Local Hour: The 'Dunk On Jeremy' Show

Summary

---

Episode Overview

Title: Local Hour: The 'Dunk On Jeremy' Show
Date: February 12, 2026
Hosts: Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Mike Ryan, Jeremy, Chris, Tony
Setting: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami

Theme & Purpose:
This Local Hour episode places a spotlight on the show's dynamics—snarky banter, sports debates, and Miami Heat discourse—by inviting both playful roasting and honest assessment from the crew. Today’s running gag is to “dunk on Jeremy,” leading to both lighthearted teasing and revealing discussions about Heat fandom, NBA culture, and the future of Miami’s beloved team.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Super Bowl Halftime Shows and Kid Rock's Controversy

• The show kicks off with commentary on Kid Rock’s alternative halftime appearance and his poorly executed lip sync performance.
• Dan expresses incredulity that Kid Rock attempted to compete with a visually dynamic main show ("shaken ass is better") while wearing "white shorts" and failing to sync to his track.
  • Quote:

    “He was wearing white shorts, doing an alternative halftime show... you can't be lip syncing in that circumstance when you're going opposite the halftime show, can you?” — Dan Le Batard [01:14]

• Mike Ryan explains Kid Rock’s defense on social media and threads account.
• Jeremy generalizes that "all lip syncing sucks," stirring group laughs about Greg Cody's infamous attempts during show intros [02:12].

2. Sports Post-Football Malaise & Miami Heat Discourse

• With football over, Mike Ryan and Dan lament aimless sports-watching, defaulting to Heat games and the NBA's uninspiring matchups.
  • Quote:

    “I can only be so mad at Boomer Esiason all day. Give me some, give me some sports here. All right, I'll check in on the Pelicans and see how Herb Jones is doing.” — Dan [05:38]

• Mike claims ongoing vindication for his stance on the Heat, maintaining he’s “irrefutably right” about the team's mediocrity.
  • Quote:

    “No one has been more right about this team over the last two and a half years.” — Mike Ryan [05:45]

• Jeremy expresses exasperation at Mike’s smugness (“I almost lost my mind in the morning meeting” [06:15]).

3. Zion Williamson & Changing Styles in the NBA

• Discussion shifts to NBA issues: Zion’s underwhelming career, lack of joy, and how the modern game moves away from physical play under the rim.
• Dan questions whether stars like Zion or Ja Morant even enjoy playing within today’s NBA, comparing their experience to previous generations.
• The crew muses on the hardship of playing physically in contrast to the rise of perimeter play.

4. Miami Dolphins QB Situation and Optimism Deficit

• Mike Ryan predicts the Dolphins’ next quarterback could be Malik Willis, connecting coaching staff backgrounds, but is skeptical of real hope unless Miami builds substantial offensive weapons.
• Dan and Jeremy reflect on the fleeting nature of hope for Dolphins fans, with recent coaching hires and offensive departures dampening enthusiasm.
  • Quote:

    “The fusion of hope already died when you signed Jeff Hafley...” — Jeremy [12:30]

5. Heat Fandom: Optimism vs. Realism ("Hug" Section)

• Chris, Jeremy, and Dan discuss the tension between frustration and loyalty in Heat fandom.
• Dan places Heat expectations in perspective, noting fans are spoiled compared to most NBA franchises.
  • Quote:

    “If you are an Alabama fan, what you're presently watching ... creates a hostility in you that is a bit unreasonable because it places your expectations ... in an unreasonable place.” — Dan [16:34]

• Chris defends the Heat’s effort and potential to improve, citing positive stretches sans key players.
• Mike reiterates that treading water is “flatly not working” and pushes for a tank and rebuild, arguing the Heat should take their rare opportunity in the lottery seriously.
  • Notable Mike Quote:

    “Get it out of your head that tanking doesn't work. It does.” — Mike [20:59]

• Dan counters with empirical skepticism, stating “none of the last 18 champions in the sport have benefited from tanking in any meaningful way.” [23:20]

6. Where Does Star Power Come From? Drafting and Development

• Dan, Mike, and Chris review Miami’s draft history—acknowledging successes like Wade, Adebayo, Hero, and contrasting them with busts (Beasley, Winslow).
• Detailed talk on how Boston built its championship team from gifted picks (not pure tanking) versus Miami’s preference for undrafted/late-round player development.
• Jeremy laments the Heat’s inability to secure superstar talent through the draft, stating the Heat are “a team of baseline, just, okay, guys.” [30:28]

7. NBA Player Availability and Pat Riley’s Dissonance With the Modern NBA

• Dan observes Riley’s probable perpetual frustration with “load management,” player absences, and how the Heat have maximized their middling picks but cannot find another Dwyane Wade or perennial superstar.
• The discussion reflects on injuries (Hero, Rozier, Butler) and how that limits the Heat’s ceiling.

8. (Extended Tangent) The Justice Winslow Draft, Boston’s Picks, and Michael Jordan’s Blunders

• Anecdotes surface regarding the infamous Boston offer of four first-round picks to get Justice Winslow, Michael Jordan's Charlotte Hornets selecting Frank Kaminsky, and how history could have changed for multiple franchises.
  • Quote:

    “The Celtics would have invested everything in Justice Winslow, and we’d be having very different conversations about the Michael Jordan tenure in Charlotte.” — Chris [36:09]

9. Teasing Jeremy—“Eloquent Points” vs. Efficient Questions

• The crew pokes fun at Jeremy’s verbose non-question directed at Pablo Torre in a previous episode. Dan mocks the “tapestry” of a point, which could have been boiled down.
  • Quote:

    “It was an eloquent point when all I wanted was an efficient question. Like, I didn’t want a tapestry.” — Dan [37:13]

• Group laughter ensues, further satisfying the “dunk on Jeremy” premise.

10. Matinee Hialeah Stories and Food Tangents

• In classic Local Hour style, an extended digression covers old matinee JAI-ALAI experiences, the eccentric crowd, and the allures (and oddities) of bad concessions.
  • Shoutout to “Morty Fleischman,” a memorable matinee degenerate, and to Roy’s fondness for studio food.

11. Jonathan Kuminga & “Held Back” Players

• Dan wonders about young prospects like Kuminga being rightfully upset about their roles versus overestimating themselves—referencing Brunson’s jump from backup to all-star.
• Mike Ryan ends the talk, bored with Kuminga speculation, declaring “he’s got to do something now.” [42:07]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dan Le Batard:
  • “If you want to take America from shaking ass, you got to do better than white shorts, buddy.” [02:58]
  • “There is no worse way to start a morning...than hearing Mike Ryan crow about how irrefutably right he is.” [06:27]
• Mike Ryan:
  • “It is goddamn irrefutable that I’ve been right.” [06:18]
  • “Get it out of your head that tanking doesn’t work. It does.” [20:59]
  • “When you’re floating outside the lottery, it’s hard to add pieces that maintain any actual value.” [33:28]
• Jeremy:
  • “All lip syncing sucks, right?...all of it.” [01:58]
  • “You have all of these guys that they're able to go find and turn into good players, like in those positions. It doesn't always work out when you pick in the top five...” [29:46]
• Chris:
  • “[The Heat have] had somewhere between 50 and 60 million dollars on the bench for, like, the entire year.” [30:52]
• On Jeremy's verbose questioning:
  • “It was an eloquent point when all I wanted was an efficient question. Like, I didn’t want a tapestry.” — Dan [37:13]
• On the Justice Winslow/Charlotte Trade:
  • “The Celtics would have invested everything in Justice Winslow, and we’d be having very different conversations about the Michael Jordan tenure in Charlotte.” — Chris [36:09]

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:01–03:48] – Kid Rock, bad lip syncing, halftime show takes
• [04:45–09:54] – Mike Ryan’s Heat vindication; NBA malaise; Zion discussion
• [09:54–13:21] – Heat vs. tanking, Zion's interest in basketball, Dolphins' QB situation
• [16:30–23:20] – Heat fandom, expectations vs. reality; roots of Miami heat culture and debate over tanking
• [23:20–25:45] – Drafting, lottery success, and the “difference-maker” conundrum
• [29:44–33:28] – Rehash of picks (Adebayo, Hero, Beasley, Winslow, Boston picks), draft luck, and limits
• [34:02–36:44] – Justice Winslow draft story, Michael Jordan’s failures
• [36:44–38:48] – Jeremy’s “eloquent” question roasted
• [39:03–41:59] – Jai-alai reminiscence, food at events
• [41:59–42:13] – Kaminga, Steve Kerr, “held back” young players

---

Tone and Style

The energy is classic Local Hour: irreverent, fast-talking, and rooted in Miami sports culture. The crew toggles between playful mockery, genuine basketball analysis, and references only true South Florida diehards appreciate. There's a continuous current of inside jokes, sarcastic swipes, and vintage “dunking” on each other—especially Jeremy.

---

Summary Takeaways

• The group bickers over the merits of optimism vs. realism in Heat fandom, centering the debate on whether Miami should rebuild or stay the course, with Mike Ryan doubling down on the need for a modern, tank-based reset.
• The episode is a tapestry of basketball philosophy (team-building, lottery luck, effort), sports culture quirks (Super Bowl halftime, jai-alai, matinee degeneracy), and show chemistry (gleefully dunking on Jeremy and others in the studio).
• The "Dunk On Jeremy" theme threads humor throughout, with the episode blending the show’s homegrown vibe and sports debate for both local and national audiences.

---

Transcript

[Commercial Announcer]

Spring break isn't what it used to be. It's better this spring. Stay three nights and get a $50 Best Western gift card. Life's a trip. Make the most of it at best Western. Visit bestwestern.com for complete terms and conditions.

[Home Depot Advertiser]

Ready to relax in your dream bath retreat without the stress of figuring out every detail yourself? At the Home Depot, your bath upgrade is covered. Shop fully designed rooms and curated bath collections to go from inspiration to transformation. Fast savings of up to 40% will make it easier on your budget. And find everything you need from tubs to toilets and all the tile in between to bring your vision to life. The Home Depot Dream Baths built here.

[Mike Ryan]

We heard you.

[Jeremy]

Nine years of bring back the snack wrap and you've won. But maybe you should have asked for more. Say hello to the Hot honey Snack wrap.

[Dan Le Batard]

Now you've really won.

[Jeremy]

Go to McDonald's and get it while you can.

[Dan Le Batard]

I didn't know until yesterday that Kid Rock was lip syncing.

[Mike Ryan]

It's sinking. Lip syncing.

[Dan Le Batard]

Sinking.

[Mike Ryan]

I thought. I thought I heard singing, which is a common mistake.

[Dan Le Batard]

S Y N C is what I was trying to say. But he was wearing white shorts, doing an alternative halftime show. And you can't be lip syncing in that circumstance when you're going opposite the halftime show, can you? And the lip syncing was off. So the way people realized that he was lip syncing is that the lip syncing wasn't good.

[Mike Ryan]

He actually created a Threads account and his first post was defending with an audio engineer the merits of the performance and saying like, no, I actually sung live. And I told him to fix the sync, but the sync wasn't there. These are things that you do when the performance Absolutely nailed it.

[Jeremy]

To be honest, all. All lip syncing sucks, right? Because during the Thanksgiving Day parade, you see them all lip syncing. You're like, oh, wow, they're so off that they're not even close. So, like, all of it. Just as a blanket statement, all lip syncing sucks no matter where you're right.

[Dan Le Batard]

Nobody does it worse anywhere in entertainment than Greg Cody. During our various intros. Like there. There is no I am in. I am the pot calling the kettle. A bad lip syncer because ours is the worst. Every time we play the funniest thing, I think about those intros with Greg Cody, is he forgetting half of the words? He's marching around. He's very pleased with himself. But it's obvious to everyone watching that none of this is synced up. He doesn't know what he's thinking, singing about. But if you're going to be Kid Rock and you're going to try and take America's attention away from the Hispanic Spanish thing because your thing.

[Jeremy]

Say what you want to say, Dan.

[Dan Le Batard]

Shaken ass is better. Well, you want to just. Well, I wasn't saying the shaking ass.

[Jeremy]

They were shaking ass all over the place. If you want to take America from shaking ass, you got to do better than white shorts, buddy.

[Dan Le Batard]

No, he tried to shake his ass in those white shorts.

[Jeremy]

I want to see that.

[Mike Ryan]

He had the wrist brace like he was a pro bowler.

[Dan Le Batard]

How old is Bob? Can you tell me how old Bob is? So he's singing a 30 year old song. He's singing it in white shorts and he's lip syncing. And I saw a clip of him on with Laura Ingram and he's like, no, no, no. I'm going to put it on my social media tonight. My DJ is coming over to my living room and we're going to show you that we did it correctly.

[Mike Ryan]

That's when he created the threads account to defend his.

[Dan Le Batard]

But he said he was going to do it. He was going to show everybody that the. The sinking wasn't his fault. The part about the white shorts, though.

[Mike Ryan]

I think they're just jorts and the lighting makes you think that they're white.

[Chris]

Yeah, in his defense, they're just jorts, so.

[Dan Le Batard]

But he went after the $100 million Super bowl pregame show with jorts. Like he decided to dress.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, his name and lights too, so.

[Dan Le Batard]

But bad bunny, bad Benny, bad money. He has all of those costume design. He super ethnic and flamboyant. And the counter is jorts. Like, how do you. The counter is not just George, because there was also that country music song about I just want to sit in my truck and drink beer and mow my lawn and not have to think about trans people.

[Mike Ryan]

Somehow the widest moment of super bowl halftime entertainment was Lady Gaga's dancing.

[Jeremy]

Did you see that, Dan? Did you watch, Dan? Did you watch the halftime show?

[Dan Le Batard]

Yes. I didn't understand why Lady Gaga was there. Why was she there?

[Show Producer]

This is the Dan Levator show with the Stugats podcast.

[Dan Le Batard]

I mentioned yesterday that Mike is on an uncommon heater here with his sports teams where he's doing some winning with the team that he runs, High Alai with Chris Cody. The University of Miami made a giant run that felt like cocaine snorting over the course of six weeks to eight weeks. Then there's a court sauntering yesterday. A court milling about when The University of Miami beats North Carolina. But I imagine that what happened to Mike Ryan yesterday, post football, not unlike, sort of the malaise that hits me around when Army Navy starts playing, is that Mike Ryan's wandering around his life watching and thinking and remembering about what the last few weeks have been. And he's like, all right, I'll do Heat Pelicans. Like, okay, all right. You got nothing. You got nothing else for me? I can only be so mad at Boomeras Ison all day. Give me some.

[Mike Ryan]

Try me.

[Dan Le Batard]

Give me some. Give me some sports here. All right, I'll check in on the Pelicans and see how Herb Jones is doing.

[Mike Ryan]

I recognized him. He was, like, one of the three players that I recognize. No, it's. It's a fair thing to throw in my face. You don't watch. I don't feel like I have to watch because I've been right again for two and a half years when it comes to this team. And it's not a debate. It's flatly not a debate. Like, you can argue, stay the course, but it is irrefutable. No one has been more right about this team over the last two and a half years.

[Chris]

It's amazing.

[Mike Ryan]

It's. It's not amazing. It's irrefutable. It is data.

[Jeremy]

I don't even want to hear from.

[Mike Ryan]

Jack Shit over there. I want to hear from.

[Jeremy]

I don't want to hear from Jackson.

[Mike Ryan]

I don't want to hear anybody said.

[Jeremy]

Something today that I almost lost my mind in the morning meeting.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, I was there. We can disagree about the path forward we have over the last two and a half years, but to this point, it is goddamn irrefutable that I've been right.

[Dan Le Batard]

Can I hear from Jack Shit before? Like, there is no worse way to start a morning with whatever it is around your people, your life experience is, than hearing Mike Ryan crow about how irrefutably right he is. Like, that is not a good flav to hit people with in the morning. So let me hear from Jack Shit. I'm not. I'm not. Wait a minute.

[Mike Ryan]

Do you know how I tried to smear the audience on this?

[Chris]

Do you know, I think maybe I'll just take today off.

[Dan Le Batard]

Do you know how bad it is that irregular continues irrefutably right is so obnoxious to me that I find myself craving Jack Shit.

[Mike Ryan]

So I'm literally just stating it so we can move past it, because I.

[Tony]

Don'T want to get down on that.

[Dan Le Batard]

Right. You tried to move past Pelicans, Heat on your TV last night and you couldn't. It hypnotized you. You want. You had to wonder what. Why aren't they better with Zion Williamson? How are the Heat beating them with three guys they've got.

[Mike Ryan]

That was not my thought. My thought was like, man, this team is crap. And it wasn't about the Pelicans.

[Dan Le Batard]

The Pelicans are more crap. The league. I, you know, we spent a good amount of time yesterday talking to Pablo. I don't know. I really do wonder because audiences are so fragmented now that I legitimately wonder if fans of our show are noticing on their own without us pointing it out. Because it's not like we've pointed this out out that much. Huh. That's interesting that Pablo is talking about that Kawhi Leonard story, which is a little difficult to talk about, and everyone else on television is just yelling about tanking and sort of the difference in those things on how easy one of those is to talk about and how not easy the other one is. But clearly the, the one over here is the one that is harder to have opinions about, that are informed. And so I just, I do wonder if people see the difference in substance on. Yeah, anybody can yell about the problems the league has right now because you've got that Sacramento Utah game last night is an abomination. Right? New Orleans might be trying to win, but there's no proof of it. The career of Zion Williamson, that's one of the great expectation busts of our time. Like, I don't. That to me is worse than Ben Simmons in terms of how hopeful I was for whatever it is that that was going to. And I know Ben Simmons is an all time shirt short circuiting bust, but I really thought that Zion Williamson was going to be a freak of nature who was able to be more physical than the most physical of men in that sport. And now he just goes to rot with a nowhere franchise.

[Jeremy]

Well, like kind of his fault, right? Like, there's nothing, no other way to get around that. Like, when he's on the floor, he produces and he's got such an incredible touch around the rim. He's so physically so strong. Like, what he's able to do when he's there is great when he's not there.

[Mike Ryan]

You know, before the show, I was like, why didn't anybody try to get Kawhi? And then I was like, stupid question. My bad.

[Dan Le Batard]

I want to talk about the Heat and I want to hear from Jack Shit, because we beat him up the last couple of Days a bit excessively, but as it relates to style of play in the modern age, as the game goes further and further out toward the three point line. I don't know how much Zion Williamson enjoys basketball. I don't even know how fair it is for me to make the assessment based on the outside. Very little information that I feel like he might not enjoy basketball that much. Certainly his basketball experience in the pros has to have been pretty unpleasant.

[Mike Ryan]

Generally speaking, we watched the Pelican game totally differently.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, I'm. I'm wanting.

[Mike Ryan]

I wonder if he likes this question.

[Jeremy]

If he likes his job.

[Mike Ryan]

I feel bad for this guy.

[Dan Le Batard]

The part that I'm actually questioning is whether or not someone like John Morant still wants to play at the rim when he can get his 10 threes a game. Whether Anthony Edwards still wants to play around the rim because of how hard it is to play around the rim. The way that Zion Williamson earns his living hurts enough that I would imagine it's less fun to play basketball than the average person who loves to play basketball. Unless you're like Andrew Hawkins who says, no, no, I really miss the physical. I just love being physical. Hawkins is on television right now, by the way, saying that the Miami Dolph should trade for Kyler Murray. He says that the Dolphins should want Kyler Murray. I would imagine that that would immediately excite Dolphin fans. Even though I don't have a discernible eye for what the Dolphin plan is, it seems to me like they're rebuilding to be good. By the time Josh Allen's done, I.

[Mike Ryan]

Think the clubhouse leader is Malik Willis. Bring him over from Green Bay because the staffers from Green Bay and the general manager, the head coach, they had some success with Malik Willis, which is, you know, grading on a curve, I would say, because Malik. Malik Willis is considered to be good because of what people's expectations are of him. And sometimes he surprises people by not being.

[Dan Le Batard]

The only thing that happens with Malik Willis post draft is that every time Jordan Love goes down, they don't expect anything at all from the Packers. And then the packers put up 17 points. Like, that's not an answer. And I don't care whether you're the guys who know the guy and therefore you want to try and develop the guy. That is not the answer. Kyler Murray would interest me, but please tell me what you're putting around him, because I don't know what the Dolphin plan is right now in terms of people they have that anybody else in the league would want. They have, like Four of them maximum. That anybody in the league. That anyone in the league want.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, it's waddle. Hm.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean that's not. That's not bad weapons to work with for a quarterback. And while Kyler Murray like in previous seasons would be like, really, that's the gold standard. I honestly think Kyler Murray is probably like the best option if you're hoping to upgrade at the position this year and that includes like the draft.

[Dan Le Batard]

He is the best name and hope option. That is not up for dispute in terms of what's available. Tony, I know you're sour on Kyler Murray, but in terms of just putting an infusion of hope, people are going to expect, oh, it'll be scrambling offense. Even though he's been bad and injured for years now.

[Jeremy]

The. The fusion of hope or whatever kind of already died when you signed Jeff Halfley and you're like, all right, hopefully he could do something. Mike already has the. The down low on him.

[Mike Ryan]

Like we don't know what.

[Jeremy]

How.

[Chris]

That's good. You guys are so positive.

[Jeremy]

Mike, go ahead.

[Chris]

Coaches always pop up.

[Mike Ryan]

Chris, remind you I'm right about everything.

[Tony]

Thank you.

[Mike Ryan]

And I saw Halfley at bc. This isn't going to work out.

[Jeremy]

On top of that, you get your offense who you. You let go of a guy who is a scheme wizard in Mike McDaniel to bring in Bobby Slowik and Kevin Patullo who both got fired because they were terrible. And now you're looking at two guys who are terrible trying to lead your offense that doesn't have weapons, that doesn't have a quarterback.

[Dan Le Batard]

Did you just try to have hope and he got you with a Patullo? He got you. He undercut. Mike's right. What do you want me to do? He took your legs out from you.

[Mike Ryan]

I was whispering to Chris, I'm like, man, what a change. For the dude to my right is just agreeing with everything that I say and matter of factly said. There you go.

[Dan Le Batard]

All right, so let's.

[Mike Ryan]

It's so refreshing. Oh my God, this is incredible.

[Tony]

Well, you know, people keep asking me about my 2026 resolutions and yeah, I got the usual stuff. You know, watch more games, complain about the power play and pretend like my team's actually going to stay healthy. But this year, the one at the top of my list is simple. Get comfy. That's where Bombas comes in. They bring serious comfort to my everyday essentials. Bomber's just dropped their all new sports socks engineered for running, golf, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, basically whatever you're pretending you're about to be really into and I'm trying to stay active this year by playing hockey. I need these socks. It has cushioning where you need it. It's sweat wicking, solid support. No distractions, just comfort. And for the everyday stuff, Bomber's footwear has you covered. Sunday slippers for staying in, Friday sandals for quick errands, and the new Saturday suede slip ons for when you want comfort but still need to leave the house. Premium everyday go to's I don't really think about, which is kind of the point. And for every item you buy, Bombas donates one to someone facing housing insecurity. One bought one donated over 150 million items so far. Head over to bombers.com dkn and use code dkn for 20% off your first purchase. That's B O M B-A-S.com dkn code dkn at checkout the NBA's biggest stars.

[Jeremy]

Deliver the biggest moments. And with DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA, you can be right in the middle of the action. And DraftKings has your back with early exit. If your player goes down at any time in the first half, you still get paid in cash. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app and use Code Dan. New customers can bet just five bucks, and if your bet wins, you get 300 bucks in bonus bets instantly. That's code DAN in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours.

[DraftKings Advertiser]

Gambling problem call 1-800- gambler, New York call 877-8-HOPE and why or text hope and why Connecticut call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org on behalf of Boothill Casino in Kansas. Wager Tax Pass through may apply in Illinois, 21 and over in most states. Void in Ontario, restrictions apply. Bet must win to receive bonus bets, which expire in seven days. Minimum odds required. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG Co Audio limited Time Offer.

[Commercial Announcer]

Dripping in gold that's cool. Dripping in Velveeta's supremely creamy, golden cheesiness. That's respect. Elevate your drip with Velveeta's range of outrageously delicious dips and dishes, shells, cheese, melty blocks and heat and eat queso that go all in on indulgence. Flex on your fam with a creamy, cheesy masterpiece and go all in on what you love with Velveeta. Respect the drip and satisfy your cravings. Bring home the drip with Velveeta Don.

[Chris]

Lebata It sounds to me like everybody could use a hug because a hog is always the right size.

[Mike Ryan]

Stugats.

[Chris]

All I have put in my body.

[Mike Ryan]

Today is three cups of coffee and.

[Chris]

An entire cup of honey.

[Dan Le Batard]

Go to the pedal. Don't let him fool you.

[Chris]

He said in the break that he's jittery.

[Show Producer]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats.

[Dan Le Batard]

Let me go to jack shit on the Heat.

[Jeremy]

You're gonna get mad, Dan. You're gonna get mad.

[Dan Le Batard]

We'll get back to Kyler Murray. Well, I want to hear. Look, Heat fans are mad. You've heard me say over the last couple of years when it comes to fandom, that if you are an Alabama fan, what you're presently watching because of what you got to experience before, creates a hostility in you that is a bit unreasonable because it places your expectations on where the standard is in an unreasonable place if you're Alabama football or the last five years, if you've been Patriots football, where you're just used to winning for 20 years. And so the standard gets put in a place where the Miami Heat are not the team they're playing against. That franchise that they're playing against has been in a quagmire beneath where the Miami Heat have spent the last 30 years like that. There are franchises all over the league that don't have what can be said is the consistent effort of the Miami Heat, and one of them is even some place like Minnesota, which hasn't done any meaningful winning in 30 years. And Rudy Gobert is still out here saying our effort level is unacceptable. You get a basketball team that the effort level, whether they're playing well or not. No one disputes whether Bam cares or is trying. No one disputes whether or not Norm Powell cares or is trying or anybody on that team cares or is trying. Maybe they do some of that with Hero because he doesn't play enough and they have expectations for Hero. So I understand why Heat fans are frustrated, but, Jeremy, I don't hear a whole lot of positive Heat fans these days because what they have is so clearly not good enough. And what did you say earlier that got everyone off and said, you don't know jack shit?

[Chris]

All I said was that the team that is two games out of climbing their way out of the play in might climb their way out of the play in by the end of the season. Because yesterday you saw the third straight game of Khalil Ware and Bama Tobiah having a positive impact when they're on the floor Together. You saw another one of the young role players continue to play well and Caspar Siakochonis. You saw Myron Gardner start. You saw a team that was without Wiggins and Powell and Paula Larson, who are all starters on this team and play big minutes, go win a game that they've lost all year long. When they have those moments in the fourth quarter where the other team is coming back to win, they lose that game. And it was a nice way to end the first half. You saw a nice moment between SPO and Khalil Ware after the game. He's playing a little bit better, getting his minutes. And I'm looking at a team that actually tries to win basketball games and I enjoy that. I enjoy watching my team not try to.

[Dan Le Batard]

All right, I need to find somewhere on the spectrum between Mike's obnoxious sort of been irrevocably right for the last eight and a half decades and you're. I'm bored with the sound of my own voice.

[Chris]

Yeah, Well, I got told by the guy to my right I'm an icon to the Heat fan base. But Mike said it started talk. Not you, though.

[Jeremy]

I wasn't calling you an icon.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, no, no, no.

[Chris]

Quote, I'm an icon.

[Mike Ryan]

I'm an icon in these streets.

[Chris]

So what am I supposed to do?

[Mike Ryan]

And seriously, what am I supposed to do now with the results in hand? People are appreciating the truth that I speak into these microphones.

[Chris]

Yeah, this guy.

[Dan Le Batard]

What is the ad that Seren Djokovic are doing for icon? There's an icon ad that they just stand there. You know it's them.

[Mike Ryan]

Someone better say something.

[Dan Le Batard]

You guys don't know what I'm talking about. There is an ad for icons where they're just silently themselves draped in some sort of. I don't see Googling. No, I see Tony Googling over there. Somebody's gonna find what I'm talking about.

[Chris]

You know, the heater, 10th in the NBA in differential. They're 10th in the NBA in differential. They have a ton of single digit losses. They've played without several players for a whole chunk of the season. I'm just trying to say that maybe they could be the six seed, which would be cool to not see them in the play in and I don't know, we spent the last several days complaining about every franchise in the league tanking. And while I can understand looking at what happened with the Dallas Mavericks and saying, oh, but the Heat could have gotten lucky with a lottery pick and maybe they. That's not really? Normally how it works. That was better. You didn't sound as broken there.

[Mike Ryan]

I'm sorry. But. But.

[Tony]

All right.

[Mike Ryan]

It literally happens. I'm gonna try my hardest here to not sound like an asshole, which is really hard for me. All right?

[Jeremy]

Really hard.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

But you see teams like Indiana, you see teams like San Antonio, you see teams like okc, like, get it out of your head that tanking doesn't work. It does.

[Commercial Announcer]

No.

[Chris]

So that's not.

[Mike Ryan]

That's not the point when I make the effort to not sound like an asshole. I'd like to not be interrupted. Please.

[Chris]

Please.

[Mike Ryan]

All right. I'm just done hearing about a 2023. Leo Messi wasn't on Intermi angel the last time the Miami Heat made the NBA Finals. It was a different world back then. You keep holding that up. And yet the Dallas Mavericks made it to the Finals and six months later, traded their franchise player. Tanked, got the best. Well, they tanked because the trade was a disaster and got Cooper Flagg, who was Miami's pick. They got Miami's pick. It would have worked. Like, you can turn this around so quickly.

[Dan Le Batard]

I cannot use Dallas as the example that Miami should be aspiring to, given what it is that Nico Harrison did to their franchise. And how the. The howling around the Dallas Mavericks when they traded Lucas, louder than any howling that's ever been around the Heat fan base.

[Jeremy]

But then they got the pick, right two, three years ago. I said tank for when Banyama there was.

[Chris]

And then they went to the Finals.

[Mike Ryan]

Okay, stop saying everybody that wins a lottery gets lucky. Like, the team with the have like 23% chances.

[Chris]

Like, I'm just asking.

[Mike Ryan]

It's a lottery.

[Jeremy]

The.

[Chris]

The. The question that I have is, like, it's really easy for the. The Heat fan base in particular. A franchise that has never had to go through what a tank and a rebuild is. They've gone through basically since Pat riley got here 30 years ago, individual maybe two or three individual seasons where they were one of the worst teams in the league, and then immediately we're back to competing. Do you want to go through watching season after season after season of being bad to collect those players? The answer is no.

[Mike Ryan]

I'm sorry. You just said it yourself. They had two bad years and were back immediately. Do you or do you not have faith in Pat Riley? Because when he's in the lottery, generally he gets good players and he turned things around. I'm not saying let's be bad for four years. That's how bad franchises do it. I say let's be bad the way that the Miami Heat have been bad a couple of seasons reload and yet get a young player that has maximum value that you can maybe even flip to get away. But I'm saying stop treading water. It is flatly not working. That is not a debate, that is fact.

[Dan Le Batard]

I think that another fact is that none of the last 18 champions in the sport have benefited from tanking in any meaningful way. And given that you're saying two seasons that end up in the finals, two seasons end up in the finals, that that's not good enough. If I'm telling you tanking hasn't resulted in a championship in the last 18 years, you come with it's not good enough to be Jimmy Butler in the finals twice, then what's tanking actually getting you? If it's not getting you that result, it's getting you. You're no longer a sold out stadium, you're no longer got the longest streak in the league of the stadiums always filled with people.

[Mike Ryan]

I fundamentally disagree. Boston won a championship, they got a bunch of young players. By tanking, Oklahoma City is going to be running the sport like San Antonio is going to be in that conversation. Yeah, you have outliers like the Miami Heat and the LA Lakers that even the Lakers went through like a minor rebuild like that. It's, it's, it's how the sport is designed. That's why so many teams tank. Because you get a lottery pick, it can change your franchise. Miami has benefited from this. I, all the people that are arguing don't tank to me are just saying I don't have faith that Pat Riley can fix this with a lottery pick.

[Jeremy]

Realistically, what Miami's been very comfortable with is shopping in the discount bin and then turning those guys into players that get, get big contracts somewhere else, right? So you have your, your base of max Streusses, Gabe Vincent's, Tyler Johnson's, all these different guys that you make serviceable players, Duncan Robinson's, you make those guys serviceable players for a little bit and then you ship them off somewhere else and try to redo that. But you can only go to the discount bin so many times and it worked.

[Mike Ryan]

Dan.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, you say the discount bin, but I think that the way that people get forgetful about whatever it is the evolutions of Pat Riley are supposed to be. Throughout the majority of my career watching this team, he hadn't trusted young players and didn't care about the draft at all. The year they got Wade, he wanted bosh, they got Wade, they got lucky With Wade, it's the one time they've actually had a pick that can change the franchise like that. And they got lucky. Like, the. The other Beasley didn't work out the way that was supposed to.

[Mike Ryan]

So I guess Justice Winslow didn't work out either.

[Dan Le Batard]

But that was a nine. Booker, that was an eight or a nine.

[Mike Ryan]

But, like, when they're in that lottery, like, Bam out of bio was like, in that range that they're never really in.

[Dan Le Batard]

He was like 12. But this is the thing, though, about Bam Adebayo. Like, to me, the difference between Tatum and Brown in Boston and Bam, Adebayo and Hero is where they were drafted. Like, the skill sets on Brown and Tatum are. That's what they become. And the skill sets on Hero and Adebayo is. That's where they Mac at. Max out, like, middle of the first round is a Hero. What are you shaking your finger about?

[Chris]

Oh, no, I'm. I'm adding to what you're saying in that Jaylen Brown, that was a positive. Tatum were a result. Not of. Not of. Not of tanking. By the way, those guys were those picks because they acquired them from the Nets. Those are Nets picks. Those are not their picks. And so you have to remember that it's not as simple as, oh, be bad and go through multiple seasons of being bad. Sometimes you have to get lucky that you pull off a heist against, you know, a franchise like Brooklyn that doesn't know how to run itself.

[Dan Le Batard]

Again, though, I'm just going to say it. There's only one time that the Heat franchise has actually used the best parts of the lottery to get to the championship round. Like, that's not where you got out of Buy Adebayo. That's not where you got Tyler Hero. Don't let them forget about the Icon commercial.

[Jeremy]

Dan, what I found was a GLP1 commercial. If that's what you were thinking about with Serena and.

[Dan Le Batard]

All right, you guys can keep talking.

[Jeremy]

I do have a stat of the day. We're talking Tyler Hero. I do have a stat of the day, though.

[Show Producer]

Start of the day. Start of the day. It is your start of the day. Start of the day. Start of the day. It is the start of the day. Start of the day. Start of the day. It is the start of the day. Start of the day. Start of the day. It is the start of the day.

[Jeremy]

In the 2025, 26 season, the recently fired CP3 has played 16 games. Tyler Hero has played 11 games this season.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, my. My father's really mad at Tyler Hero. He calls him an assortment of injured names because he never plays and when he does play, they haven't been appreciably better. When he's coming, you need, you need something from him.

[Mike Ryan]

It's amazing he's still here. We were at the Clevelander saying like he's definitely gone, right? He survived the Harden Rum, Lillard rumors, the Giannis rumors.

[Dan Le Batard]

That is a frustrating Heat player. Can you help me with the history of where it is that he was drafted? Because I'm doing it off the top of my head and I don't think I'm doing it very well when it comes to both Bam and Hero, but they're middle of the first round guys and, and I've, I've found interesting. Okay. I don't know how the rest of you look at it. Boston still very good. Boston right now is overachieving. Boston has a model architect in Brad Stevens that's viewed as knowing exactly what, what to do. Just because he traded for Porzingis and for Drew Holiday and Pieces that helped them win a championship, but also because he had the gut to trade Marcus Smart, who was a very popular player. And then they immediately got better. But the starting point on it is we got Jalen Brown and we got Tatum. These are picks that at any time the skill set when they're running around for scouts is oh, that's the best guy in this draft, clearly. And obviously they got two of those. And as they grow, what happens, happens. Bam out of bio meets him at the rim in the bubble. But as they keep growing, they get better and they hit their ceiling, which is higher than where Bam Adebayo ceiling is. When you just measure these things in a camp. Bam Adebayo was viewed as not what Tatum and Brown are. So your best player, your all star isn't as good as their all Star, your Tyler Hero. When we're doing the simple measurements on what are these guys going to be, Brown or Tatum are drafted, where you get the Immortals, like that's where the Immortals get picked. And Adebayo and Hero are maxing out their talents.

[Jeremy]

Both guys 13 and 14 pick respectively.

[Chris]

The Heat have picked in the top 10 twice since Dwyane Wade. Those players ended up being Michael Beasley who was selected seventh overall and Justice Winslow who was selected tenth. And you have all of these examples. Their last four, I believe their last four first round picks, five first round picks. If you look at it here, where they were picked in like the teens or 20, you have Bama to Bio, Tyler Hero, Jaime Hawk, is junior picked 18th, Khalil Ware at 15th. Casper, who's a good young point guard in 19, he's. He was picked at 20th. So you have all of these guys that they're able to go find and turn into good players, like in. In those positions. It doesn't always work out when you pick in the top five. You look at the last several drafts, sure.

[Jeremy]

But then you turn into a team that is exactly what the Heat are. They're a team of baseline, just, okay, guys, everybody's okay. There's no guy that's a superstar, superstar. There's no guy that can be that immortal top five pick where it's like, oh, my God, here it is. Here's the guy that's going to run the league for the next 10 years like those other guys have. It's like, you got Jaime, you got Booker. Excuse. You got Bam, you got Hero, you got K where you got yakin ch. It's like, okay, they're fine. They're 41 and 41. That's what the Heat are.

[Chris]

Each of the last two seasons, they've had somewhere between 50 and 60 million dollars on the bench for, like, the entire year. Jimmy Butler didn't play for the overwhelming majority of last season and didn't try when he did. And now this year, you got 11 games out of Tyler Hero was making 30 million. And Terry Rosier, suspended for the season after he missed a bunch of games last year. So while you could talk about, like, oh, they can't be that good around Bam at Aayo, if $70 million worth of NBA players was around him, that isn't there right now. And you had all of those other good young role players, this team would be better than the eight seat, Don Lee.

[Dan Le Batard]

Now they're gonna see a different Jimmy. Now he's just. Just playing nickel locker room and st. As I chase the nets for the six seed, these five words in his head scream my way. Winning games. Yeah, this is the D. Levitar show with the stuff. Maybe because when Tyler Herro was there, it was also frustrating, but he missed the first 17 of the game. Seventeen of the games. Offseason Ankle surgery, then 13 because of a toe contusion, and now 15 straight because of a rib injury. And you're out there. And now Norm Powell is missing games. And I've got to think, even though I haven't talked to him about it, and I've read some quotes recently where Riley, not unlike Wilbon, just sort of hates today's game, like, has had to adapt, but doesn't love the way that everybody is playing basketball. I have to imagine that Pat Riley is a daily kind of depressed about what it is this league has become with guys sitting and him not having the control over being able to get people out there to play 82 games given the way they're probably inhumane way that he used to practice and people would play through anything. I've got to imagine that wherever it is that your grandpa disconnects from Today's kids, today's 20 year olds, I've got to imagine that Pat Riley watching today's sport is handcuffed because of everything you're saying. They will max out all the gay Vincent's of the world. They will. They will max out every 12 and 13 pick that they have. And if they get lucky on a Dwyane Wade, they can change their entire franchise. But he can't get everybody to play like it's not. One of the reasons I got to think Bam's untouchable is because he just knows he's going to be out there all the time.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, but look, helpful footnotes here on the Michael Beasley and Justice Winslow stuff. Good points. Devin Booker was there on the board, they went for Justice Winslow. But my point is their assets, all right. Michael Beasley essentially became Mike Miller. Justice Winslow, however big of a disaster you think that pick was, especially with Booker on the on the board that turned into Jay Crowder and Andre Iguodala, guys that helped make a final for this team that were key advantage. They had value. And what I'm saying is when you're floating outside the lottery, it's hard to add pieces that maintain any actual value.

[Dan Le Batard]

I have a funny story that I think of every time anybody mentions Justice Winslow. Can you guys look up for me please what Michael Jordan traded to get ahead of the Heat that year? Because Michael Jordan that year made a trade trying to get ahead of the Heat, thinking that they wanted Frank Kaminsky. And so he drafted Frank Kaminsky when the Heat were always zoned in on Justice Winslow. And Frank Kaminsky, on top of being a funny name and a funny game, also predictably ended up being a cement footed human being who didn't give them much. But it was something that was laughed about in Heat circles that that franchise owned by Michael Jordan, one of the worst there's ever been, tried to trade up because they thought the Heat was trying to get Frank Kaminsk.

[Mike Ryan]

You know who tells that story best? The Phoenix Suns.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, because they got for all the.

[Jeremy]

Shit that the New York knick fans gave Kristoff Sporzingus in the Knicks for that pick at 4. If you look at who was taken after that, Porzingis has actually had the better career out of like a lot of those guys outside of. Outside of basically only Devin Booker.

[Chris]

So the details there are. Are just slightly off because what that was was that Charlotte was picking nine that year. The Heat were picking 10. Charlotte was intent on taking Frank Kaminsky and were afraid to trade down because they thought he might get picked before the next pick. They were offered four first round picks by Boston in order to move up to that nine so that Boston could take Justice Winslow ahead of the Heat because they knew the Heat would take Winslow low. And to think about how the fortunes of the Boston Celtics franchise would have changed because I believe some of those picks turned into Tatum and Brown, the picks that they were offering to Charlotte. So Charlotte could have had those guys. The Celtics would have invested everything in Justice Winslow, and we'd be having very different conversations about the Michael Jordan tenure in Charlotte.

[Dan Le Batard]

I don't think we would have been. I think that.

[Mike Ryan]

Okay, that's how you handle jack shit.

[Jeremy]

You got him. Dano again.

[Chris]

I could just stop.

[Mike Ryan]

I just.

[Chris]

Sampson. Okay. Him freelancer.

[Show Producer]

Okay.

[Dan Le Batard]

I wasn't taking that out on you. I was. The Michael Jordan was that bad an owner that I don't think that anything that he would have done there would have gotten them out of the morass. I was not. I was not condescending your point. I was just disagreeing with the idea that any one draft pick would have undone the many years of incompetence that Michael Jordan had in Charlotte.

[Mike Ryan]

I think we fixed.

[Jeremy]

I went back and listened to yesterday to Jeremy's question.

[Chris]

I listened to it multiple times.

[Dan Le Batard]

Good. I showed my wife.

[Mike Ryan]

She laughed. It's like, what is it?

[Jeremy]

What is he talking about? I'm like, I don't know.

[Dan Le Batard]

So do you have the. Do you have the question there from yesterday for Pablo? Because he could have just said, wasn't a question. Pablo isn't.

[Chris]

It was an eloquent point.

[Jeremy]

He's right.

[Mike Ryan]

He's exactly right. Yeah, that's a ball.

[Dan Le Batard]

It was an eloquent point when all I wanted was an efficient question. Like, I didn't want a tapestry. Here's. Here's Jeremy's non. Question. Eloquent point that never ended. It just sort of stopped when I ran him off the road, he fell into a ditch. Still talking. But he never finished neither a question nor his tapestry.

[Chris]

Going to the journalist element of it. Like it it is more complicated for these local media members who cover individual teams when they go out to All Star Game to ask these question because for them, they're looking for job security, right? In a media landscape that's shifting the way that it is, do you want to be the troublemaker? Do you want to be the. The person who's asking the tough questions when you're making your money off of the team that you cover, giving you information and they're, they're your sources and now they might be looking at you asking those questions as, who knows, maybe they're trying to, to cover up similar types of things as we're talking about. Like all of these owners and all of these general managers are looking for potential shortcuts to win. Do you really want to be the person that now potentially loses out on sources because of that? And in this specific landscape where journalism already isn't being funded, why are you going to join the fray of, of the sort of outcasts of the league?

[Dan Le Batard]

Pablo, the thing, it's a full minute. The question that wasn't a question was a full minute. And it could have been Pablo, are they scared for their job? Jobs like that? It could have been that.

[Mike Ryan]

It was an eloquent point, though.

[Chris]

A tapestry.

[Jeremy]

Brought me joy, a lot of joy yesterday.

[Dan Le Batard]

So you went back and listened.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, I had to. I could almost say a word for word.

[Dan Le Batard]

All right, please, please.

[Mike Ryan]

I don't like what we're doing. This is mean.

[Dan Le Batard]

But it's funny, the wandering past the, the Heat game last night when they're playing the Pelic and you're a champion. You're a reigning general manager champion. Your JLI Cyclones started their season yesterday. And I've got to admit, when I heard you say it starts at 3:00 clock highlight, it brought me back to my dirtiest days of the weekday matinee at jli. The weekday matinee at JLI is a sad experience. There. A lot of used to be indoors, a lot of smokers in a warehouse and just, just the general feeling of leprosy in the proceedings. A lot of degeneracy. Just anybody who's doing the too too aggressively. The weekday matinee at the time, keep in mind there were people. It wasn't everybody working for home or different hours. Like if you're working, if you're at the matinee during the day at Highlight, the noon matinee, you're somebody who really enjoys your gambling. Shout out. Morty Fleischman loved. One of my favorite people there was Marty Fleischman, the PR director who ra our poker. Thank you to Marty Fleischman for helping us save highlight in South Florida. All class. But the. The man, they loved his brown suits from the 1970s made of a combination of linoleum and pleather.

[Mike Ryan]

It's a tricky one.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, linoleum is tough. The. The Hiali JLI matinee. Have any of you been there? The noon weekday matinee? Oh, yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

Back in.

[Chris]

Good stuff right there. Absolutely.

[Mike Ryan]

$2 beers, $1.

[Tony]

Dogs had good wings there, man.

[Mike Ryan]

How did you would inhale them? I've never seen someone eat a bone before.

[Dan Le Batard]

Roy, I thought of you while reading. This is an odd thing to say. I thought of you while reading a way too long Jonathan Kaminga story about how it is that everything fell apart with him and Golden State. And I don't know if you guys saw some of the details, but the warriors reprimanded him because one of the people around him was taking too much food. And so I thought of Roy and the idea that occasionally he'll leave here with, you know, a barbecue rib in his shirt pocket. Like, I thought of you, Roy, when. Because of how much you enjoy the food in the eating area. It is delicious and it's the right price. Right? I hear a number of people complaining about the food out there, but I'm like, it's free. I thought every Mediterranean. I thought free. Yeah, but you promise.

[Jeremy]

No, we don't have Mediterranean.

[Dan Le Batard]

I just. I've never heard people complain about free food before.

[Jeremy]

To that point. The Kaminga story in the coming of saga has been weird with the warriors, right? Like, there's feel like anything. Like, yes, his boy's taking too many ham sandwiches.

[Dan Le Batard]

I mean, what that. That is. That is an uncommon kind of petty. This story to me was way too many words for the player. We're talking about Jeremy, right?

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, I'm. I'm. I'm making the decision. I'm done with Kaminga talk.

[Jeremy]

Wow.

[Mike Ryan]

He's got to do something now.

[Dan Le Batard]

I. I just always wonder using him as an avatar, right? I always wonder when is a guy right, when is a guy like Jalen Brunson, right? If he's complaining as the second man, I should be touching the ball more. I shouldn't be behind Luca. Like I. I never. Now obviously he should be behind Steph. But once Steph is. Once Steph is the star of your team, will you ever be like, I'm assuming that when Jordan Poole goes to Washington, he's thinks, now watch what I'm going to do now that I don't have to share a ball with somebody who's better than me. Watch what it is that I can do. I have no idea how good Kaminga is. I do have an idea that he's a good deal better than Steve Kerr thinks he is. Like, I think that. That it's not about the food in the eating area, it's about Steve Kerr doesn't think Kaminga is as good as Kaminga thinks Kaminga is.

[Jeremy]

Now we're going to find out right now, right? Like, he's traded, he's got his new team. Like, he's. He's going to be able to play the way that he wants to play. And we'll see if he's the team. Jalen Brunson type where we look back in a couple years be like, damn, Kamingo is really being held back by the Warriors.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's just a hard one to do with Steve Kerr. Cause he rules the sport, right? Like, it's clear in that story that how personal everything had become there with him, that he was really pissed that somebody was just an anchor on his career. He's looking at the guy who's supposed to be the ally in Steve Kerr, and he's like, you are an anchor on my career. You're not making me better. You're the one holding me back. What a daily miserable experience that must be to think. Think you're like Mike Ryan. I'm always right and I can't get off the bench. I'm the. I'm the best who's always right here. And look at. Look at who they subbed me for. Old Jack is getting in the game, bored with his own voice.