The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Nick Wright: Lakers SOLD With $10B Valuation! Caitlin Clark Is BETTER Than Advertised, OKC’s Relentless Defense, What’s Missing From NBA Broadcasts

Episode Date: June 19, 2025

Colin’s joined by Nick Wright, host of “First Things First” on FS1! They start with the major breaking news that the Buss family has sold the Los Angeles Lakers at a $10 billion dollar valuation, and why it’s a massive positive for the Lakers to no longer be a mom & pop operation (3:00). They compare and rank the biggest brands in American sports (13:00), argue that star players under contract can do as much for a valuation as the brand’s legacy and explain why team valuations have skyrocketed in recent years (19:00). They pivot to Caitlin Clark and debate whether the media is UNDERRATING her superstardom and how great she will become on the court (28:15). They break down OKC’s relentless defense, why it manages to be so effective in the absence of a truly dominant rim protector and why it would smother the greatest teams from earlier decades (38:00).   They discuss the lack of on-air chemistry between the broadcasters on the ESPN NBA broadcasts despite their high level of individual talent, and Colin lament the lack of highly produced features and packages on the broadcasts that make games feel like big events (55:00). Colin argues that when it comes to making live events feel huge, nobody does it better than UFC and Dana White (1:16:00). Finally, they talk about how things are going for Colin in Chicago and Colin argues that the traffic is worse in Chicago than L.A. but Nick offers him some MAJOR pushback (1:20:00). They compare and contrast west coast versus east coast politics & culture and highlight which parts appeal to them (1:26:00).  (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Download the GameTime app today. Last minute, tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. All right, we get Nick Wright for an hour, and it's a newsbreaking day. The Lakers just sold for a $10 billion evaluation, which I've believed, a long time, Nick, all these sports franchises are undervalued whenever they say, you know, the Cowboys are worth $7 billion. My take is if somebody in Saudi Arabia had a good month with oil, they buy them for $13 billion because you don't know if Google is going to be around in 20 years or Microsoft.

You know the Dallas Cowboys are going to be around in 20 years. In fact, I remember reading a story years and years ago. They went back to like 1980, and they took the 30 leading. companies on the Dow Jones, and 25 years later, only one was still like a really, it was like Chevron or something. And so my point is, the Mark Walters group is the Dodger owner. It's a really good group, and it does make me think, okay, the mom and pop Lakers are over. Because that's been the big knock in L.A. is that, I mean, people forget little old Dan Gilbert could buy the bus family four times. They've been one of the poorest NBA ownership groups.

Correct. And one of the poorest from a net worth perspective. And I would argue that they have been one of the more poorly run organizations in the league. And I know that's weird because they have the second most championships. And they just got Luca and LeBron went there. But I think that they have squandered a lot of opportunities. I think that since Dr. Bus passed, there are very few things you can say. the Lakers do top-notch in the league. And while they have been, you know, willing to spend, I think they've, you know, last decade, they've spent like the seventh most money. They should be, they, the seventh most for Los Angeles Lakers is not maximizing the market and the brand. I understand it's not baseball.

So there is a cap like, and in the new NBA with the aprons, just spending recklessly can really hamstring you. But this is a massive. massive net positive for the Los Angeles Lakers, for their fans, in my opinion. You should not have, they're in a weird spot where similar to the Cowboys, where ownership's primary source of income is the team. And that's one of the reasons I think that Cowboys don't necessarily spend the way they should, and that's how I have felt about the Lakers.

So listen, I don't know much about Mark Walters. I know that he bought 26% of the team from, I think, and Shoots or whomever with the guarantee. Part of that was, if the buses sell, I get the first opportunity. And now he's in. Now, I agree with you. Historically, sports franchises have been undervalued.

I wonder if we are now getting to wear $10 billion, $10 billion, kind of like, that's a lot of money. So the Celtics sold for $6 billion. The GDP of Bob. The gross domestic product is 600 million annually. It's a trillion in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles economy would be the 20th biggest economy in the world, meaning it would be bigger than about 185 countries.

And so... And they own the Lakers own their arena. So that's an important. So like you just, if the arena's worth $2 billion, given where it is in the real estate and whatever, so now it's not six versus 10. It's six versus eight. And you take the fact that LA's a bigger market and, you know, as much as this will pain our buddy Bill Simmons, the Lakers are the biggest brand in basketball.

Listen, the Celtics were in the finals two years ago. It didn't get a good rating. It didn't get a number. I mean, when the Lakers are in the final, regardless of who the star is, it generally gets a much bigger rating. Well, yes, it's also true. The Lakers have never been in the finals without one of the biggest stars in the league. Well, that's not a lot of like, oh, that Lakers. time they made the finals with that scrappy underachieving team. No, it's LeBron or Kobe or

Shaq or Magic or Kareem or Will, but still your point stands. Yeah, no, they are, the, this is a fun one because you did your Mount, what was it? Mount Mount just more. Just more because they're just more than everyone else. If we were to do, God, this is corny and make funnable content. It also, I'm sure, will crush on TikTok or something.

If we were to do the Mount Rushmore franchises in American sports, four. To me, there are three no-brainers, and then people would argue about the four. Fourth, but the three no-brainers are

the New York Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Lakers. Those to me, do you think I'm missing anything there? I think those are the three brands that are truly every corner of the world. Somebody's walking around wearing a t-shirt, even if they've never heard of the team. Yeah, I think I will say this. I think the L.A. Dodgers, because of the Walters, group. Perfect spring, summer, fall weather. Otani now is, you know, Tuesday, Wednesday,

Thursday Dodger games are now an event. There are fans from the Pacific Rim every home game. Road attendance for the Dodgers is number one in the league. They played the Yankees. I think it was last year. It felt like 25% of the crowd was Dodger fans. They travel incredibly well. I think the Dodgers over the last eight, since they've been purchased from the Mark Walters group, I think they have become, and I mean this, I think they're a step ahead of the Yankees. They don't have all the pennants. They don't have all the titles. But this ownership group is much more, it's got deeper pockets, it's more aggressive. I mean, the way they are pushing contracts down the road, they are a revolutionary franchise. Oh, I agree with all that. But they're not.

not a bigger brand than the New York Yankees. I think they're getting close. I think Otani changes it. I really do. Well, if the idea is like Otani brings in a whole similar to, I understand, one step. He brings in the Pacific Rim. Yeah, like what Yao Ming did for the Houston Rockets where all of a sudden it's like you have this whole new market. But if, so the, because I really, the, maybe eventually the Dodgers get there. If it's Yankees, Cowboys, Lakers is the three. the teams across sports competing for that fourth spot. Dodgers definitely are in the contention. The Celtics are the Warriors? No, probably not because that's good.

The Warriors are like the Chiefs in that it's the supernova of the moment in Mahomes or Steph Curry, but they don't have a history to where they're this big brand. So do you think the Dodgers now have surpassed the Cubs as the second biggest brand? Yes. In baseball. Yes. Okay. Because again, remember, Chicago wanted the Olympics. Why couldn't they get them? Because they were not considered a global city. They were considered maybe our, like Chicago is one best North American city seven years in a row from Condonauts. Architecture. It's an unbelievable city. But it's not viewed as an international city. D.C., San Francisco, L.A., New York.

Boston similarly, is not necessarily seen. It's seen as kind of provincial, provincial, parochial. So I think they've surpassed. And the Cubs, the Ricketts family, which, by the way, they live about five minutes from where I'm sitting right now. They are, it seats 36,000. Their revenues just don't, they're not close. They're just not close anymore.

So, and I think the Cubs are historic and they matter domestically, but I don't think they pull a big number for. You might be right. And it also might be a lot of the benefit of the Cubs when a way, or benefits the wrong word, but brand recognition, for lack of better term, of the Cubs had to do with if you're a millennial when you were growing up with like basic cable, for some reason you got the Cubs games because of WGN. So you could like watch your team and the Cubs. And so they had that.

And now people can watch whatever teams they want. I just saw the who do you, sorry for this slight detour, but after the Cowboys, what do you think the biggest brand in football is? Like, I hesitate in the moment, it's obviously the Chiefs, but you wonder like if Mahomes retired, like then the Chiefs. But here's just an interesting story. If you, nobody cares for. If you bought the Chiefs today, well, you would have to consider Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes

part of the buy. So this idea, well, the brand, well, what is the brand? Right now, Jerry Jones. owns is 80. They're dysfunctional. Their roster's bad. There's value to it. But Kansas City's got the best quarterback in the league for the next 10 years. So, I mean, when LeBron James went from the Miami Heat back to Dan Gilbert and Cleveland, I talked to somebody in that equity space. He said that was a $400 million day for Dan Gilbert. The Cavs without LeBron, even with Evan Mobley and Donovan And Mitchell, LeBron changed the, it was a paradigm shift economically for Cleveland.

Literally, Ken Griffey saved baseball in Seattle. LeBron James changed the economy. Taylor Swift's tour, give you an example, made $2.1 billion, sold $10 million. That is double the next biggest tour ever. So it's only big because of one reason, the artist. So if you count, I mean, let's be. I mean, let's be honest, if you bought a soccer franchise 10 years ago and Ronaldo had an eight-year contract, it would make it worth half a billion dollars more. So I think the Chiefs with Mahomes, that adds, to me, that adds half of somewhere between $500 billion and a billion dollars.

They go from $6 billion to $7 because of Mahomes. Well, so that's the other piece of this. The other piece of this is if the most valuable team in the NBA is now worth $10,000. $10 billion. What is the most valuable team in the NFL worth? Is it $15 billion? Like, honestly, like, what is, if this is the new, because you can't tell, like, as much as,

as big of a brain as the Lakers are, and I understand the NBA's new TV deal, I get all that. There is nothing that is the machine that is the NFL. So if the lake, if we now have Lakers 10 billion, Celtics, 6 billion, you know, as the metrics, then the, if, forget the cowboys. I'm trying to think of a good, you know, a good, if the San Francisco 49ers were for sale, are they a $10 billion franchise?

I'll give you, I'll give you one that is undervalued. Stan Cronky owns SoFi Stadium. Well, yeah, owning the stadium is a big thing. So if you bought the Rams. I get SoFi Stadium, which can house a hundred concerts a year. And the chargers and the Rams. So you have to consider that when you buy the Rams. So I would say in the number two market in the country, I get Sean McVeigh.

I get a well-run operation. I get So-Fi. I'm sorry, but that's over $10 billion. I mean, it's got to be. It just has to be. Now that the Lakers are worth 10, the biggest NFL brand, have to be worth more. You know what?

It just has to be. And to your point, and then we can move on to the things, I'm sure, just because this makes me laugh so much. So, and I looked this up the other day, this is why I have it. When David Glass bought the Royals, hold on, which was, it wasn't a lifetime ago,

because he sold him for a billion dollars six years ago, or whatever, to John Sherman. So David Glass, by the way, this is to your point that franchises at one point were undervalued. And I understand it's the Royals. I understand it's small market. I get it. It's still one of 30 major league baseball teams.

And it's a team that has some history had won a World Series. He bought the Royals, not in 1954. He bought the Royals in 2000. And you're like, how did David Glass get the money for buying the Royals? And it's, well, he was the CEO of Walmart. which obviously is a high-paying job, but usually like CEO is not high-paying enough to buy professional sports team, except for the fact that in the year 2000, the Can City Royals were sold for $96 million. That's crazy.

Like, can you believe it? Like, can you believe it? 2000. It's quarter century ago, a professional baseball team, like, what's it worth? I don't know. Certainly not a hundred million. That's crazy. And like, it's, it is, the royals were sold for slightly more than Juan Soto will make in a year.

It's just banana. And then he sold it for a billion six years ago. And now they're probably worth two just because the, like you're saying, the price of these franchises. It's also why for the cheap baseball owners, I've always been frustrated because they're like, well, you know, we don't have to make money, but we can't be losing money. I'm like, man, the money you are making is on the eventual cash out in that you are going to 10x this with inevitability. And the value of the sports team is the fact that there are every super rich guy in the world can buy a yacht. Every super rich guy in the world can buy a yacht. Every super rich guy in the

world can buy the sick house and the fanciest cars, all of it. The exclusivity of you want to, you know, sit court side at the NBA games as the team owner. You want to be in the luxury box as the team owner, you know, at a football game, well, there's only 30 spots or there's only 32 spots. That's what people are paying for. Yeah, I've always thought this stuff is undervalued. And that's not a shot when I talked about the Celtics going for $6 billion. I think if I have Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown and the best young GM, arguably outside of Oklahoma City and Brad Stevens, that has to be considered. All of it's considered.

And it's, I mean, companies is valuable usually as their technology and their people. And so when you have, you know, when you have stars in their prime, that adds value to it. I mean, right, right, right. But it is, but it is crazy. And then we can move on. How quick, when Balmer bought the Clippers, 10 years ago. People freaked out it was $2 billion. And I remember going on the air saying, folks, exactly right.

It doesn't matter that he overpaid. He paid cash. So it's a true $2 billion. Secondly, he's never selling it. So it will be worth $10 billion in the future. He'll make five times the money. And as long as it works on an operating level, on a positive, cash flows, a dollar a year. It's a steal.

but $2 billion in the L.A. market. And now you plan the same. Now, now they built their own arena now. But also, you have to remember about Bomer. I read a story once about Steve Balmer's net worth. He makes, I swear to God, he makes a billion dollars a year on his Microsoft dividends. Oh, I buy that.

Yeah. So it's like, guys, if the idea that these guys, like Mark Walters, doesn't know what he's doing. Like, they know what they're doing. Well, and again, it's just the NBA franchise values going like this, this quickly, where 10 years ago, $2 billion for a team in the number two market that at the time had stars. You know, it's not like the Clippers were, that was the Lobb City era. And then a couple years ago, the Hornets sell for $3 billion.

And it like, and now the, and the prestige franchises, here's the other interesting angle to this. Man, LeBron has always said, I want to buy a team. I'm going to buy a team. I'm going to buy a team. Man, the expansion fee is going to be $6 billion. Like, no, I know LeBron is done incredibly well and all that, but like, he doesn't have no billions with a plural. Also, how much, I mean, the truth is, when Mark Cuban bought the Mavericks, he only owned 51%. So none of these guys own all of it.

Right. Yeah, I mean, it's Elon Musk when he bought X or Twitter. He had, he had Saudi money. He had also, he didn't buy all of it. He's not going to spend all his cash. He didn't have $44 billion of cash. Everything. The smartest people in the world get good rates. Everybody. I mean, you know, when I hear people pay off their home, that's what normal people. do. Rich people don't pay off anything. They don't pay off anything, right? Like every- What do they do? Share the secrets. People aren't supposed to pay off their own? What are you supposed to do? Well, I mean, it's just when you can make 9% in the market and your rates three and a half percent. And your dangerous rates five percent. Yeah. Okay, sure. So the rich are borrowing money for everything. And they don't, you know, they're not giving you all their cash. They want to be as liquid as they can to buy their stuff. NBA finals are here. This is your last chance to bet on the NBA until next season. Draft King Sportsbook, an official betting partner of the NBA, a finals to remember pulling out all the

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Four additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.com slash audio. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called... Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down. Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth.

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Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay. Caitlin Clark, obviously a huge story and the controversy around it. And I was thinking about, I was pretty hard on the WNBA when Caitlin Clark came in. And I thought, guys, you can't open up with a New York Liberty in the Connecticut Sun. You want to groove her into some wins because remember, she went from the final four into camp, into playing.

And the WNBA, they probably knew she would be good. They didn't think she'd quite be this good. But it's getting to be a little bit like MJ. And they've done a better job this year. They had an easier schedule. They've put the games on television. So the WNBA took a lot of heat, a lot of heat. And Val Ackerman, the commissioner's like, okay, we got ourselves a complete Taylor Swift and tennis shoes rock star.

And they've done a much better job this year. The officiating is not great, but the league's now just starting to make real money now, right? So it's the officials, maybe the last part, you know, it's. Well, yeah, I wonder with that, and I don't know. I'm not educated enough on this about what the hierarchy of officiating is. but obviously the best basketball officials in the world or in the NBA. I want to officiate in the NBA.

I shouldn't say the world. Just let's just do the U.S. I assume the second best are like men's college basketball. Well, yeah. I would imagine the third best might be women's college basketball. Because up until recently, that was a far bigger industry than the WMB. Like so has the, and again, I'm. I am just speculating here.

But is the WMBA simply not picking from the, you know, are the people who are the best officials are like, well, it's way better jobs in officiating than I can get. So I assume that's going to be. They flew commercial airlines a year ago. And I, yeah, I mean, the NBA moved out of that in like the 80s. So it's like, it's just a different ballgame. But I was thinking about this. Most of the time the media gets it right.

when it predicts an all-time star. In fact, I would argue, and I think people listening to this would push back, that we undersold Tiger. Nobody thought Tiger was going to have the lowest scoring average ever, was going to have the tied for the most career wins ever, has the greatest earnings ever. Nobody pretty, not even Nike would have guessed that. No, and within five years have the scoring record at all four majors.

I mean, the Tiger Slam. You know, the Tiger slam. Yeah. No, no, no. You're right. Tiger was Tiger. LeBron. Serena.

LeBron, I would argue all the all-time grades that turned into all-time grades also actually kind of exceeded expectations. Now, most of the time, I think Bryce Harper at 16 was considered, arguably the baseball prospect ever. He's turned out, eight-time All-Star, two-time National League MVP, 340 home runs plus. that is a, if you would have said that when he was 16 on Sports Illustrate, he's going to be an eight-time all-star, two-time MVP, you'd be like, yeah, for the best prospect ever, that, that's in that elite class. Sure. But I think Caitlin Clark, LeBron and MJ, I think they're better.

And I thought Caitlin was going to be good. But Gino Oriema, Yukon's coach came out and said, and this guy knows basketball. He's the best recruiter in the history of the sport. he's like this idea she's going to walk into the WNBA and crush people. But it was so, here's the thing. All the Yukon folks had like the legendary Yukon players who were then in media. And then Gino, they all kind of, in my opinion, had a bias of, man, this was supposed to be what everyone was saying about Paige Beckers a year ago. but Paige had blown out her knee and she missed time and all of that.

And so they, I think that they, and they also underestimated what a badass Clark was going to be. And I think they also looked at it and said, well, she's great and going to be great. But she's not better than Brianna Stewart or Diana Tarazi. And they, you know, if they had a transition, she will do. And the answer is she's a, she is already one of the four best players in the league. Oh, yeah. She is already an absolute, and I say this in the kindest words, an asshole on the court, like the way you kind of need to be.

You don't need to be, but it's something people historically like in their athletes, like a trash, Larry Byr and Michael Jordan, a trash talker, you know, hard ass, and she is already impacting winning. I think she has the best per game plus minus in the league of everyone that's not on the New York Liberty. And Liberty are just crushing. 10 years ago. So the quality of WNBA play in the last 10 years has improved more than any league

anywhere. The players are sure. The nutrition's better. The strength is better. Go YouTube at WNBA game 10 years ago. They did not pass like this. Candice Parker 10 years ago led the league and assists at five and a half a game. A game.

Not only is Caitlin Clark the best shooter, the best guard, the most influential. She's also dealing nine assists per game. So what she's done is she's really changed the tempo. She's doubling these all-time assist numbers or close to it and giving you threes and shooting nine feet beyond the arc. So, I mean, as much as I liked her, and I thought she would be really good. I remember saying on the air, she's going to be really good top 10 player really fast. Yeah.

I didn't think she'd be this. No, listen, she, I agree with you that I do think she is, and in contributing to winning. Yeah. Exceeding expectations. I also think that, and maybe eventually we'll get there, but there are so much in my, in I don't know what you said on the air about this today because I missed it. But so much of the social media pearl clutching of basically we need to protect Caitlin Clark, I just think it's so, I think it's patronizing.

And I also think it fails to recognize this is, in my opinion, the best case scenario for the league. The fact that she is, has this swagger that there, and Brew made this point, and I thought it was a really good one. The fact that yesterday's altercations primarily happened with Caitlin against other white players was actually a really nice thing because it removed any of the bullshit like, oh, do the, are the black players don't like, no, you know who doesn't like Caitlin Clark? Most of her opponents. You know, who historically is not that popular in sports, the young, awesome, swaggery, trash-talking

player. That player usually has allies on their team and their fans, and that's it. Got choked by Dr. Jay. Everybody hated Larry. And so that's awesome. Here's another thing that's awesome. This is only going to make Caitlin better and tougher and stronger. That's great.

the fact that it is hard. And that, like, because the idea, because some of Caitlin's, like, there is a real lunatic fringe on the internet about this conversation. And I hate doing in life, I don't actually really think both sides are a problem very often. In the Caitlin Clark thing, it is both sides. It is people on both ends of the spectrum are out of their minds. And the biggest Caitlin fans are like, the league, this is the league's cash count. and if they're not suspending these other players, she could get hurt, like, give me a break.

It was a light shove. She fell down. She's going to be fine. The fever are going to be in big games for a long time. It is, she is sustainably drawing eyeballs. And I do think it is note while people pointed out correctly. Oh, man, when she was out, the ratings dropped. the other piece of this is the ratings dropped,

but we're still higher than pre-Katelyn Clark WMBA, which means while, yes, some people are just showing up for her, some people showed up for her and we're like, oh, I like basketball, and this is a pretty good product. I'll stick around even if she's not there, at least some people did. It's the best thing imaginable for the league. It's the best thing imaginable for her. And it is for us, you know, herein, hockey ended last night,

basketball probably ends tomorrow in the NBA. It'll be nice to have like a captivating sports story for the summer other than baseball, so I'm excited about it. All right, one quick note on the NBA finals that I don't know why this popped into my head, but I was watching just the relentlessness of OKC's defense and how they were just blocking every shot and creating turnovers. And I thought to myself, I bet if you took the college basketball national champion, they could not score 20 points on Oklahoma City's defense. And I also thought this, if you took the Ewing, John Stark's, you know, was Anthony Mason, Charles Oakley, Dix, they don't score 40 points in a game.

And you think I'm crazy? They were held at the 70s by the Pacers. If you don't have four ball handlers against OKC, you are effed. That's why when Halliburton's hurt, it's over. The series is over. Is their defense, their perimeter pressure, picking up the ball at half court, they don't even need to trap is so intense that the only way to beat them is to try and spread the floor, have multiple three shooters, or have a kind of transformational Halliburton, perky, jerky, long, weird, stop, start guy. This defense, if you would have put Oklahoma City's defense against a magician,

and we all know players are now more skilled. I mean, seven-foot guys now handle the ball and shoot threes. Nobody. The Knicks never had a jump shooter, a consistent, Starks was an inconsistent jump shooter. No, Starks was an undrafted player. If you put Oklahoma City, including Jordan's team, if you put Oklahoma City in that era, I'm not saying they'd beat them.

They would be holding teams, Michael's teams, to the 70 point range. They don't have enough shooters and ball handlers back then. Well, so they are, I don't think this Oklahoma City team is like one of the three or four best defenses in the history of the league. It's really unique. Great defense. It's really unique. That's exactly what I was going to say.

Crazy. But almost all of those teams that you consider the best defense has ever had as a common denominator, a dominant rim protector. So people bring up like, oh, the 04 Pistons defense. You had four-time defensive player of the year, Ben Wallace. The 08 Celtics, they're not an all-time defense, but a really good defense. You had Kevin Garnett down low. And I'm not acting. Listen, Chet does a good job and Hardinstein does a good job.

but they are a great defense that is because of what it does you on the perimeter. And the team that it does remind me of is the 90s Bulls. The second three Pete Bulls who did not have a dominant rim protector. What they did have was Pippin and Rodman and Michael who could just swarm you and get to you, like make it so hard to get a cross half. court and trap you and those things. And so that's what's so unique and special about this team. And it is the fact that the guys who come off the bench for them are, it's such an interesting

and I think smart thing Presti did, which is most teams, like their seventh or their eighth man, it's a guy like campaign who is on your team. because, hey, he might be able to hit a couple threes. He might give us a burst of offense. And Presti was like, you know what? We're going to have enough offense. What if the guys we have who come off the bench are just more? They are defense, not only, but mostly guys.

And so that way, you never get a breath. You are just, for 48 minutes, if you're a perimeter player on the other team, brutal. Your night sucks. because it goes from Dort to Caruso to Wiggins, to Wallace. And that's my point. They wouldn't beat the Bulls. But they are so uniquely built to stop the 70s, 80s, 90s era where your forwards and centers couldn't handle the ball.

They would be just in, they would be, I mean, again, Michael was never a great ball handler. He wasn't. And Pippin was great in transition. Kobe was a better ball handler than Michael. And so I'm not saying Michael and those guys wouldn't win and Michael wouldn't score. But this team more than any defense. Oh, it would be, it would, those games would be like Bulls 78, you know, OKC 70. It would be.

Oh. It would be like what you're just, it would be like what a lot of the Knicks heat playoff games in the 90s looked like. Where it's like going into the fourth, 61 to 58, like for real. No question. even knocking it. I grew up on that basketball. Yeah. And, but that that's what it was and that was for different reasons. But, uh, but yeah, I am,

I am really, and one thing that I have been, I'll admit it, shocked by, I was shocked by Jalen Williams scoring 40 in a finals game. Like, in the history of the NBA, Colin, number two options to score 40 in a finals game. Kyrie did it twice. Chris Middleton did it oddly.

And gosh darn it, there was one other one that now I can't remember. James Worthy did it, but James Worthy did in the game Magic was out injured for. Kobe scored 40 in a finals game once his whole career, and it was in 09. So it wasn't when he was the number two option to Shaq. a guy as the second option, only 30 people ever have scored 40 in a finals game. Yeah. And 25 of them are some of the greatest players you've ever seen. Yeah.

And so for Jalen Williams to do that in a game that Chase still had 30, that was remarkable. And it made you think about what this team is going to be long term. And both his parents were in the military. Name the last athlete who had both parents in the military. I got Jalen Williams, Santa Clara. I think I looked it up online. But when I watch his game, you know what I see? I see parenting, grinding.

Literally, it's seven a game at Santa Clara, 11, 18, 14, 18. You can see the time he's put in the gym. You can see his discipline. He has the, I said this today to J. Mack. He's a better offensive player now than Scotty Pippin. His, you can, to be a good should, RIPP. Pippin's career high in the, in the, in the,

playoffs yeah with on the Bulls was 32 yeah I covered him in port 32 I never trusted him on jump shots ever sure Jalen Williams when when I see a player you see this with LeBron that can go to his offhand off the glass with touch over Miles Turner yeah do you know how long you have to work at that in the gym I mean do you know it's one thing if some guys some you know you know A lot of bigs. They work on their low-post games.

The Pete Newell camps when I was a kid growing up. But when I see perimeter players, the first sign of guys put a lot of time in the gym is often when they play bigger than their size, Dwayne Wade. Jalen Williams is 6'5. He plays like he's 6'8 and a half. He plays incredibly big. That is discipline.

That dude is put, and if you look at all his, you know the last thing he got good at in basketball? Scoring. Yeah. He was good at, he defended. He rebounded.

he could handle the ball. Like, I went back and I looked at his career. I'm like, the last thing he got good at was scoring. And that tells you his mindset. It wasn't about what the bag is. His mindset was, be a great basketball player. No, it's, yeah. It's unbelievable.

And this, if there was any, like, that 40-point finals game was a quarter of a billion-dollar game for him. Not that he wasn't going to get a ton of money. But now, in two weeks, he's going to get the max. He'll get five years, 250. and he'll just be like, and they'll re-sign chat. He's going to get the max. She's going to get a contract

that's going to make people eyes bleed. By the way, you're not going to have any bench. There's no way. You can afford no bench. Well, but that's why you're not going to have, you're not going to have a bench of second contract guys, but that's why we're Presti's been good as they sell of all those extra picks. Yeah.

So what your bench is going to be. guys you draft that are on their rookie deals. You know what I mean? And that you cycle through essentially. And that's sharp. Like that's the only way you can do it in OKC. But you know what that'll make you do, and this is not a bad thing, he will draft older college players. He wants guys that can come in and play immediately.

He doesn't need because all his guys are young. So Presti's going to draft like Villanova guy or guy that's been three year. Yeah, like that's the way you do it now is, is, okay, we need a two-year college, who can come in and give us 13 minutes off the bench as a rookie. And so he's, but they are, listen, I've said this to you, and we can leave it at this. Every time, for the last five years, when a teams won a title, people have been like, well, they're about to win a bunch of titles, and every time that team has gotten clipped in round two or earlier the next year.

So I'm not, like the dynasty stuff, I think we get to, I don't think we are in a dynasty era. I do think that if the Oklahoma City ownership is willing to do something it wasn't willing to do 15 years ago and pay a price, they are as they are incredibly well set up with Shea being 26, about turn 27, with J-Dub and Chet both in year three this year. And that's just going to be their team and we'll see how long they can run it. Blending Vices signature dynamic storytelling with a high-octane world of sports, Vice Sports brings an exciting and diverse range of programming beyond the game. Behind-the-scenes documentaries, hard-hitting investigative pieces, in-depth profiles of athletes,

coaches, teams. Vice Sports is capturing raw energy, drama, passion that makes sports unforgettable. Recent Vice Sports premieres include Brady v. Belichick, the verdict with host Christopher Mad Dogg Russo in a sixth season of the hit show Dark Side of the Ring. That's not all. Vice TV also televises live sports, arena football one. EKB, bare-knuckle boxing. Feel the adrenaline of Arena Football 1.

Fast-paced, high-scoring, kinetic environment. Then brace yourself with the raw, unfiltered intensity of bare-knuckle boxing. Every punch counts. These events bring audiences, the excitement and unpredictability of live sports. No-holds barred. So whether you're a die-hard fan or a casual, Vice Sports offers a fresh, bold, unfiltered approach to sports. You're not going to find it anywhere else.

Catch these action-packed live events. other exclusive sports programs only on Vice TV. Go to vice TV.com. Vice TV.com to find your cable channel. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news.

We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special.

So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas.

And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down,

give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast. Network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness.

So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Now it's time for power players brought to you by BMW, the ultimate driving machine. This week, it's Jalen Williams, who dropped 40 points in game five of the NBA finals. He becomes the third youngest player to score 40 plus points in the finals game. One win away from the title, thanks to Jalen Williams. What is it that sets apart these power players from the rest? Bottom line, attention to detail, innovative playing styles, and a relentless effort for performing at the highest level.

The same goes for BMW IX, everything you love about the ultimate driving machine electrified. Okay, here's a topic, and I don't do this a lot. Like, I don't talk about other announcers. Oh, boy. I just don't. I don't get into it. I don't care. I think it's hard to do.

I do sometimes. Yeah, I don't. But I will talk about this, is that I think I can say this because of my sports nation days. I've had multiple co-hosts on the herd. I think not that I'm exclusively or even primarily qualified to talk about it, but I think I've earned the right to talk about chemistry, not talent chemistry. I don't like the chemistry on the ESPN NBA broadcast. It's not the people.

It's the chemistry. As you know, there's a reason Mike and Tony have been a hit show for 25 years or plus. Their chemistry is amazing. There is a reason Buck and Akeman went Fox to ESPN together. They have tremendous chemistry. Madden and Summerall. It's really, really hard. Being talented, look at you.

You worked for years. The chemistry on your show, beyond talent, the chemistry is really what makes the show. Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Breen had remarkable chemistry. and for 24 years or however long ESPN's had the NBA. They have struggled with pregame shows, postgame shows, the perfect pairing. And they had it. And then they blew it up. My guess is that Van Gundy could be critical of the league.

There was David Stern from time to time, push back on critical interviews by Bob Costas or others, which needed to be done. And this is one thing. that I wonder about the NBA. I don't think broadcasting crews change ratings. But as now the NBA moves to other networks, I am really interested to see it at Amazon and see it at NBC. Because ESPN does a lot very, very well, in my opinion. I think they're so good at the Little League World Series,

Sports Center, the NFL draft, Scott Van Pelt Show, Mike and Tony. They're just a lot of really talented people there. the college game day. They've just built really, really solid foundational pieces of broadcasting. I have great admiration. I do not think they've been good with the NBA. Now, I think Mike Brains as good as anybody, including Marv Albert, I've ever heard do basketball. But I think for 20 years, and I don't do this, I think they've underproduced and underdelivered with the NBA. So, all right, so I, I am, it seems like, a much bigger fan of the actual booth, the, that Breen, Doris, and RJ than you are and maybe other people are. I know there have been reports about ESPN

once again changing that. You know, I mean, they, they, it's one of, if it's very interesting, reportedly one of the reasons they initially shook up Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy was because they didn't like the fact that I think it was Mark, maybe it was Jeff, but I think it was Mark, was always like his name was in coaching searches, and they were like, no, you know, we don't want you flirting with other jobs. And then the two guys, they brought in one guy in Doc Rivers to replace him. And then during the season, he took a job. And then they put in JJ, and then JJ right after the season, he took a job. And so they've obviously moved it around a lot. I under, I do understand that any group, and I don't remember the first year of Brain, Van Gundy, and Jackson,

but I'm sure it wasn't as good as the fifth year, the 10th year, and hand down, man down, and mama, there goes that man and those guys. And for me, the best broadcast crew ever was growing up with Steve Snapper Jones and Bill Walton, when I was a little kid on NBC because of the chemistry between them and the chemistry between them was actually, it seemed like Steve Snapper Jones wanted to kill Bill Walton every single day. And so it was like it was great. So I am far less critical of the actual game, like the play-by-play color commentary than I think others, because I actually like it.

I also am really, I think, fairly critical of Reggie on the TNT broadcast. So I think the ESPN actual play-by-play in, uh, color is good. The overall presentation of everything, though, I think it is totally fair to criticize, and I think it is totally fair when people say, you need to show me with how you present this, that this is a big deal. And the lack of pageantry, you know, it's like, and I know, listen, how about this? why don't I know more?

Why pregame, post game? Remember Rune Arledge on the Olympics, up close and personal? Sure. I want to know the players more. I want cameras in their house. I want to go deep on the players, not just this superfluous eight-second halftime. And by the way, there have been 15 different halftime, pre-game, post-game. A couple years ago, they didn't talk.

It was a series of commercials. And I'm like, and this is not a criticism of the company or the individuals. I know the guy that directs it. He's a great guy. Gone out of dinner a few times, Ann and I with his wife, great guy. But I just think, I thought before Buck and Aikman, ESPN underserved the NFL, and so did the NFL. I think Fox, NBC, CBS. Make it seem like a big deal.

A big deal. So that's, so all, again, I'm going to sound like a company man here and I don't mean to, but I'll just use it. Company man and self-serving, kind of a double dip of annoying I'll be for a moment. Did sending first things first to the ND 500 draw, you know, more people to watch the ND 500? I don't know. Maybe. I saw the number and it was like, whatever it was, it was like, it was like a,

It was, call it 8 million. I have no idea what the number was. But I know at the end of it, there was 50,000. It was like 8 million 50,000 or 4 million 50,000. And I joked the wilds and bro, I'm like, hey, that 50,000, that was us. Like, we did like that. So I don't know if it actually drove audience. But they made it feel big.

Correct. It made, it was a signal that, hey, you know what I mean? We are, we're sending a show that never talks indie. Brady, Jeter. Indy, right, we're going to make it feel big. And I think, so when I saw, I don't know if it's an NBC or Amazon, whichever one just announced, hey, guess who's going to be part of our basketball coverage? Michael Jordan.

I know some people are going to, are like, well, how much did you spend on that? And like, is that going to actually draw more people? It will make it feel important. Yes. And so, like, I do, when people. when Twitter says, you know, why are their pregame introductions? When they haven't shown those, by the way, in 12 years. But all of a sudden, and it's like, where'd the trophy go on the floor and the final script?

It's little things. And here's where I'm surprised the NBA drops the ball of it. They clearly think some of those things matter because they do them for the fucking commission, the cup. Like they're like, oh, I know this is a in-season tournament game. Because the court's different. Like, so they're like, we're going to key for the audience, this is important for the, for the Commissioner's Cup. And the NBA finals, it looks like a regular, like, so that those types of things they could do better.

The other thing is, and this was, you know, famously, you know, this was one of our pal Bill Simmons' biggest, you know, frustrations when he was part of the pregame halftime post game is there's just so much. They use that. And listen, I'm not a businessman, and I'm sure it's smart business. It's about commercial inventory load for the halftime show in particular. Okay, so that's totally fine if you've like crunched numbers. That's the way to do it. But it's, I would say, if that's going to be the case, instead of having four people give 40-second opinions, then that's the spot for, hey, here's a really, really, really.

well-produced four-minute feature. Yeah. You know, a special interest or a personal interest or whatever it is. And I also, again, I'm, you know, I'm a Bob Costas Stan. I met him when I was 12 years old. He was incredibly kind to me. I think he's the goat broadcaster as far as all things. But I miss the, like, many essays that he would give in the lead up to a finals game.

where he's like setting the table for the stakes of the event. And so, yeah, I do think that that type of thing could be done better. And I also think that I think there is real value to, for the finals, for your major events, for your major contributors, for that to be their signature. event. And by that I mean like, so you brought up Scott Van Pelt. Scott Van Pelt, you know, does an amazing job on his show. He also has a signature event, which is the golf he does for ESPN.

Right. And it's like that's, that's his thing each year is the major tournament on ESPN. Uh, or the majors on ESPN. I think that if you are, and this isn't because I have recently, you know, I think fairly, you know, take, I don't know, taking some shots is the right word, but it voiced my frustration with some of the things Stephen A has done. This is not about Stephen A individually. But if you use Stephen A for all of your big stuff, then it, if everything is in hand, then it doesn't feel special. Right. It delutes it. It's why former president Obama will not endorse every Democratic candidate or will not run to a microphone. He doesn't want to dilute his opinion. He is the most popular Democrat. And his take is always. Everybody's like, where's Obama? Well, he doesn't want to latch himself onto the crazy lunatic fringe wing of the left. He's not going to endorse losing candidates. And you can't have an opinion on every time Trump offends you because he offends you seven times a day. So he makes it a two to do. three time a year, strong opinion. And I think that, and this is, again, Stephen A. Smith is a friend. I text him reasonably regularly. That's not it. And this is not in any way. I'm not harboring ever any resentment at ESPN. I have friends there. I really respect it. I really do.

I talk to people there all the time. But I do think they make the SEC championship feel like the FN Super Bowl. If you're watching Fowler and Herb Street. Right. So that's what I'm talking about. Saban, McAfee, Herb Street, it feels big. And the NBA, it's like you had a great crew. You blew it out.

The chemistry with this is eh. Your halftime shows musical chairs. It just doesn't feel big enough. And I don't think this about them often. That's back to my initial point, why I want to see Amazon and NBC. I'm fascinated to see. their presentation because I think NBC has a history. Olympics, Sunday night football, NBC's always made things feel big in my lifetime.

And I think they're going to make Jordan is a classic NBC move. I'm all turn in. I'm going to watch Jordan. Of course. Of course. And it's in a very fractured attention. an economy. Yeah.

Making things feel like events is so wildly important. And a lot of that really is to do with, again, the fluff, the pageantry, all that stuff. And I think your point about the SEC championship is a great one. It's obviously, it's obvious that they can do this and they can do it very well. Oh, my God. And they understand the importance of it by the fact that they paid whatever they paid to get Buck and Akeman. Because Buck and Akeman, it was like, that stamps us as we are taking this seriously. We have these two super respected voices.

And so it is odd. It's just odd that they have been a little adrift on this. Yeah. No. And again, I have always thought game day and SEC champions. I mean, I think ESPN makes the Little League World Series feel gigantic. And I think I told our boss Eric Shanks when I first came, he said, what would you take if you could take anything from ESPN?

And I said the draft would hurt their soul. And I want a couple weeks off in August. Go get the Little League World Series. That'd be perfect for you. Yeah, that'd be really good. That's a fun one. Did you, you know, this is, I keep sidebarring your podcast, but this would be a fun podcast to do. A draft of like the coolest events to broadcast.

We don't have to it right now, but like down the road like that. And the other, the, you mentioned, you know, our biggest boss, Eric Shanks. I don't know if Michael Mulvahill is like one of our bosses, but he's certainly one of the smartest people at the company. He's been on your podcast. your TV show. The draft that they do, an actual draft of college football games that the different networks are.

It's fascinating. Not only, not only do I want to one day be in the room for it. Again, I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers here. I'm a little offended that no one wants. It's been like, hey, Nick,

you got a mock you want to send over. Like, we'd love to pick your brain on it. Like, if there's anybody that can 5D chess the rating and the window and the weather and all of it. Like, fellas, I'm available. Just another brain in the room for you if you want it. Like, that would be so, and if you know what I'm talking about, the different networks, it's like, okay with the first pick. And again, I don't have an exact right.

In the big 10, it's always Ohio State Michigan. Ohio State Michigan. And then who has the second pick? And that's how, that's how for the games that could go to different networks, they have. have an actual draft. And a couple years ago, I know like Fox traded a pick. Yeah. They're like, we'll trade you the third pick for like the eighth and the ninth.

It's super fascinating. That'd be super fun. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we, how do we? we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember.

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen, kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levan this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive?

The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my. my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok.

I will say in terms of big events, I go to about four UFC fights a year. And that's why Dana White, among other things, brings Trump. He wants it to feel big. He gets a reaction. It makes the news. It's all over cable television. So like him or not, it's smart. I think the UFC of all the events I've been in my, I've been to in my life.

I've been to everything except the Kentucky Derby, and that's just been a time issue. I just, I'm always doing something at that time of the year. The UFC does a great job on site. I, so every time I go to a UFC fight, I take a new friend to introduce him to the sport. All of them are like, can I come again to this? Can you get more tickets? Dana's always understood the value of that. And there was a run, not that they're in a slump now, but without Connor and John Jones,

There's always great fighters. They don't have a megastar right now. They don't have a crossover star. But it's such a well-run company and event. It's like wrestling right now. You get a Hulk Hogan once every 15 years, right? You just don't. And so, WWE, similarly, Roman Raines.

You know, he was good. He looked apart. But for a while, I don't think they felt like Roman Raines was quite it. So Nick Con and Dana White. Or Stone Cold. That's right. So Nick Conn and, I mean, and Dana White, I don't care how well you're running.

Both the WWE and UFC are brilliantly run. Sometimes, I mean, who could have guessed the rock would have been the biggest star in Hollywood? Right. Right. Some of it's just, you know, crazy luck. So, but I think the UFC does a, I mean, every time I go to the UFC fight, never not had an A-plus, plus-plus time. Love the environment. Love the people.

Everybody, and it's cool because I'm sitting by A-listers. I get good seats. And they're all in T-shirts and jeans. Nobody's precious. Nobody's pompous. That's something that I, and this is, I have never been to, that's not true. I went to a UFC fight when I was a teenager, like when the company was kind of in its infancy. Yeah.

That I think in Atlantic City, I don't even remember why I was there. But as an adult, I've never been. and the other thing, and I'd love to, and this is me saying, you know, I'm one of those friends you should invite, basically, if you can't pick up on it. The other thing is I would love, now that I make decent money, I would love to have six seats to a big boxing match. Oh. So I've been to boxing.

UFC is better than boxing. Because, I'll tell you why. because you can get, I went to seven Pachial fights, and I went to Hagler-Herns, and I went to Tice, a lot of Tysons. But the undercard, nobody gave a shit about. Since the women's division has exploded.

Well, UFC will be a better, a better four hours. There's no doubt about it, because you have a bunch of fights on fights on fights. Oh, yeah. I still, a huge boxing match to me is still as cool of a thing as there is in sports. There aren't many of them these days. Yeah.

But like six seats to a big time fight be sick. But it's also, that's another East Coast, West Coast thing where so much of it disproportionately is in Vegas. It's so much easier if you're in L.A. to shoot up to Vegas than if you're in New York. I am in Vegas pretty often. So I guess I could go. Yeah. I never outside of the U.S. Only thing that gets me to Vegas is UFC.

And I go there, I fly in probably four times a year. I love it. Well, it's harder for you now, now that you're Chicago. No, it's not. How's that going? Oh, I love Chicago. I mean, the weather's, you know, you get lightning storms. Weather's great right now.

Humidity. And you have weather here. You don't have weather in L.A. You have weather here. But you're still liking it? Still taking the train? Oh, I love it. I love it.

The traffic, by the way, this is just my take. Traffic's worse than Chicago than L.A. And it's not close. Because, yeah, the north suburbs into the city and downtown the airport is worse than anything L.A. produces. Oh, hold on. I have to push back on you for a second. As the kids would say right now, your privilege is showing.

You are only saying that because of where you lived in L.A. in relation to where you worked and where you would go. If you, like, for you, the traffic in L.A., you lived on close to the beach and you worked in West L.A. So you avoid, you never got snarled. You were never like, oh, man, I'm coming from the valley. I've got to go through downtown. Now, you live in a nice, cushy suburb. If you're coming into the city, yeah, you're dealing with it.

You're in it, buddy. You're in it. I'm in the, but it's similar, like, Manhattan, where I live is very, people talk about New York traffic, but I don't think they totally understand. Like, I live in Harlem, which is Upper Manhattan, and I work in Midtown, and it takes me 18 minutes, during rush hour, 28 minutes, work to home or home to work. And it's not because traffic in Manhattan's not bad. It's because the worst traffic in Manhattan is not going north-south. It's going across, it's going east-west, from the east side to the west side to the west side to the east-side, or it's lower.

Manhattan where Wall Street and Soho and all those places are, that's where you can be just take an hour to go two blocks. And so it's very, for me personally, traffic's no problem at all. For a lot of people, it's a huge part of their life. You now in Chicago are dealing with it, but Ann's loving it? Yeah, I mean, it's Chicago's, I think Condé Nost has said it's, did I say this earlier, it's the best city in North America, seven straight years. I read a piece in the New York Times. Yesterday, they were talking about mayoral candidates. And the New York Times acknowledged, New York's not the same. It's declining. Bill de Blasio was a really bad mayor. K through 12 regressed. There's a sense the schools aren't as strong. I have a friend that goes there on a twice a month

basis, and he said it smells like pot everywhere, everywhere. Well, that part, listen, I think Inescapable. I think the downfall of New York City is greatly overstated. I also think the New York Times, what they've done in this mayoral election is a little cowardly, but we don't have to get into it. Nobody cares about my thoughts on the New York mayoral race, or maybe people do, but this isn't the platform for it. What is true is, it does smell like weed everywhere. That part, that part, that part is undeniable. What's also true is, as a guy who doesn't smoke weed, but does occasionally like to bum a cigarette from somebody, because I don't like to buy cigarettes, but, you know, occasionally I like to smoke a cigarette.

It is maddening to walk outside and to walk a few blocks and come across a dozen people smoking and not a single one of them are smoking cigarettes. I'm like, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, listen, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the true legalization of marijuana here. I don't know if it's had many actual, like, negative impacts on society or how people act or anything like that. It certainly is true

that it smells like weed off. That's not... And that would just... It's not deniable. That would drive me crazy. Because downtown Chicago doesn't. L.A. doesn't. I was in Boston recently. Boston doesn't.

I'm trying to think of the last... I mean, I haven't been to New York in two years, but I have heard it's just at times. It's just aggravating. There is a lot of people smoking wheat. That part is. And there's garbage on the streets in New York.

In Chicago, they put it in the alleys. But that's always been the case. So now I get weed. And by the way, we just got bins. We just got bins. A new thing in New York, we just got bins. So again, nobody really cares about my take on New York mayors. I will tell you that I don't think the one we have right now is that great.

One thing, it seems like he did a decent job on of. is, I think he was really good at corruption and getting rid of rats. And so, and by when I say good at corruption, I don't mean like rooting out corruption. I mean like he's skilled at corruption. But also he got rid of rats. That was good. You know, I joked when I people think L.A. is loony tunes. But when I was, and I remember moving, there's always been a reputation that, you know, L.A. is hippies and crazy and drugs.

and, you know, unethical behavior and affairs, I never forget moving out east. The governor of Connecticut got thrown out of office for building a hot tub on state money. There was Elliott Spitzer. The New Jersey governor got run out of office for a controversial relationship. It was an S show. Politics in New York, Connecticut, and Jersey were just an insane, unethical barge. Well, right now. one of the guy who's probably going to win uh quorum probably is going to win the race for

airs Cuomo yeah who was the governor yeah but he got he got run out uh you know not exactly in glory um yeah and i do think multiple affairs senator harassment i do think this the long time united state senator from new jersey just yesterday started an 11 year prison sentence yeah because when the feds rated his house, he had literal gold bars. I got to tell you, that's kind of awesome. Like, not the, not the bribes, but I do think that, like, if of all the stores of value one could have, if I, if I went to someone's house and they're like, hey, here's my flash drive of crypto. I'm like, okay, you go to someone's house and they're like, hey, here's my gold bars. I'm like, that's sick. Like, that is like the gold, the gold, the gold, the gold, the gold, the gold, the gold, the gold, the gold,

bars being, how am I going to hide this bribe? What if I just take it in gold bars? That's pretty awesome. Well, it's just interesting because as somebody that now lives, who grew up in the West Coast, traveled a decade in the East Coast, now live in the Midwest. I lived in all four corners. Now, I've lived in everywhere in the country, the Midwest, the corners, everywhere, is that it was interesting. The perception of L.A. It was just hippies and everything was a P. Diddy party the corruption in the Northeast politics is there's nothing like it. It is wild. And I think, I've said this before, the Northeast is really intense. Like Chicago's a big city and they've had corruption in politics. But people here, like in the northern part of town, it's all golf courses.

It's very recreational. You have a beach on the city. In New York, even to go to the Hamptons is hard. New York is a grind. And what the grind creates, work hard, play hard. And in New York, there's a sense, I have a harder life, the weather, the taxes, the rent, the intensity, the competition. I'm going to reward myself for that. And it often becomes bad behavior. Think about the West Coast. Seattle's on the water.

San Francisco's on the water. San Diego's on the water. L.A.'s on the water. You can work 60 hours a week. You're on the beach. Well, so that's our mutual. One of the, one of the, I thought, smartest things I've heard about the intersection in New York and L.A. was from our mutual friend Maverick, who lives in L.A.

And he's from the Midwest. Maverick Carter. He's lived, yeah, has lived in my, it lived a bunch of places, but seems to really love L.A. And he said to me, he's like, there's no Sundays in New York. And I'm like, what do you mean? He's like in LA, when Sunday, if you didn't know what day of the week it was, but you woke up and you looked outside and you listened, you can Sunday just feels and sounds different.

It's quieter. There's less going on. It's Sunday. He's like, there's no Sunday in New York. He's like, you wake up in New York and you look outside every day is intense. You know what I mean? It's intense. And I was like, oh.

That's a very interesting, but I think smart way to put it. And that is true. But I have, listen, I went, here's the places I've lived. Zero to 18 years old Kansas City. 18 to 22, Syracuse for college. 22 to 27 back to Kansas City. 27 to 32, 31, Houston. 31 to 32, L.A. and 32 to 40, New York.

I, when I first moved here, I did not like it. I felt overwhelmed by choice. It was like there's so many options. There's so much new, there's nothing to do, there's nothing to do, whatever it is. I now feel like having lived here for as long as I have, there are very, very few cities in the world I could ever live again. because I've become so spoiled by the food, theater, culture, event options that, like, I think in the U.S., I could live in L.A. or Vegas,

maybe Miami, but Miami would have to be, like, for retirement. and anywhere like else I go, it just feels a little, I don't know, slow. Now maybe, again, I'm 40 and I'm in the midst of like the grind of my career. Maybe when I'm 50, I'll be like, man, I want something different, slow or, you know what I mean, whatever. But after a Midwest kid that never thought he'd live in New York, I now feel like this is, probably where, you know, I could live for a very, very long time. Yeah. Going back to what you said, you felt overwhelmed and what Maverick Carter said, there is no

Sunday. That is at the heart of why I've always theorized. There are more affairs in Northeast politics. There is no stepping off the treadmill. The richest people in California, let's go to Montecito. It's a one hour drive up the road. There's all, every time, it's, it's a. amazing how often, like Hollywood. How often do you work? You have a movie a year. Like the industry in

New York is paper, Wall Street, venture capitalism. It's art. In L.A., it's all art and creation. That's a more joyful experience than trading paper. I mean, think about West Palm Beach is the richest area in the Hamptons or the richest areas kind of in the East Coast. The people that live there, litigation, the biggest attorneys, they're fighting constantly, and you're on Wall Street without intensity and clients. The richest people on the West Coast can live in Beverly Hills. They're in entertainment. They're in, I mean, Netflix. And, you know, like, like a lot of what it is, a lot of the West Coast. The other group is tech in the Silicon Valley tech folks. That's a more joyful experience than fighting people in court or fight.

So I've always said a 55-year-old in New York looks 59. A 55-year-old guy in L.A. looks 50. And there's a nine, 10-year swing there. In New York, the more money you make, you buy a nicer tie. In L.A., once you make money, you no longer have to wear a tie. It's a different culture. What a lie. That's a great coward line.

When you're rich in L.A., you don't see Bob Eiger wearing a tie. You don't see Steve Ballmer wearing a tie. Donald Trump always wore a tie. Mike Bloomberg always wears a tie. It's a different culture. It's way more intense. Yeah, well, that ain't good for me, buddy. Because I didn't look exactly great before I moved to New York.

Now you're saying, you know, I said, I talked, for the first time ever, I talked to, I'd never talk to him in, like actually, we texted or DM'd, but I was on with Levitard today and on the show with him was Tony Realli. And I'd never talk to Tony. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I had always, you know, kind of admired him from afar. And one of the, I gave Tony a very big compliment about kind of his running around the horn. But then I told him, I was like, with all that said, I fervently believe that that. If I had gone through my end, because this is what it was, because he is a very positive person and kind of exudes positivity.

And they were giving me a hard time for being a little more, I don't know, jaded or negative on certain things. And I said to reality, I'm like, well, yeah, man. I was like, when you walk around for 40 years or I've old, you are looking like you do, you think the world's fucking great. I was like, you're just everybody's nice to you. You're always that handsome guy. I was like, when you walk around as Nick Wright, you have a little bit more of an edge to you, don't you? I was like, we switch bodies for a month. I doubt you're quite as positive as you are right now, buddy.

You look like, if I would have said in the history of movies, you would have been in a movie, you are built for uncut gems. You look like a guy who is behind the scenes going to a jewelry store making bets. You're on the go. You've got to smoke. You are a little stressed out. I'm a little stressed out. I'm the, you know, I probably have, you know, between $5,000 to $10,000 in my pocket, but it's also possible that's my total net worth.

Like, you never know, like there's, yeah, absolutely. That's the aesthetic not only I'm going for, it's the authentic one. So thank you for that. I appreciate it. Nice job, buddy. Great to see you. Talk to you soon, my friend. The volume.

Hey guys, it's us The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an

a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice. on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

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