Ben Stiller Tells The Truth About Dan: "You're Knicks Fan" | Local Hour

Summary

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The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: Ben Stiller Tells The Truth About Dan: "You're Knicks Fan" | Local Hour
Date: May 21, 2026

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Overview

Live from the Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami, the Dan Le Batard Show brings its signature blend of sports discussion, Miami flavor, and comic camaraderie. This Local Hour is driven by an extended, playful argument: Is Dan Le Batard secretly a New York Knicks fan? The crew scrutinizes Dan’s alleged Knicks affinity, debates NBA playoff storylines, reflects on Miami’s connection to recent Cuban news, and mixes in unique show traditions with wit and warmth.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Funeral Pranks and Estate Planning (00:33-03:56)

• The episode opens with banter about hiring professional “mystery women” to weep at funerals—a real service called “Dark Secret.”
• Stugotz: Jokes about using such services as a “last prank” at a friend’s funeral.
• Dan Le Batard: Brings up his own estate planning and contemplates humorous funeral scenarios like having a clown in the audience.

  "Somebody sits in the back row... dressed head to toe as a clown... you don’t know whether that person came as a joke, or has a job immediately after.” ([02:33])

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2. Charity, Catchphrase Challenge & Boog Sciambi (03:56-07:56)

• Dan discusses charity fundraising for ALS with famed baseball broadcaster Boog Sciambi, a close friend, but jokes about lacking on-air chemistry with him.
• The show toys with making donations in exchange for Boog sneaking Greg Cody catchphrases into a Cubs broadcast.
• Stugotz: “For every one of these catchphrases that he decides to deliver, you stake a cash total behind, a lot of money.” ([05:36])
• The team brainstorms which Cody-isms would be feasible for a live MLB game, eager to get listeners involved.

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3. Playoff Hockey: Vegas Golden Knights & Tortorella (08:37-12:21)

• The crew analyzes the surprising playoff performance of the Vegas Golden Knights and coach John Tortorella’s polarizing tactics.
• Dan Le Batard: “This is the United States of America. It ain’t the United States of Tortorella.” ([09:55, 12:21])
• Discussion highlights media lockouts, system clashes, and how Tortorella’s team has defied the odds.

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4. The Opening Arguments: Is Dan a Knicks Fan? (14:01-27:00)

• Jeremy launches a spirited campaign accusing Dan of Knicks fandom.
• Chris: “Dan’s a Knicks fan. Stay focused here. He’s trying to get us on last night’s game.” ([19:09])
• Jeremy: Presents a five-point "legal case"—including Dan complimenting the Knicks on other platforms, New York-based collaborations, and personal statements on Knicks joy:
  • Distancing from the Heat and supporting Knicks coverage.
  • Citing the Larry Johnson four-point play as special.
  • Endorsement from celebrity Knicks fans, e.g., Ben Stiller: “Dan, I know your Knicks fan.” ([25:06])
  • Evidence from a Sam Morril podcast clip, where Dan admits: “I was legitimately happy.” ([26:27])
• Mike Ryan challenges Dan about balancing national NBA storylines with his “allegiance” to the Knicks.
• Dan Le Batard: Defends his objectivity, claiming happiness for friends and general love for the sport, not specific team fandom.

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5. NBA Playoffs Analysis & Knicks Discourse (18:04–27:58)

• The crew relishes this season as a return to classic, physical, dramatic NBA playoff basketball and debates what’s better for the league: a Knicks title or a Spurs/Thunder/Wembanyama win.
• They dissect key matchups—Knicks toughness vs. the Spurs and Thunder's speed.
• Dan Le Batard: “When this century it is the best that New York basketball has felt.” ([20:12])
• The panel discusses fan identity—why Knicks fans cherish their homegrown roster and why adding “mercenaries” (superstars by trade) can dilute joy.

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6. The Cuban Community, Freedom Tower Symbolism, & Indictment News (38:00–44:39)

• Dan uses the platform to reflect on a Miami headline: the indictment of Raul Castro, connecting it to Miami’s Cuban community history, the Brothers to the Rescue tragedy, and familial memory.
• Dan Le Batard: “You have basically a 94 year old man who can’t really walk being aided by a bunch of 80 year olds to walk — being indicted... The celebration was such that it was happening before the charges were even announced. Because Cubans in Miami have been waiting for this day where a Castro comes to justice.” ([39:30])
• The Freedom Tower is discussed as a symbol for Miami’s Cuban diaspora and a poignant location in Dan’s family history.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Funerals:
  “Somebody sits in the back row...dressed head to toe as a clown...You don’t know whether that person came as a joke, or has a job immediately after.” – Dan Le Batard ([02:33])

• On Knicks Allegiance:
  “I was legitimately happy.” – Dan Le Batard (on Sam Morril’s podcast, replayed [26:27])
  “Your next fan, Dan.” – Jeremy ([27:10])

• On NBA Playoff Atmosphere:
  “It is the best that New York basketball has felt.” – Dan Le Batard ([20:12])

• On Cuban Justice:
  “The scene right next door to us was a celebration in the street of murder charges...because Cubans in Miami have been waiting for this day where a Castro comes to justice.” – Dan Le Batard ([39:30])

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Important Timestamps

• [00:33] – Mystery funeral crying service and estate planning fun
• [03:56] – Charity segment and Boog Sciambi's catchphrase fundraiser
• [08:37] – Knights/Tortorella playoff analysis
• [14:21] – Opening shots of the “Dan is a Knicks fan” case
• [25:06–26:30] – Jeremy’s five-point evidence and incriminating podcast clip
• [38:00] – Cuban news reflection and Freedom Tower discussion

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Tone & Style

• Conversational, humorous, self-effacing, and at times sincerely reflective.
• The show’s chemistry is evident, with everyone vying to outwit (or embarrass) Dan at every turn.
• Serious community topics—like the Brothers to the Rescue story—are treated with genuine gravity and local pride.

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Summary

This Local Hour features vintage Le Batard: irreverence toward death and funerals, meta show bits (the “Knicks fan” conspiracy), sharp NBA and NHL playoff banter, an inventive charity challenge, and local insights on Miami’s Cuban-American experience. Dan is held to comic trial as a suspected Knicks fan, with Jeremy acting as prosecutor. The episode closes with a heartfelt segment on Cuban exile history—reminding listeners how sports, identity, and community coexist at the heart of the show.

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Transcript

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[Dan LeBatard]

I'm laughing because they're counting me in. And Mike Ryan says as they're counting, I can't hear the numbers being counted in because Mike Ryan's last words before the mics came on was, did you know there was a service where you can have a mystery woman. You can pay to have a mystery woman cry at your funeral.

[Stugats]

500 bucks. They stay silent the entire time. Kind of in the background, an attractive lady from what is advertised and they'll just cry. Now this could be really useful for some lonely types or it could be one hell of a last prank to play on somebody.

[Mike Ryan]

Okay, now you're hiring this woman. So it's not like you're hiring her so that people around think that you have a very attractive woman at your funeral. You're alive, you're hiring her. So what is.

[Stugats]

No, no, no. The purpose, the joke that I would play and really mess with somebody is, you know, family distraught your wife.

[Dan LeBatard]

Primarily the joke is on your wife.

[Stugats]

Oh, the other person's wife.

[Mike Ryan]

So maybe it's like your brother in law who passed away is your sister's husband and you're playing a prank on your sister.

[Stugats]

Let's say we have this. I have this relationship with you where you and I have been joshing each other the entire life, right?

[Mike Ryan]

Not bad.

[Stugats]

Yeah. You know, like one last rib. I'm gonna have this attractive mystery woman cry at your funeral.

[Mike Ryan]

Imagine your friend who's watching down hopefully from heaven. Find it to be funny if you've

[Stugats]

had that kind of relationship.

[Dan LeBatard]

I have been doing some estate planning because we had a sudden death that didn't have estate planning around it. And it has been quite the mess to try and handle that. And I'm trying to figure out all of the funny jokes to put around the estate planning and the funeral itself.

[Stugats]

You got 500 bucks?

[Dan LeBatard]

I don't think that one's as funny as you do. I think it's funny to talk about his content. I think it's a bad prank to play from the beyond because people are

[Stugats]

going to put you down as a.

[Dan LeBatard]

Maybe be confused by that.

[Stugats]

But I'm definitely doing this for yours.

[Dan LeBatard]

I did think that there would be, you know, clowns and stuff could be funny. Just clowns at a funeral that no one's explaining. Just that somebody. Somebody. Somebody sits in the back row. Never told you about us dressed head to toe as a clown. That nobody. Somebody that nobody knows is just sitting in the back Ro. And you don't know whether that person came to the funeral dressed as a clown as a joke, or has a job immediately after the funeral and doesn't want to get in between gigs.

[Mike Ryan]

I actually think he came from work.

[Stugats]

The clown car isn't included. The clown car.

[Dan LeBatard]

I'm thinking these things out. I have to figure out how it is, how it is.

[Stugats]

And who's that attractive young woman on his arm?

[Dan LeBatard]

See, that's.

[Stugats]

And the balloons?

[Dan LeBatard]

No, see the mystery woman crying. What is this service? How do I. What is the place that you. That you rent a weeping woman to grieve at a funeral? A mystery woman?

[Stugats]

Yeah, hang on. Let me put it. I put it in the group chat. All right? It's called Dark Secret. That's the name of the service. And, like, I'm led to believe that it's a gothi woman, and the woman will show up at your funeral, cry in silence, and then vanish. This is the Dan Levator show with the Stugats podcast.

[Dan LeBatard]

Boog Shambi, perhaps the best baseball play by play guy going right now, is going to join us in an hour to talk about a cause that's very personal to him, and we are helping him with. He had a friend locked in the prison of als. And so for the last several years, he's raised a lot of money and gotten all of baseball behind his cause. And so the show is going to be helping him today in an assortment of ways. But I don't have any chemistry on air with one of my greatest friends, always awkward. And Zsasz has great chemistry with Boog because Zsasz's first job was basically Boog's producer. And so I think. I think Zaz should do it. And I should just sit here because I don't have chemistry with.

[Chris]

You'll ruin the chemistry pretty instantly.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean, I had him on Zaslow Show 2.0 last week. I kind of already did this. Do you want to just play? Do you want to play that?

[Dan LeBatard]

No. But I do want, at the very least, to give him an assortment of catchphrases. What is our goal? To get him to say how Many of these Greg Cody catchphrases during a Cubs broadcast. What if in exchange for our audience, anytime we ask our audience for money, our audience is one of the most special audiences there is anywhere in terms of getting behind causes that matter to us. Ron McGill, most notably when Boog joins us. What's a success? What are we negotiating in exchange for our audience's support? How many of these do we need to get on the air for you guys to feel like it was successful?

[Stugats]

Well, I like spending your money, Dan. Yeah, how about for every one of these catchphrases that he decides to deliver, you stake a cash total behind a lot of money.

[Dan LeBatard]

What should the amount of money be

[Stugats]

to make you stake $10,000 per catchphrase? He is your best friend and it is an important cause you do want

[Mike Ryan]

to end ALS or $9.

[Stugats]

You do, right?

[Chris]

Either way.

[Stugats]

Okay, nine.

[Dan LeBatard]

What are the phrases on here? Most likely to make it on. He respects baseball. But over the years, I've actually been quite delighted to see him go from somebod was super anxious about over preparing for stuff to somebody who can just sit in the middle of the chaos because it's a bit of air traffic control, the number of people talking to you and the things that are happening during a baseball broadcast that is televised. Boog Schombi has gotten very good at being relaxed. So when Mike says that, I wince because that could cost me $200,000 because he cares about this cause and he's comfortable enough in his career, his profession, how good he is at this and the safety of his employ that he will get carried away.

[Stugats]

New math. 180.

[Dan LeBatard]

I'm not listening to you guys on this. I'm not going to give this much money to something. Well, you can do it. If any of you would match me, we can do it.

[Stugats]

I got five for me. I'm spending all my money on a dark secret.

[Chris]

Think about it.

[Dan LeBatard]

Which are the phrases here, zaz that we have that might be likely to get said on a Cubs broadcast? I think of the Cubs broadcast as being a manicured, sacred place. And so if all of a sudden he's yelling sassafra on a home run call and it's got no context or

[Chris]

explanation, Jeremy just said in the background, this count is fuller than Vern full.

[Jeremy]

I mean, this is going to be easy money for him.

[Stugats]

It's. It's going to come easy to Boog. Because one thing that I've noticed about Greg Cody's countdown is a lot of these catchphrases were born While he was calling baseball games that his son was playing in.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean, my guess is because it has to be something that he can somewhat fake that as part of the broadcast. So I could probably see him going with. You're going to go to Buffalo with Bernie Parmelee.

[Chris]

That's what I want to make it difficult for him. I want him to work in Georgia. Georgia.

[Stugats]

Does he have. Does he have leeway to change things a little bit? Because bunt works a lot better than punt.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, he can do that. He. He can use some creative, poetic.

[Mike Ryan]

Probably also see him going with Nice hat, asshole.

[Tony]

Where's yours by the way?

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, where is my hat?

[Stugats]

I want.

[Chris]

During the broadcast there's just like a promo for some movie and there's a trailer and you just hear trailers for sale.

[Stugats]

Where's my clip? Clip?

[Dan LeBatard]

You look like a billiard ball. That stray laugh from the soundproof room outside was Ethan and annoyed me.

[Stugats]

Annoyed me last night.

[Jeremy]

Be easy.

[Dan LeBatard]

What happened? What? What? I'm sorry, Jeremy. What happened to your guys? Colorado Avalanche. You promised me that they were going to win the title easily and now all of a sudden Tortorella's got his players taking 40 bucks to the face.

[Stugats]

Well, the first thing was Carol McCarthy did not play. So they lost a lot of firepower from the blue line. It's a big one and they blocked a lot of shots last night. Vegas did. Yeah. Good defense. Yeah, I can I walk back my take like Vegas with Eichel and Marner and Carlson, they. They got these def. That are. That are not going to neutralize Colorado's rush, which by the way, as Roy mentioned, their rush pass. That blue line is affected by not having Cale McCarr one of the brilliant offensive minded blue liners in the league and really great on the rush. The thing about Colorado is they have McKinnon and McCarr and when you take one of those out, then you have a recipe. With them eating pucks and with their aggressive four checking with very capable two way forwards, this could be a really interesting series. And the added bonus of it appears their goalie is getting hot and they're playing their best hockey at the right time and they're villains. They're kind of embracing it. That locker room thing while was punitive because they lost a second round pick that appears to have galvanized this team.

[Dan LeBatard]

This is the United States of America. It ain't the United States of Tortorella. The thing that Mike is talking about there is that they've frozen out the entirety of the media. It's not just a second round pick that they've lost in violation of league partnership rules. I think it's also 100,000 DOL.

[Mike Ryan]

And nobody gives 100,000 specifically to Tortorella, which. That's a lot.

[Stugats]

Yeah, you gotta think that hurts.

[Mike Ryan]

That's very punitive.

[Dan LeBatard]

And Tortorella probably smiles a menacing grin and delights in the tax deduction of that because he's not supposed to be at the top of the sport again. He. It's. It's kind of crazy. Everything that's happened there with that franchise in general, just all of it is nuts. You can make the argument that that is the best sports thing that Vegas has ever had. It would be that or Jerry Tarkanian. Like, that's, that's the list.

[Stugats]

It's not, it's not close. It's the Vegas golden knights, granted.

[Dan LeBatard]

Really.

[Mike Ryan]

UNLV was such a big deal early 90s.

[Stugats]

They made it to the Stanley cup in their first year. They made it to the Stanley cup in their first year of existence.

[Dan LeBatard]

This, this story though, to hire Tortorella, what was it, seven games? Five games? Like, how many games? Did anyone see any of that coming? The idea that they would get a notoriously coaching villain.

[Stugats]

You watch them all season. They can't beat a single good team. They played playoff teams. They would get just trounced.

[Mike Ryan]

They weren't that good this year. No, they, they lost more games than they won.

[Stugats]

It's an interesting story because, you know, mourners rewriting his whole narrative in the postseason. Jack Eichel is a brilliant player to watch.

[Dan LeBatard]

You can't walk it back though. You can't say a couple of days ago, it' like, who does that? Where have you ever seen on television someone say, hey, I've got Flatley OKC and Colorado are obviously going to win the championship. And then two games get played and you're like, never mind.

[Stugats]

Yeah, no, I regretted it when I said it. I still think Colorado wins this series. Makar coming back will be a huge boost. And look, for all we talk about Vegas, you know, Utah showed that, you know, they aren't unbeatable and Colorado is certainly more talented.

[Mike Ryan]

I think stunned to hear what you're saying.

[Stugats]

I think Colorado wins this series, don't get me wrong, but there's a lot of things working in Vegas's direction that lead to a pretty sizable upset, in my opinion. Especially when you take the entire context of the NHL season.

[Dan LeBatard]

This is the United States of America. It ain't the United States of Tortorella.

[Chris]

Manager gets ejected and you hear, don't go showering. Try to please me.

[Dan LeBatard]

All right, we'll see what you guys do with Boog when he's here in about 10 minutes. I'm going to try and sit some of it out. I'm not joking when I say it's one of the weirdest things of my professional lifetime. The fact that one of my closest friends in the world, I don't have any on Air Chemistry.

[Mike Ryan]

Does he feel the same way?

[Dan LeBatard]

We'll ask him. You should ask him. We're gonna rummage around in your relationship because Boog's the one who saw. Boog is the talent scout who first saw something in the billiards ball. Like he looked at this head that was not bald. That was not bald today.

[Stugats]

It was the big dog

[Dan LeBatard]

Boog saw. He looked at the number five ball and he said, I think that should be talking at a microphone. And he helped birth, it's true, the rising stardom of Zaslaw around here and everywhere else. So we will get to that in a little bit. Thank you. I heard him the other day. I actually heard him the other day because I had left the Marlins game from the previous night. And so I'm driving in, he was calling. They were trying to find him. He was in northern California at 5am and they clearly found him late and woke him up. And the big dog was calling in from. From some part in North Carolina. And I was both delighted and hurting for him because he sounded so groggy at what was 5 o' clock in the morning California time. Just someone couldn't find him. And then they located him. There was a producer talking for a while. I don't know how Hollywood I got.

[Stugats]

I got to hear his take on the whole inter Miami thing.

[Dan LeBatard]

So we will get to that in a bit. We've got David Sampson today and Jessica as well. But Jeremy has spent the morning accusing me of something and I haven't. I haven't really gotten the details of this accusation. He's just simply calling me a Knicks fan. So.

[Jeremy]

That's right.

[Dan LeBatard]

So, well, okay, so what's happening here? And before. Before I get to the details of what's happening here. Who are you guys rooting for in basketball? Who you guys are rooting for? What to happen in basketball?

[Mike Ryan]

Spurs.

[Stugats]

I. I'm good with the Spurs, Nicks,

[Jeremy]

spurs and not the Knicks because I'm from here.

[Chris]

The Cavs out of here.

[Jeremy]

F the Knicks don't.

[Chris]

If you want the Knicks to have the most pain, I want the Knicks to get to the final and lose to the Spurs.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, that's how I feel.

[Jeremy]

Yep. I mean, that's fine, but I'm certainly not rooting for them the way Dan Lebatard is. That Jersey guy over there.

[Tony]

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[Stugats]

Tony, you know that moment at a party or at a tailgate where everything just sort of clicks?

[Tony]

I know it well. It's usually when I show up, everybody goes crazy.

[Stugats]

Yeah, you usually take all the credit for it, but it's because Tony usually walks in with Cuervo. Walking like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cuervo is a thing that turns hanging out into this is the night.

[Tony]

It has that effect on people.

[Stugats]

It does. You usually take the credit for it, but again, it's the Cuervo effect. It's like that moment in a big game where everyone in the crowd just starts standing up, hootin and hollering. Keep it Cuervo.

[Tony]

Keep it Cuervo, baby.

[Stugats]

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[Mike Ryan]

Don LeBatard I'm just here to say one thing.

[Dan LeBatard]

The Knicks are back.

[Stugats]

Stugats.

[Dan LeBatard]

Tyree Salibraton, six points. Fraud. Everybody was like, yo, he's better than Jalen Brunson. He's better than the Knicks. Should attracted him. Fraud.

[Mike Ryan]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats.

[Dan LeBatard]

So the problem with what you guys are rooting for is the Knicks and the spurs. The matchup that the way that that one works. There's no one in the league who's been better bothering Wembanyama than Anunobi. Like there's no one. Statistically, no one exists. And you saw OKC's resorted to thuggery. They're just. Hartenstein is out there not playing basketball.

[Mike Ryan]

Yep.

[Tony]

What are you talking about? He's playing tough, physical basketball. Guy has a limited offensive game. What he's going in there to do is wreak havoc.

[Jeremy]

He's the biggest Wemby hater in the world. How can I. Purely biased over here.

[Dan LeBatard]

Nothing to do with Wemby.

[Jeremy]

Literally all he's doing is hooking Wemby's arms and grabbing him and try to

[Tony]

tug him to the ground. Not mentioned the galactic dictators name. Not one time.

[Jeremy]

All I said was dictator.

[Tony]

Hartenstein went in and did what he's supposed to do. Hook an elbow, throw a chicken wing. Like that's what you're paid to do, buddy. Grab boards, shoot that little floater and give somebody an elbow.

[Mike Ryan]

It's kind of true. Like it's the old, hey, five fouls, you know, use them like kind of.

[Jeremy]

Well, maybe they should call one of them.

[Dan LeBatard]

He also pulled Castle's hair.

[Jeremy]

That was crazy.

[Chris]

Guys, we got to keep our head on the ball here. Eye on the ball. Dan's a Knicks fan. Stay focused here. He's trying to get Us on last night's game trying to push us away.

[Stugats]

It's been a three and a half year bit.

[Jeremy]

That's right. I have proof.

[Dan LeBatard]

Keep your head on the ball.

[Chris]

You know what I meant.

[Tony]

Thank you.

[Stugats]

No. Damn you, Chris.

[Jeremy]

Maybe Boog will say that

[Stugats]

you let him squirm away.

[Chris]

Why did I try to talk?

[Dan LeBatard]

What is the accusation? I am a Knicks fan because I thought that that game, that game one was a delightful thing. If you love sports.

[Jeremy]

No, because you're a Knicks fan.

[Stugats]

You are.

[Dan LeBatard]

You are.

[Jeremy]

You've been actively professing your Knicks fandom for years.

[Stugats]

I can go out.

[Jeremy]

I can show you. Do you want me to physically show you how you're a Knicks fan do it? I have proof.

[Stugats]

Don't make me supercut of all the moments that were like Larry Johnson's four point play.

[Mike Ryan]

Don't make me do is shocking that whenever you refer to Larry Johnson's four point play you also don't mention that it was a phantom foul. Like no one touched him. Everybody knows that.

[Dan LeBatard]

The thing that I'm mentioning there that most people I'm guessing don't have any idea what I'm talking about. Put on the poll Levitard show. Do you know what is being said when someone mentions Larry Johnson's four point play? Yes or no? I'm talking about the noise in a building. I'm talking about just specifically the way New York felt connected to that basketball team in a moment when this century it is the best that New York basketball has felt.

[Stugats]

Didn't we say that after they were chanting Bobby Portis name in the garden? I get it. It's a great atmosphere. I'm not denying it. You asked the question what are you rooting for? I didn't have an answer. I want to see this thing play out. I'm rooting for great games. And so far this is delivered. This part of the NBA playoffs is delivering. And I just want to see this sport be captivating again because zaz this. And it stuck in my mind ever since he said it. Go on back in the heat days. The NBA playoffs are all about drama. Drama. These big moments where it's mano a mano ISO ball mid range jumper against great defense. These dramatic moments and because of the way that the sport has gone, you're not getting these game situations that allow for those theatrics. And I just want to see those moments. It's.

[Mike Ryan]

And we've had him so far through three conference final games we. We've gotten moments.

[Stugats]

This has been so exciting. But I'm not going to forget what happened last year when Halliburton had us, you know, just jumping out of our skin.

[Mike Ryan]

I did feel watching last night and I turned to my son late in the game. This series is going to be a war, you know, and. But last night I thought was a really good sign for the Knicks because, you see, because of the way the Thunder and the spurs are playing. Jalen Williams is already hurt now. Dylan Harper is already hurt now. If that series goes seven games, what kind of physical condition is the winner in? And that's why a team like the Knicks or the Cavs for that matter, does actually have a shot.

[Dan LeBatard]

Okay, but this is a bit of a distortion. Okay, what you've seen the first two games in terms of how it is. You do the measurements. The spurs don't have a point guard, so Castle keeps turning the ball over. It's how OKC wins. Last night's game was won by OKC. Castle's got 20 turnovers in two games because they're not playing with a point guard. Good luck with that against that team over an extended period of time. But when he comes back, you've got a different series there because they need someone who handles the ball. What are you shaking your head at me for, Tony?

[Tony]

I'm just thinking, like, do you. Is it a different series when Fox comes back? Like, he, he hasn't been healthy enough to play, so now he's going to be out there and play against guys that are piranhas.

[Dan LeBatard]

This is unprecedented turnover territory we're in because you got a young guy who shouldn't be handling the basketball that much. Much turning it over 20 times against a team that feeds off that. The reason OKC wins is defense, turnovers, fast break. That's why, like, you can talk about Shay Gilgeous Alexander all you want, but what they do on defense is the thing that's special and it starts everything else.

[Chris]

Guys, we are not keeping our head on the ball right now. I know.

[Stugats]

Imagine if you will. Sad day. We put Greg Cody in the dirt and we turn to our right and there's this tatted up goth girl just weeping and then she disappears.

[Dan LeBatard]

Baby, we should have some fun with that particular funeral. I think he would want that. I still want to get the game involved. That rewards a listener for coming up with the correct thing. We're putting on the tombstone.

[Chris]

Crowded tombstone.

[Dan LeBatard]

There are a lot of things presented

[Stugats]

by Brad Williams podcast.

[Dan LeBatard]

Let's go out to Jeremy.

[Mike Ryan]

I like babble.

[Dan LeBatard]

Let's go out to Jeremy in the other room and find out what it is that he's accusing me of. Go ahead, Jeremy.

[Jeremy]

Dan, there is a five pronged approach, of course, against you.

[Dan LeBatard]

You do nothing efficiently.

[Jeremy]

One, Dan LeBatard himself has said he's fed up with the Miami Heat organization. Trying to distance himself from the fact that he used to be a Miami Heat mouthpiece. Now propping up the opinions that are anti Miami Heat for several years now out of the shipping container and out of his own mouth. Point number two, he was looking for more New York Knicks correspondence going back several seasons. The first time he evoked the Larry Johnson game while his own co host that was sitting next to him was a self proclaimed Knicks fan. No, we needed to have more New York Knicks. Point number three, as the George Soros of sports journalism, he has funded a now Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. Where's he from? He's from New York, Dan. Pablo Torre, who refuses, by the way, as a guy who went after Kawhi Leonard in aspiration, he refuses to go after Jalen Brunson. Chris, play the clip.

[Chris]

I would like to say to Jalen Brunson, to Rick Brunson, to John Macri, to Joe Budden, to the guy I will encounter on the sidewalk today. I am not looking in. To Jalen Brunson.

[Jeremy]

Point number four, one of the biggest Knicks fans in the world, Ben Stiller. You know what it says here, Dan? It says, dan, I know your Knicks fan. It should have said you're a Knicks fan, but he said, I know your Knicks fan. Why does he know that, Dan? Because he's a Knicks fan. It takes one to no one, as they say. And number five, and this is the real smoking gun, what is the first thing that Dan Lebatard thought to do as he delayed his own production crew by 45 minutes to do a show in the studio you're presently sitting in? He went on Sam Morrell's podcast grinning like a fool, praising the way in which he loves the Knicks, how happy he was for the Knicks to win, the joy felt watching this team and oh, the beloved Garden. Chris, play the clip.

[Chris]

Yeah, I know you're not a Knicks fan, but you gotta. You gotta at least have enjoyed that a little bit last night.

[Dan LeBatard]

I was legitimately happy.

[Jeremy]

Case closed.

[Mike Ryan]

Wow.

[Dan LeBatard]

Wait a minute. I said I was happy for him.

[Chris]

No evidence of that.

[Dan LeBatard]

Wow, that's creatively. Wait a minute.

[Stugats]

Incredible. Jeremy, great work, mule.

[Tony]

Eaton Briars.

[Chris]

That's Dan's body.

[Dan LeBatard]

You just heard Sam say, I know you're not a Knicks fan. Let's that seems to go trying to

[Tony]

help you out there sarcastic.

[Chris]

Then you rebutted it with I'm happy.

[Mike Ryan]

Can I hear that again?

[Stugats]

I know you're a Knicks fan.

[Chris]

Yeah, I know you're not a Knicks fan, but you gotta. You gotta at least have enjoyed that a little bit last night.

[Dan LeBatard]

I was legitimately happy.

[Stugats]

You can't on one end hold up, Sam. Knowing you're not one and ignore that Ben Stiller knows you're one.

[Jeremy]

You are Knicks fan.

[Dan LeBatard]

Your next fan, Dan.

[Mike Ryan]

I knew you are Knicks fan.

[Dan LeBatard]

They are the best story remaining.

[Stugats]

Says the Knicks fan. Yup, I think it's Wembanyama versus okc.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, pretty obvious.

[Chris]

Taking over the league, becoming the next LeBron.

[Dan LeBatard]

Put it on the poll at LeBatard show. Bigger story. Wembanyama winning the championship or New York winning the championship at LeBatard show for

[Mike Ryan]

the same reason that I was telling Greg Cody. I believe that he's wrong about the Knicks being the best thing that could happen to the league. Them winning the championship. Totally off base. You see every year us being able to point at the Knicks. Are they going to do it this year? And they continue to not do it is the best story.

[Stugats]

Don't let this guy slide off the hook again. Keep your head on the ball.

[Chris]

Keep your head.

[Stugats]

Keep your head on the ball. He just changed the poll question thinking we wouldn't notice. What's the biggest story? New York winning the championship or Wemby winning the championship? That's fine. That's a discussion for another day. It's not the one that we're having right now. The bigger story right now is Wemby taking on this OKC budding dynasty. And I'm sure the ratings will reflect that championship. Yeah, I'm with you. New York finally winning an NBA title the same year they win an ist potentially. Can you imagine?

[Jeremy]

I mean, they're going to repeat against the spurs if they do that. But Dan, the first thing you went to go do was celebrate on this Knicks podcast with Sam Morrell of which, by the way, at the end I heard him say to you you that he's going to go get a bunch of other Knicks fans. But he wanted to start with you. Ridiculous ridiculum. As some would say

[Chris]

the Little League theory.

[Stugats]

Hey, Butterfinger.

[Chris]

Inexplicably just.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, I think he can get the Little League theory in there because he can just be talking about Little League. There are a number of other ones here that are harder to get in.

[Stugats]

Well, hey, Butterfinger, you could do it for an error.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, they had three of them in the first three yesterday.

[Stugats]

Tony. Yesterday I was waiting for the bathroom and Dan was ahead of me and the door was closed. He farted. No, I heard it. I did hear a wayward yur.

[Tony]

Dan, did you throw a yurr?

[Dan LeBatard]

No, he's making. He's making that up. And I All right, you got me there.

[Stugats]

I made that part up. But everything else Jeremy said was true. True.

[Mike Ryan]

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[Dan LeBatard]

Don Levitard While there's nothing official and conversations are still ongoing.

[Mike Ryan]

Was that a fake shifter? Because it was pretty good.

[Stugats]

I feel like there's legs.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Dan LeBatard]

Tried at the beginning and then I lost confidence in it. Good.

[Stugats]

It was good.

[Mike Ryan]

You got this.

[Dan LeBatard]

Nothing official.

[Stugats]

Yeah.

[Dan LeBatard]

So conversations are still ongoing. Stugats it is trending towards Nick Sirianni remaining the head coach of the Eagles.

[Stugats]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugach.

[Dan LeBatard]

I want to not get out of the show today without a couple of things being discussed around here. One of them being what it is that happened across the street here yesterday at the Freedom Tower. Another thing, you know, related actually Stephen Colbert leaving the air tonight because. Yeah, it's the last. The last show is tonight and I want to talk about that as well. But before we get out of the local hour, I want to talk about what Bobby Marks is saying about Giannis Antetokounmpo. Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe have been talking to people in the league and saying they're surprised how lukewarm the interest is in Giannis. Zach Lowe is saying that Miami remains suitor number one. And Miami is also the large betting favorite if you're someone who bets on these things to land Giannis. And I just think Boston has more to offer. And Boston now has to change its game plan because we've all seen what the structural flaw is in Boston. Correct. They won it. When the the game is changing so much and they're out ahead of the curve. They won it the one year was available to them by playing the style of play that now everyone has caught up to and losing to the Sixers that way in a game seven at home after you already lost to the Knicks that were built to beat you on the night your threes don't work, you're a disaster and people hate watch you, including your own fans, because going 9 for 53 from 3 is just really unpleasant to watch. Boston has more assets and more ability to get him and then becomes more formidable than Miami. If you team Giannis with someone who's better than Bam, Sure.

[Tony]

But isn't it a conceit top to bottom, starting with Brad Stevens on a Joe Missoula onto the entire roster. If you trade for Giannis and the complete reprint of the blueprint where you're taking all these guys and sending them somewhere else, it's a conceit that the whole thing is a farce and it's and it's done right, because you're adding in Giannis, you're going to have to send shooters, you're going to have to send Jaylen Brown. Like what are you going to do with Joe Missoula who coaches style?

[Dan LeBatard]

No, no. But it is. Once you learn, once you lose to Joel Embiid's fractured remains in the first round and New York's built to beat you, it is done. Like what I would think Boston has been ahead of the curve and Brad Stevens wins Executive of the Year because he's not afraid to change things, he's not afraid to be aggressive. And the things we're presently watching with Jaylen Brown also suggests that he'd like his own team. And are you not assuming that that is done? Are Boston fans not Boston fans? Let me do this another way actually, cuz you mentioned I'm a New York Knicks fan. I have been talk talking to a number of Knicks fans over the last three years who simply don't want. They don't want LeBron. They fall in love with Hartenstein when he's there. They. They've fallen in love with anobi. They do not want to trade on anobi. And so when I say like one of the things I was talking to Sam about is I'm like, you people have become just totally crazy the last three years. You reject the idea of having LeBron James. What an amazing thing to have happened in the cultural leadership of the New York Knicks as that the Knicks all of a sudden are in a place where their fans have fallen. So with what they presently have that they're like, no thanks, LeBron James.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, it makes sense to me. Like and this is something that means a lot to me as a sports fan also. Sometimes you, you want to win with your guys and the Knicks fan, these are their guys. Like they want to win with this group. It, it won't look. Winning a championship is obviously the goal, but it means more if you win with your guys as opposed to bringing in a mercenary.

[Dan LeBatard]

That does mean more to me.

[Jeremy]

I'm not even surprised. It's obvious.

[Dan LeBatard]

I felt so seen by him there with that point.

[Jeremy]

This guy loves OG Anunoby.

[Stugats]

You are Nick's fan.

[Jeremy]

He's obsessed with him. He's all the Wemby stopper.

[Dan LeBatard]

Oh, I'm gonna be so torn when it's the Knicks going up against Hartenstein. I don't know who I'm gonna root for.

[Tony]

You guys still love Hartenstein, by the way.

[Dan LeBatard]

They love him so much.

[Jeremy]

You you love him.

[Dan LeBatard]

We love him. I'm sorry. I've got to get my pronouns right. It's confusing time.

[Jeremy]

Careful.

[Chris]

Who made it to Charlotte?

[Dan LeBatard]

That's going to be tough to get on there. I can't wait to hear his vote for what is the toughest one and the easiest one to get into.

[Chris]

The toughest one's a fun game to play.

[Tony]

Toughest one has to be. Right.

[Stugats]

He can't say that one's going to be.

[Mike Ryan]

Are we going to read all them to him?

[Chris]

We're going to have my dad. We're going to replay one of my dad's reciting.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, he's going to be bored.

[Stugats]

Foul ball. What, do we break a window?

[Dan LeBatard]

We're going to ask him to have a pen and. Or write it on his phone or whatever. Put it on the poll at Lebatard show. Do you still use pens?

[Chris]

I guess, yeah. Punt would be hard.

[Jeremy]

Show an opposing fan.

[Chris]

Look at that jerk. I know you can make it bunt, but if he used punt, that would be difficult.

[Tony]

I think the one that we have to have that he has to say on a strikeout is hee haw3. Badea hee haw3.

[Chris]

Also, I love after an air.

[Dan LeBatard]

Hey, Butterfinger.

[Stugats]

Steve Martin.

[Chris]

No, I'm just saying, like, that's what

[Dan LeBatard]

you're saying it again. Because it's been said.

[Chris]

No guy slides at first. We should highlight that one as well.

[Jeremy]

You gotta eat a peck of dirt

[Dan LeBatard]

before you die already.

[Stugats]

Damn. Talking again.

[Dan LeBatard]

We will get to him in seven minutes or so. But I did want to talk for a second about what it is that happened across the street here yesterday, as politics seep into everything. And you're talking about something very personal to me, very personal to Miami. You had in the streets of Miami yesterday something that felt like right across the street, a community celebration of something that was done just for the symbolic optics and politics of hassling a Castro. So Raul Castro, we could have indicted him on any number of things at any number of times over the last number of years. And the thing that he has been indicted on because he was charged with murder, for those of you who do not know the story, this one is a uniquely Miami type of thing. Brothers to the rescue. If you do not know what that is. Many years ago, Cubans were so desperate, kind of as desperate as they are now as we choke out their oil supply and they go 22 hours a day on the island without electricity. So you can imagine, Zaslow, how you would have to live life if at whatever time the electricity comes on for two hours. You have to get up at that time and make sure that you handle all of the things that need electricity in those two hours.

[Mike Ryan]

That's what's happening.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yes, there are 22 hours a day the island is both starving and rotting as it has been in some ways for 67 years. But this is as bad as it's been because they don't have oil, because we are denying them oil. And you have people who have been suffering for a long time who are super resilient and in our country of great opulence and arrogance, we have the ability to choke out the island and we also have the ability to rescue the island. But the people in charge now do not care about the people of Cuba. They care about the land of Cuba. And so what happened yesterday was symbolically a 94 year old man is being indicted for something that was shooting American civilians out of the sky 30 years ago. And it's murder and it's Raul Castro as defense minister who made that order. And so you have basically a 94 year old man who can't really walk being aided by a bunch of 80 year olds to walk walk being indicted. And it's a Castro regime. That name, symbolically, is the one we're taking out, even though he's the former president. And what Brothers to the Rescue was doing. Zaslow, for those of you who do not remember this history and this time, there was a time that in Key West, I'm going to say thousands of people a day, because I think it was 2000 a day, were landing on the shores of Key west in automobiles that they had turned into boats. They're literally throwing their life to the sea. And what Brothers to the Rescue was doing is flying airplanes over. We overwhelmed the local coast guards flying airplanes between what is considered the greatest graveyard that there is, which is the ocean between Cuba and here, between communism and freedom is filled with death. And so the planes were flying over and Raul Castro allegedly ordered an airstrike that killed Americans. Three Americans, four people total. Three Americans who were trying to provide humanitarian aid, who were also doing some propaganda where they were flying leaflets over the island, but they were violating international airspace. And so that's what the charge was yesterday. And so the weird scene right next door to us us was a celebration in the street of murder charges. And the celebration was such that it was happening before the charges were even announced. Because Cubans in Miami have been waiting for this day where a Castro comes to justice. Right. I thought Raul Castro, I honestly thought he was already Dead. He's not in power anymore. This doesn't meaningfully change anything. But America is going to do there, it would appear what they did in Venezuela. We want that land. We want the ability to build resorts. Well, not we. Trump wants the ability to build stuff in Cuba. And it's valuable land. It's a tropical paradise. If you give it oil.

[Tony]

Yeah, it's the jewel of the Caribbean. And it is an interesting situation because like you said, Raul Castro is 94 years old. Like, the indictment of murdering Mano Sarcate was something that happened 30 years ago that people were really upset about. And like, as the years and the decades have gone by, like, people have kind of forgotten. We have on. I want to say it's on Flagler and 17th street, kind of close to the ballpark. You have the Brothers to the Rescue memorial that's over there. Like, this is something that is entrenched in the community, but the next generation doesn't really understand what happened. Right. It's civilian guys, Cuban families flying over there and, and dropping and trying to help. Heroes, heroes, literally heroes that got killed because there was an infiltration of Cuban spies into Brothers to the Rescue, their group. So they knew exactly where they were going to be. They had the coordinated attack. All that happened, happened and we've kind of forgotten about it. So anytime there is justice for the Cuban people against the Castro regime, people are going to celebrate it. No matter what the underlying theory, the underlying idea is behind whatever political parties in power at the time to use that as a pawn in their game. Like, this is a win for our people because they tortured and killed and completely dismantled an island for 70 years. And like you need some sort of retribution on that. And, and seeing that again, 80 year olds walking a 94 year old out, like, that's what the regime of Castro and the Cuban government is. It's all these guys from 60 years ago that are still in power. Think about that.

[Dan LeBatard]

Also think about the fact that it was happening at the Freedom Tower. It's the first place my father was in the United States. It's the first place they gave him food, they like gave him a bag of things to live here. And between us and the Freedom Tower, which we can see from our windows out here, they've given Trump that land to put what is going to be a library for a man who's never read a book and isn't going to actually be a library. And Mike Ryan loves to tell me monthly that my father's going to be a casino greeter there in five years.

[Chris]

I should have a library.