The Ryen Russillo Podcast - A Theory on Fan Behavior, Plus Raptors Assistant Coach Adrian Griffin 

Episode Date: June 1, 2021

Russillo shares his thoughts on the injuries impacting the NBA playoffs, including the latest with Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis, before weighing in on Doc Rivers defending Ben Simmons and why Knicks fans should still be happy. Then, he shares a theory on why the relationship between fans and players could be the reason for the uptick in incidents (2:15). Next, Ryen talks with one of his all-time favorite players and current Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin about his journey to the NBA, stories from coaching guys like Jimmy Butler and Russell Westbrook, and his future path to becoming a head coach (19:00). Finally, he closes it out with some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (57:00). Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Adrian Griffin  Producers: Kyle Crichton and Steve Ceruti Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

True story. A couple days later, Lewald Dane goes down. So that's the second guy in his position that goes down, right? And I go back to Jim. Jimmy, you playing, man. You gotta be ready.

First quarter, second quarter, third quarter, no Jimmy Butler. After the game, obviously, he's irate. You know, I had to spend extra time calming him down. And then another guy goes down and he plays the next game. And we are playing the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James. So it's just how it works. And Jimmy, coach played him.

Jimmy was phenomenal. He did his best job that you can do on containing LeBron James, you know? And from that moment on, he went from not playing, and you know how Tom Tibbitt was. Now he doesn't even come out the game. He's playing 48 minutes a game.

That was Adrian Griffin, who's going to join us today. Raptors assistant coach, and also his days coaching one frustrated Jimmy Butler. A bunch of other stories as well. A little NBA playoff open and life advice updates. Not just advice this time. So we're almost through the first round here.

And a nice win by the Wizards, despite the Embiid problem, which we'll kind of get to. Because, I mean, the injury part of this playoffs, I can't help but just remind myself, remind everybody listening that, I mean, there's a really good chance we're going to have one injury here that derails maybe what we thought was going to happen, and we're already seeing it, potentially with Embiid, who knows, MRI today. And then, I think the MRI is actually Wednesday. And then the Anthony Davis part of having a groin. And I don't know if it's Porzingis theory,

where I've mentioned this now for years is I just think some of these guys are so big and yet they move in ways we've, we've just, you know, it's been going on for years. So this isn't like it's overnight, but I think we'd all agree. Those of us that grew up watching basketball, we're just seeing guys seven feet or, or bigger move in ways that you're just not used to ever seeing guys move. And I don't know if that's why Przingis is always hurt.

I don't know if that's why Embiid, you know, actually, I'd argue he's probably been healthier throughout his career than I would have thought at the beginning of it. But we likely will have one injury that, you know, changes things. It doesn't mean that the championship's invalid or any of that kind of stuff. But, you know, I don't know if it's a condensed schedule. I know there are going to be a bunch of different arguments. But a lot of guys miss games to try to be ready for the playoffs. And first round in, we've got some scary ones here. Chris Paul hurt too as well, but looked like he was better in game four.

And then Donovan Mitchell, who misses game one. And as more information has kind of been thrown around on that storyline, like he was legitimately that mad that he just couldn't play in game one. So that it might have been something else or a spin on the story. And so far, I mean, he's closed games three and four really well. He's at 28 points. He's not getting a ton of rebounds. He's only getting two a game, four assists.

His shooting hasn't been great on nine three-point attempts per game. He's like 33%. He was 39% on the regular season. But there's also something else that's going on because I have talked at length about, you know, the offense is never being easier, right? It's never been easier to score. That's just a fact. Now the regular season average offensive points per 100 possessions, right? So the offensive efficiency number for this year was 112.3 points, right? The highest ever in NBA history. And really like the collection of the highest seasons ever, like the last five seasons. Now, four years ago,

the average offensive efficiency was 108.8, right? So that means in four years, you've had it jump, you know, just about four points per hundred possession. You may say, okay, is that really that big of a deal? It actually is. That's the difference this season between the 13th best offense and the 26th best offense. So that's the kind of jump that we've had in just four seasons. And again, this season, unlike others. And so maybe there's some sort of, you know, normalcy or some correction where it goes the other way. I don't know. I don't know if that's going to happen. But now as we enter the playoffs, you're like, okay, we're going to see these teams step up more. No, the average offensive efficiency for every playoff team, all 16 playoff teams,

is at 114. So we're a pretty big jump beyond what it was for the regular season average in the highest offensive output we've ever seen. Dallas last year set the record, the all-time record at 115.9. There are 10 teams in the playoffs right now that are over 115 points per 100 possession. So you're saying, again, it's just the first round, but we have more than half. I mean, if you took out the Knicks in the heat, that average offensive efficiency number would be even crazier. I think it's like five or six teams that are just around 40% from three. So the defense has not slowed any of this stuff down. I think it's like five or six teams that are just around 40% from three. So the defense has not slowed any of this stuff down. I mean, maybe big possessions, maybe late, but the idea that maybe they would crank it up and it would look different. If anything, the offenses have been

even more impressive to start the playoffs, which, you know, again, I don't really know what it means. Now there's also a part of the exit, and I'm almost reluctant to do this because I know it can happen at times when we have teams, you know, I'll have a theory, I'll feel good about it, and then next thing you know, a team's blowing a 3-1 lead. And that's the Knicks. I know that there's a lot of Knick angst. You're likely getting eliminated here. I felt all along going into this that Atlanta was the more talented team we have seen that, I don't know how anyone could deny that at this point

but because it's New York and this seems to happen with the more passionate fan bases the unexpected excitement is met with like irrational disappointment I mean if you're the Knicks, if you're a Knicks fan,

and this is the first time you've won a playoff game in eight years, I'm not telling you to just be like, hey, man, C's are cool. But this isn't even a C. This season for the Knicks is a B, B+. This was a team in the preseason that was picked 13th in the East with a 2% chance of making the playoffs. Now, maybe you find him somewhere 12th. I don't know. I'm probably maybe you could find one.

I don't remember a ton of people picking the Knicks to make the playoffs. And not only do they make the playoffs, they end up a home seed in the first round. And I know you're down 3-1. It's glaring how different their talent level is with atlanta's but all of that is excitement i mean all of this should feel like you know don't skip steps three four and five just because you completed step one and that's what it feels like with knicks fans on this one because no one really believed in this team um they proved even throughout most of the season it's kind of like a middling 500 team and they go it feels like with Knicks fans on this one because no one really believed in this team. They proved even throughout most of the season, it's kind of like a middling 500 team and they go on a great run to close it. They finished one of the best records in the league and then to

lose in the playoffs. It doesn't mean like it was all a waste. Like this is the first step back towards respectability. They have a ton of cap space. There's a lot of cap space out there. The free agents, that list isn't all that exciting, but it gives you options. So to say, hey, well, this team doesn't work. Okay, fine. Yes. No one thought this team was going to win a championship, but most people didn't even think they were going to make the playoffs. So I think that disappointment has to be tempered a bit considering what everyone thought of that team going into it. There was also one more thing, and I'm going to play the sound for you here,

and that was Doc Rivers asked about Ben Simmons. We mentioned on the Sunday pod with Bill that Ben Simmons was 0 of 9 from the free throw line. So you could see in that close game of the Wizards that the Wizards went ahead and started hacking Ben, and Ben ended up, I think, splitting the free throw. So he made one, and Doc mentions that, meaning like, hey, that's actually not that big of a deal. So here's the sound from that with a couple of reporters that kind of kept asking Ben

Simmons related questions because Ben is at times a frustrating offensive player. I think we'd all agree on that. Doc, is there anything that you can do coaching wise? Does the thought cross your head at all to take him out of the game now? No. Why not? You want me to take Ben Simmons off the floor? No, I mean, I got to ask the question.

I'm going to pass on that one. He's pretty good, so I'll pass on that suggestion. Analytically, if you split all those free throws offensively, you'll take a point per possession. So he did that. I had no issues with it. Obviously, we loved him. They made them both.

But I didn't think that changed the game at all for us. So I was fine with it. Obviously, we loved them. They made them both, but I didn't think that changed the game at all for us. So I was fine with it. If he had to miss both and both and both, then that's something, but overall, I was fine with it. Obviously, that's what they're going to do. That's what they should do, and we're fine with that. I didn't think he was scared of the moment. He just didn't

make them. So again, with Ben, we're going to keep him on the floor. Unless you guys want us to bench him the whole game. If anybody wants us to do that, just let me know. And then I'll know you don't know basketball. So Doc makes some really good points there. But there's also something else that you have to understand with the way Doc's tone was.

Because granted, yes, he's frustrated. He disagrees with the premise. The idea, you know, when he's like, hey, do you want me to take him off the floor? And all of us probably need to do a better job of, you know, this kind of dawned on me this year. Like, we just got to look at Ben Simmons as a different kind of player. He's going to impact the games in different ways. But I think all of us are still waiting against a better opponent. If Embiid is fully healthy, what will it look like? Will Simmons be somebody that can hurt you offensively because people don't feel like they have to respect him? Or does he initiate the ball stuff? Or can you really run screens with him when no one's really going to want to follow him

when he doesn't have the ball in his hands, right? All of these things are legitimate concerns. They're real concerns that have been going on for years. But Doc is also doing something that a vet coach would do, especially a former player and a guy that gets it, is he's talking up his guy. He's being extra defensive about his guy, making sure everybody can see it.

And it's not that he doesn't believe it, okay? But it's very clear that I think that was a moment where a coach was like, I'm going to have my guys back so much here that I'm going to prove some kind of point. And, you know, look, all Simmons has to do is make his free throws and everybody would shut up about it.

But I don't think that's going to happen. Speaking of that Sixers-Wizards game, as I finish this up here. So I just last week had done a bit of a rant on the fan behavior. And one of my points out of it all was, you know, the reaction to what happens is the thing that maybe frustrates me the most. I mean, nobody's sitting here, although I've kind of expected, I thought somebody, maybe my, my industry is getting a little soft. I thought there might be one zag guy that would be like, all right, why, why fan behavior like this is actually good for the league. You know, like there's usually somebody that does it. It's like, what's,

what's the chance? Like, how can I stand out this week? All right, I'm going to go here. And nobody's really doing that because that wouldn't be super popular right now. But it does surprise me. Maybe one or two guys I thought maybe had it in them. But, you know, who knows? You know, everybody's getting into postseason form here. But watching a player run out on the court in the Wizards game.

And then, by the way, too, like the guy's going like, where's security? Have any of you ever been to a game? Like if you really want to run onto a field or the court, you can do it. All right. You actually can't. It's just that 99.9% of the people,

it's probably a higher number actually, if you think about it. It's even beyond that. They don't want to. They don't want to. So whenever somebody does it and then it's like, where's security? You know, like the where's security guy to me is incredibly frustrating because it's just if a guy wants to do it, if he wants to get out there, he's going to be able to go ahead and do it. So he goes out there, he gets tackled.

Good tackle. But I got to tell you, that guy could take a hit because he got up. He got up pretty quickly. Didn't look like he was totally phased by it. tell you, that guy could take a hit because he got up. He got up pretty quickly. Didn't look like he was totally phased by it. And as I mentioned before, I go, you know what? Hey, the NBA needs to do something or this needs to be handled. And in this case, you have NBA players, you know, saying, what's the NBA going to do? And it's like, I don't know what's the NBA supposed to do with this one. This is a pretty random act. It doesn't happen all that often. And now it's happened a

bunch in a very short amount of time. And I don't know what the hell is going on. I don't know if this is a post-pandemic thing where now people are just like, all right, we're out there and we're going to let it fly. I mean, I would hope that's not the case. I think most people, I think a lot of the problems that we have in some of the conversations that we have in this country is that most people are doing the right thing, feel good about themselves, treat other people with respect. And then yet we just see all the bad stuff all the time, right?

I know as somebody who's connected to Boston, living there for a while, growing up rooting for those teams, that I'm fully aware that like Boston's easily one of the least popular cities for sports franchises outside of the city. But I would look at like the Mike Scott incident when he was going to that Eagles and Washington football team game and he gets jumped. And I'm like, imagine if that happened to him at Foxborough, like it would be treated completely different. Yet these incidences are happening in different cities. And then boom, you know, Peyton Pritchard's younger brother throws a water bottle at Kyrie and you're like, ah, you know, because Kyrie ended up getting in a weird

way. I think Kyrie got what he wanted because he clearly, and I'm not like turning this into like, Hey, I'm sticking up for this guy. Like I don't want to stick up for anybody in any of this kind of stuff. Right. So then it turns into, I don't want to stick up for Boston and that kind of stuff because it's just indefensible. The Utah situation kind of off the radar a little bit when you start going at people's families in the stands. But then again, I don't know that I'm going to go ahead and rank all the incidents, but we've had a bunch of incidents in a very short amount of time. So what the hell is going on? You know, I don't know what the hell is going on. I have theories, right? That's why I'm here. I've got theories for you. I don't have definitive

answers. I don't have excuses. I'm just trying to figure it all out and putting together everything that's gone on this past week. But when you look at the disconnect, something I've felt has grown more and more the last few years, there's never been a disconnect that I can ever remember between the rich or famous. And in the case of NBA players, both and the regular guy. And that's not absolving the regular guy. And I'm not saying, oh, the blue collar guy, the Bronx tail bus driver, because I don't think these NBA playoff arenas are full of Masons and framers. Right. But I'm saying the very, very small percentage of people that feel like they're entitled because they're not as famous or they're not as rich. I think there's this weird animosity towards the public figure where it's like, well, you signed up for this. So now you have to deal with my shit. And again, that's ridiculous.

But I do think that's what's happening. I think success is looked at differently now, where it's like, well, if you're making 20 or 30 million, why do I care about you? Which is also odd because we're also living in a time where it feels like more, at least the media and the coverage, at least in social media, it feels like people are more accepting of anyone's challenges. When you hear an NBA player talking about mental health, I think people are listening to him differently, listening to her differently. But at the same time, we have to be honest here, there's probably a very large percentage of this population that goes, yeah, you know what? You're

making $20, $30 million a year. You're 20 years old. You're going to tell me how much your life sucks? Like, no, no thanks. And maybe that builds into some of the resentment. Again, it doesn't make it right if that's the reaction. I think that's the reality, though, of these conversations. So trying to put together all the stuff that happened in the last couple of weeks, like, I don't know, maybe it is that disconnect. You know, maybe it is that because you have some players talking about how tough the work environment is, which is true. But at the same time, some of these guys are tweeting out, love everybody, and then they'll undress a ref verbally in a way that you would never talk to another human being. So then you're like, okay, now what do I do with this? Again, none of this is an excuse for it.

I'm just trying to find any kind of explanation as why this seems to be this thing that doesn't happen that often. The reaction is stronger than ever, but it's also happening a little bit more often than I would have ever expected, at least the first two weeks of the playoffs. little bit more often than I would have ever expected at least the first two weeks of the playoffs. I know people always kind of give me a double take whenever I've said this. And so this is a, this is a big deal for me, but Adrian Griffin is one of my favorite players I've ever seen play in the NBA. And a lot of you are going like, wait a minute, who? And that's fair. Uh, our guy went to Seton hall. He then after that was with the Long Island Surf, the Connecticut Pride, the Atlantic City Seagulls, Rosito,

which was I guess an Italian team, then the Connecticut Pride again, and then the Atlantic City Seagulls again, and then the Boston Celtics from 1999 to 2001. So Adrian joins us now. He's an assistant coach with the Raptors.

You heard me talking about singing his praises with Nick Nurse. He's been an assistant in the league for a long time. So Adrian, I don't know if you can do a better job of explaining your game than I can. I don't know what it was because you weren't a great shooter. You weren't the quickest guy, but you just saw the game in such an advanced way that you had to watch you kind of just be out there. And those are those Celtics, because you were like a 25-year-old rookie. And then Mike and Tommy, you'd have some amazing read or a play where you'd set somebody up and they would freak out. And I just, look, I know it was short-lived. You grinded, but I just loved your game. And that's why I always bring you up 20 years later. Well, I appreciate you having me on, number one.

And I'm a big fan of yours, too. So the feeling is mutual. You know, I was not the typical rookie coming into the NBA. I was 25 years old. Kind of paid my dues through the minor league and, you know, just growing up, I always had a knack for the game.

I wasn't the most athletic. I had slow feet. I had pretty good hands and pretty good instincts. And, you know, it was something that I always had to battle, especially in the pros, as far as comparing myself to other guys, you know. And I would watch guys fly through the air and do all these spectacular plays. And I had to just learn how to focus on my strength, you know, focus on what I could do, not what I couldn't do.

And for me, the game kind of slowed down, you know. And you see a lot of players are like that, you know, and, you know, the Chris Pauls played with Steve Nash and these guys. And obviously I wasn't on their level as far as skill-wise. But that's a trait in itself. It's a skill in itself. You try to develop.

And some guys, it comes a little more naturally. For me, you know, I didn't have a choice because I wasn't that athletically gifted. So I had to really study the game and just, you know, my anticipation and seeing the plays develop that was kind of one of my strengths yeah i think that's probably the best way to say it like you saw the game slower than everybody else did and your anticipation was incredible you saw cuts you saw defenders leaning the wrong way you just saw it better than everyone so like if you just gave it time and

and appreciated the things that you were doing out there but i would imagine out of seaton hall like there were probably some hard conversations being like, hey, you're not going to play in the league. Like what was the most depressing moment of someone telling you, like, you're probably going to want to give this up? Well, I think for me, the 96 drafts, I was sitting at home with my family. And, you know, it's one of those things you invite everybody over.

And, you know, the draft back then, it was just super long. You know, it's like three, four hours it seemed. And, you know, each round, you know, my name's not getting called. And I noticed people started trickling out. And before long, you know, getting to the last pick of the draft, I was sitting there by myself. Everyone went to bed. And my dad was he actually was working second and third shift at the time, so he couldn't make it. And the last draft pick actually was by the Portland Trailblazers and P.J. Carlissimo.

He was my college coach. Right. So he coached me for two years, and now he's with the Portland Trail Blazers. So I'm sitting there, and I kind of perk up, and I'm like, I know he's picking me, man. I know he's picking me. And they end up choosing somebody from junior college in Kansas. And I was just crushed, man. You know, I was just like every 18-year-old, I mean, 21-year-old. You see your dreams kind of fading away.

And I just sat there really rejected and dejected. And my father actually came home around 12 or 1 o'clock, and I was still sitting on the couch by myself. And he said, hey, son, let's go for a drive. And he said, hey, son, let's go for a drive. You know, so, you know, it's Wichita, Kansas, and we're driving on the outskirts of town, which is probably not the smartest thing to do at one o'clock at night. So we're just driving around and he doesn't say a word to me, you know, and it's pitch black. And we're just driving these country roads and we come to a stoplight. And all of a sudden he stops and, you know, he looks at me, you know, he says, son, you know, God told me that you are going to make the NBA.

Don't give up on your dreams. And, you know, when someone believes in you, like belief is so powerful. And, you know, I was like, man, like if my dad believes in me, maybe I got a chance, you know, and that kind of fueled me, you know, my desire. And he was always there for me. He never let me give up on my dreams, no matter what it was. And, you know, really taught me the power of belief. And I use that with my players. Just when you tell someone that you believe in them, just magical things happen and just made me work hard and not give up. And, you know, I credit him for the reason why I made the NBA. So you get into,

you know, basically I forget was the long Island surf. Were they always the USBL? Cause I know you were right. So what, what's that process like jumping around CBA when it was still around USBL? Because I know you were, right. So what's that process like jumping around CBA when it was still around USBL, the one international thing, probably a guy like you now would have played overseas more, made more money. But what were those decisions like in the day-to-day of just surviving? Because you actually started putting, like you were the CBA MVP at some point, but kind of take us through all that time. So I went undrafted and then I got a call from Tyler Jones, who was actually at the time, he was the general manager of the CBA Connecticut Pride. And I'd never heard of CBA before. And so I get this call and he said, hey, I want to congratulate you. You got drafted

in the CBA and we're excited to see you. And, you know, I was like, I don't know the CBA. So I tried to go to the Philippines and try to make some money. You know, I had a little daughter on the way. I got cut. Within two weeks, I got cut. I was in the Philippines. And I remember that guy, Tyler Jones. So while I'm sitting in my hotel room in the Philippines, I call him and say, hey, I was just wondering if that job was still open that you were telling me about in Connecticut. And he's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so they put me on a flight. I flew all the way from the Philippines to Connecticut, got off the plane, went straight to practice. You know, I'm desperate. You know, I just, I just want a job. And, you know, we had this one veteran guy named Mario Donaldson, right. And he was kicking my butt all the way through practice, man. And I'm getting nervous because I'm thinking I'm not going to make the team. And I don't even know

anything about being drafted or anything. So after practice, I go up to Tyler Jones and I said, coach, I'm like, I'm sorry, man. I'll do better next time. And he just laughed at me. He said, just relax, man. You already made the team, you know. And I credit him a lot for my progress in the CBA because an hour before practice, an hour after practice, we just continued to work on my game. You know, we had some really good guys come to there, Rick Brunson, Ira Neubel, Kevin Olley. All of us were always, you know, Kevin used to come down from the NBA and work out with us when the NBA season wasn't intact.

And, man, he taught me how to be a pro. And so you take all these lessons, you know, and just hard work and perseverance. And the great thing about playing in the USBL and the ABL and, you know, and just hard work and perseverance. And the great thing about playing in the USBL and the ABL and, you know, the CBA, you're the man, you know. You know, you get to take those last second shots and the ball is in your hand. And I credit that for, you know, my decision-making, developing my decision-making.

So when I got in the pros, you know, I was a little more seasoned. So it was all part of the process, you know, my decision-making, developing my decision-making. So when I got in the pros, you know, I was a little more seasoned. So it was all part of the process. You know, I always say there's always opportunity, you know, when there's opposition or adversity, there's always opportunity. And for me, you know, the CBA, the Mariner Leagues were very instrumental in developing, you know, my skills and helped me play nine years in the NBA. instrumental in developing my skills and helped me play nine years in the NBA.

I don't know that those of us on the outside truly understand the gap, like the gap where you're watching a college kid like Dylan Brooks is a good example. Like you see Dylan Brooks light it up in the Pac-12. I think sometimes we can do an eye test. We're like, oh, is his body right there? Because I was watching Dylan last night and I go, you know, he's got pop. He can get up off. Like he's more athletic, but he's kind of disheveled looking. So I wonder if people did like a scouting version of like looking at Dylan Brooks going,

ah, maybe he's a little soft. Maybe he's not athletic enough and all this different stuff. And he ends up going a lot later than he should have. And now he's going to have a long NBA career. But when I'll look at rosters, I know that, you know, one of the challenging things that I don't think enough people understand is that you kind of have to have like the 10 guys that know what's going to happen. And then you're going to have the rest of the guys that accept the fact that they're not going to be in that top 10. So sometimes you need those guys to be younger and maybe their projects

and they work it out. But would you say there's, I don't know, is it 50 guys at the bottom of the NBA rankings that actually are just younger where there's another 50 guys that are better than those players and could be in the league young you know guys that you used to play with back in the day that are maybe better overall basketball players but a harder fit on a roster knowing that that guy's still trying to survive as opposed to a rookie who doesn't necessarily need to play right away I think the times have changed you know when I was coming up you know guys were going three four years of college You know, when I was coming up, you know, guys were going three, four years of college, you know. So when they were coming in the league, they were had a lot more experience.

They were coming probably from top programs that had excellent coaches and teachers that really taught them the game very well. So they kind of hit the ground running. Today's the rookies are coming in much, much, much younger. And it depends on each team. You go to a team that's probably in the lottery. They're going to probably have that time. They'll give those rookies time to develop, and they may have more playing time, more veteran teams. You're going to probably sit your rookies a little bit

and let them learn. We had a really good draft last year as far as our guys coming in and developing with, you know, Jalen Harris and Malachi Flynn. So those guys, you know, were perfect examples. You know, they got to sit and watch Kyle Lowry, Fred Van Fleet, two of the best at their positions. And, you know, with their injuries and whatnot, these younger guys got opportunity to play,

and they made the best of it. But to your point, it's hard to, you know, it's a tricky thing, man. It's hard to know who can play and who can without throwing them in the fire. You know, when I was in the CBA, we had our assistant coach, Gerald Oliver, used to go up to Boston. This is how I got on with the Celtics. He used to drive up to Boston all the time and talk to Rick Rattino all the time

and say, hey, we got this kid named Adrian Griffin. You know, he's not flashy, doesn't do all those things, but the guy's real smart and, you know, he can really play. Rick Rattino got tired of Gerald Oliver always going up there talking about Adrian Griffin. He said, okay, just bring him into the Summer

League. Prior to that, I'm in my third year in the CBA. I never even made a Summer League team. That's how competitive it was. I would get cut after a day or two. You'd reach out, you'd be brought in, and then you didn't even make Summer League teams. I never even made summer league teams, right?

And this was my first time with the Celtics in 99, summer, making the summer league team. So we go to the Long Beach Summer League Classic, and we go 8-0. We don't lose a game, right? And I noticed how, like, Rick Pitino's sitting in the stands. You know how the head coaches are sitting in the stands. And so he started kind of coaching me a little bit during the game.

He said, hey, take him. Take that shot. Or take him off the dribble. And I'm like, whatever. Whatever Rick Pitino says. Who was the actual summer league coach? Was it O'Brien? I think it was Jim Boylan, I think.

Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. And so we don't lose a game. We fly back to Boston, and so Boston hosted our own little, you know, New England summer league. We had the Knicks, you know, New Jersey and Philly. And so we go 7-0, and we don't lose a game.

And the buzzer goes off, right? The last game, the buzzer goes off. I'm walking off the court and I'm feeling pretty good about myself. I'm like, man, that was, you gave it your all. I'm thinking about, you know, I'll go overseas, make some money, you know, I gave it one last shot. And I felt, you know, I felt like I did everything I can do.

So I'm walking off the court and I hear someone calls my name and said, Adrian. And so I turned around and it's the general manager of the Celtics. And he said, Hey, I got your agent on the phone. You know, we got the table set up in the back. We got a two year deal for you. All you guys talk to your agent and just come and let us know what you want to do. So I grabbed the phone and I'm like, Hey man, is this for real? You know? all you guys talk to your agent and just come let us know what you want to do so I grabbed the phone and I'm like hey man is this for real you know and he said

listen hurry up and hang up this phone go sign that contract before they change their mind you know so in the blink of a I went back to you know this is literally I'm sweating I'm drinks I just walk off the court and they have a table in the back and I sit down with Chris Wallace, Rick Pitino and I sign a two-year deal. You know, and, you know, it changed my life forever. But

they got to see me play and that's the whole point, you know, the summer leagues, these you know, there's no such thing as wasted time. There's no such thing as garbage time. You know, that's why I tell these young time. There's no such thing as garbage time. You know, that's why I tell these young guys when they come in the league, no matter how many minutes you play, there's somebody out. There's 29 other teams.

You just never know who's watching you. And so, man, it was just one of those magical moments of being a Boston Celtics, you know, the player to walk in that arena, walk in the practice facility, see all, you know, Bob Cousy, John Helvichick, you know, the player to walk in that arena, walk in the practice facility, see all, you know, Bob Cousy, John Helvichick, you know, Red Arbok, you know, it's just hard to put into words, you know. I can't imagine, you know, I can't imagine to feel like the dream is derailed and then all of a sudden it's like, I'm, this is real. And, and it's And it's interesting, too, because it wasn't like, all right, I'm signed and I'm never going to play. They were playing you.

I wanted to ask you about this because I think this will lead into some coaching questions that I have for you a little bit later on. That first season was the full Rick Pitino season. Your second season was in Rick, which basically was like, it's not working out. I'm out of here. And then it felt like the team responded just because it wasn't Rick Pitino there anymore. And it was Jim O'Brien and they had like a 500 run to close the season.

I'm not expecting you to, to criticize Rick Pitino here when he was the guy that kind of brought you into the NBA world of it. But how, how much have you thought back to 20 years ago, seeing not based on X's and O's because no one would argue against Rick Pitino, the X and O guy. All right. People look like now the guy flat out, he can coach, but it was just an attitude change. Like how, how much have you kept that lesson with you seeing how players responded just to a different messenger? Well, I'll say one, Rick Pitino's a phenomenal coach. Like I owe him a dad of gratitude. Like I love this guy. He took a chance on me when no one else

would ever take a chance on me. And so I'm grateful for him. It's a touchy subject. It's professional sports. It's a lot of variables. When I started coaching, I started

to understand there's a lot of things that go on that you have no idea as a player. You know, there's conversations and dialogue that's happening that you have no clue what goes into a lot of decision-making. So, you know, I started to appreciate all the coaches that I've been under, you know, when I started coaching. I really appreciated Rick Pitino for him seeing a four-side one to give me a guy like me a chance.

And then all the things that you had to juggle. You know, we had a really good roster. You know, we had different personalities. You know, you had Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker, and, you know, just to name a few, Kenny Anderson, you know, Walter McCarty, you know, those phenomenal guys. And, you know, you're trying to get everybody on the same page. Sometimes it works.

Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes, you know, a new voice is warranted. You just never know, you know. But I do know that every coach that I play for work for you know their their intentions are are in the right place you're trying to win you're trying to win games nobody goes out there trying to lose um Rick Pitino changed that culture he did the best that he could do and then sometimes a change is needed but um for you know, I'm a big fan of his. I thought we did as best as we could, and it just didn't work out.

And you just learn from those lessons. Was there ever a moment in like a huddle you could say, hey, Twan, I think we can get a better look next time? No. No, you know, that wasn't my role. No, that wasn't my role. Antoine was like... Listen, Antoine was a unique player back then. If he would have played today's game,

he would be an all-star every year. Oh, he's got to make more threes. He would have to make more threes. Sure, because that was the game. He kind of transitioned. He was one of those guys. I would say Dirk DeWinsky at his position being seven

feet and the way he transformed the game. And Antoine Walker was that point forward, shooting threes, creating off the dribble for his broth of flash. He would have fit in well in today's game. A lot of respect for those two guys especially Antoine

Walker so the coaching transition you know you ended up with Chicago a couple times Dallas you know Seattle there at the very end and right after Seattle 2008 right into coaching what was the transition like for you well my last year or two i was with the bulls and you know we had a lot of really good young core uh luau dang kirk heimerich um who have been gordon guys like this noah was getting there right yeah so we had really good and so they were playing the younger guys and i was a veteran and And of course, every vet thinks they still got it and I wanted to play, but just wasn't in the cards at the time. So, but I understood like, you just got to keep a great attitude and be a professional and

accept your role, even though it's painful at times. And so I started to work out with the younger guys, kind of just grabbing them after practice and kind of sharing some of my knowledge. And I really liked it. They were awesome guys. And, you know, Scott Scouse, you know, he saw me kind of working with the guys all the time on my own. And so after practice one day, he came up to me and said, you know, I really appreciate what you're doing

and how you're just keeping a great attitude and working with these guys. I really appreciate what you're doing and how you're just keeping a great attitude and working with these guys. He said, after your career is over, I got a job for you. And long story short, I got traded to Seattle and then I got traded to Milwaukee. He got let go of Chicago and took the Bucks job. And I went through the entire training camp and got released on the last day. And he called me and said, you know, it's a tough conversation, obviously. You know, I'm sorry, you know, we got to let you go.

But how about you, you know, join my staff? And he was true to his word, you know. And I went in, you know, literally I went all training camp with the guys. And the next day, I'm in the locker room with the coaches. And, you know, their bodies are a little different from professional athletes. You know, it was quite the change. So it was a little culture shock there. But it was awesome. You know, Scott Scalzo has always been great to me.

Gave me my first job, respected me as a player. Still value him today. And, you know, he's very, he's the reason why I got into coaching because, you know, he believed in me. So Bucks, Bulls, Magic, Thunder, now with the Raptors, those pregame workouts, and I'm not talking like shoot around,

I'm talking like some of those guys that go in. I used to watch Ray Allen and I think, how do you around. I'm talking like some of those guys that go in. I used to watch Ray Allen and I think, how could you put yourself through this and then go run around for two and a half hours? Like it was, like the sweat that he would work himself up into before games.

Some guys are different. You know, not everybody can do that kind of stuff. Who was the guy that you would work with who you'd almost be like, oh man, like I got to go out there. Because you, it's not like you play one-on-one, but you're almost just this crash test dummy as the assistant where you have to sit there and deal with all their moves and some of the players take it so seriously

so who was the guy that when he would do that with you you were like oh man like i don't want to deal with this i don't know if it would be i don't know if it's westbrook i i don't know who would it be well first of all it's it's ironic that you brought up Ray Allen because I talk about him with my kids all the time. I've never seen anything like it. Yes. And I used to get there around 3.30 because I knew he would, you know, be working out before everyone got there. And I would just be amazed, man, that guy would be full-paced. So I tell my kids, hey, Ray Allen used to do this. I used to get there

early and I watched Kobe Bryant and all the fundamental stuff that he would do before he even shot a ball. Those two guys were... Look, I had access to the Celtics facility. I didn't Lakers, so I'm sure the Kobe stuff was... Watching Ray Allen's workout,

I would tell everyone, don't do that because you're going to be gassed in the second half. Well, that's why he's a hall of famer, man. The guy was a unbelievable pro, uh, game pace all the time. You know, he, he's the best, but you know, to answer your question, no, I had a couple of guys, you know, what I would say, uh, two guys come to mind. One was Royale Ivy because I had just finished playing with the Bulls and then I got on with the Bucs.

And he was one of those guys that we traded for. He wasn't playing, so he was a little disgruntled. So we used to play one-on-one all the time and he took all his frustrations out on me. So, you know, I could never beat him. You know, I always get – we play to seven, we'll get to six. I would get to six, and he would come back and win. And then he would let me know for the rest of the day

how he toyed with my emotions and destroyed me at the end. So that was fun. It kept me in shape, though. And then – but I think the most rewarding one was Jimmy Butler. You know, he was another one of those guys that wasn't playing. And, you know, you're not just managing them on the court. You manage their off the court and their emotions. And, you know, he was always had unbelievable self-belief.

You know, the one thing I admired with him, and we were with Tom Thibodeau. So, you know, Tom didn't play rookies. you know, he just didn't believe I was just waiting in the philosophy. And so Jimmy's like, man, why am I playing? Like every day going in there, trying to calm him down. Like, Jimmy, your time is going to come. And I'll tell you a quick story. You know, you know, I'm, I'm the, the confuser of the family. You know, I'm that type of coach that, you know, I'm talking about our morals.

I'm talking about our values. I'm talking about, you know, doing the right thing all the time. And sometimes the players get tired of it, but, you know, they learn how to appreciate it, you know. So we're with the Bulls, and I'm telling Jimmy Butler every day, hey, man, just stay ready. You know, Tom's going to call your number, and you've got to be ready. So Mike Dunleavy, I believe, goes out.

I think it was either Mike Dunleavy. It was one of our fours, right? They go down with an injury. So I go to Jimmy. I say, Jimmy, you're playing tonight, man. You've got an injury. Tom's going to play you. You've got to be ready. So we get tonight, man. You got an injury. I know Tom's going to play you. You got to be ready.

So we get in the game. First quarter go by. Second quarter go by. And I'm like, man, if he don't put Jimmy in, it's going to be hell for me. Third quarter go by. Fourth quarter, this kid doesn't play a minute. So after the game, the next day in practice, Jimmy's pissed. You know, he's giving me a choice, a few words.

And I'm like, listen, man, I know it sucks, but you just got to just stay with it. Stay ready. True story. A couple of days later, Lewald Dane goes down. So that's the second guy in his position that goes down, right? And I go back to Jimmy, Jimmy, you're playing, man. You got to be ready. First quarter,

second quarter, third quarter, no Jimmy Butler. After the game, obviously, he's all right. I had to spend extra time calming him down. Then another guy goes down and he plays the next game.

We are playing the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James. So it's just how it works. And Jimmy, coach played him. Jimmy was phenomenal. He did his best job that you can do on containing LeBron James. And from that moment on, the funniest thing is that he went from not playing. And you know how Tom Tibbitt was. Now he doesn't even come out the game. He's playing 48 minutes a game. And then in one timeout, he comes and he's like,

he's like, hey, coach, tell Tom to take me out. I was like, no. I'm like, this is what you asked for. This is what you got. You know, we laugh about that all the time. But Jimmy was a constant pro, man. He worked his butt off. He stayed ready. He was prepared. And then, you know, look at him now.

He's just an amazing example of perseverance and hard work. I got a couple more things, but I love the stories. You got a good Westbrook story for us? Man, Westbrook, just a unique, phenomenal, phenomenal player, man. You just don't really appreciate what he does. You know, people say, oh, he just got a triple-double. Man, try getting a triple-double in the NBA

and then try getting it consecutively. You know, it's not easy to do. It really isn't. Some of you all, you know, he gets the rebounds or they let him get the rebound. I don't care if they let you get the rebound. That's hard to do to get a triple-double. How about the 10 assists and scoring on top of that

and running at, you know, the game and managing the game at the point guard spot? You know, he's a generational player. We haven't seen anything like him. And for his stamina, you know, we were I remember the game at Denver, you know, like 55.

Like, I can't remember the numbers, but they were outrageous. He had like 55, hit the game-winning shot, probably 20-something rebounds, 20-something assists. I mean, you look at it, and it just doesn't look real, you know. You look at his stat sheet, and it would take me like 15 games to get some of his numbers that he would get in one game, you know.

So I had this ultimate appreciation for him. And, you know, I was with him. I was fortunate to be on the coaching staff when he got the MVP. You know, I've been really fortunate as a player and a coach. You know, with the Bulls, I was on the staff when Derrick Rose got MVP, youngest MVP, and then to see Westbrook do it and just be around greatness, man. Like, it's just unreal.

It's surreal. It's hard to put into content. But the way these guys go about their job and their preparation and how they approach the game is just unmatched. You know, it's just unmatched. So a lot of gratitude just to be in the same locker room

with Westbrook and seeing him go about his business every day like it's nothing. I tried with Nick. I tried to give me the thing that we don't get. So I'm going to ask you to do it. Sure. Because as I've said numerous times, there's a real reverence with the way people talk about Nick Nurse as a head coach like this guy some of the stuff that they're doing give me an example of

maybe like one of the first times you experienced like oh wow like this is what nurse wants to do like this is how he wants us to prep this is what like give me a really advanced like don't worry about losing us here and not understanding but try to explain to me why it is so special because i don't know that he wanted he's just too nice i don't know that he wanted to compliment himself enough coach is a coach's coach man he's he's one of those guys like he he's he's really a genius you know and i've seen people compare him to ballot heard people compare him to belichick and i i can disagree you have to be around him every day to really appreciate his level of competence

and the way he approaches the game. Like, one day I was, you know, I wanted to get to know Nurse a little bit, so I got online and I started Googling his path. I'm like, man, this guy's been a head coach for 30 years. He's coached at almost every level, college, overseas. Player coach in England. Player coach, you know, in England.

Won everywhere he's gone. Coaching the G League, won there. You know, and he's just a winner. So, you know, I always tell people this story. Like, we're playing Golden State. You know, we get game one, right? We go to game two. And, you know, we find ourselves in the hole.

We're down 20. Clay is out. But Curry is cooking, you know. And these guys are scary. I'll just be honest with you. You know, Clay Thompson on a break, open three. You might as well just walk back to the other end because it's just money, right? And so, you know, we never got rattled.

We always had the belief that we could beat those guys. But game two, you know, we're down 20. Curry's in. He's cooking. You know, he got it going. So we're in the huddle. And he said, okay, guys, listen up. We're going boxing one on Curry, all right?

And I'm like, boxing one? I'm kind of like the head of the defense. That's my job. But everything runs through Nurse. He's the mastermind behind everything. But I'm like, man, we never talk about

boxing one. The whole year, never heard of boxing one. And this just shows how great he is. He saw Curry was out there by himself. He has it rolling. We've got to do something because what we're doing is not working. So he reaches in his bag. 30 years of being a head coach, he said, hey, Box One.

And we never, prior to that, we never even talked about Box One, never ran Box One during the season, not even mentioning it to the players, never practiced it. So we're in the NBA Finals game-to-game. He pulls up. Man, we go to Box One. He just tells the guys, you guys here, you here, you here. And then, you know, Fred, you stick with him.

You don't let him touch the ball. Wherever he goes, you shadow him. And then, you know, Fred, you stick with him. You don't let him touch the ball. Wherever he goes, you shadow him. Just make it hard for him. And we end up, you know, getting back in the game. We had a chance at the end of the game to tie it or go up one, being down 20 in the fourth quarter. But he's that type of coach, man. He makes adjustments on the fly, has a lot of experience. I've learned so much, you know, from being under him. It just is a blessing.

You know, he's that coach. You know, he's a coach's coach for real. Okay, last thought. You've been coaching now since 08. I know you want your chance. Where are you at now? What do you think the timeline for you becoming a head coach in the league? You know, obviously I feel I'm ready. I know I'm ready, but I also appreciate the journey. Just

like when I was in the CBA, you know, that made me, you know, of course what I would like to have been drafted and go right into the NBA. But those three years really put me to play in nine years, not just to make the NBA, but to stick around, you know, and I outlasted a lot of players that were quote unquote better and, and more gifted than I was, but it's all in the process, you know, obviously, you know, like a lot of head coaches, that's my goal. And I wish it happened yesterday, but when you're under great coaches and teaching and every year is the opportunity to get better. like I wouldn't trade it for the world. I've been under, you know, Tom Thibodeau, Billy Donovan. You know, this guy's another remarkable coach.

Scott Scowls and obviously Nick Nurse. that's the guys I've played under, Rick Rettino, Don Nelson, Jeff Van Gundy, Avery Johnson, Scott Scowl, PJ Carlissimo. So I've been very blessed, man, to really just be a student of the game. There's different paths to being a head coach. Some guys overseas, like Coach Nurse in college. Some guys go to G League and get that head coach experience. But for me, it's been more like an apprenticeship, you know, just being under a master, you know, and then when you're ready,

you know, your time will come. But I've been fortunate. I wasn't traded for the world. I know sometimes these things take longer than we expect. We just be patient and continue to learn and grow. And then when I get my opportunity, I feel confident I'll knock it out the park. When you get it, I can't wait to get some gear

and root for whatever team it is. I'm serious. Because I know when I met you at the Combine and that first time I was like, hey man, I just want to let you know you're one of my all-time favorites. And you looked at me like, what the fuck? Who's this guy? But this is cool. This is really cool. first time I was like, Hey man, I just want to let you know you're one of my all time favorites. And you looked at me like, what the fuck?

Who's this guy? Uh, but this is cool. This is really cool. And I'm glad, uh, the Raptors and everybody will put this together so we can ever help. Let us know. All right.

I appreciate you, man. I appreciate you, you know, from day one, all the support. You've been great, man.

And, and, and not the feelings mutual. I really have a lot of respect for you. Awesome. Thanks, man. Enjoy the off season. Thank you., man. Enjoy the offseason.

Thank you. All right. Take care, brother. You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required.

Lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. You know, rarely do I want to keep these themes going, but we have a couple and people just keep emailing Kyle about this, needing follow-ups to the cushion. And then we have a follow-up on the whiskey thief. Although there is a little house cleaning that we need to do on the 170 deal. After I addressed the 170 controversy, I did forget this. I have a pretty good memory, but I guess I did forget that when we referenced 170 in a more derogatory way, that's when Kyle and I were talking about Kyle's size, Kyle. So as you saw in the emails, people were like, no, no, no, no. It wasn't that you guys dump on 170 when somebody says they weigh 170. It's that when you said to Kyle, like, imagine if you weighed

170 and you just sat at the side and coded and you would never leave the house. So yeah, I mean, it's a little, I'm being a little sarcastic there just knowing that Kyle's a big guy. So we forgot that part. So again, respect to the 170 people. Had somebody else chime in and say, like, don't you realize that a lot of the best fighters are at 170? I was like, hey, look, I didn't say that we should round up everybody that weighs 170 and put them on like a deserted island. All right. But I did forget that part of it, Kyle. So that's on me.

I don't know how we do i agree when i went along with that though i was thinking back to like what i would consider like fighting weight like man you know what when i was like the top of my game i was like at least like 205 or like 210 and like so i thought like wow minus 35 to 40 pounds that doesn't sound right to me um we know that's all we We were being a little like we were being mean in a funny way about it. But again, you know, I was just shocked when somebody thought about me at 170. That's all.

Listen to your voice. Gravelly, at least 215, 250. All right. Whiskey Thief Update. And this went exactly how I thought it would. Took me a few days to gather my thoughts. So here we go. I feel like this will be the last installment. It's not even a life advice. I just

think people want updates on these two stories because the cushion guy chimed in again, but we don't have a finality on that one yet. All right. But I just, this is what we're going to do a little soap opera stuff here on the podcast. First things first, uh, never guessed the cows 250. Okay, great. On to what happened. As my last email said, the whiskey thief threw a party this past Wednesday at his house. It was supposed to be a housewarming party, even though he's lived there for a few years. Red flag. You know what? I don't even know what number red flag we're on here, but if we're doing it for the purpose of this, we'll say it's red flag number one for this timeline. My fiance and I took your advice and decided to have some fun with this. We want to know if this guy just had an off night or if he likes to party a little too much.

We did not want to be the first ones there, so we plan on showing up about an hour after the scheduled start time. Facebook invites said the party would be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. It also requested that guests bring their own condiments and sides for the burgers and hot dogs he was providing. He asked someone to grab buns as well. I'm all about carrying my weight when it comes to a barbecue because it can get a little pricey if one person tries to cover it all. So we bring two sides, one bottle of each of the basic condiments, ketchup, mustard, mayo, etc. And our own beer, no whiskey though. We arrive and there's a handful of people there already.

Everything seems to be going really well so far. The whiskey thief has a glass of whiskey in his hands already. Surprise, it also seems like it's not his first of the night. About an hour later, I happen to see the whiskey thief grab a bottle of whiskey to refill himself. I decide to ask if I could have a glass as well. His response is what got me. I'll give you a glass, but you'll have to supply the whiskey. All right. I don't even know how many red flags we've counted here that people need to bring their own condiments to somebody else grabs buns. It's a third, um, housewarming party three years after he's lived there. Facebook invite. All right. So the guy pours his own whiskey. He gives you a glass and says,

you're going to have to supply your own whiskey. This man was not willing to share his whiskey. I told him that I only brought beer, no liquor. That didn't seem to bother him. So I walked away unsure of what just happened. He wasn't really rude about it. Just said no and continued on. So I returned to the party. I definitely wasn't going to go searching for a stash, but I wonder what he would have done if I did. You should have. You definitely should have at that point, but you should have done it like three other guys. You just start drinking his whiskey. My guess would be he doesn't remember doing it to you. So he doesn't even realize he may not remember saying that to you. This is where things get a little interesting. Right at 9 PM, the music's turned off and the whiskey thief announced the party was ending. I think almost everyone was still there at that point. Everyone. It was almost the same feeling as a bar turning up on their lights at closing time. Everyone kind of looked around and began gathering their things. The whiskey thief stood by the door, holding it open while everyone was packing up. He didn't say much, but I felt pressure to leave immediately. There were about 10 people that were all leaving

at the same time. As soon as the last person exited the house, the door was closed and the exterior lights turned off. The group of us were kind of stunned at how quickly he kicked people out. I guess in all fairness, the party invite did say six to nine. God, this emailer is so nice. Some of us decided to go downtown and grab another drink or two before we called it a night.

We went to one of our regular places and sat down. Not 10 minutes later, guess who shows up? The whiskey thief. This man walks in, greets us, and acts almost like we didn't just

have a party at his house. He asked us how our night had been so far, asked how long we were going to be out and more. The guy had definitely showered and changed his clothes before coming out as well. My fiance and I just had one drink. We left. Things are going fine, but it was just an overall weird experience. I'm not sure we learned anything new about this. You sure you didn't learn anything new about this guy? He seems he might just be a unique individual who enjoys whiskey a ton enough to not share with others good thing there's plenty of whiskey in this world the good things there's a good thing people like you exist um look

there's no nice way of saying this there's a mean way of saying it the guy has a serious drinking problem all right i'm you know problem solved there's no real there's no real breaking this down and honestly it's kind of sad that he could have his own party apparently black out at nine o'clock and then go out and be like hey everyone how's your night like Like, that's pretty scary. But that's your answer. So there you go. That's why he kicked everybody out at nine and has no, there's like no, you know. You should text him in the morning and ask him if he wants to go for a run.

Anybody got anything to add on this one? How many bottles of ketchup were at this party? I'd love to know. I mean, if everyone's supposed to bring their own condiments, it just it's the whole thing was strange. But the party, it just sounds like there's going to be like, it's almost like he did it to like fill his fridge or something like it's. Do you think that's what he's doing?

Or maybe to like to get like some extra beer to store in the basement? Because at nine, like people are like, well, this isn't going to end at nine. So everybody's pacing their beer out. And so there's maybe three or four more per person. And now he's got himself like two 12-packs of a variety pack there. I don't know. It's very strange. But I just felt like you said everybody had to bring their own condiments.

Nobody's bringing their ketchup packets from their kitchen drawer. They went out and got a big bottle of ketchup, right? There's got to be like fucking seven bottles at this guy's house strange yeah i mean if you're hung over all the time and you know you have you have this uh it's a problem you're probably not great on grocery shopping you know so maybe he was like i'm getting low on mayo and let's let's have a party i just can't believe that our emailer hasn't gotten together with other people like i would go to another party that he had and none of you bring anything and then just drink all of his booze yeah but i feel like he's uh have we figured out how they met like are they high school friends college friends work friends i forget what because because what are the redeeming qualities of this guy like why are they even hanging out anymore he has none other than just being kind of interesting if you're like a good

people watcher and you want to see how this guy interacts at a party which is kind of funny but i think that would get old after a while but there's no i think it's very old this guy yeah no i don't i don't think there's any reason to um we've never had more emails than the the cushion deal and the guy emailed in again behind it. Everyone, I would say 90% of the emails have been, um, his wife did it.

His wife did it. His wife did it. If you read his followup, he's like, it is not. He goes, my wife is a clean freak. He goes,

I splattered like a little, like a centimeter of, of tomato sauce on my shirt once while we were eating dinner. And she made me take my shirt off and immediately like addressed it with a stain stopper and then threw it in. He was like, can I just finish dinner first? And she's like, no, the stain is going to set. So he's like, for everybody that thinks that my wife did it, she didn't. Um, but they haven't had the party yet. So I'm not going to read all of the cushion emails. A lot of theories out there. We appreciate your input on it.

Interacting. Let's read this one because this one's awesome. It's cringy, but it's so good. All right. Five, nine, one 70 must look awesome. I used to consider myself a decent basketball player until I turned 24, 25 now and realized being a five, nine shooting guard who can't touch the rim probably isn't that decent. And I was definitely not built different. I recently moved into a small town for work where I know absolutely no one. As many people did during COVID, I picked up golf as my main hobby and I basically become a classic

golf addict who wakes up with a heart on at 6 a.m. to go shoot 95. All right. After my move, I go out to a local course for a round to play alone and get a feel for golfing out here fast forward to where i catch up to an older gentleman who's also playing alone so we say hi and decided to start playing together i never i whenever i played and be like hey do you want to play together like yeah i mean if the course is slow obviously if the course is not slow then you get a team up uh round goes okay but i could tell this guy was beyond eager to chat i was walking while he would drive his car at my walking speed just so he could chat it wasn't weird except for the fact that instead of driving the straight line the man wanted to

stay so close that he basically forced me to walk diagonally to keep enough of a distance so i wouldn't bump into his car oh round ends he to exchange numbers. So not wanting to be rude, I oblige. He calls me up the next day asking if I'm available to golf on Tuesday with him and his buddy. I tell him I have a tee time already, but he insists that I can switch it or that he can even call the club to switch my time for me. I tell him I'll call the club tomorrow and switch my time over to his and hit him back after. All right. So our guy emailing says, I'll call the club tomorrow, switch the time. I'll join him. Right. You just. So our guy emailing says, I'll call the club tomorrow, switch the time. I'll join him. Right. You just feel like, Hey, he's being pushy, trying to meet friends, whatever. I think we've all been there. Um, we get it next day comes. I kind of realized

I just want to golf alone. So I called to let him know. But as soon as I say hi on the phone, he tells me he's taking care of it and got my tee time changed, not really knowing what to say. And also not wanting to be a dick about one round of golf together. I just say, okay, sure. See you Tuesday. The man somehow checkmated me without me even knowing. Now it gets even funnier on the phone because after I say, see you Tuesday, fully expecting the call to end, he suddenly asked me, so how was your day? You would not believe the awkward silence that ensued because I almost let out an audible,

bro, what? I had known this guy for 24 hours and now I was talking about my day with someone I considered basically a half stranger. After my third time of trying to end the phone call, I finally succeeded feeling a little weirded out. So now here I am wondering if this is just a nice guy who likes making new friends or if I really should be weirded out. I don't want to be a judgmental asshole based on a few interactions, but the whole over the top eagerness thing just seems to be a bit odd. Am I being an asshole thinking this way? Is this me just being a jerk 25 year old? I can't tell if I'm the weird one thinking the whole thing is a bit odd.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. No, you're not. Well, I'm not going to use names here, but be nice to my friend blank. Uh, I, I'm totally with you on this one. How was your day? That's, that scares the shit out of me on your behalf. So, you know, I don't know where you moved. I don't think we have any, you know, there's always an element of, did you move to the Midwest? You know, are you in a lovely suburb near the lakes in Wisconsin or something? Other people would be motivated by like, well, let's figure out what this guy does. You know, maybe a little networking. Who knows?

You know, we always, maybe he has a boat, right? We always ask that question. But I'm with you and he's older. That's just a lot. That's just a lot. Now, some people are just that way and it works out and they're really friendly. But I think, I know I'm immediately freaked out on your behalf. And I don't think, I don't think you'll be wrong if you don't feel comfortable being like, you know, actually dude, like you can just hate me for the rest of your life. Um,

because this is weird and I don't want to be friends with you. So I, that's what I think you're going to have to accept that. All right. Yeah. This guy at the golf course who is super eager is going to think you're a jerk. Maybe tell other people you're a jerk, but you should feel fine and comfort in yourself because that's too much too soon. Kyle, I'd imagine, uh, you wouldn't, I don't know. I have some friends that would be like, Hey,

met a, met a new guys, 40 really friendly. I would not put you in that category. Listen, if this was a dive bar and I was doing my first time in LA thing and I was like showing up at four o'clock back when they, you would tell me to go home early on Friday.

So I didn't get more than 40 hours or whatever. And when I first moved here, like I would be all for that. I like, I like hanging out with old guys and dive bars and then just being able to leave that thing and never exchange any phone numbers or anything. But this guy, it feels like,

doesn't it feel like the, our emailer is like Steve Martin. And this guy's like John Candy and planes, trains and automobiles. And he's going to like somehow end up ruining his life and getting his membership revoked and just being really sorry about it. And then somehow you end up inviting him to Thanksgiving dinner because he's lonely or something. It just seems like this guy's on that. Oh, shit.

Well, what was it? The 80s? Yeah, I'm actually amazed you even had that reference. You liked that movie, huh? Yeah, I did. And you embarrassed me with my CUSAC thing. So I just wanted to reach back into the 80s and grab something else. That's good. No. So Rudy, you probably haven't seen Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, huh? I have not. No, unfortunately. Do you hate it just out of

principle? Just hate it? No, I mean, I've heard so many, you know, I've seen Airplane and I love Airplane and that was what's that was the 80s too, right? So I guess it's just like, you know, that was my 80s movie of choice. I just I know it's a great movie. I know people love it. I just haven't seen it. Do you know that? Right? Yeah. Do you know that Planes, you know, that was my 80s movie of choice. I just, I know it's a great movie. I know people love it. I just haven't seen it. John, do you know that? Right? Yeah.

Do you know that planes, trains and automobiles is not a sequel to airplane? I did know that I did surprisingly. Yes. Yeah. Great movie. Great movie. Good call too.

Because I mean, basically you just had a guy who, you know, wanted a friend. Um, what the hell was his name? Was it Lloyd? I'm going to have to look it up now.

We've mentioned this before on the podcast. That movie takes a turn where all of a sudden you feel kind of bad. Oh, Del Griffin. Neil Page. Originally, I wanted to name him Neil Pert, but that was taken. Okay.

I don't know. So, Rudy, you would not... You wouldn't have given the guy your phone number, correct? No. Zero chance. I don't like... What would you have said to him? What would you have said to a stranger

who was really friendly golf with you and said, hey, can I have your phone number? Not looking for any new friends right now. not sorry nothing you would have said that to him yeah i mean i don't know i guess it's different for this guy because he's alone in a new city or new wherever he's at um and what's weird though is he's like he's open to making friends like he he seems like he wants to make friends but this guy seems way too aggressive uh you know what's odd is it's almost really hard. Some people talk about the line between dating when it's a little bit creepy or something.

It's almost creepier with dudes trying to make friends with each other. When you're past college, when you're in your mid-20s, even your 30s, it's really hard to make guy friends. Because they're super judgy. It's weird. You have to kind of have some sort of mutual interest. And if this comes at you way too hard it's it's a put off i'm sorry i'm just gonna tell him hey sorry man we're just not gonna work out now you're so that's why i want to invent that app called gaia where it was just guys trying to meet guys but that brought something to the table you know where i guess raya is the dating app where i mean ben affleck was on it

matched and the girl didn't believe it was really Ben Affleck. Like there's some real heavy hitters on that. So if they made a guy one called Gaia and then it's like, all right, you know, played hockey in Sweden, 23 to 31.

I'm like, all right. You know, it wasn't good enough to be in the NHL, but he's probably got some cool stories, you know? I'm just trying to think. What would your friend dating profile sound like?

That would be amazing. Your dream guy friend? This is getting borderline awkward. I don't know that I'd want my guy buddy to be a great pick-up-hoops player. Yeah, iron sharpens iron, man sharpens man, but I feel

like what if he was better than me? So that would be difficult. Unless you just... You would not be cool with that at all. Yeah, if my new guy friend was just way better at pickup hoops than me, I mean, at this point, he probably would be. I would like to not be asked to lend money would be one of the first ones.

At this stage of my life, we had a friend who had to be confronted about never having cash. It's like, look, if we go to Chipotle, you're always like, hey, can you get me? You're 30. You've got to start walking around with some more cash on you all right also with ben mo that's not an excuse anymore i just i'm sorry like no you're right what would your dream for i think kyle standards would be lower but i mean that as a compliment for your dream guy friend? You're probably right. But, you know,

I'd love him to have a great place to hang out. That's really what I would love. It sounds like you just want to go to bars. You know, Mark Titus is actually a good, a dream friend because he's now a beach guy. So we can just go to the beach and he's always got the cooler loaded up. Like he takes it upon himself to like be the host at the public beach.

So he's like actually kind of a dream friend and he like kind of rolls with it like he gets his haircut at my shady barber shop now like he just kind of rolls with it so he's just he's actually a really good friend all right you already got one you're good to go yeah so you're big into like you're you're like a if you if you go on a first date with a guy kyle and you see a sick house you're in yeah is that what we're saying maybe second second floor porch you know smoking's not an issue or it is but he's like dude don't worry about it yeah, like it's an issue, but after a few butt heavies, it's like, nah, I get it, man.

You can go out. Yeah, just stand over in the corner. Try to get it to go around the corner, dude. Yeah. Just open a window over there. You don't care if you can cook or anything like that, right? You don't care about the,

I don't think you care about the material things, but then you just said it's the house. So a good hangout spot, but you're not hung up on money. Correct. Location correct location location location so if this person doesn't have like a great career you wouldn't rule that person out you just would be like you know i'm most of my friends don't have great careers mark titus is an anomaly right but you're a day-to-day guy you're not planning out for the future because i could tell with me there'll be some people that want to friend me up and then um i feel like it's it's like a planning of the seed for some some thoughts later on so rudy who would your your dream guy be uh i would need somebody who's

organized because none of my friends in my immediate friend group have any like planning sense which is why my wife is great because she does all that stuff for me but like when we want to hang out and do anything, none of us are good at that. It usually never ends up happening. So somebody who could plan, probably somebody who leans a little bit Euro, definitely a soccer guy. 170. Would be the ideal friend. He's single.

I can set you up with him. We have mutual friends. Oh, yeah. Then where we go? People helping people. All right. Let's stop this. But I like, I like the concept. All right. Lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. We have Rashid Wallace, uh, joining us later this week. I can't wait to talk to Rashid. This is going to be awesome. So please subscribe, spread the word. And, uh, as always Bill and I every Sunday night. Thank you.