The Herd with Colin Cowherd - What's Wright - NBA Reaction: Wemby & Spurs DOMINATE Mavs, Warriors-Lakers, Durant's Rockets debut | Nick Wright NFL

Episode Date: October 23, 2025

All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet.  Nick Wright reacts to the NBA gambling scandal involving Chauncey Billups, Damon Jones, Terry Rozier, and many more following FBI investigation. Later, Nick reacts to Victor Wembanyama's dominant 40-point performance in the San Antonio Spurs' win over the Dallas Mavericks in Cooper Flagg's NBA debut. Is Wemby already the best player in the NBA? Next, Nick reacts to Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors' opening night win over Luke Doncic and the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers before turning his attention to Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets' loss to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Is KD on track to be the only NBA legend without a fan base that loves him? As always, Nick and Damonza answer your questions. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. All right, welcome in. What's driving the great episode 382, kind of a weird show because 12 hours ago, the show was going to be vast majority football. 10 hours ago the show was going to be vast majority. Holy shit, what did Victor Weniamah just do? And 30 minutes ago, it changed to this breaking news about Terry Rozier, Damon Jones, and Chauncey Billups, rigged poker games,

prop bet fixing, and all of that. And I am stunned by the allegations here. on one's front side of it. I'm not stunned at all by the allegations on a different side of it. And I'm going to try to unpack it because I actually, we just had, I think it's, I want to get the guy's name right. U.S. Attorney Joe Nicella Jr. Talk about high dollar poker games in Manhattan,

the Hamptons in Vegas. and my ears perked up when they talked about what was going on. So I think I can oddly give you some real insight here on... Now listen, credit to Pablo Tori, who when it comes to the Terry Rozier prop betting,

all that stuff, he's been all over it. The poker stuff, on the other hand, is jarring and... Well, I'll explain, but I want to, this is all like happening in real time. They're literally doing a press conference as we speak. I was watching it right before we went on the air. And so we'll get into all that. I want to, Demons, welcome in.

This is going to be a weird show for you. But it's no problem. We'll get to football and we'll get to our picks in a bit. And we'll talk Wimby. Let me get straight to voicemail brought to you by Boost Mobile. This show is always brought to you by our friends at Boost Mobile. Megan the Stallion Sports. Oh, it's so funny.

A Clay Thompson, Laboo, Laboo Boo. I think it's Laboo, guys. I don't think it's a A. Yeah. I think it's Labuobu. I also had never seen a Labuobu in my life in person until last night when your big sister sent your little sister, not your big, you're the oldest. But your oldest sister sent your youngest sister, what is almost assuredly. a knockoff fake Luboo for her birthday.

And she was very excited. Travis Kelsey, trying to help out Six Flags and J.J. McCarthy with what is pretty clearly a soft benching still out on Thursday Night Football. Okay. So here's what we know. Now, I'm going to tell you I have a healthy skepticism of the way media typically reporting. arrests and news is what law enforcement sources tell the media they treat as gospel. I try not to do that, okay?

That is, that's, you know, matter whether it's local cops, the feds, no matter who's in charge of the DOJ, I always feel like the slanting, it's unfair to the accused. And so I am not, and so I read all these stories with. I come into it with some skepticism. I had even more when I saw the ABC News headline from when this story first broke and it said Portland Trailblazers head coach has been charged and in the illegal poker operation tied to the mafia. Law enforcement sources told ABC News and that's because the mafia is not like, and they even capitalized the mafia, a specific entity.

Like there is organized crime and the mafia is known as like Italian organized crime. But I've never seen like in a real news article, the mafia be used as if it were a specific entity. So I initially was, here's what I thought this news was going to be when I saw it. Terry Rozier, there's been a lot of smoke and Pablo Torre's done a good job around that story.

for the last year that some of his player prop bets sure seem fishy and there's fishy action on them and we talked about the fact that it'd be it's very easy for guys to um try to make their friends or themselves 10 20 grand on these individual player props and clearly some guys have not been able to resist the temptation That's what I assumed the feds were arresting Terry Rozier for. I didn't know what Damon Jones necessary involvement was except for the fact that he had been a coach. So maybe we would have insight information on, hey, this guy's not going to play or this guy's dinged up. I also, full disclosure, have known Damon Jones for more than 10 years.

I like Damon Jones. And I was sad to see his name in this. when I saw there was Chauncey was being charged in the illegal poker operation my initial thought process was oh man they're really going after

these illegally raked poker games because we saw Gilbert get hemmed up by the feds about something what I thought was similar so before I get to the actual details here because I really want the audience to understand this. It is not that I know it's going to sound, I'm going to sound like I'm giving myself a pass

here or something, but I want to be very clear. The card games that I play in are totally legal and it's not because they're in Vegas. Those obviously are. Those are in regulated casinos. And it's not because they're not. for you know a ton of money because sometimes they are the way it works is this and i want to put de monzi on the screen because i want to make sure he understands it because if he understands everyone i understand it i am allowed to have no i mean when i that that wasn't an insult on your

intelligence i just meant because you're not a poker player yeah like you're you are if i were to say hey i i am hosting a poker night at my house for friends, family, or even just, hey, join my poker club and come play. We could play for $10 a person, $100 a person, or a million dollars a person. And that is legal. That is legal as long as the house, the host, the person putting it on, is not taking a cut of the money. So do you understand?

So like if we, if I invited seven guys over and everybody brought 10 grand with them, so there's $80,000 involved, as long as at the end of the night, when it's like, hey, you, you know, you lost your 10, you lost your 10, he won 10. As long as everyone, the net net of what everyone came with,

they leave with collectively, that's legal. It's not legal if it's like, hey, since I'm hosting the game, every hand, I'm going to take $20 out of the pot and drop it in this little box here. And at the end of the night, the house has made two grand. That's what makes, that's the line that makes poker games legal or illegal. is the house taking a cut okay it's as simple as that so when i was on with levitard last week talking about that huge card game i was going to that was a bunch of guys who've been playing with each other forever and there is no there is no rake that's called the rake taking money is

the rake okay so gilbert got in trouble because they were hosting up again he had rented a house that was being used according to the feds for it was basically an illegal casino because the house became not only where the card games were but that they were probably taking in rake and and that rate can be huge like 10 20,000 a night in rake and money so that is that that's the distinction between private legal and illegal illegal poker. When I saw the Chauncey thing, I'm like, man, I can't believe they're going after this, these illegal card games because that is pretty prevalent. The idea of, hey, we're going to do a private game with a person who's hosting it, those things, he's going to, they're going to take a

cut or that's their business. Um, the we, we, one of, how do I put this? Someone you know really well, don't that is one of my buddies. That is his business. He hosts a all, you know, a weekly or semi-weekly game. And that and so those are those are illegal technically, but usually people like as long as there's no drugs, there's no violence, no anything, people don't mess with them. Okay. Yeah. That is not, though, what the feds are alleging Chauncey was.

a part of what the feds are alleging is that the and this if this is true this is for me as someone who plays in real card games this is a cardinal sin they're alleging these were rigged games that they had rigged shufflers that they had rigged RFID devices which allowed

people to know what cards other people had that they had rigged communication devices like tiny earpieces and that folks were like hey seat six has kings

and ace is coming on the turn get your money. If that was, go ahead. Yeah, I was wondering, like, how does this type of information get out? Is somebody getting bamboozled and they'd speak out to the feds? Because I was thinking, like, well, whose benefit would it be? Well, yeah, I mean, they were getting their money stolen. Or somebody, yeah, I mean, there's a bunch of, yeah, there's a bunch of ways this could happen.

Somebody gets in trouble and then they're like, hey, let me out of trouble. I'll tell you about something bigger. somebody is in the game and thinks they've been cheated and then decides to kind of go on their own and investigate it or whatever it is. But the allegation here is organized crime, recruited Chauncey to be the draw. It's like, hey, come to the Hamptons, come to New York, whatever, and play. We've got a card game. Chauncey Billups plays in.

And that, and then they bring in, using his likeness. People with a bunch of money that they are then stealing from. Now again, I have so much respect for Chauncey Billups and he has earned to me so much of the benefit of the doubt that what I would like to believe here is that he had no idea. He thought he was playing in a poker game on the level, but they, you know, that they, they were rigged games what the inside I can give the audience is this one of the reasons folks take the time and effort to travel all the way to Las Vegas to play in card games the reason I unless I'm going to one of my two buddies places that I've known for a long time and trust

all the way to Philadelphia is there's you're always worried that it's not on the level you're worried that someone's dealing from the bottom of the deck you're worried that guys are colluding you're worried that you might get cheated that is always a concern and I had a buddy I don't want to give again give too many details here but one of the greatest, in my opinion, card players in the world, who is a man of intense, intense honor, played, got cheated out of in one game, got cheated out of three quarters of a million dollars and was able to retroactively prove that they were. doing stuff like this, that it was, you had card readers, you know, you guys were cheating.

The whole poker game existed to cheat me out of my three quarters of a million dollars and refuse to, refuse to pay it. And then it became a real, like, dangerous situation. Like, so there is a level of, protect yourself at all time. you know this stuff could be happening in the high stakes poker world. It is utterly jarring to me that the feds are alleging that Johnson knew these games were rigged and was playing in them anyway. Because that to me, that, if that's true, that's stone cold theft, that is, that there is

no wiggle room around it. If you are, if you are inviting people to come play in a card game that you know they can't win because other people in the game are going to know what cards they have and play accordingly. I, that's real dirty, man. And now again, I don't want to believe it. And in fairness, during this press conference, one of the people talking, one of the feds did say this involves the NBA team, the Toronto Rangers. So they might not be totally buttoned up. But these are shocking allegations. Not Chauncey.

Yeah. And listen, Chauncey is. considered one of the best guys and one of the best people associated with the league um and again if it were he was just playing in a card game where they took a rake i would i was prepared to get on here and say this is an absolute nothing burger like there are there's the there is not only is that barely illegal it is absolute there is no ethical for me issue with it like Like they're, it's simply saying I'm playing in a. People that are going to the games are agreeing.

Everybody, right. We're all saying we'll pay this percentage. Now where that can. And really, the only reason the government typically cares about those things is because nobody's paying taxes on it. Because it's like, nobody's like, hey. Right. Exactly.

And so, but you, again, you are allowed to play high stakes private poker games as, long at like Helmuth talks about it all the time. Helmute plays for tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars at his own house in the Bay area with a bunch of the Silicon Valley guys, but you just have to report your wins as gambling winnings on your taxes and pay taxes. And Helmute doesn't take a Vic or, you know, doesn't take a rate. But. haven't and they i watched the press conference to monse they have a picture of a what they say is a rigged

shuffler they have a picture of a computer that is reading out the cards everyone has i mean they rated the place and found all like the paraphernalia sure seems like it man and oh boy i really thought we're going to start today talking NBA i didn't thing it was going to be that i want to let me just see one more thing so but oh the i don't know if i finished my sentence before before we get to maybe wendy that maybe i did so maybe i'm repeating myself i don't know but this is why people some people prefer to do all of their poker playing in a casino because it's casino is taking a rake it's much smaller usually than the private game rake but it's on the level

like the cheating that can happen in a casino is two of guys at the table communicating to each other that's called colluding like hey you raise all re-raise and then this guy will fold like that that is that's that's one level of cheating but you don't have to typically in a casino worry wait is this a setup via shuffler? And a setup via shuffler would be, to give people an example, you have $100,000 in front of you, I've got $100,000 in front of me. They intentionally give you pocket aces

and give me pocket queens. I go all in pre-flop. You have the best hand. You have no choice but to call. And then a queen comes. And it's like, oh, man. 80, 20, unlucky. Like, setting hands up like that is stealing.

All right. Crazy. I am super interested in this story. I don't know if the audience is. Let me say one other thing on the, because everyone else is going to be four more folks on the rozier piece of it. And I say this understanding that a huge portion of our economy in my business is paid for by the gambling operators, right? we are we are proud partners with hard rock bet um and with that but despite that i i don't even think

it's despite that i regardless of who our sponsors are i have to i owe the audience full transparency and honesty and here is what i am going to say about the roger thing as long as player props are a big part of legal sports gambling, this stuff is going to pop up. It just is. And here is the two sides of the legal sports gambling coin, okay? The pro legal sports gambling coin is because gambling is legal legal and regulated and you know you there is a real catalog of bets and archive and data you can you can more easily find prove and root out the guys doing you know essentially insider training okay that is that if it was just all off you know bookies and in the shadows it's harder to find or prove who's doing this stuff.

That's the pro side. If I'm being fair, the con side to it is this. Absent legal sports gambling when it was all through bookies, such a thing as how many assists is Terry Rozier going to get tonight was not a bet that existed.

You couldn't call up the guy you have drinks with at the bar and be like, I know I usually just bet the Packers every weekend, but I got a real good feeling. Terry Rozier is going to get more than four and a half rebounds. Will you give me 10 grand on it? So, like, yes, it is, we can see it better, but it also created markets that otherwise didn't exist. And so, all right, the, let's get to NBA opening.

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but at some point we will and it's going to be awesome i am very excited i got that bug for two dollars by the way it is awesome thank you way for oh be you Because Wayfair sent Demonsay and then plus. Exactly. Wayfair sent DeMonse a pretty sick gift card. And then he got something he really needs that we'll discuss later for two dollars, two additional dollars. That's awesome. Yeah.

Shout out Wayfar. All right, DeMonsei. Let's talk about what the hell happened last night in the NBA. Hey, it's us to 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 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. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was... 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 Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, S&L'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 athletes 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, 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 SportsSlice 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. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself.

I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm Breast. breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay.

Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court-side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast on the Archie. IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Yeah, so, as you know, we don't usually get too deep into basketball until Christmas,

but we got to talk about some things going on in the NBA. Wimby yesterday apparently was crazy. I didn't catch this one, but I saw the highlights. Is it possible that this guy is already the best player in the league? I mean, here's the thing, DeMontz. It's a freak. No, no shame in not catching it live. Oh, yeah, I was watching VJ Edgecombe welcome himself to the.

Oh, you were watching. So you were watching a different game. Yeah, I was watching Celtics. Oh, okay. Oh, that's, I thought, I assumed you meant you were, oh, good for you, buddy. Yeah. Yeah, that's a VJ Edgecombe. All time record for points in a debut.

All time record. And the Sixers won that game despite Embedged scoring four. be in a no-show. No-show. And the- Almost got bad for VJ with him missing those two free throws. Yes.

The Celtics could pull it through. That would have been a- That would have been a great-dampor on the night. Yeah. And Maxie, our guy Maxie had 40. But someone else had 40. And he's a 7-5 problem.

So I was a gag. at what I saw last night from Victor Wyneman Yama. So he is the best defensive player in basketball. We knew that was going to be the case. And he had three blocks, but that doesn't really explain it because he just dissuade so much action because of his length that I don't know what the advanced stat is for, like, shots not taken because you're scared this guy's going to swat it into the first row,

but he crushes in that. So we had, so here's a good comp. We had on the show yesterday, Akeem Olajuwon, all right? And Akeem was never the best offensive player in the league. but there was a two-year period when Jordan was a year and a half when Jordan was retired and those two years when Akeem was the best player in the league because he was far and away the best defensive player and those couple of years probably like the fifth or sixth best offensive player and those two things can combine to make you the best player. It usually goes in

the other direction. The best player in the league, Joker, is far and away the best offensive player and then just average defensively. Whatever it is. Right. And you deal with it. You know, it's very rare. You get prime, I shouldn't say it's very rare. It's just special. Prime prime brawn, prime Jordan, prime Kobe. Kauai, though, also I think was never the best offensive player. On offense? Yeah, I'm talking about a guy who can win the scoring title while being the best defender in the league. Right. It's only a handful of guys.

If Wimby's going to give you 40, let me put it like this. Here's why it's so scary to Monzae. and I loved that he only took two threes, that he is stronger, his handles better. I think Wimby, if Wimby averages 25 points a game, he might be the best player in the league.

Like that, because of what he is defensively, and if he's going to put up 30, I'm, I'm sorry to Joker. And I'm sorry to Shea. But I just, I am, I'm ready to have the conversation that this guy might just be the best. Like the best player in the league right now.

I feel like you were a little skeptical, Wimby in the beginning. Well, here's what I. Like it was probably more on the injury side. It was two things. It was two things. One was the injury stuff, which still anybody that size, it worries me. But that's about, it was my skepticism on Wimby, I guess was, here were the three different levels of it. I think it was him shooting too.

Yes. So I didn't like the style he was playing. To me, he was trying to be Durant. And it's like, bro, you're a half foot taller than Durant. And Durant is one of the greatest pure shooters ever. You're like the, so I didn't love that. The injury's potential concern. me because literally every player in the history of the league seven four taller has dealt with

injuries and i don't consider the blood clot an injury i do though i i i'm going to sound really dumb it's it's an ailment i feel like that they're more prone to though just because they're a larger guy so that's i was about to say that exact same thing i was like i maybe this is dumb maybe a doctor's listening's like that's not how that works but in my head that's how it works It's like, I don't know. There's more, there's more air. There's more just mileage for there to be clots. Like, I don't know.

But, um, so that part. And then the other part was I just thought we were setting him up to be a disappointment by saying if he's not better than Akima Lajuan, he's underachieved. I'm like, geez, Louise, man. Like, he walks into the league. and it's if you're not one of the 10 greatest players of all time you you have failed with that said uh i mean i kind of get it i mean he's on his way this is special this is really really special and i don't know what you're going to do with him and it does he does he's

has become after one game de monseille must watch every night and it makes me at least take brawn leaving well yeah they're going to be left with a phenom but yeah but also and so a couple things it makes me take the spurs seriously. I mean, they obviously didn't even have Fox. And they beat the Mavs by... And they played Dallas. 30.

Yeah. And so that's the other piece of it. If you were to ask me going into yesterday, okay, if you are... If you can have any player in the league to try to slow down Wimby on the defensive end, who is your number one draft pick? It would have been AD. Like, that's the other problem. Like, is there anyone

in the league, DeMons, A, B, better, in theory, equipped to deal with Wimby? By big man on the Celtics. who i think it's not his name is vet something okay i don't know who you're talking about and you're being ridiculous there is the the i mean maybe you're not handling wimby no i don't hold on let me see but no nobody's guarding the man what do you want

nobody can guard him he's a freak of nature hold on who are you talking about about quetta he's quetta oh okay okay yeah okay you were being silly uh that no i'm just saying like AD is seven feet can play on the perimeter, can play down low, has been one of the best defenders. A known lockdown defender.

Yes. Yeah. And Wimby made him look silly. I don't. So, so like who is the Spurs? What's the Spurs next game? So the Spurs next game is,

their next three games are New Orleans, Brooklyn, Toronto. The hell's anybody going to do? like who on New Orleans is going to be like it's Trey Murphy is I don't think New Orleans or I guess Misi I don't know man this is so I do think I do think to Monzee it's on the board that he's the best player in the league this year and I that would be and his mind is running right too. Like, I just don't see it.

So, like, he's going to do everything possible to stay afloat. I see him taking care of his body, taking care of himself in the offseason. Oh, yeah. We haven't had a guy be in the argument for, there's only been, I'm just want to make sure I get this right. The only, no one since Braun has had a real argument. that they were the best player in the league in year three. Like, Braun in year three was second in MVP voting. He had a real argument.

Tim Duncan in year three might have been the best player in the league, but he was a four-year college player. Shaq in year three was, I think, let me, I want to see if I have this, had an argument, he was second in MVP. voting and Jordan was retired. And they made the finals but lost to a team. Those are best player in the league argument by year three. It's just the holy grail of NBA guys.

Really. And this is something else. This is really, really something else. I'm amazed by it. And I... I'm in loss of words. I didn't understand what I was watching last night. And we'll see how it continues.

Oh, wow. What's the MVP odds? Yeah, so he climbed the top two in MVP odds at plus 275. And he was around plus 1,200 in the preseason. So do you see after these three games, him potentially being the favorite? I mean, I don't see. I mean, maybe. Here's the thing.

The thing is this, I just in principle, if yesterday I could have gotten a bet at 12 to 1, I can't bet it today at less than 3 to 1. But. And I feel like there's a lot of those tickets out there, I feel like. The 12 to 1 tickets. plus, yeah, I feel like there's a lot of those out there. Oh, yeah. And I would have told you, I would have told you one day ago, those are dumb tickets.

Just because I would have said, you know, the Spurs ceiling. Coming off injury. He's coming off an injury. He might not play enough games. And it's so hard to win MVP if you're not a top three seed. And, you know, how many games are the Spurs really going to win? All right. And by the way, I, so I apologize.

for the producers. But this is, I suppose, kind of the cost of breaking news and stuff. We might, this might actually just be an NBA show today. And then we do all our football stuff for the gambling show. So I know that's a lot of work everybody put into preparing the football stuff. But I think that this might, is more relevant.

And I would like to remind you guys, today's show is brought to you by our presenting. sponsor hard rock bet great week to try out hard rock bet sports book app there's just so much going on this week game one in baseball tomorrow night NBA back and of course football's in midseason form week eight kicks off with vikings chargers I'm looking ahead to Monday night in kansas city chiefs are back league on notice if you need more proof here's what the stats up in the hard rock bet bet app is showing me chiefs at arrowhead they've won 14 in a row as a home favorite favorite and cream hunt the great these cream hunt uh streets are crazy has scored in four straight

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Hey, it's us to 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 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 the name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

Well, 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 Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, S&L'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 the 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 athletes 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 SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking.

breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchen win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface.

Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court-side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. All right, DeMonsei. Let's get to the actual opening eye out of the NBA two nights ago with a classic and a concerning game. A couple nights ago, we got to see how Katie's looking with those rockets against the thunder.

They ended up not being able to pull out the win in double O.T. Lakers face Golden State. Golden State came out victorious, but you seem down on both of those teams? Why is that? Yeah. So let's, we'll do Lakers Warriors, then we'll do Rockets Thunder. Okay. So I watched the Lakers and Luca was obviously awesome. And I was like, yeah.

So when LeBron comes back, you know what they need from LeBron? for him to be their best perimeter defender. And that seems like a bad process for a guy who's going to be 41 in year 23. Because I look at the Lakers roster and I'm like, well, they don't have a ton of shooting. And they don't really have any defense. not sure how that's going to work in the modern NBA, even with a guy as great as Luca, and even when Braun comes back.

So that, I just think it's a, for the modern league, an oddly constructed roster. It's very, like this is about Luca, not about Braun. It's very clear how to win with Luca, get shooters and defenders and let him handle the entirety of the rest of the offense.

It feels like the Lakers have none of that. And it's just like Jared Vanderbilt, guard everyone. Mark is smart, God love him, is just not even close to the same guy. And so it also reminds you what a yeoman's effort Anthony Davis was making on that side of the ball, kind of carrying the entirety of that defense. So it just, it was, I just think that that is a really clumsily put together roster. And you know that I was not as high as some on, oh, this will be the year. D'Andre Aiton takes it serious.

I just don't think that guy is a winning player. And I, so. And I was also bummed. This was a crazy stat I had yesterday. What is the marquee date de Monzae on the NBA regular season calendar historically? Like the holiday where a lot of people look at it kind of the start of the season. Oh, what is that? Christmas.

Yeah. Christmas, right? Christmas. The NFL. kind of tried to steal their corner. But the NBA made Christmas their holiday. So for the NBA in the regular season, there's opening night, which is a big, you know, celebration, the unofficial opening night, Christmas.

And then there's obviously the postseason. LeBron James teams prior to two days ago had played in in his career, 300,000. 132 opening nights Christmases and playoff games and LeBron James had played in all 332 of them He had never missed Any of his 282 career

Playoff games any of his 22 opening nights Or any of the 18 it's actually 19 Christmas Day games and you might say if you're doing the math in your head, that adds up to 333, but that's because one of the COVID years opening night was Christmas. He's never missed a marquee moment in his career. And then he missed this one.

And it was just like it was another piece of like evidence of man, not a lot of time left here. It's coming. Yeah. It's just a bummer. You know what I mean? Just a bummer. in that regard.

And so, and the other bummer is he's, he's not going to fix what's wrong with the Lakers. So I think when you have Luca, you're going to be, Luca Garant should guarantee, a healthy Luca should guarantee you a playoff spot. Luca plus Braun,

plus Austin Reeves, plus what should be a pretty sharp coach in, um uh reddick should make you frisky but i don't think that roster is well-rounded enough on the warriors i just think they're too old and the they don't have a uh you know right now lakers warriors i don't even think it's a debate the best player between the two teams is lucca and he's 10 years younger than Steph. So I just don't think the Warriors have the legs for hunting him. Yeah. I just, yeah, so I just think the Warriors, that was a good win for them. I just don't take them real serious as a contender. Now to the Rock, it's Thunder. Do you some you wanted to say?

Oh, yeah. You didn't, you didn't like the, wait, did you want me to get into that? You didn't like how the fans reacted to Kevin Durant. Yes. So. Coming back to O'K.' see. It's not so much that I didn't like it. And they cheered Stephen Adams right before. It was that. There is there at the same time. So here's my question, man. Is Durant going to finish unless they win the title in Houston? Is he going to be the first all-time great player to retire without a home? like if you if I if if you say brawn it's the the calves and Cleveland will love him forever you know Lakers some yes some no Miami mostly yes some no but the calves like will love him forever Jordan obviously it's the Bulls Kareem obviously it's the Lakers magic is the Lakers

Duncan is the Spurs. Those guys are one-team guys. But, you know, Kobe is Lakers. But even the guys who moved, like, Kevin Garnett has two cities that adore him. Minnesota, Minneapolis, but the Timberwolves and the Celtics. Barclay. Ray Allen, shoot.

I mean, he's not all the time, I guess. No, but I mean, he's a great player, but I'm talking about, like, top, top. You know, Berkeley is still. is still beloved in Phoenix. D. Wade is obviously always going to be beloved in Miami. Yeah. Moses Malone is beloved in Philly. If Oklahoma City, DeMonte, after winning a title, is still mad at Durant.

When he retires, where does he go? and get universal love. It doesn't feel like it's Golden State. It's certainly not Phoenix or Brooklyn. And Oklahoma City's booing him. I think they love him. I think they're booing. They're talking their mess.

I honestly think that when he retires, that he'll get love from O.K.C. I don't know if they're going to. But I don't know. But yeah, they did just win a title. Like is the other crazy. He left nine years ago. Come on guys.

They cheer Stephen Adams. They booed Durant on Ring Night. You guys won a title. Like Durant did a lot for you all. Yes. Durant did a lot for you all while he was there. I think he deserves a statue there. Like, so that did make me sad.

And I don't think, and by the way, he didn't demand a trade. He didn't blow your team up. He didn't quit on anybody. He had free agency and left. Like. Wasn't hard. the first one to go? But no, they traded away Hardin.

It was a... Hardin was like a con... He couldn't get his contract figure out, right? But that was he didn't want to leave. And so that, you know, the, but they love Russ. It's just, I don't know. That made me sad. OKC's obviously awesome.

I think Durant will be better than he was, um, opening night. Dort gives a lot of people trouble. And Shingoon, man. watch out for shingoon uh i mean shingoon looks great and shout out to wilds on that i still i feel like the fred van vlead injury for the rockets is really tough um but i really do like that team and i think durant's going to be excellent daniel says maybe seattle will claim durant when they get a team i don't know i hope so just made me sad and maybe it shouldn't have but it just made me sad Hey, are you thinking about upgrading to the all-new iPhone 17 Pro?

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Visit boostmobile.com to get started, deliver available for select devices purchased at BoostMobile.com. terms do apply uh all right let's go to the listener questions damase um sean says hey nick saw you in costa rica in early march 22 you were standing outside of a store i didn't want to bother you on your vacation are you cool people saying hi to you oh yeah of the show the i mean that's what a callback that March of 22, I was in Costa Rica. That is true. But yeah, of course.

Yeah, the only, I had a guy. So yes, 92% of the time, it's great. And Saturday night, De Manze, I'm out with your mom and her sisters in Harlem at a bar club, whatever loud packed and this guy's like yo you're Nick right and I'm like and I'm like yeah man and I go to shake his hand and we but again it's packed we are six inches from each other and he says with a smile he's like yo man I effing hate you bro and I was like okay

Okay. But it was such a weird spot because I couldn't move. I then, I am now, I'm waiting to. So like you guys sat there for like another couple minutes awkwardly. I'm just standing there. Almost touching shoulders with this guy who is now like still trying to talk to me. And he's like, no, it's not like that. But I'm like, buddy, this is this, that's just not a greeting. That's not a greeting. That's not a greeting. too many drinks in yeah no that's true too many drinks but no in general so to Sean unless you were going to be like hey I effing hate you uh it would have been fine all right let's get some other listener questions just was wondering what you thought of Katie call it a time out when they didn't have any time out he's lucky he got away with it I mean that was the the refs let him off the hook um that's uh that's uh tough here that's a really tough one all right let's go to Monsior says Nick all my friends say Herbert is better than Burrow I disagree over the next

five years what quarterback would you rather have I mean you got to say Herbert why no I mean because he's available okay fair I mean I guess that's fair no no not the rib thing no no I mean if the answer is burrows too much of an injury risk I mean that's a respectable I guess if you but no better old line if I got a that borough's damaged goods at this point i just think i think those are two different questions who he's saying my friends say herbert's better than burrow herbert definitively is not better than burrow if you're saying my but you know who would you rather have over the next five years that to me does play in injury stuff i'd still rather have burrow for the record

um omar wants to know why i haven't covered the clippers debacle honestly i just think pablo and mark cuban have it covered and i haven't been i don't know why i haven't been as interested in that as other people i'm not that interested in the clippers i'm not that interested in kawai i'm not why said they owe him more money i yeah i mean i'm just i'm not as i i feel like that story while interesting to some is i'm just not super into all right gambling show tomorrow, do a bunch of NFL stuff. Reminder, like, rate, subscribe, review to the show

would help us out a lot. Thank you to Blue Duck. Thank you to volume. And a shout out to all our great sponsors. Hard Rock Bet, Boost, Wayfair, and our friends at Zinn. Talk to you guys tomorrow with our week eight gambling show. 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. 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. 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 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.

Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless, and at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no nonsense break of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments set to find Roland Garros. She's an outsider to win the French name.

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lennarabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcasts on the Iheart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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 SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.