The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Local Hour: Bam Adebayo Becomes A Legend

Episode Date: March 11, 2026

"Everybody knows puppets only have four fingers." Bam Adebayo broke Kobe Bryant's record for the most points scored in a single game with 83 last night against the Lossington Lizards. Dan worries ...the national dialogue will frame this negatively, but Jeremy wants to celebrate "Jeremy Was Right" Day. Will the crew let him speak? Today's cast: Dan, Zaslow, Roy, Jeremy, Mike, and Tony. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Jeremy has not said a word anyone yet this morning. He's preening, though. Like, he's walking around like a peacock. But normally, like, he's shot out of a cannon. Yeah, can't shut him up. Can't shut him up. And he thinks he's being slick by having not said anything yet. I would follow you down this if he wasn't on with Samson for an hour, bragging.
Starting point is 00:00:22 I'm saving it because I was told I'll be getting the first 83 minutes of this show to myself. I did think, actually, that, It was quiet around here, and I hadn't realized that it's because he was doing the Samson show, nothing personal, because David had to tend to some family matters. So Jeremy was doing a different show where nationally he was annoying that audience, a whole new audience, just doing hyperventilating. Don't annoy other audiences just here because the way you all have positioned me, as if I don't know what I'm talking about.
Starting point is 00:00:54 We've positioned you? You don't think you've put yourself in that position? Nope, not at all. You think that... I was likable. I got here. I tell you over and over again, because I'm right about everything. You were not likable before you got here, but I was. Yes, I was. It's the only reason I have any of the jobs I have is because I was likable. I wasn't a professional. Now I'm a professional.
Starting point is 00:01:11 Let's loosen up the shoulders a little bit. It's a big day for you. You don't need to, you're not backed up against a corner even though you literally are on this show. Yep. This is your day. Have fun, man. Enjoy it. Yeah, this is good. You're right. It's my fault. I came in feeling a little defensive. But I did want this to sort of be a choose your own venture. Either we could all decide together that we can celebrate this really cool moment where one of the pillars and the franchise that we all care about's history set a record for points scored in a game that was actually televised. Or I can be an asshole, and I really hope it's the first one. Are you threatening us? Well, when you come, I'm just telling you what it's
Starting point is 00:01:50 going to be. You're threatening us? No, I'm just telling you what it's going to be. What it's going to be. Wow, Dan. Did you hear that? Woo, that sounds like a movie poster right there. That sounds, that sounds Sounds like something Denzel would say in the equalizer. Are you threatening me? No, I'm just telling you factually what it's going to be. That's how it's going to be. Has anyone ever brought this energy after beating the Wizards? Happy Jeremy was right day.
Starting point is 00:02:12 There it is. I do enjoy Zaslo, the idea of him angrily saying, I'm likable. I like the character of defensive guy claiming he's likable in the face of people not liking him. Jeremy's right day, but what was he right about exactly? Because you have to have a prediction. It's not like he's like, you know what? Bam's going to score 60 tonight.
Starting point is 00:02:36 You all have been trading Bam at a bio for years. It's a great time to sell high. And I've been telling you he's a superstar, which he is actual NBA legend. Would really work in the heat's favor if the trade deadline in past come weeks ago. You guys are pathetic. This is the Dan Levitar show with a big. Stugats podcast. Simone Fontechio with 18 points last night.
Starting point is 00:03:09 Jeremy, the floor, the entire floor today is yours. Go ahead, celebrate your Bam Outa Bio Miami Heat. Bamadabio passes. Ah, the NFL news, it never stops. Are you kidding me? Breaking news, according to Ari Merov. The Ravens are signing formal Bengals, all pro defensive end.
Starting point is 00:03:31 Trey Hendricksson. You swap out one white guy for another white guy. Four-time pro bowler brings his 81 career sacks to Baltimore after they rescinded the Max Crosby trade on Tuesday night. That is excellent breathlessness. The only thing to be
Starting point is 00:03:47 breathless about today. A big deal. Yeah, that is a pass rusher. Those are valuable last night. I think people were fairly shocked when the Raiders announced, the Raiders announced that the Ravens had pulled out of the Crosby deal, which made me feel like this is more than just a failed physical.
Starting point is 00:04:06 Doctors have a lot of leeway on whether a team can or wants to do something. I don't know. I mean, of course he's going to fail a physical. He's coming off of knee surgery. Like his knee's not working, right? And people know that, but I'd like to know more of the details of what happened there, because that was super strange that the Raiders put out the Ravens business and then said, we'll have no further comment at this time.
Starting point is 00:04:29 Like, it was just a real quick press release that made. made me think, oh, there's more here. We'll be finding out about Ravens rebound nicely. Four years, $112 million for Trey Hendrickson. So this is the path where choosing. It's a big deal. Imagine. How many career sacks did you say? 81. 81. Yeah, that was a little rude. Wow. He's a great D.N.
Starting point is 00:04:48 Two fewer sacks than Bam had points in a basketball game last night. But again, you're taking from a division rival to bolster your own team. If you want, we could talk about the heart of a champion, which was on full display in sunrise last night. Come on, son. Swaggy. Come on. Last night was a where were you moment in South Florida sports.
Starting point is 00:05:09 Dan, where were you when Sam Bennett got his 200th career assist? You are pathetic people. I was in the press box. They were down three, two with, what was it, 40 seconds left? A minute and change. But you guys have been telling me for six weeks their season is over. Tony hasn't even tuned yet. They're at the very bottom of the conference.
Starting point is 00:05:28 Nobody wants to answer me. How many games are left in the season? How many points are they back? Let me, let's take you to last night. Down three, two against the Detroit Red Wings who are better than them. They're chasing this team in the standings. They pull their goalie. Swaggy equalizes.
Starting point is 00:05:42 And like he did, that fateful night in Boston that started this whole run, Swaggy calls game in regulation, four three, and Panther fans everywhere, Googled NHL standings and found their team still second bottom in the league. Is this true for the first time? And I'd say about two weeks, I took a look at the standings last night. it was humbling. Conference, not league. Conference.
Starting point is 00:06:03 Yeah, Eastern Conference. Yeah, we're actually having as good a season as the Oilers are. But we're in the... If the Panthers were in the West, we'd be talking right now about how the Panthers have a chance to three Pete. Yeah. And that seems unfair. What else? Anything else?
Starting point is 00:06:18 Mike was rooting for Italy yesterday after the United States manager didn't realize that the United States had not qualified. This is startling. In terms of boneheaded stuff done by somebody in charge, I don't believe you've seen a whole lot in your life where a guy for the USA goes into a game thinking he's clinched and he's advanced and then they're down eight nothing against Italy. Against Italy. What do they have on their team?
Starting point is 00:06:48 John Bertie and them boys. Is that Jacob Marcy? Jorge Posada. All right, now you're speaking my language. Jorge Posada on the staff. Really? Look, I'm part Italian. I root for Italian national team sports, except for when they play the USA. But my relationship with baseball is not at the greatest place. And that was an incredible underdog story.
Starting point is 00:07:10 And the way that the U.S. approached that game was kind of ruining against them. And DeRosa, perhaps an undercover agent. So what do you guys make of this and how often have you seen what happened with Mark DeRosa, the manager of the United States, where he just doesn't seem to understand going into the game what the stakes of the game are. Go ahead and play that. You got nine bodies ready to roll today, I would imagine. Absolutely.
Starting point is 00:07:39 I'm going to look at it. I'm going to get some guys off their feet. No question about it. I'd like to get Goldie's start. And, you know, he has been awesome, just a leader of men behind the scenes with Aaron Judge. I'd like to get him in there. I'd like to get Gunner in there again.
Starting point is 00:07:52 A ton of respect for Italy. It's weird. We want to win. We want to win this game, even though our tickets punched to the quarterfinals, because Mexico plays Italy actually tomorrow. So the way the schedule aligns up, this is an important game for us. How is that possible? How is somebody in charge not understanding?
Starting point is 00:08:12 When I say to you, what does this person need to understand going into the game? What can this person not, not understand it? What are the stakes of this game? The great part is, like, he starts talking and then, like, halfway, do we realize like, oh wait, maybe this is not, I don't really know what we need to do. So I'm going to get, you know, it's a game we want to win, obviously. Like, if someone on the other side of the cameras, we need to win. It's actually a tournament.
Starting point is 00:08:38 It's a tournament. I don't know who's on Italy. Please get for me who's on Italy. But Mike, you found yourself actively rooting for Italy, rooting against the United States. Yeah, like I said, I tend to rue for Italian national teams, but I always root for the USA when they're head to head. But as the Italians grew into their lead and social media started putting Dorosa's arrogance out there, I was like, well, you deserve this embarrassment. Well, it was stupidity, not arrogance, right? I mean, they're one and the same.
Starting point is 00:09:11 The way that he came off there was both arrogant and stupid in retrospect. America right now? No. Right. Who believe you? No. Can't believe it. No, we don't.
Starting point is 00:09:21 What? How dare you call America? and say we're coming off as arrogant and stupid. I mean, going into an event, not knowing the situations, ramifications, having an exit strategy. Iran? Well, I was trying to do that more suddenly. I know. When you got to exit strategy, I had my joke lined up before you got to exit strategy, but I'm still mad at you because...
Starting point is 00:09:46 Because he doesn't understand anything about Miami Heat basketball? We'll get to that story in a second. Jacob Bertie's on the team, or John Birdie, one of the two. Jacob Marcy, John Bertie. They got Jays. We will get to what it is that Bam Ata Bayo did in just a second. But my favorite parts of yesterday's show were twofold. One happened on air.
Starting point is 00:10:06 One happened after the show off air. My favorite part of yesterday's show is that Stan Van Gundy spent a full hour talking to Jonathan Zaslow, who he's known for 20 years. And he never commented on a burgeoning eyebrow. situation that made him over the course of yesterday's show look by the end of the show like someone that we were talking about. We need to be careful how much black we put on his face here because we don't want to have so much eyebrows here that we cross over into a dangerous place where we go past the Ben Shapiro eyebrows. So I love that Stan Van Gunning never commented on that, just kept staring at you. and you've just got giant, unreasonably not human eyebrows.
Starting point is 00:10:56 But also what I enjoyed yesterday is Mike raging against a puppet that looks like me. Mike screaming and yelling at a puppet that I've now given to Tony so that Tony can start working with this puppet. We had this professionally made. This is the first time the puppets actually been on screen. You'll have a puppet. Despite, you know, being here for two days and I was trying to integrate it. Well, you were mad at all of the logistics. but you took out that rage on the puppet.
Starting point is 00:11:24 The puppet does look somewhat like me. It should have been made heavier. The beard is a little grayer than it should be. We've had to paint the hair black because the hair. You pull the pants up a little bit? He's a belt. Jesus. Wait a minute.
Starting point is 00:11:37 This has become a pornographic show. No, it's that I can't get my hand all the way up here. That's one of the issues about that. Anyway, we will see what happens with the puppet. I don't like that. What do you mean? What does it like? This makes me uncomfortable.
Starting point is 00:11:51 Makes two of us. The nudity of the puppet or just the existence of the puppet in general? I like the Leba puppet in general, but it's got its pants down. It also has four fingers on each hand. I don't know why it is that this puppet maker. Everybody knows puppets only a four fingers. Everybody knows that. Put it on the poll at Lebitard show.
Starting point is 00:12:09 Does everyone know that puppets have only four fingers on each hand? But we have fooled around long enough. I really do want to talk about what it is that happened last night because I assume only Miami thinks that that is a good and fun thing. I'm going to assume that today all over the media, you will get people fervently, passionately, and religiously protecting the honor of the late Kobe Bryant by feeling like Bam Otobio's name doesn't belong beyond Kobe Bryant in scoring in a game. So the first thing I want to ask you guys, is, ridiculous though this is, Bam Otobio scores 83 points in a game. Is that the single
Starting point is 00:12:59 best performance by a Miami Heat player in Heat history? Yes or no? No. You're kidding me? Not remotely close to a goat performance. Not remotely close. No. Are you people talking about? No, he's right. Let him cook. Let me say like you take in context. This is a proud franchise that has played plenty of important games that have had incredible performances in marquee games. Off the top of the dome, Jimmy Butler, game five in the bubble going shot for shot with LeBron James to the point of exhaustion. Regular season is what I was talking about.
Starting point is 00:13:36 This is the greatest regular season performance in Heat history. Not close. It's the goat. So regular season versus postseason, you guys didn't even mention. LeBron Game 6 in Boston is the single greatest performance in Miami Heat single season, in single game history. Yeah, we were leaving the goat to you. This goat conversation is presented by Frank's Red Hot.
Starting point is 00:13:56 Make Every Dish the Greatest. Eat the goat. There's something about college hoops this time of year where you tell yourself, you're just going to casually watch one game. And suddenly, your entire night is gone. That happened to me the other night. I was planning to stay home and keep a game on in the background.
Starting point is 00:14:12 Maybe pretend I wasn't checking scores every five minutes. Then a text comes in. We've got multiple screens set up. That's how they get you. So I said, yeah, I grabbed a pack of, of Miller Light on the way. A little while later, nobody's casually watching anything. Somebody's yelling because their bracket is already cooked. Somebody else suddenly cares deeply about a school they hadn't thought about in 10 years. And a game that looked over is somehow
Starting point is 00:14:32 tied late. You take a sip, you look around, and realize, yeah, this was absolutely the right move. That's why I reached for a Miller Light. It's clean, refreshing, easy to drink, brute for taste with simple ingredients, the original light beer since 1975, and still hit in different. Cheers to legendary moments with Miller Light. Great taste, 96 calories. Go to Miller Lite.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Light pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time.
Starting point is 00:15:00 Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. You guys hear that? That's the sound of my calendar flipping over to March. Yes, I know March is more than halfway over. Don't bug me down with details. Just stick with me here because March means one thing. It means college basketball insanity.
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Starting point is 00:16:50 Medcan, live well for life. Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. Don Lebertard. Teammates can't shoot from three. Now they're going to see a different Jimmy. Now he's just, just playing. Nickel back in the locker room and... Stugats.
Starting point is 00:17:09 They'll play day and show threes as they chase the nets for the six seed. These five words in. is it. Scream are we winning games yet? This is the Dan Levitar show with the Stugats. Last night, something happened with Heat Basketball that I believe is going to be found offensive by basketball purists, by the nation at large. It is only going to be celebrated here.
Starting point is 00:17:46 Let's get some of the criticism that is just rolling in from last night. here is Rockets coach Imey Udoka. I don't know if you saw that Bam at a bio had 83 points tonight. I'm sure you know Bam, what are your thoughts on that and such a historic night? Yeah, I mean, first thing you think is how, you know, because of, not because of him, but because of the way he plays, you know, and I saw only made six threes, but 40 free throws or something like that tells the story right there and the Washington Wizards. That's such a good side.
Starting point is 00:18:21 side swipe at the end. I mean, it's true. When I saw it was 43 free throw attempts, I was like, what? Yeah, which was shocking enough. But then the pause, ellipsis, Washington Wizards. The crazy part is that they were all legitimate fouls. Like at the end, no, I mean, sure, yes, okay, sure. What?
Starting point is 00:18:37 What do you? They did touch him. They hacked him. Like, he took the ball late in the game after playing all those minutes, drove in and got hacked. Like, the ability to escape with four minutes left in the game, they started triple teaming. him and he's getting out of that. Jeremy, he was playing like Marshawn Lynch. He was just grabbing
Starting point is 00:18:55 the ball and running through four people and trying to get something in. There was that one time that Eric Reid touted his unselfishness. He passed a ball. Can you believe it? Wait a minute. Wait a minute. No, it's better than that, Mike, because it was, I wrote it down because it was the single funniest thing in the entire broadcast, funnier than even the challenges at the end. No, the funniest thing in the broadcast is what I'm about to read, because this is an exact quote from Eric Reed, late in the third quarter, Bam, who's being now triple teamed on fadeaway jumpers, okay? Because the Wizards are just like, this is embarrassing enough, we're going to put four guys on him. Eric Reed says, and they have this point, because there's no Tyler Hero, because
Starting point is 00:19:36 there's no Norman Powell, because there's no Wiggins, okay? They are spending the entire broadcast talking about someone in Bam, who they've talked about for nine years. So, they've gone to the reservoir bank of he's such a good person so many times. Like he's just, he's a good player, but he's even better as a person. Like they they've talked about this human being so much for
Starting point is 00:20:01 nine years. They don't have anything to say and they can't talk about any of the players. But this is what Eric Reed has said. In fact, I'm going to stop for a second and give you the second funniest thing that he said, because the second funniest thing he said was another timeout for the
Starting point is 00:20:17 helpless Washington Wizards. I have empathy for them. That's something that he actually said. But the thing that he said that was the funniest is, Bam didn't get greedy. He passed it to an open teammate. That's the essence of your captain. It was his second assist in the game.
Starting point is 00:20:37 He was already at 70 points and had taken 37 shots. He had taken 37 shots. And there were 70 guys on him. There were wizards from the pad. Rod Strickland ran on the court and was was guarding him there. I saw Calvert Cheney. So what happened in the end of that game, the last five minutes ruined it the way that it's
Starting point is 00:21:01 going to be nationally perceived. So let's get to some more sound because here's JJ Redick talking about Bam out of bio and protecting Kobe's legacy. It's incredible what he was able to do. I walked in and I saw the score. He was at the free throw. score and they've been playing great basketball lately and I said to my coaching staff oh he'd roll it and they all kind of looked at each other they're like are you kidding right now
Starting point is 00:21:31 I was like no what's up they're like they're 36 and 28 or whatever they are getting ready to be 37 and 28 and there was no band has 77 and I was like huh and then I watched the last three minutes and that was it's a different type of basketball let's go to Robert Orry also going to protect some of Kobe Bryant's legacy here. There's going to be a lot of this today. 83 from Bam out of bio. My guess.
Starting point is 00:21:59 You know, it's one of those things you have to see. I hear 43 shots, 43 free throws. I'm like, and then I saw some highlights. You know, if y'all noticed when the show came back I was looking at the highlights of Bam. I'm like, let me just say this. 83 points is impressive. You know, but it gets
Starting point is 00:22:15 to a point where you have to respect the game. And I think there was moments in this game where it was not respected, but still, though, A3 points is a lot. I appreciate the effort. And it's going to go down, as we know, second most of the game. But it's like you always say on certain things,
Starting point is 00:22:31 just have an asterisk by it. I'm putting an asterisk by this. There's still a lot. I'm not taking away for anything, ma'am. It's a lot. I didn't think I'd be saying this today, but put both of these things on the poll. Is 83 points impressive? And is
Starting point is 00:22:47 83 points a lot? Put both of those on the poll. And here is Tim McMahon, an outraged podcaster, giving voice, I'm sure, to what a lot of people will be saying today. You are like, he's jacking up threes while being triple-teamed. I mean, it was just, it honestly was just awful, hideous, disgusting basketball down the stretch that I admit I was cracking up laughing while watching. But I never, ever, ever, ever, ever, want to hear about heat culture and professionalism and all that crap again, because that was the most blatant stat chasing I've ever seen. Honestly, it's the worst stat chasing since Ricky Davis tried to get a rebound on the wrong basket to get a triple double.
Starting point is 00:23:33 But the difference is this was minutes and minutes and minutes and extend the game stat chasing. So it was embarrassing for the lizards, egregious for the heat. But, hey, you guys are 83. I enjoyed the Ethical 39 by Wemby more than I enjoyed the egregious 83. But I'm old. I'm grumpy. I admit it. Take it easy on the, you know, 30 plus years of heat culture and hard work.
Starting point is 00:24:01 And the reputation this franchise has has all been flushed down the toilet because of a game against the wizards. Can we slow down for a second? The lizards. The lizards. Like, can we slow down for a second? Like, Tim McMahon's really good at what he does. But take it easy, all right? Look, this performance last night by BAM, and you heard a lot of it right there,
Starting point is 00:24:20 I think you're going to hear, I think today is going to be rather ugly, the reaction. This performance is not going to be remembered fondly. It's just not. Part of it is. By heat fans, it will be. Heat fans it will be. And everyone in that building last night had a great time, and that's really important. Okay.
Starting point is 00:24:36 But this game is not going to be remembered fondly because the final, it was like five minutes or whatever, was a lot of bullshit. And I will tell you, the bullshit started with the wizards. Okay, the wizards were doing the bullshit. Important note. They're double, I've never seen it before. They're double and triple teaming, bam, full court. Not even like an inbound play in the front court.
Starting point is 00:25:00 Full court, they're double and triple teaming in a game that the heater up by 25 points. And so then the heat's response that is, okay, we're going to do bullshit too, and we're going to foul and so that we can get the ball back. And then we're going to, and the wizards and the heater. both going to challenge plays with under two and a half minutes left. And Keesha Johnson is going to miss a free throw on purpose so that Bam can try and get the offensive rebound. Like, it was a lot of nonsense in the final few minutes that unfortunately, I think, is going
Starting point is 00:25:30 to have people speaking about this performance in an extremely negative fashion, as we heard right there, when the reality of it is, for three and a half quarters, Bam was incredible. The first quarter was more impressive than the rest of the game to me. That first quarter is the best quarter I've ever seen a heat player play. Any quarter, any time. I mean, Tim McMahon comparing this to Ricky Davis trying to get his own rebound is just ridiculous. It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous.
Starting point is 00:25:58 Well, he's saying stat padding and put it on the Pollat Labart Show. Are you okay with changing the name of the Washington Wizards to the Washington lizards because they should have... Actually, it should be the Washington Lizards because we should put elves where they have Ws. I like that. I thought that that was the best part of what Tim McMahon said. But I do want to celebrate some portions of this in a way that is not sarcastic. Okay, first of all, I hear so much about load management, and I hear so much about the players in that sport being not what you expect them to be. This guy playing that hard in a way that made his teammates so happy for him that at the end of it, they were all thrilled in basketball, where you guys make all.
Starting point is 00:26:44 of these guys selfish, so thrilled for this guy, because they know specifically how hard he has worked and that his first six seasons in the league, he never in any season took as many threes as he took last night, because he's improved his game, and we've all watched it. Now, you may
Starting point is 00:27:00 think that this isn't a superstar. The standard was put an absurd place by Wade and Shaq and LeBron and Bosch, and so this guy is criminally undervalued in this city because he's not good enough to win a championship, by himself, but he is, based on where he's been drafted, the perfect example of Miami Heat
Starting point is 00:27:21 culture, perhaps better than any we've ever had, because he didn't develop Alonzo Morning. They had to go get him from somebody else. This is a player that we saw come into this league, super raw, and he's a pillar in this community, like represents this franchise in a wonderful way. But his name doesn't belong between Wilt and Kobe and people. are going to get really mad at how he got there because the previous 70-point performances, and he's also a victim of the distortion of basketball, because all of the plus 60 games,
Starting point is 00:27:53 a lot of them are in the last five years because people can shoot threes. So you've got, you know, Dame going for 70, 14 free throws in a game. Luca going for 73, 16 free throws in a game. The Kobe game of 81, 20 free throws in the game. And Bede got 23 free throws in a 70-point game. But what they did last night that the heat were enjoying does go against what they usually stand for because they did make a mockery out of basketball with the help of the Washington Wizards who are not a professional basketball franchise.
Starting point is 00:28:27 So careless with the ball in that first half. I was laughing at Tony last night while watching my television. Wait a second. What are we doing about me. What I said had nothing to do with the Alpsons. You said the Wizards were a good team. The lizards are heading in the right direction. They close that game to 10 at one point.
Starting point is 00:28:44 They were fighting. Don Lebatard. It sounds to me like everybody could use a hug because a hug is always the right size. Stugats. All I have put in my body today is three cups of coffee and an entire cup of honey. Don't let him fool you.
Starting point is 00:29:02 He said in the break that he's jittery. This is the Dan Lebatar show with the Stugats. Before we go any further, though, let's examine the difference between how Miami is experiencing this and how the country is about to experience it. Because I think the greatest indignity here against the respecting of basketball is that somebody who is beloved, who died in a helicopter, had 81 points and was rightfully second on a historic list that basketball's distortions couldn't compromise. and the way this game was played last night was silly. Nobody goes to the game to watch a record number of free throws from a single player. 43 free throws.
Starting point is 00:30:02 He made more free throws in a game than anyone ever has, and he took more free throws in a game than anyone ever has. And it's because they played him the entire second half, and the whole point of what everyone was doing, because they know the heater above average, and the Wizards are historically bad. Cannot win basketball games on the road at all. the Wizards exist basically to be the Washington Generals.
Starting point is 00:30:23 Can we look up the record of the Washington Generals all time against the Harlem Globe Trotters? Because that's what it felt like last night. You had everything. I expected at one point, BAM, to take a bucket of confetti and throw it at some kids in the first row, pretending it's a bucket of water because it's the signature Harlem Globetrotters move. I would have preferred knowing what we know now, and you knew this was going to be the reaction once the game ended. You knew that there was a lot of venom based on not just passing Kobe Bryant,
Starting point is 00:30:54 but also the way it went down, of course, the last few minutes. Knowing what we know now, like, I would have preferred that he left the game with like five or six minutes left. A game that was not in doubt anymore, and he had like 74 points or whatever like that. And we didn't get to the Wizards doing the nonsense and then the heat responding with their own nonsense. I don't know what the crowd reaction would have been if they took. Bam out in the middle of the fourth quarter. He had 74 points so close, you know, to Kobe Bryant. You cannot care.
Starting point is 00:31:24 You cannot care about what anyone else thinks. It's about the people in that huddle. It's not even without your customers. Right, right. Like, Spow was in a weird spot because all, Eric Spowell says, you should take him out. Like, the game was in doubt. You got to respect to the game. You have to do whatever Bam at a bio wants in that spot.
Starting point is 00:31:40 If he wants to stay in the game and go for the record, he stays in the game and goes for the record. I thought it was fun, right? You look around, it's like, this is something that is so out of character for Spow. A foul him so he can get the shots. It's like, what you want to see from your coach is being behind the guy who's having this incredible game. Do you think the heat would have done that? Because you saw Spoh was signaling for that.
Starting point is 00:32:00 Would the heat have done that? Would Eric Spolcher have called for that if the Wizards weren't playing the way that they were playing? No, no way. My guess is no. It all started. Bam was going to get there. Like, the way he was scoring and the way he was getting to the line naturally. He was going to get to this point whether the Wizards,
Starting point is 00:32:17 Like, if the lizards had continued to play with the pace that the game had been going at before the final 4.30 of that game. Why couldn't they just play him straight up like grown men? Yeah, it was crazy. Because he owned him. With four minutes and 30 seconds left in the game, they started triple teaming him before he got the ball. And it was so funny because on the broadcast, Eric Reed said something to the effect of like, oh, well, Pride is starting to kick in as they don't want him to chase the record. Pride is starting to kick in. They have like six wins on the season.
Starting point is 00:32:44 John Crotty said like, oh, my pride probably would have started kicking in. somewhere around the middle of the third quarter as he had 60 something points. Like it was crazy to see. And Eric Reed earlier in the game, not even talking about Bam, referring to the Lizards defense as non-confrontational, which made karate laugh out loud. But the crazy part is, is Bam probably gets there on his own without all of this because of the way he was getting to the line. And instead, there's so much silliness that it doesn't make a difference, though.
Starting point is 00:33:15 He still sets the record. and nobody is going to remember in the long run how. Oh, I disagree with that. No, you want to know why? Because do you know how Kobe did it? I do know how he did. He took 13 of 17 shots for the Lakers in the fourth quarter. He took seven free throws at the end to get to that record.
Starting point is 00:33:33 But also, do you want to point out that that was a game that the Raptors were ahead most of the game? And Kobe said he won and led the Lakers to a comeback. And then they were up by like 18 points. But that's an important note. With five minutes to go. But Zaz, you remember... Ban needed to be in that game. It was a 12-point game. I'm sorry.
Starting point is 00:33:49 You remember the details on the Kobe Toronto game. Jalen Rose certainly remembers the details. But when we criticize this, as many people will do, Udoka just did it. It happened against the Wizards. Nobody remembers who Wilt did it against. That does not matter. Looks, we're not sure that it actually happened.
Starting point is 00:34:08 That too. You mentioned John Crotty earlier. That wasn't the funniest thing about the broadcast with John Crotty. It was at one point in the first quarter where Eric Reed was like, and John, tell us what it feels like to be in a zone like this. And he's like, how would I know? How would I possibly know? I never had anything like this.
Starting point is 00:34:30 Yeah, the Kobe fan perspective, as you guys are highlighting, that was certainly an interesting prism to view this thing through, beloved. I would say the one pushback that I would have, and Zaz made some good points is that was also in Kobe's character. I think this is objectively hilarious. It's that bam out of bio of all people, when the whole thing around this player for his entire career is be more aggressive, decided, you know what, for once, I'm going to eat.
Starting point is 00:34:53 He averages four and a half free throws a game. For once, I'm going to be spam out of bio, and I'm going to make this happen for myself. And I'm glad that you mentioned the fans in that arena. They looked like they were having the time of their life. I've been positioned as the heat hater just because I think this is another loss season that ends with them not getting out of the first round. And I will be right about that.
Starting point is 00:35:14 But I think that, look, the Miami Heat, as Dwayne Wade, the face of this franchise said, they needed a buzz. This town needed to be woken up. And Bam said that much in the post game. So did Spoh. Yeah. And he finally did something to wake this market up. I would say that both nationally and locally, and I'm afraid the ratings bear this out, this is as irrelevant as this basketball team, this proud basketball team has been, maybe ever. and they, God bless them for having that night and deciding, you know what, we're not going to be the culture, no fun team, we're going to have fun for the people in that building.
Starting point is 00:35:51 Bam out of bio of all people is going to go for this record. Well, he's the perfect guy for the team. And it was really enjoyable. I have to stop, Mike, and I understand that through your narcissism is where you view everything. This is not the most irrelevant heat team that there has ever been. That's a ridiculous thing to say. They still have that sold-out streak. The people in that arena did enjoy themselves.
Starting point is 00:36:15 But Dwayne Wade does speak to something, and this pissed off the heat. A lot of members of the heat thought this was somebody outside, somebody going outside the family to criticize the family. Let's hear this sound from Dwayne. The city needs to be woken up. It's not alive no more. You know when we was here, bro, it was buzzing in these streets. We've been here the last couple days.
Starting point is 00:36:38 There ain't none buzzing outside. Nothing at all. I had to go home early. Bro, I'm leaving. I'm leaving, too. I thought I was about to stay here. I'm getting out of here. There's no energy here. And this city deserves and needs a person that can bring that energy here and take it over. There's nobody, no one's here. He would take it over.
Starting point is 00:36:53 From that standpoint of that buzz and that energy. When he came, the change the entire, the culture here shifted. When Brown and him came, so I felt it alive and I felt it buzz him. Then I was out, I've been out here the last couple days. I'm sleepy. I've been in the house smoking hookah. I mean, look who's talking there. What an impossible standard. Like, what are they talking about? But there's no awareness of who they are as they say that.
Starting point is 00:37:17 No, no. Again, doubling down, it is the most irrelevant the franchise has been for an extended period of time. Don't cherry pick one bad year where they came back the very next year. Don't cherry pick bad years in which they had Dwayne Wade, one of the best players in the league on their team and an asset you knew that you could build around. They're irrelevant. The national games bear this out. The local ratings bear this out. this is the least interesting this team has been for an extended period of time in franchise history. Full point. That is fact. No, it isn't, Mike. Give me a worse three-year stretch. Mike, Mike, start in the 80s. They were an expansion team that people were getting excited about. Before Pat Riley got here, there's a block of time where they were wildly irrelevant.
Starting point is 00:38:00 I watched a bunch of those games. They had G, money. They had teams that were fighting for playoffs. You're right in their zone. You're the local heat basketball historian. right on this. Mike, you think this is the most irrelevant they've been in their franchise's history? Mike, you need to amend that statement to at least, at the very least, and we can have the discussion, I don't even know if I agree with it then, but the very least you have to amend the statement to since Pat Riley got here. Okay, I mean, it's three years. I mean, they're trying to remember those 90s and Billy Owens. Yeah, and that team made the playoffs and was out in the first round a couple of times the same
Starting point is 00:38:33 fate that this is irrelevant. I'm not doing that's with you today. You think they're relevant. You've stopped watching them and so everyone has. I get it. I get it. It all happens the way it does through your eyes. Why am I being attacked here? Like, I haven't, I've barely spoken. This is not the way. I want Jeremy to get in here and you frame everything through the prism of my narcissism. Get out of here.
Starting point is 00:38:52 All right, this was a fun night for South Florida. You get out of here. Oh, Jesus Christ. You get out of it. A guy calls you out on it and gets sent away. Minor penalty, two minutes. Murdering the show with your bare hands and a dismemberment kid in cold blood. Go up.
Starting point is 00:39:06 Bullshit. This is not the day for your negativity on the, Miami Heat. Wow. I will say, I do think that the three-year span that he's talking about maybe isn't exactly right, but I appreciate his support. And in the fact that we should just be celebrating this moment together rather than parsing the details of a three-year span because, and that was that three-year span, like the first year he's talking about, they were coming off of a finals appearance. So they obviously were not irrelevant. They were the defending Eastern Conference champions. But this night last night happening for Bama to Bio is
Starting point is 00:39:42 is special for a combination of reasons because not only is he the only player that Spoh would do that for, right? Like he's doing that for his captain because of everything Bam has been, because of everything he's worked himself into. But he passed the 10,000 point threshold with the heat the game before. And what he talked about is it's not bad for a guy who was drafted to be a defender and a lob threat. Like he has worked himself. And like you mentioned, he was supposed to be Clint Capella. Yeah. At, at best, like you were hoping.
Starting point is 00:40:12 he was Clint Capella. And the fact that he has developed himself into a player with the skill set to be able to reach 83 points. If 83 points was so easy and it could be done in this unethical way, then Steph Curry would have done it or LeBron would have done it or Kevin Durant would have done it. You're right. I don't care who you're playing. No, no. Kobe Bryant did his 81 points against a team that lost 55 games.
Starting point is 00:40:37 People have been criticizing the Wizards and throughout basketball. basketball history, there have been a lot of bad, bad teams, and no one has put up 83 against any of them except one player ever. But if anyone in the league with their number one option played the way the heat were playing toward the end of that game, there are many players in that league who could have gotten to 83 points playing that way. And I say that not to discredit at all, the first quarter he had, which, as I say, was the most impressive quarter of. I have ever seen a heat player have. It's just not the way they played the rest of the game, and certainly not the way they played the second half.
Starting point is 00:41:19 It's also when you talk about the guys that Jeremy was mentioning, Steph Curry, LeBron, KD, all these guys, like, they don't need to do that, right? Like, their whole thing is like, we have enough. Bam doesn't have that in his arsenal, in his trophy case. He needs an 83-point game like that. Can we just acknowledge for the second time in NBA history that a duo was combined for over 100 points?
Starting point is 00:41:38 Can we give it up for Bam at a Bayo and Simone Fontecchio?

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