The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 1: The Joel Embiid Debate

Episode Date: April 1, 2024

We update our March Sadness tournament with the next round of matchups in the Song Region. Then, Joel Embiid is set to return soon, so we take a look at the Eastern Conference and discuss whether or not Embiid should be returning to try and make a run considering his health history and the 76ers future. Plus, Our Friendly Neighborhood Race Lady Jemele Hill is here to discuss the racial elements of tonight's game between LSU and Iowa, male rivalries vs. female rivalries, and more before she poses a specific question: do black people need to start over if LSU loses tonight? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to Giraffe King's Network. This is the Dan Leventor Show with the StuGuts Podcast. It is nearing the time to update our wildly popular March Sadness Tournament. This has gotten over like gangbusters. Everyone loves this, April Fools. March Sadness is presented by Get Your Guide. Discover over 100,000 unforgettable travel experiences in the US and around the world at getyourguide.com.

It's very easy to follow March Sadness Tournament. It's a multimedia affair. There's brackets of songs and still images and Greg Cody rants, saying nice hat, asshole to Jonathan Zaslow. So very easy to follow format. If you just pay attention, folks, this is very clearly your fault

as to why this is not universally beloved. It is not ours. We did right. Chris, what do we have so far for the tournament? I mean, the real tournament is in the Final Four, so we've got some elite matchups to cover. We will be getting towards the Final Four by the end of this week.

Today we are doing our second round matchups in the song region. One seed, Puka Nakuwa, which is of course this monster. His name is Cooper, good at running curls, but when his hammy got a tear He saw Pooka standing there his blade diminished Hustle take over Nakua hopped into the car McVeigh has maybe found a star and then that staffer threw him

25 in two. Oh, there's a brand new kid in town out of me. Why you they call him Pooka. So that's that one. That's the one seed. That's just going to be tough to beat, if we're being honest. It's a real earworm, honestly. It's one of the better songs that we've ever done because it's just so darn catchy. I'm really happy that that's still live, you're telling me?

That's alive, and that is facing our ninth seed by Jeremy Tachay, Bills Bills Bills. Tyreke is faster than a car But it don't matter if you can't get him the ball And have the running game to ever have consistency Hold on to that titan's lead And now you're losing week to week Struggle and interception Oh my brother, quarterback Why haven't I found another baller?

When times get hard I need someone to scramble around Instead of a pocket pass I get and jump to the ground Can you beat the bills? Can you beat the buffalo bills? Exceptional work, Jeremy. You're going up against Yukon. I have a slight criticism of the Pooka Nakua song, which by the way, Please criticize it. I had me and my ski friends, that's the whitest thing I've ever said, singing all week while we were on vacation, but, Pooka Nakua, but the opening to the song,

the first few words of the song, his name is Cooper. Yeah. His name is Cooper. Good at running curls. Yeah, and he mentions too, look it's a little all over, but it's all about the hook.

By the way, if you and your ski friends ever get together, I do know a wallet that you can buy off's all about the hook. By the way, if you and your ski friends ever get together, I do know a wallet that you can buy off of Instagram. We got the wrong song coming up next, Chris Cote. Four Seed Wrong Song. You are so wrong. You've got to run so let it go. Baby.

You're wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. That note, let it play. What are you doing? Let it play. You've got to run so let it play. What are you doing? One thing that we didn't mention is we talked about the baby part, but that go he's crazy I've got him in his home office like just all by himself Yeah from from a singing perspective. It has the advantage over

the next song but the next song is a total banger. First person shooter? And, uh... It is going up against Five Seed Sports Whisperer. Psst. Bill. Bill. It's Tom. Listen up Listen Bella Jack let me whisper in your ear Tell you something that you might like to hear You had a nice career but the end looking sad Mind if I tell you about this plan I had My homes been gaining on me way too fast

Surely as a coach that you should get past I can play at least another year or two So here's what we're gonna do I'm calling up Woody and we're going to the Jets Twice a year we can be the Patriots. We're kicking both Salsa and Aaron to the curb. Calling up Grog and we're flipping up the bird. Never really wanted Greg Olsen's spot.

Wanted him to know how much cash I got. You need a meat bill, I'll always be the boss. After we're done, you can go to the cross. You better listen up. You better listen up. I like this one, you know why? Because that's us at our roots. Listener driven content.

We got a lot of ringers there. You got Greg Cody, you got Jeremy. These are people on the show. Yeti and Streeter, God bless them. They're pros at this. To have listener driven, user created content in this tournament, that's an homage to the roots of this show. I'm going to root for the sports whisperer there.

But Yeti, a very talented vocalist, as you can see from this number two overall seed. This next matchup is my favorite of this bracket because it involves, I'm gonna play it first, our two seed, we're all gonna die, but I enjoy who this is going up against. But first, two seed, we're all gonna die. Die

We're all gonna die We're all gonna die. This one's a classic. Yeah, but in terms of vocal golf, in vocal skill, they don't get much wider than Yeti versus Taylor. It's a three, the crowd goes into it. in vocal skill they don't get much wider than Yeti versus Taylor. It's a three the crowd goes into a delusion winning in the playoffs not an illusion it's a heat check he's on fire but let it fly Saw the contract, they said he was overpaid, man Said that he was overrated and that we had no plan They were wrong and I am beaming Hear the Mecca say Carry us, Jalen Bronson

Palms up clutch, That's why we want New York knows you Just showed Taylor on the screen. I'm glad he's okay. It's been a rough couple of days for Taylor Not just you and see between yeti and Taylor Like a 60-point effort recently, right he did like on 50 shots 44 shots recently right he did like on 50 shots 44 shots yeah but that song is almost as good as hotline to the end zone and he also got knocked out on a buzzer beater last night by Shane Gillis Alexander just a terrible terrible he scored 60 points and lost I mean what can't he do at this point the next song I really

like a three seed Dan the Rambling Man. Dan the Rambling Man Lord Dan was born a rambling man Talking to guests and doing the best he can But when it's time for creepy eating No one understands Why like Dan the Rambling Man Jeremy, this is a great song, not just because it's catchy, not just because you knock it out of the park, but also it's a device that we can use forevermore. It's a part of show lore now, so a classic

by any stretch of the imagination. The next song needs a little bit more explanation. The next song is when Chris Cody thought Franco Harris, famous Pittsburgh sports icon, Italian, was actually Irish. Real fans don't need an S. He thought it wasn't Franco, he thought it was Frank O'Harris. Give him half a yard, he'll take a mile. And if Terry Bradshaw knows what's up, an audible once again.

Close your hand and talk to O'Harris, and he scores it every time. I was thinking about this the other day. I did a whole episode of Around the Horn as Conor McGregor with an Irish accent. I don't think I could do that again in 2024. Like, I don't think I could get away with that. People would yell at me.

Is that your most controversial Halloween costume? No, not controversy. No, I mean, probably Cardi B, because the second, you know, men saw me in that, they were like, that's not it. And I was like, eh, that's exactly the response I wanted. Yeah. I don't know if you guys were glued to your TVs this weekend. Sounds like we all were. I know it was opening weekend and March Madness was crescendoing, but I was locked into the UFL, as you can imagine.

And I want to give you guys, Jeremy, it looks like you missed it. I was moving. He groaned loudly. I don't know what that was about. It wasn't me. No, it came from a different direction. So I have some problems with the UFL. Number one, that it's a UFL and not the XFL. I hate that we decided to keep that. That is a bad idea. Different vibes. It was a merger. So the XFL and the USFL merged and they decided to take the moniker the UFL, which was also a fairly recent failed spring football league. It's pretty damning and Darryl Johnson I think has some of the

blame here because they decided moose because the XFL it was actually a good couple of days for the XFL before the games got going because the NFL voted on adopting the XFL kickoff. You know who's not using the XFL kickoff? The UFL. The UFL. That is just bewildering to me that anybody that's seen that kickoff, including the NFL, which is pretty married to its tradition, decided, oh this is exciting, this is a great, great innovation in the sport. And for the UFL just to decide that it didn't want to do that when the NFL basically king-maked it. So it was a huge bummer. And also as a passionate XFL fan to be totally dominated

by the USFL in these matchups. We had the matchups of the Stallions versus the Renegades and the two recent champions. The XFL, or what's left of the XFL, took a big fat L over the weekend. And I gotta tell you, last year, there was so much conversation. You couldn't get a sip of water over here, over this communal watering hole.

Was the group chat buzzing? Was your group chat buzzing? People left in the dead of night We had two people leave I'm telling you the XFL Become your saddest chat. No, there was a 64 yard game winner in the UFL And no one's talking about it feel good Hey friends, it's Mike Ryan and a lot has changed over the years

Hey friends, it's Mike Ryan and a lot has changed over the years. One thing that hasn't, great and dependable taste, a Miller Lite. It was the original light beer and to this day it is still the best one. Miller Lite has more of the taste that you want and less of the stuff that you don't. I was at a baseball game and thank goodness they had Miller Lite on tap. Taste buds electrified. Miller Lite, you were always the Taste buds. Electrified. Miller Lite, you were always the right call. And that's why I love you so much.

Then I turned to my friend and I had a great conversation. Oh, Miller Lite, you grease the rails for a good conversation better than anybody. Dog on it, Miller Lite, you keep everything simple. With undebatable quality, great taste, only 96 calories, it's the beer that strips away everything that you don't need and holds on to what matters most. Times change, but you can always enjoy the great taste of Miller Lite. Tastes like Miller time? To get Miller Lite delivered right to your door, visit MillerLite.com slash Dan, or you can pretty much find it anywhere that sells beer. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories per 12 ounces. Don Lebatard! And then that staffer threw him 25 in two. Oh, there's a brand new kid in town out of BYU.

Stugats. I'm starting to get back into pro basketball too. It's getting to be that time. Jimmy Butler told me it is that time and then he decided to take in the Miami Open and publicly flirt with Camila Cabello. I've read your take on the NBA. It's not great. I'm still assessing it.

It's not great, but now is the time where you jump back in. Penicillin for the Miami Heat arrived in the shape of the Portland Trail Blazers. God, does Terry Rozier hate the Portland Trail Blazers. 60-point victory, the ninth largest margin of victory. This is how bad Portland was. They made Miami look like they had a great offense. Miami had their highest scoring game of the year

tied with one game, I forget which one it was earlier. Franchise record for assists. Franchise record for assists. They also, what's really crazy is it's the ninth largest margin of victory in NBA history and the Blazers this year have a worse loss. They're the first team ever to lose multiple games by 60 points in a season.

You know, I don't, I was gonna say I don't wanna revel in the failings of that front office, but I'm really enjoying this one. It's fun. I'm really enjoying this one. We all know what happened there and what the media especially tried to make happen there

and okay, congratulations. You've ruined what was a pretty cool sports market. When Cronin right now is looking in his mirror this morning, is he admitting that he screwed it up or is he coming up with excuses on why it didn't pan out? Their argument's gonna be the whole way through that they got the assets to where they'll be able to choose the young players that they want in those picks,

but when you look at some of the players that they probably would've gotten in a move, I mean, we've been through this multiple times during the regular season, but it's pretty amazing to see how bad it's going. Yeah, and the picks, to be fair, because I am going to side swipe Cronin one more time, to be fair, the picks were a part of this conversation,

but people were saying, look at the players that they got, Timelord and Ayton, and look, they'd allow them to build on the fly, and then develop these younger players that they have on their roster, and look at these picks. People have already pivoted just to picks.

That's a losing hand, my friend. And it started off with, hey, we have the number two pick in this draft, we're gonna have a superstar. Scoot Henderson does not appear to be a superstar, so all of those things seem to be a bad combination for Cronin, and it is possible, that's the worst possible scenario for him,

because the one guy who dug in his feet and said, I'm not going to give in to my superstar and this happens. And like I literally had, I'm not gonna say who, but someone on TV that I share screen with laugh when I mention that it's going to come back to bite them because they didn't do right by Damian Lillard and whether you wanna call this karma or whatever,

it's all nonsense. But I do think that they were making poor decisions. They made a poor decision with Dame and it just goes to show you, hey, maybe that's just a pattern here. Maybe they're not making all the best decisions over in Portland. It might be one of those situations though for Miami and Portland where there are no winners here. Maybe Damian Lillard ends up being the winner. I just saw that they finally broke their winless streak without him over there. Milwaukee over the last month has settled in looking like they can maybe be a threat again in that conference. But I don't necessarily think that there are winners here. One interesting storyline that

has just popped up on the newsfeed is Shams has mentioned that Joel Embiid, who's been out and as he's been out, the Sixers are now hovering around that eight seed looking play in worthy. He's got to be coming back, it appears, this week in time for that matchup with the Miami Heat, Jeremy. Yeah, he plays the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday. That's where they're projecting that Embiid could come back. If not, it would be Thursday against the Miami Heat

down here in Miami, and that's a huge matchup. The Heat currently are a game and a half ahead of Philly for the seven, eight matchup, so obviously obviously you want home court in that first play-in because the winner gets to play Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks, which is obviously not an easy matchup, but at the moment you'd rather play the Bucks than the Celtics.

Izzy, I wanna ask you what you make of the Eastern Conference right now in that you have Boston, who essentially has nothing to play for at the moment, except for trying to try out Poisingis on switches on the perimeter. And there's a chance that in the first round they're going to get a test. And I don't think you can eliminate Atlanta given what we've seen recently out of the matchup problems that they present for Boston. In the first round they may get tested right away with either Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami,

I guess you can throw Indiana, if they get some losses this weekend in that mix. That's not gonna be easy. No, and I know we all try to talk about this here and you got the flames on the side of your face, we talk about it in the context of the heat, but the first thing I thought of is, Joelle Embiid has an eight seed for the Boston Celtics.

They've got to be thinking to themselves, we are just probably gonna complete this great regular season, and you've gotta be kidding me, I might have to face Embiid, Giannis, and then maybe Jimmy Butler, in that mix somewhere, and it's gonna be miserable for them. They're gonna be tested with that same sort of, you know, hey, you guys, chokers from the very first round

if they face Joel Embiid, who's had, you know, a couple of weeks under his belt. Is it worth it for the 76ers for Embiid to come back? And I know that speaking as a heat side of things, right? Like, number one, you don't wanna have to face Joel Embiid, but more speaking as someone who just saw an eight seed make a run, it would be foolish to say that the 76ers have no chance.

But is it worth it for them to bring him back and try to make this run? I think so, and I'll tell you why. First of all, they've had so many years where they've had opportunities, and rather he's broken down at the key time. Now you're getting him back, and you would assume, hey, he's not gonna break down again.

But I think part of the reason is it's like, he was having an historical I offensive season no go Chris I just need to jump I cannot believe what Tony of course you bring out of course you bring him bead back look what happened last year with the heat you the 80 can absolutely make a run you said I thought Jeremy sounded like an idiot there last year that opinion last year Tony Said the heat should tank for some pick for Wenbin Yama the the one that's exactly what chance they had at getting Wenbin Yama and now he's sitting here. Hey, what thing Yama looks pretty good. They weren't gonna get him Whatever. Are you prepared to take that? I just can't believe Jeremy's arguing for Joel and be to not return

I want to make it abundantly clear I don't hold that opinion and was positioning that question just to see what the... The conviction sounded pretty strong. Is your best player, do you not want him on the team anymore? Hey guys, do you want your best player to join? Is he rushing back, I think, is what Jeremy's asking. My question would be, if you're a team that already

probably didn't have a chance of making a deep run, even when Embiid was healthy, then you're looking at bringing him back now. They already made the decision on when he's coming back based on what the treatment plan was, what surgery they decided on, whatever. So the fact that he's able to come back now is not the decision.

The decision was made before. Were you doing an April Fool's thing? What was that? And when you want, you're gonna come in as a seven or eight seed, potentially, maybe a six seed, and you're gonna have no pressure in the world, and you're gonna have the best player in the conference who was having an historical offensive year

with no pressure on himself, just gonna be like, oh, I'm just gonna go for 70 every game. I have no idea how that's gonna end, but I would be nervous as hell facing that. I don't disagree with that at all, and the space that I was operating from when it comes to the Sixers is just, they're gonna have so much cap room this off season.

It's like more important, obviously they theoretically could make a run this year, but as a team that was already struggling. Are you already playing for next season? He might lose his leg if he plays. This is no risk of him. Dolla Beats constantly gets hurt. That's all I'm saying is having him healthy

to start next season when you're building a roster for next year to compete for a championship. You weren't telling me what to think, you were just asking me if I'd like to. That's exactly it, that's all I'm saying is having him healthy to start next season when you're building a roster for next year to compete for a championship. You weren't telling me what to think. You were just asking me if I'd like to. That's exactly it. That's all I'm trying to do. And now I'm mad. Now I'm mad.

Now I want to approach it from the other side. But this is an off injured player and this is the prime of his career. You don't just willingly punt on a year of that window because you don't know how long that body will hold up. That's the flip side of the argument. The argument that I was trying to make on his behalf of playing next season is you don't punt.

You don't punt on what next season could be by potentially rushing him back through that treatment plan to get here to try to make a run for lower seed. That's all. Even if they're in the playoffs, you still want him to sit. You're exactly right. I just don't want to play it. You know what I'm doing.

Well, it took a while, but the Eastern Conference is finally starting to get some storylines, just because we're approaching this end game spend. Look, Miami's always just go to approach the regular seasons this way. It's a little infuriating. I don't see it with them this year the way that I've seen it in years prior.

They're hanging with these bottom feeder teams in ways that you would really like for them to assert themselves. At times that Wizards game last time was a little dicey. I'm just not liking what I'm seeing from them. But at the same time, there's very little cohesion. I don't really know what they're capable of. I know that they'll drag a game into a little mud. Their offense is limited. But if I, as a Heat fan, am just going to have to talk myself into Jimmy Butler's gonna turn into Michael Jordan again in the postseason And that's what it's gonna take fine. That's that's an identity to I guess the opposite route

What if you went hey? Let's just because when they have their best most success is when the players are allowed to be who they are Like Terry Rozier go out and score go do your thing If you have his first two threes, if he hits two out of his first two threes, I'm just letting him cook. He played well last night, Mike. There's never been a player who I would rather. He played the Wizards last night.

I would rather have him take a step back three than a fucking shoot three. To his left. Because he's so much better at that shit. Well that's a bucket. That's the plight of the bucket getter. Yeah, that is, and that's why there's always the Wade comps. And he does with his long wingspan.

I get it, but he's just inefficient. And I do hope Tyler returns to this lineup so he can take more of those minutes. I was actually just about to ask, with the results from last year, if you're a Heat fan, who would you prefer to come back here, Caleb Martin or Tyler Hero? And I know obviously Tyler's supposed to be, what, our player, but Tyler Caleb Martin was great in the only this last game

He's been banged up I think he missed this past game just in part because they finally did have some players back and active and available But he'll be ready for the playoffs like he played I think 36 consecutive games before yesterday. He's been banged up though I have a lot of complicated my takes are a little all over the place so I'm going to try to explain it. Miami Heat played their best ball in the postseason when Tyler Hero got hurt for whatever reason. You can rate Tyler Hero as a player, you can be high on his future, whatever. Struce and Vinson got hot, that's exactly it.

They get hot in part because Tyler heroes not they're taking their their reps So why would I argue for Tyler hero to come back over Caleb Martin in this scenario? I'll tell you exactly why tell me I'll tell you because same time if not I can tell you because same time all three of us ready One and tell it three none two three two one. Terry Rozier. Tyler was their best point guard. Yep, same thing. Well, not you, but Izzy. Well, no, it's just because before they didn't have a backup to Tyler Hero when he would go out

and so the offense would change and it would be this more, this weird thing of either Bam or Jimmy initiating the offense and no true point guard on the court. Whereas now if he goes out, Terry Rozier establishes himself a little bit more. And me as someone that doesn't like Terry Rozier, does not want that. Go ahead and argue why he's our best point guard.

Rozier's been good. I'm so happy right now. It would be hour one and we're talking straight heat. Look, I think with Terry Rozier, he's just not the point guard you want at all times. He shouldn't be the guy initiating the offense all the time because he's not going to make the, let's say, obvious first pass sometimes

and not let things start to flow. As the two guard, when the job is, hey, catch, make a move, finish, way better suited for that. Tyler Hero stepping in there, they can actually play together, but even when they're not playing together, Tyler is more,

he's been more trained as the point guard for this team for four years now, so he's just better at it. Terry's averaging 18, four and a half, four and a half, with just one turnover per game this month. Over the last six games, yeah, over the last six games, in which they played the Cavs without Donovan Mitchell twice, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Wizards. Tough games.

Don Leventard! I don't think in 2021 I can get away with Michael Irvin radio show impression. Stugats! Pah-pah-pah! Pah-pah-pah! Pah-pah-pah! Kev! Kev!

I think that's so okay! Pah-pah-pah! Pah-pah-pah! Kev! Pah-pah-pah! Pah-pah-pah! Kev! Hahahaha! Hahahaha!

Papa! This is the Dan LeVatar Show with the Stugats! Hey Jamil! Hey Jamil! What's going on? How's it going? Hello! Good, good! Hi Jamil, Jamil. Hey, what's going on? How's it going? Hello. Good, good. Hi, Jamil, long time. Yeah, fire up a friendly neighborhood race lady

because I'm coming right there. We're going right there. Yeah. People don't understand. So much race. There is a race war coming tonight. Oh, the race war is, we're hours away. Put the countdown up.

Put the countdown up. Yeah, I'll explain the interaction that I had with Roy where he didn't want to just come out and say it. All right? I mean, I'll explain the interaction that I had with Roy where he didn't wanna just come out and say it. All right. I didn't have to say it. All right. I didn't have to say it, Jamil.

Yeah. It's there. Roy's siding with Kim Mulkey tonight. We'll get to that in a second. Yeah, it's an unfortunate situation. I put myself in. You know what? We started, we started.

I'm sorry, Lewis. I know you don't like that, but we started. Chris, fire up the friendlyly Neighborhood Race Lady. And tomorrow... It's time for your Friendly Neighborhood Race Lady. We're good. Jamel, there is a huge race war going down tonight in America, and it's being played out on a basketball court

that may or may not have the same size three-point lines. Kaitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Roy is going for LSU because I guess he's a big Kim Mulkie fan and I think I've pinpointed what's going on here. I think I'm pinpointing what's going on here and I think it's gonna become more and more clear on social media as the game goes on. I cited an example of what Belmonte told me several years ago, which is there are certain boxing matches that I'm not invited to watch with his friends

because he wants to be surrounded by a certain group of friends for those title fights. And I'm feeling like tonight is that night. Can you please speak to, as our friendly neighborhood race lady, what we're going to be witnessing when Kaitlin Clark and Angel Reese do battle. It's going down everybody.

We got white America, black America, middle America, like southern America. It's so many different types of wars that are embedded in this basketball game. And Bo is right. Like we've seen it in not only in boxing, we've seen it in basketball. I boxing, we've seen it in basketball. I mean, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, we all know what was at the sort of the underbelly of

that. And speaking of Omani, he brought out a recent example on his Twitter feed that was kind of brought forth by another Twitter user that this is UNLV Duke all over again. And I hadn't really thought about that. And I was like, yeah, as you know, to get people aware of the history is like, you know, obviously back in the early nineties, when UNLV just absolutely smoked Duke by 30,

and then you have the rematch where Duke won, you all of a sudden, I mean, I think for a lot of black people, it felt like we had to kind of start over again as a race. Like what just happened here? Are the stakes that high tonight? Are the stakes that high that if Angel Reese loses to Katelyn Clark you need to start over again as a race? And this is going to be a very funny aggregation for you. I don't know that we have to necessarily start over, but it might have to be, it will be

a Black People's Meeting, an important one that will be called the next day, where we might have to put some things on the agenda and get it on the table. But that's how people are so emotionally invested in this, because not only, this is what makes this one maybe a little more unique than, say, a Duke UNLV, or even if you want to go back in time and say a Joe Lewis match-melling type of thing, or with a lot of the boxing matches that we've seen in recent history, is that you also have the gender dynamic that's at play here. And what everybody's sort of preconceived notions about how women are supposed to behave, whether it be black women or white women, you know, a lot of the digs that get

thrown at Angel Reese is about behavior and policing how she behaves and Flau'jae Johnson and Kim Mulkey about behavior. And like, no, they're not supposed to act this way. They're not supposed to be this brash. They're not supposed to be this bold. They're not supposed to get on the court and talk their shit. Like they're not supposed to do these things because this is not how we have idealized

what women in a competitive sport, what that looks like. And I think another thing that kind of sort of inflames this even more is that we see that the criticism is often very one-sided. Caitlin Clark talks her shit. Caitlin Clark is demonstrative. Caitlin Clark, you know, and in this way, I do compare, many ways I compare to Steph, but also in this way as well, is that Steph Curry is, and you know,

Steph Curry has a lot of flair and flamboyance to his game. Like he can get into it, you know, with people and he's got the shimmy and all that, but people aren't bothered by that. Caitlin Clark is the same way. It's like people aren't bothered by it because they're caught up in the narrative of, oh, here's this wonderful kind soul from the great state of Iowa representing middle America. So they put all these sort of,

what happens in these sports race wars is everybody projects their own shit on the people coming. And the people who are actually involved in the competitiveness of it, who have nothing to do with any of this. Some of it is media driven, Some of it is personally driven. But at the end of the day, they're what's on the line. Night is an opportunity to go to the final four and that's all

they care about. But everybody watching cares about other shit that has nothing to do with basketball. Well, I'm just hoping that this doesn't turn into like a Nate Robinson versus Jake Paul situation where all of all Black America is just going to hang their head. Like how could this happen? I know.

That's why I said it jokingly. Just so people know, I was joking when I said we'd have to start over. No, we might have to. No. Right? Babylon B is already running with it. Is that going to be the wrong question? I'm sorry.

All right. Is that going to be the poll question? Do black people have to start over if LSU wins tonight? Put Jamel's name in that poll question, by the way. Do you agree with Jamel Hill when she says black people may have to start over as a race? Light it up. Make my mentions look like a complete war path, which would

basically be called Tuesday. So it doesn't really matter. Go ahead. I think what Roy said, it's kind of right that there will be this sort of feeling of maybe not necessarily depression, but being let down because listen, let's just keep it real. We don't go into the tricky waters of race.

Let's just dive right on in and not mess around with putting our toe in there. The reality is that in many ways, a lot of black folks consider basketball to be our game. And certainly when you have, and even though, especially in the women's court, where clearly there's a lot more, there's a lot of American born white players that have played this game fantastically

since it started being remotely relevant and even before then when it wasn't in women's basketball, you know, the reality is that the sport is about half black and yet it's still very much considered our game, however you want to kind of quantify that. And so this idea that this phenomenon of Caitlin Clark, who many have already branded as the best women's basketball player ever, you know, and that has met with some pushback because, you know, the history of the sport

suggests that that's a very tough description to have for her, or really a lot of people, not just her, just because of the history of the game, is that to see her defeat a team like LSU that has been so good, the defending national champions, I think that there's going to be a lot of people, a lot of black folks that might be calling in sit tomorrow. Jamel's got a great new column at the Atlantic over Shohei Otani. Make sure to subscribe to her YouTube page, youtube.com slash at it's Jamel Hill. Yeah, Jamel. When I think of, and I see Angel Reese, I automatically, automatically, at least a couple of years ago, thought back in the day

to like Florence Griffith joiner and to the very, you know, flamboyant dominant and probably shit talking athletes. We've seen it before, maybe not in this sport. It made me laugh when Angel had to basically explain to the media, hey, this is how sports work. Inside the lines, we might say things to each other, but we don't actually hate each other. Do you think that we're finally getting a clue of, hey, the women do this the way everybody else does this? Yeah, and that's the interesting gender dynamic here is that one of the reasons why I do like to see the demonstrableness, not just from just her, but Caitlin Clark, and really a lot of the women's players who are at the top of the game right now

is because it's forcing the media and people, not just the media, but again, some of this is media driven. I mean, hello, that column by the LA Times that, you know, obviously that became, you know, such a huge talker over the weekend that played on a lot of these stereotypes. But there's this idea that women need to be more polite in their competitiveness. And you know, it reminds me kind of the same sort of things I hear about when it comes to hip hop beats, right? Like Kendrick, Drake,

J. Cole, you name it, they can go at each other all day. And everybody, you know, is like, ooh, I can't wait to see where somebody goes next. But when Cardi B does it, they can go at each other all day. And everybody is like, ooh, I can't wait to see where somebody goes next. But when Cardi B does it, Nicki Minaj does it, Meg Thee Stallion does it, then it's like, wait, no, the women need to stick together. They need to be better. And so, and some of it is just about the conditioning of always thinking, even though it's not necessarily the case,

it doesn't bear out, that women somehow have to be more elevated in their competitiveness and more moral in how they do it than the guys do. And it's like these women have been competing this way for a long time. Most of them had to grow up competing against boys and men. That was part of their socialization into the sport.

So a lot of the behaviors they picked up, they picked up from seeing men compete. And I just think it's just still shocking that in the year of our Beyonce of 2024, that people still think that women need to be more demure into how they handle themselves in these competitive environments. Well, let's get to the Kimoke of it all

in this race and gender war. Jamel, you mentioned the column by the UCLA beat writer, Ben Bolch. He said, the quotes were in the column. This isn't just a basketball game. It's a reckoning. Picking sides goes well beyond school allegiance. Do you prefer America's sweethearts

or its dirty debutantes, milk and cookies, or Louisiana hot sauce? That gave Kim Mulk a stand, something to stand on there. What do you think of all of it? Yeah. This was the reporter she should have been attacking. OK, not not get bad from the from the Washington Post. But again, that's what I was talking about with it being media.

German. It's like, I'm sure you also should feel really assaulted is UCLA. Like we got to be milking cookies out here. Like that's that's what you think of us. Like we we can't be somethingking cookies out here. Like, that's what you think of us. Like, we can't be something else that's a little spicier because that's an incredible team. And, you know, a lot of this, giving Kim Mulkey a fight, as you know, giving her something to stand on, it's interesting because there are a lot of people who probably saw her come after this column and a lot of the athletes did as well, which I think was warranted for sure.

But then you find yourself having to agree with Kim Loki and then there's a part of your soul that dies a little bit. But that's beside the point. But she was absolutely right. And I think as we see this latest explosion in women's basketball, because I think it's just on track to get even higher than it's already been, the media needs to also sort of come up a little higher too,

in terms of how women's sports are covered and how this particular sport is covered. Because listen, I don't want to be too hard on the writer in this sense, is that, listen, as writers, we've all written columns that we would love to take back. But it's just in today's age, that's just a lot more unforgiving because it's too much information.

We should be better than that. I mean, we have been sort of in this fight, if you will, when you think about just how black athletes versus white athletes used to be more sort of in this fight, if you will, when you think about just how black athletes versus white athletes used to be more preemptively characterized, period, where you had the white guy who was always, his intellect and skill, or his intellect with the game

was always very noteworthy, and they made it seem like a lot of black athletes just hit the genetic lottery, and that's why they were able to ascend to the heights that they are. I thought we moved past that part of it and this is just sort of an offshoot of that time where we really traffic in these stereotypes that that frankly did a disservice to the athletes who were actually competing.

I'm running short on time here so two quick questions. Please try to keep your answers under a minute here. What do you make of where we've gone with college basketball and that Gino O'Riomma's UConn are following this game and they are a footnote if that. No one is talking about Gino's UConn here because the sport has evolved to two marquee names doing battle. There are plenty of good players. You mentioned a bunch of them that are also playing on this, but this is because of that one moment, the you can't see me Tony Ayo moment. This is about Angel versus Kaitlyn Clark.

What do you make of the sea change in the sport? Yeah, I mean, I think it's beautiful because I remember having to see 50 billion headlines that said is UConn's dominance bad for women's basketball and about how they were dragging down the sport because they were just so good. UConn hasn't won a national championship I think in 10 years and that to me shows that this sport has grown appropriately and I always said when they were dominating listen if you believe in women's basketball believe in this athletes you will invest and you will stop getting

embarrassed and that's exactly what happened. So sometimes you need a UConn to bring everybody else up. When I started covering women's basketball in 1997, it was unfathomable to think that Tennessee wouldn't dominate forever. And now you look at the different names in the field, the fact that you have NC State that is going to its first Final Four since 1998.

A Final Four I covered, it was my first women's Final Four. When you see that Oregon State, I mean, obviously they were up against the Jernigan in South Carolina, but the fact that that team and that program is in the mix now, it's many more names that are in it. USC has the number one recruiting class coming in next year. This year they have Juju Watkins,

who was the number one high school player. So just imagine, well, they'll be in another year or two. Again, this sport is trending, it's been trending up for a while, but now I think you're going to get that sort of big lightning bolt experience. And part of the way you do it is that you have to build rivalries, you have to, in a way, build nonsense. Maybe you mix in a race warrior there, and then you're kind of off to the basis. Thank you for keeping that answer short. What's the best result for tonight? The best result I think is if, oh man this is tough because I know a lot of people want

to see Caitlin Clark really have another shot at winning the championship but I'm not gonna lie man I kind of want to see LSU South Carolina. Not gonna lie. All right, so I wanna say it's LSU because you kind of still need a villain, so to speak. And I don't consider them to be villainous, but they seem to be very comfortable wearing the quote unquote black hat. And I think having that presence at the Final Four, it again, you have just as many people who root for them

and just as many people who wanna see them lose. So I'm gonna say it's LSU. And to be honest, I think LSU is the better team. And plus I'm picking against my people. You know, I got things on the line myself. It was that easy, right? I can't, I can't, I can't. Your friendly neighborhood race lady. Thank you so much, Jamel. Make sure to subscribe to the YouTube page. It's at it'sjamelhill. YouTube.com slash at it's jamel hill. Thank you Jamel.

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