The Ringer NBA Show - Ja Morant Puts Up a Career-High 47 Points. Plus: When Fans Cross the Line, With CC Sabathia. | Real Ones

Episode Date: May 27, 2021

Logan and Raja start today’s podcast off by commending Ja Morant on his career-high 47 points against the Utah Jazz (0:28), looking forward to Game 3 of the Knicks-Hawks series (5:08), and bringing chief meme officer Jomi in to discuss the Clippers going down 0-2 on their home court (8:34). Then, CC Sabathia of The Ringer’s 'R2C2' podcast joins to talk about the fans that have been taking it too far over the past couple of days, with Trae Young getting spit on, Russell Westbrook getting popcorn dumped on him, and Kyrie calling out Celtics fans ahead of Nets-Celtics Game 3 in TD Garden (19:12).  Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Guests: CC Sabathia and Jomi Adeniran Associate Producer: Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On R2C2, C-2, C-Sabathia and Ryan Rucco guide listeners through everything going on in the MLB, NBA, and NFL. They also talk to friends, athletes, and celebrities about the world of sports, and much more. Check out R2C2 with C-C-Sabathia and Ryan Ruko on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. What's popping? We're on Logan Murdoch here, Roger Bell, C-C-Sabathie in a minute. We are currently, just full of context. We are doing this one in post after interviewing C-C. and we still have the Zoom on C.C.'s chair and his office space and his ringlight.

And it's like he's here, but he's not here. Who's that in the poster? Is that Josh Gibson? Who is that? It's either like Josh Gibson is, I think it's Josh Gibson. I was going to think like either like maybe Jackie Robinson. Could be. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think it's Jackie. He has like a picture in the back. We're just talking, looking at his little office set up. Yeah, man, I don't know. I was thinking like Satchel Page, with Satchel Page was a picture. So, you know, maybe Willie Mays. Could be. Those unies look old, old, real old.

Yeah, yeah, man. Shout out. That's not what we're here, though. That's not what we're here. We're here to talk about the NBA. The NBA in last night's games. We don't have to talk about Wizards Sixers because of the Watch. Come on, man.

We don't have to talk about that game, bro. We don't have to talk about that game. First of all, we've talked about how the Sixers, how I feel about their style of play. We'll talk about the rust stuff with C. and a few. Let's talk about, first off, let's talk about the Utah Jazz

Memphis Grizzly series. John Morant went for 47 points. They lost. The Grizzlies in a loss. But in a lot of ways, it feels like the Grizzlies won last night's game because it's all we're talking about right now, bro. Like, the Grizzlies are winning.

Yes. Regardless. They're winning in the series? Or they're, what are they winning? They're winning in general. Like, win or lose in this series? what they're doing. I got some shit to say.

I got some shit to say. Hold on, man. Shout to all my partners in Memphis. You know what I mean? Shout out to everybody in White Haven. You know what I mean? Shout out to all my people out there. Shout out to people in Germantown.

Shout out to all my peeps in Memphis. Shout to Chris Vernon, my dog. Shout to A ball and MJG. Shout out to young dog. Shout out to everybody. Shout out to Y Gotti. Man, shout out to all Memphis. Man, I love that city, dog.

I love that city. And I want them to be a contender so bad. I have said that on record because Memphis, you've played in Memphis, I'm sure. It's a different type of energy. when you step up in the building in Memphis, man. I love it. I want them to win so bad. Memphis is a great vibe.

It's a great city. I spend summers in Memphis a little bit. I had cousins out there, and, you know, it's got its own flavor. But being in Memphis, when the Grizzlies are a team and they're good and playing in that building, it is one of those unique environments. Man, that place gets rocking.

It's got an energy in the building. They love their basketball. So it's pretty cool to see the Grizzlies back. And John Morant, it's funny. It's real one. I was in the car yesterday coming back from football practice with my son and his 12-viewed teammate.

And Jaden is his name, is a huge John Morant fan. So he was in the back. We were talking about who was going to win the game. And he was just going in on how dope John Morant was. And it was cool to hear the little youngins who their favorite players are.

And then he did what he did last night. He's putting his stamp on superstardom in this league, bro. He's a problem. It's one of those series where, I don't know who the... It's one of those rare series that you have when you see C,

you know, a higher seed like Utah and a lower seed, like Memphis, where you don't really know who's the better team out of the two right now because they're, because Memphis is playing out of their minds right now. They don't have any fear. They don't care. They're too naive. They don't really, they're not tripping. And Utah is a bit battered up. I don't know what this does for the series, though. It's one one right now going back to Memphis, bro.

It's one one going back to Memphis. Memphis has a shot to win this, a legitimate shot to win. win this series in my opinion. I disagree. I think they have a shot. I don't know that it's legitimate. Here's the deal. Utah's the better team.

There's no question in my mind that Utah's the better team, right? What's happening now is Utah's playing a little tight. They played a little tight in game one, and they didn't have Donovan Mitchell. But to your point, and I got to give Memphis a ton of credit, they're playing like they got nothing to lose.

This is house money. They're playing loose. They don't know any better. And that's a dangerous team to play against, right? It's a dangerous team. A bunch of young cats who can, you know, defend and get buckets. They got down 20 last night, Logan.

Yeah. They were down 20. I turned that shit off real quick because they were down 20. I would tell my wife, I don't want to watch the shit. And then I come back to it, maybe 15 minutes later, and it's a three-point game. Like, young teams don't typically do that in playoffs. They get down and they're out. They got a lot of stuff about them.

I can't wait until to see when they're fully formed, man, because they're not, they're not a contender right now. The Memphis Grileys are just not. You know, they're not ready for that moment just yet. But I keep saying that and they keep surprising me, so that's a good sign. Let's talk Nick's real quick. Let's talk Nick's Hawks. I, this might be my favorite series to watch in the postseason right now. There's so much drama.

These teams are so evenly matched. You know, there's the story of Trey Young, who, quick plug, I will have something written about Trey Young tomorrow. So go check that on the ringer.com. But what do you think about? The vindication, it seems like, of Tray Young, right? You know all the stuff that we've heard about him, but it seems like right now, it's like whenever a basket, it always seems to work itself out on the court right or wrong,

whatever happens off the court. What do you think is happening with the evolution of how we look at Tray Young? Well, I always thought Tray Young was going to translate into the NBA. I thought he was going to be some of what he was in college, depending on the situation he went into. But I thought his style could translate. The question was always going to be whether or not you could put the right pieces around him to play that style and then vie for championships. And to some degree, I think that's still going to be the question after this playoff run, right?

It's awesome what he can do with a ball in his hands. Like he is as unguardable as a lot of guys in the league out in space. He pulls from the logo. He can pass the hell out of the ball. I think that gets lost in how good he is sometimes is how well he passes it. But, you know, you've got to get that recipe exactly right to have a ball dominant, relatively small player on the ball as much as he is and win championships. And so, you know, the jury's still out on that. But in terms of him personally, I mean, shit, you try to guard him.

I don't want to. I love, like, I love the swag he has, man. Like, you see him walking off the court. I see you in the A. Don't even trip. I see you in the A. Like, I love that energy from players, bro. I love when they talk shit and they back it up.

That's just, I just love that, man. And he was like, yo, all right, y'all got me this one. It's 1-1 going back to the A. I'm going to see y'all in. And you know the A about to be smacking. The A is about to be on people locked in. I'm excited to see that. They better be.

Well, he's a star. Stars, you know, you. Look. I don't mean Atlanta Hawks. I don't mean the Atlanta Hawks. I mean the city of Atlanta will be locked. Yeah, yeah. It's Memorial Day weekend.

There's a Hawks game. It's a big. series, they're going to be locked in. They better be getting it popping. It better be straight. For nothing else, you're reciprocating like, you know, what they got in New York because New York is off the, they're wild. New York is off the chain.

They're a wild. Like, you're almost making a mockery of it in New York. Like, I appreciate the hypeness. I do. But this shit is going a little far, man. No, no. It's just right there. It's just right. No, no, no. It's gone a little far. Like, we talked about this with CC. It has gone a little far in terms of, like, fanship.

But other than what happened, to Trey Young, bruh, they do those panouts. It is rocking. It is rocking in the garden. Now, the garden is phenomenal, but I'm talking about, like, outside the garden people. Oh, it's lit. This is a first round playoff series, man.

They don't give a buck. That's what I was saying. It's a little much. We're ready to roll. Orange and blue skies, baby. I'm not mad, but Atlanta, you better bring it. You better bring it. Bag time.

Time to pay the bills. We'll be back. All right now, I want to, before we get to C.C. I want to bring in someone. I want to bring in someone that's on the call right now. He's not even like thinking. He didn't even think I was going to do this, but I want to bring him on the call.

I want to bring our CMO on. Jomey, get your shit up. Jomey, we need to ask you some questions, pal. We need to ask you some questions. Get your ass in the chat. I'm here. Oh, oh, oh, he's ready to go. He has the mic already.

Jomey. Hey, stay ready so you ain't got to get ready. Jome. We, we, um, this is the first time. we've talked to you since the Clippers fumbled the bag in L.A. It was $56 tickets

in Staples Center. And a damn there should have been 26. Maybe 16. Maybe they should have gave away tickets to Staples for this one. After what we saw between the Mavericks and the Clippers and the Mavericks just taking their launch,

how do you feel about the Clippers right now? That's our resident Laker fan. They still have a chance to win the series. right. They can't lose game three. You know, no teams come back from a three-o deficit. But, you know, they play well game three, catch a dub, then, you know, the Mavericks. You know, they have it, they've never been in that position and like take a series from a team, right? Lucas, I mean, all his playoff games have been against the Clippers. And last year, you know, while it was close, it was tight, everybody felt the Clippers were the better team last year and the Clippers are going to, you know, take them, you know, we're going to move on.

this year is different. The Mavs up 2-0, going back home, can they shut the door on the Clippers in game three? We'll see what Kauai and Paul George are made of. I'm not going to say that those guys are, you know, they don't have what he takes or, you know, their choke artists, or maybe they don't have the heart, the will, you know, fight back.

I'm not going to say that, but we will see. We will see. How do you feel about those words, Roger Bell? Do you feel like the clippers are choke artists? I'm not going to go as far as to say choke artists, but I can't defend the clippers right now. They're in an indefensible position. They're down 02.

Fumbled it twice on their home court. Last season, you know, kind of speaks for itself. So how am I supposed to stand up? Even if I want to, even if I'm a Paul George. and Kauai and T. Lu Fan, which I am. How would one construct an argument to counter what Jomi's saying? I don't have the, I don't have the evidentiary. Is that a word?

Evidentiary. I don't have the evidence to support that. I can't. The Mabs are shooting lights out of the ball right now. Yes. You know, Tim Hardaway Jr.'s crushing it. You know, in game two, Chris taps at like two balls that like hit the rim, hit the backboard, did all the things went in.

Luca's doing like, you know, he's shooting the ball way better than he wants the first half of the season. So, you know, it's not like, I'm not going to say it's all the Clippers' fault, but you got a, you got a fight for it, right? Like, it's time. Well, I mean, listen, there are a lot of, there are a lot of series and games that are won because someone shot well and someone didn't. I mean, that's the game, though, right? Like, you got, you, if you got to stand your ass up and do something, man. Exactly. Exactly.

You know, that supporting cast got to stand up and do something. T. Liu has to come out here with a game plan that is sound to get the ball out of Lucas' hand. Look, Timmy Jr., that's my guy from – that's 305, bro. He's from the crib. I fuck with Timmy Jr. He's – but make Timmy Jr. beat you with the ball in his hands. Like, we're not going to let Lucas set the table. We're not going to let them do his live on spot-up jump shots.

Construct a plan that gets the ball out of Lucas' hands and makes the rest of that team beat you. Whether they're shooting well or not, Clippers, you're the better team. You're supposed to handle that. Hey, Luke Kouinard making $64 million to hand out, you know, high fives and give everybody water in the playoffs. I take that. Hey, I wish I could be in that bag. But I feel like, you know, if you're going to give a man $64 million, she should be in your playoff rotation, right? Hey, I have a question for you.

I have a question for you. Now, you went on an epic rant about Palmdale last episode. I just would like to a lot of some people on Twitter and they were right they were saying that you because you said that you could take the 91 to Palmdale

to the Riverside area Palmdale is actually not in the It's not even close It's near Lancaster in the desert And you take the 14 to get there Do you care that you were As wrong as you were about Palmdale Not only do I not care

I think it was funnier that I was like way off, right? Because to take the 14, you got to like take the 405 or like the 110 or something like that. And those are freeway synonymous with Los Angeles, right? You got a prestigious highways. Exactly. Like when you go through the like, I don't know if y'all know, but the one-on-one takes you right past Staples, right down a Dodger Stadium. Like that's, you know, prime Los Angeles.

Rose Bowl? Do I get the Rose Bowl on that drive too? I get the Rose Bowl on that, right? Yes, sir. You take the five? Yes, sir. So, you know, those are. when you think of L.A., you think of those freeways.

Nobody thinks of the L.A. when you think of the 91. So it's really for comedy's sake. You know, I'm here, I'm the, I'm here for these jokes. Wait, for the record, do you care where Palmdale is on the map? Do you even care? No. No. Let's be honest. No.

You know? I think the only reason I would think about Palmdale is when you see a sign on your way to six flags. That's it. You know? That's it. Dang. Other than that, I got nothing. Hey, Palmdale, stand up, man. Yeah, stand up.

Stand up. Get up on Twitter. Do we have listeners in Palmdale? Do they get internet reception in Palmdale? Take a long drive to Los Angeles and kick Jomey's. No. A long drive. Don't do that.

Don't do that. Don't do that. But they would take a long drive to come see you. They have to go from Palmdale. Shut out Palmdale, man. I got a problem with Palmdale. Jomey has a problem. If they get this podcast out there, it might take them, you know, three to five business days to get out here.

Oh, damn, bro. Okay. All right. With that being said, let's go to prediction time before we get to C.C. Sabathia. Game three in Dallas. I'm picking the Dallas Mavericks to go up to Rio in the series. Jomey, who are you picking in this series in game three? I'm picking the Mavericks. They're going to have basically a full crowd out there. You know, everybody plays better at home than on the road, and they played really well on the road. So I've got, I've got Luca and the Mabbs going up 3-0 on them, boys. What about you, Roger Bell? Well, let me represent Palmdale for a second.

I'm going with the clip joints, all right? I'm going with the clips. I cannot believe. Have you ever been to Palmdale? I have no beef, but I have never been there, Palmdale. No beef, but I'm not sure it's a beautiful. plays. I've just never heard, never been pumped. Listen,

if the Clippers go down 03 to the Mavericks, they got to, they got to blow that shit up. They go down 0,000%. They go down 03 to the Mavericks. And I don't believe I can't believe that's going to happen. So, I would say they have to move to San Diego, but maybe you have to move to like Catalina or something. Like, I don't

know if they lose this. If they get swept, they, do they have to move to Palmdale? Could they be the Palmdale Clippers if they lose the series? God for a bit. This is, like a bigger conversation for whatever happens with the clipper end of the season but if they don't get out the first round you've got to make changes to the roster

and that becomes hard with Marcus Morris making all that money with Paul George making all that money with Luke Canard making all that money with Evica Zoobox making all that money it's tough right Rondo's on the books you know Kauai has an option

but like you know he loves San Diego a lot he's not going to go anywhere I don't think so what do you do. You know, Paul George is a, is a three, maybe a four,

maybe a three masquerading as a two, right? You'd have no, you have no access to trade any of these guys. Everybody's making too much money. What do they do?

Right? That's, it's going to be interesting to see because they have limited options, no draft picks, and no cap space. So I can't wait for the Clippers of me.

Clippers, tighten up, man. Go ahead and handle your business tonight, bro. Let's talk about this shit. I handle your business, Clippers. Yeah.

You can't be going, you can't be going to the forum looking like this. You can't be going to the, yeah, I mean, you know, it's a bad, they won the billboard battle, you know. They did. So good for them. Great, great, great for the clippers. Winning the PR. That's what's what it's about, right?

They hang banners for that at the, at the stadiums, right? You get won the board battle. One of the executive of the year. Yeah, good, great. Congratulations. Okay. No. No, no.

no hope for the Clippers, is what you're saying. The Clippers win, man. I'm telling you, we're not going to have to talk about this. Joe, they're going to take care of it for you. Do we want to put a bet on this some kind of way? Bro, I'm not betting on Roger, but Roger Bell played in the NBA for how many years. It wasn't going to be monetary. It wasn't going to be monetary.

I just got this job. So we weren't betting your job. We were betting just something non-monetary. He's going to beat us on monetary. If the Clippers win tomorrow, Jomey guy take a trip out to Palmdale. He has to drive to Palmdale. He got to go out of the Palmdale. Yo, I'm down with that.

He's got to go out to Palmdale. He has to drive to Palmdale and take a picture with city limits. Yeah, with the sign. With the sign. Welcome to Palmdale. And he has to give a, he has to, because he has to do one of his joey things where he does a step-by-step process on him going. You know how you do for the television? You have to do the step-by-step-for social saying you went to Palmdale.

Oh, boy. All right. Well, that. We are now time for C.C. C.C. Sabathia for a whole host of topics. He was great. You know, it was really great for me as a Bay Area person to have to talk to a Bay Legend like that. I think we've reached our quota for Bay Area.

No, we have not. We never have to show. JTA's not on the show. Juan Anderson, Tiscano Anderson hasn't been on the show yet. So, you know. Yeah. Okay. To C.C. Sabathia, friend of the show.

Lock in. Ballio legend. Raja, we have a. very special guests in the fucking building, bro. We got a very special. Hold on, bro. Who's in the fucking building? Who's in the building?

Let me lock this in the building, man. We got the fucking co-host of R2C2 here. The Cresci clown, the Corvus Field legend. The Batari Gym regular. The Patterson Field Dominator. He hells from the city of Marine World Africa, USA, also known as an itty-bitty city by the water that's steady getting taller. Cleveland made him and New York paid him.

He's Mr. 3,000. And Black 8. Royalty. He's a six-time All-Star. Si Young winner in a World Series champion, Raja, who do we have in the building today? Yes, man. We have C.C. Sabathia in the building. No, no, no, no, no.

What do you always say? That's Valleo legend, dog. You know, you already know. If they listen, they know it's Vallejo legend. C.C. Sabthia. What's up, fellas? That was a great introduction, man. I'm glad to be here. Oh, man. That shit was kind of living. Logan, not for nothing. I rarely do this.

That shit was kind of tough. That was kind of tough. You see the energy, right? You see that some research up in there. You see that vibes. You see the vibes. Cici was happening, bro. Well, man, you know what's crazy is that I tried to get a clown.

Well, I did. I got a clown tattooed on me because at the time he said crest-side clown. So it's like a clown with a baseball bat and cleats and all that stuff. So yeah. How did that work out? Was that one of your first tats? How did that work out? This is my second tattoo and my mom was pissed.

She fucking hated it. But, I mean, it worked out. You know what I'm saying? Like I made it to the league so it worked out. But she was pissed when I got. I got it at Doug's in Oakland and she was not happy about it. For sure, bro. I mean, there's a lot of stuff that we're going to talk to you about,

but we're going to talk to you about the NBA playoffs, man. One of the big stories we talked about was Knicks Hawks. But one of the – I know the Knicks won and all that stuff, but the Knicks fans was on some bullshit. At least the Knicks fans that were close to Trey Young, on the, that was close to Tray Young when he was doing a side out of balance play. I wanted a player, I mean, one of the fans spit on this man during one of the timeouts, man. I thought, when I first saw the video, I thought it was just, oh, Trey Young is with 50 and there's 50 on the sideline.

I didn't see the spit first time, but we talk about this all the time, Raja, and I obviously want to get Cici's opinion. What the fuck do we need to do with these fans, man? Like, obviously fans have to do something. Let's start with C.C. C.C., what do we have to do with the fans, particularly that are in close proximity with players? You know, it's crazy, man. You want that, as a fan, you want that experience, right, to be on court side or, you know, be close to the action as possible. But when you see stupid shit like that, when guys spit, and I didn't see this spit either when I first seen the video, but I saw the woman's reaction that was sitting, you know, right, she was sitting court side and she saw the spit. So, like, her reaction made me, you know, realize that the guy spit on Trey and then watching, you know, Westbrook, you know, walking in the tunnel with an injury and then, you know, popcorn's getting thrown on them. So, like, it's just, it's those things where, you know, I've had my wife and my mom in the stands where beer's been poured on them and different things like that.

So it sucks. And I wish there's something that we could do to, you know, figure out and screen these fans that are going to sit courtside. But, I mean, it's part of the fan experience is being. that closer to action, you just wish that some of the stupid shit wouldn't happen, you know? Yeah. Roger, how does it, like, when you're obviously, you played basketball and fans are in closer proximity to you than they would be for Cici, who's in the middle of the mound, and you have to actually see that if you have like a corner three or even have like a wing three

or something like that. You interact with them on a daily. What was, what is that experience like? And how often do fans cross the line in the NBA? frequently. But let me, not frequently in the sense of them reaching out and spitting on you or throwing something at you and stuff like that. But there's frequently an interaction with you and a fan, right, because of the nature of how close they are to you. I always enjoyed it. Like I was one of those guys that like was looking for a little bit extra reason to be doing what I was doing.

So having someone courtside, especially that's heckling you, you know, you knock down that first three, you shoot them a glance, you maybe say something, you knock down another one. Now you're talking, you know, popping a lot of shit and it's going back and forth. Those were always fun. Those were memorable experiences for me. But I did have some, like I was in LA in Staples, Christmas, probably 2002, after we had played them in the finals with the Sixers. And, you know, my dad was getting into a beef up in the stands because someone had poured something on my mom in them, you know?

So, like, those get scary because you're in a building, your family's there. These are people you care about. And you're helpless. You're on the court. You can't really get up in there to defend. So look, if you spit on someone, throw something at someone, cross that line between a conversation, which is your right to have as a fan. Like, you can boo me. You can say whatever the hell you want.

But once you, like, assault me, they need to be, first of all, there's no indefinite suspension, Philly, that he can't come back. He can't come back. You're banned for life, dog. Like, I don't give a shit. You can't come back in here. And then whatever legally can be explored, that shit needs to be explored. because athletes got to feel safe out there. You know, we are fair game in terms of yelling, screaming, and acting a fool,

but you cannot start putting our safety or our loved one's safety in jeopardy. At that point, you got to prosecute. Do what you could do. And for me, like the NBA, like ban the fan for life from all arenas. You know what I'm saying? Like, that type of behavior is spitting on somebody throwing some shit on the player. Like, you should never be able to come back to no NBA games, period. Fuck it.

It's over. And this is deep. I don't want to really get into all of this shit, but I felt some kind of way, me. Like, people come to those games, you know, and think they can act any kind of way. It's deeper than that. Like, that shit, you're acting like people out there

aren't human beings. Like, you're just, like, you're at a damn carnival watching, you know, shit go on or at a zoo. Like, and you could do whatever the fuck you want. Like, that's, you got me fucked up. Sorry for the language, but I'm not here for that. No, we have, like, for context, when you guys are talking about the Sixers

and the fan getting banned, just want to give extra context. That was when Russell Westbrook got popcorn put on his throne on his head after, you know, as he's going to the locker room to get his ankle looked at. And there was,

there was shades of malice in the palace vibes. Like it was about to go down. And fortunately, the security got to them. And it's interesting to me just how, you know, fans' reactions are getting covered now. versus how they got covered when the malice in the palace happened, right? Largely, it seemed like it was the player's fault that this happened, right?

The way it was covered. C.C., do you think we've evolved our coverage in how fans speak to players and how that they, and how they interact with players and what you should do and should not do since then? Yeah, I think for sure that the coverage has changed. I mean, even if you just look at that video of Russ, all the fans were pointing at the guy. You know what I'm saying?

They were all pointing at them. If you watched the malice in the palace, you couldn't tell who did what. You know what I'm saying? It was just like, you were just seeing players react. But like, soon as that guy through the popcorn,

every fan up there started pointing. So, yeah, I mean, I think people understand what's right and what's wrong. And, you know, to Rajah's point, like,

we ain't fucking circus animals, bro. Like, we are human. You can't just say whatever, do whatever, and expect us not to react. So, yeah, I mean,

you got to understand that crossing that line, you may get a human reaction out of, out of Russell Westbrook, who was probably going to go up in the stands if somebody wouldn't have grabbed him last night. I mean, and he probably would have been well,

he would have been warranted in doing so, right? Like if somebody would have went out there, it's funny, and I want to get to you, Roger, because you were actually in the league when the malice actually happened. What would you think that, because in my vantage point, everybody, like,

stat got vilified for that, Ron, our test got vilified for that. Every, every player involved got vilified for that. And largely, we don't really talk about the person that actually started it, right? The person that threw the object that run our test. What was that like for you as a player immediately after the malice in the palace before, as opposed to before?

Yeah, it was bugged out because, I mean, look, when I played in Europe for the month and a half I was there, you were used to a little bit more of a raucous environment, right? Like, you were told, hey, man, we got to get up out of here. Somebody, you know, they might, some things might come down. But playing in the NBA, playing in, you know, Division I college basketball, you don't, you don't see that. That's not something that you're accustomed to see. And so when it happened in the NBA,

it was a really weird space to be in, Logan, because we understood that, like, for our business, we can't do that, right? We can't, like, we can't. Like, that affects the product if the fans aren't paying the money and we're not generating the TV revenue, like we all suffer. But at the same time, everybody would have went up there

and whoop somebody's ass on that. Like, you can't be throwing shit at me. You know what I mean? And you harbored those feelings too, because, you know, and I think this is bigger topic, man. This is societal now. Like, I have young boys, and one of them is really into, like, trolling and messing with people. You know, and I have to have a conversation with him because that's what all his friends do about, like, look, man, I get you see that shit on Instagram and you see it on YouTube and all of that and you think it's funny.

But, you know, when you catch one of these people in person, you're going to have to be ready to square up. And if you're not ready to square up and handle yours, you better leave that man alone or woman. Whatever it looks like, you better leave it alone. And so, you know, I think it's bigger picture. You hop on something now. You can just fire off all kind of shit. Who cares? I ain't got to see him.

And so you take that and you take it to the arena and think I can act however I want to act. But, you know, you get checked real quick, bro. Rust didn't get his hands put on him last night. And he's up there putting you where you're supposed to be. You know what's crazy is that I had this whole big blowup in Toronto in 2015. I don't know if maybe you guys heard about it. Maybe you didn't. We watched under the grapefruit.

We saw it. We saw it on HBO Max. The start of that was a fan screaming at me. Like, you suck, blah, blah, blah. And all I did was turned around. I was like, because this is not Twitter. This ain't fucking Instagram. I can put hands on you right now.

I'll fuck you up. And that's all I said. And it just started to, you know what I'm saying? But like social media and online and the way that you have access to different people now makes people get really bold in real life. and somebody's going to get fucked, like somebody's going to get hurt behind that shit, you know what I'm saying?

Well, Cece, well, there's this, there's a lyric obviously, you know what I ask you to both, both of you guys, who you guys, both for athletes, there's a line from Jay-Z that says, if you shoot me,

you're famous, if I shoot you, I'm brainless, right? And there's something that is, the case with that. If somebody steps to you, your first instinct is to protect yourself.

But if you protect yourself, there's a stigma that comes with that. How, what, I'm going to start with, Cece, how do you weigh that in your mind? Like, yo, I can't,

I am C.C. Sabathia. I can't do this. But also, you C.C. from the V. Right. And you got to protect yourself. How do you balance that in your mind when some shit is about to pop off? I think the CC from the V always is always going to be in the forefront. You know what I'm saying?

And then I'll think about some shit after. That's just the way that I am, my nature. And even with anything, anything that I do, even whether it's throwing at a guy, like the, that's for you. You know, that's not really like my nature, but like in those moments, that's who I turn into. You know what I'm saying? The Tony LaRucer rant last week. Like, even after I did all that, I was like, damn.

You know what I'm saying? Like, it's just so in those moments, like, the C from the fee is going to always show up. And then I'll deal with whatever happens after that, after it, you know? What about you, Roger? How do you deal with those things? Listen, you already know I turn into somebody else too. Like it just kind of, you know, people always tell me, hey, man, you're not, once they get to know me, you're not who I thought you were. because, you know, they get the competitive side of me most of the time, and that's a different

dude than the one that's on here all the time. So what I do now, though, it's number one, I mean, I try to avoid situations, right? Like, I don't really hoop anymore. Every single time I go to hoop with my kids, it turns into the Jay-Z lyric. Like, there's some idiot out there, you know, trying to go hard and trying to push and shove. And then when you do it back, you're, you know, it turns into that. So I try to avoid that because I'm too old. Because if you do it, I can't help myself. I really can. It's just going to be what it is. So I try to avoid those situations. And, you know, for the most part, my family already knows. Like, if it's going down, they either have to get me out or they're going to have to get to the person to stop it because I, it's going to go. And that's, it sucks because I'm 44 and you think I can really control that. But I can't. So I got to get out of the situation, bro. Don't even put yourself in it. You are who you are, bro. You are who you are. One thing I know, like, I realize about athletes, especially athletes at a high level, is it seems like it's the same mindset, right? Like, somebody is testing you, like, whether it's on the field or, like, in the street, like, someone is testing you.

So it seems like in your mind is like, all right, the motherfucker is testing me. I got to show them what's up. What's another thing that I want to do, and I want to, you know, ask this question and they get to some other stuff real quick. But another person that tried to at least talk about the fan interactions before they came, That's Kyrie Irving. He plays for the Brooklyn that's about to go play to Celtics, and they're saying, like, I'm going to read a quote. He says, I'm just looking forward to competing with my teammates,

and hopefully we can just keep it strictly basketball. There's no belligerence or racism going on, no subtle racism. People yelling shit from the crowd, but even if it is part of the nature, I just want to focus on what we can control. Now, there's an, and he alluded to rest in the quote of, like, Boston being a racist place, and especially for athletes. Now, Raja went to school in Boston, in college, you obviously played in Boston.

I'm gonna start with, Roger. What is it like to be in Boston as a black athlete? Logan, I'm gonna keep it a buck. I was so young when I went to Boston as a student athlete, and I was preoccupied with other things that I didn't. It wasn't a blatant thing for me. And as an opponent, I never experienced racism in the garden. I just didn't.

And no one ever yelled anything crazy at me. No one ever fucked with me on the street. I didn't experience it. I was told when I went to Boston, though, about what it could look like and what it could be like. I consider myself blessed. I know people who have had experiences like that in Boston. I just didn't, right? So while, you know, I couldn't sit up on here and genuinely say, hey, man, that I experienced that because I didn't.

It was a good place for me. But I have friends that it wasn't as kind to. Like, I had friends, you know, at Boston University, you know, taking off their potential. career path for some shit that, you know, played out along racial lines and stuff like that. And so I can speak to that. It just never happened to me. What about your C.C.? Yeah, for me. So it happened, you know, I got called the N word there early in my career, but it was when I was with the Indians. Was it an A or a hard ER? It was a hard ER. But like, you know, and it just put me on guard. It put me on alert. But I never, I never experienced

it after that. As a Yankee, you know, it was a hard. or anything like that. I never dealt with, you know, dealt with anything like that. But I understand what Kyrie was saying. You know, like I'm coming back.

He's a polarizing figure up there. You know, people have their opinion of him, you know, either way. And he just, you know, you don't want to hear it. You know what I'm saying?

So I understood what he was saying when I read that quote. But I got a question for you guys about Kyrie is, why do people like pretend like he has to prove himself all the time? Like I always hear people talk about the net, and different things.

And, you know, people say, well, if Kyrie can do this or if Kyrie can do that, like, this man isn't a champion and one of the best players in the league, I just feel like people who are always wanting him to prove himself, you know, in the media. Do you guys feel like that, or am I tripping? I could see that in a way. And I think that that's, I mean, we usually talk about Kyrie in terms of, like,

media and his relationship with the media. But I think when it comes to him having able to prove himself, I think the narrative has always been there. an asterisk around him, right? In terms of like, he hasn't won without LeBron. It doesn't matter that he's a champion. There's always, but like that's something that's, and I'm not, and I'm not saying that my way, but I'm just saying, like, that's been a narrative that's, that's always

been out there. Like, you talk about Kobe. Could you win without, without Shaq? It always, it's like, it seems like the media's way of bringing intrigue to something. It's just like discrediting something else to bring intrigue to their sport, in my opinion. I think that's what it seems like. What you think, Roger? Yeah, I think what Kyrie's interesting.

to me because he's so dope, he's so good, but he's prickly. He's got a weird, you know, he's got his own personality. He marches to the beat of his own drum. You know, what happened, I think, to Kyrie is those teams in Cleveland weren't very good, you know, and he was the number one guy, but he was young, and they didn't have shit else to work with him. So you weren't going to be able to really carry that team to much before LeBron got there. So now you win, and it's because of LeBron, which isn't fair, because Kyrie was closing a lot of those games. And he closed the game. He closed The game. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. No, that was, he closed the game. LeBron was trusting him to do, that was, that was his work. Like, they co-chaired that. But what happened was then when he went to Boston. Boston fucked him up.

The Boston fucked him up because they're like, you know, either right or wrong, it fucked him up. And then it was, you know, he didn't really get a chance to do shit in Brooklyn because he was injured that first year. So I think that's how that narrative comes around for coverage. Also, his relationship with the media doesn't help. It doesn't. And I'm not, and I'm not, and we've taught, me and Roger have talked about this,

the fairness and unfairness of like the media narrative around Kyrie. But it, I would just say like it, I don't know how you, how it is in baseball media, but like in basketball, like, you know, if you shit on someone or if a media member, you know, thinks you shit it on them, then they're going to take it out on you. It's just going to, it is human nature in the media. So I think that that also plays a role, right? Like, these are people that are writing about him by and large. So I think that that also plays a role as well.

And basketball takes on like a more national, media, then, like, ours is more regional. You know what I'm saying? So, like, ours is only big because it's here in New York, so it's a bunch of sports writers. But if you say something in Cleveland, it's only three beat writers, you know, two or three beat writers. So nobody's really going to take notice.

Like, these NBA guys are getting covered by national writers and reporters every single day. Do you guys want to, like, with the Major League Baseball, and I want to get to a playoff game before we here, I want to just a real quick question. With Major League Baseball, do you guys, like, want more coverage? And if you had more coverage, you would have this day-to-day stuff, right? Like, it's a conundrum that, like, if you had the big media coverage, not to say you don't, but, like, you know what I mean?

It's not every single day, like, like the NBA is, do you think that you would want something like that? Like, every single day, something else is up? I'm going to be completely honest, because I played in New York, and it is like that in New York, where every single day something pops up, we're the lead story on SportsCenter. If we lose two or three in a row, no, I didn't want to. that. Like, as baseball players, I didn't want, I never wanted to be famous, though. Like, I just wanted to be really good at my sport. You know what I'm saying? Like, and if, and if that made me famous, then fine. But, like, so I never really cared about media coverage or anything

like that or, you know, being exposed or having commercials. I just wanted to win and, you know, win a championship and have a parade and shit. Like, that's all I really wanted. I wanted to win. So I didn't really care about, you know, like being a huge star, if that makes sense. Man, I always like baseball, dog, because the money, the money was guaranteed. It was really big, right? The money was good. And you didn't have to worry about being under that microscope in a lot of the markets, right? Like, it was like, hey, man, we're out here just getting it.

Flying under the radar. That did. Only thing that's different, man, it's a bitch in the minor leagues, bro. It takes a lot to get to that stage where you make, it's just, it's a grind. But let's talk about a game tonight, Lakers' sons, you know. This is one of our favorite topics to bring up is the Los Angeles Lakers. And, you know, and Roger's sons, what do we think is going to happen tonight, man? Roger, what's going on with your sons?

You guys are going to take game three or what's going to happen, bro? I thought about this because you and Jomey didn't let me put my qualifier on my prediction for the series last time, right? You made me fucking make a pick. You said that you picked the son against you. You knew I was up against it with Phoenix fans. They wasn't going to let me back in, so I called fucking Phoenix. This series is all predicated on whether fucking Chris Paul is healthy or not. If his shoulder is not healthy, bro, Phoenix, I love you guys.

You got to be an rational person, bro. You're time for being a rational person. Come on, man. If he's not healthy, they can't beat them. All right. So who's winning tonight? I would take the Lakers at home tonight. I would usually the ebb and flow of a series.

I got the Lakers at home. And then maybe, maybe, you know, we could talk about the Sun's winning game for in L.A. Cici, who are you picking tonight? I agree with Rajah. I think if Chris is not healthy, I don't think the sons have a chance, man. I mean, just even watching some of the shots he passed up in game, too, a couple of floaters in the lane where it just, you know, his offense, it just kind of makes the help the team flow a little more.

So I think that if he's not healthy, the sons don't have a chance, but I think the Lakers win tonight. So you played in Cleveland when LeBron was a freshman sophomore, probably his whole high school career. His whole high school career. You talked about one time when your partner's was like, you've got to see this dude, bro. Next Michael Jordan is in high school right now.

You need to come to Akron or you need to come to see this guy play. You were catting off. He was like, oh, no, man. I'm Cece's a baddie. I ain't going to see no bum-ass high school. And so when you saw him for the first time, can you walk me through that experience, please, of like seeing LeBron James as a high schooler.

And there was their mentorship after that? What was the process of seeing him, then getting to know him along the way? Yeah, so that story is basically, what you just said is basically how I went down. We had a trainer that he refpped high school games at the time. LeBron was a freshman. And he was like, man, this is this kid in Akron.

I'm telling you, he's going to be the next big thing. And I'm like, there's no chance I'm going in the offseason to go watch a kid play. Like, it's just not fucking happening in my offseason. C.C. was hating. I was hating. So the next year I come back in January, and he was like, okay, listen, they're playing right across the street.

They was playing at the Cavs Arena, and we shared a parking lot. He was like, we can just walk right underneath. We can go to the game, and I get to the game. Was you Hayden? He's like, I'll just go for like one quarter, bro. You gasping right now. I was like, you.

And it was the bunch of us. I was like, man, we just show up for a little bit. You know what I'm saying? People are going to be all over, it's whatever, blah, blah, blah. We get there. and it's LeBron James that you see right now. Obviously, his body wasn't as developed as it is now, but I mean, he had a triple double.

He had like 35, 15, and 12, and he could have scored 60. Like, you could see that he was passing up shots even back then, like, where he could have just dominated the game and, you know, scored 60, 70 points a game. He was ridiculous, man. And, like, soon as you saw him play right away the first quarter, I was like, oh, shit.

This is- Do athletes like of a certain place? Do y'all recognize a game when it's like, okay, for sure, I see this. I can see it right here. Do you all already know when, even if it's early like that? You can. You can see it, I mean, but you just hope, especially when he's that young because he was a sophomore. You just hope that it can play out.

You know what I'm saying? Because you see so many got shake hot and so many different guys that we know of that it never plays out. Yeah, it's a bunch of guys. LeBron is the only athlete that's ever been on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a teenager. that's actually fucking panned out. Like, he's lived up to the bill and even more than what he was supposed to be. Did you guys, after that, what was the relationship?

Like, I know y'all cool now, but what was it like after you went to that game? So after that, I didn't see him again until the next summer. And I saw him with World Wide West. Me and West became really close through Oakley. I got a chance to meet Charles Oakley when I was real young in Cleveland. Got real close with Wes. And then West and LeBron had developed the relationship. So I didn't see him again until his 11th grade summer.

And then we got really close again. We got really close hanging out with West and Randy. Like, did he already know what he was going to do? Because it's like, you know, we've all been teenagers before. You don't know what the, you don't know what you're going to do. He was already. He was already LeBron because he was, but he was, for me, I thought he should have played football. Because I seen him play football a couple times.

And, I mean, he was 6-8 receiver with, you know, with wheels and hands. Like he was a really good football player too, but by the time he was a junior, you could just tell that he was going to be the first pick. Everybody was hoping it was going to be in Cleveland. Still think that was a fucking scam how they got the first pick. But because that franchise, they were going under. Like, it was nobody at the games. They had those ugly-ass black uniforms with the teal and orange.

And they were like, that shit was going under until they got LeBron and he brought them back. Yeah. Look, I'm a LeBron fan. As much as the next guy, all right? But you said something in there, I got to ask. So you're cool with Oak? Yeah, I'm cool with Oak. All right.

I'm going to tell you, Logan, right now. Ain't too many. There aren't too many. Let me get my English correct for this. There aren't too many people that I am afraid of. I'm going to tell you like this. Charles Oakley, I am lightweight afraid of Charles Oak. I will not vote with Charles Oak.

It's crazy. We had, I ain't going to say no names. In 2001, I played with someone who, like legitimately, I would watch him go out to jump balls, and I would watch him set up, and I would watch Oak walk out there. Oak was with Toronto at the time, and Oak would look at him like,

and you'll run that motherfucker up on the spot. And I will watch this big 610, 250 just slide on over, like he wanted no part of that. I said, okay. Yo, Rajah, I've seen Oak knock out more than 10 people. Yeah, that's okay. I believe it. Like knocking motherfuckers out, because like for real.

Like, just one hit, knock out. Like, that's it. All right, we got to go to the next spot. Yeah, I made a good call on that. Look, he came up. We were in the stands, like postgame in Chicago one time. I hadn't really talked to him in that Toronto series. So he had retired.

I might have been with the sons or some shit. He was in Chicago after the game in the family section. We came out. There's some people around. I'm kissing my family. And, you know, there's some people hanging out with him. And he came over. And I hop right into like prep school.

How are you, sir? Hey, thanks to meet you. Charles Oakley. Like, hey, bro, I want no problems tonight. How are you doing, buddy? He got a one hit acquitted, man. That's so. Oh, folk is crazy, man.

Man, quick prediction, and let's get to a real one of the week. Nuggets. Nuggets Blazers, who's winning tonight? I have, you know, me and, I'm sure, me and CC are on the same page. I want the Blazers to win. I want Dame to shine. It's not going to happen. I don't think it's going to happen.

Wait, actually, actually, you know what? No, actually. I'm going back. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, don't do that. No, no, no, no, don't do that blazers. I'm going to blazers. I'm going to go with the Blazers. I forgot they're going back to Portland. I'm going to go with the Blazers. And it's one-one. Oh, you got, C-C. You got Portland? Yeah, I think Portland's got an outside chance to go to the finals. Hey, I get the energy. I get the energy. I get the energy.

I know you got the Raiders hat. I know you got the Raiders hat on. You need to relax. You need to relax, Ralph. I feel like if Dane can catch fire, man. I feel like they got an outside chance. Oh, shit. I'm going to put you on the spot real quick, C.C. What other team besides the Lakers you think can make it to the fire? Utah, you guys think?

I like Phoenix. I do like Phoenix. If Phoenix can beat the Lakers, I like Phoenix, bro. No, you got to, I'm going to put you in the final quick. I think it's more wide open than people, I think it's more wide open than people want to suggest. It's wide open. Right now, right now. You're from the Bay.

You're from the V. C.C. or step right now. I'm going to need you to, I'm putting you on a. spot. Dame or Steph? Dave or Steph? Steecea your stealth. Steph.

Because Steph is like an all-time great, man. Dame is one of the greatest of this generation, but Steph is like an all-time great. He's like one of the, I mean, not one of, he's probably the best shooter of all time. Definitely the best shooter. So it's no disrespect to Dame. I mean, he's like, he's literally one of the greatest shooters of all time. All right. Who's your pick?

Who's your pick, Roger? No, I'm taking Portland, too. I like them. I got Portland. Are we all got Portland tonight? Yeah. I like Portland tonight. All right.

Let's go to Cook in a Rowan in a week. Rewan of the week is when we have a person and entity. We're an organization that won the week. I will go first. It goes back to our media conversation. We want to go with Naomi Osaka, man. She put out a big statement about she is going to not talk to the media during, this is coming from a media member.

She's talking about not talking to the media during her next tournament and is going to use the fine money or is telling the people, able to use the fine money to go towards mental health because she says talking to the media during this generation messes with her mental health and so she's not going to go through with it. So, you know, shout out to Naomi Osaka for taking that, man. I can respect that, even as a media member. Roger, who is your real one of the week? Oh, that's a tough one, man.

I had some names. I forgot him, but we'll just come off the cuff right now. It's going to be Luke Adonches, bro. Like, the man went on the road, bust the clippers ass twice. they have no answer for him. Like, they just don't have an answer. I don't even know what the stats are. I could look him up for you real quick.

But if you've been watching the games, like you have 39 and 1, like they have no answer. Luca Donch is just a real one of the week. See, who's a real one of the week? You know what's crazy is I'm going to get my real one of the week to Tony LaRusa. After my rant last week,

Tony called me up. We had a nice conversation. Explain to me everything that happened. I can't disclose, you know, the conversation. But it was good. And, you know, that's a real one, right? For me to go on that rat and him to call me up that night

You know, you got to give him his prop So he's a real one for that Respect Hey, so we got to do about my Raiders, bro. Like, how do you cope with them leaving the bay? Like, I don't even care about what's going on They already, they sucked my entire life And then they fucking moved out.

How do I cope with this? What do I do? Come to Vegas, September 13th. What do you mean? Listen, we... You're going to be there? You're going to be there? You're going to be there?

Absolutely. I'm going to be there. I'm going to be there. on Thursday. I'm going to Thursday. So listen. I might go, I might lock in with you. You're going to have security around you and shit.

I'm going to lock in with you if I go. No security. No security. We all Raiders out. No security. All right. We're going to blend in with the crowd. But like, like, for me, like, I love Oakland.

Obviously, we love the Bay. We from the Bay. But getting a chance to go to Vegas to go to Raiders games, guys? Like, we can't cry about that. We could have been going to San Antonio. So getting a chance to go to Vegas for a long weekend to watch the Raiders, hopefully fucking. when, I don't know if they could, well, I mean, we still gonna suck,

but at least we're gonna suck in Vegas. Yo, I was watching, I was out on the Raiders because I was, you know, like it hurts, man, my team left my city. We need Aaron Rogers. We need Aaron Rogers. We need Aaron Rogers. Come to, come to Vegas. Please.

Come to Vegas. Come to Vegas. Come through. Come home. Stop playing. If he go to Denver, we fucked. I'm just, just telling me. Hey, it was funny because I was watching, I was out on the Raiders. And then I watched the 30 for 30 on Al Davis and all the fucking propaganda was there. And I was ready to roll.

I was like, The all of them win is a fucking Raider. I'm ready to go. Give me my fucking jersey. Give my Jack Tatum jersey. You take a special type of fan to be a Raider fan, man. We put up with so much bullshit and the team sucks. So if you're still on a Raider, man, you're a diehard.

That's why I root for everybody in the NBA. Like, I'll root for the best team in the NBA because I need some fucking winning in my life. That's why I was a football fan growing up, C.C., that's all the Laker. You know what I was. See, told you, Roger. There's Laker fans in the Bay. I told you. I already told you.

I was a Laker fan. I told you. Jesus Christ. Anyway. I became a Warriors fan when I became professional. I got tickets myself. I got to be able to buy tickets. And it was like the We Believe Warriors.

It was barren and stack and, you know, I'm close to the Out Harington. So, you know, that was my squad. They never claimed us in Oakland. And I didn't even know they was in Oakland until I went to a game at six. You know what I mean? Golden State. Golden State, bro. Anyway, I know you got to go, bro.

That was C-C-Sabathia. You can check out R2C2 every Thursday, right? Every Thursday. All right, you could go on the, make sure you check out all the stuff on the NBA feed. That is the real ones. That is group chat. That is mismatch.

That is the answer. And also check out our other ringer pods, the ringer music show with Charles Holmes, and Black Girl's songbook with who? Town legend, Danielle Smith. Damn right. We will see you guys on Monday. Also, on Mondays, make sure you call our voicemail line.

Tell us why you met. Also follow the Ringer MBA on all platforms. Jemmy's about to punch me in the face in the chat because I have not gotten to that yet. But anyway, we will see you guys on Monday. Thank you, C.C. Come to the show. Come back, bro. You know what I mean?

Oh, yeah, for sure. I got to come back.