The Buyout Scam

On this episode of This League, we talk about Andre Drummond finally heading to the Lakers yuck, the death of rebounding, hit some quick news stories.

The bubble up during the weekend.

It is a slow week in the NBA, but we're going to hit some stories that have been sort of bubbling around along with some listener dms. And we also had a special guest interview with Katie Austin, who's a fitness host massive platform on TikTok on YouTube.

All that she's.

Also the daughter of NBA superagent Jeff Austin, who represents Steff No Big Deal Yannis formerly Chris Paul, Wesley Matthews.

Great Chat, Must listen. Al Horford. Let's talk about him.

Former Celtic turn sixer, turncoat Al Horford. Very sad and tumultuous departure from Philly.

It was ugly when he left.

There was some hate between him and the Philly fans. Not a shocker coming from someone who is hated by Philly fans. But I don't know if there was a weirder fit than Al Horford being traded to the Thunder One because Horford has a huge contract, and two because he's thirty four in the Oklahoma City Thunder in the middle of a youth movement.

I just forgot he even existed.

Literally, like did not remember who he played for, whether he was still playing. I knew he was still getting paid. But I'm thinking to myself, huh, where is he?

He could fit somewhere.

He has been one of the best leaders in the league. At one point, he was probably one of the best stretch fives in the league, would you agree, Marty?

Yeah, sure, he was.

Considered up there. He was highly coveted when he left for Philly. It was there was a few teams that were willing to pay him the max, I would say, But, like I said, there's a youth movement happening in Oklahoma City. They have thirty four draft picks in the next seven years. Nuts thirty four, I forget, like seventeen first rounders in the next seven years. And they've got a bunch of young guns that need to be in the oven. And there's only so much only so much space in the oven.

A guy who's getting paid fifty million just ridiculous, something dumb.

It's something really really amounts of money, and they're like, we don't care.

We traded you, We traded for.

You to get more picks, and now what we need is to build for the future. I think that they have been probably one of the most ruthless teams in the NBA in terms of getting rid of guys that they just have no use for.

Yeah, I mean I don't know exactly what all this does. You know, he's still in the books for two seasons after this, and I don't think them sitting him out is going to make anyone else more likely to try to come him and swoop him. I mean, they made that trade to get picks, and that's what they got, and they have.

To eat the contract a little bit.

Yeah.

What's interesting though, is that the world started clapping at Al Horford's sister on Twitter and she was like, listen, this is Al Horford's decision. He was the one who said he was willing to let these young guys develop. It's not the team, it's not Sam Presty, it's Al. Al is such a great leader that he is willing to.

Do nothing and make millions and millions of dollars. Me too, I would like to do that. I would like to be the kind of leader.

That can make stupid, doodoo, dumb money and not have to compete and put any more miles on my broken legs.

But Greenee, here's where the interesting conversation comes.

Greenee, who is one of our very own barstool employees and Celtic's ball washer.

He just he's just riding Danny Angel's dick into the sunset.

He said to Al Horford's sister, he's basically our beat reporter.

Shout out to Greedy, love Greed, No shade really to Greedy. That was just for the comic value, Honestly. He tweeted at her and said, but what if.

We miss Al and we Celtics want him back and think his beautiful eyes could help. We'd love to see him back in Boston. And she said, we would love to see him back in Boston.

We the Royal We meaning Al Horford wants.

To go back to Boston too. If you're his sister, this is the the some sort of law of association here. She knows where he wants to be. She knows what the status is. I can promise you she's had that conversation with her brother, certainly, and if he did not want to go back to Boston, she would not say whether he wanted to be there.

What do you think about.

The potential of that band getting back together again?

I mean, I just don't think it's there.

As long as he's making twenty three million dollars for the next two seasons, I think I think they'd rather have the two Jays.

So here's what I think could be a possibility. Though.

Now we've got a situation where we're seeing these older overpaid we'll call it bunny ER's Superstars Drummond, Blake, Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge.

Get bought out. Okayse he has him on the hook.

Anyway, they said that they are going to pursue other options for Horford in the off season. That other option could mean a buyout, it could mean a young player. I don't know, what do you think.

I mean, if they were able to do that and Horford was able to get back on the Celtics for a very minimum for like a Drummond level price what he's getting now dollars, if they could do that, sure, Yeah, I mean I think that team could use all of the veteran leadership and like someone that could like steer this ship a little more.

Yeah, I think it'd be I think it'd be great if they could pull it off.

Yeah.

Otherwise, Al Horford is going to be the most expensive Eudonnis Haslam we've ever seen.

He's literally DMPs up there just clapping for Shake.

Gildris Alexander just one of the best development players in the league. This is what Horford had to say about what could have potentially have been a very awkward situation in Oklahoma City, which he has made unawkward, we'll call it.

When I arrived, I understood the direction of the.

Team, We had a great individual plan in place for me, and I feel like as.

A result, I played really great basketball for the Thunder.

At the same time, I know what it's like to be young and an aspiring player at this point in the season. I understand how important meaningful minutes is for their careers and their development. I also understand how important it is for the organization to give them that opportunity

How do you not still love al Horford.

He's a top five leader in the NBA top five And yes, as you said, I like the idea of Horford going back to Boston. I think one you finally have someone to hold these young guns accountable. Jalen and Jason. They're not leaders, They're twenty three and twenty four. What do I fucking know about leadership?

Right?

Just all they have is a couple of parables and some Tony Robbins quotes and some Eric Thomas.

They have no life experience to draw from. One of the oldest players on the team's fucking market smart.

I don't think he's the one. Certainly, Brad Stevens is not the one. I would not allow him to leave me anywhere.

This guy, everything he says is basically at like a half a decibowl. I can't follow that.

I'd rather have Ted Lasso as my fucking head coach than Brad Stevens.

I tell you what, wouldn't we all?

Wouldn't we all?

Yeah?

Great series? So yeah I would.

I think if you could get Al Horford for the cheap, that could be quite the intriguing prospect, not only from an interior defense level, spreading the floor with a big man that can shoot just like Danny Ainge says that he wants, and a man who can beautifully hold these young guns accountable.

So I like that, but we'll have to see. Let's move on another piece of news. Internet is mad shocking.

They're mad somehow at KD because the Nets got James Harden and Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge.

And according to them.

Those players going to the Nets is because Katie is bitch.

That's basically what they're saying online right now.

They are incensed because they say, how could you possibly go on record and say you're one of the greatest basketball players right now on the planet.

Which he is. Katie would say he's number one.

How could you say that and then need all of these former All Stars on your team? How how could you be such a bitch to want to play team basketball?

That's crazy.

They not only are they saying and discrediting his past rings, they are now trying to discredit future rings as well. They're devaluing him. And Katie is having zero of that, none of that. He is searching his name on Twitter, which we know these mentions, He's got hundreds of thousands.

So he's he does this.

He has said I come to Twitter for this reason alone, to fight, and he's googling his name on Twitter and going deep into his mentions and clapping back at guys who are irrelevant with like eleven followers, giving them exactly what they want, which is attention. Katie just spitting facts and have you seen the recent exchange.

I did see it, but I didn't go all the way through it.

Okay, So here's how it goes down.

Here's how it starts. Some guy with the screen names. Do we use screen names or is it handles?

Handle?

But I like screen name? Remember screen name?

Yeah? Yeah?

Big Poseidon tweeted out right after the Audrey's news broke, literally just attributing every piece of good news that the Brooklyn Nets have to why Katie sucks, and he says, this is why I.

Don't watch the NBA no more.

The Warriors ruined it, now the Nets make it worse. And they both have one common denominator, this fuck Kevin Durant, I mean. And KD, which is wild, responds immediately pretty much.

And says, I see you took all of this personally.

Lmao great clappack, and Poseidon responds back with lmao, you know I did. Yo ass better not lose or I'm on your top. It may be noted that top could mean many things. So KD responds, pause that my guy.

Pause, okay, KT, nice one.

He pause, Oh man, I just say KD is just like all of us, very easily triggered about certain things and willing to come at anyone who hits those triggers, no matter how many followers that they have. So another commenter comes back at Katie in the same ass thread and he goes, I see you can't really lead a team on your own.

First up, the.

Warriors may not have won those other two rings without Kevin Durant, and so Kevin Durant could be seen as an integral part of those rings.

Akaa leader Okay, I.

Mean he won two finals MVPs.

One two finals MVPs, which they don't give out easily, asked Steph Curray Shade, so KD Katie had a perfect response, and he says, I'll never be able to do anything that I really want to do on Earth or Saturn or Mars. He didn't say that part. He didn't say on Saturdn or Mars. He said, I will never be able to do anything that I want to do on Earth by myself. If you think about it, the longer that you think about it, the more deep it sounds. I think maybe this the word Earth makes it sound deep.

Yeah, probably just burning.

Some sage talking about their plans on Earth and how they can do anything together and synergy just dropping. I know you hate Kyrie dropping nuggets like a Greek philosopher, but making me feel better about myself when I get mad about things. When people say Tristan knows nothing about basketball, that triggers me.

I'm not gonna lie. I will respond to that, how dare you?

I probably have forgotten more about basketball than these motherfucker's on Twitter know about basketball.

So okay. So Katie being human just like the rest of us is warming to my particular soul.

So as much as I love seeing Katie on the court, which I think that there are things that are really wrong with Katie right now. From a health standpoint on, I don't think he sits out for a month and change and probably more unless something's really really bad. I don't think a strain hamstring keeps kd from playing hoop after he hasn't played.

In two years, so I'm with you on that.

But when he is out and not playing, he is very active on social media, which means more exchanges like this, which means more segments for us on this league. So all right, Next news Lonzo ball. I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's going on. There's conflicting news stories everywhere. Does he want to be in New Orleans or not?

Smarty, I don't think he does know, and I definitely don't think his father does that. Well, came straight out and said, we don't want to be in New Orleans.

It's very hard to tell one person from another because his father and him are certainly different. But it's just the tea leaves are scattered to the winds.

I can't read them. This is what's happening as we know it.

Now. The latest news is this. One NBA agent went on the record. I hope it was his agent that had been amazing. So one NBA agent said this about Lonzo. Lonzo enjoys playing for the Pelicans, but is not a fan of New Orleans.

I like New Orleans.

New Orleans is great.

It's is, but I understand if you come from that NBA culture, it may not be the city for you.

And he is from LA and let's be real, New Orleans is not a basketball town.

It is a football town. You are the little fish in town.

So the agent says, however, he really wants to end up with the Knicks or the Bulls. That has been a dream of his. Is likely he will try to leave in the off seat.

Okay, I get.

That restricted free agent, restricted.

Free agent wants to leave.

Cool, But the VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin said right after the trade deadline that the reason that they didn't trade him was.

Because Lonzo Baal wants to be there.

He said, Lonzo Ball has said he loves his teammates, and he has made it very clear personally one on one to me, David Griffin.

He wants to be here in New Orleans. He loves it here.

Okay, well, those two things cannot exist at the same time. Cannot Lonzo Ball's dad says this, like you said, he does not want to be in New Orleans, and he should not be in New Orleans. And he's not being used properly in New Orleans. No, no, no, this is what he says. No, no, no, he cannot stay in New Orleans. Come on, man, come on listen. Lonzo's always been a playmaker. This is how I think he sounds.

Why are you trying to change him sorry into a defense it's a specialists and stays in the corner shooting threes, and you're trying to change Zion and brandon Ingram all throughout their careers, they've.

Never been playmakers, pauls Zion hasn't had much of a career, LeVar.

You don't know what he has done and what he has not done. They are scorers. Now you want to put the ball in their hands and make them playmakers. Yo, go score the ball and do what you do.

And guess what, They're going to have a hard time trying to win every game if the playmaker ain't making the right place.

So he is mad that Lonzo's being used in a way that.

We'll call him limits what he's allowed to do on the court.

Would you call that fair?

Yeah, I mean he's kind of like a three and D guard that can slash sometimes, but yeah, isn't the primary ball handler, so he doesn't always get those opportunities.

And he doesn't get to make decisions.

Yeah, can't be a Lamello highlight machine when you don't got the ball in your hand. Primarily when you're there just waiting, you're literally you're just in a shooting stance waiting to get the ball kicked out to you.

When they call on brandon Ingram.

Lonzo is reportedly three and D specialists, now asking twenty million dollars a year in.

The off season.

ESPN is predicting that he'll make in the region in the neighborhood of eighteen. Lonzo Good Kid has been very diplomatic. He said, I love playing with those guys.

In New Orleans. I'm also really cool with them off the floor as well. We're all young.

I think we can do some big things, especially in the future coming up. Hmmm, it's hard to say what's happening.

I just don't know.

I think what Lonzo is doing is good, old fashioned, playing both sides.

Of the middle. I think he is open to other offers.

But also open to staying in New Orleans, basically telling off record to folks like Chicago and New York.

I'm very interested in.

Your franchise, while still saying all the right things to David Griffin so that they don't discard him and he's not in no man's land if both of those situations don't work out.

But I get it. I see why New Orleans is not.

Like you said, as enticing as a market as New York Chicago.

It's not easy to build a brand in New Orleans.

It's just a ball player as a basketball.

Player, It's not I don't know if it's like an easy place to build a brand period. And the Pelicans are have a terrible name, and I think that actually degrades the brand as well. But Damian Lillard has shown that it's not impossible with his Hulu has Live Sports shit. He was on State Farm, he's planned for Portland, and he's transcended.

He is what we would call a household name.

So does he want to be a brand in a place in like New Orleans or does he think he can do more in a place like New York or Chicago?

Great questions. I don't know the answer.

But it also could be, like LeVar said, the way that he's being used. Does he want to be used the best way that the Pels think that he can be successful for their team? Or does he want to be used in the best way that highlights all of his his skills and makes him more highlightable highlightable on?

Is that is that a term high lightable? It could be hard to say. I don't know.

It's gonna be very interesting to see what happens in the offseason. Because I know Leon Rose very high on Lonzo ball twenty million.

I don't know they have a Manuel quickly they have Derek Rose. Mmm. Tough, tough to say. Maybe sign in trade.

Maybe a sign in trade so that they can get someone in exchange, because Lonzo walking for nothing makes David Griffin look like a fucking idiot this league.

You know who got paid in full?

Fucking Andre Drummer got paid in full. Oh, yes, a lot of money. A lot of money that boycott. He is one of the most overpaid players in recent memory. That twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen, those two years, guys just got an absurd, ungodly amount of money that they did not deserve.

Listen, I want everybody get their money. Whatever the world is willing to pay you, get it all, get it all.

Oh certainly, but that does not preclude me from evaluating you based on how much you get paid. And I don't think that value matches up with the amount that he has gotten paid.

But God bless him. So the news of the weekend, Andre Drummond took a buy out from the Cleveland Cavaliers and was the belle of the ball. Where would he sign he's getting closer and closer.

To making his decision, like Lebron James' press conference style. Will he go to the Boston Celtics, He is getting closer.

Will he go to the Miami Heat? Will he go to the Nets? Which made no sense?

Nope, he went where everybody had been talking about him going pretty much all year LA Lakers.

Interesting that Dan Gilbert let that happen.

Yeah, no, I mean we all kind of saw the riding on the wall that it was going to be to the Lakers. And his contract is in the amount of seven hundred and ninety four and thirty six that he gave back in his buyout with the Calves. It's a very friendly signing that will still allow the Lakers to remain under the cap and sign a fifteenth player.

Yikes.

Great for them, Terrible for the rest of the week, Just terrible, just sickening.

But oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Andre Drummond is just one of many, one of many players that is at the end of his contract five years, one hundred and twenty seven million dollars that he signed for.

Just let that sink in.

A guy who was discarded by the Detroit Pistons and then discarded by the Cleveland Cavaliers, two teams that you would think would want to hang on to a guy like that, and they said, no, we'd rather have Jared Allen. We'd rather have anyone else on the Detroit Pistons. But it's crazy because he is the best rebounder in the NBA right now.

Oh yeah, easy, the best And I.

Didn't know this until we were doing some research. He is one of the best rebounders in the history of the game. In his last three years, this is an interesting step. He's averaged fifteen or more rebounds a game and that is more fifteen rebounds of game seasons than the entire NBA combined in the last two decades.

Yeah, I believe that monster. I mean fifteens. That's a shit to a board, a.

Shit ton of consistent wards.

Yeah.

So why did he get traded by one of the worst teams in basketball and then get bought out by another terrible team.

There's a new article and that's detailing it.

Why this guy.

Chris Herring did a deep dive called great Great Headline. I am like a sucker for headlines. The headline is bored to death. Welcome to the NBA, where rebounders have little value.

Great fucking article, ty, I love that.

Yeah.

In it, he argued the big man of yesterday and truly a thing of the past.

Yeah.

I mean, he argued that it's the death of rebounding. I don't know if I'm quite there, but it was. It was very interesting what he.

Have to say.

Where do you stand on rebounding?

I mean, I still think a guy that can go up and get you twelve thirteen a game has value. But not if he clanks up the court and just shrinks it and can't do anything. If that's your only thing you can do, then yeah, we have problems.

Yeah, yep, I agree. Look at the waiver wire right now.

LaMarcus Aldridge, Gorgie Jang, Blake, Griffin, Boogee Cousins, Marquise Chris, guys like Hassan Whiteside as well an elite rebounder, defensive specialist, block monster getting zero minutes and Sacramento rumored to be waived.

Just those are the guys.

They are the dinosaurs in terms of the type of game that they've had. The Marcus Aldiers is a little bit different, a little bit, and Blake Griffin to a degree as well, But those guys were big men that were there to be the defensive specialist and also grab boards.

I do think Drummond is much better than all of those guys though to rebounding, to be fair at rebounding, I think it's.

A you think as a whole.

Hassan Whiteside is not that different statistically than Andre Drummonds.

I know, statistically, but if you watch him, Rummon's a better defender. Like Hassan will get some blocks, but like he he gets.

The thing is they both decide when and where and how they want to share and spread their effort.

They are not always consistently giving you the.

Effort that you want, which is why I think him going to the Lakers is a huge deal.

But why is this happening?

Why are big men being thrown overboard just about everywhere? Why did Danny Ainge feel like his starting center Daniel Tice was the expendable piece in the salary dump?

So the answer is that the game has changed.

Teams are starting to catch up, and we are now seeing that the game has evolved and has taken time for NBA gms to essentially get on board with that.

Philosophy.

They were paying guys that they should not have been paying for things that were not currently matching up value. Wise said that it's not like NBA rebounding doesn't matter. It's just that you have to also do other things at that same exact time as well in order to be valuable. You cannot make one hundred and twenty seven million dollars in only rebound and defend.

Sorry you, that's just not.

Enough to give you staying power the league as we know now, don't I don't understand. The question is why do people not want to get on board with scoring being the most important thing in the NBA.

Yeah, I don't know what that is though.

It's what you kind of see in baseball where people just hang on to just the I don't want to say boring, but just hang on to old fundamental aspects of the game that they don't like seeing going away for some reason.

Like I don't know.

I think it's driven in like what we learn in youth sports and shit, and it really doesn't play into modern athletics.

There are a lot of people on the internet that get very mad at me because I value my we'll call it talent evaluation.

On players overweight scoring. But that's the NBA.

What we there.

We are.

The NBA is overweighting scoring, So I am going to overweight scoring as well. The league value scoring over everything else. That's the cold hard facts. No matter what your position is, you have to score that. You can't be a center that can't score anymore. Andre Drummond has an atrocious jump shot. That's a problem his thing. I don't even know what he does with his arms. I don't even know what's going on.

Rebounds defense do not matter as much, especially when other positions need to rebound. Because here's here's how we break it down.

If the three pointer is king and you're shooting from the logo and it doesn't go in. Anyone who understands physics, I think it's physics. Understand understand I think so angles.

I don't know. Is it triggered.

I don't know.

If it's triggered on math angles, it's physics.

The ball hits the rim at a certain face, it is physics, force and momentum power whatever.

We'll just throw out some buzzwords.

And the way that the all comes off the rim is going to rebound further away from the basket then Andre Drummond can go and get it. It's going to probably go past back out to the three point line, where other guards and forwards who are on the wing anyway are in a position to get that rebound. So therefore, fifteen boards for Andre Drummond is even more spectacular right now, but not as important because how important the three point line is?

Does that make sense?

It does?

Yeah, Okay, that's how you get Luca averaging nine rebounds a game.

That's fucking absurd.

So what you really need in the NBA are forwards and guards who can rebound, not so much centers who can rebound because they need to be away from the paint anyway. They need to be allowed to give Damian Lillard the space that he can and needs to go to the hole. So David Cowan's a former legendary rebounder, told SI in this article, it used to be that the lane was crowded, where there'd be a free for

You just run the other direction. Just don't even try. I don't know. I agree with the article, but we can't just.

Act like Andre Drummond is discardible only because he's just a rebounder. I think it's really because he makes so much damn money.

Just oh well yeah yeah yeah, and he's been on teams that are rebuilding. I mean that's the reason he's been yeah, thrown the way.

So Hassan Whiteside went from four years ninety eight million in twenty sixteen. He went from making twenty seven million dollars last year to this year making two million dollars in Sacramento, not being able to get any playing time whatsoever. There are now rumblings that he might get bought out this year. So that's the reason why is like this is a very high like this is a highly needed skill, just not a highly paid skill. Right, you're now a

And LaMarcus Aldridge him too. He signed a two year, fifty million dollar contract with the Spurs.

Uh in twenty nineteen, which really would not have ever been paid to anyone else on any other team except for Greg Papovich is just still very firmly on board with paying these big men no matter what. He's just Tim Duncan, Tim Duncan, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, David Robinson.

That was kind of a loyalty contract too, for sure.

Yeah, which I don't understand. No, but fuck called Marcus Aldridge.

Gorge Jang also now about to get picked up for the Spurs. They got rid of Marku's Chris just so that they could put gorge Jang on the team.

I called that, did you. I didn't call it, but I just said, he will hate Markys Christs.

Yes, I remember that.

I saw the gorgee Jang signing and I was like, yes, Greg Popovich is like a fucking drug addict jonesing for his big man in the center who can block shot and get boards and be this like defensive presence for your team and be this leader, this like highly affable guy that everyone circles and centers around. I was just like, oh my god, this is insane. So Andre Drummon signing with the Lakers, I like the fit. Probably could have fit in with the Heat, Celtics or Brooklyn. But what

I don't know.

Yeah, well yeah, it's just a harsh reality that basketball is now changing. Offense is key, the three pointer is trumping everything. Teams are just valuing shooting and passing over rebounding and defense.

And the traditional center is now a victim of these times.

So that's why a seven to two monster like Roy Hibbert can be out of a job at thirty.

That's just insane, sad, sad story.

How that happened.

I mean, it was the speed with which Roy Hibbert fell off that is really insane. Like he was an All Star in twenty thirteen fourteen, he was an All Star, uh like defensive Player of the Year candidate, and by the playoffs he was unplayable.

Yeah.

It was like you.

Close your eyes, it's almost like spring has sprung.

Right.

There's this little building outside of my apartment and I walk my dog there every day and it was like dirt and then all of a sudden, I woke up one morning and the plants were like a foot high. Yeah, it's like you wake up and it's like Roy Hibbert is no longer playable.

You wake up.

Gorgie Jangs not a player woke up all of a sudden. Andre Drummond is no longer useful at this contract, so we're gonna see that happen. I think more and more. I think more trees are going to continue. It's like the death of the running back to a degree, and then the resurgence obviously of the running.

Back as the offensive styles change.

That dictates which positions get paid, and you know how highly.

Coveted they are.

So I like that.

I think the only.

Team really the tree is value before is as long as Greg Popovich is still a live coaching basketball.

There's a place for you somewhere, Marty.

We had a great conversation with content creator Katie Austin, daughter of NBA superagent Jeff Austin, who represents Steph Curry. He represented Chris Paul Joannis Crazy Client List.

He is a managing partner of Octagon, which is.

Nuts and she's also the daughter of fitness legend Denise Austin, who was on ESPN Fight ten Years Running, daughter of Royalty in the fitness and athletic space. Conversation was interesting, to say the least. She talked about what it was like to grow up with the dad who represented these types of athletes.

She was around it since she was little.

She actually had a dinner with Chris Paul like all the time, he would come over the house.

So little girl Katie Austin. In the middle of that her NBA experience, she covered the Summer League.

She also covered the league for Fox Sports West and the funny thing was how Bryce Alfred and her relationship with him ruined NCAA basketball for her for a life.

So a must listen. It's coming up next.

On this league.

We have a special guest, Katie Austin, host and fitness personality, beautiful, radiating smile former D one athletes. She spent time covering the NBA for Fox Sports West in the NBA during Summer League.

Thank you so much for joining us, Katie, that guy, how are you? Thanks for having me? So?

I actually got my start covering the NBA Summer League too.

Did you really what year Dame's first year?

Okay?

Twenty twelve?

Okay, I was like twenty eighteen through twenty nineteen.

Actually you seventeen maybe, yeah, twenty seventeen.

It's an incredible place to get your start covering the league because it's so much more accessible than you could ever imagine the NBA being and probably never will be again outside of that particular event.

And they give you so much creativity, but it is such a grind. I mean, you are waking up at six am, you are trying to get the stories out, and then you have like an intern camera guy. There's probably like ten hosts when we did it, and three camera guys, and so all the hosts kind of like fight over what camera guys that you know people are going.

To use that day. It is such a hustle.

So to be thrown into something like that right after college was like such a great experience.

And Warren's a great guy too, Warren and Albert Hall.

Albert Hall, yeah, they both, they both have done an incredible job of making that into a spectacle. But you're right lutely, there are games going on from day until night, back to back to back, and you're going back before and people don't know that it's two arenas, no, and you're having to.

Go back between all the real NBA players, not just the ones you know who are the rookies and you know, right out of college, but all NBA players come and watch the young guys and so you have your pick on so many different athletes to interview, and that was like the coolest part because I did so many different pieces on your NBA guys too.

Who was your favorite person to interview while you were there? Oh man, that's a really hard question. Ah oh okay. So I did this piece where I like dance with the guys.

It was like three years ago where this dance move was like really trending in the flaw. So I'd ask every guy what their favorite dance move was and I'd make them do it with me, and they were so awkward and I had to be like so energetic and kind of crazy, be like just do it with me and there's like no music, and I think everyone hated me, but like.

It worked and it made for a great piece. Oh that's amazing.

I think that people know you from your mom and fitness through your mom, but they don't know that your dad is a super agent.

No one has any idea.

I actually mentioned it for the first time on my Instagram, like I think, as you know, a month ago or two months ago, which is crazy because I get so much shit online because I am a band Wagon fan for so many different teams.

I wear so many different jerseys and.

I hate messages, like literally, these guys will come to me and be like, you.

Were just cheering for the Warriors. Why are you a Lakers fan? Now?

Why are you cheering for the Dallas Mavericks now? And I'm like, you don't understand. My dad has like seventeen players, and I cheer wherever team they are, And so I'm definitely America's biggest bandwagon fan. And that's what made me love the NBA so much because I grew up watching it with my dad obviously for work, and going to games so many games with him growing up, which is which has been awesome.

Was it weird being a little kid and your dad working.

The room when you're doing you know, you're going to a game that you enjoy and you get to see him kind of like schmooze but also very much being work.

Yes, my dad's definitely not a schmoozer.

He's the most humble, quiet, shy man ever and just so so smart. But it's so funny because you know, the guys at school, I just remember like and even in elementary school and middle school, guides would think I'm like the coolest girl because my dad and then girls would think I'm cool because my mom, and then I definitely got bullied because my mom will.

Get into that.

We can get that later, but yeah, it was just it was really awesome because I got to meet all these amazing players and I just like remember growing up with Chris Paul and so even now seeing him and his family, it's just like I was so like it was just instilled in me growing up with NBA players, and I think that's like one of the coolest parts that and a great gift that I was given because interviewing NBA players came kind of easy to me because

What do you think you outside of not being starstruck, do you think that your mindset interviewing an athlete is different knowing that there's a whole brand behind them, and an agent and publicists and the whole business side. Do you think that affects how you actually ask questions and what you ask.

Most definitely you have to, like well especially that's a great example to go back to that every question's approved, and so you have to not only go through their agency, but you have to go through the team's publicist. So it's very hard, and I think I definitely have a little bit of an advantage just because I feel like I would be able to ask some of my dad's players a little bit more.

Intimate questions than a normal person, if that makes right.

Yeah, they're more comfortable and they know what your your intentions are. How come you decided to go the fitness slash hosting route instead of going into the business side.

Like your dad.

It's funny because I was I was actually at where was an NBA All Star last February, and I literally got approached by an agency being like, if you ever want to work for us and be an agent like your dad, we know you know the business side, please.

Give me here's my card. And that was like the first time I thought about it.

But as far as fitness and hosting, I actually studied broadcast journalism at USC and so I knew from a very young age I wanted to be in broadcast. I just didn't know exactly what. And so I hosted a sports show at UC for two and a half years. And then after about a year and a half of sports hosting, I kind of got a little bit like, okay, wait, I was an athlete my entire life. My mom was in fitness. I love fitness so much. I love to work out. Let's make a you know, a weekly segment

Literally, so and.

Said that to her, and I was like, holy shit. The fitness industry is so rewarding. And so I've been really struggling the past few years between like sports hosting if I want to take that route, like very strongly, and then the fitness route, because I've been really doubling with them for the past you know, I would say three years out of college, and so when you double two careers, you can't put your full.

Heart into either of them.

You know, you're kind of giving half ass to both of them, because you if you want to be a good sports host, you have to give it or your one hundred percent. And same with being a fitness you know, influencer of personality. And so I'm still kind of in that in between right now, but I definitely think the fitness industry has been more rewarding.

Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head when you're doing sports hosting or even agency work. No one's going to come up and say, hey, you you changed my life to give me the strength and courage to leave my husband.

That's wild. That's wild.

Why do you think your dad you mentioned he is not a schmoozer. He's like a very humble kind of nobs guy. What do you think makes him as successful as he is. I think he's top ten, top ten agent in the NBA for a very long time now at least.

Yeah, oh, totally.

Well, he has a lot of integrity and he started by representing his best friend, who is Jimmy Connors at the time, number one of the world for tennis and his sister, who's number one in tennis for women's and so when he started being an agent in his early thirties, he represented two number one people in the world for tennis for a sport, both women's and men's, and both of them were, you know, his best friends, I mean, his sister and very two close people, and so I think,

It seems like he also has a lot of guys who were not highly touted who became super.

Yes, yes, he definitely does. He has Stephen, Steph Curry, Joannest. Yes, the big one was Stephen Curry.

I mean we I feel like a lot of people did know that Joannis was going to be a superstar, you know when my dad's company signed him. But Steph was kind of, you know, a little bit of an underdog. But my dad this will very tell my dad's age. My dad represented Dell Curry. Oh wow, yeah, so so yeah, Stephan was just kind of like, yeah, sign with you know, Jeff my my dad's name is Jeff, but outside with Jeff as well. And then another one that he got,

So you know, he has a.

Lot of guys that did either go undrafted, came from Europe, or definitely were the underdog like Steph.

Yeah, it's interesting.

What do you think it besides integrity, do you think it takes to be to accumulate these types of levels of.

Client networking networking is key and being again goes back to kindness, being nice to people. And I think one of my dad's biggest things is going into everything with the open hand. Like my dad will never ask people for favors.

You will always be the nice guy in situations.

But I do think networking and knowing people is very important, especially like even for me at a personal level, for my career, I could not get to where I am today. First off, obviously hold my hard work, but without networking. I went to USC which is a massive networking school, and so I think network as much as you can. I know, right now in this day and age, it's

You can't be that person.

It's interesting I always get banged on because I have a lot of friends in the industry that are a list names, and I never ask them to be an interview for my podcast because I just feel like it degrades the friendship.

At that point, I want never ask any of my dad's clients to be interviewed.

I've never asked them to anything, truly, and I might I'm not saying I'm saying yet.

Because like I love Stephen Curry on my show one hundred percent.

But at the same time, like, I never want my dad's clients to think I'm using them.

That'd be the worst possible situation.

And at a certain point, you have to think, is the is the platform that I'm creating, does it make sense for them right now for that favor to be used in this moment, Like is the audience is going to come along with this interview going to be enough to ask for this favor, Like if I ask Mike Wellbonner or straight hand.

Always very weary of people thinking that I get everything handed to me. It's kind of been one of my insecurities in my backbone, like in the back of my mind, like I never want people to think I have my parents money. I you know, I just get certain things because of who my parents are. Because it's actually the opposite. I, you know, got a scholarship to USC. I worked really fricking hard to get there. I did four hours of practice for basically my entire life to get to LA

In it to me, why is that important to you? I don't know. I feel like this is about to be a therapy session. I don't know. I really don't know why that that's important to me.

I mean, like, I guess I want to make a name for myself and outside of who my mom is. Especially We've been talking a lot about my dad and this, but my mom had her own fitness TV show for twenty four years. My mom was on ESPN for ten years with the Still Show five days a week, and so coming into an industry where my mom is like such a legend is like, I'm not gonna lie. There's a lot of pressures that go along with it. It's like, oh, shoot,

You'll never be mom.

But people are becoming a lot nicer now knowing that I actually do have the talent to be where I am, and so I think I just want to prove myself. I've always been either my older sister was number one of the nation for lacrosse, and I was always like a little bit below her in lacrosse, like a little bit not as good as her because she was on

I'm like, f this, I'm my own person. I'm excited for it, kind.

Of feeling like you were just you were born in the shadow of a bunch of people who were.

Legends, exactly like my aunt's a freaking legend. My aunt was number one, She's the youngest ever to win the US Open. And I come from a very, very very successful family. So I just want to make success on my own.

You talked about you being an athlete. You were a let's just call it a stud You were study. You led the nation and assists right in lacrosse. I know that you know, I do do at so much.

You got scholarship to se for lacrosse, right, but this was at the exact time where people who were in your exact situation right, parents with money and power and fame, were buying their kids into the same.

Schools that you were at.

Yep, did you have any feeling that that was even a possibility while you were there?

And when that news broke? What were you leaking me?

Because I worked so hard in lacrosse, like lacrosse where I'm from in Virginia, we were number one of the nation and in my high school, I mean it was like D one and high school it was insane and it was so highly competitive. We had ten girls in our class all go D one basically, and I'll be out with lacrosse. When I got to school, people are like, what's lacrosse? Is it the club team or like what it was six? Because it's like Los Angeles, They're like

And she was like just this lost l a girl. Like basically she was just like really cute. And I was like, you're an athlete because I was. I was.

I was a little different back then. I was very, very so much tom. I was like, you're an athlete, Like what do you do? And she was like telling me she was a coxcent show. She had like way less and she was only you know, like one hundred pounds or something. I was like, oh wow, cool. I see her two days later, like when school started, and she was like in a cute dress and I was like, what are you doing? And she was like, I'm Russian.

I was like, what the fuck? And she was like, oh, I quit rowing. And I'm like it was two days.

Yeah.

I was like your.

Second day, okay, Like what what? And so I was like, now, looking back, I thought nothing about it. I was like, she was like it was too much for me. I just realized I wanted to be a sorority girl. I was like, looking back, I'm like, was she part of it? Like, holy shit, that's so crazy. But I never had any inkling in my mind whatsoever that that even existed.

Yeah, And I think it probably plays plays on your in your narrative of like everybody and like that situation happening at the same time you were there and just being another stereotype and like thing that people believe about you that's.

Not true exactly. Yes, especially USC.

I'm sorry, but our school has the worst rep for spoiled children totally.

Yeah, it's the University of Spoiled Children. I went to Oregon.

Yeah, so I grew I grew up in Portland, went to Oregon, and then a bunch of lacrosse kids actually at Oregon, and then moved to LA to get into media, and so I was sort of around USC and all these kids at that time.

So yeah, it's uh, it's crazy. Oh yeah, and I know it.

What do you speaking women's sports, what do you think about those ig photos that leaked of the weight room and the food.

I'm not surprised whatsoever, like I saw, and obviously it makes me really really really angry, But it's like, you guys, this has been for years, Like what do you guys expect? Almost it's kind of like, I'm really glad the media caught wind of it because it's like very eye opening. But at the same time, it's like, uh, yeah, no, shit right. You know women's sports have been, you know,

Which sucks was that your experience when you were playing is that they just consistently sort of gave you guys lesser van.

Well, there was not lesser than, honestly.

I mean, there was definitely more attention from the trainers, which I didn't mind because I didn't want to go do mobility exercises and foam rolling and ice and stuff.

Twenty four seven.

So I guess, like little instances I felt, you know, a little bit lesser than. But honestly, we had the same everything, with the same weight room, you know, same food, everything like that was the same. Really not same as football team, that's for sure, but as far as other

The men's Men's PAC twelve is dominating in the tournament this year as well.

See, Okay, here's the thing.

I used to be extremely into NC double A sports and March madness and everything, and I used to actually used to travel to all the games and Sweet sixteen and stuff because I dated a guy for like five years on Rye Salford.

Yeah, how'd you know that? I guess it's all on Google Girl, so funny.

Yeah, I did the point guard for UCLA, and so I used to be so into it, and then a few years after we broke up, I was just like, honestly, I can't watch it because it's like just it's just too much.

It's just I need I need a little bit more. I don't know, I don't know.

Just the breakup was to a point where you can't even watch n C double Men's games anymore.

And I yeah, and I was like, don't even care, and he like really really fucked me up for a while. I'm not gonna lie, and so I just yeah, it just doesn't really interest me anymore.

It's and it sucks. It really freaking sucks. All right, So how do we find you?

You're gonna have you have a YouTube series starting launching today Monday, when we when this episode comes out.

It's called Austin AF and it's a play.

Yeah, it's a play on AF like as fuck, and but it actually stands for and Friends. I'm actually in my studio right now. I don't know if it's just I'm actually interviewing today. I'm interviewing Mark Sanchez, who's also one of the hosts here at Malka. They have like Mike Tyson. They have Matt Barnes and Steven Jackson show.

So I'm really excited.

Awesome, Well, make sure you follow Katie, give us your handles for everyone to follow.

It's just at Katie Austin on every single platform, and in YouTube it's Katy Austin Fit and I do weekly YouTube videos and I have my own app which is the Katie Austin App and has one hundred and fifty workout videos on it.

Now, that's all the time that we have for Katie on the This League Podcast. Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you.

That's all the time that we have for This League Podcast.

Please subscribe, please rate, please review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Subscribe, unsubscribe, resubscribe. We also have This League hoodies on sale in the Barstool store. Also, fuck everyone who's giving me one stars. It's either five stars or one stars. Somebody needs to come in and help balance these fucking trolls out. This is all Philly fans giving me one stars, telling me