Hour 1: The NBA Has Officially Arrived

Summary

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The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: Hour 1: The NBA Has Officially Arrived

Date: February 20, 2026

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Episode Overview

Broadcasting from the Elser Hotel in Miami, Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, and their crew deliver a characteristically animated hour diving deep into the (re-)emergence of the NBA post-All-Star break, unexpected storylines from the poker world, pop-culture intersections, and the evolving political landscape in sports media. The hosts dissect the rapidly shifting power dynamics in the NBA, poke fun at the oddities of televised poker, and finish with a passionate debate around politics and the responsibilities of sports broadcasters.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Olympic Hockey and Sports Nostalgia

[01:08 – 02:45]

• The show opens with Ethan previewing the day's Olympic hockey semifinals: “We got Canada in the semifinal... The men are later this afternoon. We want the US And Canada...”
• The group debates whether to root for Canada or Finland, noting “Canada is usually in the way of [the US Gold medal], so if they bow out to the fins...” (Davey, [01:28])
• Ties to the historic "Miracle on Ice" are brought in by Gus: “They beat the Soviets and then had to settle the hash with the Finns in order to win that gold. So...46 years later...a nice little completion of the circle.” ([02:31])

2. Poker as a ‘Sport’ and TV Absurdities

[03:05 – 07:02]

• A viral (but dated) clip of a poker player tearing his ACL at the table becomes comic fodder:

  “This is no bluff. Poker injury.” (Gus, [03:47])
  “Second most embarrassing behind Howard Bryant pulling both his hamstrings in his bed.” (Fitz, [04:22])

• The crew mocks the televised poker craze of the '90s, referencing swing dancing, cigar bars, and celebrity poker:

  “...men and women just sitting out there unironically smoking cigars. And then the cherry on top... celebrities playing poker. Ooh.” (Gus, [04:41])

• Montage of recent poker TV moments leads to comic gold—double entendres, accidental on-air farts, and confusion about terminology:

  “A dude farted. We caught that. Which was like the least offensive thing that we heard there.” (Davey/Ethan, [06:57])
  “Slurp him if you got them. I think those are those anal beads right on the front of the brim.” (Davey, [05:52])

3. Insider Poker: Nick Wright’s Windfall

[07:59 – 09:12]

• The crew hails Nick Wright’s success in a recent celebrity poker game, with Davey expressing guilt over their windfall:

  “I want to say a big thank you to Nick Wright. Incredible job, won a ton of money.” (Hank, [08:50]) “My promise to Nick is that I will never get involved in any of the gambling that you’re doing... So thank you so much for your service, Nick Wright.” (Ian, [08:58])

• Discussion touches on poker broadcast rules, including camera angles, card visibility, and preventing cheating via broadcast delays.

4. The NBA After the All-Star Break: Surprising Standings & MVP Debates

[10:05 – 15:10]

• The pivotal game: The Pistons crush the Knicks at MSG, with Cade Cunningham putting up 42/8/13. Ethan pushes for Cunningham as an MVP contender, while Gus raises the question: what does it really mean to be “the face of the NBA”?

  “If we're going to talk about MVP, we need to have a conversation about Cade Cunningham.” (Ethan, [10:31])
  “Who gives a crap? What comes with this... honorific? What do you get for being the face of the NBA?” (Gus, [11:21])

• Recap of the Pistons’ surprising dominance: “They have the Detroit Pistons do right now the best record in the NBA...” (Hank, [13:15])
• The Charlotte Hornets and rookie standout “Con Canipple” (multiple botched attempts at pronouncing the rookie’s name lead to jokes):

  “CanipplePipple shooting almost 65 true shooting percentage... That's better than Zion Williamson, Bill Cartwright, Magic Johnson, Adrian Danley, David Robinson and Michael Jordan.” (Hank, [22:37])

5. NBA Top 5 Storylines (With OLIs)

[12:39 – 37:26]

• OLIs (Outside Looking In):
  1. The Miami Heat are healthy.
  2. Are the Pistons for real?
  3. The Charlotte Hornets' unlikely hot streak.
• #5: Wildly competitive Western Conference—the 3rd through 7th seeds separated by just three games.
• #4: Can the Bucks linger near playoff contention for Giannis to make a play-in run? Discussion on Giannis’ honesty in interviews and his future.
• #3: The Clippers’ scandal (potential suspensions, front office ramifications), Kawhi Leonard’s MVP-level play, and unpredictability in the West.
• #2: Harden’s impact on the Cavs vs. Jayson Tatum’s return to the Celtics, and broader questions about chemistry and post-injury stars.
• #1: The brewing OKC Thunder–San Antonio Spurs/Wembanyama rivalry as the most fascinating race and potential new dynasty in the West.

  “Wemby and the Spurs going with the Oklahoma City Thunder. So here's where we're at. Here's where we're at.” (Ian, [32:16]) “This could be one of those true regional decade long rivalries...” (Ian, [36:49])

6. Player & Team Oddities and Notables

[15:25 – 18:00]

• The crew jokes about LaMelo Ball’s risky driving and nonchalant press conference after a car crash:

  “He gets up with no shirt on and barely a pair of pants on.” (Gus, [17:45])

• Playful banter about player names and mispronunciations; debates on “home floor advantage”; shoutouts to lesser-known, emergent players like Jalen Duran (Pistons) and their impact.

7. The Political Turn: Josh Pate, Sports, and the Trump Interview Debate

[40:04 – 50:04]

• News breaks that celebrated apolitical college football commentator Josh Pate has interviewed President Trump (ostensibly about NIL, name-image-likeness money), prompting concern:

  “It’s impossible to have an apolitical, nonpartisan discussion with this sitting president because he always takes it there.” (Davey, [41:15]) “…When you give Donald Trump a platform, he is going to seize the opportunity to espouse lies, election denial and do whatever he can. And most of these shows are not equipped to hold him accountable. He will trample you.” (Davey, [41:31])

• The group debates whether refusing a sitting President’s request is even a viable option for a broadcaster—does saying no “put you in a tough spot professionally” (Gus, [49:18])?
• Broader concerns surface about sports media’s responsibilities and normalization of political figures.

  “For a guy who is famous for trying to make sure you don't have to worry about that with your college football, this is a huge bummer. And I don't like that we continue to normalize what we're seeing out there.” (Davey, [42:49])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Poker ‘Injury’ ([03:48]):
  “This is no bluff. Poker injury.” — Gus
• On televised poker and its heyday ([04:41]):
  “This is a relic from the 90s... people... would go out on purpose dressed in zoot suits, take swing dancing lessons... and the cherry on top—celebrities playing poker... and other people are gonna watch.” — Gus
• On Cade Cunningham’s MVP buzz ([10:31]):
  “If we're going to talk about MVP, we need to have a conversation about Cade Cunningham.” — Ethan
• On the NBA’s Western Conference ([23:29]):
  “The three through seven seeds in the Western Conference are separated by just three games...” — Ian
• On sports media and politics ([41:31]): “When you give Donald Trump a platform, he is going to seize the opportunity to espouse lies, election denial... He will trample you. He does this with some of the best interviewers in the in the nation that are political reporters.” — Davey

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Timestamps of Important Segments

| Time | Segment | |------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:08 | Olympic hockey preview and rooting interests | | 03:05 | Viral poker injury and the absurdity of televised poker (90s nostalgia) | | 05:32 | Poker TV montage—off-color commentary, accidental humor | | 07:59 | Nick Wright’s poker win; poker TV technicalities/rules | | 10:05 | NBA returns: Pistons’ beatdown of Knicks and Cade Cunningham’s MVP buzz | | 12:39 | NBA “Top 5” storylines, including surprises and playoff races | | 15:25 | Charlotte Hornets and rookie “Can Canipple” breakout; LaMelo Ball’s car accident/comedy at press conference | | 22:16 | Stat of the Day: Rookie shooting percentage history | | 23:29 | Deep NBA standings and playoff jockeying (Western Conf.) | | 29:05 | Celtics team dynamics, Tatum’s return and locker room concerns | | 32:16 | Wemby vs. OKC—new Western Conference rivalry and potential league-defining storyline | | 40:04 | The Josh Pate–Trump interview debate and the challenge for sports media in political times |

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Summary Flow & Takeaways

This episode captures the Le Batard Show at its best: oscillating between sharp sports analysis and playful irreverence. The serious—unexpected seismic shifts in the NBA, the politics creeping into sports discourse—is never far from the silly, whether it's lampooning poker TV culture, mispronouncing rookie names, or critiquing LaMelo Ball’s fashion choices.
Heavy attention is paid to unpredictable NBA storylines (Pistons’ ascendance, Wemby’s emergence, East/West power shifts), wrapped in the show’s signature blend of insider knowledge and mockery of sports clichés.
The hour pivots to a meaningful discussion about the ethics and consequences of hosting political figures on apolitical platforms, underscoring a sense of cultural tension as politics and sport increasingly intermingle.

Best for listeners who want: A brisk but rich catch-up on the NBA’s biggest storylines, side-splitting banter on sports oddities, and thoughtful debate about the intersection of sports and politics—all wrapped in the classic Le Batard Show voice.

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Transcript

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Depop Advertiser]

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[Dan Le Batard]

Hey.

[Davey]

Still got my hoodie?

[Depop Advertiser]

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[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stu Guts podcast.

[Ethan]

Very big day today. We got the hockey getting going in about 10 minutes from now as you got Canada in the semifinal. The men are later this afternoon. We want the US And Canada. Like, we're. We're rooting for Canada in this first game, right?

[Davey]

Um, I'm not.

[Ethan]

No, we want US Canada in the final.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm not.

[Davey]

And keep in mind, you know, the Panthers have plenty of fins on that team as well. Look, I think top to bottom, Canada's a bit more talented than the U.S. it's going to be a great moment to me. No bad outcomes here, but ultimately, I want to win the gold. You know, Canada is usually in the way of that, so if they bow out to the fins, it's not like that's going to be an easy game either, Roy. Like, if it's usa Finland, I know we want to respect the opponent. All respect due to Slovakia, but the US Is a big fave to advance here. Finland would be a difficult opponent as well.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. And looking forward to Sunday, we got a live stream going on with the hockey show, so join us on Sunday. That's going to be at 8, 10, the hockey show with me, David, Dwark, Rosie and Ethan.

[Fitz]

So there won't be a pivot if, like, U.S. canada becomes the bronze game. You guys won't pivot to that?

[Dan Le Batard]

No, we got nothing else to do. We might as well watch the game. And we want you guys to join us and watch the game.

[Fitz]

No pivot. You hear that first.

[Ethan]

So hopefully the live stream at 8am Eastern on Sunday morning is not Finland and Slovakia.

[Gus]

And the historical value of it being US Finland is. Of course, it wasn't in 1980.

[Ethan]

Right.

[Gus]

Metal game when they beat the Soviets. They beat the Soviets and then had to settle the hash with the Finns in order to win that gold. So that would be, you know, what is that, 46 years later would be a nice little completion of the circle.

[Ethan]

That's a good job out of you. So we, we. We've been talking a little bit of poker this week. All right. And, and we'll get to Nick Wright and how you guys were very big winners this week because of Nick Wright. But before that, did you guys see this? So the World Poker Tour, you know, is. Is going on wpt.

[Fitz]

Yeah.

[Ethan]

Yeah. All right. And so there was an event yesterday, and I don't know if you guys have ever heard of a player tearing his apart ACL playing poker. Watch this.

[Dan Le Batard]

No.

[Davey]

So Justin Smith must catch a king, catch the board.

[Ethan]

Can he escape?

[Davey]

Back to back double up by Justin Smith growing out both times Vance to stay alive. And look how excited his fans, his friends.

[Gus]

Fix that tomorrow.

[Davey]

Wait a minute, Vince. Something's wrong out there.

[Gus]

We'll operate it on it tomorrow with the million. Yeah, something very wrong. He's doubled over.

[Dan Le Batard]

He's.

[Ethan]

He's really in pain.

[Davey]

Yeah, it snapped. What the.

[Gus]

This is no bluff.

[Davey]

Let me tell you.

[Gus]

Poker injury.

[Hank]

I told you.

[Gus]

This is an injury sport. They say that poker is not a sport, but this is like.

[Davey]

Well, this is pretty serious. People are rushing to Justin's side.

[Gus]

I'm really hoping it'll be okay.

[Davey]

I mean, I'm able to play.

[Ethan]

I'll play it out. So. So this may. This clip may be a little bit old, but it was recirculating all over social media yesterday.

[Davey]

What gave it away that it's a little old? The dead guy.

[Ian]

Yeah.

[Fitz]

One of the announcers is dead, and Mike matisau is about 65 now.

[Ethan]

So, I mean, like, that has to be the most embarrassing sports. Can I call it a sports injury?

[Fitz]

Second most embarrassing behind Howard Bryant pulling both his hamstrings in his bed.

[Ian]

Third behind, thinking that clip was new.

[Dan Le Batard]

God damn.

[Ethan]

Proud of yourself, huh?

[Ian]

Also.

[Gus]

Also embarrassing is watching other people play poker on TV.

[Ian]

The.

[Davey]

This is a.

[Gus]

This is a relic from the 90s. I don't know what went on in that decade while I was there for it. And I was. I was flummoxed. The entire. The entire stretch, you had people, because of the popularity of the movie Swingers, who would go out on purpose dressed in zoot suits, and they would take swing dancing lessons. And there were also bars devoted to cigar smoking. Men and women just sitting out there unironically smoking cigars. And then the cherry on top. Celebrities playing poker. Ooh. We're gonna play poker with other celebrities. And then we're gonna point cameras at it. And other people are gonna watch.

[Fitz]

What the hell now, because of what you're speaking to, of how boring it can be. The announcers the other night with Nick Wright were all over the place. So we did put together. See if this entertains you a little bit. We put together a montage of some of the craziest moments of the broadcast the other night.

[Davey]

Were you laying the pipe at 14

[Hank]

ollie into my palm?

[Fitz]

What do you got?

[Hank]

Looks like cowboy.

[Depop Advertiser]

Oh, he's nutted.

[Davey]

I just felt the slurping spoke for itself.

[Hank]

You know, there's a shocker.

[Davey]

Slurp him if you got them. I think those are those anal beads right on the front of the brim.

[Fitz]

Insane.

[Hank]

First off, where's who's the button right now?

[Gus]

Sorry.

[Davey]

Far be it from me to try

[Ian]

to get us on the rails.

[Davey]

What's the problem?

[Hank]

I don't think they are.

[Davey]

Let's just leave it at that.

[Ian]

That.

[Gus]

I don't.

[Davey]

I don't actually.

[Ian]

I've never seen them.

[Davey]

I don't know what they look like. Never used them. Oh, no, it's not cash.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Davey]

Oh,

[Hank]

hold on.

[Ian]

Yeah.

[Davey]

What was that?

[Gus]

I did clock that myself.

[Ian]

I.

[Davey]

You know, it's been a long session.

[Hank]

Oh, my God.

[Gus]

Perhaps a little purge.

[Davey]

A crop duster.

[Fitz]

Close.

[Davey]

But I realized, by the way, the custodians show name, they're the shipping container. But I think 1500. Maybe we found a new one.

[Hank]

Not sure.

[Ian]

If you mean to tell me this

[Davey]

whole time we're agreeing to them as

[Fitz]

my guy Lio's something That is not

[Ian]

what they're called on the show.

[Ethan]

That's correct. There. There are like a number of ridiculous things that happened in that clip.

[Davey]

A dude farted. We caught that.

[Ethan]

Which was like the least offensive thing that we heard there.

[Davey]

That was a crass broadcast. And I'm here for it because that is one way to make poker on TV entertaining.

[Fitz]

Dave.

[Gus]

I guess a bunch of unkempt looking fellas that Was that was gross stuff. At least Nick Wright has the honor to not wear glasses and hats. If the whole thing is based around. And I consider I'm skeptical of the idea when Matt Damon says in the movie that, you know, it's the same guys at the World Series of Poker every year at the championship table. Or is it definitely because it seems not anymore. How you get there. Yeah. And if it's about, you know, being able to mask what kind of cards you have to the. To the. Your fellow competitors, why are you allowed to wear glasses and hats and everything else to obscure what you look like? If the whole thing is predicated on. I'm reading you and I can tell whether you're bluffing or not looking at you in the eyes, what are we doing now?

[Fitz]

The rules are right.

[Gus]

Well, then why don't you do that?

[Fitz]

The main things to cover that people want to cover are their eyes, their mouth, and their neck. It shouldn't be allowed because your neck can actually, like, pulse pulsate when you're nervous. So you have to cover. You can only cover two of those three. That is the rule, really. Can't have your neck. You can't have your neck, your mouth and your eyes covered. You can have my mouth and my neck covered.

[Hank]

But that you cover your mouth.

[Davey]

Wow.

[Fitz]

Your mouth like. Like hand cover or like hoodies. I'm telling you, there are guys that, like, pull hoodies clothes. So they're like. That's why they made the rule, because there was this one guy who would just literally have a full hoodie on with sunglasses.

[Ethan]

Oh, I've seen that. That's why he's doing that.

[Fitz]

Yeah. But you're not allowed to do that anymore. Now you have to have at least your neck or your eyes. Like, one of the three have to be available to see.

[Ethan]

Wow, I did not know that. All right, so, hey, you guys. You guys know yesterday you got paid as a result of your poundick, right?

[Davey]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Yeah. I want to say a big thank you to Nick Wright. Incredible job, won a ton of money. Hopefully he does this every single month and wins a lot of money every single month.

[Ian]

Yeah. My promise to Nick is that I will never get involved in any of the gambling that you're doing. I will stay away from poker. I will stay away from football bets so long as you continue to free rol us. So thank you so much for your service, Nick Wright. Wow.

[Ethan]

All right, you guys.

[Davey]

A little guilty. I think I'm going to stake them the next time so I can actually feel better about These wins, it's quite.

[Fitz]

You know what he buys in for?

[Davey]

I said a little bit. Not a full steak.

[Dan Le Batard]

What, are you kidding?

[Gus]

You get a percentage watching this from. When you're watching this from home, are you aware of what they have? What? What cards anybody has?

[Fitz]

Yeah, they show the cards.

[Gus]

Looking at these slobs.

[Fitz]

Oh yeah, they show the cards.

[Ethan]

Such sloth.

[Fitz]

It's on a half hour delay, so you can't be obviously like texting people

[Hank]

like, hey, I see his cards.

[Fitz]

Imagine that.

[Gus]

Okay. Like tv. Watch what you want to watch.

[Ethan]

So the NBA returned last night from the all star break. And there were some things that happened last night and it has me ready to award. You know, there was, it was somewhat, somewhat of a big game last night at the Garden. We're good to go now.

[Davey]

A huge game.

[Ethan]

We're okay right now. Okay. Okay. I, I vamped a little bit for you.

[Gus]

The

[Ian]

be

[Davey]

of the day

[Gus]

guys

[Ethan]

was enough of you guys. You know about that Madison Square Garden.

[Hank]

The Mecca.

[Depop Advertiser]

The Mecca.

[Ethan]

So the pistons last night, one at the Knicks. 126, 111. Real beat down. All right. Knicks have actually been pathetic against the Pistons this year. You remember last time they played, it was when James Dolan was on the radio and he was talking about how the Knicks are a championship contender this year. And then the next night they lost by like 40 to the Pistons. Anyway, that's my gimmick. So the Pistons last night won at the Knicks. But Cade Cunningham. If we're going to talk about mvp, we need to have a conversation about Kate Cunningham. He had 42 points last night, eight rebounds, 13 assists. That was at the Mecca. And Cade Cunningham and the pistons improved to 41 and 13. All I'm saying is we better start including Kate Cunningham in that MVP conversation.

[Gus]

More importantly, though, perhaps based on the. When I turn on the TV or I surf the, the social media, a lot of people very concerned about who the face of the NBA is. Not the mvp, but who the face is. I keep hearing buzz, and it's been going for three years now that if ant Edwards keeps this up, he may soon be the face of the NBA. But look out for Wemby. He's. He's, he's making a push. He's going to be the face of the NBA. Who gives a crap? What is. What comes with this. What, what with this honorific? What do you get for being the face of the NBA.

[Ethan]

Of the day?

[Ian]

That was the second of the last three MVPs of the day going to Cade Cunningham in Between on a roll he had Sally Ontash on behalf of Greg Cody.

[Hank]

Good vote.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, yeah.

[Hank]

I will say good vote. There's us.

[Ian]

It was on behalf of.

[Ethan]

All right, so if we. If with the NBA starting up against second half of the season, if there are people out there who maybe, you know, what are the big NFL just ended. College football just ended. You know, I gotta stop paying attention. The NBA, I haven't really been locked in. Can we do maybe. You got. You got a top five?

[Ian]

Yeah, I got a top five here. I got three OLIs. The first one I'm gonna say really quickly so that we don't talk about it and no one says anything. Hey, the Heat are healthy. The second Oli, Kate Cunningham and the Pistons. Can they convince anyone that this regular season record is real?

[Gus]

Hey, I. Those people that Zaz was talking about, I just turned on the NBA after football season and get this, everybody, the Detroit Pistons are in first place.

[Ethan]

How did that happen?

[Hank]

They're really good. They have an MVP candidate as their point guard, as their lead man. He shot 50.

[Ethan]

He was my MVP of the day.

[Hank]

I know. Well, two years ago I said the Pistons could be really good if Kate could take that next step. Again, not wrong, just early. And Kate has been great throughout this entire season. And an important note, they have the Detroit Pistons do right now the best record in the NBA, which means home floor advantage.

[Ethan]

Nobody calls it home floor advantage.

[Hank]

Home floor advantage. Home floor.

[Fitz]

Never heard those two words.

[Gus]

Home floor.

[Ethan]

What's wrong with that? Tony, you know about that. Home grass advantage.

[Hank]

I do. Home turf. You ever heard of that?

[Dan Le Batard]

Home rink.

[Hank]

Exactly right. So with home court advantage, the Pistons will obviously be facing Western conference team, whether it be okc, Denver, San Antonio, whatever. Like getting that at the Little Caesars arena is going to be massive.

[Ian]

It also matters big time in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Right? Because they're probably going to end up going against at different points, potentially Cleveland, New York, Boston. New York. And Boston having experience going.

[Hank]

They own New York. Detroit owns New York.

[Ian]

Absolutely. Look, this Detroit Pistons team is really, really good. I think the reason that there are people. I think they're legit. I think the reason that there are people who think they might not be a legitimate playoff team moving forward is because they don't know who the second guy is behind Cade. It's Jalen Duran and he's fantastic. But can he be a second guy on a team that goes to the NBA finals? That's the question. And we'll see if over the next 25 games they could figure out whether or not they can convince people to do it. Here's. Here's another team that you're going to be surprised has been kind of good lately.

[Ethan]

Are we still on Olive?

[Ian]

Yeah. There's another Oli tied for the most wins in the NBA this calendar year. Tony Charlotte Hornets Con canipple is the

[Hank]

best rookie of the year. I don't care about. Cooper flag is incredible.

[Fitz]

The best rookie of the year.

[Ian]

He's the best rookie of the year.

[Fitz]

If he's the rookie of the year.

[Hank]

No, they're gonna give it to Cooper flag.

[Fitz]

They're gonna give you the year.

[Ian]

No, they're gonna give the best rookie of the calendar, like of the year, of the season. Rookie of the year is the award.

[Ethan]

Charlotte's fun right now. Did you guys see a couple days ago Lamelo ball? So Lamelo ball, he played last night and it was a story that he played last night because the day before he got into a car accident. All right, he got into a car accident.

[Davey]

What, him?

[Ethan]

Yeah, he got into a car accident where he just straight up on the road, just crashes head on into another car.

[Fitz]

I mean, that is a turn. Like, was he making the turn? No, he's going straight.

[Ethan]

Like it. It looks like, because there are a couple angles of this, and it's a pretty good guess that he was. He was just on his phone and like, he veered into, like he swerved into the lane right next to him and hit a car head on the wheel fell off. He drives a camo Hummer. All right, so apparently it's a thing in Charlotte where everyone around that area knows Lamelo's car. I mean, it's not hard to spot it and. Yeah, good one, Chris.

[Davey]

And how did you make Hummer more sexually suggestive? By combining and vibrator.

[Ethan]

And like Mike said, this is.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is.

[Ethan]

This is like a known thing in Charlotte where he drives like a maniac around the arena. Coming into the arena, coming out the arena, he doesn't yield. He cuts cars off. He runs red. He doesn't yield. He runs red lights. And like, he's going to. He's going to kill someone one day, you know, and then he got into an accident yesterday which, you know, kind of wrecked his car. It's.

[Fitz]

Yeah.

[Ethan]

And so here he was post game yesterday and he was obviously asked about it.

[Gus]

Well, no.

[Davey]

How were you kind of made aware that the other person in the accident was also okay. I know she did suffer some injuries

[Fitz]

and I've seen her get straight out the car.

[Davey]

Can you put into words the last

[Commercial Announcer]

24 hours with you, how, how it's

[Ian]

been emotional for you to have to

[Davey]

deal with that and then come here and play a game tonight.

[Dan Le Batard]

On top of that, I'm just alive, blessed, bro.

[Davey]

Like I said.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh,

[Fitz]

he got up from the. For the listening audience. He got up from the press conference table and his shorts were very low hanging.

[Ethan]

Well, yeah, he's got no shirt on,

[Gus]

his shorts, really low.

[Ethan]

And so he's got his ass. This is the most unserious player in the league, right? It is that reporter setting him up.

[Gus]

That reporter sets him up, like, as the pitiable one in the conversation. Like, Lamelo's been going through it, everybody. And then he gets up with no shirt on and barely a pair of pants on.

[Dan Le Batard]

Gotta use that drawstring,

[Fitz]

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[Gus]

Two names.

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[Davey]

Hey, everybody, it's Mike Ryan. Now, if you've been following the show, you know I've been traveling, been super busy, been supporting my favorite football team with mixed results. Right? Not the greatest hang so far in 2026. I try to find every excuse in the book. I had one buddy that was trying to invite me out. I wanted to stay in. He's like, come on, let's watch this NBA game. So I go over to his house, I watch this NBA game, and guess what? Something amazing happened. He pulled out the Miller Lights, and I knew right away I made the right call. Next thing you know, we're toasting, we're celebrating, we're having a great time. We're talking about nostalgia, we're talking about old friends that we had. And it was all thanks to Miller Lite, that icebreaker. Because when you actually say yes and you actually show up, you want a beer that fits the moment. For me, that's Miller Lite Legendary moments. Start with Miller Lite Great Taste 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

[Dan Le Batard]

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[Fitz]

Panther Group chat We're confident against the lighting. This is a different team. You're a Panther Group Chat no, I think no. But dude, you're so wrong on that. We've been terrified of this team forever and I think there's a different energy where the Panthers they want the Lightning st.

[Davey]

I want T shirts made for this Panther run. What could be this Panther Run Our

[Ethan]

Panther Group Chat we're not afraid of the lightning.

[Davey]

That's a Tagline for World Raw 3.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the stugats.

[Hank]

Really quick on Con Canopel and the Charlotte Hornets. Can I get a side of the day?

[Dan Le Batard]

Start of the day, start of the day it is your start of the day Start of the day start of the day it is the start of the day Start of the day start of the day it is the start of the day Start of the day start of the day it is the

[Hank]

start of the day According to underdog, the highest true shooting percentage among rookies to average more than 18 points per game in NBA NBA history. Khan canuple is number one shooting.

[Ethan]

Why do you say his name different that time?

[Hank]

I don't know because I don't know how to pronounce it. Con caniple or con Canople. What do you know?

[Ethan]

I say it the right way.

[Hank]

CanipplePipple shooting almost 65 true shooting percentage 64.6. That's better than Zion Williamson, Bill Cartwright, Magic Johnson, Adrian Danley, David Robinson and Michael Jordan.

[Ian]

Oh, this kid is.

[Gus]

I just saw Lamelo's canipples.

[Ian]

I do love that we we're doing the hey kid, pull up your pants show. Number five. Number five. The three through seven seeds in the Western Conference are separated by just three games and we already know who the ten teams are going to be going into the playoffs. Like including the play in because there's a seven game gap between 10 and 11 and all those teams someone can get hot. They're all trying to tank literally. If you look at all of those teams, each of them has removed four players from their roster for surgeries that I don't even think are necessary.

[Gus]

Did you know Al Horford still in the NBA?

[Davey]

Yeah, boy did we did you know

[Ian]

he doesn't play for the Celtics?

[Gus]

I heard about that. Did you also know that Giannis and his team is out of the playoff mix?

[Ethan]

What the hell's going on?

[Ian]

Number four, can the Bucks hang around enough near the play in to give Giannis a play in shot? To your point Dave, like the Bucks are presently I believe seven games under 523 and 30. The last I look even in the

[Ethan]

loss column with the 9th and 10th

[Ian]

seed and that's the question is ironically Cam Thomas has been out of his mind since signing as a buyout contract. He's a really good scorer.

[Ethan]

Cam Thomas.

[Gus]

Well I'm learning about you know two I said is too honest. He has the wonder woman lasso around her but so too does Giannis. He is way too honest when he talks into a microphone about like I don't know, I wouldn't mind if they had traded me A year and a half ago. What are you talking about?

[Hank]

Then he should have come out and said it. He should have come out and said it with his chest like Mike Ryan the other day.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm going to go out and say

[Hank]

you want to make a trade. If not, don't say your your agent. Oh I want to find a different no bullshit. Go say you want to trade. You don't want to trade.

[Davey]

I'm going to come out and put Dave as a no on knowing about Cam Thomas.

[Ian]

Yeah that that's definitely doesn't know ball.

[Hank]

Non non ball.

[Ian]

But that's really the question.

[Gus]

You saw how I moved on from

[Ian]

that The Eastern Conference while not wide talked about Detroit being good. There's a couple of other teams with highlighting that we'll get to but when you look at the play in like anything could happen below that four seed and Giannis being healthy, not having logged a lot of minutes this season, you never know and him getting into the the play in the team is booty juice. No they're not good.

[Hank]

They're trash.

[Ian]

But when you have a player who is that good individually it'll be a tougher first round test for a one or two seed to have to go against Giannis than it would be a lot of these other teams that are in play in scenarios. But number three, what's going to go down with the Clippers. Good point because not just the reports that I believe it was Sam Amick who threw it out there that that the hammer is coming on the aspiration really on on the aspiration stuff that people expect that to happen but also they might be kind of good otherwise.

[Hank]

Even though they traded all their good players between Zubots, between James Harden they don't really have anybody else.

[Davey]

Jordan Miller full timer now he is

[Ian]

Kawhi Leonard has been playing at an mvp.

[Hank]

He's been playing the best basketball of his career in the regular season this year.

[Ian]

Spectacular the last couple of months and

[Gus]

don't get started on Cam Thomas.

[Ian]

They started 6 and 21 and they were terrible and now they are 27 and 28 I believe like that's how great they've been. And even in trading James Harden like last night Benedict Mathering goes off for 38 points.

[Hank]

He's good for one of those though.

[Davey]

He's always good for every once in

[Ian]

a while and and we'll see what they are considering about that.

[Hank]

Benedict Matherin.

[Ethan]

Yeah but whatever.

[Ian]

Yeah yeah but whatever the they are such a question mark because yes they're going to be one of those Teams that gets the play in. Yes. They have Kawhi Leonard. So just like I was talking about with Giannis, like, that could be a tough test for somebody. But more importantly, what's going to happen with Kawhi? And that's really a question here is, does something happen during the regular season?

[Hank]

Number two, really quick, before that. That's big, because at the end of the season, we didn't think anything was going to happen.

[Davey]

No.

[Hank]

We thought the NBA was just going to dust it under the rug and be like, all right, yeah, okay, whatever. No, nothing to see here, guys. Look, don't look behind the curtain now. The. The. The trend is something is going to happen, and it may be big, whether it's the front office, whether it's Kawhi himself. Like, could we see a situation as where Kawhi gets suspended for a year because of this?

[Ethan]

I mean, I don't. Look, I don't trust this commissioner to do anything productive.

[Hank]

So nothing.

[Ian]

No, I don't.

[Ethan]

Nothing.

[Ian]

I don't anticipate that they'll void his contract. Like, has been thrown out there as one of the things. But I could see a world where

[Hank]

the PA would be very upset about that.

[Ian]

They issued a gigantic fine. They may be banned Steve Ballmer from being around for a year, which would be, for a guy like that who loves to be present at everything, would be a pretty brutal punishment. But number two, who's going to have the greater impact? James Harden in Cleveland or Jayson Tatum returning in Boston? That's the question in the Eastern Conference, because right now, you know, the Celtics

[Gus]

have hung around even without. Yeah, they're good.

[Ian]

It's crazy, Davey.

[Hank]

James Harden is on the Cavs.

[Gus]

I just found out about that. Thank you, Tashay.

[Ian]

Yeah, it's really crazy because I know they're feeling really confident in Cleveland and not that much has changed in terms of what their flaws would be like. You're talking about a team that has struggled in the postseason historically, and you're adding a guy in James Harden who was also struggled in the postseason historically. But the confidence that he and Donovan Mitchell seem to have together, I mean, last night they're playing against Brooklyn. They barely had to play, and they were able to win that game by, like, 40. But the impact that he's going to have there, is it enough to make Cleveland a legitimate contender after they seemed to be really treading water with the roster that they had? And then you look at Boston, who has stayed fully in this conversation, and we talked about it in the last couple of days, is Tatum going to be a positive impact? Is it going to be a case of subtraction by addition? Because now you have different role players playing alongside him and Brown. I am fascinated to see which of those guys makes a greater impact down the stretch.

[Hank]

I mean, impact versus kind of detriment, right? Because you're talking about Jason Tatum. You don't think he's going to come in and all of a sudden score 20 points a game like, there's no way coming off an Achilles tier not even a year ago. Like, I find that some people were

[Davey]

attacked for these opinions earlier. Jeremy just merely highlighting that dropping a player of the talents and usage rate of Jason Tatum will just keep things going and improve them. I think if it does, then that's a testament to that team and Jason Tatum and honestly makes me respect him more as a player that, you know, I don't rate as highly as others.

[Ian]

I actually feel the same way and about Jalen Brown, the ability for him to look at an MVP season and say, no, Jason, welcome back. Be my running mate. And it's not just because we're the most talented team in the NBA that we win it, but now that everybody has fallen into line and fallen into

[Hank]

their role, boys, I don't know that locker room in, you know, Boston, there was a lot of things happening. I want to talk about Al Horford, former Boston legend, now with the Golden State Warriors. He had like a very dark and ominous press conference where he was like overhead lighting mic. The most Dominican he's ever looked.

[Davey]

You can't have that. Yeah, he looks super Dominican. If there was any question that Al Horford was Dominican, this one image,

[Gus]

in

[Davey]

very clear fashion, put all those to bed. You know, the decision was has something, you know, it's something that's deeper than just the basketball, you know, stuff of it. And it's something that at some point I'll share, you know, with people. But for me, it felt like it was the time for me to go elsewhere. That's at north of 40 Dominican hairline if I've ever seen one.

[Hank]

So he's talking about Boston, he's talking about the locker room. Obviously something negative happening, obviously. But just the lighting around the. You knew is negative. There's no way that it's. That lighting can be positive. But as Jeremy talks about, you know, inviting Jason Tatum back in Jaylen Brown, the whole locker room, it's like there obviously is something more there that is not being said nice. You know, even going back to the email doka situation, like there's been kind of like things in the background with Boston Joe Missoula. Like all these different things are a little bit odd. So I. I just find it hard to believe that the locker room is going to be so kumbaya. They're going to bring back Jason Tatum and be like, yeah, guys, like, we're all a family. We're all love.

[Davey]

Let's go.

[Hank]

Power of friendship. Like, that doesn't exist.

[Ethan]

I'm looking forward.

[Gus]

I disagree with that. I think it's the opp it effect. They're going to welcome back something that's already worked for them and obviously yielded a championship. The James Harden. Any faith in what he's capable of doing these playoffs? Tashay, do you also. Were you also one of those people that, like f this is the year that the Jags get over the hump in the playoffs. This is the year the Toronto Maple Leafs make a Stanley cup run. James Harden is what he is. He is a flop in the postseason. I see no reason why that won't continue just because he's in Cleveland.

[Ian]

There's a real chance that that's the case. He actually has played better than what his postseason ref reputation is over the last probably four or five years of making the postseason. The problem has been he has still been dreadful in elimination games. So unless Cleveland is able to just run through the conference and not be in a spot where they're facing elimination, it's likely that we end up back in the same scenario. The only hope would be that then Donovan Mitchell, who has also had his own struggles since that most beautiful basketball game.

[Ethan]

No one has like the impression that Donovan Mitchell is a choker.

[Ian]

No, no. But it all that's also because in a series that he lost to Jamal Murray, he had one of the greatest games that we've ever seen.

[Davey]

Basketball in its purest form.

[Ian]

And then number one, speaking of basketball in its purest form, Wemby and the spurs going with the Oklahoma City Thunder. So here's where we're at. Here's where we're at.

[Davey]

Chris, remember, go ahead and hit it.

[Ian]

Remember when the Thunder were going to win like 80 games?

[Hank]

Yeah, I do.

[Ian]

Yeah. So they have a two and a half game.

[Ethan]

Timing was much better there, Chris.

[Ian]

They have a two and a half lead over the Spurs. That's it. Two and a half games for that one seed in the Western Conference.

[Davey]

I am into the OKC San Antonio thing because okc, the story going into this season was like, well, it's their league now and they're so set to run this league with all the lottery picks. They've built this franchise perfectly and now it's made a guy who seems unfair. Wembanyama seems unfair when he entered the league. I'm like, they need to do something about the rules to stop this guy. A guy with that height, that skill level somehow is positioned as the underdog here. And I think that's a fascinating, especially when you consider, because I'm a big believer in sports being at its best when it's regional, that being a regional rivalry that can actually carry this league. In the meantime, because OKC is not the most thrilling of storylines, just try

[Ethan]

and do a little bit better when paying attention. Okay, Chris?

[Hank]

So when, when you look at Wemby, Mike and I agree, like, obviously he is this like once in a generation talent. But the spurs are so good because of what they have outside of Wendy Castle, Fox, Harper, like they're bigs.

[Fitz]

I know some of those good revelation

[Hank]

for like revelation for, you know what

[Davey]

you mentioned de' Aaron Fox. I'm adding them to the list of, of people that the Miami Heat should have went after and failed.

[Gus]

Darren Fox is on the spurs.

[Hank]

No longer a king, Davey.

[Gus]

Wow.

[Ian]

But can he be?

[Gus]

Did you know the Pacers who were in the finals last year are now in last place?

[Davey]

That's because. Did you know Halliburton's hurt?

[Gus]

Yeah, I heard about that. I do remember that they did trade

[Hank]

for a Vita Zubots though. Big get for them.

[Davey]

Yeah, I wrote down learn about Jalen Duran.

[Ian]

That guy's good.

[Gus]

You're going to love him.

[Davey]

I'll learn him.

[Ian]

But with the thing with the Thunder and the spurs, like the fascinating part in this isn't just that there's a two and a half game lead that theoretically the spurs can overcome and have Wemby really surge into an MVP conversation that he, despite being arguably the best player in the NBA, hasn't really been in because he's only played 40 games thus far. If he's healthy and leads San Antonio and can reach the proper game mark and lead San Antonio to overcoming Oklahoma City for home court advantage. That would be a fascinating story in particular because San Antonio's kind of owned

[Ethan]

Oklahoma city kind of four out of

[Ian]

five, three of the 14 losses that Oklahoma City has this season are at the hands of Wemby in this sport. Spurs, they're, they're, I think the four out of five. I think they've won four of the last five, but I think they've only, I think they only play four times in the regular season. So.

[Ethan]

No. But Mike played in the NBA Cup.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Ian]

Oh, the NBA Cup. Right. Okay.

[Davey]

So.

[Ian]

But either way, they've won four out of five here.

[Ethan]

Yeah.

[Davey]

Yes, Dave.

[Gus]

And Mike is 100% right. The things that make sports sing are rivalries. One and a regional rivalry at that is juicy. While OKC Chase is a potential dynasty. That's number two and number three is who's the face of the league. And we'll settle that hash too. It was going to be sga, but then Wemby caught him and passed him up and a. And Edwards and all the rest of it. But yeah, absolutely right. What that could do. Plus Denver is kind of in that region too.

[Ian]

Denver, that's going to be a 3,

[Gus]

3 horse race for the West.

[Hank]

Denver has probably the best player on the planet.

[Ethan]

Right.

[Hank]

And everybody's kind of forgotten that because Jokic has been heard and I'm forgotten games or whatever. You haven't forgotten.

[Ethan]

You'll speak for me.

[Davey]

Was he an MVP of the day this season? He has, he has been a couple times.

[Hank]

Julian G also said that, that Jokic was going to be the mvp. He reported that back in I think November. So it was an early, early thing there. Right now I think the bontem straw poll that is talked about in NBA circles has SGA right now kind of far and away the. The mvp, which is interesting because they're yes, obviously the best team when everybody's healthy. They haven't been healthy. He himself hasn't been healthy. So like OKC has a very interesting proposition in front of him for the next 41 games. Like they've got to make sure that they do not let the spurs get past them but also get healthy enough to have a very long playoff run in the west, which is going to be a absolute brutality.

[Ian]

And that's the weird part about the seating I was talking about earlier three through seven. Because sure, right now Denver is the three seed, which would be the coolest thing because it could set up for a WEMBY vs. Jokic in the second round, which. Which is exactly what the NBA needs. Winner going to play Oklahoma City. But the amazing part about this rivalry.

[Davey]

He's coming to take your kitchen.

[Ian]

Oh yes. Oklahoma City and. And San Antonio, like Oklahoma City has these guys locked up for the long term in Che and Jalen Williams and Chet Wemby. Bobby Marks was saying earlier is going to sign that five year extension with San Antonio. So this isn't just about a rivalry that could start the season, the decade long rivalry. This could be one of those true regional decade long rivalries between two teams that are right near each other and it could start this season. So we'll see what happens through the rest of the NBA season in terms of those standings. But that's my my number one storyline that I'm watching out west with those two.

[Hank]

That's a fun story.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Ethan]

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Oh.

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[Davey]

Dan LeBatard There is no question, Dan LeBatard, show included.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Davey]

St. Wait.

[Ethan]

Overrated.

[Commercial Announcer]

What's going on?

[Davey]

Dan Lerd? Hey, Altered World or what?

[Commercial Announcer]

Oh my goodness.

[Ethan]

This is the D Levatar show with the stuff.

[Fitz]

This episode of the Dan Leptard show is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the Crown is yours.

[Ethan]

All right, guys, I'm going to take the conversation on a little bit of a political turn now. Mike, what do you think of Josh Pate?

[Davey]

I love Josh Pate.

[Ethan]

He's excellent, right?

[Davey]

I'm a big fan of his. I like his show and Josh Pate, historically, Zsasz has had a very clear rule about his show. His show is legitimately an escape from politics. It's as apolitical a show as you can have. Now, Josh Pate, I think the world of him star is ascending. He has recently announced on his social media platform he taped an interview with sitting president Donald Trump. Donald Trump will be on Josh Pate's show this Sunday. Now, Josh Pate put out a statement saying that when the sitting president is offered to you, you take it 100% of the time. And this is going to be an nil discussion. It's under the guise of Donald Trump joining Josh Pate's show just to talk nil. And he goes on to add that anybody expecting a political discussion will be severely disappointed.

[Ethan]

Okay, so is he saying because it's already been taped and maybe they edited stuff out.

[Davey]

It has been taped and here's where it's impossible to have an apolitical, nonpartisan discussion with this sitting president because he always takes it there. In fact, the one video that I've seen of Donald Trump meeting Josh Pate getting ready to tape this interview is you think Biden knows anything about nil? He wouldn't be doing something like this already takes it to a partisan place because look, this president is very slippery when it comes to these interviews. He is going to shoehorn partisanship and lies and he's going to cut you off when you try to hold him accountable at every end. Now, I don't think Josh Pates wants to have a political discussion. I believe when he aspires to being this apolitical show and wants to keep the discussion there, the interview subject never stays on one subject and always tries to gets his shot on. And this is a real issue for sports in general. Pat McAfee had the president on and he defended himself. It's veterans say you take the president when you have shows like this, nevermind a show that has always aspired to an apolitical nature, you are further normalizing something that is not normal. Today the Supreme Court shot down Donald Trump's tariffs, saying they were illegal in any other political career. Your Biggest policy being struck down as illegal would be a huge deal. But to us in this country, it is just merely a Friday morning news dump because that's the nature of politics in this country right now. When you give Donald Trump a platform, he is going to seize the opportunity to espouse lies, election denial and do whatever he can. And most of these shows are not equipped to hold him accountable. He will trample you. He does this with some of the best interviewers in the in the nation that are political reporters. So I was disappointed to see this. I will give him the benefit of the doubt, but I guarantee you within seven seconds, Donald Trump is going to take that to a place that is going to be Donald Trumpy. It's going to push partisanship and it is going to really make me disappointed because I also wanted Josh Pate for an escape. This is a very regional sport. In college football, I have to sit down at Hard Rock Stadium surrounded by hats that have the U logo in the middle of a TR and an mp I cannot escape this person. In this sport, there are political opinions flying left and right. And for a guy who is famous for trying to make sure you don't have to worry about that with your college football, this is a huge bummer. And I don't like that we continue to normalize what we're seeing out there.

[Ethan]

So, Tony, I heard you're not going to try and you're trying not to pay your taxes this year, huh?

[Hank]

Yeah, you know what? I don't like the way the government's been acting. This is the one year I'm considering. You know what? I don't think that I'm going to pay taxes this year. And again, irs, I'm probably going to pay them. So you don't have to look into what's going on.

[Ethan]

Probably.

[Hank]

The point being we're going to be insolvent in Social Security in like seven to 10 years. So I'm paying into a situation that I'm not going to see. A B, there's a lot of money going a lot of places that I don't really approve of. C, I don't really want to pay the taxes, so I'm considering not doing it. Zaz Davey, what do you think?

[Ethan]

So quick reminder, Roy, for the gold medal game hockey show live stream this Sunday, 8am Eastern time. We are hoping it's USA Canada. I mean, we're open. It's USA. We're hoping it's USA Canada, but did I leave anything out there, Roy? 8am Eastern time live stream Hockey show.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yes, sir. And right now, Canada is not off to a good start. They gave up a goal off the face off to Miko Retinon. High glove side.

[Ethan]

All right, bye. Time people hear this, though that is in the past. All right.

[Davey]

But I do think Roy is right to, you know, at least open up the possibility that this is not USA Canada, because Finland is a really good side and they're showing it right now.

[Ethan]

All right, everybody calm down.

[Gus]

What is the finished thing that they do all the time? Suomo. Suomo.

[Davey]

I'm sure that's finished celebratory thing.

[Gus]

Why? No, but that's what I'm saying. I assume it's finished for something. I was wondering what specific this is

[Ethan]

the part of the show where you ask us about customs from other countries that we have no idea about.

[Hank]

I think we're finished.

[Dan Le Batard]

Hey.

[Gus]

Oh, terrific. Also good.

[Davey]

I don't see anybody looking it up.

[Gus]

Apparently we're all finished having to pay taxes because from what I understand, AI is going to make us all impossibly wealthy. None of us are going to have to work. I don't know exactly how the AI is going to pay the mortgage and all of that, but I've been assured that all those concerns will will all work out in our favor. Mike, picking up on what you were just talking about with Josh Pate, I consider it a little weird that he said when he's offered to you, when the president of the United States is offered to you, it feels weighted to me a little bit like getting an offer you can't refuse. If you say no. If Donald Trump. Trump were to contact you and say I want to use you as the vessel to deliver a message on whatever nil in this case, if you say no, that comes with some baggage, too. Now, you violated what he wanted to do and so you're probably in some trouble. But I'm skeptical about this because at the same place is Pat McAfee isn't. Wouldn't that be Trump's go to. He reached out. His people reached out to Josh Page of all the people on the big blue marble to talk about nil with.

[Davey]

I don't doubt it.

[Gus]

I feel like Josh Pate probably reached out to him.

[Ethan]

Yeah, I would have seen.

[Gus]

But why would he reach out to Pate?

[Davey]

Because Donald Trump and his team are really good at identifying these properties that

[Ethan]

have and it's like the fastest rising

[Davey]

college football show that have a particular base that he wants to reach. And I don't think this is a coincidence. Just days after hitting the links with Urban Meyer, who apparently does not know what the word bipartisan means, and Nick Saban as a. Look, Donald Trump has been desperate to inject himself into college football. We have seen this for months on end, and it hasn't exactly gone his way. Anytime any form of legislation goes to Congress, it dies. And the haves in this sport want it to go back to the old ways. That's what Nick Saban and Urban Meyer are trying to protect, where the power dynamic is different, where the players, the student athletes do not have the same level of power right now. Trust me when I tell you this. Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, they're not looking to fully empower the student athletes the way that they are right now to the tune of them winning every single court case. They're looking to strip away some of their rights and tilt the odds back in the favor of these establishment. And I hope that Josh Pate checks him on that because I do think that there is validity to that and I do think it's interesting. Even if you were offered the opportunity to speak to this president, where I stopped short is this is not a normal president and he is always going to take the conversation in a partisan direction. He is always going to inject lies into the conversation. Are you equipped to check him on that or you at least equipped, equipped to deflect and move the conversation on and hone in on the issues at hand, which is your focus, College football. I'm skeptical because I've never seen anybody be able to do it. And for a guy who has prided himself on being apolitical, this was disappointing to me.

[Gus]

Completely agree with you, Mike. But consider what I said, though. If Donald Trump reaches out to you and you say no to him, then that feels like a fraught position to take. What if Donald Trump, you're a legitimate college football voice. What if Donald Trump reached out to you and said, I would like to sit down with you one on one and talk about, about the state of college football. Would you say no to that?

[Davey]

No, because I know that I would go at him in a way. Well, first off, he'd never be offered to me because I wouldn't play ball like that.

[Dan Le Batard]

I get it.

[Davey]

But yeah, no, I would love it. I would love that.

[Gus]

I'm just saying that the grace I would give, the grace I give Josh Pate here is, how can you really say no? It's easy to say, come on, stiff arm him, but you're putting yourself in a tough spot professionally. If you do that.

[Davey]

I kind of think he actually, given

[Gus]

what he's done to Kimmel and everybody

[Davey]

else, I think he. I never aspire to be apolitical, and I never pride myself on it the way that Josh Pate has. I actually think he earns a lot. I don't know if it ever comes out, if he turns down the opportunity, because that's not necessarily something that Trump's administration would tout. Hey, this guy said no. That's an embarrassing look for him. I actually think Josh Pate gains a lot by saying, I was offered the opportunity to speak to the president, and I declined. Because this show is always and will forever be in escape from politics, which is something that he's pounded the table for.

[Ethan]

Let's get started.

[Gus]

Terry Moran lost his. Terry Moran lost his job. And. And Stephen Colbert is dealing with those issues and Kimmel's dealing with his, and so on and so forth. There are a number of examples of if you go against what this administration wants, it puts you in a tough spot professionally and beyond.

[Davey]

Hey, everybody, it's Mike Ryan. Now, if you've been following the show, you know, I've been traveling, been super busy, been supporting my favorite football team with mixed, right? Not the greatest hang so far in 2026. I try to find every excuse in the book. I had one buddy that was trying to invite me out. I wanted to stay in. He's like, come on, let's watch this NBA game. So I go over to his house, I watch this NBA game, and guess what? Something amazing happened. He pulled out the Miller lights, and I knew right away I made the right call. Next thing you know, we're toasting, we're celebrating, we're having a great time. We're talking about nostalgia, we're talking about old friends that we had, and it was all thanks to Miller Lite. That icebreaker. Because when you actually say yes and you actually show up, you want a beer that fits the moment. For me, that's Miller Lite legendary moments. Start with Miller Lite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.