The Drop | Leigh Ellis Returns To Talk Traveling, Basketball & Life

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: No Dunks (iHeartPodcasts)
Episode: The Drop | Leigh Ellis Returns To Talk Traveling, Basketball & Life
Date: January 16, 2026
Hosts: J.E. Skeets, Tas Melis, Trey Kirby, JD
Special Guest: Leigh Ellis

---

Episode Overview

This celebratory episode marks 20 years of podcasting for the No Dunks crew and features the much-awaited return of Leigh Ellis, a beloved former member who left in 2022 to pursue his dream of traveling the globe and playing pickup basketball. The episode dives deep into Leigh’s basketball and travel adventures, the lessons he's learned from different cultures, and his quest to turn his experiences into an inspiring show that extends well beyond basketball highlights. The crew also reminisces about classic podcast moments, discusses current NBA headlines, and explores some light-hearted, rapid-fire topics.

---

Main Topics & Key Discussions

1. Leigh Ellis Returns: Catching Up After 3.5 Years

• Leigh’s Departure & Project Origins

  • Left No Dunks in Oct 2022 to pursue the "20-2020 Challenge": play pickup basketball in 20 countries, 20 cities, 20 games.
  • Successfully completed in 14 months and has since transitioned the venture into "Basketball Passport," aiming for a docuseries.
  • [06:01] Leigh: "I wrapped it up in 14 months and I was like, oh, damn... So I sort of rebranded to this new basketball passport.”

• Project Evolution & Goals

  • Building comprehensive stories around the culture, people, and courts, not just hoops (“I don't think there's a huge mark for watching a middle-aged man just play pickup alone…” [07:21])
  • Main challenge: DIY content creation, from traveling and playing to producing and pitching footage for streaming platforms.
  • Aspirations include streaming on Netflix or similar.

---

2. Top 5 Favorite Basketball Experiences Abroad

Leigh lists his most memorable international basketball moments, each with unique stories, reflecting the culture and community at every locale.
[Time index for each story]

#5 – Kenya (Umoja Court, Nairobi) [09:49]

• Hosted a clinic and a tournament at the “Rucker Park of Nairobi,” run by Masai Ujiri’s Giants of Africa.
• The community rolled out the red carpet—moved the tournament date for Leigh.
• “Playing under lights there with the crowd and everything like that, it was just such a cool experience...” [10:58]

#4 – Argentina (Buenos Aires) [12:41]

• Organized with a local named Tarzan—turnout of around 100 people.
• Played on the picturesque Ginobili Court.
• “...Argentina is such a fantastic basketball country... the amount of people who I meet at these who know the show, who have followed the show, followed The Starters, The Basketball Jones—that's what's truly incredible.” [14:13]

#3 – Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) [15:25]

• Welcomed by the local community for another epic pickup event.
• Talks about the universality and mutual respect of the game.

#2 – Serbia (Belgrade, Kalemegdan Park) [16:23]

• “Look at this unbelievable setting...” [16:23]
• Shared a story about followers bringing him bananas in homage to his potassi-yum segments.
• “When you get photos like that, you're just like, wow, that's a framer right there. That is just on the iPhone.” [17:41]

#1 – China (Beijing, Cooling Tower Court) [18:12]

• Epic adventure trying to find and access a court built inside a decommissioned nuclear cooling tower.
• Navigated language barriers and technology obstacles, ultimately aided by a young local, Hannah.
• “After about an hour... still pouring the rain... I said, I'm going to come back tomorrow. Is there any chance you can come back tomorrow and basically be a translator and help me? And she was like, yeah, yeah, no worries.” [22:18]
• Rewarded Hannah with a Kevin Durant jersey for her help.
• Reflects on how each journey is a story of uncertainty and community.

---

3. Challenges of the Solo Content Creator Life [30:08]

• Filming: “No team at all. I think, no, the hardest thing… embracing the uncertainty… but more challenging… is when I've had deals...and then they've fallen through.” [30:42]
• Staying motivated by community support and the potential for impact beyond just content.

---

4. Impact & Viral Moments [33:17]

• Viral Video: “In Belgrade, actually. That one had about 3 million views…” [33:17]
• Positive impact stories: In Zagreb, highlighting a rundown historic court led to government renovations.
  • “That’s the sort of genuine impact that I’m trying to leave behind: so much better than the way I left it.” [34:39]

---

5. Packing, Gear & Basketball Logistics [36:29]

• Always travels with several deflated basketballs and kicks off half-court competitions.
• “I always carry one in my carry-on for that reason, if I lose my luggage or whatever, I've always got a ball.” [37:05]

---

6. International Basketball Culture & Pickup Observations

• On differences: intensity, rules, trash talk, and how three-on-three is popular in many locations.

• “Everywhere I’ve gone, people have welcomed me and showed me around, and I don’t want to separate people, but... the big community and people coming out and supporting.” [16:03]

• Most challenging run: “Probably Brazil—just athletes, Hoopers...maybe the football, the soccer translates as well.” [41:49]

• Notable Cultural Quotes:

  • “I've been called the crazy gringo in Brazil.” [32:33]
  • “...the universal hilarity of seeing people try to dislodge a wedgie.” [05:22]
  • On trash talk: “When you step out on the court, you hear a few things... all the niceties go away…” [32:55]

---

7. NBA Discussion & Analysis

International NBA & EuroLeague

• No Dunks crew and Leigh discuss current NBA news, including games in Berlin, Anthony Black’s viral Eurostep dunk, EuroLeague anxiety over NBA/FIBA’s new league, and Real Madrid/Barcelona split [37:56].

NBA Teams & Standouts

• Pistons: “Cade Cunningham…he is so smooth... passes well, trusts his teammates... they were honestly like two or three shots away from knocking out the Knicks last season.” [65:23]
• Knicks: Discussing fatigue, Thibodeau’s rotations, impact of injuries. Skeptical about deep playoff runs.
• All-Star Format (USA vs World): “It makes no difference what the format is if the players don't play—Preach...You need the players to feel like we've got to win this game, and they don't, and then they're not going to.” [67:41] (Leigh on lack of All-Star Game competitiveness)

On Tanking & Lottery Reform

• Leigh proposes more radical lottery punishment for sustained failure: “If you finish last in the east and the west, you don't get a draft pick.” [70:04]

---

8. Life & Travel Sidebars

• Adventure stories: swimming with sharks in Belize, dangling over Victoria Falls in Africa with only two men holding his ankles [87:26].
• Packing quirks: travels with basketball nets to fix up courts; favorite bread discovery in Belgrade [101:29].
• Not being lonely while traveling: “I think sometimes when you get back to the hotel, you just want to see your boys and your wife, but...other than that...it's not like I'm just out there playing ball, having fun, and drinking beer, but I'm actually working pretty much every day to try to create the content.” [99:36]
• Current count: ~60 countries visited [100:59].

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Culture and Connection:
  • “Basketball is the language. Like, you can host a clinic when people...don’t speak English. We can teach through body language and movement and non-verbal communication to still achieve something.” (45:00)
• On Uncertainty:
  • “Part of that is like, let's just see what happens. Like, embracing the uncertainty...” [30:17]
• On Content Creation:
  • "Everything's a lesson in that sense. You know, you learn and you just think... did I do something wrong? Was too aggressive or not aggressive enough? ...But it's fine. You keep on going." [31:30]
• On NBA All-Star Effort:
  • "It makes no difference what the format is if the players don't play...You need the players to feel like we've got to win this game, and they don't, and then they're not going to." [67:41]
• On Leaving Impact:
  • "...the genuine impact that I'm trying to leave behind—so much better than the way I left it." [34:39]
• On Basketball Expressing Universal Values:
  • “...once you play, then it's like, all right, let's go. You know, and it was really, really cool.” [15:25]
• On International Trash Talk:
  • “I've been called the crazy gringo in Brazil.” [32:33]

---

Rapid Fire + Fun Segments

• Airport/packing strategies for basketballs and nets.
• Admitting what each person “half-asses” in life – taxes (Leigh), in-ear monitors (Trey), sagging pants as a teen (Tas).
• Favorite winter Olympic events: hockey, halfpipe snowboarding, speed skating.
• “Have you ever touched a horse?”: Most panelists have; some adventures shared about horses on beaches.
• Most unusual food/travel stories and embarrassing podcast punishments.

---

Memorable Episode Moments

• Leigh narrates his Beijing basketball adventure—an odyssey of miscommunications, rain, and kindness from strangers—showcasing the spirit of the journey.
• Celebratory shout-outs: Fans from across the world tuning in live; “Shout out to Will, Johnny, Tarzan, Conrad, Hannah…”.
• The debate over best/worst courts and international pickup rules.
• Leigh’s steadfast plug for Netflix, with repeated jokes about "[e-mail]" being the key to a deal.
• Humorous, self-deprecating talk about old podcast punishments: wetsuit, chest waxing, and Taco Bell eating.

---

Concluding Thoughts

• Leigh remains committed to sharing positive basketball culture stories from around the world, hoping to inspire community investment in public courts and to spotlight how the game builds friendship and transcends language barriers.
• His ultimate goal: expand the simple act of pickup hoops into a docuseries that celebrates cross-cultural connection and the game’s power.
• The No Dunks crew reflects on the serendipity and endurance of 20 years making basketball content, with heartfelt thanks from Leigh and the team.

---

Quick Reference Timestamps for Notable Segments

• Leigh’s project recap/goals: 06:01–08:45
• Top 5 international experiences: 09:49–26:29
• DIY filmmaking, viral moments: 30:08–35:54
• NBA discussion (including Pistons/Knicks): 46:06–52:23, 65:23–66:22
• On tanking and All-Star: 67:41–72:49
• Adventure sidebars: 87:26–90:15
• Rapid Fire/Fun (Olympics, horses, packing): 102:58–113:10

---

Final Notes

This episode is a love letter to basketball, travel, and chance encounters—with laughs, nostalgia, and insights for fans old and new. Leigh’s adventures remind us that the best sports stories often happen far from the limelight, on sun-baked outdoor courts where “basketball is the language.”

Transcript

[Commercial Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Guaranteed Human Running a business is hard enough. Don't make it harder with a dozen apps that don't talk to each other. One for sales, another for inventory. A separate one for accounting. That's software overload. Odoo is the all in one platform that replaces them all. CRM, accounting, inventory, E Commerce, hr. Fully integrated, easy to use and built to grow with your business. Thousands have already made the switch. Why not you try Odoo for free@odoo.

[Commercial Announcer]

That's odoo.com@tj maxx feel more you than ever without compromise because we never make you choose the quality you want, the styles you crave and the prices you love. It's all at TJ Maxx so you can focus on just being you. With so many fines arriving daily, that means so many ways to show your unique style. Shop in store and [e-mail] and Max what makes you you?

[Coldwater Creek Advertiser]

You see it instantly. It's Coldwater Creek, the mark of exceptional workmanship and signature touches inspired by a Mountain west heritage. Distinctive styles created from quality fabrics, silhouettes perfected with just the right drape. Feel good fits offering ease of movement and thoughtful details to elevate your look. Coldwater Creek's authenticity is embodied in every piece, embracing its confident spirit that carries through to today. Discover Coldwater Creek clothing designed to fit your life the way you want. For a wardrobe you can count on season after season, visit coldwatercreek.com Shop the new spring collection at 20% off $75 or more with code iHeart20.

[Public Investing Advertiser]

Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI, it all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. You can Generated assets are like EFTs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member finra, SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures of [e-mail] Disclosures.

[Jay Skeets]

Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the no Dunks podcast presented by FanDuel. It's Friday, January 16, 2026. This is the drop. I'm Jay Skeets here in the classic factory, and alongside me, as always, Tas Melis.

[Tas Melis]

Podcast listeners, this is definitely for you.

[Jay Skeets]

Next to him, it's my top shot, hot boy, Trey Kirby.

[Lee Ellis]

Hey, O.

[Jay Skeets]

Over yonder, making the magic happen. Super producer JD Hello. There he is.

[Tas Melis]

There he is.

[Jay Skeets]

And he's back to help us celebrate 20 years of podcasting. He was a staple on this show for over a decade before heading out on his own to play hoops against the world. It's the international man of mystery, Lee Ellis.

[Lee Ellis]

Lee.

[Jay Skeets]

Lee, can you tell we're pumped to have you back?

[Lee Ellis]

I'm kind of horny in here right now. Excuse me. Being honest, man, this is like, what are you shooting in the offseason in here?

[Jay Skeets]

So you like it?

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, my God, I do. I do.

[Jay Skeets]

Lee is looking around right now for the podcast.

[Lee Ellis]

Yes. Very sexy.

[Jay Skeets]

We are excited to have you, obviously.

[Lee Ellis]

Great to be here.

[Jay Skeets]

We'll get into what you've been up to and we'll even talk a little NBA from last night and obviously the first half of the season. And because we knew you were coming, we thought we got to get this guy a wedgie. So we got one last night. Wedgie number 35. This is a bit of a crazy one. Grayson Allen, he's going to see that the shot clock is expiring, so he chucks it up and sticks it.

[Tas Melis]

Wow.

[Lee Ellis]

35.

[Jay Skeets]

Did you say 35? Wedgies, Lee, look at this pace. We're on 63.

[Lee Ellis]

Is that a new record? Would that be a new record? What is the record?

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, it would be. What did we hit?

[Trey Kirby]

Last year was 48. 61 was the record, I think.

[Tas Melis]

No, the year prior was 63. It would be the exact same number.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay. Nice, right?

[Tas Melis]

Wow.

[Jay Skeets]

It's been a good year for wedgies.

[Lee Ellis]

I can tell. That's a unique one, too. I mean.

[Tas Melis]

Oh, yeah, we had.

[Lee Ellis]

It wasn't like a dead play, so it does count. Oh, yeah, Check the rules.

[Jay Skeets]

He was getting a shot up.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, we had it tweeted to us by the Phnx guys because it was wild. A wild alley oop, missed. And Grayson Allen with the leaner wedgie. Three, two, one. On the clock. I'm just going to stick it right there. So I'm just going to lean. So it's perfectly. That guy took 20 threes last night. One of them was a wedge.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah. Wow.

[Trey Kirby]

You stick any wedgies lately?

[Lee Ellis]

I haven't, but I've seen a few along the way.

[Trey Kirby]

There you go.

[Jay Skeets]

I was wondering. So inner international wedges.

[Lee Ellis]

Yes. And it remains a universal hilarity of seeing people try to dislodge a wedgie. There was one in Hong Kong actually, just recently where they lodged it in. Honestly, it took them 10 attempts to get a wedge.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah. Wow. Well, look, the last time we had you on no dunks was October 2022. That's like three and a half years ago. That was your goodbye episode.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

You talked about following your two great passions.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Basketball and traveling. And your goal was to head out and play 20 games in 20 different cities across 20 different countries. The 20, 2020 challenge.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Success.

[Lee Ellis]

Yes. In terms of getting that done quicker than I thought, too. I wrapped it up in 14 months and I was like, oh, damn.

[Tas Melis]

Now what?

[Lee Ellis]

Basically, yeah. I was like, okay, that's not quite Dale. I thought of. I thought there'd be way more like, oh, my God. God. You know, three and a half years later, I'm up to 18. You know, that's what I thought. Things happen. And I got a few offers and a few opportunities, and then situations evolved and I got it all done. And so that's when I got to the point I'm like, I can't just now say, all right, I'm going to go to 30 or 40 or, you know, like, it sort of is different. So I sort of rebranded to this new basketball passport, which. Which I'm doing now, which is like, trying to incorporate everything related to, well, basketball and passport. And so I'm still, you know, the primary goal remains trying to get it on a streaming service, you know, to Netflix. Hi, Ted. Sarandos.

[Trey Kirby]

He watches.

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, well, he's been emailed a few times, so he's probably tuning in.

[Jay Skeets]

I bet he has.

[Trey Kirby]

Sarandosetflix.com that's it.

[Jay Skeets]

That's literally his email. Or sending them one, though, too. That's what I'm saying.

[Lee Ellis]

That's what you guys basically did for the score, if I remember correctly. And it worked. And I said, all right, tsurandosetflix.com Right. Boom. Doesn't get rejected and his little icon pops up. So he's had a few emails.

[Jay Skeets]

And so the idea is still packaging footage or the concept. I Guess and then maybe you can make it into a show.

[Lee Ellis]

Everything, everything, like it incorporates everything, like it's not. I don't think there's a huge mark for watching a middle aged man just play pickup alone. So I'm trying to explore, you know, culture and courts and pickup runs and people and local icons and things like that. And I really think there's a series there. So I'm still just, just waiting for that reply from Mr.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay, well, come on, Ted, get at it. Were you shocked by the response of people? Like you said it, it took you not as long as you thought it was to hit the 20 countries. Like people trying to like help you out. Come here, like whatever.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. And it still happens now, you know, people are still like, come out here and do this and we're going to do that and we've got to do this. And so I'm, you know, I'm certainly inspired and encouraged and motivated by the amount of support out there, but I'm also still basically building it all myself. And so that's, that's the biggest challenge is like trying to like, I, when I came back from the first trip, I had this big one all set up from Croatia. I was going to tell the story, but trying to wet at that and put it all in together, that was just a little out of my range.

[Jay Skeets]

That's the tough part, that's the hardest part. Showing up and playing basketball, that's sort.

[Lee Ellis]

Of the easy part, that's fine. But also because I'm shooting a lot of it just on my phone and so you got to have it different for the, for, you know, what works for, you know, YouTube and things like that. So that, that's, that was obviously something that I realized, like, okay, I probably can't do. So instead I'm going to try to incorporate all the aspects of what I'm trying to do and build those into little stories and, you know, get that in front of the right person or people.

[Jay Skeets]

So how many countries since you did leave the show there in 20.

[Lee Ellis]

20, 27 I've been to now.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, 27 different countries you've traveled to and done some sort of like basketball fun.

[Lee Ellis]

And yes, cities. It's like probably 35 or something like that. But yeah, 27 different countries.

[Jay Skeets]

Do you have a favorite?

[Lee Ellis]

Well, so I mean, it's funny when you said that in the doc, I'm like, man, if I tell him the real answer, he's not going to be happy. The real answer is they're all amazing.

[Jay Skeets]

I wouldn't be Happy.

[Lee Ellis]

They really are, because every single country has been unique and special and fun. And I'm like, damn. I can't say that because Skeets will get angry.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

So I said, all right, all right, I'll bring back. And I don't. You could still do the top five. Top five. Top five.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, sure.

[Tas Melis]

Absolutely.

[Lee Ellis]

So I thought, you know what? I'll email it to jd and it worked effortlessly and smoothly.

[Jay Skeets]

That's why we're late here today.

[Lee Ellis]

So I've got my. I've got my top five for you.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay, here we go.

[Lee Ellis]

Top five, Top five.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Wow.

[Lee Ellis]

Let's go.

[Jay Skeets]

Getting custom stingers for this. Five favorite countries on the LEO Basketball passport Tour.

[Lee Ellis]

And this. This was hard because, again, like, everywhere I've gone, people have been incredible. People have welcomed me and showed me around, and I'm like, I don't want to. I don't want to sort of separate people or cities or countries, but I decided, you know, what the hell, let's go for it. So at number five, this was just over two years ago. I was in beautiful Kenya. And this court here, the Emoji Two court, is what they call the Raka park of Nairobi. Now, this is one that giants of Africa, which Masai Jiri is the president of, he built this incredible court there in Umoja. And so we hosted a clinic and played a game at night. And it was not just like a pickup game. This was like a tournament where there was referees and prizes and teams. And people actually usually have that tournament on a Saturday night, but they moved it to a Friday night for me. Yeah, I was going to the Masai Mara the next day. So they said, all right, we'll do that. And playing under lights there with the crowd and everything like that, it was just such a cool experience. Especially, you know, I chose that one because, you know, Kenya is not automatically where you associate basketball.

[Jay Skeets]

No.

[Lee Ellis]

You know, like. Like that. And that was such a cool experience because they had to take me into this special area and I was there and had all the jerseys to give away and stuff like that. And the clinic was incredible. It was about a million degrees.

[Jay Skeets]

So they, like, rolled out the red carpet for you, too?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah, they did.

[Jay Skeets]

I mean, they changed the day.

[Lee Ellis]

They did.

[Jay Skeets]

Obviously. We're excited to have you.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah. And Will, who's a big fan of the show, he's, I'm certain, is going to be watching it. Will. Will was instrumental in making that happen. Happen. So, yeah, that was. That was just a really, really special moment, a great experience. And the, the athletes out there were great. And they're also playing pickup, which was, which is interesting because depending on where you play, you know, sometimes it's physical, sometimes people call fouls, whatever. In Nairobi, it was physical, really. And there was no special treatment on the court for me. Like, I got whacked a few times and Hell, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tas Melis]

How young were the people playing?

[Lee Ellis]

Because, well, the players were older. Clinics. The clinics, as you can see, were a lot of those young kids.

[Jay Skeets]

So this is like a full day thing or afternoon, Afternoon into the night.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah. Cool. Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Did you play with your Crocodile Dundee hat?

[Lee Ellis]

Not there, I didn't. But in Zambia I did because it was even hotter down there, man. I had a hat and sunglasses on while I was playing. And it was like 10 o' clock in the morning. It was stinking hot.

[Jay Skeets]

In all of these games. I know. I love every. We love every time we see you playing in sunglasses. Have you ever gotten injured on any of these games?

[Lee Ellis]

Well, I've rolled the ankle a few times. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

I'm just curious because, like, I mean, I don't know how your insurance is when you're traveling, but, you know.

[Lee Ellis]

No, no. I mean, yeah, the ankles have been rolled a few times, but, you know, at this stage, they just sort of roll back into place as well.

[Jay Skeets]

I hear you, man. I'm going through it right now. I rolled my ankle like four times in the past.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. So that was number five. Now number four. Oh, yeah, that's right.

[Trey Kirby]

Now.

[Lee Ellis]

This one was just last year in Argentina in Buenos Aires. The team down there, Tarzan, my friend Tarzan, helped me organize that.

[Jay Skeets]

I love these show so much.

[Trey Kirby]

A ton of people.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, this one is 100 people.

[Lee Ellis]

Huge. Yeah, this one was huge. And. And this was just after Christmas, I think this was December 27th. And so Tarzan and I, because we were in Lima anyway, and so I was like, all right, I'll just zip over to Buenos Aires. And he put a message out in his group chat and said, we're doing this. And that's how many people turned up.

[Jay Skeets]

Holy crap.

[Lee Ellis]

And this was another tournament that just went on and on and on.

[Jay Skeets]

When you say tournament, like, this is what I'm wondering, like, who is, like, somebody has to take control.

[Lee Ellis]

Tarzan.

[Jay Skeets]

So he was just like swung in from the jungle and it's like, all right, you're playing next and you're playing next. But yeah, he sort of ran.

[Lee Ellis]

He organizes all of that. And. And that was just an incredible night as well. And Argentina is such a fantastic basketball country. And. And, yeah, again on the Ginobi. The Ginobly court is so beautiful, and I never quite know how many gonna turn up. It's Sometimes I'm like, you know, if we get 10, great, we can have a run.

[Jay Skeets]

What's.

[Lee Ellis]

What is the fewest in Dubrovnik? I had a lot of people say they'll come in. You've all seen that really cool court.

[Jay Skeets]

Incredible.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

The Castle one.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah. And I had a lot of people say, I'm coming, I'm coming. I put up thing in my stories and people saying, yeah, I'm coming, I'm coming. And so I took it down because it's not a great court for pickup. It's just a beautiful court. Yeah. And three people turned up, and two of them were injured, so we just shut around.

[Tas Melis]

There's probably 80 in this photo.

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, there's. There's. God, yeah. Yeah. And that was just a great night. And, yeah, really, really special court and great experience out there. And again, the amount of people who I meet at these. Who know the show, who have, you know, followed the show, followed the starters, the Basketball Jones, that's what's truly incredible. People will bring up something that the Basketball Jones did. Like, someone said, like, I remember the first interview you did with Tony Parker, and I'm just like, oh, my God.

[Jay Skeets]

You weren't even there, honestly.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, so, yeah, that's Argentina.

[Trey Kirby]

Did they know that you had called Manu Ginobili the doyen of the very solid play.

[Lee Ellis]

Hey, Manu liked my video from there, too.

[Jay Skeets]

Oh, wow.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. So that's. That's very, very cool. Number three in South America, too. This is in Rio de Janeiro. Just another. Like, it's very hard to really articulate how much fun these are when I turn up and people organize a run and we go out there and play. And hooping is just hooping. Once you get on the court and, you know, universal language, like you've said before, nobody. Like, again, very. People are very generous. They come up and say, hello, and they. They follow me or the show, whatever. And then once you play, then it's like, all right, let's go. You know, and it was really, really cool.

[Jay Skeets]

I would imagine some people are like. Like, they want to test you. I mean, you are traveling the world playing basketball. There's a little bit like, well, let's see what this guy's got. Is he good?

[Trey Kirby]

Do you feel the pressure?

[Lee Ellis]

Not really. Because, like, I can shoot. I know I can shoot. I'm not driving. I'm not going in the lane, you know, I'm not, I'm not like Kyrie trying to like bust anyone down. I know there's a lot of people who do that stuff where they're like, they want to show this because I'm like, if I get a shot off, I know I can hit that shot. Let's go in there.

[Jay Skeets]

What is, what is the best you've ever played? Would you say any of the spots?

[Lee Ellis]

Probably Shibanik in the summer just gone. I just got hot from downtown. Yeah, it was great. It was great.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

What was the worst you played?

[Lee Ellis]

Well, there's probably plenty of those, you know, but again, like it like I'm not trying, you know, this is not about me trying to play basketball, you know, so I'm way more interested in just like again, the big community and people coming out and supporting.

[Jay Skeets]

But look, you're making an Instagram reel. There's gotta be a bucket or two of you in there.

[Lee Ellis]

The odd one or two. Okay, number two, this one was in Belgrade and this one is Kalimagdon Park. And this is just. Look at this unbelievable setting. And this one actually came after Dubrovnik. So when no one showed up in Dubrovnik the next day, I was on the DMS to everyone who said they were coming to Kalimakin Park. I was like, are you coming? Are you coming?

[Jay Skeets]

And so a bit more of a turnout.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, actually a lot of guys had left as well at this point. But this is what's cool because this is only like 4:30 in the afternoon as well. And it was in November, so it was a chilly day, but it was perfect because it wasn't raining. As long as it's not raining, it's fine. Yeah. And those guys all stuck around and it was just so cool. Those courts are amazing. Belgrade is such an incredible basketball city. Serbian people are so welcoming. They still smoke in a lot of restaurants, which is, it's like going back in time. You know, you go to a restaurant, it's just like. But no, you have one fire one up. Well, no, because I had all the second hand smoke was enough for me.

[Jay Skeets]

But.

[Lee Ellis]

I mean that whole Balkan region is incredible. But Belgrade itself was, was amazing and we had a great crowd turn up for that and just a lot of fun. And again, when you get photos like that, you're just like, wow, that's a framer right there. That is just on the iPhone. Just off the iPhone.

[Trey Kirby]

What were your settings?

[Lee Ellis]

I don't know.

[Jay Skeets]

So who took that?

[Lee Ellis]

I don't know. Someone who was There, because there's a lot of guys who, you know, shoot their own stuff and then they just share those photos with me. So, yeah, a lot of great guys. This was the one where they all bought bananas for me, which was great. And, yeah, I got. I got a weird photo where we were sort of like, we were sort of trying to do a high five and I had my arm around it. We ended up just look like we were like slow dancing in the photo, which was great.

[Jay Skeets]

So you're still eating bananas, of course.

[Lee Ellis]

Got to get the potassium and magnesium up. And then number one, this was just recently in the summer. Yeah, Beijing. And there's a reason why that girl there. Hannah. This is quite an incredible story. I'll try to keep it somewhat concise because it's long, but I was supposed to go to Beijing in May, and then I got the opportunity to do ESPN stuff for the conference final, so we postponed it. And then I was going to go to Beijing and I went in September, and I was talking to my friend Johnny Zhang out there, who's also no doubt watching, and he said, oh, the court's closed in. In for until from the start of August to the end of September. And I'm like, oh, my God. Kidding me, you know? Anyway, so I scrapped Beijing. I wasn't going to go. And I had another trip to Hong Kong. That's why I was going to just leapfrog it up there to Beijing. Anyway, this other person I follow on Instagram was shooting around one day at that court and I messaged him. I said, I thought that was closed. He said, no, I just walked in and shot around. So I messaged Johnny back and I said, can you find out, Johnny, if it's open? And he said, yeah, it is. And so I was like, all right. So then. Then I hastily. I hastily booked this trip to Beijing and my friend Justin, who's also watching.

[Jay Skeets]

Really bringing in some numbers. Everybody that's tuning in, just really hit the, like, button, subscribe. And five star ratings.

[Tas Melis]

I'd be counting at least. Plus four.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, but if it wasn't for those people, I wouldn't be doing these. That's how they're. That's how it's all coming together.

[Jay Skeets]

Are you staying with these people when you go on these trips?

[Lee Ellis]

No, not. No.

[Jay Skeets]

So you're just booking a hotel or something?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah. Anyway, so. So Justin was going to come, but then in May he was going to come, but then in September he couldn't because his wife was about to give birth. Excuse me. So I went. I was going to Beijing by myself. So I turn up, and the court is, like, 45 minutes away from my hotel. Now it's Beijing. I'm like, there's 30 million people. This is going to be chaos. But their traffic is incredible. It just flows.

[Jay Skeets]

Right.

[Lee Ellis]

But the communication was a bit of an issue because, like, that court doesn't show up in. In maps. Yeah. And so I was like, shougong park is this huge park where they had the Winter Olympics. You might have seen that, right? And so I said, all right, take me to Shogun Park. And so I went there, and I got there, and the guy's just like, here you are. And I'm just like, I couldn't see a tower pouring with rain. And I'm just like, what the hell's going on? And of course, your phone doesn't work the same way. You have to get this. This esim. Right? So it did work, but it wasn't like. It's not. You have to change things in your phone. Anyway, so I'm on the side.

[Jay Skeets]

So you're thinking for a second, I'm like, maybe stuck here 45 minutes outside of the city center.

[Lee Ellis]

Anyway, so this lady walks past against pouring rain, and I'm just like, hey, you know, hoping she speaks English. And she did. She was perfect. And I said, I'm trying to go here. And she's like, oh, you know, I don't know where that is. Anyway, I jump in another taxi, and they got me somewhat close, and I could see the towers. And I'm like, great. And I go up, and it's all, like, sort of fenced off, and these. These Chinese guys are there, and I'm just like, you know. You know.

[Jay Skeets]

Have your ball?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, I have my ball and that. And they're just, like, looking at me like, what are you doing, man? It's like pouring with rain. Anyway, this girl out of nowhere just sort of popped up and. And I could see she was interested in learning or practicing her English. And she said, what are you doing? And I said, yeah, I'm trying to play basketball in the tower there. And she's like. She's like, you know, anyway, it sounds.

[Jay Skeets]

Like a fairy tale right outside.

[Tas Melis]

I'm trying to play basketball on the tower.

[Lee Ellis]

So. So she. She's. She. She's there, and then she's talking to the guys, and they're like. They're like, well, you know, whatever. It's raining and. And. But you have to pay to go into all of these courts, and it's Only a dollar. But it's like, you know, you have.

[Jay Skeets]

To pay using the restroom or something.

[Lee Ellis]

Now, because my bank. I can't access my bank account right, to get the QR code. It's only a dollar. Like, I'm. I'm hitting, like, the. The button on my bank account to try to get the. You know, you got to get the password, the code. But it wouldn't come because my phone wasn't receiving, so I couldn't get in. Right.

[Tas Melis]

What about the girl's phone?

[Jay Skeets]

This is the concise version of this.

[Lee Ellis]

I'm barely even, like, a tenth of the way through it. I'm not even in the tower. I can see it. Anyway. Anyway, after about an hour, I'm just like, oh, God, My. My God, you know, it's still pouring the rain. And I said, I'm going to come back tomorrow. Is there any chance you can come back tomorrow and basically be a translator and help me? And she was like, yeah, yeah, no worries. And I'm like, okay. And so the next morning, it was dry, which was. Which was ideal.

[Coldwater Creek Advertiser]

Better.

[Lee Ellis]

Anyway, so she sent me a message and said, I'm going to the tower. I said, great, I'll meet you there. Same thing with the taxi. I'm like, I got nowhere near. Nowhere near the tower on the first go, so I had to call another didi. And I'm like. And I'm trying to show him photos of, like, this is where I'm trying to go. And the guy, they're just like, yeah, there's no clue. Anyway, eventually, like, Hannah sent me a pin from her phone and said, just tell them to go there.

[Jay Skeets]

Drop it.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. And so I. I did that, and we got to the tower, but she was on the other side of Shao Gong park, and I was right near the tower. Anyways, I could see them. And I'm like, oh, my God, I'm here. I mean, no matter what.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

I'm walking in, there's a couple of guys there, and I'm just, like, waving, you know? And I get there, and the cord is all fenced off. Like, just fenced off. And I'm like, you've got to be.

[Jay Skeets]

Kidding around the tower, or. Okay.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. So there was no access.

[Jay Skeets]

You're not getting in.

[Lee Ellis]

And there's a lot of construction workers doing all this stuff.

[Jay Skeets]

Did you think for one second, what if I go through the top, crawling up, scale it up and drop it?

[Lee Ellis]

So I'm there, And then. And then I said to Hannah, like, I'm here. And so she Started walking over, but I was talking to the guys and I'm again, I'm like, you know me, can I just go in there and shoot? And they're just looking at me like, whatever. And so I call up my friend Johnny Zhang, and I said, johnny, can you talk to these guys and just let them know what I'm trying to do? Yeah. And so he talks to them, they come back and they said, oh, it's closed until 2 o' clock in the afternoon. So I'm like, All right, it's 10 in the morning or whatever. I'm like, I can wait. And then Hannah turns up again out of nowhere, and I said, I said, listen, I just spoke to my friend. He said, they're not going to open until 2 o'.

[Tas Melis]

Clock.

[Lee Ellis]

Is there any chance you can just talk to them? And so she talks to them, and this sort of managerial guy comes out and he just goes, yeah, yeah, yeah. And they just let me in.

[Trey Kirby]

Found the right person. Yeah, not even a guy.

[Lee Ellis]

Exactly. Didn't even have to pay my app ready. But I was like, it probably won't work anyway, they let me in. So Hannah had just done amazing. Then I said to her, any chance you could stick around and just shoot.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Me shooting around for a bit?

[Trey Kirby]

She said, yeah.

[Tas Melis]

So all that she did.

[Jay Skeets]

So just the two of you in this cool, amazing tower. And for the podcast listener, explain what the hell this even is.

[Lee Ellis]

So this is an old cooling T tower, a nuclear cooling tower. Now, this was built itself around 1975, but the whole area was like, it's over 100 years old.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

And so they shut it down a few, probably about 20 years ago or so. And they've used this now, the, the Olympic skating. You know, what do you call that?

[Tas Melis]

You know, the slope? The hill.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah, that's right next to it. So this is what they used for the Winter Olympics. And so now they put this incredible court in there, and there's like three or four other towers. And so they have other different activities in there. But this court is just unbelievable.

[Jay Skeets]

Like, and I remember the. You share, like, the sound it makes in there, the bouncing and stuff.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so my. My gift to Hannah was a Kevin Durant Phoenix Suns jersey. Thanks to stateside sports.com I always have a jersey like that to give away. There was no one else there. And I'm like, she deserves it.

[Jay Skeets]

And.

[Lee Ellis]

And she got it. And so, yeah, just. Just like, this is where I would have loved to have had, like, especially JD There, because what would have made this story, even better would have just been filming this sort of like you're so close. Struggle. Yeah, yeah. And just like, oh, oh my God, is this gonna. I'm in Beijing, I've got no one here to help me. And I got it done. So. Wow.

[Trey Kirby]

Did you shoot the ball as high as you possibly could?

[Lee Ellis]

Yes. Yeah, I tried to. What I was trying to do was bounce it off. To bounce it in.

[Trey Kirby]

Sure.

[Lee Ellis]

But I couldn't quite get the angles to line up.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, like you were Larry bird in the McDonald's concert.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And I was also exhausted. It was, it was so hot. I was dehydrated. I was dying for a pee, but I couldn't leave because I wouldn't be able to come back in. And. Yeah, it's great.

[Jay Skeets]

There it is. It's a hell of a top five.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

That's amazing.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was. Yeah, it was tough, but it was fun. It was fun to put that one together.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Running a business is hard enough, so why make it harder? With a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other. One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. Before you know it, you are drowning in software. Instead of growing your business, this is where Odoo comes in. Odoo is the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all in one fully integrated platform that handles everything. CRM, accounting, inventory, e commerce, HR and more. No more app overload, no more juggling logins. Just one seamless system that makes work easier. And the best part, Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. It's built to grow with your business, whether you are just starting out or already scaling up. Plus, it's easy to use, customizable and designed to streamline every process so you can focus on what really matters running your business. Thousands of businesses have made the switch, so why not you try Odoo for free at odoo.com that's o d o.

[Commercial Announcer]

O.Com at tjmaxx feel more you than ever without compromise. Because we never make you choose the quality you want, the styles you crave and the prices you love. It's all at TJ Maxx, so you can focus on just being you. With so many finds arriving daily, that means so many ways to show your unique style. Shop in store and [e-mail] and Max, what makes you you?

[Jenna Kim Jones]

Breaking news, everybody. Not everything is terrible. I repeat, not everything is terrible. The ripple effect with Jenna Kim Jones is proo Internet it hasn't ruined humanity entirely.

[Lee Ellis]

Clean the world. We have almost 10,000 hotels that operate our soap and plastic recycling program. And we have created and distributed 90 million free bars of soap to children, families, mothers in 127 countries across the globe.

[Jenna Kim Jones]

It's like magic, you guys. So put down your doom scroller and pick up your faith in humanity and join me, Jenna, for the Ripple Effect. It's a reminder that you can start a ripple that changes everything. You really can.

[Lee Ellis]

Best stat of all is that the.

[Trey Kirby]

Death rate to children under the age.

[Lee Ellis]

Of five dying to hygiene related illnesses has decreased by more than 60% since.

[Trey Kirby]

The day we started.

[Jenna Kim Jones]

Listen to the ripple effect with Jenna Kim Jones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Public Investing Advertiser]

The new year means new health goals not just for your body, but for your finances too. But did you know financial health is direct, directly related to identity protection? You need Lifelock because your personal info is in endless places that are outside of your control. It only takes one mistake, and not even your mistake to expose you to identity theft and lost funds. Lifelock monitors hundreds of millions of data points per second and alerts you to threats you could miss on your own. If your identity is stolen, LifeLock's US based restoration specialist will fix it, backed by the million dollar protection package. In fact, restoration is guaranteed or your subscription money back. Don't face drained accounts, fraudulent loans or other financial losses from identity theft alone. Resolve to make identity health and wealth part of your New year's goals with LifeLock. Visit LifeLock.com iHeart and save up to 40% your first year. That's 40% [e-mail] iHeart terms apply.

[Tas Melis]

Right?

[Jay Skeets]

Because it's, because it was such a challenge that one to actually make happen. I can't believe you went and left and getting back and you're like, I guess you just have to trust these people you're just meeting for the first time.

[Lee Ellis]

Like so much of it is just like, you know what, I'm just gonna go and see what I can do. And you know, the amount of people who I've had just, I've just said, hey, can you just shoot me shooting for a bit? People are still like, yeah, okay. And then after like 10 minutes, like, all right, I'm done. Get out of here.

[Jay Skeets]

Is that the most challenging thing with this whole thing? The like just having somebody shoot things like the, like what, you know, you're basically a digital content creator, but like, you don't have a huge team?

[Lee Ellis]

No I have no team at all. No. I think, no, the hardest thing, like, like, it's no challenge for me to go to places, like, I love it and I turn up and part of that is like, let's just see what happens. Like, embracing the uncertainty of like, hey, man, I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm going to turn up and see. But I think probably more challenging for me is when I've had deals or agreements and then they've fallen through, you know, closing the deal and things like that. And sometimes things get right up to the end and you think this is a done deal and it doesn't happen for one reason or another. And you know, but everything's a lesson in that sense. You know, you learn and you just think, okay, did I maybe, did I do something wrong? Did I was too aggressive or not aggressive enough? Or, you know, did I not lock in that agreement early enough? Or whatever. And, but it's fine. You know, it's like you just keep on going.

[Jay Skeets]

I mean, you're still doing it.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

So you're obviously still enjoying it enough.

[Lee Ellis]

Well, again, so much of it is like, because people keep saying, hey, you want to do this, we want you to do that. And then there's offers and there's things like that. And so trying to make it all happen. But, but the, the main goal right now is not necessarily more content. It's trying to build out the content that I've got into, into the doc and pitching that around. I pitched it to a couple of places last year and still none for at the moment. No. No takers. But, but I'm still going to keep trying because for sure. Again, like, like, like with you guys, I, I do think, you know, 20 years ago, like, what were you guys thinking at the time? You know, like, we just put up.

[Jay Skeets]

The first ever pilot episode.

[Lee Ellis]

That's all it is.

[Jay Skeets]

Caught that. Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

You know, and it took like four years before you sort of, you know, harassed the score and, and you got there. And so that's the way I'm sort of am right now. It's like every time you get a knockback, you just go, okay, well, I'm just gonna to try again for someone else. And I've got a couple of Actives out there and we'll see where they go.

[Trey Kirby]

Have you picked up any international trash talk in your journeys?

[Lee Ellis]

I've been called the crazy gringo in Brazil. I think I've heard a few choice words from time to time. I haven't been able to necessarily translate them all. But that's the thing, is it do. When you step out on the court, you hear a few things and you hear a few words. And that's what I love about it is, like, all the niceties go away. Hey, once you start playing just open, people want to win.

[Tas Melis]

Absolutely.

[Lee Ellis]

They do. And like you're saying before people want to challenge me, they also want to sort of show off to me as well. So, you know, I've had it.

[Trey Kirby]

They want to make it real.

[Jay Skeets]

If cameras are happening.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, that's right. That's right. And, you know, people, hey, take me in this. Take me. We'll see.

[Jay Skeets]

What was your most viral video, would you say, from this entire experience so far?

[Lee Ellis]

It was in Belgrade, actually. Yeah. That one had about 3 million views, and that was at that court in the Carmington Park. And, you know, because, again, like, I'm not trying to show off my own highlights all the time. I'm trying to sort of tell stories about what that court means and the people there and what basketball means and how those people relate to each other and communicate with each other.

[Jay Skeets]

Correct me if I'm wrong. One of the coolest things I thought was, like, some court you went to that was pretty run down and, like, falling apart. I think because you went to it, maybe there was like. Like some support online to get it redone.

[Lee Ellis]

Yes. This is In Zagreb, actually. J.D. that's a video. We can talk over it, I guess. So this was in Tushkarnik in Zagreb, and Zag. Croatia is a huge basketball country anyway, and I played a game there, and the person who was helping me organize it said, that court's really run down. You might want to play at a gym. And I'm like, no, I don't want to play indoor gyms. Like, this is the whole thing is, like, the storytelling. And so. So that court where we played was just falling apart. And it's where Sabona, the team that Drazan Petrovich played for, first played back in 1948. It was a tennis court, and these two local changed into a basketball court. And then in 2011, Derrick Rose was out there, and they renovated. It was beautiful, but it just. They just left it. Right. And so I put up my video and I said, this is a historically important call.

[Jay Skeets]

Right, right.

[Lee Ellis]

And then people from Sabona said, oh, the government saw it and they're going to renovate it.

[Tas Melis]

Oh, cool.

[Lee Ellis]

Cool. That's pretty cool.

[Jay Skeets]

I know that's cool.

[Lee Ellis]

Like, that's the sort of genuine impact that I'm trying to leave behind, like so much better than the way that I, that I left it. And that story was going in, it was so great. And I was like, we're gonna have a big opening and everything like that. And then something happened there. I don't know exactly. Although I have a. Have a fairly strong idea what happened. Once government money gets involved, then, you know, a few people can change. Got their hands in the cookie jar there. And so the court is beautiful.

[Jay Skeets]

But it did have like absolute happen.

[Lee Ellis]

Yes. Though it was supposed to be a lot better and bigger than it was, but that didn't happen. But I played there in the summer and it was, it was awesome. So to have that sort of impact is like, you know, that's, that's one I like to talk about.

[Jay Skeets]

Absolutely.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah. You must remember that. You must feel that.

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, for sure. And other people have since contacted me and said, hey, we can you come out and do a video on ours? Because we're trying to get some funding as well. And you know, so that's the sort of stuff where I'm like, okay, this is where I can take it as well. And, and this is part of the pitches too. Like ted Sarandos at netflix.com? is. Is like, listen, you know, this is not just about me playing basketball, as I've said. It's like, listen, this is the impact we can have.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, of course.

[Lee Ellis]

And seeing what. When kids can turn up and play and really love the game and. And have good high quality facilities. And if I leave balls behind and things like that, it's like, that's what I'm trying to do, you know. And look, the balls don't last five minutes. I mean, sure, they're brand new balls. Thanks to Spalding with them.

[Jay Skeets]

Hell yeah. Get your plugs in. You're doing good for your partners.

[Lee Ellis]

And Johnny, you know, you can't, there's. Obviously you can't do too much more than just do that, but that's. That something like that is where you feel like. Right. That's, you know, really making an impact.

[Jay Skeets]

Are you an incredible packer now because of all the travels or. No.

[Lee Ellis]

Interesting, interesting.

[Jay Skeets]

Well, I always like, you have to. Do you travel with a basketball?

[Lee Ellis]

I travel with several balls most of the time, so.

[Jay Skeets]

Deflated.

[Lee Ellis]

Yes.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah. Okay.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah. And. And thanks to Spalding Latam for those. Because everywhere I go, I try to dive them away.

[Jay Skeets]

Yes.

[Lee Ellis]

As a prize.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay.

[Lee Ellis]

You know, half court competition or something like that.

[Jay Skeets]

But you have your own ball.

[Lee Ellis]

Well, I usually just have one of those balls that I play with.

[Jay Skeets]

I always wondered that.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

I just picture you walking through every airport.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Sir, you can't dribble in here. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

I mean, always, as they always tell me. Yeah, I always carry one in my carry on for that reason, if I lose my luggage or whatever, I've always got a ball, you know.

[Jay Skeets]

Gotcha.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

So you got a little pump and a ball.

[Lee Ellis]

Got a little pump.

[Jay Skeets]

Gotcha.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

In addition to, obviously the basketball passport, or before the 20, 2020, you were doing some work for ESPN Australia, some Euroleague action. You know. How did that come about and how fun was that?

[Lee Ellis]

Well, same thing. Euroleague. Shout out to Mike. He's probably watching. He's a big fan of the show.

[Jay Skeets]

Grant's five.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, thanks, Mike. He sent me a message and said, hey, you want to come out and do some Euro League stuff? I said, yeah, of course. And so I did some stuff with them. Mike's no longer there, unfortunately, but yeah, I haven't done any Euro League stuff this season, but hopefully I do. It's, it's a great league. I sense there's a little bit of anxiety right now.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, that's what I want to get your opinion on with the NBA saying they're going to do their own league here.

[Lee Ellis]

So I'm not sure exactly.

[Jay Skeets]

Lawsuits coming.

[Lee Ellis]

I saw, I mean, one huge thing for Euroleague happened in the positive was the Barcelona apparently has agreed to a 10 year license, which is huge. However, Real Madrid apparently is lucky likely to join the new one. So that's massive because those are the two teams especially you need and if you've got one, the other one's got the other. I'm not sure how that's going to work, but I know those other teams, like the Greek teams and the Serbian teams, Italian teams, like whichever way they go is going to determine which league succeeds and which fails. Yeah, and, and I think, I think you're a league sensing a little bit of anxiety because the NBA and FIBA together have been got, you know, obviously financial resources and, and, and the ability to make it happen. So we'll see.

[Jay Skeets]

You're also a regular down at the fortress here in Atlanta.

[Lee Ellis]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Jay Skeets]

See a lot of clips of you talking to Dyson Daniels, your fellow Aussie.

[Lee Ellis]

From Melbourne, from Bendigo, actually. Shout out, Dice.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, there you go. How fun has that been?

[Lee Ellis]

It's been unreal. In fact, just last week the Pelicans were here and, and I saw our old friend John Myers. Yes, did he ask if you had a dog? I swear to God, that was the first thing we.

[Tas Melis]

Well, he.

[Lee Ellis]

He must have seen some of my stuff. He said, you got to play with Adam Sandler. And I said. I said, yeah, of course, I would love to. And he goes. He always takes his dog with him. Shout out to Joel. He's great.

[Trey Kirby]

You think he's watching?

[Lee Ellis]

He may be, yeah. No, yeah, he's great. Joel chatting to him and.

[Tas Melis]

And absolutely.

[Lee Ellis]

That's the other thing, is the amount of people who you see again, who the show, the starters seven years ago, it feels like people still remember it, you know, and, yes, I've spoken to a lot of players and coaches and people who, you know, just remember me and remember the show. Kyle Lowry, of course, fan favorite Kyle. He's great. He's always got lots to say. Had a nice little video of him just before Vince's number got retired. I think the Sixers were going to Toronto. And I chatted to him and I saw him before the game and we were talking. I said. I said, you got a couple minutes after the game. Said, yeah, no worries. And so I went in after the game. He had two plates of food, and I thought, but now Kyle doesn't.

[Trey Kirby]

Are we having dinner together?

[Lee Ellis]

He doesn't really play all that much.

[Jay Skeets]

Not at all.

[Lee Ellis]

And so I thought. I thought maybe I could just do the thing. And he said, I'll just, you know, eat and watch, shower and clean up. And I waited like 45 minutes to playoff. But you had to juice that boost, man.

[Jay Skeets]

I think it was also in the playoffs. J.D. you have the photo, because I remember. Remember tweeting this, and people got a kick out of it. There was a shot of Spike Lee on the broadcast and who was behind him but the other league. So Spike Lee was the tweet, spelled L, E, I, G, H and got some numbers. But yeah, you were at some of these postseasons?

[Lee Ellis]

I was at all the Knicks and Paces series. Yeah, it was incredible series.

[Jay Skeets]

And that was through espn.

[Trey Kirby]

Australia.

[Lee Ellis]

Australia, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I did a couple of games of the Knicks Celtics prior to that. Yeah, so. So, yeah, great experience. I mean, you know Madison Square Garden. Have you ever been to a game there?

[Tas Melis]

I have.

[Jay Skeets]

I actually have.

[Lee Ellis]

It is the Mecca.

[Tas Melis]

Oh, my God.

[Jay Skeets]

Am I wrong?

[Lee Ellis]

No, you're not wrong.

[Jay Skeets]

I'm not wrong.

[Lee Ellis]

Am I not wrong at all?

[Jay Skeets]

All those years telling everyone, you gotta go to the Mecca.

[Lee Ellis]

Now Belgrade's own arena, when it's a. When it's a Red Star versus partisan. That's the one that you sort of have to compare it to, because that's just insane.

[Jay Skeets]

Is that the one that Brian Windhorse just went to?

[Lee Ellis]

Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But. But Madison Square Garden, I mean, the Knicks, they should have won that series, you know, but honestly, that Tyrese bomb that sent the game time, what an incredible moment to be there for that and to experience that. So, yeah, it was awesome. It was really, really cool.

[Jay Skeets]

We're obviously running a little long here. I want to go. Do you guys have any more questions about Lee's, you know, basketball passport?

[Trey Kirby]

Where are the Hoopers at? Where, like, where was your best game?

[Lee Ellis]

Again? Very, very tough.

[Trey Kirby]

Probably.

[Lee Ellis]

Probably Brazil. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Oh, yeah. Just.

[Lee Ellis]

Just athletes, Hoopers, and maybe the.

[Jay Skeets]

The football, the soccer translates to as well.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, they play with a flair, you know, Croatia and the Balkan region. Tough, good. You know, teamwork basketball there. The first game I ever played in, in Ljubljana at Luca Doncic's court. Yeah. Beautiful court there. And I thought, we'll play fives. We had a lot of guys, and everyone's like, fives. No one plays fives. All three on three. Yeah. And so they ended up playing fives for me, but I was like, no, it's fine. We'll play threes, because then more people can play. But what you learn from three on threes, it is actually a better format for people pickup because you stay involved in the play.

[Jay Skeets]

Sure, that's true.

[Lee Ellis]

You know, pick up here, you know, and everywhere, when it's fives and it's full court, it tends to be a little bit of one on one stuff. Whereas three on three, if you're. If you're lazy on defense, your man's gonna cook you straight away.

[Jay Skeets]

And were you playing the three on three rules where if you score, it's like sort of live ball? You got to get it past three point line like they do in the Olympics.

[Lee Ellis]

It depends on where you are. It depends on where you are. Like in Croatia, you check the ball at the end, right? So if you score it, they take it out and throw it in from there. But in, like, on the baseline. Yeah, on the baseline. But in Belgrade, I think it was. You check it at the top. Yeah. So you're always trying to, like, what are the rules? What are the rules?

[Jay Skeets]

What's the weirdest rule, in all honesty, of all your international pickup games, that you're like, what? Or, like, scoring or whatever, Check in for me. That's weird.

[Trey Kirby]

Unusual.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. I mean, I get. I guess, trying to figure it, because sometimes it's like, make It. Take it. And other times it's just like, if you make it, make it, the other team just gets the ball.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

You've just got to be ready for that.

[Jay Skeets]

Which one are we doing here?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, but overall, I mean, it just sort of depends where you like. I've played legitimate games. Like in Mexico City, we had refs and. Yeah. And everything like that. That was awesome because it's. The outdoor guys are stepping in, taking charges on the concrete and stuff, and I'm like, wow. You know, I mean, I'm trying to avoid any sort of. Any sort of injuries through that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, it's great.

[Trey Kirby]

It looks like from country to country, you know, just judging by the photos, some places play. Maybe we're wearing different jerseys, but a lot of places are still playing shirts versus skins.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. Yeah. For the most part.

[Trey Kirby]

Doesn't happen quite as often here.

[Lee Ellis]

No, no. Yeah. Some place I've been, like, in Peru, we had, like, sort of bibs. And then actually in Sao Paulo, in Brazil, we had bibs as well. But then most of the time, it's just sort of shirts, and it's like sort of colored or. Or just, you know. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Skin.

[Lee Ellis]

Like in Brazil, it was all skins down there, but stinking hot. They got great bodies. And there we go.

[Jay Skeets]

What's next? Like, must visit, play country on these list.

[Lee Ellis]

So there's one in China. There's another one. There's this cave court, and I was trying to get to that on this last trip, but it's not easy to get to. It's not like you just jump on a train and you're there.

[Jay Skeets]

It's like that. The most fun right now for you. Like, these really unique, different courts.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, that's right. Like I say, I'm not really interested in indoor courts, as beautiful as they may be. You know, like Madison Square Garden. I mean, like, if I could do a video there, of course I would do that. But this one in China, that's like, in a cave that's been dug out, and it's just like the echo in there looks right. And this is, like, in remote China, too. This is not in the city or anything like that. So that's the one I'm trying to get to. Spoke to Jimmy Butler about that last year, because Jimmy. Jimmy travels. He loves to travel. Jimmy loves to travel. And. And after the warriors were here last year, I spoke to him about that. And then after we stopped filming, I said, where are you going this summer? And he said, oh, there's this court in China. This Cave. And I said, oh, I know that one. Yeah, he went to China, but he didn't go out there, so. But again, I think because it's remote. Yeah, it's hard, it's hard to get to, so. Sounds cool. Yeah, yeah, it would be awesome because apparently it's 16 degrees Celsius. So what's that about 55 or so? Apparently like all year round, middle of winter, middle of summer. The way that it's like, you know, just is in the cave. It doesn't change. But there's a court there and that's where I'd love to do a clinic. That would be great because nobody I would think would speak English out there. And so that's where the communication of the game at the ball is like basketball is the language. Like you can host a clinic when people. Because most of the time people don't speak English as their first language. And that's what I'm trying to say is like we can teach through body language and movement and non verbal communication to still achieve something.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, absolutely. Oh, that's cool.

[Tas Melis]

Come on, Ted. Sarandosetflix.com you and Jimmy, there you go.

[Jay Skeets]

Wow, that's a show right there. Jimmy and Lee traveling the world. Hell yes. I mean, let's get into a little hoops talk here with you last night. And I can't believe we timed this perfectly. There was a game in Berlin yesterday afternoon and it was an entertaining one. And late in the fourth quarter we had Anthony Black Euro stepping his way through four defenders for an insane dunk versus the Grizzlies. Like he basically dunked on the entire team. Here it's in the running for dunk of the year. And this was a tie game. Couple minutes to go. Again, international game. Absolutely huge.

[Lee Ellis]

Absolutely massive because he gets it clean as well. And that's the thing is you see those four dudes trying to stop it.

[Jay Skeets]

Looks incredible every time I see him.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, that was so cool. Big, big win for the Magic in the end because they were down on that one and. Yeah, great.

[Jay Skeets]

There's the awesome.

[Lee Ellis]

There's the funnel.

[Jay Skeets]

I mean he has to have that hanging in his house by the end of the week.

[Tas Melis]

Right.

[Jay Skeets]

Like you're probably not gonna have a better shot from you playing basketball if you're Anthony Black.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, I like how he just got over the rim because he kind of hit it at first but got it over. That was. Made it perfect.

[Jay Skeets]

He said he hadn't jumped that high since like his high school days or something like that. He said, okay, yeah, I mean that.

[Trey Kirby]

Was like five years ago.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, that's true. He's a very young guy. Still, it was.

[Trey Kirby]

Didn't make the top five in dunk score from last night.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

This is his 19th of 41 dunks via dunk score.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, well, it's broken exactly right.

[Trey Kirby]

Dunk photo of the year.

[Tas Melis]

The top five of last night.

[Public Investing Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Of like every, Every team's dunks.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah. You know about dunk score?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, not. Not all that well, but I know of it. 19.

[Trey Kirby]

You don't know the formula.

[Jay Skeets]

Nobody does. We've been still trying to figure it out. JD show last night's games, please, if you will. I don't know if there's any you guys want to touch on. We had the spurs beat the Bucks. The big story from that is Wemby and Kelton Johnson going bald, shaving their heads. And then a couple of the Jackals. The spurs support section did that. Thunder beat the Rockets like we said, The Magic beat the Grizzlies. Knicks lose again. Oh, Hornets wax the Lakers. Oh, good one. Between the Suns and Pistons. Celtics came back to beat the Heat Mask beat the Jazz and the Blazers beat the Hawks. Any of those games, Lee, that you either caught or you wanted to address?

[Lee Ellis]

Well, the Hornets are just crazy, aren't they? I mean, they smoked the thunder by what, 20? What was that, 28?

[Trey Kirby]

It was 20ish. I don't know what the final score was.

[Jay Skeets]

Right.

[Lee Ellis]

I mean if, if Lamelo Ball actually becomes a serious player because he feels like he's just playing three on three himself with his friends. But he's got that unique, unique style. He hits those crazy shots, but it just feels like he's not fully committed there to the team. I love Brandon Miller and rookie.

[Trey Kirby]

Beautiful shooter of the basketball.

[Lee Ellis]

Honestly, like he, he's probably going to beat Steph if he keeps going like in terms of most. Most threes. By the end of his career he's already, he's already ahead of you.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay, come on.

[Lee Ellis]

I'm telling you, on pace.

[Jay Skeets]

Yes, because Steph obviously started to slowly.

[Lee Ellis]

Rookie and he could be playing for 20 years.

[Trey Kirby]

He's 19 or whatever.

[Lee Ellis]

I guarantee this, I guarantee he's going to get the single season record soon. 402 is Steph Curry.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay, now that's a little more interesting. But I'll bet you a banana that does not make as many threes as Steph Curry.

[Lee Ellis]

I'll take that. I'll take that. We'll be back in 20 years to cash in on it. Yeah, no, but I mean like, it makes sense because, yeah, Steph's first couple of years, he obviously wasn't the Steph that he became. Game and they're going to be due to just come into the league just firing away. I get that.

[Jay Skeets]

And he is awesome.

[Lee Ellis]

And he is. And that shot is so clean as well. Like, it's. It's not like he has to work on the mechanics and what. He was the fourth pick, I think in the draft last year. So, you know, I mean, like, I always think, you know, Michael Jordan said like when, when he retired, they said he was asked to think anyone would be better than you. He was like, well, yeah, they will be at some point, you know, because Jordan was better than, than everyone else before him. So it's going to happen. I think the same thing here with someone like Con Canel. Maybe he doesn't. But I'm just. So far, I'm like, man, that shot is already as clean as anything.

[Jay Skeets]

Absolutely. Any of the games from last night you guys wanted to touch on or something from a game?

[Trey Kirby]

I thought a big time win for the Warriors. They played a really ugly first first quarter, but then they picked it up on defense. Then Lee's traveling partner Jimmy Butler had an awesome game. Finished with 32, 8 and 4 and a couple of steals in January. He's got his highest points per game, his highest usage. Two of his 530 plus point games this season have come in January when Jimmy scores 20 or more. The warriors are 13 and 8. They're 10 and 11 when he doesn't score 20 or more points. So I think he's. I don't know if rounding into form is the right word, but understanding that he needs to be a consistent presence next to Steph because you know Steph is going to perform. So if they can get a good performance, performance from Jimmy as well. And then like one other guy, the warriors can be good. And the other guy last night was Pajemski. 19 points, 8 of 9 from the field. And he was just making ridiculous shots, like crazy angles, old man moves. And then he was just hot and couldn't miss in the second half. So a nice win for the warriors and an ugly one for the Knicks.

[Lee Ellis]

I thought, yeah, the Knicks, I think they're gonna fall off a bit. I think they have. Yeah. I mean, Jalen's injured again and honestly.

[Tas Melis]

No Brunson in that game.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, I think part of this goes back to what I saw in the playoffs there. Again, a Tom Thibodeau team did a fantastic job to get The Knicks there, but he just drove those guys into the ground and you know, I wonder if that is going to have an impact on their.

[Jay Skeets]

But Mike Brown has changed that up and is trying to get a little bit more from his bench.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, I know, but it just sort of. I'm just, they just look exhausted again to me.

[Jay Skeets]

You know, you don't think it's like could be mid season malaise and, and you know, that does happen.

[Lee Ellis]

It just, it just feels like they're just. I, I think they're going to run out of gas.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, possibly. And look, Cat is playing poorly right now. We had him on the all star team yesterday when we made our picks, but like, I mean, last night, Draymond Green, like, he loves trying to test him and try and punk him. I think even Jimmy gets in on it. You know, those two are special.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. That's the thing with Cat. I think that sort of weakness has never fully been addressed by him, you know, but when he decides to play, he's still awesome. But. Yeah, not sure. Not, not convinced on the Knicks.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, Cat's not a lock for the All Star game, especially with the way the Knicks are falling. And when the coaches get the ballot and they look at it and they see, oh, the Knicks are dropping here, they're not number one anymore. They're literally dropping 3, 4 as the Celtics prop over them. So not a good night without Jalen Brunson, that's for sure.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Running a business is hard enough, so why make it harder With a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other. One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. Before you know it, you are drowning in software. Instead of growing your business. This is where Odoo comes in. Odoo is the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all in one fully integrated platform that handles everything. CRM, accounting, inventory, E commerce, HR and more. No more app overload, no more juggling logins. Just one seamless system that makes work easier. And the best part, Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. It's built to grow with your business whether you are just starting out or already scaling up. Plus, it's easy to use, customizable and designed to streamline every process so you can focus on what really matters running your business. Thousands of businesses have made the switch, so why not you try Odoo for [e-mail] that's o d o o.com at.

[Commercial Announcer]

TJ Maxx feel more you than Ever without compromise. Because we never make you choose the quality you want, the styles you crave, and the prices you love. It's all at TJ Maxx, so you can focus on just being you. With so many finds arriving daily, that means so many ways to show your unique style. Shop in store and online. [e-mail] and Max, what makes you you?

[Jenna Kim Jones]

Breaking news, everybody. Not everything is terrible. I repeat, not everything is terrible. The Ripple Effect with Jenna Kim Jones is proof that the Internet, it hasn't ruined humanity entirely.

[Lee Ellis]

Let me start by saying it's a great day to be a gray shirt team Rubicon. You know, it truly is a team. Those folks, myself included, all had one desire, which is helping folks in disaster.

[Tas Melis]

Trying to be a little bit of.

[Lee Ellis]

Hope in a really, really bad situation.

[Jenna Kim Jones]

It's like magic, you guys. So put down your doom scroller and pick up your faith in humanity and join me, Jenna, for the Ripple Effect. It's a reminder that you can start a ripple that changes everything. You really can.

[Commercial Announcer]

We give just that nugget of hope helping other people. For some of our gray shirts, it's during a time when they need help. And by helping others, it helps them.

[Jenna Kim Jones]

Listen to the Ripple Effect with Jenna Kim Jones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Coldwater Creek Advertiser]

You see it instantly. It's Coldwater Creek, the mark of exceptional workmanship and signature touches inspired by a Mountain west heritage. Distinctive styles created from quality fabrics. Silhouettes perfected with just the right drape. Feel good fits offering ease of movement, movement and thoughtful details to elevate your look. Coldwater Creek's authenticity is embodied in every piece, embracing its confident spirit that carries through to today. Discover Coldwater Creek clothing designed to fit your life the way you want for a wardrobe you can count on season after season. Visit coldwatercreek.com shop the new spring collection at 20% off $75 or more with code iheart20.

[Jay Skeets]

Let's go back to the warriors because forward Jonathan Kaminga demanded a trade on Thursday, the Davey became eligible to be moved. This is from Anthony Slater and Sham Charanya at ESPN. So Kaminga couldn't be traded until January 15th due to the two year, $48.5 million contract he signed last September following an extended period of negotiations. Were you surprised that Kaminga and his team are saying on the day he could be traded? Traded. I want out of here.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. No, I mean, this story's been going on for so long. This is. This was all. Well, maybe not on this particular day. He was going to say it, but the warriors really only signed him as an asset so they could trade him. Right.

[Jay Skeets]

But then played him.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, early for a bit and then he's back in the npc. Yeah, yeah, he's a good player, he's got talent, but he can't seem to get it together. Whether that's a personal thing with Steve Kerr or he just can't seem to find some consistent rhythm. I think he'll get something on the market there, but he needs to find the right situation, I suppose.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah. Such a unique scenario there, especially because it's a team option on his contract for next season. So a team can really play it how they want to play it. But we don't like this guy. See ya. But there's other options out there. Like Anthony Simons dropped 39 last night. So the Kaminga thing, the warriors teammates playing it so nicely. So well. Draymond Green getting interviewed about. I wish the best for Jonathan. Like not bad mouthing him at all. Jimmy Butler with his new haircut. Also, like, I wish the best for Jonathan. Jimmy Butler's had two haircuts in two days. I mean, he's now got the braids dropping rather than, rather than letting it free. He's doing his mid season thing. Somebody's got to take him. Somebody's got to take Kaminga. But what are they getting back? Very, very, I wouldn't think a lot.

[Jay Skeets]

Not a lot of demand for Jonathan Kaming. And B, you are not trading in a power position if you're the warriors knowing full well, like everybody's like, you don't even want them. Yeah, you're saying all the right things, but you don't even play them. He doesn't want to be there and you don't really want him. So why would we offer you anything of note? But we'll see if it's still the Kings that want them or if there's another team or if it's a three team deal. They say reportedly they're prioritizing expiring contracts. That to me even is like we don't even expect a whole lot, like literally anything. Give us some contract that's going to come off the books at the end of the year and we'll make it happen. Yeah, because he's buried at the end of the bench. So we'll see if it happens soon because we haven't obviously talked to you in a long time. What's the biggest surprise from the first half of the season to you team Player storyline.

[Lee Ellis]

Well, the Celtics have been incredible considering Tatum is not there. And by contrast, the paces have been so bad. Now, I know obviously Tyrese is not there and Miles Turner's not there, but they made the conference finals. They were half away from winning the championship. They shouldn't be this bad.

[Jay Skeets]

Right, Right.

[Lee Ellis]

And again, one of the things that stood out to me was just how deep they were in the playoffs. Like, Rick Carlisle played everyone, and everyone seemed to contribute. So they're. I think they're 9 and 32 or something.

[Jay Skeets]

They had a little three game win streak recently.

[Lee Ellis]

How can you be so bad? Whereas the Celtics without their number one start, Jaylen Brown. I mean, Jaylen Brown's got to be in the mvp. He's at the table.

[Jay Skeets]

I'm sure he is at the table.

[Tas Melis]

He is my friend.

[Lee Ellis]

But also just the way that he's. He. There's been no excuses out of Boston whatsoever. There's like, hey, and if they get tat back, which I know is not confirmed, but he may come back. Especially if he comes back a month before the playoffs. The Celtics are probably, well, not maybe favorite. The Pistons have been really good, but I would be pretty happy with the Celtics if they get Tatum back with fresh legs and enough time to get his conditioning up.

[Jay Skeets]

I think there was a clip of Tatum last night. I saw the lip reader saying he said, I'm ready.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

What he could be talking about I'm ready to eat after the game, for all we know.

[Tas Melis]

But that was with a fan, right?

[Jay Skeets]

I think so.

[Tas Melis]

Talking trash with the fan who's a lot of good lip reading last night throughout the league. The.

[Lee Ellis]

The shape stuff as well.

[Tas Melis]

Oh, the practice.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

So, yeah. Was that yesterday or the day?

[Lee Ellis]

I think that was actually the day before, but yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Are you surprised or were you surprised at all, I should say, about the Hawks trading Trey Young, because you are around the Hawks a lot. So this was.

[Lee Ellis]

Writing was on the wall. This was there last year as well. And coming in to preseason as well, it was almost awkward at media day, you know, because he didn't get the extension and no one really expected them to sign him to that. And then once the season started, they got off to a bad start. Then he missed all that time and they were better and it was just clear that it was like, it's time to, to move on. And Jalen Johnson is clearly the. The number one guy there now. He's been great. His defense needs a lot of work still. But I think it just came to that point where it's like, they can't do anything else with Trey. Like, they can't bring him off the bench or have him as the two guard or anything like that. Like that. So it was time to move on. And, yeah, it's very interesting being around a team because you do pick up on a lot of things. You hear things, you talk to people, and you can just sort of sense. It was like, yep, they're gonna try to move off him, but not in a. Not in a way like it is with Kuminga, where it's like, you know, there's clear tension there. It's more like out of respect, we'll try to find a situation that works for you and works for us. And he's at the Wizards. I mean, you might get a contract extension. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Which gets to lead a young team. Again, maybe it works out for him.

[Lee Ellis]

Maybe. Maybe it does. Maybe a little bit of an odd thing, but that's the other thing, actually being around the team. I got that the Wizards were talking to the Hawks, and CJ Was the deal coming back, and I'm like, can I tweet that? And he's like, well, I wouldn't tweet it yet, because it's not like it's. It's sort of preliminary stages that I'm sitting on. I'm like, man, I've got a scoop.

[Jay Skeets]

I've got. This would have been your biggest scoop since Josh. Kitty was going number five or whenever I.

[Lee Ellis]

So I was like, damn. And I'm very careful, because you don't want to. You don't want to go out that. And then it just goes to nothing, because then it's like, you haven't got any intel. You haven't got any connections. And so when it came out, when Steinie was the one, I think who first, I was there, but Lee Ellis had that slot. I had it.

[Jay Skeets]

Forstein and first.

[Lee Ellis]

I mean, again, I'm not going to say I had the whole deal, but I know it was like. Because I was surprised. I said the Wizards and said, yeah, that's the Wizards and the Hawks talking, and it's likely to be CJ as the primary piece coming back.

[Jay Skeets]

Ugh.

[Lee Ellis]

Man, I nearly got a scoop.

[Trey Kirby]

Nearly had a scoop. I mean, you had it. You just kept it to yourself.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, well, I did. And I was like, because if, again, if that just doesn't happen, then you just look like an idiot. Yeah. You know, you got to be locked in on it. Okay.

[Jay Skeets]

Speaking of, like, Hawks guys that you talk to, I just thought of this because of your ESPN fan base and all that. You do talk to Dyson Daniels a lot. Have you ever talked to him about improving his three point shot? Want to give him some tips?

[Lee Ellis]

No, we. I mean.

[Jay Skeets]

You're serious?

[Lee Ellis]

Well, I don't give him tips. But, but I mean, he's struggling.

[Jay Skeets]

He's shooting 11%. It is wild.

[Lee Ellis]

I don't think he's made one in a month. And the one thing I will say about him is I'm surprised the results are bad because he works so hard on it.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay.

[Lee Ellis]

I see him working with Kyle Korver. I see him practicing. He's. He is one of those dudes at the end of practice, continually working on it. Right. The mechanics are fine, but it's the confidence and the way that he, the way that he shoots it, it's almost like he's going through a checklist. Like, okay, square up, you know, leg here, elbow in, shoot, release, follow through. You can almost see that. Whereas someone like Kevin Huerta, I just.

[Tas Melis]

Want to throw that in.

[Lee Ellis]

Oh my God. The Bulls were here not long ago watching him warm up and it's like he's actually a really beautiful shooter of the ball because he just catches it and it's like rhythmic. Yeah. And so one thing I would say to Dyson if, if he ever asked is like you, you step into it a little bit more rather than sort of catch and then go through the shoot and release. So. But again, it's. He's a young player and the confidence is obviously not there with it, but they need him to make, start making those shots.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, that's a lot of people are pointing out here because he obviously helps in a lot of other regards, but in today's NBA, like you got to be able to hit at least be somewhat of a reliable threat.

[Lee Ellis]

Last year he hit a huge one in Boston, he hit a huge one in Madison Square Gun. So he can make them. But right now that confidence is not there. And what teams are doing, doing, as of course everyone's seen, is they're putting like a big on him and saying, shoot him, shoot him.

[Jay Skeets]

He's the new Tony Allen right now.

[Lee Ellis]

Totally. But good luck. But the difference between him and Tony Allen, he's like, okay, fine, I'm not, I can't shoot that. But he's also making his impact. His assists are right up even career high and he's got that little flow to that little mid range push shot that is still effective enough. But until he can really make them defend him on the three point line, that's going to be something he has to work on.

[Trey Kirby]

Based on all the teams you've seen down at the fortress, who's been most impressive to you as a, as a team? You're watching that now. This team might be the champions.

[Lee Ellis]

Well, the Pistons. Yeah, yeah, you're a believer. Kate Cunningham. Man, he is so smooth. He, he's, he's a bit of Damien Lillard, he's a bit of Brandon Roy. Like, he's just, he's just got that ability to get where he wants to, to make a shot, take a shot. He passes well. He trusts his teammates and, and you know, because first couple of seasons he barely played and the Pistons still sucked. And even, even two years ago, they lost 28 in a row. But now, like, when he's got the ball in his hands, it's like he, it's like he's in his bag. And he's so much fun to watch. And I love just watching him warm up and go through his routine. A lot of guys, it's funny, you see him and they just shoot three pointers and they go back and do it. Cade works on everything. Both hands, little flickers, little floaters off the backboard, mid ranges, step backs, free throws, long three short threes, like everything. And I'm really, really happy to see, see where they go. They were honestly like two or three shots away from knocking out the Knicks last season.

[Jay Skeets]

Yes, it was a hell of a.

[Lee Ellis]

Close series like that. Kyle Anthony Towns, like sort of falling out of bounds. Shot was one. And then the last play, I think was a. Was a foul. And Tim Hardaway that was not called that again. If they got it back to New York for Game 7, the Pistons were very comfortable there. So, yeah, really like the Pistons.

[Jay Skeets]

You're a believer.

[Tas Melis]

Jake stunk last night. 3 of 16. He did it over. But it's great to see that all those other guys win the game for him.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. Against the Suns.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They'll win it.

[Jay Skeets]

And Cade will be an All Star. No doubt. This in 2026 in Lass, are you going or you weren't there last year?

[Lee Ellis]

I was there last year. I'm not sure if I'm going or not this year, but the Pistons were here just before the All Star teams were announced and they played. And after the game I spoke to him and, and I was talking to him and he was great. And then afterwards I said, listen, Kate, I don't have a vote for the All Star team, but if I did, you'd be on my list. Thanks. My man. Right Fist bump, right?

[Jay Skeets]

Oh, really?

[Trey Kirby]

How do you feel about Jalen Duran's physique?

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, yes, he's a man.

[Trey Kirby]

I needed to hear some body talk.

[Lee Ellis]

He's one of those dudes, you know, when you're down there and most players are sort of a little bit thinner in person, you know, like, there's no. No real sort of. He's one of those guys. He walks out and you're like, oh, my God. Imagine you have to defend that, you know?

[Trey Kirby]

I mean, those two guys, Cunningham and Duran, both killed the Hawks when they played it. It's just like they're muscling everybody out of the way and getting their spots. No problem.

[Lee Ellis]

The Dwight Howard vibes with him.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, I thought. I thought of you because I was close to the Pistons bench and I saw that body come close. I got reminded of when we were by the Hawks bench and Dwayne Dedman came and scared the crap out of you.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah. You were terrified of Dwayne Deadman years.

[Tas Melis]

You're more scared of just Dwayne Dedwin in general. Not his body type. Right. Like Jalen Jones, just bigger than.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's. And he's got those big thighs as well. He's a beast.

[Jay Skeets]

I brought up Kate in the All Star Game because I wanted to get your opinions on the USA versus the world format. I feel like this is something you probably talked about years ago when you were on the starters, and so now we're getting it. We still are maybe a little unclear of how it's going to work, but we have two American teams and then this world team, and we're going to have this, like, funny little round robin, I guess. But what does Le Ellis think?

[Lee Ellis]

Well, the truth is, it makes no difference what the format is if the players don't play Preach. They don't care and they don't care. And so this is the sort of thing that it's like, okay, maybe there'll be a little bit of like, hey, we gotta beat the Americans, you know? Yeah. But I don't think so, because I asked Nikola Jokic, I said, hey, what do you think of the new format? He's like, I don't know. It'll probably stink like the rest of them.

[Jay Skeets]

I mean, he doesn't help that, does he?

[Trey Kirby]

He takes it the least serious of anybody.

[Lee Ellis]

He does. And that. And that's. But that's what it comes down to is like, they don't care. And so it doesn't matter what gimmick you do. How you do it. If the players aren't interested, they're not going to try.

[Jay Skeets]

And so how do we make the players interested? Or is it impossible?

[Lee Ellis]

I think it's impossible at this point because there's no, there's no stakes in it. So you have to put stakes in it. Money is not stakes. Like, you have to put something on the line where it's like, again, I know people throw the baseball. They don't do that in baseball, though, anymore. But there has to be some incentive that is not financial, that it's like, okay, if we win, then then if you are the Nuggets, right, and they've what, second or third in the west right now?

[Tas Melis]

Second, yes.

[Lee Ellis]

And it's like, well, if we play the Pistons or the Celtics, whatever, we, we really need home court advantage.

[Jay Skeets]

You need like, okay, so Jokic and Jamal Murray maybe try harder.

[Lee Ellis]

But, but, but then, you know, you would hope like Shaker, I get you.

[Jay Skeets]

I guess.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, they would.

[Jay Skeets]

I guess you're right. The All Stars generally coming from better teams near the top of the. The conferences, like, everybody's playing.

[Lee Ellis]

You need the players to feel like we've got to win this game, and they don't, and then they're not going to. And again, like, it's like the whole NBA cup, like paying guys half a million dollars now. Sure, but they don't care.

[Jay Skeets]

You don't think the NBA cup ramps up the competition a little bit more?

[Trey Kirby]

I can't believe you don't respect the Cup.

[Lee Ellis]

My, my, my. Like, Adam Silver trying things. Give him credit for that. No question. But the biggest problem still is tanking which teams are tanking. And he likes to follow the soccer modules. A lot of the times right now you can't have a promotion, relegation, we know that doesn't work, which is a big thing in soccer.

[Jay Skeets]

Maybe we can once we get this whole international.

[Lee Ellis]

But what I would do instead is there's still an incentive to lose. There's still a chance, like, hey, man, we could get the number one pick. Like, who cares? I would be more extreme and say if you finish last in the east and the west, you don't get a draft pick.

[Jay Skeets]

They're trying to help these bad teams.

[Lee Ellis]

No, but that, but that's the problem. These bad teams, like, it's good to be bad. And so if you say, hey, listen, you know, if you're the Pacers, and I think it is the Pelicans right now, it's like the Pelicans already just threw away their draft pick, which was just insane.

[Jay Skeets]

That was crazy.

[Lee Ellis]

But it's like. It's like, no, you're not going to get rewarded for being an incompetent franchise again and again and again. Okay, you know, well, then maybe.

[Jay Skeets]

I think the compromise then is. And we're not the first to say this, like, the idea of, like, you can't be in the lottery or that top five or top three, whatever we make it multiple years in a row, that's another. If you're one of the bad teams, maybe you get a crack at a number one pick to help turn your franchise around, but you can't keep getting bites at the app. And the reason.

[Lee Ellis]

The reason I. You know, like, again, in relegation in soccer, it's devastating for the teams because they go down, they get less money, they don't get the TV deal.

[Jay Skeets]

Right?

[Lee Ellis]

So it's devastating for them. And those teams at the bottom are desperate every single week to not be in that position. Their fans don't want to be there. Right. You want the Pelicans to be like, we've got to win this game tonight rather than.

[Jay Skeets]

Or what, they go to the G League?

[Lee Ellis]

No, no. That's where it's like, if we don't win, we don't get our draft pick. You know, again, they've given away one, so there's punishment there rather than an incentive. Like, yeah, but who cares? We're still going to pick no worse than fourth or something like that. But the other one is like, like, yeah, you can't pick in the top 10, you know, three years in a row because too many franchises are being rewarded for. For just disgusting play and bad management.

[Jay Skeets]

And I think. You don't think that's the players as much as you think it is the organization, sitting guys, all your injured.

[Lee Ellis]

Like, Imagine Man United, right, had a such a bad season, having a bad time, but Imagine had such a bad season, they got relegated and then they go, yeah, well, you get Ronaldo, though, because he's the next available board, and you can. You can sign in. Like, it would be like, well, that's. That's dumb. It's backwards. Yeah, it's dumb. It should be like, no, you were bad. You. You badly manage your team. You get punished for that. Rather than, oh, you land, like the Hawks, for example, you know, like getting recess, who's been okay, you know, he's still got a lot to work on, but you get Cooper flag one side and Wembanyama the other, and it's like, you shouldn't just luck into those. You know what I mean? It should be like, it should be a real lottery for one. Right? So 30 teams, two teams don't get a pick. 28 full on lottery. Whoever gets it gets a pick.

[Trey Kirby]

Spicy.

[Lee Ellis]

I just, I just think that why not? Because right now it's these flattening the lottery odds. But teams are still tanking and teams are like oh, this guy's injured. We're load managing, we're doing all that. It sucks when you go to a game and there's a lot of dudes missing.

[Jay Skeets]

Lee Ellis bringing the hot take here.

[Lee Ellis]

I think it is time to actually do something mean, meaningful and punish teams.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, we'll see. Let's hear what the people think out there. If you're just joining us, Lee Ellis back helping us celebrate 20 years. Hit the like button. Subscribe. Five star ratings and reviews are going to take a quick break. Then we got worst of the week.

[Tas Melis]

We'll talk to about a guy who hates load management.

[Jay Skeets]

Oh, okay. That's a nice tease.

[Trey Kirby]

You know, it's a big deal. You're the only guest we're not sending away after the A block which was an hour long.

[Jay Skeets]

Oh yeah, I should have asked you, can you stick around here for another 20? I mean we went along with you, I'll tell you that. All right guys, every Friday from 6 to 7:30, it's NBA happy hour on FanDuel. Your pre game for the weekend. We're talking limited time specials you won't want to miss. Boosts, bonuses, surprises all dropping in the app during happy hour. So before tip off check the FanDuel app to see this week's specials. Then make your move before the shot clock expires. Like you're Grayson Allen trying to get up a three at the end of the shot clock there at 7:30 Eastern because it's the perfect way to start your weekend. A little basketball, little action, a whole lot of Friday Energy. That's NBA Happy Hour every Friday from 6 to 7:30pm Eastern only on FanDuel, the official sportsbook partner of the NBA. All right, least sticking around for the second half here. Let's get to worst of the week ladies and gentlemen.

[Odoo Advertiser]

The worst of the week.

[Tas Melis]

This week's worst of the week. It's a pretty polarizing song story about Michael Jordan's appearances on NBC this season because he was labeled as the special consultant coming into this season. And Mike Tico, the person who interviewed him on his appearances so far came out and said basically this week we're only getting everything from that one interview for the rest of this season. So it's polarizing.

[Jay Skeets]

What a shock.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, people, people expected but there will be more clips from it. Mike Tirico said I would love to interview him more. Would it have been better if we got to interview him more and get more?

[Lee Ellis]

Yes.

[Tas Melis]

But is some Michael better than no Michael? Absolutely. So he didn't absolutely 100% rule out that we'll never gonna see Michael Jordan in a different setting than that one interview that he did. But he basically said that's it. Yeah, that's it. He told Jimmy train he have siblings. That's our one interview. Special consultant Michael Jordan. You saw what you got. And we'll show some more clips a little bit later on in this season when he'll voice his opinions on the current state of the NBA. So we'll get more of that. But that was polarizing. As soon as that was released people either mad or defending mj. Cause it's mj. What are your guys thoughts?

[Trey Kirby]

I mean I agree with Mike Tirico. Any MJ is better than no mj. Which has been basically the case since he retired. But it's disappointing to think that they, I mean I guess they talked one day, they just chatted. Mike and Mike.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, yeah. They got together for two days and.

[Trey Kirby]

Then an hour and 45 minute interview, the next one which they will sprinkle out here and there. It's to the point now where I forget that Michael Jordan is a special contributor to NBC. It's like oh wait, they, they rolled out another insight to excellence. It's actually kind of similar to me to the way the inside the NBA guys are at ESPN right now. It's like I forgot that they're working for ESPN because they never work.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

You know, so these are kind of hallmarks of an older generation and you can tell that like Amazon specifically is going for younger guys that just got out of the league. Peacock is kind of caught in the middle. I think of like the old and the young. But yeah, I would like to see more MJ for sure.

[Jay Skeets]

But not a shock that this is the only interview. What have you been opinions on Michael Jordan's like sort of thing here. And, and I want to get your thoughts on Amazon, their cover coverage and Peacock and NBC.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, I honestly think the coverage from both of them, NBC, Peacock, Amazon, all them, it's been a breath of fresh air.

[Jay Skeets]

I agree.

[Lee Ellis]

Absolutely. When TNT lost it, it was like ah damn. It feels like the NBA is home in TNT and they did a great job. But I think Amazon especially has said hey we're going to do something really, really special here. We're going to put a lot of effort into it, a lot of investment and it's been really good, really good to see. And the same with NBC. I mean, the nostalgia, you know, kind of all brought us back, back and it was like, oh, awesome. We're going to see it on NBC again. And the Michael Jordan stuff, I mean, look, I feel a bit sorry for him because he kind of is. He knows everyone's just hanging on every single word that he says.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

And I think that's makes him somewhat of a prisoner of his own success in that sense that he almost doesn't want to. He doesn't want to turn into a pundit like Charles Barkley where he's asked about everything and he'd be asked about political stuff and things like that. So I think he likes to be like, I'll do it, but it's under this or sort of. Yeah, right, right.

[Jay Skeets]

You know, it's recorded, we'll clip it out. Maybe I get final look at it or, or not.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. But nothing he, he doesn't want, you know, he's not looking for viral famous like that. We want to hear from him because he, he is so insightful. I mean, we all know what Michael Jordan means to basketball, so we all dying to hear from him. But I think he's like it, you know, I don't want to give away that power that he has. I guess, you know, that's part of.

[Tas Melis]

The mystique of Michael Jordan.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

As simple as that. And so we won't see him a lot. That's the way it's going to be with Michael Jordan. You mentioned that it's special contributor. I called him a special consultant because it's like contributing, I mean the bare minimum. But it is very refreshing to see modern NBA players jump on the desk. Yeah. Whether it's for Amazon or NBC. I hope that Amazon or NBC, they keep it kind of new nimble, like maybe this guy, maybe this person isn't working out and they change it up because that's the problem with the greats of Ernie, Chuck and Shaq. They just have done it for a 6 billion years.

[Lee Ellis]

Donna Haslam is really so good.

[Jay Skeets]

I think, I think the Amazon crew, this prime crew is fantastic, led by Taylor Rooks. And then like you said, Wade Haslam, Blake Griffin, key player. Then they have all these other people that they plug and play like it's not rock and science, it's. You can inform us and it can be entertaining. It should be both.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

And have, you know, poke fun at yourself. Like, obviously the TNT guys have, you know, mastered. Especially with Chuck being a great, good sport. Good sport about it. I love what I'm seeing from that. And we know people that are obviously a part of that production, too. It's no shock that they're trying to, like, replicate as much as you can for a younger generation what made Ernie, Shaq, Chuck and Kenny, like, so special. And I think they're doing that. I love it.

[Lee Ellis]

I think it's cool.

[Jay Skeets]

So get.

[Lee Ellis]

Michael Jordan was in Croatia last summer when I was there, I tell you.

[Jay Skeets]

Man, trying to get on the yacht.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, I was looking for it.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

Now, damn, if I'm at a court one day and all of a sudden he just walks in. Imagine that.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

What was he doing in Croatia?

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, he's always there. He always goes to summer. He takes his private jet and gets on a boat. I think it was with Magic Johnson and Jimmy Kimmel or someone like that. They often get together. I'm just like, God, if I'm. If I'm getting hoops one day and all of a sudden I hear the Alan Parsons Project music.

[Trey Kirby]

He's always playing around.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Doesn't matter if Johnson have like a big court on his. Yeah, there you go.

[Jay Skeets]

You should play on that one that.

[Lee Ellis]

I can't remember whose court that was, whose yacht that was. It wasn't his. He rented off Jeff Bezos or someone like that. But yeah, we saw Magic just knocking in those little mid ranges. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Well, hold on. Let me fire off an email real quick for you. M. Jordan peacock.com. let's see if it's.

[Tas Melis]

Do you see his avatar come up?

[Jay Skeets]

Okay, wait for him to reply. All right. That's the only nominee.

[Tas Melis]

That's the only nominee. Yeah, because it's mj.

[Lee Ellis]

I think. I think they. NBC did make out as if, like, hey, we're gonna seem like it's gonna be more.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, of course.

[Jay Skeets]

And some of us, let's be honest, we were saying, do not expect a whole lot here. It's probably gonna be this one interview and it's gonna be stretched out over months and that's it. And I said it. I remember saying, like, my only thing is, like, if something happens currently in the NBA Ja Morant situation, USA versus the World All Star. Like, I would like to hear Michael's thoughts on those things.

[Tas Melis]

Do you think Mike Conipel is going to have more threes than Steph Curry and his career?

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, I sort of can't get that. Because it was just recorded in the summer, so it's like very generic MJ thoughts and tk. You're right. Still great to hear from him. Great to see him, but, you know, I want to hear him on some more topical things. But anyway, we're not wo. WO of the night. Do you know WO is back?

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, it's back. Yeah, right. Oh, man, is it the same?

[Jay Skeets]

Oh, we're making bank off w boy now. Oh, really? Yeah.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Wow.

[Jay Skeets]

Woboy sponsored. Almost every day. You're not watching.

[Tas Melis]

There's money. There's money going in the bank. Does that mean we're making bank? I don't know.

[Jay Skeets]

Well, we're making more money than we were off WO boy. Because wo Boy of the night is now wo Bridge of the night. It's sponsored by Nick and Alex today. Got a little story time here for you. Nick was introduced to the show by his brother back in 2009 when they were in their teens. And they've both had the show in their ear since. So they must be fans of Leolis going way back. They're huge Suns fans, and that alongside the pod has been one of their most lasting points of connection as they've become adults. So they've gifted each other some merch, and they check in about their favorite no Dunks podcast. Here's the big news, though. Alex is getting married today to a wonderful woman named Chelsea, and Nick wanted to give him a shout out. So there you go. All the guys Lee shouted out. And girls Lee shouted out. Now we're shouting out Alex and Nick. And congrats to Alex and Joe.

[Tas Melis]

Friday wedding.

[Jay Skeets]

Friday wedding.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Yes.

[Jay Skeets]

Well, you spend all your money on sponsoring Whoa Boy. You gotta get a little discount on the Friday.

[Trey Kirby]

I mean, Nick and Alex are gonna feel very good to have sponsored this episode. Episode of Whoa Boy if they've been fans since 2009.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's fantastic. Way back so the woah boy, there was a lot of possibilities. Jimmy Butler, big game. Palo Banchero, big game in Berlin. Anthony Simons, somebody brought up a 39, but whoa bro of the night goes to Lamelo Ball. Scored A team high 30 points to lead the Hornets to a big victory over the Lakers. 10:20 from the floor. Are you laughing at the photo I see collected here for Lamelo? Yeah, it is a funny pick. 9:17 from deep. What are you, Lee Ellis? He also recorded 11 assists, six boards. He had a block all in under 30 minutes of action. So Lamelo bally. Whoa boy.

[Lee Ellis]

His threes, man. Like it's like it's always the whistle's blown and he's just flinging. Flinging the ball up at the hoop, you know? Yep. But. But they go in sometimes.

[Jay Skeets]

Are you still doing your thing where you're trying the old three point contact test off racks? I mean, that might be difficult to.

[Lee Ellis]

Come by, I guess. Yeah, no, I mean, I haven't, I haven't obviously done it at the All Star weekend, but, you know, JD, if you're interested, I can have a word to someone at the Hawks and see if we can wrap those balls up. But. And do it. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

You think you still got it?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Still got the shot, eh?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Okay.

[Lee Ellis]

Good shot.

[Jay Skeets]

Never leaves. How dare you ask.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, it's great. It's great. When you're on the road, don't you do, you know, knock in a couple of threes? It's feels great.

[Trey Kirby]

I'm sure you're playing good in front of people.

[Jay Skeets]

It is also though, you're like, you're playing outdoor. Always windy conditions, like you said.

[Lee Ellis]

Heat.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah. Maybe rain.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I had both of those in the summer and Shibanik, it was stinking hot at night. I walked home without a shirt on. That's how hot it was.

[Jay Skeets]

Oh, easy.

[Lee Ellis]

Sebastian wasn't happy. He's like, can you put a shirt on? I said, sorry, man, I. I can't do it. I simply can't.

[Jay Skeets]

Are you still doing the bar three and all that?

[Lee Ellis]

No, not bar three, but I just, you know, I do my own sort of workouts and stuff like that. But yeah, Manchester poured with rain, but it was like it should pour with rain in Manchester. So. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Snow. Have you played in snow? No flurries? No, no, just rain.

[Lee Ellis]

I played in Iceland. It was very cold up there, but no snow, unfortunately, in Iceland.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

Hey, a couple of big dudes who play basketball in Iceland.

[Public Investing Advertiser]

Vikings.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

What do you prefer? What do you prefer playing on rims with no mesh. No net. So just bare rims or I guess like tattered or like even like chain.

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, no, there's got to be some sort of net.

[Jay Skeets]

And I actually hate playing on just.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, I always pack a couple of nets to too, just in case.

[Jay Skeets]

Damn.

[Trey Kirby]

Travels with nets.

[Jay Skeets]

How the hell are you getting up there?

[Lee Ellis]

Well, that's the problem in. In Argentina last year I was at a court and I couldn't get up to put the net up, so I had to go without, unfortunately.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, okay, but that's your. One of your least favorite things, going up to a court.

[Tas Melis]

Yuck.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, Yuck. Disgusting. There's a feeling when you hear that. Yeah. You know. Oh, just. Just see the net. You see the, see the reaction of the net when the ball goes through.

[Jay Skeets]

You were playing. Where was it?

[Trey Kirby]

Give me that sound again. That was nice.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Was it.

[Jay Skeets]

Was it Germany? Correct me if I'm wrong. Where was it? There was like one of these weird ass nets that you played on. Like it wasn't a mesh or a chain link or anything like that.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, it was Germany. Berlin. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

But how would you describe it? It was like it's rock solid, like.

[Lee Ellis]

Mesh, not mesh, but like. What did you say it's like.

[Trey Kirby]

Is it like a basket almost?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a plastic basket.

[Trey Kirby]

I don't know what that is.

[Lee Ellis]

That is worse than no net at all. Because the ball goes up and just like. Like goes around like that. Yeah, yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

A lot of dunny balls is what you're saying.

[Lee Ellis]

But that's. Yeah. In Germany, like they just decide we're building a net and a rim that's going to last forever.

[Jay Skeets]

Engineering.

[Trey Kirby]

They're all about engineering.

[Lee Ellis]

It is.

[Jay Skeets]

But not great to play.

[Lee Ellis]

Not awful.

[Jay Skeets]

It looked horrible to me.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, it was gross. It was gross.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

And my friend Conrad, who's all certainly watching as well. Hey, Conrad, thanks for joining us. Because anytime you go to a new country, you never want to insult anyone and say, hey man, this sucks, whatever. But I'm like, man, this sucks.

[Jay Skeets]

But unique like that to me.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. But not a good. Unique. No, that, that's not, that's like get rid of that.

[Trey Kirby]

You know the one thing you haven't liked.

[Jay Skeets]

I've always wondered, what's your, what's your opinion on. Because like I've played on courts like this in Europe, in countries.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Where it's obviously the cage. Let's call it the cage. Basketball net. But then the built in like little soccer net.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

How do you feel about that?

[Lee Ellis]

Well, I mean, I understand why it's there and it doesn't necessarily impede the basketball. So it's like fine.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay.

[Lee Ellis]

You know.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay. That's what I thought.

[Lee Ellis]

Put up with it. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Something weird about it though, isn't it?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, but it's just the way they do it. I guess I'm just more interested in. In that in some of these places like Austria that they have basketball courts, you know, so that. That's where. Yeah. Like they're growing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Spoke to Jakob about that too. Because they have the cages out there.

[Jay Skeets]

Jacob Pearl.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. He said. Yeah. It's just the Way it is. So the ball doesn't.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, the big, like, you're talking legit cages.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

And what. What was your favorite thing you've done? Not basketball related.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, I would say in Zambia, the Victoria Falls there, like, these falls are, you know, like Niagara falls. And you go into the water there and you can dangle over the edge. Yeah, yeah, I remember that. Yeah, yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

That is trippy looking.

[Lee Ellis]

It is. And what's holding you there is just two big men holding your ankles.

[Jay Skeets]

Whoa, whoa, hold on, hold on. Are you Serious?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, I'm 100% serious. That's it.

[Jay Skeets]

So you. You can't see them in any of the photos or videos because that's part of, like the. Holy crap. It looks like you're just levitating sort of above.

[Lee Ellis]

And that's it.

[Jay Skeets]

Two people just holding your ankles.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Do you sign anything or nothing?

[Lee Ellis]

Not. I think so.

[Jay Skeets]

I mean, a waiver?

[Lee Ellis]

No.

[Trey Kirby]

Suge Knight mode.

[Public Investing Advertiser]

It's not.

[Jay Skeets]

What's the popular streamer's name? Kai Sanat. Yeah, he just did this. I don't know if you saw it. Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

So there's two things. There's like the Devil's Pool, where you can go right out and you sort of go into like, like a, like a rock pool, and you can stay in there.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay.

[Lee Ellis]

But when I was there, it was too dangerous because it was like the water was overflowing. And so you just do the dangling over the edge because that's how dangerous and that someone's going to go over sooner or later because there's a rope you can sort of hold to get out to where you need to go. But to where you need to go, you still are walking untethered, you know, to get over to where the dudes are. And I was lucky. I was there by myself.

[Jay Skeets]

Blowing my mind.

[Lee Ellis]

I know I was there by myself and there was a couple before me. And even though I got there and I'm like, I'm not doing this. And I said, you guys go first. And I saw them do it and I thought, okay, I. I'll probably be okay. But you get out in the water there and you're like, man, one little slip, one little thing, and you know.

[Trey Kirby]

It'S different ending to this.

[Jay Skeets]

Real different ending.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Jay Skeets]

Send me the footage. Send it to Jason Doyle. Decatur George.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Go out on the GoPro.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, that. That was. That was a cool experience. Just recently, a couple of weeks ago, I was in Belize. I was swimming with sharks. Right. I like, I like to Promote it. Like I was swimming with sharks because I was. But they're nurse sharks.

[Jay Skeets]

Shark is a shark.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, that's. That's what I say. But nurse sharks are not really going to happen. I mean, they, if they're called nurse sharks because it's like a mother nursing a child, they suction their food, right. So if you put your finger there, they could take your finger off, but you would have to sort of jam it in there. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

What about your.

[Lee Ellis]

It depends on how long it's been, I suppose. But.

[Jay Skeets]

I hope I'm not aroused by these nurse sharks.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah. But it's, it's cool because you can see sharks in the water and you're just like, yeah, I'm in there with them. But they're not. They don't, you know, they don't care. No, they, they're not. Okay, that's pretty cool.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, these are great. But I asked. Okay, pick them.

[Trey Kirby]

Hold on, hold on. First of all, the Stream team is telling us it was Speed, not Kai who did this.

[Jay Skeets]

My bad, my bad. Kai. Kai, is it Kai? That's like learning how to legit read and like looking up words. You seen this? This is awesome.

[Trey Kirby]

Yes, I do. Yes, I do that.

[Jay Skeets]

I think you are right on that. Okay. Speed on the falls. I think Kai is whatever.

[Lee Ellis]

Speed was in Croatia too last year. I missed him by a day. Yeah, you got one of the streams. Speed would be good. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

But also big shout out to a couple of stream teamers. Jormore44. Congrats for 20 years. Thanks for classic after classic after classic. It's meant so much to us all. You were the best lunches on me. Hundred dollars.

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, God.

[Trey Kirby]

Super Chat.

[Jay Skeets]

Oh, don't say that. With Lee, Ziggy followed up also a.

[Trey Kirby]

Hundred dollars with Super Chat. That said what Joy Moore said. So big time. Thank you.

[Jay Skeets]

Salute.

[Lee Ellis]

Salute.

[Jay Skeets]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Running a business is hard enough, so why make it harder? With a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other. One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. Before you know it, you are drowning in software instead of growing your business. This is where Odoo comes in. Odoo is the only business software you'll ever need. Need. It's an all in one fully integrated platform that handles everything. CRM, accounting, inventory, E commerce, HR and more. No more app overload, no more juggling logins. Just one seamless system that makes work easier. And the best part, Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. It's built to grow with your business, whether you are just starting out or already scaling up. Plus, it's easy to use, customizable and designed to streamline every process so you can focus on what really matters running your business. Thousands of businesses have made the switch, so why not you try Odoo for [e-mail] that's o d o o.com at.

[Commercial Announcer]

TJ Maxx feel more you than ever without compromise because we never make you choose the quality you want, the style you crave, and the prices you love. It's all at TJ Maxx so you can focus on just being you. With so many finds arriving daily, that means so many ways to show your unique style. Shop in store and [e-mail] and Max, what makes you you?

[Jenna Kim Jones]

Breaking news, everybody. Not everything is terrible. I repeat, not everything is terrible. The Ripple Effect with Jenna Kim Jones is proof that the Internet, it hasn't ruined humanity entire.

[Lee Ellis]

Let me start by saying it's a great day to be a gray shirt team Rubicon. You know, it truly is a team. Those folks, myself included, all had one desire, which is helping folks in disaster. Trying to be a little bit of hope in a really, really bad situation.

[Jenna Kim Jones]

It's like magic, you guys. So put down your doom scroller and pick up your faith in humanity and join me, Jenna, for the Ripple Effect. It's a reminder that you can start a ripple that changes every you really can.

[Commercial Announcer]

We give just that nugget of hope helping other people. For some of our gray shirts, it's during a time when they need help and by helping others, it helps them.

[Jenna Kim Jones]

Listen to the Ripple Effect with Jenna Kim Jones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Coldwater Creek Advertiser]

You see it instantly. It's Coldwater Creek, the mark of exceptional workmanship and signature touches inspired by a Mountain west heritage. Distinctive styles created from quality fabrics. Silhouettes perfected with just the right drape. Feel good fits offering ease of movement and thoughtful details to elevate your look. Coldwater Creek's authenticity is embodied in every piece, embracing its confident spirit that carries through to today. Discover Coldwater Creek clothing designed to fit your life the way you want for a wardrobe you can count on season after season. Visit cold coldwatercreek.com Shop the new spring collection at 20 off 75 or more with code iheart20.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, well, I'm taking that hundred dollars and I'm putting it on tonight's game task.

[Tas Melis]

Nice. Let's live a little segue. Yeah, the wolves Are visiting the Rockets. Should be a good one considering the Rockets coming off that loss yesterday against okc. Shay talking trash to Kevin Durant. Have fun with that seventh seed, buddy. That was very, very funny. It's interesting here. Skeets, you got Houston. You think they're gonna bounce back?

[Jay Skeets]

I don't know.

[Tas Melis]

I do, too, for some reason. Just, just a fight just to be in a good flow tray. You got the Wolves, who are playing well.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, I'm kind of surprised that the Rockets are favored.

[Jay Skeets]

That's what I was, too. I was shocked by the line and I was like, that's why I'm going.

[Tas Melis]

Houston, three and a half points. The Rockets are favored at home, so they got to win by four or more. More. The Wolves, they're playing well again.

[Trey Kirby]

They're playing well. They're going to be the, the more rested team.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, it's weird to me.

[Jay Skeets]

Lee, who would you take here?

[Lee Ellis]

I'd probably go the Wolves, I think, say, for. Well, you're saying, like, back to back. Anthony Edwards is weird. I mean, they can't play the Hawks, but they can smoke everyone else at times. So assuming everyone's playing, I, I, I say the Wolves. Yeah. I'm surprised the Rockets are favorite by that. So I'll go with you, Trey, on that one. Yeah. Thanks, man.

[Jay Skeets]

All right, so we got a nice little battle going on here for January. I'm 7 and 3, Trey, 6 and 4, and Tas is 4 and 6. So everybody's in it with, you know, basically half the month to go.

[Tas Melis]

Right.

[Jay Skeets]

Do you miss doing pickums? Pick them. Payoffs?

[Lee Ellis]

No, it's interesting. The gambling thing right now, just like, obviously, the stuff with Chauncey Billups and, Yeah. A few other players. Like, I'm just like, that's the, the tip of the iceberg.

[Jay Skeets]

Well, now there's a huge one. That's a scandal that's broken in college.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. Yeah. So. But again, the NBA can't be like, oh, my God. What? Like.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Do you miss being in a Google document?

[Lee Ellis]

I was back in.

[Jay Skeets]

Was fun to see your little avatar pop up this morning. I think I saw you in there.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

No, but what about. What was your worst. Pick' em. You ever did pick'. Em. Payoff.

[Lee Ellis]

You ever did the. What's it called? Wetsuit. The stinky wetsuit.

[Jay Skeets]

Hold on. You were just swimming with nurse sharks. Did you have to put on a wetsuit?

[Lee Ellis]

No, no.

[Jay Skeets]

The water was warm.

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, yeah. Water.

[Jay Skeets]

Belize is beautiful, but that was your worst pickup.

[Lee Ellis]

Although it's the smelliest. It Was just uncomfortable. It was claustrophobic. You know, I'm sweaty.

[Jay Skeets]

You literally, like, had your chest waxed on the air. You had a crazy haircut. You ate hot peppers.

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, so fun, right? The chest waxing was actually kind of fun, you know, like, I recommend that. I recommend doing that.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Pain equals pleasure.

[Lee Ellis]

Well, it was just. It was actually one of those things. It's like. Oh, it was kind of nice. Like after. After the redness went away a couple of days later, sort of that bare chest again.

[Jay Skeets]

And Seb's like, put your shirt on, dad.

[Lee Ellis]

Jesus. Yeah, I should have done that. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

But okay, the wetsuit, the time we made you just wear a wetsuit in front of a green screen.

[Lee Ellis]

Just smelly. Yeah, it was just smelly because how many dudes have had that on and people in it, you know?

[Jay Skeets]

Well, you can wash them.

[Lee Ellis]

That's in Iceland. I went dry. A dry suit, snorkeling. Have you ever done that?

[Trey Kirby]

Dry suit?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. So you're in your clothes right now. Right. And I am. You're not naked. There's the two, the Eurasian, the American. Like. Like plates, meat there. And so you go snorkeling in them. Now it's Iceland. So it's always cold. Yeah. And you just have your clothes and you put a suit on over the top and you go out and do it. It's incredible.

[Jay Skeets]

So you didn't mind that? That.

[Lee Ellis]

No.

[Jay Skeets]

You have your clothes on.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah. The only problem is they say go to the toilet before you go, because you don't. Once you're in it, you're in it. You can't get out of that until you're out of the water and you put it on and then you go through the safety and all that. And so it's cold. And, you know, you're like. Yeah, there's no release valve.

[Jay Skeets]

But you said you're snorkeling and, like.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, well, I mean, you're snorkeling on the top of the water. You're not.

[Jay Skeets]

Well, what about your face, then?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, well, your face is only uncovered, so.

[Jay Skeets]

Oh, it is uncovered. Okay.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. I mean, it's cold, but it's not probably what you think, because the rest of you is just bone dry.

[Jay Skeets]

Really dry, until you piss yourself.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

That's the only thing is, then you're like, all right, I gotta get this off so I can piss. Hey, gotcha.

[Trey Kirby]

Ty here in the Stream team says, how about the time you had to eat fast food for an entire episode?

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, yeah, that was gross. Yeah. Taco Bell God, that was gross.

[Jay Skeets]

You haven't had Taco Bell since.

[Lee Ellis]

Never. I've never had it. That was the only time I ever had.

[Jay Skeets]

Hey, have you gotten sick on any of these trips, like, eating something that maybe you push the limits on trying?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, yeah. No quite serious levels of sickness, but. Yeah, the odd upset stomach from time to time? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, in. In Nairobi, there's a restaurant called. What's it called? Their Carnivore. And it was just meat after meat. Crocodile. It was zebra. It was everything. It was great.

[Jay Skeets]

Oh, damn.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

But you got maybe a little sick because you ate too much meat.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, probably. It wasn't too bad. It was just like, oh, it's a little. A little uncomfortable. And that's the thing.

[Public Investing Advertiser]

Sometimes.

[Lee Ellis]

Sometimes when you're out there by yourself, you know, there's no Roxy to be like, can you just go and get me some Tums?

[Jay Skeets]

You ever lonely at all?

[Lee Ellis]

No, not really.

[Jay Skeets]

No.

[Lee Ellis]

I mean, I think sometimes when you get back to the hotel, you just want to see your boys and your wife, but. No, other than that. I mean, like, oh, your family.

[Trey Kirby]

You didn't mean us.

[Lee Ellis]

I. You know, it's one of those things. Things, like, because I think it looks like I'm just out there playing ball, having fun, and drinking beer, but I. I'm actually working pretty much every day to try to create, you know, the content.

[Jay Skeets]

So you'll go do this, you'll go do the pickup run, you'll go to a site or whatever, and then what? You're back in the hotel and, like, all right, uploading. Maybe start shopping things up.

[Lee Ellis]

And oftentimes you're invited out for a dinner or a drink or something like that. So it's. It's. It's not like. And I don't have many days where I'm just doing nothing. If I go to a trip, it's like, all right, I'm doing this and this and this and this and then this and this. So I'm not just, like, hanging around. And so, yeah, there are times where you would love to just come home and, you know, you see your boys and your wife and that.

[Jay Skeets]

But how long have you going for?

[Lee Ellis]

The longest, I think, was Africa. It was like 17 to 19 days.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay, so that's a hell of a trip.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, that was.

[Jay Skeets]

That was.

[Lee Ellis]

But it was also, if you're going to go that far, you know, like. Like, Belize was only three days because it was right there. Got it all done. But I try to not make them more than five to Seven days for that reason. Yeah. You just don't want to be away from the family. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah. Who's winning the race between most countries visited? Between you and my buddy. Our buddy. Your buddy Grish.

[Lee Ellis]

What's he up to? These. To be honest, I haven't actually been counting either, but I guess I'm. I'm somewhere in the 60s. I know he was in the 60s.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah. I thought you guys were like, neck and neck.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, no, no, he. He had a good lead, but I've probably. I've probably, you know, made up some ground numbers on them, but.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, you are in the 60s of countries visited, you think?

[Lee Ellis]

I think so, yeah. Yeah. I thought I was going to count that stuff, but I didn't. So, you know, fair enough.

[Trey Kirby]

Have you had any international breads to add to your top five breads list?

[Lee Ellis]

Any new breads?

[Jay Skeets]

Wow.

[Lee Ellis]

Interesting bread, specifically? I'm trying to think. I think again, in Belgrade, I had a really nice bread bread pre. A pre dinner bread.

[Jay Skeets]

I'm making a quote graphic with that. I think in Belgrade.

[Lee Ellis]

I had a. The food in Belgrade, like, you know, because I'm still a 9 to 5 vegetarian, you know, like, I try to.

[Jay Skeets]

I just talked about going to carnival. I know, I know.

[Lee Ellis]

It's time. It's times like that when someone says, you got to go to this restaurant, you, you know, you like. Yeah, but I was in Belgrade and I said. I said, you got a vegetarian menu or option? And she's like, chicken. And I'm like, so much meat. Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Serbia. Yeah. That's what they do.

[Jay Skeets]

Oh, man. All right, before we let you go, Lily.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

We got to start wrapping this up. We could go for another hour asking you questions, but you're here. It's the drop. It's Friday. Let's do rapid fire. Okay. You're answering the questions with these guys here. First one. It's official. The Jose Alvarado stealth basketball court is now open and available for rent in Brooklyn. The good news, first 10 bookings get one free hour on Jose Alvarado. That's good. Fantastic. The bad news, and I went through and I watched the video. It's only half a quart. I thought it was a full court that you'd be able to rent with your buddies. So off of that, what's something in your life? You admittingly half assed?

[Tas Melis]

Tassel gonna go literal with this half assed? You know, when I was a teen, I wore my pants a little bit lower. Like. Like people do.

[Lee Ellis]

Those were the days.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, those were the good Days. I thought that was cool. That wasn't a literal ass out or half ass out, but you had some.

[Jay Skeets]

Cool Calvin Klein's on.

[Trey Kirby]

No, never.

[Tas Melis]

Never. Cool. Never Cool underwear.

[Jay Skeets]

No, just the cheap on Joe.

[Tas Melis]

Joe Boxer. Boring. But yeah, one of those. Those lame ones. But yeah, I'm going literal.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay, nice.

[Jay Skeets]

What about you, Trey?

[Trey Kirby]

Properly fitting my in ear monitors? Yeah, I mean, they're. They're kind of half ass in and out almost all the time. I'm always tapping. I'm not hearing J.D. in my ear. It's just that I'm in between. I'm an in between ear hole sizer. But could I get them better?

[Tas Melis]

Probably.

[Trey Kirby]

Could I custom fit them?

[Lee Ellis]

Probably will.

[Trey Kirby]

I never.

[Jay Skeets]

Lee brought his own here to the. To the classic factory. Respect. These are the old ones.

[Lee Ellis]

These are the old ones ones, yeah. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

They fit you like a glove.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, they're great.

[Jay Skeets]

What about you? What's the something in your life, Lee? You admittingly half assed?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. Well, it's tax season right now for the company and. Oh, man, that's a.

[Tas Melis]

That's a.

[Lee Ellis]

That's not fun. And my accountant guy who'd been helping me the last couple of years, he left. And where'd he go? I don't know.

[Jay Skeets]

He's like, you're not gonna believe this. I'm traveling the world to get my basket.

[Lee Ellis]

We really only speak between sort of January and March, April. And so I think I didn't hear from him and I sent him an email and they said, oh, he's no longer there. And I'm like, oh, he did everything. Because I'm just like, you do it. Yeah, yeah. It sucks, man. It sucks.

[Tas Melis]

They gotta have somebody else on the payroll.

[Jay Skeets]

It's.

[Lee Ellis]

The company is fine itself. But he was great because, like, he was thorough. And he, like, every time someone say, pays for an airfare or hotel for me, I'm supposed to document all that.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

And so I would say stuff and he would just, like, do it for me.

[Jay Skeets]

I am trying to picture you keeping track of that stuff, not your strong suit.

[Lee Ellis]

Okay.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay, good answers, guys. Next one. The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics are right around the corner, like a couple weeks. We got the skating, we got the skiing, we got the hockey, all the good stuff. And I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait to get hilariously invested in athletes and sports that I. I won't think about for another four years after this February. But I want to know, what's the most exciting Winter Olympic event To watch, Tess.

[Tas Melis]

There's only one. It's hockey. Is there any other sports that they play? Let's be honest, I don't know if there is one. We're getting up to the NBA All Star game where it's USA versus the world. Will it be good? Who knows? I do know that every country is going to be fighting for two weeks during the hockey tournaments to be good. Okay. Kind of like the, you know, the four that they had last year at the All Star Game. Like the four countries that they played. This is going to be even better.

[Jay Skeets]

Are you worried about the rink? Lot of issues over there.

[Tas Melis]

It's not like regulation Milano is melt auto. It's nothing or what?

[Jay Skeets]

I don't know. They're having a lot of problems. You got all these professional athletes playing on this potentially crap ice here.

[Lee Ellis]

I don't know.

[Jay Skeets]

We'll see. We'll see. Okay.

[Lee Ellis]

But hockey, why have they.

[Tas Melis]

Why can they not do it?

[Odoo Advertiser]

I don't.

[Jay Skeets]

They've done it before. I think it's something about the size of it is the real issue. Like they screwed up building it. Oh, yeah, yeah. Which can matter. I guess. So anyway. What about you? It can't say hockey.

[Lee Ellis]

All right. Okay. I wasn't going to.

[Trey Kirby]

Good snowboarding. Half pipe.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Oh, that's good.

[Lee Ellis]

I love it.

[Trey Kirby]

Especially back in the Sha White days.

[Lee Ellis]

He's.

[Trey Kirby]

He's out of the game now, but him doing his moves was awesome. And I always love that they give the snowboard borders like a cool outfit. Like once upon a time the US wore jeans for their snowboard pants that look like jeans. So they try and make them a little counterculturey and I just think it looks awesome. And it's got the element of danger of like, you know, falling onto the.

[Tas Melis]

Edge of the half pipe.

[Trey Kirby]

Super impressive what these guys and girls do.

[Jay Skeets]

Chloe Kim, I was gonna say American. She's the superstar.

[Trey Kirby]

I believe a Japanese man, man won the gold medal last time around. So learn some new people because, you know, I'm not checking in on the off season Snowboarding.

[Jay Skeets]

That's the fun of the Olympics. Like suddenly you'll be like a half pipe expert for sure. Two weeks. Yeah. What about you, Lee? What? What's your favorite Winter Olympics?

[Lee Ellis]

Well, I still like the speed skating because they just go around and around, especially when they put their hands on the. On the ground, you know, as they're going around the curve. And of course, the first Australian to where ever win a gold medal with Steve Bradbury in I think Utah. I think it was Salt Lake City in 2002.

[Jay Skeets]

Now, is that the one where everybody crashes? Yeah, yeah, that one's awesome.

[Lee Ellis]

Right on the last turn. He's coming fourth. They crash out. He's over the line.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

You know, and I think it was the next day, a skier for Australia, Kirsten Marshall, I think it was. She won gold, and she was going to be the first Australian to win winter gold. She got pipped by Bradbury the day before. But imagine, you know, your whole life, you. You're. You're literally one second away from maybe winning a gold, and then you get wiped out. The other dudes just like, who is that?

[Tas Melis]

Is that what you did when we were on the ice in 2016 at the All Star Game in Toronto?

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tas Melis]

You did.

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, yeah, yeah, No, I did. I. I think I did. The Usain Bolt on the ice. I think so.

[Jay Skeets]

I got taken out. I think we wiped out. I actually really hurt my knee when we did that.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Coldwater Creek Advertiser]

Wow.

[Jay Skeets]

Suit somebody.

[Tas Melis]

Nathan Phillips square.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Good call. All right, final question. You guys don't even know this question. It wasn't in the doc. It comes by way of author Chuck Klosterman. Have you ever touched a horse? Have you ever actually had your hand on a horse? Tass. I'll start with you, Chuck.

[Tas Melis]

That's a really good question, because I really have to think about it. I gotta say yes, but I'm not positive.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Of course.

[Tas Melis]

Donkeys. Do they count?

[Lee Ellis]

No.

[Jay Skeets]

No, donkeys do not count. So have you touched horse Donkeys?

[Tas Melis]

I've ridden donkeys have touched camels. I think I've touched the horse, but I could. I could be wrong.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay.

[Tas Melis]

I could be wrong. Yeah. There's like those. Feels like there's those breeds in between donkeys and horses even.

[Jay Skeets]

There's like.

[Trey Kirby]

There's something.

[Tas Melis]

They're, like, larger than a donkey, smaller than a horse that I've ridden as well. But I. I don't know. I'm not. I'm not certain. I've never fed one like Cam Stewart, never owned one like Ham Stewart.

[Jay Skeets]

So it might be a no.

[Tas Melis]

It might be a no. It could be a no.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay. What about you, Trey? Have you ever touched a horse?

[Trey Kirby]

Touched horses many a times. Ridden horses a lot. You know, my girls like to ride a horse, so, you know, if we're at a fair, they got a horse carousel. These horses walking as slow as you could imagine. I'll hop on there.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

All right.

[Tas Melis]

I'm a horse toucher, so you hop on it.

[Lee Ellis]

Yes, of course.

[Jay Skeets]

Of course.

[Trey Kirby]

A horse, of course.

[Jay Skeets]

Take us home. Have you ever touched a horse?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, I've ridden plenty of horses. Yeah. I was riding them on the beach in Portugal only a couple of years ago. We were just walking. But in Australia, I rode one like.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, I've done that, too.

[Lee Ellis]

I did it in Australia, too.

[Jay Skeets]

Terrifying.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. I love it. I love when you get that rhythm with a horse and you. You know, you just lift yourself out of the saddle and you're away. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

It's like Avatar.

[Lee Ellis]

Absolutely. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, man, I wish if you could plug into a horse, that would change my opinion on him completely. I did a beach horse recently, too.

[Lee Ellis]

I forgot.

[Tas Melis]

I forgot I did a beach horse. Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

But I think it wouldn't be great for a horse because it's so.

[Jay Skeets]

They probably hate it.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah. That's why I've r. I've ridden something on. On a beach, too. I don't even know if it was a horse. There's big donkeys out there.

[Jay Skeets]

What is it? Was it a zebra? Zebra Messing from Will and Grace. All right. That's what I wanted to know. Lily.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

That was a blast. Hell, yeah. I've touched a horse. I rode a horse.

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

You just said so. J.D.

[Jay Skeets]

You touched the horse.

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, yeah, I touched the horse.

[Jay Skeets]

I mean. Did you? This is a funny clip going viral. Chuck Klosterman, he was talking to Bill Simmons about. They were. I guess they were getting into the. Why the popularity of horse racing has, like, plummeted.

[Lee Ellis]

Oh, really?

[Jay Skeets]

Chuck's whole thing was, like, way back in the early 1900s. Like, you took horses as transportation. You had them on the farm. Like, people were more familiar with horses, therefore you cared more about racing them. And then he's like. But you could quiz a lot of people nowadays how many have actually touched a horse.

[Lee Ellis]

Makes you think. I guess so. Yeah. A day at the races is incredibly fun.

[Jay Skeets]

Absolutely.

[Lee Ellis]

Especially in England. They have huge days like Royal Assets, Ascot, Epsom Derby, the Grand National. Like, they're great fun.

[Jay Skeets]

I mean, Australians love horse racing, too, right?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. I'm surprised that gambling's down.

[Jay Skeets]

What is it?

[Trey Kirby]

The Ashes?

[Lee Ellis]

That's cricket.

[Jay Skeets]

That's cricket.

[Trey Kirby]

What is the name?

[Lee Ellis]

The Melbourne Cup.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay.

[Lee Ellis]

That's the big one. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

These are the various sporting events that you would fill us in on from time to time. Such and such a thing is happening. I'll never forget Sachin Tendulkar. That's a name that's just gonna be in my head for the rest of my life.

[Lee Ellis]

Throw Yasprat.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Boomera.

[Lee Ellis]

In there. The Indian fast bowler, Chandepal.

[Tas Melis]

That's why. That's where Sean Paul gets his name.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, exactly. He says. He doesn't say.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, he says.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

You're still watching the crickets?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. I mean, these Ashes just finished, actually, in Australia, so I watched. Yeah, watch a bit of that. But it was. England were just awful, so.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, no.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. I mean, you want competition, you know, you don't want the blowouts anymore, so.

[Tas Melis]

Remember when Toronto, they have their police officers on horses?

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

They used to hand out sports cards for each horse. Like that horse. Yeah, those were the good old days.

[Jay Skeets]

Really.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, it was a while.

[Tas Melis]

It was a thing like this horse. Dennis, you know, had his own baseball.

[Jay Skeets]

Card, collect them all.

[Tas Melis]

It was pretty cool.

[Lee Ellis]

Big den.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, I just made that one up. Sorry, sorry. Dennis. I don't think you were a horse. But anyway. Yeah, Lee, moving on.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. Hey, listen, before we go, though. No, hey, listen. 20 years, man. That's. That did. Give yourself a round of applause. Thank you. That is incredible, though, really. I mean, you know, because it was. Yeah. What, 2006?

[Jay Skeets]

20 years. This Sunday was the first actual episode, episode 001 of the basketball Jones incredibly.

[Lee Ellis]

Stuff, you know, like JD for you. I mean, I know this is. Wasn't what you first were trying to get into for a podcast. I think it was. Now I'm getting a bit more of an idea of where you're heading with it, this studio here. But you like this? I think it's great. Yeah. Nice.

[Jay Skeets]

Nice things we can still do.

[Lee Ellis]

But no, I mean, you know, like that. That's remarkable longevity and endurance and great. Well done. Congratulations.

[Jay Skeets]

Do you miss this?

[Lee Ellis]

Not the daily stuff, no. I mean, I'm trying to, you know, I'm trying to. I'm trying to get to Mr. Tedsrandos.com. you just got to get his attention, get their attention.

[Jay Skeets]

So, Lee, tell the people where they can follow you and get in touch and Ted can reach out to you, just.

[Lee Ellis]

Just on the socials. But, like, I'm even. That I'm not looking for. For the. It's not about social media. I'm trying to be something bigger than that. Yeah, but it's a big part of it, obviously. Well, it is. It is for now, but that's not. That's not where it's heading.

[Trey Kirby]

I'm trying to be an IG guy, mostly these days.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, mostly. Mostly. But. But even like now with things that are going on with the tech bros who are in charge, everything just feels so gross, you know? So that's why I'm trying to expand out and do something bigger that's more. More.

[Tas Melis]

More.

[Lee Ellis]

More enjoyable to consume with your family. The. The demographic for what I'm doing has been no limit. You know, men, women, if you're interested in travel or sports or culture or.

[Jay Skeets]

Horses.

[Lee Ellis]

Horses.

[Jay Skeets]

Horses. Maybe.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Maybe.

[Jay Skeets]

But on Instagram Le Ellis. My name.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah. And Tik Tok. You're on Tik Tok.

[Jay Skeets]

Tik Toking it.

[Lee Ellis]

You know, I mean, hey, we're old man. We're all old.

[Trey Kirby]

Tik Tok.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Totally.

[Lee Ellis]

For us. But we gotta do it.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

So. Great.

[Jay Skeets]

Well, thank you for the merch you've brought in here too. We might have some extra. So maybe we can give those away.

[Lee Ellis]

To some people on substack end at Sydney. The pickup tour. They end. They got printed after Sydney, so they're. I think only. I guess that's. Was that 20? No, I think it was 21. So there's a few cities and countries not on there.

[Jay Skeets]

Oh, so it's like. Like basically an actual tour. Like a band would go on. You got all these on the back. Oh, thank you. Well, look, we thought this would be fun. I. I didn't. Haven't last this. Go ahead.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, just a quick check in with the stream team. 80% of our audience has touched a horse.

[Lee Ellis]

Okay, so that's good. And disco.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, not. Not bad.

[Lee Ellis]

So it's that. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

So we got a lot of horse racing fans around here. And then disco godfather 7. Said got sidetracked with work stuff. Wanted to get this in here. Been watching since the condo party room days. Thanks for the last 20 years. 140 Canadian Super Chat.

[Jay Skeets]

Oh, generous Jesus. Guys. You people.

[Trey Kirby]

But we did give you an ultra classic episode, so thank you.

[Lee Ellis]

What's my.

[Jay Skeets]

Well, that's why I said I wish you didn't sing these things on air. I mean, with him here.

[Lee Ellis]

I'm counting so far. 203.

[Tas Melis]

That's Canadian, man. That's Canadian.

[Jay Skeets]

Call my accountant, see if I can get him back.

[Tas Melis]

Ah.

[Lee Ellis]

Shy, help me out. Do we have to declare this Shy, or can we just.

[Jay Skeets]

All right, Lee, thank you so much for joining us. We thought this would be a real treat, not only for us, but obviously longtime fans of the show. So thank you, thank you, thank you. Good luck with your future travels. We'll be watching. We'll have to have you back sooner than later.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Until then, Clipper Bros. You heard it here first.

[Lee Ellis]

Have a great time. Turn up. Love you guys.

[Jay Skeets]

You thought we didn't do clipper bro anymore.

[Lee Ellis]

I just forgot about this. Did you ever track him down? Trying to track him down?

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, there was. Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

Yeah, he must be.

[Trey Kirby]

He's a man. Yeah, he's a clipper man now.

[Tas Melis]

Just like box out kid. Yeah.

[Lee Ellis]

All the classics.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah. Thanks for joining us. And remember, the 30s are the best deck decade of your life. Gotta give a happy dirty 30 birthday to Caitlin turning 30. Gotta get all these plugs.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Jesus.

[Jay Skeets]

Happy birthday Caitlin. Huh? We'll be back on Monday, winners and losers of the weekend. We'll have some more special things coming as we celebrate 20 years. So give it up for Lee. He hit the like button. Subscribe five star ratings and reviews and have a great weekend everybody. Embrace it.

[Commercial Announcer]

At cvs, it matters that we're not just in your community, but that we're part of it. It matters that we're here for you when you need us, day or night. And we want everyone to feel welcomed and rewarded. It matters that CVS is here to fill your prescriptions and here to fill your craving for a tasty and, yeah, healthy snack. At cvs, we're proud to serve your community because we believe where you get your medicine matters. So Visit [e-mail] or just come by our store. We can't wait to meet you. Store hours vary by location.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Running a business is hard enough. Don't make it harder with a dozen apps that don't talk to each other. One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. That's software overload. Odoo is the all in one platform that replaces them all. CRM, accounting, inventory, E Commerce, hr. Fully integrated, easy to use and built to grow with your business. Thousands have already made the switch. Why not you try Odoo for free at o d o o dot com. That's odoo.com with venmo stash.

[Lee Ellis]

A taco in one hand and ordering a ride in the other means you're stacking cash back.

[Tas Melis]

Nice. Get up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash on your favorite brands when.

[Lee Ellis]

You pay with your Venmo debit card.

[Tas Melis]

From takeout to ride shares, entertainment and more, pick a bundle with your go tos and start earning cash back at those brands.

[Lee Ellis]

Earn more cash when you do more with Stash.

[Tas Melis]

Venmo stash terms and exclusions apply. Max $100 cash back per month. See terms at Venmo Me Stash terms.

[Odoo Advertiser]

If you're the purchasing manager at a manufacturing plant, you know having a trusted partner makes all the difference. That's why, hands down, you count on Grainger for auto reordering with on time restocks. Your team will have the cut resistant gloves they need at the start of their shift and you can end your.

[Jay Skeets]

Day knowing they've got safety well in hand.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Call 1-800-GRAINGER click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

[Commercial Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.