The 2026 Realys Awards | Real Ones

What's popping? Real ones. It's that time of year, ladies and gentlemen. It is the award show of all basketball award shows. It is the season finale. It is real ones. Really these. I got Howard motherfucking back there. I got Roger Bell there, my Virgo brother in Christ. And we are here to give out awards. And we are also going to try not to say any dated LeBron things because he might even just, he might even just make his decision right now. I don't know. And I hope that he figures it out at some point. But from now, we are going to get to the categories. First of all, how are you guys doing? How are you guys doing? Roger, I haven't seen you in a while. Just like a quick catch up. How are you doing? I'm doing really well. I mean, I've been, it's my first time home in about a month. I was traveling with Ty like this, this use basketball high school is a pretty rigor, like June and July, like it's pretty non-stop June early July. So we're home. And I'm excited to be home for a little while. Dude, my back, my back is not better for the traveling that I've been doing. Like I had a, I had a really serious, a couple of massage just trying to get this shit out. Not that anyone cares, but like at 50, yeah, it was a struggle to sleep in all those different hotel beds, for sure. Ooh, okay. Speaking of OG problems, let's get to the first category. Okay. That wasn't really, that wasn't really way to open the show, wasn't you? No, it wasn't. I'm sorry. I haven't parted in a while, but yeah. It's always, it's just always great when Roger sounds older than me for a few minutes. Just for a little bit. Okay, let's start it off. You're going to switch it and go to this one first. OG of the year. How are you or the OG of the podcast? Who's your OG of the year? I mean, I feel like this is almost like a trick question to our setup. Like it almost has to be OG and a nobody, doesn't it? Oh, okay. That wasn't actually the prompt, but I know. I know. No, it's LeBron. It's obviously the broad greatest age 41 season ever after being the greatest age 40 season, the greatest age 39 season, the age 38 season, average 23, seven and eight. And that first round victory over the rockets with Luca out and Reeves mostly out. Still a top 20 player, still hugely relevant and still so commanding of the league and our attentions that yes, as we record this, we are still all waiting on him. And he's still the biggest. This could end up being on LeBron James emergency episode, right? It could end up being bad for all we know. No, no, no. Mine was also LeBron James, because I, I mean, I think and as long as he plays, he's going to get this award, right, just because of all the oxygen he brings all of his game. Yeah, any thoughts for a quick Roger on the summer of LeBron? Yeah, how are you feeling just even as a spectator? Does it like, we have our feelings, but I feel like the media is feeling kind of selfish because we got vacations to go on and stuff and we're kind of annoyed by this, but but you as a former player and also just as a person that is a spectator, what have you been feeling about the LeBron summer? Yeah, I mean, look, I'm, I'm locked in like everybody else. I'm really, I'm really interested to figure out where he's going to go, but I don't, I don't have any. I heard, I heard I had to drive to Augusta. Like, I got back from Vegas didn't realize Peach Jam was the next week and I couldn't find a rental car up there. So I had to drive from here to Augusta was like nine hours and a lot of problems. I know, dude, but like I could not get a car. I heard people I didn't know that was a thing with the media. They were bitching and complaining about the decision and they went as far as to say this person that LeBron not making a decision was going to cause people in front offices that usually have allocated this time for their vacation. So it was, it was not respectful to them and fuck that. Like what? LeBron James has the right to make his decision whenever he wants, go wherever he wants. For whatever reasons he wants to go there for. And so that's my feeling on it. Like everyone else can kick rocks. Like this dude is going to tell you where he wants to go when he wants to tell you and he's earned the right to do that. So I don't really have any problem with it at all. I'm just interested to know where it's going to be. I think that's going to be fascinating, but the rest of it completely up to him and I got no problem with that. It's a very fascinating time for him, right? Because I think that on one hand, he does have the right to make all the decisions that he wants in the timing that he wants. And quite frankly, from a content standpoint, it is helping all of us out, right? We always have something to talk about and people want to hear it. Even if it's actually nothing, even if it's a nothing burger of an update, people just want to talk about LeBron. And you know who else wants to talk about LeBron? LeBron does. He loves this. He loves all of this. That's why he went on fanatics fest and just basically was teasing everybody and like, huh, maybe I'll make one. Maybe I won't. Maybe he loves this attention. It's probably the last time he's going to get this much attention, right? There's that part of it, right? But there's also the business of LeBron. So wherever he goes, you're not just getting LeBron James, the basketball player who's been very effective. You're getting the business of him. You're getting all eyes are going to be on him. And even like Adam Silver saying, like, hey, we have to, we need you to make a decision because it affects our business, right? It's just been fascinating to see all these things. The ringer has been a big beneficiary of this with the whiteboard and everything that has gone on with that. It has been a very busy summer at ringer headquarters. I am tired of it. But hey, it ain't my life. And also it's really helping out the pot number. So shout out to LeBron for doing that, I guess. I do want to just, I want to say, if I could, like, it's a little different than the time I told you he was kind of holding up the whole league. I forget what year that was, but I was part of the contingent of players that couldn't move until he figured out this one's a little different in that, like I'm incorrect me if I'm wrong. He's told people, like, go about their business, what he's going to be asking for in terms of the finances of it all, shouldn't really dramatically affect a club's ability to be under an apron or whatever. So like, you know, like, you're just, I think that fundamentally is different for me. Yeah. As you say, the one thing he actually is holding up that does matter and is worth discussing. And I think it's what Adam Silver was alluding to was the schedule, right? Because the schedule is usually made. It's being formulated at this time of year to be released some time in early August. And it's a complicated undertaking in the best of times with 30 teams and all the arenas and availability and everything. It's complicated. It's complicated. So out of respect for some people I know in those offices, yeah, like that's, that is tough because wherever LeBron plays, that team automatically is going to be on a bunch of marquee nights. And so I'm sure that they have contingencies upon contingencies right now, depending on whether he's going to Cleveland Golden State Miami and all that. But like, that's a real thing. And I think it's different even adding to that schedule thing right now. It's different. Like, if he goes to Golden State, that's like a vastly different TV schedule than say if he goes back to Cleveland or Miami, right? Like, you're probably going to have more TV games and two more high profile games. If he goes to Golden State, then if he were to go to another team. And so they have to recalibrate that. And also, there's one thing to do the schedules, but there's also the venues, right? And making sure that those venues are free. That given time. It's just it's so complicated in general. But I think, I think Ross, it doesn't have to care about this. He doesn't give a fuck. He doesn't care. I want to know if the league was was like when LeBron loses the co star because of a freak injury and a playoff run. Like, heaven, love gets his shoulder separated. Like, the league's not sitting around trying to figure out how to make it right by LeBron. Right? Like, so like, that's all that's my point. I mean, I did it. I did it. But when the setting is set though, that's, you've got your job to do. And that's why you make what you make. LeBron has his job to do. And that's why he gets paid the way he gets paid. And so like, I have some sympathy. But at the end of the day, my point is like, like, LeBron can't be worried about that shit. Like LeBron, you do what you got to do. I think the one other thing, and I do want to get to the rest of the categories. But what I will say, this is the biggest thing that I have seen in the biggest difference that I've seen from all the other decisions is the lack of leverage that LeBron has and the lack of levers that I think he sees. And I think he's waiting out in more ways than he would in previous seasons, because if this was 10 years ago, LeBron says I'm coming to your team, you do this for me. It's getting done. Right? Like, you want to try Andrew Liggins? Goodbye. Like, we're going to get Kevin Love open here. Right? You want to make, but like, I think that they are, him and his team are trying tactics that have historically worked for them, but are very dated. And I, and I don't think that that is, I think that is another wrinkle in all of this. And we'll see. That's all I will say on that. Any other thoughts on OG LeBron before we get to the next category? I wouldn't like to, you didn't ask me who my OG was. I didn't have, I mean, I would, I would just throw it through. Who is your OG or the eye apology, Roger? No, it's okay, but LeBron, certainly, like, he was always going to, but I give a shout out to Kauai who had a fantastic year. I mean, he was 27.9 a game. I think was the highest of his career. What do you play? 65 games or something like that? Like, uh, I don't know. What did that do for you? Like, could you think like, I could go in the park and go average 35 against these kids? Did that do something to you? Did that was like, I need to, they do nothing for me, but just, like those dudes are remarkable, man, the way they take care of their body and LeBron especially, but yeah, there are no, I don't even go out and shoot around anymore Logan, so no, that did nothing for me thinking I could-- - Hey, man. - But I did want to give a shout out to Kawaii. - And if the NBA is keeps fucking up, you might not even, it might be the last time you see Kawaii right now, the way that the investigations are going. We'll see how that goes. Next one, in reverse, who is your new comer of the year, Roger Bell? - Yeah, I mean, I'm gonna go with Cooper Flag. I think it's the easy, maybe call it lazy, but, and the reason I'm gonna do it is because, I just saw things out of him as the season unfolded and it as the ball became more and more familiar with him in a playmaking capacity and the NBA size speed, he calibrated to it. I saw glimpses of things that quite frankly, I've said this before on the pod. I didn't know if he'd get to that and if he did, when he'd get to that type of understanding of an ability on an NBA court. And so I think that's super exciting for him, for Mads fans, and he was great. I'll be it in, maybe not in a winning as, winning a capacity as maybe some others, but I think that largely had to do with the team he was on. But I thought he was fantastic and showed signs of superstardom. So I think he's newcomer to the year. - How does, go ahead Howard, you got some thoughts? - No, I was waiting to see if you wanted to throw out yours before I came in. - Well, I just wanna have a quick Cooper Flag conversation 'cause he was going to be one of my newcomers of the year, but I went more on vibes. He obviously was deserving. But who did I wanna talk about more? We'll get to that in a second. But I'm excited about Cooper Flag and what he has going. I hope the Mavericks still earn in a weird place right now just 'cause the Kyrie element. And that's the trade to be had. But everything that I've been hearing is like, Kyrie doesn't wanna go to the Minnesota thing. Kyrie didn't, people went up to him and asked his opinion. He said he didn't wanna go to Minnesota, right? And they gotta figure that out, right? What is he going to be? What role is Kyrie going to have going forward for Cooper Flag? I think that's like the biggest question, right? There is a team out. There's some maneuvering at the Mavericks can do and probably should do to build around Cooper Flag. I've said this in the past. Just trade everybody and build around him. And I think that that's what the new MBA suggests that you should do in order to build a contender. But the Mavericks need to just do it, right? How do they build around Cooper Flag at this point? 'Cause they clearly have their guy. - I think the biggest difficulty for them is that they are still kind of caught between the Luka Anthony Davis era and, excuse me, the Luka era, which turns to Anthony Davis, and also Luka, which required Kyrie, which required PJ Washington, which required all these other veterans. And now you still have most of those guys and they flipped Anthony Davis out. You still have Kyrie and so you're straddling timelines. You have not done anything really to build around Cooper Flag yet. Would be the faster way of getting there. And so Kyrie could have a lot of value because the one difficulty, one of the difficulties for them last year was the balls and Cooper Flag's hands so much. Do you really want him to be your point guard, point forward, point whatever? Kyrie can take a lot of that pressure on it. Off of him can set him up. I think that'll be good for him short term, but that's not your long term vision, right? And so I do think there still should be, or could be a temptation to trade Kyrie for players who are more on Cooper Flag's timeline. You don't need to be in the playoffs yet. You don't need to rush this. He's just going into a second season, figure out how best to build around him. Kyrie may be the conduit to that ultimately, but he hasn't played in, by the time he plays, it's gonna have been like 19 months since his last game. We don't even know what Kyrie is at this stage in his mid 30s. So we'll see. Hey, look at this summer, it wasn't on NBA floor. I got to see him at the top 100 a little bit. He worked out for the campers and stuff like that. My son got to play defense on him a couple of times. Like he, not that my son's defense is NBA defense, but like he was moving and he, you know, he looked good. The workout was pretty impressive. So for what it's worth? - Reporter Raj. - Jeez. - Our Interpreter reporter out in these A.E. streets. All right, I'm gonna go with Dylan Harper. Just because he was my favorite newcomer this season, right? Like I just, I can't wait to see what he evolves into for Ricky to be able to play at that level. No matter like what he, the finals I think were twofold and showed like how much he needs to grow and how successful he could be, right? Like at heat, the spurs are begging for somebody to run that offense, can't be winby in this particular case. And I think that he has a lot of room to grow, but it was just such a treat to be able to see him show no fear. I'm gonna go to the cup every time. I'm gonna give us this team a spark in the way that I need to do. And I thought that that was really impressive for a newcomer to go on that stage. Now he needs to stay off a TikTok and stay off a shit or at least don't repost slander about your teammate in the middle of the NBA finals. This is it, you know, it's a very rookie mistake. But overall, I love what I saw, Rajya. I love what I saw. - He was great. He was great. He was a candidate for me too. Like I fearless, dude. Like standing in the face of a situation like that and handling himself the way he did. I thought it was remarkable. I thought Koup had just a little bit more on his shoulders throughout the course of the year. He was asked to carry and do more for a franchise, but and I think he did it for longer stretches, if I will. But yeah, Dylan Harper was phenomenal and I almost went with him too. So I'm not mad at you for that. - Howard Motherfucking Beck. - Yeah, it's Dylan Harper. I thought that was gonna be a hot take, but Logan beat me to it. So listen, we had a phenomenal rookie of the year race with Cooper Flag and Conconiple. VJ Edgecomb was fantastic. And this is an absolutely incredible and may eventually be historic rookie class, right? We will, I think, be talking about this draft for a long time to come. It's early yet, but the signs are super good for all these guys. But yeah, it's not to be the prisoner of the moment or a recency bias, but like Dylan Harper, it's the impression he left. But also, he's the only one who's on that stage, right? The Cooper Flag doesn't make the playoffs. Conconiple doesn't make the playoffs. VJ Edgecomb's, you know, out in the second round, he didn't have the greatest series against the Knicks. But the last thing we saw from Dylan Harper was looking like a 10 year vet playing in the NBA finals. Absolutely fearless. And it's not just his explosiveness in his ability around the cup, but like his defensive tenacity and his ability to guard Jalen Brunson, all of it. And it's just, I'm just so impressed. And yeah, one of the last people I saw leaving the arena on the night of the championship was bumping into Ron Harper, Dylan's dad saying, like basically just watch out. There's, there's, Waitley has a summer to keep working on stuff. Like, wait, do you see what next season? So I can't wait to see what we're going to see from Dylan Harper next season. Let's get messy. Let's get messy. Worst trade of the year. Now, this can go whenever you want. And then I basically, what trade is going to age the worst. I'm going to start it off. It's not that much of a controversial take. I don't believe. But I'm going to go with the Celtics trading Jalen Brown. I'm, I'm, I'm going to go with that being the worst. I, I get it. I get the salaries. I get the optionality. I get all of that. But there's also a human element of this, right? Boston love that, dude. They were a championship contender. I think going into next season with Jalen Brown on the roster. I think currently constructed, they are not. And when you have a, when you have a Jason Tatum on the, on the roster, you have to compete for titles at all time. And there's no such times for rebuilds or reach weeks. And it may be reach weeks, but not rebuilds. And I think that there is an element of rebuilding right now in Boston. And you put that on top of the fact that we don't know what type of Tatum we're going to get next season. And I thought this was the catastrophic move towards title tops hopes of this era. And I don't like it. So my worst trade is the Boston Celtics trading Jalen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers. Anybody, I can see that it's on the list. It was on my longer list, Washington acquiring trade young and Anthony Davis, both those deals on my list of deals that may not age well. Well, I think Davis might get traded to the lawyers at some point. So if that happens, that is the word that is literally the worst trade of the summer. Not, not all that high on the sun's acquiring Miles Bridges. I think like the honest trade could age badly on both sides. Potentially like there's there's a lot of questions there. The Lakers acquiring Walker Kessler at the steep price that they paid both in terms of his salary and the trade package. So there's a lot of options here. But I'm going with the Portland Trailblazers acquiring John Merrant. I'm sorry. This trade is going to be such a disaster for them. I would like to believe there's upside both for John Merrant and for the Blazers in acquiring him. I just don't see it. And this is not about what they gave up. Usually we evaluate a trade and like what they gave up. Yeah, they gave up nothing Jeremy Grant, Chris Murray, that part's fine. It's not that they gave up too much. It's that they did this at all. Also, I think there are strong indications that this was the owner who I think is fast establishing himself as one of the worst and most meddling in the league that this was him and not the front office. It's just that John Merrant's a bad fit, right? [BLANK_AUDIO] still have Scoot Henderson who you're trying to develop into your, your star player and your point guard. You have Dame who is in his twilight, but coming off the Achilles and now ready to pick up where he left off. He hopes and he's a legend there. And you need to give him all the oxygen in the world too. You've got Drew Holiday still there. You've got Danny Aftia who had just, this huge breakthrough season and is a ball handler and an offensive initiator. How are all these pieces fitting together? And then on top of that, John is ball dominant, a poor defender, a poor shooter. He's too small and there are some character concerns to say the least. He can't stay healthy. He's averaged 47 games a year for his entire career. He's played 79 games over the last three years combined and he's probably never going to be an all-star again. It's been three years. I don't see these going to recapture that, especially given some of the erosion in terms of his finishing ability. Just because you've got him for free doesn't mean it's a good deal and there's an opportunity cost and a fit cost and all kinds of other things. To me, that's more catastrophic in a lot of ways than the Celtics trading Jalen Brown. Yes, he's beloved. Yes, you want a championship with him, but you had salary concerns and you had clearly other concerns. I could at least see the thought process in the Jalen Brown deal, even if I don't fully agree with it. I don't see the thought process or any soundness in the thought process in the jaw trade. I think this was also all the things you said too. I think I just want to get a little more context as well. I would say don't underestimate the Nike influence on this. They got shoes to sell and one of the things that they were pushing behind the scenes was like, let's get jaw close to us and let all of his people around at least that's what they're saying after the trade. Let's get jaw close to us, let's get him in our building. Let's make sure we at least rehabilitate whatever image that we have of him and let's sell some sneakers. There's also that element as well. Magnum mistake. You asked me how I was doing to start to putt and I was telling you I've been on the road. A large portion of that was at Nike events. When we were in Vegas, I was taken aback. It was a very, very cool, they had a primetime court. It was black with like that line green that you see around your face on this screen right now. The listener, the watcher can't see it, but it was this line green and it was the John Morant court. It was all John Morant branding. I guess they're releasing the jaw for and like, I got no beef with that, but that did say something to me because that's Nike's grassroots basketball. It was all jaw. His team right now isn't the blazers. It is Nike at this particular point. It's not. The blazers are going to be the uniform that he wears during a regular season, but like jaw. He sells so many sneakers to him kids, you know, and like people love those. So like, that is the more, more importance, at least in Jaws world, I would say, then the regular season and whatever, whatever that happens going through the GM coach and all the other players in the blazers, that's the thing that matters is the basketball fit. So yay sneakers, yay sales, but no, but I'm saying that's an illustrator of like the diet, what we're dealing with here, right? Like that is that's what we're dealing with and I think that's someone that we should keep a lookout on during this season, right? Is this that element of like, what's going on there? Who is your worst trade, Roger? I, all of the ones Howard said came into, you know, came into focus when I was trying to figure that out. And the, and I think ultimately where I got was where you were, Logan. And the reason why I'll just piggyback off of it is because of how close, how close they were Boston with the two of those guys in hand playing well. You already have proof of concept there. You know if you put some semblance of a roster around them that you can do pretty cool things. And where you wound up sending him, which is like right across the street in conference, like in division and now they in my estimation and a lot of people's estimation are now one of the favorites, you know, in an Eastern conference. And so I think for all of those reasons, I went with the Boston trade and trade in Jayne Brown. It's going to be a great season, but damn, damn, got maybe, maybe Roger might even go to the Sixers game in the show. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see. Not if it means getting on another plane or hitting the car. Oh, man, I'm going to take my man bent up on a trip before I go to Philly, bro. Straight like this. All right, all right. Let's go to the next category, crash out of the year. I think we're, I think we're all on the same page here, but we'll see. I'm going to go with Draymond Green, right? We talk about the regular season game where he basically, you know, yelled at his coach, quit on the team, went to the locker room. But then there's just been a calvocate of like Draymond crash house. We probably, we might name the award after him when it's all said and done. Yeah, I think. It's probably just, it's his award until he basically, you know, in essence, he doesn't want it, right? Like we just come in assuming. And then when he retired, we're just going to put podcast crash out of the year. That's just going to be his award that we have. He's going to have because no, he's beat like, I don't say this in any negative way. Like we have beef and wood. Him and Charles got into a little beef, right? Him and Charles Barkley got him. You know what I'm saying? You don't. And then it was more serious because I feel like Charles and Draymond, it's just sparring, bro, like they're just making sure they're in shape still. But like that, you don't know Draymond was serious, bro. That was, that was where I was like, I don't know if I want to be in the same room when they're in the, in the building, right? Like, I don't know. But Draymond, I don't even know like, there were some like, who was crashing out like the, the Charlotte, was it Charlotte was in Detroit, Detroit? Yeah. Yeah. There was a, and Moussa was a Moussa like, uh, yeah, there was a lot of Jalen Durin, a man, Thompson, he gets kind of wild sometimes like, he has some issues like, but I think Draymond, I don't know. I went in a different direction. Oh. Listen, guys, there are different brands of crash outs and I don't know, uh, is it possible to have a crash out on a Twitch stream? Because I think it got somebody fucking traded. So Jalen Brown is my crash out of the year. The Twitch stream probably got him trade. We could talk about the contract and Brad Stevens can say optionality, 17 times and talk about two players making 70% of the calf. How do you bought Jalen Brown's jersey for his kids? Okay. What? He did that. What? Whatever. They traded him for guy making the same amount. So we can't talk about optionality in the salary cap and 70%. I get it. He's going to fall George expires a year sooner than whatever they got some picks in the deal. But like, it's very clear to me at least that there is a combination of factors here that the salary and cap issues and apron issues are some part of this optionality, whatever is part of it. But if he never goes on fucking Twitch and says the refs are out to get him and Joel and bead. My new teammate is a flapper who's disgracing the game. Okay. And on top of it saying that this was my favorite year of basketball when they lost in the second round or second round first round, the first one. First round. Yo, I'm going to say this over a quick before you go, before you go, this is why he got traded. No, but I was saying about him. I get it. But front office motherfuckers are getting so soft right now, bro, because in the 80s and the 90s, bro, it was so much worse than that. He hasn't gotten in trouble. He hasn't done shit. Bro. I would argue that the crash out in this scenario is the fucking boss and sell the bread Stephen. Oh, yeah. Bro, you can't. That's what I would argue. So not my friends. He's for the over. Bro. How many bread Stephens? Bro. Kobe Bryant. I'm not Kobe Bryant. He's not Kobe Bryant. I'm not going to say that. But Kobe Bryant over a summer was like, ship this motherfucker out. That was the crash. That was the crash. This podcast. And he just did that. Yes. He was that existed then. But no, but we're talking about people that got traded because of that, right? Coby demanded a trade said this motherfucker sucks. We should have traded for him by name in a Yes, and a new port news parking lot Yeah, we're parking lot and was like, yo, fuck him and then And which cup check was like hard. It's Tuesday. Okay. That's fine And Coby got real trouble before he was back fucking and Jalen Brown just went on a twist stream And said something that was like kind of controversial kind of right like okay, people said much But it was an indicative controversial brown I've had some of the most fun basketball I didn't win a championship in those years like do you know what I mean? Like I mean, not that I won't have any championships, but the point is it's possible. Oh, it's possible I hear you howard I think it's soft. I'm I change mine that I give crash out like I fuck that If this shit's good if it gets printed anywhere if our words go up and print anywhere make that mine This is the first time I actually like provoked Raja not and did to just a rant, but an actually like changing up an award decision Fantastic, I love it. I love it out of the box outside the You had fun and we didn't win - Like I remember, man, you won a lot. - I won a lot, man, I thought you won a lot. And here's another thing. Jalen Brown didn't ask to be traded. Even after all of that, he was like, cool. I'm still, all right, Tade was coming back, boom. We're gonna figure this out. He still was like that towards the end of it. Even as he said all that stuff, he said, man. - Oh boy. - Hey, man, what, hey, what, no, hold on, what is it? We gotta hold on 'cause I gotta give this shout out and then we'll go to the next one. - Rather, you OG, OG, real, what's, no. - Yeah. - What did Coach Carter say? Get your feelings out this shit. - Out of out shit. - Get your feelings out this shit, man. - Boston, get your feelings out this shit because now you just regressed and now you ain't a champion. It's a contender no more because you had your feelings in this shit. Anyways, moving on. (laughs) Moment of the year. How are you alluded to it? What is the moment of the year? I mean, it's obviously OG and I know he's tipping. But I was also trying not to go to the well too often on either A, OG and I know B jokes and references or B, next things. So I zagged a little bit here. - Okay. - It's March 10th, a night in which the Washington Wizards played the Miami Heat and bam out of bio, dropped 83 points. - That has to be on the record, yes. - It's the moment of the year because it had it all. In a year when tanking absolutely was just destroying the NBA's credibility and forced them to completely revamp the lottery rules again in the most radical way they ever have. We had a tanking team, letting a guy just score it will and a star player seizing the spotlight. I was trying to say like, so I don't know when this hit me. It seems to me like they were covering like all the seven deadly sins here, right? We had sloth, that's the Wizards. We had gluttony, that's bam. Pride also, bam, greed, bam, lust for points, bam, envy, wrath, other coaches, other coaches, media people, wrath, like the seven deadly sins were all encompassed in one stupid meaningless game in March that also involved tanking and all the ramifications of that. That is the NBA in a nutshell. We had drama, controversy, everything. All the things we love about the NBA, there's my moment of the year. - That's some podcasting right there. I like podcasting. Well done, you should be a writer or something. Also adding to that, the most NBA thing ever, hate. Just he just got hated on for fucking two weeks by other players, just everybody, just hating on them. - Yeah. - The hate overshadowed the record. I don't even think that like we're gonna, we're always gonna think about, you know, and I'm thinking for myself. There was the other day I was like seeing Kobe's 81. I was like, oh shit, that this record is broken. I forgot, you know? - It wasn't a record though. - A scoring feat. I'm sorry, this feat got tops. - Anyways, Roger moment of the year. - Yeah, no, I mean, I haven't been to the New York well or the OG well. So for me, it was that tipping game four, down 19 was it? I mean, I remember that time was at, down 29, sorry. Like, I was at, that was the day I had watched Kyry workout. I was at the NBA top 100 and I was in my hotel room and my wife's huge nicks fan and I hadn't been sitting at home the whole time. I was kind of catching that at a bar as I ate and then I got back to the room and she was out and I'm like, hey, I just hang on for a second. Like, do you know what I mean? It was just one of those, I think if they lose that game, everything changes and 29 is an incredible feat to overcome at any point in the season, let alone in the finals and then the tip was just incredible. I mean, it was just an incredible tip and for all those reasons, I mean, yeah, and I haven't done nicks yet. For me, I racked my brain last night and I really was trying to find a moment, I love what you just did Howard, but I think it's OG's tipping came for. - Yeah, my thing is this man and I'm right there, which Roger, that's the moment that's gonna define this season and I'm not mad at Nick Overload, bro, because that really speaks to how much of a phenomenon this run was, right? Like, it was everywhere. There were nicks fans everywhere. New York is on fire right now. Like, I feel like everybody right now with the World Cup, with nicks winning it all, with Zora Mondeini, with the whole shows, I feel like we're just all living in New York right now, all simultaneously. It's been great, you know? But that was awesome. The next run was awesome. The OG tipping was awesome. That is also my moment of the year. Let's keep on moving on down the ledger. Can I just say one thing? And I'm not gonna take a moment a lot of time. But the reason, like one of the reasons as I just thought about it was because, like, they're not a lot of moments in NBA, like, any point in NBA, regular season or playoffs, where I could tell you where I was and what I was doing when it happened. And that one, that struck me, because I just-- We have that me and Howard have that with Game 1, bro, in Stockholm, like, we remember where we were during that Nick's final is run. I remember, like, I'll never forget that. As long as we live, one day, we'll have an NBA Lord, just about that night in general. Maybe we'll one day. Maybe we'll have a deep dive onto that. Anyways, I'm gonna start this next category. Who won the year? Just gonna keep it Nick's. Jalen Brunson, like, he is the man right now. He is the absolute man, King of Kings at this particular moment. No one, like, saw this coming, absolutely, at all. And that's the best part about this. And he can do no wrong. This is his world. And we are all living in Jalen Brunson's world. Like, how long has that going to last? A very long time in New York. But in the NBA at large, I don't know. But right now, he won the year. It is his world. Howard Beck, Roger Bell, or whoever wants to go. Go rush. All right, yeah, I mean, I think it's the next. But I think, and Jalen sure spearheads that. But, I mean, I think Carl Anthony, like, Towns, like, that was, you know, redemption to some degree. Mike Brown, the Nick's fans in general, who have been waiting for this forever. Like, the winners, and as it relates to the Nick's themselves, you can pick just about anybody. And that's a win. So yeah, I would agree with you. But I would just, I would extend that out to some other people in a whole fan base and a city. And I think for, yeah. I actually typed the words New York. So I did. I expanded it out all the way myself. I, there were like three or four categories where I thought the Nick's could have been an answer for this exercise today. And so I was trying to spread it around a little bit or not overload. And this, but this one was the one must for me. And yeah, it is, it's Brunson and it's Mike Brown and it's Crawl Anthony Towns. And it's, it's even McHale. Bridges on a smaller scale. It's a no-be on some level, too. - Yeah, dude. - And it, yeah. - Why did you send it? - Why did you send me, baby? - Landry Shammer. - Yeah. Hell yeah. - You guys are all celebrities for life, bro. Just be open this alone. Like, what this has done for them is crazy. - It's, I mean, when I win the first championship in 53 years, like, everybody is enshrined forever. Right? You know, the parade. - Saddle Monica McNutt, the homie, you know what I mean? We out here killing it. - But like, think about everybody who swept up into this, right? Like, Taylor Swift even was part of this at one point in a finals game, but our guy Ben Stiller, Tracy Morgan, Mariska Hargitay, like on and on and on. All the celebrities who were just, you know, a fixture as part of the scenario of the NBA finals bench. So, I mean, New Yorkers won, New York won, the next one, Mayor Mamdani won. Like, it just. - I can't wait, bro. I cannot wait to go back to New York, bro. I don't know when I'm going back, but I cannot wait. 'Cause I know forever. It's just, oh, man, it's awesome. - Nixin five is just like a thing now that just gets enshrined in every conversation. Randomly, I saw the most hilarious Instagram. I'll say it to you guys later. - Mayor and Augustine. - New Yorkers are going to be so obnoxious. You guys already know where they are? - No, not they, 'cause you are New Yorker too, Howard. - New Yorker is a juke around saying Nixin five. I'm not wearing the t-shirt. - You're not, but you are obnoxious like a New Yorker. Listen, you've turned, you're not less coast anymore. You don't rock with us anymore. But it's going to be so obnoxious, everything we hear, it doesn't matter if they go with 20 games next year or the year after that, or the year after that, it's going to be always New Yorker. - It will matter. - It will not matter. All right, who lost the year, Howard? Who's hard? I'm going to, I'm going to, I don't know, I don't know. - There's a lot of directions to go here. I briefly considered picking on James Harden again. I very, very seriously considered Tom Dundin, the blazer's new owner who just keeps stepping in it over and over and over again. And I hate to go here. I hate to do this. - Okay. - It's just true. It's Adam Silver. - Yes, yep. - Yes. - Yes. - Where's tanking season we've ever seen forcing again, this radical overhaul of the lottery, we'll see how that ends up panning out if it has unanticipated consequences as most things often do in the NBA. We've got the aspiration thing still going on. It now has put a trade on hold. That should have never happened. We've got the gambling arrests that are not too far in the distant past and gambling just still just looming over the league and all the issues that go with that. You got Adam Silver, almost defending Tom Dundin's cheapness and his very questionable stewardship in his first few months on the job as the blazer's owner. Adam should be standing up for Portland more. That is a great historic NBA market and there's at least murmurings of whether Dundin's angling them to try to move them because he's the negotiations with the city of Portland on a new arena breaking down. The union now wants to rip up the CBA because of the second apron. So you now have like a brewing fight coming there. Even the little things, right? [BLANK_AUDIO] dunk contest was a complete dud all-star the all-star game itself was better but the dunk contest was trash. You've got the fractured media landscape with all the new streaming partners that's causing a lot of fan discontent. There's there's just a lot. The gambling. Yeah, which I mentioned that too. Yeah, so yeah, I think it's Adam Silver. Yeah, it has to be Adam Silver, man, and we didn't even talk about how this this um this investigation now going to have one kawaii can have a real random occasions for next season, right? Like one of your top guys you just undercutted a whole great story about him going in Serrano and now that's going to linger and we don't know if this is even going to get resolved now, right? And it's just it's it's wild because like his first few years he went through real controversies and actually came out really well on it right? I'm thinking about the Donald Sterling situation. I'm thinking about the logistical nightmare of like putting together a bubble and the and saving your you know, your league during the pandemic. That's a really hard things and dealing with all the things that came with that. And now it's just like everything is just tumbling down all at once. Yeah, he lost a year. Yeah, Roger, you got any thoughts? No, no, I'm okay with that because I was struggling with that one and I had a few players. But I don't think any of the I had some players that took some steps back. Yeah, and I don't know that they're coming back to what they were and I was going to use one of them, but I'd rather not. I like I like what Howard did. All right. His now it's it's your time, Roger. This is your war, baby. I know you thought long and hard about this one in particular. All right, what's the Roger Bell Memorial Defender award? Which player exemplified all the qualities of a Roger Bell Defender? The memorial is if Roger's dead, by the way. Yeah. I'll take this was talking to me. It's all right. I'll make the same joke next year. I don't know, man. I've been pouring out looking for Roger. He poured out for my back. It's fine. The I ultimately probably still don't know where I land on on that. Like there's so many great defenders. Last year was Ludoord Dyson. I believe was it or was it? There's so many really good defenders. I typically like to give it to a wing slash guard defender because at least in my day, it was harder for us to get get like it was harder for us to get acknowledged for that. Like they weren't using the analytics as much. Do you know what I mean? So if we weren't coming up with steals or and or rebounds or you know, like it was it was hard to quantify what we were doing out there. But ultimately as I went through all the names, I was kind of trying to pick one of them to give it to. I had to go with with Wembee and the reason the reason I went with Wembee, he fills all the boxes in terms of your stats and your your advanced analytics and all of that shit. But this is really what would stuck out to me is like when you're coming into a game and you're game planning either for a great offensive player or a great defensive player. Anybody knows that that's tasked with like facing one or the other. Like if you're a great score and you got to face a great defender or vice versa, you come into that game and you're like, oh shit, this one's different. All right, I got this one. This one, this assignment is different. Like you go through 70 NBA games a year where you're like, yo, this shit's fine. We're going to roll out there. Like this is normal shit. This is what I do. And then there are 12 of them where you get a dude. We're like, all right, motherfucker, I got to study that. I got to study that sheet. Like I got to figure out what I'm doing with this cat tonight. I got to be locked in and I got to execute this because if I don't, I can get lit up. And if I do, like I've told you lights out Howard, like I could still get lit up. No pun intended. But the point is I think what he does to you as a game plan is he just strikes fear. Like he strikes real fear. And when you watch him in a game, I've talked about the looming of Wembee. And like you can see dudes playing. And they're not doing what they normally do as it relates to getting in the paint, finishing around the rim, shooting middies. And that fuckers not even in the picture. He's not even in the paint. But they're looking for him to try to figure out where he is. And that's a special level of defending. So as much as I want to get into a guard or a wing, he makes some incredible physical plays. But I think why I settled on him was for all the fear that he strikes in people's heart before they even get out there. You can tell they've looked at a game plan. And the game plan is when you get in that paint, don't finish. Spray it out. And I think that's that's a special level of like defensive prowess. And it was just crazy throughout the playoffs to see that. Like I think Oklahoma City was like, and then after after Oklahoma City kind of like like Shay started going at him and going at him towards the end of that series. But then you seen Brunson and you seen everybody just show no fear of Wimbee. And it was like they were knocking the bully out. It was very fascinating to see that dynamic. And I wonder how that also carries over the fear factor carries over the next season. Now that he's lost. And as we've gotten more used to that, right? So we'll see. All right. It is time for why we're all here. The biggest award that we can give on heroines real one of the year. Howard, who's your real one of the year? So you know, you guys know when we do real one of the week, I always like to go with somebody who's always like in the true spirit of the war, keeping it real, right? And even if it goes wrong, even if it goes wrong. And it does occasionally. These things happen. This is a great segue because my real one of the year is Victor Wembenyama. He showed us everything in the course of a season and post season, right? His dominance, his resilience, his intelligence, his curiosity. And then eventually his edge and his ability to actually maybe be a little bit of a villain. Maybe, you know, a little chippy. Like it's just so interesting because we start with the offseason story of like, oh, he studied with the Shaolin monks and like, you just, you know, what is that convey, right? That like, oh, he's, you know, mentally at peace. And he's a very, obviously he is very thoughtful and very intellectual. But it does, it conveys other things like just like this, this kind of tranquility. He waited on Minnesota and ice. We got all these other thoughtful quotes from him along the way. So like keeping it real both on the court and verbally. There's the things he said, the things he shared. And then this season ends with all the chiffiness and the elbows to a neck and a head smushing and all the, you know, kind of aspects of him we hadn't seen, right? But that's keeping it real too. It is the full range. And I don't mind that. Like I know that there are some moments there that were, they don't put him into flattering light and that some people really start to turn on him a little bit. But I just think that's all about all part of growing up as a young superstar in the NBA. And it showed me that he's ready for it. And then he's going to be a great superstar because you have to have a little bit of all of that. You got to be a dick sometimes. You got to be chippy sometimes. I'm not saying anything justifies like hurting somebody. But like getting a little over the line because you're so competitive or intense in the moment. And it causes you to do something that's a little bit out of character. And you get tossed from like, I just think that's all part of growth. And I also think it's part of being a great competitor. And you never, the talent is never enough in this league as Roger will attest that you, the thing that we can see that separates the stars from the superstars or the, the rotation guys from the starters is a care factor in an intensity and a competitive drive. And that it matters. I think what we saw more than anything from Wembee over the course of the playoffs is this shit fucking matters. Dude wants to win. He wants to win at the highest level. And he just got one of the youngest teams in history to the fucking NBA finals at a very young age for himself as well. And they were in every single game. Like there's an alternate universe where they win that series, right? Like the last two minutes of every game decided it. They ran out of steam. He ran out of steam. They didn't have the composure to do it. But man, you can't lose a finals and come off, come off any more impressive than that group did. So Wembee's my real one of the year. Damn it. Howard you did it again. You did it again. Phenomenal podcasting. And also the way you presented it is like, damn, I feel like a smuck for like the stuff that I'm about to say. Jesus. That was great. I am sitting here at Fordham. So I'm feeling just I'm just immersed in just intellectual thought here. So who is your ruin of the year, Roger Bell? Yeah, I like to take the easy route and say, you know, Jalen Brunson for all the for all the reasons that we've already covered with the mix. But I'm going to zag to Howard's zig there. And I'm going to go with Jalen Brown for a lot of the reasons that Howard just articulated for Wembee. He gets up there. He tells you exactly how he feels, which we think is real. Whether people think it's an actual good look or not. It is in fact real and true to who he is as a player. He's never wavered off of the off of his stances. And what he stands for, both in the community and on the court. You had his sidekick go down within Achilles injury. All you did was strip the team around him to save bread. And he lifted that team pretty, I don't want to say individually because that's unfair to everybody who did that. But as the star as the number one, he lifted that team to heights. I don't I don't think anybody. here at least gave them credit for or gave them a chance to be able to do this year, at least in the regular season. And he did all of that. And, you know, for being real and for keeping it real, you got you got traded to Philly. And I would just say this to Jalen Brown, pride better for you dog. You know, like they were feeling that way about you behind closed doors, pride better for you player. Like so real one, Jalen Brown. Another one, another masterclass who I love working with these motherfuckers. I'm gonna go with just somebody close to home, man. It's the who's kind of like become like extended family of the pot. I'm gonna go with Ben Stiller, two-time winner, right? Like, you know, I don't think he realized how much that fucking moment at the end of the Nick's championship really meant for us in this pot, right? Like, there's a lot of shit going on, you know, want to include you, but you know, you've been motherfucking stiller, right? And then you come and share that moment with us as minted that cannot be recreated. And you just hung with your homies, man. And we really appreciate that. And so it's been cool, man. So Ben Stiller, that was really dope of you. That was a dope moment for all of us that we're probably all gonna remember where we were. Think about where we were when the Nick's won the title, bro, like me and Howard and, you know, and in spirit, Roger, we were all in that fucking sweaty ass room that Howard was in and Ben were in. We were all there together as people. One day we might hang out together in general, but like that was a dope moment. That was really cool. So Ben Stiller, two-time real one of the year. And also, real one of the year, man. Victoria, I say this every time Victoria, fucking Cliff, Ben Cruz, Connor Nevans, everybody that holds it down for us and helps us out and get this pie to be what it is. All the people behind us. He's a Keith from social. Jomi fucking Jomi. Yo, I was that I went to Jomi's, I seen the flicks. I seen the flicks. I ain't get a motherfucking invite. Jomi, that's what I'm doing. Okay, to be fair. Well, that's what I'm fucking on. I listen, bro, it's humor me to be fair. I'm that motherfucker. Humor me send me to invite me. Would you have gone to be fair? Because you have made it to Carson? No, exactly, right? Roger saw myself. He saw Jomi. He saw the vibes. He saw Rachel Lindsey. He saw Vanley. It was kind of, it was kind of fake. Eluminati Hollywood there too at a random park in Carson. But shout out to Jomi. Shout out to everybody, man. Shout out to the ringer. Love it. It's been a blast. Can't wait to see you guys very, very soon. And that has been this the last episode of the 2627 season of real ones. We will see you guys very soon. We got some real cool projects that we're working on. We are going to be doing like the pot in this type of way until like the season. But we got some like cool stuff coming just to hold you guys over for the summer. We got some like we're going to go come in and out and peek and say hello to you guys over the summer. And we will come back in full in the fall. So all the shits, but you might have to fix 2627. I was just going to let it go. Yeah, you were rolling. So like I didn't want to like hop in. Yeah, you got to weigh it up. Yo, man, just for the 2526 season, man, fuck, I'm sorry. My bad. Brody credits through right here. Brody credits. Brody credits. We'll see you guys in the 2627 season. Go with the fuck time it is. Bye.