NBA Playoff Preview & Play-In Drama w/ Chris Mannix, Plus a Depressing Magic Minute

Summary

The Ryen Russillo Show - NBA Playoff Preview & Play-In Drama w/ Chris Mannix, Plus a Depressing Magic Minute

Date: April 16, 2026
Host: Ryen Russillo (w/ Ceruti, Kyle)
Guest: Chris Mannix (SI)

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Episode Overview

Ryen Russillo welcomes Chris Mannix to break down the landscape heading into the NBA Playoffs, dissecting Western and Eastern Conference races, major playoff matchups, off-season and coaching rumors, plus in-depth speculation around future trades—especially the Giannis sweepstakes. They also deliver a “Depressing Magic Minute,” venting about Orlando’s dysfunction, and wrap up with Life Advice.

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Key Topics & Insights

1. Warriors' Play-In Resilience & Roster Outlook

(02:38–06:54)

• Chris Mannix: “What's remarkable is how much these warriors still care…Steph Curry…just playing one of the best games he's played at least all season long…passion that this team has is unrivaled in the NBA." (02:38)
• Mannix and Russillo remark on Golden State’s competitive DNA, singling out Steph Curry’s leadership and Kerr’s contagious energy.
• Roster management: Injuries have forced unconventional lineups (“Guy Santos possession”), yet core players like Draymond, Horford, and Porzingis continue to anchor their ceiling.
• Discussion about offseason strategy: If Porzingis re-signs, Butler returns healthy, and available draft assets are leveraged, “they can talk themselves into just bringing the whole gang back together.”

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2. Western Conference Hierarchy & Playoff Matchups

(06:54–14:31)

• Denver Nuggets' resurgence: Mannix ranks their finish (esp. with Aaron Gordon healthy) as a critical swing, positioning them as a true contender.
  • “They've emerged as, I think, an equal suitor for that conference crown.” (07:19)
  • Russillo: “Clutch turnaround has been huge... positioned better depth-wise, even though we know who their five guys are.”
• Wembanyama Impact: San Antonio is “destroying teams” with Wemby on the court; Mannix expects Denver–San Antonio to be an outright war if it happens.
• OKC: Russillo still slightly prefers OKC’s flexibility and sees their youth and depth as a trump card.
• Minnesota's turmoil: Both sense shaky momentum, uncertainty over roster future, and whether ownership will commit. “There's just some weird vibes in Minnesota.”

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3. Lakers-Rockets First-Round Outlook

(16:10–22:13)

• Mannix: “LeBron is capable of some special things, but he's going to have to do something herculean…” (17:16)
• Houston’s defense (Ime Udoka's schemes, Amen, Tari Eason, Jabari’s athleticism) will make every possession tough for L.A.
• LeBron’s load managing responsibilities and uncertainty about “option B” if he's neutralized; “I just don't know how the Lakers are going to score enough points.”
• Health updates: Reeves may return late in the series; Lukic unlikely. Cautious approach due to looming free agency considerations.

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4. East – Most Compelling Series & Underlying Pressures

(22:13–27:14)

• Knicks-Hawks: New York “prayed for the Raptors,” but Atlanta is “a tougher matchup.” Mannix predicts a 7-game series for NY if focus lapses under pressure.
• Cleveland's weird vibes: If the Cavs bow out early, major offseason fallout could follow: Kobe Altman (GM) tied to Dallas job, Mitchell extension uncertain, Harden’s contract murky, Kenny Atkinson’s tenure in question.
• Houston: All-in on their Durant window, could pivot to aggressive Giannis pursuit if they fall short.

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5. The Giannis Sweepstakes: Who's Truly in Play?

(27:14–33:51)

• Russillo and Mannix analyze potential Giannis destinations:
  • OKC and San Antonio unlikely, prefer to keep young assets.
  • Cleveland’s edge: Evan Mobley is “the best player that could headline a package.”
    • Mannix: “I think Giannis would welcome a trade to Cleveland because he's always prioritized winning.” (29:44)
  • Houston packages seem less enticing if built around Sengun/Jabari.
  • Orlando’s risk: Would you flip Paolo for Giannis? Both agree, “Yes, I would do it” considering Orlando’s path.

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6. Orlando Magic Downfall & Depressing Magic Minute

(Bonus Segment, 52:14–66:06)

• Ceruti and Russillo unload on the Magic’s disastrous collapse, Mosley’s likely exit, and Paolo’s regression.
• Ceruti: “...the Paolo thing last night was disgusting…he looks disinterested…just doesn’t feel like the buy-in is there.” (53:59)
• Russillo on coaching: “Even if Mosley’s right…they can't bring him back. And even if Mosley's right…it’s been a really long time…When you ask me, like, hey, what is Orlando's offense supposed to be…I don't really know.”
• Debates around what’s salvageable (firing the coach vs. moving on from Paolo), role of injuries, and lamenting waste of a talented roster.

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7. Boston Celtics, Playoff Threats & Most Improved Debate

(35:33–44:42)

• Who can challenge Boston? Mannix cites New York as a legit threat given their playoff consistency, frontcourt advantage, and history of “leveling up.”
• Mannix: “I still think the Knicks are a threat to Boston…I don’t think that’s an easy one for the Celtics…” (35:36)
• Shireman’s development spotlit: “He’s not only a guy that deserves minutes in this postseason…They’ve got real stuff here with Shireman.” (39:11)
• Celtics boast multiple Most Improved candidates: Keita, Shireman, Jaylen Brown, even Jordan Walsh; “I can’t remember a team with this many.”

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8. Awards Talk: MVP, All-Defense, Sixth Man

(46:40–52:05)

• Mannix leans toward SGA for MVP: “He’s been the most consistently great player all season long.” (46:43)
• On voting biases: “You're not supposed to factor in that 1 in 83…But it is human nature to have it linger in your head a little bit.” (49:16)
• Discussion on recent conspicuous games (Draymond’s defense, Hawkes’s sixth man bid, Caniple’s late-season dud) swaying close awards.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Steph and Warriors:
  • “Steph Curry…just playing one of the best games he's played all season long…passion that this team has for every game…is unrivaled in the NBA.” —Chris Mannix (02:38)
• On Denver’s Playoff Readiness:
  • “If Gordon is healthy…it transforms that defense…given how good they are offensively, that might be enough…” —Chris Mannix (07:19)
• On Lakers' bleak prospects:
  • “I just don't know how the Lakers are going to score enough points to win games in the series.” —Chris Mannix (17:11)
• On Magic's struggles:
  • “This team's been absolutely disappointing. It's the most disappointing team in the league…incredibly frustrating.” —Russillo (52:14)
  • “To me, like—the Paolo thing last night was disgusting. He looks disinterested…” —Ceruti (53:59)
• On Knicks-Celtics dynamic:
  • “I still think the Knicks are a threat to Boston…I’d favor the Celtics…but I don't think that's an easy one.” —Mannix (35:36)
• On SGA/MVP:
  • “He’s been the most consistently great player all season long.” —Mannix (46:43)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Warriors Kerfuffle & Offseason Theories: 02:38–06:54
• Championship Tiers in the West: 06:54–14:31
• Lakers–Rockets Preview: 16:10–22:13
• East Playoff Preview & Franchise Pressures: 22:13–27:14
• The Giannis Market Breakdown: 27:14–33:51
• Orlando Magic Meltdown (Magic Minute): 52:14–66:06
• Celtics/Most Improved Chat: 35:33–44:42
• NBA Awards Discussion: 46:40–52:05
• Life Advice & Listener Questions: 74:20–98:32

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Additional Segments & Fun

Alliance Betting Update

• Russillo, Ceruti, and Kyle pick Magic vs. Hornets parlay props, self-deprecate about records.
• Ceruti on the Magic’s fate: “There will not be a Magic Minute if they lose. I don’t care.” (72:08)
• Extended lament about how universal Magic/Orlando malaise has become among fans.

Life Advice

• Topics: Group chat etiquette (avoid adding someone’s mom!), body image struggles from “skinny kid” trauma, handling repeat office jokes about someone's name, all handled with humor and empathy.
• Kyle on the wrong way to join a group chat: "The good times stopped... wish I could have that one back." (76:34)

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Tone and Energy

• Conversational & irreverent: Mix of stats, hard basketball analysis, and honest, candid rants
• Insider-y: Mannix and Russillo offer both macro analysis and vivid anecdotes from around the NBA.
• Humorous and cathartic: Especially in listener questions and the “Magic Minute,” channeling exasperation alongside fandom.

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Summary Takeaways

• The West is as wide open as any year in recent memory, but Denver, OKC, and San Antonio have separated themselves by tier. Warriors will most likely keep their core, while the Lakers seem on the brink of a first-round exit.
• The East is Boston’s to lose, with potential roadblocks in a battle-hardened Knicks squad, and significant pressure looming over teams like Cleveland and Houston for summer overhauls if they disappoint.
• The Giannis sweepstakes loom large over much of the conversation—Mobley (Cleveland) is the best plausible centerpiece in any theoretical trade package.
• Orlando Magic's failure is a cautionary tale about wasted young talent, bad coaching fits, and unclear team identity, generating palpable fan frustration.
• Best practices for group chats: no moms, please.

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For NBA junkies and casual fans alike, this Playoff preview delivers sharp analysis, can’t-miss banter, and enough vulnerable rants to make any Magic fan feel seen.

Transcript

[Ryan Rosilla]

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[Ceruti]

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[Ryan Rosilla]

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[Ceruti]

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[Ryan Rosilla]

see sportsbook.draftkings.com promos Limited time offer before the playoffs get started. One more play in night to go. We have Chris Mannix of si, who was in the building last night for Golden State's comeback against the Clippers. So it's good to see you. So much for that minutes restriction for Steph at 30 minutes, huh?

[Chris Mannix]

You know what's remarkable is like, how much these warriors still care, right? Like, even before the game, like talking to Steve Kerr for a couple of minutes, like he's as excited about an elimination play in game as he was for an elimination finals game. Like, they still get up for these types of games. You know, Draymond Green still gets up for the challenge of playing Kawhi Leonard, this type of game. Steph Curry, who nobody would have begrudged Steph Curry for not coming back for the rest of the regular season, not playing those last four games, not suiting up for this playing game. But he's out there going with 36 minutes and just playing one of the best games he's played at least all season long. And certainly second halfs where he had what, the 27 points that we've seen from in a while. Like, it's, it's the, the passion that this team has for like every game that they play in, I think is unrivaled in the NBA.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah, I'm with you because, I mean, even when Steph was out, I'd watch all these guys and I'm like, man, they've, they, they've done a pretty good job like players four through 10. But the problem is, is that your fourth option or fifth option is the number one option tonight. Offensively, you know, like, Guy Santos is a hell of a nice player. There's some regular season games where it's tied with three minutes left. It's like, oh, this is Guy Santos possession. Like, in a normal NBA situation that would never happen. But on top of that, Horford comes up huge. Porzingis probably looked the best he's looked in a long time. Which I'm like, man, this guy times it out perfectly, knowing that he's an unrestricted free agent. But not to get into too much off season stuff because they still have some work to do here. But you could see last night it's like, well, if Porzingis is back on a shorter deal, Steph is healthy, Draymond's there, they think they're getting Butler back. They're probably going to just give Golden State or excuse me, if Milwaukee doesn't have a lot of suitors or they don't like the market. And granted, they thought they were in the Giannis market with the four picks. And really, probably two of those could be really valuable in the future. I don't know how valuable the first couple would be. Like, you could see them talking themselves into. Let's just bring the whole gang back together here. They're probably going to have to do that anyway. But the Giannis, I couldn't stop thinking about Giannis with like stretch five pound last night as I watched them come back so many times.

[Chris Mannix]

Yeah, I'm with you on what their off season plan is going to be. I do think that they're going to try to use one or more of those draft picks to upgrade somewhere. I mean, obviously Giannis is the top target for them, but whether it's another big, that's a little bit younger, more versatile, somebody to fill in the minutes that Jimmy Butler is going to miss in the first couple of months, at least of the season, they're going to try to reinforce that rotation. But, but you can see it like, like Porzingis played 15 games them in the regular season. Like here he is out there scoring 20 points in the playing game. Al Horford, who couldn't buy a bucket for 3/4, was terrible for 3/4, going 4 for 4 from 3 point range. In the fourth step being Steph Draymond, like, Draymond is not the, he's not the versatile defender that he was in his prime years. He. He can't defend as many positions as he used to. But like watching that game, and I tried to watch every possession that Draymond played on, on Kawhi, it really was a game within a game out there. The physicality that both were playing with the kind of the mental chess match that they had in terms of positioning, like, Draymond could still probably do that for one or two more seasons, be that kind of impactful defender. And I do think he's. He's kind of underrated offensively at how much he, he kind of facilitates what that team does. He's always moving the basketball. So, yeah, I mean, like, injuries derailed them this year. There's no doubt about it. The Butler injury, Porzingis injuries, Curry's injuries, but full strength with one more kind of, you know, rotation player added to that mix. Veteran guy. I can talk myself into them being a top four seed in the Western Conference next year. And from there, who knows?

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah, it was the same thing with me. I don't want to spend too much time on that because there's the rest of the playoffs here and maybe some other off season stuff as well. Give me, I'm trying To figure out a different way to ask the same question, which is essentially okc, San Antonio in the Western Conference. But give me how your opinion of your certainty or lack of certainty has changed over the course of the regular season when it comes to who you think is winning the West.

[Chris Mannix]

I think Denver's finish this season got certainly got me thinking. I was at that game that they played against San Antonio a couple of weeks ago, which was the best regular season game I saw all year. I mean, two Titans in Jokic and Wembanyama going at it like Ewing and Elijah, one like Russell and Wilt. Like it was. It was awesome to watch. And look, the defensive deficiencies with Denver have been clear all season long. But Aaron Gordon played 34 games and Aaron Gordon is back and Aaron Gordon is healthy. And they clearly have no problem playing against San Antonio. They've shown that with their wins this year. They beaten Oklahoma City in the playoffs before and look, you could make an argument that last year the reason they lost Oklahoma City is because injuries screwed them up. Like they had so many guys banged up, including Gordon down the stretch. If Gordon is healthy and able to give them between 30, 35 minutes per game, it transforms that defense from a bottom third defensive team to one that you can kind of put in the 10 to 15 range. And given how good they are offensively, that might be enough, you know, to beat an inexperienced team like San Antonio in the second round to beat Oklahoma City. With Jokic doing his thing for months, I thought San Antonio, Oklahoma City for sure. But the way the Nuggets finish the season, the way Gordon has come back healthy and looks like he's just good to go going into these playoffs, they've emerged as, I think, a equal suitor for that conference crowd.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah, the clutch turnaround has been huge. Feeling like they're positioned better depth wise, even though we know who their five guys are going to be. I think it's a huge emphasis on just remembering you're not going to have to space this out. Like one of the advantages for an older team. Not that they're old old or anything like that, but I mean, OKC should never be worried about, like with their depth and their youth, like they should be able to just go. There shouldn't be some massive variance in their energy. And on top of that, San Antonio even more so. I can't imagine that when Yama is going to play under 30 minutes in any of these games. I mean, what's the point? And when you look at like what they've done in the second half of the season when Wembanyama's on the court, like they're destroying teams. So Denver, I'm with you, they found a way to kind of wedge their way into this conversation. But I still can't get past OKC's multiple variations, all the different things they can do to you. And if it's okc, San Antonio, I just can't believe the San Antonio is going to go from no playoff games to beating that team being in the NBA Finals.

[Chris Mannix]

And I don't think it's, I don't think it's just a throwaway thing to suggest that if it's San Antonio, Denver in the second round, they're going to beat the hell out of each other. I mean, that game that they played a couple of weeks back, I think is an indicator of what that series is going to look like. Yic and Embiid going at it, you know, Steph Castle playing well, Jamal Murray in the other side, Gordon matching up with Wembanyama for big minutes. Like it's going to be a physical series. Meanwhile, if you're Oklahoma City, you're probably going to skate through the first round, even if it is Golden State on the other side. And then you get to the second round, it's like a flawed Rockets team or you know, I guess a Lakers team with, you know, a couple of key guys trying to get back fast from injuries. It's, it's, it's not going to be a tough first couple of rounds for the Thunder. Whereas I think the second round's a seven game street fight for, for the Nuggets and the spurs and that's going to take a piece out of them going into that, that conference final. So I still, I'm with you. I still favor Oklahoma City. I think Denver though is intriguing if somehow. Look, I think they're going to beat Minnesota pretty handily.

[Kyle]

I.

[Chris Mannix]

Five, six games. That's kind of my early read on it.

[Ryan Rosilla]

But they didn't seem like they wanted to play them.

[Chris Mannix]

It didn't. It didn't. It was weird. But it was weird how that all shook out towards the end. Like they seemed like they were angling to not play them. And then there's that game against the spurs where San Antonio was desperately trying to win and you know, the David Roddy Nuggets were, you know, beat them back. But I still think they're better. Like the Timberwolves aren't going into the playoffs. Any momentum. Like, you know, if, if they were, were cooking the way the Nuggets are cooking. Going to the playoffs, I might have a different opinion, but, like, what, you know, since what March we've seen or mid March, I think it is. Anthony Edwards has played three games. Julius Randall's not shooting the COVID off the ball. I just think they're two teams trending in very different directions, and I think it would take something special from Edwards and maybe a couple other guys in Minnesota to win.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah. And one of the things. Not that I don't know where you are as a Carl Anthony Towns guy, but, like, if you wanted to argue in favor of him, you know, what he was able to do for at least just body match Jokic and then allow Rudy to freelance off of Aaron Gordon. Although Gordon's a better shooter now, I think. You know, I think he's somebody that maybe had numbers that looked good, but it was still something you could probably ignore. You know, it's nothing better than. It's like, hey, that guy's 41%. You're like, yeah, he takes 1.7 threes a game. So I think they're going to live with it. That was something. Now, granted, it hasn't been there for a while, but that was something with Denver where it's like, look, Cat can at least physically meet Jokic and try to delay the inevitable here, and it frees up Rudy a little bit more. And now when I think about body type, they just don't really have that. And I'll tell you, Jokic, there's something about when Rudy's on him, Jokic, his eyes light up. It's like a rookie. Like, he knows. Yeah, but, I mean, as good as Rudy is defensively, and you would think, hey, we can at least put Rudy Gobert on him. They love to get kind of everybody away from Jokic and let him just work from 15ft out. And Jokic, like, drives in a way that's a little more aggressive for his normal, methodical, like, let me have everybody cut. Let me do all this stuff. Like, he's just. He gets excited to attack Rudy, and I've just seen it a bunch of times. And I'm with you because, like, I don't want to compare Minnesota and Orlando. That's disrespectful to Timberwolves, But Minnesota's just. What would it be in the last two months? You're like, okay, now I'm excited. I'm excited because of their history. I. That's a tough one, especially with the way Denver finally solved this clutch problem that they were having, which may have just been randomness anyway.

[Chris Mannix]

There's just. There's a lot of weird smoke. It feels like around Minnesota, like the momentum or lack thereof that they're going into the playoffs with is is noticeable. Anthony Edwards health is going to be something to watch. His explosiveness will be something to watch. And even if you want to take kind of a 10,000 foot view of it, like, are they due for substantial changes this off season? Like, is Tim Connelly going to be back as the team's general manager? Is ownership going to reach into their wallet to spend what they need to spend to keep this team in contention? It just, there's just some weird vibes right now. It feels like around Minnesota and this is not the matchup you want to go into with that kind of uncertainty. Like, not against the team that is playing its best basketball and believes it can win a championship.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I was also wondering if women. Yama was watching Portland, Phoenix rooting for Phoenix because he's like, I don't, I don't want to play against that Clingan guy for, for multiple games in a row because Clingan's just not going to care. He's just going to, I mean, not to say that Clingan is going to slow down when Benyama. I'm seeing this look in your face, but, but I'll think of like, different guys. You're like, I'd actually like to stay away from this guy because he might hurt me. I think Clingan is more in that group than Iguidaro or Mark Williams.

[Ceruti]

That's.

[Chris Mannix]

I think maybe there's certainly something to that when you've got a different type of dynamic in the Phoenix front court. I also think that, and I talk to spurs coaches a lot about this stuff. Like Wemby, like, he's up for every, he's up for every single challenge and he relishes every single one of them. Like, I think Victor Wembanyama watched that play in game the other night and watched Denny Objia just attack the basket relentlessly with no rim protection on Phoenix to dissuade him from doing it. I think that Wemby's looking forward to Denny obviously trying that with him. I think he's, he's. He's not going to be matched up with Denis, obviously. But if Denny's going to go to the basket and he is. But doing it all season long. But if he's going to play that way, I think Wemby is looking forward to being the guy that meets him at the rim this Guy sees every angle of the game. He relishes every single opportunity like this. I think he said it the other day, he's like, man, did I miss playing in meaningful games and having these kinds of matchups. I think he's. I don't think he wants the weakest challenge. I think he wants the toughest challenges out there to get him get them to the finals.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah. And I just to. For the record, I'm not claiming that Portland's going to be a challenge in this thing whatsoever. Cause like, Portland likes to go small sometimes. I mean, that game closed small against Phoenix and it's like, well, you're, you're not going to be doing any of that kind of stuff against those guys. But you're right. Every single one of those Denny drives, like, you know, how are you going to pull them away? You're going to have them. Speaking of like the guy who has a decent three point shot, that doesn't take him a ton of cling and spacing, going to take Wemby away from the hoop.

[Ceruti]

Right.

[Ryan Rosilla]

He's going to go, go ahead and they'll put women Yama on Grant or something if he's in the game. All right. I was determined for a long time to be like, just whatever you do, don't pick Houston in the first round. As I'm watching the games and thinking to myself, and now they're a massive favorite, which makes sense because of the Lakers health with all of this. I know there's some stories, and you've recently talked about it, of the Lakers trying to, to rush everybody back here, but what do you think the start of this series looks like against Houston?

[Chris Mannix]

I don't think it looks good for the Lakers.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I.

[Chris Mannix]

What I believe that LeBron is capable of some special things, but he's going to have to do something herculean for this team to avoid getting beat in like five games. He's gonna have the ball in his hands a lot because he's the only playmaker there. Respect to Luke Kennard, LeBron's the playmaker. And my anticipation is that Ime Udoka gives him 75ft of hell. Like you're gonna see Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, Jabari Smith, all these guys forcing LeBron to work for every inch of the floor that he's operating on. And you're gonna see a team in Houston, which is still a very good defensive team, force someone else in that Lakers lineup to beat them. And I don't know, as I sit here, I don't know what option B is right now? Like, even if you just take the 10 minutes, LeBron's not going to play in the game. Where do they go? Like, is it going to be a steady diet of DeAndre 8 in post ups? Is Rui Hashimura going to ISO? Is Luke Kennard going to make three? I just don't know what the second options are if it's not LeBron doing LeBron circa 2016 type of things. And I just think the amount he's going to have to work offensively is going to take its toll on him as each one of these games progresses. Look, I don't think Houston's a, they're a deeply flawed team. They've got problems in secondary offense. You know, the Lakers probably got a triple team, Kevin Durant, you know, during these games. But I think because of these injuries, the Rockets have more in their bag than the Lakers do. And I just don't know how the Lakers are going to score enough points to win games in the series.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I'd imagine there's no way LeBron's bringing the ball up. I don't think they want to do that to the big guy because I mean, maybe in those big possessions a little bit later, but if he's going to initiate everything, like they've got to get him across half court, have somebody else bring it up because you can't have a man or especially like Tari if he's playing less minutes where Eme's telling Tari like, hey, we just want you to get after his ass. Like you're not playing more than 20 minutes tonight. Maybe you don't say that to one of your players and already put him in a bad mood. But it's just going to be one of these things where it's like you've got to slow him down. You're going to slow them down the entire time. I mean we could sit here and talk about like eight and stepping up. Good luck with that. I think Canard's terrific. I think Canard's more versatile, you know, where he can survive with the ball in his hands a lot more than you think of when somebody's a spot up shooter. But it's just, it's asking a lot of a team that if they were fully healthy I would have picked him in a second against Houston because I think Houston's problems, although they've been a little bit better with. And there's actually kind of a similar thing that I'm thinking of here. There were so many times when they were really terrible during these fourth quarter stretches. I'm like, why are you just letting Durant get double teamed and nobody's doing anything? Like, why are you inviting yourself into these terrible situations? And I think they got finally a little bit more. It's not even being more creative. It's just going, we need to start differently and not put Kevin in some of these tougher spots. And it also has a lot to do with their lineup decisions because if amends out there, no one's defending him unless it's like people will freelance off of him all the time. Shingoon's not somebody that you're worried about spacing wise, even though he's terrific when he starts getting some momentum down the downhill. But there's a lot of ways they can get clogged depending on the decisions that IME wants to use around him. And look, Amen and Shingoon are closing players for the Houston Rockets and then becomes a Jabari decision. Reed's obviously been a big part of their, their fourth quarters now the entire time. But all of these issues kind of like us agreeing here, like, what are we doing? Like, how do you, how do you pick against them with how limited the Lakers are going to be? And is there any timeline that you have a better understanding of, like the most hopeful timeline of what could happen with Luka and Reeves here?

[Chris Mannix]

No. I mean, I think if you ask the Lakers that they'd say they're maybe a little more optimistic about Reaves coming back in this series than Luca. I'm not a medical expert on these oblique strains, but the risk of injury for a re injury, for the hamstring strain and the significance of it if you do re injure it is something that is a very top concern for the Lakers. Not that Reeves isn't, but, like, I think there's some, I don't even want to call it optimism. I don't think it's optimism. But like, you know, if you're, if you're wondering which one of these guys could come back a little bit earlier than expected, probably you'd have to point the finger at Austin Reeves. But even then, we're probably talking in the second half of a series, 4, 5, 6, 7, 4, at the earliest, maybe. And I'm just at this point just kind of speculating, but at that point, what does this series ultimately look like? And if you're the Lakers specifically with Luca and even Reeves is going to be a free agent this summer, like, how much do you want to risk in a situation like this that that's something that ownership management's going to have to take into account if, if both these guys are pushing to play.

[Ryan Rosilla]

What's your favorite series in the East?

[Chris Mannix]

Favorite series to start in the East. I mean, New York, Atlanta is intriguing. Like the Knicks were definitely sitting there like, you know, penciling a four game sweep with the Raptors into their calendar before the Magic laid that egg in Boston, which is one of the great egg lays of all time, which is in addition to that, play in game has all but ensured that there's going to be a coaching opening in Orlando this off season. Like it, the, the, the Knicks, I know I was in New York a couple of weeks ago, like they were praying for, for that Raptors matchup. They have boat race, the Raptors, in their games this season. Now you've got the Hawks, who I think the Knicks are better than. But the Hawks are playing good basketball. They're one of the hotter teams in the league in the second half of the season. They've got some star players. Jalen Johnson's really good. C.J. mcCollum's really experienced. Dyson Daniels is a great defensive player. They're a tougher matchup for the Knicks than, than the Raptors would be, no question. And I wonder, maybe it doesn't manifest itself in the first round, but at some point, like, all the pressure that is sitting on the shoulders of everybody in New York, like because of what James Dolan said, because of what they did last year, like, when does that tighten them up a little bit? If they get into a tough series with Atlanta, do those, you know, those shots start to fall? They start having some miscues there? Does Mike Brown come under even more scrutiny? Like, that's interesting to me. I like the Knicks to win that series, but I think it might take them seven games to do it. Whereas with the Raptors, I would have thought that game was over in five.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I don't know what to do with the Raptors because I'm like, I don't want to say, hey, I'm proud of you guys, you know, nice little season up there, good job. And if you go to the regular season matchup stuff, you know, but I don't know what you take out of some of these, these matchups against Cleveland. I just can't imagine Cleveland's going to bow out like embarrassingly early again. I mean, it can happen. Even though I know everybody's going to say like, oh, what about Harden? Look, yeah, but it's not. Harden is not tasked with the stuff. Harden was tasked with in the past. And you could make the same argument about like some of those Clippers playoff series with him where it was like, yeah, well, that wasn't the same exact thing. He's older. It's not all on him. And it still was the disaster. Harden can have bad games in the playoffs and this Cleveland team should still be be able to win. But there's just some lingering thing of like, if this goes bad, like, I feel like Houston, if it goes bad, that would motivate their off season. I think if Cleveland, it goes bad, that would motivate their off season. Maybe the Knicks are in there, too. I mean, we probably do a longer list, but it feels like Houston in particular now, they're probably going to get through the first round here. Say they lose to okc. They could say, oh, we lost the champs of okc wins the whole thing. Start talking yourself into stuff that I think is a waste of time. But it feels like Cleveland, at least in the east, if this were to go bad between Mitchell's contract coming up, that that might have the most negative impact on a group if they're way below their own expectations.

[Chris Mannix]

I agree. And there's more weird vibes in Cleveland, too. Like, I think they're look, they're in a good position to beat the Raptors. I don't. I think the Raptors among those top six teams are probably the weakest of the bunch of. But, and I've reported this in the past, like, Kobe Altman is a candidate for the top position in Dallas. Like, that's someone they're targeting or is among the guys they're targeting. It's a long list of guys that they're targeting for the GM job in Dallas. If they lose, I can't see Mitchell signing a contract extension. I don't really know what kind of agreement they've got with James Harden when it comes to next year. Is it fully guaranteeing that final year? Is it giving him some kind of deal? I'm sure something quietly has been discussed. Kenny Atkinson, what does that mean for his future? There's a ton of pressure on the Cavs going into this, this series now with the Rockets. The Rockets, Ryan, like, I think they're going to be aggressive no matter what this offseason. Like, because they've wed themselves to a timeline here. Like, before they acquired Durant, it was like, all right, well, we can stretch this out. We've got a whole bunch of young guys. Everybody's under 20. Most of them are under 25. Like, that was the Raphael Stone philosophy on building out this team. But they went all in. Ime Odoka was a big reason for that. They go out and get Kevin Durant, they sign him to an extension. So now they've created this like three year window. So if they lose the first round, the second round, even the conference finals, I think they've got to be among the most aggressive Giannis suitors this off season to try to add another star to this team while Kevin Durant is still in his prime. So those are the two teams I would think for sure. But there are. It is a longer conversation. There's a handful of teams that you know, if and when the first round doesn't go their way, there could be some substantial changes.

[Ryan Rosilla]

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[Chris Mannix]

Yeah. Mobley, as I kind of look. Look at the landscape at the top of my head, he's the best player that could headline a package. And I'm looking at the teams like, what do you. Khalil Ware in Miami, Sengun, I guess would probably have to headline a deal from Houston, the Knicks or whatever Towns because of the money. Mobley clearly has the most talent. He's got the highest upside. He's kind of plateaued a little bit this year, but I think there's still more to him. I think there's more to unearth than his offensive game. And if you put him on kind of a rebuilding team and make him the face of that franchise, I think more is going to come out of him and immediately on the next team. I think. I don't know yet exactly what the Bucks are prioritizing. Like during the trade deadline talks, and I talked to some of these teams, it was everything. Like it was. They wanted the mega deal. It was. They wanted young players, a young superstar. They wanted draft picks. Like they were not going to seriously entertain a trade. They never did until they got all of those things. What does the. The. What does it look like when they reduce their ask? Like, what are they prioritizing? Is it just that young potential superstar that can, you know, make up for a lack of draft capital that you're getting thrown in return? If it is, I think Cleveland's a great team to deal with. I think Giannis would welcome a trade to Cleveland because he's always prioritized winning. Like he's never like he wanted to go to Minnesota last year because he wanted to win. So I don't think he's going to push his way to Miami or Los Angeles because of where. Where they are, but just. I just don't know yet what the ask is going to be and where it's going to stop for. For Milwaukee. It's the biggest moment in probably franchise history what they do with this deal. And I don't know if Cleveland, besides Mobley, is going to have enough to get a deal like that done.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah, the Houston thing is getting weird quickly because I think we all like Shingoon, but there's some flaws to deal with. And then you go, all right, Jabari. That doesn't get anybody excited anymore. I don't know that Tar Eason gets anybody excited anymore. And then you're going to make the Tar Eason decision on the contract and then you might. Tari'd probably be thrilled with it. It's like, cool new team and they're traded for me and all this stuff. Would you do Paolo for Giannis

[Chris Mannix]

if I'm Orlando? You mean, like, would the. With the Magic do? I think the Magic would do it.

[Kyle]

Like, yeah.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Now, look, they don't have any picks. I'm not looking at the money. I'm just saying the build out. Like, they get a couple teams involved here. I might be making it up and breaking a rule, but I just wanted to kind of get your sense because we, we. We're going to spend some time on Paolo and the Magic here.

[Chris Mannix]

I would do it. I would do it. I would do it. Look, the Magic rolled the dice last offseason. They got Desmond Bane, and Bane's not, like, going to get a Durant. He's not, you know, in his late 30s. But when you give up all those draft picks to get a player like Bane, you're committing to a path. And look, if you add Giannis to this group with a healthy Franz, with some of the young pieces that they have a new coach, like, this is, you know, this coaching job in Orlando is the most appealing coaching job that is expected to be available. Like, every big name coach is going to make a run at it. Every big name assistant is going to be a run at it. When I talk to coaches around the league, like, they say, like, look, this is the fast turnaround. Like, you get Franz back healthy next year, you make some tweaks to what they're doing offensively, you get them back to being the defensive team that they were a year ago, and all of a sudden you're a top three team and you're in the Eastern Conference, which sucks. Like you're, you're able to compete, you know, right away. So, like, if he, I can add Giannis to that mix and play him next to those guys, it's certainly a risk three years from now, you know, if Paulo gets back to being the guy we thought on the, he was on the trajectory for. But if you're committed to a path here and you believe you can, you know, at least win the Eastern Conference in the next three years, Giannis probably gives you a better chance to do it.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Who do you think gets the Orlando job if Moses out?

[Chris Mannix]

I don't know. I mean, it really just depends on what. It's kind of a cop up. But what are they looking for? Are they looking for like a Tom Thibodeau type? Are they looking like Billy Donovan's a name I hear a lot? You know, obviously the, in a different lifetime, they made a run at him when he was in Florida and like, that's exactly the kind of team that Billy Donovan would want to coach. Like, he left Oklahoma City because he didn't want to rebuild there. When they were headed that direction, went to Chicago, which at the time seemed like it was a team on an upward trajectory. Now you've got the Bulls in a full scale rebuild. You've got the Magic in a state he's very familiar with, looking like they can be a quick turnaround. I wonder what they think of Billy Donovan in Orlando, because that's an interesting name. I also think there's going to be a lot of interest in these high profile assistant coach. Like the assistant coaching class is as good as it's been in a number of years. I mean, Jared Dudley in Denver is good to go, like he's ready to be an NBA head coach. Sean Sweeney in San Antonio, good to go, like ready to be an NBA head coach. I just does management in Orlando. Like, want to go the safe route and go the Billy Tibbs, Taylor Jenkins even route with one of those guys or do they want to roll the dice on one of these young assistants that I mentioned who is going to be. I believe both these guys are going to be really high level NBA head coach in the future. So I don't, I don't know. It's a long list. And all I know is that if and when this job opens up, there are going to be coaches fighting over the chance to get interviewed for it.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Biggest threat to Boston in the east, is it just Detroit?

[Chris Mannix]

I mean, I still look at New York and wonder, like, I was at the Garden when the Knicks barely beat the Celtics, minus Jalen Brown, when the Celtics were kind of doing this, you know, mental gymnastics on the Knicks by playing Vucevich, like, 30 minutes or whatever he did in that game. But, like, when you talk to people in New York, like, their argument for why they can be successful is that our guys can level up, and they have some evidence of that. Like, last year, the playoffs, they leveled up, especially against Boston. They could boat race in a few games against the Celtics during the regular season, and they went into the playoffs and then basically won three straight before any of the Tatum stuff came up. And they believe that, like, we've got Brunson, who in the playoffs where he's. You got a little bit of time between games, his ankle's going to be a little bit better. He can level up. You know, OG's been great all season long. Mikhail Bridges, he can level up. Even towns like, get him into the playoffs. Watch we did in the conference finals last year. He can be on a different level. I. I still think the Knicks are a threat to Boston. I. I'd favor the Celtics in that series, but I don't think that's an easy one for the Celtics because I think they've seen what the Knicks can do with this same group in the postseason, and if they can get those guys back playing on that level, they get their defense right. I think they're. They're a big challenge.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah. When I think Back to Games 1 and 2 of last year, like, the way Boston would have been treated had they not won a championship the year before, and we all understand the rules and how this stuff works, but this would have been like Doc Rivers, Atlanta Hawk level stuff, where you're like, you got up 20 on the Knicks twice, games one and two, and you lost both of them. Like, what is. We would be going into this year, and granted, the Tatum injury and coming back from the whole thing kind of adds a different layer to the whole. To the whole, like, breakdown of who the Celtics are. But when you've got one of those in your back pocket, there's like, a massive benefit of the doubt. But when you talk to New York, I've heard it described as like, and not from New York. So I'm kind of setting this up here. I've heard it talked about his arrogance with Boston. Like, hey, we killed them in the regular season. It doesn't really matter. Look at us. We're up 20. Oh, we lost the first two games. This team Stinks. And it's like, well, yeah, but now they're awake and now they're ready to go. Now the question is, when you talk to New York, do they look at it as arrogance or do they go like, hey, we think those guys are kind of soft.

[Chris Mannix]

I don't think that they're soft. I think the Knicks believe that their advantage is unequivocally in the front court. Like, you know, I don't think Vucovich is going to play heavy minutes in the postseason. But like the minutes that, that Keita doesn't play, I think could be a problem for Boston. Like Luka Garza, great offensive player. Bosevic when he's out there, great offensive player. I think the Knicks believe that they can take advantage of those guys in, in the postseason. I mean, they're going to have tons of problems with Tatum and Brown, but they've got, you know, the defensive horses to at least match up there. I don't think they believe that the Celtics can match up with them in the front court. They believe that's the kind of series where Towns can play really well against them. Especially the minutes that Kata doesn't play. Like Kata goes out with foul trouble or whatever. I think the Knicks believe that's where their advantage is going to be and that's where it's going to be a difference maker.

[Ryan Rosilla]

So if the closing group is Keita, Jalen Tatum, Derrick White Pritchard, who is Baylor Shireman replacing? Because this feels real, isn't it unbelievable?

[Chris Mannix]

It was like I remember a couple of years ago, like going into that draft and what did we say going into that draft? The Celts were definitely going to move that pick because they didn't want to pay the money associated with it. They were brushing up against the apron, one of the aprons. And if they use that pick, they were going to cross a threshold. I forget which one it was, but they were going to cross a threshold. And then Brad Stevens goes out on draft night and drafts this four year. Was he a four year college guy, three or four year college guy and says we need it, we like him. Then he plays the first year, it doesn't really do anything. And this year turns into like this Sam Houser plus like this kind of more mobile, kind of can play more off the dribble, Sam Houser type of shooter. He's been unbelievable. I'm with you. I think it's real. I think it's absolutely real that, that there. He's not only a guy that deserves minutes in this postseason, like as every year progress. And I feel the same way. Not to go off tangent here, but like, I think Hugo Gonzalez is going to be real too. I think once somebody teaches him offense, you know, over the next couple of years, everything else he does, all the intangibles, how hard he plays, how he offensive rebounds, how hard he cuts, it's going to turn him into like a really serviceable, you know, fringy starter type of guy. So yeah, they've got real stuff here with Shireman and I think with Ugo.

[Ryan Rosilla]

You nailed it though on the Shireman thing because normally when it's, when it's that many ball handlers that you're playing next to, depending on how Missoula would sub him in. And he hit 30% from three last year. So you're like, okay, wait a minute, at the very least you were supposed to be somebody who's going to provide some sort of spacing. He doesn't hit shots. It's fine. He's like 40% this year. It is the on the ball stuff when he was through some of these weird lineups, whether it was by design or stuck late in the shot clock with the ball and then you start to see how much more there is to his game. It's a bit like the Luke Canard moments at times where you go, oh, that's right, I forgot like Luke Canard can, can really handle. But Scheireman's six, six big guy doing this and he's shaken guys a little bit and he's, he's also, I noticed at the end of the year, I think that Stefon Castle drive right into your chest but then go slow that D cell into you as you're going backwards trying not to foul. And he's probably getting away with an offensive foul on top of everything else. Jalen's been really good at, I think Jaylen Brown's been, been good at just going right down the center of the breastplate and then backing up. Shireman started doing it and I, I gotta tell you, like, I think he is now someone that I expect to come off the bench and score some points in any kind of game. Not to say he's going to go, you know, three, four from outside, but. But it feels like he doesn't get stuck the way guys this young lack of experience, even if they had the skills, they just kind of freak out and get stuck out on the court.

[Chris Mannix]

I mean, you asked what, where he would fit in in a closing situation. Could you ever envision a scenario where against the Knicks, who like to play big, who will always play either Towns or Mitchell Robinson. Could you ever see a scenario where the Celtics go super small, where they put Shireman out there, take Kate off the floor, and dare a team like the Knicks to match up with them? That feels very missoula for them to try something like that.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Mitchell Robinson may have every single offensive rebound, if you wanted to counter with that. But you're like, there are things that in the moment, and I remind myself this all the time, how many times game ones lie to us, but there could be something where I love that idea. I love the idea. Space this thing out and then see what happens. And it looks terrible. They're getting killed. Mitchell Robinson is actually scoring in the pain. He's grabbing every single offensive rebound. You could do the exact same thing 48 hours, 48 hours later, and it would look completely different. So I'm, I'm all for teams trying stuff. I'm for the higher seed trying things. But if it comes down to another Boston, New York thing last season series, the mental part of it, I actually think New York would have a big edge because of what they did to him last year. And I think it's worth reminding everybody they were going to lose that series. The Tatum injury to me was just another terrible part of that series for the Celtics. But sometimes you can revisit this and be like, well, Tatum went out. It's like they were down. They were down in that game. They were going to go down 3. 1. They weren't going to win that game. So then they were going to have to win three in a row with a healthy Tatum. Not impossible, but a huge ask because I think, I think New York proves something in that series going like, we are so not afraid of you guys. We are not going to roll over like so many other teams are.

[Chris Mannix]

Has there ever to just put a button on Boston? Like, has there ever been a team with this many candidates for the most improved award? Like, I'm still waiting as we tape this to get my ballot. I assume it's coming now that the Cade didn't Luca stuff is squared away, but has there ever been a team with this many legit most improved like. Like Kate is going to wind up on my ballot? Probably not number one. I think Nikhil Alexander Walker's been outstanding and he probably earned my. My vote there. But Kate is going to wind up on it. Shireman, like, is the most improved player of the final month and a half of the season. Even Jalen Brown, like, leveling up the way that he did this year, going from all star to top five. Probably MVP Jordan Walsh to a certain degree like Jordan Walsh to a degree like I know he's been and out but like he's been a factor for this team. Like they've got three guys at least that you would say that is one of the most improved players I have seen this season. And I can't remember a team that, that you can say that about, you know, last few years at least.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I imagine Sacramento will have some options next year.

[Chris Mannix]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Doug Christie, like the Doug Christie. Not again. We're all over the place but Doug Christie, like I'm kind of chuckling at this. Like we're going to keep Doug Christie because we feel like he didn't get a fair shake with Demonta Sabonis going out and we feel like he did a great job with Maxime Renault and all these other guys. Come on. Doug Christie right now is getting Brian Keefed. Doug Christie is like being put there to just take the bullet next year. There is no world where Sacramento's a good team. Next year they've got the same team. Most of these guys are under contract going into next year. None of them really want to be there.

[Ryan Rosilla]

So Levine wants to just see how it plays out.

[Chris Mannix]

Chris, same thing with DeRozan, like, you know, wants to be part of a California success story. Come on, like this. They're going to move off these guys. They're going to be bad. And Doug Christie is there to just take the bows and arrows. He is there to just take the bullets. I do not want to hear about how the Kings front office is feels optimistic about Doug Christie getting a chance. Not after losing 60 plus games and punctuating your season by at best screwing up that end of game situation against Golden State by fouling with three minutes left to go. When your team in the bonus, there's no belief in that whatsoever. Doug, I, I think has one year left in his contract. The Kings don't want to pay another coach. The Kings, by the way, right now couldn't get another coach who wants to coach that team. I get it, one of 30, all that stuff. But who wants to coach the Sacramento Kings right now? Who wants a piece of that action? The way they're shaking up next year though, Ryan, like they get like Dancer or Boozer or one of these guys. Next year they're a bottom five team again. They get another top pick in that draft, you're all these contracts come off the books and then Maybe you got something there, then. Maybe you got something a good coach going to be interested in right now. You don't. Doug is there to take the bullets there. Do exactly what Brian Keefe did the last couple of years in Washington.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Have you decided your MVP vote as we all weighed our ballots here?

[Chris Mannix]

Yeah, I'm a Shay guy, and I've kind of been a Shay guy for a little while now. I mean, I don't have to give you the full spiel, but, like, he's. He's been the. The most consistently great player all season long. And, like, I. I know it. I've seen Wemby say this, and others have suggested that, like, you. You. The early games don't count. Like, I call bullshit on that. Like, they. Of course they count. If. If they didn't count, then Oklahoma City would be finishing the season beneath San Antonio in the standings. They do. They go 18 and one without Jalen Williams playing a minute. They were 35 and four in games that Shea played and Jalen Williams didn't, His numbers were equal to or better than what he did last season. He was just, to me, consistent brilliance. Was he as good in the final month as Wemby or Jokic? Probably not. But he was better than those guys at multiple other points during the season. And that, to me, matters.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Strong argument. Cooper Khan.

[Chris Mannix]

It's a tough one, man, because I'm trying not to get influenced by the play in. I'm trying not to. Like. And I've had this conversation, like, even the Golden State game on, you know, Wednesday night, like, Draymond's on my list for all defensive team.

[Ryan Rosilla]

One of them, he makes two plays at the end.

[Chris Mannix]

Jesus, he's making these incredible plays. You're like. And I said to some of the warriors coaches, and they were kind of like, yeah, you know, I get your problem there. Like, Khan was so bad, like, in that. That game, you know, he's the one of nothing. You can't.

[Ryan Rosilla]

You can't let that. You're not even supposed to.

[Chris Mannix]

I know.

[Ryan Rosilla]

You know what's. You know what's really interesting is I love the hoop collective with Wind Horse McMahon, Bontemps and Bon Temps brought up. The point was like, hey, this Cooper Kahn thing's obviously very close. We think it is. Some of the math guys think it's silly that we're even having a debate about it, but he brought up a good point. He's like, hey, Khan gets this extra game, and everybody's going to be watching. You know, the schedule's light. It's only two games. Like, if Khan has this great game, could that sway. And they all kind of were like, man, what a great point. What they were not anticipating is that he wouldn't hit a three, would get benched when they went small and needed a three, and then got benched in overtime. And. And to your other point about Wemby and sga, you have to factor in all the games. You have to factor in all of it. So you're not supposed to factor in that 1 in 83. Like, I don't know that. If you're sitting there on the fence and then you're watching the 83rd game going, all right, now I'm going to vote for this guy, or I'm not going to vote for this guy, because I'm. I'm saying, like, give Khan a pass because of that. But it is human nature to have it linger in your head a little bit, which is entirely unfair to knipple.

[Chris Mannix]

Entirely unfair. But it's not just him. Like, you know, Bon Temps is right, but it's not just the one guy. It's Draymond Green as well. Like, making one of those defensive teams. It's also sixth man, like Keldon Johnson. Jaime Hawkez is a race right now. Hawkes laid an egg in that game. He was 5 of 14.

[Kyle]

Come on.

[Chris Mannix]

Like, you can't unsee these things. I'm sorry. Like, and these are the games that are most visible. I sat there. I'm not watching, like, Hornets heat during the regular season, most likely. You're a sicko. You're probably watching it. But, like, I'm not watching, like, that type of game. Like, if it's. There are other options to watch. But I'm watching that game and I'm watching Hawkeye's with a great opportunity with Bam out to show out and do some special things. Go 5 of 14 in that game. Whereas Kelvin Johnson, like, closed the season strong, you know, done a lot of things for San Antonio, made a nice closing argument. This is the closing argument. So for Draymond, who made a great one, for Hawkes, who didn't. For Caniple, who didn't either. Like, and look cannibal, he may have another chance on Friday. I don't know when these ballots are due. Like, he may have one more opportunity to have a.

[Ryan Rosilla]

We don't even have him yet. Right? That's what I'm saying.

[Chris Mannix]

I don't. Thursday afternoon. I do not have my ballot yet. So I don't. I don't know. But he could have One more shot to erase the memory of the game. You're not supposed to consider either.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah but I, I, I do want to clean up something I said there cuz Wemby like hey the earlier games this season shouldn't I hate when that happens to mvp. I hate the moment momentum part of it where it's like hey did you see this guy had like 6 terrible weeks but it was October, November or half of November into December and I'm just supposed to completely forget it when the award is representation of all of that stuff. So we're on the same page. That's why I think SGA is where I'm leaning. But I'll tell you like you're not supposed to count any of this stuff this week and I imagine some I wonder if that can nipple game. You know. I hope he lights it up tomorrow night. I hope he lights it up to balances out the whole thing because I'd hate for his game and then getting benched in that Miami game. I'd hate for that to be a tiebreaker for some voters who I do imagine think this is as close as

[Chris Mannix]

a lot of Amazon. Amazon put his face on camera over and over again in the fourth quarter at overtime sitting on the bench. It wasn't like he went under the radar that last possession when they needed a three and he's on the bench like I couldn't believe. It's in there, sitting there. He's sitting there and Amazon's got the camera on him. They're just talking about how like one of the best three point shooters in the league is now camped out of the bench. It was, it was surreal to see all that. I'm thinking the same thing that we're talking about right now. Like I should be seeing this. I should turn the TV off. Maybe Amazon's stream will go out again. I don't have to see what what's going on here. But I just, you can't unsee this stuff, man. And I'm equally. I had the same feeling about Hawkeye's too because I've been on the fence about sixth man as well. You can't unsee some of the things you saw in the last week.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Thanks for always hanging out with us. Hopefully we can do it one more time in the playoffs and get ready for this weekend, man. I'm excited.

[Chris Mannix]

You got it Ben. Anytime.

[Ryan Rosilla]

A quick word on the tool that keeps people's workflow tighter than my takes. Microsoft 365 copilot what if you could add an AI assistant to your work without leaving your workflow built into Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook. Copilot works where you work, helping you do more. In apps you already use. In Word, Copilot helps turn scatter notes into a first draft. In Excel, it generates insights from your data. And in Outlook, it cuts through the noise to get you up to speed faster. The apps you know go further with Copilot. Learn [e-mail] work bonus basketball normally we call it the Magic minute. Maybe we could have waited until after Friday night with this one, but I just wanted Serie and I to hang out a little bit and talk about that Philly win against his Magic. And again, I think I'm a little like, well, I don't think there's any doubt about it. I've been very pro Magic. I like the roster a lot. This team's been absolutely disappointing. It's the most disappointing team in the league. Incredibly frustrating. And then we're both huge Palo guys. I still dismiss a lot of the long term Paolo arguments, but a lot of this season I cannot defend and I'm willing to like go, what if I'm just completely wrong about Paolo and he's actually just this high traditional stat guy that does suck. Those like my least favorite players ever, right? And yet I've been defending the guy now for a couple of years because I think some of the efficiency stuff that didn't look very good was when everybody was hurt and he was just having monster, monster games going back, you know, a couple years ago and they were in the playoffs and you know, it wasn't like they were losing 50 games and he was a big stat counting guy. So you look at last night, Ceruti.

[Ceruti]

Disgusting.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah, go ahead, floor.

[Ceruti]

I said to Tom, who's a Philly guy, the six, that Sixers team sucks. They're not good. And that's. And that. And that is not even a diss to the Sixers, obviously. You know, say what you want about Embiid. Embiid's out.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Paul George is.

[Ceruti]

He actually played all right last night, I thought. But like the team's not very good and the Magic couldn't even score 100 points against that Sixers team. I think they scored 42 points in the second. Like, what are. It was such a bad display. Every single person on the team other than Bain, which, I mean, thank God for the Bain trade because like, I don't know, like, where, where are they without Desmond Bain this season? He played all 82 games and he was incredible. He's one of the most efficient players in the league. Without him, this team is just pure ass. And listen, I, it's not, it's not a secret. I, I, for a, for a while now, I just didn't, I wasn't sure that. I don't know how I want to say this about being disrespectful, but like, I wasn't sure Mosley was the guy to be the coach. And I don't think he's a bad guy. The players liked him, obviously for a couple years. It worked well. They played hard, he motivated them. The offense was always trash. But it's gotten progressively worse for what, two seasons now. And so, you know, I think the writing's on the wall. I know there have been reports about like, hey, you know, the Magic are going to be, you know, going to let go of Mosley or that Paula wants him traded. Like, dude, if you watch one Magic game this season, you could see how like disconnected they are from whatever they're trying to do, coaching to players. So I'm putting that aside. To me, like the Powell thing last night was disgusting. Like, it was, it was so, so bad. He looks disinterested and, you know, I'm not completely writing him off. And maybe this is the fandom in me of like, hey, the only hope that I have is that like a new coach and new staff and new system could bring out the best in him. But like from an attitude perspective, from just like where he is basketball wise, to watch him two years ago in that series against the Cavs where he led the Magic in points, rebound, I know he wasn't the most efficient, I know the turnovers were high, but it was still a seven game series for a guy in his second year. And you know, his stats were pretty good. His obviously his counting stats were good, but again, they didn't get swept to see that guy. And even the last year against the Celtics to what he's done basically this whole season and then the last two games, he's unrecognizable. He is unrecognizable. And you know, to say that the guy, you know, two years ago, if you want to have some nitpicks about him, that's fine. But I think his trajectory was that, hey, he could clean some of this stuff up. He's just clearly regressed. So I don't think he's without blame. And if you don't like the coach, that's one thing. But like the sulking, it just doesn't feel like he wants to. It just doesn't feel like the buy in is there from him. And you know, I could, I can keep going on a rant here. I'll let you talk. But like, it's incredibly disappointing to watch this team because. And it's not, by the way, it's not just Paulo. I mean, Franz. I'm going to give Franz a pass. He's still hurt, man. He's. He's not right. So if that was your takeaway from last night's game, that Franz can't play, it's like, dude, he's been hurt all season. He came back too early for the European games because he wanted to play. He was out indefinitely. Again. He's. He's not right. Suggs. I don't know what happened to Suggs. Anthony Black was okay last night. Wendell Carter is a mess. That's just the, that's just the, you know, from the Celtics loss where they're playing literally their G League team. And then, and then last night, it's like, I don't even want to win tomorrow night. Like, I'm a Magic fan. I'd rather see the Hornets in the playoffs in the Magic at this point. So that's, that's where we're at.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Let's start with Paolo. He, I mean, I wrote down a million different things here from him dribbling the ball off of his foot to getting put in.

[Ceruti]

Every single cafeterated a woman in the first row.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah, he had the, he was defensively the target there from the tip. I think he was in like four or five plays defensively where they were going to hunt him. He picked up the second foul. They actually kind of looked at the bench and said, I'm going to stay out here. Which was kind of strange. And he did avoid it being a foul trouble thing for the most part. But there was a play in the first half where he turned down an open three. And granted he's 30% from three now. He was never a great three point shooter, but it was at least enough that you thought he had to respect it. And now it's like we don't even care. And he turned down a three, right?

[Ceruti]

His, his dribble like a couple times. He would, he'd turn out like seven seconds on the shot clock. He'd turn down a wide open three and then dribble into a contested 18 footer. And it's like, this cannot, this can't be how we're playing basketball.

[Ryan Rosilla]

He had a play then where, I mean, he's just Losing the ball. If he had any kind of space, I'd be like, I think this is where he's supposed to attack. Because that's always the idea of him, somebody that big with that kind of handle, that if he gets downhill a little bit, it's just over. And you're either giving up the layup or he's going to live at the free throw line, which is something that's kind of helped some of the counting stats here. But he turns down that three in the first half, you're like, all right, fine. That's whatever. He doesn't shoot it all that great. But he had a play that, like, epitomized Paolo for me last night, is they ran this thing. He was in the left corners in the second half, and he's wide open, and I think Franz hits him, and Paolo doesn't want to take the three. The defense recovers. Now they're so late in the shot clock that he's going to have to shoot it. And he dribbles into this absurd turnaround that he's fallen in love with, which I wonder if it was like a bad habit thing that he built when they had no one else on the team, when everybody was hurt a couple years ago, and he was taking all these ridiculous shots because he kind of had to take all of these really tough shots because he was their only option. And they probably went in enough because you were like, I can't believe some of these shots he's making. And now he doesn't make them. And he turns down this open three, which, again, I understand he doesn't feel comfortable anymore. Like, you can see when he's wide open on three point line, it's like, I don't really want to do this. My numbers suck. But then it's like, all right, but look, what do you know what you turn down this open three for? You turned it down for, like, a late beat. The shot fade away. 15, 17 footer that has zero chance of going in. And Barry, on the call last night, who's not going to be, like, super critical, was like, hey, you have to take that, right? He's like, you have to take that shot. Like, you could tell in his voice. It was, like, way more pointed. And then it happened on the other side, like, a couple possessions later, where he was wide open. It was late in the shot clock. He doesn't take the three, and then he gives it to Franz, and Franz is left with the grenade, trying to figure it out off the dribble from 30ft away now, Paolo. I'll start with him because you're right, you don't like Mosley. Fine. Are you seriously, Are you this uncompetitive as a person that you're willing to just be this miserable that you're tanking your own season? Is that something about you that I didn't ever think was possible? Because I always thought there was some real motherfucker in him. And now it's like, you are so mad about your situation that you're okay playing this poorly. Like, what the hell is that? On the bigger part of it, like, the most thing has to be over. I don't even care if they win on Friday. They can't bring them back. And even if Mosley's right, which I would say, his offensive stuff has never made me go, wow, they got to keep this guy. It's been a really long time. When you ask me, like, hey, what is Orlando's offense supposed to be? I look for things to go like, I wonder what they're trying to do. There's so many possessions. It is dead stop ball in the guy's hands 30ft away. It's like, hey, figure this out. And then you could tell Bane last night has. He's had these season. These moments all season long where he's like, enough of this shit. Like, I'm just going to go Bane on everybody and try to solve it. They ran one play where Powell wasn't in, and it was like, unbelievable. It was a really nice play. It was a thing from the free throw line down. It was a switch. And then there was a role. I think Franz missed the layup and Black had to put back for the offensive rebound. And it was like, oh, my God. Like, that was. That was awesome. Like, they. They ran something. It's 83 games in, and I don't really know what their offense is supposed to be. So, you know, I'm always going to be on the players first. Because NBA coaches don't turn 30 win teams into, like, 55 win teams. All right? It's just not a sport that you're able to do that. But I'm. I'm so down on Paolo, yet still hopeful because of what I've seen so many times this season, Ceruti, that you have to fire the coach first and then see if the next guy comes in and fixes this, as opposed to deciding like, oh, do we move on from Paulo? Because you. I just don't know. As bad as it's been, I don't think you can actually do that. Yet.

[Ceruti]

No. And there's so many people being like, oh, they need to blow this up. They're not blowing it up. They're. They're like pot committed also. What. I mean, who knows? Like, maybe you could swing a Yanis trade. I don't know.

[Ryan Rosilla]

But, like, what.

[Ceruti]

What's Paulo's value right now? His. His extension kicks in this summer. Like, he's a.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Would you do Paolo for the number one pick for Sacramento there?

[Ceruti]

Why would. I mean. Yeah, but why would Sacramento do that?

[Ryan Rosilla]

So that's a. Yeah, because it's an emphatic no. A year ago.

[Ceruti]

Yeah, I do it.

[Ryan Rosilla]

You would? Yep. Wow.

[Ceruti]

Yep. And again, I'm not. I'm with you. Like, I'm not giving up on Paulo, but that's a lot of money. And again, they are. They are. Like, I saw people. I got to trade front. Like, first off, they barely even played. I mean, to give them the benefit that they. They barely played together this year. Like, they're again, another season of just injuries and it was a complete shit show. But, you know, another thing on the Bain, like, shout out to Bain again. But, like, he led. I think he was like, third in the NBA in layups this season.

[Chris Mannix]

Why is.

[Ceruti]

I mean, great. He can do these things. And it was again last night, the team was 4 of 17. I think I tweeted out, like, at the time from three, and he had taken two, and he was both of them. How are we not scheming Desmond Bain to shoot more threes? And it's been all season. Why is Desmond Bain leading, like, a top three guy in the league in layups made? Just because he can. But, like, you have other guys to do those things. That's not how the offense should run. And, you know, so it's just funny to see people that, like, helicopter in. Like, I'm not. I don't blame you, but who don't watch a lot of magic basketball being like, what the heck is this? Like, dude, this is all season. This has been all season. And if this awful, if they cared about this season, like, Mose would not be the coach. Like, and again, nice guy. I like him. I like, like that two years ago when this team was, like, terrible in offense, but played hard and was just a bitch to play against. That was one of the most fun viewing experiences I've ever had as a fan. And to think to where we were then, to where the team is now, where I genuinely want the season to be over. Like, I don't want to win tomorrow night. I don't I don't know. Back to the Powell thing really quickly. Nine playoff games, he was almost 29 points, 56 true shooting percentage, 41 and a half from three on six attempts a game, nine rebounds, four assists. That's in his nine playoff games. And then in his last two, I think he, like, he's the only player. There's only been seven players this season that have missed 15 shots in a game, has six or more turnovers, and basically had a true shooting percentage like below 35%. He's done it in back to back games like he's not the same, that those are not the same players. He is clearly either regressed, doesn't care. Like something is clearly wrong. And I guess as a fan, the hope is that, you know, with a new coach and a new system, like, he can get back on track. But the players are not blameless in this at all. Like, I'm with you. Like you can, you can, you can call out how bad Moses is in the stats, in the offense. It's all bad. But at some point, like, what the heck, like the players are still playing the game and they look like they don't kind of care at times. And that's a problem.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I can't believe a team with Suggs, with Paolo.

[Ceruti]

What's happened to Suggs?

[Ryan Rosilla]

Bronze back Wendell Bane. And then they actually. The Black story this year has been terrific. They probably should have closed with Anthony Black and figured out who they wanted to bench out of the group.

[Ceruti]

Suggs had nothing left, right.

[Ryan Rosilla]

They hit De Silva, who wasn't for everybody, and that guy's playing his ass off out there. The Kane acquisition has been terrific when Mo is healthy. And look, you can do worse than Batazi as a backup center. This team not being in the top six in the east is an embarrassment. And I want it to end too. I don't want to watch it anymore. So we'll see what happens.

[Ceruti]

For NBA fans, I'd rather the Hornets make the playoffs. So there you go. Good times. See what happens this summer.

[Ryan Rosilla]

It's never too late to improve your credit. With Experian Boost, you can raise your credit scores instantly for free. Get credit for the bills you're already paying. Add your positive rent, utility and even streaming payments to instantly increase your credit scores. Often you can boost your credit scores instantly. Here's what you need to do. If it's not working out and you're trying to fix it on your own, and it's been years and you're stuck in this, I don't want to call it a hell, But I know what it's like. I feel you. You're like, man, that sucks. Like, can I get a car to target? No. I don't even want to get embarrassed. Like, hey, we can't approve you for this couch that you wanted to rent. It's an awful feeling and it doesn't get better until it gets fixed. And that's where Experian comes in. Download the app and get started for free today. Results will vary. Not all payments are boost eligible or considered by lenders. See experian.com for details before we get to life advice. After a little magic minute or two with Ceruti, it is time to hit the board. The alliance marches on. I had no idea that I was doing this poorly. I had no idea Kyle was doing this well. I sent the sheet in. I think I'm below 40% right now, which isn't very good. And Ceruti's over 50% as well. So I am the weak link here.

[Ceruti]

We did go over on our last bet, so not great. But we're gonna bounce back. But yeah, you are at 39%. Kyle's at 64. I'm at 52%. Kyle has done well. He's 3 and 1 in our NFL. So this is including NFL, our college bets, and basically primarily our NBA bets. But it does include those. Kyle is 3 and 1 in the NFL, 2 and 1 in college. You and I are both 500 or worse than those two NBA alone. You're 6 and 10, so no better. Time to turn around the playoffs.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yikes. All right, let's do it. Yeah, we're going to have lamello.

[Ceruti]

Well, hold on.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Minus 2000.

[Ceruti]

Perfect. Oh, you're really starting there. I'm like, no. All right, There you go. I should have known. You should have known.

[Ryan Rosilla]

You too well already. The board is yours, Kyle.

[Ceruti]

Well, let me explain this quick. We're going to. We're picking one game throughout the playoffs like I know we do during the regular season. We were doing whatever we're going to do every during the playoffs. It's going to be every Tuesday, right, Kyle? I believe we're going to give the bet out on Monday, but it'll be Tuesday games. It'll be an sgp. So one game. And, you know, this week we'll obviously do it for the Friday games and starting next week, we'll do it for that. So we're going to pick one game. It's going to be magic hornets because obviously that's the official show matchup. I Mean, I guess Kyle loves Cock Brenner too. He's been out of multiple times this year. So there's a lot of guys that connections with that game. So Kyle has the best record. Start us off Magic Hornets, what do we got?

[Kyle]

Okay, Magic Hornets, you tell me if we could stick with The Desmond Bain two plus threes is minus 177 I believe. Minus 171. Two plus threes. If that's going to get us in our range, I'd be comfortable moving it up to three. But if you want to stick to two, you know, no complaints here.

[Ceruti]

Let's stick with two. You know I glanced at it because it's incredible that that's the line. Desmond Bain is the line.

[Kyle]

I think it's fired up today.

[Ceruti]

Yeah, it's almost like an indictment on the magic that his three point line is one and a half. That's insane.

[Ryan Rosilla]

A lot of magic content on the show today.

[Ceruti]

Well, it's. I feel like we, it deserved to, to be that way. So I don't hate the bet. Let's keep it at one and a half. That feels like, I mean if that doesn't hit, that's insane.

[Ryan Rosilla]

So you're Getting that at minus 1 77.

[Kyle]

Minus 171.

[Ryan Rosilla]

171 went up on mine. All right. Okay. So Rudy,

[Ceruti]

I'm going to go with the con bounce back spot here. You and Mannix talked about it. It was pretty ugly. He's our guy. Came on the pod. Love him. I looked at his three point prop. I'm just going to take his points prop. Over 17 or more points is what? Minus 116. So I think Khan has a bounce back game. He I. That kind of player kills the magic too. So I think he's going to. I think he probably would take the over in the threes as well. I think it's three plus

[Ryan Rosilla]

so no one's touching Charlotte. Minus three and a half. Even though 80% of the money's on

[Ceruti]

feels like the no brainer of all no brainers. Like you have a dead team walking against the hot, the hottest team in the NBA post all star break. But 80% of the money, man, that's where Vegas is like I don't know. I don't know.

[Ryan Rosilla]

There's a fade the public play here. There's now those two picks are in. So if I screw it up because the Bain thing has to hit that feels like it's not even fair. Poor Vegas. Do they. Are they aware yet of this?

[Ceruti]

Kyle's going to move along here.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I want to do Apollo 23 or more points, minus 117. If we just spent five minutes talking about him.

[Kyle]

I think it's been more than five collectively.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah.

[Kyle]

If you take every segment, it's probably around. We're close. Closing around 20 minutes.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I think Gladwell comes out with another book. It's just serene iron on the COVID 10,000 hours,

[Kyle]

10,000 magic minutes

[Ryan Rosilla]

came out. And then immediately, people. Not immediately. There's an immediate push, and now there's been an accepted push. It's like, yeah, total bullshit. None of it's true. Is nothing sacred? You know what? Fuck it. Give me the Hornets minus three and a half. Nothing will be funnier then. If that doesn't hit, Orlando redeems themselves, and you guys hit on both of yours, and then I screw up the alliance, and then more magic in the future. That'd be crazy.

[Ceruti]

No, I'm not.

[Ryan Rosilla]

That should help us in the payout, though, because I'm going straight.

[Kyle]

Yeah, it will.

[Ryan Rosilla]

It will. I'm picking sides here, but you're going

[Ceruti]

three and a half. You're taking the three and a half, right? You're giving the three and a half.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Essentially, I'm laying the three and a half.

[Ceruti]

Yeah.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah.

[Ceruti]

Okay. So that actually does help us. So that gets us the plus 410.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Oh, good.

[Kyle]

All right. Two threes, Desmond.

[Ceruti]

And here's the good news for everyone. There will not be a magic minute if they lose. I don't care.

[Kyle]

You promise?

[Ceruti]

Oh, I promise. I promise. I. I don't. I like. And actively. I'd actively, like, want the season to be over, so.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Well, you guys, I tweeted last round. The YouTube just put Charlotte in so I don't have to watch him again.

[Ceruti]

I.

[Ryan Rosilla]

12,000 likes. I saw that. Nice one. Yeah, I went viral last night, bro.

[Ceruti]

Yep.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I love when somebody who just doesn't be like, my notification been wild the last 24 hours. 48 likes.

[Ceruti]

Wow. Don't follow shame. Come on.

[Ryan Rosilla]

No, it's not a follow shame. It's just, shut the fuck up shame. Like, you're. You're. Things are not wild for you right now. It's a matter of perspective. Fair enough. All right. Anyway, yeah, I don't. I don't think it's cool. I'm not sitting here going, look at all the light. I felt like that was a reflection not of my impact, but of the consensus feeling about Sabrudi's magic.

[Ceruti]

Hey, we need. We need spaces and things to unite us as a country. Nothing unites us as a Country more than the Hornets. Basketball, baby. I want to see him in the playoffs, too. I. I think that would be more fun. And I root for everyone to have fun.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Okay, there you go. Check out the Latest odds on sportsbook.draftkings.com it's never too late to improve your credit. With Experian Boost, you can raise your credit scores instantly for free. Get credit for the bills you're already paying. Add your positive rent, utility, and even streaming payments to instantly increase your credit scores. Often you can boost your credit scores instantly. You want to move into an apartment? Do you have a girlfriend who wants to move into an apartment with you? Do you want to tell her, hey, by the way, my credit's terrible. How's your credit? Terrible. Had a couple problems. What have you been doing about it? Nothing. But I can't wait to have kids with you. That's not going to go good. She's not going to be into that. You're going to have to get that stuff cleaned up. Or at least tell her you have a plan in place to fix this. And you can do so by downloading the app and getting started today for free. Results will vary. Not all payments are boost eligible are considered by lenders. See experian.com for details. You want details?

[Chris Mannix]

Fine.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.

[Chris Mannix]

What's up?

[Ryan Rosilla]

I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.

[Chris Mannix]

I have every toy you can possibly imagine, and best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Let me tell you what's required. Life Advice lifeadvicermail.com Kyle and Steve in the mix. Okay, let's start with a playoff themed one here. My friend added his mom to our Celtics group chat. Whoa. Yeah. Immediate ball.

[Ceruti]

Nowhere though.

[Kyle]

Not sure it matters though.

[Ryan Rosilla]

First sentence nails your reaction. I'm not sure you'd even need any more details in this, but this is the craziest thing anyone's ever tried to do, right? She's a nice lady. We're all late 30s, but what the hell is this move? What movie is that, Steve?

[Ceruti]

I don't even know, dude. I quote things now and I'm like, what was it? It was like, hey, she's a nice lady. Oh, it's Dorothy Mantu. This anchorman.

[Ryan Rosilla]

That's right.

[Ceruti]

Right.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I got it. Have you ever added a parent to a friend group chat? Just so awkward. I don't want to make a big deal about this, but what the hell is going on here? There's already one guy's girlfriend in the chat, but she loves the Celtics and is a friend. I don't really put a filter on what I will say in the chat, but what do I say to get her out of here without making it awkward? All right, dude. I mean, what do you say? She's never really chimed in in the chat, but I don't want to ruin the rest of the chat. Is this odd? Should I do anything? It's odd.

[Ceruti]

I think your only option is to just start a group chat with his mom.

[Kyle]

Yeah.

[Ceruti]

Separate group chat. And don't tell him.

[Kyle]

And then make sure that guy fucking knows not to do that shit again. Yeah, like, you just have to. A short story. I was one of the first ringer holiday parties. Like, we only had, like, two of them, and then we just stopped. But it was like there was a group. It was like, James Baby Doll Dixon

[Ryan Rosilla]

and some, like, fucking stop.

[Kyle]

Then we just stopped. I don't know. I think maybe people were worried, I guess. I think a lot of holiday parties have phased out, you know, just like,

[Ryan Rosilla]

you know, too much liability.

[Kyle]

The ingredients are all there. If you just put them together in the wrong way to give a cocktail of destruction. But there was, like. It was, like, James Babydell Dixon, and a couple other, like, heavy hitters. And they're all, like. They're outside smoking and stuff. And I come up with my wife. Well, brand new girlfriend at the time. And everyone just fucking stops talking. And Dixon looks at me, like, disgustedly, and I'm like, brand new. And I'm like, wow. Like, I wish I could have that one back. Not that there's anything wrong with this guy's mom or my girlfriend at the time, but it just changed the vibe. And, like, the whole, like, the good times stopped, and I was just like, man, wish I could have that one back. So don't fucking do that again.

[Ceruti]

It's a good learning moment, though. No, I never forgot. Yeah, I never forgot, you know, self awareness. The only. My only thing with my explanation is, like, you don't want to take it now the mom is catching strays. Now all of a sudden, it's like, hey, I'm in this group chat that nobody talks in the group chat. That kind of sucks, too.

[Kyle]

You got to keep it on life support.

[Ceruti]

It's not her fault.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Her son.

[Ceruti]

Or maybe it's her fault that her son is completely unaware of how social hierarchy works. But,

[Ryan Rosilla]

hey, mom, what were some of your priorities in raising Dave? I think what you just said is really smart, though. Like, keep it on life support so that she doesn't know, because everybody wants to be nice to older people, you know, and the fact that she hasn't really chimed in yet, that's probably better. But at the same time, like, you're not going to put stuff in there that a mom wouldn't be psyched about. So I think the alternative thread is a good start. I think, you know, maybe just like, hey, what a shot by Jalen once or twice a week, just to maybe let her feel like she's involved. Yeah. Can't believe that call. I mean, you could bang these seconds. Yeah, yeah.

[Ceruti]

Amazing. Hashtag jets,

[Kyle]

so.

[Ryan Rosilla]

But I just can't believe somebody would do that. Like, I've been. I think we've all. You know, you get put on a thread, like, sometimes when there's something that needs to be coordinated, then all of a sudden, like, a bunch of new people that aren't used to being on text with each other are just all of a sudden on text. And it's, like, kind of fun in the beginning. Cause guys are like, you know, trying to fire off the whole time, but you're watching it, going, this is never going to last.

[Kyle]

Maybe the guy was drunk. I did that last weekend. I put two of my buddies who are beefing, had a few, put them on a text thread, and they're both like, what the fuck are you doing? I was like, man, I'm sorry.

[Ceruti]

You've done that to me before.

[Kyle]

Thought we were going to solve this.

[Ryan Rosilla]

They're.

[Kyle]

Don't do that shit again. So, you know, a couple libations, you start thinking you could save the world.

[Ryan Rosilla]

So, I don't know. You did that Swiss. Yeah.

[Ceruti]

Do you remember? I forget what I think. I was coming to LA for something. It was probably a short trip. Maybe it was like, you know, one of our. What are they? What are they? Effort. What they call them. What were they called? Core Week.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah.

[Ceruti]

Yeah. And you threw me on a text with Titus and Tate and it was like, hey, we're going to hang out. And both. I could just tell the bio, both those guys were like, yeah, dude.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Like, sure.

[Ceruti]

Like, what's up? Like, I didn't. I never. I'm both really nice guys. Happy. I was on the text thread, but I was like, kyle, I don't know that this is gonna go the direction you're thinking it's going.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I appreciate it, though, if you could

[Kyle]

have geotagged that conversation. It was probably right off Hollywood Boulevard, but anyway.

[Ceruti]

But then. No, but that's why I loved it from you, because I just knew, like, this is like, you were just pumped I was coming out there. You wanted, like, you know, hey, let's get people together. It was all good, hard, in classic you fashion. But it just wasn't gonna. That. That group chat wasn't gonna, you know, be for long.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yep. I wonder, is it worse to put a dad on it?

[Kyle]

No, No, I don't think. I think in the hierarchy of whose feelings you'd want to hurt less, mom is. Somebody's mom is at the top.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Right. I understand the initial reaction is that I'm wrong with this, but the dads can get real active on it.

[Ceruti]

Yeah, that's like their one outlet.

[Ryan Rosilla]

And they just. Yeah, it's just a very low hit rate.

[Kyle]

Yeah. A couple of the old friends moved away, you know, or passed away, and it's like, man, we got time passed.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I mean, the guy's 30.

[Ceruti]

Pretty soon you're getting like, boomer Facebook memes in there. It's like, what did this become? What. What's happening?

[Ryan Rosilla]

That's what I'm saying. I feel like the moms don't do that as much. The dad's like, this is. I got a new thing. Like, is this AI Golf? Yeah.

[Ceruti]

You see this eagle? It just starts.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I got a really good lead on this bitcoin thing from this guy. Just got a message from you guys into this. So alternate thread, let the guy know that he messed up. Keep this one on life support just for feelings. Yeah.

[Ceruti]

Y. Yeah. Respect to the moms, obviously.

[Ryan Rosilla]

All right, what else do we have here? I'm terrified of being a skinny B word. 33 years old. 6 foot 7, 2 30. Well, it's pretty good bench. 275. I don't really squat anymore because I have awful leverage and will inevitably hurt myself. However, my max was in the 300 pound range. Player comp. I was like Russell Westbrook for a few months when I used to take Adderall and pre workout before playing pickup. My God, dude, those are in the pre fully developed brain days. Hey, guys, a while ago, on life advice, Ryan mentioned how it was socially acceptable for skinny kids to get fun of. And I really felt that between my sophomore and senior years of high school, I was around 656 7, maybe. Weighed 185 pounds, my absolute peak. I got called every name in the book. Skeletor, Lerp, Beanpole, Treebeard. Solid Treebeard despite having zero facial hair, you name it. And it wasn't just friends, coaches, friends, and even some of the girls would point it out. All those comments hit A little harder, especially when my friends were putting on size and getting stronger while I looked like the before photo in a creatine ad. I had game, but I was constantly losing playing time to guys who outweighed me. To this day, I still have a weird fear of being viewed as skinny. I don't have the same metabolism I had back then. I even reached 259.8 pounds at one point. Well, dude, that's enormous. That's 67260. Before realizing I should probably lose some weight, mostly because I had to accept that I'm not an NFL tight end. Right now. I'm doing a cut, and I constantly have to remind myself that I'm not the same skinny kid anymore. I want to achieve a certain goal, but mentally, it's still a battle. So my question, especially for Ryan, since you've talked about being skinny growing up, do you ever really get over that, or is it just one of those weird body image things that stick with you forever? I want to look shredded, but not at the expense of looking like a twig. I'm down £25 since February 1st. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, you're not skinny anymore. So, like, what I guess is the question. Does it haunt me?

[Ceruti]

It's so funny that you said that. I think it does.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I was thinking, like, I don't want

[Kyle]

to get too fucking shredded before you ever even get on the treadmill. Like, you haven't been to the gym since January 1st. That you're like, I mean, I don't want to go too hard. It's like, why don't you just work out what you got in front of for about.

[Ceruti]

That's like someone of, like, Chet stature being like, I don't want to get too bulky.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I don't. I don't want to bulk up.

[Ceruti]

It's like, hey, dude, like, I think you're gonna be all right.

[Kyle]

One step at a time.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah. A lot of it is just metabolism, like, who you are or whatever. Like, I could still, at my age, if I wanted to just lose a ton of weight really quickly, I. I could. I don't want to. And the reason.

[Ceruti]

Your happiness to mass. Like, whatever that is.

[Kyle]

It's correlated.

[Ceruti]

Yeah.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah. I mean, just to review, I hated it. I hated it so much. And there really wasn't much I was going to be able to do about it until I started to fill out. And it took a really, really long time. And I kind of always knew in the back of my head, I was like, one day I'm going to fix this. Like, one day I'm going to fix this. And that's all there is to it. Like, I'm just. I knew I was like, I'm not going to be like this. I'm not going to be a skinny adult. And I don't know, whatever. You could say I've prioritized the wrong things and some of you would have very good arguments. But. It doesn't. I don't really think about it too much now. I mean, it's been probably like 24 years since that first, like, ooh, I've turned here. Yeah, because even when you first started working out, it's just like, if your body doesn't want to do it, it's like you can. You can do a bunch of different stuff. You can eat a ton. You can work out like crazy and everything. But I really believe in the man's strength, the man size thing, where I think once you're past that, you probably don't have to worry about necessarily going back to, like, high school phase. Super skinny.

[Ceruti]

So some people are dying to get back to that, you know?

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah, right. I mean, some people prefer, like, hey, like, the concern about what, your waist size in the jeans. And if somebody goes from a 34 to a 36, they're like, depressed about it. Like, who cares? You know? So I wouldn't care if I had to wear a 36, but I'm not walking around going like, God, I wish I was a 32 again.

[Kyle]

Well, that's progress.

[Ceruti]

Yeah. I had like, the opposite. Because I was also skinny, you know, for most of my life. Some would say I still am, although I'm kind of skinny fat now. I feel like I'm not in good shape, but, you know, still look, I still am skinny, but I always felt like I'd rather be, like, on the slimmer side than on the. Like, that has a too. A few too many pounds on a guy. Like, I'd rather I had to have one side of the spectrum. I was like, oh, at least I'm on this side of the spectrum. So I never had that, like, body dysmorphia thing that I feel like you had where you were just like, I can't believe I'm this skinny. Like, I'd rather just be bitch big. Mine was the exact opposite. Like, how do I. Like, if I have to pick one, I'm happy to have this lane.

[Ryan Rosilla]

That's interesting.

[Ceruti]

But I didn't have buddies. Like, I don't know, I wasn't in, like, the. I Wasn't really in, like, the jock group, so I didn't have guys, like, making fun of me for not doing creatine and having muscle mass. So, like, you know, we probably just ran a different circles a little bit.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah, but you're on the football team, Bow. I didn't say captain. I didn't say captain this time, like,

[Ceruti]

bringing this stuff up.

[Ryan Rosilla]

But, yeah, but, no, I, like. So no one on the football team was giving you as a. I wasn't

[Ceruti]

one of those, like, meathead. I wasn't one of those, like, because, you know, there were guys and good for them, like, they were gym rats and wanted to get bigger and whatever. I was never. I played. I played golf in the spring, like, when guys were doing lifting things. So, like, it wasn't like there were just different things that we were interested in at that point. I was friendly with, like, the kind of that group, but I wasn't, like, that wasn't like my core group. So, you know, the core group was more like, hey, we played video games and golf and also played football.

[Ryan Rosilla]

So when you came out of the tunnel, you weren't screaming, I'm going to fucking kill someone today?

[Ceruti]

No, I wasn't. Although, listen, I still. You can still get me to feel some crazy nostalgic vibes with, like, a good high school locker room mix. Like, oh, man, that. Like the knock back in the. Oh. First off, Linkin park is. I was trying. Somebody was talking about this, like, when Smells Like Teens do we talk about this on the pot? I forget, like, what we've talked about, but, like, hey, when Smells Like Teen Spirit came out for people, like. Like, you know, around your age, I guess, right? It was like, hey, I've never heard anything like this before. That's how I feel about Linkin Park. It's like, what the hell? This is unreal. And to this day, I think that stuff still holds up. Not the current band, obviously. Chester's.

[Ryan Rosilla]

You know, honestly, Surya, I think you hit on something really good there, though, that. I mean, it's kind of a simple way to go about it, but, like, you have to decide what you're okay with and, like, what you want. And you have probably a much healthier perspective on it that you're just like, hey, this is where I'm at and I'm good with it.

[Ceruti]

This is what I was dealt with.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I hated myself. All right? It's not funny. Well, I don't give a shit. I mean, sit there and say you have an ego and be like, yeah, I have an ego. And I like certain things. I also know what it was like to not like anything about myself, and I prefer this because the other time wasn't a blast. But look, it just what's important to you and to the email or anyone listening to that kind of stuff. Like, all right, if you don't ever want to be skinny, just make sure you're going to have to. It's not just going to happen. You're not going to avoid it. Unless, depending on what your metabolism is and all that kind of stuff, you'll have to stay at it. And if it bothers you that much, pretty much anything like this. If it bothers you that much, then you'll likely do something about it. And by the way, you've emailed in. You hit 260 at 6 7. That's. I don't think you have to worry about it anymore. I think tall.

[Ceruti]

Tall. I mean, you're what, 6, 2, 6, 1? Tall skinny is probably worse than like. Like 5, 10 skinny. Like, I was just an average guy, right. When you're tall and skinny, I wonder if there's like, a bigger mental hurdle.

[Kyle]

I don't know. I had like five good years there. I didn't feel anything.

[Ceruti]

Five good years.

[Ryan Rosilla]

I did.

[Kyle]

I had really great five years. At the end of my sophomore year, my dad picked me up, gave me a little belly pat, and he's like,

[Ryan Rosilla]

whoa, what's going on?

[Kyle]

And then we just were on a. We were just on a bit of a trail from then.

[Ryan Rosilla]

So what are you. You talking 16 years old? How tall were you?

[Kyle]

I was like six two. And so like junior year, so those two years of high school, freshman year, my year off, and then the end of the sophomore year, right around the end of the sophomore year, I busted my ankle really bad playing basketball and just didn't really get back out there. But never would miss the drinking night. So I'd be out in like a walking boot, you know, just drinking my weight and beer. And then, you know, it just wasn't getting a whole lot better. So the second. The spring semester sophomore year was a little bit less active than all the other ones. And I was like, whoa, we storage some mass here, huh?

[Ceruti]

To Kyle's point. To your point, I've seen some pictures of you, and I'm like, there's some Abercrombie and Fitch model vibes going on here. You got the shell necklace like you got the hair. Yeah, I wouldn't doubt it. I don't doubt it for a second.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Well said. All right.

[Ceruti]

I don't even know where we were at on that. But, yeah, hopefully it works out.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Hopefully it works out. I think he's just in a much better place than maybe he's giving himself credit for, or maybe because he was so haunted by everything that happened to him when he was younger. It's this constant fear, which I completely understand. But then use that to motivate yourself.

[Kyle]

Yeah, I think unless you're sick, you're not going to snap back to that old metabolism that you're afraid of. I mean, I think you would.

[Ryan Rosilla]

You'd probably be wishing for it at this point. All right, I saw one. I don't remember if it was older. Oh, no, no, here we go. We got an update here. I don't even know if we read the first one. I forget. All right, five, ten, no gym stats, basketball comp. Draymond Green with worst shooting. Underrated defender, though. So I need some advice on a situation at work that's been low key. Getting under my skin. For context. I'm Puerto Rican. My name is Fernando Vargas. Yeah, I know. That already sets the stage. I've basically been hearing the same joke for 25 years at this point, ever since Felix Tito Trinidad fought Fernando Vargas. So trust me, this is not new to me, but there's this dude at work, new job, just started four months ago, who will not let it go. Every time my name comes up, every meeting, every casual conversation, he finds a way to bring up how Tito beat Vargas like clockwork. At first it was funny, I laughed it off, whatever. But now it's every single time. Same joke, same energy. Just like he discovered it yesterday and recently across the line a bit. I asked a legit question during a serious meeting. Instead of just answering, he goes, you still concussed from the Trinidad fight? Then proceeds like nothing happened.

[Ceruti]

Did anyone laugh? It was the vibe in the room. I wonder.

[Ryan Rosilla]

And it's not even malicious in an obvious way, but it's constant. It's like my identity at work is just reduced to that one fucking fight I had had nothing to do with. I don't want to come off as sensitive or kill a vibe, but at the same time, it's getting old fast. Do I check him and risk making it awkward or just keep letting it ride and hope he eventually gets bored? What's the move here, by the way? I'm Team Cerriti all the way. Love that dude. Update. Since the original email didn't make the show, well, now it did. The dude has kept the joke going on and on and On. So I finally checked the guy. I pulled him aside and told him it was getting old, kept it calm, nothing crazy. He said, my bad. And I thought we were good. A couple days later, HR hits me up. I'm on the call, like, wait, what did I do? Turns out he went to complain that, I quote, can't handle a joke. So now I went from being the one getting clowned to the problem. Now the office is awkward and I've got HR involved. At this point I'm just wondering, was I supposed to take that low effort joke forever? Love the pod. Keep doing God's work. That sucks.

[Kyle]

Reminded me of like a Tim Robinson skit, you know, with that guy Connor. Is it Connor o'? Malley?

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah.

[Kyle]

He's like the guy in the office who can't stop. Like it's. It seemed like one of those things. But it's so strange that he says HR is involved because every training I've ever done is like, you take a risk when you make a joke. It's not about. It's not about intent, whatever. It's like so funny that HR is.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Glad you still remember that.

[Kyle]

Good guy. I just had to do another one.

[Ryan Rosilla]

You do take a risk every time you make a joke, Kyle. Yeah, so.

[Kyle]

But it's just funny that the thing this guy is like going to HR saying, like, this guy can't handle my jokes. Which is like the last thing you'd

[Ryan Rosilla]

ever want to say to hr. I don't really have any advice, but it's fucking. Yeah, you're right though. Like, what was his pitch? Hey, I've been working this material. It's killer material. And this, this guy. Remember this? Get it? Remember the Tito fight?

[Kyle]

Yeah. You know, you know, it's.

[Ryan Rosilla]

The problem is he went to HR first because he's a loser. I'm sorry. I'll never ever forget this. There wasn't a ton of hr, minor league baseball and all these other things, but when you get to espn, it's a big corporation and I don't know, I didn't even know what it was really. And I was part time forever, so I was never taking any of those corporate training things. They didn't even want you in there. It was no problem. Don't worry about it. But a guy who I liked and I don't dislike, now I just don't talk to him anymore. But I'll never forget he had an issue with another person in our department. And I think it was like an on air producer thing. And the on air guy was to be Honest, like, day to day. He wasn't always a great hang. He wasn't a bad guy by any means. He wasn't one of the bad guys, but he was just someone that you never quite knew, you know, how. How he was going to be set off. And he could kind of, like, get a little pissed at the staff a little bit. And so the producer went to hr, and I was like. And he told me. I was like, yeah, you guys had an argument or something like that? He's like, yeah, I went to hr. And I was like, you went to HR over that?

[Ceruti]

That's crazy.

[Ryan Rosilla]

And. And he was like, well, I went before he did. And I'm like, oh, so that's what you're supposed to do? He's like, yeah. Because I was afraid, like, if he went first, then I'm lower. And it's like, all right. But now you just. Just opened up this, like, whole thing. You gotta, like, do stuff now, right? It's like, yeah, yeah, I really do now stuff. Has to think that one through. Yeah. So I. I'll be. I kind of was like, oh, my. Like, I can't believe another dude would do that. But again, that was my lack of corporate understanding with any of this stuff. So what you're dealing with here is somebod that just is playing the game in a way where now you're getting the phone call and look, I don't know how much HR had to do that day. They might have been psyched.

[Kyle]

We'll write it down. Yeah, thanks. Thanks.

[Ryan Rosilla]

But it's likely going to be nothing ever, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. And so you may end up, like, you're annoyed now, and you have every right to be annoyed. And I think it's incredibly lame that this guy would do this and that he just keeps wearing out the same material over and over again. But in reality, what was more important, the vibe or the joke stopping? Well, the easiest probably stopped.

[Kyle]

The easiest path is just like, whenever you guys are in the break room and somebody said something funny, he's like, oh, you guys think we should loop bread in on this? Or what do you think to see? Get an X pair out.

[Ryan Rosilla]

He might go to HR again, though.

[Kyle]

I know, but he's the one who went. Because you can't take a joke. So it would be extra funny if he actually had the stone to go

[Ceruti]

to make more jokes.

[Ryan Rosilla]

Yeah.

[Ceruti]

I mean, this guy's so clearly in the right. I don't even. I don't even know where to begin here. There's, like, nothing else to really say. Is the, is, are they peers? Like, are they on the same level? Did we establish that? Like, does he have any sort of seniority over him or are they just like, the same level? Because if that, like, that also, like, kind of, I guess changes the calculus on it a little bit, but for the same level, like, what, what do we, I mean, I would just kind

[Ryan Rosilla]

of nothing was noted here, which makes

[Kyle]

me think it's probably an even playing field.

[Ceruti]

Just a guy. Yeah. Yeah. I, I, I can't imagine anything's coming from that HR meeting, but, I mean, it's, it sucks.

[Ryan Rosilla]

And it's very easy for anyone not in a situation to sit there and say it, but, like, there has to. There'd be a great, like, if you could just go, okay, cool. Like, this guy sucks. Now the joke stops. And now things are a little bit awkward now, but now when I look at him, like, it's just instead of me being mad at him or trying to anticipate how he feels about me now, like, not caring is the ultimate move. Like, not getting mad at him, knowing that the joke, if he says some sort of, like, remark or whatever, you just be like, like, I'm not the one that fucking told.

[Kyle]

Yep, there it is.

[Ceruti]

Right?

[Ryan Rosilla]

You know, are you serious? So good luck with that. All right, that'll do it for the show today. Thanks to Tom, to Kevin, to Ceruti, and of course, Kyle. Enjoy the playoffs. We're going to have a ton of content for you coming out next week. Get on the YouTube page. Big Monday show. We've got a huge draft surprise, so we're very excited about that. Thank you, Cerutty, for teasing that as well. So make sure you subscribe. Brian Rossillo Show Personal Sports.