Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara - Shams Charania Talks Giannis Trade Deadline, Jayson Tatum Comeback and NBA All-Star Celebrity Game

Episode Date: February 19, 2026

NBA insider Shams Charania joins the show to talk about his insane screentime during the NBA trade deadline. Shams discusses the Giannis Antetokounmpo that never happened, the big deals that did go down at the deadline and the possibility of Jayson Tatum coming back from a torn Achilles this season. Plus, Shams recaps his performance in the NBA All-Star Celebrity game in Los Angeles, whether he’ll play again next year and how he’d switch it up to be better next time around.    New episodes of Throwbacks drop every Thursday. Make sure you’re subscribed on YouTube and following on all podcast platforms. Also, make sure you’re locked in on social @ThrowbacksShow on all platforms for highlight moments, bonus content, and to engage with the guys & the Throwbacks community. (http://throwbacksshow.com/)      A big thank you to our sponsors:    Wendy’s Get yourself a $4 Biggie® Bites, $6 Biggie Bag®, or a $8 Biggie® Bundle. Now at Wendy’s.  https://m-wendys.app.link/468biggiedeals  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What was that screen time like? It wasn't as high as maybe I thought it should be, but people still think I'm a maniac. This is Monday. Let's go Tuesday. You didn't sleep. Let's go Wednesday. Wednesday, 19 hours, 49 minutes. This is post-deadline.

Thursday's the end. Thursday, the end of deadline. 19 hours. Goodness. All right, welcome to another episode of Throwbacks. Please do us to solid. Follow us on all social media at Throwback Show. Go on YouTube at Throwback Show, subscribe, press that button.

It's free. I know people don't like pressing the subscribe button. You can trust us to do that. Man, so I'm solo today for now. I have someone who's going to back me up. But our own Matt Liner, Maddie Ice, is out. The injury report has been listed. He is out with the flu.

And now I get to imagine what it was like for Scotty Pippen, Michael Jordan just was like, hey, guys, I got the flu. I can't play. And sat out. And then who knew? Maybe Scotty Pippen would have still had his own version of the flu game where he was by himself. But I needed some backup because we're going to talk a lot of NBA today. And I can't think of anyone better besides Matt to talk NBA with our producer and also a very, very awesome voice, especially talking NBA.

Eddie Gonzalez, how you doing, Eddie? Thank you for coming. I mean, emergency quarterback situation. Next man up mentality, man. I appreciate the nice intro. I hope a good feeling for Matt. You know, Matt is the most prepared out of all of us every week, every single week. So it's crazy that he had to call the audible. But, yeah, I think we got a good show all the way. And it'd be fun. It's always fun to catch up NBA stuff with you, man. Yeah, and look, I know Matt's always down to talk NBA loves his Lakers.

But, you know, I think you and I lock into the NBA in a different way. Like, well, I'm watching, Like, I'm knee-deep in Hornets games right now. This is going to say, I'm like, con-cinnpled up right now. I'm just knee-deep in like, wow, the Hornets actually could really make a run at this thing. And, you know, I don't know if Matt's grinding Hornets games, like maybe you and I. But he'll hopefully be back soon and it's a 24-hour thing. It sucks being sick. Matt would be good.

You know how that goes with the fam. You got three kids there, the wife. Everybody's going to have to get sick a little bit. And pop usually gives it the worst is four years ago. Oh, it's a petri. Your house is a petri dish. There's rashes and snot everywhere. No, it's terrible.

But ironically, ironically, so our guest today, which you had a big hand in helping us with, and he's the best in the business right now. Our guy, Shams, the last time Shams came on throwbacks, I actually went live, is when the cat trade broke last year to the Knicks, right? And obviously, I was freaking out. And somehow, I think through Eric Well, and obviously I go way back with Shams too. He's a huge power fan.

I'm wondering when he comes on, he always has something he does every time he sees me, or whether it's in real life or digitally. Oh, he's definitely going to do it. He always starts off when he goes, yo, Brockta! Brokta! He's like he's channeling Tommy Egan or ghost.

He goes, brokta. So I wonder if he's going to hit me up with that. But the last time Shams came on, he was nice enough to come on right after the cat trade broke and talk to him. us Nick fans about it. Matt was in the air because that happened so fast and we got him. So Matt wasn't in.

So Matt is now 0 for two with Shams, not quite like Shams this week. Last weekend it was 0 for four in the celebrity game. But Lion is 0 for two with Shams appearances. So you guys go way back too, right? We do. We do. So Matt's never going to get his Liker Scoops. Right, right.

He's out. But yeah, me and Shams go back away. It was, you know, I was a fan. I was working in media kind of doing the beat all the same. And then when I had et cetera as a KD, I was like, we should just get them. And we went over it for weeks though because it's like, how crazy is it going to look? If you have an insider on your show and we're just like, let's just do it. Let's just see.

And he was down and funny enough, like I think Kevin owes him like an interview. You know, you do the favor for the favor. Sure. I think Kevin owes him an interview that he never got from back then. So I'm out of the nuts. and let him know, like, hey, man, you still, you still got to sit down with Shams. But now, Shams is a good dude. He's always on his phone, but great to have him here after the deadline and yab with him.

And quiet as kept, he had a little bit of a hand in, you know, Shams on everything. So I got a call one day back in the summer. He was like, hey, what's this hearing? What's this I'm hearing about you and Jerry Farrar show? Yeah. I was like, yo, how did you know this? He got a scoop. He got an entertainment scoop.

Y'all just had two combos about this ever, but he's, he's everywhere, man. You never know what this dude. And everyone's my whole call me asking me something. I'm like, Shams. If anybody knows this, you, why are you asking me? You know, that's probably like an old veteran trick where it's like, I'm going to take this info that I know that I'm going to act like I don't. I'm going to flush it over to Eddie and see if Eddie maybe overtalks about something.

Like, you know, I think that's a trick, man. I mean, that's a friendly trick. I don't think he's trying to throw you under the bus, but I think that's some savvy insider shit that he's hitting you with. I've definitely had a few convos walked away and said, wait, am I the source? Did I just tell him? Did I just tell him what's good?

But, no, he's great, dude. I met his family. I went to Chicago-Watown State with him and met his moms and his family, his brother. Great, dude. It's funny. Like, there's Shams, the insider that we see on TV. does like then there's like there's an actual human behind him so yeah i got to learn a lot about like

his origin story we were working on something together but hearing his stuff like in college like he would just leave class to like drive to milwaukee because he had a locker room pass and like that dude like was taking classes about like media in college while he was already an active participant blowing up with the job in the media so he's awesome dude he's gonna be coming up in a minute and we'll definitely recap All-Star with them and a little trade deadline stuff and now look into the summer. But All-Star weekend, L.A., you know, it's winding down.

A lot of people have been talking about it all week long. You were there. You were boots on the ground in L.A. So give us the kind of IRR review because I can tell you on TV, it still looked like every other All-Star game. I enjoyed the differences and I'll give my take on some stuff. But how to feel like to be there.

Yeah, I'm curious on your end too, because you got the little. guy who is like it was like me when I was seven and do everybody's batting at rich. I got a basketball. I love that. But, you know, it was a work trip for me where they recorded cousins with Vincent Tracy. So we're kind of busy with that. But you've been there and you know and you've been, I'm sure you've been to all star in LA too.

Everything is so far apart and so hard to get to. The traffic is awful. It's so corporate sponsored. Like it was kind of just like by the time the actual weekend starts, you're tired. like you're just over it. And a lot of people that are there for the work stuff, they leave Sunday, they don't even go to the game. It did not feel like a lot of buzz about All-Star in LA.

Now, I would say the crowd was great for the game. Saturday night is kind of iffy. Friday night's a dead show, right? Because that's when everybody wants to go out and go to dinner and have drinks. And like, they don't necessarily want to go to the Rising Star and the celebrity game, which we're going to talk about in a minute. It felt like Friday night was dead, but it felt like it got better each night. And I think like, you know, it's funny, it was odd times too.

So like some people's events were during like All-Star Saturday and stuff like. So it was just, you know, one thing I would say, and this is like a night like thing and this is like kind of first world complaint. L.A. closing at two changes a lot of the calculus. It just does. Because then you got to, you have to kind of go to a party at 10 or like you can't do the New York thing where it's like I'm kind of getting dressed at 12. I might be there by 12th 30. You know what I mean? So that changes a lot of the calculus, too.

So I always enjoyed that about L.A. because, like, I am one of those firm believers that nothing good happens after 2 a.m., like, for real. It just doesn't. And you can even say the same from midnight. So I always enjoyed that. And I wasn't like that much of a... I mean, I went out a lot.

But L.A., at least back in my run, was all about... You would see it when you go out to a club, right? Especially even during the entourage days when it hits like 1 o'clock. And you know, last... calls come in, the lights are going to come on. Nothing weird than walking out to him

and they just flipped a lot. And then, but where's the after party? And let me tell you, I've been to a lot of cool after parties, but also I've showed up to a lot of fake wrong in inverted, like fake addresses, like show up to a house and like Brentwood, like, why is there after party in Brentwood walk up to the door? I'm like, this is like a family's house. Someone's getting dogs right out. This is not a real

after party. After party ratio is not as high as it should be. It was cool the sense of the nightlife. I know D. Wade, C.P. and Mello, they do their big party every year. And I were Ligrade. I didn't go to supper club. There was a couple, there was a big Jordan party. It's always a big

Jordan party. Boardroom brunch was a hit as always. Wait, what would you say was like the number one of party slash event that would have been, this is, if you would advise someone, if you can get any invite, this is the invite you want to get. Okay. So I think the number one now

is the boardroom party, which is usually a brunch on Saturday. Everybody gets to meet Kevin, which is always exciting, but they always have a great guest list. Is Rich Holden Court? Is my guy climbing? Rich. Rich K.

He's doing this thing. He's working the room. They have Waleigh in there. They had Big Sean in there. There's a lot of cool people in there. They have Victoria Monet. It's like it's a chill vibe. It's in the day,

but you get to kind of rub shoulders with the stars. I think D. Wade and C.P. Their thing is usually a big deal too. That was like my boy called it, Black Truck Central. he was out because he told me like yo I'm hearing about the supper club thing I'm like yo that's the way's party you better know somebody you're not just walking in you're not getting it that's probably the hardest one to sneak into oh for sure oh for sure and I'll shout out

Jordan had like a block party Jordan usually does it really well uh so it was some good stuff the BAL party was at Lucia uh at Friday night which Lucy is kind of out the way yeah it was like everybody in their mom was there so that was kind of how I went Friday was that Saturday was that Saturday was D-Wayed. Sunday was the Spades in the game. So here I am. I'm not talking about any of the basketball. We talk about the party in all weekend.

Well, I think it's part of it, though. It's the part of the weekend that the fans don't get to see, right? But it's very much going on around you. But, yeah, we could talk about for a minute before we get Shams on here. Like, okay, so, you know, my, I think I feel, like we all, everyone's tried to figure out how to fix things with All-Star and why doesn't it work. And there's so many combinations of things. I'm a firm believer too that the actual All-Star game was so good in like the 80s and 90s into like early 2000s because this really was a lot of times that kids and young people would see these players nationally, right? Like you weren't seeing like Sean Kemp necessarily unless you watch highlights on ESPN like in a game.

You weren't seeing a lot of these guys nationally like we are now. There was national games, but we didn't get the kind of coverage. So, like, I think that these players in the 80s, 90s, early 2000s are like, I got to show up because this is literally the first time some people are seeing me. East Coast people don't really stay up for the West Coast games. West Coast people aren't really watching, you know, the magic at 4 p.m. back in 1997, you know? So I think that was like a perfect storm. But really what hit me was having like my almost 7-year-old is a full basketball nerd like me. Love it.

And this was the first time he was actually watching an All-Star. So I was explaining to him what the dunk contest was, the three-point contest, and then the actual game. The three-point contest he was fully enamored with. Dunk contest did not hold his interest at all. And the game was very interesting because what he was obsessed with was like, I can't believe Brunson's playing against Kat. Why?

How? I will say the three teams, which I think worked overall for like, you know, adults watching. Like, we, I don't, like, my son had a hard time following, like, there's two USA teams and, like, he just had a, who's on whose team. So maybe they could dial that in in a more distinct way and eventually drop it to two teams. I think that would be clean. But yeah, man, it's literally, to me, the All-Star game is really about the kids. Like, yes, it's for guys like me, but, like, you really want to make that special for kids. those are who are going to want to go watch it live

and those are people who I think are ultimately going to care the most. I do think that like this whole like Dame Lillard messaging stuff saying like let's get like let's literally make it like legendary. I think that's one thing.

I think Wemby being an absolute psycho person competitively like his look of disgust at Kat that every Nick fan has had while missing an assignment. I think add it like set the tone And similar, I think for like the dunk contest to me ever come back, you know, the NBA's a Star League. Like you need one guy, call it Anthony Edwards, right?

You need one big star who's super competitive like Wembe was to be like, screw this, I'm coming for it. Who's coming with me? And then almost like guilt them into doing it, you know? That's how I think it keeps going. That was my favorite arc of the weekend is Anthony Edwards went from, I don't care. I'm not going to play God to, like, whatever Wemby said in did, either previous or on the court, it woke him up and he said it. Wemby set the tone.

I want to beat them now. Then they came back late in that game. Let me ask you, though, because I'm biased. So the OGs, they beat both teams and then they lose to the youngans in the championship. But they're the only team that had to play three straight games. Did they get cheated? Did they get robbed a little bit? It doesn't set up well for them, I will say.

And now fortunately, like, you know, they're still, even though they're old heads, they're still in elite shape and that's not nearly the wear and tear of like an NBA game. But I mean, you couldn't make the argument that that setup did not favor them at all. Like they got to maybe figure out to get, yeah. But I don't think it was as taxing as a format that, you know, it really hit on them. But yeah, I mean, I think it's a cool wrinkle. Like, oh, now they got to go three in a row. It definitely didn't set up well for that. If they had one center, they might have won it.

They had Brown and Kevin playing center, and it was just no hope. But I had fun with it. And I went in, like, being pessimist NBA Twitter guy, and I ended up having fun. So I thought it was, I thought it was, look, dunk contests aside, which I think is always the asterisk now. Yeah. Good weekend. Well, we're going to do our, before we get to show on, I'm going to do our Wendy's fresh take of the week. And I'm going to tie this in, this is not, this is a definite fresh take for me, because I have an idea about the Friday.

night affair. So I was lucky enough to play in the celebrity game one time. Again, I used to love that event to watch. I thought it was really cool. We used to get obviously massive stars like Kevin Hart would play. I mean, Samuel Jackson played once before, right? I remember my year was in L.A. I think it was 17 or 18, whenever it was in L.A. And I take this stuff seriously. Any charity game or celebrity game I ever played in, I'm not even trying to win and trying to play proper basketball. I'm trying to I don't like people MVP hunting. So I show up to mine, and it was the year, I think Rachel Nichols was my coach. And I was in the starting line.

I was like me, T. Mack, Terrence Crawford, Michael B. George. Like, we had a squad, right? So I'm in the locker room. I'm in the locker room putting on, I was, we were the Lakers. I was putting on my purple. I had my Kobe Jordan threes. Remember the Kobe collab pack, the threes and eights? I bought the only time I ever wore the threes was in that.

gay and they never touched the floor ever since. They're behind me right there. That's the box. So I'm getting dressed and then I just hear a bunch of people like yelling and I almost hear like a bunch of women like screeching like oh my God, you know, like what? And I'm like, what the hell is going on? What is all this noise? And it's me and like Terrence Crawford in the room and someone else. And Caleb McLaughlin was in there. He was like nine years old at the time. And in walks Justin Bieber, who was not slated to be there. Right. And he walks in and he's like, yeah, man, can I get a jersey? I was going to play.

Walked in, Eddie, like he went to open wreck at some L.A. fitness gym and was like, hey, could I get next? Like, walked in and just was like, I'm going to play. Didn't get approval. Didn't get, like, ask beforehand, just showed up. And then I knew what was going to happen at that moment. I knew my ass was going to get benched because, but, too, I'm looking at the names. I'm like, they're not going to bench Mike B.

They're not going to bench Caleb. They're not going to bench T-Mack. And they're definitely not going to bench me. And sure enough, I got benched, and I think I played five minutes in the game. And we all had to watch Bieber go out there and do several through the leg. He basically turned into Hardin,

through the legs 19 times and like a quick first step. And I did manage to hit one three, but no one took it serious. Cuevo was MVP. He was MVP hunting. That's all he was trying to do. Oh, he definitely was. Terrence Crawford.

I missed my first shot. because Terrence Crawford actually made the proper pass and I missed it and he said, I'm not passing you the ball ever again if you're going to miss. Because he was so mad he actually passed the ball. Because no one passes the ball in this, right? Oh, and you can't say nothing to Bud Crawford.

I'm not saying no. All I say is thank you, sir. I'm not saying no. Don't pass it to me. You're right. I'm like, Mr. Crawford, you do whatever you want with the ball. But thank you. Unfortunately, T.

T. Mack hit me on a corner three and I knocked it down over Jason Williams who had like a torn ACL while he was playing. So I say all this to say it was not competitive and it was all about the star and that's cool. So here comes my Wendy's Fresh Take of the Week about this celebrity game. Okay. So Fresh Tech of the Week presented by Wendy's, get yourself a $4 Biggie Bites, $6 Biggie Baggie Baggie Bag. $8 Biggie bundle now at Wendy's.

Okay. We need competition as Wendy proved, right? Now, I don't think any celebrity game is going to give you. the most competitive format until now. What if Eddie Gonzalez, we go year by year and say, okay, next year, we're going to do the celebrity game

with football players. So you just, it's only football. It's Miles Garrett, it's T.O. It's awesome athletes. And we always want to see, like, we always have these discussions. Could football players play basketball? Could basketball players play football?

Let's put some of these theories to the test. trying to tell me that an NFL only celebrity game at some point's not going to get competitive. I just have a hard time believing it's not. Then the next year, you know what? We don't want to leave out our friendly actors. So we're going to do actors versus musicians. So now we're going to get my guy, Ted Lassow, Jason Sedakas, who could ball. We're going to get the actors that could ball.

We're going to go up against Cuevo and rappers who could ball. We're going to have actors versus rappers. And every year you just gamify it like that where you cross a genre up and you try to find athletic people who could do it, but you make it competitive. If I'm playing against rappers, I want to know,

I want to prove that actors could ball more than rappers. I'm taking that personally. And that's my take. This is like Survivor. I'm a survivor hit. A little bit. Survivor did like nerds versus joys. Yes, pros versus Joe's kind of thing.

Yes, let's get the, then we could even mix it up. Let's do baseball players versus football players, right? Like we mix it up after a while. I'm telling you this format works because we're no longer getting the giant stars to show up to make it like a glitzy, glammy, like, oh, it's cool. Justin Bieber got a crossover. Those days are over.

It's over. So, NBA, if you hear me, let's get a little competition mixed with a little athleticism and do it that way. I know everybody's watching NFL versus MLB in a celebrity basketball game. I know. I would almost guarantee it. As a as a Rockin' Jack baby myself. Yeah, that's what I do.

I tune into the celebrity game every year. Like, I think it's consistent. This is going to be my first take. I think it is consistently the most entertaining event of each week. And what I mean by that is like it is the same level every year of ridiculousness. We get bad dunk concerts. We get bad gangs. We get bad three points on it, on, no, no.

But it is consistently. what it is and it's fun. So I watch it every year. But I'm with you. We got to spice it up a little bit. And let's get some stakes, man. Let's get two great charities going and be like, whatever, 100 grand, half a million to like the actor's charity or the football player.

Like let's get two charities involved. Throw a little bit of money at it. Everybody always plays a little harder. I just think it would add to the intrigue and give you like a theme to follow. And this way there's like some extent. excitement, what's it going to be this year? Right? There's a little buzz around instead of just being like,

what six influencers, four rappers and two actors could we get and people drop out and you could tell they're filling spots. I don't know. That's my fresh take. Put the 400 point basket up there again like MTV did. Yeah, borrow a little bit from Rock and Joss too, man.

Borrow a little bit from Rock and Jock. I don't know. I think there's still potential with that because my thing, Eddie, is like, I agree. still enjoy the celebrity game a little bit, but like we could almost get rid of Friday night at this point and just condense Saturday a little more. You know, I just don't see, I don't see the need Friday nights when everyone wants to hit. I just don't, I don't see it.

So anyway, that's more talk about an All-Star game than we probably ever need it, but that's, that's it. And let's get, um, let's get our guy Shams in the building right now. Let's do it. At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health, from the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today and may uncover early signs of conditions

like heart disease and cancer. The healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. Medcan. Live well for life. Visit Medcan.com slash moments to get started. All right, we are joined by the number one basketball insider in the world. Fresh off his All-Star Game performance we're going to talk about for a hot minute.

Brenda the show, second time on with us. Sean Sharania, how you doing, my guy? I'm doing great. You guys are two of my favorite people, Jerry. We've had a long history. We talked a lot during the bubble. We had you on Run It Back on Fandua TV a few times. And then we did the pod

And obviously Eddie I've known for years and years now He did Fandole TV at one point He was he'd been running around I feel like every different platform So appreciate you guys having me on Well you always say something to me Every time we reunite

And this is the first time he didn't say And I'm a little sad You always hit me with a Procta Yeah I was waiting man I was waiting I was waiting to drop it in somewhere in my answer But you know what

You wanted it early Procta man I was like the day Shams doesn't do that That's the day I got to get back on TV because that means I'm slipping. So, yeah, man, I remember those days, too. We would talk a little power. I would always try to get something from you.

You'd never get. I'd even know, like, do you want to know how power ends? And you would just not text me back. No, don't tell me none of that. Yeah, thank you for doing this. And I know you and Eddie are tight. And I got to say, ma'am, I give you a lot of respect. I've played in that celebrity game.

and it certainly is an interesting. I'm curious just to hear your thoughts. I just told my story. I got benched for Justin Bieber. Justin Bieber showed up like it was a pit. Oh, you're playing the Justin Bieber game. Well, he showed up. There was a mandate that he might, you know,

he has to play certain amount of minutes. He showed up. Shams like it was a pickup game. He was not slated to be there. He just walked in and street clothes and were like, y'all, I'm going to play. And then Rachel Nichols benched me, and I had to sit there and watch Justin Bieber

dribbled through his legs 150 times. So how did it feel for you going from like, I'm not going to say from Hunter to Hunter, you know, you're going from like media to player? How did that feel for you? I didn't really know what to expect going in. Like I had a bunch of people hit me up with advice. Oh, you have to be aggressive. Like you have to just shoot it every time.

And that was the one piece of advice I heard from pretty much everyone that would reach out to me. They're like, yo, good luck. And remember, take every shot you get. And, you know, I think I blew like 13, 14 minutes. Four shot attempts, went 0 for four. You know, it's a make or miss league. I wish I made one of them.

Obviously, could I have gotten more shots? Of course, I could have gotten more shots. To me, though, I look at it. That was my first experience. We won. I was part of the closing lineup that finished the game. And I'm just glad we won. I'm glad I was part of a winning effort.

I was part of something fun. And like, we had Jeremy Lynn on the team, Taco Fall on the team. I thought going in, I was telling a lot of people when I said it, every time I was asked whether it was on the red carpet or like, I did this pregame interview. Like, I don't think it was really close our teams. Like the way that our teams were stacked together, like, were balanced.

No disrespect. I mean, we had Taco Fall and Jeremy Lin on our team, and these guys, like, actually played in the game. Like, they actually, like, got minutes. And, like, Taco, in Taco's case, like, I don't know what his ending stats were, but it felt like he had 20, he had a 2020 game. He was like Will Chamberlain in the 50s. Like, we had a lot of fun.

I'm just glad I was part of the experience. Going up, you told me 15 years ago that I'm going to be the NBA celebrity All-Star game, I would have said, amazing. I don't care if I score or don't score. And so I was just glad to be a part of them. I'm glad we got to win. Anybody trash talk to, whether it was player or crowd? You get any crowd work?

Because I had people chirping me from the crowd saying stuff like Tommy Egan. Should have killed you sooner. I was getting chirped from the crowd. You get any crowd chirps or other celebrity chirps? I mean, I'm trying to think like, like, you know, white chocolate J. Will, like, he said something to me. Like, yeah, boy, you got to, you got to shoot him. You got to get them up. You got to get them up. And that was like in the second half. I think at that point, I was like, oh for two. And, you know, I'm a, you know, at this point in my life, like, there were times in high school and in college where I was, I played a lot on the ball. I was kind of a combo guard, point guard, two guard. Yeah. We saw the handles. We saw your hand. You did a little dribble expo. I think. I think my, my teasers and my teasers and my, and my, my, I think my teasers and my,

my like all those sizzles allowed grand expectations and I welcome those and I just wish I at times I'm like all right like I wish I could at least if I failed

you know like I got a chance to really fail but I thought overall I was glad to be there and and you know I definitely I'm proud that we got the win I'm proud I was part of the closing lineup and we're able to get it done yeah you got you got picked up full court by Ishby. I thought that was crazy. I thought I was like, what am I seeing right now? And then,

like, I thought it was super cool, like the whole Janus connection, you know, like clearly had the faith in you to close that game out. You know, it was dope. Yeah, I mean, there was a lot of chatter. You know, I wasn't going to play. I played. He's going to bench you at DMB. I thought you were going to trade block. You know, man, maybe I should, you know, maybe I should ask for a trade. I think that's got to be the question. You guys got to. It would have been fun if you tweeted about yourself that you have demanded that you leak that you have demanded a trade. Sometimes I'm not to ask for the full trade. You could just let them know you're thinking about your future and it might be somewhere else.

I was committed. I was I was committed to the team and committed to winning and we won. So I'm part of hopefully continued winning. So there was a video. I think there was a video of you. Did you get caught on your phone for a second? Right. That's circulated.

Yeah, my brother was sitting literally right behind the page. And so anytime I would get like any time a flurry of text. Yeah, like if there was a flurry of text that I ended up getting, he'd give me, he'd be like, yo, you've got like more than a couple of texts. You need to see this. Yeah. Well, that's what I've found myself thinking. It's like, obviously if something big broke, I do believe you would have walked right out, right off the floor into like a suit and been on TV two seconds later if something big broke. but even like the like the Kyrie news that you broke, right?

He's sitting out for the rest of the year to heal up. Like if that dropped during the game, do you walk out? Like what level of scoop is does it have to be for you to be like, yo, I got to leave this game right now? I mean, probably like a big, a big bun. A big thing, right? It'd have to be a big situation, you know, big injury, something that could have like real league impact at that point.

You know, what's funny is during the game, I actually thought there was a chance. Here's here's beyond these. I actually thought there was a chance Haywood Highsmith, who was a free agent. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought he was going to reach a deal

with the sons, ironically with Ishbia, playing in the game, and their executives and their coach, like courtside, I thought that deal was going to happen during the game. And so there was a chance of that happening. It ends up happening a day later. I think it happened on Sunday. So, or maybe Saturday or Sunday.

So it's just, it's definitely, you know, coincidence, very ironic, coincidental, that the owner of the team was playing in the game. I was tracking that and it was potentially going to happen during the game and then, you know, obviously didn't happen. But that wasn't one of the things I was tracking. It would have been kind of hilarious if it happened during the game with all the parties involved. You got to lean into, I'm going to tell my kids that you broke it during the game. This guy is so good.

Right. He got upset. I was going to put it out. Yeah. Yes, anyway. Yeah. So next year, you're going back next year, right? You got to be.

I don't know. I haven't been asked about that. You're the first person to ask me. You know, I don't know. I don't know. It's definitely an interesting experience to play in the game. You know, I don't know. Jerry, how many times?

You played once? I played once, and I feel like I played right when there was like the end of the Kevin Hart run, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Multiple MVP. He played, what, three times? He played like three times? He played like three times.

He won MVP because it was like fan voting. He won MVP three years. And like it really did lead to some great comedy. Kevin was and Kevin could hoop, but also he really did, Kevin kind of mastered the art of like promoting during All Star Weekend. And I was even a part of it. We did that with Think Like a Man One. And Kevin really always looked at all. I mean, I'm not, I don't want to speak for him. He always promoted something he was doing and coming out soon over All Star. And he used that celebrity game as a great marketing device. And he like, he went full entertainment. So, but yeah, for me, like I said, I, I, we talked about it earlier, Eddie and I, it's like, I, like, you want to win, right? If I'm there, like, I want to win. I want to make the good pass, you know? I want to like, and it's just not what happens in there. Everybody's like you said, your friends telling you to shoot every shot was absolutely correct because you're lucky if you got four shots is a lot of shots.

I literally got the ball and scoring position like seven or eight times and I shot four of them. And so it was, and I tried to play my role. Like, and, you know, hindsight, I'm trying to try and try and try. Could I've been more aggressive? Could I've done that? But I stick to my role. I make the right pass.

I'm just glad we won, honestly. I don't want to lose because I knew if we lost with that team, with that roster, I mean, I don't know who's analyzing these games, but it would have been a, to me, it would have been a massive upset because we had two guys,

Taco Falls playing professionally right now. Germiland just retired last year. Both these guys, when you're around them, they look like they can play in an NBA game right now. And so, you know, if they actually had to. So, you know, we had that on the team in a celebrity game.

That's pretty good. How did the- friend saying, you were the friend saying shoot your shot? Every shot. Every time he tests the ball shoot, I don't care. So, that's my, what's crazy is the other thing, the other thing, and I don't know if they had this

when you were playing, Jerry, the Ruffles four-point line. They did. I think it was the first year they introduced that. It is so appealing. So I went in, you know, I trained for the three, for the NBA three, going in for like five or six days. after the trade deadline. I'm like NBA 3, NBA 3, I'm good.

I'll get my range right. This is where I really shot throughout high school in college anyway. And then I see the four point line and my eyes just lit up. I'm shooting this. I'm shooting this one. I'm like, after NBA line,

I'm shooting the, so three out of my four shot attempts where I think it's like a 28 foot, I think it's 28 or 30. Steph Curry range for sure, man. Yeah. And I'm shooting that and it's appealing. You know, your eyes get, get wide and bright, and then you shoot them.

And there was one that I had. I got the rebound or I got a pass or something, and I brought it up. I don't know if you guys remember this, but it was like center court. It was like two, three feet behind the ruffles line. Yes, you were 30 feet. And I shot it.

You were 30 feet out. Yeah. And I really thought that was going in. And that would have been a great highlight. And I missed it. And the rest is history. Well, I tell everyone too, like, because, you know, I up until about three, four years ago was still very much

playing rec league hoops because I love to play, stay in shape. Something about the A, the floating hoop in an arena, right, where there's just the clear backboard, you see it's translucent, it's just floating in the middle of nowhere, mixed with the lighting. That four-point shot, probably to your eye, probably didn't look that far until you actually like get your legs into it. Like, oh, my God, I got to throw my whole body into it. Even like the NBA 3, when you're actually standing on that court, it looks like a free throw.

It looks like you can just flick it up there like they do. But then you realize like, oh my God, I'm two and a half feet short. I've got to get my legs involved here. Because the lighting and how it is with the audience, it just, it doesn't look as far as it is. Yeah, that's what RJ kept telling me. RJ was just like, put a little more air on it. Put a little more air on it. So before we wrap up, because I know you definitely, I saw you take a little peek.

So I'm wondering, like, is he starting to get a bunch of texts? This deadline was insane, right? And I was fortunate enough after that cat trade last year, you came on and talked to me because you knew my fellow big fans were in an interesting emotional space. And this year, I don't know where it ranks for you in the sense of how crazy it was. I know it's hard work and you're grinding.

But obviously everyone was talking Janus the whole time. But I felt like there was so many teams that upgraded their situation with maybe not the splashiest things that I think are really going to add to a crazy player. situation. So how is the deadline through, through your eyes? I mean,

your boots on the ground. Yeah, I mean, this is my second year at ESPN. So last year we have the Luca Dantje's deadline, which was like, you know, obviously to me, probably the most,

I mean, I think probably the most compelling trade deadline maybe of all time. Like for Luke, obviously Luca being the headliner, that's probably the most stunning trade in NBA history, if not professional sports history.

So that alone, like, gives its own identification. But then this year, I think, I believe it was a record amount of players traded at the deadline. I think it's 75 players. Never has been that high at the deadline. So that gives its own uniqueness as well. And there were moves that everyone thought might happen, right? AD was talked about for a while, but for him to go to Washington, that was a stunner.

Jaron Jackson Jr., he's someone, everyone thought John Morant was going to get traded. And there was a thought around the league that, okay, if John Morant gets traded, then maybe Jaron gets traded. But Memphis made the decision with or without a job trade, we're moving because they ended up getting three first round picks. And Walter Clayton was the first round pick last year to base around, you know, however you want to justify that four first round picks for a guy like Jaron Jackson Jr. So he goes to Utah. AD goes to Washington. So here we have two examples of two teams that are clearly in a rebuild, in a tank this year, but adding like an all-star, all-NBA level player to their mix for next season. That's clearly like a win now move starting next season.

So that gave us, you know, a very unique, unique element to this deadline. We get two essentially rebuilding teams in that position. And then James Harden, I think that James Hard, Darius Garland Swap, it's kind of talked about a little bit early in the year around, you know, behind the scenes around the league that, you know, James Harden, if the Clippers end up making a move, could Cleveland or Minnesota or Atlanta emerges a spot, then the clippers go on this run where I believe they won 21 of 24 games or whatever it was.

They started out or maybe 17 of 20, whatever it was, but they were six and 21 and then they end up all the way, you know, they come back and they make, make, I think they were like a game or two below 500. Like a crazy run and then it kind of died down. But then because of his contract situation, because he was able to like do what James Harden does, which is like, hey, I want to get to the table and I want to really figure out my future. And when there is no promise beyond this season, James Harden essentially and the Clippers working together on how can we figure this out when James Hardin is in this place,

you know, whether it's in Houston and Brooklyn and Philly, James Hardin always finds a way to figure out what's best for him long term. The only difference here in this situation is that I think there was that partnership with the Clippers. Were they able to work behind the scenes and figure out like, okay, we know this is going this way potentially? All right, let's go get Darius Garland. Like this could have ended up in a situation where you have a defeated asset. They end up getting a second round pick as well as Darius Garland for James Harden.

There's a 10-year age gap. I believe that's the largest star-for-star trade age gap in NBA history of 10 years. So definitely some uniqueness to that deal. So I just thought overall you saw Cleveland go for it this year. You saw Washington and Utah in their respective ways go for it starting next year. Then you saw flurry of other moves around the deadline where teams are, you know, obviously trying to beef up their rotation. Warriors with Porzingis, Lakers with Luke Conard.

My Knicks with Jose Alvarado. Let's go, maybe. And, you know, I think, you know, and then they get Jeremy Sohan in the, in the buyout market as well. So I think there was definitely a little bit more movement than I expected just leave wide. Yeah, it's, you know, obviously OKC is still like the prohibitive favorite when healthy, you know, they've been struggling because Shea's out and all that. But the NBA really is reaching that NFL level of like, God, I really don't know who's going to win this thing, you know? Like, we say the thunder, but we saw cracks in the armor for the first time.

Like, we don't know what the Celtics are going to be. We think the pistons are for real. The Knicks kind of turn it on, turn it off. You got Yoke, it's just kind of laying in wait. Like, it's the first time where truly anything could happen. And the thing I like about that hard trade, because I'm in Cleveland, It's like, we only really saw him, not counting when he was with O KC and Westbrook, like we saw him in Brooklyn with Kyrie a little.

They were always hurt. So they never, you never really got to see Hardin all the time with another primary ball handler who in a playoff game, it's not just like Hardin is the only playmaker we have, right? And now he's with a team that arguably has one of the best playmakers in a playoff game with Donovan Mitchell. So, and Cleveland's what, like nine and one, too in their last 10? So you're going to have a fun ride throughout the rest of this NBA season. It's absolutely bonkers right now.

Yeah, in the East specifically, like, you know, with the Knicks and Cabs and Celtics, this is, it's becoming very, and pistons, obviously, it's becoming very, very competitive. And, and, like, it's wide open in the East. And that's why a team like Detroit, you know, you have to pay attention to them greatly. And, you know, they also chose continuity than anything else, right? Like they get mentioned with AD or Trey Murphy or whoever, but they end up keeping their continuity, keeping their core. They go get Kevin Herder as another space to floor shooter.

And, you know, that's the kind of like, you know, move that kind of tweak that they made to their rotation where they're like, okay, like we get this slight piece. We don't want to mess up the integrity of our team, but we get this piece that could help us in a playoff game or make a big shot in the playoffs. And do we say, are we on Hornets watch officially? do we, are we looping them? I mean, to me, that's been as a bad, I pride myself on, like, watching all of basketball and that's been, that's been my favorite team outside of the Knicks

for, like, the last two months to watch. They've been fun. Like, Lebello's figuring it out. Miles Bridges doing what he does. Like, Charles Lee, you have to give them a lot of credit. Like, they have turned the culture a little bit there. And I think the start of that, though, and I think it just speaks to, like, that last year's draft class of Cooper Flag,

con can't be. Like, the focus, determination. He's all about team and he's producing and he's like he's doing everything. He's shooting at a high level. He's a great teammate focused on the floor. He has come in and single handedly changed the entire tenor of how that locker room and how he like he set the tone as a rookie. That's hard to do. We talk all the time and I know like I know as your friend first week of February it's like blackout days like yo, Sean's might just have to go. Like it's cool. We're still buddies, but I might not hear from my guy for a few days. But like, I wonder what your family, like your family. I know your brother works closely with you. I know Mama Shams is there.

She don't care about no damn trade deadline. What's it like at home when you're going through this and you're balancing? You have a real life. What's that week like for you? Because I know it gets crazy. I mean, the last two years, though, I've literally spent Eddie like trade deadline week in Bristol, Connecticut. So, you know, Sunday to like Friday, I'm in Bristol because that's, that allows me to get, you know, quick. If I want to get on T.E. on Sports Center on this show or that show and all the sports centers run through there. So I really just spent all my time in Bristol. And it was quick turnarounds.

It was made sure if there's any news like Jerry Jackson breaks. Okay, cool. I'm on sports center. AD breaks. All right, I'm on sports center. This trade, this trade. As you were talking, a lot of Janis all weeks. So I think my family is so great because when it was trade deadline for agency draft,

those are the three periods where they know I'm pretty much in a cave. I'm pretty much on my own. And they just look out for me. My sister's got to send me some Dordash or some Uber Eats. She probably knows you haven't eaten in two days. She'll just send it. Like she knows. She knows I'm not on my breakfast or lunch or dinner schedule.

So it's like, hey, dinner's coming in X amount of time. And I'm like, shoot, I haven't eaten like five, six hours. I've just been running on coffee or snacks or like chocolate or whatever. She read your mind. She read your mind. So it's like it's good to have. people there that like have known my regimen uh for years and years and years now and uh you know they they're fully supportive and then once i get back i get back in that mode where i'm like

bouncing at least they're getting 50 50 with me take them on a good vacation soon man what was that screen time like i'm this is an annual tradition yeah we're over 20 to get a screenshot no i mean i think i think i think i think yespian did a graphic for it but i'll i'll i'll give it to you guys i'll I'll give you guys the real. It wasn't as high as maybe I thought it should be, but people still think I'm a maniac. That's a celeb game knocked off two hours. I'll let you guys decide.

Okay, this is Monday. This is Monday. 18 hours. That's Monday. That's Monday hours. This is post-deadline a week, too. Let's go Tuesday. Tuesday, audio listeners, 20 hours, 11 minutes.

Dude, you didn't sleep. So you didn't sleep. Let's go Wednesday. Wednesday, 19 hours, 49 minutes. This is post deadline. All right, Thursday. Thursday is the end. Thursday's the end.

Thursday, the end of deadline. 19 hours. Goodness. You all right, man. I'm good. I'm good. We're ready. He's great.

I'm excited for the second half, though. And like, you know, we'll see. You know, obviously there's news today on multiple fronts. Kyrie Irving getting shut down for the season, which, you know, I think was to be somewhat expected given. how they're playing. But, I mean, he made significant progress, you know, throughout his recovery process.

I think, you know, his agent, Satari Riley, and gave me a statement. Basically, this is about him being a thousand percent. This is about him wanting to chase a championship next season. And if this math team isn't a rebuild, depending on how they go next season, depending on who they hires the general major, there could be some hard conversations there too.

Because next season, he's essentially going to be on an expiring because he's got a player option in 2027. So that's an important. another one to monitor and then Franz Wagner in the east as well with Orlando he's been so that team has been so injury riddled Jalen sucks, Paula Bencaro Franz Wagner played 14% of the games for the magic since last season. They've had just a woeful run of injuries and so he's out indefinitely, it's going to be at least three weeks likely a lot longer than that. So we'll see, you know, how that shapes up for Orlando.

We got one big comeback waiting this season too. You know, you know who. Are you breaking news? No, of course not. You got something about. That's your job, man. I mean, hey, we'll find out from you, I'm sure. But, you know, hopefully the Celties is some good news soon. We'll be waiting to see you.

I mean, listen, Jason Tatum has been doing five on fives for a period of weeks now. And, you know, these are the steps that you take as you ramp up. But at the end of the day, only he can be the one that gives the final clearance that, hey, mentally I'm 100%. And then medically, there's going to be about a dozen people. people involved here at the end. Doctors, his side, Celtics officials, you know, that are going to eventually gather in a room and be like, okay, we're good.

Let's move forward. That's what Jay told me earlier in the year. We were having one of those like, hey, man, are you sure confos? And he's like, trust me, bro, 20 people are going to have to tell me it's okay before I get to go. So we're going to be 100% sure. But I'm crossing my fingers. I want to see JT out there.

I want, look, as a Knicks fan who's absolutely terrified of the Celtics at all time, I still always, and I'm trying to teach my seven-year-old son-ness who loves basketball. It's like, who wrote a get-well soon card for Tatum and Halliburton when they tore their Achilles. It was the cutest thing. Like, you always want to play a team at their best. I know you could like say, oh, well, it doesn't matter. A championship's a championship. But like, I still like want to play this.

You told me right now, I want to play the Celtics with Tatum. I want to see the full strength Celtics no matter what. But to see a player in the prime of their career, if, you know, maybe just short of entering the prime of their career, have a torn Achilles and be able to try to come back or be doing five on five in the goals or the hopes of coming back nine months after surgery in the prime of their career and pushing every day, working out six days a week,

having a goal to come back within a year of tearing your Achilles, I don't I mean there's not much you can say like it's hard to it's hard to put in the words it's kind of unfathomable it's very very um it shows his dedication and his love for the game of basketball for him to even be at the point of playing five on five fully nine months after the Achilles out I don't know if we've ever seen this from a player I think Kobe Bryant came back in 10 months I think it was uh who was an idol of Jason Tatum's but for a player that's the at the age of 26 I believe Jason Taylor is to be doing this, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, we all, it's, we all, we all,

tanking load management. It's like, all right? And if he does, hopefully he gets back, right? And if he's, like, 80, 90% of himself of, like, of what we've seen from Jason Tatum, we got to celebrate it. It'll be one of the most remarkable comeback stories in that finite amount of time, it, I think, in pro sports for a player like that, that's not just, that's not just, that's not just any, team either. They're a two seed right now. And people are thinking if he comes back, they can make a real run. So that's a lot of expectations for him coming off that. But I mean, I know, everybody knows he's focused. He's ready to give it a goal. And again, hopefully he's healthy and we get to see some greatness out of him. Well, Shams, we're going to let you go. I'm sure you got to get back to work on that screen time on your phone. Can't thank you enough for always checking in with us. You know how we feel about you over here. You're the man. Think about your all. star game next year if you're going to do it. And then let's just say like obviously it's going to be a fun summer for sure. Obviously the draft and the playoffs, but then for you, like we're all going to be glued to

your Twitter account this summer. That's for sure. I think it'll be a big second half of the season. NBA is wide open. Okay, so he's got to be the favorite. But like you said earlier, Denver's waiting in the wings. They took Oklahoma City to seven games. We haven't seen them healthy all year.

I know internally in Denver, they're thinking. If we can just get our whole team healthy April onward, they're going to have a shot. OK, Z's obviously going to be the favorite. And then the East is going to be a crapshoot. Yeah, we had Mike and Nouri on last week. And, like, it's hard to talk to that guy. Minnesota.

We have, like, yeah, like, they're the back-to-back conference finals. They're the team with the MVP of the All-Star game coming up. And it's going to be a problem for anyone in the West. Playoffs are going to be great. Well, thank you, do it. All the best. You keep doing the great work. that you do and keep shooting the ball when you're in that gate you let them fly baby let them

maybe from maybe from NBA three next time there we go all right man Eddie listen you know no liner today you kind of stepped up thank you for getting shaw's man that's not the I want people out there to know that's not the easiest get you know when people say they're busy but they're just lying and they're not actually busy they just don't want to do the thing he's actually busy he's like one of those dudes that is really, when he says he's busy, he's really actually busy. We saw by his screen time. Yeah, getting that guy to put his phone down for 30 minutes.

And then you caught him. I caught him too. I wasn't going to say it, but you called him and took a little peek. I don't know if he sent the text, but you never know what's going on in that dude's phone. So, nah, that was cool. It's always good to catch up with Shams. Hoops season is, like, the hoop season is like here now, right? Like Christmas starts it.

But once we get past Super Bowl, we can lock in on basketball, right? Yeah, I think you're right. It's like, and I look, I love basketball, so I'm always watching, but like I will say for the general population and the football loving fit, this really probably is like the first week of the regular season to them, right? We're post All-Star. All the people have landed where they want. And look, Nick's Pistons tonight, we're kicking off right away with, you know, Pistons have kicked the Knicks asses twice. I expect the Knicks to show up, but these might be the two teams in the East that are staring at each other come May. Look, I'm the bad influence friend.

And so I'm going to make a proposal to you that I know you're not going to take me up. Okay. No, that's here. I know you just had, I know you just had our nephew. Yes. Baby Jesse's here. Baby Jesse, he's the man. And, you know, we love Bree, and we want you there.

But the Rockets play the Knicks this week. The Rockets play the Knicks on Saturday. So my guys, your guys, we're at the Garden. Look, I got a plug. I can get us tickets. We won't be sitting next to Fat Joe. and all of those and Ben Stiller

we can use your tickets too but if you look if you just so happen to come out love to have you obviously but I think it would be dope to catch a game my guys versus your guys

but again if you can't make it I understand you got a lot going on So first off I would have to check the murder alert and see if we would murder me and just I could usually tell because I'll start

so I'll always start that ask like, so listen. The minute I say, so listen, she's like, if she's like, what, then I'm okay. She's like, what? What do you mean, listen, then I'm not even going to ask. I'm just going to say, I wanted to take you to dinner Saturday. I'm going to abort

the mission. But so you're obviously like Rockets fan, right? Like you're, that's your guy. You're pulling for the rockets. So let me flip this back on you then. Because if I could pull that off without getting murdered, I'm in. You know, I'm always down for a next game. If I did get

the Ben Stiller Fat Joe tickets, right? And me and you are sitting there. Does KD come find you? Oh, for sure. We'll be right in your shot. We'll be right in your shot. We're talking all game. Don't let them win because then we're talking to you all game.

And then, you know, that goes. But if the Knicks are winning, like, when I'm, so permission to trash talk, KD, if the Knicks are up 10 going into the four. Oh, do your thing. He's like, shut the fuck up, right? I'm like, I try to think I'm a quiet guy at the game. But if, like, Kevin gets an N-1 or somebody fouls him too hard, And it's like, yeah, and then we're sitting there yelling at fat Joe and Ben Stiller and all of these, like a salame or something.

But the guard, there's nothing like the garden. I mean, I don't know. Right. I don't know right. Like, you know, he's definitely going to get asked a lot of shit in New York. Like that New York media is going to be itching to, like, make that more than a game with him. But he's got to love playing. And I know all the players do.

But I feel like Katie particularly because, like, because he does talk to the crowd. No, man. It should be fun. If you can't make it, I understand. Don't tell Bree, it was my idea. If you can, yeah, we'll have a good time. Hopefully the good guys win. I'll check the murder report and see how, like,

it's like checking the weather. I'll see if my likelihood of getting killed and my sleep is high. Bring the little guy. I am a dad. I would love to see nephews and King of him. You tell him you can get three or four tickets. Then I can bring the nephews.

That changes things. See, look, that's a whole different ballgame. But, man, this was fun. Matt, definitely come back. Next week, feel better, buddy. Thanks to Shams, for sure. Yeah, a big thank you to Shams, everyone behind the scenes. Maddie, feel better, buddy.

We need you next week. We got a good show coming for you next week. And yeah, man, basketball is back. Basketball is my favorite sport.