The Ringer NBA Show - The Rui Hachimura Trade, LeBron’s Legacy, and Kobe Stories | Real Ones

Episode Date: January 26, 2023

Logan and Raja are back to give their thoughts on this week’s Lakers-Wizards trade and how the move impacts both teams (3:08). Along the way, the guys discuss LeBron’s incredible play as he nears the all-time scoring record (24:06). Later, they honor Kobe Bryant three years after his death by sharing some of their favorite stories about the Lakers legend (42:11). Finally, the guys close out with their Real Ones of the Week (65:37). Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Associate Producer: Jonathan Kermah Production Assistant: Kai Grady Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's popping everybody? This is Logan Murdoch from Real On I have some big news to share. On Saturday, February 18th, the Ringer NBA show will be hitting the road for All-Star weekend for a live show in Salt Lake City. You heard that right. We are taping the pod in front of a live audience in Salt Lake next month and we want you to join us. Pull up on us at the stateroom in the heart of downtown Salt Lake. You can grab your tickets now at thestateroom.com. That's the stateroom.com. Doors open at 9 o'clock. Show is at 10. It's going to be a 21 and up event. come hang with the gang and chat midseason updates draft preview and even have a Q&A with us space is limited so grab your tickets while they last at the stateroom.com or click the link in the description of this show hope to see y'all in there what's popping real ones logan murdock here

raja bell there we are both on the east coast at this point raja i just i said this to start in the prepod meeting dog when you wake up at like you know full disclosure for everybody in the ruins universe. I am on the West Coast. Typically, Raja's on the East Coast. Raja kits up and he's, he's just smiling.

He's chipper on most days because he starts potting at 12 o'clock. Meanwhile, you know, I'm just rolled out of bed. You know, I just, I literally rolled laptop and get stuff going. Now that I'm on the East Coast,

Raja, I'm liking it. I see which I see why, I see why you get all happy and I see why you're doing all these. I see it. And I also see, I was watching the Warriors game in my hotel yesterday in the Sixers' Nets.

And dog, I see why also you don't never be up when we're trying to talk West Coast games. You know, like I just see your whole life right now on this side. To give and take, many positives about being on the East Coast, which I prefer. I think the East Coast is better. Let me just put that out there.

Hey, okay. But it's just personal preference. I'm not claiming it is. It's just me. But there were some very good things about being on the West Coast. You know, shit, you're going to catch you. almost every game.

It's not an issue. East Coast is very difficult, though, bro. I'm at a point now. I couldn't be on the West Coast. You know why, Logan? Like, I couldn't do what you do for a lot of reasons, like the roll out of bed. But I'm at an age now where I'm looking at face serums, bro.

Like, you know what I mean? Like, these bags don't look great at 8 a.m. I need 12 o'clock, bro. I need, I got to get up. The face got to get moving and woken up. There's hydration that needs to take place, dog. Like, I'm at that point. You got the skin year, you got the skincare routine popping right now?

Bro, I wish somebody had told me to take care of it when I was young. You know, these old vests that had me in ice tubs, they're like, yo, hey, young fellow, you need to get wrapped up, man. I'm like, nah, I don't need no ice, man. I'm straight. They're like, no, hey, hey, start now. Make yourself a routine. Get in the ice tub. It'll prolong it.

Boom. Like those dudes that said, they looked out for me in that regard. They did not hold me down with like the skincare routine, man. So I'm just getting into it. But that's where I'm at. So 8 a.m. don't work for me. I understand. I understand.

The give and take, man. Speaking of giving take, let's talk about a trade that a... Oh. A trade that was announced, honestly during our last podcast, which was Monday, Rui Hachamora is going to the Lakers

or is with the Lakers right now, but we got the, We got the text in the chat. O.G. Kern put it in the chat. Honestly, towards the time we were ending this pod on Monday, and you know, like, y'all don't notice, but when Roz were out ready to end and we're about ready to end the pod,

it's time to end the pod. There ain't no, like, we'll, we'll get to this on the next pod. And this is the next pod. I really want to talk about this, this trade for Rui that the Lakers pulled off, right? Lakers send out three second round picks and Kendrick Nunn to the Wizards who trade Rui.

I'm glad that we're talking about it right here because I've been able to get the reaction from like both fan bases and I want to start with the Wizards first Candice Buckner put out a really great column in the Washington Post that really just encapsulated how DC feels about this trade and just like what are you doing?

Why is this now? Why are we doing this doing this now? I'm going to give you some nice. before we discuss the wizards end of it or give you just some context on this. The wizards have Bradley Bill on their roster. They have Kyle Kuzma on their roster. They have Christops Porzengis on their roster. There is a world next year where Kyle Kuzma and Porzengis is not on the roster

because they are up for extensions and new deals. And the roster could get way expensive, very, very expensive. And optically, it just doesn't make sense for necessarily. them to commit that much money to two players. Then you got a guy like Rui who is showing promise, but somehow just hasn't been able to reach his full potential in Washington. My question to you is, Raja, what is the Wizards plan in all this? How do you even, like, as an outsider looking in,

someone who's played in the NBA has seen the Wizards from afar, what is the plan here where you are trading a guy that could have, been a foundational piece that you've brought in the way you're supposed to do, brought him in, developed him into a place, and then you do like one of the baseball things where his value is good, so you just trade him at what you think is highest values. What do you think of this trade? I want to be fair. I always like to try to be fair, right? I know it doesn't make for great podcasting or TV or radio because it's not a hot take, but I do try to keep it rational and fair. I say that to say, I don't know what the end game is.

So maybe with some perspective and seeing what moves transpire next, I'll say, oh, okay, like not bad. But at face value right now, it's typical wizard shit. I don't know what you're doing. There would be nothing in terms of past evidence to suggest that you are making calculated moves from point A to get to point B and point B being where that championship lies or where that Eastern Conference finals team lies.

There's no roadmap that you've shown me in years past to suggest that you can duplicate it and get there. So, I mean, all I could think is that hopefully for Wizards fans, there is some sort of plan in place and that accumulating these second round picks gets you to a point where you can throw them into different deals and they get you over the hump to get something that you covet. because anything short of that,

I have no idea what you're trying to do. It's why I get on here, and I don't mean to get, I'm not upset. I was trying to, this is going to be a cool pod. You know what I mean? I was chilling. I was having a nice morning, dog. I threw a line up on my hair just for shits and giggles today, you know, by myself.

It was a good morning. And then you come at me with this bullshit. And I'm steady telling Bradley, Bill, why are you fucking around in Washington? Like, and I respect you for it. I respect you saying, yo, I want to get it done here in this city. I respect you saying it's a great place to live. I love the fan base and all of that.

But on the flip side of that same coin, I'm telling you that you're putting your trust in people who don't seem to be able to get you where you need to go. And I'm sorry, Washington. This is my knee jerk. I wasn't prepared for the question necessarily. This is you're getting my immediate response to this question. I have no idea what they're doing.

This is, it's really funny when you get into the bag of where you're like very common you rile yourself up. You know how you do that? This is literally an exactly. example of you doing that, right? But like, this is the, and I want to get to the rest of the trade at a second, but you touched on a really good point with Bradley Bill.

And this is something where, like, let's just say, this is where my evolution on the Bradley Bill part of this is, you know, when you see your homie, could be a, you know, whatever, you see your homie, right? And they, it could be he or she or there or whatever. And you see them with their partner. And their partner is clearly dogged.

them, right? Clearly just year in and year out and Raja, you know, we're good friends. We tell our home boy, our home girl, what are you doing with that buster? We've been telling you this for years. We've been laying out our case, Raja, we've been laying out our case year in and year out. And then you know what happens? You get to a point where you just accept it and you just be like, okay, they are just made for each other in some weird way that I don't understand with my logic. And I think that that's where I'm at right now with Bradley Biltra. Is that fair? It is fair because eventually in that relationship that you just describe, you start to realize as the friend that you're jeopardizing your friendship with your true friend, not the partner in the scenario, but your true friend because no matter what you say they're going back. So eventually you're like, well, shit, I mean, like, I can't keep talking shit or trying to illuminate what's going on here because like it's going to eventually start to affect our friendship.

So I'm a Bradley Bill fan. I'm going to stop talking shit about it, Brad. But I mean, here we are. You know where we stand. You know where we're at. But more so I wanted to get to the overall situation where we're with the Wizards, right? And just look at it from a team aspect, right?

Currently the Wizards, and this goes back to, I kind of talked about it a little bit with the Kyle Kuzman, the Prozinga situation. Kyle Kuzman talked to the athletic, Josh Robbins, and basically just talked about, I don't know what's going to happen with the trade deadline. I don't know if the Wizards are going to trade me. I don't even know what their plan is.

I like them here. I like it here. I've been developed into one of the best players on the team here. I'm averaging over 20-something points here. I've turned myself into a not just a formidable player, but like a borderline star in D.C. You know, for that team in that unit, right? And he's thinking, oh, I don't know what's going to happen.

Even if you were to sign Kuzma and Porzengis, right, this is the same team that you currently have. and you're 11th in the east and you have 122 games. I don't even see a world right now with the Wizards where even if they do double down and keep the names on the team that they have,

I don't see no path to them even being in the playoff race, let alone winning a round or two or going to the conference finals. I mean, you're going to keep bringing me back to the genesis of all of this, which is they can't get right. like they just can't get right you know i don't i don't know what to tell you like when you look at

that roster and you tell me hey bradley beale check chris daps porzingis when he's playing playing really well right check um Kyle kuzma ball and out check um will barton nice player check rory hatchamora before the trade solid on the ascent check like we've got some things working right like then you got danny ivya you got names over there that that these are these are relatively highly drafted players that are producing a little bit and then we're still 11th in like we just you you can't get right you can't and so again I hope me let me stop for a second and just take a take a breath I hope that the wizards have their eyes on something that they think that if they tie into the Chris dabs Bradley Bill Kuzma trio is the perfect piece to unlock all of it

and they go ahead and get those deals done and get them locked up because at least in terms of production and talent and stuff like that, that's a nice core. If you told me, hey, that's the core. I get on here and talk about a lot of teams

saying I don't understand. I'd say, yeah, core-wise, great. So hopefully they have their eyes on something and they're trying to accumulate enough assets to go out and take a swing at it. And at that point, I'll apologize.

But right now in the moment, they can't get right, boss. I love these. with all my heart. It's just, it's tough. I mean, it's tough. Even when we have a nuanced discussion or try to about the Washington

basketball team. It's just tough, like, it's just tough, right? Because we go back to the same fact. That's all I'm saying. It's just like we go back to the same core things. And you could put, we can go to 2019, 2018, 2014, 2014, like it's the same thing, right?

You have Bradley Beal, who's a really good basketball player, put them on a team with John Wall. On paper, that's supposed to be, a great team, right? Same right here. You put it on paper, theoretically, you put a team like Bradley Bill and Kyle Kuzma and Christossoz Perzingas. That should be a solid team, right? That should be in theory. And I think that's just where we're at right now. We're just the constant. We want to talk about the rest of the league. We want to talk about a team like this. And honestly,

I think DC would be great if they, we've talked about this with DA and other people. But it's, I guess I'm frustrated just right there along with you that there's no more to talk about than their fuck-ups. Yeah, I wish I could be more nuanced in terms of digging into what that trade means and clearly articulating where I see the Wizards going with this. And I wish that I had enough of a track record from the Wizards in terms of success to be able to look back and draw from that and come here and give some sort of positive or spin on it. I just don't have it. I don't have any evidence in the in in in the last however many

years, you know, uh, of them being able to really pick their way through the, the weeds until they get to a point of clarity. I just, I don't see it. And so hopefully I'm wrong for for wizard's fans. I mean, for Bradley Beale certainly like I hope I'm wrong. I hope they get that right. But I don't see it. I don't understand it. And minus someone from the wizards given me the ultimate game plan. That's where I stand. Let's talk about the Lakers on the side. of this deal, right? Rory's a really good player. Play really well against the Spurs last night in L.A., but also it's the Spurs, right? Like, it's not

necessarily, like, it was a good win for the Lakers just to get a win at this point. Got Anthony Davis back. Almost lost him again. Almost lost him again. Like, trying to prod, rock. I got him back and almost lost

him again. Bro. That was so tough. I don't know if you watched that game. I watched a little bit of it. It was just tough. Yeah. No, it's all pieces of it.

No, almost lost them again, man. I'd be glad they did it. Good for them in AD. Yeah, what do you think about the, and this is going to an overall discussion I want to have about LeBron in a second, but what is this do for the Lakers? I just feel like it's just one,

it's not going to get them over thinking. It's a small move in the grand scheme of things, right? They even gave away three picks, which honestly, yeah, you want your picks, but second round picks you can buy, right? You can buy that. We've seen that if you really want a guy in the second round, you can go get them.

We've seen that tried and true. But I was reading the LA Times, and Brad Turner, the OG, and his lead was just talking about, oh, man, he's talking about LeBron after the game, and he sees Rui walking by, and he's like, man, it's good to have another six-eight wing in here, right? And then laughs.

what is this going to do for the Lakers? It's not a title. We're not talking about that. But what is this going to do in the interim for Gaila LeBron, who has been scoring so much and at least just wants another body? Does it rejuvenate him? What does this specifically do for him at this stage of the season at this stage of his career? It's an insurance policy.

I mean, you know, I don't mean to diminish Roy. I think it's a nice piece to have. I'm sitting here telling you, I don't understand why Washington moved it the way they did. But like what it's going to do for LeBron right now? I mean, what? He's a 35% three-point shooter. So in theory, you know, it gives you a little bit more shooting around the perimeter or another kind of stretch guy. But I don't know that it's going to be the piece that unlocks the Lakers, you know?

So we're then talking about insurance in terms of another physical body that could go in there and probably play multiple positions. and, you know, eat up some minutes here and there for different guys who've had injury problems or might be dealing or nursing with something and just overlap in some of those areas of production and just general minutes played. And I think the Lakers, I don't know what it is, but I think the Lakers do have some sort of plan to get, I don't know what it is again. And I'm not sitting here trying to forecast it or tell you that I wish They had X, Y, and Z.

I don't know what it is, but I think theirs is more about positioning to try to get the next piece. And so they see where Roy fits into that. I don't, I don't yet. I mean, he fits with them. I don't see the next move where they obviously think he's going to fit in very, very well with that. Tip off the new year with Fandual, America's number one sportsbook. New customers get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. Just download the Fandul's sportsbook app.

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Everything we've talked about with the Lakers has been well documented in terms of, you know, the Russell Westbrook contract and just their salary cap as a whole. right. Their big three eats up a lot of space. And I'm going to be honest with you. And I'm not like, you know, I'm not Dan Wickey. I'm not Brad Turner. You know, I'm not Yovon from the athletic. I'm not in that locker room all the time. So I'm saying this basically just the vibes that I feel. It feels like the Lakers are just, it feels like the Lakers are getting priming for the summer. Like they're just biting their time for the summer when they have. have a little bit more cap space, right?

Like basically another Lakers type thing, right? Another Lakers summer where they go in, they say, hey, listen, like, this year is a wash. We literally can't get better. No one wants to take on this Russell Westbrook contract in a trade. Let's get incrementally better, right? Rory is not necessarily a superstar piece for you, but you need those guys like that on your team. You need the mid-tier guys. And that's something that the Lakers, like, they need.

They're very top-heavy and their roster right now. They don't have a lot of guys that can supplement scoring and also offensive and defensive responsibility. If you look at a Lakers game, it's really just, man, how long is, like, how much of a LeBron minutes can we win and can we not lose the LeBron minutes when he's off the floor? And that's something that they need to figure out. And I don't think that's something that's going to be. figured out this season necessarily, but it feels like the Lakers are priming for something in the

summertime more than what prime for something at the trade deadline. That seems a bit fair, right? Yeah, I think that's fair. I don't, I mean, you're sitting in what, 13th in the, are you 13th in the West right now? You're 13th in the West, you're 23 and 26. You're a game and a half, you're what, you're a half game out of the playing, but like, who cares about that if you're the Lakers, right? You're not going to do much after. Yeah, it would be interested to know what they felt about that. But I agree with you in terms of what they have to do, whether it be something moving forward and making a drastic change this year or in the offseason would be solidify in between LeBron and AD and the guys that are

developmental on your bench. You have to bolster the rest of the team in the middle in a way that can support LeBron and AD as they put up both historic numbers and career numbers. Like there's no way that we could be talking about AD having these career numbers. And then LeBron doing what LeBron's doing and then still be three games under 500. Now, I know there have been some injuries and stuff in there that have derailed their ability to play together. But you're still a sub 500 ball club. That suggests that the middle of your roster is lacking in a way that can't support those two. Right.

And so that's where you're making up the differences. And so that's why I'm saying, really, while he is a good piece for them to have, we'll make shots. I had 12 and 6 last night, good solid player. Don't think he's getting them over the hump. But whatever the next move is becomes a really nice piece as you continue to build that roster out, right? Like those are solid integral pieces to, you know, you're talking about, you know, to use my son's teams, right?

Like obviously with Steve Amari and Sean Marion. Do you know what I mean? And then, you know, then you had guys like, myself and you know boris was better than me but not necessarily a superstar and lb the same thing but not necessarily a superstar and you know there was a year where we had eddie house and then we have kurt thomas and we have guys that are just solid you need dudes solid pros bro like that are that are in there can get can get it done or dependable and they help those guys you know on any given night you know i might pop off with 27 or 30 of them you know like i might have 15 the next

night. But, you know, any number of us could get you 30. And so, you know, those guys don't have to carry the weight of the franchise in terms of scoring and production every single night. That's exhausting and a lot to ask of anyone. I mean, we had that discussion with Lonnie Walker about Lonnie Walker to start the season, right? You don't want Lonnie Walker trying to get 20 points a game. No. You know, you don't want him to do that. You want him to get, you know, average 10 and then maybe give us a couple 30. You know, that's kind of, that's what you want. That's what, that's, that's at least that team should look. You've been in a position with LeBron in this way where, at least when you were there, it was a different

circumstances, a lot better team, a lot, and LeBron was younger. But like, how do you have that conversation with LeBron if you do? Yo, man, check this out. Bron, yeah, no, come in the office. I'm Rob Polinka right now. Bron, please come in the office. Um, listen, man, I know that we made the trade at your request, you know, for Russell Westbrook. I wouldn't start with that. I wouldn't start with that either.

I'm saying this right now. Being a big time studio gangster right now. But anyway, so you say like, hey, man, like, we're looking at the roster right now, and we got a lot of cap room this off season. Doesn't look like we're going to go to the playoffs right now.

What do you think, and you're LeBron, Roger. Yeah. LeBron, what do you think about this, man? Just like, let's just, you know, play as hard as we can this season. And then next year, we can go make another run at it. What do you think, Brian? I found LeBron to be a very rational and thoughtful person when I dealt with him.

And able to digest things in a way that a lot of athletes can't. A lot of athletes are met immediately with kind of, they meet you with a, you know, a distrust and a kind of skepticism, if you will, when someone's talking to them from the front office or ownership. I found LeBron to be pretty receptive to things. Now, that didn't mean he was always going to agree with you, but at least he was going to hear what you were saying and he had the ability to go back, you know, digest it

and come back with a genuine kind of heartfelt answer about it. I think that the key for Polinka is to keep LeBron feeling like you're always moving towards supporting him winning more championships. whether that be, you know, making incremental moves like the Rui move this year, where you could say, hey, look, this is what we're doing, man. We're hamstrung in terms of cap flexibility. You know, it lightens up this summer. But whatever we can do within these margins, we're going to do it because there will

become a time, you know, where we can go out and swing again and we're already set up to be in place. Like, I think if you can articulate that to LeBron, you know, without saying, hey, we're just going to punt. I don't, LeBron, I don't think he's a punter, man. I think he's got too much pride to do that, you know? but I think he also understands the business of it. Like he's not naive to the fact that, you know,

it might not be a right now play, but you can't go in there trying to sell him. Hey, man, let's just punt on this shit. It's got to be forever making moves that can get us closer to where we want to be, right? And so what you do have working on your side this year is like you've got, you've got the Kareem number coming up for LeBron, right? Like there are things that I'll be an individual. And LeBron does a good job of kind of,

of kind of playing the hey individual goals don't mean much when we're not winning type of deal they do they mean they mean something right they mean something so but i appreciate you getting up there and doing what we teach young kids to do which is make it about the team but like you have some things working for you if the lakers there are targets that lebron can try to hit but you can't ask him you can't ask him to punt on the season um you know and then and then i always i always think that when you're dealing with not just lebron but any player of his ill Like when I had, and I've told the story before, when I had to go to LeBron and have the real conversation with him about David Blatt, and I walked around the streets of L.A. for like an hour with David Griffin talking about this. And then I had about an hour in my hotel room to figure out how I was going to have this conversation with LeBron about David Blatt and trying to see if the team would play hard for David Black because they weren't at the time. And at that point, we would be able to make a fair evaluation of David. But we couldn't because the team wasn't playing hard and trying to buy end. what he was preaching. And so I had an hour in my hotel room to think about how I would approach

LeBron. What do you thinking about during this and this in this hour, bro, in the hotel room? Are you like, I'm going to do this? How am I going to, what are you thinking when you're talking to about to talk to LeBron? No, I mean, look, so I always approach LeBron and players like LeBron, you know, Steve, Steve Nash, there's one that I played with. And Alan Iverson's another one that I played with. And just these mega stars, right? They get people coming at them every day. So that's, that's normal and someone that's coming at you every day. It's not unlike someone that's always screaming. If they're always screaming, it loses its effect. So I didn't want to talk to LeBron every day as a CAV employee. I mean, some people did because they just wanted to be LeBron's friend. You know what I

mean? Like, hey, LeBron, hey, LeBron. Like, that starts to fall on deaf ear. So I never really talked to LeBron unless I needed something or I had something in terms of needed something for the team, right? And so I felt pretty confident that, that, you know, it wasn't going to be met with like, hey, bro, not right now. Because I don't always. run up on you asking for something. So when I do, it's kind of important, right? But I was just trying to figure out how I could get him to immediately not put up the guard and be like, oh, fuck, here we go. So I felt like the best way to approach that. And from my experience, the best way, you know, people approached me to get me to tune in right away was to explain to me why it was good for me.

Do you know what I mean? Like, explain to me how this is a value to me. And now you got my attention. If you come at me with like, here's what we need, like, then I'm all to, I'm like, well, yeah, I guess, but how to fuck does that help me? You know what I mean? So I think that's human nature. So I hit LeBron with like his legacy. And although, you know, his, his, he had won championships in Miami and, you know, he was already at this point, I mean, halfway through a magical career, ultimately his legacy was kind of going to be defined. And I felt like he felt this way by whether he got that championship for Cleveland. And I tried to sell LeBron on the fact that that's what we wanted for him. Like this is what we're trying to do, you know? And so this is what we need to help you get it. Yeah. And he was, he was cool as a fan about that shit. We chopped it up for a few. The team started playing for David Blatt. We won a bunch of games, went to the finals. And then ultimately, David Griffin was true to his word. What was his response though when he said that? When he was like, oh, okay, like I didn't see it that way before. Like, what was his, uh, what was his vibe when you

presented it as a salesman that you are? I don't remember verbatim, but it was basically like, bad. I can do that. And it was pretty short and pretty sweet, but he just listened to what I had to say about it. And I assured him, I said, look, if David can't hold up his end of the bargain, we will be able to identify that. And Griff and the organization is committed to doing whatever it takes at that point to make sure you get what you need to get that damn championship. But you and I both know that a lot of the legacy is going to depend on whether we can help you get that done and whether you can ultimately get it done. And so, you know, if you could help us out in that regard and get these boys to hoop and try to buy into what he's talking about, it would be appreciated and it would ultimately help you. And he was like, bad, I could do that.

And they started playing for him. And you were in a situation when you were with LeBron where, you know, he had the, there was always the least threat that he was going to leave pretty soon, right? Like, he did sign a long-term deal. I'm not going to say like he didn't commit himself to Cleveland. And he absolutely did. but there was always the lingering of like he might leave one day. And not to say that that doesn't linger in L.A., but it doesn't really linger as much, right?

Like even when he talks about playing with his son, there's not even, like, there's just at the very most, it's like, oh, yeah, that's cool. At the very least as an audible grumble, like, okay, LeBron, you know, at least in the league, right? I think the difference now is he's going to probably be in L.A. for the foreseeable future. Just sign that extension.

I was just looking at it. His contract is up until he's going to be there at least until 2025. How do you, what's the difference in how you approach LeBron knowing that, yo, you're really on the clock. You're on the clock in Cleveland versus now with the Lakers. He's a little older, you know, it's very clear there's not as much tread on the tires as there was in Cleveland. It's a different LeBron.

How would you approach this type, this era of, LeBron, knowing of this, you're going to have him, it's more security. He's with the Lakers. Like, what are you doing? Like, how are you approaching him to try to get him on board with these things? It's a different, it's a different, it's a different element now. While it is different, I think, I think I would view it as very similar in terms of a window. Like, the window at the time in Cleveland was due to the fear of him leaving and going somewhere else, So you had this finite kind of window of time to get this done in. The window now, it might be less about him leaving,

but it's more about how much does he have left in the tank, how much tread is actually left on the tire to be able to contribute in a way that's efficient and effective for a team to win a championship, right? And like LeBron's a cyborg, I've always said this, man, what he does with his body and the shape he keeps in, it's incredible what he's doing. But, you know, father time's undefeated. So there's still an expiration date on that when it comes, who knows, right? But the window, it's still there because the end game always, when you have him,

is a championship. So you're always approaching it like you have a clock. And again, the thing with LeBron, I think, is to always, and this would be any great player. I'm just, you know, it's the way I would approach it, is to always make them feel like you're not treading water. right because treading water is wasting time you are just trying to keep your head above water while the clock takes you've got to always be moving forward as an organization. And if you can sell them on that, then you'll never have to sit in the office and hear them say,

hey, man, there was X, Y, and Z, and we could have done that. Like, because you're doing what you can do. Even if you've made mistakes that have hamstrung you and put you in situations financially that are difficult to navigate your way out of, given the opportunity to make small moves and start positioning yourself for when you have the money, like you have to do that. You have to be able to convince him like, yo, dog, I'm wasting no time. Yeah, I fucked up.

Yeah, I put us in a situation where, hey, maybe if you got the ball, hey, we fucked up. Right? And you said, hey, we did this, bro. Like, this was a combined effort. But here's what we're going to do. We'll start digging our way out of this whole incrementally. It's going to be a tough year. It'll be a tough year and a half.

But boom, I'm going to make this move. As soon as I can flip that, I'm going to get out and we'll find the piece that we want here. And these pieces will start to accumulate. No one could see the picture yet until we can move, you know, the ultimate and last piece and flip the big one and then the picture will come into clear focus but you got to trust me we're not treading water let's talk about i just want to talk about i have this on the notes man like lebron is currently 158 points behind kareem abdulah jabar and the all-time scoring record yeah um i'm gonna go i'm gonna go see him on saturday night in boston like how how how as someone who plays

played in a game, Rob. How wild is that to consider from a guy like LeBron who, I mean, he says this himself. He's kind of taken over the narrative of just like, yeah, man, I'm not even a, I'm not even a scoring dude like that. Yes, we get it, LeBron. But I want to take that over and just marvel at the fact that, like, man, we were never expecting him to do this when he came into the league. Like, for as a former player, what is it like to see this guy?

who you not only played against also were an executive for a year with him and seeing him in that capacity as an executive. And now to see him now just still do great things, what is it like for you to see that?

It's pretty remarkable to sit back and watch him because I remember playing him, obviously, when he was a rookie and having watched him on ESPN at St. Vincent, St. Mary's. Were you one of them dudes that, like, you know, they had the little, the little clip of just everybody talking mess about, like, LeBron.

Man, we'll see. We'll see. Were you like, we'll see about this guy? No. You were like, oh, he's, he's, I need to. The night before you played him the first time, were you like, we'll see what's up with this dude. Like, you know, or did you know already? I'm going to run a quick check.

You know, I'm, I'm a find out. But I wasn't one of those dudes running my mouth. Like, LeBron wasn't in my category as a player. Like, what I look like talking about, we'll see if LeBron. I mean, that shit would just. be stupid. So I, no, no one was putting a camera in my face asking if he was going to be, but I'm going to still check you, you know, and so I remember it. He was running through. He was running through and I shot him one to the like solar plexes. Like as we cross underneath

the basket, I popped him, bang, right? Just to see what he was going to do. And he looked at me and he just kind of chuckled. And I was like, oh, you shit. Okay. Like, he was I mean he was just big and he was unfazed by that yeah he was 18 just laughed at you I don't yeah I don't know what took me more by surprise the fact that the check because I gave him a good shot that was you know I believe that you give him a good shot it wasn't I'm not sure what what held more weight with me the fact that it physically didn't hurt him or the fact that he had absolutely no emotional kind of response to it like it didn't phase him at all so the combination of the two was really unsettling for me.

I was like, oh, we got, we got one. And so, you know, to see, to have seen him play. And so when I played him early in his career, he wasn't a finished product as an offensive player yet. Like, I think he'd even tell you that. Like, there were, there were things that if you had watched enough tape, you know, he didn't want to shoot his jumper yet. Like, there wasn't really a polished post game yet.

There were areas of the floor that if I could get you to play against me, and I could have some success defensively, right? And, you know, on the other end of the court, I think defensively, it takes a while for most people to catch up to speed in an NBA game. So he wasn't like a hellified defender yet, right? So like a clip came up on my Twitter last night about like I showed it to my kids like nine years ago

or 12 years ago today, something I had like 27 in Cleveland, you know, and the sons won. So I always liked to play them because I knew I was going to get bucket. But it's been remarkable to watch him just continue to add to his game, continue to figure out the areas that he needed to get better in, so that, you know, dudes who are undersized like myself couldn't, you know, bait him into certain situations and he didn't have an answer for it.

You know, he started to be Kobe-ish in that regard, where he was going to have an answer next time you saw him for whatever it was that you might have had a little advantage in last time. his relative health has been amazing. Like his, his body, his leadership. He's so cerebral, dude. Like, you know, he went to Miami and they won championships.

And he was a huge, huge part of them winning championships. Obviously, he carried that team. But I would make the argument that, like, you know, Miami as, as a franchise was as good for LeBron as LeBron was for the franchise. because he's so cerebral that he went there and he soaked it all in. All of that culture, all of that like, hey, this is how we get from point A to point B because he was trying to get over the hump in Cleveland. And he was learning how to lead. And he was like, a la the John Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies.

Like, you know, you're trying to learn, but you got a lot of young dudes around you. And they're asking you, LeBron, to win. But shit, you ain't won yet in the NBA. And so he goes there and he, he's just a, I mean, I can't praise him enough, dude. like from a cerebral standpoint on the court to a to a understanding of what a leader needs to be and and how you get people to follow you and how to how to drive culture um you know i'm just i'm a i'm a fan dude it's been really cool to watch and i'm going to tell you like this logan these are no small words from from someone who grew up a chicago bulls fan people can use the

word attrition and he played longer and do all of that but he is quickly approaching the you know i've always said it's mj for me and like that LeBron is coming to a point where I might have to give them co-goats. It's going to be hard to take over MJ for me because I'm an MJ. But no, straight up. Straight up. Different players for sure. They don't look the same.

They don't do it the same. It's a different mentality, but, you know, in no way taking a back seat because of the different mentality. That's big from you. Yeah, huge. That's huge from you. Considering you played against them, laid against both of them and played against Jordan. And, like, you know, we both know, it pops is from the south side of Chicago. So you're like, you're locked in the Chicago Bulls propaganda.

You're locked into Jordan. That is your, that is your whole back. I have, I, you know, I'm a baby. I, I was, I was alive for Jordan, but I wasn't like alive for Jordan like that, you know. I've been like, LeBron at this point, I mean, he is my greatest of all time when I put it down there. When I see and I look at the history again, he is my, one of the, one of the, one of the, the greatest. And I've had the opportunity to see him at some of his.

That's why I'm so excited for Saturday, right? Like just to go, every time LeBron comes into town, for me, especially now, you got to go see him. You have to. Like, I have to go see him. He's one of those dudes, man. Another one of those dudes. And, you know, the day takes on a special day for one of those type of dudes, Kobe Bryant,

somebody that we both kind of have like a connection to. me just like growing up a Lakers fan and just growing up a Kobe Bryant fan. You playing, growing into a Kobe Bryant fan, I guess is the right way to say. I was always a Kobe fan. And so like we're talking, I just want to set it up really quickly.

We're talking on the three-year anniversary of his passing, his tragic passing. I just want to go down Memory Lane a little bit, man. And Gigi. And Gigi and all the other victims in the helicopter crash, for sure. For sure. What?

I just want to go down Memory Lane. Let's talk to some. great memories and shit. What was your first time that you like met him and the first time? Like, what were your first impressions? Like, when did you like, when did you, Rajabelle get into his orbit? I know it was, I know what happens gets in the mix of a lot of things when you're talking about you and Kobe, but you have a history with him beyond that, at least playing wise. Yeah. I mean, the first time I really, you know, I had seen him play and heard of his legend like in high school. You know, I was in college already, but I was up in the

Northeast and I have roots in Philly. And so, you know, it was hard not to know about him, but, but, you know, my first time, I had my own journey. Like, he was already in the league doing what he, what he, what he did. And obviously everyone, everyone was watching with bated breath to see the young kid and what type of impact he was going to have on that Lakers squad with all of them grades and stuff like that. But my first interaction with Kobe was obviously the 01. finals when I got called off the bench, I don't know, in like the first or second quarter, I had no idea it was going to happen. And I just had to run out there and check him, you know. And so no communication. I know a lot of people think that Kobe and I did a ton of talking.

We talked more later in our career once we had more of a relationship. And it would get heated, but it was still love. Like we were heated. But when we were younger, I didn't say anything to Kobe. And he didn't say anything to me. We just, you know, I was probably not good enough to even be on that stage, but I lent some energy to a team that was a little banged up. And so that was my first interaction with him trying to chase him around in the 0-1 finals. You talked about how your relationship with him evolved. And I remember, and this is just me being a fan.

Like, I was really, like, I was such a Lakers fan, bro. Like going on ESPN every single, ESPN.com every single day. to like, because back then ESPN would, they would put the clips of the local media, like, they would like cite LA Times or like LA Daily News

and all these other publications. And I would always like, you know, read those things. But all that to say, I remember when it happened, what you and Kobe situation happened with the clothes line. I remember being like, okay, I guess,

I guess we don't fuck with Roger now. I guess that's just we just don't fuck with this dude, Roger Bell. And I remembered you, bro. I remembered you in Philly, like, mom's the Philly fan. You know, you know we had love for you in the house, right?

But, like, when that happened, I remember when that happened, right? And then, um, you come back around, I think it was like Christmas 07 when you guys played the Lakers. And like, you came in for a sub right around the time Kobe came in for a sub.

And he, like, dabbed you up. And I'm like, what the fuck? Like, I was like, I was like, home's like number one shooter. Like, what the hell is going on here? Like, what's, what, what's going on? Yeah. And then you guys were really cool.

Can you talk me through, like, how it got from, like, you guys being contentious to that, um, that Christmas game where you guys are just like, you know, you, not to say, like, I always respected this about your game. You would always go at somebody. Like, you will always guard them. And you did that in that Christmas game. You did know that. But it just seemed like a warmness this time around. How did you guys get from point A to point B? first of all, I still have people that will hit me in my DMs or or tag me in something where

they tell me it's on site. Like they'll fight me right now because of the Kobe situation. There's still a lot of there's still a lot of animosity for that. And I can dig it. Don't pull your ass up. Let me put it like that. Like you're talking all that shit. But there's still people that feel like that.

And I can dig it. Like they're fans of the Lakers and stuff like that. And, you know, on the flip side of that, there's still people that have my back and feel like, you know, they can respect what I did. Here's Kobe and I, no one's ever professed to be a Kobe stopper on this show. There have been people who've said that shit out of their mouth.

Hello, Rubin Patterson. There's never been anyone on this show that's ever let that come out of their mouth because you just don't. Like, you try your best. You try to make the job hard. Here's another dirty secret about the NBA. There's no stopping anyone for 100% of time. It just doesn't work out that way.

That's silly. I've always said my job was to try to make him work for everything he got, try to keep him off of his spots. He was going to get his points. But if I could affect that field goal percentage and keep him off the free throw line, then I've done my job. You know what I mean? Because that's about what you can hope for.

So I always tell I had a young kid in my house the other day. One of my, one of Dias teammates came in. I think I said this on the last pod. kind of asked me about Kobe and he said Coach Raj, why you do that to Kobe? And, you know, I kind of had a little chuckle and I was like, well,

I was like, Kobe's not unlike me. You know, you asked me about LeBron and I said, I'm going to check him and see how he reacts. And if you react a certain way, I got you. You know? Like, you're mine now, bro. Like if I hit you in these solar plexes

and that shit affects you in a negative way, yeah, I got you, bro. don't worry about that. Every time I see you, it's like that. Kobe was kind of similar to that. In that, you know, he would shoot you a bow. People don't like to hear this shit. But yes, he would. He would shoot you a bow. He would hit you. He would do things to try to knock you off your work. There was a whole compilation with Phoenix where he was just fucking y'all up. Like he would get it. Everybody got it to. It was tricks. It was Leonardo Barbosa. Like everybody got the elbow to like the little, the little excuse me, but that the ref can't see. And it's okay. Right to the thing. It's okay, man. It's part of the game.

Those are the tricks of the trade. Kobe grew up in an era where the physicality was off the charts. You know, so like that's to be expected. I'm okay with that. But there comes a point, you know, with anybody who's going, you know, check you and try you and shit like that, that you have to decide whether or not your relationship, if you're okay with the relationship being that or not. Right? And so I was not okay with the relationship being like that. Right.

And I think Kobe is cut from the cloth of whether he thinks you can guard him or not. That's besides the point. He don't think anybody can guard him. That's not the point. The point is, does he respect you as a man? And the people that he fucked with, I think he respected them for whatever reason. It doesn't have to be physical respect. I'm sure there were people that he respected on an intellectual level and on a spiritual level.

and for different reasons. But ours just happened to be a physical competitive thing. Like, yo, my man, I'm not going anywhere. Yes, you had 50. Everyone knows you had 50. You see me getting lit up by your fans because you had 50. But guess what? I'm right here.

Like, I'm still here. And I'm not going to stop trying. And there was something about that, I think, that Kobe respected. So once we got that straight with like, hey, man, I'm not the one. Was there a phone call or anything? was a second just to like, I just saw him and it's like, what's up, motherfucker? You know how you guys like, what's up, bro?

I've told this story, dog. Like, we were leaving Staples. This was after that had happened. That was the 05-06 season, I guess. Then we played in a preseason game. I think it was in Las Vegas, maybe the next year. And Kobe and I didn't interact at all, really, in that game. And then we were in Staples Center.

It probably was early the next year or something like that. And I was leaving the Staples Center. and if anyone knows a Staples Center, the visitor's locker room is further away from the bus and the team cars than the... It's a long-ass hallway. It's a long hallway, right? So I have to walk by the Lakers locker room

to get to the bus where Kobe's park, right? So I'm walking out of the locker room, mind of my own business. You know, I've been in there for a minute. And as I start walking, I can tell that that's Kobe, you know, probably 30 to 40 yards in front of me. Now, I'm walking at a brisk or pace because he's got people with him. So it's obvious that I'm going to pass Kobe in this hallway.

Are you like all shit? Well, I guess all shit. I guess we got to, we got it. Not all shit, but like if it's got to go down, then this is what it's going to be. So I'm on alert. Yeah, like shit, this is what it is. So as I pass Kobe, I hear my name, right? And when I heard my name, I turned around.

Is it Raj? Is it Roz? Like, what is it? I don't remember, man. I don't, it might have been Raj. It might have been Raj. But I turned around. I was not squared up.

I was not in a menacing way or anything like that. And he said, he said, Hey man, I want to introduce you to, you know, this is my mother-in-law. This is, you know, I think he had his daughter with him. Like, whoever his little circle of people there was, he wanted to introduce me to them. And I was taken aback. I did not expect that. It was very gracious to him.

And, you know, I hadn't had any communication with him, so I didn't know where we stood. And from that point on, we were good. I mean, we still got into our shit. Like, you know, when I was in Utah, the funny thing about it. that Utah thing is, right? Can we put something to sweat again, please? Because me and you both, I keep getting this fucking clip,

just like you keep getting this fucking clip on Instagram. Every, like, I'd say like three or four months, bro. It's like the 11th season where you said something to him, but you were like, what? And we talk about this offline all the time, but like every so often we get this clip, let's just talk about the clip, bro. It's like 2011 year, I think it's the lockout year.

You got to play them. and he goes off. But they make it seem like it was because of what you said. I don't think so. But let's dive into it. It wasn't because what I said. It was because Kobe was always trying to bust your ass. Like, and he was, he was getting, he was getting busy that night.

And the funny part is the night before that, like, I had invited him over to the crib to come to come have a meal. Like, because I know, you know, Salt Lake can be difficult and stuff like that. He declined. He was like, now, you know, I'm good. Appreciate it. So on and so forth. But pregame. We were chopping it up, man.

This man was telling me, hey, bro, I'm up. He's so funny, though. Hey, yo, hey, I'm benching like 315 right now, bro. What's you at? Like, just random shit. You know what I mean? Like, we were chopping it up. No, what were you benching?

Was you binching 315 back then? No, at that point, I had taken the other approach. I was trying to like prolong the career. I was doing more body weight stuff, trying to lean down my body fat. Maybe not be. You was doing 185. You was probably just like wrapping, right, right. But he was on his strength vibe.

And he was talking to me about that. And so there was absolutely no ill will. We just got in the game and did what two competitors do, man. Just got to competing and talking shit. And, you know, but it was love. That's what's up, man. That's what's up. I remember one time, bro, like, I was interning at Sacramento at this site called

KFBK. And I would just like, I mean, if I could get a credential to that motherfucker, I would go, right? Like, I would just, I would go. And I saw, because I would predominantly get sound for the Kings, the Sacramento Kings, and then I would, I would just, like, if they had something in some other place, and I could pull up to that, to that place, I would do it.

So, like, I saw the Kings were playing, they were playing the Lakers. So I was like, fuck it, I'm going to dry down to L.A., man. I know I can get a credential, right? So I got a credential to the Kings Lakers game. And I remember, and I, mind you, I'm like 18, 19 years old. and Kobe's walking out of his media availability, but he's walking towards me.

And the Kings play the Lakers like two weeks later in Sacramento. That was funny because that was actually the night that Mike Dantone got hired as the Lakers coach. So anyway, I'm walking out. He's walking towards me. And I go, I tap him on the shoulder and I go. and I don't know him, mind you, and I'm like 19. And I tap him on the shoulder and I'm like, see you next week as sack.

And I'm like, as soon as I'm like, I'm licking in my head after I said, I'm like, what a fucking idiot. Why would you do that? What the fuck? You don't know what is going on, right? And right as I'm thinking this, I get a pat on my back from Kobe and it's like, see you a sack. And I was like, oh, shit. What? I was like, oh, shit.

Oh, man, that was dope, bro. There are a few, I mean, oh, man. I just, there are a few stories. I remember, so we had played, this was preseason. I was in Charlotte. And these are just Kobe stories, man. So we had played in Charlotte. And it happened to be, it was a career-altering game for me in retrospect

because I tore my wrist up. And so I didn't know at the time that it was hurt the way it was. But it was like excruciating, right? And so I went, you know, I was sitting back in the locker room. I was icing my wrist. I got out of the shower. And, you know, we had been on the court together. I had talked and done all of that shit.

And so I was sitting in my locker kind of head down. And I felt like a presence kind of lingering over me in a way that, you know, usually media, if they come around and they know you're not ready, they'll just move on to the next person and then they'll come back and they know that I'm going to speak so they're not in jeopardy of like missing me right so but this person was just hovering and so I'm like who the what is going on I look up and this is a dude looks like a men in black right and he's standing there and I'm like who okay what this might not be good and he says uh uh mr bell mr bryan would like to know if if you'll accompany him to dinner tonight and I was like

What? Wait, who? Now, mind you, we've been on the court together the whole game. Yeah. Like, we've been on the court together the whole game. And this man has said nothing to me about going to dinner or having plans to do something and accompanying him. And he sends, there's like a damn secret service agent standing in my locker invited me to dinner with Kobe. He was just interesting like that.

Did you take the dinner? I was supposed to go to the dinner. And then I went back to the hotel, man. and my wrist was just ballooned up and I couldn't make it to dinner that night. So, you know, and I've always told the story about the Mamba Chopper, right?

Like, he would take the Mamba Chopper. Yeah, and I don't know if you've told it on this pod. You can go ahead. So, all right. So Kobe hit me. It was, uh, it's my last time being a free agent. So this was,

I don't know, 10, maybe, 12. I think you have told this story on this pod. Is this the time when he was, this is why I'm so fucking mad at you, Raja. I do know this story. You do know this story.

You were in, were you in Malibu or somewhere? and he was going to send the Mamba chopper to come get you to seal the deal. I was at the chateau. I was at the chateau. You're the chateau Mama. Yeah, it was SB's week. And so we had done the gifting sweets and all of that.

And Kobe had hit me at midnight on whatever the opening a free agency was. Not midnight. I'm sorry, the next morning I was out in the streets in Long Island playing with my kids. I was like, what the, what's this? And it was Kobe. And so we chopped it up. And at the time, you know, I was one of those weird free agents. Like some people, if you were good enough, you throw the minimum at me to see if you could get me to play for it.

And if you weren't, you might still have to pay me, you know? So a week and a half, two weeks went by and I wasn't signed. So now I'm like, well, fuck it. It might be the minimum. Let me see what the Lakers are talking about. So I'm out in L.A. And I was supposed to fly out, you know, later that night. Or I'm supposed to go to his house later in Malibu, right?

I'm supposed to go to his house. I don't know how I'm getting there. So I hit him up. And I'm like, all, I'm done doing what I got to do. what, um, where you, where you want me to meet you. Like, he's like at the career. I was like, okay. So how do I get there? Dude. Like what, you know, where is it? And he was like, oh, no, don't worry. I'm going to send a Mamba chopper. And I was like, what? He said Mamba chopper. He said, momba chopper, bro. So I was like, what? He was like, yeah, it's my helicopter, man.

I don't, I don't, I don't drive in there. I'll send it. It'll bring you out and it'll bring you back. And bro, I was gas. I never been on a helicopter before. You know, I was blessed to get on, hop on a couple PJs tagging along with some people. but I ain't never really been on a P helicopter. So I was excited in between the time he was supposed to pick me up. I shit you not. In between the time that I was supposed to get on that helicopter and that conversation, I got two offers, one from Chicago and one from Utah.

And I had too much respect to waste the trip out there, man, because I needed, you know, I hadn't made that kind of money. So I had to go play for the money. Roger, I respect and love you, man. I got a lot of love and respect for you. bud, a lot. But a lot. I just be so, like, because I do remember this story, and every time I hear it, I just get angry.

This is get mad. Let's get upset. Oh, well, it is what it is. It is what it is, man. I would have loved to have done that in retrospect. I've always said to see him work up close and personal every day and have a front row seat to that, to see if you could live up to the expectations as a competitor, to be in a foxhole with the man and see what that was really about.

I mean, there's a part of me that thinks I owed it to myself to have seen that, you know, and I didn't get to do that. That will always be a regret. But make no mistakes about this, anybody listening or Logan Murdoch. I did this to feed my family. So this was an easy one for me. Having not made the type of money that NBA players typically make, this was a relatively easy decision.

You know, like the minimum was just wasn't going to cut it. if someone else had more. And that's why I will always respect the decision. That doesn't mean I have to like it. That doesn't mean I have to like it. But I will always respect that. Hello, this is your Real Ones podcast, and I am Jade. Seven times out of 10, Logan is liable to say some dumb shit.

Don't mind him. Just enjoy the show. Before we get to the Real One week, I got a bone to pick with you really quick, but... So I was doing research for this pod, you know, because I knew we were going to have the Kobe conversation today at least I figured we would and I'm going on your

like I just look up fuck it maybe there's something I don't know about Rajabelle Kobe Bryant so what I do is I put I just Google search

Roger Bell and Kobe Bryant and I get to your Wikipedia page sir I'm gonna there's a part you want to just go to your Wikipedia page

really quickly go to my Wikipedia page go to your Wikipedia page all right let's see Yeah, I'm there.

Go to the bottom where it says personal life and family. And then underneath there, there's a social media. There's a social media chapter of your Wikipedia page. And I'm going to read it. You can read it while I read it in silence, but I'm going to read it real quick for the people. It says social media. In 2014, Bell began posting on Instagram under the username Rajah Dia 19, a verified account, right? Yeah.

Next, the next graph says, in July of 2020, Bill created a Twitter account with the username Raja Bell 19, a nod to the number he wore most often as an NBA player. Very eloquent, right? As of July 2022, after more than two years of actively campaigning, Raja has not received verification from Twitter. Raja Bell, did you or did you not write this your damn self? I did not. I think you might have wrote,

maybe you wrote this. Did you write this? That is fantastic. What people get, I didn't even know, how would I write it? You could go in there and put stuff in there?

That's what everybody say about, I don't know, I don't have a Wikipedia page, but. That's phenomenal. And it's accurate. No, did you not write this?

Okay. I know, I didn't write it. Shout out to all the real ones outside then for holding Roger down, but that is hilarious. That is actually, I wonder if I'm,

yeah, that's, that's pretty cool. I mean, I have a relatively unique Wikipedia page as, yeah, I mean, not many people have a blurb like that on there. But I'm at the point with Twitter now.

Like, am I right or wrong in that anybody can be verified now? You just got to pay for it. You got to pay for it now. But honestly, bro, that's just whack. No, but I refuse. Yeah, what? What is being verified? Like, I refuse, bro.

You know what? I'm proud of being unverified, dog. That's my stamp. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's me. And I'm unverified. Yeah. Yeah, motherfucker.

But that was hilarious. That is hilarious. That made my whole. day. Real ones. Whoever wrote that is my real one of the week. Yo, shout out to our real ones, honestly, who hold us down. They hold us down, right?

In the streets, I'd be seeing up at Chase Center when I go to the arena, when I see y'all, when I, like, you know, I'm going to go see Brown and Boston on Saturday. If I see y'all, man, I'm sure I'm going to see some real ones in Boston, bro. They hold us down, and I got so much love for our real ones because they do shit like this. Okay? They hold us down, so we hold them down. out to the spot. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Hey, listen, bro, and anybody that's hopping in my DMs, like on Twitter with all of the, no, seriously, man, because I get a lot of people,

man, that are huge fans and say they listen to the pod. And some people say they get them through some tough times and stuff like that, man. I do appreciate it. Man, I may not respond to everybody because I just, I don't respond to everybody, but that's much appreciated, man. I showed my wife a couple of them the other day. And she was like, oh, it's pretty cool. because it is not for nothing. I know this sounds corny, but at the end of the day when you can touch other people

in that kind of way, man, and it means something to them and you help them through times like that. That's what I think the world's about. So that shit's cool. And also, man, it's crazy because shit,

we get on a Zoom twice a week. And, you know, like I said, I roll out of bed and I'm just, I got crust in my eyes when I'm fucking doing this pod and we really put in work, man. And so, like,

I'm just happy that, like, people fuck with it. It's basically what it is. And that was what I saw when I saw the, Although it's hilarious. It is hilarious. That's what I saw.

Man, all real ones hold us down. Shout out to real ones. Shout out to everybody out there. I can go my real one in the week because I do have my own separate one of the week. But if you want to go, do you want to go real one of the week first? I'll go real one of the week.

I mean, the person who wrote that's going to be a close second. I mean, give the real one to my young boy, Diabelle who picked up his first division one football offer last week from Florida International University, bro. Yeah. They came to see him throw.

They came to see him throw. last week. I think it was Thursday, and on Saturday, they chimed in with the offer. So shout out to FIU football and DIAB for collaborating on DIA's first Division I football offer. Shout out FIU as a staff record label and a crew. You know we got love

for y'all. You know what it is, man. Shout out to the squad. My ruin of the week is a multiple real one of the week winner. All right. We damn there might have to give the real one of the week, the memorial trophy, at least mine, to one Dame Lillard who has got, this is probably his

umpteenth the ruin of the week. He deserves it again. 60 Burger this week. It's been hard to watch the Blazers, bro. It's just been hard. He's just like Bradley Bill. Dame. Dude. Dame. Yeah. Come on. He's a guy. He's a guy. He's a guy. I don't want to get sad because that's all it's going to happen. But my ruin of the week is Dame Dala, town legend. Rewaned a week. Little housekeeping before we go, man. Me and Roger and the rest of the Ringer NBA team will be at the State Room, February 18th

in Salt Lake City. Make sure you get your tickets at the Stateroom.com. All right? Make sure you lock in because me and Rajah, you're going to see me and Rajah meet for the first time. That's what's going to happen. That's the exclusive of the night. That's what you're going to see. You're going to see it happen with your own eyes. Right before your eyes. There you go.

Right before your eyes. Yeah, man. So make sure you guys tap in. We'll see you guys on Monday. Talk to y'all soon, man. Hala.