Did Any NBA Move Change the Title Picture? More Jaylen-76ers Fallout With Rich Hofmann, Plus the Balogun Red Card Drama

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On today's show, I'll break down what is not an underwhelming NBA offseason, but is there a move that actually makes you think differently about a team, or at least a team's title chances? We'll talk about the Sixers side of things with Rich Hoffman, who's covered the team for a really long time. On that trade, as we await the Celtics press conference, we're also going to do some soccer. We've got Trump involved, but we have Cerruti involved, which is maybe more important than the president. Trying to figure out where we're at with Team Equinox. USA and the rest of the games around it, and we've got life advice. Win or go home, that's it. The Cup knockout round is now, and DraftKings has you covered for every single match. The DraftKings app is now available in all 50 states and includes all markets, bringing the game straight to your fingertips wherever you are. From Florida to Texas to California, you're in on the excitement at the speed of sports. 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One non-withdrawable reward redeemable. Predictions offer void in New York. Ends July 19th. Terms at dkng.co slash audio. We are through most of the NBA offseason, and we're all waiting on LeBron. I'm not sure what the impact will be. I still think San Antonio would be the biggest basketball impact. I don't know if he's interested in signing up for the Spurs culture. It's interesting, because I think if it was a different team, although sometimes I wonder, you know, is the Spurs culture that, or is it that they were incredibly lucky in winning the lottery? But look, I think that'd be dismissive of how well-run the Spurs are, so I shouldn't go down that road. But I think a lesser team, just meaning identity and standards and all that kind of stuff, they'd probably be willing to just tell LeBron, yeah, you can do whatever you want. If you want to come here, because I think from a basketball standpoint, he would actually like fit a need, even if I think at some point we have to kind of lower our expectations of what he's going to be. So look, we're all waiting on what that will be, and a little curious to see if it ends up being Cleveland, if you'll have somebody say, hey, Cleveland's clearly the favorite. And granted, this is TV, this is podcasting, this is all these different things. Somebody's going to say it, saying that Cleveland's now the favorite in the East. I'm just not sure that that's actually going to happen. But I'm not sure that we've had an offseason, as much as I love this, where we've had an offseason where we've had this many transactions without anyone standing out as if we're looking at that team's chances completely different. The West is simple. The West is really simple in figuring out why there isn't another transaction out there for a team, because what you have with San Antonio and OKC, the gap feels insurmountable. I probably feel worse about Denver because I'm not sure how they're going to put it all together. L.A., even with all these moves where I like all these moves, I'm not sure I'm going to I do not like the price paid for Walker Kessler. I think when you get into these situations where you're like, we have to do something, that's when you end up paying just way too much of a price on some stuff. So even though collectively I like what they've done, you also could sit here and say, hey, they might not be any better than a four or five seat still in the regular season. Minnesota is different. I probably feel the same, even though you could argue last year was kind of a disappointing regular season for Minnesota, but getting that first round series win against Denver, you know, you didn't see it coming. They end up, you know, getting blasted by San Antonio with all of their injuries. So I still think Minnesota, like all of you, hey, they're in the mix. Nobody's going to pick them against OKC or San Antonio. And even though the Lomelo transaction is exactly my favorite, I'm sure they're going to have a really good regular season if everybody's healthy. So whenever we look at these moves, we're kind of like in a hurry to wonder if any of them can close any kind of gap. It's just not going to happen in the West with those other two teams. In the East, it's totally different. I was looking at it again this morning because you've had all these moves and you add up all the teams. I think there's with the Pacers who, again, I think it's accurate to kind of feel like nobody's talking about them, but with the Pacers coming back healthy and then whatever you think of the Wizards, where if Trey Young and Anthony Davis are playing and you throw in the number one pick in Devonsa, like there's a real expectation that they're not just making the playoffs, that hopefully they could make some kind of noise. That's with Washington, 12 teams. In the East. And with the Pacers, maybe the reason they're not being talked about, it's not like it's the return after a gap year of some 60-win monster. When they made it to the NBA Finals, they were a 50-win four-seed, which during their journey through the playoffs, you're like, this doesn't really happen. And my kind of point was that if this team were to win a title without a clear-cut number, well, I would say a top 10 player in the NBA, even though Halliburton was entering that discussion, we had never said it before. That's always. That's another one of my rules where, like, here's a perfect example. There are real conversations about, is Brunson better than Luka? Or is losing Brunson worse for Dallas than it is losing Luka? If you've never said it ever in multiple years, but you're saying it right now, you're probably making a mistake. And I don't even really want to get into, like, the Brunson-Luka thing right now, but it's just an example of the times we'll have this very short window, and it relates back to the Halliburton run. And the 25 finals of, if we've never said he's a top 10 player, but now we feel like we have to because they're in the NBA finals, does that mean we're actually making a mistake? So that may lead to people overlooking Indiana and all of these different moves around them in the East. But they bring back Halliburton healthy. They add in Zubats. It's an exciting team. Like, they might be the best team in the East. Imagine being Brooklyn right now. You're three years through your reset. The lottery doesn't go. You're way. You have a collection of a bunch of pieces, a million guards, and it's like, hey, guess what? It's going to be year four of this reset in a crowded East. So the other part of this that I was looking at was with the odds. San Antonio and OKC are both plus 270 to win the NBA title as of today. Obviously, this stuff is going to change health. There's some other transactions probably out there, whatever. The Knicks are third at plus 850, which still feels like partly navigable. Navigating the East and how incredible their run was last year. After the Knicks, Boston has the fourth best odds for an NBA championship. They're at 13 to 1. Philly's at 20 to 1. So that tells you both front offices and Las Vegas think Jalen Brown is a little overrated. But if you look at the rest of the East, Detroit has four teams ahead of them in the odds. Now, the odds aren't everything. But when the over under the win totals come out, like, good luck navigating. Now, I'm wondering if, like, you're going to have 10 teams within eight games of each other on the over under projections. Like, I think it's going to be that ridiculous. Imagine being Detroit. Now, this is a completely unfair thing to say. But if I were doing Detroit local radio, maybe to crank up some July calls, you might say, like, is Detroit's window closed? Now, that's a ridiculous thing to say because Cade might end up becoming a perennial top five player in the league. He might end up being the best point guard in the league. There's still moves to be made. I don't know what they're going to do now as the list of to do things or options gets more limited as we navigate through July. So it'd be unfair to say, like, is Detroit's window closing? But when you think about the opportunity they had last year, being the one seed, granted being challenged by Orlando, the Cleveland series is really disappointing. I don't know if they would have beaten New York, but in the regular season, they seem to give New York a ton of problems with all of their defense. So it's too young of a team. And Cade is too good, even with the. Concerns with Durin, like he had a bad first playoff experience. It happens to some of the best players in this game. I don't think it's totally unreasonable to go. What if what if Detroit just doesn't get out of the East for a bunch of years? Because right now it just feels so incredibly crowded. So if you look at the odds even further, you have eight teams in the East with 40 to one or better odds to win an NBA championship. Last year, it was six. The previous two years, it was only five. And even though it's Giannis. going to Miami, all of us, I think, accurately are like, Like, all right, he's incredible. At worst, he's probably, what, the fourth best player in the world? Maybe you want to put Luka ahead of him. I'd allow the argument. I might disagree. Maybe he hasn't been healthy enough, certainly not at the end of the year, to just be gifted the fourth best player in the league. But that's basically like the worst he's ever been during this half-decade run for Giannis. So Miami adds that kind of player, and yet with the rest of the roster or the rest of the East, you're like, yeah, I still like New York better than them. The Pacers might be better than them. Boston, even with this Jalen Brown debacle, which I think just the price of what you had to pay to get rid of Paul George is probably two first-round picks. You get those picks, and then you take on Paul George's contract, and then you're also trading Jalen Brown. That's just the thing I cannot wrap my hands around. All of these teams are ahead of Miami because we still don't know. I feel like in the past years, we've had some major transactions that made us think completely differently about a team, and that's not happening, at least in 2026. If you go back to 2020, you've got the Drew deal to Milwaukee. 21, I know you're going to laugh, but when Westbrook went to L.A., people said some ridiculous stuff in 21. In 22, you have the Jazz blowing it up. Rudy goes to Minnesota. Mitchell goes to Cleveland. In 23, that's the other Dame deal, where it's Dame and it's Drew. Dame goes to Milwaukee. You're like, are they actually the favorites with these guys? Wait a minute. How did Drew end up with Boston? Would Milwaukee have still done the deal if they knew that Holiday was going to end up in Boston? That leads to a championship. In 24, you have the Bridges deal before the draft with the Knicks and the Nets, and then you have the Cat deal much later on, which is always a nice little reminder that sometimes work is done far later than this time of the year where we think all these deals have to be done. And then last offseason, you have the KD deal, which makes you look at Houston completely different. And then you have the Bain deal, and despite a really disappointing season with Orlando, you're like, that's exactly. what they need, and he was terrific for them. I don't know if we have any trades, even though they're big headlines, I don't know that we have any trades that have allowed us to react to the transaction and going, okay, now I look at this team completely differently. Yes, we look at Miami as a much better team, but if you had them fourth or fifth, I'm not going to sit here and tell you you're wrong. And here's the other thing. Free agency is dead. This is just a fact. Here are the biggest. transactions for a player going to a new team based on money. So the most money paid to a player switching teams during free agency going back to 2020. You have Gordon Hayward to the Hornets. You have Kyle Lowry in 21. In 22, it's Brunson. His was the biggest free agent deal. And even though Dallas didn't want to pay him $100 million, it felt like, all right, that's a lot for Jalen Brunson. Now, granted, it's worked out. He is beyond what even he thought he would be. So all of us that got that one wrong as far as the. Maximum impact. None of us saw that coming, but that was technically the biggest money deal done in that offseason for a player switching teams. In 23, it's Fred Van Vliet. In 24, it's Paul George, which felt huge. Mission accomplished. The Sixers actually did it. They cleared cap space. They waited on the extension for Maxie. They signed Paul George, and they couldn't wait to get him out of there. And then last year, it was Miles Turner in that move where they. Waved or stretched and waved Damian Lillard. So that's a bunch of offseasons, which it's a great reminder of those are the major free agent acquisitions. So if you're sitting around as a GM going like, hoarding cap space, good luck. And we've been talking about that for years. Cap space, I don't even think we can call it overrated anymore because everybody knows that it's just not that valuable. So we have parity because I'm not complaining. As much as I love this time of year, I don't want to sit here and tell you that I'm underwhelmed. I think it could just. It could just be the 2026 thing. It could just be what the East is collectively. But we haven't seen parity like this since the 1970s. Since the repeat for the Warriors in 2018, 2019 and on, that's eight different champions in the NBA, which is supposed to be the point. Like all of this is supposed to be better. The whole point of these leagues and being a fan is feeling like you have a real chance. And maybe that's exactly what we're in because a lot of this stuff started before the second apron. These signings that I'm talking about, the lesser impact stuff in free agency, the parity was starting before the second apron, but the second apron obviously makes this a lot harder. And we've always had teams kind of with that NFL quarterback thing where you pay your quarterback more than you want to out of fear of not having one. That's what NBA teams had always done historically. It's like, yeah, we don't think this guy's worth this. But with the way our cap rules work, if we don't sign this player at a number we don't even like, then we can't even replace him because we're over the cap anyway. But what I tell you is that we are in this stretch, and at least 2026, the way I'll look back at it, is that these teams are entering like a phase of limited options that, again, I'm not complaining about it, but it just speaks to how hard this is and why I would say collectively like this offseason, you have teams willing to do B minus and C plus deals because waiting around for perfect, as I've always said, is just pointless because you're going to be waiting a really long time. But general managers willing to make some of these trades are like, all right, I don't know that this really even moves the needle, but what else am I supposed to do? We'll be right back after a quick word from our sponsors. Football is back. And with DraftKings Sportsbook, September comes with a boost. All September long, opt in and get a 50% profit boost every game day with the DraftKings Game Day Boost Pass. New DraftKings Sportsbook customers sign up with the code B-S-S and get 50% profit boost every game day. That's code B-S-S. In partnership with DraftKings, the crown is yours. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. 1-800-MY-RESET. Visit ccpg.org. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino in Kansas, wager tax pass-through may apply in Illinois, 21 plus in most states. Void in Canada. One football boost per customer. Maximum bet limits and wagering restrictions apply. Tokens are single use and expire at the end of the final select game each day when offered. Terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com slash promos. I want to get the Philadelphia perspective on this trade with Jalen Brown heading to Philadelphia. And obviously, Brad Stevens, it depends on when you listen to this pod, maybe he'll have already addressed the media by then because I certainly have some thoughts. But to help us, let's dig a little bit further into this. He's covered the Sixers for a long time. He was at the Athletic and now the Broad Street Bulletin. It's Rich Hockman. Thanks for doing this, man. I know you're on vacation. So the offseason, whenever we get out of town, we know that there's always a moment we might have to dial up a pod. So just real simple, first question, your reaction to this happening? Stunned. Like, actually stunned. I saw the shams. I have him on the text alerts. And, you know, I saw on my screen the Boston Celtics, Blockbuster have traded. Jalen Brown. I said, oh, that's pretty interesting. But when I opened that up and saw that not only he was being traded to the Sixers, but that it was only for a couple picks, it was like one of those moments where you had to take a step back and be like, wait, that's it? Like, that's all they're giving up? It was something where I did not think that the Sixers would be in a position to be buyers of any sort in this offseason for reasons we can probably get into. But I think ultimately, after the initial shock wore off, it's just as much as I am skeptical about the Sixers and Ryan, I have seen so much stuff go wrong with this franchise over the years. I think you just had to do it. Like, you know, the word no brainer has been thrown out a bunch and maybe I wouldn't go that far. But I just think you eventually just have to do this for the talent upgrade, the durability upgrade and the ability to get off Paul George's contract. So, yeah, I mean, it definitely took me by surprise. Yeah, I wasn't surprised that it wasn't some overwhelming package coming back. I mean, you're not going to trade one of the guards, which is really the only other move. But the thing that I've had a harder time with, at least on the incoming part of it, is if you were to trade Paul George, dump the contract, I think it would take both of these picks. Yes. Yes. So that's where you go. OK, and then what was the other part? Like they get Jalen Brown, who may be overrated. OK, he may be really expensive. I'll say it one more time. I don't know why anyone cares about what he's eligible for an extension this week when he's already under contract without any team or player option for three years as a giving a number. You could just say Jalen like, yeah, hey, we don't have to extend you for like two years. So we're not going to worry about that right now. I don't know how much perspective you have on on the reaction of the deal afterwards, but they have to be thrilled even if Jalen's expensive, that George is gone in a deal where they would have had to include major assets to even find a team that would take $111 million. Remaining for Paul George. They have to be. They have to be absolutely thrilled. And I thought it was a weird spot for Mike Gansey and I guess Bob Myers before him hiring Mike Gansey to come into because when you look at the Sixers, Ryan, they were just in purgatory. Like I just those Embiid and George contracts. I thought, you know, if the league was going to act like, like I agree with you, I think it would have taken those two picks to get off Paul George's contract. And to me, the prudent move would have been to just wait them out. And that's not a good answer. And, you know, you're obviously relying on Joel and Paul to play more games than they have in the past. And maybe you get lucky and lightning strikes for a round like it did in these past playoffs. But obviously that is not a great answer. So the idea of being able to dump both of those picks for Paul George. But yeah, then to get Jalen Brown, who I think ups your regular season floor by so much, by the sheer fact that he just plays basketball, unlike Paul George over these past seven years. Like he just, Jalen Brown has played so much more basketball. He's been so much more available and consistent. And yeah, I thought like for the Sixers to dump those picks, they would have gotten what back? Like expiring contracts, maybe unwanted salary, but nowhere as good as Jalen Brown. Like nobody who both helps you in the regular season, but also is a proven postseason performer as well. Like Jalen Brown. So yeah, I mean, I think they played this correctly where their offer was not great, right? It was, it was these two first round picks. Like you said, they didn't touch, touch Maxie or BJ. Didn't really throw anybody else in. And maybe they got fortunate. Maybe the, the whole league messed this up with Jalen Brown, because I am surprised he went for that little. But, but for them to, to sort of stay at that price and Brad Stevens, for whatever reason, whether it's, you know, whether Jalen Brown wanted to still be on the team after all these trade rooms, whether it's the analytics, I don't, you know, from the Sixers standpoint, they don't even have to care about that stuff. For them to stand at that offer and get him for this price when moving Paul George would have cost that anyway. It's yeah, it seems like a great deal. It really does. Okay. Basketball fit. How do you see this working? So that's the trickier part, right? Cause it's not, it's not a home run on the court. And so for a lot of the Sixers, probably over the past, I don't know, decade, but especially the past two years, when, when Joel and PG were here, it's if we can get these guys all on the court at the same time. And I think the conversation shifts a little bit with Jalen Brown, because history tells us that he is going to be on the court and, and for the regular season, I think that's going to be a huge deal, man. Like they, they end up getting the seven seed. They beat Orlando in the play in, but last year, if you look, they had a negative point differential. They had some ugly games last year in part because they didn't have a ton of depth and Joel. And PG missed a lot of games. So like they got hammered a bunch in the regular season and they were able to piece it together. And then, okay, they all came back to the playoffs and that was great. Having Jalen Brown solves what I think are the two biggest problems in the regular season. And that's number one, Joel Embiid doesn't play enough basketball. Number two, Tyrese Maxey probably plays a little bit too much basketball. And not only that, you ask too much of him as well. Like, like Tyrese Maxey, it's not just that he led the league in minutes and I'm not even trying to be the, uh, the minutes police here, but getting him off the ball. He is a great off ball, three point shooter. I know that's the case for a lot of guys over their MBA career, but if you look at him, he's pretty consistently like mid forties, catch and shoot, probably like low thirties to mid thirties off the dribble. So the idea of, of Jalen Brown to just soak up and scale up or soak up the possessions and scale up, uh, like he did in Boston when Embiid is hurt and also just take a little bit off Maxey's plate. That's a big deal. Now, when the three of those are together, that's a little bit more of a question, right? And I'm curious about what Jalen's mindset is coming in here because these are two high usage guys when they play together. I think Paul George for his warts, when he was healthy, he was happy being the most expensive third option in the history of basketball. And I think we saw like in the Boston series, he played that role really well, you know, shooting threes, coming off screens, playing defense, and then once in a while, like doing some on-ball stuff, how will this work with Jalen Brown? Who's not quite as clean of a fit. I don't know. I think the Sixers, it was still a worthwhile move to make. Like, let's see how that works because this is a guy that has, is a proven playoff player and, you know, positionally, it still works, uh, you know, one, you know, sort of a three and then, and then a five on, on that scale. But yeah, there are some question marks there and I'm, I'm not going to tell you that I know it's going to be like perfect when all three of them play together. Yeah. I mean, because it isn't perfect, you know, it's kind of the point of my open. If you're waiting around for all these perfect things, I mean, just pricing alone off of Paul George improvement, he plays all the time. I'm totally with you because I think I've been really focused on like, how does it work with Embiid when in fact it's like, okay, well, we'll get to the Embiid topic here in a second. Maxie, I'm sure he's having a blast as a young player and, and putting up huge numbers and being considered all NBA and all that kind of stuff. And like, there's some teams when I did that top 10 thing that I did that I try to do twice a year before the playoffs and then before the season will start, I'll do it again. And I was asking a bunch of different teams, like, who are your top 10 players in the NBA? Maxie wasn't in the top 10, but he was mentioned enough that it was, it was significant. And as great as he is and how hard he is to deal with, especially when he gets any kind of momentum, I do worry a little bit of like, he's kind of going through that Dwayne Wade phase of just, he's, he's falling down every time on these drives. And it's probably better for like the long-term preservation to go, Hey, Jalen can take a lot of these shots for you. And I also was thinking about when KD went to the Warriors, which again, this is not KD going to the Warriors, but you were thinking, okay, who was going to sacrifice shots? Steph, it was a couple. Clay kind of stayed where he was at. And then it was Draymond's shot attempts that went down as you're trying to figure out how to incorporate like 20 shots there for KD. Jalen's not ever going to get 20 shots again. Like he's not going to get in the fully formed version of this team. Jalen can't expect 20 shots. He's got to be okay with like 16. You'd hate to see him. You'd hate to see Vijay get stunted here with opportunities, but the challenging part is going to be, you know, when Embiid is healthy and he gets that catch at the free throw line, it's still one of the most unstoppable offensive possessions that you have in the NBA. And I think there's going to be a lot of off-ball moments where Jalen's going to be watching that maxi Embiid thing. And maybe that's incredible that you have Jalen watching and maybe bails you out with some sort of drive or hits a three, but it's, it's going to be a lot of fun. It's going to be a completely different world for him in the healthiest version of Philadelphia. And I'm not sure how he's going to handle that. Yeah. And I mean, you just look at like the geometry of the court, like the, the, he's going to have to problem solve more than he did in Boston. Boston, it was pretty straightforward, right? I think for, for all of the complaints and I've found it interesting as somebody who has, has been on the other side watching Boston, but some of the Boston people talking about, you know, Tatum and Brown's fit. Like, is it like you said, is it perfect? I, I actually thought it was pretty close to perfect, honestly, where you had this pristine spacing and you had these two apex predator wings that could just hunt matchups and get to the rim and shoot threes and all that stuff. Yeah. This is like, he's going to have to figure out how to space off ball a little bit more. Like you said, Joel at the free throw line, that's an area that Jalen Brown likes to get to. So he's going to have to figure that out probably a little bit more. I'm happy you mentioned Maxie though, because I also think like the biggest reason to make this trade. Is to preserve Tyrese Maxie's prime, because I talked earlier about how they were in purgatory, right? Waiting out those two contracts, like that sounds good. And, you know, it might, it might've been the only thing that Citrus could have done if this deal didn't present itself to them. But man, like the idea of Tyrese Maxie's age 26 through 28 seasons playing on these sort of no hope teams where he also has to like shoulder so much of the load because you have a hundred. $10 million tied up and part-time players. Like I didn't love that idea either. So in the back of my head, and this is something that nobody in Philly was talking about, but in the back of my head, I was thinking like, all right, if you're stuck with these contracts, is the unpopular thing, the best thing to see what you could get for Maxie. Like you said, a top, you know, 10, 11 player, let him play for, you know, do, do right by him and let him play for a real team, a team that wants to win a championship and then reset in three years with the, with the picks and VJ. And whatever else you could get, it's nice that Tyrese Maxie now has somebody that's more his age that can help him play a little bit like they can ease the load on him a little bit more as well. So that's, that's a big. My MB timeline. And I've talked to you about this off the air, uh, even cause when I was the MVP vote, I like, I remember calling you and like trying to talk about, I ended up voting for him beat that year. And let me figure out how to make this quick. I went from loving MB to let's say. Not loving him. I think the MVP year kind of messed him up with the way he went about playing basketball. Um, there's times where I'm like, I just want you to play ball and not worry about getting fouled because he's so good at drawing fouls that I think sometimes it kind of takes out the, the actual like purpose of the possession where I just feel like he's not playing ball as much as he's just going like, am I going to get the free throw line? And it kind of screws everybody up. Um, and he doesn't play a lot so that there's that, but when they had that moment, I forget exactly when it was when some people started going. Kind of like anonymous source on him of like, this is not the greatest hang ever, which is not to be said that Embiid's the only face of a franchise that knows he can get away with stuff and we'll then go ahead and get away with that stuff. But Embiid's reaction to it was more about, he couldn't believe somebody would say this. It was never about like, Hey, I need to do a better job, which is usually what people will say, even if they don't mean it. And that I thought was a little alarming. And so I kind of wonder from a personality standpoint, like Max, he was never going to say anything cause he was too young. BJ's not going to say anything. Paul George is a. Deferential personality. He's never going to say anything. Brown is not that like Brown is somebody, and I think he's good at maybe doing it privately, maybe not. so much lately on Twitch. But I wonder if there's any moment with Embiid, if this is somebody that's going to challenge Embiid because of Brown's resume, where Philadelphia was actually excited to see what that could look like, as opposed to everybody just getting out of Joel's way. Yeah. And so the good thing with Embiid for, like you said, this is a different personality than he has dealt with. He has dealt with Tyrese Maxey, who is just like, I mean, he's got like a Curry-like quality where like, you know, he lifts everybody up, everybody's spirits. He seems like, you know, a guy that the organization is happy to build around, not only the player, but the person as well, because of the work ethic and because of how much he wants to involve his teammates. It seems like Vijay Edgecombe, look, I'm not going to put him in that bucket there yet. He's only played one year. Seems like the intangibles on him are really good as well. This is different, right? Yeah. This is a guy who has, you know, he's done a lot. Like, his resume in the playoffs is better than Joel. So, you know, we'll see how it goes. I mean, it's funny. I actually think back to the Jimmy Butler time with the Sixers, and those two actually did get along pretty well. Now, they were a little bit different of personalities. Jimmy was sort of just like, it was like comical amount of like hard work and getting on people where I think Joel sort of, he sort of vibed with that a little bit. If Jalen Brown, from what I can tell, if it gets like a little more passive aggressive and cryptic and those type of things, then yeah, it's something that I am certainly worried about, Ryan. I think, like, I would assume that the Sixers talked to Embiid about this and, you know, tried to get him on the same page. I'm probably over-indexing too much on those early Twitch streams that I watch, but it was notable to me that he was calling Maxie and Edgecombe and not Embiid. Does that mean anything? No. Embiid might just be a guy that he's just tough to reach in the summer. But yeah, like, Embiid, when he plays on the court, is going to be a huge part not only of the on-court product, but also the energy of this team and how he meshes with Brown. Yeah, I'm curious to see. You mentioned, like, the flopping. Jalen Brown called him a flopper the day after Game 7 of the series, right? He went on his Twitch stream and was just like, great player, but I can't really deal with this stuff. And they had some great back and forth in that game. Like, I was watching that Game 7 and just loving how much they were going back and forth with each other. I think the Sixers probably hope that, okay, maybe they'll let bygones be bygones. They're two competitors, and they'll figure it out at this point. But yeah, like, the idea that those personalities could be combustible, and if the on-court fit doesn't work, things could go wrong. Yeah, that's 100% for sure. Athletes always get over that stuff really quickly. So I wouldn't even worry about that going back and forth. And Joel, even, you know, even though it can drive me crazy, like, him laughing about it at the time tells me, like, even in the game, he's not exactly taking it all that personally. The Butler dynamic is interesting to bring it up. But I would tell you, like, I love that Joel. I loved that one. So I imagine it was an easier basketball teammate to get along with back then when you felt like you could rely on him. And this is like a bigger picture thing. But in with Joel's contract, it's not like there were options for him. But is there a clock there? Like, do you think there's a clock there where if it's another year where he's available for 40 games, and then it's an early playoff exit, which is still in play, despite the high marks across, the board here, which is just another point of this entire offseason, it's so crazy. It's like, oh, my God, what a great deal. It's like, okay, they might be the four or five seats. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Like, yeah, make probably a four or five seat. Is there? We're getting ahead of ourselves here. But do you think any kind of clock is is ticking on how many more years the Sixers would allow their franchise to have another and beat season that is as unfulfilling as the other ones? It's a good question. And it's sort of the same framing as G, right? It's like, what would it take to get off his contract? What? What would you get back in terms of assets? What would you be able to turn around and do to fill the center position, which I think, as you've seen around the league is it's getting pretty expensive at that spot right now, both in terms of picks and, and also salary. So you would need a backup plan as well. But like, logically, getting off PG, I would say this relatively painlessly probably increases the odds that something could could happen. line um you know so you know we'll just sort of have to see how it plays out would you say though that like whenever i listen to podcasts and people who are are neutral and just have a good sense of the entire league like he's still considered the worst contract of the league right and so or one of them like if he's not number one he's he's way up there and at a time where it's hard to move bad money it just it just seems like i don't know it'd be cost prohibitive to move him at this point maybe you know in some ways maybe him having a good year like maybe him playing 55 games and having a good playoff series yeah exactly 55 games like oh my god look i kind of hope it's in there still and i don't i don't know if it is i mean if you watch any video from six years ago of him running around you're like how did it look like this so quickly you know this looks like it should be a 12-year gap you This is a six-year gap of of his movement and i understand he's had a ton of injuries and when you're a bigger guy it's like tougher to keep some of that that weight off but as gifted as he is and he truly is one of the most gifted big men i've ever seen i think we'd all agree on that it's it's just a hard thing it's you know i think there's some iverson parallels for different reasons but you have this player that's such an attraction and is so decorated and yet you wonder are we just being held hostage as a franchise because of somebody that is is perceived a certain way when the when the reality is is like we can't like we're stuck we're stuck and eventually philadelphia knew that they were stuck with iverson yeah so and and that's that's the worry for sure it's just like even even if he wants to prop maxi up and say hey we're going to run the dribble handoff you're going to be the guy it does turn into just just he is very involved when he's on the court i will say one small note of optimism because again i think as we just but you should i i'm not i don't think anybody should be saying like i'm i'm with you here even though i've i've obviously leaned into kind of some of the like you know it's just a huge shoulder shrug where you go okay cool like but whatever but go ahead finish your thought here no and and i'm the same way obviously like you're just waiting for the next injury to happen i will say this kind of went under the radar because they got swept by the knicks the next team that uh was better than we probably even thought at the time considering how well they played for the rest of the postseason and all those knicks fans took over uh xfinity mobile arena for game four it was a pretty embarrassing look for uh for the sixers in their franchise it got lost it got swept uh under the rug and all of that but after that game was over joel did say he was like and this was different like i've i've listened to him talk for a long time like he was like my knee feels really good i'm surprised at how well we have managed that this year and he said you know obviously he fell apart physically in that second round series but he said that had to do everything with the emergency appendectomy like my knee which has been the big thing that has held me back for the past three years at this point you know because he's 23 24 he was playing the best basketball of his career and then the cominga thing happens in the middle of the season and and you know things have since then he seems more optimistic about how they've managed that through uh throughout the past year so that would be the hope for him and i think he's going to be able to do a lot of things and i think he's going to be able to do a lot of things and i think he's going to be able to do a lot of things so that would be the hope that then okay you know appendectomy is in the the rear view mirror and he's feeling better with his knee that he'll be able to do it and i kind of wonder like this is probably uh too much credit to this i i do wonder if mike gansey and bob myers looked at him and talked with him and thought okay you know he does sound like he's in a better place physically than the past few years and and maybe because of that reason we're able to to more justify pushing these chips in and making a move for jaylen brown here and he's also been so unlucky man the orbital bone the bell's palsy the appendectomy i mean it's just again on one hand i can say hey you've got to get lighter you've got a tim duncan this you have to figure out a way to get lighter your knees your limbs everything's going to hold up better any doctor would tell you that kind of stuff and then it's like okay but you're also going to have three things that have nothing to do with you being in or out of shape and it sucks it sucks because when he's right i do i know it doesn't sound like this way to sixers fans but when he's right i do really enjoy him and i i've originally always enjoyed his personality and then it just kind of became you know tougher to to justify with um with some of the stuff and as it's developed on the paul george front massive disappointment i gave daryl all the credit in the world for executing a plan a plan that's almost impossible to pull off in today's free agency because either you won't have the cap space or more importantly everybody's re-signed with their current team so the free agent market is extremely thin it's it's i was thinking about 2019 this morning and i'm like you had kawaii on the move you had the durant kairi thing and now it's like hey we got fred van vliet you know and i like fred all right i like but like that's the point we had one off season where kyle lowry was the biggest money signing from a guy going from one team to another which just even looking at it this morning i was like oh my god i can't believe that that was the biggest number here so paul george was that uh the plan was executed they're able to use it on him and then i swear as soon as he has expectations it's the worst thing that can happen to him so give me a thought on the paul george or experience, I should say, I guess both would apply in the two years of what Boston should be looking at. Yeah, and I think a Boston fan might look at the playoff series and say, hey, man, he played some great defense on Brown and Tatum. And I agree. He was awesome in that series. But if you watched him for two years, he's just on the bench a lot. And it's for a myriad of different reasons, right? He got hurt in his first preseason. I think he tweaked his knee in that it was a preseason game in Atlanta a couple years ago, and he just never seemed to get right from that. And then he has the 25-game suspension. That was a tough look, man. They were just getting Embiid healthy. They were starting to play sort of their best regular season hoops of the past few years. And then it's like, oh, yeah, Paul George, he's not going to be back for another two months. It's just like, man, it's just bad timing. And it felt like there was a lot. Bad timing. It's funny that in Philly, there was a I feel like the encapsulation of the Paul George era after the Eagles won. I think it was the NFC Championship game, not the Super Bowl. He had the bright idea to drive down Broad Street during the big Eagle celebration on Broad Street. And here's Paul George in this sick car. And he's just like caught in the middle of all these crazy people. And it just it felt like symbolic of a guy who just never quite fit in to this exact spot for him. And look, I think for Boston that you're probably going to miss a little bit of the secondary creation and, you know, the primary creation that Jalen Brown did in these past few years when when Paul George is healthy. Like I think as like I said, like the most overpaid third option in history, he does a lot of helpful things. His off ball defense is still pretty sick, man. And the numbers bear it out that he was the Sixers most impactful defensive player last year. It's just you don't want to give him the ball too much on offense at this point. Like doesn't shoot at the rim at all anymore. Like his rim attempts have just cratered these past few years. But the idea of Boston with all of their depth with with Mitchell Robinson now at center and with Tatum back for a full year, the idea that he could slot in and give them passable play. Like, I think that that's on the table. I just worry about the main thing. History says that he's not going to really stay healthy. Um, that's number one. And then like number two, like, you know, what are you going to be able to get for him next off season? But, you know, it's, uh, he's still a very helpful piece, but it will be a sort of different type of impact than Jalen Brown. Yeah. The first year was so bad with Philly. I mean, the advanced stuff is it's not even who he is. It is somebody you would cut from a team. That's how bad it was. And I kept waiting for it to turn and I'm going, okay, well, I can't like, this is awful. Uh, and so he was much better last year, but I mean, we're still talking about 78 games for Philly over two years. He hasn't, he's played over 60 games except for the 71 he played before his free agent market, which I don't know if that's coincidence or if he was just healthy or whatever, but that's one season with over 60 games since 2019. So even if there's less expected of him, even if he's able to slot in, I still cannot believe they moved 111 million in this deal. Um, and then got back Jalen Brown on top of the picks going out. All right, let me end here. Who do you think is a better team right now? Boston or Philadelphia? That's fine. That's funny. The people in Philly might get mad at me for this. Uh, I think the Sixers are a better playoff team. I would, I would probably pick Boston to be a better regular season team. They just, they're a regular season wins machine, man. And they'll just, they'll play Missoula ball. They'll shoot all these threes. They'll have Tatum back healthy. But I do think in a playoff series, and we saw this a little bit in, in the Sixers Celtics series here, like part of the playoffs, as much as there's analytics and I trust them. And I, I think there's a lot of smart people, uh, talking about, talking about that. Like sometimes you just need a guy who doesn't have big weaknesses, who can get you a bucket one-on-one and then to, to trade Paul George, who is not really that guy at any sort of volume. Now for Jalen Brown, like I think the Sixers probably if, if they can get Joel relatively upright to the playoffs, I would pick them in a playoff series of the two right now. But in the regular season, I think Boston probably will have more wins. Broad Street Bulletin, Rich Hoffman on the Sixers. Thanks, man. No problem, man. Thanks for having me. It's Fran from chicks in the office. The weather is getting cooler and Abercrombie's fall drop has everything I need for the season. The best-selling A&F Sloan Taylor pant is a closet staple for me. I'm always wearing it to work events, happy hour, anytime I want to be a bit more dressed up. And the viral Dylan dress is easy, one and done perfection. But my fall uniform will always be denim paired with a Henley sweater, a bra-free top. It's comfortable, effortless. It just never fails. Find your fall capsule at Abercrombie shop in the app online and in stores. While we have Cerruti here, uh, we got to talk some world cup. So what do we make of this decision with the U S men's national team? I saw the Trump video. I doubt he had very much to do with it, but it wasn't like a politician wasn't going to take credit for it. So you have that. Um, but just, just take us through what's happening here and, and whether there's any precedent whatsoever for this. Yeah. That's right. I mean, the Trump thing, I don't even know what to believe. He just said stuff. So I don't know if like he actually, like yesterday it came out that he made a call to Johnny Infantino, who's the head of FIFA, but didn't actually like put forward the appeal. And, but of course, as soon as he gets a microphone in front of his face, it's going to say that like, this was my doing. And I, you know, thank you, Trump. Oh my God. Everyone bowed down to it. I think, I mean, I don't get worked up about it. I think it's kind of funny, but that's where we're at. It all stems from, if you didn't see it, you probably have. In the Bosnia match, one of our best players, our best striker, who has been balling this entire tournament, Fuller and Baligan, he kind of inadvertently was backing into a Bosnian defender. They both kind of clashed into each other. And the way that he kind of got caught off balance and he puts his foot down, he steps directly on the Bosnian guy's ankle and it looked bad. Like, I'm not going to sit here and tell you it didn't look bad. Especially when you slow it down, you freeze frame and the guy's ankle, his ankle is basically bent sideways. And so nothing was basically given on the field at first. And then they go to VAR and VAR looks at it and it's, you know, it's violent, potential dangerous conduct. And he gives out a red card and he's gone. So when you get a red card, you're out for the rest of that match. We played a man down, still won, actually scored a goal after that too. And then he's supposed to miss the next match. That's just the protocol. So he would miss the Belgian game, which we're taping this on a Monday. It is tonight. Is it short-footed instead of shorthanded? It should be, but it's not. Yeah. Well, I'll put that into the, the FIFA submissions jar. And essentially FIFA reversed this thing and has said that, you know, because the thing is everyone thought it was mostly unfair. I think if you pulled like 10 different soccer fans, even non-Americans, they would tell you this was pretty harsh. Like this, this, especially because it wasn't given in a red at first, and it was given a red because of VAR. That doesn't feel like the right use of what we're doing for VAR. If he had gone in like at a tap, a tackle and a real deliberate attempt to like tackle the player. And he did something like this. And sure. Yeah, of course. Give him a red card. It's violent. We saw it last night in the, in the England match against Mexico, which by the way, it was absolutely fucking insane. And when was one of the best games I've ever seen. England had a guy sent off because he had a tackle studs up right to the guy's basically ankle calf area. And that's a red. It's just, and it went to VAR and it's a red. It's harsh, but it's a red. This was the cane red. You think the cane red was a justified or not? It wasn't a, it wasn't a case. It was a penalty. Oh, I'm sorry. By the way, I meant to ask. So again, it wasn't a cane red. The penalty on cane that led to the penalty kick. Was that justified? That's a little harsh. I hated it. But I mean, he did in the, it's a foul. He kicks the guy's leg. It's a foul. He certainly made the most of it. I don't really, I think the letter of the law, like that, I think if we use common sense, that shouldn't be a penalty, but by letter of the law, technically he followed him in the penalty area. It's a penalty. Okay. So back to the other point, because I, so anyway, this gets overturned and everyone freaks out and ballagin. And by the way, there was no appeal process because we had asked multiple people. I had talked to my guy, Paul car. We knew some people at us soccer. It was like, Hey, is there any way to basically appeal this situation? Cause there can be another leagues in different situations. And there is no appeal process. Like it's basically cut and dry. Like if you get a red card, it's written in their rules. Um, it's, you just have to automatically miss the next match. But there is this certain like weird rule. Um, I forget what number rule it is, but like, FIFA can basically go in and change something that they want to change. They did it for Ronaldo in this very tournament. Ronaldo was supposed to miss three games. He served one suspension, one game, one game suspension before the tournament. He was supposed to miss the first two games of the world cup. And then I think FIFA was basically like, we really want Ronaldo not playing in the world cup, especially in the U S his, his final one. And they basically overturned it. And nobody really heard about it because like they, I don't think people really cared that much to be honest with you. Um, there's been a couple of different instances, a guy, Kai Sato who plays for Chelsea, who plays for Ecuador. He had the same thing. He had a one match ban overturned. What they call it is the suspension. The one game suspension is quote being suspended for a year. So you're essentially on probation. So if you do something again, the red card can be reinstituted, but it's all bullshit, right? It's all dumb. And at the end of the day, is it the right call? Like, should he, like, should he be playing in this match against Belgium? I believe he should be. I think that was way too harsh to give him a red card. Do I feel a little bit dirty about the process? Yes. Is that going to make my enjoyment of this game tonight in a potential win tonight any less? Absolutely not. I don't care. And it feels like it's a lot of Europeans who are mad. Trump, mad at the U.S., and we've kind of gone from this, like, hey, we're a feel-good story, like, oh, we're playing well, look at the U.S., oh my gosh, to look at how corrupt this is. This is classic American bullshit, and they're getting away with stuff, which, by the way, we aren't the only ones to get away with this. And if you want to talk about corruption, there was just a freaking World Cup in Qatar, dude. There's been more corrupt things that FIFA's done. This is not like a stand-up organization. So, do I feel a little dirty? Yes. Is it going to ruin my enjoyment? No. I would hate Americans if I watched that Trump video. I would already be upset, and then I would see that video, and I would go, okay, but again, it wasn't like anybody who lived in another country who liked Trump all of a sudden. Although, I don't know, the way soccer, the passion with that, it'd be kind of interesting. Like, Mexicans for Trump, that kind of like, now he's gone too far. Now he's gone too far with his record. It's funny because he was about to say Balogun, and he knew he didn't know how to pronounce it. So, he catches himself. Alright, bigger picture, because I don't care about that that much. What about today's game? I mean, granted, some people are going to catch this pot a little bit later, but Belgium, where are our dogs? We're favorites. We are? So, it started almost dead even, I think, on drafting. So, it was like minus 118 each, I want to say, right after the U.S. game, when we beat Bosnia. And then, since the Balogun news has happened, we've gone from, I think, 118 to 130. So, even slightly more of a favorite. I think the implied odds are almost like 60%. The way we're playing, with Balogun, who's one of the best strikers in the tournament right now, the U.S. is definitely a worthy favorite in the game. Belgium has, like, a bunch of old dudes. It's kind of like their last dance, but the problem is, like, De Bruyne, who you love and you should love. He's an actual player, midfielder. I love him, because it's I, the first time I watched, was he Man City? Man City, yep. The first time I ever watched him, it just stood out. I'm like, this is so different. Again, I'm not saying he's messy or anything like that, but it was like, he controls the game in a completely, it felt like Steve Nash-ish, where I think I ran into the production room. I'm like, what? Because it was like a Man City game on. I was prepping, so I just had it on, which is kind of rare for me. And, look, I text you about him all the time, because I just love the way he plays, even if I'm not quite sure why he plays the way he does, and it seems like nobody else plays like him. Because people don't see the field the way he sees the field. Like, he's just, he's a magician. And that skill of, like, breaking down defenses, and especially because, like, you know, he plays against a lot of teams that are going to just sit back and say, hey, we're going to put eight guys, nine guys behind the ball, break us down, score a goal. Like, that's where he becomes one of the most valuable players ever. So, but he's old. Romelu Lukaku, who I'm sure you've heard of, he's their striker, he's old. And they've, they had sort of this golden generation where two World Cups ago, they finished third, and they've been good, but they haven't really had an influx of a lot of new talent. And so it's a lot of just kind of, like, old guys and, like, dudes filling the gap. So their name power is probably bigger than the U.S.'s are, but we have been playing better. I think you could argue that we are just as talented as they are, and I would argue that our manager is significantly better than theirs. So, I, you know, it sucks because, like, of course, if the U.S. wins tonight, all the talk around the world is going to be how much of an injustice this is, how unfair, the U.S., blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that sucks, because, like, I want to just enjoy, purely enjoy this, and I probably won't be able to at my fullest. But, I don't know. If you're a ball knower, and you care about, like, the right process of things, or I should say the right process, but, like, the outcome of what that, like, I don't think people believe that Balikin did anything significantly wrong, deserved to be suspended in this game. And here's the thing, too. If I, and as an American fan, if Lukaku did the exact same thing in the game before, and he was supposed to miss this, and it got overturned, I can tell you, you can say, oh, you're just saying that because your guy got over. I would not care. I think it's the right call. I think it's just from a sporting decision is the right way to play this. He should be playing. And I think Belgium kind of bitching about it is also, like, kind of lame. Like, their coach is complaining, their federation is complaining. It's like, hey, just play the game. If you think you're better than us or whatever, like, you just think you're going to complain your way to a victory? And now they're talking about, oh, should they just sit out the tournament, and should, like, the rest of the European teams stand behind them and not play? And it's like, guys, what are we doing here? Like, this is insanity. So, I'm going to enjoy the game tonight, win, lose, or draw, but this is the point where the U.S. usually loses. We haven't made it past the round 16 in a long time, and you know, this is kind of the reason you hire Mauricio Pochettino to be your manager, to get you over this hump. What happened to Brazil? Other than Haaland? I think there is. I think there's a lot of left. Remember the 7-1 thumping they got in Brazil when the World Cup was in Brazil in 2014? They got hammered by Germany. And they've kind of never been the same since then. They don't really develop players in the same way. Their midfield was just not as good as a normal Brazil midfield would be. It was kind of old and aging. I thought their defense was okay, but the thing that they usually have the best things of are, like, wing players like wing backs and wingers, and even strikers. They had Vinnie Jr., who's excellent, but he had, you know, an okay tournament. One of their other best wingers, Rafinha, got hurt. And then beyond that, they didn't really have much in the attack. Like, they were like a weirdly dull Brazil team. So I don't know if it's like a, hey, why is Brazil not producing the same amount of attacking talent as they always have? If it's like a huge epidemic, or it's just like, hey, this World Cup cycle, they just didn't have it. And then the other thing was, Neymar was on the team, and they left out one of their other kind of informed strikers, and Neymar's kind of like the old, had that all the guys like, but is he any good anymore? Not really. So, I did pick Brazil because I thought their defense was going to be really good, and I like their manager a lot, but even I admitted, I think, on the show, like, that was probably a long shot. Erling's approval rating right now, is there anything comparable? I mean, is it like breakout year Anthony Edwards, where, you know, I always talk about those NBA players, is like, your peak approval rating is probably like the second or third year in the league. For this, it's different, even though he's been around longer, it's like America's first opportunity to be like, who's this tall Viking-looking dude who looks like he should be in movies playing the bad guy and everything? Was he an extra in Die Hard and all this kind of stuff? And then just the sheer production from him here now, it is kind of fun to see him have, like, the cleanest approval rating you can possibly have in sports, which is just impossible to sustain, although for him, he'll just disappear again for a bunch of years and people won't pay attention to him. So, the drop-off globally won't be there for him the way it would be when you're living with a basketball player every night for six, seven months. Well, the thing I've heard from a lot of people is two things. One, there was like an ad before the World Cup, I think it was the Nike ad, where Channing Tatum was playing like a knock-off version of him, and like, him being self-deprecating is funny. Like, he is kind of like, you know, you just don't see that out of him very much. And the other thing I heard from people, because he plays for Manchester City, and Manchester City are probably, other than PSG, maybe the most controversial team in the world, are owned by a nation-state, they have a ton of money, they're currently, there's like 117 charges against them by the Premier League or the FA for like, basically, in other words, like money laundering, like fake sponsorships, all that stuff, cooking the books, yada, yada, yada. So, they're not a well-liked team. And I've heard from a lot of fans for like, this is like the first time that I could actually root for Haaland outside of Manchester City, and it's awesome. Because like, how do you, you want to root for him? He's an insane, as you said, Viking. I saw somebody that was like, if it, you know, if Erling Haaland was born like a thousand years ago, like you'd have seen him coming over on a ship, like, cracking dude's skulls in with like a hammer. Like, this is what he would do. Like, he was born to just be an animal in that way. So like, his likability is that he's not tied to Manchester City anymore. He's tied to Norway, which is like a likable team, and they're kind of an underdog, and now they're going to go up against England. But if you've seen, I don't know if you've seen like him, but like, the video of him scoring that first header goal, like he doesn't touch the ball a lot. I think he had like 20 touches in the game total. And his game is like, do you score or did you not score? More often than not, he does score. I think his record is he's had like 60 plus goals in like under 60 games for Norway. He scored like nine goals in one game alone in a qualifier. It was against some terrible team, but still. Like, he in the lead up to that header goal, like, he's just kind of walking around, not really exerting much. And then as soon as he sees like a little opening, it's like, bang, header, bang, and then it's 1-0, and then basically the game's over. And then the second goal he had from the shot from outside the box was just, I mean, again, just, there's like very few people in the world that could actually do that. So, I would say him being, not being tied to Manchester City has been really cool, because people are like, okay, I could fully enjoy the Holland experience. I can't wait for tonight, man. And we can catch you, one of this new episode coming out of the pod. We're going to be live tonight after the game. So, me, Sam, I don't know. We're going to try to get McGee on the pod, but he's actually going to be at the game. So, we're going to try to do something for him from the stadium, but a bunch of us will be live. It's just soccer, YouTube, Twitter, all those different places you can find us. All right. Make sure you check it out. as they work to a goal of donating $1 million to dog rescues in 2026. So, if you love true sweet tea, this one's a no-brainer. Pick up a lucky one sweet tea today and give back one can at a time. Football season's here, and whether you're grinding your way through the week or gearing up for kickoff, there's one ride that's always game-ready, the Chevy Silverado. There's a reason Chevy is called the Heartbeat of America, and Silverado keeps that heartbeat strong. Whether you're towing, hauling, or tailgating, Silverado let you show up strong and tackle any task. With best in class standard torque, the most functional bed and the advanced tech that's football guy approved. Check out offers on the 2026 Silverado at chevy.com You want details? Bye. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all kids, I am liquid So, now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Life advice, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com We have Kyle, we have Cerruti Everybody have a good fourth? Yeah man, definitely. Wow, big smile. 250. Yeah, it was fun. We had a bunch of people over the house Big pool day A lot of beverages were had, food was eaten I saw a picture of your pool dude. Looks nice It's a good setup. We got mini hoops in there as well, so that's been a big hit. Awesome. Little kids try to dunk on it though. It does have a water basin That thing almost fell in the pool on somebody's head It could have been dangerous, but you know We survived. What kind of rim are we talking? Oh, it's a metal rim. It's real. It's got a real net It's, yeah, I wasn't gonna half-ass that Yeah, I don't, this is another great story. When I was a kid We had like one of the hoops in my yard with, you know, you put the water in it and obviously, whatever. It's not supposed to tip over It was like the beginning of the season and it had been outside all winter and I guess the water had evaporated So my first thing I did obviously was just jump up on it dunk. Thing came down on me hit my temple, got some nice stitches in the side of my head. So I learned my lesson pretty early. Chick's dig scars though, that's cool. Yeah, that's good. Can you at your age still be roped into a pool basketball game with your boys as a drop of a hat? Yeah, absolutely. Hell yeah, dude Absolutely. It didn't happen yesterday but I wanted to. I mean, I think every dude group has basically had the like full contact like pool basketball. Well, even if it doesn't start that way, it comes back like immediately after somebody tries to drown someone and there's scratches on people. A lot of elbows to the noses, blood in the pool Oh yeah, all that stuff. 100% It's crazy what happens. It's a rite of passage Yeah, it's crazy I had a friend who had this like birthmark all over the side of his face and I remember he worked the door at a place that I was bartending at and one of the female bartenders who I think was engaged, she was just like your friend is so hot and I was, you know and all of us, I don't know, we didn't think he was bad looking but it was a distracting spot all over us I mean, it was like covered half of his face almost looked like CGI or, you know, if he had been a character in some. It's Two-Face Yeah, movie you know, like, oh my god, great makeup and I was like, what? I was like, you think he's, you know it was, I don't know that I was arguing with her or pushing back but I just I guess I was just so surprised Yeah, because she was like fired up. She's like, he is so hot and I went I was like, oh, you know, wow, okay I'll, you know, relay that to the dudes back at school Yeah and then she goes, I just love guys with like stuff on their face I knew they were out there. When I was younger I was like, I wonder if something will happen to me or I'll have a sick scar one day. Do not. It was close I bet, a few times. Yeah, I got stuff on my legs and stuff, nothing you know, I don't have any of those like weird patches where it's like you got hit in the head with stuff when you're 10 and hair doesn't grow. I don't have any of that stuff so that's too bad. Look at Seal Right Legendary run. Dayton Supermodels Yeah. Alright We have a few follow-ups, I think but I think this is the only one I'm going to read today. Remember Jack Hammer? Yeah So, hey fellas, appreciate your advice from earlier this year. This was a 100% real email. We ultimately went with Jack as a middle name. Remember our guy's last name was Hammer We just call him Jack. We figured going with the middle name, he can have the choice down the road if he doesn't like it I don't know. I don't know if you really have a choice early on, but I get your point but then it's going to be weird if all of a sudden you've known him as Jack Hammer through high school and then he comes back one summer. He's like, "My name's Dave." No. It's a pivot He ended up being the 97th percentile weight, 47th percentile height Chode I whispered to my wife This is him. I'm not saying I'm not that mean Yeah. Yeah. Right. Because remember our guy wasn't huge He checked in at 5'9" 145 soaking wet. So we were kind of like, you got to look out. So 97th percentile weight, 47th percentile height, Chode. I whispered to my wife in the delivery room. So Jack Hammer's actually a pretty fitting name, but hey This guy, this guy sounds great. You know, just the first thing Who? Jack Hammer? The baby? Yeah. Baby sounds awesome. Yeah. This incredible moment or whatever. Like the first thing this guy's thinking of is making fun of his baby Yeah. To the wife So they must have a good relationship Although if you're a strong little guy, Jack Hammer also weirdly fits as well If you're like a strong, stout kind of dude, I think Jack Hammer also works Yeah. So when you're 97th percentile weight, like what are we talking about here? 220 in high school? That doesn't seem to make a ton of sense Well, I don't know if it projects all the way out to high school Whatever you are at that stage of life For babies, yeah Yeah, but I thought there was like some gene mapping or something you could do Yeah, I think you're right You can, you can. I remember our pediatrician, I'm what, 5'10", my wife is 5'5", maybe? And my doctor's really short And our first daughter, he's looking at the chart Does that matter? No, it does. Well, you know, it does because he goes, he goes, oh, she's going to be tall And I was like, what do you mean? Like no one in our, like, what are we talking? And he's like, oh, I got on me like 5'6". I was like, for, okay, like that's, is that tall? Like, all right, sure. I guess that's, I was pleasantly surprised. I don't know Hmm. That's exciting. All right, moving on. Okay. One other quick one here. 6'1", 170, 33 years old, player comp, Sasha. Yeah, Vujicic, moving to West Hartford this fall, and my soon to be wife, and we have no idea where to live. My fiance's job will be near Blueback Square. Nice. I'll be driving to grad school in Fairfield. Next summer, I start clinicals full time, should have a much shorter commute. We'll be in the area for at least three years, would like a walkable area for restaurants and things to do as we've been living in big cities, Chicago and Atlanta. Don't think this was a life advice, but you and Steve really seem to love the Connecticut talk the other day. We sure do. I've never DM'd these guys. I was going to say, you're firing away. I DM'd Kyle and Saruti, different Instagram Connecticut clips, more DMs in two days than I have the rest of the time of us knowing each other. Fair? Yeah, fair. Yep. Yep. Maybe because I've never DM'd either of you, but I can't get enough of this Hartford content. Anyway, so yeah, we did enjoy it. So any information would help as we start this new chapter of finally Fairfield. Fairfield isn't far from Danbury, so I'll have to check out the mall. I mean, we are your home for Connecticut talk. My wife was just asking me today, she's like, are we going to Danbury this weekend? I'm like, I don't know. We just had a big weekend before. Maybe we'll just give it a rest. Yeah, let's space out the celebrations. All right. Look, I've been there, it's eight years for me now, so I don't know. Saruti, do you want to take the lead on this? I mean, it doesn't feel like West Hartford's. What's the question? This guy's thinking Chicago. He wants to know where he should live. In West Hartford? Wow, this is such a niche email. I lived right on South Main Street, not in Blueback, but close enough to basically walk there. And back then, rent was pretty cheap, considering. And that was awesome. So if you're walking distance from the center anywhere, I think you're fine. Now, there's some nice new luxury apartments, I think, that are in there. I don't know if those are. I can't tell you. I don't know if those are worth it or not. Only you can know that. But they do look decently nice, and they're in a good spot. But I feel like if you're in West Hartford, you're willing to drive from anything. It doesn't matter. It's really just that downtown area that everybody goes to. It depends on how far. Where I lived, I couldn't walk anywhere. I mean, I could walk on that stretch. You were in a different part of town. There was a couple things. Yeah. So the only reason I picked my place is because it was new or it was turnkey, and I was traveling all the time. So that's the origin of all the HOA. Yeah. If you wanted to do. Hey, I want to walk into the downtown part of West Hartford, which is incredible, depending on what you want. If you're a big city person, then it's not going to be enough for you. But if you love quaint, old, kind of historic feeling, New England thing, slower pace, but can get everything done in an afternoon, you like going with your wife to go sit there and have an outdoor lunch during the summer and everything, all that stuff works. Maybe it's Fairfield Ave. And then. Is that Farmington Ave? Wait, it's Farmington Ave. Yeah, he said Fairfield. So it's Farmington Ave. If you go through the city, and then. I don't know if it's north. I'm just kind of thinking up. So I could be totally wrong directionally on that, but I wouldn't make a great cop. There's probably some places to rent there that are a little bit older builds and everything, but you could be out of the commotion of the town, but a very feasible walk. The main thing I would tell anybody about moving to that part of Connecticut is don't get tricked into doing anything north of that exit. Because once you get north of that exit, heading up 84, back towards Hartford, like when I. lived in Hartford and commuted from Bristol and I was getting off the air at four. So I would be driving through that stuff on days that I didn't stop depending on, again, nobody cares about my workout routine, but you would be stuck in this absurd 84 traffic just to get, it would take me an hour to get back to Hartford. It sucked. And then when I moved to West Hartford, it was a complete game changer because then I was home in 25 minutes. So do not do anything that takes you north of that West Hartford exit if you're going to be commuting. Also depends on, it sounds like your wife's not going to be commuting, but that'd be my number one thing to anybody. Again, I don't know that Hartford is the dream destination for a bunch of younger people, but if you have to live there and you're doing that commute, it's going to be brutal. And you get so frustrated because then all the traffic disperses because it's only based on the design of the highways, not because there's so many people there. All right. I think we covered it. Uh, let's see. God, there's so many Danbury questions in here. Um, I'm going to get a boom in tourism. Thanks to Kyle. I know. Uh, this one's a little longer, but I think it's important. 29 years old, six, one, 200 pounds. Uh, he says, omit the parentheses. Okay. No problem. I've been mostly a runner the last few years, completing two ultras last fall. All right. Used to be able to clean three 15, but couldn't touch it. And I'm working on building my weight training back up. All right. I've got a guy who's locked in. My girlfriend and I have been together for six months. Great timing with me leaving the country for a period of time. Okay. So he has to leave the country for work. Um, after starting to date, I love my girlfriend and we have moved things pretty fast and discuss what a potential future may look like with one another. Once I returned home, all of our goals and dreams for what we want are extremely aligned. Here's the dilemma. She's told me that she's been spending a lot of time with one of our other mutual friends from work. Let's call him George. Usually they're together in a group doing some sort of outdoor activity until recently she told me her and George went camping together alone. So you were dating her and she went camping with George while, and she, you found out after the camping trip. Anyway, it doesn't align with my values. I'll tell you that. Yeah. My vision is we go on trips with other people without telling each other until after, uh, I don't think, I didn't think anything of it because I trust my girlfriend and consider George a friend as well. That was until she told me that they had a conversation where they revealed they had feelings for each other during the camping trip. She said they finished the conversation with him asking about me and coming to a resolution to just remain friends and said nothing else happened between them on the camping trip. Naturally, I did not react well to this and told her I wanted her to stop hanging out with George and could not believe my girlfriend and friend had both betrayed my trust. She said that it meant nothing and they were just friends. I remained pretty beat up about it for the days following. The next conversation, we had, I essentially laid out an ultimatum for her, me or him. She initially fought me on this saying that she values George as a friend and would like to consider or continue their outdoor activities together while I'm gone. She also added that her and George have tickets to a concert for just the two of them later this summer and we'll be seeing him a lot since they'll be working together and share common friends. I would have been more receptive to this if George was a friend she had known forever that she didn't want to lose, but she's known him for the same period of time as me. I told her, There's nothing I can do to stop them from being together in a group setting, but I absolutely do not want them to hang out one-on-one, which she seemed to understand and acknowledge. They're going on a camping trip soon with a group of friends. I know that it is going to upset me that they are together, but I need advice from the triumvirate how to proceed and if I am being fair in my actions with the situation. Am I to believe that nothing else happened between my girlfriend and George? Did I go too far in giving an ultimatum and telling her I don't want to see him? I don't want her to see him anymore. I want to stay together with her and make sure she's able to enjoy her time at home while I'm away, but how do I move forward with this as I won't be back in the country till next year? That sucks, man. Anybody want to go first? It took me forever to read that. Not really. Yeah, I mean, I think I'd go on a trip as a single man, maybe. I don't know. I'm not really sure. It's tough because she already. That move. I mean, you're walking through, you know, Verdun. You're like, look at me, solo on a lake, rented a boat. Like, okay, what about George back home? Doesn't work. Well, he's going for a reason, right? It's probably a work trip. Like, you know, ingratiate yourself with the folk there. I don't know. I mean, the problem here is that. He's going for work. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. But the problem is they have this own little thing that you're never going to be a part of, which is work. And it's not like she just sees him at happy hours. They're also going places and sleeping in the same place together without you there. It's like, if you can't stop this thing from happening, I don't think that. Maybe she thought she was helping by, like, giving you all this information up front. This is something maybe I'd almost prefer she didn't tell me about if I'm in this situation. Like, yeah, we both decided we kind of like each other, but we figured it'd be better, you know, for you if we didn't do anything about it. Like, I almost feel like it's a lie to me at that point. I don't know. So I don't think. Yeah, I'd rather be lied to at this point. Yeah, you're totally right. I think you know if they went on a solo or duo camping trip without you that that conversation probably happened. Like, you know, so she could tell you outright or you could just pretend like it didn't happen. But that conversation happened no matter what they told you. Like, do you believe her that nothing happened? Do you believe her that they're just going to, like, go their separate ways and everything's going to be fine? Like, I personally wouldn't. And I think your thing. Yeah, until they end up in the same place and they have this little special secret and it's like, I haven't seen you out in the wild in a while. It's going to be worse. Can you get an invite to one of these trips? Like, why is somebody like that? I've never. You get invited to any of this stuff. Yeah, I think I kind of feel like everything. Your ultimatum to me is totally fine. Like, even if they are, like, the best people in the world and they're truly trying to look out for you, like, they know it's screwed up deep down. Like, this isn't like normal, okay behavior. Maybe she told you because she feels bad about it and she feels like being upfront with it is going to make her conscious feel better. That's probably a scenario, but I don't think it helps. I think the best news is you've only been dating six months and it wouldn't be the end of the world if you guys part ways. Well, I'm just asking opinions here. Yeah, no, I know. Just because not like what happened was so crazy. It's the fact that she, like, doesn't get. They're like, all right, speed bump. We won't go down that road again. It's like, actually, we've scheduled a couple more trips down that road already, so we'll get through the concert season and this one more camping trip and then maybe I'll think about, you know. It does feel a little bit like an IQ test of relationships, like, and she failed. Like, plain and simple. Yeah. Ultimatum is totally fair. Do not feel about that. George is not going away, okay? Your friend does not respect you. I don't know how much your girlfriend respects you. If they sat there and all they did was say they both have feelings for each other and we're on a camping trip together and, okay, we both have feelings for each other. Now, let's go our side. Not to bum you out, man, but I don't know that. I mean, if they admitted this part of it, was that a way of, like, feeling better about maybe something else happened? So, I would be thinking something else happened because two people sit there, like, we're on this trip together and we like each other. Okay, let's not do anything, though, because of my boyfriend, who you're friends with. Like, if this guy's really your friend, he's not going to take your girlfriend to a country show. And if she's your girlfriend and she wants a future with you, she understands. I can't go to a concert with just the two of us. So, you may have to, like, pull a power move, but then again, it's like, be careful what you whisper for here. You might have to say, like, we are not going to be dating and now I'm leaving the country for work. And then you come back and she's dating George. So, I don't know what you're willing to be able to handle. Usually, people lie to themselves about what they can handle and then they're in the reality of it. And we're like, actually, this is way worse than I thought it was going to be. But this is. This is nasty work from the both of them. So, you shouldn't feel any ounce of guilt whatsoever telling her, like, this doesn't work. This doesn't work for me. And if I'm important to you, you have to respect that. I mean, there are times where you're. I remember one time I had to unfollow somebody who I knew. And I was so annoyed. And yet, I just went, whatever. I'm like, what's the harm in me? Like, it doesn't matter. Because I had to. I was like, if this is bothering the other person, then I'm going to unfollow him. And I'm like, I'm going to unfollow him. And this person cares about me as stupid as I think this is. And I could put my foot down and say, like, hey, you're overreacting and I'm not going to give in on this kind of thing. Especially being older. I just kind of like, whatever. I'll just unfollow the person. Ocean waves, bro. Yeah. Like, all right. Problem solved. Unfollowed. Like, don't care. Great. You know? So, don't feel bad about the ultimatum whatsoever. I really don't like this at all for you. I don't like it either. But I do think a couple months abroad is a pretty nice reset button. Right. You know? I bet Brooklyn Nets wish they could go a couple months abroad. That'd be a much better reset than they're going through. Wow. Look at that. Was that a millennia? I don't know. That was probably whatever was up below millennia. Yeah. I always assume in the monologues, Kyle's the most, like, what? What's he talking about right now? Oh, you know, I'm taking notes. I'm the guy who's taking notes when you're doing that shit. You know what? I appreciate that. Copious notes. All right. Bartender Dilemma. What's up, gentlemen? Long time listener going all the way back to SVP. Stats, 36, six foot 265. Whoa. Former CrossFit bro who has since seen the light. bench 225 squat 315 deadlift 425 nba comp brian scalabrini the big guard who can occasionally get hot from three but focus on rebounds and defense that is a big guard at 265 here's a dilemma one of the other bartenders a woman will come in on her nights off and have a few beers totally normal what i've started noticing though is that she'll consistently get some of the older single regulars to buy her drinks the first time it happened she came in on her night off ordered a couple beers for me then told me quote i'm broke right now so i can't tip you for the beers i'm having man that is like the all-time betrayal of the bartender code the whole point of being a bartender is that you get hooked up with all your drinks and then you tip excessively so that actually ended up costing you more and all of you look at each other going this isn't working out yeah enough for this we tried to do a pact once in vermont where we're like we have to stop this because it's actually like it's getting way i was totally in favor of i was like yeah can we stop because it sucks we have to leave 100 bucks all the time all right a few minutes later one of the regulars bought her drinks so it wasn't an issue i didn't think too much of it because we've all had times where someone else picked up the tab since then i've seen the same thing happen another three or four times with different regulars it doesn't feel like a random nice gesture anymore it feels like she knows exactly which guys will buy her drinks and leans into it yeah that's i don't think it seems that's exactly what's happening for comparison yeah they've been doing that since saloons right i mean that's exactly how it works you're right kyle since they started women in bars i'm pretty sure that's what's been going on hey look you know there's a pay gap and then there's also this so you know things things even out i mean if i had a nicer ass who knows what my instagram following would be yeah uh all right so caked up or so yeah the five engine seems my god why do you think i've been wearing those shorts like the follower count just hasn't really taken off the way i thought it was edited or what is that yeah new bedford is like a movie y'all for comparison i've had plenty all right we already read that line so here's my question is this just none of my business in the case of an just a case of older single guys willingly buying drinks for an attractive bartender or is this something i should mention to the owner because it could eventually create a problem for the bar if someone feels let on or things go sideways love the pod hopefully i'll make it to the next live show if it's anywhere close i would not sound like we got a hartford one coming up yeah i don't know it's like a full middle town hartford like were you at the middle town show he went way longer live from the yard go let's go he really like he was like trey up there was like this is over yet nope 2001 all right so i don't think here's here's what i would say these regulars are thrilled to have the audience okay i know who these guys are i desperately do not want to be one of them and i'm so fearful i had dinner last night at a bar guy next to me pounding some white wines all he wanted to do was talk to the bartenders he even made a mix he was controlling the spotify playlist in the bar and they were playing along and he looked like he was a regular and it was a bunch of female bartenders and he was trying to engage on literally anything that they were doing and they were playing along because i think he's there all the time and i'm sitting there going that's just very yeah right but i like it doesn't happen to you guys because it's me because i'm just going like is that going to be you dude it's not going to be you you so that you know your life lasts for your eyes for a bit there yeah yeah yeah i'm like oh man and he had some pretty good stories too and he was trying to talk to me and i was like all right and then he said something i was interested in i was like okay but if you do engage then you're not going to be able to watch the rest of the game so i was like all right whatever because so anyway the point is um these guys are paying an audience tax and that is their transaction and if i think it's lame that she'd be a bartender in her own bar telling you guys that like she's low on funds and she's not going to tip you but this act in itself her sitting there getting a few beers some guys these guys are pumped to pay for her beers because she's going to pay attention to them and that i think is a them transaction yeah and there's also like they might they might not be coming in there just when she works too like they might just be in there all the time but maybe there's a little couple drinks fall off the truck when she's serving them and now she knows that she can also you know there might be a little bit more than just like i'm going to be a pretty girl sitting next to you for the next 20 minutes you know what are you going to do for me like there could be there could be like they love when she's working and she you know she's like well i know i can count on these guys coming in today so there might be some of that there too so i don't know and maybe this is an outlet for them so they're not leaving you know comments on girls instagram photos saying like so beautiful you know what i mean like maybe that's maybe that's saving them from going out into the world and putting that energy elsewhere who knows probably not but yeah gorgeous hope you have a great day sunshine smiley face just all sorts of cake and it's like what's your favorite fast food your dad's like i like shake shack you know just must be horrifying yeah yeah yeah that does scare the out of me like what at what point because that's like at some point you're going to be the old man in life and my wife and i talk about this all the time and it's kind of there's going to be like some ai stuff so we're just going to be it's just going to be all over our heads so we're just glad i think who knows man you know and it's gonna be like there's a loser on whatever like the future facebook platform is and so you see steve just firing on whatever fake things so it's gonna happen it's inevitable steve's looking at ai soccer goals like this is amazing that's fake you old idiot um how are these aliens gonna affect housing yeah that was good right off the dome uh i've thought about that okay i just think if we have aliens here at any point they'll be like this big push to be like no hug an alien like this is great and be like they eat cats man like what what do we do uh have you guys gotten duped by what what's like i i think i got duped by a couple ai videos recently like it's getting weird now it's so weird yeah it wasn't i'll just look at the comments that usually younger people you can tell help i wasn't getting fooled by ai but like whenever there was a war going on it was like like holy and then so we'd be like that was actually from you know 2019 and that was in bosnia or that was somewhere else i'm like yeah well how am i supposed to know uh so like there's just been a bunch of like war footage that they're attributing to the wrong conflicts that i'll just i guess so i guess that's just how it is i don't know what happened over there i did be like no actually i did get a text uh for my mom with a um a screen grab of the portnoy i think it was fox news hit running for she she's like is this real and it's like dave portnoy for president it's like i'm pretty sure he's selling books my i don't know i was like i i didn't even respond i just called him i don't have time for it i'm gonna be honest my mother also sent me a clip oh really six months ago yeah she's like have you heard about this stock dave portnoy seems like he's i was like all right i was like i'll i was like you know i work for him now right she was like what she she didn't know what was going on no um pass yeah all right i think that'll do it for us today that was a good one a lot of stuff i can't i want to mine our own business right that's what we're saying to this guy just to put a bow on it mind your own business for the most part yeah f george mind your own business bartenders definitely and we want a kyle travelog when he goes to dan berry you know what could you do that could you do like a two-part 10-minute like all the way down and then have it just be part of the pod and none of us talk and we just put it in the pod where you have to write out like a 10-minute monologue pre and post yeah yeah okay yeah i think so don't even be intimidated by it at all just do it it'll be you and kyle it'll crush promise it might put me out of the game all right thanks to tom thanks to kevin thanks to trudy thanks to kyle ryan russell of show barstool sports oh you