Local Hour: Today's Crew Fixes Yesterday's Show

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Episode: Local Hour: Today's Crew Fixes Yesterday's Show
Release Date: March 12, 2025

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1. Introduction: Reflecting on the Previous Episode

In this episode of "Local Hour," Dan Le Batard and his crew take a critical look at their previous show's performance, dubbing it one of the worst they've ever produced based solely on the opinions expressed during the show. The hosts aim to address and rectify the missteps from yesterday's episode, fostering a more thoughtful and accurate discourse moving forward.

2. Critique of the "Righteous Gemstones" Episode

Dan Le Batard expressed disappointment over the crew's negative reception of the "Righteous Gemstones" episode.

• Dan (06:17): "The take that made me the saddest was about Righteous Gemstones. That made me sad that you guys didn't appreciate the art."

He clarified misconceptions about the episode's production, debunking claims that it was the most expensive episode ever shot.

• Dan (06:59): "They filmed it in 10 days. Bradley Cooper didn't get paid anything. He had never seen the show before. He was just coming in hot..."

The discussion highlighted the artistic integrity of the show and the crew's initial failure to recognize its merits.

3. Addressing the Bad Take: LeBron James' Protection

A significant point of contention from the previous episode was the assertion that LeBron James enjoys more protection than the President, a claim that did not make it to any top-five bad takes list.

• Dan (06:17): "One of them, and it didn't make anyone's top five list, was Tony saying, LeBron has more protection than the President."

This statement sparked a heated debate among the hosts about the implications of such comparisons and the responsibility that comes with their platform.

4. Debating PEDs and Skepticism in Sports Reporting

The conversation delved into the sensitive topic of Performance-Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) in sports, particularly focusing on LeBron James.

• Amin Elhassan (20:50): "We're living in the skeptical age, right? ... What do you think is more likely? That an athlete would try and defy age through science ... or that one athlete had a career that defied the limits of the human body..."

Chris Cody countered, emphasizing the potential consequences of speculating without evidence.

• Chris Cody (21:55): "I'm offended because you said it, Dan. ... the message is being received that way because of who you are."

The hosts debated the fine line between intellectual curiosity and reckless speculation, highlighting the impact of their statements on public perception.

5. Discussing Marijuana Use in Sports and Its Perception

Another controversial topic from the previous show was Laramie Tunsil's suspension for marijuana use, which led to a broader discussion about the evolving attitudes toward marijuana in professional sports.

• Billy Gil (35:13): "When we were talking about Laramie Tunsil, ... no one really cares that he smoked weed now in 2025."

Chris Cody argued that while marijuana use might be less detrimental than alcohol, it still poses significant risks, especially for high-stakes athletes.

• Chris Cody (36:47): "When you see Laramie Tunsil with the damn thing, ... the question isn't, oh, my God, he smokes weed. It's, this dumbass is going to get caught and suspended."

The hosts explored the implications of marijuana use on athletes' careers and the industry's response, reflecting on how societal norms have shifted over the years.

6. Hosts' Interactions and Self-Reflection

Throughout the episode, the camaraderie and dynamic among the hosts were evident as they navigated through criticisms and differing viewpoints.

• Billy Gil (39:27): "I'm a little confused by the strategy today. We came in saying yesterday was the worst show we've ever done. So we're relitigating all of the takes we're doing it right again."

Amin Elhassan and Chris Cody engaged in a back-and-forth on the responsibilities of journalism and the ethical implications of their statements, emphasizing the importance of credibility and the weight their words carry.

• Amin Elhassan (27:50): "If I were doing this the way that Amin is accusing me of doing it, I would just look at the camera and get the clicks of making the accusation in some framed way."

The episode concluded with a mutual acknowledgment of the challenges in balancing honest critique with respectful discourse, aiming to improve the quality of their future shows.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Dan Le Batard (06:17): "The take that made me the saddest was about Righteous Gemstones. That made me sad that you guys didn't appreciate the art."

• Amin Elhassan (20:50): "We're living in the skeptical age, right? ... What do you think is more likely? That an athlete would try and defy age through science ... or that one athlete had a career that defied the limits of the human body..."

• Chris Cody (21:55): "I'm offended because you said it, Dan. ... the message is being received that way because of who you are."

• Billy Gil (35:13): "When we were talking about Laramie Tunsil, ... no one really cares that he smoked weed now in 2025."

• Chris Cody (36:47): "When you see Laramie Tunsil with the damn thing, ... the question isn't, oh, my God, he smokes weed. It's, this dumbass is going to get caught and suspended."

• Billy Gil (39:27): "I'm a little confused by the strategy today. We came in saying yesterday was the worst show we've ever done. So we're relitigating all of the takes we're doing it right again."

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This episode serves as a meta-discussion on the importance of accountability and thoughtful analysis within sports commentary. The hosts demonstrate a commitment to improving their discourse by acknowledging past mistakes and striving for more informed and respectful conversations in future episodes.

Transcript

[Dan LeBatard]

You're listening to Giraffe Kings Network.

[Stugotz]

The kids are still at practice, and I have no idea what's for dinner. You can get a rotisserie chicken and two sides for just $15 in as fast as an hour with Walmart express delivery.

[Chris Cody]

Who said that?

[Stugotz]

Who's in my house? Don't play with me. Cause I'm not the one. It's just your friendly Walmart announcer. This is a commercial. Oh, okay.

[Dan LeBatard]

You were saying dinner for a family was just $15?

[Chris Cody]

Yep.

[Stugotz]

It'll be at your door by the time you get the kids home from practice. Order now. Welcome to your Walmart. Subject to availability restrictions and fees apply.

[Chris Cody]

Now that was a helpful commercial.

[Amin Elhassan]

Now's a good time to remember where.

[Mike Ryan]

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[Billy Gil]

Cuervo.

[Amin Elhassan]

What are you doing here? Cuervo? Anytime someone says Cuervo, I show up. Well, I do know that to be true. But even during ad reads like Cuervo.

[Mike Ryan]

I think he could lay out, especially.

[Amin Elhassan]

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[Chris Cody]

Cuervo.

[Mike Ryan]

Cuervo, the tequila that invented tequila.

[Stugotz]

Proximo.

[Billy Gil]

Cuervo.com, please.

[Stugotz]

Drink responsibly.

[Amin Elhassan]

Cuervo. Jeremy, can you do me a favor and just look up for me just a list, a factual list of things that Trump sells? Just. I just want facts. Nothing but one after another. Just things that are.

[Chris Cody]

So.

[Mike Ryan]

You don't want the country on the list. You just want.

[Amin Elhassan]

I don't need your. I don't need your political commentary here. I just wanted facts. I just asked for facts.

[Mike Ryan]

Those don't exist anymore, but you got it, Dan.

[Amin Elhassan]

Okay, I just.

[Chris Cody]

We got a great show.

[Mike Ryan]

You asked the wrong guy.

[Amin Elhassan]

Just keep your opinions to yourself for a moment and just find me the facts of things. Things that he sells.

[Chris Cody]

You're like Jeremy Kimmel.

[Amin Elhassan]

I mean, what is he doing? Honest to God, it's a monologue. Dan Amin, people are confused here. Seeing you in a baseball cap, I don't. I don't recognize what's happening around you. You do look 15 years younger, and because of Ramadan, it looks like you have lost a good amount of weight. You look leaner, too.

[Chris Cody]

When you say people are confused, does that. Is that a euphemism for I'm confused?

[Amin Elhassan]

No, I wasn't confused and didn't think of it at all. But Chris Cody mentioned to me, he said, everybody over here confused by you in a baseball cap.

[Mike Ryan]

Just multiple comments from the room.

[Billy Gil]

Amin's in a hat. I mean, I wouldn't. It sounds like he thinks you normally look like crap, like you're wearing a hat. You look a lot younger. Oh, did you lose weight? Cuz you were looking really pudgy before. Now you're looking a lot better. Is it Ramadan? What's going on with you, Amin?

[Chris Cody]

It does sound like all those things, doesn't it? Billy?

[Mike Ryan]

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[Chris Cody]

NFTs.

[Billy Gil]

I'm so pissed because, like, when, when they made the Gulf of America proclamation, I was talking to someone, I'm like, dude, I want to sell Gulf of America maps. Because, like, this is a grift that, like people will buy maps that say Gulf of America. But like, I need to be the first to market on this, right? But then I was also thinking if I print up like 20,000 Gulf of America maps, I need to really be certain these are going to sell. Because like, that is an investment that is going to lead to me having 19,800 Gulf of America maps, like in garage somewhere and a loss of like $40,000 that I do not have.

[Chris Cody]

Billy, they're buying them up like hotcakes, man.

[Billy Gil]

The thing then also, as I was thinking, I'm like, well, I'm not a cartographer, right? So like, how do I go about making a map? Because how like the earth is the earth, right? Like, it's not like this isn't like a copy written thing where like, if I just trace someone else's map, they would know, like, you know, what land masses look like, more or less, right? Unless, like, and here's the thing, maybe there are cartographers that are out there that are like, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna add an extra little bump to Florida and see if then someone has this bump on their Florida, and then they know that they're just copying my map. So these are all the thoughts that went through my head when I was like, you know what? I can get in on this grift and make, like, a quick buck and just get in and get out and just sell these maps. But then I was like, there are a lot of downsides here that could lead to me having over 19,000 maps that I traced someone else's, you know, intellectual property, land masses, and then I'm, like, in a lawsuit for hundreds of thousands of dollars on fictitious maps just to get in on a grift. So I didn't do it.

[Chris Cody]

You know what's funny about that is the shape of Florida and having a little bump on it. It fits.

[Billy Gil]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugach podcast.

[Amin Elhassan]

I feel like we need a new ph for selling like hotcakes. We need something to replace hotcakes. I don't think that anymore that hotcake sales are representative of the way that things sell the most. And so I'd like some nominees from folks on something that sells, because that's. It's. It's an outdated phrase. And when. When did anyone call them hotcakes? What. What. What year are we talking about?

[Chris Cody]

Well, here's a suggestion. What about selling like flapjacks?

[Billy Gil]

Greg's right.

[Amin Elhassan]

The thing that I wanted to get to with you guys today is Jessica and Amin stomping in today saying, and this is saying something right here, that yesterday was a show for all time with bad takes. That it is one of the worst shows we've ever done based solely on the opinions had on the show. One of them, and it didn't make anyone's top five list, was Tony saying, lebron has more protection than the President. That wasn't even on the list of, like, bad takes for all time. So, Jessica Amin, the floor is yours.

[Dan LeBatard]

Do you want to go first? I my. So the take that made me the saddest was about Righteous Gemstones. That made me sad that you guys didn't appreciate the art. That was the first episode of the new season of Righteous Gemstones. Also, you made false claims that it was the most expensive episode they've ever shot, which Danny McBride said is not true. They filmed it in 10 days. Bradley Cooper didn't get paid anything. He had never seen the show before. He was just coming in hot, and he was like, I'm going to be Elijah Gemstone. And the entire episode is about how this family's entire fortune is based off of a grifter, a bible grifter. And if you didn't catch that, it's not really a spoiler. The whole Flashback.

[Chris Cody]

Catch that.

[Dan LeBatard]

You didn't really catch that.

[Amin Elhassan]

Didn't catch it. Okay, miss that. Okay, Just missed it.

[Dan LeBatard]

I mean, it's giving you, like, a origin story about this family and how this all began. It was perfect for tying into how they exist now in the show.

[Chris Cody]

So the entire episode being set in world. Excuse me, Civil War era America in the south, the gemstone patriarch, the original gemstone, if you will. I didn't know that. That Bradley Cooper had never watched the show because I was staggered watching him how he sounded like Danny McBride's character. Like, the way he was dismissive, the way he's kind of like, all right, he's clearly not. Not sincere in any of this. It was. It made me respect Bradley Cooper as an actor even more. I was like, wow, he's really nailing this. In the same way that when they do the flashback episodes in prior seasons where they got that the little kid playing young Danny McBride, how he nails it. I'm like, my God. And the little girl who plays young Judy Gemstone, like, oh, my God, they're doing such a great job. These kids are really good actors. Watching Bradley Cooper do it where it's not overt like the kids do, where they are just younger versions of the characters they're playing, where it's just, hey, this thing runs through the family.

[Amin Elhassan]

It's a wonderful show. It's a wonderfully artistic show. As people complain about being able to do comedy well, they skewer religion in a way that is amusing. But that's why we had the worst takes in the world.

[Chris Cody]

That was one of them.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, I think that one made me the saddest. Cause I appreciated that episode. I was like, you, Dan. I turned on the episode, and I was ready to see what Unc Baby Billy was up to. I was ready to see what Keith was up to. I was ready to see what all my favorite friends, the gemstones, were up to over this long hiatus. But 10 minutes in, I realized, okay, this flashback is not gonna come to present day. This is just gonna be like one big flashback episode. I'm along for the ride now. And I was waiting for them to sort of, like, tie it all together. And at the end of the episode, they did. They landed the plane. And I was like, I see what they did with this. And it made me sad to hear that you and Mike both didn't like it.

[Chris Cody]

I was in it the whole way as soon as I saw, oh, it's Bradley Cooper. And then there's like, okay, he's doing a Danny McBride thing. Okay. Oh, this is how the. When he switches the name, like, this is how it starts. Cool. I was in it the whole way. And like, Jessica, I was sad and I was angry, and I was ashamed. Dan. Ashamed. Because typically, to pull back the curtain on this show, someone has ridiculous opinion, there's gonna be one person who backs up their ridiculous opinion.

[Amin Elhassan]

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Chris Cody]

Yes, I am.

[Amin Elhassan]

Don't. No, no, no.

[Billy Gil]

Hold on.

[Chris Cody]

You're not.

[Amin Elhassan]

You're not flying in and explaining the show to people. You can have your righteous gemstones opinions without showing. Showing people the entirety of the show.

[Chris Cody]

Is that my gemstones opinion that is righteous, or is it a righteous gemstone's opinion?

[Billy Gil]

I didn't watch the show because there was no dissenting opinion yesterday. So, like, I got home and I was like, I guess just universally, everyone thought this episode sucks, so I didn't watch it. I'm like, I'm gonna watch season. I'm gonna watch it eventually. But, like, when I got home and I had free time, I was like, am I going to dedicate 39 minutes to this? That everyone was saying how bad it was? Like, why would I do that? No one loved it. And then I come in and I'm like, hold on a second.

[Chris Cody]

Was amazing.

[Billy Gil]

That is not the opinion at all.

[Dan LeBatard]

I also. I heard you guys say, like, you didn't. You liked the episode, but not for the premiere of the season. When would you. Would you rather have in the middle of the season?

[Chris Cody]

Do not.

[Amin Elhassan]

Do not put Mike Ryan's words on me. I do not want those words on me. This is a show that I like a lot and admire that it's as ambitious as it is and that in their fourth season, they would do that kind of zig when everyone's in on, we'll eat up whatever you're giving us because we believe that this is the best of what Max has to offer. This is the best of what creativity has to offer.

[Chris Cody]

Accused Danny McBride of just wanting to spend HBO's money.

[Amin Elhassan]

I accused Danny McBride in the streaming age of making a statement by going, well, a field of what it is that they normally do. Taking out all of the characters that you've grown to love and starting the fourth season with the surprise of Bradley Cooper in what I'm assuming will be a season that has a whole bunch of cameos from people who do actually appreciate the gemstones.

[Chris Cody]

The statement is, I make a really good show. That's the statement he made. Not like, oh, okay. How can I let HBO in the world know that in A streaming age. I'm going to zag. No, he's not doing that. They're telling the story, and they're telling it beautifully, especially knowing that this is the last season. It's not like they can get to this in season six. This is it, ladies and gentlemen. So he's going to empty the chamber.

[Dan LeBatard]

We'll get BJ pole dancing eventually.

[Chris Cody]

Yes.

[Dan LeBatard]

Apparently, he did all his own pole dancing stunts in this season. And trust me, when I turned on HBO Max on Sunday Night Max, as the kids call it these days, I wanted to see that pole dancing. And I realized instead, I was going to get Bradley Cooper in a period drama that I was not expecting. You know what? It was. It was excellent. It was great. They nailed it.

[Chris Cody]

Instead of castigating Dan Levitar, why don't you get Tim Boss, who plays bj, huge sports fan from Chicago, get him on the show as a guest.

[Amin Elhassan]

That would be fine.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah.

[Amin Elhassan]

Why don't. Look, I don't want a Gemstones episode that doesn't have any of the characters in it. It's okay.

[Billy Gil]

It sets it up with the characters. It sounds like they've done flashbacks a bunch of times on this show.

[Chris Cody]

They have.

[Amin Elhassan]

Have you seen it or not?

[Billy Gil]

No, I haven't. You guys ruined it for me. I came in and I was like, this show was bad. Everybody thought it was bad. Why am I going to watch it?

[Amin Elhassan]

We're 10. And you guys, this one television take is why it is that we had the worst show.

[Dan LeBatard]

We wanted to start off easy. We wanted to start off with a. With a little warmup routine here.

[Chris Cody]

Like the hot towel on first class. Right? This isn't the meal yet. Let's. Let's get to the meat and potatoes here. Dan, I was so ashamed yesterday. You were so reckless that you. You're Dan LeBatard. You have a platform that echoes across not only this nation, but internationally. Talked about this the other day. You're an international icon, right? And for to sit here and use that platform so flippantly, to baselessly just completely dismiss that Ray Romano impression, I was flabbergasted. That guy nailed it. And you're sitting here killing the callers and killing the fans and the listeners who are trying to help contribute. And I was getting ready. Like Billy saying, getting ready. Oh, my God. This Gemstones episode must be terrible. I was getting ready. Oh, man. Dan said, these calls are terrible. And I said, oh, this is. Whoa. Let me buckle up for how lame these calls are. And then I hear that Ray Romano and. And you thought that was lazy and bad and not funny and all that. Hit me again.

[Amin Elhassan]

He's not looking.

[Chris Cody]

That's why I said hit me again.

[Billy Gil]

I was looking for Miranda.

[Chris Cody]

Miranda was good too. But that wasn't yesterday. Yesterday was Ray Romano.

[Amin Elhassan]

Ma. Ma.

[Chris Cody]

Damn. I'm gonna ask this. This is the first time I've ever asked you this question.

[Amin Elhassan]

The creative community around our show used to be something that was so competitive that that would have been a 68 seed in a tournament because it's not quite good enough.

[Chris Cody]

Get out of here.

[Amin Elhassan]

Not quite good enough.

[Mike Ryan]

I agree with like, in general, your point is not, like, wrong. But the last few weeks they've, they've turned it up is all we're saying.

[Billy Gil]

Like you're, you're hitting, like you're hitting.

[Mike Ryan]

Them like they're still down. They're trying.

[Amin Elhassan]

305486. That's, that's a very hard opinion for you to come by there, Billy. Very, very unpopular.

[Billy Gil]

I just say maybe it's, you know, Ray Romano was liked and you didn't like Everybody Loves Raymond. And there's a bias here, an inherent bias against our audience. And now you're taking it out on poor old Ray Romano.

[Chris Cody]

Do you also have something against Al Michaels and Kermit the Frog? Maybe it's the voice. He doesn't like this high pitched voice. Maybe that.

[Amin Elhassan]

305486, Gotts, if you want to do better than the callers have been doing recently.

[Chris Cody]

Miranda.

[Billy Gil]

Is that bad too? Come on.

[Dan LeBatard]

I had a crush on Kermit the Frog when I was little.

[Billy Gil]

Really?

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah.

[Chris Cody]

Well, Miss Piggy won't appreciate that, so. But yay.

[Billy Gil]

You got dreams. A little tadpoles.

[Stugotz]

Oh, cute.

[Amin Elhassan]

Billy, you got in with really like you were interested and then you lost all interest. No, not.

[Dan LeBatard]

Amina's a great Kermit.

[Chris Cody]

I try. Sometimes it comes and sometimes it goes. Ms. Piggy says that it's because. Well, let's just keep it pg, shall we?

[Mike Ryan]

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[Stugotz]

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[Billy Gil]

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[Amin Elhassan]

Don lebatard While I was gone, a third Zagaki was born, and I think I heard. Correct me if I'm wr, Jeremy, trying to partake in a fourth Zagaki. And I am here for a future where I am surrounded by a chorus of clucking Zagakis. Stugats.

[Billy Gil]

You know what it means when you.

[Chris Cody]

Have four zigakis, Dan? You don't have one.

[Billy Gil]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugach.

[Amin Elhassan]

What other bad takes did we have yesterday?

[Chris Cody]

Okay, so, all right. Clearly, I was building up to this point. Damn. You can speculate how. Oh, it's a wonder that PEDs aren't more prevalent in basketball the way we know it is in football and baseball. What you cannot do unequivocally is put someone's name on it who does not have any history of it. I get what you're saying, but then you got to remember, you're not Fran Lebatard or Dan Leibowitz. You're Dan lebatard. There's a 20 under that. This show has been on the air for 20 years. You've been in the media for longer than when you even ask questions of that variety. You are creating something, giving voice or gas to something, no matter how unfounded it is. So you cannot say, well, Shel Sonden said it. If Shell had just said it. If it had just come out. He was this week's guest on Andrew Schultz's show, then maybe that's an opening.

[Amin Elhassan]

A newsworthy lane. You're talking about timeliness. It's a timeliness question where I can ask questions in. We're gonna agree on this part, right? We're living in the skeptical age, right? The age of skepticism. And so if I just make it hypothetical athlete X, I don't even make it LeBron and everything, you know, I simply say to you, what do you think is more likely? That an athlete would try and defy age through science at the end of his career, or that one athlete had a career that defied the limits of the human body, unlike any we've ever seen in terms of mileage and how his body holds up for 20 straight years? I'm assuming he did Kareem have more minutes. I'm assuming LeBron James has played more minutes than anyone else. Which do you think is more likely?

[Chris Cody]

I think if you put it as a hypoth, if you frame it exactly as you frame it there. There are people who could say, we know who you're hinting at. But I think you stay on this, albeit very close to that line, on this side of the line of, okay, you can have that conversation.

[Amin Elhassan]

But if I preface it, though, if I'm prefacing it with all that, you know about me and my admiration for LeBron combined with, hey, I'm not accusing anyone of anyone trying to have the macro conversation around America's giant biggest athlete for the last two decades, using him as a vehicle. As we talk about Mo Vaughn over here and Ekblad over there, using him as.

[Chris Cody]

Here's.

[Amin Elhassan]

You've got this unprecedented thing. Can you guys explain to me, America, why this is the line too far on your skepticisms? Like, and when I'm not even. I'm not accusing him of anything. I'm just wondering why this is the place that you get this offended.

[Chris Cody]

I'm offended because you said it, Dan. Because you. And as you say, my admiration for LeBron, you think it absolves you. What it does is it puts more credence in what you're just throwing out as a question. But for people to say, well, Dan LeBatard has always said nice things about LeBron and how he's coming to take everybody's stuff, and now he's asking whether he's doing PEDs. Surely, Dan, I'm just telling you how it receives. You're not. I know you're not sending it out that way, but the message is being received that way because of who you are. It would be like, Dan, it would be like if I all of a sudden started talking about J. Cole having ghostwriters. But Amin loves J. Cole. He's just asking a question. How can this guy keep being creative and writing like this without ghostwriters? Right. If I Said that given who I am to that person, then it allows people to say, wait a second. I thought this was just a barbershop conversation. But this guy who has all the credibility is bringing it and giving it credence. And so when you say America and skepticism and where's our skepticism and all that, yes, it's right to be skeptical about things, but also, we live in an age where cockamamie statements have been given credence by people we deem credible. Right. It's cockamamie. But this guy's talking about it, so it must be true. Some people might say the 45th president of the United States would not be president if it weren't for credible news organizations during the Republican primaries, when it was just a clown show giving attention to it, as opposed to letting it be a clown show over there. And we talk about the real candidates and what was most likely a farce. A guy just doing it for publicity would not have risen to the highest office in power. That's the problem. Right? And the craziest thing about it. The craziest thing about it. You want to know what a good take was? Yesterday, Mike Ryan, of all people, said it. He said, you know who's the happiest person right now? Aaron Ekblatt. There is an athlete, a white athlete, I might add, who has been ruled, right, a champion using PEDs. If this had happened to Jayson Tatum. I don't. Is anybody good? Give me.

[Billy Gil]

Yeah, he's above average.

[Chris Cody]

Okay. So, like Derrick White, Drew Holiday. Drew Holiday. If it came out that Jrue holiday was on PEDs, you know how many asterisks we would have threw on the table in the Celtics championship?

[Amin Elhassan]

No, Tatum. Tatum would have. If you do it with Tatum, the others, there wouldn't be asterisks.

[Chris Cody]

There would.

[Billy Gil]

Jaylen Brown. There would be.

[Chris Cody]

There would. There would. Because. Because this is something that is like. It's one thing to be caught juicing. It's another thing to get caught juicing. And you're the defending champs, right? This guy should have been the center of the conversation, particularly in your local hour, where we're supposed to talk about local athletes and local sports.

[Amin Elhassan]

Let me bring something up here.

[Chris Cody]

Talking about some other guy.

[Amin Elhassan]

Let me bring something up here, because if I were to do things the way that you're alleging that I'm doing them, by coming this close to the line on wherever it is you crossed, you crossed it.

[Chris Cody]

You didn't come close, okay?

[Amin Elhassan]

So wherever it is that my credibility resides, what remains of it, The. The Idea that we are talking about 20 years in, the oldest player in the league still dominating the headlines. When he's out, we talk about him and how Luka is going to do with him out. He's. It's just crazy that at this age he's doing these things. And because Tom Brady has normalized it, I'm trying to have a conversation with you about skepticism, with him as the avatar, the way he is for fatherhood, when all of a sudden him and Stephen A. Are arguing or wherever it is that in the modern age, you give relevance to and power and currency to these people. We're witnessing something that has no precedent for the human body. And I'm not even questioning it, but I'm asking why there aren't questions about it.

[Mike Ryan]

That's the same thing.

[Billy Gil]

Breaking it up and saying that's the problem.

[Mike Ryan]

Like asking questions about why we're not asking questions is the same thing as asking questions in the ear of the listener. You might not have that intention, but by bringing it up and saying, hey, that's pretty suspicious. We've never seen anything quite like that. Why aren't you guys asking questions about it? Why aren't you skeptical? Makes me go, oh, should I be skeptical? I guess I should be skeptical.

[Amin Elhassan]

If I were doing this the way that Amin is accusing me of doing it, I would just look at the camera and get the clicks of making the accusation in some framed way. That would be smart. I'm not doing that. I'm simply presenting you with an unprecedented athlete doing unprecedented things at the end of his career and asking why it is that everyone who is watching this would. Would say to me if after the fact, it actually happened. Well, yeah, of course. Well, yeah, of course. Like, that makes sense that that body would work more than any human body ever. And, oh, it had some help. That seems like a legitimate question to me.

[Chris Cody]

You just accused me of accusing you. I'm not accusing you. I understand your intellectual curiosity about it. I'm telling you that there is. In the same way that when we did the. We talked about the Britney Spears documentary three or four years ago or whatever, whenever it came out on Hulu, and there was a scene where she's being mobbed because she went to Starbucks and everyone's like, oh, my God, this must be so awful for her. And I'm like, no, yeah, you're Britney Spears. You don't get to go to Starbucks anymore. At that point of her career. You don't get to do that anymore. Stephen A. Smith talks about, I can't Go to the movies anymore. He hasn't been to the movies in so long.

[Mike Ryan]

Why?

[Chris Cody]

Because he said if I walk into a movie theater, it distorts the reality of what this experience should be. The experience should be, oh, I'm ready to watch Captain America, whatever. And instead, the experience goes. Stephen A. Smith is here. Hey, man, you think the Lakers are gonna do it? So you. I don't know if this is ignorance or humility. Dan, you are not in a place where you get to innocently ask that question, even as I know you innocently asked it, because it comes out innocent here. And by the time it goes into that little camera right there and into that microphone, comes out into the ears and the eyes of people, it loses its innocence completely, and it becomes a prompt to question LeBron James, whatever he's doing. Right? And that question. Why would you. Why'd you think that? It's a difference between when Chael Sonnen, noted dumbass. Oh, Says it.

[Billy Gil]

Alleged dumbass.

[Chris Cody]

Alleged dumbass. And when Dan Levitar. Dan always says good things about LeBron. Well, why would he bring that up?

[Billy Gil]

No, he didn't side with him on cookie gate either. So now we're back to back. Now we're back to back on these. And now, like, maybe. Maybe there's motive. Some are saying, you know, he went out there and he took shots at the Heat. He accused him of stealing his cookies, and now all of a sudden, he's on steroids.

[Mike Ryan]

Having said all of this, all of you would bet. Yes. Everyone would bet.

[Billy Gil]

Yes.

[Chris Cody]

Yes.

[Billy Gil]

I'm confused whether he's done it or not, but we're.

[Dan LeBatard]

We're on a major podcast on a major network accusing someone of doing something that. There is no.

[Amin Elhassan]

Not accusing.

[Billy Gil]

He didn't accuse.

[Dan LeBatard]

Asking why we aren't accusing someone.

[Billy Gil]

He asked why we didn't accuse.

[Dan LeBatard]

I don't think it's our place to do that. Unless. Unless there is a legitimate, like, conversation about it stemming from someone with, like, legitimate eyewitness accounts or whatever investigative story there is.

[Billy Gil]

Hold on a second. Does J. Cole write his own songs or not? Like, I think that's really what's been lost on this. Like, because you go to Dreamville Fest and you have this relationship with J. Cole, and here you are saying he has ghostwriters. Is that so? Or is that.

[Mike Ryan]

He must.

[Chris Cody]

He must have ghostwriters, Right? Like that. That's. That. That seems like it would be the natural progression. But I think Dan, like, the thing about it all is, okay, so he does.

[Mike Ryan]

He must. I mean, Clearly, I never thought about it before right now.

[Billy Gil]

But if this is a lot of factor, I'm not a yes or no. He brought it up.

[Mike Ryan]

I believe it. Now, J. Cole has ghostwriters.

[Amin Elhassan]

J. Cole took a bigger hit, I think, right there because of his friendship with J. Cole than LeBron did in whatever it is that we're talking.

[Billy Gil]

That kind of proves his point, though. There's nothing wrong with bringing it up.

[Mike Ryan]

That was the point.

[Billy Gil]

Britney Spears, great artist.

[Chris Cody]

Chris, when you ask if you have the bed or whatever, here's the reality. There are things that I want to be first at being right at, or early on being right at. And then there are things that I'm perfectly fine.

[Mike Ryan]

This is not one of them.

[Chris Cody]

I'm perfectly fine being. If it turns out right, because we're jerks.

[Mike Ryan]

If we're wrong, we're jerks.

[Billy Gil]

But this one will never. Like we can agree this one will.

[Mike Ryan]

Never turn out because he's more protected than the president. You heard Tony yesterday.

[Amin Elhassan]

This one, I mean, it's proven that today. Amin has gone after me harder than he went after Trump or Musk. Like, Amin has proven that today.

[Chris Cody]

Hey, I put it on the sheet.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, he believes he can make a difference in this case. The other cases. He knows he can't.

[Chris Cody]

I don't have credibility when it comes to talking about the president or talking about an oligarch. Right. I have credibility when it comes to talking about our sport and especially about how people talk about our sport. And when you hear, like, Rich Paul, you know, going on, what is it, McAfee, whatever. And saying kind of of the things he's saying, I see it as, oh, this is the reaction. They are defending this thing that they feel like they are under attack from. Right. And so you are basically rolling a grenade into the middle of the aisle and said, but I didn't pull the pin. It's just a grenade. But you're giving your arming people with tools to begin an assault.

[Amin Elhassan]

The thing, though, that. Okay. And so you're holding me responsible. I understand. You did it all the way to the primaries. You're holding me responsible for. Or if the question gets poisoned, once it's out of my hands, you're giving me a giant media responsibility because you gave.

[Chris Cody]

You put the question out there.

[Amin Elhassan]

I did put the question out there. But I'm about to explain to you, okay. In the content age, I'm about to explain to you the whys of it. I'm super interested in the reaction. I'm super interested in the macro conversation. And the athlete is. I can change it by the decade. It doesn't matter whether it's LeBron. I remember the way people behaved when we turned Maguire and Sosa into the people that we turned them into. And then over the last 20 years, everyone from Lance Armstrong to Barry Bonds to everyone else has been some form of a lot. And so this guy who has managed over 20 years to be a pillar that I've never seen in my journalism career, not just an international icon that has done almost everything the right way, also has as scientific fact behind him, the fact that his body has held up better than any human body has ever under these conditions. And so I ask of America, not LeBron, why don't you ask why? Like, what happened over the last 20 years on this stuff where we didn't. Where we just weren't curious about that and Tom Brady and all the stuff that allows these people to age 10 years beyond previous facts.

[Chris Cody]

Dan, you talked about Maguire and Sosa yesterday and how they had the andro in the lockdown and that reporters were doing interviews at the lockers, and we could see the andro in the background, think that there's a mat. And then you root. How could we not know? I think there's a massive difference between those examples where they're literally like, hey, this is the thing. I take it's right here versus. You're just looking at us like. That doesn't look right. Right. There's any. Look, I could play this game for a lot of athletes. You really believe Michael Jordan got beat by the Pistons and this said all I have to do is lift weights, and then all of a sudden he's indestructible.

[Amin Elhassan]

Whoa, wait a minute. Are you asking that question publicly?

[Chris Cody]

I'm not. I'm countering. I'm countering your reckless. By the way, this is the most. The most offensive part. We have a button right here. Where is it that says, put it on the poll.

[Amin Elhassan]

Did Michael Jordan take.

[Billy Gil]

Pull journalistic credibility and get reckless? Here is something we like to call reckless speculation.

[Chris Cody]

You can't even blame Chris for not putting. You have the button in front of you at any time. You could have hit that button, and then that would have. Still would have been reckless. But at least given the acknowledgment. Hey, guys, we're gonna play a little bit outside of the sandbox today. Nobody called for it.

[Amin Elhassan]

Nobody.

[Chris Cody]

You guys just went along with it. That's the part that was disappointing, Dan, is that there was. Nobody was like, whoa, what do we hit? That button. If you're going to say that if Stugats had done that, if Stugaats was the one who. I asked the question, why isn't anyone asking the question? We would have roasted him. We would have put them up. We would have hung them up in effigy. We would have sent him. Or even worse, we would have sent them to the penalty box. Right. We had this conversation, or y'all had this conversation and not once did anyone point out, yo, at least play the Sounder if we're going to do this.

[Billy Gil]

I think on the opposite end, and it was another argument that we had yesterday, and it's kind of tied in here, was when we were talking about Laramie Tunsil, and the whole argument was basically like, well, no one really cares that he, you know, smoked weed now in 2025. Right. And like, that's kind of where we are in sports. Like, no one really cares if people test positive for PEDs and get suspended anymore.

[Chris Cody]

No, they care because the guy got suspended.

[Billy Gil]

Yeah. But no one cares about it.

[Chris Cody]

Well, well, I'm sure Panthers fans care about it.

[Billy Gil]

I mean, but there's not the outrage, like, there's not the outrage, like, when Manny Ramirez got suspended or when, like, any of the bigger names in baseball got suspended. Like, we're now 10 years removed from the shock value of, oh, the people that we really like use steroids and they're cheating and there's this purity in the sport now. There's just kind of an assumption, like, maybe there's something going on there. But, like, I don't care because, like, it's a sport I like. So, like LeBron, even if something was going on there is not going to get.

[Chris Cody]

It would be the biggest scandal in the history of this.

[Billy Gil]

It would be if it came out, which the NBA is not incentivized for it to ever come out.

[Chris Cody]

Sure.

[Billy Gil]

And that's why people don't really care to look into it because they're just like, eh, maybe everyone's doing it because there wasn't that, like, naivete that there was at the time of LeBron of Mark McGuire was like, Whoa, I think the best players cheating. How's that possible?

[Chris Cody]

I think, think, sure. Like, there's a purity and an innocence that was had in 1998 that doesn't exist anymore. But still, it is still shocking nonetheless. If. If that happens, I don't think it's a. So he did it, like, but only.

[Billy Gil]

Only if it's him.

[Chris Cody]

Sure.

[Billy Gil]

Right. Like, if Tyler Hero gets suspended for.

[Chris Cody]

Pets, we'd be like, eh, Bobby Portis got suspended. And we're, we're like, basically, you're right, Aaron Egbat. Apparently we were the Stanley.

[Billy Gil]

Tyler would be like, why isn't he thinking more? He's still kind of skinny.

[Chris Cody]

Well, also, also Tyler's not a defending champion and somehow we just avoided talking about that for some reason. I wonder why that is. Right? So then maybe because you're banging a.

[Amin Elhassan]

Drum, accusing us of bias.

[Mike Ryan]

Journalism's done.

[Chris Cody]

You banged a drum.

[Billy Gil]

They did give you a jersey, you.

[Chris Cody]

Guys, all on Roy, Roy, how did you not know? You went to their building and you banged the drum. Did you ask any questions or did you just have tequila?

[Billy Gil]

Did you have locker room access? All of a sudden they lick you up. They give you that jersey, they say, here's a drum banging practice. Here's some four VIP tickets. The rest of people have to pay. That's another thing. Journalism.

[Chris Cody]

Died right there.

[Amin Elhassan]

Do you guys have any other bad takes from yesterday?

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, you know what, Dan, you were the only one who was right on one of these takes, which is Laramie Tunsil. We just brought it up.

[Chris Cody]

What?

[Mike Ryan]

No. Everyone was losing their minds and pearl clutching over the idea of weed. Like 10 years later, like, oh, my God, a guy smoked weed and oh my God, he has to fall down the draft. Greg said that, that still, this is 2025. He was like, well, you know, you should. When you see that, you should be questioning the guy's mental health. It was like one of the wildest 2012 conversations about this type of thing that we've ever had. And Dan was the only one steadfast in. That was a pretty wild thing. When you have a guy that talented that he would drop down the draft just because he was smoking a little weed.

[Chris Cody]

Let me, let me, let me go first to the Greg corner. I know what Greg's doing there. Greg was playing 2025 language bingo. So it's like mental health. That's what you. Because you guys blame everything on mental health. Anything.

[Mike Ryan]

What do you mean, you people?

[Chris Cody]

You people, your generation with your tiktoks and your algorithms and your mental health is this and mental health is that right? So we're not going to jump on Greg for that one. There's something else that Greg messed up on yesterday that'll get that. We'll get that out on the list.

[Billy Gil]

I'm a little confused by the strategy today. We came in saying yesterday was the worst show we've ever done. So we're relitigating all of the takes we're doing it right again.

[Chris Cody]

We're doing it.

[Mike Ryan]

We're fixing.

[Chris Cody]

Billy. We're doing it right. We're fixing wrongs. We're righting wrongs. That's what we're doing.

[Billy Gil]

I'm kind of looking forward to tomorrow's show where we talk about. We talked about today.

[Chris Cody]

No.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, Mike comes back and he's like, that gemstones episode sucked, and you're wrong.

[Chris Cody]

Oh, no, no, no, no. All right. So the Laramie Tunsil thing again. Oh, my God. Mike Ryan had two good points yesterday. We can sit here.

[Billy Gil]

Can you just text Mike Ryan and tell him what he's talking about?

[Chris Cody]

He had so many awful ones, but somehow two gems came out, and this is how I know it was accidental. He never went back to them in the middle of that conversation. He just was just talking.

[Billy Gil]

So you're accusing him of accidentally making good points?

[Chris Cody]

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.

[Amin Elhassan]

You're also reviewing the show like a restaurant critic or like a film critic. Are you taking notes on this would be a pan. That seems.

[Chris Cody]

That part seems obvious, Dan, if you know what it feels like when I'm in a room with my kids and I say, okay, okay. Don't mess anything up. Don't touch anything. Got it, dad. Turn around, walk out, walk back in the rooms. I was like, what happened? I was only gone for a couple of days, and this is what you guys did. And so when I say I could do this every week, but I don't because it's. It's not that interesting.

[Amin Elhassan]

Oh, I'm here, though. No, I would be here for about 10 minutes of a mean show Ombudsman just tells us all the things we got terribly wrong.

[Billy Gil]

We're 23 minutes past 10, though.

[Chris Cody]

Okay. We already have someone who does a very good job of it. His name is Juju Gotti. Catch him in the postgame show. But when I say that yesterday was one of the all time worst episodes from the Things that Were Said now, it might have done well, ratings wise. It might have been entertaining. But like the Things that Were Said. So the Laramie Tunsil thing, I'll tell you what was wrong, Jeremy. And how Mike Ryan, of all people, had the right take. It's not about our sensibilities towards marijuana.

[Amin Elhassan]

You've hit him with two of all people.

[Chris Cody]

Because I'm staggered.

[Billy Gil]

Tread lightly. I mean, you're not gonna be on the show for a year.

[Amin Elhassan]

You have hit him with Mike Ryan, of all people, twice in the last 10 minutes.

[Chris Cody]

But we can sit here and talk about the sensibilities towards marijuana. But the reality is Josh Gordon was one of the best players at his position in NFL and his career was destroyed. And as Stephen A. Smith said, stay off the weed. Remember that. It wasn't about whether marijuana is good or bad. I believe by 2016, 2017, we all had figured out, okay, this is a big much ado about nothing. In terms of the impact of this product on people, it's actually less detrimental than alcohol. Dan, when I was a scout and we would find out, we would do the intel reports on guys, we were more worried about the alcoholics because of what it does to your body. With the marijuana smokers, we were just worried about, are you smart enough to not get caught? Because the testing is not, you know, not that rigorous if you know what to look for. And so when you see Laramie Tunsil with the damn thing, the gas mask on, the question isn't, oh, my God, he smokes weed. It's, this dumbass is going to get caught and suspended. And so when you're talking about spending a top 10 draft pick in a sport where they really, really value their draft picks, really, it's not like the NBA was like, yeah, we'll do it again next year. You cannot risk it. Because if you take him that high and then this dumbass gets suspended because he couldn't stay off the weed, they.

[Amin Elhassan]

Still took him at 13.

[Chris Cody]

Of course, because there's a risk reward at every stage. Like, the lower the risk, the more like, okay, I'm.

[Amin Elhassan]

What is your objection? My contention that leadership risks unpopular popularity. What is your. What is your contention?

[Chris Cody]

So that was all to lead me to that point right there. Dan Lebatard, you want leadership to risk unpopularity? I don't remember.

[Amin Elhassan]

It must. It must.

[Chris Cody]

It must. Yes, it must. I don't remember you sticking up for Nico Harrison when he risked all the unpopularity. I don't remember your staunch defense of him saying, hey, guys, maybe he knows something that we don't know. Hey, guys, maybe. Maybe Luca is a lot worse behind the scenes than we're realizing.

[Amin Elhassan]

That is an interesting one because of how rare it is that you get just a universal consensus that you can't find a dissenting voice on any sports argument. There was nobody doing that, not just.

[Chris Cody]

Me, but he didn't. Excuse me. He did do the thing that you asked leadership to do. He risked unpopularity to make a decision.

[Amin Elhassan]

Risk it better, appreciate it, get more draft picks.