The Ringer NBA Show - The Grant Williams Sign-and-Trade and Raja Reacts to Rap Lyrics With His Name | Real Ones

Episode Date: July 6, 2023

Logan and Raja discuss the Grant Williams sign-and-trade deal between the Boston Celtics, the Dallas Mavericks, and the San Antonio Spurs, and what the move means for each team (1:22). Along the way, they talk about how the “Seven Seconds or Less” offense has evolved over the years and the genius of Mike D’Antoni (16:26). Later, Raja reacts to a handful of rap songs that name-drop him in the lyrics, and ranks them from worst to best (46:0 0). Finally, the guys close with their Real Ones of the Week (57:36). The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming, please checkout ringer.com/RG to find out more or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Producer: Jonathan Kermah Production Assistant: Kai Grady Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, I'm Erica Ramirez, founder of Ili, and host of What About Your Friends, a podcast dedicated to the many lives of friendship and how it's portrayed in pop culture. Every Wednesday on the Ringer dish feed, I talk to my best friend, Stephen Othello, and your favorites from within the Ringer and Beyond about friendships on TV and movies, pop culture and our real lives. So join me every Wednesday on the Ringer Dish feed where we try to answer the question TLCS back in the day. What about your friends? What's Bobbin?

Logan Murdoch here, Roger, how you doing, though? Good. I like the background, buddy. Thanks, man. I'm in Los Angeles right now to find one of my homies house, and this is his setup. It's a little home studio. You know, LA, they'd just be having this home studio vibes. And, you know, this is really Hollywood out here. That's like acoustic paneling, isn't it? It's something. It's nice. I think it's soundproof or something like that. It's a vibe.

So I was in. So, Rajah, I'm in L.A. Because I wanted, yesterday, I wanted to come out and go see this L.A. Sparks play before I go to Vegas, right? The sparks played like shit, but it was a good experience, right, at crypto.com arena. The dream ended up winning. There's a lot of people out there. And one in particular player that was at the game was Grant Williams, who just, just is your newest Dallas Maverick. And the person that we're going to talk about to start this segment on the podcast, He has been traded to the Dallas Mavericks as a part of a three-team deal. The Celtics get multiple second round picks.

The Spurs get Reggie Bullock and a pick swap in 2023. And the Mavs get Grant Williams, who signed a four-year, $53 million contract. And they also get multiple second-round picks. Hey, man, the Mavericks have got a lot of shit for their off-season. and rightfully so in some cases. But listen, man, your guy Nico Harrison is out here doing some deal in Raja. How do you feel about this move? And considering the circumstances, getting Grant Williams in this offseason,

it's pretty damn good. You know, when we talked about the Mavericks, if they were going to keep Kyrie and Luca, you know, together, the question was then going to be, what could you put around them to make that a successful kind of look? and, you know, defense is certainly, and toughness is going to be a thing coveted by a team with those two type of stars. I think that, you know, Grant Williams represents, although I don't know that he's an elite level defender, I think he's game and he's physical and he has some toughness. And, I mean, I don't forgive me.

I didn't dig into the analytics, but my eye say watching him through the playoffs, like he's a game defender, like he'll get down. you know he can knock down he can knock down open jump shots and you know he uniquely comes from a situation in boston where you did have two guys and at times it was iso ballish um and although he fell out of the rotation like he's he's familiar with that to some degree so you know i think it's a great fit and then you i mean i'm not here to grade the trade or anything like that but for what for what you had to give up to acquire that like i thought it was great move for Dallas. I like it for Dallas. This makes them better than what they were last week. This roster steals has a lot of work that it needs to be done, particularly in the front court,

especially in the Western Conference, where you have to play against Yolkich. It's funny because Yolkich is the new Shaq. Remember back in the day where, I mean, you know this because you lived it. At a certain point, every team was basically getting a big man to defend Shaq in the Western Conference. And I feel like that's right now what the Western Conference is doing. It's also in the Eastern Conference. You can say that too, like about Embed and things like that. But specifically in the Western Conference, teams are gearing up for that. And you need to have a big man to combat the Anthony Davis's of the world, right?

Or the yokages of the world. So with that being said, the Bab still have a long way to go to round out for a championship roster. It seems, though, to reach that goal, it's going to take a couple of years. right? Like maybe like I'll get lucky on a trade deadline or something like that. So when I think about that, it all goes back to one person, which is Luca Donchance and his patience. How do you continue to, you're Nico Harrison right now. You're a friend of the show. How are you pursuing that rebuild, right? Because you're going to need to, it's a rebuild essentially. You have your two guards, but the roster is by no means rounded out in the championship form. Because when I look at this roster, I I still see it playing. And if you succeed at best. I think this is all about your relationship with Luca. Every relationship, excuse me, every relationship should have a healthy level of communication.

And I say that because there does have to be a little bit of realistic expectation from Lucas camp as you go through this process. And you just have to make sure that any type of talent like a Luca is on board and understands what's taking place and understands that you won't. You don't, you know, spare any cost or leave any rock unturned to try to get him closer to his ultimate goal, which is to win a championship. And so, you know, as things present themselves, if it's available to us and it's something that we can strike, we will. If it doesn't and it requires us, you know, maybe being a formidable team this year as we construct this roster, but really opening the window next year, then you have to have expressed that to him. and he's got to see that any move you could have made along the way, you've earnestly tried to pursue that. And it just may take another year.

Can you dig what I'm saying? But like the communication and the lines of communication, those channels have to be wide open. Luca has to be not in the loop in terms of making deals or telling you who we want, et cetera. Like I'm not proposing that, but has to know that we are actively and very impatiently searching out options. that can help us get you and Kyrie to where you guys want to go.

How much pressure is associated with that, right? Because the person that I always see is an app comparison to Luca every single time that we talk about him. It was LeBron James, right? And we all know the inherent pressure that a talent like that requires you to have as a front office. And how do you, because there's two sides of that coin, right? There was the, there's the, I feel like there's the pre-Lebron era. era, right, or the pre-decision area of LeBron's career where guys are or where front officers are just trying to like, hey, we traded for this person.

Hey, we got an aging shack because we, you know, that seems to be the thing right now. And there's no, it doesn't feel like there's intentionality other than, other than to say, hey, we got these guys on paper. See, LeBron, we're working hard for you. And then there's the post-decision, LeBron, which is David Griffin, making. a lot of intentional moves. You know, you get Timothy, you trade for Timothy Mosgoth, right? You get a J.R. Smith.

You get it, Amon Shumper. These are all intentional moves to see a team in the finals and how you're going to play for those. What are those types of outlook, say, about each type of front office? And how do you become the Griff front office where you are a bit more patient and you are a bit more intentional in the moves that you make? What has to go? What goes into each type of front office?

office philosophy. Well, I think a lot of that is the stability of the front office and the relationship that that front office has with ownership. The support they get, you know, to some degree, whether or not that front office is really, I mean, excuse me, that ownership group is really hands on and they're in there on a day to day, trying to, you know, trying to pull strings themselves or if they'll allow that front office to kind of do their job, express their vision, you know, explain the roadmap of getting from here to there and then be allowed to kind of execute that. Having the full faith of an ownership group helps in that regard.

But I think what you said about Griff, whenever you have pieces like Luca and Kyrie or LeBron or like a Kevin Durant. We're talking about guys that can go out and win you X amount of games on their own, right? Like just their talent is that whenever you have those type of guys, you have to be intentional about the roster build. Like you can't just be going out there

throwing shit at the wall. Like you find yourself in a window of time where you think you can, you can get this done. Like, because you have one of the 10 best players on the planet, you've paired them with another one. And so you're in a window. Whether, whether realistically, like, we think we can win it this year or not, or that's a two-year play. Like, we're in a window. And so finding the pieces around the edges, like Seth, Seth Curry, a good piece. You know, bringing Dwight Powell back a good piece. Like, you're just trying to, you're plugging these holes, man. You're looking around and you're trying to figure out maybe we can't find the true answer to Nicola Yolkich defensively. Maybe that's unrealistic for us given our cab situation and our roster construction.

But let's get as close as we can to that. And maybe there's something that we can throw out there that, you know, analytically speaking, Nicholas struggled with, whether it be his offensive production or maybe, you know, we shift into a gear where we see the nuggets and we've got. We've got Kyrie and we've got Luca and then there's this weird piece that nobody knows that Nicola just doesn't play well against defensively. So we become this offensive, weaponized team whenever we play Denver. Like I'm just kind of going off the cusp here, but you've got to be really creative, especially when you've got to be the Lukas, the Kyrie's. You don't have a ton of wiggle room and you've got to put pieces around it.

But you are always in that mode when you have players of that ilk. It's just, you know, we've got to be intentionally searching. for answers to what's in our conference what we think can accentuate what they do and and really protect them in some areas because we all know like defensively you know you touched on the interior defensively but you know even out there on the perimeter finding a guy that can go out there and say luca you don't have to guard him tonight bro like that you we're not going to put that on you or hey kairi this player is versatile enough that if luka doesn't have the match up and kairi does you're going to let you're going to let him guard whoever Kyrie's got to get.

Like that's, those are important things. And, you know, not to get super long-winded, but on those O-1 teams I played on, that's why Larry Brown was always looking for big guards. It's part of the reason I was able to come in on a 10-day. There were way better offensive players than me sitting around in the, in the CBA or USB, whatever league you want to cite. But I was 6-5, and I was defensive-minded, and those teams were looking for big guards to to play next to AI so that he could play the one on defense and the one,

even though I didn't turn into a one, but the Aaron McKees, the Eric Snows, the myself, like we might be able to handle the ball on one end on offense, let an Allen play off the ball, but we had the flexibility and the size to bump over to the two and guard the two. And that's what you, that was the game plan of the sixers at the time to pair with AI. My question to you to start, talking about the guard play on the Dallas Mavericks. And I want to get into the question that I just asked you maybe a couple of minutes ago about Yokic. And just like now he's one of those players that's the middle of the orbit of a conference and by extension of league. We've seen history kind of show us that a lot of teams are just followers in that instance of like, you'll be have to, we're working really hard just to maintain so we can guard this.

person. Part of me ask, and this is just a person, like, you know, I obviously watched basketball a lot, never played the game, but this is just a question that I have. Like, how come someone doesn't zag as opposed to, like, zinging? Like, if somebody, if I see a yokech, why don't I just try to, like, make my team go small or try to, instead of trying to carbon copy whatever secret sauce that the Denver Nuggets have, create my own secret sauce? Like, why, why do we as a league always tend to follow the trend of like even like the um and i get it i guess from the uh from the sixer standpoint in oh one right like you guys had finals aspirations if you guys could just like stop shack which is very tall task obviously right if you guys could just have a defender that can stop shack you guys

would have a better chance to winning but it by a consequence and this is just outside looking in it looks like you're already having yourself on your heels because you're already working at a disadvantage because your whole thing is to stop one guy where as opposed to the team could just you could play as a team for them to stop you you get what I'm saying like that's just that's the question I always face when teams are always trying to chase what another team is doing um like a yokech or an ad like oh we have to combat this instead of being like no leger's going to play us the the nuggets are going to play us and our and mess mismatch to us it's a it's a good question uh it's got a lot of parse to it. So let me try to parse my way through it. First of all, when that wins,

you know, the knee jerk is typically to the, to the team that's winning, right? And it's, it's not, you know, it's, it's, it's to the team that produces. Like, once Golden State, once Golden State started winning with the style kind of that, that our, our sons teams played with, you know what I mean? Then it was like, oh, shit, we got to, we have to change the, because they're winning. So we have to change to try to stop that. So I say that to say, like, if you'll catch them, if they didn't win a championship, you see way less. knee jerk to that, right? But they're the king. So, you know, if you're trying to dethrone that, you've got to have an answer to Yolkish. Now, we as a son's team, we did take that

approach. Like, all right, let me take it even further back. You talked about the 0-1 team trying to guard Shaq. Nobody could guard Shaq. Right? That team went out before I even got there. And, you know, DeKenbe Metumbo was defensive player of the year. And stopping Shaq was, you know, a critical component to being able to knock off the Lakers who, you know, were the best team in the league for years around that time, right? Like, he was just too dominant. But even when you had the defensive player the year, you couldn't do that. So what the Sun's team did, if you'll fast forward, like five years later in my career,

Shaq was still a bully at times. Yao Ming was a huge, like, person and just peace to have to deal with. We took that approach that you're describing, Logan, like, fuck that. We don't have anything that can, no one can deal with that. So it's not like we have anything because there's no one in the league. they can deal with it. So guess what? We're just going to push even faster. Like we're going to run them off the court. And at least while I was in Phoenix, we had huge success playing against, you know, Shaq and, and, and Yao Ming. We even had clips of Yao Ming pregame

when we would play them. Mike DeAntoony would like to show us a highlight reel kind of before we went out to the court, get everybody in the right mind. There would be clips of Yao sprinting to get to a free throw line. And by the time he got to that free throw line, just dropping his head, turning and sprinting until he got to the three-point line on the other end, and then turning and dropping his head and sprinting to the other three-point.

So he was just caught in the middle. And that was our approach. The problem with it was, while it worked against those teams, ultimately circumstances were what they were and we didn't win a championship. So there were still teams out there that, you know, it was a novelty thing at that point, right?

didn't produce. Like the knock on us was it was cool for the regular season, but it wasn't going to win championships. And then Golden State won championships doing it. I always, I think I always wanted to ask you just and also acts like, and maybe I've actually just a variation of a question, but like, how did it feel for you to see whatever your style was this not a seven seconds or less? And I don't know how to like say what it was in Golden State, maybe perfected or maybe just had different players in that system. But like, how does it feel to you guys are like, you guys were probably to see them take that next step with it, right? How does that feel for you as one of the originators and part of one of the teams that

originated that, a variation of that style, right? Because, you know, the Warriors also have the bits of the triangle and also, like, it has as bits of running gun. It has a lot of those different things. But they do prioritize pace, which is something that, you know, you guys perfected. How did it feel to see like the Warriors kind of take it and run with it in a different way when you guys? It only got to a certain point with you guys. I thought it was pretty cool.

First of all, there were teams doing it before we did it. But it wasn't like a universally accepted way to play. You see teams pop up that said, hey, we're going to do it like this and score a bunch of points and be really hard to guard. And then they would kind of go away as that coach didn't win a championship and he was recycled. That style of play would disappear for a while. and then I just got blessed to play with Mike when we were doing it. I thought it was really cool,

and I don't, Golden State wasn't out a carbon copy of what we did. They had, you know, they got more Hall of Famers than us. Like they were, they were a better team and there were way more nuances

to what they did offensively. It wasn't just go, go, go. I think they were better defensively at times. So, you know, there were reasons why they won, but I think the nuts and bolts of it and the philosophy behind it was similar. And I thought it was really cool.

It was kind of a vindication. I always felt for Mike because for whatever it's worth, like, you know, I ride with my guys. And Mike's my guy. And I defend him, sure, there's some shortcomings. And we didn't get over the hump. But, I mean, ask 90% of the teams that we played or that the sons played during those years,

how they felt going into a, into a game and a lot of them would tell you like that was going to be rough just because it wasn't our talent, it wasn't it was just the style of play was catching so many people off guard and if you couldn't slow us down

and really grind us out, we were just better at that than you were. We were built to do it more than other teams. We practiced like that and so I always felt that it was sort of a vindication for Mike so I was happy to Golden State plus I like a lot of those dudes. was one of the thing that was this noteworthy and I remember when I was covering the dubs in

like especially 18 and 19 if you want to talk about vindication you see the warriors playing the Houston Rockets right you're literally seeing those styles basically crash coursing into each other and I feel like and I do want to talk about Mike Dantonie and this is this is this is the summer real ones guys

we just go off on tangents here Mike Dan Tony one of the greatest coaches of all time, like, bar none. And I think that he doesn't get that look because of the defensive part of the job. But like when you see when he has a, when he has a team that fits his style, like, I keep thinking about Houston. I think we're going to go look back and see, and he might not get the credit right now. But for what he did for James Hardin's career, it's pretty good. I mean, he made, when he turned James into a point guard for those first few years,

and James was averaging double-digit assists for the first time in his career. And he could be a volume shooter. He could basically be like he could be Manu and Nash at the same time in that offense. And that Houston offense was such a fun offense to watch. I think like 17, 1617 was a fun one because that's one of the first year. But then when they got Chris Paul and they could play off of James. and those were really fun teams. And the only thing that they just went into,

they just lost to a better team. That was the only slight against those Houston Rockets teams. And I think that was a big credit to Mike Danton. Yeah, I think you, I mean, obviously James Hardin, but Mike has to get a lot of credit for that. I think when you're talking about greatest coaches of all time, I mean, you have to factor in the defensive side of the ball, right? Like, that's only fair.

And, you know, we just, we were so preoccupied with offense. It's not like we didn't have defensive strategies or we didn't do defensive stuff, but we were just, if we had more guys that were conscientious defenders, guys that really cared about that side of the ball, I think we could have gotten away with it.

But we just had a roster where certain guys just didn't care enough on that end. And so our lack of attention to it would bite us in the ass at the worst. you know, at the worst times. But let's get back to Mike. Mike, a couple things about Mike. Mike didn't, Mike was never afraid to say, yeah,

I don't give a shit about conventional, like, wisdom or opinion. I don't care. Now, you would think that, you know, most coaches in the NBA, if you've achieved that level of success and you're coaching your own franchise and you do whatever the fuck you want, most of them would subscribe to that. Not true. A lot of them are stuck in like, hey, man, this is the way we play.

This is the way the league plays. This is the way it's always been. like at least when I was around, right? Like this is the way it needs to be done. And Mike didn't do that. Well, so it gave him, I don't doubt that. It gave him a level of freedom to kind of explore and try to figure things out and really take a team that could look completely different from one year to the next. And he play a different style because of that, right?

He was able to kind of mold. His offense was malleable in a way that he was able to kind of shape it to whatever talent he had, right? He was excellent with PG's. I mean, Steve, you know, you just talk about James Hardin, fucking insanity playing in his offense. I was just about to say, yep. You know, like he was great with PGs. And the other thing that I always thought Mike was great at was seeing something in you

in his scheme that you couldn't see, right? Like him looking at his scheme and saying, man, Logan would fit in great with that. Or like, Raja, even though he doesn't shoot any threes in, in YouTube. man, he'll fit great in this. Or Boris Diao, even though Mike Woodson hates him and he can't get on the court in Atlanta, he would be, you know, here's what I could do with him in our offense. And I probably should give the Calangelo some credit for that too, because it probably wasn't just Mike shopping for the ingredients.

Like they had a really good, you know, kind of collaborative, you know, relationship in terms of identifying talent and figuring out what would fit. But Mike did that better. So I tell this story all the time when he sat me down and was like, hey, you're going to have to shoot. 3003s. And I looked at that man, we were in Mastroes. I looked at him like, you know, my wife was sitting on the other end with the other wives chatting it up and I was sitting right next to Mike.

And this was like, we had leaned back and he said the shit to me. And I looked around like, is anybody fucking hear him? He's crazy. And he looked at me like dead ass serious. And like, no, you're going and you're going to do it and you're going to be successful of doing it. And that's going to help our team be better. And so he saw that before I even thought it was possible.

And, you know, I talk about this a lot, man. And especially as it pertains to shooters, like, forgive me, I'm in a little bit of a bag right now, Logan. We talked about Matisse Thibel before we came on the pod, right? Because we were talking about Dallas. Yes, we did. Shooting specifically is so mental. It's so, it's so mental. I mean, you know, you'll have guys tell you, yeah, like, the shan got to be like this,

and you got to have that elbow here, and you got to fuck all of that. Like, sure. Let that shit fly. There are some things mechanically that you would ideally like. to happen, right? And might give you a better chance to be successful consistently.

But look at some of the, like look at Reggie Miller's jump shot. No, here's another thing, is crazy. Look at the greatest shooter of all time, greatest shooter of all time. His shot is damn near a push shot and it would not be taught.

It would not be taught. It's basically a push shot. So, so Mike, I only say all that to say that, that Mike seeing something in you that you didn't necessarily see and convincing you that that that was possible in some cases or in other cases freeing you up to let go of

the baggage that other people had created for you see i came with a lot of baggage bro i came to mike with a lot of baggage a lot of scars from people telling me i couldn't or i shouldn't or i can't and that shit even as a 23 year old 24 year old at that point probably 25 year old that those those are like it's hard to heal from that shit like but mike went about not just me but boris and other people that would come in that had these type of like restrictions put on them in places and he just made you feel like empowered.

And that was the genius of Mike. I will always say that. He just made you, if you didn't believe, he was going to make you believe by the end of that shit. He just freed you up to hoop, you know? That's what's up.

We were talking about Matisse Stuybel. But I think, like, pre-pod. But I think that like it's a bigger conversation. to be had and I want to have it really quickly. Just how, not how easy it is, but how to make a, we were talking about how to make

$100 million in the NBA, basically. Right? Right. And not necessarily, but like, don't say easy. I'm not saying easy. It's hard as hell. But the key,

I think pre-pod, we were talking about the key to make it $100 million is playing defense and just developing that shot. That will make you $100 million in the NBA in today's, league, right? My question to you, Raja, is, and I think it's good for the league because

we all, you know how we are in Rome, was we want everybody to get paid and get their bread and, like, and do that. How do you feel about, is that how it kind of always has been in the league? It's basically just finding a role, right? Or like, is it different? Is it, is it, is it, is it a thing where, um, it's just not easy, but it's like, okay, I do these two things. I'm here to get my bread and that's what that is. Or is it like, no, this is it like, no, this is it. what the league needs and this is what I need to be in service of it and this is how we push the league forward. How do you see

that? Because how do you see all of that basically building on the conversation we had in prepot? The money that cats are making now is it's really unbelievable and I think that's pretty cool. And it's only getting higher. We're about to have a TV deal that's going to give us, give you're going to think these

numbers are ridiculous, wait until the new TV deal. Facts. There was some older head than me that when I signed a contract was like, they gave that motherfucker that? Like there was somebody doing that, right? And I was always acutely like kind of in tune to that. And I was like, I'm never, I mean, like, good for, good for them.

Like, that's pretty dope. And as far as, you know, there are different ways to make an $100 million in the league. But what, you know, one of the, you have to be self-aware. You have to know who you are. What, you know, what level you kind of are slotted into with all of your skill sets, right? Like everyone can create plays in the NBA. But what tier of play creator are you?

Are you like a seven out of ten? Well, fine. Never be your job in the NBA. So like we might as well like scrap that. Like, you know what I mean? Put that on a back burner. And let's figure out like what parts of my game translate to winning and kind of supporting the guys that are the one and the two level play creators.

So what can I add to this mix? and the guys that have longevity and it's not always money, there are plenty of people to get bags that don't deserve bags. Trust me, there are plenty of people. And every walk of like, every walk of life, dog. So it doesn't always correlate. But the guys that have longevity doing it and more often than not are rewarded because of it figured that out.

Like, hey, man. And I did. It took me a while. I told you. People told me to defend. You'll be fine. Just defend. Just defend.

Just defend. And I went from good team to good team. Just defending. But guess what? Never getting paid. Never ever getting paid. And ultimately, in the league, it's a job. Ultimately, the goal is to get paid.

It supports your family. Like, that's the, it's just like any other job. Yeah, fuck that. I mean, I love basketball, but like, you know, I mean, everybody else is getting paid. That's why shout out. Bruce Brown got the bag in Indiana when he could have got like a lesser bag in Los Angeles to go. No, get that bag, bro. Look at the end of bag.

Fuck that. Nah, fuck that. Hey, man, miss me with that shit, bro. Anybody want to hop on the pot

and argue that shit with me, come on with it. But, but, you know who has the luxury of doing that? My fuckers

that already got their bag. Yeah. Katz that came in the first round and secured large bags, probably, probably had another bag. And now,

you know, you're equating them with a journeyman, Bruce Brown, and telling Bruce Brown he needs to take less. No. You know who we're talking about?

Friend of the show, Russell Westbrook, who just got that eight meal. But what people don't know is that he got the buyout from such and the contract from other, other, and like, you know, the revenues are revenailing.

Tally up his career earnings. And good for him. He's at a point in his career, both financially and, and like, in terms of accomplishments and achievements where he can do that. But Bruce Brown wasn't at that spot. So anybody, I mean, I haven't seen it, but if anybody were to make their mouth up to say something crazy about Bruce Brown.

Come on the pod, Roger has something to say to you. Invitation is always open. But I digress. Let me get back to what I was saying. You have to figure out as a young me, as a young Matisse Thaibo, as a young whoever, who's figured out, I got this one thing that I can do at a super high level that is really coveted, right? Like, I can defend. Or, you know, like, let's say I can rebound my ass off. but that's just one facet of my game.

You have to usually round it out with something else. And the best way to do it in today's NBA because there's such a premium on it is to be able to shoot the ball. To be able to tow that line, find yourself a nice spot while pick and roll is taking place or whatever's happening and catch and shoot.

And you have to then, what I would do was I'd hire shooting coaches. Like I was always able to shoot. I had just been, again, scarred. I had had enough people tell me I couldn't do it. and I had had just enough unsuccessful tries at it to maybe let that disbelief creep into my psyche. And so some of those coaches started really becoming part of me, like in a way that was negative. And I had to shoot that shit out of me.

I had to shoot those voices out. Like I watched that shit going to hole so many times that I didn't hear that voice telling me I couldn't shoot it no more. I didn't hear a motherfucker saying, no, every time I go up to shoot because I shot it out at his ass. He couldn't, that wasn't going to affect me anymore. And so that's Matisse Stuybles of the world. Like, that's what you do. You say, okay, I got this offensive, I mean, this defensive skill set that everyone wants,

but maybe not high level, like, free agency money. Let me pair that with something else. And it's probably not going to be playmaking and shit. It's going to be shooting a ball. You sound like such a writer, bud. You sound like a writer. What do you mean? Bro.

Okay. Like, dog, when I was coming up, man, just the inner doubt is basically the common thread is what I see right now. just the inner doubt of it's going to happen or if it's going to pop because like it's interesting like you don't know you don't know right raja when you're 23 that you're going to be sitting here doing a podcast after having a fucking illustrious career right or and being able to provide for your family you don't know that 20 years ago like there's just that inner doubt like with the writer thing it's like damn do you have the right editors with you do you have the right people like

I remember when I was in the newspaper game, and it's just like, especially like the newspaper I was at, you get into the space where they are prioritizing other analytics that you're not like your skill set. Your skill set just isn't there for the things that they say that they want. I'm not going to say all newspapers, but the place that I was in the sports department that I was at, you get into a position where it's just like a bad team where there are different goals and changing goals. and it's just not the right culture and, you know, the money isn't there. So you get into this position where you're doing good things and that the other people are seeing outwardly. But when you're at, but when you go to your bosses and you go to these types of places, it's you're not getting the affirmation that you feel you deserve.

Like I'm sure you've gone through that with bad teams and things like that. And that and because when that happens, doubt creeps in. And, you know, when you're talking about you got to shoot your way out of it. As writers, when you're with these in these different types of spaces, you've got to write your way out of it. You have to figure it out to figure out how your pros is going to be good if you care. Right?

There's a lot of people just like in the journalism profession, just like at the basketball profession, there's a lot of people that just inherently don't care. But it is tough to get to that point. So when you were talking about that, it's like, yeah, man, there's a commonality there to you've got to get to, to a point and it takes a lot of mental toughness, right? Because like, I always marvel at you because it's like, fuck, man.

I don't know how I'm in a country. I don't, like, you tell all the stories. You're in a country you don't know about. You're in a league that you're just trying to get somewhere. We talk about this with Juan all the time. You're trying to get to a point and you're already behind the A ball because you didn't get drafted. You didn't get to this point, but you have to work extra to get into there.

And a lot of doubt creeps into that point because shit. It's the hardest route. There's a lot of mental toughness. So basically all the way to say, like, I respect your journey, G. There's all I'm saying. Well, no, I appreciate that. And you know, there's a lot of respect for yours as well. I just, I, you know, not to turn this.

It takes a lot of fortitude to get into this league and to be and to stick. It takes a lot of things. Oh, it takes a lot of things, man. And in my case, it was luck. It was, it was, there was some fortitude. There were some, like, some people in, in, in my world that they were able to heal me. Like when I left Philly, I was broken. Like, I love Larry Brown, but he, like, I wasn't ready for that, like, emotionally, right?

And the pressure of, you know, where that team was and who was on it and the expectations of it and of me. And when I couldn't live up to that, like, it became very tough for me my second year there. Like, my relationship was not great with coach. And, you know, he was an old school kind of coach. Like, and, you know, I'd have nightmares about that shit, bro. I'd be driving home wondering like, yo, dog, you probably just stop doing this shit. Like this, I don't, real talk. No, I feel you.

I'm laughing because I feel you. I tell a story to my close family and friends. Like, I'd be in Spain, you know, just trying to figure out how to get out of a fucking garage because they dropped me off like last night at this flat. And we're like, hey, we'll see you tomorrow. I practice and I'm in this Pujo in the morning stuck in the garage because ain't nobody told me how to get out of the fucking garage, right? And so I show up in practice and, you know, I shit you not.

Like the first play, the ball swung to me like, I don't know, five minutes in the practice or some shit like that. And I shoot a shot and miss it. And I could have swore Larry Brown was yelling at me. Yeah. I'm like, what the fuck? This motherfucker followed me to Spain? He lived in your head.

I was shell shock, bro. yes, he had gotten into me like that. And so, you know, I, I just had some, like, I just wasn't, I wasn't ready. Now, in my defense, I had been cut multiple times and I didn't quit. I kept coming back. Like, I was stupid enough to keep showing up and trying, but, you know, it had started to wear on me. It got to the point, like, probably my, probably, the weirdest kind of load that I hit was when I knew something had to change was I was in Dallas. And, you know, there was this weird thing. There were really no shots to be had,

but Nelly wanted you to, you know, shoot because you were a liability if they could sag off of you and guard Dirk and Steve and all these people, right? And so, but I was only really playing half of the games. I had been in Spain to start the season. They called me back. And then they're like, you're going to start half the games.

And then half of them were not even going to play you. So for a young player this got like this shit going on, I'm like, what? Do you like me? Do you not like me? Like, I don't even know. Yeah. Like my contract wasn't guaranteed. until January, like, 15th.

We were in New Orleans. Like, I remember sitting in the dark in the New Orleans hotel room, just looking at the clock, like hoping that that shit was going to go hard at 12. You know, at whatever time, my contract went hard. You know what I mean? Like, I'm like, fuck, we dodged another bullet. So then when you're telling me the next night,

hey, you got to shoot that shot. And I still hill Larry Brown telling me, hey, bro, don't shoot that shot. Like, I'm like, conflicted. So we have a practice. Avery Johnson is my guy. I love the general. the general ran a practice for us, right?

Nellie and, and company, you know, Del Harris, like, all those dudes were, like, going to do something. So General ran to practice. So, everybody's shit was tough, bro. This shit on with, General,

ran, we were running scripted offense. We were going down and back, down and back, down and back. So six sets, right? And pre-practice, he ran a tape session. And on the tape session, he found a clip of me not shooting a shot, that I should shoot. And so

General, he went in on me. That's right. I mean, look, right thing to do probably. He made me in front of the whole team. He said, every one of these sets. Now, mind you, I'm out there with Dirk, Mike Finley, Steve Nash, and probably like Rayflefremts or somebody like that.

Like, like a crazy four and me. Every time down the court, Rajabelle is going to shoot the ball. He made me, bro, I was so like, it was was, I could have been broken. Like, I could have been broken at that point because that shit was embarrassing.

There was a lot of shit that went into that. And so that was the year where I was like, look, man, you got to figure some shit out because you can't keep existing like this, dog. Like, we, it just won't, not only want to be fruitful for you, but like, it's going to drive you nuts. Like, you're going to lose your shit because you've got to pair something else with that. Or you're always going to be stuck in this place where, where, you know, there is some value just enough for them to want to play you.

and then there's not enough value for them to be satisfied, and that's a fucked up limbo to be in, you know? And it's crazy because that probably changed your career. It did. No, and I'm not bitching about it. I just, I wasn't tough enough. I feel that. No, like, because those are the breaks.

Those are the breaks. I remember, and we're just telling story time, we're going to get to a segment in a second that we're excited for. But I remember the summer of 2017. And these are the breaks, right? like where you either quit or you just you go one last push and that's what it is right i remember 2017 i was at uh laney junior college in oakland right and you know like my grades weren't great because this of circumstances right like i just i couldn't do it i was also like interning

a lot but my grades just weren't doing it because i was ever i was one of those kids that was in the field all the time. Like I wasn't in class because I was in the field doing internships and doing all these things. And it got to a point where life was like, like, lifing. And I couldn't, either I was going to make this dream happen or I wasn't. And I remember I got into, shout out to the Sports Journalism Institute, but I got into the Sports Journalism Institute. It's a, it's a program that is like, Marcus Thompson's a part of it, the legacy Candace Buckner, Malika Andrews has been it as well. But I got that after like trying for like three years straight, right? And I got it. And they place you in these internships or whatever, right? And they placed me in Memphis.

My first day in Memphis, my fucking car breaks down, bro. Right? Fixed that. We figured out over that summer. I can't get a job because I am still in school and I don't have a degree. Right. And then we get to that fall and like it's getting to a point where it's like bro, if this shit doesn't hit, I got to find another profession. And then like I got a call like that fall and it was

from that newspaper that I was talking about that I do got a lot of love for it just was a newspaper at the point. And they get a call like do you want to cover the Golden State Warriors? And I'm like yeah. Yeah. And I was like like I promise you if it got to

to the winter probably was going to quit. If we got to winter 2017, I probably was going to quit and, like, figure out something else in life. And that shit happened. And I was like, well, free this college stuff. I'm about to go, like, I'm about to, this is a life-changing thing. But those are the things that you kind of have to do.

Like, it doesn't matter to NBA or if it's like journalism or any profession. The guess the message of this podcast is, bros, you got to keep pushing, bro. Because there's no other way to get to where you want to be unless you just keep your foot on the gas. That's absolutely right. And in the moment, it's hard to see that those situations of mine that I described where you don't think you're ready for them, like, and you don't see a way out of it. Like, they're there for a reason. Like, without, without those experiences, without Larry Brown in my head, like, and haunting me in Spain and without, you know, like, you know, Avery, And I love Avery.

Without that, like one of the most embarrassing moments in my NBA career, like, amongst my teammates. Without that, like, I don't figure out, hey, bro. Like, you don't want to be that. Like, let's figure out something else to do. Do you know what I mean? So all of that is for a reason. It's hard to see it when you're in the midst of it. It doesn't always feel great.

But it winds up making you who you are. And all of that is part of your ultimate journey. Do you know what I mean? And so it doesn't give people right in the midst of it a lot of solace, like, because it's hard, dog. You remember that, like that time. You remember that shit. I remember that. Oh, my goodness.

Like, bro, you got the shit in your stomach where you're like, bro, I can't go back. Like, that's why every miss fucking sucks for you, right? Because every miss means I'm going to go back to the CBA. Absolutely. Right? Like, every miss means, like, I'm going to go back to Oakland and go back to Laney. You feel me? Like, that's what you're thinking every time you make a mistake.

That, and so I really appreciate you saying that because this brings. at full circle for me in the conversation because that's why Mike DeAnne Tony will like that moment. He could call me right now and ask me to do something. Him or Jerry Sloan. I'll go right now. No, Jerry's not with us. But the point is,

you know, having someone, um, that sees you for the place that you're in, like, and what you need emotionally, and having that support in those moments is critical. No,

no bashed on the people who can't see it. But I just need. Like I needed healing. You know what I mean? And those dudes were there and they did it. Whether they said, hey, he needs it or not or this is just my personality. And so, you know, I'm going to do it. But it was the right time for me.

And that, like coaching, that's so much a coaching, right? Like, and I admittedly, you think I'd be great at it. I'm not. I'm not great at it. Understanding that like, yo, Ty Bell needs to be approached like this because he, like, his last situation was fucked up. So I can't be like as abrasive and as demonstrative and as as forceful with him. While like Zenbell, my other son, like, you know, I can get any.

You know, but you have to different people, you know, require different stimuli and require different type of interactions. And to get the best out of players, figuring that out on a human level and being able to push their buttons, that's the name of the game. Like X's and O's R2, but that's a huge part of it, especially if the pro level is like, can I get the most out of low? And here's how I do it. And the answer is not the same for Raj, but here's how I do it with him.

For sure. In this next segment, we're going to basically see the fruits of your labor, sir. Cuddy Kerm out of the motherfucking cut to hold us down. This is a segment where we've been talking about this segment for a while that we're going to do. Kerm brought it to my attention. It's the top five songs with Raja Bell lyrics in them or Raja Bell adjacent lyrics in them. And we're going to get your take. on these

Kiggity Kerm, take it away. Kerm, wait, before we go, can I just please don't judge if I don't know the song, right? Like, we just say that. I didn't know any of these songs, Roger. I had no idea of none of these songs.

I was definitely in the cut for some of these songs. There were definitely a couple ones, a couple songs that weren't on Spotify. You know, so, but let's do it. So first we'll start off with some Jack Harlow. Get bread, nonstop. Know my name.

Ring a bell like, Ron. From the city like Rondo Rajan, but I'm from the white side like Haasai. Okay. Okay. Biggest rapper in the game. Yeah. I know that one. I know that one.

That's tough. That's tough. Howie, hold. Quick question. Before we go to the next one, how did you, which one of your kids brought it to your attention that you were in the song? And what were your reaction? How did you find out about this one?

Because it's a pretty deal. It's a good question. And this was a couple years ago, right? So like this would have been Was it Ty Bell or Dia Bell? It was it might have been the two of them together. They might have found out like together and brought it and brought it to me.

And I wasn't super familiar with Jack Harlow at the time. Like again, this was a few years ago. So I had to look it up. And then it kind of snowballed. So once they brought it to me, a lot of people brought it to me. And yeah, that one's a good one, man. That was a good one shot. Did you feel?

Because I'm not a dad yet. but everything I hear from like dads or parents is like their kids don't think they don't feel like they're cool you know what I mean I felt like in that one you got did you get a little cool points was it like okay I'm a cool dad for like a week right now like they fuck with me now like yeah I'm gonna fucking I'm gonna Jack Harlow song yeah oh 100% bro that was that was street credit all day man like I'm I live in a generation

a kid that doesn't know I played in the NBA like you know You know what I mean? Like my sons and their friends are at an age where they wouldn't remember that. So I get no, I get, I get no kind of like recognition for having been a former athlete unless those kids' parents are like, hey, man, you know he played in the NBA. So if your name pops up in a song like that, I mean, bro, I was, I had, I was getting motherfuckers to take the trash out. Like I had all kind of equity in the crick, bro. Get those dishes, though. I was on it.

Yeah. I leveraged that for weeks. Yeah. At first it was Dad Schmad, and now it's like, Dad is rad. He was a big, so I read about when I heard this song, like I had to, I checked in, like, why would, you know, not for nothing, but like, how are you going to pick my name out? Maybe it just rhymes you were looking for, but he was a sun's fan, I guess, growing up, he said. So I read that somewhere. That's what's what we got next term.

We can't, are we, are we, how, what's the, I'm scared of the next one because that's like, it's pretty big. Yeah, leave that one there. That's as big as it gets. All the other one, we're just going downhill from here. But next is from, honestly, one of my favorite rappers ever. Mc Jenkins, he was featuring on the song Pirates by Certsey. Here we go. I be Drew Breeze with the knowledge I've arrived by.

Kobe system shooter keep a Rajah, bail with me, bear with me, grow with me, share with me. Okay. Well, well, let me hear that again. Can we get that one again? Let's say it one more time. I'll be Drew Breeze with the knowledge I've arrived by Kobe system shooter. Keep a Rajah. Bail with me.

Bear with me. Grow with me. Share with me. Yo, that was really, that was, you got to put your Jan Sport on, your backpack and your Tim's. This goes back to your 90s days, right? Like, you got a lot of metaphors. A lot of metaphors. Kobe sent some shooters

keep a Rajah bell with me. You know what I'm saying? That's kind of fire. Yeah. That's fire. Yeah, that was fire. I asked for the rewind because I couldn't tell if he was like if it was dissing. If he was a... Yes, what's the Kobe line? But then I heard it keeps a shooters on me like a... Yeah, that was tough. Tough.

What's his name? Mick Jenkins. That's fire. That's fire. Okay, Mick Jenkins. Yeah. Listen, the 2K thing, I just got back in 2K, I guess. I didn't realize I was at a 2K because I didn't do my license. What's the process on the 2K shit?

How does that work? Why does that work? I had never really, like when I played, ever thought about it. Like you're just in 2K. But I guess once I retired, something happened with the collected bargaining agreement where I had to check in with my retired players union and then sign off on some sort of like a license in agreement and I hadn't okayed it so I was not in the game. And then like so it's like Joe Schmoe number 19 if you didn't do that, right?

Okay. But I'm back, bitches. And so like I've gotten a lot. So I've gotten a lot of people like, you know, the old school, hey man, when you were in 2K, I used to, you're back. So I get to relive it every now. And Roger, bro, you damn near. I feel like I got to play.

I got to get the new 2K. I feel like you will be a heater. like we could get you like fucking 28 from Roger just shooting threes, get you on a hot night on 2K bro, like getting ass pushing it out to you. Like I think you're, the sun just translates to an all time good 2K team.

There was a time. I don't think I'm like that right now in 2K, although I haven't played it. Full disclosure, I don't know. But there was a time in the middle of it where our son's teams were hot where I remember people being like, bro, I get 40 with you out of like 2K6 for show. 2K6 for show. It was a good

it was a good year. And 2K7, you were really good as well. Great vintages. Gang, gang. Kerm, what we got? Next, we got ASAP 12ie. Songs called Adventure Time. Call me A-Raw. Raja Bell with 24 shells. Like it down to scale.

I left no tramp. Yeah, Ra. Play that again. Play that one more time. Play that one more time. Call me A-Rop. Ron, Sean Bell with 24 shells. Like it down to scale.

I left no trim. Okay. That's hard. This is making me, this is making me blood. I got little tingles, bro. Okay. That's tough. I was tough.

And it's my style. I feel like shooters in the NBA, more likely than that y'all are getting referenced for the fact y'all make threes. The gun violence bars, it's kind of out of hand. But the shit, it's hot. Hey, no. That's that tough shit. That's that East Coast shit, bro. That's right up my alley.

So, Sam, Roger, this motherfucker. Oh, shit. All right, what we got? What's the next one? Give me one second. We're starting to get to the point where it's like, I don't actually. actually like know these artists. I just found the Roger Bell references.

Some of them still hard, though. Don't get it twisted. So the next one is same by Drago and Bino. Same end by Drago and Bino. Yes. Same end. Kai, give me a bleep. Give me a bleep.

Try. Okay. I will give you some gang, but you tight as hell. I can't show her anything because she might just tear. Man, with this Glock 19, I feel like Rajabell. This ain't built to last. make them genius friend I was slapping this on the beginning

I was slaver this award a show because they sent me the songs and I was like oh shit that one was got a groove he was like oh shit dude give me another one give me that one again give me that one again

I got you I got you I got you some gang but you tight as hell I can't show her anything because she might just tear man with this Glock 19 I feel like Rajah Bell this ain't built the last

making Jesus friends it's real It sneaks in Because you're not expected it, bro You're not expected it? Okay. Yeah, that was... I rock with it.

Look this up. You know what I'm going to do? You know what I'm going to do? If you will send me... I'll send you all the songs after. I got you. What I'm going to do today is in the car with one of my sons.

I'm just going to play song after song and see if he notices that my name pops up and all them damn song. That's what I'm going to do. I'll keep you all post notes. And be like, oh, you got to go to him. Be like, oh, yeah, you got to go to him. be like, yo, this hot.

This kind of hot I want to listen to this. What's the next one? What's the next one? So this one is, you know, we're starting to really get into the crates. These name is Says Batters. I think this is off his mixtape that I found on a random website. But he Rajé bell in it. Yo, you know what that sounded like?

You can't say it, Roger. This is like some like fucking 08 young money. compilation throwaway beat that he used and dead hats but I'm very happy that you got to co-sign on this one good job but like I'm really happy though I just want to say full disclosure I'm really happy that we have like five or six songs like you don't have just have one dame drop so shout out to you I'm gonna keep it a buck I really thought that the Jack Harlow song was the only one so this is this has been fun for me like I really did

think that was the only one and you know if you if anyone who knows me when when my name popped up in his shit. I was like, why the fuck would he be saying my name? Like, why? Like, what? Yeah. Pretty cool, though. Turn tight. What's the last one? What's the last one? This one, I'm going to warn y'all now. I'm not feeling it, but we got to play it anyways. Pancho plays in ATM. The song is called the East of the Orient

freestyle remix. Oh. Okay. Yeah, give me, there it is. Guess what just like Roger Bell? Hey, I'm going to just say this. Cut it off, Kerm. Cut it off. I just want to say, I just want to say, Kerm.

Kerm, I just want to say between, I'm confident in saying this, between the other episode where you got all of our clips and then you did this, I'm confident to say you work too fucking hard. You work too hard. This is way too hard. I was on YouTube like, I don't know about this one, but fuck it. Man. That was great.

I appreciate the effort. The find was phenomenal. The find was phenomenal. There you go. That was a great fine. Shout out to the person and made it. Shout out to everything. That was great.

That was great. Kerm in his bag. Absolutely bag. Absolute bag. Good job. Rara. How do you feel? See, I think I can officially like have a productive day now, man.

That's what I needed to get over the hunt, man. Like I'm like just I needed. I needed a. fill of hearing my name in various rap songs. It's what keeps me going. I mean, I have a rankings real quick before you, before we go.

Every morning. I want to hear it. I want to hear this. I think the, the, the first one obviously is Jack Harlow. That's number one, right? Yeah,

I'm going to go number two, ASAP 12E of Venture Time because I just thought that was just some light New York. Which was that? That was a New York bar. 24 shells. Yep, yeah,

yeah, yeah, okay. Yep. And then the same end was fun because I was dancing. That was just dancing to it. It was great. Thanks.

It went all downhill from after that. Well, Mick Jenkins, you know, Mick Jenkins had a great, he had a great one, but it kind of went downhill from there. Like it was, I appreciate that, man.

That's a humbling, man, pretty cool, man. I am gonna, at least three of those songs, I'm playing for, for Diabelle, he doesn't know it yet.

He's going to be in the car like that. What the fuck is this? It's hot is what it is. It's called our, it's called. All right. This is our, let's get back on track.

Thank you, thank you, Kerm. All right, it's a Thursday show. so you know what that means. A little segment we like to call Rewan of the week where we point out a person

entity and organization had won the week. Raj, y'all go first. I'm going to go with Leslie Jones of S&L fame. Because she has season tickets to the sparks and the sparks were so

god awfully bad yesterday that she was the highlight because she was turned every single place. She was getting young ladies off the ground. Right? She's throwing motivation.

She's, doing the lean. You know when you shoot, Raja, and you do the lean to get the body English to go into the and she was doing that, willing balls to go into the hoop. She was locked in. She is a Sparks fan. It was a great watching

her cheer on the Sparks because the Sparks didn't really have any sort of game to speak of against the dream last night. So I'm going with Leslie Jones as my ruin of the week. Way to win the week, Leslie. I hear you, Leslie. I'm a big fan of Leslie Jones, by the way. It's a tough one because I want to

I want to go, I want to go with the Milwaukee Bucks, right? Just because, like, they had to get those dudes re-signed and they got, I mean, that core, you know, resigned. I thought, you know, that was a big. And at some numbers and some flexibility that, that's team friendly. So I'm going to give them a shout out. Who else do I want to give us? Oh, Dylan Brooks. Dylan Brooks.

Yeah, four for 80. I'm not going to hold you. I'm not going to hold you. We had our, we've had our battle. with Dillon Brooks of the podcast. I got to respect it. I have to respect it. Absolutely.

Respect, G. Respect. Respect. Respect that. Also, Roger, he got motherfuckuske's Hayden. He got, he goes, hate right now. Hey, Hayden. We'll spit facts on this problem.

One thing we not going to do, we die going to hate, especially on somebody getting their bread. Shout out. Shout out is right, man. Four brides. Like, yes, sir, Dillen Brooks. And then the last one, I'd be remiss if I didn't do this. my young buck my young buck your favorite tie bell he caught his first banger last week on a 10-foot goal um is it on tape oh yeah it's on tape for sure um i put it on my twitter it will be needed to

it needs to be put in the chat yeah twitter's also a twitter's also not a thing anymore man it's a thing called threads that just came out did you get you get your threads did you get your threads the new the new app listen i will be on twitter for that i what do you mean threads like anything I think I'm four years like any okay. I'm four years behind whatever it's okay. So for that reason, bro, entering entering the eighth grade. You know when the first time I dunked was? No bullshit.

When? 10th grade. You know the first time I ducked, Raja? Huh. I'm still trying to figure that out right now. I'm just trying to do it. And I'm six three. What I told the people that I covered, I couldn't dunk,

dog, the looks on their faces. Disgust. So shout out to the God. Shout out to the God. Yeah. My faith. That's it, man. Real one.

Bangers. And, man, at six foot, bro. I'm like, what? They just feed these kids. You see LeBron with his team the other day? Like, this is a, I think Bronny's in a ninth going to 10th grade or some shit like that. And all these jokers are the same.

Brian, Brian is in college. Bryce. Apologies, Bryce. But his teammates all standing next to LeBron, making LeBron look like he's average size. Like, these kids is different. Remember when we was kids.

I will say when we, because I believe you're in the same ilk on this. Remember what we used to just be like questioning kids birth certificates back in the day? That's what the whole A&U system is. So we was like, man, give me the fucking see this. You can fucking first ticket. You know what you got your hands and your hips because you know you're going to lose because the other team is just adults? Fucking six graders, all of them banging out.

The whole eight banging. How are you in second grade and you seven, too? That doesn't make any sense. Anyways, that's another edition of ruins. A little housekeeping. We will not be on, we'll not have a show on Monday. I think this is Newsderaja. We'll be back on Thursday.

I will be in Vegas for Summer League. You will see me. I will be doing a pod with Tyler Parker this weekend. So that should be fun. And then also, you could catch me, little housekeeping. I did 60 songs that defined the 90s with our guy Rob Harvella. It was great. Kern produced it.

good. And so you guys check that out. Tap in. We gave you an hour and six minutes. Love it. We'll see you next week. Bye.