The Ringer NBA Show - Anthony Edwards's Technical Difficulties. Plus, Paul George Puts the Pod Down. | Real Ones

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

Anthony Edwards received his 16th technical foul and was ejected during the Timberwolves' matchup against the Lakers Thursday night. Ant will now serve the mandatory one-game suspension for receiving his 16th tech. Former teammate Austin Rivers joins Logan and Raja to discuss how receiving so many technicals can affect his image and what steps Ant-Man should take to boost his stardom (3:37). Plus, Paul George has decided to halt his podcast to focus on the Sixers, getting healthy, and trying to win a championship. What’s the real reason George put the mic down, and can active player podcasts affect results on the court (38:42)? The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hit the mailbag! [e-mail] Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Guest: Austin Rivers Producer: Clifford Augustin Additional Production Support: Ben Cruz Video: Victoria Valencia Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up everybody? It's Austin Rivers here and we are back for another season of OffGar. Me and my guy, Pasha Giggy, are hitting your podcast feeds every Monday and Thursday talking everything hoops. Austin is bringing that 11-year NBA veteran perspective and of course keeping you guys entertained throughout the season. Make sure you tap into OffGard with Austin Rivers on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget to follow everything we've got going on social media. The OffGar podcast, Ringer NBA. And of course, check us out on Ringer NBA's YouTube channel. we're getting better

we're getting better what's popping for real ones another Murdoch here Roger Bell there Cliff on the motherfucking boards Austin Rivers is here

and it was really hilarious pre-pod just now that like we had two basketball players just say it's Friday we need to get the hell up out of here that was just hilarious it was this perfect symmetry

between you guys how is this pod gonna go how are we gonna first of welcome Austin listen how are we doing what's going on Austin welcome like while the shade is being

thrown. Let me just clarify what we're used to doing. What are y'all used to doing? We're used to coming in the gym and getting our fucking work. And we get it done. We come in, we get to it. We get that good sweat. We make sure we get the reps we need. And then we get out. Trim the fat. Phenomenal recovery, Roger. Phenomenal recovery. Thank you. Great job, buddy. Hell yeah. No, Fridays. Fridays, I like to get stuff done early. And then that way you can, you know, enjoy the festivities of a Friday. Where are you guys at? Where are you located?

I'm in, I'm in Oakland right now. Roger is somewhere, somewhere. Where are you at, bro? Do you even want to say your location? I'm in Florida. Okay. Okay, so the weather is so.

That's right, Austin. I'm at South Florida. There's shit to do. Oh, yeah. A lot of shit to do down there. And the weather, the weather, the weather is probably, you know, beautiful. Gorgeous.

I may or may not be on South Beach tonight. I don't know, Logan. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. I don't, whoa, you get out the house? The reason why is because Zen has a tournament down there. Oh, I was about to say something.

I was about to say something. Something. I was like, Roger, bro, you turn it back the clock right now? What the hell you're doing on South Beach? No, I ain't got none of that in my life. Full transparency, Austin. Roger never goes out of the house for nothing, absolutely nothing, unless to like going a recruiting trip or something.

So that would be like him going to South Beach will be like it's 2005 or something. Like it doesn't even make any sense. Yeah, yeah. No, I'm the same way. I don't really. Nah, I'm lying. I do be out sometimes. You're talking about, bro.

Yeah. Awesome. You don't got a lie to kick it, bro. We don't around the same age. You ain't got to be like, we ain't got to be like, we ain't going out right now. Are we mid-30s? Oh, shit.

32, yeah. Come on, man. Y'all come back in 15 years. How about this? Hopefully, Lord Will and I'm still around. I'm going to check back with John motherfuckers in 15 years. And then y'all tell me how often you outside. Okay, that's fine.

When Roger goes outside, like, me and Austin aren't old dude at the club yet. Like, Rogers is peak old dude at the club. We can't have you. We can't have you in a South Beach club out here. Yeah,

no, no, not, Miami he won't be old. And Miami is there right in. I'm this dude. I need, I'm readers,

dude. Friday vibes. Anyways, let's get to the shit before we get. Before we get all fucking fired. You got the Timberworld shirt on also. Let's get to the shits.

I want to talk, personal to talk, Edwards. We'll just, we'll let the, uh, put the conversation flow where it flows. But first thing I want to talk about,

we're speaking on a few hours after the Lakers beat the Timberwolves and Ann Edwards got yet another ejection, yet his 16th of the season. If he gets another technical, he risks yet another suspension because he's going to get suspended on this pending. 16th tech of the season. Excuse me, yes, 16 tech. It's Friday Vicer, everybody.

16th tech of the season. and he's risking suspension. He's going to get suspended right now, but if he gets to take any time for the rest of the way, it's going to trigger an automatic suspension. The Rashid Wallace rule. I guess I'll start with this with Austin. And me and Cliff were talking about this last night,

and I think me and Roger have talked about this in the pod before. But it feels like, I mean, we're in the beginning of a tide turning on the perception of Anthony Edwards, right? I think he was a darling last year and years before, you know, for his interviews, for just the way he played. And that was when the Timberwolves were winning. And now it's a bit of a difference where he's getting the technicals. They're losing.

We all know how this game, the perception of this game ebbs and flows. Do you think that we're on the verge of somehow of a backlash towards Anthony Edwards? Are we not quite there yet? Or is it coming, Austin? Man, that's a good question. Because he was so adored coming out. People kind of fell in love with his infectious personality, how honest he was. I think the biggest turn on for people and fans with Ant was his unapologetic way about himself.

There was like a non-political athlete flourishing in a sport that's kind of sort of, surrounded by, when you look at the best players, they're also calculated. And they have to be. They have these, you know, multi-million dollar brands and LeBron and Steph's case, billion-dollar brands, but they got a team around then, PR, every move is so calculated. It's, you know what I'm saying? Ant comes in and he has the complete office at this. He's someone wavering. He says what he wants. But people fell in love with it. It comes at a cost because, as we all know, we all like to build up a star to break one down. And it seems like ants at that point now,

now they're not as winning as much games, their seasons going good, but not as good as last year. He's obviously having a problem in our issue with these texts. It's so interesting how we as a community as fans pick and choose who we choose to grail. Because if Jason Tatum had these many texts, it would be a huge issue.

people would just be killing them for it they already killed jason jason came out the other day talking about like i don't understand why i'm not regarded as this this or that like i don't get enough credit and it's the facts you know he's like the same age of shay and everyone's like shay's the best player shay's resume is not even half of what jason's is respectfully so we pick and choose who we we grail and like that's ant's cloth we put him up there but he he has to there are some maturing he has to do And that's just the fact of the matter. That's my boy. I love aunt.

But with great responsibility or with great power comes great responsibility. And he's at that point now, we're like, man, listen, you got the max contracts. You got this team. You got the sneaker. You got everything going. Like, we got to kind of hold. We got to tighten it up a little bit. We got to start tightening up a bit because his brain could be even bigger.

With how his smile and he's a good looking dude and he's well-spoken win in the right light, he needs some tightened up in that regard. Like, bro, ain't no way you should be getting suspended with technical fouls. That's an emotional issue. The ball of the stands. Yeah, that's an emotional thing. That has nothing to do with anything a part of the game. You know what I mean?

Like, that's something you can control. And he looks up to guys like Kevin Durant, right? All these guys, Kevin Durant never had a suspension problem with technical fouls. You know what I mean? LeBron James don't have these issues. They can get a tech win in Rome, but like that's never been an issue. When you talk about guys who have techs, we talk about like DeMarcus cousins and I think Russ one year was up there or something like that.

Draymond. Like, these aren't guys that you, come on, man. You know what I mean? So like Anne has to tighten these up because, like you said, people do adore him and you don't want that to switch. And it's tough to comment on it. Do I see it switching right now a little bit? Yeah.

There's a little bit in the air where people aren't as in love with him as before, which I don't like to see because he's such a good guy. He's such a talent. But you do feel it. You start to see it even in like where I gauge, man, is when you go on social media, you go on like Instagram and comment surfing sometimes can really be a good indicator of just like where the people are at with somebody. And historically, an ant post all below you just see love, jokes, fun, all fun.

Now it's starting to, you go down there, people are like, I'm tired of this guy, or this guy talks too much, or this guy needs to just, that's starting to creep in a little bit. you're seeing it more. So yeah, I do think it's changing a little bit, unfortunately. What do you think, Ron? Look, just generally speaking, like as a society, we have less patience. That means we're going to have less patience with our stars, right? So, like, we're going to have less patience with people's personalities, things that are endearing to us for a while, run their course quicker than they probably did a generation ago. And if you're not producing and you're not

winning to the level that we expect as a as a fan base. Like then it's what we always do, right? Build them up, build them up, build them up to a level. It's, you know, pretty much, you know, a level that's unattainable at this point for reasons other than his greatness at times. But if he doesn't achieve that, we'll tear him down. I will say this, and I've been on record as saying this, this goes way back to the press conferences with the hot Cheetos and things like that.

And people kind of got at me a little bit. But I was saying back then he needed to mature. This had nothing to do with the player, right? The player is fantastic. Like, you know, we can get into, you know, how he's grown as a player and how he continues to evolve and mature. But just when you're talking about being that level of star, there is a level of maturity that has to come with that.

If you don't come in with it because you did one year at college and you're relatively young, everyone understands that. but they want to see the progression of maturity. And don't get me wrong, I wasn't the most mature mofo in the world. I wasn't the face of a franchise or the era parent to being the face of the league potentially. So there's a different level of expectation

that comes with that. And I would like to see him or his camp. And I've talked about this at length, even in the jaw conversation a couple years ago. Like you referenced teams, Austin, the teams that are around Steph, the teams that are around LeBron, those become really important.

Having people in those teams that'll say to you, hey, look, man, I know everybody else on this damn team thinks you're the mill ticking and probably going to tell you what you want to hear, but I'm good people. Like, you know I got your best interest at heart. Like we got a tighten X, Y, and Z up. Whatever that looks like to you, right?

Like, I'm not sitting here telling you how to comport yourself necessarily, but whatever camp and people close to you that know you think you need to do, like you have to have trusted people around you that can keep it real with you. And someone in his camp should be saying, hey, it's cool to be fun.

It's cool to be likable. It's cool to be genuine. It's cool to be all of that. And then there comes a point where we have to comport ourselves like a professional. And that's just what it is. Yeah, I agree. Austin, how did, like, we talked about the maturity aspect of it. Like, I think he's matured more since the Hot Cheetos incident.

Like, the Uber's in the Gordash is, right? But, like, how much have you seen since you were a teammate of his, how was his trajectory been to this point? What was the difference between now and when you were a teammate? He's something else. You know, that was part of my main role, to be completely honest, was just trying to help him out with things. That was like my last year in anyway.

And at that point, you know, I kind of used a lot of my time trying to help him. We couldn't get him to ice after games. He wouldn't do it. He said it's too cold. He said it's too cold. I'm just like, bro, we got to get over some of these. He's like the way you jump and fall to the ground, brother, if you want to keep this shit up for 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13 years,

LeBron has nine ice packs after every game. That's why at 40 years old, this guy's still moving like a machine. He spends a million dollars on his body. Like, this isn't an opinion thing or not. This is a fact. This is how stuff works. And this is what it equates to. If you want to do this, you have to do these things.

You can't, right now you're 20-some years old. So, like, you can go home and play video games. I promise you, like a three, four years. I've seen it, man. I've seen it with guys like playing with, and I'm not going to steer off too long, but like playing with Blake Griffin, you see guys who's a heavy part of their game is explosion, right?

And you know, Raj, like, you'll see it fade. Like year to year, you'll start to see it happen, right? And when it happens, you're like, well, what's going to, are they, what's going to happen now? Because a big part of their game is their athleticism. Blake really started to work on his MIDI and all these different things. That's why when he went to Detroit, he was still, he was fantastic as a player because he still had all these things. He added, and he had a lot of surgeries.

So that's why his body went that way. And is one of those guys where a part of his confidence, his unwavering confidence, it's great because that's what makes him who he is. It also comes at a cost where he's unwilling to try new things or learn sometimes, not all things, but a lot of things just because you're like, I don't need that, man. I ain't doing all that. And you're just like, you laugh, but you're just like, yeah, no, bro, we got to get you in ice. we got to get you nice to, man, just for like 10 minutes after the game. It'll, like, just save, it'll save your body. You'll feel better after.

I promise you can get over the cold. I know you from Atlanta and, like, you're a southern dude. He don't really, you know, mess with all that. I'm like, bro, you already live in Minneapolis. So you've already, you had to change, right? So you can do it this way. You know, the eating habits, what time you eat, you know, that's a big thing. Guys, stay up until 2 a.m. and it's different now, man.

Like, when I came in the league, and I know I didn't play that long ago, but that's how long, 12 years ago, that's how long, how much. much has changed in this time. When I came in 13 years ago in the league, everybody hung out. Everybody left the room to go do stuff. Hey, yo, we meet in the lobby at one or 12, or whatever the case. These dudes don't hang out. You speak in Rogers' language. You speak in Rogers' language. Yeah, yeah, Friday activities. Friday activities. That's right. They don't hang out anymore. They play video games in their room. Most of these guys, usually, to be completely honest, I'd say 80% of the league just smoke trees and just and play video games in an

room. That's kind of just like the way of the way. And that's fine. They stay in the room. They stay out of trouble, you know, whatever, whatever. But that comes with eating habits, this, this and that. Luckily for ant, ain't, no, drink. Ant doesn't smoke.

It's not in any of these things. What is Anne into? He likes to play video games. He eats whatever he wants, the recovery of his body. So those are my challenges. I couldn't tackle everything. You know what I mean? I let the personal stuff be with his family or there's other people like that.

I try to just help him as a professional. from what I've heard, he's made a lot of huge leaps with his diet. He's made a lot of strides. Yeah, he's made a lot of strides with his diet and like the way he, you know, and he did his workout routine as well, right? Like I think, yeah, yeah, he's tightening up his body. Yeah, he had a little babies. Yeah, yeah, I remember I did a story over over the summer and he was one of the biggest,

he was Chris Hines, the assistant coach with the Timberwolves, really got him on a schedule of workouts like two or three days during the offseason. Got his body, right, right? Because, like, one thing about Ann and what I've known about him is he wants, what he says, he wants to be the greatest of all time, he wants to be that. The thing is, I don't think he knew how to do that. And I think he's in the process of learning it. And he still wants that.

But what we're going to say, right? No, what I was going to say, like, look, it's very hard to have one without the other, right? It's hard to have, it's hard to be the greatest of all time and not accept the result. responsibility of the maturity that's necessary to be the face of the league, which ultimately will come with you being the greatest of all time, if that makes sense, right? Yeah. And so I'm not, look, I don't know him personally. I don't know his work habits.

I don't know his diet and all of that. Clearly, you know, he works on his game and develops. Like, there are a lot of guys that come into the league, to Austin's point, if they're young enough and haven't been exposed to it for any extended period of time in college, they don't love what it takes to get a body ready to play night after night for 82 games. Like you've just, you've never been exposed to the level of ice, the level of rest, the level of, you know, massage, like the hydration, like dudes don't know. And not for nothing.

That's why cats like Austin and other people who had pros as as parents to some degree, like have a little bit of a head start, not just the genetics, but the understanding of what life looks like as a pro from an early age. terms of prep and work and stuff like that. But as it relates to aunt, I would just say like, it's hard to draw a line between the two, greatest of all time on the court, baddest mofo to walk the planet and play basketball and not be willing to step into the realm of CEO and face of league. They kind of come hand in hand.

Like, it's a hard thing to avoid. To some degree, KD's been able to do it, but it's because LeBron's been there. Like when KD was there were a couple years where KD was saying he was the best, right? Like, and people were having the debate. But you always had LeBron. Yeah. So, like, you didn't have to carry that torch in terms of you're the face. And maybe Aunt won't have to either.

But if you want to be the goat, a lot of times that's what comes with it. And so that requires like a level of maturity, not on the court, not in, not, not in terms of your work ethic and stuff, but just in terms of like, you know, the way you. the way you handle your business. I was a fiery player. You get texts and stuff like that. But again, I didn't mean to a team what aunt means to a team. Like, you know, there's a level of responsibility that you have. It's going to be interesting to see.

I just, I wonder, and Austin could probably speak to this. I want, because I do think the backlash is coming. I do think we're a few months away from it, especially if they flame out early in the playoffs after all that's happened last season. I do wonder, though, like how. handles that because when you talk about trying to pause this point when you do talk about being a goat it's not just a basketball conversation because everything else all the bullshit that comes with it comes with it and he's going to have to deal with that on his quest to become whatever he wants to

become like how do you think he will deal with that when it does come that's interesting you know a part of me who knows aunt would say he'd just be like fuck him and and and turn his cheek and kind of go the other way. You know, it reminds me of when, you know, when Russell, Westbrook kind of lost it with the media at one point, right? And people who know Russ know he's like the nicest guy in the world. Like, he's like a really good dude. But if you don't know, Russ, you know, you kind of only get this narrative and this, this portrayal from his interviews. And there was a time there in the OKC, remember, like, where he would be, he was at it, like, to the point where like people didn't even want to talk to him after the game because they didn't

know if he would say something to him. That has portrayed him. Again, there's cause and effect. he felt away, whatever the case may be. But because of that, like, even till this day, a lot of times he doesn't get his, like, proper flowers. Like, people play with Russell's name way too much. And a lot of that comes from, like, the disdain of, you know, whether he's liked or not. They confuse, they confuse whether they like Russ

with how good of a player he was. Clip that. Clip that social. Clip that. That's real talk, though. No, that's facts. But people are like, oh, Russell was, no, Russell's actually one the greatest point guards ever played the game.

The problem is you don't like them because you've seen whatever you've seen or you think what you, you know, that's just, it's crazy how social media work. So it has it harder than Michael and all those guys because we have all this around now as well. We have all this access. You know, Michael is gambling, smoking cigars on a game day. If someone did that today, they'd get crucified for it. Do you understand what I'm saying? Like, it's just a lot different. Everybody has this portrayal like guys were perfect back than they weren't.

It was on the same shenanigans guys are on now. Guys are guys. It was out on Fridays and all these things in our face. For sure, they're out on Tuesdays. So we have to clean, we have to, with like, like what Raj says, being a superstar comes with a whole different, it comes with all this stuff. And by the way, saying you got to mature is not a slight, bro, he's 20-something years old. You better be matured.

I'm still mature and I'm 32 and I'm still learning things I got to do better. So it's like I know Ant has to. And like it does have an opportunity to be the face of the league, you know, be the best player ever. I don't like when guys say all this because it's just being a goat. Like, I don't want to hear all that shit. We got too many guys talking about they want to be the greatest of all. time, man, cut it out. Let's just, how about this, why don't you be the best you and then we'll mark you or we'll rank you where you need to be ranked or the world will consensus will put you where

they need to put. We still don't have a consensus now. Half the world thinks LeBron, other people think Mike, who cares? If you're up there in that conversation, you're a goat nonetheless, right? So just focus on being that. He needs to just tighten up some stuff on the court. The tech thing is simple. Like, he could knock that out. Like, this could be a one-off thing. Like, I guarantee you next year I'll have seven texts total. Like, you could cut that out. That's an emotional thing where him is coach, to be honest, those are one of those things I prefer to be called out in front of a team because it's detrimental to the team. So it shouldn't be a private conversation. That's where the whole team's in there watching film, he cuts the table like, hey, yo, aunt, enough of this shit.

All right, because you now causing problems for the team. We're getting texts. We're losing you for games. We're already trying to fight for good position. Like, it's enough. And that's got to be with the president in the room, all that. And it's a good enough guy and a smart enough guy. and like you said, he's a willing worker and wants to do well,

all these things. He'll cut that out. As far as the other stuff, maturity-wise, you know, on the court, off the court, he's got to continue to make his strides. He has. He's made big strides since I was there. I could tell you that much. From when I was there to where he's at now is two different pros,

whether his body, like you said with Chris Hines, what he's eating, the icing. These are all things he's doing now. Now we talk about the part with Raj is talking about, you want to be a star, you want to be a face of the league that comes with a price. You've got to learn how to start handling. yourself and you guys start looking at who your competition is. All right. So who are faces at the league and how they handle themselves?

She is early to everything. He dresses up for everything. He's well educated. The way he talks, the way he moves. He has a brand, a big brand. He's in the fashion world. He's doing that. Who's another one?

Jason Tatum, clean cut, good father. No problems off the court. No issues. Obviously a big Jordan player champion, all these different things. That's your competition. So like, Ant has to, and again, you've made a great point about Kevin, Raj. Kevin is also aunt's favorite. That's his favorite player.

Who is he around all summer? He's around KB and the Olympics. That's why you see a shit. You see how Aunt dressed in the games now? He wears some damn sweats, All-Star weekend. He got a hat sideways, wrinkly sweat. And again, if that's your brand, that's fine. That's fine if you want to do that.

But like the best players, with the exception of Kevin, and I get Kevin a pass just because Kevin's a one-off experience. He's been doing this for too long. He can be wherever the fuck he wants. I think there's just a way to, like, brand yourself. I said the same thing about Mello. Everybody thinks Mello's interviews after the game are hilarious. They are funny, but, like, I would rather him kind of speak a different way

and talk the way that I know he's capable of because I know he's a smart young man. And, like, I don't think these guys understand how many brands would be interested in working with them. You're like, there's money on the table that you are not, that you walking away from. I think it has the ability to do these things if he clean some things up. I love the way he is, though, too. I'm not saying mute him or stop being unapologetic. Maybe more a refinement.

Maybe more of a refinement, right. That's a refinement, and I think we could get the best version of him because I still don't think we have that yet. And I'm not even talking about the court stuff. The X's and O's are a whole different thing because there are things that he does in his game that drive me crazy as a friend. He's so talented, but that's a different conversation.

The other things, he's doing a great job. He is moving in the right direction. just got to continue to refine some of these things and I think we can get that face of the league best version of ant. I think we're like two years away from that. Yeah. Well, look, I mean, because this is a big conversation, right?

Like, because we get into like, staying true to who you are. You get a little bit into like the code switching conversation. Like, this is a really big conversation. It is. Yeah, exactly. And so, like, what I would, what I personally would say is that, like, look,

you be you. Don't, like, I try to tell my son's this. Like you, you, you be you. Like, people have to love you for who you are. Haven't said that. Like, you have to understand what you're auditioning for at times. And what, what is required of you? So my, so, so, so awesome, like my, this is a weird conversation. I don't know if he's got anything to do with basketball. My, my, my older son, he's a quarterback. Um, he's, he's, he's one of the more highly ranked quarterbacks in the country, he's going to University of Texas next year.

He loves a lot of shit, right? And he wanted to get a tattoo like on his arm because all of his buddies got it. And I'm like, look, Dia, I fucking love you, man. You like tattoos. I got tattoos. Your mama got tattoos. Like, everybody got tattoos. Don't put that shit on your forearm.

Yeah. And so he's like, oh, dad, what the fuck? I'm like, bro, don't put it on your fucking forearm, dude. Like, you're trying to be the CEO of a brand like the University of Texas football. I'm not telling you it can't happen. I'm telling you the path to it is a lot easier if that tattoo that you like is not on your fucking forearm. Now, your little brother is a basketball player.

Guess what? They don't really give a fuck where his tattoos are. It's not a big deal. He can have it. You put that shit on your chest somewhere, dog. Don't have that shit all the way down in your forum because you're fighting a narrative at that point. Yeah, whether it's fair or not, it is what it is.

What you're saying is correct. And again, even in basketball, they're causing effect. Listen, who's the most clean-cut star we have in the NBA? hey, it's, it's Steph Curry. It's not even up for debate. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, and that's a guy, he don't have any of that stuff. You know what I mean?

And that's why people have a likeness to him. And he seems a little bit more normal to the average human being. And to all these different things, again, I don't want it not to be him. I want it to be himself because that's why we fell in love with him. But if he cuts out the technicals, right, cleans up some of the way he talks in his interviews, whether it's about his teammates, the locker room handles himself. Listen, would I like him to dress differently? and portray himself a certain way, sure, but like, that's who he is. So who gives a damn.

If he comes to hoop every night, that's all it really matters. It's just the other things. It's how you prepare as a pro. You want him to continue to develop. He's already made huge strides. Shout out to Ant for doing that because he has, he's had a huge growth in those things. So you want him to keep doing that. And just clean up some of these other things, the text, the way he presents himself to the media. Because that stuff really matters. That's why I brought up Russ, man, because I guarantee you if you had a real honor's conversation with Russ and ask, if he could go back and change some of those years where, like, it was like him versus the media, it's caused this false portrayal of him for years now.

People, like, just talk crazy about him as if he ain't one of the greatest point guards to ever play. Yeah, I mean, it's a people, it's a people business just in general. Like, so a lot of those media members are the same ones that is voting on awards and stuff, right? That's what I'm saying. All of that stuff matters. And if you were, because he was legitimately, and I, you know, I do love Russ. He's been very nice to me. But he was an asshole for a good.

five-year stretch. And he felt, and he felt, he felt that way because of certain things being written about him. And when Katie left, that's when it started to change right there. And he said, I watched his documentary. And it had nothing to do with like the day-to-day beat writer media. It was like, Skip Bayless. I can't, I don't have to, I don't have no control over that as a, that's a lot of way. You know what I'm saying? That's hard, that's a hard thing to draw the, the line between when you're in a locker room. I mean, you know this, Austin. Like, what? Yeah. While we know you all, it's very hard to, it's very hard to differentiate between the big national voice sometimes and just the general media. So it's all the same.

Because it is all the same. It's all the same voice. Yeah, but now if you have great relationships with the beat writers, I think it becomes easier. I just want to get back to Ant real quick because he, look, be unapologetically you. and don't hurt your team and put them in situations where people can can point to that. And a lot of this is moot. A lot of this is moot, right? Now, we can still have the conversation about like what the league traditionally has had

in terms of the face of it and the level of CEO to them they give off. We can have that conversation. And you could tell me, well, I'm that nice and I'm that good where I'm going to break the mold. And I'm going to say to you, cool, I would just go right back to what I said with was you can't do that if you're not mature enough on the court to stop costing your team in that way. So it all goes back to like, look, just we need a little bit more maturity. Don't give a damn like, hey, be you, dog. Go out there and represent in the way you think represents you, your family, the community. But win the games and get to the point in your career where you can say, hey, I did it

my way to do that, you have to mature in a way where you're not costing your team wins and loss. Exactly. And that's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. I don't need you to dress a certain way. I don't need you to move a certain way. But when you walk into the arena, you are now at work. Everywhere else in the world, when people walk into work, it's not about being yourself. It's about being the best you can for work. You know what I mean? Like all that other stuff goes out the window. So I don't mind being at 23 hours of a day, you can be at. 22 hours, 21 hours a day you can be at and even when you come to the to work you could be at i just want the best refined professional version of himself when he walks through that door it'll alleviate the text

it'll alleviate the way he talks to the media uh that that that goes into how he how early he gets to the games you know when i was there that was kind of an issue he would get there like an hour sometimes he'd get to like 75 minutes before a game he'd come with 75 80 minutes on the clock people were just like oh bro you got to like i got tight net yeah and and to raj's point I was very privileged, bro. I got to grow up going to these games. I'd see Ray Allen in there three hours early, bro, meditating and doing shit.

People wonder why these guys are a certain way. Like, LeBron, Kyrie gets to the gym before everybody. He's like one of the first people to get to the gym. Like, these are things that you can take, and he has. He doesn't do that anymore. Now he gets to like two and a half hours early. So we're already making strides in the right direction. So he's just got to keep doing what he's doing.

To your point, Lowe, I really do hope the world doesn't turn on him because he's such a natural good, light energy, and he's so talented and he's funny. I don't want him to change any of those things. He just got to clean up some of the little BS so people don't have anything to try to turn against him. You know what I mean? Like if he can get that.

And then if people do, then fuck them. You know, you can't please everybody, man. You know what I mean? Like, you always going to have a Skip Bayless, a guy who, listen, ESPN got a whole bunch of guys who can't bounce a ball, never touched a ball, never played, ever, never will play up there talking like they know what they're talking about.

That's just what it is on every now. Add the flex bars, Cliff. Add to flex bombs. That's on every, that's on every network, right? So it's just like you can't worry about all that stuff. But the other things that you know you can control, I would advise to do it. It's only going to make your life bigger. It's going to make your brand bigger.

It's going to lead to your professional being easier. And then after basketball, how you look, that stuff matters, bro. You portraying your way, a certain way, just in terms of you want to run a team, you want to own a team, you want to be a president of a team, you want to be a coach one day. They don't hire guys like that. You know what I'm saying? I'm going to say this again. You're absolutely right.

And it is a really big conversation. And I can only take it back. I do it a lot. Austin, so forgive me. I'll take it back to my boys. I had them both in the car the other day. My two older ones.

My young one's a little too young. My two older ones, everyone they know has a tattoo. Everyone has it. And I still stand by like, you better not show I would no damn tattoo on his motherfucking forearm. I know that.

But I said to them, look, man, if you dudes really want to be unique at this point, Right. And I'm lumping myself in with the ones that aren't unique. I got tats. Their mama got a tat on a forum. I said, if you want to be unique and you want to really be a brand of your own, don't tat at all. Right. Don't. Like, because then it's like, like, because they're in a world that you don't love art. You don't love fucking art. You ain't telling me you want to tattoo because like you don't. You telling me you want to tat because everybody got tats and you want to get a tat. And what I'm telling you- They're not into Picasso. They're not in the Bosca. They're not in the Keith. or anything like that. No, but this is a big conversation about your team, right? Like, forgive me, but this is like your team. I'm part of their team.

I'm like, look, dog, whether this is right or wrong, you tat up in a way, there are going to be some people that might still want you to represent their brand, and you might still get a cool NIL deal because my, you know, my older boy's making money. Like, he's making real money from NIL in high school. I'm like, there are going to be some people that don't mind, but there are going to be some people that shut your water off because they don't, they don't necessarily want that. But if you if there's nothing to really turn anyone off there, like you're marketable to

everyone. And then once you've made it to a level where you know what you want, do what you want. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like if Steph Curry right now got a tattoo on his forearm, no one would care. You don't know what? Actually, Austin, Austin, he does. It's his brand. Yeah, but it's a little though.

That's exciting. No, no, I'm saying. What I'm saying, the tattoo is of his brand. Yeah, right. But I'm saying even if he got a sleeve, it would shock the world. But like, it. He's already established himself professionally who he is, what he stands for, how he moves. Like, there's no question about any of that.

I know that's not fair. It's just the reality of what the situation is. Like, just like, build the blocks first. And then you want to do what you want, do what you want. You know what I mean? Like, because what Roger is saying is correct. Listen, I tell my kids all the time, my oldest, he gets, he always puts like marker on them. I'm covered.

Sometimes I'm like, man, damn, if I could snap my fingers and all of them go away, these tattoos would be gone, brother. I'm already so far gone that at this point, I'm adding shit because I can't go back. I'm already, I already have, I'm over a hundred, you know, I'm like, I'm gone. So it's like that point, but I always tell by my, my fiance, because people are like, no, they look cool on you. I'm like, they look cool, they don't do shit for me. If anything, all it does is go against me. I'm trying to call games for NBC or this, this and that.

Like, I can't have tats on my neck and all this shit. Like, they don't do that. You know what I mean? It doesn't matter if it's right or wrong. I've seen Matt Barnes come like, it's not right. Listen, man, it is what it is. Okay. It is what it is.

So you got to play the game. You know what I mean? And then if you get to a level where you're at, then do what you want to do. For aunt, obviously, this isn't a tattoo issue. We're just using that as a metaphor. But correct what Raj is saying. Like, establish a foundation first and then slowly build up to the point where you're at a level where then if you want to do certain things, you can, you earn the right. That's why Katie, who wears sweats to the game every day, Katie been doing this for damn 20 years already, bro.

You know what I mean? He got rings, MVP, you got everything in between. If he want to wear sweats to the game at this point in his last three, four years at NBA, he can do it the hell you want. Straight up. That's all I'm saying is I look at everyone else. I grew up as a 90s baby, David Stern, dudes had to wear suits to the game. And the reason why they did that is because they wanted NBA players to be perceived a certain way.

It's not just basketball. It's professional basketball, professional basketball, right? And obviously, I love Adam Silver. We've gotten away from that, player empowerment, all these things, which is done. But, you know, I'm never like, I can't stand that these coaches were fucking little slacks and polos on the side. They look, they look stupid. And I said this, I said it's on Twitter a year or two ago. I can't stand this.

It makes it a little like A-A-U. Like, bro, we're the best, we're the baddest basketball players on the planet. Bro, I miss when the coach used to have suits on. It even represented a power thing. Like, coaches all had suits. It is a symbol of power. Like, they were in charge. They had more power than, like, now these coaches walking around.

Like, I don't know who's a head trainer. Who's a coach? who's an assistant coach, they all dress the damn same. I don't like none of that. So like, just straight up. I'm just being honest. So it's like, I like, I love Shay Tatum. These guys dress every game, bro.

They come and it shows that they put time and effort and thought to get ready for their game. You know what I mean? Like it's a professional thing for me. So I always, I would wish he built some of these things out and then he could do whatever he wants. But we'll see. You know, but he is growing nonetheless. I just don't want people to turn on my boy. he's a good dude.

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Opting required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictors apply, including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms at sportsbook. Fanduil.com. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Help.com. We have a segment that we like to call, Real One of the Week, and it's branded today. It's branded today.

Today's Real One of the Week, ladies and gentlemen, is presented by State Farm. Would you get a new car or a new home? reaction might be to say things like, oh, yeah, or I can't believe it. But what you really want to say is the one thing that can get you the help that you need. Like a good neighbor, state farm is there. And I want to talk about somebody that has been really polarizing over the last week. Mr. Paul George, who has really, you know, we've talked about Paul George and the six years throughout the season, but he's made a decision to postpone, quit, suspend, his podcast over the last, for I guess the rest of the season for, at least an indefinite period of time. We have the perfect guest to discuss this with us before he gets out of here. A player who used to have a podcast on a team and what that can bring. When you see a guy like Paul George in the air of player podcast that we have,

but would you see him specifically make his pod a distraction at this point to his team? what do you see as the balance that players have to have, specifically when they're on a team, to have one of these things? As someone who has been in a locker room with a podcast, how do you navigate it? To be honest, to be honest, all you have to do is just not say anything that's going to get you or your teammates in hot water,

which he hasn't done. It's not like he's, you know, he said a couple comments early on. He's like, you know, we can't play this. Well, Jared McCain can't be our best player. Which I understand what he's saying, but it's like, damn, bro, kind of threw Jared on the, you know, I mean, so it's like, the deal that was helping you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So it's like that type of stuff you've got to clean up. Like when I had my pod with the timber whips, I made sure I really didn't talk about us a lot. I talked about kind of everybody else because I don't, I'm not going to give us. I'm not going to start dissecting my own team as a, you know what I mean? Like, that's crazy. So he's not doing that. Why he's stepping away from it, I don't understand. I don't get at the end of the day, he has his own life.

He knows himself better than anybody else. If he feels like he needs to step away from the pod. to somehow translate into them playing better basketball, go for it. It ain't going to do nothing. Him stepping away from the podcast got nothing to do with why Philly sucks. They're not good because for a variety of reasons. One, health has been a huge issue. You know, the Joel Embed saga continues.

Paul hasn't played well. Let's just call it for what it is, for what his contract shows. He's a max player. The Clippers did not give him that fourth year for a reason because they felt like he was out of his prime, let alone to give him four more years. Dural Mory came with the damn, you know, a flag and Paul George flag and stamped it and it's like, you know, we're going to pay you four years.

They gave him this contract. He has not played well. And in my opinion, if we're being 100% honest, I think Paul George is a very talented score. I think he's a really good player. He is a max level player still. He has not played like it. But I still think he is if he can get his stuff together,

whether his pod is on or not, has nothing to do with it. His pod probably takes an hour. and a half to two hours once a week or once every other week when he records, that ain't got nothing to do with him hitting a fadeaway MIDI. And it has nothing to do with someone getting back on defense or their team performing well. This is, I don't want to say it's a cop out, but he's just like, oh, I'm going to step away and focus so we can play better. Brother, we got 30 games left.

You're doing it now? So, so Austin, Austin, counterpoint to that real quick, though. What I do think is, and I think that the, uh, the fact that he, stepping away from the podcast is proof of this. It's not the time commitment, I don't think. It's the fact that we just referenced the comments section in all those.

Yeah, I know, but it's become a distraction for him. And not, not, because if he was playing one that was winning, it wouldn't, you're right, it wouldn't be a problem. It is affecting him enough to the point to where it is affecting. That's my point, though. That's my point, though. I don't like that he, this is affecting, bro, you are a max player.

You having a pod should not be affecting what, because people on Instagram right now, but you have Paul George, they've been talking about you forever. Before podcast P, they had playoff P. They've been talking about you. So let's not do this thing now where like suddenly, you know, he's got to step away because of whatever.

You know what I'm saying? You understand what I'm saying? Like, I think he should use this as only a purpose to boost his podcast. If anything, they're talking about you now, brother, you might, you've already planted the, He has a good show, by the way. Paul George does a good job, but his podcast, don't step away from it now just because y'all are having some troubles.

Your team's not even fit to compete right now. You haven't played well. You got a lot of health issues going on. Just stay the process. Now you walking away makes it seem like it was a problem all along. So when do you come back in it? Now he can't. Okay, this is what I'm going to close up.

If they play well, if they start playing well, how the hell he ever supposed to go back to it? Because if he goes back to it again and they start playing back, you got to take it down again? so now does he have to wait until he retires until the podcast goes or you only go in the summer when basketball is not even relevant

like what are you talking about? That's what I'm saying? Like it makes, what are we doing here? Dremont has a pot every night he goes up there and says something. If you ask Dremont, would he give a damn

whether they said someone on Instagram he would not care. He would not care. No, in fact he kind of in fact Dremont leans into it. He'll lead into it. That's my point. That's my point.

Wild is shit. So I get this. I get this. Paul's up. that claw. Bro, you, Steve, Paul's made over $300 million

in the NBA. What the hell you care about anybody on Instagram respectfully? I'm just going to keep it 100. If you gave me

Paul George's finances, you couldn't tell me nothing on the internet in terms of when and where I can put my paw and how it correlates to me average in 20 points a game. It doesn't even correlate.

He's only taking it down because he's taking some heat on social media, and he feels like this way he can get away from the hate and be more loved. They will never love you in the city of brotherly love

unless you put up some damn buckets and some numbers. all whether you have a podcast or not don't mean nothing to nobody in philly unless you perform it well i'm just gonna keep it hundred so like who cares i don't agree with him taking it down i just don't it doesn't it's not going to solve nothing for him bro he just wants a reason for i'm stepping away from the pod you know i'm gonna be four focused on my team bro what do you hear that shit man i don't want to hear nothing i don't want to hear nothing yeah i ain't i ain't wrong with that no Rob, what do you think about your number one stepping away or even having a podcast?

I know it's two totally different eras, right? And like, I don't know if you could even fathom that in a locker room, but like, what do you think of the decision? Listen, man, I'm not all the way tapped into this story. I'm going to keep it a buck. And I do not know what potting would be like if I was in a locker room and I was trying to keep it a buck. Like, I don't even know what Paul George's pot is about or or. This is a basketball. He don't say nothing, though.

You don't ever see Paul George come across saying stuff like he's never disrespectful with nobody. You know, he's a fun, good established podcast. Well, that's what's up. Like, as long as you're not, like, if you're not, you're not having incendiary comments about teammates and other cats in the league and stuff like that, I don't see it have, I don't see it being an issue in today's, in today's culture. Like, I don't think it's a big deal. So as far as, as far as him taking it down goes, then I probably tend to agree with

Austin on that. Like, like, you're taking it down now because it's, it's, you just came out. They came out with the stat on Instagram like three weeks ago that he's had more episodes than what was it like. Do you remember that? He's put out more episodes than like the 20 point. And strategically a week later, he decides he's not going to do it no more. I'm telling you this is all this is all just for the social media liking. And my thing is Paul, you're above this.

You're not, Paul George isn't Austin Rivers. You're not a role player. Like if I was, if I had a pod and it was causing problems, I'd have to take it down. But you are a max player. You've always been a max player. You're an all-star. You're a borderline, you know, HOF. You know what I mean?

You know, that's a different conversation. But he's been putting up 20-point, you know, some of these other guys got in. Paul George is probably inclined to get in, too, to be completely honest. And, you know, I just, you having a podcast got nothing to do with anything. He's doing it.

It was never a distraction for the team early in the year when they were struggling. It was never a distraction last year. It was never a distraction the year before. But now suddenly some statistics. come out on Instagram and now everyone's calling him podcast P because he's not playing one. He's like I'm going to like, I'm going to take it down.

I'm going to focus on the team. Man, stop it. The tweet was Paul George has more YouTube podcast clips than field goals since joining the clip. And that right there went viral and then a week later he says I'm going to take

the pod down. But don't listen to these dudes. Who cares? You damn right. You have had more clips. And I got more clips coming. That's how he should have responded. I got more clips coming. But he's not. But Austin, he's not Draymond. Draymond would say fuck you.

And Draymond has said fuck you to both the podcast listenership and other players on the team and other players on the other team. They're two different people. They're just two different people. No, I agree. That's why I don't agree with it. And listen, I'm not saying he has to go say fuck everybody. But he could just not even respond to it and just keep doing his podcast. And if he plays better, no one's going to talk about it anymore.

If this dude had 40 tomorrow night, no one would care that he recorded a podcast. pod the next day. It just, no one would care. Austin, you know what we have the luxury of right now? A resident Philly fan. Cliff, come on really quickly. We want to hear what you have to say about podcast P right now. You guys care. He got the Eagles. He got the Temple. He got everything. He's ready to go. Cliff, how do you feel? This is how I feel, bro. Like you said, the comments, he started reading the comments underneath his post. He started getting, catching the heat a little bit. People was on his ass because you know it's Philly. Everybody just got an opinion out here. Sports fans is crazy. Austin, as you know, you pop obviously coach here for years. Yeah. Hell yeah.

Brutal out there. Yeah. And you know it falls on players, coaches. Roger, yeah, Rajabell, you play here. You already know how the fans are. The Eagles is popping right now. Now that the Super Bowl is over with all the focuses on the Sixers and the focus is on, oh, this dude is still potting while, you know, dropping 12, 13, 14. But y'all would hate anything if it's not good, right? Like if they, if y'all would hate on anything. That's my point. That's your whole thing, right? That's my point, though. You know, Philly's full of haters, yo. Like, I'm a rational person. No, I'm dead serious, but like, I'm a rational person. Yeah, I'm an actual rational Philadelphia, whereas most of these

people are like, and again, I follow like all like the little Philly pageers on Instagram, like the school pool, Philly Shoehry room, all that, right? And then like, they'll always put up Paul Georgia stuff. And when he put up that video, uh, the other day of saying, yeah, I'm taking a break. Da-da-da-da. They're like, bro, are you serious? Now you want to do this? Just the awesome point. Like, what is the time? Like, the timing of this is so horrible.

Like, what's the point of it? Just keep on the games. Yeah. Keep up. So how about this? Hello. Since he's not doing the pod no more, Cliff. This motherfucker better go off.

I want him to be. He got to ask 35. That's my point. If anything, you're putting more pressure on yourself. Now, if you still play bad, they go, like, damn, it ain't got nothing to do with the pod. You just stop playing with. You know what I'm saying? Like, don't even, don't even, don't even, like, don't even.

The other thing. podcast. It makes no sense. The other thing is, the other thing is this, right? And I said this over the summer. And I don't know, it got some traction. But basically when Paul left L.A., I was like, well, he better get fucking ready because no one cares about what he does as a clipper off the court and anything. But like, when he goes to Philly, people are going to care about his every move. And it's going to be very interested to see how he handles it. Do you think that he took into account the differences in van bases when he did her. He just thought it was going to be like, I,

nobody's ready for Philly. I'll be honest with you, man. My Pops coached there for a couple years and aged 10 years. They had, before he coached Philly, you never heard that 3-1 stuff all the time. And I haven't even heard it a lot since. My Pops was one of the most hated coaches on social media for like two, three years.

I'm telling you, it's facts, man. He was there for a couple years. Dude, bro. Doc's cool as fuck. They don't, and again, this is what I'm talking about with media and how things can be portrayed, how Russ is portrayed. Bro, my father is second all-time and wins as an African-American coach, and he's going to be number one pretty soon here. That's a hell of an accomplishment to be the all-time winning his coach as a black man in the NBA. We don't ever hear that stat.

You talk about Doc, 3-1 lead. Bro, he blew a 3-1 lead a couple times in his life versus teams that went to the finals. What are we talking about? He got fired from Philly for losing to a team that was favored to meet him. They lost to Boston in game seven And they fired him still And that shit's been only once since he's left He built everything in the clip

The clipper at the clippers won since he got fired Hell no they've gone backwards Had Philly going backwards I'll be honest with you Cliff I hate saying this I ain't got nothing against people in Philly But that damn city bro The way

The way y'all fans Be careful Be careful Fuck all that There's gonna be a lot of beers Coming in your comments A lot of beer A lot of very well-man

Be careful, yeah. Fucking talking shitty up comments. All I'm saying, all I'm not sitting on Philly in any way. All I'm saying is if you go play there, just know, it is brutal. It is brutal. It is hard. It's hard. No, it really is hard.

They love Jalen Hertz right now. Jalen Hertz can't do no wrong. You know what I'm saying? Like, I wonder how he keeps that shit up. Like, it's insane out there. I never seen a fame base like it, bro. Like the way y'all are able to build someone up or bring someone down, especially. Y'all are talented clip.

Yeah, yeah. No, hey, look. Hey, look, people will turn. know you immediately out here. Like look at him B right now, right? Like, granted, you know, he started the season off injured. He's been injured for, you know, his entirety of his career. He's, he's, I think he's played like 430 games and he's missed 4002 games or something. It's like 50-50. It's crazy. It's crazy to race. You get an MVP though. Yeah. But when he's playing and when he's hooping, it's all love, right? But like right now, you know what? I, bro, I went to the

game on Saturday or last Saturday when they played the Nets. I mean, I'm here. I'm here. and booze for him, B. It's just crazy. So that's the point. That's my point, Lo. That's, so this is all I'm trying to say. If you're Paul George, that's why you're pulling your pod for them, for them. They're going to judge you regardless, fam.

And by the way, when you retire, they're not going to do nothing for you. He's already built out. It'd be one thing if he had a bullshit podcast. Paul George actually has an established good podcast. Even the nickname, podcast, B, bro, run with it. Okay, you're not playing well this year. Paul, you've had, you've been an All-Star, 10 times. Who cares? You're above this. That's what I'm saying. I just feel like he's too big of a

player to even eat. Also, yeah, don't let it get in the way of your money, bro. This is a good pod. You built a brand. You got a pod. By the way, Paul, all you got to do is play well. They don't give a shit about nothing else. Philly fans don't care. Not about they parlay. All you got do is go out there and play well and win some games and these fans can get their money and cheer on their sports teams because Philly has an expectation. That city is a championship city. Listen, basketball, football, they like to be good at everything. It's just like Boston. Like you got to really, in New York, those big major cities, they got sports teams. If you don't play, well, they're going to crush you regardless.

He knew that going there. More so. So, Austin, at the end of the day, did the comments just get to Paul? Philly's a different level. Philly's a different level. At the end of the day, was Paul just looking at his comments on his Instagram, like, yo, get back to Hoopa. Yo, why don't you drop some points?

It's called in Philly. There ain't shit else you do will be on Instagram. So is he just looking at his, is he just looking at his IG comments? You got just saying like, yo, I'm out. I can't do this for a minute. I can't take this. that's exactly that's that's that's that's that's the reason why i'm just like i don't agree with it i don't think it's going to help it doesn't correlate you're only doing it because it came on

instagram and it became a thing but it's not really a thing it's only a thing once you made it now it's a thing we got to talk about it now because he came up bro if he would never if you would continue to the podcast we wouldn't even be talking about this right now yeah but here we are just just be like just say fuck him just say fuck him every time i come to razz him with something like man they're going to Fuck him. If he came out and did that same video, and I'm asking y'all, if he came out to that same video goes, listen, you know, I've seen a lot of comments about, you know, my podcast that does not correlate with my professionalism and my, you know, my willingness to my team. I put all into to being a Philadelphia 76er. I've not had a good year and I plan on turning

it around and having a da-da-da-da-da-da-da. By the way, you don't owe nobody, nothing. But if you really wanted to say this, you could say that. I'm not taking away my podcast because some people on Instagram feel away and are making some comments. You can kiss my ass. What are you talking about? That's just ridiculous. He got a good show. He got a good show.

Man, run that shit. Philly ain't going to help you in five years from now when basketball's over. Don't stop your brand because of this shit. If you score 30, I promise you, Philly people about we love you, Paul. Paulie, however they talk up there. Like, you can be fine. You don't worry about it, bro. All right.

You got a chill, you got a chill. You get a little bit. You get a little bit of distance. We don't talk like that. You see, I got a little built-out tension over here. Really, Doug. I don't like that I'm not like my pops. I don't like that in my pop, right?

I just, I'm going to do. Not me. I'll say something. I'm going to let him do it. But no, no, we're not talking. We're not doing the Pauli, no. Yeah, I know. You see, I don't know.

I love how Cliff said, we'll do the polly and did it a perfect inflection of what he said. He did a perfect inflection. He said, he said, he's a little Boston. I put a little Boston on it. I put a little Boston on it. Yeah. What's the Paulie versus the Pauley, Cliff?

What's the Paulie? Polly versus the Polly. Or, Raja, if you have a Polly versus a Polly. We don't say Polly, period. Nobody named Pauley in Philly. Okay. His nickname, yeah. He said nobody named Pauley in Philly.

Yeah. Can y'all, can y'all or a, like, how do you, is that, is that a, is that a thing? Yeah. Boy, so he's a, he's a Philly Bull or she's a Philly Bowl, though. He ain't earned that shit. No, definitely not. Tyree Smacksy is. That's a Philly Bowl, but like, you know what I'm saying?

That's what earned it. You know what I'm saying? Roger, any notes. I feel like you just all you did was nod and it was just okay this conversation got away from Raj this conversation got away I'm looking at the clock Roger was like I got shit to do bro Roger was checked out like 15 minutes ago

when he just started nodding to shit Rod's got Friday activities man He said it clear I forgot about long I'm in here talking shit about it too Austin he got it he got a bottle service coming to him in South Beach tonight That's what he said he got with his readers on

That's what he did say you were You were going late night. You did say he's going to South Beach. I do got, and honestly. It's all love for Philly for me, by the way. I don't need that shit. I don't, I don't need it. You represent home team, though.

Home team, dog. Like, I am, hey, fuck that. You just represent home team, though. Like, I was. One of my sons coming to my defense like that. I did, I did right by now. Yeah, bro. That's the only thing, man.

I see something, Philly was brutal with my pops. I just don't, I feel away about that. I don't got none against Philly personally. I just don't like how they did that. I don't like that. And by the way, it's been going great since he's left. So congrats on all that. I hope that y'all keep that shit up.

You all are doing a great job since it was all. It was all Doc's fault, Clint. It was all dark's fault, Clint. It was hard as fault, too. It was hard as fault. Doc's fault. No, hey, man, I mean, I'm not going to say it aloud, but we already know whose fault it is, man. It wasn't all doc.

It wasn't all doc. Well, say it. Cliff, what the fuck? You should be going to say it. I mean, if we're going to say, if we're going to keep it 100, like we're always doing this podcast, like real ones, dude. I mean, we got to blame the dude that mishap his games up throughout his career, right? You can't be a part-time superstar in the NBA. You can't, what type of?

Now, awesome, real quick, speak on this, yo, continuity of a team. No, I did say it. I did say it. I'm standing on that. Continuity of a team, right? A-U-S-T-I-N, Cliff. Connoity of a team. You can't, your star player can't be a part-time basketball player, bro.

Like, it's as simple as that. You just can't be a part-time basketball player. As simple as that. That's the Philly fans of the comments right there, Austin. Mind you, he talks about that he won an MVP. That's the point. It'll never be enough. He said, there's only two NBA.

You know what I'm saying? I got you. Yeah, no, but listen, listen, listen. I just need the Philly fan to understand this, okay? I didn't weigh in at all on that whole combo because I'm about to be out there. So when you see me, I ain't had shit to do, Cliff. Augustie.

A-U-G-U-S-T-I-N. Okay. Bro, they see me every day, bro. No, I'm just fucking around. I'll just, I'll just say, aside. I will say this about a Philly fan, but I really do stand by. Fuck that, bro. You were standing up for Pops.

I'm always with that. The Philly fan walks a very fine line between being like an incredible sports fan and passionate and being a-holes. And any, no, but like, listen, I say this affectionate. Like I walk that line as a player Like incredibly passionate and then I turn into an asshole Anytime you walk that final line you're gonna cross it sometimes And they just do quite frankly they cross it

Yeah for sure But hey today's real one of the week Wait you wanna go you gonna go you guys You got one last point before we get up out of here I got no no I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm done I'm out All right I branded out show you Today's word of the week was presented by State Farm State Farm is there with the coverage you need for your car your home

even boats, motorcycles, RVs, and other things that matter to you. With the State Farm agent, you know someone is there to help you choose the coverage you need. With so many coverage options, it feels good knowing that you can find what fits you. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. And like a good neighbor, Austin Rivers was a great guest.

Raja. Yeah, fantastic. You dropped 50. An amazing transition long. That was incredible. Thank you, buddy. I do this. You're talented at this.

Thank you, brother. We'll have you on. You know the fucking vibes. You know the fucking vibes. We'll see you very soon. We'll see you during the post season. That's Austin Rivers. Austin.

Austin, motherfucking Rivers. He's earned the nickname, ladies and gentlemen. He's here. It's my nickname on the real. Austin motherfucking Rivers is here. He will be here soon. We'll see you in the playoffs, buddy.

Thanks so much for coming on. I'll catch you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Y'all be easy. Enjoy your Friday, Ron. Stay in the trouble. Yeah, appreciate that.

Yeah. Shout out to, shout out to everybody. All this shit. Shout out South Beach. Bye. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Helps help.com.

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