The Mismatch - Summer League Observations, Another Kawhi Investigation, and a Surprise Knick at 'The Odyssey' Premiere

Episode Date: July 15, 2026

Verno and Jacoby are back as they go through five observations from the NBA's summer league in Las Vegas. They then discuss some of the latest news around the league including a second sponsorship deal investigation surrounding Kawhi Leonard, Victor Wembanyama’s contract extension, and more. Also, Jacoby shares his experience of going to 'The Odyssey' premiere in New York. (00:00) Welcome to The Mismatch! (2:44) Jacoby going to 'The Odyssey' premiere (11:18) Summer league observation no. 1: Top four picks exceeded expectation (19:14) Summer league observation no. 2: Rookie standouts (28:17) Summer league observation no. 3: Sophomores standouts (31:05) Summer league observation no. 4: Disappointing players (33:21) Summer league observation no. 5: Las Vegas experiences (48:07) LeBron James watch (51:28) NBA investigating second sponsorship deal with Kawhi Leonard (56:43) Victor Wembanyama signs extension with Spurs Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone] Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez, Stefan Anderson, Jeff Shearin, and Remy Hernandez Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My name is Peter Parker, but I'm also Spider-Man. This July, we're faced with a threat. That can be anyone. The world may have forgotten Peter Parker. I'm just a neighbor, friendly neighbor. But he hasn't forgotten them. Sometimes Spider-Man has to do the hard thing. That's my responsibility.

Talk to Banner? I didn't know you could get that big. Spider-Man, brand-new day in theaters July 31st. Welcome to the Misfatch. I'm Chris Vernon. and joining me to us every week from the Ringer.com is Dave Jacoby. Jacoby. Ferno, I had an experience last night that I'll never forget.

I will never forget for the rest of my life. So I was told by you that friend of the podcast, Anne Hathaway. It's our Knicks correspondent, the official mismatch, Knicks correspondent. That she is in a new movie. called The Odyssey. And the premiere was last night and you got an invite? Her main job is being the mismatch Nick's correspondent. She moonlights as an actress.

Yes. And she is in a film called The Odyssey. And when these premieres come up, you know, we don't assume that we're going to get the invite. And, you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of famous people in this film. There's only so many seats in the building. So I assumed that we weren't going to be at the premiere. And the, you know, the communication was communicated to my wife that there were two seats for us. And there's there's an IMAX theaters.

There's like official IMAX theaters. They're like with the 70 millimeter screen and the huge thing and the wraparound screen and like the all the tech, all the sound, all the everything. There's one in New York, one theater where it's like the top of the top of the top notch. And a quick story about this theater. We'll get to the NBA in a second. The first time I went to this theater, it was Avatar. Remember when Avatar came out the first one? But it'd been out for like two months.

So there's no one in this theater except me. I went with a friend, and Jay-Z and his bodyguard was like 10 rows down for me. Right? And remember Avatar came out? You had to wear the 3D glasses or whatever. So Jay-Z's wearing the glasses, but the bodyguard is not wearing the glasses. And I said to myself, I was like, let the guy wear the glasses. Like, there's just like seven of us in this huge theater.

Like, why? Like, is it so important to keep Jay Z safe for these three hours of this movie that you can't wear the 3D glasses? Because you don't want to get caught slipping? You know what I mean? It's just like, let the guy wear the glasses. He also might have just been doing the too cool thing. Like, too cool to wear the glasses. No, Jay Z was wearing the glasses and during the show.

And if you Google it, this is the bodyguard that went absolutely crazy that JZ and Beyonce had. But I was there last night. Not only was I in the building, like, my seats were so good. that I felt bad sitting in them. Honestly, I was like, someone else should be sitting here instead of me and my wife. Literally in front of me are Tom Holland and Zendaya,

Zendaya, right in front of me. Behind me are Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. What? This thing is stars studded. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on. Hold on.

Wait, you had better seats than Matt Damon and Ben Affle. I mean, there's no bad seats in this theater, but they were, they're right behind me with their people, so they're not sitting next to other. but Tom and Zendaya are right in front of here. Like, I could have kicked Zendaya's seat and, like, made her turn around and say,

please, excuse me. I actually considered it, to be honest. He's a short king, right? He's a king. He is just an absolute king. No, no, no, but he's a little guy, right? I would never disparage one of my colleagues in the, in the, uh, the Thespian Arts. Yes, in the Thespian Arts.

Yes, I, I appeared in a, in a pilot, um, called Jalen versus everybody. I played a waiter. It's on poopie? I think, no, I don't think that's not the one. That's a different one. But it aired on television, therefore, I am an actor, therefore Tom Holland is a colleague of yours. Okay, so I want to hear, first of the movie, how good? I'm biased because I really love this story.

Like, I'm an Odyssey guy to begin with and, you know, and Annie's a close friend. I think this is one of the best four movies. I've ever seen in my life. No. It blew me away. It absolutely blew me away. What? I love this story so much.

And again, we'll get to the NBA. But like, if you know the story of the Odyssey, it just seems inadaptable. It just doesn't make sense. It's like there's so many different chapters that are so different from each other. And there's this, it's like the story itself is not, uh, like it doesn't lend itself to the screen the way other stories or novels do. But what Nolan did with it and restructuring it is such a, good movie. I cried my face off, dude.

Like, it was so good. The action is, visually, it's like the most stunning thing I've seen. It's crazy. You loved this. Okay. So we. Over the moon. All right. All right. Last thing on this, the movie actually. In an era where we have the attention span of

Nats, this is a very long movie. It felt like it was an hour and a half. Oh, it didn't bother me. And I hate long movies. You never got bored. Bro, in that same theater, me and my son went to the new Avatar movie. It was like a hostage situation. People were walking out in the middle of it. Me and my son were like, they keep punk baking the ending.

That one was like two and a half hours. I felt like, and that one felt like 17 hours. Honestly, I ran a marathon. I would rather run a marathon than go see that movie again. But this movie is, dude, it is. It's one of the best movies I've ever seen in my life. Honestly. There's so many stars.

too. Let me tell you a sneaky secret. All right, I'm sold. I'm sold. I'm sold. One of the best performances. Obviously the best performance is Annie, second, Matt Damon. Third, who kills this movie, John Leguizamo. Oh, John Leguizamo kills it. Who names? Steels.

Yeah, I know. With all these stars, John LaGizamo absolutely bodied this movie. He's a hundred percent going to get the Dion Waiters Award. Yes, the rewatchables. The heat check. He might be nominated for like a supporting Oscar. For real.

It's that good. Yeah. All right. There's going to be some nomination. It was awesome. But one thing I want to tell you the story of is most important with the transition to the NBA is they have the movie and they have like an after party, right? You go to the after party, star studied, whatever.

And like Annie always has a table. But the way this after party was, it's like a, it's like kind of a private club. There's lots of like banquettes. like a lot of bottleneck situations. So it's not like an open, like warehouse type of thing with a bunch of tables, like a tent.

So you're bumping into. It's just a lot of like bottleneck bodies. You know what I mean? In small hallways and tight spaces. So Annie has a banquet, right? And Joey's like, let's go sit down. And I know my spot. I'm a plus one.

You know what I mean? Like I'm not her college roommate. There's eight seats at this banquet. Like I'm not going to occupy 12.5% of this banquette. because I'm not worthy of it. You know what I mean? There are seven other people that she would rather have around her,

and I get that. So I'm like, Joey, you go sit down at the banquet, I'm going to go get a drink. And then the throngs of people around, because there's like stars everywhere. Charlize Thorn Rone is in there and like John Leguizamo and just everybody's in Daya,

Tom Holland. Everybody's there. Matt Damon, whatever. So I'm off on the side just trying to find myself a quiet corner where I can have a drink. And I see this man, a beautiful,

beautiful man, flowing hair. And I'm like, what actor is that? I can't put my finger on it. I'm like, I know this guy. And then it dawned on me. Tyler fucking Colick. No. Is at the after party.

And I'm just staring at him. And I'm like, again, all of these stars are there. How? All of these stars are there. And all I care about is Tyler Colick and how I could possibly interact with him. You know what I mean? I'm like, wait,

how do I do this? So I go over to him. How is he there? I don't know. It's New York. He's a champion. I mean, he's a big.

He's a champion. Wait, who's going to be like Tyler Cole, like you can't come in. You know what I mean? Like, I got it,

but he probably just knows somebody's agent or whatever. It's always like some, you know, you just have a connection. What am I doing there? You know what I mean? Tyler Colick is probably like,

if he knows what I'm he's like, what is he doing there. That's not fair. So anyway, you're, your, Tyler Colick is there. I was like, I got to talk to this guy.

And I was, I walk up. He's in a conversation. I tap his shoulder and I give him a fist bump. And I do the move, you know, the fist bump. And then fist to the chest move. You know that move? I did the fist bump and then the fist to the chest. Like, thank you, Tyler Colick for making the Knicks champions.

And he gave me a smile and a nod. And that made my night. And then I was talking to my wife about it on the way home. Tyler Colick went over to Annie's Banquet and like invited her to OG's birthday party the next day or something. What? And he's the sweetest. She's like, yeah, maybe, I don't know. And then Joey was just talking about how good-looking Tyler Cullick was the whole ride home.

Like, Tyler Culloch. He's Mr. Steele-My-girl. I think my wife's going to leave me for Tyler Colic. Oh, she noticed how handsome he was. Yes, because he's different when he's in a suit and tie. You know what I mean? He's a good-looking fella. Wow.

So, yeah. So if I'm, you know, if you see me. You see me on Raya. It's because Tyler Colick is now the stepdad to my children. What a moment. Yeah, it's great. What a moment. And I know exactly how you feel because it's crazy.

Like if I saw like Tom Hollanders and die, I'll be, you know, that would make me out. But like, you know, I mean, obviously, look, and I was just at NBA Summer League, everybody in the world is there, like in the NBA. You're just walking around and it's, you know, hey, there's Baron Davis and hey, you know, oh, let me tell you who was holding court every night in my hotel. Stranya? Every night I walked by. Stranya? And there were people that were getting pictures with him. Oh, no.

You want to know who's living the best life of an NBA champion? Oh, yes, I do. Rick Brunson. Oh, yeah. Every night I saw people getting pictures. with Rick Brunson. Every time it was, because the bar was right next to where you have to walk

to go up to my hotel room. Right. And so he was just posted up there, like right at the, like this restaurant bar thing. But he was in like the same seat damn near every time I walked by. And people are just running up and getting their pictures with Rick Brunton. And I'm like,

what a life. What a life for Rick Brunson right now. You know if Rick Brunton wanted to, he could have a private cocktail at a, different bar and not have people come up to him. But he picked that seat at that spot right by the elevator where everybody has to go because he wanted the attention to God bless him and God bless the New York Knickerbockers in 2026. All right.

Well, I was just out at Vegas Summer League. I got back on Monday evening and I've got five observations for you. Are you ready? Ready. All right. Number one, it is very, very rare, almost impossible that this would take place that we had a collegiate basketball season that ended with everybody having a top four mock draft that went AJ DeBonsta, Darren Peterson, Camboozer, and Caleb Wilson.

Not always in that order, but yeah, always those four in the top four. And then for the most part, once the season ended, I think if you go back and look at mocks, especially after the Peterson went the way it did at Kansas, DeBonst and Boozer went the way they did that generally, I would say 95% of the mocks had it in that order by the time the college season was completed. Then we go to the lottery. Okay, the lottery is going to change things because you're going to have like team needs. You're going to have like, okay, they might already have. And, you know, I mean, you get into possibly a Drexler Jordan situation. It's like, all right, we already got our shooting guard, right? So we can't draft this guy. Like,

because of team needs, because of the way, you know, it's all random with the lottery, it'd be very easy to surmise that that order is going to change. Instead, the order stayed exactly the same. And so everybody had Devonson to the wizard and Peterson to the Jazz and Boozer to the Grizzlies and Caleb Wilson to the Bulls. And so you had this situation where for month it's going to be those four. then it was those four in order. Then even though the order came out the way it did,

it actually ended up those four in order. And so everybody was going to have their eyes on, okay, which of these four is not going to live up to the height. Once we get to Summer League, once they put on NBA uniforms, even if it's in summer for the first time. And the answer is none of them did not live up to the height. Jacoby, when I tell you, they are awesome. I went to DeBonsta versus Peterson and walked out.

And I was like, I was like, oh, my God. Oh, my God, these guys, I mean, they're obviously playing with the ball in their hands all the time. So it will be different once they get to the NBA season. But there is no question that you immediately, I mean, they pop and you're, thinking to yourself, what is the, this is the first roll out. What are they going to become? This is, this is crazy how good both. I don't care what the counting stats are.

I don't care what the turnover numbers are. I don't care what the foul numbers are. If you can't see it, you're blind because they are both unbelievable. All four. Then, then the next night, I went to Boozer versus Wilson. and that was the most fun I think I have ever had at a summer league game. For whatever reason, so many of these games,

I mean, I just watched a game last night, or two nights ago, where there was 19 fouls in the first quarter, and that is not uncommon. Like, there's, you know, the wreaths are trying to make a name for themselves too and get things right so they don't want to miss foul. If you don't know, you get 10 fouls.

Yeah, and everybody's got their hands on, each other. Everybody's hacking each other. And so a lot of these have absolutely no flow. But there was a flow in that Grizzly's Bulls game between Wilson and Boozer and Wilson, him coming out and going absolutely just fireballs from three when the whole knock was he can't shoot, right? He's going to be like a transition guy. He's long. And I'm like, what is going on? I don't think he did. I thought it surprised himself, to be honest with you. They said, I immediately get a text after the game.

And it says, Caleb Wilson just hit more threes in that game than he did the entire North Carolina season. And I was like, is that true? Yes. Is that true? He just hit more threes in one game than he did. And he's flying up and down the court. And Boozer doesn't get caught up in it. and Boozer's just like directing traffic and trying to get the win.

And like they had a couple moments where they were heads up against each other. And I walked out of that arena. And I was like, oh, my God. How good are these guys? Like, it's very rare that this would happen. But there is no doubt that I walked out of watching both of those games going, there are a lot of years that any of those guys. would have been the number one pick.

Oh, I would say this year, you could convince yourself, if you took any one of those four players, number one, you could convince yourself you made the right decision. Well, and obviously, look, let's take the gap year of last year, because Flagg played against all these guys and Flagg would have still gone super high. But the year before, it was Reese Shea. I mean, all four of these guys would go before Zachary Richie Shea.

They are so talented. and the first observation is these top four guys like exceeded the hype to me. Like I was expecting one of them is going to be like, we'll walk away from Summerlee when it's all done and we're going to go, yeah, I don't know, but you don't know what I mean? Like, I don't know if everything's going to translate, right?

He was just bigger, stronger, faster than people in college, whatever, right? They're going to get into this situation or one of them is going to struggle. You even saw the fifth pick. struggle that first game. He's like one for six. He's like, you know, he can't make a shot. Wogler. And it's like, that's not wildly uncommon that it would just be like,

whether it's nerves, whether it's new competition, whether it's figuring things out. But all four of those guys like look exactly like the stars they were projected to be. And that is that. It was like, Caleb, I'll say the Caleb Wilson three point, whatever that was,

they all sort of like exemplified, what the scouting report was. You know what I mean? Like DeBanza and Peterson are on ball wings that can get to the cup, can get their shot, can get their spot, ISO scoring. And Boozer is like this,

read the defense, read and react, like sort of an offensive fulcrum big, and he was exemplifying that. And Wilson, three points shooting aside, like the dunk that he had in the other game and the block and just like the bounciness and the energy and athleticism.

it was sort of like, it's like they are who we thought they were. You know what I mean? Like they are. These four players are who we thought they were. And it makes it so fun for league pass. So fun. I might watch a Grizzlies game this year.

Oh, I wouldn't blame you for that. I might watch a grizzan this year. Yeah. I mean, look, lost a lot of people with Adamba Ball and Lucas Williamson. By the way, are not even in Summer League.

Like these guys. It's a great point. They weren't even G. How many roster spots are there in Summerlee? Like, 20? I mean, it's honestly appalling to look back at it. Like, at least the jazz were doing like Isaiah Collier and Kyle Philopowski or whatever. Like the guys I was talking about.

This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify. All right. Number two, the rookie standouts. All right, so I'm going to run down this. We already hit the top five. All right, I'll give you quick thoughts on all these guys. Wigler struggled in

that first one, got hot for a third quarter in the second one where he just made all of his shots. I'm not overly concerned yet. McHale Brown, real flashes that the Gothamap might get fired up by Mr. Jacoby because of the rookie of the draft class standouts, he certainly got some like lamello flash to him. He's a fun watch. Darius Haycuff has. struggled mightily. Really has. Yeah, can't stay in front of anyone and can't make a shot.

I'm not too worried, but it is cause for concern. I mean, because this is, Summer League is built for these small guards that have the ball in their hands. Like, you go back and look over time, so many of them

that have been like the smaller guys with the ball in their hands, whether it was back in the day I saw Josh Selby or Nate Robinson or Jared Bayliss or Damien Lillard or you can go on and on. Like there's an advantage to the small guy that's got the ball in his hands that can get buckets and he's just not getting buckets. The defensive stuff is a real concern because I think offensively he'll figure it out,

but the defensive stuff is a concern. Fleming's has not made shots, but like everybody loves his defensive activity and he doesn't turn the ball over. And I will say this, just on a side note, Atlanta is sneaky. With these three guys that they drafted, they already had a really good team. And I think actually a great position for development for Fleming's, for Zubi, and for Vsar, the second round pick that went way later than anybody thought he was going to go from North Carolina, who's knocking down like 40% of his threes.

But I heard a great, I heard a great story about Kingston Fleming. One of my buddies told me that Kelvin Samson told him they went to practice. And the first day, they all knew that's our best player. Really? And then they started practicing it a little. And he just started throwing the ball all over the yard.

And Samson put him on the end line. And for every turnover, made him run these wind sprints, right? And just, like, ran him into the ground to the point, the guy's, like, got to barth. And then he was like, and the kid never turned it over again. Like, it was like, and now,

even if it's like, well, I guess it's who the line is. Yeah. And now you watch him, even in Summer League, he doesn't turn the ball over. It's crazy. He's got all these assists and he never turns a ball over.

It's like, thanks, Kelvin. He just never. And he's like, he's like, kids, like, from like, like military families. Like I knew he could take it. Mores Johnson looked absolutely awesome in the first game. Absolutely awesome.

But it's fascinating because the guy that's next, and this is the one, when it got down to Wagler and Brown and A-Cuff and Fleming's, like everybody was trying to figure out like, okay, what kind of order are all these guards going to go in the draft? bro, Burry's is awesome. Talk to me. He is absolutely awesome.

And it stands to reason, right? Like, okay, how was Arizona so awesome? Surely they had awesome players. And it's like, okay, Braden, obviously you've seen Burry so far. Coa Pete showed very well for the Suns the other night. And it's like, yeah, that's probably why they were like 30 and O or whatever they were. for a good portion of the season with two freshmen starting.

These guys are probably good. But Burry's looks sensational and it looks like the bucks might have gotten like a serious steal at 10. They need that. They need some young, promising talent, bad. Yep.

Yaxel been good. A die, Mara. Tough one. So far. I mean, he doesn't look, I mean, he doesn't look mobile enough. That's what I'm saying. To be the,

to be what you want him to be at 7.3. It's like, he looks 7.3. He looks like he's 7.3. He moves like a 7 footer, like should move. When you watch Wimanii, you're like, how can you be seven foot, whatever, and move the way you do? But Mara looks like, like he's on, you know, when you listen to a podcast and you accidentally put on like 0.5 speed. It's like he's moving at 0.5 speed. Nate Ament, the prospector was all over.

this. I mean, I mean, the prospector's never wrong. I don't need to say anything. I never got it. I'll never get it. Did you see the prospector? Do you see the prospector in the hills of Nevada? He was up in the upper deck. Yeah, I got you. I had better seats in him. Other guys, phylon. Everybody said he dropped. Everybody said he's too good to be going this late. And everybody was right. Yep. Like, I mean, you. You watch one time and you're like, okay, this guy's a bucket. Like, I mean, I don't, you never understand.

Sometimes this stuff happens. And I don't know why so many teams passed on this kid. You know, I heard somebody told me that in one of the workouts, he like just could not stop barfing, like was just not in shape. What? And like, yeah, somebody told me that. Not stop barfing in a workout for a job? Like he threw up like three times.

That's not true. That can't be true. I promise. Have you ever worked out so hard you threw up? Somebody told me that. In a workout for a team? Yes. Somebody told me that he like, yeah, like some of the workouts went rough.

Because I, because, you know, but again, maybe it's all a lie. Maybe everybody's just trying to cover their ass because they all passed on a guy that's this talent. Because when you do the workout, you kind of do what you want. It's not like they're like pushing you to the limit. No, no, no. No, you don't. No, no, no. These are the team ones. Oh, I thought it was the showcase thing. No, no, no, no, no, no.

Zubi is exactly what I thought he's going to be. Like, just total winning player does everything. I thought it was ridiculous that he was projected to go in the second round. I think the Hawks got one in him. Cameron Carr showed well for the Lakers. And then Coa Pete was better than I thought he was going to look. He's won. Malik Thomas is the one.

Malik Thomas has scored more points in three games than any player that's been a rookie in Summer League in his first three games. 85 points. The record was Damian Lillard with 83. Wow. So, I mean, this guy is getting buckets and the Cavs might have gotten a real heater.

Of the other draft guys, Ryan Conwell and Emmanuel sharp. Two of the guys the prospector brought up. Both have showed well as veteran players that age probably was held against them. Dylan Mitchell, another one, absolute chaos agent for the Boston Celtics. And the prospector was all over that. Surprise, surprise. And then that V-SAR guy, who I mentioned earlier, I mean, the Hawks might have got another one. He was supposed to go much, much higher and ended up going a little bit lower, but he shot over 40% from three. And there's a role in the NBA for guys that are seven foot tall that can stretch the

It sounds like one of Chris Fernand's big takeaways is you like the Hawks draft. I do like the Hawks. Yeah. I did kind of like what they had. I mean, three players that pop. That's a good draft. Yeah. And look, I don't want to, if I didn't mention your guy, if I didn't mention your standout,

Trevon Brazil, another one, the prospector was on. He was great last night. Another Cal Perry guy, no less. If I did not mention your rookie, if I did not mention your team, it means I hate them and I did it on purpose. Number three. Sophomores.

Because there's going to be somebody like, you mentioned all these guys, but you didn't mention Bennett Sturts. And I'm like, oh, shut up. I don't care. All right. Number three, some sophomores. So sophomores that show back up at Summer League that are playing it,

you want them to look awesome, right? It gives you real hope for the future. Yo, Yegor. He was good last year. Dude, he was good. He looks like he's going to take a second year to leave. He can shoot. The other guy stinks, Ben Sar.

Oh, yeah. He stinks. But Yeager. Yegor can go. Sarah. Like, there's promise there. There's promise. Another one just jumps off.

Is Malawak, who had kind of a punted rookie season for the sons. Kind of a punted rookie season. Yeah, I know. Punted rookie season. A punt. Yo, he is seven foot. He runs a floor.

He puts it back. He was knocking down some threes in the game I watch. What? I'm like, yo, what is this? No. Common Mallowaw. Yes. And I was like,

yo, this guy, I don't know, maybe it's Summer League, but I'm telling you this, if you're putting together a Summer League team, you want his ass. If you look at last year's draft,

everybody contributed except for him in the first round. Yeah. Everybody. Not, not, not every. I mean, 25 of the 30 guys. He's,

no, he's really good. He's really good. Well, keep an eye on him. Yoan Beringer. the kid from France who's supposed to be the Gobert replacement. Yeah, he looks like he's going to be able to do that. I mean, he still doesn't know completely how to play.

And it's like, bro, he's just so tall, long, and athletic that he can't help but get, he had 18 points, 12 rebounds at four blocks in the game I saw. And I was like, good grief. This guy is dominant. And then, oh, this is going to make our boss happy. Hugo Hugo 1810 and 8 assists

Damn doing a little Josh Giddy action doing a little bit of everything for Hugo Gonzales Another one worth mentioning is a guy that did play basically the whole year

in the G League last year that was on that amazing Yukon team Liam McNeely he's not going I mean he he's like another one of these white guys that stands out there it just bangs threes.

He should probably go play for the Cavs. But he showed well. I mean, this guy was, he was really good in college. Obviously, he was a big high school prospect, and he was on that amazing Yukon team, but really didn't do much of anything except playing the G League for the most of last year. But I was impressed by him as well.

So there's some sophomores that were worth mentioning. Four is some concerns. We mentioned these already. Mara, Acuff, Isaiah Evans from Duke who fell in the draft despite wearing $7 billion worth of jewelry

he like started 0 for 15 yeah it was ugly it was like it was like not NBA caliber at all and I was like what is this

it was very bizarre how bad he was and I mean there's a couple other was Dailin Swain who I really liked out of Texas is really struggled. He's really struggled. And there's certainly other guys that have struggled.

But those are the ones that stand out the most. And especially, you know, Mara and A Cup are the ones that are the ones where it. But again, like, it's weird. When it's the top four guys we're celebrating them, we're like, they look amazing. Look at this class. And when it's positive, we like lean into it. But when it's negative, it's like, oh, it's summer league, just summer league. You know, it's like it just seems like when it's positive,

It's like substantial. And when it's, when it's negative, it's inconsequential. Well, because, and the reason I have changed my view on that is because twice just major burn,

I mean, I had third degree burns as time played out. Because Tray Young was pitiful. And Tray Young became all NBA. Yeah. And ended up, you know, being the best player on a team that went to an Easter conference finals.

Okay. And maybe the, maybe the most unbelievable one was the first time I saw Lori Markinen. I was like, this guy is like not an NBA player. What is this? I mean, he just couldn't,

he couldn't make anything. He stonk and like it did. And a couple of what, we got two or three teams that gave up on him before it happened. But I mean, he became like all NBA caliber with Utah. Do you remember last summer? It's not the end of the year.

Last summer when he was in the finished team, in Eurobasket when he was just like dominating Eurobasket last year? It's not the end all be all that you suck. Right? That's the only point. But it certainly can be cause for worry. And then five, the scene. This is what I want to hear from you, Berna.

This is the part that I care about. All right, I'm going to tell you something. I had one of the craziest moments. Top was cool experiences? No, no, no. I didn't do that. Come on. I had one of the craziest experiences

at Summer League regarding, and I know, look, you're rubbing shoulders with Tom Holliday, so it's not a big deal to you. But when you are walking around Summer League, all kinds of guys are like walking around the hall, and so you will see like two or three kids maybe like in the hallway with a ball

trying to get it signed or trying to get a selfie or whatever. And so it's very commonplace, because everybody's walking through. Caleb Wilson's walking through, con caniple, everybody. It's not just that. It's all the actual players. It's basically like a convention.

Like everyone in the NBA comes to Vegas. It's like all the stars are there too. It's not just the rookies. Right. Everybody's there. They're walking around. You know, people are going to come up to them,

asking for an autograph or a pitch or whatever. But it's not, and everybody's laid back about everything. And so you might see like somebody's like walking through the hallway and then like maybe it'll be like two or three kids will be like, oh, ooh, ooh, you know, and then they'll run up and try to get a pitcher or whatever. But I'm walking through the hallway in the,

win on one of the nights. And when I tell you, there was a bum rush of kids. I don't even know where all these kids came from in the win, but it was like word had gotten around. And there was a bum. I hear them coming behind me. I can't wait to hear what this is about. It is absolute chaos.

Like this doesn't happen in the wind, right? And there's like 60 kids, 60. Right. All in you to running, right. And I'm like, what the hell? Now, I'm walking down. There's a hallway between the wind and the encore. And so there's nothing there but stores.

And so I'm walking down there. And all of a sudden I see up ahead of me. There's two guys that appear to look like six foot eight versions of Aaron Donald. Right? Like they're just monsters. These are obviously bodyguards. And then there's like a little figure like with a hoodie pulled up like walking between that.

And I'm like, who is up there? Like, because these kids, I'm telling you these kids are in a dead sprint. 60. Behind me. They're about to run me over. Okay? I'm like, who that? They sprinting past me.

And I'm like, all right, I'm just going to lay back and watch this one. Right? they're like, Namor! Namor! Namor! Bro, I have never seen a reaction to a person like this. Namar. In my life.

Yes, it was him. He turned around and it was Namar. Bro, when I tell you, these kids got stiff arms so hard. It was like when the mascots play the kids and play football halftime. Buddy, buddy. I'm telling you, these guys, right, nobody got within 15. feet of Neymar. Nobody has better security

than Namar. But the reaction to him and you realize a global superstar like that, I was just like, there are NBA stars and legends walking around everywhere.

There's like, you know, there'll be influencers. Like, you know, you'll walk there, Theo Vaughan will walk through or Drusky will walk through or whoever. There's people everywhere. Of course. this thing, right? No, bro. Namar. No. Nobody. Because he's way past his prime, too.

Like, these kids are like... I have never seen a reaction to a person like that at Summerlee. It was chaos, bro. And I was like, really? Namar. That's... I mean, the kids, the kids, I guess he's cool. You know what I mean? I mean, obviously he's cool. Yeah, yeah. But like, oh, also he's

small as crap. I mean, he is tiny. But his bodyguards, not tiny. No, he's like Orlando face. I guess the thing about Namar is he was, he was great,

obviously, at his craft, but he was cool. He always had the hair, and he had the Nike campaigns, and he looked good, and he had, like, the tattoos.

Like, he wasn't just, like, good at soccer in an Mbapé way. He was, he had like that, for lack of better term, like, swag about him as well.

Yep. Yeah. Aura. Yeah, as they say. Aura, aura, as they say. Well, that was crazy.

Care for your skin, like you care for the game. Dove Men Plus Care is an official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and has just dropped their new limited edition deodorant and antipersprint collection for 72 hours sweat and odor protection,

helping you stay fresh from kickoff to the final whistle. Visit dove.com slash CA slash E.N. slash men dash care to shop now. What else, though? Are you going out? I know you got your lady out there too. You have fun. We're going to dinners?

What are we doing? gambling. Mott 32 is an Asian restaurant at the Venetian. It was great. Toko Madera did that. That was great. Went to the Gordon Ramsey pub at Caesars. What did we get there?

Little bangers and mash? What did we do? No, no. They got that toffee, sticky pudding or whatever. It's like the most famous. famous thing. It's great. And then they got good chicken wings there.

I always get the chicken wings at Gordon Ramsey Pub. Went and saw Awakening's, which is like the Vegas show downstairs in the wind. Because that's how old I am. I did not want to get back on the strip. You're just like, what is in this hotel that we could do tonight? I went to the show downstairs. And it was good. And the guy, the guy.

the guy at the wind, I walked up to him, I'm like, look, man, is it cheaper for me to buy these online? And he's like, well, and then he's like, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. He's like, I'm going to charge you. He's like, I'm going to sell you these seats.

And then I'm going to write on this like ticket thing. And you go find Paul when you walk in. I was like, all right. This is my thing. I was like, say less. So I walk in and I give him the money, buy the tickets. And then I walk in and I said, Paul. And I was like, yeah,

at the guy at the desk, Patrick, he told me to find you. He's like, okay. All of a sudden, he's like, and the ticket envelope says move them down. Yeah, I love it. Did you give Paul a tip? Yes.

Okay. Then, hey, then. Hey, then he gets on his like little walkie talkie, whatever. He's like, yes, sir, you're in section C row A. We said on the front row. Literally the front row. That was awesome.

That was awesome. And, you know, because the other stuff that was going on. The McGregor fight was too expensive. I couldn't do it. It was $1,300. To get it? And I'm glad I did.

Yeah, you just dodged. You just dodged. Good one there. And then the other thing we considered was the sphere. Kenny Chesney was there. And I was like, you know what? I just don't want my first sphere experience to be Kenny Chesney. I'm sure I know some Kenny Chesney songs, but nothing comes to mind.

Nothing comes to mind. So I didn't do that either. And there's no, like, there's not like the residences like they're usually are. Yeah, yeah. They're not going on. Like last year. Bruno Mars and like Usher. I've seen.

With the NSYNC was out there, Backstreet Boys, one of them. Backstreet Boys. I saw Garth Brooks. I saw Kelly Clarkson. There's usually somebody. It's like all like Barry Manilow who's literally,

it's ridiculous. He's a corpse. They're playing his CD and he's standing up there like this. Watch it. Pull it up on TikTok. It's crazy. He's like 80-something years old. He's moving in.

But I was like, when I was 15, he was like, old. Dude, they're doing this to him. God bless him. And Frankie Valley does this too. They, I don't know what, why do these guys need this money? They're just moving their mouth like ventriloquists. There's a manager that's just like, here's your quadruple espresso. Go out there, Barry.

It's a ball. Let me get my 10%. So I didn't, so I didn't go do that either. Let me take you behind the curtain, Berno. Yep. When it was first proposed that you and I could potentially have a partnership on the mismatch. Bill, I'm on the phone with him, he goes, you're going to love Verna.

He's one of us. He's a four in the morning blackjack table kind of guy. Oh, I did do that with Bill. Yeah. And I was like, not this week. I was like, say less. But did you ever, like, I know you're with you lady. I know you've got work to do.

I know you're very serious sports journalist. Did you ever get like a little, because when I went out, I went to the Bahamas a couple summers ago, and I'd tell my wife, like, while the kids, like, watching a movie or something, I'd be like, just give me like 60 minutes. Let me just go down and play for 60 minutes. I'll be right back. Did you get a window?

Oh, God. All right. When we were getting married, we had to go sit down with the preacher that was doing it beforehand, almost like a marriage counseling, whatever, right? Everyone has that discussion. And no lie. I said this to the preacher. I was like, look, let's just go ahead and get this out of the line.

I hear that marriages break up about money all the time. I said, I don't care what you, hey, I don't care what you spend. I'm going to gamble. I promise you, I said that. I don't care what you spend. I'm going to gamble to the preacher.

Yeah, I said that. And he's like, he's like, he's like, can you put that in the boughs? Can we speak what? It's sickness. You know, and after I lose $2,000,

play black check in a Saturday. She knows I'll never lose too much to make it a problem. Of course. It's the one thing I can do very well in moderation is I don't like I never, I'm never over my ski. Like it's almost like she trusts me so much that I'm good about it. But like even then, like she knew what she was getting into. Like she sat there and she's like, I know.

Like so it was already out on the table. It was so it's never been a thing. So when you say, did I get an hour to get away? I got, I mean, I do. No, she knows we're gambling. Like, that's happening. Like, and, um, I pretty much exclusively play the Willy Wonka slot machine. It's so.

I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love the Oompa bonus game. I love the. Oh, I love it. Which Willie Wonka?

Is it like Shalamee or is it like Gene Wilder? No, it's Gene Wilder. Oh, good, good, good. And I love it. And I actually won this year. I left up. Yes. So, okay, I have to make a confession.

I have to make a confession. Yep. I always see, like, these old people smoking cigarettes, playing slots, and, like, they're in their late 80s. And you can tell their cognitive functionality is just, like, not that high. But they're playing slot after slot after slot. I sit down in front of a slot machine. I'm too dumb for them.

I can't figure them out. I don't know how it works. I literally don't know how they work. That's why I like this one, because I've been playing it so long, I understand it. You and Willie have a thing, a mind meld? I know when the oompas are showing up. I know when the bonus game hits. What else do you got?

You had the big, the girl that turns into a blueberry gum? You got hers? Yeah, she's on there. Yeah, yeah. What about Charlie? Augustus is on there. Oh, you got, can you get like three golden tickets in a row and you win millions of dollars? Five grand if you get the golden tickets.

Five grand if you get the golden tickets. Yeah, I've never gotten it all these years. I've never gotten to all these years. I can't believe. I'm playing every year. Willie Walker's Law Machine guy. I love it. I love it.

I love it. It's so fun. That is not what I expected to hear from you. It's what I play. Does Elena just sit over your shoulder, like, cheer you on? Yes. Do you want another cocktail, Chrissy? Yeah, she'll play it too.

The oopas pop up? Yeah. Oh, yes. Yes. It's great. I love it. She goes, you're going to be hearing that song for the next three days in your head. Umpa, umpa, umba.

Do you do it. That's what pops up when you. Yes. Now imagine you hear that. When Bruno plays a slot. It's the best. It's the best. And in fact, I told her, I was like, you know what?

I need to just get one of those from my house. That's not how it works, Merno. That's not how it works. When you can put the money in and then take the money out. I think I just want the feeling of winning. I don't even care about the actual winning. Give my own money. Or maybe I could let the kids play.

Be like, if you want to win, you got to win it. Did you see any colleagues? Oh, God, everybody. Yes. Yes. There's only like so many spots. Like, I am not a famous person, but if I like go to a Knicks game, like people will recognize me. Are people like, Hey, Verno from the mismatch?

I love the show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I got stopped a lot of times. Yes, everybody is so kind. Everybody's so nice. They're just like, God, that Jacobi guy. There's people from front offices. There's people that work with owners.

Like, interesting to me. Like, I never, I never know who's listening to these pods. Oh, God. If I start to think about it, sometimes I'm going to be like, oh, I heard you say blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, oh, my God, people like, listen to this. Yeah, it was cool. Yeah, no, no. No, no, it's summer league.

Summer League is great. It's always great. And it's a good little collection. I'm going next year. You're going to teach me how to play the Willie Wonka slot. Is that a deal? Yes. All right.

100. Hey, I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there. Hey, look, look, I'm going to tell you something. I'll be there whether you're there or not. I know, but it's like the X thing and then the cross and the up and down. I just don't know how it works.

I'm telling you, you'll know where to find me. At the win, Willie Wonka slot at the wind. Just follow the oompa lupa song. I'll be walking, I'll be walking through the casino. It's at the encore. It's at the encore. Ferno's sitting there, half asleep, cigarette hanging out of his mouth. It's at the on.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. And I couldn't find that the only place. They only have two left. They used to have four. No, they're down. Downside. Yeah, I know.

Well, where are those two? Let's get you one of those two. I know. Somewhere in the base of the encore. They've got two empty, weekly, wiggily, walkers just sitting there. I need them. I know, I know. I need them.

All right. LeBron watch. All right. So obviously in your other role, you help produce the game over pod. They made a lot of news there. Sure did. With the game over pod. With the Bob Myers being on with the whiteboard and everything else.

All right. I want to get your, and I know you say you're always too scared to ask Rich Paul, but you have listened to all the conversations surrounding it. You have seen the news surrounding it. If you had to go put money at the. sports book on where LeBron James ends up. What would you put it on?

Wow. The real answer is I don't know, right? But if I had to, if someone said you have to, but you have to bet. If I had to bet, I would say the Golden State Warriors. Really? Yeah. That's not based on any inside information or any conversations with Rich. The golf. It's the golf and the proximity

to Los Angeles. The PJ, the PJ trip to L.A. and back from there is like, what, an hour? Here's the other thing I'm going to tell you, Jocob. I cannot get out of my head the goodbye that Steve Kerr gave to his two guys. That happened, the embrace the this is it. And then he's like, actually, let's just run it back. And they didn't add anything that would make you want to run it back.

No. I feel like it made it feel like this has been in motion for a long time. And now LeBron is just like dragging it out for a tent. But here's the thing. Our boss, Bill Simmons, he's like, oh,

the Cleveland thing is a done deal. And I'm like, does he know something? Because I don't know anything. And if the Cleveland thing is a done deal, then what are we talking about? I don't know.

I don't know. Do you remember when Kauai was a... But, but I would... You know what? That is real reason to think that that's probably

so because I don't know how but Bill brought up LeBron to Golden State like six months ago yeah yeah yeah so he he knew something then so he may know something now that like okay that's not going to happen do you know the I can't out of Matt dude if Steve Kerr re-uped because he thought he was getting LeBron with a hell you Chris Stap for Zing is we can really make a run at this like yes and then get Jimmy's gonna take a leap okay and then get well and then they get Jimmy back later down the road but I mean I'm sure he thought and and also why is Draymond Green why did he opt to not sign in on his contract?

And no one's talked about it. No one has talked about Draymond Green signing a deal. Have you seen a single news item about it? Right. The only way that we can guarantee LeBron James to announce where he's going to play and I'll probably text him about this, Bill has to get another colonoscopy. if Bill gets another colonoscopy they'll guarantee the announcement will happen

I like that this is going to be a thing for the rest of his life to make major news stories happen he has to get a colonoscopy it's going to be tough for him Kawai watch all right so there's a new athletic article about it really good

unbelievable journalism by Mike Vorkenov um Mike Vorkenov did a great job on this. Look, everybody kind of knows the details. There's a $28 million deal that Kauai got and the NBA is trying to figure out is it a legit sponsorship or was it circumventing the salary cap?

That's the basics of this. Did he fulfill obligations to this company aspiration? So it says in his article that, the NBA has reviewed contracts, emails, payment records, internal company documents. Interviewed everybody. Interviewed Uncle Dennis. Interviewed this Joe Sanber guy. Yeah.

And then kind of line out that the clippers say, you know, yes, we introduced him to him. There's nothing wrong with introducing a player to a sponsor. And we didn't have anything to do with an aspiration contract. And also, we were victims of fraud with aspiration. So you can't jump on us. And then there's this part about like where they made Kauai group. Let me read that passage because that's the part I found fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.

So leading up to this paragraph, they talked about how the marketing team thought Kauai Leonard was maybe a bad choice to be a spokesman. Maybe the fact that he never speaks might have led to that that inference. But here we are. Quote, aspiration to discuss using Leonard in a marketing campaign, multiple former employees told the athletic executives exchange emails with members of the creative artist agency on potential concepts and members of Aspirations Marketing Department were told they could use Leonard to promote the company and try to find a way to do so.

One person with knowledge of Aspirations Marketing Strategy said. Goes on to say, quote, the efforts went so far as to create images reviewed by the athletic of Leonard as an offshoot of Marvel's Groot. Aspirations purpose was a promise to plant trees to offset carbon footprints. And they have the images of Kauai and Groot. If you've been scrolling in your algorithm, if you listen to mismatch, but your algorithm's going to pump you NBA stuff,

you've seen these images of him potentially as Groot. And I have to say, Bruno, like, that's pretty good defense if your aspiration. You're like, we were working on a campaign with him, right? The Clippers are for sure going to say, see, this is a real marketing campaign. Here's the part that gets me is like, Drake also had a deal with them

that was worth $4 million. And Robert Datt Jr. How did deal with them that's worth $2 million. So why's getting like $30 million? The other side. So they're going to say, see, it was a real marketing campaign.

There was interested in doing something. And then they're going to say, yeah, that's fine. But nothing ever happened. Like the whole point of this is that it was no show. No obligation. What obligation was filled from this? Why did he get $28 million?

Why? And that's where it's like going to be tough thing. It's going to be very difficult. Just because you have some, just because you have some mocked up art. It said, see, we were going to do something.

I mean, if you have a $28 million marketing spend and you don't use the asset to market anything, it is a little confusing, especially when Drake gets $4 million. Okay. And then on the heels of this, So the NBA, Adam Silver said last night he expects us to be done.

He wants us done in the summer. This is not going to be lingering on into next year. So obviously, look, when you're dealing with this kind of, this level of litigation, especially which involves one of the richest humans on planet Earth. So let's go down the hypothetical that they levy some penalty against the Clippers, right? Right. The Clippers immediately, the Clippers immediately go into. appeal lawyers

because it's really hard to find a true smoking gun in this instance unless there are text messages that explicitly say don't tell that to your buddy Pablo I mean I didn't see a smoking gun well but Pablo keep saying we have aspiration employees under the penalty

of perjury saying this not like here's say, not like, you know, you could just, sources say these are people that have said under the penalty of burjury, here is what happened. So I don't know, man, that's pretty strong. I suppose they could be lying, but why are they lie? Why?

It would be so funny. Imagine Brandon Ingram showing up at training camp for the Raptors. Hey, guys. We've got a couple of other things. hit real quick. What an unbelievable human Victor Wenbenyama is. Victor

Wembeiyama signing his voluntarily taking a smaller extension $50 million less much like your buddy Jalen Brunson so that he could help the Spurs build a long time winner.

We know the penalties of the second apron. We know that we are in a world now where everybody just tries to get theirs, get as much money as they can, Victor Wambayama proving he cares about winning the most. You must,

even though you have a disdain for Victor Wembeñama, this must just be wildly impressive to you. Oh, yeah, the guys are saying. I mean, all he cares about is winning. You know what I mean? He's just a great human being. You know, I love him.

What do you want me to say? I mean, This is what I find interesting. It's like, just how does the meeting go? Where it's like, Victor, you really care about winning. Let's put the math in front of you. If we pay you the max, then that doesn't allow us to do X, Y, and Z that hurts our team. So why don't you take less money?

Like, it'd be really hard to convince me to take less money. I'd be like, uh, not my problem. No. One of the best players in the NBA. I want to get paid like it. I'll tell you exactly as it goes. You don't even have to say that. He walks in the office and he goes, winning is what motivates.

money does not motivate and then he smokes his long cigarette money does not motivate but we be yaba oh it's been a tough week too because then france lost oh I know they look bad too tough week for me they look bad he's like damn it I wish I would have signed for the

300 billion instead of 250 but I know Napa was going to lose it is interesting like this taking less thing is interesting because we've all, everyone who's listening this podcast understands the crippling nature of the second ape and the CBA and how you can't have like two max players and still win. But like it's interesting,

you would have to convince me. There'd have to be some sort of aspirationy sort of like, like on the back end that we're going to, there has to be some guarantee I'm eventually going to get this money. Oh, you can't do that. Oh. Brunson would never do that, right? Gary Trent didn't take less.

Did Rick Brunson mention anything when you walked by and the other. No. Gary Trent's contract was the talk of the town at Summer League. Bro. It was. What is this?

It's everybody. I'm telling you what everybody thinks is it is bona fide salary cap circumvention. And this is like that Kauai should be like yes. When I just got finished saying I need guarantees that I'm going to get it on the

back end or down the road at some point. It feels a lot. lot like that's exactly what's happening with Gary Trite Jr. I can't report that. I'm just saying that's what it feels. He's like the seventh best guard on their roster. It was coming off like a career worst year.

He gave him $64 billion after he had signed these dink contracts before when they had Yadis on the team. I mean, if that ain't a mate good, what is a mate good? And it is not illegal. Yes, it is. But you can't, how could you

convince me? I mean, that my, that your evaluation of a player is wrong. Maybe I'm just wrong. No one is that stupid. But by the letter of the law, right? I mean, proving it. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Can you penalize the bucks for this?

I don't think you can't. I think they're going to try. Interesting. I just don't know how. I mean? I mean, you ask somebody? Yeah, it's just a common sense thing. I'd be like, here were his numbers.

No, no, no, no. I mean, like, if you wanted to do it and you put them under penalty, you know, where they put them in a position where if you lie, you could be in huge trouble. I do not recall. Was there ever a prior agreement? Fifth Amendment. I do not recall.

Right. Fifth Amendment. Do not recall. Give me my 64 million. Gary Trent Jr., 64 million. It's crazy. And then it's a common sense thing. It's like, here is his basketball performance.

And then you decided he was worth what? $4 million. Here is his basketball performance after that, which is worse than the $4 million valuation, and now he's worth four years, $8 million a year? Like, no. Or what,

$16 million a year? It's honestly, like, appallingly obvious. It really is. No. It really is. If you explain it to someone who knows nothing about basketball,

they would be like, that there's something is a miss. You do this while we've got, you know, while we've got Yonis, trying to make it easier. We'll take care you down the road. That's how it appears.

to everyone with eyes and brains. If you have eyes and brain. Eyes and brains. And then the last thing before we get out of here, Joe Maz, you know, his team lost to the Philadelphia 76ers and Jalen Brown just got traded. This does not appear to have affected Joe Maz

negatively in a physical sense at all, because that video of him, fighting is not fighting he's in training the guy's got pads he's hitting pads bro he is so

yo I know and he's punching hard he is kicking hard he's kicking hard he's punching heart king of intimidation he's just got

rage inside of him he really does I like it never I think that it is I think this is fair to say there's never been a time where

an NBA Royal Rumble would be won by a coach. We're not there either. What are you talking about? No, he's got a chance. What about your brand new grizzly beef stew? I know. He just outweighs everybody. Like, the size thing.

If there were weight classes, then potentially. The kicking, the kicking is the whole new deal, though. Kicking is a whole new deal. Ask Kada McGregner. It really is. Do you think Conradig was hurt before? Yes, yes. So here's my question about that.

that. If you hurt your knee and you were in a fight, right? Why would you open the fight with a flying kick where you had to land on that knee? Why would you do that? If I had a hurt knee and I was in a fight and I knew I was going to lose, I would make it last. I would dodge. I would evade, evade, evade, you know, try to engage a little bit. Evade, evade, evade. Okay. All right. Devil's advocate. If you do that right off the bat, then it's this is how I hurt it. you've got cover for you coming into the fight massively hobbled. So you're telling you, he's like intentionally hurt himself? No, I think he was already probably hurt.

But then he just did that move. And then it's like, oh, that's when I... Now there's video of it. I guess. Yeah, that's when I hurt myself. But if I was trying to get a paycheck and I was injured and I was in a fight, I would just get to the second round. You know what I mean?

I would throw some punches. That Joe Maas video is, super impressive, bro. He's intense. No, he looks like he could, maybe like Paul Silas back in the day could have won a Royal Rumble. He was enormous.

He was enormous. But like coaching-wise, this guy's up there, man. This guy's up there. No, not E-May. No, no. This guy is, I don't know, man. He's so big.

It's just musly. Yeah, dude, he's ripped and he's beaten a crap out of those bags. And I was like, yowly. Yeah. He's not, he's not, he's not to be trifling. Before we go. Yeah, let me hear.

I just want to tell mismatch listeners, this movie is so good, Bruno. This movie is so good. I got to go. It's buy the tickets now. Go to an IMAX theater. Wherever you have to get to, how far you have to go to get to an IMAX theater, get to an IMAX theater. This movie is so good.

Like, I love this story. And the way that it gets, chopped up and remixed and reformatted and there was a lot of changes made and it all works perfectly it's perfect it's a perfect movie and everyone is super famous everybody charlie's theron lapita nongo uh tom holland zandaya is just popping up every once in a while annie and matt damon matt damon is ripped he let him and joe maz are well and christopher nola movies are like always good.

And it looks crazy. It's just visually stunning. It is so good. I don't know if I'll see it this weekend, but I might. I might see it this weekend. I'm supposed to be in an eating contest with Joey Chestnut. Wait, what? Yeah, I just got asked to do that yesterday.

Wait, a second. I have a lot of followed questions. No, don't. Tell me everything you know about this. We're out of time. No. He's telling me every. you know about this.

He's coming to a Memphis Redbirds game. Okay. This weekend. Three fans, like, competed to eat against him. Okay. And then they want, like, local hero. Celebrity, yeah, like partners for them.

And so they asked me to do it. I think they're eating pizza. Oh, my God. And I have not responded yet. You have to do it now. I think I'm going to do it. You have to do it now. here's what happened.

I walked downstairs and I asked my daughter. I was like, Haley, have you ever heard of Joey Chestnut? She's like, yes. You have to, Haley has to be a part of this. She's like, she's like the eating guy?

And I was like, yeah. I was like, I just got asked to do this, but she's like, you're doing it. So I think I kind of have to now because I brought it up to her because I'd be disappointing to her if I didn't.

We, I was at Coney Island two weeks ago and we were right. I don't want to, I don't want to throw up. You just, you just go 70%. You don't give it 100%. You know what I mean?

Okay. Like what? I think I have to do it. You have to do it. You have to do it. You have to bring Haley and Haley has to film it. I think I have to do it. This is, I can't wait for next week's show.

I think I'm going to do it. A1 of next week's show is Burneau, how did the Joey Chestnut face off go? Honestly. And then after that you have to fight Joe Maz. I'm going to do both. And then I'll try to fit in the Odyssey. It's a point.

All right. It's going to do it. for today's show. Thank you to Jeff and Steph and Jesse as always. And Jacoby, I'll talk to you next week.