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Dan Le Batard
Now's a good time to remember where tequila's story truly began. In 1795, Cuervo invented tequila.
Stugotz
Cuervo.
Dan Le Batard
What are you doing here?
Stugotz
Cuervo? Anytime someone says Cuervo, I show up.
Dan Le Batard
Well, I do know that to be true. But even during ad reads like Cuervo, I think he could lay out, especially for one of our great partners.
Stugotz
Sweet, delicious Cuervo.
Dan Le Batard
Since then, Cuervo has stayed true to its roots. The same family, the same land, the same passion.
Stugotz
Cuervo.
Dan Le Batard
So enjoy the tequila that started it all. Cuervo.
Stugotz
Cuervo.
Dan Le Batard
The tequila that invented tequila. Proximo. Cuervo.com Please drink responsibly.
Stugotz
Cuervo. Chris, Cody, I really need you to be a strong leader today because I've got two things happening that feel cruddy, okay? And I need you to lead us here on this one is I've got Louis roaming around here saying how badly he needs this chief's money on Sunday. Okay? I've got on the television. I can't believe what I'm seeing on the television. It says, chiefs must win game. And I'm like, it is this week the Chiefs have a must win game, but for Louis, it's a must win game for all of us.
Dan Le Batard
It's a must win game. Then Louis has, like, 17 kids.
Stugotz
That's. Yes. Louis is the one, the only one in the office muttering, I really need that money while walking past me as if he doesn't think I can hear him. Like, I can. I can feel that off him at all times, but it usually doesn't come out of his mouth. So the Chiefs game is a big game, but the other problem I have is, and I've been in negotiations with you, Donnis Haslam, and he's expensive, and Mike's not helping. He's not helping things because I need someone to oversee the punishments in this league. And I don't know what Mike was doing today, but he's just wearing a Raiders sweatshirt and saying his Pete Carroll. And that no one has honored the punishments more than Mike Ryan has.
Dan Le Batard
Okay? I have honored every single punishment, no matter how difficult. And today is probably the most challenging thing I've ever had to do since freedom.
Zaslow
Get the hell out of here.
Dan Le Batard
I have to chew gum during the show.
Stugotz
The show just started.
Dan Le Batard
Shouldn't you be. Do you know how much gum I usually chew during the show? 0. 0. There might be times during today's show where I have one, maybe two pieces of gum in my. In my mouth while I'm Talking a lot of squatting. That is a choking hazard. It's also. It also represents a 200% increase in chewing gum that's in my mouth during these shows.
Mike Ryan
Well, no, it's more than 200%. You went from zero to whatever it is.
Dan Le Batard
That's an infinite 700% more.
Stugotz
You're the President of the United States now. Playing with percentages.
Mike Ryan
Hey, Dan, are you excited for 50 year mortgages? That's how we're going to solve this, a 50 year mortgage?
Dan Le Batard
I mean, if you think about it. Yeah, I just did.
Stugotz
It's as good as an idea as Zaz's. Let's rest. Let's rest players in the first half and make them play the second half.
Zaslow
I'm dying on that hill.
Dan Le Batard
Literally.
Stugotz
You just sounded like you were dying on a civil war bayonet in your chest. What happened to you? Was that. I don't know. No, you and Ethan. Look, you and Ethan. The amount of cream cheese that you're costing metal arc is why I can't pay you. Donnis Haslam to govern this. This. This punishment list.
Mike Ryan
Couple lucky Js.
Dan Le Batard
This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats podcast.
Stugotz
Tony's taunting me during the break, saying Udonis Haslam has become Diana Rossini's grandpa Santa on the phone. That it's an empty threat that doesn't mean anything to anyone around here on the punishments. And Mike Ryan is actively and this is disrespectful and it's an act of resentment, honestly, that shouldn't express itself this way. I think he's Pete Carroll today. This doesn't feel like a real punishment, but the only one who gets punished is me is because every time I'm talking, Mike is whispering into his headset, 57 the mic. 57 the mic. While covering his mouth with his play sheet. And he's trying to distract me from doing the show while also doing Pete Carroll. Not like Daniel Day Lewis as Pete Carroll. He's not leaving character.
Dan Le Batard
Let's settle down, take the air out of the ball. HP die big gap.
Stugotz
That's what he's been doing every time.
Dan Le Batard
I'm talking to safety run duo.
Stugotz
He's doing it when I'm trying to give points and while I'm talking and trying to organize the show so the team is actively playing defense against me today on a legitimately good content day. Because 24 hours later, how silly does this show sound? Laughing at the warriors and celebrating the Miami Heat 24 hours later. I don't know that I've heard someone do what Norman Powell did yesterday where he's like, just put my name on the quote. That's a bad loss. Where. That's something fans say. I rarely hear players say of losing to other professional players. That's a bad loss.
Zaslow
I love. And he didn't even leave it at that. He said it's a bad loss. That's a really bad loss.
Stugotz
How often do you hear, he's right. You're losing to.
Zaslow
Loved it.
Stugotz
You're.
Mike Ryan
What?
Stugotz
What did you love?
Zaslow
No, I loved that he came out and said that. Yeah.
Mike Ryan
Why are we.
Zaslow
Oh, it's a professional team, you know, they got guys who know. No, no, that's. That's a really bad loss last night. Good for you, Norm. Pal, I like you even more now.
Stugotz
The headline is Heat waste big lead. Wilts in fourth quarter in quote, very bad loss to undermanned Cavs. Mobley is not there. Come on, man. Mitchell's not there. Like, that's not their team.
Mike Ryan
Garland's not.
Stugotz
That's not their team. That's not what I thought. The heats bet. Like, you can't. You're undefeated at home. Like, explain that to me. So it's a very bad loss. And they were five and a half point favorites in the game with all of the Cavs back home because the Cavs were. That's as close to tanking as a. As a team will do overtly. Is it not just sending its starters home like that.
Mike Ryan
Zaz, you know about that? Naquan Tomlin.
Zaslow
That's a made up name.
Stugotz
We want to do a spelling bee on Naquan. How do we spell it?
Mike Ryan
I mean, I know the way y' all looking at me.
Zaslow
I'll take a try. I'll take a sad.
Mike Ryan
Here we go.
Zaslow
N A Q. Nope.
Dan Le Batard
You sure?
Mike Ryan
Thanks for playing.
Dan Le Batard
That's how you spell Saquon.
Stugotz
Very bad loss. Norman Powell says you guys will. I'm not saying it's the rarest of things, but it's normal for. For fans to say, wow, that's a bad loss. You never. You rarely hear it in the locker room where a player will say that of other professionals. Generally, they respect the other team's backups.
Zaslow
No, I, I like it. I wish sometimes player come out and say, yeah, that's a really bad loss. That team sucks. We should have won.
Mike Ryan
You Sometimes you do hear that when it's a team that's actually bad as opposed to a team that sad all of its starters. But I'm with Zaz, man. I like the Accountability. I like this. Hey, man, this is. We're not going to sh. This. We dropped the ball. They were up double digits in the first half, but then I'm watching the game all night. I'm like, this doesn't feel right. It's a lot of ISO ball.
Zaslow
They were so sloppy.
Mike Ryan
So much isolation from the Heat, even when it was working for them. And then the other thing was, at one point, I looked at the person next to me, I'm like, is this the Jared Allen game? Because he just. He looked like Hakeem down there. Everything around the rim, I'm like, look, you can't keep falling for an up fake from Jared Allen. Make him make a shot over you.
Stugotz
And this is a substantive difference between whatever Ware is athletically that bam isn't, but what Ware is defensively that bam isn't like, this is not a minimal piece that that's out for the Miami Heat. But regardless, yesterday we were out here loud and proud on what the Heat are going to be because they were undefeated at home and they're still scoring an incredible amount per game. But you lose that game, and then Steph Curry does Steph Curry at WEMBY, and 24 hours later, we all sound ridiculous. Talking about basketball in 24 hour terms. This is a punishment for you. It's a punishment for you.
Mike Ryan
You gotta raise it that you're like Steve Spagnolo. You don't know you're holding a sheet down here. It's gotta be, what is the punishment?
Stugotz
That you're chewing gum during the show or that you're doing the Pete Carroll, which is the pun? What? Okay, the punishment is Pete Carroll.
Mike Ryan
Yeah. The gum is part of being Pete. Carol.
Zaslow
200% more gum.
Stugotz
I have to spend an hour in the bathroom putting on makeup with my wife to get my costume ready. You throw on a Raiders jersey and a headset and throw some gum in your mouth.
Dan Le Batard
I ate 70 nuggets. Well, I've learned. And I also took a gummy before the show. Just emotionally prepare for how difficult. And the makeup stuff at Kupaduya, I mean, what do you want me to do? There are punishments on. On the bucket board, and I take the punishments and I do the punishments, and I've done more punishments than anybody else.
Stugotz
All right, so when you say, what do you want me to do? It doesn't surprise me that you don't wait for an answer, and then you tell me what the answer is on, what do you want me to do? What I want you to do is respect the Audience and the punishment.
Dan Le Batard
Excellence is not an act. Respect a habit.
Stugotz
Respect the punishments and the audience by putting some effort into. We are a watched and listened to show an entertainment option for people and you are cheating the punishments and the audience when you do the Pete Carroll this way. You should be ashamed.
Dan Le Batard
Give me a break. Can you give me a break?
Stugotz
Anyway, the basketball stories. He called a timeout. That's the same sound as the penalty box. Don't distract me. Be on my team. Please, someone here be on my team.
Mike Ryan
He called the timeout.
Stugotz
What do you want me to do? The NBA has 10 games in. You have blow up the Clippers.
Zaslow
So distracting.
Stugotz
Yeah, no, he's been doing it in my ear. It's been private. It's been private.
Dan Le Batard
I've just been holding the private communications button, chewing in his ear.
Stugotz
Just chewing in my ear. And also putting the play sheet over him and it sounds like a faraway air traffic controller when he's like, no, no. 79 is the mic. 79.
Dan Le Batard
They dropped a D lineman.
Stugotz
No, this is what I'm saying. It's meant to distract me. I'm thinking in my ear, talking to you guys. I'm like, you don't put a D lineman in the mic.
Dan Le Batard
Drop it back.
Stugotz
You're confusing me with the defense. What is the nose tackle doing in coverage?
Dan Le Batard
One time, Gino. One time.
Stugotz
So I'm having an argument with the show in my head. And this is what it's like to be in an insane asylum where you hear voices in your head because it's not just chewing gum. He's also throwing mock it plays at me, decoy plays at me. It's not just normal plays.
Dan Le Batard
You got to be ready, Dano.
Stugotz
So I've got blow up the Mavs, blow up the Clippers. Okay? You got Mark Cuban getting back into management. Going to have some reportedly more voice around the Mavs as they try to fix what Amin is. Amin is calling a crater trade. You have the possibility of your franchise being doomed for 30 years. Amin is shouting from the mountaintops. Do you know what's been done here? We're sitting here watching the smoldering crater and Amin say, hey, it's a lot worse than this. This is now. It's hard to dig out of. This is if Cooper flag doesn't end up becoming Luca. So you got blow up the. Blow up the Mavs. You got Jason Kidd. Can we play this sound? You got Jason Kidd saying, the Mavs.
Dan Le Batard
Coach, go ahead and play the sound.
Stugotz
And this will drown everyone in leadership in Dallas. If they continue to underestimate how mad their customers are. Like, this is not the America to insult your customers when they pay a lot of money to support you by telling them to move on when they don't want to move on.
Dan Le Batard
Okay, hit it.
Mike Ryan
You know, can only hope that we don't have to go through that again because it was a little disrespectful because the guys are playing hard and they're trying to win. And so with that chant during almost.
Dan Le Batard
Your free throws, 30 on the clock.
Mike Ryan
But understanding that they got to point across the fans, but we have to move forward.
Stugotz
I understand the healing process for his.
Mike Ryan
Fans, but these guys are playing hard.
Dan Le Batard
Ever since the trade, 10 seconds on the ball, these guys have given everything, got a timeout.
Stugotz
You're clear, Zaslo. When I hear Jason Kidd and he doesn't mean this as lecturing, he's going to protect his players. But this bubble is getting smaller and smaller that these guys are allowed to exist in. And they're in the rarest of places. They're in. Our customers are coming to the arena and they kind of hate us. And it's not because we're bad. They just want a place to kind of hate something because of how mad they are. Not a lot of teams play at home that way.
Zaslow
I totally hear everything you're saying and I understand it can be hurtful for the franchise where let's say, you know, you got, you want to try and acquire a free agent and then they think, wow, do I want to go there where our own fans are going to hate us every game. That's certainly not going to help acquire players. But I don't feel like being lectured by Jason Kidd if I'm a Mavericks fan who had my heart ripped out. And now because we got our point across, it's time to move on. Like, there's going to be a time when Jason Kidd is no longer the coach of the Mavericks. And that's, I'm not saying, like he's going to get fired anytime soon. That that's every coach in the league. There's going to be a time where he is no longer the coach of the Mavericks. And guess how little he's going to care about the Mavericks on a day to day basis. He's not going to. But all of those fans who are in the building who have yet to move on, they care about that team for the rest of their lives. Don't tell me not to be angry and to move on.
Dan Le Batard
All right, tighten it up.
Stugotz
When you say ripped out the hearts of your customers. I do think that one of the things that you guys just have to. Especially if you have kids, that you just have to imagine. Just imagine explaining to your kid who's wearing the LUCA jersey why your team did what it did. And that's his generation of fandom that's beginning or hers that's beginning right there. I mean, your thoughts on what is happening there. These people have the risk of being swallowed by continuing to undermine, underestimate the damage they've done.
Mike Ryan
Well, I think, first of all, I got to disagree with Zaz. Like, Jason Kidd's point is apt. Regardless of Nico is still there or not, that that has nothing to do with anybody on the floor. Matter of fact, none of them even have control over that. They are all subordinates to a decision that is happening far above them. So how does. It's not. He's saying. Don't chant it. He's saying, the game's on the line and our guy is on the free throw line.
Zaslow
What's going on?
Mike Ryan
Our guy's on the free throw line. Why are you distracting him? Why are you actively giving him negative energy? PJ Washington had nothing to do with this, and that's the question right there. So I agree with Coach Kidd. It's like, there's a time and place to do it, and that was the wrong time.
Zaslow
So is the team 3 and 9 because the fans are being mean?
Mike Ryan
They weren't booing, like, boo, you guys suck. They're saying, fire Nico. That's. That's very different.
Stugotz
Let me ask you, though. I mean, is there another team in the league Pleasant, presently playing at home under the hostility I'm speaking of? It's not that we're mad at you because we think you're bad. This is a place for us to vent at what you did to us.
Mike Ryan
They're also bad, by the way. No, I mean, obviously not. There's no team. There's no team that even comes close to this. Because, again, nobody has ever pretty much done a deal like this in real time, even though.
Zaslow
So don't tell the fans to move on.
Mike Ryan
But again, like, hey, if you want to boo Nico, if you want to boo Patrick Demont, sure. Even if you want to, like, boo the team. But the game was in hand. Was not in hand. Excuse me. It was in the balance. The guy has a chance to make free throws and win this game. Why are you actively playing defense against that? I think that's the point.
Dan Le Batard
And to that point, like, at what point is it going to be enough, right? The whole season, probably when the team.
Zaslow
Probably the team that. Probably when they're good.
Dan Le Batard
What if they're not going to go for another five years?
Stugotz
Guys, the reason I keep thinking that this is being underestimated emotionally. It's just super rare for a fan base to want to punish its team because it's mad at its team because they want to blame somebody. So we don't care if we win during this season because miss the free throws. Because bleep all of you. That's why I'm going to the game, to go and get into the crowd and have my outrage fed so that I can have lighter fluid than the country's paying attention to me. We have a bonfire in Dallas. Mark Cuban's rushing into the rescue. I got it. I'll save them. And everyone in Dallas is hurt, wounded and lashing out at the home team.
Mike Ryan
So zaz a comp is when Portland had the quote, unquote, jail blazers, right? Their players were getting in trouble, getting arrested. Meanwhile, the team also wasn't so good. Right? That's a situation where I'm like, okay, you can boo them. Yeah, you boo them because they are responsible. They are the ones who are doing this stuff. P.J. washington, Cooper flag. These guys have nothing to do with the workings of a higher up PJ Washington either. PJ Washington, like, yeah, trade Luka. I'd love to get him out of here. Those guys, of course they want to play with Luka. Of course they'd love to have him.
Zaslow
So you're telling me when PJ Washington's on the free throw line, a professional basketball player who plays half his games on the road, where the entire crowd is chanting and yelling and booing and wanting you to miss free throws. The crowd chanting, fire Nico is so disrespectful and distracting for him. He can't make free throws even when he knows it's coming.
Mike Ryan
It is. It is jarring. He doesn't know it's coming. In that moment, you're at home. You're home. And again, you're at home. And this isn't third quarter free throws. This is crunch time free throws. And you're like, wait, do they want us to lose? What's happening here? That is a jarring experience that I don't think most NBA players would expect in that scenario.
Zaslow
Do you think Jason Kidd really thinks that part of the reason that they're not playing well is because the crowd is chanting they're three and nine?
Mike Ryan
No, I just think it's like hey, we're already having a hard enough time. We've got all these injuries, whatever. It doesn't help to have, you know, fans doing this.
Zaslow
Definitely doesn't help. But stop telling fans what to do when they're the ones who are. They're the ones who are the victims, the fans.
Stugotz
But so says they are not helping in this, in this regard. Right. I don't. I don't know how many people listening to this believe in any kind of energy stuff.
Mike Ryan
Okay, Zaz, this is the analogy I'll give you. If Dan Lebatar did something to upset me, would it be okay for me to slap Mike? Whoa. Well, if I get all part of the team, I mean, I'm gonna slap Mike right? Like that. It doesn't make sense.
Dan Le Batard
Yeah. Percy Harvin choking out players in the locker room. You won a Super Bowl. Happens.
Mike Ryan
Ethan's dog.
Stugotz
When we're talking about energy as it relates, I mean, honestly, it's not bad enough he's trying to distract me. You go in with Ethan's dog as the joke, knowing you're going to annoy me, knowing you're going to annoy me because you're going so inside on a joke for six people. It's not enough that Mike's doing this. When I talk about energy stuff says. I'm not talking about spiritual stuff. Okay. I'm talking about. Everyone listening to this believes what I'm about to say. Home field advantage is a thing because the energy of the crowd matters. Because the crowd gets into the game and supports its home team, that support is worth something. You're going to tell me the opposite of that does not affect players trying to be professionals at the center of that crater, like, you can argue it if you want, but if they're playing in a place that's a misery energetically, where their own fans are not there for support. Holy. That's not an atmosphere I'm used to seeing basketball teams play at home in.
Mike Ryan
Right, Dan? I think. I think the important distinction is home energy positive is what we believe. Road energy negative. We also expect that Reggie Miller, LeBron James, all these players like, oh, I love it when they start booing. Right. It fuels me. The thing that I don't think any professional athlete in any sport is prepared for is home crowd negative energy.
Zaslow
I think what we could all agree on, though, because what you're saying is fine, and it obviously makes sense, but I think what we'd all agree on is this is as unique a situation we have ever seen, and in this unique situation. There's one person who is the victim here and it's the fans. And I don't want the players or the coaches who are the ones getting paid. When the fans who are showing up and apparently being disrespectful to you are still the ones paying to see you, I don't want the fan being told what to do.
Stugotz
Okay, but the next step on that. You're correct, right? I think most people listening to this would say, yeah, the fans paying customer, don't tell me how. Don't tell me how to care. I care. I pay for everything.
Zaslow
And they're doing it because they care.
Stugotz
My care pays for everything here. But when I'm describing the following to you, Jason Kidd is saying from at the bottom of this thing, ostensibly, they all care about, hey, guys, that's not helping. I need those free throws at the end to get all of this out of my building. I'm under the avalanche too. I work here. It hurts me too. Please stop doing that. So that when my guys are taking free throws at home, not whether it affects them or not, we don't have the energy of. That's not support. Our customers are not with us. If you guys believe that this is an emotional relationship between fans and their businesses and that it's the emotions business, this is a betrayal of that to, to have inside of your building. The energy of the home team doesn't want you to win, doesn't want to help you. The home team there to blame you. And making it worse, it makes the entire relationship deeply emotionally dysfunctional. The home fan is not there rooting against his or her team.
Dan Le Batard
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Mike Ryan
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Stugotz
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Dan Le Batard
That fit your lifestyle@Zinn.com rewards.
Zaslow
Warning.
Stugotz
This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.
Dan Le Batard
Don LeBatard I went in the margins. I'm like, I'm like you're money ball of sex. I'm basically Scott Hatterberg. Stugats a lot of walks. But I'm on base when it comes to sex. Other, other dudes, they can be Giambi. You know your role you play. I know my role.
Zaslow
This is the Dan Levatar show with these two gods. Well, and it's, it's probably why you need to blow it up.
Dan Le Batard
Run game not working.
Zaslow
Like we, we need to start.
Dan Le Batard
Okay, so what does that look like? What does that look like? GM Zaz comes in he's like, all right, the. The full gambit of everything's at my disposal. What do I do?
Zaslow
I would trade Anthony Davis today. Today.
Stugotz
That's not getting very much hurt that you're paying. You are. You're basically trading Luca for nothing. You sent Anthony Davis away. You're not going to get very much.
Mike Ryan
So this is a really important conversation because at the same time, the Clippers are dealing with their own issues. Bradley Beal is out for the year with a hip injury.
Dan Le Batard
There we go.
Mike Ryan
They're horrible. Quiesman out, Right. And so we were talking who needs to blow it up more. The problem is the Clippers, because of the Paul George deal from way, way back, still owe picks. So they can't blow it up, even though if they got a zillion assets in return, because if they go bad into the toilet, you know what happens, Dan, if they go in the toilet?
Stugotz
Yeah, the OKC's going to see the.
Mike Ryan
Best team in the league.
Zaslow
Amazing.
Mike Ryan
Gets like the number one overall pick. Meanwhile, Dallas, Dallas actually owns its pick this year, but after this year, it turns into swaps and pick obligations. So this is the time. Right now, you push a red button in Dallas, you've given yourself an opportunity to start building something. You're not going to get equal return, Dan, as you asked right there, but.
Zaslow
They had their pick this year.
Mike Ryan
At this point, it's not about.
Stugotz
I mean, it's up for other mistakes. It's not that they're not going to get equal return. Right now, you will be trading what you got for Luca. What you told everybody in the league was the future that we get for Luca. You'd be trading it at its lowest value in the career of Anthony Davis.
Mike Ryan
Dan, you can't keep digging a hole and thinking, if I dig deeper, maybe I'll get out of the hole.
Zaslow
Jason Kidd told us to move on, so move on from the awful trader.
Stugotz
Anthony Davis is a top 75. 5 player all time. You trade him for nothing, and what are you going to get for him?
Mike Ryan
I mean, then this is the moment. It's more about the timing than it is what I'm going to get for him. Right. If I wait until his value goes up, I may have jeopardized the one small window of time. We've got a very tight window to turn keys and push that nuclear option. Outside of that window. We can't have that option available. So it's more about the timing and whoever comes in to take control. You can't be worried about what the other guy before you did to mess this up. All I can do is do the best thing moving forward from this point on. And right now, the best thing moving forward probably for Dallas, 11, 12 games in, is blow it up.
Dan Le Batard
On the Clippers end of it though, you're talking about they, they don't have the luxury that Dallas has to get their first round pick, right? So it's, it's not, it's not good for them to blow it up this season. The problem is they're already in the toilet, right? Kawhi is going to be out for who knows how long. He's got a foot sprain and an ankle sprain. The team is just not good. Bradley Beal out for the season. Like, you have all these things that are pushed. The inertia is pushing you that way anyway. Why not? And I know Tom Haverstro wrote this in, in the summer. Go, go trade Kawhi Leonard. Go get somebody else. Go trade him to the Pelicans for Zion Williamson. Like, there's plays to be made that, yeah, you're not going to be exactly what you need, but like, you got to get out from the hole that you're in.
Mike Ryan
So there is a blueprint for this. The Nets, when they traded for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry, they had all those picks going out unprotected, all those pick swaps. And so once they figured out this isn't working, all you can do is build like the most rugged, competitive team. The picks are gone. You can't say that. But all you can do is build a team that's going to be healthy and available and win games in the short term to make sure those picks are the 10th pick as opposed to the second pick.
Stugotz
Can I just stop all of you for a second? Okay? Cuz I know we run from 10 games to 10 games in sports with just blinders on and so many people not that long ago wanted Bradley Beal and now Bradley Beal has sabotaged a couple of different plans. And in the middle of those plans, I don't want to just skip past this Clippers part of it. Pablo detonates a bomb in the middle of that. All of us are a little confused by why. Why would the Clippers trade Norman Powell for Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love when he's an important, almost all star on three delicate pieces there that nobody trusts before him. You guys are telling me after I thought that the Clippers had a championship chance last season the way that they finished the season 33 and 13 and could have Beaten any team in the league. And it wasn't an asinine opinion to have except but for it's the Clippers and you can't trust James Leonard, Kawhi Leonard or James Harden in game seven. You guys are telling me six months later all of the Clippers stuff is done and we can pronounce it now, given specifically the part that we're ignoring, which is OKC is totally overwhelming. Totally overwhelming.
Dan Le Batard
Mean. Tell them about John Collins.
Mike Ryan
Yeah, they didn't trade for Colin to Kevin Love. It was a three way deal. They got John Collins from Utah in that deal.
Stugotz
Thank you for the addition. The Clippers, you're telling me are now a nuked thing, fried thing, finished as a product. Blow all of it up. When I was not asinine in saying that that team could have won the championship. The one that headed into the playoffs last year.
Dan Le Batard
No 100% and they played so well to end the season. The problem is that's what it is for championship windows with guys in their mid-30s. Right. The window is open one year and then the next year is completely shut. And then you're looking around saying not only do we have an issue with the NBA, who's looking up under every crevice we got about the aspiration situation. Kawhi is not even healthy now. James Harden's okay, He's good. Like you can get something for him. Zubots has been bad to start the year. Like Norman Powell's not there. John Collins is an okay piece off the bench. Like what do you have in the Clippers organization?
Zaslow
It's a really old team. Leonard Harden, Bradley Beal, Brook Lopez, they got Chris Paul's corpse. You know they had Chris Paul's corpse coming off the bench.
Mike Ryan
Dan. I did a bit a long time ago about Doc Rivers decision tree process. It's like, hey, did you play for me 100 years ago? Come back, welcome to the Clippers. Right? And it's funny, he's not there anymore, but it's still the same kind of thing when you're playing scrapbook gm like.
Stugotz
Oh, I remember him.
Mike Ryan
Remember when he was good somewhere else, Brooklyn. Oh, look at the names he just said. Other than John Collins, who's young, who's somewhere close to their prime, they're playing off of memories. And yes, those guys are all still very good basketball players. But the other part of this, Dan, is when you go and get old guy after old guy after old guy, you're saying, oh, by the way, father, timing will come around here with a sprained ankle or a broken hip.
Stugotz
But do you guys realize what you're saying? If you guys are right, if you guys are accurate in saying demolish everything with the Clippers, When I parrot to what OKC is doing at the start of this season and after last season, we're over here talking about this Luca trade again and again and again, and this other one's going to go down as one of the worst we've ever seen in the history of sports because you've just given so much fuel to OKC that when you're bad this year and it blows up on Steve Ballmer's face, you've got the legitimate possibility. I think there are worse teams in the league. But if it's really bad with the Clippers this year, then you're going to be giving the number one overall pick to a team that already has two key pieces out and has lost one time this season.
Dan Le Batard
This time of year, it's a lot. Lights, noise, pumpkin, spice. It's everywhere. But one feeling that we are all still chasing is coziness. And Bumpus has the socks, slippers and tees, basically everything to get you there. There's something oddly therapeutic about a fresh pair of socks, and Bumpus knows that feeling embedded into everything they make. Slippers you can melt into tees that feel just right, comfort that holds up wash after wash. And gifting. Bumpus makes that easy, too. Your wife, your kid, your kid's girlfriend, your neighbor's newborn, your mom's new friend. Yeah, they got socks for them all. They're even stepping up the footwear game. New colors, new styles, fluffy things, suede things. If you got feet, they've got something for you. And the best part, every pair you buy Bombas donates one to someone experiencing homelessness. Cozy for you, cozy for someone else. I wear Bombas. I got myself three pairs of underwear from Bombas. And they don't ride up, they don't bunch. They are very comfortable, very soft and enjoyable to wear. It's cozy season. It's Bombas season. Head over to bombas.com dan and use code dan for 20% off your first purchase. That's B O M B-A-S.com d a n and use Code Dan at checkout. When I think about the holidays, I think about the little moments with my dog, Roma, the ones that make the season feel special. Put little elf ears on her. You know the deal. Take some selfies, post it for people that probably seen it too much. I love my dog. That's what I'm trying to get at. That's why I'm joining Chewy Claws, who's out here making pet's wishes come true. From November 4th through December 24th, you can share your pet's wish@chewy.com chewyclaus. It might come true, and it helps others too. Every wish triggers a donation of five meals to shelters and rescues across the country. And if you share your pet's wish through the Chewy app, they'll double that donation. That's 10 meals for pets in need just for participating. I've been using Chewy for years. Legitimately. They've made my life easier for me and my dog, Roma. Food, toys, meds, all of it shows up fast. No stress, and being part of something like Chewy Claws, where a small thing like a wish can make a real impact. That's the kind of stuff I care about. Every pet deserves a wish come true. Send your pet's wish to chewy.com chewyclaws it might become a reality. Plus, your wish means Chewy will donate five meals to pets in need.
Stugotz
Get nutty with Hampton Farms, the official.
Dan Le Batard
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Mike Ryan
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Stugotz
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Dan Le Batard
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Stugotz
Whistle, Hampton Farms Peanuts keeps your energy.
Dan Le Batard
High and your taste buds happy. Join the celebration of college football with every delicious crunch. Purchase for sharing with friends, tailgating outside the stadium or cheering from the couch. Grab a bag from the produce aisle of your local grocery store and savor the game one peanut at a time.
Stugotz
Don LeBatard.
Mike Ryan
If Daniel Day Lewis did it, you'd be jerking off all over yourself.
Stugotz
Oh, come on.
Dan Le Batard
Yeah, I would be.
Stugotz
Aggressive description. I mean, what is it? What is that?
Mike Ryan
I'm just saying.
Stugotz
That's just saying. What?
Dan Le Batard
That's me. Daniel Day. Yeah, I see that photo of Daniel Day Lewis looking like Lincoln before he's about to start filming. Lincoln. And you know what I do amin stugats. I jerk off all over myself. That's what I do.
Stugotz
Lincoln, who you outed the other day.
Dan Le Batard
Don'T make this a rejoin.
Zaslow
This is the Dan Levatar show with the stugats.
Mike Ryan
By the way, another team we haven't talked about at all but is in the similar situation. The New Orleans Pelicans. Because their pick is going to Atlanta and they're awful this year.
Zaslow
Good job by Joe Dumars.
Mike Ryan
Zion's still fat and. And, well, not still fat, but he's still not healthy. Right. And Derrick Queen, while he looks like a good player, is not NBA. Yeah. He's not enough to lift the Pelicans beyond where they're at right now, which is a 2, 9 team. And so this then is just like the ballad of, hey, when you give away a pick without protection, you are playing the most dangerous game in basketball.
Zaslow
By the way, it's not just this pick, this 26 first round pick that the Thunder have from the Clippers that's unprotected. They also have their pick next year. It's a swap next year. But, like, if the Clippers are really bad again, the Thunder get it again.
Mike Ryan
Zaz. This, this, this is my, my whole Nico thing. It's like, like, you can't tell me that Anthony Davidson, one first round pick. Even if you think Anthony Davis is the best thing since sliced bread, you can't tell me that was good enough value. When the Clippers are still paying off for Paul Jordan, they still have like installments left on their land.
Zaslow
See, my, my biggest thing with that was also, there was no time in that conversation that Nico Harrison said, you're also going to give us Austin Reeves. Like Rob Pelinka, who had this gift fall on his doorstep. You think he's not acquiring Luka Di because he won't hand over Austin Reeves?
Mike Ryan
Do you think Rob Pelinka is going to be the guy say, hey, I could add, Luca, why didn't you. I didn't want to give up Austin Reeves.
Zaslow
It's inexplicable, right?
Mike Ryan
But this goes back to kind of what I talked about yesterday when I read the quote from Jeremiah Sengelman, who used to work in the front office. When you surround yourself over the course of years, not just in that window of time, but over the course of your. With people who don't tell you the realness, who don't provide critical feedback that is opposite of whatever your impulse is. I used to say when I worked in a front office, as people always ask me, oh, what did you do? Did you make trades? Did you draft people? Like, no, I'm not the gm. I don't do that. My job was to provide enough critical evidence to the contrary of whatever you wanted to do.
Dan Le Batard
A little too much mean.
Mike Ryan
Well, I'm just saying, then play the.
Stugotz
Barclay sound here because he is defending Nico Harrison. And I am probably remiss in falling into the trap that we do with all of the NBA soap opera, which.
Mike Ryan
Is.
Stugotz
Blow up the Clippers, blow up Dallas, nobody pay attention then that's jokic putting up 55 to end the Clippers last night. That.
Dan Le Batard
That's like 90% true shooting. By the way.
Stugotz
The top two players that I believe that all of us would say for the last three years the best two teams in the league are OKC and Dallas and Boston snuck in there with like this spaceship that just took threes better than everybody else.
Dan Le Batard
Run a play for Roy. Well, the Panthers play tonight against the Washington Capitals. That's my play right there, Mike. Thank you, Gadget guy. Kind of like Taste of Hell.
Stugotz
Honorable Odysseus, we are. Good idea. Thank you. You've thrown the quarterback.
Dan Le Batard
All right, let's not go back to.
Stugotz
It was just a terrible play call. I don't understand why on 3rd and 11 he made me spike the ball when there were no clock issues.
Dan Le Batard
Now you gotta go for it on fourth down.
Stugotz
I know, but I hit fourth and 11.
Dan Le Batard
Let's not give it to Marshawn.
Stugotz
I don't trust my coach because he just told me to spike it. And we weren't even dealing with a clock situation. I don't understand why he made me.
Dan Le Batard
Throw the ball out. Taking it out of the playbook.
Stugotz
All right, Dan, we're paying. We're paying attention to the wrong things.
Mike Ryan
Okay? So let's. Let's pay attention to the right things. If I asked you, what do you think Nikola Jokic is shooting from the field this season? Season.
Dan Le Batard
It's crazy.
Mike Ryan
100.
Dan Le Batard
Oh, what are you doing?
Mike Ryan
He knows how to play this game.
Stugotz
How? How? Yeah, I mean every time. 14. He's at least his bad games are. He went 9 for 10.
Mike Ryan
So give me a number. You give me a number.
Stugotz
Well, okay, I'll say. I'll say 58.
Mike Ryan
He's shooting 68 from the field.
Dan Le Batard
It's insane.
Stugotz
That would be better than anyone ever, right?
Mike Ryan
He's shooting. Shooting 42% from three. He's shooting 78.
Zaslow
What?
Mike Ryan
On non three point shots. So he's taken about 12 of those shots a game inside the three point line and shooting 78. That's. That. That.
Zaslow
That one has to be a record, right?
Stugotz
Well, no, but shooting. If you shot 68 for a season. I don't.
Zaslow
I. DeAndre Jordan had a year which I like 75.
Stugotz
Okay, but I'm talking about somebody who.
Zaslow
No, it's still 78% Jokic. Twos is better than DeAndre Jordan.
Stugotz
But. But 78. Shooting 78% from twos is ridiculous. But having an efficiency from all of the floor of 68%. There's no but, Michael Jordan's best seasons would be at 58%, 57%. There's nobody on two pointers.
Mike Ryan
I think, yeah, Jordan was pretty high, obviously on two pointers, but not, not that high because again, that would be.
Stugotz
A record field goal percentage. That's not sustainable. He can't do that. LeBron's best season was the one in Miami where he shot 58% from the field because he decided that season, I'm not going to play a game that allows for inefficient shots.
Dan Le Batard
Jordan, LeBron, good stuff. Wilt in the 71, 72 season, shot 72% from the field.
Stugotz
Okay, because. All right, but we know what that is. That's not shooting. That's a lot of dunking and being bigger than everyone else.
Mike Ryan
But I think that's.
Dan Le Batard
That's the best comparison. No Cha Moran trade.
Stugotz
Well, the only reason it's not the best comparison is because Jokic is shooting what he is from three. Wilt Chamberlain never took a three. Wilt Chamberlain would never shoot.
Dan Le Batard
For me, that's the air of the conversation. Air, conversation. But that.
Stugotz
The thing that I am just saying, Amin, is we will not stop talking about Jalen Brunson limped off the court. We will not stop talking about the daily soap operas of what's happening in Dallas. We will not stop talking about Steph and LeBron. But the best teams are not the best stories. And so Denver and OKC and all of that excellence will turn to ashes around all these other. Correct. Like, no. That during the regular season there is nothing OKC can do that maybe threaten the record of 73 wins in a season. But there's next to nothing OKC can do that will matter. Their regular season is not interesting to the public.
Zaslow
No, you just named it like threatening the 73 wins. That's. That's the thing. And they're certainly on pace for it.
Mike Ryan
And I think the manner in which they're winning, I mean, again, they beat the Lakers, who have been good this year, and everyone's been really excited and inspired by them. They smacked him. And again, Shay goes to Alexander, scores 30 and again, he doesn't play the fourth quarter. And so at some point this is going to sound kind of crazy. It becomes bad tv because if every game is a blowout, then it's really hard to keep people tuned in.
Dan Le Batard
All right, we got two minutes here. Two minute warning.
Stugotz
The part that I find most interesting is storylines gotta go quick bang against excellence.
Dan Le Batard
Quick.
Stugotz
Boston snuck in there for a year and took the. You need me to talk Fast.
Zaslow
We got to go, Dan.
Dan Le Batard
Hurry up, Poppins.
Stugotz
Roy. Roy. What should I do?
Dan Le Batard
Audible at his place. Yeah. Don't go to Roy. Don't go to Roy.
Stugotz
We don't have an audible. Don't go to Roy.
Dan Le Batard
Don't go to Roy.
Stugotz
OKC is not going to be talked about this season. And they're going to be better than everybody again. They're winning by 30. They're not like they had the two overs time games at the beginning of the season, but they're, they're dragging everybody.
Zaslow
How did they lose that one game to Portland?
Dan Le Batard
Didn't have anybody play?
Mike Ryan
No, they played. They played their guys. What happened in Portland was they. When they played against a Portland team that they were playing on a back to back city was. Oh, wow.
Zaslow
No one rested.
Mike Ryan
Nobody rested.
Zaslow
Wow.
Mike Ryan
And they lost that game.
Stugotz
Did you just make that up? Did you from that seat just make up that nobody played in that game?
Mike Ryan
Who?
Stugotz
Who?
Zaslow
I didn't say it. Tony did.
Mike Ryan
Mike did.
Stugotz
Tony just pointed at Mike.
Zaslow
I didn't say it. What are you talking about?
Dan Le Batard
No. Thought we could trust Roy in that. In that situation. Really thought we could. Yeah. Thought we could trust him.
Stugotz
Have a lot of regret.
Dan Le Batard
You know, it starts with me.
Stugotz
It's.
Dan Le Batard
I made the call. I made the call to go to Roy. Panthers didn't play last night. I should have known that. You know, he's, he's a lot like Leroy Horde. You need three yards, he'll give you three yards. You need four, he'll give you three. And I just got to do a better job there. I thought the fans were great. A couple calls didn't go our way. Probably stayed on basketball way too long, especially with the CFP rankings. That's bread and butter right there. That's, you know, that's our identity. We'll talk politics, so push away the remainder of our audience. Next segment. Now's a good time to remember where tequila's story truly began. In 1795, Cuervo invented tequila. Cuervo, what are you doing here?
Stugotz
Cuervo? Anytime someone says Cuervo, I show up.
Dan Le Batard
Well, I do know that to be true. But even during ad reads like Cuervo, I think he could lay out especially for one of our great partners.
Stugotz
Sweet, delicious Cuervo.
Dan Le Batard
Since then, Cuervo. Cuervo has stayed true to its roots. The same family, the same land, the same passion.
Stugotz
Cuervo.
Dan Le Batard
So enjoy the tequila that started it all. Cuervo.
Stugotz
Cuervo.
Dan Le Batard
The tequila that invented tequila. Proximo Cuervo.com, please drink responsibly, Cuervo.
Date: November 13, 2025
Location: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami
This "Local Hour" episode is classic Le Batard Show: an irreverent, freewheeling mix of South Florida sports talk, NBA hot takes (with a heavy dose of Heat and Mavericks discourse), and the kind of playful show meta-madness that dedicated fans adore. The crew tackles everything from NBA team meltdowns, the psychology of disgruntled fanbases, and the state of league punishments to playful bits like "Pete Carroll Day" and a running (chewing) gum joke. The vibe is lively, combative, satirical, and at times, genuinely insightful about sports, fandom, and the brittle nature of winning windows in the NBA.
On show punishments:
Norm Powell candor:
Fan hostility in Dallas:
On Mavericks' trade distress:
Clippers nostalgia:
Jokic’s statistical absurdity:
Daniel Day Lewis absurdity:
Meta on NBA media:
This episode isn’t just NBA roundtable—it's a microcosm of why "The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz" works: a blend of serious fan analysis, show-trolling theater, recurring character bits, sports as soap opera, and self-aware commentary on the nature of fandom and sports media. At the heart: the tension between accountability (players, coaches, front offices, and even show hosts) and the hunger for entertainment, both from fans and creators alike.
For listeners: Even if you missed the episode, you’ll come away understanding the Heat’s disappointment, Dallas’s emotional implosion, the Clippers’ slow-motion disaster, the magic and curse of narrative in sports, and just how fun (and real) show punishments can feel when chewed on long enough.