The Mismatch - How Steph, LeBron, and KD Won Gold for Team USA. Plus, the Future of the Olympics and NBA Schedule Leaks.

Episode Date: August 13, 2024

Verno and KOC discuss Team USA’s thrilling victory over France to secure the fifth straight men's basketball gold medal (01:10). They debate where the gold medal ranks among Steph Curry’s achievements, discuss Guerschon Yabusele's impressive performance in the Olympics, and talk about why the basketball that was showcased is good for the global game of basketball. With the U.S.’s reliance on older players to win gold this year, is the window open for a different country to claim gold in 2028 (18:01)? As the release of the NBA schedule nears, the guys discuss the handful of games that have been leaked so far (37:50). Got a question for Verno and KOC? Send them an email at [e-mail]! Or you can send the guys a tweet @ChrisVernonShow and @KevinOConnorNBA! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Social: Keith Fujimoto Got a question for Verno and KOC? Send them an email at [e-mail]! Or you can send the guys a tweet @ChrisVernonShow and @KevinOConnorNBA! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up, guys, your boy Johnny Bananas here. The Challenge Season 40 Battle of the Eras is finally upon us. I'll be covering every episode with all your favorite challengers on my podcast, death taxes and bananas on the Ringer Reality TV podcast feed and on the brand new Ringer Reality TV YouTube channel where you can find full video episodes all season long. So buckle up, come along with me as we see who will be crowned winner of the Challenge Season 40 Battle of the Eras.

Follow Ringer reality TV on Spotify and subscribe to us on YouTube. Welcome to The Mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon and joining me as he does every Monday night from the ringer.com. It's Kevin O'Connor, A.Kee, Kevin O'Bomber, Kevin O'Bomber, Kevin O'Colm, Kevin O'Brien, Kevin O'Blessarian, Kevin O Baggett, Kevin O'Crescent. Kevin Verno! How are you doing today, man? What's going on? Me? I'm great. God bless a man. America, land that I love and rooted for and took such incredible.

I can't imagine, I can't imagine having to fake being excited about Steph Curry doing what he did like you had to do on Saturday. because getting to enjoy that Steph Curry full-on Mona Lisa-esque experience, that masterpiece that he put on against France, man, that had to be tough for you. Not tough at all, Chris, because like I said to you, not tough at all, because like I said to you last week,

I was rooting for the documentary, the epic game. And boy, oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy. is that exactly what we got we got on the french side losing they competed wendy had his epic quote after the game saying i feel bad for opponents because i'm still learning and then on the u s a side i mean step that was the most ridiculous stretch of threes that maybe he's ever had in his entire career bill simmons said it's the greatest shot of step's entire career over on x i think i agree with that man that fourth three pointer that he hit in the fourth three pointer that he hit in the

quarter. Yes, I was rooting for a great game. I wasn't necessarily wearing my penny hardaway USA jersey like you were, but boy, I was screaming alone in my office here having the time of my life because it was an amazing stretch of basketball watching three of the 15 greatest players of all time, possibly in their last Olympics, actually getting it done. I can't wait to watch the documentary. I can't wait. I planned my Saturday around it. I had my longtime producer, locally, who you know John Rose are over at my house. Like, I invited a friend over to watch this game. That's how big a deal it was.

And it was absolute pandemonium. Yeah. Those four threes. And then the last one, the he that dropped. I mean, I felt like a kid again. I jumped up. We were outside on my deck because I have a TV outside. We jumped up and just started running around going crazy.

I mean, that was. I hopped out of my chair too. After the third one, I think I might have. I remember Noah Eagle on the call. I'm pretty sure it was the third one. Noah Eagle, the way he said, again? Like, he framed the question in disbelief when he went for the third three again. And I just lost it after that one.

Then the fourth one was just, oh, my God, crazy. Just like every player on the team did. Every player did as well. I think the applause and the roar in the crowd, it wasn't all USA people doing that. I think there were a lot of French fans. just in awe of the greatness of Stefan Curry in that moment. Before we get to the rest of what we thought about Team USA, we've got to mention on the front side,

obviously you have Wembe, you have him in tears after, you have this epic quote about how he, you know, feel sorry for his upcoming opponents in years to come. Oh, that was awesome. I got that. You,

I'm going to give you credit, because you mentioned Yabu early in this tournament, and you highlighted, what the guy was shooting from three. And you said, you know, development is not always linear. And if you go and look, this shouldn't be all that shocking that he's playing well in this tournament because this is a guy that has really become a very reliable three-point shooter. And when you look at his frame and you look at his shot.

In the tournament, he was under 30% from three in the Olympics. But last three years, four years, 40 plus percent from three. And you look at his. frame and you think, man, if you can knock down some threes, if you're willing to go to the basket, and not only does he go to the basket. That's crazy. I mean, you don't see LeBron get cracked on like that. No, that was something.

And I love guys, look, I love guys that shoot threes are athletic, but also have that, whatever that that wiring that when they go to the basket they are going to the basket they are trying to dunk it everybody on anybody it doesn't matter the the anti aton like eight yeah like it's like you i like parts of aton's game but the thing is that's so frustrating about him he's a seven-footer who just lays the ball up he doesn't go for dunks that guy's an NBA player yeah busella deserves a chance for sure. I mean, I thought early on in the Olympics, like it stood out as you said, like, hey, he looks like a much improved version of himself. The three-pointers looking good statistically. And then every game for France, Yabu did something where you're like, okay, that can translate

to an NBA floor. And I hope it's an opportunity. Obviously, it's late in the off season at this point. But, I mean, I hope he gets a shot. He deserves one. He looks ready to me. And maybe he will be one of those guys as we talked about weeks ago earlier in the Olympics, where it's like, PJ Tucker where it's like six years, you know, it's like first year in the NBA, then six years played in another leagues on basketball reference. Maybe Abuselli will, you know, have a story like that where after some success with Real Madrid, he gets another NBA chance and, hey, he could spend the next six, seven, eight years, you know, playing a role in the NBA. I'm not saying he'll be PJ Tucker level, you know, competing high level in the playoffs. But boy, he sure did in the Olympics

at a high level in big games. But you may recall years ago, there was another guy, Candace Parker's brother, Anthony Parker. Yeah. Same kind of deal. Remember, I think he came over. I think he played for the Raptors first. But, I mean, he ended up having like an NBA career after, and everybody was like, where did this guy come from? Same thing.

Like, if you look at his, I just pulled up his basketball reference, 1997, Sixers, 98, Sixers, 99 Magic. and then from 2000 until 2006 played in Israel and Italy. And then he played the last four or five, six years of his career in the NBA with the Raptors and the Cavaliers when he was 31 years old. Right. After spending a lot of time overseas in his quote unquote prime years. Yep. And maybe we will see Yabu, but I mean, I loved everything about it. I loved the.

That's so fun. The Donka of Bronn was obviously timeless. But beyond that. The Afro, too, the French Ben Wallace people were calling him on social. Beny Wallace. Benye Wallace is amazing. So good. Yeah, the headband, the Afro.

Everything about him is awesome. I want him in the NBA. I want him in the NBA, especially because I was at Summer League this year, and I don't think I even mentioned this on the pod. I've never been more depressed in my life than I went to a Cavs game in Summer League. Jared Allen showed up and he had shaved it off. Really? Yes. Is that really?

Yes. I saw him on the front row. He was with like all those guys at a Cavs game. And I mean, it just broke my heart. Really? Absolutely broke my heart. Yes. Is this known information for the cast family?

I don't know. I'm telling you he was on the front row of the, he was on the front row at the gang. You know who else did it? Who everybody's going to be shocked when they see him is Marcus Smart. Marcus Smart's had that long hair for a long time now I think I might have seen a photo of Marcus because Marcus looks more like he did at Oklahoma State and it's like early in his Celtics career Yep

I see I just search for Jared Allen Shave Jared Allen Afro Yeah he cut it off And I see nothing though He was on the front row of a summer league game this year Really And he had chopped off the afro And I was like no

Doppelganger Are you sure not a doppelganger Dude you don't You're not missing. And it was the whole team. They were all sitting there together on the front row. Yeah. It was upsetting, to say the least.

So what I'm saying is, if Jared Allen's not going to have the beautiful fro, then we need to have Yabouseli and the NBA. We need him. He's a must. Somebody please sign them, please. I know Jared Weiss over at the athletic. You know who's talked about signing him? The calves.

Yeah, the calves. Yes. So they could trade out a fro for a fro. Yes. The calves seem like a team. that, you know, I forget who reported it, forgive me, who said they could sign up. I know Jared Allen, Jared Weiss, not Jared Allen, Jared Weiss over at the athletic, said that the Celtics who drafted him, it sounds like the Celtics are not interested in Gershaw,

yeah, be silly. So he last spent the 18, 19 season and the NBA with Boston. Sounds like he will not be making a return there, according to Jared Weiss. Back to Team USA. clearly one of the signature step moments of his incredible, unbelievable career. It was beautiful. Getting to see all of those guys play together. But one of the things that you and I talked about, and this was, as this tournament was going on, I said, Kevin, it certainly appears that we've talked about for years. Like, oh, the world's catching up.

And so many of the guys that are the best players in the NBA are from other. countries now. And it, you see on the men's side and you see on the women's side and what took place, that it was an absolute necessity to have your best players there. That if you would not have had your best players there, because not only did you have those great players, those great players had to be unbelievable in that setting. Like, that's in all times. It took every bit of that Steph Curry performance in both of those games.

You know, I had had this number that in the first four games of the Olympics, Curry averaged seven points, shot 41% from the field, 19% from three, and had made five, three-pointers. In the last two games, 30 points a game, 60% from the field. 65% from three and 17 3-pointers. Crazy. And it took every bit of it to be able to stave off Serbia and then France. And you do wonder, this is not, it's not going to become less competitive as the years go on.

But these are all-time great players, and it required them being all-time great. And I just think that speaks to how unbelievable the basketball is around the world and these teams that are assembled that get, you know, for eight, 12 years sometimes of playing international competition, that it's still very hard, even with the best of the best, to throw together 12 guys and expect them to go win this, you know, because that, I mean, you can't do better. That's why it's a good thing these games are competitive. in the final four, in the semifinal and the final between USA and France.

Because you look at the way the basketball game has grown around the world, obviously there's far more talented players from international countries across the world that are now in the NBA. But also the talent pool has grown within those leagues overseas as well, where there's more talent. And I think the better the competition is, the better the sport of basketball is worldwide. The more interest there is in the game, the more. more interest there is in the NBA, they're more interest there is in wanting to pick up a basketball and play

when you otherwise may not have interest if there's 40-point blowouts in these games in the Olympics. So I think it's a good thing for the global game of basketball that these games were highly competitive, where France and Serbia were, they were going toe to toe against the best of the best, and not just the best players in the NBA, but some of the best players ever of all time with Steph, Katie, and LeBron

James still playing at a high level. So I think it's a very unique time in basketball history right now. When will we again have one team that has three of the 15 greatest players ever on it at one time? When will we have a tournament with three of the 15 greatest players involved at one time? It is really remarkable what we just witnessed this last month or so with the Olympics with Stefan Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant, all playing together still at the level that they are. I think for basketball as a whole worldwide, there's probably tons of little kids who watch the Olympics and are now even bigger fans of the game than they were prior to it. And I do think that it puts an onus on USA basketball and making sure that young guys are

getting into the system, but also these young guys are getting in the system and they're getting reps playing against other teams because this team had to throw it together because they assembled what they had assembled, but they had not played together as a basketball team. And their overwhelming talent got them over the hump. These other teams in so many ways, you see the friendship, you see the chemistry,

you see how both on and off the court, it translates. And there is no greater, example of that, then I don't know if you've seen that mashup of Nikoliyokic and the interview that is after they have won the NBA finals. And he says, it's good. It's good. Now we can all go back home.

And then he like walks off. And then they show him in that Serbian bus singing a song. They're all going buckwatt like in it. And somebody put up the meme, you know. the difference between your friends and your co-workers, you know? And, and you know, he just like went, even after this, they showed him the next day. He was back at like the horse track. Like, all he wants to do is go back to Serbia and be around Serbian people and listen to

Serbian music and go to the horse track. And it's like, it really is his job, what he is doing. But you see the passion and you see the chemistry that these guys have because they are friends and they've been playing together since in many cases, those kids are. identified at what? 15, 16 years old. Sometimes younger in certain cases. Could be 12 or 13.

Well, and you saw like, I remember, used to see those Spanish teams with the Gasol brothers and Ricky Rubio and Juan Carlos Navarro and that whole crew. And they were, I mean, as tight as tight could be, the level of passion they played with, the level of chemistry they played with. But most importantly, those teams have gotten a ton of reps together. the USA, I think one of the things this proved is you're not just going to be able to throw it together and play for a training camp, play some friendlies, and then be able to go win this thing going forward. And I do think it's essential to get the young upcoming talent in the mix, getting a lot of reps,

playing in games with each other because it was a disappointment last year, clearly, in the world. And then this one, man, as to say, to quote Anthony Edwards, like, make sure you got some old heads with you. Because those guys, the stage for the younger players, you know, even for Edwards, looked a little bright in those last couple of games. And you needed LeBron James, the role player and Steph Curry, this Super Sion and Kevin Durant moments. and, I mean, geez, Louise, and Bid having to take over seven straight points in the Serbia game, when they were downed, huge. Like, you just needed every bit of these Hall of Fame-level players to get this one. And I think it speaks to how great that's going to be in L.A. in four years.

My God. L.A. in four years, you'll have LeBron, who may not be in the league anymore. Who knows the level that Steph and Katie will be at. maybe they'll still play maybe they won't be like who who really knows it's hard to predict the bottom line is they'll be four years older even in bid will be 34 at that point a seven foot two guy 300 pounds with four more years of miles and potential injuries on his body right so those are four of the key guys already before even getting to some of the younger guys devon booker i thought was sensational in this tournament playing a lesser role he the the way he's perceived i think has changed from a lot of people who had who had been soured on him and the past. They saw a new version of him, the toughness, the grit, a defense, the ability to play a role on offense, a lesser role. Anthony Edwards up and down, Tatum was obviously a disaster. He could not hit any jumpers. He wasn't hitting jumpers well for the Celtics in the playoffs either or the final month of the season. That's a different conversation for Boston. But the younger guys

on Team USA were not great in this tournament aside from Devin Booker. Do you worry about Team USA in 2028 with their ability to actually take home gold again. No, I don't. I mean, I think you never know what these guys are going to look like in four years. And I'm talking about the young players in the league. I mean, I think you could look up and you've got John Morant and you've got Paulo Bancaro and you've got, I mean, I think you're, Chad Holmgren. And I think you're going to have great, great players.

Those guys are still going to be young, though. There are all those guys. I mean, you can mention even some of the guys coming into the next year. draft in 25, Cooper Flag or DeBanza in 26, but those guys will still just be babies when it's the 2028 Olympics. They're probably more relevant

for the 2032 Olympics. I think 28 is really the window for some of these other teams to go get gold because that feels like one of those transitional years for Team USA. Maybe so. 24 feels like it was kind of the

closing of an era. And 28 feels like it's the opening of a new chapter. Who knows what the team will look like? You're right. Some of those guys could blossom into megastars and they just plow through the entire world. Yokic is going to be four more years older. Serbia might not be as much of a threat at that point. Who really knows?

Maybe Nolan Trore doesn't work out at point guard for France and they're still struggling with perimeter creation and Victor Wenbanyama needs to do everything for France and that they become a team that's competing for silver or bronze or maybe they don't even meddle. So who knows, Team USA will still have the most depth of talent, but we don't know like the high end level of that talent. They need their, and this is one of the things that we have talked about. And this was, this is where Edwards kind of grabbed the bull by the horns in terms of who's the American guy that people could latch on to. Everybody thought it was going to be Morant. And it was for a time.

I mean, look, he played no games last year and still had. one of the top selling jerseys and sold about five billion pairs of shoes, even though he wasn't even playing. So if he can get his career back on track after missing a year and a half, and then you have, and then you have Paulo and then you have, what if Zion gets it together, you know?

And then you've got Morant and Edwards and Zion. These are all the guys we talked about as like the next American guy that can really take hold. And Paulo and chat. What if Cade Cunningham? What if Cade continues, you know, like he made some progress last year for a crappy Pistons team? What if he gets better? Devin Booker is, you know, I think. Sure, it would be right in his prime.

Yeah, I mean, and obviously Jason Tatum, it was a terrible Olympics for him. He was horrible. He was benched at times. He could not shoot when he was on the floor. But Tatum is a better player than he showed in the Olympics. And in four years, he'll still be in prime years. So I think for Team USA, they still should be. favorite in 28, but, you know, at the same time, like Anthony Edwards said it, you need some of

those old heads on your team. There's not going to be a lot of them in all likelihood at that point, unless it's like Embedit at 34, 80 at 35, and who knows what a big man will look like at that stage of their career. It's interesting you're saying this because I think people can look back and they could say that was kind of the deal with when it went when it went down a little bit. You know, when the embarrassment took place in 2004 and then everything changed after that, we were no longer in that Jordan Magic Bird, you know, like all those guys era anymore. And so it was, it was kind of a transition that wasn't like some incredibly old head veteran laden team. And this one is going to be very, very special. And, you know, I never want to be

prisoner of the moment. But I don't. think I'm going to forget this. No, I really don't. I certainly will not forget that Curry explosion at the end of that game. No, it's sensational. The whole country on his back. That was crazy. And also, like, some of the photographs from the game. Like, I think the shot Steph hit over Victor Wembenyama with Victor, you know, sprawl him through the air, all, you know, eight feet of his wingspan and Steph kind of fading away. That picture is amazing. And then obviously with two defenders, just all, you know,

over Stefan Curry hitting that 4-3 in the fourth quarter clutch. That's like a visual that I don't think I'll ever forget. I hope I never forget it. I mean, something went wrong with my memory with my brain if I forget that. You know what? And you may look up in like

some of the, not the 35-year-old veterans, but like we might look up and it's the it's the Jalen Brunson's and the Donovan Mitchell's and those guys of the world, right? Like it's their crack at it. A lot of options.

I'm not worried. It could be Jalen Brown. Hey, what I'm saying is I'm not worried. What I am saying is you're going to need to get more reps because you don't have that. You're not going to have Curry, LeBron, and Durant and Embed. And so like, you're going to have to get more reps with whatever team you are going to assemble for four years down the road rather than a, you can throw it. together when it's this group, I do not think you could throw it together if it's not.

Yeah, especially if France continues getting even better, or maybe Spain has a resurgence at one point in the years to come. But I will say this, when it comes to those future Team USA rosters, I can't wait to see AJ DeBanza playing for Team USA. Brockton-born, AJ. It's just going to be sick to see him. I mean, I think that. that dude's going to be a megastar in the NBA. I think I mean, he's not going to be entering the NBA until 2026. But Kyle, man, over on the Ringer's YouTube page, made a great breakdown video explaining him if you're a listener who doesn't know who he is and I know anything about him.

Just know he's like six foot eight, six foot nine can handle. He's selfless. He's like cage intensity on defense. He can create off the dribble. He's fluid. He checks literally. Every box is a teenager. One of those guys, like Cooper Flag,

coming ground at Duke next year, that you could plop on an NBA floor tomorrow, and he could produce at a positive level. One of those levels of prospects. So Team USA has got two of them in the next two years. Never mind Cameron Boozer, the Rutgers guys in the 2025 draft, Cameron Boozer in 26,

a lot of USA talent incoming that's going to help them through the 2030s. Well, from what I've gathered, DeBanza, what makes him even all the more impressive to me is throughout the ZyBL stuff and him playing, you know, his high school career out is, I mean, the kids already making a fortune playing basketball as a prep. And so he goes with that level. It's not like he's made, he hadn't made it yet. And yet, you know, this guy, the high school athletes now are making money in ways that were just not even.

And some would say that's rather unhealthy. in terms of being I get it. I totally get it. I get it. And I think you can. Pros and cons to everything. I think there's a lot.

What I'm, I'm using this as an opportunity to give him credit because I think a lot of kids are going to get ruined by that. And I do think it will have a negative impact on them when it's, you're getting credit and you're getting, you know, in some cases hundreds of thousands of millions of dollars

because you've blown up on social media. I mean, that kid that was, I think he's going to UCF this year. He was supposed to go to Memphis last year. And then he had that like shooting a gun case and he never played Mikey Williams. I mean, the kid had millions of Instagram followers.

And he's like got like a $500,000 outfit on with a million dollar chain standing in front of a Lamborghini. And I'm like, who is going to tell him what to do? I know. Right? like good luck and so I think that's the credit to somebody like de bandsta in these guys it's like he's not playing for the money he's playing to prove he's the best player yeah and you can see that with the way he plays and so the intensity is just on another level from him like I said I mean I don't I would never invoke the name KG too often but he just brings that style of

intensity and just hunger to just get stops on defense and I just very much enjoy those types of players and always will. And it's very clear that he's from Brockton with the mindset he brings to the floor. It's very exciting to have a Brockton born player at the level. Even though he bolted from it. He couldn't get out of their past. I mean, I love Brockton, but also happy to be living outside of Brockton now. Sounds like you're playing for Brockton. Hi, Kevin. Shut up. I do think that this is this is a great. basketball viewing Olympics. It was great.

It was beautiful. Great basketball. From a lot of perspectives, NBC and Peacock nailed it. I think the app, the Peacock app was great. I really enjoyed it. I very much enjoyed the broadcast. I love you brought this up. Okay.

We love Noah Eagle. Noah Eagle. He thought he was great. A plus transcendent talent. I hope NBC hires him to do a bunch of NBA games. I think they've already announced he's going to be a part of it. Yes, but I want to doing big time games. I want him doing Christmas Day games.

It's a matter of time. Yes. Let me give you one thing that they used on that, that I hope gets stolen. So there's always the, you know, that red zone type thing has been a real game changer in sports broadcasting. You know, even when I was part of that U.S. open coverage on Peacock a year ago, we used like that same exact format. We were just bouncing from hole to hole to hole. And then they used it in golf. and they use it college football.

They use it. I think DeZone tried it in baseball for some time. And then even last year, Jared Greenberg and those guys, you know, did some kind of version of it on NBA TV. And so there's always innovations like that that take place. There was an innovation that took place throughout this. And I don't know if you experienced it on the Peacock app, but we need this desperately.

And I hope Adam Silver and the powers that be were paying attention. because this was obviously something that could be pulled off. And I think as a basketball fan is, heightens the experience a great deal. So NBC and Peacock did an amazing job with the Olympics. No question. They did their version of the gold zone. But also, in conjunction with the gold zone,

there was a game that was on, it started while I was at work. So I just kind of turned it on my phone and listened to it in the car, as I drove home and then I got home at halftime. And at halftime, I go to the TV, I turn it on, and it's got the score up, but they're coming to half. But on the bottom left-hand corner,

it says catch up with key plays. And you could just scroll over to it. And I hit it. And it was like, in many cases, and it was catching up in real time. So it would be like, here's 18 plays. And no, like fast forward. I didn't have to touch a button.

And it would say, like, here's the Bam out of bio block. Here's Steph Curry for three. Here's a LeBron James chased down steel. Here's the Kevin Durant swings it over to Devin Booker in the corner. And it would play like the 18 to 20 most significant plays in the game. And then it would just say catch up to the game. So anything that you had missed, in that game, you could just click that button and watch key plays all the way up and then

it would catch you up to the game. And I was like, this is amazing. Because again, as I told you, the game started as I got in my car. I miss a good portion of the first half because of the commute. And then that's just right there. Like, it was basically like having Twitter right there, like any kind of significant plays that you would see where that's usually how we've been using social media is like, oh, I'm at some game and now somebody will text me and they'll be like, oh my God, did you see the Anthony Edwards dunk? And then I just type in at the Edwards dunk and sure enough it pops up. This was a great innovation that I had not ever seen before, but this whole catch up on the game stuff. And I don't know how they were getting the

clips up like that in real time, like anytime something significant happened, it was just another one. And then the way they embedded it in the screen and then would just catch you up to the game, I want that for NBA games. That would be amazing. I might be misremembering, but I think YouTube TV might have a similar feature. I've never used it. I don't think League Pass has it, but I'm pretty sure YouTube TV does. I didn't use it within the Peacock app, though. I did see the option. But yeah, I think features like that are a must.

And I think overall, like the fact that you're the way you're explaining how well it worked and how seamless it was is a good example of, I think, was represented and how easy it was to sort through different competitions within the Peacock app to find what you're looking for. And that makes me overall very, very optimistic about what NBC has, planned for the NBA partnership they'll have for many years to come. Because I thought they did a great job on the broadcast. If you're just tuning in on your TV, I thought they did a great job on the app.

I thought everything was very well done. And I think over the entire Olympics, the main broadcast crew, Noah Eagle, Dwayne Wade, Noah Eagle is such a pro. He also made Dwayne Wade better throughout that as well. Wade comes in with really no broadcasting experience. Wade had his hiccups early on with the pole string, repetitive quotes, with Bam Adebio's real name, the he-him jokes. And he eliminated that.

And on top of that, he got better throughout, more comfortable calling the game. And I think that's a credit to Noah Eagle, but also the producers behind the scenes that are working with Wade. I thought everything was just high, high level. The other thing about Dwayne Wade is Dwayne Wade is, in my opinion, intensely likable. He is such a likable guy. He's just true to himself. Yeah, I think he's a likable. guy. I think he reminds me of the kind of guy you would enjoy being around and that when he walks

into a room, you're glad he's just walked into the room. Super chill. Yeah. Yes. I agree. And that makes for an easy, it really does. A listening experience of somebody sitting at home. That's right. It doesn't seem fake at all. I think he actually is. Yeah, I think he's actually fun. I think he's like, you know what I mean? And so he could really get very good at that. He's got so much else on his plate, he probably won't. I have to pay him a lot of money, I'm sure, right? And he certainly grew on me more and more as that whole tournament went on. But yeah, on the, that's the one thing about that broadcast, because I haven't been able to get out of my head.

If I came home at halftime of a game, because it just, it moved me straight into the live game. So if I got home at halftime of like a, I don't know, wolves, painters just game, and then I could just click like, hey, man, now show me everything that I need to see that gets me caught up to this point. But I could do it within three minutes time. It'd be incredible. Yeah, crazy. It'd be incredible. I feel like I hadn't missed much. Well, that's one good thing I think the NBA does is their recaps for people that don't have time to watch a two-hour game, which is, you know, a lot of people.

people have busy lives, families work, two jobs sometimes. The 10, 15 minute recaps that they put up are pretty good. Oh my God. My son's been watching those since he's five years old. Yeah. Seriously. They're great. No, he does.

They're great. And then within the app. That's how he watches 10 games in 10 minutes. And then within the app they have the like the 40 minutes, like all possessions. Yep. Which are included. I wish sometimes they would, would do those like a little bit longer where sometimes it misses the beginning

of a play. But I mean, for the most part, they do a great job with those. And you ever done that for the NFL? Oh, yeah. Well, you've kind of gotten out of the NFL, right? Well, I mean, I'm easing my way back in. Last year was step one going back out of fantasy football. Today, I played Madden. I got my ass whooped playing an online game. I got destroyed like 28 to 6. Damn, that's tough. But this year, I'm going to be easing my way even more back into the NFL because I miss having the NFL in my life. I used to love. I used to love. the NFL just as much as I love the NBA. So when you see that, when you see their version, it's going to freak you out.

Is it perfect? Well, no, it turns to the play thing. You can watch the whole game in 30 minutes. Yeah. Oh, I mean, because football, there's so much downtime. It's so much downtime. But with that, they show like pre-snap adjustments.

No, that's every play. You just watch it. Play, play, play, play, play. I know, but like, I want to see like the wide receiver go in motion, too. They don't cut that out, right? I want to see the quarterback at the line. You'll probably hear,

okay, Jim, here's the bike linebacker and if he throws it to the outside, you'll still be able to hear. Okay, good. Yeah, it's really good, though, the way they do it as well. So the Olympic basketball viewing experience

was fantastic, and I do think that there's some lessons to be learned from it, but also the fact that it became so intensely memorable is something that we will for sure get to carry with. A few things we need to mention about

some schedule leaks. NBA schedule is supposed to be dropping on Thursday, I believe of this week. The opening night stuff, which is Nick Celtics, Wolves Lakers. Those are both great. Clay Thompson's return

to Chase Center, November 12th. And it would be a big TNT game. The Intuit Dome. You're going to have to go to this. this one. Oh, I'm going for, I'm going to be going for a concert. I'm going for David Gilmore, guitarist from Pink Floyd. I'm going to that next month. Is he opening it up? No, he's not opening it up, but he'll... What is the first event at Intuit Dome? Good question. Let's,

let's find this out. Continue naming some games. Did I ever tell you about, did I ever tell you about the time when I went to the first ever event at FedEx Forum? In Memphis, the first ever event was a concert that took place. That was the night they opened up the arena. It's a concert for Intuit Dome as well. It's Bruno Mars, Thursday night, Bruno Mars. So check this out. Yeah.

I went and I saw Usher. Wow, Usher. So at the time, I am working at a radio station. and I'm out in front in the plaza before and everybody's going because a yeah has come out it's the biggest song in the world usher's got a million hits like he's the biggest pop star of the world at that moment and so this is a huge concert to have and then the arena's opening for the first night ever so anyways there's a radio station and i worked in a is a cluster of radio stations that i worked at and i worked at a and i worked at. And one of them was a hip hop and R&B station. And I see one of the DJs from there. I see him out on the concourse. And he's like, hey, Chris.

And I was like, yeah? And he's like, you want to meet Usher? And I was like, yes. And he was like, we're doing a meet and greet. He's like, I'll get you down there. You want to go? And I was like, yes, yes, I want to go. And so I go downstairs.

And it's like this small room. doing this like meet and greet and the guy walks in and kevin when i tell you it was like it was like if you ever met like one of these like amazing politicians that's what it was like he walks up to me and i'm like you know i'm nervous as can be i'm in my young 20s and i'm like hey and he's like hey man he's like what's your name and i was like chris and he's like chris he's like man thank you so much for coming to this show tonight sounds like such a politician to me. And I was like, sure, we're real excited.

Sure. He was, I mean, I walked out and I just spread the gospel of usher. I was like, that guy is the nicest guy in the world. Truly. Like, it was just that one moment. And it was a meeting great. So, I mean, what's he going to do? Be a dick.

But he couldn't have been cooler. Could not have been cooler. So then I walked the other room. They asked me, uh, and then we get out, uh, to, uh, to, Like he's got an opener. Guess who the friggin opener was? Bruno Mars. Better.

Okay. Who? Kanye West. Wow. With John Legend. What? Yes. That's crazy.

Jesus walks had just come out. What a lineup. Crazy. In retrospect. In retrospect, Kanye West, and then he brought out John Legend, and then it was the Usher show.

Crazy. That was the first event ever at the basketball arena. That's a crazy first event. And I just happened to be there. Yeah. I know. With the way things played out. Wow.

With the way time played out. You know what I mean? Who would have known? And I remember, true story. He played, uh, and he like played, you know, probably, I don't know, maybe six or eight songs off of college dropout. The one thing anybody really knew was Jesus walks. And I was like, this guy is unbelievable.

Unbelievable. You know, and then nobody knew John Legend was. John Legend comes out and he's like on his piano. He's like, One glad morning when this. He's playing that part from the album and like playing these gospel hymns. It was great. I was in my freshman year of high school when Jesus walks came out.

Everybody was in a Jesus walks. Everybody was. Everybody. That college dropout. That college dropout. album is amazing. Yeah. It's stood the test.

Much better than Vultures 2, let's just say. I mean, I mean, look, early Kanye. Early Kanye. If he can get back to like, you know,

college dropout, late registration, never mind, my favorite, my favorite Kanye album, my beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. If he could ever produce something 80% as good as that,

I'll be very happy. anyways the other so Intuit Dome the first basketball game regular season at least is going to be October 23 against Phoenix and for the fourth my concert's not till October 25th so I got the month wrong

so I'll probably maybe I'll be going on the 23rd for my first time in and Intua Dome but I don't know they have a lot of good concerts coming out man they also have Usher on the 21st and 22nd and 24th and 25th so that's all he has like a little residency here in LA with four shows at Intuit Dome. I mean, I feel like there's some shows here that I got to try to see.

Slipknot, they got playing the Bruno Mars, Olivia Rodriguez got two shows. A lot of good shows. I bet they do have a lot of good shows. Future that might interest you. Weezer, Billy Joel. Oh, wow. They got a big line up there. But I'm definitely going to David Gilmore.

I'm going to have him shred my face off with some amazing guitar solos. All right. So we got the Intimate Dome. That's going to be their first game is going to be October 23rd versus Phoenix. And then we've got the Christmas games. They put Wemby on Christmas. So we got Wemby versus Knicks. Good choice. They got Wolves Mavs.

They've got 76 or Celtics, Lakers, Warriors, Nugget Sun. So obviously a great day for a great Christmas Day slate. Great Christmas Day slate. Excellent. very clearly featuring when beyond that day. As they should. With their game against the Knicks.

And so those have been the leaks and then we're going to get to everything after the schedule comes out. We'll certainly broach that subject on Thursday. All right? We have had people send in a lot of mailbags, right? Yeah, we'll be talking mailbag after we talk about the schedule on Thursday.

So we got a ton of good mailbag questions. I got some stacked up ready to go for Thursday, some lingering Olympics questions, some general questions about, you know, our overseas travel among some other basketball topics as well. But we'll save those for Thursday. All right. We need more mailbag on Thursday. We need more mailbag questions.

We need NBA mailbag at gmail.com. Hit us up with basketball questions, non-basketball questions. Whatever you want to talk about. It's the offseason. We could talk about anything. NBA mailbag at gmail.com. All right. We'll sift through all the great ones,

and we will certainly have them all for you on Thursday. Kevin, is always a pleasure. Thank you to our executive producer, Jesse Lopez, as always, and I'll talk to you on Thursday night. Can't wait.