The Mismatch - LeBron Loses His Streak, Giannis’s Next Steps, Anonymous Assassinations, and Are the Celtics Actually Good?

Episode Date: December 5, 2025

Verno and Jacoby are back as they discuss LeBron James losing his 10+ points streak in the Lakers' win against the Raptors, Austin Reaves's monster season, and debate if LeBron is still working his way back from injury. They then discuss the thrilling game between the Sixers and Warriors, speculate on the next move for Giannis and the Bucks, as well as the Chris Paul-Clippers drama. Next, the guys dive into their loves and loathes from the past week in the NBA. (00:00) Welcome to The Mismatch! (00:39) LeBron loses 10+ point streak in Lakers win (09:52) Sixers survive thriller against Warriors (15:27) What is Giannis’s next move? (24:25) CP3-Clippers drama (31:15) Loves of the week (50:30) Loathes of the week 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: Jessie Lopez and Stefan Anderson Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Varnan, and joining me as he does every week from the Ringer.com. It's Dave Jacoby. Jacoby. What's happening in Verno? We had three trash games last night, the two fantastic ones. Yeah, we had two fantastic ones. One that went down to the very last shot and a lot of added drama. It is interesting that earlier in this week, when we were talking about the games,

we talked about LeBron James's streak and this incredible streak. And I think I even said by the next time we talk, it'll be to like 1,300 games. Well, did not get to 1,300 games with him scoring 10 points in consecutive games. Last night with the game on the line in Toronto, he throws the ball to Rui Hachamura in the corner for the game winner. And it was a massive Laker celebration. And so the street finally ends one of the most unbelievable streets in sports. history, but it ends in unbelievable fashion with him having the opportunity to get to the 10 points, but he passed it up and threw it to Rui Hatchelbur in the corner. And so all

as well that ends well for the streak. I mean, at least we'll honestly, we'll always remember how that streak ended, right? The mismatch is presented by Bandool. Bandul's got it all same game parlay's quick bets for jumping in live and your way to build. Build the bet that fits your play. Plus, don't miss out on the holiday offers and surprises all month long. So download the Fandul app or head to Fandul.com slash mismatch to get started. Remember, you must be 21 and over and present in select states or 18 and over and present in D.C. Kentucky or Wyoming.

Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Help.com. Call 1-8-8-8-8-8. 789 777777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. Watching the game, they did the Austin Reeves LeBron pick. I think they did it twice. And he's got the ball. He's got an angle.

Like he's got a shoulder. And I'm thinking to myself, he's guaranteed to shoot this ball. And then he rises up and just throws a laser to the corner for Rui. It was just, it was, it was a microcosm of LeBron James and how he. plays the game of basketball. And we, we know his history early on before the championships and everything when he used to do this in big spots in the playoffs and everyone used to make fun of him. But after the game, Rui said, I don't know if this is true or not, but Rui said, LeBron told me to be ready. And it makes you think about the last dance and that moment. You know

exactly what I'm talking about. And everybody blames LeBron when he was younger for passing up the shot. But let's not forget, Michael Jordan told Steve Kerr if they double be ready. And I don't know he said it to Rui, Rui said he said it to Rui. But to me, that it's just, it makes another layer of this beautiful moment more beautiful. It's good for the documentary, for sure. LeBron James had 1,297 games with 10 plus points. That was the first time he has scored less than 10 points since January 5th, 2007. And a couple, there was some historical perspective that was given on this last night online.

couple things that I wrote down that when I was scrolling through, I passed by, one of which was truly unbelievable. You know, you have all the ones like, if Shade Gilders-Alexander scored this, every game until he was 41, that would be the streak. Or there was one with Kevin Durant that he has the longest active streak now that LeBron's is done. And he would need to play 82 games for almost 12 more season to Max LeBron's record. But this is the one where I was like, wait, what? I came across one and I did not check this, but it's got to be true. Nobody's posting this unless it's true.

It said that there are only 24 players in NBA history that have played 1,297 basketball games. that can't be true. Well, I guess so with the longevity Yeah, right. How would you? How would you play? And Andy was generally injury-free. This guy didn't lose seasons to injury like most of his peers.

And so 24 guys have ever played that many games. I mean, it is truly totally and completely unbreakable. And so it was kind of crazy the way that all ended last evening. But there's one thing I want to say about the way it ended last evening that's being overlooked by this LeBron play was Austin Reeves. They have the ball. They're down to. And we've watched, you know, there's rhythms of NBA basketball games that you just sort of like get used to. Right.

And they have the ball. And we're all assuming. I think J.J. Reddick wanted a time out. So the Lakers are walking towards the bench. LeBron, I think, is off the floor at this point. And Austin Reeves sees an opportunity. and doesn't call time out and just darts to the basket and gets a huge two-point shot to tie the game. Like, if he doesn't do that, because the Raptors let their guard down, everyone's sort of like standing straight up and down.

And he darts to the basket and gets a layup. And I don't think Austin would have done that if he wasn't playing as well as he was. He was absolutely on fire. But that play was, it just shocked the announcers. It shocked all the other nine players on the floor. I'm sure it shocked JJ Reddit. Like that was such a heads-up smart play that's overshadowed by this LeBron thing. But that needs to be pointed out of the huge game that Austin had.

Well, and that becomes the topic, right? It becomes the streak ending and this played in the corner. The subplot is the reason we even brought up this streak earlier in the week is because he barely got to it in the fourth quarter in the game that they played earlier in the week. And it was like, oh, but he. He kept the streak alive. And so then it kind of became the streak. And the subplot is he barely got to 10 in the last game and did not get to 10 in this game. Like, is this where we are?

Well, no Luca. That's another thing. Like you understand if Luca and Reeves are both cooking and LeBron is facilitating. He's four for 17 from the field. He did have 11 assists. Like it wasn't like a bad LeBron game. but I'm just going to say like something tells me

he's still working his way back from the sciatica. He's still working. He's not himself quite yet. Like I'm not, I'm not ready to just be like LeBron is now a role player, a fourth option,

a facilitator. I'm not ready to say that about the way. The way he is moving is not like he has ever moved before in life. Yes. We've got to admit that. When you're watching him, like even last year,

he could dominate games. flying up and down the court. And that is just not the same. He has been a shell of himself thus far. Now, you are saying not ready to decide. I'm not ready to say that. Yeah, I think this is him working himself back. This is six game back.

He had a drive in the fourth quarter. There was like old LeBron just sort of like, I'm just going to put my head down, put my shoulder into you and get a layup on two people. Like there's flashes. And I think that he's working himself back. You know, I'm not a doctor. I'm not going to sit here and say LeBron was lying about sciatica.

But I think that he's, he's playing the long game. Oh, no. He's playing the long game. I actually start to believe it now. Now that I watch him, I'm like, oh, yeah, this guy is. That looks like, yeah. Well, I mean, it just looks like, you know.

Oh, don't do it, Farno. I'm not ready to do this yet. I'm not ready to do this. It's not Willie Mays stumbling around in the outfield. No, I'm not ready to do this. If this goes on for a couple months, fine. I think that he's like, I'll be, I'm, I'm ramping myself up to peak when I need to peek. Okay.

all I know is you can plug in anybody and they can get you eight. Hell, you plug Dennis Jenkins in, he gets you 25. Yes. I also want to say, like, this Austin Reeves game was bonkers. Like, he had two,

I think it was back-to-back or maybe two and three possessions. He's shooting these deep-ass threes. Like, you know, like Trey Young stuff where, like, the defense isn't even really guarding you yet and he's just pulling up. One was at the end of the clock, but like when you are a threat

from that far from the basket with the ball on your hands, it just opens up the floor in ways that, like, I haven't seen. You know what I mean? Like when you are a threat from that far away, like a step or a tray, it just chain and dame, I want to say, too, it changes things. He is having the mother of all contract years. Oh, yeah. I mean, whatever you would have projected before this season started

as the going rate for Austin Reeves, buddy that has changed dramatically there's no like I can't fathom what kind of contract he's going to get offered in the offseason seriously and he'll get extended by the bucks when they trade him for yonnas so we'd say all right

we had a shockingly great game that took place between the sixers and the Warriors you know it starts off and the Warriors put up this putrid offensive performance in the first half of the game. After the first quarter, they're down like 30 to 10. And it's like, oh, okay, this one's not worth paying attention to. Next thing you know, you're seeing all these like tweets come through.

It's like, oh my God, Pat Spencer. Oh, my God, Pat Spencer. Like, wait, what's going on? I see this clip Pat Spencer's, you know, he's barking at the Philly crowd. I'm that MF. And I'm like, what is happening? And so you have this Warriors run. that gets them a four-point lead

and then this furious ending with VJ Edgecombe and then a unbelievable block by Maxie on Melton to seal the game for the Sixers. This one turned out to be infinitely better than it started. It was 67 to 43.

When you're like, what I do is I scroll through the app to see what the scores are and then I go to the TV to change the channel. And when you see 6743, I forget that game. I'm like, oh, this one's not close. like, I'll go back to the Lakers game, whatever.

But I'm glad you mentioned that Pat Spencer's celebration. Unbelievable. Because if you didn't see it, he hits a three and he turns into like Russell Crow and the gladiator. He's just screaming at the crowd. Like, when you're at home and you make a big shot, you celebrate with the roar of the crowd. When you're on the road, you turn evil. Like he was so pumped. He's pounding his chest, screaming at the top of his lungs with like venom and anger.

and as an old man, I'm thinking to myself, like, save some energy for the game, dude. Like, it was an awesome, awesome moment. And the end of this game got a little clunky. And, you know, I'm going to save a little bit of that for later. But it was a great comeback for the Warriors. And, you know, unfortunately, you know, the Warriors just depleted at this point. Well, and it not only was Step Out, not only was Butler out, Dremont went out and hobbled back to the locker room. And so that was all.

you know, those other warriors. And the Pat Spencer thing, just a moment on him. One of the most unbelievable stories in the NBA that will get more attention if he is able to contribute even more and more. Obviously, I'm around his brother in Memphis, who is having a breakout year. The family is just all psychos, right? Like, if you were to go over to the arena today, the game starts at 7 o'clock, right? at 2 o'clock

Cam Spencer would be the only individual in the gym and he is just out there shooting getting a full sweat like they are maniacal human beings right? Well that was Ken he was going at KD last year right? Yes, Booker too and they are dedicated and they're dedicated to think but there's a lot of people that Spencer thing

the reason I'm bringing it up there's a lot of people that will tell you that he is the greatest lacrosse player ever right that he was like won the lacrosse highs or whatever and just the craziest story with him he got done with this unbelievable lacrosse career and then enrolled in northwestern and started playing basketball like after he was done being the best lacrosse player ever like what the hell how does it even cross your mind how does that even cross your mind to do that i'm going to go back and play basketball like what and then he turns awesome in northwestern did uh did david stern suspend him

for gambling from the cross? I don't know. Hey, next thing you know, he's in Philly, screaming at the crowd, I'm that MF, like, what, you're on the cross player?

So crazy. I thought the Raptors Lakers game was start to finish just back and forth tight. That was a great basketball game to watch. This one was different because it was a blowout and then a big run from the Warriors.

But there was a, it was so fun to watch. And the maxi, Like you mentioned it, but like Maxi, I think he got tipped, but he shoots the final shot. There's 0.9 seconds left and he'll throw it like a Brady to Moss over the secondary and Melton gets it. And remember Melton, former sixer. And I'm thinking to myself, oh, he's going to win the game. If there's what, what's the one word that comes to mind when someone says Tyrese Maxie?

Fast. Fast, exactly. And he was fast. He, I think he shot the, I think he was on the ground after the shot attempt, pops up and just, just sprints back on defense and closes the ground. And it was a great block. It was a great block on Melton. And it's a fun way to finish a game. Like an edge cone putback.

If you're the crowd, the edge comb putback gets you on your feet and you're cheering. And then you're terrified because Melton gets behind the defense and then a huge block where the ball goes flying into the crowd, like lifted the roof off the place. for your All-Star slash all-NBA case, it is always nice to have the game-winning block as part of the highlight package, right? Like, oh, this guy doesn't just do it on one end. He can help you win on the other end, too. And Maxie, this has been just an assent to start him this year

in a way that he's always been really good, but like now he's built around good. The rest of the games were pretty crap last night, to be honest. we did have a bunch of news since we last spoke. So I think we were first. You know, same way I was first on the Taylor Swift engagement. That's a good point. You were first because of Reddit.

This is a teammate. This is a teammate. This is a team thing. We were first. We were first. On Janus. Getting rid of his social media post. I think we were already, we were already like on the Zoom or whatever.

And I was like, let me just check Reddit real quick. I think Yonah has just deleted this. So we knew something was coming. And so now we get into, like even on Tuesday's show, you said, so where do we go from here? And I was like, well, we'll find out if he makes the formal request or not. Did he? Well, you have these reports behind the scenes that he's like, yes, he has. He has made it known, right?

Like the way that, you couch at all because he's a beloved individual, right? You don't want it to come off like, hey, man, get me out of here. It's like, I'm open or we are talking to my representatives about what would be best. You know, like, okay, all right. Like the end game is he wants out, right? Okay, we've run our course here. I'm not getting any younger. I'm in my 30s now.

I've missed a couple post seasons because of injury. How many more years do I have to be one of the best players in the world? I have no chance at winning a championship with this lot. I want to be somewhere where I could possibly do it. Well, that's not the end of the story, Berna. Because that same night, those reports come out in the afternoon, and that same night,

he goes down with like a non-contact. Right. It starts grabbing at his calf. And, like, everyone's thinking the same thing, which is, I'm bailing. It's, I mean, like, no, more like, is it in Achilles? I mean, how many times have we seen stars? Oh, I thought you were thinking, oh, this is your way to not have to play until they trade you?

No. I mean, but the thing is the Achilles. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, because he grabbed the back of his leg. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was like, Jesus, what just happened? It was out of nowhere. It was like, usually the Achilles tears, like the Halliburton, Tatum, Lillard, those have been on, and those have been on like what they call, like, the back step

when you kind of like push off your back foot. And this was more just, like, jogging back? Strange. It was an odd one. But apparently it's not that bad, but who knows? I mean, it's just a weird twist to this story that he's hurt now. And it's every night on the calves and the groins. And like we have had just an inordinate amount of soft tissue stuff, right?

Yes. And then last year, what they say is that, you know, the Achilles, the reason that you have to be so careful with the calf stuff is because of the possible injury to the Achilles, right? that your Achilles, then can, I'm no doctor, but basically it provides, you know, your bounce four, right? It's the structure that holds that cap thing together. You're doing a great job, Bernda. You're doing a great, you're doing a great job here.

Thank you. The shock absorber is what I'm trying to say. You've all seen. Your Achilles is your shock absorber for your calf. If your calf is busted, then you can, right, that's what I'm trying to say. We've all say it like this. We've seen a lot of people with calf strains then turn into Achilles injuries. And if I'm yonness, like, I am not coming back until I am 1,000 percent.

And I will say I'm going to give a little credit to Eddie Johnson here because I just find it fast. Everybody is trying to find the reasons. Oh, it's too many games. They're too specialized. They play too much basketball. They do this. They don't have this. They don't.

I thought it was interesting for him to talk about. Eddie Johnson this week, I saw this article where, and again, it's just something to add to the mix. Okay. And he was saying that when they've gone through all of these different CBAs in the past, they have collectively bargained to shorten everything. And that what happened is in his day and age when all these guys, you know, because people say, in my day, I played a lot. And in my day, we did this.

And in my day, guys didn't get injured like this. And we had bad travel. the nutrition and not the whatever. He said, what we did have was long-ass training camps and tons of preseason games. And all of that was to get you ready for the upcoming season. You were then prepared for the upcoming season that you were about to undertake. And every step of the way, they have negotiated to lessen that and lessen that, right? They don't like the travel before the season. They don't like the two a day. They don't like these hardcore training camps where guys are making you sprint all time and all this kind of stuff.

And he said, but that stuff got you ready because basketball shape, working with your trainer is not going to get you in the basketball shape that you have to be in, right? That when you go out there, there is a different kind of shape that you have to be in in order to play NBA basketball. And so now with all of this, you know, speed of the game, too many games, too much specialized. there's only so many miles on these guys, too much AAU where they're playing 20 games a weekend, all this kind of stuff. It was one that I actually, when I read it, I was like, you know what? There probably is a lot of truth to that. There probably is a lot of truth to you jump into a season less ready for your body to take on the demands of the season than you used to years ago. If you're trying to figure out why does this seem like this is happening all of the time?

it's that you're kind of, you're not as prepared for what you're about to undertake as you used to be. Well, two things. One, I like the old school guys that are like, oh, they work out too much. Like they don't party like we party. They work out too much. That's one of my favorite old school guys responses to all this. But back to Janus is it has him being injured now, it's not going to affect, it's not going

directly affect whether or not a team trades for Janus Tentacupo. but it is a reminder. As someone in New York City and he's rumored, like the Knicks rumors are there, whatever, it's a reminder that he's not always healthy. He's been out in playoffs. This is his second injury of this young season. Like, he is somewhat injury prone as a basketball player.

And if you are in a front office, in a conference room, putting together potential trade packages, you kind of have to take that into account. Do you want to hear the odds that were posted last night? Oh, God. minutes played after the trade deadline, like for a team. He will play the most amount of minutes for this team post-trade deadline this year. Who do you think is the favorite?

Well, I've seen some stuff, but if I had to say, I would say Hawks. It's actually the Bucks. Oh, that makes sense. The Bucks, then the Knicks are plus 260, the Spurs plus 600, that is a nightmare for the world. Is it? The heat plus 700. I mean, this could be Pat Riley's last dance, attaining beyond the Sons of Dacupo.

And then the Raptors plus 1100. Everybody else is after that. Rockets, Lakers, Warriors, Pistons, Hawks, all of those. But like the three, the four favorites would be Bucks, Nick Spurs, Heat. You know, I listened to our colleague, Zach Lowe and Kurt Goldsbury, goats. And one thing that I found interesting about their conversation was the topic was brought up of like, is his trade value higher at the deadline or in the off season? And it was mentioned that sort of teams in mid-season might be more apt to say,

we've got a chance to make a run than a team sort of like 10,000 feet evaluating what they have and how Janus would fit in. You know what I mean? So that's one of the reasons. I found that to be an interesting point. And that's one of the reasons why I'm surprised that Bucks would be leading. But it's also one of those things

where it's like, you know, Tiger or the field or Thunder or the field. Like, I'm always going to take the field. Like, you know, it's always easier to take. Someone said like, who's going to win the championship, Thunder or the field, even odds? I would be like, field. Like, what are we talking about?

It's not even close to me. But, you know, as a Knicks guy, what would you? Well, that's, that's, we're going to get to that. Put a pin in that one. Put a pin in that one. We're going to get to loves and loaths. Are you, okay. Yeah, we are going to get to loves and lows.

In fact, we'll do it right after we get to this CP3 stuff. So since we left, since we last spoke, Chris Paul was sent home. In the middle of the night, he posted, I've been sent home. I feel like that happens to me at the bar sometimes. He got sent home by the Los Angeles Clippers. Now, what has followed, has been the unloading of the notebook and the stories behind the stories.

So you have a story of a Clippers legend being sent home for basically being annoying, okay, that he was critical of everyone involved in the Clippers operation. And let me just say, deservedly critical of people within the Clippers organization. but for the extent of his entire career, I think Chris Paul has had a profound, positive effect on the teams that he has been a part of. And I think that when a few weeks ago, I'm watching Amazon and Blake Griffin opines

that he would be the fifth oldest player on the Los Angeles Clippers, that lets you know the situation of that locker room. And so the same way that Chris Paul for many years can have this impact on Shea Gildes Alexander or the like or all manner of teams, you know, Phoenix when he was there and helped them get to the NBA finals,

that you had a locker room of people that, like, looked up to Chris Paul, honored Chris Paul, and Chris Paul knew, right? This is how you're supposed to work out. This is what it takes. This is how you eat. This is when you don't go out at night because we got a game tomorrow.

Like all this kind of stuff. up and everybody's like, you're right, like looks up to it. When you are in a locker room of a bunch of old guys, everybody's just like, shut up. You know what I mean? And they've played against you for years. Right. Like, you're not like this old vet and you're in the league and fresh face, new voice. James Hardin and Kauai Lennar do not look up to Chris Paul.

And Brooke Lopez doesn't look up to. Like, they don't, you know what I mean? Like, you've had all this eye. He has been the guy that you would look up to. within a locker room. And I can see how, you know, him saying, this is not the way this is supposed to be. Finally, they're like, all right, this is not,

this isn't having a good impact on things. People are just annoyed by it. And, but I don't get, what I don't get is the not speaking with dilute for three weeks. Two weeks. Yeah, yeah. What is that? Here's, I feel like the Chris Paul situation and the Luca trade are the same thing.

and let me explain. When things happen like those two events that don't make sense, it simply means we don't have all the information. I think that Luca went around and MFed everybody. And I think that Chris Paul, this is just me speculating, I have no information. I think that the reports are like, oh, he questioned the head coach and the front office. I think you could take the word question and replace it with screamed it, yelled at, and disrespected. Like, I think that he did so much.

much that the team said, if you've been in a work environment where there's a sort of like one bad apple or one unhappy person, and it'll just ruin the whole vibe for everybody. It's, I've been in that environment before people off camera, so don't try to like figure it out. And it's like, and it's just sort of like, it's just every day going to work becomes a little bit more tenuous and the tension is just too much. It ruins everyone's vibe. And I feel like he did that with the clippers. And whether he is right or the clippers are right, the clippers are in a position to say,

we don't want you around anymore. And they said that. I think things happen behind the scenes that we don't know about. And you're also going to love this part, is that this became a huge thing. The Clippers are obviously the bad guy, because they're the easiest punching bag in the world, right? Disrespect the all-time greatest player.

This is wrong. Sending a guy home, like, of course, everything the Clippers are going to do is we're going to be wrong, right? You know what nobody has mentioned? Not one person that I have heard mentioned. they sent him home after the Miami game, right? Mm-hmm. Their next game was at Atlanta.

They destroyed Atlanta. Oh, yeah. Best game of the year. The second the guy walked away, it was like, wait, hold on now. Like, have you heard anybody talk about it's all been what dirtbags they are for doing Chris Paul so wrong? Never mind. The result was, by the way,

at Miami, at Atlanta, might be the hardest road trip in the world for these guys. That is, I mean, when the schedule comes out in the summer, they're like, what was that December 2nd, December 3rd, guy? So, and I also think that this is part of it. So I am actually going to see this team in person tonight, the Clippers. So we'll see. That's exciting. Right.

I think there's also an element where you look at your schedule if you're the Clippers. And you go, okay. So it's Adelaide. They're at Memphis tonight. Then listen to this. At Minnesota, at Houston, Memphis, at Oklahoma City, Lakers, Rockets, at Trailblazers, Pistons. I mean, there's part of you that looks at the schedule and goes, okay, and he's, you think this is going to get any better? We're really going to have to hear about how crazy.

This is everything, but that schedule, it is going to get worse. I'll put a bow on this topic by saying, I think something, there were multiple events that made the relationship between the Clippers, this particular group of coaches in front office and teammates untenable. And they said, and Chris Ball basically got himself gone. He voiced his, he voiced his opinions in a manner in which basically it was no longer going to be acceptable. Yeah, I think he probably, honestly, I think he probably acted. like he has always acted.

But this is a group of old guys that does, that does not come off as helpful. It comes off as annoying to them because they don't look and bow to the altar of Chris Paul. And virtually, most every team that he's ever played for does. I mean, think about the Spurs team he was on last year. He's a leader.

Harrison Barnes was the only bet in the Spurs last year. Right. Yes. Let's get to loves and loaths. Let's do it. You want to start or you want me to? You want to start, buddy. Okay.

First love. And this is a guy that I mentioned on Tuesday show. I can't love this Ryan Nemhart thing anymore. Oh, God. I mean, first, so we talked about giving his opportunity in the Denver game. And he goes 28, 10, and 3 in his first game. Turns around and he's got the Miami game. He's got 15 points, 13 assists.

I'm sorry, 13 assists. And he has one turnover since he has been. He's played 34 minutes a game in both of those wins. He had zero turnovers in the previous game. He has won. One in both games is what you mean, right? Correct. Yeah.

And guess who else people have gotten super excited about this week for the first time? Cooper Flagg. Right. I mean, everything that I love is happening with this story. The guy that proved he was awesome. in college. His coach told you he's the best passer he's ever coach, and that includes Team USA or anything like that. Earlier in the week, I chronicled how he was part of the best high school basketball team of all time. He lived in a house with a professional athlete,

right? His brother was a pro. He has been playing amongst pros as not the best player and making them better, literally his whole life, and then goes undrafted, right? It's like the Van Bleet thing. It's like, like, he showed you what he was, but it's too little, it's this, it's that. So you have this guy and it gets a two-way contract. Then it's hard to start a guy on a two-way, but, and you tried the DeAngelo Russell thing, and you didn't like that. So then you tried the Cooper Flagg thing. But now it's as, it's, as, it's, it's, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, And it feeds into one of those basic tenets I was talking about. It's not always about the individual players.

It's how the individual player affects the group, right? And look at what he has done to affect the group. Most importantly, getting Flagg into his natural position. And all of a sudden, Cooper Flag looks like a radically different human being than he did the first part of the season. And that's so you've got undrafted, awesome college. player. I love those. And that was overlooked by everybody. You've got, hey, maybe we should play a point guard. I love that. And you've got the number one pick in the draft coming into his own

because of this individual, who by the way is on a two-way contract. And watch the highlights. Nothing about that seems out of the ordinary in terms of the way he plays, right? He will get extra attention. He'll have to be a better scorer than maybe he has shown, but that'll come. And also will inevitably get picked on on defense just because he's 5 foot nothing. But my God, the impact he has had. And that's too, that's not getting to come in and play your first two games

against, you know, the Wizards and the Jazz. That's coming in and playing your first two games at Denver and Miami and showing up like that. I can't love this story anymore. And the idea that they could win more games than certainly anybody anticipated two weeks ago is now on the table simply because they've got a real point guard, it seems, that could play 35 minutes a game for them and make their best players even better. By the way, AD's been great too.

Like he's just had this wildly outsized impact. And, man, if you see him in person, He is tiny. It's unbelievable. He's a little dude. It's something you think about when the playoffs come around, but you didn't think about the Mavs and the playoffs until he came around. Right.

So there you go. And before we move on, I'll say this is like one of the strength, we'll never remember in the, when Cooper Flag is, you know, on year 17 and, you know,

13 time All-Star and whatever, we'll never remember like the first three weeks of the season of his year when he was the point guard. But one of the things about that that I've, pine hilarious is the coach is one of the best point guards of all time one of the best table setters passers of all time and he was like no we're going to have this rookie forward be the point guard it was just odd here's my first love we mentioned a little bit so i'll go quick on this the warriors reserves in heroic losses last night we know what happened right they come back

pat spencer's doing his thing gis santos these are guys like when sometimes you have to look at the I was wrong about this. I'm not going to say I was wrong about this, but one of the reasons I wasn't high in the Warriors is they have old stars and they have Quentin Post, Guy Santos, Seth Curry, Pat Spencer. They're sort of like,

they seemed like there was a bit of a cliff after sort of like Butler and even Horford. But these guys have been bawling. It wasn't just last night. It was Tuesday night against the thunder. Did they lose? Yeah. But like, it was competitive. Like these guys are like

going toe to toe with the thunder. Also, Warriors fans were going crazy about him pulling Pat Spencer out of the game. Yes. Yeah. I mean, who knows? But that's where we are in the Warriors world. But these reserves have been like toe to toe to toe with the thunder.

They probably should have one last night. And it was just like, I did not see this coming. I did not see this coming. Yeah, but they've also moved under 500. Curry's not play. Butler's not playing. And in the absence of Draymond, this. is a fun thing during the course of a night

and giving that opportunity, like, without those guys, tough road. Yes. Really tough road. Okay, so yesterday, you might have seen the clips going around everywhere of the outstanding interview Bill Simmons did with Max Kellerman, first time we've heard from Max Kellerman

in a long time. And he was explaining the way first take works. And in that, was trying to say that, like, hey Stephen A. Smith's role is to just react to the crazy thing you say, right? But he's not going to say the counterintuitive thing, right? So in honor of that, I'm going to give you the opportunity. Since this is the way this is supposed to work.

What? And this will be my second love. The wimbyless spurs. Are they better? I'm so glad you said this. I'm so glad you said this because we say this about Trey Young, right? About everybody. We say this about Trey Young, but no one has said this about the spurs.

I was in the bathroom at the urinal and I had this exact thought earlier this morning. I had this exact thought. I was like, oh, the Hawks are so much better without Trey Young, should they trade them?

Oh, Paolo, the magic had been on a little bit of a run without Pallow, should they trade them? But the spurs are hot and no one's talking about no one. No one is.

No single person. I had this exact thought an hour ago. Fooey, you were supposed to react and go, what? That's crazy. Right? You're going to tell me a 7 foot five alien that it's better off. Yeah.

Better off without it. They are 7 and 2 now without Wemby. And they look good. Well, and Fox has averaged 27 a game. In those games, they've also as a team average. Didn't Castle missed a couple? I'd Castle missed a couple in there too. Oh, I've got more for you.

They've averaged 120 a game. Look. Was this on the rundown? Oh, it is. Yeah. But you've got the Luke Cornett block where they beat the magic the other night. This is after they walked down the Grizzlies earlier in the week. And Harrison Barge had 31.

And Fox literally took over the game the last three minutes. I think he scored the last 11 points for him. Fox has averaged 25 points a game on 49%. 39% from three so far this year. I mean, he is having an unbelievable season since he came back. Castle hasn't played since November 16. Harper is back, but, and he's gone in his three games, 17 points, 15, 15, 16 points in the last three after missing almost all of November. And in 11 games this year that he has played, Dylan Harper has averaged 14 points, 3.5 assist, three rebounds in 21 minutes.

He has been absolutely fantastic. They have eight guys averaging double digits. Eight averaging the Spurs do this year. On the season or during that run? The season. On the season? Yes. And what's crazy is anytime a great player goes out for a team and the team starts winning,

that's why I had to do that. This is, right. I had the same thought. He is immune. He is immune from everything. He is. Luzbenyama, no one talks about, no one talks about Wembe Lusbenyama.

But like, when he's available, he's great. When he's available, he's great. Hold on, hold on. You ready for another one? There's more? Can we start the conversation of Fox being the most important player on the spurs? Oh, you are cooking.

You like these? Yeah. I got it. Should we start building around Dylan Harper and finding out which players best compliment him? Yeah. Why are people not talking about the moving wimby for Yon? Yes. Well, no, no, but they have been, hey, look.

We always say this. Tongue is in cheek, but I do want to say, when Paolo is out, it's like, should the match you try to move on from Paulo? It's like, you know, I don't know. They're seven and two without him. that's why I'm highlighting them as a love because of course all of these teams are better with their best player

but the point is we're mocking that I will say when we were doing our season predictions when binyama has not shown the ability to be available throughout these seasons right and you just saw last year and I said the thing feels so

when binyama dependent that whatever you're picking them feels like a bet on how many games he's going to be available. And seven foot five guys, it's tough, right? And so I'm here to say that is obviously not so. It's obviously not so. They can absolutely win without him and they have won at a very high rate without him. And so their operation is not when be dependent.

And I think that speaks to not only strength of roster, it also speaks to the coach. I'll just end by saying this is when Zion came out it's like we've never seen an athlete like this and when Wimby comes out it's like we've never seen an athlete like this

and that is a compliment that's also a little bit of a concern moving on we're doing all loves and then all loads yep all right here's my second love the Celtics are good like the Celtics are good

are they good I think good. Oh, you got me. I'm going to get in my bag. Oh, let's trade Jason Tatum. If they're the number one offense in the east, what does that say about Jason Tatum? Well,

this, I'm, so at the same night of that Rocket's Thunder game, remember that one, that Friday night, right? The Nets were beating the Celtics, and I was like, I'm a live bet the Celtics. They're definitely going to come back him in this game. And they've lost to the nets. Since that loss to the nets, beat the magic, beat the pistons, lost to the Timberwolves in a tight game against the Timberwolves,

beat the Cavs, beat the Knicks, and blew out the Wizards. And by the way, nobody wants to talk about how Jalen Brown has been a superstar against other superstars. Like, he's going heads up with these guys. Oh, you ready? Hold on. Let me get my bag. Oh, no, he's getting his bag.

He's getting his bag. He always has props. This is like carrot top of basketball podcast. Was Jason Kidd right that the best player on the Celtics is actually Jalen Brown? It might be Jordan Walsh. It might be Jordan Walsh. When you look at Jordan Walsh, like he was not, this third year, he's 21 years old. He could not break the rotation.

He's like early. He's got DMPs left and right. and he's been fantastic. My not? Like these are not household names. Oh. In my household, he is. Who, my not?

Okay. It's been an ongoing thing. So three years, three or four years ago, I take my son to a Memphis Tigers basketball game. And this is when they start selling the, they're selling the T-shirt jerseys out front, right? And we're now in a day of age where everybody, you know, was in college for a year or two.

And so Josh Bidot was a freshman on the team. And I said, William, we're getting Minot because at least we'll get to have that one for two years. And the damn guy left for the draft. My son had picked. In the second round, right? In the second round, my son has a Josh Minot jersey. Yeah.

And the only, we bought it because we were like, he doesn't start. He's going to get the, you know, he'll at least. least be here for a couple of years. Because in college athletics, you almost never get to root for a guy two years in a row. But we were sure we'll at least get to root for Josh Minot for two years. No, he left. I'm going to ask you a question. You asked me about the Bulls earlier in the season when they were hot.

And I was like, this is not real. I am not sure. I don't know the answer to this, which is why I turn to you, NBA expert, Chris Vernon. Of course. Is this for real? Like, how the South looks really good or they've just been hot? I think it's probably some of both, right? Okay.

I think it's, I think it's, I think it's kind of where I landed too. I was like, I don't know if this is real. But like, those are, remember we talked about the Timberwolves, not having like signature wins? They beat the match with the pistons, the calves and the Knicks in like two weeks. And you also have to,

like you got to give them some grace in that it takes time to figure out how you're going to play with a new crew. This is not just run it back. And Pritchard started out mega slow. White started out. mega. All of those guys were in different roles than they've ever been in before, right? They've been able to live a pretty, a pretty great life as NBA players.

As we talk about the Whiteboard, right? Their name was further down the list on the whiteboard up until this year. And it started off a little, look at Pritchard's numbers. He started out where he couldn't make a shot to start the year. Oh, yeah. White was the same. And he's gone crazy. Here's my prediction or whatever.

Speculation. I think after the Nets lost, there was a conversation. Losing to the Nets on the road. Yeah. In that manner, like not even making a comeback at the end. I think there was a conversation. I think they've turned a corner. What's your next love?

All right, the last one. The league finding teams for participation. At least we know when I tune into a Cavs game, I'm going to see all their stars. Because. In street clothes. No, no, do you know the next time? So you might have seen the headline everywhere that for the Darius Garland game and sitting him, it was 250 grand.

The next time they violate, violate this, it's $1.25 million. Yes, it's hard to police. One point two five, I think people will actually like be like, all right, fine, we'll pay the $250,000. Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I do not think they will be like, fine, we'll pay the $1.25 million. The next time is the head coach's pinky finger. That's what I read.

I read that somewhere. Kenny acts. It's a left pinky finger. Anyways, no, I, look, I like that they are actually enforcing this. Because just as a fan, I do think that you owe it to, like the buying ticket public, the ticket buying public, as well as me, who dedicates my nights to watching on television, right? Yeah. You got to give me a head.

You can't just be sitting out for rest, right? Like, are you injured or are you not injured? And the fact that they're cracking down so hard on the national TV game thing. And they're saying, look, it's different if you're on national TV. And we just made billions of dollars. I was about to say, because these games are on national TV. These are new relationships. Yeah, if you want to rest, do it Tuesday against the net.

But you're getting all of these teams. to think about it in a different way. Like, you better think more about your rest schedule because you don't have to just sit a guy on the NBC game. That's not the way this is going to work. And so now you're to, now this is going to be very, very interesting because the next fine is so hefty.

I mean, we never, 1.25 million is crazy. That's a lot. And that's what they're going to get fine if they sit, because there is a different standard for sitting all-stars. than non-all-stars. But because that's who people theoretically pay to see and certainly go to their couch and tune in. And I do think that this stuff, like whether it is the 65 games

or whether it is stuff like this has had an effect because, you know, not only was the cat out of the bag and had run 10 miles down the road a few years ago where you were tuning in, I mean, every Thursday night and neither team. was playing it stars. And they were just sitting them because nobody cared. You know how they say like the high and low tide of the oceans

because of the gravitational pull of the moon? I'll never really understand that. It makes no sense to me whatsoever. But I feel like there's two gravitational poles that make this important. And that is the relationships with the new, you know, the new partners, Amazon and NBC, and the gambling sites and the gambling stuff.

You know, like I think those are the two things like behind the scenes. They're sort of like affecting this, but not in the headlines. But those are two things that I think are sort of like making them really crack down on this. I'm skipping my last love and saving it for the end of the show.

I'm going to loads now. You asked me before how I feel about the Knicks trading for Janus, and I'm a little bit torn about it. I love that he wants to play for the Knicks. When you are a fan of a team, it's really nice to hear that star players are like,

I want to be in that jersey. and I would not like them to trade for Janus at this moment in this season for a package that involves Carl Anthony Towns and OG or McBride or something like that. I see the Knicks as a team that went to the Eastern Conference finals last year and almost went to the finals. And I see this Knicks team is with a new coach, with the new element that is sort of finding its way. And I think that when you look at Janice now, he's in. injured and you look at his injury history, I think that this Knicks team might not be better without Yannis, but there's something to say for consistency and availability.

I think this team is probably better if you trade Deuce and Carl Anthony Town for Yannis. But then you're hamstrung, you can't make any other moves because they've already done the bridge's move and then the Yonis move. And I would advise against them doing this. I think they would ultimately have a better roster and a much better defense if they'd made this trade. But at this moment right now, I would stand pat. And if it's still available in the offseason, we can talk then based on how this next team performed. Is it fair to say this, that you like this team, you think this team is capable of something great? Yes. But if they

made the honest deal, you would talk yourself into it in less than one second. Absolutely. Both of those things are 100%. Right. Then you can't lose, right? Okay, if we don't get him, I didn't really, you know. But if you do, it's like, Let's go. Are you going to win a championship with two defensive liabilities? Are you? And and are you going to win a championship without a consensus top five player in the league? Brunson is close.

Brunson's like top ten. I know. History has told us. And you could argue Tatum wasn't if you want to. Sure. But generally, we know who wins the type. Right. Yes.

And I also think it is stood the test. of time that you have had one of the best players. Now, the Pacers would have been the all time. I mean, that would have been going back to, honestly, we haven't really seen since the old Pistons where they didn't have a guys. But they didn't have a consensus. Like knee Smith and Nemhart and Turner? The Pistons had like better players on paper than that pieceers.

But they didn't have a consensus top 10. No, no, not at all. Right. Not a lot. Across the board, they had sort of like. They had a collection of. Yeah. Yeah.

That's what the Pacers had, had a collection of. Generally, history has told us you've got to have one of the best players in the entire NBA. I think if Janus were to become a New York, Nick, I think the way that he would be energized by that uniform, that crowd, and that building, you would see a different Janus than you see. You just can't help yourself. Also, you don't have to think about it through the prism of the Eastern Conference. Think about it through the prism of the thunder. they would cause they would post problems right i mean i don't know it's let's let's not talk about the nix playing the thunder in the finals just get through let's get through the trade deadline

what's what's your first uh your first load oh this is the easiest one at zion we do this it's a yearly ritual it's December and here i need to do it and nobody it's such torture. It's truly such torture because the word comes out that he's injured, he's going to be out for weeks, and it's like, of course he is, right? Even though he's in the best shape of his life.

But this is abduck. This is before it was hamstrung, this is like another part of the body's attention this year. Correct. So now it's like, and you got, I mean, this is supposed to be the healthy year, you know,

contracts are going to be coming up soon, future of, you know, this is a, you're kind of at a crossroads, right? And so it's like, you got in the best shape of your life and all this kind of stuff. And here we go again. Not only is he on a rat team, he's injured. And then I'm like, okay, I try to buy in every time. And I want to believe that things can be different.

And then he burns me every single thing. Nobody ropes me back in. He's like the worst ex-girlfriend you've ever had in your life. And so I say, you know what? I'm done. And then that story comes out. Word is the Pelicans would take the first reasonable offer for Zion. That is adorable.

And I immediately text you and like, how about some bad contracts and picks? You know? I mean, how low is the price here? That's, it's like, it's why you put that word in the report? The first reasonable? Like, that's like,

that's like what you put on mind. When you have like an old couch that you want to like just throw away, you're just like best first and best offer. You know what I mean? Like it's like, will you pick it up and take it? So I'm going to do a thought exercise with you. You love the Grizzlies, right?

Let's imagine there's a, that Adam Silver announces a wrinkle in the whole thing. He says, for some reason, we're allowing the Memphis Grizzlies, not a trade to pluck one player from the Pelicans. Okay? Yeah.

In what order do you advise your friends in the Grizzlies front office For my, what you're saying for my team? For your team. Oh, where does Zion stack up? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Number one, and it's not even close is Murphy. Okay. It's not even close.

Okay. Let's keep going. I'm just saying, like, he's the one that if you said I could pluck somebody, again, I'm thinking about it through the prism of you have. The Grizzlies. Jared Jackson, Jr., Zach Eady, John Moran, right? Yeah. And in fact, it's also abanded by a guy.

existence, no pun intended. Because with the 10th pick in the draft, a few years ago, they made this trade with the Pelicans. This was the Balance Unit Stephen Adams trade, right? And they moved down, they moved up. With the trades that were swapped, Memphis took Zaire Williams, and the Pelicans took Trey Murphy. Right.

The Grizzlies got the higher pick and then took Zaire Williams. So they got the worst play. That was their pick theoretically. And so it's always, and then, of course, as Trey Murphy turns awesome. And it's like, oh, crap. But he would be one. I'd say Zion would be like five if you go through it.

Queen Fears. Herb Jones, Queen Fears Zion. Maybe. Yeah. So here's my second load. And I'm going to be quick with this one because I know we're on the same page here. There was two games last night that went down to the wire, right? And I don't know if you noticed in the Lakers Raptors game there was no stoppage of play.

there was no fouling there was no timeouts they tried to call time up but austin means wouldn't let them but there was like it was just like a just back and forth basketball that whole game was so awesome it was just everything was within four points the entire time and it was awesome the other game the sixers game that went down to the wire there were two long ass reviews i mean long reviews like vj edgecombe it touched his finger and then went out of bounds and like did did it did edge comb foul quitten poster did he get the ball first and it just took so long and it was a real it was a real just what's the word whatever it was a real comparison just a position of like one game going back and forth and being awesome and exciting and had me standing up in my living room

and another game where i'm going to the fridge because i know i have three minutes right what's your next load the amount of lame-ass teams i am the hardcore of hardcore i'm watching gables every single night. But like there's, and I got it, right? And I, I am already fearful of what February through the end of the season is going to look like for some of these. Because some of these are already no fun to watch. And there's too many of them that are no fun to watch, right?

You would have to be, you have to be so hardcore to sell me on wanting to watch Brooklyn, Milwaukee, minus, Janus, Chicago, Indiana. has obviously been mega lame. Charlotte is at least somewhat fun. Chicago's fun. Charlotte's fun. I'll watch those games. Washington.

The Wizards. The Wizards. Sacramento. The Clippers have been boring as all hell. New Orleans has been boring as all hell. You're expanding this too far. There's a lot. You're expanding this too far.

No, I'm not. No, you're expanding this too far. Charlotte's fun to watch the Clippers. I'm going to tune in just to see what's happening. There's too many teams that if a good team is playing them, I don't care. Yes, yes. That's the things.

When I look at the slate of games, I open up the NBA app and I look at the slate of games. There are three, there are two or three every single night where I'm just like, not interested. Oh, they're playing the Nets, not interested. Oh, they're playing the, they're playing the Wizards. That's what I'm saying. There's too many that, like, I'm just keeping up with the score. And if it's going to the last five minutes, I'll check it out. I'll check it out.

That's what I'm saying. That's very fair to say. But you expanded the list a little too far. But even like some teams are interesting. Like, I want to check in on the jazz from time to time. if they're playing a good team. If they're playing a good team. But if I told you the Jazz and the Wizards are playing tonight,

it's a... I'm out. Because the problem is, is there's, that becomes the pistachio ice cream thing. Like, pistachio ice cream is good, but when you put it next to Rocky Road

and cookies and cream and, you know, all the other flavors, I'm just not interested. If they're playing by themselves, like a football style. Did you say the pistachio ice cream thing? Yeah,

that's a thing? This is one of my, go-to things, yeah. Pistachio ice cream is good if that's your only option, but there are better options always around it. I have never had that in life. Pistachio ice cream? I'm old, too. No. Try some gelat. Little gelato, it's tasty. Pistachio ice cream. Dubai chocolate is a thing now, put a little chocolate. I've had, I've had Dubai chocolate. I've never had had pistachio ice cream in my life. Solid, solid, solid flavored, but there's better options. So you think, you think don't go buy it because there's better option. Exactly.

It is the only thing available to me. Exactly. Okay. If you're like the only game on right now is Wizards Nets, I'm watching it. But you put it on a slate on a Wednesday night when there's nine games. I don't even know what it's happening. Fair enough. Here's my next loathe.

Raptors are on a little bit of a run. This happens to me. I've been doing this a long time. You know, speaking to microphones, give you your opinions. And Raptors is on a run. And someone cut together a, like, people talking trash about the Raptors. in the media and I'm watching it

someone tags me on it and I'm like I said it to I'm not a big Scotty Barnes man but I said the four words into this microphone and I'm going to curse

I said fuck Scotty Barnes you did yes I was going to say it in jest and they pulled it fuck Scotty Barnes and now it's like he's playing amazing

he's deeing up LeBron there the rafters are playing well. And like I, I said it all on up to it. I have accountability, but I should not have put those words together in that way. So I'd like to rephrase myself and say, I don't see what everyone else sees in Scotty Barnes. This, this happened with Bill and Jay LaGreid a couple of years back. Yeah.

Same exact thing. It's just like, just don't put those four words together, Jacoby. Like be smarter. You know what I mean? Like articulate yourself in a much better way. but I apologize to the great city of the Toronto, all of my friends at the Brass Rail, the Raptors,

all Raptors fans, family of the Raptors, the Barnes family, and Scotty Barnes himself, I apologize. Hand up. I should not have said that, but I still don't like you.

My last load. So there was an article by my buddy, Tim McMahon and Bobby Marks. Two guys I really like, just an all-out assassination of Lamello Ball Trey Young and John Morant. And the only thing I will say, again, I'm not killing the messenger here. My issue is everybody being an anonymous scout and an anonymous executive saying the most dastardly things.

Like to me, because the same way that you get annoyed by people that have no profile picture and using a fake name on their, that's the same thing to me. right like the same way that some guy on twitter or on instagram or whatever can anonymously just say the most dastardly thing about another person and not have to stand behind it at all this is just that in real life and i understand how journalism works but to me if it's like news or opinion or whatever but if you're going to say a guy's a pain in the ass dirt back who's who's not good anymore. Like, I mean, you can find somebody to say anything. You know what I mean? And to me, it's like all of those guys, they can get any kind of negative press that they deserve, right? Like there's a, again, I'm not shooting the messenger. I'm saying to me, it's a bit shady for all,

for all these scouts, all these GMs, everybody, executives as they're called. And by the way, I don't care about an Eastern Conference scout. I have been around the NBA for 25 years. Scouts don't know shit about what goes on with teams, right? They just have an opinion of they're not even around their own team. The scouts that come to the games in Memphis, they all live like around here. And they scout for the Mavs and they scout for the spurs and they scout for whatever. But like the idea that they know these guys individual, like they have an opinion on things.

They know how they play the game, Bruno. Like, let's not just, like, let's not just wipe Scouts' opinions off. They've watched the games in an intense way evaluating strengths and weaknesses. I'm saying so much of, so much of the article is not about basketball. And those guys all should be criticized dramatically for basketball, right? If you want to talk about, hey, he might not be good anymore. He doesn't, again, I'm not killing the messenger. I'm saying when you go into like full on, this guy's a dirt bag, this guy's a painted,

the ass, this guy sucks. This guy, I mean, the same way if somebody came out and had anonymously asked a radio executive to evaluate our podcast and they say, Chris Vernon's a piece of crap. And what? You're like, oh, come on, man. Like, you don't mean? Like, what? You don't even know.

So, to me, the fact that you can say any kind of thing, like, and just not have to stay. I think there's a line where you should have to stand behind it. That's all I'm saying. I think if you're going to attack somebody, we have to stand by it. Again, somebody's pulling a clip of you saying F. Scotty Park. That was a bad one.

So we live, I'm saying we live in a day and age where we have to stand behind everything we say. It's to me, if it's a full on everybody's anonymous, just saying horrible things about people, I don't know. I understand what you're saying. It just feels like,

It feels like piling on. This has been going on in sports journalism and journalism, but I'm, you know, I only focus on sports journalism forever. It's especially bad with an anonymous teammate. Like the whole anonymous thing with an anonymous teammate, it's even worse. It sounds like a lot of football locker rooms because there's so many people there. But like, I don't know the fix for this, Bruno,

because if you're Tim McMahon and you're getting these juicy-ass quotes about star players and as a journalist, you can't attach the name to it. If someone says off the record or don't use my name, you cannot like out them. Right. And he, if you're at his position,

he can't not print it. So it's like there's no fix for this. I know the way. I enjoyed the quotes. I read the ball. I know the way this works. I don't know how to fix it. What I'm saying is if I think there's a line where you should have to stand behind it.

That's fair. If the criticism gets to like. Yes. character assassination and things of that nature. So for me, what I found interesting is I didn't read the actual article, sorry, Tim. But I saw the Instagram slide and it was like Jarmorant, Jarmorant, Jammarant, Jammar.

And then it was like Lamello, La Mello. I was like, oh, we're doing everybody? Everybody. I thought this was a job thing. And it was like, Tray Young. I was like, oh. And you could walk into any arena and throw a rock and find somebody that's willing to tell you they hate all of these guys. Of course. Of course. You know what I mean?

So I've got my final love. and I'm going to keep it brief. This is an internal plug, but I've been honored to do a little bit of behind the scenes work on the new Max Kellerman and Rich Paul project. What? Yeah. And let me tell you something.

Buckle up, everybody. Buckle up. Wait, you're working with that? A little bit. The, you know, when I first saw that, pairing announced and I know Max I know Max I don't know rich like I mean whatever I came a pound but like he's not numbers not in my phone or anything but like I've known Max for a long time well I mean long time like he's still he calls me Dave like we're we're in like Zoom calls he's like

calling me Dave that's how long I've known Max and uh let me tell you buckle up oh you think it's gonna be good just yeah yeah I think it's gonna be it's gonna be it's gonna be good I think we'll be I think we'll be talking about things that get said on that show on this show. It launches in what, like a couple weeks? Monday. Oh, Monday. Yeah. I will go subscribe.

Yeah, everybody goes subscribe. YouTube, wherever we get you back? Spotify. And you do, you know, it's going to be good. No, you know what I mean? It's like, how can I say this? I don't know that the baby's going to be good looking, but if both of the parents are good looking is a good chance the baby's going to be good looking.

Totally fair. You know both of those individuals and you know what they can bring to the table. I don't know Rich well, but I've been involved in this for a few days now. And I think it's going to be, I think it's going to, I think it's going to be a talked about show. That's all I'll say. And you can, you'll, we'll all be talking about it on Tuesday. Really? Starts on Monday.

Now I'm intrigued. That's a good sales. That was a good, that was a good sales job, you did. Right? Really good sales. you'll see, buckle up. Thank you to our executive producer, Jesse Lopez, as always. Jacoby, I'll talk to you next week.

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