The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Live From Salt Lake City with Special Guest Lauri Markkanen

Episode Date: February 20, 2023

Russillo was live from Wiseguys Comedy Club in Salt Lake City, Utah before NBA All-Star Saturday night with Jazz all-star forward Lauri Markkanen (05:00), plus a live edition of life advice and some audience Q&A (19:00). Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Lauri Markkanen Producer: Kyle Crichton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rough year for your favorite NFL team? Join me, Danny Heifetz, along with Danny Kelly, Ben Sulek, and Craig Krolbeck on the Ringer NFL Draft Show, where we talk about all things NFL Draft, and more importantly, how to fix your mediocre team. Check out the Ringer NFL Draft Show every Tuesday and Thursday. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Winter is here, so be prepared and get almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. What do I mean by almost anything?

Well, you can't get a ski slope, but dish soap, definitely doable. Sunshine, that's no. A bottle of wine, yeah. And a snow day, again, no. But blueberry muffins with the delicious crumb topping, total yes. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. I hope that Bill Collins got you guys fired up. I don't know what happened to our set list. Thanks for having us. We're fired up to be here. I really do love coming to Utah. This is my eighth time counted, so I feel like a local, but a lot of you that grew up here, you kind of get it. The first time I was here was like 14, 15 years ago for BYU football. And so

you go back that far. I used to host College Game Day Radio. You're probably more familiar with the TV branch. And we get to Provo and they're like, hey, and this is like right around the housing crisis. And they're like, is there any way you can take a shuttle to Provo which is always like fascinated ESPN would be like hey we're just cutting corners a little bit is there any chance you know you could do the shuttle and I'm like look if I'm eating a shuttle is gonna solve our global financial problems I can do my part Lehman Brothers is gonna turn this thing around because I go to Provo this way, in.

And then like eight stops and two hours later I'm in Orem going, I'm never fucking doing this again. I'm like, there's no way Fowler is in one of these shuttles. Herb Street's not in one of these shuttles. So anyway, yeah, eight times in. And the other thing, like, you get this, right? You're from here, you've been living here for a while.

People get so weird about Utah, right? They don't, like, you know, people are like, hey, man, it's my first time going. And you're like, all right. What, what's it like? I don't know, it's like Denver, but way more convenient. I don't know. what's it like? I don't know. It's like Denver, but way more convenient.

So, but then, you know, there's the other layer. They're like, well, what's going to, what's going to happen when I get there? I'm like, what do you think is going to happen when you get there? You're going to, everything's really easy to get to. Maybe check out a jazz game in Park City. That's where I like to stay. It's, it's, it's super convenient. But I think it speaks to like a bigger thing, right? A bigger thing of like, there's where I like to stay. It's super convenient. But I think it speaks to, like, a bigger thing, right? A bigger thing of, like, there's this thing that you are connected to. There's a thing that you care about. There's a thing that you understand better than all the outsiders. But then you'll hear people talk about your thing, and you're like,

why is this guy talking about this when they don't understand it, right? I think this is, like, a very natural thing in life, sports, politics. I'm not going to get into that. But you'll be like, all right, all these people from the outside, like there's this thing that I care about, this thing that I care about, and they keep talking about and they're critical of it, yet they don't understand it. And sometimes you're the person that's right because you're attached to it. And then sometimes I think the motivation can be weird, right? It can be, do you want to be right because it's good for everybody? But a lot of times you want to be right because it's good for you.

And then you'll get a little more perspective. You get a little bit older, meet some different people. And then you'll have this moment, which is hard for all of us, right? Where you'll think, was everybody right about the thing that I was defending? Were the people that were critical of the thing I defended all the time, are they right now that I don't care about the thing that I defended for years? And if you think I'm talking about Rudy Gobert, you're absolutely right. What happened to you guys?

I'm not even a GM and I sit around in my car like once a week thinking about that trade going like I normally you know do statues for guys just on transactions but if Ainge and Zanuck got them I wouldn't even make fun of it I'd retweet it well look thanks for having us thanks to Wiseguys thanks to State Farm, especially, for making these road shows happen for us. Lowry's going to join us very shortly here, so we get an all-star that's in uniform and ready to go. And we'll do some life advice. We'll do some Q&As. We'll hang out. We're just going to have a great time.

Pictures, whatever you guys need, all right? So we'll get it started. Thanks again. Thanks. Thanks again. Wow. Wow. Awesome. This is more fun than last year's All-Star break, huh? Oh, yeah.

It's different when you're a part of it. Hey, thanks. Man, this is really cool of you. This is a super busy weekend. We know you got here for like 20 minutes, so we'll get this moving here. All right, let's go back to September of last fall. You get the call. What were you doing when you found out you were headed to Utah?

Yeah, the last day before Eurobasket's starting, I'm just playing video games in my room, about to go to bed. First game is in 13 hours, so just trying to get some rest, and then seeing it on Twitter that, oh, we got Donovan, and then 20 seconds later, I get the

I get the call from the GM, and I kind of knew what was happening at that point, but crazy time. So what's it like? I mean, it's the second time, but what is that like when you think you have it all mapped out, you're getting geared up for the next season, and then you're going someplace you've never been before? Yeah, that was the first time I got traded as a shocking news. First time I kind of knew it was happening. And so that was kind of crazy.

We really liked Cleveland with my family and we had a house there. And so we were kind of looking forward to going back. And then, so it was pretty emotional just cause we know our life is set up there. Kids are going to school and stuff, but then just like that, it changes. But yeah, it's just once

the emotion kind of got out of it we were like okay this is a good opportunity and uh we can do some things with this team so it all ended well well it has gone well obviously you're here as an all-star the numbers are incredible the talent yeah man let him have um when when did it kind of like we all knew how talented you were, right? And we've seen the numbers, and sometimes it's more opportunity. But there's other numbers where it's like, okay, this is peak Larry Markin in here. At what point this season? I hope not.

Oh, all right. I can improve. Okay, peak to this point, all right, on the way up. Okay, that's better, yeah. At what point were you like, okay, I'm nice now? Like, this is real. This isn't a month. This is who I am as a player.

Yeah, so I talked about that yesterday, too. And so it was kind of weird because I've known to be a three-point shooter, right? So just going through the first month of the season, I feel like I'm probably shooting like 20% from three. Like, I can't hit a shot. Just putting up the numbers, and I was just thinking to myself, once the three-pointer clicks, then I can be good. I knew it was going to happen at some point, and just kept finding other ways to impact the game. Then the three balls started to go down, and I've been getting better ever since.

Still ways to go, but it's a good start. So you have this individual run this year. You know, the team got off to a really good start. We knew it was going to be tough. And now you're, you know, you move another piece out in Conley. You add another draft pick in the future. I know you're under contract for a couple years. But what is there, is there any conversation?

Do you have like a once-a-year thing with the front office where it's like, we love you, this is going great, you know, we'll keep you informed, but you then also wondering like where is this all going, knowing that a lot of it is about future draft assets? Yeah, I haven't really talked to the front office. They said they'd keep us informed, but, I mean, I'm not really making a decision over there. So just working on my game and focusing on just trying to win as many games as we can with the group we have.

We still have a lot of good players on the team, and we're trying to do some things with that. And I have a full trust in the ownership and the front offices that they're going to get their job done. So we can just focus on the court. Let's go back to the origins to be from Finland to know that you have a chance I mean look Arizona's interested in you that clearly things are gonna be working out but what was that like when it first was a realization of somebody older in your basketball life going no no no like this is gonna go different for you you have a real chance to represent a country that doesn't exactly consider itself an NBA hotbed. Yeah, so I didn't really think that I can do it.

What age? What age was it where you were like, somebody told you you could? I mean, there's a lot of people saying that you're talented and stuff. But even when I went to college, I was like, I need to find a comfortable place because I'm expecting to be there for four years and see what happens after that and then by Christmas time or whatever start hearing that oh he might be a one and done and then uh so that soon into your freshman year in Arizona somebody was like you're one and done yeah so that's when I started slowly realized that oh I might have a chance and then you were just trying to play as well as you can and not get hurt and uh a chance and then you were just trying to play as well as you can and not get hurt and uh got me here so i don't think i've still realized that i'm here

everything's gone so fast and everything so many things have happened uh but yeah were you after growing up in finland like can i just stay in arizona another year is there no no it was it was a great year i mean six months seven months whatever i was there i just i know i think even all of us as much as we love sports and it's not like this is the first version of this story that we've heard before to like go from finland to be like okay cool i'm gonna be here four years three months later no you're gonna be a lottery pick like okay i guess and then yeah it wasn't like of of course the NBA is the dream, right? Sure.

Like I'm focused on the team and trying to win the NCAA championship. That's what we're focusing on. And then just, I knew I had the opportunity after my first year that it might not be there for another time. So I knew I need to make the jump back then. So it's all worked out. Yeah, look, I would always argue that. Don't stick around another year to have them pick your game apart even more.

You're better off showing them less. Right, yeah, keep them guessing, right? But I was reading an interview that you did, I don't know, last month or so, about the time in Chicago where there were some really nice stretches. You can see the talent. But I know that you were hard on yourself, right?

Like, how do you think of that younger version of yourself now, knowing that, you know, this is going to feel pretty good this year after knowing the struggles that you had in the beginning, especially in a market like that, too, where they're like, oh, we got this lottery move, Jimmy Butler out. And then it's like, okay, hold on. Yeah, so I had a good start in Chicago the first couple of years, and I kind of knew that

I can take the next step and then I think this just proves that it's opportunity. And I've gotten better as a player obviously and my mindset is different. But then just keep working even though it's down times when it's hard and just kept believing in myself and my family did as well, and just keep working, and then you get a couple good breaks,

and coach and the right system, and kind of everything clicks. So just sometimes it's hard to stay positive in those hard times, but you just got to push through, and that was the first thing I thought when I got selected as an All-Star, just started thinking about the journey and the times that we had, the conversation we had with my wife, just when it was hard, and just try to maintain the motivation so it makes it all worth it.

You being a one at times, you know, like you being, I know Clarkson, when he's out there, he's pretty much always the first option, which is a compliment. I actually like his game now, so back off, back off. I didn't say anything. I just think, I don't know, there was some assist ratio stuff when he was younger that I would point out. To know, like, in a close game, you know,

you're being asked to do something consistently, not like there weren't other games that you were, you know, part of the closing group and getting looks. What's that been like for you for the mentality of like they're they're looking to pass it to me as a maybe me deferring to somebody else late and close it's fun I mean I still think that we have good team have good players on team and you mentioned Clarkson and he can really get hot and sometimes we need just that in the fourth quarter

that I pass him the ball and he just goes to work. And, but it's good to have that kind of pressure release that like if I need to get off it, knowing that we have good players on the team, but same time, that's what you work your game for. You know, those are the moments that you live for. It's just to close out games and I mean, be the hero, you know, even though you're trying not to play selfish basketball

or anything like that. But just, of course, it makes, I mean, it feels good to make a big shot. So that's fun. Will Hardy's a young guy. He's got a great reputation. What's he like in comparison to other coaches? I'm not asking to call out other guys, but, like, give me something. That's what you're asking for.

Well, go ahead then. If there's somebody you don't like, let us know. That would be good for the pod. Give me something specific about him, like where you went, oh, okay, this is how you see the game, or this is how you see my game in whatever system you want to run. Yeah, so right when I got traded, he called me and just, we didn't even talk about basketball,

but just kind of he introduced himself as a human being. And then we just started having the relationship and that felt good just to knowing that. Feels vague, but. No, but like have a coach that you can trust and you know him personally. Sure. And we can have conversations. It makes it so much easier to be hard on each other on the court when you know that once we step off the court it's we're friends again so that was good but

then just looking at his resume just the coaches that he's been under before even though it's his first head coaching job but the experience that he has and then in the Olympics and stuff so he's a big part of what we're doing, obviously. Just he makes it go, and yeah. Have you ever been confused for Walker Kessler? They do look alike. I think the best thing was when they dressed up as each other on Halloween. All right. Sorry.

Oh, you mean like if I'm being... Yeah, whatever. I mean, just walking around. No, I thought you meant like Coach and Walker. No, no. That they look like. Yeah, I don't know. That's what I was saying. Now I'm starting to think there's a poster with the three of you here.

No, I think that's a big conversation that they look alike. That's it. Yeah, I haven't know. That's what I was saying. Now I'm starting to think there's a poster with the three of you here. No, I think that's a big conversation that they look alike. That's it? Yeah, I haven't gotten the Walker comparison. Knowing, do you think it's because you have more points per game that you don't get? They said I'm Kelly Olenek, so. He and I don't get along, so. This is back-to-back live pods. Kelly Olenek has made it.

We're going to leave that story alone. We do have to do something here before we say goodbye. I can't thank you enough for taking the time out to do this. Steve Cerruti, who's one of our producers on the show. Do we have another mic ready. Hello, hello. What's up, guys?

All right, so... All right, so this is kind of what? I guess my sports take walk of shame here, because for anybody who's listened to the pod, and you probably have no idea what I'm talking about, but I'll explain it for everybody who doesn't know. So before the season, there was a list that came out. I think it was Bleacher Report or somebody. It was like breakout candidates, right, of the NBA. And I'm a Magic fan. So I was

obviously looking out for my guy Franz Wagner to be on there, fellow Euro. What's up? I'm sure you respect that. And he wasn't on the list. He wasn't on the list. And I was really upset about it. So I nominated it for worst take. And during kind of like the discussion, we're like, who else is on the list all right scotty barnes like i think france is better than scotty barnes it's you know jalen green i think i think france is better than jalen green you happen to be on that list as well and you kind of caught a couple of strays i'm gonna be honest yeah i don't know what are you gonna say you kind of caught a couple of strays and listen i i don't think we were disrespectful to your game but it was like yeah right i was i was like i was like larry's been in the league for like five years

like why breakout i know i know what i know how you play i know what your game's like and i'm up here to give a formal apology which by the way i've been i've been off for a couple months my wife just had we just had a baby which is uh really exciting and and i think the one thing, I think the most thing I've ever been tweeted about in the history of me being on Ryan's show or whatever has not been any take that I've had about real stuff or whatever. It's been that I disrespected you and needed to apologize to you. So every single time that you drop 30 or something and someone tweet out, if you saw me connected to one of your tweets, that was a bunch of people basically like you need to apologize so here I am in the

flesh I'm gonna say Larry I am I'm sorry I am incredibly excited for you as an all-star you've had an incredible season but fron still belonged on that list if we're being honest so he does thank you thank you the sort of a hug I think I think that was good it was like of a hug. I think that was good. It was like a half hug because it was like you still talk to someone. But, yeah, I think it was more respected that you'd been around. But I don't know.

He's losing his mind about Franz this year, who was really good. Hey, enjoy the rest of the weekend. We're really happy for you. Your story is incredible. I know this fan base couldn't be happier. You know, you're moving out players for picks, and then you end up with an all-star, man. So it's an awesome, awesome full circle. Yeah, thank you.

Thank you. We'll be right back with Life Advice. 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.

Alright. Let me tell you what's required. All right. That's probably going to be a mistake later. How are you doing? I'm okay. How did it go? I think it went pretty well. Was that hard to heal for anyone else for a second, the first 90 seconds of that? That was really hard. Well, I knew he had no idea what I was talking about. He's like, what the heck is this guy going to do

right now? Why does he apologize? I've never met this person before. That would be really weird if you were him and you were like, okay. Cool, man. Yeah. Cool story, bro. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I mean, that was really more for the audience than it was for him. It's true. I've had, I mean, the entire time that I was out, I've

had so many people just tweet me every time he had a good game and being like, when are you going to apologize, dude? Like, after every tweeter I've had, I mean, the entire time that I was out, I've had so many people just tweet me every time you had a good game and being like, when are you going to apologize, dude? Like, after every tweeter I've had. And, man, I'm a big man. I own up to my mistakes, and I messed up. It was a bad take. I still think Fran should have been on the list, but Laurie Ossel should have been on the list.

That's all right. There you go. All right. How are you doing? I'm doing well. How are we doing, family? Awesome. I love doing that.

I was told I yelled a lot in Denver. I had a couple nervous drinks before. I've had next to none today. Not zero, though. Next to none. So I'm not going to yell today. All right. You ready to do some live advice here? Yeah.

Everybody's like, yeah, the sports stuff's okay, but this is the only reason we listen. Cheap brother-in-law, family feud. A few weeks back, my wife and her sister had been talking about White Lotus. This popular show was obviously broadcast and streamed on HBO platforms. My wife was recommending it to her sister

that does not subscribe to HBO. To put it bluntly, without a long preamble, she and her husband are notoriously cheap. Flash forward a week or so. In a group text, my brother-in-law asks for our HBO password. I respond back somewhat annoyed, but give him the password nonetheless. He immediately says that it didn't work, and he's sure that's the right password. It's like trying to watch F1.

I confirm, yes, it was. The next day, brother-in-law asks me to reset the password for him to see if that will let them log in because I quote my wife name redacted is itching to watch some white lotus tonight okay at this point I'm starting to boil over and say to my wife quote why can they not buy their own HBO subscription she shakes her head and implies I'm being ridiculous. I then reset the password to pacify the cheapskate brother-in-law. Moments later, he says, it still doesn't work.

I've even tried logging into your Hulu account that I've saved the password for two and it didn't work either. Completely unknown to me, he also had been using our Hulu. He says in the group text, quote, I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I respond in a half-joking way and say, quote, dude, just sign y'all up for HBO and include a laughing emoji, which we endorse on the pod just to make us feel nicer.

Yeah, just a little soft ha every now and then in a text. So he quickly retorts, quote, I'm not sure if you know, but we gave you guys our Paramount Plus password, so this was the trade. This is a completely false statement. Then his wife chimes in on the text chat going, HBO's $30 a month, and they aren't going to spend that type of money on a show with only two seasons, as if that's the only show HBO has ever put out. I resist the urge to send a screenshot of our Hulu bill showing our monthly charge for Paramount Plus that I only signed up for because of the offer.

We'd like that show on this pod. I fact-checked through their cable provider because I know that this was a clear embellishment. The cost of HBO to them is only $9.99. This guy was so mad. I choose to simply not engage further in the dialogue and never respond to either of their lunatic statements. Simple

question. Am I being a jerk for suggesting a 35-year-old man with two kids pay for his own HBO subscription? I think we're past the age of password mooching, in my humble opinion. My wife said I was making a big deal out of nothing and I was just harmless. This is in a very long line of cheap behaviors

that finally came to a head. I appreciate the overall take from you guys. I'm with the emailer. I say no to everything. Beat, no to cigarettes, no to money, no to passwords. Say no. I know it's your family, but it's... What are we talking about here?

We're saying no. He just should have said no instead of doing this whole... Yeah, but he can't because he's married. There's a brother-in-law. There's a sister. So he's trying to be cool about it at first. I just think there's a certain stage where if you're not living outside, you should be able to pay $9.99 for something. I agree, there's a certain stage where like if you're not living outside, you should be able to

pay $9.99 for something. I agree, but he also made himself crazy. He did all this research. He's like looking through other people's cable. No fixes at all. Oh, so you're mad

at his inefficiency in dealing with this problem. This wouldn't even be an email if it was just no. That's all I mean. I just kind of feel like isn't that part of the gig? When you share passwords

with people, I think we have a Hulu, we share an HBO, whatever. Someone's going to take the L in this situation. You're taking the L. It's not that much money. If you're really that worked up about it, why don't you say, hey, you get $9.99 HBO. Why don't we just trade? You can pick up HBO. I'll pick up something else.

It's like an NBA trade. I feel like that's the best way to go. But someone's going to lose the deal almost every time. The money's not going to be equal. And you put way too much work into this already. So I just don't feel like it's worth it at all. Well, none of this is ever really worth it, right? I mean, that's kind of the lesson in all this. I get where he's coming from, though, because there's always this moment, and it's not the money. It's not the cost. It's like, I remember there was a really close friend of mine, and she

had a roommate. And for like three years, she had been married as one kid number two. And then whenever they'd bring up their Netflix, it would be like recently watched. And then her husband, I was like, what is going on? And then they watched the worst shows. So you're just like, at some point, you wouldn't go, hey, we could probably. Like, we've got 401ks now. I get it. I get it.

Under a certain age, I totally get it. In this case, I'm actually with this guy being super mad and frustrated about it. All right. Let's go. Let get it. I get it. Under a certain age, I totally get it. In this case, I'm actually with this guy being super mad and frustrated about it. Let's go. What else do we got here? Sorry for the swearing. Asshole neighborhood kids. Hi, guys. I need some advice for how to deal with the kids in my neighborhood. I'm 35 years old.

6'1", 190. He's got this. I'm just telling you. He's an asshole kid. He's got this. Call him a virgin. They're all virgin. Do we need to finish this? The amount of people that have followed up to your advice to start calling high school kids virgins. Some guys are like, no, you should do it this way. Way more graphic versions of the same exact thing.

And we were like, I'm not even reading any of those. Don't do that. Like, oh, I did this to a kid once. I'm like, why are you telling anyone? Keep that to yourself. Alright, here we go. The neighborhood kids keep slamming on my front door at night. It started over the

summer, continued around the holidays and happened again on Super Bowl Sunday. In total, it's probably happened ten times and happens around nine o'clock. Kids run up to the front door, slam on it a few times and then they take off maybe not a huge deal for some but I have two kids under four and it drives me insane. So that's You're looking at I don't know six months out from August almost One point whatever times per month. Yeah, all right

Somebody can double-check that by the third time. I was ready to take off down the street after them I caught one of them but quickly realized I didn't have a plan. Hey, virgin. Why are you slamming my door? He said they thought they were just going for a walk. I told them to tell the others that I had little kids sleeping and they walked off. This obviously didn't stop it and I fear that I encourage the future episodes by chasing after them.

So now they're doing it more. So how do I deal with this? On one hand, I was a jerk kid. Am I overreacting in my old age on the other hand 10 is too many times and I feel like I have to do something how old do they have to be to give them the business next time I catch them or do I call them virgins from the front lawn as they run off and call it a day I mean I hate to be like the narc in this deal but you know there enough ring video systems or simply safe where you could just show it to a parent and go on?

I'm reaching my breaking point. We're going to put bear traps out here late at night. That was my thought, like some booby traps. Yes. Like, you know, like a late at night, right? Yeah. Nine o'clock. Amazon's not dropping anything off.

You're not, you know, you're not going to be sued by UPS or FedEx. Just a lighthearted booby trap, I think, would be good. That means you have to set it every night for like a month. He's ready to do that. He's here. He's here. Put up a sign that says, don't come on this porch. Aren't you covered?

I just can't imagine. I mean, maybe this is different as a kid, but when an adult chases you and grabs you, doesn't that kind of end it? That makes you worse? Next stop, Worldstar. If an adult grabs you today. Who do you think was the worst kid out of the three of us?

Oh, God. That was a lot. Actually, I'm not sure. I mean, I wasn't like a chirper, though. You might have been the worst kind of worst kid. No, I was Mally, but I wasn't a bad kid. Like, I wasn't pulling pranks on people. I was just talking some smack to people at the Y playing hoops.

I wasn't like, you know. Oh, that's it? I thought you were in the hallways in high school. Yeah. Sick Aniche James. What were you like at 7 or 8? Although, you know what? Honestly, now that we're talking this out, I think I've told on the pod before, I did

invent catfishing on MySpace. You solved gambling and invented catfishing. So honestly, the answer might be me. I can't believe you're not more famous. The answer might be me. So yeah. That's right. You invented catfishing. I can't believe you're not more famous. The answer might be me. So yeah. That's right. You invented catfishing.

I did. 2007. MySpace. Wasn't the movie already out before then? No. No. No. Okay.

Actually, no. 2004. Sorry. 2004. MySpace. MySpace. MySpace. Now, okay.

I'm trying to get my MySpace brain right here. Now I believe you. Okay. This one is right in my wheelhouse. Friend dating female music star. Trust me. We'll understand why here in a second. You're like, wait, is it? Listening to the discussion you were having about guys lying about their athletic resume.

We've gotten a lot of these lately. We have a friend, not a core guy, who's dating a major female music star. We believe he was able to pull this off because his Instagram bio says he's a former MLB baseball player. The problem is he only played pro ball for a couple years and never made it past single A. We laugh every time her former MLB player boyfriend is mentioned on TV or on the internet. How has no one in the music industry world

Googled our friend's resume to discover he never made it close to the big leagues? Do people in the music business not know the difference between the majors and single A? Yes. I mean, can you imagine a music exec being like, what, short season single A or long season? He gave me the names. I'm not sharing. I looked them up, never heard of them. I didn't even know who she was, so I'm not super locked in on this couple. Okay, you know what? We're going to save this and answer them both at the same time because I actually think this is a good combo here.

Okay, because this is like the same category. Bear with me. Hello, mid-30s, 5'11", 215, 295 bench, 475 squat, 545 deadlift. I don't understand how in your mid-30s you've never hit 300 before, but I know the two-and-a-half plates never look cool. But that was an aside. That wasn't in the email, that was just me. Alright. Plenty to get that

bench number over 300. Okay, cool. I grew up in Canada in a big time hockey family. Dad was a junior coach. Both uncles played pro hockey. My dad played for an old timers team with multiple former NHLers. I played junior hockey. Then worked as a grad assistant with a D1 team before finally ending my sports

aspirations after one year of cutting together video for an NHL team. All right, that would make sense. NFL, really quick pivot. So all right, so you worked in the front office for a year, it sounds like. That's all to say that I am acutely aware of where I fall on the hockey career spectrum and would never try to make myself look like some kind of special former player. I now find myself in a bit of a predicament.

I'm a film producer and screenwriter who recently entered into a partnership with a veteran writer, director, producer. I've known him for a few years now, and prior to this working relationship, we discussed sports, and it came up that I played hockey growing up. Unfortunately, being more of a basketball guy,

he didn't really know what junior hockey was. And for those that don't know, you kind of like, it's like professional, but it isn't. It's like minor league, and you host families and the whole deal. And that's why like guys that play juniors and then they go to college because they're not good enough right out of juniors to be in the NHL. There's like a 23 year old guy in your dorm room your freshman year. And you're like, where, where are you from? Like, oh, like a town you can't pronounce. All right. So he mentions to him, I guess they were in a pitch and he

said that they were in a pitch and he was like, we were with film finance or studio execs and he said, I was a former pro hockey player. After the first time I mentioned to him that I'm not a former pro hockey player, but he basically brushed me off. So what do I do here? He's 30 years my senior, has made dozens of movies. He's basically on and on and on here being like, this is an unbelievable professional relationship. I don't think him telling directly

in front of anyone that I'm not a pro hockey player is going to go over well. Do I just do nothing and hope that we never run into someone who actually knows enough about hockey to ask a follow-up question? That's what I've been doing so far

and it sucks. All right. Here's why I read both of those at the same time. So thank you for hanging out during that monologue. Everybody wants to believe it. That's the thing.

Is that this guy, you told him you're not a pro hockey player and he doesn't want to believe you. So now he's not going to say anything to anybody.

And the same thing is the country music girl. She doesn't care if it's real or not. It's just in the bio on Instagram, and I think that's the lesson in all this stuff. I'm not telling everybody to leave here and start lying all over the place,

but that's, I think, what happens here is that people just go, Oh, cool. I'm dating somebody, or I'm working with somebody that you may think is a pro athlete, and that's good enough for me. I agree.

We take the risks. He took the risk. It didn't work out because we're here. We all are talking about it, but it kind of did because he has anonymity. So I say take the risk. I was in a Latino fraternity. Take the risk. Ask me about it later. During the Q&A

we're going to have a specific 15 minute block for just Latino fraternity questions so that they don't... You were the treasurer, right? I was, yeah. I think that surprises a lot of people in the audience. Yeah, they sent me home with that money for the summer, and that was a terrible idea.

All right, let's crank it up here on this last one here, because that one, honestly, out loud, it felt a little flat, so I apologize. I just, I don't know, what else were we supposed to say these guys are out here just not lying left and right about being a minor league pitcher we had a life advice recently about like the the texas a&m guy right and yeah but he i'm sort of okay with little lies on the edges here if it makes everybody feel better you know i know what's the what's the congress george santos or whatever don't don't do that don't like work your way into congress by telling everybody. Who knows? I don't know. I'm not

advocating that, but a little white lie on the edge that makes everybody feel better. I don't know, man. I'm okay with that. I just don't think if you're sitting there and this guy's getting you into the movie industry, which is hard enough to begin with, and he's out there pitching and telling HBO that he's sitting next to a pro hockey player, there's a pretty good chance the person that's listening to all these pitches at HBO isn't

super locked into NHL rosters of the previous 15 years, I think you're going to be okay. It's probably fair. Like, all right, it's this family, but like, wait a minute, did you get called up in Calgary in 01? It's not going to happen. Do you think baseball is the biggest players in that pie chart who fabricate this?

Yeah, because there's a million minor league guys. Like, you can't really do it. I mean, the minute I met somebody who's like, I played some semi-pro basketball, I'd be like, what, you filled out a thing and wrote a check for $45 and you went to Springfield, Mass. for a one-away game? Like, come on, man.

Not quite. Yeah, seriously. It wasn't on TV. All right, last one here. Polyamorous apartment neighbor. Wait. 6'1", 200, been in and out of the gym the last several years, but do play some pickup

basketball from time to time. Not a pro. Say my playing style resembles a way shorter Kyle Anderson. So you're not athletic. Poor Kyle Anderson. Just everybody who writes in their player comp, just say I'm not athletic. Because you're not as good as Kyle Anderson because he's actually awesome at basketball. It just doesn't look that great.

A lot of dudes do that. Poor Kyle Anderson. We should have him on. That should be our next. We just apologize. All of us. All right. Recently moved to an apartment building.

Trust me, this would be a good one to end on. A good friend of mine, my aunt and uncle actually own the unit. I've lived in it before, so I was somewhat familiar with the building. The demographic of the building tends to lean towards 60 plus. I've certainly not seen anyone younger than me since moving in a few weeks ago. I'm 25. Naturally, my roommate and I had a fear of being neighbors with someone older who would have been nothing but a pain in our ass the whole time. But on the first week we moved in, I was unlocking our door, and I heard footsteps coming towards me.

but on the first week we moved in I was unlocking our door and I heard footsteps coming towards me I figured this could possibly be the person who lives across the hall from us so I waited up before entering our apartment and sure enough it was our neighbor across the hall we can call her Jane if I knew what would transpire in the coming weeks I would have taken longer but all I really noticed is that she was 60 70 years old had purple hair and glasses had a quick chat, and I mentioned we had just moved in, and she said we would love to hear pretty standard conversation. Good start. A couple days later, there's a postcard slipped under our door from Jane, echoing the welcome to the building,

informing us the maintenance guy for the building lives next to us. Overall, a really nice gesture. My roommate and I figure we need to return the favor, so about a week later, I go grab some flowers and write a little... That's aggressive. Just send a neighbor's flower. Wouldn't have been on my to-do list after that postcard. Right.

Okay, so that's nice. Maybe this guy's nicer than the rest of us. Grab some flowers, write a thank-you note for the card, and joy. I sign it from my roommate and I. The same day... She's efficient, Jane. Jane slips another card under the old door frame and on the envelope of the card she informs us

that she has two boyfriends and she loves both but only has sex with one due to this she calls herself unisex and said she made up the term to look cool for her daughters she made up that term? and she never shopped for a hat just a new thing I invented

patent-pending don't do a lot of online shopping Jane all right she said he made up the term the inside of the card thanks us for the flowers she mentions how she can't wait to meet my roommate and also infers that he could be my partner um so she we're pretty certain that she thinks that we're in a relationship and it's just the roommate my question is where the hell do we go from here i'm a taken man but my roommate is single she was sending out feelers for us does she just think we're gay and is open about how open and sex positive she is we stood pat on val Valentine's Day. That was good to lay out on that day. Smart.

We had some ideas, but couldn't bring ourselves to pull the trigger on anything. Second card is attached. These cards are lovely. Very well written. Okay, here's what I'm just going to tell you because I'm in this weird age range. Older people that are horny

are really weird. people that are horny are really weird. They don't care about anything anymore. They're like, I'm going to be dead in like 15 years, so why am I going to not be forward about this? So she

doesn't know. She's not looking at the scattering report. She doesn't even care about the scattering report. She's just going to throw it out there. And she probably threw it out to the people who lived there before you. She's going to throw the scouting report. She doesn't even care about the scouting report. She's just going to throw it out there. And she probably threw it out to the people who lived there before you. She's going to throw it out to the people who live after you. And if she gets a no, she's cool with no's. No's do nothing to her. Because she's 70.

Yeah, I mean, I agree with everything Ryan said. How weird will you be at 70, Kyle? I thought actually, I think I'll be normal at 70. If I make it to 80, I'm pulling the ripcord. Right. I'm going to try stuff. I'm going to try. I can't even.

I'm just going to try stuff. You're just going to try. Whatever's going on when you're 80, whatever's popular, you're going to be in. 80 up, yeah. If I make it to 80. That's fair. That coat scares the shit out of me. But I.

Holy shit. All right. personal shot. Oh. Sorry, we should have... Ryan got scared out of wearing his coat because somebody said he looked like Bane earlier, so he... Well, I... Russian oligarch was thrown around, yeah.

Yeah. The idea you think I would think Bane is an insult. Anyway, I don't know. I think you could just be... I mean, all right, Kyle, what's the weirdest living situation you've ever had? Seriously. They've all been pretty...

No, it was when I... It was... No, and I made it weird. It was when I just moved a guy in who was like my buddy who slept on my couch for eight months. And I didn't really have a plan. I was like, I told him him like a year before you should come on out here uh he came for the weekend and like i knew he was staying but we kind of build it to the roommate that i really

didn't know that well that's right right you had a roommate you didn't like and you wanted your friend to live with you i didn't love him i didn't not like him but yeah i didn't love him i was he couldn't love that deal though no but he stuck it out for eight months and it's my fault because i didn't have the balls to be like can you leave because you don't you don't have the right to say that to somebody like hey i want you to go so we just this guy just stayed on the couch for eight months um until he was just like hey so i think i'm gonna get out of here and i was like oh okay all right you sure you acted like it was a surprise yeah like really are you sure and yeah i mean that was a surprise. Yeah. Like, really?

Are you sure? And yeah, I mean, that was probably the worst I've ever felt, and that was the strangest. Otherwise, it's been pretty good. Yeah. No, I had a... So I had this one... What else?

All right, I'll keep it quick. When I was 19, I got tossed out of school. My dad started charging me rent. I couldn't believe it. Little did I know, he was gonna give me all the money back, but he wasn't gonna let me, you know, know that, so I did a whole thing. I wrote it out. Yeah, I know he was going to give me all the money back, but he wasn't going to let me know that. So I did a whole thing. I wrote it out. Yeah, I wrote it out. Like,

here's how much it's going to cost. He's like, yeah, sure. I'm sure that number is correct. So I went with my buddy, Polly Piff, who was couch surfing at a time. We got a house on Academy Street in Poughkeepsie. And we were just, there was all sorts of people. Like, that's the parolees i mean a different parolee but yeah like there was just a bunch of bunch of people going in there there were dudes knocking on the door looking for polypiff all the time he owed money all over town he didn't pay the electric bill and i was like well that's not fair but the electric bill was in my name but i was young is anybody writing this down so i didn't i didn't pay it i had

800 to the electric company central h Central Hudson doesn't fuck around. I think I got that paid off three years ago. That was the weirdest situation ever. There were dudes with bats knocking on the door looking for Polly Piff.

That was the weirdest one ever. I think the lesson here is that our emailer, it's a lot easier to tell the neighbor no than it is an electric company.

Electric company eventually is going to get their way. Yeah, they find you. Anything to add to that? Not a ton. I mean, the Kyle stories, man. I'm sorry. We just learn these new little nuggets every single time we talk to you. Yeah, that one may have been mentioned

before, but not in so... No, this Piff guy. What's he up to now? He's alive. Did you ever feel like he's got a daughter? Did you ever feel... Because I remember... Yeah, I did feel in danger, yes. So you were just like, hey, this guy's like... And my room was facing the street And I was like That's not good

So it was Yeah Alright Let's do this Do you want to do the Q&A? I don't know How we're setting this up In the back there

I almost feel like We should keep Kyle out here for it Yeah we do Yeah Let's just do the Q&A We'll line up over there And then we'll do pictures And enjoy the rest of the weekend Utah

Thank you so much What's up guys Awesome to see ya Just gotta say I once emailed about working at Taco Bell I brought my work uniform here Thank you for the shout out They let you keep that? Get an answer later uniform here. Thank you for the shout out. They let you keep that? Can answer it later.

Sorry, nervous as balls. What did you say? No, I mean, is that like on the way out, they're like, you can take it? Or did you steal it? Nope, just you get to keep it. That's great. Currently out of the job, kind of like I was on paternity leave with Taco Bell. It's a lot shorter than Spotify. That's great. Currently out of the job, kind of like Sudhri.

I was on paternity leave with Taco Bell. It's a lot shorter than Spotify. Yeah. Fair. Anyways, the question is, speaking of kids, got two kids. Number one wasn't bad, kind of like you were saying. Number two has wrecked me. And I've heard a lot of people say, always like when they're older, like, I wish I had more kids.

But right now, it's like, whew, it's heavy. So, any advice I'm going for more kids are just saying, draw the line. You've made it. Just roll with what you got. Ryan? I was going to say, right, yeah. Go ahead, Saruti.

My wife and I, we were like a hard two, and that was really it. And I feel like the thing about kids, though, is like, and should I just say this? I've kind of like beat it up. Our segment we were talking about last night? Yeah, this is going to be popular. We're three months in, and it's not that hard right now. I'm going to be honest.

It's not that hard. We wanted a title of podcast, Is Parenting Overrated? Yeah. Just to see what would happen. And I had a couple of buddies tell me before, they're like, eh, it's not that bad. Sleep. I think it obviously depends on the kid, but it's one of three things right now. She's either hungry, she's got a diaper, or you got to feed her or whatever. So I would say, obviously the long play is when your kids get old and you see them growing up, that's awesome. You have more of them. Like, one of them is probably more likely to be successful, probably take care of you later in life.

So if that's kind of your thing, like, yeah, sure, have, like, five kids. One of them will probably be successful and you'll be good to go. The next 20 years will probably suck. But you've got to kind of balance that. Like, I know I want a hard two, no more than that. Good public school system. Yeah. So we're good to go.

So four kids, private school. that. Good public school system. Yeah, and we're good to go. Four kids, private school. Because he out-fired public schools. If you said you're miserable right now and you feel like you're just in the shit, I would probably say maybe hold off for a bit. Give yourself a little time to breathe. Find you a little bit. Have a couple hobbies.

But yeah, man, I guess you have to figure out what your long-term play is. I agree with him. As a dad, yeah. Can we get Kyle a Jack and Coke? No, we're at the end. Yeah, we are at the end. He gave me a look when I ordered with him. As a dad, yeah. Can we get Kyle a Jack and Coke? No, we're at the end. Yeah, we are at the end. He gave me a look when I ordered one earlier.

I didn't give you a look. I didn't really care, to be honest with you. I think I'm very pro you in your preparation for the show. Thank you. I'm not yelling today. That was my biggest fear. Thank you. All right.

Mine's way less of a life advice and more of an NBA question. Just an overall vibe check on the Chris Ball status. How are we feeling going into this? I think it could not be addressed at the All-Star break. Yeah, no, I'm happy to address it. He and I are both thrilled about our chances, our prospects. We both agree that they're going to have just unlimited nasty looks offensively. Their defense doesn't have to be special.

And everybody else is hurt too. So let's ride. Jumps right back into the Clippers' good roster, but we'll see where it goes type status? I don't know. That sounds almost insulting. I don't know what that means. No, not by any means.

Jumps into the Clippers roster? I mean, a very solid roster. All-stars all around. Obviously nothing like Kevin Durant. Oh, wait. Are you talking about... You're saying you thought he jumped into an easy situation with the Clippers? No, no.

Not by any means. I'm saying... No, I'm saying by any means. The Clippers bet this guy because we're about to get a tag on. I'm kidding. No, I'm saying that a very good roster and we're post-All-Star break. Let's see where it goes. No, I think, look, I think if they're healthy, they're better than everybody else in the West.

I just do. But this health bet, that's kind of the way I keep talking about it. I know I'm a little repetitive about it, but Boston for the most part is a really good health bet. I think Milwaukee's still a good health bet, despite it drew in then Middleton's up-and-down-ness and missing out on it last year, because Giannis is just, like, that's the guy I'm the most scared of,

of anybody in the playoffs. Philly's probably a bad health bet. Memphis is a good one, I think, because their guys are younger, but I still can't believe they're playing this poorly without Adams. And Denver, like, honestly, I think without Michael Porter Jr., it's nice if they have him.

I'm always worried about him. I think Murray's looked awesome now for a couple months. So Phoenix is probably on the lower side with the age and Durant and with Chris Paul. And actually, like, Booker not exactly being clean throughout all this. But, you know, to sit there, if you were on TV, on Countdown, going, if they're healthy, if they're healthy. It gets annoying. It gets repetitive. It's not that

insightful. But if you're just talking about their options, I think they're going to be scary. I think you've got to get out of jail free card because if the Suns are healthy and don't win it, Chris Paul's not getting blamed. Kevin Durant's getting blamed. We'll see. I don't know.

I think the Chris Paul approval rating... Here's the thing. If I don't know. I think the Chris Paul approval rating... I mean, here's the thing is that if you don't like Chris Paul, you're not going to then be fair. If we're ranking whose blame it is, he's not at the top. We'll see.

I imagine I'm going to get shit no matter what. I'm ready. We'll be right back after this word from State Farm. Okay, you ready? Alright, guys. I've been prepping for this for a while. I hit the gym today, and I was making some notes in the Notes app, so I felt pretty prepared. Great.

I can do this all day long, but I got a quick question for Ryan. As you can see, we're brethren in the bald head space. What's the best way to shave my head? I've done a couple different methodologies. I started just ripping the, like, ripping a zero. Cleanup took forever. I had to, like, get a, I have kind of like a, kind of like a weird gym shower in my house. It's got, like, you walk around the corner. So I would bring my full-length mirror, throw it in the corner,

like, break out the clippers, make sure they're charged, make sure I had the broom with me, shave my situation. Did you just go bald last week? Like, you're just... No, I... It looks like you've probably been through this process now for a little while. You haven't go bald last week? Like you're just... It looks like you've probably been through this process now for a little while.

You haven't found a comfort zone? No, I just had tried different things. I did that for a while. I think getting married is probably the best bet. I got married before I went bald. Smart move. I kind of knew... Yeah, I knew where it was headed. Yeah, no, I have a friend like that who is miserable, but he's like,

she's probably the best I was going to do. Like, I was definitely out of my league before i got married and now it's like i get some weird comments uh look i mean you know uh it's always a weird thing to go through those of us that get it get it right guys um that first moment where you're like am i really gonna fucking do this and then you do it and you're like, I should have done that a while ago. I guess for me, it's a sink. I live alone, and I don't care. But do you use clippers? Are you wet-shaven with the clipper? No, I've never gone like shave, shave it,

because maybe I still, you know, I'm still fighting it a little bit. You're thinking about going to Turkey? Why, the Turkish basketball player? No, they do like the hair replacements. Oh. Is this like the Kobe knee replacement thing? Yeah. Is this guy a plant? Just go up there and fuck with

his hair for ten minutes. No, I mean, I think a lot of guys being potent, I joked about sending away for the DVD information. You know? Did you ever send away for that DVD? A couple of Bosley brochures. I remember, look, I still hate this doctor in Boston. I was in my late 20s.

I was like, something's going on up there. I was like, can I get on that Propecia stuff early, get in front of this? He was like, no. And then I remember

somebody else saying like, well, at least it's not on TV or anything. And I was like, yeah, except that I am. So, you know. Look, all I would say is that whatever works for you,

make sure those arms stay nice and big. There we go. Thank you so much for that. Hey, Ryan, just want to say thanks, man. I think you do an incredible job. I travel a lot for work, travel all over the country. I love how authentic and genuine you are with your takes, and that's why the one thing that's always been a dig at me

is your Nebraska football takes. I come all the way from Indiana, but you've been right about Nebraska, Bo Pelini's nine-win record. You are spot on that. With that said, with Matt Rule at the helm now, I grew up in the 90s, 94, 96, 97. Yeah, it's never happened again. So you had it four years.

I agree with you. Okay, all right. Where do you see the next 10 years of Nebraska football? Great NIL operation going. Trev Alberts running the show. Feel really good about it. Big Ten West is terrible. I'll let you go with it.

Yeah, I mean, the Big Ten West part of it, and, like, you know, look, it's so funny because throughout the years of doing this, it'll seem like to Nebraska fans it'll be like oh you're making it personal it's something about us do you think I actually have moments where I'm thinking about like man I really want to make Nebraska mad today or like oh Nebraska doesn't like me and then it just kind of cycles out like I'm in this Timberwolves thing right now whatever it's like no no no no that that guard was awesome I know they traded him for no reason, but, you know, he's awesome. The Big Ten West is your only hope. I just don't know how Nebraska's a destination.

I think that there was a run there with Osborne, and I think what they were doing with the offensive linemen, they were way ahead of everybody else in a bunch of ways of developing those guys. And this isn't even me talking. This is me asking about the people that were covering it back then. So like the Nebraska thing, look, I don't know if Miami's there. I mean, how many times are we doing this? I think there's just some of these programs that there's this standard that people want to believe is possible, obtainable again. I think they can be a team that can fight in the West, which maybe isn't even saying that much, but you got to start beating some good

teams. And that was my whole Pelini thing, is that you fall out of bed in the Big Ten West when he was there and that out of conference. And it's like if you don't get eight or nine wins, that's a joke. And then as soon as they played somebody good, black shirts and all, they get smoked. Again, you've already heard all these things before, so I'm sorry to do it to you again in front of a live audience. But I think Rule's a terrific – look, I think Rule's – what he did at Baylor was incredible. I think you have somebody that is probably thrilled to be back in college

because I think there are college and pro guys and there's not a lot of overlap there. But, you know, I just don't know how you're going to keep pace. Ohio State and the way Michigan recruit, I don't think Nebraska is attractive right now the way those other schools are. All right. Real quick, Ryan, I can't see the end of this line. How many more do you want to do?

I can't see the end. Also, that Jack and Coke was not a joke. Yeah, the Jack and Coke was not a joke. So let's hook up Kyle, because now I'm starting to feel bad after he looked at me after that Jack and Coke comment. What's up, man? Hey, I'm assuming that this audience doubles up both on your podcast and on Bill Simmons

I imagine question for you and Kyle does Bill does he still like football because I feel like every time he had to do football this entire year it was like a nuisance and maybe that's because the Patriots aren't relevant or

I think the Pat's thing has something to do Kyle you worked on Sunday I didn't ever even... Kyle, you're the one... Suri, you worked on Sunday Pods, didn't you? I'm going to let Kyle take this one. Bill loves football and I love Bill. Go Pat.

Hey guys. This is a big moment for me. I've been listening to you since the NBA today days. I was in seventh grade. Big fan. Wow. Over half my life. Thanks, man.

It's just a fact. And I'm just happy to be here. So I was a member of the predominant religion here for all my life until a couple months ago. So I've yet to order an alcoholic beverage in my life. So what's a good first... A good introduction into the alcohol life as a 27-year-old... Never drinker before. Is it?

Is it? Hey! Jack and Coke. Let's go! That's yours. I don't want it. That's yours now, my friend. Jack and Coke it is, I guess.

Jack and Coke. What about for number two? Is there a good? Not, not. I just want some options. Cut him off. I know that there are a lot of options out there. I'm just curious.

Kyle needs another one. Yeah, we need another one for Kyle. That was amazing timing. I'd start with a beer. That's all I'd say. Yeah, I wouldn't have started with a Jack and Coke. Where we all start. When you should have started.

You start with a beer. Yeah. Coors Light. King of beers, bud. Coors Light. King of beers, Bud Light. Bud. Coors, thank you. Yeah, let's edit that out. Shit.

Bud Heavy. All right. Congratulations. Is that a High West hat? Is that the High West hat or no? That's a Utah hat. All right. I can't pull's the Utah hat. All right. I can't pull off that rope hat.

Congratulations. All right. Hey, guys. First off, welcome to Utah. Thank you. Second of all, to the guy, I don't want to ball shame anybody, but it's not that complicated. It's a razor in the shower. It's fine.

It works. Third of all, what's that? Nope, we're not doing that. Third of all, Ryan, I wonder if you would take us down, what, three and a half, four years ago? I just would love to hear a little bit more about what brought you to the ringer after leaving ESPN, having the options, contacts, and networks that you do throughout the industry. Like what did you see at the ringer then? What do you see at it now? And what brought you here so that we can listen to it all the time?

Yeah, I mean, there's a really long version of this, which I'm usually guilty of doing to Saruti, so I'm not going to do it here. Look, I mean, to be totally honest, it was what I didn't see at ESPN anymore for me in particular. I grew up in an age where I would watch Craig Kilbourne do the same sports center four times in a row. I would watch it four times in a row and laugh at the same joke four times. We used to have drinking games in college where we would name anchors and people would argue

whether or not Bill Pito was an anchor anymore if he was an on-site reporter as like a drinking game. I mean, this is dumb. We used to crank call, once we figured this out in college, we would crank call anchors and just heckle them. Like it was so, it was one of the all-time, it was before Twitter, it was like the all-time loser move of just leaving voicemails for these guys. So the point is, is that even though I really didn't want to be on the air, or maybe I thought I did in the beginning, once I got a tryout at ESPN, like I couldn't believe my name was on the pass. I couldn't believe like I was walking the hallway. And it's just like the old SportsCenter ads

where, you know, I was there on a Saturday and Lou Holtz is next to me at the cafeteria and we're watching like a noon game because I was in there on a Saturday for doing something and he's eating two hot dogs. And I'm talking about the kick against Boston College in 1993 that it was a UVM soccer player who transferred to BC and Lou Holtz had never heard that

and so all of these moments were you know I don't do a very good job of like in the moment of appreciating everything I think a lot of us can be guilty of it I know I am because I was thinking about the next thing but I was just I would have these moments where I was like this place I can't believe it and like now I'm on air

and then I would be on SportsCenter and Scott and I became friends and now I get my name on the show but it just it wasn't going where I wanted it and like now I'm on air and then I would get be on SportsCenter and Scott and I became friends And now I get my name on the show But it just it wasn't going where I wanted it to go like I was capped I was capped I would talk about it with him and they were like nah Like when somebody who's in charge of your career says you're not a star, you know, like alright Well, then what am I doing here? So that was pretty much it. I've known Bill since I think oh three He called in to a local Boston show that I was doing. And he just started messing with us.

He was like, I can't believe they let the interns on. And I was like, obviously, I've let that go 20 years later. And so, you know, just Bill and I knowing each other for a really long time. And I think there's a personal part of it that I just shared with you. There's a trust part of it that I obviously have with Bill. But there's also an industry part of it that's incredible. Because every time your contract was up at ESPN, it's really hard for us to also be honest with you. It's sometimes like a breakup.

It's like, I don't care. You would see somebody and then like a week later you're like, what? When you're up at ESPN and you're coming down to that decision to go do something else. I had a couple different options and contracts are up and I go are you ready to never walk the hallways again like I would be watching Sports Center getting ready to start my day and I'd go are you ready to like have this be over like you're done and at year three I wasn't ready at year six I wasn't ready you're nine year twelve and then finally year 15 I was like I think

I am okay with it now and the great thing was I was okay I was totally okay I wasn't lying to myself I didn't really ever miss it and a big part is because the industry has changed so much there back then it's like man if you leave you're done you're gonna disappear and they knew that in every negotiation and they should have done that to every one of us because they would always be like it's not you it's the channel like if you're gone we'll put somebody else on and they'll still listen to our channel. And they were right.

And what this medium has done, what the advancements in technology, what this has allowed some of us to do, luckily, is that it's you, it's not the channel. And if this didn't exist, I'd be at ESPN for another 10 years, so I got lucky. If this didn't exist, I'd be at ESPN for another 10 years. So I got lucky.

I once again cannot see the end of this line. I ask you again, sir, how many more do you want to do? Well, do you want to leave? I'm just asking you how many. I cannot see the end of this line. No, let's... It's only three more people? No, the third guy wants you to say that. Respect that.

You almost got him, dude. I mean, look, we started after two. It's six? Six. Okay, so then let's do six more. All right, six more. No, I mean, look, we're only like an hour ten in, so I don't want to, hey guys, 30 minutes, the worst concert ever.

Leave. What's up, man? Kyle Ryan Roots. Roots. Thank you. 59200, virgin. Proud virgin. Proud virgin.

Anyway, just want to thank you guys first. The past two years of my life have been the hardest, and you guys have made it significantly easier with the pod, so thank you for that. My question, Ryan, is for you. I think I might stump you on this one if you could choose one of these three things to happen immediately

what would it be so the first is Chris Paul winning a championship the second is to relive late 90s early 2000s Big East basketball and the third is to have your late 90s Durango sound system in your current vehicle.

Or you could power rank it like a bang, marry, kill kind of thing. Yeah, right. Well, the thing is, is that sound system would be outdated now. I think there was like a weird dolphin graphic. And I was like, this is so badass. LED. It wasn't even LED. I don't even know what that was. Like Nat Geo 16 bit dolphin. And somebody would get in and be like, you paid extra for the dolphin? And I'd be like, you wouldn't?

I'm serious, I gotta look that up again. So that system would be outdated, even though that dolphin was sweet. Where you messed up was late 90s biggies, because I am a St. John's, Walter Berry, Chris Mullen. So mid-80s St. John's was my... I still get sad about it. So yeah, I would rather Chris Paul win a title

out of those three options. There we go. Thanks, guys. Because he's a winner. Just hasn't won yet. Hey, what's up? My name is Alan. Big fan since the SBP days. It's been my favorite thing. I'd always just go out to lunch and just listen to you guys in the car. Appreciate

you. My question is, oh sorry, 511, 210, 1K Club, pretty good. Nice. He shook his head. That made my world, by the by the way anyway so my question is you always compare people to other people's games i've been compared to jameer nelson that's my basketball game may i have your comparison that someone now oh i don't yeah that's what i want to know buy out disgruntled kevin love um your peak your peak and and then right now. My game is so weird. I cannot express to you how weird my game was

because my dad was 6'5". He played, not in pros, but minor league pitcher, so he's a pro pitcher. And so I had to figure out how to get my shot off against him in the backyard for years and years and years. So I had to figure out how to do it. So I would watch McHale and I'd do all these post moves. And it was hilarious because I wasn't the biggest dude,

but then I could post up everybody because I had all of that up and under shit. You got that Jalen Brunson game now? No, like Shingun. Shingun. But not now. Not now, but then I would... It depended on what would happen.

Sometimes I'd play point guard, sometimes I'd play center. So it never really made any sense. I would say I was one-on-one. Built different. God bless. Appreciate you. Thank you. Thanks, Danny.

I think in basketball-related, Utah, probably not the best pickup basketball, but probably the most underrated. So I got a good pickup game in the morning. I know you're a morning workout guy now. I'm out of here. I'm going to Park City tonight. Next time you're here.

Next time you're here. I had a lot of advice, but there's an elephant in the room that I wanted to clarify. I wanted to hear how the hangout was. You guys got together. Tell him. You tell him.

You tell him what you did. Suri came out to dinner with me last night in Park City. Kyle, what time did you get here last night? 8.30. Yeah, okay. So that's not on me. I heard you went to bars, guy. We went to...

Plural. We went to a place you would like a lot. How much would Kyle like shuckers? I'd love to hear that. Yeah. Oh, shucks? Oh, much would Kyle like Shuckers? Love to hear that. Yeah. Oh, Shucks? Oh, somebody said it was Shuckers. Sorry.

Kyle would have loved that place. No name. He would have loved no name. I think no name is a little high end for him. Did you want to hang out with your buddies last night, or did you want to come to Park City? I wanted you to make the trip for once in your life to come and see me. Into Salt Lake? Yeah. That's what I wanted. to make the trip for once in your life to come and see me. Into Salt Lake?

Yeah, that's what I wanted. Easy no, hard no. We're going to hang out tonight though. We are. So that's why I didn't do it last night. And really quick in honor of when you used to come on Spence Check It's show you had the best BYU basketball takes. Oh, I didn't hear it, but you had the best basketball takes for BYU, so I want to

know how you think Dallin Hall's game is going to translate to the Big 12. Still more work to do on my end because I don't want to get ahead of myself. Hey, so the peak of All-Star Weekend happened. Jordan Clarkson released his all-hands team. Did you guys see this? Didn't. James Johnson.

Are you the next guest? Or is there a show after this? James Johnson, Udonis Haslam, Steven Jackson, Matt Barnes, and Jordan Clarkson are his all-hands team, like, you know,

getting a fight. Oh, okay. So those five go on a desert island. Who comes off? Well, Johnson's, like, legitimately a badass, like a real guy. You know, I know after...

It was really funny. I love that Robert Evans book. We were talking about the offer real quick in that email where the guy wouldn't give his brother-in-law his password and everything. But there's this scene where Steve McQueen steals Robert Evans' movie producer's wife, Allie, I forget her name. So Allie Larder, is that right? He steals the wife, and so then Robert Evans is freaking out,

and he's got like connections to real like mob guys and the guy was like well look i'll look into it for you a little bit and robert evans goes to him he's like you know he knows karate and he goes bobby's a fucking actor so i don't know if the james johnson stuff is like he has all these techniques down but he doesn't because like if in a fight you can know what you but if the other guy's just like crazy yeah then you're probably still gonna lose no matter all of your jiu-jitsu techniques so uh matt barnes what he drove he drove to his families to confront but i'm gonna leave that one alone he and i are pretty cool actually i think i was on his side from the jump on that one anyway so he couldn't be mad at me about anything. Wait, what were the other five?

Haslam, Clarkson put himself on there, too. And Matt Barnes, Steven Jackson, and Udonis Haslam. I'm going to go Johnson still, because he's big, too. He's big on top of everything else. Would you have added anyone? Well, our test, if you want to start getting into how far will this go, he's a good pick. Rodman's so overrated. Jokic's brothers? I don't know. I'd feel better about it if

he went up with an offensive rebound against a smaller guy. Yeah, I'm trying to think. I'm trying to think who else. I don't know. Why would you pick Rodman in a fight? Really? That was weird to me. I don't know. Maybe, I don't know, people were scared of him. I wouldn't, I'm trying to think who else. He looked like he was going to lose it that one time. Antonio Daniels might be one. Remember when he went in the stands after somebody was heckling his wife and he's like the most laid-back dude ever and we got to know him a little bit? Yeah, I think Antonio Daniels would do some damage. But, you know, I don't know.

I don't know how tough any of these guys are. Is Allen Iverson number one all-time to cheat or play dirty in a fight? Like go for the balls and stuff, you think? Ball stuff? Yeah. or play dirty in a fight? Like, go for the balls and stuff? You think?

Ball stuff? See you later. See you, man. That was fun. Last question? Is this the last question? Ryan, I just want to say thanks for saying six, because Kyle was about to cut my ass out.

He kept looking at the line, and he was about to cut it out. And right when you said six, fist bump my friend back there. Well, you look good dressed up, Ben. I can't let that. I'll skip the stats. I wrote in a life advice a couple weeks ago. I was the one who knocked up

the head cheerleader twice, so I'm doing okay. Did we read it? What's that? Did we read the letter? You didn't read it. Now we all feel involved. You would have remembered. Sick, dude.'t read it. Now we all feel involved. You would have remembered. Sick, dude. That's it. There you go.

So my question, well more my frustration, I guess. So I listened to the Bill Simmons trade deadline talk. I can speak for everyone in this room. I listened for four hours to hear you talk about the jazzist perspective of the Lakers trade.

And I got to the end and you guys didn't say shit about it. So I was a little sad because it was so long. So I was just curious what your thoughts are on the 2027 pick and what they gave up for it. Well, look, you know, it is a little weird when you do these things forever. And then there's this idea, there's these make-believe rules that everything's supposed to be mentioned. Like on a Monday, it'd be like, you didn't even mention Niners Tampa? And you're like, where in the contract was it that everybody had to get a slice?

So to that one, I feel like we talked about that Lakers pick, not specifically to the Jazz, but we talked about it. We've been talking about it for so long, going all the way back to the Kyrie market, to the Miles Turner stuff, the Pacers, and then including it into some of the other things. And I just, you know, I couldn't understand the Lakers wanting to move a pick four years from this year's draft, not knowing who you're going to be. Davis isn't a good health bet. LeBron's going to be gone.

You can pretend, okay, the Lakers, they always get their guy. You know, sometimes they don't always get their guy you know sometimes they don't always get their guy you go back to the pre-lebron stuff what six to eight years without making the playoffs they couldn't even get free agents into closed meetings people were actually leaking how bad their presentations were maybe that's all different now with genie more in control palinka so we can give them a minute for the doubt the point is is that pick in 27 just to get off of westbrook and bring back his his hybrid clone cousin who can shoot a little bit better but still screws up all the winning and

losing plays over the course of a game to give up only a top four I mean to give up something that's only protected top four that's an incredible pick for Conley who I think we all like him it's's regressed pretty quickly. So it's a complete A across the board. I love what Ainge and seriously, Zanuck doesn't get nearly enough credit, man, for all the stuff that he has done with this team because Ainge comes in and it all goes under him. So that is my long answer to tell you it's an absolute no-brainer, and you are lucky to have a team that has a great owner in Ryan,

has great leadership, has a great coach, and actually went from disappointment from the regular seasons, the point differential, how good this team was, to the Gobert Mitchell thing not working out, and immediately having phase two figured out with all these assets. It's very rare, and I hope people understand how special this group is. I don't know if it's all going to work, but they're positioned. Thanks, Ryan. Can I just say, sir, I've been staring at your leg all night. You were like Larry David when he tripped Shaq.

I'm watching you wiggle your feet. You are just right at home, and I'm glad you had a good show. All right, again, hey, thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Saruti. Elizabeth. Thanks to Wiseguys for having us. Thanks for you coming out and making this happen. Enjoy the rest of All-Star Weekend.

Thanks again to State Farm. I want to make sure that they're happy. State Farm, there you go. And let's do this, Chris Paul. We'll talk to you guys in the summer. Thank you.