Tony's Infamous Victor Wembanyama Stat | Hour 2

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: Tony's Infamous Victor Wembanyama Stat | Hour 2
Date: June 3, 2026
Location: The Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami

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Episode Overview

This episode is a lively blend of sports analysis, pop culture commentary, and comical banter, focusing on NBA playoff matchups—especially the Knicks’ unprecedented run and the San Antonio Spurs’ challenges. The crew dissects the importance of context in judging "impressive" postseason runs, discusses Victor Wembanyama's historic shot-blocking stats, and dives into viral fame via the Tim Payne phenomenon. A running debate about anatomy (where does the finger end and the hand begin?) injects classic Le Batard absurdity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. NBA Playoff Debates: Knicks vs. Spurs

• The panel debates which playoff run is more impressive: the Knicks’ dominant streak or San Antonio's victories over tougher Western competition.
  • Dan Le Batard observes, “I could argue [the Knicks] are doing it against three worse teams than any of the ones that San Antonio just played.” (00:56)
  • Tony pushes back, prioritizing competition quality over mere numbers.
  • The group agrees that New York’s toughest opponent was likely Atlanta, though Atlanta is often underrated due to season arc and youth.
• Discussion of how rest narratives may be overblown, especially for young Spurs.
  • Tony: “You gotta miss me with the tired stuff...They're a young team. Come on. Miss me with the tired.” (04:04)

2. Mitchell Robinson’s Injury and Knicks Health

• Detailed breakdown of Mitchell Robinson’s hand injury leads to comic confusion over hand/finger anatomy.
  • Greg: “It’s technically his pinky, but it’s his fifth meta…metatarsal down here.” (05:13)
  • Dan: “Where does the finger end and the hand start?”
  • Long, goofy debate on 'knuckles' and 'front/back of the hand,' leading to a planned poll for listeners.
• Tony argues Robinson is likely to be targeted in-game due to the injury: “He’s a lock to get someone to take a swipe at his hand.” (20:54)
• Dan: “It seems to me like it’d be really tough to play basketball at the highest level with a broken hand, even if offensively all you’re being asked to do is...dunk it.” (20:30)

3. The Victor Wembanyama Stat: Legendary or Meaningless?

• Greg tries to recall an astounding Wemby stat about blocks vs. opponent field goals; the group struggles to verify or properly phrase it.
  • Greg (original): “In the Minnesota series, I think there was a stat that Wemby had more block shots than they had field goal made at a certain point in the series.” (39:06)
  • Banter as Tony and Dan point out the stat’s absurdity if not put in proper context.
• Eventually, Greg corrects: “Wemby recorded more blocks than the Minnesota Timberwolves had made field goals when he directly contested their shots over the span of the series.” (41:28)
  • Dan: “What Tony was saying, though we arrived there inefficiently, is when you challenge the 7 foot 3 guy directly, it’s more likely to get blocked than it is to go in. And that’s why he’s the defensive player of the year.” (42:14)
• Discussion about whether Wemby could eventually be the greatest shot-blocker ever, agreeing current play reduces block opportunities compared to earlier eras.

4. Tim Payne: Viral Fame & The Power of Celebrity

• The crew covers the sudden global virality of Tim Payne, a previously obscure New Zealand soccer player, now boasting 4.7 million Instagram followers thanks to a South American influencer campaign.
  • Dan: “The most anonymous player in the World Cup has now developed quite the following out of nowhere.” (06:03)
  • Zas: “He’s not a good player...but you’re going to watch a celebrity. And we’re living in a culture that’s so driven by celebrity...” (09:22, 09:44)
• Payne’s earnest thank you video (in Spanish) becomes running joke after he thanks fans “for all the chicken” due to a translation error.
  • Dan: “He just told Argentina, thank you for the chicken.” (09:01)
• Extended riff on the panic (or profit) of waking up with millions of new followers overnight.
  • Dan: “You would think that the Internet had gotten a hold of some sort of shame of yours…” (10:33)

5. Baseball’s Wildest Play: Canseco’s “Header” and Modern Repeats

• Nostalgic and statistical breakdown of the Jose Canseco “ball off the head for a home run” incident, marveling how improbable and perfect it is.
  • Clips are played of similar recent plays in college and MLB: “They are physics defying. The last two of these we’ve seen.” (26:42)
  • Panel debates if these are truly home runs or should be ground rule doubles.
  • Dan: “That is statistically improbable by itself, but to have it happen off the top of the head of the biggest clown in baseball is a statistical improbability.” (22:20)
• Challenge issued: could any panelist catch a Major League pop fly?
  • Dan: “I don’t believe any of us would catch outfield balls. Well ... people underestimate how hard that is.” (29:10)

6. Classic Banter and Absurd Polls

• Ongoing debate: Where does the finger begin? Are knuckles only in the back or also in the palm?
  • Dan: “Put it on the poll at Le Batard Show: Where does the finger start? Above the knuckle or beneath the knuckle?” (22:18)
• Playful insults and mock arguments about “who owes whom” for career success.
  • Dan & Zag: “You owe me everything... You have added 10 years to my career...You’re a fool.” (32:32–32:59)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You gotta miss me with the tired stuff…They’re a young team. Come on. Miss me with the tired.”
  — Tony (04:04)

• “He just told Argentina, thank you for the chicken.”
  — Dan Le Batard, on Tim Payne’s Spanish (09:01)

• “You would think that the Internet had gotten a hold of some sort of shame of yours…”
  — Dan Le Batard (10:33)

• “Where does the finger end and the hand start?”
  — Dan Le Batard, launching an anatomy debate (05:19, 21:32)

• “That is statistically improbable by itself, but to have it happen off the top of the head of the biggest clown in baseball is a statistical improbability.”
  — Dan Le Batard, on the Canseco head home run (22:20)

• “In the Minnesota series, I think there was a stat that Wemby had more block shots than they had field goal made at a certain point in the series.”
  — Greg (39:06)

• “What Tony was saying, though we arrived there inefficiently, is when you challenge the 7’3” guy directly, it’s more likely to get blocked than it is to go in. And that’s why he’s the defensive player of the year.”
  — Dan Le Batard (42:14)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:08–02:45: Knicks vs. Spurs playoff run debate
• 04:04: Tony’s “miss me with the tired stuff” rant
• 05:09–06:10: Anatomy confusion: Mitchell Robinson’s injury
• 06:24–11:45: Tim Payne viral fame & “thank you for the chicken”
• 22:01–24:20: Where does the finger begin? Knuckle/palm debate
• 25:39–29:34: Canseco home run & baseball “header” copycats
• 39:06–43:54: The “Wemby stat,” block vs. field goal, and cleaning up the stat’s context

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Conclusion

This episode weaves hard-nosed sports analysis with the absurd and the viral: debating NBA playoff legacies, marveling at Victor Wembanyama’s statistical feats (with some confusion), and exploring how celebrity now transcends talent in the story of Tim Payne. The trademark Le Batard humor—supported by creative poll ideas and friendly arguments about both sports and anatomy—makes this an episode that captures the spirit of the show: insightful, irreverent, and always entertaining.

Transcript

[Dan LeBatard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats podcast.

Really interesting to see how torn everyone seems about who's going to win these two championships. You look at ESPN, they had 24 people pick Carolina, Vegas, 1212. Everybody I talked to. Yeah, I kind of think the Knicks have a real good shot because if they make 18 threes and a half like they did against Philadelphia, they can beat anybody on the days that they're making all of their threes. Obviously, I had a couple of quibbles with some of the stuff that Nick Wright said that I didn't get to. One of the things that he is saying while correctly talking about this stretch of Knicks Basketball is 11 games. It's not just post season. It's the best 11 games of basketball statistically anybody has ever played regular season, post season, anytime. And so of course that's something that anyone is going to notice. But they are doing it against what I could argue are three worse teams than any of the ones that San Antonio just played. I could put Portland in that conversation with the Atlantis and the Clevelands and the broken Philadelphia 76ers, but I can certainly put Minnesota and OKC as a level of opponent that is realms beyond anybody that the Knicks have beaten.

[Tony]

Everything Nick was saying about the Knicks is correct. All right. But I look at the like. Which is more impressive? The Knicks winning 11 in a row and murdering teams buster teams or what San Antonio just did where they manhandled Minnesota after game one and they beat the Thunder in seven? So while they didn't put up the type of numbers the Knicks did, isn't what Oklahoma City did more impress?

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, this is, this is a weird thing that I'm about to say, Zaz, which is. I believe the Knicks toughest opponent was the first one they faced. I believe the way Atlanta was playing after the trades in the second half of the season, the way their wings are that athletic, that they're young and you saw how that series went. Like it was closer than the other games because Atlanta had a lot of things, youth, athleticism that, you know, Cleveland felt like it, it. It just didn't have. When James Harden was the centerpiece of what too much of what they were doing.

[Greg]

I think they broke the soul of the Cleveland Cavaliers. I think the Cavs are the. That they've played so far. But after that 20 point up and down and all of a sudden the game is over and you're like, you're looking up the score like, how did the Knicks win? They. They took their soul. It was over.

[Tony]

Like, let me ask you something. Who do you think, and it doesn't have to be a team that New York played. Who do you think was the second best team in the Eastern Conference playoffs? I mean, played the best in the Eastern Conference playoff play.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, played the best, second best. The reason the question's hard to answer is because if you give me healthy Embiid who hasn't played for several months, that's a very difficult team to play. But if it's all of a sudden, Embiid's got to play five games. He's all broken by the end of the playoffs because his body can't withstand any of it. It makes, it makes it very hard to answer that question, especially with the way that Boston played.

[Tony]

Because my, my answer would be Orlando. Like, like they were up 3:1 on Detroit. They were playing great. Those games that Orlando played and was up three games one. That was the second best performance in the Eastern Conference. And that's who we're comparing the Knicks to against San Antonio. And, and you see who they had to go through in the Western Conference. Like that's the point I'm trying to make.

[Dan LeBatard]

I do wonder, I really do though. The worst game the Knicks played against the Cavs was the first one. They got a bunch of rest. Yokich has said, don't give me a lot of rest. I want to roll through this. And so what you have happening tonight is, I think Nick's analysis on game one is that San Antonio is going to fold up because they're tired and that was a really hard series. But I think New York not playing this long, when you are a team that relies that heavily on the threes, the shooting goes. And if they get obvious, obviously behind by 22 points against the spurs in the fourth quarter with eight minutes left, it's not going to go the same way that it went against the Cavs.

[Tony]

You got to miss me with the tired stuff. They played Saturday, they got home Saturday night. Today's Wednesday. They're a young team. We're tired. Come on. Miss me with the tired.

[Greg]

I mean, Nick brought it up, but you look at Wemby's numbers, rebounding the ball and the first couple of games he had 24, then 17, and then he only had a double digit rebound once after that. So like you wear Wemby down, he's not going to go for boards as much as he usually does. He's going to float out into the perimeter. But if you look at what the Knicks were able to do off okay, so they sweep the Sixers. They come in and then they. They're down 20 early, but then all of a sudden completely come back and then take over the series. Like they're already used to playing this style, which is all right, we've had a week of rest. We've already swept. This is normal.

[Jeremy]

The thing for the Knicks that gives them an advantage offensively against San Antonio is the fact that that cat plays on the perimeter. But some of what Oklahoma City did to wear down San Antonio that you're talking about is being super physical with him with Isaiah Hardenstein and other guys in the paint. That's going to be up to Mitchell Robinson.

[Tony]

Like, questionable minutes matter. Questionable.

[Jeremy]

He's playing the finger.

[Dan LeBatard]

Is it his finger? It's not really his finger, right?

[Zas]

It's not.

[Greg]

It's technically his pinky, but it's his fifth meta. Metatarsal down here, which didn't happen in a game or a practice.

[Mike]

Where does the finger end? In the hand start, Dan.

[Dan LeBatard]

Have you guys seen this guy shoot free throws matter if he has hands. He could be that ticketed, one armed woman that he doesn't need his hands for anything.

[Zas]

He's right about that kind of thing.

[Dan LeBatard]

Morally abhorrent makes its return. World cup is a week away. And four years ago, we had a podcast soccer series that was just. Man, all of this is unethical. Enjoy your soccer. And so morally abhorrent is going to make its return in the post game show today. And I don't know. Do you know this defender for Wellington Phoenix named Tim Payne? Have you heard what's going on with him?

[Zag]

I have not.

[Dan LeBatard]

Oh, I thought we might have. You went to the microphone as his inner monologue and didn't know what you were going to say. He was going to support that. You knew and we all thought you knew, but you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. The most anonymous player in the World cup has now developed quite the following out of nowhere.

[Zag]

Yeah. How would I know that?

[Zas]

Well, this is a really cool story. There is a really influential soccer personality out of Argentina that set out on a mission. Let us find the most anonymous player in the World cup and let's turn this player into an overnight sensation. I like it. And so this influencer settled on Tim Paine, who's had a career that has seen him go around a lot of clubs. He actually plays every position on the pitch. He's a very versatile player. He even played for Portland Timbers, too. Not the Portland Timbers, their secondary squad. He had about 4,000 followers on Instagram. And seemingly overnight, this is what his follower count is now. 4.7 million. He's become an absolute sensation. There are Spanish songs about him. There are murals. They played last night at Inter Miami's new stadium. New stadium against Haiti. Haiti looked pretty good, by the way. If you want to head over to the DraftKingsports app now, live in all 50 states and put a little quid on Scotland finishing last in that group. It might be worth it. Haiti in the United States, they're a tough out. We learned from concacaf. But either way, Tim Payne was a part of this New Zealand squad. He is now a hugely famous dude. Inter Miami used his likeness to say, hey, Tim Payne is playing in Miami tonight. Come out and watch Tim Payne versus Haiti. The All Blacks of New Zealand, their rugby team is super popular, right?

[Zag]

Yep.

[Zas]

The All Whites of New Zealand, the soccer team, not as popular. Tim Payne has more of a social following than the national rugby team of New Zealand, to put that in perspective. And this was all largely driven in South America. So here is Tim Payne trying through some Spanish to thank his new, newly found Spanish audience for this fame.

[Tim Payne]

Hola, todos. Muchos gracias. Portoro el pojo de scupin mi espano. Sigo patekando e duo lingo. Just want to say a massive thank you first to you, Valen. It's been a pretty crazy 48 hours, to say the least. I just wanted to also express that I'm very grateful to be presenting my country at this World cup, and I appreciate all the love from all around the world. Mucho gracias.

[Dan LeBatard]

Okay, a valiant effort, but I have to correct this poor man. He meant to say, thank you for all the support, but instead he said, thank you for all the chicken.

[Greg]

Yeah, I caught that. No, yeah, I caught that.

[Dan LeBatard]

Apollo is support, Pollo is chicken. And his Spanish, he's trying, but he just said. He just told Argentina, thank you for the chicken.

Yeah.

[Zas]

How do you like fame now, Tim Payne? This is what it's like. One mistake, you're done. Dan's gonna jump all over you.

[Greg]

So I got a question. So respect to Tim Payne. So he sucks, right?

[Zas]

Yeah, he's not a good player. I mean, respect, though, respectfully. He's a national team player for New Zealand, not a great soccer country, but he's, you know, he's a pro, but

[Greg]

he hasn't really had success on the club.

[Jeremy]

No.

[Tony]

Like, the whole.

[Zas]

He thanked the influencer by name. The whole mission was to find the most anonymous dude playing this World Cup.

[Greg]

So when Inter Miami says, hey, come watch Tim Pain the new stadium, you're coming to watch a guy who's like,

[Zas]

not that good, but you're going to watch a celebrity. And we're living in a culture that is so driven by celebrity that celebrities go into politics successfully now. So, yeah, he's become a huge sensation. So much so that sportsbooks out there have Tim Payne specific props. Take the under probably.

[Mike]

They know people are suckers.

[Tony]

I'll tell you something. If I. If I had 4,000 followers on Instagram and I woke up the next morning and I had 4.7 million, I don't think I would like that.

[Zas]

I. Yeah, it's crazy. Life changing. It's a sensation. Has got to be a whirlwind.

[Tony]

And too many people watching me now.

[Mike]

What happened, guys?

[Tony]

What did people see? Yeah, I don't. I think I'd like it.

[Greg]

There's so much money involved. The guy doesn't have to do anything, play soccer for the rest of his Life. He's got 4.7 million followers. Go to brands and be like, hey, this is what I got. What's up? Oh, yeah, we'll pay you.

[Dan LeBatard]

Oh, no.

[Zas]

But what.

[Dan LeBatard]

What Zaz is speaking to. If you went to sleep at night and had 4,000 followers and then woke up in the morning without a panic attack, without checking the news, without checking anything, and just saw that it was at 4.7 million, you would think that the Internet had gotten a hold of some sort of shame of yours there. You would have some fear about how is it that this escalated. You think you'd wake up and say, you know what? I think the Internet is feeling kind and bountiful today. Or because the Internet is made for snarky cruelty, would you immediately assume, oh, my God is my greatest secret. That is the most shameful out in public right now.

[Mike]

You can go the other way. Like, am I dating Kim Kardashian? What happened?

[Tony]

Like, Tony, you'd wake up in the morning, you'd be like, oh, nice, they finally discovered me.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Greg]

I'd call an ad agency. The second I wake up, Tony wakes

[Mike]

up and goes, about time.

[Dan LeBatard]

That is what Tony would do. He would wake up and be like

[Greg]

four or five calls. One of them would be to Dan.

[Dan LeBatard]

Funny what happened to me. Overnight, I suddenly discovered everyone. The world suddenly disc everything I've known about myself, which is that I deserve the millions of followers I don't deserve.

[Greg]

But got to want to learn, got to want to earn.

[Zag]

Exactly. Well put.

[Dan LeBatard]

Thank you.

[Zag]

Yeah.

[Jeremy]

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[Greg]

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[Dan LeBatard]

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[Zag]

A woman who was out swimming with her friends is believed to have been swallowed whole by a 13 foot shark without any of her friends noticing. That's the weirdest part about that story. You're swimming with friends, you're having a good time and then all of a sudden people are looking around go, where's Shelly? Like nobody screamed.

[Jeremy]

Every friend group has a Shelly though, that if they go missing because a shark ate them whole, you wouldn't notice.

[Tony]

Classic Shelly.

[Dan LeBatard]

Exactly right.

[Zag]

Yeah.

[Dan LeBatard]

Stugats.

[Zag]

She went quietly. Apparently, if I'm swallowed whole by a shark, you're gonna know it.

[Dan LeBatard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with

[Tony]

the st.

[Zag]

By the way, there's no. Is there any shame that would instantly get you 4.7 million? I don't think even that would happen.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, I. What I remember and there, there's actually a book written about this. There was a woman who took a flight, I believe it was to either Africa or South Africa. And when she. Before she got on the flight, she made some sort of racist a. And by the time she landed where she was, her life had been ruined. Like she lost her job. And it was sort of a tipping point on people recognizing our addiction to the Internet makes it. And our addiction to the Internet and the intoxicant that is dunking on people, which feels like the Internet is for like, where and how can I be funny about this?

[Zag]

Well, but what I can't understand is normally you lose followers by controversy and shame. Normally you don't gain followers because of that.

[Dan LeBatard]

Right.

[Zas]

A little further away. This is so far a nice story so far. So congrats to Tim Payne. Until somebody will fight. They go after your greatest shame and then we will laugh at you and chew you apart.

[Dan LeBatard]

Greg, infamous also works. Notoriety also works. I don't think there are a whole lot of people on the Internet that it's just like, hey, you're 100% positive. In fact, who is that person? Give me the person that you believe is the most positively popular on social media, where it's just all applause. And what they're getting from the Internet is not an assortment of jokes at their expense about their eyebrows. Jeremy, can you look up for me please? Who would be the most anonymous player in baseball if we were to try and start some sort of campaign that tried to get the most anonymous player in baseball the pain treatment?

[Jeremy]

I had a feeling that you might bring me here and I'm very excited about this because I have a perfect pitch. Daniel lynch iv. Now he's leading the Royals in ERA and in holds. But he's a left handed reliever. He's the first player ever to wear IV on the back of his uniform. The first, fourth. Okay, okay. But his name is Daniel Lynch IV and he plays for the last place Kansas City Royals. He's a reliever, doesn't have any safes. He's just leading the team in holds. How do we feel about Daniel lynch the Fourth? He has 5,000 followers. Do you need me to find somebody else? Do we like Daniel?

[Dan LeBatard]

No, keep looking.

[Jeremy]

Left handed reliever for the Royals. That's not random enough.

[Dan LeBatard]

That's pretty good. Yes, it's. It's plenty random.

[Zas]

That's my guy.

[Dan LeBatard]

But we need the most anonymous.

[Greg]

He's got too much flavor with the 4 on the back of the jersey since the first ever. We can't have.

[Jeremy]

No, that's fair. I just need someone who's not going to get sent down.

[Zag]

Yeah, I don't think it can be a guy leading in holds or anything like that. I think it needs to be the last guy on the bench who all season long has played in one game and had two pinches.

[Mike]

Today's Chris Aguila.

[Zag]

Just a guy who rarely plays and if he does, he barely gets.

[Tony]

No. What? Jeremy is saying he doesn't want to find someone who could get, you know, options at aaa.

[Zag]

Right.

[Tony]

Needs to be someone who is on the team.

[Dan LeBatard]

I want to get for a second to this Mitchell Robinson stuff because the Knicks are super healthy this basketball season. I mean, you've heard me say before, a broken sport is breaking its players. Like the football physical act of playing basketball led to so many injuries this year that it becomes clear that the tissue and the people that are this size, the game is being played in a way that just breaks the bodies. Mitchell Robinson is their big, the Knicks big health problem. And as Tony mentioned, it's not as pinky, it's the back of the hand. And Windhorse was saying on ESPN it's known as a boxer's fracture because most of the time it means that you hit something. And in 184 minutes of action this postseason, he's collected 40% of the available offensive rebounds. It's a rate that would lead the league in regular season and playoffs. He's a beast. And I told you, like, he does things to Mobley and Jared Allen that reduces that team to. We've got to count on Harden. And he's got a broken hand, essentially. And I'm legitimately asking you guys, what do you think it's going to do to Mitchell Robinson's game? Because I don't think his hands have much of anything to do with how he gets offensive rebounds. I think everything there is physic. It's physical and he's using just about everything except his hands. But it seems to me like it would be really tough to play basketball at the highest level with a broken hand, even if offensively all you're being asked to do is Jalen Brunson is going to lob it up at the basket and you have to dunk it.

[Tony]

I just think he's a lock to get someone to take a swipe at his hand. Like, that's, that's the way it goes. That's. That's how professional sports work in these spots. Like somebody is going to hit him on the hand. Maybe it was by accident, maybe it wasn't.

[Zag]

Probably it wasn't. But I'm, I'm curious. Is it going to. Is the pinky going to be taped to the second finger? Is it the type of an injury where it would be smarter for him to sit tonight and then play in the.

[Dan LeBatard]

But again, it's not, it's not the pinky, actually, because that catching the ball with a bad pinky, that would hurt. And I can see people being able to do it. But it's sort of the back of his hand near the pinky.

[Mike]

Begs the question, where does the hand start and the finger begin? I screwed that up.

[Greg]

It's been great today.

[Dan LeBatard]

Would you like another shot at it?

[Mike]

Where does the hand end and the finger start?

[Zag]

Very good.

[Dan LeBatard]

I thought that we all agreed that the finger starts right above the knuckle. Like, do you have it beneath the knuckle?

[Zag]

Oh, yeah, beneath the knuckle.

[Dan LeBatard]

You have the finger starting beneath the knuckle as opposed to above the knuckle. Put it on the poll at LeBatard show. Where does the finger start? Above the knuckle or beneath the knuckle? What do you guys. What do you guys answer that question with as we all score this season?

[Tony]

I think Greg's right. I think it starts below the knuckle because you could feel in your bone, you could feel the finger beneath the knuckle.

[Dan LeBatard]

But you guys are. You guys are doing roots of the finger. And I'm just saying that the hand is everything that's beneath the fingers because you. When I'm doing the hand, I'm not doing the back of the hand. I'm doing the front of the hand.

[Tony]

You don't know how hands work.

[Dan LeBatard]

I'm doing the front of the hand and the front of the hand doesn't have any knuckles. The front. The front. The knuckles are only.

[Tony]

My hand starts knuckles here.

[Dan LeBatard]

Put it on the poll at LeBatard show. Are the knuckles in the front also or the knuckles only in the back? Because I have the knuckles. Only in the back. I do not have the knuckles up front.

[Zag]

Of course. This is the knuckle right here. Yeah.

[Tony]

You need to learn about hands.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah.

[Zag]

You don't know fingers, but.

[Dan LeBatard]

No, but the knuckle. The front of the knuckle here. The front of the hand. The knuckles are in. The knuckles are in the back.

[Zag]

Okay.

[Dan LeBatard]

The joint of the knuckles are not in the front. Nobody has the knuckles in the front, guys.

[Zas]

The knuckle is round. It's on both sides.

[Tony]

I got these knuckles right here.

[Zag]

These are the knuckles.

[Dan LeBatard]

You were going to stay with it. You were going to stay with it until it caught. The knuckles are not in the front. Nobody thinks the knuckles are in the front.

[Greg]

Like Mike said, they're circular.

[Zag]

They're everywhere.

[Zas]

Can you have a kneecap in the back? I don't think so.

[Dan LeBatard]

You can have a kneecap in the back. That's my point. That the kneecap would be in the front and the kneecap would not be in the back. The knuckle would be in the back and not in the front.

[Greg]

What is your front?

[Dan LeBatard]

What do you mean pointing at the back? I'm not pointing at the back. I'm pointing at the front of my hand. The palm of my hand.

[Greg]

Palm. Okay. Because front could be this way.

[Dan LeBatard]

If I gave you the back. If I gave you the back of my hand, would I be giving you my palm? No, I'd be giving you the back of my hand, but I wouldn't say

[Greg]

the front of the hand.

[Dan LeBatard]

What do you mean you wouldn't say the front of the.

[Greg]

I'd say the palm of the hand.

[Zag]

This is the front of the hand right here.

[Dan LeBatard]

No, that's not the front of the hand. That's the back of the hand.

[Zag]

No, it's the front of the hand.

[Zas]

There is a chance his free throw shooting gets better.

[Dan LeBatard]

There's not a chance it can get worse.

[Tony]

This is the front of my hand right here.

[Dan LeBatard]

Semantics.

[Zag]

That's a palm.

[Tony]

That's the back of my hand.

[Dan LeBatard]

I was mentioning earlier in the show because I the probabilities of this are just infinitesimal. I've said that Jose Canseco has the greatest play in baseball history. It's not merely because he seemed to be miles from the warning track catching a routine fly ball that at best would have been a ground rule double. And instead what happened was as he approached the warning track, it bounced off of the. The top of his head and over the wall. Right when he got to the warning track, it bounced off, hit the top of his head and over the wall. And that is statistically improbable by itself. But to have it happen off of the top of the head of the biggest clown in baseball is a statistical improbability. Like, if I were to just give you the entirety of the sport, there would have been no one funnier that that could have happened to. And so I called it the greatest play in baseball history. Can you guys give me the details? Because I that this has happened two more times in the last two weeks, even though we talked about a month ago about a minor leaguer that had it happen and he wasn't even close to the outfield wall. What are the details on this? And show me these videos because I have not seen replicated what I believe to be the greatest play in baseball history. Show me first, please, the minor. Is this the minor?

[Mike]

Yes.

[Dan LeBatard]

College baseball. Let's go.

[Mike]

A regional. Here we have a little audio that goes with it

[Zag]

out to left center

[Dan LeBatard]

field and room in the cavern. I think back to the fence, a leap and off the fence.

Now that got out.

Was that the Jose Canseco off the body parts and over the fence?

[Mike]

He didn't know what to call it. Was that the Jose Canseco off the body thing?

[Dan LeBatard]

The reason he said off the body part is because these guys are very regimented about getting the details right. And he couldn't tell whether it was the back of his head or off his neck or what the hell it bounced off of. Cuz he was so far from where they were sitting and so he couldn't see. It was like Jeremy's writing on the board. He couldn't see at that distance what was happening. But that Karen was crazy in that. That bounced off the back of his head and sort of went 40ft behind him in the opposite ricocheting direction. The last two of these we've. They. They are physics defying. The last two of these we've seen.

[Tony]

You already know how I feel about it. We've done this already. I don't think that's a home run.

[Dan LeBatard]

It is a home run. It is. It goes in the record books as a home run. And we have another one. Is this from major league baseball last night? Are you kidding me? This is Adele. This happened to Adele. The guy who had. Who robbed that guy? Hello. The guy who had three catches this year. He had the best defensive game a player has ever had.

[Mike]

Rob.

[Jeremy]

Three homers in a single game.

[Dan LeBatard]

Three homers in a shutout. In a shutout. He robbed three home runs. The last of them in the ninth inning.

[Tony]

He fell into the stands, which should have been a home run because the ball was then in the stands.

[Zas]

Well, I guess he didn't have that performance anymore. This cancels it out. I actually asked the question back here. Does this cost him the Gold Glove?

[Mike]

I think he goes back to just neutral. Those three robbed home runs was like, oh, my God, this guy's amazing. Jose Canseco thing brings you back. You're not negative. We don't think about it, but you've lost all positive thought.

[Zag]

Yes.

[Dan LeBatard]

Let's see the B roll on this here so that we can see what it is that happened to Adele. This is just straight error. Oh, wow. That's the rare. Hits the glove, hits his forehead.

[Mike]

He's tracking it. It goes almost through his glove, hits the head and then goes over it.

[Tony]

Hit multiple things in the field of play. That's a home run, that one.

[Mike]

I'm actually. This one, I'm actually with Zaz here hitting the glove for some reason. Does change it a little bit for me.

[Zas]

That's a ground rule double in my book.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, okay, but in the record books, it's a home run.

[Zag]

A ground rule double bounces over the fence.

[Dan LeBatard]

Bounces where?

[Zag]

Bounces off the ground, off to the earth.

[Zas]

Well, this bounced off something else.

[Dan LeBatard]

That's why it's not a ground rule double. This is a forehead rule double. If anything, it's not a ground rule double, it's a home run. Put it on the poll, please, Ebitard, show if you rob three home runs in a game, but then a home run bounces off your forehead. Are you an average total outfielder? Are you average as an outfielder? Because of the shame involved? I cannot believe the statistical improbabilities of home runs flying out of the park off someone's forehead. I've told you guys I want you to go to Marlins park and I want you to try to track outfield balls and see how poorly you do it. Because I don't think people realize how hard it is to track something that small when you're 350ft away and it's coming at a great rate of speed. Like, I know those outfielders make it look easy. I don't believe any of us would catch outfield balls. Well, I know that Chris Cody. I had an opposite field single off Matt Lados in high school.

[Mike]

Let these guys try first. I don't want to make you look bad.

[Dan LeBatard]

Okay?

[Zas]

You.

[Dan LeBatard]

You think it's going to be easy to track fly balls in the cavernous Marlins outfield? You think you're playing center field in that, that ballpark? You're playing center field. You think it's going to be easy to track something into left center field?

[Mike]

I'm more of a corner outfielder, but I could try center.

[Dan LeBatard]

I think people underestimate how hard that is to do that. And catching punts just because major league baseball look so easy.

[Tony]

Remember in Houston, you used to have to run up that hill in center field to catch a fly ball?

[Mike]

Minute May parking. Get me out there for B.P. just to catch him.

[Jeremy]

Just B.P.

[Dan LeBatard]

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mike]

You got shag, we bring a camera person. We'll get your content.

[Zas]

Summer always hits different once the big game starts stacking up. Now you've got finals games on every other night, baseball's rolling all week, racing on the weekends, and suddenly everybody's looking for an excuse to get together. The other night a buddy texted me, we've got the game on. Come through. I figured I'd stop by for maybe an hour. That was optimistic. Next thing you know, everybody's locked into the game and we're all part of the coaching staff. Somebody's yelling at the ref, somebody else is suddenly an expert on pitch strategy, and nobody's even pretending they're leaving early anymore. It's one of those nights where you take a sip of Miller Lite, look around and realize, yeah, this is exactly what summer is supposed to be. That's why Miller Lite is always part of these nights for me. It's clean, refreshing, easy to drink when it's hot outside, and perfect for long nights hanging with friends, watching games. An all American summer starts with an all American beer, Miller lite. Go to millerlight.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. Tony, you know that moment at a party or at a tailgate where everything just sort of clicks?

[Greg]

I know it well. It's usually when I show up, everybody goes crazy.

[Zas]

Yeah. You usually take all the credit for it, but it's because Tony usually walks in with Cuervo. Walk in like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cuervo is a thing that turns hanging out into this is the night.

[Greg]

It has that effect on people.

[Zas]

It does. You usually take the credit for it, but again, it's the Cuervo effect. It's like that moment in a big game where everyone in the crowd just starts standing up, hooting and hollering. Keep it Cuervo.

[Greg]

Keep it Cuervo, baby.

[Zas]

The final round of basketball season is here, and only DraftKings has you fully covered. The DraftKings sports app is now available in all 50 states and includes every market. So you're in on the action at the speed of sports sweat. Every possession of the series, all in one place with one app. New DraftKings customers sign up with code DAN, spend five bucks and get $200 in rewards within 21 days. That's code DAN in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours.

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[Dan LeBatard]

Don Libertard.

[Zag]

You owe me everything.

[Dan LeBatard]

You owe me everything.

[Zag]

You have added 10 years to my career.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yes, I have.

[Zag]

This man has. You haven't.

[Tony]

That man.

[Zag]

Who the hell are you?

[Zas]

Stugats.

[Dan LeBatard]

I am. Who?

[Zag]

The banking bull. You're a rude young man.

[Dan LeBatard]

You're a fool.

[Tony]

You're.

[Dan LeBatard]

You're a fool.

[Zag]

I already called you a fool.

[Dan LeBatard]

Right.

[Zag]

You can't call me idiot again.

[Dan LeBatard]

It's a fool.

[Tony]

Idiot twice.

[Dan LeBatard]

You're an idiot for dismissing how much I've helped you. This is the D?

[Tony]

Ler show with the two.

[Zag]

Gods.

[Dan LeBatard]

Damn.

[Tony]

It was a hill. You had to run up and there was a.

[Dan LeBatard]

A pole in the hill. What is that dangerous?

[Mike]

The Yankees used to have their like monuments, like in play. Yeah, there was a time back in like the. When, you know, Monument Park, The Great Depression.

[Tony]

Yeah, they were behind the wall.

[Mike]

No, there was a time when those were in play. I can look it up.

[Tony]

Get the hell out of here.

[Zag]

Really?

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah. Yeah. They moved the fences in.

Well, I don't think there were fences, actually. I think it was just sort of a graveyard. Like they just had a graveyard in center field that looks like monuments, but what it is is cemetery where it's just. Yeah, Babe Ruth is back there some. It's 500ft from the home plate. No one will hit it out here. And then the whole sport now every. Now Everybody hits it 600ft.

[Zag]

Caroming off headstones instead of heads.

[Jeremy]

It began in 1932, but not until the mid-70s when Yankee Stadium had a renovation did they move the center field fence in 44ft to then make sure that the plaques were not in play. And in 1985, they opened it to the public also.

[Tony]

We're not in play.

[Mike]

Hello.

[Jeremy]

Joel Kunol has 1619 followers on Instagram. He's a left handed reliever for the Athletics, a team that doesn't even have a region. How do we feel about him?

[Mike]

Feel like we're overthinking this. Let's just pick a marlin.

[Dan LeBatard]

I want to go back for a second to what Zaslow was saying is the name of the. It had a name. I had a very funny argument one time with. With Boog. I think that center field in Houston is named after a former scout, Tal something. I think it's Tal's Hill. But is it. That's what it's called. It's called Tal's Hill. And what Zaslow is saying there, that is truly absurd, is there's just a pole in the middle of the outfield that seems wildly dangerous if you're climbing up a hill. Like, the warning track has always been interesting to me because of what it is that I'm telling you about how hard it is to track these fly balls. You're tracking a fly ball at full speed, and now what you feel under your feet is gravel. And so now, you know, without looking at the wall, I'm running full speed to something that's 10ft away from me. But now make it a hill, and now make it a pole. Instead of a padded wall, there's a pole in the outfield. And it really is surprising that no one ever hit it in a way that was violent. Because how can you run up a hill, Tal's Hill, and have a pole out there that structurally needs to be behind the wall, not in front of the wall?

[Tony]

I just don't understand how there's a hill. Like, why don't they put a bunker in shallow left field or a pond, A moat.

[Greg]

Yeah.

[Dan LeBatard]

The argument that I had with Boog and he called that scout. Is it Tal Smith? Because what he did is he reduced me to rubble in the argument because at the time, it was in the Braves outfield, a very young Michael Tucker and a very young Andrew Jones. And I'm like, defensively, I think Michael Tucker's as good as Andrew Jones. It was very early in their careers. And so he just called a. And Tal, who that hill is named after, just began laughing on the phone at my assessment defensively of Michael Tucker and Andrew Jones because of how much better Andrew Jones was than Michael Tucker. We. Jim Edmonds had a catch on that. On that hill at one time. That isn't even his best catch. Like, Jim Edmonds made the greatest catch I've seen in baseball history. But the one up the hill is something that was also wildly impressive because he was like 420 some OD feet from home plate.

[Zag]

Chris could catch Willie Mays.

[Dan LeBatard]

Do you got. You guys always overestimate your ability to do things the professionals do. Because the place that we started with making fun of Greg Cody on tearing his hamstring and a 50 yard field goal is how insulting I find it that as somebody who's been writing about sports for 50 years, underestimates the greatness of what it is that he's writing about. I understand that that in basketball we're all expecting all of these guys to make their shots when they fly to the rim. But some of these shots just because they make it look. Some of the things Jalen Brunson does at that size are completely mystifying to me. The way that he can in the mid range just dominate anybody at his size and get to the rim against any human being who exists. And tonight night, he faces the most difficult one in the close to, in the history of the sport, to getting to the rim on like that. When you talk about in that. Was it the Minnesota series that Wemby started, the first five, Was it the first five games that he had five blocks a game? Like he was averaging five blocks a game? What do you guys expect Jalen Brunson to look like in this series? Do you believe he's going to be able to drive and dish to open three point shooters that the the same way he's done against all these other teams that don't have Wemby in the paint?

[Tony]

I think you're going to see him use that mid range a lot. Like he's good at that mid range shot. He'll drive, he stops at the elbow, he shoots mid range. Because nobody challenge like nobody goes at the basket when Wembanyama's in the paint.

[Dan LeBatard]

But the teams they've played against, right, Whatever your other analysis is of Nick spurs, the teams Brunson has played against. Evan Mobley is a very good defensive player. You can make an argument that he is in the conversation for defensive player of the year, but he's not that kind of shot blocker. Embiid is not that kind of shock block shot blocker. Atlanta does not have that kind of shot blocker. No, nobody does really. But in terms of affecting Jalen Brunson's game with a shot blocker, they've not seen anything that comes close to this.

[Greg]

In the Minnesota series, I think there was a stat that Wemby had more block shots than they had field goal made at a certain point in the series.

[Dan LeBatard]

That can't be right.

[Greg]

I'm telling you it's right.

[Tony]

It's because he blocked the shot the first play of the game.

[Dan LeBatard]

Maybe if that's how it happened, maybe

[Greg]

at a certain point in the series he had more blocks than they had field goals made.

[Tony]

I want you to think again. What you're saying doesn't make it right. Think about what you're saying.

[Dan LeBatard]

That stat can't be right, Tone.

[Tony]

Say it again, but say it at one point in the Game.

[Greg]

At one point in the game.

[Dan LeBatard]

At one point in game one, like there are many field goals. He didn't have 400 blocks. He had 35 blocks.

[Tony]

And say it again, but think about the words as you're saying, okay.

[Greg]

At one point in the game, he had more blocks than they had made field goals.

[Tony]

Still feel good about that?

[Greg]

We're researching.

[Zag]

It could be accurate.

[Greg]

Thank you, Greg.

[Zag]

The first two minutes of a game.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, but then it's a meaningless stat.

[Jeremy]

Thus far, only thing I can find is through five games, Wemby had more blocks than the entire Timberwolves roster. Not field goals. But I'm looking.

[Greg]

He's looking.

[Dan LeBatard]

I believe you're going to be looking for the rest of time, and you're not going to find anything unless you find that the first shot of the game was blocked. And then the spurs had more blocks than the Timberwolves had field goals made.

[Tony]

Do you want. Do you want to try that stat again, but with different words?

[Greg]

No, I'm going to look it up.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, you can do that now. You're not going to find it. You're going to spend the. Let's try that on the front end before you speak. Usually a pretty good idea to see if you can get that right before the words tumble out of your mouth and then everyone's heard them, and the next thing you know, you got 4.7 million followers because everyone can see your shit.

[Tony]

More blocks. More blocks than the team has field goals made.

[Zag]

Could be right.

[Dan LeBatard]

No, it couldn't be right.

[Zag]

Yes, it could be right.

[Dan LeBatard]

There's no circumstances in the first two

[Zag]

minutes of the game. Wembley's got two blocks. They haven't made two field goals yet.

[Dan LeBatard]

That doesn't make it a relevant stat.

[Zag]

It makes it a stat, though. It makes Tony accurate. That's what I'm saying.

[Greg]

Thank you, Craig. I'm looking, by the way.

[Zag]

That kind of thing. Yeah, and you know it.

[Tony]

It's one of the worst stats I've ever heard.

[Zag]

But it's a stat.

[Dan LeBatard]

Stat.

[Mike]

You acknowledged it.

[Tony]

It's remarkably stupid stat.

[Zag]

They're not all stat of the day. Some of them are bad stats. Nothing wrong with that. Bs Bad stats.

[Dan LeBatard]

What's bs? And then it. What Poured from to.

[Greg]

Okay, sorry.

[Zag]

I had.

[Greg]

I had one piece missing. One detail missing. Okay.

[Zag]

Are you ready?

[Greg]

I had one detail missing.

[Dan LeBatard]

Make it right.

[Greg]

Thank you. Jason Benetti. During the 2026 Western Conference semifinals, Victor Wembanyama recorded more blue blocks. Then the Minnesota Timberwolves had made field goals when he directly contested their shots. Over the span of the series.

[Dan LeBatard]

Oh, my God.

[Greg]

I had it in there somewhere. I just missed that little piece of it. So he had more blocks than they had made field goals when he was the main defender.

[Zag]

Yes. Good stat.

[Greg]

Was that better for you, Dan?

[Jeremy]

He also had two blocks before the Timberwolves made a shot in the first game.

[Greg]

Okay, thank you, Greg.

[Zag]

That is accuracy, right? Thank you.

[Tony]

So if someone gets a steal on the first possession of the series, you could say that team has more steal then the other team has baskets this series.

[Zag]

Yes, because for a point in time, that was. Right.

[Dan LeBatard]

But how is that a relevant stat?

[Zag]

I didn't say it was relevant. I said it was a stat.

[Dan LeBatard]

So just to set the record straight so that there is no more confusion about this. What Toney was saying, though we arrived there inefficiently, is when you challenge the 7 foot 3 guy directly, it's more likely to get blocked than it is to go in. And that's why he's the defensive player of the year.

[Greg]

Zagak.

[Dan LeBatard]

That seems obvious though.

[Greg]

Yeah, okay, sure, it seems obvious, but when I tell you the actual. The actual stat was he had more blocks than they had made field goals when he was the defender is amazing.

[Zag]

Who other.

[Greg]

What other player can you talk about

[Zag]

like that relevant stat?

[Dan LeBatard]

Only the 7 foot 3 one who's better at blocking shots by a good deal than anybody else relevant league. And he's. He's not the best in the history of the league. Right. But he's tough. He's got to be top three. Correct. In terms of just being able to block everything. I would assume Shaq actually was a pretty bad shot blocker for his size.

[Tony]

Mark Eaton was pretty great.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah. I mean, but let me think about this for a second. Is Wemby gonna go down statistically, empirically? Not an. Not an opinion. Is he gonna go down as the greatest shot blocker in history? Because I would assume without looking at any of the numbers, that there would be better shot blockers in the past, just because we were all trying to get our shots at the rim, we thought that that was the way to play Bas, not with the three pointer. So I would assume the way that we're playing now would lead to more to fewer shot blocking opportunities.

[Greg]

Not to wait into these waters again without looking at it. But I'm pretty sure I heard that Wemby has the record for playoff blocks for the spurs and this is his first playoff run.

[Dan LeBatard]

And so your choices there would be who? Tim, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, anybody ever

[Greg]

wearing a Spurs jersey ever.

[Jeremy]

Manu Ginobili has more playoff blocks than Victor Wembanyama.