
Loading summary
Pat McAfee
Hello beautiful people and welcome to beautiful Indianapolis Indiana. More specifically, feel the Painbridge field house. The host of tonight's game four NBA Finals. This show starts now. Finals are happening right here in this building this evening and one man did not yell alongside everybody else. That is because one man happens to be a three time NBA champion, a 20 year NBA vet, an undrafted absolute dog, ladies and gentlemen. You Donna's has them. I appreciate it. Yeah. Okay. Just wanted to show those off a little bit. I appreciate that. Did not have those on during our walk up to this particular landing where we were doing the show. Soon as we got here he had bagman or maybe ringman, I don't know. I don't know who he is. He pulls them out on the desk and it's like UD is going to wear one of these. And I think the conversation was you need to wear all three of those. You've earned those. Those are what everybody on the court tonight will be hunting. The Indiana Pacers have never won one of those rings. They've never been able hang a banner saying they're the greatest in the NBA. And they're currently up 2:1 in a series against the number one overall seed, Oklahoma City Thunder. Now there's lightning storms outside. Notice how I did not say it's thunderstorms because we do not need what's going on outside to come into here tonight as the Thunder are sitting at five and a half point favorites on ESPN Bet. Six point favorites basically on every other sports book. And they were six and a half as of yesterday. If it would have remained six and a half they would have been the biggest favorites in the NBA finals in like forever or something like that. So you're talking about a team getting no respect yet again in their building in Tyrese. Halliburton, Pasco, Siakam, coach Carlisle, niece Smith, Nemhard, who's an obs. Hey, this guy goes real nem hard dude. This guy goes real nem hard dude. No big pro, no big deal. And it should be electrifying. A lot of stuff going on around the sports world. Obviously with the NHL Stanley cup finals last night, Florida Panthers are supposed to take a commanding lead. We'll talk about that and we'll talk about all the drama around the NFL. We have George Kittle joining us here in a little bit to chit chat about tight end university. Obviously that is something that he has headed up for the tight end position. I think they've made leaps and bounds both business wise and obviously on the field. Can't wait to catch up with George, who just signed a massive deal with the San Francisco 49ers. Sham Sharania will join us in about 10 minutes or so. He'll probably break some news, piss some people off, get shit talked about him, and then he would end up being right down the road. The toxic table is here at Boston. Connor and at Ty Schmidt. Ty, love the shirt. This is Indiana.
Ty Schmidt
This is Indiana. And I'll tell you what, it feels a little bit different today. You know, the last couple times we've done the show from down here, obviously, you got the crowd, you got all the Pacers fans going crazy. I like this feeling. It's kind of the. The calm before the storm, if you will. Now, we're not gonna say what type of storm.
Pat McAfee
The calm before a Halliburton storm.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, you can say that.
Pat McAfee
Maybe Coach Carlisle. Tricky Ricky Storm.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
You know, I'm gonna call it a.
Boston Connor
T.J. mcConnell, a Matheran storm.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, it just. It really does. You know, I think everyone loved, like, the idea the Pacers win. Hey, underdog. Nobody believes in them. And then after game three, now I think the. The collective kind of feel feeling around the Pacers has shifted. It's like, hey, here we go. You know, they actually might do this thing. I'm incredibly excited, and I think they know what's at stake. I think Tyrese knows what's at stake. I think all the boys do. And I think we're going to see a very spirited performance from the Pacers tonight.
Pat McAfee
Let's go to one half of the Hammer done. Cowboys ud. Fucking keep up. One half of the Hammer done. That's team Guy Aptone. Hembo sent me these stats. If the line was to hold at +6/2 for the Indiana Pacers, it would have been the largest home underdog in the finals in recorded history since 1991. Now it's down to five and a half on ESPN. Ben, it's at six. On all the other sports books, if it would have remained at six and a half, would have been the largest home underdog in the history of the NBA Finals, which I think goes to the kind of this conversation about the pacers. Oklahoma City is.08 against the spread on the road this postseason, which is the worst such record in single postseason in the history of the NBA. Tonight, five and a half or six. One half of the Hammer. Dad. Cowboys, AP Tone, what are your thoughts on the lines tonight?
AJ Hawk
I think.
Pat McAfee
Oh, no, your mic's off. Oh, no. Oh, no.
AJ Hawk
He's still off. Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. We can't hear you. Oh, no.
AJ Hawk
Check one.
Pat McAfee
Oh, shoot.
Evan Fox
Good catch.
Udonis Haslem
Did not play football.
Pat McAfee
Handheld. Please turn it on. Okay, there it is.
Boston Connor
Pacers have been basically disrespected this entire playoff run. We go back to, you know, the, the Cleveland series when they were minus or sor plus nine and a half on road. On the road against the Cavs, they were dogs against the Knicks a bunch. And then they started this series plus nine and a half on the road against the Thunder. And then five and a half last game. They've won two of the first three games. They are still plus five and a half at home. They are still dogs in the series. The Thunder are minus 220 to still win the series even though they are down to one. And you talked about the Thunder. They have not covered on the road yet as a favorite, but they also haven't lost two in a row in a very, very long time. Since 2024 we've talked about. So tonight, once again, it's one of those situations where something could break. Will it be a close game? Will they win a close one or whatever? I don't know. They haven't covered on the road and the Pacers have been doubted all season long or at least playoffs long. So it's an interesting. They are still being disrespected. Like this line is disrespectful. The series line is disrespectful.
Pat McAfee
And UD teams love that when they're disrespected, right?
Udonis Haslem
I love it. I love it. And I'm sitting there and I'm telling the Pacers, do not change the point spread. Keep it, keep it exactly how you had it. Don't change it now. Stay your bad luck asses over there. We fine over here. We don't want you to come over here now. Don't come over here now.
Pat McAfee
Teams know about it though, right? Or talk about it, especially in this modern era. Now obviously you play for 20 years at the beginning of your career, sports, gambling spreads everything like that. Very much frowned upon in our sport in baseball, obviously in hockey, in basketball. But now it's just like kind of more common conversation. Players know about the spread and if they're being underdogs especially or disrespected in this particular fashion.
Udonis Haslem
And you use it, you use every single bit of. It's so damn hard to win a championship. You need every angle, every edge, every inspirational quote, every win one for the Gipper speech, bring it all to the table. When you're trying to win a championship, you don't know the depths of hell I've dug to to get these three things. Locking yourself in the room at night, nobody is around. The room is dark and it's quiet. I have not left the room all day. It's been dark in here, but it's light out there. Just to get these things, you have to go 0 dock 30. So use it.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, I love that. How about you? Just trying to find anything. Hey, do you hear what that guy said down the street? He said our team was ass. Let me go ahead and tell the boys that. People think we're ass down the street. Let's go to college football. National champion, super bowl champion Rodder cup winner. A man who drove through the storms to get here to Indianapolis Day. What an honor.
Udonis Haslem
Yes, it is.
Pat McAfee
Ladies and gentlemen, AJ Hawk Hoggle.
Evan Fox
Beautiful, beautiful arena. Never been here, so this thing is my first time. It's. This is amazing. I love it.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. They built this in the 90s, I do believe. Late 90s. They just renovated it like a year ago. You can tell the stadium is glorious. The other night, it was very loud in here. UD was here, obviously covering the game. AJ you're watching @ home. It does feel like the home atmosphere in this particular finals has certainly helped.
Evan Fox
Oh, gigantic. That's what makes me. When I see that the Pacers are still dogs. You're up 2:1 in the series. They've been being disrespected. We know that. But with the line. Okay, let's say the Pacers win tonight and they go up three one. Are they. Are they still not favorites to win the series? Like, how. What's going to. How's that going to flip it?
Pat McAfee
So at this particular stage, if you win the game three and you go up 2:1 in the finals, it's an 80% win rate, is the stat. I didn't make the stat up. They're just saying that's a stat. Yeah, we're not talking about any of this anyways.
AJ Hawk
No, no, no, no.
Ty Schmidt
Can't.
Pat McAfee
Can't think about it.
Ty Schmidt
Can't think about it.
Pat McAfee
Two wins away from a parade. Wow. A parade would be so.
Ty Schmidt
Oh, my God.
AJ Hawk
Don't do it.
Ty Schmidt
Don't think about it.
Udonis Haslem
I'm gonna just give you guys one thing, okay? There's only one team that came back from down 3:1 in the Finals. That was Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James. It's only happened once. So you guys, if you can get up 3:1. And once again, I say you guys. But I'm with y' all. Cause I picked the paces. If we can get up three, one, then we got a damn good chance.
Pat McAfee
Okay. How do you feel about Tyrese speaking about people that are talking about him in the media?
Udonis Haslem
I love it.
Pat McAfee
Me too. So I do. So you just talked about, hey, give me everything. You guys want to make us the underdogs, the biggest home underdog in finals history. Recorded history, basically, with the spread and sportsbook. Oh, they're still favorites to win a series. We're up 2:1. Okay. All those types of things you want that obviously media is heard in this modern world that we're in, everybody has a phone. Everybody sees the clips. Everybody gets texted the clips. Everybody knows everything Tyrese said. Like, when these people on these media are talking about me, it's like, how much do they really know Ball? And I think he's saying that because it's like, hey, these people are comparing me to pure scorers. I'm a point guard. I'm not a pure scorer. So in his mind, it kind of disqualifies the conversation. You don't even know what position I play or what my role is. So you talking about me is out of pocket now. Stephen Acen. He was talking about me. I don't think Stephen A. Was the only person to doubt Tyrese Halliburton. I mean, he was literally voted the most overrated player in the NBA. Stephen A. Took that personally and said, there's a lot better players than you that have tried to talk about me. It's like, okay, relax, dude. Like, we understand you've been on TV for a long time, and your job is to judge people. But it's not just Stephen A. It's been everybody that has kind of counted out Tyrese Halliburton. If you're James Johnson, if you're coach Carlisle, if you're around Tyrese, you want that to continue. It feels like that is kind of your style. Like, yeah, Tyrese, everybody thinks you're ass, buddy. That's the type of thing I think Tyrese thrives off of.
Udonis Haslem
I love it. Exactly. And I'm saying to myself, stay in that role. Stay in that underdog role. Keep that chip on your shoulder. A chip will make you a monster. A chip will make you dig into yourself and go further. I hate to say digging to yourself, but a chip Wood.
Pat McAfee
Are you bopping wood?
Udonis Haslem
Yeah, that's bop wood. That was a Bopwood moment. I had a Bopwood moment. But keep that chip on your shoulder, man. Tyrese has thrived in that role. Do not change that. I hate when guys get to a certain level in their career, and you change everything you did to get there. I've thrived in the underdog role my whole career. I still remember when Dan Lebatar wrote an article about me in high school, and I love Dan. Dan, you my guy. But I was on Dan ass like white on rice. About that article. Keep it all and use it all. It will help drive you, and you need it.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. And I appreciate the fact that, like, everybody talks about how clutch Tyrese is, and that's because he's a guy that, like, he likes that. Like, he enjoys that pressure. And he will talk his shit back, too. I mean, that's why we got this. That's why we got this.
Evan Fox
All of it.
Pat McAfee
So it's like, all of it happening, I think is good for Tyrese. I think it's good for the Pacers. You told us what we should look for is elbow pick and rolls with the big man.
Udonis Haslem
Yes. And what happened?
Pat McAfee
Yes, exactly. As we were watching the game, actually, we were pretty boozed.
Udonis Haslem
Might be a profit.
AJ Hawk
We're actually right there. Yeah, we're in that right where 118 is.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, we were boozed up. Right? And it was, I think, middle of second quarter. And we remembered what you said. It was like, hey, you decode exactly what it was. Miles comes up, picks up the sets, a pick. Tyrese rolls, bounce past the Miles, Then we got that thing wide open. Is it the same game plan tonight, or does Daggs have a plan for that, you think?
Udonis Haslem
Definitely the same game plan. I think Daggs will make an adjustment. I think he's got to bring that five man up a little bit, putting that five man in the drop coverage. I guess Tyrese Hallenberg gives him too many options. He gets in the pocket, he can get to his floater. He gets a throwback. Because Miles Turner's a flare big. He can do too much. He can get to that skip play where he got to Naismith in the fourth. There's too many options in that drop coverage. I think you need to put pressure on him when he comes off. That pick and roll adjustment that Tricky Ricky made was every time SGA got in that corner on that pick and roll, he got blitzed. He had six turnovers in that game. That's the most turnovers he's had in the playoff just from that small adjustment of just trapping him in the. In the corner. So in the pick and roll, I think they got to make some adjustments, but I'm with Indiana. I don't want to give okay. Too many. Too many fans.
Pat McAfee
Y' all want to give him too many adjustments to make. Guys, Ricky is tricky. I mean, every game there's a new game plan. Go ahead. Comment?
AJ Hawk
Yeah. What about the. Just one day in between, it felt like we talked little bit. The Pacers run so much. Chad Holmgren towards the end of the game, he looked like he was dragging ass. There was a few other players for okc. How big is just having that one day? Quick turnaround. Hey, you got to get right back out there. Not much time for rest because I feel like usually in the finals, there's two days. They're trying to prolong this thing as long as possible. But only having one day feels like a huge advantage for the Pacers.
Evan Fox
Here.
Udonis Haslem
It. I think it has an advantage for okc because if you look at that last game, SGA looked tired. That last layup that Siakam got, he didn't even attempt to go at that last layup. And for me, that says fatigue. And this goes back to Tricky Ricky. We talked about that elbow screen with the five man. There were two screens. There was a guard in the first screen, and there was a five man in the second screen. If you guys watch that game, the first guy in that screen every time was sga. And also every time SGA had Pascal Siakam. We're going to Pascal Siakam. So when you have great basketball players on offense, sometimes your best defense is to make them work. Defense, offense on defense, and wear on them. So they war on them, man. And this is something small that most people, the civilians and the common eye won't know. But this is something that Tricky Ricky has done over this series, and it's taken a toll on sga.
Pat McAfee
It's Tricky Ricky style, this team in. In Coach Carlisle, Tricky Ricky, he told us in an interview that during the exit interview, it's so good.
AJ Hawk
Tricky Ricky's so good.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, we're calling kind of hard not to call him that.
Udonis Haslem
He might not like that, by the way. You think he's gonna like that guy?
Pat McAfee
I mean, if they win it.
AJ Hawk
Bingo.
Udonis Haslem
It's out of respect.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, he understands this is out of respect there. But he talked to us about exit meetings last year after they get swept in the Eastern Conference finals of the Boston Celtics, about the importance of, like, hey, we need to be in better shape next year. We need to be in better shape than everybody. And it's like last year during the playoff series, every time they played against somebody, somebody got hurt, and they're like, well, the pacers are playing against hurt teams. Hurt teams. It's like, no, the Pacers hurt the team, I think because they run them. People get tired, especially this late into a season. So I've been pumped up about the fact that they are in shape. They seemingly have it together. I don't love the one day rest.
Evan Fox
Yeah, I don't. But if you're the Pacers, don't you love the momentum you get? I mean, what a. What an unbelievable win. They got to go up 2, 1. I want to get back right on that court if I'm the Pacers, but.
Udonis Haslem
You know how it is when you lose a game and you're that other team. You spend that day in the dark and you go deep down into your soul and you get that one day to just cut everything off and then you come out the next game and you're just so laser focused. I would have loved to catch them limping again like they were at the end of the game a little bit tired. Because you give them that one day and you get a mental reset and you go back to the drawing board and you start to figure things out. And I'll tell you, as bad as that game was for okc, all they got to do tonight is get back to their identity.
Pat McAfee
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Evan Fox
Shut up.
Udonis Haslem
Don't do it.
Evan Fox
What is that exactly?
Udonis Haslem
I gotta be quiet now.
Pat McAfee
We need to tell them to keep doing everything that they don't. Yeah, Coach Dagg's too good of a coach. I assume tonight they're gonna have a whole different game plan because to your point about sga, they were harassing him a lot more than they had in the past. And he was obviously an. He's the mvp. Obviously. He had an incredible season. He's an incredible goal bucket getter. I can't wait to watch him for the rest of his career. I mean, he is. I'm happy to be alive during the SGA era. Just like Jalen Brunson, after I got done watching him, I'm like, I'm happy I'm getting to watch this guy do his thing. But it felt like Tricky Ricky had something to kind of disrupt him a little bit. Now before we continue, before we continue to chatter about the NBA Finals last night, Stanley cup finals, what a mo. South Florida's UD right there is having the same reaction, I think as all Panthers fans. This thing was signed, sealed, delivered back to back. Stanley Cups were heading down to the Panthers. All they had to do was just what, complete a three nothing lead in the first period. Simple and Then bang, all of a sudden you're up three one. That thing's over. UD talked about how in the NBA, the only time any teams ever come back from being down three one was LeBron James and the Cavaliers. Well, in the NHL, I don't know. I don't know what the numbers are, but you get up three one, you have three opportunities to win one game, you're probably going to get that accomplished. The Panthers were back to back Stanley cup champions last night at 1. And then the Edmonton Oilers said, I hate South Florida. I hate everything about when Dolphins players come in here and bang on the drums like Jason Taylor did last night. And what we got was one of the most electrifying hockey games of the season. Go ahead, con man.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, to your point, I believe the stat that was sent in was teams on the road down 3 nothing. Only one team has won that game, and it was in 1912. Yeah, there it is. 550 Stanley Cup Final games in NHL history. The Oilers become the second road team to come back down three goals. But go into the game. Matthew Tkachuk started it off. The Panthers come out hot right away. Chucky, five on three. How you doing? Stu Skinner still can't stop anything on stick side. And he makes it one nothing. Second goal, Chucky again, easy money right now. If you're just watching this game as a spectator, I can't believe the Florida Panthers are just going to walk in and dominate at home and send the Oilers packing. Bad turnover. Not really Stu Skin's fault, but he does pay the price. This was the last time you'll see Stewie Skin on the ice in this series. Probably because Calvin Pickard is now in. Nugent Hopkins starts it for the Oilers. Pretty good start here. If you're watching, you're kind of thinking like, okay, maybe the Oilers do have something. Maybe they have a little fight in the tank. High goals were kind of the move for the Oilers here. Nurse goes high as well. Kind of the same type of goal for Edmonton. Maybe that is Bobrovsky's tell. I'm not saying that because he's been so good, but two high goals, it looked pretty simple. Little backhander there in front of the net by Pod Colzin. I hope I said that right. Pod Colzin.
Shams Charania
Three three.
AJ Hawk
Ballgame. All of a sudden, third period clap bomb. How you doing? Glove side on, Bob. Pretty filthy from Walman. And then you think it's over. End of the third period. There's no way there's going to be more madness. Yes, there is a Way Ryno, he kind of gets the little ricochet from Tkachuk. All of a sudden you think, the Panthers aren't going to blow this, okay? Then you go to overtime and you think, okay, well, if this is going to happen to the Oilers, then maybe the Panthers are definitely going to win. Huge scramble in front of the net. Bob can't find the puck. Puck squeezes out, squeezes back through his legs, off the post. Ridiculous. After seeing this, I thought there's no chance the Oilers were going to win if the Panthers are getting this type of break. But lo and behold, Leon Draisaitl, he kind of comes up in the clutch. Now some people are saying, hey, he's not even shooting it. This is a pass, kind of a lucky goal. There are no lucky goals. There are just goals that happen. And the Oilers tie the series up. Probably the best Stanley cup final game we've had thus far. If you're just watching for fun, if you're a Panthers fan, this might be the time you look back at it and say, holy shit, we had this series in the bag. Calvin Pickard, the backup goalie for the Oilers comes in, saves the day. Oilers 2.
Pat McAfee
2.
AJ Hawk
We're going back to Edmonton.
Pat McAfee
At one point in the first period, the Florida Panthers had 20 shots and the Edmonton Oilers had like three. I mean it was a full on pummeling to start that. So to see the Edmonton Oilers have some fight, get the lead and then Panthers answer. I mean that's everything that Stanley cup hockey is supposed to be. Let's go back to the truck. Nikki skates. What does this say about the Edmonton Oilers team? Maybe, maybe McJeezus, Draisaitl and I don't know, they go back to Stu, I guess. Probably not going forward. What does it say about the Edmonton Oilers there, Nick? It.
Shams Charania
It's incredible resilience, Pat. And test for the test of fortitude for their depth. There you look. You talked about the goalie change. This is the same thing that the Dallas Stars tried to do last round with Peter DeBoer pulling his goalie, trying to spark his team and energize them and get a wake up call for the guys. It works in this case for the Oilers. Pickard comes in, re energizes the guys. They go on this run here. You can't go back to Stu skin at this point. It's Pickard's net from here on out. And you hope they kind of carry this momentum in and go back home to Edmonton and just keep it rolling because like you said this looked like it was over. This looked like it was all Panthers. Everyone was doom and gloom. All of a sudden the goalie change happens. A couple penalties, couple power plays for the Oilers. They get on the board. Darnell Nurse really kind of helped spark this around to the defenseman. He scored a goal, he helped set up a goal. And then dry settle gets the lucky bounce deflection there in ot. I mean, just what a moment for Edmonton. And they got a shot now to bring that Stanley cup back home to Canada for the first time since 1990.
Pat McAfee
That was down there in South Florida too, man. Maybe the home court, home ice down there in south florid Florida just isn't what it used to be. Maybe hockey's awesome. We can't wait to continue to follow. Will Connor McDavid get his first Stanley Cup? Will Canada get their first Stanley cup in forever? Or will the Florida Panthers continue their dynastic run? Let's get back to the NBA. Joining us, ladies and gentlemen, senior NBA insider for espn, Sham Charanya. Great to see you. You look incredible.
George Kittle
You know, I got inspired by UD. Came on outside, almost 80 degree weather. My guy had a tie on almost 90. I got inspired by UD, so I'll give him the credit.
Pat McAfee
Let's talk about UD. UD. How do players feel about insiders in the NBA? We'll talk about in the NFL. AJ how do NFL players feel about insiders in the NFL?
Evan Fox
I think it depends on which one you're talking about.
Udonis Haslem
Yeah, I don't think players like some. It depends.
Pat McAfee
Okay, so I feel like in your guys world, because there's less players, there's more shit out about more people. Like in the NFL, it's a lot like superstar drift, you know. So I think like players in the NFL don't love insiders, but they get.
Evan Fox
I think players respect the insiders and they know, hey, they got a gig. And there's times even when players that don't like the insiders will like understand and even use them, have their agents.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, you certainly need to.
Udonis Haslem
That's where it gets tricky because you look around the locker room and it's something that should have stayed in house that's got out. So it's not the insider fault. You need to control your house. Who was the snitch? Who's the guy that's talking to the insider? He's just doing his job. But we got a job to protect this locker room and protect certain things.
Pat McAfee
On that note, there was a Greek gentleman to put a tweet out after Sham's last appearance on the. You know. Does anyone else miss Woj? Oh, sh.
AJ Hawk
He dunked on you, brother.
Pat McAfee
I did see.
Udonis Haslem
This is a funny guy.
Pat McAfee
I did see. Friend of the show, Adam Schefter went underneath. It was like, I miss him every single day. And when Woj. When Woj retired, remember, they treated it as if he did pass away and everything like that. Obviously, he committed a lot of time to the NBA and his reporting in journalism, you had to do something or report something about Giannis and his pending potential move through another team. First time in 12 years. What do you think about that tweet? And when you get something like that, does it remind you of, oh, this is like when the Jimmy Butler conversation was happening down in Miami.
George Kittle
You know about that one. Ud.
Pat McAfee
Ud.
George Kittle
You can speak to that one.
Udonis Haslem
You end up being right. I didn't know until I knew.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Yeah.
Udonis Haslem
I didn't know until I knew.
George Kittle
I felt like I was coming. People coming at me with knives out there in Miami. It's like you can't even step foot in Miami for me.
Pat McAfee
Well, I would like to talk about the Miami situation before we get into this for Shams, because Shams is brand new to espn. You know, I think our experience is not everybody at ESPN would like to see you succeed if you show up at ESPN from an outside place and have an incredible resume following and are very good at your job. So whenever that starts happening and people start burying shoms, start burying Shams outside. I think there's people inside espn, they're probably happy about that. They're like, yeah, this ain't woach. This is a whole new animal. And then, lo and behold, Shams says, just like I fucking said it would, it ends up happening how it is. That should have built some credibility, I do believe. But we understand that some journalists do like being right and don't care if they're wrong, and they will continue to act as if they were right at the time. So, Shams, I want to let you know, I think that Miami situation was big for you in a new place. But now with Giannis coming out again, I think you're back under siege and you're going to have to back prove yourself. How do you feel about the tweet and how do you feel about the Yanis situation? Where we stand right now?
George Kittle
No, I think we're all good. I really believe me and Giannis are all good.
Udonis Haslem
Good.
George Kittle
I did see that. And I. I would like to say, I think, you know, we all in the industry, I think really Miss him. I worked with him for two years, two, two and a half years. And so I learned a lot. He was a great mentor to me, taught me a lot, made me better on a daily basis. And so that respect is definitely there. So I definitely miss him as well. He made me better. But I will say every single day, I'm just focused on what I can control. And my.
Pat McAfee
I like to control the controllables.
George Kittle
Control the control, you know, about that. You take day at a time. I'm just focused on myself. And at the end of the day, I very much trust my reporting what I reported. If we are, let's give everyone a debrief. I said during the NBA draft combine week that Yanis Antetokounmpo is open to exploring his best fits outside of Milwaukee. I said, I didn't say he had asked out, but that's what I said. And I 1000% stand by that reporting that week, there were a lot of conversations, I'll just put it like that in Chicago, about his future and so, you know, with him, his representatives, and so that that occurred. And now we're, you know, fast forward about a month and a half later, we're getting closer and closer to the draft free agency. I did say on the show the other day, this is not something I expect at the draft. This is not something I expect during free agency. And it might never happen. If you think about it, it's a massive leap to go for from exploring trades. If you're. Giannis, you're there for 12 years and then asking out of a situation you've been for 12 years. And at the end of the day, if the team is telling you, if John Horst and Doc Rivers, from my understanding, believe this is a contending roster next season in the Eastern Conference, if that's what they believe, then. And if he feels like, listen, I'll have the ball in my hands, I'll be able to play more. And if he feels that way and that's how he wants to compete for a championship, I mean, he has every right to stay in Milwaukee.
Pat McAfee
Do you think he's still going to miss Woj after what you just said?
George Kittle
No. I mean, we all. We all should.
Udonis Haslem
Yeah, for sure.
Pat McAfee
I don't, I don't. He's still alive. Nothing for me. But I do know he was big for basketball. I understand he was big for basketball.
AJ Hawk
I'm a Bonnie's fan. So, I mean, you know, let's go, Bonnie.
Pat McAfee
I would like him to be. Remain there. I'd like him to Remain fully committed to the.
George Kittle
Bonnie. Pat, we're here at the NBA Finals.
Pat McAfee
Yes.
George Kittle
We got the Kevin Durant market going on.
Pat McAfee
What is the Kevin Durant market right now?
Udonis Haslem
Goes there. I want to say this. Since I've been to ESPN with this guy, does nobody puts in more work. I've seen it. Did you see his phone on free agency the day of.
Pat McAfee
First day, 21 hours.
Udonis Haslem
You see that? There's no. I had to ask him, like, what? Like, what's your personal life like? Because how can somebody live like that? Like, I had to ask him because, like, you. Because he puts in the work. So you can guarantee that if he comes to the table with some. He's researched it, he's 100% behind it, and it's. You can bank on it. Damn.
Pat McAfee
I like that you're doing what you did as a teammate for the Heat. For sure.
George Kittle
You got my back. I appreciate it.
Pat McAfee
Ud. Hey, guys. Shams, we need. I appreciate your work ethic. We need to talk about. Do you have a life?
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Ty Schmidt
Get you one.
Pat McAfee
Yes, sir.
George Kittle
You know, a lot of people would say that about me, that I don't have a life.
Pat McAfee
You know, there's no such thing. There's no such thing as a work life balance. If you want to have success. Everybody that's been successful has said that. Now you definitely have to be a human, though. Let's never forget that.
AJ Hawk
Who had the biggest trade in the history of the NBA this year?
Pat McAfee
Oh, Sham. Sharon.
AJ Hawk
He's got 100 million.
George Kittle
What was that?
Pat McAfee
Oh, yeah.
George Kittle
Trade in sports is actually. I'm not gonna say anything.
AJ Hawk
Probably not.
Pat McAfee
Wayne Gretzky back in the day would be a conversation. But nonetheless, let's talk about a potential trade. You just talked about Durant. Go ahead.
AJ Hawk
Yeah. There are reports today Kevin Durant, he's going to get traded within the next week. I forget who said it, but that was what, NBA Central. And that's kind of where I get all my information.
Udonis Haslem
Probably.
Pat McAfee
Probably your burner.
AJ Hawk
If I had to guess. Chomps. What's the deal?
George Kittle
Central or Sentel.
AJ Hawk
Sentel. I use sometimes as information.
George Kittle
I'm not gonna lie. That account, I think it was like Tom Thibodo getting fired. Like, they put that. You know, obviously, it's a. It's a parody account. And then a week later, he actually got fired. And then they were like. We said it first.
AJ Hawk
Yeah. I mean, let's just also say I'll.
George Kittle
Give them credit for that.
AJ Hawk
To the WNBA fans, they are getting killed by NBA Sento right now. They need to realize that that's a fake account and that it's tough though.
Pat McAfee
It looks.
AJ Hawk
It's so close.
Udonis Haslem
Yeah, tough these days.
AJ Hawk
Sometimes it really is. Yeah, it's absurd. But where is he going? Choms? Is he going with like a Giannis type trade? Is there going to be some sort of combination of the same thing and when.
George Kittle
Yeah, there's not going to be a Giannis Kevin Durant intermingling trade going on. You said a week. I think it could be even sooner than that. I think, I think. I think there's some motivation with some teams potentially even sooner than seven days. You know, maybe in the next few days we could get some Kevin Durant trade action. There is some serious track on conversations on trade scenarios with the Suns. They've had about six to eight teams reach out. There's been interest, there's been some offers, there's been been some negotiations. But really in the last 24, 48 hours, I'm told the focus of the Suns conversation has been on few of the teams. And, and here they are Houston, the Houston Rockets, the Miami Heat and the Minnesota Timberwolves. I'm told those are the three teams right now where a lot of the focus for Durant looks there's some motivation.
Pat McAfee
Does he want to go there sooner than later?
George Kittle
So that is. It's a great question you ask AJ because he's on expiring contract, about $54 million. And so that could also come up as an issue here where if, if there's a team that for sure wants his extension or will there be a team we saw happen with Kawhi Leonard in 2019 where. Or actually 2018, and then he won the championship in 2019 with the Toronto Raptors, where they just leave. Literally had no idea whether he wanted to be there, probably didn't want to be there and they trade for him, they win a championship, then he leaves anyway. So will there be a team, whether it's in this mix or a wild card team that just takes a swing and just, just banks on themselves and hope that they can potentially make a deep run and keep them there? But that's going to be the big question. You said Houston, Miami, Houston, Miami and Minnesota.
Pat McAfee
Okay, let's get an answer about Miami right now. UD Would Kevin Durant fit in well in the Miami Heat culture, do you think?
Udonis Haslem
I mean, Kevin Durant would fit in anywhere, but definitely I feel fits into Miami Heat culture. And I can't speak too much on it, but I would say he's a guy who comes in and just has to be Kevin Durant.
George Kittle
Yo, yo, yo, ud. Speak on it, man.
Udonis Haslem
I'm the vice president of player development, fellas. I gotta keep my. I gotta keep my coins coming in. So what I will say is he.
Ty Schmidt
He.
Pat McAfee
If he comes.
George Kittle
I get it now.
Udonis Haslem
He comes into a locker room.
George Kittle
I get it now.
Pat McAfee
I get it now.
George Kittle
I get what the law.
Udonis Haslem
This why I show Kevin. I know you got a couple of these, but this last showing first. But if he happens to come into the Miami Heat locker room, he comes into a situation where you have a Hall of Fame coach already. Lispostra Nostra. You got a team that has a culture already. A team. A team that has a culture already. So the questions that people have about Kevin Durant. Can Kevin Durant be your leader? He doesn't have to be a leader in Miami, they already have leadership. They already have a culture. They already have a hell of a head coach who's. Who's a figure. Is Kevin Durant going to respect the guy, his accolades, MVPs, you know, hall of Famers, scoring champions. You can't just have anybody coach Kevin Durant.
Boston Connor
Team usa. They were together, too.
Udonis Haslem
Yeah, yeah, Team usa. So you can't have a guy that has no experience come in and say, hey, Kevin, you need to do this to win a championship. Kevin gonna be like, I got more championships than you. I can tell your ass what to do to win a championship. So you have a coach that has that pedigree, and Kevin Durant's going to respect that. So, yes, the situation in Miami will work. But at the end of the day, Kevin Durant has put himself in a situation, and he's earned the right to pick and choose where he wants to go.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, I would love to have Kevin Durant here in Indiana. It doesn't sound like that's a thing.
Udonis Haslem
That wasn't even part of the conversation.
Pat McAfee
I know.
George Kittle
I've also seen some conversations about Kevin Durant as a player. Like, let's remember who we're talking about. He's about. He's going to be 37 in September. We do know this. But he is one of the best players still to this day. He made his 15th straight All Star team this month. Season in. In a year that he's played. He obviously missed the 2019, 2020 season. So all three of these teams, I think, are looking at this as, like, if we get Kevin Durant in the fold, I mean, if you're looking at it from Minnesota's perspective, Houston's perspective, we can legitimately Contend for a championship. And the east right now is wide open. So if you're Miami and you have a chance to pair Kevin Durant with Tyler Hero and Bam Adebayo. So that's really where the focus has been on those three teams in the.
Udonis Haslem
Last and La Postra Nostra.
Pat McAfee
That's a great name.
AJ Hawk
Him too.
George Kittle
I didn't know that was a thing.
AJ Hawk
It's wide open. You know, the Pacers have been to bat. I'm sure the Celtics will still be good. How important is.
Udonis Haslem
Wait a minute. See, that was disrespectful just there. He didn't even know it. The east is wide open.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Udonis Haslem
How is it wide open? And we got a team right now. That's. See how. You see how. See how easy it is to disrespect the paces.
Pat McAfee
In the city, in their building. Yeah, I understand. He's been saying this for a couple of days.
AJ Hawk
Shams does this corporate sh.
George Kittle
I am just saying what teams believe in the Eastern Conference. But look at, look at the paces.
Pat McAfee
Thank you.
George Kittle
We didn't expect them to be here. Right. So could there be a team next year?
Pat McAfee
We did expect them to be here.
George Kittle
Well, did most people around the league.
Boston Connor
Expect those that no Ball did?
George Kittle
I don't think so.
AJ Hawk
How important is Udoka for kd? Because obviously they have a really good relationship. When Udoka was in Boston, a lot of KD to Boston, that was a real time. Is that why he's going to Houston? Yeah, like UD for, you know, players. How important?
Udonis Haslem
Because you're a Boston guy and I tell you, every time we were in a series with Boston, Boston, I would look down to their huddle and it wasn't Marcus Smart, it wasn't Jason Tatum, it wasn't Jaylen Brown. It was Emea Adoka. He was the leader of that team. He was the guy that they followed. Yes. And he's the guy who will challenge you. Not just mentally, but physically too. Like what you want to do. You want to square off? We can square off. But at the end of the day, before, like I told you before, I let you take down these other 12, 13 guys, I whoop your ass. That's Madoka's mental. So he is a guy that Kevin Durant respects and will come in that locker room and will fall in line. But now if you bring a first year coach, Kevin Durant may be like, you don't really know shit.
Pat McAfee
Shams, why don't you start doing a little bit more research? Tricky Ricky and Kevin Durant would get along very Very well, let's move off of the Kevin Durant story. I don't love that we have Miami Heat personnel here not telling us how much they're trading for Kevin Durant and when that's going to happen. But you got to do what you got to do and I understand Riles will get a little riled up if you were to give that away. AJ AJ Amen. AJ Has a question for you.
Evan Fox
Sean's Are the Knick any closer to finding a head coach and did they have a plan in place before they fired fibs of hey, this is who we're we're lined up. We may have locked in.
George Kittle
Yeah. Usually when you fire a coach like Tom Thibodeau, that takes you to the Eastern Commerce Finals for the first time in 25 years. You would hope that there is maybe someone lined up. But we see right there they've gotten five denials of permission for current they.
Evan Fox
Obviously didn't expect head coach. They didn't expect to get denied all.
George Kittle
These I, I, I, I don't know if they expect expected. You know, out of all those, Billy Donovan has one year left on his deal. So you know, that was the most recent one that they requested and that one was denied. And Billy Donovan is staying in Chicago. So think about it. The Bulls, the Hawks, two teams that, you know, you can't really consider as contenders. The other three can have a case that we're going into next season and really have a legitimate chance to contend.
Pat McAfee
Is this normal? Is this normal? Because we have 100% unorthodox okay, so we have a Knicks fan in the back. His name is Bruce. Everybody knows Bruce. Everybody loves Bruce. Except for if you're watching a Knicks game with Bruce. Everybody hates br but that's how Bruce would like it. And that's how I think a lot of Knicks fans would like it as well. He said that he's flipped his mindset from oh, the Knicks have no idea what they're doing to I kind of like that James Dolan's treating all these other NBA teams like they're a mid major. Like you know how after March Madness happens, some mid major coach does very well, some big school comes in and says, congratulations, you now get an opportunity to coach at a big conference and we get you a bigger deal. The Knicks are kind of doing it calling around to other NBA teams, hey, we know you got a good thing going, but we would like to congratulate your guys. Coach, he now has an opportunity to come coach at Madison Square Garden. Is this normal? Like, it sounds. It feels wild just to call a team and be like your head coach. Listen, we want that.
George Kittle
And it's like, stuff like this happens behind the scenes, as UD knows. But this is as far as. Since I've been covering the league and when I talk to GMs, this has never happened. Like a team is just going to call around, go one by one by one. I mean, at this point, if you're not requested, it's like you're. It's like disrespectful.
Pat McAfee
Who are some coaches that maybe aren't being talked about as assistant coaches? Because, like, in our world, in the NFL, ud, you probably know these people because it's a smaller community, seemingly in the NBA than it is in the NFL. When a general manager is hired, we have no idea who this person is. They're like an assistant scout or a regional scout or assistant vice president of personnel. We don't know the people. So you just gotta hope that they're good in the NBA. Do people normally know who the coaches are gonna be? Ud, do you normally know of the people that get these head coaching opportunities?
Udonis Haslem
Yeah, I think a lot of times you do. A lot of times you do, you know, especially if you're one of the top guys. I didn't get that luxury. They didn't ask me a damn thing about who they were gonna bring in for coaches. But when you're that good guy, you get to have a seat at that table and have those conversations. When they talked about the guy that they brought in in Phoenix, they said that that conversation was had with Devin.
George Kittle
Booker was a big part of that.
Udonis Haslem
He was a big part of that. So if you're an organization, I think the times have changed. I think now you have to give your star players a seat at the table and have those conversations. Because there's a time now where players are getting coaches fired. When I came in the league, the coach would go to the GM and say, I need this player. I need that player. This is how we're going to win. Now the players go to the GMs and say, we need this coach, that coach. And this is how we're going. Completely flip the script. So you have to have these conversations with your players or your ass might be out of there.
Pat McAfee
So on that note, New York Knicks, Jalen Brunson's dad, I think he's been an assistant coach for the Knicks. Jalen Brunson is the star for the Knicks. I watched him seemingly make every shot every time he had an opportunity. Rick Brunson gonna be the head coach.
Udonis Haslem
Hell no. You can't play for your daddy.
George Kittle
That's not. No, my understanding that's not a play.
Udonis Haslem
I deal with that shit in baseball now with my son. That's good nod to that. No, no. And this is nothing against Rick Brad, but you cannot have that. I'm, you know, you know, you got. We all got kids, we go to these games and the coach and his son is terrible and he getting all the playing time you like, get your son ass out of here.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, but Jalen obviously going to be the guy. But it is. If he treated. Treats him any differently. It's hard to balance. But who is. Who are some of the names for the Knicks?
George Kittle
But to answer AJ's initial question, I think from the Knicks perspective, it's going to be a very patient search. Now, I don't think they feel it has to be.
Evan Fox
Everyone's saying no, it has been patient. Well, I think they didn't plan on being patient.
George Kittle
Request as an opportunity to learn whether that coach is attainable, whether we can talk to him, do more research. Clearly they were denied on all those fronts. So now when you look at the Knicks, I think they're going to look at more head coaches, former head coaches that are available in the marketplace. You think of guys like Mike Brown, Taylor Jenkins, potentially others. Michael Malone is also out there. So I think now that they've gone through this exercise of all these head coaches, current sitting head coaches, they've gotten denied by again, in their mind, there's no other vacancy in the NBA. It's just them. We have time to see what research can we do with other teams sometimes. Usually as UD knows, like, let's be honest, a lot of this happens behind the scenes. This, this one happened very publicly and in front of everyone. And they're calling the team to do their due diligence. So now they're gonna. I expect them to look today, tomorrow and over the weekend into some former head coaches, maybe even assistant coaches at the NBA level right now.
Pat McAfee
I love everything about it. Good luck to the Knicks. They'll have a coach before next year, we assume. But this is. This has been very public.
George Kittle
They will. I can break that here. Now they will have a coach before next season.
Pat McAfee
Put on the seat geek ticket.
AJ Hawk
You're right.
Evan Fox
Is this public because of him?
Udonis Haslem
You can stamp it. You do his research.
Evan Fox
Is this only public because of you shams like what the fact they were denied? Or would this have been behind the scenes if you didn't report it?
George Kittle
Well, you Never know about that. But once you call a team, once you call a team, they're not saying it.
Evan Fox
They're not saying, hey, we stupid.
Boston Connor
Does it have to go through the league office? We have to request.
George Kittle
It's usually team to team. But once you tell a team, think about it. Think all the people that could know, it's the gm, it's his entire front office, it's the ownership level. It could be a lot of other staffers, the coach himself, people around the coach. So by the time you're like, the Knicks are reaching out, understanding that it's possible, this is.
Udonis Haslem
Honestly, I just thought the pecking order was bad. No. And I'm being honest. You gotta go after guys that you really have a chance. Why are you wasting your time on guys that you have no chance of getting? Emea El Doka just sat at the top of the west all year with a young, young team. There's no way in hell they let him go.
Pat McAfee
Jason Kidd, Fitch just went to the.
Udonis Haslem
Western Conference finals last year.
Pat McAfee
Jason Kidd, they got number one overall picture.
Udonis Haslem
Jason Kidd went to the Western Conference finals last year. You know, these are coaches that are building something that is treading in the right direction. You'd be crazy as hell to let your coach walk and go to the Knicks. You know how hard it is to get a good coach.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, agreed. Last question here for you Shams from Tone.
Boston Connor
Sham's another organization with a really good culture, the Philadelphia 76ers. There's rumors that their pot.
Udonis Haslem
What you said really good culture.
Pat McAfee
Culture, culture, culture.
Boston Connor
I'm kidding, I'm being sarcastic.
Pat McAfee
Culture.
AJ Hawk
Sixers culture.
Udonis Haslem
Cuz we stopped trusting the process a long time ago. They're called trust that no more.
Boston Connor
There's rumors they're looking to potentially go up in the draft. Would that involve one of the embiid or one of their, their star players or what's the situation going along with that?
George Kittle
The, the, I mean, every team at this juncture of the season is going to be active to try to go get a player, right? Like, like, you know, if there's a player you like in the draft, there's a player you like in trade. But I mean, they're making the normal calls. I have not heard any seriousness to, you know, much, much of their draft chatter. I'm sure they're going to call the spurs about potentially moving up to two. I'm sure they're going to also get calls from other teams below them at 3 to move up to that level. So these conversations are all going to Be very fluid. I think if you're the Sixers, though, it all starts and ends with Joel Embiid's health. Is Joel Embiid going to be healthy? How's he going to be over the offseason? He had surgery late. Late in the season, so for. For them and.
Pat McAfee
And.
George Kittle
And Joel Embiid, it's making sure he gets through this offseason fully healthy. Can he be himself? That's the only chance, realistically, they have to compete for a championship.
Pat McAfee
Anything else we need to think about tonight?
George Kittle
I mean, this game, for me, when I watched game two, the bench was massive. Obviously, for Indiana, like, what was it was the discrepancy. 49 days.
AJ Hawk
Game two is okay.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
Boston Connor
It's always been the bench.
George Kittle
It's the bench. It's. And it's. At the end of the day, it's Tyrese. When Tyrese Haliburton plays the way he played in game three, you know, whoever wins game four, I think is in a great position to win the series, so.
Pat McAfee
All right, I appreciate that, Sean. Thank you for all the intel. Thank you for all the hard work. Thank you for your friendship, and I appreciate you just burning bridges all over the place. You're the man.
George Kittle
I appreciate you guys from day one, ladies and gentlemen.
Pat McAfee
Thank you, Sean. Thank you, Sean. Thank you. You the Shums. You're the man.
AJ Hawk
Get the hell out of here.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Great suit. How about he had it buttoned when he sat down, and then he unbuttons it when he stands up. I think that's complete opposite of what you're supposed to do.
Boston Connor
It's 100% the complete opposite.
Pat McAfee
But I appreciate that he did it. Yeah. Thank you. Shs. Unbelievable. Shams.
Udonis Haslem
As clean as a border health.
Pat McAfee
Well, not everywhere, though.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah.
AJ Hawk
Border health clean.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Yeah. Is the Board of Health clean? Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, from the world of the NFL. Yeah, absolutely. Good to see you. Your mic's off.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, I know. There it is.
AJ Hawk
How'd it go out there? Pretty good. You have to battle pretty good.
Ty Schmidt
No, I'm good.
AJ Hawk
Okay.
Pat McAfee
Did you go unload on a couple toilets in here?
George Kittle
Yes, I did.
Ty Schmidt
Real quick. And then now I feel great.
Pat McAfee
Okay. I like that. You know, there's an Iowa Hawkeye legend joining us.
Ty Schmidt
Really?
Pat McAfee
Ladies and gentlemen, one of the founders of Tight End University. It's going into its fifth year this year. Also giving back to the community with the Nashville Big Brothers, Big Sisters program. There's going to be many tight ends in attendance that are currently active legends in attendance as well. Trying to change your trajectory of how people talk about the tight end position and how the tight end position is played. One of the founding fathers of tight end. You, ladies and gentlemen, guy just got a massive bag. George Kittle.
Ty Schmidt
George.
Pat McAfee
George. How you doing, George?
I
What's up, boys?
Pat McAfee
Dude, great to see you, man. We're here at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the NBA finals. I know you're a massive Pacers fan. If you would like to let that out a little bit louder, we'd be okay with that.
I
As you can see, I'm here at the Titan University School, just getting ready for the summer with all the boys.
Pat McAfee
I like that.
I
With all my friends and sponsors here. Yeah, I'm actually. You know, I love the Midwest, but I'm an OKC Thunder fan because that's where I went to high school. So it's. It's tough for us starting this. Starting this off with a little bad blood.
AJ Hawk
It's over.
Pat McAfee
I saw that text you sent me. Game one, you're welcome. Yeah, Game one. George said, this one's over. Ha.
I
Oh, I didn't say that.
Pat McAfee
See the.
I
See the sideways eyes?
Pat McAfee
Yeah. And then Tyrese Haliburton says, actually, give me that. You know, it's been a great. It's been a great series, great battle, and also learned that you're Oklahoma guy. I had no idea that was the case for high school. Yeah. Let's talk about the classroom that you're in. Brilliant idea.
I
You want to talk about the classroom?
Pat McAfee
Yeah. You're like a NASCAR driver. You're like a NASCAR driver. You don't even have to talk about all the sponsors because, boom, they're all around you. That's brilliant.
I
They're everywhere. I just point to them and they to show up. It's fantastic.
Pat McAfee
Gatorade water.
I
Kind of got water.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, they kind of got the end of the stick to. Right behind your head there.
I
I'll just.
Pat McAfee
There you go.
AJ Hawk
There you go.
Udonis Haslem
My favorite is the dude wipes.
Pat McAfee
Dude wipes.
Udonis Haslem
My favorite is dude wipes.
Pat McAfee
You use dude wipes as well? Okay. It's a bath for your ass. It's great.
Udonis Haslem
Oh, it's a bath for your ass. I thought you say it's bad for your ass. I say what had to clean ass. I love the dude.
I
It's fantastic. Yeah, no, we got, you know, we got the Gatorade water. We have Bud Lights, our big sponsors here, which we're really excited about. You know, they help us put on our Bud Light concert, where we have a bunch of country music artists perform for the boys and a bunch of fans. Old Spice is there, you know, because, you know, sometimes, you know, you work really hard at tight end, you and you just want to smell really good. So shout out to Old Spice for coming in hot. Kinder's just going to come bring in a bunch of really good food. So, you know, we have a great rape set up for tight end user year five. Greg Olson's excited. Travis Kelce is excited. We got some surprises coming in hot. It's going to be. It's going to be a good, good, good year.
Pat McAfee
I appreciate what you guys have done, how you've built it, the brand the TEU has become. And I don't know if you know this, Travis kelce is now 10ft tall. Did you see that last night? Did you see him? He might. Taylor's. Taylor was wearing huge heels. I mean those things. And Travis's head was hitting off the roof. This dude might have grown this off. He might be 10ft tall because Taylor. Very tall, right?
I
Definitely 10ft tall.
Pat McAfee
And look at all the children around. Those are adults that he's walking around. Travis Kelce might have grown this offseason. He might hit a growth spurt at 30 plus. We might need to look out for Travis Kelsey having a year of a lifetime for the Kansas City Chiefs.
I
He hasn't teach us that. He hasn't taught us that at tight end. You ever how to grow in your 30s. Hopefully that's a topic this year.
Pat McAfee
Okay, let's. Let's talk about tight end university a little bit more. Whenever it was being pieced together by obviously you, Greg Olson, Kelsey, the goal was like, hey, we need as tight ends to kind of maybe rally a little bit more, but also a little bit more respect on the position. I. That has happened over the last five years. I think the tight end position has obviously become much more prominent on everybody's team. What is the goal every single time you head down there now or you live there, but every time these tight ends flock to Nashville. What is the goal for the weekend?
I
The number one goal is to put on a fantastic event for all these tight ends that are giving us, you know, three days of their time. Them and their significant others, their kids, their families, whoever shows up for it. And from that I want to have him have him a great time.
Pat McAfee
I lost you. Oh, no, he's out of class. Yeah, that is check.
I
Just knocked my phone over. It's crazy.
Pat McAfee
Shout. Shout out to Juice, by the way. Shout out to. What up, Juice? There's a Harvard guy right There. He's not used to that stupid classroom sponsors classroom. He's used to a smart classroom. Good to see you, Juice. Good to see you, Juice.
AJ Hawk
His words came through.
Udonis Haslem
Yeah.
I
So we're trying to put on a first class organization, a great, great, great run. And then really we just want to, we're establishing brotherhood of tight ends. Right. That's what we're trying to do. Like you have all these rookies, all these young guys that have a lot of questions. They, they, they have questions I don't, they don't even know to ask yet. And so hopefully that tightening you, they can learn a thing or two. They can have some fun, maybe drink a Bud Light, 2, 3, 12, whatever they want to do. Maybe, you know, use some Old Spice, maybe drink some Gatorade waters, mix it in with a Bud Light, whatever they want to do.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
I
And then just have fun with the boys. Yeah, we're just trying to have a good time. That's what we're trying to do.
Pat McAfee
I appreciate that. Nashville is a great place to do that. UD has a question for you. George, please.
Udonis Haslem
George, man, big fan of yours, man. Everything you're doing out there in San Francisco. My question is, is because you already kind of answered it. My question is, did you have young guys there because you said tight end. You. I'm a huge University of Miami fan, so I've been a fan of the tight end position for a long time. You go to Jeremy Shockeys, the Greg Olson's, the Kellen Winslow Juniors. Like I'm. And I even played a little tight end back in the day. If you look at me, I'm sick. Yeah, I played a little tight end in the defensive end. Yeah, I got hit in my knee coming off the end and I quit.
Boston Connor
That was it.
Udonis Haslem
They folded OG up real quick and I was done. But my question was, do you. How do you have the young guys in and like implementing those guys and everything and like what's the process? Because when I bring young guys into the Miami Heat locker room, the first thing I try to do is understand those guys background where they come from and that just helps me lead those guys. So how do you get that one on one time just to understand these guys? Because these young guys are different and every young guy needs to be have their buttons pushed differently.
I
That's very true. You know, I would say there's not necessarily how much like button push I to do. Like what I'm trying to do is make these young guys feel as comfortable as they possibly can be talking to Guys like Travis Kelce talking to guys like TJ Hawkinson, Mark Andrews, Dallas Goddard and like, who are all in their shoes at one point. So, like, you put all these guys in the same room, guys, you know, whether they're sitting with their team, whether they're sitting with other rookies, other vets, whatever it is, it's just like, try to just start that conversation and then like, what's the fun thing we do too is, you know, we have teachers come up and you said Jeremy Shockey, he's one of our guests this year, which I'm pretty excited. Excited about, like he's going to teach a little bit, talk a little bit about being a vet. But one of my favorite things that we do is we take everybody that's been like a year seven or older, put them in front of the classroom and just kind of shares their story and like, what they thought was the key to their success, what was the key to, how did they play in the league for seven plus years? Because the NFL is. It's not for long, right? It's three years. The average. Is the average career. And so all the guys who have made it past, you know, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years, they've done something right. Whether it's their mindset, whether it's the way they approach the game, and if we can just teach these young guys that, maybe we'll put them at an advantage going into training camp.
Pat McAfee
Not for long. Not for George Ko. How big was the deal he just signed?
AJ Hawk
What was it, 76? There it is.
Pat McAfee
Georgie. Georgie on his first. The Niners have been paying a lot of money. We just talked to general manager John lynch yesterday. Feels like the team's ready to get back to their standard. Connor has a question for you, George.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, George. Hope the barbecue went well yesterday. Great to see at WrestleMania, by the way, but it was great. We did talk to Mr. Lynch and he mentioned how you guys had 100% attendance at the voluntary period for the San Francisco 49ers this offseason, which feels as though. I don't know if that's been the norm, but have. Did you guys have a group text like, hey, last year is not what we're about. Let's get in here early and have everybody be a part of it. And what was it kind of like being back with the boys earlier on this season and, you know, celebrating with every. Everyone as you got paid, Fred got paid and Brock Pie got paid like half a country, basically, you know, he.
I
Did get paid half a country. Good for him. He's buying everything from here on out. Hopefully he pays for the Halloween party this year. And it's not me and juice anymore.
Pat McAfee
76 million. Can put together quite a Halloween party. 265, though.
I
265. 265. Could put together a better one.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. This guy had a roommate, though, the first four years. He's making 100 grand a year. Yeah, he's fine.
Udonis Haslem
Live like he still got a roommate.
Pat McAfee
He's gonna dress like. Oh, yeah, yeah.
I
Backpack.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, yeah. All right.
I
Nicole's king.
Udonis Haslem
Let's see now. You just.
I
What'd you ask me?
AJ Hawk
The voluntary. The 100 voluntary workouts, the.
I
So it was great this year. At the end of the last year, we played a lot of seasons going into January, February, and all that stuff. And so, like, when the season ends, you just wanted some extra time to get away from everything. And this year, your season ends in January. You have that extra month off you. Whether you vacation, take care of your body, whatever you do, that itch to play football and hang out with the boys comes back a little bit quicker. And so I think everybody just wanted to be back in the building. And having everybody there just practicing every day, working out together every day, sitting in meetings every day, it's just really fun. And you, like, kind of build that team chemistry a little bit. Like most of our guys, I. I'd say, like, we probably had, like, 10 to 15 guys that wouldn't show up until phase three, and now everybody was there since phase one. So you just build those relationships a little bit quicker, get you guys make plays. You know, we have a ton of free agents. We have a ton of young guys. A lot of. There's, like. There's some openings on our roster. You know, that. You know, that's pretty obvious. We had a lot of departures, key departures, and a lot of opportunities for young guys to step up and take advantage of those opportunities. So seeing those guys, you know, kind of make some cool plays or not, as was kind of fun to see. And hopefully that just carries over to camp.
Pat McAfee
You know this because you've been in the NFL a long time, and we talk to, you know, John lynch is in two ring of honors in the NFL. Bucks and the Broncos. And when it's all said and done, we assume he'll be in the Niners ring of honor as well.
Ty Schmidt
Played in the mlb, too.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, he's a major league baseball player. I mean, John lynch is a special, special individual, obviously, as you all are over there.
Udonis Haslem
Damn.
Pat McAfee
You okay? What happened Nothing.
I
I just spilled some latte.
Pat McAfee
I didn't know if that was a Bud Light. You're drinking a little bit. We talked about to him, though, when you have a team that's good for a long time and people get paid $76 million at the tight end position and 265 million bucks at the quarterback position, you have to depend upon those young guys. Like, that is something that has to happen as you're building up the roster. Has there been extra emphasis by the OGs to get these young guys caught up quickly, I assume? Yes.
I
You know what that is? That has definitely happened. I would say that we had what's nice. When you have everybody back, you have, like, more opportunity in team meetings and, like, player meetings just to kind of talk and so, like, guys to speak up. Like, hearing Christian McCaffrey talk a bunch of this OTAs. Like, not for us. Not like he wanted something to say. Just like he was asked a question.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. What do you say? Hold on. What do you. John told us he spoke at the. At the end of the. About the 40 days off. What did he end up saying?
AJ Hawk
40 days away.
Pat McAfee
40 days away. Sorry, not off.
Boston Connor
Yep.
I
That was one of the things he said. He literally said. He was like, hey, I like how Coach Shanahan said it's four days away, not 40 days off, because it is. It's a way where you're by yourself. I'd say there's one thing from his meeting that I'd be comfortable sharing was he. Christian likes to say, like, you have to be selfish with your time as NFL football player if you want to be great. And whether that is like, hey, I'm not gonna go on my. I'm not gonna do this family vacation. I'm not gonna go do this boys trip with these guys. Like, I'm gonna spend these 40 days training my. Training my butt off to be in the best shape possible. So when I get back, I can earn a spot and I can help this team win a lot of football games. And that was one of my favorite things that he said. He said it a couple of times, but just emphasizing that to the young guys, it's like, this isn't like your 40 days of, oh, wow, I gotta go on vacation. I get to go. You know, you can go golf a little bit, all that stuff. But it's like, this isn't the 40 days off. Like, go train, show up, earn a spot, help us win football games.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Jesus Christ had 40 days as well. Niners deal with it. AJ has a question. For you, Gerard.
Evan Fox
Yeah. George, what's, what's your relationship like with head coach Kyle Shanahan? He's, he's a guy that seems to be like a players coach, but also at the same time hold you guys accountable. Is that something that's grown over the years, like your relationship, Obviously the superstars, but also with every guy on the roster?
I
I would say yes. One of my favorite things about coach Shannon is that he has like a 247 open door policy. Like if somebody has a question for him, someone wants to know where they stand with the team, someone has an idea.
Udonis Haslem
He.
I
His office is always open now. You know, let's say he's in some private meeting or something like that. But like any player can go in at any time and so I really, really respect that about him. Me, Kyle, have a great relationship. You know, I like to golf with him down in Cabo in the off season and then I like to win football games with him in the fall. So there's just. He holds us all accountable. He definitely puts a lot of pressure on all of the guys on the team that, you know, have to help us win games. But he doesn't like, doesn't like. One of the thing he does really well is like, he doesn't put guys in a position where they're not going to succeed. Like, he doesn't ask guys to do crazy things. He was like, look, I drafted you for this reason. This is what I know that you're really good at. I'm going to try to get you to this as many times as you can possibly can. And he does that for the entire roster, which is pretty special. Like he's not out there just pulling stuff out of his ass. He's. He's pretty smart when it comes to that stuff.
Pat McAfee
I think he could, though. I seen him throw a football pretty boozed up down by the beach. I assume he could pull some out of his ass. At the end. We only got like, we only. It was sick. It was very. He had a cool hat on. Always does. We have to go in like a minute here with a heart out, so. We appreciate your time. Ty. How's Iowa going to be this year, George?
Ty Schmidt
I think we're going to win a national championship this year. We got Mark Gronowski, we got the FCS Heisman. All the boys are back.
I
We do.
Ty Schmidt
Ready to go. I mean, just go ahead and poetic really quickly about why Iowa is going to win a national championship this year.
I
You know, it was fantastic. I literally just saw a tweet from some Hawkeye account, like, hey guys, you know, quarterback's going to win the heism this year. Let's just say we make it to the college football playoffs with the win of the Big ten championship. You know, we lost in the semis. Would that be a successful rear? Would that be a successful year or that be a disappointment? And I was like, we've never made it to the playoffs. So I think making the playoffs, such as a start, would be successful.
Pat McAfee
West Virginia is trying to win national championship. I just want to let you. That's the standard that I want. I got it. Ladies and gentlemen, tight end, new founder, all pro legend.
I
You're unreal, Pat.
Pat McAfee
Also an unbelievable wrestler, ladies and gentlemen, George K. My day kicks off with a refreshing Celsius energy drink. Then straight to the gym, prek pickup back home to meal prep. Time for my fire station shift. One more Celsius. Got to keep the lights on when the three alarm hits. Ready Celsius Live fit. Go grab a cold refreshing Celsius at your local retailer or locate now@celsius.com.
Udonis Haslem
If.
J
You want tools that stand the test of time without testing your wallet, Harbor Freight is the place for you. Expert engineers design and rigorously test Harbor Freight tools to bring you top quality. Whether your next project is big or small. Harbor Freight carries a wide selection from hand tools to power tools to automotive tools and welding equipment. And with prices lower than other top brands, but with the same top quality, you're getting more for your money at Harbor Freight. There are over 1,500 Harbor Freight stores in the U.S. so come see for yourself. Whatever you do, do it for less at Harbor Freight.
Evan Fox
Finals.
Udonis Haslem
Finals. No, you got to listen, guys, when I come from the bathroom, I got to. It's a reset. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Pat McAfee
I think a lot of people would be surprised that the the only guy up here that didn't have the rhythm or the.
Udonis Haslem
It should not have been the brother.
Pat McAfee
You're right.
Udonis Haslem
It should not have been the brother. You're absolutely right.
Pat McAfee
Ladies and gentlemen, we have three time world champion, 20 year NBA vet Udonis has them. We appreciate you, UD. We have the toxic table at Boston Connor and at Ty Schmidt, we have one half of the hammer. Done.
Udonis Haslem
I got it.
AJ Hawk
Boom.
Pat McAfee
Yes, you did. AP to. I got.
Udonis Haslem
I got to be better though, guys. I hold myself to a higher standard.
Boston Connor
You're a great team, so you know.
Udonis Haslem
I hold myself to a higher standard.
AJ Hawk
We think you need to be better too.
Udonis Haslem
It's funny you said from Boston who helped me get all these. Yeah.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, exactly. A higher standard.
Pat McAfee
Tone. Do we know anything about the gambling on tonight's game? Is there any updates on anything? I know the line has moved from six and a half to five and a half on espn. Bet over overnight. It is at six on some other sports books. Anything else we need to look at?
Boston Connor
Yeah, the movement from six and a half to five and a half overnight, as you said earlier in the first hour, hour six and a half would have been the largest home dog in NBA finals history. It's not like five and a half is that much, is that much smaller. So still disrespect to the Pacers at minus five and a half. It's exactly what they were in game three when they won that game. They're still dogs to win the series. They're. The Thunder are -220 to win the series. Obviously the sportsbooks think the Thunder are going to get tonight and then have home court advantage in that three game series to finish this thing out. SGA is also minus 220 to win the MVP. Tyrese has crept up to plus 300 to win the MVP if the pacers win. So it's really kind of a two horse race there with Siakam. I mean no one really, people were not shocked, but kind of a little bit shocked that Siakam won the Eastern Conference final MVP there. So it's kind of a three horse race in that one, depending on who wins. But no, that's. That's what we got for tonight's game wing, actually.
Pat McAfee
Okay, it's back to six and a half on espn. BET just got the update. So that would be the largest home underdog in finals history if this was to remain once again OKC against the spread on the road. This postseason has not been fantastic. SGA to score 35 plus points right now.
Boston Connor
Even money.
Pat McAfee
Even money. Yeah. That's because even Coach Carlisle understands you can put 34 on the score sheet for SGA before the game even starts. We shall see how that gets handled. Chet Holmgren, he had a fast start last game. Fast start. Game was kind of going at it in the fourth quarter. He's getting buried because of what Miles Turner did to him. That could be a big bounce back game for him. 10 plus points feels easy. Oh, that's rebounds. I'm sorry. Never mind. Pascal siakam, total points 20 plus. That feels easy. That feels like a bet. And then tyrese Halliburton Total assist 10 plus. That feels easy. So this feels like a pretty good little prop bet here. There's Only six people that have betted. I see. I think it says six underneath the flame. Is that. Is that the maximum amount of betters they've had on ESPN Bet? I'm not 100% sure.
AJ Hawk
I hope that's not how many people that that is. All the users. They actually.
Pat McAfee
That feels like a pretty good bet. Yeah. I. I think we should maybe think about him or was it a six.
Boston Connor
Legger and we just didn't scroll down.
Pat McAfee
Okay. Yeah. I think it's just the same people.
AJ Hawk
Yeah. Because there's no.
Pat McAfee
No. Total three pointers made is three plus. That feels good. Jalen Williams total points 20 plus. That's the only one. Now he can do that. Jalen Williams can do that. That's minus 160 or 180 there. 661 60. Man. Lasik starting to wear down. You should be able to see that pretty clearly. The six and the eights obviously blend together on TVs, but Jalen Williams, 20 plus points. Interesting. I think that's the only one. Everything else I really like on that and I like the. Jalen can go absolutely him. That's on ESPN BET right now. Shout out to ESPN bet. Shut up and shout out to the Pacers for being the biggest home underdog in the history of the NBA Finals tonight. Coach Carlisle, traffic. Tricky Ricky definitely loves everything about that. Now let's pivot away from the NBA Finals because we have a man who's a Super bowl champion, the all time leading tackler for the Green Bay packers and obviously a man who is a father of 10. A.J. hawk is here. Thank you for making the trip to Indianapolis. You traveled over from Ohio. You grew up outside of the Cincinnati area. You are a Bengals fan. You actually got to finish your career, I believe with the Cincinnati Bengals. Cincinnati Bengals are currently operating like the bungles. This is not the modern Bengals. This is like 10 years ago. Bengals situation. There's been conflicting reports. Schefter is told us specifically yesterday that the clause that they're trying to wedge into Shemar Stewart's contract is not normal. Then I saw somebody else on the Internet say, no, this is a normal clause. Don't feel like it's normal because the way it's been handled and the way everybody's reacting to it. Our guy Teddy Karras, one of the leaders of the Cincinnati Bengals locker room was interviewed yesterday and he came out and said there is no resentment towards Shemar Stewart or Trey Hendrickson in his locker room. We just hope the deal gets done before actual football takes place. This isn't desirable by any means, but we are not holding this against. Against Shemar. We heard Shemar talk about the situation. He's very professional. He said, hey, like, I would like to be here, but I can't be a guinea pig in this entire thing. AJ Is a Cincinnati Bengals fan. As a guy over in Ohio, I assume he got some Bengals fans, friends. What is kind of the thought in a convo happening around this particular Bengals situation? It feels like it's from yesteryear with the Bengals.
Evan Fox
Yeah, it does. It's like the. The same old Bengals. I'm around a ton of different Bengals fans. I grew up a Bengals fan, like, about 40 minutes from Cincinnati, and there's not many people against Jamar Stewart. Where I'm from, Like, the people that are talking about, they're thinking, man, the Bengals are trying to do this again. They're trying to get one over on their players. And I think when you see a guy like Ted Karras come out and talk about there's no ill will, there's no hard feelings. The players know, like, the players respect when a guy also stands up and says, hey, you're not gonna. You're not gonna push this through, because I'm a rookie, and I should be scared to publicly say no and not sign and miss minicamp and miss all of ot. So I think if you actually listen to Shemar Stewart speak and not just read the words written out that are typed, it's hard not to be on his side.
AJ Hawk
The Bengals feel like the last team that thinks that they're, like, almost smarter than all the players. Like, it feels as though the business side of the NFL, all the players have learned it, and the Bengals drafted Shemar Stewart. I think the assumption was to replace, you know, Trey Hendrickson, because Trey Hendrickson, their entire contract beef, and now it's kind of blown up in their own face because they're trying to slide in in something to Shemar Stewart's contract where, like, these guys are so business savvy from the nil. Like, we've talked about this with college players coming in. They're going to be better with contracts and nil and deals, handling money, handling it and understanding it. And that's. This is kind of like the first time we're seeing it where the Bengals front office puts in this little thing that they've never used before, and they try and get one over on Shemar Stewart, and now they just look like idiots because they got Trey Hendrickson, their veteran pass rusher, pissed off. Now they got their rookie pass rusher pissed off. Like, how does this even happen?
Pat McAfee
How's business happen in the NBA? I. I don't know, because I just see everybody get paid a seventh guy is getting $80 million. How. How is it handled in the NBA? And do people in the locker room, like, for instance, in the NFL locker room, anytime there's a holdout or any business stuff happening, when they come back in the locker room, there's a, hey, welcome back, welcome back. Is it the same in the NBA?
Udonis Haslem
No, because we don't hold out. We don't have to. We ain't showing up without a check. That's not what we doing. And that's crazy to me, that you draft a guy and then this guy shows up and goes through a certain amount of practices.
Pat McAfee
No, he didn't practice. He was in the building. He never got in the building. This wasn't unpracticed.
Udonis Haslem
Okay, but he showed up.
Evan Fox
Yeah.
Udonis Haslem
And. But you drafted him correctly. For us, once you draft, that's depending on where you got drafted, you're signing on that dotted line.
Pat McAfee
That's for us, too.
Udonis Haslem
It's already set in stone. So for me, it's weird, because you drafted this guy. You obviously have plans for him to be a part of. Of the future. Why wouldn't you want him in as soon as possible?
Pat McAfee
You.
Udonis Haslem
You would want to make that happen, to get that guy in as soon as possible, get him acclimated, get him around the team, get him buying into.
Pat McAfee
They need him.
Evan Fox
Sam Hubbard, another edge rusher, retired. So, yeah, they need him.
Udonis Haslem
So when the season comes, you hit the ground running as a. As. As a football player, so you can be your best version. So we ain't showing up without a check.
Evan Fox
Don't say they're trying to protect themselves down the line if something happens.
Udonis Haslem
Unless you're undrafted like me. I showed up without a check.
Pat McAfee
We got a try on. I got.
Udonis Haslem
You know what I mean? But if you get drafted, you ain't showing up without a check in the NBA.
Pat McAfee
Well, here's. Here's another thing to think about that. I guess Shemar is handling it much more maturely than we could have imagined. It's probably because of the nil and everything like that, but if you look at what the Philadelphia Eagles did to Saquon Barkley, okay, Saquon had like three years left on his deal. They wanted to pay him. So Saquon was happy. Like, hey, we want to give the appearance at least that we care about Saquon. We want to take care of you. Guess what? What Saquon is, he will run through a wall for the Philadelphia Eagles. Not that he wouldn't before, but he's like very thankful for the Philadelphia Eagles. To set your business relationship up with your first round draft pick like this. There can be some like cold, cold hearted.
Evan Fox
Yeah, there'll be some residual effects too, down the line. Next year's first round pick, like the, the agent. If you're. If you're the agent next year and you're first round, you have a first round client and he goes to the Bengals, they're going to say, all right, well, we're going to read this contract multiple times. We're going to go over and over because we don't want them slipping something in here.
Pat McAfee
But Shamar is like, you know, when Tyrese got traded here to Indianapolis, like, the reason why I think Tyrese is such a great leader of this team for this city is because as soon as he came here, he like wanted to be a Pacer, wanted to be a member of the community. Like, Shemarga's drafted this place and the first experience he has with the Bengals is, oh, they're trying to screw me over like they've never done before. Like, that's just not a good way to start a partnership. Like, that's not a good way to start a business relationship. And it's like the Bengals fans get mad about us talking about, but it's like, this is the reality. These aren't Madden players. These are humans. Okay? So whenever you try to sneak something into a humans contract, that's a guinea pig type thing, and they go, no, we're not going to do that. There is feelings now that you have just set up. So I can't continue to say this, but I guess I should. Like, the Bengals literally just shoot themselves in the foot here for no reason. This contract is going to be nowhere near as big as Trey Hendrickson's contract or as big as Jamar Higgins or T. Jamar Chase or T. Higgins or any of these Joe Burrows or any of these other guys. It's a rookie contract. It's slotted. To your point, whenever you say in the NBA, it's slotted the new CBA with the NFL, these things are pretty exact on what the deal is. So, like trying to game it a little bit, I don't know what the pros and cons of it, I just don't really see the risk.
Udonis Haslem
Is not worth the game.
Pat McAfee
Exactly.
Udonis Haslem
The relationship is not worth the game.
Pat McAfee
Like with Trey Hendrickson, they're going to have to pay him a lot of money. So if you want to play hardball with him so you can save yourself some money, understand that shit happens to vets all the time, especially if the number is 40 million that you're comping there. But with a rookie contract, you know exactly what you're going to have to pay him. So just sliding this in, it's like, piss him off almost. I don't now granted, rook ass rook. Okay. That's how I viewed it. Like, yo, you're a rookie. I. I don't want to hear you talking about your contract. Then we learned, like, well, they're putting a clause in there and nobody else puts it. I'm like, okay, so I actually respect. And then the rookie talks. I'm like, this guy's actually kind of composed because there is a feeling of him potentially hating the Bengals because this is initially. Because he already got paid by Texas A and M. Yeah. He's gone through this entire thing before. So now you're like, trying to put a little clause in a contract, like. Like you're trying to. I don't want to say screw him over, but that's probably what his agents are telling him.
Boston Connor
And do you think he's going to go. You think a second contract comes up? He sees what's happening with Trey and he sees what's happening with himself and his rookie. You think he's looking forward to a second contract negotiating with them? You know, he's probably just going to hit his four years and be like, all right, I'm going to go somewhere else.
Pat McAfee
And once again, don't want to bury the Bengals. Okay. Because I understand that the Bengals fan base are a great fan base. Their atmosphere over there is awesome. The Bengals team in the historic is all good. Ohio, Ohio. We love Ohio. We're close to. But this is a stupid thing.
Evan Fox
The fans that under. I think, honestly, the majority of fans I'm around, they understand if they've been Bangles fans for a long time, like, they. They get it. Like, they're not blaming Shamar. At least the people that I've talked to.
Ty Schmidt
I mean, a lot of people, though, I think like. Like, even like we said before, you watch that video, if you just read an article and you read the quote, it's like, this guy's an. Yeah, shut up and get ready to play. But. But also, then you hear him speak and it's like, oh, never mind. No, he's not. He's doing what he needs to do. And also. So it's interesting because the whole knock on him or not knock, but like, what they talked about during the draft process was like, this guy needs reps. Like that. That was his whole thing. That's why he only had four and a half sacks in college, was like, he needs the reps to kind of get where he could be. Because we know he's a physical freak. So for. For them to deliberately be like, hey, we know you need reps, but we're going to do this and create a situation so you're not going to be on the field. It just makes no sense.
Udonis Haslem
I mean, to a guy who's controlled everything he can control up until this point. And that's what we talk about with guys. We can control what we control. The work we put in out of trouble, the hours watching the film to get to this point. And there's something that's out of your control, has nothing to do with you, is stopping you from being on the football field. That's gotta piss you off. You do not want to start it like that. I don't want to start it like that.
Pat McAfee
I got added at an Instagram story he's working.
Boston Connor
Oh, I saw that.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. They added the La Agen LAA agency, I think is the agency that reps him. They added me in a story and they're like, schmor, still working.
Udonis Haslem
Of course he is, but he's not with his teammates.
Pat McAfee
Dude, he needs to be on the field.
Udonis Haslem
He needs to be with his teammates. He needs to be on the field with those guys.
Boston Connor
If he was there, like, the perfect situation, he would have been there with Trey, learning from Trey. Like, yeah.
Pat McAfee
But with that being said, TJ Watts not signed either. He's not signed. I don't know what the Pittsburgh Steelers fans are talking about.
Boston Connor
Compare these two situations, and we have a veteran leader in Aaron Rodgers leading Will Howard, our future quarterback, and he is mentoring him out of it. We have.
Pat McAfee
Well, I just want to say we should run the video of Will Howard talking about Aaron Rodgers and what Aaron Rodgers came out out publicly and was like, hey, I'm here to lead this guy. I'll be in every meeting, I'll be in every practice. Anything he needs, I'll give it. He did the same thing with Jordan Love. I think Aaron took a lot of respect out of it. Here's Will Howard talking about the relationship with Aaron thus far.
Shams Charania
When he says it, he's like, hey.
I
I don't want to overstep.
Ty Schmidt
I'm like, dude, like, you're.
Shams Charania
Please, like, please.
Pat McAfee
By all means, tell me whatever. Whatever you think he said. I. Aaron told him, I don't want to overstep or anything like that. And Will's like, bye. You tell me whatever the hell you want. How hard is it as an OG to not want to piss off a younger guy? But I also tell him, you're a good player. You don't know shit. Like, is there a balance there? Whenever you try to talk to. Because you talk about pressing different buttons and everything, like, that of OG is a necessity, I think, to a successful career. I had Adam Vinatieri. I was incredibly lucky for that. I don't know who AJ Would say he had, but there's always a veteran that, like, looks out.
Udonis Haslem
Yes.
Pat McAfee
Will Howard, getting Aaron Rodgers here seems like a great situation. You have been that for a lot of people. How do you start that relationship and how those conversations go get them to.
Udonis Haslem
Let their guard down? I love what he did earlier. I'm not here to overstep my boundaries. That's what Aaron Rodgers says to you.
Boston Connor
Crazy.
Udonis Haslem
That's what Aaron Rodgers says to you. Immediately, you're already in awe. And he comes with you with that and completely just knocks you off like, oh, wait a minute. This. This is what. And now you've let your guard down. Now you've allowed Aaron Rodgers to come in and have those conversations with you. And as you build that time on the field and off the field, because both of those things go hand in hand, I believe the time you spend with somebody, somebody off the field and on the field, continues to build that brotherhood. Just helps you trust that person. You believe in that person, and you know that person was the best for you, regardless where you play at, those are the things that help. So I think immediately, him telling that kid, hey, listen, I don't want to overstep my boundaries. I just want to help you. That automatically let the kid let his guard down. And now he's more willing to listen and follow Aaron Rodgers just from the jump. Now he will build that time and that rapport with him where he will respect him and listen to him more, but he started it off perfectly.
Pat McAfee
AJ why is this prima donna prick like this with these guys?
Evan Fox
Isn't that funny? Isn't that funny how it is? I mean, he seems to be a good teammate, but I think also how you come after. How you come after the guy if you're the old dude. I mean, when I first got in the NFL 2006, I believe there was a big. Everyone was saying, kid, kid, kid, speaking down to you Calling people kid. And it. I lost my mind when guys would do this. They like, grab your short kid. Let me tell you about how it is. And whenever, whenever that happened, I instantly shut down. I never heard another word from that person. And that happened from a couple of different people. People at times. And so how you come at people, I think has a big. Is a big part of it, so to say, like, hey, I don't want to overstep. I mean, will Howard's what, 24 year old, 22 years old. He's like, I've been, I was watching you play when I was five years old, Aaron, like, for that to be how they start everything, like that's a huge deal.
Pat McAfee
Everything starting with Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Even this, I think is a home run for Yinzers.
Boston Connor
Yeah, so far everything has been absolutely perfect. Everything he has said, everything he's done as far as like speaking in front of the team his first day, telling them that he's all in. He went to the Cam Hayward's golf outing to be with the boys. Everything he's done with Will and all the other quarterbacks. Yeah, everything so far, you know, and it's obviously, it's just June, but everything so far has been perfect.
Pat McAfee
Massive, massive day here on espn. A historic event begins. The College World Series live from Omaha, Nebraska, kicks off today, literally following our show. This is something that I think we all look forward to. We don't know College World Series. Baseball. We don't know college baseball. I think going into the College World Series, we followed a little bit closer this year because West Virginia almost had that spot that LSU has down there. Close. Almost had LSU's group. Go ball club. Good ball club. Ty, what do we need to know about the College World Series that maybe those of us who don't have all the info need to realize?
Ty Schmidt
Well, I think the best thing about it, like you mentioned, like, it's impossible to actually follow this all season long unless you're a fan of one of these teams in the sec, because there are, I mean, it's like college football. There are so many players, so many schools. But if you want just like a quick bird's eye view of the College World Series and why it's so special. First College World series was in 1947. So it's been, it's been around a while. But it moved to Omaha in 1950. Used to be at Rosenblatt Stadium, which is one of like the real cathedrals of baseball. Absolutely beautiful. They moved to Charles Schwab Field, which is a little bit bigger, but it's still awesome this year in particular. So if you don't know, it's an eight team double elimination bracket, kind of like an old school tournament. They'll have a winner's bracket and a losers bracket. The two teams remain training will play a best of three series to crown a champion. We have a good field this year. Okay. Five teams in the field have previously won a championship. Everyone knows about lsu, kind of the creme de la creme. They've won seven. Arizona used to be really good. They've won four. Oregon State, three ucla. And then Coastal Carolina also has won.
Boston Connor
My winner.
Pat McAfee
You like?
Boston Connor
Okay, that's mine.
Pat McAfee
You like the Chanticleers?
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, exactly. Which is manager the game we are leading into. They will be playing at 2pm today. And then the other schools, Louisville has made it six times. Arkansas, who is the top seed remaining. This is their 12th appearance and they've been runners up twice. They've, they've never won it but they, they have a very, very good baseball program. And then everyone, if you're looking for a dog, you know, to, to hop on, Murray State is making their first appearance. And then we've talked about this quite a bit. One of the things that kind of, I don't want to say outshines the baseball on the field because it doesn't but the, the jello shot competition.
AJ Hawk
Oh yeah.
Ty Schmidt
At Pizza and Cantina you can see it started in 2019. Genius of the owner. To start this. LSU bought 68,888 Jello shots in 2023, which is the all time record. And then it's also got a good cause here. You know, for the jello shots are five bucks. A dollar of each shot goes to a local food bank and then another 50 cents goes to the Greater Food bank of Omaha. I believe they were going to do an update at 1pm of where it could currently stands. And this is kind of always funny and where teams will kind of talk a little bit of about each other is in years past, you know, you have institutions like Stanford and Virginia who are very good at baseball but maybe a little bit more buttoned up. You know, people not trying to go down there and just get real boozed up. And then you got the SEC schools, you got the LSU's, the Tennessee's, the, you know, had West Virginia made it. Schools like that who like to have a good time, they're coming in and just getting real boozed up, buying in droves. And then also just overall like the, the play on the field we talked about Paul Skeens. He kind of took over the world when LSU was in the national championship a couple years ago. There are seven players in this year's field that are projected to be first round picks. They're headlined by LSU's pitcher, Kate Anderson. So again, you know, there's a lot going on right now with the NBA finals, with the NHL Finals, everything going on in the NFL. But these games will be sprinkled for the next 10 days or so. And it's an exciting brand of baseball. It really is. You're probably not going to see too many pitchers duels. You're going to see a lot of home runs, a lot of stolen bases, a lot of great plays. So if you find yourself with nothing to watch and you want to just pop in in like the fifth inning or something like that, usually these games will provide fireworks.
Boston Connor
He wants to, he, he's talking about it being exciting games. The over under for Murray State and Duke. Murray State won that game to get in into the tournament. The over under was 16 and a half.
AJ Hawk
Wow, love that.
Pat McAfee
That's a trip baseball.
Boston Connor
It hit the under, but like to get their game before that they scored 19. There's a lot of runs in these games.
Pat McAfee
Cannot wait to watch. The Rocco gimmick is brilliant. I mean they get people coming in here and buying 68,000 shots, five bucks a pop.
Udonis Haslem
A little disappointed in Florida. I would have thought we'd have did better than 4100.
Pat McAfee
Probably gonna look at an early exit. Maybe it was an early exit.
Udonis Haslem
I did that in my year. We got that out the way early when I was there.
Pat McAfee
I read at the bottom of that debone graphic and there was a lot of words on that graphic. Shout out to debone. Piecing that together. Go ahead and took $1 from Meat Shot goes to the local food bank while another 50 cents goes to the Heartland Food bank in Omaha. So it's actually $3.50 per shot. That is going to raw. Yeah, correct. So 68,000 times 350. Congrats.
AJ Hawk
The cost of Carolina manager Tony the team Tony. That's like the feel good story of the College World Series too. I mean, I don't know the exacts of it, but I guess the last time Coastal was in the College World Series, his son actually was just coming off having a stroke really young, a serious medical problem. Son's all good now. He's. I think he's a freshman in high school or something. Son is now coming with them to this College World Series. First time since they've been back. So that's kind of like the feel good story.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, that is pretty emotional. I would assume as Gainbridge field house is getting filled with yellow shirts for the gold out that'll be taking place here tonight for Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Obviously, 9,126 days it had been since the last time the Pacers hosted an NBA Finals game. This place was upside down two nights ago. Assume the same for tonight. It's Friday. Yeah. You know, a lot, a lot of working people out here in Indianapolis. So Friday night is normally a celebration.
Ty Schmidt
Yes.
AJ Hawk
Think about having one here.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, I think everybody's thinking about having.
Boston Connor
Good night to have one.
Pat McAfee
Hey, thank you. Shirts, people.
Boston Connor
Thank you.
AJ Hawk
Looks like the throwback Pacers logo on shirts.
Udonis Haslem
Yeah, I do mind. I'm getting a little bit of throwback vibes. Even though we want a different outcome from when I was playing. I'm getting a little throwback vibes walking in here and I'm looking around and this. Let me tell you something. This place, you feel this crowd and you feel these people and you feel these fans.
Pat McAfee
Okay, so that's being talked about a little bit more, I think, especially with the. The building being there. OKC obviously got a lot of credit for their fan base, which I think is warranted, especially from watching. I haven't been there just from watching. The Indiana Pacers fans weren't getting a lot of love. You know, they're like, hey, Oklahoma City, that's a tough place to play. You know, with the heels. Whenever you guys came through here, there's a lot of big games. It was back to. Back to back years, I believe, with Roy and Paul and Lance and everybody. Those, those are great times. This place is a tough place to play and these fans take a lot of credit in like, hey, we can make this. They know ball here. I think that's a big deal.
Udonis Haslem
Not only the team, but these fans will challenge you. There's teams where you walk into certain arenas and it's just noise. You don't even hear it. Whatever you say. And there's teams where you walk into the arena and you feel the crowd, you feel the energy, you feel it inside you. You get those little butterflies.
Pat McAfee
Oh, yeah. Bopping wood.
Udonis Haslem
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Feel it deep inside of you.
Udonis Haslem
Ye. Kind of sort of, but not really. But yeah, you feel these fans when you walk in here. So I don't, I don't. You can say what you want to say. I call them civilians. Civilians have no clue what the hell they talking about this is a damn good fan base here in Indiana.
Pat McAfee
Hell yeah. And I'm happy that it's being spotlighted. Same with Oklahoma City. Now you talked about it, I believe TJ McConnell and what he means to the team. TJ McConnell was on the Young man in Three as opposed to the Old man in Three podcast and this was his answer. I can't wait to hear your thoughts.
J
Ud I genuinely believe that playing hard is a skill. Cuz if it wasn't, everyone would do it. And you know, when I came in and like I'm, I'm trying to tell you about this guy Chris Babcock. He's like, you need to stand out. Nobody, he's like, nobody picks up full court and you need to make that your calling card. And so we got in the gym three times a day, got in elite shape and he's like, you're going to pick everybody, everyone up full court and that's what you're going to hang your hat on. And it's something that I've created an identity about. And if you play really hard and make life hell for the other team, I mean the other stuff like the offense, that, that, that will fall into place. But hell yeah, if you're going and playing to exhaustion any every time you're out there, like I said, it just, it gives you a chance to, to make a roster and, and to get more minutes. I mean I feel like I've made a 10 year NBA career on, you know, just outplaying people. I mean you have to be, you have to have skill obviously, but just making life really difficult on both ends.
Pat McAfee
UD you said you were getting chills listening to that. It's very obvious that that is how TJ Plays whenever you watch. He's a Pittsburgh kid. There's not a lot of Pittsburgh guys that make it to the NBA where more of a hockey obviously football town. But him carrying that into the NBA finals and being spotlighted 10, 5 and 5. First player ever off the bench to do that in front of his grandpa who was here and everything. But what do you think about TJ McConnell and how big of a tone setter is that for the entire locker room?
Udonis Haslem
That is a huge tone setter. And let me tell you something, I've never seen a coach have a problem with the hardest worker.
Boston Connor
No.
Udonis Haslem
So all you kids at home that's complaining about your coach don't like you, he don't play me because I've never seen a coach have a problem with the hardest worker. Just be the hardest Worker and everything else will figure itself out. I came into the Miami Heat and Keith Askins pulled me to the side and said, you know, how you gonna make this team? Defend and rebound. He didn't say nothing about scoring the basketball. He said, defend and rebound. Guess what? I did be the leading rebound in the whole history of the Miami Heat. That's how I. That's what I did. It was one play in practice where the ball literally dribbled past. It was a shot that went up, went to half court. I chased it, grabbed the ball. Riley blew the whistle and looked at me. I said, oh, shit. I thought I. I did something wrong. He said, why didn't you stop? I said, because the play was still going and I didn't hear a whistle. He smiled at me and laughed. Later on that day, I found out I had made the team.
Evan Fox
Hell, yeah.
Udonis Haslem
Just because I was the only guy that was willing to chase that rebound. TJ McCollum is the only guy that's willing to pick up 94ft and turn your ass and pressure you. He's the only guy that's gonna get five steals in however many minutes he got in the game. He's. And you see the look in his eye when he was yelling to the crowd, that was some scary shit. He's that guy. And you believe. Believe those guys. That shit gave me the chills. T.J. mcConnell is a guy. Not only is he playing against these guys in this series, when he plays against the Miami, he. He's the guy who. I look in the locker room and I tell guys, watch this guy. We gotta watch TJ McConnell. Because his effort and his energy can overturn the whole game and make that team, get energy and effort and play the way he's playing.
Pat McAfee
AJ he said playing hard is a skill because if it wasn't, everybody would do that. That's real in football, too, I think.
Evan Fox
You know, it's so real. I've said for a while, I think durability is a skill as well. It's something you can work on through. Like, obviously, there's bad luck and you people get injured, no question. But I think you can work yourself into good enough shape to where you can be a durable player. But also, when you talk about playing hard, it makes so much sense with how he lays it out there. But, yeah, of course.
Pat McAfee
Why.
Evan Fox
Why didn't everybody do this? Because it's super hard to do, and you have to. You have to get your body and your mind 100% ready in the offseason and all throughout the season like the season start, doesn't mean TJ McConnell's not working. I'm sure every single day he's still working and continuing with everything. And I cannot imagine what it's going to be like tonight when he checks into the game for the first time.
Pat McAfee
The city of Indiana's going to blow it. The city of Indianapolis, Indiana, hearing TJ Say that are like, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's our guy. I got bopping wood. He's stealing inbound passes. Like that is literally who he is.
Ty Schmidt
Three of them.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, he's a Duquesne, Duke, then he transferred to Arizona. He's a Pittsburgh guy, which we love. But yeah, when you talk about igniting a crowd, TJ Walks on that court, the place goes crazy because they know exactly what to expect. That little white fellow right there is about to lose his mind on this court. And also he has a mid range jumper to his spots every single time.
Ty Schmidt
If you're Oklahoma City, like a lot of the conversation going after game three was like, hey, you got to make adjustments so that Matheran doesn't do that or McConnell doesn't do that or whatever. And obviously he's not scoring 20 points, so he's not going to kill you. But is there anything you can do other than just like, hey, when this son of a comes in the game, make sure he doesn't turn the game on its head. Because that's exactly. I mean, the, the momentum completely shifted every time he touched the court.
Udonis Haslem
I mean, you can't be caught off guard anymore at this stage of the game. You cannot be caught off guard by anything. You can't be caught off guard by the AD that Rick Carlisle is making. You can't be caught off guard by T.J. mcConnell. You can't be caught off guard by Obie Toppin on the other end. We can't be caught off guard by Aaron Wiggins. At this stage of the game, there should be no more caught off guard. It should be your best version against our best version. Who's gonna impose their will for 48 minutes. And another thing about TJ McConnell, what we see him do on the basketball court is nothing. Because how he has to prepare to be able to play that way. To your point, what he has to put his body through in off season to be able to play this way and compete this hard. A lot of guys play hard for two or three minutes at a time time and then they slow down. Condition is not how fast you, you get tired, it's how fast you recover. For this guy to be able to play that way, he has to work his ass off in the off season.
Boston Connor
He's. And he's also made a name and had this 10 year career. Like you would think in this day and age he would be a three and D guy. He's. He's not like, he's not like he'll hit a three, will hit it and.
Pat McAfee
They will give him the opportunity by.
Boston Connor
The way, they will lay off a hit.
Pat McAfee
He gets the ball at the three and everybody's like, yep, like it's like a pickup and he takes his time.
Udonis Haslem
He makes it all nit, it's all nit. And we're just gonna keep giving it to him. Yo, listen, I hate that about basketball, bro. I understand that the percentages say that he's not going to make this shot, but you just going to keep giving guys wide open shots. It's bad habits in my opinion. Bad habits.
Pat McAfee
You talk about the bench and obviously TJ McConnell was a massive piece of that. Had a NBA finals record breaking night. There was also another man that punched his tickets into legacy forever. Matheran becomes one of the only five players in Finals history to have 25 plus points at the age of 22 or younger. Look at that list of who's who in the history of basketball. Matheran always been a guy, right? Just kind of looking for the right opportunity. Has found one here at the Pacers ud.
Udonis Haslem
Yes. And I mean I was the one who picked him before that game to be the X factor coming into that game.
Pat McAfee
Yes, you actually did.
Udonis Haslem
Up until that point he had not really been Benedict Mathenboy. I think tell you one thing about this guy. When the man came in the lead, the man said he ain't scared of Bron. I play Bron and I beat Bron. So he is not lacking confidence at all. So I was sure this guy who has been a third leading scorer throughout the season at some point will have to get it going and shout out to Carlisle because it's easy to pull him out of this series because he has not had it going early. But he stayed with him, he kept going and I think that infused confidence into him. And also you get confidence from your guys in your locker room. And his mama and sister came from Canada to see him play. So you got your family coming over. Can we talk about Canada, cuz? Something in the water?
Evan Fox
Uhoh, it depends.
Udonis Haslem
Something in there in the sim. It ain't Similac. It's something in the milk. In. In Canada, man. Cuz sga Benedict Nemhard I mean, these.
AJ Hawk
Brooks.
Udonis Haslem
Brook Brooks. Oh, Dylan Brooks.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, yeah.
Udonis Haslem
Oh, damn. Watching the series, that's why you caught me off guard. We talking about the people that's here.
Pat McAfee
I mean, Dylan Brooks is a great con. Last year he was a big part of the convo because he was just pest. Yeah, this guy's a pest. A pest. A pest. Does every team have one of those? And would TJ Be considered the guy for the Pacers? Who's that guy? Yes.
Udonis Haslem
Every team has a guy in the locker room that you can't get rid of. Every team in every sport, even football, there's a guy in every locker room that probably gets no praise, but you cannot get rid of this guy. If you get rid of this guy, all the shit it goes to, shit. Every team has a guy in your locker room like that. TJ McConnell is that guy here also. JJ plays that role here. So they have two guys here, but most teams have one guy in the locker room. If lose that one guy, all hell going to break loose in there.
Pat McAfee
You've been talking about smacking wood and bopping wood and deep inside of you and all that stuff. I mean, that's been on you, not on us. You have. You have the freedom to say whatever you do.
Udonis Haslem
I'm deep inside, but I bop a little wood.
Pat McAfee
Is there a different floor? Like, is there some floors that are better than others? And the only reason I'm asking you that is because in the NFL, there's been a lot of conversation over the last few years about the state of play in the state of grass, in the fields and turf and everything. Everything like that. Is the wood all basically the same or is there some places that are shite versus some other places?
Udonis Haslem
The wood's all the same. If you saying there's the wood problem in the NBA, where all these people plant the wood's all the same. This is crazy.
Pat McAfee
Once again, this is you.
Udonis Haslem
You do.
Pat McAfee
This is not us.
Udonis Haslem
The wood is not all the same, but not all wood is created equal. But on basketball courts in the NBA, the wood is all the same. There should be no excuse about the court, okay, that you're playing.
Pat McAfee
What about the hoops?
Evan Fox
Different rims, though. Different.
Udonis Haslem
Every now and then you might have a guy that dunks on the basket in a layup. It might be a little crooked. I will adjust that thing again. We'll tell you straight before the game, because most guys, when they get in, they shoot free throws. They line their right foot up because they're right handed. And we can tell you Immediately if the basket's off. So we make that adjustment early. But there should be no problem with the court. When you step on the basketball court, if you was talking about the basketball court, do you worry about the wrong things?
Pat McAfee
Okay. So you're looking for excuses. Let me tell you you about what is happening in the NFL. There is. There was a movement. It kind of got quieter, but there was certainly a movement about every field having grass field.
Udonis Haslem
Yes.
Pat McAfee
Okay. So then the owners talked about how. Well, we don't know if the research says that a grass field is actually the safest field. There's actually a certain type of turf in certain times of the year that might be safer than grass. It's all a bunch of shit. Legit. It's a lot of shit. But right now, what a lot of players are saying, it's weird that when soccer happens here in the United States, States of America, you're able to put grass pitches down. And then whenever we're playing for your money, millions and millions of dollars, you're not able to do it. Here's MetLife. They put a grass pitch down for the. What is it called? Gumpy. This is the FIFA World Club Cup Championship Super Duper title.
Udonis Haslem
This is the FIFA Club World Cup.
Pat McAfee
And how many teams are in this and how long is this happening for? It goes for a month.
Boston Connor
32 teams in it.
Udonis Haslem
Wow.
Pat McAfee
You'll be there tomorrow, right down in Miami. Yeah. For the opener. Miami.
Evan Fox
Can they keep it there for the season?
Boston Connor
Egyptian champions.
Pat McAfee
So J.J. watt has actually come out a couple times and said, because he is in the soccer world, so he obviously owns Burnley. I assume he's gone to a lot of these games that come over to America that happen in football stadiums because they want to be able to fill it out. And then obviously, a lot of these soccer players and soccer teams say, we're not playing on turf. We will only play on grass. Now, obviously, these NFL stadiums will say yes to the soccer people, even though they have no respect for soccer. Most of them, they'll do that. But whenever the NFL players say we will only play on grass, they say it takes a lot.
Udonis Haslem
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
We don't know if that's the right move. That is certainly a talking point. But JJ has come out and said, some of these grass fields on top of the turf fields are shit, too, because they're sliding around. It's not necessarily the right answer. That looks beautiful. I think it adds to the fodder. But I think what J.J. watt mentioned was like, this doesn't mean that this Is a good grass field just because it looks good.
Boston Connor
But it could be a good.
Pat McAfee
But it could be a great pitch right there.
AJ Hawk
But it looks nice. And I believe this one's in Washington, right? Is that where it is?
Pat McAfee
Life?
AJ Hawk
Okay, so New York, New Jersey in football, like if you're tackling people on that by October, right. By the end of October, beginning of November, that's probably garbage because I in some of the like Arizona in Vegas, they take the grass out for the walk. They take it outside.
Evan Fox
Green Bay has grow lights that roll up and down the field all winter though.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
AJ Hawk
And I wonder what, I wonder what the cost of that is for Green Bay.
Pat McAfee
Seen those grow lights before behind a fence.
AJ Hawk
They're probably massive.
Boston Connor
Those grow lights melt the snow off the. Off the roof. Be careful.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, they do that. And then they also. They were helping a couple guys I know run a business in college. Oh yeah, a couple of those grow lights. I don't know if it was bush or mid, but I do know those lights were certainly in there. Yeah. The NFL players will be pitching for grass fields forever. And every time these soccer players get a grass field, an NFL stadium, NFL players are gonna get more pissed. I mean that's just how it's gonna happen.
Udonis Haslem
But my point to that if the wood that we're playing on in the NBA is detrimental to the health of the players, then I believe that we would have that discussion as players and say that it needs to change. So I'm fully behind those NFL guys if this is detrimental to their health. And from what I've watched because I watch a lot of football.
Pat McAfee
Who's your team?
Udonis Haslem
The Dolphins.
Pat McAfee
Oh, you guys are great.
AJ Hawk
You guys are dead.
Evan Fox
How are you gonna do this year?
Udonis Haslem
You can have your opinions. You guys can have your opinions. Listen, I' here probably saying I'm a Dolphin fan and we ain't won a playoff series in over 20 years right now. So. So just let you guys.
Pat McAfee
How do you feel about the loyal to the soil Dolphins fan like you, bub.
Boston Connor
Yeah, I appreciate it.
Pat McAfee
24 years. It'll be 25 after this one coming out.
Udonis Haslem
See, we all noticed that. Yeah, we all know it.
Pat McAfee
No, he's a Dolphins fan. He is a die hard Dolphins. Almost quit on him this offseason.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, almost started just wearing the shoes.
Udonis Haslem
I mean from a kid I used to. When they black out the games, I used to sit across from stadium and you can watch this on the big screen. It was Joe Robbie stadium then. At that time it wasn't pro player and it was Joe Robbie and I used to watch. And the great Dan Marino. And you know my favorite Dolphin players of all time. Y' all don't even know him.
Ty Schmidt
Oh, Jim.
Udonis Haslem
Jim Crash Jensen.
Ty Schmidt
Okay.
Udonis Haslem
Anybody know Jim Jensen?
Boston Connor
No.
Udonis Haslem
He played every damn thing. He was punter, long snapper, linebacker, tight end, quarterback.
Pat McAfee
What's his name?
Udonis Haslem
Jim crash Jensen. Number 11. Played every goddamn position.
Pat McAfee
Jim Jackson.
Udonis Haslem
Jim Jetson.
Pat McAfee
Jetson.
Udonis Haslem
Not the Jetson.
Pat McAfee
Let's go to college, shall we? Maya Lesnar has won her first NCAA championship on her first throw in shot put. Obviously the daughter of Brock Lesnar out of Colorado State. We've gotten a chance to learn about this story for the last few years. She has committed her entire life to throwing shot put. Now she's an NCAA champion. On her first throw, she beat everybody else. 19.01 meters. Gumpy, how far is that. That in American.
Udonis Haslem
Good question.
Pat McAfee
I have no idea. To be 22 yards.
AJ Hawk
Yeah. I think a meter is what, two and a half feet?
Pat McAfee
No, meter is 3.3 or something. Yeah, it's longer.
Boston Connor
It is 3.3.
Pat McAfee
100 yards is 110 meter. 110 yards is 100 meters.
Boston Connor
Yes.
Pat McAfee
Right. So that was like 22 yards. Whatever the case, she's going to be representing the United States shortly. Go get us Gold medal. And congratulations.
Udonis Haslem
My.
Pat McAfee
A lot of hard work, obviously, for that. Can't even tell that she's. She's Brock's daughter. She would. She would not only throw a shot put further than everybody at that place. I think from my understanding of her workouts and everything, she's. She would also beat the ass of everybody else if she had to. And that's what we. That's what we were looking for. You.
Udonis Haslem
I could go for that for sure.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. Congrats. She should be incredibly pumped. I know her family has to be jacked up. Daniel Jones is QB1 currently for the Indianapolis Colts. Paid him a big deal here to compete with Anthony Richardson. Anthony Richardson hurts his shoulder. Here's Shane Steichen talking about Danny Dimes as an Indianapolis Colt.
Shams Charania
Very pleased what we got right now.
Pat McAfee
He's been doing a hell of a job.
Shams Charania
Really smart football player. Learned the offense very quickly, making really.
Pat McAfee
Good decisions out there through OTAs.
I
Obviously want to carry that over to.
Shams Charania
Training camp, but he's done a really good job. Great command in the huddle.
Pat McAfee
Ultimate pro great Jim Merce. T shirt there. G Y M for Jim Irsay. It's his birthday today. Happy birthday, Jim. We appreciate you also. We need another one here, Jim. So let's make sure we're buzzing around, dropping buckets. Okay, so we bring in a veteran quarterback into a veteran locker room. We've done that here in Indianapolis like 40 times. You go all the way back to Phil Rivers, Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan, you name it. We've tried this a lot with veteran quarterbacks. I think the difference with Danny Dimes is his body type and his play style fit perfectly for Shane Steichen type offense. But he was also like run out of town, like almost down. Like, I don't say no confidence because you have to be confident as a quarterback, but it's almost like he has a chance to find a new home. Ud if you were a vet in that locker room welcoming in Danny Dimes, who appears to be QB1 right now, as Anthony Richardson's shoulder is injured, what would the messaging be to him, you think?
Udonis Haslem
I mean, this is a new opportunity to have a fresh start and show that you're a winner. I remember when he was in with the Giants and he got paid and they didn't pay Saquon and everybody question. This is an opportunity to start over and show that you can lead a team and be that guy that everybody thought you could be. Also, with him coming into that locker room and playing the position, I don't see that much difference between him and Richardson because they both can make plays with their feet, they both can throw the ball. So to me, it's like you get a veteran guy, a veteran guy who's been in the league for a period of time. So you think he already has the professionalism that Anthony Richardson needs to work on.
Pat McAfee
Yes.
Udonis Haslem
So also I think you can't. I think it's a win win for both sides. You get the groom, Anthony Richardson, you bring him into a situation where you don't have to change the offense much because he can make plays with his feet just like Richardson. And also this is a redemption story. They paid you to be the guy. You weren't the guy there. You have a chance to be the guy here.
Pat McAfee
You did. Wow. Football guy. Let's go. You bop wood and all that stuff. A.J. danny Dimes, big. Okay, I, I got a chance to run into him two Sundays ago, maybe the day before Jim Mercey's services. I got a chance to run into him at this event or whatever and he's huge and I don't think he gets talked about for his size or athleticism enough. That's why I enjoyed UD saying like, hey, him and AR play a similar style of football. They very much do. Now Granted, two very different people. I think two very different types of players, but they have a similar skill set. That's good for Shane Steichen. I think it's good for the Colts. He's tough to tackle and I think Shane's going to like, kind of empower that out of Dan.
Evan Fox
I think Shane loves him. I mean, watch the. When you see Shane speak about him, like, he looks like it does. He's not putting it on. Like he's excited to say good things about. About Danny Dimes. But, I mean, Danny Dimes is in the prime situation. Hey, I want to be the next. I want to do what Baker Mayfield did. I want to do what Sam Darnold did. Let me find people. People wrote me off. What do you say? But I didn't write back.
Pat McAfee
Like, that's what he trademarks.
Evan Fox
Great for Danny Dimes. Like, it couldn't be a better situation for him. It's not a good thing ever. When anyone's hurt Anthony Richardson's shoulder, we don't know how it's going to be, but it's giving an opportunity to Danny Dimes, so.
Pat McAfee
And also the offense.
Evan Fox
It's beautiful.
Pat McAfee
It's given an opportunity for the Colts to see Danny Dimes as the guy.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
You know, like in the meeting now because AR is injured. Danny.
Evan Fox
That's the thing too. Like, people don't understand. Like, I think there needs to be a clearly defined role of who the quarterback definition is. When there's two of them, it's. It's weird for everybody. Coaches, players, players need to know, hey, we all know, like if you're on a football team, we go as our quarterback goes. If our quarterback sucks, we might be average, we're not going to be good. And if our quarterback's great, we can win the Super Bowl. And that's kind of how it works.
AJ Hawk
Yeah. And there's something about Danny Dimes. I don't know what it is, but that's 17 on him. Just reminds me of. I don't know what it is, but it really. He's got some mobile Payton Manning in him. Role definition. You just mentioned Archmith. Does that happen in the NBA where it's kind of weird where. How can you compare it to two type of quarterbacks? Is it like two super.
Udonis Haslem
That was the question I was going to ask for the AJ Here because. Because in the NBA we have role definition and it is it immediately. And I think the great thing about the OKC Thunder is they understand the pecking order. As great as Chet is, as great as Jalen is, they understand that SGA is the big dog. As great as we were with the big three with CB and you know, LeBron, I'm CB and D. Wade and we had the little 12. We understand that LeBron was the big dog. So you have to have road definition. Even when we get to the playoffs with the Miami Heat, SPO a couple call us in the office and we would sign a separate contract to commit to the things that we needed to do to win that specific series.
Pat McAfee
That's post an Austro.
Udonis Haslem
This thing of ours, this is not a real contract. But do you agree to be the sixth man? Because it was times where in this series against Indiana, Shane Battier started and I would come off the bench, but in other series I would start and he would come off the bench and I had to agree to that. In the contract with spo, do you agree to enjoy somebody else's success and be ready when your number is high?
Pat McAfee
I love that.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, that's awesome.
Udonis Haslem
Doing that quick.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, he's getting ahead of that. He's getting ahead of any conversations. He's setting the tone, he's setting the precedent on, hey, here is your role. Are you willing to be excited for other people success and if not, don't come. But like anytime we'll say some things and. Or a coach will say some things in a press conference and they're saying that to get the team like I like that our team is a hard working team. Like who knows if our team a hardworking team. But you're letting the world know and you're letting players know like, hey, we're expecting you to be a hardworking team. Like I enjoy the fact that like, hey, are you willing to be a guy who's happy for somebody else? That's a coach telling you like, hey, this is what I need out of you. This is what we're going to need this year to have success. You obviously were able to do that. I've never heard of that.
Evan Fox
And so clearly defined roles. That's what leadership is. And if you don't sign, that's what you are.
Udonis Haslem
That is frowned upon from your teammates.
Pat McAfee
What if you sign your probability, Be.
Udonis Haslem
The guy that don't sign on that line. Watch what happened with your ass. Come in that locker room, you're probably. Yeah. Yes. Out of here.
Evan Fox
Yeah, I would say, what's a superstar saying? Like, so say you're the guy like that. You're the guy on that team. You're LeBron. What kind of contract does he sign then?
Pat McAfee
Are you willing to lead this franchise? Yeah.
Evan Fox
Like, this is all on you?
Udonis Haslem
Yes. I mean, that's an easy lead by example.
Pat McAfee
Oh, my God.
Udonis Haslem
It was. It would be times on the court, guys, where Braun would tell us, don't even look at spo. Listen to me.
Evan Fox
Really.
Udonis Haslem
And it's no disrespect to SPO because we understand how great SPO had the.
Evan Fox
Like, had to like he was taking ownership of it.
Udonis Haslem
He loves when poor guys police themselves.
Pat McAfee
Hold on. This is a genius style of leadership. This is like a great way to just set.
Evan Fox
Like, you can't complain later because, hey, you see, look, you knew. You knew the deal going in, but.
Pat McAfee
Football team should be pissed now. Football teams should do this to a wide receiver. Like, hey, do you. Will you sign a contract saying you're going to be the best third option as a wide out this year? Will you block for our run game? Will you do like that immediately sends.
Evan Fox
That's bad football coaches keep you in the dark. If you know bad football coaches don't tell you, like, all of a sudden, like, wait, why? Why am I not in on third down anymore? All of a sudden there's a game. Like, I've heard people talk about that.
Pat McAfee
That's genius.
Udonis Haslem
I mean, I was not happy to not be starting. I'm not happy.
Evan Fox
But you weren't surprised by it.
Udonis Haslem
Yeah. And guess what? I'm a sign that damn contract and be ready when it's my time.
Ty Schmidt
Do you think that that's why a lot of teams are moving away from like, the big three? Because that was so, you know, that was so hot for a couple years there, but because it's harder to clearly define roles when you have like three alphas and it's like, we don't know who. I mean, obviously in your situation, like LeBron is LeBron, but in a lot of these other situations, you get the big three and it's like, well, one night it could be his night. One night it could be his night. Is it a lot harder to define roles when you have a situation like that?
Udonis Haslem
I think it's a lot harder because the financial aspect of it now, when I was playing, you could put together a big three and put quality around it and get what you want. I don't think you can do that. Now you look at the OKC team right now, SGA is going to get his back. Is Chet going to be able to willing to take a pay cut? Are Jalen going to take a pay cut? Because everybody took a pay cut when we were playing lebron took a pay cut, Dwayne took a pay cut, Chris Bosh took a pay cut, I took a pay cut, we all took pay cuts. So now you look at the financial side of it, are these guys going to be willing to take pay cuts to bring in the pieces that you need to actually be championship contenders? And I think that's where it gets a little tricky.
Pat McAfee
Both of these teams don't have the luxury tax. First time ever, I think since the luxury tax was put into place that these two teams don't have it and they're in the NBA Finals. So obviously the luxury tack is a salary cap and if you go above it, you just have to pay a luxury tax. We talked to Ishpia, the owner of the Phoenix Suns, and obviously it has not worked out, but he said like, I'm paying everybody because my fans don't care about me having to pay a luxury tax here. With the way they've been able to construct the rosters, they've been able to get dogs at cheaper prices. But when you have success, that those dogs are gonna get paid. Yeah, everybody's gonna get paid. So you have to be able to redo that. Like the Pacers, if they pay Miles Turner, they're going to go into luxury tax, which means it's going to cut into some other people. It's like with the Oklahoma City Thunder, obviously sga because he's been there. His supermax is worth more than Everybody else's. It's like 300 success. Success almost causes a lot more problems for your roster construction. But obviously neither of these teams care about that.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, Matheran is going to get 100 million somewhere, but without a doubt we kind of had that conversation. I think it was yesterday, the day before, like Benedict Matheran starting for, you know, 20 teams.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah.
AJ Hawk
The Wizards in the NBA. Yeah, he's probably the Wizard.
Evan Fox
Yeah.
AJ Hawk
One of, one of their all time lane scores if he starts there and just plays there the entire time. But also back to that Heat thing. Kind of awesome for Spoelstra to let LeBron be like, hey, don't listen to the head coach. I'm, you know, I'm LeBron, I'm, I'm the franchise player. You know, listen to what I have to say. And that's kind of why this series is awesome, is because both these coaches are so far ahead. Like tonight, will it be OKC's adjustments early and then Carlisle has to make adjustments after the first or second quarter or how does that go in game? Because obviously like you mentioned sga, six turnovers. They're doubling them when he goes to the ISO in the corner. But how do the adjustments start? Start tonight and then, you know, continue to happen throughout the game.
Udonis Haslem
I think the adjustments start first with OKC because they were the losing team. So I think the losing team is more, you know, more. They. They need to make more adjustments. They need to make them sooner. But I think where Carlisle has thrived and where he has won is the end game adjustments. The adjustments he makes in the game. When you look at game one, he took five guys out and put five guys in in the fourth quarter when they were down and they were down and it was around 9:39 in a game. They went on a 15:4 run after that. Then in this game he comes in, he goes small. Then he comes back with Miles Turner who hadn't been playing well and look what he did defensively, what he brought to that team. So it's just the end game adjustments that I think Tricky Ricky, Rick Carlisle has been making that has pushed him over the. So I think more so end game adjustments for Indiana and before the game the adjustments to start the game will be okc.
Pat McAfee
Hey, you can get icky sticky with Tricky Ricky. To him you can really. Obviously we have the NBA Finals tonight here in Indianapolis, Indiana. That game will be played on ABC at 8:30. I assume UD will be on the pregame coverage. We can't wait to watch you there. You've been crushing it here for us. We appreciate you taking time out of your life to join us. Obviously the NHL Stanley cup finals will continue tomorrow night. There is obviously the FIFA World cup club thing super duper tournament happening all around the United States of America. There is also a major taking place in Plumborough, Pennsylvania, the eastern hills of Pittsburgh in the US Open. To give us a little bit of an update on that, let's go to 1/2 of the Hammer D Cowboys. AP Tone.
Boston Connor
Yes. The U.S. open, the 125th U.S. open at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania started yesterday. As of the last chance I got to check, which was about 20 minutes ago, there was not a top 10 player in the world who was under par. So Oakmont is showing, showing her teeth. The leading score yesterday was minus four.
Ty Schmidt
Huh.
Evan Fox
Like a fish.
Udonis Haslem
Yeah.
Boston Connor
No, I mean the golf course happens to be a her. I don't know what to tell you last yesterday.
Pat McAfee
She is beautiful.
Boston Connor
She is beautiful.
Pat McAfee
She is beautiful. She is expensive too. A lot of us from Plum never got to play the Oakland country. She is pricey.
Boston Connor
Unless you Were a caddy there, you got to play for free on Mondays after 6pm as many holes as you could get in.
Pat McAfee
Wow. And if you're a caddy there, you would hold experience.
Boston Connor
I caddied there for a summer.
Udonis Haslem
Okay.
Boston Connor
And I wasn't mature enough, but just for a summer, I was.
Pat McAfee
If you were a caddy at Oklahoma, you would want to hold on to the job because obviously the tips are big. Because playing there, you have to have a lot of money. So obviously the people with a lot of money, you would assume normally. Although there has been some assholes in the past, I guess, that have a lot of money that don't tip well. We don't need to dive into those stories at all. But at Oakmont Country Club, you know, the tips are big. You're in at Oakmont, it's like a good job.
Boston Connor
Yep.
Udonis Haslem
Okay.
Pat McAfee
If you get it, you should.
Ty Schmidt
You hold on to it.
Pat McAfee
You hold on to that job. Ton decided to have a little bit of a good time.
Boston Connor
I had a night. I slept in. Missed the tea time. They don't have that there. I'm done.
AJ Hawk
Okay, you're out.
George Kittle
Kind of how that works.
Pat McAfee
Hey, great night, though.
Boston Connor
It wasn't worth it. Wasn't worth it. Yeah, we had a lot more of those nights. But no, back to. Back to Oakmont. The top 60 and ties make the cut. The projected cut line right now is right around top plus five. So I wanted to highlight kind of some of the big names that are around that number. Rom is at plus three right now. Bryson is at plus three right now. He's going to start his day. Scotty's at plus four, so he's right around that line. Rory plus four. He's got to start his day. Spieth is at five over. DJs at plus nine. He's probably not going to make the cut. He won the last time the Open was at Oakmont, and JT is at a plus 10. So that's something as far as big names are doing right now. J.J. spawn was a story from day one. He shot a 31 on the front nine, which is a record for the U.S. open. Right here you can see his kind of story of the day. On 15, he makes a par save. He was 18 of 19 inside 20 putting yesterday.
Pat McAfee
He was huge.
Boston Connor
He was four. He gained four strokes putting yesterday, which was the best in the field. No bogeys for his round. Yesterday was the second time that h that's happened at the last two oak months. His putting has been unbelievable. He just teed Off a little bit ago, he pared on one. Let's go to Victor Hovland. He's the other. One of the other big names in the top 10. This is him on 17, his eighth hole of the day. He chips in for eagle to go 300. So Vic Hud. Hovland moved to three under there. He. I believe he finished his day at minus two. So he is still in the top five. Then the other guy who's lurking around the top 10, a future U.S. open winner, or, sorry, past future, past U.S. open winner, Brooks Koepka in a tough spot there. Dips it over the stand. What's he gonna do here in this tough spot? From the fringe. Birdie putt here.
AJ Hawk
Don't.
Evan Fox
Oh, that's crazy.
Pat McAfee
That's great.
Boston Connor
Greasy Brooks nails it to go three under there. He had a little bit of a rough stretch. He dropped down to minus one for the dates, but he's still in the top 10. Those are the big names right around there now.
Pat McAfee
Okay. Ud you a golfer down there in South Florida?
Udonis Haslem
I'm consistently inconsistent, but I'm a Brooks guy. He came to a couple of Miami Heath games. He lives in Boca, so.
Boston Connor
Panthers fan, too?
Pat McAfee
Big Panthers fan. Maybe they should have him bang the drum instead of.
Ty Schmidt
Not a bad idea.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, custom. Obviously you got big hockey stick clubs.
Evan Fox
Clubs are probably taller than me.
Udonis Haslem
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got custom clubs. I got custom clubs. But I got work to do, man. I'm still in the phase where my guy be having me do this. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm still doing that right now. So. I got work. I got work to do. I probably ain't on y' all level yet.
Pat McAfee
No, no, no.
Udonis Haslem
I don't feel bad if I quit, cuz I'm this damn close. My rich friends keep telling me.
Pat McAfee
I'm like, yeah, we don't live down in Miami. Yeah, we don't mind going out there and burning through some trees, maybe having a little bit of a time out there.
Udonis Haslem
So I ain't the only one that likes to do.
Pat McAfee
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Also, there's a. There's a former. There's a current first sergeant who is. What he say he does out on the golf course. Booms? I believe he says microdose. Yeah, he said. They tell me it's micro dosing. I don't know what it means, but I know I like golf more.
Udonis Haslem
I got friends. My. My rich friends, Dwayne, they got. They won't play with me because they say by the time we get the who 18. They can't see you. I'm like, okay, what's the problem?
Pat McAfee
Yeah, exactly. That's the point of playing. Dwayne Wade, I think. Hit a hole in one out at Pebble Beach.
Udonis Haslem
He bring that up every time. I was like, man.
Pat McAfee
We'd like to give a thank you as we head out here on ESPN and we continue digitally on YouTube, ESPN Plus, Disney plus and TikTok Live. Big Shout to you, D for something about you. Dude, you are amazing. We can't wait for tonight's game 8:30 on ABC. NBA Finals game four, obviously. US Open this weekend. Stanley Cup Final this weekend. We'll be back for an overreaction Monday. Shout out to the entire crew that moved this set inside from outside in less than 12 hours. Thank you to all the workers here. You guys did a fantastic job. Absolute legends. And we'll be back after a massive weekend of sports. We'll see you on Monday. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. We're in this thing together. Never forget it. Pacers in five, baby.
Udonis Haslem
After Zumies at the dog park, it's time for Drive up at Target.
George Kittle
In goes a big bag of kibble.
Udonis Haslem
And one squeaky chicken toy for the good boy.
Pat McAfee
Drive Up. That's ready when you are.
Evan Fox
Only in the Target app.
Udonis Haslem
Just tap Target.
J
If you want tools that stand the test of time without testing your wallet, Harbor Freight is the place for you. Expert engineers design and rigorously test Harbor Freight tools to bring you top quality. Whether your next project is big, big or small, Harbor Freight carries a wide selection from hand tools to power tools to automotive tools and welding equipment. And with prices lower than other top brands, but with the same top quality, you're getting more for your money at Harbor Freight. There are over 1,500 Harbor Freight stores in the U.S. so come see for yourself. Whatever you do, do it for less at Harbor Freight.
Pat McAfee
Okay? We're still alive. We're still live. People are still watching.
Udonis Haslem
Okay?
Pat McAfee
We have had people that have joined the show. They thought as soon as it was over, they were in the clear. They bury somebody immediately. Now, if you would like to bury somebody, now is a good time to do that. No, but just know if you do that, people will hear you.
Udonis Haslem
No, I ain't burying nobody.
Pat McAfee
Let's go around the horn here. Let's go around a horn here. Ud, you will go last. Okay, Prediction of tonight's game and score. We'll go to one half of the hammer. Cowboys, ap. Tone your thoughts.
Boston Connor
I think it's going to be Halle on a game winning. So he's had game winning layup, pull up three pointer. I think he's going to get to the bucket again. Pacers by one tonight.
Pat McAfee
Okay, who wins the US Open?
Boston Connor
Ooh, I think right now. Let's go. Colin Mora. Colin Morikawa.
Pat McAfee
Colin Morikawa ends up winning. Okay. No highlights or talk about him in your entire recap.
Boston Connor
Even right now, you know, he's, he's lurking.
Pat McAfee
Okay. Morikawa potentially winning the US Open in Tone's eyes. And he has Halle getting a one point win for the Pacers in game four. They would go up three one in the series. Wow. UD basically said that's a winner for the Pacers. Ty Schmidt, don't know if you'll be in the arena tonight. Still going to try to convince you to do that. How do you see tonight going?
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, we'll still.
Pat McAfee
We'll see.
Ty Schmidt
Still think about having one tonight. Maybe have one here.
Pat McAfee
You should think about.
Ty Schmidt
I should think about having one. I know, I know. Last, last game in front of game three, I said I thought that Tyrese was going to have a triple double. Was off by, you know, one rebound. Pretty close. So I'm feeling the predictive juices are pretty good right now. I like the pacers to win 110 to 106 tonight. You know, close, close affair. But I think Tyrese and and UD mentioned it. Miles Turner didn't play particularly well last game except for defensively down the stretch. I think he's going to have a big bounce back night. So I like the Pacers.
Pat McAfee
I don't think the Pacers have played that great.
Ty Schmidt
I don't think so either. Any game they shot like 30% last.
Pat McAfee
Now granted that might be OKC's defense. OKC does that to teams. But I think if I'm the Pacers, I'm thinking to myself, we have yet to play a good game and we're up 2:1 now. OKC makes you not play a great game. I think that's kind of their thing. And then OKC thinks they gave away that first game. We should be up 2:1. Both games at home we should have won. So both teams obviously feel that they should be playing better. Connor, how do you feel tonight goes?
AJ Hawk
Oh, man. I mean, I am a believer now.
Ty Schmidt
Start thinking about it.
AJ Hawk
I really.
Pat McAfee
Are you thinking about having one?
Ty Schmidt
I really need to think.
AJ Hawk
I'm actually not really thinking about it anymore. I will be having one.
Ty Schmidt
Okay.
AJ Hawk
There isn't really a concern or a cause to not have One.
Boston Connor
Sure.
AJ Hawk
It's Friday. It's Jim Merce's birthday. It's the first time the NBA finals have been in Indianapolis in 25 years. So I will be having one. I'll be having. You know, I could almost argue I'll be having two.
George Kittle
Okay.
Boston Connor
To 20.
AJ Hawk
To, to 20 to 50. So sure I will be having one. I really want to say the best Pacers are going to win. I really want to. And I believe in the Pacers to win the series.
Pat McAfee
Wow. What's that sound like?
AJ Hawk
It's just going to be. It's just, it's just hard to imagine the Pacers winning again. I didn't think they were going to win game three. So it's, it's nice that we sit here at Pacers 2, 1. But because I can't see it is why I think it's going to happen. I still think the Pacers okay Pacers in six, three, one. Because this is game seven. They win tonight. They're going to win it. They win tonight. Go to okc, lose, come back home. Win it on a Thursday night. Indianapolis.
Ty Schmidt
And we hoist.
AJ Hawk
We hoist as we hoist. The mayor. The mayor. Hog said the. Anybody who ever been here, I haven't seen him. Whoever has authority cancels everything for next Friday. It's a party in the streets.
Pat McAfee
Does Hogs that have authority? That's a great question. How is Hogset doing? Has anybody seen him in years?
AJ Hawk
Streets look good. They actually made a one way street, a two way street now. And it has made my life significant.
Pat McAfee
Thank you. Hog. Yeah. Got to go hot.
AJ Hawk
It actually has getting around the city.
Pat McAfee
Big weekend aj. You're a big basketball and Lig Oberg.
Boston Connor
Oh, you got Oberg.
Evan Fox
Okay, okay.
Pat McAfee
Little bonus. Little bonus.
AJ Hawk
I told you I'm having two. I'm having 20.
Evan Fox
I'm.
AJ Hawk
I'm not just thinking about having one. I am having one.
Pat McAfee
And something after you're having ones.
AJ Hawk
I'm having one.
Evan Fox
I think as con man said this is game seven. And I heard someone on the elevator when I was coming up here say this is like this is basically a game seven. I think Pacers win 118, 114, 14 tonight. I think Brooks Koepka finds. What's he at? Is he even right now? Yes, I think Brooks finds a way to win. I listened to him talk about his coach went crazy on him on Monday of this week and started yelling at him that we're even. Just in time.
Pat McAfee
Oh yeah. In the came and asked him if.
Evan Fox
He was okay because it Was that like. It was pretty serious conversation he had and Brooks said I needed that, so I would take Brooks, even though I continue to. I don't understand why they keep mowing the rough with all the push mowers at Oakmont. I don't know if you guys have.
Boston Connor
What do you want, a tire marks? You want tire marks? You want.
Evan Fox
Yeah, like every other golf course on the planet.
Boston Connor
Oh, wow.
AJ Hawk
Every other.
Evan Fox
I know it's not, but it's Augusta, Pittsburgh. Why do we got to have 75 dudes walking in single file next to each other?
Boston Connor
You don't like guys having jobs?
Evan Fox
Yeah, we can't talk to.
Pat McAfee
To anymore.
Ty Schmidt
That's a good point.
AJ Hawk
Someone wants to outsource.
Pat McAfee
Wow. Maybe robots will do it.
Evan Fox
I think Brooks wins it. I think Brooks wins it. Probably six under.
Pat McAfee
Okay, that's that. How about the game tonight?
Evan Fox
You got to pay 1-8-1-14 Pacers 118.
Pat McAfee
Okay. I like that we're dancing up into high numbers running out there and the man whose opinion matters more than anybody else's. If you'd like to give us a US Open prediction, you can certainly do that. And an NHL Stanley Cup Finals after your Panthers kind of blue. They could do a prediction there if you'd like.
Udonis Haslem
I am going to give you a U.S. open prediction. I am going to say Brooks.
Pat McAfee
Okay.
Udonis Haslem
I'm going to go with him. I got a chance to meet him when he came to Miami Heat game through Kyle Lowry. So I'm a huge fan of his. So I'm a loyal guy. You guys know this. So I'm staying with the guy that I know I'm loyalty. And just, just hear me out, guys here. I had this series going, seven games, and I always had Indiana winning. So they always say that the playoffs doesn't start till both teams win a game on the other team's home court. OKC has not won a game on this home court yet. Yeah, I think tonight they will get one. They will get one, sure. But this would not stop the Indiana Pacers, because the confidence that these guys have, they believe they can go anywhere, anytime and beat anybody. I believe they're going to have to hoist that trophy up away from here. So you might. You guys might have to take the party in the streets to okc.
Pat McAfee
Okay. I mean, not a bad idea.
Udonis Haslem
They will horse that trophy up. Game seven in Oklahoma City. So tonight I believe that OKC gets it. Not because I believe they're better, because I. They have to.
Pat McAfee
Yeah.
Udonis Haslem
I just gave you the statistics on going down three One.
Boston Connor
Yeah.
Udonis Haslem
It's over. I believe they have to and I believe they will come out and they will play with that desperation.
Pat McAfee
And once again, Oklahoma City hasn't lost back to back games since December 2024. Yeah, that's a long time ago.
Boston Connor
Long time ago.
Pat McAfee
So many things have happened since.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, a lot long time.
Pat McAfee
Philadelphia Eagles have won a Super bowl since then, let alone everything else that has happened in the world.
AJ Hawk
Yeah, I was going to say Florida.
Udonis Haslem
Gators won another national championship in basketball.
Pat McAfee
You guys are full of gators. Hey, hey. I think the Florida Gators is actually going to be good football team. I think they got a chance.
AJ Hawk
Big fan of them gators.
Pat McAfee
I like Floridas.
Udonis Haslem
You ever eat in gator? Yeah.
Pat McAfee
What type of gator is your favorite Gator?
Udonis Haslem
Well, if you look on my Instagram page, I went gator hunting with Birdman.
Evan Fox
Whoa.
Boston Connor
Oh, shut up.
Pat McAfee
Wow.
Udonis Haslem
Yeah, me and Bird. Yeah, me and Mo got Bird. That's my bass, bro. So you like wrestling? Me and Bird was thinking about being like tag team wrestlers after we retired.
Pat McAfee
Would love to have you.
Udonis Haslem
Yeah, me and Bird was going to be like tag team. We was going to call ourselves the Bash Brothers. You guys remember the Mighty Ducks? They had the bass. Call ourselves the Bash Brothers.
Pat McAfee
Bros. I think Bash Brothers. You guys maybe be the Bang Bros.
Udonis Haslem
No.
Pat McAfee
Down there in Miami. I mean the Bo. The Bop Bros. You guys drive.
Boston Connor
You guys drive a bus into the ring.
Udonis Haslem
I don't know if my wife want me to be the boy.
Pat McAfee
I guess we'll just have to do Bang Bros. That's what you guys have to do. You shot that thing right in the head.
Udonis Haslem
Yeah, yeah.
Pat McAfee
Was it tied up? Cuz I've heard there's been some.
Udonis Haslem
I thought I like to watch the show on tv. Ooh, them. Ooh. I thought we was gonna get in the back of the boat and put some chicken out there and shoot em in there and just pull them into the boat. So what I realized is how we did it in Florida is we ride around on the. I live near the Everglades. I live in Southwest Range, so I'm close to the Everglades. So we ride around on the back of a pickup truck. It's a lot of lakes. You can see the gator's head sticking up from the lake.
Pat McAfee
Oh, yeah.
Udonis Haslem
So now you're in the back of the pickup truck, you're about to take aim. Only way you know is you got them is that they go belly up. Now the problem is, is in the state of Florida, you have to go get it. I didn't know that. I was like, damn that I don't want.
Boston Connor
Their friends are probably around.
Udonis Haslem
The guy that took us was like, no, it's state law. If you kill it, you have to go get it. So now I have to go in the water and pull it. And I'm about this high in the water.
Evan Fox
Oh, look at that monster.
Pat McAfee
Which one killed who with spang, bro.
Udonis Haslem
You know, I killed the baby because we had been riding for an hour and a half and I was just ready to kill something.
Evan Fox
Okay.
Udonis Haslem
Bird waited three hours for that. Bird waited three hours for that big boy right there and he got him. So I got the baby. But damn that I'm. I killed the gator.
Evan Fox
Did you make some boots or what you guys do?
Udonis Haslem
Yeah, I skint it. And. And yeah, ate them. You guys eat it? Yeah.
Pat McAfee
What you have? Little. Little gator.
Udonis Haslem
Another gator bites, say it tastes like chicken. They ain't lying.
AJ Hawk
Yeah.
Pat McAfee
Gator on a stick for yeah, maybe 2G. Maybe baby. Gator on a stick, Nebraska. All right, well, I'm a non biased journalist so I'm not going to do a prediction.
AJ Hawk
Oh, sure, you should have be able to.
Udonis Haslem
But you just got the shirt on.
Pat McAfee
That says yeah, Pacers by 30 tonight. Okay, we're going to get the hell out of here. Have an incredible weekend. Sports are going to show up for us all weekend. Thank God for that. We're back on Monday. Hopefully by that time.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, we'll start. We can start thinking about it. Yeah, we can start thinking about having one.
Boston Connor
We're going to know more.
Udonis Haslem
Start priming that pump.
Evan Fox
We go right down, right down the main drag. Right.
Pat McAfee
What's the pump?
Udonis Haslem
Priming that pump. Getting ready to celebrate the pump. Oh, he's priming the pump like you.
Evan Fox
Priming a pump like you're starting a lawn mower.
Udonis Haslem
Okay, I'll be there okc partying with you guys. You're going to look over your shoulder, you be like, God damn. Yeah, we did it.
Pat McAfee
To be clear, UD much like every other basketball player we've met, other than T.J. mcConnell, I guess, which is why his story is so interesting. We won't be looking over our shoulder. We'll be doing. You guys are so tall.
Udonis Haslem
Great point.
Pat McAfee
So tall.
Udonis Haslem
Great point.
Pat McAfee
So athletic. And you have been so cool to us. Yeah, we appreciate the hell out of you. You look amazing. Once again, I don't know how many seats you have, but it's fantastic. And also the entire Internet said. Tell UD thanks for using this platform to recruit Kevin Durant. To the Miami Heat.
Udonis Haslem
I did no such thing.
Pat McAfee
Well, that's what the Internet's saying, and they're never wrong.
Udonis Haslem
Don't listen to the Internet.
Boston Connor
Thank you.
Udonis Haslem
Perception is not reality. You guys know that.
Pat McAfee
Sometimes reality is reality.
Udonis Haslem
Yes.
Pat McAfee
Maybe Kevin Durant's a member of the Heat.
Evan Fox
He'd look good.
Pat McAfee
Maybe he comes to the Pacers.
Udonis Haslem
Maybe wherever he goes, he's gonna be Kevin Durant. That's one thing we do know. He likes straight bucket.
Boston Connor
He likes the Internet.
Udonis Haslem
Straight bucket.
Pat McAfee
He will dance in the Internet.
AJ Hawk
Yes.
Udonis Haslem
Oh, yeah. He get them. He get them fingers going. I'm gonna let you know how you feel. I love it.
Pat McAfee
Same with Giannis.
Udonis Haslem
I love it.
Pat McAfee
Yeah. How about Giannis being like, as soon as Shams talks. Sick of.
Ty Schmidt
Yeah, I'm gonna fucking kill this guy.
Pat McAfee
All right. Thank you all for hanging out with us this week. We're incredibly lucky. Shout out to the Pacers taking care of us, allowing us to do this from here once again, shout out to the production crew that put this whole thing together. And shout out to sports for being the greatest thing that has ever existed. We appreciate you all so much for allowing us to do this for a living. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice about. Change your life. We're gonna sing together. Team on me, ud. Anything. Final. Final things to say before a great weekend.
Udonis Haslem
Go, go, Panthers. And lay off Bobby over there. Bobby had a couple mishaps in the goal, but he'll be all right. Bobby. I got you, Paul. Maurice. You're a hell of a coach.
Pat McAfee
Looked bad last night.
Udonis Haslem
Don't do that.
AJ Hawk
Think about having one here.
Pat McAfee
We should think about having one.
Ty Schmidt
Maybe think about having one.
Pat McAfee
Everybody should think about having one.
Udonis Haslem
Sure.
Pat McAfee
What do you have? An opportunity to have one.
Ty Schmidt
You gotta have one.
AJ Hawk
Have one.
Pat McAfee
Because life, we don't know when it's gonna end.
Ty Schmidt
No.
Pat McAfee
So if you have time right now to have one, maybe having one, take your opportunity. Team on three. One, two, three. Team. Goodbye. Thank you, ud.
Summary of "The Pat McAfee Show" Episode PMS 2.0 1360 - Feel Good Finals Friday
Podcast Information:
1. NBA Finals: Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
The episode kicks off with an in-depth discussion of the NBA Finals, where the Indiana Pacers are leading the series 2-1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Pat McAfee highlights the underdog status of the Pacers, noting their current position as the largest home underdogs in NBA Finals history with the betting line fluctuating between +5.5 to +6.5 (00:43).
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
2. NHL Stanley Cup Finals: Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers
Pat and guests transition to the NHL Finals, discussing the thrilling game where the Florida Panthers tied the series 3-1 after initially leading 3-0. The conversation delves into game-changing moments, such as Leon Draisaitl’s clutch goal in overtime (17:20).
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
3. NFL Insights and Insider News
The show features discussions with NFL insider Shams Charania and special guest George Kittle, focusing on trade rumors, player contracts, and team dynamics.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
4. College World Series Updates
Live updates from the College World Series in Omaha provide listeners with information on participating teams, standout players, and unique events like the jello shot competition benefiting local food banks.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
5. Special Guest Interviews
Udonis Haslem: A three-time NBA champion and veteran, Haslem shares his insights on team dynamics, player motivation, and the importance of maintaining an underdog mentality.
George Kittle: As a standout NFL tight end, Kittle discusses the evolution of the tight end position, his recent massive contract with the San Francisco 49ers, and his experiences with leadership and team culture.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
6. Tight End University Segment
The show highlights the efforts of Tight End University (TEU) to provide education, mentorship, and community engagement for current and aspiring NFL tight ends. Founders discuss their goals to foster brotherhood, skill development, and professional growth within the position.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
7. Closing Remarks and Predictions
As the episode wraps up, the hosts make predictions for the ongoing NBA Finals, NHL Stanley Cup Finals, and the College World Series. Predictions include:
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
Conclusion:
This episode of "The Pat McAfee Show" offers a comprehensive and engaging analysis of the major sports finals taking place, enriched by expert insights from guests like Udonis Haslem and George Kittle. The discussion navigates through the challenges faced by underdog teams, the dynamics of player trades and contracts, and the evolving roles within professional sports. With notable quotes and timely predictions, the episode provides valuable content for both avid listeners and newcomers to the sports landscape.