Offseason Grab Bag: Bam’s 83 Points, USA Baseball in Crisis, and Sherrone Moore Update

Summary

Ringer Tailgate: Offseason Grab Bag

Episode Date: March 11, 2026

Hosts: Tate Frazier, Van Lathan, Joel Anderson
Main Topics: Bam Adebayo’s 83 points, USA Baseball in crisis, Sherrone Moore legal update, college football headlines

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Episode Overview

This episode of Ringer Tailgate takes a freewheeling and in-depth look at several hot-button topics from the sports world, with the typical blend of sharp analysis, personal stories, and lively banter. The squad dives into Bam Adebayo’s historic 83-point NBA game, examines the current state and discourse around USA Baseball after a disappointing World Baseball Classic, and provides thoughts and background on some major college football stories, including legal developments for Michigan's Sherrone Moore and big-money coaching hires.

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Key Topics & Discussion Points

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1. Bam Adebayo’s 83-Point Game: History or “Clown Shoes?”

[07:05–41:04]

Initial Reactions

• Tate set up the conversation, noting Bam Adebayo’s 83-point outburst is “the biggest story in sports.”
• Van Lathan called the feat "remarkable," but challenged the context and integrity of the performance:

  “If you tuned into the game after he had 70 points, the game was fucking clown shoes.” (08:50)

• The crew quickly draw parallels and contrasts between Bam’s performance, Kobe Bryant’s legendary 81-point game, and Wilt Chamberlain’s fabled 100.

Was Bam’s 83 as “pure” as Kobe’s 81?

• Van: “Bam had his team helping him engineer the game to get to 83 points. That is the difference to me.” (09:35)
• Joel: “Why does anybody care that Kobe got passed for second?” (10:00)
• Tate: "You had two very out there fan bases arguing—Miami Heat fans versus Kobe fans, it was a lot." (11:41)

Kobe Standom & NBA Fan Culture

• Van: “The only stand shit that I get into is the Kobe shit. That’s the only thing.” (11:47)
• Joel: “Kobe fans are real believers, man. I just don't want to—I want no problems with them.” (16:10)

Game Context—How “Real” Was It?

• They discussed the Wizards’ "tanking" and the number of free throws awarded (Bam: 43, Wilt: 32, Kobe: 27).
• Tate: “If you watch the first quarter, they were pressing to open this game... they just couldn't stop him. I actually came away more impressed…than just looking at the stat line.” (21:29)
• Van: "The Wizards are tanking, so they're not trying to win... this game will make people... expose some real issues with the competition and some of the ways that the NBA is being played right now." (22:14, 22:18)
• Joel: “The Wizards committed the crime, bro.” (28:22)

Legacy Impact?

• Van: “It won’t make Kobe not the second greatest shooting guard in NBA history, because Bam has an asterisk.” (26:43)
• The group ultimately celebrates Bam’s accomplishment but insists on recognizing the changing context of NBA records.

Notable Quote Thread

• Van: “Shout out to Bam, man. I really don’t want to because this is one of the most awesome things that could ever happen for Bam…But tanking, gaming the system, all that is not [it].” (26:11)

Memorable Sidebar

• Hosts share their own high school sports anecdotes (33:00-36:00), riffing on the nostalgia of post-game celebrations and coaches’ motivational tactics:
  • “Our coach in 10th grade told us if we won, he'd take us to Hooters, and we won…and we all got to go.” (36:10, Tate)

On Bam and A’ja Wilson’s Public Moment

• Tate: "That was a great moment, bro. He's come a long way, man." (38:52)
• Van: “All jokes aside, a really impressive feat from a guy who—by all ... never heard a bad word about him...shout out to Bam.” (39:39)

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2. USA Baseball’s World Baseball Classic “Crisis”

[44:01–68:46]

The Double Standard in Sports

• Tate initiates a parallel discussion on the reactions to USA Baseball vs. USA Basketball.
• Joel: “The American baseball team is free to go out there and not even know what the stakes of the game are...if the USA basketball team lost, the sky would fall.” (45:28)

Team Makeup and Diaspora Discussion

• Van: "On the entire Italian team that beat the U.S., there are three players born in Italy. The rest are from the US." (47:34)
• The group jokes about practically all WBC teams in the US outfields being American-born.

Why Does Basketball Get Harsher Scrutiny?

• Van points to the Dream Team's legacy setting an impossible standard.
• Joel: “If you’re an American basketball player, you're being judged unfairly...people will hate you for it, or complain about it for a whole week.” (61:39)
• Tate: “Discourse is definitely poisonous.” (62:50)
• Van: “A lot of older basketball guys make this criticism about basketball—essentially acting as if they're policing their own culture.” (67:28)

Notable Quotes

• Joel: “The American men’s basketball team is the best international program in history—nothing fucks with them.” (68:25)
• Van: “If you look at MLB, there’s just so many more international players that are elite baseball players. Just so many more.” (65:56)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [44:01] Start of USA Baseball segment
• [47:34] "Italian" WBC Team breakdown
• [52:03] International comparisons & baseball's global roots
• [60:32–63:44] Deep dive on Dream Team legacy and American hoops pipeline critiques

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3. College Football Grab Bag

[78:53–end]

High-Paid Coordinators & Coaching Carousel

• Tate notes: “Matt Patricia, highest paid coordinator in college football: $3.75 million for Ohio State.” (78:53)
• Van sees Patricia as "on the fast track to a head coaching job...in college or the NFL." (79:54)

Michigan & Sherrone Moore Update

• Tate: “Seems like he’s in a situation to move forward...His wife’s standing by his side.” (81:21)
• Van offers legal context on pleading “no contest” and implications for civil liability. (82:48)
• Joel: “I don't think Sharon Moore's going to get a college job anytime soon...there’s a lot of shit around his name.” (86:03)

Transfer Portal & Athlete Agency

• Tate: “Oklahoma WR Parker Livingstone: ‘If I didn’t have an agent, I’d probably still be in Austin right now.’ That kind of says where we are in college sports.” (87:06)
• Van: “Parker had to chase the bag. I also think Parker was probably a little bit unhappy with how some things were…shaking out on the field.” (87:32)

NIL & The $40 Million Roster Debate

• Tate brings up Brian Kelly’s claim that Lane Kiffin’s current LSU roster cost over $40 million.
• Van: “The expectations are a playoff run…you don’t pay $40 million to do anything less than be a serious contender to win the SEC and make the playoff.” (89:38)
• Joel walks through the upcoming LSU schedule and previews high expectations and fan pressure. (90:17–93:11)

On Coach Evaluation & Fan Culture

• Van: “Any program worth its salt, if your coach has the worst offense one year, the worst defense the next...people are going to start to say, how can this continue to happen?” (94:20)
• Joel and Van rib each other about fan expectations, coaching dissatisfaction, and the endless quest for a program identity. (96:40–98:18)

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Additional Notable Quotes & Moments

• [12:19] Joel, on the Kobe conversation: "I found out that...not only hated Kobe Bryant but secretly judged him for being accused of rape once...it really came out...when Bam scored 83."
• [35:21] Joel, on sports nostalgia: “They asked him, like, what are you going to miss most? He starts crying, he’s like, ‘going to get food.’ And I totally got what…he was getting emotional about.”
• [73:02] Van describes his love for the old Target snack bar, encapsulating the show's warmth for everyday nostalgia.

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Timestamps | |------------------------------------------------|---------------------| | Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game | 07:05 – 41:04 | | Bam vs. Kobe/Wilt debate & NBA culture | 08:50 – 29:58 | | USA Baseball’s WBC fallout and double standards | 44:01 – 68:46 | | College football grab bag/headline round robin | 78:53 – end | | Sherrone Moore legal update | 81:01 – 87:06 | | NIL/$40 Million roster discussion | 89:18 – 96:26 | | Coaching hot seat culture & fan expectations | 93:27 – 98:30 |

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Summary & Takeaways

• Bam Adebayo’s 83 points: Historic and electrifying, but context (tanking Wizards, free-throw parade) matters. Kobe standom leads to intense online battles and nostalgia for “purer” scoring moments.
• NBA Scoring Explosions: Reflect larger issues in the league, including defensive effort and competitive integrity during tanking.
• USA Baseball vs. Basketball: Reflects a cultural double standard. Team USA basketball is always held to the highest standards, while baseball perennially underperforms with less scrutiny, amid shifting international talent pools.
• Coaching and CFB Headlines: Massive coordinator salaries, ongoing legal uncertainty for head coaches, and ever-present transfer/NIL drama underscore the new era of college athletics.
• Fan Culture: Throughout, there’s a playful yet pointed take on how fans, media, and even insiders hold some standards ferociously while letting others slide.

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Memorable Closing

Van: "Tailgate is back.” (99:52)

Tate: "Thanks everybody for tuning in to Ringer Tailgate... see you all next Wednesday." (99:55)

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This summary captures the Ringer Tailgate ethos—mixing sharp takes, personal stories, and cultural observations with unfiltered banter and sports nostalgia.

Transcript

[Joel Anderson]

Foreign.

[Tate]

Welcome back to Rigor Tailgate, the Wednesday edition of the show. Thanks to everybody. Thanks to the tailgaters for tuning in. Very excited for this show. We have some college football headlines we're going to hit, but we're going to do something a little bit different today. We crowdsource a little bit. There's some big news in the sports world, and we're going to start with some of those big stories today. But first and foremost, let's say what's up to our guys. Joel Anderson and the Texas Southern University shirt. Shout out to you, Joel. What's up, man?

[Joel Anderson]

What's up?

[Tate]

Raise the roof.

[Joel Anderson]

Raise the roof.

[Van Lathan]

Raise the goddamn roof, man.

[Tate]

Still alive in the swag tournament.

[Joel Anderson]

That's right. That's right, man. I'm a TSU alum, too. You know, I went there for pre K in kindergarten. Oh, word up. They have a lab school. Yeah, they have a lab. A lab school right across the street from Cooney Homes.

[Van Lathan]

Shout out, George, what's their lab school name?

[Joel Anderson]

The T was there.

[Van Lathan]

What's their. What's the mascot?

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, oh, Tigers. They're Tigers.

[Van Lathan]

Tell you why I asked. Two lab schools in Baton Rouge. U High. Yeah, Southern Lab. Yeah, the Southern Lab. Shout out to Southern Lab. That's where Marcus Spears went.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, wait, you know who went there, dog? Tell me. Chad Jones. Didn't Chad Jones go there, too?

[Van Lathan]

Chad Jones also went to Southern Lab. Southern Lab be turning them out. I almost think that. Hold on. Did, did, did, did.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Well, no. So here is. So you got a bunch of Tyron Davis Price, Chad Jones, Tracy Porter, Marcus Spears, Tracy Porter, recipes, Bobby Fields. A lot of people, they come out of Bobby Fields. Yep. Oh, yeah, Bobby.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Chuck Wiley. You know, they come out of. They come out of Southern Lab. Now Southern Lab and U High, their mascots are the baby versions of LSU and Southern. Oh, so Southern Lab's mascot is the Kittens, and U High's mascot is the Cubs. I've never liked it. Really?

[Tate]

You wanted to keep the master.

[Van Lathan]

You think they should have their own Jaguars and Tigers? You know, I mean, U High is. They. Both of these, these, these. These schools are dead nice in sports. So you're out there getting your ass kicked by kitten and cubs. But I always thought it should be the Tigers and the Jaguars. That's all. I always felt like they should be that. But they did. They don't do that at TSU labor.

[Joel Anderson]

No, TSU lab didn't even have. It was just the child development center. They didn't even have school Past kindergarten. At that time, it was like, you know, when my kid. My parents sent me when I was done with, you know, going to daycares. And so they didn't even have a upper school. But we have been. We had a good time. TSU lab dog.

[Van Lathan]

Southern lab. Southern lab has 13 football state championships.

[Joel Anderson]

Damn.

[Van Lathan]

And 16 basketball state championships. Southern Lab won basketball state championships in this. This is how crazy Southern Lab is.

[Joel Anderson]

All right.

[Van Lathan]

This is how crazy Lab is. Lab won basketball State Championships in 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99, 2000, 2001, 2003.

[Joel Anderson]

What a ride.

[Van Lathan]

2004, 2005. They skipped a long time and then they came back 20, 22.

[Joel Anderson]

This is crazy. Okay, that's amazing because I'm looking at their list of alumni. The only NBA player on here is Bobby Fields. They had a dominant basketball program like that and didn't churn out one NBA dude.

[Van Lathan]

It's a lot. Well, you know, it's Louisiana. So a lot of these guys that you saw on here that are football guys, a lot of these guys played basketball.

[Joel Anderson]

That's right.

[Tate]

Yeah. They just. Marcus Spears got pushed into football.

[Joel Anderson]

Shreveport, Morris Claiborne. Morris Clayborne played football and basketball guy on the state champion.

[Van Lathan]

So, yeah, Spears was a crazy basketball player. His son might be the best prospect in the whole country.

[Tate]

Number one player in the class might come to North Carolina. Marcus Spears Jr. That's what I'm hoping.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay, we gotta hold on. Let's see. Let's see when Marcus Jr. Really gotten. I think he's already committed somewhere. Actually.

[Tate]

No, he's not.

[Van Lathan]

He crazy.

[Tate]

He's taking visits.

[Van Lathan]

I told, I told Spears, I told Marcus straight up, I got 50,000

[Joel Anderson]

for

[Van Lathan]

Southern or LSU for, for LSU.

[Joel Anderson]

It'll take. Damn.

[Van Lathan]

150 to get him, to get him to Southern. Like, it's, it's, it's like I tell Spears, Spears, man, Spears and his whole family are great. He said the. He had the number one volleyball player in the country. This is his daughter. I think she went to Texas.

[Tate]

Yep.

[Van Lathan]

And then the son. I don't know if we're going to get him at lsu, but I feel like we need to get him, man. Like, Jabari Smith Jr. Did not go to LSU. His dad went to LSU. If we don't get what's happening, man,

[Joel Anderson]

you got, you got Gary Temple, you got Sharif o'.

[Tate]

Neal.

[Van Lathan]

He was, but not at first. Shareef went to Arizona at first.

[Tate]

That's right.

[Van Lathan]

Garrett Temple. Anything with the Temple name is going to end up at lsu.

[Joel Anderson]

That's right.

[Van Lathan]

When Garrett locked JJ up. Remember when he locked JJ Up?

[Joel Anderson]

I don't actually remember that. Hold on, hold on.

[Van Lathan]

We gotta get into the show. I'm sorry. Duke. LSU in the Final Four. No, in the Sweet sixteen.

[Tate]

It was in the Sweet sixteen. Yeah. Glenn Davis, Big Baby Davis.

[Van Lathan]

Glenn, Big Baby Davis.

[Tate]

Tyrus Thomas coming home soon.

[Van Lathan]

Tyrus Thompson. Garrett temple. Garrett locked JJ up. JJ was crying.

[Tate]

That was 2006. Adam Morrison, JJ Redick taking over college basketball. Both of them got upset in the Sweet 16.

[Joel Anderson]

That's right. I remember that weekend. Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Tate]

LSU Tigers. We didn't even get to the introduction. Let's shout out to Van Lathan in studio. Van, what's going on, man?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Tate]

Let's raise that roof.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

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[Joel Anderson]

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[Van Lathan]

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[Joel Anderson]

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[Van Lathan]

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[Tate]

And let's get into it. We got some big stories. We want some big reactions. And let's start here because this is the biggest story in sports. Bam. Out of bio. North Carolina kid, 83 points, second all time in the NBA. Now will the 100 point game that we still don't have footage of, obviously Kobe 20 years ago back in 2006 drops 81 points. Bam. Out of bio. Breaks the record last night. Van this is something that is heavy on your head right now as you think about this game. There's been a lot of reactions. You've seen a lot of backhanded conversations and comments. IME Udoka has said that he didn't really like it. JJ Redick said he didn't think it was quite basketball. I went back and watched. I was watching champ week because it is champ week. A lot better games happening than the NBA games that are happening. But I went back to watch this game this morning. The first quarter from Bam out of bayou was incredible. 30 points in that first quarter. It was electric. And I do want to make sure that we point out how good he was. Now the end of the game. If you just tune in at the end of the game like I did originally, I think that's where those points are coming from. Some of the hate. But Van, I turn it over to you. You're a Kobe truther. You know the 81 point game. Your thoughts on Van Matte bio.

[Van Lathan]

So I want to say straight up that 83 points in a game is remarkable. Remarkable. I think this is what's happening with the Bam Adebayo thing. A lot of people got caught onto the game when Bam got to 70. When Bam got to like 70 points. I think that's when a lot of people turned tuned into the game. If you tuned into the game. Cause I like you, Tate went back and watched the whole game. If you tuned into the game after he had 70 points, the game was fucking clown shoes.

[Tate]

It was.

[Van Lathan]

And I'm sorry. And that's just. If you tuned in, then. If you just tuned in, then the game was clown shoes. It was some real romper room shit happening out there, bruh. Look, bam Adebayou scoring 83 points is one of the most remarkable stories that I can remember in recent sports. Right? For sure. I will say this, though. The difference between the Kobe situation and the Bam situation is the individuality of the feats. Kobe is getting the ball and going to score. That is true. I spun a lot of lies last night on Twitter.

[Tate]

You were spinning out. I was enjoying it.

[Van Lathan]

I was spinning lies on Twitter. Right? Kobe was. But Bam had his team helping him engineer the game to get to 83 points. That is the difference to me. He had the team fouling, extending the game. The guy is missing the free throw and the whole nine. That takes it and makes it clown shoes.

[Joel Anderson]

Why does anybody care that Kobe got past for second? Like, I mean, Kobe didn't have no record, man. He. I mean, 80. I know that it's hard to.

[Tate]

He had the modern record, but I was.

[Joel Anderson]

I know it's very hard to explain to Kobe fans who take this very personally. And I want to be very careful because I know how they be acting. You know what I'm saying? But 81 points wasn't the record. It was. It was a. It too was an impressive feat. As you. As you so, you know, generously said about Bam. But I mean, 81 points wasn't a record I just. I cannot believe that everybody got so worked up about this. I just. Maybe that's. That's my fault for not seeing it, but, like, I just love how NBA conversations can only ever end with jokes and somewhat become what I mean, you know what I mean? And, like, through all this, I found out that, man, there are a lot of people that not only hated Kobe Bryant, but secretly judged him for being accused of rape once. You know, like, it really came out. It really came out. Over the past few hours, you. I was like, oh, man, you actually held that against Kobe. You just didn't want to say it until you had the right time when. When Bam scored 83 points or. You know what I mean? So I just. I did. I didn't realize that. That, that was an element of this going on. On. So anyway. But, I mean, can't we just enjoy 83 points? Can we just.

[Van Lathan]

No.

[Joel Anderson]

So the answer is it makes him number two. It makes him number two. Kobe, he's number three. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Van Lathan]

So Michael Jordan was the third. Okay, so a couple things. Number one, go yourself. That's the first thing.

[Joel Anderson]

Why can't people agree without being disagreeable?

[Van Lathan]

Okay.

[Joel Anderson]

Like.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, okay.

[Tate]

You had two very out there fan bases arguing. The Miami Heat fan base versus the Kobe fans. It was a lot.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

And then number two, this is what I'll say. Number two, this is my only stand shit. I don't get into. I don't stand for no rappers. You could maybe say that I'm a Marvel Comic Book guy, but I. The only stand shit that I get into, I'mma be honest with you, is the Kobe shit. That's the only thing I get into. Right. I just love Kobe. Okay, so. So you have to understand what Kobe's 81 really meant.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay, so I made it very uncomfortable when I brought up the rape thing, right? Because it's just like, yeah, you can

[Van Lathan]

do whatever you want. I mean, you know, you can bring. That's your podcasting. Shit happens. It's a factual occurrence. So this is what I will say.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay, tell me what the 81 meant.

[Van Lathan]

We don't have video of Wilt scoring 100 points.

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, we have a radio call. What kind of. I mean, what?

[Van Lathan]

Can I finish?

[Joel Anderson]

Okay.

[Van Lathan]

Is it okay if I finish?

[Joel Anderson]

You can finish.

[Van Lathan]

If not, you're hurting today.

[Joel Anderson]

I know you're hurting.

[Van Lathan]

It is.

[Tate]

Joel said, I'm gonna let you finish,

[Van Lathan]

but I'm glad that you recognize it. So somebody's scoring a lot of points when they. 7 foot 9 and everybody else in the league is 6.

[Joel Anderson]

3.

[Van Lathan]

We don't have video. It's the hundred point game from Wilt is one of the most impressive sports feats. But there are caveats. One caveat is we didn't really see it. The other caveat is just to see your physical dominance that Wilt Chamberlain had. Okay, Kobe going for 81 when the Lakers were down in the third, coming back, being a part of that type of explosion and. And on top of it earlier in that season, having gone for 62 and 3 quarters. Yeah, just that era of that was

[Joel Anderson]

a good Mavs team too.

[Van Lathan]

A Great Mavs team. 50 point games in a row. That unstoppable force of basketball streak scoring was just amazing. And it kind of for a lot of people was the record. It kind of was the record because we saw it, because we experienced it, because it was right there with Bean. And for a lot of people, it still is. Because you know what? Ain't nobody miss free throws and filing and doing all this dumbass and all of that dumb garbage ass shit. That shit.

[Joel Anderson]

Unfortunately, because you all did see it doesn't mean that those numbers don't count. I mean, it's kind of like Babe Ruth. I. I mean, how many home runs do we have video of Babe Ruth hitting? But we all accept. Hey, man, that's what the Stackkeeper said at the time. It's just like John Stockton's assist. Hey, that's what the scorekeeper said. Back to Stockton. Whatever the scorekeeper said at this time.

[Van Lathan]

No reason.

[Joel Anderson]

So it's. Hey, I need to be real careful though, because. Because y' all are crazy. Like Tupac fans. And it's like, I like Tupac.

[Van Lathan]

No, we not.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, I like.

[Van Lathan]

Let's rank. Let's rank the stage. I didn't love it. Let's rank the.

[Joel Anderson]

But I'm just gonna say.

[Van Lathan]

Cause I want to make stands are above the Kobe stands.

[Joel Anderson]

I don't know about that one.

[Van Lathan]

Dog, Dog, Dog, hold on for a second. Wait a second, wait a second.

[Joel Anderson]

I don't know, man.

[Van Lathan]

One day I said that I thought Kendrick Lamar was as talented or more talented than Tupac, bro. Niggas in LA told me they was gonna pull up on me, bro.

[Joel Anderson]

Like what? I was like.

[Van Lathan]

And it was like, first of all, it started off in stages. Like, first of all, I don't know if you know, but pack be acting and all different kinds of.

[Tate]

Like that. Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

And then after that, it was like, well, if you want to have a conversation about who's more talented, like, we'll I was like, huh?

[Joel Anderson]

Damn. It's just funny. Got me for a dude whose first career name was MC New York. But. But the LA dudes are just so provincial about it. But, yeah, I mean, it's just. Yeah, I don't want. I don't want to have any problems in la, because I really like la. It's a great city to visit. And I feel like if you say things about Kobe, they're going to respond like Tupac fans. And I feel like Kobe. Tupac fans are sort of unhinged in a way that Kobe fans seem to be coming. Look, I'll just. So I go to. I had to get a new barber, man, because my other barber was up for a year, bro. Like, just. He. Not. Not. Not one fucking time was he on time, okay? And so I'm a busy man. I have a lot to do. I can't just sit so you would

[Tate]

show up and he wouldn't be there, bro.

[Joel Anderson]

The last time I. He, you know, you have to go on the app, the Cut app. You can make the appointment there. And he said, I'll be there. I set the appointment for 11. He accepts it. I get a text later that night, bro, I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it till noon. Like, all right, that's fine. I get. I. I get there towards noon, and he's like, bro, I don't think I'm gonna be here till 12:30. Finally, in 105, I was like, fuck this, man. And I left and he started texting me, bro, did you leave? I'm like, yeah, yeah, of course I left. I don't have all day to wait on this shit. But anyway, so I had to go find a new barbershop recently, dog. And it's very nice. Just wonderful group of Latino men. I kind of got fucked up because the Dude's name was DeAndre. And so when I selected him on the app, it just never occurred to me that there would be, like, a white Latino dude named DeAndre. But anyway, he's a very good barber. I like him. You go in this barbershop, bro, right in front of me, and I was looking at this yesterday, which just makes it crazy. It's a portrait of Kobe holding Gianna, and, like, there's a rim over them that's golden, like a halo. And they have like, four different Kobe posts. This isn't the dmv, bro. This is, you know, right out here in Montgomery county. And I'm just like, yo, it's like Kobe fans really See that shit, bro. It's like the time I went to Ben Carson's house and saw a portrait of Jesus, you know, I'm saying, over his stairwell. It's like, yo, like, they really. Kobe fans are real believers, man. I just don't want to. I want no problems with them. But like, the sad thing about it is that it was number two and he's going to be number three now.

[Van Lathan]

So let me ask you this. Do you know. So for. For Joel Joe, do you know who is the all time Major League Baseball wins record? Who has the record and all time wins. You know who has it?

[Joel Anderson]

Smokey. Smokey Johnson. Oh, man.

[Tate]

I think that's right.

[Joel Anderson]

Is that right?

[Tate]

I think he went to Southern Lab.

[Van Lathan]

Old stacks.

[Joel Anderson]

Old kid.

[Van Lathan]

He was.

[Joel Anderson]

He was a kitten. Hold on.

[Van Lathan]

Before I even answer the question. When did they stop naming people like that? When did people stop getting the nicknames, like 2stacks, Washington?

[Tate]

Bam is a nickname because he was Bam Bam as a kid. His name is Ed.

[Van Lathan]

I was looking up.

[Joel Anderson]

You know what I'm saying?

[Van Lathan]

Oil Can Rogers. Yeah, I was looking up. I was on Mark Harmon, the old. The actor and the former UCLA quarterback.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

I was on his Wikipedia and his. You know, his dad won a house of trophy. Y' all know that?

[Joel Anderson]

I don't think I knew that. Oh, man.

[Van Lathan]

His dad won the Hydra trophy. And when I click on the picture, his. His dad's nickname is old98.

[Joel Anderson]

I was like.

[Van Lathan]

I was just thinking to myself, his dad is the legendary Old 98.

[Joel Anderson]

Tom Harmon. I'm like, what the fuck?

[Van Lathan]

No, the guy who is the. The all time wins leader is Cy Young. Okay.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, yeah. Okay. My bad.

[Van Lathan]

Cy Young is the all time wins leader now, bro. Joe, cy young has 511 wins. Cy young's career record.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, man.

[Van Lathan]

Is 511 wins.

[Tate]

Wow.

[Van Lathan]

And 315 losses.

[Joel Anderson]

That arm is dangling.

[Van Lathan]

We can't count that.

[Joel Anderson]

No, you gotta count it. No, you gotta count, bro.

[Van Lathan]

I'm Joel. We can't count that. He's got. You agreed.

[Joel Anderson]

When you were in society, when you agreed and you showed up and said you're a member of the NBA, you agreed to play by his bylaws. If he was in the NBA, this would be something different.

[Van Lathan]

Sio played in 1911. He played for the Boston Rustlers. Okay, so I get what you're saying. I'm just going back. I don't know if Wilt's 100 point game is exactly the same, but like some of these old records, like this Cy Young 511 wins and 315 losses, bro. If a nigga gets to 270 wins right now, he dominated his era like. Like Cy Young. Cy Young. So I'm just saying there is something about modern records is all I'm trying to say.

[Tate]

But also the free throws, right? That's the big thing with this. So do you guys know how many free throws that Wilt shot in the hundred point game?

[Joel Anderson]

How many.

[Van Lathan]

How many did he shoot?

[Tate]

32.

[Joel Anderson]

Damn.

[Van Lathan]

Okay.

[Tate]

Did you know how many free throws Kobe shot in the 81 point game before?

[Van Lathan]

27.

[Tate]

Right.

[Joel Anderson]

So, like, a Kobe fan would know that. That's right.

[Tate]

But it's crazy because, like, I didn't feel like that was ever a conversation. But 43, I think is the reason why people watch these.

[Joel Anderson]

He couldn't help that they were following him. They would.

[Tate]

They and they were found him. And if you watch the first quarter, they were pressing to open this game. So, like, the Wizards were actually playing defense pretty heavily early on. They were pressing, they were doubling, they were fronting, and they just couldn't stop him out of bio. So, like, as. As I watched the game, I actually came away more impressed than what I saw at the end of the game and with the stat line. So, like, I just want to give Bam a little bit of credit because I do think that a lot of people push back, didn't even watch the game. So that's my only thing with the whole thing. 43 free throws is it's easy.

[Joel Anderson]

So you don't think it should count? You think like, what is it? So.

[Tate]

No, I think it should count. I mean, he was incredible. And also, you got Asia Wilson watching him. Right.

[Van Lathan]

But hold on for a second. But let's put this in context, though. So number one, the Wizards are tanking.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay. Wow.

[Van Lathan]

So they're not trying to win the game. That's.

[Tate]

Alex played 20.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay.

[Tate]

20 minutes.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

The Wizards are tanking. So they're not even trying to win the game. This game, to me, honestly, is all. All seriousness, I really do feel like this game will make people. This was a. You know how you have a blessing in disguise. Yeah, this is actually a fucking non. Blessing in disguise. I don't know how to put it, but this really impressive sports feat for a lot of people is going to expose some real issues with the competition and some of the ways that the NBA is being played right now. I'm serious. The fact that they were tanking, the fact that.

[Joel Anderson]

What year did Kobe do his 81. What year is it?

[Van Lathan]

This was 2005, 2006.

[Joel Anderson]

Let me just go.

[Tate]

The year that Shaq had gone to the Heat, they were going to win the championship with D. Wade in the heat in 2006. So this was why I was so impactful. Like, the storytelling, too, with Kobe that year was so important because he's playing with Smush Parker and a bunch of nobodies, and he's putting up these insane numbers, basically saying, like, I'm still here, and I can be that guy.

[Joel Anderson]

So the Washington wizards, they won 16 games this year. Kobe. Kobe put up his 81 against a team that went 27 and 50 against Jalen Rose. Yeah, that's. That was.

[Van Lathan]

I mean, look, I'm not. All I'm saying is they was trying to win. Look, know, Joe, you. It's like. It's.

[Joel Anderson]

It's like. That's what I'm saying. Y' all are hinge.

[Van Lathan]

And the free throw tactics. You are also the line. The line itself. He shot under 50%.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

And in the game, the nine. All right.

[Joel Anderson]

He scored 83 points. I don't understand. Like, I. Man, you know, the thing about it is that the Wizards aren't even that good. And actually, what happened is they fouled him a lot, and he didn't shoot 50. Y' all are Kobe. Y' all don't care about efficiency. What are you talking about there? Kobe fans don't care. Now, I would say we care about efficiency.

[Van Lathan]

Kobe was efficient in his game, man.

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, bro, what was it?

[Van Lathan]

Was Kobe efficient in the. Okay, now, Joe, you'll say something, and then I'll come back with the fact. Was Kobe efficient in the 81 point game?

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, was Kobe efficient for him? Yes. Yeah, he was very good at that game.

[Van Lathan]

Okay, what was it? Tell me what. Tell me what it was. What was it?

[Joel Anderson]

I don't remember. The Kobe fan. Please don't waste my time. Look it up. You go ahead and tell me, because

[Van Lathan]

you already have 28 of 46 from Duffield. Oh, that, my friend, is 61%. That's efficient in any fucking galaxy. 7 of 13 from the 3. That's over 50%. 18 of 20 from the free throw line in 42 minutes. And then he had a block, so

[Joel Anderson]

he played defense, the third highest.

[Tate]

Also, Smush Parker took 11 shots in that game.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. The third highest scoring effort. Total scoring effort in NBA history was a very efficient game. It was. It was quite a feat. And he remains one of three NBA players to score more than 80 or 80 points of the game. That's really impressive.

[Van Lathan]

Only three turnovers. Hey, you know what?

[Joel Anderson]

I'm g. Tell you something.

[Van Lathan]

Wizards. Wizards.

[Joel Anderson]

You guys have no respect for Bam.

[Van Lathan]

Hey, I do.

[Tate]

I have a lot of respect for fighting for bam.

[Van Lathan]

He got 83 points. I don't care how it happened or what it happened. I'm fighting.

[Joel Anderson]

It was regulation. Joking.

[Van Lathan]

Bam doing it.

[Joel Anderson]

If Wimy had done it, everybody would be on their dick. You know what I'm saying? But they.

[Tate]

Luca had 73 not too long ago. Dame at 71, Donovan Mitchell at 71 and beat at 70.

[Joel Anderson]

Did it everybody with simultaneously orgasm.

[Van Lathan]

It's not even the same league anymore. Okay?

[Tate]

That's the thing. This has happened five times since 20.

[Van Lathan]

This. This to me is becoming this types of explosions and all of this stuff. Bam. Adebayo is a good player. He's a really good player.

[Joel Anderson]

He's an Olympian allstar.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, he's a versatile player. He's all of that stuff, right?

[Joel Anderson]

Beast Michael Beasley said he's the only player to ever beat him one on one.

[Tate]

Yeah, Beasley looks like a prophet right now. He looks like John the Baptist talking about Jesus.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, I like that type of look. Shout out to Bam, man. I. I really don't want to because this is like one of the most awesome things that could ever happen for Bam. So shout out to Bam. It's great. I do think that, you know, the tanking, the gaming, the system, all of that stuff is not.

[Joel Anderson]

There's a lot of people this SEC fan not willing to take the L again. It doesn't. It doesn't hurt Kobe's legacy.

[Van Lathan]

It won't make Kobe.

[Joel Anderson]

It won't make Kobe not the second greatest shooting God in NBA history. Because Bam has. Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

He is the second greatest, most skilled player ever. Maybe. Maybe Kevin Durant, though. I'm not gonna lie. But look, it's like. It is. Well. Oh, Kyrie, tough. This is. It's a long list of people, right?

[Tate]

A lot of guys.

[Joel Anderson]

A lot of guys.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, but. But like, what I will say is this though. Shout out to Bam. It's great. If you watch the whole game, a lot of my fellow Kobe stands. What you will see is that it is a really impressive scoring. Boom. Outpouring of buckets. If you turned it on from 70 points on, niggas gonna be like, what the fuck was this dumb ass shit? You know, Tate, I apologize for using the N word. I know how that makes your shit bleed. So. But like, there's a lot of. It's not just us though. IME Udoka. It's a Lot of people out there,

[Tate]

but they all watch the end of the game. I really am convinced of that. I think a lot of people did what you said. Like, even JJ said that. He was like, I turned it on when he had 70 points. And then I'm like, what is this?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, same.

[Van Lathan]

I'm looking at the headlines. The New York Times. How should Fans process Bam? Adebayos, 83.9. See what I'm saying? I mean, why can't they.

[Joel Anderson]

Why can't they let him stand escort? 80. Nobody has ever seen that many points in an NBA game. To your point. Like, okay, the hundred. Let's just say nobody. There's no evidence of the 100 point game. The most points anybody has ever seen in NBA history in one game. And we're just talking about it like he committed some sort of crime against basketball, man. He scored it. I don't. I don't give a shit, man. The Wizards.

[Tate]

I think the Wizards committed the crime.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, the Wizards committed the crime, bro.

[Van Lathan]

I think the Wizards should be contracted. I think they should take their franchise away. It's over for them. This is.

[Joel Anderson]

This is next year. You know, you realize they're going to have Anthony Davis and Trey Young next year, right? They're going to be. They might be pretty good. Hey, hey.

[Van Lathan]

I'm happy for him. I'll never. I'll root for them to lose.

[Joel Anderson]

Alex.

[Van Lathan]

They ever play everything?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Got cooked by Bam. Bam out there looking like crazy.

[Joel Anderson]

Bear was out there wearing the. Out there. He's obviously a much better scorer than we thought because now he's number two in NBA history and points scored in the NBA game.

[Van Lathan]

They need to let Bam cook. This is if I was Bam. Yeah, if I was Bam. I go in there right now and say, hey, resign me for the max. And I want 40 shots a game like, it's Bam time.

[Joel Anderson]

B says that the thing that he doesn't like about the Heat, he was like, there's no excuse for Bam not to be shooting 30 times a game. He's like, people have no idea how talented he is, but he just. I don't know what he's capable of other than scoring 83 points in the NBA game, which is number two all time in the NBA.

[Tate]

I will say one thing that speaks to Bam's talent. There's only been two guys who were forwards that I know from summer league that basically was told to play point guard because they wanted to see what it looked like. Dirk Nowitzki, when he was in summer league, they were just like, you play point guard and bam. Out of bio. So, like, I mean, he's always been in that conversation where people are like, he's ridiculously skilled.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, very.

[Tate]

And they kind of know what it is. But then he got. You know, you get kind of put in a box as a big man, get limited a little bit. Don't want to get too far outstretched. But he looked incredible in this game. We have to give him that much credit. The stamina alone is incredible.

[Van Lathan]

It was fantastic.

[Joel Anderson]

Somebody. Somebody should go break the record then. Since it's so easy to do somebody, somebody should make that a point.

[Tate]

What would Kobe fans do? Van, if Luca puts up 85, that's

[Van Lathan]

what's got to happen.

[Tate]

He's top five right now. He said. So here's the top five. Wilt, 100. Bam. 83. Kobe 81. Wilt again, 78. Luca 73. And then also David Thompson at 73. And Wilt also had 73 twice. So that's the top five. Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

I mean, for me, what I'm looking at right now is who can. Who can. Who can come in and set things back. Right? Okay. I'm gonna send Tate some stuff right now because when we talk about scoring, I want Tate to be able to. Because I know what I'm talking about. So I'm gonna take. I want you to read off what I'm sending you right here. Okay?

[Tate]

Okay.

[Van Lathan]

I want you to read this off.

[Joel Anderson]

Who are you texting to? Are you putting out text chat?

[Van Lathan]

Hell, nah. Because everything, like, Because. Because, Joe, you are so against me.

[Joel Anderson]

I'm not against you.

[Van Lathan]

Yes, you are, bro.

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, I'm not. I don't. I just.

[Van Lathan]

You. You're against them against me.

[Joel Anderson]

No, I don't. I mean, I don't. I didn't like LSU before I knew you, but also, I. I. You know, I don't have a problem with Kobe, but I just. People have got this.

[Van Lathan]

You brought. You brought up. You brought up dark secrets.

[Joel Anderson]

See? I mean, you know, that's too bad. Yeah. I mean.

[Van Lathan]

Hey, what is that?

[Tate]

Here's what Van sent me. This is Hollywood basketball. This is 12 7, 2011, right? Week 3 stats, stats accumulation and update. Here. Is it safe? Saif, number one.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Tate]

All right. He's from the old guys. He only played two games, but 64 points. So he was averaging 32 points per game. Number two on the list, Vic from the Trojans. Three games, 93 points, 31 points per game. Number three. Just like Kobe. Trojans, three games, 88 point, 29.3 points. Per game.

[Van Lathan]

30 points a game.

[Tate]

Van Lathan. So now you and Kobe are both number three.

[Van Lathan]

Really? 30 points.

[Tate]

And Michael Jordan.

[Joel Anderson]

Wait, four time.

[Van Lathan]

Four time.

[Tate]

Four time Hollywood basketball.

[Van Lathan]

Four time Hollywood basketball champion with the shout out to my man Vic. Oh, guys, look at how me and Vic was running it. Me, vic is averaging 31. I'm averaging 29.

[Tate]

All right, for like, it's like KD process.

[Joel Anderson]

That's a lot of work. Multiple.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, we getting up shots. We getting up shots. Me and Vic. Shout out to Vic.

[Joel Anderson]

It's not, it's not, it's not easy. It's not easy to score that, to score that many points per game. You know, as you know.

[Van Lathan]

And then, you know, I, it came down over the season, over the course of the season, I ended up being averaging about 26 and 9. So. So when, when you talk, when you're talking to me, Joel, and you're talking about scoring, just remember I've had, I've known what it, what it's like, you know, the thing. And score in the men's record.

[Tate]

Hey, you know what ethical spirit looks like?

[Joel Anderson]

What's the, what's the most points you've ever scored in a regulation game? Because I, I have a pretty good total on that one. You know what I'm saying?

[Van Lathan]

44.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay.

[Tate]

Damn. Is that like, is that like school basketball?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, I'm talking about school basketball.

[Van Lathan]

Nah, school basketball is like 28 points.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay, for me is 21 points. I had, I had 23 in a seventh grade game. You know what I'm saying?

[Van Lathan]

That's the, I'm talking about Joe.

[Joel Anderson]

23. 23. High school, middle school.

[Van Lathan]

Talk about stats that matter. What, what, what's the most rushing yards you ever had in high school? Because that had to be pretty impressive. Yeah, that had to be pretty impressive.

[Joel Anderson]

You went to, oh, 188.

[Van Lathan]

I thought it would be higher.

[Joel Anderson]

No, I, I had no. Bunch of other guys. 188.

[Tate]

How many carries? Do you remember?

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, how many carries?

[Joel Anderson]

I had like a 85 yard run.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

[Tate]

Yeah, so you broke one off.

[Van Lathan]

So you broke one off. So then like, so it was like,

[Joel Anderson]

I think it was like 18 carries.

[Van Lathan]

Something was this. It was 18 for 188. I was hating before. That's dope.

[Tate]

I'm not a hater.

[Joel Anderson]

I'm not a hater. No, bro, that's what's up.

[Van Lathan]

You a hater and you have more points than me. That's the type of game. Just think about that weekend. How awesome, because your dad took you to get food after that, huh? He was like, son, you did good.

[Joel Anderson]

And y' all went, yeah, yeah. I mean, we had a good time. Yeah, man, I'm sure, you know.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, he's very proud, and it's very proud. Like, that always used to be so

[Joel Anderson]

much fun getting in the car after a good game.

[Van Lathan]

Getting in the car, your daddy on the phone, he's like, tell. Hey. Hey. What you think? What you think Van did tonight? What you think Van did?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

N, n n. What you think Van did tonight? What you think Van did tonight? That used to be so much fun, bro.

[Joel Anderson]

Man, dog, you really hit me also,

[Tate]

in a way game. Just going to eat with your teammates after a.

[Van Lathan]

Just going to eat with your teammates. Like, we going to. We going to Taco Bell.

[Tate]

We in your.

[Van Lathan]

We in your town. You in your town. Hey, we just fucked y' all up, bro.

[Tate]

I'm gonna need some extra honey mustard.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. Like, my. My body radiated feeling, like, trying to feel that moment again. Like, you just felt like. That is such a dope feeling to have that. Like, it really didn't last that long in life, man. Like getting into a car after a good game, man. They made fun of this dude. He played for Boston College, and they were interviewing him at the. You know, the podium after. I guess maybe it was either the big. It was either the ACC or the NCAA tournament.

[Tate]

It was the NCAA tournament.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. They asked him, like, yo, what are you going to miss most? And he starts crying. He's, like, going to get food. And I was like, yo. But I totally got what he was getting emotional about, man. Like, going to get Chinese buffet after football practice on Saturday afternoon. You know what I'm saying?

[Tate]

Like, Dennis Clifford. Yeah, that was a great moment, but it was so real. Like, anyone that's played team sports, you're like, that is kind of the bus ride after win is like, the most. Most fun, you know?

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, we went to.

[Tate]

We.

[Van Lathan]

We went to Lake Charles, play a game. We played the game. It's like, we leaving. Stop. Stop. To get something to eat. I was like, where y' all from? We from Baton Rouge. We just over y'. All. Yeah, it was all that stuff was. All that stuff was fun, bro.

[Tate]

We had our coach in 10th grade tell us if we won, he'd take us to Hooters, and we won, and we all got to go to Hooters, bro. It was like, you can't tell anybody.

[Van Lathan]

What can. Can I tell you something about him? He should be Arrested. That's not right. Like, can I tell you something about him? That was some weird.

[Joel Anderson]

It's kind of crazy. We were lit.

[Van Lathan]

Hold on, let me go to jmail.com. this is the Jeffrey Epstein email client. What's his name? I gotta put it in.

[Tate]

No, we're deacted. We swear an oath. You know, we were.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, it's okay. Yeah. Don't make him put his boy out there, man. He's trying to do a fight favor, man. I. I get what he was going for.

[Tate]

Hey, he motivated the team, you know, a bunch of high schoolers.

[Joel Anderson]

That's what I'm saying. Yeah, man. I can. You know, I mean. I mean, actually, if Hooters isn't for high school students, like, who is it for?

[Tate]

Exactly. Yeah.

[Joel Anderson]

You know what I mean? Like a high school.

[Van Lathan]

I guess that's okay. Yeah, I think. I feel like. I guess that's okay.

[Tate]

I just thought that was the funniest motivation, you know? Like, I've never seen guys on my team play so hard.

[Joel Anderson]

Let me just ask you a question. If a 47 year old man came up to you and he's like, yo, let's go get something to eat on Saturday. You're like, yeah, that's what's up. Yo, let's go to Hooters. Like, you'd be like, everybody.

[Tate]

That's weird.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. What's wrong with you, man? You know what I'm saying?

[Van Lathan]

Hooters had his heyday, though. Is there a Hooters? So we gotta go to Hooters when Joel comes back.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, man. Come on.

[Tate]

I think they got rid of the one in. In Hollywood.

[Van Lathan]

There was one in Hollywood.

[Joel Anderson]

I think I may have incriminated when my homies died, doc. Damn.

[Tate]

I think I incriminated my whole team and my coach.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, man. Oh, man, that's. I didn't even think about that. My bad. Well, anyway. Yeah, but. Yeah, no, man. Yeah, man. Who just had. Did have to say, like the late 90s early.

[Tate]

Yeah, this is. This is mid 2000s, bro.

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, look, when I used to cover spring training for the Astros, so I had to go down to Kissimmee, Florida for two springs, bro. That's like where everybody. The. The Hooters in that area was like, Hooters in Florida. It was a hub of activity because Hooters is. I was founded in Clearwater, which isn't just totally Tampa appropriate. Like, you can. If you've been to Tampa before, you could totally understand how Hooters got started.

[Tate]

Yeah. Hooters in Scientology. That's Tampa right there.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, that's right.

[Tate]

Yeah. Put it together to wrap it back up. Bam out of Bio.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Tate]

I feel like it's ethical. I'm with it. After I watched. I've come all the way around. I had a very. I was a little bit turned off when I watched the end of that game, but after I watched it, Bam. It was incredible stamina to get all those shots. That's the hardest part, to get all those shots up and continue to play at that level. So 83 points. Shout out to Bam. Out of bio. AKA Idris, out of Bio. Also, the moment with his mom. That was a great moment, bro.

[Joel Anderson]

Man, that dude has come a long way, man. You know, like, that's a. You know, he deserves to be there. He's worked really hard. He sacrificed a lot of his game for it.

[Tate]

It takes nothing away from Kobe, Van. It takes nothing away. It's.

[Joel Anderson]

So we should celebrate this moment for this great guy also, who was an Olympian when that used to matter. You know what I mean? Like, so it's part of your record. And then everybody's on him and being like, Kobe, like, nah, man. What Think about the. The thing about the Wizards is that they're tanking. See, And Kobe, he had to actually earn his shot. He didn't get. He didn't have any assists. Right. It was all under. Yeah. And nobody else had any assists that night. He scored all his buckets alone. You know what I'm saying? Also, Sam Mitchell put a. Put a trap on the floor. It's all kind of shit to put some sort of, you know, sauce.

[Tate]

They were double teaming Bam all the way down.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

You know why? Because his shit was getting out of hand. So, look, this is what I'm saying. Shout out to Bam. Know, all jokes aside, seriously, a really impressive feat from a guy who, by all, by all rumors and, you know, notions and thoughts, never heard a bad word about them. But so shout out to Bam. It's an amazing thing to accomplish, and that's why we should, like, examine it in context also, like, Bam Wilson.

[Tate]

That's kind of like our love in basketball, like, power couple, you know, that's the best couple we got going in battle.

[Van Lathan]

She's sitting with him at the podium post game.

[Tate]

That was a little much.

[Van Lathan]

Okay. She was sitting with him at the

[Tate]

podium post game, answering questions.

[Joel Anderson]

I really hope this works out for them, man. I really don't ever. I don't want it. I mean, for anybody.

[Tate]

I think it is working out. I think they're good.

[Joel Anderson]

Well, Yeah. I mean, but you could easily imagine a scenario ten years from now that Bam Adebayo is married to somebody else. Totally different.

[Tate]

You're saying it could be a Candace Parker 10 years later?

[Joel Anderson]

It'd be 10 years later, the anniversary. Bamboobio scored 83 points and he's sitting in a room with his new wife. And then they show him after the game where Asia sitting right next to him. And it'd be like, you know, it just would be awkward. But it's still. He'll be number two all time, so that, that, that will assuage the awkwardness.

[Tate]

All right, any final shots? Any final thoughts on this? I. I feel like we covered it well. Anything else?

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, no, I don't. I don't. I don't have anything else to say besides the fact that I sincerely since sincerely unhappy. You really seem like I am sincerely happy. All jokes aside, I'm sincerely happy for Bam. He's a good guy.

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[Van Lathan]

[e-mail] somewhere out there is a Chevy truck and the person who drives it. Well, that's a Chevy person. You probably know one, your buddy, your sister. Ones who always show up. They're the first to rise, the last to leave. They always have that little extra something and maybe you've got it too. Chevrolet together. Let's drive. Visit chevy.com trucks to explore the lineup.

[Tate]

Let's talk USA Baseball. This is a There's a lot of talk, always about USA Basketball and how the end is coming, even though they continue to dominate the Olympics every single year. And now we get to the World Baseball Classic and now we have a situation where Italy, Mexico and how that game ends up is now going to determine what happens with USA Baseball. Joel, you were already in the trenches on Twitter tweeting out videos from days ago. Bryce Harper talking about the World Baseball Classic and having to fight against baseball fans. Are we in a crisis period for USA Baseball, Joel? How do you feel about that?

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, actually this is totally in keeping with what they do. I mean, they haven't won a gold in international play since 2017. You know what I mean? Like, baseball is an American sport. Like, it's pretty, but they got the

[Tate]

heavy hitters playing the American.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, I mean, Dad, I just, you know, if the USA men's basketball team and the only reason I take up for them, probably for obvious reasons, we can talk about if people want to go there or not. I just think I hear all these unfair critiques about the culture of American basketball. People talk about the AAU circuit and street agents and one and dones. I'm tired of this. And they don't play hard in the All Star game no more. Is all this shit. And I'm like, nobody knows the dunk contest. Nobody does the dunk. But we have the best basketball players in the world and always have. And they show up for every Olympics or whatever. And when they lose, it is a calamity. Right? Like, either.

[Tate]

Even when they win, people like that,

[Joel Anderson]

and people don't even like them. Yeah. It's like, man, you know what? They didn't beat Serbia by. They only beat Serbia by 24, man. Things are looking. It was like, that's the standard they have. But the American baseball team is free to go out there and not even know what the stakes of the game are. Right?

[Tate]

Didn't even make it out of the group stage.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. Yeah. They didn't know what the stakes of the game were. And then they were copping.

[Van Lathan]

Please.

[Joel Anderson]

Before. And sorry for the people that. Being very pedantic about that on Twitter. My bad. I was waking up in the morning trying to get my son up, and I just.

[Van Lathan]

They're not being pedantic.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

You.

[Joel Anderson]

You.

[Van Lathan]

You.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay, Put something up. There was wrong. But it did. But it didn't change the argument. You know something about that because you did it the night before when you created a whole scenario about Kobe. I saw your tweets.

[Van Lathan]

I lied on purpose.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay.

[Van Lathan]

Like, that was a purposeful lie. So I do know. But go ahead, Joel, finish, because I got something to say after.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, okay.

[Tate]

Well.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. So I just get tired. I get tired of that. That people talk about our men's basketball team like that, and it's just. They can't. Their successes are just like, the baseline. It's like, all right, you did what you supposed to do. The American baseball team. I mean, the one thing about the American baseball team is they got lucky that this bam shit happened, that the Max Crosby trade happened, and not all this. Because people will really be freaking out if. If. If they had the. They had it all to themselves, I think. But I don't think it still is, like, an excuse. And it's like the American basketball. People in American basketball, they put out talent, they deliver, and you know what I'm saying? And they don't. I just don't feel like they ever get credit for it. Like, there's always a complaint about the game.

[Tate]

In 2004, the one time they didn't, it was like the sky is falling. They revamped the entire system and Brown got blamed for everything. Put like you know, a black mark on his whole career. And everybody talks bad about him as a basketball coach because of that. Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson got a lot of blame.

[Joel Anderson]

You know what I mean?

[Tate]

There was a lot of stuff that happened. Yeah, they lost in 2004.

[Joel Anderson]

They shouldn't have lost.

[Van Lathan]

But I mean, I have a couple of things to say about this. Okay, Number one, they lost to Italy, right?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

So it's a guy on Italy's team that was born in Baton Rouge.

[Tate]

No, there's a lot of that in international sports. Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Aaron Nola is a right handed pitcher. He pitched for the Phillies. He from Baton Rouge, dog. Like I'm looking at the, the Italian team legitimately. On the entire Italian team that beat the U.S. there are three players, three players that were born in Italy.

[Joel Anderson]

Damn.

[Van Lathan]

The rest of these guys are from Green. Grinnock, Pennsylvania. Springfield, Illinois. Troy, Michigan. Tampa, Florida. Cleveland, Ohio. Port Orange, Florida. Canton, Ohio. Brick Township, New Jersey. Brooklyn. Wayne, New Jersey. Spokane, Mount Kisco, New York. Anaheim. Toms River, New Jersey. That's where they make all the baseball players of the younger kids. Dearborn, San Raymond, McLean, Virginia. So basically the U.S. ohio, everybody on the squad is.

[Tate]

Either way we win.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, like it's like I'm looking at the whole thing when we're talking about it, at least in the like that, you're talking about the majority of the players. You get players that play, you know, you know, whatever.

[Tate]

Joel Embiid played for the U.S. i

[Van Lathan]

mean, Joel Embiid played for the U.S. but Joel Embiid is born in Africa. He played for the US Got citizenship. You get Carl Anthony Towns and some guys that do this and stuff like that. But I'm looking at this shit. The real thing that they should be upset about is a lot of these guys that beat them are minor league baseball players. So they are not on their level. Like it's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8 minor league players on this. That was getting busy on them. It got busy. So like all I'm saying is like, I'm looking at this and I understand everything that Joel is saying is correct about holding USA Baseball to a standard. But I'm looking at the World Baseball Classic and I go to Great Britain, bruh. Go to the great British team. When you go to the great British

[Joel Anderson]

team is wait, how you looking at all this up, Dirk?

[Van Lathan]

Cause I'm On Wikipedia. Like, I'm looking at the Tampa, Florida, La Jolla, California, Corona, California, Key West, Florida, Tacoma, Washington, Chester, Virginia. It's all of these guys from the United States and like six niggas from the islands. That's the whole team.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

So, I mean, I'm trying to figure out what's. What's going on in the world. Baseball. Okay. Now other countries, you get the Japanese.

[Tate]

I mean, Dr. Dominican Republic has all those. All their guys. Japan's got all their guys.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. So it's only a couple of teams. It's not everybody link up against.

[Joel Anderson]

Against the greats. You make a very good point. I. I do consider that. That America is providing most of the pool, but then that's a problem of talent identification. Or. Or our national team is not taking these games seriously enough.

[Tate]

They partied after the Monday.

[Joel Anderson]

They would never. Basketball team would never be able to do pull that. It's like, oh, man, we actually went hard the other night, bro. Like, we came out. Here it up, man. Sorry.

[Tate]

Like, there's a Madison that they thought they had already moved on.

[Van Lathan]

It's another team that's a full American team with one player from there. But I can't really.

[Joel Anderson]

Bro, you looking on Wikipedia. What's the. Where's the current team?

[Van Lathan]

So it's like the world. The two. The 2026 World Baseball Class. You can use this. This site called Google. To Google.

[Joel Anderson]

It's not a great. Okay, hold on, bro. I'm looking up because I didn't know if they had the current roster, Doug.

[Van Lathan]

So how were you able to. Great Britain, Italy, and even Mexico. Mexico has a lot of Americans on it, which you wouldn't think because they love baseball down there and they got

[Joel Anderson]

their own leagues down there. And school.

[Van Lathan]

It's a dude from Shreveport on the Mexican team. But I mean, what high school.

[Joel Anderson]

What high school did he go to in Shreveport?

[Van Lathan]

Let's see. Tawan Walker. He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He is actually. He moved to California. So anyway.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, man. Damn. Okay, that was gonna be.

[Tate]

Can I get the scenario. Can I get the scenarios for what's going to. So if Italy beats Mexico, then USA is in the quarterfinals. If Mexico beats Italy and scores at least five runs, USA and Mexico are in, Italy is out. If Mexico beats Italy and scores four or fewer runs, Mexico and Italy are in. USA is out. So, like, that game is happening at 4 Pacific time.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay.

[Van Lathan]

Isn't baseball still a much more international sport than basketball is, though? So let me tell you what. I mean, let me tell you what I mean by that. Can I tell you what I mean by that? Please? Can I, Can I please?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, go for it. Okay. Nobody's stopping you.

[Van Lathan]

So think about players of the past that came to Major League Baseball. Think about guys like Hideo Nomo, not Ichiro. Think about guys like, well, Ichiro, but even before then, like going all the way back to Roberto Clemente.

[Joel Anderson]

I was just about to say Roberto Clemente. Yeah, yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Like that's an all time. That's an all time great, right? That's an all time great. At that time, that was from another country, basketball. What I mean is baseball has been an international commodity for a much, much longer time than basketball has. Basketball is played everywhere. It's a huge international sport, but still in many ways catching up to the United States in terms of infrastructure, you know, build out talent evaluation, all of that stuff. A lot of this stuff has only really exploded in the last 30 years. It's not that they haven't played. I mean we lost to the Soviets in 88, so obviously there was enough, I mean Soviets fucking half of the world. So obviously there was enough to, to, to compete with the Americans then. But when you look at baseball, you got baseball in Japan, you got like huge baseball in Japan, baseball in the, the Caribbean, all that stuff. It's been there for a very, very long time. So the parody that exists internationally in baseball is generations, deep generations longer, at least a couple of generations longer than basketball is.

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, I see that you're going to treat the US Men's basketball team like you did. Bam. And what you're going to be like, yeah, man, they did a really good job, you know what I'm saying? What are you saying? Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Is that what happened? Yeah, but I feel like you cop and please, for the baseball team, they need to go show up. They're not even. The thing is given off.

[Tate]

I would say Japan's number one right now.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, bro, they still should win.

[Van Lathan]

Japan been kicking ass for long time, right?

[Tate]

Right.

[Joel Anderson]

I don't, I mean I get again like the game, the, it's a lot of its origins, like it was organized, was here started here in this country or at least this continent. We had a long time to play baseball. It was our alleged pastime of people spend a lot of money and go through whatever our baseball pathway pathways are into college, into the MLB and everything else. Like baseball just avoids a lot of scrutiny. And now maybe that could just be cause people don't give a fuck about baseball no more. You Know, it could just be that, like, it could be like, well, we pay attention to baseball every now and again, but I just kind of feel like they. All these other national teams get away with underperforming, but the ones with the brothers, like, show up. They win all the time. They don't do shit else.

[Van Lathan]

Race.

[Joel Anderson]

You're some of it.

[Van Lathan]

You're saying this.

[Joel Anderson]

Race a little bit. Just a little El.

[Van Lathan]

Race. So you. So you're saying. So let's talk about it. By the way, I just learned right now for the first time that Abner Doubleday did not invent baseball.

[Tate]

Really?

[Joel Anderson]

Wait, what was Abner Doubleday's claim to fame?

[Van Lathan]

So Abner Doubleday was.

[Joel Anderson]

He's got a soldier suit on. What the hell was this about to be about?

[Van Lathan]

He's a Civil War general.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, Union.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. And. And they were saying that he, he invented baseball. And I thought this for a whole until right now.

[Tate]

Right.

[Joel Anderson]

This is crazy. When they wrote it in Wikipedia, man,

[Van Lathan]

I did not know that Abner Doubleday did not invent baseball. They invented a myth that he invented baseball like, 13 years after he passed away.

[Joel Anderson]

Wow.

[Van Lathan]

They don't admit. They don't invent no myths like this about black guys, bro. Like, we did special shit.

[Tate]

Maybe will. It's 100 point game.

[Joel Anderson]

I don't know.

[Van Lathan]

Maybe.

[Joel Anderson]

I tell you what, man. But they sure did come down with a hammer in the end of the. The, the lead here. This claim has been thoroughly debunked by baseball. So came up with about how the abdub. What they claim was. They're like, don't leave here confused about what really happened. He didn't have to do with this.

[Tate]

Do they have the real origins on there? Because I, I feel like that was t. You know what I mean? Like, people.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. I, I, this is so just recently, or maybe it was crazy, I was looking up baseball and they're talking about, oh, the origins of the game, probably from Ireland and like, north, you know, north Great Britain or whatever. And then it came over here. And then it started in, like, you know, northeastern provinces and Canada or whatever, and then filtered down and you kind of like, you can imagine that that's how it happened as a kid. Right. Or as an adult. Like, when you think about it, you, like, of course, like, not. It wasn't just one guy, one day that had the idea to hit a ball with a bat. Right. But I thought, like, the Abner Double Day thing was like, the logical conclusion of that. Like, he was the first person to be like, we should play On a diamond and do all this.

[Tate]

Yeah, ye. Like, yeah, put the rules in, but

[Joel Anderson]

they acting like he has to do with it. So I just. I guess I had. I guess I was up, you know, we had it up, bro.

[Van Lathan]

I'm not gonna lie, bro. I only kind of got deep into Abner Double Days. Wikipedia. Apparently, Abner Doubleday was. Have y' all ever heard of deal stuff? Theosophy? Have you guys ever heard of theosophy?

[Joel Anderson]

No, I'm not, man.

[Van Lathan]

Click on this theosophy thing on Abner Doubleday's page. It's a symbol. It looks like a theosophical. It looks like. It looks like. You see what's at the top?

[Joel Anderson]

I was like, oh, man. What does it look like? Oh, it looks like. I don't know.

[Tate]

Google this.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, shout out to theosophy. I don't know that. I don't know anything about it.

[Tate]

So.

[Van Lathan]

So this is the first time legitimately this is happening in real time. I'm on Abner Double Days.

[Joel Anderson]

I'mma have to sit down with this because I just have to read more about theosophy.

[Van Lathan]

You see the symbol?

[Tate]

I'm looking now. Oh, my God.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay, click it.

[Van Lathan]

Look at the symbol at the top. It's the star and then it's a snake. This is all bad together.

[Tate]

Yeah.

[Joel Anderson]

It couldn't be good. It just couldn't.

[Van Lathan]

But I think. I think that this is before, though. So this, the symbol up at the top, that's before.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay.

[Van Lathan]

It hasn't come around yet. So I don't know. Y' all go look up Theosophy. And apparently it's invented by Helena Blavatsky. Blavatsky. And it was based largely on her writings. And Double Day was a part of this in some way.

[Joel Anderson]

No matter.

[Van Lathan]

Interesting.

[Joel Anderson]

No matter how bad I can sometimes think our generation has it. You read some like this, you know, Double Day, the son of such and such was born in Boston. Oh, I thought he was literally born in a spa. That's the name of the town.

[Van Lathan]

Oops. Oh, it's crazy.

[Joel Anderson]

Crazy outside. But the point stands that, like, life was much harder back then, you know, I mean, like, even for a guy like, having a double day, the family all slept in the attic aloft of the one room house.

[Van Lathan]

So you're making the distinction between American baseball, American basketball, and you're saying that the basketball players are treated differently because of race?

[Joel Anderson]

I think in part. I don't sum the whole response up to that, but it's a part of the critique, I believe.

[Van Lathan]

Okay, can I give maybe a notion of that you might contend with.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay, go for it. Yeah, do it.

[Van Lathan]

Okay. So American basketball is obviously, you know, has, before this point that I'm about to mention, had a tradition of winning, had lost a couple of times, but it was a big deal when they lost. But the Dream Team set a standard and a dominance for American basketball. Yeah, that for a lot of people, is very enduring. So when you have Jordan and Barkley and Malone and, you know, Christian Laitner, and when you have all of those guys out there, also Elijah USA in 96, Clyde Drexler, he came back and played. He came. He played.

[Tate]

But if you watch a 92, 96, those are, like, hard to beat, those teams.

[Van Lathan]

Well, just to let y' all know, Elijah Juan's numbers from 88 and from 89, 90 are sick. So when everybody's telling me about players that have done stuff and we ain't never seen it before, Elijah 1, 23, 14, and 4.6 blocks. I don't want to hear the. Okay. I don't want to hear it. Okay.

[Joel Anderson]

He's great. Yeah. And that's my favorite basketball.

[Van Lathan]

That's before he even. That's before he even apex offensively. Couple of years later, the numbers would get up to 30. The blocks and stuff would come down anyway. But what I'm saying is that, like, there is a cultural connection to the Dream Team as being this sort of mascot of American dominance that might make USA Basketball be judged in a different way than USA Baseball. USA Baseball internationally was always an amateur sport until recently. Same thing with basketball. But there was never really a dominant team that went out there and swacked everybody and. And was, like, so evident of. Or representative, should I say, of America falling from grace. If you go from the Dream Team beating everybody by 35, 40 points in 92, to the.

[Tate]

Losing the. Carlos Arroyo.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, yeah. Losing to Carlos Arroyo. Not even 10 years later. Basically 10 years later, then you're going to get a lot of people that go, what the fuck is wrong with. With USA Basketball? Is that fair?

[Joel Anderson]

I think that's a part of it. But the thing is, is that it's not just a critique of the national team. It's a critique of the pipeline that creates the national team, like, from the. From the grassroots up the whole way. If you're an American basketball player, you are being sort of judged unfairly, and there's a complaint about who you're. Who. Who's coaching you, how many times a year you're playing, what you may demand for your Services before you get to college. Once you're in college, people may have problems with that, or you transferred here to pursue this opportunity. Then you get to become a professional, one of the best in the world. And then you might be during an exhibition game, be like, you know what? I don't feel like running full speed in this game. And people will hate you for it or get mad at you or complain about it for a whole week. And then the same thing. If you play in the Olympics and you just like, well, God damn, man, they beat France by eight points in France. That's. That's not enough for me. You know what I'm saying? And I just kind of.

[Tate]

Again, that goes back to the standard, though. The standard is so high.

[Joel Anderson]

I just think that. But what I'm talking about is the whole culture is like, we think the culture is poisonous. And there's been complaints about basketball culture the entire time I've been alive. First people blame.

[Tate]

I think the discourse is definitely poisonous.

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, these days, yeah, and aaud. But nobody applies the same scrutiny to baseball pipelines that produce a national team that tremendously underperforms because, oh, other teams have been playing baseball. They started 40 years after we did all this other shit. I mean, again, I'm not saying that's not legit, and you were right that the Dream Team may have bended people's expectations in a way that subsequent Dream Teams can't possibly meet. But again, I just would like to see the same scrutiny. We are so happy and cheer for the gymnasts, the whatever, whatever we do, swimming, all that shit. But you just don't see that with basketball, ice skating. Yeah, these motherfuckers decide, well, I don't think I want to go play in the Olympics, man. Because first of all, like, people are going to be mad anyway. I want my summer. I want to heal. Then people criticize you for not wanting to play for the national team, but it's not.

[Tate]

That's what happened in 04. Like, Jason Kidd didn't want to play. There was a bunch of guys that didn't play.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, people just like, I mean, I can only say I want to play.

[Van Lathan]

Also in 04. That there was still a belief. What really happened was, in my opinion, there was a belief that we could send sort of second tier NBA guys out there and that we would still win. And that's not true anymore. That was.

[Tate]

And they forced LeBron to be on the team, Carmelo to be on the team. Like, they were kind of like, let's get these guys on team. Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

So there was a thought that we could send those guys out. That's why the redeem team was like, hey, we are sending the best of the best of the best, sir.

[Tate]

That's why they sent Kobe, because they needed Kobe.

[Joel Anderson]

They needed Kobe. They needed.

[Van Lathan]

They needed Kobe. And when it was time to go get the game in the fourth quarter, Kobe did that.

[Tate]

He said, clear out.

[Van Lathan]

It was time to go get the game in the fourth quarter. Even though them youngsters was out there getting it, who did they have to ch. Turn to? D Bean. Now look, I'm looking at this. I'm looking at. At this World Baseball Classic roster and you know, am I tripping that we could do better than this?

[Tate]

Like, I mean, having college, having Cal Raleigh, having skin.

[Joel Anderson]

That's.

[Tate]

That's a good.

[Van Lathan]

Okay. SK Is out there. Okay. School ball is out there. Okay.

[Joel Anderson]

But.

[Van Lathan]

But like, I'm looking at the team. This is these, These guys right here. Okay. These are the best. I guess they're. I guess these are because you got Bryce Harper, you got Aaron Judge.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Clayton Kershaw's on that for some reason. You got Schwarber Skeens. Yeah, yeah. The. The Scoble from Detroit.

[Joel Anderson]

The American basketball team very, very rarely gets everybody too, by the way. Like, everybody. Everybody. That's great. In any given year. That's why, you know, again, in some years, Tyrone Armstrong.

[Van Lathan]

Fast. Fast as Picro Armstrong from the Cubs is on. Yeah, I guess. I guess you got. I guess you got the guys.

[Tate]

Probably the biggest name that's not playing for the usa, Andy Pettit.

[Joel Anderson]

Man, I did not know he was a coach there.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, man, he's the coach.

[Joel Anderson]

He's 53 years old. That makes me feel so old, man. Wow.

[Van Lathan]

He's Andy Petty. So he was. But once again, if you look at the Major League Baseball situation, it's just. There's just so many more international players that are elite baseball players. Just so many more.

[Tate]

I mean, the biggest show is shown. I mean, you know, it's not that big. Something else.

[Van Lathan]

Fuck that. Nah. Hell nah. He's something else. I like that.

[Joel Anderson]

Tighten up baseball culture. Get the street agents out of the game. Take some responsibility. Stop being entitled athletes. Show up, don't get. Don't get toasted while you're representing our country.

[Tate]

I want that to get aggregated. Joel saying that about USA Baseball.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Tate]

Seeing the reaction.

[Joel Anderson]

Don't embarrass our country. You know what I'm saying? And go out there and get less than half an effort. Is that. That's That's. That's typical. That actually, that's what people probably think about America.

[Tate]

Joe's going to America first on baseball.

[Joel Anderson]

We think we can roll anything out there, and other people are going to be. Other people gonna be scared by America and that. I apply that to a lot of different realms right now, and it ain't enough. So maybe actually the American baseball team is the most American team when you come think of it. But go ahead.

[Van Lathan]

Does it. Last thing I'll say, truly, does it change your. Your situation at all? No, your. The way you look at this. That a lot of this criticism about basketball culture comes from within basketball culture. Like, I see a lot of older basketball guys, like, make this criticism about basketball.

[Tate]

It's a lot of hating.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah,

[Van Lathan]

I see. I saw Steve Nash do this. I've seen a lot of people that are within basketball culture essentially act as if they're policing their own culture.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, I mean, I don't. I don't know how to say this without it bringing people down. So I got kind of. I had to let that one go. Well, I was just like, you know, so some of the most racist people you'll meet are black people. You know what I mean? And so, yeah, like, sometimes people reserve the right to be overly critical and be influenced by the dominant narrative about yourself. And you can really take that and be. And then apply a hypercritical lens without looking at the. The landscape here. And the bottom line is the American men's basketball team is the best international program in international sports history. There's not a better one.

[Tate]

Five straight.

[Joel Anderson]

It's number like, it's not even a question. Nothing fucks with them. And I just hear so much about it. The Americans can be like, well, man, somebody. They playing against a bunch of other Americans. And actually, we missing Mike Trout. And also, also, they didn't know that they. They didn't know that they had to play hard in that game. I just. They didn't know that they had to play hard that game.

[Tate]

It was like Joel said, no excuses. Play like a champion.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, play like a champion.

[Van Lathan]

Play like a champion. Hey, y', all, I got. I got a couple of. Just one news. The. I don't know how this just broke.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, this is big. What?

[Van Lathan]

The Target boycott has come to an end.

[Joel Anderson]

Wow. Really?

[Van Lathan]

Jamal Bryant went to Washington, D.C. he's up here, and he. He announced that the boycott of Target has come to an end. So, Tate, I know that you were boycotting Target in solidarity with us, of course, but if you need something, I'M gonna go. I'm gonna go to Target when I leave here.

[Joel Anderson]

What?

[Van Lathan]

I'm gonna go to Target?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

I'm gonna go

[Tate]

Having his vinyls.

[Joel Anderson]

Target isn't changing anything. They're not gonna. They're not gonna roll back any of the. They're not gonna restore any of the programs they cut. How did Jamal Bryant. I mean, again, this was his idea, so up to him to decide if the boycott's on or off. But, I mean, right now, I'm looking here. Didn't seem like there's some payola here. Yeah, Target's not doing any concessions. There are no new commitments, no reversals. Brian said he is satisfied the Target remains committed to dei. Okay, good. All right, man. Man, I have to be honest.

[Van Lathan]

Joe, Joe, Joe. I need your take, bro. That's why I put this need your take.

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, look, I'll. I'll boycott if I think it's a good thing. Right? You know what I'm saying? So, like, I had not been going to Target. I will admit, a few times I did go to Target because they were the only place to sold the vegan macaroni and cheese that my son can eat. Okay. But at. Other than that, I was like, man, I could go get that from somewhere else in the supermarket around the. Around here, you know, did it. But, I mean, Whole Foods, where you.

[Tate]

Where you're willing to tussle.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. Well, then also. Yeah, again, I mean, it ain't like Whole Foods has the best politics in the world either. So I'm really making a lot of difficult choices every time. There's no. There's no ethical behavior in capitalism. So I kind of had. I mean, I understood what Jamal Bryan wanted to do. I generally supported it. But, I mean, it didn't seem like we made a lot of fuss and anything happened. I don't. But again, he was trying to do something that was very ambitious, and he pulled it off in a way that very few people could.

[Van Lathan]

But it's just like, oh, the buckeye was effective. He was hurting Target.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, he hurt it. Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

But.

[Tate]

Yeah, people are publicly.

[Joel Anderson]

But what about y' all Shit, though, man? I mean, they're gonna still hold brothers.

[Van Lathan]

We'll have more on this on Higher Learning Friday.

[Joel Anderson]

Man, you really. I think.

[Tate]

I think you should bring Joel on to talk about it.

[Van Lathan]

You.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, he won't bring me. He won't bring me on to. I already know.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah,

[Tate]

well, shout out to, you know, Target. I guess it sounds like. It sounds like it was something good there, I guess.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. You have to ask Jamal Bryant about it.

[Tate]

Yeah, I mean, what did he get?

[Joel Anderson]

He said, van, what do you think? Did you boycott. Did you boycott Target?

[Van Lathan]

Is. Is. I boycotted Target, so I boycotted it. So effectively, I don't go to Target. I removed Target from my life. So now, like, it's. It's. Seriously.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, that's what's up.

[Van Lathan]

I needed a whiteboard for some shit, and I went to Office Max for the whiteboard. All of this different shit. Go Staples, whatever. I boycotted so effectively that Target was removed from my regular shit. So it now is like I'm. I'm passing up targets like they're not even there on some Jamal Bryant told me not to go to Target shit. So I guess. I guess the question is now, like, what now?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, I mean, again, Jamal Bryant worked on me, too. I just stopped going. And then at one time when my mama was here, she came back with some Target bags, and I was like,

[Tate]

mommy, you shopping Target hits in suburbia, you know?

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. Love Target.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, Target's dope.

[Van Lathan]

I mean, to cut you off.

[Joel Anderson]

No, no, no, no. I mean, I don't have nothing to add. I was just saying that Target was dope.

[Tate]

Can I give you some?

[Van Lathan]

I've always. I've always loved Target. I say this Target used to have popcorn and really started.

[Joel Anderson]

Popcorn.

[Van Lathan]

They got the popcorn. They didn't have that, bro. Bro, when. When used to go into Target, you would smell the popcorn, the pop. They had a little snack bar.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, man.

[Van Lathan]

Well, you go get popcorn, you go get, like, It's a big deal. You go get popcorn, you go get like a slushy or like a hot dog or whatever. Yeah, I don't think they have them anymore. And I think that's because businesses and chains came into the Targets. Like, they got a Starbucks in the Target now, or they got a Coffee Bean in the Target.

[Tate]

Starbucks took over.

[Van Lathan]

They got a Subway in the Target.

[Joel Anderson]

When I went to one time, and

[Van Lathan]

I think I remember the target right over here, not too far from where we're at on La Brea and Melrose. Yeah, he's going there, get the popcorn. And that whole deal right there. Yeah, that's about a whole nine, bro.

[Joel Anderson]

Bro. 1 time.

[Tate]

All the Blu Rays are better the first time.

[Joel Anderson]

When I moved to Atlanta, the day I moved to Atlanta, I lived in Piedmont area, which is. Van made the Gold Cup. You remember the Gold Club?

[Van Lathan]

Hell, yeah.

[Joel Anderson]

So literally, my house was. My apartment was across the street from that down Piedmont. And there was a Target right there. Like, I went Down a side street, and I could go to Target inside. The first time I had to go anywhere in Atlanta, this. I've just moved in Atlanta, I'm getting settled, and I go to Target. And right there in front of me, as soon as I walk in was Candy Barra selling books, man. So laundry.

[Van Lathan]

It was something crazy.

[Joel Anderson]

She. It was the first thing I saw, man. I was like, wow, this is. Atlanta's crazy. I saw Candy Barras the first time I did shit in Atlanta, dog. But what was the point of this? Oh, yeah, Target, man, was a nice little place, bro. I mean, but I don't. Yeah, Jamal Bryant, bro, give us some more guidance. We really need. We. Because I don't know what to do now. I've been boycotting it for all this time or it stopped going. And now I need to know, like, you know, if I need to go there today with my son to waste some time, am I allowed?

[Tate]

I think you're allowed. That's what Van said.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay.

[Van Lathan]

I mean, it's over.

[Joel Anderson]

Van, you got Jamal Bryant's number in your phone, don't you? You could probably text me.

[Van Lathan]

I'm supposed to go up there and do, like, a thing on the black church. I don't think I've ever met him. I'm supposed to go do a State of the black Church thing. And I didn't go because I told the people I'm just gonna be up there, like, dis the church the whole time. I don't think y' all want me to come to the thing, but I think that's kind of what they wanted me to do. They want to have the conversation. Look, Jamal Bryant, I think all of this was great. I'm gonna have to read a little bit more and figure out, like, what Target decided to do. But I tell you what, if it's like, Newark Church sponsored by Target type, it's not. You know, I don't think that's what happened. I gotta go. I don't want to be overly negative, but I don't know. That just broke while we were on, so.

[Joel Anderson]

I just realized that Jamal Bryant's in Baltimore, man. That's right up the street from me. I should.

[Van Lathan]

I thought it was Atlanta.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, is it in Atlanta? I thought he was in.

[Van Lathan]

I don't know.

[Joel Anderson]

For some reason, any. Well, it doesn't matter, but I'm not gonna really go. I'm just saying that, man, the thing about. Oh, man, I don't know what I was about to say.

[Van Lathan]

Glitch out.

[Joel Anderson]

Was it about. Was it about Was. It was. No, it's about. Help me. It was about Jamal Bryant.

[Tate]

Target boycotts Baltimore.

[Joel Anderson]

Baltimore.

[Tate]

Oh, Billy Gill's not here.

[Joel Anderson]

Maybe it's not here.

[Tate]

You're lucky because Billy would jump in right now.

[Joel Anderson]

He would jump in right about now. I can't remember what it was gonna be about.

[Van Lathan]

It was.

[Joel Anderson]

Damn.

[Tate]

Billy's in Sweden just to give the tailgaters. He's in Sweden with the. The Spotify? Exactly, dog.

[Joel Anderson]

How did he. Billy got two kids just like me, huffing and puffing about he'd be gone all the time. How is he able to do this?

[Tate]

I don't know.

[Joel Anderson]

How is he able to do it? Figured out he's in Sweden right now. I'm up here like, man, I don't think I'm gonna be able to go to Sweden, man, because, you know, got the kids and I'll. I mean, damn good. I mean, maybe the stuff that you

[Van Lathan]

say is what, Maybe saying that maybe Billy is living proof that you can.

[Tate]

You can get it done.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

That you can get it done. Maybe, maybe.

[Tate]

Maybe it should be a motivator, not a detractor.

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, unless.

[Van Lathan]

Unless you're saying that Billy's not like a good dad, which we know.

[Joel Anderson]

You got it. You gotta. The thing is, it's like, maybe I don't know. His house. Yeah, could be. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know his house. You know what I'm saying? But. Oh, everybody, everybody.

[Van Lathan]

It's not. You make decision. You blaming your wife.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, I mean, yeah, well, I mean, I know my house. You know what I mean? I know my house. I know, like, what is required when I'm not here. The personality is involved. That is true.

[Tate]

You got to know the house rules.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, but you're gonna play? Yeah. Every house ain't the same.

[Tate]

Like, I do the cleaning, I do the trash.

[Joel Anderson]

You know what I mean?

[Tate]

Like, you. You got to clean your duties.

[Van Lathan]

I do whatever's ass, bro. It's like, yeah, that's the house rule. Yeah, the house rule is. This is the house rule. Can I play the game? Can a play the game for 10 minutes, bro? That's the house rule.

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, look at that. You get to play a game, man.

[Van Lathan]

Work my ass off. Can a play the game? Can I play? That's. That's. That's. That's the rule. Can I. Can I pitch with SH Otani for six innings? That's the rule.

[Joel Anderson]

Other than that, this is funny because, you know, broken out when we first got. When we first got started. Here. And you all were talking about football in such a way that I legitimately asked Connor. I was like, man, I think I need to buy a PS5 and play it so that I can know more about the game so I can talk about it with Tate and Van. I mean, I really, I was like, really? I was like, man. Cause they really.

[Tate]

It does help when you get the. When you get the video game, get

[Joel Anderson]

all the rosters, but I mean, what a waste of money in time that would have been. I mean, come on, we haven't even talked college football today. That was just.

[Tate]

I was going to rip through five headlines then you guys stop me if you want to talk about it. Matt Patricia, highest paid core coordinator in college football. $3.75 million for Matt Patricia. Less than a top quarterback, but still a good amount of money. So, you know, good deal for him to stay at Ohio State. Anyone's thoughts on that? Any thoughts on Patricia, highest paid coordinator?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, man, good for him. I mean, he. He may. I mean, I think it's probably overpaying a bit, but he did have maybe the best.

[Tate]

He did schema most productive defense in

[Joel Anderson]

college football history last year. Right. Like, even Indiana. Indiana didn't get their off against that defense. Like, they didn't. Ohio State didn't lose that game because of his defense. So I guess if you would like to keep those elements in place. But it's always, they're gonna lose Sonny Styles, they're gonna lose Caleb Downs, ARVL Reese. So we'll see. And. But you know, Ohio State always has monsters. But, yeah, I mean, why wouldn't you keep him there and keep him in place if you could?

[Tate]

And he flirted with a lot of teams.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, I think a lot of people were wondering whether or not Matt Patricia would work as a coordinator up there. And he answered those questions and to be honest with you, is on the fast track to a head coaching job either in college or in the NFL. Again, like, this is to use to put the defenses like that together.

[Joel Anderson]

This is crazy. But y' all tell me this because I kind of thought, man, Michigan could have hired him, bro. Like, you know, but then I. But then I was like, oh, that's right, he was the Detroit Lions coach.

[Tate]

Yeah, I was gonna say Michigan does not want him.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, they did not want him. But I was like, man, wouldn't you rather probably have Matt Patricia as a University of Michigan coach as opposed to old ass. Kyle wouldn't have. No, no disrespect, but, you know, he's kind of old. And, like, Utah wasn't sad to lose him. Oh, that is.

[Tate]

It is, yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Oh.

[Joel Anderson]

The fact of the matter is that Utah was not sad that he was leaving when he left. Okay. And again, maybe Michigan made the come up, but I kind of thought, man, maybe y' all should. I. I know that the Lions thing probably is tough to get over, but I think Michigan will keep showing up if they're good. I don't know. Anyway, we'll see.

[Tate]

Speaking of Michigan, next headline, Sherrone Moore pleads no contest. We had the Sharon Moore news as it happened in real time, famously. And then a of lot, lot more news came out after the fact. We hadn't really touched back on it, but again, pleads no contest. Seems like he's in a situation to move forward. His wife's standing by his side. So any thoughts on that, y'?

[Joel Anderson]

All?

[Tate]

One more diss you have in your back pocket.

[Joel Anderson]

What was it? What were we talking about? I'm sorry.

[Tate]

All right. No, what was your own.

[Joel Anderson]

Moore. Okay, my bad. Yeah, I'm sorry. I was looking at something here. Okay. Actually, what happened is that my wife texted me. That was like, I'm about.

[Tate]

She's like, I hear you talking about her house.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. Anyway, Billy don't have to deal with this. I don't know what it is, but, yeah, I don't know. His house. Sharon Moore.

[Tate]

That's a diss.

[Joel Anderson]

That's not a dis. That's more a dis. For me. I mean, that could be me. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm not. I'm sure, you know, I mean, there's a lot of old men that have opinions about. About this, kind of. But anyway, Sharon Moore. The thing that made it funny is what? They got the charges dismissed, you know? You know the thing that made it not funny. I'm sorry. You know, like, when we. When we all, like, we're like, man, this is uncomfortable. Whatever. And now that's kind of gone. I know that the law doesn't necessarily mean it didn't happen, that the. The alleged victim in this case doesn't mean that what she alleged didn't happen for real. It just means that they couldn't. They didn't have enough evidence that it was true or whatever, so. But, yeah, I mean, I don't think that changes Ron Moore's trajectory at all, though. Do you. Do you think that, like, people be

[Tate]

like, oh, I think you'll end up getting another job.

[Joel Anderson]

Now we can bring him in. Yeah. Oh, I just don't Think it's going to take a while, man. He gonna make that at art. Browse time away.

[Van Lathan]

Okay. So I looked into this a little deeper. We actually did not get around to covering it on higher learning. It's interesting. I learned the difference between pleading no contest and pleading not guilty. He's pleading no contest, which means that the fact that he is pleading no contest cannot be brought up in civil litigation against him later on. So that's a big part of this. So that his plea cannot be used in any suit against him. That I guess would also be a suit against the school later on. I don't know how much of what was alleged is being recanted here.

[Joel Anderson]

Right.

[Van Lathan]

But I do know that the prosecution said that they cannot prove what was in the police report. So I don't know what the fuck is going on. And there seems to me to be the need to. To make this plain for everyone. I'll tell you why. This trial is about the thing that happened. It is about the thing that happened. It's about, you know, Sheron Moore and what happened between him and his alleged mistress or whatever. Whatever. But it's also, if you're Sharon Moore, at least about Sharon Moore's future as a football coach. And I know that that might seem like, you know, whack to some people, that I would say that. But this is college football podcast. We're talking about college football. And, you know, what did or did not happen, there is one thing, but another thing that people were looking at in terms of this story is whether or not this was the end of a promising football coach's football career, whether or not he was unsafe to be around, and whether or not that condition meant that he could no longer coach young men, be around staffs, or would you trust Sharon Moore to be in your program? That is very important for people to know the answer to that. Beyond what happens legally, it's important for people to be able to. To ascertain what the fuck went on. Because if you're gonna hire Jerome Moore and have him working around young women, young men, all of that, the question is, is he going to get involved with someone and go do something where he puts them or himself in danger? And that question is still kind of vague. It's certainly true that the prosecution said that they cannot prove what's in the police report. That is true.

[Tate]

As he said, she said at this point. Right.

[Van Lathan]

Because he said she said.

[Tate]

Right.

[Van Lathan]

But what seems to be the. Not quite certain, because they came back with other charges, you know, that are involved they're misdemeanor charges, but at least involved in the realm of domestic violence. What is not true is, like, what happened here, if he didn't do this stuff come out and, and like, I guess we'll see in the trial, let people know that he didn't do it so he can move on with his life.

[Joel Anderson]

Well, the thing is, I'm looking. Apparently the woman, Ms. Shiver, put out a statement saying that Michigan didn't protect her. Like, she's still pretty adamant.

[Tate]

She's pursuing legal action now, too.

[Joel Anderson]

She's still pretty adamant about what happened. And I would just say, and this isn't. This is why I don't think Sheryl Moore is going to get a college job anytime soon. The latroy Lewis case, a former Michigan assistant who made some pretty damning claims, sexual assault allegations against him. And Sharon Moore was not accused of assaulting her, but being accused of, like, not being necessarily forthcoming with the authorities and dealing with him after those allegations were made. So I just think that there's a lot of shit around his name, man, and it's going to be really, really hard. And, you know, I don't think. I don't think a lot of people were impressed or excited by him as a head coach. Like, after a couple years, maybe that's unfair, but, like, with all this on him, it's going to take a while, man. You. I mean, you don't have to go coach in Germany and Bolivia and shit.

[Tate]

Like, yeah, you got to be like an Urban Meyer, you know, this kind of stink off.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, it's going to be a while, man. People have to forget about him.

[Tate]

Yeah, let's talk about his alma mater, Oklahoma. Parker Livingstone, slash Livingstone. Our guy. He said, quote, if I didn't have an agent, I'd probably. Probably still be in Austin right now. In quote, that kind of says where we are in college sports. So Parker wanted to stay at Texas. He ends up at their rival. Kind of a notable storyline. Even though he's like wide receiver four, wide receiver three, at best. But I still thought that was a little bit fascinating. Van, any takes on what Parker had to say?

[Van Lathan]

No, I think I know where we are. I think we know where we are. Parker had to chase the bag. I also think Parker was probably a little bit unhappy with how some things were. Were, like, shaking out on the field. You know, they brought in some help at wide receiver. Joel continued to be on him the whole season long.

[Joel Anderson]

Y' all see, y' all thought it was racism or something, but actually, so you saw Keesian was like, oh, he can't be our number one receiver. I mean, you see the first. That was the whole thing.

[Tate]

He didn't look great in that. In that break.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay.

[Tate]

You know, he did. He looked kind of slow.

[Joel Anderson]

They've got a freshman coming in. He's Michael. You remember the great Kansas State quarterback Michael Bishop, who's a high runner up in 98.

[Van Lathan]

He was the man. Yeah.

[Joel Anderson]

His nephew is going to be a true freshman. Jermaine Bishop Jr. At University of Texas. I'm not saying he going to be Malachi Tony, but if anybody looks like Malachi Tony, he got game. He got. He is a bad motherfucker, man. So Texas got somebody with that one, bro. He's cold. But, yeah, they could afford to lose Parker Livingstone. They were just kind of like. Just like Joel Anderson had said earlier in the season when everybody was accusing him of racism. It's like, I really don't see a number one receiver out of that guy.

[Tate]

Right.

[Joel Anderson]

You know, we got to get better.

[Tate]

The big thing was that he was Arch's roommate. They were friends. They had a nice little connection. Obviously, they had to get better.

[Joel Anderson]

They had to get better at the position. Yeah.

[Tate]

And Cam Coleman also came out and said he would have stayed at Auburn, but the coaching staff, the new coaching staff didn't want to keep him. Auburn fans very incensed about that because they're like, of course we wanted you to stay. I mean, so with the coaching staff. But he got the bag from Texas.

[Joel Anderson]

It's a. It's also like, I don't know who's advising them on what to say, but it also kind of sounds like a thing to kind of throw off. Like, it wasn't me, man. I had to make some decisions or whatever, you know, I didn't have no. I have no offense. Yeah, I didn't. Was no offense, but I had to go do what I had to do, basically. So.

[Tate]

Yeah. Last one, Van. This is in your territory. Brian Kelly went on Sirius XM and said that Lane Kiffin's current roster at LSU is over $40 million. First question, how much did you contribute to the 40 million?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, that's right.

[Tate]

Second question. What are the expectations for a $40 million roster?

[Van Lathan]

The expectations are a playoff run.

[Tate]

Okay.

[Van Lathan]

LSU got to make the playoffs, man. Now, look, this is the deal. If LSU did not make the playoffs, if LSU did not make, would I be okay with a significantly improved product on the field, offensive defense? Yes, I would be. However, I just don't think that anyone paid $4 million to a quarterback wherever the. It was maybe more than that to have LSU do anything less than be a serious contender to win the SEC and make the playoff. And that is what it is.

[Joel Anderson]

Those are the expectations, I think. I think, man, you know what I'm looking at this here. Y' all in pretty good shape early in the year, man. Yeah, I mean like I don't know how good Clemson is going to be.

[Tate]

Lines came out right? They're fear by 11 and a half against Clemson.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. And you got to go to Ole Miss third week of the season. That's tough. Trinidad. And then why does A M have to come back to y' all again? I don't understand y' all playing another home game against Texas A M, but whatever. I mean, yeah, man, that's a, that's a real rough two weeks, two week stretch. But then after that, McNeese, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Auburn, they could win all those games. I don't think Alabama is going to be great next year. I mean, then you get.

[Tate]

It feels very salty though for Brian Kelly to be like he was given $40 million to build a roster.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

[Van Lathan]

They didn't give me that.

[Joel Anderson]

They didn't give me 40 million.

[Tate]

He's pocket wise.

[Van Lathan]

They gave him up. Well, I tell you what they did do though, for Brian Kelly. They went out and they gave him a ton of money. It might have not been 40, but they gave him a shit ton of money last year. And last year LSU had one of the worst transfer harvests that I've ever seen before. Now we signed a lot of good transfers and there were obviously guys that played really well. AJ Halsey, Monster Delane, so those guys are great. And other guys who filled their positions just fine. Jack Pyburn, all kinds of guys. There were guys out there that play well, but on the offensive side of the ball, a lot of explosion and stuff. That LSU was supposed to have. The transfers, it did not work out because the line was in such bad shape and Garrett's injury, whatever it was, they just did not get the return on the investment from the transfer class that the fans wanted. And that's just a fact. So he can go out there and complain all he wants. The reality is that they did give

[Joel Anderson]

him a lot of money to go

[Van Lathan]

out there and sign new people. He signed them, got them into Baton Rouge and the team still cucked out, man. So I love it.

[Joel Anderson]

I love it.

[Van Lathan]

If that happens to Brian Kelly, get

[Joel Anderson]

the in town, man.

[Van Lathan]

If that happens to Lane, then there it is.

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, I can't wait because I, I'm, I'm. I, I feel pretty confident in saying that. It's a hundred percent certain that LSU fans are going to be mad at him by November. I just can't wait. Like, I'm just. So. If we're mad, we're mad because y' all always, y'. All, y' all will never happen.

[Tate]

If we're mad, we're magic.

[Van Lathan]

If we're mad, we're mad. I'll say this. When you look back at Brian Kelly's career at lsu, he had some success. He did. The reality of the situation is that Brian Kelly was not able to maintain any type of offensive defense. I've said this already. Consistency at lsu, there wasn't a standard that was set that could be met every year. Even if that's standard wasn't 15, 0 running through the playoffs. But you couldn't count on LSU to have a competent offense, defense and special teams on this team on the field at the same time.

[Joel Anderson]

It's different. It's, it's different era of football, man. You know what I mean? Like to your roster turns over year after year. I, I just, I don't think Brian Kelly, again, I don't necessarily disagree with fire Brian Kelly, but I'm just, you know, I, I'm really excited to see Lane Kiffin face the LSU fan base.

[Tate]

He still hasn't worn anything LSU yet, bro.

[Joel Anderson]

What is that? Why won't he wear.

[Tate]

He has not worn anything lsu. He's doing tik toks with Livy Dun. He's been putting memes on his story.

[Van Lathan]

But Joel, But Joel, I understand what you're saying, but you're. This what I would say.

[Joel Anderson]

10 and 4, 10 and 3, 9 and 4, and then last year, right?

[Van Lathan]

So this, this is what I would say. And so in all of that stuff, right? In all of that stuff, you're talking

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

about,

[Van Lathan]

you're talking about having the worst defense in LSU history, the worst offense in LSU history. If you roll out that any program worth its salt, if your coach has the worst offense one year, the worst defense the next year, the worst special teams the year before, people are going to start to say, how can this continue to happen?

[Tate]

We have no idea.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. We have zero identity. It's like not even. I get what you say.

[Tate]

Like it.

[Joel Anderson]

Everybody is getting used to this new era of football. Like it's.

[Van Lathan]

No, but it's not happening. But, but, but it's not happening everywhere. You're not seeing this happen at places. Forget about The Ohio states.

[Joel Anderson]

I don't think Brian Kelly is an elite coach. I think he's a good coach. But, like, unless you're Kurt Signetti, Kirby Smart, Dan Lanning, he's not of that caliber. Coach, apparently. But, like, I still think that means you can be a good coach. And as you've said and show LSU shown before, you don't need a great coach to win at lsu.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, but this. But you're. Okay, I'll say one more time. So, number one, Brian Kelly's reputation before he came to LSU was somebody that was an elite coach. He had teams perennially in the playoffs. Notre Dame was in the playoff a lot. He was. He had played in the national championship game. He might have not been a championship coach, but he was an elite coach. He found out that there was a ceiling on his organizational standard when he got to lsu. This is what I'm saying. Everything that you're saying is true. What I'm saying is the up and down of having a really great Heisman Trophy offense and just needing an average defense to be a national championship contender and then having a really good defense and just needed an average offense to be able to do this, and then the year before, then the year before that, to have, like a special teams with guys who could not catch punts, that is what got Brian Kelly fired. Now, we can go around and talk about teams who can't play, who are bad on teams, bad on offense, bad on defense, whatever, but that type of swing up and down is something that the fan base can't deal with. I'll tell you this last thing, I'll

[Joel Anderson]

say, you got to pay. You got to pay. You got to pay to make it go away. You know what I'm saying? It's enough. Enough for Brian.

[Van Lathan]

But we did.

[Joel Anderson]

We did. That's good. No, I mean, it's good. Very smart. I know. Yeah. Put the money together.

[Van Lathan]

So.

[Joel Anderson]

But.

[Van Lathan]

But I'm saying this, though, like, last thing is all the guys that you are talking about that were able to win at LSU to, To. To Tate's point, the team had an identity.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Don't. Joel, don't you want your coach going

[Joel Anderson]

a little bit? Yeah, but, you know, wait, hold on, hold on. I'm evolving on this a little bit. Do you really want to.

[Van Lathan]

All you do is complain about your coach. And didn't that coach take you to the national championship game?

[Joel Anderson]

And it's right, Joel. That's right.

[Van Lathan]

And it's right. So shut up.

[Joel Anderson]

So here's the deal.

[Van Lathan]

Just because nobody look Nobody cares. No, it's like, don't you want your coach?

[Joel Anderson]

Okay, look. Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on.

[Van Lathan]

Gotcha.

[Joel Anderson]

No, TCU is in a new conference, and I think they could be better than they are. I mean, I just. The thing is, is like, I. I don't know. You have to tell me who the replacement is going to be before I get too excited. I'm dissatisfied with this era.

[Van Lathan]

Okay, now be honest.

[Joel Anderson]

No, no, no. I thought the whole thing about Sonny Dice was going to be. He was coming to.

[Tate]

He wants it fired.

[Joel Anderson]

He was coming from Iceland and he

[Van Lathan]

was going to recruit me. Lying. And he was going to really well.

[Joel Anderson]

And that just does not come to pass the tc.

[Van Lathan]

He's different in the tsu. Every time you bring up Sonny. Every time you bring up Sonny Dykes, you got a diss for him. You're talking about him. You want him gone. And this is after he got you guys to the press.

[Tate]

Cloudy Dykes.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. Like, it's so funny.

[Joel Anderson]

It's like, this is.

[Van Lathan]

You want. You want the coach going. You. You, bruh. You. You're such a reflexive critic and hater that you don't even see when you're doing the same thing.

[Joel Anderson]

No, no, no, no, no, no. I.

[Tate]

You.

[Joel Anderson]

Because you guys have not. We haven't spent a lot of time for me to expound on my thoughts about Sonny Dykes because I don't think it's interesting. But what I say is that, like, I'm sort of circumspect about it because I'm like, well, you know what?

[Tate]

Before I got seven and a half against Carolina and Bill Belichick, before I

[Joel Anderson]

went to tc, we were really terrible. Like, one of legitimately. That's why they. One of the reasons I got left out of the Southwest Conference. And then Gary Patterson took us on this great run, the best run in TCU history, but for the late 30s. And I was like, well, maybe this is probably as good as it gets, you know? But then we got into a new conference, and I'm looking at the new landscape of the country, and I'm like, man, I feel like tcu. Yeah. I don't know why SMU is so much. Got better than us like that, even though we beat them last year, you know, but I don't know why. They're like a. More consistent. They got a. More.

[Tate]

Obviously, also your money back got poached by the national champs. There's a lot of money doing something right.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, I just would. I would want him, you know, again, I. I don't want him replaced with dabos.

[Tate]

You want our brows?

[Joel Anderson]

You know what, let's see what let's get this first year, let's see what eastern New Mexico look like. See what New Mexico looks like this year. First we have to go down to potatoes, New Mexico.

[Tate]

Man, I think that's a great wrapping point there. Any parting shots? Anything else we we missed out again, this was a fun show. Get to talk about Bam Adebayo, a little USA Baseball, did some college football at the end. Any parting shots from you, Joel, before we get out of here?

[Joel Anderson]

No, man. My battery is about to die, bro. In this.

[Tate]

All right, well that's perfect. Perfect time to leave Van. Any parting shots for the people? Bam.

[Van Lathan]

Tailgate is back.

[Tate]

I love that. Make that the graphic. Thanks everybody for tuning in to Ringer Tailgate again. Shout out to Billy over in Sweden. We will hopefully have him back next week. Thanks to everybody for watching the show and we will see you all next Wednesday. Must be 21 or older and president in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino are 18 and older in President D.C. kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com call 1-887-89-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. Seven supported Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE and WHY or text Hope and why in New York. For Louisiana, call 1-877-770-7867. Shot clocks big shots, upsets, ACEs TGL playoffs are here. First Atlanta drives starts their repeat run against Los Angeles Golf Club. Then Rory's Boston Common Golf and Tigers Jupiter Lynx face off in their playoff debuts. Who will advance? Keep up its playoffs tune in Tuesday, March 17th at 6:30pm and 9:00pm only on ESPN and the ESPN app Monster Energy. Everybody knows White Monster Zero Ultra, that's the OG. It kicked off this whole zero sugar energy drink thing, but Ultra is a whole lineup now. You've got Strawberry Dreams, Blue Hawaiian Sunrise and Vice Guava. And they all bring the Monster Energy punch.

[Joel Anderson]

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[Tate]

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[Van Lathan]

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