PMS 2.0 1358 - Quentin Richardson, Shams Charania, Jeff Teague, Udonis Haslem, Darius Butler

Summary

The Pat McAfee Show - Episode PMS 2.0 1358 Summary

Release Date: June 11, 2025
Guests: Quentin Richardson, Shams Charania, Jeff Teague, Udonis Haslem, Darius Butler

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1. Setting the Stage: Indianapolis Hosts the NBA Finals

Pat McAfee kicks off the episode with palpable excitement about the NBA Finals being hosted in Indianapolis, Indiana, for the first time since the year 2000. The introduction highlights the significance of Gainbridge Fieldhouse hosting such a prestigious event after a 9,126-day hiatus.

Notable Quote:
Pat McAfee (00:53): "Tonight our city is going to be on display as Gainbridge Fieldhouse is about to be upside down."

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2. Series Overview: Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

The discussion delves into the intense NBA Finals series between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. With the series tied 1-1, McAfee expresses optimism about the Pacers' chances, emphasizing the team's legacy and the energized atmosphere in Indianapolis.

Notable Quote:
Pat McAfee (02:25): "It's time of their generation, they're going to make a lot of steals and make a name and a legacy for yourself and the whole program as a whole."

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3. Player Spotlight: Tyrese Haliburton and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

A significant portion of the episode focuses on Tyrese Haliburton's pivotal role for the Pacers and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's dominance for the Thunder. Guests Quentin Richardson and Shams Charania analyze Haliburton's contributions, his playmaking abilities, and how crucial he is to the Pacers' success. They contrast his role with that of SGA, discussing the different expectations and playstyles.

Notable Quotes:
Quentin Richardson (06:43): "If Halle isn't being the Halle, the great version of himself, they're gonna struggle..."
Shams Charania (09:15): "He gets a lot of basketballs. That whole team is, they grind, they suffocate you."

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4. Betting Insights: Game 3 Predictions and Lines

Boston Connor provides an in-depth analysis of the betting lines for Game 3, highlighting the trend of the Pacers being underdogs yet outperforming expectations. The panel discusses the significance of home-court advantage and how Gainbridge Fieldhouse could play a crucial role in the upcoming game.

Notable Quote:
Boston Connor (03:04): "Tonight's line is minus five and a half to Oklahoma City Thunder... Something is going to give tonight."

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5. Indianapolis Colts Ownership Transfer

The conversation shifts to a major development in Indianapolis sports: the transfer of the Indianapolis Colts' ownership to Jim Irsay's daughters, Casey, Kaylin, and Carly. The panel expresses intrigue and optimism about the new generation of ownership, discussing their first press conference and the anticipated advancements under their leadership.

Notable Quote:
Darius J. Butler (04:17): "Feel like Indianapolis is becoming the sports hub that it's always been known."

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6. Trade Rumors and Team Strategies

Shams Charania joins to shed light on potential trades and team strategies moving forward. Key topics include Kevin Durant's trade possibilities, Giannis Antetokounmpo's future, and the strategic adjustments by both the Pacers and Thunder. The discussion highlights the impact of these moves on the league's landscape.

Notable Quote:
Shams Charania (16:33): "Kevin Durant is traded before the NBA Draft June 25. With Giannis Antokounmpo, his status will not be tied to the NBA draft."

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7. Coaching Dynamics: Rick Carlisle vs. Mark Dagonaw

The episode features insights into the coaching styles of Rick Carlisle for the Pacers and Mark Dagonaw for the Thunder. Guests discuss Carlisle's attention to detail and his ability to create a cohesive team identity, contrasting it with Dagonaw's tactical adjustments and depth utilization.

Notable Quote:
Quentin Richardson (07:17): "Carlisle don't get enough love, man. He's one of the best coaches in the history of the game."

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8. High School Hoops and Community Impact

Jeff Teague, coach of Pike High School, shares his passion for coaching and the deep-rooted basketball culture in Indiana. The conversation underscores the importance of community engagement and how high school sports contribute to the state's reputation as a basketball powerhouse.

Notable Quote:
Jeff Teague (42:21): "Basketball is king here. Every driveway, every backyard. Basketball is everything."

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9. Audience Engagement: Giveaways and Interactive Moments

Throughout the show, Pat McAfee engages the audience with interactive segments, including giveaways. Notably, a segment involves Quentin Richardson attempting to make three out of five three-point shots amidst challenging wind conditions, symbolizing the unpredictability of the Finals.

Notable Quote:
Pat McAfee (142:07): "If Q Rich makes three out of five, we will give 30 people $500."

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10. Positive Sports News and Philanthropy

The show concludes with uplifting news, such as Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie donating $50 million to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for autism research. This act of philanthropy highlights the positive impact sports figures can have beyond the playing field.

Notable Quote:
Pat McAfee (106:57): "Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, is donating $50 million... a beautiful thing."

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Conclusion

The episode masterfully balances in-depth sports analysis with engaging conversations, community insights, and interactive audience moments. Hosts and guests provide a comprehensive overview of the NBA Finals, player dynamics, ownership changes, and broader sports news, delivering a rich and informative experience for listeners.

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Stay Connected:
For those who missed the episode, catch up on YouTube, ESPN Plus, Disney Plus, and TikTok Live. Join the conversation using the hashtag #PacersInSix for a chance to win giveaways and stay updated on all things sports.

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Transcript

[Pat McAfee]

Hello beautiful people and welcome to beautiful Indianapolis Indiana on this NBA Finals. Wednesday, June 11. This program starts right now. Finals are happening for the first time here in Indianapolis, Indiana in 9,126 days. It hasn't been since the year 2000 that this beautiful state of basketball has has hosted an NBA Finals. With this beautiful piece of hardware on the left. To be clear, this one behind me, not real. This one actual Larry o' Brien trophy. I will do it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Do it.

[Pat McAfee]

Do it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Do it. Do it.

[Pat McAfee]

Don't be scared.

[Darius Miles]

Do it.

[Pat McAfee]

You got it? Yes.

[Boston Connor]

So shiny.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't love it. But last year I didn't touch it and the Pacers lost in the Eastern Conference finals. This year I get an opportunity to touch this beautiful gold piece of legacy making hardware that'll transform this city into not only being the state of basketball, but the franchise of basketball. Tonight, in a series that's tied one one, where the Pacers won into Oklahoma City, stole game one, lose game two, tonight our city is going to be on display as Gainbridge Fieldhouse is about to be upside down. SGA is obviously a living who is an MVP and a superstar in this league for a long time. There's a lot of beast on that Oklahoma City team. But in this city, on this day, in this state, I think tonight's going to be a great time. The man talking right There is a 13 year NBA veteran, friend of the program, co host of the Knuckleheads podcast, ESPN NBA analyst, Ladies and gentlemen, Quinton Richardson, Hugh Rich and Darius Miles, who's 6 foot 100 made his trip up here to Indiana this morning to celebrate this NBA Finals. The toxic table is here at Boston Conner and at. Ty Schmidt. I appreciate you, boy.

[Darius Miles]

Good to be here, man.

[Quinton Richardson]

Finals good shirts.

[Darius Miles]

Let's go.

[Pat McAfee]

Ty Schmidt, you're from Iowa. The NBA Finals are obviously something that you've looked forward to your entire life. But now that you're here, the energy is palpable throughout the city. Is it not, Ty?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, you know, the Eastern Conference finals, that was one thing. That was. We're talking about the NBA Finals here, okay? You talked about legacies being made as soon as we're done with game two. All the talking heads, hey, Tyrese Halbert. And this guy's not a superstar. See, we talked about it. He can't do it against the big guns in Oklahoma City. I'm so excited for Tyrese to maybe, you know, have another, I don't know, 30 point triple double tonight. I think that's coming I think it's in the air. I really do.

[Pat McAfee]

We'll have a conversation about this Pacers team with Sham Sharania here in a matter of moments. One half of the Hammer Cowboys AP Tone is here. Tone, what are the lines we should be looking at for tonight's Game three of the NBA Finals?

[Boston Connor]

Tonight's line is minus five and a half to Oklahoma City Thunder. Once again the Pacers are being disrespected. They were disrespected in game one with that line and they won that one. They are once again dogs at home. They have not won a Game three yet. OKC has not covered as a favorite on the road yet. Something is going to give tonight.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, absolutely. And nine year NFL vet, a man who calls Indianapolis one of his homes travels here for four days a week all year round. To do this particular program was a legendary member of the Indianapolis Colts, Ladies and gentlemen, Darius J. Butler debut. It's great energy in Indianapolis. There's a lot going on around here including the official transfer of power of the Indianapolis Colts to the Irsay. Daughters Casey and Kaylin and Carly did their first press conference yesterday. I had no idea what to expect of this new generation of Indianapolis Colts. What were Carly, Kaylin and Casey going to be like as owners? Feels like they are setting a tone early about the standard. Then you got the Pacers doing their thing. The fever are going to get Caitlin Clark back soon. It feels like Indianapolis is becoming the sports hub that it's always been known.

[Darius J. Butler]

To be trending, trending in the right direction tonight, man, the energy that I know is going to be in the building. I can feel it already out here. The energy's going to be crazy. The team brings it. The team always brings the juice. We stole one and okay, well I'm saying we because you know I'm here. Obviously I'm a he through and through, but I am a yes sirs fan as he is right now. So I'm excited. I'm excited.

[Darius Miles]

I am tonight.

[Pat McAfee]

I am.

[Darius J. Butler]

Hey, it's a big, big I love that shirt you got on. Love this shirt to be boys got on. It's a big moment for Halle, man, because the superstar conversation is out there and this is when your team needs his motion. This is when you step up and really make a name and a legacy for yourself and the whole program as a whole.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, Quentin Richardson, let's talk about this. The NBA talking heads have an interesting way of doing things. You know, the old heads for a long time hated the common or the game that is now too soft, too weak. These guys aren't this. Now the whole conversation has become, who are the superstars of the league? Whenever you have two young superstars leading two young teams to the finals, it feels like a lot of the old heads, especially in sports media, have not come to respect them yet. Is that an accurate depiction of how Tyrese and SGA are kind of being talked about at this moment, or what are your thoughts on that whole superstar narrative that's being talked about right now?

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah, when I played in the league, man, that word wasn't such a lightning rod. We looked at it as players. The way even now the way I look at it when I talk to my peers, me and date. Are you an all Star? Are you all NBA? Were you an Olympian? Do you got a max deal? Supermax? What if you got all of them? You could call me what you want. You can call me what you want if I got a supermax, if I'm an all Star, if I'm Olympian, you can call me whatever you want. The bottom line is I'm doing the same things that the superstars and all stars are doing. I'm right there with them. So you can call me what you want to call me, but I'm here.

[Pat McAfee]

How do you feel about Tyrese Halliburton, last year leads a team to an improbable Eastern Conference final. They get swept this year, they come back. Coach Carlisle, obviously an absolute dog, a wizard on the chalkboard, and also his culture and his motivation. Pascal Siakam has been a beautiful trade last year to fit into this culture. Feels like Nemhard can go, NI Smith can go. Literally the entire team can go. Tyrese Halliburton, though, is the. I don't want to say the engine, but basically the straw that serves the entire drink. How do you feel about how Tyrese is handling the job that he has been put in, and how do you think he is doing with his Pacers team?

[Quinton Richardson]

I kind of look at him like when I played for the Phoenix Suns in 05. Steve Nash was the proverbial start that stirred the drink. He had all of these guys that could score and everything, but if it wasn't for Steve distributing the ball and making things go the way it went, we weren't as good. That's what these paces are. If Halle isn't being the Halle, the great version of himself, they're gonna struggle because a lot of those guys rely on him to deliver the ball and set them up and to get them those shots. And when you have a team like that that's predicated off that when they stop him, it kind of stunts everything else, and they got to go to plan B and figure things out.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Miles Turner, obviously a man name that I mentioned or didn't mention in that group. He's been here 11 years, has been a phenomenal Pacer. He's up, I think, after this year. We'll talk to Shams about that here in a matter of moments. Let's pivot now to the Oklahoma City Thunder. SGA is unbelievable, this guy. So I wanted to believe the narrative that everything he did was bullshit. I wanted to believe the narrative that he was the free throw merchant, that he was a foul artist and everything like that. Watching him play against the Pacers, he might get to the foul line, but he's not like that is his entire game. He is a weapon. Coach Carlo actually said you could put 34 points down on a score sheet for Shay before the game even begins. Do teams just concede that, like, hey, we know SGA is going to get his points? How do we stop everybody else? Or what is the mindset, you think, for that? Stopping that offense?

[Quinton Richardson]

I mean, that's what he's become. If you look at it, this is his third season in a row averaging over 30 points. He's entering a class where only Wilt, Kobe, Michael, those type of dudes. And when you get started putting in boxes and classes with those guys, he's put himself in that position. Like, he scored 20 points over 60 times, 25 over 65, 30 over, like four. He's showing that it does not matter. No one in the league can stop me. I can get 30 on anybody. He's. He's literally going about his business that way. And if he has an off night, it could probably be like 24, 26. He's. He's put himself in that position now.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, everybody compares Tyrese's stats to, like, SGA's and everybody else. Two different roles on the team.

[Quinton Richardson]

Absolutely. Two different players. They don't even do the same thing.

[Pat McAfee]

So whenever people talk about Tyrese and they immediately go to points, how do basketball heads feel about that conversation?

[Quinton Richardson]

I think they bring it up because there's that stat sitting out there of when he scores 20 points, the record that the. That the Pacers have. And I mean, that's. That's a. That's a. That's a good point. But I mean, at the same time, who is Tyrese Halliburton? How many points has he averaged for his career? He's not a 20 like he can but that's not really what it is for him. He's a ball distributor. He gets the, he's an extension of the coach on the floor. He gets everything right and gets everybody situated and put people in places where they can score.

[Pat McAfee]

I think you said yesterday or maybe a couple days ago, I forget you said people see how he hitting these game winning shots and they're like oh this guy is score. That's what he is. It's like he can score. Yeah, he is certainly a dog in clutch time. I think the stats are going to come out after this season that he's maybe one of the greatest clutch players in the history of basketball. But that's not his. His mindset is how can we get the entire team rolling. And they've certainly been able to do that.

[Boston Connor]

I think his overrunner on assist tonight says nine and a half or eight and a half. So like that. I mean that's all season long. He is the highest in that category and then his points is 16 and a half, 17 and a half. So it's like, it's like the sports books knows what he is. A lot of people know what he is. But I think you're, you're so right. Like him hitting all these game winners makes people think like he's filling up 30 points a night.

[Quinton Richardson]

They want more. Yeah.

[Darius J. Butler]

And the thing about Halle, he's been historically efficient over the run. So obviously against this OKC defense has been a lot tougher. And you talk about sga, what he's been doing on the offensive end, obviously the mvp, but he's a beast on that defensive end too.

[Pat McAfee]

They all.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah, he gets his hands on a lot of basketballs. That whole team is, they get grind, they suffocate you and they keep it going. They're a tough, tough team to beat. But Holly gotta be efficient and I think he does have to be a little bit more aggressive early on if you really want to beat this Thunder team.

[Quinton Richardson]

If you look at what the Thunder do, listen to the post game comments of Anthony Edwards. He's a 30 point dude and he was like I can't get no shots. And he was like I don't feel like I'm playing bad, I just, I can't get attempts, I can't get field goal attempts because the way they're guarding me when you look, it's hard for you as a scorer. So when you cross that half court and you look at the basketball and you see four other sets of eyes you see arms in the lane and everybody bought a wood. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Keep slamming it to it. Yeah, they are. I understand what you're saying. Oklahoma City bops a lot of wood.

[Quinton Richardson]

Pause that. But yes, they do.

[Pat McAfee]

They do.

[Quinton Richardson]

They listen. They like. And then like. Have you looked at Lou Dort?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, the dorture chamber. That's one of the greatest things of all time.

[Quinton Richardson]

You know what house that.

[Pat McAfee]

The brick. What?

[Darius Miles]

What is it?

[Pat McAfee]

A brick machine. Like, he shoots bad shots.

[Quinton Richardson]

No, he is. He is. Listen, that dude is a unit, and he can. Like you said, he can move. He can move. He can move his feet out there. Like, for him to be that big and strong, he shouldn't be able to guard Tally Tyrese Halliburton.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so if the Pacers win all their home games going forward, they win an NBA title. Right? They stole home court advantage by winning game one. That is. That is just a matter of fact. So if they win tonight, obviously, if they win Friday night, and then they win game six, which I believe is next Thursday, maybe they just have to win their home games. How important is home court advantage? And obviously, the Pacers have been able to go into other people's barns and get wins, but it feels like with what Oklahoma City's fan base can bring and what I think tonight is going to be like in gamebridge, is it a mental. What is the. You sleep at your own house. Like, why is home court such a big deal? Whenever it comes to basketball, I think.

[Quinton Richardson]

It'S more so it comes down to the fans. It comes down to the fans and you being in your building. I think you know what I'm saying, that's why guys work so hard to get the best record during the season so they can have that. Because when you're like, if all else fails, that crowd can ignite you. You feeling down, you doing this or that. They get T.J. mcConnell to come in and make a little diving play, and the crowd goes nuts. And then, like, that can really ignite teams, and teams can draw from that. So I think to. To me, that's the biggest difference. When you talk about the difference in home court advantage like that, especially when you got a fan base like here in Indiana and a fan base like there in okc. These are two of the better, like, more college atmosphere teams that we have in the league.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so okc, I think Coach Carlisle even mentioned it whenever he said that our fans are going to have to show up tonight for game three. He said we would get on a little bit of a run and Then Oklahoma City fans would not relent. Like, it was like it would continue. And then almost you felt like them fighting momentum for the team. And then the hoop can look bigger. I assume whenever you're at home, you get rolling.

[Quinton Richardson]

I just. I mean, yeah. The fact of the matter is these are. You play here more like all of the other arenas you go to once or twice here, that you play here all the time. So you used to it. You used to the depth perception behind the rim, everything that's in the arena, it's just. You just more locked into it because you're here all year playing.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And you got John Mellencamp sitting there, folks. I don't know if that's happening. No Diddy. Still a heater. Let's never forget that.

[Ty Schmidt]

It was like we were talking about after game two, though. Like, there were a couple moments in that game where the Pacers would hit a couple threes and they'd cut the lead to like 12. And it was like, okay, here comes. Here comes the run. And because it was in OKC and the crowd was still behind him, like, boom, Thunder. Go on an 8, 0 run quick and kind of just squash it and it gets back to 20. And it was kind of like that the entire game. You felt like, hey, if this is in Indiana, if this was at gainbridge, like that 12 point lead, maybe they, you know, get a couple more steals and cut that down to six, and then now we got a real game. But instead, every time the Pacers got a little momentum, OKC went right back down and got a bucket immediately.

[Pat McAfee]

Got some stats from Hembo here on basketball efficiency for the Pacers. In this particular series, the Pacers have led for a total of 1 minute, 53 seconds and a third.

[Darius Miles]

That gets it done.

[Pat McAfee]

Pacer shooting has been night and day this series. When the ball moves with energy, shooting off passes, they're 51 of 92 for 55% shooting. Not off pass, they're 25 of 72, 35%, which is what you're talking about. With the Oklahoma City defense, we're able to move with pace against a lot of teams. Feels like this Oklahoma City team has been able to match. So whenever Oklahoma City scores or whenever the Knicks scored or when the Bucs scored, or when the Cavs scored, we were able to push that thing down the court. And the other team had no idea they scored two. Bang. We just knocked on a three because we're able to move with efficiency. It's like the Oklahoma City team gets back, they're Able to run. They like focus on the defensive end and making it difficult. They obviously also have dejeuneau, who's a great coach. Indiana has done a great job defensively when grinding out Oklahoma City possessions. The Thunder have shot one in seven, one for 17 in games one and two in the final six seconds of the shot clock. So if the Pacers make Oklahoma City earn it, feels like Oklahoma City's gonna miss it a little bit. Will Indiana win in transition tonight? Asks Hembo. They've scored 23 transition points in Games 1 and 2. That is nine points fewer than their per game average entering the finals, which is exactly what I just chatted about. And will Tyrese Halliburton get anything easy tonight? Ask himbo. In 73 minutes in games one and two, he's drawn only two fouls.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

He has not attempted a single free throw.

[Darius Miles]

Swap more.

[Darius J. Butler]

Gotta be.

[Pat McAfee]

Feels like these refs are working a little bit. And then the Thunder playoff scoring margin when they're home plus 236.

[Boston Connor]

Jeez.

[Pat McAfee]

When they're on the road minus 48, they are.07 against the spread on the road.8 and 3 against the spread at home. And that's because the away fan bases making a rough on them. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is senior NBA insider for espn, friend of the program, a man who has incredible hair and he's very handsome. Friend of the program, Shamsarania. What's up?

[Darius Miles]

What's up, Shams?

[Pat McAfee]

Sir. Good to see you, man.

[Shams Charania]

You're just. I just want to mess my hair up.

[Ty Schmidt]

Crown the king.

[Pat McAfee]

The hair still looks good, brother. The hair still looks good, brother.

[Shams Charania]

I appreciate the sunglasses, by the way. My eyes are very sensitive to the sun.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you're a journalist. We understand there's some softness in this entire thing. Shams, welcome back to Indianapolis Indiana. We're thankful to have you.

[Shams Charania]

Look at the fans.

[Pat McAfee]

Look at them.

[Shams Charania]

There's a lot more people than last time.

[Pat McAfee]

I agree.

[Shams Charania]

It was fun being here two weeks ago. I'm glad to be back.

[Pat McAfee]

I agree. A couple weeks ago, whenever we did this, we gave about a 12 to 24 hour heads up to the city. And you know, a lot of people have jobs out here in Indiana. This is a, this is a working city. The fact that people showed up for us, we're very appreciative of. And also this backdrop here is maybe the nicest in the city. Shout out to Gainbridge. Shout out to the Pacers. Shout out to the Simons. Doing all this for the city like they're rebuilding the City almost downtown. Got new restaurant over here, new area. I mean, the Pacers are really doing it here, so we're thankful. But anyways, let's get to tonight. Any news that we need to know about heading into Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Sham Charania.

[Shams Charania]

So, I mean, what we saw in game two and really in game one as well, is like Oklahoma City, their defense absolutely stifling. You know, the one thing obviously that caught my eye, Tyrese Halburn was limping after the game in Oklahoma City. He wasn't on the injury report. Everything I hear, there's no concern about his status tonight. All the feel is he's fine, he's going to be good to go. But what did catch my eye again is him limping right there and he said he had a lower body injury. I did some digging on it. I am told it is an ankle issue, some soreness that he's dealing with. But listen, Pat, around this time of year, and Q. Rich knows this, this late into the playoffs, guys are going to be dealing with all kinds of nicks and bruises and all kinds of different things. But this is an ankle issue for Tyrese Halliburton that obviously he's going to play through. He's going to. He's at three days in between games. He's going to be a go tonight.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So we should not be worried about Tyrese Halliburton.

[Shams Charania]

Tyres Halliburton told us don't worry about him yesterday. So I don't expect to be, you know, this to be an issue. But again, this is something to keep an eye on.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Thank God. Thank God. Especially with how much shit has been talked about Tyrese Halliburton over the last couple days. This feels like a Tyree Saliburton game.

[Shams Charania]

Yeah, 21 points pretty much in 10 assists. When they win in the playoffs, it is like 12 points and 6, 7 assists when they lose. So the point being they haven't lost much this playoffs. And so having him play at that elite level, obviously very important for this Pacers team to win tonight.

[Pat McAfee]

Agreed. Anything out of the Oklahoma City camp or are they completely healthy and ready to go?

[Shams Charania]

They're ready to go. But one thing we saw after, after they make that big change, completely healthy, putting it, putting in Case and Wallace in into the starting lineup to start the series. I think that was a shock not only to people in the series, fans around the series executives that are watching this series, but they kept that starting lineup in Game 2. And Mark Dagano, the Thunder coach, he's Changed the lineup so much this year.

[Pat McAfee]

What's his name?

[Shams Charania]

Mark Daganaw. But we, we kind of, I think Dagon, but I think we gave him the nickname to kind of simplify it for us here.

[Pat McAfee]

But for who you're saying? For us simpletons.

[Shams Charania]

Listen, Pat, you butchered his name.

[Pat McAfee]

I tried what I tried my best. I didn't butcher it as bad as Connor did a couple weeks ago. But nonetheless, Coach Dags changed the starting lineup. He sticks with it. We assume he's going to do the same thing.

[Shams Charania]

And, and he stuck with it in game two, too. I think there was even some thought there, like, okay, you know, I was on the ground in Oklahoma City. There was some thought, okay, he must be going back to Isaiah Hardenstein, going back to that double big lineup. But he stuck with it. I expect it to be the same. But this is a coach that is always going to. Going to try things. What I love about the thunderers, from 1 to really 10, 11, 12 deep on this roster, they're willing to go into their depth. Kenrich Williams, Jalen Williams. These guys sometimes barely ever play, but they can play. Jalen Williams can get triple doubles. Aaron Wiggins wasn't much of a factor in game one. Comes in, basically is a hero in game two.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so let's talk about some things from this series that'll be off season conversations. Obviously, Miles Turner. He has been here for 11 years. We love him here in Indiana. He cut a promo after winning the Eastern Conference finals. That was wonderful. I think he's done great things in the city. We believe he is up. I think if our last conversation is accurate, what does it look like for Miles Turner going forward? I assume a lot of people are going to want big miles on their squad. How old is he and what does it look like this offseason?

[Shams Charania]

He's going to be a free agent and it's crazy. He's essentially. What's his exact age? Do we. Do we have it? He's 29.

[Pat McAfee]

29. He's been here for 11 years.

[Shams Charania]

11 years. So clearly a guy that is still young in age, very young in this league. There's going to be a couple teams that are going to look at them. The issue this offseason, there's one team at salary cap space and that's the Brooklyn Nets. And so what other teams make sense from a sign and trade perspective? I do know of a couple teams at least that are looking into sign and trade possibilities. But listen, the Indiana Pacers know they need to have Myles Turner back. They can't afford to lose him. So he is in line for a big payday this off season. I expect the Pacers to do everything they can to keep him. There's mutual interest.

[Quinton Richardson]

Kyle Turner.

[Pat McAfee]

You see how surprised Q Rich is. He's never seen this many white people on beat. That was incredible work by you guys.

[Shams Charania]

There is mutual interest. But. But Pat, the most interesting thing to me is the Indiana Pacers have not paid the luxury tax since the 2005, 2006 season. By giving Miles Turner a deal that he's likely going to be in line for, they will be entering the luxury tax for the first time in 20 years. I'm told the organization is prepared and expecting to pay the luxury tax next season.

[Pat McAfee]

Hell yeah. Simon.

[Shams Charania]

Back to back conference finals runs this season. I think they want to give this core a chance. Win or lose in this finals. They want to give this core a chance to try to get back again next year, get back again the year after that.

[Pat McAfee]

We're going to win. Thanks. I don't need to win or lose. Ty has a question for you.

[Ty Schmidt]

Shams. There are some reports that came out that said, hey, there's a good chance KD is going to be moved within like the next couple weeks here. And then we started hearing, hey, guess what, he wants to go to the Knicks even though they don't have a head coach. What do you know about the KD situation and where do we stand right now?

[Shams Charania]

The Kevin Durant situation is ever since the NBA trade deadline. I think everyone around the league understood this is someone that's going to likely be on the move. And I'm told the Suns, Kevin Durant's business representative and boardroom CEO Rich Kleiman, they're working on his trade as we speak. The teams that are mainly featured right now that have interest in Kevin Durant to trade for him, this is ongoing interest and I, I think this is the focus right now. It's the Houston Rockets, the San Antonio spurs, the Miami Heat, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the New York Knicks. I, I, I do expect potential, I do expect potentially some wild card teams to get in the mix as well. Because listen, this is Kevin Durant. For him to be on the market, he's the biggest domino right now that's fully available on the market. And last season we saw his play. I mean he was one of just a few players. I mean he's the best mid range shooter in the league, the best shooter off the dribble. The best shooter when you have a defender in front of you in the mid range. So he's still playing at an elite level, obviously wants to compete for a championship. But those five teams, I'm told that's the focus of the trade conversations right now. Talks are going to pick up and escalate between now and the NBA draft June 25. One other thing that's going to be a key point here. He's entering the final year of his deal at over $50 million. So whether he wants to extend what his future is, that is also going to play a part.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so the Pacers obviously are so focused on winning a title, we haven't got a chance to really dive into. Kevin Durant coming to Indiana. We'd love to have you here. Kd, the Durantula would be great in Indiana. Also with Tyrese, all KD's got to do, even Niecemith just chilling. I mean, corner we would, hey, we got great apartments here, downtown Kevin Durant, we got great food here and we got a team that works their asses off. So I think you would love it here. But out of those teams you just mentioned, what do you think is the most intriguing or most likely?

[Shams Charania]

Well, you look at Houston, obviously they made a good run to the playoffs this year for the first time since 2000. I think their team that has the potential pieces to make a deal happen, San Antonio is an interesting one as well. And there was mutual interest between Kevin Durant and both of those teams at the NBA trade deadline. There's been interest with the Timberwolves as.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, but that would be ant right.

[Shams Charania]

Minnesota, I mean, if you're the Timberwolves and you can keep Anthony Edwards and you can keep Nas Reed, you can keep Jaden McDaniels potentially to make a deal, I think that would be appealing for them. And then the Knicks, they did make an offer from what I'm told, at the NBA trade deadline. Of course, no deal happened then, but the Knicks are going to be a team that could get involved, that are involved here and could make offers again. And Miami, that is another team that I'm told has been engaged with the Suns over the last week. DB's team, whatever. I expect if you can bring Kevin Durant in with Tyler Hero, Bam Adebayo, I think that's another thing where if you're Miami, you can compete. And this, this is a factor as well. I know the paces are in the East. We're not trying to talk down on the east, but there are some teams in the Eastern Conference that are viewing this conference as wide open. And if you can go get a.

[Pat McAfee]

Kevin Durant, it's not wide open, you.

[Shams Charania]

Can get a Kevin Durant who, who's a Kevin Durant away, that's going to be the question that people are going to have to ask.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. You mentioned the Knicks there. Q has a question for you.

[Jeff Teague]

Yeah, yeah.

[Quinton Richardson]

It's a lot of talk. I mean, obviously, they, they, they, after the season, they let go of Tibbs. So what are you hearing about the Knicks coaching situation? Who's going to be the next coach for the Knicks?

[Shams Charania]

What I keep hearing from people on the league queue is like, what are the Knicks doing? Right.

[Boston Connor]

What are they doing?

[Shams Charania]

When you fire, when you fire a coach who made it to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years and you don't really, it doesn't seem, seem like they had a direct path to a coach, whether it's someone that's available, like a Taylor Jenkins, a Michael Malone, a Mike Brown, whether it's a coach from another team. Like, this is not the first time a coach from another team might move. But as I reported last night, this morning, the Knicks made permission requests over the last 24, 48 hours on Chris Finch of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Ime Udoka of the Houston Rockets, and this morning, Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks. All three were given swift denials. I, I'm told, yeah, I'm told, like, like these were the reactions. Teams are saying no hanging up. Teams are saying f. No. Teams are saying, like having the owner called and say what is like, we're not doing this. And so I think, like, those were the reactions that I heard from those three denials. And so now the Knicks, where they're going to go from here? I think one thing, they're going to keep an open mind on all these candidates. I do give them credit for trying to see what could be out there with some of these available coaches. But again, this is a very unorthodox process by the Knicks in their front office and James Dolan, that ownership group. But if they end up with a coach that they wanted, you know, from, from the beginning, maybe it's someone we know.

[Pat McAfee]

What about you, Shams? Why don't you go coach them?

[Ty Schmidt]

Not a big idea. Big city shawms.

[Quinton Richardson]

I don't understand. Huge. And you don't have a guy and you asking guys that are already under contract with somebody, that's, that's beyond.

[Darius J. Butler]

How do those calls usually go?

[Pat McAfee]

Like.

[Shams Charania]

It'S usually. Can we have permission to interview your head coach?

[Darius Miles]

Get traded?

[Shams Charania]

All of These guys had multiple seasons on their contract left. And yeah, you're right. Jason Kidd got traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Milwaukee Bucks over a decade ago for second round draft compensation. This time around, Dallas said no, Jason Kidd is staying with the Mavericks. He's not going anywhere.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know if now would be the time for Jason Kidd to want to leave the Mavs. I think if you talk to him middle of the season after they trade Luka away, I think you could have got him potentially out of there. But with what they're building, shot to Nico down there too. By the way, Nico might have this whole thing figured out legitimately down in Dallas. They might have a squad. Jason leaving right before that would be wild. I appreciate the fact that James Dolan is basically just seemingly flying by the seat of his pants right now. We'll find the right guy. We'll get it done. Q. Rich, I have a question for you. Tibbs gets fired because players do. Coaches get fired in the NBA because players don't like the coach. I don't understand, like, the power structure of how this works. Tibbs got fired because Dolan didn't like him. What do you think the thoughts are on how or why he got removed?

[Quinton Richardson]

I don't know the real answer to that, but I mean, from the, from the, from everything that you hearing and it sounds, it sounds like that came from above. I mean, you know what I'm saying? When you hear from, from the players, they all signed off on loving Tibbs, like Jalen Brunson and company. But from what I hear from, you know, the Streets is talking, it sound like Dolan wanted it to be done. It sound like he wanted it to be over with and he wanted to go in a different direction because like.

[Pat McAfee]

Denver firing their coach and GM when they did, what, eight days before the playoffs start or whatever, it's like, who did that? How did that come to be? And then now, I guess you're still asking questions because in my eyes, the way I view the basketball league, basketball players is like they're in charge. Like the, the head superstar on the team has more power than everybody else. I'm not saying that's different than the NFL with quarterbacks. I think there's a select amount of quarterbacks that obviously have more say than anybody else. But in the NBA, it feels like the superstars have more power than maybe any other sport. So it's like whenever Malone gets fired, I just assume, well, the players had to sign off on this for this to happen. But we Never really get an answer either.

[Quinton Richardson]

New York is a. Is a. Is a very special place, though. So I don't know if they're all of the rules to go for everybody else, go for them.

[Darius Miles]

Happened in Memphis, though.

[Quinton Richardson]

It's a different place.

[Darius Miles]

Memphis.

[Shams Charania]

Memphis.

[Darius Miles]

Right before the.

[Shams Charania]

Denver did it. But listen, Denver. Josh Kroenke in that organization, the governor there, he. He put his name on it.

[Quinton Richardson]

He was doing.

[Shams Charania]

He's been doing it. He's been in the media. He's been very upfront about why they did it. And listen, it led to some success. He felt like the team wasn't going to make a run unless they made a change. They made the change. They got to the second round, one game away from the Western Conference finals. This is a different situation. There hasn't been much, of course, coming out of the Knicks, but listen, they have always moved in shadow. They've always moved in this cloak of secrecy, but now is a point where you get denied by three teams in the span of 24 hours.

[Pat McAfee]

Yikes.

[Shams Charania]

And like to get three coaching denials in the span of 24 hours. That's not something that bodes well.

[Pat McAfee]

Desirable. Yeah, that's our desirable fit.

[Quinton Richardson]

What did you expect?

[Shams Charania]

See, that's the thing is, like, these coaches are under.

[Quinton Richardson]

Go take somebody's head coach, and they just gonna say, sure, take them. Like what?

[Shams Charania]

No, I think these teams are taking offense to it to an extent. That's. That's my feel they should, because, again, these guys are under contract.

[Pat McAfee]

Whoa, whoa. That's how a lot of people feel. Now, I'm not saying that's how we feel, but there. There's chance. The words of others do not necessarily reflect the words of ours. But with that being said, there's a lot of people that feel that way, and it sounds like there's more teams starting to feel that way as they continue to try to poach their player. Doc. New York. Yeah, I agree.

[Darius Miles]

I duck them, too.

[Pat McAfee]

You gotta duck them with the Knicks. DBOT has a question for you, Sean. Yeah.

[Darius J. Butler]

You talked about KD being on the move, obviously, the other big fish. And I think the last time you were here, you pegged this as the most craziest offseason ever. Giannis.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, that was right. That was the proper wording.

[Shams Charania]

A lot, a lot probably hinges on Giannis and Didokounmpo and his future. Right. And I know there are some comments, you know, he made abroad. You know, he's a guy that's always been loyal. If he can win in Milwaukee, he. Of course wants to win in Milwaukee. His biggest issue has been how does this team stay competitive and compete in the Eastern Conference? Because there's going to be Damian Lillard's out for an extended period of time next season, if not the entire season. They have one first round pick they can trade and they don't have many high value contracts. So can you bring some of your free agents back, like the free agents of Brook Lopez? Bobby Portis will be very, very important to this team. Gary Trent is another guy that I think is going to be very important. Can they bring those three guys back to the fold and how does that impact Giannis? Is there any other move you can make around the edges? I will say on Giannis Nipteokounmpo, unlike Kevin Durant, whoa, I didn't know he had ever.

[Boston Connor]

I didn't expect that.

[Pat McAfee]

Bobby's got heat, Bobby Porter's got heat.

[Shams Charania]

Kevin Durant is someone that I expect around the draft. There could be some movement with like. I think there's a very good chance. Kevin Durant is traded before the NBA Draft June 25. With Giannis Antokounmpo, from what I'm told, his status will not be tied to the NBA draft. It won't be tied to free agency. It's much more likely that his future plays out into July and into August. In terms of him seeing the landscape of not only the, the Bucks, seeing the landscape of the league, seeing what other teams do. I mean, listen, when you're a star of that caliber, the league moves how you want it to move, the league will move. When you're ready to ask for a trade or if you're ready to then say, I'm staying, I want to be back. Of course, around the league there is a level of skepticism because Giannis De Campo has been loyal. He's been there 12 years. His brand is all about loyalty right now. So there's a level of skepticism. Does he really go through with it? There's a difference between being open minded and, from what I'm told, exploring other options. Actively exploring other options. There's a difference between doing that and asking for a trade. He's in the process of figuring out exactly what he wants to do, actively exploring other options.

[Pat McAfee]

He's watching film of other teams, trying to see which team he could be.

[Shams Charania]

The Free Train, you see what they're doing, you see where can potentially get that can make a deal with Milwaukee, that can make it happen. And then the biggest point is having to go in there and ask for a trade. I think everyone around the league looks at this summer as probably the period if you're going to do it, it's now because of where they're at with their situation with the roster. They're depleted with their assets, and realistically, this is a team that's lost in the first round three years in a row. So can this team take a step to contend? So if you're staying now, you're probably looking at this as a lifer.

[Pat McAfee]

If you're Giannis, okay.

[Quinton Richardson]

And go ahead with his loyalty, though, don't you think by him even having this open like this kind of lets you know that I'm out the door? Because he never does this. He shuts it down almost every time. So to me, the fact that he's actually telling them that I'm exploring or doing whatever he's doing, to me, that's letting you know that, like, hey, I'm definitely like, could do something right now.

[Shams Charania]

I think the way the Bucks view this is, this is something that they're fine with. Giannis, like, they in their minds, he's always going to be exploring every year what's his best path and what the Bucs are kind of selling. Yonsetokounmpo and what other teams have essentially been sold on. As far as the Bucs path is you essentially take somewhat of a gap year. You retool this team. But from my understanding, I think John Horst and Doc Rivers genuinely believe this team can compete in the Eastern Conference. Now, whether you think it's that old adage that the east isn't where it probably, you know, the west might be, whatever the case, feel they can compete.

[Pat McAfee]

We'll see.

[Shams Charania]

The east might win the in the Eastern Conference.

[Pat McAfee]

Did you see this son of a bitch right here?

[Shams Charania]

I get it, I get it. I'm just telling you how they feel. And the other point is also selling Giannis Antetokounmpo on Can I, can I hug it? Can I hug it?

[Ty Schmidt]

Do it, do it, hoist it.

[Quinton Richardson]

Wow, heavy. That thing is heavy, right?

[Darius J. Butler]

That could go real good or real bad for you.

[Pat McAfee]

I didn't touch it last year. I'm just. I didn't touch it last year. I wasn't around it last year.

[Shams Charania]

The other thing, if you're the Bucks is like, what makes Giannis and did a couple comfortable here. And one thing that they have pitched him on also is having the ball in his hands a lot more next season. He played. Obviously, when you're playing with a guy.

[Quinton Richardson]

Like Damian, he ain't going nowhere.

[Darius Miles]

He's a dog dog.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, he's good vibes guy.

[Quinton Richardson]

That's what I'm saying.

[Pat McAfee]

Anytime I see him playing basketball, everybody's smiling.

[Shams Charania]

If Yanis stays, I don't think there's going to be any surprise if tenasses might be on this race.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, that's good news. All right, last question. We appreciate you taking the time to travel to Indianapolis. Obviously, it's your job. You're getting paid to do it, but you're the best. Connor has a question for you.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah, Shams, I loved your last answer. My favorite part being when Q. Rich looked over here at us like you're the biggest idiot that's ever spoken about basketball. Definitely one of my favorite moments since you've been on.

[Shams Charania]

But what did I say?

[Darius Miles]

I don't even know, to be honest. But if this is the most craziest offseason ever, you know, Giannis and kd, that's cool. But are there dark horse teams? Are there dark horse players? Like, could we see a Donovan Mitchell type move where a team hasn't, you know, gotten over the hump? A. Mobley, even with, with Cleveland, I know Scotty Barnes has been kind of thrown around some trade scenarios. Is there kind of other big name players and teams that might be trying to make a splash here?

[Shams Charania]

I don't see those three that you mentioned right there. Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Scotty Barnes. But there, there are always, in every offseason, there's going to be wild card pieces. We'll see. I don't know them quite yet. That'll go on between now and the NBA draft. But I will tell you, like, you have the Giannis situation and that's more of a slower burn, right? You have Kevin Durant, which I think is active as we speak. But the other big ticket item I think this offseason is the Celtics and what are they going to do? And the primary focus, from my understanding with the Celtics offseason has been Jrue Holiday, Christas Porzingis, Sam Houser. Their trade markets. Now are teams making big offers and calling about Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, 100%. The Celtics prefer not to trade them, from my understanding. But listen, if they get a big offer, they have to look at everything. And I think they're going to get, you know, offers on, on the three guys that they're focused on. They're going to get offers potentially on Derrick White and Jaylen Brown. And I think between now and the draft and free agency, they're going to evaluate what makes sense from A value perspective. And that's where they're going to move.

[Pat McAfee]

Everybody but Tatum, essentially. Okay. Big changes coming. Maybe Missoula is going down in New York.

[Shams Charania]

I'm not expecting that one.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, anything going to take place today? Any more breaking news going to be coming out of the Shamshirani? A Twitter account.

[Shams Charania]

You never know. But if it is, I'm right there.

[Pat McAfee]

You're the man, ladies and gentlemen, senior NBA inside for espn.

[Quinton Richardson]

The man in them had a baby.

[Pat McAfee]

Sean.

[Darius Miles]

You did do that. Yeah, you did do that.

[Pat McAfee]

I saw that happen.

[Quinton Richardson]

You broke out the fresh, fresh Alexander McQueen. Them brand new right there.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, just real quick, look at that height. You thought he said something incredibly dumb. Why'd you give him a look about what?

[Quinton Richardson]

No, it wasn't him saying anything incredibly dumb.

[Darius Miles]

No, but just tell him it's when.

[Darius J. Butler]

He said the Bucks can compete in the East.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah, he was saying that. It wasn't him saying that. He was saying that Doc Rivers really believes that that bugs team can compete in the east. And I don't really think they can with Dame Litter not being.

[Pat McAfee]

So you're saying. The theory that was being hypothesized was crazy to me.

[Quinton Richardson]

They can't compete without D. Where do.

[Pat McAfee]

You think Giannis goes? His style of play, can it fit in everywhere or no?

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah, anywhere. He can play anywhere.

[Pat McAfee]

He can play for the Pacers.

[Quinton Richardson]

Anywhere. Pacers. Anyway, the craziest thing is my destination for the best platform for Giannis nkd, in my opinion is the same place. It's the Spurs. I think they can fit in seamlessly and I think the spurs have assets where they don't have to completely deplete the roster and the team to where they can make the the move and still have a team to compete with.

[Pat McAfee]

Conor's been pitching this trade proposal for Giannis with the Mavs. I think that's been.

[Darius Miles]

They should just trade the number one pick for Giannis. Just one for one. They get Cooper Flag. Okay, throwing a little sweetener. Maybe Gafford, maybe Klay Thompson. You throw something in there. But they're talking about cooper fly being a 500 to a billion dollar type player as far as the market comes. Did they not think about that in these trades? Just because Giannis.

[Quinton Richardson]

I don't think they going to do that. I think Nico has had enough of the trade this year so far. I think I'm just, you know, the fans are pretty hyped about Cooper Flag, so.

[Pat McAfee]

Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a lad who want to Pike High School here In Indianapolis, Indiana, Currently the coach of the NBA champion, all star, host of the Club 520 podcast. Ladies out. Jesse.

[Ty Schmidt]

Legend, absolute legend.

[Quinton Richardson]

Pike High School weak, huh?

[Jeff Teague]

Nah, we lit weak.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, first of all, Jeff, thank you for representing Indianapolis Indiana so damn well. You're a legend. Appreciate y' all having me give back to the city. 317 is tatted right there on your forearm. I respect how much you've given back here and remained here, even though you didn't necessarily play here. With that being said, your Club 520 podcast is unbelievable.

[Jeff Teague]

I appreciate that.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Taking over right now and you should be incredibly proud of that.

[Jeff Teague]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

No problem. Thank you for adding to the sports media world. Thank you for sticking around. Thank you for coaching your high school and thank you for letting the world know that Indiana is a hoop state. I don't think a lot of people understand how many greats have come from this state and how serious basketball is. Can you explain a little bit about that?

[Jeff Teague]

Basketball is everything here. You drive around the city, you'll see goals in every driveway, every backyard. Basketball is king here. And growing up here, playing basketball my whole life here, I think I'm a better basketball player than most people from, like, Chicago or any of those areas because I grew up.

[Darius Miles]

Oh, that makes sense.

[Darius J. Butler]

Damn, Q. Oh, my fault.

[Jeff Teague]

I forgot he was here.

[Pat McAfee]

Q, where are you from, man?

[Quinton Richardson]

I'm from the honey wild honey Chicago. No disrespect, Indiana, Indianapolis, but like, we not gonna do that.

[Udonis Haslem]

We not gonna do that.

[Quinton Richardson]

Chown, pay these country boys nothing. We listen, listen, now, listen. Chicago is the best. We breathe that now. Okay, we do that.

[Jeff Teague]

We do too.

[Quinton Richardson]

Pike High School, they want no problem with Whitney Young High School.

[Darius J. Butler]

He knows we're trying to set up a game.

[Jeff Teague]

Actually.

[Pat McAfee]

Let'S talk about high school hoops here. The arenas here in Indiana, it's like 10, 15,000 for high school hoops. How has it been getting back into coaching high school and what are your thoughts now?

[Jeff Teague]

It's been great. Every time we play, it's a sold out gym. I get booed or they talk about the podcast every single time. But it's cool, man. It's. It's been a lot of fun. I mean, giving back to. To the kids, I absolutely love that. But our team should be pretty, pretty good this year.

[Quinton Richardson]

We have won it all, right?

[Jeff Teague]

N. We have. It's some good teams here, you know?

[Pat McAfee]

What's your problem, Q?

[Quinton Richardson]

I thought he. I thought, hey.

[Pat McAfee]

I thought, hey.

[Udonis Haslem]

Okay.

[Quinton Richardson]

We in real work in progress. Okay?

[Jeff Teague]

Rebuild Rebuild.

[Quinton Richardson]

You just got there. I feel you.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's talk about this Pacers team. Obviously, you understand the buzz that's around the city. Last year, Eastern Conference finals, we get swept. Nobody's even allowed to talk about it. Almost because of how it ended with Boston. Now this year, back again. Now we're in the finals. How do you feel about this particular team and the way Coach Carlisle is running them?

[Jeff Teague]

Nah, it's an exciting team. I think they play a beautiful brand of basketball. Everybody gets a chance to be great on the floor. I didn't expect this from the places. I'd be lying if I said I did after the way they started the season. But Tyrese been magnificent the last minute of the game. I mean, he's the guy you want with the ball. But I ain't gonna lie. I'm probably not a fan favorite right now. Cause I think OKC is gonna win the series.

[Pat McAfee]

Indiana King. Yeah.

[Darius J. Butler]

I gotta be real.

[Quinton Richardson]

The prodigal son. The prodigal son.

[Pat McAfee]

DBOT has a question for you, Jeff.

[Darius J. Butler]

We were talking about up here with Shams. I know you played with Giannis. I believe you told a story about how different his energy is with his brother around. Where do you. How do you see that really playing out for him? And where do you see him fitting if he does move from Milwaukee?

[Jeff Teague]

I can't really picture a team without Giannis in Milwaukee because he just been there for so long. But if his brother is anywhere around that city, he's going to be there. And I said it the other day on a podcast, like, man, if you want to sign Giannis, you probably should sign his brother, because they're connected. But if I seen him leave, I'm sure he probably wants to go to a big city. So I imagine, like New York. Somewhere in New York. Brooklyn or Indiana.

[Darius Miles]

Indy. Yeah.

[Jeff Teague]

Y' all guys want Giannis here?

[Pat McAfee]

We'll take anybody, brother. Kevin Durant, if you're good at basketball, we'll have you. Kevin Durant needs to come here, too. Oh, my God. You just need to sit there just like this.

[Jeff Teague]

So let me ask you that. Who would you trade for Kevin Durant?

[Pat McAfee]

Nobody. We're just. We're just signing.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah, bring it in.

[Pat McAfee]

Brother. It will give the first round pick for 2045. That's how you guys operate in the NBA. You give it up to 2033 and the 2045 first round pick.

[Quinton Richardson]

Three year old.

[Pat McAfee]

Exactly.

[Jeff Teague]

If you was in Sacramento, you probably can make it happen.

[Pat McAfee]

Connor has a question for you. Jeff.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah, Jeff, I love the podcast Story you told on there about pushing LeBron just because. Why not? It was incredible. SGA feels like one of those guys you would probably just shove at the end of the game. How would you guard a guy like that? And how frustrating is it when you know, hey, if I bump this guy, you know, he might flail back and draw a foul on me. But if I don't bump him, he's going to go right by me and, you know, score.

[Jeff Teague]

Yeah, he's kind of impossible to guard. He's like James Harden. In the era where I played, you couldn't touch him. It was kind of. You couldn't really figure out a way to stop him. For the Pacers, I think you just got to eliminate everybody else. Like last game, Caruso had a big game. Aaron Wiggins had a big game. You got to take them guys out the picture. SGA's going to get 30 points. I mean, it's proven he averages 30 every game. So if we could eliminate everybody else, I think the Pacers got a really good shot. I got the Pacer actually winning game three, though.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, don't do that.

[Darius Miles]

Snip, snap.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't need to hear your snap. Snip, snap.

[Quinton Richardson]

First game, three out.

[Pat McAfee]

What are you.

[Jeff Teague]

Listen, I'm just a fan, okay?

[Pat McAfee]

Let's just see a good game. Let's see seven game series. So take me inside the locker room. I don't know your guys culture well enough whenever it comes to game planning. So the coach will actually say or you guys will have an understanding. SGA is going to score 35 points. So if we see him lighting it up, we still are not changing our strategy at all. We're kind of just sacrificing sga, having a massive night, and then you're just trying to eliminate the other pieces. Yeah, pretty much like that's a full mindset that everybody has.

[Jeff Teague]

I mean, I would say Q.

[Quinton Richardson]

It's not. It's not necessarily like you're gonna love, like, you do your work, you try and make everything difficult as possible, but you can't hang your head or get down if he scores because he's proven this is gonna happen. You can't let that like deter your energy. Like, yeah, you try to stop him. You don't want. You don't just let him score 30. But you understand if he gets his 30, this is normal. We have to kind of try and suppress any of these other dudes. Like you said, you can't have Wiggins, Caruso just guys popping up out of nowhere getting 20 and 18. Like, Wiggins hasn't had 18 or 20 the whole playoffs. I don't think.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Caruso going crazy just is wild. Hey, dog. Hey, paisan. Let's relax, dude. Okay? Let's relax here. Indiana needs us. He understands that. Kurich tells us that a big, like, kind of mantra for you guys, especially if you're playing a good. A good offensive team, is you bop wood. Do you bop a lot of wood? Did you bop a lot of wood?

[Quinton Richardson]

Not say that.

[Jeff Teague]

I don't know if y' all watch the podcast, but that's a wild statement.

[Quinton Richardson]

They do that at Duke. Like, Wojowski started that.

[Pat McAfee]

They smack the floor by that.

[Quinton Richardson]

Like.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, bopping wood.

[Jeff Teague]

We say smack, slap the floor.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, I'm sorry. Smack wood.

[Jeff Teague]

Okay.

[Quinton Richardson]

Crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a. That's a mindset. Tonight I'm bopping wood. You gotta sign up for that start to finish.

[Jeff Teague]

I slap the floor.

[Quinton Richardson]

I never slapped the floor. I didn't do any of that. I'm not bopping wood, slapping wood, any of that. All that is a crazy pause.

[Pat McAfee]

This guy's not committed on defense. I can tell. I can tell. Unbelievable. Is that what you sign up for, though? Ty has a question for you. Jeff.

[Ty Schmidt]

Jeff, when we talk about the Pacers, everyone talks about their pace and, like, how difficult that is. And then you got a team like okc, you can actually kind of match it. How demoralizing is that? When they've been kind of just running everybody else out there, the gym, and then you get to the finals, and it's like, oh, shit. This team can actually, like, do they need to maybe, like, slow down a little bit and look for better shots or like, how does that. Because it almost seems like they're playing right into what OKC does well defensively.

[Jeff Teague]

Well, they got to be them. I mean, what makes the Pacer great is their pace. They have to be them. And the thing they do have to do, great guys got to make shots. I mean, Tyrese is the head of the snake. Tyrese got to be aggressive all the time. Like, if that's making plays for others to get into the basket and scoring, he has to be that. And the last game, I don't think he was as aggressive in the first half, but I think we'll see a different Teresa tonight.

[Pat McAfee]

Jeff, I know you're a professional legend in the sports world. Out of Indianapolis, Indiana, this is Mackenzie McAfee. She is also going to be a.

[Darius J. Butler]

A legend.

[Quinton Richardson]

Adorable. She's beautiful.

[Pat McAfee]

My wife just surprised me with her down here. Obviously, the City has come out. Baby girl, you like the Pacers or no? We're doing Pacers. High five for Pacers. Boom.

[Jeff Teague]

I gotta change my pick now. I'm going for the Pacers.

[Quinton Richardson]

Here we go, Mackenzie.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you, D. Bud has a question for you, Jeff.

[Darius J. Butler]

We talked about the defense. Pat goes to it, calls it different. You talk about slapping the floor, you play for tips. Obviously a defensive minded coach. Knicks go all the way to the Eastern Conference finals and then they let go of Tibbs. How do you think? I know the players came out and spoke, you know, positively about it, which I feel like most guys will, but how do you think they really felt about Tibbs and what was it like playing for him? And who do you think will fit in with that Knicks roster as it is constructed?

[Jeff Teague]

I imagine the guys that played a lot like Tibs, but if you didn't play that much, you probably didn't like them. Okay, that goes for probably most of the locker room. But if I was a player that played for Tibbs, and I did, and I was a starter, I loved him because I knew I was gonna get a chance to make my money because I was gonna be on the floor all the time. Yeah. But as far as him getting releasing from the team, I was surprised because they made it to the Eastern Conference finals. They ain't been in 25 years. But it's like, I get it too, because they needed to play some more people, they needed some more pieces, and they needed to use their bench. And I think they had quality players on the bench. We just never got a chance to see them. But as far as I could help that team, they need a scoring guard that can also help, you know, be like a combo guard can help Jalen Brunson. I mean, it was so much pressure on him to do everything, bring the ball up, score the basketball, run the plays. Even though they ran all the plays for him.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah.

[Jeff Teague]

But he just needs somebody else that can relieve some pressure with that scoring him and Cat Gotcha.

[Pat McAfee]

I didn't like watching Brunson play basketball. Every time he touched it and had any space at all, he was.

[Jeff Teague]

It's good.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that who he is? Is that what he's going to be for the rest of his career? Like, it was unbelievable to watch, especially because of his size. And obviously in real life, I assume he is tall when he's walking around, but on the court he's not as much. He'll go into the paint. I mean, he's going into the big guys, creating enough space and it's falling every single time. To your point, it felt like he was the only one really being depended upon. It's like, can he do that for the rest of his. Is that what we should expect from Jalen for the rest of his. There's no way he can keep that up for the rest of his. His career.

[Jeff Teague]

I think he's going to be a 20 point score for the rest of.

[Pat McAfee]

His career, but I think it was unfathomable. As soon as he would get the ball, you just knew what was happening. And up close in person, you know, he's a guy that also gets fouls called. I think a lot of scorers get a lot of fouls called on them or whatever. So that was like another thing. People are calling him Flopper, Flopper, Flopper, which is certainly an advantage to his game, but if he had it, he was knocking it down. He was cold blooded.

[Quinton Richardson]

It'll be, it'll be interesting who the next coach is, whether they still play that way. But because his usage rate was through the roof, he had the ball all of the time doing whatever he wants. So it'll be interesting if the new coach, whoever that is, comes in, if they take that same approach, it's like, give him the ball and get out the way. Or they try and, you know, some guys have schemes and like sets and offenses that they run and it'll be, it'll be interesting to see who the next coach is and how that dynamic works.

[Pat McAfee]

I saw a lot of Knicks fans saying, put Brunson on the bench. And I was agreeing with him. Yeah, put his ass over there. Yeah, everybody on the other team would like you guys to do that. Just so you know that as you go forward. Go ahead, Debunk.

[Darius J. Butler]

No, I was about to say you talked about calling sets. I feel like I didn't see many sets and I don't know, being from the outside looking in, I would assume different coaches called more sets, more set plays, but I just felt like the ball went to Brunson and it just stopped. And I remember Kobe years ago talking about, I think James Harden and like, look, you can average 37, you can win the MVP, but you're not going to win a championship like that. Is that kind of how y' all see it as well?

[Jeff Teague]

Yeah, for me, that's. That's definitely how I see it. I mean, you got to have more movement, especially with all the guys they had. I mean, my kid Bridges was a 25 point scorer when he was in Brooklyn. We know what OG and Anovi could do. I think you got to move the ball and use some of those pieces. I mean, some of them on max deals.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah.

[Jeff Teague]

Crazy. Yeah. Like, I mean, OG Was the highest paid on the team, so him not to even get that many touches or to be part of the offensive scheme like that, I think it was kind of tough to watch.

[Pat McAfee]

Speaking of leaving the Knicks, have you ever seen somebody be able to jump besides opening, be topping? No.

[Jeff Teague]

Obi Top? You're different.

[Pat McAfee]

Is he the most explosive player to ever play legit? Is he the most.

[Quinton Richardson]

I don't. I don't know about that. I think that he got a unique combination, though, because, like, he's definitely a. A lethal. He's got bounce. But you got to take into consideration he has crazy long arms. His arms have a lot to do with how he can dunk so effortlessly because the length on his arms is crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

He did a. He did a double pump dunk in the fourth quarter against the Knicks to take the lead. Got fouled. They didn't call it because he's ob Toppin. If he was anybody else, they would have called it. But he hits his head off the rim seemingly on a very regular basis, and he. He's shown up for the Pacers in a big way. It's like every player we have is shown up in their role. How important is that for a team that's going to have success? And is that Carlisle or who is that?

[Jeff Teague]

It has to be Carlisle. I mean, yeah, all these guys got unbelievable confidence. They take shots that. That you normally wouldn't see. Some of the role players, I would call them take shots. I think Nemhardt in game one, he did a. Between the leg. Between the leg, step back in a clutch moment. And usually your star player or your go to guy has the ball in those moments, and for him to take that shot, just to let me know what kind of team they have, they have a real life all together, one unit team.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Quinton Richardson]

Carlisle don't get enough love, man. He's one of the best coaches in the history of the game. Championship. He's got pedigree. Every team he's coached always have an identity. They. They hang they hat on something. Whatever their identity is, they show up as that. And I think when he gets through, man, he's gonna go finish up and go down as one of the best coaches ever, man. Carlisle is a. Is a. He's a dude.

[Pat McAfee]

I agree. Wild doppelganger for Jim Carrey.

[Jeff Teague]

That's a fact.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, like, even the younger they were showing Pictures of him back whenever he was with Reggie Miller when he was an assistant coach here, he looks like a young Jim Carrey. And then whenever he's now, he obviously looks like an older Jim Carrey. And what he does in the way he coaches. We love it here in Indiana. I think it fits the state and the city perfectly. Especially with the way you like to watch basketball. Speaking of fitting the state perfectly, Jeff, you're the man. Thank you for representing this city, man.

[Quinton Richardson]

Like that south hat, baby. Like that south hat. South side, baby.

[Jeff Teague]

Where's my Indians hat?

[Darius Miles]

Cleveland or Indianapolis?

[Pat McAfee]

Hour one is wrapping up here in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. It's been 9,126 days since this city has hosted an NBA Finals game. Tonight will be absolutely insane. Hour 2 We have Udonis Haslam joining us and others. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice that might change their life. My daughter's here somewhere. Let's go find her. See you in the next hour. Goodbye. Thank you, Jeff. Finals are happening here for the first time in 9,126 days. It's been since the year 2000 that the Indiana Pacers have hosted an NBA Finals game. And tonight it is about to be electrifying inside a Gainbridge field house dead center of Indianapolis, Indiana.

[Quinton Richardson]

Look at that scene, dude.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we are very lucky to be down here. Shout out to to the Simon family and the Pacers for trying to rebuild this entire part of the city. This is one of the best backdrops we have ever seen in this state and these people have come to hang out with us during their lunch hour. It's a beautiful day here in Indiana. It could be a great night if the Pacers are able to take a 21 series lead in the NBA Finals over the Oklahoma City Thunder in a pursuit of Mr. Beautiful Larry O' Brien. Yes, sir. I'll tell you what, I tried to pick this thing up earlier. It is heavy. I don't know how you weak basketball players have been able to lift this up, but I do appreciate it and we are lucky to be here. 1/2 of the Hammer Cowboys AP Town is here. Tony, any updates on the betting lines that we need to know for tonight's game three?

[Boston Connor]

It has not moved. It's been five and a half all week long. The series price is thunder minus 550 to win the series. Now SGA is the same exact as minus 550 to win the MVP. Because if the Thunder win the series, that man's going to be the mvp. But I don't know if you heard during the break Q Rich was shooting. He's obviously never seen white man can't jump because he didn't talk about Billy Ho at all. But he's saying it's too windy for him to shoot out here.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. A little right to left. A little bit right to left. See, that's the thing about you. Very, very, very good basketball players.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Did you play much pickup outside when you were growing up?

[Quinton Richardson]

When I was growing up, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

But that's a long time ago.

[Quinton Richardson]

Long time ago.

[Pat McAfee]

We got keys to every gym when we're in the NBA. So whenever we go shoot in a different city, we can show up at a university or a high school or maybe even the NBA gym. Guys like us, we gotta come outside. Yeah, we gotta be outside. We gotta deal with the elements a little bit. Were you not making shots during the break?

[Quinton Richardson]

I didn't make one. I didn't make one. I only shot two. I was watch. I said the wind comment. When I was watching Sean shoot, though. I was just noticing that the button.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Sean's had a rough outing out here as well. My daughter Mackenzie, put a couple up. Put them down. I appreciate it.

[Quinton Richardson]

Starter show.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you.

[Quinton Richardson]

Right there.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. That's the second time Mackenzie come to the show and been on the show. That was a real surprise there. Whenever Jeff Teague was given a great answer. Jeff Teague, who I wanted to pay respect to. And I appreciate him coming on show. First time he's been on Club520. Podcast host. And then right over here, I see my daughter and I'm like, oh. Oh, my God. My daughter is here. And it's great to see her. It's great to see all of Indianapolis. It's great to see the talks at table at Boss of Connor and at Ty Schmidt, con man. You live downtown, you pay taxes to this city. Obviously you would like to. To see the Pacers have a big night.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah, I need a big night. And we talked a lot of X's and O's. You know, I'm worried for one just because I haven't heard one. Let's go, Pacers chant. Since we've been here, basically all we hear is about the thunder crowd. That's all we hear.

[Ty Schmidt]

That doesn't count. They had to give it to him.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah. Hey, this Thunder crowd's crazy.

[Ty Schmidt]

Feel kind of forced.

[Darius Miles]

They've kind of been snoozing in the game three.

[Pat McAfee]

Look, just.

[Darius Miles]

I'm just telling you how I see it, okay? In the game three thing, one of the game threes was on the Indy 500 day. You can kind of throw that one.

[Quinton Richardson]

Out the way never one on Indy.

[Darius Miles]

You can throw that one out the window. The, the one before when they played Cleveland, that was the one where I looked around while I was in the arena like, oh, maybe these fans don't care about basketball. Maybe, maybe this is in the state of Indiana because I. I've been told they're loud in rpus but I haven't heard much cheering today for the. The Pacers.

[Pat McAfee]

What are you talking about? They're trying to watch the show. They're trying to be a part of.

[Darius Miles]

The show, I suppose, you know, it's a great way to be part of the show. Awesome Pacers chance. That'd be nice. We got the finals trophy right. Right in front of us. I've heard Obie top. Enchanted. That's it. I haven't heard any Pascal. Anything else.

[Pat McAfee]

This Larry o' Brien is going to be staying here in Indianapolis, Indiana for at least a year.

[Boston Connor]

Might be.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm not saying I should. I mean I've already done too much. I've already done too much.

[Ty Schmidt]

The Hunter.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm very thankful that they beat the Knicks with everything that kind of happened with me in that whole series. Sure. Oh yeah, like very, very happy. I wasn't the jinx, you know, I wasn't the curse. But I'll tell you what, getting a chance to lift this bad boy up. I would like to do that again with a parade here in Indianapolis. And Ty Schmidt, I know you've been talking about what the city would be like if there was a parade coming through town and how many whiskeys you would potentially take down in celebration of a Ty.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean I have no idea if you could even put a number on it. I think. I think we might be just doing bottles, you know because if the car.

[Quinton Richardson]

Like Weekend at Bernie, you getting carried out of there.

[Ty Schmidt]

Without a doubt.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. That's Thai football.

[Darius Miles]

Without a doubt game tonight.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, without a doubt carried out. I mean you might actually have to drag me out.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know if you're caring me.

[Ty Schmidt]

I'll puke everywhere. I'm selling the farm for Pacers championship might my pants. I don't know. That's.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean we'll see.

[Ty Schmidt]

We'll see what happens. But that's why the Pacers need to win tonight.

[Pat McAfee]

Q Rachel Bopwood, you poop your pain. We got good things happening here in Indianapolis, Indiana nine year and if not together, not together. We've heard stories of that. And also not going to judge if that's what you're into. Nine year NFL vet Darius J. Butler is here. D by.

[Darius J. Butler]

I'm excited. I'm excited as well. Obviously.

[Udonis Haslem]

Larry o' Brien here.

[Darius J. Butler]

Pacers compete for a championship. My, my. Florida Panthers complete. Competing for another Stanley Cup. But, but in the break, me and Tone were just kind of passing each other a lot of basketball talk, which we love. But boy, I can't wait till football season.

[Boston Connor]

Well, the game day commercial was on when you guys were down in Bloomington, everywhere else.

[Pat McAfee]

And I was like, oh my God, it's just.

[Quinton Richardson]

So everybody's getting excited for the Chicago Bears, huh? That's what's Bears.

[Darius Miles]

Bears again.

[Pat McAfee]

This man is a die hard Chicago Bears fan. This is 13 year NBA event too rich.

[Darius Miles]

Is that Caleb Williams on your floor?

[Pat McAfee]

No, no, it's Rex Gross of Chicago. The Bears are gonna be okay.

[Quinton Richardson]

Thank you. Thank you. I'm looking forward to it. It's been a long time coming. A lot of hurtful years I've been enduring. I couldn't even say anything to my friends about football. Yeah, I've not been able to talk about football.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, basketball up there too, right? Not really.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah, it's not the same.

[Pat McAfee]

Hockey. Chefs.

[Quinton Richardson]

I don't cheer for the Bulls because like once I got in the league, like that was. Was over with. I was a Michael Jordan, that era of the Bulls fan coming up. But once I made the league, it was like, forget the Bulls. White Sox, White Sox, Cubs, Blackhawks, everything else. Chicago. Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Everybody's good. All those teams are good.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah, we got championships and everything.

[Pat McAfee]

Since when?

[Quinton Richardson]

Check it. I don't. I mean, we have championships and everything and also you guys, everything.

[Pat McAfee]

And Zito just reminded me, Chicago native as well. We also have the post, so.

[Jeff Teague]

True.

[Darius Miles]

That's a good point.

[Pat McAfee]

God bless.

[Boston Connor]

Don't forget about the fire. They bought the Bears stadium land.

[Quinton Richardson]

Booyah.

[Pat McAfee]

So let's talk about the NFL a little bit since we're all talking about that or wanting to talk about that here in Indianapolis. We're in the middle of a massive transition. Obviously. Jim Merce passed away two weeks ago. Rest in peace to him and thank you to him for everything that he did for the city.

[Quinton Richardson]

Thank you, Jim.

[Pat McAfee]

And for the Colts. So many things behind the scenes that nobody will ever learn about. And I'm sure his family members don't even know about because Jim Mercy would literally just watch the news, see a story, and then he would have Pete Ward go and try to take care of it. And then he would tell the person, don't say Anything, because there's, you know, big tax stuff and everything else that could potentially happen. So just kind of keep it behind closed doors. Don't want to out anybody for anything. But that's literally how Jim Merce operated here in Indianapolis. So he passes on, he passes on the team to his three daughters. And we all wonder to ourselves, yes, these three ladies have grown up in the league. They've grown up around some of the greatest of all time at all the key positions in the sport of football and in the league of the NFL. When you talk about quarterbacking, they've had Peyton Manning here, they've had Andrew Luck here, they've had Bruce Arians here, they've had Clyde Christianson here. And the girls have been around all of them, talk to all of them, hopefully learn from them. When you talk about front office, well, Bill Polian was around for a lot of their developmental years where they were able to ask questions and learn from Bill Polian, who's a Hall of Famer in the general managing. And then I just mentioned a guy named Pete Ward. Pete Ward has been the CEO of the Indianapolis Colts or the president of the Indianapolis Colts since they got here in Baltimore, has handled so many different deals and negotiations and seen the league come from one thing into this mega, mega league that it is today. So when you talk about three girls that are potentially ready for the opportunity, I think the Irsay daughters would certainly be ready for the opportunity, but we have no idea how it's going to go. We saw one particular quote get sent around via Twitter, and basically everything they're saying right now is about how they're expecting to be the best. They're expecting this team to be great. They're expecting everything to get better than what it was. And she also talked about how some people have maybe made fun of her for wearing a headset on the sideline and have a play sheet on her arm and how she's been in different various things. Her quote about that was, how do you know who's making the mistake if you don't know what the hell is going on? She basically said, I was wearing that headset so I could learn how these things all take place. She didn't play football growing up. She didn't get an opportunity to be in the huddle or in the meeting rooms. And she has tried to take every opportunity to catch up on all the information. She said sometimes people will say a wide receiver ran the wrong route. Well, what if actually the wide receiver was tagged the wrong route and it wasn't the wide receivers fault. It was either the quarterback's fault or the offensive coordinator's fault. She's been on the headset for the last three years. There's been a lot of people that have questioned it, but all she's done is taken notes, realized what people have done, gone to meetings, tried to learn everything about it so that when she inevitably becomes the owner like she is today, she can be confident in her role. Here's her speaking about the standard of the Indianapolis Colts and I want to let the Irsay daughters know the owners of the Colts. I love what you're doing here early to set the precedent. My Google we are very confident. Having said that, I think, you know, as my dad said before he passed, you know, Chris and Shane know that they have things they need to fix and you know, we talked about not micromanaging people but also we have a standard here and it hasn't been good enough. And you know, winning is great but I would even take it a step further and saying, you know, we're really committed to to being the best and if we're the best, we will win games. And I think Chris and Shane are totally capable of doing that and we're confident that they can. I love what she's saying. Listen, we want to be the best. We don't just want to be good, we don't just want to win games. We want to be the best. Chris and Shane know that they need to do better. What did you hear there? Darius J. Butler?

[Darius J. Butler]

Like you said, it was a little more to the quote that I heard at least and just her speaking out on what the standard is. Obviously standards is championships and the long term commitment. I don't think she made any long term commitment to Shane and Chris. I think they get it done as well. But look, it's a standard of the standard. You got to get it done. This city is looking for another championship and looking for to contend. Pat talked about the great quarterbacks that we have here. We haven't figured that quarterback situation out since Andrew Luck left. So that's step number one. If you don't have a quarterback, you don't have a chance. But they've been getting prepared. My last year playing here with was 2017 and Carly was very hands on then. So I'm sure she's more than prepared to take on this role. And they've made some great moves this offseason. They really opened up the checkbook, especially that defensive side of the ball. Brought in Danny Dimes to compete. Starting quarterback job we'll see how that works. Drafted Tyler Warren. I'm super, super happy about that. Got some great pieces on the outside. Jonathan Taylor, one of the best backs in the league. So I'm excited right now. It is June, but I am excited about the Colts future.

[Pat McAfee]

Sure made a lot of moves. On defense aside, I think what you hear from Carly there about the expectation of being the best, sounds like she's going to be willing to pay though, too, right?

[Quinton Richardson]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Like, anytime you hear an ownership say these types of things, it's like, all right, that's going to fall on your shoulders as well on how we're able to get these contracts done. Feels like they're ready to go all in. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

I thought that was awesome. It was like, hey, listen, this is our money. This is our family's money. Like, I want to know if we're the coaches and the GMs that we're paying millions and millions and millions of dollars to. Like, I want to make sure we have the right guys. I'm not just going to, like, listen, I understand that I didn't, you know, grow up in the football world or I haven't been a coach or whatever the case may be, but it's like, hey, we're not just going to throw money willy nilly around and be. And be okay with that and just let a guy lose year after year after year. So a little accountability, like, it was awesome to hear.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And, you know, I talk about how MacKenzie's got some stuff to say, too. She can't censor herself. She's going to wait until it's just a digital.

[Ty Schmidt]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, getting it started early.

[Quinton Richardson]

She's going to be ready.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, she does. She. She can play the piano a little bit. She bats on it. But whenever you talk about, like, and this might be the wrong way to look at it, but I think whenever there's a new ownership or new management or anything like that, everything they do is setting a precedent. Everybody is watching everything that they're doing. Players, agents, coaches, front office, other teams. Everything they say and do is going to be magnified because it's the first time they're doing anything. A guy exits the front office shortly after Carly gets in there, she starts talking about standards and what she wants. It's like, I think these are all great precedents that are being set by the Irsay girls who now take over the Indianapolis Colts. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

I mean, they're saying all the right things, like when you. When new ownership, and it's not exactly like new ownership because they were born and raised and all this. So they. They know what to do. Their dad taught them a lot, but they were saying all the right things and I think setting the precedent and saying that, you know, Chris and Shane Steichen, like, it hasn't been perfect yet. They believe in them. Same. They said the same thing about ar. Like, his start hasn't been great yet. But they still. They said they showed they're not giving up on anybody yet. But they're saying, like, hey, the clock is ticking. We need to get this done now.

[Pat McAfee]

There's a couple times where Carly was giving an answer as Mackenzie has exited the stage. Good job, pretty girl. Yeah. Give us a round of applause. She's awesome. That is so cool. Anytime I get to see her. Whatever. What did you just mention there? The.

[Boston Connor]

About how they. They were. They said, hey, ar, Shane, Chris. It hasn't been great so far, but we still have hope in them.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So when she was talking at the press conference, you saw her. There was a couple times where she could have went one way or she went another way. And it was like, you see her trying to figure out, like, do I bury here or do I take high road? Or how do I word this particular high road? Because everything is magnified now. She's been doing media for the last few years. She's been at the owners meetings for the last few years. Whenever you are the official, official owner, you could be the owner, which I think they all were alongside Jim Mercy, I think it was the family. But now that you're the acting owner, she's the one from the Colts in the room. It's like. Feels like she's done everything she possibly could to be prepared. Got a lot of on.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yes, sir.

[Pat McAfee]

Nice.

[Connor]

Yes, sir.

[Darius Miles]

That guy's fired up.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, sir. Oh, that's engine 11. That's firefighters, fire department. Hey, we appreciate you. Hey, Engine 11. I like that. Good call. Good line there. It feels like she is in. And she's a lawyer, I think, originally. So we're talking about a big brain.

[Ty Schmidt]

Intelligent.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Talk about a big brain. All the girls, obviously, big brains. But, like, I think her willingness to want to learn. But there's a lot of people that want them to fail, for sure. I mean, I was looking at the Internet. There's a lot of people really that way. Yeah. They might be fake people on the Internet, might be bots. I think that there's a lot of.

[Boston Connor]

Fake stuff on the Internet.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a lot. There's a lot of. There's a lot of things being said in the same fashion by a lot of different accounts, seemingly, oh, okay. Much regular basis now than it had in the past on the Internet. But nonetheless, there's people that are going to want them to fail. I think they know that as well. I think they understand the position they're in and I think they're excited for it.

[Darius Miles]

Oh, and if you're some of the players on the team too, like we're talking about them, talking about Chris and Steichen, but if you're a player on the team that's been paid, you might have been comfortable last year, but now there's new ownership and they're talking about getting, you know, possibly having changes if things don't get better. Than if you're Jonathan Taylor, I won't go there with Pittman. But if you're some of those guys who are vets, who are Ballard's guys, I mean, you guys talk about all the time. They bring in a new gm, that GM is going to want his own guys in there. So even if you're one of those dudes who's been paid and you feel like you're an established vet and you're safe like that, that's just not the reality. So you also have to ball out.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, you talk about new GMs and how they operate. I just broke the, some Colts record, went into free agency. I was told by the new GM at the time, there is no loyalty between us. I did not draft you. It's like I thought I did pretty good. Okay. But I understand there is an arrest, there is a mug shot, there are some tweets. I could see where you're coming from. But with that being said, I like this place.

[Quinton Richardson]

I was pretty good.

[Pat McAfee]

You were in a, you were in an office somewhere else whenever all that was happening. But they do, they have their own vision of the, the team. Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen. A lot of pressure this year. I think that's how we like it. But I think there's also a lot of high hopes because there's a lot of talent on that roster and the Irsay family has paid a lot of people on that roster. So for them to continue to not make the playoffs and be a winning organization, I think we'll see that change. Let's go to another winning organization that has a lot going on right now. Pittsburgh Steelers have a new quarterback. His name's Aaron Rodgers.

[Quinton Richardson]

Little hesitation.

[Boston Connor]

Hey, shut up.

[Pat McAfee]

I think that's a boo of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not available.

[Boston Connor]

I think it's the quarterback.

[Pat McAfee]

A lot happening with Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh right now. Diggs, what is your take on how the Steelers Aaron Rodgers relationship has begun?

[Boston Connor]

Like, I mean, I don't. I don't have to get a take. Everyone saw the videos of him out there on the practice field yesterday, just absolutely slinging around. I mean, look at that. Have you ever seen a better throwing wheel to. And that's a. That's a four time NFL mvp.

[Pat McAfee]

Huge.

[Boston Connor]

You know that. Four time.

[Quinton Richardson]

Unfortunately, I do.

[Boston Connor]

And the Steelers basically got him. Oh, yeah, yeah. He's Chicago. I forgot that.

[Quinton Richardson]

You don't have to say that. Don't say that.

[Boston Connor]

He was out there slinging around yesterday. He was slinging to dk. The Steelers got DK Metcalf. Metcalf this year as well.

[Pat McAfee]

Easy for you to say, Mr. Matt. It wasn't.

[Boston Connor]

Wasn't easy. It was Mr. Metcalf. Aaron's not a. Not a. Not some MAGA guy. But no, they looked great out there. Yesterday he talked about to the media, he said, you know, he's done things for ego in his past. He didn't make this move for his ego. This was for his soul. He wanted to play for another legendary franchise like he did for the Green Bay Packers. The Steelers are very similar. Everything went well. Yesterday he said it started with Coach T. The respect for Coach T that he has is a big reason why he's there. And he's looking to bring number seven back to the city of Pittsburgh.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. He was asked what a championship would mean for him at this stage of his career. And he turned and said, well, this would be seven for Pittsburgh, right? Yeah. That's what it's all about. It's like. Great answer.

[Boston Connor]

Great answer.

[Pat McAfee]

He was also asked about a piece of jewelry, I believe. Is that an aura ring or anything else that. Wedding rings.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah, it's a wedding ring.

[Boston Connor]

Congratulations.

[Darius Miles]

Thank you. How long it's been? A couple months. Few more here.

[Darius J. Butler]

A few more.

[Jeff Teague]

Talk a lot.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, congratulations.

[Quinton Richardson]

Congrats.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Darius Miles]

Is he married then?

[Darius J. Butler]

Does that mean he's wearing a wedding ring?

[Darius Miles]

Is that he's married?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, for a couple months. You guys not listen.

[Pat McAfee]

If he's happy, we would like to let you know we are incredibly happy for you. If you're happy, no matter what the case is. You can see clearly he did not want to really talk about it. Let's move along. But it is very notable, especially when you're a quarterback.

[Ty Schmidt]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, because it's going to be.

[Ty Schmidt]

On there a little bit different. Different weight distribution.

[Pat McAfee]

Happy for Aaron, we're happy for you buddy. Let's talk about the Detroit Lions. Obviously this is the brand new Lions and because of that, Dan Campbell now is only 28 wins away from being the all time leader in wins for the Detroit Lions. Whoa, 28 wins now obviously 17 games in a season.

[Quinton Richardson]

This dude is awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, your thoughts as basketball players on like super meathead, like coach in football.

[Quinton Richardson]

I love the enthusiasm. I think he translates to his team. Like when he first came he was talking about biting limbs and stuff. I was, I was crying, laughing. But like you, you've seen different, different people like that in sports resonate with, with a group of guys and like you see the impact he's had on that team and I love it. Every time I see him, it's like he's the dude. Get your heart, your blood boiling and going.

[Pat McAfee]

So Carlisle is like a 10 attention to detail, accountability driven coach. I think, I think he's like pretty well known as being like a hard nosed coach. How many different styles of coaching is there in basketball? Feels like there's a lot of facilitators trying to make everybody happy. Feels like there's some. What was Phil? Phil was like a guru, spiritual master, Master. Carlisle was pretty attention to detail. Like what is the normal head coaching attitude?

[Quinton Richardson]

I think like you said, it's a lot of different ones, man. It's a lot. Some guys like, like you say, really get after it. And really the coaches that I like are the ones that don't back down. They're not afraid to get up in whoever faces they. I like the guys that address the top guys first and then it just flows down through the team. Because if you could check the superstar, everybody else gonna fall in line like he handling him like that. We know what'll happen to us. So like I like those coaches.

[Pat McAfee]

Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a three time NBA champion. His number is retired in Miami. Feels like he could beat everybody's ass in this entire state. Ladies and gentlemen, you Donnis Hasla.

[Quinton Richardson]

He came up here with the champion. He got a championship ring.

[Pat McAfee]

Holy.

[Quinton Richardson]

He got a championship ring on too. That's how you feel.

[Boston Connor]

And a watch. That is a nice watch.

[Pat McAfee]

You look clean.

[Darius J. Butler]

But TV ready.

[Boston Connor]

That suit is not off the rack.

[Quinton Richardson]

Look at him.

[Pat McAfee]

Holy.

[Quinton Richardson]

Nice shoes. Boy, look at east today.

[Udonis Haslem]

Thank you. Look, domesticated version. Domesticated version.

[Quinton Richardson]

You showed up to work today, boy.

[Udonis Haslem]

Look at that. What's up?

[Quinton Richardson]

Got a ring on. You see?

[Darius Miles]

Sheesh.

[Pat McAfee]

How many years in the NBA in total?

[Udonis Haslem]

20.

[Pat McAfee]

Geez.

[Udonis Haslem]

20.

[Pat McAfee]

This guy's going to be collecting his 401k soon as he's done with an NBA salary. You look unbelievable. The championship ring looks spectacular. Obviously, that's what we're all hoping for here in Indiana. The Pacers have never won an NBA title. Whenever you think about the grandness of that, is that something that the players think about, the weight the. Of. Of that you think is on the Pacer shoulders, or are they just worried about individual games?

[Udonis Haslem]

No, I think the weight of it is definitely on their shoulders. They understand they have a chance to make history. It's not easy to get to where they are. Obviously, I think nobody would have picked them to get this far. But me loving the underdogs. I picked the Pacers to win this series.

[Quinton Richardson]

Hell, hell, yeah.

[Udonis Haslem]

We love the underdogs. I pick the Pacers winning series. But if. If it's one thing that I do think they have.

[Quinton Richardson]

Let's go, Pacer. There you go. Final.

[Darius J. Butler]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

That'S good stuff.

[Udonis Haslem]

Yeah, great stuff. Great stuff.

[Pat McAfee]

We appreciate you doing that, too.

[Udonis Haslem]

Tricky, Ricky.

[Quinton Richardson]

Rick Carlisle.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, tricky.

[Udonis Haslem]

I think Rick Carlisle is gonna let these guys know what time it is. They understand the moment. They understand that they're fortunate to be in this situation. They will not take this for granted, and they will give their best version and give their best foot forward. So I'm with them.

[Pat McAfee]

You're undrafted, so I think that's potentially why you love the underdog story. I think you're also a guy that was a culture setter for teams. Yes. We have a guy named James Johnson. Have you seen this guy?

[Udonis Haslem]

That's my team. That's my guy.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Udonis Haslem]

He was my young fellow.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So that makes a lot of sense. With that being said, I've heard he has a black belt. Everybody just says, like, I heard he had a black belt. Like, he is a real deal.

[Udonis Haslem]

Well, I seen it first. I seen it firsthand.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. I love that. I'm gonna ask you about his role and you think the importance of. Because I watched it against the Knicks. So there was three Knicks fans that were sitting front row. I just so happened to be in those seats that were next to the bench. Felt like I was part of the team. We got a big win that night.

[Udonis Haslem]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so there was a timeout happening, and there was three Knicks fans that were front row. And this guy was a great shit talker, obviously, clearly out of New York, had a little bit of an accent, but he was targeting Tyrese Halliburton in his timeout. Loudly. Okay. Coming over my shoulder. James talks to this man says something horrendous. I would say something very, very, very. I mean, just a shot right across the bow.

[Udonis Haslem]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

That guy immediately turns his attention off of Tyrese, talks to James Johnson the rest of the game.

[Udonis Haslem]

That's leadership.

[Pat McAfee]

Bingo.

[Udonis Haslem]

That's leadership.

[Pat McAfee]

Like, I literally watched his role unfold in real time. Everybody thinks he's, like, a guy that'll come and clean up or like a body guy if there's a fight. But I saw him live, literally take a shit talker away from Tyrese. To him, that role seems to be very vital also. A lot of clapping, a lot of upping, everything like that. Is that the role? And is that how you kind of felt throughout a lot of your career?

[Udonis Haslem]

Yes. And that is a very important role. To be not only a protector, but also a connector. And James Johnson is a guy who not only protects those guys, but he connects those guys in the locker room. When we talk about being a part of something that I was a part of, when you talk about culture, that's a brotherhood. That is something that is not just built in practice from those practice hours. That is spent time off the basketball court getting to know one in each other's family, getting to know how somebody got to where they point. And also, it's something that me and James always say, have enough heart for everybody. Have enough heart for everybody. If this guy doesn't have enough heart, don't worry about it. I got you. If you don't have enough heart, I got you. Don't worry about it. We'll be fine.

[Pat McAfee]

I remember when there was a conversation, I think about Jimmy and spoiler getting into it a little bit, and I don't remember if you came out publicly and said or if everybody else was saying it for you. UD will fight for coach Bolstra, anybody?

[Udonis Haslem]

Yeah, I was gonna whip Jimmy ass. It's okay. And I love Jimmy. That's nothing against Jimmy. But before I let one guy take down this locker room, I whip your ass.

[Pat McAfee]

That's awesome. It's very evident why all your teams.

[Udonis Haslem]

There's 15 other guys here, got the right mindset. Before I let this one guy take down these whole 15, I'll whip your ass.

[Pat McAfee]

So we talked to Mark Messier the other day, and he's considered like, the captain, and he was giving a speech basically for the Edmonton Oilers if he was their captain. Do you find yourself doing the same thing for teams? Because I just heard your leadership on display for that one comment, let alone over 20 years in the NBA. Do you feel like you get in a moment where you're like, I wish I could say this to this team or this at this particular time.

[Udonis Haslem]

All the time. All the time. And that's why I got into tv. Because I sit at home watching games and I start to complain and throw shit at the tv. Excuse me, I started to complain and throw. Okay, I can say I started complaining and get frustrated at home. And that's why I got into tv, because I always have something to say. Even now with social media now, you can reach out to these young guys. How many young guys got DMS from me? And I ain't sliding in your DMs for the wrong reasons. I'm sliding in your DMs to give you advice. I don't even know you have never met, you have never played with you, but if I'm watching your game and you're not playing the game the right way, you might get a DM from OG about. That's that bull headed out.

[Pat McAfee]

You could have said it there. Once again, we figured that out. Would have loved it. And I like that you're sending DMs to guys and telling them, hey, on the defensive end, Q. Rich says it all the time. We need to bop some wood down there.

[Udonis Haslem]

Yeah, yeah, bop it. I don't know if I use the term bop some wood, but something like.

[Darius Miles]

That, you can probably take it after this bobbing wood. Everyone's doing it right now. You were. I think you still are in player development for the Heat.

[Udonis Haslem]

Yes.

[Darius Miles]

Do you just kind of look at, like, a player like Pascal Siakam, and show guys like, hey, this is how you can go through the G League, through. Do it the right way, and then, you know, become all NBA, become a champion. What is kind of your, excuse me, strategy for developing guys?

[Udonis Haslem]

One of my favorites, I love using guys like Pascal Siakam, guys like my. Myself, because at the end of the day, you got a better chance of being me, a Pascal, than you got to be in LeBron.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yep.

[Udonis Haslem]

That's just the reality of the situation. I think everybody looks at what LeBron is and what he's capable of. And I take nothing away from, you know, what he does on the basketball court and how hard he works. But at the end of the day, everybody ain't gonna be 6' 9, 270 and can run a 43 and can jump 48 inches in there. That's just not the reality for everybody. So I like to lean in on the hard work. I tell everybody, don't trust me. Regardless of What I say, I can say anything. Trust the work that you put in. The work is never going to lie to you. So I love workers. I'm always going to bet on the guy that's going to put the work in.

[Pat McAfee]

Work ethic's the greatest thing on earth. It's the greatest trait to have. Seahawkam, you talk about being 69, being able to run a 4 3. He's unbelievable. Oh, yeah, he's. He ran the Knicks off the court. I mean, it was very clear when he did the MVP. And his wingspan might be 8 foot. I. It's. He's.

[Udonis Haslem]

I'm gonna give you a guy bends that shit. Reminds me of a guy you play with, Reggie Wayne.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yes.

[Udonis Haslem]

Get out there. Go get it. Don't he. Just get out there and go get it.

[Pat McAfee]

Don't he.

[Udonis Haslem]

I know them Hurricane boys now. I'm a Hurricane guy. I know the Hurricanes that came through here. Edge, the edge of James, the Reggie Wade's. I know all them guys. I know you didn't play with ej but he was here, though.

[Pat McAfee]

I love Edge. I heard Edge speak at. He spoke at Mr. Ursay's funeral. It was maybe the greatest speech of the entire day. Very Edge, very you. Throughout the entirety while honoring Jim Merce. But yeah, the U has a great history here in Indianapolis. Reggie. So smooth. I think that is a great way to describe Pascal because he's just so damn smooth. D. But South Florida boy has a question for you.

[Darius J. Butler]

First of all, thank you for everything you did for the organization for Game 3 with the Panthers, even with Bam when the drum needed that big ass whooping. Thank you for that energy. But we talking about leadership, hard work, work ethic, all that. We had a conversation, I think about Mike Beasley with the one on one. You talked about if he was drafted to a different team, maybe things have went a little differently. I know. So like Heat culture, that's one of the buzzwords. Almost like Patriot Way in football. What is it really about being in that building With Riles, we had Bron on, he mentioned it too. What is you 20 years. So what is it about being in that building that's kind of different than other builders? I'm looking at some of these free agents, Giannis, kd, potentially on the move that could potentially fit in down there. What is it about that building who can't fit in it down there?

[Udonis Haslem]

The thing about heat culture is Heat culture is about something that's always gonna be bigger than you. That's the first thing and foremost when you step into Heat culture, that it's always gonna be bigger than you. Even the Superstars, it's going to be bigger than you. It ain't gonna be bigger than Riley, but it's gonna be bigger than you. So when you step into. So when you step into that arena, you understand. Understand you're stepping into an atmosphere where you're asked to sacrifice from the jump immediately. I understand what you did where you was at, Chris Bosh. I understand what you did when you was at LeBron. I understand what you did when you were here. D. Wade, that doesn't matter anymore. We all have to sacrifice. So when you talk about Heat culture, it's about sacrificing, man. And that's a foreign language to a lot of guys when they get in this position. It's easy when they say, q have to sacrifice or you d have to sacrifice. But then when the coach say, I gotta sacrifice this. Who, me? Me, too? No, not me. So now when you have 15 guys, 16, 17 guys on the same page, one accord, willing to sacrifice for one common goal, I think that's when you get into Heat coaching. A lot of times, you just don't have that in every locker room because you have superstars, but we had the big three and the little 12, and the little 12 was just as valuable as the big three, and you don't have that in every locker room. A lot of times you have the superstars and the other guys kind of just hang out over here.

[Quinton Richardson]

Now, I said from this point, because he's in a special unique situation. Cause he was there for his whole career. I'm a person that's been in a lot of different locker rooms and can speak to why that's different. Because you remember when I got there.

[Udonis Haslem]

Yes, I don't.

[Quinton Richardson]

He was there the first day when I got there. Him and James Johnson in the gym. I got straight off the plane. When I say straight off the plane, don't take me to no hotel, nothing. I got my bags in the locker room. First thing you do, strip down weight and body fat. Then you go run until.

[Udonis Haslem]

Until you throw up.

[Quinton Richardson]

And I'm not UD I'm not. When I got through that day, I.

[Pat McAfee]

Came down in the locker room.

[Quinton Richardson]

UD was sitting there. I'm over here just laid out UD and jj. UD say, I ain't even going too much about lie to you, boy. He like, they trying to see if you gonna quit. He like, they just throwing a kiss. He's like, they throwing. You ain't supposed to be doing the Stuff you doing yet? He was like, you ain't give up, though. He was like, he like, bill gonna take a picture of your throw up every day. I thought the workout was done.

[Udonis Haslem]

I done threw up down here because.

[Quinton Richardson]

He come walking down there and snapped the picture. Said. He said his, his. What's.

[Pat McAfee]

His.

[Quinton Richardson]

What's his quote? It's a great day to work.

[Pat McAfee]

Great day to work.

[Udonis Haslem]

Great day to live.

[Quinton Richardson]

Great day to live.

[Pat McAfee]

So it's not like that everywhere you.

[Udonis Haslem]

Say, no, no, listen.

[Quinton Richardson]

The thing, the thing that makes it different because, yeah, everywhere you go.

[Pat McAfee]

Can you win in 2025 like that? 2026?

[Quinton Richardson]

Yes, yes, you can. Yes, you can. But, like, the difference is this. Cause like, I've been playing places say like, like Bill, the guy we talking about, he comes say, dude, you gotta work out, you gotta lift. He gonna tell you that and walked away. Other places, you got people that's gonna try and massage the situation and work with you. And we could work. Nah, look, this what you gotta do. If you don't want to do it, go up there and talk to Pat.

[Udonis Haslem]

It's frowned upon. It's frowned upon for the guys that quit. It's frowned upon and not be in shape. Yeah, it's frowned upon from the other 14 guys. So before Pat has to say something. Before supposed to say something, the guys in the locker room have already policed this situation.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know how if you quit.

[Udonis Haslem]

Now, then you could quit in the fourth quarter.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know how you. I love that. I just got back from Parris island boot camp for the Marines and love everything about it, but it's like that's their mindset is like, we need to. It needs to be hard now because whenever we're out there together, obviously it's different than a basketball game or a football game. But we're going to need you when we're out there. So we're not scared of hurting your feelings right now, because we're going to need it inevitably. I do wonder in basketball if in 2025, 2026, that can go because I think Carlisle kind of has a similar operation and they talk about the cardio. JJ Redick mentioned it with the Lakers.

[Quinton Richardson]

We need to be in better shapes playing no games out here. Popovich, before he stepped away, wasn't playing no game.

[Pat McAfee]

They had.

[Quinton Richardson]

It's. It's places where there's a real culture in place. Obviously, obviously, Miami is a standard, but I mean, it's still pockets of teams around the league that operating that way.

[Darius Miles]

Well, how did it work with Shaq then? Because it felt like, at least in Shaq's documentary, he would basically talk about the first two months of the regular season is when he's just getting into shape and then by Christmas, he's living. How was it in Miami with Shaq then?

[Quinton Richardson]

How was it?

[Udonis Haslem]

They had to alter it a little.

[Quinton Richardson]

Bit for big fight.

[Udonis Haslem]

He wasn't on the same. The 5% body fat scale like everybody else.

[Quinton Richardson]

Then he used to put oil on.

[Udonis Haslem]

We'll get into that. He got. He got down to about 10, 12 body fat, which was great for him.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes.

[Udonis Haslem]

But he used to put baby oil on. So when they try to pinch him.

[Quinton Richardson]

They used to slip. It used to slip.

[Udonis Haslem]

So he probably was about 15. But after it slipped, it was about 10 to 12.

[Quinton Richardson]

The best is when I got there. No, when I got there, they was. They would tell the stories of, like how they had. How they had to get a new scale because he would. He would try and hide the skill. They had the joint. Did you.

[Pat McAfee]

What was it?

[Quinton Richardson]

You got animals on these scales. Right.

[Pat McAfee]

This is the move. So we had guys that would be trying to get around the scale. Every Friday it was a weigh in. So Thursday nights, guys were drinking. The things that you do before you do a colonoscopy, just so you. Your pants out, let it all night you out. Aq Shipley is the person I'm referring to. He had to lose like £12 every Thursday night. He'd get on a scale and he would try to sneak just one finger on the thing in front. You could lift off like five pounds if you just press. Like making all these rules. It sounds like Shaq with the baby oil was, was the right place. I think AQ Shipley maybe should have been lubing up a little bit. Yeah.

[Udonis Haslem]

But 7 foot 3, 300 pound, greased up at least 300. I was like, yeah, you go ahead, take your body fat by yourself. I'm going to just wait outside.

[Pat McAfee]

Connor has a question for you.

[Darius Miles]

With that era, the shot like you played through both of them. There's. There's old clips coming out of the finals in, you know, 2006, and there's two guys on the block and now everyone's out on the perimeter. How was that transition for you as a player? And just kind of watching the league change, as you know, from 2006 for the next 20 years.

[Udonis Haslem]

I mean, fortunately for me, I was undersized anyway. So once the league starts to change a little bit, the guys that could guard multiple positions kind of came into play, I was one of those guys that guarded multiple positions. The thing that changed for me was when the three point line became the most important thing, you know what I'm saying? It was just, we don't want anything but dunks and threes. We don't want any mid range. So once the mid range got taken out of the game, I think that changed my career a little bit. But I think you made some threes, though.

[Quinton Richardson]

That was crazy. I couldn't believe that. But you made some threes. You know me.

[Udonis Haslem]

Perception ain't reality.

[Darius J. Butler]

Mid range kill.

[Pat McAfee]

How are you able to shoot with that pinky?

[Udonis Haslem]

Oh, this one?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Because it feels like that would. Yeah, but I feel like that would jab.

[Udonis Haslem]

Not at all. Not at all.

[Darius Miles]

Pop the ball.

[Quinton Richardson]

That's just like a guide hand. It ain't really doing much.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but I mean, that thing's not guiding anything. It's saying turn right.

[Udonis Haslem]

Just put it on the side of the basketball.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. How long has finger been like that?

[Quinton Richardson]

He said that pinky game.

[Udonis Haslem]

Long as I can remember. Long as I can remember. What's the point of getting it fixed? I'm probably gonna break it again. That's what I said. I'm just gonna break it again.

[Pat McAfee]

Jersey or bass? Basketball.

[Udonis Haslem]

Basketball.

[Pat McAfee]

Just bang.

[Udonis Haslem]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

How many busted fingers in basketball?

[Udonis Haslem]

I've broken them all. They've all been broken.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, carrying around all those rings. A little heavy down there.

[Udonis Haslem]

They've all been broken. But guess what? Never missed the game. Never came out.

[Pat McAfee]

Hell yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Boom.

[Quinton Richardson]

That's what I'm talking about.

[Pat McAfee]

Has a question for you.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. Ud, you've been so. On so many good teams. You talked about all those teams that went to the finals. I mean, you had as an 18, you guys went to the finals. You went Shaq and Wade, the big three. What was the one constant with all those teams on why they went to the finals? And do you see that in either of these two teams?

[Udonis Haslem]

We weren't the best team, but I think we were the most. We were the most connected team. Yeah, we were the most connected team. And that's what I learned from the great leaders. I think all the leaders that I played with, the Shaqs and LeBron's, the Alonzo mornings is regardless of how good you are, how good you coach, if you don't really mess with your teammate like that, if y' all don't really get along, if y' all haven't created a brotherhood of. In this locker room, because I tell you what, it's easy to punch in from one to two, or whatever your hours are. But when you're playing for a brother instead of a teammate, it just takes it to a whole nother level for you. So I think the power of connection, and that's what you guys have here.

[Pat McAfee]

Come on.

[Udonis Haslem]

These guys are talking about Indiana. The power of the brotherhood.

[Pat McAfee]

Come on.

[Udonis Haslem]

You know what I'm saying? To me, that beats a talented team seven days a week and twice on Sunday. I'm taking the brotherhood. I'm taking the connected guys.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, you picked the Pacers in this. Here's guys.

[Darius J. Butler]

No, on that note, like, obviously, lifetime Heat fan, you were there 2011 heels. You go up against the Carlisle coach team. What is it like being in the trenches against a team that's coached by him? Obviously, I was a much different team, very different makeup, but I feel a lot of similarities with this Pacers team. What's it like being in the trenches?

[Udonis Haslem]

I'm telling you, Tricky Rick is a hell of a coach. Rick Carlisle is a hell of a coach. And not just off, because we talk about what they do offensively, but defensively as well. He threw a zone at us in that finals, and you would think that 15 grown men can score on a zone. We didn't know what the hell to do. Went all the way to the finals and could not score against a zone, out of all things. So Rick Carlisle threw that. So, you know, for me, I look at Rick Carlisle and I look at that team and I say to myself, he's the X factor. You have a lot of guys. You have Obi. Who's gonna step up? Benedict finally got it going last game. He's a guy who you depend on offensively as well. Miles Turner got it going. But I think Rick Carlisle is the X factor.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, let's talk about Dags on the other side. People saying he's an incredible coach. Obviously, he's younger than Coach Carlisle for the Oklahoma City team. What do you see from their squad that he potentially brings?

[Udonis Haslem]

He's a hell of a coach. And also he's a Gator. So go Gators. I gotta give him that now.

[Quinton Richardson]

I gotta give him that.

[Udonis Haslem]

Gotta give a him.

[Pat McAfee]

You guys might have a football team again.

[Darius Miles]

Basketball champs.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Basketball champs. Might have a football team again, too.

[Darius J. Butler]

Quarterback.

[Darius Miles]

Oh, yeah, that qb.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. And also Napier's like, culture, like. Yeah. Settle it in.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah. They turned it around.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes.

[Boston Connor]

Not give up last year.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes.

[Udonis Haslem]

Yeah. But I love what he does. And one thing, what I'll say about Dagono is how you can tell that he's a good coach is he got a young team playing the right way on both sides.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Udonis Haslem]

It's not just playing offensively the right way. They play defense the right way. They hold each other accountable. The five guys on the string, you can tell. Guys are rotating and pulling triggers. You can tell. They go through dummy defensive practice. Yeah, you can tell. They dig the elbows. They take their 2.9. They do everything. So they're very well coached.

[Pat McAfee]

Digging elbows, Bopping wood. That's coach Carlisle. Yeah. Yeah.

[Udonis Haslem]

I wonder what's going on.

[Pat McAfee]

What should we look for? You guys need to. To relax with the way you think about stuff. You guys are saying we're talking basketball. This is sports program.

[Udonis Haslem]

That's what we doing.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I'm talking basketball. Bop wood. UD what should we look for tonight at the beginning that's going to indicate who's going to win this game? Can we tell?

[Udonis Haslem]

Well, I think both teams are going to be more settled in. I think we only. We've only had six lead changes in two games, which is crazy. You know what I'm saying? Six lead changes in two games total is crazy. So I think this will be more of what we're accustomed to, a lot of lead changes. I do think Tyrese Hallenberg will be a lot more aggressive in the first first half to set the tone of the game, even if it's not in full court and half court. I think he needs to target those bigs in the pick and roll. They're in the drop coverage. That way he can get to his pull up three. You also got the throwback to Miles Turner, so he needs to attack the five man on the other end. When I look at OKC man, I was a little disturbed because once again, I picked Indiana. It was scary to me that they went on that run in the second quarter without sgn the game. That. That made me a little nervous if I'm Indiana. So I'm looking for those guys on OKC to look at that lineup and say, okay, we went on a 192 run with SGA on the bench to finish out the second quarter. We can go with this lineup a little more. So I'm looking for them to play that small lineup with just one big. But they have Wiggins, Casen, Wallace, Caruso and J Dub running the point. That was a good matchup for them. That was a good lineup.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, we'll look for that. Obviously, need to pick and roll with the big man, pitch it, do the whole thing. Got the five hole. You can hit that. Yeah. Dig elbows Out.

[Udonis Haslem]

Chop wood, Bob Wood.

[Pat McAfee]

We appreciate you so much. Are you on TV today or are you just always dressed?

[Udonis Haslem]

I'm on TV today, but this is domesticated og.

[Quinton Richardson]

No, it ain't. Don't try to get him fooled. Now listen, he show up and he look presentable, like he's supposed to be for work. He dressing in flip flops. If he ain't doing this, he got flip flops comfort going.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. As he should.

[Quinton Richardson]

Chicago turn Florida, boy. You don't wear gym shoes. No.

[Udonis Haslem]

With flops all the time. Once again, once again. I just look like this. Don't run up on me on the streets playing. That's not. I'm not the guy.

[Pat McAfee]

It just look like now you are the guy.

[Quinton Richardson]

We class in 98 too, you know, we same class of high school.

[Udonis Haslem]

This guy been playing against each other.

[Quinton Richardson]

For years, since 15. That's when we first met each other.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, in basketball. You guys, like in high school are basically playing against guys that you know are going to make it, right?

[Quinton Richardson]

We met each other in new. What was it? Teen New Jersey at abcd. Adidas.

[Udonis Haslem]

Kids, we got this thing we say real recognized, real. So when I got to the camps, I'm like, don't want to hang out with those guys. Don't want it. Them Chicago guys look like the kind of guys. Them look like my kind of guys. These Chicago guys look like our kind of guys. You know what I mean?

[Pat McAfee]

Jeff Teague buried Chicago in the first hour. I don't know if you heard him. Yeah, he buried right to his face. Well, he actually was looking this way.

[Boston Connor]

Said Indiana's better at basketball.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Indiana's better at basketball.

[Udonis Haslem]

Indiana ain't got no chips.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, ladies and gentlemen, Indiana ain't got no chips. A man who's won three NBA titles, cultivator of culture, incredibly fly looking tough guy, ladies and gentlemen. Udonna. Thank you.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah, Appreciate. Appreciate you.

[Udonis Haslem]

Thank you.

[Jeff Teague]

Yes, sir.

[Darius Miles]

Thank you.

[Udonis Haslem]

Thank you, gentlemen.

[Jeff Teague]

Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, Q Rich. Hey. Thank you, ud. Q. Rich. Thanks for just crumpling that plastic bottle. That's what that was. Yeah, just. Just squash a plastic bottle right into your microphone.

[Quinton Richardson]

Oh, my bad. I didn't know I did that.

[Pat McAfee]

No, it was awesome. It was a nice little. It was a good moment. Kept it alive. Ud's a dog. Oh, yeah.

[Quinton Richardson]

Since day one.

[Boston Connor]

V dog, you said?

[Pat McAfee]

Since he was. You're 15 years old. You guys know each other?

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah, met each other. It was NBA camp, actually. NBA camp Teaneck, New Jersey. Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Him just talking about the culture. So much more similar to football than I realized, because I always just thought down there.

[Darius J. Butler]

What's that down there in Miami?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But then he started talking about here in Indiana. Then we start talking about Oklahoma City. They start talking about Missoula. He started talking about all these other coaches that are like, ime, I think, is also a hard nose coach. It's like basketball is much more accountability driven than I imagine, because I always thought it was just. I mean, yeah, I play pickup basketball. The guys who are on the floor are the ones that are going to side this. It's like there's so much more to it if you want to be great.

[Boston Connor]

I love hearing that Q was like. When it was the Heatles big three, like, was he the leader on the team or was it D. Wade? Do you know?

[Quinton Richardson]

I don't know who they would say, but I know he was one of them.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Quinton Richardson]

It's not a locker room that he's been in, and he's not going to be one of the leaders. That's just those type of things are natural. You can't just pick and choose. That just rides and he's. You can see it. It oozes out of him. He's a leader. Everything about him, he shows leadership. And any room he's in or team, he's going to be a part of, he's going to be one of those guys.

[Pat McAfee]

I love hearing that leadership matters because I think sports kind of create those at a more rapid rate than anywhere else. Listening to Mark Messier. What was that yesterday?

[Darius Miles]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I just want to ice skate through a wall. And then you got UD in here talking about what players need to do and teams need to do. He said he's sending DMS while watching games. Can't be having it. That's not our league. I love the care, I love the compassion, and I love the leadership. And I also love that we're getting free food, I think. Yeah. I believe they're bringing some food. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe the Gainbridge field house, the official chefs of the arena, wanted to make us some food. I'm not 100% sure what. Yes, sir. Come up, please. Thank you so much, Chef. Chef, Chef, Chef, Chef, Chef, Chef, Chef. Thank you so much. Hell, yes. Okay, Chef Albano, you got it. Chef Albano, can you. Can you turn it again? Right over here. Face this way so we can get you on camera. Showcase that beautiful face. Chef, Chef. What do we have here surrounding the Larry o' Brien trophy? So Levy's bringing to the table today to support this wonderful championship run. Here we got some awesome food. Hell, yeah. Levy. Thank you, Levy. Steve, we're gonna start out with our three point combo. You've got Italian meatballs, Italian beef and chicken parmesan. Oh, three point combo. This is Steph Curry in food.

[Darius J. Butler]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, next up, we got our Indiana pork stir. We've got a grilled brat bacon jam, a crispy pork tenderloin, bacon, and a little bit of spicy brown mustard on there. This sandwich has a bone in it. I don't think that is. Now I have to do a little demo here for you, Pat. Okay, hold on. Let's make sure the camera gets it because it feels like this meat might be moving. Go ahead. All right, so We've got a £1 brontosaurus bone here.

[Boston Connor]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Slow smoked overnight. We're serving it on the bone. But watch this, watch this.

[Darius Miles]

Let me see.

[Quinton Richardson]

That was insane.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, good meat burn right off the bone. All right, right here. This is for our friends from Smoking Goose, just down the street. Locally crack crafted pork belly and cheese curd sausage killer. Wow.

[Darius J. Butler]

Pork belly designer glizzy.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that is super glizzy. And last item here, a little different. This is a tuna pokey nacho. Oh, really tasty. Not the hokey pokey.

[Boston Connor]

That's some fresh tuna.

[Pat McAfee]

The tuna pokey nachos. These look delightful. Chef Albano, thank you so much for bringing these out. Thanks for sliding your meat off there. And this is unbelievable work by you guys and the entire crew. Thank you. Go pastors.

[Darius Miles]

Yes, sir.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you, Chef. Thank you, chef.

[Darius J. Butler]

Chef got some pizzazz to him.

[Boston Connor]

Where did they fly the Italian food in from?

[Pat McAfee]

There's no Italians really out here in Indianapolis. But, Gary, who would I be not to eat Chef Albano's meat here before we get out of here? We have about eight more minutes here on ESPN before we go digital. And what I want to let you know is going to happen in digital portion of this church is going to try to accomplish the impossible, which is make a few shots in the wind, which I've heard is going to be a difficult task.

[Boston Connor]

Feels like it's died down.

[Pat McAfee]

We'll also talk to the co host of the knuckleheads podcast, Legendarius Miles, who is here. And we'll also break down everything else happening around the sports world before we head off to digital land on this beautiful NFL finals. Wednesday, June 11th. Let me take down this slow roast overnight meat that Chef Albano brought out here. Would you like to try some of this kosher meat?

[Quinton Richardson]

I think. I think DB Wanted to try to design a glizzy.

[Pat McAfee]

Here's a little pork tendee with a little bacon mash.

[Darius J. Butler]

Swine, my brother.

[Pat McAfee]

Here's a three point. Here's a three point Meat. Meat for you.

[Darius J. Butler]

And then they got a chicken parlor.

[Pat McAfee]

This is the Tuna hokey Pokey, which I think we should keep right here. I think we should keep that probably in here.

[Connor]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Cheers to Chef Albano. Cheers to the Pacers. Cheers to the city of Indianapolis.

[Darius Miles]

Cut this.

[Pat McAfee]

And we appreciate the hell out of the free food. Pick it up.

[Darius Miles]

And I'm supposed to just pick up the entire.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they don't.

[Darius Miles]

They don't cut this thing.

[Boston Connor]

No.

[Ty Schmidt]

I believe that tuna is actually fresh catch as well.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, you don't want to go in that canal. Just a heads up. It's a direct path to jail from what I've been told. Even if you didn't go in. Allegedly. Allegedly. Allegedly.

[Quinton Richardson]

That's.

[Pat McAfee]

There is a story. Never mind. Let's talk about some good happening around the world. Jeffrey. Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, is donating $50 million to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for an autism research and development. Thank you, Jeffrey Lurie, for doing that, especially with how much we're learning about autism and the numbers of people that are having this at. It's more rapid now than ever before. Jeffrey Lurie putting up his own money. 50 million. It's the largest donation, obviously, in this field. To do some research behind it and hopefully combat it a little bit is a beautiful thing. I always like when rich people do the right thing.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah, that's awesome, man. Definitely, like you say, autism is a huge thing and we're becoming more educated about it. So that's definitely to a good cause.

[Pat McAfee]

Especially as somebody who has a two year old. You know, I have a daughter and hopefully continue to grow the family. It's like these are always things you got to think about now with like, her development and other kids that you meet. How's it going? Jeffrey Lurie said, let's at least try to play a little defense again.

[Quinton Richardson]

It.

[Pat McAfee]

I love that not always are billionaires, you know, philanthropic with their money. A lot of billionaires potentially do things to offset other stuff, and they don't actually want to give. This feels like something of genuine want. This is just like how Jim Ursay operated. And I think if you listen to the speech that was given at the funeral with a lot of the other owners, there's a lot of people saying, like, hey, if you have the means, you should. That's kind of what Jim Mercy operated like. And I love to see other owners doing it as well.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, it's awesome. Like, you talk about it and it's definitely growing and growing, growing. 50 million, I assume, is going to go a long, long way. You talked about it being the. The highest donation of all time for that. Like, owners, like, was. Was he at the funeral?

[Pat McAfee]

No, I do not believe he was.

[Boston Connor]

Because I was saying I wonder if he was, you know, little inspiration by. Yeah, yeah, though.

[Pat McAfee]

Draw a little inspiration. I hope that comes and I hope the world continues to get better by people who are in a position to make the world better. Let's talk about some good stuff happening in baseball. Did you hear about a home run robbery, Ty? I believe there is a highlight maker playing baseball right now. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Denzel Clark for the Oakland days is an absolute beast. You can see this is L. Nolan Chanel. And this might be the best catch in the last 50 years.

[Darius Miles]

Phil.

[Ty Schmidt]

This. This dude got called up like two weeks ago. Two, three weeks ago, like, I think. Yeah, like May 26th maybe was his first day in the bigs. He's had three of these highlight catches already. Here's another one against Toronto. I believe he's actually from Toronto just robbing another homer casually, like, you know, you see the first one, and he makes that one, which is an incredibly tough catch. He makes it look so easy. And then the last one, everyone talks about that one against the A's being the best one. I think this is his best of the three against the Orioles. Just full send right into the.

[Pat McAfee]

Broke the wall.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, exactly. And to hold on to the ball through that. Like, this guy is arguably already the best center fielder in baseball. He's only been in the show for like three weeks. So just so. I mean, the A's absolutely stinks. So this is kind of the only thing to watch when you're looking at the Oakland A's.

[Boston Connor]

The pitcher's reaction every time is awesome.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

The pitcher knowing that they just gave up a home run or a big hit and then him saving their life is fantastic. Same picture on two of them and then a new one. Yeah. So they love this guy. So this is Golden Glove awards?

[Ty Schmidt]

Without a doubt.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And is there a Golden Glove in every position?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so if he doesn't play the entire season, you said he just got caught up a couple weeks ago.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Is he still in contention for set awards because of the highlights and because how he played?

[Ty Schmidt]

So Golden Glove is. Is more like fielding percentage.

[Pat McAfee]

It's.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, they. They definitely, like, take into account guys making plays like this. But it's, but it's pretty much like how clean is he going to play? If he's not having a bunch of errors and he has a high fielding percentage, then he'll have a good opportunity. But obviously for baseball, you make a couple catches like this and kind of get on everyone's radar.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

There's a good chance that he's going to win a Gold Glove this year.

[Pat McAfee]

And they're playing in a minor league park this year, right? Correct. Okay, so he's climbing minor league walls. I can't wait to see him climb all the walls. Yeah. Maybe get some pinstripes on him, huh? Or Pittsburgh Pirates.

[Ty Schmidt]

We're okay with our center fielder right now. His batting average is absolutely dog shite. So he's kind of a one dimensional player at the moment, which is okay. It's okay.

[Pat McAfee]

He's in Oakland.

[Ty Schmidt]

But yeah, he, why not? I'll take pinstripes on him.

[Pat McAfee]

Q. Rich, you live in Florida. Do you golf at all?

[Quinton Richardson]

A little bit. I'm toying with it. Getting better.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. You know what's happening this weekend?

[Quinton Richardson]

I do not.

[Pat McAfee]

The hardest tournament of the year is happening in the beautiful eastern hills of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The U.S. open in Oakmont, a place that used to to Cadia as a young buck, is primed and ready to kick some golfer ass this weekend.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, caddy, they're going into my senior year of college, unfortunately. Drank, did you do this?

[Ty Schmidt]

No, I did not.

[Boston Connor]

You know, the, the greenskeepers are the highest of high jobs. There they are. They're held to a different standard than the caddies, but they've talked about all week long how the rough is insane. There's videos of all the golfers dropping it in the rough and not being able to get out and stuff like that. There was a golfer yesterday who putted it on one down the hill 120 yards to about 3ft. All the golfers are saying that this is the hardest course that they have ever played. Rory said he shot an 81 here last week and didn't think he played very bad. He said he birdied the last two to shoot 81. So yeah, it's going to be awesome. The Dentist. The Dentist. Matty Vogt leads everything off tomorrow morning with the first tee shot. So that'll be fun. But yeah, it's going to be awesome all the time. Weekend long in Aucoin, Penn. 90% of the Corso is in Plum, Pa. Just so everybody.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, everybody knows Plum Senior High School is where the Ballers ball. And the players play. Yeah. In the east hills of Pittsburgh, they will host the US Open this weekend. Scotty Scheffler, the odds on favorite because of how great of a golfer you have to be to win any U.S. open. We continue here in Indianapolis, Indiana, as the NBA Finals are here for the first time in 9,126 days. We appreciate all these people hanging out. We appreciate you watch at home. We'll continue on YouTube, ESPN Plus, Disney plus and tick tock live. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice that might change their life. Pacers in six. We'll see you tonight.

[Boston Connor]

Connor really got him going.

[Pat McAfee]

So, Connor. Now it's just us. Now. Now it's just us. Yeah. Now it's just us. We're no longer on tv. We're no longer on the air. Sports televisions across the country, cafeterias and all that type of stuff. Did you feel like they performed better in the second hour? I think fans had a great hour.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah, no doubt they performed better, but when we're talking, like, I don't want to take lines from her already, but Carly Ursay Gordon, right? She said the standard is the standard.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, I thought Evan Cohen said that.

[Darius Miles]

No, sorry, that was.

[Pat McAfee]

Evan Cohen said that.

[Darius Miles]

Dan Orlovsky from Evan Cohen. One little different. I would never say what Dan says because he is such a potty mouth for one, but two, I hate the guy. But think about three here, okay? You know, standard. You never know. We all depends on the day.

[Darius J. Butler]

I love standards.

[Darius Miles]

The standard. Okay, so what the Patriots fans have done, which has been great, it can't be the same because we're talking about the Thunder fans who are way up here, levels above everybody, which is just.

[Pat McAfee]

What people have said.

[Darius Miles]

I'm not saying the other basketball coach, Rick Carlisle, said that too. These fans are different.

[Pat McAfee]

Carlisle.

[Darius Miles]

So if Indiana wants to get there, they got. They got to be different. The whole let's go pasters. It only works so many times. Maybe they better have a. A different type of chance.

[Pat McAfee]

Listen. Listen to this. Andy. Ah, not bad. Pretty daunting. Pretty d. Not bad at all.

[Darius Miles]

You going to be out there.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, that's what sba.

[Darius Miles]

You leading those.

[Quinton Richardson]

Andy.

[Pat McAfee]

Coach Daggs is like, turn it down in here. I hope so.

[Boston Connor]

I've never heard that before.

[Darius J. Butler]

They get a little louder every time.

[Pat McAfee]

Andy. Feel that ain't making.

[Quinton Richardson]

I like it.

[Darius Miles]

I hope so. If Dagano knows anything about coaching, which.

[Pat McAfee]

He does, that's not.

[Darius Miles]

He's going to have them ready.

[Boston Connor]

Did the Clippers even have fence?

[Connor]

I Can't remember.

[Pat McAfee]

Damn.

[Quinton Richardson]

Hey, come on, come on. Don't do that. We had fans. I mean, we were the little brothers. We were in the background while the Lakers were winning three piece. So I. We got it. But you know, we started a little movement and now you see what's going on.

[Pat McAfee]

The wall. The wall.

[Boston Connor]

You been out to the wall?

[Quinton Richardson]

No, we can. Me and D. Miles got a lot to do. Do with the early years.

[Pat McAfee]

I was in the Intuit Dome Saturday, this past Saturday I was in there.

[Quinton Richardson]

Phenomenal place.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. And Ballmer's focus on toilets. I had to run and go to the bathroom during show.

[Quinton Richardson]

Didn't miss a moment.

[Pat McAfee]

Not a single. There was no line because I have to go to a place in the arena normally closest to the commentator's desk. I'm going into the public's bathroom. I'm going to the bathroom with the WWE Universe during most shows. Have somebody with me. Are they security? Not really. They're just like kind of a producer. It's running alongside of me. So we run in there. Normally everybody's kind of blindsided by it. Like, whoa, whoa, whoa. And I'm like, excuse me, can I get in front of you to piss? Because there's normally a line or whatever. Have to have that conversation every single week. Ballmer's place. No lines.

[Quinton Richardson]

Wow.

[Shams Charania]

Of course.

[Pat McAfee]

Right in there to pee. It might have been the greatest moment. The most convenient arena I've ever been in in my entire life. Does that mean the Clippers are ever going to win or No?

[Quinton Richardson]

I hope so.

[Pat McAfee]

I hope so.

[Quinton Richardson]

So they deserve it. I mean, Bomber too, but I mean the people that have been there for a long time, you know how it is in these organizations, man, they deserve it. They, they like when. You gotta understand when we first got drafted and you, you were pro. Think about this. We practiced at Southwest Los Angeles Junior College.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you told us about that. Yeah.

[Darius Miles]

Good place.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's a nice facility.

[Jeff Teague]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Darius J. Butler]

Top 10 Nice part of town, bro.

[Quinton Richardson]

My high school school. My high school facilities were better than that. I'm not lying. We couldn't take showers after practice. We would have to put towels on our car seats and ride to home and go take a shower wherever you live.

[Pat McAfee]

In the NBA.

[Quinton Richardson]

In the NBA. And then the next facility we got was like a. It was called a Spectrum Club. But it was like basically like a high end 24 hour fitness or something. It was like you would come out of practice and be like 70 year olds getting there, getting their milkshakes and stuff at the. Over here. Like, then they got their office at one time.

[Pat McAfee]

That's crazy.

[Ty Schmidt]

Because he spared no expense.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Quinton Richardson]

All of la and he still didn't give us the facility.

[Pat McAfee]

That was a way since he was.

[Boston Connor]

A really good guy.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah, I've seen that from the Clipper Show.

[Pat McAfee]

I was at the ESPYs after that. After the whole thing. Oh, yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Sterling. Yeah, yeah.

[Darius Miles]

The phone calls and.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Voicemails.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's what it is. We learned a lot about Sterling. And Drake was the host of the ESPYs.

[Connor]

Oh, right.

[Pat McAfee]

And he sang a song. Sterling Never Loved Us. Something like that. And everybody started singing. And I'll tell you what, I became an enemy where I was sitting. I want to let him know I'm not on Sterling's side. I'm on everybody. I'm on. It might appear. I understand. It might look as if I'm. I am not. He didn't love me either, this guy. I don't think he loved anybody. To hear that you guys were practicing in a junior college gym, though, that is a wild thing. That's like what was happening in Cincinnati for a while. Cincinnati Bengals, for a long time, had to travel down to the University of Cincinnati to practice in their bubble. So they were in the Super Bowl. They were going to play in the super bowl against Los Angeles. Rams won the afc. Improbable win with Joey Burrow being a dog. It snowed so bad, they didn't have an indoor facility. They had to travel to the University of Cincinnati down the street to prepare for the super bowl to play the biggest game that you could potentially be in because they didn't have anything. They have since put up a bubble, so they have an indoor facility.

[Darius J. Butler]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

New people in charge. They've obviously paid Jamar Chase. They paid Dee Higgins. They paid Joey Burrow. They have a team that's ready to go. Now we're learning about the Shemar Stewart situation where they're putting a clause into the contract that nobody else has. We talked about this yesterday because Florio has reported the inside look at why Shemar Stewart hasn't signed with the Cincinnati Bengals fans. And we just read this, talked about it, talked about how ridiculous it was. Cincinnati Bengals fans are not happy with us talking about this.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, what else is new?

[Pat McAfee]

They're not happy with us talking about this at all. They're saying that we are a part of the problem, that we are the ones that are just blindly following. I believe I was called a bootlicker by some of these Bengals fans, and I'm like, What are you doing supporting a team that didn't even have an indoor facility when your team was in the Super Bowl? And now trying to wedge a closet and nobody else does. And also a Trey Hendrickson situation. Now they clearly point out TJ Watts not at minicamp. Are you going to talk about that? We have, but Trey Hendrickson has come out publicly and said, hey, let's get this sorted. The Bengals are right back into a Bengals situation. I feel like Duke and them will be able to figure it out, especially with this new Bengals feel. But it's wild that they seemingly go through the stuff that nobody else goes through.

[Boston Connor]

Also, TJ is going to get paid. Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't.

[Boston Connor]

It feels like Trey may not get paid. Our owner, the Steelers owner, didn't come out and say, you know, TJ should be happy with what he's getting paid right now. The Bengals, they did do that. It's not like this is a one off with Trey and with Shemar Stewart. This has been a long, long time. Remember they were charging $700 for the watch parties and stuff like that. You know, you talked about the indoor facility, but this is not a one off for the bank. It's not like we're making shit up. And, you know, they've been this first class organization for the longest of times. So the Bengals fans are the worst. We've said that many. They're the worst fans in the NFL. I think we can agree with that.

[Darius J. Butler]

Coming from a Steelers fan.

[Pat McAfee]

That guy, that guy.

[Boston Connor]

The Bengals jersey gave me a thumbs up. He's like, you're right. So, you know, this is, I don't think classic.

[Pat McAfee]

I think you're a good fan. Well, now, with that being said, it does feel like your fans.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, they get disrespected.

[Pat McAfee]

The easiest, the softest. Yeah, I don't want to say the softest either because they're Ohio, you know, So I don't want to say they're soft, but they do feel personally offended a lot for things that they shouldn't be offended by. They should ask. They should be asking the same questions we are of their ownership. But I think they feel a loyalty to ownership to fight and they do for a lot of things that they should not be fighting for. I think it's also another like not having an indoor facility. Facility. We were getting attacked for mentioning that. It's like, you should not be attacking us. We are trying to make your team better here. Every other team in a four season climate has an indoor facility in 2020, 2021. So like you guys not having it, you shouldn't be attacking us for pointing this out. You should actually be wondering why your team that you care so much about is doing things at that level. That's how I feel. But some Banglas fans are like, nah, there's no reason to attack because Shamar Stewart's lucky to be a Bengal. He should want that clause in there and if he can't play, he shouldn't be paid. It's like, well, nobody else is doing that well. That's because the Bengals are smarter than everybody. It's like, that is, that's not how it works.

[Darius J. Butler]

This is a perfect example of them bringing it on themselves as an organization. You talk about the Shemar Stewart situation like this is something we all know is going to get figured out, but it's not like they're debating between or negotiating between 5 or $10 million a year on a contract. This is something going into a rookie contract and you're trying to put a brand new clause in this guy's contract that you've never done with anyone else before. And then if you look at this prospect specifically off the charts talent wise, but didn't have a ton of production in college, you drafted him in the first round. So this is a guy that needs every rep he can get in the off season and you're going back and forth about something that's going to get figured out. The T.J. watt situation. We see, you know, this type of situation in the NFL, in the NBA, probably everybody year when it comes to, you know, trying to reset that market, to get up to a number that has reset the market. So that, that'll get done I think as well. But it's your Mark Stewart situation. Just another thing in a long line of bungle mishaps.

[Quinton Richardson]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Boston Connor]

By the way, the last time TJ sat out mandatory mini camp, he kicked the door down to get his deal done and then he set the record for most sacks in the season.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, so you should do it again. Look for that Aaron Rodgers quarterback too.

[Boston Connor]

Four time MVP Aaron Rodgers, five time.

[Pat McAfee]

You're singing quite a different tune, it seems like this week.

[Boston Connor]

Well, that's my quarterback. I'll take a bullet for that guy.

[Pat McAfee]

I, I did tell him that I didn't want to phrase it as if you win because I don't want to add any negativity. But I texted him, I said, when you win for the Steelers, that city will murder people for you for the rest of your life. That's right. He has not Responded, but I know the message got to him. Okay.

[Boston Connor]

I was super worried. I sent it in this week and there was an article about a 41 year old man who died doing ayahuasca down in Peru or something. I was worried it was Aaron for a second but then they tweeted he was at camp.

[Darius J. Butler]

So like we're good teaser peas.

[Boston Connor]

That was right. That was, that was right next to each other.

[Pat McAfee]

I do wonder if we're still ayahuasca.

[Ty Schmidt]

I think he may have closed that chapter. He's a married man now. He found himself.

[Darius Miles]

Unless he got married to the mother.

[Pat McAfee]

Mother. Ayah.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah. Committed his life.

[Pat McAfee]

Think about it. Marrying ayahuasca. Ayahuasca.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah. There's a chance if he's happy.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, we're happy for you, Aaron.

[Quinton Richardson]

I don't know what that is.

[Boston Connor]

See?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You don't know what that is?

[Quinton Richardson]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

Does feel like quite a Caucasian thing. Yeah.

[Darius J. Butler]

Jordan Poyer.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh true, true, true. Jordan Poyer is a big, big advocate of it. Basically you go down into the jungle, okay. And there's some teas that are created by natural ayahuasca plant down there. And basically it is a spiritual experience that is to reset kind of how you view life and change perspective. I guess it's been happening for hundreds, thousands of years or whatever. Aaron went down there. I think he was looking for some answers. Looking for a different light. I think a lot of military folks do it. A lot of people with PTSD do it. It's been around very long time. I think you, you go through a lot to get to the point of the DMT being released and you getting to the life ultra experience. But I think, I think it's a. I think you. It's coming out of the attic and the basement. I think you're same time experience. Same time.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know I'm talking about euphoric. We're talking.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah, yeah, I'm. I'm good.

[Pat McAfee]

But it changes your life and I think Aaron gives a lot of credit to it for changing his mental and his perspective on things. And after he did it, he want to win the MVP two times. So it's like he's a big advocate for it. I don't think everybody's just supposed to do. I want. But I do believe if you have some stuff going on, it has been an answer for some people and for others not. No, I don't know if I have the commitment to do it.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah. I never heard of it.

[Pat McAfee]

No.

[Boston Connor]

I take inedible and have to call an ambulance. So I don't think I should be doing.

[Pat McAfee]

Your heart does say, get me out of here.

[Boston Connor]

Weak mind, weak heart. Can't be doing.

[Pat McAfee]

Strong man.

[Boston Connor]

Thank you. That's what they say.

[Pat McAfee]

Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a basketball legend. Everybody knows his name. What you don't know is the fact that he has a size 18 shoe and he's had that since he was 16 years old. Ladies and gentlemen, co host of the Knuckleheads podcast, legend Darius Miles.

[Darius Miles]

Miles.

[Quinton Richardson]

No Shake. I ain't shaking your hand.

[Ty Schmidt]

Put this over your shoulder here.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Boom, boom. Hey, you didn't want to walk all the way down there because the knees are hurting.

[Connor]

Yeah, yeah. Yesterday, you know, he.

[Quinton Richardson]

Bone on bone, no cartilage and either.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

How tall are you?

[Connor]

Six, nine.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, let's talk about it. How tall were you in sixth grade?

[Connor]

About six foot, five, ten, something like that.

[Pat McAfee]

Six foot five, sixth grade.

[Connor]

About sixth grade. About five, ten, six foot around that time.

[Pat McAfee]

And whenever you got to high school at the age of 16, you had the size 18 foot.

[Connor]

Yeah, when I was wearing the 18 when I was like in sixth, seventh grade.

[Pat McAfee]

So we all knew you were going to grow into it and become this massive man.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And on the basketball court in high school, obviously McDonald's All American Superstar legend, went to the NBA out of high school. You kind of knew that. Everybody knew that. Whenever they were kind of direct directing.

[Connor]

You as a high schooler, people used to say it, but where I'm from, you can't believe until it be right in your face, in front of your eyes.

[Pat McAfee]

How was the NBA experience as a high schooler?

[Connor]

It was great. I had the opportunity to get drafted with Q. We got the opportunity to go to the same team. So after the draft, our first private jet, we got on the jet, flew from Minnesota to la and you know, it made it an easy transition to having Q and Q A and, and Corey and these guys that I played against or was bigger brothers to me, being the opportunity to play with them.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I couldn't imagine being 18, 19 years old. Like Miles Turner has been here for 11 years and he's 29 years old. So he literally came to the city as an 18 year old, 19 year old, given a lot of money, given a lot of expectation, and then also a huge workload, which is what The NBA is. 82 games, traveling on the road, everything like that. That what doesn't get talked about enough, you think about the NBA experience, is it how grueling and grinding the entire season is? Because I don't think that gets chatted about because of how big you guys are with how much you have to run and travel and rest, let alone on planes with you eating your knees. Like everything you do. Is that kind of not talked about you enough, you think?

[Connor]

No, it's not talked about. I think I seen some with Paul George where the this year his body just wasn't working right. Right for him where he couldn't really get the opportunity to get out there and play. You don't know the strain and the wear and tear you give your body. You have to eat right, you have to get your proper rest. There's a lot of stuff that come with it that you don't see. You just see when the game come on at prime time and you expecting us to deliver and sometimes your body just won't let you deliver.

[Pat McAfee]

How about the ayahuasca? You do that? Who? Connor has a question for you. Yeah.

[Darius Miles]

D. Miles Cooper fly is going to come in at 18 years old. You know, I think he obviously reclassified to go to Duke and you know, now he's going to be one of the younger guys picked one. It feels like in recent memory. How long is it going to take? Because with Wemby it was kind of a, hey, get ready, Wemby's coming. But now it's been two years. The spurs haven't been in the playoffs. Obviously he missed everything after the All Star break last year. But it feels as though a lot of times, especially those top guys, if you're not good immediately it's what the hell is going on with this guy? What? How long do you think it'll take Cooper Flag to kind of get to a level that everyone's like, okay, he's arrived. And what is the biggest learning curve you think from, you know, high school to the NBA is all the time you have off. I know Pat and D, but have talked about it with the NFL. A lot of free time after that first season. Yeah, you got free time, but what is the biggest difference you think?

[Connor]

I think the best thing for Cooper Flagg is that the Dallas Mavericks got the number one pick. Me and Q got drafted to the worst team in the NBA. These guys won 17 games out of 82. Him getting the opportunity to be coached by JK, have AD there, have Kyrie there, a team that's ready to win now it's an easier transition to kind of plug him in and not have have a big expectation for him right away. Like if he would went to Utah or the Wizards, everybody expects him to come in average 30 triple doubles and all that stuff. And it was gonna be hard because they were gonna get in they butt whooped. So you know what I'm saying? The best thing he got in this situation is the Dallas Mary got the first pick.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, what is the. Will he be able to do his in the NBA? You think he has to put on weight. I remember when Kevin Durant came out out of Texas, they're like, he's too thin, too thin. He's gonna have to put on weight. He hasn't.

[Connor]

This, this era you don't have to have weight. It's back in the day when you had real power forwards and real centers in the game that, that was super strong as far as Oakley's and stuff.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, let's talk about it.

[Connor]

Like you had to put on weight. You had to put on weight to compete with them. But this day just more about a skill. It's more on a perimeter. Even the center is pretty on the perimeter. And shoot jumpers love it or hate it. The game. Yeah, I love, I love the game. I love every, every stage of the game. You know, from the, from the 70s, from the 80s to the 90s to now. It's just, you know, it's evolving, you know. I wish I could have got a chance to play in this we not.

[Quinton Richardson]

The OGs on the port saying get off my lawn versions of the we like all versions. We understand.

[Connor]

Yeah. This game caters to what I did when I came out. I was a tall 6, 9 guy who can dribble. Play on the perimeter was fast.

[Quinton Richardson]

He would be nuts in his area.

[Connor]

It caters to my game. Like I was more of the prototype coming off of KG, getting drafted at 96. To me, getting drafted in 2000 to seeing the Kevin Durants and these guys that being 6 9, they can shoot, dribble and do everything.

[Pat McAfee]

Size 18 Foot shaking people would be wild to watch. Yeah. I assume those things. Yeah. Oh yeah, for sure. Bopping wood for sure. Go ahead, Ty.

[Ty Schmidt]

I guess this is for both you guys. Did you have any idea of the cultural impact this was gonna have when you started that? You'd have, you know, like sixth graders in Iowa, white kids who went to Catholic school doing it after.

[Pat McAfee]

That's Ty. He's talking about time, he's talking about himself.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, we were all doing it. We were all doing was the tightest shit ever. Did you guys have any idea that was gonna take off the way it did?

[Connor]

No, we didn't. But one thing I do appreciate about this era. Cause we got like kinda how AI got crucified for the things he did with the tattoos and the cornrows. We got kind of crucified for celebrating when we was one of the worst teams, you know what I'm saying, in the league. So we didn't have. Have the best of record. We had a decent record. We was coming up, but we celebrated on teams and you know, back then that was more offensive to teams. Like teams took that a certain kind of way. But if you look at the league now, guys got their own signature celebration. They celebrate after every three pointer, throwing up threes, all this stuff. So I just feel like we just helped the coach out transition to another level.

[Quinton Richardson]

And we really do. Like you say how you the reach of it? It was no social media, none of that. So we didn't know until like, you know, you come back all of these years later and we create a podcast based on that and you see the response like that's like we. That's when we really got to see like, damn, like they was really, you know, rocking with us. And then everybody doing that, like, throw one up do like, it's like, yo, that's crazy. And then like you say hella, hella stories about guys that are now young adults to a full adults. That was like, yo, man, my whole sixth, seventh grade team used to do that. Like, whether it's, you know, people like, we had a big following in Asia. They was making comic books of us over there that we didn't even understand what they were saying because it was all in like, in Japanese and stuff like that. So it was like it was looking back in hindsight and coming to the point, it was like, damn. We really had a lot of people running around doing that and we had no clue.

[Darius J. Butler]

Blue.

[Pat McAfee]

One of the greatest celebrations of all time. I mean, easy to do and looks cool. Yeah, you know, easy to do and looks cool. How do you feel about John Morant's grenade? I'm sorry, Sorry, not grenade. He's taking the words other people said, throwing them out and then he doesn't want to hear him. He doesn't want to hear it. We love it. We actually did a full brainstorm for him. Whenever there was a conversation about him no longer doing the gun, we said, listen, we need John Morant playing. We don't need suspensions. We don't like like that. You're being unfairly targeted in your eyes. But this is your life. You got to deal with it. Get a sword out. Yeah, chop somebody's head off the head Off. Anything you want to do.

[Connor]

I'm a big friend. It was. It was. It was cringy when I seen it for the first time, but.

[Pat McAfee]

What?

[Connor]

I just want the grenade.

[Pat McAfee]

No, it's a throwing of the words.

[Quinton Richardson]

No. I thought it was going to be another suspension. I'm glad it wasn't. I just. I'm like, yo, I just want to see the kid play and be great.

[Connor]

I want to see him get back to superstar status, you know, because he. He has the game. He has the aura around him to be there and just leave all the stuff off the court alone.

[Pat McAfee]

Agreed. We need him as a superstar. Keep doing your thing. Jon Darius has a question.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah, speaking of kind of off the court Jordans, he talked about the cultural impact of the celebration. We know the cultural impact of Jordan, and you guys been team Jordan for a long, long time. How did that come about? And what was that like? Yeah, remember? How did that come about? I want to know. How did that come about?

[Connor]

We doing our draft, and we was getting drafted. We've always been Nike guys, so we expected to be with Nike. But, you know, back then, the contract, shoe contracts and stuff wasn't big. It kind of hit a little point at some point, so. And one was sending us a bunch of goods trying. And one was. Was just trying to get everybody sending us a bunch of stuff flooding. So they. We had so much stuff that only thing you could wear was. And one, because they were sending it every day. So we had. We went to Santa Barbara camp. We was going there since high school. Every summer, we going to Santa Barbara.

[Quinton Richardson]

Michael Jordan flight School.

[Connor]

Michael Jordan flight School. So we get to Santa Barbara, and Mike see us with the N1 girl. And he was like, man, I thought y' all was Nike guys. We was like, yeah, but they ain't giving us no deal. We thought we was gonna get a deal, too. And he was like, yeah, I don't know about y' all wearing that. So he's like, all right, I'm gonna make a phone call for y' all. So we went back to the hotel. Next morning, our agent called us, was like, man, what y' all do? He was like, what? He was like, man, Nike just sent me a contract where they gonna pay for your endorsement, but you gonna be sponsored by Jordan. And, you know, the roof went off after.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes.

[Connor]

It was another knock at the door, and we getting, like, five. You know, them old school TV boxes that was like this, like, five boxes full of just Jordan J. My grandmama was wearing Jordan. That's Jordan we was getting.

[Darius J. Butler]

That's crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's talk about the Knuckleheads podcast a little bit. How often do we release them? Q Rich, how long has this been going and what is the plan?

[Quinton Richardson]

I don't know when we started it. I get asked it a lot.

[Connor]

We started five and a half years ago.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's go.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah. So right now, we in the middle of renegotiating our contract. We are no longer. We had five, five and a half dope, dope, amazing years with the Player Tribune, but now we are leaving the Players Tribune, and we are in the midst of signing with new folks.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, this is up to something season, okay. Yeah, up to something season okay. I like that.

[Connor]

We looking for, you know, these NBA type deals, free agents.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's talk about some of the free agents. Agents. Giannis is going to be moving potentially. I guess that would be a trade, not a free agent. Miles Turner is about to be a free agent. He's about to get paid here. Kevin Durant, potentially on the move. What are your thoughts on any of the big names that could be, you know, shifting?

[Connor]

I feel like I feel Giannis should stay. You know, I always felt LeBron Cleveland championship was always bigger than any other championship he won in any other city. When you win the championship in the. A smaller city, it means more. It's almost like that's a two, three.

[Pat McAfee]

Hell, yeah.

[Connor]

It almost means like one championship is like two, three championships in this. And I feel like he can get the most money in Milwaukee. They will eventually build something to brown him, and I think it'll be good for him to stay.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, we appreciate the hell out of both of you for traveling up here. Q Rich, will you shoot a couple shots here for maybe some giveaways? Where do you want to shoot from? Would you like to shoot from the stage? Would you like to shoot from down on the court?

[Quinton Richardson]

Going shoot from down on the court. I ain't like you. I ain't nice like that.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, okay. Okay. Well, before the show started, you know, I had to test the waters a little bit. The hoop looks big. Q Rich, I think your microphone works down there too, right?

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, you want to head down mobile. All right.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah, it was working.

[Pat McAfee]

D. Miles, anything to say to Q Rich before he attempts to win some people some money?

[Connor]

You know, this is my oldest. This is my oldest boy. So you started that.

[Quinton Richardson]

Bop the wood. Do you hear what you started?

[Connor]

This is my oldest boy, so I got a lot of faith in him.

[Pat McAfee]

G has faith in him.

[Darius Miles]

G. Rich, hold on one Second bouncy ball.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a. That's a rubber ball.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah, very bouncy rubber ball.

[Pat McAfee]

A little bit windy. We will say there's a little bit of a breeze.

[Quinton Richardson]

You got double rims out here. That's okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, well, yeah, double rim makes you a better shooter. You will have a. We have five balls here. How many shots will you make?

[Quinton Richardson]

Two, I hope.

[Pat McAfee]

Two and five.

[Darius J. Butler]

You got the high school three point line.

[Darius Miles]

Yeah, that's high school three.

[Quinton Richardson]

Where am I shooting from? I'm just standing.

[Pat McAfee]

You pick.

[Quinton Richardson]

I don't care where you want me to shoot from. Black.

[Pat McAfee]

That's not me. Is he talking to me?

[Quinton Richardson]

Two of them.

[Pat McAfee]

Three point line.

[Quinton Richardson]

This one.

[Darius Miles]

Fight me.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah, that's good.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, hold on. Were you. What's his nickname? Just so I know who we're talking to.

[Quinton Richardson]

Oh, this is Darius Niles, AKA the Blackest one. You know when he was in the Perfect Score, his co stars all went on to become Marvel Captain America and Marvel heroes. So we was wondering why they didn't bring him and make him a superhero. So I donned him as the Blackest One. That's his superhero name.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Shout out. I don't know how to operate.

[Darius J. Butler]

I could be a part of this faction.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't. I don't want to point things out. I'm not saying it.

[Connor]

It's okay to say the blackest one.

[Pat McAfee]

The blackest ones. Two. The blackest twos.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yes.

[Darius Miles]

Maybe three.

[Pat McAfee]

We got one Bland milk and anyways, he thinks you're gonna make the shot.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. I'm not saying second. Is that a good shot for you? Cuz I. I need to judge how many you're going to make. How many shots? What's the number two make for the giveaway? I need a lot of information here.

[Connor]

Out of five shots.

[Pat McAfee]

Out of five shots.

[Connor]

I think he's going to make two to three.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so the overall took the ring.

[Connor]

Off because of the ball. Because of the ball.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, it's a rubber ball. So if you make.

[Quinton Richardson]

That's terrible.

[Pat McAfee]

If you make three. Yeah. G Rich, if you make three of these shots, we will give 30 people $500 who are currently watching at home. All you have to do is use the hashtag Pacers in six and screenshot the screen after he makes three out of five. Q Rich, I would like to wish you luck, sir, as you attempt the imposter possible. With the wind the way it is.

[Quinton Richardson]

Do I get a warm up?

[Pat McAfee]

Would you like a warm up?

[Quinton Richardson]

I'll take one warm up. Just to See where it's going on.

[Pat McAfee]

If the warm up doesn't go in to the show now I'm back to the show. It was great talking to you guys though. Nobody else could hear us. If you would like to take the warm up, it would not count if it goes in though. We have to have some sort of rules and regulations here.

[Quinton Richardson]

That's cool.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so you would like a warm up up?

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Ladies and gentlemen, Q. Rich, a man who is a three point shooting champion in the NBA is opting for a warm up to kind of gauge the wind. Go ahead.

[Quinton Richardson]

Yeah. See?

[Darius Miles]

Oh, yuck. This is your guy, Darius.

[Pat McAfee]

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

[Quinton Richardson]

Be worried.

[Pat McAfee]

Would you like another gauge shot hot?

[Quinton Richardson]

Nope.

[Pat McAfee]

You would not like another one?

[Quinton Richardson]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, Q Rich. If you go three of five, 30 people will win $500. You're watching it home, Q Rich.

[Darius Miles]

All right, we're okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Got four shots in.

[Boston Connor]

Three or four.

[Darius Miles]

There's one.

[Quinton Richardson]

That's the end.

[Ty Schmidt]

Boom.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, let fly. He is one of two.

[Darius J. Butler]

Let's go.

[Pat McAfee]

All right.

[Darius Miles]

You make these two?

[Jeff Teague]

Yeah.

[Darius J. Butler]

These next two are good.

[Pat McAfee]

Good pass in rhythm.

[Connor]

There it is.

[Quinton Richardson]

Oh, no.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, no. Oh. Oh, no.

[Quinton Richardson]

Do you feel that, Pat?

[Pat McAfee]

The wind has certainly picked up. It is a bit breezy out here at the bicentennial.

[Quinton Richardson]

Oh, Jesus.

[Connor]

He like an old school car. It just take a minute to warm up.

[Pat McAfee]

One more here. Let's see.

[Quinton Richardson]

That's when.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, geez. It is Windiana.

[Quinton Richardson]

Windiana.

[Pat McAfee]

And I'm from Chicago. I'm from the Windy City. I mean, we set you up for failure here. It is breezy.

[Quinton Richardson]

It is. That's okay. You got, you got, you got, you got to get me back to the Thunderdome indoors.

[Pat McAfee]

Hold on, hold on. K. Rich, just act like we're doing something here.

[Darius J. Butler]

Have you tried that tuna yet?

[Pat McAfee]

So I think the tuna pokey nachos here are so damn good. Man, what a show it's been, hasn't it? These people have been great out here. It was good. Beat slide. Now, to end the show today, I think it's only right that we watch one of the greatest basketball shooters of all time kind of do is thing. Oh, we're sitting in the middle of like a 20 mph wind right now. 15, 20 mph wind gust out here at the bicentennial Plaza outside a beautiful gamebridge fieldhouse in lovely Indianapolis, Indiana. If you've never been, please come to our city. We are incredibly dog friendly.

[Quinton Richardson]

They got dogs out here.

[Pat McAfee]

There's a service dog right here hanging out. Put him to sleep dog over there. But to end this show in this wind, I think if Q Rich is able to make one three point shot, okay, I think 25 people should win $500.

[Darius Miles]

Sounds like a fair.

[Pat McAfee]

This will also be an omen on if the Pacers will win this evening.

[Jeff Teague]

Oh, man. Oh, man.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

This is a Universe ball and a 25, 500 winner ball.

[Quinton Richardson]

He's trying to be booed out of here right now.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, crowd, would you like this to be a Universe ball? Sounds like crowd is in unanimous decision. They do want this shot to count clearly one more time. Let's take a vote. Would you like the fate of tonight's game to ride on this particular shot here? Yes. They're saying.

[Quinton Richardson]

They're saying no.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you so much for doing that. 25 people can win $500 and the Pacers are guaranteed to win tonight. If Q Rich makes this shot to wrap up this glorious.

[Quinton Richardson]

This time, I'm gonna get them back.

[Pat McAfee]

NBA final.

[Darius J. Butler]

I'm gonna throw these out to everybody.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. For the people.

[Darius J. Butler]

Guarantee y got.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh. All right. Ladies and gentlemen, just like the people said, that shot was not an indicator on what tonight was going to be. Big thank you to Quentin Richardson for joining us today.

[Udonis Haslem]

That ball looked like a tumbleweed back in those.

[Pat McAfee]

Feel that G. Big shout out to Darius Miles. Stopping by Sham, Sharania Saba. Jeff Teague was here.

[Darius Miles]

Hell yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You guys has always here. And all you wonderful people stop by. We appreciate you so much. Toxic table. Great work. A.P. tone, good job. Darius Butler, incredible. Back in the truck. Good work, boys. Back in the truck. Everybody that set this up from ESPN and the production crew, Scott with the jib, the whole team with audio, camera, staging, lighting, you name it. We appreciate the hell out of you. Great work. Not easy to Captain Elnicki. We appreciate the hell out of your service. To you, Indianapolis, Indiana, you're the man. Thanks for hanging out up here. And to all you watching at home, know tonight on abc, in that building right there, there's going to be an electrifying environment. There's going to be a team that wants to get back in the lead of this NBA Finals. And there's going to be a sport play that this state loves through and through. That's a bald head of Q. Rich. This is Larry o' Brien from all of us here at Indian at Home. Sports are amazing. The NBA Finals are tonight on abc. Go Pacers. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice that might change their life. We're in this thing together. Team on me yeah. Team on three. Q Rich. Cureth. Curett. Curett. Be in the team.

[Quinton Richardson]

Oh, my bad, my bad. I was trying to get some friends back.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I understand. Hey, you did a great job today. The Pacers are going to make more shots than you. Thank God for that. Team on three. One, two, three. Team goodbye.