Next Question: Media Day Reactions

[MUSIC] Welcome to the Miss Ratch. I'm Chris Vernon, and joining me see less every week from TheRingor.com, it's Dave J'Covid. J'Covid! -Ferno, it feels like a new season. It feels new. It feels like it's happening. It feels like NBA basketball is back in our lives, and a lot has changed. And I'm very excited about this season. -Well, and we knew that it was going to be odd yesterday to see everybody report to media days. And then, inevitably, you're going to get all of the pictures of them in their new uniforms. And it was shocking, even though we talk about things all off season. And then we see AI-generated guys in their new jerseys, you know, with it posted. Whenever everybody's like, they're taking pictures, taking pictures amongst their teammates, one of the things that stood out yesterday was over and over again on the timeline. You're seeing these, you know, you're seeing Yannis and the Miami Heat jersey, LaMelo in the Wolves jersey, quite Thompson in the Heat jersey, Paul George in the Celtic jersey. And it is a bit jarring just to realize, like, when it's post after post, and this is beyond LeBron James in the 76ers uniform, it all just becomes very, very real when they report and you see them in that jersey for the first time. And my God, where there are a ton of transactions. -There really were. There really were. There's a lot of old faces in new places. And again, like, you can't see the Photoshop, like LeBron in the Sixers jersey. But like, I'm going to start it here is the most jarring image I saw was the actual physical starting five of the Philadelphia 76ers standing side by side. When you saw that, how did you feel? -I thought, wow, that is an unbelievable accumulation of talent that is going to go. And I think you have talked about this in the past. It feels like it's going to go one of two ways. We are either going to look back at it. And it's going to be the famous Brooklyn Nets photo with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and Darren Williams, where we're sitting there going, wow, I can't believe. Look at that. They acquired a super team. And then it's going to become like this footnoted NBA history of something that didn't live up to what we thought it was going to be. Or it's going to be devastating. I really don't think in a good way. You have said that it's such a high floor low ceiling. I mean, the idea that they're just going to be okay is something that is harder for me to process than they are going to be unbelievable. Or this is not going to be what everybody thinks it's going to be. -Yeah, I think you meant to say low floor high ceiling because that is how I feel. And I also think there's two iterations of the Brooklyn Nets that were like that because when they had a hard NKD in Kyrie, I sort of felt the same way. It's just so odd that you could turn Paul George into Jalen Brown and you can get LeBron James for the vet minimum. It's like, what is happening? Like, how did they do that? They turned Paul George into Jalen Brown and LeBron James. And they were a good basketball team last year. And like, just edge comb and maxi. Like, don't forget how good Maxi is. Like, I also, there's some images. One thing I don't really dig is the whole like he looks thinner, best shape of his life, look at Luca. And they did it with Jalen B. Like, he did look thinner. But like, my question is, if I'm, you know, I know that you are a very well respected NBA mind and dudes often use you as a resource for their strategy heading into the season. And I'm, if the 76ers and nickiners are sure they're going to reach out to you and say, hey, Verno, like, how do we manage Jalen B this season? What would be your response? Like, like, how do we make sure we get the most out of this asset that we have that we're paying $70 million to play basketball? What would you say? Every time he says he can play, he plays. That's it. I mean, at this point, at this point in his career, I mean, I just think that the managing of him, we've seen how the managing has gone. And it's like, how do we, what is, they've tried it a bunch of different ways with still, can you make it through the playoffs? And the answer may be, he's never going to make it all the way through the playoffs if you're playing that many rounds and you achieve what you ultimately want to achieve. But they've tried, like, hardly playing him during the regular season. And that didn't work either. So I mean, I think you just play the guy as much as you can. And I actually think that for the first time, for the first time for their franchise, that's not the most important question because now you have, like, you're good enough if he doesn't play. You have enough talent. I'm saying, right? Like, it used to be, oh my goodness, well, you're not going to achieve anything close to what you want to achieve if he is unavailable. And now it feels like you've got the reinforcements that it's like, you can still have somebody. And in fact, multiple players be the best player on the floor any given night if he is unavailable. And that is something, you know, Maxi came along to be that in the last couple of years. But now you have two other guys that in a one game set could be the best player on the floor. So that just led to an interesting thought of mine that I have not had yet. It's not prepared in the rundown or anything. Just I thought to myself, what if they didn't have Jolin Beat? Right? Like, Jolin Beat just like, you know what? Out for the season, where would you stack them up in the Eastern Conference? Because I think they still be pretty high. It would be, but I mean, the Eastern Conference is loaded now, Jacoby. We've talked about this so many times in such as in many of the recent episodes. It is, I still, yesterday, when I was writing all those teams now, it's hard to figure out who you booed out, who's not going to be a playoff team that you expect to. Because you see the Orlando's and the Toronto's and the Atlanta's up the world yesterday. And you're like, well, these all look like playoff teams. Right? They got players and they got and some of them have added players. Some of them have in the case of Orlando. We don't know when they've got a new coach. But somebody that we think that we describe as an Eastern Conference Playoff team is not going to be an Eastern Conference Playoff team simply by the numbers. There's only a couple of rat teams in that conference. And so that's the hard thing to figure out. So I do think in order, I would say M.B. gives them a chance of coming out of the East. But in the absence of M.B., could they still possibly be a playoff team for sure? Oh, hell yeah, playoff team. Well, LeBron James talked about them going into the playoffs. And here's what we have to say. In order for us to be great, we have to do things that are just not comfortable. We have to be comfortable or being uncomfortable. That is the best way to expedite being great. You have to fall in love with doing things that's uncomfortable. And if we can do that, then we can be a great team. If we don't do that, then we would be like, "Oh, man, it was a great team on paper." And we had a lot of great talent and we lost in the second round. I don't want to do that. I don't need my family to lose in the second round. I know that, for sure. So Morgan needs to be done. You know what? I am someone who spends a lot of time with this family. Like, that sounds excellent. You know what I mean? It sounds nice. Like, "Oh, just let me buy myself. I have an apartment in New York. I have an apartment in Philly. I'm across the country from my family. I check in on FaceTime from time to time." Like, the whole thing I want, I'm sorry, I have to spend more time with my family. Things just wildly over. Two things on this club. The first of which is, I have seen this called the most bookmarked video in NBA history because people cannot wait to post this. When you say, "I didn't leave my family to lose in the second round," everybody's like, "Oh, it's almost a guaranteed lose in the second round." Right, right. It's like that little guy, you know, the little guy that looks exactly like Jalen Brunson, like the Jalen Brunson impersonator, and everybody keeps bookmarking it and saying, "I dare Jalen Brunson to have a bad game." Like, that is this one. This is the most bookmarked quote ever. The second thing is, "Okay, I feel like he's trolling here because when people bring up the lack of authenticity of LeBron James, when they will bring up the books that he's reading or his favorite movies or whatever, what is commonly posted is this moment in the shop where their guest, the soccer player, says that quote. And then LeBron goes, "Yo, yeah, that's my favorite quote. That's my favorite quote." And then he used it. And then he used it in media day. You've got to find yourself a way make yourself on God, I'm like, I'll stah, oh yeah. Oh, you're using your favorite quote ever because everybody's like, I'm your favorite quote ever, right? The fact that he used that I feel like was wildly intentional. Not that it does not have merit, I just think that that was a way of, it was almost a recall to that video that everybody posts from his HBO show to prove this is something, this is a credo that I live by or something that I truly believe in that you have to make yourself uncomfortable because when the guy said it on the show and everybody posts, everybody's like, I'll come. Faith, your favorite quote really, really favorite quote. - So one of the things I found fascinating about his media day is I produced the game over with Max and Rich Paul and Rich said, he's like, if the next day when the championship LeBron would have gone to New York, it was like the first thing he said, right? And it just felt like weird, especially as a nix fan, to be like, wait, he was definitely coming to New York if we didn't win the championship and then LeBron literally said it yesterday at media day. Here it is. - You know, I have been a definitely, playing in a garden, finishing my career in a garden one of the best places I've ever played. I think it's the number one arena in the world as far as a basketball player. But after the A, after the B San Antonio, I was like, I couldn't do it. - What did you feel right? - Y'all wouldn't have made it. Y'all wouldn't have let me lay that down at all. But you know, but much respect to the next obviously, unbelievable team, unbelievable players, shout out Jaylen Brunson, love that guy, he's unbelievable. But yeah, I'm happy where I'm at and I'm looking forward to it. - So you couldn't come to New York because they won the championship. So you're just gonna join Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxsey, Joel and VJ head coach. Well, they haven't wanted forever. So I mean, this is the, it can be about me. And then he, but he is framing it as you guys would have treated me, even though that's not so, right? He wants to frame it as the world would treat him like Kevin Durant. But he's already got all the records. He's got his titles, he's got the whole thing. Like that, the reason that Durant got hit up for joining the Warriors is because they had already won and he had not. And so he went there in order to achieve this thing that he was unable to achieve with his own team. That's not a, that's not the case with LeBron. But is he right that everybody would have said - Yes. - You're latching on it. - Yes. - I know, I would have done that. I would have killed it, killed it's charged. Killed it's charged for sure. And one last thing from Sickness Media Day, Jalen Brown had an interesting exchange with the reporters. - Going into training camp, do you guys know who this team is or who, you know, who the, the alpha is? And is that something that matters and is that something that's gonna come play out over time? - Next question. - So Verna, why does this bother me? - So think about the next question things bothering me 'cause he gave him an hour in the question. He was like, does that matter? And I think Jalen Brown could have easily just said, that's not important to us. We're a basketball team. Instead, he's like, next question. - Okay. - And why is that bothering me? - All right, I'm gonna play Devils Advocate in this and I am going to stand up for Jalen Brown. That's a question that no NBA player is going to like. No NBA player is going to like having to answer who is the alpha. They are all, I mean, they got to this point because of a level of ego that they have and a level of confidence they have in their own game. No, but, so then the idea becomes, and I got it, that it's not, we all can talk about from the outside, like he's the alpha on that team. You're not gonna hear players talk about, because then the, the next step is, okay, he's the alpha where a bunch of betas. (laughs) - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - No player is going to like that. He's the king of the jungle and we're just the other guys. No player, especially with somebody with the level of accomplishment and recent finals and and conference finals, MVP like Jalen Brown. What's it, what, okay, how about this? Let me, I'm playing Devils Advocate here against it. What's the answer that, let's just say he, forget the next question or whether you like, whether or not he responded with the next question. - Mm-hmm. - Let's just say he answered the question. What do you think is the proper answer to, have you guys figured out who the alpha is? - Well, he said, well, the question he doubled up, he said, does that even matter? He gave him an out. I would just say, no, it does not matter. That's the appropriate answer in my mind. - Then why even ask it? - It wasn't a very well-worded question. - Why ask, who is the alpha, unless you wanna, what do you wanna say, LeBron? - LeBron? - Yeah, it's a bad question. It's a bad question. I defend Jalen Brown. Jalen Brown gets beat up for a bunch of stuff. This ain't one to beat him up for. Next question. - That's fair. - Next question. - What are you trying to do? - Next question. - Are you trying to, I'm afraid that I'm a baton. - Here's what I want you to do for the rest of the pod. It's just a next question. Every time we have transition topics. So now we're going to Warriors Media Day. One of the biggest pieces of news from yesterday was Chris Stas Porzingus is not available. He's gonna miss their trip to Hawaii with a quote, health issue, unquote. Verno, how about this? - I mean, and this has been going, this is now like the third team. - Yeah. - This is the third team. I can't remember another player where it was undisclosed. I'm not saying it hasn't happened. I'm saying, I've been paying attention to this stuff for over 20 years. I can't remember another time where it is routinely not said what the issue is. - It was, he was embossuring the word respiratory disease, which is like who? - I got it. - But that's, it's almost like, is there a doctor on the planet that can diagnose this thing and put a name on it? - Well, and then they tried to describe it. I think during it's time to Atlanta, whatever, and everybody was just left confused. Like, and then it comes back, but then it doesn't, it can't play, but then it, who knows? I, and I can't believe that you are leading with that. I thought the story of Warriors Media Day was Pazinski's hair. - No, no, no, you're wrong. The story of Warriors Media Day was Jimmy Butler's earrings. Did you see Jimmy Butler's earrings like that? - When I saw Pazinski, and he had always had the, you know, the big boofy hair, and he came in with the waves. I was like, what the fuck are you doing? (laughing) - That's his who was. - The waves and the, but Butler's earrings were a lot too. 'Cause, you know, Jimmy Butler has been playing around on Media Day, but the earrings were, the earrings were something. Here's a little exchange between Steph Curry and a reporter that made some news. - Steph, Steve was saying that he kind of likes that no one expects you guys to make the playoffs, and that there's a little bit of freedom to fly the playoffs. - That's how bad it is to make the playoffs. I'm a from championship to. - I'm just wondering why you think about that. Can you feel the freedom? - That's what I think about there. (laughing) Damn. - What the fuck? - Damn. Sorry, that went to you. That was in the situation. (laughing) - Partly better. - Woo. - Steph, it is not bad. It is a good, it is not bad. Like, that is the question about the warriors. Like, will they make the plan? - They're in it every year. - What? - You can't see a world in which for Zingas is not available, Butler doesn't come back and they don't make the plan. Can't you see that? - Sure. - Yeah. - Sure. - Of course, of course you could see that. I mean, the for Zingas thing is massive. - Huge. - That part of the way they get there. - All right. - They might miss Quentin Post. They might be like, which we had Quentin Post at the rost. Honestly. - I was a rat. I was a rat tip yesterday. He's huge, by the way. - Yeah. - He's a enormous human. Also, check this out. You know what I was told yesterday? And I did not. I didn't interview the kid. They told me he is almost like a grand master chess guy. - Oh. - Quentin Post, he's a big chag. He's like a big. - Big chess guy. - Yeah, he's like amazing at chess. I was like, really? You learn this stuff about it. - Guys, I'm like, really? - New York City is a chess city. Like every one of my kids was on a chess team and went to chess tournaments. I've been to what? - 40 chess tournaments. - Yeah. - How boring. - How boring. - New York, oh my god. - Do you have to watch it? - Bro, it's six hours and your kid has a chess game once every two hours. It's just so much downtime. And you can't even watch the game. - You can't like watch it. - What was that? What was that Netflix show about the chick that was amazing at chess? That show was awesome. - I was gambit. I never saw that one. - It's one of the very few things I actually did. - That was about to happen. - Everything I've done, I've never seen it. Sometimes you ask like, you just watch sports and that's it. - I never watch anything. And I was like, watch that. I know. And I was like, this is awesome. It wasn't great. It was great. She was awesome at chess. It's like when post one of the other, I guess I'm gonna ask 20 second time out. No. Who is scoring beside step curry if pods in the waves. That's just a waves. I think he's the second option. Who is the second option on the Warriors? Pots. He said he's gonna let his play do the talking. Okay. Okay. All right. See about that. See the next question. Next question. We're heading over to Detroit where the big news was that Jalen Dern was not at media day. He has until Thursday. So as of recording right now, he has not signed a deal. Why isn't he just putting to paper? I'm so sick of this story. His agent. His agent. I know. I know. I know. Treyton Langdon. I saw the clip yesterday where he was saying he has not talked to him all summer. And also did the whole like, you know, he was rightfully asked about the quotes out there that Jalen Dernfield's disrespected. And Treyton Langdon was like, it's not my job to, you know, deal with the emotions of this thing. Like, you know, there's this is a business. And I'm not gonna get into the emotions of this. But basically, we want him back, expect him to be back and looking forward to a great season. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It seems crazy that we're gonna take this thing all the way to the end only to have him sign that contract. It would be mortifying for him to actually do the qualify. No way. There's no chance. I mean, I just have no chance. Just no chance. Right. So it's just, it's just, we're just gonna take hurt feelings all the way till we can't take hurt feelings anymore. And then he will eventually sign it. And then we're gonna do the press conference. And then we'll take pictures of him in the uniform and blah, blah, blah. We know where this is headed. It's the next question. Next question. Let's head over to Denver. One of the big questions there is this is the contract year for star Nicola Yochich. And he was asked about it and he said, I'm gonna sign next year. If they want me. That is, I mean, that is the dream of all dreams. If you are an organization or a nugget's fan, right? Because that is going to be the thing, right? Otherwise, you're gonna get through the year and no matter what happens with them, you know, let's say they start off 10 and 10 or something, then we and the rest of the NBA podcast atmosphere is going to do. Would they move him? Is this the end of it? Like, did they wait to lose him for nothing? Right. Well, you lose him for nothing. You know, are you wasting the best years of his career and did they build around it properly or whatever? I mean, you just take that all completely off the table before it even starts. And that's why I would say it. And then Shronja gets photographed in a Lakers t-shirt in Hawaii or whatever. And they're rumored, just goes like, I just think it's interesting because we've watched players use contract years as leverage, right? Yes. That's probably what I would do too. He's just basically just giving all that up. He's like, I am signing next year if they want me. He's not hanging it over the organization's head. And we need, you know, we're going in press conferences, hinting at getting more help or things like that. He's like, I am signing here if they want me. He's just seems like such a sweet. I love that. I also think it shows a level of trust. I think that's a good job by management, whatever level of trust they have built with him. Because I don't think he is. I think he routinely comes off as nonchalant but as not. I think he is hyper competitive. And that's how he's gotten to the level he has. And I think that behind the scenes, the level of trust that has been built with the people that he answers to and/or works with is great enough for him to believe that they are going to do what they can to put him in a position to be able to achieve what he wants to achieve. Like I don't think, you know, when that trust is broken or when you routinely do not build, I think, you know, and also we have to make room for it. We passed this up in the Curry thing, the Curry extension here. Some guys want to be where they want to be. Like that they just don't believe the grass is always greener. You know, and taking that off the table so it's not a topic all year long is a true blessing. If you're in the nuggets front office and you hear that, I'm just like, thank God. Like just thank God. Well, I think they know. I think they know. Yeah. I also think they had a conversation that'd been like, that's right. Here is our long-term plan. Right. Like we might not look as competitive as we were last year, but Aaron Gordon, you know, he can be healthy places in. Like, and we have this much cap opening up and this is what we can do. And here's the people we have our eyes on. And like, I think that they're in lockstep, you know, in the franchise. And I also love the end. He's like, if they want, like what's not real, would they not want neatly? You're like, come on. It just, it just seems great. Say next question. Next question. Quiet Leonard said the quiet part out loud when he sat down to his press conference. Here it is. Hey everyone. Thanks for coming. I know I'm excited to be here. I know why, you know, some of you guys came. You want to hear about the investigation, but, you know, talking with the NBA and the PA. I think the best decision is to move forward and focus on my time being a Toronto Raptor. I already was a distraction for the past 70 days and wasn't able to meet my teammates doing any of that mini camp stuff with them. So, you know, moving forward, I just want to, you know, talk about the Toronto Raptors today. They release a statement that you could go back to and look at. But, yeah, like I said, I just want to focus on basketball again and, you know, being a Toronto Raptor. But thank you guys for coming. And like, I said, I'm excited to play in the city. What a riveting comment from Quiliner. Well, he said that the NBA and the NBA PA and I think you can't take that as he's hiding behind that. I also believe that that is absolutely true. Where someone talks about this was a condition of being let off as easy as he was let off in this situation is and let this be the end of that. We're not going to talk about this. We're not going to, you know what I mean? Like, you can. And that's why I said when we did the episode two weeks ago, who gets the Uncle Dennis doc, like we have to have like, it's going to be interesting. Like as time goes on, who all like, and there is a documentary on the biggest punishment in NBA history, you wonder who are the people that are actually going to talk. And I think that more than likely, you will never hear from Quiliner ever till the end of time. And obviously, that's what everybody wants to talk about. But I do totally buy. I don't think he is hiding behind that. I think that was actually said to him, like, Hey, man, let this, let this be done, right? Like, you, here's your fine. You're getting to go to Toronto, traded for a guy with a tour to kill these, evidently, right? That's wild. It gets worse for the clippers. Right. And how could this possibly be worse than the clippers? The Quiliner business for the clippers is just like, Oh my God, how could it go worse? Vernon was referencing the news yesterday that, like, that Brandon Ingraham had like a partially torn Achilles insane. So you, you traded him for greedy dick, a guy with a tour of Achilles and a couple of first. Why? It's all wild the way this is all played out. I can't believe it, especially I can not believe it. That's time. This trade has been in the works for like six months. It feels like, and then we get that news on media day. I mean, that came across. I was like, what are you talking about? I had to read it like three times. I'm like, is this NBA Centel or NBA Central? I'm like, what is this? Cause this can't be real. I just imagine if you're like the Thai Lou, you're just like, what's, I don't even have Brandon Ingraham. Right. Oh my God. Brandon. He also signed, he also likes, like, Steph, he signed a two year, $115 million deal. Steph was a hundred and 16. You know, that was kind of, I think that's part of the conditions. Like, Kawaii Leonard, like, I think that $700,000 thing like you came with conditions. You know, that's not, don't talk about it. This is how it's going to play out. This is how it's going to work. But like, he walks away with a new deal, a new team. Yes. And he got treated for a guy with a torn Achilles and made all that extra money evident. Yeah. It's 150. Yeah. And his carbon footprint is not existed. Not so many trees just bumping out oxygen or hydrogen or whatever the hell trees do. to help the climate. - Also, I don't know if you saw the clips where he's like going around with the phone yesterday and then all these clips all summer, like Kauai Leonard finding and showing this personality that he has kept from us for the last 15 years, he's jowling, jowling, jowling. - Now you're gonna be like what? - How you're gonna be like front and center? - Yeah, dude, were you just being quiet and mysterious 'cause you've been making extra money, you're all mine. And like you're actually like an affable guy? This is so weird. Do you know, I have been, I have known people that have gone out and hung out with him and gone to parties and stuff with him. And they always have told me he is not what you think he is. Everybody says that about everybody like Tim Duncan's hilarious. It's like, is he? Are we sure he's him Duncan's hilarious? Are we sure? - No, I let it's like not who we think he is. I think he is who we think he is. - No, they tell me that like again, I guess it just depends on the setting. You would imagine that he is like the hard guy to approach non-talkative. Like they're like, he's not like that. Like if you're a round team in like a comfortable area, he is not like that at all. And I'm like, really? How do you live in the field and not shake his teammates hands? Like stuff like that just can't convince me that he's like a really different person off camera. Can't convince him. - And what also people have seen him in the locker room for the last 15 years. And maybe it's just like when he's like not in a basketball mode and he's just like having fun. Like that he can actually have, you know, he always, you know, - That's the only championship there's a new him like rolling a, rolling a joint in the back of a taxi cab or whatever. - Yeah, he said he's a fun guy. - I guess he did say-- - He tried to tell us that. - The boy man gets paid. - Next question. - Next question. - Okay, moving down to Miami where the best video at media day occurred. And Yannis is, I'm assuming, new backyard. Here is him and his son discussing in iguana that was outside of their pool. - Got a hub of a-- - Hey, bro. Hey, bro. - Yeah, bro, I'm talking to you. - I'm about to open the door, huh? - No. - No. - Is it open the door? - No. - No. - Hey. (knocking on door) - Give him my leave. (screams) - Okay. (laughs) - Why is he a tailist right now? - I don't think that's the all tail. I think that was like, that was like a wire or something. There's no way the tail is like eight feet long. - Yeah, that's a big iguana, man. - That's a big iguana. - Big iguana. - Yeah, that one's like a big species. - That one's a big iguana. - Yeah, that's a big lizard. I'm not used to seeing lizards. If you think about-- - Not lizards, no. - Lizards are a part of my life at all in the Northeast. There's no lizard. - You don't it. - You literally only see rats, right? - Yeah, just rats, rats and humans, that's it. - Yeah, I've got everything going on. I got deer, I got raccoons, I got possums, I've got, frogs, I've got turtles. Like I got all this stuff around me. What's a wildlife? But iguana would, that would freak me out. I don't know, are iguanas dangerous? - I don't know. - No, I don't think so. But they actually have, they quell the iguana population. - We're doing that. - They have a thing, it's like a huge iguana hunt in Florida where they like make it legal to kill them. And people just go out and murk iguanas. - Oh, dude, is that true? - I just typed in, iguanas are generally not dangerous or aggressive towards human, but they can bite, scratch or whip their tails if they kill cornered or threatened. - I did, later on the video was really cute. And he's like, your dad is a basketball player. We're gonna call an exterminator for the iguana. It's like, he's like, I play ball, dude. That's what I do. - Wow. It was weird seeing him in clay and heat jerseys yesterday. - Yeah, it was, and they did like the, I thought the him and bam photo thing that was going around, it's like, I guess it's from like some anime, I don't really watching it, I mean like that. I know you don't watch anything except for like college football and like outweights, games, NBA games. - No, and then Queen's. - And then the Chess minnies. - If it's yeah, but that's the Chess is also a sport though. So it's still sports, you're only doing sports. You're on bread, you're on bread. But like, it was to see Yannis and Bam together just reminded me like, just how they need so much shooting. Like, it's just like, it's just weird. They seem redundant. I don't like my stars to be redundant. It feels like having two point cards. - But you see the rest of them, you know, they got mental notwithstanding. You see the rest of them and you're like, bro. Are there guys, if you were going to acquire guys, like when you just said, hey, all you gotta do is stand up there. - 40%, 34%. - And knock it down. Like, you would go get Clay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. - Hell yeah. - I'm saying like, it might work. Like where they do have the spacing because those guys, those guys look no matter what. Here's what you say. - Important. - Here's what you'll say. - No matter what, those guys have to be honored 28 feet away from the basket. Like they do. And that is sometimes the trick is not the success level of the, it is how it impacts the entire team. And just the fact like I saw this years ago in a series I covered where you remember during that Laker series that every time Memphis brought in Luke Cunard, like all of a sudden it unlocks something just because he had to be guarded and it gave Burant like a driving lane and it gave guys some space to be able to go. And so that's what I'm saying. If you just have guys that have to be honored that can be out on the perimeter, you have a freight train. No one can stay in front of in Yannis. I mean, that is the trick. And again, those guys have to be able to reliably knock down those shots when they are- - And you can push back on the debut on Mitchell thing. He's been shooting pretty well. - That's right. - He's been getting better and also bam. Like Bam could shoot threes, catching shoot like Naked threes. I can see Bam hitting those. Like, I don't be a game where Tim Harvey Jr. hit seven threes and those seven for nine. Sometimes he just gets hot. And there'll be so much opportunity just to stand there and wait for Yannis to spray the ball out to you because he's, you know, tracking three defenders and just knock down threes. Like, I can see how it could work. I can definitely see how it could work in Miami. And I've been coached both. - I am so excited about the next team. - This bears wee wee wee. - We've established that you're gonna say next question and it's time to transfer to a new team, okay? I know you love your props. - Next question. - Question. - Question to Americans. - Dylan Harper and Steph Castle. I'm scrolling yesterday and I see a picture of him. And I was like, but they look like done up. Like professionally, like Wardrobe. And it looks, I'm like, this is like a real picture. And then I find out there's a GQ profile about these two. - Yeah. - Okay. And then I read the profile. Kurt Goldspirit, our colleague, all over this thing. Did you get a call from GQ? - I did not, but again. - I did not either. - But I've got this thing where like numbers that I don't recognize go straight to voicemail. So they probably did, they probably called me. - They also don't want to use us in their feature because they're probably like Dylan Harper and Steph Castle. They probably earmarked us as the next NBA duo that they want to feature. - That's right. - You know what I mean? - They would overshadow that. - They don't want us to step on that. So that's probably why they use Kurt instead of us. But a lot of it, a lot of the noise coming from this profile was about Dylan Harper and whether or not he's gonna start. Miss Johnson was asked about it. It just seems like the noise is already starting for this. And as someone who was rooting against this person, the finals, Dylan Harper was terrified. Terrifying. Honestly, like I would rather Dylan Harper not have the ball. And I'd rather picture when Ben Yama had the ball. I felt less threatened than when Dylan Harper had the ball. He was working. Do you think this like starting five, should he start or come off the bench or whatever thing will be an ongoing storyline threats? - No, I don't. So I think they're gonna be fantastic. And I do think that I think that Fox has gotten aggressively beaten up in a way that discounts what he did bring to that team was a level of stability. And the turnover numbers are the turnover numbers. That they have a turnover issue when he is not on the floor. And just the fact that he can be the floor general and run the show is something that like somewhere along the way, his foils started to outweigh his positives. - I think maybe in an unfair way, I think. - I completely agree. - If we're doing this, he's hurt. - It's like, he's hurt. Yeah, nobody talks about what he, the good he brings to the day when he was like an all-star caliber player on a team that went to the NBA finals and it's injured. So if we're talking about where the failing showed up, it's like, okay, like, So the valiant showed up at literally the highest level when they were winning game and again and some of the some of the plays and obviously some of the game management that took place when you do count on him most when it became an absolute nightmare but also you have to take the entire thing. It's almost like it's almost like if you held. It's like when Russell Wilson through the pick in the intro. You know and you can decide is Russell Wilson a pro or like the re you are in the Super Bowl when he does throw the best with a chance to win it. One score game full quarter on the one you got to the one somehow right so I do see what you're saying I also think like I fully expected there to be a new story that deer and fox had a torn whatever strained whatever because he was not 100% he was not himself but he wasn't 100% it didn't feel like the lights were too bright you know what I mean it felt like he was compromised physical that's what it felt like to me and. Man this next one I think and I think Dylan Harper will be fine yes I think it's fantastic dude I was so I was so scared no no I think I also don't think like there are some guys that would be a massive problem if they had the season he had and and be mega resentful look around because we are if we're being fair we got to the playoffs and we go are we going to look back is history going to look back. At the rookie of the year standings and be like what the hell was that. Like there was a part of us that thought that last year like hold on a second now like we're going to look back at him getting what do you I think you got fourth right I think it's yeah I think it's come with third right yeah yeah we could definitely revisit that in five years and be like yeah really and especially after the playing games the continual head and then this next quote man I got I got to take you a little bit behind the curtain in the way that I think I was so excited to go after Steph castle because he said this it's in the thing he said he said quote talking about playing the finals in the garden he said quote it was underwhelming in that first game they made it seem like it was going to be way crazier in there and I was so prepared locked and loaded to go after Steph castle for this but I made a mistake Bruno I made a mistake I actually read the article sometimes when you actually read the article you get the context in which he said this he was like yeah game for it was the craziest thing I've ever seen my life. It was like the loudest arena I've ever been in or could even imagine being in so everybody pulls the game free stuff and remember the security lines and the Trump stuff it was a real game game three but he literally said I made the mistake of actually reading the article you know what I mean because I really wanted to go after this is why players hate the media that's the thing they pull this they pull this part I think it's underwhelming in the garden was underwhelming in the finals I read that and I was like fuck Steph castle and then everybody says to each other do you see what Steph castle is going to respect for the garden yeah they know the fans are yelling at him and you read the article he literally says because you remember the come back in game or when they're down by a million points and the OG tip he's like that was the loudest I've ever seen the arena in my life. Literally he says the exact opposite thing in like four sentences later and you can't go after him for this because he said it was underwhelming game three loudest he's ever been around in game four so I can't be mad at him. I can't even go after stuff castle. I should have never ridden the bread in the article. I know and you read there when you read the article. Unfortunately when you read the article they all become rather likable. Everything they say but then when taken out of context it makes them seem like they're taking shots and they're not like other things Harper said Harper was like I ain't coming off no bench. I'm not fucking bench and then literally he's like I was just joking when I said that it's in the article. But everybody just everybody just pulls the quote without the context. I was laughing when I said that you're just like oh it really takes the teeth out of these quotes if you get the context. So I can't even be mad at step castle and I also like their clothes look really cool. Next question. This one is interesting from the article no one's talking about this part. Again I actually read this thing. Partially I didn't read the whole thing. I've never read a whole article in my whole life. What do you think I am some kind of nerd. Read please watching queens give it a repeat. This from the article quote Harper. All right so he's talking about he's talking about. Harper tried the same tactic with Jay Z ignoring the celebrities which worked until the rapper started to heckle him. Paul V yelled according to Harper then Jay raised his hands to form a Rockefeller diamond in the air as if casting a spell on the visiting team. We started losing Harper says shit went downhill from there. I've seen people take credit for shit they don't deserve for but now Jay Z hexed the spurs and that's what brought the next their first championship in 53 years. Jay Z. This is a spell. Look this is a terrible terrible thing to happen to fat Joe. Fat Joe has spent the entire summer. Fat Joe has spent the entire summer saying he was the one. If you go back and look at the video he was the one. He said he did it with his little dance. You're right. Tough deal for fat Joe. Some of those listeners might not know but fat Joe and Jay Z you know about the blackout story right. Oh fat Joe and Jay Z were going to they have the each have teams the Rucker tournament. The entertainers tournament right. This is back when it was like the peak of its thing. Go Google it and they both put together teams probably was like y'all mean Kobe Bryant. And they were going to play each other. It was like an all-star game at the Rucker and then the power went out and they never played. But while y'all mean was in New York to play basketball outside. You don't know about this. So Jay Z and fat Joe have had this basketball thing and now fat Joe and Jay Z. I'm going to look this up. I mean fat Joe might exaggerate with sometimes we tell stories but I'm telling you. And that's not even but like I thought the Jay Z cursing the spurs thing was just a wild detail. But this is great. Honestly this is great for Jay Z Jay Z. He's got that HBO thing coming out with Rick Rubin or whatever. Quick aside. I don't give a shit. You know I've seen these clips of Jay Z be like when I said you know girls girls girls. What I really was doing was celebrating their the female contribution to society. And I'm just like okay Jay Z. Like you said girls girls girls. I will just say this like in between him. You know the HBO thing and him delivering the next the championship. This does seem very conveniently timed as every other clip on my feed is Colin Kaverick going. Hey just remember. Hey just remember I'm an awesome rapper and I got the Nixon championship. So while this guy is doing a media tour talking about what a dirt bag. I just need to remind everybody that I got the nicks. I got the nicks entitled and the most of it wrapping. I watched clips of the Rick Rubin thing for some reason it bothered me. And I can't believe I'm going to say this because of his involvement with the Beastie boys which is like my favorite band of all time. I wonder if like no one's beard has worked harder for their like lower than Rick Rubin's beard. If he was clean shaving and had a regular haircut you like it would just completely take away all of his magic. That beard is working so hard he looks like a wizard. But if he shaved a little Gandalfie. Yeah. Yeah. If he shaved you wouldn't think of him as some sort of like musical mystic genius. He just be a guy. I mean some people I do have it. Yeah. Sometimes people do have a trait that has led to their success. I have years ago. I don't know why. - Parton, R.I.P. Dalley Parton. - This, no, this jogged my memory, but years ago when, our buddy, Jason Concepci, he owned was doing his show. - It'd be a desktop. - And being a desktop. He had the other, like, one of the times he made me do spice. That's what he used to call it. Some spice, like just hot taste, whatever. And at one point that, I remember one of my years ago was, dry Patrick Ewing would have been just an average flagger, that no one in the history of the NBA sweat more than Patrick Ewing, and people were disgusted to have to lean up or play any kind of deeper. against him, but if he didn't have these consistently open pores where he was just drenched, the second the game started, that he would have been an average basketball player and the people were disgusted by his levels of sweat. I have a confession to me and that's your and that's your Rick Rubin thing. If you had like clean shaven Rick Rubin is no genius. Not a musical producer. Nobody respects him, no one even hurts him. Going this sensory deprivation tag, I'm not going on a sensory deprivation tag, clean shaven Rick Rubin, with a beard like, "Oh yeah, how many hours do I have to stay in there?" When it's to get inspired, I'll tell you, I have to have a confession to make. Let me hear. I'm a super sweater. You are. I'm a sweater. You are that guy. You're a sweater. You are that guy. I'm a sweater than Patrick Healing. I play Pick Up Basketball for two hours, I bring you for two shirts. I bring two shirts to my Rick Lee games and change it half time. Sometimes after warm up, sometimes the guy covering me is like, "How are you this sweaty?" We're jumping the ball right now. I'm the sweatiest guy in the world, the sweatiest. Oh, there's nothing worse to put your forearm on a guy and your forearm becomes absolutely drenched. It sucks. No, sometimes after I touch the ball, like I'll pass it or whatever, I can see the other team, like look at the ball, like what happened, you know what I mean, the feel, okay, new take, dry choco, he saw it, I mean, an old choco, he saw it, let's be honest. Next question. I want to get, yeah, I mean, I really, like one of the things I love about doing this show with news, I respect your analysis and when I saw this news story, I was like, I really need to get Bernos deep analysis on this, uh, great pop of it, Mary coach, but six months. Bro, that is so weird, it's beyond copy of what? I mean, like I would try to explain it the only way that is like, if he's dead, that's the only way to me that becomes like acceptable. I'm not talking about, I'm not talking about food and all, sir, like is that acceptable? Oh, no, if two people, if people were close, you know what I mean, and you have a relationship with those people and your mate is gone and their mate is gone and now there's a level of comfortability amongst these people and they don't want to be alone, you know, throughout their golden years as it were, whatever, I, I can understand that. But the fact that like being his kids stepped dead and like the fact that they were together for 20 years, 20 years, that's just bizarre. And there must have been some sort of phone call that happened, right? I could never, could you, I mean, why are you talking about your buddy's wife? It's just no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I just asked Claude, I said, how many women are there in the world, right? Claude says about 4.13 billion and if I was coach bud, I would be like, there are 4.13 billion women in the world and you're marrying my ex-wife. The other 4.1399 women who didn't do it for you. I used to have a, look, there used to be this thing where it was like, you know, I've been going NBA games for the last 20, something years and also I have the internet and one of the things that I've talked about consistently with my buddies is like, bro, how is it all the same chicks like Snoop Dogg has a whole song about it. These NBA guys like it, there's so many of that and I'm like, this extends to coaches. It's just the same, they say the same 20 chicks, they're all going out with like what is going on? How many times do you see like a playoff series, there's one last year where it was like, oh, he dates his ex and this and that, it's like, how is this so prevalent? I don't know. I didn't know it extended the coaches as well. Same chicks. Greg Popovich and Coach Bud's ex-wife were like in bed one day and they're like, we need to tell coach that we have to tell them and Greg had to dial his phone number. Coach Bud picks up like, hey, what's up, Pop? And he's like, we have to talk. We're going to your house for Thanksgiving. We can't ask some wife, I just want to just want to make sure I have your blessing. It's like, okay, sure. The kids thing is the crazy, yes, that's part, I don't even, I don't even, I don't, I don't have much. There's going to be a function. Are we doing Christmas? Is Thanksgiving? And now mom's married to Pop. It's just bizarre. Okay. What do you call him if you're the kids? Uncle Pop? No, he's stepped dad now. No. It's just all strange. All strange. All right. Same question. Same question. Here's what JJ Reddick, this is this part, this quote, I don't think people picked up on enough of because this was fascinating to me. JJ Reddick talked about the new revamp roster in Los Angeles and here's what he said. And I think with this group, probably the first time in my three years here that I feel like the piece is actually fit together. And so those roles probably get even more crystallized. First time in three years that the roster makes sense. Huh. I don't think that's unreasonable because look, you did go through this transition of, we build out our team with LeBron James in mind, too, we build out our team with Luca Doncicim Mind. And those are, those are unique builds. And I think it's just a way of saying like, all right, here is, you know, we could go back to the original question, right? Which is the, who is the alpha? We all have an awareness of who is the guy like that? Yeah, this thing is built around this plugger with him in mind. And so that is how, and so it, but it was always going to be a challenge. Everybody could say, Hey, look, great players can always figure it out, whatever. But it's always going to be a challenge because the, the ideal setup with, with the team that survives around Luca Doncicim's best player is not to have, you know, the players that they've had in the past and more importantly, not to have another guy who is a ball dominant guy. There's only going to be one massively ball dominant guy on a Luca Doncic team. The whole thing goes through him and, and then the absence of LeBron James, I can totally understand how it all makes a lot more sense that all revolves around him. And it was never going to be a ball revolve around him as long as you've got LeBron James. It almost feels like the roles are more defined, but the ceiling is lower for success. Or they had to convince LeBron James to be the third best player on that team. Do you remember? It was like, if you really like, if you really applied the filters for this like one month of, of Lakers basketball last year, they were like the best defensive league for like a month. I was completely fooled by that month. But just defensively, that is what he is talking about when he says, like we've already had conversations about what it's expected to play. He's not talking about knocking down shots. He's talking about playing defense. Yes. And I'm looking at Luca and I'm looking at Austin Reeves. Right. That's where it's going to be. And they're asking, they're asking Mr. Kessler to clean up everything. A lot. Yes. Everything. Everything. Yes. And part of their defensive strategy is that Lucas Man is going to get past him. Mr. Kessler, you're going to have to fix that problem. Same with Austin Reeves. They are also going to be dependent on people missing threes. Because teams are going to be able to generate a massive amount of open threes against them. Because if Kessler is the rim protector that they expect him to be, people are just going to be driving to the paint, kicking out. And the rotations are slow. That's it. So, I mean, you're, you're then it's like, and some teams can't survive like that. And just play the math and just say, hey, look, we are going to give up a bunch of open threes. But what we're not going to do is give up corner threes. And so you're going to have to hit a bunch of top of the key and wing threes against us. But I mean, can't you see this playing out? Player X gets past Austin Reeves, Walker Kessler steps in to help, then they, someone helps on what Walker Kessler's man leaves the guy in the corner. Then you kick out to the corner and he hits a three and they jog back on. It just feels like that's going to happen over and over again. There will be an immense amount of open threes taking against the Lakers. It's just a matter of whether people hit them or not. Next question. Here's what everyone's favorite league pass team in Minnesota, Anthony Edwards, leader of the team had to say about some of the changes to the roster. And I guess had some changes, Lamella coming in, JK coming in, just what's your, what's your overall thought of the changes that have made and what you think the new guys are going to bring here? Um, I'm going to miss nice for sure. That's my brother, but I'm super happy about the changes in the locker room. Just a bunch of different mentalities, personalities. And I think it's going to miss well, mesh, mesh well together. All right. Now, in fairness, I know you could draw something from that. Hey, look, the fact, well, the Julius Randall thing, you could clearly tell that there was a, they weren't all on the same page. Right. They were all on the same page last year. And so I don't think it is irresponsible to draw from that. Now on the other hand, of course, he's going to miss not. You know, there was a article written by the guy that asked that question, John Krasinski wrote an article last year about how the three players had been drafted to get or you know, came in together and played together for seven years and went from the little table to the big table together. And that was McDaniel's aunt and not. So I mean, that's a long time that those guys spent together. And Nazaried was clearly a fan favorite. And so it will be a little weird just with Nazaried. And you know, Mike Conley's not there anymore. And he's kind of been around as a bet guy was on that team, etc. But I think they will on court and in locker room, Miss Nazaried. And I also think they will on court and in locker room, not miss Julius Randall. And I believe that to be sure. Bruno, when I put together this run down, there was one story that's no one's talking about that I couldn't wait to get your take on. Uh-oh. I could not wait because you are a golf guy, right? Love to golf. You fly places to play golf. You're a golf, golf guy. You literally during Christy's games, Google golf sunglasses or whatever the hell you're googling last year. I mean, in fairness, I was watching our starting shooting guard was Lucas Williamson. Okay. What do you want me to do? Well, you're googling like best golf visor on the market or whatever you're doing. Golf, big golf guy. Only LeBron James cares more about golf than Bruno. This is a quote I want to from Mike Forkanoff on Twitter. And this is Julius Randall talking about golfing with Yegor Jomen, which really should be Igor Demon. I don't know why we don't call him Igor Demon's Yegor Jomen, sure. And Michele Brown, Jr. Young, Net's teammates, his new teammates. He went golfing with him. And here's what he said, quote, I learned that really, really fast on the golf course. Third hole in, they were trying to take their shirts off. You know, it's just like they didn't understand golf etiquette. Michele broke a club, a driver on one of the holes. So I learned really fast that I'm dealing with kids. I have so many questions. But I first, I want to hear from you, Forkano, have you ever golfed hopless? And do you take your shirt off at the third hole every time you golf? I've never even, like, I don't even think you have to know golf etiquette. What? Why do they want to take their shirts off? I just think that that is like you're giving them an out like, I got a no golf etiquette. It's like take your shirt off in the middle of like a conference room. Like a staff meeting just taking your shirt off. I've been on, I know I, I have been on all manner of golf courses for private exclusive to munis. I've never seen someone without your shirt on. I've golfed. I've golfed in some of the hottest days, like when there's like no one out there. And one time my buddy shot to former best friend, Mike, he took his shirt off and he was wearing like an undershirt, which has another term that we won't use. And some strangers commented, I'll just say. Wow. Yeah, I've never seen that. And so I think you're giving them an out by saying, oh, they didn't really understand golf etiquette. Well, I mean, to me, that is like the equivalent of, you know, we all went to Target in Macal and it wasn't a took its shirt off. Yeah, why are you taking your shirt off? Just imagine you're on the operating table and the doctor walks in with no shirt. You're just like, right? Like, no, no, put a shirt off. It's not about it. Yeah, that's not about medical etiquette. Yeah, it's not medical etiquette. Yeah, it's just weird. I just couldn't believe it. I was like, is this real? I wanted to take their shirts off. And how did he break a club? I've never broken a club. Oh, I look, I'm not judging anymore. I have absolutely broken clubs. And I have lost a, you want to know the funniest thing ever? I years ago, there was a lot of money on a whole and let us say a lot of money. What do we talk? I don't know. It was a press toll. So I mean, we're talking, maybe a couple hundred. No idea with that. Like a Panini sandwich. What do you mean? It's a press toll. Oh, like the bets kept pressing, right? Like so. Oh, I got. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So let's just say, let's just say a couple hundred, right? And I am playing, I am playing at this very nice course that is in town. And I, on the last hole, I shanked this drive. Like, I mean, I just flare it dead right. And I took my club and I threw, I took my driver and I threw it, wrote it when it hits a tree and stays in the tree. Good. But you want to talk about pissed off. All right. So I'm like to hell with it. I don't care about that driver. Anyway, I hope I never see it again. Okay. So anyways, I go on the air. I tell this story. I'm on the radio. I tell the story. Bro, a guy comes up to me at the grissa game and he goes, "Verno, I've got your drive." I got your club. I was like, what? He said, I heard you tell that story on the air. He goes, it fell out of the tree. And I happened to be at that course the next day. He's like, and I told him I said, throw it in the trash. So I can't. So I'm not judging anybody. I've done it. I've broken clubs. I've broken clubs. I've had to have full conversations with myself. I get it. I'll be like, Jacobi, number one, you're not good at golf. Number two, why are you getting this upset? Why? You're just out here to have a good time. You're barely keeping score. Why are you so upset right now? It's the rage that comes from that sport. I'll play bad at basketball. I miss a bunch of shots and turn the ball over and lose the pickup game. But I'll never get as mad as I do when I play golf court. I've gotten, I've gotten way better. I mean, I can't. That's been years. I haven't done that in years. But when I was like just first like really learning that, yes, the level of frustration. It's weird. No, no. And I think, I honestly, I think you get much better once you let go of that. I do. But it's also, I've never taken a lesson. I play once a month at best. Right. What do I expect? Like, what do I expect? I expect to go out there and shoot a 72? You know, what am I? God. Anyway, keep your shirt on. If you're playing golf, keep your shirt on. Next question. All right. Very quickly, we got two more places to visit. Number one, let's go down to New Orleans. And I've almost like forgot about Simon. He was asked about his career. And here's what he had. Design, where do you feel like you're at in your NBA career? I'm nowhere I want to be. I'm just now right. I'm just now where I need to be. I'm now where I need to be. Now where I want to be. Followed question. Do you mean sort of like with the success that you've had or do you mean like not where you want to be physically in New Orleans? Now, he means in his career, like, I mean, he's not, he's not where he wants to be in terms of the, you know, what is this year eight? I mean, we're pretty far into this thing. There we are. And it's like the expectations versus the reality have been completely different things. But you would hope, you know, you wait for it to switch and these guys like grow up and start being able to, you know, he's been around and he's talked enough. Like that, that answer was like what a 18 year old would give. Seriously, like he knows what he say. Like expound. Like what? Like, I mean, no, at some point you have to follow up. I know. I know where I want to be. And you want to be, you want him to sound like, you know, hey, this guy's like, he's really grown up. There's a level of maturity here that we hadn't seen before. He sounds like a different guy. I kind of understand why this is going, you know, I didn't take care of my body like I should have. I haven't, you know, now the next goal is, you know, they keep telling me I'm, you know, Mosley was saying, like, he was very clear. Zion needs to make other players better. Like that's what we've got to get him. You know, it's one thing to be able to go out there and, you know, get the 20 something point to get the rebounds or whatever else. But I mean, like just, I don't know. It just, it sounded like that, those answers were like a Eli Manning after he got in trouble. Like you see that press conference, they asked him like 50 questions, and it took like a minute and a half. You just, you know, chatted the question. Yeah. Yeah, right. Honestly, Maddie. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. You just, it's, it's, it's, I'm not trying to be unfair. It just still seems immature. That's what I mean, I, sometimes I do have to remind myself that he's, we get paid to talk into microphones. He gets paid to play basketball. He's a basketball player. So, you know, there's a certain level of, like you say, maturity and eloquence that we want. But, you know, that's not his profession. But it's just not expound. Look, and again, I'm not trying to beat him up. I'm saying it's expound like you know what media day is and so when somebody says how would you evaluate things so far? You can either give a thoughtful answer or you can be smiling saying that where I want to be. What does that even mean? I come on. So we've been in the league eight years. We're recording this and then we're going to disseminate it via the worldwide web as they call it. I just want to be clear that you're defending Jalen Brown, who said next question, but this needs to be expounded upon. Oh, perfect. I'm so glad you're saying this to me because you're a hypocrite. No. You are a hypocrite. This couldn't be an easier answer. The first question was crap. The question that Zion was given was a good question and be an absolute leia. That's why Jalen Brown was asked who the alpha is, which is never going to give you the answer you want to any NBA player go to any NBA locker room or any NBA press conference and ask them who's the alpha on this team? Okay, that's never going to get the answer you want. Whereas when you are just open ending, asking someone to evaluate where they are in this course, their career. And then you follow it up, giving them the opportunity to explain, hey, man, why do you feel that? Why do you feel you're not at the place in your career that you want to be? And then you just smile and just say something, you know, I mean, just to make it go away, those are one guy is intensely thoughtful and is like frankly offended by the fact that you're even asking, like who is the alpha on this, like what again, I asked you at the very beginning. So no, in fact, I couldn't be further from a hypocrite. I am the opposite of a hypocrite. What is the opposite of a hypocrite? Huh? What's the opposite of a hypocrite? A true satire. A true satire. I thought that's the, where am I in my career? It's like I've always wanted to be surrounded in a windowless office, the size of a phone booth surrounded by massage parlors and like makeup, tutorial classes and people walk up around in the middle of the night and CPR training rooms. I've always wanted to be here just in a stuffy windowless office talking to Chris Vernon on the internet about the MBA. The truth is always Chris Vernon, the truth is the truth, say Chris Vernon, the opposite of a hypocrite. That's what I've always said about Chris Vernon, that guy is the opposite of a hypocrite. That's it. Alright, finally we're going to Sacramento. We all seen it by now. The hot mic moments between some beat reporters at media day discussing the looks, attractiveness and personalities of some of the new and veteran Sacramento Kings. Vernon was someone who's been in front of a microphone for quarter century plus. Yeah. How we feeling? It was so intensely cringeworthy to press play on that and then hear it because you know what is that I think, how do I say this? The idea that you are having that discussion where it is even possible that you could be picked up on a microphone is crazy. You know what I mean, like the also it's not great for the topic of conversation to be about the looks of these guys, right? I have seen female reporters being like, oh, this is not great, you know what I mean? But this is a, because it is an example of if people want to hold things against you, then they will use this as an example of and that the idea that this thing is caught on a microphone is, I mean, I've never thought of that Ben Simmons skin care routine. He does have great skin. And I've never really thought I didn't realize that I guess you see, so the girl that talks in the third person, it feels like whoever the other girl has kind of gotten off the hook here because she's the one that kind of says the first, there's this one point where I believe they reference playing for the Sacramento Kings will do to your face what being the president in the White House will do to your face, which I think that gets brought up and that to me is hilarious. Number one, so kudos to that turn of phrase. That cracks me up. Another thing I want to say is I am not going to sit here on a microphone and do some holier than thou thing and act like I've never commented on how hot a WNBA player is to a buddy. Like I'm not going to sit here and act like I've never done that because that's ridiculous. I don't lie in the microphones, but I will say is someone who does wear a lot of microphone often for their job tonight, it's like holding a grenade and really what the problem is is people don't know you're wearing it. So when you're wearing one, there's a responsibility to let everybody know that you're wearing one. And when people come up to me in the office or whatever and I'm wearing one, the first thing I say is I am Mike, I am Mike, I am Mike, I am Mike up, even if it's off because you can turn that thing off. I don't feel comfortable unless I can turn it off, I can put it up blender and tear it up and I can block it in a safe and put it in the bottom of the ocean and I'd still be scared of picking up sound. I again, one of the huge failings is she's making fun of Ben Simmons for using the third person so then she says her name and it's like, you just wouldn't it, you might have been able to get you in the back. It'd be like me saying, I'm Chris Vernon and then saying all of this crap behind the thing. What a nightmare, but you're right about the, hey this is funny. So yesterday, I'm a media day and I'm walking by and Cam Spencer, who I love is walking by and Cam Spencer's like between stations, but he's got a basketball and he's like kind of, you know, putting stuff up at the basket, right? And so I walk by and I'm like, oh, I'm Cam Spencer, I can't even do anything without a basketball round. Ball is alive. So he's like, check up, right, he throws me the ball. So I checked it up, I go, I put an elbow on him. He comes up through it, hits the shot and he goes, and one bitch and he goes, oh no, I mic'd up. I hope somebody had this somewhere. They too. Somebody does. Somebody does. It was just one possession and he did get me, but again, there was like this fleeting moment where he forgot that he was mic'd up or whatever. And I'm sitting there thinking about stuff just like you were saying, it's like, you know, good grief. How was that on the live stream where everybody could pull it again? Like that's also like, there's also when you're talent, you have to assume that someone's making a mistake. And they get in your ear, they're like, we're clear, but the audio person has to cut the mics. The other thing is that the fact that it's the kings of it. I mean, I already saw somebody posted this morning, Zach will be his wife, like commented, like great start to the season or something, like the rolling eyes emoji. It's like, it's the most kings thing ever, isn't it? There really is. I can't think, could that happen to anybody else? I just. The other thing is they add, they see like what they as like, then of course, then the algorithm is feeding me king stuff. And like somebody's like, Darius a cup, like, hey, what have you liked about Sacramento so far? And he's like, the foods are right? I had a burrito. God. I've been to Sacramento, dude. No, you could, you could roll a bowling ball on the west side of Sacramento and it's not going to stop rolling until you're in the east side of Sacramento. Oh, wow. It is not a large city whatsoever. I just want to say one thing about you, Chris Vernon, absolute opposite of a hypocrite. Yeah, that's what I did. Absolute opposite of a hypocrite. That's how most people describe him. Yeah. I'm going to. I'm going to. They say they say Chris Vernon, they say, they say that guy, that guy is a hypocrite, then another person fives over, they say, no, he's the opposite opposite of a hypocrite. Whatever that is. Yeah. You don't know, but that's Chris Vernon. That's what you're saying. All right. To report today, so unbelievable job by you. I mean, you threw it again. - I didn't work this hard in 20 years. - I trusted you to throw together the media day clip. - No, no, no. - Jeff and Steph did an unbelievable job today. - Hold on, I got to take people behind the curtain. - Let's see, I'm looking at the text right here. - What? - You know, I'm texting you throughout the day. Clips from media day. - Yeah. - Oh, John Concher, the next man discussed that. And then you wrote, "So how do you want to handle how we do media day's news? I can compile a list, but you said you want to play Clips question mark? - Yeah. - That is a man passing the book. And then you said, "Okay, all jot down a list and just do it as few worth mentionings." That never happened. - I do have them, but do you want to be on a list? - You talked for an hour and 20 minutes. - Yeah, I've got a list. - You want all the clips to the fellas question mark? Make sure they can pull 'em and play for sure. Ha, ha. Think Jesse's not there. So you basically said, "I don't want to do the work to Kobe, you have to do the work." - That's not true. You said, "I'll just do it." - Yeah, that's exactly what I said. I'll just do it. - And what did you want me to do? Did you want me to step up and be like, "No, no." - You said you were gonna say, "I said a list." - Where's the list? Where's the list? For me. - It's right there. - I think we can email that to me. You can put an envelope, put a stamp on it. - I said I would do it in case we needed more stuff. We didn't talk Jaylen Brown SNL. We didn't talk. - Well, he wasn't on SNL. - Oh, Jaylen Branson. - Branson, that's what I meant. - I'm curious. - Clippers, totally depressing media day with Keaton Wagler being asked if he felt pressure since they don't have 5% of the traffic until 2035. - What else you got? - I was in a behavior crit. - Okay, see redemption. I've got Tatum and Paul George. I've got the media day I was at, which was mega strange because I heard that. - How we didn't talk about that? - There was no Jaylen. - The only thing that matters is Cam's fans are got an an-and-one against me. - Yeah, absolutely. - I learned two vets on the Grizzlies that have been on other teams. So I did not have an awareness of them prior to was beef stew and a Jeremy Grant. Both, ready for this? You want to talk about how the NBA has changed over the years and what guys are involved in? Both of them? Farmers. Farmers, farmers. They both have farms. - Farms? - Farms. Like overalls, farm. Isaiah Stewart has a goal of becoming the biggest date farmer in the country. - Oh, dates are hard. - He has a date farm and he's out in the, go look at his Instagram. He's in the field. Overalls, no shirt plowing. He's a real farmer beast. Like a real farmer. - Jeremy Grant, I got Jeremy Grant one time. I busted him up. I pulled off one of my greatest jokes at media days. - Oh God, did people love to hear stories about how great your own jokes are? - Please tell. - This was an amazing joke that I did. An amazing joke. (laughing) - I mean, it's just ridiculous. Opposite of the advocate. - I told him that he was, how lucky he was that we saved him because this year they were, he was gonna have to pay for his parking spot in Portland. - He loved that. He loved it. He loved that joke. - And you loved it. - He's still talking about it. He's still talking about it. To this day. - I know I have to remix the gravestone. He relies, Chris Vernon, the opposite of a hypocrite. - He once told Jeremy Grant. - And he was gonna have to pay for his parking spot in the state of Portland. - Yes, yes. - I mean, I will say seeing all. - Same thing, more expensive. - I thought about this. You know, there is a weird feeling that every fan base has with players that, like when I'm looking, when I'm seeing Jerry Jackson through the Utah Jazz Vibes video, and I'm seeing John Morant talk about life with Damien Lillard, and I'm seeing Jaylen Brown. I mean, I'm thinking about Celtic fans looking at Jaylen Brown, and fucks fans looking at Yannis, and Grizzly's fans looking at Jay, and Charlotte fans looking at Lamello. Like it all just becomes very real, yes, her day. That is one thing that I did, you know, want to mention. It all becomes very real when it comes to media. 'Cause you're like, "Damn, man." And so when I walk into, like the media day that I've covered, and there's no John Morant, and there's no Desmond Bayon, and there's no Jerry Jackson, and there's no John Conchar, and there's no Brandon Clark rest in peace. It's like, bro, where is it? Like the things that you have become used to for the last eight years of your life. You know, since my kids were little, are no longer what you're used to anymore. It's just very, it's crazy the way the NBA. It's not like I haven't been to it before, but nowadays, you know, even listening to Stuart yesterday, he's like, I thought I was gonna be a piston forever. Of course. Like, I just never even thought about playing elsewhere. He's like, but, he's like, Memphis is perfect for me. - Did you ask for-- - They love guys like me. - Did you ask for like the video? - Oh, the Drew U-Banks, I didn't have them on. - Yeah. - So the way it was cute. - No, no, so the way it was set up was, they brought in guys at different times. - Yeah. - So when I was at the day, we had a different group of guys. So I had like Jeremy Grant-Zack-Edie. Who else I have? I can't remember. Who else did I have? I can't remember now. Oh, Ty Jerome was with us, Taylor Hendrix. I guess just whoever was there at the time. 'Cause they just cycled through. That's the way media day works. They're just all cycling through all the different stations for media day. But yeah. - Did Drew U-Banks video made me think? Like, you don't really know how you will react to getting punched in the face until you get punched in the face. - He ate it. That was good. - He didn't, he didn't. - I can't say, I can't say real respect for U-Banks. I really good. - He didn't want to fight. He didn't seem like he wanted to fight. - No, and then he got hit. And he just like, - Yeah, it looks the same. - But you expect the guy's gonna be fly, you know what I mean? Like I mean, Jordan Poole got knocked into a different hemisphere when he got hit. Drew U-Banks just ate it. I'm like, Yo, okay, Drew U-Banks. - All right. - All right. - You know one thing they say about Drew U-Banks? - He'd eat a punch. - Ops it up a hypocrite. - Yeah, I feel that way too. He's probably, he's probably exactly like me. All right. Thank you to Jeff and Steph is always Jacobi. Just a, I mean, I made amazing media day performance by you. - Wow, I'm excited for this. I'm excited for the, we're gonna get an Emmy for this, a Grammy. They give Grammys for podcasts. - A potty? - I don't know. I don't know what that is. - I'm gonna get a Grammy. - Whatever Amy Polar won last year. - Yeah, whatever Amy, but that's what we're getting. - No, I'm preparing my speech. - Yeah, me too. All right. - No, no, I'm gonna talk. You'll just be standing next to me. - Oh, okay. - Yeah, yeah. - That's fine. I'm like a teller. - Yeah, but tops it up a hypocrite, yeah. - 'Cause teller never talks, right? He never talks. - Yes. - He just stands there, any short. Yeah, we actually do kind of like best tell them. All right. All right, we're out of here. We'll be back next. - Finish the vlog. - Who cares?