The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Chris Paul Game 4 Theories, Plus Anthony Slater on the Finals and Warriors Trade Ideas

Episode Date: July 16, 2021

Who was more mad about Chris Paul’s Game 4: Chris Paul or Russillo? Ryen breaks down the idea that CP3 is uncomfortable in big moments and speculates on what version we'll see in Game 5 (1:00). Next, he chats with The Athletic’s Anthony Slater about Giannis’s ridiculous Finals, Chris Paul’s up-and-down playoffs and what the Warriors will do with James Wiseman and their two lottery picks (10:15). Then, Ryen discusses The Ringer’s excellent new narrative podcast, 'What If? The Len Bias Story,' with reporter and host Jordan Ritter Conn (33:25). Finally, he closes it out with some listener-submitted life advice questions (49:00).  Host: Ryen Russillo Guests: Anthony Slater and Jordan Ritter Conn Producers: Kyle Crichton and Steve Ceruti Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nobody knows what's going on, but we watch the Olympics. We just turn on our TVs and become obsessed with sports we haven't thought about in four years. This is why we made the Ringer Guide to the Summer Games. I'm your host, Roger Sherman. Each day during the Tokyo Olympics, I'll tell you about a different sport, athlete, or storyline. We'll be releasing new episodes every day starting July 19th. Follow along onify or wherever you get your podcasts so you know exactly how to watch the olympics

today on the podcast we're going to dig into what the hell happened to chris paul game four i have theories i don't think I have any answers. We'll also talk NBA Finals with Anthony Slater from The Athletic, who's covering it, and some Warriors draft stuff, and Jordan Ritter-Khan, who is part of, and the man behind, and the narration of the Len Bias What If Podcast, the Ringer Podcast Network, and we'll finish it off with life advice. It feels as though this podcast needs to open with a statement perhaps uh people checking on me after chris paul's game four i appreciate those the thoughts the well wishes the kind words

um but let's talk about this let's let's dig in to what we saw from one of my favorite guys having one of the worst games you're going to see somebody from somebody in the NBA finals. And it was that bad. He was terrible in that game. Simmons and I talked about it immediately after the game on the Simmons pod. So I imagine a lot of you listen to both, but for those that didn't, I did not want to make excuses for him,

which I know is what everybody was wondering. Cause if you don't like Chris Paul, you're like, all right, yep, he sucks. I told you. And we already know this.

I mean, it's the same with any of the stars, the quarterbacks, there's the group that likes in the group that doesn't. And then when we get our evidence, we sucks. I told you. And we already know this. I mean, it's the same with any of the stars, the quarterbacks. There's the group that likes and the group that doesn't. And then when we get our evidence, we're really excited about it. And right now for a guy that loves him, I didn't get much evidence from it in game four. So let's kind of examine everything that happened to try to come to some kind of conclusion. All right. Right from the jump, he was weird with the basketball. Now his end to end for anybody that's like something else is wrong with him. I don't know if it's the wrist or whatever. I'm not

going to go there yet because I just don't know. But as far as his legs and his movement and watching him in the game, he was crisp. There was energy there. He was moving really well. And for the minutes part of it, it's like, oh, it's starting to catch up to him. They've had three days off in between these games. I just think that one of the worst arguments

I've ever heard is that Golden State blew the 3-1 lead because they went for 73 wins. If you listen to somebody that says that, if there's somebody that's on TV or somebody like me behind a microphone saying that, it's just, I don't, it's such a cop-out. It's the dumbest argument. Like, hey, game five's when Golden State actually got tired. And if they had gone for 68 wins with the same amount of travel and the same amount of minutes. They actually would have won the 16 finals. Like, that's just dumb. So to say then that Chris Paul, finally the minutes are catching up to him.

We saw it in game four. Okay, maybe. I'm not saying it's an impossibility, but it's a really poor excuse for a bad game. The turnovers. He had four games against Denver, five turnovers. So five turnovers in four games. Four games against Milwaukee, 17 turnovers. So five turnovers in four games. Four games against Milwaukee, 17 turnovers. Is it about the defense?

The adjustments in game three and four, Drew Holiday picking him up, giving him less time to set up the offense, the shot clock, that is part of it. I also think there's some points where the secondary defender is shading towards him a little bit that should open up other things. It didn't, so that part of it is real.

But some of it's just on him. The five turnovers in this game wasn't because of Drew Holiday. And I'm not dismissing Drew's defense. I just gave him credit. But I went through him this morning. First drive, first turnover. Drive right side, gets to the baseline, jumps up the air, turns around,

throws it in the air, picked off by Middleton. Terrible pass. His next pass was between Jay Crowder and Mikael Bridges. It was at the break. Those guys were separated. He just throws it out of bounds. Terrible pass. Then he has this awful Aiton sequence where later in the game, he drives baseline, tries to throw the needle through all this traffic, throws it behind Aiton, then drives right side. Aiton's trailing behind him, throws it way behind Aiton again, and that led to a breakout. And then he had the crossover against Giannis, which also led to another breakout.

So these weren't just bad turnovers that were him having a hard time with the basketball or miscalculating the passing angle or just doing something stupid. The fifth turnover ended up to a break where the game was basically over. I noticed on a couple switches where he had Bobby Portis, somebody you figure he was able to get somebody, he was, his eyes would light up Bobby Portis size when he got him in the switch.

And he had two out of three possessions where he was just fumbling the basketball. As soon as he went to go ahead and make his move. I don't know what that is. If you play in 135 playoff games for your career, which is what Paul is at now. And by the way, he's 13th all time in player efficiency in NBA history in the playoffs, which actually has been trending down the last four years. There was a stretch there. I think he was top five, like his first seven playoff seasons in the NBA. But if you have those kinds of numbers, but have played that many games, there are going to be examples of you having really bad playoff games. I mean, that's all part of it. So that leads us to asking a really difficult question. There's going to be pain in my voice

as I ask it. Is the guy who I think is always comfortable and in control actually not comfortable and not in control now because it's at a stage he's never been at before? All right, because I've heard that. Let's examine it. Is Chris Paul so bad in game four because the stakes are this high that now it actually is the NBA Finals? It's like, look, we need this. We're up 2-1. It's kind of like, look, if Phoenix wins that, they're probably winning the NBA title.

Now it's still wide open. And that going into the game, because from the jump he was bad. He made like four shots the whole game. He had one really close at the rim, shook people. Everybody kind of went to help off of him, and he's right at the rim a couple feet away, and he left it short. And that's the kind of stuff where it's like, ooh, are you really thinking about it? Like one of those big free throws where you're going, eh, it's a little tight. It's getting a little tight around here.

If you ever had to take one of those free throws, you know the feeling. Obviously, most of us not not in the NBA finals, but asking if the guy who I think is always comfortable and cares about winning is now uncomfortable, I don't know what to do with that because I know that's a theory. Let's examine it. Against the Lakers, he actually didn't

score in double figures for five of the six games. Only one game he had double figures, but we're also talking about him coming off the shoulder. So like, all right, fine. Denver, he was a maestro. Everything was literally perfect. And it was also a horrible matchup

because Denver with Jokic is a problem defensively against somebody like Chris Paul. And also Jokic defensively is as great as he is, you know, something long-term with Denver that you probably have to worry about a little bit. That's a different topic for a different off-season podcast. So was game four about the moment being too big for him? Well, what was game six against the Clippers when he had 41 points and no turnovers?

That's kind of a big game, right? I mean, yes, he's been in the Western Conference Finals before, but he was hurt with Houston the only other time. So this was his time and his team, especially the revenge factor against the Clippers. There's a lot going on there emotionally. And he looked like the guy that was built for the moment. That was two weeks ago. All right, but no, Ryan, it's the NBA Finals.

Okay, it's the NBA Finals. 10 days ago, he had 32 points in game one. The first time he's ever played in the NBA Finals. Again, looking like no one's ever been more built for them all. So I'm at a loss. All right. I'm at a loss. And yes, when it's the player that you like and you stick your neck out for and you do these breakout videos and you call him your son, which was supposed to be a joke. And then he has that kind of game for you. Like, wait, am I completely wrong about this guy? I don't like that. I don't even like doing that. But here's the lesson in all of this.

There's two paths, okay? There are two paths. And if Chris Paul's the guy that I think he is, he comes back, has a great game five, and maybe they win this thing in seven. Because the weird thing too is I started seeing the Booker memes where Booker's squinting, and it was titled when you realize it wasn't Harden's fault all along. You're like, you're going to use Booker for one of those? The game three Booker? Because game four for Booker kind of erased game three for Booker.

But Booker, I don't think, has the standing, although more people put him closer to the top 10 list as a player than they would Chris Paul at this stage of their careers. Because Paul has been around this long, the point guard, Hall of Fame, and all this different stuff, I think there's an expectation of Paul that I think is actually even greater than Booker. But what we learned in the Booker example from three to four

is what we've also learned before, because there are two paths. The defining moment, because if Chris Paul and the Suns blow this and Milwaukee wins an NBA title which we certainly deserve because of the adjustments and some of the stuff they've done and how amazing Giannis has been and Middleton's closing in a couple of these games. Let's look at two things

here. Steph Curry's game seven in 2016. The two plays. The stupid around the back pass turnover and that he took a three against Kevin Love, which then turned into somehow Kevin Love ate him up defensively when really Steph was like, I'm just going to try

to get a three off here. Those have stuck to Steph. Even though he's one ring, so it's really not that big of a deal. Because that's what Chris Paul falling down against Giannis is going to be if Phoenix blows this. But do you remember the Ray Allen game? Do you remember what happened in that last minute with LeBron James? He had two terrible turnovers. He hit a three. I think he missed

two others. It was a bad last minute for LeBron James. And then Ray Allen hits a shot in the corner. They win in overtime. They win a title. You probably don't remember that, do you? Maybe some of you do, but for most of us, we don't. If the Suns win in overtime, they win a title. You probably don't remember that, do you? Maybe some of you do, but for most of us, we don't. If the Suns win the title, Game 4 will be that thing very few people ever remember. But the other path is if they don't win this, even if Chris Paul has a great Game 5 and Milwaukee wins the finals, that Game 4 is going to hang on Chris Paul. It's not like a chain, it's going to be a tattoo.

And I don't think he has any tats. I might be wrong about Chris Paul the player but I'm right about what that play is gonna mean Anthony Slater from the Athletic covering the NBA he's been in the Warriors beat for a while he's also on the the final side of this thing so he'll be going to game five as well big fans of his work here on the podcast so let's start with this Anthony who what was your pick and what are your thoughts now on how the series has played out I remember actually writing my preview in Phoenix because you had to get there two days early because there was all these testing rules um and as I'm writing it Giannis gets upgraded for game one from doubtful to questionable. And I mean, usually that trend means, you know, doubtful to questionable is like probable, essentially.

And I remember that was the big question because I'm sitting there watching, you know, the two regular season matchups. He was dominant in the regular season against Phoenix. 80 points in two games. You're sitting there going, you know, they don't trust

any of their wings to guard him. Every time he was against Jay Crowder or Mikel Bridges, right through them. And he was on Aiden. He was kind of killing Aiden. I think Aiden's had a really good playoffs defensively. I thought he was awesome against Jokic. Probably the main reason they sweeped him. But he's not comfortable more out on the perimeter

facing basically a wing that is his size coming downhill at him. And Giannis was just kind of going by him. But coming into the series, I'm like, will Giannis have that burst? Will he have that lift? And in Game 1, he didn't really. He seemed a little ginger on that knee, a little bit more hesitant. He was still okay. You left Game 1 going, he looked good,

considering we saw his knee bend back like he was a running back, essentially, in Game 1. And then ever since then, what we saw his knee bend back like he was a running back, essentially, in Game 1. And then ever since then, what we saw in the regular season and what he has been, I pick Suns in 6. But I think if you told me this was the Giannis you were getting from Game 2 through Game 7, I might have gone Bucs in 7. Yeah, the Giannis thing, I think, is this example

of something that I always think about like sometimes like I have this bigger philosophy thing where we completely underestimate how special these guys are but then I think sometimes we overestimate the impact of injuries of certain players where if you're Giannis and you're as strong as he is and you're as young as he is and as bad as that hyperextension looks that then when somebody will like look what he's doing in game three or four and be like and this guy's still hurt and you're like well maybe he's just not hurt maybe he's just young and he recovered and it looked bad and you know the amount of guys that play like it's even like the brady news this morning going oh brady played with an mcl and you're like if you actually ask athletes about the mcl thing

and you go there's actually a way you can get through things maybe not a basketball player but a stationary quarterback. So I think sometimes we underestimate the talent gap of how special they are, but we completely get bogged down in the injuries and not really understand how guys can get through this. Because at this point now, I don't even think about the hyperextension with Giannis at all. You can't block eight and shot like that

and be 75%. Because the thing about that block, and granted, the LeBron stuff, I'm surprised LeBron's camp hasn't issued a statement on the importance of their block. The magnitude, LeBron's block was more important. Giannis' block was more spectacular because his back was to the play, and Booker thought he had free money as soon as he let that thing go in the air and for him to get that block on Aiton I think physically we probably

should just stop asking the questions about Giannis because I think at his age he's probably just recovered that well yeah you're not thinking about the hyperextension he doesn't seem like he's thinking about it which is the main thing but the block I mean it was like the ultimate version you know the cat and mouse game that you know I, I covered Draymond Green. He plays it so well. It's like, you know, you don't want to go too far away from the center, but you want to be a threat to the guy coming downhill. That was like

the greatest version of that I've ever seen where, you know, he drew the lob. It was a good lob. It was one of the best lob finishers in the league and he still gets back and blocks it. And yeah, I mean, but you also just never know because I think the Trey Young ankle tweak on a referee which honestly didn't look that bad at the time i think that completely changes obviously the east finals and when trey young does play i think that series is decided because he doesn't have any bursts or lift and that's my mind going

into the series of thinking like that even if he plays this injury might completely change how he plays it hasn't. It's athlete to athlete. I mean, you mentioned the Brady thing. That's a good example. Didn't Phillip Rivers one year play on an ACL tear in the playoffs with a big ankle or knee brace? And he played fine because how he plays too, right?

I mean, he is stationary. So it's player to player. But like you said, I mean, we're definitely to the point where we don't even need to discuss, how's he looking on that knee? No, he is Giannis' really full throttle right now. Better than I think I even saw him two weeks ago against the Nets. This is the best version of him I think I've ever seen.

And that's Phoenix's problem. Because I think other than that, Phoenix has the advantages in this series. But they don't really have much ability to contain him. No, and I think that Nets series is a good example too because you're watching them offensively. You get through that. They weren't going to beat Brooklyn if Brooklyn had just one of the other guys, I don't think.

And what we all worry about with Milwaukee is how stale the offense can look at times where it's like, hey, Giannis, just go ahead and bail us out. is how stale the offense can look at times where it's like, hey, Giannis, just go ahead and bail us out. And that's really what they were doing in the third quarter of Game 3, but Giannis also hit his free throws. So that's part of it. You're like, oh, wait.

Wait a minute, Game 2 was, I think, the third quarter where I actually felt like I felt better about Giannis even in a loss because I was like, look what he did in this third quarter. So there's parts of Milwaukee's offense I feel a little bit better about Giannis even in a loss because I was like, look what he did in this third quarter. So there's parts of Milwaukee's offense I feel a little bit better about, but I can't help but get past the idea that it still feels like Phoenix has an easier go of it offensively. And when you give up the 34 extra possessions on the differential of turnovers, where now they're going to turn the ball over like crazy, which I want to get to with Chris Paul, obviously the big part of this interview. But then the offensive rebounds, where I did think the size options that Milwaukee had was going to be a problem for Phoenix times in the series.

I didn't know that it would be enough for me to go ahead and pick Milwaukee. But the plus 34 in scoring opportunities and that it's still a close game because Milwaukee didn't shoot it well, Phoenix actually did overall. I guess I'm just feeling like Phoenix back home and that that can't repeat itself. Again, I could be wrong here, but I even felt like in game four, I still liked

things Phoenix was doing better offensively up until they were running kind of that two-man game with Middleton and Giannis, which seems to be a real problem for Phoenix and how they close the game. Yeah, you know, Devin Booker's game on deep twos, tough twos, is maybe the unsustainable part of Phoenix, or at least something you can't count to just be repeated in game five because those were really difficult shots. A game after, he goes 3-14. That's kind of when Phoenix's Achilles heel in these playoffs is there are nights where him and Paul just aren't as good from twos,

and they shoot so many twos. So, you know, it's kind of flip side. I mean, Milwaukee, you look in the series, Milwaukee's minus 25 with Brooke Lopez on the floor. I think that, you know, you mentioned they have found something. I think they found something with smaller Giannis, the five lineups.

But in general, you're right. 17 offensive rebounds, 17 Phoenix turnovers, only five Milwaukee turnovers. Those are kind of unsustainable numbers that lead to so many more possessions for Milwaukee that I don't think will necessarily repeat. I still like Phoenix going into five, and part of that, I mean, as I'm sure, like you said, we'll get to,

is I think a Chris Paul bounce back in some form is probably coming well it can't be any worse and as I spent in the open going through the turnovers and how hesitant he was and then I was trying to figure out like he was bobbling the basketball he had a couple portis isolations on the other side I'm like what the hell is going on with him and then you know after Simmons and I did the game for recap I don't want to sit here and make it sound like I'm making excuses for him because it's like oh he's hurt he hurt. He's hurt. He's hurt. He grabbed his wrist. Oh, he's hurt because I, you know, I don't, I, I, the wrist thing goes back to the Clippers series

and then he didn't look hurt in game six. So I don't want to use that as an excuse. What did you see in game four from somebody at the very least, even if he's not making shots, you trust him. Um, I don't know if you think it's the Milwaukee defensive pressure, which they've certainly picked up going into game three and four, but there's times where he's even getting switches against lesser opponents. And now he's in on this really an unprecedented run of turnovers. Just somebody who always takes care of the basketball. It's just, it's been such an odd playoffs for him for, for a guy you consider pretty steady, he's either terrible or awesome.

The Lakers series, he was unplayable at times because of this odd stinger he got in his neck right away in Game 1 that you thought was going to end Phoenix's season. The Davis injury allows him to survive, but really that entire series, he's not

good. Booker drags him to the finish line, 47. Then, again, in the Nuggets series, might have been the greatest mid-range series I've ever seen. And I covered Kevin Durant. But what he did in that series against Jokic's drop coverage, including in the Game 4 closeout, he went 8 of 8 in the third quarter on mid-range. At one point, hit 10 straight mid-range jumpers.

And it was like, exiting that series going, shoulders fine. Chris Paul's in a great situation right now heading into the Clippers series. Then he gets coronavirus at the absolute wrong time in his career. Comes back from that, goes 19-60 in those first three games. And then I don't know when exactly he suffered this wrist injury that he's mentioned in the Clippers series,

but it did happen in the Clippers series. It might have been on the play that, remember when Beverly kind of undercut him? You know, they were both kind of doing their own, like, you know, odd stuff. And he fell really hard. Anyway, he says he gets the MRI between five and six. But then in game six, 41 points, zero turnovers. I mean, maybe you might say the signature performance of his career. I don't know.

So, I mean, clearly the risk doesn't stop him from having these type of nights. And then he goes to game one. He was like, you know, not that we take straw pulls on like finals MVP after game one, but he was the best player in game one against switches, against all that. So you're feeling pretty good about him in this matchup. I mean, going into game two, your,

your thought is how does Milwaukee adjust to what they're doing with Chris Paul? They did, you know, Drew holidays, pressuring more. He's going over screens. He's pestering him a bit more.

Milwaukee's longer. I think than any of these other teams in length can bother, you know, a small guard like Chris Paul. So maybe that's some of it, but I also think it's just weirdly right now, I'm going to the arena tonight just not knowing what Chris Paul

is going to show up. I think in game four, it wasn't like Milwaukee was swarming him so much. He just played really poorly. And that's happened in these playoffs. But then the next game, he'll come out and hit nine straight jumpers and he's the best player on the floor. Yeah, the pressure is definitely different. The effort has been better for Milwaukee.

And I love Van Gundy's line that like adjustment is adjustment. Sometimes the adjustment is just effort and attitude. And I think that happens when you're down 2-0 and it is evenly matched. Like if Milwaukee had won the NBA finals, I was never going to sit here and be like, I can't believe that happened because the Lopez minutes, it's pretty clear as we saw at the end of game one. And we saw sometimes in Atlanta, other than when Trey went out and Giannis was out, and then it was like by desperation, they needed him because both of these teams are very short in their rotation and even options. Lopez is not somebody you're going to want.

I can't imagine Lopez closing any of these games the rest of the way. You know, if this goes seven, I'd be surprised to see him out there closing. Maybe there's a weird vibe in a game where it actually turns out that way and he's hitting shots and he's giving them spacing. But it isn't just about, like, give Milwaukee credit for adjusting the defensive pressure to him because Drew is making it tough for him to start the offense earlier the way we saw in the series. But, I mean, Paul was just so bad that I almost feel like saying,

oh, well, they're defending him so much tougher. That's not putting enough emphasis on how terrible he was because the turnovers were all bad. They're just bad. There wasn't, oh, hey, that was on somebody else's. That was somebody else there. I guess the weird thing is when I saw him deferring to Cameron Payne in big possessions late,

that's when I'm at home going, what the fuck is going on like that's when i'm at home go i can't believe i'm seeing this because that's that actually is more disappointing than a forced turnover that's that's been the weird part about his playoffs there have been several moments in these playoffs where i've gone just sitting there thinking like they'd be better with cameron payne on the floor right now which which let's not go that far. Well, I mean like the Lakers are you serious? Well, look like remember the Lakers series when he when the

yes. No, yeah, he couldn't move his right arm. Right. I mean, I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Monty Williams closed in that series twice with Cameron Payne because remember Cameron was kind of hot. He was giving them some juice and then even in in the Clippers series, you know, they win the first two games.

Really, it was because they won the first game because Cameron Payne goes 29 points, nine assists. The second game, they were kind of lucky to escape. Payne wasn't that good. But there was parts of game three and four, you're like, man, they're playing really slow. And Paul is getting to his jumper, getting switches with Morris.

And he's just missing everything. And you're like, I wonder if they just inject a little life with Payne. Can you get the game one Payne? Now, Payne sprained his ankle. I don't think he's been nearly as good. But I mean, you're like i wonder if they just inject a little life with pain can you get the game one pain now pain sprained his ankle i don't think he's been nearly as good but i mean you're mentioning it right there it's just it's been so weird because there have been moments like that and then there have been other moments where you feel like a chris paul coronation is here because he's just can't miss and he's controlling you know the i mean think about game six against the clippers i mean that felt like felt like, you know, for a night, this is Chris Paul's league.

So I just, it's, I don't know who's going to arrive at the arena tonight in these playoffs. And I'm just surprised covering Chris Paul, like as closely, like watching the Suns as closely as I have in these playoffs. I'm surprised I'm saying that, but I think it's kind of the truth. Anything else on this series that you're looking for? Anything else that you're, you know, because Drew, it's kind of the truth. Anything else on this series that you're looking for?

Anything else that you're... Because Drew... Yeah. Go ahead. I was just going to go there. I mean, I'm surprised how bad he's been offensively. And I do think he is a part of Chris Paul's struggles. But what is he, like 33% overall shooting?

He's in the 20s from three. He's basically Eric Bledsoe on offense for them. Now he is giving them way more on the other end. If they have Eric Bledsoe in offense for them now he is giving them way more on the other end they're not if they have Eric Bledsoe in this series it's not 2-2 but you know is a breakout coming do you think I mean is there a Drew Holiday game that

changes it because if he has like a really good night suddenly Milwaukee is maybe like a little bit deeper at least offensively before we let you bounce here you cover the Warriors. They've got the two picks here. And then there's really a bigger kind of overall offseason segment.

So instead of me just saying like, hey, here's all the things I think, give me a sense of what you think happens here before the draft. Man, it is, to me, they're kind of like the team in the next few weeks you know as we're talking uh potential seismic moves uh 7 and 14 i mean i think if you ask me what's today uh we're two weeks from the draft it's july 16th i think they use both picks i think that from ownership side um joe lakob is is being pretty transparent and like number one that he does not have this just unlimited tax bill that he's willing to go

I do think there's some type of drop dead number and he he's a draft nut he has his own big board he studies these guys he's in these workouts I mean that's just who he is I so he really likes James Wiseman.

He still thinks that was a good pick. By the way, do you think it was a bad pick? It's tough for me to say that because I was all about it beforehand. I was saying they should pick James Wiseman. And I do think four years down the line, James Wiseman could be a really good center and could look like a really good pick in retrospect. I do think I underestimated

how raw and unready he'd be. I remember going in the draft, I was saying he'll play the JaVale McGee role. You play the JaVale McGee role for two seasons and then you turn into a better center. But the reality is last season, he wanted to, hey, give it to me in the mid-post. Let me operate. And it's like,

JaVale McGee was never getting mid-post touches. It was rim running. It was doing very little of the Andrew Bogut stuff. I think they made a coaching mistake, maybe misstep last season trying to implement him into the warrior style where he's doing all these dribble handoffs and stuff. And it's just like, he's not ready for all that. I underestimated that.

He's further away than expected. And then he had all the injury setbacks, including right like, he's not ready for all that. I underestimated that. He's further away than expected. And then he had all the injury setbacks, including right now he's nursing the knee. And I also, which I think you're on the same boat as me, I underestimated how good LaMelo was going to be, particularly right away. If I had known that, obviously, he would have fit the Warrior style

great. But regardless, organizationally, they're still higher on James Wiseman than maybe the league sounds like they are. And particularly from the top, they're higher on him. And I believe they think that there's depth in this draft. And I just don't think

they're as desperate to just give away the future as the league seems to believe. And if the league thinks you will overpay and you won't overpay, I don't really see this home run trade out there that's going to materialize. Because everyone that's going to the Warriors is going to go 7-14, Wiseman, Wiggins contract. That's a lot if you're talking about Pascal Siakam, in my opinion. So I don't think a big trade is going to happen.

And then if you look at the draft, they're bringing all these guys in for workouts. I do think there's some guys that can maybe contribute in the draft. They're bringing all these guys in for workouts. I do think there's some guys that could maybe contribute in the immediate, but also you have a front office going well, you might think Davion Mitchell could help us most next season. What if Jonathan Kaminga is there at seven? Which he

might be, it sounded like. You probably don't want two projects on the roster, but if Kaminga is the highest upside, I mean, there's a challenging decision to be made for them. Well, you said a bunch of stuff there, and I think we generally agree. First of all, they like Wiseman better than every single rumor that has him going everywhere else.

It feels like Wiseman's value around the league is lower, and I would guess the Warriors, and educated guess is more like, well, look, we took him, so obviously we'd like them. And as you pointed out, which I think is a big, big difference, is Wiseman will tell you a different standard, which I've been over, so I'm not going to keep repeating myself about that. Because it was a team that was still trying to win games. 7-14 and Wiseman. Okay, but now for who?

Siakam. It's funny, because if you ask anybody, you know, I threw that fake trade at Simmons this week and he was like, eh. And it's like anybody that watched the Celtics Raptors series from two years ago is like lower on Siakam than any other fan base because Siakam got eaten up in that series. But he's better than that. All right. It was a bad series. He's better than that. And I think, you know, wide open, like if you're waiting on Dame, it's not going to happen.

I wouldn't think, you know, the Ben Simmons part of it. I actually like that idea, but not with Draymond. So you probably have to figure out a way to like have the two of them play. But then if you're in the playoffs, that's a problem. And then it's like, OK, that means you're actually transitioning from Simmons to Draymond. And then Beal, oddly enough, like I still feel like Beal's happy. He's content. Happy's probably strong.

Content over there, but that would be something different. But he's, you know, the important thing that's always, and you understand this, but it's important to remember, you can't have a ball stopper with those other two guys, with Klay and Steph. And it's why Durant actually was this perfect fit and why somebody like Paul George wouldn't have been a perfect fit with them, who was available to everybody when he was still back with the Pacers.

So if you were to package all this stuff up, I'd be more inclined to say, hey, look, one of the picks, 7-14, the likelihood, the math tells us one of those picks is going to do nothing for you. I don't know which one it's going to be, but that's kind of the fact that you'd hit on both would be pretty rare. So I'd be willing to move that. I'd be willing to move the Wiggins thing. I'd be less likely in a hurry to get rid of Wiseman.

But if you're talking about a real special, impactful star, that's fine. But it also has to be somebody that understands the off-ball part of it. Because if that player comes in and doesn't get that, it kind of clogs up what these guys have been doing now for over five, six years. You know, I think of the names

Beal still to me remains the most likely. And it's interesting, Washington and, you know, Beal and Washington have messaged out to this point that he's happy there. And, you know, trade request is not incoming. But I thought it was interesting that when Washington fired Scott Brooks this summer, which is

you know, that's Russell Westbrook's coach. You know, That was kind of their win-now coach. I mean, however you want to say that. Win-now to get to the 8th seed. And then all they did this summer was interview first-time head coaches. I believe zero head coaching experience among their

vast majority of candidates. And they're going to hire somebody that feels like a rebuilding hire. Feels like a guy you would bring in. You'd maybe look to... Even if you can't move off the Westbrook contract, eventually, maybe that's a buyout a year down the line. They seem so ripe in a situation with a young coach to just break it all up. And the Warriors have, to me, the perfect package if you were trying to rebuild, which is a couple lottery picks and a young center with high upside that'll help you lose games while you're trying to keep your pick valuable.

So to me, if it tilts a bad direction, that seems like the most obvious fit. Other than that, you mentioned to me, Draymond Green, just where his offensive game has regressed to, makes him an odd fit, not just with Simmons but Siakam and and really all around the league you talk about guys like you have to play such a specific system with the Warriors not only because look Steph loves the off-ball movement you got to know how to back cut you got to know how you know when to screen when to move it's why Kelly Oubre had such trouble with the Warriors this season I mean he's his first 20 games he's playing bumper cars with

Steph Curry off the ball while Draymond's like, hey, go, move, come on. But it's also Draymond Green. You can't, in the modern NBA, the Warriors know this too, play two non-shooters together. It's just almost become impossible to have two of your five players on the court unable to shoot, even if two of your other players are the two greatest shooters ever. So he kind of, as good as he is and as much as he does for them, and he's still

first team all NBA defense, and he's the heart of the entire locker room, he handcuffs you offensively. And to me, he kind of handcuffs the type of moves you can make. Because the other thing, too, is that if Draymond were ever available, I'm sure there'd be owners who'd be like, winning pedigree,

comes in, keeps people accountable, and all that kind of stuff. And then it's like, okay, but what are you going to do? I mean, I'll never forget of all the arguments I used to get into at ESPN when we were talking about whether or not Draymond was top 10 on coast to coast. And Broussard's like, absolutely. He's a top 10 player. And I'm like, are you serious? I go, I love Draymond, but can you imagine maxing him out and making him your number one option on another team? Like it just wouldn't, like that sentence doesn't even work. I've seen it.

I covered the 15 and 50 Warriors last season. He was the number one option. And they went 50. That's why they have James Wiseman today. Hey, Anthony, really good stuff. You can check out all of his work on The Athletic. Enjoy game five.

All right. Thanks for having me. Jordan Ritter-Khan is the man behind a new podcast series that's been out now for a few weeks, a finale coming up this week as well. It's What If, the Len Bias story. And going into this, Jordan, I thought, you know, look, I remember being in New England.

I remember my father coming outside as I was shooting baskets in the driveway at 10 years old to say, hey, Len Bias died. We're talking about the 1986 draft. He was drafted June 17th. Two days later, he was dead. I'm incredibly impressed with this podcast because it's boots on the ground reporting. The narration, the writing of it is great. The interviews are terrific. great. The interviews are terrific. So this is a story I think a lot of people think they know if you're a certain generation. Younger people may not understand it, but give me the motivation behind it. Well, first of all, thank you. That's really kind of you. And thanks for having me. I think, like you mentioned, you can remember getting the news. And I think this is one of those stories where depending on where you are generationally, it resonates in different ways for different people. You know, I am of the generation where I was born when this happened, but I was too young. I was 18 months old. But I, as a sports fan, you kind of, I can't remember a time when I didn't know who Lin Bias was. It's just one of those stories that you just, even though I was too young to see him play, you grow up learning about him and learning about his death because it's just kind of so permeated kind of our history of the NBA and of college basketball. And it's one of those stories that kind of sticks with you. I think that for us, the motivation for this is, it is in some ways, it's a story that feels familiar, but also a story that when you really take a look at it in depth all these years later, you can kind of peel back the layers of the onion and see that this is someone whose impact is still with us 35 years later. And you can see that in the NBA.

So many people we talk to in this story talk about how there's these obvious comparisons to Michael Jordan. And a lot of people wanted to debate what Jordan's career might have looked like, if it might have looked different, had bias lived. And if that impacts Jordan's legacy, does that impact someone like LeBron's legacy now or whoever the next guy is? Like it's it's a loss that has these ripple effects through kind of generations in the NBA. And then you also look at it outside of sports and in terms of some of the legislation that was passed in the aftermath of his death legislation around kind of mandatory

minimum sentencing with with crack crack cocaine as well as powder cocaine and how that is, you that has led to a lot of unjust sentences and a lot of people who were locked up many years later with sentences that we now view as harsh and unjust and are trying to be repealed by politicians on both sides of the aisle. So yeah, it's a story that feels familiar, but also feels like it had a lot of complexity that was really calling out for this kind of treatment and to spend this amount of time with and really explore all of these

ripple effects all these years later. Episode 2 is the heavy one. Not that any of it's light necessarily, but I was listening to that recently and you have John Sally talking about him as a friend at Five Star. And then they get to the McDonald's All-American

or it was the Playboy All-American then. A Playboy party, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And the guys were just sitting there getting after it. And Len was like, these guys are poisoning their body. Like, why would they do that? There was always this weird part of the Len Bias story where it was like well who was he because

everybody that was close to him was like shocked and they couldn't believe like what happened but then when we get to the night of and he's with um obviously Brian Tribble and then you know earlier he'd been with Keith Gatlin but then Tribble and a couple other guys, the guys they start doing the coke with. And he's like, I'm a horse. And Lin Bias is like, I'm a horse. Did you ever get to the bottom of like who he really was? Did he have this small, smaller group of guys that he was partying with more? Because I remember when I was young, it was, oh, he tried it once and died.

And then as little kids, we were all freaked out about it, you know? Yeah. You know, I think that's one of the the it seems like so many people there there are people who's kind of the the story that they have lived with and believed to be true for many many years is this is the first time he ever touched cocaine and it killed him um and you know there are stories of parents telling their kids never touched cocaine lynn bias did it once and then he died um that's exactly what it was like by the way to be a little kid then because it was just okay lynn bias this happened

like the the cultural impact of this night of news was pretty staggering when you think back on it but go ahead yeah and i've talked to people just casually telling people i'm working on this people who are not even sports fans but who told me oh, I know absolutely who he was because my parents told me when I was a kid, do not touch Coke because it killed Lynn Bias. And so, but that was the kind of story that a lot of people have lived with. Another story that some people have lived with is this guy had a drug problem, that this guy was addicted to drugs. But neither of those things seem to be the truth. As we dove back into it, it is people who he did coke with that night, which is Brian Tribble and then two of his Maryland teammates, Terry Long and David Gregg, testified in court

later that they had done coke with him previously. So at least according to their testimony, this was not the first time that he touched cocaine. That said, the toxicology report, which I talked with a prosecutor who was heavily involved in some of the case that came afterward, referring to the toxicology report that made it clear that he was not a habitual drug user. So the truth is kind is somewhere in between. And that's one of the things that I think is worth exploring, the ways that we often want to latch on to clean, easy narratives with athletes or with anyone that is either like, they're a good

kid, which means he would never touch drugs ever. This must have been a one-time thing. Um, which means he would never touch drugs ever. This must've been a one-time thing, or we want to kind of villainize them and demonize them. And, um, and so there are kind of these two different narratives that took hold and two, you know, was a 22-year-old kid who seemed to have done coke before this night. But at the same time, you have people who are very close to him who are just adamant that they'd never seen him do drugs. They're shocked that he would have done drugs. And so it may be that there are some friends that had access to this piece of him or this side of him that he closed off from others. Or it may have just been that he was still figuring out who he was. And the guy who tells John Sally at a Playboy party, all these guys even drinking alcohol or poisoning their bodies could, in a span of six months, have a different relationship to substances. I mean, he's still 22. He's still figuring out who he is in so many different ways. But some of those questions are still with us.

I mean, I will say one of the episodes, the hardest episode to report, the one that took the most of my time and just kind of wore me down was episode four, where I took just in the last couple of months, took a trip to Maryland to try to get the people who were with him in the room that night to talk with me. And, you know, it sucks showing up on someone's front door to ask them about like what might be the worst night of their night of their lives 35 years ago. And, you know, those guys, I will say those guys who are in the room ultimately chose not not to talk with me. So there are pieces of what happened that night that we still don't know. But based on their testimony, we can say that the truth is complicated. Yeah, I know that was probably frustrating because Tribble had done an

interview with Van Pelt, who was my co-host. And I remember I didn't do the interview because it was just, look, Van Pelt's a Maryland guy. He was around then. And Tribble was talking in front of the 30 for 30 on Len Bias. So there is some of his story out there. And then as you have in episode two, the 911 call where it's clearly late and Tribble, I mean, it's just haunting. I'm not trying to bum everybody out today on the podcast, but when you just hear Tribble saying, and he's slurring his words, he's like, Hey, this is Len Bias.

You have to get him back to life. Um, I don't know that I want to stay on, on that and go into the hospital. And then you have his mother joined the pocket, but it's just so thorough. It is so incredibly thorough. And the timeline of all of the events happen.

It's just, look, the people that are close to him, it's significant, but this, this time that happened, you know, in 1986, what is it about the story that you think has not only kept it alive, but there's, there's this, this fascination with it, um, that continues on that maybe is a little surprising i think there's a few things um i mean i i think one is something that i i can't speak to firsthand but that when

you hear it from other people um you can feel it in those conversations and and that is just how electric he was as a basketball player um you know talking to uh to scelt or to Mike Wilbon or to Bob Ryan or Jackie McMullin or a number of other people who were reporters who saw him play or teammates who played with him. Or you mentioned John Sally earlier who played against him and was his friend. And they're just excited for the chance to talk about him again because they want to describe what it was like to sit either in the arena or at home on their couch and actually just watch this guy on a basketball court. So I think there's something just about that, about seeing that and seeing it for a brief moment and then it's gone makes you want to revisit it after you've lost that experience. to revisit it after you've lost that experience. But I think also there are the ways in which, as I spoke to a little bit earlier, the cultural impact is still there. With some of this legislation, when some of these laws are now being repealed today on the state level and their efforts to repeal them on the national level, his name comes

up. Politicians are talking about Lynn bias and these laws that were passed during this panic after he died and, you know, the kind of unjust legacy that they have and, um, and, and hoping to, to reverse them. So you can see, you know, that, that impact's still there. Um, I think that it's, you know, there are ways in which some people are just really, really eager to revisit it and to, like I said, describe that feeling of watching him play or being in the room with him. And then there are some people who the tragedy of it just feels too much to bear and they don't want to go back to it at all. Someone like a Brian Tribble, who has spoken about it before. It's been more than a decade, but has spoken about it before. And then at some point, it's just like,

this is just this brutally awful thing that happened in my life 35 years ago that is just really, really tough to revisit. So I think it was just, it landed so, it just felt so monumental at the time that it's either a story people are just really want the chance to go back to, or that they just, they can't go back to because it's too painful. I think a lot of that pain too.

And you know, it's not really even important. I don't think, you know, remove from it because I think that's the first thing we used to do. Be like, wait a minute, is this his first time? Or is he, he was just so well liked. I think everybody loved being around him um and listen to his audio in episode two where he's drafted and he goes well you know the celtics like it's a bunch of good guys up there good characters they don't like bad guys and again it doesn't mean you're a bad guy because you

tried something you know i i don't believe in that others may disagree um but he just he was he i think he had to be from the area to kind of understand it. And I'm not, I mean, Scott explained it to me a bunch of different times, but there's this reverence with him. And part of it has to do with where the story ended up going, but reverence of the way people thought he, like what they thought he was going to be. And it just, you know, it continues to be sad every time you think about it. they thought he was going to be. And it just, you know, it continues to be sad every time you think about it. Yeah. I think, you know, one of the things that was interesting to kind of explore is the relationship to him in Maryland and then the relationship to him in Boston. Um, and it was, I think a very, very different experience in Maryland. It is, um, you know, Van Van Van Pell talked about like this guy's hometown kid who chose to stay here, chose to represent this state. He's the very best of us. And there's this sense of people feeling like they watched him grow up and feeling like he represented them in a way, not only with the way he played, but also, yeah, he was beloved by his teammates, by people who knew him casually.

played, but, but also, yeah, he was, he was beloved by, by his teammates, by people who knew him casually. Um, you know, I talked with one of his professors who, who, who loved him, um, his college president who, who loved him. Um, and then in Boston, it was a very different kind of like, it was still a sense of grief, but a very different kind of grief. It's like, uh, you know, Jackie McMullin called it like, you're, I think grieving the child you never had or, or something like that. Like it's, it's it's this loss of possibility, this loss of kind of a sense of hope of like what, you know, what he could have been on the basketball court and how he could have impacted those teams, but also what he you know, there's a powerful thing that happens when you have an athlete like that in your city who you really connect to and who connects back to the city.

And the loss of that in Boston, you very different kind of shape in terms of the grief that people felt there compared to in Maryland. But I think that, I don't know, juxtaposing those two was really interesting because there's still this sense of deep loss in both places. For those that are interested in the podcast, make sure you check it out. What If? The Len Bias Story. Jordan Ritter Kahn is the man behind it, writing it, hosting it. All

seven episodes are now available on the Book of Basketball feed and the finale came out on Wednesday. So again, make sure you check that out. What If? The Len Bias Story. Hey, congrats on the work on this. I can't imagine. I mean, how long did this take to do because this was this was incredibly about a year yeah about a year yeah well i hope i hope it worked out for you yes i mean it was it was it was long it was tough um it's obviously a story that's painful in so many different ways but you know

felt worthwhile to explore and to you know get to dive into what makes it such a significant story all these years later well thanks again for the work on this make sure everybody checks it out alright thank you you want details?

bye I drive a Ferrari 355 cabriolet what's up i have a ridiculous house in the south fork i have every toy you can possibly imagine and best of all kids i am liquid so now you know what's possible let me tell you what's required it's time for life advice brought to you by v8 30 calories sounds like a bite, a handful, or maybe even a spoonful that definitely couldn't fill you up. But one five and a half ounce can of V8 original is surprisingly filling and only 30 calories. Your snacks should give your body the nutrients it needs without piling on a lot of unwanted extra calories. What's up? It's life adviceice. LifeAdviceRR at gmail.com.

Taping here on a Friday. Kyle, have you ever said I'm working for the weekend? I think absolutely. Yeah. You know, it was definitely when I was working grounds crew. The median age of the five guys was like 48. Totally. Totally.

I started to feel old myself. I kind of liked it. So, Rudy, you've never said that, right? No, absolutely not. I feel like I've worked a lot of liked it so Rudy you've never said that right no absolutely not yeah I feel like I've worked a lot of weekends so it doesn't even matter no but I just there's a there's a there's a code amongst the laborers right physical laborer guys I think you know I'm sure there's some cubicle guys out there too just saying that but I just somebody who earnestly says like i'm working for the weekend man i just think that guy's a straight shooter and it just reminds me the old sheetrock and cruise that used to talk about sex over meatball subs at lunch break on the job site

hoping that the homeowner didn't hear a sheet rocker talking about somebody had sex with the night before um which was always an incredibly awkward thing because it happened a lot, actually. The homeowners at the other side, you're working on an addition and some guy's reenacting a thing over meatball subs. And you're like, all right. And I remember just being young, being like, all right, this is weird. What's going on? And then I'd be a little bit older. They'd want me to like, I'd be like, hey guys, you're not, we're not,

you know, it's not really my deal. But congrats to you. Congrats on your week. But, you know, there's this woman in there washing dishes right now who owns the house.

So we could tone it down in the positional reenactment. All right, so that got weird at the beginning, but it just made me think about the weekend thing. All right, here's another little tidbit. The amount of feedback, this is a top five email, the dog sitting dinner bill, incredible feedback here.

People on both sides. And that's kind of what I thought when I read the email was that these were cultures colliding and the email response to it is exactly what I'd expect because some people think the couple that ordered apps ordered all this stuff

were excessive and that somebody should have done something which again everybody else is like the toughest person ever after the fact. Like I would have told them. And there was just more philosophical stuff being like, you just don't do that to somebody, especially you don't really know whatever, whatever.

And then there was a lot of people being like, are you kidding? So the whole tab was $400, which meant you ate, okay, maybe 100, 150 of it if they went overboard. So that means it cost you, let's say, $250 to cover them when you thought it was only going to be maybe at most 75 because all the places you were suggesting, clearly you said dive bar, drink specials, pizza, whole deal. How much was the dog boarding going to cost you?

We've researched this, right, guys? I think is it fair to say in a decent city, suburban area, for a weekend and the dog, is it fair to say in a decent city, suburban area for a weekend in the dog, is it 200 bucks? I mean, could you find it for 150? Okay, maybe. So you thought, hey, cool. I don't have to pay this.

And now I'm in the black. And then you take them out to dinner. And now you're like, oh, I'm in the red, like 80 bucks. So I'm sure the emailer is even like listening to all this stuff because you were so convinced your way is the right way financially. And I'm not even telling you that you're necessarily wrong. I'm just saying perhaps I'm different. Others were different. And here's the deal. Like it was, it was cultures colliding. So what was the research? What did the research tell us, Kyle? Well, the one thing that I, I don't really know how to respond to what was the research tell us kyle uh well the one thing that i i don't really know how

to respond to what was the research but what i would say is is when that guy i was thinking back when that guy opened his wallet and she opened her wallet and then she kind of got gun shy at the bar this is before the restaurant because you could have saved yourself 150 bucks right there if when she started to put her you know she she got a little gun shy as, as he said, like she kind of did the performative opening the wallet and then close it back up. He, he could, when he noticed that he could have been like, well, you know, I'll get the dinner. You want to get the drinks? Like he could have said that. And that's not weird. And then you wouldn't feel weird about like, um, you know, scoping out everything they ordered. So he could have saved himself 150 bucks. So we probably wouldn't be talking about it. I meant the research on the dog

boarding. Didn't we do some of that? Oh, yeah. Sorry. $75 is what I saw in LA. $75 a night. A night? If you want a lunch meal, it's another $6. If you want your dog to have lunch, there's a whole bunch of other things you can do. But if we're talking bare bones,

$75 a night. You've got to bring your own lunch. That's a veteran move to bring your own lunch. Come on. That's a veteran move to bring your own lunch. Don't let them pay for your dog's lunch. But I also think, depending on the area, it could be like 35 bucks.

So do we know where they were? I don't feel like going back and finding the email. 50 bucks is in the middle. We'll say 50 bucks. 50 bucks. So maybe it's 150 to 200, you know,

but that map didn't seem to matter because he was already thinking, hey, I got that part for free. And so, you know, but that math didn't seem to matter because he was already thinking, Hey, I got that part for free. And so, you know, whatever, like here's the dinner, like the dinner now makes it, then it's not free. Look, I'm just, I'm just telling you, it was worlds colliding. I don't want to really get really pissy about it one way or the other. Cause I don't really feel that way about it.

Um, but here's, here's the one, like we got a bunch of responses from it. Right. and then the whole thing about appetizers came up like people have different rules about appetizers i imagine there are some families like i didn't know what the hell appetizers even were i think until i was like in high school not because like we were so broke but i don't know he just didn't he never ordered them you know it wasn't it wasn't our deal as a family. Um, although I don't know, we had a ton of sit down dinners with all of us together anyway, but, um, the, the whole like rules with the apps that like at the pizza place, what were they fried mozzarella?

Like even at a really nice restaurant, you're going to some carpaccio or some melon and prosciutto. Like it's not the end of the world like people are talking about apps not all people but some people talking about apps like it's this restaurant they're like hey bezos is here show him the apps hey did you see who's sitting there? Make sure he knows we have appetizers. I think appetizers for most people are doable. So, all right, there we go.

There was a lot of response to that one. Okay, 64225, we'll leave the name out of this. That has been an issue again. Apologies. My birthday's coming up and a few packages arrived at the house. My partner will smile and put them in a room. She's very excited about what she has for me. And I get it. I'm lucky she cares as much. You are. Must be nice. You get so many presents from a girlfriend. But I see where they're from and it's not places I'm into. I usually suggest we just gift each other experiences,

weekend getaways, nice dinners with appetizers. We've been together three years and it's always like this she's asked me and i've told her places i like but it never seems to take i assume i should just smile and appreciate the gifts but they all sit in a closet box and i feel like this year may be the same is there a nice acceptable way to tell someone you feel that they are not great gifts and kind of just a waste of money no um i have some firsthand experience with this uh because my mother on christmas and it's gonna make me sound so shitty but i'm just gonna do it anyway um she buys stuff that she likes all right she just does she. And one of her favorite things to do is like the stockings and all like the gag gift be like, you know, these,

these stupid magic trick things or, um, fake poop. I, yeah, not, not fake poop, but like you're in the, you're in the ballpark,

you know, like, or it'll be like a, a silly hat, like an elf hat will be in there. Um, or like socks that are ridiculous that no one would ever wear. And then she watches you open it and then she laughs hysterically.

And then everybody laughs at you because they know that you're not really going to want to wear this elf hat ever or whatever. And I've asked her about it. I said, you know, look, it's just not been doing a long time. We've had a good run and it's a lot. You know, I don't want you wasting your money on this stuff. And she was like, oh, I know, I know I won't do it. And then she does it. So what I'm telling you is that you're, it sounds like your girlfriend is into buying you stuff, but has this, this trait, which is something that's actually, I think kind of common is the person kind of buys the thing that they're more excited about than you are.

And so it seems like it's this incredible gesture. I'm buying you this gift. But there's also like a little, it's not selfish. There's an entertainment factor that I think your girlfriend gets out of like the thing that you open and then she's telling you how awesome it is because like deep down she might want the gift now I'm sure it's not across the board for everything you know she's buying you like a Carhartt jumpsuit although I don't know I'd go for one of those right now I don't know when I would wear it I loved when I had mine I loved it I love that thing but you get the point like I don't know Kyle Saruti you guys any experience with any of this

whatsoever where it's a gift giver who actually is more motivated to kind of enjoy the gift as much as you are totally i'm like dating one right now and every time she's really into getting me like custom wood stuff like coasters and like and it's always arrives late it takes like literally like a month after my birthday the fucking thing will show up and it's always arrives late it takes like literally like a month after my birthday the fucking thing will show up and it's like game of thrones coasters or like this actually was really cool um uh breaking bad cutting board i mean i don't know why it was the theme of the cutting board but it was like said let's cook on for meth maybe said like let's cook on it no it's a cutting board and you know i like cutting boards i you know i ruined the first couple

throw them in the dishwasher didn't know you couldn't do that but board. And you know, I like cutting boards. I, you know, I ruined the first couple throw them in the dishwasher. Didn't know you couldn't do that. But like, but you know, I didn't say anything like it's always the gifts always late because it's always from like, you know, an Etsy person or, or something like that. And it's like, you know, it's custom made. And then she's like, Oh my god, I found this thing. And, and of course, I don't say anything because like my mom, who's a big gift giver, she, her favorite part, she would rather give a gift than get them. And she loves like that whole thing. So I don't want to ruin that for her. And I kind of like the stuff. So I would say, don't say a fucking thing. Yeah. But the problem is,

I think I know some buddies who, and this is a strictly clothing thing, but there will be, there'll be dating someone who's trying to change their wardrobe actively. Right. So they'll, they'll buy them things that they think that they should be wearing, even though that's not what they wear because they don't currently like what they wear. So they're trying to sort of push you in a direction of like, I want to style you in this way.

And I've had a couple of buddies go through that and be like, I just I don't wear the clothes that she gets. Yeah, that's that's kind of what I'm thinking here. Yeah, I don't. I don't know. There's there's not really much of a solution and i think you know like anything when you're buying a house you're not going to get every single thing you need if you want a backyard okay cool but you might not have the porch or the parking situation may not be right or the neighbors might you love the part of the neighborhood but there's a weird back fence it's the same thing with who we date and who we marry.

I know. I'd love a huge porch, but if the property taxes are what they are, that factors in too. There should just be a running list, though. I've always thought about this. Maybe this is an app opportunity everyone should have like 10 things that they need

at any given time so that whenever someone needs to buy someone something they could just look at this list and go oh I'll buy that for them you know

like a wish list like an Amazon wish list yeah yeah exactly like a registry but just for a single person right so instead of

like hot girls on Amazon or that have Amazon wish list and weirdo loser guys so no offense if you listen to this podcast you do this but then you go to their wish list and you're like wow i love looking at your hot instagram pictures let me now buy you a meat thermometer yep you you think we should expand this out for just guys that would be on my list too a meat thermometer totally i would never buy that and I would love for it to show up

in my fucking house so I'd be cool with cooking pork again. Great pictures from Milan. Here's Law and Order SVU season two on DVD. Alright. You know what I did end up doing?

And this is where the part, I just started leaving the gifts behind that I didn't want that's a dick move yeah my sisters were like that is one of the funniest slash also meanest things you did and i go look i'm just it's i'm protesting the waste of money on on some of these stupid gifts and i would just like and then it became a running joke to like ryan will leave the gift behind if he knows he's not going to use it like pucks a tiny fill i was like if he sees a shadow or if the gift is there it's six more weeks of winter did riscilla go back to vermont well i guess my family doesn't call me riscilla but uh they're like ryan go back to verm to Vermont like yep he did like did he bring did he bring his ALF

laundry basket back with him nope it's still here I've looked at it as that way as like I'm already I'm eliminating the goodwill trip because this way you guys will just be able to like use it and if you like the ALF you would take the stuff though that you

did like and leave the stuff that yeah that's awesome that's awesome it's awful it isn't awesome but then it became a thing like i did it so often for so many years and look i don't have my own family so i was going home for christmas up until you know my early 40s. And I don't go home now, but it became a thing, a tradition where my sisters thought it... Then it became the funniest thing ever that my sisters were like, I love, I can't wait to see which one he leaves behind is like a statement. He's making a statement about this. And before everybody thinks I'm a huge jerk about it, I would like to express that I've picked up the Christmas tab for everybody for a bunch of years too. So maybe I'm not as terrible as I sound.

Okay. I guess I shared a lot on that one. We'll see. We'll see how that goes. Okay. We got, you know what? I'm just going to go blind here. You want to do a blind one?

Kyle sent this to me. I like the headline. I haven't, I haven't. Let's just go for it. All right. Bridesmaid who gets too drunk. Hey, guys. Just turned 35, 6, 180, balding.

Okay. After reading those stats, you're shocked to find out I'm getting married this fall. Good work. Good writing. Sorry. Had to make a joke before starting because this is kind of a serious situation, at least to me. One of my fiance's bridesmaid has a habit of getting drunk and then driving home and is constantly putting

the rest of us in situations we don't want to be in. Most of the time she's driving home drunk. She's driving an hour away and she still lives in the college town most of us went to school with as the group is spread out over the state. We'll call her Tiffany. Event one, after the bridal shower, brunch, the girls went out, had several

drinks, including shots at some point. Tiffany snuck away from the group, Ubered back to the other br bridesmaids home who'd been hosting the brunch and grabbed her keys the host husband walked out in the street and told tiffany that she could stay at the house they had extra bedrooms couches whatever she wasn't having any of it and drove off back to her house to uh tiffany my fiance and another bridesmaid decided to meet up for drinks to catch up in the city i know uh I now live in. Girls Ubered back to my place at about 1 a.m. where I was already asleep. At some point in the night, my fiance and the other bridesmaids took Tiffany's keys away from her. When she tried to get back her keys,

my fiance and the other bridesmaids locked themselves in the guest bedroom with the keys. Tiffany started screaming and banging on the door. Obviously, this woke me up. I had to get to the other guest room. I tried to get her to go to the other guest room to sleep it off, but she just kept screaming about how she wanted to go home and bang her boyfriend. I called her boyfriend to try to get him to talk to her, but he was absolutely useless. I took the dog and slept in my truck. The screaming ensued for another two hours until the girls just gave up and gave her back her keys. This is a couple of fun nights here.

Event three, we took a couple strip after a day of visiting wineries and breweries. We got back to the cabin we were staying in, and Tiffany decided she wanted more booze. She just took the keys to her boyfriend's truck and just drove off into town. No one knew where she went. Her boyfriend, who at this point had passed out in their room, thought his truck had been stolen. I'm sure the three events that I listed aren't the only times she's, obviously not. But it's starting to cause real uneasiness in her friend group whenever she's invited. How in the world do I handle this before it happened again?

Is it better that the talk comes from her friends instead of me or another one of the guys in our group? What advice can I give my fiance and her group friends to tell Tiffany this isn't the way to act? I know that drinking impairs judgment. I've had my bad nights, but this is becoming more of a habit rather than a poor decision. I really don't want the end result with her getting a DUI, seriously hurting herself or even worse, another person. All right, so this is

really serious. Look, this is what I... Look, she's obviously has some serious issues with drinking, okay? But I think everybody... Here's the real problem, is that whatever her thing is, is when she's blacked out and she's at that far end

of everything and super banged up, she doesn't want to throw in an Almond Brothers CD. She wants to get in her car and drive every time. So whatever her programming is that goes on in her head, her move, as you pointed out here, and clearly this is her habit, this is what she's going to do. I had a friend like this. He would drink late night with us and then he would just hit a point and then everything would kind of shut down. And then he would be like, okay, I'm going to get my car and drive home because that's all I want to do. He wanted to get in his car and he wanted to go sleep in his own bed when there was always a million other options. And that's the thing that's so shitty about people that do this all the time now is it's just

like, look, you have all of these other options. There are always all these other options and it doesn't matter. There's no reasoning with this person, obviously. I mean, for two hours did not give up and keep screaming while people are locked in a room. Like this is, this is screwing up everybody else's deal here. Um, so again, the one friend that this goes way back, we were hanging out late one night you know i could always walk back to my place so it wasn't ever an issue and he got in his car and look the sun was coming up it was kind of like one of those weird you know old school back in the day bartending deals you know from my 20s and he drove to a breakfast place on the way back to his house pulled in i mean obviously everybody knew

when he sat at the counter he was a mess he sat there ate a full breakfast and then they were like wait are you driving and they were like please don't we'll call you the cab please you know just get in a cab like the diner was trying to help him but it was such a disaster they were like no way so he got in his car told him all all, cause he's just, he's just not, you're not thinking straight. Your things are shut down. You know, it's, it's the single mindedness of being that banged up where you're not even thinking you're doing anything wrong. You're just like, everybody leave me alone. Like, I just want to get behind the wheel. And clearly in this case, like that's all that's happening. And so then my friend, you know, drove back, made it to his house.

And as he pulled in his driveway, guess what? There was like two cruisers right behind him because the diner called the cops on him. They should have called the cops on him. He got a DUI and that was his wake up. And he figured it out very quickly right after that because everything about him was great. He was a great guy. He was. But he had a thing where he always wanted to drive so clearly tiffany has something

in her with her her wiring that once she's that banged up all she wants to do is drive and it's it's scary as hell i don't know she's going to listen to any of you she might need that moment um where hopefully if that moment's bad it's only her that she's hurting but i would straight up just say hey you're not invited to any stuff anymore you're not and maybe that'll be enough but it probably won't because she's younger um and you know i don't i don't really know what else to add to it other than she's like if she's banged up there's no point in ever talking to her you've already given us evidence she's not going to listen to anybody here and it's in look it's a little bit more than her just driving drunk it seems like and then i

also think you'd point out like the boyfriend part of this it seems like he's down with whatever this this program is so she's not getting pushback from him either but the only way you can even put a dent in trying to solve this which again my guess would be you're probably not going to would be when she's sober um be like hey just so you know you're not invited any stuff anymore you're just not and see how she takes it unless unless you like her so much that you don't want to not invite her to stuff, which I'm going to tell you exactly what's going to happen at the wedding. Something's going to happen. So, I don't know.

Good luck. Yeah, the good news about it is this is absolutely something you can talk to her about. You don't have to feel weird about talking to her about it. Like, it's not as hard as saying, like, hey, your gifts kind of suck, but I love you. You know, it's way easier like this is not all right that's it's like it's definitely any anyone's qualified to bring it up to her when she's sober like it's not a difficult thing to talk about well i i think what you're saying just so i'm hearing you is that there's an awkwardness of saying you don't like presence

there's no awkwardness in saying hey you keep making these horrible decisions yeah exactly you have to stop doing exactly right i just want to make sure people understood what you were saying there i don't know i kind of put you in a bad spot by reading this one because it's not like you guys are going to jump in and be like well hold on because there is no there's no no but the interesting question would be does the listener uh and the guy writing in is he obligated to say something when it's it's his i don't think it's his direct friend right like he hangs out it's his wife or the fiance's bridesmaid yeah so yeah like i don't know i don't know in that situation i'm not sure yeah not for him probably gonna be a tough scene for him to just you know approach this girl who he casually

knows and be like hey you know you have a problem when her other friend should probably be doing that yeah i don't think it's on the email or I think you're right. But clearly, like she can keep doing this stuff and everybody likes her enough. I think the reference here would be she still lives in the college town that most of us went to school. And so it sounds like these people have all been friends here for quite a while. If he says he just turned 30. So, you know, they're almost a decade out of college and they're still in the mix. And she's a bridesmaid.

She's obviously very close to the fiance. So not getting invited to stuff because you're a mess can hurt you know it can really hurt i know for a fact there was somebody that i was hanging out with and then i was like on i got to save the date and then i never got the invite because the person i was hanging out with the couple didn't want to bring didn't want me to bring so they were like well instead of riscilla bringing this person because i'll have to um it was it was very obvious i was like wait i gotta save the date then didn't get the invite and i just sort of let it go because i was like whatever um at that point in my life i was like i don't really care anyway and then like i

addressed it i was like hey was that because of of who I was hanging out with at that time? Like you just thought like your wife didn't want her there. And he was like, yep. I was like, you guys fucked up. I sent him to save the date. He's like, well, yeah. He's like, we did. We did.

He's like, I'm really sorry about it. Like, yeah, it's fine. Like I just I just like to get to the bottom of it, even if I don't really care that much. I just wanted closure on it. So that person, honestly, isn't even the best example of it because they weren't close enough to it but if these are your core people and they kind of all the bridesmaids you know on the fiance side in your registry i don't think it's on the email or

here but just go hey look we love you but do you have this pattern it's a disaster we don't want it at our wedding so you're not coming done and done and she'll probably sit there and maybe she'll yell or she'll say like, oh, maybe I won't drink. I don't know. I don't know. Good luck with that one. But that's a shitty situation.

I feel like that's not a great one to end the pot on to go into the weekend. As far as a blind one, that was pretty good. Yeah. Could have been way worse. It could have been.

It could have been. Okay, there you go. Life advice is brought to you by V8. One five and a half ounce can of V8 original is a surprisingly filling snack and only 30 calories. What's even better is it's small, convenient size. So it's easy to throw in your bag

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