The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Big Suey: How Am I Irrational?

Episode Date: April 17, 2024

David Samson sticks around to discuss the growth of the WNBA and whether this is just a flash in the pan or if the momentum is real. Jeremy is really mad that Playoff Jimmy was not included in a promotion for the Playoffs even though the Heat are not technically in the Playoffs, and Chris is definitely not being irrational about it. Plus, the West is loaded and Mike Ryan is longing for the days of explicit photoshop on Heat Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to Giraffe King's Network. Six months, 82 games, and finally the postseason is here. First up, the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament. For this, the rules are simple. Win to get in. Eight teams battle to earn their playoff spot in a win or go home style tournament that is bound to be full of highlights, excitement and drama. There's no better way to set the tone for the playoffs than this, so make sure you don't

miss the action. Watch TNT's coverage of the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament on April 16th and 19th on TNT, TruTV and Max. Welcome to the Big Sui, presented by DraftKings. TV in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries 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. The numbers came in, Stugatz, and we had a busy sports time the last couple of days, but the WNBA draft did more than two million viewers I told you the other day curb your enthusiasm on max did 1.1 million it's last night for

one of the most successful runs in the history of television for one of the most successful writers in the history of television for the WNBA draft to double that number in a in a fractured different time for where people get their stuff and it's hard to sit people down in front of something and get their time when you want it at two million people but the draft brought giant numbers. I'm gonna be super interested in David I'd be interested in your opinion on this on if it carries forward if this is momentum or a flash in the pan Okay, but can we but can we just can I've been celebrating it for two weeks? I'm just asking my question and you can I but I just before we get to just questioning whether they can do it

Let's just stop for a moment and have David's analysis on what it means that out of nowhere we have these kinds of numbers that don't have a precedent for a sport and something just blossoming right in front of you. It was a fascinating dichotomy when you saw the numbers for the WNBA draft and then you saw the numbers for the Masters final round, and you see two sports potentially going in different directions. And then when you compare the WNBA draft numbers, blowing away major league baseball's draft, the NHL draft, and you're thinking to yourself, is this all Caitlin Clark?

And if it is, what do they do to continue this? And you heard the commissioner of the WNBA say, we're looking at expansion. Well, they've been looking at expansion for years, but now they're really going to get serious about it once the Bay Area team starts. They're going to try to get even potentially to South Florida. So what the WNBA is doing now, we're going to see with the broadcast deal. And we talked about it on the sporting class with John Skipper. If they're still a part of the NBA deal, then the WNBA and all this talk about how they

are a standalone entity, then I won't be buying it. If they go out on their own and announce a TV deal that doubles the value, which was pinned at 60 million as part of the NBA deal. If they can really get double that on their own, then you're talking about meaningful change to the value of the teams and to the value of the league in general. So it's an incredibly exciting time because this is it. This is their moment.

They hadn't seen numbers like this. It beat the 2004 draft with the Antarousie, which got 600,000. So this we are seeing a different world. A couple of things. First, I don't think it's necessarily true to say it came out of nowhere because the draft viewership has increased over the past four years, especially like the bubble season for the WNBA when they put a lot more games on TV was when a lot of this huge growth for the WNBA started.

And while the number from this Monday night was obviously a lot huger than it was last year, it's been going up every year. The second thing, which I think, a lot of people back here were surprised that, it's a pretty big number, a couple million people watched. The WNBA has finally embraced the draft as an event. And I think, Billy, it's not sexist

to say that they need a clock, by the way. But they had ticketed fans this year, they got rid of the dress code, which I think stifled a lot of players' ability to express themselves and to make it a fashion show the way the NFL draft is. I know when I watch the NFL draft and I see players coming in in their suits

and their outfits, I'm always like, that's some of the most shared stuff you'll see on social media that night. And so I think that has a large part to do with it. And I don't think it's all Caitlin Clark. I do think that Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, Camila Cardoso, there's a number of players that I think are really driving the attention

because we've gotten used to seeing them play in college for four years and we've gotten more used to seeing more games on TV. Like the number of games both in college and the WNBA that have been on TV have basically like equally correlated to more viewership. But we're in a different world now. Last year they had five hundred and seventy thousand people watch the draft. That's nice. But a step up from 570 to 2 million is just you can't plan that.

You don't expect to have growth like that. And that's not explained by increased exposure of games or knowledge of more players or a change of dress code. That could be a total sea change in every part of the business. I didn't say that was the only reason why. I'm just explaining that it didn't come out of nowhere because the interest level has been increasing for years, which I think correlates with people being able to actually watch the games on TV. And we've already, I don't think I need to repeat the same things we've been saying for like three months about why I think Caitlin Clark has come in at the perfect time for this to happen. But there's a number of factors that go into it and her stardom and her style of play, I think is one of the biggest factors. But we've already talked about it 15 times. So

I didn't mention it again. What I'm excited for is May 14th. I think that is her first nationally televised game. And there's going to be a lot of eyes both watching the game and looking at the numbers. And if you see numbers that day, I did a wait to see Jessica, I'm curious what you would think. There'll be more people watching that game than watching the Braves Mets on Sunday night on ESPN and that would have been unheard of. There could be more people watching that game than who watched the Masters, the final round, which I think nobody thought would be possible. What kind of number do you expect from their first nationally televised game? What kind of number do you expect from their first nationally televised game? I don't know, but I mean, I think it's going to be huge.

And I think that, you know, it's not a flash in the pan. I think that like this is part of the growth you're seeing in women's sports has been proven in other women's sports as well with the NWSL signing a huge right steal last year that really up their valuation. And this is part of the reason that, you know, they brought in Kathy Engelbert to be the signing a huge rights deal last year that really upped their valuation. And this is part of the reason that they brought in Kathy Engelbert to be the commissioner because she's overseen a pretty momentous time

for the WNBA, they're expanding next year, they're going to have to keep expanding what she talked about ahead of the draft. And I mean, it's just, like you said, the CBA is coming up, they can opt out in 2025 and there's going to be a renewed rights negotiation in 25. So it's a huge opportunity. Hopefully that the WNBA is up for the task

and up for the challenge of meeting it where it is. I think there's also the added element of certain owners in the WNBA willing to, like Mark Davis, literally invest a lot in the team and make it a place where free agents wanna play. And it's no surprise that they've now won back-to-back championships. They've built a dedicated facility for the aces to play in.

You're seeing similar things in Seattle with them landing free agents because of their practice facilities. And so I think some of the owners that aren't putting that into it need to step up and do that as well. Chartered flights is obviously something we've talked about a lot on this show as well. Some of the owners that aren't putting that into it need to step up and do that as well. Chartered flights is obviously something we've talked about a lot on this show as well.

Some of the owners are for it, some of the owners don't wanna do it. So there's a lot going on kind of behind the scenes that I think this moment, it's like, everyone who watches the sport is ready for them to take the leap and it happens slowly. It's happened slowly over the last few years, right? Caitlin Clark's rookie salary is more than it would have been

if she entered the league during the last CBA, and it's less than it would have been if she were joining the league during the next CBA. It's going up, and I think that, you know, it's just a huge moment for the WNBA, and I really hope that they seize it. These are major leaps, though. So David, I have no doubt that first game

is gonna do a massive number. But what I do wonder about is game six, game eight, game 10, are those games going to do a massive number? I don't know, to be honest with you. It's the biggest question they're facing and that's when I talk about is it a flash in the pan? Is it sustainable? Because you try to have a company which grows

and you try to grow at a consistent rate because the concern is if you grow at such a huge rate really quickly, you cannot sustain that and then expectations are really not met. And I worry with the WNBA as with any business that has this sort of moment, if you don't take advantage of it or it doesn't work, it actually puts you in a worse place than you would have been had you just

continued the growth that Jessica was talking about prior to this year, which was incremental. So that's why game six and eight are actually way more important than game one. What happens when people are getting used to seeing it? Do they keep watching? But the college basketball WNBA calendar works in their favor, correct? Because you're riding the high of March Madness, then you go right into the draft and then the season starts shortly after the draft. So people don't have that much time to get distracted by other things.

So if you still have that excitement from March, from March Madness, from Caitlin getting drafted, first game is a month from now, it sounds like. It's literally a perfect storm. There is no break. You have to feel for these players. They get out of the tournament and then right to the draft, right to training camps. I think training camp starts April 25th or so, and then right into the first game, May 12th, no off season whatsoever. That is taxing on athletes playing year round and women have been forced to do

that. It's well documented in order to supplement their income. It eventually can get to your body. So that's another thing to watch is the health of these players. What's the movie you're reviewing for us this week? Can we spend some time talking about Girl State? It's a perfect movie to review. Does anyone watch it on Apple TV? Haven't seen a documentary. So it's a movie. I review. Does anyone watch it on Apple TV? Haven't seen it. Documentary.

So it's a movie. I didn't know this existed. The American Legion apparently has a program and I reviewed Boy State on Nothing Personal this morning and now Girl State. Girl State is a program of women where they send in Missouri or states around the country where they have a political learning camp.

It's not a sports camp. You go and you get elected governor or attorney general or Supreme court. It's a one week intense training program where women or boys or girls learn to be politicians and they learn to argue issues. And I was taken aback by the inequality of girls state versus boys state.

And we talk about inequality on so many different levels. Well, now it has seeped down to the level of high school where the boys state program with American Legion is hugely financed and supported and the girls state is barely financed at all. The rules are way more strict. The ability for them to learn is quashed in a way that is totally unfair. And this documentary follows girls, four of them, as they run for office during the week

and as they figure out how to navigate a world where for no reason at all, they're at a disadvantage before the first jump ball. It's a fascinating one, two documentary to watch. Girl State's brand new on Apple TV. Boy State is from 2020. I suggest watching Boy State first so you have a frame of reference

and then Girl State so you can have a discussion. I suggest those parents send their kids to a real camp. Go jump in a lake lake play some softball Some color war do something friendship It's a really cool camp and they weren't nerds David okay good talking to you Nothing personal were you telling him to go fly a kite or were you telling him to go to a camp and fly a

kite or were you telling him to go fly a kite? See you later. Six months, 82 games, and finally the postseason is here. First up, the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament. For this the rules are simple. Win to get in. Eight teams battle to earn their playoff spot in a win or go home style tournament that is bound to be full of highlights, excitement, and drama.

There's no better way to set the tone for the playoffs than this, so make sure you don't miss the action. Watch TNT's coverage of the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament on April 16th and 19th on TNT, TruTV, and Max. Don Lebatard. I don't like smutty either. Stugats. Women stay home in the kitchen where they belong. This is the Don Lebatard Show with the Stugats. Well, I said Monday I was already exhausted by the Playoff Jimmy conversation and I was just made more exhausted when I saw Heat fans, including our own Jeremy Fart Bear Tachay,

get mad that Jimmy Butler wasn't in this NBA video promoing the playoffs. Is Playoff Jason a thing? Nah, Playoff Jason is not a thing. Okay Tatum, we all know it's a thing. Look at the evidence. Just ask Playoffs. Playoffs is not a thing. Okay, Tatum. We all know it's a thing. Look at the evidence. Just ask Playoff's spider. It's not a thing. Playoff Brunson can't deny it.

I mean... Is that official? Oh, wait. No, no, no, no. Are you serious? It's not a thing. Oh, I see. You got the whole league in on this. It's not a thing. Come on!

We finally get to see Playoff Giannis play with Playoff Dane. Right, Dane? It's not a thing. It's clearly a thing. It's clearly a thing! How else you explain Playoff teams going on Playoff runs making everybody ask? But is this their Playoff year? Playoff Toonchi knows it's a thing.

It's game time. Playoff crowds are louder! Playoff cameos have more flavor. Even Chuck's Playoff jokes are funnier. No they are not. So grab your playoffs snacks and watch some NBA playoff basketball. Fuck out below!

Because we all know. It's not a thing. It's clearly a thing. And Jimmy Butler, not in the video, even though we all call him Playoff Jimmy, but also Jimmy Butler, not in the video, even though we all call him playoff Jimmy, but also Jimmy Butler, not in the playoffs. Wow, what are the playoffs these days? That's a great question.

The play-in is not a playoff. Are you sure? You can't have a play-in. You gotta play in for the playoffs. It's clearly an in, it's not an off. Last night felt like playoff games. You've got nine to an in though, you gotta get in before you can get off.

You gotta get in before you can get off. If you don't have Jimmy in this commercial, you need to just go with a different theme Because who else in the league name another player in the league that get in before you can get on name another player in The league that gets playoff play off P people in the playoffs Just just just just make the playoffs. Yeah, I've seen Jeremy complain. I've seen he Twitter complain Make the playoffs.

You guys are missing the point, no one's? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Jimmy is a thing where it's not a thing for everybody else according to this commercial. It's certainly a thing Well, I think it's a thing for Damien Lillard, but it's also a thing for Jimmy Butler But it's only a thing for him if he's in the playoffs. They probably made this commercial what two months ago? I bet they had a version where it ends with Jimmy being like yeah, it is kind of a thing I don't know they had to cut it because they're in the playoffs. You know one's disputed. You're getting it now No, but I thought that's amazing. No, no My point is you got a punt on the entire commercial like oh, yeah because they're in the playoffs. See, no one's disputing. See, you're getting it now. No, but I think- Oh, that's amazing. I'm so happy. We've grown. My point is, is you gotta punt on the entire commercial.

Oh yeah, no, you- The whole- Don't promote the playoffs because Jimmy Butler didn't get in it. No, Jimmy, he didn't make the playoffs yet, so we can't talk about them. No, let my boy cook. I think he's making a good point.

The playoffs don't need promotion at the Heat RNN. Don't go with the joke of, playoff blank is his playoff blank, because Jimmy's the only guy they do that with. Playoff P is not really a playoff spider bite. Whatoff blank because Jimmy's the only guy they do that with playoff P is not really Right playoff spider. What do you mean? It's not a really a we did the stoop. We did a thing with playoff P Do you think they're having this conversation in Atlanta? Because Trey young isn't featured big no if no because he's not

It's essential to the playoff promo that people they're featuring are in the playoffs. But if Playoff Trey was a slogan, people in Atlanta would be complaining about it. If he was in the playoffs, but he is presently not in the playoffs. I think the play-in is the playoffs. It is not because there's 10 seeds.

Gotta be in to get off. Right. But a 10 seed could get in the 10 seeds. Gotta be in to get off. You gotta, you gotta get in. But a 10 seed could get in the playoffs. You gotta get in to get off. It's just, you know, Kevin Herder is not yet, you know, well he's hurt, but he's not Playoff Kevin. They wanna use our thing.

We created the Playoff Jimmy. This is the Heat's thing, Playoff Jimmy. The Heat created the playoffs? No, the Heat created saying Playoff Jimmy. But no one says Playoff Jimmy except Heat fans. The Heat fans definitely created making gripes where there are none. Here comes playoff Jimmy all over ESPN.

Why does it- Regular season Jimmy show up and then you don't get in this playin' situation. That's a valid question. If regular season Jimmy played games, just play in Jimmy. You could've won two more games and you could've locked in potentially

a four seed playoff Jimmy Instead of a play-in game where if you lose two games you missed a playoffs entirely because you half-assed it all season long I'm with you on that. Good. I'm tired of it. I'm you know Billy hammer Right on the nail like it's sorry for Kirsten. Why are we ripping the heat? You're not tired after tonight They will be in the playoff. We we know how tonight's gonna go Yeah, they're gonna win. I saw everyone on first take pick the sixers. They're gonna winning tonight Okay, they're gonna release a new cut of this promo. Yeah, I don't doubt it that day

I'm sure they would love to feature playoff Jimmy. I'm sure it makes all the sense in the world The idea was around Jimmy. I bet you the the pitch for this entire premise was based off. I'm off I think the pitch was how do we promote the NBA playoffs on the ESPN family? I'm surprised they're not promoting play in Jimmy. Who has it? Is it ESPN or TNT? ESPN, I believe.

Okay, well look, no matter what, Heat fans will find their pivot. If the Sixers win, Jimmy will say something asinine that'll never stick to him again. And we'll hope to back in as an eight seed and then we'll do the whole boss and thing again. Gotta go through us and we'll beat our chance over playoff Jimmy.

Is he wrong? I'm rooting against the Miami Heat. Oh, jeez. I'm rooting against them. Get outta here, bro. I'm rooting against them and it's because of two people'm rooting against them. No you're not. And it's because of two people. Number one's Terry Rozier, you know this. Terry, Terry.

He's not playing tonight. Number two, which is actually. Increasing their odds. Yeah, I may actually end up rooting for them. And Jeremy Tashay. Oh. That's a good reason. Yeah.

You know how older generations always complain about the new SNL cast? That's kind of where I'm at with Jeremy. Wow. I don't know what happened to Heat Twitter, but he is the alchemist of what it's become. And it's just, it's embarrassing. But isn't it your fault?

Didn't you, you created this monster? I created, God's sake, I created all these things. Like, did you guys create a Bomani? I found them. I created all these things. Who said Heat in create a Bomani? Yeah. I found them. I created all these things. Who said Heat in 5 first? Me. Because I feel like that, the whole Heat in 5 culture of no

matter what, they're going to win. That's what I think is really at the crux of all this. All of the Heat Twitter slogans were created by this show. They're the intellectual property of this show. It is pretty ironic to me that I'm sitting back and I see my Twitter mentions of angry Heat fans and they're using catchphrases that I created against me. Yeah, that's how it works.

You cannot complain about not being featured in a playoff promo when you are not in the playoffs. This is base level stuff. If I may, Paul George, I believe, is the one who called himself playoff p can you get the allison but he was wrong roshel well but i'm just saying when we talk about who gets the nickname of playoff person it is only playoff jimmy and i also thought by the way

that his home not a thing of was something that he was saying that that whole commercial is basically playoff Jimmy, and I think he also said, it's not a thing, and that's the note they keep hitting on there. In seeing that promo though, I am pretty excited. In the event that the Heat do match up against the Celtics and then I go right back into being my worst Heat fan self,

I am totally gonna isolate, is playoff Jason a thing, and him saying nah. Playoff go pee-pee. My barber says that this is the last season of Jimmy Butler here in Miami. So we could be facing the last two games here of, well, we need to get into the why. But we may be facing the last two games here

of Jimmy Butler here in town. So how are we going to remember the Jimmy Butler years? Just if I may, because you guys, I mean, this, tonight, like I know we've gotten spoiled around here, okay? But tonight, the Miami Heat are again playing another basketball game that matters. They are the biggest underdog among the play-ins

because everyone fears what the Sixers are with Embiid Healthy. Tonight, the Miami Heat play a basketball game that has a lot on it, not just because you set up, if you win, you set up Heat Knicks, which is lovely, for two weeks. It's a good deal of fun for two weeks.

That's what you're setting up. Or if you lose, you then get into the same situation you were in last year, the same identical situation where now you've got to win a home game to get into the playoffs and then the first series is where the conference has been one except for one detour through Milwaukee for five years this conference as soon as LeBron left it and joined what was winning over there with the Warriors joined that side this conference has run through this team in boston

for five years and what you have tonight is a game that legitimately matters that you guys are starting with trade jimmy it's already over and mike ryan is like i'm bored by boston this team is mike was right on this is a playing team he said it before the season started they played all year like a play-in team I will one more time Mike Ryan was right oh damn I might take off this nipple sticker right now and just give it a little pinch hmm you have no faith though man I mean it did the same thing last year yeah I did the same

exact dance last year, where he was out. And there were a playing team last year. He was out before it started. And look how good Wembe was. Let me see. Well, this is another point. Do you want to see it?

This is another point. Tony, it's funny that you say that, because Wembe would look real good in a heat uniform if they had won that lottery ball last year. But I want to play for the audience. I want to see if I can get Mike Ryan fired up, Stu Gatz, by just taking you back to how and where and when it became playoff jimmy because the musical notes on what the playoffs are stugats you need up kevin harland to

be there for every moment with you to meet you at the height of those moments how did he become playoff jimmy this is kind of how it was in the bubble but it was also this Why not? Why not Jimmy Butler? Butler's got 49 points! 14 in the fourth quarter! Yana's drive spins, fires, no! Butler! Long shot! Long shot!

Long shot! Long shot! Long shot! Long shot! Long shot! Long shot! Okay, big takeaway from this video. That feels like it's five years ago. Yes. And it's solely because of the lift that Jimmy Butler has on his jump shots.

No announcer in the history of announcing meets the moment like Kevin Harlan. Playoff Kevin. Kevin Harlan. Playoff Kevin. Kevin Harlan's great. But were you also stunned by the amount of lift on Jimmy Butler's jump shots? He looks like a different player. Five feet in the air. Well, that is playoff Jimmy there. And that's where the legend continued.

It started in the bubble, no doubt. But last year was insane. Totally unprecedented. And eight seed, having that miraculous run. This year's team, even though last year's team had a miraculous run, it showed it had the juice. This year's team doesn't, and that is because of the star. And I tend to agree with your barber, Billy.

I think if they lose. Because of the lack of juice in the legs is what you're saying. Well, no, he said that Jimmy lost the team when he showed up a media day dressed up Lost who specifically? Want to take a picture with him he lost BAM that day and Riley was out It's going after him bead Hey listening audience. It's Mike Ryan and

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They cannot, they're not going to make it, you know. Even if they win in, if they lose it in Miami. I need to calm you down. That's right. If they lose in Miami, they don't get a chance in Boston. Oh, they are going to have their ass, you know what, in Boston, you know. Stugats. They were wrong.

They were, are they going to lose their job? No. Are they going to get a cutting pay? No. What are they going to do? Keep predicting what is the obvious. They are going to say, oh, the Nuggets are going to win. Oh, Denver, the altitude.

And you know what? The Heat are going to win it all. This is the Don LeVatar Show with the Stugats. Playoff P has been proven to work in the regular season for those who have struggled with moderate to severe postseason disappointment. It is not recommended as a first option. Do not take Playoff P while on Grainger. Side effects include choking, heaving, not finishing,

constipation, finishing early, and all around disappointment. Playoff pee is not for everyone. Call your doctor if you experience susceptibility to catfishing, kissy face, Australian sensitivity, paternity suits, the inexplicable urge to play for the Lakers, or thinking that dude's butt belongs to a lady. If you experience the

loss of Oladipo, please call your doctor immediately. Get headed in a new direction with Playoff Pee. The West is loaded man. Crazy. So the Warriors are finished and LeBron is a threat. I mean you you have to be threatened He's roaming. I know Mike Greenberg is saying that they should have sat to avoid Denver And I still don't think right boring or droning excellence though It was I don't think that anyone should sleep on the idea that the Denver Nuggets are kind of championship should sleep on the idea that the Denver Nuggets are kind of championship overwhelming and I would not want to play them if I were any team in the league Boston Celtics included. Do you agree with Greeny so they should have lost that game? No, it's

ridiculous. Dumbest take. That was like the dumbest take I've ever heard. Well let's play it out because they would have a one-game scenario right now with Sacramento right? That would be it? I mean they win that game. You can't go into a game trying to lose Mike said something earlier about the Bruins Potentially doing that last night throwing the game because they didn't want to whatever the matchups It's like Paul Marie spoke to this a couple weeks ago of the Panthers coach You can professional teams don't go into get they might bench players that they want to start But they're never gonna just say hey our best players are out here try to lose today That is just never going to just say, hey, our best players are out here, try to lose today. That is just never going to happen.

You might sit your stars and have the backups try, but there's never going to be a game with your stars out there that you're like, hey, at the very end, lose this game. See what the Cavs did, final game, regular season? I mean, Tristan Thompson was playing point guard. Well, there you go. That's at least they weren't playing their guys.

They're not trying to lose, they're just playing a bad lineup. It was so stupid, agree, you said. 16 shots on goal against Washington Capitals and like 12 throughout two periods. They just started trying midway through the third period. It was weird. So they tried to lose the first half of the game.

I'd be more concerned about Boston, yeah. You don't think any team has ever seen what comes ahead for them and if they lose it's better and tried to lose? No, I think that they may bench their starters if they want to lose a game, but they're not gonna tell you go out there and lose. I just think that there's something subconscious

that happens to the effort that is hard to quantify. I'm not arguing that. It's just the idea of go out and lose is a ridiculous practice. I don't think anyone says go out and lose this game unless they're tanking for a draft pick. No one says it. Yeah. It's understood.

But there are certain things, and it starts from the top down. At the executive level, if they just kind of want you to lose, the effort usually meets that. Mark Cuban got fined for saying it's better if we lose. He got fined a substantial amount of money, I think like half a million or a million dollars, for saying it benefits us to lose.

And they realized how bad it looked That was so they gave him a giant fine. They were not trying to win Chris since I guess and you're pretty rational by comparison, but In terms of heat fans, you're the most irrational of us right now. What's the pivot? Rational what's cuz you're complaining about someone not being in the play complaining about someone not being in the playoff version. I'm irrational! Did you not hear your voice there? Yeah, my boy, dude. Your voice, if I were making a cartoon thing

that was meant to symbolize irrational, that's the voice I would give it. The entire premise. So the premise of them playing in the play-in tonight, if they lose that game, it doesn't stick to Jimmy, if they lose the game tonight? I don't like your premise. Ha ha ha. What do I just? What's the spin to Jimmy if they lose the game tonight? I don't like your premise. What's the spin gonna be if they lose to the Philadelphia 76ers?

Bam needs to get better. I don't like being painted as this like Heat Defender. I'm just saying the playoff Jimmy thing, that commercial, that's the Jimmy thing. I agree. I would have a gripe. What are you saying? It's a ridiculous commercial. He's just saying. What are you saying?

I'm saying it's a ridiculous commercial without Jimmy. It is. What do you mean? Why'd they have such a ridiculous season that wasn't a playoff season? That's a great question. He said find a new slogan to promo the playoffs if you're not gonna use Jimmy Biden.

Punt on that commercial if Jimmy's not in it. It's the whole thing. I gave you. This is why. I gave you the new commercial. The premise of it. Why even give out the Larry O'Brien trophy if it's not gonna be to the Heat?

I thought I was a narcissist. This is insane. Well, I'll tell you what's insane. It is. There are a number of things here that are insane, but if you've listened to this show for 15 years, to see the permutation of Heat Twitter Guide, go from Mike Ryan, all right, I'll allow Cortez.

I'll allow Parakeed Cortez as a representative for our culture to be obnoxious and in character the all and I'm the narcissist I'll allow him to only exist because I allow it to leave made him heat with Twitter But then to have it become Jeremy who's more annoying than any of them and less charming and going for bad jokes all the time. I understand how Mike says this is not a proper representation that honors the obnoxious I tried to make of heaped Twitter. No, he's embarrassing to me. He's embarrassing to me. It's I don't want to just blame Millennials, but I feel like I have to. I'd like to dig in a little deeper here

because Jeremy has been aggressively cocky lately about being not funny on purpose, and it's destructive. Really sinking into it. He thinks he's that charming. Will Seeloff, though, deserved a better fate, I thought. I mean, it was good, it was clever, it was cute. I'm saying he's making aggressively bad jokes all of the time.

This generation of heat fans are an embarrassment to the people that brought him to the dance. I'm talking about the This Is Chuckers of the world. We were putting horse d***s on photoshops before you even knew Photoshop was a thing. You know? That was what we were doing. You were born in this fire. When someone said something bad, boom, horse penis on the head, move on. That's how you do it. Tony, you're reacting as if,

because I think Mike would allow you, you haven't summoned. Oh, you picked the Pacers? Here's some buttholes for eyes. That's what we did. That was classic. I would just respond, eatin' five. They made glasses for that damn butthole glasses.

You wanna keep talkin'? Guess what, entire face, butthole. Yeah. Bushemi eyes. You were saying, Dan? Who said that? That there's a lane for you here, Tony, if you want to be, because I think Twitter is usually pretty ethnic, I think, and it's loud. If you want to represent Miami like that crypto billionaire, there is something to being a charming kind of obnoxious, a clever, a self-aware kind of obnoxious. They're all filled with Jeremy's right now. Before, if someone gave the middle finger to Joakim Noah,

there was probably a murder in their past that was suspicious. And guess what, that was a thing that actually happened. True story, that's a thing. That's a playoff thing right there. A woman gave Joaquin Noah the finger, she became instantly famous, and then we checked her past and there was a suspicious murder. Now the people giving the middle fingers from Beta Club.

Ugh, please, dorks. I hate betas. So Dan, I feel like you're on the same page with me here. You want to get the dorks out of Heat Twitter. And I'm always for getting dorks the hell out of there. I don't think Jeremy's a dork. Oh, he's a dork. He's a dork. He's such a dork.

What are you talking about? You guys are being so mean. I'm torn though, because he is really annoying about the Heat, so. And tonight, Miami Heat play a game, Stu Gotts. You know we don't do very many previews around here, but we're going to be involved. We're gonna be doing some stuff with all the smoke

during the playoffs where we'll pop up at night and we'll do some playoff coverage on things. Tonight would have been a good night for us to enjoy together because while you gotta get in to get off, this is a big night. The play-in has been a success across. Unless the Heat lose. And then the big night's not,

it wasn't really a big night. It's the next night. We're saving our bodies for the, lose and then the big nights no I wasn't really a big night we're saving our bodies for the we wanted Boston the whole time I would like to see both the pivot I would like to see both those series but I'm rooting right now Stu gots and this puts me in Homer classification because I don't think and this isn't even a knock on Miami like I said they're a good team. They're 24 and 17 on the road. They have no reason to be afraid of the road. OKC, that's their record on the road.

Denver, that's their record on the road. The very best teams. Miami can win this basketball game, but Philadelphia has the best player on the court. Philadelphia has been not Miami even though it had the first round picks to be Miami in a process to be Miami over the last five years Philadelphia has always fallen at the feet of Miami and Boston has no answers they've got an MVP candidate and he does not advance beyond these teams. Jimmy Butler played for Philadelphia. Philadelphia might have won a championship already if they

hadn't chosen Tobias Harris over Jimmy Butler. Tony's got a take here. Tony's got a take on tonight. I'm worried. Dan, you said they have the best player in Joel Embiid. And it feels like, if all things considered, some people don't play up to the caliber of what they're playing, OK? A lot of qualifiers here. Yep. Looks like Maxie could be the second best

player on the court. What if Maxie doesn't play well? I mean, this is a weird thing. It's like, if Jimmy doesn't play well, Maxie could be the second best. He had a lot of qualifiers. He edged his bets there a little bit. But if you're going off of this season,

there's no question who the two best players on the court are. It's Embita Maxey. But we all know what's going around Jimmy is reserving the body for playoff Jimmy. I want to see the five foot in the air jumper. That's what I want to see. Who would you rather have tonight? Would you rather have Jimmy Butler or Joel Embita?

Joel Embita. Really? I take Jimmy. Yeah. Yeah, of course. All right, let me just get that's what you're doing Oh, just back in the day It was so refreshing if Tony would were to give that take in front of a microphone guaranteed

He would have buttholes for eyes within five seconds The part that I will disagree with you on and I know that you want to make fun of me in general for a take From the middle of the Lillard sweepstakes where I said that Tyler Hero, that he was as good as Tyrese Maxey. The second best player on the court tonight, depending on how things go with all the qualifiers, because I don't know why it is that we always ignore the defensive side of the ball when doing this,

is Bam Adebayo, who's on the Olympic team and is an all-world defensive player. And if the Miami Heat are to win this basketball game it will be because they play excellent defense as they do in the playoffs as they always do for spolstra and the key to all of that including being able to guard maxine key situations cuz he's six nine and he's able to do things on the perimeter that no other defender can do with a coach that can do things with him that they cannot be done with any other

defender maxi is not better than bam on a bio I don't know why you guys always ignore defense especially this time of year well because what kind of bam are we gonna get are we gonna get a Dries are we gonna get bam there's a lot of questions Dan there's a reason why there's a lot of caveats cuz a lot of questions a big game big game unless the heat lose then not a big game look it's if they win you keep with this playoff, Jimmy Mantra, and you talk yourself into ridiculous things because we saw them do something fairly ridiculous.

But if they lose, please, just the core, toss it out. Wow. I'm done. There we go again. He's been doing that for two years. They have a home game at two nights. I'm done talking about his bam, gonna find the guts. I'm done talking about it. I'm done the guts. I'm done talking about it.

I'm done trying to wait around and see if I can trust Duncan Robinson. I'm done trying to figure out if Tyler Hero is gonna be healthy or not for a stretch. I'm done having these conversations with him. I'm putting buttholes on you, Mike. Buttholes on you. Whoa!

Buttholes on you! It's a big game tonight! Oh hell yeah. Oh Jesus! That escalated quickly! Entire premise. Gotta get in to get off.