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Dan Le Batard
This is the Dan Levator show with the Stugats podcast. Big media news yesterday in the NFL world. I like media news. I like that kind of stuff. I don't know. It's a little bit niche. I. Yeah, I like it. And yesterday I saw. And this comes on the heels of the whole Belichick hall of Fame fiasco. Tony Dungy out at Football Night of America. How about that?
Dave
I read that. And Tony Dungey is. Seems like a nice man. I've never understood his role. What makes him compelling broadcaster.
Dan Le Batard
He seems really nice and also, like, really polarizing.
Dave
Yes, well, he.
Mike
He's been doing it for a really long time where you're kind of looking around like, how long has Tony Dungy been on tv?
Dan Le Batard
And does he add anything?
Mike
I haven't. I don't really remember anything that he said. In fact, like, his moment on TV was kind of getting yelled at by Rodney Harrison. I'm like, all right, that's good. Let's. If his roles be yelled at, I think I'm in on this. But usually these studio shows, they cycle through these talents, and he'd been doing it for close to, like, 15 years at a certain point. Like, what. What. What makes you keep that job?
Dan Le Batard
So, Dave, what Mike is referencing there, you remember this, though, like, the last time we saw Tony Dungy on television, this was ahead of the Super Bowl. And Rodney Harrison dressed him down over the Belichick situation, which is.
Rodney Harrison
Any list that doesn't include Bill Belichick at the top is absolutely wrong. And a lot of those players that we mentioned, they're great players. I play with Drew Brees, I play with Adam Dennetary, but there's nobody more deserving to be in that hall of Fame than Coach Belichick. I've seen his greatness. I've seen him design defenses to stop your offense. And you just look at the players that he's impacted. He's been unbelievable. And when I look out throughout the hall of Fame and even a guy like Tom Brady. Tom Brady wouldn't be Tom Brady without Bill Belichick. And that's the disappointing part of it, Coach. And you guys got it wrong.
Dan Le Batard
I don't think I'm. I don't think I'm speaking out of turn when I say Rodney Harrison, I believe, is legitimately dressing down Tony Dungy there. Because if you were just talking about Belichick and the whole situation with Belichick not having made the hall of Fame, I mean, I feel like he would have turned to the camera a couple times. Where he's like, he's talking to America, he's talking to the audience. Here he is straight up telling him, you're wrong, player.
Amin Elhassan
Yeah, well, he said two things. One is shut down your offense, right? That's a direct one, not a generic. Oh, he shut down great offense. He shut down your offense. And two is you guys got it wrong. And so that's. I don't.
Dan Le Batard
And Dungy refuses to admit which way he voted. He still is not admitted.
Amin Elhassan
This is. I don't like this. I don't like this part of it. The idea that if you didn't do it, that you should just say, I didn't do it, it wasn't me. Like that necessarily mean that he voted against me.
Dan Le Batard
Right, but you know what it implies, though?
Con Canepel
Like, you got it wrong. Implies you and whoever it is that
Dan Le Batard
you voted no, but. No, but Dungey not admitting it. I understand what you're saying. Where Dungey, look, he's trying to be. He's trying to do the admirable thing where. No, no, no, even I voted that way. I still wouldn't tell you because I believe in not sharing the vote.
Ad/Promo Voice
But.
Dan Le Batard
But in this situation, we all know not sharing which way you vote means. Tony, you know, all of us now believe you didn't vote for Belichick.
Dave
He could have corrected that. What is curious to me, first of all, did Rodney Harrison, Rodney Harrison, likely the producer says to him, the pregame producer says, hey guys, we're going to talk about the Belichick thing. And obviously Coach Dungey, you are one of. Are a part of the committee. And Rodney, you're raw about this. So this should be a pretty good conversation. They're coached up for the conversation. Did Rodney Harrison say to the producer, otherwise, I'm going to go at Dungey here. Is that okay with everybody? I bet you he did. Bet you he didn't just go. Just didn't go in on his own like that. Big shocker, everybody. I'm going after my colleague. I bet you got sign off. And, and if that's true, did they say to him, like, go ahead, feel free, man, go ahead, go at him. And knowing, like, we feel like he's run his course for us anyway, Dave,
Amin Elhassan
I got to say, as someone who did a live studio show for years at espn, yes, you are prepped on the conversation. Sometimes they'll tell you who the, the, you know, so and so is going to take the other stance or whatever. But it's live tv, man. He could absolutely audible that.
Dan Le Batard
That's called Going into business for yourself, right?
Amin Elhassan
Like, is that what it's called? Yeah. He could absolutely audible that and say, I'm going to go more point. I can be hot on it, but I'm going to be pointed because hot on it is just everything he said, minus opinion, your offense and minus. You got it wrong.
Dave
I agree. But I also think, having done those pre production meetings and everything else, they do sort of get a hint of where you're going to take things. And I would not be surprised if Rodney Harrison said, given the gravity of, like, I'm gonna go at this guy who's a Hall of Fame voter and I wanna get into the hall of Fame myself. And I feel like I've been left on the outside as well. But I'm here to talk about Belichick. I could see them saying, like, yeah, go ahead, dude, do that. Yeah, go after him there.
Amin Elhassan
Because the other part of this is the people in the production meeting those producers. They have no idea about contract negotiations. They have no idea, like, oh, Dunjee's not coming back. That's not. That's not something that they know. I know this because the first time they tried to get my ass up out of espn, they gave me a deal that basically was like, you could be on TV ten times a whole year. And I'd blown through that in the first two months because the producers who produced the shows that I did were not privy to that conversation, as though
Dave
that's a universal rule. I mean, some producers know what's going on. They know, like, this guy is running out the string here. He's not gonna be back with us next season. There's some producers involved that would know that.
Dan Le Batard
How quickly do they call Tomlin for that job?
Mike
I think Tomlin's not doing anything. And I think the biggest indicator is that he didn't even have, like, this goodbye from Pittsburgh, no goodbye to the press and his chums. I think Mike Tomlin wants nothing to do with football.
Dave
For a little bit, I'm inclined to agree with you. Who's your choice? Mike.
Mike
That's available right now? That's a good question. Now, I know that, like, these broadcasters have been really hot on the idea of getting Mike Tomlin, like, they've reached out to him in previous years where his name wasn't in the mix. But I believe that Mike Tomlin, for at least for the moment, wants to
Dan Le Batard
stay away from it if he decides to retire Travis Kelsey.
Mike
Yeah, I would. I would really make a run. And I know he's. I know he's coaching and he's really enjoying that. I would love Philip Rivers on these broadcasts.
Dave
Oh, yeah, that's a great call.
Mike
Yeah. And remember when Jay Cutler first retired, there was talks of him being in a Fox booth and then he just never did that.
Dave
No, no, he. He wasn't in the booth.
Mike
Did he do a. I feel like
Dan Le Batard
he did a couple games.
Amin Elhassan
Yeah, he did, but they said you can't smoke in here. And he was like, well, maybe, maybe not.
Mike
In the booth is where I would just like to see his kind of energy, his toxic energy around the game a little bit more.
Amin Elhassan
Can I step in here? On behalf of everyone who wasn't a former player who did a studio show, can you not replace the coach with another player? Can we get another coach in there? Because I see this a lot where I said more players, more players and
Mike
like went off the board because everyone's just going to naturally pick a head coach to replace him. I'm good. The coaches don't usually give me much.
Amin Elhassan
They give you some.
Con Canepel
There's a guy who's really good. He's probably going to be playing maybe for. For Davey Steelers coming up. But Kirk Cousins on TV has been excellent.
Mike
Yeah, he's been like.
Con Canepel
He breaks it down in a way that is super digestible. It's easy to understand what he's talking about from a quarterback's perspective. Like, I think Kirk can do really well on you. If you.
Dave
If goal is heat attention and that is the game, as I've been told by Amin, that that's what you want, then I don't think he could do any better than Aaron Rodgers.
Dan Le Batard
He would never.
Con Canepel
He want to do it.
Dan Le Batard
He would never do it.
Dave
I'm just. I'm floating out there and.
Dan Le Batard
He'd be a huge hypocrite, by the way. Massive hypocrite. If he does it.
Mike
I think he would. I think he likes talking.
Amin Elhassan
We've never seen that before. A massive hypocrite.
Dave
The hypocrites that turn around and end up being some of our most charming analysts that we watch on tv. John Madden. People cannot fathom the idea that until he left the Raiders, most of football America hated him. He was a curmudgeon.
Mike
He was not.
Dave
He was not a delightful heavyset fella who just loves talking about our favorite pastime.
Dan Le Batard
Has that movie come out yet?
Amin Elhassan
No, there's still no. Someone got someone quit. Right? Because.
Mike
Well, because the. Yeah.
Amin Elhassan
David O. Russell.
Mike
There was a Slurpee. That was.
Amin Elhassan
David O. Russell might have uttered a
Mike
slur casually on set. And it's. There were stories.
Dan Le Batard
Why'd he do that?
Dave
He's.
Mike
He's, you know, he's. He's. There's some stuff to him.
Con Canepel
What is he?
Amin Elhassan
David O. Russell is known to be a provocative.
Dan Le Batard
Did he do Silver Linings? Isn't that him, too?
Amin Elhassan
Yeah. So he's been known to do provocative things to get the most out of his actors and, like, cross lines at times. And so it's not clear whether this was, again, part of this master plan of him to, like, let me get something out of these guys, or if it was just like Mike said, just casually dropped there, but he said something. And one of the main actors, not Nicolas Cage and not Christian Bale, but someone else quit, said, I'm not working on this.
Mike
There's this class of director in Hollywood and David or Russell seems like an old school. Like a William Friedkin type director.
Amin Elhassan
William Friedkin, absolutely.
Mike
Yeah. There was a great documentary on what a jerk he was on the set. And Michael Mann has also driven people kind of batty on the set.
Amin Elhassan
I got a great freaking story on Not Basketball Illuminati. Sue me. On Cinephobe. Cinephobe is a podcast I do with Zach Harper. We watch movies that are poorly rated on Rotten Tomatoes and try to ascertain whether they're accurately rated or maybe they didn't get a fair shake. Cinephobe, you get it wherever you get podcasts. And it's produced by Anthony Mays. This week, by the way, we've got the movie Senseless, the 1997 movie Senseless with David Spade and Marlon Wayans.
Mike
Marlon Wayans, yes.
Amin Elhassan
But on Cinnabon.
Dan Le Batard
Get out of here with that movie.
Mike
That movie wasn't that bad from what I remember.
Amin Elhassan
You may wanna rewatch it.
Mike
Of the time.
Amin Elhassan
May wanna rewatch it. Yeah, absolutely. Of the time. What was it about?
Con Canepel
I didn't catch that.
Amin Elhassan
Senseless. I like that he takes, like, he takes an experimental drug and his senses are heightened, but he can't control him because he's Marlon Wayne.
Con Canepel
Gotcha.
Amin Elhassan
Okay, so he's falling out. But on Cinephobe, it's a riot. We did Blue Chips, the great William Prekin movie with Nick Nolte o', Neal, Anthony Hardaway. Foul. Right? It is absolutely amazing.
Dan Le Batard
You know about Butch McCray.
Amin Elhassan
All about that Butch McCray.
Dan Le Batard
You know about Leon Bideau, Dion Bateau, neon battle Leon.
Amin Elhassan
That's not Leon.
Dave
Bobby Hurd wears Indiana red, white, cream and Crimson Shame, the devil.
Amin Elhassan
The point is good friend and the guy who played Tony In Blue Chips, whose name is actually Tony in real life, tells the scene about, you know, when Nick Nolte discovers that he was point shaving. He rushes up into the house and he grabs him and he says, is it true? Is it true? He's like, come on. It's just go. But we won the game anyway. You know, the tyranny, all that stuff. Apparently freaking right before that scene smacked him like. Like, not like a. Like a whap.
Dan Le Batard
Who did? Nolte.
Amin Elhassan
No, he smacked Tony. And Tony's thing was like, you know, you could have just told me. I want you to. I want you to really. Well, you didn't have to do that. But it's a great scene. It comes out, but it goes back to what Mike is talking about. By the way, go back and listen to Cinephobe episode on Blue Chips. If you go into Spotify and just search Blue Chips on me, you'll find it. We have all that conversation with Tony, who's incredible. But, yeah, there's a class of director in Hollywood. It's kind of from yesteryear where it's like, hey, my job is to get the performance out of you. And there are no lines. And it's not how I feel for real, and it's not how I would actually act. But in this scenario where the cameras are here and the lights are on, I will do whatever it takes to get that performance out of you. And David O. Russell certainly fits that bill.
Mike
Yeah. And he's a filmmaker that is known to get these great performances out of actors. Michael Mann's really, like, one of the lone holdovers along with David O. Russell. There is a new school way to do that. Aronofsky is a director that is often, like, thought of as a guy that if you work with him, you're going to have a good shot at an Oscar because you're going to deliver the performance of your career. But a lot of those guys land on the wrong side.
Amin Elhassan
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Mike
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Amin Elhassan
We often ask you to support those who support us.
Mike
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Dan Le Batard
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Dan Le Batard
Don LeBatard doesn't matter anywhere.
Amin Elhassan
We could do it in Buffalo or Baltimore. Either you say you could do it where? Anywhere. Oh, whoa. Oh, that's crazy. That's crazy. That's crazy. He said he could do it anywhere. That's crazy. Murder. Murder. Tell him Stugach.
Mike
I had no idea Mean had that in his locker.
Amin Elhassan
That might be his best.
Mike
That's crazy.
Con Canepel
I'm not kidding.
Amin Elhassan
That's crazy.
Con Canepel
Killer.
Amin Elhassan
It's two America's dead. You don't get it.
Dan Le Batard
This is the Dan lebatar Show with the Stugach. I read a similar situation to that we were talking about from Blue Chips recently with the movie Whiplash where. Yep, you know, the very famous scene, you know, where he is at a different time tempo when J.K. simmons smacks him while he's berating him. That the smacking was not in the script and he didn't tell Miles Teller that he was going to smack him, but he did it in the scene. And obviously Miles Teller, being a good enough actor, just rolled with it.
Amin Elhassan
Very similar scenario happened in the movie Starsky and Hutch when Vince Vaughn slapped Snoop Dogg. Snoop said, that wasn't in the script and he smacked the shit out of me. And I and I got upset. He said part of me was going to kill him and part of me was like, you're an actor, stay with it. And they finished the scene. Said as soon as they finished the scene, Vince Vaughn hugs him and says, please don't kill me. I felt it. I just went within the moment. So they had a good laugh. By the way, that cinephobe episode 214 blue chips.
Dan Le Batard
Amin. It is now time for a segment that is sweeping the nation. It's called do you know about that?
Amin Elhassan
I thought it was who he played for.
Mike
Is this ball with Taba Amin.
Dan Le Batard
I go over a few big stories in the NBA. Everybody learns a little bit and we find out if you know about that. You ready for. You know about that?
Amin Elhassan
Gotta earn, I gotta learn.
Dan Le Batard
All right, Amin. So Matt Ishbia, he's the owner of the Phoenix Suns, he came out recently and he said, that's why I give it. And he said next year, the all star game, which is being hosted by Phoenix, you'll be there. That's where you live. You live there.
Amin Elhassan
I do.
Dan Le Batard
Matt Ishbia, in order to ramp up the competition, is offering a million dollars, his own money, to the winner of the throw three point to the winner of the slam dunk. And it will also be matched to charity. You know about that?
Amin Elhassan
I did not know about that. I'm learning it right now. But I'll say a couple of things. Number one, I've gone on the record as saying next year is going to be the greatest All Star weekend ever. Ever. Hands down, there's not a city in America that can touch us. Maybe New Orleans, but no one else can touch us as far as hosting All Star weekend.
Dan Le Batard
Why?
Amin Elhassan
It's just a combination of. Our weather is awesome, our building is brand new. Our, our. We have no traffic. Our things are all located centrally. Like all the stuff is downtown or old town Scottsdale. And Even so there's 20 minutes car ride apart, plenty of Ubers, super easy airport that's in the middle of town, a lot of direct flights. No one is going to touch us. We are the epitome of Phoenix.
Con Canepel
Sounds nice, dude.
Amin Elhassan
It is awesome.
Dan Le Batard
Yeah, I've never been.
Mike
Everything is like 25 minutes away, though.
Amin Elhassan
What's the one thing?
Mike
But it's fine.
Amin Elhassan
25 minutes. You live in Miami, bro.
Mike
No, I know, it's fine.
Con Canepel
25 minutes to get to the car.
Mike
No, but like, there's Glendale, Scottsdale, like, they're far away.
Amin Elhassan
There's not Glendale. Nobody's going out to Glendale. If you're all star weekend and someone says, let's go to Glendale for this, they're lying to you. They're trying to rob you. Is that what's happening? But to the Matt Ishbia thing, this is what I like about Matt Ishbia. He's a guy that isn't afraid to throw money at. At problems. Right? For whatever it takes. So this idea sounds great. It Sounds amazing. It's in line with a lot of stuff he's done to really improve the fan experience in Phoenix, including dropping concession prices. There's cheap, There's a dollar waters, dollar hot dogs, dollar popcorn. At Suns games, every game. Right. Having said that, an NBA owner offering a million dollars of his own cash to the winner of competitions who will be most likely playing for teams that are not his, that's tampering. Unless it's a three point contest because he's got a guy named Devin Booker who could win. That's cap circumvention.
Mike
Interesting. Can't he just get one of his companies to like, be the sponsor?
Amin Elhassan
Yeah, no one would ever be able to trace that.
Mike
No one.
Amin Elhassan
Well, maybe there's one guy in New York.
Dan Le Batard
All right, so it sounds like you know about that.
Amin Elhassan
He's got a podcast that won best podcast of the sports podcast of the year.
Con Canepel
The Haunted Episode.
Amin Elhassan
What's up?
Con Canepel
The Haunted Episode.
Amin Elhassan
Not the Haunted Episode. I think it's just overall.
Con Canepel
It's overall, but that's a piece of it.
Amin Elhassan
And by the way, we have a big episode dropping today about NBA gambling. We dug deeper with Pablo. Tori finds out and they're gonna do a wife. A live wife. A live watch along today.
Dave
Zaz, that was a very long answer from Amin.
Dan Le Batard
And I know he knows about that. That's why.
Dave
Yeah, he does know about that. Can I very quickly just ask, because you mentioned NBA gambling and point shaving earlier. Yes, I am one of these people. How does point shaving work? How do you successfully shave points and still win the game, but make sure you maintain the margin needed? Doesn't it feel like you should miss a lot of the time with that? Like, got to land in between. Got to land right in the middle there. That's hard to do.
Amin Elhassan
Dave, I'm sorry. So glad you asked that question. I'm sure there are millions of people listening to this. Like, yeah, I had the same question. Pablo Torre finds out on YouTube about this. We have video evidence of what it looks like to point shave.
Dave
Wow. But how do you make sure we don't? Okay, we're gonna win. Well, let's score.
Mike
Too many.
Dave
Like, we gotta come in under five and a half there is real. It's gotta be tough.
Amin Elhassan
It's not easy.
Dan Le Batard
Lose some games and it's gotta look.
Amin Elhassan
And it's gotta look natural. And spoiler alert, this guy did not make it look natural.
Dan Le Batard
I mean, the Los Angeles Lakers, they have hired Tony Bennett. That's right, the great Tony Bennett, former Virginia Coach, that is the singer, not him at all. That is on the video screen right
Amin Elhassan
now in San Francisco.
Dan Le Batard
Different Tony Bennett. They hired Tony Bennett as a draft advisor. Does J.J. redick have to be worried? Do you know about that?
Amin Elhassan
I do know about that because I had a great conversation with Mike Ryan this morning about people who annoy you despite not having done much against you in their lives.
Mike
Tony Bennett gets under my skin. And he hasn't done anything outside of having, like, a terrible style of play.
Dave
Right.
Dan Le Batard
Well, that's it.
Mike
And he quit when Nil came around, and he's just like, this stinks. I'm gonna go. There was a game over the weekend where Miami was at Virginia. It was a really great game, back and forth the entire time.
Ad/Promo Voice
Tough finish.
Mike
Tony Bennett was in on the broadcast for 10 minutes. He got a picture in picture. I'm like, get this guy off the screen. I hate him. And then news came out yesterday that he's helping the Lakers as a draft advisor. I'm like, I'm not happy for him.
Con Canepel
Stop.
Dan Le Batard
So you know about that?
Mike
I do. I don't like him. I don't know why he didn't do much, but he sets me off.
Dan Le Batard
A national championship.
Mike
No, I mean, he didn't do much to bother me. He just said one thing about Nil that, you know, landed the wrong way on the wrong day.
Dan Le Batard
I mean, you know about that, though.
Amin Elhassan
I know about that. And I'm gonna tell you guys this. First of all, JJ Redick couldn't give two shits about the draft. He's worried about his team. It's not like the NFL where the coaches are very involved with, hey, what are we doing in this off season thing. NBA coaches are very much focused on just coaching the team now. Every once in a while, they'll come in and say, hey, you know who's a hell of a player? I saw that guy on TV last weekend in between me getting lunch or whatever. And front officers most of the time say, yeah, coach, good job.
Mike
We.
Amin Elhassan
We've seen him go back to work because the scouts have watched these guys for years, and the coach may have caught the second half of a March Madness game, and he thinks he's got an opinion. But to bring in a college coach, this is nothing to see here. Behavior in the NBA. Almost every NBA front office has a former college coach. And it's not for them to tell you, you know, who's really good. This guy. It's because of all the dirt. These guys recruited these guys, they scouted against them. They've got other friends, especially it's a former coach, they got other friends who are actively coaching and they'll tell you things about the player that you cannot see. It's all about intel. So I would say it's a good hire because Tony Bennett probably knows a lot of current coaches.
Dan Le Batard
All right, everybody settle down. Sounds like you know about that. I mean, the San Antonio spurs, last night they won at The Toronto Raptors. 110, 107. They don't lose anymore. They won 10 in a row, the Spurs. And even, even when Victor Wembanyama doesn't have a big game at 12 points and eight rebounds last night, whatever, they still get a real good road win at Toronto. Spurs never lose anymore. I mean, you know about that.
Amin Elhassan
I know all about that. The spurs are on fire and Oklahoma City better watch its back. Everyone's talking about Detroit. Oh, you might not have home court advantage in the finals to Oklahoma City. Guess what? They might not have a home court advantage in the conference finals. And it's even more, more steeped up when you think about, okay, so what, we'll just go on the road. Yeah, go on the road against a team that whooped your ass four out of five times this year. Shout out to the NBA cup for giving us a fifth matchup between the spurs and the Thunder.
Con Canepel
Not only that, when you look at a young team like that, it's so much better to play at home in those big time scenarios than going to probably the best atmosphere, I'd say the best atmosphere in the NBA in Oklahoma City fully loaded. It's insane to have those games, six game sevens at your place with a young core like they do is a super big deal.
Amin Elhassan
Having said that, if Oklahoma City's healthy, I'm taking OKC over San Antonio.
Caller/Guest
Really?
Dan Le Batard
All right, Sounds like you know about that. Amin. Amin, tonight you have what we could call a tank off. The New Orleans Pelicans are facing the Utah Jazz. But did you see Dejounte Murray? Dejounte Murray. He, he has been accused of requesting a trade before the deadline and he fired back on Twitter about that. All right, Dejounte Murray tweeted yesterday, let's clear the air cuz eff a source me or my agent never requested a trade out of New Orleans. The whole organization know I was locked in to come back better than ever to help make this play and push and whatever comes after that. I mean, I mean, you know about that 17 and 42 play in push.
Amin Elhassan
All right. You know, sometimes when you say, like, hey, it's Best to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. That's, that's kind of where Dejounte Murray, like, he shouldn't, shouldn't have said anything. Shouldn't have said anything. But shout out to Mirin Fader of the Athletics. She wrote a very nice feature on Dejounte Mary the other day that came out on the Athletic slash the New York Times. Go read it. It's not a tank of on. Tank off. On. Tank off. Tank off. It's not a tank off. Let me tell you why New Orleans does not control its pick. It goes to Atlanta, okay? Because of the Derrick Queen deal.
Caller/Guest
So.
Amin Elhassan
So believe it or not, when you look at the New Orleans Pelicans and you see 17 and 42, he's like, these tankers. Nope. They're actually God awful. Honest to God, they have every incentive to try to win and they just can't do it. Not a tank off. Now the Utah Jazz, on the other hand. Lauri Markkanen. You see this?
Dan Le Batard
Yep.
Mike
Tell that story.
Amin Elhassan
Got hurt at practice and needs an MRI and oh my God, I think Laurie might be shut down for the year. This goes back to my whole thing about tanking. You can't stop it. But what we can stop is the egregious tanking. The egregious tanking of like, hey, we're up. Sit em. That's wild. But like the. Oh, my back. It's done. You can't stop it. We had this a long time ago in the NBA. They had this thing called the injured list. You, you only had a certain amount of active players. 12 active players.
Dan Le Batard
Yeah.
Amin Elhassan
And you had three slots on the injured list. But you had to be injured in order to be on injured.
Dan Le Batard
And didn't you have to miss three
Amin Elhassan
games and five games. You'd miss five games if you were on injured list. So what teams were doing where they would say, Chris Cody has tendonitis. And it's like there's no scan for that. There's no imaging for that. You just have to take their word for it. And so they were carrying 15 healthy players under the auspices. Like, but he's hurt. We can always create the lie for why a guy can't play. You can never legislate against that. You just got to live with it and legislate out.
Caller/Guest
You.
Dan Le Batard
We just think it's amazing though, Dave, because like the players who are hurt on the bad teams, the teams that are taking everyone's getting surgery. It's like somebody's opening the door to the locker room of these bad. Yo, free surgery. Who wants surgery? Everybody's getting surgery.
Con Canepel
Me. My ankle hurts.
Mike
I'm in coach.
Dave
Also, though, the other side of it is it feels big brother. It's like sending in the feds to investigate this. And Adam Silver ultimately, as they always say, works for, for the owners. So what's the Jazz owner's reaction to getting leaned on by the league? They want to tank and there. That ownership group is not going to be happy with Adam Silver. Right?
Amin Elhassan
Yeah. His reaction is going to be, I'm a Jazz man.
Dan Le Batard
Finally got one more for you here. I mean, it sounds like you know about that. One more for you here. The Los Angeles Lakers the other night, well documented, Luca LeBron, they hate playing with each other. They lost the Orlando Magic. All right, but, but apparently at halftime of that game, going into the halftime locker room, DeAndre Ayton, he stinks, by the way. Deandre Ayton was heard yelling, they trying to make me Clint Capella. You know about that?
Amin Elhassan
I didn't know about that. But what I would say to Deandre Ayton is you wish you were. You wish you were Clint Capella. You win. And you know who else wishes you were Clint Capella?
Dan Le Batard
The Lakers.
Amin Elhassan
The Lakers. Luka, J.J. redick, LeBron. Like, that's. But this is again, Tony, we saw this come in the day date. Like, this is who he is. This is a guy who got snowed into his own house and just said, I'm not showing up to the game. Right? This is a guy that slept on a floor because his mattress wasn't delivered. He was like, ah, guess what, right? This is a guy who's notoriously unreliable and has a deluded sense of self. And so, yeah, this is what you get. Lakers. And one more time because the tweet is out. Pablo Torre is walking around the seats of New York and it says new investigation tonight, 5pm Eastern. YouTube live. Watch along of the latest episode of Pablo Torre finds out we're getting deep on the point shaving and the gambling. And, and this one is a global conspiracy. It starts here in the end. NBA, it goes to college basketball, it goes internationally. You don't want to miss it.
Con Canepel
It's a globalist.
Mike
I cannot believe that quote from Ayton. I mean, I can to. To think, to think it an insult to be compared to a player that I think of more favorably than everybody, everybody does, as if it were some sort of insult.
Amin Elhassan
Think about, think about like the weird delusional bubble you have to be in where it's like they're trying to make me. Let me think. Who is the most disrespectful name I can say.
Dan Le Batard
They're trying to make me Reggie Evans.
Amin Elhassan
Reggie Evans. Again, a more impactful champion, by the way.
Con Canepel
Champion Reggie Evans.
Mike
Big three.
Con Canepel
Big Three.
Dan Le Batard
But that would have made more sense in saying they're trying to make me Clint Capella.
Amin Elhassan
Like. Like I'm trying. What would be the name that would be appropriate? It would be like they're trying to make me Amino Hassan. Like that would be an appropriate name.
Dan Le Batard
You imagine if you said that, man,
Amin Elhassan
I would be so happy. You wish. You wish they tried to make you a Mino Hassan.
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Dan Le Batard
Don Lebatard.
Rodney Harrison
Where the motherfucker Ruiz at? Bring his ass on here.
Amin Elhassan
Where's the mother Ruiz is a great question. Stugats running, huh?
Rodney Harrison
He running today, huh? I'm ready.
Dan Le Batard
This is the Don Levatar show with the stugats.
Mike
I still can't believe that time in Portland where he was iced in as if that were like a reasonable. Like you could have just done it like a penguin and slid on your stomach.
Dan Le Batard
Well, when you're describing. I mean, that story right there and the mattress story, it sounds like when deandre Ayton, in any walk of life, of his life, if he's presented with some kind of roadblock or a problem, he. He doesn't have solutions.
Amin Elhassan
Look, he's an immature guy. He's been an immature guy since the day he set foot in the league. And again, like living in Phoenix, I saw and heard all of these things firsthand. It's like, look, how do you win With a guy like that. Now, a lot of people, like, I mean, they went to the Finals. Yes, they did. They also had Chris, Paul and Mikhail Bridges and Devin. They had an incredible team. And all he had to do was basically just set screens, rebound and catch these lobsters. And must I remind you, he tried to do one of those in the Finals, and Giannis sent that shit back to Milwaukee or wherever. But the point is, it's like we have a saying in the NBA. I don't know if you guys have this in the NFL. Dave, you say the tiger doesn't change his stripes, he just changes jungles.
Dan Le Batard
You know about that saying, Dave?
Dave
Yes, thank you.
Amin Elhassan
So, like, meaning, like, guys are who they are. Yeah. There are some outliers where. Oh, man, he really changed from early in his career. But. But for the most part, guys are who they are, particularly if they've always been rewarded for who they are. So deandre Ayton comes in the league. He's the number one overall pick, right? Number one overall pick those first four years. We're looking at him and like.
Dan Le Batard
And was it. Was that the Duncich draft?
Amin Elhassan
Yes, absolutely. Luka Doncic, Trae young, Jaren Jackson Jr. Right. Marvin Bagley. But anyways, he's there those four years. We all. So he's already rewarded a coming number one those four years. We see all of these signs of someone who doesn't quite get it. Doesn't quite get it. Doesn't quite get it. Gets to restricted free agency, gets a max offer sheet from the Indiana Pacers. So clearly, you telling me I'm doing stuff wrong. I just got the maximum allowable salary, and guess what? The Suns did. They matched, so clearly they agree. So there's at least two people who think I'm awesome, right? So then he gets traded to Portland for Yusuf Nurkic, which is crazy when you think. And by the way, to Mani Camara, who's a really good player for the Blazers, was part of that deal as well. So he gets to Portland, and in Portland, he says, my new nickname is Dominating. And they were holding me back and I had to do all these things, but I'm getting here and I'm gonna do everything. And he doesn't do anything. He does the same stuff that he did, and what does he get? And now he's a free agent. It's like, what's his reward? The Lakers, one of the most glamorous teams, want me to come from Portland to Los Angeles to play next to LeBron and to play next to Luke and I'm sure they told him they're
Dan Le Batard
trying to win a championship and.
Amin Elhassan
And we need you. They probably told him that we need you here. And guess what? Minimum. No, we're going to give you way more than minimum. So again, in his mind, I'm awesome. I've done nothing. You guys say I'm doing it wrong. I went from one of the worst teams in the worst markets to the best teams in the best markets.
Dan Le Batard
This happens all the time in that league, right?
Amin Elhassan
And though that's why we say the tiger doesn't change his stripes, he just changes jungles. He's just the same person going from place to place to place.
Dave
Is that your worldview for real, though, that nobody, nobody can change their stripes?
Amin Elhassan
Not that nobody can change their stripes, is that the vast majority of people are who they are.
Dave
I generally agree with that. But I also then look at guys like the one. The name that always comes to mind with that is the honey badger. Tyron. Matthew was undraftable. He burns tree. Don't you know, he's in. He's at college and he. And he burned some tree. He'll never change. I mean, he really did become one of the great teammates of the last couple of decades, right?
Amin Elhassan
Of course, like I said, it's not a universal truth. Zach Randolph was radioactive at one point
Dan Le Batard
in NBA and he's like, radioactive. It seems radioactive.
Amin Elhassan
Burnt his way out of Portland, burnt his way out of. Out of New York, burnt his way out of the Clippers. It was like, yo, when the Clippers are like, I can't do it, dog. That's pretty much the end of the road. He gets to Memphis and it's not just dominates, but it's like you're around people that understand you. And also part of it is. And this is why I always say a lot of. He's a beloved grizzly and beloved guy. He's. Everyone loves Z Bo now, right? But I remember when it was like, toxic. Don't touch him. But again, it also comes back down to what I like to call basketball mortality. Sometimes you see guys and they're going through stuff and then they realize, oh, shit, my career's about to be over. And that sometimes inspires the change. I'm not saying that happened to Zach Randolph, but I see it a lot around the league where guys are like on the cusp of being out of the league. And then they realize, man, I got to get my shit together. And. And they figure it out. And then, you know, you mature, you grow, whatever. But if you're always rewarded. You're always rewarded, Dave. Then there's no impulse or incentive to change. One quick example. My bad, Tony. One quick example, right? Stephon Marbury, I'll never forget this. He gets traded from the Suns to the Knicks. This is in 2004, right? 2003 or 2004? The very next season. So that year, the Suns had one of the worst records in the league. He gets traded to New York. The very next off season, the sun signed Steve Nash. And it's like Steve Nash with the same four dudes that you played with. You played with Leandro Barbosa, you played with Amari Sadomar, you played with Shawn Marion. You guys were awful a year ago. And now they've got the best record in the league. This is midway through that season. He would end up winning mvp. And the New York media, you know, Frank Isolas and those guys, they love to start shit. Hey, hey, Steph. You always talk about you're the best point guard in the league, but Steve Nash took the same squad you had, and he's got the best record in the league. And meanwhile, like, you guys weren't that good. What do you have to say about that? And Steph Marbury said, last I checked, I got Max and he didn't. So clearly he's doing something wrong and I'm doing something right, and that's the impediment to growth. And Stephon Marbury, amazing, has changed and grown since then. But again, it just highlights the mindset.
Dan Le Batard
He's like Chinese Michael Jordan now, right?
Amin Elhassan
Absolutely. He is the greatest player in Star Bear history. But the idea that if I'm always rewarded for the way I do things, I'm not even going to say behavior just the way I do things, then why would I ever change?
Con Canepel
I want to go back to the Zebo point really quick. We're not making Z Bos anymore. We're not making Zach Randolphson with the six eight guy.
Dan Le Batard
Back to the basketball reel on Twitter the other day.
Dave
Me too. I saw the same one and I'm
Dan Le Batard
like, I would love to watch this player today. I love the back to the basket. Let's just pound that bit of a small, big.
Con Canepel
He's kind of a tweener punisher.
Dan Le Batard
I'm a punish you.
Con Canepel
You got a shoulder with a little lefty.
Mike
Fade away.
Dan Le Batard
The same video of Zach Randolph.
Amin Elhassan
It's funny, but also, it's like we saw that Memphis Grizzlies style and that team die right before ours. Right in the playoffs, right? They were playing against the warriors, they were up 2:1 and everyone said oh, that pretty boy three point shooting thing is going out the way. And then the warriors did one move and it was checkmate. It's like Harrison Barnes is going to guard Z Bo. We're going to put Draymond on Gasol and we're going to put Andrew Bogut on Tony Allen who was all world defense but couldn't shoot. And that one move. Checkmate. They never won another game and it's like their whole thing fell apart. It's a style of basketball that cannot be played anymore because people, if you cannot make the defense be honest with shooting, we're all just going to collapse.
Dan Le Batard
Tony has a funny con canipple take.
Con Canepel
My con canuple take is actually great. But I told you, was it a couple of.
Mike
If you do say so yourself.
Con Canepel
No, I do. The day I said we did bet the castle and I said Konkanupel deserves rookie of the year over Cooper Flag. That night Cooper Flag went on and had 50 points. So again it was off to a rocky start. But I think my take is solidified and the take I have versus the take I gave a mean early.
Jagermeister Spokesperson
How many compliments can you give your take solid.
Con Canepel
Apparently this is a solid opinion so I want to read you some stats. Okay. Con Canepel is one of three.
Dan Le Batard
Now are you reading this because you, you are making a case for Con Knipple to be rookie of the year that he won't win?
Con Canepel
Yes, because they're gonna give it to Cooper Flag because the media pressure. But conquer nipple is one of three players ever with a thousand points, 300 rebounds and 200 assists in his rookie year. Larry Bird, Steph Curry were the only other two to do it. 50, 40, 90 games. He's, he's on pace. He's got 17 right now. He is almost on pace to beat.
Dan Le Batard
That's not a thing. But 50, 40, 90 games. Yeah, you know, 50, 40, 90 season.
Con Canepel
He's also on pace for a 50, 40, 90 season. No rookie ever has done that.
Dan Le Batard
Okay.
Con Canepel
He's got 200 and threes in 58 games, fastest ever. And he's on pace for 284 three pointers. And that's where the take started shaping with Amin where I think if, if Con canympo can stay healthy and continue to be an elite shooter he at one day maybe take over Steph Curry's three point record. So.
Amin Elhassan
So watch this. So then we looked up what Steph Curry has for his career which is
Con Canepel
still going up by the way. Because he's still playing.
Amin Elhassan
Because he's still playing at a high level. It's, it's four is like a thousand more threes. In the next close quarter, he's at
Con Canepel
4233 is exactly what.
Amin Elhassan
So then we said and said like, yo, how much would concad have to average in order to overtake?
Dan Le Batard
That's a good use of chat GPT.
Amin Elhassan
Yes, it is excellent. And chat GPT came back with con. Cannipal would have to have 15 straight years of 284. 284 threes this season. So then I was like, oh, let me see how many times that's happened. It's happened eight times in the history of the NBA. Someone hit 284 threes. Six of them are Steph Curry.
Con Canepel
He also had a 403 season, which you know, kind of boosts the average.
Dave
There is Clay, another one of those.
Amin Elhassan
Actually it's more than six times. It's like 12 times, but six times with Steph Curry. The only person who's done it twice other than Steph is James Harden, who's done it twice.
Con Canepel
Who's number two on the list of all time threes made also. So it's like you have to be in legendary territory. But he's having one of the most incredible rookie seasons that we've ever seen. Like 50, 40, 90 as a rookie.
Amin Elhassan
I mean, that's great. That's never happened before. Cooper flags better Lions.
Jagermeister Spokesperson
Mike, you know I have one rule to live by, right?
Mike
Don't place parlays on multiple long shots. Don't say a game is won when it hasn't hit triple zero.
Jagermeister Spokesperson
Always drink your Jagermeister ice cold. That's the rule. Everything else is merely a suggestion.
Mike
Everything else?
Jagermeister Spokesperson
Everything else.
Mike
Wearing clean underwear every day, well, that's
Jagermeister Spokesperson
just a personal decision. Brushing your teeth, obviously smart, but not a rule.
Mike
Never pee pee on an electric fence.
Jagermeister Spokesperson
Okay, maybe there are two rules. But the one that is 100% that I insist on completely, Jagermeister must be drank ice cold or don't drink it at all.
Mike
Damn, that's cold.
Amin Elhassan
Exactly.
Jagermeister Spokesperson
You're finally starting to get it.
Mike
Drink responsibly. Jagermeister liqueur, 35% alcohol by volume, imported by Mass. Jaegermeister, US White Plains, NY.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Hour 1: Tony's Kon Knueppel Take
February 26, 2026
This episode, recorded from the Elser Hotel in Miami, features Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Amin Elhassan, Mike, Dave, and Con Canepel. The hour combines deep dives into sports media shake-ups (notably Tony Dungy’s exit from NBC), behind-the-scenes tales from TV production, candid NBA discussions, and an extended debate on the merits of young basketball phenoms, notably Kon Knueppel. The tone swings from incisive media analysis to comedic, rapid-fire banter—a signature of the show.
Tony Dungy's Firing: Dan opens with major NFL media news: Tony Dungy is out at Football Night in America. The group discusses Dungy's polarizing role in broadcasting. (00:00-01:21)
Rodney Harrison Confrontation:
A replay of Rodney Harrison confronting Dungy about Belichick's Hall of Fame snub is discussed.
The Politics of On-Air Confrontation:
Dave wonders if Harrison’s attack was producer-sanctioned given Dungy's expiring tenure. Studio show pre-production dynamics are analyzed.
Replacement Speculation:
Mike suggests Mike Tomlin as a leading candidate but suspects Tomlin wants nothing to do with football for a while. (06:10)
Other Names & The Role of Coaches vs. Players:
Philip Rivers and Jay Cutler are floated as interesting alternatives. Amin argues for coaches over more ex-players.
On-Screen Charisma:
Kirk Cousins is noted for breaking down football digestibly; Aaron Rodgers is joked about as “compelling TV, though a hypocrite.” (07:39-08:19)
Directors Who Cross the Line:
The crew digresses into David O. Russell’s controversial methods and “old school” director tough-love, with stories about William Friedkin and Michael Mann. (09:03-12:14)
Senseless & Cinephobe Plug:
Amin plugs “Cinephobe,” citing a William Friedkin story from Blue Chips where an actor gets slapped before a scene for realism. (09:47-12:14)
Famous Scene Ad-Libs:
Dan draws parallels with the movie Whiplash, noting the real unscripted slap by J.K. Simmons. (16:48)
Amin is quizzed about recent NBA stories, providing detailed context and analysis.
The Rookie of the Year Debate:
Con Canepel passionately argues that Kon Knueppel deserves Rookie of the Year over Cooper Flagg, citing advanced stats.
Can Knueppel Catch Steph Curry in Threes?
Amin and Con break down what it would take for Knueppel to catch Curry: 15 straight years of 284 threes.
Hour 1 navigates seamlessly from sports media shake-ups, through the politics of the studio show world and NBA hot topics, to a detailed, hilarious, and stat-laden debate on future NBA records. The group blends sharp analysis, storytelling, and playful argument—a must-listen for diehard sports fans and pop-culture aficionados alike.