Durant & Jokic Fall short, Spurs, Celtics, Thunder dominate, Rams draft Ty Simpson | 04.27

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Right Time with Bomani Jones – April 27, 2026 Episode: "Durant & Jokic Fall Short, Spurs, Celtics, Thunder Dominate, Rams Draft Ty Simpson"

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Episode Overview

Bomani Jones, joined by producer Ryan Brumley, dives deep into the state of the NBA playoffs, assessing the narratives surrounding stars like Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokic, as well as the dominant performances of the Spurs, Celtics, and Thunder. The show also pivots to NFL draft news—particularly the Rams' surprising Ty Simpson pick—plus pop culture topics including Megan Thee Stallion and Klay Thompson’s breakup, the dramatic White House Correspondents’ Dinner incident, and engaging listener questions.

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KEY DISCUSSION POINTS

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1. The Fall of Kevin Durant & the Rockets’ Turmoil

Timestamps: 00:31–12:35

• Durant’s Injury & Narrative:
  Bomani opens by dissecting the public perception of Kevin Durant after his bone bruise injury before Game 1 in Houston, detailing how quick fans are to question his commitment ("He played 78 games this year...I have no reason to think that he quit." - 10:23).
• Team Dynamics:
  The confusion around whose team it is—Durant or Alperen Şengün—fuels media and fan angst. Bomani lampoons earlier reluctance to trade young players like Şengün or Amen Thompson for superstars:
  “You trying to give up Amen Thompson for one of the thirty greatest players of all time. Hey, hey, hey, hey guys... Might be a little too rich for my blood.” (09:11)
• Expectations vs. Reality:
  The Rockets were favored despite Durant's absence, Bomani points out, and the resulting disappointment is shared between underperforming players and coaching.

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2. Nikola Jokic, Nuggets & Playoff Heat

Timestamps: 12:36–21:15

• Historic MVP Pressure:
  Bomani discusses parallels between Jokic and past three-time MVPs who won few titles, questioning if Jokic will enter that club while scrutinizing Denver’s non-dynastic era.
• Mental Struggles & Last Game’s Embarrassment:
  He recounts the Nuggets’ meltdown against Minnesota, Jokic getting punked by Jaden McDaniels, and Denver’s sudden "softness":

  “Jokic is not supposed to be the guy that goes and gets in buddy's face about that... Instead, it was Jokic. And what happened? He got punked.” (15:18)

• Call to Championship Resolve:
  Bomani predicts the Nuggets must respond like champions in Game 5, putting the onus on both coach and star player to step up.

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3. Quick Hits: Other NBA Series

Timestamps: 21:15–38:15

• Cavs-Raptors & Vintage “Bad” Harden:
  Notable for statistical breakdown of Harden’s lackluster history:

  “James Harden’s 44th playoff game with as many, if not more, turnovers than field goals made.” (21:36)

• Detroit-Orlando & Unheralded Teams:
  Commentary on overlooked playoff matchups and the impact of streaming (Amazon Prime) on viewers.
• Boston-Philly & Tatum’s Comeback:
  “Tatum’s averaging 25, 9 and 8 on 63% true shooting. And he tore his Achilles 11 months ago.” (25:20)

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4. San Antonio Spurs, Victor Wembanyama, and the Thunder’s Ascension

Timestamps: 26:26–34:15

• Spurs’ Dominance & Victor’s “Concussion”:
  Bomani jokes about Victor’s intelligence and his swift protocol navigation post-injury—“There’s something to be said for that. That being knocked unconscious is not the same thing necessarily as having a concussion.” (26:55)
• Team Youth & Defensive Impact:
  In awe at how the Spurs ran away from Portland despite trailing at the half, and the psychological impact Victor’s size has on opponents.
• Future Rivalries – OKC vs. Spurs:
  “A giant rivalry for the next 10 years involving San Antonio and Oklahoma City.” (31:50)
  The logistical and cultural oddness of such a matchup as the league's premier showdown.

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5. Listener Voicemails & Engaging Questions

Music’s Ultimate Specialist: Nate Dogg

Timestamps: 56:59–60:20

• Bomani likens Nate Dogg’s craft to Mariano Rivera:

  “He was basically the Mariano Rivera of rap, right? Of hooks. You bring him in, boom, it’s closed.” (56:59)

• Attributes Nate’s prominence to “discernment—not just making hooks but knowing which ones to make" (59:13)

Sports Nostalgia vs. Athlete Branding

Timestamps: 60:22–64:30

• Explores why modern athletes are more curated and less colorful compared to past icons; Argues there's more money in being interesting than being bland for the 95%.

Petty NFL Stadium DJs & Michael Jackson

Timestamps: 64:32–66:23

• Hypotheses about which NFL team will troll the Patriots with "Dirty Diana" over Mike Vrabel and the MJ biopic release.

Klay & Meg: Parasocial Fallout

Timestamps: 48:37–52:59

• Bomani calls out the fervor of Stan culture after Megan Thee Stallion and Klay Thompson's breakup:

  “The parasocial among us really wrapped their arms around her, man… they want the best things for her.” (51:23)

White House Correspondents’ Shooting

Timestamps: 52:59–56:55

• Unpacks the media’s lack of hard-hitting questions post-incident, highlighting the “decimation of the question-asking business” and sterile, “sideline reporter” queries.

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NOTABLE QUOTES & MEMORABLE MOMENTS

• On Durant:
  “Kevin Durant has given us no reason to think that if he could play, he would not play. In fact, that was the point that people made sure to make around game one, is that he has a rep for play... He played 78 games this year.” (10:23)
• On Jokic's Confrontation:
  “Jokic is not supposed to be the guy that goes and gets in buddy's face about that… And what happened? He got punked.” (15:18)
• On Boston’s Consistency:
  “Jaylen Brown's played in 139 playoff games. This is his 10th year in the NBA… You're basically averaging the conference finals every year since that guy has gotten there.” (37:43)
• On Oklahoma City:
  “Let me tell you how good an organization Oklahoma City is. Not once has anybody been like, yo, you gonna have to move them.” (32:50)
• On Sports Nostalgia:
  “I contend there's more money in being interesting than there is in being boring for 95% of the people that we're talking about… The money for you is in being interesting. So hopefully somebody will take me up on this and then everybody will see that I am right.” (63:19–64:30)
• On Parasocial Relationships:
  “That parasocial relationship that many of the ladies have with Megan the Stallion. Vicious dog. Vicious… It all goes away if you log off. But you can't ever log back on. They were saying, fuck him and his dog. I saw his dog catch some strays.” (51:23, 52:59)
• On Media in Crisis:
  “All the people whose job it would be to ask such questions, those people are not allowed anymore to be anywhere near the dude to actually ask any questions… They have decimated the question-asking business at a time when we should have more questions than ever.” (56:55)

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TIMESTAMPS – IMPORTANT SEGMENTS

• Durant & Rockets Scrutiny: 00:31–12:35
• Jokic, Nuggets, Timberwolves: 12:36–21:15
• Series Roundups (Cavs–Raptors, Detroit–Orlando, etc.): 21:15–38:15
• Spurs, Victor Wembanyama, OKC Thunder: 26:26–34:12
• NFL Draft – Rams Select Ty Simpson: 43:23–48:37
• Meg & Klay’s Breakup & Stan Culture: 48:37–52:59
• White House Correspondents’ Incident & Media: 52:59–56:55
• Listener Voicemails (Nate Dogg, Nostalgia, MJ, etc.): 56:59–66:23

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Tone:
Consistently sharp, candid, and analytical—with moments of cultural humor and friendly ribbing. Bomani’s style is direct and conversational, deftly combining sports x-rays with broader cultural and media observations.

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For More: Catch future episodes wherever you get podcasts or subscribe on YouTube. If you give less than 5 stars, “I’m inclined to believe you are a hater.”

Transcript

[Ryan Brumley]

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[Bomani Jones]

Wave. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Right Time, a Wave original. My name is Bomani Jones. Thanks for listening wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for watching us on YouTube. Subscribe like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater of we gonna talk about the collision course situation that we got going in the NBA playoffs a little bit later, but first we gonna start off in our terribly nar negative society by being incredibly negative about two of the top maybe 25 players in the history of the NBA. Now, yes, this is the thing about the first round of the playoffs, right? It's very difficult to truly lead with what excites you in the first round of the playoffs, because what excites you is either a something that you kind of knew was going to happen or B, someone exceeding expectations or some team exceeding expectations, which requires almost by definition that somebody on the other side is coming up short on expectations. Right? That's. That's, that's, that's basically how this goes. That's what we've got. However, we wound up with two somewhat parallel situations, which is what's going on with the Rockets and what is going on with Denver. I think they are somewhat similar, though. There are some, you know, some notable differences between the two circumstances. But I want to start with what's happened with the Rockets, because it is. Y' all are always ready to bring it to Kevin Durant. I think that's the conclusion that I've reached about this, is that it is very interesting that he has. His career has gotten him to a place where I would not say that he is a player that people hate outside of Oklahoma City. I just wouldn't say it. I don't. I don't think that he engenders that. I think he engenders a measure of confusion from people around him because he confuses. I understand that you're not supposed to answer your question with the question in that way, but he confuses us. I get that. But what's happened here in Houston, Ryan? I guess this is the question. Did the. Did the antics of get off Mike Dickerson really get Durant to like a point of no return?

[Ryan Brumley]

It's starting to seem that way. And, and it's tough because he has the devastating injury off the court three days before Game one, right? Where reportedly he knocks knees with the player.

[Bomani Jones]

Right.

[Ryan Brumley]

And now. And so now he's not. He. He doesn't play game one, Game two. He's out there, but he's a shell of himself.

[Bomani Jones]

He couldn't move.

[Ryan Brumley]

Couldn't move. Gets exploited in the second half of that game. And then he doesn't play game three and game four. And it kind of leads into every. If you have questions about Kevin Durant, you can find the answers you're looking for pretty easily.

[Bomani Jones]

I mean, I just want you to think about this for a second. Anthony Edwards, who we'll talk about a little bit later. Anthony Edwards was diagnosed with a bone bruise after what happened to him in Game 4 of Nuggets Timbers Wolves. It looked like he had tore his acl. Like, that was the type of reaction that I had from seeing that was like, damn, he's going to be out. He did not have any ligament damage, but he is going to be out for weeks in the playoffs. That is the same injury that Kevin Durant suffered before Game 1. He played Game 2, and since he wasn't on the bench for Game 3, people were loudly accusing him of quitting when he played with a bone Bruise in Game 2. If he did quit in Game 3, it was after playing through it in Game 2, which kind of would mean that Game 3 could not be quitting. The argument was it was because he was not sitting on the bench supporting his teammates. And you sound like an old white man right now, right? No matter who you are. Think about who you sound like at that moment with that one. No, it's just that it's reached a point where people are so down on him that we have come to the assumption of worst case scenario. Everything get off by Dickerson said about this team appears to be true, right? Like in the grand scheme, this team just isn't that good. That coach just isn't that good. That meltdown that they had at the end of game three was a fireable offense for the coach. There was no way. Well, they were up six with 45 seconds left to LeBron and them. LeBron and some dudes. That's who this is, right? LeBron and some dudes. Like, let me tell you Something they should technically stand still be in this series.

[Ryan Brumley]

I mean, they were. They. They were favored in all four games, going in with three of those without Kevin Durant.

[Bomani Jones]

Right? And look, here's the thing. Say what you want about this. The order of the games matters, right? In terms of succession. But it's 3:1, and they have the ostensible home court advantage. In theory, they should be able to come out here. Well, they don't have home court advantage. That's right. They played the first two in la, but they should be able to come out here and win game five. I mean, they just won this last game by a pretty big number. I think that it was a certain measure of predictability to them winning this game. But it's not over, right? This series is not over for them. It feels unlikely, but it doesn't feel over. You're down Kevin Durant, they're down Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves. They have played over their heads up until this point. If your coach is worth half a. You guys should maybe have a chance and maybe. Look, maybe imei telling them they needed to grow up. Maybe that had some sort of effect after game three. Right now, IME ignoring the fact that part of his job is helping them to grow up. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. That's a little bit weird here, okay? There. But again, I. The last, I guess we'll call it seven years of Kevin Durant's career, okay? And I'm saying seven years on the calendar right now, which allows me to say that in that discussion. Let us not forget, in 2019, that was the year that in the playoffs, he had the I'm Kevin Durant press availability sound all time. Great sound. People acting like Patrick Beverley was shutting him down. And he just went super sayan on them. It was unreal how good he was until the cash strain, and then he comes back from the cash drain and he tears his Achilles. He made the mistake of hitching his wagon to Kyrie Irving. But think about this. If there is no pandemic, how much differently do we look at him? Do we look at that whole experiment? Do we look at James Harden, right? Like, all those guys may come out to be winners, except there was a pandemic and there was a vaccine requirement, and it was a dude who was acting crazy and all that, like, tore down that whole situation. He goes to Phoenix. Whatever did or didn't work in Phoenix is not Kevin Durant's fault, right? He winds up in Houston. I think the mistake they made in Houston is everybody saying I'm not. He's not the franchise player. Get off. Mike Dickerson, you'll notice, consistently referred to Shin Goon as the franchise player. I can't tell if Durant really didn't want to be the franchise player or he res. Or. Get off My. Dickerson resents the idea that Shin Goon because Shingun is not a franchise player. You remember when they were talking about trading him, maybe for Giannis, they're like, oh, no. But you'd have to give up Shin Goon. Oh, my God, we'll have to give. Give up Shin Goon or Amen Thompson. You remember last year when they were talking about. Yeah, yeah, but you. You can't give up Amin Thompson. The fuck you can't. He can't shoot. What are we talking about here? People were talking to me about Amin Thompson, like he was going to turn into Shay, right? Look, he's really athletic, he's really talented. He's really fun to watch in person. He can't shoot, man. Oh, oh, hold on, guys. You, You, You. You can't give up Ahmed Thompson. That would be crazy. I mean, you're trying to give up Ahmed Thompson for one of the 30 greatest players of all time. Hey, hey, hey, hey, guys.

[Voicemail Callers]

I don't.

[Bomani Jones]

I don't know about this one.

[Ryan Brumley]

Might be a little too rich for my blood.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. What are you talking about? Like, all those things have to seem crazy right now to people, don't they? Right? Like, all those things that were said at that time about why you can't give up these guys to get Giannis, they have the same preposterous. And none of that has to do with Kevin Durant. None of it at all has to do with Kevin Durant. But the rest of them cats got an answer for how sorry they been. Oh, the other thing, too, when they asked, I mean, Thompson where Durant was coming from on his rehab, and he didn't know, and then that became a testament to Kevin Durant in his relationship with the rest of the team. Hey, man, they busy over there? Like, I do get the feeling that these guys don't hang out, but it wasn't like. It wasn't like McMid asked everybody, and they were like, man, we a see Kevin Durant since last week? No, man, he know. How's this knee feel? I don't know. Ask him. Right? Like, it's just like, we're all just looking for a reason to come. It's the craziest thing. Look, Kevin Durant has given us no reason to think that he could play. He would not play. In fact, that was the point that people made sure to make around game one, is that he has a rep for play. He played 78 games this year. Right. I have no reason to think that he quit. Cause the truth is. Get off. Mike Dickerson has thought this team was no good from way back. If get off my. Dickerson and Kevin Durant agree that this team was no good, then Kevin Durant wouldn't have played 78 games. He'd have quit a long time ago. Right? So we all down on him and we all down on Jokic. Except that one makes a lot more sense, a lot more sets. The Jokic career is going to be interesting. I saw somebody make the point online that Jokic will go down or perhaps will go down as the only three time MVP who has not won multiple NBA championships. Right. And so I can do this off the top of my head, I believe. Fingers crossed. The. Oh, except for Moses Malone, he's on that list. But the others are Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and LeBron James. That feels like the list. Okay? Kareem Abdul Jabbar absolutely would have gone down on this list of three time MVPs with only one championship if Magic Johnson, another guy on this list, had not landed in his lap. Okay, like, like, like, like that did happen. Moses Malone, and this is where it gets interesting. Moses Malone and Kareem, who would have been on medalist without Magic, has something very much so interesting in common with Jokic, which is this is not a dynasty era, nor were the 1970s. Okay, like you go look at it, that run through the 1970s, you're not getting repeat champions. It wasn't like somebody else was rattling all three championships during that same run. That wasn't how it went. Malone won MVP in 79. 81. A year where the Rockets finished under.500. They got to the Finals, but they finished under.500 and most. Malone still won MVP.

[Ryan Brumley]

I didn't realize that. That's nuts.

[Bomani Jones]

No, incorrect. I'm sorry. Malone won the MVP in 82, I want to say. But yeah, in 81 they went to the finals after finishing under.500. That was the way that that played. But you understand what I'm saying here. And by the way, and then for Moses to get that championship, he had to go play for the the Sixers, who in 81 doc won the MVP who had gone to the NBA finals the year before and two years before that. That championship they won in 83 was their third time to the finals in four years. Just saying. It's interesting timing, but none of that changes the fact that the Timberwolves have been giving it to them boys, and they give it to them every time they see them. It feels like every game that I watch with Minnesota and at Denver starts off the same. Denver gets off to a hot start, Looks like they gonna put Minnesota away. The next thing you know, it's tied at halftime right now. What was different this time with Game four is you're getting toward halftime. It's what it is. Homie White Dante is torn his Achilles. We think Anthony Edwards is blowing out his knee. The Nuggets are up at halftime, as I recall. Then, Ryan, this where. This where it get weird for your boy? I don't know if y' all saw this. I think we gonna talk about it a little later, but they had it. They was acting like somebody. Somebody shot up the White House correspondence dinner.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yep.

[Bomani Jones]

And so in the middle of the game, they went to the press conference, and they was like, hey, you can go watch the rest of the game on ESPN if you would like. And I'm like, I'm going to be a good American. Let me find out what's going on. But then that shit was taking too long, man. And they weren't even giving me none of the answers to the questions I really wanted to get to the bottom of. Right. Next thing I know, the Nuggets are getting smoked. They are running them out of the building at that point. And the thing with the Nuggets has been, historically, at least during this Jokic era, they win the Yokich minutes, it's just about whether or not they can hold it down. Otherwise, they were getting destroyed in the Yage minutes, by the way, in this. In a game where Aaron Gordon's out there playing with a calf strain, which we all know. We just talked about it with Durant a second ago. What are you doing? Like, what is this? And they look so completely discombobulated and, like, not ready for prime time in this game that they absolutely have to win. And then at the end of the game, Jaden McDaniels puts up one of them late shots while the game is out of hand, and Jokic decides he's going to be the one to go enforce the unwritten rules, Right? On one level, I recognize that I've had to learn this, whether it be baseball or anything else, they got rules in that game. They all know what the rules are. And McDaniels is in violation of the rules that they have set. We could think these rules are silly or whatever it is, right?

[Ryan Brumley]

They clearly don't.

[Bomani Jones]

They clearly don't. They have a way. Did you see where they asked Mike Conley about it? Where if Mike Conley said he wanted to put his hands on top of his head after he realized he had thrown the ball to J.D. mcDaniels at that point. Because McDaniel's the one that hates them dudes the most.

[Ryan Brumley]

No. So even Conway know. Knew.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. Come on, man. They. They have a set, a way that they handle things over there, and that is a violation of that norm. All right? And you can say, well, you don't run up on somebody is stupid. Hey, their. Their world. Somebody runs up on you. I remember the time I saw PJ Tucker run up on somebody under those circumstances. But you know what PJ Tucker is, or more accurately what PJ Tucker is not, Three time mvp. Right. Jokic is not supposed to be the guy that goes and gets in buddy's face about that. Right? Somebody else's job is supposed to be to do that. Instead, it was Jokic. And what happened? He got punked. That's what happened. Ran up on that dude. That dude grabbed him by the shirt. You wasn't ready to do nothing, and that dude knew that you wasn't ready to do nothing. The reason you went down there is because you was on your. So loser, which we have seen you be on at various points in your career. And you wound up in that place where everybody's looking at you. You funny, because Rudy Gobert has been. Rudy Gobert has been asking for the ball to go at you. Rudy Gobert, by the way, shot a three.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

In one of the. He's so he. You want to talk about somebody who just can't make peace with being who he is, you just can't be a Hall of Famer. Huh? Right? Like, you just can't be a Hall of Fame defensive player. You just can't do that. Oh, okay. But you went down there, and that was embarrassing. Like, you guys are champions. And I know that this is that year again where the champion thing just kind of go to hop to hop hop, right? And this Nuggets team has this weird thing with what their window was because their window truly opened when they traded for Aaron Gordon. And then right after Jamal Murray tore his acl and they lost two years of their window on the front end. And then the third year when Murray comes back, they win it. But now, like, it's over. They are getting. They're getting Handled by Anthony Edwards and some guys. Or in the second half they got handled by the guys just Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert. They are led by men whom we ridicule and they smoked them in the second half of that game. Can't believe it. Can't believe it, right? Also coach think you guys have a coach problem because we've watched this team play for years. Guys don't just turn soft, right? Like how does that happen? Like how does, how does this team suddenly look soft? It wasn't like Michael Porter Jr. Was the enforcer. Like you guys turn soft. That's what it was. So embarrassing. But here's the thing. They should still win this series. They can still win this series. You're going to have three games against the Minnesota Timberwolves without Anthony Edwards. The next game is at your place, at altitude. My history of watching the NBA indicates game five of this series should be a Nuggets romp. If they are anything, right? This is where the champions get up. They are cornered, they have resolve and they smoke them in this game. That's what this is supposed to be. When you have home court and you're those guys, you're supposed to smoke them. This is supposed to come down to what happens when you go back to Minnesota in Game 6 and all of this is going to be on their shoulders and you have to decide whether or not you're going to let IO do Sun Moo score. 43 points. 43 points on you. What? Who? Are you serious? 43 points on you. Are you guys really going to let that happen? Because the Minnesota Timberwolves are in a circumstance where in order for them to win, they are going to need Ayo do soon move to get them there. That's what's going to be required. He's going to have to not just take the Anthony Edwards role, play better than one would expect Anthony Edwards to play in the Anthony Edwards role. And yeah, I would fire the coach if my one time NBA champions with the best player in the NBA loses this one. And I would look at that best player in the NBA and be like, so what you got? Because this is on you, right? We have seen a lot of Denver Nuggets basketball over the years where we have been able to safely say, well, it just wasn't enough around him. Especially in those years where Murray was down, right? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, buddy, that's not what's going on here. What's going on here is that Nikola Jokic has been outplayed in long Stretches by the most ridiculed future hall of Famer in the history of basketball. In the words of the great Billy from Purple Rain, you better kick ass or else. Speaking of kicking ass, Ryan, I feel like we need to give kind of a perfunctory shout out to the people in Ceres that we don't care about. That's right. I'm talking about you, Cleveland and Toronto.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yeah, I mean, I mean, it's happening.

[Bomani Jones]

It's an even series. That was pretty good.

[Ryan Brumley]

Pretty good game at the end.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, I watched that. I enjoyed it.

[Ryan Brumley]

It was a pretty good game at the end. We got vintage playoff James Harden. And that is not a compliment.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, but hey, hey, maybe he got it out the way early.

[Ryan Brumley]

Maybe.

[Bomani Jones]

Maybe, boy.

[Ryan Brumley]

Or may our history tell us the next two games will be worse.

[Bomani Jones]

Shout out to my buddy Nick. Ain't nobody keeping count of anybody else's shortcomings and miseries that Nick Wright is on. James Harden, he was like, that is the 44th and this is a crazy story stat. Nobody's better at keeping these the dick. This is James Harden's 44th playoff game where he had as many, if not more, turnovers than field goals made.

[Ryan Brumley]

Listen to this. So he came back with another one. James Harden playoff games with 5 or less field goals. 77. 4 or less field goals. 55. 3 or less field goals. 35. 2 or less field goals. 22.

[Bomani Jones]

Those are crazy, though. Respect, Sandy. Yeah, those are. Those are insane numbers to throw out here. But, yeah, that series will be over and they'll play against the winner of Detroit and Orlando. Another series that one might argue deserves a little bit more of my attention. But does.

[Ryan Brumley]

Do they have Amazon prime too? Because if they did, would be on it.

[Bomani Jones]

NBA. NBA. NBA prime tv.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yeah, right.

[Bomani Jones]

Like they, they. They need to come up with a lower tier so that we know who truly is in the. The NBA NBA TV slide. Yeah. Because look, the truth is, I did not think. Look, I did not realize that Amazon prime was going to have whole nights of playoff games.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

I do think they paid a lot

[Ryan Brumley]

of money for them.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, I do think that's a big shift for the average viewer.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

Right. That is like, ooh. Now also, that's always wild to me because everybody I know has Amazon Prime.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

But clearly not everybody has Amazon Prime.

[Ryan Brumley]

I think people do not understand. I think. I think more people have Amazon prime. Like the service. They don't know that, but didn't have Netflix. But do not realize Amazon prime is where you watch the games.

[Bomani Jones]

I actually have A friend who worked for them for a little while and said that at that time that was their biggest problem is that people simply did not know that they actually had this. Like, that is. That's a. That's a big part of this for Amazon is like. But you think about this. I don't know anybody that has Amazon prime has prime video as a standalone.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

You know, like, nah, nah, nah. You keep all that free shipping. I just want to. I just want to watch these movies.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yeah, right.

[Bomani Jones]

Like, I don't even know if that's an option. Right.

[Ryan Brumley]

Neither do I.

[Bomani Jones]

But anyway, Detroit and Orlando, that's where they at. And the Detroit people seem very, very nervous that Wendell Carter Jr. Is outplaying Jalen Durham.

[Ryan Brumley]

I would be nervous to talk about a team that seems like they all didn't like each other now is, you know, playing in a playoff, playing well in the playoff series in Orlando.

[Bomani Jones]

Right. Also, I want to throw this out here about Detroit. Cleveland was pretty good when they fired JB Biggerstaff. Just keep an eye on. Not saying that's going to. Anything's going to happen this year but winning. We've been at a place where winning has not saved that man's job before. Right. You know, like, I don't know what is or isn't going on there. But also, hey, man, maybe this will be like. I think it was 2003 where the Magic went up 3:1 on the Pistons and Tracy McGrady said it felt good to get out of the first round and then.

[Ryan Brumley]

Did they.

[Bomani Jones]

Didn't they? They did not. So maybe that's on there. But anyway, that's another series that's happening. Boston and Philadelphia. Glad Philadelphia got that win. Jason Tatum, surgeon. Hey, man, I can't imagine all the. Every time somebody teared acl, they need to call that motherfucker, man. I can't believe, like, that's what.

[Ryan Brumley]

That's what. Why Donte did. Did the. Followed the exact Jason Tatum protocol.

[Bomani Jones]

Like that guy, he got. He got a beeper like the doctors used to. Any time of night they were like, hey man, we fly somebody in, baby. They coming to you. Can you imagine the prices he could charge? Price of the brick going up. Yo, D and mo.

[Ryan Brumley]

Tatum's averaging 25, 9 and 8 on 63% true shooting. And he tore his Achilles 11 months ago.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, look, we're going to see what happens with him guarding people. Like, the farther this goes. But I am. I am stunned because, you know, we talked about this when he came back, and I was like, hey, man, you can't give him to Joe. If Joe can't play him like Joe. Playback. And they. They. They clearly have. They are. They are. They are walking the Sixers out of there. Joel Embiid came back. That was nice of him to do. They. Okay, anyway, the Knicks, Hawks. We'll see how that goes. I was talking to a friend of mine. I said or something, because the Hawks were playing a game. We had a story about that. But anyway, I actually asked me how the game was, and I said, well, it's the Knicks and the Hawks, so nobody really wants to win.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

That. That was how game three felt of that series. Like, it's the Knicks and the Hawks. Nobody's like, really wants to get this W. Oklahoma City and Phoenix, you know, like Phoenix, I guess. Look, Phoenix ain't got no pick, so you might as well go to the playoffs.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right?

[Bomani Jones]

For them. Good for them. It seems very clear to me who the three best teams in this postseason have been so far. It is the Oklahoma City Thunder, it is the Boston Celtics, and it is the San Antonio Spurs. Shout out to Big Vic. Big Vic came back on Sunday. I told you the whole thing about playing with a concussion is not about whether or not you can play with a concussion. It is the acute risks that come from having another concussion. And I will note, Victor seems to be implying that he did not have a concussion.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

Like, there's something to be said for that. That being knocked unconscious is not the same thing necessarily as having a concussion. Right. You can be knocked unconscious and not have a concussion. You can have a concussion and not be. Not, not be knocked unconscious. That seems to be the thing that, like, football has us on everything. Oh, it's got to be a concussion. He hit his chin. He didn't hit his head. Like, maybe there was a brain. Whatever it was. The way that he was talking about the protocol after the game implies that this guy, who may be the smartest dude in the NBA was like, this shit is stupid. Right? Why can't I play? And as I said before, no one's head is safer from injury than his.

[Ryan Brumley]

For sure.

[Bomani Jones]

Like, they're not going to hit him in the head again. Right?

[Ryan Brumley]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

Dude, he's back out there against the Trailblazers and they just. They just don't belong in the same place. They don't. This is not.

[Ryan Brumley]

They were down 17 at half and won by more than 20.

[Bomani Jones]

Ran away from them. Just flat out ran away from them. They got dudes, man. Castle is a dude. Devin Vassell, Good Enough he making all that money. By the way, remember when he signed that extension for like 30 something million dollars but you didn't know what he looked like?

[Ryan Brumley]

Yep.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. The French dude that looked like Franklin St. Daddy on snowfall. Sham Pipple. How you say Champple's name? You know, the French dude. The French dude. Like, like did they give him just the victor wanted Chample. I know he. I know there's another Sham Pipple on another team.

[Ryan Brumley]

I guess. I guess he just needed a French friend.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. I forget how you. I forget how you like I'll be watching their games, but they all the mother dudes don't really matter that much to me. Let me go to a basketball reference so I can pronounce Chample's name the right way because it's not Champagne Champeni. And I just want to point out to those of you who don't know why I could get this wrong. It's spelled C H A M P A G N I E. Right. So champagne is not guaranteed. That ain't. That ain't how you say it in French. So anyway, sham pimpling them dudes every out here. You know, they out here hooping. They out here making it happen. But it is just so crazy to watch grown men have no desire to come anywhere near the basket because there's a dude down there that's 8ft tall, right?

[Ryan Brumley]

Like I am 8ft tall coming back from injury. No, thanks.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, like, I am of the belief that the playoffs are different and you're watch what's. Look at what's happening with Detroit, right? The playoffs are different and you have to figure out how to play in this different type of basketball before you can just walk to a championship. Right? Like it's not just the, oh, you got to lose. No, there's a terrain that you have to get to understand that this is just so completely different than whatever you've done in the past. But you know what else is different? Having a dude in the middle that's eight feet tall. Nobody's ever, Nobody's ever had to do that before in the playoffs because look, I believe that if Denver comes out there and they play against San Antonio, San Antonio right now is playing against the team that's in the same boat as them as it relates to experience.

[Voicemail Callers]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

I think that if Denver figures out how to pull it together against Minnesota, which again is very possible. Right? Like, I would not write them off completely if they go against San Antonio, then we're going to see Slash learn a lot about the spurs and what they have to get together because you saw that into the regular season game. Yogic put the 37 on Victor, hit him with the chest tap, like.

[Ryan Brumley]

And I mean, that team, that spurs team is young.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a. There's a lot for them to get figured out in the course of this. That's the series. That could be an issue. Okay. However, if they get to play against the Anthony Edwards less Minnesota Timberwolves guys, that was. I don't think that one's going to take very long.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

And it will also get us. I know I've talked about this on the show many times, but let us not forget, when Rudy Gobert won defensive player of the year two years ago, Victor said in French, congratulations to him and that he would never win another one. I have never gotten the feeling that Rudy and Victor are amis.

[Ryan Brumley]

Correct.

[Bomani Jones]

You understand what I'm saying? I don't. I don't. I don't. I don't get the feeling. I don't get the feeling that they're buddies. No, I don't. I. I don't. I don't get the feel. Think. Here's what I don't think. I don't think Victor takes Rudy seriously.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Which is a common thing in the NBA, I will point out.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

But I don't think that he takes Rudy seriously. You tell him that he's going to be matched up against Rudy. He's gonna be pulling Rudy out to the three point line and trying to destroy him for sure. I don't think the Timberwolves have any chance. And we are hurdling toward at once Adam Silver's best dream and worst nightmare,

[Ryan Brumley]

a giant rivalry for the next 10 years involving San Antonio and Oklahoma City.

[Bomani Jones]

Oh, my God. You know how serious it has to be that everybody has to catch connecting flights between those places that really aren't that far from each other.

[Ryan Brumley]

David Stern is rolling over his grave.

[Bomani Jones]

Oh, my God. David Stern would have sent Scott Foster, dangerous. Danny Davis, Teddy Richard Steele. Like every referee he might have gotten.

[Ryan Brumley]

He might have gotten Donna. He had at retirement.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no. He got. He'd have got Earl Hepner. He got every referee that anybody has ever heard of for being Jakey anywhere else. That dude that missed the call in the 85 World Series, Don Deckinger. They ain't had any of them out here. Terry Rosier. You make him a referee if you had to, to try to prevent this from happening. It is going to happen every single

[Ryan Brumley]

Vince McMahon in a referee jersey before he heads.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes. Hey, man, let me tell you something. Let me tell you how good an organization Oklahoma City is. Think about this. Not once has anybody been like, yo, you gonna have to move them.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right?

[Bomani Jones]

They talk about trying to move the, the, the. The Grizzlies to Nashville. They talk about all this stuff. Oklahoma City is like, no, we holding our brick over here. We do our part and they do like, we fill this up. Our teams are good. We get loud. We have typically been a television draw throughout our history. Like it was. I mean, you probably remember what a big deal it was when they got that team from Seattle and everybody acted like it was such a injustice that they had done that, you know, and everything else. And they have held it down for two decades. Yes. Kind of in a market that people would think would not necessarily be that NBA friendly.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Except they like, brother, we rooted for the Barry Switzer. Oklahoma. Soon as we know what. We know what it takes to win. They. They don't. They ain't got. They ain't got all them dorks on that team for the people.

[Voicemail Callers]

Right?

[Bomani Jones]

They got all the dorks on that team because they need some people that's happy just playing PlayStation. And that's all they need to satisfy their. Their nightlife jones. That's what they got. A bunch of dudes that like each other. But that series is coming. I cannot wait. I cannot wait. Hold on. Victor might get Rudy, who he hates, as his warm up for the guy that he really hates.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

And he really doesn't take seriously.

[Voicemail Callers]

Victor.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. Hey. Hey, man. There's no way Victor be out there posting up with the monks. I'm assuming he knows some form of kung fu, which is terrifying. You imagine getting jabbed in the face by Victor.

[Ryan Brumley]

How far away Victor is when he.

[Bomani Jones]

Dawson. That's all I'm saying, man. Like, he ain't got no idea what his Go Go Gadget arms go stroll off on you. But now imagine all these things we know about him and the way he talks. Imagine what he thinks about Minnesota's most wanted, Chad Holmgr. Can I take. Can I take my lap right quick?

[Ryan Brumley]

That's good stuff.

[Bomani Jones]

I did that. I just came up with it right there too. That was the best part. I wasn't even planning for it. He has to think nothing of him. No. Nothing at all. Oh, my God. And we see how much like the beef trickles down the whole spurs don't. With Chad.

[Ryan Brumley]

No.

[Bomani Jones]

Just because Victor doesn't with Chet. Like, that's what that is. We've got that and then we got Boston. These Knicks, as they have been behaving and currently constructed. Boston is going to run them out of the building. At least it feels that way. Maybe the Knicks mess around and get it back together. Right. My thing with the Knicks and I just don't know if you can win this way and I don't know if it's anybody. I've been watching. I've watched every game of the Knicks and the Hawks. Right. I got attachments that live here, you know. Used to root for the Hawks before they told me not to root for them anymore. February 24, 1994. So anyway, there's only one person in that building that can guard Carl Anthony Towns. And it's number 32 for the Knicks. It is the. There's nobody. Look. Look at who the Hawks are trotting out there. They trotting out the tall and that's all. All Stars. That's like in. In the post from Clark Atlanta University. Bo Buddy Jones. That's who they be having down there guarding him. Why is he not scored so many times? That's like why are you not scoring 40 points a game is my question. There shouldn't be a single. There should be only one person in the NBA who could guard him and that's Victor. And it don't never feel that way.

[Ryan Brumley]

No. And he has and he's good for a good true playoff meltdown once a year and we haven't gotten that yet.

[Bomani Jones]

He is. But I just feel like Boston and to be fair to Boston, it feels like they've made it to the conference finals every year for like the last ten. Like pretty close. I mean Jaylen Brown and Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum, they're tested like Magic Johnson was through nine years. Obviously not with the same number of championships, but they just go deep. They've just gone deep in the playoffs every year. They had that year where Kyrie, you know, it got weird with Kyrie. I think that was 2019, but otherwise they just go and they go and they go and yeah, the Knicks had them last year. I don't know. I don't. Nothing that I've seen in this series with them against the Hawks has indicated to me that they gonna be there. They. They play it against a team that is the. You know about the great rely on for the liar. It's easy to kill a man that's about the business of killing himself.

[Ryan Brumley]

Jalen Brown's played in 139 playoff games.

[Bomani Jones]

It's insane. It's Insane. And this is what year? 10.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

This is his. This is his 10th year in the NBA. Right. So that means you say how many?

[Ryan Brumley]

139.

[Bomani Jones]

So they're averaging, getting to 139. So it's 14 a year.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yes. It's going to be at least two series a year.

[Bomani Jones]

He's going to say it's going to get to. But it's going to get to like 15. So that's two and change. You're averaging.

[Ryan Brumley]

He's got the same amount of playoff games as Patrick Ewing.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, you're. Wow. You're basically averaging the conference finals.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

Every year since that guy has gotten there. Nah, they're going to. They're going to win the East. Right. Those. Those are our three right now. But San Antonio, Oklahoma City. Buddy, if I was not so allergic to connected flights at this point about bourgeois ass life, I'd consider following that series like the Grateful Dead. I wouldn't care if Marvin Gaye was playing at halftime. You ain't got me catching all them little. And by the way, that's the plane that is going to be the plane that go from San Antonio to Dallas or San Antonio to Houston. And then that same plane that go from Houston to Dallas to Oklahoma City. Buddy, let me tell you, hope you're not looking for no leg room. That play that like I. I know that plane. That's that, that. That play is the plane I took when I was over there in flying Hammer Sickle Airlines in Vietnam. That's what they like. New plane. What foe like, that's the. That's the planes you get on and you look around and they don't even put the WI FI sticker up.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yeah, that's the. That's the Houston. The Midlands special.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. Yeah, it'll be. It ain't. It ain't going. You could. You could wait. You could wait. We got Wi Fi.

[Ryan Brumley]

What's that important? You can wait 90 minutes.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, we got WI FI at home, baby. You'll be all right. You can predict the playoff action all the way to the finals with FanDuel predicts. All you have to do is sign up to get you a $25 bonus. Follow all the playoff dishes, swishes, wishes and misses. Every move is a potential plot twist. Predict the spread, the total points and even the game winning moments that make the playoffs where one run, one rebound, one shot changes everything from opening tip to the final buzzer. Stay locked in with every pass, every play and every moment that moves us closer to crowning a champion. Sign up now for your $25 bonus on FanDuel Predicts offered by FanDuel Prediction Markets LLC, a registered futures commissions merchant and 18 bonus is non withdrawable and expires seven days after receipt. Trading derivatives involves significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tools. Restrictions apply. See [e-mail] predicts bonus offer terms offered

[Ryan Brumley]

by FanDuel Prediction Market LLC, a registered future commission merchant. 18/1 per user minimum $10 deposit required. Trading derivatives involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tools.

[Bomani Jones]

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[Ryan Brumley]

of all the news and information of the day.

[Bomani Jones]

No need for the social media feeds.

[Ryan Brumley]

We got you now if you haven't heard. All right, both, you haven't heard a little bit of a boring NFL draft, but the biggest story of the weekend. Rams take Ty Simpson at number 13. West need General manager and head coach on Bass seem to be at odds about this pick the night of. They've since walked that back saying they're in lockstep picking the first round quarterback at 13 overall. Bo, what was your reaction to this decision?

[Bomani Jones]

Okay, first of all, shout out to you Dan Arlovsky. Like no one has ever been validated by somebody else's questionable decision quite like Dan Orlovsky.

[Ryan Brumley]

I bet one man was doing the big balls dance all weekend. Oh my God, if he knows it. But if he was. Yeah, but he was a very happy guy.

[Bomani Jones]

And look, I don't know Dan very well, but I've met Dan a couple times. He seems like a very pleasant person and everybody I know that really works with him really likes him. Like he seems like a very genuine, nice man and I appreciate about him on television is sometimes I feel the same way about Chris Sims. Sometimes they think things that nobody else thinks and they say them like your opinion is not obligated to be the median opinion. Right? Like this is how.

[Ryan Brumley]

And they don't. And he doesn't have any back down either.

[Bomani Jones]

No, he doesn't have back down because he is. He always has a logic to support what it is that he's talking about. Now the thing with Ty Simpson is, as my good buddy Demetri said with his big Alabama fan, as he said when Ty Simpson got drafted, he was like, have they watched him play? Like I've been listening to his scouting report at Ty Simpson the whole way and it's crazy. Ty Simpson is also 6:1, I want to say and it is kind of crazy town to take a 6:1 quarterback that does not have unreal athleticism at the number 13 pick in the draft at quarterback who didn't play that much 15 starts like this. This is not Anthony Richardson where you're like, hey man, gotta, gotta try, right? Don't Give up yet. Telling you now, don't give up yet. But. But anyway, here's what got me about this, is that Sean McVay press conference and Shawn McVeigh did not have much to say about that selection. Right. Sean McVeigh, by the way, who has been spending the last. How long, three weeks being like, no need to talk about me. Keep on talking about the other coaches. Don't talk about me. No, no, no. He has been. He has been asymptotically close to a major story in the NFL. Asymptotically, though stayed away. Anyway, he did not sound very happy with that draft pick. Right. He did not. And as you said, they have tried to walk it back. I just want to point something out to people right fast. Jeremy Fowler at espn, very good reporter. He was inside the Rams draft room when they made. By the way, imagine being him. Like, all right, we're in the Rams draft room. Okay. Like, what's the most exciting thing that could possibly happen? Oh, they took a quarterback when they have the rating league mvp. Right. Okay. And it's also worth noting that Lesney, the general manager, his buddies with Ty Simp's dad.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

We're also old enough now, Ryan, where people's dad's names are. Jason.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

Right. We're at that point. So, anyway, in the article, Fowler had an anonymous quote attributed to somebody familiar with the Rams thinking who said, they are both in lockstep. Okay. That was the phrasing. They are both in lockstep. The next day, Les need does a presser and he says that the Rams. Let me say it says that McVay and the whole everybody is in lockstep. Now, maybe lockstep is just their word, but I felt like I sniffed out who told us that the whole organization was in lockstep and it's the same guy who put his name on everybody being in lockstep. That makes me a little more questionable.

[Ryan Brumley]

The more you say you're in lockstep, the less I think you are.

[Bomani Jones]

Lockstep. You couldn't even put your name on it. That's my thing, is that it seems like you asked to be anonymous saying lockstep, so it wouldn't just seem like you was the only. That was saying it like, that way we have two people saying it's lockstep, but it sounds like it's only one person in lockstep. And I find it far more likely that it's one person in lockstep than two, because, number one, nobody else would have taken that dude at number 13 and number two, I watched Sean McVeigh run Jared Goff out of town. And Jared Goff was a definite better prospect coming out of school than Ty Simpson was. And Jared Goff, for all his weaknesses, is still a quarterback of a very, very, very good team and has had like a 10 year career going into year 11. It'll probably be like a 15 year career. And the problems they've had up there have not been Jerry Goff, and that wasn't good enough for Sean McVeigh. You telling me he. He okay with Ty Simpson? Okay.

[Ryan Brumley]

All right. Speaking of two people who are not in lockstep, Megan Thee Stallion and Khloe Thompson seem to have broken up. Megan Stallion said shared on Instagram story and released an official statement that their relationship has ended. Per her story, Thompson had cheated on her since she introduced him to her family and had stayed with him, quote, playing house. But what was your reaction to this?

[Bomani Jones]

Oh, boy. Ryan, one thing I can tell in this is that you got married early. So you've never had anybody use words like plague house and the likes to describe the situation?

[Ryan Brumley]

No.

[Bomani Jones]

Oh, boy. It does not go. This has not happened to me personally, just to be clear. But nothing they hate more than feeling like they playing house as opposed to actually having a place in the house. Look, man, I had been saying that whole time about that situation. I didn't know why Clay was still playing basketball. They look so happy. They said they had bought houses and all of this stuff, but maybe he wasn't that happy. I don't, I don't, I don't. I don't. I don't have the answer. I don't have the explanation. I watched her be very happy, and I watched him kind of be like, Klay Thompson.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right?

[Bomani Jones]

Right. I don't know. I just know this. That parasocial relationship that many of many of the ladies have with Megan the Stallion. Vicious dog. Vicious. Like, I don't know how online Klay Thompson is. I do not know. But I do know this. It is amazing how some things just live online and if you just let them stay online, you can have no idea what's going on. Right. Like, one of my partners was telling me that one of my biggest haters was going off on me over the weekend. And I told him, I have no idea what you're talking about, and I have no interest in knowing what he's talking about. And I still have no idea. Like, once I stopped looking on the Internet for what people had to say to me, it all went Away, right? Like when you feel like, oh my God, I'm under assault online, right? Like, you know what? Look, not if you don't, not if

[Ryan Brumley]

you don't look at your mentions.

[Bomani Jones]

You don't look, right. It's amazing. It all goes away. And I say it for Klay Thompson, if you are not online like that, keep it that way, brother, because they are all your neck. It is I it who you know, with Megan had. She done had a tough life, right? She had had a lot of tough things happen to her. And the parasocial among us really wrapped their arms around her, man, like they, they, they, they want, they want the best things for her. And I see that and I understand it, but I saw some of the craziest shit I have ever seen on the Internet. Like you would think that they, they people. We don't know these people, man. Even if you have an op, it's not. The fact is not that people have an opinion on it, because having opinions on celebrity stuff or whatever is one thing. It was the passion.

[Ryan Brumley]

Well, it's again, it's the parasocial. It's making it about.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes. Like I said, there's some people out here who don't feel like they was playing house before and they, they, they. There was a PTSD off of that or whatever it was. I don't even know. But yeah, Clay was like, nah. The other lesson to be learned. And this is the other thing about being very online. Hey, man, you deal with somebody that's very online, eventually it's going to be about you. Yes, it might not have your name in it, but eventually it's going to be about you. And hey, maybe you don't care, right? But she so online, right? She's showing them watching movies at the house and cooking dinner and everything else and then out here, you know. Cause look, that's the game. That's what, that's part of the business plan is selling access to her whole life. She does the lives with people. And look again, she's been through some things, man. I don't know what the relationship is that she feels she has with her audience. Like, if those are her friends, fame is a very isolating sort of thing or whatever it is. But anyway, Clay wound up in all of that, right? He was there and I don't think he realized that can turn on you very, very, very quickly. But all you gotta do is log off and it's like it never happened. However, you can't ever log back on. They were saying, fuck him and his Dog. I saw his dog catch some strays.

[Ryan Brumley]

All right, we mentioned this earlier in the show, but there was a shooting at the White House correspondence dinner over the weekend. President rushed from the stage. Appears to be okay. The suspect is in custody and being arraigned in federal court this morning. Bo, what was your reaction to this news?

[Bomani Jones]

Do you remember? And this is how crazy life is. Do you remember that story that broke? I think it was maybe a year or so ago. It was in the New York Times, and it was about Elon Musk's drug addiction.

[Ryan Brumley]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

And it was a very extensive report about him just being, like, flat out strung out on dope. That next day, there was something going on in the Oval Office and there was some press availability, and it went to the questions. And I had never heard a softer, kinder set of questions ever. And it was the reminder that, yo, they basically cleared out who the people were who get credentialed and who show up to ask the questions. Right? Like, it's all friendly fire whenever it's time to answer questions in that setting. And I thought about that, because after whatever happened with this. With this. This thing at the dinner, and, hey, I will not be speculating on what did or did not happen and why or why not. I think it did or did not happen. You'll have to do that without me. I will simply say, I understand your questions. Right. However, what jumped out to me was them cats come out after it happened. They all tuxed up. Nobody looks nervous, nobody. Look, Ryan, I don't know if you ever been somewhere where people started shooting, man, but that gets you. That gets you a little jittery, you know what I'm saying?

[Ryan Brumley]

Yeah, I can imagine. It's. It's a little unnerving.

[Bomani Jones]

It's energy to it, right?

[Ryan Brumley]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Nobody looked unnerved. Right. They were all selling what a great job law enforcement did. That was the sell of that immediate press conference to me was how well law enforcement did in handling the situation. And then it got to the questions. And the first question was from the president of the White House Correspondents Association. And, bro, you would have thought that they had just won the NFC Championship game. What was going through your mind in that moment? Like, I turned it off after, like, two questions. Cause the questions were all. They all sound like sideline reporters, but like, Craig Sager would have had some real questions. They had a real questions, like, so how did somebody get. How did this happen? Like, not one person and the director of the FBI was there. Not one person was asking the Real important question. How did this happen? How did somebody get close enough to any of this to be shooting? How did. How did the secret service officer get shot? Wow. So this guy got in and it was shooting, and nobody shot him, but a secret service officer got shot. How did this happen? Nobody had any of those actual factual questions that one would typically need to have in a media situation after this had gone down. Because all the people whose job it would be to ask such questions, those people are not allowed anymore to be anywhere near the dude to actually ask any questions. That was what jumped off the page to me, is that we came out of that with so much mystery as to what exactly happened in a room full of media people, by the way. I guess everybody's like, look, man, we off tonight. Like, we ain't even. We ain't even doing this shit. You know what I'm saying? Maybe. All I know is they have decimated the question asking business at a time where we should have more questions than we have ever had before.

[Ryan Brumley]

All right, Bo. Got a few voicemails, a lot of great ones.

[Voicemail Callers]

Here's our first Bomani. Como estas? Como te tratta la vida. Hey, Bo, I got a music question for you. I've been on a little 90s, 2000s kick in rap, and one thing that I lived through, but kind of I've forgotten now, but now that I've listened to the music, was how prevalent Mace Dog was with his hooks back in the day, 2000, early 2000s. I mean, any hit, he was on it. So my question to you is, has there ever been anyone else in music that carved their spot, their niche as perfectly as Nate Dog did with being the hook master? I mean, he's b. He was basically the Mariano Rivera of rap, right? Of hooks. You bring him in, boom, it's closed. So is there anyone else in music that had a specific spot? I know there's greats in all their work, but a specific spot like that? Love the show. Been a fan forever. Love you and Ryan's chemistry. Keep it going. All right.

[Bomani Jones]

Hola, mi vida es bien yo dije mi amigos Mi espanol cuando staba in Buenos Aires fue muy bien Los locos Los locos may dijeron don bueno Mi espanol fue stoy muy ogrioso sobre mi progreso con el idioma so gracias para tubregunta in espanol yo intendi tubregunta y aora estoy aurora puerto responder in el Idioma. Hey, as for Nate Dog, the nadog thing is interesting because what people don't remember is. Yes. Like, he's. He. He. I wonder if he just had really good taste, right? It's kind of like Billy Preston. Every time Billy Preston is on a jam for the song for the Stones, it is a jam, and I want to know what songs. He was like, nah, I ain't getting on that. Right? Like, how many times Nate Dog was like, nah, nah, this isn't. This isn't.

[Ryan Brumley]

Like, his real skill was not making hooks. It was discretion.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes. Discernment. That is the thing that he really had down pat. I still wonder whatever happened to the homie Domino. See, Ryan, when. When Nate Dog came out and Regulate came out, it was another dude who came out at the time, same. Same time named Domino. Domino had a jam called the Ghetto Jam, and Domino and Nate Dogg were doing very similar things. Domino was definitely a better singer. They was both from la, all of this. But Nate Dogg, I guess, was down with the right crew. And so Nate Dogg's whole situation took off. Nate Dogg, also, it should be noted, Nate Dogg came back when Dr. Dre came back. Remember when Dr. Dre fell off for a little bit. I don't feel like we was hearing Nate Dogg that much. But what I want to know for Nate Dogg and for Nate Dogg's Ken Folk is was he writing those hooks? Cause if he was writing those hooks, the dude that writes the hook typically gets 50% of the publishing. And so if Nate Dogg. Nate Dogg would have had a really great hustle. If he's the one writing those hooks, he could come in and get the 50 when nobody working smarter, not harder than Nate Dogg.

[Ryan Brumley]

All right, here's our next one.

[Voicemail Callers]

Hey, what's going on, both? This is Sean calling from Georgia. And I know. I have a question for you. I know that sports nostalgia, nostalgia in general is like, a big thing that we have going on now. But I'm wondering, like, is the sports nostalgia tied to the fact that, you know, a lot of athletes we have nowadays, they're all kind of, like, really curated, and they've been, like, developed. You know, we don't have no Charles Oakley's no more, no Charles Bark. You know, people at P. And they do are very different to their own thing. And I'm just wondering, do you think it's just because of how curated our athletes are today? Appreciate it.

[Bomani Jones]

I think that that is certainly a part of it. I think the other part of it is this is just what old people like to do, always have, always will. The new is always not going to be like the old and therefore we want ourselves a little piece of the old. But it's interesting because like I said, when we had those athletes that I think were far more interesting than the guys we had now, there was people that yearned for the days when the athletes was boring as hell. You know, there's people that yearn for the days the athletes were political. There's people that year for the days of whatever it was. Because for most people getting old sucks and therefore they yearn for whatever the thing is. You know what I mean? So. But I do think that's part of it. Like I, I have said this for the longest. I said this in a room full of athletes and they were not trying to hear what I was saying. I did. Are you familiar with Dealbook, Ryan? The New York Times thing?

[Ryan Brumley]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

And so they invited me to do a panel. But the problem was it was a panel, it was about branding. The problem was everybody on the panel was an athlete except me and I wasn't the moderator.

[Ryan Brumley]

Interesting group.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a little different. And so like the point I was trying to make that they didn't agree with me on, and I mean, look, I'll be honest, I was getting a little high minded for the situation, but I'm like, we have to talk about what branding needs in the first place. Like real high school debate shit. Right? Like, right, we have to define the terms. But, but I did think we needed to define the terms because we're not necessarily talking about the same thing when we talk about branding. Like go ask people, have a general idea. But if you ask them specifically what they mean by branding, what are they talking about?

[Ryan Brumley]

Probably. And people probably were talking about social media.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes, Right, right. Or just the idea of doing commercials. Like, I am a brand, then I go sell stuff, whatever. But I meant a brand in terms of when people look at you, they know what it is. Right? Like that's what the brand, that's what a brand is supposed to be. The brand is supposed to be a shortcut that when you see the logo, you see the name or whatever, it represents something larger. That's what I'm thinking about when we talk about brands. Okay. People think that in order to be a brand that you need to be, you need to be boring, basically, because otherwise you're going to offend people and that interferes with your branding. You see what I mean? Now it's like in terms of how it's Easy to hop back and forth between the terms. But my point was that strategy only works for the best of the best. Right. The idea of. I'm not going to say anything interesting only works if you're able to make money just on the basis of whatever it is.

[Ryan Brumley]

If your brand is excellent.

[Bomani Jones]

Right, Right. Or you're so good at your job that all that. Like Michael Jordan, who wasn't boring, by the way.

[Ryan Brumley]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

But he didn't say anything controversial. But all you had to do was watch Michael Jordan play basketball. And that was the brand. Okay. Charles Barkley. The brand was being outspoken. Like, there's. I. I contend there's more money in being interesting than there is in being boring for 95% of the people that we're talking about. You might lose some people, but you'll get more people that like full. Anthony Edwards, great example. Okay? He is completely rough around the edges, and that's the brand. He would be far less attractive financially and I think in terms of. To the people if he were not the way that he is. You see what I mean? And so all these guys are being bred from childhood on up to be boring and be quiet and to say all the right things. And I'm like, brother, the money for you is in being interesting. You're not good enough to be uninteresting and make that money. The money for you is in being interesting. So hopefully somebody will take me up on this and then everybody will see that I am Right. And then we'll get interesting athletes again.

[Ryan Brumley]

All right, here's our last one.

[Voicemail Callers]

Hey, shout out to Bomani and Ryan. This is a Avon here in Kansas City question for you all. Assuming Mr. Vrabel is the coach of the Patriots starting the season and doesn't resign, which. And this is harder to do in NFL stadiums than in the NBA because, you know, sound is a little bit more enclosed in the arenas. And the DJs usually are different in the NBA than in the NFL. Which team in the NFL, on the away game, when they play the Patriots is going to be petty enough to play Dirty Diana by Michael Jackson. And also just a throw in question, are y' all planning to go see the new Michael Jackson movie? I plan on. I don't go to the theater as much, but I'm planning on checking it out in the theater. We'll see. Anyway, love the show, Bo. Keep doing great things. Holla. Shot later.

[Bomani Jones]

31.

[Ryan Brumley]

Oh, yes. All of them.

[Bomani Jones]

Every. Everyone had the same bright idea. I knew what it was. Before you even finish your sentence, everybody Everybody's. Everybody's had that same bright idea. I imagine the jets will be the ones to more most fervently come out here with that. You know that the. The. The. The Minnesotas where. Brian. Brian. Brian Flores still over there. You remember Brian Flores was playing them Jay Z saws at Kenny Stills, and that dude was on his own team. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, yeah. No, they gonna be the ones that do. And the thing that makes that terrible is he's not Diana, right? Damn, man. Tough. Tough. Go for Diana, man.

[Ryan Brumley]

Tough beat.

[Bomani Jones]

It's a. It's a. This is the part where people be like, even when you try to dog him, you dogging her. And it's like, you got a point. Yes, I see what you're saying. That is. That does feel unfair. It does feel unfair. But, hey, ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us here on the Right Time. We do this four days a week. Ryan Brumley handles everything behind the scenes. Thank you, sir. By the way, Ryan, my mother wanted me to tell you you're doing a good job of making your bed up.

[Ryan Brumley]

Thank you so much. It is. It's the. You know. You know, that's the audience who makes people happy.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes.

[Ryan Brumley]

He's like, I noticed your mother and mine.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, like, I noticed you're doing a better job on that. Hit the voicemail live. 323-5967-767. Remember, follow the right time. Subscribe. Like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater. We'll talk to you guys in a couple of days. Take it easy.