The Right Time with Bomani Jones (Wave)

Episode: Adam Silver's NBA tanking problem. USA wins gold vs. Canada, Floyd Mayweather back? | 02.23

Date: February 23, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode centers on key challenges facing the NBA, particularly the ongoing problem with tanking and the perceived devaluation of the regular season. Bomani and Ryan also dive into the USA’s rare hockey gold medal win against Canada, react to rumored boxing comebacks involving Floyd Mayweather and Mike Tyson, discuss AI and humanity with a Sam Altman clip, and take lively audience voicemails about hip-hop nostalgia, The Simpsons, unusual names, and more.

Main Discussion: The NBA's Tanking Problem

[00:53 - 20:08]

Setting the Stage

• Post-All-Star Slump: Bomani notes that the post-football season leaves fans with an unsatisfying NBA All-Star Game and amplifies broader NBA frustrations.
• Adam Silver, "the Online Commissioner": Silver is described as highly responsive to public and podcast commentary, which means NBA fans’ outcry about tanking is definitely heard at the league office.

Proposed Anti-Tanking Rules ([02:41-07:34])

Bomani lists 7 possible anti-tanking rule changes reportedly under consideration:

1. First-round picks can only have specific protections (“It’s like a gift card to Home Depot, but it can’t be a blank check…” - Bomani, [03:30])
2. Lottery odds freeze at the trade deadline/later date
   • Both call this idea “horrendous.” Bomani: “You just change what it is that people are going to be throwing games…” ([04:48])
3. No team can pick in the top 4 in consecutive years / bottom 3 finishes
   • “There is no birthright that says… you deserve to get an early pick—a pick that, by the way, you’d probably fuck up anyway. We might be saving some kids by doing this actually.” ([05:18])
4. Teams making Conference Finals can’t pick top 4 the next year
   • Bomani points out this targets rare loophole cases, like injured stars derailing a contender.
5. Lottery odds based on two-year records
   • Both dismiss as needlessly complicated.
6. Expand lottery to include all play-in teams
   • Intended to disincentivize tanking into play-in range.
7. Flatten odds for all lottery teams (like the old system)
   • Bomani reminisces about the Clippers always getting close but flopping—except the year they got a great but injured #1 pick ([07:23]).

Key Conclusion:
“These guys don’t know what to do… They’re just like, ‘Who’s got ideas, huh?’ Just throw stuff out here… The larger problem is the perception that the regular season doesn’t matter.” ([08:52])

Tanking & the Regular Season Crisis

Fans Pay for What?

• “You still charge people money to come watch these games, right? You have an obligation to offer something to your paying customers.” ([09:51])

Regular Season Used to Matter

• Bomani recalls the Miami Heat “Big 3” years and the Warriors’ record-chasing, “every year, every game they played mattered.” ([11:48-13:12])
• But after KD joined Warriors: “It was just difficult to talk yourself into thinking anything that happened mattered in terms of determining who the champion was going to be.” ([13:43])

Can Any NBA Regular Season Storyline Break Through?

• Even huge statistical feats (“triple-double seasons”, “40 points per game,” etc.) no longer seem to matter.
• “What would have to happen to make NBA regular season matter?” ([14:38]) — Both hosts are stumped.

Memorable Quote:
“That to me is really the larger NBA issue—because as a result, the only NBA thing that matters is tanking.” ([16:50])

Potential Solution? Make It Fun Again

• “You know what they always suggest in NASCAR when interest is low? Bring back fighting.” ([17:49])
• “Fighting in the regular season is how you… show me you care.” ([19:24])
• “The here and now has to matter. The here and now has to feel like something.” ([20:12])

USA vs. Canada: Gold Medal Hockey Win

[21:04 - 28:41]

Canadian Hockey Obsession

• Canadians’ relationship with Olympic hockey is like Americans with basketball—it’s “their jam.”
• Bomani describes being in Canada during the Olympics and seeing how seriously Canadians take gold medal hockey.

The Game

• USA’s first hockey gold in 46 years, winning 2-1 in overtime, including a wild 3-on-3 segment and a 5-on-3 penalty kill.
  • “US gritty Americans just found a way to pull off the victory on a counter attack and ended up winning the gold.” - Ryan ([25:14])
• Canada is expected to win “every year,” making this one sting.

On American Hockey as the Underdog

• “America doesn’t really get the opportunity to be very often the underdogs… Hockey is a rare place athletically where America really is the underdog…” ([26:12])

Sports Seriousness Scale

• “If [the US] really cared about hockey or soccer, we’d have a lot more brothers out there… You all ain’t really trying to win. The soccer team, they need to be a little more serious. The hockey team, perfect level of seriousness.” ([29:29, condensed])

Quote:
“America’s relationship with USA Hockey: the healthiest relationship in sports.” ([30:34])

Boxing News: Mayweather & Tyson Rumors

[33:44 - 37:41]

Floyd Mayweather vs. Mike Tyson?!

• Exhibition fight reportedly set for Netflix; Mayweather also rumored to be unretiring.
• Bomani: “There’s no way you’re getting me to watch Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition… That just doesn’t even make any sense.” ([34:09])
• Both hosts speculate on the “need money” factor for boxing “retirements.”
• “One thing that is never going to change—boxers always going to need the money, man… There’s no infrastructure in place to make sure they do good things with their money.” ([36:00])

AI & Humanity: Sam Altman Clip

[37:50 - 40:06]

Sam Altman (OpenAI CEO) quote:
"It takes like, 20 years of life and all of the food you eat during that time before you get smart… The fair comparison is: ask ChatGPT a question, how much energy does it take, versus a human? And probably AI has already caught up on an energy efficiency basis measured that way.” ([37:50])

Reaction:

• Bomani: “These guys hate people. We have completely devalued human beings.” ([38:39])
• Referencing AI doom literature: “If someone builds it, everyone dies...it’s pretty much guaranteed that if it comes around, it’s going to kill us all.” - Bomani ([39:23])
• A chilling, unironic AI existential tangent.

Miscellaneous News and Listener Voicemails

TSA PreCheck False Alarm ([40:24 - 43:10])

• Early-morning social media panic over PreCheck shutdown in NYC.
• “Can you imagine if you had that 8am flight?... That line isn’t there.” ([41:00])
• PreCheck riff: “Have you heard of anybody getting turned down for pre[check]?... That shit ain’t exclusive at all.” ([43:04])

Listener Voicemails

BET Uncut/Nostalgia ([43:25 - 47:39])

• Mike from Detroit reminisces about “Put It In Your Mouth” and the “Tip Drill” video.
• Bomani: “The Tip Drill video is just as ridiculous today as it was in 2004… seven minutes long… What are we doing?” ([46:41])

Simpsons ‘Epstein Files’ Debate ([48:04 - 50:11])

• “Crusty the Clown definitely would have been in the Epstein Files.” ([48:49])
• “In the Simpsons universe, there just ain’t enough people with enough paper...” — humorous, conspiratorial riff.

Life-Long Nicknames: “Dutch” ([50:12 - 51:42])

• If your nickname is “Dutch” your whole life, “that is an honorific—you have earned this.” ([51:32])

Unusual Names & Racial Perceptions ([52:56 - 55:49])

• Listener calls about a white “Tavon” at BYU.
  • “Mormons, yeah, they throw some monkey wrenches…” ([53:29])
• “It is entirely possible he is from a place where… he has no idea why people think he’s Black.” ([54:20])
• Riff on Chris Collinsworth, the rare white 100m sprint champion.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Bomani on NBA’s Directionless Rules:
  “They don’t know what to do… Just throw stuff out here. Because we have this problem with tanking.” ([08:52])
• Bomani on Why NBA Regular Season Feels Empty:
  “It’s a perception that it doesn’t matter if you’re good. It’s a perception it doesn’t matter if you’re bad. That’s the part the league has to fix.” ([10:28])
• On Mayweather-Tyson:
  “That feels like elder abuse for both parties.” - Ryan ([34:53])
• On AI:
  “These guys hate people. We have completely devalued human beings.” ([38:39])
• On PreCheck:
  “That was the ashiest day in the history of the friendly skies.” ([41:41])
• On “Tip Drill”:
  “The Tip Drill video is just as ridiculous today as it was in 2004. Like, what are we doing?” ([46:41])

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Start | End | |----------------------------------------------|---------|---------| | NBA tanking & rule proposals | 00:53 | 20:08 | | NBA’s declining regular season significance | 10:28 | 20:08 | | USA vs. Canada Olympic hockey | 21:04 | 29:29 | | Boxing comeback news (Mayweather/Tyson) | 33:44 | 37:41 | | Sam Altman AI quote & reaction | 37:50 | 40:06 | | TSA PreCheck confusion/riff | 40:24 | 43:10 | | BET Uncut nostalgia & 'Tip Drill' | 43:25 | 47:39 | | Simpsons 'Epstein Files' | 48:04 | 50:11 | | Name “Dutch” and life-long nicknames | 50:12 | 51:42 | | Tavon, white athletes, names & race | 52:56 | 55:49 |

Tone & Style

• Smart, sharp, and irreverent—a signature blend of cultural analysis, sports insight, deep recall, and conversational wit.
• Exchanges between Bomani and Ryan are casual and humorous, with frequent asides and playful asides that keep the show personal and accessible.
• Listener voicemails bring out nostalgia and crowd-driven digressions in music and sports culture.

Summary

This episode thoroughly explores the NBA’s ongoing struggle with both league structure and narrative, highlighting the unintended consequences of decades-long changes in prestige and competitiveness. Bomani situates the tanking “problem” within the larger issue: the regular season just doesn't feel meaningful. The show then delivers trademark pivots to the emotional resonance of underdog Team USA hockey, skepticism at aging boxers' media stunts, philosophical dread about AI's impact on human value, and a comedy-rich sequence of listener calls spanning hip-hop, pop culture, and social perception. All in all, a quintessential “Right Time” blend of hard sports talk and entertaining cultural commentary.