The Ringer NBA Show - ‘Real Ones’ Two-Year Anniversary Episode, Plus LeBron James Signs An Extension With the Lakers | Real Ones

Episode Date: August 18, 2022

Logan, Raja, and Jomi discuss LeBron James’s two-year extension with the Lakers (0:30), before the whole squad gets into our favorite moments from the past two years of ‘Real Ones,’ including the most outlandish interviews, angriest rants, and some behind-the-scenes moments (12:10). Then we answer listener questions, hear about your favorite moments, and listen to your voicemails (44:50). Thanks for the past two years! Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Guest: Jomi Adeniran Producer: Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Call me sentimental, but to me, the most joyful moment in sports is the soccer goal. And when that goal happens at the World Cup, well, it's pretty good. I'm Brian Phillips. With the 2022 Men's World Cup approaching, I'm making a podcast called 22 goals on the Ringer Podcast Network. It's about 22 of the most fire emoji goals in the history of the tournament. We're going to have so much fun. What's popping? Yes.

We are here, real ones. Logan Murdoch, Raja Bell, Raja, two years, two year anniversary. How are you feeling? What's going on? How you doing? What's going on? I missed you, man. I missed us.

I missed the people. I missed the platform dog. I guess, yes, hearts in the air. I missed it. Hand hearts. It was good for a minute. Like, I was chilling. Just dad vibes, little vacation, fishing.

hanging out. And then I'm like, man, there's so much. I got to talk some shit. Yeah, dog. I got to, you brought up a great thing. I want to go down memory land in a second, but let's talk some NBA real quick. Let's just talk about one NBA player in particular. That is one LeBron, Ramon James of the Los Angeles Lakers who just signed a two-year 97.1 million dollar extension. I think that'll put him with the Lakers through 2025. Matter of fact, let's just get him in here. Jomey. We need to get you in here, buddy. Real quick, Jemie. you know, go, first time,

long time in the building. First time long time. Jomey, Jome, we're going to talk Lakers really quickly before we go down memory lane. Jemmy. LeBron,

one title in Los Angeles has not been great since then. Has gotten, has won one. If I, memory serves, has not,

has not won a playoff series since they won the title. That's true. That's true. Three more years on his deal, including this year. We got Jemey in here. I do want to get Raja's opinion first, and then we'll get to Jemey. Raja, how do you feel? Where does this put the Lakers?

That's a good question. As if right now, I don't know that it puts them any closer to, to, I mean, clearly it puts them closer than if LeBron were to not sign and bounce on the Lakers. But in terms of what you, it's always been what's around LeBron for me. right like that's always been the question like what are we going to surround him with in terms of roster like in complementary pieces that they can help him get over the hump and as of right now um you know i guess securing lebron is is the first step in the process but i i reserve you know um my opinion for for once i see what they do next right because there's got to be a there's something coming i don't know

what it is with the lakers but i do want to ask joe me a question maybe i'll ask it to you logan as well because I know you both kind of have Laker roots. If let's say. Yeah. And if in this hypothetical world like these years play out, LeBron finishes, they're viable for the next few years, playoffs,

like intense series, but maybe don't win chips. So we're looking at LeBron's Laker era with one chip having been won. How do we categorize that? Is that failure? Is it success? Is it like, what are we looking at it like?

Joe Me, go first. You were in the streets, literally in the streets right now. that would be tough ultimately it comes down to you know the lakers being the premier franchise in in the league this is a conversation i've had with a friend of mine uh daniel jude shout out to him like when the when the wolves made that deal for rudy gobert i was looking around i was like listen pal i don't it's a lot to give up for rudy gobert who you know me and him have not been on the the nicest of uh you know wavelengths over the last few years you know i've years. So I was like, why would you give up all that, all that scratch, all those picks and whatnot? And my homie was like, listen, for the wolves, you know what I mean, if they go to, if they go to one Western Conference finals and get swept or like win a game, like that's a success. Then they've won. Then they've figured it out. It's all great for the wolves. And I was sitting here

like, bro, the Lakers won a chip with AD and LeBron and people are still like, I don't know, man, would you have made that AD deal? You know what I mean? Like, it's standards. The standards are different. The standards are different. If LeBron comes, only wins one chip

in his entire time here, then I think, you know, a lot of people think it's a failure. I'd be like, not a complete success, clearly. You know,

you think you would want to, you know, win more, compete more. But a total failure, I would, I think it's somewhere in the middle. I think the truth

is on both sides there. Let me, let me, let me, can I ask a follow up to you then, Logan? Do you mind? Yeah, yeah,

I told you. I missed you. guys, bro, I miss you guys. You're locked in. I miss you guys. Let's say you get the one chip, but you didn't have the years that you've had so far where you've missed the playoffs and you haven't been relevant, right? And then the next few years, you are viable. Again, your Western Conference finals, maybe once, second round. But you don't have the lean years of just tragic failure that had been a couple of the Laker years so far. Would that change opinion? If there was only one chip. Let's say you go to the finals again.

Let's say you've got two finals appearances, a Western conference finals, and then we don't have the years where we're missing the playoffs. I'm going to be honest with you. The worst thing that you can be as a Los Angeles Laker is in the middle. It's the worst thing. Honestly, Jomey can attest at least, you know, during the Nick Young years, the Ryan

Nick Young years. The Robert Sockrey days. The Robert Socoray days. Jordan Hill time. The Jordan Hill time. For Zavier, Henry. Y'all wasn't outside.

What Zavier Henry was going to be the sixth man of the year, you guys weren't outside. You guys were not outside. But at least those years were fun because they were, they were hopeful. This doesn't seem, this, this doesn't seem hopeful.

And what I will say about LeBron's tenure. And, you know, we're, this, I'm, I'm kind of hesitant to really talk about this right now in the middle of August because there's so many pieces that can, that can, you know, go in the place by the time that we're in the regular season. So I'll give, I won't give like a whole shot, but I'll give a little bit. I think when we look at LeBron's tenure in Los Angeles, I think that we will see the good and the bad of LeBron getting every. every single thing that he wants. What I mean by that is in Cleveland, his first time in Cleveland,

they made moves to get players in the building, right? To make, to keep him to stay, right? But definitely didn't have, talking about his first 10. He definitely didn't have as much power as he does now, right? Then he goes to Miami where he has little to no power in the front office. That was probably the most normal of a NBA player that LeBron has ever been in Miami. Then he goes back to Cleveland. He has a lot of power, but he has the game to be able to back that up, right?

He has the all-worldly level. He is at the end of Peak LeBron, so he can make these demands. And if they don't work out, he's good enough to erase them. In Los Angeles, he has both the power, but also a declining game to where he can't do what he did in 18, 17, 16 in Cleveland. And because that is happening, it is showing how the strain it can take when you're a player, coach, GM. And we are seeing that now to where he picks players that he may think may compliment him. But they don't. I'm looking at the Russell Westbrook season.

Sorry, Raja, Jomi, relax. But when you see those seasons and you see the players on the roster, when you go into the 20th season, you got to seed a little bit of that and trust other people. And I think during this time, we see the lack of, I wouldn't say lack of trust

because I'm not in a building right there, but you do see the stories of, you know, the sometimes tension between his team and the Los Angeles Lakers team. His team and the Lakers team with the Lakers team with Rob Polinka at the front office and Rich Paul on LeBron's side. You see that friction.

So I do think that we're just going to look back on this Lakers time as, man, I wish he would have ceded a bit of control and trust some other people to make personnel decisions because it's just too much. It's too much pressure. Yeah, I mean, players are always the last to know. And I would be really, really curious if you could get LeBron in just a situation where he had to be 100% truthful

to hear him talk about where his game is. Because statistically, like, you know, he's still having phenomenal seasons. But, you know, yeah, I think if we're all being honest, you're absolutely right, though, Logan. Like, while those numbers are phenomenal, they weren't able to lift the team in the way he did six, seven years ago. So that's, that says something, right? Like, there's, there's a change in your game. It doesn't have to be, we don't have to use the decline word necessarily, but there's a definite change in your game. And so that brings me back to players being the last to know. You saw Carmelo kind to go through this, but

everyone go, Carmelo went through it publicly. We all go through it. Where someone's saying to you, A, bro, you ain't what you think you are. And we're like, man, you what that? What?

What, what you mean? I go out here and lock anything down. And I shoot 40%. And then you look back at the tape and you weren't locking anything down and you shot 35%. Jomey was at Chase Center during that last Lakers Warriors game.

And LeBron played great. But also LeBron, but LeBron also wasn't LeBron. Right. And this goes to your overall point. My bad, Jomey, is that like when you're the last to know, that's when it becomes really, really important to have someone sitting in those offices that you have faith in because that's their job to see what areas like there might be slippage or change in your game and find the pieces that complement that. So while you're hell been on being the guy you were eight years ago in your mind and you're creating rosters built

around that guy, you're not that guy. Joe, not that guy, bro. You're not that guy. To Roger said, you got to listen. No, no, no, no. Yeah, but like not in that you're not great, but like your skill sets change. So the skill sets around you have to change a little bit to help you get what you want.

No, you're absolutely right. Like last year, you know, he was balling. He had like, I can't remember how many games in row he scored 25 points. And you look at the record and they're like, you know, below the playoff line. You know what I mean? They're a playing team. It's like that's it.

It is what it is. And I think that's why, you know, hopefully we'll see what happens in the next few. weeks or months. That's why, you know, fans are like begging for Kyrie or even thinking like, hey, man, buddy healed, you know, Miles Turner, come on down. Because if you look at the roster

as it presently constructed, even when healthy, it don't, it don't look like it's going to do much. You understand? So, there are things in peripherals, you know, the 20, 27, 2029, first round picks, you know, we had discussion yesterday, like, with,

okay, with Brown signed, then they're willing to give those up, yada, yada. I mean, at this point, you know, you got to you got to think as presently constructed, like the Lakers don't really have a championship roster. You got to do, you got to do something on the margins to make that happen. You know, so we'll wait and see.

Let's table this discussion because we're in August. And honestly, this isn't about the Lakers. This isn't even about LeBron. You know what this is about, ladies and gentlemen? This is about two years of real ones on your ringer.

That's right. That's what this is. That's right. This ain't about none of that. We ain't talking about none of that. Forget all of that. Forget that. Forget that. Um, I want to tell a celebration. It's a celebration. Well, you were walling in that video. Did you see a video? I put that on my Instagram. I put that up on my Instagram. I was like this guy. Bro. So I was just trying to figure out. I got some, uh, matter of fact, I got so I was, I was, I was kicking it with Keith.

I was talking to Keith because, you know, I wanted to get a little social. presence on the pot, right? Right. Like a little social presence, because I feel like this is, like you said, a celebration. So what happened was talking to, I'm talking to Keyes and he's like, you want to do a 30 second video? And I'm like, I don't know of what. Like, okay, I guess I'll do it.

Just basically say what you said in the tweet that you sent out and just send it out. So I was, I've been watching a lot of Chappelle show. I'm sorry. I've been watching a lot of Chappelle show. And that was the thing that came up. It came through. It came through. It came through.

And then, and then I'm going to show this. I want to see your reaction live on air. I'm texting you a something that we are going to put out the, the viewing public will see this. But this, this is our album cover for our two-year anniversary. And we made sure because that's Capone and Noriega. That's the cool Capone and Noriega for our two-year anniversary, Ra. Because we were discussing album covers to use for the occasion.

And I was like, dog, Capone and Noriega, dog. There's no other thing we have to do. That's buttoned up in a way that very few things are buttoned up. Like, I have no rebuttal for that. That is perfect. That's perfect. That hit me in my core right there. I appreciate that.

So I want to tell the listener to the story. And I want to get your side of this story. I know my side of the story, but I want to, I'm going to talk about the origins of this podcast really quickly. So I have just finished negotiations with the ringer at this point. And I'm talking to Bill Simmons about. like, you know, what I want to do and like all the things, right?

Just pre, like, ringer thing. And he's like, you want to do a podcast, like, you know, with the NBA player. And a couple names got put around, whatever. And so he says, hey, we got Roger, like Roger Bell. We're going to just try something now with Roger Bell. And I'm like, cool. I don't know Roger Bill, right?

He's like, oh, we're texted. He's like, I don't know Roger Bell. And he's like, oh, okay, here. Here's his number. Like, call him, right? And I'm like, and I call you. I'm outside the crib. And I'm like, like, not nervous, but like, I don't know this.

Like, knowing me now, as you can imagine, you could imagine, like, I don't know this motherfucker. I'm supposed to cold called this person that I do not know, you know? And obviously, like, we saw, we referenced this in the first and the first episode that we ever did when it wasn't even real ones. I don't know this person. I got history with this person, though. You know, thanks.

No, not really. But I called you, and we talked for about 20 minutes. And I think the gist of it was like, what up? I'm Logan. What up? I'm Roger. Let's fucking do this. Click.

And that was it. Like, that was the conversation. So I go into the part of the first pod. It was the Monday edition of the Ringer NBA show. And we just talked, bro. And something was there. And it was tight. And I was like, oh, okay.

And people liked it. And it was like, oh, that was when Rewan of the Week was born. That was a lot of things. But that was my introduction to this pot. What was your intro? introduction to this podcast. That's a really, that's, that took me down memory lane a little bit. I should have listened to the first episode. Like, I should have done that. I mean, don't. I should have, I don't. Don't. Don't. Um, so I remember, like, at the time, I was trying to figure out, like,

what I was going to do, right? And so, like I had told you before, like, I had been talking to Steve about going to Brooklyn, right? And so my wife and I were kind of looking at schools. We were looking at places to live. We were trying to figure out how we were going to take this crazy life and pick it up and drop it in Brooklyn or somewhere nearby. And so this pandemic, right? Like I'm over in Estero Beach, like with some friends of ours. And they all went to the beach. And my agent was like, yo, Bill Simmons, like, are you interested? Like, he wants to give you a call? I'm like, yeah, whatever, man. Come on. So I sit out on a porch, just chilling, drinking one, talking to Bill about this podcast. So like, I'm like, okay, that could be interesting.

let's see where this goes. I tell my agent, like, yeah, dude, I could be interested in doing that. That sounds, that sounds kind of dope. Fast forward to, like, four days later is the day you're talking about. You call me, but I'm in this house with four kids that can't go nowhere. So it's crazy. So the conversation you're talking about I had outside on our basketball court. And I remember, I remember being like, I think you told me like a little background about your Laker fandom and stuff like that.

You know what I mean? So, fuck. Yes, immediately. because when anyone tells me that I'm already like, oh, shit. And then it wound up being really, really cool. And it was relatively brief. It was kind of superficial, like, in terms of we didn't have the time to really dig into whole backgrounds and stuff. But I do remember after the first pod being like, yeah, okay, okay.

Yeah, it's okay. Yeah. And that was it. It's also crazy, bro, because, like, I don't think the listeners know this. And I tell people this all the time, we've never met in person. That's not. I've only seen you through the screen. I have never met you, bro.

I don't even know if you're real. I don't know if you're real. That's the funniest part. Like, we have, like, you guys, the thing that's special about this podcast is we, like, not just you, but like everyone involved, right? We have grown our friendship through like this.

Like, this is not only like, this, like this pod is honestly, it's not only like something that we see that, you know, like a two week thing. This is someone I get to talk to Roger for two times a week.

This is literally with this. this. Like, I genuinely miss you guys. Like when I came in, like, the 20 minutes late that I was today, because I had the wrong time. I was like, oh, I was really happy to see you guys. It had been a while. This is, you know, we're going to have like one of those. We'll have to do this, like one of those videos of like, you know, when gamers meet for the first time after playing like Madden for like five years and only only having headset, like relationships.

Yes. We'll have to do a video the first time we meet like that. Yes. Yes. It was funny, man. We had a lot of memories. I remember, like, we first, I remember our first, like, moment and it was tight. Because we were talking for a little bit, right? We had done our pod for, like, about a month or two.

And we went to two times a week. I remember when, like, Danny Green came on the pod and, like, that being a huge moment for the podcast. I think the Danny Green kind of, like, was our first moment of, like, oh, this is the podcast. We're like, oh, we're serious. And then, and then Danny Green was the one that said that, like, LaBouin. Braun might not play, which honestly, I didn't believe it in the thing, but I was like, oh, this is a moment. Okay.

And then it like went crazy. And then Tim Duncan came on. I don't know how. Tim made it like solidified us into like a place. We're always certified as long as like Tim comes just for that episode. I told that story the other day to a mutual friend of ours about when Tim came on, a mutual friend of Tim and I's. And they asked me about it and I was like, man, Tim came on.

And I go down like usually, you know, we want to usually. your phone as a recorder if you don't have a recording device and and you know we're going to go through the zoom so you got this backup of your zoom call like in an audio and then we send that to Sasha to split it up and that way it's all crystal clear I was like Tim came on like fuck that bro I'm on this cell phone yep and I'm going to set it up do you want this interview or not and we were like yes we do yes no like I listened back to that recently the audio is not great but it's kind of perfect that because it's Tim Duncan it's Tim yeah do you remember this though You, we had a, this was really, this was early, right?

Because, you know, Tim was, Tim was getting into something and I had never pod. Do you remember this? I got really mad at you guys. I got really angry with you and, and one of our, you guys were like, don't, you know, just journalistic. And I appreciate it, like journalistic advice. Like when someone, when you put out a question, even if it's a hard question for the person that's going to answer it, like, don't cut him off.

And I was like trying to kind of protect him a little bit in the interview because it was such a favor to me, right? and and I like snapped on you guys like fuck that we were mad at you motherfucker we were I know you were so moment we were like dog I think I think I had to call you the next day like we were fine but I had to call you like you like you know you good you was like I'm good I'm good yeah that's funny yeah I remember that I was that was great that was that that Tim Duncan pod was one of my favorite um like just because I did believe that he like was coming on the pod until he came i don't think you believed it either i think

it was confirmed a few times that he was coming on but we didn't it was one of those things of like we got to keep the zoom right because if he comes off he's not coming back onto the zoom it's over like he's not doing it i was two seconds before he came on i was still questioning like is this shit about to happen not because you know he gave me his word he was going to do it but like he's just, you know, so private, you know, that I just really wasn't sure whether or not. I'm talking about, like, right before he tapped in, I was like, oh, my God, I don't know that this is going to happen. And that was back in the day where, like, the Zooms, because I was in another place at that

point. So my Zoom, like, Internet wasn't great at the time. And so, like, that was during the early times of the pod where when, if the Zoom cuts out, bro, then we're kind of, and we're also kind of figuring out Zoom. So I was like, dog, this thing has to stay on. bro. And I remember when Sasha, because Sasha was always the person that told us when still is the person that tells us when someone's coming on. She's like, this is the, I think it was one of the first time she was like, Tim Duncan's on. Tim's at the room.

Tim's in the room. And we're like, oh! And then we have to immediately go like, what's up, Tim. Yeah. Yeah. Also, I remember, what a fun moment. We're going to get to questions. We're going to bring Jeremy back in at a second. There was one time. One of my other favorites is one of the all-time best. ones was when Boris came on. And that was when I was kind of feeling myself was part of like the Phoenix Sun's like, oh man, like I'm

from Roger's friend, right? And Roger had told me he was going to get me into whatever reunion function. He said, it's good, it's okay. And I alluded to me coming to the Phoenix Sun's reunion function and I got curved so hard by Boris at the end of that pot. Like he was like, yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no.

No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. And And he hung up, bro. That was cold. That was cold. Boris is a legend. And a just man of complete mystery. Like, he will always remain that.

It's just super. Boris popped. I told this, Boris popped up on me in like Salt Lake. Like it was like going to cook us dinner. Like when it's, it's just incredible stuff. Well,

no, because remember I saw when you, this is, we'll get back to him. Oh, that's right. But because that was when, um,

that was in March, this March when I, we were, I remember I was supposed to go to New York for, what ended up being the Kevin Durant profile, right? And during that time, you were, you were gone, you were going on vacation. You were going to the slopes in Salt Lake with the fam. And so that week, if you remember, we had done two pods.

And we had guest host. I think Howard Beck was on. And then we had the homie, Remberg Brown, came on as a guest host. But I was in New York and I'm going to Brooklyn or whatever. And I'm like, I saw Boris. And I'm like, yo, I should thank, I put at least put a name to the face. He's like, yo, thank you for coming on our pod, right? And I go over to Boris and I'm like, yo, thanks for coming on the pod.

Rajas, because I remember you at saying, like, I'm going to go, but I don't think Rogers is, I don't think Boris is going to be in Utah. So I tell, I tell Boris, and he's like, tell him to call me. Tell him to call me. That's right. And I hit him, I hit you, and I was kind of nervous because I didn't know if you wanted to see. I didn't know. I don't want to get into funk. And it was weird, but that's how it happened.

This is our episode show, so I'm not going to make it about Boris, but I just want to tell you the type of dude Boris is, because this is why he's so dope. Most NBA dudes, like, if I said, hey, man, stop by. I don't have a lot of time. I have, like, one of my old family, like, high school friends, his wife and his three kids, like, in this, you know, hotel suite. They stop by to say, what's up.

But you could, like, piggyback off it. We'll drink a couple beers, but you're going to have to kick it with them for a while. Most dudes are, like, dog, I catch you, like, you know, it's, it's a fandom thing, right? Like, they're like, yo, let's just do that when it's just you and us.

You know what I'm saying? Boris just came and just kicked it. Like my buddy Mason Sharp and his family with their shout out Mason, his son just went to University of Arizona, Aiden. But they were like, Boris came, sat down,

acted like he had known them for 20 years too and just, you know, drank a couple beers and some wine. And that's why he's forever, like, the coolest cat on the planet. There were a couple episodes. Like, I was a couple episodes that,

the Monica McNutt episode. Oh, yeah. Do you remember how nervous I was? It was a phenomenal episode, but I'm not as well-versed in women's hoops as you are. And I was so nervous because I didn't want to make a complete ass on myself. I still might have. But I remember her kind of, she was talking about it.

And then I got in my bag and I was like, oh, my God. Like she was so easy to talk to that it made me, like, I knew more about women's hoops just because she was easy to talk to, right? I was like, oh, shit. I know a little bit about it. This is what I'm okay. This is what I learned about the Monica McNutt episode. Shout out to Monica McNutt.

Love Monica McNutt. She's done. We need to get her back on the show. What I learned about that show was not that you don't like necessarily mess with women's hoop because clearly if you listen to episode, you do. And you, you're in a bag when you get into your women's hoop bag. The thing is, though, you have very much Fergo tendencies and you'll be like you have to warm up to a situation and you will talk your. So like, I don't know what the fuck is going on. Like, there's been many of times where we have had an episode where where Raja is like,

I got nothing, guys. I don't know, Logan, carry this please. And there's also vice versa times where I'm like this, we're like, yo, Raja, this is your guest. This is someone that you should, you take the reins on this. But there are most, most times when Raja says, Logan, you got this. Within the first five minutes, he is, Raja's taking over the episode. He's like, I'm sorry, Logan, you had this back.

and you had questions, but I'm going to go wrong. And you take over the episode. That was the Monica McNutt episode. That's one of those episodes where you do that. There are other people where other guests where I will not say names where Rod was like, fuck this, Logan, you got this. I'm kicking back. I don't care.

But the Monica McNutt episode is definitely one where you're like, yo, I love her and I love this. I'm going to take this over. I had fun with that one, man. You're right. That is a funny. But you know what? Like, that's part of the reason I think when you said, like, after that first episode,

we didn't really know each other, but like after the first episode, like, I was like, oh, okay, like, yeah, all right? Like, in a way that I was like, maybe I was unsure before it started, like, what the chemistry, because what you're describing, that's teamwork, dog. Like, that's like, you ain't tripping if I'm on your toes, and I'm certainly not, if you're on mine, like, we're just, we're just riding with that. Let me tell a quick story. I was at my son, Zen's football game on Sunday, and I was sitting there in the stands,

blazing hot, like 9 a.m. because they got rained out on Saturday. And there was this really big dude sitting next to me. He looked like an offensive lineman said he had played in the league for a while. And he was a friend of one of his end's teammates. So he was watching the game, kind of critiquing what was going on like we all do and stuff. And then he said to me like something about being from Chicago, which got me into like, I used to spend time in Chicago in the summers. My dad's from Chicago.

You know, what side of town? He's the south side. And we got under all of that. And he was like, yeah, there's a lot of dudes from Chicago. And then he said to me, yeah, I think you had one of them on your part. pod like Q rich and I was like my pot you know I have a pod he was he was sitting next to me the whole time and he just casually dropped like yeah you had one of them on your pod cue rich I was like oh shit yes we did have the bro we had the knuckleheads on the pod yeah no it's crazy like the

the life of the what the life the pot is taken on on itself like I really love the real ones and all our fans bro because we kind of have it's weird we kind of have a cult following we Like, I'll fuck with our fan base, bro. Like, I got a quick story that happened recently, like, a week ago. So I'm walking, you know, I'm walking outside my place. I won't say exactly where, but I'm walking outside my place. And, you know, walking down the street. And, like, my little morning walk, Raj, I've been getting it in this summer.

Like, just morning walk down to the marina, just look at the water, all this stuff. Like, I'm just locked in. So I'm walking, doing my little morning, well, this afternoon walk. And I see this car just pulls up at the, at the light. or whatever, right? I'm walking back home. And some Mercedes. It's a little like, you know, like probably like a late, like it late

early 2000s model, right? You feel me? Shout out to the homie swinging that thing. And then so he's at the light or whatever, right? And I'm walking and he like, and you know, we are of a certain, like, we're coming from a certain background. So if somebody like leans over the car, something's about to pop off.

Right, right. I'm like walking or whatever. And all I hear is like, hey, yo, I've been fucking with your commentary lately on the pod. And I'm like, you know when you like spooked for a second? Because you don't know, bro, like this is, you know, it gets lit sometimes. So I'm like, yo. And I'm like, right on and I walk off. But I'm like, this is the life that the pot is taken on.

And I'm really appreciative of that because not a lot of shows can, and have that. And a lot of that goes to like the real ones out there, bro. They really hold us down, dog. Shout out to y'all. Absolutely. Yeah. 100%. And some of those are, again, and I say this in all sincerity, bro, like when people recognize me for playing in the NBA, and maybe it's because, like, you know, you could become callous to it to a certain degree. But I've been out so long, and most people, if you, if I'm a certain of age, you don't really know. So, you know, it's always a little like oh shit man he knew who knew who I was you know what I mean like there's always a little like oh that's pretty cool but I really get excited when people say they listen to the pot it's another level of yeah of excitement

it really is man that shit and so when it happens to me in youth gyms like that it happens to me a lot in basketball gyms when I'm coaching teams and stuff um or wherever it is um even in people hit me on instagram and Twitter and stuff like that like it's really really like that compliment goes even further than being like, yo, I was a fan when you hooped. Yeah, bro. It's tight, bro. I want to go back to one memory of basically of just like how we were talking about the Monopinette episode, but there's another instance where like you ended up taking over the pot and I loved every minute of it.

And I was really excited. What was it? It was the Juan T.Cano Anderson pot. The Wante episode, which is honestly, I think like one of our best pure episodes that we've ever done that we've ever done just from a simple fact of like he was cursing. was like, we got the most raw version of an NBA player in real time of being an NBA

player, which I really appreciated. And it was funny because, like, if you notice about Roger, I think Juan knows this, like, you don't give, you don't give credit easy, bro. They got to earn your respect. And even Juan T, I was like, yo, want, you would fucking the Wantee episode, it took

us so long to do, one, because, like, just the season and things like that, but also because Raja was not convinced to do this pot. I'm just going to be He just was not convinced to do it. I was like, yo, I was like, Juan is good. We should get Juan on. He were like, I don't know.

I don't know. And I was like, Razor, you're going to see a lot of it. You're going to see a lot of yourself. You're going to see a lot of like just the grit and just coming through. And then, so we get to the pod, right? And Roz is like, okay, we got him on, I'm down. But I'm still skeptical. And within like five minutes, when he started talking about like the Mexican League and playing

through this, you like, fuck out of here, Logan, move this between two NBA players. going to talk about this. Kindred spirits. That was awesome. That was a really dope episode. I do remember the softening of it too for me, like where I could feel it coming on in the middle of the episode. Like, you know, I am in full disclosure.

I mean, you did it for me. But I, especially when it comes to media, like sometimes I'm a little like, yeah, I don't know, I don't know. But when he came on, I was a little like, I don't know him. You know, I've seen him play. and maybe I wasn't cranky, but I was trying to figure out how I was gonna get in, I guess.

Like, how am I gonna make my mark on this one? And I remember as it started to happen, I was like, oh shit, here it comes. Oh my God, dude. Oh, what's happening? And then we were off. It came down back to like you saying, you didn't say I love you two of you did not go all that far,

but it came back to like, towards the end, you were like giving advice and shit. I'm like, I don't know. What the fuck? You're like, hey, this is what you got to do. This is what you got to do. I didn't do this. Hey, and I was really like, yeah, bro, it was really heartfelt, too.

That was coming from my soul. That was coming from my chest. Two more episodes that, that, the Steve Kerr episode. I was going to go up to that, but go ahead. Let's talk about the Steve Kerr episode. Steve Kerr episode was really good, man. Friend of the show. Steve was, I felt like, I've always appreciated Steve,

even though I tell that story about like when he was in the front office with the sons and I got traded and stuff like that. But I always appreciated him because every time I kick him, it with Steve and there were there were a few opportunities at training camps and stuff he's like a genuine dude like you're not getting a front yeah you're getting you're getting him and i always appreciated that and i didn't really know if that was going to be the case on the pod and it was it was it was just you came out the gate started early you said why the fuck did you trade me i know that's how you started it no but it was like thank goodness it was steve but like it could have went two ways you noticed right

Like, it could have went two ways, and I was like, oh, okay, this is where we go. And that, like, completely broke the ice. It was great. Yeah, no, it's good. And then Cubes. Cubs was Mark Cuban. No, wait, I want to say, Mark Cuban was great. I want to stay a little.

Do you remember? We talked about the Danny Green episode, the Danny Green episode, like, being our first moment, like, of, like, relevance in, like, within the NBA sphere or whatever, just for, like, because it just, that thing went so crazy. That quote, I don't remember the pop, but I remember that quote about LeBron's going crazy. Similarly, like, to the Steve Kerr episode, when he said what he said, remember when he, like, he, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we don't, like, there was a time where he said the part about, like, the last season, the 19th season being harder than the losing seasons. And I know what he said. We both got instantly what he was talking about, you know, the stress and all that stuff or whatever, right? And then, like, I remember we recorded that, like, on a.

Saturday or something like that. Like it was a random day because, you know, Steve was in season and we had to get, you almost didn't even show up for that pod because you were busy with like, it just almost, it almost was like just a Steve and me pod. And you came was like, I'm going to do it. And I was so glad that you came,

that you were able to make it. And, but we did it on a Saturday. It didn't come out to like the following Monday. So we're like, we posted like, oh, it was a great interview. And then like,

dog, it became a whole news cycle because KD, like, tweeted in about, you guys can read like all that stuff, but KD, like, tweeted about the pod indirectly and it became a whole news cycle. I remember, because I got added. You didn't get added.

You didn't get, you saw it, but my mentions went ridiculous during that time. I still get notifications on that, but we were like in the middle of a firestorm. I was walking along Ocean Beach in San Francisco when I saw it, and I was on a walk. And, you know, when I was on a walk, you try to like do not disturb bro i got like 50 texts when that happened bro and like my

mentions were on fire remember that i do i do remember that i felt that i remember feeling kind of bad because because you know like i mean it was it was a benign ass statement but like and you never want to feel like this is though this is the old school part of me that's not in the media yet because it's like it's dope as a media member that your shit's being mentioned everywhere and but i i kind of felt bad for steed like damn dog i didn't want to be the reason or I didn't want our show to be the reason that you got to be explaining yourself. Sidebar real quick. I've been denied verification on Twitter for the fifth time.

My 30 days was up. I think I sent it to you over a break. Then they denied me again. I just, I mean, at this point, I can't stop. So let's just go, let me go to my favorite. I don't know how I forgot about this episode, Logan, but this might be my favorite episode. It might not have come across that way to the listener. but in terms of, you know, pre-pod, post-pod, things in the pod, the Vernon Mad Max Maxwell

pod? Oh, no, I think it came off as the favorite in the moment. Oh, my God. That's my guy. I love Max. Always have. But I love, like, having conversations, like, with him. We need to get Mad Max on the show, honestly.

He's got to come back. He's coming back. He's coming back. That was a fun episode in real time. It was also a very stressful show because we recorded that. And let's just say there were a lot of things on the cutting floor that will never see a lie today. But the Vernon Maxwell podcast, it was funny because we had, Vernon was on, I think before that pod, he was on a Bomani Jones's pod, a friend of the show,

Bomani Jones. Another good episode. And I remember listening to that pod, one Vernon Maxwell, Bomani Jones interview. and there were a lot of like curses that were taken out. On our pod, none of the curses were taken out. So he was just in a like a whole bag. And he said a lot of stuff, a lot of stuff is I'll just say that. And for like, so we were supposed to put that on a thing on our Thursday.

It didn't come out, I think, to like the following Monday or the next week because we had to go through a lot of shit to put that podcast out. I don't think there was a world where that pod never comes out. But it was, it was amazing. It was a favorite. That'll go down in the history books. We got to get back on the show. Sasha should have got a bonus for that one. I was.

Sasha. Sasha. I remember. I just remember after he, we were like, okay. Thank you so much. And then he left. And we were all just like staring at each other for like a walk night. At least like 20 minutes.

We were like, what the fuck do we do with this? What just happened? My goodness, bro. I loved him. I mean, I'll be the first to admit that I didn't really know who he was before. that. Like, obviously, I never watched him play or anything. Um, and after that, he left as, like, one of my favorite players of all time. Of all time. I was like, oh, you are one of my, like, new favorite people. Oh, man. We should, uh, we should get to questions. We're 40 minutes in. Let's get to some

one more. Can I talk about one more? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on. People through. That I'm, I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned. Uh, the Matrix. Oh, oh, oh, yo, showed up. Hold on. We got a top. robe. Yes. And in the social videos, you can go look and find these if you want, but in the social videos, he is wearing a bathrobe. Yeah, because go ahead. Roger, you want to, yeah, you forgot. You want to tell the story because that's your friend. You should tell the story. No, I don't, I don't really remember exactly how that went down. I mean, was he in, like, he was like in his, he was like in his condo in Chicago. Yeah. He was in his three, he was telling us all about

this beautiful house. He has in Chicago. So he forgot that he was supposed to do this. And Roger was like, texting like, hey, dude, like you got like, we're going to do this. And he was like, oh, shit, I forgot. I just got out of the shower or like he just took a shower. And we're like, dog, 10 minutes. You can wait 10 minutes. All of his shit was like upstairs in like another room or something like.

Yeah, yeah. I was like, okay, just can I like get some headphones? I don't have. And he was like, okay, I have to like run upstairs. You'd like run up three stories. Like, okay. Oh, whatever, whatever. finally get on and he did the entire interview in his bathrobe.

It was a phenomenal episode. It was so funny. And then he called Raja after the pod. He called Raja after the pod. He called Raja after the pod. He did decompression. Yes. Yes.

Yes. That was a fantastic episode. I talked to Matrix the other day. Oh, that's great. He's the character. That's one of the great ones. Can I just put in two requests right now?

And listener, like if you get to hear these dudes, I mean, I will be super excited. But Logan, like, trust me, bro. One is Leandro Barboso. Oh, we got to get him on the pot. We've been trying to get Leandro Barbosa on the pod. No, I have been talking to him every time I see him. He's up in Sack. We got to give him to

tell L.B. to hit me up and I'm going to make that happen. Like I will like, we'll make that work. But the second one is Eddie Fing House. Oh, hell yeah. Bro. Hell yes. To this day, one of my favorite, if not, he might be my favorite teammate of all time. He is, Eddie House would be phenomenal on, on the real ones where it's a little looser. He's great on air every time I hear him. Like he does a really good job. But on this platform where he could get a little looser and you could get a little more of his personality to pop out. Oh my God. I'm going to apply some, I should be saying this. I'm going to, I guess this is going to apply some public pressure, but I really don't care. I have talked to this man. We have been trying to

figure this out. Talk to him about this on multiple occasions. We are trying to figure this out. but the dream guest, including the names that you mentioned, but the dream guest, though, Stephen A. Smith. We've been trying to get this done. We have been asking back and forth. I have seen him in person. I have asked him. He said, I will do it.

He's agreed to do it. But I will just say politics. Once the politics get out of the way, we'll figure it out. But Stephen A, we got to get Stephen A on the pod. We have been trying to do this. We have been doing it for years, honestly. we've been trying to get Stephen A on the pot. I've seen him at games.

I've been asked him. He is down to do it, but we have to get the politics in order. You have to figure it out. That would be fantastic. And I'm going to add a Stephen J to the list, Stephen John Nash. Like your Stephen A is my Stephen Jay.

Like, got to get him. Got to get him on. Got to get more. Steve, bro. Dash is obviously like a friend of this. He's acquaintance until he comes on. But ever since we've been on this podcast,

Steve Nash has been a guest that we've been like, like always like two weeks away from getting, right? Like always just like, it's going to happen. It's going to happen. Every time I see Steve, I look at him and like, it was like, okay, okay. I remember when I was in New York in March, I was like, yo, Steve, when you coming on the pot, is like, I don't know, but you guys are on the short list of pods that I will go on. He's a master curve, but he's going to like, he's going to do it.

But also Nash has this smile that's like, okay, all right, all right, Steve. You're like, whatever, man. Like would take, would get you a bunch of tickets to the games and come out and hang out after the game, take you to dinner, we do all that, and then you can't get them on a pot. Exactly.

It's fine. It's okay. We'll get them on at some point. Yes, we got him for you guys. We'll get it. Let's go to the phone. Let's Joe, let's bring him back. Jomey, Jomey, bud, our guy.

What's up, man? How did, well, it's also, let's, before we get to the question stuff, I want to get to, like, Jomey, who has been just a lovely, like, family member of the pod. just been great. Like, when he came on, just came on, like, on fire and has been just a great superstar.

Dude. I love, I just want to say that I love having you on the pod, bro. You're a real one. Founding member of the Bridgeton Boys? Founding member of the Bridgeton Boys. I mean, what? Early. He was outside for, he was outside here on real ones before he had a mic, before he even had a mic.

And he was holding it down. Jome. What's your favorite memory of the pot? Oh, man. I think it's got to be the jazz pack watch. Because we've had a lot. I mean, between the pack watches and, you know, just me showing up talking about Lakers' successionalism and, you know,

Matt Hooper, the pack watch, that one, I haven't waited for that one for so long, for so long. That was years in the making. That was one that has taken years off my life. Since 2020, I've been hearing about the jazz and how the jazz were the real, and how dare you not talk about the jazz and how dare you disrespect the jazz.

And every year, they had those conversations every year they disappointed you. So it was partly like for me, but also if you're listening, you're a jazz fan, like love yourself, you know, and just understand like, hey, man, my team really and got it like that. And now that Rudy Gaubert is out of there,

You know, we're looking at a, we're looking at a playing team at best. So I don't want to, I don't want to hear none of it. I don't want to hear none of it. But yeah, that was, that was the best. Shout out Walters. That was great. Shout out Walters. I'm not participating in Salt Lake Slander today.

What I, I don't, he wants to go on the slopes. He wants the vacation to be here. That's the only reason why he's not going. This isn't even, for me, this isn't even debatable. The best Joe Me, I may be bridgeton boy. Bridgeton talk was always like hearing beer to my heart. Always great. It was.

It was road trip. Jomey when he took us on a tour of Palmdale. Playoff people. He went down to Palmdale. That was not even debatable for me. I think that I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure that Paul George has listened to the pod. Because remember, after we did the, because after we did the Palmdale trip, and you can go on YouTube, I put the whole Jomey trip on my YouTube channel.

You guys go lock that in. But remember after that whole Palmdale thing happened, about a week and a half later, out of nowhere after an interview with Reggie Jackson, he goes, looks at the camera and goes, shout out Palmdale and like looks at Jemey through the screen. Because he wasn't even reping Palmdale like that, bro. Like not every day.

Like he just had just done it. And it just seemed like a shot. I'm not sure. I haven't talked to Paul George. I don't even know the guy. But I think that was a shot. It was not on, it was not on accident. It was not on accident.

It was not on accident. There's no shot. There's no shot. I must reference one more really, really great Jomey. And it wasn't even really Jomey. It was Jomey's dad. Oh, yeah. It was when Jomey's dad made the pod, we were talking about him selling art, right?

Like it was where, well, his art was on exhibit with the Lakers. With the Lakers. Oh, my God. Brod showed up to see to see Jomey's dad's art. Yes, correct. LeBron, A.D., Russell Westbrook, and Jomey's dad talked to each and every one of them. And it was definitely like the OG pops where like, even if you don't want to listen to what he has to say, you better stand your ass right there.

Respect your deference. You better stand. You better respect. You're like, yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yep. And your dad was fearless. You're going to get this lecture.

Yep. Yep. That's what it was. My favorite Jomey moment, though, was. when Jomey, it was when the Phoenix Suns collapsed at the hands of the Mavericks. And there was a lot of pent up aggression from Jemey because of all the years that the sons had beaten the Lakers. And he saw Raja Bell a member of those sons teams that beat the Lakers. And he said they should cease as an organization.

He said that they will never recover from this. And he also said something along the lines that like it's a poverty franchise rock. Like, quote, it's a poverty franchise, Raja. Like, he looked at you. Looked at you, Raja, and you could, you had to take it because there was nothing that you could say. That was my favorite moment. Very aggressively that day. That's a nice.

I had some fuel of my jetpack that day. I don't know what it was. You know what I mean? I think my favorite, my favorite memory from the pod, that has nothing doing me with you guys, was episode one. when I turned on the podcast and I was like oh they got this dude pod with this dude Logan

I gotta tap in you know it's my job I cover NBA I got to listen to the podcast you know and he's like hey man I'm here Rajabelle and I was like

oh bro not this dude man not this guy and the first thing out of Logan's mouth is hey we gotta get this out of the way man I was like to be back to

what happened what's going on and And no, Roger told him, what's up. I was like, hey, man, things happen. You know, you get to court, you know, feelings, ah, you know, goes down like that. Nah, but, man, over the last two years, man, that energy has kept strong, man. And I love listening to you guys twice a week.

It's great content. You guys bounce off. Logan is a man in the streets. And Rogers, the dude, you know, not, like, nose ball is not even, like, scratching the surface. Nose ball. Yeah, dog. You know what I mean? And so.

The combination of y'all together is just, it creates magic on the feed, man. And, you know, I'm happy to play a small part in this show, man. Large part. Large part. Congrats on two years. And we just getting started, baby.

We just getting started, baby. So I want to bring, I want to, thank you, Jemie. I want to bring, because we're about to do questions. I want to, like, give someone their flowers right now. Do it. The one that really. holds it all together who gets us like you guys think that we run this shit because our names on the marquee no no the person that runs this whole shit um is is just incredible i'm really happy that

you know just not only just a person that like that is someone that i work with but it's like genuinely a great friend and has always just kind of just always been there like not only the person that fucking wrangles Roger wherever the fuck he's at. Oh my God. There is a rule that I can't text Roger to come into the Zoom because this person is the only one that can do it.

And that is, and just all the flowers, not enough flowers that just holds it down. Sasha Mac, okay? Sasa Ashaw who just holds it down. Clap it up for Sasha Mac. Shut out. Shut out. Who's the God who always holds it down. Sasha.

Sasha didn't, Sasha was not like, Sasha is a day one but was not, came like a month later and like, it was my day one. It was your day one. Your day one. Produced the pod. Our pod came to another level as soon as Ashr Matt came on. Hi, Sasha. And, and

she just blessed me with the opportunity roughly a month ago to follow her on Instagram, which is really dope for me. Like that's a really top secret. That is the last we're going to talk about the Instagram. That doesn't exist otherwise. I saw you like the plums. I saw you like the plums.

Sasha don't let nobody follow our Instagram. Roger, that's big. I know. It doesn't exist. I think I, everyone on this call follows my Instagram. I can get over my sliding from, from Twitter because I've been verified by Sasha.

You know what I'm saying? So like, again, Roger, you got my information. We can't do this right now. We can't do this. We can't do this. It's over.

You don't want to help. I'm here. I'm here. I'm going to turn over my account. It's yours now. You don't want that. I don't know if you want that. Say no more.

First thing I'm going to do is from your account. I'm going to start tweeting like Katie. So I'm going to do something to tweet. I'm going to reply. I'm going to start searching Roger Bell on Twitter. Just replying around the folks. You're going to say, fuck Logan. Just out of nowhere.

Just out of nowhere, just going to be like, fuck Logan as a tweet. Just that's all it's going to be. Nothing that crazy. Somebody's going to be like, hey, man. If Roger Bell is in the league right now, he would average 15, 7, and 8. I'd be like, that's, that's, Right, but you mess up with the 15. I need 10 more points to that average, boy, I'm 25.

Oh, it's yours, dude. You got it. I only got two things. Two must that have to happen from the account once I turn it over. You have to retweet my son's football and basketball stuff for my two boys, right? Automatic. That has to happen. And you have to like FIU shit.

FIU athletics always get a like. Other than that, do with it, which you will, bro. Sure. Okay. Okay, I can do that. We can talk price points later. You know, I got a starting, I got a starting fee of $75,000. But, you know.

What you mean? Roger, we can look at how much you made in your NBA right now. You got to talk to Bill. That's no, no, no, no, no. We're working on the curve. Hey, no, no reason why you keep that money, you got to, you got to talk to his Spotify representative. That's correct.

We're talking about this kid. That's it. You don't keep the bread while spending the bread. You got to relax. You got to spend other people's bread. Sasha. Yes. What we got?

What are the real ones? Let's start it off. What's what we got? Yeah, really quick. Also, I, they were like, you're going to work on this podcast with Logan Murdoch and Rushabelle. And I was like, word, I don't know who either those people are. And then I was like, cool, though.

That sounds fun. And then I told Austin about, you know, I'm doing this podcast with the NBA player. It was pretty cool. Like, he was like, oh, who's that? I was like, Raja Bell, and he was like, really? Like, I was like, ah. Damn, Austin. No, but it's all, you know, it's all been worked out.

You know, it's worked out for Jomey. It's worked out for him. I like, everybody. I like how all three of us had to come to the pod and be like, listen, Roger, you made mistakes in the past. I know. Listen, it's the majority of people in my life, man. They're like, hey, man.

Our Laker fans. I know. I know. Most people are like, you're not. That's really what it is. You're just working in an entirely Laker, you know, environment. That says something about me, right? When most people are like, you're not that bad.

Like, you're not as bad as I thought. Surprisingly, surprisingly cool. He didn't close line me when we were on the podcast. It was great. It was great. Only because we're on Zoom. That's funny because I watched that video after meeting you. So me, I have a fresh, I had a fresh slate with you.

Raja. I had no preconceptions, no idea who you were. Right. I had never, I didn't watch basketball for really 2016 anyway, so. Okay. Question from Diego Torres. What are the best qualities you, Logan, and you Raja have taken from each other? Okay. Doing the pot with Raja.

One, Raja is the greatest cheerleader. Like, if Raja, if you don't fuck with somebody, and I'm not going to say any names or anything, but if you, like, all of a sudden, don't fuck with somebody. Roger's going to be like, well, fuck that motherfucker. He shouldn't have did that shit. They shouldn't have did that.

Like, fuck him. You know? So he's given me, emboldened me for the inner, fuck it. I'm just like, who cares? Like, he's emboldened me to do that. I think that's the biggest thing. But on a, like, he has,

just listening to him, like, I, if you know this pod or if you listen to this pod, I am not the X's guy. I'm not. I am the storyteller guy, right? So, like, when I asked Roger questions about the game, generally,

curious. He has really helped me see the game in a way that I've never really seen the game before. I have just think, like, what does this mean for such and such? You know, I always put the narrative thing. I'm in the narrative business. I'm right. You know, so when I see Raj, when I see games now, I actually look for the back cut now. I see, oh, this guy doesn't have it in him. He doesn't give a fuck. This guy right here doesn't care. You know, because you think everybody in the NBA cares and stuff like that. They don't. But he's let me see. see the game in a way that I've never seen the game before because of just the way he talks about it. So that's the biggest thing that I got from Rock. Well, thank you. Logan, I'll take that as a compliment man and allow me to compliment you back. I think, like, you know, a lot of the times in the media, well, when you're a player and you're dealing with the media, you don't, it's adversarial a lot of the time. You know what I mean? Even though I tried my best to not be like that, I think, you know, you showed me a healthy

way to have relationships with players because you've got some really good relationships out there in the business with players, coaches, executives. And, you know, I think it's because you keep it a buck, you keep it genuine. You don't really, you know, you're not coloring outside the lines in any particular way, right? You're just kind of writing what you get and you're keeping it fact base. And I think the relationship side of it is something that if you want to be good in the business, you have to be able to kind of cultivate. And you've done that very well. And so I did, didn't always, I've told my wife and my family this, I didn't take advantage of the networking the way I should have when I played, but as a journalist now, I'm trying to be better about

cultivating the relationships and making sure that, you know, I got, I got people that I can call on sources and treat them right and keep it healthy like that. So I've appreciated that and I've learned from you in that regard. Thanks, bud. Yeah, for sure. Thanks for sure. Diego, I hope you answered your question, bro. I mean, I hope so, man. I'm feeling over Clempton. Yeah, yeah, go. Okay.

So, Richard Clark says, love the show, keep rolling. Question, who in the league today does Raj

I think is similar to him when he played hashtag get Roger verified? It's never going to end. It's never going to end. You're going to get

the, we're going to get a verify. Get verified or die trying. It's tough. That's a good question. You answer, anyone else want to answer

it first? I need to think. I got a good answer in that one. You know, I, see a lot of qualities of Raja. Like, I don't know if there's a...

Like, okay, so one person that I think about when I think about Raja, and maybe not, like, I think about mindset. Think about P.J. Tucker. I really like watching P.J. Tucker play defense. And someone that is, like, I think P.J. Tucker's a little bit more mixier within the league than Raja was.

Like, I think P.J. Tucker, like, Raja just admitted, like, P.J. Tucker is Raja, in my eyes, if Raja networked more during his time. You get what I'm saying? But the mindset reminds me of him because it don't matter. None of that network and his shit. None of that. When they're on the court, like, he is a dog on the court, man.

Like, that's, like, I'm not talking about the positions and things like that. I'm talking about how he plays defense and how he hits and, like, is a clutch player in the mindset that he brings to a game. So I always, I see a lot of Roger and PJ Tucker. I appreciate that. I mean, like, I'm just like three people. Like, I like the PJ one. I like the PJ one. I like the PJ for defending.

Although PJ's. got the ability to defend way more positions than I did. And he's a bigger guy. Yeah. Yeah. You know, Bruce Brown reminds me and myself young. You know, in the role that he was playing on that, on that Brooklyn team, just kind of, you know, I can play, but you need me to really defend. But if there should ever be an opportunity to score it, like, I think I can do that.

Like, let me, let me show you I can do it. You know what I mean? You're still trying to, you know what I mean? like Bruce Brown's got way more in him and it'll continue to grow in a way that I think I did as a player. I like that. I also like Grayson Allen's interesting to me because he's got he's got what you're talking about like Grayson Allen gives no fucks. And like I really didn't care. So like I I see kind of I see me in a few different people like you know, but today's player is so much more skilled than I could than I ever was. I was trained. You know, by the time I was my third

fourth year in the league. I trained just to shoot jump shots, man. You know what I mean? Like, that's what I did. I defended and I trained all summer to knock down open shots. So I didn't train to have it in my hand. Those guys are way better than I would have ever been. But yeah, some of those names. Yeah, I'd agree. Okay. I have a voicemail. It's not a question, but it is their favorite moment. But let me just play it. What's up Logan? What's up Raja? This is Connor from D.C. A long time real ones listener. I just wanted to say my favorite real ones moment ever was when Jomey had to go to Palmdale. That shit killed me. So fucking funny. I loved it. And recently I was hanging out with some friends in L.A. And I was asking where one of my friends was at. And they were like, oh, man, he doesn't really come around anymore. He moved to Palmdale. And the only reason I knew what that meant or where that was was because of you guys podcast. So,

Hey, shout out to Jomey. Shout out to Palmdale. Thanks, guys. Wow. Conner. Okay. Jomey put Palmdale on the map more than Paul George, more than Palmdale Pee. That's facts.

That's facts. I did more for Palmdale than Paul George ever did. We can write that in the history books. Connor from D.C. Yes, amazing moment on the show. I can't even. Dog, what was that like, bro? We got a video of it, but what was that like, Joe?

It was so, it was so disheartening because you get to Palmdale and you just realize, like, wow, like, people actually, like, live here. Like, I talked to some folks. Like, it's not just like a myth, you know? It's not like how we say, like Atlantis or, you know, Valhalla. It's an actual place. It's an actual place with real people living there. And you just look around. you're like, why?

You don't have to be here. You could be anywhere in the world, but you are here in, you know, the wretches. Hey, man. Hey, hey, hey. It's just, it's different. We got, shout out the Mexican restaurants you went to Palmdale, bro. Show them to respect.

But that's what I'm talking about, bro. The fish taco, let me not even start, bro. We could be here all day. The fish taco wouldn't hit like it's supposed to hit. I thought you said it was fire. No. No. All right, dog.

Let's relax before Jomey gets popped because we're not trying to have... We're not trying to have... Let me just... All my people out there in Palmdale, I love you. It's not against you. I'm sure you are great human beings

and y'all do what I got to do. It's all loves, all respect. It's jokes, right? It's not about you. It's the land that you stay on. I'm sorry. I got it. You know what I mean?

I was surprised he went. I was like, because we didn't know Jomi like that. And I was surprised that he went. He pulled up. We made a deal that if they lost that game, I would go out to Palm. You had shit to do that day, didn't you? I did. You had to get back home at that point.

You had to get back home. We had a family event that was later. So I woke up by like, I still have the alarm in my phone. It's nickname, it's Palmdale P. That's the alarm that I said. I'm telling you, it might be the greatest. It might be the greatest. There are some good moments.

It might be the greatest moment. Appreciate that shout-up, man. Yeah. Conner from D.C., I hear you, bro. I hated that. It's awesome. Okay. Let's do this one from Brendan Murphy. This is basically just like his favorite moments.

And he has like full on like quotes and everything. Oh, wow. Cory Logan, no disrespect. You are because you are great, but pretty sure these are all Raja. About Jordan, quote, he's like the most charismatic shit talker. Everyone wants to be around him even though he's an asshole. I think I said that.

I don't think Roger said that. I don't know that I said that. I don't think Roger said that. I think that's something that I would say. Well, go ahead. Why would he lie about the Grayson Allen flagrant quote? On the other hand, you flying down the lane and you're trying to pipe on me,

I'm contesting it, end quote. Roger. I haven't heard pipe use like that in years. That's what he said. That was Roger. Forgive me for not being in the streets anymore. But yes, that's what he did. That was Roger.

the king, quote, if you bring 40 players through there in a five-year span and it's always shitty, then it ain't the players, end quote. That was about the Kings, right? Stand by that. That was Roger. Yeah. Yeah. About LeBron, quote, he brings a window.

You have to mortgage the next three to four years of your future to win. And then he looks around and says we're too old and he leaves, end quote. I don't think Roger said that. I think I said that. I don't think Roger would say something like that. I said that. Did you say that? No, I said something like that.

was Roger. I don't know if that's an exact quote, but it was something like that. About Logan putting Raja at the three on the ringer squad. You're going to have me hanging out on the wing? Yes. You know why?

I stand it. You know why? After hearing that, I got intimidated that episode. I remember I got intimidated that episode. And honestly, fuck that. Put Raja at the three.

You know why? Because he just said for a whole career, he didn't work on his ball handling skills and that shit. Put his ass the three. All right. He's better than everybody else at the ringer. Anyone else you'll meet that didn't play in the NBA.

I will not be a team. Not just the ringer, man. I will not be silent. Also, right now, we got to play half court if Roger's going to play. That's just real talk. Because Roger is, we got to play half court. We can't play full of court.

Oh, no, no, no. I popped up in a full court game the other day. Gene shorts, Nike trainers, no socks. How do you feel right now? Two days later. I mean, no, this was a couple of weeks ago. I was sitting in the gym. I couldn't watch it.

I was like, this is terrible. How did you feel the next day? Not very good. Not very good. But in the moment, in the moment, man, we were cooking. It was good times. Let's get the ringer NBA game. We're going to get the ringer NBA pickup game.

We are at the, where are we going to do it at, man? We got to come out to L.A. We got to come to L.A. Come to L.A. Let's run it. Hey, we're bringing, hey, what's the middle son? The middle bell. Who is the middle bell?

My favorite. Bell. Ty Bell is going to be our point guard. No, I can't argue. It's going to be our point guard. I ain't going to argue with you on that one. All right. Class of 2028. I see you. Oh, Logan. See you see you. I'm locked in. That's my dog. See, man. Ty Bell is my little homie, bro. I love the end, but Ty Bell is my dog. I think it's Ty Boogie 5 on Twitter. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. My

follow me back. Follow me back. Okay. Don't be liking my comments on Instagram. Follow me back, Ty Bell. Oh, shoot. He's not popping the show on. You're going to have to come on at some point. We're going to get Ty Bell on the show. Is that bad? Is that bad that I don't know that my sons have never visited?

Also, breaking news. Raja Bell doesn't follow me on Instagram. Breaking news. He does not follow me on Instagram. If we're talking about not. Logan, it's just you at parties. Well, I mean, see, look.

So two things. Two things. Oh, all Logan posts. Oh, my close. All Logan posts is, is, is his crazy fits that he's wearing at the games and him like him being cool at E-40 and Snoop Dog and Stan.

That's all he do. He's just like, hey, I'm better than you. Right? All my friends, my circle's better than your circle. All right. Step your money up. You worried about getting your funny up. Step your money up.

Wow. The vibe of the Instagram is step your money up. Like you're not here. Money on. I'm different levels. You know what I'm saying? Wow. I'm not mad about that.

It's inspiring. I'm like, y'all, dog, I got to grind. I'm not working hard enough. That's clear. Two, I realize I don't follow Roger, period. See? We're going to have to remedy that when this is over. I'm going to get you, Roger.

I mean, Roger on Instagram is his kids, which is totally fun. No, yeah. That's right. That's a little bit. I would cheat that follow back, though, Roger. I got you. Hey, bro, I reciprocate. I appreciate.

No, he doesn't. I'm not on the first friends. I don't know what's on the close friends. Oh, no, I don't do the close friends. I don't know. I'm not hip. enough to have close friends. I just, okay, okay.

You could be lying for the podcast, but that's cool. We'll take you. We'll take you at your word. Being nice to me, just being nice. All right. What we got? What else we got? What's up?

From Kobe, after getting to basketball during the pandemic, you guys are the first NBA podcast I listened to and have been tapping in ever since. Love the energy you bring to every episode. So many good pod moments over the last years. Some of my faves are Raja, finding out there was a summer camp using his name. getting called Raja Rule.

Sasha Mac cussing, Logan and Raja for not giving Dallas their flowers. Logan telling Raja how he'd defend him. I'd file the shit out of you, Raja. And also the forest E. Yeah. That sounds about right. Yeah, Kovia, we hear you. Sasha puts us at our place a lot in ways that you guys just don't see.

It's always on the pod, too. Not always on the pod. It's called leadership, man. It's called leadership. Yeah. We're doing this. Like, there's like, like, y'all,

you don't know how many phone calls. You don't know how many phone calls have ended with me and Sasha. Like, we're doing this, Logan. Bye. We're doing this. Okay. Like, goodbye. That's,

that's many of conversations. You think Kobe and MJ were terrifying leaders. Don't even start with Sasha. Don't even start with Sasha. Don't even start with Sasha. She said that didn't listen. And I took offense to that. Um, okay.

It's from Mangus. Mangus snowboard. Hey, Logan and Raj, I big fan from Australia here. That explains the name. From Down Under. Down under. I've listened to every single episode you put out,

but my absolute favorite memory is when you had Tyler Times on the podcast to pour out a little liquor after the sixers were eliminated from the playoffs two seasons ago. That was the most epic rant I've ever heard. Thanks, guys. Okay, I don't, okay, a little backstory on that. I don't remember the rant per se.

I know because I know Tyler that it was a lot, but I remember that one, because that might have been one of the first guests or people that we've had on the pod. Like I think that was one of the first like, like non. When we started Matt Hooper at the time. It was, it was pour out a little liquor. So quick, quick story.

The first playoffs. So I can give a quick story because I can give you the origin of Matt Hooper. And then we'll get that right into the Times thing because man, was he a Matt Hooper that day? So Matt Hooper started. I was, I was, I found out that, that Raja, or I was confirmed that Raja loves very backpack 90s hip hop, East Coast rap, right? So I was listening to Life After Death, which is one of my favorite album, my favorite Biggie album of all the time. And kicking the door comes on. And that's when

the mad rapper comes on, right? That's when the mad rapper, shout out to the mad rapper, wherever you are back. And we're back, right? So I'm listening to this and I'm like, dog this is this is so tight this is so tight and it ties into the to to um it ties into like with raja in the because honestly at the end of the day bro this is a hip hop show bro this is hip hop you know this is what it is you know we both love this is what this is hip hop sports talk radio right now but anyway so i remember i texted the group chat i'm like we're i got something planned or something like that and then i listened and i just did it i said let's fucking try it and we started doing at the beginning of the show. And that's it a, but that evolved from pour out a little liquor,

which Tynes came on for. So we're doing this. And I'm a little nervous because like, we're about a month in or two or something like that. And we hadn't had a guest in. And I'm still getting a no Raja. And also like, I know Tynes a little bit. And I'm like, let's fucking do it because Tines can talk his ass. One thing Tines can do is anybody who knows him, that motherfucker could talk. He, he, he, he, can talk. It's very eloquent the way he talks and eviscerates things and people and just, just he's a very eloquent blow torture is what I can say.

So shout of the time. He's at GQ right now. But he was there and he, I remember doing it. And I think me and Roger looked at that Zoom call like, okay, okay, okay. It was a lot. And I remember that.

Yeah, that was a great moment in that. Shout to time. shout out to what he's doing right now. And that was a great moment. Yeah. Shout out to Australia. Tap in. What?

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I love basketball. Love that. Not great basketball culture in Australia. Great basketball culture. Oh, yeah.

I think this is going to be like, like right in line with the show. But I got to go pick up my fucking kid. Oh, shit. Well, we got to. All right. Well, on that note, keep, Sasha, keep that in the podcast. Keep that in the podcast. Keep that in the podcast.

You don't know. Keep that. No, dog. All right, let's go. Okay. Well, that has been the two-year anniversary edition of Real Ones. Just, it's a Thursday. So, you know what? I'm just going to speak for everyone.

Rewen to the week goes to y'all, man. It goes to the fans, bro. Everybody that has always held us down, bro, that is always, you know, the people that walk my homie in the bins who scared the shit out of me. It goes to you, my dog. It goes to everybody that we see in the arenas, everybody that we see at AAU events that chap into the pop. or like we're at the grocery store.

Like, this is taking on a life of his own, and it's all because of you. So ruin it a week goes to everybody who listens. I appreciate it. Happy, all, all the everything. Love y'all. So, yeah, man. It's another edition of the pod.

Shout out to everybody that has made this a thing. And we love you, man. Got any, is that it? Got any words, bro? Any final words? I got to go get my kids. Oh, okay. All right.

We'll see y'all in the fall. See y'all. Goodbye. Okay, bye.