to shoot threes this year. That's the team they have. Dallas, not a playoff team, but I have enjoyed the competitive fight. I loved when they went to Luca for the coast-to-coast to tie the Laker game.

That was such a big spot to put that dude into. They seem like they turned to him in crunch time. Every time. Which is insane. He's amazing. He's great. I feel vindicated in that. Rockets, I have no idea if Phoenix isn't going to make the playoffs.

Can we agree that LeBron is on the all-time autopilot right now? Oh, 100%. He's the fucking Tesla. I'm going to take a nap on the highway. Right. I was there last night for their game against the Mavericks, and I would say about 75%. I was talking to someone on the team, and they were suggesting—

You think he was playing 75% hard? I think he's at like 50%. And what's weird is like you look at his statistics and it looks like vintage LeBron. Yeah, because he's the second best player of all time. He can not try hard in games and put up big stats. I also haven't seen early season LeBron up close in a couple of years.

Yeah. When I've caught him, it's like later. It just seems like this is what he does now in order to make it an 82-game season. Great. But I'm with it. I fully support him. It's incredible what he's achieved.

But let's stop having the argument about how crazy it is that LeBron doesn't win the MVP every year. Go watch him play in November, December, and January. He doesn't try that hard. Yeah, and I agree. It's just a fact. And the defensive side, he's's definitely a neutral at best. He and Rondo are kind of, you know, detrimental to that end,

if anything at this point. Doesn't seem like he's really leading that team yet either. I haven't, it's almost like he's, he's dating the guys on the team, but doesn't want to commit to a long-term relationship with any of them. So he's not, I haven't sensed a LeBron fire. There definitely is a divide there.

Not necessarily divide, but like it is a bunch of young guys and he's going to be 34. I remember, and this is like reading way too much into it, but on Instagram, everyone was at Lonzo Ball's birthday party and LeBron is literally at the same time, Instagram storing him drinking wine in his hotel room. He's just like hanging out what it seems like by himself. Yeah. Which is like, it's not great. It's like why hanging out what it seems like by himself. Yeah.

Which is like, it's not great. It's like why I avoid all the young people parties at the ringer. Sometimes you become too old to just go to those parties. Right.

I feel like there's a 0% chance LeBron James will miss the playoffs. Actually, I can't say 0, maybe a 1% because you might get hurt. I just, I find it too far-fetched. He's going to miss the playoffs? They're playing a lot of close games.

Seven of the eight technically qualified is clutch games, so within five points in the last five minutes. Let's be honest. Ingram misses four. Rondo misses two. They're going to have a run at some point when LeBron turns it on, but I think they get to 48 somehow.

So the point is, I think it's going to be hard for New Orleans to make the playoffs, and they're going to need 75 to 77 games from Davis, I think they get to 48 somehow. So the point is, I think it's going to be hard for New Orleans to make the playoffs. And they're going to need 75 to 77 games from Davis, I think. And if he doesn't make the playoffs, that's basically unprecedented for the last 35 years. And I'm really interested to see how this plays out. I know at some point he's got to look around at the league and be like, man, the Warriors are actually getting better. The Warriors are now embracing who they are. you know, at some point he's got to look around at the league and be like, man, the words are actually getting better. The words are now embracing who they are.

I think Durant would be insane to leave. I would never want to leave that. And you have to think like this summer is, I believe the world cup and that's in China where a lot of guys are going to want to go to in order to help the brands. Anthony Davis probably isn't going to take this one off, especially because he missed the last Olympics. Yeah. He probably is going to be around a off, especially because he missed the last Olympics. Yeah. He probably is going to be around a lot of those guys again.

Like, I mean, all the stupid things about the Warriors recruiting AD every time he shows up around them is like, it's just a joke. But at the same time, like if you're the Warriors, you're probably thinking about that a little bit seriously. Like, why wouldn't you be thinking about your next move, especially when guys like Draymond, guys like Clay are going to be up for a lot of money? The problem is

I can't see how it works unless at least two of the guys would have to go. In 16, it was like, the case was being laid why this would work. Here's how KD could go to the Warriors. The cap's going to

go up. And I was like, that's fine. That's a great case. That's ridiculous. He'll never do that. But it was conceivable. Yeah. I don't see how this is conceivable without them renouncing Clay and Draymond.

Because Steph's already making $40 million a year. And the cap's $100. Yeah. Probably their best bet would be re-signing both of those guys and then finding a way to trade them for, like one of them, a package centered around one of them for ID, like next season, next season. But that's going to be,

like they just can't beat the Lakers and Celtics with a package. Right. Unless Durant's in it. And I'm pretty sure Durant's not going to New Orleans. I think it is interesting though, like the last time Del Dems had to do this, his first package that he agreed to with the Lakers

was for a bunch of high level veterans, Luis Scola types and whoever else was in that deal. And it got shot down by the league. But if they're thinking short term yet again, and they need to like secure their jobs, you know, something like that wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. Fascinating story. This has been an awesome basketball season. We're going to dive into it next week on the BS pod, probably midweek, because there's so many storylines I love. This is the most interesting one to me, though,

whether New Orleans can make the playoffs and what happens with Davis, because as I said earlier, this is somebody who has a chance to be one of the top 15 players of all time. I don't think we can exaggerate how good Anthony Davis is. And whatever happens this season, not only determines him and where he goes, but his future.

But I think the New Orleans future as well. So we will see. Justin Verrier, good job with the Ringer. Thanks for having me. We can hear you on the Ringer group chat today, by the way, too, on Ringer NBA show. Yep, it goes up on Thursdays. Thursdays, all right.

There you go. Thank you. Let's talk about Microsoft Surface. If you need a device that helps you get stuff done, but is also perfect when you want to catch up on some fun, like streaming live sports or checking on your fantasy team. Well, check out the latest member of the Microsoft Surface family, the new Surface Pro 6. Just take the keyboard off, use it like a tablet or snap it back on and use it like a laptop with up to 13 and a half hours of battery life and the new 8th gen Intel core processor. It's everything you love about the Surface Pro. Now even more

powerful. That is the new Surface Pro 6 from the Microsoft Surface family. I can't speak. Since we're here, let's also want you to subscribe to the Big Picture, our movie podcast. I pop on there from time to time. I think it's really good. And especially with the Oscar season coming, it's going to be loaded with awesome guests. So check that out. And also check out, I went on House of Carbs randomly this week

to talk about Dodger Dogs and food littering. Good food. Food littering should be its own. It's magical. I might just invite myself on to Food News with House of Carbs every week. You know where we do it? Right there. Yeah.

I might just be a recurring staple on that one. House is in town next week and we're going to feed them and it's going to be great. Anyway, House of Carbs, check that one out too. All right. Let's get to Rembert Brown. All right. Rembert Brown is here. We're going to do a little thing on the pod every once in a while called Rembrandt Explains,

where he just explains stuff. That's a good name. Yeah. Where'd we get that? Did you just think of that? Yeah. Rembrandt Explains things. That's a keeper.

You're also on the On Shuffle podcast. I don't know when that's going up, but talking about the Mac Miller thing that happened. Yeah. Wednesday. So I don't want to step on that. But if you want to hear Rem's thoughts on Mac Miller, go to the On Shuffle podcast, hosted by Micah Peters. It's a really good podcast. It's a very good podcast.

And, you know, I'll be in the office or whatever other podcasts are deepening today. You're just wandering around hopping on podcasts. I just have a bag of Cheetos just like looking in the room, seeing if I have any knowledge about what the topic is. First topic, before we go to Rembird Explains, I had Quavo on

and we talked about the Atlanta real halftime show idea. Yes. About getting basically everyone from Atlanta on some channel, maybe streaming live on the Ringer's Twitter feed and every act in Atlanta and they're all there. Oh my God. 25, 30 years of history all in one spot, maybe like a 2,500 seat theater, maybe less. Maybe less. And just boom. And halftime starts.

No, no Maroon 5. We're actually, come over here. Come to all of Atlanta. Why wouldn't this work? No, that will work. I need that to happen. I've already, like my brain right now is so focused on the Super Bowl. I'm on like a group text with friends that's just us sharing Airbnb mansions to maybe rent.

We're just, we're so focused and it's nice because it allows me to not stress that much about this Falcons team. Yeah. Because we can't be crossed off yet. Yeah. I mean like we're, we're,

we're in and out, but it does like, I want, I would love for them to be in the super bowl but everyone's still coming to my hometown which is what i really care about that's where my focus is how many times has atlanta had the super bowl we had it in 99 we had it the year after we went to the super bowl. So it was in Atlanta after the Dirty Bird. So the Rams won?

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It was Rams. I don't even really remember. Oh, that was a good one. That was Rams Titans. Yes.

I remember that because that was like the Rams era matched with the Nelly era. Matched with Atlanta. Yeah. What a great time for the Super Bowl to be in Atlanta. It was incredible. Late 90s Atlanta hip hop was cresting. And that was also a moment

when the Falcons became the number one team. Yeah. The switch happened where it went from Brave City to Falcon City. And then Michael Vick shows up a couple years later and boom. So Atlanta is still...

Hawks used to be the second team in town in terms of cultural relevance. Now they're 17th. Yeah. I mean, I'm not going to lie. They're behind our soccer team. Yeah. Atlanta United is very good. But Trae Young being the fourth member of Migos, I think is going to eventually pull it back.

So it's going to, that's a great thing for like being a Hawks fan. I don't know what life path that's going to take Trae Young on. And I don't know if his. A mellow life path. If his like, like, I just wish he would have gone to college, not in Oklahoma. So he would have had a little prep for being the fourth Migos. Yeah, that is.

He goes from Norman, Oklahoma to fourth member of Migos in the span of six months. Yeah. Also, like. That seems fast. I just feel. I have, like, this fear. Like, I wish he wasn't so, like, kind of pretty. You know, he's kind of like a pretty boy.

Yeah. And I just feel like Atlanta is going to like eat him a lot. Like, he reminds me of like, like the kid who like got a car before everyone in high school and just like didn't know what to do with this freedom. Like that for me is. Eventually he's just the guy who's taking everyone on rides to go get beer with a fake ID. And then he gets arrested and then there's a car accident. I just like, come on, Trey. Don't end up... Be careful, Trey. The Atlanta Super

Bowl, though. What a great time for Atlanta to have a Super Bowl. We're in the middle of one of the all-time culture renaissances. It's incredible. I can't... Which is why the Maroon five thing was so i couldn't believe it i thought it was like like a practical joke were you surprised that 31 rich

old white owners made the wrong move with an atlanta super bowl hot tub show they're like no we adam levine that's that's what they want. He'll be fine. I mean, the honest thing is like, I read that Jermaine Dupri is like hosting a week-long series of concerts in Atlanta leading up to the Super Bowl, which is cool. I mean, the honest truth is that

the actual halftime performance, like if you're in the building, it's like a terrible viewing experience. Yeah, you're basically watching it on the video screen. Yeah, it's made for television. I was at the Beyonce performance Super Bowl and I was just furious that I wasn't able to watch this on TV

because I could tell, like when I went back and watched it on television, I was like, oh, this was incredible. But in there it's just loud and you can't see anything. So I'm kind of like, I just want more stuff to be happening. Superbowl week in Atlanta to make up for, um,

make up. I went to the two, the two, this century that mattered. Okay. You two after nine 11. Oh, you two's kind of last great moment.

Okay. When they, when they had the thing and they ran the names of everybody who died on 9-11. It was really emotional. Their last great moment is when they convinced Apple to put their album on everyone's iPhone. But that's why nephew Kyle, like, he won't even have U2 anymore. So that was one. And then the other was the Janet Jackson one, which I was in there. Nobody knew it happened. What city was that in? That was in Houston one, which I was in there. Nobody knew it happened.

What city was that in? That was in Houston. Oh man. But we didn't know it happened. We were just like, wow. The game heated up at the end of the first half. They came on.

It seemed like a fine performance. And then start getting texts like half hour later, like, whoa, did you get to see your boob? It's like, what are you guys talking about? And that was it.

I don't, nobody remembers the Super Bowl halftime. This had a chance. Yeah. So the move for Adam Levine is he should try to embrace Atlanta and have all these people on with him, right? Adam Levine, like, goes into like two seconds of moves like Jagger and then just cuts it and brings out OutKast.

Yeah. Like, that's how you do it. People go nuts. Like, be self-aware and be like we're going to do one required song because we are the headliner and then somehow it becomes like an Outkast, Ludacris, T.I.,

Migos, I mean the list is 80 people. So point it to me. He has 25 minutes. I know probably 20 minutes. 20 minutes. Adam Levine calls you and says, they really screwed up here. I have to figure out how to win over Atlanta.

Yeah. Who do I have? What do I do? What do I do with my medley and my three songs? He becomes a legend if he audibles and gives up half of his... The other thing is, I think half the reason this is happening is because they have a gigantic song with Cardi B. So they start out with that.

Yeah. And then Cardi brings out Offset, and then that's how we get to the Migas. So that, I mean, there is a line from Adam Levine to Cueva via Cardi, and Offset is just like, is that going to happen?

So Migos comes out, they sing Fight Night, and then they pull the cord. I would actually die. You said that and I actually almost started crying. Goes back, Hal Michaels is just in a coma in the broadcast booth, and then they have to cancel the second half of the game. You know, I always think about one of the great Super Bowl crimes. I think I've talked to you about this, that one of the reasons I was so upset that the Kaepernick-led 49ers

beat the Falcons to go to that Super Bowl against the Ravens, was that if the Falcons had won, yes, I would have been happy. But also it would have been an Atlanta fan base. Atlanta winning in New Orleans. Atlanta and Baltimore people in New Orleans. Yeah. Just like people just, no one's flying. Everyone's taking buses.

Like no one has anywhere to stay. They're just outside. Harris is incredible. Like I just like that. Like I always think like that could have been the last Super Bowl because like terrible. Like I don't know if New Orleans could have handled that. And New Orleans can handle literally everything.

It maybe is one of the reasons why God decided it was too scary. God was like, no, the 49ers are going to come back. We need some sanity, some San Francisco people to come. I just want you to know one thing. Harris was still incredible. Harris. Don't think that Harris wasn't incredible just because the Falcons didn't make that Super Bowl. I watched Dave Jacoby come as close to death as any human being I've ever been around,

including nephew Kyle, who's close to death every week. I'm down gambling in every casino in America except Harrah's. I'm up. I'm still, I love. You're up at Harrah's. Harrah's is such great karma at the Harrah's in New Orleans. Especially when you walk out and the sun is up. Yeah.

So you would go, Adam levine starts with the cardi song yes she brings out offset that leads to migos coming out yes halfway through that song migos brings out andre 3000 big boy shows up and then somehow adam levine comes back and just like sings the hook on like Rosa Parks or some outcast song. I just, I want the stage to look like we are the world with Atlanta rappers. I want somehow there'd be 50 rappers on stage,

like clapping and doing like the hook. So outcast is out there, but I don't feel like we're done at that point. I feel like then who comes next? We still have two songs. I feel like you do. Oh, Dupree. You do Welcome to Atlanta.

Dupree, Ludacris. So Adam Levine is Ryan Seacrest at this point. He's just introducing people. Adam Levine has put on a suit and he's wearing a Jamal Anderson Dirty Bird jersey somehow.

While holding a Michael Vick pitbull. No. No? All right. I went too far. It was Mike Vick Nike. Atlanta is- Is Mike Vick on the stage at one point during the four songs?

Oh, that's what happens. So there's a point. This is like when people ask me, like, what was the moment where I knew everything in Atlanta was clicking? Like, we're having one of these moments now. But there was a moment in the Usher Yeah video, which is like 03. It's peak Mike Vick. There's a, oh no, this is, it's TI. TI rubber band man video. There's a point at the end where Usher and Mike Vick are dancing in front of a burning TI cross.

Oh my God. And I was like, Oh, this is, this is, everything is working. Like the biggest R and B singer in the world and the biggest football player in the world are in the video for the biggest rapper of the moment. And they're all

in atlanta like this is this is actual so mike vick and julio come out mike vick and with dominique wilkins yes julio is also kind of like weirdly john smoltz we don't know why he's there john smoltz is just super awkward but adam levine has someone to hang out with that would be amazing if just like Smoltz Glavin and Maddox are just like in a barbershop

yeah I want it to like you know what I want I want it to the stage to look like an episode of

what's up with that from SNL you know how it's just it's just it's just insanity I want Sudeikis doing the running man I want it to be a circus

so what's the last song then now we have everyone on stage what's the kicker song just moves like Jagger comes back you let Adam finish but somehow everyone knows knows the words to moves like Jagger. Like Stacey Augman's there.

Stacey Augman. Mike Fratello. Yeah. Yeah. Lenny Wilkins is conducting. I just want it. I want everyone contacted. I want everyone contacted.

And that'll be a memorable Super Bowl. Maybe you have Mike Smith there, like, screwing up the last two minutes of the halftime show for old time's sake. Yeah, in the back they're just showing the Mike Smith London game. I want everything. Is Donald Glover on the stage? Oh.

That'd be nice. Maybe you do a little childish Gambino. and then it cuts to uh this is america but america's atlanta this is atlanta this is this is atlanta well i something great needs to happen something something incredible needs to happen um i just don't. Yeah, I don't. It would be such a missed opportunity. And here's the thing, though. Like, the last time, Atlanta, you know,

is like a perfect place to me, but, you know, the Olympics didn't go perfectly. I don't think NBA All-Star Weekend in 2003 was a picnic either. That was just people in cars showing up seven hours late to parties. I just, you know, I think, you know, I love our current mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms.

I want us to finally do the big thing right. Because at some point they're just going to stop giving us things. A lot of pressure. A lot of pressure. This is the most pressure on a super bowl city that i could remember like because because there's been one-off cities where you're like well they're only in like minneapolis it's like well we're never coming back here the only reason you have this is like the rest of the the earth you built a stadium and they gave you a super bowl that happened with jacksonville that's happened all these places

or you have like the san diego miami new orleans that just keep getting yeah atlanta has a chance potentially to have this again yeah also that stadium like driving because i'm you're used to i'm used to the dome and like where it sits in the horizon when you're driving like like most parts of atl parts of Atlanta, it just starts emerging like a transformer out of the ground. It is humongous. It does not – it looks like it holds like two to three million people. It's like – so like I'm excited for like that stadium to have everyone in it but also like i want more big things to be in this gigantic stadium that they built to replace like a fine stadium that's what we do like we just

tear down like turner field was 20 years old that has to be the fastest a modern stadium has been knocked down yeah it got built for the olympics yeah it was it was built in 96 do you think after the Super Bowl, everybody should go to Dominique's nightclub? Is it still there? I don't... That's my dream 30 for 30, Dominique's nightclub. My

favorite one of those is John Starks has a cigar bar in Stanford, Connecticut. Seriously? Yeah. I've been dying to go. I need to go.

I had Dominique on my pod when we were at Grantland. And Jalen's like, and Jalen had just raved about Dominique. He was like, you know, magic got all the headlines. But Dominique was the one in the deep South just getting it in and nobody knew about it. And he even owned a nightclub. And I'm like, he owned a nightclub? He's like, bring that up. So Dominique comes on the pod.

And Dominique's, you know, he's in his media savvy mode. Yeah. Just like, well, you know. And I'm like, so tell me about days in Atlanta. Like, you were single. He's like, well, you know. And I'm like, you had a nightclub. And he like broke character.

And he just like, he kind of paused. And he's like, man, what's Jalen been telling you? And he's like, Dominique came out. That was the thing that like wasn't on his resume when he got rehired by the Hawks. I like jolted him. It was like I tased him. It was like, oh, well, yeah, we had some fun times in the nightclub. But yeah.

Rembrandt explains. Give me a couple of things. What's on your mind? What's on my mind so i uh to many of my uh uh grantland ringer family knows that i've like always legendarily not been a very big tv watcher right that has changed i love television i get it uh and well you were a commitment phobe for a while but now like in your real life you've made commitments yes lovely lady and now tv it's amazing but i would always get to like the second i would get to like a season finale and not watch a season finale yeah i was just like i don't want this to be over one of the shows that i finally watched uh game of thrones amazing corner 2018 game of thrones last person in brooklyn who

hadn't seen game of thrones it's amazing like but i've learned this about myself that i have i think it's really helpful i have a an uncanny ability to not find out about what everyone is talking about on the internet you just avoid it I just, I literally did not have a single spoiler. I did not know when the Red Wedding was coming. You heard Red Wedding. You thought a redheaded person got married. I was also looking for an episode called Red Wedding, not the name of an episode.

So it just snuck up on me. Lanza Castamere. Oh my God. That is a great television show it's a great time it turns out it's really good turns out there's a reason it's so popular yeah but also like when I tell people that they're like

how like of all the places to like have colleagues and friends like you were in Game of Thrones Central like this place is like made out of Game of Thrones. And I still didn't know anything. Well, now you know.

Now I know. So thumbs up on Game of Thrones. Thumbs up on Game of Thrones. That's the first room it explains. Turns out it's a good show. And actually you're going to laugh because there was a point when I was watching Game of Thrones. I was on season six of Game of Thrones in book two of Harry Potter at the same time for the first time. Those are two of the whitest media properties we have.

Y'all have. Anyone has. Are there any black people on Game of Thrones yeah I was his name like gray dick great gray wolf gray wolf love him no balls yeah um no balls he's a pleaser no balls all heart I love that all heart and tongue speaking of just things that I think should not be called white things, even though they often are called white things. Yeah. I just have gone back and I'm binge rewatching Friends. It's a monster.

The under 25 generation, it just keeps regenerating itself. I wish there was a way. Y'all should figure out how to do this. There's a way to calculate laughs per minute, like out loud laughs per episode. That show has, you're on like 15 to 16 laugh out loud moments an episode. It's incredible.

I think what's really fascinates me about that show is basically everyone under 50 has probably seen the majority of the episodes. Yes. That you would know and you're, a normal person would know in their life. Yeah. Because my generation, I was exactly the same age as those characters. Okay. their life yeah because my generation that i was exactly the same age as those characters okay so my generation under but then the older generation than that but really my generation we that was our show and then we kind of turned on it a little bit yeah but then the next generations came in and the syndication but and now it just never ends like my daughter watches french she's 13 she was

minus 10 when that show came out or minus 12. That's like one of those interesting shows that was on in syndication while it was still on. So like I never really, again, I probably watched 90% of the, saw 90% of the Friends episodes, but never saw them in order. Cause it was just always on TBS. Like this kind of the same way with like the, the way I watched like Frazier and Seinfeld. Like I never was watching them in order, but friends is actually a better show to watch in order. Well,

the first, some of the other shows, the first season's really good. It's it. I stand by it. I think it's aged really nicely it's a nice it didn't really know what it was yet and the characters made sense i actually cared about ross and rachel yeah it was it was really good about that that gen x era pre-internet yeah

some some one of your friends in your group makes more money than everyone else like all these little things that were going on and then eventually it just kind of became a sitcom yeah and you could kind of tell by chandler's weight depending on the rerun if it's like super skinny chandler probably not a good episode yeah and if he's like p whipped later in the era chandler with when he dates monica and she just basically she she gray she gray wolves him. Also probably not great, but still watchable. But those early ones, Chandler was like lights out. So funny.

Every Chandler was amazing. Like those first couple of seasons. Again, I was like, everything that comes out of his mouth is like his timing. Chandler was my Mike Vick. If you don't get that, I don't, I don't know what to tell you. You're listening to the wrong podcast. You really need to turn it off. It's like, man, fucking Chandler for those two years. Holy shit. He revolutionized

TV. What happened? Oh, man. Chandler. Season five Chandler is kind of like... Like Mike Vick and the Eagles. Trying to come back. Mike Vick and the Eagles trying to come back Mike Vick when he you know

made a hundred million dollars and just had to give it all to the lawyers that's kind of that's who Dainey Monica but yeah I mean that's that's actually super true

because I I was trying to think about like what other sitcoms that I actually was I actually invested in a love story it's like Jim and Pam is at the top it's very high maybe the top that I actually, was I actually invested in a love story? It's like Jim and Pam is at the top.

It's very high, maybe the top. But yeah, you care about Ross and Rachel. Then you cared that they had a murder-suicide eventually after like by season five. I was like, can both of you die? Or either just one of you break up or just die? Yeah, I cared more about Ross and that monkey than I did Ross and Rachel by that point. I can't.

Ross was one of the first early internet lightning rods. Really? Yeah. What do you mean by that? We're talking season two, him and Rachel finally get together. Then they have the break. Then he cheats on her.

I was always in ross's corner and that you guys were on a break like that's cool why are you so mad at him that he made out with somebody um and then he's like trying to win her back and the show became super sappy and everybody at the same time is like fuck ross he can go to hell and this was like i'm gonna say 98 and he was an internet lightning rod. I remember Ally McBeal was. People turned on Ally McBeal. Like she was too whiny.

And there was a couple ones. And it was kind of the first generation of the internet shitting on people. We didn't have Twitter yet. So Ross was like the first person to get canceled. Yeah. Ross got canceled. By the end of that show, people just did not like Ross. I don't know how they feel now with my daughter's generation

or Kyle's generation or your generation. I went back as soon as I... Well, I just had to stop watching Friends and then went back and just watched some of the O.J. miniseries just to watch him be Robert Kardashian. It's too good. I need to watch that again. It is.

So it's just such a good. Travolta. What do you mean? He's not here. Go find OJ. I love Travolta. Can't they just bring us season two of the OJ series back and just bring everybody back for no reason.

Just have them do another thing. Can we do the collectors when you broke into the collectors hotel room in Vegas? Can't that be season two? I'm ready. Oh my God. I really miss those people. What else for TV? I am like super, I'm now, I never thought I was going to be like one of the adult yeah animated like people

that watched all the oh all the all the animated shows that had potty mouths and whatnot i'm all in i found it to be like the rick and morty type show like like big mouth on netflix and rick and morty and um this is k um now you're in Kyle's neighborhood yeah Kyle's texting Kyle's dressed up as me for Halloween I saw it I'm sorry somebody dressed up somebody put a fucking

fake I'm sorry fame has gone to his head it really has I just wasn't texting that's what I meant to say yeah I I got into Rick and Morty. Okay. Like, very surprisingly. Because I've just never, like, I watched cartoons when I was a child.

And then I, like, I was never, like, the Simpsons person. Never a Family Guy person. Like, that whole era of cartoons, I was just like, I'm an adult. And now I'm just like, adults are stressful. Humans are stressful. the news is terrifying i need i can't even handle watching sitcoms with people i need i need like literal animated things you need fake characters i need fake characters having fake fake experiences or human experiences but like i'm just like this show big Mouth, which is, it's like Nick

Kroll. Yeah. And my, Nick Kroll doing a Will Arnett impression, which is kind of awkward, right? Cause there are relationships and, um, doesn't. Nick Kroll dated Will Arnett's ex-wife. Yes. Yes. Um.

Saucy. Yeah. yes um saucy yeah but uh I love it because I I do know that I love all shows about like

teenage hormones and like puberty that's just like that's my will and if it's for families another one the Bill Burr show

yeah it's great I just like I'm finding myself just going from one show I like I like Bob's Burgers.

Yeah, it's Simmons' family favorite. I love it. I think they're starting to run out of plot lines. Which sucks for me because I... But they also can't just curse and be gross because it's on Fox. So that's why I'm now watching

Big Mouth because it's like, I love Tina and the puberty plot lines but like it just didn't what's the one Ben watches does he watch Big Mouth he watches Rick and Morty he's Rick and Morty yeah Bob's Burgers but definitely Rick and Morty he'll rewatch does it show HBO Animals

it's weird if you got time for it super weird but like I'm like on a Saturday afternoon I'm like okay yeah it's it's it's wild it's wild um the animated migo show is amazing oh my god the the listener right now is like what that would be an amazing show yeah um yeah Migos has three pigeons in Atlanta.

So yeah, I found that to be very, very calming, even if the shows are completely, completely insane. All right. So you're going on Shuffle. Talk about Mac Miller. Yeah. Check that podcast out. And then. We're going to do more of this.

Yeah, we're going to do more of this. Just explain some stuff to us. Yeah. Explain how that Game of Thrones is a good show. I thought this was a major success. Literally. Game of Thrones and Harry Potter. Y'all really should. I don't know.

Like just Google it. All right. This could be the push they finally needed. You're welcome. HBO. Remember Brad. Thank you. Thanks,

Bill. All right. Before we go, we're going to do some picks and talk about the Celts box. Seems like a good time to mention MyBookie, whether you're an expert or a rookie. You should be betting at MyBookie. Pick three teams to win.

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And backed by popular demand, they will offer a 100% bonus for one more week this year. Oh yeah, MyBookie. If you're thinking about placing a pick all season, it's time to make your move and make sure to follow at BetMyBookie on Twitter or Instagram. They personally respond to every mention in DM. They've given away 10,000 in free money to their followers this football season. You'd be the first to know as soon as new odds and props are posted. So log on to MyBookie right now. Don't miss your last opportunity

to collect the industry's biggest bonus. Promo code Bill Simmons. You'll get your first deposit matched 100%. That's promo code Bill Simmons. You play, you win, you get paid. All right, speaking of gambling, we're bringing the picks back this week. I'm out of my World Series hangover.

When my team's in the World Series, everything else shuts down. I got to be honest. Once it got into like the ALDS, the Yankees series, the Celtics were starting. I let the picks fall aside. I let my football interests. Look, it's a long football season. And what I didn't want to do is disgrace the picks. I didn't want to mail the picks in. I didn't want to just have a segment to do it where I hadn't researched them, stuff like that. So I took two weeks off.

We are back week nine. We have eight weeks left of the regular season plus the playoffs. I am using this as something of a rebirth. We are starting fresh right now. I'm banging out my picks. Kyle, I'm allowed to do this, right? It's my podcast. Absolutely. No doubt. You've been on your phone during this podcast more than ever.

It's Joe House. This is unbelievable watching you multitask as I'm trying to do pods. It's your buddy, Joe House. So listen, I'm back. I'm researching. I'm researching. I'm doing my old routine. And we're going to win some money this week. It's happening.

First bet of the week. The Atlanta Falcons are getting 1.5 points. They're playing in Washington. I haven't loved this Atlanta team this season, and I've actually bet against them a couple of times. But one thing they can do is score some points. And I also feel like this Washington team, talk about a smoke and mirrors situation.

The NFC East is terrible. You have Washington at home, which I actually kind of like betting against them at home because I feel like their fans are so annoyed by them half the time that when anything goes wrong, it could get ugly. The Redskins, five and two, they beat Arizona. Congratulations. They beat Rogers in week 3 right after he still had the bum knee thing going on. He's been a lot healthier recently. They beat Carolina. I watched that game. That was a legitimate

win. I gotta hand it to them. Beat Dallas on a game that was a classic clapper game. Then they barely beat the Giants. Here's my thing. I don't see the Redskins going 6-2. That seems absurd to me.

If they go 6-2, now look at this. They got Tampa. They have Houston at home. I'm not sold on Houston. They still have, they're at Dallas. They have home for the Giants. They're at Jacksonville, at Tennessee. If they win this game, there's a chance they could get to 10 and 6, 11 and 5.

I just think that's inconceivable to me. So for that reason, along with the fact that Atlanta's 3 and 4, coming off a bye week, they have Washington this week. They're at Cleveland next week. They could be 5 and 5, or I'm sorry, five and four by the time they get to Dallas. Or I'm sorry, they're hosting Dallas week six. At Washington, at Cleveland, home Dallas. They could be six and four heading into the Thursday night game against New Orleans that they're going to lose because that's just a tough draw. They have to win these next three. They are in playoff mode. I like Atlanta getting one and a half.

Here's my second pick. Baltimore's favored at home by three against the Steelers. And the Steelers have come back to bite me a couple times this year. The Ravens are a team that I normally like betting at home. I think they are a very good home team and a below average road team. The record bears that out. Here's the catch.

They already beat Pittsburgh this season. They went into Pittsburgh, they beat them 26 to 14 in week four. They are now four and four in the season. It's a must win, but it's not really a must win. They could still potentially win the division even if they blow this game because they already beat Pittsburgh this season. Pittsburgh's four, two, and one. Pittsburgh's looking at this. If they knock Baltimore out, they avenge it. They basically quenched whatever

tiebreaker they're going to have to worry about with Baltimore. They'd be 5-2-1 after this game. This comes down to two things to me. One is that I can't imagine the Ravens beating Pittsburgh twice in the same season. Start there. Second, I don't think the Ravens are very good. Joe Flacco's their quarterback. I don't know if you noticed that.

Skill position, guys. I have Alex Collins on my fantasy team, and it's not something I'm really ever that happy with. I just don't think they're very good. I would be shocked if they beat Pittsburgh twice in the same season. So I'm grabbing the points. Pittsburgh's getting three. Just seems like they'll either win the game or

it'll be a tight one. I'm taking Pittsburgh. Now, third one. This one I battled on. It took me a while to come around on this team. I even bet against them last week against the Lions and they handled their business against them in a really dramatic way. They kicked the shit out of the Lions, in case you missed that game. And I kind of liked that Lions team. They just traded for Snacks Harrison. They're throwing the ball. All of a sudden, they get basically handled by Seattle.

Now they trade Golden Tate. They've thrown the flag in the season. So Seattle kind of ended their season. Seattle is four and three. Definitely not out of the woods yet. They have a gauntlet coming up. Home for the Chargers, at the Rams, home for Green Bay, at Carolina.

So realistically, if they're going to make the playoffs, I think they have to go two and two. They also have Kansas City and Minnesota home games against those two coming up later. On the bright side, two against San Francisco, which is punted on this season, and then one for Arizona. So they're at seven wins right now, basically. They have to go two and two over these next two. I like the Chargers coming in here as a team that people really respect. The line in Seattle by one and a half,

I would say that line should be Seattle by three. I'm getting a by one and a half. I would say that line should be Seattle by three. I'm getting a free point and a half. I like having Seattle in Seattle with the punter, Michael Dixon, big balls, Michael Dixon. Pete Carroll, the team's been really well coached. They kind of know who they are. They've been able to survive week to week without getting the same kind of contribution

from Doug Baldwin that I think we thought they were gonna get before the season. A bunch of random receivers that you've barely heard of. The running game looked better. Chris Carson. Just missed him. Yeah. We waved him on our team.

19 fantasy points, I think, we missed. Yeah. He's been solid. Russell Wilson. And then here's another thing. The Chargers, I think, are getting some kind of stealth Super Bowl contender buzz right now. Let's see.

Their record is they're 5-2. Here are the five wins. Buffalo, congratulations. San Francisco and Oakland, congratulations. Cleveland, Hugh Jackson. And then they beat Tennessee by a point and would have lost if Tennessee converted the two point. We have no evidence that they're actually a good team.

They have not beaten a good team yet. So you take that, and then let me throw this one at you. The Anthony Lynn field goal kicker thing has not reared its ugly head yet. Their next three after this are Oakland, Denver, Arizona. So unless the Anthony Lynn field goal combo wreaks havoc in one of those three, I feel like it happens here.

This has all the makings of a how the hell did the Chargers lose this game game. You have everything here. They'll probably double Seattle's total yardage. Dixon will have four timely punts at the perfect time. They'll miss a field goal or they'll get a field goal blocked. They'll be driving down at the end of the game with the loud crowd and it'll be a tip pass for an interception.

I could just see this game in my head. I could see Seattle pulling this one out of the deep recesses of their asshole and us wondering how the hell they won that game. That's basically the team Seattle's been all year. They linger in these games and there's a little Ewing theory. They don't really qualify because they won the Super Bowl a couple years ago, but I do feel like a lot of people wrote them off, especially after Earl Thomas went out. And there's a little nobody believed in us in this locker room, except the people in this locker room vibe

about them now that I really like. So I'm grabbing them. Atlanta plus one and a half, Pittsburgh plus three, Seattle minus one and a half. And then finally a three teamer, that's just free money. The Bears minus 10 in Buffalo.

Buffalo signed Matt Barkley this week. He might actually start for them. Or it could be Derek Anderson, or it could be Nathan Peterman. Not only does Khalil Mack not have to play in this game, but he could probably be sipping a pina colada on the sidelines. I don't see any scenario,

any where Buffalo gets to like 14 points unless their defense does it. The game is in Buffalo. Their defense is half decent, as we saw against the Pats on Monday night. Even better than half decent. It's probably like a pretty good defense. But at some point when you are completely inept offensively, you can't beat anybody. So their best chances for Trubisky to score all of the points for Buffalo's team, which can't be ruled out, but I got them minus 10. Casey minus eight and a half in Cleveland

who just fired their coach and the offensive coordinator. Now that might end up being a good thing long-term, but I haven't liked what I've seen from Baker the last few weeks and doesn't look like he's ready to be a starting quarterback yet. And so that combined with just the Browns are just a dysfunctional mess.

And I don't see any way they slow down Casey. Casey's a juggernaut. Casey is built to just beat bad teams and run the score up on them. So there's two. And then the Pats minus six. Night game against Aaron Rodgers. The Pats did exactly what they love to do. They had

a throwaway game the week before a big night game. They went total missionary position. Kyle, how many times have we seen that? That was terrible. The Belichick missionary position game. With four field goals? Three? Just like, I don't want to show anything. There will be no tricks. We are going to play this as generically as possible.

Nobody's getting hurt. We're not running any pass with Gronk over the middle. We are doing just enough to win. We said this in the Cousin Sal pod the other day. I was like, this feels like a Milton Berle. Just pull out enough to win. If it wasn't Monday, I might have just drifted to something else.

Yeah. Saved all the guns and the ammo for this week against Aaron Rodgers and I just think Bears minus 10 Pats minus 6 KC minus 8.5 3 team 10 point tees all of them have to cover

Bears just have to win KC just has to lose by less than 2 or win Pats have to either. Casey just has to lose by less than two or win. Pats have to either win or lose by three or less. So there you go. Those are my picks. Also wanted to mention Saints-Rams. I thought long and hard about taking the Saints at home in this game.

I just can't, in my head, go against Sean McVay and the Rams yet. I don't want to be in the position. My life depended on it. I think the Saints, I think they're one of the best three teams in the league. If my life depended on it, I could not do that in good conscience. Those are all my picks

and we're starting fresh. We'll put, we'll just make it one unit on each. We'll make the unit worth one unit on each. We'll make the unit worth $1 million each. So I have $1 million on all of those games with the VIG and all that stuff. One more thing before we go tonight, because we're putting this up today, right? Sure.

Yeah. We'll put this up later this afternoon. The Celts are playing tonight, and they're playing a home game against the Milwaukee Bucks. It's going to be a fascinating one. These teams had a great seven game series last year. I guess great's the wrong word. It was compelling. It was dramatic. But the Celtics are still in a weird kind of no man's land player rotation situation where Gordon Hayward is not one of the best day players. Like it's just now he might be two months from now,

three months from now, but right now he's a shell of himself and it's the elephant in the room and nobody wants to talk about it. But they are still kind of playing him more than he should be playing. He doesn't look right. He's not confident. He's afraid of physicality. I saw it in person last week.

He's just kind of gun shy. And understandably, this is not a criticism of Gordon Hayward. I just think this is going to take time. So you have that situation where he is not somebody who should be closing a game. And I'm not even sure he should be starting. I think they're doing that for his confidence more than anything. And then you have the Rozier smart situation where they just signed smart

smarts, a guy who's been out there in crunch time a lot. Rozier is a guy who was the point guard on team that almost made the NBA finals last year. One or both of those guys have been sitting in these games, their best lineup. And I, I not, I don't even have to look at the plus minus last year, one or both of those guys have been sitting in these games, their best lineup. And I, not,

I don't even have to look at the plus minus. I just from watching the games, their best lineup has been Horford, Marcus Morris, Jalen Brown, Tatum, Kyrie. That is the most dangerous lineup that can defend the best and do the most

things. Maybe if a team that goes smaller, maybe you put Marcus Smart out there. But against a team like the Bucs that has a lot more length and is really pushing the pace, it's going to be a fascinating game tonight. And I want you guys to watch it

because you know what you shouldn't watch is the horrible Thursday night football game. But I want you guys to watch it because this is a game you can't mess around with. And you can't play Gordon Hayward 30 minutes in this game if he's not right. And you're going to have to figure out with the pace like that,

should the Celtics match that pace? I think they should. They have been a really good defensive team, but this is the kind of game you unleash Tatum, you unleash Jalen, you unleash great haircut Kyrie, best haircut of the season. And you kind of go toe to toe with them. You don't let the Bucks outpace you.

You don't let them shoot more threes and you kind of smother them with depth. The depth is going to be the key to this game. The fact that they go eight, nine deep. The problem for Stevens has been figuring out how to arrange that depth, who should be playing. And Hayward has thrown this whole thing off because it's basically his preseason these first few weeks as he gets comfortable, combined with the fact that Rozier and Smart have to be comfortable with,

we don't need you guys for 35 minutes anymore. You guys got to give us 15 to 20 awesome minutes. It's been fascinating to watch. I think they're the most talented team in the East. Doesn't mean they're the best team, but Toronto's roster calibration is just better. It's a team that makes more sense. Kawhi, Kyle Lowry, then a bunch of role players and everybody's happy with their minutes.

Everybody knows who they are and they have the ability to play Van Vliet and Lowry together in crunch time, but they know who they are. They know who their best five guys are. The interesting, interesting thing with the Celtics team, they don't know who their best five guys are yet. And that is usually a recipe for disaster come playoff time. So Stevens, the challenge for him is who are my best five guys?

How do I figure this out over the next four to five months? I think it can be a situation where it's not always the same crunch time lineup. And, oh, that team went smaller, so now we got to play Marcus. But then that brings a different set of problems. You're playing Toronto, they're going small. We need a second guard to go against Van Vliet. Do you use Marcus Smarty or do you use Rozier? And if it's not consistent, neither guy is going to be happy. So this has happened over and over again in the NBA that you have to know

who your best nine guys are. You have to know who your best five are. And those nine guys have to know what it is. And right now there's some uncertainty. So I actually think this, this game tonight against the Bucs is a nice little litmus test game for the Celtics for where they are. And it could go one or two ways. They could have their best game of the season because I think he is starting to figure out who the nine guys are and who the five guys are. Or the Bucs could just lay the smack down and the energy might be wrong, all this stuff. The other thing that Morris does with that five, if you look at Kyrie, Jalen Brown, Tatum, Horford, and then Hayward, all low energy guys, right? You put those five together,

it's just low energy. And I could feel it when I was at that Orlando game last week. It was five guys. There's no like, ah, guy in there. Marcus Morris, Marcus Smart, and Rozier are both high energy, you know, kind of chest out guys. And I think what needs to happen is at some point, Brad's going to realize I have to have Tatum or Kyrie out there at all times. And I need at least one guy who has his chest out, who's just a Kyrie out there at all times. And I need at least one guy who has his chest out. Who's, who's just a bulldog out there at all times. And we're kind of getting there. I could feel it in the last game against Detroit that it's starting to, the lineups are starting to make more sense. So watch that game tonight. I think it's going to be one of the best ones of the year. And if you're listening to this after the game, you you'll be like, wow, Simmons

was really, really, he, he called some of this stuff because I do think we're going to learn a lot about both these teams. I don't normally overreact to November 1st basketball, but in this case, I think this is going to be a really nice snapshot of where we are in the Eastern conference. There's only three teams that can make the finals in the East, these two in Toronto. And really it's Golden State. And then it's just a chasm to the number two team in the West. I don't even know who the number two team is, but check it out tonight and enjoy the weekend. Listen to all of our awesome podcasts on theringer.com.

Thanks to ZipRecruiter. Don't forget to go to ziprecruiter.com slash BS. Thanks to Justin Varey and Robert Brown. Thanks to Nephew Kyle for mailing in today. Thanks to SimpliSafe. They go beyond what home security should be. Intuitive design influences every step of securing your home, like installation.

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that makes it easy for designers and clients to work together. Logos, apps, product packaging, books. It's your go-to design resource for any budget. As I said, we use them for some custom merch for The Ringer. They designed it. Check it out at 99designs.com forward slash bill. Receive a free $99 upgrade on your first design contest. Just go to that link, 99designs.com forward slash bill

where creativity meets possibility. Enjoy the weekend. I'll be back Sunday night with the cuz, not with Nephew Kyle because he's going to be touring. Somewhere in the Midwest. Jim Cunningham. Yeah.

Getting the call from the bullpen. Lock it in. He's a starter. It's like when the Red Sox brought Nathan Evaldi. It's like having a starter as a reliever. And we know how that went. Yeah. So this is going to be fantastic.

He's my Nathan Evaldi. Jim Cunningham, me, Cousin Sal, Sunday night. Patriots Packers. Patriots Packers. Yeah, coming right after that game. See you then. Enjoy the weekend. On the wayside Let her say I don't have A few years

With him On the wayside On the wayside Let her say I don't have A few years