The Mismatch - 20 Questions About the Upcoming NBA Season

Episode Date: August 5, 2025

As we enter the dog days of summer, Verno and Jacoby bring 10 questions each about the upcoming NBA season. They go through everything from the recent string of contract extensions, Daryl Morey’s asterisk comments, LeBron James, Klay Thompson’s relationship with Megan Thee Stallion, Target Guy, and so much more. (00:00) Welcome to The Mismatch! (01:18) Q1: Rank the recent extensions: Bridges, Luka, and Fox (09:20) Q2: Which team do you think you will like more than others? (12:30) Q3: Who will be the 3-seed in the East? (17:40) Q4: Which rookie (not Flagg) do you want to watch the most? (19:18) Q5: Craziest prediction that probably won't happen (22:49) Q6: Daryl Morey is ____ for saying the people put an asterisk on the bubble title (26:54) Q7: Which is more likely for OKC: 55 or 65 wins? (29:00) Q8: Do you think ESPN pays attention to other broadcasts? (34:43) Q9: How will LeBron's season play out? (40:38) Q10: Could Jacoby's twins work the same job like the Thompson twins? (46:41) Q11: Will Joel Embiid ever be Joel Embiid again? (47:01) Q12: Which team in the West do you think will not be as good as people think? (49:18) Q13: Will Klay and Megan Thee Stallion last until the end of the season? (53:09) Q14: Which player do you want to see in person that you have not? (54:39) Q15: Will the Blazers make the play-in? (01:00:49) Q16: Who would you take the gamble on: Zion Williamson or LaMelo Ball? (01:02:44) Q17: Which NBA players were the most relevant at the National Sports Collectors Convention? (01:12:36) Q18: Who is the biggest football player in New York? (01:14:16) Q19: Will "Target Guy" have a podcast by the end of the season (01:15:18) Q20: Which player looks most wrong in their new uniform (01:16:36) Issues with Verno's stay in New York Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone] Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez and Tucker Tashjian Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. And join me see this every Monday night from the ringer.com is Dave Jacoby. Jacoby. Gers. There's so much I want to discuss with him that is non-MBA. But we will save that till the end of the pod because there has been a controversy in my family about your stay at my home that has caused all kinds of problems between me and my wife. Oh, no. And we will get to that later.

Now I want to know what happened. You have done nothing wrong. You have done nothing wrong. She's concerned that we were bad hosts, and we'll put a pin in that. We'll get to that later. Okay, we'll get to that at the end of the show. We are going to do 20 questions about the upcoming NBA season. Things that have been on our mind, we are each going to pose each other ten questions.

We will go through them one by one in quick fashion, but we will try to cover. We are going to cover a myriad of topics with this. You start. All right. This is full disclosure. This one is completely fake and fabric. advocated. It's just a way to get the latest news from the NBA into the 20 questions format. So my question for you is, Ferno, what do you think about the extensions of Bridges,

Donchish, and Fox that have just recently been signed over the past week? Okay, so if I'm ranking them, I would go Donchich one. Oh, let me change mine. Fox two. How would you power rank the extensions that we all knew we're going to happen, but happened over the past week of Donchish, Bridges and Fox. I think I'd go, Dodgich 1, Fox 2, Bridges 3. And obviously that it's also by caliber of player.

You know, Bridges one, he's a little on the older side of the players. So the Fox one will, like, I think go until he's like 32. I don't think Bridges' extension will kick in until he's 30. So, and he at that point, he's not, like, he's not one of your best players on your team. I understand the Fox thing. I understand. I think on the Fox deal, I am higher on him than I think most of my peers. I love Deerrin Fox.

And I understand the catching three shoot, the catch and shoot three stuff. I understand some of the knocks on him. I also think that Deerrin Fox, when you have put good teams around him, what happened was they had a good team. And then that's the king. I mean, he played for a Maribund franchise that hadn't made the playoffs in whatever, 16, 17 years. And they went to the playoffs. And if it weren't for him busting up his thumb, I think they probably take Curry and them out. And then that's a much better story.

That light the beam team was one of my favorites. And I've always been a Fox fan. Also, if you are the Spurs and you decide, like, okay, I think this lets you win and see if you can win with Wembe right now. And also you have the future assets, right? They can pull off the being good now and being good later. We talked about this with Minnesota at one point after we saw Terrence Shannon and the big French kid and Dillingham. And it's like, oh, well, they might actually filter in some good players after they're done with the Conley-Gobert era of the Timberwolves. And so I think the same is true is what I'm trying to get to on San Antonio.

I think Fox helps you win right now, and you can start winning, like, games and playing playoff basketball games with him now. And then I don't think the contract's going to be so bad that, like, again, he's 32, I think at the end of that. And so I would, and you can't trade him with when he's gotten expiring, especially as a clutch client. Like they already got him to where they wanted him to go at San Antonio. We didn't get to see Fox and Wemby for real last year. And so I would lock him up. I don't think you're getting a better player than him. You hope Dylan Harper comes along maybe faster than what you might expect,

but it doesn't matter how fast he comes along. And then on the Luca front, again, he's locked in now, and you know that you get to build out with him in bind. And you don't have to worry about that at all. That wasn't like a we gave up this stuff, but he is going to go test the market. like that just put all that to rest. And so now that's going to be a Luca franchise.

Now on the bridge's front, he's always going to have the five picks thing hanging over him. Like that's just, that's his plight now. And he's never going to be worth that, right? He's never going to be that, especially when he was, you needed him to be awesome against Indiana.

And you wouldn't say awesome, right? especially compared to their three and D guys that they had. That being said, this is why you got the, I mean, you got the good deal on Brunson so you could bring his guys back. And I think the longer you can keep something together and the more continuity you have,

I mean, to me, the extension stuff, what are your options? You pay these guys and then you can figure it out after the fact. They're all three, obviously different levels, but all three outstanding players that are always going to have a market. I don't think any of these guys signed contracts where the market's going to look at those as being, oh, terrible contracts we can't get out of. Like, they're great players.

We've been doing this for about a year, right? And I can only say that I've been wrong and you've been right on issues about two or three times over the course of that year. And one of those was when we discussed Aaron Fox and his fit with the spur. because now you have Harper and you've got Castle, you've got Wemby, and it feels like if you're being really honest with yourself as a franchise, you're like, we're the 2028, 29 contenders. You know what I mean? So to me it felt like Fox was a little bit of an odd fit because of their lottery luck.

However, you sort of told me like, look, man, like they haven't played a playoff game. Like Wimby has not played a playoff game. And you want Deere and Fox there to get you into the first round so you can lose into the second round so you can lose and then you're going to develop Harper and Wimby and Castle in that core during that time. So I will say that

you you altered my perspective on his fit with the team because it does feel like Harper and Fox might be redundant, but Harper's like 19. You know what I mean? So like here's a yeah and here's what we're really talking about. If you don't have like I don't care what the player is, it's going to take three or four years for them to become what.

whatever, right? Yeah. Where they're, and how many years do you want to not play playoff basketball? Like, Wembe is the exception where he is ready to be a playoff, like a win now player. Like, he's that great. Most guys, not that, not that, right? And it is more typical maybe with guys with size than it is with guards. But there's going to be a learning curve.

And so it's like, how many years do you want to spend? not playing playoff basketball with Victor Wimbaniama, when you very well might be in playoff basketball by this year if you've got Deer & Fox on your team as the guy run of the show. And I think that he'll, Harper will be able to, he'll play a lot of minutes and he will have a lot in his plate, but he won't have the pressure of handling the ball for a team with expectations the way the Spurs have.

With one of the best players in the league, I expect Wemby to be like an MVP candidate next year. healthy movie. Who just went to Shalind Temple? Also may give him the absolute best way to develop, right? I.e. back in the day, Shaig Yilders Alexander was getting to play for the

Clippers, but he always talks about Chris Paul, right? And I would imagine that Fox is going to be a mentor of sorts for those young guards. Donchish is not worth talking about. We'll have plenty of time to talk about the stupid Lakers, like whatever. Bridges,

I like the coaching change kind of hurt me because of the success that they had, but I like the idea that there will be a new offense that is not just, hey, Jalen Brunson, do whatever you can do. It felt like his dad was the offensive coach, which might have been the case. And I feel like when Brunson was hurt, Bridges and Ananobe in particular stepped up and had a much bigger role and were very much more effective. And I expect this to be more of a democratic offense. next year where we see more from bridges

because when he lifts up from 12 to 14 feet off the dribble and does that weird double dribble jump shot like unblockable. It goes in. It's like 80% on those. And I think with a little more OG a little more bridges, a little less

Brunson, I think that's going to be a much better offense for the Knicks. But let's move on to your first question. Yeah, all right. Team that you think you will like more than the consensus. Okay. So one thing that my wife knows about me is I get, when I get into arguments with her, I get very stuck on individual words because I could have done the worst thing in the world.

But if she makes one verbal mistake in a sentence, I'll just pin on that. So that's kind of what I'm doing with your questions as well. Because when you say, think I will like more than the consensus, does that mean I will like watching or that I will see winning more the consensus. You will see winning more than the consensus. Okay.

The team I will like watching more the consensus will be the Hornets, but we'll put that to the side. We'll discuss the movie. The team that I think will win more than others are the Detroit Pistons. I just, I mean, as a Knicks fan, I mean, toe to toe with the

Knicks, who ended up in the Eastern Conference finals, and Cade absolute breakout leap year last year. Like absolute breakout leap year last year. You get Jaden I'd be back. I thought that Beasley is a loss, right? I'm just going to count him as a loss. But we've all read the stuff. But you shot to Pablo Tori.

Shout to my guy, Pablo Tori. Do you listen to that episode? You're counting that as a loss? But if you listen to that episode, the Pablo Tori finds out episode on the, Me, Malik Beasley thing is just wild. Wild. How about the guy that tweeted it out?

Dude. Dude. If you're listening to this podcast, when you are done with this podcast and you are done subscribing and liking and leaving five-star reviews on every fucking platform there is, listen to the Fablatori Finds Out episode about Malik Beasley and the rabbit hole that he went down. But anyway, I think Duncan Robinson has been sort of like a forgotten asset. And I think that I think the Pistons are going to be I think they will

Do you mean a forgotten asset by Eric Bolster Because he forgot he's on his team Yeah like like I like talking Robbs I just really I really really really really am high on the Pistons All right I think they have an identity They have a culture They play defense, they play tough They would toe to toe with the Knicks and didn't have B-Steu

They didn't have Jaden Ivy Like this team is like oh It's like offseason moves or whatever. Offseason moves is bringing back Chaden Ivy, who played fantastic, who was your, like, leap year guy last year in the preseason, and it was every bit of it before he got hurt. I think the

pistons are going to be the three or four seed in the Eastern Conference. All right, perfect, because that's going to lead into your next question. Okay. This is one, a lot of times, I find my kids will do this at dinner where they'll ask a question that they really want

to be asked. But I don't know the answer to this question. I literally do not know the answer to this question. I could put five teams as the answer to this question. Who will be the third best team in the Eastern Conference next year? Okay, so I really debated your aforementioned Detroit Pistons. But I would say right now on August 4th, my inclination would be, I am confident that the Knicks are going to be fantastic.

I'm confident the calves are going to be fantastic. Yeah, I mean, in terms of like expectations, can lock those in at one and two. Those are the two, right? We agree on the two? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's consensus. Okay.

Then I'm Orlando. Okay. And I will tell you the three I can- I understand. The three I consider were the hawks, the pistons, and Orlando. Again, it's August 4th.

We'll see as stuff starts to play out. But I like these teams that are bringing back the continuity, right? And you've got, and now I know, what Bain brings to the table. You know, everybody loved Desmond Bain as soon as he got traded, as we've talked about many times. But I love Desmond Bain, and I think Desmond Bain is going to be absolutely perfect for that

Orlando team. And I also think, so I look at it and say, Atlanta's going to go through a little bit of growing pains just with the new personnel. Like, that's just the way it goes. Detroit kind of brings back their guys that they played with a lot last year. Not all of them. I mean, obviously some of the vets are going to be. gone. But I think you've also got,

Cade's going to keep getting better. It's going to be one of the best players in the league, in my opinion. Pollo could very well be like, what, top five player in the NBA. He's a number one picks. We're talking about number one picks. Like, they're supposed to be these guys. Yeah. Yes. And so to me, I'm looking at, all right, here's the team that, like, they were already really good last year,

that Orlando team, and they lost Suggs and they lost Wagner. and they lost the other Wagner, and then they lost Paulo. They just kept losing guys. It's like, if they get to run it healthy, I think that team is going to be absolutely dynamite. They added bane to the mix.

I think they're going to be absolutely dynamite. So I think Orlando is to me the safest, because I still think, you know, the Atlanta thing, you're counting on Porzengis, you are. And that's a hard thing to count on. And it gets a little light when you get to their bend.

I really like that Orlando team. I do. I think they're awesome. And I think the Bain thing's going to make them even more potent. And so yeah, they're my answer. Orlando's my answer. Okay. And let me push back in Orlando a little bit just for funsies, right?

This is more devil's advocate than my own thoughts. All right. They famously, whether it was eye test or metrics, could not shoot threes last year. Just could not do it, right? And it's like, oh, Bain shoot threes. But like, KCP was brought in to do that last year, too. But like, does Desmond Bain take you from like this atrocious three-point shooting team to the middle of the pack? No, but it makes you better at it.

A, it makes you better at it. And that's not how they win anyway. It goes from defense. Win with defense. And I do think that you can always have individual. improvement on that and they need Franz to be able to knock down threes. That would be a massive help. And then, you know, you never know on some of the other players, right?

Like, we have seen it before. Like, if Jalen Suggs ended up becoming a, like, an extremely reliable three point shooter, it wouldn't shock me. Well, I think Franz, I'm looking at Franz first. Like, Doc, like, you can get to the rim, you can slash. You can play make last year he played made, play me better than he did the previous year. like if he could hit a three man like it just oh and i mean i'm sure look and again i don't know if it's going to show up but wouldn't you imagine that the guys the the the jalen sugs and the

anthony blacks and the you know jet howards like all these guys like all these guys they're shooting if they're worth their salt they're shooting 5 000 threes a day like that's the game now right and you have palo and fronds like you're going to get feet set yes catch and shoot ball in the shooting pocket threes. This is not side step back off the triple threes. Like, you're going to get the easiest threes you can get.

And every year we see guys improve with that. I think it's the type of guys you have. And if you have the type of guys that I think they have, I'd imagine that they will also improve individually at it. But look, that team, when it is fully stocked, their defense and length and

I mean, they are absolutely fantastic. And I think They would be, to me, the safest bet on that front. I mean, I asked the question because I don't have the answer. I could see it being the bucks. I can see it being the Pistons. I could see it being the magic. I can't see it being the Pacers.

But like, I can see it being the Sixers. Who knows where that three seat is going to go to? Who knows? What rookie not named Cooper Flag do you think you will go out of your way to watch the most? Okay. again, I drill down on the verbiage. Out of my way to watch the most. I do not.

Like you wouldn't typically, yes. You wouldn't typically be watching this game. Yeah, yeah. I don't watch Wizards games. I do not watch them. I do not watch Wizards games. I will go out of my way to watch Trey Johnson.

I do it. Really? I had no interest in Saar last year. I was like, whatever. Jordan Poole and Saar and no, no. SARS parents didn't watch the game. I mean, what are you talking about? I will go out of my way to watch Trey Johnson.

I got really excited about those two summer league games. He's a scorer. I just think he's a great fit, great pick. I just want to see him play NBA basketball. I want to see him against NBA defenses. I want to see if this can translate. It gets it. It gets us back with an active group text with Joe House.

He's got something fun, right? I mean, he's just sitting there watching Wizards games. He's watching a different brand of basketball than us every night. The only person watching Wizards games. Literally. I would say of all teams in the NBA, I watched the fewest Wizards games last year. Or jazz because they're in the West Coast or whatever.

But yeah. Yeah, I think that's fair. Yes, that's my answer. All right. Tray Johnson. Next for you. what is the dumbest, craziest prediction you have for next season

that won't happen, and we won't hold you to, but it's not impossible. Oklahoma City's too young? No scars. They didn't get any scars. They won the championship, they don't get the scars.

They came out unscathed, so they still don't have scars. Stick to your take, Bruno. Stick to your take, Bruno. take that came out on scape therefore no scars it didn't take their losses no scars

he's looking at the notes a crazy predictive well no no because I did not have this necessarily set what I was going to do all right how about this one we get our first American MVP in

how many years is it now that gives me and you know what it is crazy so it'd be crazy if I locked down if I lock down to one then I guess that was what we make I think this is crazy enough it's crazy you agree it's crazy enough right when you talk about the five best players in American MVP that we're talking about right in a Jannis Yokic Wemby yeah no no and then all right so the last ones we've had Steph, obviously. It's 17-18 James Hardin. God.

It's gone. Janice. When was Steph? No, it's gone. Steph was 16-17? No, no, no. He was 14-15 and 15-16. Because Westbrook won it in 16-17.

Then Hardin. Westbrook's an alien, so he's not American. So then we had Janus, Janus, Yokic, Yokic, M-B'd Yokicch, SGA. So I'll say whether it's Paulo Edwards Obviously we lost Tatum Tatum can't do it Yeah I don't see that happening buddy

So Paulo Edwards It's not impossible Palo's not impossible Huh Palo's not impossible Oh Edward's not impossible Oh no hold on Paulo Edwards Brunson

Ew Okay Cade Oh No, I'm just talking about like, no, no, no, this is the craziest dumbest prediction that probably won't happen. We're not going to try young. We're not doing Tray Young. Probably not going to happen.

Yeah, we're not doing. Again, yeah, this is not. Probably not. Anthony Davis. Oh, definitely not going to happen. No, I know. But it's not going to happen. I'm saying.

Wait, in one scenario, is Anthony Davis the best people? How about Duran? I mean, if Duran's the best player in Houston is the best. If they were, they went like 70 games and you got to give. it to somebody, maybe. Yeah. I said Duran, Duran Anthony Edwards would be your best shots.

I'm gonna, I mean, it's gonna be Luca. He's skinny. Come on. We'll see. That is a, okay, that is a crazy one.

That if it does come true, then I will go back to this. Otherwise, I will have this episode delete. Yeah. Like LeBron does. I don't, I don't even think they're gonna post this,

to be honest. Oh, I hope not. What's your next question? Oh, it's my turn. Yeah. Darry

is blank for saying people put an asterisk on the bubble title. Misunderstood, aggregated, and taken out of context. Allow me to explain. I will now read the actual quote.

That's no fun. I'll read the actual quote of what he said. Boo. Accuracy. Boo to accuracy. Quote. Because my first thought was a bitch, right?

But I was like, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to actually read what he said. Crazy. I know it's crazy. How dare you do research? I'm going to go see what he said about this. He said the following, quote, this is how it misunderstood now in context this whole thing has become because I just read headlines mainly, but I was like, let me just, if I have to speak about it into a microphone, let me at least read what he said.

Quote, had the Rockets won the title, I absolutely would have celebrated it as legitimate, knowing the immense effort and resilience required. Yet everyone I speak to around. the league privately agrees that it doesn't truly hold up as a genuine championship. Perhaps the lasting legacy of the NBA bubble is that the NBA should be proud of its leadership at both the beginning and end of the pandemic, even though the champion will forever be marked by an asterisk. So he didn't say it's an asterisk.

He hid behind people, everyone I speak to around the league privately. So this isn't him saying there's an asterisk. It's him saying other people say there's an asterisk. There is. No, I'm not on this. I'm not on this. It's just like when the Spurs beat the Knicks in the 50 game season. It's just a different one.

No, no, I'm firmly planted in the no asterisk camp on this one. It's a, 48 minutes of NBA basketball. 94 about 50, 10 foot hoops. No. It's a different deal.

Like the one, look, we will always remember that that one was different than all the others. If that's not an asterisk, I don't know what it is. Not an asterisk. I've been talking about this for years now. Not an answer. Someone's got to win.

You're winning, it's a basketball game. Oh, there's not a crowd and there's not travel. Whatever, it's a basketball game. Oh, come on. It is a basketball game in front of 14 people is a lot different than a basketball. But what about the fans at home on the big screen? You saw Oklahoma City in Indiana. Zoom fans.

Dude, do you know, hey, even better than Zoom fans? Even better than that? You know, my father that year, so I grew up with St. Louis blues tickets. That's what my dad took me to all the time, the hockey days. We had season tickets to the blues until my senior year of high school. And when, and my dad still watches every blues game. When during the pandemic, the blues ran a promotion where I bought a cardboard cutout of my dad and they would put him in the seat.

It's in his house right now. They sent, they mailed it to me after the season. But we would watch games during the pandemic. And we're like, yes, because he would switch seats. Like sometimes he'd be up on the glass.

Oh, then move them around? Yeah, yeah. Unbelievable. Shout out to them for doing that. That was super cool. He was like, I go to work.

Oh, what are you doing today? We've got to move cardboard cuts around. Some guys switched. seeds get better seeds for different games. Yeah. There was a cardboard cutout of my dad at every blues game that season. It was amazing.

It was amazing. And it's in his in his bedroom right now. It's in the corner. I saw it. The last time I went over to his house. I was like, there's a cardboard cutout. He's wearing a blues jersey and a blues hat. I found some picture from like

years ago. Great. Great. All right. Next one. does uh oh again i'm asking a question i do not know the answer too no that i would have difficulty answer i'm here is it more likely that the oklahoma city thunder win 45 or 75 games next season oh what 75 is i what are we even talking 45 is ridiculous come on injuries what they win last year 60 what tough conference what they win

Okay, they had Chet for 30. Now, they're not going to try like they did last year, right? Once you're made men, it's, you know, very rarely do you see somebody come out with the same level of tenacity. But I mean, I mean, good grief. Let me remix it. Is it more likely they win 55 or 75 games six? That's a better question. Okay.

45, 45 is crazy. Come on. 55 or 75 is more likely. Yes. Because then, I mean, because, again, you're always taking, they had impeccable health outside of Chet. No, Chet and Hardinstein. No, no, no.

I'd say they never played without their best guy. That's right. If you had to play 20 games without SGA, it's a different world. Jay Dubs hurt a little bit. Yeah, I'm saying. The other Jayne Williams was hurt a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right?

Yes. The best guy was available. And generally, they've got most of their lineup on a nightly basis. But yeah, what they were able to do without Chet was, I mean, come on. Now you're going to add him into the mix and he's going to be a year better. So, I mean, if they won, I think I'd be surprised if they would win 60 plus. If the old runner was 60 out, Bethlehem. If the old runner was 60 out, Bethleh, you know.

For sure. Me too. Me too. Yes. Yes. I agree. What's your next one? Next one I've got for you. Oh, now we get to go into Jacoby, work for ESPN for 20 years. 23.

23. Do you think ESPN really raises its game a lot because of their competing broadcasts? No. You don't. So you can take me behind the curtain here. Do they talk about competition at all? Like do they, do you think they look at the TNT thing or they look at the Fox football thing?

They've got the TNT guys. I got it. No, no, no. I'm saying when I'm saying is it just, we're ESPN and we do our thing? Do they ever talk about, did you ever have a conversation about competition when you were there? What another show on another network is doing? No. No.

Wow. I think there's obvious conversations about the industry at large. It wasn't another show or another network. It was more to sort of like the rise of digital media, social media, the importance of that and whatnot. YouTube, the YouTube strategy changed a lot. One thing that I decided not to do since I left ESPN was use platforms like this one to shit on ESPN. You know what I mean? Because they've done so much for my life and my wife and my family.

You know what I mean? I have a lot of notes about the way ESPN makes content, and I think they've made a lot of bad decisions outside of my own relationship with ESPN, and I think they continue to do so. You don't think they're going to look and go, that's what NBC's doing, that's what Amazon's doing, we've got to. I think that they made their big play. Like they had a salary cap,

and they went all in on getting the inside the NBA show. And I think that is their response. But I think I eventually someone will write the story and get the information. But I really enjoyed Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Mike Green doing games. And that day in which they stopped doing that. And they got out of that business. I was shocked. Well, and then it's been a mess of a summer with the leaks about Doris and Legler and like all that.

It's like, come on, guys. What are we doing here? And Richard Jefferson and like, right. I just, I really think that, that sometimes you take what you've got for granted. And I felt like ESPN took for granted the trio that was, and I'm not a huge Mark Jackson as an NBA analyst fan. I'm going to say it out loud. I mean, I don't know. It's the chemistry.

But it's just like they, because it was a coach. And it was a coach that, his point guard. And it was breen. It was very New York centric. and maybe that played into sort of like why I loved it so much. But it was just like they felt like three guys that spent time together voluntarily not at work. You know what I mean? And I think that that goes a long way in our business.

And I felt like that was a really bad decision that diminished the end products. And that does not say anything disparaging about anybody who has taken their places. But I just feel like that was a really bad decision. And I think that what they have done, if they say, all right, we got some new competition. We're just going to spend a lot, a lot, a lot of money on acquiring inside the NBA and everything that goes with that. Because I don't even know what the numbers are.

But it's not going to be that much, right? Like, there's still just, that's going to be a one time a week deal, you know? Oh, yeah. Oh, those are going to be the, there's tiers to sort of the ESPN coverage. Right. And like the lowest tier, they usually do like wind. Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday and Sunday games, right? And it goes, the Wednesday games are the least important.

The Friday games are the second least important. Saturday games are least important. Sunday games are least important. The ABC games. That is when we, you know, you get the haircut, you clip your nails, you put your nice, you go to the closet, you get something new. That is when you really put your best foot forward. And that is when you will see the inside the NBA front and center.

But I don't think they're going to be new Wednesday. days. The reason I mentioned this is because I saw those different pictures, like the graphics, I really like what these places have assembled, especially Amazon. I think the Amazon thing is going to go great and people are going to love it because that's the one with like rooks and Dirk and Blake Griffith, right? Isn't that that that that's that whole crew. They've also done a good job of how do I explain? I think the biggest splash are the new hires where it's like Blake Griffin and Dirk and Taylor Rooks and Maria Taylor and and I forget who else they got. Michael Jordan.

Yeah. Those are the big splashes, but those are the studio shows. Right. And those are like a cumulative like 40 minutes, but it's the play by play and the color analysts. That's who you end up listening to the most. And I thought the hires that they've done in those spots have been really, really well selected. and I think that as a viewer, as a fan, as someone who loves NBA basketball,

those are the voices that are in my ears more than the splashy big name studio people that, you know, come in and out before and after games. Next question. This is from me. This could be a seven-hour answer. Okay. So I want you to truncate yourself here.

Okay. We can talk about this. We will talk about this for months. How do you think this LeBron's season will play out on and off the court. Emphasis on off. Let's be honest.

I actually think that with this Luca, that they have a chance to be awesome. So you read a men's health article. He's got skinnier arms now, and you're calling him this Luca.

He's a different person. I mean, Jacoby, they were the three seed last year. They're the three seats. you know so and they've added you know they added marcus smart they added d'andre eight which are like total wild cards like you refuse to mention la ravia for like the third podcast still got still got austin reeves there i mean i i i could i could see him being like otherworldly great i am a believer in skinny luka i am i almost i almost you said team that that um that i like more than the consensus i was

I had the Lakers as my pick. I actually think he's going to be so damn awesome that like LeBron's actually going to be happy because the team's awesome. And then this will be the last go-round with LeBron. And then he'll be on a different team starting next season. But that this will be the last go-round. But I actually think that it, that they're going to be, they're going to win so much that it's going to be a lot less drama-filled than I would imagine.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong. But I just feel like if they're winning all the time, that's not going to lead to the, right? I just feel like if they're winning a lot, that it's not going to be much of an issue. And it's going to be this last year or whatever. And he'll go play elsewhere, you know, after this year. I'd imagine this is probably the last year he wears a late.

Laker uniform. That's what I'd guess. But I think that the off season, while he always wants to stay in the spotlight and whatever, I think by the time they get to the season, that they're going to win so often that it's not going to be nearly as dramatic as we would wish it would be. When you do what we do for a living,

sometimes I'm like, I think the Lakers are going to be much better than everybody else does. But then you're like, now I'm going to talk about the Lakers and like sell the world on like LeBron James being good at basketball. So you kind of like want to zag against it because the Lakers like take up so much air in the room. But I'm like you. I think the team's going to win a lot of games. They're going to win a lot in that way.

They got LeBron. And you got LeBron in this like secondary role. Like I know. Please. Just like the, just the intelligence that he brings to the court. And he's lost a step. But man. Yeah, but also he was like I remember I was talking to somebody that was.

with the Lakers traveling party. And this was, let's just say a year and a half ago. And they were in town and they were saying, just watch the game. He said, he will play as hard as he has to. Like they are trying to win the game while expending the least amount of energy they can. That was the LeBron AD team, right? And so you can watch him just stand around. This gives him the opportunity.

he can literally coast and then turn it on what he wants to turn it on because the other guy is handling the load. That has just not been the case. And so I actually think it's going to, I think it's going to work. I think Luca's going to probably be the MVP and I'm going to hate it all. I know. We're not going to be that.

Like it's like as NBA podcasts, we're supposed to see her and be like, well, I looked at the numbers and the Lakers are going to actually suck. But they got Luca and LeBron. And you remember that dunk he had in Portland last year with his left hand? Yeah. Like, he's still LeBron James.

He can still get you 30. The smartest player on the floor. And there's pieces around them. They're good enough. Their defense is a concern. It's been a concern. It is. Before they, I mean, even when they had AD.

AD was just a big band-aid that fixed a lot of defensive problems. But how do they stop anybody? I actually also think it helps that they've got a coach that, like, really cares. Like, he's still in. I really care about every night mode because I'm still young in my coaching career. Like if one of the, if the Doc Rivers of the world are these kind of guys, we're coaching these guys.

Then, yeah, then they, they'll get, they win 43 games or whatever it takes to get into the playoffs and they get into the playoffs or whatever. Like, I actually think that like,

he's going to game plan and care about every night. J.J. Reddick is. Like, he's going to be treating it like that seriously, much more than. and a vet coach that just, you know, all right, like, no shoot around tomorrow. Like that kind of, right, you know, I think he's still locked in.

I got bamboozled by the Lakers last season. I felt for that, like, what were they having? Like a month when they were like the number three defense in the league. Oh, and whether it was schedule or effort or just, you know, new blood on the team, I got bamboozled. I was like, oh, if they're playing defense, then no one can stop this team. But they proved that that was not the real them. But I'm hiding the legors this year.

Yeah. All right. Next, a big time story in last year's NBA season was the Thompson twins. They were great. Everybody loved Amman Thompson. And Asaer came along. And maybe he has his breakout this year. But this isn't about basketball.

This is about twins. You have twins. So you can speak to this. While you might not be a Thompson twin expert, you are a Jacoby twin expert. Both, both. Could you see your twins having the same job? And what is good about having twins? There's a lot here.

There's a lot here. Number one, I do want to say about a Sir Thompson. I'm sure that that man hates Jalen Brunson. I'm sure. If you were to have like three beers with him and be like, how do you feel about Jailen Brunson? He's like, I just,

I want to grab him by the neck and choke him. I want to watch the life leave his face. because Jalen Brunson baited that man into so many fouls during the playoffs. It was he couldn't stay on the floor. And Brunson would just kind of like snickered at him after he did it every time. It was just, it was, it was, it made me angry and I'm a Knicks fan. The young, aggressive defender has no chance against Jailen Brunson. Just none.

Yeah, just none. But twins, it's a, it was a shock. No, answer to the first one first. Could you imagine them having the same job? No. No. Because they have the same parents, literally the same DNA, but they're so different as people.

And it's really interesting being a parent and having a literal like apples to apples comparison to one of your kids. Because when you're a parent and you have kids, you're always like, oh, Johnny's four, my kid's four. oh look he can you know right run better he's a little he can he can write and read that's interesting but like when you have an apples to apples in your own home it's um it's really wild like chloe was walking and talking at 12 months my daughter oh yeah yeah thanks for saying months yes months my my daughter margo refused to walk until she was like 19 months old because she was just be like upy you carry me i'm a princess like it carried around the house and they are um there are moments

when one thing as great as a parent of twins is they can entertain each other sometimes they'll just be in their room doing whatever they're doing and they're enjoying each other but they are each other's greatest source of joy and greatest source of anger like they are the best friends and the worst enemies and they hate being twins. Like they hate it. They hate it. They hate it. They hate it. They hate it. I mean, I think, you know, they're nine.

So I think, you know, at 19, they'll have a little more perspective about it. I said, what are the good things? Oh, the good things? Yeah, like beyond like sharing clothes. Like I didn't share clothes, right? Oh, no. The twins recently went to me and they're like, dad, why don't we have our own underwear. I was speechless. I was just like, because I'm lazy and I'm a bad parent.

You're the same size. Yeah, it's like, because I'm a lazy person and a bad parent, it just sounds like more work for me to like label the underwear with M's and Cs and whatever. The good things are you get two babies at one time, right? That's a huge one. That's huge. That's huge.

They have a built-in playmate at all times. is their age that has their background. And another good thing is they know each other better than anybody else. So if Margo's off in the corner crying and I have no idea what I did wrong, I can just pull Chloe to the side and be like, what's up with Margo? You know what I mean? And she'll be like, well, you said blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, oh, you're right.

I did say that. Now I can go in and I have an attack because I'm not a great dad. You know what I mean? I don't know when I hurt people's feelings or why. But they can do that. They have it. They do do the language thing. They have a language called Fidanchi language, which is just there.

They can communicate themselves at all times. They've got someone to, they never get scared because they're alone. What is Fadachi? What is that? That's what their language, Fadanchi language. That's the language that they speak. Fadanchi. Is that something or they just invented that? They invented that.

Oh, okay. They invented it. Yeah, yeah. Fidanchi language is what they said. So this is how they talk badly about you and your wife. Yeah. I don't think they know what Fonci language is either. language. Yeah, yeah. I don't think they know Fadanchi. If I was like, hey, write down all the words

of Fadanchi what they mean in English, they could not do that. But it's just like the best part is it's really cute when they get along. It's like really cute. You know what I mean? Why could you not see them doing the same profession? They're just same age, exact same chromosonal makeup, same parenting. Like the nature versus nurture is really interesting because It's like the nurture part is the same, the same. Right. But the nature is just, they're so divergent. They're wildly divergent nature-wise.

Like my daughter Margo is like, she does her hair every morning. She lays her clothes out. She really cares about what she looks like. She really cares about her outfits, her presentation. She cares so much about what she presents. and Chloe is like a feral human being that we just pulled out of the woods, it's not.

And that's why I can't see them working the same job. Understood. Yeah. That makes sense. So there is good thing. I mean, I want to learn about twins. It's great.

It's great. And I'm a biggest sur fan, by the way. Big of Sir Thompson. I think I'm mad and gets all the love like a Sir Thompson. Again, big on the pistons. High on the pistons.

High on the pistons. All right. Fair enough. Next. All right, we have to pick up the pace here. Will Joel Embed ever be Joel and beat again? No. All right.

Next question. We can pick up the pace. Great. Sounds like we picked up the pace. What do you got? I mean, I don't know. No, we're moving on.

We're moving on. We're moving on. Who is the team in the West? You could see not being as good as people think they'll be. Minnesota Timberwolves did not have to think long about this one. Wow. Oh, yeah. Why?

What was there? big addition. What was there a big addition this offseason? The big French kid that learned how to play basketball a couple years ago. And then, uh, he's like, do I bounce this? Do I bounce this one or kick it? How's this work? You got, you got, uh, you got second year

Tarrant Shannon. You got second year, uh, Dillingham, who couldn't find the floor last year. And you lose Nikiel Alexander Walker. Who's a big part of what they do? I think they got worse. And I think that the Julius Randall that showed up in the playoffs. was an anomaly. You know how I feel about Julius Randall.

And the idea that he's going to be your second best player and Rudy Gobert is not getting younger. Still can't, still looks like he's, he looked like he just started playing basketball two years ago. And he's been in the league for like 14. I'm telling you, I'm low on the Timberwolves. I'm selling on the Timberwolves. Wow.

Did not get better. Did not get better. everyone around them got better Clippers, better Nuggets, reasonably better, Thunder, better. Everyone got better.

Except for them. Got worse. And they're also going to have A-Rod just hovering over them at all time, right? They did get the ownership thing fixed. I guess.

They did. Okay. Free key off-season acquisition, for the Timberwolves got the ownership thing fixed. All right. Okay. All right. Okay.

So you think this is going to be a, you think this is going to, they're going to take a step backwards. I mean, they were, look, they made the Western Conference finals two years in a row, brother. I do want to say this that I can see not being as good as people think will be. And I think people like, oh, they went to the Western Conference finals two years in a row. They're contenders. I don't, I don't see it. Don't see it. All right.

Next question. Will Joel Embed ever be Joel and beat again? No. Okay. Next question. Will my new favorite couple Meg this Daly and Clay Thompson make it through the season together?

The season? The season. No. Good grief. What? Really? I love them so much. I care so much more about them.

The algorithm knows I love them. Like they, the algorithm serves me so much Clay and Meg content. So much. I don't care about Taylor's from the Travis Kelsey at all. You and I have both of them. married a very long time now. Very long time.

It's been a long time since we were in a relationship. But you watch all this. That was an amazing sentence. We've been married for a very long time. It's been a long time since we've been in a relationship. You know what I mean. That is amazing. You know what I mean.

Exactly what you mean. But the way that you said it, if you read the transcripts, like, when you are married, you're no longer in a relationship. You're in a marriage. I mean like the puppy love relationship. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they're, I'm watching their Instagram videos. Like they're showing up in my algorithm too, probably because of your stupid ass.

And they know I like you and you like this. So now it's like, hey, Chris needs to know this is going on. And they're on boats. They're on the golf course. It's all, it's like 51st date. When that runs out and they just have to be normal ass people, it's no way. No way. this is not a this is a fun couple this is not a settle down couple they're just

I believe in love oh no look this they're constantly doing fun stuff it is kind of like the bachelor where it's like you have the best dates in the world yes yeah but it's like well what what what about when the fridge is empty and we we got to come up with something to do on Tuesday night and how do I know that they're doing fun stuff because they videotape all of it yes and edit it Okay, so no, I don't believe in the epic, you know, I think we're going to get a lot of awesome dates, but like, just like being. Just like, because there comes a time when that stuff, like you stop doing all that. And it's like, all right, I just want to stay in tonight. Do you think they've ever done?

I don't know. Again, I love them both too. I don't think that, I think this is a fun dating relationship. that we would look back on. But in terms of like, are they, do I think I'm going to be looking up and seeing the Megastalian Clay Thompson wedding? Doubtful.

Probably not. Probably not. Right. One quick relationship thing, just a gem that I got from a friend of mine, who I won't name. Okay. He's like,

when you think about it, you're sexually attracted to your partner. But you actually are having sex like 2% of the time. You need to partner with someone that you are happy with the other 98% of the time. Oh, that's fair. And I was like, that was, he said it like in like 2002.

And it's still on my mind 22 years later. It's brilliant, brilliant. And then do you ever say, do you ever say like, this isn't even 2%? No, that's what I say. I was like, well, I confess. It's like 0.005%. What are you talking about?

What are you talking about? If you add it all of the times out, it's not five minutes. And we've got four kids out of it. Zero zero zero two percent. I mean to have to end it. I didn't put that part of the story into it. An opposing player you want to see in person that you have not

if you're going to head over to Brooklyn to go check out of next game. Because I can't afford Knicks games. This is so easy. This is just obviously Victor Wemba. Oh, you haven't seen him in person. I mean, I have to. That one doesn't even need explanation.

Like, we don't even have to. It's like going to the circus. Yeah, I need to see that. You can't believe it's real. I need to see it. I need to see it. I need to see it. When I, I actually, there's only two players

that I've ever showed up like super early to the arena for. True story. One is Curry. Steph. And one is Victor Wemba. But the first time he came in, I was like, I can't miss his warmup. I've got to be there for it. So I got there early. And I mean, the second he walked out started warming up, I'm like, this is not like this.

It was like I was watching an alien. You can't believe it's real. He's that big and like that unbelievable at basketball. He's like draining threes. He's doing, you know, doing dribbling drills. I'm like, this is crazy. How is a human this tall doing this crap? He's awesome to behold.

You do need to do that. I need to do it. All right, next. Yep. Simple, short. A team that I've got my eye on that I will be watching way more than I should that I'm rooting for for no reason other than I used to play pickup from time and time with the head coach. Will the trailblazers make the play in?

Oh. Um, they're make like win now moves. They've got like Drew Holiday. I know you have a question about this later. So I'm not going to get real in depth on this. No, no, no. Hold on. You can understand.

What's about Target guy? I saw the aforementioned Chauncy Billups 20 times this weekend. At the collection's convention? He was everywhere. He was everywhere. He was like taking part in like he was there like at a trade night. He was there at the eBay stand. Are these paid performance?

Yeah, I guess so. But like he, but he was like omnipresent. And I, no lie. At least five different people told me like, hey man, I just met Tawkes-Tillips. Like Tawtsy Billups is here, whatever, right? And they were like, man, not only is he the coolest. He's funny too. And like everybody that came in contact with Chaunty Billups that I knew, I never saw him.

Like, I mean, I saw him walking around, but I never like talked to him. But everybody I met that came in contact with Chanty Billups came away with a story that they wanted to tell you about how they just met Chanty Billups and loved him. He's awesome to be around. I mean, these are, these people have literally. no fame, they're like collectors or they're like, you know, baseball card streamers or whatever, right? Like they're just regular dudes.

We've all been around funnier people than Chauncey Phillips, cooler people than Chauncey Billups, better looking people than Chonsie Billups, smarter people than Choncy Billups, harder working people than Choncy Billups, but Chonsie Billups is just the best. Like he's just like the most solid,

dependable, normal, trustworthy guy Like, me and my wife were arguing about who, like, should we leave in the will, should we leave the kids with like my brother or her sister? And we were just like, Chauncey Billups. Just leave him with Chauncey Billups. It's like, you can't go wrong. You loved him. I haven't known that well.

I just love him. He's just, he's so happy to see you. You're so happy to see him. No one has complaints about Chauncey Billups. Like, I've got a big personality. There are people in the world who's like, I can't stand that guy. He talks too much. He tries to be funny all the time.

He just like takes the air out of the room. He sucks. Jacoby's the worst. And you know what? They're right. But no one feels that way about Charles and Billers. No one does. I can only tell you, like, everybody I came in contact with that was a round of love.

He's awesome. I'm going to say, yes. I think that they are a very good candidate to be the, we were okay, and then we take a leap. I think they're a very good candidate to do that this upcoming year. I do. Some of these old teams, like, you know, you're an injury away on some of the old teams. And there's always going to be somebody worse than we expected. And it just off the top, I would say, they'll be better than Phoenix.

They'll be better than Sacramento. They'll be better than New Orleans. There'll be neck and neck with San Antonio. They'll be better than Utah. So yeah. And then I'll say that, and then I'll say somebody that we expect to be good will have a down season. Hold on, Virno. What?

You stop me when I name a team that the Blazers will have a better record then. Thunder, rockets, Lakers, Nuggets, Clippers, Clippers, wolves, warriors. That's seven. That's seven. Now I'm going to get you here, grizzlies. Okay. The play end goes to 10.

I know. I know. We get there. Mavericks. Okay. Yes. It could. Kings.

Oh, spurs. Spurs. Okay. So here's what I'm saying. Somebody from that list that we expect always is worse. Always. They're always work. Something happens.

We didn't go the right way. Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't go the right way. And so that's why I'll say. hurt or whatever and like that's the, he is the gas that fuels the engine that is a clip of his offense. And they made

win now moves. So I think they'll win now. I don't know if it's the best thing for the future of the franchise. Chris Paul and James Hardin's spot. It's like, what are we doing? I don't know if it's the best thing for the future of their franchise. Yeah, but if James Hardin, who is appears to be 900 pounds on these videos I see recently.

I saw the same video. I mean, or if you know, if you got to play whatever, 65 games without Kawhi Leonard, which is not. And you don't have Norm Powell anymore. Again, there's all of these teams. If John Morant misses a bunch of games again, guess what?

And that goes with Anthony Edwards. I mean, look at how this stuff is all, you're all on a razor's edge. Look, Jason Tatum got hurt, and the whole future of that franchise changed in a second. The whole conference. the whole conference. The whole conference.

And the same thing goes with Indiana, right, and where we look at them because of... It's not so much a bet on the development of, like, Kamara and Scoot Henderson. It's of the nine teams they're projected to be in front of them. The 10 teams projected to be in front of them. Yes. One is going to have a year from hell.

That's what you're saying. And again, you're not asking me if they're going to be in the top six. You're asking if they could be in the play in. That's realistic expectations for the trail places. I think that's their goals. They were close last year. Yeah. Down the shirts, they got close to it.

All right. You got to put $10,000 on one of these guys becoming what they could be. Zion or Lamello? Lamello. Not even close. Not even close. Why? Why doesn't Lamello get beat up like Zion for missing time?

He doesn't miss as much time. And his injuries aren't as sort of like... Fat related? Yeah. His injuries are more like 20 games here and there, like ankle stuff or whatever. It's not like surgery, be back next year, season over stuff.

I've always been a huge lamello fan, huge lamello fan. I just love the idea that he can play the way he plays and he's like 6-8, 6.9. And he can shoot, he can get to the wreck. And I often think, and I would have drafted James Wiseman at 2

if I was the Warriors too. They needed a big. You're in Memphis and we all know what happened there. I mean, he played three games. Come on. I know. Let's not act like I treat him like I do Penny Hardaway. I would have drafted James Wiseman too.

But I always think if Lamello Ball ended up on the Warriors, what would his world and game and reputation look like? Steve Kerr would have hated him with the fires of seven hells. Or you want me going to tell you? I would like to see Lamello. I think Lamello Ball will one day no longer be on the Hornets, and he will be on a better team with a more structured offense and a more defined role,

and he will thrive in that role. And I believe that that is more likely to happen than Zion Williamson being a first team all-MBA guy. There's a lot more upside in Lamello's future, in my mind, than Zion Williams. I think that's a hard thing to disagree with. Nextel. You went to the collector's convention. I did.

somehow didn't see Bill there. Well, he was there earlier than I was. So Bill went, the thing starts on like Wednesday. Did you know he was going to be there? Not until, not until I saw one of my, one of my buddies saw Bill there and took a picture with him. And I saw that and I text Bill immediately. And I'm like, yo, are you still going to be there? when and he's like

it was a quick 20 hour trip he said I'm flying out in the morning I was like I went one year with Bill oh you did yeah in Cleveland I went one year and I quickly learned that I'm a tourist at the collector's convention

Bill is a local oh yeah like I'm same way I'm same way I'm there being like this is crazy like this is unlike anything I've ever seen before these people are nuts. What kind of people come here and do this year after year? This is a culture that I cannot be a part of.

I feel like I was in the other side of the glass looking at the fish tank. And Bill is swimming with fish. So I, interestingly enough, I much like I've collected stuff my whole life since I was a kid. It's passion. I read interesting, this is crazy. Wait, hold on, hold on. because you sent me a text it told me to ask you this question

what NBA players for the most relevant there? Oh. So continue. Continue, no, no, keep going. I first found out about this through Bill Simmons page two article about it. Oh, yeah?

And he said, everybody needs to do this once in their life and he had like, it was like a photo album. You can probably find it. I mean, it's years and years ago. I've probably been, I don't know,

six or seven times, something like that. So the reason I wanted you to ask you about this, because I thought it was fascinating. They have, like, TriStar, which is the big autograph company. They put all the autograph guys on. So, like, everybody's there. Like, you name it everybody. Like, Alan Iverson's there and Rick Petito's there and Mike Tyson's there.

And you name the person, right? the most expensive autograph at the entire show by a wide margin and you could either get an autograph or you can get a picture or you could get a picture with him and all of his brothers.

Yonich. Yonis. Well, who opts to take a picture with him and all of his brothers? That's what we said. Is that more money or less money? You get a picture with Yonis $10. Picture Yonis and his brother's

No, how much you think of pitcher? Oh, dude, I'm not, this isn't my world, but I would guess $75. $5.25. $5.25. $5.25. No chance. No way. It was the most expensive. No way.

The second most, that's for an autograph as well. The second most expensive for an autograph was Albert Poo host. And that was 420. The third most was shocking to me. And it was all the collector. that had to explain this to me because I was like, why? And this would be fascinating to you.

It was Patrick Ewing. What? And it was 300. Evidently, he never signs autographs. He never signs autographs. He's not known as like a nice guy. He never signed. So he was the third most expensive guy at the whole show.

But anyway, guys are all popping around whatever. I will say this. And this was true when I went to New York City. and I did not mention this. So you walk into New York City and my son says, hey, can we, I want to go to the NBA store on Fifth Avenue.

Yeah. So in downtown Manhattan. We did. You walk in there, you walk in there and on the right, it's all Knicks crap, right? So it's a Bridges Jersey and a town's jersey and a Brunson jersey and whatever,

right? It's just all Nick stuff. That bottom floor, when you first walk in, the other side of it is all WNBA. All. like that might be seasonal like that's seasonal it probably is right yeah and then you walk to the other floors or whatever

so that kind of stood out to me and obviously the NBA getting behind it but nothing like what happened at this card collecting convention oh I told somebody this today forget Caitlin Clark she's in another stratosphere okay I saw probably 5,000 more page Becker's cards than I did Zach Eadie cards.

Well, that should tell you I'm saying, no, they're both college player of the year, mega famous, right? Like, again, Zach E? I mean, dude. Oh, okay, fine, fine, fine. So, well, you're not going to see Risa Shea is Saur and those guys. I'm just talking fame-wise.

And again, rookies are always the new thing. Right. I get your point. Terrible comparison, but I get your point. No, it's not a terrible comparison. One of them plays in the NBA and one of the plays of the WNBA. And what I'm telling you is...

You're at a collector's convention and you're betting on Pagebacker's future. Okay, no, no, no. And Zach Eadie is like maybe going to be a backup center. Fine. Breonna Stewart, name the player. Name the name whoever you want to name. There was infinitely more

current WNBA than current NBA in all the cases. It wasn't even close. On the collective... side and it might just be a wave, but on the collecting side, fine. Who was rookie of the year? Stefan Castle. I saw two.

I was there for three days walking around to every booth. Oh, I bet if you asked my college friends who are like NBA fans, but they're just like regular fans. I was like who was rookie in the year last year? I bet like half of them wouldn't even know. Honestly. I think you're right. Half of them wouldn't even know. They would not even know.

Young players. And so that's all I'll say. There's Kobe and Jordan. and there's everybody else and then there's Curry and LeBron and then there's a massive drop off to anybody else you want to talk about what about Cooper? What about Cooper?

There's no product yet there's no product yet of him. Okay. But again, it's not going to be nearly the same. It's Kobe and LeBron I'm saying it's Kobe and Jordan and then there's a huge gap and then there's Curry and LeBron

and then there's nobody else. Nobody. I mean, you might, you'll see some women. You'll see some Anthony Edwards stuff, some Joss stuff. You'll see some of these. You'll see it here and there. But everybody has Kobe and Jordan and a lot of have Curry and LeBron. But then there's really like of the current players, you don't see a lot.

It's very interesting. I wonder who will be the next guy that people like actually really hardcore collect. You do see Wemby stuff, but not like, again, he's a big guy. So that stuff's never going to be the same. But yeah, it's super fascinating. WNBA cards were everywhere. Dude, and I'll just give you a, I know you don't care about cards. A silver prism, which is like a, that's a pinini prism is the brand.

Look, it's going to make sense to you. If you got a silver prism of a player, the Caitlin Clark is four grand. Four grand, bro. What? $4,000. Yes. Oh, I saw $20,000. Kate McClark card.

That's crazy. I thought $50,000. Kate McClark card. You name it. The same when, I'm just for, I'm just giving you for point of reference. The same when Benyama card is a thousand.

Hers is $4,000. Oh, my God. It's a wave, bro. It's a weird deal. What's going on? I did not think it would cross over to the collecting, like it had. No, I'm kind of floored by this. I mean, and to give the people an idea of what the event is like, it's a giant convention center with just a bunch of boots. a bunch of just dudes with folding tables

with their wares out in front. Not anymore. Oh, it's changed? No, it got corporate. Oh. And all of the, they all hired hot chicks now to be at the room. Oh, really?

Yeah, it's not like it used to be. Oh, it was kind of like the cart girl at a golf course. You come over, every guy tries to flirt or whatever. I felt, whenever I go golfing, I tell my friends, if the car girl comes up, I'm like, just no one flirt with her. No one do it. Do not do it.

I feel like the guy that used, like, that my indie band, is now playing the garden. Like, I feel that way. And it's like, it's not collectors as much. It's now, it's big business. Oh, that's so. It's 14-year-old pulling out.

I mean, I saw a 14-year-old who's younger than my son standing next to me, offer six grand for a curry, and pulled out six grand and handed it to the guy. $1,000? $6,000. Was he alone? His dad with him or something? I didn't see a dad. he pulled it out of his pocket, bro. Wads a cat.

And I'm like, good grief. This is crazy. My son is your son is 15. If he had $6,000, I think you owe me that money. I agree. I've invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in you. That's my money. That's not your money.

All right. That's my money. All right. A couple of brand things. Who is the biggest football player in New York right now? This is impossible to answer because no, it's not. Both New York teams are absolute trash. But who gets the table?

at the restaurant. Okay, that's a different question. That's Sauce Gardner. Oh. Probably Russell Wilson, but like that's the table at the restaurant. But Sauce Gardner is like the cool one.

Malik Neighbors is sort of like the the next one. Like Russell Wilson is the big gets the table because of Sierra and he's just like, you know, going to go to the Hall of Fame or whatever. That's, but I think, but Sauce Gardner is like the cool young guy around town.

I didn't even think about Russell Wilson as a New York. That's the thing. Yeah. He hasn't thrown a pass. But he's one who gets the table. But sauce. Gardner is like the cool guy. He's the one.

And Malik Neighbors is like, Malik Neighbors had a better season than you think last year. Like he's sort of like... Malik Neighbors is awesome. Yeah, he's good, dude. Malik Neighbors is like... He had, what do you get? He had 109 catches and 1,200 yards,

dude. Think about that. With Danny Dye. Only Puka and Anquan Bolden. That's 200 catches with anybody out. Dude, Malik Named. neighbors. It's like, if people talk about best receivers in the league, he's going to be in the

conversation next year. All of those. He really is the next in line because you had Jefferson and Chase. The LSU guys, it's a different world. Dude, I'm telling you. He doesn't get talked about because he's on the Giants and like, no one cares. Right. But like in 2030, Malik Neighbors will be considered the best, the best receiver the league.

This is important to me. Last one. And I'm invested in this. All right. Will Target Guy have a podcast by the. the All-Star break. Oh, God, I hope not. It put us out of business. All of us out of business. I mean, this takes are

infinitely more fiery than all. When you said that on the show, like, I'll be on a jog. Like, I was jogging on the beach last couple weeks. I was on a jog, and I was just like, what kind of taste did the target guy have? Like, does the target guy do, like, politics and, like, culture? Like, is the target guy, like, just like this, like, uncut job, just out there in the world? I swear to you, I had a guy in Chicago, Illinois,

at the National Sports Collectors Convention come up to me and said, hey man, a stranger, I didn't know him. He goes, I've been on the lookout everywhere for Walter Clayton's because of Target guy. And I was like, what?

Target guy's moving markets. I was like, unbelievable. Unbelievable. I hope he doesn't have a podcast either. Because that thing is going to be like, go. It's going to take over the industry. It's going to take over the entire.

To the moon. All right. Last question. I have for you. No Clay, no Luca. Let's throw those out. The player that looks the most wrong in their uniform. Obvious answers Markets Smart and the Lakers,

right? But I did a little research. Al Horford on the Warriors comes to mind. He's not there yet. Oh, yeah. This is one that gets me. Devante Graham is playing in Belgrade Serbia.

Oh. Devante Graham was like, I was, I had like a target guy take when he was a rookie. I was like rookie of the year. Devante Graham. I believed in Devante Graham. Wow. And there's always a list of like 24 guys. You assume are in the league somewhere that are no longer in the league. And it's only a matter of time before Devante Graham is playing for the Yokic brother.

It's only a amount of time. It was funny you say that because before we were going out of the air, I was like, hey, did I miss any notes? And I can't remember. I went to like one of the aggregator sites of like NBA news or something just to make sure we hadn't missed anything. And there was one on there about Lonnie Walker signing overseas. Oh yeah. And I was like I'll be damned.

Yeah, he's signing like Israel or something, right? Yeah. So he's a perfect example of how the bubble wasn't real. Oh, stop it. Here's what I really want to talk to you about. I get home for vacation after you stayed at the house. He left some gifts with kids. It's very nice notes in the bedrooms.

It's just very classy. Southern family stuff. I talked to Vinny about you. I didn't even pay for your tab. I was like, Vinny, I'm not paying for his tab. It's like, it's like, but don't worry about it. He wouldn't let me pay. Vinny doesn't care.

Yeah. It was a couple of Amstallites. It's not like I was in here, hammering down a bunch of them. No, yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't have martinis. I don't know if he can make a martini. and I go to the house and we turn the air conditioning on in the living room.

It does not turn on. And my wife is like, you're trying to tell me that you had this family in from out of town staying in our place and our air conditioning didn't work. Because we're on the eighth floor. You told me it doesn't. No, no, it's supposed to work.

The living room air conditioning is supposed to work. You told me the central air conditioning is supposed to work. You told me the central air conditioning. doesn't work, but the ones of the rooms do. No, we don't have central air. This is a completely different thing. You live in a house. Central air means like you have this, it's a whole different system.

We have external air conditioner, so it's individual to each room. That means part of it sticks outside of the building. Right. Central air is a different thing. So they were all functional. I was working under the assumption that all air conditioning was functional. I told you I turned them off, you turn them on. But the one in the living room didn't work.

and my wife is mad at me for having your family at the house without functioning air conditioning. But the air conditioning was working when I left. She wants me to apologize to you. No. So the one that you, or now we're going to get into the way your house is set up, but like the ones in the room are the ones I turned off.

Yes. The one in the living room, which is not a bedroom. It's where the couches and the television. I just figured it was too hot outside. No, didn't work. But there, no, it was at 8.

I turned it down to 72 and it just never got below 8. And never did anything. Yeah. But I apologize for that. Joey's mad to me, so I have to say that. That's not. Yeah, that's not. Secondly, when I have the AC guy come to my house,

but they don't fix ACs. They just replace them. Every time. Every time, it's like, oh, yeah, they're the worst. Ding on your bumper. It's like, oh, you need a new car. You need a new car.

It's like, I need to read some books about how ACs work because I don't think this thing needs to be replaced. I'm sure there's a screw loose somewhere that. that can take you five minutes to fix. So you have these units, though, in every room, and those all work. They all work except for the, in the living room, there's a unit there, too, that does not work. And Joey was, was pissed. Oh, we weren't sitting around in the living room.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, what are you doing? Yeah, exactly. You're going out during the day and sleeping in the bedroom at night. Yeah, exactly. I didn't even know. I even notice. She wants me to apologize.

A lot of back and forth between Joey and David Chikobi about this AC situation. Okay, that's ridiculous. A lot of back. Nobody cared. Nobody cared. Nobody cared. You guys were unbelievable. A lot of back. They've renamed my street, Chris Vernon Way, by the way.

Did you get, you get it? I didn't get anything on social media or anything. I'll send you a picture of the street sign. It's still 95th Street, but it's just Chris Vernon Way now. Well, you made an impact. Because I, because nobody's seen a rat since I've been there because I said, no. I was walking down the street last night. I saw three rats.

There's no rat carrying a huge piece of food. And I was like, I was going to take a video and send it to you. There's no rats anywhere. It's most overrated thing. Why would I lie about rats on my own blog? No, I'm going to take a video and send him to you. You're proud of the rats? All right.

Thank you to our executive producer, Jesse Lopez, as always, and Jacoby. I'll talk to you next week.