Randy Moss Talking Kentucky Derby, Joakim Noah In Studio, The Lakers Go Out Sad, Jalen Brunson Ends The Pistons, Hockey Playoffs + Fyre Fest of The Week

Summary

Pardon My Take – Episode Summary

Release Date: May 2, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of "Pardon My Take," hosts Big Cat and PFT Commenter dive deep into a variety of sports topics, featuring special guest Randy Moss. The lively discussion spans the excitement of Kentucky Derby weekend, insights into the NBA playoffs, hockey updates, and the infamous "Fyre Fest of the Week." The hosts bring their trademark humor and sharp takes, making the episode both informative and entertaining.

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Kentucky Derby Weekend

The episode kicks off with Randy Moss joining the hosts to discuss the Kentucky Derby. Moss provides expert analysis on the contenders, offering valuable picks and insights into the dynamics of the race.

• Notable Quote:
  • Big Cat [54:24]: “There is, there is a world. It may be in another universe, but there is a world in which a Bob Baffert, one of those two horses can win.”

Moss highlights Bob Baffert's return to the Derby after a three-year suspension, emphasizing the strength of his stables and the potential performance of his horses, Rodriguez and Citizen Bowl.

• Notable Quote:
  • Randy Moss [52:15]: “Bob Baffert has really taken a liking to him and Bob wanted to do a selfie with him and Lonnie said, why you want to do a selfie with old coon ass like me?”

The hosts analyze the favorites and long shots, discussing strategic betting tips and the implications of upcoming races.

• Notable Quote:
  • PFT Commenter [56:00]: “I look at Journalism two to three links better than any other horse right now in the field.”

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NBA Playoffs Analysis

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to the NBA playoffs. The hosts dissect various series, focusing on the Minnesota Timberwolves' victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

• Notable Quote:
  • Big Cat [06:12]: “The Pistons have a very bright future because Cade Cunningham stepped up like that level playoff series, young team getting their first taste of it.”

They praise players like Jalen Brunson for their standout performances and discuss the Lakers' struggles, particularly Luka Doncic's performance issues and LeBron James's enduring prowess.

• Notable Quote:
  • PFT Commenter [05:16]: “The Brunson burner ignited.”
  • Big Cat [11:48]: “This is ass kicking.”

The conversation also covers coaching strategies, player health, and the future prospects of teams involved, including insights from guest Joaquim Noah on playoff dynamics and team chemistry.

• Notable Quote:
  • Joaquim Noah [94:16]: “You got to know. And it's look, game on the line, last possession. It's not like the regular season where six guys are listening in.”

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Hockey Playoffs Update

Switching gears, the hosts provide updates on the hockey playoffs, discussing teams like the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes.

• Notable Quote:
  • Big Cat [34:39]: “I'm a fan of fan bases that haven't seen a taste of victory in a long time that haven't had that.”

They touch upon scheduling issues, team performances, and the overall excitement surrounding the Stanley Cup playoffs.

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Fyre Fest of the Week

In a humorous segment, the hosts introduce the "Fyre Fest of the Week," poking fun at questionable sports events and organizational mishaps.

• Notable Quote:
  • Big Cat [43:00]: “We got a dream come true. We got to break the brothers up.”

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Guest Interviews

Randy Moss – Kentucky Derby Expert

Randy Moss shares his extensive knowledge of horse racing, delving into the strategies behind horse training, race predictions, and his personal experiences with handicapping from a young age.

• Notable Quote:
  • Randy Moss [60:23]: “And beat. And beat Baeza in that race. So, I mean, you know, the second best horse in the Kentucky Derby, potentially.”

He provides detailed analysis on horses like Journalism and discusses the impact of pace on race outcomes, offering listeners actionable betting advice.

• Notable Quote:
  • Randy Moss [61:59]: “Horses have probably felt that way. We probably have.”

Joaquim Noah – Basketball Insights

Joaquim Noah joins the conversation to reflect on his basketball career, the transition to coaching, and the current state of the NBA. He emphasizes the importance of team chemistry and strategic coaching in playoff success.

• Notable Quote:
  • Joaquim Noah [94:16]: “You realize now that it's over with. You realize how fragile keeping a whole thing together is.”

Noah also touches on international basketball development, comparing the U.S. system with European grassroots programs.

• Notable Quote:
  • Joaquim Noah [103:27]: “Leagues, Big cat, you're asking all the right questions.”

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Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As the episode wraps up, the hosts engage in light-hearted banter about their week, upcoming games, and humorous anecdotes, maintaining the show's engaging and relaxed atmosphere.

• Notable Quote:
  • Big Cat [146:14]: “We're gonna kill your speed demon out there. You score?”

The hosts encourage listeners to stay tuned for upcoming interviews and continue providing their unique blend of sports commentary and entertainment.

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Key Takeaways

• Randy Moss's expert analysis provides valuable insights into the Kentucky Derby, highlighting the potential of returning trainers like Bob Baffert.
• The NBA playoffs showcase emerging talents and strategic team plays, with a focus on player performances and coaching decisions.
• Hockey playoffs add another layer of excitement, with teams navigating both victories and scheduling challenges.
• Guest appearances by sports figures like Randy Moss and Joaquim Noah enrich the discussion, offering professional perspectives and personal experiences.
• The episode balances serious sports analysis with humor and entertaining segments, staying true to "Pardon My Take's" signature style.

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This detailed summary captures the essence of the "Pardon My Take" episode, providing a comprehensive overview for those who haven't listened while retaining the engaging and informative nature of the show.

Transcript

[Big Cat]

Hey, pardon my take listeners. You can find every episode on Apple podcasts, Spotify or YouTube Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

[PFT Commenter]

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[Big Cat]

On today's Pardon my take, we have Randy Moss. Randy Moss. It's one of our favorite traditions. It is Kentucky Derby weekend. We also have our good friend Joachim Noah in studio talking some ball with him. Great interview as always. He's probably one of the coolest guys that we get on this show fairly regularly. Yeah, just hung out before and after the man. We're going to talk some NBA playoffs. We are going to do some fyre fest where tune into the fire fest. Very funny. Fyre fest. Hank got down to his deep dark fears of Jordan and what is occurring with Bill Belichick. And we're going to Brought to you by our friends at DraftKings. Derby week is here. Gentlemen, suit up in your sharpest ladies. Let those wide brim hats turn heads. Those the race is on. But who will rise above the rest and be crowned king of the track? Find out on DK Horse, the number one downloaded horse betting app I actually just redeposited for the weekend on DK Horse. DraftKings is turning up the thrill with the King of the Track promotion. Here's how to get in head to DK Horse app. Opt in and bet $5 or more on a horse to win the Derby. If your pick crosses the finish line first, you'll win a share of $1 million in prize pool. Also on Monday we will be in Arizona for the BET Gala. So make sure you tune in. It's kind of like the Met Gala, but it's The BET Gala. It's going to be us. It's going to be some of our friends, some celebrity guests. We're going to live stream Knicks Celtics game one, hopefully Caps game one.

[PFT Commenter]

We'll see.

[Big Cat]

We'll be live streaming it from Arizona. Dressed to the nines at the beck Gala with DraftKings. So who will reign supreme? Download the DK Horse Racing app and use code TAKE THE that's code TAKE ON DK HORSE. Bet $5 or more on a horse to win the Derby for your shot at a piece of $1 million. Only on DraftKings. The crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800- GAMBLER 18 and over, 21 and over in certain states to open owner access and advanced deposit wagering account and resident of state where DK horse is available. Eligibility restrictions apply. Void where prohibited. Opt in and place a $5 plus straight win bet on the Derby first eligible bet only. Must win to share $1,000,000 cash reward via click to claim. Expires in 30 days. Ends May 3rd. See [e-mail] offer/ details. Okay, let's go. Welcome to part of my take presented by DraftKings. Who will reign supreme? Download the DK Horse Racing app and use use code TAKE. That's code TAKE on DK Horse. Bet $5 or more on a horse to win the Derby for your shot at a piece of $1 million. Only on DraftKings. The crown is yours. Today is Friday, May 2nd. Bing Bong Hanky. Bing Bong Bong Bong.

[PFT Commenter]

Hank was very upset that the Knicks won this game. You were trying to pretend like you were rooting for just an extended series. I could. I know Hank pretty well.

[Big Cat]

You.

[PFT Commenter]

You would have preferred, I think, to have seen the Pistons.

[Hank]

No, I'm excited for the next. I'm excited to. It's gonna be good content to get.

[Big Cat]

Mr. Bing Bong back. Yeah, we will be with Mr. Bing Bong game one at the Beck Gala in Arizona. Jerry O'Connell will be with us live streaming the game.

[Hank]

And New York fans are the loudest fans and never win anything. And it's just fun to shut them up.

[Big Cat]

Well, we should.

[Hank]

I'm excited to beat New York.

[Big Cat]

They did win this series and we should give Jill.

[Hank]

They win it at the Pistons, lose it.

[Big Cat]

Well, the Pistons did choke in the end, but Jalen Brunson multiple times one.

[Hank]

In the ref show that's, you know, wins a win.

[Big Cat]

Jalen Brunson, we got to give him. He scored 40 points. One of the coldest crossover three in. In the eye on Azir Thompson, who was awesome all series playing defense. But Jalen Brunson is just that good. And that was such a cool moment.

[PFT Commenter]

He lost him by about seven, eight steps. It was crazy. He went off the camera. He went out of the frame of the camera on defense, on that crossover.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And then Jalen Brunson just steps back and hits it. He had a 40 point game last year, right? In a, in a game seven or a game six. Some elimination game.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Jalen Brunson, he is good.

[Big Cat]

The Brunson burner ignited.

[PFT Commenter]

The Brunson burner.

[Big Cat]

Did you like that? That was iron Eagles call.

[PFT Commenter]

I like that a lot.

[Big Cat]

Brunson burner ignited.

[PFT Commenter]

I appreciate that. I also want to give respect to the Detroit crowd. Yeah, they did a great job tonight. I liked when they got in unison. Enchanted flopper.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

As the refs were reviewing it, I thought they were saying soccer, which would have also played for what Jalen Brunson did on that particular play.

[Big Cat]

And I've said this throughout this entire series. Yes, it sucks. If you're a Pistons fan waking up this morning and you lost a series that you very well could have won because every game felt like a coin flip. And you know, you had game one where you blew a big lead. You had game four where you got screwed by the refs. Either way, perspective. The Pistons have a very bright future because Cade Cunningham stepped up, stepped up like that level playoff series, young team getting their first taste of it. It sucks to hear, but the Pistons have a very bright future. And the Knicks, Jalen Brunson is just. He's that dude. Yeah, for sure.

[PFT Commenter]

If you're a Pistons fan, you're going to go to sleep, you're going to be pissed off, you're going to wake up in the morning and you'll probably still be pissed off when you wake up in the morning. But by the end of the weekend, I think you'll probably have a good amount of optimism. You'll just be thinking, okay, we can build off this. We're going to be awesome next year. Let's move on. Fuck the Knicks.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, right. Exactly. And now, Hank, you got the Knicks, you got Jalen Brunson, Carl Anthony Towns, who I, I think I'm just become.

[PFT Commenter]

A huge cat fan until.

[Big Cat]

So funny.

[PFT Commenter]

You will be.

[Hank]

It's fun to root for. Until you're rooting for him on your team.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, well, yeah, I know. I, I, he's, I, I'm rooting afar and I just think he's very funny.

[PFT Commenter]

He pulled his stomach today on a.

[Big Cat]

Jump ball, it was like, chest, stomach, shoulder.

[PFT Commenter]

He, like, jumped, barely off the ground, and then he's just started grabbing his chest and his stomach and he was like. I think I pulled my stomach trying to reach up in the air. And that was kind of. Kind of a head scratcher. But, Hank, when you say that you have the Knicks, do you have the Knicks or do the Knicks get you? Because after the game, the Knicks fans, they were outside msg and you know what they were chanting? What? We want Boston. We want Boston. We want Boston.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

They don't have a choice.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, but sure.

[PFT Commenter]

So they. They got you?

[Hank]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

You're saying we got them. I think they got you.

[Big Cat]

Okay, what is the path for the Knicks to win this series? I do not think the Knicks are going to win this series. I actually was thinking about it. I think if you could put campaign's brain in Carl Anthony Town's head, the Knicks might have a chance. If you just had Carl Anthony Towns with unlimited belief, himself 5% from the field, well, oh, the Knicks do that.

[Hank]

All series, they could have a chance.

[Max]

You'll get one campaign game.

[Big Cat]

You will get one. A campaign quarter, maybe even.

[Max]

But a quarter equals a game like.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that is.

[PFT Commenter]

It can be the difference.

[Big Cat]

You need Carl Anthony Towns. Carl Anthony Towns would have to be incredible pretty much all series. Jalen Brunson is going to be incredible. Yeah, I'd say the Celts are going to win this series.

[PFT Commenter]

You don't think the jail is going to be incredible?

[Hank]

I think we have an amazing perimeter defense. I think we're going to lock them up and make. Make other players beat us. And the Knicks don't have those players.

[PFT Commenter]

Who's got the better Jalen?

[Hank]

Celtics.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, okay.

[Big Cat]

Jalen for Jalen.

[PFT Commenter]

Jalen for Jalen. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Prediction. Five.

[Hank]

Five.

[Big Cat]

I'm gonna say five.

[PFT Commenter]

I think it's a sweep. I think you guys got him.

[Big Cat]

Sweep. Max.

[Max]

Nixon six.

[Big Cat]

Nixon six. Did you see? So prediction game is tough.

[Hank]

Memes, memes.

[Big Cat]

Knicks fan. Knicks in six. Oh, copycat.

[PFT Commenter]

Now.

[Max]

Memes just keeps telling me to say Nixon 6.

[Big Cat]

Oh, okay. So that was a pick from the booth.

[Max]

Correct.

[Big Cat]

Speaking of predictions, we got to talk about some other games, and one of them is the Timberwolves closing out the Lakers in five. And I don't know if you saw ESPN went over 11 on their experts picking this series before we talk about the Lakers, because there's a lot to talk about the Lakers. The Wolves are awesome. Defensively, they were. I mean, they shot 7 for 47. From 3 and still won this game. I actually think they were trying to win this game on hard mode because the Lakers weren't playing a center and Rudy Gobert had 27 and 24, which I. This was like a redemption arc for both Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle where Rudy Gobert has been clowned on a lot. And he absolutely bullied the Lakers. He put them in a torture chamber. He not only was scoring it will rebounding at will, but every single time LeBron or Luca tried to go into the post or try to drive the lane, he was there. He was. It was the Rudy Gobert game.

[PFT Commenter]

He was dominating the pain. He was getting offensive rebounds, dunking him. Immediately it seemed like that's something that Rudy should be able to do more often. But this might have been the first game where Rudy realized that there is a basket he scored that he can score on it.

[Big Cat]

He scored 14 points in the first four games of the series. 27 on. On Wednesday night. And not only that, Anthony Edwards was not good shooting. And I say shooting because he's still Anthony. The, the. Anthony Edwards has stepped up a level where. Remember how much it like double teams would bother him a lot. Even earlier in the season he said that he distributes the ball, makes good decisions, good ball handling, rebounds the ball. So even though he shot like shit, Anthony Edwards is still a force on the field. And he played great defense and out physical LeBron. And he passed.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, you're right, he passed really well. He was able very frequently to get around whoever that first defense defender was that was coming out to step to him on the perimeter. He would get around whoever that person might be and then take a couple steps, find the open man. It was.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he was really good.

[PFT Commenter]

And then after the game, he took a victory lap. I saw that around the stadium, which is one of the coolest things. He had like a little squad with him as he did the victory lap, just basically saying like, yeah, I am. I am the man now.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, like that's.

[PFT Commenter]

I love that move. I love the fact that he's pushing LeBron during games. I love that he's not afraid to talk to anybody. I love that after the fact he's. He's just pissing on their grave. Yeah, that's what, that's what we want out of her superstar.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he is. He's the face of the league if he can win a title. And the Timberwolves are just a really good team all around. And this was, this was an ass kicking. They. I mean, I thought the Lakers would win on Wednesday night just out of pride. Yeah. Zero pride, zero pride, zero answers. And the Wolves are just so good defensively. And again, 7 for 47. They shot worse in this game than the Rockets did in that famous game against the warriors in Game 7.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I mean, if you had asked JJ Redick if you would be okay with having Rudy Gobert beat you offensively going into this game, he'd be like, yeah, that's. That's kind of what I'm thinking.

[Big Cat]

Oh, I thought. I thought you're gonna say he would. He would. He would leave the press conference. Well, no, he's not a fair question.

[PFT Commenter]

He would leave the press conferences if you asked him. Did you talk to anybody about substitute. Did you know that you're allowed to substitute?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, listen, we're J.J. redick fans because he's a friend. Except for Hank. He is a friend of ours. Not the best series for him, but he is a rookie head coach. I think you can give him a little bit of. I mean, like the Lakers. Well, Luca fell into their lap this year. I think he did a very good job with the Lakers this year. He had a little bit of a problem in this series, a little bit of a meltdown. There was a report that Reggie Miller had to calm him down, which was weird.

[PFT Commenter]

I think that Reggie Miller probably told somebody that afterwards.

[Big Cat]

I think Reggie Miller likes to be part of the conversation.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I think there is some truth to that, that maybe J.J. was very emotional, that he was like, you know, a little intense.

[Big Cat]

He's a serious guy.

[PFT Commenter]

He was on edge. And also, I think JJ He's a smart guy.

[Big Cat]

He.

[PFT Commenter]

He's played a lot of basketball. He's talked about basketball a lot. He. He probably had a good understanding of his roster and knew that he was limited.

[Big Cat]

Jackson Hayes was. I don't think he got a minute. Did he get a minute? I don't think he got a minute. So they didn't have. They're like, hey, we have a big guy and we're not going to play him. We're going to let Rudy go. Bear just punk us. Yeah, he played three guys off the bench, obviously. Game four. Yeah. Maxi Cleaver had not played with the Lakers at all.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't think he practiced.

[Big Cat]

Really?

[Hank]

With the Lakers?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. He hadn't played since January and he was in a crunch time. Yeah, not. Not exactly. He didn't have a lot of outs with his roster and the Super Bowls were just a better team. But JJ Redick had the moment where he left the press Conference probably a learning experience for him. I still think he's a very good coach. Hopefully LeBron doesn't fire him. And we also had J.J. redick after. I think it was maybe after the game or today when they did media. He said that without naming names. He said the roster must get into championship shape during the off season. I think he's talking about one guy.

[PFT Commenter]

What part of the roster are we talking about here?

[Big Cat]

I think he's talking about Slovenian part of the roster.

[PFT Commenter]

Is he talking about Bronnie?

[Big Cat]

I think he.

[PFT Commenter]

Bronnie has to grow.

[Big Cat]

He. Bronnie does have to grow. But yes, Nico Harrison's a fuckhead, but was he kind of right, but also.

[PFT Commenter]

He'S a dickhead, but maybe also a genius like Steve Jobs.

[Big Cat]

So I got a. I got a couple stats for you. Luca was some Timberwolf. Drove at Luca 16 times during Game 5. He was blown by blow by stat. 9 of those 16 times. You could see it. He was a traffic cone for most of the night. Also, the Lakers defense in this series was. Gave up a 120.4 rating, which would have been the worst in the league for the entire league for all season. When he was on the floor, Luca looked gassed. Luke. He had that third quarter where he was. He had a flurry, but he looked gassed. Every is. Does Luka have a little early onset in bead?

[PFT Commenter]

I think Luca has made a bad back, though.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah, you're right.

[Joaquim Noah]

Right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. That's how he. The bad back is. Then when he scored like 15 points.

[PFT Commenter]

In a row, Luca had. He was. He was laboring, as Reggie said.

[Max]

That was. That was sarcasm.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Max]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, what?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. Are you. Max is about to go on vacation. He's been questioning our. Wait till the fire fest, which was very, very entertaining.

[PFT Commenter]

Max, what are you questioning? Sarcasm on who?

[Max]

I. I thought. I thought he was at. I.

[Big Cat]

He just said he had a backpack. You. I thought you were stopping it because I said he has early onset and beat.

[Max]

Yes, but. And Beat has never played a playoff series without a. Without an injury.

[Big Cat]

I understand.

[Max]

He ever got an excuse. We got a bad back, but he has. Whatever. He obviously did that on purpose because Embiid has heard every series and he's never gotten the. Oh, well, he was hurt.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, well, he had a bad back.

[PFT Commenter]

We have to forget. Well, no, I don't think he has early on said. And he got to the NBA finals last year.

[Big Cat]

I think Zach Lowe put it perfectly. He's like. Everything he does is. He's laboring in everything he does. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, I think Reggie Miller, was he the one that was like, he's laboring the entire time. He's like, he's struggling out there. I think Luke is hurt. I think he's hurt. He looks like he's playing 50% out there. He was playing 50%. He was playing on offense.

[Big Cat]

Well, yeah. When I say early on, said Embiid, Luke is a better player than Embiid, has gone to an NBA finals, has won an actual conference finals, I'm saying just in. When you watch the game and play to play, you're like, is this guy gonna survive? Yeah, like that. You. You. You just have that vibe of like, is he okay? Because he doesn't look like he's gonna be okay.

[PFT Commenter]

He looked like every single person at Barstool Sports after about 10 minutes of playing pickup, right. He was turning around, running back down the court.

[Big Cat]

He's got to get into championship shape.

[PFT Commenter]

He's got to play his way into championship shape. That also Anthony Edwards really, really rubbing it up, running up the score on Luca after the game's over, he still has the energy to do a Frank walks around the arena.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Luca could never do that. Luca would be on a Go Go Scooter.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Full disclosure, I wasn't being sarcastic.

[Big Cat]

Oh, okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, not sarcasm.

[Big Cat]

The good news is for the. I think this is probably the fourth year in a row, Third year in a row, we can stop hearing ESPN say that this is the year that the Lakers are going to go to the finals. That is true. It feels like every year it's been the Lakers, Lakers, Lakers. And the Edwards is the King Slayer. He took out Jokic last year. He took out LeBron this year. Who else?

[Hank]

KD and Booker.

[Big Cat]

KD and Booker. He is the case. 23 years old, face of the league. Face of the league. And then the big question of this game, because I. I don't think Nico Harrison is a shithead. He is not. Right. Because he still didn't shop Luca around. He still shouldn't have traded Luca. But everything that Nico, everything Nico Harrison was standing on Lucas, you know, being out of shape, defense, defensive liability did kind of come into play in this game.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I still would rather have Luke on my team. But it was for one night, Nico Harrison went to sleep happy for since the last, you know, since February.

[PFT Commenter]

But it's almost like Nico Harrison might have trained him to the Lakers to put him in the perfect situation to be exposed defensively.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

Because on the Mavericks, at least you had some people on the inside, that could play some defense. Yeah, that could step up and that could cover up for some of the liability they have on the outside with the Lakers the way their roster is right now. They were basically like, hey, really, you can, you can just stay on the inside and deal with Gobert, right? Yeah, that's no problem for you. And after the game, Hatchimura was like, I'm six, eight. I don't know what else you want me to do.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

I can't. I can't really do much against this guy.

[Big Cat]

Height matters, but. So Lucas side LeBron James, he's still good at basketball. Very good at basketball. He did seem mortal in this game five in the fact that he was. I mean, divincenzo hit stick them. By just standing still, LeBron didn't feel like he'd get anything going. I feel like this is a crossroads for the Lakers because LeBron is going to play another year. I don't know if you guys saw the report from Shams, which stop me if you heard this before, but LeBron wants to play another year because he has a son that will be draft eligible in 2026.

[PFT Commenter]

I love that. I love having three James's on the, on the Lakers roster. Yeah, I saw that and I saw some people speculating on him retiring. He, LeBron James is not going to retire out of the blue and just walk off the court and that'll be it. He is going to have the retirement tour.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

He's going to go across the country and there's going to be like a documentary crew that follows him everywhere. And it will have to deal with watching, you know, the TV show about LeBron James retirement as he's currently retiring, in the process of it. It's going to be a big thing. And I'm not saying he doesn't necessarily deserve it. He's been a great player for an extreme, like a crazy long period of time.

[Big Cat]

20 years.

[PFT Commenter]

Of course he's going to get like, you know, the Star treatment. But LeBron is not the kind of guy that would just, you know, silently leave his shoes at the center of the court.

[Big Cat]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

And, and walk off the floor.

[Big Cat]

No. So the big question though with LeBron is, I agree with you, he's not going to retire.

[PFT Commenter]

He's got 50 million player option next year.

[Big Cat]

That's the big question. Is he going to opt into the 54 million which would then basically tie Rob Pelinka's hands behind his back in terms of roster building, or is he going to be like, hey, I actually Want to try to put a roster around me because I'm not like, LeBron is still good, very good at basketball. Whatever you want to say, top 15, top 20 player right now in the league, whatever. I don't. I don't know what the argument would be, but like he's somewhere in there that's probably not worth $54 million if he's 41 years old. Like, he's got to pay. Get paid less. If LeBron wants to play another year, I would think, well, it's his call.

[PFT Commenter]

Like he can accept the player option.

[Big Cat]

Correct. You're.

[PFT Commenter]

But you're saying like, if he were to be a free agent right now, what would salary command?

[Big Cat]

He can not opt. Yeah, he could not opt in. He can take less.

[PFT Commenter]

He can opt out and then. And then willingly take a pay cut and say, I would like to get paid 35, $40 million next year.

[Big Cat]

Which would be smart.

[PFT Commenter]

Use that money to get a center.

[Big Cat]

Fill the roster, get someone over seven feet.

[PFT Commenter]

But we're also looking at the, the options that you're going to have in like free agency.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

It's not great.

[Big Cat]

No, not.

[PFT Commenter]

Not a great market out there.

[Big Cat]

They could always trade Bronnie. Really?

[PFT Commenter]

You just need. You just need a big body in there.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Get. Get a couple big bodies that can give you some fouls.

[Big Cat]

They were the first father son duo to lose a playoff series.

[PFT Commenter]

That's crazy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And they also. The Lakers. Do you know this is a fun fact. The Lakers have never lost in the first round when they were a three seed or higher.

[PFT Commenter]

Damn. Did not know that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I thought that this would at least go seven. I thought that the NBA would. Would love to have Lakers quit. Yeah.

[Hank]

Then be like, the Timberwolves are just a better team.

[Big Cat]

I don't even know. It's so bad. Like, that's a. That's.

[Joaquim Noah]

That was a.

[Hank]

That was a Lakers.

[Big Cat]

But the Timberwolves did not win that.

[Hank]

Game as much as the Lakers just didn't.

[Big Cat]

Like they gave up the Timberwolves defense.

[Hank]

Like, you can't really.

[Big Cat]

They had. They had him in a fucking. And Luca was hurt. They had him in a torture chamber. They didn't. The Timberl's defense is very, very good. And I mean, you saw it like LeBron didn't want, like he couldn't get anything going. Rudy Gobert had them all seeing ghosts whenever they would go to the rim. Austin Reeves couldn't shoot for shit.

[PFT Commenter]

Austin Reeves had a bad series.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he had a bad series. So. Yeah, it'll be interesting to see what happens. I mean, if you're a Lakers fan still, if you said at the beginning of the season, hey, we're. You're gonna lose in the first round in five games, but, oh, yeah, Luke is going to be on your team. You take that every single day.

[PFT Commenter]

You would take that. Absolutely. But then what if you knew that Luca was going to be laboring.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

Maybe. And hurt maybe laboring in that he looked like he was pregnant.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. That's probably what kind of look like he was maybe pregnant at times. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

All right. So I'm just happy we could stop talking about the Lakers for. And not us, but the general media, because that's. They. They take up a lot of. And they weren't a serious contender, but they weren't. I know that it's like, you know, you have Luke and LeBron on a team. You're like, oh, watch out. They're two unbelievable players. They just didn't have a team that was going to make a deep run.

[PFT Commenter]

Now what if. What if the wolves just roll and then we can look back and say, you know, the Lakers really gave him the best series.

[Big Cat]

Mike Greenberg would say, yeah, for sure. All right, the other one. This was the weirdest game. The Rockets and the Warriors. This is just a. This is. This series is just ugly because it's. This game. The Rockets were up, so they played so well in the first half that the warriors threw the white flag with like four minutes into the third quarter. And then the warriors backups played so well that the Rockets had to put their starters back in. I also, like, am I crazy to say that it's. It's kind of nuts that Steve Kerr gave up on this game when it was a 13 point game with five minutes left against a very young Rockets team where if you can put a little game pressure on them, they might fold? Like, that seemed crazy to me.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm going to trust Steve Kerr on this one. I thought so too, at the time, especially because I had. I had some Steph Curry bets that ended up not ca.

[Big Cat]

Because of that in the second half.

[PFT Commenter]

So I, I, like you was yelling at my tv, like, put Steph back in. The game's not out of hand.

[Big Cat]

I just wanted to see. I didn't even have any action on. I just wanted to see a good game. I was like, it's a 13 point game and the Rockets are one of those teams where it's like they are young and they can flinch.

[PFT Commenter]

I just, I. I think that Steve Kerr, he knows his team pretty well. He knows these guys really well. And Jimmy Butler still kind of knew, but also banged up. He just probably saw a chance to cut your losses.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And rest up.

[Big Cat]

They literally just punted on the game.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, they did.

[Big Cat]

They. The. The. The game started. The Rockets jumped all over him, which credits to the Rockets. And then it was. Yeah, that was it. And it was like, you know, Amen Thompson and Dylan Brooks and Fred Van Vliet all were awesome, like, shooting crazy percentages. And. Yeah, it was just over. It was over. And then they. And then. I mean, we had. I will say, the one thing that was fun to watch is Pat Spencer, who is just basically. Remember, he is just a mini Danny Hurley from the UConn National Championship team. He came in. I think he had a game high 17, and then he got kicked out for headbutting.

[PFT Commenter]

I love that.

[Big Cat]

It was so perfect. I think he scored how many points of Pat Spencer score. He was kind of all over the place and then. And then got kicked out. It was a very. Danny Hurley. Danny Hurley would be proud. Yeah, he had 11 points.

[PFT Commenter]

Who was he screaming at earlier this year? Was that kd?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he was screaming.

[Max]

You're thinking of a different guy.

[Big Cat]

Oh, I'm thinking of a different guy. I'm thinking this is. This is his brother. I'm thinking of Cam Spencer. Cam Spencer plays on Memphis. He yelled at kd. Pat Spencer's lacrosse player. Lacrosse player. He's, like, one of the greatest. That's right.

[PFT Commenter]

Of all time.

[Big Cat]

All right. Good. Good catch. Good catch. Throw everything I just said out.

[PFT Commenter]

I would love.

[Big Cat]

You could understand. I. You could understand how I got that confused, because Pat Spencer's also crazy. And Cam Spencer played for Danny Hurley. He's also crazy. He's the one who yelled to Katie.

[PFT Commenter]

There's. There should be a rule in the NBA that if you are a brother and especially if you're a twin, you should have to play on the same team.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, agreed.

[PFT Commenter]

Or a son.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. They kind of just look the same. And they. They. When he headbutted him, I was like, yeah, that's Danny Hurley. So that's my bad.

[PFT Commenter]

I. I would. I would very much like to see the warriors advance. I think that they will. I think that they'll end up taking care of business against the Rockets, mostly because I want to see. I want to see Draymond and Rudy Gobert. I want to see those two lovebirds out there.

[Big Cat]

I'm excited to get a bunch of tweets saying I was wrong, and then 30 seconds later saying, wait, you memes corrected you.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

Those are my favorites. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, I got.

[Big Cat]

I got.

[PFT Commenter]

I got a ton of those from Montreal fans.

[Big Cat]

Listen. I don't know if, like, I. Listen, The Awls are the best fans in the world. We up so much stuff. That's all we do. That's the beauty of this show. We just think things up left and.

[PFT Commenter]

Right, especially if we're recording past midnight, which we are. It's past midnight. So, like, every NFL Sunday show that.

[Big Cat]

We do, I'd say it's a mess of. I'd say we get more things wrong than right.

[PFT Commenter]

But the things we get wrong, we're being sarcastic. And Max just doesn't realize it was a bit.

[Big Cat]

I was doing a bit with Pat Spencer. What?

[Max]

Max, how many times do you think, like, let's say Memes didn't pick up on the Pat Spencer thing there, that they would go to somebody else and use that take because of what you just said and act like an idiot? I feel bad for that sometimes.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, you mean like somebody, like, hanging out with their friends and they said.

[Max]

That and they're like, yo, did you see the Yukon kid?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah.

[Max]

Headbutt someone. Like, they.

[Big Cat]

All right, so. All right, so it is on us. We got to be better.

[Max]

I.

[Big Cat]

You.

[Max]

Yeah, I say dumb all the time. And I.

[Big Cat]

We all do.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. No, but just, like, get better friends. Get better friends. That'll be, like, not. I don't care that you got that wrong. It was funny that you said that.

[Max]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

Guys make mistakes. Let's normalize guys up.

[PFT Commenter]

Nobody wants to know it all.

[Big Cat]

No one does.

[Max]

Right?

[Big Cat]

No, the know it alls are the worst. That's. I mean, you gotta make mistakes.

[PFT Commenter]

We're no it nuns.

[Big Cat]

You know what he did play for UConn. That Pat Spencer did play for UConn.

[PFT Commenter]

And when he yelled at KD earlier this year. Yeah, that was awesome.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. He basically was like, yeah, he yelled at kd. He's like, I. I'm playing for the warriors and the Grizzlies at the same time, and Bobby Hurley is my coach.

[PFT Commenter]

And Memes is actually. Actually very rude of you to interrupt us.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And to try to correct us on that means just say yes and move on.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Apologies.

[Big Cat]

Nixon said they're actually their older brother, Spencer Pratt. Remember him from Real Housewives?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. And his brother, Chris Pratt.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. This is all. We're connecting all the dots. We just nailed that. I am excited for game six. I do agree. I think the Warriors. I think you're going to actually get a Warriors effort. Yeah. Because you better. If you. If you decide halfway through Game 5, you're not trying anymore, you better have those bullets saved for game six. And then we watched game six of. So we get game six Warriors Rockets on Friday night, and then we get Game 7, Clippers nuggets on Saturday, so. Which I'm very excited for. This series is just awesome. And it feels like we're just going to have to see if we get. If we. If we keep getting the good James Harden.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

He was really good tonight.

[PFT Commenter]

My question was going to be, are we getting James Harden right now?

[Big Cat]

I think.

[PFT Commenter]

Are we getting hard? Because this, this has happened in the past where James Harden has had good games in playoff series. And we're like, I think this series is when James Harden's taking it seriously.

[Big Cat]

Yep.

[PFT Commenter]

And then game seven happens and we're like, why did we. Why did we get hard again?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. You know what I'm gonna do in this game? I'm just going to. I think it's just going to be Jokic versus Kawhi. I think both those guys are going.

[PFT Commenter]

To be incredible superstars.

[Big Cat]

I really do. Because Yoko, you know, Jokic always gets his stats and Kawhi's had a good series. But I think this is one of those games where we're going to look up and it's going to be. Jokic is going to have 34, 18 and 11, and Kawhi is going to have 39 points on like 85% shooting.

[PFT Commenter]

I would love to see that. That sounds like a awesome game to watch.

[Big Cat]

That's what. That's my prediction.

[PFT Commenter]

It's a great series, though.

[Big Cat]

It is a great series. I'm very excited for games. I. What, Hank? I'm.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't know who's going to win.

[Big Cat]

Who do you think is going to win? I actually don't. You don't know?

[Hank]

I really have no idea.

[Big Cat]

Because you could like, you could make the. Yeah, yeah. I don't know because I was convinced that the Clippers were going to win game five before that game and the Nuggets took it to him.

[PFT Commenter]

It is crazy that obviously Nuggets is this. Is this right? The Nuggets only shot nine free throws the entire game.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

That's pretty crazy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. A lot of mid range from much moment.

[PFT Commenter]

Joker just probably scared of the horse heads in the crowd.

[Big Cat]

He definitely was.

[PFT Commenter]

Maybe got inside his head.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Who's. Who's gonna.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, when is this game?

[Big Cat]

This is Saturday night.

[PFT Commenter]

This is gonna be Kentucky Derby day.

[Big Cat]

Right after the Kentucky Derby.

[PFT Commenter]

Is Jokic going to be fired up because he just watched the horses or is he going to be completely spent?

[Big Cat]

I don't know.

[PFT Commenter]

He might be spent, might be spent.

[Big Cat]

Although they don't have. I don't know if it's exact horse racing that he likes.

[PFT Commenter]

He likes the carriage races. Yeah, I'm sure that. I'm sure that Jokic likes.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he'll watch it. But yeah, he might be fired up.

[PFT Commenter]

Like if. If he loses on Kentucky Derby day, is that more likely for him to have a good game or a bad game?

[Big Cat]

Well, everyone loses on Kentucky Derby day. Wait to hear Randy Mosso. He'll give you some winners. You just gotta follow him because then I always try to outsmart myself. Good question.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't know. I think. I feel like if you. If you lose big on Kentucky Derby day, nothing good happens for the rest of that day. Right. You kind of like retreat into a pit of sadness, question everything about your own brain.

[Big Cat]

He needs a Spencer brother to make him to block the TV form. Is there a Spencer on the Nuggets? I'm sure there is. There's another one. Haas.

[Max]

Yeah, George.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Still. Still kicking around the league.

[Big Cat]

Our guy Spencer Haas is not in.

[PFT Commenter]

The league right now. But Shout out Spencer is listening to this podcast. What's up, Spencer?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we love Spencer Haas.

[PFT Commenter]

He should be in the league.

[Big Cat]

He should be.

[Hank]

I thought he still was.

[PFT Commenter]

It was Spencer Haas. The Lakers should pick up the phone, Spencer. Stay by your phone, Spencer, because Rob. Rudy Gobert, Rob Blank is giving you a call, buddy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right, we gotta pick. Let's pick a first basket for Friday night Rockets Warriors NBA playoffs finally here. And it's about time to get wild. High stakes drama, insane buzzer beaters, jaw dropping dunks, and the excitement you live for. And guess what? DraftKings sports circuit official sports betting partner, the NBA is giving you a chance to boost your winnings every single game during the playoffs. That's right. Every game, all playoffs long. DraftKings is rolling out a special NBA profit boost. So what are you waiting for? Download the DraftKings sportsbook app now and use Code Take to claim your profit boost. That's right. Code Take gets you a boost for every single NBA playoff game. Don't miss your shot of big wins. This is the moment you've been waiting for. Only on DraftKings. The Crown is yours. All right, what are we doing, boys? First basket. Everyone's got a pick.

[PFT Commenter]

My pick is Draymond Green. Oh, he's been shooting first a lot.

[Big Cat]

Can you show me the odds for first basket? You know what I'm going to, Ivan? I'm going to go with Jimmy Butler.

[Hank]

I'm going to go with. In Thompson's name. Amen.

[Max]

Draymond is 11 1. I'll go with. With set.

[Big Cat]

I. I don't.

[Max]

Yep.

[PFT Commenter]

I'll go with Sengun, the Turkish Terminator.

[Max]

I knew I was gonna it up, so thank you for stepping in. That's plus 475.

[Big Cat]

I got you, bro. We get things right on this 50.

[Max]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

Where's. Yeah. Where's he from, Max?

[Max]

Slovenia.

[PFT Commenter]

No, I just said. Just said it like, two seconds ago.

[Big Cat]

UNC Tar Heels. No, Turkey. Yep. The country. He's, like, only 22 years old, too. I was reading about him the other day. He's just been. He's been playing bad. He's like one of those guys that I think was playing professional basketball when he's, like, 14 years old.

[PFT Commenter]

He moves like it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Hockey. Pft.

[Randy Moss]

You.

[Big Cat]

And you advanced. Congratulations.

[PFT Commenter]

Caps win, baby.

[Big Cat]

Caps are going to the next round. Who are you playing?

[PFT Commenter]

Au revoir. Canadiens. We're playing the. The Carolina Hurricanes.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So the east playoffs weren't great.

[PFT Commenter]

They weren't?

[Big Cat]

No, because we have.

[PFT Commenter]

I enjoyed them.

[Big Cat]

No, yeah. Yeah. I'm just saying, like, in terms of great series, we actually only have one game, seven in. In the Stanley cup playoffs. That's the Stars and the Aves, which. That has been a great series. But the Caps advance. The Hurricanes advance. I think before. I think they advanced Tuesday night, so we already recovered that. The Leafs can breathe a sigh of relief.

[PFT Commenter]

I was shocked.

[Big Cat]

The Leafs have advanced. I think we all were thinking that this would be very funny. These are not your father's Leafs or your grandfather's Leafs.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, that's what I've heard. But, I mean, they've won playoff series before.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And I. I do root for fan bases that haven't seen a taste of victory in a long time that haven't had that. But then I see Paul Bisson at. On tv, wearing a stupid Maple Leafs tie, screaming into his phone from about 2cm away, his mustache. Spittle everywhere. The mustache? Yeah. Mustache looking like Freddie Mercury on steroids. Let me be clear. Paul Bissonnette, you better hope that you get your ass kicked in the second round, because I wouldn't like nothing better than to skull you in the Eastern Conference finals. And I will. I will skull you. Tom Wilson will skull you. So you better just bow out and lose right now.

[Big Cat]

I do think that the Panthers are going to beat the Leafs Panthers seem really. I mean they made quick work of the lightning and that was a. We Talked about on 2 on Wednesday's show. But the very physical series with suspensions and guys going out and they, they, they, they, they took care of the lightning fast.

[PFT Commenter]

Is that loser talk by the, by the lightning head coach afterwards to be like, you know what? We're glad to pass the torch to the Florida Panthers as being the, the. The other team from Florida now takes what we built and they get to build on it.

[Big Cat]

That's some SEC culture.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. That's some bullshit.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

That's group I root for the state.

[Big Cat]

You can't Florida think about this. Think about the lightning coach when he goes to, you know, kids living room trying to recruit him right in state. You're like, didn't you talk about the Florida Panthers having the torch now?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, maybe I might go just go to school there.

[Big Cat]

That's insane.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it is insane. But it was. I actually liked that series a lot. It wasn't as long as it should have been. Listen, it would have been great to see more games, but it was still a awesome playoff hockey series.

[Big Cat]

Just because we only have as of right now one game seven. Because the jets and the Blues have to play game six on Friday night doesn't mean the, the hockey playoffs haven't been incredible. I mean there's been awesome action every single night. We are having Whitney on, on Sunday to break down the whole first round and preview the second round. That Stars Ave series though has been incredible.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And then the Oilers. How about the Oilers down 2, 2, 2 games to none and then they just come and reverse sweep them and. Excuse me. That game tonight was. It was on crack. It was. It was two, two five minutes into the game.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Flying around.

[PFT Commenter]

They finally got some goaltending.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Now there is kind of a wrinkle in the schedule that's coming in for the second round with the Caps and the Hurricanes. We've got a stadium scheduling issue in Carolina.

[Big Cat]

Oh.

[PFT Commenter]

So apparently the good people of Raleigh, whoever runs that stadium. I don't know if it's the guy that, that ran the payday loan company that bought the. The Whalers and moved them to Carolina or not. But they scheduled the arena to have a Shane Gillis concert.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

And two Pearl Jam concerts.

[Big Cat]

Oh, geez. Oh.

[PFT Commenter]

Next week. Max's good friend.

[Big Cat]

Max's good friend Eddie Vedder.

[PFT Commenter]

So I don't know what they're gonna do about that because there was a time I think this was just a few Years ago, where it was the. The Penguins and the Caps that ran into the same situation, and the Caps got a home. I think they had a home game taken away from them because Pittsburgh up their schedule. I don't know what's going to happen, but the schedule, they might have to play back to back nights.

[Big Cat]

Ooh, that's not good.

[PFT Commenter]

So that. That would be wild. I don't know.

[Big Cat]

That's not good.

[PFT Commenter]

But I'm. I'm looking forward to the Canes. The Canes are a good team, and they've played pretty well against the Caps recently. I got to figure out a mare's bet against. I think the most famous person from Raleigh is Brandy Love, and she's a Hurricanes fan.

[Big Cat]

That's big.

[PFT Commenter]

Nice. Yeah. Putting down the list. So what should I bet against?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I saw our guy. PMT stats said someone's running away with the bonk list this year, and it's gonna be either me or you.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So I don't know, but that one didn't help you.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm fine. Running away with the bonk list.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

But, yeah, Brandy, if you're out there, I know you're a big Canes fan, probably a big listener of the show.

[Max]

You just keep saying Jordan.

[Big Cat]

Jordan's from.

[PFT Commenter]

She's from Raleigh.

[Max]

That's what the music is saying.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Bill.

[Joaquim Noah]

Bill was at the game the other night.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, so listen, this is a battle of the titans.

[Big Cat]

Most famous people from Raleigh. Pete Maravich.

[PFT Commenter]

Dead. Rip. Should have said dead. Clay Aiken, I think. Alive.

[Big Cat]

John Wall.

[PFT Commenter]

Alive.

[Hank]

Dougie.

[Big Cat]

Michael C. Hall.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, the only Kane celebrity fan I'm familiar with is Brandy Love.

[Big Cat]

Okay, that's. Then you're gonna. Then your hands are tied. Yeah, I'm giving you other ones. But your hands.

[PFT Commenter]

My hands are tied.

[Big Cat]

Definitely tied.

[PFT Commenter]

Which is the worst way to pay attention to Brandy Love.

[Big Cat]

Unless she's in the room with you.

[PFT Commenter]

Unless she's in the room with me.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

If. If the Hurricanes beat the Capitol, I'll never jack off to Brandi Love again.

[Big Cat]

That's a great deal. Oh, Mr.

[PFT Commenter]

Beast balls in your court.

[Big Cat]

Mr. Beast. Yes.

[Max]

Also says that Brandy Love is from Dearborn, Michigan.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, really? But she's a Hurricanes fan.

[Big Cat]

Oh. Oh, but she. But. So that was the only one you could find? No.

[PFT Commenter]

Mr.

[Big Cat]

He's a porn star. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Mr. Beast is not a Cane's fan. He's a Rangers fan.

[Big Cat]

Got it. So you could only find a porn.

[PFT Commenter]

Only find a porn star. I spent a lot of time looking for porn, but I mean, if If Jordan or Jordan.

[Big Cat]

Jordan.

[PFT Commenter]

Jordan.

[Big Cat]

Please get her name right.

[PFT Commenter]

If she is from Raleigh and she's a Hurricanes fan, we'll have to figure out.

[Big Cat]

Also, they were probably at the. They were probably at the Hurricanes game because they lived in North Carolina.

[Max]

Yeah, this says daughter of Maine.

[Big Cat]

Oh, memes ain't no fun when the rabbit got the gun. It's an adopted teenage. Well, but they were at. They. They. They live in the state now.

[Max]

It also looks like Brandy Love is also an adopted team.

[Big Cat]

That's fine.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So they. So. But Brandy Love, you're gonna have to do it. She won MIL for the year.

[PFT Commenter]

What year was that?

[Big Cat]

I don't know. I just saw it on the Wikipedia when he pulled it up.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a very prestigious award.

[Big Cat]

Milk Performer of the year 2013. Oh, she's won. Wait, hold on one.

[PFT Commenter]

She's Dynasty.

[Big Cat]

She's won three milfs of the year. Holy shit.

[PFT Commenter]

It's pretty good.

[Big Cat]

She bad for milfs.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, she. What was the last time she won 2020 in il change?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Oh, no. She won best MILF in 2025. That.

[Max]

That one's according to the Flesh Spot.

[Big Cat]

Award, which is actually. That's. I think they got to unify these belts. It's too many belts.

[Max]

2020 hall of Famer, though.

[Big Cat]

Oh, hell yes.

[PFT Commenter]

So is Best milf, Is that like a lifetime achievement award?

[Big Cat]

No, it's the fleshbot award.

[PFT Commenter]

I feel like best MILF has more cachet than MILF of the year.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. By the way. So we are going to talk more. This is our hockey recap. The Brandy Love Talk. We are going to talk more with Whitney and we have some. Two great interviews coming up right now.

[PFT Commenter]

I do have keys to the Series off the top of my head. Keys to the Series. Number one, Tom Wilson needs to hit somebody in the face. Okay. Number two, we have to rock the red. And then number three, Brandy Love needs to DM me.

[Big Cat]

Okay, I like that.

[PFT Commenter]

Keys to the Series for the Caps.

[Big Cat]

I had one last thing before we get to our interviews. Randy Moss giving us Kentucky Derby picks. Joe Kim, Noah in studio. And then again, listen to the Firefest. It was very funny. Just real quick. This is something we got to put on our. Our radar. We're gonna have to start monitoring because last year we talked about the Oakland A's and that fucking loser, the fail son from Gap. What's his name again?

[PFT Commenter]

John Fisher.

[Big Cat]

John Fisher. Fuck him. We've talked at Linked about Jerry Reinsdorf and what he's done to the White Sox. We got to get on the radar of the Colorado Rockies maybe being the worst team of all time, because I don't know if you've paid any attention to this, but the Colorado Rockies are on pace right now for, I think, 32 wins.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Pretty incredible.

[Big Cat]

6 and 25. So officially, the Monfort brothers. Monfort brothers, Dick and Charlie Monford. We're looking at you. We're watching you. We're on your shit.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't like.

[Big Cat]

And when I say we're on your shit, we're just gonna say, you fucking suck ass once every couple of months and nothing's gonna change about your life, but we're on your shit.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't like the idea of brothers owning a team together. Yeah, that seems like a plot of a terrible, sick.

[Big Cat]

No, dude, we got it. We got a dream come true. We got to break the brothers up. Hey, Dick. I heard Charlie was talking shit.

[PFT Commenter]

Which one's the hot one?

[Big Cat]

It looks like Charlie.

[Hank]

Really?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. No, Dick is significant. Charlie has no hair. He looks like a penis.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, Dick is running the show.

[Big Cat]

This is weird. Charlie looks like a dick.

[PFT Commenter]

That is weird.

[Big Cat]

Pull them up. Pull up the Monford brothers.

[PFT Commenter]

So is it always Dick and Charlie when you look it up online?

[Big Cat]

I think so.

[PFT Commenter]

How come it's never Charlie and Dick, huh?

[Big Cat]

Images on them, The Monfort brothers. Now you. You didn't. You didn't Google it, right? Mo just do Rocky owners Google image. Max is already on vacation. All right, so look. See, this is. That's Dick on the left. And look all the way to the right. That's Charlie. Look, he looks like a penis. Click him. Click on him. That looks like someone going to Brandy Love.

[PFT Commenter]

He looks like Joe Camel.

[Big Cat]

That's a crazy head. Fuck these guys.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, they suck. They did beat Blooper in the Braves the other night, though, which is kind of crazy.

[Big Cat]

Oh, Max, are you nervous about who Blooper having a boxing match with? Philly Fanatic.

[Max]

This is the first I'm hearing of this.

[Big Cat]

Oh, my God. This is a legacy match.

[Max]

I don't. I don't think. I think the fanatic is going to wipe the floor.

[PFT Commenter]

I actually, I think that Blooper is going to win.

[Big Cat]

I. I mean, you. You got to be.

[PFT Commenter]

I think Blooper is an athletic guy. You ever seen Blooper run through, like, seven year olds on the football field? Dude is Derrick Henry.

[Max]

Did you ever see him get bullied off the Internet?

[PFT Commenter]

I'm not talking about. Is the boxing match taking place on twitter.com?

[Max]

You don't think that.

[PFT Commenter]

Excuse me. X.com. x the app.

[Max]

It's all happening on X.

[Big Cat]

May 27th. Mark your calendars. Fight night is coming to Philadelphia.

[Max]

Oh, and it's in Philly.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Why are we just looking at.

[Big Cat]

I mean, Blooper's gonna gas a wall.

[PFT Commenter]

Of Brandy love right now.

[Big Cat]

Blue's gonna gas out. He's a fat. He's not gonna be able to. He's gonna go. He's gonna go half around. He's not gonna be ready to go.

[PFT Commenter]

Max has safe search on. Yeah, of course.

[Max]

Right. This is work. This is a place of work.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. We're really following all the rules at Barstool Sports.

[Joaquim Noah]

Sports.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Just go Back to. To x.com and pull up college hotties or whatever, you follow?

[Max]

Max, that wasn't that.

[PFT Commenter]

Campus cuties. Sorry. It was campus cuties.

[Big Cat]

All right, it doesn't help, but let's get to our interviews.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, there's. There's one other update in the NBA. Oh. Halliburton's dad is no longer welcome.

[Big Cat]

That's right.

[PFT Commenter]

He has been banned from the postseason.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

So I. I put the blame on. On Tyrese for this because he didn't have his dad's back.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Although it might be better he. I. If the Pacers go to the finals. You think that Hal Burton's dad's not going to be there?

[PFT Commenter]

No, they said he's banned for the entire postseason.

[Big Cat]

I thought it was a self.

[PFT Commenter]

You got to do. You got a sussy him. You got to suss him first. You got to say two games. You can't be here. Let it cool down for a while. But like if they do get hot, hypothetically, if they make it, if they advance at some point, you're going to want his dad back there, right?

[Randy Moss]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

For the vibes.

[Big Cat]

Right? Right.

[PFT Commenter]

So I don't like that. I don't like that at all.

[Big Cat]

I don't either. Okay, wait. Do the draft lottery one time before we kick it to ourselves with our interviews. Let's go. Hey, there you go.

[PFT Commenter]

Let's go, Cooper flag huge.

[Big Cat]

All right. Let's get some interviews. Okay. Before we get to Randy Moss. Game time. NBA playoffs are here in. The only place to buy hard to get playoff tickets is Game Time. The official ticketing partner of Barstool Sports. With killer last minute deals all in prices, views from your seat and their lowest price guarantee, Game Time takes the guesswork out of buying NBA playoff tickets. Price on the app actually go down the closer it gets the tip off. You can save up to 60% when buying last minute tickets. We're looking at Pacers, Cavs game one Sunday.

[Hank]

Tons of tickets available, like a stunning amount. Bad sports town potentially, but you can get in for as cheap as $71 on game time. What a deal.

[Big Cat]

$71 in Cleveland on Sunday. So what are you waiting for? Go buy those tickets. Take the guesswork out of buying NBA playoff tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account use code PMT for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again. Create an account redeem code PMT for $20 off. Download the game Time app today. What time is it? Game time gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York, call 877-8-HOPE and Y or text Hopeny 467369 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 887777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and resort in Kansas, 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Boyden, Ontario get one NBA profit boost per game after opt in boost expires at the end of each game. Boosts, bet criteria and maximum bet limits vary. See [e-mail] promos we're also brought to you by our friends at Truly Truly Unruly Lemonade combines the high alk fun of Truly Unruly with everyone's favorite lemonade. Lemonade let loose. 8% ABV, 100% delicious. 4 supercharged lemonade flavors bumpin blue razz OG original lemonade, punched Up Pineapple and Wild Pink. It's the official Hard Seltzer. Pardon my take. Level up your lemonade with Truly Unruly. Find it at a store near you or visit trulyhardseltzer.com Listen. Starting to get warm out. Starting to be golf, Starting to be beach. Starting to be, you know, little day drinking on Saturday Sunday Truly Unruly Lemonade is the drink of the summer. Four supercharged lemonade flavors bumping blue razz og Original Lemonade Punched up pineapple Wild Pink Wild Pink is my personal favorite. Eight percent abv, a hundred percent delicious. It's the official Hard Seltzer. Pardon my take. Level up your lemonade with Truly Unruly. Find it at a store near you or Visit truly hard Seltzer.com okay, here he is. Randy Moss. Okay, we now welcome on a very special guest one of my favorite traditions on this show. It is our good good friend Randy Moss from the Kentucky Derby. It is Kentucky Derby weekend. This is like Randy I gotta say this like you're, you have a special place in my heart because every time the calendar turns and we get to this point and we have Randy Moss on Pardon My take on the Friday before Kentucky Derby, it's like we've made it. It's summertime. It's the official start of summer. So thank you so much for always joining us. And how's everything going?

[Randy Moss]

Hey, good.

[Big Cat]

Hey.

[Randy Moss]

I'm one of the original recurring guests. Big Cat.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Randy Moss]

You know.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[Randy Moss]

The first time I was on, we played racehorse or porn star. Are we gonna play that again?

[PFT Commenter]

We could. Bonnie Blue.

[Big Cat]

That would actually be. Yeah. Body Good.

[PFT Commenter]

A great horse name.

[Big Cat]

Body Blue's a great horse name. Yeah. No, you, you, you were, you were first on this show. I think it was like what, two months? It must have been two months.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

After it was created. So, yeah, it's, this is, we're coming up, you know, next year's our 10 year anniversary, which is crazy. So maybe we'll have to do something special with you. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And I think one thing people don't really talk about enough about Randy Moss, if you followed his picks, especially your Friday picks that you give on this show, your return on investment, I think beats the S&P 500. I think Randy Moss has been the, the safest investment you could possibly make.

[Randy Moss]

I couldn' with you guys for a long time. It's, it's kind of come back down to earth a little bit. But let's get the ball rolling again this year, why don't we?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, so let's get the ball rolling. So obviously we want to talk about the field and who you like, but the big story is the return of the bad guy in some people's eyes. Bob Baffert, he's back at the Kentucky Derby after a three year suspension. What's the vibe? Is it? I was reading some stuff and it basically seems like Bob Baffert's pretending none of this happened.

[Randy Moss]

Happened. Yeah, yeah, Bob. And so is Churchill Downs. I, I, I did not know what to expect. When Bafford came back, they gave him his old barn back. They put up all the old signs at his old barn. They're all singing Kumbaya by the campfire. Bob says that one thing you have to learn being a horse trainer with so much dejection and disappointment and defeat is how to turn the page and move on and don't dwell on the past. And he said he's viewing the last three years and all the lawsuits and the legal challenges, none of which were Successful, like he was just losing races and now he's looking ahead and he's just ecstatic, really. He's really happy to be back here.

[PFT Commenter]

Has he spent this time away refining his game? Is he coming back with any, any new tricks up his sleeve or is it just same old, same old? He's been doing the exact same things. He just hasn't had the horses in the races.

[Randy Moss]

Yeah, that's what. Well, you know, he's arguably, I don't even think there's an argument he is the most successful Kentucky Derby trainer of all time, obviously one of the leading trainers, period, of all time. And while he was serving at three year suspension, it was just for Churchill Downs Incorporated Racetracks, Churchill Downs Fairgrounds, Ellis Park, Turfway Park Fairgrounds, racetracks like that. Right. It had nothing to do with any of the other racetracks Bob competes at, really. So he's been winning tons of races. His stables actually gotten stronger over the last three years than it was before the suspension. He just most famously couldn't run under his name in the Kentucky Derby. Fortunately for Bob, during that three year period, he didn't have an American Pharaoh. He didn't have a justify. Right. He didn't have a horse that looked like it was a Kentucky Derby winner. And he doesn't this year either, really, to tell you the truth. But just the fact that he's back, he was booed, actually, I was told by some people at the post position draw. So he is, he is still a bit of a polarizing figure with some people. And I think a lot of that has to do with the coverage in the mainstream media that made it sound like that he was, you know, doping Medina's spirit with an intent to try to cheat and try to win, rather than the reality which was just a, a medic, a, a medication violation that should have been avoided.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So, so he does have two horses in this race, Rodriguez and Citizen Bowl. You. Do they have any chance of winning? Because obviously that would be an incredible storyline. He returns, he wins. They're not, they're not favorites, they're, they're long shots in this field. But is there any world where one of these could win? And if you had to lean, which one, which way? Which one do you like more than the other?

[Randy Moss]

There is, there is a world. It, it may be in another universe, but there is a world in which a Bob Baffert, one of those two horses can win. Here's the interesting part about the race, guys. From a Bob Baffert perspective, right. Citizen Bull and Rodriguez are both speed horses. They both need to have the early lead in order to win. So you say, okay, they're counterproductive. Right. You don't, you know, they both can't have a clear lead. Citizen Bull, I think is faster than Rodriguez. So if either of the two horses are going to win wire to wire, it's most likely to be Citizen Bull. But here's what's going to happen. Martin Garcia on Citizen Bull, Mike Smith on Rodriguez are both going to ride their horses strongly out of the starting gate with the intent of making the early league. Then Mike Smith on Rodriguez is going to look over and if he sees Citizen Bull on the inside of him, instead of going head to head with each other, he's going to ease back a little bit and Citizen Bull is probably going to go on to set the pace. If Mike looks over and doesn't see Citizen Bull, like if Citizen Bull breaks slowly from the starting gate, then Mike says, heck, I can have the early lead. That's what my horse likes. And then Rodriquez will take it and he'll have a shot to go wire to wireless. But the pace is likely to be fast. And so it's, it's really the rates looks on paper like it sets up for a comfort behind it.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, okay. I, I was looking at the odds journalism. I've read a lot about him in the past couple weeks here. The overwhelming favorite, I believe. Three to one right now.

[Randy Moss]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

I look at this like when I, I look at a, a golf tournament where Scotty Scheffler and he's like plus 250 before the thing even, even kicks off. And I think to myself, the juice isn't worth the squeeze betting on one guy that's plus 50. He's probably going to win. But I still find a hard time putting money down on that person. With journalism at 3 to 1 is, is the value there, my opinion?

[Randy Moss]

Yes. I think journalism is two to three links better than any other horse right now in the field. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons I think he's such a solid favorite in my estimation is that the second best three year old in the country I is the horse named Baeza, who right now is on the outside looking in. He's on the wait list. He's number 21, just like Rich Strike was three years ago. He's waiting on a sickness or an injury or something to be able to get into the field. And now he's got about 24 hours for that to happen. We all have expected it all week long, we've expected Baeza to be able to get in the race. They shipped him all the way from California to Kentucky thinking that someone would drop out and he would probably be able to get in. With all the veterinary scrutiny nowadays on these horses that it's a good thing. Typically, one or two of them wind up getting scratched. We're sitting here on Thursday now, and there have been no additional scratches to get Baeza into the field. So it's looking less and less like he's going to be able to run, which makes Journalism look more and more like a solid favorite.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah. Baeza and I saw that Pratt. Pratt is on the two horse. Gonna go to Baeza if Baeza gets in, which tells you something because Pratt's an incredible jockey and if he's gonna make that switch, he knows that's a legit shot. I have a question, though, about Journalism. So I'm sitting here being like, I can't take a favorite. And it's, you know, this has happened many times in Kentucky Derby. My only Devil's Advocate with journalism. And you could tell me if I'm way off. I was looking. I watched his last three races. He's only beaten. He's been in a five, five horse field in the last three races. So he's beaten four other horses three times in a row. This is obviously 20 horses. Is there anything to be said for that? That and he's gotten in a little bit of trouble a couple times where it's like, hey, it's easier to get out of trouble when there's only five horses in a race. Is there any. Am I making any sense or I'm just gonna end up betting something that has no chance? I should have taken Journalism.

[Randy Moss]

Ordinarily, Dan, I think that would be a very legitimate argument. Okay. But in Journalism's last race in the Santa Anita Derby, he got into more trouble, almost certainly more trouble than he's going to get into in the Kentucky Derby. And he was still able to win. Anyway. It was only a five horse field, but Bob Baffert had two horses in the race. He had Citizen Bull, who was hooked on the front end and didn't run that well. And he had another horse named Barnes and the riders were playing team tactics. And the jockey on Barnes, Juan Hernandez, targeted Journalism. Journalism had the big bullseye on his back. He was a heavy, heavy favorite, as he should have been. And it even got to the point going into the second turn of that race where Juan Hernandez on Barnes elbowed Umberto Riespoli on Journalism, brought the horse all the way over, tried to squeeze him against the rail, elbowed the other jockey. The stewards called him in, and the steward voted 2 to 1 not to suspend him, but he very well could have got a suspension for that. And yet Journalism was able to win the race anyway. So he's already overcome adversity, and that makes me feel a whole lot better about a big field.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Battle tested. Yeah, I like that. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And beat. And beat Baeza in that race. So, I mean, you know, the second best horse in the Kentucky Derby, potentially. He has beaten him in his last race at San Anita Derby.

[Randy Moss]

Yes, exactly.

[PFT Commenter]

When I'm looking at. When I'm looking at this form, I was looking at Journalism exactly like I would look at Scotty Scheffler. And I was looking at. At Sandman like I would look at Will Zalatoris, where it's like, I wanna. I know that's the safe bet, but Sandman, he's a Metallica fan. He's got a lot of buzz around him. I'm gonna end up betting on Sandman and losing and being like, oh, I should have bet on the safe bet with Journalism. Does Sandman have a chance, or am I falling victim to the Metallica hype train?

[Randy Moss]

I tell you what, my biggest concern about journalism would actually benefit Sandman, Okay? If the pace gets completely out of control, and we've seen that happen before in the Kentucky Derby. We saw it happen with rich strike in 2022, then it favors horses that are actually 16th, 17th, 18th. I think rich strike was 20th at one point early in the Kentucky Derby. That happens a lot at the Kentucky Derby. My biggest concern is that journalism, who's written by a jockey named Umberto Rispoli, who actually, statistically has been better on grass than he is on dirt, might get himself, might be positioned too close to a fast pace. That's my biggest concern about journalism. If the pace is fast, he needs to be 10 links off the face. Now, if that happens, Sandman's going to be rolling from the back of the pack. Sovereignty is going to be rolling from the back of the pack. So Will Burnham Square. Horses like that, it's going to favor them. But otherwise, I think if he's written properly, I think journalism's, you know, clearly. Clearly the horse to be.

[Big Cat]

What. What horse favor is, you know, benefits from rain. Because obviously, it looks like it's. It feels like it's been a Kentucky Derby tradition the last 10 years where it just feels like there's rain Every year there's going to be rain in the forecast. So if it's a sloppy track, what do we think? Like, how does it change? And is there a certain horse that you'll be looking at being like. Like, now he. We might get a good price because this. This horse is gonna be better in the mud.

[Randy Moss]

You know, honestly, I would ignore the weather. I really would, only because of this. Horses nowadays, when they run in the Kentucky Derby, are so inexperienced that none of them have really had, you know, any substantial experience running on that kind of a racetrack. So it's a crap shoot. You really don't know. And they're all such good horses that typically they'll be able to handle situations like that anyway. So that's one variable that I wouldn't. I wouldn't be losing. Sleepover.

[Big Cat]

I like that. I. I like. I like making it. These are the type of things that Randy Moss gives us, that I would have sat there being like, oh, how can I again, outsmart everyone?

[PFT Commenter]

Find an edge.

[Big Cat]

Just forget about it. Forget about the weather.

[PFT Commenter]

Speaking of finding an edge, if you're watching the workouts, I know the horses do workouts the week before and they train. Can you get an edge from watching them, how they. How they train? Can you be like, oh, that horse looks good. That. That horse looks a little bit off compared to what I've seen before? Or are the trainers being very secretive and not trying to push the horses that much, and you can't really get an edge from that?

[Randy Moss]

The trainers are not being secretive. Everything is so out in the open here with all the media watching and all the works on TV and on YouTube and things like that that there's. There's really no way to hide you. The way you put that, that question is absolutely perfect. And by that, I mean perfect question. Workouts are only important if you have a frame of reference for that particular horse. Some horses work great every time you send them to the racetrack. Some horses just don't give a crap, and they don't work well anytime you send them to the racetrack, and yet they run really good in the afternoon. So, okay, that. That becomes just sort of part of the horse's personality, part of the horse's form. If you have a horse that normally works lights out and suddenly he's just working, so. So bad sign. If you have a horse that normally works lackluster and suddenly he's breaking watches, boom, that's a really good sign. One of those kind of horses, the latter fourth, is Sovereignty, trained by Bill Mott Stretch Runner Godolphin, second in the Florida Derby. He's always been just a very average workhorse and he's looked a lot better in the morning here at Churchill Downs than he has in the past. And he's going to be one of those horses running from the back of the pack.

[Big Cat]

Okay, interesting. What is your, what's your favorite story about one of these horses in the Kentucky Derby? You always give us one or two of these horses were like, this is a cool story. I know American Pharaoh has a, has a child in this horse in this race from Japan, but do you have anything, any cool nuggets that we can sound smart when we go to our Kentucky Derby parties?

[Randy Moss]

Probably the coolest nugget is it. It's going to be a big storyline in the Derby and it has been all spring long. Is a horse name Cold Battle, who is trained by Lonnie Briley. If you've never heard of Lonnie Briley, no one else who follows the sport of horse racing had really heard of Bonnie Bradley either until a few months ago. He's a 72 year old guy, calls himself a coon ass from Louisiana. Never had a graded stakes horse of any kind before, much less a Kentucky Derby horse. And, and Lonnie's here with, with Pole Battle, who's, you know, legitimately a decent three year old. He's going to be 20 to 1, 25 to 1. But I mean, here's a guy that's like been a media darling back here just because he's just, it's like the kid in the candy store. He's never been here before. It's actually very stressful for him. Bob Baffert has really taken a liking to him and Bob wanted to do a selfie with him and Lonnie said, why you want to do a selfie with old coon ass like me? And Bob said, I want to send it to my kids. And Lonnie was just, oh, he just, he just couldn't believe it. And then Bob was joking with his wife about how nice that old man Lonnie Briley was. And Jill, his wife, said, old man said, you're as old as he is. And so Bob had to go to Wikipedia and yes, they're about the same age. Bob didn't like that.

[PFT Commenter]

I love it.

[Big Cat]

That's perfect. All right, so that, that's. We. I think I'm gonna have to root for and bet on Lonnie Briley's horse.

[PFT Commenter]

Coach O of horses.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Do we, do we Have a. I. I know we ask this every year. At some point, a Japanese horse is going to win the Kentucky Derby, right?

[Randy Moss]

Yeah. Yeah. Like, oh, yeah.

[Big Cat]

So is it any chance this year?

[Randy Moss]

Probably just because this is the year that I'm getting off Japanese two years ago, Derma Sotagaki, I think I told you. I thought he had a hell of a chance to win. Didn't get out of the game, Wound up later in the year, running second in the Breeders Cup Classic last year. Forever Young, he's one of, if not the best dirt horses in the world right now. He probably should have won the Kentucky Derby last year. He got beat ahead and a nose and was interfered with the length of the stretch. This year, Luxor Cafe is the best of the two Japanese horses. He doesn't look to be as good as Forever Young, at least in terms of, you know, the analytics, the final times and stuff like that. You go back and watch his last race in Japan, like, you can see it on YouTube, and it's like, whoa, Boy, did that look good. But who did he run against? We don't really know. So, bottom line, I'm getting off the Japanese this year, so this will be the year they'll probably win.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, noted. Our friend Mike Rapoli has a horse in this race as well. Does he have a chance to win? He's got a.

[Randy Moss]

He's got a long shot chance to hit the board. Grande is the horse's name. It looked like Todd Fletcher and Mike Ripoli weren't going to have anything in the Kentucky Derby this year. And then suddenly, Grande steps up and runs second in the Wood Memorial. He was wide on both turns, especially the first turn, so you got to move him up a little bit. He got a pretty good number. He's going to be 20 to 1. I would definitely throw him into your trifectas and your superficas. I don't think he can win necessarily, but, you know, he's. He's in with a chance at a big price.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. He should feed his horse body, arm. Or before the race, be like, okay, we gotta. We gotta get your PH levels correct here.

[Randy Moss]

Put on some nobles. Yeah, exactly.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dumb question for you, Randy. Let's say Secretariat. Prime Secretariat. Best horse ever. We don't know if steroids were involved. We'll just say best horse ever. So prime Secretariat up against this field. But I'm on the. On Secretariat. Do I have any chance?

[Randy Moss]

You're on Secretariat.

[Big Cat]

I'm on Secretariat.

[Randy Moss]

All right. In the morning, when you. When you're in the bathroom and you pull up a scale and you step on it. What are the scales set? What was the scale?

[Big Cat]

It's anywhere from like 2. 35, 40, 45. Ish.

[Randy Moss]

No shot.

[Big Cat]

Somewhere around there. No shot.

[Randy Moss]

No shot, Big Cat. No shot. I'm. I'm sorry to tell you that.

[Big Cat]

Would I finish dead last?

[Randy Moss]

Probably.

[Big Cat]

Ah.

[PFT Commenter]

But they would go back in 30 years and review the tape and be like, no, he actually finished in second place, not dead last.

[Randy Moss]

Even if you were an accomplished equestrian. No. At that. At that weight, riding Secretariat. No. He'd be, he'd be up the track.

[Big Cat]

All right, so what weight would I have to get to for me to win on Secretariat? And again, in this hypothetical, I am the best jockey. I have a perfect trip with Secretary in this field. Yeah.

[Randy Moss]

Get down to about 100 and between 135 and 140, that's.

[Big Cat]

Spider could win on Secretary.

[PFT Commenter]

He actually could.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Do horses ever. Has there ever been a time that you've seen a jockey get on a horse and the horse is just like, this guy's way too big? I don't get paid enough for this.

[Randy Moss]

Horses have probably felt that way. We probably have. You know, unfortunately, they don't know how to fight, how to communicate that. But, you know, weight is a little overrated in horse racing. Just a little bit. Just because the horses themselves weigh anywhere from a thousand to twelve hundred pounds. You know, wait till you see Citizen Bull. He looks like Clydesdale, this sucker. They didn't name him Bull because of that. They named him after the Citizen Bull head watch that I think was made famous by Brad Pitt. And Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, I think was the movie. So that's how they got the name Citizen Bull. But this horse looks like a bull. But my point being that when horses are that big and that stout, you know, two or three, four extra pounds on their back doesn't really make all that much of a difference. But when you're talking about £235. Yeah, maybe not.

[PFT Commenter]

That makes sense. There was a debate that, that took over the Internet this week. You might have seen it. It's. Could a hundred men defeat a silverback gorilla? And everyone was saying, no, they can't. That's. The gorilla's too powerful. I personally think that they could. Could a hundred men beat up the Kentucky Derby winning horse?

[Randy Moss]

Oh, yes. Horses are, Horses are not nearly as, as, as robust and as a, as a silverback gorilla. Horses are pretty fragile. And I agree with you. I got that question the other day on a, on an interview. It depends on who the 100 men are, right? Yeah. 100 jockeys probably not, you know, the right 100 men who are just crazy enough. I think they could probably also. I think they probably also handle a silverback garage.

[PFT Commenter]

I would agree with that.

[Big Cat]

Yep. What about 100? 100 jockeys verse? What about 100 Randy Mosses, verse? A thousand jockeys.

[Randy Moss]

10 to 1. I think that, yeah, jockeys was. I think the jockeys would still. Would still take me a thousand to 100. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Randy Moss]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

How many horse racing Randy Mosses would it take to beat up one football player? Randy Mosses.

[Randy Moss]

Oh, how about. Well, let's see. I'm not much of a. I'm not much of a fighter. How about 15?

[PFT Commenter]

15.

[Big Cat]

I'll take that. 15 Randy Mosses versus one Randy Moss. Yeah. All right, let's talk real quick about Friday so everyone can see Randy Moss. You'll be on all the coverage NBC. Peacock, he's going to be wall to wall. It's great racing weekend. I think a lot of people think it's just Kentucky Derby. There's some awesome races, especially the Oaks on Friday. So do you have a pick for us Friday or you could go Saturday in the undercard if you have a different pick that we should be looking at.

[Randy Moss]

I got, I got a few of them here to give you. First of all, in the Kentucky Oaks, the big favorite is Good Cheer. She's undefeated. She's six for six. She's six to five in the program line. I think she's worth taking a shot against just because her numbers are not all that great. There's a horse in there named Quiet Side that I think would be worth a play despite her number 14 post position. So it'd be 14 quiet side. There's another horse in there by the name of Ballerina Doro who breaks from post number six. And then the number two in there is a horse called Simply Joking. So I think if you were to just to box right. Box, Quiet Side and Simply Joking and Ballerina d'oro and try to beat good Cheers like in an exact a box or something, you might be able to get a pretty nice payoff there. And then earlier on the card there's a race called the Lot. Troy in. You may have heard of Torpedo Anna. She won the Kentucky Oaks last year. She was named horse of the Year last year. She hasn't lost since then. She's two for two this year at Oaklawn park in Hot Springs. She's going to be a Big favorite again. I think she is a heavy favorite. That might be worth a bet against. Chad Brown has a couple of horses in that race. One of them's named Randomized and the other is named Raging C. Honestly, I would play a trifecta and put Torpedo and a third. That's almost heresy in horse racing. But I would. You. But I would use Randomize, who's got a wire to wire possibility there, and then Raging Sea on top of Torpedo and. And really try to swing for the fences in that one as well.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, I've got all these. I'm gonna bet all of them.

[Randy Moss]

That's Friday. All right, let me bounce through Saturday real quick. I got a couple.

[Big Cat]

Yes, sir, please.

[Randy Moss]

In the fourth race in the Knicks Go, there's a horse called Castle Chaos. I think he's the four horse. You might want to double check that. But his name's castle chaos. He's 20 to 1 in the program. He hasn't won a race since 2023, and I'm telling you, he's got a hell of a chance to win the Knicks Go at a. I'm not expecting him to be 20 to 1. I'm expecting more like 10 to 1, 12 to 1. But still, I mean, I think Castle Chaos has a big shot. And then in the PAT Day mile, that's the sixth race, there's a horse that's six to one in the program called gate to wire. That's not the way he runs. He'll be back in the back a little bit, but the pace looks pretty fast. Todd Fletcher is the trainer, and I think Gate to wire in the PAT Day miles going to be a pretty good play as well.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, I'm on it.

[Big Cat]

I like it.

[PFT Commenter]

What about in the Derby? Is there. Is there a horse that if it puts it all together, if it runs its best race, maybe that the crazy horse that we always talk about, the one that has all the talent but has not found a way to harness it correctly, maybe a little mentally, you know, a little goofy. Is there a horse like that, a wild card that we might want to take a shot on as a long shot?

[Randy Moss]

This is. This is a huge long shot, and I don't think he can necessarily win, but you can put him into your supers and your tries and maybe really try to kill the world. His name is Final Gambit. He's trained by Brad Cox. He's probably going to be 40 something to one, maybe 50 to one. He won the Jeff Ruby Stakes on synthetic. He's never run on dirt. Before. But since he's never run on dirt before, what we don't know is maybe he's even better on dirt. We don't know. He's training really well on dirt at Churchill Downs. Brad Cox has been really surprised how well he's trained. He'll be last early, probably he'll be way back there. But if the pace is fast, he'll be running and he may be able to, you know, pass some tired horses and get up for third or fourth at 50 to 1. You never know.

[Big Cat]

Okay. All right. Yeah, I mean, I, I've, you've convinced me on journalism and it's, it's been basically for everyone who's listening now is to try to find a way, especially if journalism goes off at 2 to 1, is to find a way to make money with some of the exotics and some, you know, who's going to be under journalism.

[Randy Moss]

All right, so journalism, journalism, sovereignty. And then underneath that in the third and fourth spots, then you got Sandman, then you got Burnham Square, then you've got the Japanese source, Luxor Cafe. Right. Then you've got this horse final gambit. So, yeah, you can spread on the third in the third and fourth spots and maybe get a really nice payoff.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, okay. All right. Well, Randy, I have one last question for you. It's the Roback question. R, H, O, b a c k.com promo code. Take 20% off your first purchase. Q, zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com promo code, take. Randy, what is. Who's your favorite horse? Apple.

[Randy Moss]

Never heard of him.

[Big Cat]

Oh, well, let's tell us why. I just want to know. I like. Part of why I love you, Randy, is because I'm a big believer. If you can find anyone who's passionate about anything, I'm interested. So your passion for horse racing makes me interested. So tell us, even though we never heard of him, why you love this horse. Because that will be interesting in its own right.

[Randy Moss]

When I was a kid, I'm talking, I was 12 years old at the time. I had just started handicapping for a newspaper in Little Rock under somebody else's name when I was 12 years old. They didn't want anyone to know a 12 year old was dispensing financial advice. There was a horse running in Arkansas that actually wound up coming to Churchill Downs and setting a six furlong track record that held for about 25 years. He was a white horse, not officially white. He was gray, but he was almost white. It was unbelievably popular in Arkansas, where I grew up. His name was Barbizon Streak. Even had a great name. He was an Arkansas bred horse who loved to win. After he retired, I went to see him at the farm in Arkansas and they would feed him carrots from time to time. I got pictures of him on my office wall. Yeah, Barbizon Streak.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, that's pretty incredible.

[Big Cat]

I love it.

[PFT Commenter]

But wait, I want to hear more about how you got a, a job handicapping horses at the age of 12.

[Randy Moss]

Well, I was through a friend of a friend. I met the guy who actually was doing the picks for a long time for a newspaper in Arkansas called the Arkansas Gazette. It was the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi, believe it or not. And it was a chore to type all the stuff in and make the comments on all the horses and all that. So he paid me $20 a week through a friend of a friend, even though I didn't know how to type on an old manual typewriter to do all the entries for him every day. And I was a, I did speed figures back then. I was a pretty sharp handicapper even as a 12 year old. I was a numbers kid and I noticed that he was not a very good handicapper. And so I started changing some of his picks very judiciously, very, you know, and I would tell him, I said, hey Don, that was cocky, you know, cocky ass 12 year old kid. Who do I think I am? You know, I changed this pick. I think this horse is going to win. And like the first five or six I changed wound up winning. And so he told me, he said, all right, kid said, why don't you make all the picks from now on. And they had a competition in the press box among all of the newspaper handicappers. Thousand dollars at the beginning of the meet, at the end of the mate, whoever picked the most winners, winner took all. He never won. He always got his thousand dollars taken away. That year he won $1,000. And so I kept doing it until I took it over myself in my own name when I was in college.

[Big Cat]

That's incredible. What did he, did he give you, did he give you a taste of the thousand dollars when he won?

[Randy Moss]

No, he bumped me up to $30 a week.

[Big Cat]

Okay, all right, that's incredible though.

[PFT Commenter]

And off what Big Cat said, what's the biggest hit that you've ever had on a horse?

[Randy Moss]

You really want to know?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Randy Moss]

In the early 90s, one of my best friends who was a, an attorney worked with Hillary Clint at a law firm in Little Rock an insane gambler guy by the name of Dave Thomas. He and I went into partnership playing the pick six, which was really huge back then. At one point, we had the. The highest payoffs ever recorded in the state of Louisiana and the state of Oklahoma simultaneously. We had a $500,000 pick six at Louisiana Downs and almost a $400,000 pick six at Remington park in Oklahoma and some other slightly smaller pit sixes as well. Yeah, that was pretty good day. That was, that was back in the day when the pick six was. Was just really hellacious to play.

[Big Cat]

Holy shit. What was the price of those tickets?

[Randy Moss]

The first one was 15,000.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Randy Moss]

And the second one in Oklahoma, we actually played two tickets. One of them was like about a five or six thousand dollar ticket, but the one we hit it on was like a $27 ticket.

[Big Cat]

No way.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh my God.

[Big Cat]

Holy.

[PFT Commenter]

What did you do to celebrate?

[Randy Moss]

We, we took everybody in the press box out to dinner.

[Big Cat]

Holy shit. So 20. So you like had. How many horses did you use? Like 10 total. Like, that's insane.

[Randy Moss]

Something like that. We had a couple of long shots that we liked that we thought had a chance that we didn't put on the main ticket. And so we played the ancillary ticket and singled those two long shots and they both wound up winning. And then the rest of them were, you know, logical top two kind of picks.

[Joaquim Noah]

So.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that's insane.

[PFT Commenter]

That's great.

[Big Cat]

Incredible ticket. Because you always, whenever someone hits a pick six, I always wonder because, you know, there's always the one guy who has like a hundred thousand dollar pick six where he used all on every single race. Yeah. And you're like, all right, $27 ticket on a pick six. It's 400,000. Geez. All right, Randy, you're the best. We can't wait to see you on Kentucky Derby Saturday on Friday for the Oaks. Thank you so much for always coming on. And we'll see you in a couple weeks for the Preakness.

[Randy Moss]

All right, guys, I'll be ready for you. Take care.

[PFT Commenter]

Randy Moss was brought to you by our great friends over at Aura Frames. Mother's Day gifts can be a little predictable and a little bit boring. But Aura Frames was named the best digital photo frame by Wirecutter. And Aura Frames are guaranteed to mix things up. This year, Aura Frames come with unlimited storage, so you can share as many photos as you want, from your phone to mom's Aura Frame. Not only will she be grateful that it's not another gift card, she'll also love that an aura frame means that she gets to see more of you. It's a perfect Mother's Day gift. I got my mom an aura frame for Christmas. She loves it. I can upload pictures directly to her photo frame from my phone across the country. She gets an update. Cute picture of Blake. Guess what? Boom. It's going on the aura frame. She loves it. It's also super easy to set up and Aura has a great deal for Mother's Day. For a limited time, listeners can save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get 35 bucks off plus free shipping on their best selling Carver mat frame. That's auraframes.com promo code pmt a u r a frames.com promo code pmt support the show. Mention us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. Randy Moss was also brought to you by our great friends over at Golf Time Barstool Golf Time. What season is it? It's golf season. Hank knows. Hank knows. If you're looking for an easier way to get on the course, we've got you covered. Because the Barstool Golf Time app makes it easy for golfers to find the best tee times at the best prices. Stop searching all over Google for your next tee time. Stop going through the hassle of calling courses. You can search multiple courses in your area from one app and get your tee time set within seconds. Seconds with every friend. With every action you take in the app, you can earn reward points which can be redeemed for free. Merch in the Barstool Store this May, we got a big promotion going. It's all month long. The top five golfers who played the most rounds through Barstool golf time through May 31 will end up they will win win a Barstool Chicago HQ Tour Experience. The top five golfers, Hank, you might win that.

[Hank]

I'm gunning for it.

[PFT Commenter]

Who would you want to give you the tour here at Barstool?

[Hank]

Probably Mincy.

[PFT Commenter]

Mincy would do a hell of a job giving the Tour. Plus and I I will personally guarantee you that Hank will give one of the winners the Tour. Yep, Hank will do it.

[Hank]

You know what? We can hit some balls in the simulator too.

[PFT Commenter]

You're such a good guy, Hank. Yeah, what a good guy. So that's for the top five golfers who play the most rounds through the Barstool Golf time app through May 31st. They will win a Barstool Chicago HQ Tour experience. Plus one additional winner will be selected at random from golfers who play at least one round through the app in May. So really you just have to play one time to get your name in the hat. If you play a lot, you could win. Spring is finally here, so come golf with us. Download the barstool Golf Time app today. And now here's Joaquim Noah.

[Randy Moss]

And now for something completely different.

[Big Cat]

Okay, we now welcome on a very, very, very special guest recurring guest. It is the legend Joaquim Noah in studio Joe. We gotta start with congratulations. Florida's back.

[Joaquim Noah]

Florida is bad, guys. It feels great.

[Big Cat]

Where'd you watch the game?

[Joaquim Noah]

I was in Casablanca in Morocco.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Joaquim Noah]

And I was, I felt like I was really missing out. I wanted to be at the game, but I've been working with this NBA Africa League and we finally brought it to Morocco. It was so dope. So on the championship night, I went to the mosque, I fucking prayed. I prayed my ass off. I'm not Muslim. But it helped.

[Big Cat]

Helped.

[Joaquim Noah]

I don't know what, what happened, but there was something about praying in that moss for the Gator boys. And that run that they went on, man, that, that was a hell of a run they went on.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it, it's gotta feel like because you, you know, obviously when you were there, you guys won back to back national titles and then it kind of fell off for a little bit. So it's got to feel weirdly like, hey, we're back and all the stuff we built, like there's. Now you can look back and be like, yeah, there's legacy here, there's, there's history here. Let's go on another run.

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah. I mean, not just for basketball, football title title, school, man, you know, you. But there's nothing like coming back with that trophy. You come back to school. I can't imagine how those young people was feeling coming back to school and just enjoying those last couple weeks.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

Holy.

[Big Cat]

How long did the party last when you guys would came back from your national titles?

[Joaquim Noah]

What the good part about our was there was no social media so we could really kind of let our nuts hang.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

You know.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's a good way to put it.

[Joaquim Noah]

It's just, it's, it's more, it's, it's corporate now. You know, these kids are getting paid. It's a, it's a different thing. But I mean from looking at the videos and it looked, it looked wild as shit.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So when you were there, everybody was winning. When you're at Florida, did, did the basketball team respect the football team's titles? Did the bat. The football team respect the Basketball team or was there like a rivalry between you guys?

[Joaquim Noah]

Nah. And, you know, that's. That's a great question, because a lot of. A lot of these campuses have like these kind of internal tensions between the sports. Yeah, we didn't have that. We had a guy by the name of Chris Richard who ended up playing. He was playing with us on the Bulls for a couple years. Years. But. And he was our backup center, but somebody who was really cool with the football guys. And we ended up just, you know, we were living on this in the same dorms.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Joaquim Noah]

So we were. We were all really tight and supporting each other. We had, we had a good vibe between each other.

[PFT Commenter]

So if you had to say gun to your head, is, is Florida a football school or a basketball school? It's very important.

[Big Cat]

Have to pick.

[PFT Commenter]

You have to pick one.

[Joaquim Noah]

You have to pick.

[PFT Commenter]

Have to.

[Big Cat]

Have to pick.

[Joaquim Noah]

Like, it's a football school. Yeah, yeah, it's a football. But it's okay. It's okay. You know, the football brings in the money, but at the end of the day, a chip is a chip. Like, you come back and you go to Grog House and you go to the bar. You're not talking about, is this a football score? A basketball. Cool. Like, this is the coming.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

That's all that matters, right? Like, what else matters?

[Big Cat]

How are you feeling physically? You turned 40. Congrats on turning 40. We also turned 40. All 85.

[PFT Commenter]

I think we all look great.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we all look. Do you. Do you feel good, though? I mean, like. Or can you. Are there days where you wake up and you're like, oh, yeah, I did play in the NBA for a really long time.

[Joaquim Noah]

Like, I'm not. I'm not, you know, monkey dunking all over the place. That's for sure. But, you know, body feels pretty good, you know, Eight surgeries later.

[Big Cat]

What? List them all.

[Joaquim Noah]

You know, three knees, an Achilles, two shoulders, both my thumbs. I mean, damn planet fascia. The whole. I mean, the whole thing.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

You know, do you.

[Big Cat]

When. When you're watching the league today, are you like, when jaw does his, you know, grenade launcher is Uzi? You're like, why I started that.

[Joaquim Noah]

That, you know, I'm.

[Big Cat]

You would have gotten so.

[Joaquim Noah]

I'm so happy you said that because if it would have came from me and said that, I was the first one shooting guns.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

Nobody believes me. Yeah, you were shooting gun.

[Big Cat]

What?

[Joaquim Noah]

When you shot a jumper, I was like, yeah, I didn't just play defense. I had a little 15 footer.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

But you know, my guns, I, I.

[Big Cat]

Had pure little pistols. Yeah, it was sweet.

[Joaquim Noah]

It wasn't grenades and snipers and all this that's going on and you put.

[Big Cat]

Them away on your own volition. You didn't have to be told by the NBA to put them away.

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah, I put them away because Chicago's a wild place. But you know what? When the games got hot, when the. I was shooting my.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, if you do it like the cartoon style. Yeah, that's kind of what it was. Ja. Obviously there he's had some issues with, with the real thing. So him doing the handgun, it's like, okay, maybe don't do that.

[Big Cat]

That.

[PFT Commenter]

But then he went over the top and now he's doing grenades, which now I'm back on the. Yeah, he let jaw throw grenades. Yeah, he should be allowed to do that.

[Joaquim Noah]

You know, when you win ball games, it cures everything.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

So unfortunately they have a lot of soul searching to do over there in Memphis. And you know, their, their fan base is awesome. They, you know, they really have a, a brand of basketball, you know, that grit and grind that, that Z, Bo and T and Tony Allen like put together that, you know, the fans love that because it represents them so well. So you know, we want, we want to see John and, and J.J. and all those guys like really represent that. So it'll be interesting to see what happens because they, they need, they need to really step it up and have a big summer.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. After the season's over. Do you, do you take like a cleanse from basketball when you were playing? Would you say, okay, I'm not gonna, not going to practice, not going to play Cancun on three or was it like, did you, did you struggle to separate from the game?

[Joaquim Noah]

I was definitely not a Cancun on three. I mean, I was going to Cancun after a while, but that first week after losing in the playoff was for me was. It was really dark. Like I had a bottle of whiskey by the bed.

[PFT Commenter]

Because you cared.

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah, yeah, maybe a little too much. I mean, I mean, I guess that's just the way it is. You know, when you're playing in the NBA, so many games you have to be level headed. And I was not that. You know, it was like if we were winning, I was too crunk and if we lost, it was like I couldn't sleep for days.

[Big Cat]

Right. So I have two, two questions about the playoffs. We saw the Heat Magic game, so we're gonna run this Friday. We saw the Heat Magic game on Monday night. Sorry, the Heat. Cavs. Cavs killed them. Heat looked like they were ready to go home. Like, PFT saying Cancun on three. The Bulls haven't won a home playoff game since the. I think it was 2015 series against the Cavs, which I was at that whole series, the D Rose buzzer beater. Then LeBron went back, then game six. It did feel. Not that the Bulls quit, but it was like this kind of feels like the end. Could you feel that in that game where it was like. Because that was when change started happening. Tibbs got fired. Like, you know, everything kind of changed. Could you feel it, like, in that game, going into that game? Like, yeah, this might be. This is. We're starting to lose a little bit of the pull on the rope because you see teams have that.

[Joaquim Noah]

I mean, you know, it's. It's, it's. It's. You realize now that it's over with. You realize how fragile keeping a whole thing together is, right? And that's. That game is a game that I try not to remember too much. It sucked. You know, you want to come prepared. It's at home, your big game six against LeBron. This guy kicked our ass for the last three years or three times we played him, and we had a real shot at it, and unfortunately, we just. We stunk it up in game six.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that was a wild series. Wild series. And then the other question I had was, because, you know, the Rockets. So like I said, we're going to run this Friday, so we don't know how the Rockets warriors next games go. But I always am of the belief that even if you are a great team, the regular season, if you're a young team in the playoffs, you have to go through the wars to kind of get, you know, to the next rounds. You went through that where, like, going through the wars. What is it about a young team where it's so different in the playoffs because it. It's happened in all NBA history? Like, no, no. First team just goes on a run. So what is that about, like, a young team and. And the difference in playoff basketball?

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah, it's. It's your first time feeling it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

You know, experiences. It's. It's real, you know, and you got to give a shout out to. Those games are just awesome to watch. This is a war going on outside. Nobody is safe, and I'm watching this. Goosebumps. My first three years out the league, I couldn't even watch basketball, really. Yeah, it was. It was. Yeah, I was just. It took me a while to process what happened. And, you know, it's like you're still looking at the game like, yo, I used to. I used to fuck this dude up and he's still in there. So it just. It just takes a little while to. To process. Okay. It's over with. You know, just watch the game. As a fan, right. And not as a competitor. And I love watching that series, that Houston, Golden State series, like, because those guys are big as strong. Houston. Houston got a lot of tough guys. I love watching Amen Thompson, but with what Draymond is doing, right? Single handedly saying, okay, all you over here. Who. All you tough guys over here. I want all the smoke.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

And now he got Jimmy as well. Like, what Jimmy's doing, you know, what he. When he fell on his back, I was like, how the fuck is this guy gonna come back? And what he's doing over there. You gotta give big credit to Jimmy because I think this is probably his best shot at winning a champion.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And it does feel like Jimmy, like, even you saw it on Monday night when, like, Jimmy's kind of getting. Talking shit to Dylan Brooks and getting in his head. And like, Dylan Brooks is a player who. You can get him to do something stupid. He fouled at the end of the game for. That basically was a difference in the game. Like, are those the little things that, you know, a young team, they just don't know how to deal with those, like, pressure moments, guys, you know, John, at them getting under their skin. Because it is. It is fun to watch, like this old team, the warriors, that are not. They're not the peak warriors even close going against like this new team. And the warriors have kind of the tricks.

[Joaquim Noah]

All right, so Golden State, game on the line. The world knows who's getting the ball. The game on the line. Houston, game on the line. Who's getting the ball?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I don't know. Jalen didn't want it last night. Night.

[Joaquim Noah]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

He just wasn't shooting.

[Joaquim Noah]

Okay, so Jalen wasn't shooting up and down all year.

[PFT Commenter]

Fred.

[Joaquim Noah]

Fred. Okay, so you'll give it. So you're. You're the coach. You're giving the ball to Fred.

[PFT Commenter]

I think I give it to Fred.

[Joaquim Noah]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

I might just give it to Dylan Brooks and just be like, this is gonna be funny.

[Joaquim Noah]

You said three different guys. You can't. You can't do that. You can only give it to one. That's the problem.

[PFT Commenter]

The real answer would probably be Fred. Probably.

[Big Cat]

But it is kind of a. Like, does that is because we mock that, like, there's only one ball. But sometimes the NBA is that easy where it's like, if you don't have the guy at the end of the game, you're in trouble.

[Joaquim Noah]

You're in big trouble. And you got to know. And it's look, game on the line, last possession. It's not like the regular season where six guys are listening in. That timeout, the whole bench, everybody who's in that organization is listening to who the coach is giving the ball to. You know what I mean?

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Joaquim Noah]

Look, they gave it to Shangun. Draymond got a big stop. That's what it's all about.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, no, yeah, we said about. About Draymond is interesting. I want to talk about a little bit more because when we watch Draymond play, he's. He's fun to watch, he's entertaining. He's just all energy. Sometimes he goes over that line. But I also think that he's a very, very smart guy. I think in terms of his basketball IQ especially, he's super smart. And I think his teammates love him. Obviously, you can win big games, you can win championships with a guy like Draymond, even though he does appear to, you know, lose control sometimes. But when you're watching him, what is it about Draymond that you think makes him so special as a basketball player as opposed to other guys, like maybe a Dylan Brooks that might cross some lines, but at the end of the day, doesn't necessarily help their team win.

[Joaquim Noah]

Well, Draymond got four championships, so you can't. You, you know, he's. He's a starting championship center or whatever position he plays. But, you know, people always make fun about his stats, but this is so much more than stats. You got Steven Adams and Shangoon, they're 2, 300 pound guys. This guy's 66250. Fucking like, bring it. Okay, so find me five of those who are ready to go into that battle, you know, so honestly, you can't. What Draymond brings to the team is so much more than just what you see on a stat line. It's so much more than just the surface. You know, he's the one who's bringing the energy and making sure that everybody's ready to go. Steph. Steph can be Steph. Nobody's fucking Steph up because Draymond is going to be right there fucking, you know, putting you in a chokehold if you try.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

So, yeah, so he. Sometimes he goes over the line. But you know what? As a team, that gives you Confidence, knowing that you have a guy who's willing to do anything, and that's. And Golden State has his back, and they've showed it over and over. Every time he stepped over the. The line, yeah, they got his back. It says a lot about the organization. We got our guy over there, the gm, Dun Dunleavy, another crazy Irish guy that I got to be in some. Some battles with. And he was just like, yo, yo, there's no question. Like, we gotta get. When everybody was questioning Jimmy's character and stuff, I mean, it just fit like a glove right, as soon as he got there. And I think it's just like, it's a. It's a great fit for him just to be in a situation right now where you gotta respect what Steph's done. You gotta respect who Draymond is. And now he can come in and just be himself, where it's not just him being the alpha. It's about me. No, no, no, no. This is about winning a championship. This is about his teammates. And you can tell just the way he talks about his guy, like, he's been there for, what, three months? And you can. You feel like he's been there for five years.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

It's got to be great for him, too, because at the end of his. His time in Miami, he's, you know, undoubtedly one of the best players. He's earned the respect of any. Any team that might have him as a player.

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And seemed like Miami was still treating him the same way that they would a rookie or a young player there. And then he goes to Golden State. And I think Steve Kerr's rules were just be, you show up on time for practice, show up on time for games. And besides that, like, I'm gonna let you do whatever it is you need to do to get ready for that. Are there some organizations that. That you found to be like, is it. Is it a better idea generally to treat your veterans with, you know, different set of rules where if you can trust them or have there been times. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's like teams that do it my way or the highway. Maybe that's. That in your experience, has been better.

[Joaquim Noah]

I think it just. It depends on the coach. It depends on the coach, but, you know, vets have played in big games, and you can trust them more. You know, you're seeing it in the Houston Golden State series. You know, if Steph needs a day off from. From practice, you give him a day off from practice. And that's just.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

And everybody shut the up.

[PFT Commenter]

He'll take away his cookies on the plane. Yeah, but did you see that story about LeBron and his cookies?

[Joaquim Noah]

No. Tell me about it.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, apparently when they were flying, when he was on the heat, they would, they came up, he would bring a bag of cookies onto the plane every time. He liked to eat chocolate chip cookies. And they came and they took his bag of cookies away because Pat Riley, the heat, they were watching his weight and they're like, you can't have these cookies.

[Joaquim Noah]

And that's a great, that's a great bar stool story right now. This is a great bar still.

[PFT Commenter]

It's a true story. And LeBron was like, what the. To take my cookies. At that moment, Dwayne was. Wade said that he, he knew that their time was coming to an end.

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah, yeah. That's, that's the reason the cookies took.

[PFT Commenter]

The cookies on the plane. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Oh my God.

[Joaquim Noah]

That's a great story.

[Big Cat]

I got a question. So obviously your dad, a French legend. What the hell's going on in France with basketball? How the hell are they just creating all these mutants? It's happening in the WNBA too.

[Joaquim Noah]

That's right.

[Big Cat]

What's going on?

[Joaquim Noah]

Great development system out there.

[Big Cat]

Do you think it's better than the U.S. like, do you think that the U.S. is actually. Because I know there's a real discussion like au culture, all that. Do you think that some of these European countries are starting to get a leg up because of their development mental.

[Joaquim Noah]

Leagues, Big cat, you're asking all the right questions.

[PFT Commenter]

All the right questions.

[Joaquim Noah]

All the right questions. And you know what? I think it's, it's time to start asking those questions.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

Because you can tell people around the world they're level, they're leveling up right now. And I grew up playing in France till I was 12 and then I moved to New York City. So I played in two grassroots systems. The French grassroots system is interesting because the pro teams have 10 year old teams, 12 year old teams, 14 year old teams, 16 year old teams, and then on Saturday you can go see the pros play. So every single time you play a game, the next level is playing right after you.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Joaquim Noah]

So you get to see what it takes to play at the next level. And if you're good enough, the 10 year old might play on the 12. You, you play up.

[Big Cat]

Right?

[Joaquim Noah]

You play up. And another thing that they do really well is they, they coach it as a team sport. It's not the superstar thing.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Joaquim Noah]

And, and if you have a shot to be an NBA prospect, well, you have like the top French general managers coming to your house and coming to talk to the parents about what the expectations are. So they, they're ready now. And when we, when we first got to the league, there was two or three French players playing and that's it. And what Tony Parker did was, was huge because it allowed the kids to be inspired and dream and, and now we got wembanyama.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. You know, so, so what's the fix in the US Like, I saw there was a clip that went viral the other day that was like, might have been like Lithuania or something. And it was 12 year olds playing and they were moving the ball like it was like the 2016 Warriors. Like they were all, no one stopped moving. They were all cutting. They were just like passing the ball at the top and cutting and cutting and then they get a, you know, a layup. What is it in America that has to change to, to get back to, to that style of basketball?

[Joaquim Noah]

Well, we're definitely in a, in a, in a transition period where something, something different's going on where these kids are getting paid a lot of money. So players have a lot of power right now. You know, you, you have a 16 year old kid who's making 3, 4 million dollars. What the is a coach gonna say?

[Big Cat]

Right?

[Joaquim Noah]

And I'm not hating on kids getting paid because you know what, this is what it is. At the end of the day, you can't be playing in on national TV with billions of dollars on the line with television revenues out of going crazy.

[Big Cat]

Yep.

[Joaquim Noah]

And the kids don't get shit.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

So, okay, I think that the marketing is a good, it's a good step, but this is a business, it's a big business and we were getting bamboozled the whole time. So now at least kids are getting paid and they deserve it. That being said, for the development of the game, there needs to be a change, right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Because it is. I mean, when you think about it, like, would you, when you were at Florida, if you were making say, $2 million, would you have, would you have been as open to coaching as maybe you were at the time? Like, would you think your attitude would have been a little different?

[Joaquim Noah]

If I had $2 million in the bank?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

At Florida, everybody's attitude changes when they got 2 million.

[Randy Moss]

Right.

[Big Cat]

It's human nature. It's not, it's not like a accusatory thing to the kids because it's just like if you have money, it just changes your perspective.

[Joaquim Noah]

Look, to be a champion, to be called champ you have to sacrifice. It's not all about you, you know, And I think that we understood that as a team in college. And we love. We love playing with each other so much that we ended up coming back to school.

[Big Cat]

Right?

[Joaquim Noah]

Something that I'm really. There was. There was no money involved. And I say that with. You know, that's the truth, right? There was no money. It was legit. One through five, I think I averaged 13 points. I averaged like 13.2. Lee Humphrey averaged 12.7. We were all averaging the same amount of points. He takes one thing away, all right? He's the hot man. He's getting the rock. And it was just second nature for us to. To. To be able to. To play ball the right way. And you realize after playing in the NBA for 14 years, that's rare, right? Where you have that kind of chemistry. You know, we're always talking about stats and this, but, like, nobody ever talks about chemistry on the court. I think that's a really interesting thing.

[Big Cat]

What. When you guys decided to come back, who started it? Who was the first person who's like, hey, should we just do this? Should we come back? And was there ever a point where you thought maybe, like, Al or anyone else was, like, kind of leaning towards leaving?

[Joaquim Noah]

I mean, if Horfi left, I would have definitely left.

[Big Cat]

So he was kind of the linchpin in that.

[Joaquim Noah]

I wouldn't say Horfi. I would say Corey.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Corey.

[Joaquim Noah]

You know, I think that Al was in a situation where he didn't have to worry too much about his family. You know, his dad was an NBA player. Taurean, same thing. Dad was an NBA player. For me, you know, it was. Money was not an issue. You know, I didn't have to worry about, you know, making sure mom had food in the fridge, Right? For Corey, it was a little bit different when he was like, okay, when I. When I went to Corey's hometown and I saw where he was from, and for him to say, we're coming back to school, like, I'm getting goosebumps just. Just thinking about it, because he's the one who had the real decision to make. If he would have left, we would all left.

[Big Cat]

Right?

[Joaquim Noah]

You know, that's how. That's how fragile this thing is. And, you know, Coach Donovan is just so good at, you know, just getting us hype. He knew what he was doing, so he got us in the locker room and he was just like, guys, let's. Let's do this again. And it was like the. It was the same Week that we had won the championship. And. And honestly, it's. It's something that I would never tell a kid to do what we did, right? Because kids come up, they. They ask me, like, oh, I think I want to come back to school. They have these allegiances to these schools, and. But that being said, I'm really proud that we did that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's a very cool. It probably would never happen again that way. You know what I mean? Like, you obviously had UConn win back to back, but, like, they changed their team. What you guys did will, especially in today's college with the transfer portal everything. It will never happen again for sure. It's pretty cool.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you know the. The French Canadian guy that's on Florida now? The freshman, Olivier Rue?

[Joaquim Noah]

The big fella.

[PFT Commenter]

The big fella. Seven foot nine. Have you met him?

[Joaquim Noah]

I haven't met him. I would love to see him play one on one against you.

[PFT Commenter]

I would love that, too.

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah, that would be dope.

[PFT Commenter]

No, it wouldn't be very fun.

[Joaquim Noah]

You got to get him here.

[PFT Commenter]

That dude. Whenever I would see him out there, like, cutting the nets down to bring him out to cut the nets, and he would just stand underneath the basket and cut it down. I'd be like, why the fuck isn't this guy playing?

[Joaquim Noah]

Can you imagine him at the bar, like, handing out shots?

[Big Cat]

No.

[Joaquim Noah]

Classic.

[PFT Commenter]

No. You can't get away with shit.

[Big Cat]

Since you started watching again, it's fascinating that it took you three years. Like, you just didn't watch any ball.

[Joaquim Noah]

I couldn't do it, man.

[Big Cat]

That's crazy.

[Joaquim Noah]

Couldn't do it. It was.

[Big Cat]

Was it like, if it was on tv, you'd turn the channel?

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah, just, I. I didn't feel comfortable. Yeah, it's. It's a. It's a weird thing. You know, competition is. Is a strange thing. I had to just completely change my mindset when I was done playing where. Okay. Everything that I thought that. Everything that I thought, like, I had to change my whole. My whole mindset, Right?

[Big Cat]

Because you're not joking, Noah.

[Joaquim Noah]

You're not a player.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

You're not gonna play. You're not playing in front of 20, 000 people anymore. Like, the Gladiator is over with. And now it's about trying to talk to the next generation and hopefully you can inspire them with. Through your experience to. To be able to be the best players that they can be.

[Big Cat]

So, like, in those three years, were you. Because a lot of Have. Obviously, a lot of athletes talk about this, you know, when they Retire. It's really hard to kind of figure out what the next step is. Was there. Were there times where you were depressed and, like, down to a point where it's like, I don't really know what direction I'm going in.

[Joaquim Noah]

Depression. I wouldn't say depression. My life was pretty awesome. You know, it's actually the. The best sleep I've ever had. My anxiety just went down 10 notches. I sleep a lot better. But, yeah, as soon as I started watching the game, like, those feelings would come back, and, you know, they weren't always good thoughts, right? They were. They were. They were negative. So I didn't like the way it made me feel watching basketball. So when I started watching basketball as a fan and now I could look at Amen Thompson and be like, damn. Like, I like. I like this guy. You know, people talk about, oh, there's no defense yet. Watch that guy play basketball.

[Big Cat]

Right?

[Joaquim Noah]

You know, like, they're there. It's just. Let's stop generalizing and also realize that there was a narrative around the league this year that this shit got so soft, but that wasn't coming from the players. That was coming from up top because they wanted more scoring, right? So as soon as they.

[Big Cat]

They.

[Joaquim Noah]

As soon as that narrative started, you know, getting louder and louder, something changed. Because these playoffs right now are fun to watch.

[Big Cat]

They're so much fun.

[Joaquim Noah]

Fun to watch.

[Big Cat]

Who. Who is. Since you started watching again, who's your favorite young player to watch?

[Joaquim Noah]

I love the Thompson. The Thompson Twins. The Thompson Twins are just dogs. I. I love watching the dog. I love watching dogs. What about. And Ant is doing his thing.

[Big Cat]

He's a dog. You had to, like, when he was.

[Joaquim Noah]

Pushing, when he was pushing LeBron, I'm like, what. What is this football? Like, this is. But I just thought that, you know, it's like, people don't realize, like, yo, LeBron's 2, 270 pounds, right? Like, Anthony's 200, 210 max, you know, you got 60 pounds on it. That's. That's a lot of weight.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

And it's just. It was just dope to watch. Just that kind of competition. Like, all right, I'm gonna take your little ass in the post. Like, that competition, that level, even Rudy, like, hit him in the back of the head. I'm like, yo, you know, people don't like the competition piece, the ugly piece of the competition. I think that's what we love.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes.

[Joaquim Noah]

As fans. It's like, you. You love watching that. You know what? This isn't Always pretty, like, oh, we love each other. We're brothers. We're hugging. Like, I hated that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

But now I'm seeing this, like. Like, yo, you're trying to get what I want, and nothing's gonna get in the way of that. And we're getting back to that kind of basketball, and it's. It's really fun to watch.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And it's really good for the league, too, because fans want to see the players that. That care about the game as much as they care about rooting for their team, because if there's a disconnect there, the fans start to be like, well, why am I invested so much in it? But, yeah, when you see your guy, like, shoving LeBron, you're like, yeah, this is awesome.

[Big Cat]

And that's why Joe. Tell him.

[Joaquim Noah]

Kill it. Tell him again.

[Big Cat]

That's why Joe was always like, we love, hate. Yeah, you. You cared as much if there were more. You know what I mean? You. You can't say that for everyone.

[Joaquim Noah]

Appreciate that.

[Big Cat]

Are you shocked that LeBron's still doing it?

[Joaquim Noah]

It's. It's really impressive. Yeah, it's. It took. It took a couple years. Yeah, it took a couple years because, you know, years of losses against him definitely took a toll. But, you know, just to be able to look at it. It and. And be like, yo, this guy is 40 years old, playing at this level, competing the way that he's competing, because he's. He's competing on both. Both ends of the court. It's. It's really. It's. It's. It's really. I got no words. You know, I'm watching.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you like watching. Watching Joker play?

[Joaquim Noah]

Oh, favorite player. Yeah, favorite player.

[PFT Commenter]

He just does something every night that you're like, I don't know how. How he did all those pivots and threw it over his head, and the shot happened to go in. Like, he. And he's got eyes in the back of his head.

[Big Cat]

He's just.

[PFT Commenter]

He's so fun to watch. You've never seen a guy like him before.

[Joaquim Noah]

I mean, this guy's getting buckets. Pass. First guy. I mean, you can just tell. It's like he gets the ball in his hands. Like, everybody's cutting. Everybody knows that they can get the ball. It's not. It's a different kind of superstar with him, because everybody's involved.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, you can't say that.

[Joaquim Noah]

You can't say that about most superstars in the NBA, because the mentality in America is, I'm the superstar. I'm Gonna get the ball. It's my. It's. It's showtime. His mentality is not. I'm getting the ball at showtime. It's cuts. You know, it's handoffs. Like, he's playing in a system, and he just happens to be the quarterback.

[Randy Moss]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And he's calling substitutions, too. He's coaching the team.

[Joaquim Noah]

Oh, he's doing it all.

[PFT Commenter]

It's incredible.

[Big Cat]

I saw. I. Crazy story. I think it was maybe Jamal Murray, where it was like, Jokic, like, had to. He. Jamal Murray was open and yoke and he was, like, yelling for the ball, and yokich had to tell him afterwards, like, stop yelling for the ball. I know when you're open, like, I see everything. Like I. You do when you yell, they're going to go to you. Like, I know. Just don't say anything. I can see everyone on the court, and that's just how he plays.

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah. Not a lot of people can say that. And. And your teammates are going to, you know, know, be like, okay, okay, you're right.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

You know, but he's one of those guys, like, I'm sure he says that. Nobody says a word because they know he's right.

[PFT Commenter]

They know he's always right.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

What about in the East? Who do you like in the East? Because we've. Obviously, we've got some Celtics fans around here.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So we've been focused mostly on the Celtics, but some of the Celtics fans don't really respect the Cavaliers that much. What else do you see besides the. Besides Boston out of the East?

[Joaquim Noah]

Well, Boston is definitely the. The heavy favorite. Until. Until somebody beats Boston, they're the team to beat.

[Big Cat]

He just repeat.

[Joaquim Noah]

But do not. Do not disrespect the Cleveland Cavaliers because they're ready to rock and roll. And if you think this is going to be an easy, easy sweep. No, no, no. Don't get it twisted. You're in for. You're in for a real battle. I'm excited. That's going to be a. That that's happening.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

That's hap. I mean, look, if I had to put money on it, you know, Cavs, Boston, what have you.

[Big Cat]

Have you been back to Cleveland since you retired?

[Joaquim Noah]

I have not.

[Big Cat]

Do you think you'll ever be in Cleveland, Ohio, again in your life?

[Joaquim Noah]

Great question. You know, I haven't thought about it too much. It could be some. Some. It could be interesting.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

Maybe, you know, going to a. Checking out a tourist board over there and, like, seeing all the fun things to do in Cleveland.

[Big Cat]

It would Be funny if Cleveland, like, hired you to do a tourism video for.

[Joaquim Noah]

Maybe if I went with you guys, you know, maybe people would give me a little more slack. But it, It's. It's crazy. It's. It's lit like what the younger kids who didn't get to see me play in. In my prime, they're still really pissed about, like, people know me as the, the anti.

[Big Cat]

Cleveland. You got your.

[Joaquim Noah]

On Cleveland, the guy who shit on Cleveland. It's crazy that that happened over 10 years ago and people still talk to me about this Cleveland.

[Big Cat]

I mean, you weren't like, I, I actually think Cleveland's a very nice city. Like, we've spent some time there. But like, you weren't wrong in the fact that I don't think a lot of people say, I'm going to Cleveland for vacation. That, that isn't a sentence that says is said a lot.

[Joaquim Noah]

It hit. Yeah, it hit.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that one is.

[PFT Commenter]

You got put in bay there, right? Is that in Cleveland?

[Big Cat]

No, it's a little outside. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

You've got the Rock and Roll hall of Fame.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

You might go there one day.

[Joaquim Noah]

I've been there.

[PFT Commenter]

What'd you think?

[Joaquim Noah]

Okay. Okay.

[Big Cat]

So.

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah, I get it. I mean.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah, that's. I rather, I'd rather go to like, Beale street and, and go check out the, the, the music scene over there, to be honest.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

That's a great quote card. We'll have Joe Kim Noa's Rock and Roll hall of Fame review. Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Three stars. Okay.

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah. I mean, it was a long time ago. It didn't, it didn't. Mark. I wasn't, I wasn't super impressed.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. What can you tell me a time? Because we all know Tibbs is a great coach still, obviously coaching with the Knicks. And there's. They've, they've been up and down, but it feels like, you know, they're going to beat the Pistons and we'll see what happens the next round. Was there a time you can remember where Tibbs did something coaching? Whether it be like a play or a look or like, this is how you defend a guy where he's like, this guy just knows what's going to happen before it happens? Like, did he have you prepared for a situation where you're like, how the hell did he, he, he have this so dialed in?

[Joaquim Noah]

I don't think it was a specific moment in the game because Tibbs whole thing was preparation. And when you're, when you're with him by year four, year five, year like, holy. Like this, this shoot around is. Is. It's two hours long, Tibs. Like, get us off our feet. Let's, let's. Let's go home. Let's get some rest and go play the game. But there's something about being in these battles and feeling prepared that is. You know, there's nothing feels better than being ready and being prepared. Tibbs. Tibbs. As crazy as Tibbs is, we were prepared.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Oh, I forgot we had to ask you this because we had this debate on the show. What was your pregame meal before your nap? Because I assume a lot of guys, they do a very similar. Where they eat lunch, take a nap, then get ready for the game. Because we found out that Jalen Green's pregame meal before his nap is chicken Alfredo. And we're like, that has to be the worst thing to eat before playing basketball.

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah, that sounds terrible. But he's. He's young.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah, he'll learn.

[Joaquim Noah]

He's young. He'll learn. I mean, look, chicken Alfredo is a hell of a meal.

[Big Cat]

That's a heavy meal.

[Joaquim Noah]

Maybe not before the. Maybe not before the game. But he's, what, 23 years old. 23 years old. Who gives a. You're eating McDonald's, you eat a Big Mac before the game, you're good. But at 30, what was your pregame meal? I was. I was eating pretty avocados. Rice.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Chicken Alfredo. Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

My meal. You're trying to. Trying to win at a high level is. It's boring, guys.

[PFT Commenter]

There is nothing really dedicated.

[Joaquim Noah]

There is nothing like, like all these people that you look at and you, like, wow, this champion. Like, if you think that this guy has the most interesting life. No. He's going to bed at 9:00 at night.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

You know, he's eating healthy. Like, you want to hear about his health routines? Like, it's not that interesting.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's.

[Joaquim Noah]

It's regimented. It's repetitive and boring and doing the same thing over and over and over again to get better. Yeah, but if you. I mean, for some people, that's interesting.

[PFT Commenter]

If you really enjoy the process.

[Joaquim Noah]

I need more.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

Just because you're a champion does. Doesn't make you interesting.

[PFT Commenter]

It's true.

[Big Cat]

That's actually a good point.

[PFT Commenter]

What about, what about our good friend Steve Ballmer? We actually haven't met him, but I just, I assume that we would be good friends.

[Big Cat]

Best friends.

[PFT Commenter]

Because of how much he cares about the Clippers. When you played for him, did you get to interact with him at all?

[Joaquim Noah]

So when we. I played for the Clippers for three months, I just cut my Achilles right before, like six months before. And. And I had the blessing to be able to sign with the Clippers. And it was when Covid I signed and then the next day Covid hit. The Rudy Gobert thing hit. So we had all this time off and then. And then the Steve Floyd thing happened in the NBA. And I remember Ballmer getting all the players on a zoom call and saying that he would invest in any non profit foundation that was doing work in the communities of the players they were living in. I was like, to me, that just said that just spoke volumes about the guy that he wanted to, first of all, as an owner, be able to talk to his players about the situation and be able to be helpful. I thought that that was really powerful and nobody can say anything bad about that guy. For me.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I don't think Donald Sterling would have done that.

[Joaquim Noah]

Just taking a guess, he would have definitely not.

[PFT Commenter]

Definitely not done that.

[Joaquim Noah]

But give two.

[PFT Commenter]

It is fun to see Ballmer courtside cheering on his team. Like, he seems like he's crazier than most fans.

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah, he's a super fan. And you know what? They made some, some tough decisions. I love that Van Gundy's on the bench.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

I think it says a lot about their coaching staff, the fact that they could bring in a guy like that, that as an advisor or an assistant coach, but somebody who, you know, he's a, he's an alpha himself.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

So to be able to have Tyloo and him on the bench, that's two head coaches on the bench. That doesn't always work. It says a lot about who they are.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right, I got one last question for you, Joe. And this is always, always awesome when you stop by. Roback question. R H O B A K.com promo code. Take 20% off your first purchase. Q, Zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Robo promo code, take. I don't think I've ever heard this story. But you've told it. You decided to go to Florida because you saw two fraternities get in a fight.

[Joaquim Noah]

I did.

[Big Cat]

What is that?

[Joaquim Noah]

Well, I was with your main man, Matty Walsh.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

And David Lee.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

And they were kind of taking me on my recruiting trip and I had the best time of my life, man. As soon as I saw those two, those frats going at it, I knew that it was safe and fun and I knew that I was just not gonna have any. It wasn't gonna Be boring. You know, it's like, there's nothing like getting out of a practice and then going on. Going on campus, and then you go to a bar a little bit outside, and you see two frats throwing the worst punches possible. You know, that nobody's gonna get hurt, but. But it's still enough to like, be able to sit down, you know, and just eat some chicken wings and just, you know, watch some chaos.

[PFT Commenter]

It's so funny when you were taking guys on their recruiting trip, and you'd be like, you got to come see these guys fight.

[Big Cat]

It's so fun.

[Joaquim Noah]

I mean, you know, I don't think those. They didn't happen all the time, I think, but it happened on my recruiting.

[Big Cat]

I love that, though. So great.

[Joaquim Noah]

It was a moment.

[PFT Commenter]

You see them fight and you're like, I feel safe.

[Big Cat]

I know no one can beat me up here.

[Joaquim Noah]

You know, when. When the football guys are fighting, it's a. It's. It's. It's another thing.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that is another thing for sure. Yeah. Well, Joe, you're the best, man. Can we shout out something for you?

[Joaquim Noah]

Of course.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. What do we got?

[PFT Commenter]

Noah's Ark, right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

Shout out. Noah Zark. We're out here in the community in Chicago, you know, one city. Shout out to one city. You know, shout out to our basketball league, violence prevention league. We're working with 28 different violence prevention groups playing basketball against each other. Very proud of the work that we're doing here. We're growing. We're growing. And shout out to Tony Allen also, who joined the crew as the commissioner. Tony Allen coming in and doing that community work. Real social worker out there. So shout out to Kobe Williams and everybody out there doing all the great work for us.

[Big Cat]

I love it. I love it. And we got to get involved. You gotta. You gotta let us get involved somehow. Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

Now that you guys got a hoop.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Joaquim Noah]

You know, let's chop it up. Let's go drink a brewski and. Yeah, do what we do.

[Big Cat]

Watch some frat guys fight.

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah, some frag.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, yeah. You want to see some unathletic?

[Big Cat]

That's so funny. Like, if we ever get, like, if Joe Keem's ever, like, you know what? I'm gonna, you know, get into the podcast game. Yeah, we gotta bring him on a recruiting visit and have a couple guys fighting here, Watch them throw, like, terrible punches at each other. Be like, look, you're perfect.

[PFT Commenter]

I'd never thought about it that way. But, like, if I'm going, if I'm driving Down the street. If I'm looking for a place to buy a house, I'm going down the street. I see two little, like, overweight dads, like, fighting in the front lawn. I do think to myself, like, probably a pretty safe neighborhood.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Not. Not being able to land any punches.

[PFT Commenter]

It's like they, they feel open and, and. And safe enough to be fighting the front lawn.

[Joaquim Noah]

They're throwing their beards, Beards all over the place. It's great.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I love it. Oh, all right. Thanks so much, Joe.

[Joaquim Noah]

That's dope, man.

[PFT Commenter]

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[Big Cat]

Okay, let's wrap up. We got fire fest of the week. Henry. Yes. What's up?

[Hank]

I've had a great week. This is, you know. Yeah, we joke about the best weeks of the year, but these two weeks are my favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite time of the year. Weather's getting better. Summer's right there. Playoffs every single night. So many games. Like you get home from work and you're up till 1am Just pure playoffs.

[Big Cat]

Playoffs. Playoffs. Playoffs. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, during football season, footballs dominate the weekends, but during this time of year, you're just a real piece of. All week long, it's like there's always a great game on. Sorry, I gotta be on my couch.

[Hank]

And it's like, oh, yeah, know, the flowers are blooming, the trees are. Are spurting. It's great.

[Big Cat]

Allergies.

[Hank]

People are saying they have allergies.

[Big Cat]

Max, you an allergy guy?

[Max]

Low key. An allergy guy. I got allergies.

[PFT Commenter]

It is dusty. May wimp.

[Hank]

So no real personal fire fest. The Bill Belichick thing is, is. Is starting to weigh way on me though.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, there's been, there's been some additions.

[Hank]

Yeah, let's get into the additions, it's, it's bad.

[PFT Commenter]

It's like everyone's commenting on it now. Steve Belichick's. His wife commented on an Instagram post, correct?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Bill Belichick's daughter in law.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So she commented on it saying like most, most PR people don't act this way and storm out the.

[Big Cat]

So since we last talked, it has been an update every single hour. Yeah. Hour. We found out that Jordan has bought $10 million in real estate in the last like year and a half. Now. I don't.

[Hank]

Entrepreneurial entrepreneur.

[PFT Commenter]

Are you saying that she's not independently wealthy?

[Big Cat]

I don't know. I don't know where the money came from. I just know. I thought in this country we liked people picking themselves up by the. By their bootstraps and dating someone 50 years older than them who has probably a hundred million dollars and then using that money to, to start a real estate empire.

[PFT Commenter]

Like the people that are hitting on that. Are you saying women can't own land? Right, girls?

[Big Cat]

Girl, you know, I, we nailed it on Monday. We're like, sorry that a woman in power bothers you.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Jordan is a bad. And she is going to spend Bill Belichick's money however the she wants.

[PFT Commenter]

I also think that with Bill could be anyone's money.

[Big Cat]

Could be anyone's money too. Good point, Hank.

[PFT Commenter]

We all have maybe been in relationships with somebody that's a little bit on the crazy side in the past. Past. A lot of people out there might agree with this.

[Hank]

What does this have to do with anything?

[PFT Commenter]

I'm just saying this. You're complete non sequitur.

[Big Cat]

Are you calling Bill Belichi?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So like Jordan, her boyfriend.

[Randy Moss]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

He might be like a wild guy, like loose cannon wearing wear holes in his sweatshirt crazy, but sometimes the type of people that are a little bit crazy, it's also a very, very fun relationship.

[Big Cat]

You think? Oh.

[PFT Commenter]

If you know what I'm saying. Like Bill is probably a great lay.

[Big Cat]

You think that Bill is. Yeah, Bill's rocking her world for sure. Yeah. Bill's. Bill's rocking her world.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Jordan can't quit it. Jordan, it's. Bill is like crack to Jordan.

[PFT Commenter]

He's got the magic stick.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

But I think people have been in that experience. I do think when things come to light, it's kind of like, you know, everyone has a buddy or, you know, maybe themselves that has been in a similar relationship with someone who's crazy. They know they're crazy. Their friends definitely know they're crazy. But it's kind of unspoken About. And then they get in, like a big blow up fight at a bar or something. And then it's like, all right, well, now that it's kind of like public.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Hank]

I probably have to be truthful with how crazy this is and how bad of a situation I might be in. Like, maybe they were in denial. Was in denial. And now she's like, okay.

[Big Cat]

It is funny too, because in the crazy relationship game that everyone is. Is somewhat familiar with, whether firsthand, friends, whatever, you always gotta be careful about what you say. I saw Charles Barkley said that he was going to possibly intervene, which is hilarious. You got to be careful what you say. Because if I know these two young lovebirds, Bill Belichick and Jordan, like, I think I do, they're going to break up and then get back together for sure. So there's going to be a period where people are going to probably throw some shots at Jordan. You got to be careful because. Because again, Jordan, she's. She's addicted to that. Bell.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you think that there's any chance that. That Bill is up to date on everything that everyone's saying about him online? No, I think he just got his head down, right. She tells him dirt.

[Big Cat]

You guys seen Silence of the Lambs? Jordan, Bill could be in like a. A well, in a basement somewhere. Somewhere.

[PFT Commenter]

Buffalo Bill.

[Big Cat]

I don't think he's getting access to his phones.

[PFT Commenter]

Put the hoodie on your head, Bill.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, but listen again, Jordan, what are we. What are we doing here? Why are people coming at her?

[PFT Commenter]

I don't know.

[Big Cat]

Just remember when they tell the story of Jordan and Bill, one of the greatest love stories of all time. We had Jordan's back, and it was because we wanted to get Bill Belichick on the show. Consenting adults, and no other reason, because everything else points to crazy.

[Hank]

I am very much also knocked. The report came out after. After last show that she was the reason Hard Knocks at UNC got axed.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, because she wanted to be involved. Right.

[Hank]

Sucks. That would have been great. Yeah. Well, I'm sure they probably had, like, one meeting with her maybe. No. Well, maybe they were like one meeting and they're like, her creative vision is so good that, yeah, we're gonna get exposed.

[PFT Commenter]

We're afraid that she's gonna take our job.

[Hank]

Hard Knocks is when this one's so good because it's kind of the Jordan.

[PFT Commenter]

Vision or I mean, when has Hard.

[Hank]

Knocks ever, like, you never want to watch work with someone that's like, so much better than you because it's like it highlights how bad you are.

[PFT Commenter]

We love Hard Knocks. We love watching Hard Knocks. But there's always some salacious story that comes out or something that you can use later as fodder to make fun of the subject of Hard Knocks. Whatever team it is, whether, whatever coach it is, you can laugh at them about it later. Jordan was probably just doing her job as a PR person to get ahead of that. Being like, Bill, you don't want to have your, all your secrets exposed.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

You're such a good coach. Why are you giving away the, the, the cow when they can buy the milk for free?

[Big Cat]

I got two questions. You're absolutely right. I got two questions. Do you think there's a chance CBS releases the full interview? Because I want it so bad.

[PFT Commenter]

Release the transcript.

[Big Cat]

CBS because they, the Jordan and Bill, the Belichicks have basically tried to call their bluff being like it wasn't what everyone thinks it is. They were trying to take the interview into weird spots. We were just doing our job. Basically. CBS is the liars here. I really need this full transfer.

[PFT Commenter]

I want to know what was in that. The rest of the 30 minute video that she put the screenshot of.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Because she definitely insinuated there's more.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Like she's got receipts.

[Hank]

My understanding was that because they said she stormed out for 30 minutes, the video she posted was 36 minutes. I think she was like filming the conversation maybe with the rep. Like the fight.

[PFT Commenter]

Look what she made.

[Hank]

Stormed out.

[Big Cat]

So she's got the transcripts to release as well.

[Hank]

I, I don't know. That's just a guess.

[PFT Commenter]

I need all the transcripts.

[Hank]

I need more of it and I don't want that. I don't think we want that.

[Big Cat]

All right, so if you had.

[Hank]

What if it's somehow. I mean it probably won't but like, what if it makes Jordan look worse?

[Big Cat]

There's nothing that could make her look bad in this situation whatsoever. She's just a regular 24 year old girl woman dating a 70 plus year old man for love and a couple houses.

[Hank]

But that's probably just their shared passion.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, their shared passion is buying houses they'll never live in. If you had to give Jordan one piece of advice, what would you give her?

[Hank]

Block out the haters.

[PFT Commenter]

Don't.

[Hank]

Don't. Yeah. Keep doing you.

[PFT Commenter]

You know what they.

[Hank]

I think, I think the, I think the. I personally think, think the best resolution for this whole situation is for Jordan to just keep doing her.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

As much as possible.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I was gonna say the. If I had to give one piece of advice to Jordan. Have a baby.

[Hank]

No.

[Big Cat]

No. Yeah, let's go. Let's make this official.

[Hank]

Not with Belichick.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, with Belichick. With Bill. Have a. Let's get a baby in this.

[Hank]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

At least. At least fake a pregnancy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, you.

[PFT Commenter]

That's really hard. That's step one. It's like, hey, everybody in my life is telling you I need to break up with you, so I'm gonna break up with you. Well, you can't, because guess what? I'm pregnant.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. And then nothing happens.

[Big Cat]

Jordan Belichick Jr. A baby in the mix of this.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Would be. It would be one of. One of the greatest story. I mean, it already is a great love story, but consummate. Consummate this love with a baby.

[PFT Commenter]

The important thing for them to remember is that everybody else in the world's cross crazy. Not you guys.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Hank]

It also really, like. It does. It's good perspective, I think, for, you know, the rest of the world. That. Because it kind of happened with Brady, too, is like, yeah. These two are the greatest of all time. Unquestionably, undeniably. But in their personal lives, they're just normal people. Normal shit happens.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, were you saying that Bella. That Belichick and Jordan are like, Belichick and Brady?

[Hank]

No, like Belichick and Brady. Like, in the football world, I was untouchable gods. But then it's like. Yeah, but they're just personal stuff that happens outside of football is just like. You know, that happens with everyone.

[Big Cat]

I mean, Bill.

[PFT Commenter]

Bill respects.

[Big Cat]

Great.

[Hank]

And it's just. It's not fun to follow.

[PFT Commenter]

We can agree that Bill Belichick respects greatness, right? Yes. And Jordan is the Tom Brady of crazy girlfriends, right?

[Big Cat]

Exactly. She. She is the goat. She's putting up crazy numbers. She's the Will Chamberlain.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

Watch this. Baby, baby.

[PFT Commenter]

Good fire fest, huh?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Good fire fest. Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

You can just. You can just start.

[Big Cat]

It is. We're in.

[Hank]

It is disaster. Like, the. Every report, it's like, just.

[Big Cat]

It's just more. Every single one.

[PFT Commenter]

The fact that the family's getting involved now is. Yeah.

[Hank]

The real estate was tough, and then. Yeah. It's just. It doesn't end.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And it.

[Hank]

It's not gonna.

[PFT Commenter]

It's. This is for, like.

[Big Cat]

I don't think.

[Hank]

I think there's a chance, like I said, over. Under of games that he coaches is like one and a half.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. The. The.

[Hank]

It feels like he's just not gonna coach.

[PFT Commenter]

I think.

[Hank]

How. I don't know what is gonna lead to that. But yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Part of me is just like, he's not going to end up coaching a game.

[PFT Commenter]

Jordan. Her next step is one, maybe a fake pregnancy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And test the waters a little bit. One, two, maybe write yourself into the.

[Big Cat]

Well, the good news is, Jordan, at least CBS didn't pry about the meeting on the plane, because I think we can all agree that her stopping that was the most important thing. And everything that has led after that is just a weird coincidence. Coincidence.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep. Yep. They met on the plane. Period.

[Big Cat]

Period.

[PFT Commenter]

A plane to Palm beach.

[Big Cat]

Man. Jordan. Shout out. Jordan bad. We're a bad podcast.

[PFT Commenter]

I like her CEO.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I mean, I had a pretty good week this week, too. I guess my. I'll just say that the fire fest might be. Might be for us as a whole, because as a podcast, we've dabbled in a little, I'd say, light hazing of some of our co workers, people that work on the show. Just like, good, good natured ribbing. Nothing too serious. But hazing is big time on the hot seat right now, and people are stressing out about it.

[Hank]

I don't know what you're talking about.

[Big Cat]

I don't know.

[PFT Commenter]

We're very fair to everybody that's. That's been here. There is a lacrosse team in Syracuse, New York, that. That is in big, big trouble being threatened with felonies. They shut down the entire season. A high school lacrosse team. Okay, here's what they did. So they had a little initiation ritual for one of their younger players. And in the initiation, what they did was they. They staged a kidnapping. So they. They had one of the guys get in the car, and they're like, we're all gonna go to McDonald's, have a team meal. They drive to McDonald's. And then on the way there, the driver pretended that he got lost.

[Hank]

Lost.

[PFT Commenter]

Went off into a wooded area. And then a bunch of guys came out of the woods. His teammates, but they were wearing, like, masks and black clothes. One of them might have had a gun. One of them had a knife.

[Big Cat]

Okay, well, yeah, if you're gonna stage a kidnapping, you gotta have those things.

[PFT Commenter]

Then they put a pillowcase over the young man's head and they put him into the trunk of a car. He eventually got out. And then. And then a bunch of his teammates were also pretending to be kidnapped.

[Big Cat]

They.

[PFT Commenter]

They escaped. They got home. Now they're trying to charge the team with felonies, and they canceled the entire season for the team just because of a little prank. Now, I will say that if you had a gun, that might have been, like, one step too far.

[Big Cat]

No, I disagree. If fake kidnapping, you need a gun. Otherwise it's just like, what are we doing here, boys?

[PFT Commenter]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

Walk away.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. The only thing I can think of with a gun. What if the kid had. Had a gun and he sees the gun, whether real or fake, quickly say.

[Big Cat]

Hey, it's just fake.

[PFT Commenter]

Then the, then the player takes his gun out, shoots the other guy and is like, like, that was hazing, too. I just hazed you right back. Yeah, but it seems like this is, this is going to be a national story, and then no one's going to be allowed to make rookies get haircuts in training camp anymore or carry pads.

[Big Cat]

It's.

[Hank]

Yeah, it's why this kid say all that.

[PFT Commenter]

I, this seems to me like maybe he came home and he was scared, and then the parents were like, what happened? And he told the parents and the.

[Hank]

Parents, shouldn't he have come home? And like, yes, I, I, I made it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's just a prank.

[Hank]

I'm initiated.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm one of the boys now.

[Big Cat]

But this is also, like, look, I'm not defending Hazen here, but like, you would never. They, they didn't. Didn't the team find out that he's not ride or die, like the Hazen kind of work?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

You don't want a guy like that on your team who won't. Who's not down for a little fake kidnapping with a real gun and real knife.

[PFT Commenter]

And here's, here's where the problem comes in is.

[Hank]

They just say the gun wasn't loaded.

[PFT Commenter]

A bunch of them. A bunch of them filmed it. So they have video.

[Big Cat]

They have to film it.

[PFT Commenter]

You have to film it. I guess it's like the, the prank call to Shador.

[Hank]

That's where.

[Big Cat]

No, no, no, no. You got a film house, you got it. You got to play it back whenever he gets a little uppity being like, look, you pissed your pants and cried when we pulled this gun on you.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. It just seems like this is. It's a bet. You shouldn't kidnap anybody with a gun.

[Big Cat]

It was fake kidnapping.

[PFT Commenter]

It was a fake kidnapping. Also, the kids should have known that it was a fake kidnapping.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

You're in Syracuse, New York. You're with your high school boys there. There are a lot of alarm bells that should go it on my. I don't want to say what team it was, but I was on a team at one point, and they kidnapped one of the, one of the freshmen and then they tied him up, and they left him on the train tracks in the middle of campus. This is just a classic prank.

[Big Cat]

Funny.

[PFT Commenter]

And then he wiggled his way out, and he wiggled his way back to the apartment and drank beers with the boys, and everything was fine.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And now he's got a bond for life where he thought he was going to die. And you.

[Joaquim Noah]

That.

[Big Cat]

That creates bonding.

[PFT Commenter]

It does?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. What do you say, Max?

[Max]

This whole Jordan situation has. I don't know what you're saying. What you're saying is real or not real?

[Big Cat]

What do you mean?

[Max]

I have no idea. I don't.

[PFT Commenter]

The Jordan situation threw off Max's sarcasm detector.

[Max]

Correct. I can't tell whether Big Cat is being sarcastic or amazing about. About anything you're saying. I. I don't. I.

[Big Cat]

Sounds like we got a fake kidnapping.

[Hank]

What are you doing?

[Randy Moss]

What do you mean?

[Hank]

Sarcastic?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, dude. Yeah.

[Max]

My bad. My bad.

[Big Cat]

You gotta kidnap your boys if you want to make sure that the rider dies guy. And if you do a fake kidnapping, you have to include a real gun.

[PFT Commenter]

He might have been joking about loading the helmet.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, like, it's. Why, like, just. All right, here. Ready? You. You got a new guy on the team. You got to find out if he's.

[PFT Commenter]

If he's down, if he's team material.

[Big Cat]

Okay, so how. What's the only way you can find out if this guy is gonna be.

[PFT Commenter]

A good teammate, hold a gun to his head, and if he's a. Then he's off the team.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Fake kidnapping. What's the only way to do a fake kidnapping? Real gun. What's the only way to make sure that you have evidence of this video? See how easy that is?

[Max]

Got it.

[Big Cat]

It's a simple question of do I like this kid? And the only way to find out is you go down the line, and it's fake kidnapping with a real gun on video.

[Max]

And see, this is where I keep getting. Hank keeps saying. Keeps saying no to the camera, which makes me. Which makes me think that you think every.

[Big Cat]

You still think I'm being serious, Hank? I think Hank is because I am.

[Hank]

Max, you played on winning teams before, right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Did you ever get hate?

[Big Cat]

Max, are you getting PTSD right now? No.

[PFT Commenter]

No. What do they make you do, Max?

[Big Cat]

Elephant walk.

[Max]

That elephant walk. Ride or die. I would never. I would never.

[Big Cat]

There you go.

[PFT Commenter]

You would never do an elephant walk.

[Big Cat]

I would never.

[Max]

I would never talk about the Hazes.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Hank]

That's why you don't feel it either, because then it's like that. What happened no one knows.

[PFT Commenter]

But it's even. It's even better if you do film it and then you never show it to anybody. That's the. That is the ultimate. Sounds like these kids are like.

[Big Cat]

It would be funny if this kid went to the police and the police just sat him down and they're like, so let me get this straight. You're tattling and then put the cuffs.

[PFT Commenter]

On him, you don't film it.

[Hank]

It's a he said, she said. It's like, did you have a gun?

[Big Cat]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

You go in, you report to the police. There's like one rookie cop and then a bunch of veteran cops. And, yeah, we did a fake kidnapping, and my son is. He's got PTSD from it. And immediately the rookie cop just starts laughing like, you gotta keep your mouth shut about that.

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah.

[Hank]

You're like, yeah. And he's like, yeah, back in class of 96. Like, yeah, that's him. Way worse.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Well, just kind of chuckle and dap up and say, good luck this season, kid.

[PFT Commenter]

If you're gonna do a fake kidnapping with a real gun that's loaded, at least keep the safety on.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, agreed. And finger not on the trigger, but maybe a little.

[PFT Commenter]

If the safety's on, it doesn't matter.

[Big Cat]

Right, Right. Yeah. It would be funny if the cop was just like, so you're not making the team. Then it was like, see you later.

[PFT Commenter]

One thing I will say is that they probably. I'm. I'm a little upset that they canceled the entire season for the entire team, because regardless of your stance on doing a fake kidnapping slash attempted murder, it's not every kid on the team that did it most. Why are you throwing. Yeah, you're throwing the baby out with bath water.

[Big Cat]

Agreed. Agreed. All right. My fire fest is. I just. I don't know. I. I don't really have one. I had a good week. I'm never going to sleep again. I realize that. What are you. Max, what's going on?

[Max]

Memes made a great point. How is that your fire fest? Pft.

[PFT Commenter]

Huh? Because I just. I just said that I had a pretty good week, so this.

[Big Cat]

So you just did a collectively hot.

[PFT Commenter]

Seat for us as a podcast.

[Joaquim Noah]

We.

[PFT Commenter]

We might not be allowed to haze anymore.

[Big Cat]

Good riff.

[Max]

True, true, true, true.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we should.

[PFT Commenter]

Max is just the voice of the listener this episode.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Wait a second.

[PFT Commenter]

Second.

[Max]

Wait a second.

[PFT Commenter]

Is Big Cat serious? Wait a second.

[Big Cat]

Wait a second.

[PFT Commenter]

Pft. That sound. That sounded like it was a Wednesday thing.

[Max]

I'm just trying to help out. I'm Just trying to help out.

[Big Cat]

Oh yeah. No, I just, I. I had the realization. I have this realization every now and then. But like doing like a forecast of my schedule. I'm like, I'm just never gonna sleep again in my life. And that just sucks to know because I just wish I could. I like sleep a lot.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

Is awesome.

[PFT Commenter]

It's great.

[Big Cat]

Thanks to sleep.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm a sleep guy big time.

[Big Cat]

Also, our softball team lost. That sucked. We got to get better.

[PFT Commenter]

Damn.

[Big Cat]

The other team was very good. We have to play better defensively. I have to hit better. We all have to play better. We were bad.

[Max]

We were bad. I was very bad defensively. Nobody hit.

[Big Cat]

No drinking before games anymore.

[PFT Commenter]

No big. I have a question.

[Max]

Big cat's coming in here and trying to. I think we need anti fun team over here.

[Big Cat]

Drink after the game.

[PFT Commenter]

I got a question.

[Max]

A couple softball.

[Big Cat]

You have a couple beers? It's fine. Did. Was it beers?

[Max]

I went out to dinner and had a glass of wine.

[Big Cat]

There's more than one glass.

[Hank]

More glasses of wine than errors.

[Big Cat]

That first throw to Hank. Less.

[Max]

Less glasses of wine.

[Big Cat]

The first throw to Hank was. I was like, he might have had a lot of wine.

[Max]

No, no, I. I swear I. I had two glasses of wine, you know.

[Hank]

Does game Max throw into right field?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Max. Max threw on right field and. And it was like the ball hadn't even released his hand and he just.

[Max]

Goes, I. I got, I got. I'm an emotional guy before it even released. I was also the only guy who hit yesterday.

[Big Cat]

I agree. I said I have to hit better. I sucked at rbi.

[Hank]

I was single.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. What you going to say? Pft.

[PFT Commenter]

You answered all my questions that I. The, the conversation eventually went to everything I was going to ask.

[Max]

There we go.

[Hank]

Can I have a potent. I have a potential firefight for pft.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, so we won. We did. You won't even let me sentence.

[Big Cat]

You won my slot.

[PFT Commenter]

I figured you shut the up after.

[Hank]

That tweet you put out.

[PFT Commenter]

I've been trying to say sentence for the last four minutes and you stupid won't stop talking. This is why I'm not in a team when big cat's like, oh, pft. You want to play on our team? No, you. You guys, we don't lose games on fat pitches only.

[Hank]

You slaughter old teams. Right.

[PFT Commenter]

We tie.

[Big Cat]

What's your guys record?

[PFT Commenter]

We won the tie though.

[Big Cat]

What's your record?

[PFT Commenter]

Record since I joined the team. We are 011. We got a result. What's your record since I joined the team? Not counting forfeits.

[Big Cat]

2, 0 and 1 or no 2 and 1.

[PFT Commenter]

We're 2 and 1 in the last two weeks.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. We're no. 3 on the season. We're 2 and 1.

[PFT Commenter]

No, but in the last two weeks.

[Big Cat]

Oh, we're 1 and 1.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, not counting forfeits.

[Big Cat]

No, we played. We played.

[PFT Commenter]

We're 1 and 12 weeks ago. Yeah, that was a forfeit.

[Big Cat]

We played a game.

[PFT Commenter]

Against yourselves?

[Big Cat]

No, against the other team that was there.

[PFT Commenter]

I thought you forfeited.

[Big Cat]

No, we're one and one. We're two and one on the season. We got to be better.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm going to have to fact check that.

[Big Cat]

We're two and one on the season.

[PFT Commenter]

Who. Who'd you play last week?

[Big Cat]

The team we were supposed to play forfeited. We played another game.

[PFT Commenter]

Against who?

[Big Cat]

This is whichever team was there. The team that was there.

[Hank]

It's all about next week. Just a funny little.

[PFT Commenter]

That's just another game for me.

[Hank]

Pf. PFT Anecdote that's been making me laugh since it happened. They were playing the game before us. I walked up. PFT was wearing his nobles, and I like, no. Why don't you have cleats? Pft. And dude's like, well, I brought my golf shoes, which I do, too, because. With spikes. But PFT just brought golf shoes that don't have spikes.

[PFT Commenter]

No, they've got small spikes on them.

[Hank]

They're just like, sneak. Oh, yeah. Just made me laugh.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, they've got little. The tiny little plastic spikes on them.

[Hank]

There's more grip than regular sneakers.

[PFT Commenter]

But it is true.

[Joaquim Noah]

And.

[PFT Commenter]

And Hank was like, why aren't you wearing those? I was like, well, because they're. They're hot pink and. Which Hank ordered for me a couple years ago, and I'm not good enough. You can't. You can't be, like, an average to slightly below average player, and we're being the only one that wears the hot pink shoes.

[Big Cat]

Right. I agree. Like, if, like, anyone's wearing, like, batting gloves.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Hypothetically.

[Max]

I don't know why you're looking at me.

[Big Cat]

I'm not looking at anyone. I'm actually looking at the ground right now.

[Max]

Well, we can look at the batting glove guy.

[Big Cat]

No, I. We're not. I'm being positive vibes only on this team. Batting gloves and slow pitch. 60 inches. Crazy. But I'm not talking about anyone on my team. Team. All right.

[PFT Commenter]

It doesn't hit.

[Big Cat]

No, it's not. It's.

[PFT Commenter]

Why would you need batting gloves?

[Big Cat]

No idea. Pft Be a Man.

[PFT Commenter]

And just piss on your hands.

[Big Cat]

Unrelated. I love my bobblehead. My Pope bobblehead. It's so sick. Who got this for me? Oh, Shane. I love Shane.

[Max]

Shane was probably the mvp actually.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, no, he actually was running the. Out of the bases too. All right, good show, boys. Wait, Max, are you gone?

[Joaquim Noah]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Tomorrow, where you go, are you gonna zoom in in the Maui costume?

[Max]

Do you have.

[PFT Commenter]

If you.

[Max]

If you bring me the Maui costume, I will wear the Maui costume.

[Big Cat]

What time you leave tomorrow?

[PFT Commenter]

Like 6am oh, all right.

[Big Cat]

I don't think I have the Maui costume. If I can find it. He's going to. He's going to Hawaii.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I know. I wanted to hear him say another vacation.

[Big Cat]

Hey, Shane.

[PFT Commenter]

Hey, Shane.

[Hank]

I heard that.

[Big Cat]

What, the Pope? Yeah. I love it. You don't need batting glove shade. I don't give a. Okay, gloves I had.

[PFT Commenter]

I was two for two. You wear them in the field.

[Big Cat]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

That'S the only reason why you should wear batting gloves in 16in is if you're playing the field and you're like, it stings.

[Big Cat]

No, it's my job is to hit. I love that.

[Randy Moss]

There's.

[PFT Commenter]

There's.

[Big Cat]

There's adults doing sprints in the outfield before the game, like, trying hard. If you're cool with the batting gloves, I'm cool with the batting gloves. Yeah.

[Hank]

I mean, it's cool to try hard.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Swaggy. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Everyone thinks, like, if there's a try hard, that's the coolest guy on the team. Two for two.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, you were. And I said that you were fucking running the hell out of bases too. We're gonna kill your speed demon out there. You score? Did you score? Two runs.

[PFT Commenter]

Hill spread is spreads. Three and a half runs.

[Big Cat]

All right, numbers. Three. Oh.

[PFT Commenter]

40, 21, 66, 43, 44, 59, 27.

[Big Cat]

27. All right, Max, Have a good vacation.

[PFT Commenter]

Love you guys.

[Joaquim Noah]

Bye, Max.

[Big Cat]

Sa.