The Press Box - Game 1 Garbage Time, the Cult of Kevin Harlan, and Other Media Takes With Tyler Parker

Episode Date: June 2, 2023

Bryan is joined by The Ringer’s Tyler Parker to discuss Game 1 of the NBA Finals, how ABC’s commentary crew handled Denver’s blowout win and their praise of Nikola Jokic (02:43). Then, they discuss the media’s lack of coverage towards the Nuggets this season (12:08). After, they offer their praise to Kevin Harlan, discuss LeBron James’s retirement comments, their favorite postgame moment of the playoffs, and more (24:26). Host: Bryan Curtis Guest: Tyler Parker Producer: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up everybody? It's Austin Rivers from the Minnesota Timberwolves. It's a new year and I have a new podcast here at the Ringer, Offguard, hosted by me and my guide, Pasha Higigi. Austin and I go way back and talk so much hoop already that we figure those time to fire up the mics and let you in on all of these conversations. Every week, Pasha and I will hit on the biggest stories happening in the league.

And get Austin's perspective of someone currently hooping in the NBA. Tap into Offguard every Friday on the Ringer NBA show feed on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. Hello, media consumers. Welcome to Press Box Final Edition, Brian Curtis of the Ringer here, along with producer Eduardo Ocampo. Game one of the NBA finals was last night.

Denver Nuggets 104, Miami Heat 93. Didn't really feel that close. Here to talk about Game One and other media stories is my guest, Tyler Parker, a ringer staff writer, author of the new novel, A Little Blood and Dancing, which comes out June 13th,

and maybe most importantly, to me, a fellow Pasadena basketball dad. Yes. Tyler, welcome to the press box. Brian, I told you already, it's an honor to be here. And yeah, with the fellow, you know, Pasadena basketball dad, just, you know, getting it in fruit snacks and Clippers jerseys. It's great. Don't you love meeting another human being and feeling like you're at the exact same moment in both of your lives?

It's, it's honestly, there was a couple times whenever I would run into you. and we would be able to be like, does yours not run to the other end sometimes too? Like being able to just sort of ask that was, yes, it was very comforting for me. Does your first grade daughter play defense on both the offensive and defense events? Because mine does. It, there's always, like there's a,

there's a constant, you know, battle for you know ours attention you know what I mean and so it's you can you it's a it's so fun when you see

in the moments where like oh I'm actually standing in front of my girl and she has the ball I know exactly what to do and to see like a face transition into like you know gamer face where you're trying to beat the level and it's she

it was uh and then to shift immediately back into, hey, when you're getting back in transition, try to, a cartwheel's probably going to slow you down, so don't do a cartwheel. So game one last night was a blowout. And when we have a blowout, I love to put in my notes the exact moment when the announcers acknowledge that we are in garbage time. In last night's case, it was 744 left to go in the third quarter.

Mike Breen was plugging game two, which is always a sign that we're moving on. And they showed a shot of the sun setting on the Rocky Mountains. I want you to listen to Mark Jackson coming in strong here. Sunday on ABC, countdown begins the coverage at 7.30 tip off of game two shortly after eight Eastern. So half an hour earlier, right back here at Ball Arena in Denver.

That's a beautiful view. That's a beautiful view. and brain just like undisturbed just there are so many beautiful views in this beautiful city it there's something about mark jackson like the the the lack of awareness leads to such incredible comedic timing on his part it's it's really such a pleasure like Half the time, I am pretty bored by him and all the, you know, sort of bolstering Woody, Mama, there goes, that man kind of quotes. But every now and again, you know, he fires off of that's a beautiful sunset and it makes it all worth it again.

The deadpan is just absolutely perfect. And if this thing goes like game one did, I think we'll look back at that as the, oh, what a spectacular move by Michael Jordan of the series. because that was the moment. It was funny. It was funny last night because you're right, like they were. They did get very quickly into, okay, let's try to entertain in ways other than the game. And then sort of slowly the heat kind of started to make shots.

And you got a couple of some of my favorite things where the announcers, really have just sort of been paying attention to their own banter for a while, while the game is, while the deficit is slowly getting taken care of, right? And then all of a sudden, it usually happens when it goes, you know, it's been like a 25 plus point lead or something. And then it's down to 16 or 15 and somebody on the, on the team who's down,

hits a three to cut it to 13 or 12. And then you get that. And all announcers have it, but Breen's is very good. and very just it's just like it's a perfect line read from him every time but it's and it's a 13 point game you know like that like sort of I just my fly is down I just realized you know like it he did he did it again on like on a Kyle Lowry hit a three I think to cut it to 10 at one point and he even did the like you know the thing they tell you not to do in writing class whereas like

And all of a sudden, it's a 10-point game. Doesn't it feel like a signal to both the audience and his fellow announcers? It seems like he's telling Van Gundy, like, hey, put the chips down. Like, we got to, you got to, like, talk about the pick and roll again. He is, uh, Van Gundy is such a, like, I swing so, like, I swing both directions with him, like, hardcore throughout the course of a game. Like he says some stuff where I'm like, oh, that's great. Yes, point out like how the nuggets are destroying the heat with all these cross

matches in transition. And then he pulls out like, you know, Yokic's passing makes rust obsolete, which doesn't really make sense. But it sounds fine and you just move on from it. But as a sentence, when you, you know, it doesn't really work exactly. And he goes for some of these like hammer lines sometimes. Him and Jackson both do. And when they hit them, it's great.

But oftentimes it just kind of feels like a bump, bump sort of. You know, like it, there's something where they miss the football on it. The thing I love last night and talk about a preview of the series to come is we're running out of ways to compliment Nikola Yokic Like we're just going to have to keep doing it He was 2714 and 10 last night This was Mike Breen in the fourth quarter

Venturing a metaphor A comparison to NBA stars of the past He just You marveled at his complete game He passes like magic He rebounds like Moses Shoots like dirt So I'm not going to take issue

with the comparisons necessarily. Smarter basketball people than I can can go there. But it is game one. Yeah. Where are we going now? Are we going to like figures of myth outside of basketball completely? By game four, he'll be Prometheus stealing fire from, yeah. No, it, he, it felt like, it also felt like I was, it was like a, it was a weird.

I usually love Breen, and it was a weird miss for me on his part because it also didn't feel like if I'm trying to endear this dude to people who, if the idea is I'm going to endear this guy to sort of casual fans who haven't been watching maybe all year and they've tuned into this network broadcast of game one of the NBA finals, I don't know that I would start off, or I don't know that I would say, hey, these players that you know, and love, he can do all of this already. Like, to me, that would just like make me, if I wasn't a person who watched the game a lot,

I would get immediately defensive and be like, well, he hasn't been passing like magic this game. What is it with, why are you trying to make me like this guy so much? Just let him, you know, you know what I mean? Like, and then it felt like it would have an adverse effect kind of this like, this glowing, glowing thing. And you're right. I mean, it did sort of make it seem like there's nowhere else to go.

I mean, after the game, like Van Gundy, when they go back to them, and Van Gundy starts throwing around like servant leadership and things like that. Like I thought I was in small groups at church for a little bit whenever they started talking. It was sort of like, you know, Brin said, I wrote it down because I was just like, man, they really want us to know. Like, we see that Yokic is unselfish. We see it. But like there's, he said, guys, the genuine humility. of this all-time player is inspiring. And they just, they, they are laying it on a little thick.

Do you think part of this is explaining the nuggets and him in particular to people who have not watched them play a lot? I think so. I mean, I think that they are airing on the side of like, we are introducing this guy to more people than we're not. And while that might be true, depending on certain, like, times in the game that people are watching, right? Like, I think it does a sort of a disservice to, not just the nuggets, but just like,

kind of the league in general, like, this is a two-time MVP. VP, like you're not, it's not like it's Wimbunyama's first game or something like that, right? It's not, you, you don't need to provide, context isn't the right word, but like the, the, the resume can do a lot of the work for you, you know what I mean? Like, and just his play itself, like he had a great game last night and it's, you know, they got to shout the time honored, you know, he affects the game without scoring a million times, right? Like it, it, it, the, the, the, Yokic is an unbelievably exciting player to me personally. I, he's, he is absolutely one of my favorite guys to watch and constantly surprising and, like,

just gets so bored to the point he starts doing bits. It's tremendous. It, it, I think that they, trying to sort of talk about this guy, like, kind of hold every viewer's hand about him. You know what I mean? And like you're almost trying to like tell your kid when you're watching a game like, hey, watch this guy because he's such and such, such and such, such and such such, such. It's like, I don't think that the viewers need that much help up the stairs, if that makes sense. Well, it feels to me a little bit like a reaction to what Mike Malone kicked off in the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers, which was the media is ignoring the Nuggets discourse. Where did you fall on that?

I felt very torn on that because obviously a large swath of the media was not. I'm also like I'm a diehard, you know, Oklahoma City Thunder Homer and a fan of a small market team and understand to some extent this like, y'all are talking about the Lakers again? you know like I get like on some level the the the the the the fan in my heart gets that completely um the some of it was some of the stuff sort of felt like it felt like a way to sort of extend a victory lap maybe like like I don't think people are ignoring you anymore they they definitely were during the regular season I don't you know some people were and for sure some of the members in the national media did not handle themselves very well like with Jalen Rose saying like Yokic is finally a superstar and Will Bond being like,

hey, this guy can really play and stuff like that. Lisa Salters, these people, you're just sort of like, what are you, even if you do think this, why do you think that it's right to say it if it's your job? To me, you know, it was, it was sort of, it was like weirdly transparent in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, it didn't seem like it would serve them at all. Um, um, um, I don't. Malone's stuff I get, he's trying to, you know, get his team going. Yeah. It, it did start to feel a little bit like, okay, Mike, like, you got any other songs. Like, how many times are you going to.. You know, play that like I love this is a this was the first time I heard it it was great put it in your pipe and smoke it I might you know every grandfather every every every grandfather in the world has said that but it it did feel like all right man like not anymore like you had a point

at some point but not anymore what's funny is when a coach says something like that which as you say has elements of truth to it you know despite the fact that a two-time MVP plays for the Nuggets is that I feel that everything, especially in our little nerdy corner of the sports media, is in a reaction to it. Totally. So then we're being defensive. The ratings of the finals don't matter, which, by the way, my favorite hobby horse. So great.

Join me on this island. I heard you let me. I heard you on the last episode. I was, I was there with you. I was glad that people finally, anytime someone was shouting that out, someone's like, who cares? Who cares? Yeah.

But I think more than anything, it's like when I look around at us sports writers, it's just that we don't have. have a starter kit for the Denver Nuggets in the finals. You know, if it had been Lakers Celtics, we know what to do. We know who to call. We know what things to roll out, especially we hear at the ringer. We know what things from the past to revisit. Right.

The Nuggets, I mean, I've been watching basketball for 30 years. And I don't want to just join that list of announcers you just name. But like, nobody in my life has ever come up to me and said, you know who I hate the Denver Nuggets? No one's ever said that to me. No one's also until the last couple of years ever said, I love the Denver Nuggets to me. It's just kind of one of those very light national media footprints,

a little bit like the Bengals when they made the Super Bowl a couple years ago. We're just like we just as reporters don't totally know what to do. No, I think that that's, I think that that's a very fair way to put it. I think that because they, you know, generally whenever a lot of the kind of, the stuff that people remember about a team and organization, the lasting things where everybody can really start to, you know, get the context for the story of this organization, all that stuff tends to have. happen and all those like um um hot points are always playoff stuff and up until you know they you know they go they go to the western commerce finals in 2009 with mellow and and and and they have that that i think they got beaten six games by cobi and them and you know they've had these you know very high quality you know like bunch of scrapper teams that get into the play

playoffs and, you know, they're teams that you have to play hard against and take serious, but they're not going to do a ton of damage. And then Yokic gets there. And, you know, whenever that was in 2020 in the bubble, they go to the Western Conference finals, they start to have some of this stuff. I think part of it is when they've been experiencing more of this postseason. success. A, it's been happening during this like time where I feel like everyone's calendar has been just mushed due to the pandemic to the point where seasons bleed together and

even like playoff runs bleed together and teams bleed together and stuff gets lost. And so I think you forget that it's that they've, I think people forgot like, oh, the last time they had a real healthy squad, they did a lot of damage. Then, you know, Yokic doesn't have a full, you know, quiver with them, you know, teammate-wise during the next two runs because of injuries to Murray and MPJ. And they don't go far in the playoffs. And so there's still not these kind of like touchstone things. And it's almost like Yokic's great play.

during those playoffs just got kind of relegated to the back burner because they didn't go far. It wasn't like, look at the numbers this dude is putting up. It's like, well, he can't get out of the first round without really providing any context for like, yeah, their second best player and a guy who's shown he's a monster in the playoffs and Jamal Murray, that he's not there. I think these things are just easy to forget for a lot of national reporters, especially when there's a lot of, and I shouldn't even say national reports. I think I just say like people on TV, right?

Like because in in this kind of like, we got to get some shit set in 30 seconds or whatever. It, you know, you hear Manix dying on that Nuggets Hill for some reason. I don't know why. It just sounding ridiculous. But like talking about how the Lakers and all these other teams are sexier or whatever. And I think like it does why. up being an indictment somewhat of the way that those TV shows talk about the game, where it's where it's constant legacy talk or constant, you know, do they like each other?

Are they being nice to one another or are they being mean to one another? And the nuggets just aren't giving them any fodder for that kind of stuff. And Yokic doesn't give a shit about any of this, right? Like he, you know, all you hear is that the league is like, will he talk to? anybody you know like it so it doesn't I get I get the the Nuggets fans being pissed at the like the the TV talking head side of things it is one of it is one of the those things where you wish that everybody could just kind of get on board with like let's just talk about how good y'all are let's just talk about like you like right now you like y'all are like y'all are so good

and so fun and there's so much to like about what's happening on the court. Let's just get to that. Like, you know, but yeah. I was surprised to hear Jeff Van Gundy say on Rissolos pod the other day that he, the first Nuggets game he's done all year was in the Western Conference Finals, which tells you. Did he say that? Which it tells you where TV is putting its resources.

Small, just again. And again, it's not there's not like ABC and ESPN have anything against them, but this comes down to sexy matches market size. Again, the Bengals, I think, is a. pretty good comp because it's not like national TV crews were going out and doing a ton of bengal games sure years ago and then all of a sudden it's like hello we're in the super bowl right were you as curious as i was to see what court side celebrities Denver would roll out last night it i mean i was i i knew i was going to see that sunburnt fayton manning forehead for

sure like i like like that's that that felt like a guarantee um i i i i I was kicking myself for not guessing Russell Wilson. Like, that guy's not going to miss a chance to be on camera. Yeah, the Ken Jong thing threw me for a big loop. I know he went to a Lakers Nuggets Western Commerce Finals game. I just kind of assumed that he lived in L.A. If he's, I think he does live it. Can we get some clarity on that?

Because I was doing a lot of, trying to do a lot of research on that last night. And he was doing, Kevin Clark texted me last night. He's like, Ken Jong was doing a press gag. you know, like they do after a presidential debate before the game. And from the pictures, he looked like he was there hours before game time because his stands were completely empty. They let him shoot a half court shot during the game. I know community was set in Colorado, and I don't know if that's the connection or if there's

a lifelong. I'm not doubting anything here, but I just need some more information about how he is, how he became the go-to celebrity Nuggets fan. I'm with you completely. I don't know if it's just like he likes how they play, and he just wanted to go, and so he was there. Fine. The nuggets, the nuggets, he was, he,

the nuggets somehow, you know, like, they're like social team or whatever. He, like, did some video for them. And he was like, hey, this is Ken Jong, aka Mr. Chow from the hangover. And I want to know if he said, hey, this is Ken Jong. And they were like, hey, actually, some people don't know who you are. Can you please just specify a little bit of an ID here for anybody? It sort of felt like the, you know, defensive end of manual a lot show.

What are you doing here? Bleacher reports, Andy Bailey tweeted Ken Jong is speaking courtside to a few media members. And unsurprisingly, he's far more thoughtful about the Nuggets than most of the mainstream takes we've heard throughout the postseason. So Ken John, fixing that anti-Nuggets bias, that blind spot. I'm glad he's coming with the texture takes. You know, you've got to bring some nuance if you're Ken John. This Tyler was, I love this clip too. It's via awful announcing.

I was on Denver's ABC affiliate website. I'm pretty sure this is a local anchor named Shannon Ogden of KMGH describing the atmosphere outside the building after the Nuggets won game one. Okay. It feels like victory. It sounds like victory. It smells like victory. And also legalization.

They're having a great time out here. That's how Denver celebrates a finals, man. That's fantastic. Thank you for, I had not seen that. That makes me so happy. Elsewhere in playoff news, I believe you and I are both members of the cult of Kevin Harlan. Yes. I saw you tweeting his best lines.

How would you describe a way Kevin Harlan sounds on the air? Oh, I mean, full. of glee and testosterone. I think that he's having such a good time, and he is the rare combination of guys that can just, you can tell that he's completely in the moment all the time. He is paying attention to the game and reacting to what's happening. happening and not afraid to have fun and not not like obviously there's the there's there's there are the the

the the you know like uh big decibel moments for him right that are incredible the goods the you know Jimmy fricking butlers, right? Like these these huge, you know, like big set pieces, right? For him. But the stuff that I, the other stuff with him that I love, and he doesn't make a big deal about it. But it's just like the little one word choices with the verbs, adjectives, these little bitty things, he's not going to get lyrical on you, but he is going to throw in like there

was a, he, there was a game. game. It was a it was a it was a it was a Maverick sun's game back in like January 2020 and it's near the end of the first half and Lucas got the ball at the top of the key with like 10 seconds left or something like that and kind of takes cam johnson off the dribble a little bit to about the free throw line and then just starts to like big boy him and back him down and it gives him three shoulders to the chest kind of to get him you know down to about the circle or whatever and then just turns around and puts it in. And Harlan, he says, he said, he goes, he goes, Donchich making a move, machetes his way in. And it's, it's just perfect because it's exactly what he was doing.

But it, it, he didn't, and he wasn't, it wasn't, it wasn't like a machetes. It wasn't, he wasn't, he wasn't trying to like dress it up. It was just the machetes. It was, it was, it was, it was very matter of and just in the flow of the game. He did a similar thing with BAM in the Eastern Conference finals. Bam, Bam took, I think Robert Williams off the dribble, and it was like, bam, mashing, you know, just like stuff like that. Like, he, there's something about, like, you can just tell, like, he has worked on every aspect of this.

and he's great at giving his, letting his personality come through and having fun, but he also stays out of the way. Like he's not trying to give you a soliloquy at all times. You know what I mean? Like he'll let the crowd do the work for him too. And yeah, he's just, there's, I bet that watching a game with him would be a blast.

Like there's something about him, Like even if he wasn't on Mike, like I bet you watching a game with him would be so much fun. It's interesting what you say about being committed to the moment and living in the moment. Because when you have an announcer like Ian Eagle, who's also very, very good, part of the fun of listening to him is that just little bit of ironic distance from the proceedings. He's also in the moment, but he's not only saying something, but sort of processing himself saying it in a way. Sure. A little bit like Marvap we used to do. Just that just that little sort of, you know, kind of touch of comedy. Harlan is not like that at all. You know, you don't feel that sort of regarding the thing I just said and playing with a little bit.

Well, he, and even when he does decide like, because Harlan does have moments where he's like, no, I'm going to do a bit right now. And, and, and he, he kills. The squirrel, I forget what game that was when the squirrel gets on the field and he just starts going. And it's just, and he doesn't, like, there's almost no winking there, especially early on. Once the, once whoever's in the booth with him starts to get going, you can tell that Harlan's excited that they're enjoying it too. You know what I mean? But they're like, yeah, there's just an immediacy to him. And like, do you remember earlier this year whenever it was like early in the season and Steph Curry went to the line?

I think it was maybe against the suns. and Curry went to the line and Harlan started off. He has not missed a free throw yet this season. And then Curry missed it. And in the booth with him was Reggie Miller and Candice Parker. And they just both go super hard at Harlan. And you can tell they're all laughing. And Candace Parker is like, that is you, Kevin.

That's your fault. And Reggie's just shouting nonsense. And you can see Curry see them laughing and Curry kind of points over at the booth. And Harlan is like, I am so sorry. There's just some, there's like there he's at the end of it he says I, Harlan says, I feel so bad. You know, like they're just something very, very. And he's and he's laughing the whole time.

I think you can just tell like that he is. doing the thing that he just absolutely loves. You know what I mean? Like, there's, there's, there's something so, um,

I mean, there's an old, there's a, there's a clip I remember of is, it was after a Curry game and Harlan's on a hot mic, somehow as Curry's running into the tunnel and Harlan just goes, if I can say this, what a fucking rush.

And like, that's the, that's the thing with him, right? is like that he actually feels that way. Like he announces like that. Like he's not trying to like dress his stuff up in professionalism in the best moments. Like he's literally doing Rick Flair Wooze over the top of Jimmy Frickin' Butler.

You know what I mean? And it also takes somebody who has got some serious heat to even be able to say the word fricking and have it sound cool. And Harlan did it. Like it's, he's, I just think he's fantastic. One media moment that I've been rolling around in my mind for the last couple of days is LeBron James's farewell conference after getting swept by the nuggets. Yeah.

He comes out of the podium. He starts, you know, I don't know. I don't have to rethink everything. And then they have this little sidal session with Dave McMenaman, another reporter. and he kind of repeats everything. What did you make of that episode? I think it was several things. Like, I think it was a lie.

They're not a lie. But I think it was like, I think he's filming a doc right now. I don't think he's retiring. You know what I mean? Like, I think that LeBron has always been keenly aware of the narrative that surrounds him and the narrative that he is crafting to either combat or, enhance that, the existing narrative, you know what I mean? And I think that he didn't want people to be talking too much about the sweep.

I think that he has grown pretty used to being at the center of the discussion and was maybe a little bit concerned that with the playoffs continuing on without him that his name might not get brought up as much. I think he wanted to put maybe a little bit of pressure on the front office, like, y'all need to be making a move because did you hear me? If not, I might just up and retire. I mean, I don't, the reason I, like, say, which I shouldn't have phrased it a lie, but the reason it just feels like, kind of like, dude, come on. is like every single thing we've heard up until this point is, no, I'm playing with my kid. And I don't know if it's like he thought up until recently that his kid was going to be able to come right into the league quicker than it turns out that maybe he'll be able to or what.

And so he's starting to feel like, wait, maybe I can't go for that long. it just felt to me kind of like a guy who has always embraced the spotlight, embracing it even more as the spotlight was about to leave him for a little while. So he didn't necessarily believe it. None of us in the media believed it. Fans didn't believe it. And yet then this whole process kicks in where as soon as he says that, unlike the Denver Nuggets, we're like, well, that's the A block on the trade show.

and probably also the B blog. Yeah. And we all have to acknowledge it in some way, even if we're doing what you just did, which is to be like, this is probably not true for X, Y, and Z reasons and the reasons he's doing it are. It's just one of those things where almost this mechanical process of LeBron content kicks in. And all of us are helpless against it, because we can, what do you do, not talk about it? You know, the incentives are for you to talk about it, even to disqualify.

dismiss it. It's just, it just blows my mind. You're exactly right. Like it is, it is like a, because I wanted to, that was like a thing that I, when you said, when you wanted to talk about that, one of the things I wanted to ask you was like, what would be the ramifications of just like, I was going to say first take, but they would never do something like this, but just like some NBA countdown or whatever, some NBA property show, basically just being like, LeBron said this, it's not going to happen. The Denver Nuggets, like,

what would be, like, don't you think that if they did that, that would somehow get more eyeballs and more, um, more appreciation than the, then the, then the,

then the, then the, then the, like, um, well, we got to talk, you know what I mean?

Can you give me some specifics? Is this greeny who's laughing at LeBron and then moving us to the Nuggets discourse? Not, I, I, you talk about another thing I wrote down. I wanted to tell you about.

I did kind of wonder if his soul left his body a little bit whenever he did the, brought to you by KFC chicken nuggets. It's been Jamal Murray with a spicy first half. I don't think that happened. Actually, I think he was just like, nailed it. Copy point. Crushed it. I'm sure you're right.

When I heard that, I was like, man, you made it a long way to say that. Oh, man. Oh, no. it um it it uh no i like i don't the lebron stuff i get i get exhausted by that side of lebron just because it feels sort of so transparent and so um it was both surprising and also like oh okay yeah i could see you doing that i could say like i could i can wrap my head around you saying this like i it's not surprising that you did this you know what i mean like he shows up in a whatever a soft cast after, you know,

getting beat by the Warriors that one year and stuff at the press conference. You know what I mean? Like it's just like, this is a thing that he does, you know, remarkable player done incredible things for his community, all those things. He also has a tendency to say and do stuff that is just solely like either look at me or, hey, talk about this, not this other thing. Talk about that, talk about, it's almost like, like, because he just brings it up, you know what?

I mean, it's, I heard, I think Jalen Rose call it a brilliant move. And I don't think it's, I don't think it's brilliant. I think it's very easy. It, it, it, uh, but it does then just make people get all in a tizzy over this like, you know, what does it mean? it doesn't mean anything but what if it did well hey you know hey it's his 20th year i bet he's tired i bet you he sat in the locker room and thought i don't know if i can do this for another blah and it's like come on guys like you know like it every single thing he's been saying is

contrary to this up until this point like it at a certain you know sometimes you just have to treat the stuff like like that's the case you know what i mean like i don't know like i don't know but I'm also not a thoughtful media person in the way that other in the way that other people are. So I could be way off. All right. Four we go. Your favorite post game moment from these playoffs, I'm going to give you four choices. LeBron non-retirement.

Janis saying losing to an eight seat isn't failure. Jason Tatum saying I am humbly one of the greatest basketball players in the world. That'll be a haunting sound bite potentially for years to come. Yeah. And Dylan Brooks trolling. trolling LeBron before the grizzlies got dominated by the Lakers.

You know what's funny is like as you're telling as you're reading those, it's like reminding me how long the NBA playoffs are. How they never years ago, doesn't it? I poke bears feels like years ago. It really does.

Like it feels like years ago. I think that for, oh boy. I think that I poke bears is if it had if it had worked out for him as one of the all-time lines, like just as a as a as a bar, it's pretty unbelievable that it went so poorly for him afterwards just makes it all the better.

But I do think that the whole Janus losing to an eight seat is not a failure thing. I think that that was the thing that the way that people both. sort of tried to rally around that. Nike trying to rally around that was weird. Like the bucks themselves a little bit was odd. Reporters trying to rally around it saying like he's being so honest with us, which is, by the way,

I love answering questions and press conference. I'm so glad when athletes consent to do that and do it at link. That's awesome. But I think it's also, we're allowed to be like, I don't agree with this. I don't agree with your idea that Michael Jordan didn't think it was a failure when he lost in the playoffs because I've seen the last dance or read books

about Michael Jordan and remember that he didn't. I think it's like sometimes everybody gets so pumped up about like, hey, and they gave a, they were, they gave a good answer with a lot of personality and emotion behind it. So we just, let's just, let's just have that be that. And it's like, well, no, they, you can acknowledge like, hey, thank you for being more vulnerable than the usual person behind the mic, but also, what? What do you mean? It's not a fail, like, what, you know, like, I think that that was, I don't know if he, if he, I'm honestly not sure what he thought, because it's, it's not really like taking responsibility exactly.

I think it was, it was just sort of, just sometimes athletes don't need to be motivational speakers. Like, it just sort of like, it was, it was. It was an odd thing to hear someone who usually does it seem like have the right mindset on all of this stuff. Like, you know, like just constant grinder, like I'm not going to stop until I get there kind of thing. And this felt like the opposite of that. And I think it's, I think that would be my answer if only because it just made such little sense. And everyone around it trying to make sense of it was very confusing to me. All right.

Last one. As a representative of Red America, as I am, did your ears perk up at all when you learn that the Celtics down 30 had rallied after a meeting at Top Golf? and have you yourself ever rallied after going to top golf Dave and Busters or any of the other beloved giant chains that one finds in places like Texas and Oklahoma? Absolutely. I have found myself at both of those places having a blast. It I think I've I find that those places My enjoyment is Entirely wrapped up in who I'm there with and so it is I was happy for the Celtics that they were able to

Pretend that they liked each other for long enough to have a good time at top golf I I I wonder how many people were trying to share a bay with Grant Williams probably not that many. You know what I mean? Like, Dave and Busters, I'll tell you a funny thing about Dave and Busters. I met some people at a party one time,

and they started telling me about how they had been at Dave and Busters earlier that night and got, they figured out a way to scam the system by wetting all the tickets down in the sink. And then whenever they would put them on top of the weight thing, they would weigh more than, Tickets. And that's how they would get better prizes. And I asked them, I said, don't they see the water on the thing? And they were like, no, you just take it. You just take them off quick. And I was like, okay, that sounds. I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I never tried it. But that was, that's a thing. I'm waiting to, I'm waiting to use that someday with my daughters, you know, trying to get them one of the bigger things. That or it's a new long form podcast with David Buster's picket scam. The same, the same person that told me that also said, can you believe that Uber, can't my account. I had referred myself to myself under 50 different emails for all this stuff. And

then they canceled it. I kind of can. I can see why they would do that. You could read Tyler Parker at the ringer. The new novel, A Little Blood and Dancing is out June 13th. Tyler, thanks for coming to the press box. Dude, thanks for having me, Brian. That's the press box. I'm Brian Curtis. Production Magic by Eduardo Ocampo. Thank you for all the excellent work, Eduardo. A couple of recommendations to take you into the weekend. One is a New York Times story by Jane Bradley. The print headline was a British reporter

had a big Me Too scoop. Her editor killed it. Probably the most interesting media story I read all week. And then from the Department of Old Guys Who Don't Got It, you might have seen that Henry Kissinger turned 100 years old.

I found this story from Joe Hagan in New York Magazine. Joe was a media reporter and reporter on all things for that magazine for a long time, always enjoyed his work. He wrote a piece called The Once and Future Kissinger. Back in 2006, it talked about how Kissinger's legacy has changed and how Kissinger it has attempted to spin that legacy.

Really fascinating, read. In the meantime, read, relax, revise your nut graphs. Let's meet back here Monday with Shoemaker, shall we, for more lukewarm takes about the media. Have a fantastic weekend.