The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Big Suey: Dainty Hogs (feat. Amin El Hassan)

Episode Date: June 6, 2025

Amin joins us from Oklahoma City to recap an epic Game 1 of the NBA Finals and tell us whether or not he was offended by having to sit in auxiliary seating while Jorge Sedano was courtside. Plus, OKC has a WHAT downtown? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Earn rewards for paying your bill in full and on time each month. Rise to rewards with the BMO Eclipse Rise Visa Card. Terms and conditions apply. Welcome to the Big Sui, presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show? The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan LeBattard podcast. I'm sorry, I'm not gonna apologize for that.

In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging. I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries that if they're just there, that hasn't happened to you guys? I've done it. And now, here's the marching man to nowhere, fat face, and the habitual liar. This episode is presented by DraftKings.

DraftKings, the crown is yours. We said he takes the first set. Chris Cody, do you know why? Why? Because he's a daddy! Because he's a daddy! Because he's a daddy! Because he's a daddy! Because he's a daddy! Because he's a daddy! Because he's a daddy! He's a daddy!

He's a daddy! All my homies love Mouseti. Amin El-Hassan, you were at the game last night. And because we're in another group chat with you, we know exactly what that room smells like right now. So thank you for the update. Unnecessary. One thing that was not shitty was game one.

Game one was awesome. And I was cherry picking my favorite stat. There were a lot of stats but having 17 more turnovers and 16 fewer shots, yes they out rebounded them, that could answer them. But that is probably a huge indicator that we got a real good series on our hands and Indiana can actually win this thing. I mean you need no more proof than them taking game one. Your game one thoughts Amin Elhassan. You know we've seen so many of these massive comebacks in these playoffs, whether it was the Pacers against the Knicks,

the Knicks against the Celtics, the Pacers against the Bucks, the Nuggets against the Thunder. We've seen a lot of these. And they all seem to follow pretty much the same formula, which is the team that was up has a massive collapse, missing all their shots and taking too many threes and not making them and turning it over and the team that comes back hits a flurry of threes, someone goes on fire like Aaron Neesmith against the Knicks. That didn't happen last night. It was a weird kind of chip away, chip

away. The paces were far from perfect down the stretch. The thunder were far from collapsing down the stretch. And yet it was a little bit of, they scored two, these guys scored three, these guys scored two, these guys scored three, these guys got an offensive rebound here, these guys got an N1 here. And next thing you know, Halliburton has the ball with a chance to win the game. And we're all looking at like, the arena didn't realize it. Like all those other games that I mentioned, think about it. Everyone in the crowd is gasping and groaning like oh no what's happening the thunder crowd never saw it coming dude because it just felt like no they got this they got this they got oh look a review out of bounds of siakam game over and literally halibut

hits that shot and everyone's like holy holy crap are the players gonna win this game? And so it was just a remarkable, it's one of like, I've never seen so many NBA media and NBA League office personnel legitimately giddy after an NBA finals game, because it was the type of game that makes you happy. If you love basketball, if you don't care which one of these teams win, that game made you happy. I was in such a good mood yesterday after that game. And because it makes it feel like we're gonna get a series now, right? Because everyone was feeling like

this could be a short series, so it just is like, okay, this is gonna be good now. No, for sure, I mean, there was a fear, obviously the Thunder Open, one of the biggest favorites in the last 25 years or whatever, there was a fear that, oh my God, it's not that it's too small markets. The fear was that Oklahoma City is going to annihilate these guys and everyone's gonna be like what a boring finals that was.

So this thing kind of put tilt everything on its head. And then of course, the other part of it is the Paces Mountain is incredible comeback Halliburton played pretty poorly most of the night, but he hits that shot. Orchard chamber. Press. Well, that's the funny thing. Halberton played pretty poorly most of the night, but he hits that shot and gets to do the press. Well, that's the funny thing. Kacen Wallace is on him on that last possession and who still played great defensively. But Halberon hits that shot, gets to put on the sunglasses and put his shoes who had just

come out, the new signature shoes on the table at the press conference. And we all remarked, no one's ever going to remember he had a he had a bad game all the remembers this moment and kudos to him for understanding Mike I know you're a big wrestling guy. He knows how to play that heel roll perfectly I mean you mentioned case and Wallace he got the start over our hey Isaiah Hartenstein in the beginning of the game their first kind of Roster their first kind of starting lineup change that they've done in these, in these playoffs, they've been so good with the two big lineup. Why do you think that they went to the one big and then really they kind of played small ball for a lot of the game. You saw Chet go

two for nine. You saw him play 20 some odd minutes. You had heart and steam play sparingly at 17 minutes. They got out rebounded by 17. It's not like miles Turner's this great defensive rebounding force. What was the issue with their bigs and with their rotation? Well, I think, you know, Mark Dagnon responded to that and he said, first of all, we've played a lot of different starting lineups during the regular season. We did that on purpose so that if we ever do it in the finals or in the playoffs, it's not like, Whoa, you're getting a call tonight. So Casey Wallace had started 40 games for them this season.

So they felt comfortable with that, number one. Number two, Dagnall cited the need for kind of optionality and a more perimeter based defense through this series because of the paces person. It's almost exactly what you're talking about, Tony. It's almost like the opposite. It's like because Miles Turner's are only like true big and even he likes to step out. The need for size is lessened and the need for perimeter defense and perimeter switching is increased.

And then the third thing I'd say is it worked man. The part that didn't work, which is the part you would think, which is the offense wasn't as good. They turned them over 19 times in the first half and only scored nine points off of it. So from the Thunder standpoint, it wasn't about like, oh man, we should have gone big. I can't believe we didn't.

It was like, guys, we gotta make the shots. We're turning them over. We have to convert on the other end. It's actually a good point because we were talking earlier about why is- Sounds so surprised. It's Amino Hassett. No, no, but it's a good point

because we didn't acknowledge this. We're talking earlier about why is sound so surprised. It's amino acid. No, no, but it's, it's, it's a good point because we, we didn't acknowledge this where we're talking earlier about why is Oklahoma city adjusting to Indiana before the game even started. That was weird. Oh, they were a 15 with seven minutes left in the game. Like the starting lineup change really had nothing to do with Oklahoma city. Not winning that game last night. It wouldn't, they were, they were busting ass. Like that's, that's like the, if they lost that game, it wasn't a strategic

reason they lost that game. It was guys didn't make shots and the Pacers and the whole time throughout that first half when everyone, we're like, oh my God, because that first half I've never seen, it was like, you know, in the movies whenever they say, oh, there's piranha in here and they take like, you put your hand in there and it comes out as just a bone like or in the cartoons, I guess, not really. The lasers, right? Like it's just just like a furry bubbles. That's that's that's what it was, man. It was all of them. Any time like any Pacer had the ball for more than a second, it was getting deflected or tipped away.

Like it was crazy it was like you can't look around it's like being a pickpocket in in a european city like it's like if you're a tourist like the moment you turn around someone's got your wallet but i mean was that great defense or was that bad sort of lazy offense because they were used to playing the nicks for six games i'm all for shots at the Knicks at this point. They deserve it after that. Yeah, there you go. Be careful. Yeah, but you know it was it was I've never seen anything like that and they all do like we talked about this

Izzy on oddballs like they all do it. There's no guy out there. It's like it's not like the Pacers where it's like we have a bunch of guys to do it Halliburton really doesn't do it though. He doesn't defend like that. But for the, for the Thunder's like everybody on the court, everybody on the court is liable to steal the ball from you. And that's kind of a real pressure packed situation. Kudos to the Pacers for keeping their cool throughout that all.

And then in the second half doing a much better job of being cognizant of where the crowds are, where the roaming hands are, and moving the ball quickly. I think that really helped them. Is Tyrese Halliburton the most clutch player in Pacers history? You know, in the words of Stu Gotts, do it, then do it again next season, right?

Then do it, like that's what Reggie is. Reggie's like, I didn't have a good look to me. He's 13 of 15 in the final two minutes on go ahead or tying shots. I get it, but Reggie Miller didn't do an ah post season. He did it almost every single post season, right? So Halliburton, this is one of the most incredible runs I've ever seen for sure.

But if you want to be the most clutch in Pacers his playoff history, you got to do it again and again and again. But he's already tied Reggie. They showed the stat last night. We're all like since 97 playoffs. He hasn't tied him in longevity. So let me ask you guys this.

Like let's say Terry Sobren plays 10 more years for the Pacers and never has another one. They're still tied. But did they win the title this year? Yeah. And they don't win the title this year. Okay. Ah, there it is.

If they do win. Because of course, if they win, then it's like, okay, now we have to, right? That's kind of like the unwritten rule. If you want a championship, you have to be. I mean, it's pretty obvious what's gonna happen to Tyrese Halliburton if they win this championship superstardom appearance

at SummerSlam in New York. The guy's going to be every bit the star that he seems to be leaning into. Oh, he's absolutely showing up at SummerSlam in New York. The guy's going to be every bit the star that he seems to be leaning into. Oh, he's absolutely showing up at SummerSlam. Amazing. Absolutely showing up at SummerSlam. Win or lose. Yeah, for sure.

What do we do with Rick Carlile? Because Rick Carlile, I think the biggest NBA finals you've seen upset in your lifetime was the Pistons over the Lakers, right? But second was probably the Mavericks over LeBron James' Heat with J.J. Barrera and them boys. If Indiana wins this one, it's probably third in your lifetime, maybe, possibly.

I'd like to get your perspective on that. Toronto over Golden State was pretty big. Warrior Celtics. I mean, when you contextualize the injuries, but fair enough, that's certainly in the debate. We'll get a means answer on that, but Rick Harlile would be the head coach for two of the greatest NBA Finals upsets of all time.

Like, what do we do with that? What do we do with his legacy? And I guess we found a pretty interesting question, which is rank your biggest upsets in NBA Finals history and where would this be placed? I think it's more fun to rank the upsets. Like where Carlisle, oh come on, he's great. He's one of the greatest coaches ever.

We know that. We've been talking about that. Like he had some lean years and he had to adjust and grow. Right, to understand, look, the modern game is less kind of controlling the game from the sideline and more trusting the guy. And again, when you have Tyrese Halliburton as your point guard, that's pretty easy.

It's a lot easier to do than say if your point guard was, you know, I don't know, Tyler Hero or whatever, right? But the biggest upsets, it's crazy. Pistons over Lakers, because that Lakers team was such a, it was such a machine. It's up there. I think this would be bigger than Heat versus Mavs. And the reason why I say that is, the Heat didn't have a convincing regular season, right? That was the first year of the big three. And it never kind of really looked,

at the end they started getting a little momentum, but it wasn't the daunting machine, right? The Lakers that year started like 15 and one or something. It pretty dominant postseason. They ran through the Eastern Conference. Yeah, but it wasn't a young, up-and-coming Dallas Mavericks team with a star who hasn't established himself yet. It was Dirk freaking Nowitzki.

And a bunch of former stars that became role players. Really interesting roster. But at the same time, which is more impressive? Beating that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat, or an OKC team that's literally never been here? Impressive or shocking are two different questions. I think shocking is what we're talking about. This OKC team has like the highest point differential in the history of the NBA. Yeah. Right? Like they didn't just win 68 games. They beat the shit out of

everybody. That was the thing. I remember looking up the stat, the least amount of double-digit losses in an NBA season and for the longest time the Thunder were tied with like the 96 Bulls again it's not just that they win games they beat your ass It's not just that they don't lose often. It's when they lose it's like okay that was you barely beat us I mean I think they said on the radio broadcast last night when the Thunder went up by 10 in the second quarter, and they said it's the 62nd game this year that the Thunder have a double-digit lead. It's like, what?

I mean, what do you think about the 2016 Cavs against the 73 and nine? Oh, I'm sorry. That's the biggest one. I'm sorry. Yeah, especially given your takes on the matter entering that one. Look, that's, dude, like, the Warriors team is still the,

that 2016 season is still the best basketball I've ever seen front to back of an NBA season of any team ever. And that includes like the 96 Bulls, that includes the 86 Celtics. I know a lot of old people that are like. It's Prime LeBron, it feels ridiculous to say that's one of the biggest upsets of all time

when they have Prime LeBron. They should not have won that series have Primal Abundance. They should not have won that series. No, I know that. They should not have won that series. They should not have even had a molecule of oxygen in their lungs. But don't we contextualize that series as well based on what happened with Draymond Green? Sure, sure, but it's still like Draymond sat out game five, he still played game six and seven.

That's the point. Like there's, look, trust me, I've done the whole like, look, Bogut got hurt, Steph was compromised from the injury earlier, that Harrison Barskin hit the broadside of a barn. I've done all that. And Kevin Love had to have one of the greatest defensive stances of his entire career

happen in the most clutch moment. Steve Kerr had to play the only three guys on his whole rotation who are negative plus minus all in the fourth quarter. There's a lot of things that led up to them losing that series. That's kind of how upsets work. It's not, hey, we played perfect and they still beat our ass. Right. Like it always it's like this chain reaction, like how the Death Star blew up.

It's like there's something that happened, that happened, that happened, and then next year we go, this unstoppable force fell. So yeah, I would say Warriors losing to the Cavs is one. Two would be Lakers losing to the Pistons, and this would be three for me. Well the serious prices don't agree with you. Golden State was minus 200 as a series favorite in 2016 before the NBA finals. I know you were all about Golden State was minus 200 as a series favorite in 2016 before the NBA finals. I know like you were all about Golden State. I know that feels ridiculous in retrospect,

but that's not that big of a line. That's all LeBron. What was this one? Yeah, this was 2016. No, no, no, what was this line? It's like 700. Yeah, wow, massive. Would this be a, this would be a bigger upset than,

I think you just gave us the answer, than Toronto. I think Toronto, that Toronto championship, everyone's gotta say the injuries and all that. It kind of felt like that Golden State team with Kevin Durant was at the end of its run. I like them even if Golden State stayed healthy. I don't know if you felt the same way. Again, I think the injuries certainly color how that thing went. And but you're right, Mike, Durant gets hurt, but like Clay's healthy. The momentum is still in Toronto's favor. Even though the Warriors had done very well

without Durant in those playoffs, he got hurt in the second round, I want to say. They blitzed the Rockets. They sweep the Blazers in the conference finals. And then they get to the finals. And it was first two games kind of here and there. And then the Durent injury happens, and it starts to fall away.

I think Kwai Leonard obviously changes that math. We had such immense respect for him as a champion. And then Nick Nurse had kind of solidified himself as one of the great coaches in the league. Yeah, I guess it's an upset, but it didn't feel as shocking as some of the other ones that we're talking about. I mean, how are we supposed to think of Chet Holmgren?

I'm still trying to figure out what to think of him. I don't think he should be wearing the same clothes as SGA in that commercial, because he's just kind of a role player most of the time. Jadot too. I thought Jadot played well last night. I mean, obviously he didn't shoot it great, but he played. He played all right.

Last chance. The one that's like that can't happen. You got you have to. You have to win your match up. And that's not a slight on Miles Turner, who absolutely won the match up, had big plays, big blocks, big shots, that bank shot on the side that was crazy. Did he call that you were there?

No, he definitely didn't call it. And by the way, we didn't know because we're sitting behind. No, it's not even that. It's because we're sitting behind the basket that he was shooting at. And so, and obviously they don't play replays for the opposing team. So he makes that shot.

I'm like, did he bank that? Did he bank it? And no one around me knew. And so I had to like wait. And then I asked like asked people on Twitter or whatever or on threads. And because the delay, I forgot to check the answers. So I didn't find out until doing the post game

with Juju and Trista. Trista was like, and that crazy bank shot. I was like, oh, so it was a bank shot. I mean, I saw where you were sitting based on your video. You were in the auxiliary seats and you said they're behind the basket. Is that insulting? Should you have been placed in better seats?

You know what I mean? So the NBA finals, 90% of the media is gonna be upstairs, right? The people who are downstairs are like either, I'm covering this team, right? So George Sedano. Sedano had good one. Oh, he was on his court side.

Guys, Sedano's doing courtide reporting for ESPN Radio. He's not just hanging out like me or any number of the other media. He's actually going and asking questions. So most of the game he's just hanging out in his seat, though. Sure. But it's like the same thing that Lisa Salters is doing.

It would be like, why is Lisa Salters down there? Yeah, that's kind of the job is to be a courtside reporter, not an upstairs reporter. Wait a second. let me get an elevator go downstairs to ask this question and then come back upstairs that's what you have to do all right I think you should have been closer that's all I'm saying. Upstairs reporter Amino Hassen. You know it's funny because people always say oh man great seats like I didn't look like I'm not buying these seats right this is where they place us and again everybody's upstairs.

Everybody, unless you're covering the team. Who else? Give us a big name that was sitting by you. Who else? I like that question. Who was upstairs? Actually, my seats were pretty good up the stairs. There's levels to upstairs.

So, my seats. Who was behind you? Let's hear that. Who was behind you? Behind me was NBA staff, NBA league staff. The whole row was just all the smiles I saw that the Pacers like sent a ton of their like crew there left There was like the upper deck was like filled with Pacers staff

Yes, sir It was one section and it was to the left of us And so the video I posted on Instagram is of that last play by Halliburton And then I literally turn and I look up there and they're going crazy. At one point, by the way, when it started to sink in, like, oh shit, they might actually do this, it was during the time out. And then they just started chanting, let's go Pacers.

And it was loud. And then the arena went crazy. Oklahoma City, by the way, we can say this right now. It's a cult. It's a cult. It's a cult. It's a cult. Dude, first of all, they don't have a single.

They don't have a single chant that they post on that board. Then people just do it. They just know this is this is what we're all going to say. They all have these clap clapper things and a. Oh, Casey. Then the other thing is, I don't know how many of you guys know this. Apparently, every game they sing Sia titanium. Like in a timeout, like they'll sing like a world championship of darts that's kind of fire actually that's their sweet airline everybody in the arena old ladies baby this year there's

a guy that comes out to that and that crowd that crowd knowing Titanium is an upset. That's perfect. That's a top 40 crowd right there. That's pitch perfect. If there's a town that listens to top 40, it's OKC. Looks like a lot of old white people there. The way that it is, it's a lot of white people. Chris, it's a lot of white people there. Let me tell you something.

How shook was that crowd? I do like the Super Mario Brothers defense thing that they got going on there. Oh yeah. Was that these overdrafts waiting forever for payday? No, thanks. That's why I'm all in on chime set up direct deposit get paid up to two days early. Yeah, two days before everyone else. No monthly fees, no maintenance fees and free overdraft coverage that actually helps you dodge surprise charges. Want to see what all the fuss is about? Go to Chime.com slash Dan. Real-time alerts? Boom! Swipe your card, get the update instantly. And their 24-7 support? Actual humans answering at 2 a.m. when you're

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Aggressive description. I mean what is it, what is that? I'm just saying. You know what? That's me. You're just saying what? That's me. Daniel Day-Lewis does something. I see that photo of Daniel Day-Lewis looking like Lincoln before he's about to start filming Lincoln and you know what I do?

I mean, Stugats. I jerk off all over myself. That's what I do. Lincoln who you outed the other day? Don't make this a rejoin. This is the Don LeVatar Show with the Stugats. What were the buttoles like over there? You know it's crazy again. No because they didn't realize what was happening. Yeah it was. It was such a, we were literally like none of us were like okay oh the pacer's still

hanging on okay all right okay well because the other thing is because it wasn't a collapse. Shay was getting to the pre-dough line. Shay was making shots It was dude literally with three minutes to go Whatever when he makes that tough lip that we thought would have been an one But they didn't call a foul the guy next to me looks at me and says that's some MVP shit right there And I'm like yeah 38 yet the third highest debut of an NBA finals in NBA history like there's no part of this that felt like there was no part of this that felt like it was

no part of this that felt like, Oh, they're blowing this. Oh my God. And so when it happened, like when Halliburton hit the shot, you know how I said the best sound in the world is Madison's court of garden when that kind of shit happens. It didn't sound like that, but it was getting there. It was like, wait a second, wait a second. Are we down? Like it just hit them in that moment. There was a pretty big moment in that game that we haven't talked about at all and it ended up being the difference. I know Halliburton makes a shot but they don't go ahead. We're not for the lane violation. Huge. And dude I don't understand this rule. I don't because that didn't look any

different. I feel like there's a lane violation. Every second free throw. Every second free throw. There's a wild spot to call that. It didn't look particularly egregious. And I know Halliburton hits a shot and he has the moment and the comeback is such that people aren't gonna identify that as a controversial point, nor should they. But let's revisit that a little bit

because that did not look super legit. Again, we never saw a replay. I saw it on the TV broadcast. There was, everybody was, everybody was over the line on the replay. I was trying to figure out who it was and everybody was over the line. Mostly Pacers were in lockstep with OKC players expecting cause Siakam has struggled from the stripe this season. This whole season, everybody was anticipating the miss.

How does it get blamed on OKC? What did you think of that call in that spot? I know you haven't seen replays. I mean, if they called it, clearly on the replay, you see people cross and there's a lane violation, yes, but it's one of those things. Honor amongst thieves, we don't call this. So first of all, the thing i was thinking about at the time was oh shit siakam just missed two in a row in the fourth quarter of an nba finals

game is this going to be his nick anderson moment like like where you know and he's just a terrible free throw shooter the rest of his career i mean he's flirting with that so flat it was it was so he looks he takes his hand off the ball on the release he looks so tight and i think the important thing the ball on the release. He looks so tight. And I think the important thing to point out is if he were just like, if it were Benedict Matheran, we'd be like, oh, okay.

But it's like, you're the guy who's been here. You're supposed to be, I'm the sage adult who's the guys I will show you the way. He looks so tight, right? So he misses that second one. We get a lane violation. We didn't, I'm like, what happened? It's like lane violation, really? Okay. And then he just gets back there and he makes second one. We get a lane violation. We didn't. I'm like, what happened? It's like lane violation.

Really? OK. And then he just gets back there and he makes that one. That was huge. But I'm going to tell you the biggest GTFO moment. It was a Nemheart 3. Yes. Dude.

He dribbled. The balls on this guy. And I was like, what are you doing? Like, let me say it out loud. What are you doing? What are you doing, kid? This is the NBA finals. This ain't your game. And then he steps back and he launches that shit and it drops and I was like I literally just said

Oh my god. Oh my god And then you know the funny thing is he tried doing it like a couple possessions later And he got an air ball, but see I can grab the offensive rebound on that one So there's a lot of these little moments again. It's crazy that Halliburton gets to be the hero when it was like all these other guys of Siakamu, it was Nemhart, it was Toppin, Obi Toppin, 5-0, Obi Toppin kept them in this game. And he looked terrible. It was so bad early. He was wide open on that Halliburton shot, wide open. Give it to Obi. I mean was there any moments in the game before the Halliburton make that

you said the Pacers are going to win this game. I said they're hanging around. I just kept saying they're hanging around. You said wow, paces are going to win three tenths of a second. When, when yes, when Halliburton grabbed the rebound or whoever grabbed the rebound off the Shea Miss and they were dribbling up court. And when I pulled, I pulled out my phone and said, let me start recording this. That's when I was like I think they're actually gonna win this game Carl Anthony Towns gets a lot of crap for changing his voice in certain interviews There's something that happened with Tyrese Halliburr, and I'll get your opinion on let's fire up that video here from the post game Here's the thing is like we've had to win in so many different ways all year

You've had so many weird wins during the regular season, during the playoffs. Why would that change? Because we're here in the finals. It's not changing. So, we only just keep staying at it and just keep believing and that's the result we get. He like turns into Patrick Mahomes there.

The first like 10 seconds, he sounds like Halliburton, turns into Patrick Mahomes. And then for the last five seconds, I wanna play this again, the last five seconds goes back to being Halliburton. Here's the thing, is like we've had to win in so many different ways all year. We've had so many weird wins during the regular season,

during the playoff, so. Why would that change? Because we're here in the finals. It's not changing, so. We only just keep staying at it and just keep believing and that's the result we get. Is it a phlegm situation? Here's the thing though.

He changes his voice literally when he says the word change yeah Be on purpose. I was thinking Flynn because this happens to Dan all the time in this scene We're always like clear your throat He just ate but play one more time if it's a Flem situation you'd hear him clear it He keeps talking and then the voice normalizes on its own equalizes. That's a brand new word that was recently invented Can we hear that one more time again? Here's the thing is like we've had to win in so many different ways all year equalizes on its own, equalizes, that's a brand new word that was recently invented. Can we hear that one more time? Yes, hit it again.

Here's the thing, is like we've had to win in so many different ways all year. We've had so many weird wins during the regular season, during the playoffs, so. Why would that change? Because we're here in the finals. It's not changing. So, you know, we just keep staying at it and just keep believing and, you know, that's the result we get. So Carl Anthony Towns, this is what I give credit to Halliburton.

He has said, I know this happens, I don't know why, I don't realize when it's happening, but I have been told throughout my life that this happens. So Tyrese Halliburton, I give him credit for at least owning up to it, whereas I don't think I've ever heard Towns address why sometimes he's shouting out the guys at Rucker, yo, this is for all the people at Rucker. Did you see the photos of him in the club after they got eliminated? I was rolling, he was doing all like that.

So was he. And it was a phase point. Hey. Let them boys live man, like what are they gonna do, be sad? Yeah! It's all right then. You're a millionaire, go have fun.

No, no, no, I had no issue with it. I only took issue with cats poses in the club. Like he's walking in slow motion. Mike, what would you, would you want Kat to actually be cool? He delivers on expectations every time, Kat. Yeah, like I'm like, yo man, I'm all for, yo, just play into whatever character we've created for you. And then I was like, all right, now it's easy for us

to kind of build like a narrative and kind of a thing about you, man. And the same way that Halliburton man, like, yeah, he's a like, he's his father's son for sure. Let's just put it that way. I mean, the Knicks can't hire Rick Brunson as their head coach, can they? No, I don't. And I don't think that's even an option that's on the table. And I don't think, you know, I mean, I'm sure Rick wants to be a head coach in this league. I don't know if this is the situation he wants to do it in. Um, I just, this is one of those things is weird. It's been a weird week, right? Well, like obviously Tibbs gets fired and then this report comes out and Izzy, we talked about this, but a

reporter who's really not known, speak their name, For nail it. I'm not gonna do that. I don't need to, first of all, like I don't need to do that because why would I give that person any more shine? But second of all, it's irrelevant. Like the point is like when you've been covering this sport for as long as you have, like me and Izzy have, you begin to realize there's a rhythm to news that comes out and that rhythm is there's certain names that,

like if Ian Begley had reported it, I'm like, oh, okay, wow, I didn't know that about how they felt about Rick Brunson. If James Edwards, if Fred Katz, if obviously like a national guy like Sam Amick, or Mark Spears, or Chris Haynes, or Shams, if any of those guys were the ones that reported it, I'd be like, oh, wow. or Chris Haynes or or or Shams if any of those guys were the ones that reported up like oh wow this guy like is notorious for not like he's he always

comes out with the salacious stuff and it's never founded in it and it rarely ever comes true so I'm like I'm not listening to this I'm not running with this I think Rick Carl Rick excuse me Rick Brunson is going to be whoever's get hired next is gonna be the assistant coach for the next coach. It's one of the reasons why Izzy and I talked about this on a, on a Instagram video about, I think, um, Johnny Bryant is going to be the next head coach of the New York Knicks. Part of that familiarity is like, yo, you know, the staff already,

you know, a lot of these guys, obviously the players know you. And so it's a lot more seamless than say bringing in Michael Malone or someone like that. I mean, I'm sure you have reasons as to why you don't wanna speak their name. I've been asking around, do you know who he's talking about? I don't, I don't know who reported that. Who are you talking about?

Who reported this? I'll text you guys later, but like. Oh, it just, okay. I just, Izzy was the only person in the room. He just wrote it down for me. I'll text you guys later, but like. Oh, it just, okay. I just, Izzy was the only person in the room. He just wrote it down for me. I got it. Okay. Yeah. Cool.

I'm driving the audience crazy right now by not revealing it. Another question on the Rick Brunson front. I mean, do you think that if a new coach comes in, they obviously like to get their own staff. They like to get their own guys. And with, even if it's not true, right? Even if the players and Rick Brunson everybody was cool and everything's hugging Dory

Like don't you want as a coach coming in be like, hey, I'm gonna bring my guys in I don't need a retread from the previous administration and Even if it's Jaylen's dad like that whole thing is weird, right? So so Tony I'm a big proponent of if you hire a guy You got to let him hire the staff. That's not been the case in like the last five, six years in the NBA. A lot of these teams are hiring their head coaches.

And by the way, here's your staff. You can bring one guy or you can bring two guys or whatever, or you can bring an assistant coach and a video coordinator. A lot of teams are doing that. I'm not a fan of that. Having said that, I think if I were a new head coach and they said, I mean, you can hire anybody you want. I would absolutely want Rick Brunson on my staff because

number one, Rick's been around. He's a former player. He played for a long time. He was not a great player. He was a cerebral player. He's a guy who existed on his know-how, number one. Number two, obviously, you don't want to start hey franchise player nice to meet you yeah fire your pops get him out of here like that's just a wild way to do it I don't even think the team has to tell you to keep Rick Brunson anyone with a brain would know let me keep one of the most influential guys to in the ear of my best player around. I mean obviously every job in the NBA is good it's it's one out of thirty in the ear of my best player around. I mean obviously every job in the NBA is good.

It's one out of thirty in the entire world. But right now coming off of Tibbido and the success that the Knicks have had the last years they've not had this type of success in a quarter century. Maybe the owner is the one who fired Dolan who the hell knows what's going on. Is that a good job? Zazz I'm gonna tell you like this. First of all, like, oh, yeah, one to 30. But in a lot of these other markets,

you come in and it's like, all right, we're gonna give you, because we're still playing our last coach, we'll give you like a three-year deal, our option on the fourth, and you're gonna make low money. The thing about the next job that makes it great is they almost always give you a four to five year deal Right like think about Hornet set got that physical

Derrick Fisher got that like they all got like multi-year deals and they never come in entry level. They're Good money. So that alone is like yes, I'll do it. It's a good team. And I think most importantly, it's a good locker room. There's not a lot. It's not like a wild ass locker room. It's not like, for instance, when I say a good locker room, I'm not talking about like, oh, they're like Aaron Hernandez type shit going on. I'm just saying like,

imagine going into Charlotte, for instance. They've got some talent, but it's like, these guys don't know how to win. A lot of these guys don't know even how to be professional. I gotta teach all this stuff, right? Versus you come in here like these guys don't know how to win a lot of these guys don't know even how to be professional I got to teach all this stuff right versus you come in here these guys know big like bridges and Brunson and and OG and OG these guys are pros they show up to work they take care of what's needs to be taken care of all I have to do really is put them in a position to

be successful but I'm not gonna get like laziness I'm not gonna get people late to practice or late to buses or late to shoot arounds I'm not going to get like laziness. I'm not going to get people late to practice or late to buses or late to shoot around. I'm not going to get any of that kind of stuff. I just need to coach them on like strategy on what's our strategy how we want to play. And so for that reason, I think it's actually a really good job plus the money plus the guarantees plus you live in New York. I mean, have you visited OKC's cock ring? I'm sorry? No, you heard me right.

Oklahoma City, they have this art installation in downtown, and they call it the cock ring because it just says OKC in a bunch of different letters all over it, and it sort of forms a ring. And you know, OKC is all the letters you need. The city calls it that? You know, the fans. The mayor did have to address this last year

because people have been calling it, what I just called it, for the last several years. So you haven't visited it. Okay. No, yeah, I'm worried. Whoa, what's he doing? I don't know what you were doing. She got it on right now.

Little tight, little tight. That's the point, some would say. All right, so what's your prediction for the rest of this series? I'm gonna pin you down. Yeah, I had Thunder and Five before, and I also said if the Pacers are gonna win one, Game One is their best shot.

Man, do you think that's what Thunder and Five looks like? I don't think so. I mean- You've reserved the right to pin. So this is what a lot of people, it's funny, there were a lot of people last night who were like, oh, I don't know, now maybe the Pacers can win this thing. And my thing is, Game One always favors the underdog

in the sense that the underdog has all this time to lead up to find a gimmick or something that's gonna be different, that's going to change how the favorite is approached. Once Game One is in the books, now we know, oh, that's what you guys are trying to do? Okay, we're gonna go back and make our adjustments and now the underdog has to make their adjustments to the adjustments and the grand dance begins.

But that first game is the first unknown. I don't know how they're gonna come out to guard us. I don't know how they're gonna try to attack us. I don't know what the strategy is gonna be. So before the game, I was telling people, like, if they're gonna steal one, this is the one that they're gonna steal. But I think Oklahoma City, as they've shown time and time again in these playoffs, they're going to learn, they're going to adjust and

they're going to come back pretty harshly. I think we're going to get a great series regardless, whether it's five, whether it's six, whether the Pacers win, whether the Thunder win. I don't think it's going to be four blowouts and we're over, but I do think the Thunder are going gonna win. So did Jonathan Zaslow, what was your prediction? I'm the only person, I'm the only expert on ESPN.com who had Thunder in four. So how does that work?

Are Pacers fans already blowing you up? Because I know when the heat get doubted or when the Panthers get doubted. Well here's how it works, all right? Here's how it works. You got everybody on that ESPN.com, Thunder in five, Thunder in six. How about you grow a pair, all right? So I had Thunder in four. Here's how it works. You got everybody on that ESPN.com thunder and five thunder and six How about you grow a pair? All right, so I had thunder and four. That's right. How are that pair?

Hey, the pair is fine. I don't get everything right. All right, but how about you have a little guts It's fine. Anyone could say thunder and five thunder and six cockering See now here's here's where Zazz is right right if the Thunder end up winning this series No one is gonna go back and say look at that doofus. He had thunder and four I really wanted him five or six that's right, but if the Thunder had swept, I'm a legend Yes, who gets carried on the show exactly I know the game's the way when did they start asking the radio personalities for their? I don't know man, but I was I was happy man but I was happy to be a part of it come on

I think they're running out of other staff oh man you gotta take a selfie from the cock ring today I mean it's okay see what else is there to do you gotta it just I'm giving you an idea of something just to prove it's real please not that one not the one that you have please but that's the one that's the one see cause my hog, please. But that's the one, that's the one. See, because my hog is so massive.

That's what that is. Oh, gosh. That's the one. Nice, man. You gotta use it. Hog talk. I did actually have a question if you're going to hog talk. Chris, do thick wrists imply you have a beer can?

I've always, you know, I'm just doing my own math over here. Always. Always. Oh, real quick. I've always thought bone structure, like if you got like really thick legs, My wrists are dain legs, it'd be weird if it's really thin, right? I mean, there's gotta be some correlation.

Like a pencil. Go ahead, Ameen. Guys, before we get out of here, we have to do this. Where's Dan LeBattard? We need his tears. He said the thunder were unstoppable. Oh! He's a Pacers fan, Ameen.

It's convenient that on the day that he was supposed to, like when the Pacers won, he's not in here. We have to ham it up because apparently whenever you miss a show, it's because you have tears. Remember that.