The Ringer NBA Show - The 2026 Realys Awards | Real Ones

Episode Date: July 23, 2026

Logan Murdock, Raja Bell, and Howard Beck put a bow on the 2025-26 NBA season with their sixth annual Realys Awards. Find out who wins the highly anticipated Real One of the Year award, who Raja crowns as the Raja Bell Memorial Defender of the Year, and much more! (00:00) Intro  (1:50) OG of the Year  (10:23) Newcomer of the Year  (17:25) Worst Trade of the Year  (24:41) Crashout of the Year  (30:50) Moment of the Year  (35:13) Who won the year?  (38:24) Who lost the year?  (41:24) Raja Bell Memorial Defender award  (45:20) Real One of the Year (52:30) Outro Blooper Hosts: Logan Murdock, Howard Beck, and Raja BellProducers: Logan Murdock, Clifford Augustin, and Victoria ValenciaVideo: Victoria ValenciaAudio: Devon BaroldiShow Art: Matthew JamesProduction Supervision: Ben Cruz and Conor Nevins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's popping real ones? It's that time of year, ladies and gentlemen. It is the award show of all basketball award shows. It is the season finale. It is real ones, realies. I got Howard motherfucking Beck there. I got Raja Bell there, my Virgo brother in Christ, and we are here to give out awards.

And we are also going to try not to say any dated LeBron things, because he might even just, he might even just make his decision right now. I don't know, and I hope that he figures it out at some point. But for now, we are going to get to the categories. First of all, how are you guys doing? How are you guys doing? Roger, I haven't seen you in a while. Just like a quick catch-up.

How are you doing? I'm doing really well, man. I've been, it's my first time home in about a month. I was traveling with Thai, like this used basketball high school is a pretty rigour, like June and July. like it's pretty nonstop June, early July. So we're home. And I'm excited to be home for a little while.

Dude, my back is not better for the traveling that I've been doing. Like I had a really serious couple of massages trying to get this shit out. Not that anyone cares, but like at 50, yeah, it was a struggle to sleep in all those different hotel beds for sure. Oof, okay. Speaking of OG problems, let's get to the first category. Okay. That wasn't really, that wasn't really a way to open the show, wasn't it? You fucking ass.

No, it wasn't. It wasn't. I'm sorry. I haven't potted in a while, but I'm it's always my bad. It's just always great when Raja sounds older than me for a few minutes. Just for a little bit. Just for a little bit.

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and as their lives start to intertwine, The line between right and wrong begins to blur. Don't miss the three-episode premiere of the Hulu original series Furious on July 27th, only on Hulu on Disney Plus. When WestJat first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different. People thought denim on denim was peak fashion, inline skates were everywhere, and two out of three women rocked, the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, one thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when WestJet welcomes you on board. Here's to Westjetting since 96. Travel back in time with us

and actually travel with us at westjet.com slash 30 years. Let's start it off. I'm going to switch it and go to this one first. OG of the year. Howard, you were the OG of the podcast. Who was your OG of the year? I mean, I feel like this is almost like a trick question

or a setup. Like, it almost has to be OG and a nobi, doesn't it? Oh, oh, you went that way. Okay, all right, all right. That wasn't actually the prompt, but I get where you're going. I know. No, it's LeBron. Yeah.

It's obviously LeBron. Greatest age 41 season ever after being the greatest age 40 season, the greatest age 39 season, the age 38 season. Average 23, 7 and 8 in that first round victory over the Rockets with Luca out and Reeves mostly out, still a top 20 player, still hugely relevant. and still so commanding of the league and our attentions that, yes, as we record this, we are still all waiting on him, and he's still the biggest news of the summer.

This could end up being a LeBron James emergency episode, right? It could end up being that, for all we know, right? For all we know. No doubt. Mine was also LeBron James, because I mean, I think as long as he plays, he's going to get this award, right? Just because it's all the oxygen he brings,

all of his game. You had any thoughts real quick, Roger, on the summer of LeBron? How are you feeling just even as a spectator? Does it, like we have our feelings, but I feel like the media's feelings is kind of selfish because we got vacations to go on and stuff and we're kind of annoyed by this. But you as a former player and also just as a person that is a spectator, what have you been feeling about the LeBron summer? Yeah, I mean, look, I'm locked in like everybody else.

I'm really interested to figure out where he's going to go. but I don't have any. I heard I heard I had to drive to Augusta. Like I got back from Vegas, didn't realize Peach Jam was the next week. And I couldn't find a rental car up there. So I had to drive from here to Augusta was like nine hours. You had a lot of car problems.

I know, dude. But like I could not get a car. I heard people. I didn't know that was the thing with the media. They were bitching and complaining about the decision. And they went as far as to say this person that LeBron not making a decision was going to cause people in front office. offices that usually have allocated this time for their vacation.

So it was not respectful to them. Man, fuck that. Like what? LeBron James has the right to make his decision whenever he wants, go wherever he wants, for whatever reasons he wants to go there for. And so that's my feeling on it. Like, everyone else can kick rocks. Like, this dude is going to tell you where he wants to go when he wants to tell you.

And he's earned the right to do that. So I don't really have any problem with it at all. I'm just interested to know where it's going to be. I think that's going to be fascinating, but the rest of it completely up to him, and I got no problem with that. It's a very fascinating time for him, right? Because I think that on one hand,

he does have the right to, you know, make all the decisions that he wants and the timing that he wants. And quite frankly, from a content standpoint, it is helping all of us out, right? We always have something to talk about and people want to hear it, even if it's actually nothing.

Even if it's a nothing burger of an update, people just want to talk about, And you know who else wants to talk about LeBron? LeBron does. He loves this. He loves all of this. That's why he went some fanatics fest and just basically was teasing everybody. And like, huh, maybe I'll make one.

Maybe I won't. Maybe he loves this attention. It's probably the last time he's going to get this much attention, right? There's that part of it, right? But there's also the business of LeBron. So like wherever he goes, you're not just getting LeBron James the basketball player who's been very effective. You're getting the business of him.

You're getting all eyes are going to be. be on him. And even like Adam Silver saying like, hey, we have to, we, we need you to make a decision because it affects our business, right? It's just been fascinating to see all these things. The Ringer has been a big beneficiary of this with the whiteboard. And everything that has gone on with that. It has been a very busy summer at Ringer headquarters. I am tired of it. But, hey, it ain't my life. And also, it's really helping out the pod numbers. So shout out to LeBron for doing that, I guess. I do want to just, I want to say if I could, like it's a little different than the time I told you he was kind of holding up the whole league. Like, I forget what year that was,

but I was part of the contingent of players that couldn't move until he figured out. This one's a little different in that, like, I'm, and correct me if I'm wrong. He's told people, like, go about their business, what he's going to be asking for in terms of the finances of it all shouldn't really dramatically affect a club's ability to be under an apron or whatever. So, like, you know, like you're just, I think that fundamentally is different for me. You said, the one thing he actually is holding up that does matter and is worth discussing. And I think it's what Adam Silver was alluding to was the schedule, right? Because the schedule is usually made, it's being formulated at this time of years to be released sometime in early August.

And it's a complicated undertaking in the best of times with 30 teams and all the arenas and availability and everything. Like, it's complicated. It's complicated. So out of respect for some people I know in those offices. yeah, like that's, that is tough because wherever LeBron plays, that team automatically is going to be on a bunch of marquee nights. Yeah. And so I'm sure that they have contingencies upon contingencies right now, depending on whether he's going to Cleveland, Golden State, Miami and all that. But like, that's a real thing.

And I think it's different, even adding to that schedule thing right now. It's different. Like, if he goes to Golden State, that's like a vastly different TV schedule than say if he goes back to Cleveland or Miami, right? Like you're probably going to have more TV games and two more high profile games if he goes to Golden State than if you were to go to another team. And so they have to recalibrate that. And also there's one thing to do the schedules, but there's also the venues, right? And making sure that those venues are free at that given time. It's so complicated in general.

But I think, I think, I think, Rosal doesn't have to care about this. But listen. He doesn't give a fuck. He doesn't care. He doesn't give a shit. I want to know if the league was, like, when LeBron loses. a co-star because of a freak injury and a playoff run. Like Kevin Love gets his shoulder separated.

Like the league's not sitting around trying to figure out how to make it right by LeBron. Right? So like that's all my point. I mean, I get it. But that's also a playoff setting when the setting is set, though. That's what I guess my point is that's you've got your job to do and that's why you make what you make. LeBron has his job to do and that's why he gets paid the way he gets paid. And so like I have some sympathy.

But at the end of the day, my point is like, like LeBron can't be worried about that shit. Like, LeBron, you do what you got to do. I think the one other thing, and I do want to get to the rest of the categories and what I will say this, the biggest thing that I have seen and the biggest difference that I've seen from all the other decisions

is the lack of leverage that LeBron has and the lack of levers that I think he's season, I think he's waiting out in more ways than he would in previous seasons because if this was 10 years ago, LeBron says, I'm coming to your team, you do this for me. It's getting done, right? Like, you want to trade Andrew Wiggins?

goodbye. Like, we're going to get Kevin Love up in here, right? You want to make, but like, I think that they are, him and his team are trying tactics that have historically worked for them, but are very dated. And I, and I don't think that that is, I think that is another wrinkle in all of this. And that's, we'll see. That's, that's, that's all I will, we'll say on that. Any other thoughts on OG LeBron before we get to the next category? I would like to, you get in asking me who my OG was. I didn't have, I mean, I would, I would, I would just throw. Who is your O-G of the year? I apologize, Roger.

No, it's okay. But LeBron, certainly, like, he was always going to. But I give a shout out to Kauai, who had a fantastic year. I mean, he was 27.9 a game, I think, was the highest of his career. What he played, 65 games or something like that? Like, I don't know how old he is. Like, did you think, like, I could go on the park and go average 35 against these kids? Did that do something to you?

Did that was like, oh, shit? They didn't do nothing for me. But just, like, those dudes are remarkable, man, the way they take care of their body. and LeBron especially. But yeah, there are no, I don't even go out and shoot around anymore, Logan. So no, that did nothing for me thinking I could. Hey, man.

But I did want to give a shot out to Kauai. And if the NBA keeps fucking up, they might not even, there might be the last time you see Kauai right now, the way that the investigations are going. We'll see how that goes. Next one, in reverse. Who is your newcomer of the year, Rajabelle?

Yeah. I mean, there was, I'm going to go. with Cooper Flag. I think it's the easy, maybe call it lazy, but, and the reason I'm going to do it is because I just saw things out of him as the season unfolded and as the ball became more and more familiar with him in a playmaking capacity and the NBA, you know, size speed, he calibrated to it. I saw glimpses of things that, that quite frankly, I've said this before on the pod, I didn't know if he'd get to that and if he did when he'd get to that

type of understanding of an ability on an NBA court. And so I think that's super exciting for him, for MAZ fans. And he was great. I'll be it in, you know, maybe not in a winning as winning a capacity as maybe some others.

But I think that largely had to do with the team he was on. But I thought he was fantastic and showed signs of superstardom. So I think he's a newcomer the year. How does, go ahead, Howard, you got some thoughts. No, I was waiting to see if you wanted to throw out yours before I came in. Well, I just wanted to have a quick Cooper Flag conversation because he was going to be one of my newcomers of the year, but I went more on vibes.

He obviously was deserving. But who did I want to talk about more? We'll get to that in a second. But I'm excited about Cooper Flagging what he has going. I hope the Mavericks still are in a weird place right now just because, you know, the Kyrie element. And that's the trade to be had, but everything that I've, like, been hearing is like, like, Kyrie doesn't want to go to, like, the Minnesota thing. Kyrie didn't, they went up, his, people went up to him in Agnes' opinion.

He said he didn't want to go to Minnesota, right? And they got to figure that out, right? Like, what is he going to be? What role is Kyrie going to have going forward for Cooper Flag? I think that's, like, the biggest question, right? There is a team out. There's some maneuvering that the Mavericks can do and probably should do to build around Cooper Flag. I've said this in the past. Just trade everybody and build around him. And I think that

that's what the new NBA suggests that you should do in order to build a contender. But the Mavericks need to just do it, right, Howard? Or is there, do you, what do you, how do they build around Cooper flag at this point? Because they clearly have their guy. I think the biggest difficulty for them is that they are still kind of caught between the, uh, the, the Luca, Anthony Davis era and, or excuse the Luca era which turned to Anthony Davis and also Luca which turned which which which required Kyrie which required PJ Washington which required all these other veterans and now you still have most of those guys and they flipped Anthony Davis out you still have Kyrie and so you're you're straddling timelines you don't you have not done anything really to build around Cooper

flag yet would be the faster way of getting there and so Kyrie could have have a lot lot of value because the one difficulty, one of the difficulties for them last year was like, the balls and Cooper Flags hands so much. Do you really want him to be your point guard, point forward, point whatever? Kyrie can take a lot of that pressure off of him, can set him up. I think that'll be good for him short term, but that's not your long term vision, right? And so I do think there still should be or could be a temptation to trade Kyrie for players who are more on Cooper Flags timeline. you don't need to be in the playoffs yet you don't need to rush this he's just going into his second season figure out how best to build around him kairi may be the conduit too that ultimately but he

hasn't played and by the time he plays it's going to have been like 19 months since his last game we don't even know what kairie is at this stage in his mid-30s so we'll see you look good this summer it wasn't it wasn't on an NBA floor i got to see him at the top 100 a little bit he worked out for the campers and stuff like that um my son got to play dee on him a couple of times. Like he, not that my son's defense is NBA defense, but like he was moving and he,

you know, he looked good. The workout was pretty impressive. So for what it's worth. Reporter, Josh, geez, our intrepid reporter out in these AAU streets.

All right, I'm going to go with Dylan Harper. Just because he was my favorite newcomer this season, right? Like I just, I can't wait to see what he evolves into for a rookie to be able to play at that level. No matter like what he, it showed,

the finals, I think were twofold. It showed like how much he needs to grow in how successful he could be, right? Like, the Spurs are begging for somebody to run that offense. Can't be Wimby in this particular case. And I think that he has a lot of room to grow, but it was just such a treat to be able to see him show no fear.

I'm going to go to the cup every time. I'm going to give us this team of Spark in the way that I need to do. And I thought that that was, I thought that was really impressive for a newcomer to go on that stage. Now, he needs to stay off of TikTok and stay off of shit. Or at least don't repost slander. about your teammate in the middle of the NBA finals. This is it.

You know, it's a very rookie mistake. But overall, I love what I saw, Raja. I loved what I saw. He was great. He was great. He was a candidate for me, too. Like, I, fearless, dude, like, standing in the face of a situation like that and handle himself the way he did, I thought was remarkable.

I thought I thought Kup had just a little bit more on his shoulders throughout the course of the year. He was asked to carry and do more for a franchise. but and I think he did it for longer stretches if that if if if if I will but um yeah Dylan harper was phenomenal and I almost went with him too so I'm not mad at you for that Howard motherfucking Beck yeah it's Dylan Harper um I thought that was going to be a hot take but Logan beat me to it so um listen we had a phenomenal rookie of the year race with Cooper Flagg and con Canipal VJ Edgecombe was fantastic and this is absolutely incredible

and may eventually be historic rookie class, right? We will, I think, be talking about this draft for a long time to come. It's early yet, but the signs are super good for all these guys. But, yeah, it's not to be the prisoner of the moment or recency bias, but, like, Dylan Harper, it's the impression he left, but also he's the only one who's on that stage, right?

Like, Cooper Flagg doesn't make the playoffs. Concanipal doesn't make the playoffs. Vijay Edgecombs, you know, out in the second round. He didn't have the greatest series against the Knicks. But the last thing we saw from Dylan Harper was looking like a 10-year vet, playing in the NBA finals, absolutely fearless. And it's not just his explosiveness and his ability around the cup, but like his defensive tenacity and his ability to guard Jalen Brunson,

all of it. And it just, I'm just so impressed. And yeah, one of the last people I saw leaving the arena on the night of the championship was bumping into Ron Harper, Dylan's dad, saying like basically just watch out. There's,

waitily has a summer to keep working on stuff. Like, wait a way to you see next season. So I can't wait to see what we're going to see from Dylan Harbor next season. Let's get messy. Let's get messy. Worst trade of the year. Now, this can go whenever you want. And I basically said, what trade is going to age the worst?

I'm going to start it off. It's not that much of a controversial take. I don't believe. But I'm going to go with the Celtics trading, Jalen Brown. I'm going to go with that being the worst. I get it. I get the salaries. I get the optionality.

I get all of that. But there's also a human element of this, right? Boston loved that dude. they were a championship contender, I think, going into next season with Jalen Brown on the roster. I think currently constructed, they are not. And when you have a Jason Tatum on the roster, you have to compete for titles at all time. And there is no such times for rebuilds or retweaks. And maybe retweeks, but not rebuilds.

And I think that there is an element of rebuilding right now in Boston. And you put that on top of the fact that we don't know what type of Tatum we're going to to get next season. And I thought this was a catastrophic move towards title hopes of this era. And I don't like it. So my worst trade is the Boston Celtics trading Jalen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers. Anybody? I can see that. It's on the list. It was on my longer list. Washington acquiring Trey Young and Anthony Davis, both those deals on my list of deals that may not age well. Well, Anthony Davis might get traded to the lawyers as some. point. So if that happens, that is the word, that is literally the worst trade of the summer.

Not, not, uh, all that high on the sun's acquiring Miles Bridges. Um, I think like the Yonis trade could age badly on both sides potentially. Like, there's, there's a lot of questions there. The Lakers acquiring Walker Kessler at the steep price that they paid both in terms of his salary and the trade package. So like there's a lot of options here. But I'm going with the Portland Trailblazers acquiring John Morant. I'm sorry. Um, this, this trade. is going to be such a disaster for them. I would like to believe there's upside, both for Jaumaran and for the Blazers in acquiring him. I just don't see it. And this is not about what they gave up. Usually we evaluate a trade and like what they gave up. Yeah,

they gave up nothing. Jeremy, Grant, Chris Murray, that part's fine. It's not that they gave up too much. It's that they did this at all. Also, I think there are strong indications that this was the owner who I think is fast establishing himself as one of the worst and most meddling in the league that this was him and not the front office. It's just that John Morant's a bad fit, right? Like, you still have Scoot Henderson, who you're trying to develop into your star player and your point guard. You have Dame, who is in his twilight,

but coming off the Achilles and now ready to pick up where he left off, he hopes. And he's a legend there. And you need to give him all the oxygen in the world, too. You've got Drew Holiday still there. You've got Deniaf who had this huge breakthrough season and is a ball handler and an offensive initiator. How are all these pieces fitting together? And then on top of that, Jha is ball dominant, a poor defender, a poor shooter.

He's too small. And there are some character concerns to say the least. He can't stay healthy. He's averaged 47 games a year for his entire career. He's played 79 games over the last three years combined. And he's probably never going to be an All-Star again. It's been three years. I don't see that he's going to recapture that, especially given some of the erosion in terms of his finishing

ability. Just because you got him for free doesn't mean it's a good deal. And there's an opportunity cost and a fit cost and all kinds of other things. So to me, that's more catastrophic in a lot of ways than the Celtics trading Jalen Brown. Like, yes, he's beloved. Yes, you won a championship with him, but you had salary concerns and you had clearly other concerns. So I could at least see the thought process in the Jalen Brown deal, even if I don't fully agree with it. I don't see the thought process or any soundness in the thought process in the jaw trade. I think this was also, all the things you said, too, I think I just want to give a little more context as well.

I mean, I would say don't underestimate the Nike influence on this, right? They got shoes to sell. And one of the things that they were pushing behind the scenes was like, let it all of his people around. At least that's what they're saying after the trade, right? But let's get jaw close to us. Let's get him in our building. Let's make sure we at least rehabilitate whatever image that we have of him.

And let's sell some sneakers. There's also that element as well. Make no mistake. You asked me how I was doing to start the pot, and I was telling you I've been on the road. A large portion of that was at Nike events. When we were in Vegas, I was taken aback. It was a very, very cool. They had a primetime court.

It was black with like that lime green that you see around your face on this screen right now. The listener or the watcher can't see it, but it was this lime green. And it was the Jama Rant court. Yeah. And it was it was all Jama Rime branding. I guess they're releasing the Jaf 4. And like I got no beef with that, but that did say something to me because like that's Nike's grassroots basketball. It was all Jop.

His team right now isn't the Blazers. It is Nike at this particular point. It's not. It's no. The Blazers are going to be. the uniform that he wears during a regular season, but like, Jah, he sells so many sneakers to them kids,

you know, and like people love those. So like, that is the more, more importance, at least in Jow's world, I would say, than the regular season and whatever,

whatever that happens going forward. If you're the GM coaching all the other players and the Blazers, that's the thing that matters is the basketball fit. So yay sneakers, yay sales, but, no, but I'm saying that to illustrate more of like the,

what we're dealing with. right like that is that's what we're dealing with and i think that's someone that we should keep a lookout on during this season right is this that element of like what's what's going on there who is your what's your worst trade roger um i all of the ones howard said came into um you know came into focus when i was trying to figure that out and and and i think ultimately where i got was where you were logan and the reason why i'll just piggyback off of it is because of how close how close they were Boston with the two of those guys in hand playing well. You already have proof of concept there. You know if you put some semblance of a roster around them that you can do pretty cool

things. And where you wound up sending him, which is like right across the street in conference, like in division. And now they, in my estimation and a lot of people's estimation are now one of the favorites, you know, in an Eastern conference. And so I think for all of those reasons, I, went with the Boston trade in, trade in Jaylon Brown. It's going to be a great season, but damn. Damn. Maybe Roger might even go to the Sixers game in this year.

We'll see. We'll see. We will see. Outside chance. Not of it means getting on another plane or running another car. I'm going to take my man Ben up on a trip before I go to Philly, bro. Straight like that. Whether life serves you an ace or an unexpected backhand,

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Oikos Pro, feed your strength. Visit oikos.ca for more details. Straight like that. All right, all right, all right. Let's go to the next category. Crash out of the year. I think we're all on the same page here, but we'll see. I'm going to go with Draymond Green, right?

We talk about the regular season game where he basically, you know, yelled at his coach, quit on the team, went to the locker room. But then there's just been a calvocate of like Draymond crashouts. We probably, we might name the award after him when it's all set and done. Yeah, I think it's probably just, it's his award until he basically, you know, in essence says he doesn't want it, right? just come in assuming. And then when he retires, we're just going to put podcast crash out of the year. That's just going to be his award that we have. He's still going to have. Wait, because no,

he's beating. Like, I don't say this in any negative way. Like, we're beefing what him and Charles got into a little beef, right? Him and Charles Barkley got into a little. Him and Udonis had something. Him and Udana's been in a beef lady. Because I feel like Charles and Dremont, it's just sparring, bro. Like, they're just making sure they're in shape still. But like, that Udonus, Dremont beef was serious, bro. That was where I was like, I don't know if I want to be in the same room when they're in the building, right? Like, I don't know. I don't know.

But, uh, Dremont, man. What, I don't even know. I don't. There were some, like, who was, who was crashing out? Like the, the, the, the Charlotte, was it Charlotte, was in Detroit? Detroit.

Yeah. Yeah. There was it. And Musa, was it Musa? Dibate. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Jalen. Um, there was some. it gets kind of wild sometimes. Like he has some issues.

Like, but I think, Draymond, I went a different direction. Oh. Listen, guys, there are different brands of crashouts. And I don't know.

Is it possible to have a crash out on a Twitch stream? Because I think it got somebody fucking traded. So, Jalen Brown is my crash out of the year. The Twitch stream probably got him trade. We could talk about the contract. And Brad Stevens can say optionality 17 times and talk about,

two players making 70% of the cap. Howard, he bought Zalin Brown's jersey for his kids. Okay? Whatever. He did that. Whatever. Whatever. They traded him for a guy making the same amount.

So we can't talk about optionality in the salary cap and 70%. I get it. He's going to fall George expires a year sooner, whatever, they got some picks in the deal. But like, it's very clear to me, at least, that there is a combination of factors here, that the salary and cap issues and apron issues are some part of this, optionality, whatever, is part of it.

But if he never goes on fucking Twitch and says the refs are out to get him and Joel Embed, my new teammate, is a flopper who's disgracing the game. Okay. I'm just saying, and on top of it saying that this was my favorite year of basketball when they lost in the second round, or second round, first round.

I can't that be true. Yo, I'm going to just say this though real quick. Before you go, this is why he got traded. No, but I'm just saying it. I know. I get it. But front office motherfuggers are getting so soft right now, bro, because in the 80s and

the 90s, bro, it was so much worse than that. He hasn't gotten in trouble. He hasn't done shit. Bro. I would argue that the crash out in this scenario is the fucking Boston Celtics and Brad Steven. Oh, yeah, bro. That's what I would argue.

Nixon Stone's a lot of us for the U. Lord. Jesus. So nominate Brad Stevens. Bro. Kobe Bryant. He's not Kobe Bryant. I'm not going to say that.

But Kobe Bryant over a summer. was like ship this motherfucker out. Shit. That was a crash up. If this podcast had existed then, if podcast had existed then. But no, but we're talking about people

that got traded because of that, right? Kobe demanded a trade, said this motherfucker sucks. We should have traded for him by name in a, on his, yes, in a Newport News parking lot.

Newport, Newport Beach. Newport News is on the other country. Oh, yeah, you're right. Newport Beach parking lot. And was like, yo, fuck him. And then Mitch Cupsack was like, all right, it's Tuesday.

Okay, that's fine. Fucking, oh, dog. And Kobe got in real trouble before. He was back. Fucking, and Jalen Brown just went on a Twitch stream and said something that was like kind of controversial. Kind of, right? Like, okay, people have said much. But it was indicative.

Controversial, bro. The man, you said it was. Look, I've had some of the most fun basketball. I didn't win a championship in those years. Like, do you know what I mean? Like I, not that I won that many championships, but the point is it's possible. It's possible.

Brad Stevens said that. It was like, it's not a great message. He said, I need Paul George on my roster. He said, I need Paul George on my roster. I didn't go up for well. I'm,

I hear you, Howard. I think it's soft. I'm, I change mine. Did I give crash out? Like, I fuck that. Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics. If this shit, if it gets printed anywhere,

if our awards go up and print anywhere, make that mine. Let the record reflect. This is the first time I actually, I actually like provoked Raja not into just a rant, but an actually like changing up an award decision. This is fantastic. I love it. I love it.

Out of the box. Outside the box. Yeah, man. Sorry, man. What the fuck, bro? Like, dog. How dare you say you had fun and we didn't win? Like, I'm right, bro.

And you won a lot. They won a lot, man. You want a lot. You want a lot. You want a lot. Here's another thing. Jalen Brown didn't ask to be traded. even after all of that.

He was like, cool. I'm still, all right, Tate was coming back. Boom, we're going to figure this out. He still was like that towards the end of it. Even as he said all that stuff he said, man. Oh, boy. Hey, man. Moving on.

No, hold on. We got to hold on. Because I got to give a shout out, and then we'll go to the next one. Roger, you OG real ones know. Yeah. What did Coach Carter say? Get your feelings out the shit. Get your feelings out of the shit.

Get your feelings out of the shit. shit, man. Boston gets your feelings out of the shit because now you just regressed and now you ain't a championship contender no more because you had your feelings in the shit. Anyways, moving on. Moment of the year. Howard, you alluded to it.

What is the moment of the year? I mean, it's obviously OG and I knowby's tipping, but I was also trying not to go to the well too often on either A, O.G. And Obie jokes and references or B, Nix things. So I zagged a little bit here. Okay. It's March 10th, a night in which the Washington Wizards played the Miami Heat and bam out of bio dropped 83 points.

That has to be on the record. It's the moment of the year because it had it all. In a year when tanking absolutely was just destroying the NBA's credibility and forced them to completely revamp the lottery rules again in the most radical way they ever have, we had a tanking team letting a guy just score it will. and a star player seizing the spotlight. I was trying to say, like, so I don't know when this hit me. It seems to me like they were covering all the seven deadly sins here, right? We had sloth, that's the wizards. We had gluttony, that's bam.

Pride, also bam. Greed, bam. Lust for points, bam. Envy, wrath, other coaches, other coaches, media people, wrath? Like, the seven deadly sins were all encompassed in one stupid, meaningless game in March that also involved tanking and all the ramifications of that. That is the NBA in a nutshell. We had drama, controversy, everything, all the things we love about the NBA.

There's my moment of the year. That's some fucking podcasting right there. I like that. That's some fucking podcasting. Well done. You should be a writer or something. Also, adding to that, the most NBA thing ever, hate. He just got hated on for fucking two weeks by other players, just everybody,

just hating on them. Yeah. The hate overshadowed the record. I don't even think that like we're going to, we're always going to think about, you know, and I'm thinking for myself, there was the other day I was like seeing Kobe's 81. I was like, oh, shit, that this record is broken. I forgot. You know, it wasn't a record, though. A scoring feat.

I'm sorry, this feat got topped. Anyways, Rajah, moment of the year. Yeah, no, I mean, I haven't been to the New York well or the OG well. So for me, it was that tipping game four. What, down 19 was it? I mean, I remember that because I was a down 29, sorry. Like, I was at, that was the day I had watched Kyrie workout. I was at the MBPA Top 100 and I was in my hotel room and my wife's huge Knicks fan.

And I hadn't been sitting at home the whole time. I was kind of catching it at a bar as I ate. And then I got back to the room and she was out. And I'm like, hey, I just hang on for a second. Like, do you know what I mean? It was just one of those. I think if they lose that game, everything changes. And 29 is an incredible feat to overcome at any point in the season, let alone in the finals.

And then the tip was just incredible. I mean, it was just an incredible tip. And for all those reasons, I mean, yeah, and I haven't done NICS yet. For me, I racked my brain last night. And I really was trying to find a moment. I love what you just did, Howard. But I think it's OG's tip in game four. Yeah.

My thing is this, man. And I'm right there with Shiraj. It's the, that's the moment that's going to define this season. And I'm not mad at Nick Overload, bro, because that really speaks to how much of a phenomenon this run was, right? Like, it was everywhere. There were Nick's fans everywhere. New York is on fire right now. Like, I feel like everybody right now with the World Cup, with Nick's winning it all, with Zeramandhi, with the whole shows, I feel like we're just all living in New York right now, all simultaneously.

It's been great, you know? But that was awesome. The Knicks run was awesome. The OG tipping was awesome. That is also my moment of the year. Let's keep on moving on down the ledger. Can I just say one thing? And I'm not going to take a lot of time.

But one of the reasons, as I just thought about it, was because there are not a lot of moments in NBA, like any point in NBA, regular season or playoffs, where I could tell you where I was and what I was doing when it happened. And that one, that struck me. We have that. Me and Howard have that with Game 1, bro, in Stockholm. Like, we remember where we were during that Knicks' final.

finals run. I remember like I'll never forget that. Um, as long as we live. One day we'll have a, uh, we'll have an NBA lore just about that night in general. Maybe one day. Um, maybe we'll have a deep dive onto that. Anyways, um, I'm going to start this next category. Who won the year? Just going to keep it next. Jalen Brunson, like he is the man right now. He is the absolute man. King of Kings at this particular moment. Um, no one like saw this coming absolute at all. And that's the best part about this. And he can do no wrong. This is his world and we are all living in Jalen Brunson's world. Like how long is that going to last? A very long time in New York

but in the NBA at large, I don't know. But right now, he won the year. It is his world. Howard Beck. Roger Bell or whoever wants to. Go Rush. All right. Yeah, I would just, I mean, I think it's the Knicks. But I think, and Jalen

sure spearheads that, but I mean, I think Carl Anthony Towns, like that was, you know, redemption to some degree. Mike Brown Brown. The Knicks fans in general who have been waiting for this forever. Like the winners, as it relates to the Knicks themselves, you could pick just about anybody and that's a win.

So yeah, I would agree with you. But I would extend that out to some other people and a whole fan base and a city. And I think for all, yeah. I actually typed the words New York. So I did. I expanded it out all the way myself. There were like three or four categories where I

thought the Knicks could have been an answer for this exercise today. And so I was trying to like spread it around a little bit or not overload. And this, but this one was the one must for me. And yeah, it is, it's Brunson and it's Mike Brown and it's Carl Anthony Towns. And it's, it's, it's even McHale Bridges on a smaller scale. It's a noby on some level too. Yeah, dude. Yeah.

And it. Landry Shammit, baby? Landry Shammit. Yeah. Hell yes. These guys are all celebrities for life, bro. Just me off with this alone. Like what this is done for them is crazy.

It's, I mean, when you win the first championship in 53 years, like, everybody is enshrined forever, right? You know, the parade. Saddam Monica McNutt, the homie, you know what I mean. We out here killing it. But like, think about everybody who swept up into this, right? Like, Taylor Swift even was part of this at one point in a finals game. But our guy, Ben Stiller, Tracy Morgan, Mariska Hargutte, like on and on and on, all the

celebrities who were just, you know, a fixture as part of the scenery of the NBA Finals, Pat Joe. I mean, New Yorkers won. New York one. The next one. Mayor Mamm Dani won. Like, it just... I can't wait, bro.

I cannot wait to go back to New York, bro. I don't know when I'm going back, but I cannot wait because I know forever, it's going to be... Oh, man, it's awesome. Nixon 5 is just like a thing now that just gets inserted into every conversation randomly.

I saw the most hilarious Instagram. I'll send it to you guys later to day. New Yorkers are going to be so obnoxious. You guys already are? No, no, not they. you are New Yorker too, Howard. I'm not walking around saying Nixon 5. I'm not wearing the T-Share.

You're not, but you are not just like a New Yorker. You're not West Coast anymore. You don't rock with us anymore. You don't rock with us anymore. We're not going. It's going to be so obnoxious. Everything we hear, it doesn't matter if they go win 20 games next year or the year after that or the year of that.

It's going to be always. It will not matter. All right. Who lost the year, Howard? It was hard. I'm going to cut it. I don't know. I don't know.

There's a lot of directions to go here. I briefly considered picking on James Harden again. I very, very seriously considered Tom Dundon, the Blazers new owner who just keep stepping in it over and over and over again. And I hate to go here. I hate to do this. But it's just true. It's Adam Silver. Yes.

Yep. Yes. Yes. Worst tanking season we've ever seen forcing again this radical. re-haul of the lottery. We'll see how that ends up panning out if it has unanticipated consequences, as most things often do in the NBA.

We've got the aspiration thing still going on. It now has put a trade on hold. That should have never happened. We've got the gambling arrests that are not too far in the distant past and gambling just still looming over the league and all the issues that go with that. You've got Adam Silver almost defending Tom Dundon's

cheapness. And his very questionable stewardship in this first few months on the job as the Blazers owner, Adam should be standing up for Portland more. That is a great historic NBA market. And there's at least murmurings of whether Dundon's angling them to try to move them because the negotiations with the city of Portland on a new arena breaking down. The union now wants to rip up the CBA because of the second apron. So you now have like a brewing fight coming there.

even the little things, right? The slam dunk contest was a complete dud. The All-Star game itself was better, but the dunk contest was trash. You've got the fractured media landscape with all the new streaming partners that's causing a lot of fan discontent. There's just a lot. The gambling. Yeah, which I mentioned that too. Yeah.

So, yeah, I think it's Adam Silver. Yeah, it has to be Adam Silver, man. And we didn't even talk about how this investigation now going to have one, Kauai. can have real ramifications for next season, right? Like one of your top guys, you just undercutted a whole great story about him going in Serrano, and now that's going to linger. And we don't know if this is even going to get resolved now, right? And it's just, it's wild because, like, his first few years, he went through real

controversies and actually came out really well on it, right? I'm thinking about the Donald Sterling situation. I'm thinking about the logistical nightmare of, like, putting together a bubble in the and saving your, you know, your league during the pandemic, that was a really hard things and dealing with all the things

that came with that. And now it's just like, everything is just tumbling down all at once. Yeah, he lost the year. Yeah. Roger,

you got any thoughts? No, is that? No, I'm okay with that because I was struggling with that one. And,

uh, I had a few players, but I don't think any of them, I had some players that took some steps back. Um, and I don't know that they're coming back to what they were. And I was going to use one of them, but I'd rather not.

I like, I like what Howard did. All right. Now it's your time, Raja. This is your award, baby. I know you thought long and hard about this one in particular. All right. Like, what's the Raja Bell Memorial Defender Ward?

Which player exemplified all the qualities of a Raja Bell defender? The memorial is if Raja's dead, by the way. Yeah. It's a little disrespectful. My bad. No, no. I'll change that next year. It's all right.

It's all right. Keep it. I'll make the same joke next year. It's a, I don't know, man. We're pouring out looking for Roger. You poured out for my back. It's fine. I ultimately probably still don't know where I land on that.

Like, there's so many great defenders. Last year was Lou Geith. I think, I believe. Was it or was it Dyson? I think it was Lou Dord. I believe. There's so many really good defenders. I typically like to give it.

to a wing slash guard defender because at least in my day, it was harder for us to get, it was harder for us to get acknowledged for that. Like they weren't using the analytics as much. Do you know what I mean? So if we weren't coming up with steals or and or rebounds or, you know, like it was hard to quantify what we were doing out there. But ultimately, as I went through all the names,

I was kind of trying to pick one of them to give it to, I had to go with Wembe. And the reason, the reason I went with Wembe, he fills all the boxes in terms of your stats and your advanced analytics and all of that shit. But this is really what stuck out to me is like when you're coming into a game and you're game planning either for a great offensive player or a great defensive player, anybody knows that's tasked with like facing one or the other. Like if you're a great score and you got to face a great defender or vice versa.

You come into that game and you're like, oh shit, this one's different. All right, I got to, this one, this assignment is different. Like you go through 70 NBA games a year where you're like, yo, this shit's fine. We're going to roll out there. Like, this is normal shit. This is what I do. And then there are 12 of them where you get a dude where you're like, all right, motherfucker.

I got to study that. I got to study that sheet. Like I got to figure out what I'm doing with this cat the night. I got to be locked in and I got to execute this because if I don't, I can get lit up. And if I do, like I've told you, lights out, Howard. Like, hmm, I could still get lit up, no pun intended. But the point is, I think what he does to you as a game playing is he just strikes fear. Like, he strikes real fear.

And when you watch him in a game, I've talked about the looming of Wembe. And like, you can see dudes playing and they're not doing what they normally do as it relates to getting in the paint, finishing around the rim, shooting middies. and that fucker's not even in the picture. He's not even in the paint, but they're looking for him to try to figure out where he is. And that's a special level of defending. So as much as I want to get into a guard or a wing, he makes some incredible physical plays.

But I think why I settled on him was for all the fear that he strikes in people's heart before they even get out there. You can tell they've looked at a game plan, and the game plan is when you get in that paint, don't finish. Spray it out. And I think that's a special level of, like, defensive prowess.

And it was just crazy throughout the playoffs to see that. Like, I think Oklahoma City was like, and then after Oklahoma City kind of like, like, Shea started going at him and going at him towards the end of that series. But then you've seen Brunson and you've seen everybody just showed no fear of Wemby and it was like they were knocking the bully out. It was very fascinating to see that dynamic. And I wonder how that also carries over. The fear factor carries over to next season now that.

he's lost. And as we've gotten more used to that, right? So we'll see. All right. It is time for while we're all here. The biggest award that we can give on who are ones. Real one of the year. Howard, who's your real one of the year? So you guys know when we do real one of the week, I always like to go with somebody who's always like in the true spirit of the war, keeping it real, right? And even if it goes wrong. Even if it goes wrong. And it does occasionally. These things happen.

This is a great segue. Because my real one of the year is Victor Wenbanyama. He showed us everything in the course of a season and postseason, right? His dominance, his resilience, his intelligence, his curiosity. And then eventually his edge and his ability to actually maybe be a little bit of a villain, maybe, you know, a little chippy. Like, it's just so interesting because we start with the off-season story of like, oh, he studied with the Shaolin monks and like, you just, you know, what does that convey,

right? That, like, oh, he's, you know, mentally at peace. And he's a very, obviously, he is very thoughtful and very intellectual. But it does, it, it conveys other things like just like this, this kind of tranquility. He waited on Minnesota and ice. We got all these other thoughtful quotes from him along the way. So like keeping it real, both on the court and verbally, there's the things he said, the things he shared. And then the season ends with all the chippiness and the elbows into a neck and a head smushing and all the, you know,

kind of aspects of him we hadn't seen, right? But that's keeping it real too. It is the full range. And I don't mind that. Like, I know that there are some moments there that were, they don't put him in a flattering light and that some people really start to turn on him a little bit. But I just think that's all about all part of growing up as a young. superstar in the NBA. And it showed me that he's ready for it and he's going to be a great superstar because you have to have a little bit of all of that. You've got to be a dick sometimes.

You've got to be chippy sometimes. And I'm not saying anything justifies like hurting somebody, but like getting a little over the line because you're so competitive or intense in the moment and it causes you to do something that's a little bit out of character and you get tossed from, I just think that's all part of growth. And I also think it's part of being a great competitor. And it's you never, the talent is never enough in this league as Rajah Willis. test. The thing that we can see that separates the stars from the superstars or the rotation guys from the starters is a care factor and an intensity and a competitive drive and that it matters. I think what we saw more than anything from Wemby over the course of the playoffs is this shit

fucking matters. Dude wants to win. He wants to win at the highest level and he just got one of the youngest teams in history to the fucking NBA finals at a very young age for himself as well. and they were in every single game. Like there's an alternate universe where they win that series, right? Like the last two minutes of every game decided it. They ran out of steam. He ran out of steam.

They didn't have the composure to do it. But man, you can't lose a finals and come off any more impressive than that group did. So Wemby's my real one of the year. God damn it, Howard. You did it again. You did it again. A phenomenal podcasting.

And also the way you presented it is like, damn, I feel like a schmuck for like the stuff that I'm about to say. Jesus, that was great. I am sitting here at Fordham, so I'm feeling just, I'm just immersed in just intellectual thought here. Who is your real one of the year, Roger Bell? Yeah, I like to take the easy route and say, you know, Jalen Brunson for all the reasons that we've already covered with the Knicks.

But I'm going to zag to Howard's Zig there. and I'm going to go with Jalen Brown for a lot of the reasons that Howard just articulated for Wembe. He gets up there. He tells you exactly how he feels, which we think is real, whether people think it's an actual good look or not. It is, in fact, real and true to who he is as a player. He's never wavered off of his stances and what he stands for, both in the community and on the court. you had his sidekick go down with an Achilles injury. All you did was strip the team around him to save bread.

And he lifted that team pretty, I don't want to say individually, because that's unfair to everybody who did that. But as the star, as the number one, he lifted that team to heights that I don't think anybody here at least gave them credit or gave them a chance to be able to do this year, at least in the regular season. And he did all of that. and, you know, for being real and for keeping it real, you got traded to Philly.

And I would just say this to Jalen Brown, probably better for you, dog. Yeah. Like, because if they were feeling that way about you behind closed doors, probably better for you, player. Like, so real one, Jaylon Brown. Another one, another masterclass. Well, I love working with these motherfuckers.

I'm going to go with just somebody close to home, man. It's the, um, who's kind of like become like extended, family of the pot. I'm going to go with Ben Stiller, two-time winner, right? Like, like, you know, I don't think he realized how much that fucking moment at the end of the Knicks championship really meant for us in this pot, right? Like, there's a lot of shit going on, you know, we wanted to include you, but you know, you've been motherfucking Stiller, right? And then you come and share that moment with us as minted. They cannot be recreated. And you just

hung with your homies, man. And we really appreciate that. Um, and so, it's been cool, man. So Ben Stiller, that was really dope of you. That was a dope moment for all of us that we're probably all going to remember where we were. Think about where we were when the Knicks won the title, bro, like me and Howard and, you know, in Spirit Raj. We were all in that fucking sweaty-ass room that Howard was in and Ben were in. We were all there together as people. One day we might hang out together in general, but like that was a dope moment.

That was really cool. So Ben Stiller, two-time, real one of the year. And also, really one of the year, man, Victoria, I say this every time. Victoria, fucking Cliff, Ben Cruz, Conner Evans, everybody that holds it down for us and helps us out and get this pod to be what it is. All the people behind the scenes are Keith from social. Jomey, fucking Jomey. Yo, I went to Jomey's birthday.

I seen the flicks. I ain't get a motherfuckin'vite Jomi. That's a bull. Okay, to be fair. But that's a bull. To be fair. I want to fucking on. Listen, bro.

Humor me. To be fair. I'm that motherfuckerfuck. Humor me. Send me to invite. Let me. Would you have gone, to be fair? Could you have made it to Carson? No, I don't mean. Exactly, right?

We knew. We knew. But you know what he saw. Roger saw myself. He saw Jovey. He saw the vibes. He saw Rachel Lindsay. He saw Van L. It was kind of fake Illuminati Hollywood there, too, at a random park in Carson. But shout out to Jemmy. Shout to everybody, man. Shout to the ringer. Love it. It's been a blast. Can't wait to see you guys very, very soon. And that has been this, the last episode of the 26, 27 season of real ones.

We will see you guys very soon. We got some real cool projects that we're working on. We are going to be doing like the pot in this type of way until like the season. But we got some like cool stuff coming just to hold you guys over for the summer. We got some like we're going to go come in and out and peek and say hello to you guys over the summer. And we will come back in full in the fall. So, I,

all the shits Bye But you might have to fix 26, 27 fuck I was just gonna let it go You were Yeah, you were rolling

So like I didn't want to like hop in You usually have to clean it up I don't know Yo man Just for the 25-26 season Man fuck I'm sorry

My bad Roll the credits through right here And we're fucking up Just roll the credits Let's see you guys In the 26 27 season Y'all what the fuck time it is Bye

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