The Ringer NBA Show - 2023 Realys Awards | Real Ones

Episode Date: December 21, 2023

2023 Realys Awards | Real OnesLogan and Raja are joined by producer Kerm on the second edition of the annual Realys Awards, in which we celebrate the past year in the NBA. “Did You Practice That Shot?” Award (02:00) Best Newcomer (10:00) Biggest Surprise (21:00) Moment of the Year (37:30) Real One of the Year (50:00) The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming, please checkout theringer.com/RG to find out more or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Producer: Jonathan Kermah Production Assistant: Kai Grady Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Galaxy Lights, Coachella, Lightning Bolt Necklaces. 20203 was the year of Scandival. On March 3rd, one cheating scandal launched a reality TV investigation that generated hundreds of conspiracy theories, thousands of podcast episodes, and millions of dollars in revenue. I'm Jody Walker, host of an American Scandival. One retrospective story told in three salacious parts. Listen, December 26th on the Ringer Reality Feast. feed.

What's popping? Logan Murdoch here, Roger Bell, there. Curber in the cut. It is time for Reilly's the second annual Rilly Awards. We are here. You know, we got the red carpet. We just came off. Set, you feel me?

We hear. All right. Now I'm going to lead this. We do this every year, Ra. We have categories now. We have nominees. We've got our shit together. We didn't just do this the night before.

We got music going. fireworks in the background Come a long way You feel me That voice you hear In the background That is our host For the festivities

Mr. Jonathan Kerma A.k.a. Kermrame A.k.a. Babyface Assassin A.k.a. God. What's up, Kerm? What's up, y'all?

Welcome to the release, man. I'm so excited. I'm in a tuxedo right now. You can't see it, but trust me, I swear to God, it's not a hoodie. It's a tuxedo.

They see it. Oh. We got, what, five or six awards today, just super excited to look at the year and review. For those that don't know what the realies, we're reviewing all of 2023. So that's the second half of last season, as well as the first half of this season thus far. Kick things off. First award, I think, we'll go to is the, did you practice that shot award? And a shot attempt that leaves you amazed whether it's a great make or an extremely ill-advised miss.

So here we go. I'll give you guys the four nominees and we'll go from there. So first we got Jordan Poole's launch deep from 30 against the Lakers and the playoffs and right in crunch time. Didn't hit it. Didn't hit it. That's the first nominee. Second one, Derek White, game six of the – Conference finals against the heat saves the day with an impressive putback at the buzzer to send it to game seven.

Legendary shit right there. Next, we got Kyle Kuzma doing his worst Kobe impression, attempting to throw a lob to himself against the Grizzlies. Lastly, we got Luca Donchitz. That crazy circus shot he hit as the shot clock expired earlier this season against the next to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. I guess I'll do a drum roll. All right, man, you know, it was, it was a tough one. You know, there are a lot of wild crazy nominees. But in the spirit of the award and what I thought it was going to be,

the did you practice that shot award? When we talked about it, Kerm, you put a bit more of a negative spin on it, and now you bring positivity to it. So fuck that. I'm going to go with Kyle Kuzma throwing off the glass for no reason whatsoever, and then getting all the consequences due for throwing some dumb shit up, okay? that's going to be my not that's going to be my award for that I don't know what he's going to get a certificate I think the the the wizards are coming to down this week so I'm just going to I might

just give them the certificate of the release that will promptly be gone into the trash just like that weak ass shot attempt because that was wild that was wild high risk risk high reward my boy high risk rizha raja why okay we're going to get to your pick in a second but I just want to ask a question what do you say when a motherfucker just throws it off the glass and then misses because you got to make a spectacular play you have to finish that shit bro you can't just in a game like that's just that was the epitome of what the wizard's season is and what they're going to be honestly for the foreseeable future yeah i don't i don't know what you say i think you just you shake your head like there there are no words there's only a i mean i'm trying to think of people that would have tried to pull that off in game um and where your mind had to be to do that. You know what I mean? Like I understand Kobe and LeBron and people like that. Like, yeah, you're nicer than everybody else.

Right? Like, you out here playing around. Like, this is easy for you. But then there comes a level of player where, I mean, unless it was just out of pure necessity and no other outlet, like you shouldn't even have your mind in that spot. No disrespect to Kyle Kuzma,

but I don't know that he checks the box of being cold enough to be thinking about doing that in a game. know it's crazy. The thing that disappointed me the most about it, and I'm a big proponent of this is if I believe you or not, and I don't believe Kyle Kousa when he does, when he did this shit, when he does shit like this.

I just didn't, I don't believe his raps when he does this. That is not, like, he didn't even seem confident when he threw it at that backboard. He deserved everything coming to him. So that, he is getting the award for do you practice that shot. Roger, where are you going with this one? I think I'm going to go with

Derek White and his shot in the Eastern Conference Finals to beat the Heat last year. That was, I remember watching that game, and that game was over. I mean, everybody basically thought that game was over except probably one person. Or two, the guy who shot the shot and then Derek White? Like, who shot the shot? Was that Marcus Smart? Yeah, was Mark. It was Mark.

Mark got it up. Derek White comes in, swoops in. And that's just pure heart, hustle, belief, grit, throw out all of the adjectives that would just be describing of that play. And so for that reason, and you don't, I mean, you don't practice, you know, practice that. You practice the last shot itself and the place to get the last shot. But you rarely get into like, okay, we're going to scramble after the shot. You can't practice that.

So for that reason, I give it to Derek White in the shot. And the meet. Sit it to a game seven. Yeah. Yeah. So that for that for all those reasons. What I loved about that shot, it was just, and I know why it's a Roger Bell shot and it pulls at every single one of his heartstrings. It's because it is about desire and just, just ingenuity, bro.

Like, it's just like, yo, I'm not going to quit on this play. I'm not going to quit on this play. We're not going, we're not going home. We're not going to, we're not going to go party in Miami after this game after we lose the series. No, we're not. We're getting on a plane after this. Yeah. To lose again and maybe fly.

back to Miami and party, but like, it was a great shot. It was a great shot. What a series, too, though. What a series? And I remember, I mean, that one, that one, the other ones I had to go back and watch them, like I don't,

I don't remember them in real time. That one I remember. You know, I was sitting there watching now. I remember, in terms of game winners, like I don't remember one recently that was as electrifying for me personally. That was crazy.

What is the, and you've hit your share of game winners, And you're like I either get sent them. I always get sent Rajabelle content always, either on Instagram because apparently like they don't, they scared to send it to you or something. So I get all the shit like and like the Clippers series where you, you hit a shot. Yeah. What is it like? There's one.

There's an adrenaline rush you get, you get when you hit a shot and pick up. But what is the adrenaline you get when you're actually hit one in an NBA game? Their playoff game, no less. Yeah, well, mine was a game tire to put us into overtime. It's hard to describe. Obviously, when you're going into a situation where it seems like your backs up against the wall, there's very limited time. You know you're going to get one look at that.

In this case, with the Celtics, you probably thought you were only going to get one look at that, right? Like, Derek White saved you. So in that situation with me, you're only going to get one look. The clock dictates that probably not even get an offensive rebound on this one, I think. there's just a calm that kind of comes over you, man. Like, first of all, not for nothing, it separates people. Some people want that shit. Some people don't want that.

There are people in the NBA that don't want it, Roger? Are you saying that there's people in the NBA that don't want it? Absolutely. You got to put a percentage of people who don't want it. What are you saying? I mean, maybe 25% of dudes. Like, I don't know, 30% of guys. Like, there are guys that don't want that ball.

Well, you have to think. Like, you know, some dudes aren't shooters anyway. Like some dudes aren't there for their offensive prowess. Like some of us are just defenders. Some of us are there for rebounding. So those dudes, you know, naturally aren't going to want it. I was in a weird place of like, I don't know why, but I just wanted that ball. If you remember or if you go back and watch the game, we ran the out of bounds set for someone else to get the ball.

And the clippers did a really good job of denying it and locking it up. So we had to call a timeout off of a timeout. And when we went back to the huddle, like, all of that was denied. And I was like, I'll make it. And so I told Mike, I said, I will make it. So they ran some action and they slipped me to the corner and I hit it. And if you read my lips, if you do a good job, as I'm going back to the bench, I haven't told you.

I haven't told you. And so like, it's just you can't describe it after you hit it. But there's a calm that kind of comes over you because like, hey, bro, this is it. You know, ain't no need to be nervous. We already lost. So you'll step up and knock it down. Yeah, that's what's up. What's the next category, Carr?

Next category. We're going to do Best Newcomer. So this is, it's, you know, it's not rookie of the year, per se, because we're combining two seasons, but the nominees are, we got Wemby, we got Chet Holmgren, Paolo Ben Carroll, you know, 2023 rookie of the year. He's kind of, he's got a slight edge over everybody, but I'll let you all decide.

Cade Cunningham. What are we thinking? This time I'll throw to Roger first after a quick drum roll. This is a tough one because obviously Paolo killed the league last year and did all that work. But I'm going to go with Wembe.

I'm going to go with Wembe for obvious reasons in terms of like he's something that we've never really seen before from a size skill you know, type of standpoint. But all that comes along with Wembe, I thought was fantastic. Like the circuses that are the media when Wembe is present and his draft and pre-draft and summer league and first NBA game, like all of that, I was here for it all.

I was locked in. I wanted to see what it looked like. And the potential is just otherworldly. So for all of those reasons, I'm going to go with Wembe. And it's a little different spin. I'm not saying he deserves it from a statistical standpoint or what he's, you know, I'm just saying that newcomer and all that came with his coming into the league, the circus that it was, I'm going with Wimby. Roger, you know, I hate agreeing with you. You know, I know you hate agreeing with me.

Don't do it. Easy. But, no, but it's what, no, but it's what history. It's, this is history on the line. And I can't be on the wrong side of history. I was I'm going to pick um um um uh,

Victor women yama for the similar reasons that you're picking him right like all these other dudes are great ched homgren gonna have probably have a great career Paulo dude dude dude dude I can't wait for like two or three more years where like he really puts his imprint on the seat on the league like right now it's people in Orlando know what's up right they know they have something building but I can't wait for the world to see it right Cade Cunningham, we're going to talk about probably his pistons in a minute.

Like, tough for him. But if you want to talk about a player that is defined this year of a newcomer, Wembe did that without even touching the court, right? Like, he did that with, you know, with the hype. He did that just being just his size and just his physical attributes. he did that, even with the moments too, right? Like I think about going toe to toe with KD and sweeping him in his first week of his NBA career, right? And then beating LeBron when it's just him and LeBron, right?

And meeting that moment. And then you have him being coached by the greatest coach of his generation, right? So, or one of them, right? There's the argument between Greg Popovich and Phil Jackson that's just going to endure. But to have the guy that, to have the tutelage from the guy that is one of the best coaches, and just the way that Wembe is defined the year, I have to go with Wemby, man. I haven't, like, can you compare and contrast? Like, you were around during the only comparable time was when LeBron,

and I'm sure LeBron will get talked about a lot during this pod. but what have you seen from the the comparacetraff is the debuts of both of them and what they have both done on the league, Raja, when you see that? Man, that's a tough one. LeBron's, I didn't get to see it

from this 10,000-foot view because I was in it, you know what I mean? So, like, it was a little different for me. I think when LeBron came in, this is going to sound, this is going to sound crazy, but I think physically LeBron

LeBron it's going to sound so wow because this dude is so big right and but LeBron was LeBron had more of a physical presence like he seemed more physically ready to like spectacularly

demonstrate some of that shit like Wemby has incredible you know range and stuff like that but I think there's a lot more room like LeBron filled out and got bigger and stronger to make no mistakes but I think you know, Wemby, as he continues to get his legs under him

and continues to strengthen up and stuff like that, it will, you know, it will just continue to look different. I think LeBron came into the league head above the rim. Like, he was doing wild stuff as a rook. God, that's not a ringing endorsement for Wembe, and I'm trying really hard, but, but like, LeBron was, when he hit the league, because I was playing against it,

you were like, oh, shit. Yeah. Like this is, whoa. You're like, whoa. man. And Wemby is that, no question, but I wouldn't guard Wemby. And I tend to watch the game from like a guard's perspective. So it's a little harder. I think LeBron, when he came into the league and the way they played around LeBron and maybe that's what it is, right? Like when I watch

San Antonio play and Popping them have said they're going to do it on purpose. Like they're not like get it to Wemby. Sometimes I think they're ducking them. Sometimes it feels like they duck making the pass so it doesn't make sense. It's crazy sometimes. But like maybe they're trying to protect them and they're playing. playing around him and stuff like that. But when LeBron came in, it was like LeBron has it. Here you go. And that maybe is the difference in fairness to when because it ain't nothing wrong with him.

Like he's going to keep getting stronger. You know, I do think strength is strength like when you're out there perimeter based at times and stuff like that, like you're going to need to continue to get stronger. Like every young player does. LeBron did as well. But LeBron had the ball all the time with that team. And so you felt it like that, you know? I think the one thing that I'm going to go back.

the list of the nominees, Chet is on that list. And I kept going back and forth. And the reason why I picked Wimby is for the reasons that I laid out of, you know, just somebody to define this year as a newcomer. But like, how are you going to, I'm curious to see like how Chet continues to feel as their, their career goes on, right? Because he's having more success from a team perspective. Now he has a better team around him, um, than Wimonyama does. But there has to, there's, I'm sure there's going to be some animosity. And it's kind of, going to lead to a very great rivalry, I think. I hope so.

How are you feeling right now? Like even the things that I'm saying like, yo, man, Wimby to find a year woo-whoop. And Chet's like, yo, fuck that. Chet had nine blocks last week, by the way. And wasn't even considered for this award. Right. Right.

That's what I'm saying. And here, the crazy part is like, Chet, well, you're going to give him credit like for having a better team and and probably playing for something in a way that those other guys it might not be playing for something yet. I mean, Orlando is making moves. You know what I mean? But like that's also one of the reasons why you got to look at his numbers and say,

well, he might not get the same opportunity as some of them do is because he's playing with SGA. So, so, you know, it's not like he can fully get in his bag all the time. Like some number ones or twos get to come into the league in bad situations and they just get the ball and can go ham when they want to go ham. Like Chet's doing that. you know, in a winning way, if that makes sense, which is, hey, this isn't just give it to you

and let you go out there and try to cook as a rookie. We're going to need you to compliment, you know, some of the pieces we have in a winning capacity. And that's interesting, too. But I do think, check, look, Chet, don't get me wrong, bro. I am a huge Chet fan. Chet is a cold dude. Just, you know, the Wemby piece,

like, he's bigger, he's all of that. So, like, when we give this award out, I'm giving it to Wemby, but I'm with you on that. And I hope it's a dope rivalry for a decade. Yeah, it's one thing you said that really just stuck out to me. I want to follow up on this. And you were talking about Chet being in a situation where he's learning how to win faster and make winning plays faster.

So that's not a slight against Wimby. But Wimby's not on a good team. He has no point guard. You know, he has no, he's not playing with guys that he's going to play with. for the next five years, right? How did you teach Wimby how to win at this level when that's not, when he does not have the guys that he is going to have? Is it habits?

Like, how do you, how does he have to see it? Because it's just apples and oranges in terms of situations. Yeah, I think this year for Wemby, I don't even know that you're really worried about that. I think you're worried about introducing him to the NBA game, the rigors of an NBA season, the travel. you're just trying to like, you know, get him used to what that looks like. Analytically, see where he's best. See what things he does well versus what he might not do well yet.

Take those into an offseason. And then as we're coming back next year, hopefully, we're starting to think about winning and teach him how to winning. Behind the scenes, obviously, you want him, you know, by all accounts, he's already got great habits. but those are things that should be in place this year, Logan, right? Like less about winning on the court and more about more about his habits, his stuff behind the scenes, getting used to the size speed of the game,

physicality of the game, the travel, X, Y, and Z. And then this off season, hopefully they can put a piece or two together with him where now we can start talking about, hey, how do we win consistently in the NBA? Because the reality is that in Kerm, you know, Kerm said, I, you know, Kerm just elaborated on what I was saying. Like, you watch their game sometimes. And you talked about a lack of PG.

Why does he not have the ball? Like, what are you? I'm not even going to call names. I'm not going to call names. Well, I think some of that is them trying to protect him from having the weight of the world on his shoulders, like having to handle, having to do all like, and I get that.

I think pop is really smart, and the organization is smart for that. But there are times that are really, specific times in games where I'm watching them play. And whoever the other four are y'all out there, why does he not have the ball? Straight up. You know, and that's interesting. There's a little bit of tanking going on, man.

Like, the fact that Jeremy Sohan or Sochin, I don't know if I pronounce the last name, let me live. But like starting him at your point guard, it's a little bit of tanking going on. There's something going on there. But let's not, let's not think about that too much. You're saying we should change the spurs in to no limit records? Exactly. Exactly.

Some nefarious activities are happening. That's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. And we can move on to the next category here, which is biggest surprise of the year. First nominee, we got Cam Thomas becoming the youngest NBA player in history to score 40 plus points in three straight games on February. 7th. We got Keegan Murray breaking the King's franchise record for three-pointers made

after going... The motherfucking beam. Going 12 of 13 by the third quarter and on December 16th. Like, that's crazy. Next, we got the Detroit Pistons losing 24 games in a row, lost 48 of their last 52 games

ongoing. Like, that's just that's an insane stat. Shout Kai for finding that one. The Minnesota Timberwolves being tied for the best record in NBA as currently sitting at 20 and 6 in mid-December. That's got to be surprising. But drum roll, I'll throw this one to Logan. What do you think?

You know, I'm going to go with the Detroit Pistons. It's a staff record label on the crew, bro. And I'm probably taking Rogers. And guess what? I don't give a fuck. I think the big, it's just, I'm more disappointed than surprise than anything. It is the biggest surprise, but I wanted to talk about the Pistons just in general. It's tough because it's a tough look for Monty Williams, right?

Like there was stuff that, you know, you would see during the postseason with a good team that gave you, you know, reason to scratch your head. But when you are trying to build something, and I got to be honest with you, on paper, the Pistons before the season, had potential, right? And, you know, you talk about Ivy, talk about Kate Cunningham, you talk about guys that are, that are raw, that you want to mold into something.

And then, and you want to coach that Monty Williams, who's seen it all in on paper that, hey, man, this guy is going to be able to teach these guys habits, give you Chris Paul war stories, right? Like, tell you how to win in this league. And that just hasn't happened. And it's gotten to the point where it's like,

is Monty Williams even going to make it through this season. It's tough. It's tough to see. It's, it's, I want Detroit to be, like they have a great new arena, right?

You want to see Detroit. Their fan bases, a lot of basketball being loved in Detroit. They deserve better. It sucks. I'm going to go with Detroit Pistons, dry. Oh, man.

Let's see. The nominee is Camp Thomas. Yeah. I mean, look, that's, that's crazy. three straight 40 balls for a young fellow.

But I would just say that if you knew Cam Thomas, you knew he's got this almost semi-delusional idea of how he can score the ball. And it makes it a reality for him. I don't mean it's a negative thing. Like great scorers have to have that where they're just, they're like, yo, I don't know. This is what I do. I can do this regardless of who's guarding me.

So I ain't really tripping off of that. Keegan, that's phenomenal. 12 for 13. That's a great shooting night. I'm not throwing any shade at it, but I mean, he shoots the ball. What the fuck is going on with Detroit? Wait, you didn't give the Minnesota one. You got to throw the Minnesota one first.

Trending, been trending. Like last year trending. Like Anthony Edwards continuing to make huge strides. Watching the other night, Gobert was playing off a cat and like things are clicking in a way that. Edward sees a figure of shit off the, Figure shit out off the cortisol. Yeah, that's getting a little while.

That's getting a little while. But not completely surprised by that. And maybe if I'm being honest, I'm not completely surprised by the pistons not being good, but like this is ridiculous. This is absurd. What is this a symptom of? I don't know.

Monty, absolutely. There were some things at the end of last season where you could sit there if you were objectively, looking at it even if you really like Monty and say, okay, well, we got to ask you, why would you do that here and why did you do that there? And don't you think that's fair?

As a coach, you would like to think that you'd hop into situationally you'd be looking for A man, are there things here that I think make this a very attractive situation and we can win? And I don't know that

they necessarily had a lot of that, but they threw the bag at him. They made him. they made him the second highest paid coach in the league. You got to go. Was it like $78 million over six? I'm there. So like, I get it, Monty. Maybe you stepped into some stuff that wasn't exactly set up for the success that you really wanted to have coming off of Phoenix.

But damn it, that is a train wreck. I'm worried about them boys' career. All of them. Every single one of them. I mean, it's a joke, right? Clearly they're good basketball players. But that degree of losing is, I've never heard of that. It was crazy because they were on a

trajectory, I think. Don't, I've been on some bad teams. Most of, you know, I was on teams that had 17 game win streaks and stuff like that with the Suns. And obviously the Sixers were good teams and the jazz, we rarely went on losing streets like that just because of the stability of the organization.

But, you know, I was in some places where we weren't great, like in rebuilds and Golden State and trying to figure it out in Charlotte and 24 games. Losing Street? What was the other stat, Kerr? The other stat that Kai pulled up was,

you caught me at the wrong time. Sorry about that. Was, oh, they lost 48 of their last 52 games, like ongoing, like going back to last season. That is crazy. I don't mean to be yelling into the microphone, but I'm trying to think of what I would feel like

as a player leaving the arena every single night on an L. How many speeches can a coach give? You know, like, look, if we lose two in a row, I got a speech for those two losses, then we go on a little bit of a win streak. We come back and lose a game. I'm not tripping. I don't really have to give a speech about that loss.

We all know we should have, boom. Then we win a couple more. Then I can come back like three games later and kind of regurgitate one of those speeches I gave. on the two-game losing street, and nobody's going to be the wiser because there's so much time in between that. I mean, I'll change the verbiage,

but the essence of the message would be the same. If you lose every night, you run out of shit to say. 2 and 25, Roger. As a coach, I don't know how I would address them. I don't know how I would address practices. I really don't. And I don't know how, as a player,

you know, aside from my own personal career, I don't know what's keeping me tethered to that group and that message, if that makes sense. All jokes aside, I know I was just ranting and being an idiot, but at the root of it, I don't know as a player what would tether me to the belief

in what we're trying to accomplish here. I don't know. I don't know how that messaging that has not borne any fruit continues to affect me in a positive way and continues to get through. when that happens, I mean, then I'm, again, I'm worried about your franchise and the players in it. I got to just say, man, like, the well is just, I have no other thing but to say with the well

is poison in Detroit, bro, ever since they went 41 and 41 and 2019, I don't even remember them going to the playoffs since, like, I was a child, but let's say they went to the playoffs since 2019. This is their win count. And I want to get your, what I want to get what you have to say, Raja, about what this means for, what. what this means for the organization as a group and what this tells you about them. After they went to the postseason in 2019, they go 20 and 46. That is obviously the pandemic year. 20 and 52, the year after that, 23 and 59, 1765, Raja, and now they're 2 and 25.

It's not just a coach thing. This is an organizational mess. This is terrible. Yeah, I don't have any insight into ownership. and their attitude and their and their philosophy in terms of whether they're hands on or hands off. Like, I don't know. So this is just like clearly this is bigger than players, coaches, etc. Like this is, this is an organizational failure.

This is what we were talking about with the Kings for a while where you're like, it doesn't really matter who they have because, you know, institutionally, there's something rotten there. And that's what you have going on. on. What it is, I don't know, and I wouldn't be fair to speculate because I'm not really there and I don't have any insight into it, but something is, something is wrong. And it's, it's, it's so high. It's not, it's not in the locker room. It's not in the coach's office. Like, all that's turned over anyway. Like this is, you know, there's something consistent there. This is, you know,

I didn't do a ton of homework on this specific topic. So, you know, I don't know who hasn't moved. We don't need to talk about the, there's no reason to talk about the piss. But you feel But you feel what I'm saying, right? Like something has, what something consistent there that has not been turned over a lot is not good. What do you think they're like pregame huddle is at this point? Like, you know, you have the one, two, three team. Like, what do you even, what do you say at this point? What you just, you're this defeated?

Like, one, two, three, get mine. Can I tell this story again? Like, real quick, how quickly we're going to go to break? When Jerry Sloan and Darren Williams got into their, their beef that game, and it happened early in the game. It erupted at halftime. And, you know, we had to play the second half. It was against the Bulls.

And so in the locker room after the game, you know, we usually bring it in to your point. And this is going to get to the answer to your point. We bring it in and you said like jazz or hard work, whatever it was. I don't remember. I've been on so many teams. This one struck me, though, because we brought it in all hands in the huddle. And Jerry Sloan said, one, two, three, good luck. bro he said good luck and he quit that night

listen bro he said good luck and walked out smooth as a mug and we were all standing there like literally it took us probably about eight seconds as we all kept standing there to say did he say good luck is that what he said good luck because we all said what we normally say the next morning Jerry had quit before I even got to treat me so the answer to your question is probably something like that Curm, one, two, three, good luck, good luck. Here's the thing, though. I don't know Monty Williams like that.

I don't think he got that in him. That would have been fired, though. He just walked out. Fully guaranteed I'm out. One, two, three, good luck. He figured this shit out. No. No, but I don't think he gets the bread.

He can't quit on him. He's going to have to take the L. But again, I mean, all he got to do is wait like two, three more months. There's no way he finishes the season, Roger. There's no fucking way, dude. Yeah, I mean, I can't imagine. But to Kerm's point, you know, to Kerms point, you know, bigger than the coach and what he would say to your team is, what are you saying to each other? You know, what is what is the collective spirit?

Where are we going after this? What are we? That's what they say. No. I know it's funny, but it's not. Like, that's your, that's your livelihood, man. And that's a long season. To be mired in that, that's gross.

Yuck. If you need me, though, I got 10 days. me. Hey, we got to get these Christmas gifts. Hey, it's going to be crazy, though, because they're going to offer you another one for veteran leadership. You're like, nah, I got to get back to Florida. This was great.

This was good. I'm good. Do you want a front office job, Roger? You're really smart with the guys. Nah, I'm straight. I'm good. Thank you. Why are you doing the pod live from the practice facility?

We're practicing. But no, hey, you know what? All seriousness. Like, if you're, if I, you don't have the luxury coming up out of the CBA to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, you don't have that luxury. And you don't have the, the, the, you don't, you don't have the, the, the knowledge of, hey, man, like, where I go is important. But, man, if you got called up to that or that was, you know what I mean? If you don't have your choice of picking that and you got called into that, again, that's just a. mess. And I feel for a lot of those dudes there because it's a mess.

I got a story real quick. I remember when I was at Sack, right? And the kings were so bad. They were so bad. They were so bad. Roger, they were playing the Warriors once. And this is when I wasn't even like with the Warriors or covering them at all. I was interned in Sacramento and the Warriors happened to be in town. And this was like maybe this was the lockout year. And this is when the, uh, the Maloos were actively trying to sell the team. And just like, it's basically just poisoning the well all the way, either like looking to move the team to Seattle or sell it outright. And they just gave up all hope. There was like no ad marketing or anything.

So because of this, sponsors pulled out. But because the team was just so lazy, they wouldn't take down the sponsorship. They would just put like a cover over the sponsor logo, right? And during the game, the fucking curtain that was covering the logo. from on the scoreboard fell onto the court. Oh, wow. So KeySmart had to run onto the court, get the stuff, and run off. That's how terrible.

I haven't seen anything terrible since then until I watch these pistons. Just how it's just organizationally shitty an organization is. I haven't seen that in a decade. The pistons are right there. We'll say a quick break and news flash. More awards coming. Cash in on bowling out this NBA season with Fanduel. America's number one sports book.

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What's up, Karen? We're now to the heavy hitters, you know, everything before. That was, you know, that was the lower card, the opener. Now, this is the real shit. This is where we came to see. This is the album of the year. This is the artist of the year type shit. You feel me?

So let's start it off with moment of the year. And your nominees are the Denver Nuggets winning the NBA championship, 2023 NBA champions. First time ever for the Nuggets, right? Second, LeBron James breaks the scoring record. We all saw that turnaround jumper when Thomas Bryant was asking for the ball under the basket, but, you know, history had to be made in that moment. Sacrifices had to be made.

Sorry, Thomas. Next, we got, you know, the Lakers fans, I'd have packed this up. Lakers winning the first end-season tournament ever, LeBron capturing his four point two-five rings. You know what I'm saying? We got to talk about it. He's got four and a quarter rings. And lastly, to kind of kick off the other.

Take that, Jordan. Come on. Does Jordan have in-season tournament MVP? Don't think so. That's all I'm saying. Lastly, we got to kick off 2023. I think this was the first week of the season. Donovan Mitchell dropping 71 points?

That's crazy. Nobody topped that. We were having a scoring boom at the beginning of the year. but that nobody topped that one. So what do you guys think? This is tough because the last two categories have similar possible award nominees. And so I want to make sure everyone gets their due. I think for moment of the year, this one, oh, this is tough.

For the moment of the year, I'm going to go with the Denver Nuggets winning the NBA championship. And for a franchise's first MVP, for Nicola Yokic, who has been MVP multiple times and probably could have won it a third time and his ascension to the to the throne or close to it as best player in the NBA or on a very small list of guys that you might argue over being that for Jamal Murray coming back

a couple years removed from an ACL. And they look so great in the bubble before he got hurt that you thought they were really close to it maybe. And then that injury kind of derailed it a little bit. I mean, Yokic has still been brilliant, but he just didn't have the sidekick that he needed. And all of that, Mike Malone, all of that. Like, I think that was definitely the moment of the year for me.

Nuggets went in their first NBA championship and the culmination of shout out to Cal Booth, you know, being patient with those dudes, keeping them dudes together and just putting pieces. And the culmination of that vision and that plan. Cal Boo's out here talking reckless, though. Talking reckless.

Right now he is? He's saying they're about to be a dynasty. He said to KOC on the thing. They about to be a dynasty. Okay. Well, look, I haven't heard that, but I know he got that. He got that ring. And for all those reasons, my moment of the year was the Nuggets winning the championship.

All right. Shout out to the Denver Nuggets, staff record labels, a motherfucking crew. Shout out to you, the city of Denver. Great city, which your airport was closer. so it could be top tier. All of those things. And I got a lot of slander for slandering Denver,

and I'm probably not, this next choice is not going to help my case. I'm going to go with LeBron James winning the scoring championship. Not the endseason tournament? It's why? Not the 4.25? No, no, not the tournament. It was also, a quick aside,

I was in Vegas for that and was at the game that the Lakers won. It was so funny. like the manufactured joy that was on their faces, right? Like, yeah, we wanted. Yeah, yeah. And they didn't give a fuck about that. Jeannie Bus wasn't even on the stage. Come on now.

They don't really care. You know, they don't get fuck. So, but no, LeBron winning the scoring title is definitely going to find this year. And just, I mean, I think this might be the year of LeBron as a person, just to, in general. We'll get to our ruin of the year in a second. But when you talk about something, and I went back and forth on this, and I feel bad not picking the nuggets considering everything. I know it was the moment of the year for the city of Denver. But the accomplishment of LeBron, and I can't say this enough, of a guy that is a past first person to win a scoring title.

is and to do it and have as in a laker uniform have kareem right there to be able to give them the ball all of those moments uh that that's gonna you're going to remember that when you think about 2023 more than you're going to remember the dimmer nuggets it just is what it is and that's just life and i know people are going to be mad at me on that and i know i'm going to get a lot of slander in the dims and in the in the comments section do not give a fuck um it is the lakers for all of those reasons. And LeBron has defined this year. And because of that, he has to get the moment of the year

because I got to be honest with you. That was one of the most boring finals I've ever seen in my life. Did not watch as much as I should have. I'm sorry. I can't. I can't. You're going to ask for a moment. People are going to ask me a moment.

People are going to ask me a moment for the 20-23 finals. I'm like, I don't know. I'm sorry. Remember what that happened at Game 3? The Bowl? No, I don't. I'm sorry. don't like it's that's that's what it was i apologize no actually i don't because i would i would

do it again what were you going to say roger no i'd like to push back and and and argue and debate this just for better pod purposes but i i can't i believe everything you said to be to be true in terms of in terms of lebron and and in the moment and kareem and and all of that and i'm not even going to do it i'll just wait for the next i'll wait for the next category and then i'll explain myself. Devil's advocate raw is waiting to the next category.

Yeah, I mean, because I want to stick with my pick. I'm going to stick with the pick. And then I'll explain why it had to be a pick. Okay. Really, really disappointing y'all not picking this end season tournament win

because that took so much out of the Lakers to get that. You see, we're struggling to win games now because we gave her all to get that quarter of a ring and now we're losing to the fucking bulls on a Wednesday night. So I just, I need some way to

to be positive right now. Quite frankly, I thought what might have snuck in into the nominees was Logan and I meeting in Vegas for the end season tournament. I thought that might have snuck in as a lower tier nominee for a moment of the year.

I was a little disappointed when it didn't show up. Hey, oh, man. Let's speak on it. You know what's crazy? Let's speak on it. It was hilarious because I should not have been that nervous

when I... Bro. So people don't know Let's just tell the story. Fuck it. We're here. Let's do it. So we get.

So we, first of all, we find, Rogers's on the plane when we, when we get for Vegas, right? And if we find out the shit happens, the show's not going to happen.

I'm nervous because Rogers is calling me every fucking five seconds like, we're going to fucking do this shit. Fuck this. Fuck it. Fuck it. I'm going to Carbone. So I'm like, I'm getting to a lot of,

of Virgo energy from Raja right here, right? There's a lot of just like, I don't know. And so we're supposed to meet at Planet Hollywood. And I'm not even, I'm not even sure that Roger's going to fucking show up based on all the shit that he talked on the phone

during the day, right? And we're in Planet Hollywood and it's just like a pod recording. He's making us wait. I get there earlier. And and and then,

And then he says, I'm here. Me and Ben Cruz do not see Roger for anywhere, right? And then his motherfucker comes down the, what is it, the fucking, the stair climber, whatever. What is it called? The escalator. The escalator. Wait, you call it a stair climber? A stair climber is crazy.

Keep going. Keep going. I'm sorry. Let me do my story. He comes and I'm like, oh shit, there's Rosa. I'm so happy. happy to see this motherfucker. And then he immediately goes, I need a fucking beer.

Goes to the fucking, goes to the gift shop, gets a beer, and then fucking drops 47 and 5 and 8 on the pod that night. It was great. It was the greatest shit I've ever seen. And then says, oh, I'm a vegetarian. And we go to Mama Fuoku afterwards. And he says, I'm a vegetarian. and just eats all the Brussels sprouts

and fucking what else did you eat? What else did we have that you could have eaten? Some cauliflower and shit, right? And then this is the funniest shit. Bill goes, hey. Hey, Bill goes, Hey, what do you drink, Raza?

He goes, alcohol. It's the greatest night. And then, so pop it all off, We're at Mama Fu Koo. And this is when I knew Razza was my dog. And when I knew Razza was my dog. Me and Roger, it's getting late, bro. It's a long-ass day.

I've been at the arena all day. Rogers's been flying all day. People, like, it gets to the part of the dinner of Mama Fuku where, like, people are like, yo, man, like, they're still going strong, right? And me and Roger look at each other. It's about 9.52, right? You and Roger look, like, you know, I think it's time to go, right? And I say, Roger, let's just go.

let's just do a solid number. Let's like leave at 10 o'clock, right? It's 9.52. Two minutes later, I'll look at Raza. I say, you know what? Let's fuck. We can fucking leave now if you want to fucking leave. Why wait?

And so we bounced so early, bro. I was in bed by 11 o'clock. It was great. It was great. That was great. And in retrospect, had I not flown all day and, like, you know, I had the layover and stuff like that, which, like, I in hell of boozyy, it just makes for a long day. I probably wouldn't have given you all that gold.

I would have been a lot more like chill and everything. But as I reflected on it, it was a pretty cool day. And it was really good to meet you. The dinner was cool even though like I did not want to. I went begrudgingly. Like I'm, you know, getting to meet everybody and talk to everybody like face to face. And, you know, a lot of people that we potted with and stuff like that, I really enjoyed it. And but I tell you what, if we hadn't got out of there, bro, that next morning catching that flight I had back to Florida.

I was going to miss it, so I really appreciate you. Yeah, that was, so. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it was great. It was awesome. And it was, it was great. That's its own category. It's not moment of the year. It's just its own category.

We've met this year. Me getting that, me getting that damn beer was, might have been my moment of the year because I was without, bro. You ever, you ever felt like that where you were like, yo, bro, I need, before you say anything else to me, I need a fucking beer. Get me a beer, please. I'm not a beer guy, dog. I'm a white wine, rosé kind of guy. Whatever you're, whatever your, whatever your, uh, I got a Saoian Blanc at that fucking at that dinner.

I got two of them. I was twisted. I was twisted. I was fucking twisted. I was twisted. Yo, we were talking sports. Bill came and we had a fun. It was me, you, Joe me, Bill and Rosillo just having a fucking pal out at the corner.

And I was twisted. We was talking. I don't even remember. It doesn't matter what we were talking about. It was gold. But they came over and I'm like, what the fuck is going on after after after after, after, after, after, uh, drink two and they brought shot and I was like oh my god I got to relax we got to relax and then I was like then it got to 1053 and I was like garage let's go home let's go it's time to go

that's funny get the car oh god good to meet you pal yeah should have been a nominee should have been a nominee all right so let's move on to the last award of the night this is as big as it gets right here. This is why we do this shit, man. Whoever wins this, like, you carry this like an MVP. You carry this like a finals MVP. You carry like a scoring title because it means that much to us over here on real ones. So the next category is real one of the year. I do have some nominees, but I think I'm just going to let you guys pick it like we do real one of the week. How about you started off? Who is your real one of the year? Who is your real one of the year, I'm putting you on the spot? You part of this?

show. Who is your real one of the year? Hey, if we're keeping it a bean, man. Shout out my guy, Kai Grady. He's not here on the recording today. He's the greatest motherfucking production assistant in the world. We got the best team over here, man. When I fuck up, Kai, he lifts me up. You feel?

You know what I'm saying? We got a crew over here. It's a two-producer team, you know? Kai helping me with the outlines. Watching him get better. I hope you're listening to this one, Kai, because I'm gassing you up. But watching him get better as an,

audio engineer seriously. Like, dude came out to hear as a writer and now he's got, you know, two-way contract. He's helping on the editorial side, but he comes and fucks with us on the pods and he's going to edit these pods by himself on Thursdays usually. So I got to say, that's my real one of the year. Now throw it to you guys. Wow. So we went off script with this because you just threw me a curveball because I had my

award set up to basically acknowledge. Oh, you wrote your down awards. I can read the nominees that are originally listed and then if you still want to do something different or stick with those four, we can. So no, I would love to do something different, but I got to go off, I got to get back to the script for a second

because then I got to explain why I gave, you know, Denver and, you know what I mean? Like my real one is, all right, so on the script, my real one of the year is LeBron James. For every reason that Logan just said, I too agree. Like no one's going to really be tripping off of last year Denver winning the championship in a decade.

People are always going to remember LeBron surpassing Karim Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time scoring list. Bro, that's the moment of the year. But I had to, it's like college football awards. When a dude's going to win the Heisman, they got to give like his runner-up quarterback like something, some other award knowing Dan well he probably should have swept. With the Maxwell Award.

Yeah, you give them something else so they don't, you know, they get something. So that's what I did with Denver. They had to be included in that because first championship, Joel, I mean, Yo Kitchin, all of that. So LeBron on script is my real one of the year. For every reason, Logan said it was the moment of the year. My real real one of the year, if we're going off script and we're like Kai Grady in it,

oh, it's Cindy Bell. Oh, it's my wife. It's my wife, Cindy Bell. Yeah, because of everything that she does to keep this crazy-ass crib going. Yeah. And, hey, this mug is, this is crazy. This is wild, bro. We got, I mean, four kids, which, I mean, people got more kids than us.

But we're in that time of, of, we're spread out from a 16-year-old down to a seven-year-old. And so everyone's got different stuff going on with different commitment levels. I'm traveling a lot with Dia to different, you know, recruiting visits and stuff like that. Like, she's got Thai on the road right now in Vegas, took the seven-year-old with her to Vegas so that she could be there for Ty and his tournament with his high school team. like the so I'm rolling Dolo as a dad to two right now the 16 year old like Dia drive so I ain't really

he's fine and I sent him to get my 11 year old from school the other day so really I ain't got shit to do but I am drowning in the limited shit that I have to do like real I can barely keep my head above water so shout out to everything she does to keep this bad boy rolling like Cindy Bell real wood

gay gay that's what's up Logan before you go I guess I should also give my scripted real one of the years was in like someone within the NBA because I definitely did throw a curveball there picking Kai. I will admit that. That's on me. Because I don't think anybody else is going to give this guy love Jimmy Butler, man, first round of the playoffs, dismantling the Bucks, looking like the, there was a week there where he was like, is this the greatest player of all time? Like, what's going on? The bullshit he was on against the Bucks was insane. And to take an A seed to the NBA finals, obviously wasn't just him. He had some great play.

players around him making some tough-ass-threes, as well as Smolstra just being a genius. But to lead a team that nobody, nobody believed in that team except for Jimmy. Nobody. And to bring them to the finals, that's my in NBA, real one of the year.

But, you know, it's still, it's Kai over Jimmy. That's all I'm saying. It's Kyle over Jimmy. That's what's up. That's what's up. All right. I'm going to go off script.

I'm going to go with, I'm going to go with Brittany Griner, man. Hey. Who has a real one of the year. Someone had to endure so much shit and play basketball, right? Like, I don't know how the hell she did that. I'm going to go with her. And I'm going to also go with, honestly, bro.

Like, I'm going to go with the real ones everywhere, bro. Like, we see every, like, I can't put this into perspective of how much we appreciate y'all, how much we appreciate. Like whenever we go through the, if when y'all come to us randomly in arenas or like just on the street, I told y'all there was one time I'm walking from my house, bro. Somebody just drive up and I got a little scare. I ain't going to hold you. And he just goes like, hey man, I like what you doing. It drives off.

Like even shit like that. Like appreciate it so much, bro. Like, this is the labor of love. We do this shit every morning. We fucking get the cracks out of our motherfucking eyes. and do this shit and try to make the best we can. And we appreciate the love, dog. So Brittany Griner and also the real ones everywhere, man.

We ain't here without y'all. So appreciate it. Yeah, real talk, man. I've said this before. I will say it again. It is more heartwarming for me at this stage for someone to say that they enjoy the pod or listening to us than it is for someone to say, hey, man, you were a really good defender or, like, whatever they say to me about the NBA.

like that hearing that people appreciate or even that they just tap in whether they like it or not like that's that's always pretty dope and I always get a little I always get a little emotional when people tell me that and it's kind of surreal like right like it's kind of you know it's pretty cool yeah the show is a gift bro for show it's a gift that keeps on giving me and uh any last words guys anything you guys want to say before we get the fuck out of here for a year hey happy holidays enjoy your people man seriously it's my favorite time a year not because because I get to be with people, you know. I get to sit around with the people I love.

People come from out of town. You don't see all the time and you get to really be with them in a way that's slowed down and you can appreciate them. We all don't always get the opportunity to do that. So happy holidays, enjoy it. Yes, sir. Happy holidays to everybody. We will see you guys next year. We'll see y'all next year.

All right. Love y'all. Happy holidays. That was the release, our second annual award. Ward show. We're going to do it bigger and bigger every year. See y'all next year for the release. And see y'all next year for another, all infinite additions of real ones.

Tap in, ah, all the shits. Bye. Must be 21 years and older and president's select states. Fanduel is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with the Kansas Star Casino LLC. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit. Fanduil.com backslash RG in Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee, and Virginia. Call 1-800 next step or text next step to 533442 in Arizona, 1-88-78-9-777, or visit

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