The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 681 - Mike Rupp, Ian Rapoport, Alex Caruso, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: June 10, 2022

On today's show, Pat, AJ Hawk, and the boys chat about Cooper Kupp's new contract, how the Rams further reinforce the idea that the salary cap isn't real, more on the Deshaun Watson situation, the NHL playoffs, the NBA playoffs and how crazy the atmosphere in Boston is going to be on Friday night after Klay Thompson and Draymond Green's comments after game 3, and check in on the LIV leaderboard. Joining the progrum to chat about tonight's Rangers and Lightning playoff game, is Stanley Cup Champion, co-host of That's Hockey Talk, Mike Rupp (19:13-46:49). Next, NFL Insider and friend of the show, Ian Rapoport joins the progrum to chat about the salary cap debate considering what the Rams have done, what to expect from the Deshaun Watson situation, and much more (1:01:11-1:27:24). Later, NBA Champion, current Guard for the Chicago Bulls, Alex Caruso, joins the show to chat about his offseason, his relationship with LeBron, what and NBA offseason looks like, his thoughts on the league as a whole right now, and who he thinks is going to win the NBA Finals (1:27:26-2:06:33). Make sure you subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow to watch the show, and listen on Sirius XM Channel 82, Mad Dog Radio. We appreciate the hell out of all you. See you tomorrow cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello beautiful people. It is Thursday, June 9th, 2022 and this sports show shall begin. Hope you all are fantastic and we can't thank you enough for watching along here in the afternoon on the Eastern Standard Time, maybe the morning in Pacific Standard Time and then all the other time zones. You can do the math from there, but we appreciate you so, so much. Today's show is huge. Huge. We've got some hockey talk happening in about 17 minutes because the New York Rangers will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning

in a 2-2 series back in the world's most famous arena. Madison Square Garden tonight. Mike Rupp will join us, host of That's Hockey Talk, works for NHL Network, former Stanley Cup champion. Ian Rappaport will join us in a second hour to talk about the details of this new Cooper Cup deal, Aaron Donald's deal, what's going on with

Deshaun Watson, the NFL, things being sold, things not being sold. I guess somebody, allegedly the owner of the Sixers, Josh Harris or something, it is being reported that he was going to make a $5 billion offer to win the Denver Broncos in this blind auction that had taken place. He didn't think that would be enough to win and was told that wasn't going to be enough to win.

Then, boom, Robson Walton comes in with a $4.65 billion offer, gets the deal. Now, there was details to this, as it was being described by mike florio pro football talk that josh josh harris decided that he didn't want to run up the price either with old robson walton because he is going to be in the market for a team in the future so why set the precedent right now what we're saying is are there any teams that are going to be up for sale soon after seeing the 4.65 billion dollar check cash to pocket exchange that happened with the Denver Broncos. We'll ask Ian Rappaport in the second hour at 1.20 p.m. Eastern. Okay.

Then in the third hour, guess what? What? First timer on this show. What? First timer? Who? Don't think I've ever met this person in real life, only on the internet.

Oh. Alex Caruso. Wow. Of the Chicago Bulls, former NBA champion with the Lakers of Texas A&M, he was potentially put into jail because he had

some lingering dope in his travel bag while going through an airport. I believe that is where we became acquaintances. I got a chance to chat with him yesterday on the phone before this. I think we're going to have a great convo with him. And how could we not with what happened last night in despicable Boston, Massachusetts?

Hell yeah. Oh, and also, fuck Boston, Connor. And at Ty Schmidt here at the Toxic Table. Can't thank you boys enough for being here every single day. Connor, you got dunked on by an eight-and-a-half-year-old yesterday named Owen from Connecticut. Matt Tyschmidt here at the Toxic Table. Can't thank you boys enough for being here every single day. Connor, you got dunked on by an eight-and-a-half-year-old yesterday named Owen from Connecticut. That went on to make TMZ. Yeah, it was interesting.

8,000 retweets, the tweet of the video of Owen dunking on you. Such good poise, confidence, and then finding the right time for a misdirection dunk on you. After all the years of shit that you have talked on the state of Connecticut, it felt like he was speaking for a lot of people in the world. Embraced and rejoiced seeing you get dunked on like that. You were openly and have commented on the situation of saying, this is what life is like when you live under the rim. Because you take a lot of shots yourself, and you're always playing some defense.

That's right. Hey, I'm trying to get my swats and i always will you know if i shitting on connecticut i'm going to produce more owens then you're welcome connecticut yeah your whole entire state's kind of changing a little right now and i can't help but pat myself on the back for doing that congrats thank you anytime guys i don't need your applause i just need you know the governor of connecticut maybe the senator to say thank you because now his state might not suck going forward Anytime guys I don't need your applause I just need you know the governor of Connecticut Maybe the senator to say thank you Because now his state might not suck Going forward

I thought you were potentially going to try to run for governor of Connecticut No never I still hate that place I still absolutely despise it I always will always have But you know it's kind of turning around If there are more Owens down there And hopefully that will continue to be Kind of the M.O. of Connecticut.

Okay, so this leads perfectly into a New England issue that happened last evening. Sure. At Ty Schmidt, I know you're going to love this. At Tone Diggs, one half of the hammer. Done. Cowboys, can't wait to get your take on this situation last night. The people in TD Garden last night. Okay.

You know, the New England fan base, known to be a very gentle and welcoming fan base. Absolutely. Known to be not very into the sports at all. Not very passionate. No. You know, more like

laissez-faire. So what happened last night at TD Garden came as a surprise to all of us. All of us, yeah. I was surprised to hear about this. As I was watching the game in Boston, Massachusetts, filled with mass holes and New England humans, I couldn't believe my ears. Fuck you, Draymond. What was that about?

Fuck you to other people. Not cool. There was kids in the crowd. Clay Thompson had to address it after his best game of the finals. He fucking said, oh, way to go, Boston. Yeah. Real classy with kids in the stance. Draymond Green's wife said my

kids were there in boston screaming fuck you to their dad calling him a bitch calling a bitch jesus do you have anything to say for the despicable actions of those that were in the garden last night supporting your boston celtics that you're hanging a flag right in front of the desk right in front of you you want to be associated with that despicable disgusting rude obnoxious fan base that normally is never like that no at all what are your thoughts on maybe this big heel change uh for the boston celtics and boston fans in general yeah i think it'll go down as one of the greatest performances by boston fans in the history of the fanhood i think right below that is probably cheering for tom brady and then booing

the shit out of him as soon as he walked out when the clock started and the game begun i mean what do you want okay it's the nba finals we're not in some fucking regular season game where nothing's going on. Draymond tried to pull Jalen Brown's pants down. You think kids want to see some grown man's ass? Hey, Golden State would never do that. I've seen that in two or three different posts. They would never do that. Of course not.

That's the difference. That's the difference. Sorry. Boston's just full of dogs. And, unfortunately, it feels like Golden State's not. Dogs? No dogs. You choose.

I choose dogs. Too many cats out here exactly yeah shooting the ball it's not a pretty game we need more right who's that coastal carolina sorry that got uh completely off track there um that's the environment by the way and i'm I'm not Clay Thompson or Draymond Green, who you would assume would love that type of stuff, but who knows. Or any of those guys. I love that shit. Yeah. And I think there's a lot of people that love that shit.

So I think immediately, and those people, by the way, I think the people that love that shit feel as if they love sports and competition more than everybody else. Absolutely. And I don't know if that's the accurate depiction. I'm just letting you know how us who act in the manner that the Boston fans acted last night and would act and feel very comfortable acting

feel as if they love their teams more than you love their teams. It's almost part of the DNA. It's the, hey, the Celtics, and especially with how old that team is and how old that region is, I think the backlash and the openly talking about it by players that have to go play another game there on Friday is one of the worst decisions of all time. Honestly, when it comes to competitive edge, I think a bad one.

You just said one of the best performances. The Boston Celtics fans feel as if they are in the game. Oh, yeah. They're not the only fan base that does that, by the way. But whenever you have a fan base like that, makes the team better, makes sports better, makes the entertainment level better, makes everything better. Every team is wishing

for that. Maybe not with the obscenities. Maybe people are able to do it in a much... I don't know how the Seahawks fans are. I don't think they're swearing. I'm not 100% sure. But this is the way it fucking goes yes and i i mean i just said the f word there like in some different places they are gonna demolish draymond and clay oh yeah on friday night and they're gonna take pride in it and they're gonna

feel as if they are winning the game for the celtics i think everybody's trying to get that i i do not i i it, I guess, like grandstanding in front of other people's kids that you're swearing in front of and stuff like that. But also, I feel like competitive-wise, that is not a smart move because Boston's going to take that as a challenge. And it is

Friday, NBA. This is a finals, too. This isn't like a championship. A banner is on the line right now. In Friday, there's no reason to gas up Boston people even more. We try to do less of that every single day. Bingo. Sorry, Todd, but when you look back, it's like the Kyrie Irving. You remember when he was giving double birds in the first round of the finals?

That was one of the better parts of the entire playoff run. This is exactly what the Celtics fans are trying to do. This is what their intentions are. That's why they're in unison. And you told me this earlier. When Jimmy Butler walked off the court, it was like, hey. Stayed it up. Hey, fucking good series between you and us, man.

Like, they feel as if, and I feel like you said that they would do that probably to Steph. Like, they probably got respect for Steph Curry, they'd assume. But they are in the game. They are absolutely in that thing. And I don't, okay, maybe less swearing for some people, but we need not get rid of that at all. We need more of that in sports, actually. We need more people coming together around a team that represents their city.

We need more people bonding that are probably much different than each other. Having that moment in an arena where you're high-fiving a random, and I know it happens in church. May God be with you, and may God be with you, and may God be with you, and may God be with you. But very rarely is there ever a time where people that don't know each other ever come together and celebrate together. We need not get rid of that. Now, Boston people are always going to be that way, though, aren't they?

Yes. They have been since the beginning of time, I believe, and will always be that way. Just like with Pittsburgh people, you're going to get a very, hey, when you're, this is what you're getting from Pittsburgh people.

Baltimore people, same fucking thing. Like Ohio people, same, I mean, it's just like, I don't think we should be trying to get that

out of sports at all. I think we should be promoting that. And I like Clay, and I like Draymond, and I love Steph. Didn't hear Steph say anything. But we need not trying to get that out of sports.

We need more of that in sports. And an eight-and-a-half-year-old said, fuck Boston Connery yesterday. That's from the same region of where that thing was happening. That's just how they speak. Sorry about it. Well, and to your point, like, it felt like a finals game. It felt like, oh, like, actually, this does mean something. And I also think it's bullshit.

Like, those guys, they love that. You feed off that if you're playing in that game. You kidding me? Like, there's no, and I'm after the fact. You can maybe say whatever. But, like those guys they love that you feed off that if you're playing in that game you kidding me like there's no and i'm after the fact you can maybe say whatever but like you start hearing that like there's no way that isn't like providing and enhancing the moment and everything it just i don't know it's even like you said like i mean for them to say something it's like what do you think they're just gonna shut up and not say anything on friday like it's gonna be a bloodbath just bring a bunch of muscles in there they bring a bunch of muscles in there

nobody makes no sense it is gonna be loud yes on friday bunch of muzzles in there. It is going to be loud on Friday. Guy Fieri's in there. Portnoy's in there. Hank put up a fucking... Hank put up a goddamn pump fake. By the way, caught the ball brilliantly. Everybody that's sitting around the court there on the wood is hoping a ball comes to them.

They're hoping it doesn't come in the form of a blindside boom explosion. They're hoping it doesn't come in the form of a blindside boom right explosion they're hoping it doesn't come at the time where your baby drinking or having something hank fucking startled a little bit catches that seizes the moment immediately stands directly up pump fakes and then hands the ball to jordan pool i mean like home run yeah hank has been on quite a fucking heater. And last night he proved to do it even more so. But, yeah, they're only going to get louder on Friday.

And I assume there's going to be a couple four-letter words that are going to be flying around from those fan base. And I know it's in front of kids, but it's also the kids. I think the kids are also chanting that thing up there. And I'm excited to watch, man. Listen, we come from the same place. I love when fans do this, okay? Love it. Love it.

I hate when fucking Boston fans do it, okay? We need to stop enabling these Boston scumbags, okay? We've been doing it since the beginning of time. Paul Revere? What? Wasn't him. Great guy. Fake.

For gays. Pilgrims? Oh, don't even get me started on the fucking pilgrims. What? Boston priest. Bad people. Wow. It's been a long time.

Yeah. Detective Sullivan. Yeah. Bad. What? Corrupt guy. Very, very corrupt. Louis.

Louis C.K. No. Yeah. Boston. What? Connor. Yeah. TheK? No. Yeah. Boston. What? Connor? Yeah. The list goes on and on.

We got to fucking stop somewhere. We can't enable this city. I can't believe you're right. And if we're just going to let it keep happening, we are the problem. Yeah. Dr. Phil has told so many parents, like, you're the reason this person isn't. You know what I mean? You're the one enabling it.

You're the one enabling it. And you're saying that speech I just gave about, like, loving it and this is how Boston is and it's why we like them. I'm part of the problem, you're saying.

Yeah. We all have been for far too long. Well. Thank you. We take a stand on Friday. You guys can't fucking swear. Don't you dare.

Not in front of kids Paul Revere Fougues No that's not true That's where it started That's where it started I messed up that he said that Cause that's real Okay I fucking walked Paul Revere's trail

God damn it It's called the freedom trail Tony Why don't you look something up about freedom okay That's what we fucking instill in America And if you don't want us dancing in the end zone Then don't let us get there Okay You don't want us dancing in the end zone, then don't let us get there, okay? You don't want us to be in the finals screaming at people in the NBA finals,

in the World Series, shit, in the Stanley Cup, in the Super Bowl. That ain't ever happened to you guys during the rebuild. Posterknock's coming to Pittsburgh. He is. Not happening.

You're in the middle of a good promo. Go on. Not happening. Poster's staying. He loves Boston. Crates, he's probably coming too, but that's what I'm saying. He's old. Who cares?

You don't like Boston screaming and being the greatest fans in the country? Then stop letting us win all these games. We tried. You raised the hoops. Yeah. Raise the hoops. Oh my God. That's just all tricks of the trade. If Golden State would have thought of it,

they would have, but if they did it too, they'd cry. You don't think anybody has thought about raising hoops to fuck up people's shots? I don't think so. Plus, if they – What do you think? I was in Hoosiers or whatever. Yeah, that's right. Maybe from like the 40s.

If the Warriors did that, their whole entire team would have been crying. They would have needed, you know, unlimited tissues on the side of the bench. So they wouldn't try to raise the hoops. Boston has the more athletic, bigger team. It only helps us. Yeah, that's what we're saying. Sorry. That's the point.

Sorry. It's cheating. Sorry. Normally cheating only helps the Boston. It's called home court advantage, Pat. Okay? If we want to play a 10-foot-2 on one of them and 10-foot-1 on the other one to get rid of the shooting team, then it definitely affects us.

Let alone warm-ups. You know, Steph probably put up 100 shots on this 10-foot-2 thing, and he was brick, brick, brick. He's like, oh, I got to shoot a little bit more, I guess. And then in the game, miss, miss, miss. This is all things that you guys do, though, that I think leads to Tone's point of, you know what? Klay Thompson was right.

Real professional, Boston. Yeah. Real professional. Real classy. Real classy, Boston. You better go win a game Because they need it right now Down two ones Not a good hole

We just did 16 minutes on that And we covered both sides Pretty in depth That's why I mean That's why this show Goes south Will never win an award

Yeah I don't know how People are upset about it It's fucking sports Yeah It's the best part It's what you're allowed to do You're allowed to just Accidentally elbow somebody Right in the fucking mouth You're allowed to just accidentally elbow somebody right in the fucking

mouth. You're allowed to get into an entire thing. The competition environment, not that you should now people say, where's the line then? Where's the line of what you're allowed to say? I think we all know. I think we all know where the line is.

I think everybody understands it. And then if they cross that, I think it becomes a problem, which Boston will. They haven't passed for more. I've been known to. Not so recent history. Habitual line steppers up there in Boston. But, like, just a fuck somebody in a thing like that,

like that happens in every stadium, I think, that I've ever been in. Yeah, that's what makes no sense is them acting like they've never fucking heard this before. Like, you know, I mean, I don't been in. That's what makes no sense is them acting like they've never fucking heard this before. I don't think Draymond basically said on his show that he is more so like, hey, my family's here, my kids are hearing it. But any of these guys who played big-time college basketball, the student section fans are a billion times worse than the NBA fans. They've heard all this.

Boston's entire arena is standing that entire time. It's awesome to watch. But I'm just saying in terms of like a fuck you is rolling off your shoulder a lot more than these pricks in college who are like really going personal and like looking stuff up and that kind of stuff. Like all those guys have heard a fuck you chant before. I forget who was telling the story. I forget where I heard it.

So I apologize to the show that had this. And if somebody figures it out, that'd be great. I guess Kobe Bryant was just mentioning dates to some guy on the court, and the guy didn't know what it was, and he looked it up. It was like all of his cousins and family members' birthdays. So Kobe was just telling him about his entire family and how much research he's done. The shit talk that happens on the court, I'd assume, is pretty intense as well.

I don't know the basketball community and the basketball culture as well as we should be talking like this because I think that is something. We'll talk to Alex Caruso in like two hours. I'll ask him because it feels like it is quite a – the NBA players hate the fans, like hate them, right? That's become like a new thing. How come they're able to do this? Why are they doing this?

Why are they doing that? Is that because they had the without fans years where they were able, it was much more open. I remember when they were only like at 30%, some of these arenas and teams are scattered out, they had more space to sit down. The sidelines were much more wide open. Guys were kind of able to do whatever they wanted to do in all these arenas. I assume that was very nice for a lot of these guys who have only played in front of thousands and thousands of people right on top of the court. So is it because they got comfortable without him? Is it because this

has been something that's always been an issue? Because remember my immediate thought back is like, oh, Russell Westbrook in Utah. Remember that became an entire thing. Russell Westbrook with some other place and then Kyrie in some place but I think Kyrie says he likes it though. Didn't Kyrie say he liked it? I think he, because he's played up there, I think he said he understands it trey young in new york right

like i think there is a because it's a much more intimate setting i think there is potentially a place the only sport where the fans are that close and have that kind of access no not no barrier no no nothing no pads no helmet like in hockey hockey there i was well we were like a foot and a half away from a player yeah we can bang on the glass we can give him the finger and stuff but there's a barrier yeah that's their arena essentially in the nba like there's nothing there joining now is a man who will be able to tell me if this is my fault or not um i went to a playoff game was it playoff that we went to there and sat on those seats on the ice? Yeah, Penn's Flyers.

Tried to pay the ref. Yeah. He came right to the crack of the glass right in front of me. Tried to have a conversation with him. Like, hey, we need a power play. You know what I mean? We're down a little bit. We need a power play.

You showed him the money. Yeah, I showed him. I think it was a couple hundred dollars or whatever I pulled out. We had not gone to the casino yet that's right there and lost all the money. So that casino is going to take all your money. Every time. Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh is a losing casino, but you have to go in there or you have a losing weekend.

You don't want that. You just are tipping the person on the corner, which is the Rivers Casino. You just go in there. You give them $20,000, $100,000, whatever you want to lose. Keep me safe. And then you just go do Pittsburgh. And it's like the Pittsburgh gods say, you're welcome. You can do this.

If you don't, probably a bad weekend. Nonetheless, ref called a penalty. What was it, Nick? Two seconds later against the penalty? Yeah, the very next shift. We were trying to get him at the whistle right there at the faceoff. Very next shift, called a penalty. Called a penalty and then looked at me when he called the penalty and then just skated off.

I'm like, I don't want to think like me thinking I'm that important that I caused. But now that I'm learning more about the game, that motherfucker might have done that just a massive chance. Join us now with Stanley Cup champion who might be able to give us a little clarity on that situation. Ladies and gentlemen, host of that talk, he talked in on NHL Network, an absolute

stud, Mike Ruppert. Mike Ruppert! Hey, I don't know which referee it was that you spoke to, but did he have a mustache? Was it Bill McCreary? Because he probably wanted to fucking go you. Remember the old Bill

McCreary, Wild Bill? That was the one that tried to fight me. Was it Bill? Did you try to grease the palm of Bill McCreary? This is what Bill McCreary did to you While you were sitting on the bench, right? Yeah You want to fucking go, Robert?

Yeah, that's what happens So you're going out there and you're trying to Do your best for the Steel City And this guy's like Fuck you, I'll fight you right now That's what he said right there Man, I didn't hear that story until right now. That's an interesting story.

But, yeah, that's probably your fault, if I had to say. I'm so sorry, Penguins. I think we gave up a goal on that. One series, though, right? What was the final score? I don't know. I don't remember. I never heard that one, though.

That's a good one. Dude, legit. Blows the whistle and stares at me. And then just skates away. It unbelievable nick so pissed they're going way to go hope you're fucking happy yeah good guy good i hope you're happy i wasn't making it a big deal though like i wasn't like showcasing everybody it was literally just an intimate conversation because he was right in front of us at the time and there was a little crack so it wasn't like i was making a show out of it so he only did it for me and it's like oh my god am i that important i fucked the pens all right but let's not talk about the billy billy could you imagine if that was him i mean we could probably

look back at this thing and get the accurate information of who it was you should find it and if they scored on that fire play or not i If I knew what game it was, I could. I might be minus one on the ice. I might be. Rupert, let's dive into the hockey world right now. Obviously, New York and Tampa are playing tonight back in Madison Square Garden. We'll dive into that. I want to talk about the rumors that are hitting the internet. The Boston Bruins are dead.

Pasternak is coming to the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's going to be Genzi, Sidney And Pasta Right there is our one line And we are going to be a Lordo factory For the foreseeable future What's going on? Is that going to happen?

And that's a big deal, right? This is a big off-season conversation then If this off-season If there's not some traction And some grounds being covered With the Boston Bruins And David Pasternak about an extension here, you don't get top-end players like that that hit the market or are available. If David Pasternak is, it's going to set the hockey world on fire.

I was talking with Kenny Danico yesterday, and we were hot-stoving about some things. I think the Devils would jump all over that. They'd throw the second overall pick in this year's draft, probably throw together a nice little young player too. Some pieces. Teams will do whatever. Pittsburgh. Everybody's going to try to get David Pashnack.

So it'll be interesting the way this goes. This last week's been tough. It's been tough for Boston Connors. No! Not a lot. Not a lot you know it's good to see uh good to see what happened yesterday kind of it was kind of neat but uh you know it's uh you know as far as bruce cassidy like maybe this is maybe this is them trying to salvage it so here's the thing that we just heard and we just saw a little bit ago don Don Sweeney, the Boston Bruins GM, had his meeting, season's end,

two weeks ago with Bruce Cassidy. And Bruce Cassidy is coming out and saying, he told me my job is safe. Two weeks later, he gets canned. So I don't know. This is just completely reading between the lines. And you've been through that, Pat. I would assume that football is the same thing. We have our exit meetings as players with coaches with gm with the gm and something happened there right so maybe this is like all right we don't know if bergeron's coming back maybe that

had something to do with making a coaching change but then also if david pasternak isn't going to be talking extension with us we got to figure this shit out. So I don't know. I'm not trying to say that Bruce Cassidy is the problem. Maybe it's just the end of the road as far as a coach's influence on his group. But I think they're trying to salvage something here. It's going to be tough sledding for this Bruins team for the first half of the season. I didn't want to do this ever again.

Numerous times. Moment of silence for the Boston Bruins while they go into a full rebuild in probable irrelevancy. They had Patrice Bergeron. He's gone. They had Brad Marshall. Boil up that pasta. He went into the end of season meeting

with the coach and said, I hate you, Sean. Boil up that pasta. He went into the end of season meeting with the coach and said, I hate you, buddy. Don't forget about the surgery. Real quick. Out six months. And then an imposter came in

and they said, why aren't you talking extension with us? He said, I fucking hate that coach. And then just a couple weeks later they fired the coach

and the imposter said, I hate the GM. Now he's a penguin. So it was And then just a couple weeks later they fired the coach and then Bostick said, I hate the GM. Now he's a penguin. So is Patrice. When Marshawn got healthy, he took the train down to Pittsburgh as well. You know what they did to Charo too? They kicked Charo out, sent him to Washington.

No, no, no. And Timmy Thomas. And then how about the goalie, it just quit, right? Yeah. Yeah, it was good. Yeah, it was good. It was a long history of pushing guys out the door. God, it was a good run.

You don't respect him? Oh, sorry. Sorry, sorry, man. I thought we were done. There's a lot of layers to this. I wasn't patient enough. Sorry. So he stayed.

Moment passed. Wow. I didn't know we were going to do that. I messed that up. That was my first one, so I apologize was my that was my that was my first one so i apologize if i first one we do too many of them that's what we've learned doing a daily show there's too many moments i know that's yeah all right let me let me say this though with bruce cassidy he is a good coach great coach his numbers are incredible nick you went over some of those

numbers on that's hockey talk last night when you're talking about winning percentage and the stuff that he's done. He'll get hired again. This is not to say this guy's a POS. This is not to say this guy stinks. He's going to get hired, dude. He's a good coach. It just – you get to the point where if you can't squeeze the group, you can't squeeze the group anymore, and it's time to move on.

I think that's what's happening. Happens in a lot of different places and a lot of different sports you just kind of your juice runs out your stories run out your motivation runs out the player in the bigger contract outlives it and it's time to just go somewhere else by pos i think you meant the pos machine which john taffer introduced to the world that's right it was the thing that kept track of all the bottles yeah because uh the all the bartenders are fucking stealing from the audience. Correct, that's right. Happened with Disco Don, too.

Real problem. Yeah, in Pittsburgh. It absolutely did. You're 100% right. Anyways, good luck to the Bruins. Let's talk about tonight, Ruppert. What should we be betting on? Did Tampa get their swagger back?

Are the Rangers too tired? I think I heard on the game, and the broadcasts have been great, by the way, but I think on the game I heard that the Rangers hadn't had more than one day off since May 3rd. And then Tampa had, like, what, a week or something off because they swept, a couple of them, two sweeps there. Whenever you think about the exhaustion level that the Rangers have to be at and the Tampa Bay Lightning maybe getting past that rust period of having a week off or whatever it was, is Tampa just going to go on and motorboat the Rangers right out of this thing or is it going to continue to be kind of home ice advantage I I have no idea which way this is going to go

because we've seen a Ranger team in the first two games that looked a certain way and we saw a Tampa team that they look completely different from games one, two to games three and four. So I have no idea. But if I had to say who I think has the edge here moving forward, I would say it's Tampa because of their experience, their game management, their veteran leadership. They just find ways. And quite frankly, the last two games, man, they look like defending Stanley Cup champions. Yeah. And so I think they've started to really grab a hold of this thing.

And the big thing also is the gut shot of the lineup here for the Rangers. They've got Barclay Goodrow. They've got Ryan Strom, a.k.a. Doug. And they've got Phil Petal. These guys are banged up. So, you know, Phil Petal's part of that kid line with Alexi Lafreniere and Capo Caco. And he's their center. So if they're without their number two center and Ryan Stromo didn't play last game,

if they're potentially without or at a weakened number three center and Phil Petal, who that line has been huge for this team, I don't think it looks great for them. I don't think it looks great. But, hey, this team has been dominant at home. Once they start playing Bob O'Reilly at MSG, the place goes bananas. That's like the renegade in Pittsburgh. It does the same kind of thing. What's it sound

like, Rupert? What's it sound like? I don't think I know what it sounds like. What's it sound like? Jesus. I hear in the field. Oh, that's it? Yeah. I hear in the field. You've got to it? Yeah. I love a little... You gotta get the instrumental part, though. That's the key. Come on, someone help me with the...

How does the instrumental part go? I don't know if that's... Do, do, do. Do, do, do. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Drum solo after that. Yeah. And then as I... Do, do, do, do. Whoa!

Wow! Rupert! Rupert, what are you? Are you part of Fifth Harmony or whatever, dude? Sometimes, man. Sometimes. But hey, so MSG's been a place of brilliance for the Rangers. They're going to have to find it here.

It's going to be tough, man. It's going to be tough sledding because this Tampa team, they had that sweep over the Florida Panthers. They had that time off. They started off the series not so good. They found themselves again. And now Andre Vasilevsky is sitting there. And this is the one thing that drove me nuts. And this is the thing.

I got into it with Ranger fans because you remember. You remember at the end of the season, Igor doing this to the Pens, right? We thought that was going to come back and bite Igor. It almost did. Didn't end up happening. So through the first two games at MSG, because you got Andrei Vasilevsky, who's the goaltender in Tampa, best goaltender in the world. Igor, number two at the other end.

MSG fans, Ranger fans, start yelling, Igor's better. I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Not a good idea. Don't do that here. Like this guy might, vassy might be the best goalie to ever play the game don't give him any more ammunition and this guy's found his game so i don't know hopefully at msg tonight they lay off those cheers just let the boys do their thing we don't need any more shit on our plate we don't need you guys to make that guy pissed off and

absolutely stone us so we'll see what happens yeah just sit your khakis down and shut the fuck up and absolutely stone us. So we'll see what happens. Yeah, just sit your khakis down and shut the fuck up. Okay? All right? Just do that at MSG. I cannot believe

you compared whatever song that was to Oh Mama, I may be from my life from the long arm of the law. Hell yeah. Is that good? That's the first time we ever heard. Hey, you can't.

You can't. Hold on. Hold on. I lost you there. Did you guys pick that up or no? Yeah. I thought those were fake. The drum set's been used on the show.

So it's, yeah. No, hey, that is the one thing. And you guys know, because I'm always running my mouth about the Browns. I went to many Steeler games there when I was playing for the Penguins. That is one of the coolest moments I see in sports when that shit starts coming across at Heinz Field. I tell you, like, it gets the juices flowing. And then the highlights of people just getting –

the old rules of the NFL basically hits are just running. The You Got Jacked Up segment is running. CTE City is running on the jumbotron while it's going and everybody in pittsburgh's already boozed up it's going into the end of the game and then you got tj tj is bought into a complaint like when the players buy into it too it's a big deal cam and tj and the boys that are out there they start fucking i mean it is it's electrifying we are in the playoffs for the penguins and we didn't know it was going to happen and they and the boys that are out there, they start fucking, I mean, it is, it's electrifying. We are in the playoffs for the Penguins and we didn't know it was going to happen.

And they brought it out a game in the playoffs. And I'll tell you what, like it was fucking cool. Like it was, it was sick. I don't think it's something you could overly use if you're the Penguins because you can't like, it's the Steelers thing. Like once in a while you can grab it like in huge moments, but it's, it's big, man. That's one of the coolest little rally cries, I think, in sports. I don't go to enough Pens games.

Do they drop it in there every once in a while? Like, massive moment? That would be fucking electrifying, too. They have. They have. Oh, fucking, like, two minutes left. Yeah, you see a lot of towels going. Pens play the party song after goals, though.

Hey, you know who's got a really good record, though? You guys can help me out here. Who's the New York Giants head coach? Dabble. Huh? Dayball. Brian Dayball. Okay. So this dude has been at every Ranger win.

Oh, yes. I've seen it. He just got hired. He just got hired, Rupert. This is a good idea. Yeah. So they bring him. So they play the, how does the tune go? The NFL.

They do that at MSG. Every time they have like, you know, a lot of times it was Justin Tuck. They have some, you know, former Giants and different guys that are coming through. So they play that so everybody knows that someone's coming up. And they put that dude on and he kind of looks like, you know, he kind of looks like uh go on go on rupper what are you uh uh i mean he kind of looks like me or he kind of looks like uh uh dude thank you i'm going blank uh our boy from hockey talk thank you thank you yeah aq sorry jesus christ uh he looks like aq a little bit AQ. AQ. Yeah, AQ. Sorry. Jesus Christ. He looks like AQ a little bit, maybe.

But anyways, they put him on the jumbotron at MSG. The place goes bananas. The team wins. They got a great record. This guy's been at really basically every home game, and I think they're 7-1 in the playoffs. That's a great start to his career as the Giants head coach. Saquon Barkley's come out and said he feels like he's got his swagger back. Uh-oh.

Yeah, so who knows what that means for the Giants. Let's dive back into this game. Last night, the big conversation in the Garden was that the fans were screaming, fuck Draymond, and called him a bitch and stuff in front of kids. We talked about this because we were sitting so close. Like, fans do sit close. Penalty box right behind the bench. Fans are very close in hockey but that

barrier is a big deal is there notorious places that are like much worse than others like i would assume the boston celtics home games in the garden are around the league everybody's like hey it's going to be a nightmare whenever we go up there like just expect it it happens in the nfl is it like that in the nhl as well yeah there is uh you know Philly's obviously a place uh you know there's there's quite the trash bag contingency there so they'll go out at times uh you know there's you know if you think Philly Philly remember that was the I'm pretty sure Nick wasn't Philly the Ty Domi fan falling in the it was you probably you guys have probably seen it the infamous clip of the guy reaching over the penalty box because heilly the Ty Domi fan falling in the penalty box? It was. You guys have probably seen it, the infamous clip of the guy reaching over the penalty box because he was chirping Ty Domi, and Ty Domi squirts him in the water bottle,

and the fan fell into the penalty box, and then Domi just beat the shit out of him. Unreal. Yeah, so you guys got to look that one up because it's – Real classy, Domi. Obviously, Ty Domi is tough as nails, but this is my thing. Everybody's brave. Everybody's yelling at the zoo by the tiger cage. Until that fucking thing gives in.

Now all of a sudden you're shitting your pants, right? Like this fan's yelling at Ty. Ty gives him a little squirt of water. Lean starts yelling more. Glass gives way, okay? So he gets hit with the water here. What the fuck is that security going to do? Nothing.

No, wait till, wait till you got another clip of the guy gets pissed. Obviously you just got a whole Paul Ray dumped on his head and now he's going to stand up and he's, he's going to be Tommy tough guy with Ty Domi hang over the glass. Glass gives way. He basically falls in the lion's cage and tied oh he's like it's on now

and he beats the wheels off him and uh so yeah i mean there's times it's usually around the penalty box is kind of that area right so you take a penalty you got you know they're holding up signs they're knocking they're yelling through the gap like you try to grease the this the hand of a referee like they're yelling through the sides they're trying to get to you and you can see ads so then the referee's got to get in there on this. You have off-ice officials, which are generally kind of older gentlemen. They got to go break this up. Like it's nuts.

But it's usually around the penalty box where you got some refs people yelling some stuff. And I don't know. You can always – the one good thing in hockey is that you always got the glass there so you can pretend you don't hear them. Oh, man. I'm just thinking of don't hear them. Oh, man. I'm just thinking of that orangutan yesterday. Did you see this orangutan yesterday? No. Oh, what?

Yeah, let's run it. Let's wait until you see this. I was watching a game came onto the Internet. I don't know where. Probably read it had it like four days ago. Came onto Twitter just yesterday and I got it tweeted to me uh or texted to me from one of the boys i think we were conversating with somebody ty was asking a question and i was watching this video and i was just getting more and more uncomfortable and as soon as ty got done asking his question the person was

like what the fuck is wrong with you and i was trying to mouth orangutan this video hit the internet yesterday this is what i feel like with Ty Domi and that person. Look at this shit, Rupert. Boom. Come here. Come here, bitch. Oh, my God. Yep.

Take your shirt off. Bingo. Immediately. Slip that thing over your head. What are you doing? No. Got to save it. This was an affliction shirt.

Hold on, though. He's got his leg. Hold on. Yeah. This thing is just getting started. Oh, no. He's got his leg up his thigh. Yeah.

He's getting next to the balls there. And then he's got his foot all around his... He's got his leg. He's got his leg. Hold on. Yeah, this thing is just getting started. Oh, no, he's getting up his thigh. Yeah, he's getting next to the balls there. And then he's got his foot all around his – he's got nowhere to go. Two arms and a foot right now. Just full grip. I wonder what this person did. Was it not a snack? Was it somebody else? Is this a ricochet shot for some other asshole?

Turns that son of a bitch – Look at that. Look at that grip. Turns that son of a bitch sideways. Is that the end of it right there, Azid? Yeah. It continues to go on where he grabs the hand. I think he gets to the hand.

And he goes to bite the person's hand or the arm. Person pulls it. And it's his foot. He goes to bite his foot. And then he misses the bite. And then he just lets it go. He's like, yeah, that's what I thought. And then just fucking they swear.

And then he's just sitting. What's he doing? He just walks to the back of that cage. And then he goes, now they know. You know now? Is that what happens, sir? Think about what we just fucking they swear. And then he's just sitting. What's he doing? He just walks to the back of that cage, and then he goes, now they know. You know, now, is that what happens, sir? Think about what we just saw, though. Like, you have a grown man. It looks like somebody else is trying to help him get away.

Kind of foxy build. And that grip strength. Dude, that grip strength. That dude is, that orangutan is not even budging. There's no, like, there's no fight. There's no, it's just, boom, holding it still. And this dude's body is parallel to the ground. There's just no...

This monkey doesn't even look like he's trying. It's fucking with him right now. Hey, you want some? You want some? And then says, all right, we'll give you a little bit more. Come on in. Let me shoot. Shot for a single leg.

Yeah, he did. Shot for a single leg. Handicap match comes in. Partner starts kicking. You can fucking get some, too. Hey, by the way, that tag team partner was much braver a little bit ago not so much now look at him turn that son of a bitch sideways dude oh yeah that's all he's looking posting up both of his bottom feet for leverage yeah unbelievable hey they're us dude i don't know

how much you're into that that type of thing I watch so much of the animal planet. I always love the apes. The apes shit I watch. Just watching them in the wild take food into, like, the water and, like, clean it and then, like, peel it just like us. And then eat it and throw it out. Just even the way that monkeys eat bananas. It's like we've been doing it wrong forever. Like, we've been. But, Steven, I know you talk about how they can even break it but then they you know like humans we we peel from that stem and we usually bruise up the top smash it up and shit they reverse it and

the thing's just like perfect yeah they pinch it they reverse it and pinch it yeah absolutely i mean it's crazy and then we want there's an orangutan exhibit here in Indianapolis, and we've talked about this before, but I feel like we're appreciating it for the first time. You go down there and you look them right in their eye, they're looking you back. There's an actual connection. And I made eye contact with one of them.

They were fucking miserable to be in that cage. Oh, yeah. Pooped, pooped right in. We were making eye contact, pooped right there, and then just turned around and walked away. I'm like, I'm sorry, buddy. It looks like you're doing life in there, too. I don't know what to tell you.

And then you went and saw him. Oh, yeah, I saw him. That orangutan fucking hates himself. He's just begging for someone to just come and doof, doof. Whoa, whoa, whoa. He is. Whoa, whoa, whoa. He really is.

They sit him out there in the hot sun. He's in a box that's way too small. I mean, that orangutan, his cage is five times the one at the Indianapolis Zoo. I feel bad for that guy. I really do. But to be clear, none of those things are anything to fuck with. I watched this one sanctuary one where you had to go in and actually shake the hand of the leader of the group to get into the area. I love that.

And then if you shook the hand, it could go either way. I remember them building it up as if it was a very tense moment. Like, will you be accepted in the cage or not? It was a new person that was going to bring them food. Had to go say sorry or hello to the person. And they were like, now it might give you a little,

but don't back down. You have to remain strong, whatever. I'm like, get the fuck out of here. And there's people that believe that there's no connection. Forget it. Not getting into it. Your question, Nicky Skates, for old Ruppert. Right off the

bat here, just real quick, ZD did some research back here. We found out the referees for that game that we went to that you tried to bribe. It was Wes McCauley. I think it was actually Wes who made the call, but also working that game was our buddy Tim Peel. Timmy. You know what?

I'm going to reach out now and be like, hey, I don't know if you ever remember, but was there a time? Give me a ballpark year-wise. When was this? April 13th. 18. Yeah, April 13th, 2018. We're going to figure this out. You know what?

I don't have many referees numbers, but I do have Wes McCauley's and Tim Peel's. Here we go. Those are the two you want, right? Wes is the best in the biz. He was the guy. They have a highlight reel. He might be. Slash it!

Five minutes for. We'll figure this out. He's like the Hockley, right? Yeah, he's awesome, dude. He's the one that does the – yeah. Isn't that what you just said? Yeah. Five minutes and he's like, fighting.

Sounds like Mortal Kombat or like finish him. He's an absolute showman. All right, so who's winning tonight? Make a pick, please, sir. I'm going to say Tampa wins this game. Me too. Gumpy will be happy to hear that. I've been trying to advise Gumpy in games one and two that it was the Rangers. But, you know, it didn't – he didn't want to hear that. I've been trying to advise Gumpy in games one and two that it was the Rangers,

but he didn't want to hear it, and I think it goes back to Tampa with Tampa up 3-2. All right. We didn't want to do this again, but not yet. Not yet. Moment of silence for Gumpy's seat that is no longer. Oh, his seat. Got it.

Go Bolts, pal. I've been saying go Bolts this whole time. No moment of silence. Oh, his seat. Got it. Go Bolts, pal. I've been saying go Bolts this whole time. Whoa! Gumpy's back. You have any questions for Gumpy, Rob? Dude, this is my favorite thing going. Yeah, I mean, how you doing, Gumps? What have you been up to up in

No Bud Lights up in Canada? It's cold up here in the Great White North, pal. What kind of brew ha-ha's you drinking without No Bud Lights up there? Oh, I'm drinking Amstel Lights now. He does love Amstel Lights. Well, I thought maybe a Modelo.

More specifically, Modelo. Hey, Gumpy, we appreciate you, man. We miss you, pal, even though the fake one's just as good. Miss you, lads. Ooh, ooh, we appreciate you, man. We miss you, pal, even though the fake one's just as good. Miss you, lads. Ooh, ooh, ooh. Oh, nice.

You kind of sound like that sex robot that's coming out. Yeah, yeah. What a wild world. Ruppa, we appreciate you, man. I think Tampa's going to win as well. Yeah. Well, yeah, we'll see. I think it goes seven, though.

So I think it's going to go seven games. And we were joking about it last night. You should be rooting for Tampa because you've got – there's three teams left. You've got two invites. The Pat McAfee crew has two invites to Stanley Cup parties, one being in Colorado, one being in Tampa. So unless we can work some New York Rangers relationship, you're saying go Bolts. We won't. We would never go Bolts. We won't.

We would never. The things I've said about the Rangers throughout this entire thing, I would never be able to do that. It was just like the Caniacs. I was a big fan of the Caniacs. I was like, I can't do it. But I don't know if we've been invited to either of those. We have kind of just publicly said it.

Sure, but if you keep saying it enough, it'll probably happen. Yeah, a little public pressure, right? A little public pressure. I think so. I like that. Tony, I have a question for you. You're up before you go. Yeah, Paulson, you talked about Game 7.

It's supposed to be in MSG. Same night that Bieber's got a concert. Is the NHL obviously going to give way and make them play a back-to-back Game 7? And I assume Bieber's not moving for the NHL. I don't know, man. That's a great question. I saw that, and I'm like, how the hell did this happen? Bieber's a big Leafs fan. great question. I saw that and I'm like, how the hell did this happen?

Biebs. There's a lot of jokes that have been made. Bieber's a big Leafs fan. Good boys with Austin Matthews are saying, well, hey, the good thing is that Leafs never show up for Game 7 so maybe Biebs won't show up that night. But I don't know, man. I bet you I can see Biebs moving something because

he is a big hockey fan. And he loves his hockey. He's a good old Canadian like Gump's here. And I don't know. It'll be interesting. But I think it's going to go seven. So I think we'll have that storyline. They'll probably give him some sweet tickets.

Yeah. Game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals. I mean, he's Biebs. Yeah. Autographed Mitt by Igor. Unless Gumpy's boy, Chris Pronger, ruined that relationship with the NHL. Remember when he buried

him up against the glass? That might come back and bite the NHL because of Pronger. What did Pronger say? I always just wanted to be unpredictable out there. Certainly were. Certainly was. Ladies and gentlemen, Mike Ruppert. Thank you, buddy. Thanks, guys. to be unpredictable out there yeah certainly work yeah certainly certainly was ladies and gentlemen mike rupper thank you buddy from uh uh attica ohio aj hawk

aj watch live golf this morning uh dj seems to not be playing his best golf 125 million dollars still sitting there for him did he turn it back around around? Is that what you were about to say? No, P.KWM is winning. Also need full names on the side of the fucking screens, okay? Need that, Liv. Need the names because I have no idea who it is. Also, we need the names of the teams that maybe underneath the name put the team name because just the logos, we don't have a clue of any of them.

No. The Orange S's were doing the best. Yeah, on fire. They were on fire. They were towards the top the entire thing uh strike force yeah i think struck ball struck ball i haven't seen any of it how's the production value good good it was like uh it felt like it was maybe not 4k but up there had cameras everywhere same exact thing british commentators i'd never heard of had the same feel

uh different colored tracers on the ball. Light blue. Like a little bit more color, you know. Dennis Quaid said, we're going to bring golf to life a little bit. In that voiceover of the live golf tournament that he did. Fascinated by it all. But NASA's going live to chit-chat about the witch they found on Mars. That's a photo, but yeah.

Oh, I have seen that. They're going live to talk about UAPs in general. They're commissioning a new study to finally... What the fuck have they been doing? I saw this the other day. NASA has agreed to look into UAP. What have they been doing? Isn't that what their job has been?

What the fuck, dude? I don't know if that's technically their job, is to try to figure out what's out there, or is it? It is. Well, what else are they doing? What are they doing? They're going exploring, I guess, Fuck, dude. I don't know if that's technically their job is to try to figure out what's out there, or is it? It is. It is. Well, what else are they doing? What are they doing? We're going exploring, I guess.

And then if they run into some people, hopefully give us a heads up. Are they going splunking around the International Space Station? Like, yo, you're not keeping an eye out for fucking UFOs? What do you think that witch is? I have no idea. I have no clue. What do you think it is? It looks just like erosion.

No, it's the keeper of the keys. What? What color do you think that witch was if it was not a black and white photo all right so i was i was lied to they're not talking about the witch photo what do you know all right so let's move on here uh let's talk about some breaking wait i thought they're talking about your other alien that was through the fence on the still shots okay what are your thoughts on that little three-foot rat bastard that might have found himself in a place that he didn't know he was in?

I think it's taller than three foot. I think there's definitely video, and it's possible it's somebody wearing like a Chuck E. Cheese costume as well. You think that thing's taller than three foot? Put that back up. How tall is it? Maybe four feet. Well, I guess it is a zoo, so that fence has to be very, very, very, very tall.

Yeah, at least a six-foot fence. This thing's seven feet tall. Yeah, the knee bends, too. It's not standing up straight. Yeah, it does have kind of a windshield or a door. It's going down and downhill. It's got a a six foot. This thing's seven feet tall. Yeah, the knee band's two. It's not standing up straight. Yeah. It does have kind of a windshield or a door. Cameras angle down and downhill. It's got a car door build.

It does have a car door build. That's interesting enough. Kind of like you turn around there a little bit. It goes down. It goes back up there. Is it wearing tights? I think that's its skin, dude. I don't think it has access to what we have.

I feel like it's a little furry, too. Yeah, fur. Is this related to the Queens aliens? Well, everybody's telling me that was just a drone that was flying at the speed of fucking sound. Come on. What's up with people and these drones? I don't know. First off, you're also not allowed to fucking fly a drone by a fighter jet, okay?

Yeah, especially at the Queens Jubilee. Yeah, this thing. I i mean have you seen this aj yeah that's got to be a drone right uh yeah and everybody's telling me like um if it's a ufo it's pretty small the well that's aren't they all the tic-tac thing they've all been tiny i think they're shapeshifters big one we need a bean i want that big old animal walking in that shot to be flying one of these things. They probably do. Here we go. They probably do. How you doing? That could have been a balloon just with a hole in it. Galaxy is on a rise.

Super strong helium balloon. There's this hot air balloon that flies over Lake Morris, the lake that I live at or whatever. They fly it over. That's like the oldest science experiment of all time, right? Yeah. That's what that is. I've watched this thing a lot and the wife has gotten intrigued by it oh god you should go up

no no no no no don't be an asshole those are death traps dude i'm not gonna be the amish of the sky dude all right this past weekend there was like six of them within 10 miles of my house because they were flying over the memorial for the tournament the golf tournament going going on, and the Goodyear Blimp or whatever, too. They were landing in fields around me. I was like, man, I don't know if I have the balls to do that. I do not. And what happens if God just goes, you know? Couldn't God technically do that any time to you?

Yeah, but I'm not going to be in a goddamn balloon. I'm not trying him. What if God does that in your car? There was a mothership tornado by you last night. Did you see that? Athens, Ohio, I believe crazy there's levels to that thing did you see that i have not seen that no oh dude in athens yeah where ou is look a lot greatest college town in ohio for halloween they do say that they do say that yeah they do say it's a good time all right let's dive into into some stories here in the NFL. Not that all that stuff isn't vastly more important than the NFL.

Okay? If that little three-foot to seven-foot rat bastard car door looking thing is real, that's a big conversation that needs to be had. Yeah. What is it? Chupacabra. And what zoo is that? It's a Texas zoo.

Yeah. I think someone tweeted us it was Amarillo. Amarillo. Amarillo was Amarillo Amarillo Amarillo It's Aldine there? Oh yeah Another round Another round

Another round Takes the tractor another round Another round He said I seen a rat bastard walking around Seven foot tall, not from our town All right, dive into it. Cooper Cup just signed the largest guaranteed contract in the history of wide receivers in the NFL.

Three years, $75 million guaranteed. Three years, $80 million in total. It's an extension. There's five years on that. I assume they're playing a little salary cap gymnastic with cash over cap situation because Kroenke has all the money. Last year, obviously, he led the NFL in receptions with 178. Receiving yards, 2,425.

Yards after catch, which doesn't get talked about. Everybody talks about the triple crown of receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns, which he did lead as well at 22. Yards after catch, 846. Led the NFL in all four of those stats last season. Became the Super Bowl MVP. He is an absolute dog. This guy is a stud because normally the yak leader doesn't have the deep ball touchdowns

and everything like that. So to be able to be this big of a playmaker at all times he obviously signed a new contract the highest guaranteed contract in the history of wide receivers in the nfl in a matthew stafford jersey basically saying thank you to that detroit uh legend right foxy yes sir i love it this is great news for the rams and it continues to prove our point that the salary cap is a fugace. The salary cap might be real to the broke owners, okay? You little broke-ass billionaires, okay? You can't do anything. But to the wealthy owners, those who have cash on hand,

the ability to put the money up front and into escrow, I believe, to hold on for the guarantees, they will continue to profit and benefit from this, just like Kroenke has with the Rams. Kup, an absolute game wrecker, is back with the Rams for at least three more years, as is Matthew Stafford, and you would assume Sean McVay as well. What a signing, A.J. Hawk. I mean, he has to be super thankful that Matthew Stafford came there.

They seem to have a great rapport from day one. We hear about them coming into the facility at 4.45 in the morning and going over and watching every possible rep they can and studying the defenses. So when you listen to Cooper Cupp, I know I mentioned on the show, when they talked to him after one of their games, it was a Sunday night, whatever it was. I don't know when it was. He explained exactly the coverage, what they were doing,

what we were supposed to do, what I was supposed to do, my adjustment. And he was so nonchalant and just casual about it. I'm like, okay, yeah, I understand why you throw that dude the ball almost every play. When he gave that answer, that I think is what led to us learning about him and Matthew Stafford watching film at 5 a.m. every single morning because somebody had to speak like, yeah, Matthew Stafford's speaking the same language as Cooper Cup, which is the most efficient and beneficial weapon that you can have in football is when the wide receiver and the quarterback don't have to say anything

to each other and everybody knows exactly what's going on here the offensive line doesn't have a fucking clue what's about to happen the other wide receivers might not have a clue what's about to fucking happen running back got no idea what's about to happen but you the ability to make an audible on the fly because of what you've seen in film what you've seen on the practice field what you've seen the walkthrough without it's travis kelsey patrick mahomes thing right yeah where they see something and what the play was designed to do. Travis Kelsey early in the game, hey, if we do that again, I'm just going to stay straight as opposed to dropping in.

I think it's wide open. And then all of a sudden in the middle of the game, do it, Travis. Do it, do it, do it. And Travis has told a story. He's like, hey, shut the fuck up, old man. Yeah. And then Aaron Rodgers told a story about Devontae Adams, where they just look at each other and it's like, yep, we're doing this.

Cooper Cup and Stafford were able to do that in less than a year. And I think it's because of all the amount of time that they spent together. Yeah, I think he said it was cover two. They kind of showed like a cover two, then it became cover zero. Then the safety kind of crashed down. I took my out to a post or something. Like I forget the exact breakdown. You're 100% right.

What a lucky find for the Rams. And I'm not saying lucky because um cooper cup didn't put in all the work and everything like that i'm just saying lucky because there ain't no way anybody predicted cooper cup to fucking be what he has become in the nfl other than cooper cup in his family congrats on getting the highest guarantee in the history of wide receivers that's fucking awesome well and the craziest part about the entire thing is with this donald extension and the cooper cup extension they actually created cap room like now they're for obj for obj like they're going to be able to bring him in they obviously signed alan

robinson in the offseason who's a stud and they still have van jefferson it's crazy when it came to guaranteed money he is now at 75 million uh guaranteed which is three years. Tyreek Hill, 72.2. Diggs at 70. Devontae Adams, 65.6 million. Hey, now, Devontae's probably going to earn all the bonuses and incentives in his entire thing, but whenever that contract happened, do you remember us shitting our pants? The Devontae Adams deal we thought was big.

Then Diggs sticks around with Buffalo somehow. We're thinking he's made going to Dallas to play with his brother. Tyreek Hill gets to trade in a big payday from Miami, and now Cooper Cup on top of it. These numbers are only yodely, yodely, yodely, yodely. Who's next? Debo.

DK Metcalf, Debo Samuel. Tyreek. More than 75 guaranteed? Don't think. No. I mean, who's next to top this? This dude just came out a Super Bowl MVP. This is what the teams are saying to the players.

Like, DK Metcalf's agent is telling them, well, here's the new standard. This is what the going rate is for a number one or whatever. And DK Metcalf's agent is going to sell DK Metcalf exactly how DK Metcalf is. This guy's big. This guy has made, he's gotten better every single year. He made this team better.

He's beloved here. He loves this place. He got quiet whenever you guys said, hey, we're not trading him. Like, there was no conversation in there. But the team's going to come back and say, the guy that got paid that was a Super Bowl MVP. He led the NFL in the triple crown of yards,

receptions, and touchdowns, and yards after catch. So when you can present that, okay, to us, we will pay the same exact that's what the team will say exactly what the team will say but i think the agents and the wide receivers are like no this is just how it goes now this is what it's going to cost to play ball with a good wide receiver yeah when you look at his numbers i mean 178 receptions that's so many catches one year on the year like as long if they if Cooper Cup can stay somewhat healthy, I mean, how do you stop this offense, honestly? What are you supposed to do?

They have so many weapons, and this guy alone, I feel like, creates so many issues for defenses. I mean, the Rams, hey, they're doing it right now. They're cooking the can down the road, as people want to say, but guess what? It's working right now. The Rams have been able to sign Stafford to a four-year $160 million deal. Cooper Cup to a five-year $110

million deal. Aaron Donald to a three-year $95 million deal. Bobby Wagner to a five-year $50 million deal. Allen Robinson three years, $46.5 million deal. This tweet coming from Field Yates all this offseason after winning a Super Bowl, and they haven't even brought back

OBJ yet, which they will end up doing, who they found a way to pay him money last year. The salary cap is only real to the owners that don't have as much money as the other owners and want to use it as an excuse. The cash-over-cap explanation that Andrew Brant gave to us yesterday is great news for the teams that have owners with a lot of money on hand.

Congratulations to the Denver Broncos, who are probably going to get into this game very soon. And with that GM, Ziegler, who has allegedly been – no, no, Ziegler's with the Raiders. Who's the GM? Patton. Patton. He's going to be able to – this is a dream for him as well.

As soon as you get an owner that has the ability with all the money, it's like, you know how your brother-in-law does it? Or your cousin-in-law, whatever the fuck it is, does it over in LA? We can do the exact same model here. We just need you to front. Will you be able to front us like $400 million every offseason? Robson's like $400 million. Yeah.

You want $800? This is the NFL, isn't it? I mean, what do we need to do? They're going to be able to do this forever. That is why new money coming to teams is so exciting, I believe. And congrats to the rams being able to take advantage of the whole situation knowing that la is up for grabs right now go ahead tone you guys were talking about who the next is probably going to be if you don't

think dk or debo or whoever's going to get that this year more than that the next year justin jefferson is up from his rookie who's ownership in minnesota because now we can start piecing together how much is that big doesn't he own a soccer team so he must have tons of cash he's From his rookie. Who's ownership in Minnesota? Because now we can start piecing together. Ziggy Wolf. Ziggy Wolf. How much? Is that big money? Doesn't he own a soccer team? So he must have tons of cash. He's been an owner for a long time.

I know that. How many teams? Like, we are the dumbest show. Okay? We are the dumbest show on record every single day. And everybody knows that. We know that. How about us, though, with this next level analysis?

How much money does the owner actually have? And then we'll know if he'll be able to sign Justin Jefferson to a deal. We'll be able to know if these things will be able to happen. Is he liquid enough to do that? Yeah. Now we have to get into the finances of these owners. We need to know where the investments are. Is this money cash?

Is this money held up in real estate? Is this money held up in the stock? Crypto? Okay. It's a lot less than it once was. I think it is back on its way up though. Congrats to crypto. Oh, nice. real estate? Is this money held up in the stock? Crypto? It's a lot less than it once was. I think it is back on its way up, though. Congrats to crypto. I think, I don't know. Joining us now is a man who will know more.

Actually, no, he won't. This guy works for the NFL and has no idea what's going on when it comes to salary cap, but he is a senior NFL insider for the league and NFL.com. Host of the weekly wrap-up with Rap Sheet and Friends. That's being the friends. He'd be in rap sheet. Ladies and gentlemen, Ian Rappaport.

Rap sheet. I seen that. Good morning. Football trotted out the neural link this morning. The NFL is like, well, somebody's making a very compelling case that everything that has been said on the outside of this league, that our salary cap is a big food gaze we need to send a neuro link out there to

read a memo and let everybody know that the salary cap is real we just need to know after learning this whole cash over cap situation yesterday from andrew brandt who has the most money fluid like who has the actual cash that's going to change this whole game right that legitimately changes everything i think ian first of all i did like how tom did a whole nice segment on like let me explain what the salary cap is but didn't exactly cc at pat mcafee show i feel like it was more kind of like understood you know would have been just too too aggressive to do like hey pat you know so he just kind of did it assuming you would see it. Well, I did see it, yes. I mean, as soon as that goes up on,

we are added in every single conversation about the salary cap because I feel like every single one that happens around all things. Now, we do watch the NFL Network every single day, so any time the Neuralink trots his ass out there in a hoodie looking super cool, by the way. He might have been plugged in. He might have been plugged in at the time. That's why he was wearing the hoodie because the plug. Make him look more personable.

Get him out of his suit, put a hoodie on, and plug him in. What are you saying about your hat? Trying to get my hat properly situated. I'm like a lefty pitcher. It's never like straight. Is that because of the shape of your head, you think? I don't think so. Although I feel like I have a normal. It's never like straight. Is that because of the shape of your head, you think? I don't think so. Although I feel like I have a normal head, but honestly, maybe not.

The whole time I might have had an oddly shaped head and not known it. It's possible, right? Welcome to being your true self. Let's go, Rashi. To answer your question, though. Yeah, congrats. We're all happy for you. There is a linebacker named Traven Howard,

who is a restricted free agent linebacker who played for the rams and i say played because yesterday he got waived and so his 2.5 something million dollar salary vanished and he now no longer makes it and is on waivers today the reason why that happened was because the rams were getting ready to sign Cooper Cup to that three-year extension worth about $75 million or a little more based on the new money average, right? So there are ways to work around the salary cap. There are ways to push money into the future, which is what the Rams have done, what the Packers have done, honestly what a lot of the really good teams have done.

But there are consequences because you have to make everything square and the bill comes due and the bill yesterday was cutting this linebacker who's actually a really good special teams player it's not as exciting as cooper cup but it is real no offense to the special team player i fucking appreciate his dedication to not only johnny hecker but the entire los angeles ram special teams but that happens every year. People get cut. Cap casualties happen all the time. What we're saying strictly is that number is just like a recommendation almost for the owners that don't have a lot of money on hand. For the owners that have a lot of money, like Kroenke, like Robson Walton, like these people

that are able to put the guaranteed money into escrow and able to front the money basically and pay 40 or 61 and a half million dollars right now so you can kick that thing on voided years for five six years like and it's only happening to great players who you know aren't going to fizzle out i feel like this is a loophole that only the uber wealthy owners which all owners are uber wealthy they're all billionaires they're all flying on their own planes. They're all living very well. But for this loophole, it feels like it's only the big money owners that can do it. Am I wrong or right in thinking that? I don't believe you're right in that because I feel like most of the, honestly, almost all of the owners are at a point where they can do that. Basically every owner by now, because the money's's so big because the tv money's so big

the owners have that cash so theoretically almost everybody could do it now you talk about the richest owners dave tepper the bangles the bangles the chargers can you take a loan out like use the team as like collateral how does that work though they don't have a lean on the bangles i don't think you can i don't think you can do that. You're right. There are some teams that have traditionally not done conversions where you take the base salary, you turn it into a signing bonus, you spread it out, you push it into the future.

There are some teams that have traditionally not done that, either philosophically because they don't want to have a big credit card due eventually or because they just cannot spend the money like that. I mean, the Bengals don't do it. The Chiefs haven't pushed a lot of money into the future at all. The Cardinals haven't done it. There are several teams that haven't done it. Eventually, though, it all comes due. What I believe teams like the Rams have smartly done is say the salary cap is going to be so big that when the dead money comes due it's not going to matter that much for us well and also if it comes due that's only if the player doesn't work out or see it all the way through if the player no no it it comes to eventually like the Saints right now this year

are paying several million, I forget how much, but it's many, for Drew Brees. Didn't work out, right? Didn't play there anymore. Wow, but it worked out pretty good, but just his contract is over, and they have to now account for it. They cannot spend that cap space because Drew Brees' dead money is on the cap. So the question, though, like do owners care about possible dead money in the future, I guess?

And do any owners really care? I'm so sorry. Hold on, AJ, before you get to that, Ian. Go ahead. So Drew played out his entire contract, then he retired? Yes. Then why is there dead money if he played out his contract? Because it all comes due.

So basically they push into future, push into future, so much so that the future extended to beyond when he was playing. So basically what Breeze did, if you remember last year, the last year that Breeze played, he took his salary down to like a million, right? Like the minimum. Malcolm Jenkins did the same thing. I believe Alex Mack did the same thing. It's a way to minimize the cap hit, but there's still dead money, so it still counts. And what dead money basically means

is you just can't spend it. So you get a little bit less than everyone else because you have to account for Drew Brees' hit, for instance. So what was that? That was voided years on the end that they couldn't just say void and get rid of? Correct.

So it's not actual money. So his contract wasn't up. Nobody gets actual money from those voided years, but it does count against the cap. So his contract wasn't up then? It was, and it wasn't. Oh, my God. Go ahead, Andrew.

Are any contracts ever up then? Do you see teams doing this? Is this the model moving forward? Do you think these big, we know, Broncos 4.5, 4.6 bill. Is this going to be the model? You've got to have this cash on hand. It feels like it is, especially if you really want to compete. The Rams have been like, in a weird way, it's kind of cool that they've won

because they've been such a curiosity. They do things so different. And now that they've won, I do feel like it's a little message to teams like, you may want to think about doing things this way. And the way that the Rams do it is they make big trades. They value great players over lottery tickets, which are first round picks.

They don't mind pushing money into the future. They don't mind saying, well, made a mistake on Todd Gurley, made a mistake on Jared Goff. Send those guys away. Focus on the guys we have. Deal with the cap. Like, they take big swings,

and I do feel like there are teams in the NFL that look around and go, well, if the Rams did this and are really good, we should think about doing this because we can, and then just manage it how they've done it. Yeah, so the salary cap's fake. No. Feels like it. There's a big loophole

in there. There's a loophole towards surviving this year. It's like the credit card. It's like paying the minimum payment on the credit card. Eventually, they're going to come calling and you're going to be like, is this spam or is it really the credit card company? Okay, wow, this is really the credit card company. They hope to send that to their kids.

They don't call. They'll be dying that goes to their kids. Yeah, the next GM deal. It's like college debt. Yeah, Sean Patton did that. You guys can figure that out. Go ahead, Ty. Rapshied, so the Bengals and the Chargers,

two teams who are going to have to do this in the immediate future to give guys like Burrow and Herbert what they're going to need. Is there a chance that they're going to have to do this in the immediate future to give guys like Burrow and Herbert what they're going to need? Like, is there a chance that they're going to have to sell because they're not going to be able to facilitate what these guys are going to demand in future contracts? No, they can afford it. They can afford it. And that's one great thing about the TV contracts

is that it's so much money that everyone has money. So they may not philosophically believe in doing these cap conversions, restructuring deals, pushing money into the future. A lot of teams, again, a lot of teams don't. The Bucs didn't until Tom Brady came and was like, all right, we got to change the way we do things. Philosophically, not all teams do it. The Chargers and the Bengals can afford their mega, mega, mega million quarterback contracts that are coming.

But it is, I honestly don't know the answer about whether they're going to say like, let's push money into the future or whether we can just do it the way we've always done it. Fascinating, because I'll be intrigued to see like five years from now, if the owners that don't do this in that one per club meeting gets so loud that they shut down this loophole? Do you see that happening or no? I actually think about this as far as the owners being like, you know what, this is not

healthy, I guess you'd say. I don't know if that's the right word, but this is not healthy for all of us to just keep pushing money into the future. Let's figure out a way to make this not happen. Teams could look at the Saints and tie hard with this. Come on, guys. The Bengals vote against basically everything that these this not happen. Teams could look at the Saints and tie hard. Guys, this isn't healthy for us.

Come on, guys. The Bengals vote against basically everything at these owners' meetings anyway. If the Bengals vote against it, they'd be like, that's Mike Brown. If it's ever 30-2, I'm always like, alright, the Bengals and who else?

But I do think about that because it is... it is a lot. Yes, a lot of times the Bears as well. But I do wonder if owners will be like, this is not good for any of us. Let's make it so it doesn't happen. It's great for the players. I hope it continues to happen. The great players, at least.

Now, there is obviously always going to be cap casualties, which I don't love because a lot of those guys are my friends. But I like seeing people make money and get paid for all their hard work go ahead connor yeah rap sheet because of the you know the money actually matters now do you see a lot more places kind of becoming like a jerry world or a patriots place where they're going to move their stadium and kind of build it up around it and also are the commanders screwed now because it sounds like they're getting pushed back on the movements of their stadium yeah first on the commanders thing i read a really interesting Washington Post article yesterday, and most of the second half on this commanders, Jack Del Rio issue,

most of the quotes are from state representatives who are saying, after hearing this, we're not really going to talk about the stadium in Virginia. That was probably not very good for the commanders, and we'll see where their stadium actually is. That was probably pretty alarming. The answer to your other question is yes. Because, you know, like, I mean, he doesn't. Yeah.

Amazing. Him just coming out. Yeah. Here's my thoughts. Can you turn on that mic, please? Do you think Jack knew the firestorm that was going to come after that? Knowing him,

I'm sure that's why he did media and was ready for it. And then had to come out later and he was fighting or whatever. Yeah, that was quite a mess yesterday. The answer to your other question, teams are going to try to do that.

And that is why you saw the Chicago Bears. Remember they purchased land in Arlington Heights like last year? If they do move the stadium there, that's the goal. Own your own land, build a Patriots place or what the Rams have around it. Own all of it, make a lot of money, and then everybody gets rich. Which they're already rich, but richer. So, isn't it fascinating,

and I don't want to knock the hustle here or the business, but isn't this sell to the communities? We're going to build a stadium here, and we're going to bring a bunch of business to the community. Then the owners say, also, look at this really cool thing we're going to do a bunch of business to the community. Then the owners say, also, look, this is a really cool thing we're going to do. We're going to build our own hotels, our own restaurants, our own casino, and our own stores.

It's going to help our community as well. You know, like this, isn't that a, that's an interesting game that's being played. But if you were an owner, why would you not do that? Like that Patriot place is awesome. It is absolutely awesome. And they have a casino. I think it goes in there patriot place is awesome it is absolutely awesome and they have a casino i think it goes in there i mean it is great business it's easy for everybody that travels in there green bay has a similar type operation yeah green bay's building a really cool one also yeah they make 200 million a year in real estate around the the packer stadium

that's not bad that's a lot of Aaron Rodgers contracts. Jerry makes $70 million every home game. Yeah, from the shit that's just around where he's at. And they're still, I mean, I think what they're going to do is around the star, their practice facility kind of do the same thing. So he'll actually have two places to pull money from. Go ahead, Tom. Ian, Texans can't be happy, huh?

Good question. You're like, please answer the question. They are. I would assume the Texans are not happy. And obviously what you're referring to is the fact that they've now been added to the Deshaun Watson lawsuits because of allegedly, according to a New York Times article written by Jenny Varentis, allegedly giving Deshaun Watson an NDA when I believe one of the masseuses came out on Instagram with some of his information. I believe that's what it was referring to. No, I don't think this is great for them. I don't, I'm curious what it all means.

And I don't know enough right now to say like how meaningful it is. Like, how are they going to be roped into damages or are they not going to be? But if the only thing, the literal only thing that happens is everyone had to read that headline, very bad. I cannot imagine anyone's happy. I don't like, it's the offseason, and this is a very serious allegations, and it's in a lot of different avenues now at this point,

and he has the largest guaranteed contract in the history of the NFL, and he's a quarterback in the face of a franchise. I mean, there's so much that goes into this, so we have to talk about this. It feels like, and this is me just talking about from my own personal perspective, there's a lot of alleged, alleged, oh, liquid death. Pretty good water, huh? You never drank out of a hose growing up, for sure.

Never. No, no, no. Well, I mean, we had water fountains and all, but every once in a while. Never. Probably never yet. Yeah, yeah. That's kind of a similar feeling right there. The first time I drank Liquid Death, I was like,

oh, this feels like back summer, right into the hose, ice-cold water. It is. It is. That Liquid Death was a nice nostalgia thing for me, and it's so cold. So cold. Get that rusted. I don't want to go the wrong way on the topic, but I actually like my water lukewarm, like room temperature.

Disgusting. But it also tastes delicious, and I do love liquid death. So I have a bunch of it in my office. It's good to sip on. All right. Well, you probably got paid for that. No, I didn't. I actually like it.

You're looking to go to their little liquid death festival like you did with Traeger. Remember he was at that Traeger festival? Hey, thank you for the grill. Eatin' and boozin'. Remember he was shaving his private parts of Manscaped? Oh, yeah.

He was allowed to have his phone for a week. On NFL Network? Yeah, you weren't allowed to have your phone for a week. Remember that, Ian? You always got some angle. What?

Why we gotta bring up old stuff? Well, it's just old stuff is what leads us to believe what's happening currently, pal. That's kind of the way the world works. We apologize. We're not happy about it. Go ahead, AJ. What were you thinking there? us to believe what's happening currently, pal. That's kind of the way the world works.

We apologize. We're not happy about it. Go ahead, AJ. What were you thinking there? Oh, no. I'm just blown away. I have no idea any of this stuff happened. Was there a tubing situation that I'm unaware of?

What are you talking about? Yeah, he kind of... Ian, what did you do? You manscaped yourself on your story, right? Live on air? Did he really? No. I think so, yeah.

I would say Google has done a very good job of chronicling the situation i i stepped away from work for two weeks involuntarily uh that's not true involuntary that's not true how did that go by the way did you just have your phone but no internet so every time you go to it you check it you just weren't able to send a tweet what happened uh i was able to do a lot of things but i didn't do anything and you always wonder like if if ever that happens which i hope no one ever has that happen to them or does that for themselves what whichever the case may be by the way he never showed himself this is him he did a manscaped ad and then it became a big deal i think right yeah good google there's a great great description

of everything somehow anyway um practice you on your burner what that's what you did for two weeks yeah anyways no i mean i kept thinking like people would just like contact me like hey i know you're not working but here's this news and it basically never one time in two weeks it happened so almost never everybody was like oh yes that guy's not working call someone else that's what happened it was very lonely how about you got you kind of got um coveted when everybody had to go to their house and be alone that kind of happened to you everybody just expected that's a shame man did you respond on the other side like i'm back but what did you say uh i did do a uh i did do a i'm back post on the twitter uh and then i think there were like two stories that that like I had like right after. And I was like, all right, this is that.

And it felt like normal. But it was I would not say the greatest two weeks of my life. We missed you, dude. Yeah, we did. Let's get back to this, though. The Deshaun Watson stuff. It feels like just personally a couple of weeks ago, you know, a lot of like a ledge. This is alleged to happen

there was two indictments that did not come it was uh jury heard testimony heard evidence more than we had heard but this is all alarming it's very serious we can't wait to hear or not can't wait but we will hear as this goes and we will judge accordingly we want justice to be served now like it's hard not to just be like really feels like this dude's a predator like doesn't it like and i guess that's what the pr uh in jenny varentes and what uh the um accusers attorney buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz has been doing this entire time but how does the nfl in the have they have you heard anything from the nfl or the browns about all these new because the browns have to be sitting there like oh what did we you know did they know like this the more we learn and the more we hear and it's all allegations and accusations and there might

be 24 different trials we're hearing which we'll hear a lot of if it's anything like depth and amber heard we're gonna hear a lot and learn a lot Do the Browns or the NFL, is there anybody in there that's like, this can't happen any longer? Is there ever going to be a timeline to this that they tell Deshaun, like you have to leave the league and handle this or anything? Because it's not good for anybody. So you're talking about the commissioner's exemplist, right, which is basically paid leave, taking him off the field,

and putting him somewhere else, which happened to Adrian Peterson. It's happened to a couple of different players over the years. That is designed or is used for stopping players from playing in games while there are criminal charges pending. As of right now, there are no criminal charges against Deshaun Watson, many, many legal charges, but no criminal charges and there's no games. So suspended players are allowed to practice. He is obviously not suspended, though he is under investigation. If he is suspended, if there is some sort of significant discipline, then he will be, I believe, allowed to practice if history serves. Like DeAndre Hopkins is allowed to practice, and he's starting the season suspended. So the way it is set up, he will still be there on the field practicing.

And the only sort of decision that the league would have to make would be when games come, is this wrapped up or is it not? And because it's civil rather than criminal, at least judging from history, it sounds like he would be able to play, but we do not know that for sure. Okay. It's, I would, it's not good. And let me also add one more thing. Remember we talked about a couple of weeks ago where, and Roger Goodell came out and said, the investigation is coming to a close, right? Well, when these new allegations came, these are now being looked into. So I would say it's still on the back end, on the back nine, as you would say.

But I don't think it's over because I believe the league is investigating these new claims as well and talking to Deshaun Watson about it as well. It's the second nine. My mind's in the Augusta. But it is. It's very serious. I mean, this is I hate talking about every day because how terrible the Augusta. But it is very serious. I mean, this is – I hate talking about it every day because of how terrible all the accusations are. But also, it's not good for the NFL for this to continue to go. And Deshaun, I mean, I don't know how – he just doesn't – does he not read any – does he –

There's no private on Twitter. Private on Twitter and on Instagram, I guess. Yeah, post that IG. Let me ask you about the cooper cup thing because it felt like you wanted to break the news but you didn't know all the details so you said like hey coming soon it feels like there will be a deal with cooper cup north of 20 million amongst all the other highest paid wide receivers in the nfl which he rightfully deserves how long and you alluded to this i think like a week ago with us or maybe earlier in the week with us. I forget

the exact time. You're like, Cooper Cup deal probably coming soon. How long has this been in the works? And $75 million guaranteed is the most all-time at the position. That's great news. I feel like that's how they pitched it to Cooper Cup whenever they sold him on this deal. Yeah, so receiver contracts are like impossible

to figure out because you have like let's say Tyreek Hill at 30, but the last year is so big. Figuring out where he is among the highest paid is hard, but he did very well. This is a really good deal for him. I think as far as when this was going on, probably a week and a half, maybe two weeks before the Aaron Donald deal was done, they started working on Cooper Cup. So basically simultaneously, I had a pretty good sense, I would say yesterday morning that it was going to happen. And then when I reported what I did, which was, you know, the two sides have made significant progress, a deal could come today. It was basically with

the understanding that a deal was coming probably tonight, but wasn't quite finished. And just judging from all the factors, how far along it was that a deal was happening, I decided to report it like right then rather than wait for like the, okay, it's done. That's basically it. Yeah, you don't want to get scooped there, right? Do not want to get scooped, yes. Oh, good play by you.

Look at you. That's like the classic put the eyeballs out when something's about to happen and then oh it does happen just let everybody know we knew about this beforehand can't thank you enough for joining us what's coming next next week we got another round of mandatory mini camps

so we'll see if there's any holdouts there okay oh whoa whoa Baker and Jimmy exiled from their camps that's a brady quinn said that's a brady quinn not me i'm just quoting that guy's brother excuse from mini camps kenny moore not at mini camp i believe here uh in annapolis kenny moore at mini camp let's go although he although he doesn't want a new contract hey uh i'll go through it a sec that was good stuff about daris Leonard, by the way.

Thank you. I appreciate that. I tried to do my research. I thought the same thing when I was like back surgery. But anyway, that was good. Turns out it was good news, allegedly. It is actually good news because they found what was affecting his ankle. It's like, this is great news.

He might be. I can't wait to see him play football with a functioning ankle. That'll be great. It's been a little bit since he was fully healthy. So, yeah, so no Baker in Cleveland, which makes – I know it's sort of exiled, but it just makes no sense to have someone awkwardly standing there on the sidelines. He may or may not be on the team.

He may or may not be the starting quarterback. I don't know if he's going to go or not, and then everyone wants to talk to him, and teammates are kind of like talking to him, but you don't really know if he's going to be there. And then, oh, by the way, Deshaun's there. Like, it feels like the right move to say, just hang out home, do your thing, and we'll figure it out. And we might need you to play this year. And we might need you to play, or we might trade you.

Hey, he might play this year, right? Or no? Is Jacoby going to be the guy if it's not Deshaun this year? I would say both are on the table. There's arguments to be made for both. For Baker, to me, being a starting quarterback is probably the most important thing. So if that's his only option, I would say it makes sense. If he has another

option, maybe like the Panthers, then that makes more sense. Alright, we appreciate you, Ian. You're the best, buddy. Have a great day. I'm surprised you're not golfing. You're not golfing today? I played right. We appreciate you, Ian. You're the best, buddy. Have a great day. I'm surprised you're not golfing. You're not golfing today? I played earlier. How'd you do?

I drove the ball absolutely everywhere except where it was supposed to be, so I shot a 90, which was awful, but I just couldn't drive it. To be honest, looking at you, I think we all assume 110, 120, especially if you're walking. So you're getting 90. That's amazing, looking at you, I think we all assume 110, 120, especially if you're walking. So you're getting 90. That's amazing. Look at you, beating our expectations by 20 strokes. That feels a little hurtful, but you're not totally wrong, so I'll allow it.

Now, you play a lot, so we would hope that you would continue to go south of a hundo. But today, not a good day. Get a 90. Not bad. Ladies and gentlemen, you had a great appearance on here. Ladies and gentlemen, a interruption. A interruption.

Guy who's been in jail in Texas. What? Whoa. Now he's a champion in Texas. A member of the Chicago Bulls, an absolute stallion, Paisano, Alex Caruso. Yeah! What did I walk into?

We were talking about happy endings and legalities of them and all that stuff, Alex. That was a great intro, but that was a great 60 seconds prior to the intro to just get me jump-started into the show. Well, it's great to have you.

Thank you so much for joining us. I thought I spent enough time separating you from the explosion of semen, but I guess not. You know, I guess you were... The buffer was not

big enough, apparently. All right, can you take him off the screen real quick? Hey, AJ, how you doing today, man? I'm doing great. How are you? I'm pretty good, dude. I'm pretty excited.

Ty, how you doing? I'm doing great. How are you? Connor, life? Yeah, fantastic. Oh, big win last night. Huge win for the Celtics. You guys losing Posta now, but it's big.

Tony, how you feeling, man? Couldn't be better. Hey, me too. You know why I'm so pumped up? How's that? First time guest. What? Yeah, first time guest on the show.

Ladies and gentlemen, a member of the Chicago Bulls, Alex Caruso. Yeah! Much better. Much better. All right. Hey, how you doing, man? How's the off season? What are you up to?

Are you down in Texas? Are you in Chicago? What do you got going on? Yeah, no, I'm down in Texas. Bought a house in Austin in the off season, so I'm down here just, you know, working out, playing golf, hanging with my dog, doing what Texas kids do, I guess. Golf, are you a member at any country clubs? Is there any success that we need to talk about,

a potential call that happened today? No official success. I mean, the steps are in order. I just, you know, there's some – the first step is taking place. We got to go two and three, and then we'll be – AJ, I was so baffled. This dude's in the NBA. He's playing in Tahoe for the first time coming up in a month from now.

Can't wait to see him out there. He just moved to Austin. He told me the other day, I got to go meet with somebody and see if I can become a member at this course. You can. You're fucking Alex Caruso. You can just pay the money. You're there.

I don't understand what the deal is. Is this some super secret course? No. I mean, it's a nice course. It's one of the nicer ones in Austin, Spanish Oaks Country Club. But, you know, yeah, I took the tour today. They got a brisket. They got a guy just out there cooking a bunch of meat on hole seven,

just brisket, jalapeno cheese sausage. Tested that out. Oh, what? It got the seal of approval for the born and raised Texas kid. So, yeah, as soon as we can get this stuff, you know, the process a little hurried up, I'm excited to get

out there and take advantage of that. Hey, shout out to Spanish Oaks. Hey, let's get this thing done he's alex caruso texas guy's gonna be playing golf in front of the world about a month from now how's your game you a player i assume you're a stick great athlete yeah so we've talked previously right so i'm like a mid-80s guy right out of right out of the season i haven't played a lot you know coming off of wrist surgery you know we're we're coming in coming in fresh. I did pop off a nice little 81 yesterday. Whoa.

Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Raise some eyebrows. Raise some eyebrows. That's not the median, though. The median is probably like mid-80s. Good word. Who do you normally play with?

Like any of your teammates any good? I played with Zach before. I played with Zach. He's new to it a couple years in, but, I mean, he's so athletic. Like give him like a year or two, he's going to probably be in the 80s too. Matt Thomas, one of the guys that was one of our reserve players this year, I played with him a bunch. And then I played with, I mean, in the bubble,

I played a bunch with JR and then Kuz and then a couple of our assistants. Dude, honestly, COVID kind of swept the golf bug into the NBA. I know a bunch of people have started playing a lot more just because that was the only thing you could do for a year and a half. Okay, so this is a good conversation starting point here. The bubble obviously had no fans. Then it became like partial fans. Did guys get comfortable without the fans there and with more space around the court? And now the fans have been completely integrated back into the sport.

Is there a beef between players and fans? Is that just a normal thing? Because what happened last night with Draymond and Klay being like, this isn't classy and everything. It's Boston. Like, that's going to happen. Yeah, it's Boston. I mean, what do you expect?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So is that a thing, though? Because you guys are more intimate with the fans than any other sport, I think. And that's a real relationship that I feel like we only learn about when it goes bad. Is there real conversation around the league about that? I mean, you know, it's just highlighted right now, right? It's the finals.

Boston hasn't been there in however many years. You know, their fans are traditionally pretty rowdy. I don't think that's, like, a new thing if you follow basketball. Like, everybody knows Boston's a little crazy. They get their beers in pregame. You know, we'll just put it like that. They don't hold back. But, no, I mean, the bubble was fun just because it was almost like, you know, glorified pickup to a point because there's no fans, right?

So it feels like a little bit like the summer um but then once they throw the ball up you know the games the games got back to being nba games and you're like oh okay now i gotta guard damian lillard so i should probably focus up a little bit but the the fan interaction my bad the fan interaction is just what it is like you're gonna get that any. You just can't always hear them in football because there's 80,000 to 60,000 people and you're 50 yards away from the field. Why do you think we see it so – or at least I guess because social media, whatever, it could always be happening.

Now we just see it more. But is it partly because they sell every seat possible? Like your head coach is sitting here and there's five randoms that paid 50 grand to have the seats between like the, the press, the little booth in the end of your bench. Like you guys don't even have anywhere to sit. Yeah. To be honest,

some places I really hate playing just because like the, the last seat on the bench, you literally are knocking knees with whoever plays, you know, pays money for that baseline seat far right next to the bench. Like you got some dude over there just drinking, you know, money for that baseline seat far right next to the bench like you got some dude over there just drinking you know miller light yelling yelling some obscenities and you're over here like trying to focus play a game uh that there's a couple arenas boston's one of them

phoenix is one of them of course golden state's one of them where you just are like you're literally in the fans lap and like other than that i really don't you know i really don't give a shit it's like you can put fans wherever you want like they're fans they're going to do what they do you kind of like that's kind of part of like comes with the territory right like you got to be a professional athlete you got to deal with that but yeah the ones the ones at the end of the bench are the ones that that that really bug me the ones next to the score table those ones aren't that bad. Those are what the Showcase or Superstar seats or whatever. They're at every arena, the opposite of the hard camera.

It's like four or five seats, and they charge like hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars for those seats. But you're going to get on TV. You're going to be on TV. You're going to be able to do whatever you want to do. Get street credo. Yeah, and market something if you want to market it. Big branding opportunity.

Big, especially for old Caruso there. Maybe get yourself some. I'm on the court, so, you know. At what age did you know you were going to make the NBA? Because I feel like my take on the NBA is much smaller community because there's obviously less guys on the team, but also it's almost like you know whether somebody's going to be in the NBA or not. Did you know your entire life,

and how many of these guys have you known since you were a kid playing? No, I really didn't know. So I was a late bloomer. My career was kind of cyclical. Like high school, I was a late bloomer, went D1. And then college, I was like, I played a little bit. We weren't very good. I bloomed late into like a professional prospect.

But even then, like, you know, I had to go to the G League for a whole year and then I had to play two way. I think, I think probably after the summer league where I kind of like jumped onto the scene when I was playing with the, with the Lakers, that was kind of when I like figured it out. I was like, all right, I'm just going to keep working. I'll get a little better and I'll eventually make it. But no, I wasn't like, you know, I wasn't like a top ten recruit in the country. I wasn't the McDonald's kid. I didn't really know until I knew, you know, until they, like, let me have the contract and a pin.

It was like, hey, sign this. I was like, all right, cool. Now I'm in. So I'm signing an NBA contract. I thought this was potential. Now I'm allowed on the court in a uniform. Got it. How was it playing with braun

in the lakers it seemed like you were beloved by that entire squad and obviously lebron's name automatically draws reactions from people because he has been a superstar since he's like 13 14 years old and has been able to handle it all what was your relationship like with him and how would you describe him that maybe people wouldn't necessarily uh say or see from the outside looking in yeah i have a great relationship with him um you know everyone sees the the basketball stuff right you know you see the plays and the alley-oops and the passes and stuff uh we we had a really good chemistry on the court of just like reading you know taking advantage of other teams you know that's something that he does at the highest level most elite level and then i'm i'm pretty good at it and i'm getting better the more i play more years i get under

my belt but we just had a good connection um and then off the court man you know he's just one of the guys you know he's in the group chat just like everybody else uh he's a he's actually a like he's a really big jokester like you can kind of tell a little bit through like his social media is like he he's kind of a goofball but he he just is like a big-ass kid you know and he just happens to be the the brainiac that he is in the business world but like basketball wise he's just another guy on the team cracks jokes shows up to shoot around you know all the other stuff uh obviously i'm a little biased because you know he he helped me win a championship so that was like you know I I hold him in high regard but yeah I think I mean from the outside looking in people are always going to hate greatness you know that's just kind of how it is you know there's people

that hate Tom Brady for some reason when there's really no reason to you know it's one of those things where you're on his team you love him him. You're not on his team, you kind of hate him. Would you like to see LeBron end up playing with his son here in a couple years? I think that would be awesome. Yeah, that would be cool. Well, forget he's got a couple of sons and the way he's going, he might be able to play with both of them. Dude's a freak, man.

He's an animal. I don't know. He figured it out. Whatever the code is, whatever the health and wellness, he's just a really smart guy in general. People don't give him credit for how smart he is just in life. He's got a great brain, and he's figured out how to keep his body in top shape and in his discipline to do that.

It's just ridiculous. What year are you going into next year? Year six. You feeling older? I know you had that wrist injury that kept you out a little bit. We're all very bummed about it. But are you starting to have to do anything different for your body? Because the NBA is so much running.

So much running, travel, a lot of games. Mentally, it's probably exhausting. Have you had to change or adapt? And did LeBron help you with that at all? Because it feels like that's his biggest weapon to be able to maintain the level that he's maintained for all these like decades now at this point you know yeah for sure i mean being around you know when i was in la for those those two years where i was on a regular contract with him we won the championship and the year after just being around professionals like guys that have spent a decade plus in the league you know Danny Green Rondo Dwight Howard uh Bron AD um it just rubs off on you you know when you see them in there

before everybody else and then they're getting their work in taking care of their bodies you know watching the diet getting the recovery uh it really taught me how to be a pro and then this year you know I think I averaged somewhere around 30 minutes a game. And that's the first time, you know, my professional career, maybe since the G League. But, you know, it doesn't compare to the NBA, just playing that many minutes. So for me, this year was kind of a learning experience to figure out, you know, how much I need to eat, you know, when I need to sleep, when I need to get my massages, when I need to do the ice bath. So, you know, it's all just a learning experience. You know, you got to figure out what works for you.

Everyone's different. But, yeah, just, I mean, learning how to be a pro, you know, now 28 going into sixth year, I think I pretty much know how to do it. Like I'm more excited for the next five, six years than I am, you know, the last five. Steph Curry completely changed the game. And have you guys acknowledged that within the league? It's a whole new game now, it feels like,

since Steph has kind of come onto the scene. Now, I'm not saying he's the only shooter, but the NBA is much different than it was, what, 10 years ago, 15 years ago? And it's only evolving even more? When you watch him play and when you watch Golden State play, do you think, like, other teams, this is what teams are going to try to do in the future, or is he an alien?

Yeah, I mean, the game's already gone that way. You know, I was watching random highlights. I can't remember who it was just from you know, late 2000s before the 2010s and you got a center like you got like Ben Wallace who does nothing but rebound block shots, set screens

dunk and then you have a power forward who might shoot threes, but more than likely shoots like 15-foot jump shots and then rebounds and does all that. The game is just so much different. If you don't have a five man that can step out and shoot threes or at least one that comes off the bench where you can play a small five-guy lineup,

there's just not enough space on the court anymore. Like you said, Steph kind of ruining ruining the game changing the game uh he's shooting it from 30 feet and he's making it like a 50% clip if you don't guard him like it just stretches the floor out so you have to have guys that can guard multiple positions you have to have guys that can switch you have to have guys that can do multiple things rebound dri, dribble, pass. It's really just becoming more and more positionless basketball. There's no traditional centers. There's no traditional small forwards, point guards, where it was like point guard brings the ball up, runs the play.

Shooting guard and small forward are kind of like scoring, and then the bigs are setting screens and rebounding. That doesn't exist anymore. What's your offseason look like? I know basketball players talk about they get together and play, pick up games with other pros or college people and always – like is there something that you like to work on every offseason to try to improve?

Yeah, that's part of it. I mean, at this point, you know, from my background, you know, going undrafted, G League, two-way to the NBA, it's like every year i had to like do something in the summer to try and get better right to learn to try and improve because i was trying to make a team i was trying to make it into the league uh so that's just kind of like the dna i have now is like i think i like i have a little bit of a perfectionist complex to where it's like no you know if i'm not doing something then I feel like I'm like being passed or something.

And that's like I guess that's the best you can have as a pro athlete. Right. Just yes. Work on the discipline, work on the drive. Like once you get it from there, it's just about showing up and putting in the work. So for me, you know, every every offseason, there's something that the last year I'll I'll write specific games down throughout my notes in my phone or something and put it in my computer to where I can remember. It's like, all right, I remember that game. I did X, Y, and Z. It's like, okay, now I remember.

That's what I've got to work on this summer. Like you said, there's 82 games. You're not going to remember something that happens in November and April when you're getting ready for the playoffs. How do you feel about the shot right now? Is the shot good? What are we working on? Handles?

The shot feels good. The shot feels really good. Really? shot right now? Is the shot good? What are we working on? Handles? Shot feels good. Shot feels really good. Really? Still got it in? Had a good day on the court yesterday. I got one coming up in a couple hours now. But I told you, that's just part of the basketball. In the offseason, offseason basketball,

everybody that plays in the league is Steph Curry. Why? Because it's just like there's no rules.'s no rules there's no structure you're literally just out there like like a kid again where you're just like hooping for the fun of it you know and there's some people who are good enough to translate that into the nba you know the staffs lebron dame willard jason tatum like there's some people who are just you know god given ability to be able to play like that all the time. And then there are people like me who play a good role, do what they're supposed to do, work on their game last season,

and then show up to open runs and play like I played at the rec center in college. How tall are you? I'm like 6'5". So if you were just like 6'3 or 6'4, you could walk into any of these open gyms and they'd be like, God, the bald white. Yeah, that's the last, and then just light it up. I mean, you think at this point I can walk into a gym,

at a basketball gym, someone's going to recognize me, especially in Texas. Who are you playing against? Are you playing with anybody else, or do you just... No, I'm just working out. I'm just working out. I'm not playing any pickup yet. Where do you work out?

Your own gym? Go to a college gym, Austin, Texas, somewhere? What do you do? No, the guy I'm working out with, he actually could get into the UT gym. I told him, I was like, hey, man, I prefer not. Being an A&M guy, it kind of goes against the code of ethics that I grew up with. So it's just, I mean, hoopers just need a gym. It's like you finding a random field and kicking footballs into the sky.

You just need a basket, some lines, and a couple of basketballs. Middle schools, some private schools, high schools, wherever you can get any fit in. It would be awesome just rolling to one gym and all of a sudden the guy is just like, that dude's 25 or 30 right now. Those workouts are just a much different level. There's levels to this

shit. We're talking Alex Caruso of the Chicago Bulls. How do you feel about the Bulls? What was it like to play for such a legendary program like the Chicago Bulls? Not that the Lakers weren't, but you became a guy for the Chicago Bulls. Went on an electrifying run towards the end of the season, I do believe. How do you feel about the Bulls, and what was your time like there last year? It was good. Getting used to the city.

I knew that everyone knows the history of the Bulls, especially with the last dance came out. Everybody learned the ins and outs of the true history of them. So that was fun to do and get to know before I showed up. But just the fans in general, they're good sports fans. Chicago citizens, they understand the game. They understand football, baseball, basketball. They know what a good play is, what a bad play is. There there was a couple games this year where we got booed because we played

like shit and i was like yeah well that's pretty fittingly you know and it's just one of those things where it's like you just show up the next day and get right back to it but i love i love playing chicago um i love billy donovan i love our front office i love our team um we had great guys you know it was a year of a lot. I love our team. We had great guys. It was a year of a lot of adversity for our team. We were the first team to get really wiped out by COVID in November. Then we lost Pat Williams, second or third year player. He was the number five pick who was going to be our starting power forward.

Lost him second game of the year. I had some injuries. Zach was injured. Lonzo was injured. It was just a rough year outside of the actual content of basketball. The product on the court and the basketball part was a lot of fun. I can't wait to see what you guys do next year.

Zito got all excited about the Bulls. Zito loves it. Absolutely loves it. Is he? Shout out to Zito. I had a baby Zito. If I ever see Grayson Allen, I. Is he? Shout out to Zito. Yeah, yeah, yeah. One time. Oh, yeah. That a baby Zito. That a baby Zito. If I ever see Grayson Allen, I'm smacking the shit out of him, too.

Right in the mouth. Right in the fucking mouth. Do you and him have quite a battle? Is that why he hurt you? Like, there can only be one white out here at the time? He's a punk. No, you know, I have an inside joke with my friends. It's like, you know, the white guys stick together in the leagues.

There's only like eight of us or ten of us. No, it was just a bad play. And worst part about it was like, he, he reached out to apologize, but it was just like a little late in the season. So I was like, all right, don't worry about it. Like I'll just talk to him after the season. And then we play in the playoffs and we're like, all right, this is perfect. Like into the, into the series, like I'll just talk to him.

But hey bro, no, it will, like, I'm not going to, you know, forgive you for it. But like, I don't have any like i don't wish bad upon the man i don't like i don't like yeah i know you do you know but i don't i don't wish like i hate seeing guys get injured you know like i want guys to be able to be healthy play basketball earn their money you know do whatever they got to do um but yeah so then i had the concussion game five and we lost game five and i couldn't say't say anything to him. So I guess I need to reach back out. Hey, Grayson, there's no beef, even though a lot of people say you're just a fucking asshole.

Not him. He's the only one not saying it. More or less words. More or less words. Go ahead, Ty. Alex, how long does it take when you get from the G League into the actual league? How long does it take to acclimate to the speed and the skill of the game, and then from that point to actually making an impact in the games?

Yeah, I mean, it's night and day, right? Like I think G League is probably somewhere between high-level college and the NBA. You know, it's probably close to a couple of the overseas leagues that are really elite, that are really good as far as talent-wise. But, yeah, I mean, that whole first year I spent in the G League was me just learning how to play professional basketball. What's different? In college, I'm coming up, I'm playing point guard,

and I'm looking over the sideline like, hey, coach, what play are we running? And then I'm walking the ball up. You've got 35, 30 seconds, and I'm like, hey, four down, and I'm getting everybody in order and going. It's like the NBA, if you've got an advantage, you just take it and go. You know, like you don't wait for permission to do something in most cases. There are some coaches that are like super old school that want you to run a bunch of plays every time.

But for the most part, it's like quick hitting action. Are those coaches still around? Are they able to be in the league anymore? Yeah, I mean, there are far and few in between. But, yeah, there's still some. Like, I think Rick Carlisle's a big play caller. I think Thibodeau's like that. This is good.

You know, I think there's only a few, though. You know, the league's shifting to younger coaches that, you know, I think are more, you know, player relationships and, like, understand the change of the game. Like we just talked about, like, the game's different than what it was 10, 15 years ago. Looks like Jim Carrey, though, so that's cool. Yeah, it's good.

It's funny, probably. Yeah, he won in the past, though, and he's here in Indy. Why don't you come? Hey, we'll get you out of that dump of Chicago. Come on down to Indianapolis, Indiana. Well, easy there, easy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Chicago, great city. How many headbands

do you go through during the season? I've seen you become a big time headband guy. Is that because your big bald dome glistens off of people's faces and eyes or why is that?

It was before the full shave, but it was a, we'll give a quick shout out to JaVale McGee. He was the one who originally told me, I was like, dude, you should rock

the headbands. All right, I'll try it out. And I played good. And then he started doing the little, know celebration thing it just kind of stuck so we went through it we also i got to give a shout out to our equipment guy steve he was with you in indianapolis steve steve good dude i talked to him yesterday on facetime i facetimed because i need him to send me some shoes from from the gym and he told me to to tell you hello so i've got steve's good dude steve is a good dude for us i assume the same for you guys yeah yeah the best the best okay uh but yeah the the headband

just kind of stuck i say i usually well i don't say i usually i go through to a game right because i'm just i'm a heavy sweater right so some people change jerseys at halftime i switch i gotta switch headbands because that thing is it's gross you know by the time we get to the locker room i've played 15 minutes already so i'm i'm full sweat and there's nothing right there's nothing to catch it so it's just it's going straight onto the headband so two a game 100 or 82 games maybe some playoffs so maybe 200 headbands you should do something with those obviously but and wash them first. Go ahead, AJ. Yeah, definitely wash them. Are you watching the finals right now,

and what do you think is going to happen in this one? I know we have a Boston guy, Connor, over there, believes the Celtics are going to run away with it, but do you think the Warriors still have some fight left? No, definitely. I've definitely been watching. It's part of the – it's like a fine line between me being eager and me also just being super jealous you know the competitiveness in me like i'm just pissed that i'm not there and these guys who wins no i don't i don't care i as soon as i lose my care for the

nba season goes out like i'm just over it you know it's one of those things where it's like after i've lifted the trophy and i've drinking the beer and the champagne and had the goggles on, like the only thing I want to do is do that again. And so every year I don't get to do it. It's just, it's a little part of me that just is like being tweaked and being pulled inside. But no,

finals finals have been good so far. I just don't know. I don't know who's going to win, to be honest. You know, I feel like, I feel like Boston plays at a really high level, and they do really good, but then they turn the ball over for a couple minutes,

and then all of a sudden it's a game. I also don't think Draymond and Klay are going to play as bad as they have the first couple games. I don't think they're going to run away with it. If Boston wins game four, it's going to be tough for Golden State, but if any team can come back from 3-1 in the finals, it's probably going to be the guys that won three in four years.

Yeah, I mean, except for the hypocrite that's Clay Thompson who made fun of LeBron for saying something similar to what he said about Boston just a few years ago. I've turned on the Golden State team after what happened last night in Boston. I'm big fan. This is not Alex Cruz's words. These are my words.

That was some of the most bitch-made stuff I've ever seen in my entire life, especially if it wasn't Boston. If it wasn't like the most expected thing of all time in all sports since the beginning of time, I think I wouldn't have been there. I wouldn't have had that big of a deal, but I love Steph. Used to love Klay. Used to love Draymond. Paul's cool.

Paul seems cool. Check that one from Hank. There's that Dark Knight quote. What is it? It's like you live long enough to become. Yeah. Yeah. That's kind of what it's becoming, isn't it?

What is it? You die a hero, live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Become the villain. Yeah. Shout out to you. Become the villain, yeah. Shout out to you. Hey, Friday, though. Friday in Boston is going to be... Oh, it's going to be rowdy. Hard pass.

They are going to put on a show, and it's because there's just, I don't know how many, 15,000 of these. Connor, your question for Alex Caruso? Closer to 20,000, but yeah, it's going to be very rowdy on Friday because no one's going to have to wake up in the morning and go to work. A lot of Dunkin' Donuts. Alex, one of the big

storylines of the finals is the fact that the Warriors come out in the third quarter and just dominate. I think under Steve Kerr, they're plus 2,500 in the playoffs or something ridiculous like that. What the hell happens at halftime? Do they switch jerseys like you said and it's like a shooter jersey and all of a sudden they just hit everything?

What are the halftime adjustments like? People have been trying to figure that out for 10 years man well tell me that i if i if i knew the answer i probably would have beat him a couple more times i don't know there's just man there's something there's something about the competitive you know competitiveness of champions like draymond Clay uh they got Iggy uh Steph obviously like there's just something about it to where you know if you're that elite of a player you can just flip it on and off and sometimes you know you're going to halftime you're like all right that was kind of bullshit and like let me let me lock in like I saw I've seen it with LeBron, AD. You know, like there's an elite crew where you can just kind of like –

you just – they're like, all right, I'm going to start trying. So it's like that meme where the guy's sitting back in his chair and then he like leans forward and puts his like elbows on his knees and he's trying. Like that's – sometimes that's just what it is. How many threes do you make right now you go shoot 50 of them on normal practice day whenever you go to that middle school gym right there. Just catch and shoot?

Where are we shooting from? Like 10 from five spots? Yeah. 10 from five spots. I'd probably expect to make it somewhere between 40 and 45. Hell yeah. That's so much fun, I bet. How much fun is that?

That's a great time. You have a blast. Yeah, well, when you get hot, I mean, you know, as a shooter, you know, when you get hot, it's just like you – I start talking shit out loud just like to nobody, just to the air. I'm just like – I'm like asking the workout guys. It's like, hey, they got another net in the back. Like we're going to need to –

You like that with your golf game? Your golf game like that as well? No, no. No. I do get a little hot. Like yesterday when I shot 38 on the back nine in the last eight holes, I was one under. I haven't had a stretch like that in probably like – no, that's not normal. See, that's –

Yeah, but that's exactly what you do when you're shooting. That's a good stretch. I just said like do you do that? You're like no, it never happens or whatever. That's a fucking great eight holes there, pal. Yeah, but the basketball thing, I can do that seven days of the week. The golf thing, that's like once out of every month. Well, we'll see next month.

And Tom Diggs, your question for Alex Caruso. Alex, speaking of getting hot, you've mentioned like Steph and Dame a few times. Ah, too many Italians. Sorry about it. No, I'm joking. He didn't deserve that. Neither did you. Go ahead, Tom.

Sorry about that, Caruso. And getting hot, like, and you obviously have to cover those guys. Is there a guy, is it them, like, who if they get hot, you're just like, what am I going to fucking do? Yeah, I mean, there's probably 50 guys in the league that can do that. But there's a couple that, like, it doesn't matter what you do to start. Like, there's probably a handful of guys where it's like, all right, if you follow the game plan and you keep them off of their strong hand

or dominant hand, which way they like to go, keep them off their go-to moves, you can do a good job of them. There's certain guys in the league that you have to show up, play hard as hell, follow the scouting report, and then hope that they don't have just like a good night. You know, like some nights I can go out there and play the best defense, follow the scouting report, coverage-wise the bigs are up, they're doing everything they're supposed to do,

and they're just going to make tough shots. You know, like some guys are just going to do that, and then they'll get their average. But if you show up and you kind of bullshit, then they're going to get 40. That's kind of where it lies it's like if you show up and do your job like they're gonna get their average like the best 20 players in the league you're not gonna stop them from getting their 25 their 20 whatever it is like that's just gonna happen with the free throws transition they're gonna score enough points but if you don't show up to play, they're going to get 40 to 50. Do you talk shit?

Any shit talking? Who's the best at it? No, not really, dude. I did a lot in high school. A lot in high school. I was a little shit in high school. I was talking shit to everybody. College, it kind of waned out a little bit.

But then you got into some conference games on the road at Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn's worst uh there's there's just you know some frat boys in the crowd talking shit you gotta you gotta let them know hey you're you're here to watch me uh but then once i got to the league i was like i i'm not gonna make this any harder on myself than i have to you know because there's some guys that they talk you talk shit to them and they like wake up yeah and they're like oh you want you want me to try and then they like score 10 points and the rest like the last five minutes of the quarter so no i got away from that i got away from that early in my professional career because i was like all right if my main thing is going to be defense to start, I don't need

to make this any harder on myself to make in the league than it already is. Why do you think casual fans try to claim that NBA players don't play defense? I know I've only been to a few games and been down close and all I ever thought the whole time was it would be absolutely

impossible to score one bucket against you guys. How hard you play, how long everybody is, and the shots you guys hit are like the shots that we take on our driveway messing around that are impossible. And they're your – like your guys' just normal average everyday shot. Yeah, I mean, people don't realize – like they watch the game on TV and it moves really slow on TV, right? You get courtside and you see how strong everybody is,

how big everybody is, how big everybody is, how fast they move. Like these are some of the best athletes in the world. Like we kind of forget about that when you see it on TV, you know, you, you, you almost, uh, cartoonize it a little bit to where it's like, all right, this isn't real life, dude. These dudes are killers. Like they're here for a reason. They pay them 30 million dollars a year for a reason they're not just out here just because and that's that's part of it too is like you can practice offense as much as you want the offseason right like i can go shoot 10 000 shots in in two days or do whatever i gotta do i can only do so much to work on defense right like i can't i'm not gonna like

call steph and dame but hey dude let me guard you for a couple days this week so i can get better to work on defense, right? I'm not going to call Steph and Danny and be like, hey, dude, let me guard you for a couple days this week so I can get better. It's effort, right? First of all, they're not going to answer. Second of all, they're going to be like, get out of my phone. It's just one of those things, man, where offense is always going to rule the world.

That's part of the reason why they change the foul rules every year. They try to make it more entertaining for fans. Like, people want to see offense. People don't want to see 2000s Pistons versus Spurs where it's 75 to 80. A glove. Those games blow. Personally, I think there's an art to that, and I love watching it. But, no, fans don't love that.

Are you staying out of the paint if John Morant has a full run up and lead there? Because he said, and I quote, I'm not scared to go up on anybody. He just goes up. It feels like he's a different player than anybody else. And he's kind of coming into his own. Why do you think that is? And is he a type

of player that is impossible to guard, do you think? Yeah, I mean there are certain aspects of his game that it's just like all right once he gets to a certain like it's like zion they're two different bodies but it's the same thing it's like once they get to their launch pad it's kind of over you know like once they get to their spot and they're like either side by side or next to you like they're a better athlete than everybody else that they're guarding they're just gonna hang in the air adjust and then lay the ball in.

And so that's one of the things where it's like, well, first of all, to answer your question, no, I'm not going to jump with him. Two, I'm probably going to be guarding him. So, like, if he gets by me, my teammate's going to be the one that's got to make the business decision if they're going to be on the ball. So they need to do some film and realize that's a bad idea but no dude there's certain yeah there's certain guys in the league this is my rule on trying to block shots or take a charge i have to be there first if i'm not there first i'm not making a play because if you're not there

first if you're if you're late to contest a shot and you're not a seven footer that's like bouncy or Jared Allen or like JaVale McGee or Rudy Gobert, like you're going to lose that. You're going to lose that, that altercation. And it's probably going to end up on SportsCenter, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights. Oh, Omar's going to get you. Omar's going to get you. I mean, that is 100% real. Last question here.

And we can't thank you enough for joining us. Unless Zito's got one for him. I got my moment in. Yeah, Zito already has one. Hey, alright. Thanks for your loyalty. Do your coaches want you to contest every dunk? Yeah, well, I mean, of course they do, but what do you mean?

Sometimes it's better to just give them the two points than the and one, and let's just take the ball out of the net and go down and get it back the next time. And guess what? They're going to score again, too, probably. There's a chance they're going to score again.

You know, you give up 25 points a quarter, that's a good quarter. That's amazing, isn't it? That's what you're going back to with everybody loves offense. Speaking of offense, a man who's just a triple-double machine, if he was ever to play, and you mentioned his name there, Zion Williamson is the guy, right? You agree with that, obviously, is what it sounds like. Let's get him on the court.

That would be nice. And what are they talking about with this ramp-up phase? What is this thing? Have you heard about this before? You guys have to go one-on-zero, one-on-one, then two-on-one, then two-on-two, then three-on-two, then three-on-three. Well, not as many numbers, numbers but yeah it's essentially that you know it's like one on oh workouts to one on one and you might play like some half court two

on two half court three on three and then eventually you get into five on five full court but i mean honestly it's it's it's case by case you know like he's a big dude he puts a lot of weight on that foot a lot of force when he jumps you saw the clip of him bending the the court whatever gym they were in when he, when he took off the dunk, like he's just, he's a freak,

you know, in the best way possible. He's like Giannis where they're just physically gifted. And when you're the number, he was number one pick, right? Yeah. So when you're the number one pick and you're coming off of an injury like

that, and you're supposed to be the franchise player for the next decade, they're going to do everything they can to make sure you're a hundred percent before they put you back on the court because if you get hurt again now all of a sudden that year they just wasted their number one pick and they're just you know back into it that pelicans team though if they got zion back they're going to be they're going to be a problem you know cj mccollum's a killer bi's a great ons a killer. Great on TV, C.J. They got great young wings in Herbert Jones and the Murphy kid.

I like the setup of that team a lot from a third-party perspective. Last question for me, and I don't know if A.J. has one or not. Did you play hoops when you were in jail? No, no, I didn't. Did you go out to the yard? I didn't. I didn't make it to the changing room or the cell. I just went straight to booking and then got out of there.

Well, congrats. Me too. I mean, I had to sit in a cell there for about a couple hours. But what a moment for you there. Yeah. That's a nightmare going through airport, forgetting to check a pocket. I'm never going back through College Station Airport again. My own people let me down.

Be your own people, man. The enemy's always within your own camp. We're happy that you joined our camp here today. You're the best, dude. Hopefully you'll come back sometime soon. Enjoy the off-season. Hopefully you get on Spanish Oaks, too. Hopefully they say your money's good here.

Yeah, if you need to make a call, I'll give you the number. I'm not fucking. The golf people hate me. enjoy the offseason. Hopefully you get on Spanish Oaks too. Hopefully they say your money's good here. Yeah, yeah. If you need to make a call, I'll give you the number. I'm not fucking, the golf people hate me. You're the enforcer. That's what you do. Well.

You got the bat. You got the. Listen, if you see me with this in Tahoe, just know the fucking hammer time's coming. You hit the ball

a long way, I assume, huh? What's your, I mean, when he goes straight, yeah. You shot 81. You're one under through eight holes. Shut the fuck up. You're a good golfer.

Yeah, yeah. You're a good golfer. I don't even hear it. You're a good golfer. That's what it sounds like. I can be. On some good days, I can play golf. Like Tahoe, you think you'll play well?

AJ's a veteran at this thing. He thinks he's going to win it every single year. He hasn't yet. Well, I know I'm not going to win it every single year. He hasn't yet. Well, I know I'm not going to win it. Maybe. You've got to put three good days together, you can. There's dudes that are scratch golfers out there that are going to shoot like three under or four under.

Like he didn't. I'm not worried about winning the thing. I just want to go positive. I want to have positive points. Me too. Me too. Have a good time. Positive points.

You'll be boozing a little bit out there? What? It's the off season, right? I can't do it during the year, so. I'll be boozing a little bit too. What? What? I think we'll be college station

airporting too, maybe. Ha ha. No, not you, obviously. Not you. No, no. No, no. Maybe me, though. Maybe me.

We got to get no strikes left. Hey, we appreciate you so much, man. Enjoy the off season. Enjoy the shoot around this afternoon. I appreciate it, guys. Hey, we appreciate you so much, man. Enjoy the offseason. Enjoy the shoot around this afternoon. I appreciate it, guys. I'll talk to you all soon. Ladies and gentlemen, Alex Kudus. Yeah!

Very good at basketball. Yeah. Think about how much fun that has to be to walk in any pickup game. All right, I'm going to fucking probably score all 11 points in this game here if I wanted to on anybody in here. It's like what J.J what JJ Redick said when he was just shooting around by himself and that one guy was talking shit to him. Yeah, one guy. And his

friends, right? Yeah. It was him and his friends. I beat every motherfucker 11 zip in that gym and then walked out of there. It's awesome. Also, just assuming, like, from watching games, the guy is probably 6'2". He's 6'5". You know, he walks around to the 6', probably 6'6", with shoes on. Huge. Monster. Yeah. That is so tall. 6'6", with shoes on. Huge. Monster.

Yeah. That is so tall. 6'5 is so tall. All basketball players, like, you think, you see him on TV, oh, I got a 6'1", and he's 6'7". Like, stuff like that happens. And also, like, a lot of basketball players, their waist is, like, 22 inches around.

And then there's giant shoulders, big arms. Tatum. They're all in great shape, usually. Tatum has become, and Steph as well. Steph has become an absolute stallion. They talk about his conditioning, big arms. Tatum. They're all in great shape usually. Tatum has become, and Steph as well. Steph has become an absolute stallion. They talk about his conditioning, his cardio. But Tatum is a, he's an hourglass. Yeah.

And like when you watch highlights from his first or second year, like compared to what he is now, he is fucking yoked. LeBron has transformed his body too completely. Oh, yeah. Twice. Excited to see what Zion does. He's going to have to, I think. And I don't want to be the one to say it because we're big Zion guys, but I think he's

going to have to do that. His rookie year though, even when they showed from photo day or whatever, he was fucking shredded up too. LeBron was also. He was goats, but he slimmed down. He didn't stay shredded and slimmed down. That's a long season, dude.

Miami's real strict. I think in Miami, Spolstra and Pat Rudd, they like test their body fat daily, like hydration. Like they're dead serious on all this. The discipline that it takes to play 82 games at a high cardio, I mean that is – I don't think I could do it for them. So much running. So much running.

Like Kawhi Leonard, he never went – like he never really went like the big route. He's just always just been like kind of a physical freak. With hands that are the size of this piece of paper. Toilet paper or toilet seat hands. All right, big shout out to Caruso, Rappaport, Ruppert for joining us. There's a hockey game tonight. There is. We're betting on Tampa, I believe.

Go Bolts. Go Bolts. AJ, we'll see you tomorrow, pal. Tomorrow, I told you, but I got to go to the golf thing, my first event of the year. You son of a bitch. Come on. I know. Believe me, I told you this a couple weeks ago.

No, you didn't. I'm sure I remember. I'm sure I'm putting exact dates on when you have to go to your little cult party. I'm telling you right here. Is this going to be your first round of the year? Yeah, but it's a scramble, but I'm sure I'll be striping it okay good luck out there pal we appreciate you we'll see you on Monday

to the boys you guys were great Hammer Don is next at youtube.com forward slash hammer Don can't wait to chat with you tomorrow thank you everybody bye so Terima kasih telah menonton! Thank you. The Thank you. Forever give shining down a race of gold Heaven is shining down a race of gold Forever give shining down a race of gold Forever keep shining down a rays of gold Cover me with your light, take me home

Forever keep shining down a rays of gold Cover me with your light, take me home Forever keep shining down, we're so good We're so good Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh Come on, let's go Thank you.