Hour 3: Shorter NBA Season?

Summary

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – Hour 3: Shorter NBA Season?

ESPN New York | March 10, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the ongoing debate over the length of the NBA season, prompted by recent comments from Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who suggested shortening the regular season for the benefit of players’ health and league competitiveness. The discussion expands to include broader questions about load management, playoff incentives, fan expectations, and whether reducing the number of games would actually improve the game. The hosts Adam Hahn, Peter Rosenberg, and Don La Greca share candid takes, peppered with humor, anecdotes, and comparisons to other major sports. They also engage with listeners on the topic, dissecting the challenges and cultural shifts in modern professional basketball.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Steve Kerr’s Call for Fewer NBA Games

• Steve Kerr’s Statement (08:04–08:36):
  • Kerr argues the NBA should cut 10 games from its current 82-game schedule for the sake of player health and a more competitive league, recognizing this would require sacrificing some revenue.
  • Quote: "We need to play fewer games. We need to take 10 games off the schedule...it would be a more competitive and healthier league if we played fewer." – Steve Kerr (08:04)

2. Are Players Really Overworked, or is it the Culture?

• Rosenberg & Don Hahn question whether today’s NBA players actually endure more physical stress, given advances in medicine and recovery technology.

  • Don argues that while today’s play is faster and features more athletic movements (like the eurostep), players have far better resources to heal and recover compared to previous generations.
  • Quote: "The wear and tear on soft tissue injuries...a lot more done on the joints because of the way these—the euro step is probably one of the most dangerous things to knees and ankles you can imagine." – Don Hahn (09:33)
  • Still, Don notes that, paradoxically, despite all this, today’s players sit out more games than stars of the past.

• Culture Shift:

  • Rosenberg suggests the regular season’s perceived lack of importance is the main reason stars rest so much: “Their regular season doesn't matter, and these players don't want to play 82 games when most of their games don't matter to them.” (10:16)

3. The Revenue Argument & “Cake and Eat It Too”

• Stephen A. Smith’s Take (10:51–11:51):
  • Calls out NBA players and coaches for wanting a reduced workload without discussing corresponding reductions in pay.
  • Quote: “Don’t talk about what’s good for the game while talking about keeping the money...Your argument would be far more profound if Steve Kerr came out and said, you know what? Let’s give back some of these monies...and let’s subtract 10 games worth of pay for this.” – Stephen A. Smith (11:07)

4. Comparisons to Other Sports

• Hockey & Baseball:

  • Stephen A. and the hosts point out NHL players log fewer minutes but at a higher intensity, and MLB, while long at 162 games, is less physically taxing.
  • Major sports with shorter seasons, like the NFL, enjoy higher urgency and more meaningful regular-season games.

• Tanking & Playoff Structure:

  • Widespread tanking (10 of 30 NBA teams) and a hefty playoff field (20 teams) lessen regular season urgency, further fueling load management.

5. Is the 82-Game Season Outdated?

• Fan and Player Perspectives:
  • The hosts note that only a handful of NBA players appear in every game—very few of whom are true “stars.” (17:11)
  • Memorable Statistic: "Six. And none of them are stars. None of them." – Don Hahn on active ironmen in the NBA (17:11)
  • They see the NBA bending over backward (e.g., setting 65-game award minimums) to simply get stars on the floor 80% of the time.

6. Load Management – Players or Teams?

• Caller Allen from the Bronx (24:25):
  • Argues that, outside of clear tanking situations, NBA stars want to play but are held back by team-imposed load management.
  • The hosts respond by again highlighting how few stars truly play every night—and how the culture around sitting out has shifted.

7. Player Health After Retirement – Does It Justify Fewer Games?

• Players’ Longevity and Welfare (27:00+):
  • Alan and Don acknowledge that older, bigger players sometimes struggle with injuries, but the physical risks can't be compared to football, where the risk to life and long-term health is much greater.
  • Rosenberg points out that, as a fan, hearing players talk about “saving themselves” for life after basketball is hard to accept given their salaries and the fans' expectations for sacrifice.

8. Would Fewer Games Actually Help the Sport?

• Urgency & Quality:

  • Don and Rosenberg argue that fewer games would boost competitiveness, attendance, and ratings, citing how the NFL's short season fuels urgency.
  • Quote: “When you have those shortened seasons like we had with lockouts—'99 and 2011—the shortened season puts more urgency into the games.” – Don Hahn (30:09)

• Proposed Structures:

  • Discuss a 52-game NBA season with games only on weekends to maximize health, practice time, and competitive intensity (32:22–32:42).
  • Alan raises a caution that, even with fewer games, habits could creep in over time and players might still rest unless the culture changes.

9. Broader Implications – Would This Work in Baseball or Hockey?

• The group speculates about what it would look like to slash baseball’s season to 82 games or even mirror the NFL’s 17-game urgency, but recognize the historical/statistical significance and entrenched traditions.

• Quote: “Baseball could be 82 and you wouldn’t notice it. Cut it in half, you wouldn’t know.” – Don Hahn (40:31)

• Alan and Rosenberg also discuss how the frequency of games taxes fans and broadcasters, particularly during long home stands or when West Coast teams play early games on the East Coast, hurting ratings and attendance (43:05+).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Player Rest Culture:
  • “Once it starts to happen [load management], then everybody else is like, ‘Oh yeah, I think we need that.’ And now it becomes a thing...It’s impossible to put the toothpaste back in the tube.” – Don Hahn (14:22)
• On Fan Expectation vs. Player Self-Preservation:
  • “I don’t want to hear that guy did load management...or didn’t dive for that loose ball because he’s thinking about 20 years from now...” – Rosenberg (29:44)
• On the “Weekend Basketball” Concept:
  • “If you only had games from Thursday to Sunday, you’d have a 52ish game season...there’d be no back-to-backs. Every game would be life or death.” – Don Hahn (32:22)
• On the NBA’s Lowered Standards:
  • “We’re saying to you, ‘please, please, just play 80% of the games. Don’t even play a hundred.’ We continue to lower the standard.” – Don Hahn (19:02)
• On Why Fans Love Football’s Format:
  • “Football is popular because every game means something. Because there’s only 17 of them, soon to be 18, by the way.” – Rosenberg (12:29)
• On Historical Stat Importance in Baseball:
  • “The problem is it throws off the whole concept of a series...and people would freak out because there is a component to the numbers, the religion.” – Alan (40:49)
• Comic Relief:
  • Extended riffing on cartoon mascots, Acme anvils, and the cartoon “Wile E. Coyote.” (04:00–05:00)
  • Jokes about hosting the White House (“Don and Stephen A. Smith 2028!”), campaign slogans, and Dan Quayle spelling “potato.” (44:40+)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:24 – Show opens; banter about local hockey and college sports, running gags about mascots.
• 08:04 – Steve Kerr’s audio on shortening NBA season.
• 10:12-13:20 – Debate on load management and the regular season’s value; Stephen A. Smith’s interjection.
• 17:11-19:02 – Stats: How few NBA players are “ironmen” and the impact of award eligibility rules.
• 24:23 – Caller Allen from the Bronx on load management.
• 27:00 – Discussion about the impact of long careers on player health.
• 29:44 – Fan expectations for player sacrifice vs. the reality of player health.
• 30:09–34:08 – Pros/cons of shorter seasons, possible schedules (weekends only), urgency in sports.
• 37:51–38:53 – Listener story about hypothetical “16-game baseball season” to illustrate missed urgency in long seasons.
• 40:31–43:36 – How scheduling and TV impacts attendances and ratings; practical impacts of shortening any season.

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Tone and Style

The conversation is lively, candid, and sports-bar conversational, characterized by humor, sharp observations, nostalgia for earlier eras, and tough-love critiques aimed at both players and league decision-makers. The hosts mix storytelling, stat-citing, and cultural critique, keeping the discussion broad and accessible even as they dive into the weeds of NBA labor and schedule politics.

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TL;DR

The hosts dig into whether the NBA would truly benefit from a shorter regular season, as Steve Kerr suggested, and whether load management is driven by player laziness, organizational policy, or just a devalued regular season. They contrast how other leagues handle long schedules and discuss whether some of the NBA’s cultural shifts can ever be undone. Their consensus is that fewer games might actually spark more meaningful competition and higher fan interest—but it would take a sea change in priorities, finance, and tradition to make it happen in any major sport.

Transcript

[Don Hahn]

Shot clocks, big shots, upsets, aces. TGL playoffs are here.

[Commercial Announcer]

First Atlanta drives.

[Don Hahn]

Starts their repeat run against Los Angeles Golf Club. Then Rory's Boston Common golf and Tigers

[Commercial Announcer]

Jupiter Lynx face off in their playoff debuts. Who will advance?

[Don Hahn]

Keep up its playoffs.

[Commercial Announcer]

Tune in Tuesday, March 17th at 6:30pm

[Don Hahn]

and 9:00pm only on ESPN and the ESPN app. This is the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Rosenberg]

That sounds like heaven to me.

[Don Hahn]

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

[Rosenberg]

Game time is brought to you by Tullamardu Irish Whiskey. Because when it's game time, It's poly time. That was nice hockey. Ron J. Tonight their home against the Calgary Flames. My wife was saying, how come when you were in Calgary, Bryce Salvador kept saying Calgary? I said, because that's a. That's the way the Canadians say Calgary. They say Detroit and Calgary.

[Alan]

Everybody says Detroit.

[Rosenberg]

That's a thing I don't know of every Canadian, but that's just the way it's a certain accent, I guess. I don't know. You know, I'd love being Canadian. True. So that's on 8:80 at 6:30. Right after us. The Islanders are in St. Louis to take on the Blues at 7:30 and the Nets host the Pistons at 7:30. Liu is taking on Mercyhurst and that is in the NEC championship. 7 o'.

[Caller/Listener]

Clock.

[Rosenberg]

And you can catch that on ESPN too. That's what Alan's going to be doing

[Alan]

to you and me.

[Rosenberg]

Little flip flop. Between that and the Islanders and the Blues?

[Don Hahn]

Absolutely. Fins up, baby.

[Rosenberg]

They beat the Sharks. That was a nice win.

[Don Hahn]

Well, that's after losses, so I use the Sharks.

[Rosenberg]

I wasn't paying attention today. I'm sorry.

[Don Hahn]

What do you mean they clinched there in the dance?

[Rosenberg]

No, I just don't know. Their nickname was the Sharks. Does that make me a bad. I guess it makes me a bad guy.

[Don Hahn]

We shouted it out yesterday, but you were not here.

[Rosenberg]

Shout out to our friend's up.

[Don Hahn]

Confused.

[Alan]

Me first.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. God forbid though, if I had anything to say about Ramapo dumped, it'd be over. Oh, it'd be dumped.

[Alan]

I've said plenty about.

[Rosenberg]

Did I say anything negative? Yeah, him and Michael.

[Don Hahn]

I didn't watch.

[Rosenberg]

Can't go.

[Don Hahn]

I wasn't paying attention. Oh, so sorry. Sorry we're not on your radar.

[Rosenberg]

No, this is how much I paid attention.

[Don Hahn]

Okay, big deal. Is that be in the tournament.

[Rosenberg]

He's an Islander guy. Look at me at Ramapo actually doing a read and it was years ago. I don't know what Year it was, Allen was filling in for Michael. The Islanders needed to win, like, a bunch of games down the stretch to make the playoffs. And Allen said, just like finding Emo. Just keep swimming. Yeah, just keep swimming. So that's always been in my head, and I use it sometimes, too. I think it's great. I don't know if it was yours. You stole it. Who knows? But I. I give you credit for it. Just keep swimming, people. Just keep winning. Keep swimming.

[Alan]

That's right.

[Rosenberg]

So when I'm talking about The Islanders in St. Louis, take on the blues after, you know, they went against. He says, fins up. So I was immediately drawn to. All right, is that what the Islanders are using now? Like, fins up? Not knowing that I use the Sharks.

[Alan]

Totally get it.

[Rosenberg]

I wouldn't get it, but now he thinks I was disrespecting Liu. What's. What is Ramapo? What's there?

[Don Hahn]

Ah, the moose blasphemer.

[Rosenberg]

No, they're the Roadrunners.

[Don Hahn]

You think Ramapho.

[Rosenberg]

And just like Liu, there's not a roadrunner to be found on campus, and there's no shark to be found on campus. Well, at least it's an.

[Alan]

That's closer.

[Don Hahn]

We have sharks.

[Alan]

They're closer to it.

[Don Hahn]

Jesus.

[Rosenberg]

Well, I think it's just the R thing, and I don't know. Can you have a roadrunner in New Jersey? Can you look that up?

[Alan]

What is a roadrunner? Is a roadrunner a real animal?

[Don Hahn]

Me? Me?

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

They're just smaller than the cartoon. That's too bad.

[Rosenberg]

I. I can't. You're saying the cartoon wasn't based in reality? Listen, are you telling me. Are you telling me there isn't a company called Acme?

[Don Hahn]

I believe it. There is Acme.

[Rosenberg]

I know, but they sell food.

[Don Hahn]

You know, there was a company called Acme.

[Rosenberg]

But do they make. What was that thing? The.

[Don Hahn]

The anvil.

[Rosenberg]

The anvil. Is there. Is there an Acme Anvil? Is there an Acme Dynamite Company?

[Caller/Listener]

Wow.

[Rosenberg]

That poor Coyote, man. Let it work. Let it work. First of all, the Coyote or the Generals taking on the Harlem Globetrotters.

[Don Hahn]

I'll tell you what, the resiliency that Wiley showed was inspiration.

[Alan]

You call him by his first name?

[Don Hahn]

I've known him for a long time.

[Alan]

Yeah. Wiley. You don't go by Coyote?

[Rosenberg]

You know what his nickname was, but he called himself when he ever. He went full name Genius. Yeah, Wiley Coyote. Super genius.

[Don Hahn]

Super genius.

[Rosenberg]

Lost a little when he started talking. I like this. The silent.

[Alan]

No, I don't know. He ever started talking.

[Don Hahn]

No. The silent ones were better. Just the music.

[Alan]

I did not know he ever talked.

[Don Hahn]

And the. Meep, meep, of course. Well, no.

[Alan]

Meep, meep, meep, meep doesn't count.

[Don Hahn]

That was very important.

[Rosenberg]

But the logo of the Roadrunner is not from the cartoon.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

Hey, did you see there were dolphins today in the East River?

[Don Hahn]

No.

[Alan]

Yeah, I saw that. I saw the dolphins.

[Rosenberg]

It happens on a cage. It's a little early for it to happen when the weather starts to warm up. And apparently the river gets a little cleaner when it starts to warm up. Wow. So there's, like, maybe a few less bodies, I guess. Most people hurl themselves off the bridges in the wintertime, but there were dolphins

[Don Hahn]

frozen for a while.

[Rosenberg]

Are you telling me it's not a thing?

[Don Hahn]

Difficult. It's very much a thing. When we were at Seaport, we saw it, unfortunately, regularly. It was.

[Rosenberg]

I don't even know if that's for the air, but he told me stories when we were at the Seaport.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. I was like, man, there were some tough times. It was kind of. I mean, not kind of. It was actually very. It's very sad, really. Yeah.

[Alan]

When did you guys share this?

[Rosenberg]

When he told me the story. Last playoff run, I. They had me on. What was that? Get up, right? Or. No, I just. I took a tour. No, they weren't gonna put me on the air.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. No, you came. You came and hung out.

[Rosenberg]

No, I came to hang out.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

You know, they put me on the air then. You know that it's ESPN's last day. ESPN, it's like CNN. They're out of it. They've got the End of the world video. It says in the thing, put Don on TV and then play the End of the world video.

[Alan]

That's it.

[Don Hahn]

All right.

[Rosenberg]

So. No, I know. It shows that I actually do have some belief in myself.

[Alan]

Right.

[Rosenberg]

That I actually believed into the. Into the fantasy.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

That I was at the Seaport because I was on Get Up. And then I realized, no, I was just a guest. They were just showing me around.

[Don Hahn]

You had to be somewhere nearby. And I said, come hang out.

[Alan]

Oh, wait, but you didn't actually go on the air. You just went hung out. Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

Oh, that was my big. My big meeting.

[Don Hahn]

Yes.

[Rosenberg]

Over at the fourth season. Big.

[Don Hahn]

It had to work out.

[Alan]

Well, guess what?

[Rosenberg]

It worked out.

[Don Hahn]

It worked out pretty good for you, didn't it did.

[Alan]

I mean, it did.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah. It was like 40. Pretty good.

[Don Hahn]

4.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah, but it worked out. But no. And you had me swing by, and he told me that Swing by and swing in. They're, they're, they're. They're taking bodies out of the river.

[Don Hahn]

It was. Yeah, it's not great.

[Alan]

You've seen that.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan]

You've seen them.

[Don Hahn]

Everything stops.

[Rosenberg]

And that's the Brooklyn Bridge that was there. That is the Brooklyn Bridge. Bridge, I guess, is still like a

[Alan]

thing, a destination for body tossing.

[Don Hahn]

Yes, well. And sometimes it's against your own will.

[Rosenberg]

Oh, what, really? Yeah, yeah, I've had a Soprano situation, I think so.

[Don Hahn]

A few of the boys in blue have suggested that this, this one was not. Not done perfectly.

[Alan]

Yeah, well, it's done purposely by someone.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, well, yeah, it was all right.

[Rosenberg]

Somebody wanted that result.

[Don Hahn]

It was not a. Yeah. It was not self aided.

[Rosenberg]

So this happens every once in a while and it's usually a player, it's usually an analyst. But now we're hearing it again from Steve Kerr, head coach of the Golden State Warriors. Here's what he had to say about the game situation, which apparently it's a situation now, the schedule in the NBA.

[Don Hahn]

I know this will not be popular opinion in the league office, but I will continue to say it because it's obvious we need to play fewer games. We need to take 10 games off the schedule. I think it would be great for the league and I get it. It's revenue and you'd have to get everybody to agree to take a little less money. And that's a really hard thing to do. But what I know about the league about coaching, about how hard it is to play the modern game with the pace and the space, I think it would be a more competitive and healthier league if we played fewer.

[Rosenberg]

It's, it's just. But here's the angle I'm going to take.

[Don Hahn]

What is the reason that you're like you, like. I understand what he's saying, but I don't know what the real reason is. Don't tell me Pace. Because again, what you're comparing and what really bothers me here is that Steve played in the league like he played. He knows the difference because he not only played in the league, now he's coaching for a long time. He knows how different life is. Never mind for the guys in the 70s, the guys in the 90s, and that was him. There's a much different lifestyle that these players enjoy that those players couldn't even fathom because the technology wasn't where it was. The game was more physical, but. But it was slower, but it was still very physical. Now it's faster. So there is a Lot more. The wear and tear on soft tissue injury situations. A lot more done on the joints because of the way these. The aero step is probably one of the most dangerous things to knees and ankles that you can imagine. A lot of the things that players do today that they never did then. So I understand when you're talking about how it's just a faster game and that takes a lot more out of the body. But what I keep arguing is, but the body has a lot more that it can use to repair itself that those players didn't have 30 years ago. How is it not the same? I don't understand it.

[Rosenberg]

I think Curry is just trying to

[Don Hahn]

support his players who are tired.

[Rosenberg]

And the thing that bothers me is if they did decide to give that money back and reduce it to 72 games, are they'll still, oh, now you got to play 55 games in order to be eligible for postseason awards. There'll still be load management. Because their problem is that they don't want to admit it. And I keep circling back to this. Their regular season doesn't matter, and these players don't want to play 82 games when the most of their games don't matter to them. It doesn't matter to them.

[Don Hahn]

You're right. And I hate that you're right, because

[Rosenberg]

here's what Stephen A. Had to say on first day. Here we go.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let me make people very, very uncomfortable with what I'm about to say. I don't hear hockey players talking about playing less games. I don't hear that. I mean, we might talk about. And baseball is obviously not nearly as taxing on the physical body as basketball is.

[Rosenberg]

We understand that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But they also understand that even though they would prefer not to have to play 162 games, they do. When they're reminded that that's why the revenue is what it is, they're like, okay, so I'm just simply saying that you can't have your cake and eat it, too. If you're Steve Kerr, don't talk about what's good for the game while talking about keeping the money if you players or keeping the money if you coaches. Your argument would be far more profound if Steve Kerr came out and said, you know what? Let's give back some of these monies, let's calculate it, let's see what the aggregate is, and let's subtract 10 games worth of pay for this. You would have a more substantial positive argument if you did that. But when you never talk about giving the money back, but you talk about giving some of the workload back. That is more than hypocritical now from

[Rosenberg]

the hockey standpoint, you know, because I've seen some of the comments. Well, they don't play as many minutes. Believe me, the 20 minutes that NHL player plays is way more taxing than the 35, 40 minutes at NBA players. Because a lot of times you just kind of stand in there.

[Don Hahn]

And by the way, Pace,

[Rosenberg]

there's never try to watch.

[Don Hahn]

Try to watch the two sports from the 90s and now, and it's not recognizing.

[Rosenberg]

And listen, Ovechkin might be standing around. Ovechkin's also 40.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

Okay, so most of the guys are going to be skating up and down, but whatever. But here's the dirty little secret nobody wants to say. 20 of your 30 teams make the postseason and the other 10 are tanking. So a player on a tanking team's like, I'm not going to sit there and kill myself. 82 games. We're not trying to win. We can eat less games. And then you got the other teams, they know they're going to the playoffs. They're locked in. They're not good enough to be a 1 seed, but they're not bad enough to be out of the playoffs. So they're like, what am I killing myself for? We're going to be a seven seed, six seed, nine seed, whatever. We don't care. And then the top teams are like, does it really make a difference if I'm one or two or three? We've seen teams not really care about finishing with the best record. Your regular season doesn't matter compared to. Why is football so popular? Football is popular because every game means something. Because there's only 17 of them, soon to be 18, by the way, didn't

[Don Hahn]

we also say that when you get to 18, at some point, some coach is going to decide in the middle of the season when you're playing a bad team. Maybe I don't want to play all my guys.

[Rosenberg]

And baseball. Of the four major sports, the least amount of teams make the postseason. Even though it's starting to grow, still, you don't want to be a wild card team because you're being the best of three. You want to win your division, like so. Those games still mean something. And you can't expect somebody to play all 162. You're not going to get that mad. They may miss a few games here and there, but it's not that big of a deal. All right? Day game after night game, because you're playing so many games, so you almost want to exclude baseball from the conversation. But I understand the diehards. And Allen, I don't mean to, like, rub it in your face because you understand why these games are supposed to matter, but do you really think it has anything to do with pace? Do you really think that they're exhausted? Are they looking at it and saying, hey, these games, the regular season doesn't matter enough for me to bust my ass for 82 games. I'm taking nights off. Sorry. And there's just too many games.

[Don Hahn]

I think it has become part of the culture, and I think it just becomes something that once it starts to happen, it's impossible. What do you guys always used to say? Put the toothpaste back in the tube.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Once it starts to happen, then everybody else like, oh, yeah, I think we need that. And now it becomes a thing. Here's a great example. Jason Tatum, as you know, made his return. J. Todd. Right. Okay. During the weekend. And the first words that were said before the game that he played were words that you didn't believe. And the words were no minutes restriction. Now, how many players do you know that have come back from an injury? And they're always like, well, you know, he's under a minutes restriction. We're going to manage his minutes. And then, well, he's not going to play in the next game. Like, you're always trying to just be careful because it's called ramp up. Right. Ramp him back up. He had no minutes restriction. He has not had a minute's restriction. At least that's what they're saying. So if he's coming back off of an Achilles, generally, like within 10 months of the. Of the surgery. So we're not talking about. He's been off for a year, a year and a half, what the majority of people have done. He came back relatively early with no minutes restriction. But yet players who, you know, sprained an ankle and they missed a week, now they're on a minutes restriction. We're going to ramp them back up. I don't understand how that is all the same, right? Like, why are there rules in that case, but not here? Because I think, why is it that a player can just shut it down and it's fine, or minutes restrictions and all the other stuff. I know what to do with Mitchell Robinson, they're calling it injury manager. You know what they're doing? They're lessening the likelihood that he could injure his ankle again because he's done it twice. And they know the Third time is not good.

[Alan]

Well, if he plays less games, it's less likely to happen during a game. Plus, there's less wear and tear on the body, the combination of both.

[Don Hahn]

And when the playoffs come, guess what? All bets are off.

[Alan]

Yeah, of course, now we're going to go for it.

[Don Hahn]

And if it goes, it goes. But that's what it is. It's hoping. It's just lessening the likelihood. It's playing the percentages. That's all it is. That is not saying. Well, because how do you know that he won't just misstep in a game that he is playing it? You don't. But by taking the games away, you're taking away the likelihood. That's all we're doing here. We're just playing this game. This is the best part. Nobody wants to play anymore every night. Here's a great example. So we know Mikhail Bridges never misses a night, right? So he's up there. There's 66 to 65 games are being played by all the teams so far in the NBA. You know how many players have played 66 or 65 of them?

[Rosenberg]

How many?

[Don Hahn]

Six.

[Rosenberg]

Wow.

[Don Hahn]

Old. And none of them are stars. None of them. How far down the list do I have to go before I find like a superstar? Name somebody that is there. I mean, superstar level. I'm still scrolling. I'm still scrolling.

[Rosenberg]

Wow.

[Don Hahn]

You know, again, some of these are names, you know. Is Carl Anthony Towns a Superstar because he's 32nd on the list of most games played this season.

[Rosenberg]

Star.

[Don Hahn]

That's the first name that comes up. That's like, yeah, 62 games.

[Rosenberg]

It's pretty good, actually.

[Don Hahn]

All right, wait. I'm going to keep going. Jalen Brunson's at 61. He's 40th on the list. All right.

[Rosenberg]

Like big time star.

[Don Hahn]

I am trying to find no other.

[Alan]

So far. No other. Like all NBA level.

[Don Hahn]

Big time star. Big time Terry. What about Jalen Brown? He's also 40.

[Rosenberg]

Where's Jalen Brown?

[Alan]

Yeah, Jalen Brown has to be high.

[Don Hahn]

Still going.

[Alan]

He couldn't have taken off many games this year. Come on.

[Don Hahn]

I'm scrolling. I'm at 76 now on the list players before I'm getting to any of those names that make you go, oh, wait, that's a. That's a star. Star. Donovan Mitchell, 57. He's 95th on the list of players. Jalen Brown, 57, 95th on the list. He's tied even this year.

[Alan]

Jaylo.

[Don Hahn]

Almost go 100 players before you get somebody that's even in the MVP conversation. And that's why they have to make these rules, guys. That's why they have to say 65. Kate Cunningham's at 56, 115 on the list. Why am I doing this? And because I'm trying to make the point that this is a league where if the best players aren't saying I am missing a night, I'm playing every night.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

What are the rest of the players going to say? But yet now we're fighting. It shouldn't be 65 games. That's not right. Why do we make this number? Why do we make this rule? Because we're saying to you, please, Please, just play 80% of the games. Just play 80% of the games. Don't even play a hundred. We're lowering the standard. We continue to with this sport. And the more you do it, the more they're going to take, clearly.

[Rosenberg]

1-800-919-3776. We've got more on this. We also have ENN, which is coming up at 6:00'.

[Don Hahn]

Clock.

[Rosenberg]

And then, of course, we're going to hand it off to the Rangers and the Flames. That's all coming up next. Don Hanna, Rosenberg, we are hanging out with you until 6:30, but I need to let you know it's just like the New Jersey Devils protect their home ice. Viking Pest Control protects your home. And I know because I use Viking at my own place. As the pest control provider and proud partner of the New Jersey devils. Viking brings 45 years of trusted experience and expert service to keep ants, cockroaches, stinging insects, rodents and even mosquitoes out of your zone. Their local team builds a personalized game plan that actually works. And when you bundle pest control with mosquito services, you score big savings. I use them. It's that time of year. It's getting warmer out. The ants are coming back. Some of the bees, hornets. It's time to really look it up. One call, one company. Total peace of mind. Visit vikingpest.com protecting your home inside Smalls

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[Alan]

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[Don Hahn]

thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Don Hahn]

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

[Rosenberg]

Get ready for Rickle ball madness. Friday, March 20th. ESPN New York is 10 taking over Pickleball Heaven in Medford, New York. Catch a live broadcast of DP on Rothelberg starting at 6am and stick around for our social ladder pickleball tournament. We'll crown our champions, then roll right into a college hoops watch party to cap off the day. Sign up now on the ESPN New York app. Spots are limited. Rickleball Madness brought to you by Pickleball Heaven, the new standard of indoor pickleball. All right, let's get back to the busy phones talking about, shall we? Everything that's going on with the NBA. And is the regular season to blame, not mattering? Or is there really a difference in the way that they play, that expecting these athletes to give it 82 games is too much? Was Steve Kerr right? Wrong. Is Stephen A. Right Wrong. Allen, the Bronx. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, buddy?

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Caller/Listener]

Hey, guys. How you guys doing?

[Rosenberg]

Good.

[Caller/Listener]

I just wanted to talk about that. I feel like we're doing the players a disservice by talking about low manage with management without giving it context. Alan was making a point while I was on the phone with Anthony and the stars play every night. The stars play every night. I mean, how many of these guys you think don't want to play basketball? I think they want to play. I think the teams are probably keeping them out at certain points below management. Go ahead.

[Alan]

I'm sorry, but didn't we just. But Alan did just go through the list in terms of stars, like the. In terms of big superstars. You saw how far we had to go down the list to get to the big stars.

[Caller/Listener]

Right? So the point that. The point that I'm making is that the low management conversation is usually made by people who don't watch the sport every night. You know, the tanking teams, they sit players out because they're trying to tank. That happens. And that's terrible. That's terrible. But the guys play every night. Look at the Knicks. We could only mention one, one time this year where Karl Anthony town sat out of a game and he was probably healthy, but most of the time, legit injuries.

[Don Hahn]

Like, like, like. That's. The funny thing is, as I was doing this list, I got up to 146 to find Shay Gilgis. Alexander, the MVP. 146 players. Right. But among the top 146, the entire Knicks starting five is in there.

[Rosenberg]

The Knicks are the one team don't play that game.

[Don Hahn]

And I think I have one more

[Caller/Listener]

question before I get cutters.

[Don Hahn]

One more question before you ask this question. Because I just want to get this part out, too. I think the bigger issue that I would have as somebody that consumes the NBA literally every night, and I would think that Steve Kerr should know this.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah, he should.

[Don Hahn]

Is absolutely the problem with the NBA in comparison to the other sports is it feels like NBA players are fine with not playing. And you think that not playing would drive you crazy. Like, what do you mean? I'm not playing? I want to play. Like, you always want to play. That's the part that I feel like the NBA has this casual sense of. Yeah, all right, I'm off tonight. I'm good. That's not the best thing for you.

[Caller/Listener]

The last question.

[Rosenberg]

And I'll let.

[Caller/Listener]

And I'll let you guys. And I'll get off. Is Alan and Don. They're around NBA players. They're around NHL players all the time. How does the NBA players look walking after their careers are over? Walking around.

[Don Hahn]

You know what, though? It's the. The older era guys, right. Who.

[Caller/Listener]

The newer era guys are still playing

[Don Hahn]

hard to see because there's somehow harder. The game is on the body. We'll find out 20 years if they're right. But I. A lot of times we find. And Don, you probably see this a lot with the NHL players who take care of themselves after their careers. They're all right. The players who don't let it go. Like it's like anybody in life.

[Rosenberg]

Right. No, those.

[Don Hahn]

You know, look, football. I'm sorry. Every single one of those guys. The. Physically, it's just that give. That takes a lot of the buck.

[Alan]

Completely different.

[Don Hahn]

But for the most part, if I see the guys that take care of themselves after their careers are over and don't let it go, I kind of.

[Alan]

Basketball's a little hard to discuss there because the general physical size of these men lead to a lot of. If you are 6, 8.

[Don Hahn]

Typical. Yes.

[Alan]

If you're 6, 8 and you never play in the NBA in your 60s, you might have a couple of things going on from wear and tear on your body.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan]

However, NBA players are not risking their lives when they play the sport. When you're an NFL athlete, you are risking your life. That is, you are saying, I may not make it to be an old Man, I may have brain damage.

[Rosenberg]

I may have cte.

[Alan]

I mean, but I'm risking it for this game and the money and the things it can bring for my family. That's not basketball. We can't confuse those conversations.

[Rosenberg]

But he brings up a really interesting point. Like if a basketball player were to say to you, listen, I look at the old time guys, man, and they're 50 years old and they're still relatively young men and they've got bad backs and they've got bad knees and they can't lift their kids and they have trouble going up the stairs. I don't want that to be me. I want to be able to have a life after basketball. I want to be able to. To grow old and not have arthritis and not walk with a limp, as much as I understand that. Do you think any of the people that follow the sport want to hear that you're saving yourself for retirement with the money that you're making? The money that I pay to consume the product. I want a guy that's out there sacrificing himself. And as much as it sounds ridiculous to hear Ray Lucas say he would do it all over again with all the damage he's done to his neck and his brain and all that. Like, as a fan, you're like, yeah, I love that guy. And it sounds barbaric, but it's true. It's like, I don't want to hear that that guy did load management or didn't play X amount of minutes or didn't die for that loose ball because he's thinking about 20 years from now that he doesn't want to have to limp or have trouble getting out of the car. Like, it makes sense, but for us, for the fan, you're like, no, man, I want to hear about how you care so much that you want to win and you want to entertain us. Like, I see both sides of it, but I talked to a guy like Ken Danico who's. Who's really fit. Like, Kenny still works out, but you could see he comes up those stairs to the booth and his knees are, how you doing?

[Don Hahn]

Coming upstairs?

[Rosenberg]

I'm not doing well either, but I'm just. But, but the point is, is that he, you. If Danico tells you he would do

[Don Hahn]

it all over again, it's worth it.

[Rosenberg]

Does he break his face to block a shot if it meant his team winning the game? We love people like that. We don't, as much as it makes sense. Guys, do you really want to hear a player say, I get a dope of that ball. But you know what? I don't, I got, I got life after basketball, man. And I. No, you don't want to hear that.

[Don Hahn]

No, you don't. But look, you want to cut the season down because it's better on the body. Would it be better for the sport, the NBA? Of course it would. Because guess what we don't do anymore. Well, it's a long season. It doesn't matter.

[Rosenberg]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

Like when you have those shortened seasons we had with lockouts 99 and 2011. The shortened season puts more urgency into the games. So of course what Kerr is saying, not don't give me the player health excuse, but if you want to talk about health of the game, give me games like they do in Europe. Team plays on Thursday and Saturday or Friday and Sunday and that's it. And then every and Monday through you are getting your body's right, you're practicing. So the teams are fundamentally better. The game would be better. That's the problem is you'd have to have a 52 game season or a 62 game season. And no one wants that because of the revenue.

[Rosenberg]

But you know what's interesting? It would be better for the start. I thought about that like, like the NHL's. NHL is actually going to an 84 game schedule next year because of the new teams they brought in. They want everybody to be able to play.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

And it seems silly that the Rangers Devils only playing three times. They want to get back to four games in the division. So they're adding two more games. And I thought to myself the reason football is so popular is it's once a week.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

All the games are important.

[Don Hahn]

Urgency.

[Rosenberg]

Can you imagine if you had like a 50 game schedule in the NHL, how important those games would be? They'd be spread out more often. We talked about it last week with the Devils having a seven game homestand. Like you tax the fans. Like you got three games in four nights at home. It's like, dude, I don't know man. I can go to the one game and I don't know if I can go to all the games. And. And so there's less sense of urgency. Maybe not for the Devils because they're struggling to get into the playoffs. But it's like sometimes the games pile up too much. Like the ratings suffer. The ratings would go up, the attendance would go up if there were less games. If they took that angle and didn't even bring up. It's too hard for the players. But if they came up with an Angle how much better it would be, then maybe you gained some traction.

[Don Hahn]

You wouldn't need an NBA cup. You can still have your all star break. Think about this. The NBA season, regular season, same as NHL is. Maybe the NHL is a little bit longer as far as duration, but same amount of games.

[Rosenberg]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

But weekends, if we just did weekends, it's. It's 26 weekends. So as I said, if you only had games from Thursday to Sunday, you'd have a 52ish, right, 52 game season. So you're losing 30 games. Would the players be healthy?

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Physically, Right. Would the game be better? Because you'd have more time to work on fundamentals, work on team structure, defense, all that stuff. There'd be no back to backs every game, every weekend. Are you kidding me? Every game would be like life or death. Because theoretically. Well, think about it.

[Alan]

But things do. You don't know that it's gonna end up being that way. But that's in theory, what could happen from it?

[Don Hahn]

Well, that's what you would expect, that's

[Alan]

what you'd hope, that's what you know. But when the standard change is done and all of a sudden it's become something else, does it inherently just keep swinging and you go, well, now that it's. Now that it's less game, now we have more time off. I still need to get a few games here. I hear what you're saying. In theory, that would be ideal.

[Don Hahn]

You first of all, I would say you can't win a postseason award if you have a 52 game season where you only play on weekends. Like you couldn't miss more than five games. And like how would you win any of realistic award?

[Alan]

52.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan]

What is it now?

[Don Hahn]

65. 65 out of 82. It's 20%. You can get 20% off. I always say that.

[Alan]

Yeah. So 52. So 52. You're right. Couldn't be.

[Rosenberg]

It's around.

[Alan]

It's around that.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan]

Right. No, no, no. 10 is 20%.

[Don Hahn]

10. Right.

[Alan]

So in theory, 42, you really wouldn't

[Don Hahn]

want to go 42. But in essence you're looking at if you're really keeping it to the same standard. But why would you do 20% should be 10%.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan]

It should be lower.

[Rosenberg]

Even if the numbers.

[Don Hahn]

Because you look at all the extra time you have, there's no need for load management. You've got once you're done Sunday, if you play Sunday, you don't play again until Thursday or Friday. Are you kidding?

[Rosenberg]

I used to have that's the only

[Don Hahn]

way that would work.

[Rosenberg]

A buddy of mine from sportsfun, we used to have this fight about baseball and football and he gave me a theory that blew my mind at the time and I want to run it by you guys.

[Alan]

Oh, go ahead.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, I like it.

[Rosenberg]

It's coming up next.

[Don Hahn]

Guy's a pro.

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[Alan]

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[Don Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Don Hahn]

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

[Rosenberg]

ESPN New York is teaming up with Calandra's Bakery to give away a pair of tickets to see the New York City Knicks take on Charlotte on Sunday, April 12. It's easy to enter. Just stop by Calandra's Bakery at 234 Bloomfield Avenue in Caldwell, New Jersey before April 7 to enter in person. Brought to you by Calandra's Bakery in Caldwell, home of fresh bread, classic Italian pastries and traditions baked daily. And if you go there, make reservations to be at the event coming up on Wednesday. Yep, next Wednesday. And we're going to be there for the Ranger Devil Watch party, which is not nothing. So I'm looking forward to that. All right, Honoring a tease?

[Don Hahn]

Yes, please.

[Rosenberg]

So Bill McNulty played for Seton hall and he was from Connecticut, worked at Sports Phone with me and big basketball guy, big base, big baseball guy, loved the Cubs and the Bears even though he's from New York. And we'd always battle, like what's better, baseball or football? Baseball. And this is going back like 30 years ago. And he brought up a great point. He's like, it's all football's all about the games. There's only six at the time, 16 of them. He goes, so I'll update it. For now. He says, imagine Baseball had a 16 game schedule and your starting pitcher, like within Yankees, is Garrett Cole. He would be like the quarterback of your baseball team. They would all play every game. He says. Can you imagine how big that game would be if there were only 16 of them? And think about it like if every Sunday during the summertime. Well, you only hate it because of what you're used to. And like records wouldn't matter anymore, right? Because obviously you'd never get.

[Don Hahn]

I like the point because it does point out how now everything suddenly becomes more urgent. The emphasis on one game, right. If you will, on the syllable. But because it's not a physically taxing sport, you'd sit there going, can't we just do another one this weekend? Like what can't we they used to play two in one day. Right? You know, like you would think that. But it does give the great example of the urgency and why football is the. It is what it is because this is the only game. So we all better be ready for it. It's the only game. So all my chores and other crap I have to do around the house, I better get this done on Saturday because I need Sunday at 1 o'. Clock. Like it does put an urgency and making an event, but I still think you can do it NBA wise and NHL wise. If you picked now, would you go up against the NFL? Would you see does it make sense for the season which some people argue should be in the summer. But would. Would you be against playing the NBA games early in the week, like during the week, Monday through Thursday and then have the weekend off because you don't want to go up against the NFL. It's become that big of a monster.

[Alan]

That's an interesting point. I just think this weekends seems a bit overly reduced. And while 162, that number has meaning and I love sort of the casualness of baseball, there is something about it just being a part of your nightly life that makes it fun. It would mean if they could come up with some middle ground. I don't know what that number would be.

[Rosenberg]

Baseball.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Baseball could be 82 and you wouldn't, you wouldn't notice it. Baseball could be 82, cut it in half. You wouldn't know.

[Rosenberg]

If you played every other day in baseball then you get to, you know, you get half the games again, the records would all. And people would freak out because there

[Don Hahn]

is, there is a component to the numbers, the religion.

[Alan]

Well, the problem is it throws off the whole concept of a series though. You know, you're playing two, so you're playing two, two game series every like four games.

[Don Hahn]

And then of course we have to get away game. So that's got to be played in the afternoon. And what if it rains?

[Rosenberg]

Like.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, like that's the thing is this feeling that back in the, you know, in 1930 when there was nothing to do ever. It may like we need a game every day because we need something to do. Like now it feels like I'm gonna ask you every night. Every single night. That's, that's what the NBA played a

[Rosenberg]

series and then had a couple of nights off. Then you played another series, couple of nights off.

[Don Hahn]

You'd get more out of your story. You would get 20 game winners again.

[Rosenberg]

You can only do this, but you can only do this if you make sure you have dome stadiums and everything. Because you really would mess things up.

[Don Hahn]

Yes.

[Rosenberg]

Listen, we're just used to it because you're right, it's less taxing and they've always. They started out playing 54 and then 162 and there's revenue and let's face it, you've got these regional television networks that are hemorrhaging money. They don't want to hear about less games. Right. They don't want it. They don't want to hear that if you're.

[Don Hahn]

Well, they actually do need less games because it's just, it's less for them to have to.

[Alan]

That's also. It's less of a lift for them too.

[Don Hahn]

It actually helped them.

[Alan]

Now also, can we just wipe out mid, mid week day games? Wipe them all out, get them all off the schedule. Because when you get.

[Don Hahn]

Nobody goes.

[Alan]

When you get away. The, the flyaway day. Now there's no longer that travel day because you have a day off.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan]

You can keep them all night games. The idea that in the middle of the spring or fall.

[Don Hahn]

Yes.

[Alan]

You're playing on a Wednesday afternoon at 1 o'.

[Rosenberg]

Clock.

[Alan]

It's lunacy.

[Rosenberg]

Well, you're going and you're, what you're doing is you're literally throwing that game was like, we, we don't care about ratings, we don't care about attendance, but we have to have a day game because we got to fly across the country and play tomorrow. So we got to have a day game. Like what other sport do you see that happen, Matt?

[Alan]

You get rid of those. If you just got rid of enough, you get, you added just the travel days. You get the number down to like 115something. These are wasted games. I'm sorry, who's watching these?

[Rosenberg]

You know, and I also, and I know we don't care about the west coast, but I remember having a conversation with Randy Hahn, who's the play by play voice of the San Jose Sharks.

[Alan]

Alan's cousin.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, sure.

[Rosenberg]

And I was like. And they were like on an east coast. They were going to play. They were on a trip, five games east. And I'm like, that's got to kill your network because now you've got five games that have a 3:30 pregame 4:00 clock face off.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

During the week.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

Like so you're talking about a hockey game on a Tuesday and people are at work, you know, getting home and the game is like at the end of the second period.

[Alan]

I never have thought about that.

[Don Hahn]

It's crazy.

[Alan]

For all the time I spend thinking about west coast tips.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan]

And west coast football. I've never thought about when your west coast basketball or baseball team is on an east coast run and they're playing at 4, 4:30.

[Don Hahn]

So.

[Rosenberg]

So imagine the Dodgers here to take on the Yankees big series. Right. And for some reason that's during the week. So out in LA you're going to have 4 o', clock, two 4 o' clock starts and possibly a 1 o' clock start here, which would be, you know, a 10 o' clock start out there.

[Don Hahn]

That's why they never. Yeah, that's LA is always here in New York on a weekend.

[Rosenberg]

But Angels, Mariners. Yeah, but those teams. Think about how that must affect your ratings. When I was talking about it, when Brandon Tierney was out in San Francisco and he worked out, it was crazy. Like they were. His afternoon show in San Francisco would not be on the air when the Giants. Cause they had the Oakland A's on his radio station, came out East. Cause then the show would start to be a pre game. It's crazy. That's why again, if I'm president, Central time zone across the country, you move on.

[Alan]

And I'm waiting to see. Because a lot of people talk about Stephen A. Running. Not enough people have talked about whether Don Legreco will run in 2028.

[Don Hahn]

That's a ticket that I would support Stephen A.

[Alan]

And Don Juan.

[Don Hahn]

Well, that. Forget it. That's a. That's a juggernaut. I don't even think it's fair. There might be rules against it.

[Alan]

Yeah, that, that. Yeah. How it would be rigged.

[Don Hahn]

I mean, who are you taking out?

[Alan]

That's a great. Who are you taking out?

[Don Hahn]

That would be. No, no, Right.

[Alan]

Campaign slogan.

[Don Hahn]

Smith and legreco.

[Alan]

Who are you taking out?

[Don Hahn]

We've done one. Legreca when I'm looking for him. And the answer is we're taking out everyone.

[Alan]

That's right. Anyone who gets in their way. You kidding me?

[Don Hahn]

Be excited.

[Alan]

You get the central time zone, they win.

[Don Hahn]

Right. Let's say they win the nomination. Balloons coming down, grabs the mic, just starts riffing, just starts singing. Top of his lungs.

[Alan]

Yeah. Oh, performing.

[Don Hahn]

Couldn't you see it?

[Alan]

And the mic break.

[Don Hahn]

Don't stop believing.

[Alan]

Yelling. Look at this garbage. Look at this garbage. What a speech.

[Don Hahn]

How about the debate? The debate alone. Forget it.

[Rosenberg]

Well, and if.

[Alan]

If they did a. You know. So if Don's the vp. So he's in the vp.

[Don Hahn]

He feels vp, doesn't he? He gives vp.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

No, he's giving VP and I give Vance vibes. Is that what you're saying?

[Alan]

No, I was thinking more just my man from Minnesota whose name I'm forgetting right now.

[Rosenberg]

Oh, well, no, I. Yeah, why am

[Alan]

I forgetting my man's name?

[Rosenberg]

I don't know.

[Alan]

What about Dan Kamala's running mate in the last.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah, I could picture him, but I

[Don Hahn]

can't think of his name. Tim. What's his.

[Alan]

Not Tim Kane.

[Don Hahn]

No. Tim Walls.

[Alan]

You know, you give Tim Walls energy. Football coach vibes. You know what I mean? You're kickboxer.

[Rosenberg]

Don't give Dan Quayle vibes.

[Don Hahn]

No.

[Alan]

Why are you going Quail? Why are you going Quail and Vance? I'm not going Quail and Vance.

[Don Hahn]

I'm not going Quail.

[Alan]

No, you're not giving Quail, by the way. Quail. What a moment in time.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

People, if you missed, you're no John Kennedy.

[Alan]

If you miss Dan Quayle, you're like, who is that? It would be a trivia for young people.

[Don Hahn]

See, but that's when politics was fun.

[Rosenberg]

But he.

[Don Hahn]

That's.

[Alan]

That's just fun. Dan Quayle was just fun.

[Don Hahn]

He was fun. Potato.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan]

Who needs to know how to spell potato?

[Don Hahn]

I gotta ask my parents.

[Alan]

I somehow got an autographed picture of Dan Quayle.

[Don Hahn]

Nice.

[Alan]

And I don't know why. I don't know what the riff was, though. I don't know what I. No, I don't know what letter I

[Don Hahn]

sent handsome guy that led to me getting the picture.

[Alan]

Because it wasn't. No, because it wasn't. Because my family voted for it. So I'm trying to figure out why that happened.

[Don Hahn]

This is Ballard's Rashawn Gary. Cards of Jace.

[Alan]

By the way, I'll trade you my Dan Quayle sign photo for Ballard's Rashawn Gary Opici, premier rookie card.

[Don Hahn]

I know what Peachy did.

[Caller/Listener]

Football.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan]

Combined. Combined worth 6 cents.

[Don Hahn]

Anyway, I'd vote for you, Doug.

[Rosenberg]

That's right. We really appreciate that. See us live from the Irish exit at Moynihan stationary, Friday. This Friday, March 13th. Friday before the semifinal round of the Big east tournament. Stop by before heading to the Garden or before your commute home. Don Hahn and Rosenberg live from the Irish exit at Moynihan train station starting at 3pm Friday, March 13. Just steps away from Madison Square Garden and Penn Station. Brought to you by Schweppes above the Rim Refreshment. Feel the madness and refresh your game with a Schwepped seltzer or Seltzer ginger ale. Sam Adams and Sun Cruiser vodka iced tea available at Avendia and the Rutherford. Must be 21 or older to purchase. Please drink responsibly. ENN is next after Peter talks to you about an app.

[Alan]

Well, I'm going to it's FanDuel, Don and right now, new FanDuel customers get up to $300 back in bonus bets every day for 10 days. If your bet loses, here's how it works. You place a tournament bet using the token. If it doesn't win, you get up to $300 back in bonus bets every single day for 10 straight days. That's 10 chances to play all tourney long from game props and moneylines to spreads, totals, futures and more. You can even mix things up with same game parlays for a shot at bigger payouts. All right, however you want to fill out your bracket, FanDuel makes it easy to stay in the action day after day. Visit FanDuel.com local to sign up today. Fanduel it's time to dance. 21 and over, physically present in New York. Must apply select token each day. Bonus bets or non withdrawable expire seven days after receipt. Tokens are received in increments of one per day. Restrictions apply. See [e-mail] for help with the gambling problem. Call 877-Open Wire Text open wire 467-369

[Don Hahn]

thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast. I don't want to know how the sausage is made, man. I just want to know. It's good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter Weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers from 30 for 30 podcasts.

[Caller/Listener]

Did you say someone got shot?

[Don Hahn]

Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami, gunned down the key to this case. It's Brian.

[Alan]

An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody.

[Don Hahn]

This might be a hit. You want the truth?

[Alan]

They just want a conviction.

[Don Hahn]

Being placed under arrest.

[Rosenberg]

We had a killer amongst us.

[Alan]

Murder at the U. Listen now.