The Ringer NBA Show - What Do You Have to Do to Get Nailed for Tampering in the NBA? | Real Ones

Episode Date: November 30, 2020

Logan and Raja take a look at how tampering functions in the NBA and how badly you have to mess up in order to be investigated in light of the Bogdan Bogdanovic–Bucks debacle (1:00). Then, they get into how the coronavirus will affect the 2020-21 NBA season with all the mess happening in the NFL (36:00).  Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, are you recording, Roger? Yes, dog. Hey, hey, hey, are you recording this, Roger? I am recording. Listen, your insult of my podcasting skills will no longer be tolerated. Oh, oh, my bad dog, my dad dog. Hey, we are here for the fucking real ones, okay? We talk about tampering today.

We talk about Lakers AD. We even talk about COVID, which gets a little COVID in the NBA, gets a little dicey right towards the end, but we talk about that. Importantly, we talk about golf clash. And we talk about motherfuckers get knocked out. Tap into the real ones. What's popping to all my real ones out there? This is Logan Murdoch.

I'm here, as always, with Roger Bell. The post- Thanksgiving edition of the real ones. It's popping, Roger. Cooling, bro. Like, just chilling. Hey, do you know what golf clash is? Golf clash? Do you know what, if any listener knows what golf clash is?

No. Golf clash is a, it's an app on the phone, bro, but it is like the most addictive app. Like my sons, when I go in to check on them doing their schoolwork, like, they're like fucking sliding their fucking phones underneath their, their desk and shit. What is golf clash, though? What is golf clash? It is a golfing app where you can interactively play with, like, other people and you're competing for like this bread that you earn in the game.

They're tournaments that you can play. You join these clans. Within the clans, their chats. that you could talk, put it in the chat, shout out, but you could like talk shit in the chat of the clan. It's pretty dope. I'm addicted to it. So, like, if you see me staring down at the phone,

that's what I'm doing. How the hell does the phone get underneath the bed in this golf game? How does that work? No, my, the overall point is, like, they're so distracted by golf clash that, like, if I pop in their room unannounced while they're supposed to be doing fucking schoolwork,

that they're, like, scrambling to hide the, fucking phone because they have like a two page they have like they're like doing like a two page paper or something they barely have a sentence up and they know pops is going to be they don't you have anything okay nothing done nothing done and not bright enough yet to realize that i'm in the same golf clash clan as them so if they're fucking putting messages in the golf clash clan at 1130 and i know you're in your fucking second period like i got you bro you fucked up if they're putting it in the chat while they're supposed to be listening to the zoom calls you fuck okay got it got so so so how was

golf class. How was your Thanksgiving, man? Thanksgiving was dope. Um, you know, small, my, my folks, um, my sister, her husband and, uh, and then my family, the kids and my wife, we kept it small, um, low key, but, you know, we really enjoyed ourselves, though. We needed it. We, we needed a little time outside. I played a little, uh, what's that, what's the, what's the, what's the, like, uh, cornhole game where you toss the bean bags onto the, you know, a little bit of that and then play some board games with the kids, drank some wine. We had, we had a good one. You? It was, it was good. First of all, you know, I just want to say, I saw the pictures on your gram and stuff.

Check out Rogers' Instagram, which he doesn't follow me on, by the way. It's good. But it's supposed to be real ones out here. Yeah, right. You're keeping it real. I don't keeping it real. But it was tight. I saw the pictures, you know what I mean?

The little homies who had, they all had the meme mug. Then you had the family pick. You know what I mean? You kept the G with the family pick. And then at the end, you showed them like, we're the bells. We're not playing. Got to keep them alive, dog. Got to keep them alive, dog.

But my thing is giving me was chill. man, I went up to Macrimanough. Okay. Saw my mom and my sister. It was a lot of like trailer games. I don't know if you're familiar with the app triller. I don't know if you're, it's like TikTok, but you know, we did the hip-hop videos.

I'll put it in the chat. Put it in a chat, absolutely. But it was fun, man. We had a blast, man. Have some crab. You know what I mean? We don't really do the traditional Thanksgiving. Because we all agree as a staff record level and a mother effing crew

that, Thanksgiving food is trash. So we got some other food that was way more better. And, you know, we tapped in and watched the fight. Did you watch the fight? What fight? The Mike Tyson fight? You didn't see the Mike Tyson origin?

I'm not watching two 50-year-old men fight in like abbreviated round. I'm not doing that. You did it? I did do it because it was amazing. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Between Nate Robinson, who will get to it a bit. and Mike Tyson fighting Roy Jones and Snoop Dogg's commentary.

Snoop Dogg was amazing. Snoop Dog was amazing. He was amazing. He was amazing in that, right? And so it was fun to see Mike Tyson and Roy Jones, like, fight like they're at a Thanksgiving dinner. Like, you know the two OG uncles that just, just, they just have to get it in every single time. They see each other. It was slow.

It was sloppy. There was like, there was. There was instances of great form, but then there was other instances of them just hugging each other, like, I'm tired, and I am 54 years old, so I need to chill. But it was a fun night, man, it was great. And throughout the whole, all the performances, there was a lot of West Coast influence. There was a lot of West Coast music. And usually we don't see a lot of West Coast stuff because y'all be hating on us at the parties and stuff. Y'all don't like to play West Coast music when we're in town.

So it was cool to see West Coast on a big stage. Okay, so you just, that was just a complete, like, tribute to the, to the West Coast. I've got no beef with the West Coast. I'm glad you enjoyed your Thanksgiving. You know what it makes me think about a little bit? Like, the reason I couldn't watch Roy and Mike Tyson is because I, when I was out of the lead for two years and I tried to train to try to maybe get back in, like, on a 10 day or something, it was really clear to me very quickly that that was impossible. Like, my body had just said enough. You've been training me for, I don't know, 30 years.

like you gave me two years off, I want no more that bullshit. So I was pretty confident that watching those two, it wasn't going to look anything like at 50-some years old what I remember them looking like. So therefore I let that shit ride. But I'm glad you enjoyed it. When did your game diminish, like out-of-character diminish? Like, when did you start playing like me?

No, that would have been, I mean, there's there, look, I wasn't myself at the end of my career, but I was still pretty damn good for regular. basketball. Like, I go into your, your local, like, semi-pro run or guys that play in Europe, and I'm still probably the best player in that. After about two years of sitting out, like, and not playing and golfing and letting, you know, all of those little muscles and shit deteriorate. The love handles was over there for them in this shit. Dog, it's rough. I had to hop out with my high school team the other day, like, because I have, you know, like kids on a

football field. So if I don't play, there's always a really, really weak link on the team. So that team can't get anything done offensively. So I'm like, fuck it, sit down. I'll play. So I hopped in there. Man, came off a couple little pin downs in our action, got down. Are you playing a point guard? Are you playing your role? Off the ball, off the ball.

But like, I'm facilitating within the offense, trying to show kids, like how the shit works. And so I played for, I don't know, roughly seven minutes. I felt great. Dog, I got home, everything in my body seized up. I couldn't move. Back out, hamstring, tweaked, like the whole nine. It ruined the rest of my weekend. You felt good in the moment, though.

You were telling you were telling people what to do and shit. You were telling, get over there. Get over there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You screen, back screen right here. You post up. No, what are you doing posting up? You're not, get out of here.

What are you doing? I think I said to our point guard at one point. Like, you got me on the fucking court. You won't even pass me to ball. Like, what the fuck? And the kid was like, oh, oh, oh. No, jokes. All jokes.

No, I was joking. But, you know, it was cool. I don't think you're joking. You might be joking, but I don't believe you're joking. Well, I don't think I used the language, but I said, yeah, I was like, yo, no, you got me on the court. Like, at least give me the ball. Let me help you out.

Like, that just makes sense, right? Like, you got, like. The NBA ego was still there. Like, let me help you out, bro. You're a 10th grader struggling to get a, give me the ball and get out the way. Give me the boy. Yo, it's for the kids. It's for the kids, Roger.

It's not about you. For the kids. I had a moment. I had a moment. Okay. All right. Let's get it to the show, man. Let's get it to the show.

One thing I wanted to talk to you about because we weren't able to talk about this in-depth last week. I want to talk about tampering in the NBA. Okay. We need you to talk about some of your experiences. We need you to put those people under the bus. But before, I wanted to give context to this.

Are you aware of the Bogdan Bayanovich fiasco? Yes. We're supposed to go to Milwaukee, came out, the same day as Drew Holiday. Everyone thought Milwaukee had just, you know, become a real major, major player. And then the deal fell apart. He goes to Atlanta, right? Yes. Now, there's a really good story in Bleacher Report, just about the ins and outs of the deal, why it fell apart. Should you guys go check that out. But the real thing that the issue of this is the tampering aspect of it because, according to this article in Bleacher report, Bogdan Bayanovich has been in contact

or was in contact with Janus throughout the process and beforehand. Yonis really wanted Bayanovich to come to the team and wanted him to play for the Milwaukee Bucks. And this isn't uncommon from what we've seen, right? But there was, the league was looking into tampering for this particular deal. And it nicks the deal. And now instead of going and getting Janus's wishes, the league has. as in essence made him go to Atlanta. He got a bag to go to Atlanta.

But it goes to an overall point of my next question, which is how much is tampering prevalent among players during the season and beyond? It's super prevalent. It's more the norm than it's not. Look, my initial thought is like, my genuine reaction is like, why the fuck would the league be, you know,

worried about this particular case of tampering when it's known to be happening all over the place, right? And then my next thought is how bad did you have to fuck up if you were Milwaukee and Janus and said parties to get the league to actually do something about it? Because it is one of those rules what's understood that it's happening. The NBA knows it's happening. They don't want to have to do anything about it. So it's like, look, don't rub that shit in my face. Don't make it obvious to the point where anybody can figure out. How obvious is it that there's tampering, Rajah? Because, I mean, I know my insist, but like, you are a player.

And it's more so the players that, where it's basically free game for time. Yeah. Look, when, again, Steve Nat, when I was in Utah, like, the first time I played in Utah and I wound up going to Phoenix, like, Steve Nash was a friend of mine. I played with Steve in Dallas. Like, I knew from, I don't know, midway through the season or right after the All-Star break that, you know, there was going to be mutual interest there. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, that in and of itself is tampering. Like, I didn't have a deal worked out or anything. Like, I didn't know to the extent, but you can't safeguard against that if you're the NBA. I have relationships with Logan because I was on, you know, a team with Logan. Then I go to another team. If I'm a free agent, Logan and I are still communicating. Like, you know, if we're talking about me potentially coming back to that, team that's tampering. It happens every day. You can't safeguard against it. Your league. So again, my next thought and probably the prevailing thought would be how bad did you fuck it up if you were Mimaki and Janus that the league had to step in and nix the deal? Because it happens all the time. Well, there was a in this article, it's conflicting even within the article.

Some executives, according to this Bleacher report article, were saying that Bucke's executive, was we're kind of throwing it in everyone's face that like, yeah, we had a hell of all season, huh, ha, ha, ha, during one of the conference calls to get the deal done. And other people, other people said, though, we didn't see that, but to even have that notion that we're throwing it in your faces that, you know, that's a problem, right? You know, that people don't want to hear that. You just answered my question, and that's what you did. You rubbed it in people's faces.

Like, yeah, there has to be something, right? Logan is what I'm saying. Like, everyone knows there's Tamara. You tampered yesterday, I tamper today, Sasha's tampering tomorrow. We all understand it's happening. Why are you over here snitching, bro? Why are you snitching? Because you rubbed it in my face on the conference car and told me like you were doing it.

It has to rise to a level like that for someone to care. But also, like, it's funny that in a league where, you know, remember you talk about the Chris Paul deal, right? And the backlash that got, reportedly Cavs owner Dan Gilbert was pissed about that deal. And there was this, you know, we just got out of a lockout where people, where owners were like, no, we can't, we don't want these guys going to these, these big market teams, right? We don't want these big time guys to go to these big market teams. And this is a transaction that helps out a quote unquote small market team, right? Mm-hmm. And I think it's a bit of irony that they get punished for something that usually is, is, is,

thought of as helping these big market teams in the Miami and like the LA and the New York and all these these cities I want to do. Why do you? I don't know, man. If the ownership is like we want to put things to small market teams, it feels like I don't, I don't buy that from these owners. I feel like now it's it's more about ego, right? Like, well, nah, man, I don't want that to happen if it's not happening from my team.

That's what it's always been about that. the only people bitching about small markets are the small market owners. It's got nothing to do with like the fan base. It's got to do with like their pockets and their ability to put forth like a championship level team. Right. That's what it, I mean, it's all about me. Like those owners. Look, I know a lot of fucking owners in the NBA.

All of them are like super successful or whatever business it was that they made all their money in before they became owners. and most of them are very egocentric dudes who feel like, like, and super ultra-competitive. So, yeah, man. That's how they got all the money to get. That's how they got it. And so, yes, they are, it does become about me. And whether if I'm not getting the star, like,

I don't like the way that shit is working out all the time. Do you know what I mean? Okay, but on the flip side of that coin, Roger, is that real the big market allure for players? Is that real? Sure. Look, there's something to live. Would you rather go, are you going to, like, I think sometimes it's real, but I think also

in other times it's for the best opportunity to win a chip in a lot of ways. Then it's shifted, Logan, right? Like, because now with the money that people are making, you can play in a smaller market and have a crib in L.A. and New York and Miami, if you want one. To go, like, you could traverse, like, the globe in the offseason and live in your, in your, in your places because the money is so good. So it's not as imperative to play. And you're not home as much.

You're not that much. You're not home as much as people think you are, right? When you say, like, I live in Oklahoma City, I play for Oklahoma City. You're not home that much. No, you're on the road most of that year. And you're in the gym. Look, it's not a big deal. It was, though.

Like, there was a time where, you know, people wanted to live in L.A. And people wanted to live in New York and Miami. And those bigger cities, you know, held some, held a little bit of weight in terms of where you wanted to play. But I think now guys are looking for the best opportunity to win. The money is so good where it outweighs that. You're able to have cribs in where you want to live anyway. And I've told the story before in terms of tampering just to get back to that.

Like, you know, the last time I was a free agent and I was finishing up with Golden State, I was using, I told you, on one of the last pods, those pre-games as like my workout routines to audition for teams to let them know I was healthy. Like my agent had been contacted by five or six teams, haven't seen me work out prior to a game. saying that they'd have interest that summer. Like, again, that's tampering, bro. Like, you're, you know what I mean? Like, you're legally not supposed to do that, but it happens all the time. I mean, and also, like, it's inevitable because this league is so small, right?

Like, especially with agents. You know, one agent might rep two or three guys on another team that the guy on the other team wants to go to, right? You know, say if player A wants to go to New York, his agent might have five, six, six, players there, you know? That's no doubt. And then you can use those, you use those conversations with those five or six players to talk about your other guy.

I mean, that's just human nature. That's what it is. That's how this league works. And I feel like tampering is decriminalized. You know what I mean? Like, it's one of those things where you get a slap on the wrist, like, bro, don't embarrass the shield. Just, please don't embarrass the shield.

Yes. Don't. We're saying the same thing. Don't rub my nose in that shit. Like, we know what don't embarrass us, yes. So one other thing, though, that I have, though, and the biggest reason why I wanted to, what I wanted to get into is the reason why this deal was done in the first place, this, this, um, Bukts, uh, Bayanovich deal was to satisfy Janice, who is up for a supermax where this was pre-trade, but a lot of people are sane and reporting. I think Mark Stein was one of the New York Times, one of the first to report this,

is that there's a lot of traction around the league that Janus is going, a lot of, that Janus is going to resign the supermacks, right? Mm-hmm. But you have to, these teams are doing these things where it's like these guys,

and rightfully so, are putting pressure on these teams to make deals that they might not otherwise make in order to appease said star, right? And you saw that on the back half of the, Brown's career where, or the back half of LeBron's time in his first stint in Cleveland, where you're just getting guys just to get them and say like, hey, LeBron, see, we care, we care.

We want you to win a championship with you. But then, one, it seems like these washed up guys, these guys that don't necessarily fit with the roster to appease a guy. And my question is, how do you balance that appeasing a guy without, you. killing your whole future. You have to be good at your job if you're the general manager. If you're an owner, you have to prioritize, I guess is what I would say, Logan. Like, you know, there are guys that you go get that don't move the needle, right, at some point in their career.

Like, let's use like J.R. Smith right now. Like when we brought J.R. to Cleveland, when I was in the Cleveland front office, it moved the needle. Like it was a player that was still viable enough with him and Shump. Like they came in and they moved the needle for that team. Adding JR to the Lakers team right now is an insurance policy. Like it's not moving the needle when you do that for LeBron. Like it's cool. You brought one of his dudes in, but it's not moving the needle.

I say that to say that if you're a franchise and you have a LeBron or an AD or Janus, you're trying to win a championship. So the question is, would you trade a championship for three years after that star leaves having like really, really lean years because you've spent all of your, your assets to take the shot at that championship, knowing that the championship's not guaranteed. And that's what it comes down to.

And the really good ones can kind of protect and hedge their bets and play both sides of it. But when you have those type of stars, those transcendent stars, you got to, that's your window. And you got to go all in on those windows to try to make it happen. And most guys, if you said,

hey, I guarantee you a championship. in that. They'd say, all right, give me five years of shit after that. Because we got the championship. That's what we wanted to get. We got one for the city, for the owner, for the franchise. And so it is a delicate balance, but that's what you get paid to do. How much more pressure is it when you're in a market like Milwaukee or Cleveland like the way you were, right? Instead of Los Angeles, where, let's be honest, man, you'd be more liable to take less money to go to Los Angeles to play for the Lakers than you would to go play for the Milwaukee Bucks, it just is what it is, right?

Like, you are, you are more likely to do that, in my opinion. And it's easier to GM from a place like Los Angeles than it is to GM from a place like Milwaukee where Janus is just don't go to Milwaukee. This is their window of 15 years and hope God willing for them, right? And you only got one shot of this. We're in L.A., like, I, I feel like you have more opportunities to get stars. Yeah.

Historically speaking, I think, you know, you're going to bounce back quicker if you're a market like L.A. And the destination that that is with free agents, you're going to be able to attract people, you know, easier than if you're in Milwaukee. But I would say that, you know, if you have a Janus, if you have an AD, if you have a Luca, if you have a LeBron, and you're in a small market, your job becomes, you know, a lot easier because they become the attraction, right? Like you're not trying to sell Milwaukee necessarily. You're trying to sell Janus and what said player can do with Janus and how the combination of these pieces is going to win championships for five or six years. So at that point, you're selling the player.

So for the market like that, you have to have that player. And as it, like we talked about, what's the young ins name in Sacramento? They gave him the max. And we talked about him, Adair and Fox. And you asked me, like, what had to happen there? And I said, well, the clocks now starts to tick. Like, Deerrin has to take that next step. Because for Sacramento to be for real, he's got to be the player that people say,

hey, man, I want to go there and play with that. I want to play with that and join forces with that because I think I can win a championship. So that's kind of how that works in those smaller markets. How much were you in conversation with LeBron to get player X or get player Y during your time there. Was it, um, he, we're going to keep him, um, abreast of the situation or he actually has a role like, yo, I want J.R. Smith on my team and I want, uh, or get, uh, Ammon Shumper on the team because I played against him and I like. Yeah, no, it didn't, it didn't work like, it didn't work like that. Like, LeBron didn't come to us with trade targets. We would sit down, David Griffin,

um, myself, Kobe Altman, who's the GM in Cleveland, Trent Redden, who's an assistant GM out in with the clippers and a couple other guys in our office would sit down and you know we'd go through targets and then we had a cap guy who would be up on the whiteboard doing the beautiful mind thing and and he would put together scenarios that of monies that worked and then at the end of it it would have a player name and we'd be like yeah no or yes or yeah interesting like let's and so once we like broke all of that down logan and came to like here a couple targets that we really think and that we could execute a trade that made sense for, then you take that to like LeBron.

It wasn't my job to do it. It was more Griffs. And I don't know if he went through Rich Paul and company or if he went straight to LeBron to say, hey, look, we got Logan on deck. We think we can pull a trade off for Logan Murdoch. What's your feeling on him? Not like a yes or a no, right?

Because it's a Chris's job. Like you're not going to just concede like your job to LeBron, but it's more so like, do you like him? Do you like the way he plays? Do you think he's a fit? And then you know, you're working hand in hand with LeBron. So you certainly want him to either say, no, we're not big fans of that. He's not big fans of that.

Now we've got to go back to the drawing board. But if he is and he likes the guy, then you feel really comfortable about executing your trade. So LeBron had influence in that way, though, right? Like his voice meant a lot. How much of the same or how much is that different from normal stars, though? Right? Because there's this perception that people are like, oh, I'm not in front. office dealings. I don't have no say, right, for somebody. But LeBron always has the rep

of being that guy of like he's the GM, right? That he's LeBron, the GM. Yeah, I think LeBron likes that. You know what I mean? Like, I mean, just seeing the way he operates, I think he likes that narrative. But the reality is it's prudent on most front offices when you're swinging a trade for a caliber of player that really affects the star. Like when you're talking about a fringe guy, Logan, that's not going to really affect winning and losing or LeBron's ability to do his job night in and night out, it might not be necessary for a LeBron or a Luca to sign off on that. You know what I mean?

But when you're talking about, you know, heavyweight guys, guys in your starting rotation, maybe a co-star to your number one guy, I think it's prudent to run that by those guys. Like you don't want two guys that don't like each other. other, you know, on the team. So, you know, I think it's a good idea for, for everybody to do that. I think LeBron is the only player that has input into trades like that. Now, I will say, if you're a really, really young star, like let's say Bam out of Bio. And I don't know that they wouldn't run a trade by Bam out of bio, but he's so young that maybe you think, you know, at this

point, he hasn't proven what LeBron's proven in one championships and shit like that. So maybe, you know, Pat Riley and them, you don't really take anything to BAM to see if he's okay or if he likes the player or if he doesn't like the player. But certainly players of LeBron's stature, guys who've been in it for a while have proven to be winners and shit, you want to pick their brain on it. Yeah. No, I feel that. And I do get it. Obviously, to a certain degree, you do want to appease your star player. You do want to appease your top employee, the guy that's getting people in the seats. You know, I've been to Cleveland before. I mean, I've seen Cleveland before. LeBron. and been to Cleveland while LeBron was there,

total difference. Completely. Complete difference. And that's why he has that influence. Look, I don't mean to, like, but, you know, I moved to Cleveland for that year, right? And I, too, remember going to Cleveland pre-Lebron, going when LeBron was there.

But I didn't live there, right? So I didn't see what it did to the general economy of the downtown Cleveland area when LeBron is there. And those restaurants and, you know, the casino, down there and on all of the bars and the nightlife, when all that becomes vibrant and it's lit up because you've got LeBron and you've got a championship contending team,

you know, that's bigger than just the Cavs, dog. Like, that's a city. You know what I'm saying? So you're doing your best to navigate all of that when you're an owner and a general manager and the responsibility that you have to everybody. Definitely. I've only been to Cleveland once. That was during the finals.

It was cool. It was a vibe. I mean, it was an energy there, but it was all. I mean, yes. I think, yeah. Cleveland can be cool. But it was like raining bugs or some shit, whatever. I don't know if that's a thing.

Like there was just bugs everywhere. I do remember that. I just say, I'll just say that the LeBron's influence reigns supreme because I don't know if I can go to Cleveland under those circumstances. Hey, dog, Cleveland is a tough place in the winter. We talk about like the Bay and I give like I give that a little grief.

Listen, man, they were canceling my son's. schools because it was too cold out. Like it was, it was a health risk to have kids sitting at the bus stop. That's fucking cold. No. Wow, fam. Let's,

let's take a break. We'll get right back to a little bit of free agency talk. And we're back. I want to talk a little bit about LeBron and AD. Now, we were doing a little, during the break, we were talking a little bit,

you were saying that this is tampering, that there is tampering in there. When you talk about, when you talk about LeBron and AD. I have no beef with it, but like the whole situation is tampering. The whole thing. How did you feel about the AD trade rollout two seasons ago when it was like, you know, it was, it was perfect. It was, it was, it was, it was, how he came through, how, how he came through for a road trip in L.A.

First, it started with the, oh, Chris Hange reports that the two had dinner. Oh, oh, right? And then Dave McMinneman is a friend of the show, Dave McMinneman, just asks LeBron, hey man, what do you think about Anthony Davis pregame, right? LeBron goes, I love Anthony Davis. Then we get a whole ESPN rollout. It's just perfect, right? And then the LA Times gets involved, right?

We start getting trade packages, right? Then it finally happens right after the finals. The trade happens right after the finals. It was just a great rollout. If you want to get your guy out, that was, I was great, I wouldn't say propaganda, but that was great leakage from everybody involved. Yeah, the execution. The execution was, moi.

Yeah, it was flawless. But again, and I mean, I love to watch them play. I'm a huge LeBron fan. I have no beef with it because it happens all the time. But, I mean, by definition, tampering, right? That was a special kind of tampering. We have, I don't think we've seen, that was like an album rollout. We haven't seen that type of tambourine.

Wow. Where it's a coordinated event. When it's good to be the king, right? It's good to be the king. It is good to be the king. Now, and I think the biggest thing that the reason why LeBron can do this is because he has this ultimate leverage, right? With his contract. and just the way the power that he yields because of how good he is.

And I don't think any player has been as powerful as he has. Now, we have, and that's including Michael Jordan, by the way. Yeah. The best of all time. I don't think anyone's had as much influence as LeBron. Now, he has AD now in Los Angeles. AD is technically a free agent who has not signed, as of right now has not signed his deal. As of us recording has not signed a Supermax deal.

and woes reported before the break, before the Thanksgiving break, that Davis could do a two-year $68 million deal with the player option to match up with LeBron's contract. I think that could be, and he could also do a full year, a four years or a five-year deal, right, and just get the whole max with years and money. But if any, if clutch or anybody has been a guide, I think he takes that, that one-in-one, right? That two-year-old-a-player-player option with that 68-mill to match with LeBron, right?

I would imagine that he's going to want the flexibility of having options sooner rather than later. you don't want to be stuck there in a less than desirable situation if LeBron should decide to retire or whatever happens. You do what I'm saying? And so the player, and you talked about the like LeBron having more power than even MJ, it's because they now understand the leverage that they have in the system set up where they can have the flexibility that used to be like only attainable by clubs. Like the club had all the flexibility. It's what they talked about when they when they did. contracts with you, right?

Like, we want flexibility. You still hear him say it. Well, damn it, players have it now, too. So he's going to get his paper and you keep him on the hook for either you being able to move when things don't work out or LeBron says he wants to do something or it just keeps their feet to the fire in terms of building around you and making sure that you have the pieces you need to win championships. And it goes two ways, right?

Because it's flexibility on both sides. I remember when Kevin Durant kept signing his one-in-ones in Golden State, he also, that gave him leverage but also helped the warriors out because they could, he, uh, Kevin took less money so Andreigua could get paid. And that kept them a championship level squad, right? But on the other flip flip flip side of that, what does that do for a front office, right? When you don't have the luxury of saying, telling guys, hey, we're going to have AD on the roster.

this is why you should come. This is why you should roll through. This is why you should sign a long-term deal here. Well, that's why tampering is so important. That's why tampering is so critical to the equation. That's when AD got to get on the phone with somebody and say, hey, listen, bro, I know what the contract looks like, but I'm in. So then Logan is like, okay, we're straight. We're good.

We could do this. Also, Roger, motherfuckers be lying. This is true. Muckuckuckuckuckers be lying. Also, motherfuckers be lying. That's true. The AD be lying, but there's been a lot of, there's a lot of people be like, hey, bro, I'm be here just so they can seal the deal.

Oh, this is true. Yeah, this is true. I mean, there's always a risk of that. Muffolars do be lying in every walk of life every day. All right. Okay. I mean, so there is tampering. We think AD takes the two-year with an option.

He takes a two-year with an option. He just says, he has to. All right. Now, we're on the eve of training camp, Roger Bell. Man. I can't lie to you, man. I'm a little spooked about the NBA season, man. I don't know if I'm like a bit of a fatalist or I'm a bit of a pessimist.

I don't know. But this last weekend of NFL play has got me real scared about the prospects of a full NBA season. The NFL, it got to a, the NFL, let's be real, has fumbled the bag throughout the season just in terms of COVID. They just haven't, I don't know if it's negligence. I don't know if it's just their protocols are just. bad. They just don't care about mask wearing. There's been reports of the Las Vegas Raiders just being at an event with their masks off, a charity event with their masks off. And just, you know, I don't know why you have charity events and have your players go outside during this

pandemic. You should just have them chilling at the crib throughout the time. Correct. But that's another story. I will say that the NFL has been negligent to the point where the Denver Broncos didn't even have a functioning quarterback yesterday. But it still got me spooked with the NFL and they have to travel and things like that for the NBA who will not be in a bubble to be out here traveling and nothing's going to happen. And we are in our some say third wave of COVID in the United States of America. I don't know if this is, I don't know. I don't know if this is going to work. I don't know. Do you think that this is going to work or that this is going to happen?

I have no idea. I am going into this season prepared for anything as it pertains to what the schedule winds up looking like at the end of the day because I have no idea. I'm with you. I do know I'm a big college football fan. I'm a big NFL fan. The amount of games that have had to be canceled or postponed or moved, the amount of COVID. COVID, like, injured list players that are, that are reported every week. It's scary. And the NBA just has to know, like, and the fan has to know that if you're going to be playing games outside of a bubble and guys are going to be going home to whatever they do at home and on their own, like, kind of merit to stay out of the streets or to stay out of places where they could potentially, you know, contract it, that you're going to be. to have guys missing and they're going to be teams that come up with COVID, you know,

outbreaks and things are going to have to be shuffled at the last minute. I'm imagining the NBA's baked all of this into the equation, so there's flexibility there. But that's happening. Like, Logan, I mean, I'm sure it's happening. I'm not even going to say I'm unsure. That's going to happen at some point that's just the numbers in the country suggest that it's going to take place. And if any of those other sports are evidence, it's happening. I take like myself, for instance, or someone else who is, you know, older, has kids, they're not, you know, out as much. You could potentially, you know, be okay, like trying to stay away from some of the gatherings. But for a young guy who's, you know, just coming into the league, he's just got some money in his pocket,

I was that guy, too. I wasn't going home to sit on the fucking couch. You know what I'm saying? Like, I didn't have anybody sitting on the couch with me. Like, we, I'm lonely, bro. I want to get into some shit. You got to know the guys are going to do that. So, you know, you're going to have outbreaks.

And it's bigger than just the league and the NBA and things like that. We have a, the way, you know, mask and shutdowns have been politicized. It's hard to, it's hard to really have a universal plan as a nation, right? Like, you go to Georgia, like a team's going to go to Atlanta. They, they, they, if you go to Atlanta, you might not even think COVID exists because they just out in the streets. You know what I mean? Florida, Tim, bro. Florida, they're just out in the streets.

It's different. And so when you go to these places, it's different than out here in the Bay Area where Santa Clara County just shut everything down and sports have just been shut down. It's not like that in these other places. So guys are going to go out. Like, guys are just going to chill because they're like, okay, well, it's cool to go out here. Why can I, you know what I mean? Right.

And then you have a situation where guys are just going out and being negligent. And that's, and I, and I, and I, I can't blame them. There's no right answer to this because on one hand, people have families. You got to pay for this stuff. You know what I mean? This is a business entity. But on the other hand, it's not great taste. It's not a great look when we're in a third wave of COVID. We're having the most cases per day that we've ever had. And most scientists are saying, you need to stay your ass in the house and not fly. during this pandemic because that's how these super spreader events happen when you have people from other parts of the country coming to other parts of the country they're not quarantining they're not doing these things and then you have a league who is like well we're going to do it we have you know what i mean we're we're going to we're we're going to play they're going to do it sorry uh it's it's there's no there's no great answer to this russia there's no there's no great answer you know i'm

thinking when you talk about the flying NBA flying is different obviously than then then then um your average commercial flight. But having said that, you've got a lot of people on NBA planes that aren't like part of the team, right? Like you've got media members and, you know, your play-by-play guy and, you know, there are people on that plane that aren't part of that basketball team, which is exposure in and of itself.

So like I don't know all of the protocols that they put in place, like let alone the, you know, the flight attendants and so on. and so forth. It's just going to be really interesting. I know, I know this. I have two, you know, I have, I have two boys that are playing sports right now, right? They both, we've let them play football. We didn't play forever, Logan, but we've let them play football. They play in a mask and a, in a visor, the entire game. My one son's a receiver, so he wears gloves. They're never allowed to take their mouthpiece out. They're never allowed to take their mask off, and they wear their helmet the entire game. Like that's, that's the way they play. And we feel pretty good about that,

right? Like no one else is wearing a mask or anything like that. Some kids have on visors, but our kids are really the only ones that I've seen play like that. So I took my older son, he was going to play on my team, my basketball team. And I'm getting to a point. But like, we took him in the gym the first night. He had his mask on. He plays basketball, you know, for the whole game with his mask on. Like, it's not a problem for him because he's conditioned to do it. But no one else has a mask on. And basketball is so much more personal and in your space than football is. And that sounds really weird to people because they're like, well, fuck, you're getting tackled and all of that in football. But basketball is a face-to-face interaction on every play. Do you know what I'm saying? There's a, there's, you're breathing

in someone's face. You know, there's spitlets all over the place. And so I was telling my wife, and we thought about it, and we were like, you know what? Even if he masked up, he's not playing basketball, because we can't, like, there's no face shield there. There's nothing keeping the shit from getting on him that, you know, and it's all face-to-face interaction. And so as it pertains to the NBA, if you think like football breakouts are common, like trust me, basketball breakouts are going to be just as common, if not more, because it's much closer proximity for longer periods of time. What's it going to take for, I'm not saying that the league isn't taking it serious, but what's it going to take for us as a nation to take this serious?

Is it going to take a prominent person to die from it? Or is it going to be like a, like say if LeBron James gets it, not that he passes, but he has a really bad bout of COVID. You know, we both know people who have COVID. It buries and how it, you know, strikes people. Is it like, was LeBron have to have it for like a month for people to kind of take it serious? Like, what is it going to take? Because money rules all of this right now. And if money wasn't a prime factor,

I believe that we would have a March starting day, you know? Because right now it's not a great time to start any sports. To answer your question, like in a simple, I think we're past that point. I don't think there's anything that can happen, Logan. I don't. I mean, aside from the, you know, there being a national mandate for some of this that controls, like, the national picture. And I'm not advocating for.

I'm not on here to do that. I'm saying without something like that, there's no control in this. The cat's out of the bag. Like people, people aren't shutting their shit down. And like you alluded to like Cali, like taking precautions and doing what they need to do. But Florida's not. Georgia's not. Like, they're not doing that.

Texas is not. Texas is not. So you have to, there's got to be some kind of national like movement to do something. Or there's nothing you can do, dude. Like I don't think LeBron getting it or someone of his stature getting it. and it posing a real, real health risk and issue to them is going to change it either. Like, people are going to be like, oh, that's fucked up. And then they're going to be right back to business.

You want to keep it a butt? Like, Kevin Durant got it. Yeah. And it was like, oh, damn, Kevin Durant got it. Lamar Jackson got that shit right now. Like, they, like, you know, like, people are just keeping it moving. No matter how much, like, let's keep it real. This virus is serious.

It's serious, man. Yeah. But I don't know if we've, this is another conversation. just don't know if we've taken it serious enough. And it's kind of disappointing to hear because I believe you in a lot of ways. I was like, one's going to really be tripping off this virus. They're not.

It would have been happened. Yep. Even when we didn't know about it, we didn't really trip off of it. Even when like Rudy Gobert shut it down and was like, okay, we'll be back in two weeks, maybe a month. I'm sure. It's cool.

Right. There's just, it just seems to be a real fatigue, which is crazy to say, like a real fatigue with the virus and the proceeds. protocols and the measures that you have to take to keep yourself safe. And so I, you know, I don't necessarily agree with it, but that's where I think we're at. I don't think you see people like giving too much of a dam. If they don't right now, there's nothing that's going to have them doing it in the near future point.

That's my point. But yeah, it's, it's really wild to even consider. And I'm just, I want my basketball, but I don't think it's, I'm just concerned. I'm just concerned. They should have, they should have bubbled up. Look, I've talked to a lot of people in that bubble, and there was real, real mental health. It sucked, man. It sucked, right?

And I'm not just players. I've talked to referees. Like, Johnny Goebo is a friend of mine. I saw him in my former coaches, like, you know, a funeral. And I asked Johnny, because I was like, Johnny, what? Like, I got a lot of players perspective, man. How was that? And he was, you know, his situation sounded worse than the player's situation because he couldn't have anybody.

He couldn't have family people come through. Right. His was a shit show. He was really, like, you could see on his face when I started asking him about it, that it had taken a toll on him. So I don't mean to minimize that side of it. But if you wanted to pull it off, you've already shown it you can pull it off.

Maybe, Logan, maybe go 60 games in three separate 20 game bubbles, where you go bubble for 20 games, like let them go home for a while. Everyone clear quarantine, come back for 20 more games. But I know it's not. But that's the only way you can safeguard against what is inevitable now, which is, you know, like multiple teams having. Players are not going to do that. Players are not going to go into that bubble, bro.

And I'm okay with that, too. Like, you have to make the choice, but that's the only way that you can safeguard against the derailing of seasons. That's it. And that goes to my point. There's no real, like, right answer to this. I don't think it's going to,

I think it's just going to be people have COVID and we're going to deal with it. And I hope for the best, but I don't, Roger, man, I don't see this short of a vaccine. even then, like, it's going to take a minute for a vaccine to come through. So capitalism doesn't give a fuck about your health is basically all. I'm trying to say.

You know what I mean? And I think we've seen that. Yeah. That was a lot. Let's get into real ones. Yeah. And to our real one of the week who exemplifies everything that we think in a real one. And that can be an organization, an entity, a person.

Now, my real one of the week, this is going to surprise you guys. my ruin of the week is none other than Nate Robinson if for only any other reason that he has not gotten any wins in the last couple of days and I just want to give him a win he got knocked out on paper view by another amateur but he got knocked the fuck out

and I just want to give him a win that he has not gotten all weekend so ruin of the week is Nate Robinson for taking a punch god daw you stole mine I'll go real one of the week, Nate Robinson also. And I'm going to go for another reason. It takes a lot of balls to hop up in that ring, amateur or not.

Like, you know, like, you see that boy holding the back of his head when he got hit like the first time? Like, I think Nate was like, oh, shit. Like, this really hurts. Hey, Nate tried to fight him. Like, it was just a brawl in the backyard. Like, it was no form. There was nothing.

Like, I'm sure. I'm sure he could. beat somebody's ass. Like, I'm sure he got hands, right? Boxing is different than fighting. It's different, bro. Boxing is different than fighting. And here's why I'll give him real one of the week for number one hopping into that ring. Also, number two, like, you know, Nate has been training really, really hard to play basketball. No one's given Nate an opportunity to come back in hoop, right? Nate switched gears on you all and said, look, man, I can, you know, I'm going to try something

else. That takes, that takes some courage and shit like that. And I believe and I believe, and I'm predicting it now. Nate goes back to the drawing board, the athlete that he is. He fucking realizes that he was underprepared and he starts really training. It gets a rematch. And I'm sitting on here calling him a real one again for defending that ass whoop when he got the other night. Nate, Robbins is a real one of the week? You better come back and win. You better come back and you'll not be. You will not be real one of the week if you get knocked out again. You all I mean? I'm just saying. Shout on Nate Robinson. What's the point to beat him? Is it Logan Paul or is it the the other one that beat him. Who was it? Was it Logan?

I think it was Logan Paul. Well, he should get, I'm going to give him real one of the week too. I'm not giving him a one of a week. I'm not giving him a one of a week. Hey, Logan, you whooped his ass. Nate, we need you to pop back though. Bounce back. Hey, man, Nate got some North Oakland ties. He did not show them in the fight. Boxing is different than fighting, bro. It's different. Shout out Nate Robinson, man. Get better, bro. You took that on the chin for the NBA. You got a lot of slander, bro. Nick Young said that that is.

Nick, Nick Young said that that is not a representation of the NBA family. Head on, Nate. Hey, get your head up, Nate. Fuck that, Nate. But also, also, also, this shows that a lot of you motherfuckers in the NBA, when y'all fight, it's a big hold me back because a lot of y'all can't fight. A lot of y'all just know how to, like, sell wolf tickets. That's all I'm saying.

Hey, listen. That boy looked like he was, he was bear-hugging, like, he was in a back. back room, that that is not a backyard like fight. That was a boxing match, man. It's different. Only thing funnier than that was the, was the Tyson Roy Jones bout. That was hilarious because it was like, your two uncles just getting it in.

That's fantastic. It was awesome. That night was awesome. I had a great time. Real one of the weeks should have been Snoop for like the hymns that he was singing when Nate was getting, like that boy was singing like gossip. He's honor roll mention. Snoop honor roll mention.

Snoop was so great. on this. He was great because I think it shows what we need from our color commentators, man. We just don't always need the cookie cutter shit, man. Sometimes we just need somebody to be a fan in the color color. Oh, oh, oh, we need somebody to do that. It doesn't always have to be the traditional cookie cutter.

Oh, man, did you just see what happened two weeks ago? Did you see them? Sometimes we just need somebody like Snoop with a Lakers starter jacket on. And just going in, especially for the local broadcasts. We just need like a local hero to just like, oh! Shout out, real one of the week, Snoop. Real one of the week, Honorable Mitz's Snoop Dogg. And real one of the week, Nate Robinson.

Thanks. And that's been our show, man. Shout out to that we have a mismatch announcement tomorrow. You should tap into that. Yeah, we have a mismatch announcement. And we have our own announcement coming next week for you all. Tap into that. You know what I'm saying?

Shout out the bodega boys. You know what I mean? But we got a little announcement for you guys. Tap in, man. Wherever you get your podcast, wherever you get your podcast. We'll tap in on Spotify. Follow us there. And we're here every Mondays, but, you know, having a little announcement.

Tap into that. Some foreshadowing. Some foreshadowing. Hey, I'm going to get your follow on Instagram today, too, bro. I think you deserve it. Thanks, bro. Appreciate it, man. Thanks, dude.

Put it in a chat. in the chat, put it in the chat. See y'all next week. Ah!