Hour 3 – Dabo Swinney Gets Loose, Dave McMenamin

Summary

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The Dan Patrick Show – May 6, 2026: Hour 3 – Dabo Swinney Gets Loose, Dave McMenamin

Episode Overview

In this third hour of The Dan Patrick Show, Dan and the Danettes reflect on the late Ted Turner’s remarkable life, analyze controversial comments from Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney, and dig into the NBA Playoffs with ESPN's Dave McMenamin—focusing especially on the Lakers, LeBron James, and the shifting landscape of the league. The hour blends candid opinions, sports nostalgia, and locker-room banter, demonstrating Dan’s signature mix of deep sports insight and humor.

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Remembering Ted Turner

[03:38–07:18]

• Dan shares the news of Ted Turner’s passing at 87, calling him “truly, truly remarkable.”
• Highlights from Turner’s legacy:
  • Created CNN and TBS, owned the Atlanta Braves.
  • Made the Braves a national team by launching the Superstation.
  • Was an early innovator in broadcasting sports and wrestling.
  • Was passionate about conservation, notably buffalo herds.
  • “He lived a life,” Dan says, noting encounters with Turner in Atlanta and NYC, remembering his brashness and authenticity.
• Anecdote about Turner briefly managing the Braves during a losing streak:
  • Paul: “He sent the manager on a road trip and took over as manager that night... Baseball said, you can’t own and manage at the same time.”

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Dabo Swinney's Comments & The Changing College Football Landscape

[07:18–14:56]

• Dabo Swinney’s Podcast Comments
  • Audio from Dabo Swinney on Clemson’s limitations compared to larger programs:

    “We’re three and one against Ohio State. We’re four and two against Notre Dame... They print their own money. They got, like, a money machine in the backyard... We’ve beaten Nick Saban in Alabama, two national championships. And, so, you know, we’ve done all of that at Clemson.” – Dabo Swinney ([07:51])

  • Dan and the Danettes react:
    • Dan: “So what’s he complaining about? If you’re good enough to beat everybody, then what’s the complaint?”
    • Points out Clemson had nine NFL draft picks but only won seven games last season.
    • Questions if Swinney’s going public with funding complaints to motivate boosters.
  • Todd: “Now you see schools like Alabama and Clemson that were meeting for the national championship year in and year out... can’t dominate like you once did.” ([10:22])
  • Mark: “Why can’t coach have that conversation behind closed doors? Because then it looks like whining.” ([11:01])
  • Dan: “Dabo didn’t want any part of [the transfer portal]. And I’m thinking, you are a dinosaur, man. And we know what happens with dinosaurs, certainly in the college ranks.” ([11:20])
  • Paul: “It’s a bit of a blame shift by Dabo. He could be right and weirdly wrong.” ([12:32])
• Discussion of Clemson’s recent struggles, with nostalgia for successful QBs of the past.
  • Dan: “Trevor Lawrence isn’t walking through the door.”
  • Marvin: “They’ve had a couple years of underperforming quarterbacks... Cade Klubnik, his draft stock went down.”
  • Evaluation that Dabo’s message may be poorly timed or poorly targeted given results.

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NBA Playoffs & LeBron James with Dave McMenamin

[22:35–40:14]

• Thunder vs Lakers Game 1 Recap
  • Dan: “Dave McMenamin was there. He witnessed the kind of, I don’t know, average game for OKC... SGA didn’t have a great game and LeBron showed up. But anything that you didn’t expect happen last night?” ([22:35])
  • Dave: “...Thunder look like the team that beat the doors off you in the regular season... They’re going to have to find a way to turn the page.” ([22:59])
• Three-Point Shooting & Adjustments
  • Discussion about whether teams adjust in-game when shots aren’t falling.
  • Dave: “The Lakers from the All Star break onward were a top 10 three-point shooting team. The one guy missing from that equation...has been Luka Doncic, their most lethal three-point shooter.” ([23:58])
• LeBron’s Perspective on Injuries/Losing
  • Dan: “LeBron was asked about...you’re not scoring. And he reminded the media that, ‘Hey, we don’t have Luka here.’”
  • Dave: “It was just addressing the obvious elephant in the room... If you don’t take those two pieces of context into consideration, you’re being a little disingenuous.” ([25:26])
  • No update on Luka’s status; week-to-week, could return for Games 3/4. ([26:09])
• Thunder’s Title Chances
  • Dan: “Is OKC beatable?”
  • Dave: “Certainly they are... but then you watch the game last night...and you’re like, man, if they can do this on a night where Shay literally has his worst scoring game...they do seem like in a class of their own right now.” ([27:08])
• LeBron’s Future and Stat Padding
  • Dan: “Is there a scenario where this is how [LeBron] wants to go out?”
  • Dave: “I’d be pretty shocked if this was his last season. His game is still elite...if they make some adjustments, they should be right there... doesn’t make sense for him to walk away.” ([28:16])
  • Dan: “Does he ever talk about padding his stats?” ([29:38])
  • Dave: “He cares about his...assists to Bronnie James... With the context of winning — if there was not a chance to contend, I really believe he would walk away.” ([30:09])
• Inside the Mind of LeBron: The 23 Questions Project
  • Dave details how he peppered LeBron with personal, quirky, and basketball questions throughout the season.
    • Dave: “He played ball, there wasn’t one of them he said no to. There was some insightful answers.” ([31:33])
    • Example: LeBron doesn’t model his post-retirement life after broadcaster friends, wants his own path.
    • Dave: “He flatly rejected that... I thought that was pretty revealing.” ([33:08])
• LeBron vs. Jordan
  • Dan: “Do you think deep down, maybe not deep down, LeBron thinks he’s better than Michael Jordan?” ([37:14])
  • Dave: “I didn’t talk about ‘goat’, but about aspects of their games. He admitted...Michael’s mid-post game was better...the will to win was something LeBron admired.” ([37:20])
  • Conversation on the narrative around LeBron’s Finals record, comparing it to Jerry West, Brady, and golf legends like Jack Nicklaus.
    • Dan: “You can’t win it if you don’t get there. And I always thought that was a shame...that it was viewed as a negative.” ([38:58])
    • Dave: “That’s something that should be celebrated. LeBron’s been playing in June with something to play for. I don’t think we’ll see another player [do that].” ([39:52])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Ted Turner’s Eccentricities:
  Dan: “He was who you thought he was. Like, you saw him and he lived a life.”

• On Dabo Swinney’s Comments:
  Dan: “You had nine guys drafted and you won seven games. That has nothing to do with Notre Dame or Ohio State.”

• On Transfer Portal & NIL:
  Dan: “Dabo didn’t want any part of that. And I’m thinking, you are a dinosaur, man. And we know what happens with dinosaurs, certainly in the college ranks.” ([11:20])

• On LeBron and “Stat Padding”:
  Dave: “He’s had two assists to Bronnie James thus far in his career. He wants to add to that. And he’s had one assist he’s received from Bronnie James. Like, that’s certainly a counting stat that he wants.” ([30:09])

• LeBron on Not Following Friends’ Example For Retirement:
  Dave: “[LeBron] flatly rejected that. He puts his mind what through what they’re going through at all. I thought that was pretty revealing.” ([33:08])

• LeBron vs. Jordan:
  Dave: “He admitted to me... Michael’s mid-post game... the will to win... that’s the reputation of Jordan... he’ll probably never overcome.” ([37:20])

• On Finals Losses Being Held Against LeBron:
  Dan: “I always thought that that was a shame, that it was viewed as a negative. Oh, he can’t win the big one—Jerry West only won one title.” ([39:39])

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Fun Bits & Show Banter

• Throwback to old Clemson QBs—“Trevor Lawrence isn’t walking through the door.”
• Pizza Wednesday Recap: The Danettes discuss the day’s pizza selections and pizza insert for their grill ([03:23–03:38], [40:59–41:11]).
• Locker-room humor and phone calls: Listeners call in to share stories, compliment the team, suggest Dylan needs hazing, and share old-school sports anecdotes.

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Key Timestamps & Segments

• [03:38] – Remembering Ted Turner; unique sports legacy
• [07:18] – Dabo Swinney audio and college football debate
• [10:22] – Discussion of transfer portal/NIL and its effect on traditional powers
• [11:20] – Is Swinney a “dinosaur” in modern college football?
• [22:35] – NBA Playoff talk begins, Dave McMenamin joins
• [28:16] – Will LeBron retire? Dave predicts he stays
• [29:38] – Does LeBron care about stat-padding?
• [33:08] – LeBron’s view of post-retirement role models
• [37:20] – LeBron vs. Jordan, candid comparisons
• [39:39] – Finals “losses” and the narrative around LeBron

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Final Thoughts

This episode captures the tone and spirit of The Dan Patrick Show with equal parts sports dissection, nostalgia, and lighthearted ribbing. Dan and his team tackle the big questions—legacy, adaptation in sports, how to judge greatness—while always anchoring the discussion in humor and authenticity.

For fans who missed the show:
Expect memorable stories about sports legends, fresh takes on college football change, and a headline-level view of what drives elite athletes like LeBron—plus, of course, some pizza talk.

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Transcript

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Listen to Superhuman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Edwin Castro]

Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021, and I'm Conkey, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show, 1021 podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports and with the World cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dan Patrick]

You are listening to the Dan Patrick show on Fox Sports Radio. Final hour in this Wednesday, Dan and the Danette's Dan Patrick show will check in with the Mothership's Laker reporter, Dave McMenamin. He was there in OKC last night recapping what we had yesterday and what we have tonight. A couple of games tonight, I guess, most notably the knicks and the 76ers. We're going to find out exactly what the 76ers have to offer because you go through that grueling seven game series and that quick turnaround to face the Knicks who were waiting, and it certainly showed the Sixers getting six and a half, the Timberwolves getting nine and a half against the spurs looking ahead to Thursday. The Lakers are 15 1/2 point underdogs against the Thunder 877. 3 DP Show Email Address [e-mail] Twitter Handle @DP Show Stat of the day brought to you by Panini America. The official trading cards of the program. Make sure you check out rectech.com it's R E C-T-E Q.com search the Dan Patrick Show Details on how you can win a Rec Tech Grill. It's a pizza Wednesday. There's a pizza insert that we have for the Rec Tech Grill and Dylan and our cameraman Weeks have done a wonderful job. Now, I'm going to give a lot of credit to the grill, but you guys have come up with the ingredients, the different pizzas that we have today. Would you run down the list there?

[Marvin]

Yes, Dan. So we started off with a little pepperoni, classic pep and hot honey. We did a just regular old cheese soppressata and onion pesto, arugula and prosciutto and a sausage and ricotta.

[Dan Patrick]

Who has it better than we do? Nobody. All right. Ted Turner passed away today at the age of 87. He, of course, created CNN. He created TBS. He owned the Braves. And at one point, one of his pitchers, I think it was Andy Messer Smith, he had him wear number 17 and his name on the back of his jersey was channel. And that's where Ted started his Cable operation, channel 17. He was unique. I was around him only a handful of times when I was in Atlanta at cnn and I, I was with him in New York one time and a couple of times in Atlanta. Fascinating, fascinating person. Boy, I, I, I think the sports part of Ted Turner, you have the Braves made him a superstation where you had people all over the country that loved the Braves because Ted Turner was like, why don't we share this with everybody? If it's going to cost the same, why don't we have a superstation? He also had wrestling. He had wrestling I think, before anybody did. I remember that the old CNN headquarters on Techwood in Atlanta, and they would be wrestling above us and you would hear like guys being thrown on the canvas. There were crowds up there. And meanwhile we were down where the original CNN headquarters were before they moved to the Omni in downtown Atlanta. I remember he was so proud when he told me one day everything he had on he didn't pay for. And he had that draw and, and he always had a pretty woman on his arm that was guaranteed. He was, let me see Captain America on the COVID of Sports Illustrated.

[Paul]

Yes.

[Dan Patrick]

So he won the America's cup and I believe that was in Newport, Rhode Island. Does that sound right? And he was just brash. But, but what he said he was going to do, he did. I think he also somehow brought together the biggest buffalo population in the world. That he was really big on being a, having conservation and I don't know how many herds of head of buffalo that he had, but I know that that was really important. I remember seeing him at a World Series with Jane Fonda, who he was married to, but he just, he, he was who you thought he was. Like you saw him and he, he lived a life. Truly, truly remarkable guy. He did have a poster that I remember having and it was, I was cable before Cable was cool, I think was the title of the poster. And I think it might have been talking about TBS at the time, a promotion for that. I think he managed one time or he tried to manage and then baseball wouldn't let him manage. Yeah, Paulie.

[Paul]

Yeah, I've got that story. That's the first time I remember hearing about him, this kind of wild, eccentric billionaire from the south in 1977. They were in a long losing streak, a 16 game losing streak, the Braves. He sent the manager on a road trip for 10 days and took over as the manager that night without telling anybody but his staff. They won, I'm sorry they lost the game. But his plan was to continue managing. The commissioner of the baseball said, you can't do that. You can't own and manage a team at the same time. But he was going to try to continue.

[Dan Patrick]

Ted Turner, 87. Yeah, he lived a life. Lived a life. All right, we'll get to more phone calls coming up. Final hour, obviously, with the basketball last night. We've covered that throughout the show. Dabo Sweeney making a little noise, the Clemson head coach and he was on Greg McElroy's podcast or might have been on the show and always college football and espn. Here is the Clemson head coach Dabo Sweeney on playing against teams that have more resources than Clemson does.

[Dabo Swinney]

I mean, at Clemson we always got to, you know, have a chip on our shoulder. I mean, because, I mean we're, I mean it just is what it is. We don't have the alumni base that some places have. We don't have some of the things that, that some of the schools that we've played and had to compete with over the years have. It's just the way it is. But I've always like, I mean, we're three and one against Ohio State. We're four and two against Notre Dame. I mean, Notre Dame has their own TV station. They, they make their own rules, they print their own money. They got like a money machine in the backyard or something. I mean, like, I mean, we've beaten Texas A and M a couple times. We've beaten Oklahoma a couple times. We've won four in a row against Auburn. I mean, we, we've beaten Nick Saban in Alabama, two national championships. And, and so, you know, we've had, we've done all of that at Clemson.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay, so what's he complaining about? If you're good enough to beat everybody, then what's the complaint? And by the way, guess who had nine players drafted this year? Fourth most nationally, most in the acc, and they went seven and six. So let's be fair. You had nine players drafted and you won seven games. That has nothing to do with Notre Dame or Ohio State. Now this might be one of those. Well, Saban did this a few years back where he was at a fundraiser in Birmingham. And he's basically saying, we got to spend more money. Is that what Dabo is saying? Telling the boosters we got to spend more money? But my response would be, well, wait a minute. You're beating all those teams. How much money do you need? The problem is you were beating those teams a while ago. You won seven. You were seven and six last year. Now has he done a great job? He did a great job at Clemson. Is he doing a great job? No, not now. But blame this on your boosters. Like, why would you single out Notre Dame or Ohio State? They're taking advantage of the rules. And there aren't many rules, but they're taking advantage of everything that you can take advantage of. And Ohio State is as well. But if you're going to brag about beat, if you weren't beating these teams. Now you got my attention. Where you go, look, we can't keep up with them. We need more money. I want to compete for national titles again. I can't do that with the budget that we have. Yes, Marvin.

[Todd]

Yeah. Now you see schools like Alabama and Clemson that were meeting for the national championship year in a year out like, oh, it's different now when the playing field is all evened out. You can't stockpile. I always go back to Alabama. Alvin Camaro had to transfer because he was the fifth string running back on Alabama. They were stockpiling guys and guess what? Now everyone can do it. Everyone has money. So you get you can't dominate like you once did.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, Dylan, I mean, when you just

[Marvin]

look at the, like the SEC's dominance over the last two seasons, it is a shadow of what it was when the time DAV was talking about, like, the Alabamas and Auburns of the world. I mean, Alabama lost to Vanderbilt last year.

[Dan Patrick]

Yes.

[Mark]

Todd, why can't coach have that conversation behind closed doors with school heads and potential boosters? Because then it looks like whining and it doesn't come across well at all that you would say those things publicly. If you need to raise more money or you don't have enough of a budget to get the best players, why does that have to be shared with the world unless you're making an excuse ahead of the next season?

[Dan Patrick]

Well, I can pretty much guarantee he's had these conversations. Pretty much probably didn't go well. That's why he's going public and letting everybody know, hey, we used to beat these teams. Well, you used to beat them. So what changed? You weren't embracing the transfer portal to begin with. I don't know what kind of resources you have, but I can't blame Notre Dame for doing what Notre Dame is doing or Texas is doing or USC is doing or Michigan is doing or Ohio State is doing. You're the one being left behind. We said that with the transfer portal. We said that about Nil. Dabo didn't want any part of that. And I'm thinking, you are a dinosaur, man. And we know what happens with dinosaurs, certainly in the college ranks. But now he's easing back in because he knows that he needs to. But if you have nine guys drafted, you win seven games, I would look inside. I wouldn't be looking at other programs and saying, well, that's not fair. Notre Dame gets to print money. Okay, well, that's not fair. Ohio State gets to. Okay. They're not breaking any rules. Yeah, Paul, It's a bit of a

[Paul]

blame shift by Dabo. And he could be right and weirdly wrong to say it like, we're 7 and 6. I'm the same coach when we were 15, 0 a decade ago. I don't have the ingredients to work with. And he's basically shifting the blame to the. The funding, which is. Could be true and weird simultaneously.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, just. It was kind of a strange comment there that. I get it if you say, look, we need more money to keep. Alabama did this, Saban did this. But, you know, you're trying to get these players signing season, let them know, you know, we want to be Playing for a national championship. Didn't they lose to Syracuse at home last year? Does that sound right?

[Todd]

I believe so, yeah.

[Dan Patrick]

And Syracuse wasn't any good, but I remember that like it was a rain rainy game and I'm thinking, man, how far is Clemson slipped here? Yeah. Paul.

[Edwin Castro]

Yeah.

[Paul]

They lost 34, 21 to Syracuse. They lost to Georgia Tech, they lost to lsu, they lost to smu, Duke and Penn State. Yeah, Quality losses, I'd like to say.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. Yes.

[Todd]

Mark is Dabble Sweeney emeritus. Like, is he on scholarship at Clemson?

[Dan Patrick]

I don't know. I'm not. I want to stay in my lane on this, but it feels like you got one more year. We can't go seven and six again. Yes.

[Marvin]

Dill, they've had a couple years of like underperforming quarterbacks. I'd say to the dju, years were not kind. Cade Clubnik, who was. He was a Heisman favorite going into this season and didn't play poorly. But he definitely. His draft stock went down. They just haven't quite been able to put it together even with getting whatever nine guys drafted this year.

[Dan Patrick]

Trevor Lawrence didn't walk in through the door.

[Marvin]

No.

[Dan Patrick]

Who is the quarterback who went to Missouri? Kelly Bryant.

[Paul]

Kelly Bryant.

[Dan Patrick]

He's not walking through the door either.

[Paul]

They could use him.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. Where's Perry Tuttle when you need him?

[Todd]

Taj Boyd.

[Dan Patrick]

Taj Boyd.

[Todd]

Yes, Mark, but without, but without Dabble Sweeney, Clemson is basically a third tier college football program. Before he got there, what were they? Eight wins, nine wins.

[Dan Patrick]

A long time before. Then they have Danny Ford, they won a national title, but that was probably back in 1981 or something like that. Yes, Paul.

[Paul]

Before Dabo, they had Tommy Bowden for a bunch of years and they would win 7, 9, 7 9. And never really got over the hump.

[Dan Patrick]

And Dabo has done a wonderful job. It's just, I don't know if he's. If he's sending out the message he wants to send because you're telling me you're beaten. You know these great teams, powerhouses. So what's the problem? You. I'll start with you. You won seven games, you lost six games. You lost at home to Syracuse. Like, good luck. Let me see Jeremy in Cincinnati. Hi, Jeremy. What's on your mind?

[Caller]

Hey, how are you, Dan? Good, too. Quick comments for you. First of all, I found out I'm getting a rec tech grill for Father's Day and I'm super excited and I. My family didn't get me the pizza insert, so we're gonna have to get that. So thank you for notifying us of that.

[Dan Patrick]

Yep.

[Caller]

Second, I wanted to notify or ask, I guess, or kind of comment. Todd's been taking some shots. I want him to know his hands are at least big enough to block those. Those balls coming in. If Marvin was taking those shots, it'd be a problem.

[Dan Patrick]

Now we're taking shots at Marvin. You didn't do anything wrong.

[Todd]

The audience is turning on us.

[Dan Patrick]

I know. I thought they liked us.

[Mark]

Even in support of me, they have to take a shot of another Danette in the same breath. It's kind of odd.

[Dan Patrick]

Brian in Texas. Hi, Brian. What's on your mind?

[Caller]

Hey, D.P.

[Caller 2]

i'm gonna pick on Dylan here for a minute.

[Dan Patrick]

Every time I look at Dylan.

[Caller 2]

Yeah, Every time. Every time I look at Dylan, I

[Caller]

think of Old School or Animal House,

[Caller 2]

and I don't think he's gotten the. The proper treatment for just getting that chair. I think we should.

[Dan Patrick]

Oh, we gotta haze him.

[Caller 2]

Yes, sir.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay. What kind of hazing are we talking about here?

[Caller]

Caller is always right.

[Dan Patrick]

The collar is always right. I thought you were talking about the dog collar that he wore during the gambling podcast.

[Marvin]

Yeah, I've been haze.

[Edwin Castro]

Yeah, you.

[Dan Patrick]

Yes, yes, he has, Brian, on the gambling podcast. He was tased. He had a dog collar on, and Shea would press the button and shock you. How many. How many shot? Do you have some sound from that, Marvin?

[Marvin]

So whoever loses and based on how many points, that's how many shocks you're permitted to administer to the other one in that episode.

[Dan Patrick]

Let's do it.

[Liberty Mutual Ad Voice]

Hell yeah.

[Marvin]

Max setting, 100.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay. Do you have one more, Marvin?

[Todd]

I'm grabbing it.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay.

[Marvin]

He has nine. Nine shocks. There's more torture than hazing, I think, by definition.

[Dan Patrick]

And you were sweating.

[Marvin]

I was sweating. I was a willing participant. I want that on the.

[Dan Patrick]

No, I. I give you credit. Here. Here's how it sounded. What's worth the anticipation? What's worse?

[Marvin]

Like, I think not knowing.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, not knowing is way worse. Yeah. Cuz that's like when we were smashing each other.

[Marvin]

That's the weirdest feeling of all time.

[Dan Patrick]

That's three. I'm sweating. You got six to go.

[Marvin]

I'm spitzing.

[Dan Patrick]

Remember. Remember when we. You took it, though, man. I give you credit, because Shay was coming after you.

[Marvin]

This is when I learned for sure that you are a sadist, Dan, because that was the hardest I've ever seen. You laughed, and I was like, I'm with you.

[Dan Patrick]

I made Dylan sign a waiver, though, just in case you were wondering because I am human resources here.

[Marvin]

Yeah, if I croaked there.

[Dan Patrick]

I know. But it would have been good content.

[Marvin]

What a way to go.

[Dan Patrick]

Really. Yeah. How did he die? He had a dog collar on.

[Marvin]

He died doing what he loved, being an idiot.

[Dan Patrick]

Yes, Marvin, that's going to be the

[Todd]

hardest part about getting a new job in 2028. Going somewhere with real HR like, man, you got to respect one another.

[Dan Patrick]

And what when are the Lakers expecting Luka Doncic to come back? Find out next here. Dan Patrick Show Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan Patrick show, weekdays at 9am Eastern, 6am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio app. Hey is Cavino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio.

[Edwin Castro]

Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for the show.

[Dan Patrick]

Yup, that's right. You can now watch Covino enriched live on YouTube every day.

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All you gotta do. Search COVINO and Rich FSR on YouTube again. Go to YouTube. Search COVINO Enrich FSR.

[Dan Patrick]

Check us out on YouTube. Subscribe hit that thumbs up icon and comment away.

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Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance. And now we're customizing this ad for your morning commute to wake you up, which could help your driving. Science says that stimulating the brain increases alertness. So here's a pop quiz. How many months have 28 days? What gets wetter as it dries? What has keys but can't open? Locks? If you don't want to hear the answers, turn off this Liberty Mutual AD. Now. 12 months a towel piano. Enjoy being fully alert.

[Dan Patrick]

Liberty Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.

[Superhuman Podcast Narrator]

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the Enhanced Games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

[Dan Patrick]

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on £10. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

[Superhuman Podcast Narrator]

Listen to Superhuman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Edwin Castro]

If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know that's a lot to break down.

[Dan Patrick]

Portia accusing Kelly of sleeping with a married man.

[Dave McMenamin]

They holding K. Michelle back from from

[Dan Patrick]

fighting Drew Pinky has financial issues.

[Caller]

I like the bougie style of Housewives show.

[Dave McMenamin]

I think it looks like it's gonna

[Edwin Castro]

be interesting on the podcast Reality with the King I Carlos King Recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real Housewives franchise, the drama, the alliances and the tea everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it. I understand as somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this at the end of the day when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the king on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Podcast Announcer]

The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection this Mental Health Awareness Month. Tune into the podcast Deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self discovery and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace and self mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected, we're becoming more individualized, but we actually need people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you. To hear more. Listen to Deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Dan Patrick]

Dave McMenamon was there. He witnessed the kind of, I don't know, average game for okc. If you think about it, it just felt like this was more of a yeah, all right, we got a game tonight. Nothing special. SGA didn't have a great game and LeBron showed up. But anything that you didn't expect happened last night.

[Dave McMenamin]

I think the Lakers, if you told them you'd hold SGA to 18 points with seven turnovers, you'd like to think that's a pretty ideal circumstance to steal one on the road. But when you shoot 10 for 30 yourself as a team and Austin Reeve goes three for 16 and really, after two and a half quarters, the Thunder look like the team that beat the doors off you in the regular season. I don't know. I mean, they're going to have to find a way to turn the page and not have this seep into what happens on Thursday.

[Dan Patrick]

I'm trying to figure this out and you'll follow it closer than I will. But did Boston have a different game plan when they're not making their threes? Do the Celtics or the Lakers have a different game plan when you're not? There's nights when you're just not going to make shots, but these teams keep shooting these shots. And I just wonder how much adjustment happens in the NBA during games when this happens.

[Dave McMenamin]

It's a great question and certainly anyone who watched that Philly Boston game, I think had that thought come to mind. I'll give JJ Reddick credit. I don't think he's someone who just tries to pound his head into the wall doing the same thing. He is someone who's shown, whether it be with the rotations, whether it be his defense that's gotten better this year by throwing in some zone, by throwing in some two men on the ball action and obviously the offensive sets. But at the end of the day, if you're goal is to get into the paint and collapse the defense and spread out to an open shooter, you are a professional basketball player getting that shot. And you know, I, I understand, you know, at some point you got to change things, but you kind of trust the shots that you're generating in, in that sense. And the Lakers from the All Star break onward were a top 103 point shooting team. And so, you know, obviously the one guy missing from that equation throughout these playoffs has been Luka Doncic, who is their most lethal three point shooter.

[Dan Patrick]

And I know it's going to be spun in a different way, but LeBron was asked about, you know, you're not scoring. And he, he reminded the media that, hey, we don't have Luca here. It's probably going to be spun where he's making excuses, which isn't fair to him. He didn't say, hey, we lost. But keep in mind, I don't have any help out here. So how did you take that answer from LeBron?

[Dave McMenamin]

Yeah, and you're totally right. You've been around it for forever. You know that there'll be some who try to turn it into him complaining or saying what was me. To me, it was just addressing the obvious elephant in the room that, hey, I know it looked bad tonight, but we are playing the defending champs and we have the leading scorer in the NBA this season in street clothes still. So if you're going to honestly assess what you saw, if you don't take those two pieces of context into consideration, then you're being a little disingenuous about your expectations for what the series could be.

[Dan Patrick]

What's the time frame? Any update on Luca?

[Dave McMenamin]

No update and I'm just quoting JJ Redick by sharing that with you. He has been on the court late form shooting, not much movement, hasn't progressed to one on one, hasn't even run to My knowledge. But the thing about that is these things can change rather quickly once a hurdle is cleared. He's about 35 days since he suffered the injury, so we're talking about five weeks. These things can take as many as six to eight weeks. Sham Sharania reported the other day that sources told him he's being evaluated on a week to week basis, which would mean game twos out of the picture. But you could still theoretically have a shred of hope for games three and four back in Los Angeles. But that remains to be seen.

[Dan Patrick]

Talking to Dave McMen covers the NBA for the Mothership is OKC beatable.

[Dave McMenamin]

I mean, if you watch last year's playoffs, you saw Denver take them to seven, you saw Indiana take them to seven, so certainly they are. And right now, when Jen Williams is out of the lineup, you would say that that's probably their second or third best player. So they're more vulnerable now. But then you watch the game last night and you see guys like AJ Mitchell, you see the other Jalen Williams, you see Jared McCain come in and make plays, you see the bench outscore the Lakers bench 34 to 15, and you're like, man, if they can do this on a night where Shay literally has his worst scoring game in two years, they do seem like in a class of their own right now.

[Dan Patrick]

You hear athletes at the end of their careers say, well, I don't want to go out like this. But you can't decide what's going to happen by, oh, I don't want to go out this way. I'll come back next year. There's no guarantee next year is better than this year, but is there a scenario you see for LeBron where this is how he wants to go out or this is how he will go out?

[Dave McMenamin]

There was a time this year where I really believed it was this last season. And it was early December after he had made his comeback. And he's doing things like scoring 12 points on the road in the fourth quarter against Philadelphia 76ers and afterwards waxing poetic about how much it meant to him to soak in the the road crowd, because that's a place he's always appreciated. That kind of narrative coming from him changed around the All Star break, and I would be pretty shocked at this point if this was his last season. He's. His game is still elite, not what it was in his prime, but it's still All Star caliber. He has found a way to play winning basketball with this team. They went 16 and two with him taking a Kind of a supporting role through March and early April. And if they make some adjustments to this roster, they should be right there up with the top echelon of the Western Conference. So to me, it doesn't make sense because he still loves the game for him to walk away from the game. And quite frankly, it doesn't really make sense for him to look for another team to play for. I think the Lakers offer him pretty much everything he'd want at this stage of his career.

[Dan Patrick]

Does he ever talk, and this is probably not the way to phrase it, but just padding his stats like he. He may not win another title, but the longevity that he's showing, like he's doing something that nobody has done at this level, I don't know how important those things are. If, if you say you're not going to win another title in the next two years, but you're still going to be able to play and contribute. How much does he care about the final numbers of his career in the stat?

[Dave McMenamin]

I can tell you that he cares about his. He's has two assists to Bronnie James thus far in his career. He wants to add to that. And he's had one assist he's received from Bronnie James. Like, that's certainly a counting stat that he wants, but it's about doing all the things he does to keep his body and mind sharp, to still be doing the same thing he's been doing all these years later. With the context of winning. If there was not a chance to contend, I really believe he would. Would walk away. He doesn't need it. But so long as that sliver of a window is open. And truly I've been told by people within the organization when they were putting together that run in the second half of the season, he really believed he bought in on everything. You saw the best version of LeBron James, if he can stay in that mode, why would you walk away? Because that's the type of stuff that's going to gnaw at you and eat at you when you're only have golf as your outlet for years to come. You'll think back that, you know, there I almost squeezed everything out of that, but there was a little bit more juice left to be squeezed.

[Dan Patrick]

Explain to the audience that you had an opportunity to ask LeBron 23 questions. Questions you've never asked him before.

[Dave McMenamin]

Yeah. So the idea was, and as I was talking to you briefly before, I thought this was going to be the last year. It was kind of feeling that way and kind of the same deal. I wanted to squeeze all the juice out of it as well. And so I approached him after his season debut in Utah after he missed the first 14 games with sciatica. And I was like, I've been kind of throwing around this idea in my head. I just love to kind of empty the notebook of the stuff that either I didn't ask you because it was kind of a one off throwaway question like why does he wear the same quarter zip every. Every game that the Nike came out with in 2021 and he doesn't wear the new warmups. I just always wanted to ask him that to like way more basketball centric like what have and antagonators antagonistic players like Lance Stevenson and Dylan Brooks meant to your career. He said, let's try it. And so over the course of the season, it would be mostly always a post game window, more often on the road because we're not trying to get home to our families. And you know, you can linger a little bit longer in the locker room and yeah, it's just kind of peppered him with these questions. And to his credit, he played ball like there wasn't one of them that he said, no, I'm not going to answer that. And for the most part I think there was some insightful answers.

[Dan Patrick]

What surprised you the most?

[Dave McMenamin]

I think that when I asked him about guys that I know he respects Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, Richard Jefferson, guys, Tracy McGrady, his peers in the game, several of his teammates and have gone on to broadcasting careers. When I was asking him does he look to them as an example of how you fill your time in retirement, he's like, f. No. I'm like, he's like, it's not because that's anything to do with them or broadcasting. Just. I just don't look at my life that way. Like I have my own journey and I just found like, I think if I was in the shoes, I would probably look to my friends and my peers as they did XX next. And I'm going to try to do XX next as a way to kind of have what we all know to be a really awkward and difficult time of your life. You know, athletes suffer two deaths when they retire and when they expire. That would be something I would do to try to like maybe have a little bit of a head start on it. And he flatly rejected that. He puts his mind what through what they're going through at all. I thought that was pretty revealing.

[Dan Patrick]

When do you think not everybody turned on him but when do you think there was this. I don't know if it was fatigue that people had with him. Social media, Mike didn't go through social media. So it just felt like, was there a time where this went from a feel good story? Local kid without a dad leads, you know, goes with the Cavaliers, does everything they possibly can. And then I didn't know if it was when he went to Miami that all of a sudden it's like, oh, okay, Michael never did this. You had to go. You, you want to wear 23. You want to be Michael Jordan. Has LeBron ever, or did you talk to him about being the villain or how did he become a villain?

[Dave McMenamin]

I actually didn't talk to him about that because I feel like that's something that he kind of had exercised those demons in his Miami tenure. Now, I didn't start covering him day to day until 2014 when he left Miami to go to Cleveland. I could tell you from speaking to people within his kind of orbit, his Q score plummeted from the decision. And that was something, that was the reason why he hired a political strategist to be his publicist for many years and tried to find a way to dig out from under that just nastiness. And he became the poster child of modern sports. And not enough athlete loyalty towards the markets they play for. Mind you, on the other side, I think if you walk away from his career and take the 30,000 foot view, the best part of his athlete empowerment that he has been the kind of, I guess the, the main advocate for is that these organizations aren't going to care about you. You know, Blake Griffin's going to go through a major free agency presentation where they have him up on posters next to dignitaries of U.S. history for the Clippers, and the next thing you know, he's traded to the Detroit Pistons. And so if that's going to happen to you while you wield the power, you be the one kind of deciding your own future. And I think that is incredible. And, and I think all power to him, where we've seen some of the backlash that have led from that is too many players who want to follow the first part of that playbook, but then not have the accountability on the back end. I mean, LeBron James, every franchise has ever played for, he's won a championship for. He's the only guy in NBA history to do that, to win a championship and a Finals MVP on three different franchises.

[Dan Patrick]

Do you think deep down, maybe not deep down, LeBron thinks he's better than Michael Jordan?

[Dave McMenamin]

So that was an interesting conversation we had. And I didn't want to talk about like goat because that there's no way to really determine it, but I wanted to ask like, what parts of your game is better than his game and what parts of his game are better than your game. And he admitted to me, or I guess I don't know, I, I don't know if he's trying to had a problem admitting it, but he said Michael's mid post game, his ability to get to his spot and rise, his fade away. And then to me, the part that he wouldn't say was better, but the part he admired about his game was his will to win. And I think that's what LeBron was kind of knocked for for many years, just not having the quote unquote, killer instinct. I mean, from the time I've covered him, I've seen him make a handful of game winners in the NBA playoffs. To me that's a guy who can deal with the pressure. Saw him lead a 3:1 comeback against the 73 win team in the Golden State Warriors. Again, impervious to pressure. And so I don't know how accurate those, those knocks for him were on him at any point, but that is the reputation of Jordan that's in the ether that he'll probably never overcome. And I love that he spoke to me candidly about the fact that he's 4 and 6 in the finals and that's viewed as a knock on his career. There are people who would, if he lost in the first round, lost in the second round, didn't make the playoffs, they would not bring that up as much as him getting to the NBA Finals and losing.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, you say they don't do that to Jerry West. Jerry, I think was one in nine and your nickname is Mr. Clutch and you're the logo. And look, Jerry was one of my favorite players, but it feels like getting there 10 times to play for 10 titles, you have to give credit to that. I know Mike was 6, 0. I know Montana was 4. No, but damn, Brady got there. Even if you lose, LeBron got there. I mean, you can't win it if you don't get there. And I always thought that that was a shame, that it was viewed as a negative. Oh, he can't win the big one. Jerry west, as great as he was, only won one title, so.

[Dave McMenamin]

And like we, you know, you're a golf guy, right? And he's becoming a golf like, like we look at all the second place finishes for guys like, you know, Tiger And Arnold and you know, that's Jack

[Dan Patrick]

had 19 second place finishes.

[Dave McMenamin]

There you go. Right. That's something that should be celebrated, the fact that you're playing on Sunday with something to play for. LeBron's been playing in June with something to play for and I don't think we'll see another player that to me is, is as important of any stat that he was able to kind of accomplish at his time.

[Dan Patrick]

Thanks for spending time. We appreciate it. Thanks for the insights, Dave.

[Dave McMenamin]

You got it, dan. Anytime.

[Dan Patrick]

Dave McMenaman, he's covering the Lakers in OKC game two coming up tomorrow night. And the Lakers are 15 and a half point underdogs. We'll take a break. Last call for phone calls what we learn what's in store tomorrow. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our [e-mail] and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to listen live. Last call for phone calls what we learn what's in store tomorrow. I think we, I think we can settle in on pizza Wednesdays around here. Man. You did a great job. Dylan. You and Weeks, our cameraman. These pizzas are great.

[Marvin]

Thank you. I burned the absolute crap out of my mouth. I couldn't wait.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, you. Yeah, you were just taking that pizza out of the oven. That is great.

[Marvin]

Yeah, Came out.

[Dan Patrick]

Really?

[Marvin]

That's a. That makes a legit pizza.

[Dan Patrick]

Yes, it does. And that's an insert in the rec tech grill giving away a rec tech rec teq.com search the Dan Patrick show for details. Let me see. Ryan in Detroit. Hi, Ryan, thanks for holding. What's on your mind today?

[Caller 2]

Yeah, thanks for calling me back, Dan. Hey, Danette. Don't let the haters hate. You guys are great just the way you are. I got a quick story, Dan, that kind of weaves together the Green Room writers and Nick Wright's theory on seeing celebrities in public. I was on a flight many years ago, about 10 years ago, from Frankfurt to London, short flight, and we were waiting for the door to close. Long past we were supposed to take off and I see a Mercedes pull up next to the plane. Out of the Mercedes and comes onto the plane, sits right in front of me in seat one. It's legend tennis player Boris Becker. And as a kid from the 80s, I couldn't stop staring at him. It's like he had a glow the whole time. The flight attendant comes over with two beers. He pounds two beers, goes to sleep. She wakes him up right before landing, gives Him. Two more beers, pounds those and gets off the plane. Dan,

[Dan Patrick]

what was he, 17 when he showed up on the scene at Wimbledon? Diving all over the place, bloody knees. What a character. Ryan in North Carolina. Hi, Ryan. What's on your mind?

[Caller]

Hey, Dan, Great to talk to you again. I appreciate you taking the call. I just had a comment about Dabo Sweeney and I also want to just say that I think Dylan's doing an awesome job taking Seaton's role. I really love Seaton, and I think Dylan's filling in amazingly, doing a great job. And I just think Dabo needs to call Danny Hurley and ask Danny Hurley, how do I coach these kids? Because they're not the same kids that he coached when they beat Notre Dame and Alabama and Auburn, and they're not the same kids they were 10 years ago. Their minds are completely different with Nil and the transfer portal, and you can't coach them the same way.

[Dan Patrick]

Thank you, Ryan. Yeah, I was just surprised that Dabo's taking shots at Notre Dame and Ohio State and he's got a winning record against them. If you want your boosters to give you money, then just talk to your boosters. But also produce a better season than seven wins, including a home loss to Syracuse, when you have nine players go in the draft.

[Todd]

Yes, Marvin, I think the kids are the same. The prices are different now. Guess what? You couldn't afford Trevor Lawrence 10 years ago when he was at Clemson.

[Dan Patrick]

Zach in Knoxville. Hi, Zach.

[Caller]

80B. Thanks for taking my call. Quick story about shooting right and left handed. I went to the Rickmount shooting camp when I was younger and just casual conversation. He's addressing the whole camp. And makes 10 in a row right handed, then turns around and makes 10 in a row left handed. But wanted to ask you about Kirby Smart comments about the Big Ten surpassing the SEC and the guys that were interviewing him. His theory was that now that you can pay players above board, that's kind of skewed things. Do you agree with that?

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, we've been saying that for years. There were schools that were paying kids under the table. And now all of a sudden, everybody gets to pay players what they want to pay them and things have shifted. Rick Mount played at Purdue back in the late 60s. One of the greatest shooters. Wasn't a great NBA or ABA player, I should say. I think the Indiana Pacers. But, man, was he a great shooter. Great, great, great outside shooter. All right, let's go around the room. Oh, this day in sports history. Paul, can you squeeze anything in there?

[Paul]

I got one, 1929, the American League announced that it would discontinue the MVP award. I don't know why.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, isn't that weird? Babe ruth hit his first home run on this date. 1915. Overrated. Too soon. Todd, what'd you learn today?

[Mark]

When she's on tour, Moriah Carey requires there be someone assigned to her with the responsibility of three throwing out her gum.

[Marvin]

Dylan, if Aaron Judge is chewing gum, he's chilling, apparently.

[Todd]

Marvin, a caller says Dylan needs to be hazed.

[Paul]

Paul, Pizza Wednesday.

[Dan Patrick]

Thanks for the phone calls, emails, tweets, the all around support for Fritzi. Dylan, Marv, Paul, yours truly. We'll talk to you tomorrow.

[Dave McMenamin]

This is an I Heart podcast.

[Dan Patrick]

Guaranteed human.