The Mismatch - Knicks' Huge Win Sets the Tone for Potential Collision Course with the Celtics, Plus Loves and Loathes

Episode Date: April 10, 2026

Jacoby and Verno fire up their mics immediately after the Knicks defeat the Celtics and discuss how this matchup could be one to look forward to in the playoffs. (0:17) Welcome to The Mismatch! (0:48) Josh Hart saves the show with monster 3s in a Knicks win (5:44) Celtics-Knicks destined to meet again in the playoffs (12:09) Eastern Conference playoff picture still a mess (17:21) Loves and Loathes (19:12) Verno Loves: Cade Cunningham coming back (23:12) Jacoby Loves: Teams at full strength for the playoffs (25:10) Verno Loathes: First round of the West playoffs will be a dud (30:12) Jacoby Loathes: 76ers’ Joel Embiid has surgery for appendicitis (35:15) Verno Loves: ROY award is back and forth between Flagg and Knueppel (37:26) Jacoby Loves: 1.4 million 10-game runs by only one player, Nikola Jokić (41:06) Verno Loathes: “No way in hell they wanna see us” by Dillon Brooks (47:28) Jacoby Loathes: Giannis incentivized to play because of his shoes (51:45) Verno Loves: Kings’ Doug Christie making a tactical error instead of tanking (57:18) Jacoby Loves: Carter Bryant guarding the big men (1:00:21) Verno Loathes: AD upset for not getting a Pelicans tribute video (1:03:53) Jacoby Loathes: That he loves Verno’s Masters updates The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone] Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Brian H.  Waters and Jeff Shearin Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon to join me as he does every week from the ranger.com. It's Dave Jacoby. Jacoby. Is it okay to say that I'm happy that the Knicks won, but I don't love how the Knicks won. Look, I am happy that the Knicks won because as we record this on Thursday night, this show would have just been you complaining about Baylor Shireman for an hour. It's still going to be that. It's still going to be that. We saved our audience. Josh Hart saved our audience from this becoming an hour of his somebody going to guard

Baylor Shireman. But instead, Josh Hart, the consummate winner, they leave him open and he makes them pay, hits two monster threes down the stretch. And the Knicks get a rousing victory, which you, interestingly enough, did not attend. It's not interesting. This is a very simple reason I didn't attend, and I sent you the text. You had mentioned this to our audience, though, earlier in the week. You said, should I go?

So my wife's out of town. I only have the one-year-old baby, and I've got a babysitter until post-show. So I have free time. I could easily go to this game, easily. And I looked at the app that doesn't pay us, so I won't say their name, at the ticket pricing all day long. And there was a seat back to the concrete, like back to the wall, not even at the 50-yard line for $417.

After you saw the way it played out and Josh Hart becomes a Madison Square Garden hero for a night, do you wish you would have spent the $417 to sit against the concrete? No, no. No, because also, like, I take this podcast very serious. I wanted to prep for it. So I had to do my prep work here in my office while the game was on my phone. Fair enough. All right.

Look. Yeah, I take this audience very seriously. Why are you? Oh, no. Why are you feeling some kind of way about the way they won? You know, they're talking at the end of the game and they said, the Knicks are the best fourth quarter team in the NBA. And they did it again. And they're going out and on.

And I'm like, all right, this is going to be one of those nights where Jacoby's like, bring on all comers. I can't wait to see them in the second round, all this, all that. And instead, you came in here, like, not feeling that great about what just happened. I don't understand. Jalen Brown doesn't play. They start Jordan Walsh. And it takes two huge Josh Hart threes to win the game at the end in the clutch. It was a clutch game.

I want to say, I want that to be a cruise to victory. We start the pot a half an hour ago because they're up by 20 and I'm looking at it on my phone while you talk. That's what I wanted that game to be. You thought when they announced that Jalen Brown was not going to be available for this game, that this should be a burial. At home? With everyone available for the Knicks, pretty much? Yeah.

Yeah, I thought that. They're on a collision course, you know. I mean, the magic number for Boston is one. So they just need to win one more game and they're going to lock up their seat. They will. The same goes with the Knicks. So if they win one more game, they're going to lock in the three. And then we're getting that.

We're getting them in the second round. I mean, this is a... It's meant to be that way. And Jason Tatum saying that he was like traumatized and not looking forward to coming back. I think it was a gentleman I used to work with who works in the mornings for ESPN was like criticizing him for that.

Of course, towards Achilles, the last time he was in that building. What we're talking about? Of course he's freaked out by it. The last time he left that building was in an ambulance going straight to surgery. Like, yeah. It's a little weird.

How do you feel after watching that game about a collision course between those two teams? If they both could get through their first round series, which we would certainly expect them to do, that that would be the matchup. I'm focused on no series will be taken for granted, right? So, you know, the business gave a hell of a run last year, right? So, like, I'm not taking any series for granted, especially the way it's starting to shape up. But I will say this is one positive, not one, but one of the positives I'll take away from this is there's so much space and time and air spent talking about the Knicks starting five. And one of the reasons that they have a little bit of vulnerability on the offensive end, not the defense event, is Josh Hart's outside shooting.

And of the last like three or four games, he's been knocking them down. And that's what you want to see going into the playoffs. Because in the playoffs, as we all know, it comes down to these like very specific things. Like, can we leave Josh Hart alone and bring some help over to the cat Brunson pick and roll? And the answer to that recently has been no. And he will make you pay. And that kind of shooting confidence is very, very important for the Knicks heading into the playoffs. Let me ask you right now.

Would you rather have four? No. And play and then have Atlanta and then Detroit. I will never ever advocate for a lower seed because you just don't know how it's going to go. Right? You just don't, you want home court advantage. You want game seven in your building. So you say Atlanta in Detroit.

But like I said, you take no series for granted. Right. One of the Hornets beat the piss. Right. Right. And then like, what if you end up in a three, four Eastern Conference finals and you gamed your way into the four seed and now there's no game seven in your building? Win as many games as you can.

Why is this? That's fair. Why is the NBA this way? Like, why is losing games good for your team? It's never good. Be the higher scene. You could possibly be home court advantage against as many teams as you possibly can because you just don't know what's going to happen in the playoffs.

You really, to your point, you really don't know what is. going to happen because it was just a year ago that we lost Jason Tatum in that series. Yeah. And I mean, first of all, the first two games were absolutely buck noodles with the comebacks and the Knicks winning. Going into that series, I thought the next were going to get absolutely just demolished. Do you remember, like, the Celtics were so good at that point in time. They were getting demolished, by the way, in two of the game.

Two of the first games. But like, you just don't know how it's going to go. So I always want the higher seed with the home court advantage. This is finished the regular season winning games. Like, why is that a bad? Like, why? That was obviously, go ahead. I think it's more of something that we say in the media than people say in locker rooms.

I don't think coaches really, it's happened before, obviously, but I don't think they really game it to pick opponents in the first round that much. It's happened. I mean, I lived this years ago when the most famous in 2011. That's not 15 years ago. That was the first series that the Memphis Grizzlies ever won. And they knocked off a 60 plus win Spurs team. And at the end of the season, they bailed so that they would drop to eight because two was the Lakers.

And they just had the, they had this first number throughout the year, right? Because they had one Tim Duncan and then everybody else was like, oh. And they intentionally lost games. Yes. They gameed it so that they would get eight so that. they would play the one seat, San Antonio, because it was a much better matchup for them. And it ended up,

it ended up becoming one of the, I mean, like the, you know, the signature series, right? Of course. Signature series,

knocking them off as an 18. I think it's also worth mentioning, um, with all due respect to the people in hotels of Memphis, but that was not a quote unquote title contending team. No, none of us, no,

no. So if you're going to win the title, you're going to have to beat good teams. seven-game series. So it's like, I don't know, like, to get a better first round or second-round matchup, it's like, you're going to have to, to literally win the Larry O'Brien trophy. You're going to have to beat some great teams unless you're the Warriors in 2015. Ah.

Or the Celtics two years ago? I mean, we could do this if you want to. Yeah, we don't need to. It wouldn't like that. That's injury stuff, not just like matchup stuff, you know. But their path was weak. Yes. But, again, a lot of.

that is just injury luck. But to your point, or unlock. Yes. To your point. You're going to win with a championship. You're going to have to beat a good team in a seven game series. Well, look, I mean, look, last year, the best player on the Pacers got hurt in game seven of the NBA finals.

Mm-hmm. That happened. It happens. So maybe that would have been different. Maybe they would have gotten some quote unquote battle scars if that didn't happen. We were so close. We were so close. And he came out, and he came out so hot. Halliburton was making everything. I know. Oh my God. When he went down, it felt like it was my

son. Who also just had surgery? How's what I'm doing? Is he doing it? He actually did just have surgery. All right. That was the only get looked. The Nick Celtics was the one that everybody was looking forward to tonight. And the one that got got got to buy a ticket to it. That's what I was looking forward to it. Yeah, right. I saw Celtics jerseys around town today. Like, I didn't see the significance of this game from a self-to standpoint? Like, they're the two-seat. I don't know what's gone on with them. But this has been a thing all year.

And I told you about three weeks ago, there was a swath of Boston fans. Yeah, man. And it was, and it was like that in Charlotte, and it was like that in Atlanta. and it's like, like, it was more than after they won the title, which is what's so crazy about the whole thing. There's a pizza shop on the corner here,

and we're like, you know, the garden is walkable, but I saw a family of four in Celtics gear and the game had already started. They are showing up. They're not going to the game. They're just like here in Celtics gear. I'm telling you, they're showing up, though, in RoadVeyer. venues in a way that I don't remember that being the case in the past.

And I will tell you, as someone who lives in a small market, it was way more this year than ever, than ever, even years after they won the title. It was strange. I totally, I can agree with that. Because what I saw today was strange because it's a big game, obviously, Celtics Knicks with only three games left, sure. But this family of four had all the Celtics gear on. They were not going through the game.

They probably planned on it. They saw ticket prices and were like, yeah. We'll watch it from the bar. That's what happened. All right. The other games that were going on tonight, the Sixers obviously had to play without Joel and B. They need every game like blood.

But the Rockets have gotten hot here at the end of the season and are trying to move up ahead of the Lakers in the standings. And they're going to take care of business in that one. So the Rockets beat the 76ers and that game was not what it was, what we bargained for leading into it. We're certainly hopeful. And we mentioned, on Tuesday's podcast, how everything was so jammed up in the Eastern Conference.

And one of the things to keep an eye on that maybe people would not necessarily keep an eye on was what was going to take place in these two games that the Raptors played against Miami. Because that was going to change the fortunes of a lot of these teams. You know, dependent upon, you know, that's two teams that were kind of locked in there between six and ten. everybody's like right together. They're all, they're all, and two of them play each other.

Now, obviously Miami is locked in to playing in the play in again, because that's where they dwell. But the Raptors buried them twice, twice. You know what I mean? And so I don't know what's happened with Miami. I know that like the whole Norm Powell was an all star,

but now Norm Powell's been out and he's had this groin thing. And now he comes off the bench for them. And they're just, I mean, you want to talk about just barfing your way into the playoffs. It was like they had that one moment where it's like, hey, Pam out of bio scored 83 points. No, they also had like an eight game win streak. But what was tanking teams? Like I feel like every team that's not tanking has had a six game win streak. Right.

Where their schedule got soft because their schedule got soft. Oh, they were playing two good wins and then four tanking teams. And all of a sudden, like, you're the hottest team in basketball. It's like, well, okay. Yeah, but pretty impressive by the Raptors. you know what I mean? Like those were, when you need these games really badly and they buried them on Tuesday night, then they beat them again the night by double digits. So good for Toronto, who has been a really good story this year. And they've done a good job with that. They've done

a good job with that team. And I'll be interested. I would say people have talked less and no less about that Toronto team than any of the others. Would you agree? Like I feel like Charlotte's gotten a ton of talk this year. Yeah, and then the Hawks go on a win streak. Yeah, they're kind of like the only team they like didn't like go on a streak and have people talking about them. The amount of airspace, the Hornets have gotten.

And at one, honestly, it was the, what happened is it was the beginning of the season. That's where they stocked up all of their wins. Their record post-all-Star break is not very good. Do you know what I'd love to look at it, but I'm not too lazy to look it up

right now. It's like, when they had a little swoon in their season, I think it was around like between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it was when RJ Barrett got hurt. Right. Like that was like, that was kind of like,

it was a, there's direct causality between their wins and losses and RJ Barrett's availability. Yeah. Not really, I mean, look,

and they don't really, they're not a good three point shooting team at all. And so we will see how much that shows up whenever they get their matchup, right? Because somebody's just going to say, all right, you guys are going to have to,

you know, we get to these teams every year where it's like, The regulars, it's going to be interesting to see if their regular season strategy can carry them or if we're just going to look and it's five guys packed in the paint and they're saying, go ahead, shoot it. You can't because you play a bunch of guys that don't shoot threes. Exactly. And Grady Dick hasn't turned into who we thought Grady Dick was going to be. Oh, no. He's like, who is there, who are their shooters?

The mismatch is brought to you by Fanduel. Your Friday night's just got a little louder because the NBA happy hour is happening on Bandul every Friday from 6 to 7.30 p.m. Eastern. That's happy hour. Bandoul's got limited time specials to pregame the weekend. I'm talking boosts, bonuses, surprises, all live in the app. And Friday night, there's a big one that I have circled on the schedule. It is an Eastern conference matchup between two teams that want to win the game. The Hawks in Atlanta. hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers. I'm going over on Jalen Johnson points. Parlaying that with over on Donovan Mitchell points.

And I have the hometown Hawks winning that game. You put that together at Happy Hour. Get yourself a nice little return. But however you want to play it, that is NBA Happy Hour. Every Friday from 6 to 7.30 Eastern, only on Fandul. Official Sportsbook Partner of the United.

NBA. Visit Fandul.com slash mismatch to get started. Remember, you must be 21 or over in select states or 18 or over in D.C., Kentucky, or Wyoming. Optimus required reward. Rewards are non-witrable.

Restrictions apply, including bonus and token expiration, leg requirements, and max-wager amount. See terms at sportsbook. Fandul.com. Gambling problem? Call one-in-hound gambler. Or you can call 1, 88, 7, 777, or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut.

All right, we got to get to our loves and loaves of the week because that's what was going on tonight. And obviously, look, I'm going to be honest with you. Before we get into love and loads, I'll just tell you on a side note. Last night, I sat down with this intention. I start writing down. I'm like, yo, this is all jammed up in the east. I'm starting to mark down who's got who, the rest of. of the way and all this stuff.

And it's so hard. Dude, I literally just... Hey, hey, you should see my notebook. And my pen just went in the air. And I'm like, bro, I'm like, bro, if you... What's their remaining schedule? What's their remaining schedule? What's their remaining schedule?

Who's got the tiebreaker? If you look at, there's only like two games left in the season. But to untangle the East with tiebreakers and remaining games. And then it starts to be like, well, if... Wait, if the Knicks beat the Hornets, on the 12th, then that means the Hornets might be the nine. Oh, wait, but that means the magic. It's just like, what?

No, and then I'm trying to predict it. So, like, I'll give you a perfect example. I'm looking at it and I'm going, all right, so Charlotte's got Detroit. But Cade's got to play these games, so he's going to play for sure. And Detroit probably hates their ass because of the mini melee, so they may want to send a message. But on the other hand, they've already locked up the number one. They've locked them to the really not play for you. But they might want to establish some rhythm with K.

I know. I know. So maybe they do want to try this. I'm like, all right. And then the Hornets play the Knicks next. And like, do the Knicks will probably be locked into their seating at that point? Are they to completely mail it in?

Right. Just tell me what the seeds are at the end. I can't figure it. It's nuts. I tried to. I tried to. And it was such a mess. I just threw my pet in the air. Oh, no.

To appropriately say what games are important and what they mean in the rest of the Eastern conference for the next three days, it would take us 45 minutes. Seriously. It's impossible. All right. Loves. The aforementioned Cade Cunningham coming back. This was a bit of a surprise, I think.

You know, I know that they had said he'd been out on the court, he'd been working out. Hey, Isaiah Stewart's out there too, who also came back from his calf problem. He had been out even longer than Cade Cunningham. But not only did they hold the fort down in the 11 games he was out, you know, they were eight and three in those games. it was just such a scare because, you know, we're used to a lot of these injuries. A collapse lung is not one of those.

A guy diving on the floor and landing on a basketball and collapsing his lung. And so there was always that fear of is he going to be able to come back and is he going to be able to be Cade Cunningham? And that game started, I think it was like maybe like 10 to 10 or 12 to 10 or something like that. And they got out on a break in a Sir Thompson, a lot of the, one up for him and he cracks it down. I was like, oh, thank goodness.

And then he played 26 minutes. Had the double double. It looked like Kate Cunningham. Like he looked like Cade Cunningham. And so that, you know, they've already locked up the number one seed. But him being able to come back and be the full version of himself.

This has been one of the best players in the entire area. A second timeout. I'm not saying full version of himself. Oh, yeah. He looks fine. Uh-uh. Everything was at the rim. Everything was at the room. Everything was at the room.

Every single thing that he did was at the room. He's going to be fine. Going to be fine, but he didn't seem like, I mean, I'm just pushing back a little bit here on full version of himself. He looked like an MVP candidate, didn't hit a jump shot. Here's the thing. He's already played. He's going to play another.

Oh, not making me mad. Hold on. Was he like one for five from three or something? Oh, so what? He hasn't played in 11 games. That's what I'm saying. You called him the full version of himself. He looked fine.

That I will agree with. He looks fine. And now he has, as you mentioned, in our last show, they're going to have over a week. They're going to get done with their season, and then they're going to have to wait for these play-in games. That is the benefit of being that number one seed is those other teams have to fight it out for even the right to play against you.

And so he's going to have from this weekend to next weekend, and he'll be fine. And so having one of the best players in the NBA, that was like super scary. And the fact that he's come back before the playoffs where we don't even have this like question mark. Like, is he going to be able to be available for game one? Like, that's not a question anymore. He is going to be available. Very encouraging of you're a Pistons fan.

And he's got this 64 games if it plays out, which is a whole other bag of crap, which obviously. I'm married to know, but at this point. But I thought this is interesting. He's already gotten paid, so he's not going to win. So he's going to miss out in all. He's not going to win the MVP, right? Well, and maybe he'll be top five MVP, but he won't be. The NBA.

Maybe he'll be all NBA. And the NBA's pushovers about everything. And these guys are going to appeal this stuff and probably win, honestly. Same way, same way that they go, same way that they came down and they said, oh, you, We're fine in you. Indiana, we're fine in you. And then they just gave up on that and let it become the total wild, wild west of tanking and said, we'll do something about it at the off season. Like, I know you saw this. I wouldn't be surprised. I'm sure some people listening didn't. The whole rumor of there was a conference call today where there was an idea that the bottom three aren't eligible for top picks. I'm like, this is so ridiculous. Like we're to solve tankings. Now you're. want to be the fourth worst team, not the worst team. They're still going to tank. Cunningham coming back was my first love.

That's a great one. So the Timberwolves magic game was interesting to me because, and I mentioned this, I think there was this last Friday show, I want to say, that one of my loves was like, guys coming back. And Cunningham was one of them, but McDaniels played. And now it looks like Edwards is quite. questionable for Friday's game. And then Bogner played. Anthony Black played. Vucevich played tonight against the Knicks. Like, players are coming back. Peyton Watson will likely come back.

Spencer Jones will likely come back. The nuggets look great. Like these teams getting near or close to full strengths to start the playoffs is very encouraging to me. I just want to see teams at full strength. And I know what things happen in the playoffs. Players get hurt and, you know, miss games and series. It happens all the time. But you want to be at your best going into the playoffs.

And maybe Kay Cunningham is not his full self, but he's fine as we established. But McDaniels being back, getting a couple of games underneath his belt, Edwards getting a couple of games underneath his belt. Anthony Black, Wagner. Wagner looked good. Like his cutting and driving and driving

and slashing opens up their disgusting offense in a way that he is just like a like what does Bill call it like the toilet clog toilet like he is the plunger I'm calling Wagner the plunger from now on like it doesn't solve the problem but he helps the problem although Anthony Black is the kind of guy that you could put on the best wing player on the other team you know what I love Anthony Black they miss that wing defense a lot they do and when he had to when Wagner and Palo were out. Black took on an offensive load that I was not sure he was ready for and he passed with flying colors. Yeah, I'm a fan as well. All right. My first loathe. Okay, so this actually plays into that. So yes, some of those guys are coming back and you mentioned the Minnesota crew.

And they even though we got super scared by John Krasinski's article earlier in the week, which said that Anthony Edwards has the same injury that kept Steph Curry out for 27 games. And it was like, Oh, my God. And McDaniels had been termed week to week, you know, needing it to this. You know, Jacoby, we just talked about the East and how fun that's going to be and like how jumbled up it is at the bottom. And, you know, all those teams are semi-dangerous, especially with Atlanta and Charlotte and all these other ones coming on post-calendar turn.

I'm getting really worried that the West playoffs are not going to be good. That it's Oklahoma City, San Antonio, and Denver. and then... I know. All those players that I said might be back. I didn't mention a couple guys that wear purple and gold. I know. And I know that Houston's gotten hot,

but nobody has some grand belief in them when it comes playoff time. And I'm just saying this is dwindled out. I'm saying this is dwindled out to where it's like, okay. Like, I think there was a group, of teams where you could say, all right, like Oklahoma City and San Antonio, we're ahead of everybody. And then we had this group, right? And that, and then we ended up putting the Lakers in there when they got so hot. And it was like the Lakers, Minnesota, Denver, and then maybe Houston

was a little bit lower than those, right? Now it feels like Denver has elevated amongst those top two and then there's everybody else. And that's why I worry about like, like, look, I do think second round on amazing, amazing. Oh, yeah. My concern is that the first round of the Western Conference playoffs might be duds because of the way this is hashed out, just because of the injuries. You never know how it's going to play out, but it certainly looks that way. It's certainly looks that way. I mean, the Lakers are injured like crazy. You've got the Houston thing where it's like, you know, you know they could go clog toilet in fourth quarters, despite the fact that they've been able to get on this run recently. And then the wolves have these like question

marks. Like they haven't been themselves this year. You had those weird quotes from Chris Finch. And then you've got this like injury thing looming, right? That like you feel like you could be a step away from losing one of your two best wings, literally, like a step away from losing one of you two best wings. He didn't exactly like tear it up against the magic. Well, it also feels like both of them have injuries that are going to take the offseason. L lingering. Yes, that's what it feels like. It is a bummer. It's a real bummer. I thought the West, I thought the West playoffs were going to be lit. And now I thought I'm worried, I'm worried five. It's like spades. I thought they were like, five and a half contenders in the West.

Like two weeks ago, that's what I thought. And now I feel like there are three and only three. There's three. I mean, is there, honestly. Yes, there's always a chance. Anything can happen. Okay. No, I'm going to throw this to you, though.

If it were not a combination of those three, some way, somehow, who would you think could crash the party? the most likely one of those. You'd still probably have to say Minnesota now, right? Or do you say Houston? You say Houston? I'm just concerned about the health

of McDaniels and Edwards, like, without them, you had no chance. No chance. If it ends up like... I mean, Houston would have to beat Oklahoma City to do that, by the way. When I said he'd never know anything would happen. I didn't mean it like that.

Go back to Minnesota. then Minnesota would be the one with the chance. No, I mean, no. Yes, you, yes, because they would be three. Whoever a match? I mean, no, if that's three. The spurs of the nuggets? No, no, no, no, no.

That's three six. Three six. I'm saying, they have. I know. They are the one that would have the chance. I mean, you think that's a better chance of the rockets beat the thunder, don't you? Of course you do.

Come on. Yeah, that'd be the second round. Yeah, of course. Right. So, I mean, let's go back. If it was a combination of, if it's not a combination of those three teams. The clippers. The wolves are the chain.

Warriors, the Warriors, the Warriors. Okay. All right. Get to your first load. All right, my first loathe. Rolling on my first loathe, it was, I, this, the thing is, is when you have a take or you say something on a pod or into a microphone, you sort of want it to come true. You know what I mean?

so that you gain credibility with the audience we should give our audience a credibility dial test so they can just like live just just with each hand your credibility's going up yes no but you want I was like I don't believe in the sixers I'm not going to fall for this like this is BS right and I said that I think it was our last show

the problem is is this appendicitis thing like I don't know he's getting surgery today, but Joel and Bede has appendicitis if you didn't see the story. And like, I guess, I guess he could play in like a week or two if he gets laparoscopic surgery and not open surgery. But like, this is what it says online, quote, for recovery guidelines. Take it slow. Walking is encouraged, but avoid lifting, straining or intense exercise. especially after open surgery.

That's not good. That's not good. I'm, my first load is this Joel, this Joel and Bid thing, because I love the idea of the Sixers being like a very live dog in the first round.

I love the idea of like, wait a second, Maxie, George, and Bede. Kelly Uber is in the corner, knock it down three. It's like,

I can see them like winning the first two games on the road. in the series and be like, of course they did. They've got two Hall of Famers and a future Al Favor. VJ Combs, the one they leave alone. Yeah, yeah, right. They're like, they're like,

and he's dunking on people. Right. Well, they're like, let the rookie beat us. And then he does. Maxie and Edgecomber just in transition, getting steals. Jolambi gets a rebound, kicks it out to Maxie,

who just flies down the court. Like, I can totally see them winning the first two games in the road of a series. But without a beat, it's just not the table. It's not a fair. Shout out the Sixers fans. I mean, you on top, you just get,

I mean, you just get whipped every year by this. It's like, dude, I can't imagine. Shout to our buddy, Chris Ryan. You got to look at this. You're like, I swear to you, when you sent me that and it said Joelle and B that's going to have surgery, I'm like, bro, his knees are never going to be okay. But he broke his face and cerebral palsy? No, no.

And then I opened it, Bell's palsy. Bell's palsy? I opened it up. And I was like, wait, what? It's not his knees? It's appendix. Terrible. Appendix.

Yeah, you're right. Bad deal. All right. What do they say about appendix is that like it's so our stomachs can process raw meat, but we don't need it anymore because we cook things now? I don't need anything inside my body I don't need. If you need a kidney, let me know. My first love.

No, my next love. The rookie of the year, dead heat. Okay, so we covered this. our show earlier this week. And it was, we had, we had that clip going out. It's like, we were even taken in by the 96 points by Cooper Flag as well, right? He was like, all right, the rookie of the year's been decided, but now this guy's going off. And now you're kind of looking at the numbers and you're thinking about how much was put on Cooper Flag's plate versus how much was put on con canipals plate. And like, like one of them's kind of the fourth option on his team,

but he's been amazing. And the other one's like, it's on a crap team. But, Has had to be the man every night. It's been the center. Good arguments. But the odds flipped to flag. And then something crazy happened in the last two days since we last spoke. The odds flipped back. Flag went cold.

To con cancinepple, he's minus 130 now. And Cooper Flag is plus 110. This is, I mean, this is honestly a total dead heat between these two. who were on the same team. We're roommates, our thick of thieves, they've been buddies, and now it's going to come down

to singular votes between the two. And it's the only award that's even up in the air. Because I went and checked the odds on everything else. It is minus 900 for Keldon Johnson. really he is going to run away with it

huh MVP SGA is now minus 7,000 God defensive player of the year Wemby is minus 20,000 I was about to say they should just take it off the board a billion minus a billion and most improved Nikila Alexander Walker is minus 1,500.

Even coach of the year, J.B. Bickerstaff is a prohibited favorite. So every other award. Yeah, yeah. Yep. Every other award. Oh, God, I'm thinking Jordan, I, Joe Missoula should be up in there. Yeah. Do you?

Totally fair. But, I mean, like, J.B. Bickerts have you got to poke holes in what they've done. No. They just got the number one seed for the first time since 2006. All right? That was the last, that was the, I'm saying that was the last year of the five year Easter conference finals run that the Pistons went on like that last year. They didn't have.

Do you need me to make the case for Aten Mazula because it's very easy? What? Did you wouldn't bat an eyelash at either of those teams were right now the 12 seed in their conference. You wouldn't even, you'd be like, that makes sense. I would be more surprised

that Boston being 12 than I would. Would you? Oh, no, Phoenix I thought was going to be bad. I did. I thought Phoenix was going to be bad.

Well, look at the offseason moves of Boston. Pursing is gone. Holiday gone. Horford gone. But nobody wanted to, nobody thought the the pistons were going to be great.

And they had a legitimately great season. Great. They did it. We don't have to get stuck on this, but yes, you're correct. But every other award, we only have one. And it's like going to come down to the wire between two white American basketball players of all things. Who would have ever believed?

Extreme Caucasity, too. Who would have ever believed that? And the other guys from Milwaukee. Milwaukee. Yeah, that's right. Made in Milwaukee, hotbeds. I won't even say it. I'm not even going to say it.

But I'll say this. To me, they will never give me a vote and I don't deserve one. The rookie of the year, dead heat. All right, what's your next one? Dead heat's a good one. All right, my next love. Where are we?

My second love? Okay. Bruno. You're going to love this. Oh, stealing my lines. You're going to love this. Okay. I saw this on NBA Reddit.

It comes from OPTA stats. This is not my information. there have been over 1.4 million total 10 games spans by players in NBA history, including the playoffs. So 10 game chunks, there's been 1.4 million of these. You asked Claude. You used Claude for this. You had to.

Oh, no, Claude does everything for me. I'm not even speaking right now. In none of them did a player have as many points, rebounds, and assist as Nicola Yoko during the current 10-game winning streak, across the history of the NBA, including playoffs, more than 1.4 million different 10-game stretches have been examined. And none of them has a player recorded as many points of rebounds at the same time as Yokic did during this 10-game run.

25.2 points per game, 14.5 rebounds per game, 12.7 assists per game, leads the league and rebounds and assists. and there's a part of me that's like you put a gun on my bad head and be like who's the best player in the NBA I'm like Nikolievich and then you're like who's the MVP I'm like oh shake a little Alexander obviously why am I doing that he's gonna be third yeah why are we doing this

I mean but if you watch a wimby game and you're like well how's that not the MVP I mean he's going to be third third in the MVP voting and he's probably going to have like the best PER season in the history of the league average a triple double and he'll be like oh we're going to be like he's the third

most valuable player. It just became old hat. What's happening? I mean, because you get, you get used to it. You get used to the, like, it's almost like we're numb. 23, 15 and 13. You're like, oh, he only had 23 points. He didn't get 30?

Well, because I will tell you this. Everybody will agree with me on this. If anybody else had Yokic's stats, they would win the MVP. I believe that with all of my heart. If a guy who you, let's just say bam out of bio had these numbers. Oh, no, whoever. He'd be drug tested every two days.

I'm just saying, name a player. If somebody had this season, statistically I'm saying, if somebody had his statistical season that was not named Yokic, they would win. I believe that. I believe that with all of my heart. I do. Like if it's named them, I don't even know who,

there's nobody even capable of doing it. Exactly. There's no one that makes sense. Yeah, like Maxime Rayneau. Like what are we talking about? Right. But I'm saying,

no. Or like, whatever. Let's say Paulo Bancaro. Let's say Paulo Bancairo had those numbers or whoever. Just anybody, no, that's a good one.

Powell's a good one. It's within the realm of possibility. No, it's not. It is, no, it's within the realm of possible. He was supposed to have a breakout year.

He could have made a huge leap or like, like, Schengoon or somebody. But you're never, but you're never having those numbers. And you know why? Because no one ever has. No one's ever done. They just said. 1.4 million. Billion, I thought you said.

William. A billion would be better. Okay. Long distance between those two. My next load. Am I going to love it? There's no way in hell they want to see us. Who said that?

I have the rundown. That is the title of Dylan Brooks Players Tribune article. And it goes on and it's like got some really good funny anecdotes in there. Oh. Oh, yeah. It's funny. Can to share? Yeah, one of them.

They'll never believe this. I did not read Bill and Brooks Players Tribune article. Oh, I had to. It was great. It talked about the guy. It talked about how he learned how to talk trash and calls it a dark art and all this stuff. And then he talks about trying to get on everybody's. skin.

And then he says there's one guy who was his white whale, the one that he just couldn't get under his skin. Oh, Kauai. Yeah. Oh, you know, am I right? Yeah. I'm just guessing. Yeah.

He's a robot. And he said at one point, I even pinched him. Kauai looked at him and said, just play basketball, bro. It's so good. It's so good. Because that is 100% Would you could see Kauai Leonard saying? Yes.

After he says something about his mom He said something about his wife says the worst things The one you can possibly think of And then finally he pinched He was like, um Do you want to know my boundaries? That's my boundary right there.

No pitching. Yes. And he said, Just play basketball, bro. Like he's like he's like he's a dad or something, right? So anyways, anyways, look, I've been through this. I lived this during the Dylan thing.

But let me explain something. Dylan is he's a sweet guy man and he's a great locker room guy yet this is a wrestler act bro it's a hundred percent well you saw the KD stuff

yes and I'm saying this isn't that's the thing and that because you know because he doesn't stand on this stuff because he did this when he played in Memphis and then they got their faces bashed in he went and stood and tried to stare down LeBron and then he said

I poke bears and he did all that. I remember, dude. Yeah, and then he walked out of the locker room after the game. And then we had media day the next day, and he didn't show up at all. So, like, he pops off like this, but he's like the guy that promotes the fight, you know, and says, I'm going to whoop this guy's ass. I'm going to whip this guy's ass.

And then he gets knocked out. And then he's like, oh, okay, let's act like that never happened. Right. These quotes, we weren't supposed to be that. We weren't supposed to be that. Now, we're your worst. nightmare. And let me read to you the closing stanza of this article. And it's like, all I'm saying is like, you better have a bunch of guys that can back this up. He said, oh, we hear everything.

It's almost like the vibe is, oh, they're a nice story. That's cool. The sons did their thing this year. But this season ain't over. We're still lurking. We're the monster under the bed, bro. He wrote that. It's almost- That's a nice story. They're cool. Wait, what was the quote? I want to say exactly that. Because that's what he deserves. Oh, they're a nice story.

That's cool. The sons did their thing this year. Oh, they're a nice story. That's cool. The sons did their thing this year. That's exactly how I feel. That's exactly how I feel. He said, we're still lurking.

We're the monster under the bed, bro. It's almost like the whole NBA wants us to go away. Who? We don't have to worry about it because you've got about 12 days. You'll be gone away. He said, when I got here, they were talking lottery. Now what are they talking about? We got everybody in the league looking down, staring at their shoes.

Honestly, answer me, who in their right mind wants to see the Phoenix Suns right now? Well, has he seen the standings? I think so. So let's imagine that they win their first or second playing game. they will be facing off against the spurs of the thunder who do not want to see them right now according to Dylan Brooks because they're the monster under the bed they're the monster under the bed

no this article came out the night before the KD stuff by the way I mean look this is I'm telling you there's a ton to love there is a ton to love he's like your friend that is the most fun and you go hang out with him about the sweetheart part because he doesn't read publicly is like sweetheart nice guy

locker room guy. No, no, he's super nice guy. He is. Really? Yes, everybody likes him. He knows your name and stuff. Hey, Chris, how I'm doing? Super nice guy. How's really?

Like super nice guy, super charming, all that. Really? Yeah, but this is a wrestler act. You know what I mean? That's why he doesn't stand on it when it matters. Well, it's working. No, no, no. He's got them jazzed up, but I mean, it's also going to lead them into getting their

ass kicked. That's what I'm saying. That's why I load it. It's like, bro, I've been through this. Stop talking. You don't have to. Like, be the cool story. You don't have to tell us, you're like,

you're not the monster under the pet. What are you talking about? It's been a good season. It's been a nice season. But nobody wants to see us. Yes, they actually, nobody is going, oh my God, I don't want to see the Phoenix Suns.

Nobody's saying that. No. Nobody's saying that. I promise you. None of those top seats are going, God, please. But they're also not on fire right now. You know what I mean? I know.

Like, if they had one 12 straight, I'd like, maybe, sure. But like, five and five in the last 10. Okay. Go ahead. I like looking at their shoes part. We're all scared of the suns. No, you know what that was about? That was about that he dropped 50 in Detroit.

And everybody on that team, he's like, where are the bad boys at? Everybody was looking at their shoes. that's what he said well since he hears everything I will move on because I don't want him to hear this here's my loathe I work on game over

with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul make sure you follow that and this whole Janus thing one thing I like about Rich is he's a unique media personality because you don't see sort of agents in this space with

this platform and they offer an insight that is different than ex-players and people like yourself and myself, they're more sort of like professional media people. And with this whole Janus, the Bucks don't want him to play thing. One of his responses was there's a lot of incentives inside of these shoe deals where you have to hit a certain amount of games to get paid. and he said, I have no idea about the details of his contract. This is just me speculating, right? And I was like, oh, it's just, it's just refreshing to be like,

I've never considered that. In my mind, I'm like, the buck's only thing they should care about is their lottery plays. The stupid league has got this stupid system where they want you to lose games, you're incentivized to lose games. So why would they ever bring Janus back? They're going to trade him this off season. Why would you ever risk injury when he's already had two, three injuries this year's so far. Like, logically, it makes no sense for him to play.

Right. Until Rich offered this angle. And I loat the fact that he was right. He was right. In his Nike deal, it requires him to play at least 41 games this season. So half of the season. He's played 36. So he could have easily gotten over that hump. And there has been no dollar figure that's been put out there, right? So no one knows the exact number, but it's been reported as a significant amount. So imagine you're available to play NBA basketball.

You're being paid, whatever, $50, $60 million to do so in a town where you won a championship and the team says, no, you cannot play. And that is costing you millions of dollars. I can't report that it's millions. I have no idea how much it is. But a lot of money. I love this.

He has successfully made Milwaukee like the bad guy. Oh, he did. He has desperately not wanted to leave sour about to have anybody dislike him. He wants no booze when he comes back. That was his sort of, it's felt like it's like the very, the way to break it down very succinctly is like when he returns, the first game, he's bringing another uniform.

He wants to be celebrated. That's it. And now he's got the NBA investigating the franchise. Literally. the star player is having the NBA invest the franchise because he says I'm ready to play and they're not letting me play. And in fact, there was a quote,

he called it a slap in the face that I am available and I want to play and they're telling me I can't. I think that also hurts his trade value because the bucks are going to be at the negotiating table and be like, nah, we'll just keep them then. If I'm across from them, I'm like, you can't keep them now.

no and do you know another thing he did he this whole thing has just been weird another thing he did he's like my brothers are playing now i just want to play with my family yep like now he's like vin diesel in fast and furious he's like family first bro you're keeping me from playing basketball with my family something i've been doing since we were children in greece in fairness no other franchise that acquires yontas is going to employ the two brothers you might have to no there's no chance that's done the nascus no Maybe Thanesas. No way.

All right. One of them. Oh, wait. Quick, quick question before you move on. If LeBron doesn't play on the Lakers next year, does Brony go with him? Yes. Yes. So then why wouldn't you take on Tentacompo, brother?

Or, oh, I guess they could do the whole he wants to be his own man. Yeah, I mean, I can see him staying at the Lakers for sure. Yeah, maybe. I don't know. And by the Lakers, I mean the South Bay Lakers. Come on. All right. Last love, Doug Christie, now you may say why. Oh, we saw this. This is my favorite. So, all right. So they intentionally foul with like three minutes left. And then Draymond Green goes to the podium and he starts screaming about how when players do things that's finable, they get fine. Money comes out of my pocket. How come when teams don't do anything? So like, he's like, they intentionally foul with three minutes to go when they were, they were up. You know, they're winning in the game. He's like, you know, it's just like this is overt tanking.

What's the league going to do about this? So then that put like the big spotlight. And the reason I love this is because you only have one of two choices at that moment. You can either say, yes, we are overtly tanking. Or the other choice is our coaches of Bozo who made a big mistake. And they had to choose our coaches of Bozo, which I love. love. I love that it's like, we don't want to get fined. And so it's like, actually, you know,

I didn't want to lose that time out and, you know, thought we had a foul to give. And that's why I did. So that's like on me. And it's like, okay. So you just had to admit terrible strategy. But it's so bad. It's not even close to rational. It's not even in the, it's not even like rational adjacent. Dude. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love that you have to fall on the sword like no guys actually this all makes sense i'm just a bozo and um and like everybody is like oh okay all right but imagine sitting across from a lawyer and they're like so um sir there was two minutes and whatever left the clock and you thought that you guys were in the bonus or had a foul to give he's like oh foul to give so you thought you had a foul to give

and then you fouled. Why? Oh, so he didn't lose his time out because a three minute thing. Lose his time out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's why. Okay. It's when your illegitimate excuse makes no sense, too, is when you know you're in a bad spot. So me getting home at like 3.30 in the morning and being like, I'm sorry, Joey. I looked at my watch and it said 2.30.

I thought it was 2.30 in the afternoon. That's just my fault. Counting error. Let's say, let's say it was legitimate though. Let's just let's say. Let's say it was, right? It is funny that like they were able to like just sneak out of it. Like you know what I mean?

Like you could have said that you could have given a hundred different examples of how they were tanking this year. It is kind of funny that this is the one that got highlighted and they were able to get out of it so easily. There's been like how many teams? in how many instances have they been fined for tanking? I'm going to say three. I think the Jazz got hit. Pacers got hit. Pacers got hit.

And that might be it. It might be. No, they gave up on that. They gave up. But how many teams are tanking? Yeah, at least nine. So what is the process through which we adjudicate this? No, they wouldn't have done anything unless Tremont Green made a huge thing out of it.

That's it. You just hate Draymond Green. You know what? Draymond Green is going to be the third host of this podcast. The NBA is, no, the point is the NBA is so reactionary. Oh, what are you talking about, Jacoby? They haven't done any, they've let it become the total Wild Wild West of tanking. These guys are signing players and playing them more than they ever played on their G-League teams in NBA games.

Because they're following best practices because that's what Oklahoma City did back in the day. So it's like, that's the trick. Hire, go find crappy G League guys, sign them to 10-day contracts and play them 42 minutes. That's what they're doing. You don't have any first-hand information about this, do you? There's teams all over the league doing it. There's a whole article chronicling everybody doing it. Well, the Christmas team that hit 29-3s.

Oh, my God. I mean, if you look at the other two teams that set that record and like who shot the three and who made them. And the Chrisley team is going to be like right in the record books alongside of. With guys that literally have played 20 games, which is two. And it might be their only 20 games. No, two 10-day contracts. Oh, it 100% will be.

No, I mean, in their career. I'm not talking about this year. No, it will be. For sure it will be. That's the point. All right. Your last love. Well, thank God.

got an idea on a conference call about the last three teams are not going to be eligible. So now you really want a tank to be the fourth worst team. What the fuck is that? What is that? So you're not incentivized to be the worst. You're incentivized to be the fourth worst. So now you have to tank, but like soft tank, tankito, tank light. Tankito.

I like tankito. I do. All right. I like tankito. that's what you're supposed to do now we have a new plan it's called tank light tank light tank light late tank

um this is a love but it comes with a little bit of like a hate hater caveat as most of my things do this Blazers spurs game Carter Bryant man like this dude averages four points a game and like

he shouldn't be out here doing this and then went over the Blazers he had 17 points, five rebounds, four assists. He went six for nine, five for six from three, one steal without Wembe. He's like six, six, six, seven. They've already got Dylan Harper, rookie of the year's Deft Castle.

Victor Wimbonyama. And now this kid is starting to light up. After the game, Mitch Williams is like he's going to get playoff minutes. So we got another playoff rotation guy in their first three years in the league on this team. It's the number two team in the Western Conference. Like, I want a shot to Carter Bryant because he's awesome. And here's what he said after the game, because there's no wambi, remember? Quote, Robert Williams is massive.

Donovan Klingham is massive. Yokic, Rudy Gobert. I'm like, yo, these dudes are huge. And he guards them. Yeah. successfully. These like, I mean, there's some of these like wings, these like athletic wings that have come in

over the course of the last couple years because I saw one, who was the one I saw? Fleming. No, no. I saw Fleming. Oh, Murray Boyles for, for, for the Raptors. I was talking to some people from the Raptors. Oh my God, they love Murray Boyles.

Well, they're kind of in that like Scotty Barnes, OJ, Nobi mold where it's like, it's like, I'm not that tall, but I'm strong and I can stand for little guys if I get switched on them. And then I can push big guys around. And this Carter Bryant guy, he feels like an absolute freako who,

if they could develop him to where he could knock out open shots, it's like, oh, God. I mean, he had one good night. Everyone's had one good night. No, I know. But five or six from three is in a pretty significant game. Right. Blazers wanted that one.

Well, he is also a crazy athlete. Oh, yeah. You know, you're seeing these guys come along like that too, because like, you know, this has been the pop off here for Peyton. Watson in Denver as well. Like these long athletic guys,

like maybe it takes them a couple of years, but like you could see the vision and you could, you could absolutely see that in a couple of years, Carter Bryant turns awesome. Yes. I mean, Watson's a little lighter, not as strong. Right, right, right.

But he's also, but his offensive talent, Watson's has been really blossomed this year. And it's something we're like, oh, whoa, whoa, you could be in the league for 10 years. It's wingspans. Just find the wingspans. What's up with my guy, Cedric?

He's got a big wings fan. He had a good night last night. Okay. He's still playing him out there. How many things do he have out of those 29? I don't know. All right. My last load.

So I read this article. Anthony Davis airs grievances about the end of Lakers and Pelicans. And I was like, oh, really? So evidently he went on Dremont's podcast. Yeah. Okay. So I'm like reading through it. I'm like reading some of the quotes from it.

And I was like, oh, man, I kind of get that. You know, the Lakers thing. He's kind of upset. He's like, look, I went there. I played these years. We won a title there. Yeah, nobody called me. Like, I didn't even, like, I didn't even get a heads up.

And then it's like, what? Like, so I got, like, being a little sore about that, right? But then it goes into, I was like, well, what about the Pelicans thing? Bro, when he said that he was upset, he didn't get a tribute at the, the Pelicans. Oh my. I watched the clip. He got,

Rich Paul, the aforementioned, got fined 50 grand for coming out publicly saying, Anthony Davis needs to be traded somewhere that can win. And then Boston's like,

all right, we'll take them. And they're loaded with assets. And they're like, yeah, we're not going there. Because if you trade for him, he'll only stay a year.

Allegedly, allegedly. It's not reported. So then that one happened. Oh, that was reported. And then when he went back, he got booed like mercilessly. It's like on tribute video. What planet are you on?

Don't forget the T-shirt. Don't get the T-shirt. That's all folks. The that's all folks T-shirt. And then he was like, oh, I have a stylist who picks this out for me. That wasn't even my decision. Oh, does it say that's all folks right there on my last home game? Like you were just talking about the Yonah's thing, right?

Yonis wants to like, that's all thing. He doesn't want to be booed. set up, yeah. But like, what it, what play it was Anthony Davis on during the end of the Pelican thing? That was so messy and so terrible. And he's like, you know, and then I went back and they didn't even have a tribute video for me. And I was like, counterpoint. A trip.

Counterpoint. For what? They give everybody tribute videos. Did you guys do one for Jay Huff when the Pacers came? to town. No. But everybody gets a tribute video. He played a lot of years there.

If you're thinking about like the, if someone's like put a gun your head was like, name the five best pelicans. Okay. Also, you could put a gun to my head and say, name the five like most messy endings to a player and a franchise. It's up there.

It's not top five, but it's in the conversation. It's up there. It's up there. it's up there. But also it's like, how do I say this? You cannot be mad at other people for not doing extra things for you.

You know what I mean? Like philosophically, it's off for him to be like, I'm pissed. They didn't give me a tribute video. It's like, well, they're probably pissed that you burnt down the franchise on your way out. Like, there's two sides to this. And totally dictated where he went.

like they maneuvered that whole thing to get it where you wanted to go you can always watch game over with Rich Paul and Max Kelly I go ahead um here's my last loath and this is very personal

between us there's nothing in sports media that I love more than your master's updates oh stop that is what made me fall in love with you stop actual Mary J. Blige real love

I love your master's updates so much. Today, when you broke character because the walrus climbed on the desk and started twerking, it was one of the funniest things I've seen all year long. And I was legit laughing out loud. I'm ashamed to admit this.

I rewound it and watched it again. That's just that part. When you found the walrus and then the walrus starts twerking. I wasn't ready for that. You broke character. You did. You know, somebody at some of that work was said that too. They're like, you've never seen you break like that. And I was like, you broke character.

It was a transcendent moment in the history of the Chris Burton Show matches up. I mean, everyone is doing such a great job. Rozier, Dev, Jim, everybody's killing it. I was so mad, though, after this one today, I couldn't catch the beat on the very first thing. Like the Patrick Greene. I know they-shed. Shut up. I know they don't.

No, but it drove me crazy. And I just loathe how much you complain about it on this podcast. Like, that's not true. That's not true. When Michael Phelps wins a gold medal, he's not like, oh, that was a lot of work for me. I didn't say it was a lot of work for me. You're doing the best thing in the history of sports media, and you're like, I'm really, I get tie tie afterwards. Oh, I do get tired, but I will say this.

It is days like this. I, all the way leading up to it, I dread it every time. Okay. And then I do it. And I will say, the internet can be a very, very dark and horrible place, right? Yes, yeah, yeah. And every year I do it, it makes it worth it. It's unimpeachable.

Because who's got notes on that? Oh, there's people that are, but it is, it is so the positive. If you ever want to get positive feedback on the internet, do a master's. It's the only thing. No, but I'm telling you. No, you can't just do a matter yet. But the way you do it like, I'm trying to celebrate you. I just load that you don't like it.

Like, this is your moment. Don't get me. Don't get me wrong. The SVP, SPF 50 thing. Yeah. I'm dying. Don't get me wrong. I do.

Look, I like it after it's over. I think that's true of a lot of people, right? They dread something and then, because I just don't want it to be bad. I don't want people to not like it. Oh, I can see that in you because I know you now. So I see you with your papers all spread out. Yeah. And I can see when you're starting to think about the next line.

Like I see you trying to catch it. Yeah. And then. you've got it. And then, but I can also see when you're in the pocket. Like the Fienau thing today

was just like, you were in the pocket. When you grab the club with two hands and put it above your head, he's on the couch. Dude, he was,

hey, he responded on Instagram. What do you say? All love my guys. Love it. Yeah, something like that. Tony Fita,

respond. Tony Fee now. On Instagram. I was like, oh, that's awesome. He is literally scrolling on his phone and saw it.

and responded, yeah. It's just so good. I love the master's updates. What do you do? Two tomorrow? Yeah, we got one more day. So what is it? Two segments?

It's, we do them usually. It's two seven-minute segments. We do it twice. We do two, yes, two master's updates on Thursday, two on Friday.

I'm watching the Masters this morning. I'm like, should I text for a note? You should. Because you're not a great rapper. You know what I mean? And I think that's part of the appeal. But it then people's like you never do like a third line with the same.

You're like what rhymes with Sheffler or whatever? I'm trying. So I have some things like written down in Kate. But you would be you would be amazed. The amount of things like I'll have some things written down just in case that guy happens to be on the leaderboard. But then I get screwed because we are at the mercy of the leaderboard in a lot of ways. There's something. It is a master's up to you're a journalist.

I know. There's some things that we will throw in on them, but generally, but like I looked at the leaderboard tonight, tomorrow will be lit. Oh, it's lit. I mean, there's all kinds of great players on there. So we'll have stuff for it. Can I confess something? Go ahead.

I know your show is at noon central. Yeah. And it was like right around 1.15, my time. I forget where I was. I just finished working out. and I tried to find the live feed on YouTube. I had trouble. That's how deep I am into the Masters.

I mean, just type in my name. It'll pop up. Bro, I did. It didn't pop up. I mean, I didn't try that hard. Okay. Well,

it'll be posted anyway. It lives forever on the Internet. It's the funniest thing. It's the best thing. My man. It's what made me originally fall in love with you. And anyone who's listening to this, make sure that you follow

and Grinds City and everybody. I'm glad they're still an audience for it. But that includes you. Honestly, I think you'll be doing this in like 2040s 5. I can't do it. I swear to God you have to. This is like part of the masters.

It's like the pimento cheese sandwich. And it's like, what A man corner. And it's Verno over a waka flaka bee with the walrus bit was just so stupid. No one cares about the walrus. But you guys made me care about the walrus. I need to know, well, that's not a real frog, right?

It's 100% a real frog. Is that a real B? Yes. And a real dog. Yes. So if you lost the Walrus, who cared for the walrus for the last two years? Okay.

So the walrus is a costume. Oh, the walrus is a costume. But it was like, dude, we really, no, no lie. That costume was gone. and like old versions of that bit had a walrus and the way this came up is I talked to Scott Van Pelt about it on his show and I talked about the walrus and he was like we need to put an APB out because we lost it it was gone and about a week ago Jenna who helps run my show said we found the walrus oh my god and I was like where and she was like it was like in

some bin in the corner of a room in the I was like what? Oh yeah, I can totally relate. Whenever my wife's asked for something from the storage unit, I'm like, who knows? But I will say, I do want to say to your colleagues, I spend

most of my time just watching them dance in the background. Of course, I do too. The coordination that they have, they were like doing stuff together and like one of them had a handshake and they're doing this thing. It's just fantastic work. I'm going, and all right, I've got to

fix my dad's computer. Thank you to Jeff. Thank you to Brian. Joby, I'll talk to you next. Remember, you must be 21 or over and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 and over in present in D.C. Kentucky or Wyoming.

Gambling problem, call 100 gambler or 100 My Reset. Or you can call 1-887-9-777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. Or you can visit MD-Gambling help.org in Maryland. Hope is here.

Visit gambling help line m a.a.org or call 800, 327, 50-50 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts. Or call 8778 Hope NY or text Hope NY in New York for Louisiana. Call 87-7-770-7867.