The Rise of European Hoops: Is Team USA in Trouble? | Nick Dais Part 2 DSH #870

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Rise of European Hoops: Is Team USA in Trouble? | Nick Dais Part 2 DSH #870"

Introduction In this engaging episode of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly continues his in-depth conversation with sports analyst Nick Dais. Released on November 8, 2024, Part 2 delves deeper into the evolving landscape of Team USA in both soccer and basketball, the rise of European talent, the intricacies of sports betting, and the shifting dynamics within sports media. Nick shares personal anecdotes, offers critical insights, and provides thoughtful conclusions about the future of American sports on the global stage.

Team USA in Soccer Nick Dais begins the discussion by expressing skepticism about Team USA's dominance in soccer. He highlights the disparity between the American players and their European counterparts.

“Playing college kids that are going to be accountants and, like, photographers… Lukas playing against professional basketball players that are 28, 30, and he's winning MVPs at 17, 18 years old. So the game… definitely caught up in the rest of the world, but overall with Team USA, it's not impressive to me when they win gold.” ([00:00])

Dais criticizes the current coaching decisions and suggests a shift towards European leadership to enhance the team's competitiveness.

“I don't want my American coach to be American. I want him to be European. I think, like, immediately, if you're watching soccer on TV, that's just me.” ([00:54])

He further explores the impact of dual citizenship players and the potential benefits of hiring a renowned European manager to elevate Team USA's performance on the world stage.

Team USA in Basketball Shifting focus to basketball, Nick shares his perspective on the USA Basketball team, emphasizing that their victories often seem expected and lack the excitement he desires.

“I think if you're an American basketball player, I don't want to hear about your gold medals… it's expected. They're minus 900 to win the gold.” ([02:38])

Dais discusses the rising competition from teams like Canada, noting their strong roster filled with NBA talents such as SGA and Jamal Murray.

“Canada is fantastic. Like, they got a lot of NBA guys. I mean, their backorder is SGA and Murray.” ([03:00])

He expresses confidence in USA Basketball's potential to secure future gold medals but warns that failing to do so could jeopardize their standing.

“If they don't win gold, I think you might be in trouble moving forward because Canada is fantastic.” ([03:00])

Sports Betting Insights A significant portion of the conversation delves into Nick Dais's experiences with sports betting. He recounts his success with high-value parlays and offers strategies for betting on soccer and other sports.

“I did hit some crazy, crazy parlays… at Copa America, I hit a Colombia 30 in Brazil 4.” ([06:54])

Dais explains the nuances of handicapping soccer matches, emphasizing the importance of understanding team dynamics and game flow to make informed bets.

“In soccer, it's a lot easier to sort of handicap, right? Because it's harder to score.” ([07:08])

He also touches on the challenges and opportunities within sports betting, including hedging bets and capitalizing on futures and prop bets.

“These aren't things that you're hitting all the time… You could cash out. You could hedge against it.” ([10:34])

Sports Media Landscape Nick and Sean explore the transformation of the sports media landscape, particularly the decline of traditional hot take shows like Skip Bayless's and the rise of independent podcasts.

“I think that content has just kind of plateaued. People don’t want… They want debate. I think debate is still in.” ([37:24])

Dais highlights the success of modern sports media personalities who leverage platforms like YouTube and podcasts to build their brands independently from major networks.

“Cameron and Mace, man, like those guys, they've changed it… they talk the way people in barbershops talk.” ([35:15])

He contrasts this with traditional network shows that are constrained by time and panel sizes, making in-depth discussions challenging.

“There’s a 10-minute window between commercials. You have a six-person panel… you have to get all your shit in.” ([38:13])

Personal Anecdotes and Advice Throughout the episode, Nick shares personal stories that illustrate his journey in sports media, his commitment to his craft, and his values regarding friendships and financial success.

“The moment I started making money was the happiest I ever was… helping my parents… that is happiness, bro.” ([25:09])

He offers advice on maintaining genuine relationships and the importance of listening to seasoned individuals for personal and professional growth.

“I always listen. People have years of experience… they're giving me free knowledge and free game.” ([55:54])

Nick also touches on the challenges of dating in a bustling city like Las Vegas, sharing candid thoughts about balancing personal life with career ambitions.

“Dating in Vegas is fine… I do want to see this rookie class. Oh, man… to watch like the Aces play the Liberty… Nah, not really.” ([16:01])

Conclusion As the episode wraps up, Nick reflects on the future of sports media and his personal aspirations. He shares an inspiring story about meeting Cameron Race, illustrating the power of networking and being in the right place at the right time.

“It was the epitome of right place, right time. Are you a believer in that?” ([50:43])

Nick emphasizes the importance of perspective, continuous learning, and staying true to one's path in the ever-evolving world of sports and media.

“Be open to that, man, because they got game, they got years.” ([55:56])

Sean Kelly and Nick Dais conclude the episode with mutual respect and anticipation for future collaborations, leaving listeners with valuable insights into the intersection of sports, media, and personal growth.

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Notable Quotes:

• Nick Dais on Team USA Soccer:
  “[...] Team USA, it's not impressive to me when they win gold.” ([00:00])

• Nick Dais on Sports Betting Success:
  “I hit some crazy, crazy parlays… I hit a Colombia 30 in Brazil 4.” ([06:54])

• Nick Dais on Sports Media Evolution:
  “Cameron and Mace, man, they've changed it… they talk the way people in barbershops talk.” ([35:15])

• Nick Dais on Financial Happiness:
  “That is happiness, bro. That you can't like, that $3, 4, 10, $20,000 you give to someone that you really care about.” ([25:09])

• Nick Dais on Perspective and Learning:
  “Be open to that, man, because they got game, they got years.” ([55:56])

This episode of Digital Social Hour offers a comprehensive exploration of the current state and future prospects of Team USA in soccer and basketball, the strategies behind successful sports betting, and the transformative shifts in sports media. Nick Dais provides a blend of critical analysis, personal experience, and motivational advice, making it a must-listen for sports enthusiasts and aspiring media professionals alike.

Transcript

[A]

Playing college kids that are going to be accountants and, like, photographers. No disrespect to either professions, but Lukas playing against professional basketball players that are 28, 30, and he's winning MVPs at 17, 18 years old. So the game, to your point, bro, is definitely caught up in the rest of the world, but overall with Team usa, it's not impressive to me when they win gold.

[B]

All right, guys. Had to get him back on the show. We got Nick here again.

[A]

Let's go.

[B]

Hey. Went viral that first time.

[A]

Yeah. Was getting fried. I was getting cooked. So I guess what's the saying? All publicity is good publicity.

[B]

Yeah. Are you here to double down on that take? Are you willing to acknowledge it might have been a stretch?

[A]

I mean, it does look pretty bad now post Copa America. I'ma stay true to it, man. I'm gonna stay true to it. I think. I think the manager is out. Burhalter's out.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which, you know, it's always weird, right? Could you imagine firing someone, then bringing them back? Because that's exactly what happened with Team usa, and I think now they're going to go after a big name European guy. I don't know if this is, like, racist or nationalist, but I don't want my American coach to be American. I want him to be European. I think, like, immediately, if you're watching soccer on tv, that's just me. And I'm a lifelong soccer fan, born and raised in the. With the stars and stripes. But if I hear a British accent, yeah. If I hear a French accent, Brazilian accent, I'm in. Right. When it's an American dude, I'm, like, a little hesitant. You know, Jurgen Klinsman, during his era, he's the one that sort of started the dual citizenship guys to be like, wait, Sean Kelly's German, but his mom is American. Let's get him. Sean's a one of the best citizens center forwards in Germany right now. Let's. Let's get Nick, who's Greek and American. He has the citizenship. Let's get him. So he sort of, sort of started the springboard of dual citizenship guys. Right. And that helped a lot with the program. But, you know, losing in Copa America the way that they did, it was supposed to be like a trial run before the World cup. Since the Copa was here and the World cup is going to be here, they need a big name manager. And they have pieces, man. They have a lot of promising pieces. And it's not just like, American people saying that they're good pieces. It's like, you know, Polisich and AC Milan had a career year. McKinney played really well at Juventus. Bull again in France. Like they have guys, you know, so I'm gonna stay with it, bro. Let's go viral again. Let's get fried again. I embrace all the smoke.

[B]

All right, so you got the US Team winning the World Cup.

[A]

Yes, sir.

[B]

Let's go.

[A]

Staying true.

[B]

What about the US Basketball team?

[A]

Look, man, I think, you know, I get a lot of heat for this on my show. Don't care about it.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah. I think if you're an American basketball player, I don't want to hear about your gold medals.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I think it's expected. They're minus 900 to win the gold.

[B]

So just almost lost to South Sudan.

[A]

I know it was very alarming as a 44, 43 point favorite.

[B]

Crazy.

[A]

But I also think that when the time comes, it's one of those teams are going to be like, all right, man, now it's the real now. It's not a scrimmage, it's not an exhibition. Like, let's get popping. You just look at the roster. It's the most complete roster. I will say, if they don't win gold, I think you might be in trouble moving forward because Canada is fantastic. Like, they got a lot of NBA guys. I mean, their backorder is SGA and Murray.

[B]

Yeah, they're. They're starting five. Solid.

[A]

Very, very solid. And these are guys that, you know, they've gone up against the dudes on America, too. They're not intimidated by them. A lot of times that's what happens with these other countries. They're like, Holy, LeBron is right. We're like, Jamal Murray. Yeah. I've beaten him 12 out of the last 13 times he played. So I think USA and US basketball. I always get heat for this. I'm like, you know, the quicker you mention a player's gold medals on his accolades, the quicker I'm going to check out of the conversation. Like, I love Carmelo Anthony. He's the only big name superstar to ever actually come to the Knicks. Yeah, everyone loves New York, but he's the first one to actually come there. But when I argue with my friends about Melo, they're like, yo, he got three gold medals. I'm like, all right, we're done with the com. I don't want to hear it because it's like, expected, you know, I mean, like, you're. You're minus 900. You're the Mecca. You're the Real standard of basketball. The biggest league in the world is in your country. Everyone wants to come here. So it's not like impressive when they win the gold. At least for me. I rather they. They should win by 30 each game. I don't care how good these other countries have gotten. But like, all right, when you play at Canada, maybe you win by 20. That's just how I feel.

[B]

I feel that it does seem like other countries are catching up, though.

[A]

Oh, for sure, man. Definitely. And then you just look at. If you look at the all NBA team from this past season, 2024, it's only Tatum that's American.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

You have.

[B]

Out of all 15.

[A]

No, no, no. On the, on the first team. Oh, first five, yeah. And then if you look at the NBA, NBA mvp, last couple have not been American dudes. It's been Jokic, it's been Giannis, it's been been Embiid. I know Embiid now plays for Team usa, but originally he didn't. So the European game is closing in, man, and these guys are coming in more developed, they're coming in more successful with accolades overseas. Like, one of my best takes ever, dude, was. I was all in on Luca coming into the draft because that was the year that him and Ayton were going like, who's going to be one, who's going to be two? And you know, my dad is Greek and we watch European basketball. Like a Tuesday afternoon in New York, it'd be on. And a lot of the Greek club teams, they're really good. And we'd see Luca at 17 just violating dudes. I'm like, yo, this guy's not in the NBA. My dad knew more about him. He was like, hey man, he's one of the big prospects. I was like, this kid's going to go one because Ayton's playing college kids that are going to be accountants and like photographers. No disrespect to either professions, but Lucas playing against professional basketball players that are 28, 30, and he's winning MVPs at 17, 18 years old. So the game, to your point, bro, is definitely caught up in the rest of the world. But overall with. With Team usa, it's not impressive to me when they win gold, I feel.

[B]

That, yeah, you've been out this for nine years now.

[A]

Yeah, nine years.

[B]

Sports almost every single day, right?

[A]

Yeah, 2015, bro. It's my whole life was that I was always a sports dude in my friend group and, and. And especially when the betting came into it, like, even at a Young age. When I was in high school, my teachers would be like, who do you like in the Monday Night Football game? Think they cover? Like, that was always, like, my thing. I feel like everyone has nerd qualities about them. You might be into comic books, might be into wrestling. I was always into, like, betting and numbers. Like, that was always, you know, statistics. That was the only class I paid attention to.

[B]

I feel that. And you found your strength.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Double down on it.

[A]

Just double down.

[B]

Are you up this year on betting?

[A]

Am I up? Yeah. Well, I. I did hit some crazy, crazy parlays. Like, most recently at Copa America, I hit a Colombia 30 in Brazil 4. One of the scores. Yeah.

[B]

Holy crap.

[A]

So I get that reaction a lot. And I'm not going to say it's not difficult. And I don't want to come off as some, like, correct score guru. I will say, in soccer, it's a lot easier to sort of handicap, right? Because it's harder to score. So you saying, well, this team is so much more superior than the other three zero is in play. You look at the. At the goal line, it's them. To win by two goals is minus 160. Huh? So maybe I should bet 2 030. Right? You look at the game with Brazil and Paraguay. Brazil was coming off a lackluster performance against Costa rica. They tied 00. Everyone's like, Holy. What happened to the Brazil I knew and loved?

[B]

Right?

[A]

And then they play Paraguay. Paraguay, an inferior opponent. A familiar opponent, too, because they play each other in Copa America World cup qualifying. And. Yeah, man, it's just, you know, you expect when A team is up 2 030, the other team's gonna try to press and maybe pull a goal back. And that's what happened. And then they leave themselves open to counter attacks, and then that's what happened to make it 4:1. I actually watched that game in person. It was here in Vegas, and I was hammered, bro. And I'm yelling. I'm like, so many Casamigos on the rocks in.

[B]

That shit was packed.

[A]

Yeah. And the Brazilian players are literally warming up where you are, like, in front of me because we had Winfield Club tickets shout out to the win. And they're warming up, and it's like the 75th minute, they're about to make substitutions. I'm just yelling at the top of my lungs at the players, like, yo, Rafinha, don't score. Endrick, don't score.

[B]

They probably don't even speak English.

[A]

They don't. Yeah. They don't speak English. They speak Portuguese. And then all the people in the section with me are like, yo, what? Why do you want them not to score? And then some people are like, yo, what'd you bet? I'm like, yo, I bet four, one. They're like, for real. I'm showing them my tickets, like, holy damn. And then, bro, like the 88th minute, everyone's yelling, don't score. So I had the whole crowd behind me. But hilarious to your initial point with the betting, I've hit some monster futures. I had the Mavericks and the Celtics to be in the finals at the start of the playoffs. I had the. I had England in the Euro. I had England winning the Euro Cup, I had Colombia winning the Euro cup at the Copa America. So I just like whenever I make a prediction, right? And. And some people don't understand this. So your sports betting crowd would understand this. Who I think is going to win and who I bet are completely different conversations. Ever so often it is the same. So, like, who I thought was going to win was Columbia and who I bet was was Columbia start to finish. I thought they were the best team in Copa America. They lose an extra time to Argentina.

[B]

Oh, so you had that before the playoffs even started.

[A]

Yeah, I'm telling you, the. All these bets are before.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So like Celtics and Mavericks. I made the bet before the playoffs started, but I gave out the Mavericks like around March to win the finals at 40 to 1, dude. So then what you could do when you make that bet is you could cash out. You could hedge against it, right? And that's what I did. I had a 40 to 1 on the Mavericks. And what I did was the Celtics were like -2,220, -225. And I'm like, damn, do I run the risk of betting them after game one if the Mavericks do win? Because then I could get maybe like 1 minus 130, minus 140. I'm like, man, Boston is so much better. It's the same way I felt about Spain. I'm like, I wish I was holding a Spain ticket against England because just like start to finish, the Celtics were the best team.

[B]

They crushed them.

[A]

Spain was the best team. So there's opportunities that you can make to hedge on the way up when. When it comes. So to answer your initial question, I know I was long winded. I'm up. But I got really lucky on some, like, parlays. Like the. The parlay was 255 to 1.

[B]

Holy crap.

[A]

So like, these. These aren't things that you're hitting all the time. Like the correct score alone for Colombia was 10 to 1. Paraguay, Brazil, 41 was 22 to 1. So those alone are basically parlays, which is also cool with like correct scores or finals matchups and Futures UFC props. Round four submission. You can see those being parlays because the payouts are so, so nice, right? Like if you hit me up, you're like, yo, Nick, I need a parlay. You're expecting like 20 to 1 odds, right? You don't want me to be like, yo, here's a four leg parlay, pays minus 115. You'll be like, no, bro, I want some good shit. Or I could be like, hey man, why don't you bet this guy by submission, round four. Because his opponent is fighting a five round fight for the first time. This guy's a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt. Like, there's ways you could get edges. So I've hit a lot of monster bets like that, but I'd say that this football season was probably my worst from a against a spread record. However, what I did this year for the first time, and I think it's being accustomed to the Vegas culture and talking to pro sports bettors out here, I bet more on the games I felt comfortable with. So like my record was about like 51 coming off of 60% the year before when you first had me on the show to now, it's like, you know, I could go one in four on the week, but if that one game, I was like, yo, this is like, Sean, take, take the subscriber money from YouTube. Bet this. There's ways that you could still be up.

[B]

Okay, that makes sense. Yeah. So it offsets the losses because you're betting more on the wins. That makes sense. Yeah. Some betters make money winning 40, 45. Right. Because they just go all in on certain games.

[A]

Nah, totally. Yeah. And, and to that point, like, you know, if, if my all star will play or whatever it is like my platinum play, you know, the people that sell their picks. Yeah, that's like my most confident in that hits. And I'm telling you, like, yo, you should throw, you're a hundred dollar better, right? In this hypothetical. Sean, you should put a thousand on this, bro. It's a lock. Like it's, it's my favorite play of the month of the year. And you know, every now and then, man, I think all sports betters, I think all sports fans, they, they get that conviction about one particular play. And dude, I'm probably like 8 and 3 in those, like, man, I just feel it, bro. Like, Max Holloway when he fought Justin Gaethje. Yeah, it's fighting up at 155. I'm like, yo, you guys are bugging. I was the only person I felt like in media picking Max with, like, confidence. I'm like, dude, he has six months to train for this fight. He's not taking it on short notice. Max is longer, rangier, could keep him at distance.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, Gaichi is a wild striker. Max is just gonna pick him apart. And like, three minutes into the fight, I'm like, oh, my God, this is gonna be an all time, dude.

[B]

I saw a lot of people make money on the Ryan Garcia one betting on that one.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Did you bet on him on that?

[A]

I didn't know. I. I did mention on, like, my social media, I'm like, you know, Ryan was like a five to one underdog. Like, I think that's kind of crazy, you know?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Haney isn't exactly the. The most. He's not a tank, right? Like, tank puts people away, puts people to sleep. Haney is more technical. And, you know, it's. It's a lot of the records too. Like, last time you saw Ryan, he lost. Boxing has gone to a point now, and boxing isn't like my favorite. I do respect the art and I, I do love fighting, but boxing is, oh, you got a loss, you suck. You got three losses. I'll get this guy out. Why is he on pay per view? Where in the UFC, the biggest stars have 5, 6, 12 losses on their resume. Yeah, and hey, man, sometimes you could leave a fight off a loss and you're better off for it, you know, like, you gotta add context to it. Did you take this on short notice? Are you fighting at a different weight class? Is this your toughest opponent? Were you a plus 400 underdog? And you impress people and you look good, you know, like, I know, I know it didn't age well, but Alex Volkanovski, he was the champion at featherweight 145 in the UFC, he fights Islam. And he was a big underdog the first fight, and he. People thought he won that fight, and he leaves that fight better than he came into it. Dustin Poirier, in his last fight against Islam, it's like, yo, he looked really good. It's. It's a momentum builder and it happens. And I say the most recent one, you probably remember this. Dan Ige took the fight like three hours before, didn't know it wasn't scheduled. It's like, that's how you become a legend. And yeah, you lost. You look at his schedule, like, his strength of schedule in his resume and his record. Oh, he got a loss. But it's like, yeah, bro, he took that on four and a half hours notice. Yeah, he saved the. Not the event, but, like, he saved the fight on there. And yeah, he lost, but he looked good in round three. Like, what the. We thought he was going to gas out.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

So you could look better in losses, for sure.

[B]

Have you been to a WNBA game yet?

[A]

I've never been to a WNBA game.

[B]

Would you ever go?

[A]

Yeah, I would go. I'm a sports fan, so I'll go to it. I'll be honest. I'm not, like, going on my way to.

[B]

But.

[A]

But if you were. But, like, dude, I don't go out my way for a lot of things. Like, you know, there's been UFC events, and I love ufc. It's like, hey, man, do you want to go? I'm like, I don't know. It's kind of an underwhelming card. I'd rather stay home. Believe it or not, bro, I love football. Hate going to football games.

[B]

Facts.

[A]

I think the product on TV is so much better. And then, you know, you have your red zones, you have your YouTube packages, and you're like, yo, man, imagine watching that here with all the screens that you got in here. It's like, whoa, you do viewing parties and whatnot. So the. The product at home is so much better. And I. I try not. It needs to be an occasion, right? Like, Brazil, Paraguay going to that. I went to Uruguay, Brazil when it was here in Vegas. I. My parents come visit. We got Winfield Club tickets. Like, it needs to be a little bougie, and it needs to be a little bit of an experience. But, you know, the A's are coming here to Vegas. Like, the amount of free tickets I would get when I was back home in New York because my dad got that coffee truck on 49th and Park Ave. And like, all our customers were like, hey, man, you want to go to the Met game today? It's like, I don't go, bro.

[B]

150 games a year.

[A]

Yeah. And I got to drive an hour and a half and then sit in traffic. And it's 98 degrees of humidity. You know, from the east coast, how that humidity sucks. So with the wnba, I do want to see. I do want to see this rookie class. Oh, man. Like, I think it'd be dope if you were to be like, yo, you want to go to Indiana to watch them in the sky play and like Angel, Reese and Caitlin, like, yo, that might be dope, but to watch like the Aces play the Liberty, even though they're probably the two best teams in the league. Nah, not really.

[B]

Yeah, I'm not too hyped about it. Did you see the USA Women's basketball team just lost?

[A]

Yeah. And. And they lost a lot to pretty much everyone that they left off the roster.

[B]

Yeah. Crazy, right?

[A]

And yo, it happens.

[B]

Too much politics.

[A]

Yeah, it's. It's politics for sure. Like at any, any level of national team, there's always politics, right?

[B]

Like Jaylen Brown.

[A]

Yeah, Jaylen Brown, prime example. That's crazy. He won east and NBA Finals MVP and it was the first $300 million, man. And he, he's not good enough to be on this roster. I think there is definitely politics in that. You know, you. You look at in soccer, this coach favors these players because they came up with him. Well, these players are now 36. Why don't we play this 22 year old. Yeah, but this is my guy. Sean is my guy. I've been coaching Sean since he was 12, and now he's 36. Yeah.

[B]

Having a woman's soccer team, right?

[A]

Oh, yeah, dude. That was the downfall for the woman's soccer team. Like they. Rodman, Dennis Rodman's daughter. Yeah, she's nasty. Sophia Smith, nasty. They weren't getting as much playing time because they were playing the Rapinos of the world. And it's like, dude, Rapinoe was my favorite player. Like 2011, 2015. Like, she's nice, she's nasty, but you're just not that person anymore. Like, age catches up to you. Your performance is not that. And even Alex Morgan, to an extent, it's like, yo, these young girls will make the team better. Like, why are we still. But to your point and how you started this, this initial question, it's. There's politics involved, man, and in anything. And when with sports. And then it's sad because when you're in the middle of that, like, if you're a player that, you know, you don't have an allegiance to the, the coach and the older players, and you don't have allegiance to the young players. They're like, fuck, man, what about me?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Why do I got to suffer this? Why. Why can't we play Sean? Sean is our best player. Why are we playing Nick? Nick sucks, you know, so, like, you fall into that and it's. It's terrible. You're At a crossroads.

[B]

As a fan, it's tough because you have a personal relationship. You like that player, right? Like you're a big, mellow fan, but a lot of people wanted him out.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, I tell you about Eli Manning, bro. Like, Eli Manning, I think is the, the best example after, after 2017, he was just not that guy. And it set the franchise back. And that happens a lot too sometimes where, you know, you have a quarterback and he's aging and he's just not as good. But he's giving you Super Bowls, he's giving you all these great moments and memories and you want to hold on to that. But then what happens is you're the Giants now, where you've been a mess for about eight years. And I'm being polite. Yeah, I think it's longer than that. But you are holding on to Eli Manning. You were holding on to these pieces that just weren't what they once were. And then you sabotage the franchise, you get the fan base angry, and then it spirals crazy.

[B]

I remember asking you about Saquon on the last time we filmed.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And he. He's gone now, right?

[A]

He's gone now. And. And I've never been more confident in a player winning an award. I've been talking about it from the day he signed with the Eagles. Saquon Barkley is going to be the offensive player of the year in 2024. I think he has the Christian McAffrey year that McAffrey had last year. I think if you look at play style, situation, offense, offensive line, the, the you attitude now, like bet. Yeah, I didn't want to pay me. I'm gonna go to the rival, to the one team that every fan of the Giants hates, and I'm gonna go crazy. You know, he played at Penn State, so there's like a Philly, Penn State, I guess, or Pennsylvania.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. It's just the best situation he's been in, man. And. And I think what Philly saw last year was running Jalen hurts with this tush push and the Philly shove, the brotherly shove. It's like this guy was getting beat up. And then come post Thanksgiving, December into the playoffs, like, dude was hurt, he wasn't playing as well.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So I think you have this 27 year old running back with a you attitude. You only paid him a two year deal. Really. You know, there's a player option and team option mutual agreement for year three. Oh, you're gonna run them into the ground. That's what I think they do.

[B]

Absolutely. Giants record predictions for 20, 25.

[A]

I mean, bro, like, so underwhelming, man.

[B]

Do they still have Daniel Jones?

[A]

Yeah, Daniel Jones is coming back. He's in a approval deal once again. I like the direction they're going in, but it's still, you know, they. They cleared out a lot of the older players, guys that justified the money. But, like, am I gonna pay a safety $15 million when my team has all these other holes? McKinney, that is, who ended up going to Green Bay. I don't know, 5 and 12, 6 and 11.

[B]

So you're realistic.

[A]

Yeah, I. I pride myself on being pretty subjective with my teams. I don't go into every year being like, we're winning the super bowl, we're winning the Finals. Yeah, I think. I think all things go well, maybe they go into week 18 with a chance at a wild card, but it'll be one of those situations where you see the graphic and it's like, giants, to make the playoffs, this team needs to tie. This team needs to lose. This team needs to win by three touchdowns. Like, all that crazy shit. But I just don't think the team is really good. I think the offensive line is still an issue. Hasn't been an issue for a decade. I find that really hard to believe. But, yeah, I'm not. I'm not that. I'm not that excited about this year, though. I am excited about them moving forward.

[B]

What about the Knicks? Because there's a lot of talk about Brunson taking that pay cut.

[A]

I mean, dude, as a Knicks fan, like, build that dude a statue, retire the Jersey right now.

[B]

$113 million pay cut.

[A]

Yeah. As a non Knicks fan and as, like, someone that now understands money at 33 years old and understands just how much money, that is a idiot. That's a lot of money to leave. Right? But, hey, man, look, I think I'm a firm believer, and it was something I wanted to ask you, and I kind of wanted to surprise you with this. Like, you have a lot of people that come on your show that make me laugh, bro. Like, you have people that come on here, and I'm not going to name any names, but, like, they'll be like, oh, dude, having $100 million isn't a lot. And I'm just like, the delusion, bro. Like, sometimes, like, you know, I don't like counting people's pockets or anything. But I could tell you one thing, bro, and this is the God's honest truth. The moment I started making money was the happiest I ever was like, I'm a believer of money buys you happiness. Really, what you do with it is going to depend on it, right? Like, if you're an. You're just an. With money. If. If you get a phone call from a family member or your lady or one of your best friends are like, yo, I'm in a spot. My car broke down. I gotta do this. We got a baby on the way. Whatever it might be. Be like, yo, how much would you need? I need $4,000 to do, you know. All right, here. Really? Yeah, here. Like, you know, I did that for my parents, man. Back. Back around the holidays, my mom called me. My mom called me and she was just like, you know, we got. Sorry, mom, but you know, we got some bills coming up. Like, you know, I want to. Now that I moved here from New York, right. We've made 4th of July and Christmas, like, the annual trip. My parents come to visit. My dad is self employed, so he can't, like, take time off. My mom's a teacher.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So it was, like, around Thanksgiving, and I was back home, and my mom is like, you know, we got a little caught up with some bills and know, life just happens, man. Things break down, whatever it might be. I was like, yo, how much you need? And she told me the amount. I was like, all right, give me till Friday. She's like, really? I was like, yeah, Friday came, Bam sent that to her. I was like, yeah, you know, I don't even want it back. And she started crying. And like, to me, that's happiness, bro. That is like that. That you can't. Like that 3, 4, 10, $20,000 you give to someone that you really care about and you know, like, really cares about you. Like, his mom, right? His mom, his dad, it's like, they got your back, right? And to me, like, that. That is something where, man, even on, like, a smaller scale, bro, like, I went back home and I just paid a 800 dinner with all my buddies that, like, I don't see. And, like, I just went and I did that slick where I went to use the bathroom. And then the guys were like, yo, where's the bullet? I was like, oh, I took care of it. Like, bro, we had, like, three bottles of wine and we had, like, all this sushi coming out. Yeah, bro. Like, y'all my guys, man. You guys are my childhood friends, and you guys, like, hold me down. You hold me accountable. Like, that's happiness to me, bro. Like, having the freedom to be able to help the people that you can, like there, there. There's certain things that you just can't put money on. And you know, to circle back to this, like, that's a lot of money that he gave up. But to defend him a little, like, maybe he wants to win in New York, bro. Like, like, you become a legend, dude.

[B]

Like, oh, if they win now, oh my God, that's gonna be the greatest move of all time.

[A]

Probably for real. And, you know, may. Maybe some people, like, they're not about money. And maybe he was a guy and I don't know. I don't know Jalen Brunson, but maybe he was a guy that was like, look, man, I'm kind of undersized. Maybe if I could get a second contract, that'd be dope. Like, I don't really have crazy spending habits. Like, you see how he dresses? He kind of dresses like bummy. Yeah, I'm sure it's probably high end bummy stuff. But, like, he shows up in sweatpants and hoodies and, like, you know, ball caps and whatnot. Maybe he wants to just play with his boys that he went to college with and he won with. And they're like, yo, bro, wouldn't it be fire if we won in New York, of all places? The 94 team gets celebrated. They came in second. Yeah, like, imagine if they won. Like, Lynn Sanity was running wild for three weeks and they wanted to retire the number seven or 17. Yeah, like, it's, it's. For some people, man, money isn't the, the. The root of happiness. And for others it is. And me personally, I'm like, yo, once I started making money, I've never been happier because it's like, little bro, like, you take your friend out to lunch, you just pay for the lunch. And I know, I'm talking about like 25, 30, hundred. But like, just little gestures like that. Like, to them it's like, damn, yo, that hundred dollars, now I could put it towards something else.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, so like, to me and with Brunson, maybe for him it's is bigger than money. And he's cashed in like I was talking about on my show. Now he's north of 200 million that he's made in his career.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

It's a lot of money, bro. I know, I know a lot of people that come on your show are like, oh, yeah, if you have $100 million, like, you're a piece of. And I'm just like, sean, what are we doing?

[B]

Yeah, it's interesting to see people's perspectives, man.

[A]

Yeah, and that's what I think everything is, man. We, we were talking before we started recording how like you don't like to generalize anything. Yeah, that's kind of how I live my life too. And I also think perspective, you know, like, maybe you grew up and your, your family was the jobs family and like all you knew was money. Like literally a platinum spoon in your mouth you were born into. So to you, you might be like, yeah, I grew up with this shit. Like, it's, it's whatever. Like, I don't know any different. But if you're someone like me, that dude, I used to make $450 a week working with my dad at the coffee truck, waking up at 2:30 in the morning, flipping eggs, doing all that and then creating my content also on the side. And now like I make that in an edit, you know, I mean like, that's, that's my one day. So for me it's perspective. And like, whenever I get opportunities to do more and more, I'm just like, yeah, Sean, you need an editor for something. One offer. Like, yeah, man, I'm down. Oh, you got too much on your plate. Don't worry about it. My plate is not full yet. I'll be able to handle it, trust me. Do you know what I had to do to make $400? Yeah. Three years ago? So I just think perspective and not generalizing anything. I think that's the best way to look.

[B]

Yeah. Because I get heat for having of girls on sometimes. And dude, some of them are really intelligent.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, I'm not even gonna lie, I believe it. But they get a ton of hate on social.

[A]

Of course it's the stigma, right? It's the, it's the immediately. Oh, I do only fans. Oh, you're a piece of. I have a lot, I have a lot of friends that do it. And like, even when I go out on dates and the girl will be like, oh, yo, I do only fans. I'll just be like, yo, size 10. And they're like, what? I was like, I wear size 10 sneakers. I was like, you could take care of me then, you know, like around or whatnot. I'll be like, yo, dope, dinner's on you. Like, trolling. Obviously I pay for everything, but you know, it's just like, I don't know, man. I, I know, I know girls that have only fans and they're in great relationships, they're married with kids. But hey man, if you can make $20,000 a month, 30, like some of the numbers that you hear, why not? I show a little nipple if I can make 20k a month.

[B]

I feel that, bro. I was dating out here. I heard it's rough.

[A]

Dating is very interesting. I would say dating here in Vegas is.

[B]

Because you're from New York. I love my east coast girls personally.

[A]

Yeah, I kind of like Spanish chicks more than anything.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah. From a young age. Like, I grew up in Queens, so.

[B]

Like, you like those latinas?

[A]

Oh yeah, 100%. But yo, dating out here, it's. It's cool, man. Again, it's like generalizing. Like, I went on dates with girls that work in the nightlife and bottle industry and they've been hell. And I've dated other girls that are in that and they've been awesome. Like, I've been the reason it didn't work out. You? Yeah, just like, yo, I'm just, I'm just busy and I need you to do something. Like, I'm, I'm very busy. I'm going to cancel on you. Not because I'm being a dick and to make you like me more, it's like, yo, I get. I'm a Swiss army knife at the studio. You see me there.

[B]

Like, you're there till midnight some nights.

[A]

I, I do a lot of there. And to. What I was just saying before, like, I'm a hustler, bro. Like, I want. Yeah, you need someone to cover three to six. I'm in. Maybe I made plans with Katie to go get lunch at 4:00. Like, yo, work came up. My bad.

[B]

Work comes first for you.

[A]

Yeah, work comes first. The show comes first. Cam and Mace, they come first. Like there are certain things that are priorities in my life that when I get a phone call about it, it's like, yo, everything kind of stops, man. Like, I'm making good money now. I'm in a very, very good place. I'm happy. Like, yeah, I don't want to those things up that make me feel that way.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So dating in Vegas is. It's fine, man. Like, there's a lot of beautiful women out here for sure. But also like my experience, I've noticed that they treat guys the way guys the stigma is treat girls. They kind of like maybe one Night Standish or maybe like they just want to get their thing in and then that's it.

[B]

That's not my vibe at all.

[A]

Yeah, not mine either.

[B]

Yeah, I need to date that girl. Like, I'm not gonna do a one night stand personally.

[A]

Well, I also think, like, yo, I've, I've gotten older, right? Like I was in my boy ever.

[B]

We all went through it in college.

[A]

And I feel like I, I tell a lot of my friends. Like I, I feel like every guy and I think guys could attest to this. Like, you kind of got to get your hoe out your system until the right person comes along. And you never know when it's going to be. Hopefully it's not when you're 48. Yeah, that's, that's weird. Like, I'm 33 now. I don't want to be 42, single, having never been in a relationship. It's like, yeah, it's going to be hard to go to. You know, if you have a family, you're like, hey man, you want to come to the barbecue? And you have two kids and I'm just over there like, hey, how's your cousin? Is she single? Like, it'd be weird, bro. Like, I don't want to be that guy. Like, that shit is weird. I see some dudes, I see some dudes in like their 50s dating like 21 and 22 year olds. I was like, that shit is nasty, bro. Like, I'm 33. If I, if I meet a girl, she's like 21, that's even weird to me.

[B]

It's tough to converse.

[A]

It's weird, bro. Like, even though it's allowed and it's fine and like, yeah, she's hot. It's like, what can I talk about?

[B]

Right? Yeah, you've just been through. It's just like, you need to be able to relate.

[A]

It got to be some, you gotta, you gotta have something. I look for a girl to have an ambition. It's a big turn on for me when they cancel.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Because like, they're busy. I'm not saying cancel because like, oh, I regret like making plans with them. But I mean like, hey, I got, I got called into work, Something came up and like, I know it's a legit, right? Like, I'm not saying, hey, I can't make dinner. I got called into work and then you're at Hakasan, but that's different. But I'm saying like, to me, like, it, it just shows me that you're doing some. Cuz I'm busy. I'm wildly ambitious. I'm. I got this thing in my mind where like, yo, when I'm 40 years old, on my birthday, I want to be able to call my accountant and be like, yo, can I retire right now if I wanted to? And I just want him to say yes. Like all your funding, your. Your lifestyle, the things you like to do. I just want him to be like, yeah, you could if you wanted to for the rest of your life. And that's what, like, I strive for.

[B]

Absolutely. You'll find her, man.

[A]

We'll see.

[B]

We'll see. Major moves happening in the sports media space. Dude, I want to talk about this stuff. So with Skip Bayless, they're saying, I don't know if he got fired or he's leaving, but this is his last year. Right. And meanwhile, his ex partner Shannon's got the number one podcast in the sports media space. What's your take on that situation?

[A]

I just think that it's very difficult when you break up on a. An initial thing like a Stephen A and Skip to replace it. And then when you do replace it, ego gets into it. I think that's what it all is. It's ego. You know, you and I do a show together, I leave the show, you hire Bob. Bob is now your co host. Bob don't work out. You hire Mike now. Mike. And you do better than what you did with me initially. You know who's gonna get a big ego? Mike.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I want more. Why am. Why Sean making. Wait, Nick was making. How much is Sean? And I'm making this. So I think money comes into it. I also think that there are a couple things in content right now that I think have plateaued. It's red pill stuff. It's the, the only fans girl being a piece of stuff. It's hot take sports takes. I think those have like plateaued. Like Skibelis is the hot take king. He created the LeBron James is not a top 50 player of all time. What the, what is going on? What is he talking about? And then that's the conversation for three days. Other shows on the network are now covering Skip Bayless's take. Right? Like that's influence, that's power. And I think his thing has just kind of plateaued, man. Like that kind of content, I think has plateaued. Like people don't want. People want debate. I think debate is still in. But they don't want the hot take. They want you to really believe in what you're saying. Don't say things because it's gonna go viral or it's gonna be clip worthy or it's gonna spike up the algorithm, whatever it might be. I know I kind of tied all those things into the same thing, but that's what I think is happening with Skip. And I think that now the, the sports media Landscape has, has changed. And a lot of that has to do with what we're doing. That it is what it is too. Like Cameron and Mace, man, like those guys, they, they've changed it. Like they've shown people a blueprint that, yo, you don't need an espn, Fox, CBS to make millions of dollars. And you go up there and you know, they show up in suits, they talk wild, they talk reckless, they call out athletes, they kind of say it how it is, it is what it is. They got freaking speech. Yeah. And, and they express that they have an amazing partnership with each other. They have an amazing partnership with their sponsor and they allow them. They're on YouTube. Like, you know, they talk the way people in barbershops talk, the way you and I would talk about sports. Man, this guy ain't bro, how you get 100 million. But when you say that, you're saying that in the context to other professional athletes.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Right. So I think just things have changed and maybe that kind of content has gotten stale.

[B]

That's interesting. And I know last time we talked you said you want to signed at ESPN one day. So has your opinion changed after seeing it is what it is?

[A]

Well, I linked up with them now, so it's, it's been good. Like, you know, I, I got to host their show also, which was really dope and I do a lot of the behind the scenes and I make my cameos on this, on the show also. Yeah, I think still, like, if I got a chance to, to work with espn, I would love to. I want to say no, but I think now I'm in a position where I feel like my show has hit a next level and my show's doing really well and I would rather take less and do what I'm doing now than take more. And then being like, oh, you have 90 seconds to get your take in, you know, because there's a lot of that too.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I think another reason with the sports media landscape is you have a ten minute window between commercials. You have a six person panel. Yeah.

[B]

He had so many on his show.

[A]

How are you going to get all your shit in, bro? Well, I think Jalen Brown should have been on Team usa. He won NBA Finals mvp. All right, Sean's turn. It's like, well, I can't elaborate. Like, maybe Sean says something and I want to comment on it. You know, maybe Sean says that Tatum isn't better than Derrick White. You know, I'm just saying this hypothetical and I'll be like, yo, Sean, you're Crazy. Like, why do you believe that? Don't you think xyz, it's like, no, you can't, because we. We have three and a half minutes until we go to commercial, and we still need Susie and Mike to comment on the Jaylen Brown thing. So I just think that the media landscape has changed, and there's a lot of ways for you to make money now.

[B]

Podcast games blowing up. We got Shaq starting a show now. Shannon Sharp's killing it. Stephen A. Smith has a show now. Who you interviewed. Yeah. So I think it's shifting towards podcast.

[A]

Oh, yeah, for sure. Because it's. You get a freedom. You get a freedom on there. You're not back behind a network. You know, a lot of people don't know that, like, Stephen A's podcast has nothing to do with espn. It's all, like, independently. It's his.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

He has separate sponsors.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, if you watch the show, it's like, pretty sure he has, like, a fanduel sponsor.

[B]

That's cool.

[A]

Everything on ESPN is ESPN bet. So, like, there's. There's different things, man. There's the coolest thing about creating content is that you're not married to one thing, one company now. You should have your priorities in order. Where, like, you know, if. If I'm hosting veterans, minimum, and I have a co host on there, and they're my co host, and they get paid handsomely and they're doing well, they're allowed to go get other opportunities. But, like, don't forget where your bread is buttered. Don't forget that this is the springboard. Right. So, like, you're able to do different things. And like, you know, we're recording this in the middle of. Of July for. To. To add context to what I'm gonna say now. I might be on, like, four different shows come September working with different people. And with each show, I'm talking about different things. Cause I wouldn't want to start a sports betting show with you because I have my own. I'd rather you come and listen to my show.

[B]

Plus, I don't know about it.

[A]

Right. But I'm just saying in this example, just in general, like, I've been offered many times to, like, oh, come host a sports betting show. Why? I have veterans, minimum, the number one sports betting vibe on the Internet. That's how, like, I paint the picture. So I'd rather you come and listen to me there than start a sports betting show with someone else.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So that's how I think the sports. Sports media landscape Is absolutely.

[B]

Yeah. And that show on TNT's ending right, with Charles Barkley and Shaq. That's going to be a big change.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, they're going to. They'll get picked up, though.

[B]

You think so?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm surprised TNT ended that.

[A]

A lot of money, man. I think. I think TNT just couldn't outbid the new people coming in. You're talking about, like, I think I saw 75 billion.

[B]

Holy sh. So NBA is not going to be on TNT anymore? It's going to be on.

[A]

No, it'll be on a lot of, like, Amazon is going to have some games. ESPN, like, the media deal is. Is bonkers.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

It's like 75 billion. Yeah, maybe. TNT's like, yo, we can't hold that.

[B]

Dude, I can't wait till Vegas gets a team.

[A]

Oh, yeah, that's going to be psyched. That's going to be sick. Yeah, it's been like the unofficial, like, word.

[B]

I'm hearing rumors LeBron's going to be a part owner. I mean, who knows?

[A]

But we'll see. Not LeBron. I mean, his. His dream was to bring a team. I don't know about bringing the team to Vegas, but it's been known that he wants to be a team owner. I'm like, man, who wouldn't want to live here, bro? Isn't this the best city, dude?

[B]

I love it. Other than the heat, that's the only downside I could think of.

[A]

Yeah, but whatever. You stay indoors, bro.

[B]

Yeah, but other than that, I mean, the food's great. Networking, solid networking is the best.

[A]

No one comes to Vegas and is in a shitty mood.

[B]

Yeah, facts.

[A]

Ever. Everyone comes to Vegas. They're hyped. It's also cool because, like, you know, I have a running joke on my show where it's like, we don't live in Idaho, bro. Like, people come and visit here. Like, this is a dope spot. Again, no offense to Idaho. I've never been, but, like, this is. This is like a Miami. This is like a New York. It's an la. You have people come to visit here frequently.

[B]

Dude. I've filmed 15 times a week, as you know, and I've done that for a year and a half with no issues in Vegas. Yeah, people are always in and out.

[A]

People are always here, bro. They're always here. And when they pull up, they're in an amazing mood. Now, at the end of the trip, maybe the tables got them. Maybe those champagne rooms and the strip clubs got them. It's a different conversation. But Initially, everybody I meet in Vegas, they're through the moon.

[B]

Facts. You mentioned Braun earlier. Where do you stand on all this brawny drama? Because there's a lot of hot takes.

[A]

On that one, man. I feel there's a lot of pressure on the kid. Obviously, his dad helped. Let's not be idiots. Yeah, his dad held, but like it, bro. I would probably do the same for my kid if I could get him into the league and. And pull the strings on. On. On organizations and finesse my way into having my kid in there. Like, yeah, no, I don't think anyone's ever gonna do that.

[B]

Yeah. From a parental point of view, I would do the same.

[A]

Yeah. I think anybody would. And, like, all right, bro. Like, it's not his fault his dad was LeBron James and your dad worked ups or whatever he's doing. Like, no, if I said I. Like, my dad flipped eggs his whole life still does.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[A]

If my dad was LeBron James, I'm sure he would probably get me into the league, Right? Like, how many people in other industries, they hand over their hedge fund or their law firm gets passed on? Kelly Group.

[B]

All the time.

[A]

All the time. So it just happened on a. On a prime scale in a. In a space where, bro, the. The Bus family that run the Lakers, that's how they got their power. It gets its heritage. It gets passed down. So whatever. They just did it in sports, and it was the first of its kind. That's why I was, like, frowned upon, because the only other time, off the top of my head, that I can remember a parent and a kid playing together was Griffey. But, like, Griffey was nasty. The Griffey son was better than the father.

[B]

Right?

[A]

So it wasn't like, oh, man, he finessed his way to get drafted and to play with his kid. Like, nah, nah. Ken Griffey Jr. Was that dude.

[B]

He was that guy.

[A]

Yeah, right. We're like, Bronnie, he had the. The heart issue. Right. He had the health issue at usc, so he didn't get to play as much. So maybe if he did play and he was healthy, maybe he performs better, Maybe he plays better. But, yeah, I mean, nepotism, right? Like, he got his.

[B]

His son into the part of life. Yeah.

[A]

I got no issues with it.

[B]

I got no issues. Giannis did it, too, with his brothers.

[A]

Yeah. And they're. They're trash.

[B]

Yeah. There's two of them on the team, right?

[A]

Yeah, three. Yeah. There's four of them all together. Apparently. The youngest one is really good. He's like better than all of them, except for Giannis, obviously. But yeah, man, like that happens in every line of work, bro. Every line of work. Like internship. A kid gets it because his father runs it or, or the uncle runs it. Like it happens all the time. So why is this any different?

[B]

100%. JJ Redick, you think that was a good hire for the Lakers?

[A]

I think the Lakers and I feel this way about LA teams in general. It always needs to be a splash. It always needs to be a big hire. It always needs to be something that's going to make headlines. It's a superstar driven city. If you look over the last couple of years, every move that they've ever made has been a big name. Matthew Stafford, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Otani, right? Like, it's always Mookie Betts. It's always a superstar. LA and New York, they ain't got time to develop a 18, 19 year old 2 guard. They don't got time to develop a quarterback. Like we want that right now. Let's get an established piece and let's get popping.

[B]

Facts.

[A]

I'm not trying to wait for Brandon Ingram and lonzo Ball and D'Angelo Russell. Like, no, no, we could trade them to get AD bet let's do that because we know what AD is. He's a top 10 guy in the league. When he's healthy, we can, we can sign LeBron James. Let's do that. And look at the history of their league, bro. Outside of like Magic Johnson, they brought in Kareem, they brought in Kobe. I remember Kobe didn't get drafted by the Lakers.

[B]

No, he didn't.

[A]

No, he got drafted. I believe it was Charlotte. But he, he never played for Charlotte. Like he got drafted by another team. But then the Lakers made a trade for him. Shaq, play with the Magic, get signed to the Lakers. So like, they're just a city that always goes for the SL. SL Splash plays like go back to the 90s. They signed Wayne Gretzky and it like changed hockey in LA forever, right? And it was like Gretzky was still good, still amazing, but he wasn't the Gretzky. He was on Edmonton winning all those Stanley Cups and it's like that's just what the. That city is like.

[B]

Yeah, Facts. If you got the money, big market.

[A]

You got it, man.

[B]

Got it. What do you think of Clay leaving?

[A]

I think it was time you didn't.

[B]

Want him to retire there.

[A]

N man, I'm in a. So like, I know before we were talking about Jaylen Brunson earlier on the show, and I'm pro player getting your money, you gotta. I know it's astronomical amounts of money that we're talking about, but their lifestyle is way different. Right. So 200 million to an NBA player and 200 million to me is, like, vastly different because the way they live and the way I live now, obviously my life would change If I made $200 million. Clay. It's been written for a while, right? I think the one thing that I had an issue with, Clay, is, hey, man, you made over a hundred million dollars in the two years you didn't play. And last season where you had a career worst, like, you were getting paid for that. So to turn and to slander the organization and say, ah, man, they did me wrong. Did they, bro? You didn't play for two years. You got. They paid you. That's where I'm like, don't. What we were talking about before, don't forget where your bread is buttered.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, these people hooked you up when they didn't have to. But now you're saying that you felt slighted and whatnot. It's like, did we forget about that because it happened three years ago? We forgot about it. I know we're a society that, like, if it happened two weeks ago, we forgot what it is. But I just think Clay. Clay going to Dallas is a dope move, man. I think it's a good move. Yeah. I think they need another shooter. I think he could be rejuvenated. Maybe he has that fu season like y'all must have forgot. Now you're expecting him not to be a splash brother. He's probably the fourth option. If they bring back P.J. washington. And it's like, now you're in a better role. At this point of your career, you're in a better role.

[B]

That's interesting because the NFL has injury clauses, so the NBA, I'm not sure if they do that, then.

[A]

Well, the NBA is fully guaranteed. If you get hurt while playing the sport, they'll. It's still guaranteed. But, you know, it was the famous, like, Jay Williams, when he got into the motorcycle accident, it was like, in his contract, because they knew that he had, like, in your contracts happened with Pat Mahomes. Like, if you. If you go watch Patrick Mahomes, before he signed the big deal, he was playing pickup basketball at the YMCAs. It was going like snowboarding. And once they gave him half a billion, like, hey, man, ain't doing that extra. You're not playing pickup basketball at the YMCA on a Wednesday. You're not. No, you're. If you get hurt, you could play. Get hurt. That's voided. Now. If you blow out a knee week three of the season on the field, it's fine. You're. You're going to get your money, you're going to get paid because it happened on the field. But yeah, there's injury clause in every contract, especially when they know that you have a lot of like, extracurricular activities you're into. You're into skydiving or some. They're going to account for that?

[B]

Yeah, they're protecting their money, man. Nick, it's been cool. Anything you want to close off with? I know you're taking a break from podcasting, right?

[A]

Yeah, I've just been for the rest of the summer. Just gonna pack it in, come back fully, fully strong for football season. Yeah, man. Just been going at it for like nine years and I feel like now people are starting to see it. And, you know, I was, I got the host. It is what it is with Cameron and Mace.

[B]

That's awesome.

[A]

And there was a comment that one of my really good friends, Mustafa, left, and he was like, man, this 90 second clip has thousands of hours behind it. And I was like, I think that's a perfect explanation. I was like, I called him. And I was like, bro, this is one of my favorite comments of all time. Because it's true, man. Like, people see what they see now, but it's like, bro, we had to go through, and still do through a lot to get to where I'm at now. And that Ever tell you the story about how I met Cameron Race?

[B]

No.

[A]

Oh, man, this will be a cool story to end on. And it's the epitome of right place, right time. Are you a believer in that?

[B]

I do. I think you meet everyone for a reason.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah, totally, man. And you know, as you know, I'm at the studio all the time. And it was on a day that I went food shopping. I just didn't want to cook. I was like, man, we're running all these errands for like two, three hours. I'm not in the mood to cook now. I got to be at the studio at 6 anyway. Let me just go. Now I can eat at the wind, right? It's like 1:30 in the afternoon. I show up to the studio, I see there's a dude in the, in the actual studio space. He has his back to the window. You've been to the Wind? Yeah, you know, the, the, like the Fishbowl effect. He has his back to it. I go in. I leave my backpack in there. Brian is in the control room. He's like, what the are you doing here? You're so early. And I told him what I just told you. In there is his dude, Larry. Now, Larry is like, Cam's right hand man, but at the time, I didn't know. He's like, hey, man, Larry. Nice to meet you. As I go to shake his hand, the dude in the studio turns around. It's Cameron.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And I'm just like, yo, is that Camron? And Larry is like, yo, you know, killer. You know killer, Cam. I was like, bro, I'm from New York. Yeah, Yeah. I just moved out here, help with the studio. He's like, bro, you got to meet Cam. You got to meet Cam. I meet Cam. We exchanged numbers. We exchanged Instagrams. He's asking about the studio, wants to rent it. They come back a couple weeks later. Cam is. They do two shows with Paul Pierce. Really good. They get great feedback from their team and their entourage, and their fans are like, yo, where the are you guys recording? Like, this is fire. Yada, yada. They go on and sign their underdog deal. I shoot him a text like, yo, bro, this is so dope, so inspiring. Like, good luck if you're ever in Vegas. Like, I'm gonna let you buy me a beer or some. I said something silly like that, like, you paying for dinner, right? Because I knew they signed their underdog deal. And a couple weeks later, I get a call from Cam, and he's like, yo, I'm thinking of moving everything to Vegas. I'm like, oh. He's like, yeah, I got a lot of good feedback. I was like, bet, bro. Let me know how I can help, you know, set you up at the studio, whatever it might be. He's like, all right, cool. Calls me two weeks later. He's like, yo, you edit? I'm like, yeah. He's like, what do you do? I was like, all right, do this, this, and that. He's like, all right. Calls me about 10 days later. He's like, yo, you're my editor. I'm moving out there. Wow. We're starting Sunday. And this was like, maybe the Monday before. He's like, yo, you could do it. I was like, sure. How quick of a turnaround? He's like, yeah, I need it for the next. The next day. All right. He's like, are you comfortable with this number? I was like, yeah, I'm cool. He's like, all Right? Bet.

[B]

Hell yeah.

[A]

No pen, no paper, no nothing.

[B]

Handshake deal.

[A]

Not even handshake on the phone. Kind of just like that. And that's how it's been so dope, bro. Like, one of the coolest fucking people I ever met.

[B]

Dude, their clips are hilarious. So you edit those? I didn't even know that.

[A]

Yeah, I do. I do pretty much everything.

[B]

Dude, I saw one about him talking about he can't watch a basketball movie unless the guy can play basketball.

[A]

It's one of my biggest pet pees. It's hilarious. It's one of my biggest pet peeves, bro. When I watch movies or shows and they're doing an athletic thing and they're not athletes. Like, you could just tell when someone like, shoots a basketball. You're like, oh, you've played before.

[B]

I think of a High School Musical.

[A]

I think, yeah, that's a good one. But I think of if you ever watch the Netflix show Stranger Things.

[B]

Yeah, I've seen that. There's a black kid, right?

[A]

Yeah. They play basketball and they're like, yo, bro, what? This just looks awful. Or when they're throwing a football and it looks like they're throwing it left handed and they're not lefties. But yeah, like, I, I do, I do a lot. I do a lot of for them, man, and it's been great. Like, it's elevated my brand, it's elevated my platform, and it's. It's just been dope and just like the free game that you get being associated with them.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Like hearing about, like, these dudes have been celebrities for 30 years. They've been, They've been in the spotlight almost as long as I've been alive.

[B]

Geez.

[A]

So, like, their experiences and when they tell you certain things, you're like, damn, you come from a place of knowledge. And like, the last thing I know, you want to wrap up soon. But, like, you know, one thing, man, that I always pride myself on and I feel like I do a really good job on is I always listen to older folks. Like When I was 28, my friend Ty was 35 at the time, or 33. He was like, yo, bro, when you get to my age, if you stop podcasting, you're gonna regret it. He's like, because I did. Because I was working on something and then I stopped and now I regret it. So I always do a good job when, like, I meet someone that's 42. Like, yo, bro, you know what I wish I could have done at your age? Maybe save half my Money or maybe invest half my money. Now I'm like, okay, I respect him. I know he's looking out for me. I just feel like I've always done a good job of like, people that are older than me. I listen. Yeah, I know it sounds so simple, but it's like, people don't do that though. Yeah. I actually listen like, yo, you have a different perspective in your life that I haven't reached yet because I'm not your age. So when there's a 40 year old friend that I have and he's like, yo, bro, I wish I would have invested in Google or some. You should invest maybe in this or you should maybe do that. It's like, yo, they're coming from a place of. It's kind of like a time machine. I look at it, bro, like, they're already ahead and they're giving me free knowledge and free game. And I've always prided myself on like, all right, man, I'ma listen. Like, you have an experience that I haven't experienced.

[B]

No, I love that, dude. Great advice.

[A]

I just think that. Yeah, yeah, well, we could, we could wrap on that. I just think that, like, yo, be open to that, man, because they got game, they got years. Like, if you think of how, how long a year Is, they have 10, 20, 30 years of experience in that field. And it's just, it's, it's been a great dude.

[B]

That's fire advice. I was looking at my friend group the other day. I'm the youngest one, but by far, like, my friends are 10 years above my age on average. Yeah, that's helped me a lot in business, in life, personally and professionally.

[A]

Yeah, dude, like, you know, maybe you come across, and I hope you do one day, you come across a six, seven, eight figure deal and you have a friend that went through it and they're like, yo, bro, I remember this in the contract this me over. Because like, you know once your contract ends, they still own your ip, right? Like, be careful with that. They me up, you know, like, it's, it's free game. And I know you have lawyers and attorneys, but it's also when it comes from that perspective too, it's the best, man. And like, you know, the, the people you keep around and the people you interact with, it doesn't always need to be about money and success. Like, maybe you just need people to be like, yo, you're being a piece of there. That's how I view my friends.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, all the people I keep in my circle is like, yo, bro, do me a favor and never wear that again on a show. You look like a clown. Yeah.

[B]

Honesty and loyalty.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah, bro. Like, you know, I don't know if it's a New York thing or east coast thing, but, like, bro, when. When growing up, like, my friends, and to this day, we say the wildest to each other. Like, my hair, when I had Stephen A. On. On the show, my hair was, like, all up. It looked like I had. It looked like I had a toupee on, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So my friends were like, damn, bro. Biggest interview of your career. It looks like you got a toupee. I love that. I was like, damn. Yeah, you're right. Come on, bro. Like, you killed that interview. But, like, you gotta, like, look sharp. Don't do that again. Right? And that's. That's the people I keep in my life.

[B]

Yeah, you need that.

[A]

You need that.

[B]

Nick, it's been cool. We'll link yourself below, man. Thanks for coming on again.

[A]

Always a pleasure, bro.

[B]

Thanks for watching, guys, as always. Check them out below. Peace.