The Mismatch - The Most Exciting Players, All-Star Game Improvements, and the Summer of Strahinja Continues

Episode Date: August 26, 2025

Verno and Jacoby return with five questions each about the upcoming season. (00:00) Welcome to The Mismatch!(00:52) Most exciting players to watch(14:50) Did last year’s terrible All-Star Game actually save the All-Star Game?(19:40) Who is the NBA’s Tommy Fleetwood? (Player that everyone would love to see win)(26:42) Which team are you not sold on that's expected to be good?(34:03) Which team has the best chance to become this season's Pistons?(38:40) Is it time to do something about the abundance of 3-point shooting?(47:04) Favorite New York sporting events(50:44) Learning more about Strahinja Jokic(55:28) Which video games were you best at?(01:03:19) Jacoby’s most contentious opinion Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone] Hosts: Chris Vernon and David JacobyProducers: Jessie LopezSocial: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to The Misfatch. I'm Chris Vernon and joining me see us every Monday night from The Ringer.com is Dave Jacoby. Jacobi. What's happening, Berno? All right, so there's not been NBA news, not a lot of it, since we last spoke. So we are jumping right into the 10 questions we have for this week. These are my favorite shows. These are my favorite shows.

August is the best time to be in sports media. It's the best time. I will begin. One news item from the week was that John Wall, officially retired since we last spoke. John Wall is without question one of the most exciting players to watch in his prime. Give me your list of your most exciting players to watch. This list can be as long as you want it to be.

You want to make it three guys. You want to make it five guys. There's a couple things I don't want to say. I did five guys. Okay. But in my life, the most exciting player to watch is Michael Jordan. But I'm not going to put him on the list. It's just a little too, like low-hand fruit.

Like the LeBrons and Jordans, these are like showmen is how I look at this. Right. Like people that when they're on the basketball court, they put on a show. There's also a little bit of you just never know what's going to happen with these guys, so you tune it. You might, like you say, you might see something. You've never seen before. Exactly. So this is my list.

And I try to mix errors as well. So I will say 20 second time out. Once John Wall did his official retirement, you know, we mock the way the social media goes now. And it'll be like, people forget so and so was a problem. And then you see the mixtape. The John Wall mixtape is crazy. It's unbelievable. He's so fast.

Like when he did his prime, if he got like a rebound or an outlet pass, he's just crazy. How fast he can go with the ball. A lot of, one of the things you forget because it just trailed on so long with the injuries and then the contract became a story and everything else is like serious swagger, right? Charisma. Like he had the charisma and the exciting play. Like that John Wall mixtape is great. He was a showman. He's a showman.

And I think that if you're younger and you missed it, you really missed out. So let me do my, I'm going cross eras. I'm going to go in generational. Showman. Because you know me. I like fancy passes. I like sauce. I like doing things just because they look cool.

Maybe it's not the most efficient way to get the ball from here to there. But I'm doing cool stuff as I have the basketball because I'm kind of showing off. It's kind of a mental edge I get on my opponent. And I'm going to go pistol Pete Merrimich. Now listen, I did not watch this guy play basketball. Right. He was not in my generation. But I've seen all the footage and heard all the stories.

and like he is a showman. He is putting on a show while he's getting buckets. Then I'm going. I just thought about him this past week because the guy that did that focus on the family, Dr. James Dobson, who was, Pistol Pete Marevich became like a big Christian later in his life.

And this guy, James Thompson, was the guy that wrote focus on the family and all this kind of stuff. And anyway, James Dobson passed away, like in the past week. And the reason I thought about Pistol Pete is because that was the story.

He was plaguing pickup basketball with Dr. James Dobson and a group of guys when he just died on the basketball court. Oh, that's right. Yeah, that's who, he was playing with Dr. James Dobson. And so when I saw that story last week,

I always think of it, because it's just such a crazy, story. Such a crazy story because he died so young, right? Like, I mean, he's one of those guys that it was, you know, we never knew him as an elderly adult. No.

Then I'm moving on down the road. Dominique Wilkins. I am old enough for Dominic Wilkins. And that he was just a point viewing. The athleticism, the dunking. It's not just like, oh, I'm a crazy athlete that can dunk. He was also an absolute bucket. And, you know, he

elevate that Hawks team to contention just by being there himself. He's known as one of the greatest highlight reels of all time. And then I'm going... That's literally his nickname. Yeah, the human highlight reel. There's also another one on here too.

Next, I'm going, this is one of my favorite players of all time. I like a little extra sauce on my basketball players. I like fancy passes. It's Jason Williams, white chocolate Jason Williams. First team I ever,

ever covered. The first team I ever covered was Jason Williams. It's the 25th anniversary this year of the Memphis Grizzlies. But when I went to draft night, they drafted, they had Sharif Abdur Rahim and they had my family knows. Yeah. No, no, not formally known. He was always Sharif Abdurah Doreh. Who went to? Chris Jackson. I'm thinking about Mike Mubu Duhu. Yeah. Sharif Abdulrahim is now, interestingly enough, a guy that I know because he is the commissioner of the G League. Oh.

So I have run into Sharif several different times over the years going to Memphis Hustle events. Anyways, Sharif Abdulrahim and Mike Bibby are part of the Vancouver Grizzlies. Then we get to draft night. And on draft night, the Grizzlies trade Sharif Abdulah Rahim that night. And they end up to Atlanta. and they bring back hometown hero, rest in peace, Lorenz and Rice, and also Brevin Knight and the number three pick in the draft. And then they already have the number six pick in the draft.

So the first night, I'm in this room and they trade their best player, Sharif Abdur Rahim, for the third pick and also for Lorenz and Wright and Brevin Knight. and they draft Powell Gasol, who none of us had any idea. Like, nobody even knew who that was. And they drafted, and then they get down to the sixth pick, and they take Shane Badiere. Meanwhile, they trade Mike Bibby for Jason Williams. So, like, the team became, like, super fun, like immediately, right? It's like a bunch of that one 12-hour stretch.

You completely reinvented the team. I know. And covering, uh, covering Jason. William was absolutely hilarious because the coach at the time, he's now an assistant coach, I believe with the Detroit Pistons. There's a guy named Sidney Lowe. And Sydney Lowe used to get so frustrated with Jason Williams. One night we're down like, you know, one.

And, you know, Jason Williams at the end of the game pulls up from like 30 something feet and just takes his three. And of course, it bounces off and they win. And one of these like local reporters like, um, coach Loha, hold up. does Jason Williams have to have the green light to you know to do and probably didn't pass he's probably a point card just dribbling up and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and again forget he like looks at the guy and he's like no Jason Williams does not have the green light to take that shot right so then like we get on like

about three weeks later and uh we're in the locker room and jason Williams never comes out to talk never he go like as soon as a game's over he goes back to like the showers and the training room and waits till all the media are gone okay all the media and so then one night we're in the locker room and the the PR director at the time her name was Stacy Mitch walks out and she announces to everybody guys Jason's going to talk we're like what so of course every camera Every microphone, every newspaper reporter, everybody biles around. Jason Williams is going to talk. And we're like, what?

Bro. I wonder if there's a video of this that exists somewhere. He walks out, everybody sticks their microphone in his face. And this dude goes, we suck. We suck. Hey, hey, hey. He goes, we suck. We suck.

We suck. the worst team in the league, print it. And everybody's face in there was like, oh my God, oh my God. And then I never talked to get it was hilarious. Covering him was hilarious. And I'll never forget Nick Anderson was on the team. He had been in the trade with Jason Williams from Sacramento. And Nick Anderson's like, that's the attitude.

Could have told you all what you were getting. Could have told you all what you were getting. Like Dick Anderson was over it. Because there was like a group of there was like, there's the weirdest team. There was like Nick Anderson, Tony Massabberg, Isaac,

what was the big guy's name that played for like the heat and then played for the Christmas? Like Isaac Austin. There was like a group of like these super old heads. And then there was like Jason Williams. And then there was Pow and Shane Badiye. It's a very weird team. But anyways,

that was like my introduction to, covering the NBA. And I have, honestly, in 25 years, I've never come across another player like that. I love it. He's an outrage. Yes. And his, like, uh, and his like heat career,

he turned into like a normal point card. Yeah. Like there's like, he was a flashy Kings guy. Yeah. And then like, you know, when he got to the heat, he was like dribble up, call the play, pass to the wing, and then cut. It was so fun. What is happening?

He was so fun. I loved him so much. And he was unlike anybody else. Like, you can really. that. Like, yes. It was like an and one mix tape,

seriously. Like, it was like those guys that you would watch, like in the afternoon on ESPN2, like the professor or something, you know.

Who I still follow on Instagram, I'm still getting buckets out there in the world. Shout to the professor. The professor. Yeah. Um, and then I'm going,

Vince Carter, obviously. Yeah. It's just like, you know, just pure athleticism. And then I think my last one, because I want to belabor this is,

I think it's a little bit, I think people forget how impactful peak Blake Griffin was. Like Lob City Clippers, because what was happening is Twitter started like it went text and then pictures and then started to get videos. And that was right around the time when Blake Griffin was dunking four times a night and doing things you've never seen before. And it was like, you don't have to watch the games or watch Sports Center to see a Blake Griffin dunk. It's just right there on your phone. It's shareable. It's really sort of like those dunks in that era ushered in the sort of like modern NBA highlight consumption.

I'll tell you, he is responsible. Obviously, I covered a lot of those Grizzlies Clippers series. But the thing that I always think about with him, I covered the Elite 8 and final, or I'm sorry, the Sweet 16 of the Elite 8, the regional, the year that he was on Oklahoma. When he hits head at the backboard? I was right. As you're about to say, right? I remember that game. The side.

The side of the backboard. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've never seen a human being. I'm shocked. Hit the side of a backboard. But it was like impactful. He was like hurt. It was like, oh yeah.

It was like a, like you see the dunk contest and like you see, you know, like kiss the rim or whatever. But like he like hurt himself. No. Anthony Edwards did it a couple of playoffs ago. But Blake Griffin in college hurt himself on the side. of the backboard. That was in Memphis. I was 20,

I was behind the Oklahoma bench. I remember I was just like on my couch. I was like a kid. I wasn't even that old. I was on my couch watching the tournament. I was just hurt himself by his head on the backboard. I was right behind the Oklahoma bench. And the two things I remember from that were him hitting his head.

And then there was a McDonald's All-American who never ended up in the NBA that was on that Oklahoma team with Griffin named Willie Warren. And Jeff Cable dog cussed, Willie Warren, like I have never heard a player, Kurt. Wasn't Blake Griffin's brother on that team? He was on that team. That's not even like a Seth Curry thing. Oh, he also made the league.

It's just not as good. It was like, no, just it doesn't have it. Yep. Doesn't have it. He was. He was on that team. That's a good recall. Yeah, yeah.

Blake Griffin's brother. I remember him being on the team. I was like, well, he's so good and exciting. Like, what's going on with the other brother? It's like, well, you know, nice guy. I do think, and Blake Griffin's going to end up. getting a lot of love because everybody's going to recount a lot of his moments because he's going to be on that Amazon show.

He's going to be on the Amazon show. I love that roster. He's still famous. Steve Nash and Blake Griffin and like, it's funny. You know, he just stand up. And he's like,

he's genuinely funny dude. He was, he's around Grantling a little bit at that time because, you know, he's on the Clippers and we were. That was a great list because literally all of those guys, I have personal experience, watching them in person doing something I've never seen anybody else do. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And Jamal Crawford to Blake Griffin, Alley, You was just the perfect manifestation of those two players doing what they were put on Earth to do.

And being showmen. You know what I mean? And if you don't remember, this is a break. Crawford's in front. He goes, jumps in the air, goes between his legs, puts it off the backboard. And then Blake Griffin windmill dunks it. It was just like, this is, this is impossible to do it practice. I mean, I mean.

and him and Jordan both just assassinated people under the ring. Look at some defensive highlights from these guys. There's a couple blocks from Jordan and Griffin. I love that Clippers team so much. But we're already taking up too much time. Here's my next question. Yep. One of the low points from last year was the NBA All-Star game

and the reformatting it and watching it that Sunday night. That's one of the low points at the season. But I'm going to spin this positive. All right. Did that terrible All-Star game actually in perpetuity fix the All-Star game and make it competitive and exciting because it will be USA versus the world moving forward? Was that terrible All-Star game exactly what the All-Star game needed? No.

I mean, it is an agent for change, but so was the one before it. And they did that, and they did, you know, then they did the goofy team thing last year. And it was the worst of all. It's going to end up, after all this is said and done, we'll end up back east and west. Hopefully you and I are still doing the podcast. Will we get USA versus the worlds? This, maybe, maybe at some point. But, I mean, if they do USA versus the world, they're just trying to, they're looking at hockey and they're going,

Oh, it worked for hockey. People liked when people were playing for their own countries or they're playing for whatever. And it's like, I mean, look, the answer is paying them money. You just seen it with the end season tournament. These guys care about the in season tournament for no other reason except they can line their pockets. And so even guys that make millions of dollars, if you put a five million bucks up and let the team split it or whatever, whatever number you want to make. And then you're going to see, then you're going to see they're going to care. They are going to care.

And that's also the answer to the dunk contest. It is also the answer to the three point contest. It is also the answer to the skills competition. Put money on the line. Put money on the line and they're going to care. And why does the skills competition exist? Until they do that, we're just going to keep spinning our wheels. I looked at the

Ringer 100 Okay Right And I was like What would USA versus the world look like One through four are on the world That is in order Yokic SGA, Yonis and Luca

Right So we don't have an American in one through four Then you get Wembe But then the next guy is Jamal Murray Who's number 29 And the big problem The big problem is you would say that's all like a bunch of big guys, but the problem is they got a guard now in SGA.

It's the best guy. Yeah. It's really top heavy, the world team. Because then you get into like Sabonis and Zubach. And then you're like, and like Sengoon and Franz Wagner. And you're kind of like, it also changes like one of the things we look at for like Hall of Fame or

someone's career is like, you know, four time all star, five time all star. Is that going to change forever if you do USA versus the world? Because maybe some guys will be on the world team that wouldn't make a traditional all-star team. Do you have less guys in the world team?

Like, just less guys on the roster? Like, it's a little goofy to do, but it would be the best all-star format. I mean, I just, I think they should do east and west to make it for money. Okay, but what if you have stars and stripes on the uniform? This is USA on it. I mean, they already played the ones that care about to play in the Olympics. Right. And do you think those guys care about the world?

No, they'd have their own. uniform. I'm saying the USA uniforms would be white and the other uniforms would have their country colors. What level of pride? Okay. What level of pride do they have? We're to fight now. I think it was a great idea. They should do this. What level of pride do they have? Hey, we're the world. Like they care if it's Slovenia. They care if it's Brains. They care of it. It's just, it's just not white. But the rest of his teammates are Slovenian. There's one guy. I mean, I'm playing for Slovenia. See, that's the way. That's the way. reason that the NHL thing worked. They were actually playing for their country. They were actually playing. And it was a Canadian team. It was awesome.

It was like, Swedish team. It was basically like the Olympic, hockey Olympics, but like in the middle of the NHL season with the four best teams. But they were all on the team for their country. So they were truly representing their country. If I'm Wembe, I'm not,

I'm representing the world. It says France on your uniform. It's got a French flag on it. But you're not kicking it out to Evan Fornier. No. Evan Fornier is not invited. No, he's not invited. He's not invited.

Speaking of the world, a player that is not from the United States saw an immense amount of love from fans all over the globe yesterday when he won the golf tour championship. And that is Tommy Fleetwood, a guy that had been on the precipice over. and over again and could never win. 30 top fives couldn't win 130 tournaments and hadn't gotten a PGA tour win though he had won overseas. And then he finally got the monkey office back

and everybody was super excited for him. And it was just this outpouring of love. Everyone felt good about Tommy Fleetwood winning yesterday. Who is the NBA Tommy Fleetwood. The guy that people would be the most universally happy about winning. Okay.

A couple things. Number one, I don't really like watch televised golf like that. You know what I mean? But I do play golf and I enjoy this sport. And I love the Masters. I love the Masters updates that you do. I was one of my favorite pieces of sports media.

And. but I also, as you know, I have a local bar called East End with a guy named Binnie that's there. And sometimes, you know, I've got a bunch of kids, so I can't just hang out at a sports bar for like five hours. You know what I mean?

I mean, you can't, you can't. It's not responsible parenting. I don't know. That's great for my marriage. But I can go to my wife and be like, look, kids are watching a movie. Like, I'm going to go to East End for 40 minutes, right? And what happened to me on that Saturday is I got a little 45 minute pass and I watched the golf.

It was the Saturday, the end of the Saturday round. And another thing I do on my fan dual app, because I don't love watching golf, but you can bet like birdie or better on this hole for Tommy Fleetwood. Oh, yeah. Parr on this hole for whoever else was in it, like Hanley or whatever his name is. And that makes televised golf like 4,000 times more exciting. You know what I mean? They've really leaned into it too.

Yeah, because I also can't bet on Thursday. Like, oh, because this guy's going to win the tournament. Like, I can't do like, I need like immediate satisfaction or disappointment. Right. Action. So I'm sitting there at East End with my guy Benny having a cocktail. And I'm just betting a hole to hole on Fleetwood. And the announcers are going crazy over him.

They're like, he just hit it into the drink and look at him. He's high-fiving the spectators. Everyone loves this guy. He's got long hair. I don't know anything about Tommy Fleetwood. But I was completely invested in this golf tournament. mainly because of my Fandual app, but also because I just happened to see

the end of his round on Saturday that went well. So I understand what you're doing. I understand this assignment. I'm going with current players only. Because let me say, Bill tweeted out something about, he took the different tact, which is this guy has gotten this close this far and finally got it done.

And he said maybe it's not all lost with James Harden. but that one doesn't fit this one because it's not like everybody would be, no, people would not be. Not loved like that. Russell Westbrook, not loved like that. You have to be loved. I understand this assignment.

Yep. Now, I came, there's a couple honorable mentions I want to say. I only go on current players or else this is just Charles Barkley and there's not even close, not even a question, right? So the honorable mentions I have are Anthony Edwards, Dame Lillard, who was close to getting this title.

Oh, that's good. Lillard is actually a great. He might be the answer. Yeah. DeMarge Rosen was another one. But this is Chris Paul in a Clippers uniform. Oh, no way. Come on.

I wrote in my nose. This is tough one because he's known as an asshole. Yes. You know what I mean? He's known as not a friendly warm fella. But I just feel like him in the Clippers uniform contributing to a championship, the first championship ever for the franchise.

universally happy about Chris Paul winning. There's Dame Lillard. There has to be Dame Lillard. I think Lillard is in a trailer. The Trailblazers uniform. He is a beloved. Next season, not this season, next season, contributing for the Trailblazers.

That would feel like, you know, well, I don't know if he could, because he wouldn't be the best player at that point, probably. But like, it's very, like, you remember when Dirk won? Oh, yeah. I mean, that was like a thing, right? Everybody loved Dirk Novitsky.

Everybody. It's hard to find. the guy that everybody loves, like that has that kind of a cue rating. I think Edwards is actually a good one. Who hates Anthony? Okay, well, there are some detractors based on his off-court. But they don't, but they don't hate him.

But they don't hate him. Like, yeah. If you hate Anthony Edwards, you just don't get it. But it does need to be somebody long-term, too. He hasn't been around long enough. Yeah, because I also feel like this, like, it's like. Like Fleetwood's been around for a decade and people all love him. We'll say Dane, Dane.

I think you're right. I think that's actually a good one. Damien a Trailblazers uniform. Who does, have you, have you ever met anybody that doesn't like Damian Lillard? Seriously.

Huh. Seriously. I've never met a human being that does not like Damian Liller. It's just like, he also speaks with maturity every time you hear him speak. Like he really like pops off.

Tensely likable guy. Yeah, he's like. And he's also like super fun, like in terms of a player, like exciting to watch. And he's like, you know, the whole Weaver State thing and like the whole like he turned himself into.

Like he is, he's not the guy that's above the rim and doing all this stuff. He's the guy that's, you know, really the moxie to pull the shot from 40 feet away. I mean, by the way, the next day after he hit that shot on Paul Georgia did the wave thing, me and my buddies went out to an NBA court and where he was on the court. I mean, you have to chuck that thing. Do you remember Paul George? It's unbelievable. Remember Paul George's a bad shot?

It's a bad shot. And then they watched me play. I was like, kind of right. You have to chuck that thing. Seriously. Oh, yeah. Like everything you've got. Oh, yeah.

Dude, NBA 3s are doable. NBA 3 is like a totally different thing. I might as well punt the ball. Like it's totally that those four feet or whatever make a huge difference. It's also halfway between half court and that NBA 3. you have to chuck it every once in a while I'll play pickup or a recl league game on like an actual

NBA size court it's completely different it's a completely different game I take entire possessions off I'm like you guys go ahead I'll be over here I'll be here when they come back the balls are to come back here eventually I'll be here waiting for it next one all right this was just straight down the middle

okay what is one NBA team that seems like everyone else is sold on being much improved or great next season but you just don't see it. I'm not saying championship contention team. It's just sort of like that buzzy team that people in the know are talking about

how great they're going to be, but you don't see it. Okay, so you're changing this because I took this as a team that is supposed to be great. Okay, take it that way. I don't care. But this was hard. This became hard then.

So then I had to go through it and like, all right, let me look at all the season win totals and everything. and the expectations at the top, right? And so I'm going down the list of the different teams. And I'm trying to see, could I see a scenario where this doesn't play out the same way it is expected to play out, right? So you're talking about Cleveland. You're talking about New York.

You're talking about Denver. You're talking about Oklahoma City. Right. Like, that's who you're going through. The good teams. The one that you could see. the one you would have more questions about. So that's what I'm going to frame this.

I'm not telling you, I'm saying they are more likely not to live up to expectation than some of their peers that are expected to be awesome as well. And that's Houston. Because everybody is on the same page with Houston. But when you change things,

there is always a chance that your change did not make you better. You also now are playing, like your, your leading guy and your best player is not a spring chicken, right, in Kevin Durain. No. Also, I just watched what happened in Phoenix. Like, you are. What about Brooklyn before that? Yeah, so that team was awesome last year, but they have changed all the dynamics of it, right?

So now the Shengun dynamic changes, the Thompson dynamic changes, the Van Blit dynamic change, right? They kind of had a thing where it was Jalen Green. And even if you want to say they've got better players now, they're still an adjustment and there's still a how it all fits together. How it all fits together and especially. So I would just say, Let me push back on this. They,

because they looked and they had this young team that was growing together and then they became something really good last year. And they pushed the accelerator on it, right? They push the accelerator on it. Sometimes that works. And sometimes it doesn't work the same way that you thought it would. The dynamic just changes. The locker room changes.

The, you know, the way your team functions. Changing dynamics, changing locker room. The way your team functions. Here's my pushback on that is I think in Denver and in New York, you have new coaches, which will change the dynamic and the locker room in more unpredictable ways than a team that needed a go-to score that picked up a game. go-to-scorer at the cost of extremely inconsistent young talent. But don't you take, hold on, hold on.

Dylan Brooks. Hold on. So I, E.M.U. Doca is going to be, is, I think he, I believe in E. May Udoka's ability to make this work more so than David Adelman and Mike Brown. Okay. So I'll push back to your pushback. What matters is the guys in the locker room. Brunson ain't letting that team get off track.

Yokic ain't letting that team get off track. now that you can say Udoca's the guy but in the end the players run the team and the players are responsible for the team and so now whose team is that

that's what I would say is my answer to why it is always more likely when you change things for there to be a step back rather than you bringing back your guys whose team I mean it doesn't Kevin Durant

seem like a perfect fit for that team though. I mean, let's be honest. They've got absolute defensive stoppers. You don't know, but you don't know personality-wise. You don't know person. That's what I'm saying. Like, we know on the other. We know Brunson's a perfect fit personality-wise.

We know Yokic's, like, that's there, that, those guys are in charge. They are going to, Mike Brown ain't determining whether the Knicks are good or not. And if they're down 15 at the half, if they're down 15 in the half, before the coaches get into the locker room. Like, is Kevin Durant's going to be sitting there on his phone? Like, does he say anything? Like, everyone in the other I said, he's not like a vocal leader. Right. You know what you're going to get from like a Chris Paul. Right. That's all I'm saying. And you just don't know. You don't know how the dynamics change. I do know what Dylan Brooks brings to a team. And it is, it's big time. It matters a lot. Like for all that I could not stand about Dylan Brooks,

I do understand what he brings to the team. And just the whole, you know, what now? Who's the, what's the pecking order? What's the shot taking order? What's the, right? They had a thing that they had cracking. And you did change that. So they changed a lot more.

Like Cleveland's going to bring back, I think they know what their pecking order is. Denver knows what their pecking order is. Well, so do the Rockets. The shot taking pecking pecking order goes Kevin Durant, big gap than Sanguna and everybody else. Maybe. Maybe. We're a breakout year for Jabari Smith.

I'm deferring. I don't know. I'm just saying their win total is 56 and a half. So again, I'm not telling you they're not going to be good. I'm saying they have the most questions of the teams that are supposed to be really good. Okay. Okay. And everybody.

It is also easy to say this. And we have documented at length just how, like, small the gap is between a two seed and eight seed. Yep. And you can sit there and be like, well, there are two seed. They added Kevin Durant. They lost Jalen Green and Dylan Brooks.

It's like, yeah, but they were also, you know, three wins over the nine seed. So like, right. It's, it's, you know, it's a,

it's a finicky position to be in. And also, I'm sorry. Phoenix stunk. What is, what are we going to really get to hear the story of what happened with Utoka and Boston? Because like,

I've heard stuff. When are we going to hear the microphone? But what about? Is anyone going to break that? You've heard stuff, right? How about Phoenix, though? I'm asking about Phoenix. Dude, like the second mismatch episode I did, I was like,

oh, the sons are going to be amazing this year. Seriously. So, seriously, but just don't forget where you were before the season started. And everybody's doing it again with Houston. Yes. And they added the same guy that Phoenix did that we all bought into. That the Nets did that we all bought into. Right. I don't know. I don't know.

Let's just see. I'm just saying. He had success in Brooklyn, though. I do want to say, I think people forget that the game seven toe on the line thing, like, you know, they were, they were a good team. Yep. But that was five, six years ago. If there is a Pistons this year, which that would be extreme, that just does not happen, a 30 win improvement. So forget not.

If there is a team that is like the Pistons, that makes the massive, jump. It will be. Okay. First of all, I had the same thought. I was like, what's not going to happen? And I did some research on this one. Dirty is crazy. The most ever is the 0708 Celtics.

And all of these big ones have like major roster changes. They added Kevin Garnett. They had Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. And like Rondo took a leap. They had Paul Pierce. It was like, that's 42 game win. crazy. The next

is the 97-98 Spurs. Wait, it was a 42 win improvement. Oh my God. That's crazy. They had the 97-98 spurs, which added Tim Duncan. And then we have the Sons 0405 that added Steve Nash. So that's like Stottemeyer Nash thing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So those are, I mean, so I don't see like a 30 win improvement. But if there was a team, And I've been hot on this team all off season, even at the end of last season, Portland Trailblazers. Oh, Portland. If there is like a sneaky leap team, I will say it's difficult because the West is the West. I think there's more potential to have a leap like that if you're in the East because there's a little bit,

they're a little, east is a little more top heavy than the West is consistently good. But Portland is just like, man. If you buy into the second. The second half of last year? The second half might be a stretch. The last few months, they'll always get a little squirley in the NBA. No, but I mean, they finished well. They finished extremely well.

They made off-season moves to improve the team and try to win games. They're not the jazz. You know what I mean? They're like, they're like, we're going to win games. And they also got the whole dame in the locker room, best assistant coach in the league. Like they've got their center rotation is clinging. Whatever Young Hanson is, I don't know. Looks slow to me.

But in time, Lord. We got Tumani Kumar, Deni Abia, who finished the season, like fantastic. Oh, he was great. Jeremy Grants, whatever. And then you get, if you get a scoot leap and a Shannon Sharp leap, Shaden Sharp, sorry.

Shade and Sharp, yeah. I've always liked Shaden Sharp. Some guys who are irrationally love. I just think that he's like, he's like one of those exciting players. You know what I mean? It's like, he might do some crazy stuff. Like, he's a great athlete.

He's a born score. I can see this team being much better than last year. And being one of those teams, we were like, huh. Back in September, I didn't think the Blazers were going to be like in the Western conference, you know, maybe even out of the playing. Well, and is Drew Holliday going to make a big impact too. Yeah. And Damon in the locker. Yep.

All right. So Portland is the one that you could foresee making a big jump. That's my leap team. That is my leap team. it usually goes team that's like right outside or trying for the play in and then the next year you know like they're they're usually a little under 500 that's what happened with houston it's what happened with memphis it's what happened with a bunch of these teams yeah sacramento it's hard to say this about i see the magic and the hawks were both like a little too good last year to be like yeah yeah well like

It's always those teams that are like either the 10 seed or like right around 500, right? Or a little under. So it happened with SAC. It happened with Memphis. It happened with Houston. I think most people would say the attack that you took would be Santa Tau. I think most people would say if there is that team. Right.

Because just the, you got Fox and Wembe healthy. Like you could force. be healthy and then they and then if the Harper kids good and Castle year too and it's so if they I'm just saying like the Cobbich thing was weird last year too it was like very strange hanging over the team yeah yeah strange that's a good call that's a good call all right next one should I retake the whole segment no no no okay I like your portals this was a storyline last year and I'm just gonna say I'm just gonna lead with my opinion okay that I think was bullshit.

Okay. My question for you is, do you think NBA teams shoot too many threes and the league should make a rule change? I actually think this is going to go back more the other way.

So no, I do not think there needs to be a rule of change. I think Adam Silver has been talking about being patient and like there's ebbs and flows and the way things are played. Yeah. And now you think of so many, of the guys being, like, many of the elite players are not three-point shooters or three-point

specialists, right? So this came along, obviously, with Steph and Clay and the Splash brothers or whatever. So whoever is really good at the time, obviously, has a profound impact. And you had Houston and Darryl Morey doing his lab experiment of guys shooting a million threes. There's still Boston who shoots an insane amount of threes, right? But you look at last year, these are the top teams. in terms of three-point shooting, like, attempts per game.

Okay? Boston far and away, number one, they shot 48 a game. Next is Golden State. Next is Chicago. Next is Cleveland. Next is Minnesota. Next is Utah. Next is San Antonio.

Next is the Nets. Next is the Wizards. Okay, this is not a who's who. You get down. The Denver's not on there. No. You know, clippers aren't on there. The Knicks aren't on there.

The teams that shot the least amount of threes, what I would argue were probably the two best teams outside of Oklahoma City in the Western Conference. Okay. So Oklahoma City was dead middle of the pack when it comes to three point attempts. The two that shot the least amount were Denver and the Clippers, who I would argue were the two best teams. They played each other. Yeah.

Right. And then obviously Denver played against Oklahoma City. And then also in the bottom five and three's attempted was the Knicks. Knicks. Yeah. Also, bottom third, the Pacers. So I think what you're seeing is, right, many times, whatever is winning is what is replicated. And we went through a whole span where that was winning. And so now you're starting to look. And I just told you. you at least. And then also, by the way, you get down to it. You get down to the bottom half in terms of three point attempts. Indiana, Detroit, Orlando, Houston, the Lakers. Like, these are all, all these good teams are in the bottom half in terms of three point attempts. And there was a lot of crap at the top where I was telling you.

I mean, I named off Chicago. I named off Washington and Brooklyn and whatever. right like i mean and those teams that's their only chance of winning is to chuck up a bunch of threes they're at such a talent disadvantage so they're just gonna shoot a million threes and then try to put the odds pucks on the odds yeah i mean just like play the odds fucks on the net maybe something could have maybe maybe we'll get hot if i take if i take 46 of them that the night i hit 23 of them i'm gonna be able to win a game i was like you know because we'd have these wednesday night basketball games and after we go to the bar

whatever and like my friends was picked up on this neighbor you know they're i hate to say casual NBA fans, but they're not like as locked in as like we are. It's our job. And they're like, oh yeah, like everyone shoots too many threes and all the games look the same now. All the teams play the same now. And I'm like, is that really real or is that just you just heard someone else say that. And like LeBron said it one time. And then I was just like, I don't know, because I watch a league pass every night. And like some of the best players in the league, the best scores are like mid, mid range masters. The problem. The problem is the crappy teams that take them. Yeah. That's that's one of them. And the other thing. And the other thing,

is the Boston thing was so extreme. Yeah. So extreme. And they were the reigning champions. And I'll never forget the first game of the year, the Nick, the Nick Celtics game. When they hit like 31-3 is the first half or something? I was just like, is this what's going to happen? But I don't believe the rule change.

I also believe in, I believe in coaches coaching to their team's strengths. Yeah. Right. So if you are Boston, you have this roster of guys that can shoot it, go for it. But if you're Denver or you're the magic and you don't have a bunch of guys like to shoot threes, don't do it. I also believe in defense strategy. If everyone's shooting threes, we'll run them off the line.

It's like, it's like the wildcat offense in football. It's like they figured it out. They but they schemed against it. And now you don't see it ever. And that's what's changing. And so never once was it a complaint in playoffs. You never heard it. The playoffs were great this year.

No, you never heard it during the playoffs. So that's when we need to have this conversation. Is it ruining the game? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You didn't hear about it. My guys were saying, like, oh, you could only shoot, like, you could only get like 20 attempts a game in the fourth quarter, you get an extra five or something. I was like, what are we talking about?

It seems like a three-point attempt counter on the scoreboard? Like, what are we doing? Well, and then the other thing was you saw, and we talked about this a lot throughout the offseason and the draft, the premium being put on players with the elite defensive ability, right? And the more that changes, the more you will see the game change. And then it was like every big, you can't have a center that doesn't space the floor that doesn't shoot threes. And then what do we see in the playoffs? Two bigs. We did our two big lineup. All of a sudden, Stephen Adams is like one of the most important players in the league.

And he can't even shoot eight feet from the basket, let alone 28. Right. And so many of the best players are big guys now. It's just trends. It's like I walk the streets. Everyone's wearing big baggy jeans now. I'm like, I was there in 90s. I'm not going back there. You know what I mean? Like, just trends. Yeah.

Yep. I agree. All right. U.S. Open is going on now. That is the tennis tournament that is going on in your Fair City. Have you ever been to it,

by the way? Hell yeah. I've heard it's amazing. Dude, such, it's not like going to like a next thing. What's the drink? What's the drink? The honey deuce.

The honey deuce. You can't have too many honey deuce. But there's a couple of things about it. Don't tell me what I can do. No. I can do whatever I want. Very sweet drink. Very sweet drink.

It's great. The Honeyduce is a fantastic cocktail. But I've got, there's a couple different ways you can go. I've gone early on in the tournament where you just, there's like a ton of courts. And you just kind of like walk around between them. And you're like,

this is the one I like where it's more of this like, it's a little of a hang, like you hang all day. And then me and my buddy, shout to Conichelle. We had like a bunch of $1 bills. We were like bedding each other. about who would win this point or whatever.

And it was just like, and we're walking around, drinking Heinekins, and we're going from this court to the next court. Then you hear like a little buzz over there. So you go over to that court and see like a finish of this match. And it's like this large grounds that you kind of move and flow from one small court to the next. And then there's also, which I've also attended, was the primetime main event like Billy Jean King, nighttime court. like that's more like a traditional sporting event

where you've got a ticket, you go in and you're in your seat the entire time and those are those just feel big and if it's a close match and the crowd gets into it, it feels big like the energy is not like hoity tooty golfy like like let's all politely clap like energy gets big I can only imagine what it was like there tonight I saw right before we started recording

Venus Williams in her I didn't know she was in the tournament in her 25th US Open I was like Who was she going up against She's getting waxed What was like

What in the world? All right anyways The point of this was The US Open is going on Uh That right the Ryder Cup The golfing event is going to be going out of Beth Page Black

Also in New York Right up the road from you Rank your three favorite New York sporting events Okay this was tricky okay um first of all i have to give a brief shout out to the greatest new york sporting event the mo badanga mo rice beach tournament three on three that we just played last weekend that my team made the playoffs in a bunch of guys in their mid 40s and it is like a reunion for all my homies we get together

and play basketball on the beach and then we go to the beach and drink beers nobody cares nobody cares about that event nobody cares at all that's why i made that so quick. Number three, going three to one. Okay. The U.S. Open, I've already discussed it. I don't even like tennis. I don't even know that many tennis players. It makes the list. It's a really good hang. Yeah. It's a really good hang. It's like a, it's pretty easy to get there in the seventh train. You don't feel stuck in one place. You can kind of move around a lot. It's a really, really nice event. A couple of things I have to mention. I am not a Yankees, Giants or Giants.

Jets fan. So I've been to all of those games, but I don't really care or Mets. I was a Red Sox fan growing up, so I can't be Yankees fan or Mets fan. I enjoy live events like that, but no thank you. Okay.

Number two in the list. Wow, so those don't make the list. No. And also, those teams are bad. Like the Jets and Jets and Jets and Jets are bad. I don't, I don't, yeah, you have to have a rooting it.

Yeah. Fair enough I mean. It's like, I don't want to go to what. It's your list. It's your list. So this is a, this is very subjective list.

Number two, summer outdoor basketball leagues. Now, these are very hit or miss, right? There's Kingdom, which I used to go to a lot in the early 2000s. These are like those, what you think of if you're never been to New York, where like Rucker Park, Dyckman is kind of the most popular now. But people like, if you go to Rucker Park, there's children shooting on a hoop. Like, it's not like there's like elite basketball going on all the time. And these games sometimes are pretty boring and flat if it's a blowout or the basketball's

not that good sometimes. But if you get the right mix of like nighttime, combustible crowd and really competitive good basketball, there's no other feeling like it. It's just awesome. Like the energy is crazy. The announcer's funny. And the guys are dunking.

They're pushing each other around. And the reps don't have any control over the basketball game. And everyone's just like smoking blunt and drinking beer everywhere. And you're just like, how am I going to get home? It's like, it's just awesome. It is awesome. All right. That would be my number two.

And number one. It's easy. Like, it's just a legit Knicks playoff run like last year. It's the best thing in New York. There's just nothing like it. Like the last year was just magical, man. I know they lost at the paces or whatever,

but like, remember FaceTiming you from after the game? Yeah. It's crazy. It's just like, like, and like the Knicks stuff is everywhere. People that don't care about the Knicks are just like in the off. talking about the Nix. It just takes over the entire city. And there's nothing else like it.

And I also want to give a shout to Liberty Games because those are super fun. Liberty games are fun. But they're not. Really? Yeah. Ellie, the Elephant's amazing. The vibe has gotten really good. Obviously, the team's gotten good.

They've got stars now for a few years. Those are good. Those are good. That's my list. Next. Okay. I let myself down. I let the mismatch down.

I'm going to say I messed this one up. Uh-oh. So this is going to be a series. I had planned on doing like a two-hour deep dive on Srahena Yokic and giving like a full bio. So my question was, would you like to hear what I learned about Stryhya Yokic? Would you like? Yes. Okay.

Not much. Not much because I didn't get like that. A lot of time to research this one. Do you want to hear what I learned? Yeah. I mean, you're going to get mad because we're 51 minutes into this pod. We have to re-record. We shouldn't even talk about the NBA in this.

We should just talk about Strahina Yokic. You know what? So do you answer the question? Here's the new question. Will you tell me what you learned about Stryhani Yokic? I got a message from another one of our listeners. Oh, yes, I did. Our listeners are out there, brother.

They are out there. People listen to this show? I can't believe it either. I got it. You ready? Yeah. This is Brendan. You want to hear it?

Last week was Rick, and now it's Brendan? You ready? Yeah. Hey, Verna. Long time mismatched listener and I figured I'd pitch in on what I know about Strahania Yokic. I don't want to blow up the spot to respect his privacy, but I go to the same gym as him and his brother. No! Nimmanja.

When they're in Denver, I'm sure any other mismatch listeners at this gym will be able to confirm my story, but it's everything you can imagine and more. Not only does he spend a good hour and a half using the massage. gun and bands to warm up. He just people watches in dead silence while he does the massage gun. His average time in the gym. Hold on. Just imagine walking by and he's got a massage gun to his thigh and he's just dead looking you right in the face.

This gets better. Brendan. His average time in the gym has got to be four hours. He's got every brace imaginable. back, knees, elbows, and he's moving weight that take up all the plates in the whole gym with at least eight to ten minutes between working sets. Now, Namaja, the older brother, he does a typical core and functional workout, swims, gets out of there in probably an hour and a half.

The last time I saw Strangia, I was leaving and he was walking in. My sister went to the gym. three hours later and he started his squats on the rack next to her. She was so intimidated by the weight he was lifting. She left the rack and finished her workout on the other side of the gym. While I haven't had the pleasure of seeing him work out fully in a while, sightings are relatively rare.

I've seen him repping out four plates on the bench like it's air. His warm up for deadlifts are five plus plates and the whole floor of the gym shakes when he drops the weight. Wait, four plates on each side of the bar? Listen. His warm up for deadlifts are five plus plates, and the whole floor shakes when he drops the weight. And an absolutely horrifying individual.

Wow. They're out there, brother. I don't know how to say his name, Sarahina, Strahanja. They're telling us this. They're telling us the stories. Oh, my God. People out there listen to these pots and they're like, I've got a story. We've had a guy what's worked out in a gym with them and we've had a guy that randomly saw him in a Wahu, Hawaii when he took his wife out on a date.

I love the idea that this guy, right? And I don't know how close he is with his sister. He goes to the gym and sees him. and then him and his sister are texting or talking later, and they're like, I saw him too. Yes. Like they talk about it.

That's like one of the three hours later. Me and you like use it as a topic of conversation just to like, you know, have something in common. That's what they do too. They track him as a family. That's the kind of man that massage guns for an hour and a half to get ready for his workout.

I don't even like stretch before a basketball. Like massage gunning and banding for an hour and a half of warm up. If I'm in the gym past an hour and a half, I fell asleep. That's what happened. I fell asleep on a yoga mat. That's what happened if I'm in the gym. Sorry,

did you learn anything about him outside of what I told you? No. All right. He used to play basketball. Luca got an Overwatch deal. He's like part of the video game now. He's big into Overwatch. He's great at it, evidently.

So he's awesome at this video game Overwatch, and Luca's got this deal with them now. The video game that you were... best act. Okay, there's two here. Okay. I want to give a shout to Kevin Wilde's in this one because he said something to me once. He probably doesn't even remember saying because I used to like, I watched the movie

cocktail when I was a kid so I flipped bottles around and I flipped a gatorade bottle and caught it on the top of my hand and it stood straight up. And then I flipped it again and caught it in the palm of my hand. And he's like, sometimes you can be so good at something that stops being cool and starts being uncool because you must have practiced so much at it. And I was like, oh, wow, that's a great tip. And this was like 20 years ago, he said that. And it stuck with you for 20 years that he said that.

I was so good at Tony Hawk Pro Skater, like the first two or three versions. PlayStation 2? Then it was not cool anymore. Like, you would have two minute runs. I would do like two tricks. Like, I was so good at this. Me and my buddy, Mike, would just spend hours after, hours after hours playing this game.

Just dominating it. And it was just like, if, if somebody came in the room and watched us do it, they'd be like, what, what's the point? Like, what are you guys trying to win? Like, what are you trying to do? Why are you doing this? That game I was so good at.

And I have a very strong, strong affection and strong relationship with the game Golden Team. Oh, if you, I don't want to do this. I'll beat you a gold team. I'll beat you a gold team right now. I don't know, but I'm not going to turn my camera around in here.

You have one at your house? Yeah, bro. Wow. I got it for Christmas. You connected to the internet? No, it's the one I got it. It's like an old one. No, it's like one of those ones that you get at Costco.

Oh, that's, you know, those ones that it's got three versions of it. It's not the, it's not like the bar one. It's like the, I don't know. I got it for Christmas one year. The bar one, there's a couple. There's some connected to the internet. I've got an app on my phone. And during the pandemic, all the old tis disappeared from New York City.

There's like three. And there's two ways that you can play. One is connected to the internet and one is not. And the one that is not, you can't download your profile. You just kind of play locally. But you kind of get to know these three lettered names of people that are beating you. And I had this war with this guy when I lived in Los Angeles at my local golden tea spot. And I met him after a year.

And I was like, your waos? Everyone, not was like, it was like, it was like lamb, L.A.m. I'm like, your lamb? He's like, I've been going to be like, he's like, he's like, what was I? Oh, SWEBM, I'm swah. He's like, you're going back and forth for years. But then when you get connected to the internet, you realize that there are people that are way more serious about going to. Oh, I know.

That was, no. And I, no, no, no, no. let me finish the story. I went to the Golden Tea Championships in Las Vegas. I got on a plane from New York City. What? To Las Vegas. It was on ESPN,

the Ocho. You know how they do that? Yeah. And my buddy, second mentioned, Conor Shell was like, I'm going to send you there to, like,

cover it, I guess. I don't know. I met some people. He knew I liked it. And there's a way you can play your way into the championships, like an open tournament. Yeah,

yeah. So I put my name down, and I'm playing with these guys. And I started realizing that golden is something I do to get away from my life. For other people, golden tea is life. It is. Absolute life.

Oh, yeah. Like, I'm talking minus 26, minus 27, minus 28. Like, like, there, there, there, just one dude hit a ball through a window that came out another window and went on the green? I was just like, what is happening here? These guys are serious about golden tea. And I got smoked.

And then I went home. Dude. It's so funny, you say that about finding people that take it like super seriously. the worst thing ever was so my son got super into you know he's got PlayStation 5s or whatever else so then when that college football game came out last year I got it and so I started playing it all the time but I didn't play against people and I was like oh I'm cracking at this bro I got online and just like got matched up in games these guys destroyed like 56 to nothing at half time I can't even complete a pass.

I'm like, I am horrible at this. I am terrible. I'm so bad. I can't even do anything versus like somebody that's awesome at this game. This sucks. Yeah. The only ones that I dedicated my life to were 2005 EA Sports Baseball, the one with Manny Ramirez on the cover.

It was the last one that they had. and I literally played like a 162 game season on that thing. And then NHL 94. Like I got that. The NHL 94 is great back then. The NHL 94 on Sega Genesis, which there's still like online leagues for that game to this day. But me and Rosa, my producer,

we bought a Genesis and that game. And we used to play it every day before the show back in our old studio. We used to play it every day. So I played that game, like, even like, I don't know, probably 10 years ago, quite a bit. But yeah, nowadays, like, I don't even know who's like on the other end sometimes when I'm playing. And I'm like, I don't even, please tell me this isn't like an eight-year-old kid that's destroying me like this. I hope it's an adult. Like, but they're so good.

They are so good at the game. Yeah, dude. I've tried to play this golden tea thing. I'm telling me, like, these people fly to Vegas to play golden tea. they have them in their basement they're so good at this game like even when my son was like let's say 10

that's when Fortnite popped off everybody in the world was playing Fortnite and so Fortnite right it's a one it's all for one one for all you know you're on your own you know you land down in a zone and now it's just a free for all it's like hunger games

right yeah so I told him that that point the first Fortnite is like people the place where they all go to is this place called tilted towers. So I start talking trash to my son. And I was like, I could land at tilted towers and then just mowed the whole thing down. I'm the king of tilted towers. So he hands me, so he hands me the sticks, right?

So the helicopter takes you, it drops you off. And I said, tell me where to go. Where's tilted towers? Jacoby, I swear to God, my feet hit the ground. And I got shot immediately. there's a hundred people on the island I was the first person out I didn't even get a chance to run and go get a gun

and it's all 10 year olds like my son Do you remember Golden Eye? That was a big one When I was in college and my friends Super Nintendo I didn't have the thing And my friends had it so I'd go over their house whatever Let's like you know let's smoke pot and play golden eye And the second I spawned from the ground I just get shot in the back of the head immediately.

The worst. Like every single time. I'm like, this sucks. I hate this game. Yeah. All right. Last one. Last one.

Would you like to hear an opinion of mine that will have a large majority of mismatched listeners and watchers absolutely think I'm an idiot? Yes. Also, this is bold. You used the question to ask yourself a question. Yeah, that's exactly what I did. That's amazing. Yeah, it was my last one. I was running out.

I've been thinking about this for years. I've never said this into a microphone. I've been thinking about this for years. This is going to be a very unpopular opinion. But there's going to be like four people that agree with me. Am I going to think you're an idiot? Not an idiot because it's my opinion. It's how I feel about something that everyone else loves.

Okay. So I can't truly be wrong. Okay. But this is an unpopular opinion. It involves Michael Jordan. Oh, God. Michael Jordan's Jordan brand sneakers

are the most overrated, overappreciated entity not just in sports, in sports, fashion, pop culture, everything. Their first three or four were pretty good.

The first ones were just dunks. And then I like the two, threes, and fours. I don't own any Michael Jordans that aren't Jordan ones. I'd never worn 12th, 12th are some good ones. I like the 13s.

Like there are some that I like, but they're gimmicky and they're like, they're trying to outdo themselves every year. They look stupid. And think about this, the Jordan brand has not made

another athlete sneakers popular. They've never made any of those Jordan brand team sneakers popular. Like Carmelo had a good pair. They've signed huge athletes. And you've never seen like a Russell Westbrook be popular. You have.

Carmelos. Okay. I just think that we accepted as like the best sneakers of all time, Jordan sneakers. It's like, well, they don't look good. Three, three is amazing. Four is amazing. Yes. I'd say two, three and four I really like.

I like 12s a lot. But you're right in turn of, we're up to like 30 now. And I think there are people that will tell you that they have intentionally never made an awesome Jordan for somebody else. I'm telling you. No, the brand itself is like one of the Tatum's, the Lucas, the Derek Jeter they had for a while. You're right.

Huge names and they don't make any sneakers for them. And you've never seen. No one's ever been like, oh yeah, those non-jordan Jordan brand sneakers are hot. Like, remember like fucking 50 cent had the hottest sneakers in the city for a while. You know? And like, but Michael Jordan can't make sneakers for, Russell Westbrook?

Honestly, they keep, like, there's a new version of the threes and fours every year. They're all retroses now. No, it is. You've never seen 20s. Anything past 20 years don't see anymore. It's red cement, cement, blue cement.

And the only ones I want are threes. I would say, so my son's gotten into shoes. The threes are the, those are like the. Threes, fours. No, two, three, fours. but I think that at that point And I think we have 12s. We have 12s.

I like the 13s, but that's just kind of like where I was in my life at the time. But I could never afford these things. And what you do when you get older, you can afford things that you couldn't afford when you were a kid, I don't buy any of them. I don't wear any. I've ones.

That's it. I have threes, fours. I've got the golf shoes. I've got the Jordan golf shoes that they've made. I've got one pair of fives with the huge tongue. With the two holes in it?

No, the huge tongue. You know, the big fat tongue. I've got the, I've got the ones. But they always, they constantly want to innovate because they were so innovative with like the two's threes and fours that they're just like, sometimes like guys, like make a good looking sneaker. You don't have to like laser it.

Remember the 20s? They had like laser patterns all over them. And then they're like, They got the holes in the tongue. It's just like, what are we doing? I've got the fives. The fives I have are the ones that Gucci main wears in the first day out the feds video. I saw him wearing them and I'm like, those are awesome. Yeah, I need those.

The Gucci rain. I got a bunch of ones. I just don't think they look good with shorts or jeans personally. This is my opinion. And it's not really my style. They're very loud sneakers. I wear like Chuck Taylor's. like normal.

I don't think yeah. I don't think yet. When we, when we all agree that they keep on releasing the same two that we all buy, which are three. Yes.

They've come out with 30 versions, but they really only release like 11. Right. And they've had all these athletes over time, and nothing really popped. Well, there's also, there's also 37 versions of them now.

And we really strain to get to our sixth favorite. Yes. And they've come out with, I don't think it's, I don't think that people are going to... They've come out with so many team Jordans. I don't think people are going to disagree with. I don't think people are going to disagree with you on this.

Even now, you don't see people wearing the other versions very much. Honestly, like, I'm around an NBA team all time. They were on threes and fours. They five lows, like the Chinese New Year's I've seen some guys wearing. There's special ones that came out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But a lot of them are all versions of... They're all...

Most of them are versions of... of five different Jordan. And they're 37. And now it's like you do a collab to do a retro. So it's like the Nigel Sylvester threes or whatever. You know what I mean? Like it's like that's right. And they've tried.

Basically what I'm saying is the perception of this sneaker is like the best sneaker brand. The the pinnacle, the top of the mountain is the Jordan brand sneakers. But the reality is they've come out with like 10 hits and 300 misses. Seriously. 300 misses. I don't hate this. I don't hate this. I've never shared this into a microphone before.

I don't even told my friends about it. It's something that's just been brewing in my head. I'm like, I don't wear these. Like, action speaks louder than words. I don't wear the shoes. Fair enough. Fair enough. Jacoby is always a pleasure. Thank you to our executive producer, Jesse Lopez, as always.

And I'll talk to you next week.