Mark Titus, The Celtics Are Back, Succession Series Finale Preview + Fyre Fest of The Week

Hey, Pardon my take listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube Prime. members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. On today's part in My Take, we have our good friend Mark Titus on the show in studio.

Boy.

Now in the street, there is violence and then a lot of work to be done.

No place to hang out or wash in. And then I can't blame all on the sun.

Oh, no, we're gonna rock down to the Electric Avenue and then we'll take it higher. Oh, we're gonna rock down to the Electric Avenue and then we'll take it higher.

Uh, well, don't, don't touch me, Hank just touched me.

Yeah, so pft, we, we. We will talk to Hank, cause he now gets to golf in the month of June. Everything. anytime you think Hank is down, he bounces back, he wins.

Panic button. It was a plus expected value on the bet. By the way. I had some smart guys sit down after the fact crunched the numbers.

And the Celtics killed them from the jump, it was an electric crowd, they were hitting everything. Uh, it felt like there was like there was even a little bit of a moment where the heat, like, Oh, maybe they'll come back, nope.

Yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm happy, I'm very happy for Hank, the person I'm. I'm honestly sad though for the listeners of the show, because while Hank's going to get to enjoy himself, it does mean that the recording quality is going to suffer, the audio quality might suffer.

Verbal meme, Uh, Hank, it is work, work, life balance, and it's just the picture of, like, the future, that meme, you know, like, what, what? What the world would be like if Hank was work, work? It would just. It would just be a wonderful world where, uh, we probably have the greatest guests, we probably get Kevin Durant on the show. I think how to do work work in June.

I mean, between his busy golf schedule and also making the trip to Miami to get his suit out of the ceiling that he left down there. I don't think Hank's going to be in the office at all, so, but seriously though, Hank, congratulations. I'm very happy for you, yeah.

So go ahead, Hank, go ahead. I will say that it's really not about me, it's not about golf, that's a side story, that's a side quest.

You're going to be sad on the golf course.

I'm a team player, I've entirely been focused only on winning the series. I honestly forgot the golf thing was even a factor, but I will say it was nice having perspective. Uh, my golf game was kind of in a coma on life support for the last two weeks, and well, you could have golfed the last two weeks.

There were a ton of turnover, snipe from the heat, I think they had like 16, 17, 18 turnovers, something like that. The second chance points is we're so lopsided tonight. And credit to Al Horford, by the way, Al Horford. He didn't have a great offensive game, he made a couple of shots. But he, he's gone through these lapses where he forgets that the basket exists.

149 teams that have been up 4-0 or up 3-0, only 11 have even got into game six 150. But yeah.

Right, right, that happened a couple of days ago. Hank, what do you think about Joe Mazzola's pregame routine today? The, uh, the report that he went to the hospital he met with cancer patients, and the direct quote from him was, I mean, one of those, probably.

Saw my golf game in there.

Okay, he said. He said Watching a girl dying and smiling and enjoying her life, that's what it's really all about. So he gained some perspective. It's kind of some psycho shit.

It's a cool move, but it also feels like it might've been a move. Where if they had lost this game tonight, he could get up and be like, you know where I was? Earlier today, I was at a hospital seeing cancer patients. This is just a game, maybe a little old coach K move where it's like, the game doesn't really matter, it's life. Can I get a, uh, a Celtics team chemistry update from you?

No, no, you can't. I don't really know what you have to be able to contribute to the show.

I have talked every single loss I lost we and then I started, I started talking. In the game. You're like, you can't do that, you can't do that.

You know you feel what you feel, and hank feelings are never wrong. But when you feel bad, you act like a shithead, and when you feel good, you act like a bigger shithead.

That's what we're saying. Monday's the start of Monday's show was painful. Try to get something out of you. I'm happy.

You know what you do, Hank? This is what happens when, when you lose, we needle you and then you, you won't respond to it. So you force us to get progressively meaner and meaner and meaner to you, just to elicit a reaction, and then you still don't react. And then when you win, you take all the mean stuff that we said out on us after a win, but we only did that because you forced you. You're making us hit you right now. Hanks. FACTS I don't want to do this, babe.

Sum that up so perfectly. All my feelings. Thank you. PFT. Max is clapping right now.

All right, also, Hank did an insult photoshop of Max that that he put out online, where, uh, he just photoshop Max's face onto every shot. Did he make that 0 chance?

I commissioned it.

No, I was, I was standing behind Hank when he had commissioned the hit.

Yeah, all right, we should. We should get Jake's perspective, cause, um, now this guy's going to be positive after two losses. But I want to hear it. And I, the thing is, I know Jake's happy for me, no matter what, he says.

Than Jake wants the heat to win this. We've got the peas already in the Stanley Cup.

All right, so I can be both equally happy for Hank that he can still golf, but I'm also very upset that the heat might blow this like equally.

No, I can be over you.

No, I'm not like, walk over me.

Yes, you are, you can't be happy, you're in a fight for your life, Jake.

Here's the thing I love golf at the level that Hank does so, putting myself in his shoes, that's where it's coming from. Like a big cat. Imagine if you're banned from betting on sports for a month, I wouldn't make that bet exactly, but imagine exactly.

I wouldn't make that, but it's your team.

Like, it doesn't matter.

Like, it doesn't matter like you, I don't scream after every basket, like, I'm just calling it how it is. I'm not going to fake it for just because we're deep in the playoffs. Just to drum up a narrative.

Yeah, yeah, Jake just called you a simp.

No, no, he's, no. I'm saying, Hank's walking over Jake now, cause Jake is rooting for Hank, and Hank is just sitting there collecting all the wins.

Well, Hank is collecting the wins, meanwhile. But Jake, What Jake just did to Max is honestly very, very mean, even though he was trying to be polite. He's like, Listen, I don't. I don't really care that much when my team's win or lose and you are a freak about your team. No, he wasn't wrong.

That's fair, that's it. Like, am I ecstatic that the Panthers shout out the peas? They're in the Stanley Cup final? I'm really happy.

I think it's fair, Jake, to say that with the heat, you should want the heat to win way, way more than you want Hank to be able to play golf.

No, but there's one thing you're not thinking about too. Like Jake Marsh, Consummate professional. Big J If you're a Big J, you love a storyline. 150 series, three nothing, and to finally be able to win one like that's a great storyline. I don't know what he's doing to you, Jake, you have to know what he's thinking.

No, if the heat lose, this series, being on the side, the bad side of history is embarrassing. Like this is the only, this is the only outcome where I would legitimately have a pit in my stomach for a long time. If they blew this, like if they lost, if it was two, two and they lost whatever, three, three. But like this, you can't have history.

I mean, being a Yankees fan, being a Yankees, and for golf I was rooting for.

The heat tonight, but I'm just looking at the positives, like heat loss. But my friend gets to have what he wants.

Like, we can play together, yeah, we can go play together, Jake, it's going to be great.

Is that not why I'm on the show in the first place? Like it's a different perspective, like I'm not going to fake it.

I know you guys hate this.

I know the Awls are going to come after me and be like, you're such a loser. Casual fake fan.

Like, Let's know, Jake, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Jake We're not. We're not mad at you. No, we're really mad at the fact that if we were in your position, we would want to kill Hank. Yeah.

I want, I want, I root for, like, that's, that's male friendship. Rooting for your friends to fit, have their sports team fit like that really is the epitome of you like you. If you can't win it, you don't want your friends to win it, that's bullshit.

And again, like, I'm not rooting for the Celtics to win this series by any means, but since the Celtics win tonight, how do I spins on that? All right, Hank doesn't have to give up golf.

Sorry, Jake, you know that, you know that for the remainder of our time on on this fleeting earth, that Jake will. That Hank will always remind you that the Red Sox came back against your Yankees down three, nothing, and that his Celtics came back against your heat three, nothing. That will be something that Hank will have in his back pocket, which he will use in order to make your life worse. Moving forward. You have to be proactively defensive about that. Because you don't want Hank to pull that out and stab you in the back when you least expect it, which he will.

I do, I will say, we're we're, you know, we're having fun, we're having some laughs, we're we're. We're getting a little loose, but Game six is 100 toss up.

I think he should be back for game six. But this just came across the Twitter timeline, just reporting Jimmy Butler at the podium.

We can and we will win this series. Okay, so I, yeah, that that to me is scared that by me is the Celtics are going to win this series. The the my, my first moment when I was talking the other night, when I was like I had to get myself ramped up, was when Jimmy Butler posted the pointing picture at Grant Williams. It's like, that's a that's something you post when the series is still going.

No, he posts after every game for timeout, like he posts after losses too. But still, I saw that it was like this.

This is Hank I. I I think the Celtics, like I truly do I know people be like, Well, he only have to win one, the Celtics have to win two, it's 50 50.

It's getting me sick right now, too. We were trying to do hedge math tonight while we were watching this game. And you, you might as well have to be in goodwill hunting to be able to figure out hedge math. Because it's algebra, it's complicated. I'm not very smart.

No, I didn't know what it was, but PFT was like, it's a guaranteed winner. And I said, something doesn't add up there, cause whenever you say that, it's never true. And then five minutes later, I was like, Oh, no, that would be a potential $8,000 loss. And the Celtics are definitely favored in the series now.

No minus one 55 Celtics, plus one 10 on the Barstool Sports.

Okay, so yeah, you can't.

And Celtics minus three game six on the road.

Yeah, um, also fun fact we haven't brought this up yet. This is Blake Griffin's first appearance in the conference finals throughout his entire career. He's not going to lose his first conference finals.

That's a good point.

Also also, Um, also, Blake Griffin and Kevin Love the last two players to be featured on the NCAA basketball game. How about that? They're playing against each other? How wild is that, Jake?

Oh, I love that. How about this? How wild is that?

Whoa, you have it on you.

Yeah, that's sick.

I used to play turn it like, simulate March madness, turn, it's all the time.

Jake, I'm disgusted with you.

Yeah, really, some of us don't have any and haven't had any for a long time.

Right after which would have been embarrassing. Jake, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry for my unique take.

Don't know, I'm sorry, I got mad at you. I'm sorry, I got mad at you.

No, it's everything.

PFT summed up perfectly about Hank.

Just he makes us do that, too. Yeah, right, he does, and then he gets mad at the way he acts.

Makes it a smile right now.

It's exactly.

Yeah, if you're watching on YouTube, you know it is his fault. Um, all right. I got a couple, a couple more things. We were trying to do an ad real quick, and then we got a couple more things we want to talk about.

There there was some big news that came up today in the NBA, didn't have anything to do with this game, but it just came out today, Shams announced. LeBron James was actually injured in the playoffs. He had a pretty much destroyed foot.

He this is the same injury that he told the media a few months ago that he's probably going to need surgery in the off season. But he's not going to tell anyone when he gets surgery, even though he definitely will tell everyone when he gets surgery. But yeah, thoughts and personal. LeBron hope he's okay.

Yeah, they didn't lose every game, they just didn't win, and that's what the problem was.

They were close.

They didn't get no wins, they got zero wins in the series. It is. What they should do is just be like, Hey, the Panthers, The Panthers have beaten some really good teams this year in the playoffs. They're just, you gotta, if you're the Hurricanes, you're rooting for the Panthers to win in the Stanley Cup finals, right?

Yeah, they need to hang a banner that just says, Uh, Eastern Conference finals definitely didn't get swept, even though it says we got swept.

Almost one almost tied game four in a four nothing series sweep. Yeah.

Put the banner up, played a lot of overtimes, series was close. The history books will show it as a sweep, but we all know they didn't actually get swept. Um, yeah, they lost four, oh, but it wasn't a sweep because they didn't lose those four games.

They just didn't win them.

Yeah, look, maybe we need to be more like Rob Brendamore going forward. The Bears didn't lose the Superbowl, they just didn't win it, they were close.

Yeah, Jake is like, Rob Brendamore, though, like, that's. That's such a healthy mentality to have. Yeah, if you're talking perspective, but nobody with any sort of healthy perspective should have a place in professional sports.

No, you, you, you got what you got. Like, the numbers never lie like they lost four. Oh, that's a sweep.

Max That's a no hitter like. But it wasn't because they didn't lose all four games, they just were very close, it was. It's one of those moments that when they asked for the press, when they do the press conference right after, it's emotional. You say things you probably regret. I guarantee you. Rob Brendamore woke up the next day and was like, Fuck, did I really just say that we didn't lose four, oh, and that we were close in all those games? Cause it is on the surface.

It's also he's a Brendamore, that's gotta be, he's gotta be a French guy, that's very French line of thinking. Like, it's like France wearing t-shirts that say, back to back World War champions.

Tough, tough, uh. They, yeah, the hurricanes were close, they did. I think their goal differential was only, uh or no, wait, every goal was a one.

Goal game.

Every game was a one goal game, so they were four, four, four goals differential. Uh, but yeah, to say we didn't lose, we didn't get swept, that's not what happened, we didn't lose four games.

Yeah, no, but I I mean, it was. He had plain trouble, that's why he was late getting to the live event. He did show up after the press conference, which is awesome that he just. He decided that he just wasn't going to talk to the media. Because who knows what was going through his brain at that point? Probably not in the best mental mindset, but, uh, no, it was plain issue. You've seen all the delays that have been happening across.

America for the last year.

Mayor Pete has grounded flights like 75 of all the weekends. He was probably flying Southwest, trying to save a little bit of money, because you don't, you don't get rich by spending money on on private jets. Big cat. So he was probably flying on a discount carrier, which was grounded. And then he was late getting to the event. But when he got there, there was a nice reception that I have.

He didn't sleep for fucking the entire week. He he pulled a Brooks Koepka.

I mean, you've been coughing the entire show.

I'm trying not to, like, shut the fuck up, I'm literally sitting here trying not to cough. You're like, Can you knock off? as I'm literally eating? coughs.

Yeah, no, it's also it is a little bit relatable because I'm, I always say, like, if I, if I had Billy's size, I would be in the NFL right now. And that's one of the things that you can say, if you're for whatever reason, you don't make it in professional sports, just take somebody that's bigger than you'd be. Like, man, if I listen, if I was Joella in Beads Height, I would I would win the NBA championship every single year because I got that dog in me. You can pretend you can cosplay as being a great athlete. He's he's just doing exactly what I think a lot of people do in other sports, but the difference is he's supposed to be better than that.

And it is again. I take, I take blame in this, anyone who's in the media should take blame in this. Because, like the way we talked about the story and how much, everyone was like, hounding to the story. And he did a bunch of interviews, which if I were in his shoes, I'd do all those interviews too. I think he signed with a talent agency, like all moves that anyone in his shoes would do.

Yeah, the the live tour might come calling for for taking it. If if they do, then he should absolutely a hundred percent take that money.

I think that's where the disconnect is too. Like if he had just been like, after the PGA, being like, Dude, this rules. And I'm going to milk this as hard as I possibly can and try to make as much money for my family as I can. I think that everyone would've been like, Cool, yeah, that's, that's what you should do.

Yeah, see, so the difference is, if any of us say like, if we have Rory McIlroy's distance, we would be one of the best golf players in the world. That's to be expected from people like us. When he says it, he should know better because he's actually good enough to know that he's not that good at golf.

Right, right, and what it takes, yeah, to get there.

Everybody to safe out there. Memorial Day weekend. Yes, yeah, I think.

I think the name Matt Kochuk deserves to be said on this show. I know we talked to Panthers, but that trade was insane and that game winner is literally putting the team on his back. Stud, I can't believe you're rooting, you root for Hank to golf. I did not root for him to golf.

Yes, I appreciate it, I really do I. I, I really do, Jake I. I was like, I couldn't get mad at you, cause I knew that you were rooting for me to win as much as I was rooting for me to win.

The reaction that he would have would be a hundred percent different from what he's doing right now. You're smart enough to understand that, right?

I know that, yes, but you guys are just twisting it, I'm not. I wasn't rooting for the Celtics to win. Be like, Yes, I want Hank to golf.

Hank's taking advantage of you right now.

That's what I'm saying. I said that, I said that, I said that, um, okay, let's kick it to ourselves in studio, with Mark Titus, Succession and Fire Fest coming and everyone have a good long weekend.

Before we get to Mark Titus, he's brought to you by a great friends. Over at Chevy. You know, we're truck guys, through and through, up and down. We love trucks. Chevy Silverado has been a partner with unstoppable grit and determination. It's been our most valuable truck.

Okay, we now welcome on the show, one of our favorite recurring guests. We actually had the conversation, maybe it was, uh, yesterday.

I feel like I got to be in the top 10, at least, top 10, top 10 at least. Who would you settle on as number one? I said it was Ryan Whitney.

I think it is Ryan Whitney, it could be, it could be Whitney, it could be, uh, Rosillo has been on a bunch. I love Ryan's on the show.

But Whitney's been on consistently, like two to three to four times a year for.

Like, six years, yeah, Florio has been on a lot, too. Yeah, but you're up there.

So it's great you're going to start getting, uh, you know, some of the guys you call, like the the The Blake's, do they count like when?

Yeah, like when, when we called Lenny Dykstra for an entire year, yeah.

That counts. I'd say he's still top 10, but he was top five, but he's been he since retiring from football, he's semi-retired.

We need one of those, uh, animated infographics where it will show like, uh, college basketball team wins. And then it will start with. Like, Princeton had the most wins in, like, 1902. And then you see, like, the emergence of Duke, and you see the emergency. Yeah, cool.

I don't want to be number one, though, that's that's way too much pressure. I would. I just literally anything in life. I don't want to be number one, so that's smart.

So we're taping this on Wednesday afternoon, uh, we are running this on Friday. There is a game five in Boston on Thursday. Uh, let's start here because you have started a rivalry with Celtics fans. It feels like out of out of the blue.

It kind of came out of nowhere because, uh, watching Game five against the Sixers and seeing the Boston fans booing their team, it broke me. And I don't know what I've. I'm like everyone else like I. As I watched the N.B.A. I cheer against the Lakers and Celtics and that's, you know, like that's kind of a typical way to for an average fan.

My point? Yeah, you know, I don't.

I don't get what the standard is in Boston right now.

We talk about different cities and how their different sports teams have different fans. Like Big Cat always brings up how Cleveland, like Cavs fans are not the same as Browns fans. Yeah, you like Browns fans, root for Browns fans.

Yeah, and I guess that's what's very bizarre to me. Yeah, like Tom Brady played quarterback for your football team that has nothing to do with your basketball team, or like, what the expectation should be for your hockey team? Or. But like, they're the one city that seems to operate that way, and I don't, it makes zero sense.

Well, I think it's because they've won so much, like I know the Patriots have won.

So much the Red Sox have won, this was the point, like the Celtics haven't won shit, right, right, so I never understood why. Like, if you're a Boston Celtics fan, why? You're like, you're going in year after year and you have a team that has been to. What is this?

But I think it's all of them combined, like, I know that Browns fans are LeBron fans, I just separate them. Because it's like one team is losing historically and the other team is winning, so there's a difference where it's like all their teams are in the mix.

I understand how it happens, I'm just I just want to call it out as being insane, you know, like, I get how you arrived at that point, it's just it makes zero sense.

So we don't know what's going to happen Game five, but on, let's just say, let's say that it doesn't really matter. Do you think Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum are like, put your future on both those guys? Because they are kind of stuck in a weird spot where there's no. The alternative doesn't make as much, much sense. Like, even if you don't like them together, which I think most people like them. ish, if you don't love them together, what's the alternative?

This is, if so, yeah, like, what, what is? I guess you have to start with, what is the expectation and if you're trying to win the title?

Maybe maybe the most dunkable guy in the NBA against Rick Smith was not fair.

Yeah, but you're right, like, cause if you blow it up, what does the alternative look like? do you go back to, like, rebuilding?

I'm also a big believer in, like, championships are very hard to win. Just having a consistently good team that gets to the playoffs and deep runs of playoffs. Like, you just keep rolling the dice. It's actually Theo Epstein.

It's definitely that way in college basketball, too, where if you like, look at, you look at coaches that have won national championships. The a lot of them aren't, even with their best teams that they ever had, you know? And like, even like Bill self won in the 2020 title, it was funny to me.

Yeah, I mean, we're going to know a lot more by the time this comes out. I'm hoping the Celtics are eliminated because I think Hank, unfortunately, is right that if they win two, they're winning four. I've resigned myself.

I am so confident that this is, I understand I'm jinxing this and this will be thrown back in my face. But I am so confident that the Celtics will not beat the heat in this series.

I just need to hear somebody say it.

That it is actually kind of freaking me out, how confident I am, I guess, like, I can, it's so I I. It is so bizarre to me how this team is lifeless, this team hates each other, this team like on and on and on. And they went one game and now we have a series. All the pressures on the heat.

Well, Hank paused. When we asked him if a game five was a must win, he was like, Yeah, exactly, yeah.

I think the pressure might be on the team, with a coach who everyone wants fired and the team that. Like. Every day, they're putting out stories about how much they hate each other and how like, I don't know. I don't understand why everyone's acting like the pressure's on the heat.

It's funny. Cause, if the Celtics, if they somehow end up winning the series and luck their way into an N.B.A. championship, I could still see a sizable amount of Celtics fan base. Being like, You've got to fire Joe Missoula Yeah, like, regardless, so okay.

What is the funniest? Um, if we're, if the Boston haters out there need help trying to process what's going on here, um, what? What is the funniest outcome from here? Cause I think, uh, y'all sweeps obviously off the board. Um, game five will have already happened by time everyone's listening to this, but if they lose, maybe game seven, game seven, blowout in Boston. It winning, winning, coming back, winning this series, but then like getting swept by the Nuggets in the finals, yeah.

We should talk about the nuggets we don't talk enough about before we get to the.

Nuggets I do that, yeah, everyone does, there you go.

I want to talk about the Celtics again, real quick, historically great franchise. When you think of the N.BA, you think Boston Celtics, right? Boston Celtics. You would think that they'd be able to have any pick of any coach that they wanted.

Who should the Celtics be looking at? Brad Stevens? Brad Stevens guy in the room? Would Brad Stevens hire himself?

And it's gotta be such a better life, yeah, like such a better life. To be able to just sit up in the in the suites and just not have to stress every moment.

You know, what's great about his position is he has virtually no accountability. So his job. If somebody, if the guy that he hires ends up sucking, he can just be like, that guy, let me down, that guy stinks. I'm going to get a new guy and nobody's going to be like Brad Stevens.

You're bad at this. It would be, it would be very weird if they, I know, that people want to fire Joe Missoula. But now you're four coaches in four years, that's that's, and that's a very weird feeling to be like, when is it the players? I know the email Doka thing like he wouldn't have been fired because that's different, but still it is for four coaches in four years is weird. That's a weird.

I agree, that's, that's I, that's. That's what I think makes Boston so fascinating right now. And I do think that that. As much as it was crazy to me to see Celtics fans booing their team when the season wasn't even over, I I. I understand that there's like more of a. This season feels for Boston like a crisis point. Like they're like, something is going to change one way or another.

Well, they're right at that crossroads where they are about to pay two guys the most like ever. Yeah, and they both probably deserve it, and they're both young, so it's, yeah. It's fascinating to see, like, what the future holds.

I think the funniest outcome, if you, if you won't, if you're cheering for the demise of Boston, is a game set. Joe Missoula does just enough to keep his job. Uh, they don't believe, like the the. The Celtics are just successful enough that they run it back next year with the exact same team, the exact same coach and everything. Uh, but they don't actually win anything, right?

So, uh, speaking of the Nuggets, they just beat the Lakers. I don't know if you saw this. Kyrie Irving was courtside at that Lakers game. What do you think about Kyrie teaming up with LeBron, running that back? Maybe he's the missing piece next year.

But he said he might retire, so I think like he might actually retire.

I'll bet $10,000 to pay off $1,000 at LeBron. James does not retire.

I have to get a cat. If he retires, he's not retired, he's not retiring ever.

Lebron, Lebron, retiring. That would be the moment that truly would make me confront my own mortality.

Yeah, if if LeBron all right, let's entertain it, though, um, if it's good.

Nuggets talk, I like it would be funny, though.

It would also be funny if LeBron never retires. But he keeps decreasing the percentage where, like when he's 55, he's like, I'm still better than, like, 10 of the league.

Like, it just keeps going down and down. Um, what would you respect him more? Would you feel like you would have to look in the mirror a little bit? With the way we viewed LeBron as a human being and his ego and all that sort of thing? If, in fact, well, he's not, but I'm just doing a thought exercise if in fact he's done and he kind of does. A Jay Wright move where it was like, whoa, that kind of came out of nowhere.

Yeah, I mean, I'd respect Ted Kaczynski more as a writer if he didn't attach a bunch of C4 to his packages. But that's not going to happen with LeBron. Like, Yeah, hypothetically. Mark, Yes.

I'm focused on being LeBron James did something he's never done before, and.

Changed everything about his character. I would, I would absolutely like not, cause I I mean, he's going to do the retirement tour. It's going to be two years long, three years long, and people are going to get fatigued with it. If he just walked off and was like, No, no, you guys didn't believe me.

I would say, that'd be that's not going to happen. No, no.

But Kyrie with the Lakers speaking, let's talk some nuggets here, so if Kyrie, if Kyrie had played on the Lakers this year. If you've been traded to the Lakers instead of to Dallas, do you think that the Lakers would have beaten the Nuggets? No, no, no, no, no, that's correct.

I, I so, uh, I. I did get a little sad watching this was the first time watching LeBron where I like my own mortality like factored into watching the like. This is the first time because he ran out of gas. You saw it in the first half.

Yeah, it was like the first half was like he is emptying the tank, and to empty the tank. It was basically like a fighter throwing a bunch of punches and none of them, none of them having any impact. Like, lands a perfect punch and the guy's just sitting there, like, that's the best you got.

And he kept pushing the button and it wasn't working, and he just kind of, like, Yeah, it was. It was very. And I honestly, it speaks to how good the Nuggets were, too. I mean, I think I think LeBron thought he could, just, I mean, I don't know what he did. Like I, I, I honestly, I respect the hell out of Game Four.

Well, I mean Jokic, so speaking of the Nuggets, Jokic has was has been phenomenal in the playoffs. Does it make you like, if you had an MVP vote, would you take it away from Embiid? because Embiid's a loser, like talking about Embiid?

I, I would take the MVP away from Embiid.

I would, too. What would you do about about the sixers? You blow the sixers up? Yeah, speaking of Jokic, Max is mad now.

Uh, Embiid, tell me this, tell me this hot take. You played basketball, you've been around a lot of good, good basketball players, you know a lot of the guys. Is there such a thing as just not having that dog in them and being kind of a loser like Embiid's a phenomenal basketball player?

I do think, Okay, it's a great question. Yeah, to answer your question. Yes, there's definitely guys who do have the dog in them and don't.

Can you get? can you grow it? Can you learn how to be a dog?

Can you learn how to be a dog? Can you be around? If you get like the right teammate, that gets brought into the mix and teaches you the ways?

I think you can. You can get domesticated from a wolf to a dog. Like, if you're a real wild kid and you're coming out and you play on that edge, then you can get brought back. I feel like I feel like Jimmy Butler was a wolf, and now he's got that dog in him.

Okay, half wolf, half dog. So you're saying he was, like, too crazy. And they brought it down to a manageable level.

But he's still got that instinct in him. Where?

Can it work the other way, though, where you're, like, a little too passive, a little too soft?

Right, I don't think you can turn a cat into a dog, you know what? I think? I think it was, uh, was it? John Thompson at Georgetown, who said, Like, if you have, you need. You need two dogs on each team. two dogs can get you a championship.

Yeah, it's like making the whole plane out of Ron. Our test would work.

That would not work, can't work, would not work. But I think it's a lot tougher to get a guy that's soft and then turn them.

I don't know if you can gain the dog, I don't know, I don't know if you can. Who, Billy, Go ahead, Billy, Billy's freaking.

Intense trauma.

That, uh, Billy, you've had a pretty nice life. When you're like, intense trauma, girlfriend breaks up.

But that's a classic example where you see a dude.

I would say, like, death probably is more like a parent dying or something like.

That you just come, you see like your buddy comes back with a mean streak alive. It happens like girl breaks up with him, then he like.

Like your buddy loses a beer pong tournament, girl on you.

Then they, you just get me, oh, if you get cucked, yeah, so what you're saying is like, somebody needs to cuck Jason Taylor, you just need to get immense.

I'm trying to actually think of an example in sports, like even Anthony Davis. He was with the dog, LeBron James, and he didn't, even he didn't get the dog from it, like he wasn't in, it wasn't.

It's especially bad with big men going back to beat. And Anthony Davis and you know, DeAndre, and he gets killed for this all the time. That the big men are the worst. Because it's twofold. That one they they have been put on a track from the second. They were like, you know, in first grade, and they were bigger than everybody. They were told like, you're going to be a basketball player, you're going to be a basketball player.

I'm going to speak for Max here because I know that he was thinking about this when he said that. I don't think Joel Embiid started playing basketball until he was what? Like, 14 years old, 12 years old, something like that.

Yeah, I don't know, I'm pretty sure he played volleyball for his youth.

Yeah, I think you can. You might be able to grow a dog if you have other dogs around you that are strong alpha dogs. That kind of show you how to become, you know, a follower. So I would say, maybe maybe some of the guys on the Old Pistons teams, so you had Ben Wallace certified dog, Rasheed Wallace certified dog?

He was pretty damn dog ish, though at Uconn, yeah.

Chauncey Chauncey might not have been a dog. Here's one.

What about Chris Bosh? Did he kind of get a little dog with the heat? Cause, remember he at the Raptors, he was called soft?

That's a good point that Chris Bosh is a good example.

He might be the example of a guy who gained some dog. He was a bitch.

Then he became a dog and he got a little heat culture in his life, yeah.

He got Heat culture, he got Dwayne Wade, he got Haslam LeBron. Yeah.

Getting him tougher, that's a that's a good example. Andrew Wiggins Andrew Andrew Wiggins did come to mind, but I don't, I don't think he, I think he got, cause, so Andrew Wiggins is a good case of. IS. Is having the dog into a binary thing where it's yes or no?

He's like a small dog, like barking at the fence, cause he knows there's a fucking huge dog right behind him in Draymond Green, where it's like, I know I can do this, cause I know that if push comes to shove, I got my big dog to back me up.

Did Steve Kerr like being being punched in the face by Michael Jordan if Steve Kerr wasn't on those Bulls teams?

I think Steve Kerr had the I think he had the dog from Billy. Intense trauma. Getting broken up with your girlfriend or your dad getting assassinated. Kind of the same thing. Yeah, he probably gained the dog there, also Steve Kerr by.

By sticking around and still competing and playing at high level after your teammate punches you in the face. That's dog mentality. Yeah, yeah, it would be, it would be cat mentality. Just quit.

This is a great discussion, I liked it. We're really hammering down on it.

Hypothetically, hypothetically, envision a world where Chris Paul becomes a dog. Who does Chris Paul need to be around to become a dog?

Uh, not Kevin Durant and DeAndre. Yeah, I would say.

I would say, might be a dog, he's just too small.

But what he is like, is there anybody in the NBA?

What about him? Feels like a dog, though. He's kind of dirty, He's kind of, he's more of a bitch. Yeah, probably.

He probably is more of a bitch. You're right. Yeah, there goes our Chris Paul interview, it's funny.

Chris Paul is, objectively speaking, much better than Baron Davis was, but I would much rather have Baron Davis on my team in a big game, yeah.

This is dog. I don't think anyone else who's gained it.

Who's gained that dog to him? This is great, I'm sure the the.

There've probably been some relief pitchers that get, or some pitchers that get moved to being a closer. And then they only have to pitch one inning. And then they're like, Oh, this guy figured it out. No, he only has to go out there and throw nine pitches miles per hour.

There's also some dog presenting players, where if you actually look into it, like, I'll say it is Zion a dog? No, no, no, but he is dog presenting because he's physically like such a specimen, and he's had. When he has been on the court, he's been special, but he might not be a dog.

Yeah, this is a great this, this, this, this, this is what I'm going to do.

Tonight I'm going to go through all the N.BA players and just be like, dog or no?

What happens with Dame? He's a certified dog, yeah, but he's he has no pack to run with.

I, Damon, Jimmy Butler are probably my two favorite guys, two favorite Americans, I should say in NBA at this point. Because they feel like the only two guys that just hate everybody. And then they they, they just like, they're not buddy, buddy, cause like.

This is the old school Derrick Rose. When he was, like, pissed at LeBron for dancing and stuff like, I love it. Like that, that mentality of like, Hey, we're not friends.

I do think that that is like the the the part of the NBA that's turned off. A lot of people. Like, there's a million reasons, you know, and especially you go into Middle America and China, why they don't like China, the N.BA, they'll give you a million reasons. Um, but I I do think that, like the first thing. If I could make one fix immediately for next season, it would be. If there was some way to make the players not all be best friends again, that would be my first. They all hate each other if they all, like, looked at each other, like Dame and Jimmy Butler. Look at the rest of the league, that would be awesome.

The N.B.A. and the way that that basketball is set up, down to the AAU leveling up kind of. It made that behavior happen. Because the players were exploited for so long in the N.BA, the league was making tons of money. Players weren't allowed to make anything going to college that they weren't even allowed to jump directly to the N.B.A. For a little bit. Then they were, then they're not, it's.

I wish there was a way all the players can make as much money as they're making. Cause, ultimately, if it's coming down to like the billionaire owners versus the millionaire players, like, I don't, you know, I don't really care. I give the players a ton of money, but I wish there was a way they could make the money. They just don't know they're making that much money.

I'd be nice if at the end of every season, there was like an AI script that just took all the minutes. You played, all your stats, your playoff wins, all that, and at the end of every season, there's like, bank account reveal day.

Yeah, you get paid for what you did that year, cause it does piss me off.

Like LeBron, he had the one famous press conference when he was, it was asked about his haters. And he's like, at the end of the day, they got to wake up to their shitty lives. And I'm still going to be that. That attitude, I mean, one, you're jealous when you're a fan and you see all that.

Like, our life goes on, you can think that, but don't. Please. Don't remind me when it's a weird set setup because it's good perspective by the players, but also not what fans want to hear. Like, they're actually having the healthy person on life, very healthy.

But also, yeah, it's not.

We actually should probably take a healthier perspective of, like, it's only a game.

I'm trying to figure out how we get both, and I think that ship has sailed, unfortunately. But yeah, they're not going to hit each other, yeah.

Uh, so going off, LeBron, and we're talking about the Nuggets versus the Lakers. How good do you think Bronny Jr. is going to be at USC?

Uh, I don't think he's going to start, um, and I think that you have to start them. Come on, they, they, they are going. I mean, they have, uh, they, they, they, they have. The number one recruit in the country is going to start over. I'm like, I don't understand.

Counterpoint He's LeBron James son, and LeBron James controls everything in basketball. Yeah, you know what, I you think that they, you think USC's coach is secure enough in his position?

But I can afford to tune out, I do. I think I think LeBron is smart enough to know what's best for. Bronny would be coming off the bench. Now he's going to have to deal with, like I said, like the media circus of as USC season wears on and he's keeps coming off the bench.

Going from the bench to eventually, if he's good enough to starting, is a great story starting and then going to the.

Bench is that's the failure. Yeah, but they, they, they, they. They have Boogie Ellis back, they have, um, like, the the USC's backcourt is very, very, very good. Um, and I think, like, but that's what's fascinating, I guess. The Indian field has put himself in a position where it's like, Are you trying to talk about, like taking the John Calipari route?

Is this a hot seat here for Cal? Well, yeah, I can't believe we went this long without asking, because they do have a really.

Good team they have, this Kentucky team is going to be wild, This Kentucky team is. Robert Dillingham, uh, and DJ Wagner, like, they're too they. They have a great recruiting class, but those two dudes, uh, I'm not a recruiting expert.

I might call him baby, by the way, I'm still the same. It's a it's a chubbier kid in Wisconsin who's committed to the batters, who has the smoothest big game, chubby big game, uh, ever.

The two Kentucky freshmen they have, they have a bunch of freshmen coming in and they're awesome. But the two headliners, uh. They love having the ball in their hands and they love dribbling it, and they love going nowhere with their dribbles. And they love it's going to be good, but they're also super talented, so they, you know, it's going to be a fascinating Kentucky team, for sure.

What about it? So Cal? As far as recruiter goes, obviously he's one of the best to ever do it. What about as an X's nose guy is it? Has the criticism been warranted of coach Cal?

Um, I, I. I think the. The criticism is warranted in the sense of, like all the talent he's had through the years now, like, he's, he's doing things I I. If you, if you want to defend him, you would say that like he's playing a game that no one else has been playing. And like, uh, managing the egos and and handling a bunch of freshmen year in and year out and having the revolving door of talent is is tougher than it looks. But at the same time, I mean, if you're watching the playoffs this year and the first round. And you just like, stop and count up all the guys that are scoring 40 points every night and be at the point. In Kentucky. For John Calipari, and he won one, he's won one title.

Yeah, no, I actually, I actually do have. I do have a Nuggets question because they are advancing the finals. Um, a lot of people have doubted the Nuggets over the years. Uh, I don't consider myself to be one of them. I'm leaning from the front on the Nuggets. Uh, what do the Celtics have to do to beat the Nuggets in the N.B.A. finals?

Who guards Jokic? Um, can't put Al Horford on them.

I love the nuggets. To me feel like, Uh, I, I've been making this comparison for a few weeks and I'm getting more confident in it. Uh, they feel like the Warriors in 2015, where, um, the feeling I have watching them feels very similar to like the when the Warriors were first before they ripped off all their titles. If you remember Charles Barkley, the name that comes to mind over it, cause I just remember Barkley being on TV every night, like, they're fun.

Well, and they actually are similar in the fact that if you when you're watching Jokic or Steph, the defense has to basically always like. It's almost like a vacuum where everyone has to collapse on them because they're so dangerous that you get open shots for everyone else.

And you think he's good for like, like with Steph, you think the reason he's good is cause he's such a great shooter, and it is. But Steph's an incredible passer, Steph's an incredible ball handler, Steph does all these other things really well.

This is another debate. And you're, you're absolutely right. Like they're. When people were tweeting like, Oh yeah, Jokic hasn't scored in the fourth quarter, it's like, but do you understand that he is making all these shots happen like they're all scoring because of him?

Hold on, cause it's it seems like you're heading down a road where basketball player is not good.

No, no, no, they are, they are good, but it's not, as it doesn't seem as natural. Like Kevin Durant's a hooper, yeah.

But I think there are hoopers there, like, I think Jordan Poole's a hooper, and I would love Jordan Poole to be more of a basketball player at times.

I think that's why you remember when USA basketball hit that that swoon. In the two thousands, we had a shitload of hoopers, way too many hoopers, all hoopers. Like our three point threats were, I think, like Jason Richardson was like, it was like our dead eye outside shooter. And we were getting bodied by Argentinians and Eastern Europeans because they're basketball players.

It depends on what you're, I guess you want out of it, depends on the role. if if for your superstar, you want a hooper, I think.

Yeah, because Jokic can do everything and he also like it. Just it's natural for him, like everything is fluid and feels natural when you're watching it.

He's, he's, he's, he's incredible. It's all innate. It is I. It is hilarious that that he, uh, did not win the MVP. I don't really care.

A lot of guys don't understand what a smart player Jokic is. I do. Me and LeBron, we both understand we saw from the from day one what a special guy was. I actually think I think Jokic might be almost as good a passer as Steph Curry as a shooter.

He's an incredible pass, I mean, he's, he's, and his touch is just insane. The the my my favorite ones are the the the Floaters, where he's jumping off his right foot, shooting with his right hand. A shot that, you know, when I was coming up in basketball, no one would practice because it'd be absurd if you try to shot like that. Now these guys do practices.

The soccer throw-ins behind the back of the neck.

He also has incredible, yeah, it really is, and he also has a little bit of similar to. Like Paul Pierce, where Paul Pierce wasn't the most athletic or the fastest guy. But there's like, never. It's all deliberate steps, like Jokic knows where he's going, and the deliberate step like he doesn't have to beat you a speed if he uses deliberate steps.

Right, yeah, I think, too. I was thinking with the Steph comparison and the Warriors comparison and all that. Steph and Jokic both have the feeling, as you're watching them, that it feels like you're watching yourself. Cause Jokic being a bigger boy that, you know, is not exactly chiseled, feels like he's overweight or whatever.

It would be very funny if, you know, we joke about how Steph Curry ruined basketball, where now everybody goes out on the court. If you're a kid, if you're like the biggest kid out there, you still want to shoot from from 40 feet out, cause you want to be Steph. What if the opposite? What if Yoka just dominates for the next 10 years in the NBA and every kid grows up trying to be Yoka, even like the little kids?

There's just an influx of fat people. Yeah, I mean.

That would be good for the league, I think. Just load it up with a bunch of fatties.

Gospas He's going to get chiseled, but he's.

All right, so nuggets in how many?

I do think that if the Celtics come back, I guess this is the reality. We have to, we have to live in that. The Celtics are going to come back and beat the heat. If if the the Nuggets are the best team left in the N.BA, I mean the Celtics at their best, might be better than the. I don't know that that becomes a debate, but I just don't understand why. Everyone keeps thinking the Celtics are going to do the one thing that I don't know. But they keep surviving. I guess I'm talking myself into it now. I'm so confident that they're not going to win.

They're down three one, mark three one. It's never happened.

It's never happened, but you bet on them, so that makes it, you bet on the heat, which makes it that. I was the first time I was nervous about the Celtics, like coming back and actually doing this is them winning and PFT doing that, cause that is like that. That is how it. And hank being able to laugh in your face.

That is the story of this show. Counterpoint Jake Marsh But do you true? I got Jake Marsh on my side?

Do you remember the times that, uh, something like this happened? And then the heat went out in game five and one by 19, and you know it, just everyone. Then they just moved on and everyone just forget, like the re. I feel like there's confirmation bias with this stuff. Then you remember the jinxes, but do you remember the time when you were like, there's no world in which the Celtics are going to come back?

I could also see a world where, you know, five years from now, we're still making fun of Hank for his his, uh, series clenching game four victory in Miami to go down three to one in the playoffs and the victory lap that he took after that.

Yeah, it's the UM, it's the Cavs and Warriors, whatever it was 2017 or 2018 when they were down. I think the Warriors won game four and everyone was like, Whoa, sorry, the Cavs won game four, yeah, and then the Warriors beat them in five.

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, I think the nuggets are gonna, I mean, the nuggets have been a machine, and they're they are. Uh, it's, it's. It's been fascinating watching people slowly go from, like, I think there's a way they could do it to, Yeah, they're in the mix to now.