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- [00:00]
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do@mintmobile.com.
- [00:18]
Stugatz
Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3.
- [00:21]
Chris Cote
Month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms@mintmobile.com this episode is brought to you by the Toyota Grand Highlander. Life's journey brings constant change.
- [00:36]
Dan LeBatard
Filled with exciting surprises and grand challenges.
- [00:39]
Chris Cote
And with its spaciousness, power and style, the Toyota Grand Highlander is more than a vehicle.
- [00:44]
Dan LeBatard
It's your partner in embracing all life throws at you. From the spacious adult sized third row to seating for up to eight passengers.
- [00:51]
Chris Cote
The Toyota Grand Highlander is up for every grand challenge. Learn more@toyota.com GrandHighlander Toyota let's go places.
- [01:03]
Tony
Welcome to the Big Sui presented by DraftKings.
- [01:07]
Nick Wright
Why are you listening to this show?
- [01:08]
Tony
The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan LeBatard podcast? I'm sorry, I'm not going to apologize for that. In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging.
- [01:17]
Nick Wright
I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries that if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys.
- [01:25]
Tony
I've done it.
- [01:26]
Stugatz
And now here's the marching man to.
- [01:28]
Tony
Nowhere, Fat Face and the habitual Liar.
- [01:32]
Ryan Reynolds
This episode is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings. The Crown is yours.
- [01:36]
Nick Wright
Holy shit. This is happening all at once. Stugats is coming into the room with the best Knicks feeling There's been in 25 years. Hello. This is very exciting. And Nick Wright is here and we've got something to spring on him out of nowhere. Based on the last hour of the show, I'm going to explain it to both of you at the same time because you're getting here. It's a process Off. Nick, you've already won. Congratulations. You've won the debate sphere of television radio. You can make good argument. Congratulations. You're better than Stephen A. Smith. Not much of an accomplishment. Way to go. Big way to go. Wait, this is. No, no. You're making fun of Stephen A. Smith now because you're coming for his crown. Because.
- [02:14]
Dan LeBatard
Look, I haven't. I haven't talked about Stephen A. Smith in quite Some time. Yeah, that. But I understand. Listen, I know I conceded. You know what gets engagement. Look, listen, you're like, oh, media beef. People love it. But what. What's the process?
- [02:31]
Nick Wright
All right, so just, Just hear me out for a second, because there's a lot we got to do in 20 minutes here, okay? You have rivalries with rivalries with Mina and Pablo.
- [02:41]
Dan LeBatard
Yes.
- [02:41]
Nick Wright
You think you're better than them. You are not yet better than them. But we are challenging you right now. We are challenging you to a process off off of last night's game. Okay, okay. Instead of debate television, we want to study the process, not the result. Okay? We don't want the result is what the result is. The process off is you, me, us, and stugats arguing. Who had the better process last night. Amin, start the bidding.
- [03:09]
Stugatz
Well, there's an interesting thing that happened. So I was talking to Tony a second ago, and we were talking about, hey, in life, when you want to say this is a really easy task. Right. How do people describe it? Tony?
- [03:19]
Tony
It's a layup.
- [03:20]
Stugatz
It's a layup. It's a layup. And unfortunately for the Boston Celtics, they don't see it that way. They see the three pointer is basically what you're supposed to do. And therein lies a problem you see here. When you have bricks. Bricks are bad, not good. Layups. That's good, right? So the process of getting to the good means eschewing the bad.
- [03:42]
Dan LeBatard
That's not the right answer.
- [03:44]
Stugatz
Hold on. I'm not done yet. So specifically, what ends up happening is any good process has to be cognizant of the context in which it exists. Meaning if this thing isn't working, we have to be able to balance the diet with things that might work and then come back.
- [04:10]
Nick Wright
Amin is saying the Celtics need to change. The Celtics need to change everything they're doing. They're going to say that to keep shooting 25% from three.
- [04:18]
Stugatz
They didn't say that either.
- [04:19]
Dan LeBatard
Amin. Amin just used $3 words to be like, shoot closer to the basket. It's a brilliant argument. No one's ever heard of it. I can, I can I tell you, listen, the Knicks won the process because they were. They started their process a full year ago, and they have different goals in mind. The Celtics tried to build a team. Their process was to build a team to win a championship. The Knicks tried to build a team to beat the Boston Celtics. And just like we saw last year when the defending champ in round two ran up against a team that was built with one Specific purpose in mind, how can we beat that team? And then they lost the first two games at home, and then they ended up losing the series. We are seeing a Knicks team whose process started with an OG Anunoby trademark, then a male Bridges trade, then breaking up the Villanova core before they even got to play together for the Carl Anthony Towns trade. Not because it gives them necessarily the best chance to win the championship, but because it gives him the best chance to be able to guard and defend and beat the Boston Celtics. So their process started way earlier, and their process was different. So it wasn't about where people took shots last night. It was about how they constructed their rosters, and that's what we're seeing.
- [05:36]
Nick Wright
That's not. That's not perimeter defense. Boston misses more shots. You missed 75 of those shots.
- [05:41]
Dan LeBatard
Can I say something? They're.
- [05:43]
Nick Wright
They're all uncontested.
- [05:45]
Dan LeBatard
Keep score. I swear to God, man.
- [05:49]
Nick Wright
Dan.
- [05:50]
Dan LeBatard
In Dan's perfect sports world, wins and losses don't matter. Run and. And point differential matters. But actually, he doesn't want run and point differential. He wants expected run worth.
- [06:07]
Nick Wright
Hold on a second. Hold on. Hold on a second. Hold on a second. Okay. Yes. You've got a lot of. Look, man, this is simple. Nick, six plus feet away last night. Listen to me. A defender, six plus feet away. Al Horford, 0 for 8. Derrick White, 5 for 15. Peyton Pritchard, 3 for 10. Jayson Tatum over 2. They're a good shooting team. They're not going to keep shooting 25% on uncontested threes.
- [06:34]
Dan LeBatard
Well, luckily, luckily for the New York Knicks, that the games that played count. And if the one of those. And this is why I don't dismiss, but I don't pray at the altar of these numbers the way you seem to. One of those uncontested threes was by Jason Tatum in the corner, up seven with seven minutes left, when Jalen Brunson is the closest defender and he's laying on the ground, and Tatum's like, well, three is worth more than two. I'm gonna shoot this as opposed to going to the hoop. That's bad basketball. So that part of a means argument was correct. My argument was just the more all encompassing one. Your argument is it should be about what the score should have been rather than what it actually was.
- [07:26]
Stugatz
Mr. Lebizon, your rebuttal.
- [07:28]
Nick Wright
I thought I wasn't supposed to speak. I thought he was having the process with you guys because, well, he was arguing with you.
- [07:34]
Stugatz
Look, Dan, here's it. Here's the issue. Hold on. I'm sorry. As you announce you're going to do a process off in my mind, I was thinking, does Nick disagree with what I'm about to say here? Because I kind of think Nick is going to be on my side and the person who's arguing your point is just you and maybe Joe Missoula, who doesn't know what the hell he's doing. By the way, maybe Joe Missoula might back you up.
- [07:56]
Dan LeBatard
But nobody say something about Missoula.
- [07:59]
Tony
Please do so.
- [08:00]
Dan LeBatard
Listen, I think Missoula is obviously a good coach. The fouling of Mitchell Robinson with 2 minutes and 45 seconds left in a quarter when your team has two team fouls is so much worse than anything Denmark Dagenault did two days ago that he got dragged for Preach the forcing your team when they are not in the bonus before or the Knicks are not in the bonus or close in the bonus into the bonus and getting no benefit out of it aside from the fact that you're going to get one offensive possession without Mitchell Robinson on the court. That is bad process.
- [08:36]
Tony
They found him twice, Nick twice.
- [08:37]
Dan LeBatard
They found him twice and got zero free throws out of it. And it wasn't like, well, there's eight minutes left in the quarter, so now we're gonna get six minutes of him off the court. But the other problem with this is, and I think this is pretty obvious and this is what is to me frustrating about the Celtics at times. They their strategy is most sound if one were to believe that they are not typically the more talented, better, more well put together roster. Like adding, adding this much variance and having it to be where you could find yourself down 02 when the Knicks haven't even played that well. That made sense when the 2017 Houston Rockets were trying to compete with the KD Steph warriors because it's like they are better than us. We need to shake the snow globe. That shouldn't be how the Celtics feel. And that part is odd to me.
- [09:41]
Stugatz
They are Riverboat gamblers, Dan, and they're betting it all, every single possession. And at some point you have to kind of adjust. Not because I'm abandoning my philosophies, but because I need to mitigate risk on every possession. As we have a lead, as we have this cushion, and as the game gets shorter and shorter, the more they eschew. I'll use that $3 word again. Eschew. Mitigating risk. The more they invite the variance that Nick is talking about, which is this thing goes sideways. A good team will make us pay for it.
- [10:18]
Nick Wright
Okay, I'm going to go to both of you as basketball experts and answer this question for me.
- [10:23]
Dan LeBatard
Couldn't say that to Pablo or Mina tell you that much right now is better than me. I'm just saying. Basketball experts just saying. Go ahead.
- [10:32]
Tony
As you were surprised he called you that, to be honest.
- [10:35]
Nick Wright
I mean, is Joe Missoula a good coach?
- [10:38]
Dan LeBatard
Yes.
- [10:39]
Stugatz
Yes. Because good comes in a lot of different shades.
- [10:43]
Nick Wright
Is he going to make a change that Jaylen Brown is being quoted as saying? They're not going to make a change. We're just going to make our shots. Like, are you. You guys are saying he's going to make changes. And I'm asking you, are you sure?
- [10:56]
Dan LeBatard
I don't think it's about Missoula making the change. I think it's about Jason Tatum and making the decision in real time. You can't guard me. I'm going to the basket. And I and it is not nothing to me that at the end of yesterday's game, you know, what Jason Tatum did went to the basket and now one worked, one didn't. And so I again, I don't think I disagree with you, Dan, as much as maybe it. It seems that I do in that I do understand the idea behind the math being so overwhelming that in the long run this is a sound strategy. But it is. Amin said, riverboat gambler. And you guys know I am, I don't know, a semi professional poker player. I play a lot of poker for real stakes.
- [11:49]
Stugatz
How much?
- [11:49]
Dan LeBatard
And there are. And there are different.
- [11:54]
Nick Wright
Answer this question. How much on riverboats?
- [11:56]
Dan LeBatard
Well, you know, well, riverboats, you know, Kansas City, Missouri, when I was growing up, you could only gamble on. Can I tell a quick story? I'll tell it anyways. They made a law. They were like, hey, we need people to traverse the gorgeous Missouri river. So we need to make gambling legal on the river. So you would go on these riverboat cruises and you could gamble and then be. They were like, you know, that river's kind of dangerous, so the boat probably shouldn't have to leave the dock. And they're like, okay, but still, you can only gamble on the boat. And then they were like, well, you know what? Since the boat doesn't leave the dock, what if we built giant hotels and then dredged the river to where one little tiny droplet of water touched the hotel? Can we call that a riverboat? And they were like, yes. And because that can't see, he's got six casinos. And because of that I'm me, but that's not the. So yes, I've gambled on a riverboat but when you are playing high leverage poker, the math is the same hand one to when you're at the final table. But your, the, your risk tolerance changes greatly if you're smart and if you recognize, okay, in this spot I can get all my chips in and I'm a 6040 favorite, that actually is something you don't want to do. If you believe you're the best player at the table, you can say I will find a better spot. Yes, in the long run this is profitable. But here in this moment, I'm going to fold because I actually don't want to give you, the inferior player, a 40% chance of beating me. And that's where the Celtics allowing I think an inferior Knicks team to play the variants game is a mistake. It might not be a mistake if they were in the finals against Oklahoma City. If they're like they're better than us. So we need to add this, they shouldn't need that en route to the final.
- [13:51]
Nick Wright
We've never seen a team miss this many threes in two games. And there's a randomness approaching in basketball that's going to change some of these gulfs between talent if, if you, if you're coach poorly if you don't make the changes. It is a C shift time in the NBA players and play and we're right now watching with Boston and New York that Boston is saying we've gotten better at this surgical thing. Barkley feared that this is what the warriors would be out on the perimeter, just shoot 50 threes and the game's going to be ruined. That team's here, it won the championship. And what I'm saying to you guys is if that team believes in what it is, not Tatum, Tatum doesn't have a moment as big as Brunson's last one in Detroit. Like Tatum doesn't have a moment yet. And this team is built for him to never need it because they've surgically made a 73 guy that can play 40ft away from the basket. And when he's healthy and they take their threes, they're going to club just about everyone except now Oklahoma City. They are not going to, they're not going to change the way they play. This is getting how they play.
- [14:57]
Chris Cote
This is getting way too intense. I'm just thinking about processed meat. That's all I can think of. As you guys talk about the process. Nick, what's the first thing you think of when I say processed meat?
- [15:05]
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah.
- [15:06]
Chris Cote
What's your favorite?
- [15:07]
Dan LeBatard
Oh, I don't know. Probably like sandwich ham. Like deli meat? Is that what you're talking about?
- [15:13]
Chris Cote
Yeah. Maybe a Hot Pocket.
- [15:15]
Dan LeBatard
Oh, you're talking about that.
- [15:16]
Chris Cote
Just anything processed could be anything. I mean, there's a lot of good processed meat.
- [15:20]
Stugatz
You trust it.
- [15:21]
Dan LeBatard
The. This is where I'm not good on this show, because I'm not. I'm not whimsically funny like you.
- [15:27]
Chris Cote
Pablo would be.
- [15:28]
Stugatz
I mean, Mina would not answer this question.
- [15:31]
Dan LeBatard
Can I also tell you something? Just before by the Amin, you'll know this. What is it? Is it the transitive property that if A is greater than B and B is greater than C, then A is greater than C? Yes. Is that transitive property?
- [15:45]
Stugatz
Yes, it is.
- [15:46]
Dan LeBatard
Okay, by Dan's transitive property that he said I'm better than Stephen A. Smith, but Pablo Torre is better than me. There's therefore, by that property, Pablo Torre is better than Stephen A. Smith. And maybe this will help maybe quell whatever potential feud that Dan's trying to stoke between me and Stephen A. I am here to say Pablo Torre is not better than Stephen A. Smith.
- [16:07]
Tony
Yeah, flatly.
- [16:09]
Dan LeBatard
I'll take that to the bank. Bringing that to the. I mean, what. What? Better at what? At sitting next to C list celebrities at Knicks games, maybe?
- [16:22]
Nick Wright
No, no. It's credible journalist stuff, Nick. It's that you will never have. No, you know this. You know this. Credible journalists have been looking down at you your entire career. You know this.
- [16:36]
Dan LeBatard
Yeah, you know what? I agree. And then. And I. They have been publicly looking down at me and privately envious. And so, yeah, I agree. They. You're. No, you're right. Who. Who's more likely to win a Peabody? Pablo. Who's more likely to not give a shit about it? The other people involved in the conversation.
- [16:58]
Tony
I mean, who wants to be a credible journalist, honestly? I mean, in this day and age?
- [17:04]
Stugatz
So.
- [17:04]
Dan LeBatard
So, I mean, I do think there's. Listen, I think there is a big gulf. I think there's real value in. I don't think anybody wants people to think they make things up or that they are a charlatan, right? But nobody in the people involved in this conversation, nobody thinks that. So it's like, hey, do I have credibility that people actually believe I'm telling the truth? Once you get to that over that curb, then it is, do I want, you know, someone who writes for the Atlantic to be like, hey, do you want to write a guest piece? And some folks care about that. And other folks are honest.
- [17:44]
Stugatz
So just to clarify here, you're saying Stephen A. Smith greater than Pablo, and by Dan's admission, you greater than Stephen A. Smith.
- [17:51]
Dan LeBatard
No, I'm not. I'm saying it. I'm saying Dan says that. I think that.
- [17:58]
Tony
I think all is saying is Stephen A. Is the greatest of all time.
- [18:01]
Stugatz
I'm just trying to.
- [18:02]
Nick Wright
I'm saying he's been dethroned.
- [18:04]
Stugatz
I'm trying to figure out the transitive properties here.
- [18:06]
Nick Wright
We're not allowed to talk about the.
- [18:08]
Chris Cote
Transitive property in Florida.
- [18:09]
Dan LeBatard
Clearly, by Dan's logic. If you combine my three logic and Dan's logic. Yes, but that, as you know, I mean, is not actually how the transit property works. The what? I know. It's Stephen A's at the top of the mountain.
- [18:24]
Nick Wright
I disagree. You're better than he is.
- [18:26]
Dan LeBatard
Well, that's so. Okay, even if you think that's correct, even if that's true, and I appreciate the compliment, he's still at top of the mountain. Like, even. Even if you think there's. What's, you know, there's a store out there. If you're like, man, I found this website that sells stuff. It's cheaper, faster, smarter than everything. It's the greatest thing I've ever seen. Amazon's still at the top of the mountain. So, like the. So even that part one is an opinion.
- [18:56]
Nick Wright
Okay, but I put Pablo and Mina above both of you. Like, just. You think that.
- [19:00]
Tony
Well, you're wrong.
- [19:00]
Nick Wright
Yeah, okay, but I put them both above the real. They're just better than you at this journalist. They're better than you at this point. They're better than. They're better than you at this.
- [19:10]
Dan LeBatard
Okay, Okay.
- [19:11]
Stugatz
I like to apologize.
- [19:12]
Dan LeBatard
Listen, Mina has a. Mina has a pitch. I don't have. Mina can do actual. Like, I. I grinded the tape and here's what I saw. So she is certainly better than me at that specific thing. There is no doubt about it. I'm yet to find something that I actually think Pablo's better than me at. Even the stuff he does that I haven't done since I was, you know, trying to get A's on term papers. I'm quite convinced. Give me. Give me 72 hours to prep. And I'd be better at that. Like, no, like, no, no, no, no, no. That I won't abide. I. I just. I won't abide that. And I. By the way, I like Pablo, but we gotta. You know, he started that podcast he did with me. He was like the Last time I saw you, do you remember what you said to me? And I was like, no. And he was like, you said that I was meaning Pablo, you know, the second smartest person in sports media. And he seemed really bothered. And he was like, you don't remember that? I'm like, I don't. Not only do I not remember that, I don't think I would have said that. And he's like, oh, because you wouldn't have said, you know, been that arrogant. I'm like, no, because I don't think I could ever have you above 3 as long as me and Bomani existed. Like, you're, you're, you're. You're fighting for the bronze. And if I'm being honest, I. I'd have Mina in, in there well before again. Listen, fun podcast. Good luck at the Peabody Award. Give me a break.
- [20:42]
Nick Wright
Thank you, Nick. Appreciate it. We. You've got a heart out. Good talking to you.
- [20:46]
Tony
What just happened?
- [20:46]
Dan LeBatard
See, I see you guys. Bye.
- [20:50]
Ryan Reynolds
You know, when you celebrate 50 years of Miller Lite, I had to bring in a Miller Light aficionado, Greg Cody. I mean, no one says Miller Lite like Greg Cody. I think when I think of me and you, I think of us on a golf course. Where else are we at?
- [21:04]
Tony
I mean, on a cruise ship.
- [21:05]
Dan LeBatard
In.
- [21:06]
Tony
In my backyard.
- [21:07]
Ryan Reynolds
At the beach.
- [21:08]
Nick Wright
At the.
- [21:08]
Dan LeBatard
At the beach is a good one.
- [21:09]
Ryan Reynolds
What do we always do? We hear that.
- [21:12]
Tony
Oh, yeah, yeah.
- [21:13]
Ryan Reynolds
And then what do we do?
- [21:14]
Dan LeBatard
We toast.
- [21:15]
Ryan Reynolds
Nice little clink.
- [21:16]
Dan LeBatard
The clink.
- [21:17]
Ryan Reynolds
Whether it's the can or the bottle, there's something about the clink of the Miller Light.
- [21:21]
Tony
Yeah. And it's not just how much we.
- [21:23]
Nick Wright
We love it.
- [21:23]
Dan LeBatard
It's.
- [21:24]
Tony
It's the, the whole ritual of it. You know, the, the popping the top.
- [21:28]
Dan LeBatard
The sound of that.
- [21:29]
Stugatz
Yeah.
- [21:30]
Tony
Yeah, it's great.
- [21:31]
Dan LeBatard
Love it. Love it.
- [21:31]
Ryan Reynolds
From game nights to parties with friends or a special anniversary, celebrating important occasions means more with the coolest people in your life. Cheers to 50 years of Miller Light, the great tasting light beer. For people who Love beer. Since 1975, now's a perfect time to celebrate legendary stories with friends, family, and a great tasting light beer. It's Miller time. The simple ingredients that malted barley for rich, balanced toffee note flavors and that iconic golden color.
- [21:57]
Tony
Yes, it's one. Everything about it is wonderful. I can't think of anything.
- [22:01]
Ryan Reynolds
You're smiling. Ever since we started doing this ad read, you have just been smiling the entire time.
- [22:05]
Tony
I'm a Miller Lite guy.
- [22:06]
Ryan Reynolds
That kind of thing. Miller Lite great taste. 96 calories. Go to miller lite.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Folks, listen up. If you run anything online these days, a podcast, a merch store, whatever it is, you're basically forced to wear 12 hats. Marketing? Sure. Customer service? Why not? And now you're supposed to be your own IT department. Kinsta is managed WordPress hosting, which means you get blazing fast site speeds, top tier security and and a dashboard that doesn't look like it was built in 2006. And if something goes sideways, real humans, not bots to help you 247 no scripts, no sorry, I don't understand replies Kinsta takes the stress out of tech stuff so you can actually focus on your business or in our case, more time watching games, arguing nonsense and delivering the hottest take possible. No messing with settings, no panic troubleshooting, just smooth sailing. Tired of being your own website support team? Switch your hosting to Kinsta and get your first month free. And don't worry about the move, they'll handle the whole transition for you. No tech expertise required. Just visit kinsta.com/dan to get started. That's k I n s t a.com/dan.
- [23:24]
Chris Cote
Game time is the official ticketing partner of the Dan LeBatard show with Stu Gatz. And folks, as the baseball season continues to unfold here, there are all sorts of great games happening this week and this weekend. I'm thinking specifically the Cubs are in New York this weekend taking on the Mets. I know the Dodgers are playing the Diamondbacks. And into this weekend there's some really good games. Even the Red Sox against the Kansas City Royals. There's really good games happening throughout the week. And if you want to be able to attend any of these baseball games, which you should, Game Time makes getting tickets even faster and easier. Prices on the gametime app actually go down the closer it gets to first pitch. Game Time takes the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets. You guys know that I want to get out to Pittsburgh and watch a game at that ballpark. I've made it clear on this show several times, and for me, the reason I know I'm going to use the gametime app to do it is because they have the lowest price guarantee. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use code DAN for $20 off. Your first purchase terms apply again. Create an account and redeem code Dan for $20 off. Download the Gametime app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed.
- [24:30]
Nick Wright
Don LeBatard ahoy. Is Captain Slappy Stugats. Is this Chum Bucket? This is the Dan Levatar show with the st. I haven't gotten yet some of the stuff that I want to get to because ST was late arriving. How bad was that traffic?
- [24:50]
Tony
Three hours. I mean, pretty bad, almost.
- [24:53]
Stugatz
I could fly to Phoenix.
- [24:55]
Tony
I know.
- [24:55]
Ryan Reynolds
Roy still not here.
- [24:57]
Tony
I know. Yeah. Which is interesting because I called Roy. I was a half hour behind Roy, and yet somehow I got here before Roy, but the express lane open at the exact right time for me.
- [25:08]
Nick Wright
Well, traffic made it so that we've been a failure as a regional little thing that cares about its hockey team in not addressing in any meaningful way that the defending champions in hockey are in trouble. Well, they are in trouble.
- [25:23]
Tony
Series hasn't started yet.
- [25:25]
Nick Wright
They are in trouble. Hockey is a funny, weird sport. It's hard to win, and the teams at the top are really good. We haven't gotten to it because Roy's in traffic.
- [25:35]
Stugatz
That's right.
- [25:35]
Tony
Yeah.
- [25:36]
Nick Wright
Chris, where are you on this? Oh, this is happening now. Okay. Forgiveness here. I need to ask an apology of the audience.
- [25:45]
Chris Cote
What's that?
- [25:47]
Tony
Oh, wow.
- [25:47]
Nick Wright
It's our new segment.
- [25:49]
Stugatz
Is that smoke? Entirely to smoke.
- [25:52]
Nick Wright
Is this a new segment? Are we using this to compete with all the smoke?
- [25:55]
Stugatz
We're using this to compete with everyone who's reporting on the papal selection. Dan. It's our very own Vatican expert, Billy Gill. All the smoke. Entirety of the smoke. Certainly some of the smoke.
- [26:09]
Nick Wright
Billy Gill coming in on a day off.
- [26:12]
Tony
There has to be a Pope by now, right?
- [26:14]
Nick Wright
Delivering the news. He wouldn't be here unless there was, I would imagine, because this segment, which was off to a rip roaring start yesterday, to compete with all the things all the smoke is doing, even though all the smoke is a partner.
- [26:26]
Stugatz
You know what's funny, Dan, is we thought it was a Wild Willie Wednesday feature, but guess what? Because we haven't had a pope selected, the show must go on. And so it will spill over to a Thursday and maybe perhaps even a Friday. And we'll keep going until a pope has been selected. Unless we have an update here from the one and only Billy Gill.
- [26:48]
Dan LeBatard
I've got a question. Why is Billy in a neck brace?
- [26:50]
Nick Wright
Well, this was from yesterday. Yeah, a couple of things happened yesterday, including. And this was. Sam, Morale is a picture Professional comedian. I'm sorry, has no one informed you what happened yesterday, Tony? No, Dan, I have.
- [27:01]
Dan LeBatard
I have a four month old kid.
- [27:02]
Nick Wright
I. Tony, are you. So you don't know what happened yesterday? Okay, this is what happened yesterday. So this happened on our show. That's getting cocky. Billy Gill, who is very funny, admittedly very funny. I'm not. I will. I will not, man. Billy is. Is the most popular member of the show with the people who really know what funny is, is.
- [27:27]
Dan LeBatard
You guys want to know about the Pope or not?
- [27:28]
Nick Wright
Yes, in a second. Hold on a second. Just give me a second.
- [27:31]
Stugatz
We're giving you your flowers. Just relax.
- [27:33]
Nick Wright
Yeah, just please don't. Don't. We don't need anything from you right now, Dan.
- [27:38]
Dan LeBatard
I've been on hold on the zoom for 18 minutes. Dan. When I'm elected Pope of Metalark, things are going to change. Dan, wait to see.
- [27:48]
Nick Wright
Okay, so you have been the Pope of Metal.
- [27:55]
Tony
I love that title.
- [27:56]
Nick Wright
David Sampson know there's a job opening at Metal Arc and David Sampson wants to be the Pope of Metal Arc and we cannot allow him to be the Pope of Metal Arc.
- [28:06]
Dan LeBatard
I think you have that power, Dan.
- [28:07]
Stugatz
No.
- [28:07]
Nick Wright
Well, yeah.
- [28:09]
Dan LeBatard
Dan, we're running out of people to blame for not having the power.
- [28:12]
Nick Wright
You know what?
- [28:12]
Stugatz
I think it's you.
- [28:13]
Nick Wright
I understand it seems to be at the moment, yes. But in matters of business, you guys may have noticed I'm in over my head.
- [28:22]
Dan LeBatard
Wait to see.
- [28:22]
Nick Wright
I over my head. The situation I have is Skipper's leaving and Samson wants the job. He wants to be the Pope of Meadowlark. And he's the only one, though, who wants that job. One of you want to do it?
- [28:38]
Dan LeBatard
I'll be Pope.
- [28:40]
Nick Wright
You want to be the Pope and Metal Arc, you want to handle the money.
- [28:43]
Dan LeBatard
I can't have him do it. He'll fire me.
- [28:44]
Tony
Handle the money. I'm in.
- [28:45]
Nick Wright
Yeah, that's the problem. That's why Skipper was here in the first place.
- [28:48]
Stugatz
Sports Bang is back.
- [28:51]
Ryan Reynolds
All right, let's move on to the Pope.
- [28:53]
Nick Wright
Nope, not going to do it yet. Billy was waiting 18 minutes and I'm sorry about that. It's because a lot of things are happening at the same time, including Samson wants to be the Pope of Mental Ark. We can't have that. I'm running a progressive company.
- [29:11]
Tony
It can't be Samson.
- [29:13]
Stugatz
What's more progressive than a Jewish Pope?
- [29:17]
Dan LeBatard
He's got you there.
- [29:18]
Nick Wright
So we've got this stinky Pope segment.
- [29:21]
Tony
I'm Jewish.
- [29:23]
Nick Wright
Yeah. We should put you in charge of this too.
- [29:25]
Chris Cote
Oh, me too.
- [29:25]
Nick Wright
We've got an update. We've got an update. Neck race on the Pope. But I want to get to what Billy Gil did to you yesterday.
- [29:35]
Dan LeBatard
To me.
- [29:35]
Nick Wright
Listen to me.
- [29:36]
Dan LeBatard
I'm listening.
- [29:37]
Nick Wright
No, this Billy Gill yesterday tells Sam Morrell, a professional comedian, that he's not funny as he's getting kicked out of the room. Sam Morrell is like, who's that guy? You know what Billy says on his way out of the room? Because Billy's funny. Tony. And so now the comedy world has seized on to our show in that corner of the room, and Tony thinks he's funnier than comedy. That's what he left in his wake yesterday. On you, Dan.
- [30:05]
Stugatz
The comedy world wants to kill Tony.
- [30:07]
Nick Wright
That's exactly right.
- [30:09]
Dan LeBatard
Different show, though.
- [30:12]
Nick Wright
Billy is here to give us a Pope update. I'm sorry. You were waiting 18 minutes. It was a failure on my part. Thank you. Give us the update.
- [30:21]
Dan LeBatard
Hey, Dan. Welcome to all the smoke. My name is Billy Gill. We have no new pope yet. Back to you.
- [30:28]
Stugatz
Thanks, Billy.
- [30:32]
Nick Wright
Thank you, Billy. I appreciate the update. Finally we get to Stugato and things can stop getting in our way because I have failed today. And I am sorry on behalf of.
- [30:44]
Tony
You didn't fail today. I was late to the show. Today it's on me.
- [30:48]
Nick Wright
Okay, so look, but this has been. Poor Stugatz is very far away. Nothing is going to make him age more than him having to continue to make that drive. And this traffic South Florida is under. Under cars and water. We are what we were never built for. This size. Our bejeweled dust dumpster was just this little tiny thing in a spring break town that we covered in drug money made a little brown. And now it pretends to be an international, global city. It's a dumpster, poorly constructed. And too many of the New Yorkers in San Francisco, people who have tons and tons of money and want to have guns and not taxes, have flooded our infrastructure in a way that has sewage in the ocean.
- [31:33]
Tony
Yeah.
- [31:33]
Nick Wright
Our buildings falling down and dropping into the sea.
- [31:36]
Tony
And we only have one lane on the highway. I mean, it's. Everyone is flowing into one lane. That takes you to i95.
- [31:44]
Nick Wright
We crazy. We weren't built for this. And Stug can no longer drive three hours to and from every day in traffic. But he has done so today, gloriously. Because this has to be the best the Knicks have felt in 25 years. Does anyone dispute this? I mean, you're here to give us historical perspective, but when it comes to fandom, that's the thing Stugatz has always been. And he. He didn't give up on this team. But it hasn't been like you can only get beaten down for so many decades of Carmelo's our best player before. Something like this is something that just stirs open something that hasn't been there for 25 years.
- [32:22]
Stugatz
So Stugatz, the show started in 2005.
- [32:25]
Tony
Yeah, correct.
- [32:26]
Stugatz
Okay, so I'm gonna try and recount all the positive things that have happened. Right?
- [32:30]
Tony
Yep.
- [32:31]
Stugatz
2005, let's see. Nothing good. 2006, nothing good. 2007, nothing good. 2008, you guys hired Mike D' Antoni. Right. 2009, not good, but playing a fun style. 2010, you sign Amar' e Stoudemire.
- [32:52]
Tony
Yep.
- [32:52]
Stugatz
He takes the picture outside of Madison Square Garden.
- [32:55]
Tony
What a first month.
- [32:56]
Stugatz
And the first month was amazing.
- [32:58]
Tony
Yes.
- [32:58]
Stugatz
Right. I got that right. And then 2010, moving into 2011, the rumors about Carmelo Anthony start, and all of a sudden. Wait a second.
- [33:07]
Tony
Yeah.
- [33:07]
Stugatz
End of the season, we're going to have Carmelo and this great Knicks team that's up and coming. But Jim Dolan gets a little antsy, says, we got to do the deal now. We can't wait. So he trades all the young guys. Raymond Felton, Timothy Mozgov, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, who was a big star, by the way. They loved him there. And he gets Carmelo. Now, was that happiness for you or did you have a little pessimism at that time?
- [33:31]
Tony
Somehow he made that miserable because he gave up all the young talent the Knicks had to get Carmelo, where he simply just had to wait till the end of the season. And Carmelo was coming to the Knicks.
- [33:39]
Stugatz
All he had to do was wait. But the next season starts and it's 11:12, and it's Carmelo and Amari Sadomar. And it's not working quite well. Right, right. It's not working well. And the guys are like, well, Mike d' Antoni, I don't know if I fit his system because I want to hold and jab step. And Mike d' Antoni wants the ball, move it and all that stuff. And then Carmelo gets hurt. And then there's a guy that comes in. He's like a 10 day guy, and his name is Jeremy Lin. Give me the joy of Lin sanity.
- [34:07]
Tony
That's the moment that's the most joyous I've been as a Knick fan over there over the course of this show, to be honest with you. Until last year, last Year was a pretty joyous moment for me.
- [34:16]
Stugatz
Right. So Linsanity happens and then they lose him in free. Well, he gets hurt and he doesn't play because he's 50%, 65%. He's never 100%, doesn't play in the playoffs. He ends up leaving in free agency the next year, Mike d' Antoni gets fired. Mike Woodson takes over. And so then that year, is it 1213 or 13 14? The Knicks are good again because they get Jason Kidd and they get Rasheed Wallace and they get all these old people who I keep like Metta World pieces on the team. They have all these vets. They go to the playoffs, they win a round. Remember they dressed in black in Boston because it's a funeral and all that stuff. And then they play the Heat in the second round and then you say, oh, that's what really good looks like. And they get drummed in and then it's bad again for perhaps maybe seven, eight years.
- [35:02]
Tony
Seven or eight years, yeah.
- [35:03]
Stugatz
But then, then Jalen Brunson. Oh, wait. First of all, let's start here. Then we get a new Knicks front office and they're going to games to scout out the competition. Everyone thinks they're looking at Donovan Mitchell, but really they're looking at Jalen Brunson, who agrees to come for $90 million.
- [35:19]
Tony
Yes.
- [35:19]
Stugatz
And everyone said, wow, that's a. He's a nice player, but that's a little bit overpay. But when he starts playing Sugats, this guy's pretty good. And the Knicks go to playoffs and they win around. And then they play the Heat and they didn't realize Jimmy Butler's hobbled and they couldn't attack him. And so then they lose that series. And then last year happens. That's the high point.
- [35:38]
Tony
I would say that's the high point. You left out Phil Jackson, by the way.
- [35:41]
Stugatz
Oh, you know, I just kind of.
- [35:42]
Tony
Glossed all over that and him not wanting to Coach our team.
- [35:45]
Stugatz
13 rings.
- [35:46]
Nick Wright
So 10 days is what you guys are saying. Jeremy Lynn, 10 days, 10 days a.
- [35:50]
Tony
Month of Amari Stoudemire and 10 days of Jeremy. Jeremy Lynn.
- [35:53]
Nick Wright
So. But this is. So this is 10 Days of Jeremy Lynn. This right now is. This is the same feeling of being. It's higher.
- [36:01]
Stugatz
You're saying new high water.
- [36:03]
Tony
Higher. Dan, we're up.
- [36:04]
Nick Wright
Wait a minute.
- [36:04]
Tony
We're up 20 on the Celtics. We haven't played a home game yet. I mean, Saturday, 3:30. The Mecca is going to be out of hand.
- [36:11]
Stugatz
I can't Wait, Dan, they might lose the next four games. Yeah, but what I'm telling you, right. Doesn't matter right now at this moment in history, the Knicks went into Boston and beat him twice in Boston, while everybody in the world said that the Celtics are going to drum their heads in right this point, right now. Like Sam Morrell said the other day, he can look the junkies in the eye and tell them, your first high does not even compare to what's. What I feel right now.
- [36:40]
Tony
You know, it's the first time the Knicks have won two road games in which they were down 20 points. Back to back nights, they did it. It's the first time the Knicks have started playing 5 and O on the road in the playoffs. The Knicks are legit. Good. And here's the funny thing. I was upset because last year I thought Dante DiVincenzo and I thought, you know, Hartenstein, the foreigner. The foreigner, he's from Ohio.
- [37:02]
Stugatz
The Italian.
- [37:02]
Nick Wright
Delaware, wasn't it?
- [37:03]
Tony
I think Delaware, Ohio, that's a fight on me. But I was upset with those trades because I like the core of the team. The fans fell in love with that team in particular. And so last year was a real high. And I was upset to see those two guys go and they were replaced by Bridges and Carl Anthony Towns. And I asked myself, which was ridiculous at the time, are the Knicks better today than they were yesterday? And the fact that I asked that question is absurd. Of course they're better than they were when they had Diva Chenzo and Hartenstein.
- [37:33]
Nick Wright
Well, hold on though, let's. Let's do some of the recent history here.
- [37:37]
Tony
But now there's pressure on the Knicks to win this series. They cannot collapse and lose. Dan, I don't know if I like that.
- [37:44]
Nick Wright
So this is what is beautiful about the present scenario. When I tell what do I want to feel during the series? Because I want to get through this story. Basketball is about the stories, the storylines. And if the games meet the moments, you will see history written and made. You will live it. You will understand how to tell your grandkids why Giannis only won one. And they won't understand the way they don't understand when the elder starts talking about Y2K. What a time, this moment in Nick's history. When I tell you what the fan base is presently doing, feeling swelling in its heart, okay, Is so desperate to feel what Larry Johnson made them feel with that four point play and not what Reggie Miller made them feel in those 12 seconds. The history of this franchise that is generational brings a Story to Boston, that is New York in basketball never gets to play in the sphere where the Celtics do ever. Historically, the Knicks are a laughing stock compared to the people who have dominated the last 25 years. Fifteen years ago, when LeBron got here, I joked, singing, yelling, as soon as he got here, New York. Welcome to another decade of. Of irrelevance. A quarter century of Knicks fans have been muzzled down, wanting to make the noise that they made when Larry Johnson hit that four. In another century before Y2K, Stu Gotts comes in here and he says pathetically, Ten days of Jeremy Lin is what I got. And he still remembers it fantastically.
- [39:30]
Tony
Oh, it's great.
- [39:31]
Nick Wright
Amari Stoudemire talked for him, talked about him as an mvp. An MVP for three minutes. Carmelo Anthony, a very popular knit. Jalen Brunson just had a moment that Jayson Tatum had not had to merely extinguish Detroit. Jalen Brunson has gone from the heart of We're Hartenstein and Hart, and he's our real heart. This guy. Jalen Brunson is better than anyone in the fourth quarter, and he's ours. We've got Reggie Miller now. Spike Lee has Reggie Miller now. This is the best clutch player in the league. You fell in love with all of the Villanova stuff that we make the commercial out of. But this is how you get to stardom, kid. Can you beat Tatum in Madison Square Garden? Can you beat him?
- [40:20]
Tony
Well, he did it in Boston twice, but can you do it at home at the Mecca?
- [40:23]
Nick Wright
No, no, no. Yes. He did it in Boston twice, and you knew he would. At the end of the game, he's going to get the foul shots. He's going to get the chance. Will Tatum. I don't know. We'll see. Is it going to be another fade away? We'll see. With your season on the line, Brunson goes back to the loudest New York and the most hopeful. New York filled with Knicks fans who give you confetti when Carmelo wins a playoff game. Knicks fans who haven't seen a Knicks closeout playoff game since 1999. Those fans, Ben Stiller and Tracy Morgan, they've been shut up for 25 years. They want so badly to howl outside of the arena. And now Jalen Brunson brings them home. This is the places where these, like, the history stuff gets written. And you remember forever, I saw Jalen Brunson become a star because I loved him when he had the Hartenstein theme. And then they broke it up and they bought Kat and I don't like him. And they bring Bridges. And it's five first round picks, but Brunson's my guy. Brunson's the most beloved player right now in Nick's history. Tell me I'm wrong.
- [41:30]
Tony
No, you're 100% right. More beloved than Willis Reed, than Patrick Ewing. And I'll tell you right now, Jason Hart is entering the top five.
- [41:38]
Stugatz
He is Josh Hart.
- [41:39]
Tony
Josh Hart. Excuse me. Nick fans love Josh Hart.
- [41:42]
Stugatz
Jason Hart played for Syracuse.
- [41:43]
Tony
I know. Nick fans love Josh. Josh Hart. But right now, Jalen Brunson. I would say if you ask Nick fans today and the prisoner of the moment, we're wrong because it should be Ewing, it should be Willis Reed. But if you ask him today, Jalen Brunson is the greatest Nick of all time.
- [41:57]
Stugatz
Wal Frasier. No love for Walt Frazier.
- [42:00]
Tony
He should be there, too. Bernard King as well.
- [42:02]
Nick Wright
Well, Bernard King's good.
- [42:04]
Tony
Yeah. He might be the 5th best nick player of all time.
- [42:06]
Nick Wright
Loser. Loser.
- [42:08]
Stugatz
How about this?
- [42:09]
Nick Wright
Did nothing but lose.
- [42:10]
Stugatz
How about this? D. The most popular athlete in New York City right now. More than Judge. More than Malik Neighbors. I don't know. Who's the next.
- [42:18]
Tony
Maybe Sodo.
- [42:19]
Stugatz
Sodo. Well, Sodo. I don't know. He lost. No, he's more than Judge. Brunson is more than Judge.
- [42:26]
Tony
More than Judge.
- [42:27]
Stugatz
Brunson is clearly greater than greater sign. Greater than sign. Greater than sign.
- [42:32]
Tony
Aaron Judge, are you saying Brunson is the most popular athlete in New York right now?
- [42:36]
Stugatz
Bar none.
- [42:37]
Tony
I agree.
- [42:38]
Stugatz
Bar none.
- [42:38]
Tony
Yes.
- [42:39]
Stugatz
There's. There's not a single. Because Judge. Here's the thing. Judge. Judge has that kind of stinker of a World Series that he's got to account for. Yeah. And Brunson still. Brunson still hasn't failed in the play. They've lost, but it wasn't his fault. Fault. It's never been Brunson's fault because he always shows up.
- [42:58]
Dan LeBatard
So wait a second. The comedy world is mad at me.
- [43:03]
Chris Cote
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