The Mismatch - Basketball Is (Almost) Back!

Episode Date: October 8, 2026

Verno and Jacoby return to give their early observations from this week’s preseason games. From LeBron’s rumored argument with Joel Embiid to Tyrese Haliburton’s return, they discuss it all. Welcome to The Mismatch! (01:32) Cam Boozer vs. Magic: 16 points, six rebounds in 22 minutes (10:22) Aday Mara is 15-for-15 from the field in the preseason (15:59) Joan Beringer didn't touch a basketball until 2021 (21:33) Mike Breen walks back story about LeBron scolding Embiid (26:35) Sixers' Ariel Hukporti out indefinitely with torn Achilles (27:45) LeBron is commuting to Sixers practice by helicopter (29:41) Haliburton returns in Ames: seven points, six assists in 16 minutes (36:21) Shams: KAT, Josh Hart unextended; trade deadline talk could heat up (39:09) Nikola Jokic's behind-the-back dime: "One of one" (44:33) Ja Morant starts Blazers debut: eight points, five assists in 19 minutes (51:20) Caleb Wilson's debut: 15 points, but 0-for-4 from 3 (53:46) John Collins grabs Dillon Brooks by the throat (58:11) Steve Kerr on Kristaps Porzingis: "I haven't seen him yet" (1:06:52) Wemby skipped U.S. media this offseason, except '60 Minutes' Leave us a message on our Mismatch voicemail line! [phone] Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Stefan Anderson and Jeff Shearin Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon and joining me to us every week from The Ringer.com is Dave Jacoby. Jacoby. Berno, it happened. I watched NBA basketball. I watched NBA basketball in person. In person. Yeah.

I went to Grizzly's Magic last night at FedEx Forum. And it does become, you know, we talked about last week seeing everybody. at media days, it really becomes a reality when you're seeing these guys run up and down the court and you're seeing the new versions of these teams, which is what I got to see last night. And so we've got a lot to get to. There's already been, I mean, everybody's been in action.

We have seen enough to get some first impressions, though we know that the preseason is ripe for overreaction. we still have you know you're still going to get some first impressions and some things have happened already as we are looking at these teams and thinking about them heading into the season so we've got 10 things that have happened so far in the preseason that we are going through today i will start with what i witnessed last night what's that what i witnessed on monday night Dave Jacoby, when I tell you my first impression of one Cameron Boozer

could not be greater. It is one thing to watch him at Duke. It is one thing for me to watch him at Summer League. It is quite another to then see him in the preseason going up against Jalen Johnson and the like in Atlanta on Monday night. And then last night, look, he's not playing against a bunch of rookies

and guys that are trying to make a name for themselves or possibly have a job in the future. You look up last night, and he's on a court with Wendell Carter. He's on a court with Franz Wagner. He's on a court with Paulo Boncaro. And at his age, for him to look as comfortable

on a basketball court, already have counters to defenses that are trying to get him to do one thing. His ability to see the floor. Like, I guess obviously when you draft a guy third overall who has been a winner his whole life and just one national player of the year in college basketball as a reclass player, the expectations are going to be high. whatever my expectations were of how he would look adjustment-wise, speed of the game, how does he look compared against NBA players that are already established and extremely good?

I mean, I am absolutely over the moon that I am going to be watching this guy on a regular basis throughout the year and to watch him up close and personal last night against the magic. He's so far in the preseason in two games. has played an average of 20 minutes. He's averaged almost 14 points, five and a half rebounds, three assists. He's 56% from the field. He's 33% from three,

and he's 7 of 10 from the line. And last night he went 16, 6 and 2 in 22 minutes and was 4 of 7, 2 of 3 from 3. Like he's facing up, he's driving on people. At one point puts his shoulder down and pop Paulo Bancaro back three feet and then lays it in. I'm like, what is this?

That play, he was spinning and he puts his shoulder, his right shoulder into Bancaro and finishes with his left hand. And it's so fluid and easy. And he blew by Vucci Maine one time. It was like, like he wasn't even staying there. When you think about Boozer, you're like, oh, he's a skilled big man. But the fluidity that he plays with is really more wing-like than a big.

He's just so fluid. And let me say two things on the flip side. Number one, the ball has not moved like that for the Orlando Magic in years, in years. So if I'm a magic fan, I'm over the moon at my first impression of the Sean Sweeney Orlando Magic version. Got some point fronds last night, and you just saw the ball bopping around generating open three. They were like making threes last night. I'm like, this isn't what they do? Like, what is they? The magic? Making threes. I was like, why are the magic moving and making

threes? This is not what I'm used to. This is not your dad's Orlando magic. These guys are running. They're setting screens for each other. They're flaring out. What is this magic? And Sean Sweeney, so I think if you're a magic, You've got to be super excited about that. The other thing is, I thought Apollo looked way leaner than he has in the past. He's also got this haircut that makes him look younger now. Like, just, I went to warmups last night. And when he walked out, I was like, I'll be interested to see, you know,

because that can go one of two ways, right? Do you, it seems like a guy who's been working out with a trainer all summer. I talked to somebody. I was like, does he, like, lost a guy? a bunch of weight or something? And they were like, he worked out with a trainer all summer, running a ton. It was one of those, like, best shape of his life.

And one of those, it can go one of two ways, right? Does losing the muscle hurt in any way? Because he is such a powerful freight train force going downhill. Or does that unlock another element for him? And especially with the way the game has played now and all of these teams trying to play so fast, it was just noticeable to me. I thought that, you know, he looked like he was on that, like,

Janus trajectory where he's just, every time I see him, he's just going to get bigger and bigger and stronger and stronger. And that's kind of how Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, right? Every year you would see these guys and you're like, damn, bro, it looked like bodybuilders. He went the other way. He didn't, I didn't think he looked as big, but that may help him athletically.

for this season. But I think, look, it's great to see Boozer. And certainly, I think if you're a magic fan, your first impression of the new coach has to be a good one. Yeah, I mean, it's good to see that they played their guys because it does seem like they need to implement a new offense. We'll talk about the Warriors later who did not play their guys at all. But the Boozer thing looks really good.

And there's only one reason that I would be concerned if I was a Memphis Grizzlies fan. Uh-oh. How much, and with such enthusiasm, Bill Simmons is into this team is concerned. Oh, I know. It's very concerning. Everybody is.

It's like now, now everyone's favorite team is the grisness now. I know. I know. Favorite team is the grishman. Everybody's favorite team. Yeah. It's just like, what are we doing? Everybody's like, oh, the over, the over, take the over, you know, disrespectful

over. I like this team. This team's going to be way better than people think it's going to be. and yeah, there is a part of me. You know, it's fun for people to be talking you up and liked. On the other hand, there is a part of you that's like, oh, no. Yeah, I mean, and the other thing is this, watching them last night, first time we've seen Zach Eady in like a year since he has played.

And, I mean, my beef stew experience, do you know, he played in the first preseason game against Atlanta. Yeah, he didn't play last night though, right? No, he came down on a guy two minutes in. Oh, my God. He's out with an ankle injury. I'm like, no. This is.

Not this again. Two minutes? How long until Ety, there's something about Ety rest or, you know, foot or whatever? I don't know. I don't know. So that's obviously a concern. But like, oh, and to your point about playing guys, like, for the last 20 years, I go to preseason games.

and I usually look over to whoever is sitting next to me, and I'm like, why do I do this to myself? And I do it every single year. I get to the fourth quarter, and I'm like, they don't care. So why do I care? Like everybody's just kind of going through the motions, whatever. And I guess it's because you've got one team that's trying to establish, you know,

being good again. You've got another team that's got a new coach that's trying to establish the way you're supposed to play, if you're a member of the Orlando Magic. Like, that was the most highly competitive, everybody trying, switching screens. Like, a lot of these just turned into, like, crap and All-Star games. Like, I somehow, that might have been one of the better preseason games I've ever seen. Like, everybody played that thing all the way to the buzzer to the point where the last play of the game,

Walter Clayton Jr. took a three and got fouled on it. And Zach Zarba called it on the floor because he didn't want the damn thing to go to. overtime. He was like, we are not doing this. We're not doing this, guys. There's no reason. There's no reason to do this. They're down by three. Clayton takes a three. He gets fouled. And they go over to the desk at Zarb is like, no, no, no. It's on the floor, bro. We're not doing this. Side out of that. We're not doing this. But it was fun to get to. Yeah. It's a good transition to my first one because there was a pretty

competitive game between the bucks and the thunder last night too. It just came down. It came down to the final possession. And the biggest takeaway, and if you're listening to Mismatch, you're probably heard by now, is Adiamaura, he was 10 for 10. In the first game, he was 5 for 5. Like, he hasn't missed a shot in his NBA career. I read this morning, and first I read it, and then I went back and I, like, watch the highlights,

and I'm like, ain't no way. He had seven dunks in the first half. He caught Seven Dump. He caught a lob from SGA and then caught a lob from Mitchell Then got a lob from J Dump And then caught a lob from Casey Wallace

It's so I watched this one Because this was my assignment I was like all right Let me just let me really see What Mar is up to And he was just Even the place where he didn't score Because we all saw the dunks in the lobs or whatever

But like he was just at the right place At the right time He sets a screen and he rolls He doesn't always get it because it's preseason and so guys want to get their shots off. So a lot of time, like Mitchell would shoot or whatever. But, you know,

even on makes, he's boxing out. Like, he's just at the right place at the right time. He pops off the screen. He's bigger, he's taller than Chet. He's taller than Hart's team. Like, this guy,

this guy is big. And, you know, his first bucket, he was closing out a three-point shooter. And anyone who's ever played pickup knows this trick. He just keep running. You know what I mean? And the ball comes off the rim

and then he gets an open dunk. Like, he looked really, really good. He got smoked a couple times. I think a lot of times when you see the highlights or you just watch the highlights, you don't watch the game. Like there's a couple times where he got absolutely smoked on a close out and he just looked a little, you know, feet looked a little slow. But, you know, he made a nice pass to starts with a back cut.

Like, you know, it was when you think of the hierarchy of the center position on the thunder, it's probably, you know, Hartstein, Chet, J-dub, and then Mara. But if you're looking at him as like a development guy who you don't really need this year that could turn into something. Like, he was, he was really, really impressive. He had a nice sort of like back to the basket, like up and underpost thing when you finished with his left hand, you know.

And in the Pelicans game, no one's gonna see this one because it's not really a highlight, but Eves Misi tried to just absolutely body him early in the game. Just like went up, cocked back, and just was really trying to give him like a welcome to the league seven footer.

But he stood his ground. I think, you know, I don't know if you fouled him, touch the ball a little bit, but he didn't get dunked on. And it was just fun to see, like, first NBA action. This dude just tries to absolutely body him, and he held his ground. It's really impressive by Mara. Really impressive.

Well, and to your point about his size, when you saw, like, there was a highlight from that Pelicans game where, I mean, it looked like a father blocking a child against Derek Queen. Oh, and then he gets the bucket in transition after the block. just swat. I mean, like, he didn't even jump. He was like, all right, get that out. But so you think, but that's under the basket, right?

Yes. So you're the tallest guy on the floor and you block, if you block a three-point shot and you keep running and get a transition, dunk, fine, whatever. But he's feet under the basket. He's the furthest person from the other basket, yet he gets a dunk in transition. And he said to talk.

So two things on him also. The first is it's also a great lesson for me. Once again, I have to be reminded every year, that Summer League sometimes can deceive you, right? You know, you've got a very low amount of games. The pace is different. It's bad for big guys in many cases because you've got a bunch of guys that are just trying to, you know,

they're not exactly playing team basketball all the time. He didn't look that great in Summer League. And it's like what, sometimes you see these guys with other NBA professionals in the flow playing the role that they would play, which is just, be available and finish, which is what he's doing thus far. Yeah.

I get, you know, and I covered this guy 20-something years ago, when I saw him running up and down the court, it gives me young pal vibes. I'm not telling you he's going to end up being Pau Gasol, or he's that skilled. I'm talking about he gives me the athletic big that could get up and down the floor and the way he finishes. And also,

young pal vibes in the sense that he is the guy that people are going to try. They are going to muscle him. Right? Everybody's going to try to bully him. Everybody's going to try to bully him and we're going to see what he is made up, right? Because are you going to be a shrinking violet?

Because that's going to be the deal. And the Bucks do not have a front line. No. And it's preseason to be able to do that. But once we get into highly competitive basketball, that's what people are going to do. They're going to check his temperature because he is slight. I just think it's a really good spot for him

because they do not need him to create a basketball. They need him to finish bassets. They have plenty of scoring. And J. Dub looks like himself again. I think that's, you know, a healthy day, J. Dub in the playoffs last year, who knows what happens. But like, they don't, what, for what they need and for them to sort of develop another generation of big on the roster,

it's he just seems like a really good fit. Just set the screens, roll of the basket. Every once in a while you'll get a lob. You know, rim protect, get out and transition. There you go. That's the job. And this is a perfect segue into my next guy

from the preseason, which is Beringay. Oh, here, let me get mine. Let me get my. Oh, yeah. Beringay. You know, look, we've got this whole group. Everybody that's tall and athletic

and can do something like they're going to be the next thing and teams are going to be coveting them because of the seven foot five alien that happens to be playing in San Antonio. This guy, do you want to talk about, look, you want to talk about highlights? Like nobody's going to, you're not going to see in the highlights that he had four thousand nine minutes. What you are going to see is this guy runs the floor like a frigging deer. He still doesn't know what he's doing.

And every once in a while you see these guys. and they are the epitome of projects, because they just in many cases haven't been playing basketball all that long. And they're just figuring it out as they go, and you see them, and you watch them, and you go, God, man, if this guy ever does figure it out because he doesn't even know what he's doing, he's just tall, athletic, he can block shots.

He's got, like, sense of sport, right? evidently he was, I was reading an article about him the other day. It said in 2021, okay, 2021, he had never touched a basketball. That's ridiculous. I mean, there's somebody listening to me that's about, that is driving right now to take little Johnny to a basketball trainer that you're paying a fortune to. You know what I mean? Johnny's five.

And there are humans out there. This guy didn't even play basketball five years ago. And it said he was, and then I'm reading it. And they're like, yeah, he says because at 14 or 15, you know, in part why he started playing basketball? He grew a foot and a half or something. He couldn't find cleats his size. It don't even make them because there's nobody that big that plays soccer.

Somewhere there's a volleyball coach who probably tried to get them, get him on inside. I never even considered this. You want to talk about something I never even considered? I was like, you know what? You probably can't walk in and buy like size 19 cleat. Like who would need a size 19 cleat? It's never happened. I mean, football.

American football, but outside of that. I don't think so. I don't think anybody's got that big of foot. I'm sure. One of these linemen, Mackey Bechtin or whatever, but sure. You have to get them specially made or something. Anyways. So the guy's not.

playing soccer and you see him fly up and down the court and he gets rebounds and he putbacks put back dunks there's one he had the spin move from the top of the clock at the end of the clock there's like there's no other reason for him to be getting his own basket but it was the end of the clock and you can tell it was just like you got to shoot it my guy and he does a spin to his left and finishes with the left how awesome was that it just seemed like it was an accident every other thing I saw him do was rim to rim, run, dunk. Rim to rim, rebound, dunk. Like, that's all it was.

And then he just, by accident, had the ball with an opportunity to make a basket. Nice little spin with a lefty finish. Well, and who knows? Obviously, they would fancy him to be, you know, a Gourberta replacement down the road.

Yes, but I think it's also, like, it's really worth mentioning that, first of all, we can't talk about this game without talking about Anthony Edwards going four, five, to three, La Mello Ball going four for six from three, and Jane McDaniel's going four for six from three.

Just think about that. Like, wow. And if they are thin, they are thin in the front court because they don't have Julius Randall and Nasre. So any sort of anything they can get at a baronjay or any help in the front court, they're going to need. Well, and because you do wonder how the Kaminga thing is going to play out. Clearly a very bad first impression with the one. for nine and it's like, all right. Was he like one for six from three or something?

Yeah. Are you going to be able to play a role playing four, like amongst these guys that, because like you don't get the ball. You're not getting the ball here. Why would we give you the ball to create when we have Anthony Edwards and La Mello ball? It's not anything about you. It's we have two of the best in the game.

It's a pecking order thing. Yeah. And so you've got to be able to like, that role is going to be like catch and shoot. You're not doing most. These other guys are. Yeah, second unit stuff, catch, shoot. Right. And well, I think that eventually is what will end up happening.

He will find himself being like, what's up? And they will find more of a role playing for. A role playing four that just like stands out there and knocks down threes, right? You just don't know. It just feels like they need a powerful work. It's just like. That was the cost. I love four of their starvation.

You know what I mean? It's kind of like the calves we talked about it for so long. It's like with four of the five slots are full. And they're going to spend all season trying to figure it out. But Barron Jay looked good. We'll move on to my next one here. All right. This one is more meta.

It's not like, oh, I was watching the preseason game. I saw this rookie play well or whatever. We're just going to start with where it started with the goat, Mike Breen, just calling a simple preseason. in game involving the 76ers and here's how it played out. They're raving about how he's been so far. Obviously, it's only a week of camp. But somebody told me before the game that they were out ready to practice.

Joel and B. walked out on the court a couple of minutes late. And LeBron let him hear it. Mike Breen. His intention is to talk about how much they love having LeBron at Sixers' camp. and how he sort of is a veteran leader and he's holding people accountable. But then what happens next is LeBron goes on social and he's like, what's he say?

He's never been late. Stop with the lies. He ain't been late, so stop the lies. And then Mike Green has to go and apologize and they post like an apology on ESPN.com where Mike Green is like, I don't know why someone would tell me that if it didn't happen, but I believe for LeBron James. He said it didn't happen.

And I don't care about this back and forth or what really happened with Joel NBee being late. I just think this is sort of example number one of what happens when you have LeBron James on your roster. A fourth quarter sort of like silly little anecdote just to fill time from an announcer turns into a social media post, which turns into an ESPN article. There's conflicting reports and where there's, you know, insinuations about LeBron. James and what's this mean about Joel Embed's work ethic. It just so much baggage and stuff comes with LeBron James. He even mentioned it before the season. He's like, he knows how to deal with it.

But the microscope that this team is going to be under for this entire regular season, whether they win 10 in a row or lose 10 in a row, it's just like nothing the Sixers have seen any since like Ivers. Allow me to be clear. I 100% believe Mike Breen and the story that was confirmed. invade to him. This has been a thing. This is not something new.

The idea that, like, Joelle Embed wouldn't be late is, that's what's crazy. He has been consistently late. I told you, remember what I told you? We did a whole thing. Remember? In Memphis, he was,

guys had already been warming up and he hadn't even left the hotel. Well, that was after they had like a players only, which was after he was accused publicly of being late to everything, to everything. Not like being late, once or twice. It's everything. We all have that friend.

All the time. We all have that one friend. Wrong. Yes. And so then the idea that Mike Breed, so here's the problem is that they then become mad at whoever told Mike Breen that. But it is again all being framed as it's all the way it gets framed. And that was what Mike Breen was even saying. Like, I was framing that as a positive.

This is about LeBron James leadership. waving about him. He's like, they've been raving about him. Here's a positive story about LeBron James. But it turns into this back and forth thing, which is just you get one of the top three players of all time, but it also comes with this sort of microscope and media coverage, which is just par for the course.

Like, again, they could win 20 a row or lose 20 in a row. It's going to be on a thousand at all times. And like, we haven't even gotten into the Jalen Brown of it all. And the reason that is a positive is because I am sure when they are raving and conveying, whoever it was, conveying this scenario to Mike Breen, the reason they're saying it, Jacoby,

is because it stands out as like, we finally got somebody here that can hold this guy. Here's somebody that can actually hold him accountable. Like, this is the first guy that's ever walked into our facility, and when this guy walks in late, can be like, what the hell? James Harden's not doing that. Not of them.

James Hardin's not doing. Tyreys Max, he's not doing that. He's the elder statesman. And so I got it. Like LeBron doesn't want to make him look bad. Of course. Because it might make him look bad. But I will just say, I a million percent believe that story.

Don't think it's a big deal at all. And actually do look at it as a massive positive for LeBron James. Like, hey, man, they finally got somebody that will hold this guy accountable. A couple more things. They're playing everybody tonight in Brooklyn. So we're going to see the full. They're that scared of Igor Denman? First of all,

it's not, it's, it's, it's, it's, Yeager Joman. Jolman. I'm never calling it back.

Igor Demon. Who's called Igor Demon? I'm never calling him. It's a name is Igor Demon. It is. And I also want to say this, man. I just feel so terrible for Huckporty. If you don't know,

it's a season ending, torn Achilles. he's like new lease on life, new team, you know, great Nick champion. Like, it did feel like if he had the opportunity to sort of like, you know, be one of the players we were talking about earlier. Like, don't worry about creating offense, man. Like, just catch the ball, dunk the ball. Like, it seemed like he was in a good spot there, you know,

because you know that M.B.'s going to miss time. And I feel like he had an opportunity to get like some national TV exposure, play good minutes, you know, be spoon-fed buckets. And he's out for the season. That makes me sad. Just a quick 20 second time out. Look, the one silver lining is part of a championship winning team, and he was able to parlay that into a contract before this happens.

You know what I'm saying? The worst would be, right, you're on the dinky contract, and then this happens when it's your opportunity. At least he was able to get a deal in the offseason. So he is financially secured in a way that he would not have been, if he was not part of that huge winning last year. And like the LeBron stuff gets overcovered. Like the, remember there's a video of him in the helicopter flying away

and everyone's making a big deal about this helicopter thing? Like, okay, he's flying the helicopter. Like, all right. I don't like it. I mean, exactly. I just don't like it. First of all, it's a 45 minute helicopter ride. That's a pretty long helicopter ride, right?

I did some research. No one knows where he lives. He must live on. the west side because there's basically three heliports in the city. There's two on the east side, one the west side. So he probably lives in the West Village. I found some posts online that's speculated about these fancy apartments where like Tom Brady lives

or whatever, but like, you know, I don't know. It just seems weird. I'm sure he's going to spend the majority of his nights in Philly. I'm pretty sure. Just makes me massively uneasy. It does. What, the actual helicopter thing?

Yeah, we can't. I mean, look, you can't deny one of the greatest players in NBA history that we talk about all the time. I got it. But that did happen. Totally different. It did happen. Well, like, I don't know other guys that ride in helicopters.

I'm sorry that when I think about helicopters, that's what I think about. Have you ever been in a helicopter? No, hell no. I've never been in a helicopter. My kids were in Hawaii with their auntie. And my auntie calls like, yeah, we're going to helicopter day. My wife was like, no, they can't. They're not allowed to go.

I was like, what are you talking about? What are you talking about? They're going to live through the helicopter ride in Hawaii. Like, I just think people have a fear of helicopters because they look like they're instable, but they don't, you know, not a lot of helicopters going down to the sky. Yeah.

I just, I mean, it just makes me uneasy, if I'm being honest. I don't like it. And I, and I also, yes, would never, no, I would never get that. I would love to go in a helicopter. I would love to. I just don't have the money. Like, why am I getting in the helicopter?

You know what I mean? What am I doing that for? All right, you mentioned the Huck 40 and how sad that was. We did have a guy. My next one is a guy that is coming back from Achilles. It was great to see, and it is the preseason, but it was still great to see in a uniform out on the court with his team, Tyrese Halliburton.

It is so crazy to think about the night and the following shows that we did after a game seven of the NBA finals and how long ago that game seven of the Thunder versus the Pacers feels now. And the idea that that was the last time that we saw Tyrese Halliburton in a uniform is truly crazy. And not only did he go through the recovery for the Achilles, he also and had a championship dream ripped away from him in the first quarter of of a game seven. Then he went through the shingles thing and everything last year. So anyways, they were back out there.

They had scheduled this game at his alma mater, Iowa State. They were supposed to play this last year. But the whole point was because it was going to be a Tyrese Halliburton homecoming that they were going to be doing last year. In the absence of him being able to perform, they moved it to, to this year. He bought out the student section. They gave away these Halliburton T-shirts,

the whole thing. And so beyond, like, seeing their starting lineup out there with Tyrese Halliburton and Nemhard and Neesmith and Seacom. And then, again, one of these things where it becomes reality, it's like, oh, yeah, they got Zubox too. Like, they got a big-ass center next to them. It was awesome to see him back out there, doing the speech in front of everybody

talking about how much he learned about himself over the last 16 months. And then I felt like Iowa State got an absolute show. Not only did they get to see the Pacers. Jaris Walker has turned into Jason Kidd somehow. And then

he's got like 10 assists in the last two days. And Neesman is just knocking everything down too. And then he threw, Jerse Walker threw it off the backboard last night to himself. I'm like, what is happening? All right, so you know what I mean? Like we forgot how good the Pacers are when they've got their guys. We really did.

Like, I mean, you see them when they've got their guys and their style. They're like, okay. And now he got Zubots at the back line back there instead of Miles Turner as we once saw them. Anyways, they got the full experience in Ames, Iowa. Because Bill Kennedy, I mean, if you're going to schedule like there's going to be one NBA game there and you want to give these people the full-on experience, not only do they get to see a favorite son in Halliburton and Indiana and Minnesota, they got the Bill Kennedy experience in Ames, Iowa last night.

Good evening. Go ahead, Billy. Go ahead. We just want to say thank you for coming out and support NBA basketball. That is not good. The offensive foul that was called has been open. overturned to a blocking foul. And Minnesota will go over the line to shoot one free three-through. I mean, it's one of my favorite, it's one of my favorite things in the NBA,

honestly. He reminds me of like, like your cousin who's like seven years old at Thanksgiving and has to put on a magic show or like a dance routine. It's just like, he's just so, it's just like, the only all that one kid in the family, it's just like the performer. That's Bill Kennedy. That's Bill Kennedy. I mean, I've seen him doing it.

it in person and it is like it's I mean it's electric he's like therefore you know he's quick transition the call is up half the offensive foul

has been overturned he's awesome he told he told them thank you for everybody coming however supporting NBA basketball he said however back to the business

the call is overturn Booh. He'll also pause if you start booing him. He'll pause. He'll mean if the call's not going with the home team and everybody starts booing, he'll pause like to look. It's like stunned that you're booing him. He's, I mean. He loves it.

Alleged. There's nothing wrong with having a personality. You know what I mean? All reps act like robots, like cops or something. It's just like, smile. That's a fun. It's okay. Play basketball out here.

Shout up Bill Kennedy. He gave them the full NBA experience. And it was awesome to see Halliburton back out on the floor. And just a reminder of how fast we move on to the next thing. I mean, that was game seven of the finals. Oh, yeah. And he was on fire. And like all that, all that last year and the playoffs at Wendy and the Knicks and everything.

It was Knicks. Well, that's because Halliburton was hurt. Oh, please. Please. He did it to you. He did it to you. That ball hit the sky and came back down. Oh, God, that was awful.

That is like all forgiven, right? Oh, nothing matters. Nothing in the past matters after they win. Yeah, it's like rivals with the Pacers. What are you talking about? Yeah. Champions are rivals. are no rivals. We're champions.

I'm talking about rivalries. I love it. I love it. You might ring and my banner. Oh, hold on. You got to tell everybody what you text me earlier this week. You had a little melancholy. You had a little melancholy walking around the city, greeting someone with Nixon 5, and you immediately text me a little melancholy. It's changing. The tides are shifting.

Yeah. You felt like it didn't have that. run down, but I have to talk about something. You have to. I respect your work, not you. I do not respect your work. Oh, fooey. I respect this person's work. I know them a little bit.

Met a couple times. Like them personally. But fuck you, Shams. Like, fuck you, dude. This whole, like, Josh Hart and Carlentheny Towns might be on the trading block before the deadline if they don't.

don't get extended story. Leave us alone. Where's that coming from? Who said that to you? Where is it coming from? Leave us alone. I got so mad. They're on contracts.

We're playing basketball. They've had the same starting five. It's like the third year in a row. They're on the team. If they don't get extended, it seems like they're far apart. And if they don't get extended, they're not trading Josh Hart and Carl Anthony Town.

Oh, man. They're not doing, it. Who are they trading Carl Anthony Towns for? What? You don't want to pay Carl Anthony Towns? Like, that's why you trade Anthony Davis. That's not why you trade Carl Anthony Towns. I just can't believe this came out. Like, the vibes are so good.

Man, now Shams is never going to come on the miss. Shams. Oh, man. I was hoping in year 10 he'd come on or whatever. How many of years would do? Stupid show. Oh, God. I'm sorry, Shams. He got under your skin.

It really bothered me. It's just one of those things where it's like, it's all these reports about Carlton Towns. It seems like they're not closed and he's willing to take a discount, but what he's been offered is very far away from what he wants. I've heard there nine figures away. Wow. It's just kind of like, it's like, there are 10 figures, whatever it is.

Don't disrespect him. Don't disrespect him. I'm not just, I'm not disrespecting, Sean. I'm talking about towns. I'm talking about town. Oh, God. Yeah. Don't give him a disrespect.

offer. We just went through that in Detroit. Another thing I do want to say is I think Carlton Town has got way too much credit for this championship. It's like, yes, yes, during the Hawks series, they did sort of like use him as an offensive hub, but they kind of like threw that to the sign later on in the playoffs.

And then he scored two points in the closeout. You're talking yourself into trading him. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The NBA, the only place on earth where 200, million dollars is disrespectful. Disrespectful.

I have a feeling it's going to work out. I don't know. Something tells me that Josh Hart and Carlton Towns are going to be on the next thing come the playoffs. I don't know. Call me crazy. That bothered me. I want to apologize to Shams.

Already? Yeah. You're like multiple personalities. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I love you. Yeah.

That's my way. I have a bit of a counterintuitive take. Not that impressed by the Yokic Pass. I see him do stuff like that all the time. That is par for the course. He does this all the time. That's like a top 20 Yokic pass. No.

Seriously. No. I've seen him. Past the three guys. No, bull crap. Three past three guys baseline to baseline. The thing was like the Matrix. That was amazing.

It was pretty impressive. It was wrong with you. This is the long zag. No. What I'm trying to say is, you know what? No. I'm going to say, listen, everybody thinks this pass is incredible. No, I don't.

I'm saying it is an incredible pass. It is, I've never seen anyone do it before in a basketball floor. But like, he has thrown much more impressive passes over the course of his career. It's not like, never seen anyone do it. Yeah, that particular pass, I've never seen anyone throw. Then how can you not be totally impressed? Like, I've never seen. What I'm trying to say is the bar for Yokic passes is very high, very high.

he's thrown better passes. You're right, this is a bad zag. Terrible. Like, it's a top 10 bad zag. So here's what I'm trying to say about that. There's nobody that watched that pass that didn't go, holy shit.

No, I did too. I watched the 20 times. What's wrong with you? Then you're just doing it. No, because then I started looking at other Yokish passes because I was like, let me just look at like Yokish highlights. And he's thrown better pass. Like, I was like, oh, that was a good one.

But he's thrown like crazier. Like, I don't even know how he saw that. that passes before. Okay. This is where, and every once in a while, just take a step back. I've got to, look, I've just got to tell you what's happening here,

just like your psychology. You were a brilliant producer of many shows at ESPN for many, many years, right? I don't like for this is said it. Including your own. But every once in a while, that producer, Gene, kicks in and you take and you take the most obvious thing you say you know what no everybody likes

this the play is to say it's not that good that's not what I'm saying because if you say it's awesome then everybody is going to be like yeah yeah and this is this is I mean look this is the the brilliance of first take and all of these different shows you know nobody wants the conventional take so here is this insanely incredible pass along the baseline, passed three defenders that no one would ever even think to throw or could throw. And so you in the producers meeting is like, no, the take is that it's not that good. It's not my take. And it's like, okay, bro, that's just ridiculous.

In my defense, he's thrown better passes is what I'm trying to say. he's thrown better passes. That's what I'm trying to say. I'm not trying to say it's not impressive. It was an impressive pass. Can we move on? Now I feel bad. Shams is mad at me.

The comments are going to roast me on Spotify. They should. They should. They should. I deserve it. All right. I'm sorry, Shams. Here's what I want to say.

And this is a bigger picture about the Nuggets. His first preseason game, Yokich took one shot. In the second preseason game, Yokich took four shots. And I really feel like he understands that, yeah, they lost Peyton Watson, right? That for this team to take a leap, it's going to come from within. It's going to be Aaron Gordon healthy. It's going to be Christian Brown and Cam Johnson playing way better than they played last year. And I really think that in these preseason games, he's sort of manifesting that.

by being a facilitator and not taking open shots. And like he had stuff around the basket that he could have just finished. But he's really just trying to water all the plants around him. Because if you look at the roster, like they don't have a splashy addition. I mean, DeMargne will come off the bench and be a score for him and Bagley, I guess. But like, it's really going to be. Brown was pretty disappointing last year. No one really talks about that.

Cam Johnson really disappointing last year. I thought he'd be a perfect fit. And I think that between Gordon Brown and Johnson, like that is going to be where they, take a leap if they take a leap this year. And I think Yomuch knows that. It's a good point. They are probably simply because, you know, once you win the championship and everybody gets made whole and they start paying them, like, you become infinitely more contingent

upon health because you just don't have the requisite depth. It's like some of these teams, you know, their top end guys are not taking up the percentage of their cap to where they've got a bunch of players that like, all right, we can get by for a couple of weeks without this guy, without that guy. theirs, they really need, you're going to know how good the nuggets were dependent upon the amount of minutes that those guys that you, those first five guys play.

Yeah, yeah. Because there's always straw there's fine or whatever. Like, there's only so much. And like Bagley, like, that bench is pretty thin. It's pretty thin. It's going to be allowed to Marjoros and mid-race jump shots. All right, my next one. John Morant starting.

So Portland did play a game. And Mike Anorra. I think reluctantly did start John Moran alongside David Lillard. But I told you this when that trade happened. It's a terrible spot, like in terms of getting, if you wanted your long-term future being secured and you wanted to be able to get a long-term contract, it's one of the things I said to you a thousand times.

Bro, the only team that's got stock in you is the one that you are na-pombing the whole deal with. right like so your only chance is to get right lead that team to victories and then maybe they'll take care of you because you don't know one the other and nobody else has got stock in you like that now he gets traded to a team micha norie jason quick has this report which is saying what everybody else in the free world that's not just a 2k brained idiot um of course it's nonsensical to play John Moran and Damian Lillard together. Like, does anybody

understand basketball anymore? Well, it's not just that. You've got Drew Holiday sitting, right? It's not, it's like, if you don't have other options, sure. But like, Drew Holiday is a perfect compliment for either Dame Lillard or John Moran. They are also the best version of themselves when they have the ball. They're not, you know, I mean, it's like, well, Dave can play off the ball. Everybody always wants to try to come up with these.

Maca may me ways how it would work. But like, it's too small guards. Coaches care about defense. They're both guys that you want either wings or big guards next to in order to be able to hide them defensively. Let them guard the corner guy, right? Stand over in the corner with whoever's supposed to be spacing the floor. Let them do that.

And then we put the bigger guard and or wing on your dynamic playmaker on the other end. And that's Camara. They have Kamara for that. Right. You just can't cover two guys. And then, so like, look, you have, you have the cheap owner. You have the whole, the whole thing that went down with the broadcaster last week. I swear they can't get out of their own way on anything.

Then you have the coach story, which is like it's nonsensical. Yeah, I kind of know what I said and we're going to see how it looks. But everybody kind of. You got a one-year deal. It's first a coaching job, one-year deal. But then you have competing. issues because you have Jake Fisher, who puts out this article that's like, League executives are monitoring the rehabilitation of John Morant's trade value and kind of how

they're going to use. And so the whole idea is like, okay, they got him as an asset that they can try to rehab his trade value. They can flip them to make their team better rather than like, hey, this is long term somebody we want to invest in going forward. Everybody knows what's going on here. They're not trading damn. They're not trading dame.

Yeah. That's why I said it's all going to be just such a mess. And then it's, you know, then you have in the off season him throwing out, oh, you know, I've talked to John about coming off the bench. He wants to win. Like, John's going to be in line. Like, he wants, he's going to be wanting an extension too. Or move to somewhere else where he can up his value to be able to get an extension from somebody. It's just all.

And like those stories coming out. I mean, we haven't even gotten to the season yet, and you already have one story of saying, yeah, here's a coach going, yeah, this doesn't really make all that much sense. Duh. Right? Of course it doesn't.

Andrew Holliday. It really doesn't make that much sense. And then you have another article coming out saying, League executives are monitoring this. Like, yeah, no shit. Like, because anybody with a brain could look at it and be like, well, that doesn't make it much sense. Why would you have both of those guys?

it's like they have Kamar and Klingin right which are those are a great wing defender and a great rep protector just they just don't have anybody else in the starting five of place defense like I mean you just and also these guys can be massively offensively impactful but they're both the kind of guy that has the ball in their hands and Drew Holliday is a great defender and table setter and just solid stable vet and that's what you need next to day Miller to John Moran and maybe, maybe that will work. But I would imagine what eventually happens is it is Damian Lillard and Drew Holiday. And now John Morant is coming off the bench.

I think they'll be nice. I'm saying it just conflicts because the goal is to up his trade value enough that you can flip him for stuff that actually, right? Because it fits. The asset that is. But it's going to be hard to build up his trade value if, A, he's uncomfortable or unhappy. and it just I don't know

it's all odd it's bad it's bad it's odd it's just odd and then you combine the owner and the one year coach there's what's going to be happening there's going to be night's where either dame or jaws going to be unavailable and it's going to make

a lot more sense you know what I mean they're going to start true holiday in that spot and the whole rotating scoot comes off the bed it's going to make a lot more sense if the first time that Jha or Dame is out. Well, because, and this is why I say, this is the politics of the NBA. You have one group of people that,

assuredly, is with that team that is going, A, we need to put him in the best position, build up his trade value so we can move up. You also have another competition, which is, bro, I finally got a head coaching job. I've got one year to win games. I want to do, what is best for winning basketball games,

not for what's best for trying to up the trade value of a guy that you guys traded for that duplicates literally the most beloved player in franchise history who's coming back from an Achilles intro. And also don't forget, this is a playoff team that took a game from the Spurs. You know what I mean?

It's not like this is some sort of Will Hardy situation in Utah the last few years where it's like you are not motivated to win. Lake Night. They should be trying to win games, and they should trade jobs. They should. I mean, the fact that we're not even

making it to the season before this stuff starts being a conversation is kind of wild. All right. Next. Caleb Wilson looked good. But I just want to caution everybody if you didn't see the game.

Like, the highlights are great. You know what I mean? A couple turnaround mid-brain shots. It was a really good inbound play where he had an open like 15-footer then went baseline and got some contact and went reverse and got one. Like, there's one where the ball's getting swung to him

and he's sort of alone on one side and he attacks the clothes out. Like he starts his move towards the basket before catching the ball. And just goes right past his guy and then scores on Malawatch. Like the highlights are great, but like let's not forget that he was 0 for 4 from 3

and 6 for 16 from the floor. And Dylan Brooks sort of. of like shut him down on a couple possessions like this it isn't it was a good it was a good debut from wilson and he showed a lot of athleticism and a lot of promise for both fans but like he did look like a rookie out there and if you just see the clips on twitter or the like Caleb wilson highlights on youtube like it doesn't tell the whole story but it's there's something happening there i i really love this kid well and that's a good callback to you know the first thing I was talking about because that was certainly going to be a debate, which did not become a debate, really, as we got to the draft, which is the difference between Boozer and Wilson.

One of them is more figured out, but in many people's minds did not possibly have the ceiling that Wilson might have. But if you watch it, one of them is much more equipped to be immediately impactful in the NBA. whereas Wilson looks like you're, that's why I was so, the boozer stuff is so praiseworthy. He doesn't look like you're supposed to look when you're a rookie. Wilson does. He looks exactly like you're supposed to look.

Yes. I'm figuring it out. Yes, that's what he looks like. He looks like someone figuring it out. And when, you know, certain possessions, he caught on the baseline, he's going to turn over his right shoulder and hit like a little fadeaway. You know, we've been watched that same shot for, you know,

50 years. when it looks smooth, it looks unstoppable. Right. It goes right in. The release is so high. You can't block it. You're fading anyway. Like, it just seems like an unstoppable shot.

But then sometimes Dylan Brooks will force you into a turnaround and you airball it. You're just like, that's Dylan Brooks. He's like, you know, you've got six inches on. How about John Collins choking him a minute into the game the other guy? Yeah, yeah. He's like, you guys might have gotten rid of beef stew, but I'll choke somebody. I was like John Collins is choking people. That was awesome.

Dylan getting under somebody's skin that much in a preseason game. He's just getting, you know, everyone has to get their stuff ready. Yeah. You know what I mean? He's warming up too. Everyone's practicing their pet shots and their pregame routines and everything. And he's just like, this is part of my game is talking shit. What they've been working on all the season.

Yeah. So people try to add a three-pointer. He's just, I came up with some new shit. Well, because, like, I think the way, I think for what I gather beforehand, he's like banging into John Collins over and over again. And like, it's the pre-y, like, we're just at the beginning of the pre-season. He's trying to like, little boy, John. Like, what is going on?

I love Dylan Brooks. I really do. I mean, the antics are just unbelievable. Truly. The fact that you can, the fact that you can. The fact that you can make somebody that angry in a preseason game is truly a talent. It really is. I don't know if there's three guys in the world that could pull that off.

I mean, showing up to the Lakers playoff game and sitting on the baseline and just staring at LeBron. So go go to a beach somewhere. My guy, like, what are you doing here? I would also, I would also propose that if you can elicit the amount of anger from another person that makes them want to choke. I think that's like, if you want to choke someone, I think that is way worse than slapping

or hitting or pushing or whatever. You're trying to murder a person. Yeah. The point is to cut off the air from going to their brains. The anger is so severe. Like, to choke someone. Like, you could push them, you could slap them, you could punch them.

I don't think I've ever choked anybody in my life. Try to choke. I mean, Because what's the eventual goal? Let's say it works. Well, if you do that like forearm thing, the forearm thing where they like pass out, like I guess that would be cool or whatever. But like, yeah, if you're choking someone with your hands,

I guess the end goal is to murder them, which is not. I don't know what Bill Kennedy would say at the table on that one, because I don't think murders in the rule book. But yeah, I don't think murders allowed. All right. My last one is you mentioned earlier that the, if you pulled up the Golden State Warriors box score, It was a who's who.

I got it right here. Meaning who. Let me tell you the names. Dail and Terry. Malivi Leons. Malivey Leons. Charles Bassey, Will Richard. I've heard of him.

Brandon Williams. I heard of him. Alex Tuhi. Miles Kelly. L.J. Cryer. Graham Ike. That's who played. Might be E.K.

E.K. Yeah, it probably is. That looks like a Grizzlies. That looks like a late season Grizzlies lineup right there from last year. Hey, I looked up yesterday. I think it is okay. It popped up that the last time the Grizzlies had played inside FedEx for them.

They played against the Cleveland Cavaliers to end last season, a game in which the Cleveland Cavaliers scored 142 points. and the leader in minutes in that game was Lucas Williamson, who is now playing in Poland. Poland! There was a moment where I am watching last night, and I was like, you know what, bro? And you're watching Boozer, and you're going,

it was worth it. It was worth it. It was worth watching. It was worth watching. and Lucas Williamson play 40 minutes of basketball. If this was the payoff, it was worth it. Absolutely. You get four months of Williamson, but you get hopefully 14 years of boozer.

Yes. All right. My last one is, look, we just mentioned the lineup, which was who's who truly for the Golden State Warriors. One of the players that was not involved in that game and has not been involved in, frankly, anything, it appears for the Golden State Warriors. is this bizarre mystery that follows Christap's Porzingis. So there's a whole story where Steve Kerr's like, I haven't talked to him.

Literally, Steve Kerr's like, and then they ask, they're like, is he in the Bay Area? And you can tell Steve Kerr's real answer is, I don't know, but he's like, I think so, or I assume. Like, this has been, it happened in Boston. It happened in Atlanta. Four teams ago. And now it's happening in Golden State. I just, he's the only guy I can remember where there is no. So I went back and looked, I was like, they did, somebody reported on this at one point.

Respiratory illness, right? No, it was pot is what they said. Oh, right. Pot. And then we all Google pots. Yeah. And we all, it was, which was affects the body's regulation of heart rate, blood flow while staying. Okay.

So then I type in and I'm like, I don't. all right, let me go find this. Like, what was the deal here? This is when he was in Atlanta and didn't play. I find an article from February. And Steve Kerr says, basically, I don't know where that pots thing came from, but that's misinformation.

The guy doesn't have pots. I'm like, I'm going to read you what was in the article. This is from the San Francisco Chronicle. Okay, listen to this. It said, Chris Sforzing is missed his. straight game with illness. Steve Kerr says the pot's comment was a stupid mistake. He goes on it. I guess he was on his radio show. He says, Porzingis had told the Atlantic that he was diagnosed with Potts, which leads to fatigue and dizziness. You know how people say,

oh, I'm so fatigued. I never used those words. I don't like to speak in those terms, but I really was like that. At that time, I could just lay around the house like a house cat. and then it goes on to talk about how many times he's been out. And then... That's what Chris Daff said, that he would lay around the house, like a house cat? Correct. Now, then you have a later quote. It says, when I heard about the trade, I heard about the Pots diagnosis.

This is Kerr talking. And I called Onsey. And I said, is that Pot story real? And he said, no, it's not actually pot. That was some misinformation that was out there. I don't know if anybody asked him about it. about it. Bottom line is, whatever was bothering him in Atlanta and was keeping him out has nothing to do with the illness this week. He was just sick, sick enough where he was losing a lot of fluid

and contagious. So we just kept him at home and he's doing a lot better now. We've had internal discussions and I've talked to Chris Stapps and he told me he's feeling good. We haven't gone into depth with the illness stuff in Atlanta. But yeah, I got it confirmation. It wasn't pot. But it was something else that was very difficult to figure out. And that's sometimes the case. Even in the modern age where we have a lot of answers, we never have all of them. And sometimes there's mysterious stuff.

What? What? Imagine me trying to figure this out and then reading that. Read that last part again about mysterious stuff? Yes. That's what it said. This is just... We've had...

This is in February. to Kobe. This is in February when he was missing four straight games. It said, I got confirmation from Atlanta.

It's not popped. But it was something else that was very difficult to figure out. And that's sometimes the case. Even in this modern age where we have a lot of answers, we never have all of them.

And sometimes there's mysterious stuff. Okay. If he is contagious, if he's contagious, losing fluid and that, that to me says it's not some sort of like condition that he has, that it's a virus that he has. Again, Dr. Chikobi here, this is based. I do play reclick basketball with ER doctor, so I am basically a doctor. But that sounds to me like a, like a, singular illness, like a virus that he has. But this has been going on for years now. Well, let me

ask you, I know everybody is respectful of people's health and HIPAA and everything else. could you imagine this happening with somebody maybe a bigger stature? Like there's no way. I don't understand. If it was happening to you, a civilian, I'm not even an NBA basketball player. I would get a second opinion, third opinion, I would go to another doctor or another doctor. Well, I wouldn't know. What I'm saying is even in regards to conversation, like everybody, we all just keep on moving.

Like, yeah, what is going on with this guy? But like I'm saying, if this was like an all-star caliber, you know, current. Yeah. Nobody would accept just three years of like, bro, what do you mean you have an illness? Like, I don't know. It's so crazy. And they're like, he hasn't showed up and nobody's talked to him. Huh? It's all just so confusing. They don't know if he's in the Bay Area. There's just something going on. And again, like, I'm going to assume the best. Like, I'm going to assume that he is trying as hard as to get back. There is some sort of mystery illness. spin to a million doctors. He tries to rehab himself.

Then he gets on the floor and he just doesn't feel like himself. So then he just starts the cycle again. I don't understand. And here's another thing. It's also like I will tell you. It is the greatest medical insurance and medical attention. Yes. You can get in the world.

Hell yeah. Like there's a lot of like regular people that could just like, man, we could never figure out what it was. because it cost you a fortune to figure out what it is. Like, this is not his plight. I don't know how you can have a mystery illness for three years. I don't know either, especially with the best medicals in the world. Another thing is like, I'm saying,

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but they might miss quitting posts. Like, without Porzingis, they don't really have a plan. They've got Horford and George Nyang. So I've watched in the last two games. he's better than I thought he was. Who? Post.

He's a grisly. Yeah, I mean, he's. He's better than I thought he was. I was like, this guy's actually, this guy's good. I mean, he can hit, I'm,

but listen, he's somebody. Certainly for a, for a backup center, he's good. Yeah, but if you have Horford and George, like,

I don't know what their front court plan is. I really don't. If they're really relying on, on Porzingis, but the, But the fact that Steve Kerr doesn't really even have answers is concerned. But I'm saying they didn't have answers in Atlanta or Boston either. How have we gone this long?

I don't know. With no one ever. Because again, and the one thing I could find, okay, that makes sense. All right, the guy's got pots. Well, he was, it's almost encouraging that he was losing fluids and was contagious because that tells me that you have like an active virus, not just sort of like, like, you know, eternal fatigue. But if you go back and go like,

has there ever been any reporting on what's wrong with this guy? And then you find that pops up. But then immediately after another article pops up that says, that is bogus. And I'm like, it's also odd that we haven't even figured out what doctors have run what tests to even investigate what conclusion. Like, we did hear respiratory at some point. So are they,

Are they, you know, do they scanning his lungs? Like, I don't know what is going. I wouldn't mind a doctor just being like, yes, I ran these tests on Porzingis, and here were the results. We don't really know what's going on. So strange. It's really weird. Although I'm concerned the words are going to be really bad this year.

All right. We're at the end of the pod. So I'm going to make this brief. So last year, I caused a little bit of an internet stir for some of my comments and feelings about Victor Wimberg. B'anjama, especially on the Zach Lowe show. We were in the group chat and I was saying how much I hated Wembe. He was like, bring that energy to the show.

And I did. And there was a little bit of a hub of about my feelings about Mr. Wembeyanama. And he is back in the news cycle, right? Guy's name is Michael Wright. He was covering them for ESPN who had these comments. And he was on the Hoop Collective. And he, I listened to this pod. because I wanted to get all the details about Wembe,

because sometimes you just see the clip, you're like, what is this? And Michael Wright said, don't aggregate me like a million times in the pod, but did not say it right before the thing that he got aggregated for, which was Victor Wembenyama is not talking to American media outside of 60 minutes, and Victor Wembenyama does not want to discuss the NBA finals, right?

And the algorithm pushed this at me a million times, just trying to goad me into, doing something else about picture Wemignama. Like the internet just knows. It's like the AI is just like, Jacoby, I know you want to say something about this. I know you want to respond to this. I know you want to do one of those videos

where it's a green screen behind you and you show picture Wimbenyama pointing at his head and snuffing out Jalen Brunson. But I want to say this. I can't kill the guy a year ago for going on a media tour and taking the cameras to the Shaolin Monk Temple and then kill him this year for not doing press.

you know what I mean? Like I prefer this approach. Be in the lab. Be with your team. Don't be on the front page. The only person I'm going to talk to is 60 Minutes. What is this? It is 1985.

It is odd. The only time 60 minutes is relevant. It's when you're watching the end of the late game on CBS and they run a promo for 60 minutes. That's the only time 60 minutes is part of anyone's life at this point. But it is odd. The 60 Minutes part, found really odd.

It's crazy. That's the one. But I like the fact that he's not doing all the press that he did last year. I killed him for doing all the press last year. I like, I'm not going to be mad at. Way, Wambi, I'm not going to be mad at you for this. I can't kill you last year for doing all the press and then kill you this year for not doing press. 60 minutes.

Maybe. Rest in peace, Andy Rooney. Yeah. I, I, did you all? like his football workouts? No, I didn't. You're trying to go me into this. I'm not falling for this.

I'm not falling for this. What we're doing football workouts? You can't tackle when you're that tall. You know what I mean? You just can't do it. It's like we're looking at the Miles Garrett workouts. You know what I mean? Where Miles Garrett was trying to learn new moves and stuff.

Oh, when he's, he's, is he really not talking to anybody American? I mean, that's ridiculous. He's got to do postgame press conferences. You know what I mean? Like maybe he's not doing like, you know, specific like sit down interviews, I think is what it is. He probably rejected a couple sit down interviews. You know what I mean? Like that's what he did.

It's like people, so a couple people asked for sit down interviews and he said no. And then I don't understand the not talking about the finals thing. It's like you were in the NBA finals and lost. And you in particular, defensive player of the year, looked like. It looked like barbecue chicken out there. Hey, hey, okay. It'd be like, hey, look. Say, you sit down with him.

You're like, Wembe, I do want to do an interview with you, okay? But I'm going to tell you, no questions about the NBA finals. Fair? Yes, I agree. You know, whatever. And you sit down with the guy and you're like, so remember the time you lost a cold medal? on your home floor. Yeah, in Paris.

You remember when he got your ass busted in Paris? How did it feel after that? How did that feel? Yeah. How'd that be a? What, you said no finals questions? Hey, do you still have your silver medal? Dude, another thing, the whole, like,

should Dylan Harper start thing is ridiculous to me. Like, yeah. It's not the Dylan Harper story, my guy. It ain't the Dillan Harper story. All right. Oh, my God. If those are real. If those screenshots are real, that's a tough one.

That is a tough one. Yeah, early in the career. Oh, man. Everybody's got to learn. I love Dylan. Harper so much. It's going to do it for today's show. That's dude. Gagobby, I'll talk to you next week. I'm sorry, Shams.

Thanks to Steph and Jeff. It was a nice bath. I wasn't saying it wasn't a nice bath. You're not getting out of this way. All right, we'll be back next week.