← The Ryen Russillo Podcast
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Brunson’s Brilliance in the Clutch, the Celtics’ Uncertain Future, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Decision With Chris Mannix
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- [00:00]
Ryan Rosillo
You're listening to the Ryan Marcillo podcast presented by FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook has made it easier than ever to get in on the action during an NBA playoff game, even after tip off. Just look for the live SGP tab on the FanDuel Sportsbook app and build your bet slip. Then sit back, relax and track the outcome of your parlay right in the app. And if you don't already have it, download the FanDuel app today to make every moment more the ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and help lines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. Gambling problem? Call 100 GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com on today's episode of the podcast, we will dig into New York taking a 31 lead in the second round of Eastern Conference playoffs. What this means for the Knicks, how they've been the tougher team and of course a disastrous close to this game for the Celtics and also the Tatum injury. A little bit on ants big night at Golden State and we've got Chris Mannix who is going to give us all of the lottery perspective that we need as he reminds me that he was in the room last night for the ping pong balls. But we do a ton of stuff on the playoffs and also some speculation about a new home perhaps for Giannis this summer and life advice. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Summer is almost here and you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days delivered with UberEats. What do we mean by almost? Well, you can't get a well groomed lawn delivered, but you can get chicken parmesan delivered. A cabana that's a no, but a banana, that's a yes. A nice tan? Sorry, no. But a box fan? Happily, yes. A day of sunshine? No. A box of fine wines, yes. Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol in select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. New York is where we start. They're up 3:1 in this second round series with the Celtics. They are one win away from their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2000, where they lost to the Pacers in six games. Ewing not super healthy in that series, played in four, really only played in three games. But look, I'll go through all of it, much like you've heard me talk about these two teams all season long, when Boston was down 02, as bad as it looked with the blown leads, like, they'll probably get game three. They get game three in dramatic. Well, not even dramatic fashion, in dominant fashion. And then I was like, you know, they're probably gonna through this series. They'll get a two, two. Who knows? Maybe the Knicks get another one in this thing. Four straight against him. Probably not. Boston likes to make this hard on themselves. When it comes down to it. I think they'll get through this. Now, with everything that happened last night, I certainly no longer feel that way. We'll get to the Tatum part of this a little bit later. Despite the regular season part of the evaluation where the Knicks struggled against the best teams, how these two teams matched up against each other, knowing that Detroit probably gave New York more of a series than we were expecting. But at the same time, sometimes I think when we think one team is better than the other one, we expect them that they're just never supposed to lose a playoff game in that specific series, which isn't entirely fair and historically inaccurate. But now that we've seen this play out like this, and you want to talk about toughness, New York is the tougher physical team. They're tougher mentally, and Brunson is the best player on the court and the guy that you would trust the most. So if you think about Boston and the questions about this group that have happened for a long time, you go back to 20, you're like, where's the toughness? 22, where's the toughness? 23, you're really going to lose the heat. So usually when you win a championship, you're able to put the toughness questions to bed. And remember one of the storylines prior to the season where they won the title and you know, they have the Marcus Smart trade. It's like this team is constantly questioned about the toughness of their stars. Then why would you trade? What is at least on paper? I don't know. I don't even know what I'm saying by saying on paper with Marcus Smart, I just felt like Marcus Smart was incredibly overrated. And I was like, if you're going with, they can't win because he's gone. Then you see a different basketball player than I do, and then they win the title. And despite these little things that we've. Or maybe major things that we've talked about, Boston offensively in some of these big spots, it's like, well, when you win a title, I think even if you want to go through which I think is totally fair. The competition in the east at the time, I don't know how Dallas turned into an injured team through the audit of the 24 playoff run of the Celtics, but, you know, they were dominant and they smoked everybody. And now we're sitting here in 25 going, are they actually still incredibly flawed? Are they actually just not really that tough? Do they not respond to these moments? Even though I think there's a lot of games you can say, well, that's. That's a tough win. That's the kind of game that you don't win unless you have some of that toughness and belief in yourself. And yet here we are in this series. So Brunson again, even though I think Boston's done a really good job containing him through long stretches last night, the dam broke. And the defensive stuff that I think Boston's always been able to bank on in this series, even in the first couple games, because that was really more about their offense falling apart. Brunson's third quarter was just a reminder of what this dude is capable of.25 points, not total, but he scored or assisted on 25 points in the third quarter. If you look at some of the second spectrum numbers, and John Schulman had these on NBA.com where you just get so used to seeing Tatum hunt cat over and over and over again. And I've talked about how the Celtics can be a little too hunt happy in their approach offensively. Well, Brunson in game four attacked Porzingis, and the way they set this up, they set screens for Brunson against Porzingis 21 times, against Horford 12 times. New York scored 37 points on 30 chances. So not total 33 possessions, which is 1.23 points per possession, which is a great number. Porzingis has been a disaster in this series, and as soon as he comes in, they're going to get him caught in between a defensive decision. And Brunson has been better attacking, pulling him out, than I think Tatum has against Cap Bridges. Fourth quarter, here we go again. He saved him in game two. And those jumpers, when he has the speed that he has off the pull up, they're unguardable. Like, if you're going as fast as he is with his arms and his reach and the angle of which he's fading away and they're not even like straight at you and step back all the time. There are times where he is coming off a screen and it's a handoff, sometimes it's a switch and he's dribbling almost in a sprint to the baseline, angled away from the hoop, and then getting his body back. Like, if those are going in, there's really nothing you can do because you're just not going to be able to contest it. So Bridges was terrific again. OG had a couple big shots after disappointing Game three. Cat can't hit threes in the series. You know the great pick and roll stuff that we saw from Brunson and Cat during the regular season, the pick and pop stuff where it's like, it's just going to challenge your offense or, excuse me, challenge your defense. Cats won a 10 on threes, but he's killing Boston on the glass. 14 rebounds a game. He was 1115 last night. New York in the paint dominant 73% on those shots. A 64, 32 points in the paint advantage. And the double big lineup has been a major problem for Boston. Porzingis again lost. I don't know that you can deem him unplayable. It's almost like they're trying to figure out if they can discover something from him, but those are during very valuable playoff minutes. Horford, it's going to be up and down at this stage of his career. I think you take the highs and appreciate what he does in Game three with the effort, and then you wonder what it's going to look like coming back 48 hours later. And then Luke Cornett in eight minutes last night had zero rebounds. So, you know, New York was a team that was tough to get behind because of. Well, I would say it this way. Before the playoffs started, you're like, hey, I think the Knicks can win the East. That was tough. I wasn't going to go there with it. I don't know how many people actually thought that it could possibly happen. And there was a lot of real stuff from the regular season that would prevent me from getting there. If you look at who they were against Boston, Cleveland and OKC, they were 0 and 10. They lost by an average of almost 17 points in those 10 games. If you look at their record against teams that were.500 or better during the regular season, the Knicks were 15 and 23. That was worse than the top seven teams in the West. And only Detroit had a worse record against 500 better teams in the top six in the East. So, yeah, we can go through and say Mitchell Robinson playing a bunch of those games. But still. And look, if Mitchell Robinson is this much of a difference, extend him now. And he has been really good. He's been really good consistently I mean, the game three numbers, I'm not sure what to do with those. But in the three wins, it's a real difference. And with him being in there with Cat, you know, Cat not hitting the threes and those two guys just beating up like every rebound is a problem. Even when the Celtics defensive rebound, there's almost a delay of a couple touches and a couple tips where it's like just grinding on you. And a bit like that running the football stuff that we've talked about. Where is Houston going to be able to wear down a Golden State? Didn't work out. Their offense isn't good enough. Does Minnesota absolutely wear down the Lakers in the fourth quarter because of their size and just all of the contested rebounds and all the physical that's just happening right around the rim over the course of a 48 minute game. The toll that you are paying playing against that when you are just not matching their size. Boston should at least on paper with their different big lineups be able to have the kind of size, but it's not, it is a, it is a problem down there again for all these numbers that we can point to. So Boston's blown a 20 point lead, a 20 point lead and a 14 point lead in the third quarters in these losses. I've talked about the hunting part of this. Boston had the defensive lapses. Bridges also hit great shots. They let Brunson get looser in that third quarter than I think they have at any longer stretch throughout this entire series. But this game started to fall apart once again. If you're a Celtics fan, you've seen it before. Hey, they're going to get the switch. Hey, they're going to take forever on the shot clock and they're going to run this out. And I think there's a very common thing that happens with basketball players is when you're a little bit more tired, that three with a little space just feels a lot better than driving against all of the contact that you're going to face in a playoff game. Cat's done a better job holding up and the help has been there. And you start cheating off of some guys later in the game going, you know what, I'd still rather clog up Tatum here than make sure I'm getting a contest on Drew Holiday or Porzingis who can't make a shot. Horford who you're going to cheat off on and you know Derrick White who lights it up in the first half. You're not going to cheat off of him necessarily, but you understand the Point like, hey, I still want to try to shut off Tatum. And once Tatum, you know, gets shut off a few times, as great as he was, there was that settling stretch that Celtics fans are so familiar with. And there's just maddening threes. I mean, some of the shot selection, how terrible it was when they needed something where it's like you're playing right into the team's, the defense's hands by bailing them out with some of these terrible shots. So let's get to Tatum because this part sucks. So the offense is falling apart. They get a timeout. They're going to run something very different to finally get a different look than just running something at the top and then taking forever and settling. So they have it with Tatum off the ball. He's on the right elbow. Jaylen Brown's going to come off the left elbow with a screen. They get it down to Tatum in that high post catch on the elbow. But again, they didn't want Tatum coming off a screen and doing what they had just done as they were falling apart here. And as Jaylen Brown tries to secure the ball, it gets knocked away. OG gets. It goes the other way. Dunk. Three minutes left. It's 113, 104, and Tatum is down. And he's down bad. Now this is somebody, since he's been drafted in 2017, has played the most minutes in the NBA. He does not miss games. So whatever the Tatum arguments have been, one of the defaults with him is, okay, fine, he's not those other three or four guys, but this dude plays all the time. And now by the taping of right now, we still don't have the definitive word on what the injury is, but he needed to be helped off. He couldn't put any, anything down on that leg. I'm not necessarily going to speculate, even though I think some of the speculation on it was a little weird because usually if it's the Achilles, you can walk. But again, I'm kind of now doing the thing that I said that I wasn't going to do, so I'm going to stop myself right there. So look, you could sit there and say, hey, if Tatum stays in the game, they're still in it. Three minutes, nine points, not the end of the world. Weird stuff has happened. Have you been listening the last 12 minutes? Because I don't know. I don't know that there was anything offensively that Boston does when stuff gets tight that you necessarily feel really good about. It looks really good for like three something quarters. And then it doesn't. So I think, much like the Lillard injury, where we allow ourselves to speculate on what this means, at least for Milwaukee's case, we. You know, the speculation on Giannis that we're going to talk to Mannix about a little bit later here, we're going to do the same thing with Boston. Injury topics are always a little weird. I think, in a way, it's nice that everybody can be really sensitive to it and feel bad for Tatum and what this will mean if it's. If it's a major injury, what it'll mean for his career. I remember when Gordon Hayward went down with that broken ankle at the very start of the Celtics season, and I was at home, and I just thought, okay, I wonder what their offense is going to look like now with Hayward. And I'd sent a tweet out or something that was just like, okay, this would be interesting to see what the attack is. And I think Marcus Smart's probably going to try to fill that void. And it was like, you would have thought I tweeted something about a president. It's like, how dare you? You know? And I was, like, thrown off because all I was thinking about, like, back to the days of doing TV for the Celtics, if you've gone into halftime, you're like, hey, what do you think the offense is going to look like without Hayward's injury? You would say, hey, this is what I think will or won't happen. It was. It was weird. Like, somebody got so mad at me that I was so mad that I actually DM'd the person, which I literally almost never do. And I thought my thing was pretty straightforward. And then somebody had said to me, like, hey, that's very Skip Bailish ish. Which I didn't appreciate because Skip's tweet when Hayward went down was a weak East. Gets even easier for LeBron. And I was like, that guy. I was like, yeah, I don't think those are the same. I don't think that they're the same. But we did it in Milwaukee. We're going to do it with Boston. Because the Boston part of this is significant. Because if you look at Bobby Marks projections, ESPN cap guy. Terrific. Love Bobby. With the first round draft pick, the Celtics will have without resigning anyone. They're looking at a payroll with their tax bill north of $500 million, which has never, ever happened before. So you have new ownership coming in, but some scenario where Wick is still really involved. And look, Wick throughout his entire ownership. I Think his reaction run is incredible. It's not just the two rings. It's that, you know, this team was very proactive when they had a decision of whether or not they should spend. They always spent. Wick and his group are the guys you would want owning your favorite basketball team. And you bring in a price tag of 6 billion. And then the new ownership's like, so what's going on now? It's, how's that tax work? 500. I thought these teams were like 230 million a year. It's 500 million. So can we trade that draft pick again? That's a lot to ask. If this team had been able to pull off a repeat seems unlikely now, if they didn't repeat or don't, Is it easier to make some sort of move if Tatum's not playing? If Jalen Brown was the 1 player because Jalen's owed $235 million more dollars on his contract. So if you were just running through the scenarios going like, okay, could you trade that contract out in a way where you feel like you're resetting yourself financially, but you're resetting the roster around Tatum, even if the last thing you would want to do is the new owner is like, the first thing we're doing is cutting costs. Because a lot of new owners, they may do something that's expensive they don't want to do to avoid the PR hit of, like, the first thing that you do. And again, I warn any fan base, new owner syndrome is real. It has gone on for decades. Usually in that first 12 to 18 months, the new ownership group does something that'll end up being one of the dumbest things they do on their entire ownership resume. Dallas Mavericks. Nice reminder, although we'll get to the lottery a little bit later. Mass fans feeling good today after the lottery win. So if they. If they won another title, would the first thing you do break it up? Probably not. So this. If Tatum's out into next year and they're eliminated here by the Knicks, I don't know. I don't know what the move is because it's not trading Drew Holiday, you're not going to get anything back for that guy. He's owed $105 million over the next three years. He's got a player option at 37 years old for, like, in the 30s. Probably going to pick that one up. Poingis next year is 30.1 million. And again, Jaylen Brown has four years and 285 million remaining. So a dark day in Boston Ant that Was fun. Ant games are probably my favorite games in the NBA. I guess I should say that I still hold out like those. Those just nights of enjoyment where Steph is Steph again, because it's just not going to happen as consistently as it did during his prime. That's just science. I don't think any of us are shocked by that statement. But Ant doing what he did in the third quarter is, I would say, as of right now, Steph is not eligible or just not available. I should say, with a hamstring injury, it's my favorite thing to see. And so in a moment where the warriors are up two at the half, you're like, are they going to, like, even this series at 2:2? And then you figure Minnesota gets game five at home. But then could Steph come back with that gap? And all of the speculation around that, Although I just don't know. Cause hamstrings are so rough. They're just brutal. Like the smallest little thing, and then it just lingers and lingers. So who knows what he would even look like if he were going to be able to come back. Who knows what Games 5 ends up being? But the fact that Ant prevented this series from going 2:2 with his massive third quarter was really enjoyable. He had 16 in the third. Golden State had 17 total. What Ant did in the third quarter last night was what Golden State did those third quarters during their prime years, where it was just enough of this and just take over on the other side of things for Golden State, some good, some bad. The bad part of it is playoff Jimmy. You could rename him Passive Jimmy. He had nine shot attempts last night. The best stretch that the warriors had in the game is when he was on the bench to close out the first half. I don't know why I understand his approach to basketball. We've seen it enough where he's kind of sizing things up. He's figuring things out. He's not going to come out and take a million shots. Granted, he took a lot in game three, but without Steph, he needs to be north of 20 shots. And, you know, a lot of times with the best players, we're like, how come he's not shooting? How come he's not shooting? He's like, well, do you want him just taking terrible shots the entire night? Like, what's the point of that? Just to appease our appetite for high shot volume. Because you're supposed to be the guy. Like, shouldn't we appreciate the guy who's picking his spots and taking higher efficiency? Shots. Well, if the other options are Draymond bringing the ball up, Pajemski, although Kaminga has been terrific. And aside is Kaminga Jalen Green with less opportunity. I don't know the answer to that popped in my head last night. But, you know, the Butler thing is incredibly frustrating because, you know, look, it looks like last night looked a lot like some of these regular season games with Miami where you were like, what is going on with this guy? The shot attempt stuff from Jimmy's never been really high because he gets to the free throw line so much. But he didn't get to the free throw line last night either. He was a negative 30. A team worse. Negative 30. And it showed up. So when I think back to like Jimmy in some of the quotes after Miami's like, they took my joy away from me. Well, do they still have it? Because, man, they need you. And Golden State was in this game. I mean, even if I thought Minnesota eventually would pull away because. Because that's what you think is going to happen with a better basketball team. You're. You're watching it going, this is why coaches go crazy. Because if everyone just played hard enough, everyone would have a chance. You know, this zone thing that we're seeing constantly throughout the playoffs, I start to wonder, is the zone becoming this equalizer where if you're the lesser talented team, which is something I think everybody kind of grew up, it was like, hey, we stink. We're not as good as those guys. We're playing zone. Should that be happening in the NBA? Although I think Cleaver would submit, maybe we shouldn't have played it as much as we did in game four, even though it worked so well in game three. So Kerr's probably going at halftime going, we're in the fight. We're still in this thing. We can get this thing to 2, 2. I think like that first half of last night is why I think all coaches in all sports go crazy. Because they're the. They're the absolute believers in our society. They will find a way to believe in their side. And that's what you want from your coach. You don't want to be showing up being like, we don't have any chance. I've made the mistake when I was younger at times like talking with a coach in a sport and being like, well, yeah, but like, I don't know that you guys really have a chance. I mean, it's like insulting a child. Like, what? You know, I've never do it anymore. That's somebody on say thanks for the time. This is a tough series. How could you possibly win? These guys convince themselves through the film and all the study and if they can just get that effort. And that's what that first first half was until again, Ant decided to shut the door. Ant now against Golden State is scoring seven and a half points in the first half of these games and he's going for 20 in the second half. Randall was terrific last night. You can Minnesota's oddly having like the Rudy games and the non Rudy games and it doesn't really matter but they take a 31 lead in this series and it probably is the way the series should look. Despite some of the moments where you're like why is Minnesota still screwing around with this team and being down in both of the last two games at Golden State. Final thought I don't believe the lottery is fixed. The Ryan Rosilla podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA playoffs are finally here, and there's no better way to be a part of the action than with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. After another competitive season, the top teams are ready to battle their way through the playoff bracket in hopes of taking home the championship. And if you think you know how it's all going to go down, then make those predictions pay off of FanDuel and NBA profit boosts. Simply make your bet, activate your boost and go for even bigger winnings. Taking a look at the board, how about the Celtics being a 4 1/2 point favorite? Game 5 at home against the Knicks, when the model is the model, they just cannot quit those teams. And I'm not suggesting that I understand this better than the people that are putting these numbers out there for the record. Again, I do not. Although I still hate myself for not betting the under in game four Denver. After watching what those guys did less than 48 hours later or earlier, I should say in game three. So let's take a look at Denver at Oklahoma City. I do feel like that closing moment of Game 4 for Oklahoma City could be the defining moment of this Thunder season and their postseason. That's how it felt to me. Feels a bit dramatic. So dramatic that I want to lay the 10 points at home against Denver Tens a lot. I don't want to do that, but moneyline is minus 480, so I don't want to do that. So is there a way I can find a way to bet on Oklahoma City? Not have to lay the 10, not have to lay 480 to win 100? Can I figure out something that I think is likely to happen where I can get that number down, maybe even get on the plus side of things. So let's take a look. So Oklahoma City Moneyline Jamal Murray to score 15 or more points. Aaron Gordon to score 15 or more points. The reason being there is even though I'm going with the other side that I'm picking against, it feels like Murray and Gordon have to score where if I'm trying to figure out secondary scores with Oklahoma City, it can be real hit or miss depending on, you know, who you're picking. You could go, hey, this guy could go for 20. He also could have four. I don't see how Murray doesn't have 15 in the way this offense is running for Denver. I'd expect those guys, whether it's a blowout or survival mode, to be able to get that. So that's now actually +162 if you're going to Oklahoma City moneyline with those two prop bets. So that is the play. Don't just be a spectator this postseason. Head to FanDuel.com Ryan R Y E N to download America's number one sportsbook and make every moment more must be 21 and older and present in select states or 18 plus and present in DC. Opt in required bonus issued is non withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms@sportsbook.fanduel.com Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com this episode is brought to you by Wayfair. Summer is almost here. The days are getting longer and warmer, which means it's time to update your outdoor space and make it feel more like yours. I remember the days of looking at catalogs and wondering, could my outdoor space look like that? And I'll admit there's a few times where I was like, this fire pit looks better in Malibu than it does in West Hartford. And when it showed up, I was like, yeah, but things are different now because I'm using Wayfair. I just ordered myself a pair of patio floor lights. They're actually solar, if you want to know the truth. So I looked at them on Wayfair. I was like, will my place look this good? And I'm telling you, they come in fast, free delivery, safe, packaged well. 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Head to wayfair.com right now. That's W A Y F A I R.com Wayfair Every style, every home Good to catch up with Chris Mannix si.com in Chicago for the combine. So we'll have some lottery stuff that we'll get to on the back end, but we start in New York, as I did with the pod today, where you know, you have a Knicks team that has just shown their toughness in a way that even if I like, I loved watching them last year in that Sixer series. We know who Brunson is. But as I'd mentioned in the open there's all this regular season stuff where it's like I don't really think they're going to actually end up beating Boston. They're up 3:1 and then we have the Tatum injury. So before we get to the Tatum stuff and kind of Boston's big questions on the horizon here, what was your expectation in this series?
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Chris Mannix
I thought they went in five games. The regular season series doesn't always forecast what a series is going to look like. And the caveat of Knicks Celtics in the regular season is that I think three of those games were played without Mitchell Robinson, so you knew he'd be a difference maker. But I thought the Celtics shot making coupled with the Knicks mediocre defense would be enough for them to win these games. I mean, they won two of them in the regular season by 20 plus three of them by double figures. They got it done. The difference though in this series is that in clutch minutes, Jalen Brunson has been by far and away the best player on the floor. You know, I was looking at some of these numbers. The Celtics with the score within five points in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime. 12 points on 24 possessions in this series. 3 of 23 shooting, 1 of 11 from three point range. Four turnovers in those minutes. They have been awful in, in clutch time minutes. Whereas the Knicks turn the ball over to Brunson and he finds a way to make plays. I didn't anticipate there being, you know, that having that big an impact on the series.
- [30:06]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I'm with you. The clutch numbers are alarming and it just feels so unfair to look at. What do you want to do five, six seasons of the Celtics group and have all the questions that you would had about them be reignited now? Like, you know, this is. And it's like, yeah, but it's. It feels a little dismissive. A dismissive of championship, another finals appearance. But watching the shot selection and the settling and the lack of movement, it's shocking. A team this talented that has just had it happen to them twice in this series can find themselves doing the same fucking things in game four. Not to be that, but it just seems impossible that you could be in a timeout going, hey, we're doing it again. Let's stop doing it. And they can't. They can't seem to help themselves. And it starts to just. Again, it. I'm not saying, wow, you know, what does 24 mean? Because the ringing is a ring and it's so freaking hard to do this, but I'm just blown away that this group would fall into this trap. Yeah.
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Chris Mannix
And this group, like you look at Denver from a couple of years ago, they kept their core together, but they did lose some pieces on the fringes. The Bruce Browns, the Jeff Greens. That in part explains why they weren't able to repeat. The Celtics brought basically everybody back. Like they've had the injury to Sam Houser in the series. I need to know more about this Porzingis illness.
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Ryan Rosillo
It's.
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Chris Mannix
It's wild. One of the wilder stories, I think, of this whole postseason. I've been extremely disappointed in the defense of Derrick White and to a lesser degree, Drew Holiday. Like they're there purportedly as two of the best defensive guards in the NBA and they can do nothing with Jalen Brunson. I think White's been getting cooked for most of this series. Holiday's been better, but he had that bad foul at the end of what came to that sent Brunson to the free throw line. You know, these. This is what they're counting on as much as they're expected to make shots when they're open, they've got to be elite defenders. And in clutch time situations, they. They haven't been that. So it's, it's just disappointing. Kind of across the board the way this team is played.
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Ryan Rosillo
What are you ready to say about what the Knicks can do the rest of the way?
- [32:40]
Chris Mannix
If we're going to sit here and assume Indiana is the team they're playing, they can beat Indiana. You know, I don't think Indiana is that special. I think the Knicks, I think they've got the horses to do it. I don't see them beating a Western Conference finalist winner. Like, I don't see them beating Oklahoma City or Denver or Minnesota. I just don't see it. I don't think they have the defensive skill set or the defensive horses to beat either, any of those teams that come out of the West. But can they get to the Finals? Yeah, I think they can easily get to the finals. I don't think an Indiana series is necessarily all that problematic for them. I think the same strengths they have in this series being Brunson, Bridges and Anunoby defensively, Towns in the post, I think those are going to be similarly strong for them in, in a conference finals matchup. But you get to the NBA Finals. I don't know, man. I just don't. I don't. I don't know if you see it, but I don't see them. How they match up well with any of those teams.
- [33:41]
Ryan Rosillo
Are. Are you. You know, maybe it's assuming a little bit here with OKC getting through Denver because, you know, there's some. I thought it was pretty cool how they like put up the clutch numbers and where OKC had been in clutch moments against Denver, they throw up that graphic and then OKC closes as the much better clutch team like you just start to expect. Even though the number with OKC was they've only played in 24 clutch games, lowest total. And then I'm kind of sitting there and be like, okay, but is the best team in the NBA now just going to suck because they weren't challenged enough? I mean, 24 is still over 25% of the regular season games. It's technically clutch games. It just happens to be the least. Like, Boston played in 33 clutch games in 24. Does it mean that Boston was more conditioned for clutch things because they had seven more opportunities to like, figure out who they were? So it's as they were struggling against Denver and then you pop up that graphic. It's like, I'll guess these two things are connected, but I just would essentially sit there and be like, well, I refuse to believe that they're just now going to be bad in the clutch all the time because they're, they're less comfortable than some of these other teams that had so many more opportunities to play clutch time during the regular season. So it is assuming a bit that they're just going to get through Denver, because if Denver had gotten through this, you'd be like, all right, well, look, they still have the best player in the world. I don't even know what I would do with Denver and Minnesota. I don't know if last year would have played into all of that. But as we've. I don't know that it's a reset because we're still obviously not done here with the second round. But are you of the position now where it just feels like it's Oklahoma City's title, considering what could be coming out of the east on the other side of the west?
- [35:14]
Chris Mannix
Again? I'm with you. This is going to be a tough finish for Oklahoma City. I think that they're going to have to do it in seven games. I think. I don't think they can close out Denver in Denver, but if they get that far, I just think their defensive versatility is going to be a problem for the Knicks. It's going to be a problem for the Pacers. I mean, you would have thought that Boston, with its defensive wings could have slowed Brunson down more than they have. But I look at what Oklahoma City can throw out there. Like, you can just send big, strong, long bodies at Brunson all game long. I mean, whether it's Shea, you know, Dort, Alex Caruso, Case, and I mean, they just, they can just send waves at you physical guys. And Oklahoma City, you know, they're not the biggest team in the league, but I'd argue they're the most physical team in the league. Like 1 through 5, they are extremely physical. They'll. They'll bump and grind you and try to take advantage that way. I just think that's, that's a tough matchup for the Knicks and the Pacers if they get to, to the finals. I, I'm just waiting to see what, like, I think there's more to come with this, this nugget series. I, I just think Denver, I think a game 7 in Oklahoma City is going to be tight. It's going to be really tight. And, and I think we're going to see what Oklahoma City is made of. In a game like that.
- [36:37]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I, I think, I think that's the right way to look at it because I, I feel like even by asking that question and being dismissive of a lot of different stuff. But the reality is if Oklahoma City gets through this and then Cleveland and Boston are both gone, there's no, there's nothing to feel but much better about your chances. Considering who was remaining in the field when Boston played Oklahoma City this year. At no point did I think Boston was better than Oklahoma City. Even with what would have. Boston probably would have been a favorite, you know, had they made it through the West. But if you look at the regular season game, they took 55 threes on average in those two games against them. They didn't shoot it well. We can get the shoot shot variant stuff. I think the way those games closed, I was like, this is a problem. This is a problem. But look, the only Boston question I have now is with the Tatum injury. What do you think? Like the questions that Boston is going to have to face based on the uncertainty which we still have with what Tatum's injury is. But what do you think is the to do list for this team if this is as bad as it looked last night?
- [37:42]
Chris Mannix
Yeah, there's going to be some payroll pairing this offseason. There's, there's no doubt about it. The question is how significant is that pairing? I mean, I think you can safely assume that Sam Houser will be the first guy to go. I think the Celtics saw enough of Baylor Scheireman in the regular season to believe that he can be a lower cost Sam Houser replacement. You plug him into those Hauser minutes and I think they feel comfortable with that. The question then becomes like, do one of their high priced guards go? Like, can they afford to keep Jrue Holiday? Can they afford to keep Derrick White? Pritchard's on a great contract. He's going to stay. But you've got the question of bringing back Al Horford. What kind of deal does that look like? What does that do to your payroll? Like, I think the reality is you're going to lose at least a guy in this off season. The question is, how important is that guy going to be? How ready are you to replace him with whatever you have in house or you might sign at a low cost in the off season. I long believe, Ryan, that this team was, as currently constructed, was only protected by a championship. Like if they won a championship with this current group, one, two in a row, no ownership group, whether it's wic, or Chisholm would come in and fundamentally dismantle that. They would keep that team intact at least until they. They lost in a playoff round. But this way, this is shaking out. I think you're going to see some form of change in Boston. It just remains to be seen how, how substantial it is.
- [39:28]
Ryan Rosillo
Do you have any read on the Tatum injury?
- [39:32]
Chris Mannix
Not really. Just like. And I've done probably what you've done. I've talked to a lot of trainers and medical experts around the league and they've all kind of reacted the same way with like, hold up on the Achilles stuff, because when you have an Achilles injury, you don't react like that. Like, you do go down.
- [39:48]
Ryan Rosillo
But I'm glad you also said it right, because like, that was very surprising to me because every Achilles injury we see, whether it's the, the Kobe one, the Dame one, James Wiseman, where it's almost confusion and then it's not painful and then you can walk. So I'm glad you said it as well and the people that you've talked with. So keep going because I don't know.
- [40:07]
Chris Mannix
Yeah, I mean, you, you oftentimes, you kind of see guys turn around. Like Wiseman actually turned around. He thought somebody stepped on his foot in that moment. You know, Kobe walk his way to the free throw line, even Durant, you know, same thing. Kind of there's a resignation to, to the, to the guy that has this because they know what happened. But it's not the kind of, you know, excruciating pain that Tatum looked like he was in that moment. Even when he was being wheeled off. Like, you could see there was still pain there. There was still a lot going on with that ankle. I think, you know, he's obviously done for the series. I think there's no doubt about that. But I think best case scenario for Boston is it's some kind of ligament tear that doesn't require the recovery time of an Achilles. I mean, an Achilles injury. Even in today's modern NBA, where, you know, guys recover from things a lot quicker, that is still almost always a year recovery time. And if you come back a little bit earlier than that, you're not the same gu. It takes you six months to get back to being close to the player that you once were. So I think even the Celtics, the hope is that it's some kind of ligament tear of some sorts that maybe require surgery, but only has a six month recovery time as opposed to a 12 month recovery time.
- [41:22]
Ryan Rosillo
Some serious semantics work here with this Yana story where the headline yesterday. And it set off a lot of buzz around the league, as I'm sure you're well aware, especially being in Chicago, of just as soon as you land. I land yesterday, you get texts. It's like, hey, I think, you know, what do you think? You know, all this different stuff. And it's like, okay, well, my position was always that if Giannis was happy, that was probably going to be good enough for me. If I were horsed, it's been like, look, we have one of the stars of the league. He's terrific. The options around us are very limited. But going back into next year with this kind of player who's this special, and if we win 4,000, 850 games, like, who knows? And, you know, there's. There's a lot of teams that I do think, like, even look at the Knicks going, okay, fine, we're not going to be the one or two seed. But, like, let's just get in home court. Doesn't seem. Seem to matter anymore in this modern version of the playoffs. Like a very. I don't want to even call it passive, but, you know, whenever Bill and I have these discussions of, like, what do you think of this event? Like, you know, I think Cleveland just probably runs it back and says Garland was hur because they were so good in the regular season. And I always feel like the default setting for Most of these GMs is just kind of run it back. This, however, feels a little different because Giannis's approach to say, I just wonder if there's some hinting there that really tells you that he's good with moving on. And if you are the Bucks, then it might be the move to just go like, let's do it now. Cause then if it gets nasty after another year, then the market for him is likely more limited. So I know you've talked to some people on it, so speculate away and tell us where you're at on this story.
- [43:02]
Chris Mannix
I mean, like, Giannis is telegraphing that he has no interest in being Dirk Davitzky. Like, he doesn't want to be the guy decomposing on the end of the Bucks bench when they're a mediocre team. Like, he has said it in podcasts, he said it on his brother's podcast recently, like, he wants to win another championship. And even the most optimistic outlook of the Bucks next year does not have them coming within a stone's throw of a championship. They are, in my opinion, without Dame, because I think he's gone injury wise. They're a 500 team because you're talking about replacing Dame with much lesser talent. Maybe you can go out there, use some of their newly found financial flexibility and get a guy like a campaign type to fill into that role. But you're still under the best of circumstances where Giannis plays like an MVP. Again, a 500 team and a first round exit. And then with one less year on his contract, your options, as you said with Giannis, are a lot more limited. Like to me it would be front office malpractice. Not to aggressive whether or not Giannis blesses this or not to not go out and aggressively pursue a trade because the idea of bringing a guy back just because he's a great player in his prime and he might sell some tickets and he makes your franchise relevant, that is such loser talk. Like, that is such a loser perspective for any front office to have. Like, you and I kind of came up on the, the Danny Ainge mindset where if you're not winning at a championship level, his viewpoint was just lose at the worst possible level. That's why he broke up the team in the early 2010s in Boston. And it turned out to be a great success. And it's not just what Ange did. Like Oklahoma City, when they realized they were at the end. Yeah, Paul George wanted to go, but they dealt George, they dealt Russ, they got all these assets and that's why they're in this position. Milwaukee, I think right now with the teams that are out there that are probably going to be sniffing around and we can talk about them, but the teams that are out there, they've got a chance to get one of those all time great rebuilding packages. And I think it's crazy for them not to explore it, just to bring this guy back and satisfy your fan base and sell a few tickets. I don't understand that at all. So to me, you know, and I, I think there's a lot of GMs out there that believe they're going to do this, that they believe they're going to look at strongly Adayanis deal with or without his expressed desire to be traded. But I think they've got to be proactive with all this because this is their chance to start to, you know, get this team back on a different direction.
- [46:01]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, the quote made me think, okay, this, this is probably the nicer version of what would be said in 26 if 26 went like 25 did. So even if Jana said the right things to me, I go, all right, now I Think there's another part of this where over the years we were conditioned to be like, well, when your guy wants out, you don't really get to pick where he goes. Except ironically, the Dame deal with the same Bucks team where he wanted to go to one place, and Portland's like, look, you're under contract and you can, you can say whatever you want, but like you have a longer term deal here, so it's not going to be up to you as much. That's the part of this that I wonder, because if it is an open market where Milwaukee can trade him wherever they want, which I'd still be a little surprised if, if Giannis and his representation were just like, yeah, cool, let us know. Just let us know where we're going. That's usually not the way that it would work out for a player of this stature. So if it's an open market, like, that's. Maybe this changes everything for Milwaukee. Maybe it makes all the basketball sense. Despite never wanting to move on from a player of his talent. That part is going to be really interesting because if you have four or five teams bidding on him, this is a completely different deal than just the give us what you can and you get to keep your good players because this is the only place that he said that'll go.
- [47:32]
Chris Mannix
Yeah, I think they've got some, some options here. I think they're in a strong position, number one, because of the contract that Giannis is under with the two guaranteed years left. And number two, I don't, I don't think that Giannis would protest too many deals. Like, I don't think that Giannis would try to steer his way to a specific location because of lifestyle or any non basketball reasons. Every readout I've had on Giannis is that he wants to put himself in the best position to win. And the teams that we can talk about that have the assets to acquire him, and if they acquired him, they would immediately be in a great position to win, the question then becomes like, what are those teams and what would they have to give up? Now I've, I've done kind of a 180 on some of these teams in the last, you know, 48 hours. I've talked to people in Chicago like, like I came in to this Giannis and I've been thinking about Giannis deals since they got knocked out because I never believed he was going to come back given the Dame injury. But, but like you think about Oklahoma City, right, with Jalen Williams, the Hardenstein contract, contract, all the draft Picks that they have, that teams make sense. But does Oklahoma City want to tie itself to a player that is going to consume 35% of its salary cap? Like, they've got a lot of contracts even with a big deal, they're going to have to work out in the years to come. San Antonio getting the number two overall pick, all of a sudden you're saying, all right, well, if you're Milwaukee and you love Dylan Harper, you can say, this is our next franchise guy. We're trading the franchise guy, but we're getting one back in return, and we're getting a whole smorgasbord of, you know, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell types that can go into that deal. But if the spurs acquired Giannis, that kind of starts a clock on. On a Wembanyama window, at least. Window 1.0. Because if they don't win a championship with Giannis at 30, 31, De' Aaron Fox at 27, 28, four years from now, when those guys are either well past their prime or potentially even gone, Wembanyama might be looking around going, like, you know, where's the rest of my talent? Where is the group of players that. That I'm going to win with when these two guys are long gone? I think Houston's interesting, but does Milwaukee really want anything that's built around Jalen Green? Like, I don't. And do they insist on getting Amend Thompson back? Which would be a non starter for me if I was. If I was Houston? So, you know, on the surface, it. To me, it looked initially like, all right, there's going to be a lot of teams out there with big packages that you could send in Milwaukee for Giannis, but it might take a lot more work by the Bucks to. To unearth some of those packages.
- [50:27]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, look, I mean, there's a lot of really good stuff in there. And the price is. I mean, if Giannis is letting Milwaukee dictate between three to five different teams here, then the pricing of this is entirely different because so many of the other superstars that were traded, it's like you're going to lose the trade, the talent trade, other than the SGA and the picks for Paul George. But the norm is, hey, we're going to kind of throw like two, maybe a third pick in there. And granted, look, I know there's other deals like Gobert and Bridges, which with the swaps ends up being more picks, but if you're Milwaukee and you're like, all right, we're sorting through, is there a. Is There a Jalen Williams deal in this. I don't know who other than Amen. I mean, look, I like Tar Eason, too, but we're talking about Giannis. I hold out hope for Jabari, but I don't know that that's going to sell a ton of tickets. The Jalen Green price, especially after this playoff run, it's like, man, what are we actually getting? Like, if we. Are we getting somebody else? Where it's like, cool, this guy's going to score a ton of points because Dame is out and Giannis isn't here anymore. So do we have.
- [51:38]
Chris Mannix
He's just a contract at this point. To me, he's just a contract. Like, he's not.
- [51:41]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. And even. Look, even with the Nets, if you liked Cam Johnson and you like the picks, I don't know why, because I've been told, like, Brooklyn, look out for Brooklyn. Brooklyn. And it's me, too. Why. But why would Giannis be okay with that one, though? Like, cool, I'm in Brooklyn.
- [51:58]
Chris Mannix
I don't know. I mean, the Nets of any team that was in that drawing room, they were hoping for a top four pick because they believe that a top four pick, plus whatever they could offer in a deal would have made it interesting, would have put them in play for Giannis. Without that top four pick, I don't think they're in play. I don't think they can put together the package that would satisfy Milwaukee in that situation. But they were intern, like, in that room and outside that room. I'm telling you, they were on pins and needles, hoping that they were the team that moved up in the draft. I. Look, I get the perspective of Oklahoma City. From what I was hearing, like, you know, that's a big number for them to absorb, but, like, the Thunder, they're really young, but they're not that young. You know what I mean? Like, they're not, like, where it's. They're not the point where they can afford to just punt on a couple of years as they continue to grow. Like, Shay is just hitting his prime. Lou Dort is right around that age range. Like, if you have a chance to go out and get a player of that caliber and open up a window that, you know, four or five years to be the dominant team in a Western Conference, that just got a lot tougher, like, you know, Cooper flag, you know, going to Dallas makes that conference tougher. San Antonio, whatever they do with that second pick makes that conference a lot tougher. If you have a chance to. To move the needle I think you've got to, you know, take a swing. And if you're Milwaukee, like I don't know if Jalen Williams is James Harden, but I think Jalen Williams outside of that Oklahoma City ecosystem is going to put up big numbers. I think he's, he's a big time player, two way player that I think has, you know, front facing potential with your franchise like that, that would be the team I'd want to be in the mix most. If I'm Milwaukee. If I'm Milwaukee, I'm watching the rest of this series hoping the Thunder lose and then hoping that Sam Presti in that front office, you know, feel like they have to do something with the teams in the west arming up around them.
- [54:03]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I'm glad you got to the Presti part of this because if there's one GM who I would feel like would resist a positive or negative result and what he was going to do this summer would be Presti, like he'll either look at his team and go, hey, I really like this team. Say we him talking we lose to Denver or we lose to Minnesota. If I really like this team and I like chat and I like my double big situation and Giannis has a bit of an injury history and maybe does that screw up the SGA spacing? Like I'm just trying to figure out the stuff that they'd be talking about just because I lost when I wasn't supposed to. I'm not then going to trade away all these assets. But then he'd be criticized like, oh, this guy's so patient. He's stockpiling all these picks and like whatever you just lost in the second round or if they were to lose in the Western Conference finals, because I think other teams would be more motivated after a disappointing playoff exit to go, we get to change this whole thing around. And as I say all those things thinking that I would understand, like Presti being very rational at perhaps the most irrational moment when you're eliminated, you'd say, hey, I just got Giannis, like I've completely changed, completely changed our ceiling and knowing that if SGA's on one side and Giannis is on the other side, even without the spacing that you would love to have from the guy that's on the non ball side and whatever Oklahoma City's running, we just have somebody now with whatever big you're keeping with his physical presence, it would be hard to argue against wanting to do that. I don't know if they win a title, if it changes everything. I think a lot of times sometimes that stuff is. I'm still not 100 sure I've ever believed that Durant didn't want to go to Golden State. It just sounded better when they lost and blew the 31 lead, that it was like, oh, now I can go ahead and do this, because I still think he would have done it if they had won. Is there any other team that we need to at least think about here?
- [55:57]
Chris Mannix
Let me just, let me add this about Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City, I think, rightfully gets the value of chemistry and continuity. I mean, if you look at the teams that have won championships over the last four or five years, a common thread is continuity with its core. Right? Like Denver. Boston wins a championship. They had been trying to climb that mountain for years. Denver wins a championship. It took them a long time with that same group to break through. I mean, Golden State has had the core of its team together forever. Even that Bucks team. Yeah, they added Jrue Holiday. But, you know, the guts of that team was largely, you know, together for a number of years. I think there's probably some, some unease within Oklahoma City about the idea of maybe not gutting your team, but trading 40% of your starting lineup to get a guy back that you're not 100% sure fits in as great as Giannis is. He doesn't necessarily, and this, I mean, sounds crazy, doesn't necessarily fit into kind of what they, the kind of players that they're going after out there. These, you know, everybody, virtually everybody, spaces the floor in Oklahoma City. You know, virtually everybody is a high level passer in Oklahoma City. I think they're probably a little wary about that. And look, if they could get him for, you know, $20 million, 100%, you roll the dice on that one. But again, it goes back to Giannis on that contract, potentially on an extension that's, you know, 35% of their, their salary cap. And I do think there's going to be some unease in Oklahoma City, win or lose, about doing a deal of that magnitude because of those, those, those potential pitfalls.
- [57:47]
Ryan Rosillo
Okay? Last night, everybody loses their mind. Dallas wins the lottery because the full circle drama of the Lakers, we already, everybody listening to this already knows the timeline, so they need to get into it. I don't understand living in a world where I believe every conspiracy theory. I don't understand it. I don't know if it's fun. I don't know if it's. The people somehow root for things to be rigged to then justify things that don't go their way. Not to say that there aren't some things that certainly feel rigged. The lottery is not one of the things that I feel are rigged. People love saying that it's rigged. I don't fucking get it. I'll never understand it. I don't know if it's rigged. Why did Duncan end up in San Antonio? Of all of the people that ended up in San Antonio, it's like, yeah, let's give the spurs, let's give one of the smallest markets a guy that's going to be one of the greatest players in the history of this game. So basically, you'll have results. Be like, well, why would Rose go here? Or why? The Zion one was weird when Jim Rome asked David Stern about the lottery being rigged. And granted, I think he wanted the sound bite because it was good and played. And here I still remember it years and years later. It was because of the Chris Paul trade that they ignored that. Then they wanted to do it. I don't know why. I mean, again, unless you think that Luca Force was forced to the Lakers and then the NBA help. I mean, I. Everybody knows what the, the, the conspiracy, conspiracy theorists think on this stuff, but then when there are people like Zach Lowe, who was in the lottery room, Tim Bond temps. I don't know. Have you ever been in the room for the ping pong balls?
- [59:13]
Chris Mannix
I was in the room. That's what I'm saying. I was in the room last night. I've been in the room.
- [59:16]
Ryan Rosillo
Oh, you were in it last night. All right, so take us through it.
- [59:18]
Chris Mannix
I've been in the room for the better part of the last 10 years. Really? Every year but the COVID years where they didn't have media representatives or didn't have, I think 20, 21, they might have had one or two. But every year that they have allowed half a dozen, a dozen media members in. I've wanted to be there in part because it's just different, right? Like there's something that the cameras are not rolling on in that moment. So as a writer, you want to be able to show something that people generally can't see. In part because I do like being stuck in a room for an hour and a half with a bunch of executives that have no choice but to sit there and talk to me. You can approach everyone in that room and they've got nothing to do. They can't play with their phones, they can't text, they can't talk to anybody on the phone. You're just stuck there until the televised version of the lottery goes through. To echo what you said, it is impossible to rig the NBA draft lottery. There are 14 ping pong balls placed inside what is basically an oversized water jug with air blowing through it to spin it around. And they are select. Four of them are selected every 10 seconds. Now the NBA goes to such great pains to ensure that there is no appearance of impropriety. The guy that is telling the ping pong ball selector when to draw from the bucket, he has his back turned to the whole proceeding. Like he is standing there with his back to the drawing and has a stopwatch in his hand and every 10 seconds he will raise his hand and that's when a ball is drawn. It is. It would take a Houdini esque act to be able to rig the NBA draft lottery. Now that being said, if I was you know, going a little bit off here, but if I was going to make any changes to the draft lottery, I would probably increase the odds of the team with the worst record of getting that winning combination like 14% is where those bottom three teams that those are their odds of getting the four ball combination. That's not a very high number. Right? Like we're all, you know, sort of shock that The Mavericks with 1.8 the 1.8% chance of playing the top pick got it. And believe me, it was shocking in that room. But a 14% chance isn't a great number either. I know why the NBA does it. They want to do everything they can to curb tanking to stop the race to the bottom. But I think we've seen over these last couple of years, it doesn't really change that for these bottom feeding teams. They're still going to try to, to, to lose out and get some of those best odds. If you're going to, if you're going to help these teams rebuild, help these teams get back on top, I would probably bump those odds back up once again. It used to be 25%. Maybe I'd bump it to 20% for the team or two teams with the worst record. But to circle back that there is no way of rigging the draft lottery it is as there's nothing suspect about what the lottery is.
- [62:41]
Ryan Rosillo
We agree on that. And as far as flattening it out at the top, I feel for silver in the NBA on this one because no one can make up their minds on this. Because when you had it at a 25% odd of winning this thing, you know, Minnesota had the worst record, Philly had the worst record, Nets had the worst record. Phoenix had the worst record, so that's 15 through 18. They all had a 25% chance of winning the lottery. They win the lottery, and then it's like, well, no, let's actually flatten this out a little bit more, because now we're encouraging tanking, and in this race to have the worst record. So that all made sense between the playing game and changing the odds. Tanking, which is a huge problem. It's a huge problem for business. It's a dirty word. Teams won't even say it when they're doing it. And when they're actually doing it, the lineups, they have to pretend that they're not. And then you get other teams bitching about other teams that are tanking, where it's like, you're doing it, too, but you're mad that they're tanking because their injury report. Like, you know, everybody knows everyone is guilty here at the table. Everybody understands what's happening. And I don't blame the teams for doing it, because, again, the whole point is, especially if you're a team that has no cap space or no one wants your cap space or you can't pull off any trades, this is the only way that you can fix yourself. Unless you're the Miami Heat and three guys get together, decide to go down there. So we had something that kind of worked, but it still emphasized tanking. It de. Emphasizes tanking. And now everybody's mad because teams that shouldn't be getting these top picks are getting these picks. I mean, when it came down to Dallas, San Antonio, the Sixers, and Charlotte, this doesn't happen a lot. I was rooting for Charlotte. I don't know that I can say out loud. There's a lot of times over the years where I'm like, yeah, this is me rooting for the Hornets organization. But I was at that point because I could understand whether it's San Antonio getting lucky again, Dallas going through everything they went through, but at least good for those fans. Although it just seems absurd that Nico is in this position just months removed from the worst trade in NBA history, and then the Sixers, who had championship aspirations and then shut it down. And I don't blame those guys. Like, they were unapologetic about it. Like, we're. We are tanking. We're not going to pretend. But if you're Utah or you're Washington, like, and not only did we not get the first pick, like, we're outside of this whole thing, like, Utah, who. I wanted to get the first pick. I wanted Utah to get it. I am a little biased because I like Will Hardy so much. But I also think as an organization, star players, difference makers don't want to go there. So it has to be somebody that's homegrown. And who knows, maybe the fourth and fifth or sixth or eighth pick in this draft end up being outside of probably Cooper, who seems like a pretty clean prospect, a real difference maker because that's happened before, obviously with NBA draft pick history. But if you're Utah, you may have to get a little proactive here.
- [65:42]
Chris Mannix
You have to. I want to get to that. But the, the. The NBA needs as many teams as possible to be relevant, right? Like they. In an ideal world, there's one season where all 30 teams up until the last week are competing for a play in spot. Like that is the NBA's fever dream. But like, if that's. Even if that's not going to happen, you want each one of these markets to have some hope, right? Like a franchise player that they can build around. I'd argue Charlotte kind of already has that. Like they've got Lamelo, they've got Brandon Miller. Like they've got foundational pieces there that if they can just keep these guys on the floor and make the right decisions around them, you might have that, but Washington does not have that. Utah definitely does not have that. Those teams were desperate for some star power and they're going to wind up drafting fifth or six like that, that, that fifth and sixth, that doesn't work. That, that's not good for the NBA. I think getting those guys, those teams, as tough as it was to watch them, you know, scuffle through the end of the season, I think having those teams get the two top picks makes the NBA better overall. Now, Utah, I like Will Hardy, too. I'm a fan. Ryan Smith did so many interviews the last couple of days. So many interviews, and he's talking about, you know, we've got assets to play with, we've got things we can do. No team in the top five needs to make a deal more than the Utah Jazz. They've got to get inside the top three. They've got to get their hands on Ace Bailey or Dylan Harper. I think Dylan Harper is probably going to go number two, whoever has that pick. Even with some overlap with Stephen Castle, I would imagine the spurs are not in a position to. To turn down a talent of that caliber. So I would guess that if they stay there, they'll draft him. I would think any team moving up would probably draft him, but Ace Bailey there at number three. Not, not a sure thing by any stretch. Some definite questions about Ace Bailey, but, but at his best, he has a really high ceiling. He is a bona fide shot maker, a elite offensive player on the wing. The Jazz need that. If they stay at number five and draft like VJ Edgecomb, who I think is fine. Jeremiah Fears, who probably is fine. He's only 18 years old, but you've already got George and Collier kind of there in that backcourt. Like to me, if they sit at 5 and just draft the best player on the board, that's a whiff. They've got all these draft picks. Philly doesn't really need an Ace Bailey. Like I think Phillies, obviously with Daryl going to be interesting to watch in the next month. Like what do they do with that draft pick? Could they be convinced to move down for future draft picks? They could use in a bigger deal down the line. Like Utah's got to do something, man. Like they draft Edgecomb or Fears or whoever they've got top their their board. They're irrelevant. Once again, maybe Bailey doesn't work out. Maybe he's not, you know, the guy that some teams think he is, but he at least has a ceiling. He has a high ceiling that in two years he could turn out to be the franchise player that you're desperately missing. This is a big, big draft, I think, for Utah.
- [68:59]
Ryan Rosillo
I know you have more on the combine and more rumors and all that kind of stuff coming up on SI.com this week. So enjoy Chicago, man.
- [69:06]
Chris Mannix
Appreciate it.
- [69:10]
Ryan Rosillo
This episode is brought to you by Whole Foods Market. From graduation celebrations to pool parties, celebrate the start of summer with Whole Foods Market Market. Look for hundreds of yellow low priced signs and save on no antibiotics ever. Ground beef and boneless skinless chicken breast. 365 by Whole Foods Market. Organic salad kits and more. Plus yellow really means savings at Whole Foods Market because their hundreds of sale signs are also yellow. Find new sales every Wednesday. If you love strawberries, you're in luck because they're on sale right now. Find these great prices in store and online. Save on May celebrations with great everyday prices at Whole Foods Market. Terms apply. This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn ads. If you're in B2B marketing, you want to make sure you're not wasting your ads on the wrong people. I remember when I was younger and I would watch games on television and I thought, man, a lot of ads about retirement. Who's this for? And then I got older and I understood it. I was like, oh, now it makes sense. So when you want to reach the right professionals, use LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn has grown to a network of over 1 billion professionals and 130 million decision makers. And that's where it stands apart from the other ad buys. You can target your buyers based on job title, industry, company role, seniority, skills, company revenue, all the professionals you need to reach in one place. Stop wasting budget on the wrong audience and start targeting the right professionals only on LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn will even give you $100 credit on your next campaign so you can try it out yourself. Just go to LinkedIn.com rrs that's LinkedIn.com rrs terms and conditions apply only on LinkedIn ads. And now it's time for today's winning bundle segment presented by State Farm. In basketball, it's all about that trusted coach player connection. When a coach has a player's back, bold plays happen. Just like when your team has every piece in place. State Farm isn't just an insurance company, they're the teammate on your bench. Whether it's a fender bend or store up damage or or even just a quick policy question, your agent is there to listen, assist and help you choose the right coverage when it matters most. That said, a few standout winning bundles come to mind. We have talked about coaches, but let's talk a little bit about teammates here. Minnesota fans. It was probably rough at times after the Cat trade. You're thinking, was this really the best move this team made it to the Western Conference finals? They're still really young. Few shots here, a few shots there. Maybe this team is playing for an NBA championship. Who knows what would happen in a matchup where Minnesota was probably more equipped than Dallas to deal with Boston. But as the season progressed, you were probably still disappointed, maybe even disappointed in some of those defenseo missed threes. But what we have seen is perhaps the vision that this front office had in pairing up not just a coach and a player, but two teammates that were supposed to fit better in the playoffs. Off ball, Julius Randle on ball Julius Randle. The option that is a secondary option to Ant. Ant, who was a teammate who, despite taking the face of the franchise label away from Cat, seemed to do it with such graciousness. And then now, with the team clearly being his and his aggressive killer basketball mentality, still wants the dudes around him to get involved, knows that Randall has to have these big moments if this team can compete for an NBA championship. All of this maybe it's matchups with the Lakers and Golden State. But all of this seems to be coming into play at the perfect time as Minnesota closed with a great regular season stretch, the healthiest they've been all season. Playing the defense that we'd expect from this group and having variety on offense that I think this front office envisioned after they moved on from somebody as talented as Carl Anthony Towns. That feels like a winning combination. Off the court, you still need teammates who are there when it counts. That's where State Farm comes in. With agents to help you choose coverage that's right for you. You can focus on what really matters, whether that's hitting game winners or just getting through the day like a good neighbor. State Farm is there. State Farm coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability and eligibility vary by state. You want details?
- [73:13]
Chris Mannix
Bye.
- [73:14]
Kyle
I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.
- [73:17]
Chris Mannix
What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you can possibly imagine, and best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible.
- [73:30]
Ryan Rosillo
Let me tell you what's required. Our email address is lifeadvicermail.com I left this out in the open. I just want to acknowledge it. The ant and one finish with his left hand was insane. That is all. Hi, Kyle.
- [73:45]
Kyle
Yo. Can we start with a little advice for me? Yeah, would love to. So remember I told you I was golfing with my father in law on Friday and I was worried about like being outnumbered or whatever. So it was a full five. There was two Koreans that basically just saw that there was a Korean group ahead of us and just left us to go with them. And they had a great time. So I thought racist. No, it's just a lot of Koreans go to that place and I feel like they'd rather like pair up. And they were just like very nicely. They're like, woo, we're gonna go with them. I was like, okay, I'm Kyle by the way. Anyway, see you later. And then there was a cantankerous old man who normally in bar settings I love, not so great for the golf course. He was like giving me, putting me through drills on the tee box, like giving my father in law lessons who's just too nice to tell him no.
- [74:36]
Ryan Rosillo
Was he good?
- [74:38]
Kyle
I mean, and he was old so I mean it didn't look good but I mean the ball was going straight and he was just like, let me ask you, are you interested in getting better? And I say yes. And I didn't realize I opened up Pandora's box of fucking golf tips for the Next three holes. But anyway, this is. We're on the eighth hole. You know, this guy was very, like. I think I was, like, going in my bag while he was about to tee off, and he was like, I don't like anyone making noise. Please.
- [75:02]
Ryan Rosillo
I'm like, oh, shit.
- [75:03]
Kyle
He's yelling at people on other tee boxes to be quiet while he's gonna hit anyway. That's not really what the question is. Somebody hit into us on the eighth hole. We're on the green. A ball comes flying in, really nicely hit, lands on the green while we're on the green, and I just. I go, ho. And I don't hear anything back. This guy just takes a tee out of his pocket and tees it up. And honestly, kind of blew me away. I didn't. Is that a thing that, like, instead of people throwing the ball back at people or hitting it back or taking the ball, he just teed it up on the green. This girl was so confused. We're on the next tee box, and she finds her ball and she's like. Like, are you guys fucking with me? And he was like, no, you hid into us. All that's left is an apology. She didn't get it. He was still being contagious. But I never saw that move where if somebody hits into you, you just tee it up. That way, it kind of gets in their head a little bit. Have you ever heard of this?
- [75:53]
Ryan Rosillo
I've never seen that again. I don't play a ton, and this has all been kind of new as I've jumped it back into it again. I've never heard of that move. I've seen some stuff going back to earlier days. I've seen somebody hit it back at somebody when they hit into them. That's sometimes when somebody hits into you if they aren't good. No, no. But there are. There are times where people get really, really mad about it. Okay. And I got really mad at that part three, because I didn't. The first time it happened to me, I was like, is this guy actually doing this? And then when I hit my tee shot, went to walk to the green, he hit his shot over me. So I was like, okay, this guy's just being an absolute dick. And then once I confronted him, he just gave me an extra helping a dick with a side of dick.
- [76:38]
Kyle
Right.
- [76:38]
Ryan Rosillo
And so I.
- [76:40]
Kyle
That work on.
- [76:41]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, that. I'm sure somebody's gonna say, oh, yeah, that's. That's something guys do. This guy sucks. He sucked. He's giving you lessons and he's mad about literally everything. But I guess my original point is that I think sometimes we have to have a little bit more allowance on people hitting into you. Because I've seen bad golfers hit into somebody because they just hit the best shot they're going to hit all day, and they never hit it that far with their iron, and they compress it and it just goes way farther than they expected it to.
- [77:11]
Kyle
Yes.
- [77:11]
Ryan Rosillo
And it's just we all need to, at times, understand, like, some stuff is going to happen. I don't care who you are, you're probably going to hit an Aaron shot. You're going to hit it. Or, I mean, look, it's a little different when you're slicing it and hitting somebody else's approach while they're in the opposite fairway.
- [77:25]
Kyle
Right.
- [77:25]
Ryan Rosillo
And you just feel like an. Because you've hit a terrible shot. But, I mean, there's a lot of times where I think, even though I don't play that often, you'll notice it feels like somebody's hitting up on you and then they're waving. Almost apologize if you're hitting this great shot because they didn't expect it to happen. Sure, they could be a little. The hardcore golfer is going to tell us that none of this stuff should ever really happen. But it sounds like you played with an insane person, so.
- [77:46]
Kyle
I did, but I just. I kind of like the tee it up move. It's like, you don't have to yell, you don't have to throw the ball back. I even Google it to see if this happens. A couple people had mentioned it, but a lot of dudes are like, oh, well, I would have just chucked it in the drink, or I would have taken out my Sharpie and wrote screw you on it or something. But I just. I like the tee it up. It leaves people a little confused. And then you're kind of like, oh, no, did I hit into them? I don't know. I might use it in the future. Unless it's like, a grave offense. I just kind of like it. The guy kind of redeemed himself after a day of sucking. I was like, wow, you really made me think about that one, Harvey.
- [78:16]
Ryan Rosillo
I'm glad you looked it up. I mean, because, look, no one is more prepared to tell you what you should have done than the person that wasn't there. Yeah, right.
- [78:26]
Kyle
I know. As we were leaving, there were dudes teeing off, and they saw this guy, and they're like, oh, you golfed with Grumpy today. So I guess he's like, I guess he's known at Roosevelt, so. Anyway, just wanted to ask you about that.
- [78:39]
Ryan Rosillo
When I come and play, I don't want to play with him. All right. Just a heads up. All right.
- [78:43]
Kyle
You sure you don't want to get better? He's. He's giving out lessons.
- [78:49]
Ryan Rosillo
I'd rather be worse, sir.
- [78:51]
Kyle
Yeah, I was thinking about saying some version of that to him after I didn't realize that it was gonna open up a hole. I thought it was gonna be a quick tip. He's got me doing drills. There's people behind us, and he's like, here, here, take one of my balls. I put your feet all the way together and hit it. And I'm like, dude, it's a backup here.
- [79:08]
Ryan Rosillo
We can't.
- [79:08]
Kyle
He's like, he doesn't mind.
- [79:09]
Chris Mannix
Do you?
- [79:11]
Kyle
Anyway, Harvey.
- [79:13]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, it was like, the caddies, who are really good. We had caddies at Riv and then at Pinehurst and the stuff they were saying on the greens. Eventually I had to say, hey, you gotta just stop talking to me about any of this stuff, because I don't know what the. You're saying. I don't. I don't have a percentage thing down in my head. I don't know what give away the hole means. I don't care about the grain of the grass. I'm sure these are all awesome things that people who are better appreciate all this stuff, but you're giving me, like, three things to think about now, which is the last thing while I'm putting. All right, Worgon, what's up? Oh, the drama builds.
- [79:52]
Chris Mannix
What's up? Hey, guys.
- [79:54]
Ryan Rosillo
Hey.
- [79:55]
Kyle
Hey.
- [79:55]
Chris Mannix
Takes forever to turn on my video there. Yeah, yeah.
- [79:58]
Kyle
Just stay ready. You don't got to get ready, dude.
- [80:00]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. Okay. A couple emails here. Package problems. 5, 9, 200 pounds, 33 years old. Don't have impressive gym numbers, but I've had the same knee injury as Lonzo, so I got that going for me. Ouch. Bought a home in Fort Collins, summer of 2020. Good timing on that home purchase, I bet. Zillow must be fun to look at. And I mean that as a compliment, not sarcastic. Been a bachelor in it ever since. Since getting mail and packages for the previous owners nearly five years later. Five years later, you're still getting packages. The previous owners didn't move that far from what is now my home, and we had exchange numbers. I initially extended them the courtesy of letting them know when something came through to the old address and letting them pick it up on. Off the porch around Christmas of that year I started to feel it was getting excessive. A decent number of Christmas packages that they were clearly ordering showed up at my place where I felt they could have easily checked the address ahead of time. When they made a pickup run, they didn't check closely and took a package that was for me off of my doorstep that I wasn't aware was there yet. Took them a couple days to bring it back. After the Christmas package occurred, I asked them to please resubmit mail forwarding with the post office. I was still getting quite a bit of their mail where they were coming by every week or two they claimed they did, and while the amount of mail I received got lesser, it never dropped to zero and still included the occasional package where it was obvious they just weren't verifying the addresses before purchasing things. During tax season of 21 oh, after getting clearly important tax documents for them again and asked for mail forwarding to be submitted at this point I became tired enough of collecting their mail that for things coming through standard usps, I adopted the policy of rejecting the delivery when possible or returning it to sender. That sounds like a pain in the ass too. However, yeah, there's still the occasional package that would show up in my address and these can be harder to deal with as they're usually just left on my porch. Often I do not know which shipping company delivered a package, so the tactic of refusing the delivery is not usually an option. Do you think I'm off base for being frustrated by this and thinking it excessive? Quick answer. No. It's five years dude. What do you all recommend I do when these packages show up on my porch? Stop being petty and reach back out to the folks I bought the house from or reach out to the vendor and ask how I can return to these Return these packages. Reaching out to the vendors feels like a bit of a chore and I don't really want to take on as the chore of collecting the previous owners shipments. It's gotten to me as well. Is there an alternative option I'm missing here? I got to be honest with you for like the small thing that absolutely sucks. This kind of nails it because it's not that big of a deal, but it's the water torture of hassles because it's just never stopping. And you know, look, you move into a house, you're always going to get mail from a previous owner. I've received it everywhere I've lived oddly. I received some jewelry from China I think, and I didn't open it up. I Didn't know what to do. I probably set it aside, thinking, hey, I'm going to reach back out. I remember one time I got this hardware. I got like a bunch of handles for drawers and cabinets. And I reached out to the vendor, I sent it back to the vendor, they sent it back to me. I called the place who had ordered it because, you know, look, I love the hardware. And I'm thinking whoever ordered this, like, this was going to outfit an entire kitchen. They're wondering where this is. Everybody knows.
- [83:33]
Kyle
Project along. Yeah, let's go.
- [83:34]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, Like, I'm holding up the finished carpenters. I'm holding up painting. Like, I've got to get these into the right place. I called after they'd sent it back to me. I'm like, can you give me the contact of the person who ordered these? Of course we can't do that, sir. It went on and on and on. And then I threw them away because I didn't need more hardware.
- [83:55]
Chris Mannix
Have you guys heard of, like, drop shipping?
- [83:58]
Kyle
Yes.
- [83:59]
Ryan Rosillo
What's that? War God.
- [84:01]
Kyle
Yeah, it's sort of like gaslighting solution. I think I could probably break.
- [84:04]
Chris Mannix
Sort of like gaslighting.
- [84:05]
Kyle
No, in that I don't really. And in that I don't really know exactly what the term is, but I think I can kind of get it. Send you.
- [84:17]
Chris Mannix
No, they'll like. They'll like, send you a random product you didn't order. And the point is that they can then leave a review because they have, like, the purchase. So you're getting a free item. They're giving themselves a random, like, five star review. And I guess it, like, helps their Amazon account or something. But I've gotten a couple packages and it's like, I didn't order this. No one's owning up to buying it for me. And there's just nothing you can do about it.
- [84:39]
Kyle
All right, totally. Drop shipping, then.
- [84:42]
Ryan Rosillo
You don't know.
- [84:43]
Kyle
I was totally off on dropshipping them. So you're just opening up packages? They're addressed to you, or are they just to your address?
- [84:53]
Chris Mannix
Mike, I'm trying to think. I think they were addressed to us.
- [84:56]
Ryan Rosillo
Hmm.
- [84:58]
Kyle
Yeah. Cause it takes a lot of balls to open up a package with someone else's name on it with your address.
- [85:02]
Chris Mannix
Yeah, no, I wouldn't do that.
- [85:03]
Kyle
I've certainly done it. You got to see what's inside. I mean, what if it's a bunch of money? I don't know. I don't know, man.
- [85:12]
Ryan Rosillo
What if it's a bomb, Kyle?
- [85:13]
Kyle
Yeah, well, that's what I was going to say for Mike. He's getting several packages.
- [85:17]
Ryan Rosillo
Well, who would bomb you? Hold a reference.
- [85:20]
Chris Mannix
Exactly.
- [85:21]
Ryan Rosillo
No, I think this guy's totally right. The whole reaching out to the vendor again, I've tried it once. It sucked. It was worse. So that's not really a solution. I'd ask how old they are. I think that would be how I would handle this. If they're really old and they keep forgetting to click on, you know, you're ordering something for Amazon. And every now and then I'll send my dad a new book. And then the next time I may go to Amazon. Then right before I'm about to check out, I'm like, oh, wait, I've got to go back to my original address now. You'd like to think that most people can figure this out, like, this isn't new now, ordering stuff online. But there is an age. If they're north of this age, I would tell you, all right, as far as the traditional mail, you could throw it away. It sounds like that has been sorted somewhat since the 21 tax thing. But if they're old, I think you're just.
- [86:14]
Kyle
They're not going to learn a lesson at this point, dude.
- [86:16]
Ryan Rosillo
They're on your route and you want to start throwing their stuff away. Like, that would. We've got some people listening right now, like, keep all of it. Throw it all away. These people need to be taught a lesson. Yeah. South of a certain number, maybe that is the move. Just start opening up your shit. Girlfriend comes over, you're like, you have a lot of food prep containers. Sure do. Can't beat the cost, you know? And they come by.
- [86:39]
Kyle
It's a crock pot and an air.
- [86:40]
Ryan Rosillo
Fryer, you know, look them right in the eye and be like, did you get those, those chair pads for our hardwood floors?
- [86:48]
Kyle
These are great pulls by you.
- [86:50]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. Chair socks. No, I didn't. And then they look in, they're like, I think those are. Nope, not them. I got them at a different store, Michaels. Ever heard of it? So I just. I feel for you here, but ultimately you're going to have to decide. I'm not going to suggest you throw away someone else's items, but that's going to be for you to decide if you're going to throw them away, if you're going to keep them, if they need to be taught some kind of lesson here. Because five years later, for you to be this. You're like a customs port for their imports. You didn't sign up for that.
- [87:31]
Kyle
Yeah. Maybe you just have the rule with yourself. You don't have to tell them. Be like, listen, I'm instituting a quarterly clean out or something. It's like every two months. If there's anything that's. I'm gonna put it in the garage, and then on the 15th of the second month, I'm throwing it all away. It's going to Goodwill, whatever. I mean, you don't have to tell them that if you don't feel like having an uncomfortable conversation. But I think you need to have some sort of boundaries within yourself that you don't feel like you're getting taken advantage of or whatever. So I think it'd be best for you to have some sort of rule where you're just like, well, that's the rule. They missed the cutoff, and I finally got rid of this thing and I wasn't hanging onto it forever. Just to make you feel like you've got some sort of stability here instead of just waiting for whatever the. You know, the next time they click through that Amazon cart without checking. It happens. My wife sent bill, like a 10 pound bag of birdseed the other day, or I guess it was two weeks ago. And I was just like, I'm not gonna go over there and get it. I think that's. You just have to eat that cost. He's probably confused, but it happens.
- [88:32]
Ryan Rosillo
Wait, your wife ordered bird feed?
- [88:36]
Kyle
Yes.
- [88:37]
Ryan Rosillo
And mistakenly had it delivered to Simmons House?
- [88:40]
Kyle
Yeah, because I had to send him like, a couple of those, like, card reader dongles for when he was on the road. And. And for some reason, Amazon just had him as the last guy. And she's like, where's this? It said the birdseed got delivered. And I was like, oh, fuck. He sent it to my boss's house.
- [88:58]
Ryan Rosillo
You can't just text Bill and be like, hey, you got any bird feed over there? That doesn't make any sense.
- [89:04]
Kyle
I didn't. I guess I could have. I guess I could have. I was just like, wow, we lost that one.
- [89:13]
Ryan Rosillo
Speaking of Bill, this happens now weekly, and I'm sick of it. 6, 5, 2, 15. Bench 235. Don't squat or deadlift because the lower back isn't quite what it used to be. But my proudest stat of any category is I led the conference in personal fouls both my junior and senior year of college. Wow, that's awesome. Player comp. Daniel Tice. Undersized, big, that walls up, makes the right plays. Always inadvertently getting hit in the face. Yeah, but that doesn't make Sense. Because it sounds like you like retribution. Tice just likes getting hit in the face, complaining and never doing anything about it to make it stop. I like Tice kind of maybe as a third center, but I would have really liked him even more if he was like, enough of this. I'm getting hit in the face all the time. I'm going to now push somebody. I'll make this quick. My wife was all caps furious about Bill's Chewbacca take on the Star wars rewatchable episode. I know there's no way Bill reads any emails. Can you please forward this message to him from my wife? No. And as further notice, this podcast stop sending us emails that you want to get to Bill. 1. I can tell you Bill doesn't care. I know I don't. But if I were then to forward something to Bill and be like, hey, here's an observation. Here's a business proposal. I had to learn about the soft no Bills. There's just when Bill's like, oh, that's interesting. It's a no. Yeah. You know, it's just in the beginning, there was somebody who had written a book and they were like, I think it's going to be something super interesting to Bill. Would he write the forward? I didn't realize it was already a no. And so I thought I was like the go between. And then I did a few of those and it was just like, this guy's super busy. He is going to do things his way. Again, these are not criticisms. You just have to understand his day to day being slammed with a million things and he's only going to work on the things because he's working on a million things at the same time. So to further extend this little protocol we have here, we're just getting a lot of emails to be like, can you send this to Bill? Can you send this to Bill? We're not going to tell Bill about what your wife thinks about his Chewbacca take from the Star wars rewatchable pod because he doesn't care. Yeah.
- [91:22]
Kyle
Think about it for one second.
- [91:25]
Ryan Rosillo
Thanks for the email.
- [91:25]
Kyle
Think about what you're asking.
- [91:29]
Ryan Rosillo
The emails that start with can you forward this to Bill? I forwarded zero of those. Ever.
- [91:35]
Kyle
Not even like a funny one. Like, it's so ridiculous.
- [91:43]
Ryan Rosillo
Let me just put it this way. I've never shared anything with him off of the request.
- [91:50]
Kyle
Right.
- [91:52]
Ryan Rosillo
There's probably something where it was somebody who knew something or it was like, hey, did you ever. I don't. I forget. I forget who. I'll keep this vague. But there was somebody that worked in a front office that no longer works in a front office. And it told us, hey, I'm never working in a front office, but I have stories for days. And he started sharing some of the stories with me, and he was. I don't even know if I reached back out to him. I may have, I may not have, but it was like, if this guy comes on and is a guest on the pod and shares these stories, it's going to be a big deal. But it also felt like, even though, you know, again, I don't know, that I'm holding myself to some sort of journalistic standard every single day as just a podcast host, it probably would be incredibly unfair to the person that he was going to be criticizing. So if that guy still listens to the pod, he knows exactly who I'm talking about. And I think I shared some of those anecdotes with Bill because they were incredible and as entertaining as they were, we may have even talked this out on the pod a little bit about, like, somebody wants to come on, but, you know, whatever. And it was also like, hey, I'm never doing this again. All right, one more email. Let's go with the shower here. I like this one. Just gonna make sure I find it because right now I can't seem to find it. All right, delay on the pod. Be nice if we had some. We just added in some elevator music, something. You'd hear it. Yeah, yeah. T.J. maxx a lot. Can you do that from, like, the music that we're allowed to play?
- [93:35]
Kyle
We got a whole library, dude, we'll find something.
- [93:37]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, yeah, I think. Love that. Okay, here we go. We found it. Two guys. Oh, one shower, two bios here.
- [93:45]
Kyle
What are we talking about?
- [93:50]
Ryan Rosillo
Six, 218-0155 bench, but trying to get that number up. Player comp warriors, Iguodala point forward who pushes the ball, delivers crisp passes while giving you some high effort defense and streaky shooting. Six foot, 200, no gym stats. Eddie Curry. Big man with handle and touch, but lacking stamina. All right, here's the email. I'm a single guy, mid-20s, living in a major northeast city with two of my closest childhood friends. I'll cut straight to the chase. My roommate, we'll call him Jake, is on vacation in Ireland for the next week or so. Is it acceptable to use his shower while he's gone? To set the scene? Our apartment is a three bed, three bath, two floor complex. Wait, so you guys got three beds and three bathrooms? All right. Two floor complex. And while it's great that everyone gets their own bathroom, not each facility is built the same. My other roommate and I's bathroom are your standard run of the mill curtain bathtub setups. One could say there's. They're a bit cramped. However, Jake's bathroom on his own floor is larger and comes with a glass shower doors, marble counters, and a modern architectural feel, which is a departure from the rest of the bathrooms. In short, it's objectively the best bathroom. I've honestly been tempted to try it when he's out of the house. But fear of his coming home and catching me in the act has always prevented me from discovering this great unknown. After consulting with my other roommate, I know he feels the same. So our question is, would it be weird to use Jake's shower while he's across the pond? He'll probably never find out or even care if someone did. But we need a ruling. Is it an invasion of personal space to use another man's shower or is it completely unacceptable? Are we overthinking this? Love the pod. I'd like to get a ruling before he gets back to the States.
- [95:20]
Kyle
I'm trying it once.
- [95:23]
Ryan Rosillo
You'Ve showered at Jake's.
- [95:24]
Kyle
I'm going to try it once. I'm saying I would. I'd be respectful. You know, if you pee in your own shower. I certainly wouldn't pee in Jake's shower.
- [95:32]
Ryan Rosillo
But if you were a guy that was.
- [95:34]
Kyle
If you're one of those guys, I know they're out there, sometimes the timing's off and you really got no choice. But I'm just saying I would take extra respect in this shower, but I.
- [95:44]
Ryan Rosillo
Certainly would try the shower.
- [95:47]
Chris Mannix
Why are we not just reaching out to the roommate and asking?
- [95:49]
Kyle
No.
- [95:50]
Chris Mannix
Did they mention why that's not a possibility?
- [95:52]
Kyle
Because he'd probably be like, sounds like somebody does that. I'd say, don't be naked in my bathroom if you got your own. Like, if. If you're asking me which would I prefer, I'd say, don't get in my shower.
- [96:03]
Chris Mannix
But you wouldn't tell a friend that, though. You'd be like, yeah, sure, whatever.
- [96:07]
Kyle
If we all lived in the same three awesome condo, it sounds like, let's make it happen ensuite bathrooms. And somebody was like, hey, I just want to see what you got.
- [96:19]
Ryan Rosillo
I don't know.
- [96:20]
Kyle
Where does it end? I want to see if your toilet feels different than mine does. I don't know. Where does it end? So if I was that guy, I might Be like, no, I think it's weird. So I wouldn't ask. But he's that far away, dude. It's not like he's at the gym. You're trying to grab a shower, like, he's away. Do it.
- [96:39]
Ryan Rosillo
Be respectful. I'd say get in that shower. You know, it depends on what Jake's deal is. Because the thing is, if he doesn't care, than you are overthinking it. The thing is, though, is if he does really care, it might be even more rewarding. It's like having sex in public, you know, where you're just going, I know I shouldn't be doing this, but, God, do I feel fresh and so clean. There's something that I have similar as far as my living resume. The last year we were in college, lived in this massive house, and the bedroom thing was never going to be even. I was, I'd say, the second poorest of the six. Sully was the poorest. So he took the worst room. It was on the living room floor. The room absolutely sucked.
- [97:26]
Kyle
It's a nice metaphor for society.
- [97:28]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, the poorest guy sleeping on the floor, he just. He was like, look, I'll take the shitty room. Because then we started, like, changing up the rent. I mean, this turned into a fiasco. So basically then we had like, tiers of what everyone should have to pay based on what their room was. So there was an upstairs bedroom that was massive with cathedral ceilings, but it was still like all the way upstairs. And it was kind of this odd room. And then there was like a loft area off of that where the stairwell just went right into the center. And then Bob, who was in that side of it, actually just straight up framed out a wall. Sheetrock painted the fucking wall. He just decided, I'm throwing a wall up in this house because I don't want everyone coming up to the third floor. And now my bedroom is like this greeting loft area. So he took it upon himself to do that. I had, because I think I was never going to get the best room because I didn't have the money and no one would want me to have the best room, but they also wouldn't want to have me have the worst room because they were like, then we're going to have to deal with Rosilla having the worst room. So we have to just kind of keep him. Let's just try to keep his emotions as neutral as we possibly can. So I got like a standard, normal just bedroom with a door. And there was. There was three rooms on that Floor that were all actually like, traditional bedrooms.
- [98:50]
Kyle
Okay, so did Bob's wall raise his property value? Did he have to pay more rent when he put the wall up and closed it off? Did you guys. We have to adjust this now. We have to get it appraised.
- [98:59]
Chris Mannix
It's like making an additional. Raises property taxes.
- [99:01]
Kyle
You actually have the best room now.
- [99:03]
Ryan Rosillo
Well, I haven't gotten to the light. Like, the clincher of it all is because there was two normal bedrooms. Me and another guy were in those. And then you had this weird cathedral, like, sort of awesome, huge room. But then it was like, also you had to go through Bob's room. That now was a real room because he had the wall. And Chris's room sucked. And no one ever went to Chris. Like, it was a room that was incapable of hosting anyone. I at least had, like, a couch and a fridge and, like, a bit of a setup. And then I kind of tore out my closet to put the entertainment center into the closet it. And so then there was the master bedroom. And the master bedroom was insane. It was arguably the nicest bedroom any student at UVM could possibly have. I'm talking of anyone that was there that was living off campus. I don't know that anybody could have had a better bedroom than what was the master. Because the guy who built the house, built the house for himself then ultimately was like, I don't want to live in this house anymore. It had a entire living room inside of the bedroom. It had this massive bathroom with a Jacuzzi bathtub in there. And then also a little, like, deck, a balcony area that looked out over the lake. And it was also, like, these. These bay windows that also looked down at the lake. I mean, it was nuts. It was nuts that this bedroom existed or is even a chance for it to be there for somebody. So the guy that probably would be visited the least got that bedroom. So no one ever actually really hung out in there. Nobody was ever allowed to use the bathroom because it was his. And then there was this entire rent controversy because then, like, a few months in after, we decided, like, hey, if the standard. If the. The median price is 300, then you should be at 350. And since Chris's room absolutely sucks, it should be like 250, right? And I think there was only two of us that were actually paying our own rent. The two poorest kids, right? So then there was. I remember it was like the weirdest time of the entire thing is that the house had been handed down over the years, cool guy group to Cool guy group, right? And I think some of previous cool guys were visiting and so they wanted to come back to their house. And then the guy who was on our group, who was actually having to pay more after we decided, like, we can't have you with this room be paying the same as Chris. This room sucks. And then I think he came up, was like, hey, I just talked to so and so he was like, those guys said they just split it. Even Steven, six ways. Like, well, it's fucking 3am we'll table this until the next minutes. Like, we can't do this right now or whatever. And he was so mad at us. And when he got so mad at us, I think then guys were determined. They were like, we are bathing whenever he is gone. We are bathing in that room even though he's paying like 50 bucks more. So it really feels like your decision is going to be based on Jake's level of caring, because I think I'd be motivated the more he cared. Yeah. And it sounds like you're not even sure if you will. So I'd say go in there, give it a little test drive. But be careful. Be careful because then you have to go back to your shower. And maybe it's better never knowing. Okay, I think that's enough. I think we got enough on that one. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Wargon. Thanks to Jonathan Frius. Thank you for checking out our podcast during the NBA playoffs. We've got Mike Breen, I believe, on Thursday. So we are just. Allison's been awesome with the guests, as she always is. So check out our podcast on Spotify. It's also a video podcast. Subscribe to our YouTube page. The Ryan Rossillo Podcast Ringer Spotify.
- [103:07]
Chris Mannix
They were gonna name me Michael Jordan. My dad was like, I don't think he can live up to it. So they named me Michael Jarrett.
- [103:33]
Ryan Rosillo
Must be 21 and older president. Select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino are 18 plus lesson present in D.C. gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com, call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelp linema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text HOPE NY in New York.