Podcast Summary
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Local Hour: "Happy Thanksgilling!"
Date: November 27, 2025
Location: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami
Overview
This "Local Hour" episode, comically branded as "Happy Thanksgilling," is a pre-Thanksgiving celebration featuring the regular crew—Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Chris Cody, Billy Gil, Roy, Greg Cody, Jeremy, Zaslow, and guest Pablo Torre. The main theme is a mixture of traditional banter, South Florida sports talk, and, most notably, a deep dive into Pablo Torre's bombshell investigation involving alleged NBA salary cap violations with the LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard. Alongside, the crew reminisces about favorite show moments, experiments with voice modulation, engages in absurd sports debates, and pokes fun at each other, all wrapped in Le Batard’s signature irreverence.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Kickoff: Thanksgiving Chaos & "Thanksgilling" (02:35–05:19)
- Thanksgiving Fumbles: The crew repeatedly mispronounces Thanksgiving as "ThanksGiling," riffing on Billy Gil’s name and failing at multiple clean show intros (02:35–04:06).
- Dan Le Batard (03:30): “Merry Thanksgiving.”
- Greg Cody (05:26): “Happy Thanksgilling, everyone.”
- Intention for the Episodes: This and the next episode are dedicated to celebrating Billy Gil’s best moments, marking his last year with the show (04:06–05:19).
2. Pablo Torre’s Investigative Bombshell: LA Clippers & Salary Cap Circus (07:37–14:13, 22:04–48:42)
- The Breaking Story: Pablo Torre drops a much-teased investigation, published in partnership with The Athletic, revealing allegations that the LA Clippers, through the fintech company Aspiration, gave Kawhi Leonard a $28 million "no-show" marketing job to circumvent the NBA salary cap (22:04–48:42).
- Pablo Torre (27:41): "We also have a marketing deal with Kawhi Leonard, a $28 million organic marketing sponsorship...essentially...to circumvent the salary cap."
- Aspiration Employee (28:28): “The single largest payment to an individual for marketing that Aspiration ever made has completely evaded all press. He didn’t have to do anything.”
- Immediacy & Fallout: The cast discusses the gravity of the story and compares its potential impact to historic sports scandals—it’s poised to be “the biggest story in sports” once editors and fans wake up (07:37, 22:04–24:11).
- Zaslow (24:37): “I think people are going to be like, there’s going to be a lot of trouble with this story.”
- Greg Cody (24:55): “This is a true blockbuster. Is Ballmer going to be suspended? Fined? The club fined?”
- Cynicism & Satire: The crew points out the story’s complexity, the stupidity of the attempted cover-up (no ad, no real job for Kawhi), and muses on how many other teams might be doing similar things.
- Chris Cody (42:07): “What a great fake business, the tree planting business.”
- Dan Le Batard (42:18): "Multiply that for $28 million, you plant a trillion trees, everybody’s happy, and you get all this money.”
- Roy (46:00): "The outrage here is the stupidity. ... To Mike’s point...if this team is so ham-handedly trying to circumvent the cap, it’s gotta be going on...in every major league."
- Legacy of Salary Cap Cheating: They recall famous sports cap-skirting, like Eric Dickerson’s rumored oil well at SMU and Pat Riley’s infamous complaints about the NBA nixing Juwan Howard’s Heat deal (43:40–48:17).
3. Voice Modulation Comedy & Show Bits (29:17–37:15)
- Desire for "Good Voice Modulation": The show playfully attempts to improve their witness-protection-style voice modulation, with mixed results and much meta-comedy.
- Chris Cody (29:17): “I'd like to start something that allows me to use a voice modulator. And I don’t think we do it particularly well here.”
- Billy Gil (29:57): “In fact, I would say, in my opinion, I heard that, I'm like, yeah, it's possibly a woman.”
- Mock Test: Greg Cody tries the modulator live, producing ridiculous, slow, and "sexy" voices, leading to a running joke about his supposed 350-pound frame and a “guess the disguised voice” challenge (33:29–39:48).
- Roy (36:08): “My wife loves this deep sexy voice, I’ll tell you that.”
- Chris Cody (39:16): “You sound like you're slurring, like you've had a great deal to drink.”
4. Local Sports: Dolphins' "Must Win" & Florida Football (07:37–17:58, 38:56–39:16)
- Dolphins Opener Hyperbole: Greg Cody and Billy Gil argue the Dolphins’ Week 1 NFL game is a "must win," leading to stats debates and analysis of betting lines. The crew mocks the idea, explores the psychology of fandom, and eventually ties it to Tyreek Hill’s captaincy drama (07:37–14:13).
- Greg Cody (08:29): "The only time it applies is Game 7 in the finals...but if the Dolphins lose this...the whole season sags right out the gate."
- Tyreek Hill Captaincy Debate: The group analyzes why star receiver Tyreek Hill wasn't made Dolphins captain, winding through player votes, leadership politics, and wild rationale (12:56–15:21).
- Pablo Torre (13:27): “It shows growth in leadership and maturity.”
- FSU & Florida Teams: The episode briefly acknowledges the roller-coaster resurgence of Florida State University’s football program and the strong presence of Florida teams in national rankings (38:56–39:16).
5. Inside Jokes, Running Gags, & Pop Culture Detours
- Coffee, Plain Sticks, & Holiday Desires: Banter on rising coffee prices, the mysterious "plain stick" at Dunkin', and favorite game-day foods—mostly just excuses for ridicule and polls (17:12–18:42).
- Zaslow (18:34): "85% of the people said they didn’t know what a plain stick was."
- Sports Journalism’s Survival: Dan gives a mini-rant about the challenges to investigative sports journalism in the era of cost-cutting, and why his network is investing in Big-League podcast reporting (26:05–26:54).
- Dan Le Batard (26:05): “No one else is doing this in the podcast form in sports.”
- Billionaire Cynicism: A mystery voice (Billy Gil) breaks from the weight of the Pablo story to rant about how “no one cares” about rich people doing shady things, lampooning media and fan priorities (40:02–41:34).
- Billy Gil as Mystery Voice (41:34): “No one gives a shit about Steve Ballmer and Kawhi Leonard. ... If anything, cheat better.”
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- On Salary Cap Circumvention:
- Aspiration Employee (28:28): “The single largest payment to an individual for marketing...has completely evaded all press. Nothing. He didn’t have to do anything.”
- Dan Le Batard (42:18): “You plant a trillion trees, everybody's happy...what an incredible fraud.”
- On Show Self-Awareness:
- Chris Cody (29:17): "One of the things I wrote down...I'd like to start something that allows me to use a voice modulator."
- Greg Cody (29:44): "So identifiable. Unbelievable."
- On Dolphins Fandom:
- Chris Cody (10:14): "Daniel Jones knows how to play quarterback. The Colts have to be at least a three point favorite in the game."
- Playful Banter & Snark:
- Pablo Torre (15:15): "He's laying down the foundation for Walter Payton Man of the Year."
- Zaslow (24:58): "The punishment is they have to keep Kawhi Leonard."
- Billy Gil as Mystery Voice (41:34): "Who cares about the Clippers? Who cares about Kawhi Leonard? Who cares about replanting trees? Ridiculous."
- On Show Rituals:
- Chris Cody (02:04): "Who said sound? I got four words for you. I love this company."
- Dan Le Batard (05:00): "We really are genuinely appreciative...Thank you for being here for this."
Important Timestamps
- [02:35] – Thanksgiving opening chaos, multiple re-intros, “Thanksgilling”
- [04:06] – Explanation: Best-of episodes dedicated to Billy Gil's moments
- [07:37] – Pablo Torre’s story introduction; Dolphins “must-win” argument
- [22:04] – In-depth on Pablo’s Clippers/Aspiration/Kawhi investigation
- [28:28] – Key quote about $28 million “no-show” job (Aspiration employee)
- [29:17] – The show’s obsession with voice modulation
- [33:29] – Greg Cody’s voice modulator test; comedy segment peaks
- [39:48] – Billy’s disguised, ranting monologue as a “mystery guest”
- [42:07] – Debating the brilliance of the tree-planting fraud
- [43:40] – Remembering Eric Dickerson’s oil well & historic cap circumvention
- [47:17] – MLS/Apple/Messi comparisons to NBA schemes
Final Thoughts & Tone
True to form, this episode mixes serious journalism with wild comedy. The tone swings from earnest (discussing fraud, sport integrity, and the survival of investigative journalism) to absurd (voice modulators, Thanksgiving wordplay, and local donut debates). The cast’s camaraderie, sarcasm, and self-deprecating humor drive the episode, while Pablo Torre’s story gives it journalistic heft. The recurring meta-commentary—mocking both themselves and the state of modern sports—makes this a classic slice of the Le Batard universe, especially poignant as it celebrates the quirky, soon-to-depart Billy Gil.
For New Listeners
Even without prior context, this episode provides a quintessential Le Batard Show experience: irreverent, sharp, community-focused, and capable of breaking meaningful sports news while never taking itself too seriously.