The Mismatch - Will LeBron Retire at the End of the Season? Plus, Trae’s Future, Tanking Teams, and More 2026 Predictions!

Episode Date: December 30, 2025

Verno and Jacoby return with the last episode of 2025 as they recap the action from Monday night, including Nikola Jokic’s injury (ESPN’s Shams Charania reported after the recording that Jokic has been diagnosed with a hyperextension in his left knee and will miss at least the next four weeks), the Raptors getting it done by committee against the Warriors and Magic, the Cavs getting back on track against the Spurs, Deni Avdija’s continued success for the Blazers, and how the Mavs are handling Cooper Flagg's development. Next, the guys give out their predictions for 2026. (00:00) Welcome to The Mismatch! (00:26) Nuggets fall to the Heat after Nikola Jokic goes down with injury (05:30) Raptors bounce back after losing to the Wizards with comeback wins against the Warriors and Magic (12:51) Cavs end two-game skid with win over Spurs in San Antonio (16:34) Deni Avdija continues his quietly great season in Blazers win against Mavs (18:53) Will Cooper Flagg ever play with Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving? (24:45) Verno and Jacoby's prediction no. 1 (37:13) Verno and Jacoby's prediction no. 2 (41:44) Verno and Jacoby's prediction no. 3 (51:20) Verno and Jacoby's prediction no. 4 (58:59) Verno and Jacoby's prediction no. 5 The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Leave us a message on our Mismatch voicemail line! [phone] Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez and Stefan Anderson Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon to join me to us every week from The Rigger.com is Dave Jacoby. Jacoby. Tough one last night, I know. Yeah, we got a little worrisome as we're recording this on Tuesday morning. We still do not have news on the Nicola Yoakic injury that took place last night. He went down in agony, which is something that we see all kinds of guys go down each and every night, unfortunately. in the NBA.

Rarely do we see Yokic go down and gets kind of collapsed into, grabs his knee. Coach is saying he's not going to sleep at night. Everybody's going to kind of just wait and see on this. But there is no question that this injury is so big that it would literally change the NBA season. He is making history right now, as we have chronicled many times on this show. He is having the greatest PER season in the history of basketball. His PER right now is 35.5.

The highest ever is 32.8, which is 2021, 22, 22, 22, Nikolio Kitch. He is having his masterpiece season. They have been unbelievable. certainly one of the handful of teams that has a chance at the NBA title and so now we just all hold our breath and hopefully this is not some kind of terrible injury. The mismatch is presented by Bandool.

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Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Help.com. Call 1-888-789-77777-7 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. We always talk about the non-yokage minutes and how tough they are on the nuggets. And non-yokage games are a non-yokage stretch is going to be very difficult for the nuggets. There's such a freakish injury.

I think Spencer Jones sort of like stepped on him in a weird way. And one of the reasons he is so durable is because he is low to the ground. Like he doesn't jump. He doesn't cut quickly. He's not like one of these fast twitch kind of athletes, like a Derek Rose type,

where you can sort of like see the injury coming because of the style of play. his style of play is what creates his durability. And this is such a freakish thing. And he went down and it looked bad. And you listen to some of the postgame stuff. It doesn't seem encouraging. And right now we have no information in terms of exactly what the injury is.

But they'll be without yogurt for a while and hopefully they can try to stay afloat. Well, just seeing him in the agony that he was like leg was like shaking, he's holding it. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Like this guy does not show pain. Like, have you ever seen him, like, act like he was hurt? Like, there's all kinds of guys that flail around everywhere and, like, you hold your breath every time they go down. I can't remember a time where I've seen. And I know that inevitably somebody's going to send me some clips like, oh, you don't remember this or whatever.

But honestly, he's not one of those guys. This is no drama king, as we say. And so that's what freaked me out the most is. when he went down and he looked like he was, I mean, it takes a lot to hurt a guy like that. And so, man, I mean, that was brutal. And the leg shaking, you texted me about the shaking leg. The shaking leg was, it was, it was, I just hope it's not that big a deal.

You know what I mean? I hope it's a month and that he can get back. And because the nuggets are one of the true championship contenders this year. I mean, they're easily, I don't want to argue about it, but they're top four team in basketball right now. No question. That was the big story of last night. And as of time of recording,

We just got to wait and see on that and hope for the best. But it didn't look great. That's for sure. Other big games that took place last night. The Hawks, they kind of stuck around with the Thunder for a long time. I kept texting you. And I'm like, I don't know how. But this thing's back at five with like five, six minutes to go.

The Thunder ended up taking care of business. But that was just teetering on like, hey, man, are we okay with the Thunder? Because like we went from, they're going to. win 80 games to why are they, why is this happening? Losing to the Hawks. Why is this happening? But they were able to

take care of business down the stretch. We've got the Raptors Magic was probably the one that you and I were most excited about. It's great game. It was a great game. What a, what a weekend for the Raptors who not

only had that comeback win against a Warriors and then pulled off what the impossible, which is winning a game by 14 that went to overtime as they beat the Warriors 19 to 5 in an overtime meltdown. I heard Zach Lowe was texting us after that game because he got to see that one in person and it was just all bad vibes for the Warriors after that one. but great vibes for the Raptors. Then they're down 20 plus to this magic team.

Come storming back Jamal Shad. Jamal Shedd. Colin Murray Boyles. Like all these guys contributing. It's not Ingram and Bart. It's like it's Jacoby Walker, Grady Dick, Mamu, Agbaji. Like it's not the big names. They're doing it for this Raptors team.

They're deeper than you think. Yes. And well, and because. once they get their guys back, and of course they didn't have Barrett in this one, but once they get their guys back, that bench at the beginning of the season was like the most productive bench in the NBA when they got off that like super hot start. Yep.

And as we've been talking about throughout the year, they have been one of the great stories. They got great vibe. Like we talked about vibes with the team. They got great vibes and great home crowd yesterday. And you saw that like that felt like a. big time environment when they go on that late 10-0 run. And the magic, I mean, just a mess.

My guy, Bain ain't even in the game down the stretch of that one. I guess he's too small for Jamal Mosley. But then they got a chance to win the game. And you got what, Pollo who shoots roughly 20% from three, taking a step back three for the win. You know, in the absence of Franz, in the absence of Suggs, it is kind of odd to me that you wouldn't have more offensive players on the court. Or Desmond Bain, for example.

I don't know. Correct. Right. When you can't get a bucket? Seems like Desmond Bain would be useful in that scenario. But who am I to say, you know? I would have thought so. But you had the Raptors.

You know, the thing you love about them is how hard they play when they really get cracking. You get that home crowd going and Glorillas dancing on the sidelines. you know, cheering for her man, Brandon Ingram. I mean, they had like 21 offensive rebounds, 18 second chance points. Like, that's just, and it's not like they, they don't have a monster inside that's doing all that. That's just guys playing hard. That's it. That's it.

They don't, they don't really have a big. I mean, Perthal's out there sometimes. Right. But, like, without him, they don't really have a size or rim protection, but they just do it with heart and hustling rebounding, you know. And they do it. Everyone's big, but they don't have a big. But everyone's big for their position. And like, Jamal Shed, man, like, it wasn't just yesterday. He's having a full season.

He looked great yesterday. I mean, just another one in the line. And this has been an ongoing thing here. And we're seeing it now even with your guy, Tyler Colick in New York. It's all across the board. This has happened for years. Years and years and years. And obviously college basketball has changed dramatically now

and it continues to change even more. But for so many years, it was the ageism, right? And then, you know, the height thing was getting these guys, right? So, like, we live in a world where it's a lot of big guards. And also, it's like you look at the guy that's 22 or 23 coming out of the draft who has proven. to be awesome, right? This has gone back to Brunson.

This has gone back to Draymond Green when he was Big Ten player of the year. This has gone back to Jay Crowder when he was Big East player of the year. This has gone back to Chandler Parsons when he was SEC player of the year. Like on and on and on. Like if you watch Jamal Shed in college, we were watching this game and I text you and I said, I love this guy so much in college. And I really think if he wouldn't have gotten hurt, Houston might have won that. the national championship that year.

But again, another one of those guys that, like, he played against everybody, was on an amazing team, proved to be the best player on an amazing team. And then we get to the draft and he's still sitting there after the first round is over. Fred Van Vleet, another one. I mean, these, these happen over and over and over again. And it's almost like, what did they need to show you? And inevitably, then we look up at a couple of years, like, oh, wow, surprise.

Jamal Shed's good. What were you watching? And now everybody's like, can you believe Tyler Colick? Yeah. I mean, if you paid attention, go pull up Tyler Colick and

Marquette, the guy won every award in the world. You know what I mean? Like, you think it just, and we just are convinced that like it's college good, but it's not going to translate. And sure. To be fair, there are, there are

Certainly examples of that. In New York. There are college good that doesn't translate, but at the guard position, it seems to. Certainly. And Shed has been a revelation for them. Just an absolute dog, too. Great hair, too. I mean, everything about him.

He's just awesome. He's a fun player. That Toronto team, it feels sort of like the Nets did like four years ago. Like, they're young, they're deep. They're having fun. They're getting the crowd into. it's just like it's like the team you want to be on it just seems like they're having fun and getting wins like they're right now fourth in the eastern conference and i was looking up

at the standings like i don't see anyone leaping over them right and who do you who who can you see taking that spot the magic or the calves those are the two teams i could potentially see doing it but i wouldn't be surprised if they're hosting a game one in the first round oh i would be surprised if it if it i this is where we're going to break ways wait wait is that You would be surprised if they host a game one in the first round. Yes, yes. So who's going to do anything? The magic is going to take off?

Look, bro, there's 50 games left. This has been a great story. But come on. Okay. So tell me the team that's going to overtake them in the standings. Orlando for sure. And maybe Cleveland. Those are the two that I would earmark as well.

Yeah. But I could also see the Celtics falling. Could. Good. And maybe somebody behind them makes a run as well. We'll get to some of the teams a little bit later. We'll never remember this in four months,

but I think they're the four-sie. All right. And I'll be right. But I won't remember being right. You for sure won't. You'll be glad that you don't remember. The Cavs, the aforementioned, beat the Spurs last night.

That is a great win. That is a great win for the Cavs. and interesting too because, you know how we were talking about how, like, it felt like the Spurs had the antidote for what was going on with the Oklahoma City Thunder. It, you know, styles make fights. Cleveland's got guards. You know what I mean? Like, they get, like, you bring your guards to the table.

You're bringing Fox. You're bringing Harper. You're bringing Castle. Well, like, when Mitchell and Garland are around and then they got these long athletic bigs, Mowgli. Like that is the Evan Mobley that like Cleveland has been yearning for, right? Well, also, Jerry Allen. Unfortunately, it's not all the time.

One of the biggest stories of the Cavs season has been Jared Allen hasn't really performed this entire season. And right. Last night he showed up. Last night he showed up. You know, you worry about him when it's bully ball. And the spurs aren't bully ball. No. That's not what they, they're not bully ball.

Like I worry more about the teams that are going to get mega physical, a push, shoe around or whatever. That's not the Spurs M.O. Like the way we were talking about like on Christmas Day when you watch Alan, you're like, man, yeah, I don't want him in the ring with Mitchell Robinson. I don't want him in the ring

with some of these teams that are bringing like these big physical guys. But certainly in a game like the Spurs game, and that's a really good win for them, for sure. And Cleveland has had all manner of injury problems. Mitchell is having this all NBA caliber. or season.

And I could see them getting on a run in the second half of the year. For sure, we all expected them to be awesome, right? And it hasn't gone that way. But as they get their guys back in the fold and like the more games they can rack up with their group playing together, they'll be able to get wins on a night in, night out basis. It's garland. It's all garlands. When he is 100, 100 percent, they've got one of the best back courts in the league,

if not the best back court in league with Mitchell and Garland. And I think he's been playing, but he hasn't been healthy. And I think on Christmas Day he looked good. Obviously look good in this game. And, you know, we can talk about Struce and, you know, Sam Merrill and other injuries they have. But I think Garland is the key right there. Well, because, because once you decide you're going to pay these guys

and then you have the casualties of this, which are Ty Jerome and Isaac O'Coro, like you start to lose guys because you paid guys, then those guys have to be available, right? You've hurt your debt by paying them. You have to have them in the lineup at that point because you're just not going to have as good a players. I would love to see a little more from Lonzo Ball.

It's been disappointed to watch them sort of fall out of the rotation. And, you know, I love the idea of Lonzo Ball, but I think unfortunately injuries have really just sidetracked his entire career. Well, it's also just like super hard. hard if you're the guy that can't play on a regular basis, right? Like, how do you, how do you develop with the group when you're not, you're never going to play back to backs and you're like, you know what I mean? Like one night you're playing one night you're not.

One night you're playing one night you're not. You might not be playing that week. And that's really hard. It's, it's also hard when you can't knock down shots. You know, if you can't knock down your open threes, it's going to be really hard in the NBA. your guard. That is also hard. Other things that took place last night that we need to mention, this season, Denny Obdi is having is crazy. I don't like people know. Because it's in Portland, if you're watching a West Coast game, you're probably watching like the Lakers or the, you know,

the nuggets or the warriors, but like quietly in the Northwest, Denny Obie is having one of the best seasons in the entire league. Never on national television, right? So this is, it's happening. it's happening on league pass, but 27, 11, and 9, and Portland beat the Mabs. You know, Portland feels a little primed to do what they did last year. If they could just get some guys back in the lineup, because they've been doing all this without a point guard. Holiday has not played since November 14th, right? And I watch them and I'm like, damn, man, if they had Drew Holiday, it's like, And you had Drew Holliday and Chaden Jarp and Denny Obdia and Klingin has been come on.

He's just a, he's a, he'll give you a boring 10 and 10 every single night. And he hasn't had a single highlight. He caught an Aleut last night. Hasn't had a single highlight the entire season, but he's going to give you a boring 10 and 10 with solid rim protection. He's good. And he runs a floor and slowly. No, but he doesn't. as well getting out on like screen right like that's what he's not the big that has to stay in front

of the basket right there's some of the bigs that are the drop coverage guys that if you pull a five all the way out to the three point line now you've opened up the entire court uh or sometimes or just give up an open three because they're just going to stay there cling it can move and 18 and 18 versus Celtics then turned around and against Dallas had 18 and 11 and when they've given him like 30 plus minutes. He has big production. He guy averages like 26 minutes a night and get you that double double that

you were mentioning. Like he's averaging like 11 and 11 and he only plays 26 minutes. On the nights they play him 35 plus minutes a guy big numbers like Zubot's numbers. I think Shaden Sharp is also quietly having it. I mean he's inconsistent but like last night he was great

but we can't talk about this game without mentioning one thing I love about the Mavs is in crunch time, they give Cooper flag the ball and let him operate. And they did it yesterday. And he kicks it out to a but naked, wide open, nodgy Marshall, practice three for the game. And he just missed it. But Cooper created, he made the right read, created the right shot.

I mean, like, listen. Well, and he's starting to get the top of the whiteboard treatment. Oh, yeah. Like you see. Who else deserves it? Right. I'm saying. But like, what's crazy is it's going to be, it's going to be interesting to see how.

he navigates it all. His learning curve is going to become so much greater than many of his peers. Because usually your first year, you get to take the league by storm, right? They're not used to you. They're not used to your tendencies, whatever. It's like, yeah, they're scouting this guy to death and putting, you know, it's like, Camara, you got him, you know, or whoever is the best defender on the other team. and it's like he is truly thrown into the hellfire right immediately

and has to operate as the star. Like that is very rare. That is very rare where you have to totally operate as the star player and you get the star treatment from opposing defenses immediately to the point where you do get to kick out to Najee Marshall for wide open three. Usually it's like, you know, you get a learning curve with this stuff. And also in theory, this team is supposed to have Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, which creates a completely different environment for Cooper Flag to develop in.

And I'm not going to say it's good or bad. I think you'd rather have, you know, Hall of Famers around you on the court. But he's done, he's really impressed being sort of the lead engine of offense. Because if you have Kyrie Irving out there and Anthony Davis out there, then you're kind of catch and shoot threes and, you know, weak side cuts and things like that. But now it's like they give them the ball and be like, all right, Coop. get us a bucket. Do you think we'll ever see them?

The three of them on the same team? Doesn't seem like it, right? No, it doesn't feel like it. I mean, I think that there is, you know, this is a very interesting discussion to have because they are in quite the quandary. Like, there's interest in Anthony Davis, but he's had the injuries, right?

And, you know, the Hawks thing has come up regarding Anthony Davis. and I read Mark Stein's substack over the weekend. And he kind of mentioned that it seemed like Patrick Dumont was kind of fancied like, hey, kind of like to see them all together. On the other hand, they have this whole other issue of we're clearly building out around this guy.

Like we're on the Cooper flag timeline. And we're going to build out around him. And so with doing that, wouldn't it be who thus to? to this is the last first round pick they've got in a long, long time. Like they've traded them away. And so they don't have first round picks going forward. Don't they have their pick next year?

I'm saying they have it this year. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Yes. So wouldn't it be who them to go ahead and get somebody, it wouldn't be the worst thing to have a high draft pick to go ahead and pair on the Cooper flag timeline. Yeah.

Rather than be maximum competitive, the other. I mean, this is, the whole thing is so fascinating because the other thing is if you move Davis, what kind of return do you get? 20 cents on the dollar? Like, what are you going to get for Davis now?

And then that turns into what Luca turned into, which is a whole other bag of crap, right? Because now it's not just the, it's not just what you would trade Davis for. It's that this is what,

you have this is the ultimate return that you have gotten by moving everybody's favorite player and the franchise player and the guy that makes all NBA. The problem is, is I kind of do see the vision. We always talk about Nico. Like, Nico's woke up this morning hungover. It was watching the hate watching the Mavericks last night. There's a pair of underwear in his bed that he doesn't know where they came from. And he's just wiping the, you know, the boogers out of his eyes.

and he said to himself, if Andy Davis was healthy, if Kyrie Irving was healthy, if Derek lively was healthy, like that team is a contending team. Like if you have all those players, right. If they were like,

BJ Washington, Washington Flagg, Irving, lively Davis, like, well, hold on, you do not give him credit for flag. That was ridiculous.

But that was part of the vision, Burnow. That was part of the city. I forgot. That's part of the vision. You have to be a visionary. Now people see the vision. The vision's a little blurry right now because he was hate watching the Mavericks last night.

Right. I mean, you're right, though. If they had all their guys. If they have their guys, it's a good team. Like, I wouldn't want to play them in a playoff series if they had their guys. But we're not giving them credit for Cooper Flag. No. Like, it is what it would be really good because Cooper Flagg is already awesome.

Oh, yeah. Right. Oh, yeah. He's everything you want to be. And that is going to lead off. We are giving, instead of doing a, we're not looking back. We are looking forward. So we are going to give 2026 predictions.

These are not bold predictions and or in many cases or things that we don't think will happen. These are actually things we think will happen. And so that being said, I will start with the aforemetch of Cooper flag. he will become the seventh unanimous rookie of the year. I think he will be so good. And you got C Cnipple already out. I was about to say he was on a heater,

but Cinnipples out, right? He was on a heater. I was surprised that there have only been Wembe was the sixth. And before him, the last unanimous one, like I would have thought that there were more unanimous rookies of the year. where somebody just made it totally undeniable.

Wemby, Cat, Ralph Sampson, David Robinson, Blake Griffin, Damien Lillard. That is the contents of the list. Pretty impressive. And that is,

and that, that, those are the unanimous rookies of the year. And I think Flag will end up becoming the seventh on that list. So just for the sake of conversation. conversation. Let me play devil's advocate.

Okay. It's hard, first of all. How long is time to be out? Well, and there's usually a bozo, right? Like, it has happened in the past. Oh, yeah. Someone's going to say Derek Queen. You know what I mean? No. John Morant lost it by one vote. A guy voted for like Zion who had played like 30 games or something. It's crazy.

Like, I mean, there are guys that have lost it by one vote. Edgecombe. Harper. Harper. if the spurs make a real run and harper's part of it i i just think that the numbers are just going to like when you line up the numbers they're going to be so severe he's on such a good team that's the thing is is because karee lively davis are out and as we discussed flag is looked at to be the offensive engine for the team he's going to end up with the numbers that's why edgecombe and harper because there's just other players in the team they're the number one option

right can nipple can nipple's I don't bet against this because like you said there's always a bozo one guy yeah there's always one guy who just wants to zag you know you might be you might be right it's a hard thing to pull off I just think he is going to be so far ahead of everybody that everybody's just going to do it and also if you think about where he started in October and where he is now and you extrapolate that forward

like you said, the learning curve. He's improved significantly over the past 60 days. And if he does that again for the next 60 days where he will be by the time the ballots are out, it's going to be hard to vote to vote for someone else. That is the difference between Harper and some of these others, Edgecombe, etc.

He gets to operate as their best player. He's going to take 20-something shots on a regular basis. The other guys, you don't have that opportunity. You're just not even taking it. When is Cinniple's supposed to be back? Let me look it out. It's ankle, right? So, hopefully sooner than later.

It's a day to day. Yeah. Yeah. It says he's making good progress with injury rehab. Boy, and we didn't mention their game, but man, when they have, when they, Miller had a crazy dunk yesterday. When they've got, when they've got Miller ball and Cinnple, they're pretty fun. They really are. You know what I mean?

Great league past team. They're not going to win the game. but he'll enjoy watching them. All right. Here's my first. Did you see, did you see the, the Miller dog? Of course. He don't, he called him a dumb bitch.

He don't, he dug him. He said, you dumb bitch? And I was like, whoa, that's a big one. I mean, that's, that's, I don't get on somebody calling him dumb. Like, how dare you? How dare you insult me by trying to block this? That's usually not what you say.

What do you say when you do? What do you say if you get dunked on? Someone calls you a dumb bitch. You say nothing. You just jog back. He just jog back. Here's my first prediction for 2026. I mean, that is humiliating.

There's nothing you could. There's no retort. No, I'm not. No, I'm not. What do you say? The only retort is who are you calling a dumb bitch? Even then. That actually makes you a dumb bitch.

if you say that. Are we, wait, did Brandon Miller come up with the most diabolical? Yes,

it's, there's no response for dumb bitch after you get tongue to none, none, none, no,

uh, no, uh, you've got a fight. That's the only, that's the only thing do, yeah.

Like Jose Alvarado. Or just go to the locker room like it's Ann one, like it's an one, like you just have to go. You have to go home. Now you have to go home. By the way,

we have not gotten to, Alvarado was unavailable for the Knicks. game last night. I wonder why. Why was that? Why was that? Why was that? We got to give him credit for connecting on a seven footer.

You don't see it often. You don't see an actual punch land in an NBA fight. And he did. It was tight quarters, too. Loved it. Everything about that fight was amazing. And the Jordan Pool reaction in the background, which everybody meme. Also, I've watched it like the Zabruder film.

I've watched a thousand times. bro after he punches him go watch mark williams swat at the top of his head like he's a bug it is the funniest it's not even like a bald fish or whatever he is like swatting at him like he's a bug it's so good there were some rumors in the nick sort of twitterverse about acquiring alvarado and i was like why would what like what you've got brunts you've got deuce, you've got colic, like, why get Alvarado? After that punch, I was like, yeah, I can see it. I could see it.

Yes. I was like, maybe we do need Alvarado. Oh, my God. One thing that bothers me about NBA media is everybody wants to send a player back to their hometown team. I don't know why this is. Like, why does everybody do this? It's like, oh, AD to the Bulls.

He's from Chicago. It's like, okay, but it doesn't mean he's going to play there. But like, Alvarado to the Knicks. He's from Brooklyn. Like, all right, but that doesn't mean the team needs him and it's a match. Oh, you know, KD's going to end his career with the Wizards. And Steph Curry, Charlotte Hornets, look out. Everybody wants to do this.

And it happens way less than you think it does. Yeah. All right. Your first prediction. This one's simple. I'm predicting at the end of this season, LeBron James is going to retire. I do not think there's going to be a back to Cleveland. I don't think he's going to go back to the Lakers.

his contract is up he's 41 i don't think it gets better from here i think this is the last season of lebron james the golf simulator yeah oh how many times does he mention that he watches youtube golf videos yeah no he's it's i get it guy i get it here's the thing the competitive juices thing it's like all right i have this thing that now i want to be great at and then he just decides I am going to this is what I want to do this is what like there becomes a thing because it's

look the bug has got me as I got older like once everything dries up everybody gets married everybody has kids there's no more men's leagues that everybody's participating in the same way you're lucky because you still have a men's league that everybody still participate to but everybody kind of goes their separate

ways and you're not playing that anymore and so golf becomes the thing that everybody you know it's like all right well i can't do all these other things here's a sport here's something i can do competitively here's something i can gamble on that i can play for the next 50 years right and once the bug gets you it's over it's over like it's what you think about it's what you want to get good at it's what you care about it's what you watch on you two second time out 20 second time out i'm going to take the people behind the curtain after we recorded last episode we were talking post

show and verno said that he listens to a golf equipment podcast he listens to a podcast not about golf not like fairway rolling with my guy joe house oh i listen to that too of course but it's a he listens to a golf equipment podcast like oh we've got this new 60 degree wedge it's a really really good it's really good out of the sand like that's what you listen to like the new the new callaway uh the calaway hybrid is really good this year it's a they've tweaked it a little bit it's a graphite shaft Like what that's what it is. Dude, don't even get me started on M-O-I.

No one wants to get you started. No one wants to. I don't want to know. Hey, I literally don't want to know. Stop talking. No one cares. You know nothing about moment of inertia. Nothing.

Nothing. Nothing. You don't know anything. Anyway, LeBron James is going to retire. This is the last season. Tell me I'm wrong. What else does he do? Does he go back to the Lakers to play with like Luca?

Does he go to Cleveland? Does he go to the Warriors to lose again? Like, I mean, I don't understand what else happens besides him retiring. I mean. Explain it to me. What happens? All right. No, no, no, no, no.

Does he take a minimum salary, a bet man? Number one, I will say, with the sciatica, with the, you know, his son's already there, with the, I'm in love with golf and I'm watching the Brian brothers on YouTube, etc, etc. of that is to me very persuasive and especially if you're not going to win a title anyway I'm close right okay so that that is very persuasive on your side okay there's no but yes to me what else happens let me explain to me what else he does I'm listening to a golf podcast I can hear you about the this is the flip side And it is so persuasive that it might even defeat.

I have sciatica. I don't have a chance of winning the title and I love golf. It might. Not having a farewell tour is so unlike anything he would do. Oh, God, there will be a space jam level film crew going from city to city as everyone gets in a journey. They're already sure. No, they're not. No, they're not. He wants the proper kings goodbye. Okay. And that, and we put it and it's on it. In fact, that's what he calls it. The king's goodbye. And he goes and sees his loyal subjects around the NBA one last time as they honor the king as he leaves.

I agree with you. The fact that he is. So maybe he announces it midseason. How about that? Back on you. Back on you. He announced this mid-season. He would have already done it. From a basketball standpoint, where does he play next season? Who wants to pay him $65 million for a one-year deal? I mean, I like Bill's idea about Golden State.

I love that. They're not. I love LeBron and Jimmy Butler swap. I love it. It would make both teams so much more fun. It would, but like, why would the Lakers do that? I'm trading LeBron James for Jimmy Butler. seriously that's what I'm doing well because he'll defend I mean theoretically I don't know

Jimmy Butler will defend I would not do that if I was Los Angeles Lakers not no no no no chance no chance I'm not bringing Jimmy Butler in here with Luca JJ Redick personalities no no no no no no no no no no no all no no all right my next A lot of fish I want in my fish tank. My next prediction. Orlando ends up the two seed. Orlando Man. This one becomes,

I guess more, a little more of a long shot just because we just watched them loose to the Raptors last night. Who's the one seat in this scenario? Just the question. The Knicks. Detroit will fall back. Piss and Fall, Celtics Fall.

Correct. And Orlando. And Orlando ends up the two-seat. So this is the reason. One of the things that I promised myself I was going to start paying attention to this season, unlike I have other seasons or I have not paid as much attention in other seasons, is the whole strength of schedule thing. Where was your schedule?

Was it front-loaded? Was it back-loaded? Because then everybody goes, oh, this team is actually not that bad. And it's like, or they're really coming on? And it's like, eh, they're actually. just getting to play the team like the stuff all evens out yeah Orlando has the easiest schedule the rest of the way based on win percentage based on the win percentage correct they have the easiest schedule the rest of the way they're 30th like it's the lowest opposing win percentage

the rest of the way and they will get sugs and they will get the wagner's back and they will get like so they will get healthy and their schedule is the easiest the rest of the way for the last 50 some games and so i think when it's all said and done we're going to look up in orlando ends up the two seed behind the necks i you know what i hate about this for now what i agree oh wow that's what i hate about this now that i'm looking at it the Celtics and the raptors right are in front of them now for them to get above the pistons it's going to be close but i could see them above the celtics and the raptors i can see a couple other words i'll give you a couple other words real quick just as i was looking through it um it's not going to it's not going to help Sacramento who

cares like so the the low again the easiest schedule remaining uh according to win percentage thus far Orlando then Sacramento and then here's one to keep an eye on because it would break a trend that we have been able to get used to for the last four years. For the last four years, every time we get to the end of the season, the play in includes Miami, play in includes Chicago, and the play in includes Atlanta, right? Miami has the third easiest schedule the rest of the way. Really?

They may be able to break the tread. So keep an eye on that one. because Miami's was a little more front-loaded than their peers as well. And I mean, in the end, it might still be, it might still be the Bulls Heat and Hawks. Hawks, Invitational. But it might break the trend because the heat

got it a little easier the rest of the way as well. And that was the team you liked as a top six seat. Yeah. No. I can't believe you agreed with the Orlando one. I'm sorry. I'll never let it happen again. Okay.

My next prediction, it's going to piss everybody off. Oh, yeah. Everybody in the draft lottery, the Mabbs get the number one pick again. Oh, shut up. It's going to happen. No. It's going to happen.

You mentioned it earlier today. They have their own pick. They're injured. Kyrie looks at the team and says, well, I'm not going to rush myself back for this. Oh, you'll never believe it. but Antonio Davis has another injury, not available. Anthony Davis, Antonio.

Antonio. Antonio Davis also have injuries. All the Davises have injuries. It's going to, Gina Davis has an injury. It's going to. Oh, no. Be the number one pick in Dallas. Again, it's going to happen.

And then we're going to be like, we can't do the draft like this anymore. And then we're going to have to complete draft reform. It's going to have. Wow. Okay. then I'll do this on my next prediction. We're going to have big, like, tanking, controversy and fines and or the most unbelievable trade deadline.

Okay? So here's the deal. Wait, what? Hold on. It's one or the other. Okay? Because, and this, there was a big discussion that Zach and Howard had and there, on Zach's podcast.

And also there's been a big discussion amongst NBA decision makers on what do we do about tanking? Do we make it so you can't get a top four pick two years in a row? Do we do this? Do we do that? Right. Do we lock it into March 1st? Yeah. Protections you can trade, all this kind of stuff, right?

Because you have these situations where it's like someone like Utah who has been rather competitive is incentivized to lose because their pick is top eight. protected and they don't want to lose it to Oklahoma City. And so they need to make sure that they're in this mix. And so now you get to the end of the season. And one of the things that they did not bring up, which is honestly like a major genesis for all of this is beyond the tank, you think the reason that this has become like in full view again is the gambling thing, bro. Yeah.

That's what's happened here. that that is that if you are losing on purpose and everybody has an awareness that you are losing on purpose and you are sitting guys with the intention of losing the game that that then is right for dastardly deeds so you're either going to have to do one of two things because they're not going to let you do the injuries thing anymore, right? And I've been through that. I've covered tank tanking teams. The funniest one ever was like one year when

the Grizzlies needed to keep a pick. We got to the end of the season and they were listing everybody and they listed Kyle Anderson with a sore thumb. That's how crazy. We're like sore thumb. That's a Josh Hart injury. Oh, I mean, please.

Too soon? Just not funny. Anyways, look, so hear me out here. You're either going to have them levy these massive fines against teams for obviously sitting guys are losing on purpose or the teams that like fancy themselves as lottery pick. Do they just trade away players?

They just say, you know what? It's going to be too hard for us to just, We can't just fake sit everybody like we have and just say, oh, Lori Mark and I can't play anymore. Like there's something wrong with them or there's something wrong with this guy. So all of the situations then become do I need to actually remove some of my players from the situation because I can't fake sit them anymore because that's the way we lose. And so you're challenging, you're not challenging teams.

and therefore it becomes possibly a better trade deadline where some of the guys that might not have necessarily been moved do get moved because I can't just sit them without penalty in order to lose. A couple of things is how can you prove that Kyle Anderson doesn't have a sore thought? The plausible deniability that the teams have about injuries, it's difficult to prove. I got it. If Kyle Anderson says I have a sore thumb and the team says he has a store of thumb,

we're going to send medical investigators to run test on his thumb? I swear to God. You say that in jest, I think. Sort of, I don't think they'll send medical investigators. Okay. Because I do. I do. I would not put it past the NBA to send in independent doctors.

Third party. I'm not kidding. That's how serious this is to them. But there's so much money at stake. If I'm the cabs, they're dinged again. There's been federal indictments. If the calves get dinged again, what's the fine go up to? Like a million dollars?

A million dollars. So if there's a million dollars at stake, the calves aren't the right example. Yeah, because they're not trying to lose. So the injuries thing is one thing. The trade deadline becomes more interesting because one of the things I'm hearing is like, when teams are interested, Michael Porter Jr. Like, what the Nets are like too good all of a sudden.

Like they're going to have to trade Michael Porter Jr. They just beat the Timberwolves. Like the Nets are winning games. Do they have like this somehow good defense and he might be an all star? Seriously. Like he's, he, listen, I, you know, I have a long running history of hating watching Nets games. But now I can't even help it anymore. Like I'll turn it into these guys, man.

Well, and they're good. Cam Thomas came back and scored him 30 immediately. I got to get these guys out. Porter Jr. and Cam Thomas are too good for the Nets. They're like, this isn't part of the plane. Oh, speaking of fun, I don't know if you saw yesterday. So they did lose to the Warriors yesterday. But have you seen the clip that's going around with Jimmy Butler screaming white boy?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Over and over at poor Danny Wolf. Danny Wolf's like, what did I do? I didn't choose to be born. With this pigmentation. Oh, I am. Oh, I am is what? I didn't even say anything.

He didn't do anything. He fouled him. It screamed it. White boy. White boy. But he doesn't. Again, if someone calls you a dumb bitch, it's like an insult. But just being like yelling somebody white boy, like that, like that in itself is an insult is more insulting.

Come on Jimmy Butler. Come on. Danny Wolf. But he is. The car Cassidy level on Danny Wolf is high, which I, appreciate. It's odd. Austin Reeves, we got to get Kurt Goldsbury on this.

Kirk, if you're listening, we need to do one of your charts, which is like level of cascacity and on one access, on the other access like the P.E.R. You know what I mean? Because you're going to get like Tyler Hero in one quadrant. And then you get Austin Reeves in the other quadrant. Like, yeah, because your swag level. Yeah, like Donovan clinging will be somewhere in the middle. So you would propose Wolf is like way up there at the top.

Yes. And on the concastity level. And then on, you know, impact, basketball impact, he's pretty low. Kirk, get on that. Yeah. If you need, if you need some data, I'll give you the caucasdy level of all the players. What's your next prediction? I don't know.

I really want Kirk to do that. All right. Another one that people don't want to hear. and this is at recency bias but I was watching the game last night and I was saying to myself we haven't had a repeat champion quite some time

since the Katie Warriors and the Thunder are going to lose in the second round of the playoffs they're vulnerable watching Caruso I miss all those threes Who are you projecting as four because that's who you're saying

well I guess it could be two or three it could be a two three if they got overtaken. Spurs, Nuggets, and Rockets. One of those three. One of those three, I believe, take out the Thunder in the second round.

You can see that. That's not crazy. I do not think the Rockets could. I do think the Nuggets or the Spurs could. No, I don't think over seven games. I mean, without a point guard, I think that'd be really, really hard. I think that'd be really hard.

Reed Shepard listens to the show. I understand. It sounds rude. also on Mr. Sheppard. He's on Kurt Gold's thing. He's good. He's up there. He's up there. He's high. He's below Austin Reeves in the upper right quadrant.

But he's around here. Reed Shepherd is like a fantastic Sam's guy. So he's up there. Fantastic Sam's. Yeah, like he, the haircut place. He turns down

or super cuts. Supercuts. Whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. He's a super cuts guy. What's the sports one? There's like a sports. Sport clips. Sports clips.

Yeah. Yeah. You can watch the game while you get a haircut. No one's done. Has they ever done the strip club barbershop? I'll keep that idea for myself. Oh, yeah.

All right. All right. So you think you think the thunder get clipped in round two. I would pick them to win. I would pick them to win in a seven game series against every single team in the entire NBA. But it just seems, it just happens from time to time that, you know,

that upsets happen. And I think that this year they seem vulnerable. If J. Dub comes into form, it looks like himself again, I'll re-address this. But the current thunder do not inspire me to be repeat champions. All right. We finally get the Trey Young deal. That is the 2026 fourth prediction. It's an absolute disaster of December for not only Trey, but also for the Hawks.

And, you know, Haynes and Stein both are talking about this whole, how much Atlanta loves AD. And so you can kind of see this kind of where you patch together the contract and you've got some kind of, because they're saying it's not a Tray Young deal that would move for AD. And so it feels like there might have already been talks about this where you kind of like, where the Mavs move on to their, whatever their next era is. And so like you patch together the Porzenghis contract and the canard contracts, which are expirings, right? So, like, they, they start to move. Reesachet?

Yeah. That's who I get. Rees Shea. Yeah. Well, and then you get these expirings to be able to build out around Cooper Flag. And then if that happens, they're not going to carry, you know, Jalen Johnson has become the guy, right?

That's the thing. Is it? Because they're going to ask for Jalen Johnson. That's the first thing you ask for. No, no, no, no, no. I'm saying Atlanta's not going to carry AD and pay Trey his deal. because Trey's got a player option for next year for a fortune. And so then you end up being able to not have to get the King's ransom that maybe stand alone.

You would. So I think the Trey Young deal ends up happening and it's not nearly as much as we would think or that they once would have gotten for Trey Young. I think there's a very good possibility that when Trey Young moves, to whoever he moves to, we look at and we go, that's all they got. But it's going to be fine because they've already swung the other deal. But we do end up getting the Tray Young deal. Like they didn't give him an extension.

They didn't give him an extension. He has not played very well so far this year. And Nikiel's been awesome. And you're building out like Jalen Johnson's been an absolute revelation. And so I think it actually does. Like for all the years that it's been like, are the Hulk's going to move to Tray Young? I think this is actually the time it does happen where they find somebody that wants him.

I even saw somebody sent this morning to me from one of those offshore books. The Kalkashi or Polly Market or whatever? No, no, this was a, hold on. This was like a bet online or something like that. I don't know. But it was, it was odds. And it had the heat. Huh.

Tray Young's next team. Miami Heat, Sacramento, Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves were the top three in terms of odds that they had posted. Hmm. Interesting. What would the Timberwolves give up for him? Oh, no. Dillingham, like, and contracts.

I mean, you have to put together big, you had to put together a lot. Yeah. Trey Young's got, but I'm just saying, I think the Trey Young return is not going to be that good. But they're going to swing another deal that makes you forget that the Trey Young return wasn't that good. I think that's fair.

And I think that his injury has been very enlightening. He's done a favor to the front office because they've A, B, tested the season. This is what we are with Trey Young. This is what we are without Trey Young. And guess what? You won't miss Trey Young nearly as much as you think you will. Did he leave the league of assists last year? Yes.

we've got guys that can make up for that production. And you've also changed management there a few times. And you know, I mean, so like the guys that are people that draft somebody are always the ones married to them, right? That it's always going to work out. But if you didn't draft the guy yet it was like kind of an arranged marriage, then it's pretty out. They did not. And the other thing is who wants to give him 200 something, 300 something million dollars or whatever, right? I got it.

He's in a weird spot right now. So I actually think we do see the Tray Young. I think 2026 is the year. We see the Tray Young no longer with Atlanta. Finally happens. I would love for him to get into a new setting and flourish. I would love that. I'm just trying to think what the heat would give up.

What did the Timberwolves give up? What does a deal look like? I'm not on the trade machine like our friend Bill is. So all right, I would love to see it happen. my next prediction. This is my fourth prediction. This one also people are not going to like. New York Knickerbockers win the championship.

Oh, I don't think. But you think people don't like that? I mean, they just won the cup. They won the, yeah, they did win the championship in 2025. And they're going to win a championship in 2026. Let me just make my case. They're favorites to come out of the East, right? Favorites to come out of the East.

That's fair to say. I mean, the Pistons are great. And then they're going to be in the finals. And we saw last year the Pacers were winning game seven in Oklahoma City. And Halliburton was on fire before he got hurt. It can happen. They might could have won it if it weren't for some crazy Halliburton shot. Yeah.

It's not. Oh, last year, yeah. I think the next one championship. I feel better about their chances this year than I have in my entire life. I don't hate that. I don't hate that, especially when we're recording this as we don't know what, Yokic's prognosis is. Yeah. God, I hope it's okay.

I do, sir. The Nuggets become a tough league pass watch. They would be the one that I would be most worried about if I'm a Knicks fan. I think your chances against Oklahoma City

are better. I agree. Yes. Because there's no answer for Yokic on the Knicks roster. You have a Hock party. Like, you have no. Mitchell Robinson's going to stand in front of him. What are we talking about?

Mitchell Robinson would have five fouls in the first three minutes. What was my guy last night that couldn't miss? Diawara. Diawara. If you Tom, Timito, you wouldn't see any of these guys, any of them. Also, it was crazy to see deuce chance in New Orleans. Duceus. I mean, I love Duce so much.

Wow. It was crazy to watch that, though. He hit that three late in the game. The whole crowd was like, doze. I was like, what? New Orleans. There's New Yorkers everywhere. I know.

There's New Yorkers everywhere. Okay. I'm actually glad that you gave that prediction. Because this is going to be perfect for, it's going to line up perfectly with my last one, which is a goofy prediction for 2026. Because this is going to, it's, it ties directly into if you're right and the Knicks win the title. Because we haven't.

No, no, no. You didn't put, you didn't, I just want to let the listeners know that we do the rundown. And you gave me your prediction. predictions last night. I gave you mine to this morning, but you did not give me a fifth one. So this, I'm blind right now on this. I did not, but it plays into your Knicks winning the title. And I don't like that this is true. It's not true yet. No, hold on. Yeah, I'm talking about my prediction. All right. I'll lay out. I don't like that this is true, but I feel confident in this prediction. I've seen it happen hundreds of times over my,

years. There is going to be super backlash against a guy that I really like Timothy Salome. It's going to be bad. Oh. He's top of the, I mean,

this is top of the world. He's doing the rap stuff. He's the coolest. He's got the hottest chick. He's got the hottest movie. He's NBA fan. Everybody loves. And, ah, the think pieces are coming. Is he actually good for society?

Like, it's, it's too much. It's too much. Everybody loves Chalabay too much. Now they got to tear him down. And I'm sorry, Tim, because I love you. I do. Of course. I think he's cool.

I love the guy. But then it's going to be, it's going to take people way over the edge of the Knicks win the title and he's on the front row. I mean, this is going to be Timberlake-esque backlash. He's going to do something's going to happen or maybe even nothing's going to happen. And people are just going to, it's going to be he's a culture vulture. He's a crap. He's a woman, whatever it's going to be.

And I don't want to see it. I don't want to see it. But I'm saying we see this every time. He's curating. Who's got a higher cue. you're rating than Shalame right now. Guys love him. Chicks love him.

Like moviegoers love him. Sports fans love him. Like he's the guy. It started with the college game day last season. Remember when he was on college game day last season? We're not allowed to have anybody that everybody loves. That checks all the boxes. He checks all the boxes.

He checks too many boxes. He's too many boxes. Right. He checks too many boxes. Guys want to be. him, chicks want to date him, and it's like, all right, now we, now we try to destroy you. And that's what they're going to do. And I don't want to see it.

I don't want to see it. And I will say this, Tim, I'm still going to like you. I'm still going to like you no matter. I mean, don't do anything crazy. Don't do anything super crazy. No, he doesn't have to. You're right, though. It's too much.

Like, the song is hot. That song, the best kid is hot. It's too much. Everyone loves this movie. I haven't seen it yet, but everybody loves this movie. It's too much. son is rapping his lyrics in the backseat of the car while I'm driving. It's too much.

And now we're going to see you front row with a Jenner while the Knicks are winning the title. Oh, and the confetti falls? It's too much. It's too much. It's going to be like he, Spike Lee's been here since he was a fetus. And now this guy's taking all the shine. And it's like, oh, yeah, it's going to be bad. It's going to be bad.

They are going to turn on Salome. He's too hot right now. I will say this, though. That Bob Dylan movie sucked. Did you watch that movie? Did you watch it? The whole time he kind of talks like this the entire time. That is Bob Dylan.

He's just talking like this the whole time. And I'm Timothy Shalamee and I'm in love with this girl. I think it was one of your face from people with Mac. But this is what he does the entire time. And it's really annoying and the movie sucks. Don't watch it. Don't watch my movie about Bob Dylan. It sucks.

Wait, hold on. First one, that was a great impression. I don't do impressions, but that was brilliant. I'm going to give myself a round of applause. That's a 10. That's a 10. I'm going to give you credit. But that is what Bob Dylan.

It sounds like he was playing Bob Dylan perfectly. But it gets really annoying. And the movie doesn't go anywhere or do anything. I was sitting in a hotel room. I was bored. I was like, I'll watch this Bob Dylan movie. I like Bob Dylan. He's no Billy Joel, though.

It was boring. It was boring. Don't watch it. Hey, I got to be honest with you, you could say terrible, and I might give it a chance. Did you watch the Bruce Springsteen one? I didn't watch the Bruce Springsteen one either. No, no, no, no. I'm saying boring is the worst thing you could say about something to me.

Boring. Boring. Oh, God. Boring. I will give terrible a chance. I'm not giving boring. Oh, it's boring. I was actually talking, because they came out with the Michael Jackson one.

There's a trailer for that one. And I was talking to my son, I was like, the only good sort of like rock musician, biopic has been the Bob Marley one. Oh, what? The Bob Marley one is good. Tell me I'm wrong. I could be wrong, but tell me I'm wrong. What am I missing?

The best one ever was filmed in my city. Walk the line. The Johnny Cash one is amazing. With Joaquin Phoenix, it's incredible. It's good. It's good. What? No, it's not as good as walk hard.

Walk hard. Stop. It's really good. Walk hard is. one of the funniest movies I've ever seen my whole entire life. I'm cutting half real bad. Walk hard is awesome.

What's the do we? What's the name? I don't know. I can't remember his name anymore. It was so good. It was so good. Walk hard is one of the best films you'll ever see. Don't watch Bob Dylan, Doc.

Watch Walk Hard. And my last one is in the worst. Wait, you've already turned on Shell, man. No, I haven't. I'm just saying, like, do I get the cut? He's not batting a thousand. That movie was not good.

That movie was not good, but I love Shalemay. And I agree with you that, like, he's checking too many boxes. When the song came out and I liked it, that was when it was too much for me. I was like, and everyone likes Marty Supreme. I haven't seen it yet, but everybody likes it. Everybody I've talked to tells me I got to go see you. Because those Saffty movies are all the same. And they're like, there's a high floor.

They're fun to watch. They're a high floor on the Saffty movies. They're fun to watch. Like, I, look, I'm taking this time out to be entertained. To your point, it's not boring. They're never boring. Yeah. They're never boring.

So I went, oh, God. Me and my son went to see Avatar Fire and Ash last week. And it's a hostage situation. Like, it was comical how long it was. It was beautiful. We went to the biggest IMAX screen in the city. They got these cool glasses. And it's such a beautiful film.

It's awesome. Like the first 15, 20 minutes, it's like a roller coaster. It is a true film experience. and I recommend you go to it, but I also recommend you leave after an hour and a half because it goes on and on and on. Just leave halfway through it. Just trust me, you're missing nothing.

You're missing nothing. It goes on forever. And they pump baked the ending seven times. Like, I fell asleep at one point. Quincy fell asleep at one point. Like, it was like people are looking around at each other. Like, if we leave, one guy just got up and left. Another person just gets up and leaves.

And we're all jealous of the person that left. I got popcorn. I went to the bathroom. I took a shit. I called my wife. I got more popcorn. I came back. And I was like, Quincy, what did I miss?

He's like, nothing. He's like, there's nothing. You didn't miss any plot whatsoever. Nothing. They flew around. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, they went for a swim.

He's like, oh, the human can breathe on the planet. I was like, no, that happened before I left. He's like, yeah, then you miss nothing. You missed nothing. You're like, trust me, I recommend you go to this movie and I recommend you leave after an hour and a half. It's really just about the, the. vibes. Just be on Pandora for a while. And take some edibles.

Definitely eat some edibles before you go. That ride, the Avatar ride at Disney Animal Kids, it was like the best ride I've ever been out of my life. So when I was there, I went and they had this special program they were testing where you can pay extra to go after the park closes

between 8 and 10 p.m. That's what I did. And me and my wife were there. We're the only people in the entire park. So we go on the Pandora ride and there's no. line. So we had to walk all the way around and do it again. And there's no, and there's no one else there. There was no line. It was awesome. Awesome. I had to, look, I had paid for like the fast pass all day and all that stuff, right? And then like,

you're just checking the app. And then it like showed up on my app. It's like, you can ride this ride for 16 bucks. And I was like, oh, man. And so, no, then I paid. So then I had to pay. I was like, all right, 64 bucks. But at least we all rode the. the avatar ride that everyone has told us. Because if you think I'm standing in line three hours for anything. You could literally be like, I've got $100,000 cash in a duffel bag, standing this line for five hours. I'm like, no, I'm good. No chance.

Tax or on text. Tax or on text. No chance. And so, yeah, that ride is badass. So anyway, that was a one time. I really thought I was in that dimension. Like it felt like so real. What I loved about that ride is because we got to go on at, twice in a row with no line is the first time you're kind of freaked out.

But the second time you go on it, you're sort of ready for it. So you get a higher level of appreciation for it. It's a great, great ride. Do not wait in line for it, though. So anyway, this, but what the best part of Avatar were the trailers before Avatar. Primate. This movie about a pet chimpanzee that turns on the family and eats everybody.

I'm fucking in. I'm so in on that movie. There's something wrong with Ben is the tagline. And Ben is the chimpanzee that turns on the family. It's like a horror movie. Oh, no. I'm so in. It's like snakes on the plane.

It's like, yep, take my money. I'll be there. They have a pet. A pet chimpanzee that turns on the family. And I'm sure the chimpanzee's in the right. I'm positive. I'm team Ben all day. That is terrified.

I can't wait to see that one. Adventures Doomsday. Some other ones, but there was a trailer. And my prediction is, that this film will be the best film of the century, not of the century so far, of the century century all the way through until 2,300. Wait, 2,100.

I'm an idiot. I'm such an idiot. There was a trailer, and this trailer didn't do the music whizbang, super quick cut thing. They just showed you a sample scene from the movie. I was riveted. I lost my shit.

Me and my son were just like, what did we just witness i i almost cried i was moved so much by just this film just one sample of the film and at the scene that they showed you we've only seen pieces of this movie so far the fucking trojan horse oh they showed the whole scene the guys inside the horse and it was um i forget the act i'm not a good at naming actors but he's the guy in the accountant the brother from the accountant and he's on the bear um anyway that guy and he's like you've heard the story of the trojan horse but have you heard it from inside of it and then they go inside the horse the guys are in the horse then they're dragging the horse into troy through the walls

it looks so awesome they're stabbing the horse with the with the swords and then matt damon's dodging the blade coming into the horse to see if there's mad damon Oh my God. And then they come out of the horse and they murk everybody and they're trying to open the door but they get caught and they can't open the door. Spoiler. They end up opening the door and Agamemnon comes in with this badass uniform and that, ah, dude, the Odyssey by Christopher Nolan is going to be the best. The best. Like it's, it's like one of the best stories ever told by one of the best filmmakers with the best cast.

It's going, that movie can be long. I'll watch that movie for three and a half hours and I won't leave halfway through. But the, they didn't, this movie is so good, they didn't have to give you a whizbang trailer. They just played that scene. And I'm watching it on IMAX screen with the glasses on. Dude.

What's the day? You know, when is that summer? Summer. I think it's like June. It's summer 2020. Yeah, June of July. Yeah, June of July. Oh, wow.

Okay. Yeah, that. And Hathaway as Penelope. you know what there's going to be two of them Charlize two of them that come out next summer that I could not be more excited for

that one the Odyssey and then the other one and you may laugh but bro I cannot wait for Toy Story 5 to come out yeah have you seen the trailer no I'll probably cry

no dude the girl opens up the present and it's the tablet, the iPad. And so now it's the toys versus the iPad. Oh, it's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. I mean, as a parent, it's like, oh, my God. They nail it every time.

Every time. But now it's going to be the toys and the toys all see the tablet. And they're like, it looks so good. It looks so good. And the kid opens up the gift and it's the tab. They're all like, no. That's, I mean, that's. No more toys.

I know. It's going to be so good. All right. I take it back. My predictions, Toy Story 5 is going to be. It's going to be the best movie in the center. I mean, right now, Sean Fennessee is like, get these guys off my corner. Get them off.

They're going to be like the big picture. We're canceling the big picture. It's going to be mismatch movies. Mismatch. movies and it's going to be the biggest podcast. That's my final prediction. It's miscast on movies. It's going to be the biggest.

Sean Fennacy's going to show up my house and beat me up. It's going to be awful. The rewatchables is going to get canceled. It's just mismatch on movies. Sorry, guys. We're folding everything into mismatch on movies. Every once in a while will allow Bill and Chris Ryan to come on the mismatch on movies from time to time.

Sorry for taking your job. Sorry, guys. All right. Thanks, our executive producer, Jesse Lopez, as always, Jacoby. I'll talk to you next week. week. Must be 21 or over and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 and over and present in D.C., Kentucky, or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 100 gambler or visit RG-HallHagelps.com. Call 1-888-88-7-7-7-7 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut or visit MD gamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit Gamblinghelpline,

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