Hour 3: NFL O/Us & NBA Tanking

Summary

---

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg Podcast

Hour 3: NFL Over/Unders & NBA Tanking
Date: February 19, 2026
Hosts: Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, Peter Rosenberg
Source: ESPN New York

---

Episode Overview

This lively hour covers two major sports topics: the just-released NFL team win total over/unders for the 2026 season and current debates around NBA anti-tanking proposals. The trio, mixing humor and intense sports knowledge, break down betting lines for local NY NFL teams and others, share opinions on how the NBA should tackle tanking, and take listeners’ calls on both subjects. The hour also includes their trademark banter about food and some thoughts on the “best meal of the day.”

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. NFL Over/Unders: Early Thoughts & Best Bets

Segment Starts: 02:00

• Early Over/Unders: The hosts discuss draftkings releasing NFL win totals, noting it’s before free agency & the draft, so “tons can change.”
  • Don: “Is there a draft pick or a free agent that could be acquired that is going to move the needle that much?” (02:19)
  • Alan: “Honestly, how much does it change?” (02:17)
• Giants: Line is 7.5 wins
  • Alan, surprised it’s that high, expects more “under” money (02:43)
  • Don: “That’s a big jump, right?” (02:59)
• Jets: Set at 5.5 wins
  • Alan & Peter both incredulous (“Three and a half? ...That’s insane.” 03:28)
  • Don clarifies it’s 5.5, not 3.5 (03:32)
• Cleveland Browns: At 6.5 wins; consensus they’ll “fall into a handful” due to defense, but 6.5 feels “aggressive”. (04:15)
• Surprises:
  • Ravens pegged at 10.5 despite coaching changes (05:11): “Wow.” (05:25)
  • Bills, Lions, Packers, Chiefs all around 10 or 10.5; Bears “plus 100” at 9.5 (06:46-07:14)
• Best Bets
  • Don likes Bears over 9.5 as his “best bet.” (07:17)
  • Alan (“sledgehammer” under on Jets at 5.5) (07:32)
  • Chiefs and Pats, both set at 10.5, seem high: “Are they really?” (07:42)
• Discussion about Mahomes’ health and its impact (08:06-08:17)

Notable Quotes

• “Sledgehammer, Peter.” – Alan on Jets under 5.5 (07:32)
• “Even if they [Chiefs] have a great year, make the playoffs at 10–7 and be a threat... but they’re not going 13 and 4.” – Peter (07:53, 07:58)

---

2. Breakfast vs. Lunch: The Great Debate

Segment Starts: 11:00

• Don recounts being denied breakfast 5 minutes after the cutoff and settling for a “modest” pastrami sandwich (“Like a White Castle version”) and a tiny bowl of fries (15:05).
• This kicks off a debate:
  • Don and Alan: Breakfast over lunch every time (12:15)
  • Peter, surprised: “Wow.”
  • Avocado toast, omelets, and Don’s aversion to avocado covered (12:27-12:35)
  • Lunch portions “just dinner, but smaller” vs. breakfast as a unique meal (13:35–13:49)
• Side discussion on restaurant policies and Don’s frustration with rigid breakfast hours.

Notable Quotes

• “Breakfast is wonderful. Guy. I like a nice lunch. I’m picking breakfast over lunch every day of the week.” – Don (12:00)
• “It was kind of a White Castle [pastrami sandwich] version… the fries in a bowl you wouldn’t even put cereal in that small.” – Don (14:41, 14:52)

---

3. Weight Loss, Brand Tie-Ins, and On-Air Humour

Segment Starts: 16:20

• Banter about a friend’s dramatic (and possibly unhealthy) weight loss.
• Peter: “If this station had any guts… we should do some sort of contest around who gets the thinnest here… tie it into a brand sponsorship.” (17:13)
• General joking around ideas for sponsored health challenges—keeps the show light.

---

4. Listener Call: Reese’s, Nicknames, and High Listeners

Segment Starts: 18:01

• Caller “J. Scott” chimes in to praise Alan’s deep Reese’s knowledge.
• Playful banter about the “J.” nickname and whether the show is best consumed while high.
• Don: “I’m proud that we’re the show of high.” (19:36)
• Alan posits that for some, it’s “funnier” to listen when high, likening it to pairing music and wine. (19:47–20:05)
• The suggestion of a “sponsor by a dispenser” for the show gets laughs.

---

5. NBA Tanking: The League’s Problem & The Hosts’ Fixes

Segment Starts: 24:36

• Don recaps recent debate about tanking on the K show, referencing Suns owner Matt Ishbia’s anti-tanking stance:

  "Tanking is losing behavior done by losers. Purposely losing is something nobody should want to be associated with..." (25:29)

• Alan and Michael (from the K show) have proposed different solutions:
  • Alan: Each team gets an allotment (say, $10mil) to “spend” on draft picks, acting like college recruitment—forces teams to be better-run, have better facilities, etc. (27:47)
  • Michael: Last “play-in” team gets the #1 pick, incentivizing late-season effort over intentional losses.
• They critique alternatives and NBA-proposed tweaks, weighing pros/cons for each.

NBA Anti-Tanking Proposals Discussed (31:44)

• Protect top-4 or top-14 picks only.
• Freeze lottery odds at or after trade deadline.
• Ban top-4 pick in consecutive years or after back-to-back bottom-three finishes.
  • Alan: "I like that. Don’t keep sucking." (32:54)
• Ban top-4 pick year after a conference finals appearance.
• Allocate lottery odds based on two-year record (discourages one-year tanking).
• Extend lottery to all play-in teams.
• Flatten lottery odds for all lottery teams (Powerball-style).
  • Peter: “No point in tank[ing] all the way… it’s just an even lottery.” (35:40)
• Hosts agree that several of these could be combined; some might accidentally incentivize tanking earlier/later in the year.

Notable Quotes

• “What we’re trying to do is remove the regular season as a deciding factor of what draft pick I get.” – Alan (41:54)
• “You’re awful, you’re mismanaged, and I get to hand you the best player in the draft?” – Don (44:11)
• “Pushback on this stuff’s amazing because so many people feel like it’s the only way to get good… You want the handout from the league to save you.” – Alan (45:18)

---

6. Listeners Offer NBA Tanking Fixes

Segment Starts: 40:39

• Caller “Patrick” suggests a bottom-team tournament for the #1 pick; hosts explain why this wouldn’t motivate players (lack of incentive, risk of injury for impending free agents).
• Next caller proposes that for every post-elimination win, a team earns extra ping-pong balls, plus relaxing trade/salary rules for eliminated teams—a creative idea with logistical hurdles, debated by the hosts.

Notable Quotes

• “We don’t need more fakacta tournaments.” – Alan (41:54)
• “I love the effort, but… teams would tank early just to get eliminated sooner, so they could rack up balls.” – Don (49:14)

---

Memorable Moments & Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “Sledgehammer, Peter.” – Alan on Jets under 5.5, (07:32)
• “Breakfast is wonderful... I’m picking breakfast over lunch every day of the week.” – Don (12:00)
• "Tanking is losing behavior done by losers. Purposely losing is something nobody should want to be associated with." – Don, quoting Suns owner Matt Ishbia (25:29)
• “You want the handout from the league to save you…that GM should be fired, not rewarded.” – Alan (45:18)
• “You suck for so long, now eventually you got it right after four tries. How many kicks at the can do you get? I’m taking the can away. Stop it.” – Don, on repeated lottery mismanagement (45:08)
• “We don’t need more fakacta tournaments.” – Alan (41:54)
• “It’s Powerball. Right. It’s just an even lottery.” – Peter (35:40)
• “I’m proud that we’re the show of high.” – Don (19:36)

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

• NFL Over/Unders Discussion: 02:00–10:00
• Breakfast/Lunch Debate: 11:00–16:20
• Listeners/Weight Loss/Banter: 16:20–20:00
• NBA Tanking Solutions: 24:36–49:15
• Listener Tanking Fixes: 40:39–49:34

---

Summary & Tone

The third hour is classic sports radio at its best: stats and odds mixed with laughs, New York flavor, and passionate debate. The hosts’ banter about food and high listeners keeps even hardcore sports content breezy and relatable, while real analytical discussion around NFL futures and NBA anti-tanking rules shows off their expertise. Particularly notable is their thorough, creative weighing of league policy proposals—both serious and tongue-in-cheek.

If you missed this episode, you missed a blend of insider sports talk, memorable jokes, and unique solutions to two of the biggest debates in sports right now.

---

Transcript

[Don Hahn]

5:00am I'm up with a crisp Celsius energy drink running 12 miles today. Grab a green juice, quick change and head to work. Meetings, workshops. One more Celsius. No slowing down. Working late but obviously still meeting the girls for a little dancing. Celsius Live Fit. Go grab a cold refreshing Celsius at your local retailer or locate [e-mail]

[Alan Hahn]

this is the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don Hahn]

That sounds like heaven to me.

[Alan Hahn]

Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.

[Don Hahn]

Game time is brought to you by Telemardu Irish Whiskey because when it's game time, guys, it's Tony time. Basketball is back. Knicks host the Pistons with coverage immediately following us on 880 at 7 o' clock and the Nets will visit the Cavaliers at 7. Tullamore due the original triple distilled, triple blended and triple cast matured Irish whiskey. Be sure to grab a Tullamore Dew or try the new Tullamore Dew honey during today's action. Glasses up to enjoying Tullamore Dew responsibly. So 503 in the big city. Thanks for joining us here. On a Thursday, USA wins gold in women's hockey with an overtime tally early in the three on three by Megan Keller. A spectacular goal. So the women have held up their end of the bargain with the gold medal. The men will play tomorrow at 3:10 against Slovakia in the semifinals.

[Alan Hahn]

Our show will be a mess. So did you hear Kenny's call though? Did you get to hear. I did hear it very oh my God. I just texted him. What a humble he met the moment man.

[Don Hahn]

He's terrific. Less is more which I got around for calling.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't care.

[Don Hahn]

That was a great no, but such a great call I had to text. I love it because I, I, I think he just described the moment well and laid out at the right moment for the crowd and 30 seconds they laid out. It's well, it's, it's awesome. It's really. He's terrific and he does a great job and that's the biggest goal he's probably going to score this year with the Rangers struggling the way that they are. But, but no, he's, he's, he's, he's absolutely terrific. So we tease this. We have the over unders came out today on draftkings for the teams in the NFL. Now I understand it's Tonka truck because it's pre draft and it's pre free agency but when you think about it

[Alan Hahn]

honestly, how much does it change?

[Don Hahn]

Is there a draft pick or a free agent that could be acquired that is going to move the needle that much? All right, so, Allen, you said you didn't see it.

[Alan Hahn]

No, I didn't. I didn't look.

[Don Hahn]

All right, Peter said he saw it and I appreciate his honesty.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I saw some, so.

[Don Hahn]

But you saw the locals, right? Cause we'll start with the locals. So what is the Giants over? Under Allen?

[Alan Hahn]

Six and a half.

[Don Hahn]

Six and a half. Well, then, you know what? You should probably bet the under because they are seven and a half. Plus 110 over. Seven and a half for your New York football giants.

[Alan Hahn]

Seven and a half.

[Don Hahn]

Seven and a half. Minus 130 for the under seven and a half. So smart money's telling you that it might be under. But still, that's a big jump, right? Okay.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't think they'd get it. Yeah, I thought maybe as off season went on, you might bump it up one. But not.

[Don Hahn]

But no, listen. Seven and a half, which means that if you think it's over, that means eight wins. That means playing meaningful games in December, I would think.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

All right, so what's the over under for the Jets?

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, three and a half.

[Don Hahn]

Three and a half. Interesting. Over five and a half.

[Alan Hahn]

That's insane.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Three and a half.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't even think Hammer.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't even think it's sledgehammer. No, I don't think they even do three and a half.

[Don Hahn]

I'll be honest, I don't think they do. The only one that I'm looking at here, this is interesting. Oh, by the way, the under five and a half for the jets is at minus 140. The over is a plus 115. The Dolphins are over four and a half. So right now they're saying that the Dolphins are going to win less games than the jets, which I don't understand.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, but whatever then.

[Don Hahn]

That's why you bet, right?

[Alan Hahn]

Well, they did again, New York.

[Don Hahn]

I'm trying to see if there's anybody else.

[Alan Hahn]

Browns. Cleveland.

[Don Hahn]

Your Cleveland Browns.

[Alan Hahn]

Where are they at?

[Don Hahn]

Cleveland Browns are at six and a half.

[Alan Hahn]

What are we doing?

[Don Hahn]

But to Peter's point, they're going to keep themselves in every game with that defense.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yep.

[Don Hahn]

Right. So they're. They're going to fall into a handful of games. Now, six and a half seems aggressive to me. Yeah, under six and a half is a minus 125, but the over is just a plus 105. So it's. It's interesting taking a look at some of the other totals of. I don't think anybody is more than ten and a half as I have. I. As I scan here.

[Alan Hahn]

So, so, so Jim Schwartz leaves. Their defense is going to get.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. Listen, bet the under.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

How about this? This surprised me. What do you think the over under is for the Ravens? Just lost their coach. Ravines.

[Alan Hahn]

Wow.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I would say I didn't see this one. I would say the Ravines are eight and a half.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. Yeah. I might lean eight.

[Don Hahn]

Okay, now what I'm going to tell you first is the over for the Ravens is a minus 145. All right. So you're not going to get much for being right on this. 10 and a half.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, my God.

[Don Hahn]

At minus 145.

[Alan Hahn]

Wow.

[Don Hahn]

So they're telling you. They're pretty much telling you they expect the Ravens to win.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Harbaugh was the problem.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. Well, also that's the conference. That's the other thing is no Tomlin in Pittsburgh. The Browns are a joke and the Bengals are, you know, you never know.

[Don Hahn]

And the under for ten and a half is a plus 120 division.

[Alan Hahn]

I mean, I take that.

[Don Hahn]

How about the Bills? What?

[Alan Hahn]

Bill, Bills have got to be a double digits, right?

[Don Hahn]

They are.

[Alan Hahn]

So 10 and a half.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, 10 and a half. I don't think there's anybody over 10.

[Alan Hahn]

No, I don't. I wouldn't expect.

[Don Hahn]

And that's a minus 140. So they are expected.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Some of this. Some of. Some of this is.

[Don Hahn]

Yo, yo.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Let's just be honest.

[Don Hahn]

It is.

[Alan Hahn]

It's way too early. But you know what, though, it's good to get in on some of these early, especially if you have some idea of things that are going to happen in the off season. Right. That can go your way one way or another.

[Don Hahn]

So I can tell you where I'm going to put my money go. I'm going to put my money on the Chicago Bears. I'm a big Bear guy. I think they're going to have. They're going to take the next step. But to Indiana, I know people are. This is like the jets and Giants.

[Alan Hahn]

It really is, right? Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Now the bears are at nine and a half plus 100. The packers and the Lions are 10 and a half. So they don't seem to believe the Bears are going to take that next step. They still believe the Lions and Attackers are the class of the division.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The Lions are the most interesting one I've heard so far that they're expecting a bounce back for the Lions.

[Alan Hahn]

Right. That they're still good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That last year was just a wacky year.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's not the coordinator situation. They will be fine.

[Don Hahn]

All right, so that. So that's my best bet. I'm going to go. Bears over nine and a half is my best bet. You're feeling anything, Allen? It sounds like. When? Just by your reaction, it sounds like the jets might be your best bet. Under five.

[Alan Hahn]

Absolutely. Sledgehammer, Peter.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wow.

[Don Hahn]

Ten and a half. Chiefs ten and a half.

[Alan Hahn]

That's another one. Jump on. Tyreek Hill's gonna go back there. They're gonna try to, you know, they're gonna try to, you know, bring. Put the band back together.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But even if they do, Alan, how much past 11 are they getting?

[Alan Hahn]

No, no, they're not.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like, even if they could have a great year, make the playoffs at 10 and 7 and be a threat.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, but they're not going 13 and 4.

[Alan Hahn]

No, maybe they are. I. I know you can't. Come on.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But don't. There are some down that just aren't even trying.

[Alan Hahn]

Is Patrick ready for week one? Do we know if he's week one?

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't think we know yet.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, we don't know. He says he wants to be. Well, he wants to be. One thing. I want to win a lottery.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I want to wake up with a six pack.

[Don Hahn]

You know what I'm going to tell Peter? I'm going to give you yours if you don't mind.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Commies?

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. Seven and a half.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, they don't think. They think that. They're just a bad team now. It was one year of being good. Jaden Daniels sucks. The team sucks.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, they don't.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They don't think anything.

[Don Hahn]

You know what's interesting? They're the same as the Giants, but they don't know. No, they're guessing because seven and a half. It's minus 110 over. Minus 110 under.

[Alan Hahn]

Yep.

[Don Hahn]

So like, they don't know.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Seven and a half is literally. We don't know. We're just throwing up a number. We'll see what happens.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. Nobody. The. The ten and a half. Eagles are ten and a half. Seahawks are ten and a half. That makes a lot of sense. How about the Patriots? Over nine and a half. So they still have the Bills winning the division because they're going to have the same, you know, schedule. Right. So the Chargers are at ten and a half. The Chiefs are at ten and a half.

[Alan Hahn]

Can't do that.

[Don Hahn]

So it's very interesting. And the Broncos are at nine and a half. That's Interesting. So they don't have the Broncos winning the division either. From buy to wild card.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. And Bo Nix, he didn't like, you know, rupture an Achilles. Like, it's, it was a broken.

[Don Hahn]

And let's, please, let's not make it seem like, well, you know, Mahomes got hurt. They were done. When Mahomes got hurt, they were done.

[Alan Hahn]

They were already done.

[Don Hahn]

So let's not, let's not change history and go. Well, Mahomes got hurt. That's why it opened. No, it didn't. They were. They were. That's why I'm really wondering why. Ten and a half on Kansas City. I understand Mahomes is going to maybe be back healthy. You know, it's a long season, 70 games. If he misses the first couple, I don't think it's the end of the world. But do you really? I'm, I'm a little surprised by that. 1-800-919-3776 lot of reasons why I'm surprised also a lot of reasons why people buy.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's what makes them great.

[Don Hahn]

It's their selection, it's their customer service, and it's their savings. Lisa New 2026 Mazda CX32.5S Select Sport All Wheel Drive for 209 for 33 months. Start shopping now at Ramsey Mazda.com. choose wisely. Choose Ramsey Mazda. Choose. Call 833-853-2970 for details. Then TM 105852 MSRP 29530 0. Security deposit ends 32 26. So quickly, the Dave story. So I come in at 11 o' clock to go out to what he described as brunch. So I'm hoping to get breakfast because I didn't have breakfast. So it was recommended a nice little restaurant not far from the station. And it was quaint. Not a lot of tables. 1105 we get.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay.

[Don Hahn]

And I thought of you, Allen, for what happened with falling down yesterday. They stopped breakfast at 11 o'. Clock. And I'm like, it's 1105. I know. Well, let me ask.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. Maybe there's an egg rolling around.

[Don Hahn]

She comes back and she's like, no, we're, we put, we put all the breakfast items away.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They're gone now.

[Don Hahn]

Would you put them on a truck?

[Alan Hahn]

Right in the garbage. In the garbage. Throw it out.

[Don Hahn]

And the food was good. I had a nice pastrami sandwich, but I didn't want that to be my first meal of the day.

[Alan Hahn]

But it Was.

[Don Hahn]

But it was. Because it was just lunch. I wasn't gonna get up and leave and roll because I'm sure everybody else got the same policy. Like five minutes, man. And what does it hurt? And the thing you say about the eggs, they have an all day omelette.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay.

[Don Hahn]

But I wasn't feeling the omelette that they had.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You weren't the all day omelette.

[Don Hahn]

Right. So obviously the eggs are there. So if you got the eggs for the omelet, you can't. You can't scramble up some eggs.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know how it is.

[Don Hahn]

Again, it was wonderful. It was quaint. And I'd recommend the restaurant, but I'm going to kill them for. There's like a five minute grace period on breakfast. Breakfast is wonderful. Guy. I listen, I like a nice lunch. I'm picking breakfast over lunch every day of the week.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm. You're taking breakfast over lunch every day of the week.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, me too.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wow.

[Alan Hahn]

Every day a nice omelet. I'd rather. I could do. I could do cereal, I could do avocado toast. You ever have that, Don? You could do it. I'm sure they would have given you.

[Don Hahn]

You know how I feel about avocado.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He hates avocado. And if the breakfast menu's dead, there's avocado. Toast is probably dead too.

[Alan Hahn]

You think so? Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

It's a breakfast. You know, you got pancakes, you got

[Alan Hahn]

waffles, bread and an avocado and you just kind of jam it up.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, but eggs are just eggs. But when they make the decision on

[Don Hahn]

the menu, they made this.

[Alan Hahn]

But avocados aren't being thrown out. Avocados are used in lunch.

[Don Hahn]

So they're there.

[Alan Hahn]

You can make the toast.

[Don Hahn]

They're being put an area of the restaurant you don't have access to after 11 o'.

[Alan Hahn]

Clock.

[Don Hahn]

Apparently it's like a vault. It's time sensitive. Right. They just lock the door. They have lost servers because they were still in the vault. 11 o', clock, came, locked down, and they find their skeleton the next day.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That is frustrating. I think that's interesting. Like, I do love breakfast, but I guess just the, the, the every. Like always, you would take the breakfast over lunch.

[Don Hahn]

Well, because, well, you make it seem like breakfast is only one option. I can go eggs, I can go waffles, I can go pancakes. French toast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Sure. And I love that nice bowl of

[Don Hahn]

cereal with some banana.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I know. But on the right. But on the right day, I mean, lunch, A standard cheeseburger and french fries is a lunch meal.

[Don Hahn]

But lunch is really no different. Different than dinner, just portion wise. Right. Whatever I have for lunch, I can have for dinner, but just a little bit more of it.

[Alan Hahn]

Confirm. Confirmed.

[Don Hahn]

But breakfast is separate.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So. So. But what? So get rid of dinner. Dinner doesn't exist.

[Don Hahn]

Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You still take breakfast over lunch.

[Don Hahn]

That.

[Peter Rosenberg]

See, now you think about what you're saying.

[Don Hahn]

What am I saying?

[Peter Rosenberg]

You're ruling out every other item that exists in the world besides eggs, the sides, oatmeal, cereal, pancakes, waffles, essentially.

[Don Hahn]

That's it. Yeah. But you. You've conveniently taken out dinner. And I understand for your argument if you're not having a. You're not having a ribeye for lunch.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That. Now that's a fair point, you know,

[Don Hahn]

so my options are fairly limited lunch wise. And we're all trying to watch our figure. Right. We're not. We're not trying to be gumball.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, let's see, in staying with that, I'd like to know what your guys orders were for breakfast.

[Don Hahn]

I didn't have breakfast.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So what was your order for lunch?

[Don Hahn]

I had a pastrami sandwich and I got a. I gotta be honest with you. It was wonderful. But it wasn't like one of those like typical New York pastrami sandwiches where it's like spilling over the plate.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay.

[Don Hahn]

It was kind of a White Castle version.

[Rich Eisen]

Got it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It was. It was a modest.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, it was a mod. It was fine. It was good. And I had. And the fries, they put the fries in a bowl that you wouldn't even

[Alan Hahn]

put cereal that small.

[Don Hahn]

It was a bowl like where you would put like sugar cubes in.

[Alan Hahn]

Mm, that's.

[Don Hahn]

So I'm dying right now. I could take a bite out of

[Peter Rosenberg]

the microphone because this, the pastrami sandwich was too modest. And the fry selection, the fry, not enough fries.

[Don Hahn]

The portion was. Was tough, but good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And you hadn't had breakfast. This was your breakfast you were hoping for.

[Don Hahn]

Right. So now it's like, by the time the food comes, it's like 11:15. I had been up since 6. 45.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It worked up a man's appetite.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

For a. For a modest pastrami sandwich and a low output of fries.

[Don Hahn]

Again, wonderful. But very modest and five minutes away. Now I don't know what the breakfast would.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What did Dave have? Sorry.

[Don Hahn]

Dave had. I think it was a melt of some sort. Okay. It wasn't like a tuna melt, but he had melted cheese over something. I forget what it was. I don't really. I don't know if that makes me A bad guy. I usually don't pay attention to what other people order.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Really don't notice.

[Alan Hahn]

Very focused on his own lunch.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well just.

[Don Hahn]

Why don't I got to be up in your business? Well, I just, just obviously whatever you ordered wasn't something I would have ordered.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah but if it's two people and you're sitting across from you often notice.

[Don Hahn]

Well, you're making eye contact. Right. I don't see Dave that often. We had a lot to talk about.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Just staring right into his eyes.

[Don Hahn]

Right into those eyes. And he looks great too. He's lost a ton of weight.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He always has.

[Don Hahn]

He's a good guy. They're really enjoying themselves over there.

[Alan Hahn]

Did you just say he always has?

[Peter Rosenberg]

It somehow doesn't make sense, but it does.

[Alan Hahn]

Very subtle.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's always lost a ton of weight.

[Alan Hahn]

He's always lost a ton. Yeah, he keeps finding it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. The problem, that's the problem. I've lost. I lost weight a ton of times too.

[Don Hahn]

I just always keep finding it.

[Alan Hahn]

That's crazy.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. The other the dice line is always great too. It's like I dropped 10 pounds from my belly to my ass. No, but because. And, and what he does is he starves himself. He doesn't go the exercise route which is the way to go if you

[Peter Rosenberg]

want to lose weight for losing pounds. It is the way to go. I don't know if it's health wise

[Don Hahn]

but I don't think it's healthy because I didn't say Dave looked healthy. He looked thin.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

He looked emaciated. I was worried about.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's never that he looks like he got jacked up.

[Don Hahn]

But I love Dave.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay.

[Don Hahn]

You know we should time we should do if this should take turns going out with the morning show.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I like that. And I also think that if this station had any guts, any guts we should do. We should get one of the. One of the companies whether it's Ozempic will go via whichever tri zeppelin you want to choose and we should do some sort of contest around who gets the thinnest here. So that's just a good use for

[Alan Hahn]

me to get committed.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well no, cuz we know Carlin.

[Don Hahn]

We know Carlin's armor good too.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So like the weights coming off of people might as well tie it into a brand sponsorship, you know what I'm saying?

[Alan Hahn]

I mean that's too obvious. I think it's too easy sometimes because

[Don Hahn]

then you become like a walking billboard. Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's what I'm saying. Could look how thin this station is.

[Alan Hahn]

The Healthiest station.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know why? Because of blank. The brand. The brand that paid for it.

[Don Hahn]

We go V, let's go to J. Scott in Daytona. You're on espn.

[Alan Hahn]

Wow.

[Don Hahn]

I am curious to know what the J stands for and why you go with just J.

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

Stands for Jason. Okay, goes from J.

[Don Hahn]

And you love the Scott so much you want to keep that and just say instead of saying Jason. I love what you're doing, by the way. I'm just kind of curious.

[Alan Hahn]

Unique is your last. If your last name Fitzgerald, then we got something.

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

Well, no, it's kind of catchy. Like my main man Bart Scott. You see J. Scott.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, yeah, you're right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I see that kind of it.

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

Well, my parents always called me Jay. And it's a lot easier to say Jay than Jason Scott.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, it kills you. You lose years off your life.

[Alan Hahn]

All of it. Right.

[Don Hahn]

So what do you got?

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

Well, as of. I'm.

[Don Hahn]

Hi.

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

I got, I got the Reese's thing.

[Don Hahn]

Sure.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

I gotta tell you, Alan, Alan Hahn might be a. He might be a snoop professor. Because I, I looked up the, I looked up the Reese's thing and I'm an avid Reese's eater. And I, and I, I gotta tell you, I give, I give nothing but flowers. Because that was well researched and he is not wrong. And I've noticed the difference.

[Alan Hahn]

Yep.

[Don Hahn]

I, I, I J stood for joint.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes, it's 5:20, but it actually is 420.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I want to ask more questions for him.

[Alan Hahn]

No, that was interesting.

[Don Hahn]

I'm a big Reese's fan too.

[Alan Hahn]

I am. I love that I, I got his attention.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I wanted, I had more questions. I, I do want to ask. What's your name again? How do you spell your name?

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

You guys know.

[Don Hahn]

Listen, I love, Listen. I'm proud that we're the show of high.

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

Smoke weed every day.

[Don Hahn]

And the fact that I don't partake, I think makes it even more interesting.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, I think that's when you find people the most unfiltered.

[Don Hahn]

But I'm curious to know why you want to listen to this show high.

[Alan Hahn]

Because it's funnier.

[Don Hahn]

Like with the Dead. Like the Grateful Dead, which is the show show hits. Just hits different. Yeah, literally different.

[Alan Hahn]

It's like a good cabernet with stick. Like it just works.

[Don Hahn]

I think one day when we're not like commuting vehicle wise, we just get high.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We should all get high to see if it fits as like now we take the show differently.

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

Right now, you guys know, by the

[Alan Hahn]

way, the amount of laughing that we would end up doing. I know we laugh just in general

[Don Hahn]

on this, but it might, we might have that moment of clarity. Right? Like we're, we're now the audience sounds different. Like now I get it. It's. You know, we should really be sponsored by a dispenser.

[Peter Rosenberg]

See, now we're having another conversation.

[Don Hahn]

I know. So the show of weight and high

[Rich Eisen]

Rich Eisen here. The tax deadline will be here before you know it and you just want to know your taxes are actually being handled. But the old way, you hand everything off and then silence. Days pass, weeks pass. You start wondering, should I send another follow up email? It feels like you're chasing updates and getting nowhere. But now taxes are different because your taxes are done for you by a TurboTax full service expert. With Intuit TurboTax, you can match with your dedicated tax expert and hand off everything right in the app. And while your expert checks for every deduction, you'll see real time updates on your phone. So you always know exactly where things stand. Suddenly you're not refreshing your inbox, you're going for a run, grabbing a coffee, scrolling anything other than a just checking in message because your TurboTax expert is handling it and keeping you in the loop. So this tax season, get your best possible outcome and every dollar you deserve without the guesswork. Visit TurboTax.com today to learn more. Real time updates only in iOS mobile app only available with TurboTax full service experts Save money and get a better view of the road when you replace your worn out wiper blades at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Right now, save $10 on a pair of Rain X Latitude wiper blades. They feature beam blade technology to improve windshield contact for maximum visibility. The professional parts people will even install your new wiper blades for free. Choose Rain X Latitude wiper blades at your local O'Reilly Auto Parts store or

[Commercial Announcer]

online@o'reillyauto.com watching someone close go through loss really changes your perspective. You see how quickly grief can turn into financial stress, and it's something no family should have to deal with during an already difficult time. Experiences like that make people think differently about planning ahead and protecting the people they love. Life insurance isn't about expecting the worst. It's about being prepared and knowing your family will be supported if something unexpected happens. That's why life insurance through Ethos is worth considering. They make the process fast and easy. Everything is 100% online, so you can get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and even get same day coverage. There's no medical exam. Just a few simple health questions. You can get up to $3 million in coverage, and some policies start as low as $30 a month. As of March 2025, Business Insider named Ethos the 1 no Medical Exam Instant Life Insurance Provider and Ethos has 4.8 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot with over 3,000 reviews. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos now by going to ethos.com sports in as little as 10 minutes, you can get your free quote and up to $3 million in [e-mail] sports. That's E T H O s.com sports ethos.com sports application times and rates may vary.

[Alan Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Alan Hahn]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Don Hahn]

See us live from the Irish exit at Moynihan train hall, Friday, March 13 before the semifinal round of the Big East Tournament. Stop by before heading into the Garden or before your commute home. Be part of the college hoops energy. See the show up close and feel the Big east buzz in person. You'll be live we'll be live from the Irish exit at Moynihan Train station starting at 3pm Friday, March 13, just steps away from Madison Square Garden Penn Station. Brought to you by Sun Cruiser Ice Tea, Vodka, Sam Adams and Schweppes. I'm thinking about it. I don't know what the exact date was, Alan, of our last broadcast for the Big east at Moynihan, but it's got to be at that time, around a year since we had Richard of Manhattan swing by.

[Alan Hahn]

Yep, that's right. He came by here live appearance.

[Don Hahn]

Kind of crazy. Now I'm sure obviously you saw this Alan and Michael. I'm being performative saying they got into it, but you know, tanking was the topic of conversation on K show, which you can hear Monday through Friday from one to three here on ESPN New York. And Allen's had the idea or the NBA the idea of of allotting a certain money to be able to allocate towards your picks. And now Michael didn't seem to like that idea. He likes the idea that I had thrown out there years ago of the making it to the play and the last play in team gets the first pick. Encourage you to try to make deals and win games. The incentive should be to win games. And this all came from Matt Ishbia, who is the owner of the Suns and correct me If I'm wrong, Alan, he used to play well.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, he was. He was on. Yeah, he was on a Michigan State team.

[Don Hahn]

Right. So about the topic of tanking says this is ridiculous. Tanking is losing behavior done by losers. Purposely losing is something nobody should want to be associated with. Embarrassing for the league and for the organizations. And the talk about this as a strategy is ridiculous. And I couldn't agree more. Yeah, but it's become an issue. It's become a real problem. And Alan, the NBA is trying to address this and there's a bunch of ideas. There was your idea, which I thought was terrific, and then even Michael's idea. Just incentivize winning under your system. I've got an allotment of money and I could spend it. I understand big market, small market, but I thought your retort was pretty good. It's like, listen, I'm a good team and I'm deep at point guard and the best player coming out of the draft is a point guard. Well then I'm not going to allot that money to draft a point guard.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, it doesn't make sense for me to do that. Like that's what I was trying to explain to Michael because that was his counter to what I said was he said, well then all the big markets will dominate. No one will want to go to small markets. And I said that's not true because we already have a roster. Like I'll give, here's an example. Like give me like Luka is in la. A player coming out of college who might be like a ball dominant player might not want to go because Luke is going to be in that. That's my spot. Like I'm a, I'm a guard. I wouldn't fit well with him. It's different teams you can look at and say I wouldn't fit there. They already have a guy. And then he said, well, they can just trade that guy. In the NBA, it's. If you are a good team. It's really hard to make trades with big money contracts. Now as you know, my other counter is every year I can't just give 10, let's say it's $10 million. I can't keep giving $10 million every year to the best player. And I'm just going to load up on all these great players because I also again have a team. And therefore we know there's a second apron that makes it so difficult. So you keep adding money without getting rid of money. And how am I doing that year after year? And I'm just going to get every great player in college. No, it's not going to work that way. There will be plenty to go around. And as I said, if you run what this does in my. What my plan. I feel like a politician. What my plan does.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Here we go.

[Alan Hahn]

As you see, what we do is your family. Yeah, we look forward, we look take care of your family. We lower prices. No, you have to be a well run organization. You have to do what colleges do. I bring you in, I show you my facilities, you meet my coaches, you look at our roster, we tell you how you'd fit and then we can come up with a number. If I have 10 million to spend on all my draft picks and you're like, well, you know, Chicago is going to give me all 10, you have to come up with whether or not you're willing to do that. That's one, two. If your facilities suck. And he's like, I'd rather go to Chicago because, you know, Indiana, I don't really love your facilities. Like, I don't really love living here. I don't. I'm not really impressed with what you have for your players, whatever it is that can happen. So you can choose to go to Memphis because, man, they've really invested in this franchise. They have a beautiful facility. It's a great place to. You could find reasons why. Not everybody wants to go to a big market. Not everybody wants to live in a big market. So I think it's the best way to do it because it forces teams to stop being so pathetic and make sure that you are on your P's and Q's, that you have a great facility, that you have a culture with your team, that you have a good fan base. Your arena is up to snuff. The locker room is what it should be. Trust me. These guys care about all that stuff. And that makes you better. It forces the team to be better. Instead of going, yeah, we're just going to lose, we're going to suck, and then we're going to going to get the number one pick and you're going to have to play for us. You have no choice. You have to come here. Zion, I'm telling you, he's lying. He never wanted to go to New Orleans. Never. He was stunned when they won the lottery. You saw his face. They went right to him. When, when New Orleans won the lottery, he was like, you know, it was like, scooby Doo, that's where I'm going.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

And he's faked it ever since because they Keep giving him money. And they're not. But it's just such a real thing that makes franchises. It forces them to be better. Done. That's why I like this plan. Now I know I'm going on one last thing. Michael's playing. What I didn't like is, while I like the idea of it forces you to want to win and be successful. The seventh seed, if that's on the line, the last game of the season, whether I'm sixth or seventh, what would you do?

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Would you want to win that game and be top six and play the number three seed, or would you be. You know what? I'll be the seventh seed. I'll play the two seed. Yeah. I got to play an extra game, but so what? But I know I'm going to get the number one pick, right?

[Don Hahn]

But I guess Michael's point was, well, at least you're not tanking all year. You might. You might. Because that's what happens in football, right? You're not tanking all year. But maybe that last game.

[Alan Hahn]

Come on. But that still makes a farce of it. What heights? So the team that's in the seventh seed goes. I don't want to win this either.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. And then what do you have? The last game of the season where there's a team, you know, competing for the one seed and they get handed the one seed because the team that wants to finish eighth instead of seventh or whatever decides, I'm going to tank it.

[Alan Hahn]

It can't make a compromise.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It could be the worst. It could end up being the worst case.

[Alan Hahn]

So my plan doesn't.

[Don Hahn]

Televised game, right?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. Yeah. And so the plan I had doesn't affect the regular season whatsoever. It doesn't. It doesn't make you want to lose or win. It doesn't do anything to the games, has no impact on. On competition, because in the end, we all have the same amount of money and it's up to, how good do you look? How good can you make your franchise attractive and appealing? And if you have a spot that you have a need here, whereas not everybody's going to have a need for a point guard or a center or whatever it is, because you might have a guy that's locked in, you got him last year, or sign him as a free agent, whatever it is. So I just feel. I was telling my guy. I just feel like my plan just makes more sense now.

[Don Hahn]

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like either of those plans are being considered by the NBA. Shams tweeted earlier this afternoon, multiple Sources with knowledge of the Thursday GM meetings, as well as a late January competition committee meeting told ESPN that the following concepts have been discussed to curb tanking. Here they are. You ready? All right. First round picks can be protected. Only top four or top 14 plus.

[Alan Hahn]

Stupid. Okay, that's dumb. Get it out.

[Don Hahn]

All right. Lottery odds freeze at the trade deadline or at a later date. Mmm.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. I don't know how that changes anything.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Lottery. Well, because once. Well, but who wants to tank, Earl?

[Alan Hahn]

I mean, from the jump, because, you know, you suck. Because Indiana didn't have Tyrese Halliburton, they knew they weren't going to be good. They started trading off assets.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But that's a specific sort of tanking.

[Alan Hahn]

But. But still, you know, like. All right, keep going. Don't.

[Don Hahn]

No longer allowing a team to pick top four in consecutive years and. Or after consecutive bottom three finishes.

[Alan Hahn]

I like that. All right, that's.

[Don Hahn]

I like that too.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, good.

[Don Hahn]

Peter on that one.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, I'm fine with that one.

[Don Hahn]

All right.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, don't keep sucking.

[Don Hahn]

Teams can't pick top four the year after making conference finals. So that, like Indiana, like Indiana would not be able to get the top pick because they went to the conference. They went to the. They went to the NBA finals. So what that is. I lose Tatum, I lose Halliburton, I can't win. So I'm just going to tank and then I get those guys back. Plus the top pick.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right. Again, I like that. It seems very specific, like almost based to this year practically. But I got an issue with it.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, it generally won't matter. I wouldn't.

[Alan Hahn]

It wouldn't affect that much. But it is enough.

[Don Hahn]

But it is. Listen, it happened Indiana, what do we call it?

[Alan Hahn]

A gap year? It keeps the gap.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It avoids that.

[Don Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Should that situation.

[Don Hahn]

It is interesting that that comes up because if. If the, you know, the Pacers go to the conference final and lose Halliburton, the Celtics very easily could have went to the conference final. Lose Tatum.

[Alan Hahn]

Yep.

[Don Hahn]

And like, oh, we're not going to win. So let's just tank and then we'll really be able to.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, let's see.

[Don Hahn]

Lottery odds allocated based on two year records. So now you. Are you willing to go out there and tank two straight seasons?

[Alan Hahn]

Well, it also. Then it means if you were. But if you were pretty good last year and then this year you're just. Absolutely just pulling the plug. It way. Like it's weighted to a point where you're not as bad as you thought you were.

[Don Hahn]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

Like you. It's what it is is these are the one year tanks that they're trying to avoid.

[Don Hahn]

Now. Now here's a lot.

[Alan Hahn]

They've already addressed the long term one with this, which means no consecutive years.

[Don Hahn]

Now these last two are the most interesting to me.

[Alan Hahn]

All right. Good.

[Don Hahn]

Lottery extended to include all play in team lottery. Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay.

[Don Hahn]

All right. So I'm gonna.

[Peter Rosenberg]

At least you're not avoiding the play in.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, I can get to the play in, but I at least know that I could still get the pick.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. And that that's what some teams that were in the. In the 10th spot, it was the debate of do I want a play in game where I'm gonna lose or do I want to fall one spot and be in the lottery and have a chance at least of getting a pick. Even now they're removing that as a. As a, you know, which one do I want? The lesser of two evils. Now they eliminate that. That's not bad either.

[Don Hahn]

But do I get still get to be in the lottery if I make a run? Remember it was a few years ago, Miami was a playing team.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, yeah. Well, if you're a play in team, you're a playing team. Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

You could do what Miami did.

[Alan Hahn]

It's a good call on. You could do it.

[Don Hahn]

Miami still be in the lottery.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay.

[Don Hahn]

Now this one I think is also interesting that you could probably do, including the last one, flatten odds for all lottery teams.

[Alan Hahn]

What does that mean?

[Don Hahn]

That means everybody's got the same odds.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, so anybody can just miss the playoff.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No point in tank all the way.

[Alan Hahn]

Because Powerball. Right. It's Powerball.

[Don Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's just a even lottery.

[Don Hahn]

So do I want to lose every game? All I know, but you still have the tanking of. I just want to make sure that this could actually make more teams tank. Right. Like all I have to do is miss the playoffs.

[Alan Hahn]

So that's be in the playing. It's flat.

[Don Hahn]

Right? Right.

[Alan Hahn]

If they're including the play.

[Don Hahn]

I don't know if those are two separate. I think they, they're actually listed as two separate things. But I think if you include the playing teams and then make it flat, I think they have to be together. I think they have to be joined at the hip. All right. Because if I just do the last one without the plans, you could get teams that'll. All right. They won't tank to be the worst team, but they will still tank to make sure they're one of the ten that miss. But if I include the play ins

[Alan Hahn]

some of these, if not all. Like, obviously I don't think it'll be all but, but a lot of these might be like because Adam told them in the, in the meeting that they had that they will make rule changes for next season. So these are things discussed. So some of these are actually going to going to be put into effect next year. Which ones do we think should definitely be on the table, right?

[Don Hahn]

1-800-919-3776. Do you like it? Which ones do you like? Which ones do you don't like? Ens go at 6 o'. Clock? No, I, I think anything the fact that the NBA is acknowledging this I think is very, very important because they realize that this, this is a problem and I hope they do something that the other sports also think about doing as well.

[Commercial Announcer]

If you've shopped online, chances are you've bought from a business powered by Shopify. You know that purple shop pay button you see at checkout? The one that makes buying so incredibly easy? That's Shopify. And there's a reason so many businesses sell with it. Because Shopify makes it incredibly easy to start and run your business. Shopify is the commerce platform behind 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started. Shopify gives you a leg up with hundreds of beautiful ready to go templates to express your brand style and forget about the code. Tackle all those important tasks in one place. From inventory to payments to analytics and more. Spread your brand's word with built in marketing and email tools to find and keep new customers. And did I mention that iconic purple shop pay button that's used by millions of businesses around the world? It's why Shopify is the best converting checkout on the planet. Your customers already love it. If you want to see less carts being abandoned, it's time for you to head over to Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.comnetwork. go to shopify.comnetwork shopify.comnetwork as you know, managing maintenance, repair and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by.

[Alan Hahn]

I like things my way. My coffee, my schedule and my trip treatment.

[Commercial Announcer]

So I talked to my doctor about self injecting with the Vivgard Hytrulo pre

[Alan Hahn]

filled syringe which contains fgartegamide alpha and hyaluronidase qvfc.

[Commercial Announcer]

It's injected under your skin subcutaneously.

[Alan Hahn]

It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment myway visit vivgardmyway.com that's

[Commercial Announcer]

V-Y-V-G-A-R-T myway.com and talk to your doctor about Vivgard Hytrulo. Brought to you by Argenx

[Alan Hahn]

thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Alan Hahn]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Don Hahn]

There are a lot of reasons why people buy at Ramsey Mazda. It's their selection, it's their customer service and it's their savings. Lisa New 2026 Mazda CX 52.5 S Select with all wheel drive for $219 for 33 months or buy with 1.9% APR financing for 36 months. Start shopping now at Ramsey Mazda dot com. Choose wisely. Choose Ramsey Mazda. Call 833-853-2970 for lease details Vint N 466016 MSRP $32,010 0 Security deposit APR at $26.60 per month $1,000 financed ends 3226 let's hear from you. 1-800-919-3776 Ways to fix tanking Patrick and Huntington. You're on ESPN New York. What's up man?

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

What's going on fellas? So what if they did a tournament for the bottom team?

[Don Hahn]

But you're I the problem with that, Patrick, and I've heard it before, if I'm a free agent, what would I care? Yeah, or what if the best player coming out of the draft plays my position? What's going to motivate me to want to help the team win? You know, I understand you. Don't you ever give up? But like if you know you're leaving at the end of the season, why would you put out in that game?

[Alan Hahn]

I don't care about winning that.

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

Yeah, but that's going to be the same thing for the 11th team to the ninth team for the play in. Like it's going to incentivize a guy a little bit to play Better to get to the playoffs to maybe catch more attention. But if you plan on leaving, why would you risk injury, which is going to greatly diminish your contract value when

[Don Hahn]

you're a free agent.

[Alan Hahn]

No, no, no, no, no. You're an athlete. You play to win. So you're playing. It doesn't diminish.

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

Why wouldn't you.

[Alan Hahn]

Why am I risking. I'm not risking injury. I'm playing to win.

[Don Hahn]

Well, because if. Because I'm on a team.

[Alan Hahn]

I have a contract with this team. And now you're asking me to play in a tournament to see if I can win a lottery for a draft pick of a. And the player that you might take is going to take my job.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't have any interest in that. But by the way, what we don't need, though. What we don't need my opinion. It's just my opinion. We don't need any more, as Don would say, fakacta tournaments. All right? We don't need any more of this. They don't need another tournament. Like, it just. The playoffs are what matters. The lottery and the draft and all that stuff is important for an off season. What we're trying to do is remove the regular season as a deciding factor of what draft pick I get. That's what we're trying to do.

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

But the same way as the players under that contract to play, to win.

[Don Hahn]

How.

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

And how is that any different to get into the playoffs as opposed to.

[Alan Hahn]

Because I'm getting in the playoffs. Because I'm getting in the playoffs.

[Don Hahn]

Right? I'm getting in the playoffs. Or like right now maybe that the coach is going to bench me because. And I'm. And I accept it because I know I'm under contract for a couple more years and they're going to bring in a player that's going to make my team better. But under these circumstances, I just don't know if you make it seem like these guys are going to go all out at the end of the season after the season's already been over.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

To determine where they're going to draft. I just don't think you're going to be able to motivate a player to do that.

[Alan Hahn]

No, no.

[Don Hahn]

At least enough of them to make it interesting.

[Alan Hahn]

We already make fun of the NBA Cup. We already make fun of that. What do you. What is it? Is it a real thing now? It's like we're going to celebrate. You are. You are the lottery champions. You get the number one pick. Like, if we said this too. You really want to make the NBA cup matter? Put lottery in that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's interesting.

[Don Hahn]

If you win the cup, you win the pick.

[Alan Hahn]

No, I don't know if you win the pick, but like, I think the way you. The way you finish in the NBA cup, meaning wins and losses, I think maybe you get extra percentages of chance to win if you win the whole thing. But if you have a certain record, it's an X amount of percent chance you could win the lottery. And therefore, if you are just one of these teams that just went 0, 3 or 0 and 4, whatever it is, in pool play and had no chance.

[Don Hahn]

Sorry, I just don't like to. Even if you're not tanking, I don't like to reward teams for being bad at what they do.

[Alan Hahn]

I agree.

[Don Hahn]

You're awful, you're mismanaged, and I get to hand you the best player in the draft. In some years, it doesn't matter. But if you get a Connor McDavid, if you get a Sidney Crosby, if you get a LeBron James, you get a Michael Jordan.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

And now he's stuck going to a team that has no idea what they're doing. They never win. And the idea is, well, this is going to turn the franchise around. And in Cleveland, it did with LeBron James and it did with Edmonton and Connor McDavid. Eventually you realize the Edmonton Oilers, Peter, there was. There were a couple of years where they had four. Four first overall picks on their roster

[Peter Rosenberg]

playing, meaning every year it's doing nothing.

[Don Hahn]

So four times. All right, now Connor McDavid was one of those four, and Leon Draisaitl was one of those four. So it worked out, and now they're a really good team eventually. But it's like, dude, you suck for so long now eventually you got it right after four tries. What's now Jakopov doing these days? Come on, Nail. Yakubov was one.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, my God.

[Don Hahn]

And Taylor hall, those were the four.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

It's like, how many kicks of the can do you get? How many? I'm taking the can away. Stop it.

[Alan Hahn]

You know what, though? The pushback on this stuff's amazing because there's so many people that just feel like it's the only way to get good. And I said, no, you're giving up. You're saying, I can't do it, can't do it. So you have to do it for me. You want the handout from the league to save you because you, as a general manager or an owner, couldn't figure it out and you made a mess of your roster. And now what you're hoping for is to get the savior that gives you a reason to be able to sell tickets and sell hope while you continue to mismanage the roster around them. That GM should be fired, not rewarded with a, with a lottery pick to save their job.

[Don Hahn]

And, and yet you see successful franchises. You know, did Golden State tank to their dynasty? Curry was taking what like 13?

[Alan Hahn]

No, he was taking nine. Eighth or eighth.

[Don Hahn]

And Giannis was taking like 15.

[Alan Hahn]

15. Yeah. Well, Kawhi in the teens, right?

[Don Hahn]

And then, okay, Thompson get where they are.

[Alan Hahn]

Think about it. That team, that first championship team, they had Harrison Barnes, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green. That was their core. Young players that they built with to take them to the promised land. Who do you think the highest draft pick was of the four players I named?

[Don Hahn]

Don't know.

[Alan Hahn]

Harrison Barnes.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. Yeah, there you go. And he wasn't a splash, brother. Where was Joker taken a second round. So like it's a cheat code. And Philadelphia is still waiting for the process to pay dividends.

[Alan Hahn]

Right? You know, he's not playing. He has shin soreness.

[Don Hahn]

It is amazing.

[Alan Hahn]

That's unreal. Unreal.

[Don Hahn]

Jim in New Jersey, you're on espn New York.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Hey, Jimbo.

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

Hey guys. I can fix the tanking problem by doing this. The one. Once a team is eliminated from postseason contention, every game they win after that date that happens, they get extra ping pong balls. So let's say a team's eliminated from playoff contention, they win 10 more games, you either double or triple, you know, times two, however many balls that is. Secondly, they get an extended trade deadline so they can make trades at any point through the season to help them win games in order to improve their draft odds.

[Don Hahn]

It is interesting.

[Caller (Jason 'J' Scott)]

And third, the last thing is their salaries on trades don't have to match. So for example, if there is, it ends the contract buyouts and waivers. So if they want to take on salary and go over the cap, they don't get taxed or fined on it.

[Alan Hahn]

You'll have teams that are build for next year that will tank for one year just so they can make trades and sign players. And then next year be good. Like I, I like it because we're all trying to think outside the box. But yo, that's.

[Don Hahn]

But, but the beginning part I like.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, you want to try to incentivize hard play and effort and staying competitive, which is hard. Which is hard to do.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, I just want to know that both teams are on the court trying to win. As bad as the matchup is like tonight's matchup, Nets and Cavs, not good for the Nets. The Nets are tanking. So they don't care.

[Alan Hahn]

They don't care.

[Don Hahn]

But I want to know that. I want to know that the Nets, even though they're not as good as Cleveland, are trying to win the game.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, here's the thing. Have. I don't think anyone has been eliminated yet from playoff contention.

[Don Hahn]

Okay. And there's 27 games left.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, there's no. Yeah, I'm looking on the standings because there's a mark that says eliminated. And despite the fact that like Sacramento's 12 and 44 technically have not been eliminated yet. So you're this deep into the season and there are teams that are openly tanking and they're still not eliminated yet. Which means what? That, that theory would be really difficult because it would. I mean, how many games we talking about?

[Don Hahn]

And also there would be an incentive to tank early to be eliminated, to give you more games to win to get the pick.

[Alan Hahn]

Go Owen41.

[Don Hahn]

That's the problem. I just. Because I'm just thinking about it, I'm like, it's not a bad idea. But now teams are going to tank and then they get eliminated with 30 games left. All right, now they're going to go all out. But what about the first 50? Because their incentive. I want more games to win, to get more ping pong balls. No, it's nice try. I love it. I love the effort.

[Alan Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don Hahn]

I don't want to know how the

[Alan Hahn]

sausage is made, man. I just want to know. Sounds good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 880 ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers from 30 for 30 podcasts.

[Don Hahn]

Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami. Gun down. The key to this case.

[Alan Hahn]

It's Brian.

[Rich Eisen]

An hour before he died, he was

[Alan Hahn]

on the phone arguing with somebody.

[Rich Eisen]

This might be a hit.

[Alan Hahn]

You want the truth?

[Rich Eisen]

They just want a conviction.

[Don Hahn]

Being placed under arrest. We had a killer amongst us.

[Rich Eisen]

Murder at the U. Listen now.