Loading summary
Dan LeBatard
I found a kid who swings a golf club like a dream.
Jon Weiner
I'd like to try to qualify him.
Dan LeBatard
For the US Amateurs coming to Apple tv. Plus, what's your name?
Greg Cody
I'm not into older guys, but I'm.
Mike Ryan
Flatter a new comedy series. Stick, I don't want to go on this trip.
Greg Cody
Your mouth's saying one thing, but those eyes are saying something else.
Mike Ryan
From the home of Ted Lasso.
Dan LeBatard
This is your shot at redemption. This is your mulligan.
Mike Ryan
Owen Wilson. This game takes and it takes.
Greg Cody
The game's finally giving me something back.
Dan LeBatard
Stick. You know, Arnold Palmer iced tea lemonade makes it.
Mike Ryan
I'm missing a nap for this.
Jon Weiner
Streaming June 4th on Apple TV. Now's a good time to remember where tequila's story truly began. In 1795, Cuervo invented tequila. Cuervo, what are you doing here?
Dan LeBatard
Cuervo? Anytime someone says Cuervo, I show up.
Jon Weiner
Well, I do know that to be true. But even during ad reads like Cuervo, I think he could lay out especially for one of our great partners.
Dan LeBatard
Sweet, delicious Cuervo.
Jon Weiner
Since then, Cuervo has stayed true to its roots. The same family, the same land, the same passion.
Dan LeBatard
Cuervo.
Jon Weiner
So enjoy the tequila that started it all.
Dan LeBatard
Cuervo.
Jon Weiner
Cuervo, the tequila that invented tequila. Proximo. Cuervo.com, please drink responsibly.
Dan LeBatard
Cuervo.
Mike Ryan
Welcome to the Big Suey, presented by DraftKings.
Dan LeBatard
Why are you listening to this show?
Mike Ryan
The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan LeBatard podcast. I'm sorry.
Dan LeBatard
I'm not gonna apologize for that. In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging. I have been tempted and wrestling restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries that if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys. I've done it.
Mike Ryan
And now here's the marching man to Nowhere Fat Face and the habitual Liar.
Amin Elhassan
This episode is presented by Smirnoff. We do game days. Please drink responsibly. The Smirnoff Company New York, New York.
Dan LeBatard
You can be very afraid and properly respectful of Connor McDavid and also have what I'm about to to say be true as to why it is the defending champions might not fear what cometh this way, even though I would fear what cometh this way. Not just with home ice, but because the growth of this kind of transcendent talent sort of demands that he step up and win. This to be the talent that I believe everyone hockey thinks he already is just better than Everybody. And what he's facing, though, is the following. It is a franchise that not only took out and beheaded Tampa and all that it was, but made Boston and New York go about doing a different kind of business. And now has Toronto's GM saying, we need to change our DNA because what we are isn't what they are. And so now you're slicing through the top of the toughest conference with the deepest team Paul Maurice has ever had. If Conor McDavid is to be the champion I believe him to be that his greatness demands. He will slay this giant, but it will be a giant. He slays every bit. They're every bit as good as each other, except they have the better player. But Florida's plenty happy with the best player they've got and the soldiers behind him because this thing is deeper than what beat him last year, but he's stronger than what he was last year.
Billy Gill
No, I think Edmonton has the two better players. They have the two best players in the world. However, the Panthers have the better team. Now, the Achilles here on this, in this situation is Florida giving up stretch passes. So if Conor McDavid or Leon Draisai gets behind the Panthers defenseman, I mean, that's going to be a breakaway one on one situation against Bob, and that's not going to go over too well. It's not like it's the Maple Leafs or anything. Like, this is kind of McDavid here.
Dan LeBatard
But how about the quote, though, from Toronto's GM? We have to change our DNA.
Jon Weiner
Like, obvious.
Dan LeBatard
But what you're. But what you're leaving in your wake in Carolina and Toronto, like, I mean.
Jon Weiner
I don't think Carolina gets a message ever. I mean, like, what are we leaving? Like, let's just run it back, Rod.
Amin Elhassan
Brindemore always is like, we're this close.
Greg Cody
And I'm like, thank you.
Jon Weiner
Thank you, Rod. I love how Carolina approaches everything. God bless the Carolina Hurricanes. Keep running it back. You guys are close.
Dan LeBatard
Amin had the proper tone with the Knicks when he says they were very good. Why do we have to immediately change the architecture? Well, the why is Carolina and Toronto had some of the best teams they've ever had and it wasn't good enough. They had teams good enough to hope that this was the year and it was taken out by the defending champion in a way that's so overt that you have to change the way you're doing the entirety of business because they've passed you. We know how competitive these things are. So when. And it's These two teams, they just buzz sawed through the playoffs. I know that Toronto, I know that Toronto took them seven games but the playoffs are generally pretty hard. This all intents and purpose is two pretty easy paths for somehow. I'm not saying the teams weren't good. I'm just saying to go, to go 12 and two through one conference and to go through, you know, tested once by Toronto, you ran through the conferences to get to. These are the clearly the two best.
Jon Weiner
Teams, like the toughest division certainly in hockey and I think the divisions, I really hope the NHL goes back to 1 through 8 best records in the conference because you have a situation with Carolina where they've just tricked themselves into thinking they're the second best team in the conference when they're not. I don't even know if they, they probably get a wild card if they're stuck in the Atlantic. And by the way, if you ranked that series, if you ranked the teams in The Eastern Conference 1 through 8, first round matchup would be Carolina and Florida. I bet you that five game series loss would hit a hell of a lot different if it just so happened to be in the first round.
Billy Gill
I mean the regular season really didn't matter. I mean both the Panthers and Oilers kind of rested up for this playoff and the Panthers really needed that, that rest because we saw Matthew Chuck in the Tampa series come out and did.
Jon Weiner
What he did during this four year run. It's a, it's a pretty amazing way that the Panthers have gotten to the playoffs and then three consecutive finals because they've done it all. They won a President's trophy and, and they realized second round exit at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning. We're not good enough. Let's trade the face of the franchise. Then they squeak in as an eighth seed, do it all on the road, get to a final broken and then they are the best team in the sport. Well, not President's trophy, but have home ice throughout the Eastern Conference. And this one they decided you know what, we're just going to be road warriors the entire postseason. They can beat you any type of way and they can get to the final any type of way.
Dan LeBatard
When Paul Murray says it's the best team he's had and the last one he had was a champion. And when what I will keep saying cometh this way throughout hockey history when something that looks like this, why do.
Greg Cody
You talketh that way?
Dan LeBatard
Because they're like four guys historically who can be feared the way this one.
Jon Weiner
Is where he's the fastest skater ever. I mean, he's one of the greatest players ever. I gotta say, hats off to you guys because a lot of Panthers fans were worried about what you guys would do with your Stanley cup preview. Just run it back. Called the best player in the world who's already plenty pissed off. Overrated.
Amin Elhassan
I'll give my dad time.
Jon Weiner
Yeah, I mean, we get it. He's got to win the cup for you to crown him one of the greatest of all times. But I think it's very clear who the best player in the world is right now. If you want to. If you want to rank him against Ghost, that is your prerogative. And if you want to frame the discussion that way, I guess go right ahead. I don't know how it serves it, because that guy, I don't like the look in his eye and I don't like the way that he plays hockey. That guy's a demigod.
Dan LeBatard
All right. Can you help me here, Billy? Because Mike's trying to cut us off at the knees before we even get started. Greg Cody. It wasn't just Vegas that made it all go to his head. Greg Cody made himself the center of the Stanley Cup Final. He made himself the center. The star media personality calling Connor McDavid overrated last year. Infuriating. Mike Ryan. You guys got so serious that you thought my billboards were going to jinx your team. That you were. Everybody ran diarrhea. Shitting themselves. Not allowing me to do some things because. Because Mike didn't want us blamed for ruining the Stanley Cup Final championship run. Because we had to get Greg Cody more attention.
Greg Cody
Y silly superstition.
Jon Weiner
They blew a 30 lead. We were all panicking.
Billy Gill
Well, not me.
Dan LeBatard
Asinine. That would be the situation.
Jon Weiner
Luke over here was fine. My ass was inside my chest.
Greg Cody
Okay, Connor. Connor McDavid is the fastest skater in this series.
Chris Cody
Yeah, but Billy Hamilton was the fastest player in baseball. Would that get him?
Greg Cody
There you go. That's a very good point by Billy, as always. Billy.
Chris Cody
No one ever said he's the greatest of all time because he's the fastest.
Greg Cody
We've been hearing for 10 years now. Not five years, not three years. For 10 years we've been hearing how great Connor McDavid is. He's not a two way player. The best two way. The best two way player in this series is named Alexander Barkov.
Mike Ryan
Thank you.
Greg Cody
Okay. McDavid has to win a championship or he can't be. You can't keep calling himself Jesus. And the Chosen one and this and that.
Jon Weiner
You can call him McJesus. That's all right. But I mean, he won the con. Smyth here, best player of the postseason, while you were calling him overrated. It's fine. I get it. To be an all timer, to be on the Mount Rushmore, he's got to win a Stanley Cup. That's great. We don't need to make it a narrative. I think he's crystal clear that he's chasing ghosts. But he's the best player in this series. He was the best player in the series last time.
Chris Cody
Fastest.
Greg Cody
It's ridiculous to give the Conn Smythe to a player from a losing team. It's just a mockery.
Billy Gill
It's happened before.
Amin Elhassan
He was that good.
Chris Cody
Nah, it's a mockery.
Greg Cody
No, it's a mockery.
Chris Cody
Right now, he's in the class of Apollo. Anton Ohno.
Mike Ryan
That's about it exactly. Also, he's not chasing ghosts, he's chasing panthers.
Greg Cody
Hello. You got that right.
Amin Elhassan
I'm already here. I already said hello to you this morning.
Dan LeBatard
Oh, and he gave you the left hand. A little Elvis. You got a little. Oh, he. A little wiggle and he just got.
Amin Elhassan
Look at him now.
Dan LeBatard
Hey, Norton. I don't like what's happening to my left. I don't like what's happening over here. Billy, I'm going to need you to corral something.
Chris Cody
I'm trying to help here, okay?
Dan LeBatard
Art Carney, it doesn't feel like you're trying to help. Let me get a pallet cleanser here. Give me the testy siakam. The show's been a little scattered today. Give me the testy siakam I asked for 40 minutes ago. Pascal, can you. Can you make sense of it for.
Jon Weiner
Those of us who don't play this.
Dan LeBatard
Game at this level? Like, you know, it was a steak and you're sending me played harder than you guys. You didn't fight them hard enough. How is that possible?
Pascal Siakam
What do you mean?
Mike Ryan
How is it possible to not fight.
Dan LeBatard
Hard enough in game?
Pascal Siakam
What are you talking about? They played harder than us. It's okay. We played hard, but they played harder. What's your point? I don't get it.
Dan LeBatard
My point is, you're saying you guys got out, fought, and I'm.
Pascal Siakam
That happens in the game, though. That's basketball. You're good. You're good, bro. You're looking for something, I know, but Damn. No, no, but I'm telling you, though. I told you. What else do you want me to tell you?
Jon Weiner
That's all I'm asking.
Pascal Siakam
Well, what about you. Tell me. So go ahead.
Dan LeBatard
Who.
Pascal Siakam
Who's this guy? Who's this guy? What's your name, bro?
Amin Elhassan
Did he know who he was?
Joe Chestnut
Was that like a.
Mike Ryan
He doesn't know who he is. He doesn't know who he is because Greg Doyle's a columnist. And columnist sometimes don't come to games.
Greg Cody
Right.
Mike Ryan
So I hear.
Amin Elhassan
Swoop in for the playoffs.
Greg Cody
Yeah, true.
Mike Ryan
There's so many.
Dan LeBatard
It used to be that if you were Pascal Siakam in your town, you would know who the local newspaper columnist is. You would know who that is. I would have no reason to think that Pascal Siakam is going behind the paywall at the Indianapolis Star to see what Greg Doyle wrote about his 30 point performance.
Greg Cody
He can afford it.
Dan LeBatard
Well, I just. I don't imagine that these guys are going, all right, put it on the poll at LeBatard show. Are the Pacers all paying for Indianapolis Star subscriptions?
Greg Cody
Yes. Vote yes.
Amin Elhassan
Maybe the team pays for all of.
Mike Ryan
Them to have it support local journalism. No, they go number two. Klay Thompson used to famously read actual newspapers.
Greg Cody
There you go.
Mike Ryan
In the library.
Greg Cody
We love that, by the way. Siakam, I thought, gave a very good answer, a very legitimate answer. I like an athlete who's willing to admit, man, we busted our ass, we played hard, they played a little harder. It's not a crime to admit that.
Mike Ryan
So I was there. But how?
Dan LeBatard
It's not a criminal. That's true. There's nothing criminal about it. But now, twice, Amin has done this, where I was there, because I want.
Mike Ryan
To give you behind the scenes things about what happened there. And you guys just keep wanting to talk about other things. So the funniest thing is Greg Doyle has his laptop in his lap, right? And as soon as he's done asking the question, the moment Siakam starts answering, this is the thing that doesn't come up on the broadcast. He is typing feverishly. You know that Kermit the Frog meme of him at the typewriter? That's exactly what it looked and sounded like. I'm like, how are you even hearing what he's saying? So he's like, how's that possible? Well, I mean. And I'm sitting there trying not to bust out laughing. It's a loud laptop, dude. I'm going to try and recreate. I'm going to point my microphone. It's like this, man.
Dan LeBatard
Wow. Jeez.
Amin Elhassan
Poor laptop.
Mike Ryan
That's exactly what it sounds like. It's also an older laptop.
Amin Elhassan
That's Ira Winderman's move You always hear him clacking away during the question.
Mike Ryan
Clacking? Like as a typewriter?
Greg Cody
Yeah, you have to.
Mike Ryan
Number two, the rest of the press conference, he kept making passive aggressive, like, comments Siakam did about playing harder. Sometimes that happens in NBA games and he stares at it.
Jon Weiner
I love that move.
Mike Ryan
Number three, do you guys hear what the dismount was? Read about it tomorrow. He said this. And he didn't make eye contact. He just kind of kept typing. And he was like, well, you read about it tomorrow. And I said, yeah, I was. At the whole time, I was like, this Greg Doyle guy. What's his big deal? Then he hit the dismount. I was like, you know what? It kind of wanted me back.
Amin Elhassan
What was his, like, body energy? What was that? What was I looking for there? What was I looking for there?
Dan LeBatard
Okay, well done. I'm glad you told me.
Greg Cody
Hold on.
Amin Elhassan
His body.
Jon Weiner
Just having fun making movies.
Amin Elhassan
Hold on. His vibes.
Chris Cody
Why don't you say vibes? What are his vibes?
Amin Elhassan
His body language. Thank you, Louis. In my head, what was his body language like after the question?
Mike Ryan
I'll be honest with you. He took it like a G. But then again, he was typing like Kermit the Frog, so I don't know what his vibes were. Chris, look at him. That's exactly what it looked like. I'm not lying.
Dan LeBatard
Chris. You called for the ball.
Jon Weiner
Little Sunday Sativa called for the ball.
Dan LeBatard
And you said body. And then you did this.
Mike Ryan
Well.
Amin Elhassan
Cause I was like, it's such an obvious one. Body language. That's why I was like, I. Yeah, that's his body.
Mike Ryan
The Kermit the Frog. That was his body language. Number three. And this is the part you already gave us.
Dan LeBatard
Number three.
Greg Cody
Number four.
Mike Ryan
Number four. And this is the part where I get to be full, self indulgent. My head. The back of my head is in the shot.
Greg Cody
Oh, I wanna see that.
Mike Ryan
Yeah, if you play it back. That's the back of my head in the shot.
Dan LeBatard
All right, great. Go ahead and play it. All right, so let's see if we can see the back of Amin's head in the shot. If we play it back. Cause I don't see anybody's head.
Greg Cody
There you go.
Dan LeBatard
Let's see. Let's see what we've got here. Go ahead and play the sound again. Because there. There was something else I thought was funny about this. Who don't play this game at this level. Like, you know, it was a mistake. And you're saying they played harder than you guys. You didn't fight them hard enough. How is that possible?
Pascal Siakam
What do you mean?
Mike Ryan
How is it possible to not fight.
Dan LeBatard
Hard enough in game?
Pascal Siakam
What are you talking about? They. They played harder than us. It's okay. We played hard, but they, they played harder. What's. What, what's your point? I don't get it.
Dan LeBatard
My point is you're saying you guys got out, fought.
Pascal Siakam
That happens in the game, though. That's basketball.
Dan LeBatard
There's that.
Pascal Siakam
You're good. You're good, bro. You're looking for something. I know I met, but damn. No, no, but I'm. I'm telling you though. I told you what else you want me to tell you.
Mike Ryan
That's all I'm asking.
Pascal Siakam
Well, what about you Tell me, so go ahead. Who's this guy? Who's this guy? What's your name, bro?
Mike Ryan
Oh, that's me turning my head back and forth like. Because I'm like, is this really happening right now?
Amin Elhassan
Check out his body.
Greg Cody
Yes, unmistakably.
Dan LeBatard
This is the reason that I found it funny, though. For how long do you imagine that Pascal Siakam has been interviewed after games? 15 years. Just. Or 10 years?
Mike Ryan
About 10 years. Yeah.
Dan LeBatard
10 years. Going back for 10 years he's been trotting out, they just played harder than us. Never expecting a follow up, never expecting any damage to be done. Just, they played harder than us. I've been saying this for 10 years. And you know what I've done? I've ridden for 10 years as Pascal Siakam. Nobody cares what I have to say about anything because I just say they played harder than us and it's okay. And he wasn't expecting a follow up. And it's a good follow up. Well, how is that possible? He doesn't know or they wouldn't have gotten their asses kicked in that gig.
Mike Ryan
How long has Greg Doyle been a columnist? 20 years.
Greg Cody
Long time he got in trouble with the Caitlyn Clark thing. Comments?
Mike Ryan
How long has he been where it took him to figure out. I'm going to ask the follow up about playing hard like an old no one ever.
Dan LeBatard
Well, no one ever does, though. Why would they? We have accepted they played harder than us since it was invented and we go on our merry way. No one's ever been brave enough to ask, how. How is that possible? Why would they play harder than.
Amin Elhassan
You see how it's done, dad? You swoop in for the playoffs, you ask a tough question, you make some news.
Greg Cody
Greg Doyle is very good at what he does. I support him entirely.
Dan LeBatard
The one G or two GS entirely.
Greg Cody
Two GS. We don't like that.
Amin Elhassan
We don't like that.
Greg Cody
We don't like the two GS entirely.
Dan LeBatard
You support him on the, on the Caitlin Clark thing or.
Greg Cody
No, no, no.
Amin Elhassan
And he did defend him there.
Greg Cody
No, I. He went overboard with the Caitlin Clark Leary kind of comment and he admitted later that he was very wrong.
Dan LeBatard
So it's not 100%. You don't write.
Greg Cody
In this case I do. I thought his follow up question was very legit.
Dan LeBatard
I love the question because then the real answer after that is, well, they care more than we do about their jobs.
Greg Cody
But he said not though siakam to his credit.
Dan LeBatard
Well, he didn't want to follow it up with. He didn't want to follow it up with. The real answer would be what? Yeah, we were playing in New York, we knew we were coming back home and the game didn't matter that much to us. So all of a sudden all of our players played poorly, every last one of them.
Mike Ryan
Now the funny thing about that press conference, I don't think it reveals, but you know, I told Juju the other night, because I was there, him and Halliburton, they were incredibly relaxed for a team that got its ass kicked. And now we've got to go back to win the game six. Usually in that situation you get a player say, hey, we gotta win back at home cuz we're not gonna come back here. And all these guys are like, ah, we got it. They seem so confident. I was thrown off by it. And so I know that that exchange, he got a little irritated. I think it was because Greg kept going after him over and over again. But overall, his demeanor in that press conference was super relaxed. And what we saw on Saturday, I was like, oh yeah, it makes sense. They knew they had this.
Unknown
We all think we know where our money's going until you actually look for it. And it happened to me between food delivery, teething rings for the baby, random Amazon orders, life. And things add up fast. That's where Monarch money comes in. It's like having my own personal CEO, but one that doesn't judge me for ordering sushi four nights in a row. Listen, my wife really likes spicy tuna right now. What do you want me to tell you? Monarch brings all your accounts, credit cards and investments together so you finally get the full picture. We started using it to track our spending and set goals that feel real. And you can see everything clearly. What we're spending, what you're saving, and what you should be doing. And it's not about restricting you. It's about helping you build the life you want, whether you're juggling money solo or trying to get on the same page with someone else. Monarch makes it simple. It's why over a million households are using it and why the Wall Street Journal named it the best budgeting app of 2025. Get control of your overall finances with Monarch Money. Use code dan@monimalmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year@monimalmoney.com with code DAN.
Joe Chestnut
If you're anything like me, when you were a kid, you were a big dreamer. Maybe you dreamed of being an astronaut, maybe the President of the United States. Maybe you wanted to be the shortstop for the Yankees. But now we're dreaming of something else. Like owning our own businesses. But let's be honest, launching it. It's total chaos. Websites, shipping, your cousin wanting to collab. It's a mess. That's where Shopify comes in. They power 10% of all E commerce in the United States, from brands like Mattel to your aunt's candle shop. Can't design a site Shopify's got ready to go templates. Need help writing copy or touching up pics? AI tools want customers built in email and social tools. And if you get stuck 247 support real award winning humans. Turn those dreams into and give them the best shot at success with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com batard go to shopify.com, shopify.com, look as.
Jon Weiner
A small business, we don't get to clock out ever. We're always on nights, weekends, holidays. So when it came time to hire someone, we couldn't waste time. We needed help. Real help. Not Stugot's nose, a guy help. We use LinkedIn jobs and we'll be honest, we didn't expect it to be that easy. We posted the job for free. LinkedIn basically held our hand and wrote the description for us. Next thing you know. Candidates. Qualified ones. Not resumes written in crayon. Real people who want to work. Imagine that LinkedIn gives you all the tools, deep insights, easy filtering, one place to manage everything. We even threw the little hashtag hiring frame on our profile picture. Doubled the number of applicants. Now we're part of that 72% of small businesses that say LinkedIn helps them find high quality candidates. Post your job for free@LinkedIn.com dls that's LinkedIn.com dls to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply.
Dan LeBatard
Don LeBatard.
Chris Cody
You have some hot takes today.
Amin Elhassan
Joe Chestnuts.
Jon Weiner
Oh, he's on fire.
Amin Elhassan
He calls Connor McDavid overrated before the show.
Dan LeBatard
What the hell was that, Greg?
Greg Cody
Yeah, no, I love it.
Dan LeBatard
Stugach.
Greg Cody
Roy, let me explain it to you. And not that you need, you know more about hockey.
Amin Elhassan
And this is coming from a guy that's watched Conor Place six times, Right.
Greg Cody
If that.
Chris Cody
This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats.
Dan LeBatard
I don't believe that Indiana has any chance in this series, but if they do, we're going to have to rethink how we thought about Pascal Siako because.
Jon Weiner
So are the Miami Heat.
Dan LeBatard
Yeah, Kawhi Leonard is going to get credit for winning a championship without any help. Even though this man was at his side and. And he was a problem in this series. Like his physicality. Even in a game when the Knicks were coming through and it was just knees to the junk. Knees to the junk. We're gonna come in. Knees to the junk. Pascal Siakam. Siakam was a handful for everybody. Like he was.
Jon Weiner
He was a franchise changer to a degree. I mean, I know Halliburton came online, but you acquire a Siakam to further aid in the development of a superstar, that was one of those moves that went kind of. It was an understated move because everyone was whale chasing. And he was one of the guys that Miami kind of poked around in and decided, not worth our draft capital. And now he's totally changed the fortunes of the Indiana Pacers.
Mike Ryan
I mean, I think for the Pacers, when they did that deal, it was absolutely a chips to the middle of the table thing because they realized, man, Halliburton is special and we need to get him the supporting cast. You remember the guy that they traded away was Bruce Brown, who had just won a championship with Denver. Great role player, but a role player. And Siakam is an all star caliber player, obviously a former champion. Former G League champion. And so he brings that kind of gravitas that they needed to take their program to the next level.
Dan LeBatard
Why did you just do former G League championship?
Jon Weiner
I didn't know that about him.
Greg Cody
Yeah, I didn't either.
Jon Weiner
I didn't know that he was in that grind. The G stands for grind.
Mike Ryan
Him and Fred Van Vliet, they won a championship for the Raptors G League team. And a lot of people point to that as like, these were the seeds of championship.
Amin Elhassan
Toronto all Right, Kawhi.
Dan LeBatard
So as we follow the storylines of a season. Right. Because I do believe that basketball will suffer in this next round from just tropes like, I don't want the new thing, small markets. Whatever, whatever, whatever. Even though these are two, I believe, interesting stories and not just that interesting stories at a time that we spent the entire season talking about Luca, talking about LeBron, talking about Steph, talking about Jayson Tatum, talking about Edwards, talking about Ja Morant. Who was going to be next? Who was going to be next? Who was going to be next? Oh, oh, okay. It's going to be Shay, Gilgis, Alexander, and it's going to be a Pacer team that we have to tell the stories about somebody. And the third story in this series is Siakam. Is it not like this is how names get made this time of year? I was telling you about. Where are Tatum's moments? Where are Tatum's moments? Halliburton got the moments. In a series that Neesmith and Siakam won, Halliburton got the moment. The moment. And so I ask you, I ask this as a serious question. Siakam's already more highly regarded than he was four or five games ago. Correct. Siakam has just made some sort of leap in terms of reputation outside of basketball because we have to fill these storylines with somebody and Chet Holmgren will be here soon enough. But the Pacers were the surprise.
Mike Ryan
Yeah, yeah, the Pacers surprise. And he was the one that was their most consistent player in the conference finals. And that's the other thing about Haliburton, Dan. He had the moment. You could say that he also had a lot of, like, disappearing acts within that conference finals. And that's really the reason, I think the spread between him and Siakam in terms of winning MVP was that I think the voters were saying Siakam was the guy that showed up pretty much almost every night. And Halliburton kind of of came and went.
Dan LeBatard
But in a series that demanded his. And Naismith. And Naismith everything they were doing there physically, I mean, yeah, like to bother Brunson. I haven't seen Brunson that bothered all season. This was the wear down of seven games. This was him being worn down on defense. There is not. I don't think Knicks fans recognized Brunson being ground to dust by the sheer physicality of what? Of their wing players, of Indiana's wings.
Mike Ryan
I guess it's a form of physicality. What it was was Indiana understood that we play fast and they don't and so if you listen to the way they talk, whether it was Halliburton, whether it was Rick Carlisle, they kept saying, it's day one of 13, it's day two. They kept emphasizing that this thing is a marathon, a marathon in which we sprint every mile. And they can't. They're going to try, but they can't. And what we saw was in game six in particular, but really, this is a cumulative effect. The Knicks just got tired. They could not keep up. Up with the Pacers, running, running after makes, running after misses, didn't matter. And then as they got tired, the.
Dan LeBatard
Minutes of the season, the minutes of. The minutes of the year catching up to them.
Mike Ryan
The depth of their rotation versus the Knicks rotation. Although Tom Thibodeau did relent and start playing more of his bench. And what ended up happening, Game six, is when you're tired, you start making mistakes. The Knicks defense started to suffer greatly because they were tired of making tired mistakes. And then for Brunson, and when you see what Nemhard did to him in Game six, six steals for Nemhardt, right? Hounding and harassing Brunson, that again, is the cumulative effect of. Boss, I'm tired, man. Like, I can't. I don't have anything more. And the Pacers do. And that's why I kept saying it's. First of all, the talent level wasn't that disparate. But more importantly, the Pacers had a more effective game plan, and they executed.
Dan LeBatard
I'm curious whether or not you guys are going to get swept up in the sheer athleticism of what we're talking about. Where Chet Holmgren, rim protector in the league by percentage, says, identifies as athlete, doesn't say he plays a position, says athlete is what he plays. He's got that team is youthful, has uncommon swagger, and both styles are fun. And we can say youthful, right? Siakam is. Siakam is an elder. He's the wise. The wise elder.
Jon Weiner
Miles Turner's also been around for a bit.
Mike Ryan
Yeah, Miles Turner. How about Miles Turner? Like, imagine every day hearing your house is going to get foreclosed, and then like the bank put it off a little bit more. And then one day you're like, you know what? Not only is it not getting foreclosed, here's some cash.
Dan LeBatard
Can I ask you this question? I've always liked Miles Turner as a player and always. Miles Turner is available, and nobody seems to want him. And I don't totally understand.
Mike Ryan
I think he is the perfect. Whatever. There's an Intersection of lines of, like, value versus desire and stuff. And he is the exact, exact level of good enough for everyone to want, but not good enough to demand the price that they're asking for. And so that equilibrium point is where he lives almost getting traded, but not quite.
Dan LeBatard
Hold on a second.
Jon Weiner
How does he fit in this series, too?
Mike Ryan
Okay, so I'm glad you asked this question, because I came up with this remarkable theory that the Indiana Pacers are really good. It's just that Oklahoma City is literally the same thing, but way better. Right.
Amin Elhassan
That was like the Panthers with Carolina Hurricanes.
Jon Weiner
Not to go hockey, but that's also a recipe for Indiana to steal a couple games.
Mike Ryan
Sure, sure. So it's like Indiana says, we've got a center who blocks shots at the rim, and also he shoots threes. And Oklahoma City says ours does, too. He also leads the league in rim percentage defense, and also he can bring the ball up and make plays. Oh, okay. Well, guess what? We have what we have. We have a defensive pesk of a perimeter player who can guard guys bigger than him. And Andrew Nemhard and the Thunderstay. Yeah, we got one, too. His name's Lou Dorton. He's all defensive to. Oh, okay. We got a point guard from the future. He controls everything. He's brilliant. He's dynamic. He's got all these moments. And the Thunder said, cool. Yeah, Ours was MVP of the league. Oh, okay. Let's talk about benches. We got a guy, a white guy, who comes off the bench, who's scrappy, who gets into defensively and hits big shots in T.J. mcConnell. And the thunders say, cool. We've got NBA champion Alex Caruso. Every level that the Indiana Pacers bring, the Thunder have the same thing. It's just a little bit better than what they have.
Jon Weiner
I'm actually getting more excited for this series by hearing you describe that. It makes me think it's going to be better than people realize.
Mike Ryan
It's absolutely. From a basketball perspective. Look, here's. Let's all make an agreement. If you don't work for Disney or if you don't work for the NBA, get the out of my face with Raining salt. Why do you care? Why do people, the layperson, care about what they're doing?
Dan LeBatard
It's going to be very fun basketball.
Mike Ryan
It's amazing basketball. It's going to be fun up tempo. You've got personalities. You've got someone who's very willing to be America's villain. In Tyrese Haliburton. You've got two excellent Coaches, you've got guys on one side who've won a championship and guys on the other side who've won a championship. All of this is culminating over the next eight to 14 days, depending on how long the series goes. But it's not going to be boring. I promise you that.
Dan LeBatard
When he says, though, Pesk, ok, because I don't know how I'm going to sell this part to America because I'm with Amin on everything. It's delightful to watch the young people take over. I just, you've heard me say I think Jokic is the best thing I've ever seen offensively, for efficiencies. And I saw OKC hunt him down like hunting dogs. Like, it felt like if this is all survival of the fittest, the physically fittest, seeing that team chase down Westbrook and Jokic, that team because it now wants to be the champion. And Indiana is the same kind of young and hungry as well. But when he says Pesk, it's a good deal better than that for Nemhardt. Because what I'm telling you is I've not seen Brunson look like that all season. Ground down to dust. When it's like, oh, it's not even going to be Neesmith fighting through every screen now. Now it's going to be this guy Nemhard. So he holds Brunson to 38% and 30% shooting, but he also held Donovan Mitchell to 23% and 16% shooting. Like, it's a little more than Pesk there. What I saw at the end of that game, I saw somebody being discussed as the most beloved Nick ever drown and die at the end because his coach had run the entire team into the ground. They didn't have anything from their bench and now they're turning the ball over. When in that sport, that's the greatest advantage OKC has. They protect the basketball and they steal it. They do it better than anybody. They have a better combination of doing that than historically great teams.
Mike Ryan
Right? Like what the Pacers did to the Knicks. Pressure, full court pressure, turning them over, turning steals into live ball, turnovers, layups, points. That's Oklahoma City does it better than anyone. Right? And so you're right about Andrew Nemhart. Maybe I am selling him short. What I'm not selling short is that Lou Dort is better. Like, that's the part. It's not that the Pacers aren't good, it's that every version they have. Like to go back to car analogy, you've got a Toyota Highlander I've got a Lexus Land Cruiser.
Dan LeBatard
Okay, so let me ask.
Jon Weiner
And be only one.
Dan LeBatard
Let me. So let me ask you if there can only be one. The Great One. Okay. Because when he mentions Lou Dort, I'm thinking physically. Okay. Just physically. Lou Dort is a. Is a different thing than Nemhardt. Just size wise. When you look at the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, what's the size difference between him and Connor McDavid?
Jon Weiner
Wayne Small.
Dan LeBatard
I know, but when Billy makes fun of McDavid being the fastest player on the ice.
Jon Weiner
Yeah, but this is also. Billy Hamilton hits like Barry Bonds. You're minimizing his accomplishment. He's Barry Bonds, but with Billy Hamilton, he's not otanus.
Chris Cody
Connor McDavid's using steroids.
Dan LeBatard
He's faster than usually Florida is. He's faster than everyone and he's bigger than most, is he not? What are the dimensions of McDavid versus. Versus Gretzky?
Chris Cody
McDavid versus Goliath.
Greg Cody
He's only six two. McDavid. People think he's like six six way.
Pascal Siakam
Right?
Jon Weiner
Only.
Amin Elhassan
Yeah.
Greg Cody
I mean, who thinks he's six six? That's not extraordinarily tall.
Dan LeBatard
Fastest though, at six two.
Greg Cody
He is fast.
Dan LeBatard
He's.
Jon Weiner
No, no, he's not just fast. He's the fastest person on the planet playing that sport. He's arguably the fastest to ever play.
Greg Cody
Right. And yet he's never won a.
Amin Elhassan
It's not just speed. Skill with the puck. Handles on the puck. Elite.
Jon Weiner
It's a team sport, dude.
Greg Cody
So is basketball.
Mike Ryan
Yeah.
Greg Cody
There's five guys on the ice. There's five guys on the wood. If you're an extraordinary basketball player, you lead your team to a championship.
Jon Weiner
Crystal clear. Crystal clear. I think you'll get it. Maybe. Hopefully not this time, but I know where you stand on the all time rankings. But he's the best player in the world. It's clear.
Billy Gill
All right, well, one. Wayne Gretzky's 6ft tall, 185 pounds. Connor McDavid is 6 foot one, 194 pounds.
Jon Weiner
There is no way. No. You say Wayne Gretzky is that height. There's not. I mean, I stood next to him on an elevator. He's a tiny. Well, I had to bring that out contextually. It's not a look at me lo.
Dan LeBatard
It is a look at me.
Jon Weiner
No, it's a catch me on context.
Amin Elhassan
Is he a get in and go to the corner kind of guy? Was he sitting in the middle? What was like his demeanor in the elevator?
Chris Cody
Does he touch Multiple floors to be Rascal.
Mike Ryan
Oh, what a rascal that was.
Jon Weiner
I don't get starstruck, but he has a presence.
Amin Elhassan
He seems like a back corner guy. Like, I'm going in there, I don't want to be recognized. I'm just gonna go back right corner. Just kind of.
Dan LeBatard
It could be like he was too small, though, too. It sounds like you expected him to be larger.
Jon Weiner
Well, I'm 63 and I was. By comparison, these guys are larger than life. Persona.
Amin Elhassan
The aura, though.
Jon Weiner
But if he was wearing skates, he'd be closer to my height.
Dan LeBatard
Yeah.
Jon Weiner
So I think maybe that's it.
Greg Cody
Yeah. He'd be taller on skates, wouldn't he?
Jon Weiner
Yeah, well, that's how that works sometimes.
Greg Cody
I urinated next to Clint Black, the country star.
Dan LeBatard
Whoa.
Mike Ryan
How'd that go?
Greg Cody
He's very short. He was wearing his hat, his cowboy hat at the time, and I was still taller than him.
Amin Elhassan
When you first said, I thought you meant Bud Black, the manager.
Greg Cody
No, no. Clint Black.
Chris Cody
Clint black. Only five, nine.
Greg Cody
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Billy Gill
You say that Connor McDavid was the fastest skater in the. You know who's the slowest skater in the league?
Mike Ryan
Clint Black.
Billy Gill
Matthew Tkachuk.
Chris Cody
Ah, champion.
Jon Weiner
He's very slow.
Dan LeBatard
All right, so that's a meme. Throwing in a Clint Black for no good reason. And he's going to just leave now.
Greg Cody
Because I thought it was a valid.
Jon Weiner
Reference, the way of show.
Chris Cody
If Clint Black was in the league, he'd probably be the slowest skater, especially.
Greg Cody
If he skated in a cowboy hat.
Amin Elhassan
Two meets point.
Dan LeBatard
Mike Ryan, how do you feel about MC overrated T shirts selling like crazy as Panther fans Taunt, taunt. Connor McDavid bringing back Greg Cody's finest moment last year.
Greg Cody
Thank you. Buy him up.
Jon Weiner
If I. If you mentioned Panthers fans, I'm really worried about how Panthers fans are going to behave this postseason. Part of me is happy that the series opens up in Edmonton for the first two games because you can frame something that maybe Panthers fans were going to do either way as a retaliatory. Retaliatory measure because this is a very heightened geopolitical time between these countries. I remember last year there were folks that were idiots in that crowd booing the anthem. And this was before a reality TV show host told them to start hating them. So I'm very worried about how we're gonna do this down here in South Florida. And the MC Overrated thing is just one ridiculous part about it. But I think we're gonna see something. The deeper you get into what is widely expected to be a tightly contested series. One that many people are saying is gonna go the entire distance. I think with everything going on between the two nations right now, there's gonna be some pretty ugly scenes. And I'm really worried, and I'm hopeful, really hopeful that cooler heads prevail down here in South Florida and we don't up the ante on something that we hear maybe in games one and two.
Dan LeBatard
That is the correct perspective, of course. And I would just say, so ratchet it up to the funniest possible, most dangerous place. That doesn't make us lament and regret saying so. Just ratchet it up.
Amin Elhassan
Should we leave out dangerous?
Dan LeBatard
No, just between Canada. Look, this has always been fun. Come on, Florida stealing Canada. Sport the modern day Gretzky.
Jon Weiner
I know how it can get between these two nations. We went to the four nations.
Amin Elhassan
I mean, I said some things, and.
Jon Weiner
That'S when all the things went down.
Dan LeBatard
Yes.
Jon Weiner
And Chris Cody said some very regrettable things.
Dan LeBatard
And Florida is very red and red hot, and people are gonna be crazy. Yes. You guys all said crazy things. You guys wanted Tkachuk to sever his own head for a title.
Jon Weiner
Worth it?
Dan LeBatard
Yes, worth it. All right.
Jon Weiner
Because we were on that front line in Montreal as everything was happening around us.
Dan LeBatard
Billy brought up steroids for some reason. I don't.
Chris Cody
I didn't. Mike brought it up.
Dan LeBatard
Okay. Just. I wanted to ask you guys this because on Friday night, like, it really was funny to watch in Dodgers, Yankees, Ohtani and Judge just be so much better at baseball than everyone else that they're just meeting and then both hitting home runs. And I just wanted to ask you guys in general on. On the damage that steroids did to baseball. Would it all feel a lot different in baseball right now if Ohtani and Judge were chasing their own home run records or baseball's home run records? I'm asking you seriously, two guys who are physically bigger than all of the steroid monsters that were hitting the home runs when baseball was played differently a million years ago, would it make any difference if Ohtani was now just chasing, you know, if Aaron Judge and Ohtani were just chasing each other's single season home run records like, like post steroids, where I don't think anyone's assuming either one of these guys are cheating?
Jon Weiner
Are you suggesting, like, if they had a Maguire, Sosa thing amongst them as Ohtani and Judge right now for those two franchises, Man, I don't know if anything can ever match that Sosa McGuire home run chase, but it Would it would probably be the best thing for baseball that you possibly have.
Dan LeBatard
What I'm saying to you is baseball simply will not have a way to break through to these places where basketball and football or soccer grab people's hearts. If this isn't the story that does it for you. Two clean superstars and clean in every way. Like, nobody says anything bad. I mean, even the gambling thing went away. What who gets bad stuff said about.
Chris Cody
Him in every way. I mean, we don't know that we thought everyone was clean until they were found to be dirty.
Dan LeBatard
Okay, but what they're giving off.
Jon Weiner
I mean, I wouldn't be shocked. Look at Aaron Judge.
Dan LeBatard
The optics of.
Chris Cody
I heard ebay hasn't even reported to prison yet. Like, is that true?
Jon Weiner
How is that possible he'll get pardoned?
Chris Cody
Something that he didn't really have anything to do with it.
Dan LeBatard
You know what I'm saying, though, Billy, if. If this story doesn't make baseball pop, because I know how baseball heads are looking at it. They can't believe that Judge is hitting.400 and Ohtani's the better player. Like that. That Ohtani does both things. It's just. It's weird to see at the same time. It's not just home runs. It's mastery of the sport in a way we haven't seen.
Jon Weiner
And you're not even talking about the biggest star in the spot sport. The Big Dumper. Doing it from the catcher position with the best slugging percentage in the league. Why aren't you mentioning Cal Rally?
Chris Cody
Big Dumper and PCA should have been easy keepers for me, and I didn't keep him in fantasy. But you guys don't care about that.
Billy Gill
Damn.
Chris Cody
I mean, dan, it's. It's June 2nd. No one's going to talk about Ohtani and judge today. It's June 2nd.
Jon Weiner
We're talking about Big Dumper.
Chris Cody
Yeah.
Greg Cody
The biggest story in baseball is the Colorado Rockies Chasing the 1899 most losses in a season.
Dan LeBatard
They're 9 and 50.
Amin Elhassan
Chasing Scheffler for most wins since. We have a graphic where Scottie Scheffler and the Rockies have the same amount.
Dan LeBatard
Of win since May. Since the beginning of May. I. The betting lines I'm seeing the Rockies are playing against the Cubs. And The Cubs are like minus 380.
Jon Weiner
Look, as a small business, we don't get to clock out ever. We're always on nights, weekends, holidays. So when it came time to hire someone one, we couldn't waste time. We needed help. Real help. Not Stugot's nose a guy.
Dan LeBatard
Help.
Jon Weiner
We used LinkedIn jobs. And we'll be honest, we didn't expect it to be that easy. We posted the job for free. LinkedIn basically held our hand and wrote the description for us. Next thing you know. Candidates. Qualified ones. Not resumes written in crayon. Real people who want to work. Imagine that LinkedIn gives you all the tools deep inside. Easy filtering. One place to manage everything. We even threw the little hashtag hiring frame on our profile picture. Doubled the number of applicants. Now we're part of that 72% of small businesses that say LinkedIn helps them find high quality candidates. Post your job for free@LinkedIn.com dls that's LinkedIn.com dls to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply.
Podcast Summary: The Big Suey – The Billy Hamilton of Hockey
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, hosted by Dan Le Batard and Stugotz, dives deep into the exhilarating world of sports with a special focus on hockey in the episode titled "The Big Suey: The Billy Hamilton of Hockey," released on June 2, 2025. This episode unpacks the dynamics of top-tier hockey talent, team strategies, and memorable moments that shape the season's narrative.
The episode kicks off with a fervent discussion about Connor McDavid, widely regarded as one of the most talented players in hockey. Dan Le Batard passionately asserts McDavid's supremacy, stating:
“I believe everyone in hockey thinks he already is just better than everybody.”
— Dan Le Batard [02:00]
The hosts delve into McDavid's extraordinary speed and skill, with Jon Weiner emphatically declaring:
“He is the fastest skater ever. I mean, he's one of the greatest players ever. That guy's a demigod.”
— Jon Weiner [06:57]
Dan elaborates on McDavid's impact, highlighting his ability to elevate team performance and dominate matches:
“He slays every bit. They're every bit as good as each other, except they have the better player.”
— Dan Le Batard [03:10]
Transitioning to team strategies, the conversation centers on the Florida Panthers and their competitive edge against formidable opponents like the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs. Billy Gill offers a nuanced perspective:
“No, I think Edmonton has the two better players. They have the two best players in the world. However, the Panthers have the better team.”
— Billy Gill [03:10]
Greg Cody adds depth to the analysis by discussing the implications of Toronto's GM admitting a need to "change our DNA":
“They have to change the way they're doing the entirety of business because they've passed you.”
— Greg Cody [03:43]
The discussion underscores the Panthers' depth and strategic prowess, positioning them as a powerhouse in the league.
A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to a tense press conference featuring NBA star Pascal Siakam. The incident involves columnist Greg Doyle, whose probing questions about Siakam's team's performance lead to an intriguing exchange. Dan Le Batard humorously critiques the interaction:
“He is typing feverishly. You know that Kermit the Frog meme of him at the typewriter? That's exactly what it looked and sounded like.”
— Mike Ryan [12:46]
Pascal Siakam maintains composure under pressure, responding calmly:
“What are you talking about? They played harder than us. It's okay. We played hard, but they played harder.”
— Pascal Siakam [10:05]
The hosts find amusement in the dynamic, highlighting Siakam's steady demeanor despite the challenging questions.
The conversation takes a lighter turn as Jon Weiner and Greg Cody engage in a playful debate comparing Connor McDavid to hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. They scrutinize physical attributes and playing styles, sparking laughter and insightful commentary:
“Connor McDavid is the fastest person on the planet playing that sport. He's arguably the fastest to ever play.”
— Jon Weiner [33:29]
“He's not just fast. He's the fastest skater ever.”
— Greg Cody [33:37]
This segment underscores McDavid's exceptional speed while paying homage to Gretzky's legendary status.
Looking ahead, the hosts speculate on the impending hockey series between Canadian and American teams, particularly Canada and Florida. Jon Weiner expresses concern over heightened national rivalries potentially leading to intense on-ice confrontations:
“I'm really worried about how Panthers fans are going to behave this postseason.”
— Jon Weiner [35:55]
Dan Le Batard balances the tension with optimism:
“This has always been fun. Come on, Florida stealing Canada. Sport the modern day Gretzky.”
— Dan Le Batard [37:04]
The discussion highlights the passionate fan bases and the electric atmosphere anticipated in the series.
Dan Le Batard on McDavid's Impact:
“He slays every bit. They're every bit as good as each other, except they have the better player.”
— Dan Le Batard [03:10]
Jon Weiner on McDavid's Speed:
“He is the fastest skater ever. I mean, he's one of the greatest players ever. That guy's a demigod.”
— Jon Weiner [06:57]
Billy Gill on Team Strength:
“No, I think Edmonton has the two better players. They have the two best players in the world. However, the Panthers have the better team.”
— Billy Gill [03:10]
Pascal Siakam's Response to Criticism:
“What are you talking about? They played harder than us. It's okay. We played hard, but they played harder.”
— Pascal Siakam [10:05]
Greg Cody on Changing Team DNA:
“We need to change our DNA because what we are isn't what they are.”
— Greg Cody [03:38]
Conclusion
In "The Big Suey: The Billy Hamilton of Hockey," Dan Le Batard and Stugotz provide a comprehensive and entertaining analysis of current hockey dynamics, spotlighting Connor McDavid's unparalleled talent, team strategies, and memorable press conference moments. The episode blends insightful sports commentary with engaging banter, making it a must-listen for hockey enthusiasts seeking depth and humor in their sports discussions.