The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Local Hour: The Jimmy Butler Saga Continues

Episode Date: January 7, 2025

We're just a week into the year but Dan says he has already had his most embarrassing moment of the year involving a Christmas gift that Izzy gave him. What is the lazier way to celebrate the holidays: a Merry Christmas text or a Christmas card sent via text? Do people use stamps anymore? Does Jeremy know what a fax machine is? What about a Rolodex? Then, it's time to get back into the Jimmy Butler discussion as the fallout from his trade request continues in Miami after the Miami Heat dropped a game to the Sacramento Kings last night. Has Pat Riley earned the arrogance that has put the Heat in this position? Plus, we have a classic sound of Stugotz ripping Pat Riley that has not exactly aged with grace. Today's Cast: Dan, Stugotz, Chris, Billy, Mike, Jeremy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to Giraffe King's Network. and get up to $75 in PC optimum points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. Shadow Show. Shadow Show. Shadow Show. Shadow Show. Shadow Show. Shadow Show. Shadow Show.

Shadow Show. Shadowing it. Shadowing it. Chris, where's your father? He's sick. Yeah. Got a text this morning that he's hoping to be in Thursday. He's got a cold.

Hmm. Something going around, Dan-o. I mean. Put it on the poll, please, Juju, is something going around? Stu-Gott seems a little sick, but also said to me some of it might just be old age, because I'm like, you know, there's that norovirus

that's new, and I'm like, what are you feeling? And he's like, well, my body hurts, but it always hurts. I have no idea if I'm sick or not. I feel like something's been going around for at least five years. Put it on the poll, Juju. Perhaps six. Has something been going around for five or six years?

Yes or no? One of the things that's been going around here for 20 years is Billy trying to annoy me, so you guys should have heard him explaining to me what our March Madness tournament is this year. Do you wanna? It's private. We're waiting for your approval also,

but I guess it's been approved if we're just gonna go to here. Yeah, if you're running with it, that's green light. Yeah. And approved. I don't want it to. All right, Julia, stop emailing me now. De-proved. I don't want it approved,

and I'm hearing about it for the first time, but it seems constructed just to bother me. No, falsehoods. Nope. Listener engagement. Do you want me to reveal it to the audience time, but it seems constructed just to bother me. No, falsehoods. Nope. Listener engagement. Do you want me to reveal it to the audience what the plan is? Sure.

All right, so this is what I was thinking. Just so you know, now it's deproved. Now it's happening, and now sales, this is the green light, go sell this. If it's revealed, Dan, it's happening. Yeah, this is binding. Are you sure? Okay, don't reveal it then.

What? All right, so this is how it works. That's fine. You already started, I mean. It's too late. We kinda need? Don't reveal it then. Alright, so this is how it works. He already started. It's too late. We kind of need to get off the pod at this point, so it's gonna be this. Alright, so this is what we were thinking. You know, we lost our phone lines over the past couple years, and I personally, and I know Dan feels the same way, I don't want to speak for Dan, I know Dan has missed the

interactions with the audience, the callers, et cetera, just this feeling of, you know, community that we had with our audience base. We've lost that over the past couple years. So I said to myself, Billy, how do we get this back? So I thought, what would the fans like more than anything? Watching the national championship one on one with Dan. But how do we do that?

Or someone else from the show, there's the asterisk. Someone else from the show potentially. And if we get the right sponsor, maybe possibly we could do this in person. I've approved the asterisk. The asterisk is officially approved. Hard subject to Taylor. We'll have to figure it out.

Someone from the universe, hopefully Dan. But how do we select this person? You know the worst part of that is that you're making me watch the national championship of college basketball. That's not the worst part. Let me reveal potentially the worst part for you. So, what I was thinking was, instead of attaching sounds or looks like or whatever to all the schools,

why don't we put the power in the audience's hands? But what power are we gonna give them? Let's have them choose who Dan watches. How? This is what we do. We send out a bat signal. We say, fans, send us videos to an address to be determined. Because again, this wasn't supposed to come out on air.

Send us videos to an address to be determined. You know, 15 to 20 seconds in length saying, this is why I should be the fan to watch the game with Dan or asterisk someone else from the Dan LeBontard show universe. And then the fans can vote on who they think is most worthy of that honor. Now, it's not just gonna be a one time thing. No, it's a bracket style, right?

So we're gonna have people competing against each other. So a number 68 will go up against a number one. And hopefully, my hope, and this again, wasn't supposed to be revealed in the air, we have someone go on a Sanjaya-like run. And we have the fans get behind a David from Toronto, for example, and then David from Toronto or a rash or someone like that ends up going on a run

and winning the whole thing. Then every round we'll just give you a new prompt, hey, this is the question that we need you to answer today. Who's on the hot seat? Who's on this? Who's on the that? Whatever it is, right? Every round we'll get a new question

and then as it's going, you the fans just keep voting for fellow fans that you think should watch this game with Dan. Wow. And then the winner goes to wherever this game is. If the right sponsor comes in and pays for the expenses, goes maybe in person, possibly asterisk, with Dan Leventhal to watch the national championship.

Inspired. You could argue this is a chance for someone to build a career. Maybe. You could turn this into a career in sports broadcasting. You know that question, would you pay $250,000, rather $250,000 or a dinner with Jay Z in different times. That's kind of this situation.

A three hour sit down with a media mogul, Dan Lebatard, while watching a basketball game, which granted, basketball games aren't the best for conversation. Really, sporting events aren't the best for conversation because you're sitting next to each other awkwardly. I feel like the seats, we're not reinventing arenas, but maybe moving forward, the seats face each other at the aren I feel like the seats, we're not reinventing arenas, but maybe moving forward,

the seats face each other at the arenas, and then the game's off to the side. Swivel chairs. Oh! That'd be an option. We're solving it all, but one thing's first, that's more sadness, and it seems like we got the green light on this one.

Approved. Ha ha ha. This is the Dan Leventor Show with the StuGuts Podcast. Obviously, it's still early in the year, but I already have what I will describe as my most embarrassing personal moment of this year. Wow. I don't believe there will be another one this year, but give me time. I just walked out of the room, and because we get a lot of stuff sent to us,

like the Mar DeRosa socks, I am very grateful for, people are always sending us gifts, very thoughtful gifts, but I don't always know where it is that things come from. So I get in today, very thoughtful gifts, but I don't always know where it is that things come from. So, I get in today and on my desk is the baseball cap I am presently wearing. And I did not recognize it. And so I walked out into the other room and I just asked, does anybody want this? And I'm standing right next to Izzy

and with a nice comedic pause, Izzy says, that was my Christmas gift to you. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. The best part was you didn't just say, what is this? You said, who wants this? Right. It was like, not only were you curious about it, very quick, I need to get this out of, give this away.

And now he's overcompensating by wearing the hat that he was trying to give away before the show. I mean. Classic guilt hat. How long is that gonna stay on? Yup, and he'll wear it for a month now. I mean. Looks great on you.

Slimming. Not so much. No, I'm giving it away because my face is round and I have to have a particular kind of hat and it's gotta be at about seven and five eighths. It's gotta be fitted and these things in the back. I don't want to look a gift, a Christmas gift in the mouth.

But what happened here is this hat, my face is fat and this hat makes it fatter. And so I can't, I can't. Thank you Mike. You can adjust it by the way. No, your gut is right. You look fat in that. Not only did I give you a Christmas present,

I told you exactly why I got it for you, because it's the Monopoly man, and you're the Mr. Money man, and he's got a white mustache and your mustache is turning white. You remember that? I do now. No you don't.

No you don't. No, I do because Izzy's often talking to me when I'm going through an assortment of things and now I remember it was in here that he brought all of that up. But I was standing, like if you had a scene in the office, the camera would have panned to Izzy right next to me as I'm coming out and just saying,

does anybody want this? For a split second, I was considering just saying, I'll take it because I have the receipt at home. I love the gift of the story. It makes it more special, even to Dan. And then Taylor did the Jim face to the hard cam. I've never, this has thrown me, because it never has the term, do I look fat in this,

ever in my mind applied to a hat. It's always like pants or a shirt, but it has totally made you look like 20 pounds heavier. A single hat. I have to be careful with the hats that I wear. I've told you before that Barkley makes the very good joke that when I say some version of, yeah, television adds 10 pounds. How many televisions did you eat?

Now I just feel bad because I said the other day yesterday, I was like, wow, holidays are treating Dan really well. And now I got you a hat that makes you look fat Yeah, it was a shitty gift. I mean it Isn't really what I want to look fatter like that's not that's not gift-giving But I'm look there are any number of things although this time of year was that story he saw a white mustache He's like oh this will make Dan feel great the number of things that I have gotten recently that during the holidays that I can be confused by

is pretty long and one of them, you guys tell me if this has happened for you. I have gotten via text an assortment of family holiday cards where people are sending you that picture they take with the kids and the dog, and they wish you a happy holidays. And I thought to myself every time I got one, this is the laziest way this could be done.

This needs a stamp. Like this is not an act of thoughtfulness unless it has a stamp on it. You're right, I get one every year from Mike Ryan and his beautiful family. The physical card. Yes, a physical card that comes in the mail, envelope, stamped.

It's beautiful. It's great. You're right, Dan. They're mailing it in. They are. But they're not. But they're not. But they're not, right?

But they should be mailing it in. But that's at least a card they went out and took a picture. Wouldn't it be lazier to just say Merry Christmas? No. No, I don't think so. Just to text Merry Christmas. No, I don't think so. Like just to text Merry Christmas. No, because then you have to individually text everybody

where I'm sure this system, you can just kind of put it all in at once and then it'll mass text that out to everybody as opposed to an individual Merry Christmas text. It's unfortunate because there is thought that goes into it, but it feels somehow more thoughtless than not receiving a happy holiday card whatsoever. I disagree on a number of counts. I disagree. I think Chris Cody is right when he says the

laziest thing, the laziest thing is to send someone a Merry Christmas text. But this is the laziest way to upscale to a card. And I'm saying that the Christmas card requires a stamp, that technology and advancement cannot get so far ahead of us that you're sending me the AI equivalent of a Christmas card that at some point you're not even gonna have to do anything in order for me to get it. It's funny how that cliche doesn't work anymore.

I think mailing it in now is harder than texting it in is easier. Much harder, yes, yes. Open my eyes to something. A new phrase. It should be scanning it in. It is more expensive. Do any of you know what a stamp costs these days?

Because sometimes. You need it to buy the book. So I got individually, I think it comes down to a couple, like 60 something cents. I don't know. Buy in bulk. Whenever I need a stamp. I go to my parents Mom and dad need a stamp. He's got your dad always Never bought a stamp in my life No idea can't imagine how toxic the chemicals are on those stamps cost money

prior to any kind of regulation prior to any kind of regulation, those stamps. It is actually, if you think about it, if you just consider it for a moment, one of the great values in the history of America is the fact that you can send something like that far away for cents, for pennies. It is, put it on the poll please, Juju, at LeBotard Show, Is the stamp one of the great values

in the history of America? But Mike is right about the stamp. That is a class action lawsuit written all over it. Years from now, people are gonna say, oh man, I got cancer from licking the stamps. Here's a forever chemical in your stamp. Here's this lead stamp. It's such a good bargain that people will just put a second

one on there just in case this paper's too heavy. Well, no, you don't want it sent back to you. Like, you gotta put the second one on in the event. Yes, you're right. I mean, you are living a wealthy life. If you can splurge on this. Sometimes, I Google it, I'm like, what is the weight? Sometimes I get the lesson taught to me.

It gets sent back, and that's why mailing it in no longer applies, because you gotta work to mail something in now. I would like for you guys to help me find all of the things that are like this, where the generation gap is so. Cash is obviously like this. I've learned this much to my bitter dismay while railing against America over the fact

that people will not take my cash. All you have is cash and stamps, right? That is, I imagine that that is what is in the Greg, I would love to look through the Greg Cody drawer that Chris Cody goes to when he goes looking for the stamp. It is, by the way, the least adult thing that you do, and it's a long list of things that you do that are not quite adulthood,

going to your parents' house when you need a stick. I've done it one time, I think. I don't need to, I can send an email. Wait, has this cliche evolved with the times and then we just forgot, this generation forgot to evolve it because mailing it in, and there's also phoning it in, I assume phoning it in came after mailing it in,

why haven't we come to the table with texting it in? You're right. It's too early in the game yet. Things are evolving. We will get to that at some point in the future. I want you guys to get me a list though of some of these things where I am perpetually shocked. Tony, Jessica, Jeremy,

when there is something I am talking about and they have no idea what it is that it is, and I thought it was just a common knowledge thing. Do you ever sent a fax, Jeremy? Never in my life. Never? I mean, I remember fax machines. Do you remember like the wax paper that came in the roll?

What are you, what is that? He used to fax on these like waxy rolls of paper. And it was impossible to draw on with crayons. I don't really understand what that even could possibly mean. Because like what is, I've realized I don't really know what a fax machine does. Okay, very good.

Jeremy is a little tired today. The heat losing double overtime yesterday. The stuff going on around the Heat doesn't have any precedence, Dugant. It is amazing to watch the Miami Heat suffer what it is that they've done to everybody in acquiring the best talent that they've acquired over the last 15 years.

It goes back to when it is that I watched Goran Drogich do this to the sons and I'm like, somebody had to tell that guy who's a koala bear how to do that. Like that is not his instinct to go out there and say, hey, sons management, get out of here. And, and that's where some of that stuff started. And now the Miami heat is a victim of having a guy whose trade value diminishes by the day because. Well they're not a victim, I mean they didn't get Jimmy Butler the help that Jimmy Butler asked for, I mean.

They got Jimmy Butler a lot. Jake Crowder as Jeremy pointed out. Right, oh that's big. Look, you guys can do this but I think the part that's unfair is you got the best Jimmy Butler That there's been and that was at least in part because everything that was built was built around him It was built to make sure that he was the one with the usage rate and bam was the all-star doing the dirty things And Tyler you sit over there for a while

like was that the intention or was that a byproduct of failing to get somebody better than Jimmy? Because that was always hanging over this franchise as soon as they acquired Jimmy, is he can't be your number one. And then he almost proved us wrong numerous times. Like he can be your number one, just not on a title team. But I think ever since his acquisition,

we were all saying they gotta pair him with somebody that's a little bit more talented. You can question Pat Riley and the Heat about a number of things and how they've handled Jimmy Butler and surrounding him with somebody that's a little bit more talented. You can question Pat Riley and the Heat about a number of things and how they've handled Jimmy Butler and surrounding him with the right amount of talent, but they have gotten the best Jimmy Butler. No one has gotten a better Jimmy Butler.

Not a single other organization has gotten this Jimmy Butler. They've maximized him. They've used him in his most effective way, both offensively and defensively. They built offensive and defensive game plans around him. They let him be the guy, which for the majority of his career was part of the issue. He is such an alpha. He wants to be the man. That, for

that matter, was the complaint that he had about the present offense and why he kind of went after Spoh in that last presser before being suspended. He has always wanted to be the guy and they were a Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic injury away from winning an NBA finals in his very first year. So they have built- Possibly winning. They have, sure, competing in a more legitimate way.

They lost by sure they lost in six to the Lakers without their healthy number two and three players and when you look at maximizing it this guy went to three conference finals and two NBA finals with this franchise while not doing anything near that otherwise. So when you say they didn't build the right things around them, they didn't give them enough help, they had as much success in five years as almost anyone in the league. The Day on the Batard Show with Stu Gotz is sponsored by BetterHelp.

Every January feels like a fresh start. 365 blank pages just waiting for your story to be written. In 2025, maybe you're ready for a plot twist. Ready to revise the parts of your story holding you back. Life isn't about new year's resolutions that disappear by February. It's about picking up the pen and becoming the author of your life. Therapy can help you do just that. Therapy isn't just for the big traumas. It's for anyone who wants to grow, heal, and thrive. With BetterHelp, therapy is convenient and affordable. It's fully online.

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Now they're gonna see a different Jimmy Now he's just, just playing Nickelback in the locker room and Stugats They'll play D and show threes As they chase the Nats for the sixth seed These five words in his head Scream, are we winning games yet?

This is the John Lebathorpe Show with the Stugarts. ["Roller Decks"] Anyone have an address book still? Hmm. Roller Decks? A Roller Decks? Everything's in your phone. Your dad has a Roller Decks, does he not?

Your dad has a Roller Decks. Do you know what a Roller Decks is, Jeremy? I only do because my mom still has a Rolodex, handwritten, and that's the place where she keeps all of the passwords to the different streaming sites that she has, so every time I need to use her streaming password, she's rolling through that. Are they very sophisticated?

No, no, no, no. It's like password 123? Yeah, pretty much. It's like all the same password, just like one has an exclamation point, and one has a different number. Oh that's honestly if you're trying to hack my parents accounts and my name and some number and you're probably good Your name your birthday and probably all right so some things that have happened here that I think are interesting are the following because I

understand that the job of Pat Riley is I understand that the job of Pat Riley is to anticipate what the future looks like, but I do think we are all allowed to be surprised by a couple of things here, one of which is how much the game has changed. Okay? I don't know that we all could have anticipated that given that Pat Riley spent the majority of his career Throwing the ball to Kareem Abdul Jabbar Patrick Ewing Alonzo morning in the post and taking the contested least valuable shot in the sport also more most inefficient Like that's how we were playing football just like we were playing football once upon a time

But just running the ball all the time right Some things changed here that I understand where it is that the Miami Heat fall behind to how Boston is presently playing. But the Heat have rolled with those changes. I mean, they've put together rosters recently that have won NBA championships. Agreed, but since they were even with Boston at the rim in the bubble what has happened

since then that is the sport has changed enough that the celtics are great at threes and crush everybody at threes because they got five guys in a seven three guy who can do things bam cannot do because he does not have the range that chris bach might have developed over his career so understood on the criticism i'm just telling you okay that that can be one range that Chris Bosh might have developed over his career. So, understood on the criticism, I'm just telling you, okay, that can be one that's hard to see. The next step on this, though, when you look at, yes, they missed on Damian Lillard, they missed on Kevin Durant, they missed on DeRozan, they haven't gotten any of the players that

they needed to allow Jimmy Butler to age with grace by having him become the second best player on the team. But the thing that I think you can forgive the heat for not seeing is that I always thought Jimmy Butler was supposed to be the help, not need the help. Like I always thought that he's Philadelphia's third guy. Like that that's what you need him to be if you want to be boston and so i understand

where it is if your leadership there you get caught off guard and you hesitate on bradley beale cuz you don't think he's worth the fifty million cuz he's not and everyone wants the pressure of you gotta make a move you gotta get jimmy more and you're not wrong to do that.

You're especially not wrong because of how Boston did it and rewarded, got rewarded for doing it because they made the moves and the Heat Fan is sitting here still hurting from Kyle Lowry as the move. No doubt, the Kyle Lowry thing. I don't think we pay enough attention to that, even with time.

That was just such a disastrous move for this franchise. I think it's fair, like if you want an armchair quarterback and say, they've actually been on the right side of not acquiring some of these talents. It actually ended up working out. The Damien Reiller contract's not that attractive, even though I still think that it would have been a better fit here.

I think people tend to look over their multiple pursuits of Kevin Durant, a new owner, waltzes into the league and just alphas them and they've always been trying to get him and that would have been huge. Chris Paul, that one is kind of debatable. Kyrie Irving, in retrospect, we understand why everybody was standoffish but they should have pursued him. So- Whoa, that's easy to say now. Yes. God, nobody wanted it.

That's so easy to say now. A hundred and ten percent, but I also think it's awfully convenient when people bring up Bradley Beale and they bring up Damien Lillard. They omit the other ones where like, taking this chance might have worked out there. Putting all that other stuff to his side. And just for a guy who coined the phrase disease of me, he couldn't get this wrong with Jimmy. Because Jimmy, at the very least,

he helps you compete this year, and it's a contract that comes off the books. We understand he took his approach in the summer, it was dicey, Jimmy Butler and him started doing some posturing publicly, and it looked like they handled that. Then all these trade rumors start up where Shams is totally right. You don't go up against Shams in these situations

and Jimmy Butler's representation and the Miami Heat got cocky, had bravado. I'm not really sure what Jimmy Butler's agent was doing. That seems a little nefarious in retrospect but the guy that coined the phrase disease in me did something that you don't really see executives do all that much, put out like an old school press release saying he's not going to move, and in retrospect he really minimized the possible return for Jimmy Butler by doing that, because you back a guy who knows how to get out of these situations into a corner, and now every team that's checking in on Jimmy Butler understands you are out of moves and is lowballing you, and that is a byproduct of your initial approach, which was a bit prideful.

I think it's fair to say that that statement ended up backfiring because Jimmy turned it into a total mess from there. And who knows if that was actually the thing that sent it over the line or if they already knew Jimmy was about to make some sort of mess and were trying to publicly get ahead of that. We don't know behind the scenes specifically what comes in one order. The mess has been here for a while.

People. But there's a difference between. But then he gets suspended for seven games. Yeah, there's a difference between kind of dogging it on the court and getting suspended from rumors leaking through the media that you're okay with being traded. There's a difference between that and the press conference that comes after the Indiana Pacers game,

where he's throwing his coaches, his roster under the bus. That's a different thing. All right, I wanna talk about something cause you guys mentioned Spoh here. And this season, Spoh has blown an eight point lead in overtime, a 22 point fourth quarter lead in Orlando. There are a lot of blown leads. There's the timeout at the end of a game

when they didn't have a timeout, a decision that will haunt him for the remainder of his days and a few after he's gone. But we chalk that one up to just the acquisition of Terry Rose here, which is also a stain on Pat Riley's legacy. That time out will chase Eric Spolstra into the beyond. His spirit will be chased by that time out

that was called at the end of a game that he did not have. What are we doing to poor Pat Riley? I mean, seriously, you guys sound so entitled that he fan-based. get over yourselves and get over it You're going through a bad season since 2006 you have won three NBA championships and been to the finals seven times seven times Since 2006 every organization would take that type of run

What do you guys do it on at us for questioning whether Pat Riley has failed the town, failed the city, failed the franchise player? Is that what you're doing? Yes, I am. Is that what you are doing? Yes. Yes. Chris Cody. He deserves better from you guys. Chris Cody, please get that sound and I agree with Stugatz on this. There were some people yesterday and this is a tricky one because where do you draw the line in the lack of nuanced debate culture of today

of firmly backing someone and also being critical of them? Because it should go without saying, Stugat, this part should go without saying, that the reason Mike Ryan is accusing Pat Riley a bit prideful, no it's more than a bit prideful, it's arrogance and it's earned. One every single place he's ever been he's entitled to think he's the reason that happens because it was in New York and it was in Los Angeles and it in miami and i saw what he inherited when he got to miami this was

a spring break dump of a basketball franchise playing next to a hospital gym he left madison square garden one of the greatest jobs there are in sports where he was that had a fashion in los angeles and new york for creating the model of executive leadership that looks good as it and is in charge and he reinvented a nowhere franchise down here so yes prideful

he's bellacheck and when you tell bellacheck brady's the reason you're winning is like i made brady who do you think made lebron you when ship before you got here like what that's what that's what you're going to get from him. You think he's being a bit prideful? Bleep yeah, he's being prideful when he's in Vegas and they've got him waiting outside the door of the hotel with his trophies because they're watching the World Cup and he can't get to LeBron James to recruit him? Like, that's losing for 10 years and he's going to pridefully hold on to that because

he got to 70 having all the power and winning For how many years like in what world do you have Pat Riley not being prideful? He deserves it and he also deserves to leave this franchise. However, he wants it I don't think it's hard to explain that every time you want to criticize something in the moment We understand what he means to this franchise. We understand why we're here to criticize something in the moment. We understand what he means to this franchise. We understand why we're here. But in this specific moment, in a vacuum, he has really botched this Jimmy Butler situation

in terms of maximizing a return to the point that Jeremy and I are workshopping. What's his move now? Just say, hey, we're going to shelve you for the rest of the year because just losing your contract off our books is more value than acquiring anything else. He has no moves. He got this one wrong, but for the most part he's gotten it right. Oh, the Terry Rosinger, Kyle Lowry thing. You do still have a month to kind of materialize

all of this, where there might be teams that, whether it's injuries or otherwise, that think that they're close, that acquiring Jimmy Butler as a rental is going to get you what it is that you want. The way that the Heat played this was, we're gonna go into the season, and if you decide to opt out at the end of it,

then we will just have cap space to be able to maneuver with the roster moving forward. And that's essentially what they're gonna try to create in this trade is acquire expiring contracts and picks more likely than not. They're taking a guy they traded, Hassan Whiteside, Josh Richardson, and a protected first round pick.

They maximize the value, went to two finals, went to three conference finals. And on the back end, if they get that type of value back and expiring contracts, it was a success. This holiday at T-Mobile, I'm joined by a special co-anchor. What up everybody? It's your boy, Big Snoop D-O double G. Snoop, let's talk about T-Mobile. OK, cool. This holiday, get four lines for 25 bucks a line. Plus four iPhone 16s with Apple intelligence and the all-new camera control on us.

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Hey, have you checked out that spreadsheet I sent you for our dinner options? Finance your car with Garvana and experience total control. Financing subject to credit approval. 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, he said in the break that he's jittery. This is the Don Lebatard Show with the StuGats. Let me talk for a moment about standards because I do think the micro of the moment does tend to engulf the macro even if the macro is half a century in the making. The Miami Heat will be interesting at the trade line, trade deadline, and I'm guessing beyond it, because my God, in my history covering sports in this market, there has never been anybody who makes seasons interesting

more than the person who's always win now. That team has a standard that is much different than what the Miami Dolphins have, because the Miami Dolphins don't make the playoffs and you're like yeah they never do the heat's expectations are no you gotta be better than boston like that's where that that's where wryly put the standard third place and good enough they weren't close against denver

but second place is as close as you can be and it's a failure and now it's not a failure like i'm not going to do that over the last five years this ending a failure i don't think that can be disputed i think pat riley would dispute that second place twice with jimmy butler is not a failure i'm not good i'm not going to do that but how do you also how do you say everything i'm saying and also point out

yet the game is player acquisition you taught us that the game is player acquisition. You taught us that. The game is player acquisition, star acquisition to win a championship. You're the one who taught us that there's winning and there's misery. And that's it. And none of the seasons have ended where you expect them to end every season under Jimmy Butler. And it's just not a sudden development. The writing was on the wall last offseason when we saw everybody in the East get better and we were just hanging our hat on the development of this franchise and maybe they have a puncher's chance and then

they manage Jimmy Butler's workload the entire season against their will because it's count it runs counterculture to them and he gets hurt against Philadelphia and you realize wow wasted year wasted year for Pat Riley who's getting up there wasted year for Jimmy Butler, and this entire thing is flawed. You cannot go through another off season the same way. They did. Part of the reason that this has gone on so long

is because of what Dan mentioned, which is that Pat Riley and this franchise refused to ever be bad. And so there might have been a time where they could have traded Jimmy Butler to acquire picks and young players But that was even earlier in Bam Edibio's development earlier in Tyler heroes development And they weren't willing to be a bad team that tanks for multiple years you talk about Orlando

You know in the conversation you guys were having yesterday It's like well during the Jimmy Butler era they were winning 25 or 30 games a year for five years that's why they're good now it was miserable every single year the heater trying to contend and trying to be in it even if it's somewhat delusional that's part of what makes them the competitors that they've been for so long. But stop with somewhat delusional because you know what's delusional? Gabe Vincent and Max Struess carrying me to the finals. That's delusional. That was the reality. They did it.

The thing about the arrogance. Yeah, why wouldn't he believe that he's going to be right? They haven't been good at Boston, and Bam Anabayo takes Tatum down at the rim. They weren't as good as that team. That Boston team has all the top five picks. That Boston team had to be tested like that to get to where it's gotten.

But even the plan with the outliers, I'm sorry, Dan, but even the outlier, like that incredible majestic run, I thought the season was over against Chicago in the play-in. Like it was that flimsy. Like the entire thing is built on, let's get in the play-in and hopefully we advance through that.

I know but Mike here's the thing though yes it absolutely flimsy that they made that run but they made that run beating Giannis in the first round with Jimmy playing that way proved to all of us what do you mean Jimmy can be better than the others in the series what do you mean that yannis can be the favorite who just won the championship jimmy's gonna take him down that change jimmy's reputation forever but let's play because we can get off and caught up in prisoner of the moment still got to know changes to in defense of Pat Riley. Yep.

This is Stugots talking about Pat Riley and Dwayne Wade before Pat Riley got LeBron, James and Chris Bosh for Dwayne Wade. Has Pat Riley failed Dwayne Wade? Seriously. Has Riley and the organization, because Dan, all these other teams, all the other contenders went out and made moves and they heat haven't done a single thing What have they done for Dwayne Wade? They got him Jermaine O'Neal a broken Jermaine O'Neal. He's gonna leave here and he should leave here They got him Shaq yeah and a championship since then

Let's sell him on this notion of all these guys we're gonna get next year None of these guys want to come here. None of them. He's failed, Dwyane Wade. Failed the fans. Failed the city. Hmm. That was then, this is now, Dano. Well, this is where I caution you, right?

Because I expected it at the trade deadline. Look, I told you guys a while ago, everybody was laughing at me. You need to keep an eye on that Minnesota situation. The Minnesota ownership situation, I told you you watch out for valentine's day if you've got that i i may be wrong here because this is the last time that i heard this kind of noise around this man i do not expect the second half of this heat season to be a quiet thing

mike ryan says getting up there pat riley seventy eight man he's talking about mortality, not career mortality, actual mortality. He still wants to win now. He's not convinced Boston has been tested in the playoffs like they got tested by Miami in the playoffs and won. So you can believe that he's not going to pull off some three-team deal. And I haven't heard any of the experts be able to explain to me how it is that can happen. But I also didn't think they were gonna be able to get out from under Whiteside and Deon Waiter contracts and they did that because they got Jimmy Butler when they didn't have

anything to get Jimmy Butler with. So you underestimate this person at your own risk because I actually believe always that he will fix it. Eventually, eventually I'm going to be wrong, but I've just been doing nothing but watching him fix it since I've been here. I stand with you and Pat Riley. But what leverage do they have, right?

Cause normally they're able to get the disgruntled superstar cause someone's just looking to get rid of him. Now you think that you're somehow gonna get rid of the disgruntled superstar and improve your team. But who wants to come? But because the stars run the league, wherever Anthony Edwards wants to go next is where Anthony Edwards is going to end up next.

But I'm saying in this trade, you're not gonna improve in a trade with Jimmy Butler. You're just getting him out of town. By the way, sad day at Heat Nation. Obviously, things are going on here. Things are not good with Jimmy. It's been put out there. Jimmy Butler merchandises 50% off at every mall

that I've seen walking around every store. It's at 50% off Jimmy Butler jerseys, Jimmy Butler t-shirts. Everybody's preparing. They don't think that this is gonna get resolved in. What Dan said there though is kind of the problem. And it's the parts of the heat media that I don't like and the heat fandom that I don't like.

What recent history do you have of the heat media that I don't like and the heat fandom that I don't like. What recent history do you have of the disgruntled superstar putting Miami in his destination list, which is routine, Miami not winning that pursuit? Either not having the type of trade capital that the other teams have, or in the event that a superstar says, I only wanna go to Miami, they still found a way to fail.

So why do you think it's going to be different with Anthony Edwards? And the only way it could possibly be different with Anthony Edwards in this pie in the sky scenario is you still need capital. And Pat Riley just went out of his way to ruin that possible scenario and not maximizing the return by putting out that statement that put Jimmy in a corner. I think the capital part of it over the last several years has been fair. It's the reason why Boston has been able to do everything they've done.

The team that they built around the stars that they have was built off the backs of a trade of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn that stacked them with all this capital to be able to continue to make moves and continue to make moves, including later on, Drew Holliday, who they get from Portland that was never gonna happen for Miami, and Chris Stapps Porzingis,

who spent the entire postseason injured and would have been a disaster for Miami individually, but works because Boston's so good. The thing about Anthony Edwards or D'Aaron Fox, who's another example of someone who has an incredible relationship with Bam at a bio, or any of these things that you float out there in the sky, the difference between that and what happened with Damian Lillard individually is Damian

Lillard was not willing to make a mess. Right? Greg Cody, major penalty, five minutes, me maximum. Just tired of hearing you talk. You've been on vacation. You came back to a microphone after two weeks without talking. You've been on Jimmy Butler too long and I was just tired of listening to you. Did you guys hear what Billy Gill said?

The folks over at LIDS and Sports Authority, they think this is not getting done. I mean, 50% off. Billy, you seem bored during the last 30 minutes. I don't think Sports Authority exists anymore. Hasn't been a thing for like 10 years. I have no idea. Dicks. Really?

So what are you looking? It's hard to find by the way. I've learned and you guys are telling me and I'm just, look, I'm a man of the people, but I'm a man of the streets. So I got a lot of my information from the streets and just from observing life. You guys tell me how this is a panther town, this, that and the third and everybody loves the panthers. If my brother-in-law is listening, I had a situation here, Dan, recently,

where I ordered him a birthday present, Christmas slash birthday present, he was out of town for his birthday. Two birds. And that present has gotten lost, and I've called the fulfillment center, and they've told us flat out, we don't know where it is, you're never gonna get this, you need to call the company

that sold this to you. So I called that company, and they said, well, it's not scheduled to be delivered yet, we can't give a refund. And I you need to call the company that sold this to you. So I called that company and they said, well it's not scheduled to be delivered yet, we can't give a refund. And I'm not gonna name the company because we live in a dangerous time here where I literally can't criticize anyone because every company now has like a streaming media service

so whoever it is that has done me wrong could be my future employer one day. So I need to be very careful and I can't mention an apparel company that may now have a streaming service that may hire me at some point down the road. So I need to be careful. So I'm not gonna take them out,

but it was a Panthers Championship hoodie. So I said, you know what, this is never gonna get here, I just need to get a replacement gift. So that's why I was walking around the lids and the dicks of the world yesterday. And you know what I found? Not a Panther anything in sight. No one has panther's gear down here in Miami.

Dolphin Mall doesn't have any panther's gear. The Dix over there in that new area doesn't have any panther's gear. So there was two travesties. One, I can't rip anyone anymore because anyone could be a future employer now because everyone's starting their own media companies, which is crazy.

Our streaming channel, fast channels they call them. Everything's a fast channel now. Let's just slow it down. Back in my day, four channels, we just moved slowly. You know what I mean? We watched what was on television. Slow it down. Slow it down, fast channel.

Let's slow it down, fast channel. Exactly right, yeah. And I can't find any Panthers gear anywhere. And the third thing I learned, Butler gears on sale everywhere 50% off Billy while you're cooking and thank you. I appreciate you cooking like that I when I was watching at Dix because you guys have been enjoying just saying that word over and over again Yes, you've done it. Don't pretend like you haven't dick sporting goods I saw a commercial for Dix the other day and it said that their website was Dick's.com

and I'm like, that can't be. There's no way that that can be, but it is. Had to be taken, huh? You would think. I'm on it, yeah. You would think, I'm saying not, don't get on it. I'm on Dick's. Do not get on, no, don't get on, don't get on Dick's.

He wants to. I don't think you can anymore. There's like this weird message from this lady. Billy, since you're cooking, tell us about the listener league, please. Tell us. Ah, the listener league, Dan, thanks. You were participating this week, correct?

No? No. All right, well next week. Don't worry. Every week, fresh start. You can join next week if you want to. Just go to dkng.co slash smirnoff. I had a strategy last week.

I thought it was foolproof. I thought I was gonna be the only one with a strategy. I said incentive guys. I said incentive guys. It did not work. Everybody had Mike Evans. Yeah, it did not work. I finished probably like five from the back last week.

But new year, new me. New team, new me. New year, new me, new team. New dkng.co slash smirnoff. Cause every week a new fantasy contest. Go to dkng.co slash smirnoff presented by every week a new fantasy contest. Go to dkng.co slash smirnoff, presented by Smirnoff, the world's number one vodka.

Please drink responsibly. The Day on the Batard Show with Stu Gotz is sponsored by BetterHelp. Every January feels like a fresh start. 365 blank pages, just waiting for your story to be written. In 2025, maybe you're ready for a plot twist. Ready to revise the parts of your story holding you back.

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