NFL hires ZERO Black coaches, Giannis sweepstakes, Giants owner in Epstein files | 02.02

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Right Time with Bomani Jones
Host: Bomani Jones
Guest/Co-host: Ryan Bowman
Episode: NFL hires ZERO Black coaches, Giannis sweepstakes, Giants owner in Epstein files
Date: February 2, 2026

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Main Theme

Bomani Jones tackles several major stories: the lack of Black coaches in the NFL’s latest hiring cycle, the drawn-out drama of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s rumored NBA trade, and the recent inclusion of New York Giants owner Steve Tisch in the Jeffrey Epstein files. Along the way, Bomani offers his trademark insights on race, sports culture, and how progress (or lack thereof) plays out in American institutions.

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Segment Breakdown

1. Super Bowl Week and Shifting Sports Zeitgeist

Timestamp: 00:00–03:00

• Bomani reflects on how Super Bowl week no longer dominates the news cycle as it once did.
• The prevalence of 24/7 sports coverage and the rise of other stories in the zeitgeist have lessened the event’s singular cultural hold.
• Notable aside about “Super Bowl Media Day” now being “Super Bowl Opening Night,” but it doesn't grip the public the way it used to.

Quote:
"Super Bowl itself doesn’t fill the week like it used to. We don’t need a press conference every day to fill the days with talk." (Bomani, 02:25)

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2. NFL Coaching Carousel: Zero Black Head Coaches Hired

Timestamp: 03:00–26:00

The Numbers and the Cycle

• Ten NFL teams hired new head coaches this year—nearly 30% of the league—yet none were Black.
• Bomani lampoons the excuses used, noting that even with more opportunities, Black coaches are still excluded.

Quote:
“Ten head coaches were hired. None of them were black. Not even the dude named Joe. Not even the dude named Jesse. Not even the dude named Robert, who keeps a fade or a bald. I can't tell exactly what he's going here, but no two mikes, neither one of them was black.” (03:04)

Social Networks, The “Speed Dating” Solution, and Rooney Rule Expansion

• The league created “speed dating” events to increase networking opportunities for minority coaches, but Bomani questions why Black coaches need extra steps to meet decision-makers.
• The Rooney Rule expanded—requiring 2 minority interviews for head coaching and coordinator positions—which led to some growth in Black defensive coordinators, but not head coaches.

Names in the “Boy Genius” Era

• Bomani observes that the current coaching trend is to hire young, offensive-minded “boy geniuses” (in the McVay/Shanahan mold).
• The Black coaches who do get coordinator jobs are generally on defense; offense remains a “locked door.”
• Notable mention: Nate Shieldhas (the exception as a Black coach in the offensive track, Rams staff).

Quote:
“The problem with hiring as it relates to race in the NFL is not the Rooney Rule... That would be like saying that the problem with cancer is you can't fix it with an aspirin. The NFL has a cancer of racism when it comes to hiring people at these levels. The problem is them [the owners].” (18:00)

Progress and Who Needs to Make It

• There has been progress, but Bomani emphasizes: “It’s not Black people who need to make progress—it’s white people that need to make progress.” (22:15)
• He points out that teams who refuse to innovate in hiring only hurt themselves, using the Giants and Texas college football as examples of institutions that have “preferred to lose than to be less racist.”

Quote:
“We’d rather be racist than win. ...That’s America.” (24:40)

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3. NBA Trade Deadline: The Giannis Sweepstakes

Timestamp: 25:46–37:30

• Bomani compares Giannis Antetokounmpo’s current purgatory in Milwaukee to Dwight Howard’s infamous, bungled exit from Orlando.
• Giannis is now in a phase of “everybody knows what’s happening, but the star won’t say it outright,” which erodes his reputation for authenticity.
• Bomani lists possible trade destinations (Minnesota, New York, Miami) and debates which would be best.
• The broader point: NBA megastars often “stretch one championship ring for miles” in the public mind, but when the time for a split comes, direct honesty works best.

Quote:
“The truth is you want out of there. We all understand that you don't want to want out of there, but you do.” (33:00)
“If you want to go, go. We may not get it at first, but we're grown, we've been doing this for a while. If you want to go, go. But you don't want people saying you a phony. And that's what we're going to say based on the way that he has acted.” (37:13)

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4. Giants Owner Steve Tisch in the Epstein Files

Timestamp: 39:53–44:25

• The Epstein files are “media gold”—massive lists of powerful names have come out, including Giants co-owner Steve Tisch.
• Bomani gives context on how powerful the Tisch family is in New York (NYU, the Met, etc.).
• While major legal fallout seems unlikely, Bomani notes the social price—"the kind of jail you can go to is your own home, when your wife reads those emails." (43:40)
• Notable running joke: only Russell Wilson got out of an Epstein connection clean (“Hey, baby, I was just trying to buy a plane!”).

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5. Bitcoin Crash

Timestamp: 44:35–46:09

• Bitcoin’s value dropped 12% in a week ($200 billion gone), now under $80,000.
• Bomani is uninterested: “I don’t really be thinking about funny money no more... You chose the ride, enjoy it.”

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6. 2026 Grammys Recap

Timestamp: 46:09–50:44

• Kendrick Lamar becomes the most decorated rapper in Grammy history (27 wins).
• Lauryn Hill surprisingly showed up (and on time!).
• The Fugees (Lauryn, Wyclef; Pras absent due to prison) reunited on stage.
• Bad Bunny made a statement against ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement).
• Country artist Jelly Roll awkwardly dodged a political question on the red carpet.
• Bomani is unimpressed with the Grammys’ standards for rap—“I don’t take the Grammys seriously.”
• Notable Drake reference: “All Kendrick got to do is cough and y'all give him a Grammy.” (48:34)

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7. Voicemails: Names, Culture, and Haircuts

Timestamp: 50:44–59:39

A lighthearted end with listener voicemails that prompt discussion on:

• The enduring phenomenon of the “shag” haircut in Dallas ("They call it a booty fade as if that's any better." 51:33)
• White people with traditionally Black names (White Xavier, White Lamont) and how naming trends shift across generations and regions.
• Cultural blending stories: a white Brooklyn kid ("Lil Ginger Cuz") naturally picking up Black vernacular through growing up in a Black neighborhood and public schools.

Quote:
“The white people that send their kids to public schools with the Black people… There’s a special place in heaven for those folks.” (58:32)

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Notable Quotes & Highlights

• On NFL hiring:
  “The issue is the people who ultimately decided to enact a Rooney Rule just because Johnnie Cochran, rest in peace, was about to sue them into the ground… It is only under the threat of litigation that they will act.” (20:00)
• On systemic racism:
  “We ain't the ones that need to make progress. They the ones that need to make progress.” (24:20)
• On institutions' reluctance to win at the expense of racism:
  “We’d literally rather be worse than do better. That’s America.” (25:12)

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Episode Tone & Style

Bomani's delivery is conversational, sharp, sometimes irreverent, always grounded in historical context and lived experience. He balances humor (running jokes on coach names, Lauryn Hill’s lateness) with candor on race, progress, and sports power structures.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------------|------------------| | Super Bowl Week Reflection | 00:00–03:00 | | NFL Coaching Hires / Race Discussion | 03:00–26:00 | | Giannis Sweepstakes & NBA Trade Deadline | 25:46–37:30 | | Giants Owner/Epstein Files | 39:53–44:25 | | Bitcoin Crash | 44:35–46:09 | | Grammys Recap | 46:09–50:44 | | Listener Voicemails | 50:44–59:39 |

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Conclusion

This episode exemplifies why Bomani Jones is a standout voice in sports media. He artfully navigates the overlap of sports, race, culture, and institutional inertia, offering listeners both big-picture insight and smaller cultural observations (“booty fade,” white Xaviers, Ginger Cuz). For those who missed the episode, Bomani’s humor, frustration, and clarity shine through—making this an essential catch-up for anyone interested in where sports truly intersects with the world off the field.

Transcript

[Bomani Jones]

What is natural? When you read natural flavors on a label, most people don't realize it's often not real food at all. Those hidden ingredients quietly work against how your body feels and functions over time. That's why just Ingredients uses only real food ingredients. So you know exactly what you're putting in your body. Stop guessing, start knowing at justingredients US. 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. It is super bowl week, so of course we gonna talk about the Grammys and a few other things and the Epstein files. But this is, you know, I guess Brian, you've only really been working in the game here. Truly in the midst of the full on Internet era. But it is interesting how super bowl week is not nearly as dominated by the super bowl in the zeitgeist as it used to be. Because now we just got so much other bullshit to talk about, right? Like that used to not be the case, but it used to be like it's Monday media. I think Monday or Tuesday we were like media day, right? That's now super bowl open at night or something like that. Because media day does not mean the same thing because you see these people all the time.

[Ryan Bowman]

All the time.

[Bomani Jones]

Right? No one is just introducing themselves to Americ America in that way.

[Ryan Bowman]

I think I caught the last wave of that because that was like the mid-2010s.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. And even then I remember started feeling like, huh? Like to me the biggest event of super bowl week is actually the NBA trade deadline, which is Thursday at 3 o'. Clock. Be on the lookout. If there's something happened, we'll be having a quick reaction about that one. But the super bowl itself does not fill the week in the way that it used to. Like, we don't need a press conference every day from the super bowl to give us things that we can talk about during the week. We don't. We don't need that. So instead we get to talk about what the NFL maybe doesn't want us to talk about or you know, what they just might not give a which is we had 10 head coaching openings this year. I would like to take a moment to point out 10 head coaching openings is a lot, guys. It's damn near 30% of the league turned over their coaches this year. And you know whose fault it Is Kirsten Eddy. Man, ain't no excuses. Indiana won. You. You go tell me you can't win with the Raiders. Indiana just won a national championship. Hey, man, it's the Cardinals. Indiana just won a national championship. That's trickling down all the way to here. Get ready. In the NBA. Cursing Nettie. Gonna get some of y' all fired, too. But anyway, 10 head coaches were hired. None of them were black. Not even the dude named Joe. Not even the dude named Jesse. Not even the dude named Robert, who keeps a fade or a ball. I can't tell exactly what he's going here, but no two mics. Neither one of them was black. Nope. We got a dude whose name is spelled unconventionally. He ain't even black. But, Ryan, it's the white people. Unconventional spelling. You know who I'm talking about, right?

[Ryan Bowman]

You're gonna have to enlighten me.

[Bomani Jones]

Clint with a K. Oh, yeah, we.

[Ryan Bowman]

Forgot we're on week two of Clint Kubiak.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. And, I mean, look, you know, what's his name? Roger Clemens did this too. Right, but the thing with Roger Clemens is his last name is C. He named them all K because K's are strikeouts and. Whoa, buddy, that was a bit much. But anyway, so talk about someone who.

[Ryan Bowman]

I'm glad doesn't have a podcast.

[Bomani Jones]

Buddy, Buddy. Buddy. Who. He probably ain't even got no computer, But Gary Kubiak, Mr. Knipple, all these. All you white people who give your kids these KK names don't do this to us because we go have that question. That being said, it's the great irony, Ryan, that the guy that really messed up in naming his kid is the guy who you would think would not make this mistake. That would be Steve Kerr. For those of you who don't know, Steve Kerr has a son named Nicholas, who I believe has begun to go as Nicholas, but used to go by shortening of Nicholas. Yes. As opposed to. He used to go by Nick in his regular life. Meaning his name was Nick Kerr. And you have to say it really slow.

[Ryan Bowman]

I'm gonna stick with Nicholas.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. Yeah. You know what? Like. Or just Nick. Yeah, right. He just. He just gonna be Nick. That's. That's. That's all it could be. Maybe he. You know what he needs to do? He needs to turn into a nickname. He needs to get out here and see if he can borrow that nickname from Nick Foles. Right. That's what he needed to do. He needed to go out here and get him a reputation in these streets, and then they can start calling him bdn. He could carry it out. But anyway, back to these coaches. No black coaches were hired in this cycle. Though it is important to note that Robert Sala is Lebanese and from around Detroit. Well, he. From Dearborn, Michigan. Michigan. And as they. That's Daytown. They, they, they, they got that one. Okay. You know, they, they went ahead and got that one. But that leads to, you know, semiannual hand wringing about hiring and Rooney rules stuff. And kind of looking at the fact that these things really go in cycles now. I used to do something every year on the Rooney rule, and I kind of stopped in part because of the reason why I have to remind myself sometimes, like, oh, man, it's Martin Luther King Day. You know, you got something else on that. Because it felt to a degree like I was saying something new every year. And I tried my best for those of y' all who are, like, dedicated to the squad. I kind of try my best not to repeat myself. I. And I guess in a way it could feel a little bit. I don't know. I don't. I don't want to say it felt like there was no point, but it becomes somewhat difficult when it's just like, okay, so what's the new angle that I'm supposed to come up with about this? There's no point that I can make that hasn't been made before. But at the same time, this motherfucker still ain't listening. Therefore, maybe I just need to keep making it like four. I don't know exactly what it is that we are supposed to do on this one. Now, I have always felt that collectively we do a terrible job in discussing this. On one hand, it's the. You should just hire the best candidate. Okay? You should be able to hire whoever you want. Not quite. Right. And then we get to the flip side of this, which is, you know, the people on the other side, you're just sick of it, right? And it could be put in italics and it could refer to many different things, but the bottom line is just a little sick of it, right? What was the, the, the sign that woman had? I forget. This was maybe 10 years ago during one of the protests. I was like, I can't believe I still got to protest this. Right? Like, this is this. This feels very similar when it comes to the Rooney Reel. Now, to me, there are a couple of worrisome things or patterns we should say or events that have happened in this. Number one, they used to do this kind of like speed dating event. I can't remember exactly what the name is, but it would get a bunch of coaches and a bunch of people who work with teams in the same room, and they would just kind of bounce from table to table and basically do speed dating to introduce themselves to the people who were in charge. And the argument behind it was that there are social networks at place that these black coaches do not get into. And therefore they don't have the opportunities to get facetime with these executives and to meet them. So if you put them in these positions to go around these rooms, then they would have the opportunity to. To meet these people. And I guess to a degree that made sense. My question on the other end was, I don't have a full understanding of how it is the white people were winding up meeting these same folks. You understand what I'm saying? Like, yeah, we get it that social networks, race can be a barrier to entry into these social networks. But end of the day, you a quality control man at one of these teams. We need to talk more about how it is that this white man gets to meet who the man is at the time. Top, like the speed dating thing, basically. It seems to me to imply a different argument. It's not even the argument of, hey, man, well, you know, white people feel more comfortable with white people, black people feel more comfortable with black people. It's not even that argument. It is making the implication that there is no way for black people to get known by these other people. And I guess the question I always had about that was that how they get the jobs that they have in the first place, Right? But at least they were trying. And it felt to me, remember they made some expansions on the Rooney rule, right? You had to interview two non white candidates for these head coaching jobs. And you had to do this also for coordinator jobs. And I noticed, at least with my own eyes, at least, maybe this was just anecdotal, but it sure felt like we had more black coordinators or at the very least, more black defensive cool coordinators. Now, the real barrier had typically been black offensive coordinators, and that remains a barrier. And that becomes an important point that we'll get to. But I did feel like we were seeing more black defensive coordinators get that, get that job. Like, I can name more black defensive coordinators off the top of my head now than I probably have at any other point in my life. Raheem Morris just got the job as defensive coordinator for the 49ers. Kelvin Shepard has the job in Detroit where he replaced Aaron Glenn, who became a Head coach was basically his own defensive coordinator, Zach, or was the defensive coordinator in Baltimore. He's going to wind up, it looks like, making a move to get another gig. The dude at Carolina, the Nigerian cat. I don't remember how to say his name. There is him. There's Vance Joseph in Denver, who is their defensive coordinator. I'm not saying that my ability to name these five guys has completely changed the world. I am saying that I couldn't always name five guys. All right. There is a measure of progress in that that I think is important note. I also think that it is important to note that while of these teams, 10, none were black. Ryan, you help me out if I'm missing anybody here, but I've got Aaron Glenn, Todd Bowles. I guess Mike Tomlin just left of his own volition, but Aaron Glenn, Todd Bowles, J O Ryan. Damn. Is that everybody?

[Ryan Bowman]

That might be everybody.

[Bomani Jones]

Damn. I was actually hoping to get to do this with a little bit more of a flourish. I didn't. I didn't expect this to go away abruptly. Yeah, well, I mean, the other problem that happens is, is when you fire the black coach, unless they trying to save money and they ain't gonna hire another one. Right. Like, the Texans got super. Well, no, the Texas. Well, the Texans had that thing where they were so sorry, only a black man would take that job. Remember when they hired. They hired the dude and nobody had ever heard of. And then they hired Lovey Smith, who nobody else would hire, but then they did hire d' Amico Riots.

[Ryan Bowman]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

And we're fortunate that he was willing to take the job that he had a wife from Houston. And if you know anything about people from Houston, they all. They always ready to get right back. Right, right. That worked out well. You see how that is going for them. Right. I think it's important at every step to acknowledge what is the case and not get quite as locked into what is not the case. All right, now, the issue is with only those three. And if any of them wind up like Todd Bowles, how much longer are you going to be able to keep that job, for example? Right?

[Ryan Bowman]

Yeah. On the hot seat this year.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Aaron Glenn, let me tell you something. If I was in the business of arguing that racism was over, which I will never be in the business of, but if I was in that business, Aaron Glenn is getting to go to.

[Ryan Bowman]

Year two and he fired his whole staff, like, his whole offensive staff, like on Thursday.

[Bomani Jones]

Look, we both live in this city. We've both paid attention to that team. I would not have called the NAACP if they had fired Eric Glenn. I would not. I would not have expended a morsel of capital on that one. They looked awful. He did not handle the job well. All of those things.

[Ryan Bowman]

I hate to use the Q word, but they quit around Thanksgiving. They did quit, and they had five more football games.

[Bomani Jones]

They didn't make an interception the whole year. Yeah, he got to keep his job.

[Ryan Bowman]

With Woody Johnson as his owner.

[Bomani Jones]

That. There's. There's something. Woody Johnson, who, by the way, he hired. He hired Salah. Well, no, he didn't hire Salah. That happened when he was over there. Yeah, he's over there in our. In uk, Right. It was Ireland. I can't remember which one. Herb Edwards. That was his guy. He hired him. Anton Bowles.

[Ryan Bowman]

Yep.

[Bomani Jones]

You know what Woody. Woody Johnson is. Woody Johnson is the coaches. What? Bud Adams was the quarterbacks. I don't want to talk to you about politics, but I got to say, when you want to make a case for yourself, I kind of got to stand down for a bit. But the 10 thing is not. It's. Here's what was not encouraging to me and Ryan. You. You and I both, we read a lot about these things. We pay attention. There's not a name anymore. Like, remember, Eric B. Enemy was the name. When is somebody going to give Eric B. Enemy a job? And I fell off of that because I was like, they was giving other brothers jobs and they weren't giving him one. Right. For whatever reason there. Mike Zimmer used to be that guy. Vic Fangio used to be that guy. Like, white guys that. Granted, these are defensive guys, but guys that people are like, no, we're just not giving you this. We don't. We don't see a head coach in you.

[Ryan Bowman]

Matt Nagy now. Yes, yes.

[Bomani Jones]

But, hey, but he got a chance. Like, that was the thing that made it frustrating with the Enemy and is that it felt like every offensive coordinator Andy Reid ever had.

[Ryan Bowman]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

Got a chance.

[Ryan Bowman]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Except for this guy. But there's no name. Like, there's nobody that was being pushed and bandied around. And the reason is right now, you correct me if I'm wrong here, we're in boy genius mode in terms of the coaches that people want to hire. Like, so you've got the John Harbaugh, Mike McCarthy, who I think of their own class. Right? Guys with impeccable resumes, super bowl championships, you know, they're their own thing. But the kind of Shanahan McVeigh boy genius class Is these other guys, the Kevin Stefanski, Joe Brady, who's not in that same tree. But you remember when he was the boy genius, right, Coming off the LSU thing? This has been. He. He been boy genius for so long. He's still a boy.

[Ryan Bowman]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

He's not 40 yet, is he?

[Ryan Bowman]

I think he is. I think Joe Brady is right at the cusp of 40.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. Because I want to say he was like, 32 or 33.

[Ryan Bowman]

36.

[Bomani Jones]

He's 36. Right. You know, Michael Leflore, Matt LaFleur's brother, but another one of those McVeigh guys in that class, Jesse mentor, though, defensive, kind of sort of in that. In that boy genius class. I don't know that much about the Halfley guy, do you?

[Ryan Bowman]

I mean, he used to coach at Boston. He went from Boston to Green Bay to Miami. So.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, but all these guys, like Mike McDaniel was in the boy genius class. The only black dude right now that seems to be in the boy genius class is that Nate Shieldhas guy who's down there with the Rams. And I'm telling you, somebody gonna be real weirded out when they called him into that interview and he walks in, they're like, yeah, so where's. Where's Mr. Shielhas?

[Ryan Bowman]

Yeah, where's Mr. S?

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. And he's like, me. No. But, yeah, he black. S H E E L, H A A S E, I believe is how you spell it. But he a black man, right? Not everybody going to be like Mike McDaniel when he gets in. Mike McDaniel gets in there and talks about as a black man. What you mean as a black man? What you talking about? I don't understand. But that's the place that the black dudes can't get to, is the boy genius class. That's the hard part. You can get to the really good defensive mind, like. So Brian Flores is an interesting case. Now, I've sealed you many times. I would not hire Brian Flores. Right? And by the way, he did get on when he was kind of seeing his Belichick genius guy. He got on. It's just. He's never for. For a slew of reasons, some of which have to do with coaching, most of which have to do with personality, and one of which is a lawsuit. He's not going to wind up getting that job. But offense, we still can't get there. The holdup remains. Becoming offensive boy genius guy, or even just offensive coordinator. That remains the holdup. I don't know. Or in my own head, I don't have mechanics or mechanisms for breaking through that one particular place. But that's the hold up. Like looking at these hires. Stefanski, offensive guy, McCarthy, Brady, Monk and Kubiak Lafleur, they lean toward offensive guys because if you have a very good offensive guy, somebody else is going to try to hire him and you're going to eventually have to make him the head coach anyway. That's what the argument becomes. Right. I just know this, and I want to close with this because I think that this part is very important. The problem with hiring as it relates to race in the NFL is not the Rooney Rule. The problem is that. Not that the Rooney rule is ineffective. Okay? That would be like saying that the problem with cancer is that you can't fix it with an aspirin. That is not about the limitations of aspirin. That's about the problem with cancer. And the NFL has a cancer of racism when it comes to hiring people at these levels. The problem is them. Dan Graziano, my buddy, who I like a lot, he sent a tweet out that says something about how this was not a banner year for the Rooney Rule. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And I'm not like, I don't chastise Dan for this. I think he just fell into an error that a lot of people fall into when it comes to the phrasing on this. And that is to blame the rule because nobody wants to blame the white people. The problem in this case is the white people who do, or more accurately do not do some of this hiring. The issue there is them. The issue is the owners. It's all these people on top. They are the problem. And I don't think that we could ever truly have any measure of solution on this until we are more honest about who the issue is. The issue is the people who ultimately decided to enact a Rooney Rule just because Johnnie Cochran, rest in peace, was about to sue them into the ground. That is what made them act. It is only under the threat of litigation that they will act. Now, what is tricky is I have said where people are like, we need to get rid of the Rooney Rule. I'm like, no, no, no, they don't want to do that because they don't want to wind up back in court. But I don't have any idea if you can go to court anymore about race stuff, given the rules of the current regime and everything else. Right. I don't have the answers on that part. But I just want to remind everybody something that we often forget or in our phrasing, we ignore. I did an event the other night with my good buddy Howard Bryant for his book at the Jackie Robinson Museum. And Jackie Robinson's son David had flown in from Tanzania, and he stood up and he talked about progress and how sometimes we could talk about how we have not seen all the progress that we want to see. But there has been great progress over time. And I think coaching is an interesting place for that because there has been progress. Like, I was alive for the first black head coach that we all admitted was black and got a job in the modern era, and that was Art Shell. Ryan, you ever heard of Wayne Fonts?

[Ryan Bowman]

I have not.

[Bomani Jones]

Okay. Wayne Fonts used to coach the Lions. I want you to look up a picture of Wayne Fonts. Go ahead and look at it right now. Yep. I just want to point out to you that he became a head coach the year before Art Shell. I also want to point out to you that Wayne Fonts is. His people are from Cape Verde. I don't know about you, but people from Cape Verde are black. Everywhere else I've heard of.

[Ryan Bowman]

That was my understanding as well.

[Bomani Jones]

However, somehow he just slipped through. P. The pioneer hid in PL S. And he probably still at the house, like, man, if you don't shut your black ass up, quite quiet. But anyway, I was alive when AR Shell got this. I have seen stretches where there was six or seven blackhead coaches. I seen the salad days of the Rooney rule where they were out here making moves. I remember when Tony Duny got fired in Tampa and Jim Ursay said, my number one candidate is Tony Dungy, and went down and hired Tony Dungy. Right? Things are not what they were. They are not good enough. But it is important for those of us who speak on these matters to acknowledge where things have gotten better. Okay? But I brought up what David Robinson said about progress, because I made a point there that we could never forget, is that when it comes to progress in the presence of racism, it is not me and my people who need to make progress. It is white people that need to make progress. It is not us who created these circumstances. It is them who created these circumstances. And they are the ones that need to do better. And as I say every year about this, the biggest winner from the Rooney rule and breaking down those barriers of racism would be the white people. One black coach will get a job. Okay? Two black coaches might get a job. But if y' all start hiring better coaches, by the way, something you've never been good at is hiring coaches, right? I Can. Y' all should be trying to hire Martians. Y' all should be trying anything. Like, let me tell you something. If. If anybody spent 100 years hiring black people at something and it didn't work, then we get one chance that they don't hire another one. After that, y' all hire white man after white man. Like the. The. The. The. The Giants. Y' all hire white man after white man after white man after white man. It ain't work one time and not once. If you said, maybe we should try something crazy. Crazy. Right? A. It ain't. It ain't work for you. Not once. Not. Not one person has just been like, it. Call the black guy. Yeah. Hey, I'm out of answers right now. Once. Have you made the decision that maybe we should just try something out of the box in order to make this happen? Y' all hired Joe Judge. Y' all out here hiring special teams coaches or whatever it is, and not one time because you say to yourself, maybe we should try something else. Right? Y' all would be the winners if you expanded your reach and maybe got out there and got some good coaches and made your teams better. Right? It would serve a black person at a time. It would serve the whole league if you acted right. We ain't the ones that need to make progress. They the ones that need to make progress. So why don't you buck the trend of American history and do something that would help you out as opposed to just being dedicated to racism? Because that's the thing so many places, so many times. Ryan, you're an LSU football fan. You're of the age. However, you don't remember when LSU was like, nah, we'd just rather be racist than win.

[Ryan Bowman]

That was a long time.

[Bomani Jones]

Oh, man, it was the whole sec.

[Ryan Bowman]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Except for Alabama. They were like, hey, buddy, we ain't gonna take all of you, but we'll take more than them. Well, what was that? We will not be out inworded. I will tell you that Texas spent a long time being like, nah, we. We'd rather be racist than with football games. They did it again. Well, I don't root for him no more with that damn song. They were like, nah, we'd rather be Ole Miss. You know, Our state is 36% black, and black people seem to be very important in these sports. But now we had these flags that we would rather wave. That's America.

[Ryan Bowman]

They'd rather rebel.

[Bomani Jones]

Yep, we'd rather. We would literally rather be worse than do better. That's how this is stacked up at Every turn and they keep on doing it. And I'm just here to tell you, after one more year, either you let Kirk Signetti get somebody else fired or you try something new. All right, we mentioned the NBA trade deadline is going to be Thursday. Ryan, you think, you think, you think they're going to get Yanis moved by then?

[Ryan Bowman]

I sure hope so. Or I think we've been kind of teetering and tottering about it for two and a half years now, and I don't know if we can do another six months of it.

[Bomani Jones]

He's getting, he's not getting bad advice. I think he's actually getting pretty good advice. He. However, when you got to pick people like to emulate as an NBA superstar, it's a long list of guys that you can choose. You could choose to emulate Michael Jordan, you could choose to emulate LeBron James. You want to kick it old school. You can emulate Bill Russell. You know, it's a lot of guys, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird that you could look at and be like, yeah, I want to kick it like they did. Right. That'll get me to where I want to be. I would argue that kicking it like Dwight Howard is not what I would recommend. Okay. If you are outside of the paint on defense, I don't think that emulating Dwight Howard is the way to go. And Giannis is apparently playing the full on Dwight Howard role on his way out of town. And he needs to remember that. That ended for Dwight Howard in being roundly disliked after being pretty universally beloved for about eight years. But that's what we got here. Now, for those of you who don't remember this, all right, and let's be clear. Dwight handled this a lot worse. Dwight was set to. He was set to be a free agent in Orlando, but he wasn't going to be a free agent. Cause his contract was going to be. Was going to expire. He had a player option to get out of his deal. And this is years after they had been to the Finals. The Magic are not really competitive in that way. It had long been forecast that he was going to wind up being the next great big man to wind up going to play for the Lakers, following in the footsteps of Will Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. And we all knew this, but every interview with Dwight was about how Dwight loved Orlando and he's torn and, you know, he doesn't really know what to do or he really loves Orlando, so forth and so on, everything else. But. But we all understood that Dwight wanted to get out of there. And I'm trying to remember the exact order of events. Ryan, do you remember if he opted. No, he must have opted in. After the weird Stan Van Gundy press conference. Stan Van Gundy got in front of us and told us that Dwight was trying to get him fired.

[Ryan Bowman]

Like, I think he opt. It was all within like a 48 hour trade deadline window. So he like opted in. I think he opted in, then tried to get. And then the press conference happened.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, there's a lot going on. But basically for those who don't remember, Stan Van Gut is doing this press conference where he's talking about how he's literally sick of the bullshit that's going on and that he knows that Dwight has tried to get him fired. And while he's standing there saying this, Dwight comes and put his arm around him. We're all fine, everything's okay. People act like we got problems. There are no problems. And he has no idea that Stan just told everybody, this dude's trying to get me fired. And then Stan walked away and left him standing there to look like a fool. And nothing was the same. Then he went and played with Kobe and Kobe did him no favors. And nothing has ever been the same. But what ultimately went down is we viewed Dwight as a phony from that moment on. And I think what bothered people was everybody would have understood if he wanted to get out of town, right? No matter what he had said before about how he wanted to stay there forever. Da da da. In the end, people understand, things change. Look at the divorce rate, right? He.

[Ryan Bowman]

And not just change, change and go to the Lakers, which is a tale as long as the NBA.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes, yeah, but just even if it's not the Lakers, just get me out of here. I don't want to play here anymore. It was an understandable thing. Now the trick back for him is that they had won a championship there, right? So you can make the argument of unfinished business, but he had gotten them to the finals. He got them to the finals on a team where the second best player was either Heedu Turkoglu or Rashad Lewis, right? Got him with getting LeBron out of there. The the best postseason version of LeBron we have ever seen. And he got him out of there in six games, right? In that one. It took superhuman LeBron Ness to even stretch it to six. Right? But he looked phony, okay? And people are like, dude, why you keep lying to us when we know what time it is with you? And that is exactly what is happening with Giannis. And it is a very similar story. Now. Dwight was the number one pick in the draft, but they both kind of had this all shucks sort of charm, right? They kind of had a. You know, they're the guys that want to do the right thing. They, they, they are seen as being moral white hats basically in this league in a number of ways. Dwight was wrapped up in Jesus. Giannis has like a real life. He got an immigrant story to go with the immigrant story. Man, man didn't have no. He was a man without a state in Greece with no passport. Couldn't get a passport till he came here. That atentokounmpo, that's not his name. That's how the Greeks decided to respell his name when they finally decided to give him a passport. Right. Like he had to live a life where he wasn't even under his own name, where he had no country to truly call his own. He comes over here and is one of the most amazing NBA stories that we've ever had in, in the ascent. He won that championship. And Buddy, nobody stretching that one ring out farther than he is. I used to say that Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce were getting the most mileage out of their one ring out of anybody else. Just in the ways it changes your reputation, right? Like it allows us to think of Dirk as maybe a top 15 all time player, but more importantly, not as a soft Euro. It allows Paul Pierce into some different conversations. But with Giannis, put it like this. If Paul Pierce never won a championship, we would not sit around talking about what Paul Pierce was not. We wouldn't do that. Giannis is at that superstar caliber the same way Dirk was. Where we would be talking about what you're not right. There has been a point where you've been the best player in the NBA. There's an argument that Dirk Nowitzki had that stretch also. But not only you've lost as an eight seed, as a one seed to an eight seed, which by the way, also in the Dirk Nowitzki playbook, there's the blown 2o lead in 2019. I mean, there's been some really embarrassing postseason losses for Giannis along the way. And we let them slide because he already got that championship. Right? But it's hard to overcome the label of being phony. And the truth is you want out of there. We all understand that you don't want to want out of there, but you do. Does that make sense?

[Ryan Bowman]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

Right?

[Ryan Bowman]

Like you don't want, you don't want to want to Leave, but you want to leave.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. And look, they've done all the things to try to keep you there, and you don't want to feel like they did all those things in vain, but they did all the things to try to keep you there. And you are still playing at a level that we would think of as MVP caliber basketball in a world that didn't have Shay, Gilders, Alexander and Jokic, who's coming back. Right. We all get that. But you got to stop telling us or stop pretending like this isn't what it is. You want to go, you're going to have to be the bad guy. Right. Fast and go. The truth is, if you had level with all those people there and been like, look, I've done everything I can here, but I think it's time for me to go somewhere else. I think the people in Milwaukee, because they got the ring, would then understand. They see what's happened for the team, they want to move into the future. They could talk about getting some picks and everything else. They would ultimately be okay with you, even if they were mad at you for a little while. Case in point, they love LeBron again in Cleveland. Right. And he embarrassed them in front of America. You could be fine, but you just got to go ahead and own that part and be straight ahead with it. Now, for you, maybe it's too late. Right. The thing that I'm looking at, Ryan, I keep seeing these trade packages that people say that the Bucks can get and. Ooh, I don't know about none of.

[Ryan Bowman]

Them, especially the ones for the. For the teams he's rumored to want to go to.

[Bomani Jones]

So the rumors are that he wants to go to. And I've. I've been told this. Minnesota, New York and Miami. I don't think Miami turns into a winner necessarily. You have to. You do that if you believe in Pat Riley. Right. Which.

[Ryan Bowman]

Who's getting up there.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. In 20, 26. I don't know about that. Right. But I would be terrified of what you do against a team if you got Bam and Giannis.

[Ryan Bowman]

Yeah. Good luck.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. Yeah. How are you guys going to score? Okay. That's. That's the night. Nigeria going to be all. That's the Nigeria squad right there. You know, they're going to. They need to move that. They could only be more Nigerian if they played in Houston. That would be the only way. Minnesota bit surprising that that's where he says he might want to go. New York, they'll love him here. Because I've been telling people this, that at Some point, people in this city were going to realize they didn't like Carl Town's game.

[Ryan Bowman]

Took about. Took about what, 15 months?

[Bomani Jones]

A year and a half. You. You. You live here with me. It has happened. Even with the missed free throws, they'll love Giannis's game. Yeah, Giannis plays hard. Giannis plays tough. Giannis is not afraid of being embarrassed. Right. Like, all of those things. And if you put him there with, say, Jaylen Bruny, you got somebody to take the big shots so you don't have to worry about the free throw.

[Voicemail Callers]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

Situation. Like, you've got the parts that are there. I think, and I've said on this show many times that I think for a lot of these guys, the game down the line is just going to be, stay where you are.

[Ryan Bowman]

Right?

[Bomani Jones]

You know what I mean? Just stay where you are. Because of. It's so hard to do anything with these aprons and everything else you probably got. You might as well. The idea that you're going to go somewhere and now you be a champion in a couple of years is going to be impossible for you again.

[Ryan Bowman]

Right?

[Bomani Jones]

You might be better off just staying where you are, but there are no the. Oh, my God, it's so hard, man. Don't nobody want to hear that shit, man. Either I'm staying or I need to go, but you can't, because it need to be hitting us with the. I don't know where all these rumors are coming from. Yes, you do. That's the one that people don't want to hear. I don't understand why people keep. Yes, you do. Right. Carmelo is a great example. It got ugly at the end with Denver. And I've said this many times, the fact that Denver gave his number away is the pettiest thing in the world. They did, but they did it multiple times. It's ridiculous that they did that. But Melo never acted like he didn't want to leave. He never did. And I think that part in the moment bothered people. But I think you have to look back on it, like, it was actually fairly admirable. Like, look, man, this the thing I want to do right now. I also want to get all my money. Right?

[Ryan Bowman]

Also admirable.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I also want to get all my money. Which, again, that was the issue, right? Is that he wanted to get all his money and make the move. Denver got a great trade package for him, too. But if you want to go, go. We may not get it at first, but we're grown, we've done we've been doing this for a while. If you want to go, go. But you don't want people saying you a phony. And that's what we're going to say based on the way that he has acted. And eventually people will get over it. But he got nobody to blame for him for it but himself. It's the last call for football on FanDuel. One final Sunday, one last kickoff, the final chance to place your bets before the NFL season closes its tab. This is Super Bowl 60 and FanDuel is making sure you're in on it. If you're a new customer, bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets if you win. So whether you're backing the favorite or riding with the underdog, make it count because after the super bowl, the season's over and football is officially done. Last call for football on FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of Super Bowl 60. Visit FanDuel.com Bomani to get started.

[Ryan Bowman]

21/And present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 and present in D.C. kansas Royoman Optin Requirement awards are non withdrawable restriction supply including bonus and token expiration leg requirements and max wager amount e [e-mail] gambling problem. Call 1-800-Gambler or visit RG help for.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut. Visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline ma.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text hopeny in New York. All right, both some more stories from the weekend. Speaking of NFL owners and malfeasance, Giants co owner Steve Tisch has been named in the latest edition Epstein files. His name appears at least 440 times in the latest documents released. Co owner and vice president of the Giants ironically also produced a film called Risky Business, which is about underage people looking for sex. Bo, what was your reaction to this news?

[Bomani Jones]

Okay, so the Epstein files are media gold. And the reason that I say media gold is that everybody's at home. Like no matter what kind of website you got, you have something that you can attach to the Epstein files and then boom, it gets posted, right? Pusha T got his name tied up. How does, how does, how does Pusha T know him, right?

[Ryan Bowman]

What and what world do Pusha T and Mr. Epstein.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah yeah, like what is this? Like, like, like so, so like we got Jay Z there. Like the rappers get involved in this. Bill Gates, who. It's a good thing he's already divorced because otherwise it would be owners in multiple leagues. Yes. Including ones that aren't here all over the place. Everybody's name is tied in this in some form or fashion. Now part of what's interesting about this is though, is that Tish, who is the co owner of the Giants. I can't explain to y', all, if you are not in New York, how rich Tish is. Right? Like the, the Tish name, what that means. Like Ryan was like, what's the first thing you think about with Tish? And I had three. I got his first one, which is his name is all over NYU stuff. Right. Hospitals and the likes. What is that, a niece or a granddaughter or something? That's the police commissioner. I can't tell which. Then there was another thing that we had, the Met. The Met. You go to the Met, you'll see the Tish name all over the walls. Like these guys. What can Roger Goodell do or any of these people do? Because Tish's name is in the emails. The guys that are in bad shape in the emails are the guys in the emails after Epstein had already been busted for putting girls on the stroll. And you still emailing him about girls, right? Like, are they treating that like he had a local bodega and they caught him up selling cigarettes from Virginia and you're like, oh, yeah, but I pay full price. Right? Like, is that the explanation of the justification that you have for still dealing with. Cause I like after you get caught with that partner, we can't. I got partners I don't had to cut off for less than that. Right. Like, hey, hey, hey, hey, we can't do that. But y' all still go to this man to get girls. Like that is what these reports are saying. And you are tied up in this just like all these other people are tied up in this. And I don't know ultimately what's going to happen with any of these guys. I don't think there's any like legal consequences that are going to come down to it. And I also think that it's going to be so many people who get caught up in it and their names get out there that we're not going to really be able to remember because there's nobody's going to have the time to do the follow ups about those things. Right. It's just going to be Embarrassing and shameful, in part because most journalistic entities don't even have the ability to, like, dig deeper to find out what's really going on with a lot of them. Right?

[Ryan Bowman]

And we. We have not said the name of the. We talked about all these people, and we have not said the president and the richest person in the world.

[Bomani Jones]

That is true. That is true. They are there. Right? But let me hit you with a. However, this is a very important thing for all these guys, as everybody wants there to be some punishment, right? Everybody wants something to happen to these dudes. And I don't think anything's gonna get anybody put in jail or anything like that. But there's a different kind of jail that you can go to. It's not the one with the bars and the jumpsuits and the terrible food. It's the one that can be your home. That can be your home when your wife reads that you've been emailing this dude about hollering at girls. All these dudes have had to go home to explain how it is that they got caught up in this. Every single one of them has had to do that. And it ain't going good for not a single one of them. The only guy that seems to have a good explanation is Russell Wilson. Hey, man, I was just trying to buy a plane. I ain't even know. I ain't never met that. Hell, no. No, no, no, no. Russ got out in front of that. Russ was like, hey, baby, I was just trying to buy a plane. Yeah, that man ain't trying to mess.

[Ryan Bowman]

With me trying to buy you a plane.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, that's exactly. Was supposed to be a surprise.

[Ryan Bowman]

All right. Speaking of things in free fall, bitcoin has really tanked in the last week. The digital coin has fallen about 12% in the last seven days, wiping off about $200 billion in value now under $80,000. Bo, what was your reaction to this news?

[Bomani Jones]

Look, man, I don't even really be thinking about funny money no more like, I forgot that after. You remember the year old funny money? Yeah, 2022. That was the year that was. That was when funny money really had its time. The funny money, Super Bowl, Fortune favors the brave and everything else. But the truth is, people were still going about that funny money. It just stopped being like a fad. Remember NFTs?

[Ryan Bowman]

I do remember.

[Bomani Jones]

I watched. I watched a documentary on Netflix the other day about, like the run on NFTs. We were bored, like 2021, man. People were bored and just. They just thought it was going to hit for a lick, right? The thing with the bitcoin stuff always is, man, it'll have another jump up, it'll have another drop. But my issue with funny money has always been no one can really explain the determinants of price. What's going to make these things go. And it is a cult of people who just decide that once they do it, they're going to get on it, they're going to stay on it. It's never going to stop. Like, that's. That's. That's the ride they are on. And so I don't even really think that much about it no more. When people get caught up in funny money, y' all decided to do this. Now, if you knew and just woke up and was like, I think I'm going to get on this bitcoin thing. You deserve everything you get. The rest of y', all, hey, man, this is the ride you chose to sign up for. I hope you have a good time.

[Ryan Bowman]

All right. And finally, the Grammys for last night. Kendrick Lamar became the most decorated rapper in the history of the Grammys. Bad Bunny had some comments you know, condemning ice. Lauren Hill showed up. What was your biggest surprise from the night?

[Bomani Jones]

Lauryn Hill. What time did they tell her to show up? Because it appears that she was on time. They must have. Did they tell her the show was the night before, like. Or did they tell her that they needed to do, like, a sound check at 11 in the morning? And then you just kept. Kept coming up with reasons for her not to leave? Like, how did I. There's no way in the world that I personally would be doing a live television show and book Lauryn Hill to do it. There's no chance. See, the. The. The chalk.

[Ryan Bowman]

I'm stressed out just thinking about it.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, yeah. The chakras and the shit ain't in line, so she ain't coming to work. You can never pay me enough to set her up there. The tribute was actually very good, and I appreciated the fact that I didn't think they got too locked in on how big the names were. Right. Like, they had a lot of people that I'm aware of, but I don't think are, like, giant stars, you know. Bringing Layla Hathaway in to sing a daddy's part, I thought was a good thing. But the biggest surprise to me is that Wyclef pulled up. I suppose I remember that Prize couldn't show up because he's been sentenced to 14 years in the Bing, But Wyclef showing up, I I didn't know them two could still be in the same room. I thought that was very nice of her to come because he served no purpose in that. We. We didn't need him for anything on that performance. But I thought they got it right. I thought they did a very good job of it. And I appreciated that they gave D', Angelo, like a full 11 minute tribute there, right? Like, that is. That's what you give to the real, like, stars of a real particular magnitude. They gave it to him. I thought that was cool. I thought the Kendrick Lamar thing, where it turns out now he has more Grammys than. Than any rapper ever. And I don't remember the exact Drake line because I don't be memorizing Drake lines, but basically he talked about all Kendrick got to do to call his cough and y' all give him a Grammy. Can't say that the dude was wrong. He has a bit of a point. Kendrick Lamar has 27 Grammys. What. What are we talking about? Like, I don't take the Grammys seriously personally. Right? Particularly not when it comes to rap, but 27, dog. 27. That's okay. Cool, right? Got you. You know, and look, y' all all know I ain't really out here trying to be out here saying Drake was right, but you know, on that one, he wasn't wrong. And then Bad Bunny, who basically gave Ice the middle finger without saying it up there. It's about to be a very interesting week for Bad Bunny out here, has had other people come up with a.

[Ryan Bowman]

Halftime show, yet I believe they're keeping it a secret.

[Bomani Jones]

A secret, you say?

[Ryan Bowman]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

Okay. You know who I actually think that was the biggest loser in all of this? That dude Jelly Roll. They hit Jelly Roll. They tried to get Jelly Roll on the red carpet to say something about Ice, and Jelly Roll said he ain't know nothing about no politics. He's like, I'm from a drug addicted, you know, redneck. From a drug, drug, drug addict home. We don't know anything about politics, partner. You don't live there no more. You don't live there no more. They asking you about what Ice is doing up there in Minnesota, which, by the way, is also not politics. Right, right. Like, that's a pretty clear yes and no. And all the talk you got about Jesus in the Bible and everything else, and in that moment, you ain't trying to talk about politics. And it's just like, that's a bummer, man. Look, we all pick and choose. I got things I don't feel like Talking about in front of people, right? But Jelly Rolls thing is interesting because at once he's the dude with a bunch of tattoos on his face, but also that part of the world that supports that, that's a lot of his money. Okay, when didn't Jelly Roll used to be, like, on three Six Mafia joints? Like, but his money is over there, right? Like, his money is with these people who roll with that other stuff. I just thought you was about Jesus, partner.

[Ryan Bowman]

All right, Bo, another great day of voicemails. We got a few good ones. Here's the first.

[Voicemail Callers]

Hey. Hey, what's up, Bo? John from la. This isn't so much an apology as it is an acknowledgement, because I did doubt you, man. I thought you kind of being hard on the brothers in Dallas with them being herbs and everything. And recently I had an opportunity to work with a young man from Houston and something about the show and what you were saying and talking about the shags, and he said, yeah, man, it's true. I said what? He said, yeah, man, they wear shags. And Dallas. I said, come on, man. He said, dude, they'd be running from the barber in the middle of the haircut. They just get up and run from the barber because that's all that can explain the shag. All right, man. Yes, you were right.

[Bomani Jones]

No, actually, you do owe me an apology because you were saying that as though you thought I was lying. I told you they wear shags, and then you. Somebody else said it and you were like, okay, now it's true. Why would I lie to you about the fact that they was wearing shags? They call it a booty fade. As if that's any better. Yeah, yeah. Boys wear shags. It's crazy, right? They still do that. And that one boy is still in the. The one that played for the Thunder. I think he finally got rid of his shag, but he had been gone from Dallas for a long ass time, still out there wearing the shag. I think I told you about this. I got a partner in Cali. He's a great barber. He's also an actuary, so I don't think he's really barbering anymore. But he used to work at a shop in Rialto, and he said, oh, hell. Used to come in there and ask him for a shag. And he refused to give it to him until he finally told him, I give you this shag, but you can't tell nobody you've been coming over here getting no shag, man. That's bad for business. He was like, it was a dope ass shag, too. But he was just like, you just can't be in here telling me, telling people that I'm out here giving shags. You just can't do it. And the whole city bad for business. Yeah. And the whole city of Dallas is like, get your shag shakes, Shags. Two for one, Shags.

[Ryan Bowman]

All right, here's our next one.

[Voicemail Callers]

Hey, Bomani. This is Matt. Northern Kentucky, right outside of Cincinnati. So I'm at Ace Hardware today, and for the first time in my life, I came across a white Xavier. I'd never ever met a white Xavier before, and the only thing I know about this man who is a Gen Z guy, only thing I know about him after this interaction is he is no receiver. I watch this man fumble my return, my baseball cards and my chocolate bar before tripping over the trash can behind him on the way to put something back on the shelf. White Xavier needs to find a new position, man. Big fan of the show. Take it easy.

[Bomani Jones]

Okay, first of all, I would like to start with the fact that my man went to Ace Hardware to buy some baseball cards.

[Ryan Bowman]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Ace Hardware is.

[Ryan Bowman]

I didn't realize it's the 1920s.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, it's slowly approaching the Radio Shack zone.

[Ryan Bowman]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Wow. Still in the league, huh? Boy, I tell you this, though. I still have times where a nice Radio Shack come in handy.

[Ryan Bowman]

Yeah, sometimes you need that cord.

[Bomani Jones]

Just need to run in and get a cord. Right. Number two, what makes the idea that there are no more white Xaviers interesting is that Xavier is, like, a very Catholic name. Right, right. It's saints and stuff like that. We. When did they decide to let us have Xavier? They're like, no, y' all got that cool. No, no, no. We don't even need a partner. You go ahead and take that. Like, what did it take for them to give up Xavier? Or did they just get so frustrated at hearing us say Xavier? They were like, fuck it, man. It don't. It don't even fit no more. You got it?

[Ryan Bowman]

All right, here's the next one. And similar theme.

[Voicemail Callers]

Hey, Bomani. Hey, Ryan. I just wanted to call and add another name to the recent voicemail trend of names such as the White Reggie or the White Galen for your consideration. The White Lamont recently was in Wisconsin, a rural part of Wisconsin, I should note. And there is an elected official in that county, an older man, looks like he's in his 70s. White man named Lamont. Do with this what you will.

[Bomani Jones]

Yo, so this is the thing that people don't get, man, the country whites love a la name. They don't so much care about the D names, and they don't add apostrophes, and they don't necessarily capitalize immediately after the law. But it's a lot of white ladies named La Donna, stuff like that. They do that. But Lamont, another one that I felt like they let us have. Now, now, you know, Italy got that dude Lamont that won the 100 meters, but he's still black. You know what I'm saying? But you remember, I don't know, it used to be a baseball manager named Gene Lamont. He was white, so. Yeah. By the way, speaking of which, rest in peace to Lamont Sanford. Demond Wilson died over the weekend, Right. And that was. He was a very black Lamont. But I feel like this voicemail was in the spirit of Lamont's of all sorts. What do you think would happen if he said it was a rural white man that was involved in the city government up there? What if I went to one of these city council meetings and I screamed out, you big dummy? You think he get it?

[Ryan Bowman]

I mean, that. That show was very, like, 15 million people used to watch that show.

[Bomani Jones]

So, you know, yo, the thing about San Francis with Lamont, for me, always is all. There was nothing cool about Lamont, man. All we knew is that his dad called him a dummy all the time. That's like. That's all we do, is his dad called him a big dummy. And every time, me and Shannon used to have a big dummy of the week on the radio show.

[Ryan Bowman]

That's a good bit.

[Bomani Jones]

Oh, it was great. Every week. We'd have it every week.

[Ryan Bowman]

All right, here's our last one. You know, stand in theme with the Super Bowl.

[Voicemail Callers]

Hey, what's up, Bo? What's up, Ryan? This is CB from Brooklyn. I have to tell the story about learning about Lil Ginger Cuz at my son's school. So my son goes to a lovely public school here in Bed Stuy, and he was invited to join the basketball team. I got asked to help coach. So I, you know, decide, all right, I'm gonna do this. Do this audit. And I had seen this young man earlier in the school year, and it was a little white boy, super duper Ginger. He pulled up to school, first day of school with some extra clean A1s, the Angel Asia Wilson signature shoe. And I was like, all right. That is a choice that his parents made because they are not cheap and they're very distinctive. So I pulled the basketball practice. Ginger Cuz on the team. All right, cool. Let me see. Let me see what's good. Ginger Cuz, he can hoop a little bit. He's one of the older kids. This is a third through fifth grade team. We get to the end of practice and the coach asks for player voices. And Ginger cuz is one of the leaders on the team because he was on the team last year. And he kicks it to Ginger Cuz. Mind you, I know who his mom is. His mom is on the pta. And this isn't spicy white. This is regular degular. Brooklyn lives in a nice spotlight. And Ginger Cuz goes, yeah, you know, y' all did great today. Everybody gave their maximum effort. You know, every. Everything was real good. I'm real proud of where this team is going in that dialect. And I was like, wow, Lil Ginger Cuz. It is very clear that that young man has been the only white kid in his class for a while. And I am very excited to see where this season goes with Lil Ginger cuz as one of our team captains. Thank you. Have a good one, Bo. Have a good one. Ryan.

[Bomani Jones]

Man, the white people that go to that send their kids to public schools with the black people, right?

[Ryan Bowman]

They haven't gentrified all Bed Stuy.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. Special place in heaven for those folks, man. There really, really is, because you ain't really gotta do that. And quite honestly, I don't always know if I recommend that you do it. But what I would pay to hear from those people is like, ryan, you don't have to verify this if you don't want to. But I think that you'll agree that one thing that I would find interesting if I were a white person is when black people who spend a lot of time about around white people tell you what the things are that white people do that are funny. That it's like, huh, you know, hadn't really thought of that. You know, it's just kind of an average thing. Like, black comedians give you all kinds of access and insights into such things, right? We don't talk nearly enough about the things that white people who spend all their time around black people have the good fortune of noticing and thereby sharing. I would love to get to Ginger Cuz when he's like 19, and he'll be like, yo, so here's this thing about black people. And they'd be like, what you mean? And then he starts talking and be like, yeah, he's got a point.

[Ryan Bowman]

I'll plead the fifth there.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. Look, man, humans are humans. You know what? I'm saying we've all got things. You guys know we got some things. It's okay. But also you're playing this the right way. Ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us here on the right time. We do this four times a week. Ryan Bowman handles everything behind the scenes. Thank you sir. Hit the voicemail line. 323-59-67767. By the way, tomorrow we begin our series on no tomorrow we don't. Tomorrow's just different. Time machine Tuesday. My fault. The week after we begin our series on the year 1996 in wrap that's going to be a six week series by the way. So look out for that. Remember, follow the right time. Subscribe like rate us, review us, give us five stars and do those things. Please help us out. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe that you're not a person who's trying to help you. Hater. Take it easy.