The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 1: Danny Parkins

Episode Date: April 26, 2024

Mike is trying to get Billy hyped up about the UFL, but if LeBron is boring then the UFL is definitely not catching anybody's attention. Although, Battlehawks and Stallions is going down two weeks from now! Plus, Danny Parkins of 670 The Score joins the show to discuss his new book Pipeline to the Pros, which details the journeys of players and coaches who made their way from Division III to the NBA. Then, Katie Nolan and Kevin Clark join Pablo Torre for another edition of Share and Tell, where they break down The Undertaker telling the story of when a seven-year-old threatened to shoot him in the face. Finally, Amin and Charlotte get out the lie detector for this week's Oddball segment to seek out some of the biggest lies around the NBA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Go to Cuervo.com to shop tequila or visit a store near you. Cuervo, now's a good time. Trademarks owned by Becle, S SAB, the CV. Copyright 2024. Proximo. Jersey City, New Jersey. Please drink responsibly. This is the Don Leventor Show with the Stugatz Podcast. Billy, you were, and I don't know, that's how you're built.

You didn't want to receive the flowers for the great work that you did. That's a difficult production. Wranglin, Statze, when he's in Troy, Michigan. Yeah, Detroit-ish. Yeah, but. Did you hear what my strategy with that was? What was it? Well, so we had a conversation beforehand, and we knew that it was in Troy, Michigan,

but we also knew, if he knew it was in Troy, Michigan, he was not getting on that plane. So I just told him, you know, it's Detroit-ish, it's right around Detroit. But then when we were like doing the bookings for the situation, Mikey who's there with him, Danny who's there with him, because it was in Troy, their hotel's in Troy, and we had a conversation

and we were like, well they need to go to Detroit to do the interviews, and they're like, well Stugats is gonna stay in Troy, we're like, mmm, maybe let's have him stay in Detroit, even though it's gonna be a drive, because if he sees that he's not in Detroit, then it may be a challenge. So he didn't know until he was getting on the plane

that that was happening in Troy. That's you knowing that Sugatsi isn't actually gonna do the, not gonna put the work in to investigate exactly what his itinerary is. Morning of, I got some texts that he wasn't thrilled, but you know, by that point, what are we gonna do? Well, you did a great job,

and you've been consumed by all this. Okay, thank you, first and foremost, but it was a- Except the flowers. No, it was a team effort, like the video team, there was a whole army of people that were here last night to put that on that you didn't see behind the scenes. I gave them their flowers too,

but you were traffic directing. You were most certain. I also, Kirsten, Kristen, and Miss Cynthia, oh my god, they took care of us last night. They did great, they didn't order enough pizza at first, but they made up for it and they ordered more pizza later. There were like three boxes, like guys, we're adults here, what are we doing?

So you've had this to worry about, you have two kids, we've got playoffs going on, your seam had baseball playoffs going on, you know, Seamhead baseball's going on. So I think you missed that it's Defenders Battle Hawks week. When did the XFL start? Oh, that's XFL? I thought that was Highlight. It's not, it's not XFL-ing.

Wait, is that Highlight? Legitimately, aren't those Highlight teams also? They do sound like Highlight teams, but they're- When's that season going on? Particularly the Defenders sound like one. That one, that highlight season, battle court season is winding down. Oh, an XFL season?

XFL season's not XFL season, it's UFL season. But there is an XFL still, right? Sort of? There's an XFL conference. Ah, in the UFL. In the UFL. Hold on, let me get the info here, ufl.com. That's the University of Florida's website.

Really? How the hell do I find this? This is week five? It's week five. Wow, where are they on? I'm not trying to be rude. Where are they on? How do I watch them?

They're on ESPN, ABC, Fox, FS1. Oftentimes they're growing up against playoff games. So the visibility, and also I think what the XFL did so well, especially in 2020, which is like the heyday of spring football, and then COVID, along with other things, ruined it. One of my least favorite things about COVID, it killed the XFL V2.

One of the saddest heydays of all heydays, the heydays of all heydays, the heydays of spring football. Should they have just played through? That's what Vince was trying to do. And if you asked Aaron Rodgers, he would have said, absolutely. But he took the insurance money. And I think he's sued Andrew Luck's dad.

It's a whole thing. Aaron Rodgers? So here's what the XFL got right last year is when your program, when you're at your most just peak football form is the Super Bowl. And what they did last year was Super Bowl in XFL season. You got American football on the brain, pigskin on the brain. You got your XFL and you keep that momentum going. Now because of all the antitrust issues

that this merger presented, the merger itself being complicated, they had to cool off on the idea of starting right back up after the Super Bowl, so you had this thing start up as all the other sports were starting to build the crescendo. So this is week five, did they start in the middle of March Madness?

Yeah. At the heart of college basketball season. did they start in the middle of March Madness? Yeah. At the heart of college basketball season. They went directly up against March Madness. And by the way, they had good ratings on the outside. I don't think that they've maintained those. Invisibility is an issue to the point that they have a marquee matchup right now. Battle Hawks, Defenders, that's the best crowd.

Those are the best two fans. Stallions are on fire right now. Stallions are, well, they're a USFL team. Plus 41 right now. I'm an XFL fanboy're a USFL team, but I. Plus 41 right now. I'm an XFL fanboy. I think that they should have maintained XFL branding. I understand that that has baggage, especially when you add the VIN stuff in there.

But this UFL thing, taking the name of an already failed league, it just adds to the confusion. At this point I would have been fine with USFL, but keep a branding that would have been familiar, and it's a real bummer. But if you're gonna watch one game, make it Battle Mox. I'm not just for the record.

But if I was. You can just end the sentence there. AJ McCarran's having a good season. JPZ is now. AJ McCarran, really? Yeah, AJ McCarran's there. There's not a lot of, so the union that's working for the XFL,

well, the UFL players is actually the Steelworkers Union. You have an uphill battle, as Chris just said off air, where if LeBron's not interesting him, AJ McCarran's not gonna get it done. Noted! If I were to get into the UFL, now seems like a good time, because two weeks from now, the Battle Hawks take on the Stallions,

where you're gonna have the best of both conferences. That's potential. AJ McCarran on the Lakers. So you can kinda just start greasing the wheel here with my USFL just put it on your radar No one's talking about it I think that might be with or without good cause but I mean the rocks barely talking about it right now Hey everybody, it's Mike and typically I record these Miller light spots in the studio But I requested that I specifically record this one from my home office because I got a window and I'm looking outside at those beautiful fishtail palms knowing that

in just a few seconds I'm gonna go out there I'm gonna crack open a can of Miller Lite because while sitting outside by my fishtail palms is usually a good time I like to take it up a notch and make it a Miller time. That's right you crack that puppy open and you don't have to think about what you're drinking for a darn second. A lot has changed over the years, including my backyard. Lots of landscaping being done right now. But the one thing that hasn't changed is the undebatable quality of Miller Lite. You don't have to choose what quality is the best.

Miller Lite has great taste and it's less filling. Tastes like Miller time. To get Miller Lite delivered right to your door, visit MillerLite.com slash Dan, or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories per 12 ounces, fewer cales and carbs than premium regular beer. Don Lebatard. Sugar Daddies.

These things, I'm telling you. I love Sugar Daddies. I like those too. They get stuck in your teeth like you can't chew them. They're like impossible to chew. They are impossible to chew. Sugar Daddies every day. Stew guts. I love sugar dad. I like tucking your teeth. I can't chew them. They're like impossible to chew They're impossible. That is every day. Stugats. This is the Don LeVatar show with the Stugats Stugats I don't know what is known publicly about the feud between Nick Wright and about the few between nick right and mean a times and pablo tori but i think because nick right says everyone

his age must be vanquished i believe that pablo and mean i have surpassed nick recently because i think they just recently got to do a celebrity game show together is that something that's public yet is anything known about uh... what's happening here in the rankings between nick right uh... mean a times and pablo tori The reason I bring all of this up is to introduce our guest. This is a personal favor to Nick Wright. Nick Wright has says that Danny Parkins is his best friend and that he's got a great book and that the book is

called Pipeline to the Pros, How D3 Small College Nobodies Rose to Rule the NBA. I have Mina 1, Pablo 2, Nick 3rd. I mean... Okay, well there's been some movement recently in the rankings and rose to rule the nb a i have me in a one pablo to nick third i mean okay well there have been some move there's been some movement recently in the rankings and then i introduce you that way just to tell you uh... that nick right has highly endorsed what it is that you've written which is basically how people like the van gundy's were able to make their way into the sport and have some power over correct and thank you for joining us by the way

thank you for having me on it is an honor and yes thank you to nick right i'm shameless in this regard as a taking you help introduce me to people that i don't know and uh... he came through in a big way but yeah the book uh... jeff and on the road to forward and it's basically a story of how these guys who have no business being in the nba based on their basketball talent got into the nba through their knowledge and they've got to take it over

throughout in the history of the big impact but now their impact is never been bigger you know we don't well with his teams right now the top six seeds in each conference five of those twelve have a president or gm that played the three ball three of those twelve have a coach who played the three balls of their influence has never been bigger than it is right now when you're saying taken it over though are you talking about like sam pressing now

being a number one seed what do you mean taking it over you're breaking in taking it over as sam press the brad stevens greg popovich jeff and gondi stan van gondi guys like that and hiring their friends and being at the forefront of the modern NBA movement, whether you wanna talk about analytics, hiring, firing, style of play,

these are some of the brightest minds in basketball, and they have very similar backgrounds. What is it that you found interesting about how you were tying all of these people together? What is it about a basic pure love for basketball that has to be fed at the hungriest level and if you're not evolving as these people because you're not the most disadvantaged but this is a hard way to get to the pros? Yeah constantly being doubted I would say. I mean Jeff Van Gundy, a story that blew me away, he gets the job as the

interim head coach of the Knicks and the New York Daily News writes a column listing the odds at who the next head coach was going to be for the Knicks. Larry Brown is the favorite, John Calipari is the second favorite. And then they got a little disrespectful. They put 71-year-old Lou Carneseca on there at 5,000 to one, Red Holtzman at 76 years old at a million to one, and Jeff Van Gundy at 50 million to one odds to be the next head coach of the Knicks. And he has the job. So these guys have been doubted every step of the way.

People in San Antonio wanted Greg Popovich fired when he already had the job in 1997 to the tune of 92% in a poll done by a local newspaper there. So these guys were doubted every step of the way, even when they got into the NBA. And I think the humility from the D3 background, seeing their coaches or being the coach who

would drive the van to the games or have to lose the home gym to the volleyball team, do the laundry, things like that, it's a real for the love of the game story. And so that's one of the first things that drew me to it. Who do you regard as the biggest or most interesting story in your book? Biggest is a bad way to ask it. The most uncommon and most interesting according to the author who was following all of these tales. So Jeff Van Gundy is a pretty interesting one. He was the transfer portal before there was a transfer portal. He is the only human in the history of humans to go from Yale

to Menlo Junior College because at Yale they said, we're not going to let you try out for the team anymore, but he's like, no, I got to play ball. So he goes to Menlo. Then he goes to Brockport to play for his dad. Then they fire his dad at Brockport and he ends up at Nazareth. So four places in four years and all for the love of the game. So I mean, that one stands out. Brad Stevens worked at Eli Lilly. Kobe Altman was a real estate broker.

And then he gets in with Dan Gilbert who made his money in mortgages. So so many of these guys have diverse educations and backgrounds, and then they apply those skills to the nba but no one's path is uh... quite as unique as jeff and gundy what did you find out about sam presti secretive secretive we got strung along by the thunder in the ways that uh... were very upsetting

over a hundred back-and-forth correspondences and you you know, he was hired by Pop. Pop taught all of his lieutenants to be secretive. One person at Pomona, an academic advisor under Pop, said the first rule of Greg Popovich is we don't talk about Greg Popovich. And Sam Presti is proud of his Emerson days, but he does not like to divulge state secrets,

even though he's hired a bunch of D three guys He emails coaches at successful D three programs with excellent academic institutions mining their rosters for Interns g-league coaches video coordinators like he's very proud of this story that paints him in an excellent excellent light And he just has no interest in speaking on it I have some questions for you about popovich, but as the Thunder are the number one seed, can you explain to me how it is that Presti gamed this system, a system that locks these young players into a city they'd never play in if they weren't locked into a system that

forces them to play there for several years. I mean the simplest way to put it is asset allocation right? He just he is no problem being a deal maker wheeling and dealing acquiring a ton of draft picks and to your point what can Chet Holmgren do? What can SGA do? The league is set up that he is this unbelievable evaluator of talent. We saw it going back to the hardened Westbrook Durant days. I talked to people who said he would be the pick of every owner if there was a free agent class for GMs because he'd be the guy you'd pick to start the team because he has a higher hit in the draft than anyone. That's the only way you can win in Oklahoma City. So he looks at it as acquire assets, throw as many darts at the dartboard as possible, trust his intellect, trust his scouting, trust his staff, and then he will get these players into contract situations

where it's advantageous for them to sign that second contract with the team that drafted them. And that's what he's going to continue to do. Danny, can you please explain to the audience the degree of difficulty in the improbability in being a market like okc and going from hardened or and to westbrook obviously you're not going to be able to keep all of them for their high all of fame careers to it gets flipped over and now they're the one seed. And quickly.

I mean, you guys are on South Beach. You know the advantage that you have in free agent recruitment every single year. Pat Riley dumping his rings on the table. Sam Presti has absolutely no institutional advantage whatsoever other than the institution that he has created. So how rare is it? How improbable is it? We've never seen anything like it.

The places that are dynastic in the NBA or that continue to get top talent are the heritage franchises. Boston, LA, places that have geographic or tax advantages like Miami. There's nothing that's ever been like this. The only way Milwaukee can win is because they hit on a pick like Yanis, D3 guy by the way, John Hammond made that pick. But it's just an incredible ability to look for talent in unconventional ways and lock these

guys into bad contracts. Can you see Presti ever leaving Oklahoma City? No. Why? I think that he has all of the power. I think that he has all of the power. I think that he has all of the power there and he can get anyone hired that he wants and he has built this roster in such a way that I don't know what the deal would have to be to come along for him to move. I think he has everything that he wants there in terms of ownership support and he knows that he can keep getting these draft assets to build the team. He's going to certainly see this young run through. So I mean I think we'd be

talking a decade down the road. What did you learn about Popovich? Other than the secrecy, I would also say loyalty. His people love him and he has taken this ability to be worldly and to be interesting and to scout internationally and to care deeply with these players and to say, we are going to do team dinners in the theme of the country at which you are from, but I'm still going to be the one to pick the wine and you're going to love the wine that I ordered because I am so studied in it and so well read.

He is a truly incredible person who no one has a bad word to say about and he treats them as human beings first and foremost and if they hadn't changed the tenure rules on him at Pomona, he probably would have stayed there. He looked at himself as a pure teacher, an educator. He opened his D3 or his Hall of Fame speech when he got in finally to the Hall of Fame this year with How did this happen? I'm a D3 guy Like that that's how he truly looks at himself as a teacher who just happened to be teaching guys now at the highest level David Robinson, that's how it happened. Yeah, that's probably Tim Duncan Do you have a top five list that you could give us here as we head into the playoffs?

I will give you the name of the book again to give him time to assemble in his head the top five less that you could give us here as we head into the playoffs i will give you the name of the book again to give him time to assemble in his head the top five nobodies in the twenty twenty four nb a playoffs i'm assuming he can do this because has been researching a book these books are comprehensive they are thorough you have to uh... if you're going to write pipeline to the pros how d three small college nobody's rose to rule the nb a you have to be informed. So let's do this. Are you ready? Danny Parkins, you ready to top five nobodies in the 2024 NBA playoffs?

Yeah. Can I give you an honorable mention first? OLI. Go ahead. OLI. Yes. I will, I will pander to Miami, but it is true. Duncan Robinson. Duncan Robinson goes to Williams College before Michigan. When I contacted him to talk about the book he was like, finally someone's telling this story. He chose Williams because he knew of the pipeline, thought he could get into the NBA as a video coordinator and if his head coach doesn't leave Williams after his freshman year he maybe plays all four years at Williams. His coach happened to be a John B-eline guys so that's how we

ended up in michigan and now with an eighty million dollar deal number five colby altman late at middlebury uh... an assistant coach at amherst rebuilt the calves he that's where i met my co-author by the way, Ben Kaplan at Amherst College. This was a successful real estate broker making mid six figures who decided he wasn't happy.

Got back in at the lowest rungs of basketball, found himself in the Cavs organization and bonded with Dan Gilbert over the real estate business. And now he rebuilt the Cavs after LeBron. Number four, the combination i'm gonna co combo here tom thibodeau leon rose new york next

salem state dickinson uh... it's pretty remarkable if i would tell you that the next we're gonna hire a former agent who would never run a team for the sole purpose of recruiting big free agents but he hires a coach who flamed out of his last two jobs and his only big free agent is jaylen brunson the son of leon rose's first client rick brunson people would say the nix are dysfunctional but now that you see the east

number three chris finch so that over franklin and marshall Chris Finch This guy was a hooper Franklin and Marshall probably the best basketball player D3 guy that we talked to who's in the NBA other than Duncan Robinson head coach of the 56 win Timberwolves multi-time all-american true grinder coached in Europe coached in the G League now he's coaching the T Wolves number two Sam Presti uh... coaching the t-walls sam presti president of the thunder we covered it this guy they didn't have a home jim in

eberson they took map quest directions to home games after his junior year he made his teammates sign a commitment letter uh... in order to say if you guys follow all the things that i've outlined here we will make the nc double a tournament spoiler they did not whose number one stugatsi number one stugatsi you got who's number one i i can't even venture a guess to be honest i thought sam preste was gonna be number one popovich not brad stevens not in the

postseason who's not in the playoffs okay number one brad stevens yeah brad stevens i ruined it stole your thunder i ruined it okay my bad all your thunder. I ruined it. Okay. My bad. No, it's a stand-up. I mean, it was the only option left on the board. Let's be honest.

I mean, the guy worked at Eli Lilly proving he could do anything. He had a job at Eli Lilly, but his senior year decided he was going to take an education course because his fallback plan was to be high school basketball coach. He would have happily coached D3 his entire life if the butler coach didn't leave. He gets the butler job. The rest is history. Danny, I'm just saying imagine what Presti could do in a city where players want to live in. I mean... I agree with you, but he doesn't seem to have any interest in it. He seems to love the thing that he's built there. It's not like other teams haven't tried to hire him before. No, but

this is Stu got his move. Wait a minute, somebody's good. Why is he still there? He should leave, get something better. Brad Stevens in Boston, guys wanna live there. I know, but you just don't understand somebody who doesn't get someplace and say simply more. More, Preston, you don't understand.

If he can have all of that there, why wouldn't he choose to have more elsewhere if he can have any job that he wants? But if he's so good and the one thing, the one obstacle that he has is getting players who want to live in his city and stay in that city, why not Boston? Why not LA? Why not New York? I want him on the next day. There are no obstacles to what it is that he's doing. If he can lock a young player in at a reasonable contract into a city that he's gotta be there for seven years. Like, if you're really good, if you're better than everyone else at picking players, if you're willing to trade Paul George so that Uncle Dennis and Kawhi can have whatever they want, I can't believe that this dude has changed the game

from Oklahoma City. Like, that part's nuts. want i can't believe that this dude has changed the game from oklahoma city like that that parts nuts his name no right no right to have game the system when pat riley can do it with lebron james and state taxes it's completely insane he is the best at what he does in the nb a brad stevens is probably a close second but it is a uh... it is a remarkable accomplishment i'd like to see him with the NBA. Brad Stevens is probably a close second, but it is a remarkable accomplishment. I'd like to see him with the resources. I think we all have a little stugatz in us, as you guys like to say. Sam Presti seems to be the exception

to that. Andy Ellisberg would like a word, sir. Would like a word. Andy Ellisberg of the Miami Heat would like a word, Danny. He might be a D3 guy too actually thank you Danny appreciate it thank you guys so much it's an absolute honor to be on this show thank you and thank you to Nick Wright Don libertard you got to know I'm a big Colombo guy salute to that boy I don't think that is evidence salute to that boy suck It's it suggests camouflage. It suggests that juju has no idea what we're talking about And now it's just googling it still gots. I'm not googling it. My grandmama stayed in the country

I watched the Braves. I watched Colombo. I watched Matt luck. I watched Andy Griffin Yeah, you said that you go to the pill in the box. Damn. Damn take your ass to the pill in the box. You tell him Juju. Call me a liar. You tell him Juju. Back to you Stu.

This is the Don LeBattar Show with the Stu Guards. I'm going to read the headline and then I'm going to go into the story. So here's the headline. And I don't, I would love for it all to be a slow reveal but the headline is just so good. I sent it to Pablo on Friday or Saturday night like 9 p.m. I saw it and I said this is what I want to talk about this is what I want to do with my life. The headline is and it's from FightFool.com. The Undertaker colon a seven-year-old named Bjorn threatened to shoot me in the face and called me a

Democrat. Now there's a couple things here. Number one is that I feel like, and maybe this is just me not seeing it, I feel like there's a lack of just total sh**head kids anymore. Because when I, like you'd always see like seven-year-olds, you know, in like 1999 and they were just absolute terror. You don't play video games online? I don't.

What's going on there? Yeah, that's a lot. Oh, they're indoors now. That's the thing. Yeah, the kids are outside. There used to be a park. Yeah, like Dennis the Menace style. Yeah, yeah.

There's no more Dennis the Menace now is in a house saying racist stuff on chats. Yes. To Katie. Yes, yes. No, well, if Katie speaks, they go, oh, it's a girl. Oh, show me your boobie. Like, you know, they don't say boob go, oh, it's a girl. Oh, show me your boobie. Like, you know, they don't say boobies, but I do a lot in this podcast.

Let's get into the story here. It's a five minute story. Cortez was upset that it's so long we can't just play the entire video. Yeah. It is tempting though. It is an unbelievable story. So one of, someone on the WWE security team Tells is it WrestleMania a couple weeks ago tells Undertaker who? And and more power to him refers to himself as the Undertaker many times

My believe it's Mark Callaway. Yeah, leave it's Mark William Callaway age 59 So what an undertaker secure one of the security detail guys is a former Navy SEAL. His son is a huge fan. Now his son is named Bjorn as we discussed and the former Navy SEAL does not want the Undertaker to call him because he just wants to be professional about it. You know, I told the guy, I said,

Hey, I said, I hear your son's a fan. I said, would you like for me to call him? And he was like, oh no, no, don't worry. He was just totally professional. And I was like, no, it's okay. I said, I know Larry, Larry sent me a text and he was like, man, he goes, no, he's still trying to get out.

I said, just let me FaceTime him real quick. And he goes, well, you can't FaceTime him. And I'm like, okay. And he says, but if you would call him, that would be awesome. And I was like, yeah. The dad says, you can't FaceTime him. Okay. Red flag.

So he gets on the phone and says, Bjorn, this is the Undertaker. And he says, hey Undertaker, how are you? Undertaker starts to mess with him and sounds like you're getting in trouble at home. So I started messing with him, like I do everybody, right? I was like, Bjorn, it sounds like to me,

you're getting in some kind of trouble at home, aren't you? He goes, no, I'm not getting in any trouble. I said, no, I'm pretty sure. It sounds like you're up to something. I don't know what it is, but I can tell you're doing something you shouldn't be doing. He goes, I'm not doing anything

I'm not supposed to be doing. You're doing something you're not supposed to be doing. I was like, no. And then this kid, this seven year old kid goes, hey, I'll shoot you right in the face. I felt lost it, right? I said, what? You're going to shoot me? And now his dad is mortified, right?

He is just like, oh my gosh. I put him on the phone. Now he's threatening the undertaker. So anyway, so I was like, you're not going to shoot me in the face. I'm going to shoot you in the face, right? So now I'm having an argument with a seven year old about shooting him in the face, which I probably shouldn't be talking

about this. It was all in good fun. You had to be there for the moment. So anyway, so we're going back and forth right now. And I'm like, I'm a Democrat. Where did that come from? What does that mean to you? There's a couple things here. There's bricking the conversation, which you would do like, he got so excited that he misread this. Bjorn got so excited he misread the situation and ended up threatening to shoot the undertaker. Named after a viking by the way. In the face.

I feel like Bjorn was like this guy comes back from the dead so let's see what's up. I feel like Bjorn was being accused of some wrongdoing. Bjorn being seven definitely has done something wrong within the past week. This dude is with his dad and so he's like I like, I have to back this guy down or he's going to tell my dad about the bad stuff I did. Because when you tell a seven-year-old, you know what they've been up to. The first thing they think is like,

shit, I have been up to some stuff. It's like the, who is the comedian that had, just as an experiment, had everybody send their significant other a text that just said, I haven't been completely honest with you. And then just saw what the person would respond, what their significant other would respond with. That's basically what Taker did to Bjorn.

Yes. I was afraid when I was first watching the video that the little kid was going to be like, yeah, I took some money from my mom. Like he was going to admit the thing he did. I mean, he did something far worse. A guilty conscience is what you'd detect with Bjorn. He's a violent seven year old. Yeah, I didn't know he was going to shoot him in the face.

Politically violent. And also, you know, if you shoot the Undertaker in the face, he's just going to come back. It's not going to do anything. Maybe that's the problem is he didn't understand the consequences. You can't be a big fan of the Undertaker and not know that shooting him in the face isn't going to get you anywhere. The Undertaker in 2020 donated $7,000 to Donald Trump. I mean, $7,000, what's the point?

Thanks, but no thanks. $7,000 to Donald Trump. I mean, $7,000, what's the point? That's the federal maximum for an in-character wrestler. Oh, okay. Taker, LLC. But the question, beyond the specifics of the Undertaker arguing with a seven-year-old about who should be shot in the face or not, it does raise the question of like, when you were kids, were there people that you were so excited to meet, that you had,

you know, this memory that, yeah, continues to persist. I was an altar server. The priest, this is not where this is going. Spoiler alert. Yeet. This ends without indicting the Catholic church. Sure, sure. The priest was the team chaplain of the New York Yankees. Huh. And so what a thrill for me,

native New Yorker, giant Yankee fan to be an altar server. And our parish priest is the team chaplain of the New York Yankees. Okay. And I say, father McMahon, I would love, I would love an autograph from my favorite New York Yankee, Derek Jeter. Unique, interesting pick. Good one.

And weeks later I get a signed, um, like, uh, I think it was like, what was it? It was, oh, it was a team program. And it says, um, on the program, I still have this. Um, it says whatever best wishes, um, to Pablo Torre from Derek Jeter. And the disappointment is that he misspelled my last name. He spelled it T O R E. Excuse me. T OO-R-E. Pablo Tor.

Yeah. Which was disappointing to me because his f***ing manager has the same last name as me. I was going to say, what do you mean? Joe Torre. And he f***ing, he bricked the interaction. Yeah. Derek Jeter bricked the autograph. Alright, so I have a-

And I resent him. Okay, why was he putting last names on? I don't know. Just say Pablo. And also best wishes to a child is wild. Best wishes to Pablo. Yeah. Hey Pablo.

Hey Pablo, thanks for watching, buddy. Thanks for watching, go Yanks. Hey amigo. Go Yanks, pal. Did he break the interaction more or less than you with Daryl Morey? Oh boy. Neither of us emerged looking great.

I don't remember how old I was. I did meet Nadia Comaneach. She was the first gymnast to get a perfect 10. And I just remembered telling her I liked her and she put her arm around me. And she, look, as a little kid, I had a tragic haircut. I had a little boy haircut. Can we get a photo of this? No.

And so I feel like at any point in any interaction with any adult I got immediate sympathy because I think they knew that like what this poor kid doesn't want this haircut Their mom is making them do this. There's no way they're the most popular kid among their friends So they always gave me the like oh Like they I always got that energy as a child because I think they were like what a precocious young lady who looks like a news Anchor yeah, and so that's basically the I had that being a fat kid yeah like I was always a little bit yeah we can't with Stephanie McCann we can do a Stephanie McMahon photo which will tie into the era of

WWE I watch also a photo of Vince McMahon cannot put that photo up anymore yeah but I'm alarmingly fat in both photos but I was always the kid who like I'd get like you know as a big hockey fan I'm the one fat in both photos, but I was always the kid who like I'd get like, you know, I was a big hockey fan I'm the one they flip the puck to because I looked so fat and childish I'm currently a fan of the New York Rangers I was a fan of the Orlando Solar Bears when I was a kid Oh, that's not a real team. Like polar bears?

No, I just said solar bears. But for the sun? I'm not drawn to connection. Yeah, all right. And so I was a big fan of the solar bears growing up. Great, I love that. Um... But you were saying as a hockey fan? Oh, and so I'd always be the guy where they were like, oh yeah, we're gonna give the puck or the stick to this kid because he's fat and he's not having a good goal of it.

You can tell. Yes. And so I'd always clean out that one. Yes. You're so cute. Wait, wait, wait. Let me see it again. Who's not flipping a puck to that kid? The fact that you're also wearing like a big polo shirt. Yeah. It's like, this little gentleman's working, he's working at an office. That's back. The big polo is back. The polo bears.

The polo, the polar bears. Yeah, the big polo bears. Don Lebotard number three Chick-fil-a waffle fries Love it Nah, I think it's an overrated you guys go ketchup or Chick-fil-a sauce when you have the chick-fil-a That's my brother right there good call you're my're my brother. Stugats. Oh my God. What a weird interaction. White guys, white, white, white, white, white.

Wow. This is the Don LeVatar Show with the Stugats. Welcome back to the show. Charlotte Wilder, Amina Hassan, as always. It's time for the segment that you know that we love, that we love, that you know, that you love. Sure. We love this segment.

It's a lie detector, Amin. And this time, it is complete with new oddball technology to aid both of us in detecting lies heard round the NBA. Whoa! Amin, we're going to start with you. And if you are listening to this and you are not watching on a visual medium, which you should be, YouTube, DraftKings Network, Amin has been outfitted with very state of the art technology. It is a cord that goes underneath his nose so he can sniff out the lies.

You also have been hooked up with some state of the art space age technology. Got a little antenna on top so he can pick up the vibes, the lying vibes. Yeah, if there's a lie, I feel it and it just goes right through these cords and zaps me a little bit and that's how I can tell. And I mean, we're going to start with the athletic anonymous survey because Rudy Gobert was voted the most overrated player in an anonymous survey. And Gobert's response was quote, I'm more like the odd guy from France.

Excuse me. I'm more like the odd guy from France that's winning a lot of awards. I trigger a lot of these guys. I mean, is Rudy Gobert lying when he says that he wins a lot of awards and triggers a lot of guys who think he's overrated? Well, hold on. Yes, yeah, I'm getting a reading. It's clear that Rudy Gobert is lying

because he knows it's not because of the awards. And also, he says in his quote something about like, oh, it's because I'm a winning player and I do things, but it's not flashy, the awards. And also, he says in his quote something about like, oh, it's because I'm a winning player and I do things, but it's not flashy and that's why. And it all smacks of someone who just has very low self-esteem because everybody hates him. As we said, the most tortured player on the Timberwolves. Yeah, so I'm going to say, yes, the lie detector

has to determine that was a lie. Well, you know, Charlotte, your system is a lot more sophisticated because of that antenna. I can actually have video transmitted directly into your brain. Oh! And that way, I don't even have to read the quote. So this is Joe Mazzullo asked if he was bothered

that no Celtics were nominated for any individual awards. Ah, no, not at all. I think it's beautiful. Why would you get an award for the past? Charlotte, is Joe Mazzullo lying? Whoa, oh gosh, that was quick. It came to me. No, Joe Mazzullo is not lying. He does think it's beautiful that no one on his team that he is the head coach of was nominated for regular season award. He thinks it's beautiful. He thinks it's beautiful.

He thinks that means that you're doing it right. He thinks that means that that is what real basketball is about, not the past, not the awards. All that matters is winning. I don't know, I mean, I don't even fully know what that means. Why would you get an award for the past? Like that's what every award is

Yeah, I don't they don't give future awards as far as I know yeah So but no Joe Mazzull is telling the truth. It just doesn't make any sense I just want to point out that you know when I played that video I used this very state-of-the-art controller It's a trigger on it, and I had trigger and sent those videos. That's amazing Technology, what's next? I mean, next up is Devin Booker. Let me get into, okay.

You ready? Mm-hmm. Devin Booker said after the sun's lost again to the Timberwolves, he said, "'Don't count us out. "'It's a series for a reason.'" I mean, is Devin Booker lying? You getting a reading there?

Mm-hmm. I see it coming through. Getting lying? You getting a reading there? I see it coming through. Getting a reading, oh, it's coming. It's the truth. Really? If you're the Phoenix Suns, you walk away saying, they won the first two at home. That's what they're supposed to do.

Now we go home and we hold serve. Also, maybe, quite slightly, you have to have some confidence, say, hey, we swept this team in the regular season. They've had two great games. Now it's time for us to have two great games. Okay. I like that.

Here's another one for you, Amin. Nas Reid was named sixth man of the year. He beat out Malik Monk by two first place votes. And someone gave Boyan Bogdanovich a third place vote. Was whoever gave Boyan that vote, were they lying? You know what I love before I answer that question, I love about the voting process in the NBA is that at some point they're going to reveal everybody's name.

Really? Yeah. Who voted for who? There are a hundred voters and they reveal what every voter voted for. And I want to see this fraud who picked Boyan Bogdanovich with a third, even a third, yes. That's what you're picking up here on this detective.

That person is fraudulent and they know it. There's no way they did it in earnest. They knew that they were lying when they did it. We're going to find out. We're gonna find out. We're also gonna find out who the hell didn't vote for Malik Monk. That? You think he should be six?

Oh, I thought he ran away with it. Wow. I thought he ran away with it. Nazri had a great year. Malik Monk should have been six men of the year. Wow, you heard it here first, folks. Those oddball hot takes, you can't get anywhere else. All right, Charlotte.

People looking like this. Hold on, let me cue this up. Okay, so Minnesota made credit its success so far to Auntie Edwards and Rhodi Gobert, but the internet speculates that there's another candidate worthy of getting credit. Who's that? It's Red Panda, now I'm gonna try and put up this tweet

to your, let me know if you see that. Credit who's that it's red panda now. I'm gonna try and put up this tweet who you're Let me know if you see that Hold on let me down left right okay, that's not as reading push the wrong button left right up down Can you push a side trigger? Well, I gotta hold them down at the same time. Oh, yeah hold them down at the same time. Yeah There it is. Okay, so Timberwolves before Red Panda performed minus one. Yep. Timberwolves after Red Panda performed plus 13. Yep, that's what happened when she performed at halftime.

Her plus minus is plus 13. Okay. It's plus 14 if you do the on off. Yeah. I detect no lies. Really? I detect no lies. Really? I detect no lies. Red Panda gets a crowd going.

I talked about this on Poblatory Finds Out. The halftime performers are just as much a part of the game experience. They keep the crowd going for the players. At halftime, they keep the energy up. They keep everybody involved. Who is more mind-blowing than Red Panda? She's riding a unicycle, tossing bowls onto her head,

like this, except without the, you know, antenna thing. The sophisticated technology, yeah. So, no, I see no lies. She does hers analog. Yes, she has analog bulls. I have a tech, digital bull, anyway. No, no lies detected here.

I think that Red Panda is a difference maker. I'm gonna throw this out there. This might anger some people. Wait, hold on. Maybe I should type this in for you to detect the lies, see. I'm gonna throw this out there. This might anger some people. Wait, hold on. Maybe I should type this in for you to detect the lie and see if I'm lying. Okay. Red Panda.

Pastor Prime. Blasphemy, get out. Get out. The segment's over. I can't co-host a show with you. Just kidding, we have a little bit more to get to. We gotta close the show with some odds and ends. You can take your lie detector off if you want.

Because this thing, you know, it's pretty intense. Yeah, I know, mine is a little too attached to my head to take off, but you can remove yours. The Timberwolves' Jaden McDaniels recently spoke with the Athletic about punching a wall in frustration and breaking his hand last year, and he said, quote, "'It's embarrassing that I punched a wall. "'It's silly hand last year. And he said, quote,

"'It's embarrassing that I punched a wall. "'It's silly. "'I was down for a couple days, sure.' He said, "'It would have been different if I got hurt playing, "'trying to battle. "'Just hurting myself, I felt selfish.'" Now, McDaniel's locked down Kevin Durant

in game two against the Suns. He had 25 points, eight rebounds. Is this the best redemption arc in the NBA right now? Absolutely not. The best redemption arc? the NBA right now? Absolutely not. The best redemption arc, I mean, it's a pretty cool story. The cool story, his frustration last year, let him do the thing that maybe I'm just a sociopathic, soulless person, but I just don't understand

people get so mad. That they punch a wall? Punch walls, like, it's just, I would never, how mad I was, it never occurred to me like like that, that's the object of my ire. I have punched a paper towel dispenser before. Really? Yeah. Did it punch back?

I kicked a wall. Oh no, was it the same incident or different incidents? No, and it both hurt. It was a very, the wall and a paper towel dispenser that's metal, those are pretty tough. The best redemption arc right now. The Knicks? Is the Knicks.

It's the Knicks, it's gotta be the Knicks. Yeah. Right? So, unless the Heat win this series, in which case it's gonna be the Heat. Jesus, do you know how I knew it was the Knicks? Because I still have my gear on, so it came right through into my brain. All right, we've got a couple of Frenchmen.

What? You think Rudy Gobert and Wemayama is the end? No, it's merely the beginning. We've got a couple of Frenchmen who are going to be among the top prospects in the draft. What? This year, yes. There's Zachary Risace and Alexander Sarr.

Sarr. Alexander Sarr sounds like a bad guy from a Mission Impossible movie. Yeah, 100%. Plays by Alexander Saar's guard. There you go. Alexander Saar, some people speculate, might be the number one overall pick.

And he's a seven footer, and he's skilled, like Weminyama. Charlotte, how much pressure do you think Weminyama's putting on the French? A ton. You think anybody thought, no offense to Rudy gobert you think anybody thought oh French guys good at basketball before Victor woman yama I mean Tony Parker Barstee. Yeah, right. Okay, but like recently like the French in basketball were not really in the cultural Conversation then this massive Frenchman comes on also by the way, I have not seen that many tall Frenchmen. Let me just tell you right now,

they were back in the conversation last year before Mignama played a game for the brief several weeks that Joel Embiid was a French citizen and was gonna play for the French national team. Right, do you know that the president was so mad? Macron, the president of France? The president of France. He felt betrayed.

Yeah, so sort of. Frederick Weiss. Frederick Weiss, we got the president of France, you got betrayed. Yeah, so sort of. Frederick Weiss. Frederick Weiss. We got the president of France, y'all Frederick Weiss, we gonna shoot? Yeah, those are about on par with the same power in the world. No, I just, I think that when Benyama

has done something to the French where they used to be able to be like, oh, we do not care about anything. And now they really have to care about basketball and they really have to care about being good because if this guy's gonna be the next overall pick, that's a lot of pressure on him. You know what they call basketball in France?

Basketball? Basket. Basket. That's it, basket. Sounds like Bisquick. Almost, all right. Last story? Yeah, let's do the last story.

JJ Reddick is reportedly. Your good friend, JJ Reddick. Yeah, my good friend and neighbor. Not to say where he lives. Just give it away. Okay, well he is being interviewed for the Hornets head coach job. The Hornets were 21 six-man this year.

And JJ said on our Good Friend Publatories podcast, he would be open to coaching. You think this happens? It sounds like it's a little bit more than open. He interviewed for the job. Right. He interviewed for the job. Right. He interviewed for an opening. Well, I'll always take a meeting.

It's weird because obviously JJ's a smart player, he's a smart guy, he's a smart media guy. Coaching, this is my theory. You have to not have a life to be good at this thing. If you're someone who has life and options and things and stuff like that, this ain't for you. And I look at JJ, I'm like, JJ, you're smart. You got so much stuff going for you. Like, no, this is for the desperate. So it's like the Tom Thibodeauxs. The people don't want to see the sun.

The only light they get is off the glare of their, their monitors as they watch film over and over again. Not to say that JJ is not capable of doing that. It's just at some point, if I live in a building that doesn't have an elevator, I'm used to taking stairs. If I live in a building that has an elevator, yeah, I can take the stairs. But at some point I'm like, man, the hell with this. I'm taking the elevator. And I think JJ, you know, like you've got other options in life, man.

Don't be miserable. Well, stick with Oddball. Don't be miserable. We're the elevator. I think JJ, you know, like you've got other options in life, man. Don't be miserable. Well, stick with oddball. Don't be miserable. We're the elevator. Everybody else talking about basketball? The stairs. She's telling the truth. Hey everybody, it's Mike.

And typically I record these Miller light spots in the studio, but I requested that I specifically record this one from my home office because I got a window and I'm looking outside at those beautiful fishtail palms knowing that in just a few seconds I'm going to go out there. I'm going to crack open a can of Miller Light because while sitting outside by my fishtail palms is usually a good time, I like to take it up a notch and make it a Miller time. That's right, you crack that puppy open and you don't have to think about what you're drinking for a darn second. A lot has changed over the years, including my backyard. Lots of landscaping being done right now. But the one thing that hasn't changed is the

undebatable quality of Miller Lite. You don't have to choose what quality is the best. Miller Lite has great taste and it's less filling. Tastes like Miller Time. To get Miller Lite delivered right to your door, visit MillerLite.com slash Dan, or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories per 12 ounces, fewer cales and carbs than premium regular beer.