Local Hour: The Furthest Thing From Elmo

Summary

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The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: Local Hour – “The Furthest Thing From Elmo”
Date: October 31, 2025

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Overview

Broadcasting from the Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami, Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, and their rotating cast deliver their signature blend of sports and pop culture commentary with a Halloween twist. This “Local Hour” captures a fatigued but hilariously chaotic crew, much of it driven by costume mishaps and Miami sporting malaise. The episode runs the gamut from Dolphins and Heat analysis to Halloween party talk, the emergence of Victor Wembanyama, and existential questions about sports, brands, and Elmo’s antithesis.

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Episode Highlights

1. Halloween Hangover & Costume Chaos

• Dan sets the tone, describing the crew as a “hungover Halloween crew that sort of spent itself pre-Halloween” ([00:34]).
• Only Juju Gotti put considerable effort into a costume; others are “half-assed” (Dan’s words). Roy Bellamy sits out on religious grounds, and Chris Cote’s mask impairs his ability to produce ([00:34]–[03:12]).
• Notable moment: Dan riffs about accidentally texting the wrong Robert Bailey a rant about his unpopular costume at the prior night’s block party ([14:19]).
  • Quote: “I ended up sending that to former Ram and Lion Robert Bailey, former Hurricane. I haven’t talked to him in 15 years...” ([15:03])

2. The Miami Dolphins: Trade Deadline Blues & Dissatisfaction

• Trade deadline approaches; Dan wonders out loud who on the Dolphins would actually have trade value ([03:44]–[04:13]).
• Focus on quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s increasingly defensive comments and general fanbase apathy.
  • Discussion of Tua’s “I’m half the player Josh Allen is” soundbite and his weak justification about Baltimore crowd noise ([05:30]).
  • Quote: “They’ve got a half a season left, folks, and they’re done with their quarterback, they’re done with their coach, they’re done. Filled with general indifference.” ([06:19])
• Quarterback options (Kyler Murray, Jacoby Brissett) are bandied about, reflecting how desperate the situation is for Miami fans ([08:29]).

Timestamps

• [03:44] – Dolphins trade deadline speculation
• [05:30] – Tua audio montage & commentary
• [09:41] – “This is the worst defense…”

3. The Block Party & DJ Laz Surprise

• Recap of a successful block party sponsored by Miller Lite and DraftKings (“the intimate relationship we have with our audience”—Dan, [11:21]).
• DJ Laz, “the biggest and the best we’ve ever had in this market,” makes a surprise appearance ([12:16]).
  • Quote: “DJ Laz kept it local. Power 96 went through the tough times in radio, made his own song. When he played that, the place went crazy.” ([12:28])

4. The Miami Heat & Victor Wembanyama Debate

• Postgame thoughts after the Heat face Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs.
  • Wembanyama’s five blocks all come in the second half ([19:56]).
• Spirited debate: Is Wembanyama already a top-5 or even the best NBA player?
  • Tony: “He’s the best player in the league right now. If he stays healthy.” ([21:49])
  • Chris Cote: “He does perhaps the best job of any of the superstars in the league of making other players better...[Jokic] is like a plus a million on offense.” ([24:10])
• Discussion on how Wembanyama warps the game gravitationally on both ends, drawing a Shaq analogy ([27:27]).
  • Juju: “When you talk about Victor Wembanyama, this is the guy that gives you gravity on both ends of the floor. His presence on the defensive end makes other players think twice about even attempting a shot.” ([29:32])

Timestamps

• [19:25] – Heat game/Wembanyama stat discussion
• [20:48] – Is Wembanyama already the best?
• [25:41] – Wemby’s offensive patience and passing
• [27:27] – Shaq/Wemby and the “gravity” analogy

5. “The Furthest Thing from Elmo” & Cultural Aside

• Juju’s voice impression (part internet meme, part sports philosopher) sends the crew into fits, and the title “The Furthest Thing From Elmo” is explained.
  • Juju, pivoting from Kevin Durant to adult film star Alexis Texas: “Also, Alexis Texas, great physical tools, low poles of leg.” ([33:18])
  • Dan: “Is porn the furthest thing from Elmo? It’s gotta be bottom five.” ([33:35])
  • Juju: “Depends on what kind of porn you’re watching.” ([33:46])

Timestamps

• [32:52] – Juju’s “furthest thing from Elmo” bit
• [33:29] – Porn/Elmo scale

6. “Love of the Game” & Modern Branding in Sports

• Renewed generational debate: Does today’s NBA love basketball as much as earlier generations did, or do they care more about personal brands and social media?
  • Juju (in character): “Some of these players are in it for the trappings, for the luxuries...not for the game itself.” ([35:39])
  • Dan: “That’s always been the case, though.” ([35:51])
  • Tony: “He hears the criticism instantly...wants to keep up with the Kardashians... plays a role into why today's athlete seems a little more disinterested.” ([35:54])
• Discussion of Michael Jordan’s brand-building versus how overt it is for today’s players ([36:24]).

7. Heat Organizational Stability vs. Dolphins Dysfunction

• Dan reflects on why the Heat have overtaken the Dolphins in Miami’s sports psyche: “How much it matters to have stability...someone came out of the video room and is regarded as the most innovative of the coaches...” ([39:52]–[42:35])
• Heat’s culture of player development compared with the NBA at large.
  • Juju: “They do an incredible job, not only of scouting, but player development and seeing the best in guys who are in the G League...As far as other organizations...I would put the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.” ([43:18])
  • Dan: “The grand majority of those people who leave here because they’re paid never again look like what they looked like here.” ([43:54])

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• On Dolphins malaise:
  Dan Le Batard: “Filled with general indifference. Here is Tua trying to motivate the team beforehand. This would look really cool if they were 6 and 1 or 7 and 1, but it looks far less cool when they’re 2 and 7.” ([06:19])

• On Wembanyama’s Impact:
  Tony: “That, to me, equals best player in the league. I feel like he’s the best player in the league right now. Like, give me somebody who can do what he do on both ends of the court, cross you up. Like, he’s the best player in the league right now, if he stays healthy.” ([21:49])

• On NBA branding:
  Juju: “It’s not just that, Juju, it’s also the infatuation with being a brand. It’s all the other things. Instead of focusing, making the main thing the main thing.” ([36:13])

• On Heat development culture:
  Dan: “The other thing about their development that is interesting is the grand majority of those people who leave here...never again look like what they looked like here. They don’t look like that before they get here, and then they get paid and go somewhere else.” ([43:54])

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Funniest or Most Memorable Moments

• Dan’s ongoing exasperation with the Halloween costumes, particularly Chris Cote’s mask and the resulting production blunders ([00:34], [03:23], [20:48]).
• The whole “furthest thing from Elmo” debate, with the group riffing on how porn and Elmo sit at opposite ends of a hypothetical scale ([32:52]–[33:46]).
• Juju’s internet meme-inspired sports analysis, complete with gravelly voice and faux-sage delivery, simultaneously confusing and delighting the crew ([29:32], [36:13]).
• Costume misery: Dan sweating in a Pop Tart costume at the block party, and Roy sitting out on religious grounds ([14:19], [19:00]).

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Additional Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:34] – Halloween costumes open, production chaos
• [03:44] – Dolphins impending fire sale talk
• [05:30] – Tua sound montage and analysis
• [12:16] – DJ Laz party surprise
• [19:25] – Heat vs. Wembanyama breakdown
• [27:27] – Shaq “gravity” and Wembanyama’s effect
• [32:52] – “Furthest thing from Elmo” comedy section
• [35:54] – Social media & athlete branding
• [39:52] – Heat’s organizational consistency vs. Dolphins’ dysfunction

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Conclusion

This episode is a quintessential Le Batard Show Local Hour: loose, irreverent, and surprisingly thoughtful amid the costume-induced chaos. The hosts riff on the foibles of Miami’s teams, the transformative talents of the NBA, and the sillier parts of sports culture. In equal parts sports radio and comedy hour, “The Furthest Thing From Elmo” is filed with quotable lines, off-kilter digressions, and, as always, an enduring devotion to the wit and weirdness that Miami sports inspire.

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Transcript

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Dan Le Batard]

Cuervo. We've got a hungover Halloween crew that sort of spent itself pre Halloween. So Juju Gotti appears to be the only one around here who's put some effort and some thought into their costume. Nobody has put less thought into their costume than Roy Bellamy, who's sitting this out on religious grounds. And so I won't make too much fun of him, even though what he's doing is silly and has no effort. And the judgment of Chris Cody is truly terrible because the executive producer job requires a judgment. But close thereafter, eye contact. And I just heard you say, while wearing nothing but a mask and looking at the board in front of you. Oh, I just heard you. I heard you mutter, oh, because you realize that if you're wearing that thing on your head and you have it, there's no. No other part of your costume. You're only doing something that impairs your judgment and. And my ability to have communication with you. I've got hungover Cash Patel next to me who. Whose head hurt from the amount that he crossed his eyes yesterday put it on the poll at Levitard show. Can you get a headache from crossing your eyes all day like Cash Patel? Because you seem like you're a mess.

[Chris Cote]

You could bet on it. Excuse me.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, he's not. He's not in good shape. I mean over here.

[Dano]

Dan, there's an old Cuban idiom that if you cross your eyes and a fly flies by you, that you can stay cross eyed forever. I don't know if you knew that or not.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, I'm careful.

[Dano]

If you cross your eyes and a fly flies by, you stay like that.

[Dan Le Batard]

When you say it's an idiom, does it. Is there a way that you say it or is there. Does it have. Is it undecho or.

[Dano]

Yeah, it's more of like a. Like a old wives tale kind of like the thing where like don't take a shower during a lightning storm. Stuff like that that your grandparents tell you, like be careful. Cause this could happen.

[Eva]

I never heard that one.

[Dan Le Batard]

So I got it right. You used idiom wrong.

[Dano]

Yeah.

[Chris Cote]

Speaking of Cuban idioms.

[Eva]

He still got it.

[Chris Cote]

He still got it and you can bet on it.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats podcast. I'm not doing this with you for three hours, Chris. I'm not going to actively have you sabotage our show because you don't know where any of the are because you're. You're wearing the most half assed costume that I've seen. I'd say if everyone else around here weren't in such a half assed way, other than Juju who's putting forth a genuine effort.

[Eva]

But my mouth moves when I talk. I think it's actually kind of impressive and actually a cool costume. And I think it's kind of rude of you to judge my very detailed costume.

[Dan Le Batard]

I lost my wizard's hat. You are right. It is funny though that the mouth does. I underestimate it. I didn't say. Well, I didn't notice that before when you were looking down at the buttons and couldn't see them and we're talking. But the mouth moving does add to the costume. But you're not going to be able to do any other parts of the job that I need today for the next three hours.

[Eva]

I'd love to rip to it like this.

[Dan Le Batard]

Let's switch seats with Roy so that I can do the show. But let's go ahead and talk about the Dolphins as well because the trade deadline is Tuesday and I suspect that they'll be shipping some people out of town, although I don't know who it is that on this team that people would want. Jalen Phillips, who can't tackle. I don't. Who else. Who else on this team has a value as a trade asset that's going to bring anything back as they shut it down? Because last guy, Paul, they're not going to trade.

[Dano]

But you say you got to keep him.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, they got. He's one of the guys you got to keep. A number of things happened yesterday. We've got the fighting on the sidelines. A midseason special when you're two and seven. We've got the quarterback continuing to say things that nobody wants to hear. Can you tell the producer, Roy Chris, what the montage labeling is on to a sound because we have three sounds here from this collection of the season has gone in the toilet over the last month from Tua saying things you don't usually hear from a quarterback. And the starting point on it is him saying, I'm, you know, half the player Josh Allen is. And it culminates with last night on a critical 4th and 1. We got our coach enraged at us because we jumped. We jumped off sides or we had a false start because the Baltimore crowd noise, you know, always something that travels heavy. Come on. Travels heavy. The Baltimore crowd noise affected the home team. Let's just play the montage that begins with Josh Allen, him comparing himself to Josh Allen and ends with Tua just blaming the Baltimore crowd for ruining the Dolphins game last night.

[Chris Cote]

That dude can do literally anything he wants. Definitely different skill set for me. I can't do half of what he does when it comes to running the ball and any of that. And then with how he can just chuck a ball down the field, you know, with how far and the arm.

[Dan Le Batard]

Strength that he has, he's supreme when.

[Chris Cote]

It comes to that. I think with that, some of it.

[Dan Le Batard]

Has to do with being able to.

[Chris Cote]

See guys with their guys also up.

[Dan Le Batard]

Front and our guys.

[Chris Cote]

And I'm not the tallest guy in.

[Jeremy]

The back there either, so being able.

[Chris Cote]

To see and then, you know, sometimes when that happens, you don't want to.

[Dan Le Batard]

Just throw it blindly.

[Chris Cote]

The Ravens fans, it maybe got a little muffled with Mike Cadence and. And, you know, the crowd noise. So, you know, we. We kind of talked about that on the sideline after and got that corrected.

[Dan Le Batard]

What does that mean? Things got muffled.

[Dano]

The Ravens fan got muffled by my cadence.

[Dan Le Batard]

Was that just Lamar. Lamar Jackson's pretty important, huh? Was that just Lamar Jackson grew up in. In the neighborhood, and therefore the. The Miami people who are Baltimore fans showed out. The numbers on Lamar Jackson are crazy. Against the Dolphins all time. 18 touchdowns, one interception. That's. That's five games. He had a passer rating 143 last night and has a lot of games where he has. Basically, he's got more touchdowns than incompletions or about as many touchdowns as incompletions. It's a bit nuts how he changes them. Kyle Hamilton, too. Let's get to two of though, with the lukewarm. Just basically, they've got a half a season left, folks, and they're done with their quarterback, they're done with their coach, they're done. Filled with general indifference. Here is to trying to motivate the team beforehand. This would look really cool if they were 6 and 1 or 7 and 1, but it looks far less cool when they're 2 and 7.

[Juju]

Hey, we got 60 minutes.

[Eva]

60 minutes tonight.

[Juju]

Four hours of pain. Four hours of making that feel you.

[Dan Le Batard]

It sounds like a threat. We've got 60 more minutes of work we have to do this week. Four hours.

[Eva]

I love how he just like this game's good. It's 60 minutes but it's gonna take four hours. So I know, I'm saying 60, but I need more than 60 minutes of your time. I need four hours of your time because I know it's confusing. Even though it says 60, we're need a little bit longer than that because we have a half time. We have timeouts. I hate this guy. I'm sorry.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, you've turned on him.

[Eva]

It's just, I just, I can't with him anymore.

[Chris Cote]

I just want to watch Chris talk the whole show. It's so funny looking at his mouth move up and down.

[Eva]

Longer commercials on Thursday Night Football too. So it's actually four and a half hours. Probably a normal one o' clock game on Sunday, probably we can get under four hours. But a nationally televised game, we're needle four hours and 15 minutes and then you can take the rest of the night off. Thank you.

[Dan Le Batard]

Sometimes you just run into Charlie Kohler.

[Tony]

Do y' all think that because it's weirdness going on over there in Arizona right now with Kyler Murray. I feel like Jacoby Brissette has proven himself to be maybe the better quarterback in that situation. So do you think the Dolphins could go after someone like Kyler Murray?

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, Tony, Tony's out on Kyler Murray and obviously I think if I put that in front of the Dolphin fan base, they would love to have something like that because one of the things that makes it so hopeless around here is to lead the league in interceptions. He's clearly not the answer. If, if, if, if you need a quarterback, we know this, this is a problematic place to be as a franchise. But if, if your quarterback is not the answer, then he's the question. And if he's the question. Leading the league in interceptions, Geno Smith has 10 interceptions and to a last night throws one more interception. But they, they played in that game, they controlled the time of possession. They, they played the better first half. But you can't get inside the opponent's 30 yard line five times and end up with at the end of the game you've got six points on top of that.

[Dano]

It's the worst defense we've been talking about in the entire National Football League outside of the defense that plays on your team and you have six points and you're moving the ball here and there, but, like, they're dominating you and you look around and saying, how is this happening to the worst team on defense in the league?

[Eva]

How are we doing on this historically bad defense? Are they just, like, bad? Are they historically bad?

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, every running back gets 100 yards on them, but I thought they. They Locke down Derrick Henry. When Tony says though of the the Ravens, Kyle Hamilton. Hamilton makes a pretty enormous difference on their team. Last year they were the worst pass defense in the league the first half of the season and the best pass defense of the league the second half of the season. So when you say that's a bad defense, you're not wrong. Because they allowed 44 to the Texans. They were allowing 35 a game. You're not wrong. But that will also not be the same defense that has been all season. And they got coming up, Bengals, Jets, Browns, Vikings.

[Dano]

My Ravens stock is flying, Dano, if you want to buy some, it's expensive, but tomorrow's price is not today's price.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, the Ravens are going to fix. The Ravens are going to fix some of that stuff. I want to share with you guys something here, though, that happened to me last night because I want to get your stories on this because clearly you have stories. Okay, I've told you before that I accidentally, Stephanie, who works at a Mexican restaurant nearby, I accidentally texted Stephen A. Smith my Mexican order instead of Stephanie because I've made this mistake absentmindedly when I don't have my glasses. I've told you the story of Erin Andrews accidentally sending a text that she meant to go to Booge Shambi that was funny and inappropriate that she instead sent to Marty Schottenheimer. And I had it happen to me last night. Can you guys get the ridiculous video of me promoting promoting our event last night? And thank you to everybody who came out like we're hungover from both the drinks and the feelings of all of that last night because it's a pretty, pretty unique thing. That. That is the intimate relationship that we have with our audience. Our thanks to Miller Lite. Also the intimate relationship we have with our sponsors who are thrilled with the number of people who made that a really fun block party that included as a surprise, DJ Laz that Chico's a pimp. That was. That was a surprise to everybody there when they heard the first syllable of his voice. And they're like, wait a minute, is that DJ Laz at a block party here? Who I mean, we have no shortage of famous DJs who come through this town live in space. But DJ Laz is the biggest and the best we've ever had in this market. Correct?

[Dano]

Easily. Right. Like, DJ Khaled is up there. Obviously he's got more national fame because of. Hold on, hold on, let me.

[Dan Le Batard]

He's talking about the local, the region, the regional dj. Like DJ Khaled's a national DJ who happens to live in Miami.

[Dano]

He started local and then went national because of his ties with other rappers and musicians. Whatever DJ last kept it local. Right. Power 96 went through the tough times in radio, made his own song. When you. When he played that, the place went crazy. Dano Factory.

[Dan Le Batard]

Hey, hey.

[Dano]

Guan Lupa for me Casa.

[Dan Le Batard]

I want to thank Miller Lite. I want to thank DraftKings because we. We have been moved by all of the people who help us be independent, including all of those people who came out last night to thank us for. For an assortment of things. But here's what happened to me last night when I'm advertising the event and I'm going to tell you that I sent this to two people, but I only meant to send it to one of the two people that I it too. This is obviously something I would never say in public. Like, this is something that's got to be kept private between you and I, especially because I really love our sponsors. They're the reason we get to be independent. So, like, I'm hugely grateful to Flanagans and Miller Light and DraftKings that we're having this enormous block party here in an hour at the Flanagan in Kendall. And there gonna be a lot of people there and it's gonna be a lot of fun. But it's a bad idea the day before Halloween to have a costume thing that's just not a good idea. Like, these guys at work, these f. They think I like to dress up in costumes when it's my cape, but it's not. Like, my wife is an artist and she likes doing costumes. And the only thing she likes better than costumes is me looking like a fool. So we go into the bathroom and I have to spend an hour before work getting ready for these dumb things. And I do it because I love her, but I don't love this at all. But now she's out of town and so I've got to go to this thing and I got to be in the spirit because it's a part the of its block party and nobody wants me to go. It's just Dan wearing my regular clothes. So what happens? I end up in this situation where I'm stuck wearing this shitty costume that nobody's going to like. I look ridiculous. I can't do my own costume. That's not something I'm going to do. Are you filming this? You can't apology film this. Audio audience I'm dressed as a pop tart. There. Poorly fitting pop tart. Bailey is our social media guy and so I ended up sending that to former Ram and Lion. Robert Bailey, former Hurricane. I haven't talked to him in 15 years, so he gets that from me. He's Drew Rosenhaus's right hand man.

[Dano]

Did he reply?

[Dan Le Batard]

Not yet. I can't.

[Jeremy]

Don't be waiting on that reply.

[Eva]

It's not happening. Did he read it?

[Dan Le Batard]

You laughing at me as the horse with.

[Jeremy]

Andrew Lux Horse.

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[Dano]

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[Eva]

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[Dan Le Batard]

Don Lee.

[Eva]

For five minutes I was watching everyone just like, nope, not letting you in. Not letting you in. So when I got up there, I had to say something and I said it. Cheaters never prosper. St. My buddy was saying, not today. Yeah, but you're not today. I think that was what he was adding. Yeah, that's. I'm telling you, the response I got from this guy, what I said was amazing. Cheaters never prosper. This guy yelled as angry as he could.

[Juju]

I ain't cheating.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the D Ler show with.

[Tony]

The two gods.

[Jeremy]

Bro.

[Tony]

You were sweating so hard in that costume.

[Dan Le Batard]

It was so hot. It look, put. Put it on the pole at Lebiton show. Do you hate Halloween because of how much the costumes make you sweat? Because I underestimated how hot that costume was. I saw you rip that costume off. I was like, oh, wow, he's tired of this thing already. Yeah, I think it was blazing hot, huh? Yeah. Yeah. It was not. It was not in any way pleasant.

[Jeremy]

Perhaps toasty.

[Dan Le Batard]

I have more dolphin thoughts. But I did want to talk about the heat last night with. With Cash Patel here, who's also hungover. I heard you guys talking moral victory today because Victor Wembanyama got a mere five blocks. And I really don't know where I'd put the over under going into any game on Wembanyama for blocks. I think I put it at four and a half. I don't know how many blocks he's averaging, but if I'm going into a game, I'd bet the over on four and a half. So I think I'd put it somewhere closer. I think I'd put it at going.

[Jeremy]

Into last night, he was averaging 4.75 blocks per game and then added another five, all of which came in the second half, by the way.

[Dan Le Batard]

So what were your thoughts there? As the Heat were stymied offensively, they get 101 points, they keep the game close against an undefeated sand San Antonio team. And if this is a consensus, right, I mean, if Victor Wembanyama stays healthy, he's simply going to be the best player in the league before the end of the season, if he's not already correct.

[Chris Cote]

The best player? I don't know about the best player. I think there's a lot of great players. Nikola Jokic, again, I'm telling you, he's never had it as easy as he has it right now, but he's certainly look before the year, someone said he's gonna be a top five player. I said, I don't think he'd be top five. And now I'm like, oh, yeah, he's gonna be on the MVP ballot. He'll definitely be on the MVP ballot if he stays healthy and he keeps playing this way.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm having some trouble with the show because I got two guys in sunglasses and a guy in a horse's head. And I usually do this by eye contact, so I can't tell when you guys want to talk.

[Jeremy]

Well, back here we sort of discussing, like, if he's not the best player in the league, where is he? And I said, he's either third or fourth because I would put Che and Jokic ahead of him for sure. But then after that, I mean, you look at Giannis and, and Tony said, maybe Luka. But the impact on both ends of the floor, Wembanyama, what he does defensively to slow down teams, the defense that they have, where these guards can just simply funnel everyone into the paint. His shot blocking ability completely changes the game.

[Dano]

You look at the stats across the NBA and it's like Victor leads the NBA in rebounds. Victor leads the NBA in blocks. Victor's really close to leading the NBA in scoring. It's like, you look at all those things and it's like, yeah, it's the first week of the season, first two weeks of the season, we'll see how everything pans out. But it's like this is now the Runway for, okay, the next 10 to 12 years. He's just going to be at the top of every stat sheet ever.

[Chris Cote]

Right.

[Tony]

And that, to me equals best player in the league. I feel like he's the best player in the league right now. Like, give me somebody who can do what he do on both ends of the court, cross you up. Like, he's the best player in the league right now. If he stays healthy.

[Dan Le Batard]

Where is the rest of your costume? I know there's a trees element to everything you're doing there with the Clippers and. Aspiration.

[Tony]

Aspiration. It's about trees.

[Dano]

Right.

[Dan Le Batard]

I think the place that I have to side with juju on. And maybe this is a semantics discussion because. Okay, you don't want to underestimate all the things Jokic is. Can easily average a triple double can, as Amin says, control the entire game, going 9, 4 for 10. But if I tell you, when you mentioned Shay, that's an interesting one, because age, obviously, they're comparable. But if you tell me right now, who do I want for the next 10 years, next 10 years, Shea Gilgis, Alexander or Victor Wembanyama? The only thing I think keeping people from selecting Victor Wembanyama is I think he's going to get hurt. I think he's more likely to get hurt than Shea Gilgamesh, Alexander. But when it comes to Jokic, if I tell anybody right now, who'd you rather have right now for your future? People are going to take Victor just because he's so much younger, just because you're going to be getting 10. The next 10 years of him are going to be something that you know you're going to get him until he's 30 years old and. And Jokic is going to be on the other side of 30.

[Tony]

Right. And that also equals to me, best player in the league. I think that if we take away the possibility of injuries, a magic genie came around.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah.

[Tony]

There is nobody you want on your team. I don't. I mean, salute to Shay. I've seen him. But that finals, that was a game 7 he went to with the Indiana Pacers.

[Dano]

Yeah.

[Tony]

You feel me? So, as great as he is, he has holes. And I think that Victor, Victor Wimbiyama doesn't have as many.

[Chris Cote]

He's got hoes, he's got holes in.

[Dan Le Batard]

Different areas, codes, parts of his.

[Dano]

I feel like I can make a little bit of an argument for Jokic because of the fact that his game is going to age. Kind of like Tim Duncan's game, right. Where it's like he's going to be 40 years old be throwing behind the back passes and throwing stuff between the guy's legs and still getting that bump and little bunny hook turnaround shots, his three pointer.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah.

[Dano]

Defensively, obviously, he leaves a lot to be desired. Like, offensively, that game will age like no other game.

[Chris Cote]

Yeah. And he's. He does perhaps the best job of any of the superstars in the league of making other players better. And I think that that's a like. And I'm not saying that Wembanyama can't, but when you are a hub, the way Jokic is, where there's not too many guys in the league who can do that, that has value beyond anything. I know people like to say, well, he plays offense and he plays defense. Ipso facto, that means he's the best player. But the reality is, if I'm. And by the way, Jokic is not a bad defender anymore. He's not. Not elite, but he's. He's decent. But let's say he's a plus one on defense.

[Dan Le Batard]

Their defensive metrics are good with him on the court.

[Chris Cote]

So let's say.

[Tony]

But don't forget last playoffs, he was being guarded by Alex Caruso.

[Chris Cote]

Man, but that was a tough matchup.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's what the.

[Dano]

That's what OKC wanted.

[Tony]

And guess who that wouldn't be tough for Victor.

[Chris Cote]

No, no, no, hold on. No, no, no. It's not like Caruso locked him up. That's not what happened. It was a decision they wanted because they said when he's doing all of this and helping everybody else out, that kills us. So we got to force him to be in a situation where he has to. I got to score. I got a six, three guy on me or whatever, however tall Caruso is. But my point is, if Jokic is a plus one on defense, he's like a plus a million on offense. And so even though Wembanyama could say I'm a plus a thousand on defense, I'm a plus a thousand on offense together, that's still in as much as the impact offensively that Jokic is.

[Jeremy]

The thing that was really interesting to watch in last night's game with the Heat in particular, is that Wemby's patience offensively, like, he's clearly a guy who now is. He's not chucking threes, right. He's really trying to establish himself to dominate in the paint, but he's hitting a big three late in the game because he had the window to do it. He was really just, like, setting up his teammates throughout the game. Especially early because Bama Tobiah actually was kind of bothering him defensively. So he was like, all right, I'll set up all these other guys. And really, he kind of feels like an underrated passer. He's not Jokic. He's not close to Jokic in terms of setting up his teammates, in terms of passing the ball. But this early in his career, to watch that development from last year to this year as a playmaker for the rest of his teammates with all these young guards, by the way, between Harper and Vassell and Castle, this team is built for the future around Victor Wembanyama in an unbelievable way.

[Tony]

De' Aaron Fox.

[Jeremy]

Well, we were having a conversation before the show of like, like, I'll take your I'm worried about Tyler hero. He's going to disrupt things for the Heat and I will raise you tenfold with I'm a little worried about de' Aaron Fox coming back and messing with what's going on with these young guards and their flow. Not that de' Aaron Darren Fox is a great offensive player, but he needs the ball in his hands a lot. And what Castle and Vsel and particularly Dylan Harper are able to do with their patience and playmaking around Victor Wembanyama, it sets up a really interesting future here for San Antonio because they paid Dear and Fox already. That's the difference here. Tyler is in the spot where he wants to kind of prove that he can be a piece of what this Miami Heat offense is doing moving forward. He has to buy in. Dear and Fox is a different situation. That's going to be really interesting to watch it play out with a 5 and O San Antonio spurs team.

[Dan Le Batard]

A number of things regarding Wembanyama. I'm convinced, obviously, that he's going to continue to grow his game, but is he also going to continue to physically grow? Because he grew. He grew over the summer. And I'd be curious. I don't know where Amin went or whether he has bubble gut. He just ran out of the studio. But I'm curious to know how this is going to play out with Wembanyama making the game easier for those guards because Shaquille o', Neal, when he started, could be forgiven for thinking that Anthony Hardaway was a wildly unique player who nobody else could duplicate. And I know Anthony Hardaway was great, but later in his career, Shaq also made that of Wade and Kobe Bryant. Like, he turned those guys into legends helped and they would have been legends on their own. And Kobe won a championship on his own. But playing with Shaq was such a, you know, a centrifugal. What is it called?

[Dano]

Centrifugal.

[Jeremy]

Centrifugal.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's a good tone.

[Dano]

I know, by the way. It's a fine, but it's a freeny, by the way.

[Tony]

And I know what centrifugal means, but I don't think my brother Roy was up on that. Can you please explain it to him?

[Dan Le Batard]

I took science in school.

[Dano]

Okay, explain it. Roy, go ahead. Floor is yours.

[Dan Le Batard]

You go around in a circle. Like, for example, if you're in a car and you're going around in a circle, the force drags you towards the middle. That's centrifugal force. So somebody Google Shaq was so much of that. So much of that, that with he just cave in your entire defense that the floor opens up for Anthony Hardaway, Dwyane Wade, and Kobe Bryant in a way that the game got much harder for them when Shaq was no longer doing that. How much is Wembanyama going to do that for his guards as his game grows and as he becomes somebody? This is not. This is not a finished product. This is a product that will continue to improve. This is not as good as this is going to be. This is going to keep getting.

[Juju]

What Dan is talking about is the process of gravity. Stars demand attention from defenses, making it for their co stars to be stars in their own right. When you talk about Victor Wembanyama, this is the guy that gives you gravity on both ends of the floor. His presence on the defensive end makes other players think twice about even attempting a shot. And that's the kind of skill set that you don't see every day. Dan LeBatard.

[Dan Le Batard]

Do you need some tea or something? What's wrong? I don't know what you just did.

[Dano]

Bravo. He's guys, he's nailing it.

[Juju]

Some people are gonna get this, and a lot of people aren't. And guess what? I'm okay with three people on the Internet saying, oh, shit, he did the thing from the Internet.

[Eva]

I got nothing. I don't know what he's doing.

[Juju]

Doesn't matter.

[Dano]

Spot on.

[Chris Cote]

I'm gonna give you analysis.

[Juju]

It's just gonna have a funny voice and a caterpillar that's kind of like this.

[Dan Le Batard]

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[Eva]

Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York. Call 877-8-HOPENY or text hopeny467 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please pay responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas. Pass through of per wager. Tax may apply in Illinois 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario, restrictions apply. Bet must win to receive bonus bets which expire in seven days. Minimum odds required. NBA League pass Auto renews until canceled. Additional terms at DKNG Co audio limited time offer.

[Tony]

Don LeBatard doesn't matter anywhere. We could do it in Buffalo or Bal.

[Chris Cote]

Eva, you said you could do it.

[Juju]

Where?

[Dan Le Batard]

Anywhere.

[Chris Cote]

Oh, whoa.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, that's crazy. That's crazy. That's crazy. He said he could do it anywhere. That's crazy.

[Chris Cote]

Murder. Murder.

[Cuervo Ad Voice]

Tell him st I had no idea Mean had that in his locker.

[Tony]

That might be his best.

[Eva]

That's crazy.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm not kidding. That's crazy.

[Tony]

Killer.

[Juju]

It's two America's dead. You don't get it.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugach.

[Tony]

But also, let's not forget how Victor Wembanyama spent his summer. He spent his summer with goats kg. He spent his summer with Hakeem Olajuwon.

[Dano]

With the monks.

[Tony]

With the monks, but went over bald headed like bro was actually making himself better. While I don't know what everybody else was up to.

[Juju]

Juju. His love of the game is what separates him. He's not afraid of the grind. He's not looking for tiktoks and Instagram reels. He's trying to further the game. And his love of the history of the game took him to find knowledge from places like Hakeem Olajuwon, who has a skill set that's similar to his as a big man with guard mobility. And Kevin Garnett, whose law and fire and passion for the game was unmatched.

[Dan Le Batard]

It has an undercurrent of Elmo to it.

[Juju]

I promise you this furthest thing, the furthest thing from Elmo. Let's talk about some of the legends. We paved the way for Victor Wembanyama to be who he is. Kevin Durant, the slim Reaper. We kind of gotta gloss over his abilities as someone who's clearly 7ft tall to make shots from the perimeter and attack. He's got the physical tools and the length, and he's gone up against all the toughest stars of the day. Also, Alexis, Texas, great physical tools, low poles of leg.

[Eva]

That's where I figured we were. When you said furthest thing from Elmo, I was playing the game in my head.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's a bunch of porn, right?

[Eva]

What could be the furthest thing from Elmo?

[Dan Le Batard]

Mm. Put it on the pole. Is porn. The furthest thing from Elmo, it's gotta be bottom five.

[Eva]

Well, top five furthest. Would it be bottom or top?

[Juju]

Depends on what kind of porn you're watching.

[Dan Le Batard]

I wish I could have seen your face turn red there when you got caught up in the air and got scared, because I could see your fear behind the horse's moving mouth.

[Eva]

Cool as a cucumber.

[Juju]

His arms turned red.

[Dan Le Batard]

So moral victory. Moral victory. Zaz said yesterday was a buy in game for the Miami Heat.

[Juju]

Dan. The Miami Heat went out there without Tyler Herro or Norman Powell. Those two scoring ability, their ability to get to the hole, make shots on the outside would have greatly changed the outcome of that game.

[Jeremy]

Late in the game, they desperately needed someone who could create their own shot in the second half. Having. Sorry, I got distracted by the comparison in preview. I don't know who that person is, but watching Amin be whoever this is is concerning for me. But.

[Dano]

But the.

[Eva]

I want to know what you're dressed as.

[Jeremy]

I'm Edward Cullen. I'm the most dangerous creature on earth.

[Eva]

I just see like. Like an aggressive.

[Dano]

Like a Fu Manchu.

[Juju]

You look like somebody beat you up and then you just showed up to work.

[Jeremy]

I do. I do look like Edward Cullen got into a fight. But no, I. I have the skin of a killer. Bella. Yeah, he's a vampire.

[Juju]

The vampire got beat up.

[Jeremy]

I mean, I don't know. I sure look like I got beat up.

[Juju]

Speaking of beat up, let's talk about the players who came through and were able to take incredible amounts of abuse but still came through in the end. Michael Jordan told the story about throwing up in Game 5 of the Finals, but he said, I'm physically capable. And he showed up. And that's the love of the game, Dan. It's what's missing today from this current generation.

[Dan Le Batard]

I think that's such an easy criticism. You can't tell me that Kevin Durant, I don't know if he's today's generation. You can't tell me he doesn't love the game. Like, why do you think that's such an easy criticism to make on today's generation. You think that the young people playing today's game, you can hit them with the swing, sweeping brush of they don't care about the game the way the old timers did.

[Juju]

I think it's obvious, Dan, when you watch some of the tape, as I do at three in the morning, you know, some of these players are in it for the trappings, for the luxuries that come along with the game and not for the game itself.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's always been the case though.

[Tony]

I think social media plays a big part in that, like how today's athlete kind of operates. He hears the criticism instantly. He sees the other people, what they're up to instantly. The private jet, he want to keep up with the Kardashians. I think all of that plays a role into why the today's athlete seems a little more disinterested than the old school.

[Juju]

It's not just that juju, it's also the infatuation with being a brand. It's all the other things. Instead of focusing, making the main thing the main thing. As Eric Spoelstra hall of Fame coach.

[Dan Le Batard]

Likes to say, you are fair. I think a lot of people have that criticism. But making a brand, it's not as if Michael Jordan wasn't also super interested in the making of a brand. Rarely has it been as overt the making of a brand than the guy who made a brand more than anybody in the history of sports.

[Juju]

Dan, we never felt like Michael Jordan was actively pursuing it. It was being done and it was being made. But we always felt like his focus was on the game at hand. When we talk about some of the modern players, there is an overt kind of effort that's being made where they're telling you, hey, I have to do this. This is good for my brand rather than this is good for my game.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yesterday your eyes gave you a headache. If you do this for the remainder of the show, you're going to go home with a spent voice for the weekend. Jeremy explained to me I've got South beach sessions next week. He explained to me that this glitter in this wizard's beard, that this is considered in the theater game, the chlamydia of stage props, that I'm not gonna be able to get rid of the glitter in my beard and there are gonna be some ramifications for me.

[Jeremy]

Yep, that's how we always referred to it, the chlamydia of stage props. That's what glitter is. When you put it in your hair, you're going to be finding that glitter for, I don't know, four to six months.

[Dan Le Batard]

Why? Why? Std as a reference to that. Why? Why?

[Tony]

And I'm no expert, I'm no expert or no doctor, but I think you can get rid of chlamydia, right?

[Jeremy]

Eventually.

[Tony]

Touche. Touche.

[Dan Le Batard]

You were saying, Jeremy, before you got distracted by the joke that Amin is doing that you, me and Chris don't understand.

[Jeremy]

Well, when it comes to the Heat offense, like last night, what really happen the. In the second half, in the third quarter, the. The sort of pace and space that they've been doing offensively got jumbled up. Why? Because they. They couldn't get into the paint. They couldn't properly penetrate, and when they couldn't do that, the issue for Miami was that they wanted to be able to distribute the ball and get guys open in the corner, but unfortunately, they didn't have the ability to do so because their spacing was all messed up. Up. Why? Because of Victor Wembanyama's length.

[Juju]

You've got to be able to overcome that length, Dan, and the great players find a way. Now, when you're shorthanded, injuries happen. It happens. And you've got to find a way with the personnel that you have. I like that Simone Fontecchio, who has never had a mustache, by the way, was aggressive out there and was making it from the outside. The perimeter game is so important in the game today, but you've got to find a way to counterbalance it with penetration at the hole.

[Jeremy]

Dan, did you notice that the group chat that you made fun of me for yesterday, where I said Khalil Ware would be the next Victor Wembanyama is the title I changed this morning to Simone Fontechio will have his number retired. Did you notice that?

[Dan Le Batard]

I didn't, Jeremy. I've learned to ignore most of what it is that you're commenting on when you do personal shows for me.

[Jeremy]

Well, you know, sometimes it's valuable.

[Dan Le Batard]

Sometimes that's your opinion.

[Juju]

Let's talk about.

[Jeremy]

Wow.

[Eva]

All right.

[Juju]

Let's talk about Eric Spoelstra's job so far. With this Miami Heat offense missing a bona fide superstar talent, they have been able to outscore opponents by almost seven or eight points per hundred possessions. That's amazing, considering the personnel available to the.

[Dan Le Batard]

I watch what it is that the Heat always do in terms of creative evolution, and I pair it with what it is that the Dolphins are and have been in this town, and it makes me better understand how I've gone in this market from watching the Dolphins be the only thing that was excellent in sports for three decades. 70s, 80s, 90s, when they had Dan Marino, to watching a football town taken away by the basketball team because of the stability more than anything, right? Like this. This is always interesting to me when it comes to organizational architecture and how much it matters to have stability. The idea that someone came out of the video room and is regarded by all the other NBA general managers as the most innovative of the coaches. The. The guy who will figure out, even though he had a terrible year last year, that will include forever in his dreams the haunting of calling a timeout he did not have at the end of a game against the Pistons, costing his team the game.

[Dano]

You were right about that. He's going to wake up one day in 10 years be like, timeout.

[Dan Le Batard]

No, wait, no, you guys don't understand that person. That person, okay, is so obsessive, compulsively driven about how do I figure out how to stay ahead of all of these other people who are trying to do what the NFL has done to Mike McDaniel, where it gets stripped bare because it's so survival of the fittest on where it is and how it is that you evolve, that you see the whole thing go from best offense in the league to everyone in leadership gets ravaged because you don't actually have stability tethering the core of everything that you're doing. What the Miami Heat are going to be, they're not going to be a champion, but they are gonna give you hope, and they are going to have young pieces that other people want because their development is. I mean, and I will not overstate this when I say it is second to none. You tell me who's second, because I believe that you believe that they're second to none when it comes to. We will take Don Shula. The greatest compliment that I've heard in coaching was Bum Phillips saying of Don Shula, he'll take urine and beat his. And he'll take his in and beat your in. Like, it sounds like you're in Chef. But. But spo. SPO is. Is somebody. You. You can't. To answer my question on development, when it comes to just any player, you put Davion Mitchell here, and he looks different than he looks anywhere else.

[Juju]

Dan, you're absolutely right. The Miami Heat, actually, one of the. If you remember, one of the earliest appearances I had on this show, we were talking about them paying James Johnson and Deion Waiters and Hassan Whiteside. And I Said, you are the organization that finds diamonds in the rough everywhere and polishes them, the diamonds. Why would you go to Zales and pay market price? Just let them go and go find the next round. And that's what they've been doing. They found Max Drus, he got paid, he left. They found Kendrick Mellon, he got paid, he left. That's the formula. And so they do an incredible job, not only of scouting, but player development and seeing the best in guys who are in the G League, in the minor leagues and trying to come up as far as other organizations that are great like them. I would put the San Antonio spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder. They consistently have a way of bringing up through their farm system players who develop and become rotational assets. And not because they were high draft picks or kind of big names, but people that they found and made into big names.

[Tony]

Yeah, and I think it's good that the NBA or the people in charge recognize that and made him the leader of all of us, the head coach of the dream team coming up so speaks for itself.

[Dan Le Batard]

You mentioned Max Struz has been a reasonable facsimile of what he was here. You didn't mention Gabe Vincent, who has never not been. The other thing about their development that is interesting is the grand majority of those people who leave here because they're paid never again look like what they looked like here. They don't look like that before they get here and then they get paid and go somewhere else. Druce isn't the best example because he can make threes from wherever it is that he plays and has been a reasonable facsimile. But when Tyler Johnson gets the $44 million from the organization that has not run well and they try to recreate that, all of a sudden you get a player who's not nearly the same thing it is how and why the Heat have taken this market from the Dolphins in terms of hope, who are getting booed at home and have the Ravens fans making them have false starts at home.

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[Dan Le Batard]

Cuervo? Anytime someone says Cuervo, I show up.

[Cuervo Ad Voice]

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[Dan Le Batard]

Sweet, delicious Cuervo.

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[Dan Le Batard]

Cuervo.

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Dan Le Batard]

Cuervo.