Can Wemby’s Spurs Shake Off a True Gut Punch? Plus: Adam Friedland on NYC Coming Alive, Trump at MSG, and the World Cup.

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All right, we're coming to you live on Netflix between Game 2 and Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Adam Friedland coming up in a little bit. First time, he's ever been on the BS podcast. I'm excited to talk to him.

I have a bunch of random reactions coming off Game 2, heading into the rest of this series. And because I'm an experienced professional. He's had a podcast for over 20 years. I feel like I can do this on the fly.

I wrote that a bunch of stuff.

First of all, most incredible next playoff

when Game 2, since LG's 4.5. Brunson goes 7 for 25 for 20 points, and they still win. They don't get a single call for 90 minutes, other than a challenge that they challenged, and won the challenge to get the OG3.

They still win. They blow a 14-point lead in the last six minutes of Game 2. They still win. They have towns absolutely destroying Wemby in the first half of the game.

So the point that at half time, Shack and Kenny had to do like a long Mia Coppa. I was right there with him to cement his sudden arrival

“as one of the 12 most important guys in the league.”

We will talk about that a little bit later. Yeah, Bridges leaving his own body, and officially making everybody who's ever criticized with the game up in that net straight. Myself included in the last year just because they gave up

all the assets they would have needed to get yawness, but who needs yawness now? You're two wins away from the title. So you had this incredible Bridges game. And then you had Wemby closing with a really horrific

three-point airball that got lost in what happened next. A horrible two-for-one follow a 22-footer. The first two things in the last 40 seconds to this game that I hate. One is we gotta get a two-for-one,

and you know getting a terrible shot. I'd rather just get one awesome shot.

And then the foul to give I just have always hated.

And they did the foul to give, which of course, when Wemby found sprints at one, 10 seconds left, you have no foul to give and something that he shouldn't free throws. You have an all-time iconic people screaming out loud

as it's happening bad turnover with Wemby, which we'll get to in a second. You've already heard people talk about it for two days. I have some additional thoughts. And then you have a wide open 18-foot miss

from a 22-year-old guy that was actually a really good shot. The question is whether that's the right play in the right moment for somebody like that who's been kind of skating backwards in the last two minutes of the game,

but the castle play throwing the ball off his back.

“I think was the closest we've seen in the NBA”

to the Chris Weber timeout play in college against North Carolina. For a bunch of reasons, one, the coach is standing next to Wemby. And he's doing this. He's telling him to go to push it 'cause he doesn't want to call a timeout to set up a play.

I don't know why he was so excited to have his 7-foot 7-center dribbling the ball up with 10 seconds left at a must-win game. I probably would have rethought that. There's a great angle of Wemby from the other side

and he's got both of his point cards to his right. Doesn't even look at him. Looks forward, Castle, I'm torn on this 'cause I think Castle thinks Wemby's gonna take the ball down which he's done in the past.

So he's starting to put his head down and run.

you want the ball, you're gonna come to the ball, you're ready for the ball. And Castle's, you know, he's a guard. He's not a real-point guard. If that's Fox or Harper, they're turning around.

They're trying to get the ball from Wemby because they want the car keys in that moment. And it was just an absolute cluster of fuck. And I kind of couldn't believe it as it was happening.

“It was, I think one of the all-timers for an "Oh, no!"”

And everybody had that reaction. There were great reactions that people captured all over the place. But when I think about, you throw that plan

and then have the game ended and just blowing an incredible

come back, the most damaging, non-clinching, non-injury finals of the last 50 years. So we're moving all the game sevens. We're moving stuff like caliber and last year. It's okay, see, 'cause that's probably number one,

like losing your best guy in a game seven. I went to the JR Smith game in 2018, which was another "Oh, no!" Where they get the rebound and just, okay, and you couldn't even believe it as it was happening.

The Ray Allen Shot game six, 2013, against Miami, Avisavza, that game two. The crazy Celtic's game four come back in 2008. The totality of coming back from 2004 and then feeling like they completely broke the acres at the end.

Wade Salvatore, game five, Miami Dallas, 2006. Now we blended game three and game five together in our heads

and just thought Miami got all the calls for both of those games

and they did get a lot of calls and game three. Game three was a much better game

“and also had, I think dirt missed a big free throw, one point.”

But the heat climbed back a lot of people involved. It was just more of a traditional awesome comeback. Game five was pretty awful in the moment and culminated in Miami winning and Cuban doing the thing where he just stared at David Stern from the court.

He was so angry. I wrote a very upset call about after that game. That was pretty egregious. And you just felt like he felt like that. It was done after that game.

And then again, Anderson game, which a lot of people brought up in 1995 is another one, the Four Miss Free throws. I see the comparisons with the 95 magic in this spurs team what happened, but you can't really compare those two games

for this reason. The magic had the game, it was over. And he missed four straight free throws. And three and four were like you're watching somebody's career flash before their eyes.

“And when he missed it, then it goes to an OT, I think,”

and then they ended up losing. But that was much more of a, we had it. Oh my God, I can't believe we blew this game. Whereas the spurs game, they clawed back. They almost won.

They had to make a couple play stops. It was a back and forth game. And even though it was devastating, trust me, it was not like the Nick Anderson game. Isaiah is spraying ankle in 1988

where the pistons are up three to. They're better than the wakers out here.

Isaiah gets hurt, still is a 25 in the third quarter.

And then they end up blowing at late. Magic Junior Skyhook, I was at this game. 1987, game four, Seltzer up six with two minutes left. And it just becomes an operatic collapse culminating in the Junior Skyhook.

And then bird missing, which we captured in the Celtic City documentary, Bird missing, the three-poor to win it by about one, 100th of an inch. That was the most devastated I've been after again. And then Henderson's steel in game two of the 1984 finals.

The lakers are going to finish off the Celtics and probably sweep or win in five. And then worthy throws at Henderson goes in over time. So that from the last 50 years, those are the worst ones. And I really do think that game two

with the spurs is on that list. Because having your best guy in the guy who's supposed to be the next guy, like LeBron in 2007 was 22 and he made the finals. They just got their ass kicked.

Nobody remembers a single thing about that finals. So it wasn't anything you could really hang on LeBron and be like, "Oh, that play." When me is just about the best player ever to have a really dopey play like that, it happened to him.

And we'll see how he responds over the next couple games. But that was about as bad as it gets for a great player. And I think if I'm doing blame pie, castle 20% for just turning around and running forward, I'm just trying to get the ball from my center.

Mitch Johnson, at least 50% for not calling a timeout. And then Wendy, who I just think brain-farted and kind of panicked when he should have been like, where's Harper and where's Fox? Those are the two guys that need to get the ball do.

So I put him at like 30 to 35%. That's probably too much blame pie. That might have been 105% of a blame pie, whatever.

I was stunned by even that night, as I was thinking about it. The spurs have five of the worst playoff losses.

“And I think their five is worse than anyone else's five.”

They lost the Rayow and Shot Game, which is the worst loss. Anyone's had in the history of the NBA finals. The Derek Fisher 0.4 shot in 2004, where the spurs were just better than the Lakers that year met, that's still a pretty stupid series.

And Fisher just getting a jump shot off in four tenths of the second.

I don't even know if that's legal by the rules we have now. But that was devastating, especially because Timmy had made a big shot right before that to give them the lead. That's two. Made a new fouling dirt up three in the last like 20 seconds,

game 7, 2006. And we love Manu and Manu as a great player. And it was just he was trying to challenge the play. I actually don't think he did the wrong thing. But he fouls dirt.

dirt gets the three point play goes in over time Dallas wins. The Wemby Castle pass has to be up there. And then that famous Rod Strictly in 1990 play.

I was in college for that one.

“Although I think that was probably out of classes by that point.”

But that was an all-timeer throws it over his head backwards. And ends up Portland ends up-- not only did he turn the ball over by throwing it over his head, but like 30 seconds to nobody. Portland gets a fast break, which he then hardfowls the guy in the fast break.

And I think it ends up being two free throws in the ball. So those five plus you got to go with the spurs in 1979, blew it. Three-one lead to the bullets. And he game seven Bobby Danger just kills them with 10 seconds left. Now that wasn't like a screw up, but it was a really horrible,

like collapse. We thought George Garboy was going to be in the finals. And then Dangerous matches them.

I think Garboy in 1942, Dangerous had like 35, 37.

And he made the big shot with 10 seconds left. I think I put some thought into this. That's the worst five losses. If you're going to top five worst losses by franchise, nobody can touch that. Ray Allen, Fisher, May and Newfowl and Dirk,

the Wemby Castle pass and Rod Strictly. I need to either one or two words to explain each of those moments and you knew what I was talking about. So that part's not another one. A next final sweep, which I think was 16 to one on Fandoil before the finals.

I think would be one of the two craziest outcomes in the history of the finals. If you're just talking, I'm not talking about Upset's craziest team that one. And I'm just talking about Outcome, a next sweep.

“The only thing you can compare to that is 95, the rockets sweeping Orlando.”

Which I can't remember. I bet on Houston and that is one of my favorite bets I've remade betting on Houston. That series that you not have this sweep, I don't think. But that pistons in five over the Wakers in 2004. I think if you thought that pistons were going to win that one,

you wouldn't have thought it was going to be that decisive. And then I think the 91 bulls beat in the Wakers in five would be another one. Because that was a classic. It was a little like this series actually. Is the young team ready?

The old team would know how veterans who do you have. I picked the Wakers that series. I bet on the Wakers that series. And the bulls won in five. But I would think this is one of the two most shocking outcomes along with the Houston Orlando.

Sweep, the other thing is if they win the title, I think this becomes our premier MBA example of experience over youth. Because it used to be the 95 rockets over the magic. I think it would now flip to this. Because that 95 magic team did have that a Brian Shaw that Horace Grant was like this.

It was this completely young team. I think the spurs feel younger to me than that team. A writer named Nupes Christianson, a mailbag writer, said, I had a thought about Nick Spurs. I present the YMCA test.

Imagine if it were the championship game for the best league at your local YMCA. Team A has five very talented players ages 21, 22, 24, 25, 28. They're playing Team B, which might be slightly less talented. But still talented and their players are 28, 29, 29, 31 and 30. Are you taking the more talented, but younger Team A or the veteran Team B, the YMCA test?

I kind of like this. There's been some other YMCA battles. Like I think the a really good one was the 2011 Thunder against the 2011 Mavericks. It was one of my favorite ones for these. But then you'll have the next year where the 2012 Thunder

we thought that was another YMCA test series and they beat the spurs.

All right, so what do?

“What are the spurs have to do to flip a series down to games?”

So you can either be down to 20 or 31 in a series. I went back and I looked at all the times we've been in this situation in the finals. And what you learn is you need some sort of dramatic karma changing momentum changing something. And you don't know what it is. It could be as simple as the president decided to go to game three.

I'm sorry, too soon. 2021 sons. They won. I'm sorry, they won the first two at home and then

blew the series to the box, right? Well, what happened in that series? Post COVID a little weird. That was the that was we're sitting in the stands with some people were a mass of the people. It was just a weird vibe for that whole thing.

“But game five had one of the craziest sequences that games in Phoenix. The series is tied”

into after Milwaukee won their two at home. And then you have that one where Drew Holiday comes fine and steals the ball from Booker. They get the fast break the other way and the awesome crazy all-time athletic Aleuk Tianus. And it was one of those sequences. Like holy shit, walk is good when the finals now. So that's one. But 2016 cabs was the bigger one. That was the drama on suspension after game four. And I've talked about this for but the cabs lose game four

at home to go and state. It's one of the best games of the 2010s. The words are better than them. They finish them. And then at the end of the game, LeBron goes straight on into the technical and that flips that one. 2006 heat. You have that game three come back. I mentioned earlier where they're down 13 with six minutes left. The heat score 22 points in the last six minutes and they get dirt to miss the one and two free throws that in the last 10 seconds that gets them to win

it. That flips a little that win game four and then game five's that been in Salvador game. And then the 1977 blazers is the other one. They're down two out of filly. And at the end of that game, there's a huge fight with Darryl Dawkins and Morris Lucas. And Dawkins is so mad after the game that he like destroys the locker room. He feels like the sixers didn't help him. And it kind of fucked the team up. So I would say that counts for some sort of momentum shift. There's one time

out of all of those. So I have the 2021 bucks, 16 calves, 067 blazers, which is your best hope for the spurs because almost 50 years later, they're very similar to that 77 blazers team. Young core, Wendy is Bill Lawton, fall down on two in the finals. Everybody thinks the series is over. The 93 sons go down O2 to the Chicago balls. They have a crazy game three that's like one of the lost great NBA games triple overtime triple overtime game three in the sons win. They beat Michael

Jordan in Chicago, right? Feels like they flipped the momentum back. What happens? The bullseye

Michael Jordan. And he scores 55 in game four and basically just says no way, you're not coming back.

So that's the one time when the momentum shift happened and then the team that was up to

“well that I could think of stayed rough. So how do you flip a series down two games?”

You need something crazy to happen in game three. I don't think it can just be a win. I think it has to be either the next collapse, the vibes are weird. Wendy puts up a 50, 30, something crazy has to happen Monday night for the series to flip. It can't just be, oh, the spurs played better and they won. It's got to be like a tangible flip because no team has ever lost the first two at home and then won the series. So you would need something really dramatic. The

goodness for them is they do have a really great player, even if he has 100% played like it and the final so far, which brings me to Wendy. So this is something I remember talking about two years ago with Anthony Edwards after game three of the Dallas series, which was really bad for both him in towns. And on the Sunday night pod was talking about other levels of this with the playoffs and you don't know it until you're in it and it's just really hard for guys 28, 21, 22, 23

as everything gets harder as you're seeing the same same team, you know, maybe seven times in two weeks. There's levels to it. There's ways you get pushed mentally and physically that you've

just never dealt with before and sometimes you can see young players no matter how great they are,

you could feel it start to break their brain. And it happened a little with Edwards. He did

finals he was 22, he's got 36% had almost six turnovers again. Tatum at age 23 and the 22 finals

“against Golden State's a good example. He just really unraveled and it was fatigue and how the”

Warriors were to finish him. He shot 37% but you could feel it in the last few games. He just could feel him losing, losing control of all the stuff that he was so good at. Shack in the 95 finals just getting killed by a hook game. KD is a good one. He's age 22 and that Dallas series I mentioned both him and Westbrook. She's felt really young in that series. KD only shot 42% in that series but Dirk really took it to him. An underrated one was Derek Rose in the 2011 Miami series when it was

like is it too early for Derek Rose? Like that Miami team was pretty limited. I mean they basically had the three guys in Haslan. Rose shot 35% just just couldn't put it together and that series. The one example of somebody pretty that I thought acquitted themselves well and actually didn't didn't feel at all like they were young was Luca in that Golden State series in 2000 22. He's pretty good in that series. Go back and look at the stats. He was not the reason they lost.

Then his stats in general Luca has never really been spooked by the finals. The Celtics probably

did the best job against him in 2004 but are not by a play of series. Not the finals. But Luca's feeling example. The point is when you're a young player and you're great there's still levels to this

“and it's still like solving the video game and I think you could really feel that Webby. Webby was”

so bad in the first half. That was just took it to him and he did respond in the second half. So if I'm from the spurs, I'm gonna get to that one second. Dean Climco, a listener wrote in, "Where does this Webby game two collapse rank for you on the tragic Johnson?" See web time out, Freddie Browns passed the Jamesworthy in '82. Bird steals the ball from Isaiah, et cetera, scale. We don't know yet because we don't know how the finals is gonna turn out. This is a sweep.

I do think that play against mentioned. Big picture. I do think Webby Castle, I just think you'll know instantly what it was. It will take you right to that moment and it'll just be one of the weird or brainfire plays that we've ever had. There was a really good slow-mo from behind the hoop where Castle's turning as one be stirring it. When you slow it down, you're like, "Why is he throwing at Castle's early turn?"

But in real time, he's dribbling. There's 10 seconds. There's a bunch of stuff going his head and he's like, "I should give that castle and he's throwing it to him, but Castle's already turned

around." It's just a kind of play that would never happen if he was 27, 28, 29, and he's been in the

week for a few years. He would have looked for his point cards. This goes back to the whole youth versus experience thing. This was why we were wondering whether they were the 90 bulls of the 91 bulls all season. This is my hesitation with them for a long time and I finally bought it on them, the last couple rounds. You just can't quantify it until you're there and that play to me is the perfect example of you just don't know until you're in a moment like that. When you're on a stage

like that, with that many people watching, when you've had a crappy first half, when you're trying to climb back, when you're tired, when you feel like you have to do everything, and you just kind of panic. Magic Johnson is one of the seven best-parts of all time. You go back to the 84 finals. He's terrible. His worst play in that whole finals was the end of game two. He dribbles out the clock versus giving the ball to a Korean. They didn't get a shot off on the last play

regulation. He just like brain-farted. This is kind of stuff to happen. If you're the spurs,

“what's your roadmap for coming back? I think you have to look at it this way. You didn't get your”

ass kicked. You're used to the speed of the finals now. You understand what it takes. You really found something in the last six minutes of game two. You've had big leads in both games. Double-digit leads. I think in both games. You let game one with two minutes left. You came back from 14. You led game two with 57 seconds left. This wasn't like, like I was there for spurs heat 2014 because I was on the ESPN show. I felt like that series is over after game three. It was

like the spurs are just better. This is a wrap. My image is not coming back from this. You feel one of the things you look at when you're looking at a matchup deciding whether a series is over yet is, is the team just laying it on the other team, right? Are there 20 point leads? Is it? What are the-- this has been a pretty even back and forth series. The spurs last 250 games, right? Pretty small sample size. So you would talk yourself into that. You would talk yourself into

history. Your Brunsen defense has worked. He's 19 for 56. He's taken 56 shots from 51 points. So now you could say all the stuff you're doing to stop Brunsen has now led to people like bridges getting hot. Towns' has been borderline dominant. But still, that's few had said after two games, 56 for 51. I'm feeling pretty good about that. I'm feeling pretty good about maybe a little less castle going forward. I love castle. He's probably one of my 10 favorite players in the league.

The fear with him was always that there was this little bit of a Westbrook side with him.

It's a rational confident side that no matter what the moment was, he has so much confidence in himself. He's going to kind of meander it in situations you shouldn't be in and you could really feel that game too. I just think Harper has been their second best guy. And is the guy I probably

“trust the most other than Wendy? And his work is Castle is a great player. But I think they need”

his defense and his intangible stuff way more than the ballhandling. I wonder, well, you figure they're going to make some adjustments. Would they put him on towns and game three a little bit? What are they going to do to try to disrupt towns? Castle has been the guy disrupting Brunsen. But they try to flip it around and move him around and just try to unleash him as this like intangibles force versus somebody that's, you know, seems like he has the ball a little bit more

than he should and Harper doesn't have the ball enough. So when I think of the moves,

less Castle, lower Castle usage rate would be my first one. I would use Carter Brian as the

backup center against towns. I like Kornet, but we've just seen too much of the playoffs. Kornet comes in and you immediately feel like the spurs are going to go in at 2 to 10 the opposite of a run. I would use Brian against towns. I love Brian. I actually don't think they're using him enough to say, I know he's 19. I know he's a baby. And I mean a baby, like literally, he's like a young, young, young, young, big, players, two years away from being able to legally drink.

“I think they need his physicality because if you're talking about the one thing in this”

spurs team has been missing all season, it's been that prototypical physical for that you could put next to Wemby, that could guard like the towns, Julius Randall, those type of guys. It's really Carter Bryant. And if I were them, I would lean on him more and I would lean less on Kornet. And then the biggest thing is Harper has to be on the floor if and more on the half to use Harper crunch time. I think he only played four minutes in a fourth quarter game one, game two, played more, he ended up

32 minutes, but he's the least afraid guy they have on this team. I don't know why, but he just is, the guy is like born for this. I really am careful to bring this up and I think I've even said this before, but the 2000 Kobe game four in Indiana, which was like really the beginning of the legend of Kobe. Shack vowed out and I was living in Boston back then and like so many people my age and younger, like really really thought Kobe had a chance to be the next Jordan or close.

“And when Shack vowed out, I think everybody had the same thought like, "Huh, what do we have here”

with Kobe? It's time. Let's see it." And I think the thing everybody thought in the moment was this guy whatever happens, this guy is not going to be scared. Harper is not scared. He's the opposite of scared. I actually feel like he's the most aggro ready for this on a video and on their team. It doesn't make sense. He's 20 years old. We've talked about on pods on the past, about young point guards. This doesn't make sense. It just doesn't, but it's a reality of the situation.

This guy is not scared. He needs to play more and he probably needs to have the ball. Like you

think about some of the terrible shots I had in the last three minutes of the game, which always

like these fall away 22 footers, these contested threes, like these shots in traffic. I like all the decisions, the situations, Harper isn't with the ball. I just feel the best about, I don't understand why they don't want to pick and roll with him in Wimbie. I just, I just would have the ball in his hands way more than, uh, than they do. And maybe that would be... Meditian yoga jogging, not really. Right. I'm really excited about my story, total. The story, how do you feel? The story is really cool. Yeah, I've been watching a lot of videos about 1000 euros.

Ha, you've just got a connection. No, just like that story, Epp. Wow. And that's just a real thing. Of course, the goal is to make everything automatic. It's definitely not so exciting for me. Hold it in your mouth, deep in your spine, with visu staya. Coffee in your best form. With Cuba,

it's a special coffee from special books. Full-mundic aromas, thank innovative press-brutech and over-17-hour coffee for every match. I already have a cup of coffee in the early 1920s. And there's the Cuba capsule machine in Daina Chibu, Fiala, and of Chibu De E. The flip. Um, a couple other things for them. You already know you can win on the road in the Harris situation. It's possible. They want to game one and a game seven okay see. Um, I know this next game's going to be a madhouse tomorrow and came forward. It's the crowd's

“going to be incredible and I honestly can't wait. Okay. See, crowd is really loud. It's not really”

going to be a louder crowd than a okay see. Like, if okay see, if you could criticize our crowd or anything, it's like a constant loud noise that you're, you're kind of head, your head hurts after two hours of it, but it's not going to be louder than that crowd and they went in there and they won. So, um, I don't think they're going to be scared unless this game too lost was just the most damaging thing ever. Trump's going to screw up the game three. Um, and I don't mean it from being there. I'm

not talking about politics. It's going to take two hours to get in there. Um, the game will probably start 15 minutes later than it should, which means like, these games are already starting around like 840, 841. Um, East Coast time. The game will probably start closer to nine. And if you remember like in the 22 finals, they were starting the East Coast games super late and I went to game three and I went to game six. I didn't go to game four. Um, I thought it, I thought it affected the crowd.

The game would start at like 915. The crowds out. They've had dinner. They've had drinks. Like they've

kind of peek around that 730 to 10 range. And by the time you get into the second half, it's late.

It's like past 11 o'clock. You feel like you've had all this energy and, um, it's, it's a weird dynamic.

“I, I just think, I think this is, if I'm the spurs, this is the kind of kind of crowd slash”

time situation you're going to want, where it's just going to feel disjointed and you want this joining when you're on the road. Um, and then the last thing is Wendy, Wendy's a great player. Wendy in the second half of game two at 22 points. Um, I thought he was all over the place, defensively covered in the rim. He's taken some shit because when he's 25 feet out from the basket, guys have gone by him, guess what? He's a center. Name these anyone over 7 feet that that would

happen to you. I, I just think like, if you're criticizing Wendy's defense and this year nuts,

but he hasn't been the best part of the series and I'm not even sure he's been the second

best part of the series. So what is, is he going to dig deep? Is this going to be like that game two is the before and after of that heart and him, that taught him how to win or is he just going to go sideways like Shack did in 95. We will say if you're the next, you got no calls in game two. You're still one on the road. You got no calls. And I actually, I didn't do a fan do a pick for game two. I did bet on the spurs money line with an adjusted over because I thought the official

idea was going to be what it was in that game and it was what it was. We all saw it. They even rescinded the Mitchell Robinson technical after the fact, which was in idiotic ridiculous technical at the time. The towns game, the third and fourth thousand towns were trotious. So you still win that game and you could argue if the officiating was a little more balanced, maybe when that came by 10.

“If you're the next, you have to assume Brunson's shots are going to start following that he's just”

even down the stretch. They missed some wide open three. He's Brunson missed some shots. He's normally makes. So you have to assume he'll be better. You have to assume the crowd's going to be incredible. And that's almost definitely your benefit. We'll see. We'll see what the, how disjointed it is. And you're going to be ready for more Harper in this game. You know, that's like the, the one thing the spurs can do is suddenly sharper a little more. So you got to be

ready and got to plan for that. Okay. Last thing, Carl Anthony Towns. The thinking about this a lot because I don't really remember anything totally like this happening before in an MBA playoffs, where somebody that was a really good, pretty flawed star who I think made the last three worst contract straff that I did with house and was. But we all thought he was good. Anytime we did

a ring or 100, he was always in the top 30 or 35. He's made two second team on BA's or one second

team on BA in two thirds. He's averaged 23 and 11 for his career for the regular season, 52 40 and 84 shooting percentages. If you just look at the guys in the history of the league who've

Yokeage will, Elgin, Barclay, Karim, Bob Petton, Carl Anthony Towns. So this is somebody that the

“stats always favored somebody that I think after his career, we probably like in the basketball”

reference looking back area, the stats would have been more favorable to him. And yet with somebody none of us trusted and that's just the way it is. But when you think about the next make this trade

two years ago. And they're basically, they don't have a center because they lose heart and steam.

Heart and steam getting poisoned pilled basically by Oklahoma City and the next losing heart and steam leads to the townstrate. They're heading toward the season and they decide we have no chance unless we have some sort of center. Towns is contract is scary. We can give up random different chances of getting them. And they basically just bet on the pedigree. They bet on a guy that Wesley Lee on had known since he was 15 years old when they were when Wesley was trying to

recruit him. I could tuck you they'd known him forever, right? They're betting on the pedigree.

“Now sometimes this doesn't work. Didn't work with Darko. Remember I think Orlando traded for”

Darko, didn't work. The beat did the beat ever have pedigree. He was taken second. Michael Beesley's a good one. Michael Beesley always one of the best two or three high school players in his class all the way up. Put up I think 25 and 10 in college was a little out there to say the least personality wise, but there was pedigree there and a bunch of teams took chances on him never happened. And then Ben Simmons was a good one. He's fine. They just the filly thing

didn't work out. He just got a change of scenery. Well that didn't work. DeAndreate and sort of

Portland and the lacres. So just doesn't always work. And there's a million more examples of that.

But there's this is something GM's think about. If somebody was a top five pick, a top three pick, the first pick in the draft. Maybe they were in the wrong situation. Maybe you could flip them in another situation. It works way better and baseball. It's worked in football sometimes where especially with quarterbacks where they flip teams and things can change. In basketball, Wiggins was a great example of this in gold state. Wiggins, we'd all kind of given up on as a

meaningful player and he had a bad contract. Ghost Go and State, he's their second best guy in the 2022 final state. Aaron Gordon sort of like this. He was the fifth pick in the draft. We all love Aaron Gordon. But just never, never really had it in Orlando. Right. Ghost DeAndreate becomes this crucial guy in their 23 team. Rashid was a good one. Rashid had been in some big moments and had had probably more success than towns. But was too much of a hothead set the technicals record.

And by the time he lands into trade, the question was, wasn't for me because I like the trade. But said too risky. Do you want to be in business with Rashid Wallace while they end up being in the likeers that year? Chancey Billips is a great one for this. Chancey Billips, I was in

Boston going to all those games because my dad never wanted to go with Tinos first year. We traded

him after 50 games in a kind of Anderson trade. And I remember kind of liking the trade when it happened. I didn't know what what Chancey was. I couldn't tell if he was a point guard or a shooting guard or what he was. And he could go to the basket. He was a really good athlete. But I learned a valuable lesson from that, which is don't give up on young guards and especially young point guards because he bounced around. He went to Toronto and with the Denver

with the Minnesota and then finally ends up in Detroit to trade bets on the pedigree. And guess what? He becomes, you know, one of the better playout players we had in the 2000s. Robert Parish

“is a good one for this. He was, I think, the six-pick in the draft. Go and stay kind of cool”

off on them. And when right our back wandered McCail ends up trading back from one to three and getting Robert Parish. So those are probably Wiggins Gordon Rashid, Billips, Parish are five really good examples of this. A bet on the pedigree. And it makes you wonder when you're watching what's happening with towns. Two lessons. One, do you look at a couple of guys we have in the league now a little more closely? Like, I don't think I have the mobile accounts for this because Evan

Mobile is already good. I think he's been on at least one on B.A. team. Cleveland made the Easter conference finals like he's a max guy. And I don't, I wouldn't put him in the town's camp. Chibarsmith, Scoot Anderson, not nearly neither of them had a most success as towns is had over the course of his career. Zion, higher peak than towns but no playoff footprint at all and not as durable as towns. John Moran, there's off the field, off the court stuff with John that I think

when somebody hits their mid late 20s, do they mature? Do they round into something different than what we know now, right? So the case for Zion would be, well, what if he just became more mature and got an awesome shape and went to the right team and could be unleashed as this different kind of force? That's one lesson. Think about the pedigree are there other guys like this? The other one would be don't overact to a bad series. So in 24 against Dallas, towns was awful. Really awful.

And when towns was bad, like towns, people, a lot of people in my life, some people that have had pods for the ringer or have left the ringer, were just completely out on towns. towns in that series was 20 and eight, but he shot 38% 24% from three Dallas was fucking with them all these

different ways. And it just felt like the dumb foul stuff was never going to end. And I remember

after after three, I went and I actually found this text. I met a set of down three-o to Dallas in 24. And I started texting house at halftime of game three that towns was going to be on the wizard's next year. And the house was really mad. It's like stop it. That's not funny. It was like

“a lot of epithets from house. That's how bad it got for towns. So when they traded for him,”

huge contract and we were just coming off the worst series of his career. Well, what happens? This playoff sees unleashed. And I don't really fully have an explanation for it because I can't think of another example like this of somebody that I had already decided on as a player who then dug deep and completely surprised me in a completely different way. I got an email from Mike from Toronto. After Game 2, Charles Barkley said he was criticized the

Minnesota criticized in New York. Cat is the finals MVP. I actually think he might be the final, now there's two more games, but I think he would be the leader for me. Parkley said it was the best two games I've seen a big man play at that feels a little strong.

“Is this the greatest change of opinion about a player we have seen?”

It's a really good question because I think all of us had decided on towns and what we had decided is good stats seems like a really nice guy, but it's pretty flawed and it's going to have dumb fouls and do dumb things at the worst possible times and that's just who he is as a player. Right, I decided that. So I was thinking about an actual change of opinion. There's got to be three three qualities here. Has to be somebody we were really down on.

Has to be somebody who was good enough to at least make it on VATM or be in the mix and a conference finals or even a finals. And has to be somebody that either won a title or kind of came close. So that rose out Vince Carter because Vince Carter to me was the most disappointing player that 2000s just for what the potential was, but the peak of his career was probably that losing the seven and to fill in round two. It wasn't ever like he got close. Chris Weber is a really good one.

“I thought Chris Weber was going to be the best forward of the 1990s and the time out I think”

changed him in a bunch of different ways and I don't even think that's an opinion. I think that kind of sap them of something. And you know, the Golden State thing got weird. He went to Washington and just was really disappointing, right? And gets traded as Sacramento for an older midritchman. And at that point, it felt like a good flyer. Sure. Chris Weber, maybe. And then he turned

in one of the best five guys in the league there. But they never even made the finals. And then

the one that's probably the closest to this is dirt post 2007 after they lose over six finals. And then they lose the Golden State, you know, seven playoffs and eventually that leads to him doing the Australian trip. But I had just given up on dirt being the best guy in a championship team. I didn't think it was possible. And then in 2011, he had one of the great resurgences/rejuvenations in the history of the league and blows through everybody. I think he beats

the Lakers. He beats OKC. Maybe Nimpus or San Antonio. And then then Miami in the finals. But just he was a murderer as well. And he just went through it and and demolished everybody. So Durk is still the number one thing for this. But in Durk's case, he'd won an MVP. He'd made

the finals. He was one of the best players of the 2000s. Towns was never as good as Durk.

Durk thing, the town's thing. Towns become in this cerebral

like he if you change your meds for a little kid or something. Like he had like a hyperactive little kid and little kid went on meds and just became a different kid. Like hey, what's different about that kid? Towns it's like he's having like a somebody changed his med series. Even though I don't probably isn't on meds. But it's been so dramatic. I almost can't believe what I'm watching.

That first half he played in game two was one of the best halves. I've seen best both and

“halves. I've seen a center play and I think the guys that have time were told it right. I think”

Wendy was shook by it. He's like, I thought I was gonna have a huge advantage in this guy. I went into the series thinking Towns is going to be the number one reason that they that they were going to be in trouble for this series and it's been the opposite. So watching this town's resurgence has been fantastic. A couple more emails and then we're going to get to Adam Friedman. Max V says living in Matt and I could say this is the most excited I've seen this city about a possible

championship. People are going fucking nuts. The odds are obviously against it. But not kind of

what if the next blow this series not put in that out there. But he wrote this. It was an email.

The next blow this series would this be the biggest gut punch loss of the 21st century. All right. I thought about this. The formula would be how long was the drought. How gigantic is your fan base and how grieges was the collapse? So the 86 red socks is a great example of this. The red socks hadn't won in 66 years. Is that what it was? 68 years, 68 years. I can still do math. Red socks had lost in 68 years. 13 strikes when the world series had lost.

“And that was the biggest gut punch. I think of the 21st century first sports team and as”

a fan base years to recover. I think it was actually genuinely damaging for a whole generation of younger fans including myself. The 94 Rangers are a good example of almost having this happen. But they didn't because you forget they're up 3-1 in the finals against Vancouver. They come home from Game 5. It's it's almost like this next series right now. Prices are through the roof. Everyone wants to be in the building for when they win. They blow Game 5 at home. They lose Game 6 in Vancouver.

And now there's two days off before Game 7. And I knew some Rangers fans and still do. That was in all time. People freaking the fuck out. 48 hours span. And then they end up eating out Game 7 and winning it. So it was all fine. But I would say if the next blow this at this point, I don't know if it would have a parallel this century. Because it's unlike the Falcons Patriots where it's 23. You blow a game in an hour and a half. This would be you would have to blow this

over a week and a half. And it would be a all-time historic collapse because nobody's ever

won the first two on the road and then lost the final. So Games from Brooklyn wants to know if

Townswinds a title would Minnesota fans be more bitter about trading my cat or garnet. And then he says how long until ant leaves for a title somewhere else. That was mean James. I'd be more bitter about the cat trade. Garnet wanted to leave the team. The team should have traded him even two years before they did. And he had no chance to win a title there. And you had to trade him and you had to rebuild. That was the right move.

The cat thing really did seem more financial than anything. And they had had success with him. They just made the conference minus of them. I mentioned that was a tough series for him for the team. But that to me was a financial trade. He was a chance to reset a year from now with new ownership and try to get Randall on a lower deal and just not have to pay in the 50s for cat and anything

“animals at the same time. And I don't think a lot of teams would have made that trade. I think”

teams would have probably tried to suck it up with towns for another year. It was a financial trade. But it was also a trade that happened because he sucked in down series. So I'd be a little more bitter about that one. Ricky wants to know with the way cat is showing how the best antidote to win be as someone who could stretch him out to the 3.9 and leverage their strength to get to the basket on offense. Can I introduce you to Joel hands and bead? Hands and bead? Joel

hands and bead? He's a long time six or spent, by the way, this guy. He said in their matchups this far. And bead is averaging a meter 38 and 11. He needs multiple, if not all athletic, high-level, long-winged defenders. A few West teams have just that more to trade for in bead. Is a savvy team in the West looking at what cat's doing and thinking this might be a decent idea. I laughed at this when I read this and then I put some thought into it and that was actually

contract and it's a catastrophe. But maybe a year from now, it's a possibility. Scotty and Phoenix wants to know, so everyone knows the mix haven't lost since April 23rd. Two days later, they start the win streak. It was also the same day, poor Dante, different

“Chenzo, towards Achilles, was that like a sacrifice to end the 53-year drought, poor Dante?”

I do think they should have him at one of these games. He got the Rossdale out of everybody, right? He's like, I thought we're all doing this phone over there. What happened? It is weird that he got hurt the same day of this. And then Kevin and Portland wants to know

if the next one, and guarantee their first championship of 53 years, Don needs to invite Oakley

back for Game 3 at MSG. Can you imagine how the crowd would react seeing him there, San Antonio, with its standard chance? This would be a great, great, great. This would be like a pro wrestling moment. They held it, made court, or they bring out Oakley. Almost like a wrestling entrance where they play, I guess Oakley doesn't have music. But this would be a pretty good idea.

“I think if the crowd had the choice to pin Oakley and Trump, they'd probably pick Oakley.”

All right, that's enough for a play. We're going to bring in Adam Friedlin and things are about to be done. That's next. All right, so we banked this part of the podcast early afternoon. And this is take two.

This is the first time I think this has happened since COVID when we were having these audio issues.

We did a whole, we did like a hundred minutes this morning, and I could have gone my entire life field. It disappeared. It's ironic, Adam Friedlin, because this was your first appearance on the podcast. You were excited about it. And somehow you brought like a black cloud with you. And it vaporized the technology. Why are you blaming me? I'm blaming you. Where was Bell? The producer here said that was the greatest podcast. Literally said the best

podcast. We're going to run it back. We're just doing it. We're doing a second time. I was so sad. I texted the boys when I realized afterwards that this is what I've been preparing for my entire life. I didn't even know what just talking about ball with it. Listen, well, it's a new thing.

Now that now it's gone to history, the only like a seven people know the magic that first time we did it.

And now we're just going to redo it. It will be better. We'll be worse. The only ones that are going to work us. It'll be most certainly worse. But like on this sincere note, I grew up my pot father ran out on our family as a kid. And I felt like for 90 minutes, I'd found a pot a real pot father. I won't tell him. I won't say his name. But his podcast is called the Joe Rogan Experience. But I don't want to. But he left us. And he said it was my fault. And I was growing up by biological

pot father of course. But. And I was like, you know, he's he's not the step pot father. He's the pot father who stepped up. Bill Simmons. No, but I realized it was like, yeah, it was just it. I was telling you at the beginning of the last one, but it's just so. It's so sick you get to just do this for your job. Yeah. So the first time we did this, which we're just going to do again, you're interrogating me on what my life's like, we'll get to that second. Well, I open with a comment

“about how beautiful your eyes were. Oh, I appreciate you. Remember that? Yeah. That was that”

kind of soft to a strange start. Listen, important business first. The Adam Freedlant Show is joining Spotify in July. You're relaunching your third season with us. So you're you're technically on the ring or team, but more importantly next month on the Adam Freedlant Show. You're doing a special soccer podcast, a mini series called The Beautiful Pot. Okay. We are off to a disaster start. Okay. I screwed this up on Wednesday. We are starting. You said this month. Well, this month. Yeah,

true. I met this month on Wednesday. Yeah. Yes. Uh, at the Adam Freedlant Show, we'll be, uh, we're going into pre-production on season three. When we return, we are now part of the ringer or something or other. Yeah. Do you get classier ads? They do classier ads, right? I think it's a win for everybody. I've been telling Bona to hey the 10 years. Yeah. No, I've been telling some disgusting offshore gambling scams and yeah, you're paying their pay. They are over. I had the

I had the mayor, mom Donnie on the show and we had a rektile dysfunction ad like in the like books.

erection? Yes. But I'm, yeah, we're doing, uh, uh, we're going to part, what, uh, was it rigor? It's Spotify partner. The Adam Freedlant Show is now Spotify partner. But beyond that, I am now, we're doing the World Cup coverage for the ringer. I couldn't be more excited. And, uh, and we loaned you

“CR Chris Ryan. Yes, you did. Well, I mean, it was like with soccer, they loan the players, right?”

They could do that for like a year. I just loaned my striker. I'm a second division team. I loaned my

striker. I got relegated. We didn't get relegated, but we're loaning CR to you anyway. Well, you loaned like a, like a young guy that you want to get minutes to like a crap your team. Well, you, like, thing is CR has the most minutes at the ringer. I think he's on 17 podcasts, but you're, yeah, you're like we can't find space on the roster for this guy. This is like messy. This is like messy. Go into Miami. Yeah. This is where he's going for to end his career on the, the beautiful pod,

a Taf's original mini series. Yeah. So I, you know, I mean, I genuinely, I'm so excited to talk it just about sports, uh, instead of whatever, the, the, the hell I, I do regularly. Actually, I really enjoy doing that in Freedlant Show. It's like pretty cool, but it'll be the nice change of pace. Um, but like, uh, now that I've like, yesterday I was like writing jokes for it all day, and it's just, uh, I'm like, this is just what I should just be, this is what I wish I would do

for the rest of my life. Yeah, come to the dark side. Just waste your life talking about sports and get pace from nicely. Yeah. Right. You probably don't even know what a terrif is. You probably,

“you're like that. Yeah. I don't know. See, your life is incredible. Do we have a president or a”

prime minister here? I don't know. I, I, I, I've, I've regreted to inform you that things are terrible. But we have that, one of the things that want to talk to you about was your New York City, uh, you live in Brooklyn, but New York with the next, um, it's, there's been a unifying thing happening

in the city that all my friends are saying they've never experienced anything like this ever.

Yeah. Um, they're, well, first off, New York's been, it's been difficult here with the mom-donny's Institute of Sharia law and Ben and the nicks have given us, I'm sorry. See, the first joke was funny. What did I say? Oh, yeah. This is an anti-Super, you know how is New York? No, no, this is the anti-Semitism. I now remember all the jokes and you can't tell them a second time. I said they, it was like, how is it in New York right? I was like, well, the anti-Semitism is rampant.

And no, but honestly, what's happening right now is like special. I've never lived in this, uh, I've been here since 2014 and I was in DC before that, but I've never lived in a city that's just like going so hard for their for their boys right now. Blue and orange everywhere, watch parties, people wearing homemade jerseys, Wesley Morris was talking about. He's, he was delighted by this. He felt like, because I remember in Boston in 2004, they're in the LCS and then the, and then the

world series, um, it felt like the entire city just mobilized into this giant Red Sox machine and you could see it. It was like everywhere you went, you saw hatch jerseys and it feels like New York's like that right now. Yeah, people are like out on the street. That's, that's the cool part about it. Like, people are like just running outside. You have, outside of your window, you hear people screaming and stuff. Fire, people are lighting fireworks right now. It's like pretty cool. Yeah, hopefully

the devil, and they, what do you mean, I mean, I mean, people are doing crimes after everything. Yeah, crime is through, you know, uh, no, yeah, you're seeing fireworks and it's really just genuinely, I've, uh, it's really special. I mean, it's New York should have a better basketball team, you know, they should be like a diagnostic like, uh, you know, it's New York, right? And it's, uh, I guess there was those Larry Johnson years in the 90s, but like it's, it's like kind of wrong

than the Larry Johnson years that the patch I was seeing was, no, I was saying the Greg Anthony years and the 90s. Yeah. The Anthony Mason years and the 90s. The John Starrier spread. I remember as a kid, it was just, I remember the fights. I remember the heat, uh, heat nicks fights. And those

“were, that was really cool. But, uh, yeah, beyond that, I, you know, what was it, 78 was last year?”

No, that, I mean, they had good strategy to, that, yeah, 73 was the last time. Three. Yeah, good stretches in the 80s. Like, I think that Bernard King stretched before he got her, it was great.

Um, couple, couple really good bumps in the 90s. Like, when they battled MJ the first time,

the physical nicks teams in the 90s. And then it just, so ever since I got to ESPN, they're kind of died. Yeah. When I got there in 2001, it was like they were relevant. One point. No back here. Yeah. Yeah. That was in 2013. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I guess that's even later. Yeah. Uh, yeah. I guess like, they, yeah, I'm like, uh, uh, it's like going to the garden is special, right? Like, it's like, it is like a cathedral of the game. I would even admit that as a self-defense.

I would feel special. Yeah. I mean, you're not necessarily rivals, even with it. It's your rivals,

it's like the stadium where the, the star and the other team, fair question.

“What, you're like, you have discussed for all the people. Well, when I grew up, I hated the”

lakers. And the moment I moved to, I was like, this is weird. It's nice. But it's nice. Yeah. It's really nice. The weather is pretty nice. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. Anyway, but yeah, it's the, it's the stadium where the star and the other team like has his 50 piece, right? It's like the stadium where Kobe like has his like, you know, like, like, uh, just takes bows, you know, like, it's like a place that brings out the best in the other teams. But it's cool. Even if they're out of playoff

contention, it's the end of the year. So, and someone just, the half court shot at half time, like, everyone's, and he misses it. Everyone's like, go fuck yourself. You know, it gets, it's got an energy about it. And like, the stadium is still sold out. And it's, uh, but it's like spilled outside to the streets. It's really incredible to see. Yeah. I was there that's been a long time coming, too. He got to the point where you started to wonder, is this ever going to happen again

for this team, between the mismanagement and the bad luck, some of the dumb contracts. And it really was like, it took Kobe to really shake the shake the next atmosphere. Was it, it was post-COVID all the sudden things got better.

But there is something about like, yeah, Kat, I mean, I've just never seen him at this level.

I went to the first round against the Hawks, and I didn't see it. Yeah. I genuinely didn't see it. And, uh, there was something like that was missing there. And I was like, what's the philosophy of this team? And then something clicked. I was the last time they lost a month ago. More than that. Yeah. It was April 23rd. Yeah. And it's been like remarkable. Like they've had these like, like, this, as we were

saying, in our, the best hot, that's fall time. We're really only hitting it. Can I ask you a

“question? No, I think we're very, every woman I've ever had sex with? How was that for you?”

I had a great time. I'm having a great time. Oh, no. But, uh, yeah, there is, there's something that clicks. And like, you know, like, like, it's just, yeah, I don't understand. Like,

Kat, I've never seen him at this level before. The stuff with the mom is like, maybe cry.

I was like, I lost my mother. There's just something special. And you were saying the last show, but like, as they, seeing them collectively defend and deal with Wemby. Yeah. And like, and then seeing the level of the basketball, just in these finals, it's like, I just keep saying, this is such a good basketball. And it's like, uh, it's been such a fun series. And then the guy that's about the Darth Vader that's in waiting about to take over the entire, like, league for,

they'll probably play 30 years. We'll probably be still waiting for him to get hurt. Right. We're like, oh, yeah, at that size. 52 is 52 and he's unbelievable. Yeah. But, uh, yeah, it's never happened to look. It never happened to cream. So that would be the role model for Wemby. And he, he wasn't bulky, too. Right. Now, like they had cream stayed skinnier. He did yoga and karate and all this stuff to kind of stay limber and we ever really got karate guy. Yeah. They're both karate guys. Well,

yeah, it's funny. Um, I wrote and I had a bunch of people in my life because I picked the spurs to win the series. And I had a bunch of people in my life who were like, this is crazy. You didn't pick the nicks. Like, you wrote this whole basketball book. And the premise was the secret of basketball and how it's not about basketball. And it's unselfishness and teamwork and fighting off the disease of warm, putting your, putting the team ahead of the person. And, and I had multiple friends say this to

me like, how do you not see that? This is what's happening with the nicks. And I was just, I was in a photo of the nicks. Well, it was the nicks. And I was also in that mode of, wow, it was Cleveland, it was filly with like breaking down and beat. It was at Lanna with three players like, I just think San Antonio is a horrible matchup for you. And as it turned out, the nicks are probably a horrible matchup for San Antonio as well. Yeah. I mean, I guess Mitch has dealt with, uh, when we kind of

maybe, maybe the best. Is that a talent? Fair to say? And talents? Yeah. And talent. Yeah.

“Taking it to him. Yeah. So I think, and also there's still just terrible when he's not playing,”

like, it's, it's remarkable what he's done at 22. And like, uh, yeah, we were talking before about, like, uh, it's not a real sweep, right? Like, it feels series over, but like, it does also feel like anything could happen in this series. Well, we, game three is going to be weird because Trump's coming. It's going to take two and a half hours to get in there. Right. And, and the game will probably be delayed. The game's already starting like eight, four days. So it'll probably start

closer to nine. And I always found, like, this happened in in 22 with the Celtics when they for

some reason the games were starting at like nine, 10 p.m. Eastern time. And it definitely the crowd got

the beginning. So I'm going to be interested to see, does the crowd peek too early? Is the Trump thing, like, this crazy wild card that is the game, like, disjointed? Is the crowd disjointed? Or is it going to be like the romantic version of it is? This is, this is the end of the Shoshank Redemption

for the next fans. This is two games of bliss. The crowds incredible. The spurs are scarred from what

“happened in game two and it's just a sweep. And I honestly don't know. I don't know how to pick it.”

It's still, it's like, you still, you just have seen this franchise, like, fuck up, so many times. It's like, I'm an arsenal fan. We've been 22 years. And we'd like been in first place and then finished second for three straight years. And this season, this season was terrifying every match. Because of the prospect of finishing second a fourth time after we were up nine points at the table. Like, we almost fucked it for a fourth time. I don't know how we would have been able to

manage it. And like, I also, like, none of us believe that it could ever happen to. Like, I'm sure, like, a lot of Nick fans are too. Yeah, I mean, well, that there was this moment. I talked about in the first second of the podcast, the Rangers in '94 when they had a one of 54 years. And they took a three-one lead heading in a game five and game five was in New York. Yeah. And everybody's like, oh my god, I got to be there when they win the cup. And then they lost.

Then they lost game six. And people were just, it was the every Nick fan or every New York fan I knew was that it was the most horrifying like four days, but then they ended up winning game seven. I felt like I had a nightmare scheduled. I'm like, yeah, tomorrow at three. I'm going to watch a nightmare. Yeah. Yeah. It's just like so scared about it. It's like, it's, I have to watch. Yeah. I question for you. Like, like, bloody soccer was like,

much more. Yeah, it must have been the most incredible thing that you've ever seen in the course, right? The beaming wait. The four days in a row against the Yankees is my highlight as a sports fan. Yeah. That series was unreal. Yeah. Like, but it meant more right because of the curse, right? Oh, yeah. This is, this is the, it's the losing virginity as a sports fan of

“it's the only way you can do it when you've had a drought for this long. And then all these great”

things happen. And it's never going to be as good as the first time. And she's not like, how do you

like, but you're like, as a patch fan? Like, how did you like keep getting boners? Like, you know, like, what I'm saying, it has to like not to be drugs you did on that. You took it out. I took it out. I took it out. You took it out. But I'm saying, like, does it feel, it diminishes in, in its like excitement or you are a Boston guy's just like, if we don't win, it's just it. No, the past thing was great because we went from, we were basically like, if the

jets had won the Super Bowl, right? We were like black, if he was like a child, he was a backup. Yeah. And it was, it was so in trouble. It was right after 9/11. So there's a patriotic thing. So I think people are rooting with us. But by the way, it was not right after 9/11. Well, the name of the Patriots. Well, it was say, you know, they're beautiful day, you two at the Super Bowl, halftime show. It was like, bought you very American Super Bowl.

Because your name, the Patriots, they did it for 9/11. Yeah. Yeah. It was part of it. Remember, you two halftime show them where the streets have no name with all the 9/11 names. There's a motion. I remember the Janet Jackson halftime show. Well, that's when it probably turned. And then the third one, everyone got tired of us, we became Duke. And then the best thing

“to happen. And we were villains. The best was Prince in the rain in Miami. Do you remember that?”

Do purple red. Oh, yeah. You were saying. But like, the American turned on us, which actually was great. Because then we all, all we had was each other. The other Pat's fans was got the Bison. Right. And then we were like, we're like, we're jevenated. It's what we were talking about with Kobe. It's like, you're you're heaped with praise. And then, yeah, that's dark. Right. Brady was like this back up. Right. And it was like a romantic thing.

And then like, eventually we're like, fuck those guys. They win all the time. Well, there's different kinds of titles you win where like that one nobody ever, they were two touchdown underdogs in the Super Bowl. And I think they were like 13.00. And they have C title game. The next one's a little different because it came late. But it's not, once we got to the finals, I think the spurs are favored. But I know a lot of people that thought the next we're going to win. And I think it's not

like shocking that they're winning. You know, I think I had no idea how to call it. I just didn't know because you don't know because you got the best. Yeah. He's 22. But he's that. I don't know what that. He threw the game deciding passoff as teammates back. So well,

he's 22. He's 22. And his teammate. And they 21 when he's on the past. They're incredible when

he's playing and they stink when he's not. I mean, they stunk last year. How how many wins did that last week? Who did those first? Well, it's probably the end play half the year. I know. Yeah. The turnaround is like, is it the biggest turnaround? Every one of them. The first

the record. Oh, really it is. I asked you, um, you could you give a Brooklyn. We got to stop

saying that we talked about this last time because nobody heard the other time. I know but it's fine.

“It's because you already heard it. You have to fake laughs. No, I haven't fake laugh once.”

I know. I'm just kidding. You live in Brooklyn. You live in Brooklyn. You live in Barclays. Now I was asking you with what you've seen from the next and how this city routed around the next. If you're the nets, like, virtual center, Newark. What's the Wednesday meeting like where Joe size like, hey man, we have to figure out like the liberty or more popular. That's Barclays. The next have 99.9% of the NBA fans. What's what's our plan? We can't keep this going.

I mean, he had to have known already, right? No, this is worse than he ever could have imagined. I think the atmosphere at any home game is, and they play like, they play every game is kind of a rogue game for the players on the net. It's tough. I feel bad for them. Yeah. The last year, and it's a, I still think about Kyrie and Deramp being on the same team and how cool that was.

And we never got, it was a toe, right? Yeah. And then it was over. And the, that was that, I was at the,

the game won the blowout against Yannas. And that was like, there was something like happening and it was exciting. But it just since then is kind of, the toe is kind of the end, right? There's no question. It's the potential of those two guys being on the same team, though. At that stage, and in both their careers, it was like, it's such a what if for me, still. Well, it wasn't just that they were on the same team. The, the next also wanted the two guys,

and they chose Brooklyn over the next, which had happened repeatedly, like Deranth, they don't want to go there to the next and 16. The Bront turned them down famously in 2010. Like, they weren't even a choice for people. And I, I think that's a friend who's video for him. Right. You saw that, right? Oh, yeah. But I think what's changed, regardless of whether they win the title or not, and they're big favorites now. But they're now destination again. I think

for players, which was just not the case for 20 years. It's crazy. I, I almost forgot that they

“chose the nets over the next. That's how it was. Yeah. That's insane. It feels like, how is that”

possible? You know, right? Like, but yeah, it was a better situation over there. And like, uh, yeah, it's such a what if because Kyrie just does the impossible and makes it look easy for him. And then everything that Deranth looks easy, but it's really hard to do what he's doing. Like, they're like, the opposite. Like, Deranth is just making everything look effortless. Kyrie's making everything looks so insanely hard and he's somehow doing it. And it's like the combination of those two, like,

like, our fence is like, savants. Like, I'm the same team. It's just, it really bugs me out. I was like, I wish we got to see more of it. But, uh, in hard time. I've heard the one time he actually cared about that. That's him. Your favorite flavor is Kobe? Yeah. So what? Oh, yeah. You've got the question. No, there, nobody missed it. This is the first time they're preparing. Full throw to topology for his mystery, but Mr. Kobe. No, no. I just read out was late to the party about appreciating how good he was.

I know. You were, you were, but we get something about you is like, I've always been like, how dare we say that about Kobe. But then I'd be like, if I was Bill, I would be rocking with my

boys in the same way. Yeah. There's always like this, do you think you were like the first to

disclose your allegiances and media? Sorry, I asked you a question back. Sorry. I did the thing where I interviewed you back. Well, it was kind of a new thing. Definitely was a new thing. Because when that, when I came up when I was writing for ESPN, um, and I was writing from like the sports fan perspective, it was basically just newspaper column this and that's it. Everybody's supposed to be very down the middle and you weren't supposed to have favorite teams. And I always felt like the

the people that I enjoyed reading, I always felt like we're fans of the sport or the team. And like, I talked about this William Goldman book that I loved called Wait until next year, where he wrote from the perspective of the New York fan. I was like, that's, that's kind of how I want to write my column. Now it's, it's also bullshit. It's also bullshit. Like you would have to be like right

“down the middle. Like you could, if you love your team and you love your guys, like you should”

rather just be honest with it. And so people can see where you're coming from, right? I think it's different if you're, if you're like Brian Winhorse and you're in locker rooms and you're talking about it in a different way. I think it would be tougher to be like, I'm also a giant Cavs fan. That's like, he loved, he loved liberal, liberal, right? I don't know if he loved this guy. I covered him forever. I had Nick, I asked Nick, right? I said, when they had the, the Wempfield liberal, I think I was like,

did you say to yourself, and then there was one. What do you say? He's like, he laughed. That's it. He's like, when he's like, when did he's a great guy? It was diplomatic. Yeah. But yeah,

media, there's way more opinions. There's all kinds of ways to get to become noticed and build like at least the small level of fans. So there's, there's no one method now. In the 2000s,

“there really was one that you did. I think it's kind of a trailblazer kind of thing.”

I'm not, I'm not, I listen, and you were very, I have no respect for you. You were very unfair to Kobe. No, no, but I mean, I think you kind of changed things. Like I, I don't know, we didn't know where Walter Krunkkeits like allegiance is, I mean, I'm not saying that you're doing more of like a, you were just a writer about sports from the perspective of a fan, I guess, right? Yeah. I was reading the, I remember the article in 2002, I read it like when I was in high school,

uh, the 9/11 one. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I was like, this is, this is, do you think, do you remember back to that? I'm asking you questions. I was a bullshit. I don't want to do that, but uh, yeah, do you remember like, do that feel like a seminal kind of, like, moment for you? Or was I just know, I remember not being happy with what I wrote, but feeling like I had to write something, but the bigger thing is I remember beautiful. I remember wondering like if I was still going to

have a job, like I, I didn't, 9/11 was was so horrible and, and so impactful that everybody, even people, you know, that had, had, did a no one person that died there, but it felt like just everything

was going to be different from that point on. I had never experienced that before. So I was like, well,

nobody's going to want to read about sports and, you know, fucking bad takes on movies. And then I remember at some point, um, everybody just started to be like, alright, I got to do my job again. And I remember, within like a week, I went to go see hardball with Keanu Reeves with my buddy, Jacko. And I wrote a call about it. And I was just like, this is my job, like, I'm like, I'm like, you know, the coolest job. Like, this is like, maybe people read this and it'll take

“their mind off shit for 10 minutes, but I think that was, that's the only time in my life. I”

remember America like that where, where everybody was kind of like, what do we do? Like, are we all going to work tomorrow? And then you kind of figured out, you just got me really afraid, because I've had to, you know, recording the world trip, so I said it right now. I was scared enough as it is the first time. That would be a fool me, if it came on me, such what, no, it's weird to go there and not think about it. Like, yeah, because despite my officers are there, that's where you

are now and you go. And when you read the word of the text, this is where I have to go. I'm like, and then it's just 25 years ago. It was so long. But when you grew up in California, I grew up in Vegas. Yeah. But I'm an LA sportsman. Yeah. But you weren't in, you, you hadn't, you didn't get to New York until the mid-10, 2010. So you weren't there. Right. I wasn't there. But I remember we were in high school. I was a freshman, and I was like, I was like a, I was like a

know-it-all asshole, and I was like, actually, it's probably the alchyaid and network of terror, because they recently did the attack on the USS Cole. So it was like, shut up. I was like, I was like, I was looking back on it. Like, everyone likes politics now, and it was, it used to be like

“something that if you liked it, you were a loser. And I think it kind of should go back to that.”

Right. I think too many people are obsessed with politics now. I got made fun of for it, and as well, I should have. Right. And, uh, but it's, it's weird to see that nowadays. But, uh, yeah, no, I, I wasn't here for that. But, uh, yeah, I was born in LA. I'm an LA sportsman, because my dad immigrated in 81 to LA, and he got into American sports, to have something like share with his kids. My, my, that was at the Gibson game.

Wow. In 88. How amazing is that? I was a baby. Yeah.

More amazing than he stayed because he got into the game. Some people get that F out of there, but before the ninth inning, it's really like you're making a choice. It's like, I mean, it's an extra two hours. It's the world's here. I mean, yeah, it's true. No, you'd be surprised, because I went to the 18th inning game in October, and I was surprised how many people left by my friend. My friend was there. Yeah. And he said that it was weird. He said that ball

wasn't carrying because there was like the, there was like a high pressure system or something. That it was like an insane, like five there. It must have been agony to be sitting there for for hours and hours. I love it. No, I, I really had to get, we had great seats, but I really had a good serving beer. Oh, yeah. They stopped serving everything. You just, I mean, if I had another beer, I'd be fine. I'd be like, can you guys open it back up? We're going to be here another nine

innings of actually. What you said was the key thing, because I forget, somebody had,

would just clearly seem like it was going to be a Homer and the thing just died. And we were like, are we ever leaving so many warning shots? I remember. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, I was a big dodger thing initially, but then, yeah, I guess my team's out of the lake is an arsenal. And I watched like soccer a lot, no, which is the, as I was saying in the last podcast, the worst kind of American

soccer fan. I just think of, because America, because we haven't really had a truly great

player because the team in the World Cup, the whole World Cup, our chances feel like we're in a worse spot than we were 15 years ago, even though everyone I know who likes soccer, insist that we have the most talent we've ever had. It's just that everybody has more talent. I don't know what's something. Yeah. No sweat. Yeah. There's not one. They have no sweat. They don't have that one dude that like a nine-year-old could be like, I want to wear that guy's jersey. Maybe it'll happen

in the World Cup, though. The center back, Tim Riem. I saw it on my Instagram algorithm. He was like doing advocacy for, he said, when I was a kid, I went my bed and he's like one and five kids went the bed. I'm like, don't even before the cup. Not before the World Cup. Don't do bed wedding advocacy. It's like, come on. Do a do a cigarette commercial. I don't even know if they make those paperwork. Do it do beer. Who would make us look cool? Who would be, if he was,

if he was in our country, who would be the coolest, like who would be the guy that actually owns soccer for America? What, out of any player? Yeah. If that person, they just happen to be American. No, that's the suit. Oh, that would have to be somebody younger. The one younger. There's someone cool. Yeah. I mean, it has to mess his, you, you register that it's the best, it's the best we've ever seen ever. I'm aware. I was there for the, he's like twice as good as Ronaldo. And he's

“still my cook this time around. It's weird. How old is it now? See, 40 it? I think, like 30 somewhere.”

Yeah. Yeah. He's kind of hurt. He doesn't have to go back on defense. He gets to just walk around and then there's this, there's this thing that happens inside of him and then it'll be like 12 seconds of chaos. And then it'll be in the back of him. He's like a bizarre guy. I think he didn't speak until he was like 11. There's something like he was just given by God for this one purpose. And then, but no, I mean, who would be cool to be American? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

It would be cool if American athletes were played, played soccer. I speculate on that. It's like speculating what would, if LeBron played tight ends or something. Like, or like, I don't know. Thinking about like, our best athletes, like, if Kai replayed soccer, I mean, I would imagine he'd be like, what are the best. Kai reads the great one. I was thought, I versus him was my favorite one for this

game, because even there's high school football footage of Iverson, where it's like, he's incredible.

And it's like any sport that he played, he just would have been incredible. It's my favorite YouTube just watching. Iverson. What do you think? Do you think he would have been like top five

“football player of all time? Was he like, Dion? What do you think he would have projected us?”

I think he would have been like, I think he would have been like, almost like what we want Travis Hunter to be, except he just would have been at a whole other level. Athletically. Travis Anderson also athlete. Like, he would have been like a rubber receiver type of person. I think. Well, he was like an option quarterback as well, right? But I guess everyone's a quarterback in a high school. Like, yeah, he could tell his, his throwing motion was a little, but you know,

he had a big arm though. He did, but it was like the mechanics were off, but then when he took off, he would just run through people. It was like when the gym teacher gets to play with the fifth grade class and he just does everything. Everyone. Yeah. Oh, it's, I, I watched that video all the time. I also watch if there's a video, I really like of Derek Rose doing a Chicago footwork, what he was like the dance battle against someone in high school. And he's an unbelievable. Yeah.

If a guy like Derek Rose played played soccer, I mean, to be, yeah, conversely, Randy Moss playing basketball was great. Like, there's something else that would just like the greatest athletes who've ever played. I chocolate. Yeah. They were on, at the same team with one chocolate, right? Yeah. Unreal. Yeah. So it was that, that commercial. Do you remember the Nike commercial? Yeah. Just a good old bowl. Right. Yeah. I love that shit. I think Henry would have been

interesting because, you know, he's basically ambidextrous, right? He does. Yeah. So he would have been able to kick perfectly with both feet. His footwork and everything would have been great. I don't know. Like, it's his center of gravity, too. Like, yeah. He gets in these weird things. Really? Like, who's the best 6/3 soccer player? So many people, so many. All right.

“There's so many. Yeah. I mean, like, it's a lot of times doing, it's a lot of times a 6/5. I think, right?”

Yeah. I mean, what's cool is that you could be 5/5 and 5/6 and be in the best of the world. Well, that's why so how to be in the best 5/10? You could be 6/4 and be the best in the world. Like, uh, yeah. They've had guys that are like close to 7 footers. And, I mean,

Peter Crouch was amazing. Uh, and he was technically gifted too. He wasn't just doing headers.

Yeah. Yeah. He could use his feet. But, uh, you know, he has to be amazing. Who? As like a sweeper/6, um, castle. Oh my god. Like, that's like, don't. He's absolutely

him at the 6, he would have been out of control. Yeah. I mean, that, yeah. I think you have, like, uh, like a, like a, I guess a free safety or a, or a, or a, like a, a linebacker playing, like, in the back line. Like, think of guys like that. I mean, I don't know. Yeah. It's, it's actually, we, that's the disappointment is that it's just, uh, I guess, I guess we haven't been able to sell it yet. You were saying in 2002, we thought that it was like a moment where we could sell it. But, um,

we thought it was coming because it started in '94. That was like the first real moment where

we're like, oh, maybe. And then, um, yeah, the O2 World Cup, that was when my first year to be as pan, like, writing columns and it felt like people cared and, um, 2014 was another one when it felt like. Like, you're, we lost a Portugal, right? Yeah. I like the land of Donovan, uh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, there's a spirit about them. And there was a moment when Josie felt like he was going to be the next guy and it, it felt like we actually had older guys and younger

guys and guys in the way up and then all the sudden, we were not qualified for the World Cup and wondering what happened. Good subplot in the World Cup this year's, uh, the Canadian coach, uh,

“uh, Burhalter was our coach. I remember. He is just talking shit. He said that, that it's,”

what it is is the athletic, uh, like association. He said the U.S. soccer is, uh, has an issue. It's a structural, he said. And, uh, but he's also just running his damn mouth, which is a kind of a cool subplot because we're with co-hosts in this uh, World Cup. But uh, yeah, I just don't, I don't know. Maybe I'm completely wrong. There are people that disagree with me, but I'd see, I'd see them

under achieving. There's always a bump by being a host nation though. But uh, it's like, it's weird.

It's like, uh, are you seeing where they're doing their, uh, where they're doing the, like training camps, like base camps? Where? Oh, my, it's amazing. They have, uh, what, they have, like Bosnia, here's the Govada, is in uh, Salt Lake City. They have Ivory Coast in Fili, which is sick. Just imagining that is sick. Yeah, uh, Qatar, Santa Barbara? Hmm, I'm pretty sure they got a nice, they bought the nicest place, obviously. Yeah. Um, there's so many, I, I have a list about,

there's one that was just killing me. Uh, well, now it's bad podcasting, but uh, I gotta find it, but yeah, this is, uh, I thought you were a better pro-questionist. I'm sorry dude. I, I didn't have this pro-questionist. Can I get a question about the candidate co-host thing? Yeah. Is this like in college? You're having a party at the main house, and you're having it with somebody else, but it's kind of their houses over there and more people are in the big house, or are they an

actual host? Are they an actual co-host or are they kind of glumming on us? Uh, which Canada? Um,

“I think that they have hate and they're good. And I think that Mexico is a, is a, is a mess right now.”

Mexico, I think I see them completely. I, honestly, one of my spicy, is that as Mexico crashes out of the group stage, because their fan base is toxic, right? They don't have any players that like have any predigory and play in Europe. They, they act like they're rail Madrid, and they have,

they've never won shit. They lose to America now. They should be ashamed of themselves. And Canada

has this like resentment that comes from their coach. Yeah. We have like this pressure of like, it's kind of America's world cup still, right? What does the in Vancouver in Toronto? It's like two places, right? Like, uh, it doesn't, I think we're, we're the main show here. Yeah. And I, I think it's the most pressure. And it's our show. Yeah. It is kind of, but there's, um, I feel really bad, but it's going to be worth it. No, we're not. It's just so, uh, wait,

there's one that is so funny. They have, so you like, right? As you, Portugal is in Palm Beach, which is like Cristiano's definitely going to go Mara logo. For sure. Argentina, this is real. Argentina is in Kansas City, right, in the summer. So apologies to Nick Wright. That sounds like shit. And like, like, they're, literally there was a tornado warning. First day they were there. Like, like messies, which is like standing silently and still in the middle

of a tornado. They're like, it takes also, there's another aspect, like in Europe, the stadiums are closer to the metropolitan areas. So like, you have the fans like kind of marching towards the stadium, kind of like how MSG is like, it's in the middle of the city. And, um, yeah, like going like three hours to fucking met life. Like, it's just like, you don't have that same atmosphere like around the stadium and stuff. And it's, uh, also, I'm like a little bit worried. I'm not going to, whatever.

“You know, they banned water bottles. I see other photos. Can I just just ban water bottles?”

Can I say something? Yeah. What is this off of the record? Don't ever apologize to Nick Wright, not on this podcast. All right. Whatever. Screw that guy. Just sucking up to fucking with it. Um, no, no, I'm just kidding. Uh, no, we like Nick Wright. We like, they banned water bottles? Yeah. FIFA's not letting them bring in water bottles. So they have to buy water. It's like, the ticket prices are really expensive. I mean, what's going to happen is this. We're going to say,

teams as well. That's the other issue. They, like, expanded the field. There's no groups of deaths where

like a big team does a qualifix. They want the big teams in the group says, I hate that. I love the groups of deaths. I love seeing like Germany crash out in the group. It's really, it makes it exciting from the beginning. Yeah. And, but something is going to happen. And we, that the world is going to explode is like, meant there's a high probability where you see messy and Ronaldo in a knockout, right? And I don't know if I can handle it. Like, it's, it's really just like, he has to lose.

Ronaldo has to lose. I can't see, he's going to be so self-satisfied and spoke about it. But he, he has a better team. Also, there's just like, yeah, I was telling you before that, like, element of a ran, being here in the middle of a war, and then potentially if they get second place in the U.S. getting second place in the groups, they play in Dallas. Is it on the fourth July, or is it not? I thought it was, it was in the vicinity of it. Yeah, they would play America.

And by the way, America getting second place is conceivable. Like, that's the property of the favor. Turkey are flop artists also. I'm not as afraid as Turkey as people are

giving them credit for. People like, always like, oh, Turkey has something, and they always

them in Belgium. They're just like chronic underachievers. And Egypt during most all has been the same

“way. Like, they're all in the cup and like, I think they're all kind of, are you stinkers?”

Are you going to try to go to a game, or you don't care if you go? I'm going to Norway, Senegal. Okay. I'm only going if it's free, Bill. I'm not going there invited. Monthly going. Monthly, it's $100,000 for what? It's less than the game for next tickets. Well, that's the game for the next one, game three, game for the next ticket will become the hardest sports ticket of all time. Because it's like third bar of baseball, it's 20,000 seats total.

Yeah. It is really, we were saying before, but it is great. I'm just stopping saying that. It is crazy because even where Trump is going to be sitting. Like, if he's courtside and like, we're just watching at the whole time. Like, it's going to be distracting for a viewer. He's just like sitting there. Like, it's a, I imagine he's going to be in a box of some sort. Oh, I'd say I completely disagree. I think he's going to absolutely be courtside.

“I imagine, like, his secret service guy's standing in front of Timothy Shalom.”

It's going to be like what's going to happen. When he played my other, may weather sack courtside, I would have a security guard to be behind him. And so I guess that would happen. He's okay. I watched the game. He's girlfriend. Well, the funny thing, I was thinking if he's courtside, you know, the way Trump sits, because he doesn't cross his legs. And he sits with his legs out with his, with his, doing the,

with the diamond. The diamond. Yes. Yeah. But on the court side, the seats are like this. And it's not. You can spread your legs out at all like that. So the subway, whoever's on either side to him is going to be miserable. The entire game. Because Trump's going to tamp three seats. Kendall Jenner is going to be like, "Slush Jenner." That's the other thing. There's, you know, courtside, you're walking by people. There's handshakes. There's going to be people who aren't

going to want the handshake. It's going to be, yeah, everybody filming it. So if you do the handshake, it's on film, you know. I just, the thing that's nice about sports is, we don't have to deal with politics. It's like a crazy time right now. It's like, there was like a Jewish, there's like this player that could, we don't, they maxed down for arsenal. Yeah. And I was like, I was like, I was like, I told my friend, I was like, just look up if he's Jewish, it would be huge for me. He's up next,

right? I was like, can you imagine? Like, if we get one, because for us, we, it's just insane, if we get one, right? And, and then I would like realize, I was like, I don't want him to be. I'd rather him not, because it's like, yeah, he's going to have to, they're going to ask him about the war in the Middle East and something. He's going to, just don't, like, don't, like, it's too much pressure. Like, just don't be, be like an evangelical or something. Like, be like, what, like,

SUNY Islam, just please don't be. I always talk to my friend Chang about this because he loves

when there's any sort of Asian and mean of times to speak on this, too, but we were texting this week and about Dylan Harper, Filipino mom. I know. Yeah. So this is, and I feel like they haven't gotten excited enough about this. Hey, Clarkson, too. Yeah. You got two in the finals, but Harper might be, I mean, he's one of the best young guards that's coming to the league in 30 years of real. So I think we forget it. We're, we're missing how good he is, because it's just a

Wemby. There was that game in the last every series of theirs has been musty TV experts. I love

“watching them. I said in the segment before you came on, I think this part of the key to the series”

with the spurs is realizing that Harper is their second best guy. They just have to accept it. He's funny. He comes off the bench like you just throw it at the window. It's, it's, I think

sweep a ship, swipe, swipe. That's what I would do. I mean, they got to figure out how to win this

series. They can't think about it. I'm not sure yet. But ultimately, I would, I mean, the team is

five years in there. The team is really bad when he's not playing, right? When they add a couple of pieces, it's terrifying. Yeah. Yeah. In fact, the next half to wait because he's not fair, but well, that's the thing. The next lose game three, then that will open up. There's only 48 hours for a game four, and that will open up the whole. They have to do this now. This is the best chance that we're going to have. Okay. See, he's going to ever remember him back. San Antonio

would be your older Indiana's getting their guys back. Boston's getting their guys like this is your window right now, New York. And it's also just the ghosts of the past, the ghosts of the garden. I mean, it's scary. It's very scary. If they lose game three, it will be terrifying again.

Because they were so 50, 50, both of those games. Yeah. I mean, if they could have lost

either of them. Yeah. And it's like, usually you win a way, it's, it's game over like a

“series. You have to, they're not going to win four or five. But like, I'm like, I don't know.”

Well, it could, it feels like this series anything could happen. And it's like, every game is just so, it's like, just actually the best basketball I've watched and so long. And it's like, uh, yeah, there's like, we were saying before, but there's, ah, there's so much teams in the team, right? There's so much like a hard nose like, uh, you know, they just get to like play less minutes. No, they don't have to play like in in March, they don't have to play 48 minutes or whatever.

You know, one of my weird sports there for the fact, the, the more baggage you have, the more likely it is that stuff will happen along the ride to the end of your exorcism journey. Like further Patriots when we beat the Rams. We had this game winning game winning defensive touchdown that got caught back because of a penalty. But as guys running down the sidelines, it's like, there's 10 minutes. Oh my god, we just won the Super Bowl. And then it got called back and all these

skeletons popped up. Um, and then the Rams, there's a fear. And yeah, it's like, oh, why did I let my guard down? I should have known. And I think for the next you got to, you got to quick taste a bit when Brunson and they fell into his knee in game one of the, like, oh my god, why did I, why didn't have my guard up? And it's just there's no, there's no easy path to getting rid of all the skeletons.

“You have to have a couple of those as it goes because you think it's going to happen again and you”

know how bad it is. Yeah. Like with Arsenal, the saying is is the hope that kills you, right? Because any every single year, I think something good might happen. Yeah. And then, and then it doesn't. And it's kind of a reminder you're going to die one day. Right. Like if you're, if you're like a fan of a team that wins every year, you are like you, you're like, I'm going to live forever. I'm going to cheat on my tax and cheat on my wife. I'm going to like, yeah, I'm just, your life

is a cocaine, just fever dream. And you're so happy. And you don't think about death ever. But if you're a team of like a team, or a fan of a team like that, you're like, you're just expecting everything to fall apart all over again. And you're like, I haven't talked to my family in months. It wasn't worth it. Like, like, I'm just sitting in this living room. And I've, yeah, and my wife's like, did your team lose and you're like, what does that mean? Did my team lose? You like, yeah,

and then you get mad and you yell, you go for a walk, you go for a stress walk alone. Yeah. I used to do that a lot when I was younger. A lot of dog walks after tough losses. But I went for a walk in the neighborhood. I went for a walk after the, the tuck game.

“Yeah, I went for a walk. I was a, I'm a writer fan, but like, I think actually I stopped like”

football kind of after that. I was like, fuck football. I was like, this sucks. Like Charles Wilson was my favorite player. Good for you. Good for you. Good for you. Good for you. So D, if you had to guess with game three, do you think it's going to be, it's an all-time memory of games of both games? Would you go, memory game, memory game, disappointing game, or just fucking weird all night from start to finish? Because that's where I was off. I think the vibe is going to be super weird

the whole game. The vibe is off. I think it's the trumpet, it all. And big z's there. Mom, Donnie's there too. Big z. Are you the only one that calls him big z? Is that his nickname? Is it Juneus Elgowskins? No, no, mom don't. It's just like, yeah, trump, if trump is court side, and he's making out with Kendall Jenner and Timothy's crying, what are we going to do? Are we going to be watching that game? Can you imagine? He's like, I played Bob Dylan.

I, you didn't even pay for this ticket, babe. I mean, I didn't deny it, but I'm very giving it to me because of me because I would go to the Oscars now and you're making out with the

president. How dare you? No, I mean, it's, it'll be weird, but I think the truth is, he shouldn't go

already complicated enough. Like, in the league, obviously if the president wants to go to the

“game, you should go. But like, no normal president would go to this game. They would go to a”

game in February against like the Raptors. They're not going to go to like game three of the finals uproot the entire four hour infrastructure before the game. And it's just, well, you go to a game where they're going to go nuts if you walk, you go to MMA, right? You don't like, even he might think that's going to happen. People don't think he's doing a good job. He got booed when he went to the polling station in 2016. He like changed his residency to,

but he misses New York, I think. This is how he heard that. This is like his way to get back there. Trying to start dating us again. Yeah. Hey, guys. I'm living my best life in Palm Beach. Just so you know, I don't know if you saw the pictures. Wait, both. We have to do something quickly on your podcast. So you were on a come town on ABC, one of my favorite sitcoms. It wasn't a sitcom. It was a podcast. It was called Home Improvement. Yeah. Yeah. Your initial podcast was

come town. And you guys never realized ever that you'd actually make money from it. And then

all of a sudden, you're making money from it and turned it into an actual, you know, a way to do that.

“Everything that's happening in my life is an accident. Well, you thought the podcast was going to”

promote like your comedy and the weekends and all of the sudden people like them. We didn't know that you could make money from podcasting. And then so that we kind of like, uh, I think, uh, yeah, we didn't know how it was growing. People that they used to ask us for like, either views of seven. They kind of like a no media policy smart. And I didn't. And that it's just like, uh, at a certain point, then you're like, I had to work two hours a week. And I became the lazy man in the

world. And so like, welcome. Yeah. That was just like, but it sucked. But I mean, you're watching sports for work. Yeah. I'm so jealous of you. Now that's it. That's going to be you during the world cup. Yeah. Beautiful pod. She's not going to respect it. I'm telling you, she's still she's not going to respect the my I'm a sports funded. No. No. Uh, no. Uh, no. In reality, yeah, this new show started. It was a joke. And it's really credit to my old co-host Nick, because our, our stop versus our friend

who he, uh, was exhausted. He left come town. And I was like, but we should keep doing it, Nick. We've a brand. You know, we should. Yeah. And he was like, no, you got to come and come town. We got to come to town. I'm going to turn you into a public intellectual into like in the vein of Dick Capit. But like we put very publicly pronounced, I think it was a joke. I mean, it's like, I was the least, uh, uh, beloved member of the three by far, but probably the least talented by far,

too. And not probably definitely. I mean, they're like geniuses, the two of them. And, uh,

and then I guess I decided to try for the first time. I never had, I think I was 35. It was, it's really

scary, too. You know that? It's scary because if you try as hard as you can to then it sucks.

“And you feel bad. That's why that's why it's sport. Like, when he was like, like, this,”

because he tried as hard as he could. Right. And, uh, yeah, it sucks. Like, if it does go well. That was shack in the 2000s season. He's like, I'm really going to go for this and try to win the MVP in the finals. But it's scary, because if it doesn't happen, now you feel, but you feel terrible. Right. And it's like, um, yeah. And so then I just, uh, somehow it fell in, we didn't know how to, how to make a television show. We publicly pronounced to the world we're making a TV show

and then we're like, so we should, we should get some cameras, maybe. But we got an office and like some building and then we built out a set. It was like, oh, happening in real time. And then eventually it's become a real thing. And one of the best things is you have a crazy guest list. I would say a classic is the right word for it. But you'll basically, you'll interview anybody. You don't care. I had Sarah Jessica Parker in the night, uh, one of the milk boys in the

night. So yeah, so I kind of like that is having the unpredictable kind of, uh, like roll out of guests. Yeah. It's kind of makes it fun and feel feel fresh. But, uh, yeah, that's one of the things that I enjoy the most about it. But I don't know. I, I really like doing them, because it's, you, you were telling me you used to do, uh, interviews, but it's cool. I do a lot of research. I do like two, two weeks of research. Yeah, for each guest. And I have researchers that we hire,

like they're some of the journalists and like, you know, people that we bring in and like do research packets for me. But like, it's what's really cool is like, try to account for what someone is like

that you've never met. And then like building together an evidence that you find them, like, you know,

that that's been like prepared for you. It's like being an FBI profile there. You want to, you want to disarm a guest, right? You want them to be comfortable. So they'll open up more. So you have to like, kind of try to plan for like whatever trip wires there are. So you can like, continue to like, uh, to like, keep them comfortable enough. I think the way I do it kind of

it's, they don't have to worry, like, I'm a pretty dumb guy and like, you know, then let the guard down there. There be on a show called Come Town. Right. There's a time I pooped my pants during an episode. And literally I was laughed at by the thousands of people. And I went home and I was like, I just feel like I did, it was like, in front of the whole school. And I'm like, yeah, and I might, I might not have kids that are going to hear about that.

“They're going to respect me as a father. She's like, I think you're getting a little carried away”

on. I was like, put it to you. Why would you even? No, why, and how happy it made that, and I pooped my pants. They didn't show it. But they got me. No, and now I'm talking like Gavin Newsom. It's really shame on them. I don't, I'm not fully aware of why this is happening, but I'm not asking any questions. I guess the show is good. But like, it is really, I don't know, like, it's insane how fast this has been. It's been a year since I relaunched the show

made it weekly. Yeah. And it's grown like so rapidly. And now I'm going to talk to my hero. I built a new show. Oh, I built it as posters in my world. Thank you, Gavin Newsom. I support Sky Articles and pin up girls as your articles that have been, they submit up girls. And me and the rest of the GI's, we used to whistle at your articles. No, you had all these, I know that something was happening because you started to do really smart press.

“People write these features in value and I don't know. Is he the Millennium John Stewart?”

That's the thing that I was like, this is great. He's figured it out. All my friends made fun of me for that because they're, are you the millennial judge and the pictures that they use every time. I'm just like every single, they used one of me like this and I'm like every comedian is going to make, I like went to this building for the photo shoot and they like had me go on the floor with a microphone like this and I was like, I like stopped them. I was like, can we not do this one?

And they made it the main picture. Like every comedian group chat was like, fuck this guy. I was like, uh, but then I guess that's every comedian group chat anyway. Yeah, of course. Yes. Yes, it's just for Zettman and Barb's. Yeah. I don't, uh, yeah. I guess I like the other couple ones I didn't know they're writing. I think we're like reviews. But it's just, uh, you know what it is, I think it's really sad. I think they, it's sad that

they don't have anything better than this. Well, there was a whole theory post the election about

well, where is, what's the other version of this? And I don't, I never understood it.

Guys, that wasn't the president is talking to me. Yeah. To me, talking about sports is I'm, I'm like excited because we're going to go, um, like, uh, I get to take a break from the show and I'm just a banking episode and I'm going to pre-production. Uh, yeah, yeah, yesterday I tweeted at Hunter Biden, apparently he, he, he, he's, he's coming on the show. And then someone like bank gig episodes and building out a roll after season three. Wow. And then in the meantime, I get to do

this sports thing. And, uh, I get to watch like, you know, uh, like Ivory Coast versus, uh, you know, Australia and tell my girlfriend that it's important. And this is business. And she's like, my parents are here, right now. And you think, my friends, my friends in Spanner, the two favorites, I think. And you like Brazil plus eight, 50 on Fando as a daughter. There's, I do. There's so many

“arguments for and against everyone. That's what's kind of fun. Brazil has like the magic of Don”

Carlo. Yeah. The magic of like the guy that's just, he just eats food. I, it just tells them just have fun out there. And somehow it's just like has this energy, like this vibe about him. That's just like creates this, uh, just, yeah. Like I was, Pep Guardiola, um, like used to just be in a layer next to a candelabra the night before the championship. So you final just with like just,

constructing the most psycho, like tactics. And like this is, this he'll never see this coming.

And then just lose to the, to the dog Carl the next day. It's just like it was a perfect, like, uh, just a destruction of like, uh, someone that's overly thinking everything and someone that's just like, just have fun. You guys are so good at sports. Can you imagine when you're little if that you knew you were going to do this? That's awesome. You know, he's probably saying stuff like that. And, uh, but like, you know, Portugal has the best mid, the Portuguese midfield is disgusting.

It's a joke. I mean, they have, uh, Neves, they have Bruno and they have, uh, Vatinha. It's like, uh, there's like so many, the, the, the Dutch backline is the best, you know? And it's just, but they're like, issue their holes. You could convince yourself of, uh, I, I think conventionalism is like the, France or Spain do it, um, and like, uh, does America get out of their bracket? Uh, uh, the bracket. I, I don't know if, do they got the bracket? That's the group.

I think that we in the, we in the group crash out first, first knockout. That's my prediction.

It just feels like that's me. I think that there's something, there's something just, like,

What under 25 player do you think Tommy Alter's going to say, hey, I'm going to dinner tonight

with someone. So it's between games. You want to join us, which one, which one is he going to blow him onto? Yeah, out of any country. I don't know. Oh, if the world cup, he knows soccer players soup. Well, I, I just feel like he's going to add it to his arsenal. Yeah, he's going to go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. I was like, hey, you're mobile and Bob and Bob is in town.

“We're going to go to the ballet tonight if you want to meet us. Yeah, who would I want it? Well,”

who would I want to chill with with Tommy Alter? I mean, sack that's my favorite player. Yeah, Bucayo sack. He's uh, he's like the guy, he's the guy at 17 who pulled our soul out of like just the worst period in our history and had been there since he was like eight years old. And yeah, it's just like, uh, there's something, there's something special about that. He's also another guy who he had a rough season, but I'm going to say he's at a world class talent level in sports,

but he's uniquely decent as a human being. Like there is an aspect of like, you have to shed your like a humanity kind of sometimes like there's a, like Jordan and Kobe kind of had to build themselves into psychos to like achieve what they achieved, right? And that we there's no understanding where like, yeah, if you're going to be like, I want to take the last shot at the buzzer and miss, you have to be crazy. You have to be like, it has to be me, right? And there,

“you have to like, kind of build yourself into a sociopath. And that's what we're trying to do.”

He, when he has it, we love. He took the last shot of game too. Like, I don't feel like

shack would have done that in the second year of his career. Well, we're thirsty. What even is that?

Yeah, I don't know. He's like, he's deranged and he's, I don't know, what do you even is he, but uh, but yeah, could you think of anyone in sports who's like just like, what are the best players in the world and is just a good guy? I can't think of it, actually. I think of like, you have to kind of build yourself into a monster to beat. Like, does that make it, he says, you or no? I think you have to beat. I think there has to be a little bit of a zero-some game

mentality to really dominate a sport. How did you like get ready in the locker room before a game and just be like, a lovely person, right? I doesn't make sense. You have to kind of be like, I want to, I want to kill today. And I'd be at, I know, I want to humiliate other people. Look at Brady now, Brady post NFL and people are like, wow, he's kind of weird. It's like, yeah, because you got to be kind of weird to be the best quarterback of all time. I, we had no idea.

Yo, you didn't know? I had no idea that he was weird while he was playing. Yeah, we, we started near the end. He's so offended. It's so real to you. It's so funny. He's a family member. He brought

“us six super balls. Did he kiss you on the lips? No, he's just, who did he kiss on the lips?”

The sun. Sun. Yeah. And sort of belging the daughter. There's kind of a nice thing about kissing on the lips. Do you want to leave on that note? No. No. We have to wrap up, though. No. Okay. I've just been thinking about this last podcast all the time. No, we're fine. We're fine. Now, we hit a lot of the same stuff. What are you doing? Why don't you do this? You told a great story about Kobe and Michael Jackson in the last podcast. Did you look it up afterwards?

Did I just date any facts? I didn't look it up. I'm not looking up. No, we got to go tell the story. We were talking about Kobe and what we were talking about Kobe and about how it took some

while to round in the Kobe and all of the twists and turns. And then you told the story I had never heard.

We were talking about, yeah. There was something about him just having his whole thing about mentorship, right? And then after bald head Kobe rookie year, Simon Doug Champion, apparently he decided he wanted to have a man's body, but he needed a man's body, not even wanted it. But he was a child. I mean, he looked little. Like LeBron is rookie year, looked like that was a grown-up man. But yeah, apparently he was like at gold ship. He's like

lifting weights. And he got a call. He was like, Kobe, it's Michael. And he was like, no, it's not. He hung up. And he was like, yeah, Kobe, I swear to God, it's Michael. Don't hang up, please, please. And so he's like, you know, you want to come up to Neverland. Like I want to meet you and say what up, talk, it would be great to meet you. So he went out there and he gave him this book. This is, it's like a child's book, a Jonathan Livingston sequel. And he said, this is,

you're, I've watched you and you're like me. And people are going to keep you with praise and give you everything you want. And then they're going to take it away. And you just have to remember that one moment when they take it away, that you can't stop. Like you can't stop, like just like was driving you. And he's kind of, that is kind of a good assessment of Kobe's career. And good understanding of it. Because he does this four years before the trial, right? So it was like

99 range. So it's about to like apparently. Yeah. Yeah. So apparently they were like in touch well

have legal trouble that you will call out of a thing in Michael's second trial, they stop talking.

“But yeah, he was like, just, just you can't forget like you have to just, you have to just”

push yourself as hard as you possibly can. And do not let them, like take that away. And it's like, it's kind of, for me personally, like, I was so sad. Because how old was he, would he have three? He was like 24? Probably. Yeah. Which is so many chips at such a young age. And then we were like, ask ourselves, like, what could happen now? Like he could just win a

resilient. Right. But you know, being back there, like being a doctor in that, it was always

shaking COVID together. How many were they going to win together? Can they donate? And they were always a team. And then the catch would be, can these guys stay together and then that eventually became the issue. So my dad who got really into American sports and Los Angeles was after the piston series, he stood up with about two minutes to go in the fourth and he stood up and he's

“shouted. He's like, we never go on family walks. We're like, what? And he's like, everyone can't”

reassign. And he was walking, like five feet in front of us, just pissed. Like, uh, as is Joe Rogan. My dad. Oh, Max, my real dad. Uh, yeah, my father Joe Rogan. No, yeah. I didn't say his name. I just said that he was the host of a show called the Joe Rogan. No, but it was so I have this memory of like me, me and my mom and my sister were like, he was like 10 feet in front of us. And we were trying to walk fast. He was walking as fast as he could. It was just so mad. And the bend wall is

pistons. Yeah. That was it. That was an awful, being a lacrophand, it felt terrible. Uh, I mean, that was the best series. More stunning result than the series we're having now because I kind of, even though the spurs were different, a lot of people, but a lot of people are picking the next. Their center was six. Seven. Yeah. How big was Ben Walls? Five. It was like six nine, but he was six three. Yeah. And he was body and shack. It was like, yeah, what was that team

was billips, Tashon? It was like, we never saw that coming. And uh, yeah, whatever. But uh, that

yeah, that ever since then, then tell me how my ass tastes. And the shack, shack is kind of gifted of fourth ring. Dwayne goes on like a historic tear. Uh, it was laughing at Kobe now. Shut up. Shut up. It was pretty important on that team. It was pretty important. Added a fence shack.

“He rides Dwayne's coales to the to a fourth. And no, um, no, but it, uh, did you ever say that?”

I think of my favorite player. And I was like, but he's a, also, I think he was blamed for the breakup of that team on fairly. And I think the, it was really the bosses that that wanted to break the team up. And I, I think that in retrospect, like, you know, thanks a lot. And there's been a lot of books written about this. Kobe, Kobe wanted his own. Kobe was ready for his own team. And I think he was incredibly frustrated. I was like, right, Bush Park gets Bush Park on the

phone. No, but I think he was, I think him in shack. We're not meant to be on all this. They were not meant to be a long-term marriage. And I don't know. I mean, I'll just let that happen off the court didn't help either, but, you know, I'm just saying that Kobe was a Kobe's fault. No, but I mean, really, I think it's just like, you see it. It's just like LeBron after the decision. The guy who's beloved, just everyone's like, ha ha, like we love seeing, we love seeing people destroyed somehow

in society. And then goes in the back. Yeah, in America, we do in the UK, they don't, it's weird, where I watch like British sports. They don't have a concept of a comeback, insane. But like

what Tiger won, I cried, right? Because I was like, I never thought I'd see him again. And

I was like, he was what I was a kid. He was like in sports illustrated for kids. And he was like, he was also a kid like me. And he was winning by like 20 strokes and making Phil Michaels and want to kill himself every Sunday. Do you just eat shit every Sunday? This is how I felt when I saw the town. I was like, Aflex fucking back. We're out of the woods. My guy is back. Let's go for a run. You reminded me that you did this whole bit about tips and Steve Carter and you wanted to redo it.

So what's pretend we, let's pretend you're ad lib in this from scratch. I asked you to start if you were tips is best friend watching the next two games away from the finals. What would you say to tips? I would say the first of all, it's great to be best friends with you. You're an incredible guy. You're, you're, you're, you shout a lot. And also like, what's going on with your throat? Like, you always force, should I make a little tea with honey? I've echoed Nesha. Do you, are you sick?

shame it? Now, but you're trying to lift them up though, because the next starts to get into the finals.

“Your DNA runs through these boys. I mean, they, they, that is a fair point. Yeah.”

It's like, he, he, like, built like the, how hard knows they are. And especially like seeing them collectively deal with Wendy, there is something about like, they're, like, yeah, he's made them tough. Like, all of the, even, I don't can't, can't spin out a new coach for you. But like, it's, it's a cat that we haven't seen yet, right? Yes. And it's like, but I, but I do, I feel bad. I do for, like, Mark, I felt really bad. Mark Jackson, but he was doing the ABC

Frog has the year after he retired or the retired. He was asked to leave because it was just like,

how much he have felt like watching that? It must have been like watching your wife having sex with a man who is the biggest penis in the world and not only should orgasm after orgasm, just sitting there saying, hand down man, that was good, people better home. Just like, he's whispering

“in her ear. And you're, you have to, not only, wait, not only do you have to watch your wife having”

sex with her, the guy that's giving her the sex of her life. You have to give a play by playing on ESPN and ABC for the next five years. You have to do, but yeah, and now he's, no, he's a, it's reverse cow group. That was, and that's a great reverse cow group. Like, whatever he does, and that's hand, that's good to see, but better home. Yeah, hand down man. Yeah, I mean, I think I, I would hope that Van Gogh, he was just nice to him and said, like, listen, listen, come on man,

hear a good guy. You're a good guy. She wouldn't have known that she was going to love it, but like that's until she went through the marriage with you. Yeah, no way of knowing it. I just,

“I didn't even know what we could have had. This would have happened with you. Yeah, this would have”

happened with you. You were just on a ground. You were great. I mean, it's, you know, are you sure you, for a job? You want to be doing the play by playing? Mike Brie is saying bang over and over again, excitedly every time you're wife. Curry bang. All right, we're wrapping up. Adam Friedland Show, coming back in July, and the beautiful pod starting in June on Wednesday. Chris Ryan, many others, maybe I'll have a hat signing ceremony signing ceremony. Great to see. All right. Thanks,

Adam Friedland. All right. That's it for the podcast. Thanks to State Farm for sponsors today's show. Thanks to Adam Friedland. Don't forget he is coming to board. Go check out his podcast if you have them. Let's do it. It's great. Really fun interviews with the whole variety of eclectic people. He's really good at what he does. Excited to have him with the world cup.

Excited to lend him CR for a few weeks. You know, we don't always do that. A lot of people want to

borrow CR. Thanks to how and Eduardo and everybody from my side as well. Here's the plan. Monday night, game three, it's going to end. And then Rob Mahoney and I are going to be live on Netflix, breaking down what is sure to be a memorable game in some respect. I don't know what's going to happen. I'm prepared for anything. New rewatchables is coming Monday as well. We did single-white female. We're in the middle of from Hell month. Also, we put up a mailbag on Thursday

if you missed that one. Just about an hour, but back through some really fun questions for that. I will see you in 32 hours, 36 hours. Supply that. Enjoy game three. Must be 21 plus in present and select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas star casino or 18 plus in present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Game problem called 100, gambler or 1,800 my reset. Call 888, 797, 777 or visit ccpg.org/chat and Connecticut or mdgamblinghelp.org

or mdgamblinghelp.org or call 800-327-50-50 for 24/7 support mess chisits or call 877-8, hope and why or text hope and why in New York for Louisiana call 877-770-787-867.