Okay, we continue on Fred Rogan, Rodney Pete on five seventy l a sports.
Uh.
Kevin has been working on something special, okay, and it is ready about Luca Doncion, so we will have that coming up. But now Rodney, let's welcome on the man who has been there for all of them, and we'll ride this wave to the end. Dan Wiki La times, our good friend, Dan.
Welcome to the show, guys. That's how point break ends for Patrick Swaythey's character. He just rides away to the end and it's not a happy ending for him.
No. He goes to a big wave, the giant once in a once in a fifty year wave. Is that what it was?
Now? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, I'll never see them again. No, I never see them again.
And Keanu Reeves lets him go, lets him go.
Let's the let's the seas swallow him right, Like, why you know they call it nautical justice, Rodney, nautical justice, they don't call it that. I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm some punch drunk.
I bet you are no sleep for Dan Wiki man. Dan, this before we get into the like specific question, just your thoughts on last night and that whole atmosphere then I mean Dallas Lakers, Luca Lebron, Mavericks.
Yeah, I hyperbole to say, like, so I've been covering in a games after like fifteen seasons or something like that. This will be one of the games I remember forever. I don't know if or when I'll ever be in a situation where the arena is so emotionally charged in that way where you know everybody is wearing some version of a Luca Doger jersey. It seemed like, guy's the craziest thing that happened. Obviously there's the cheering, and there's the fire and eco chance if you guys notice this
or not. But early in the second half, Luca got called for a travel and the crowd booed, like everyone booed, which was like like when when will you ever see the road team committed turnover and the home the home fans boo the decision like that that was it was a one on one experience, and you know, as my colleague, you know, Dylan Hernandez sort of wrote like, you know, like kind of like Otani going and Homer in Japan, like you know, it's this is what we expected you.
We expect you to put on a show and not only do you do it, but you you somehow even raise the bar. And uh, I think as LA fans start to forge these bonds and these relationships with Lukadagic, like you look at what look at what he meant to Dallas and you know if you if you buy in, like there's a chance will mean this for you here to in La.
If you're a Nico Harrison, how did you feel last night?
Probably discourt Like honestly I would I would have mostly just been angry and like kind of cursing the basketball gods, right, because the way out of any of these decisions right is to win, right, and they have not won and not necessarily even you know, partly obviously in Nick Harrison's
vault because he made the trade. But you know, look, Anthony Davis plays a half of a game, wants to do the right thing and be there for his new organization and gets hurt and then you don't see him for you know, five weeks, like Kyrie Irving, you know, blows out his knee and you don't see him. You know, it is a very like unfulfilled vision. But like, I don't know, that's the thought I had and there's been like a lot said and then there will be a lot said kind of about what what Nico Harrison did
and shouldn't have done and all that stuff. I think my new general rule guys is, if the tribute video is gonna be that good, you don't do the trade. That's how you know if you've got to If you've got two minutes that are that good, that means probably he's that person should still be a part of your organization if you want.
Yeah, but when a tribute video good for Anthony Davis when they did.
It here in La not that good.
Yeah, but still but it's been there.
It was good, It wasn't that good? Was it wasn't that?
There's been tribute videos. What I'm what I'm saying is.
I'm telling you one is when it's like, is that like that organization? Like because it's because you're watching him from eighteen, you know what I mean? Like you hear his English skip better, you see his silliness, you see his goofiness. Like these are the things that like we're starting to see a little bit being around him to day, Like uh, they like they lost the other night and one of the I won't say who but a Laker
sports staffer. You know, they lost the game. I think it was the night Luca got ejected and he was, you know, pretty upset, and Luca hit him with the tap you on your left shoulder, but I'm on your right side. After the game, you know, like for just like a quick little smile and like he has this kind of ease and energy to him that like it enables people that are around him like really really ride
for him. And then you know, for the fan base in Dallas, like who had just gone through that kind of like you know, multi generational run with Dirt Davitski to like feel like they had it again and maybe even had it better. You know, I think that's why they they've reacted the way they've reacted. Like, you know, I saw somebody say something along the lines of I think it was Jason Gallagher who said Massan used to
work on JJ Reddick's podcast. Said like people will say that like, you know, we're turning on the mass But it feels more like the MAVs turned on us. And I think that's because how much they meant and none of this is this is like really running the unfortunate part because this does all sort of read as shaded Anthony Davis, and it's not. It's not and it was gonna be a whole of fame. Anthony Davis deserves to be one of the seventy five best players of all time.
That stuff's all true, like Lucas, just at a different level like this is I mean Ronney, Like I didn't see major Johnson play. I imagine he made people oh yeah yeah.
But but at the same time, look at won at t and won a title and won a title, and when any and one really I mean, he got to the finals, they won a title, and and for this for this to be you know, again going back we talked about this a little bit earlier Dan, for this to be all on Nico and and this not be a club wide organization decision, it's absurd that he takes
the run of it. And then you've got the owner coming out and said, I hired the basketball people to do the basketball things and make the decisions and not take ownership of we.
Collectively make Who else is it on?
You mean, I mean, you don't think you don't think they're the owner, you don't think they call the owner. Let's sign this sign on this.
Trade for sure, But usually how that works though, is like when it's your idea, you know, generally speaking right now, Look, I don't I don't want to. I don't want to pretend to know. I'm not gonna be naive. I'man to tell you, I don't want to pretend to know that I know exactly how this happened. But like the way that it's been mostly presented to me was that this was Nico Harrison's like deep and then when it is your idea, you have to argue for it. Right, do
you have to sell your idea? You have to sell. You have to sell your idea to ownership that this is what I think we should do. Ownership was happy to do it, or at least to some degree, we're obviously willing to do it. They didn't want to pay him.
The money to the dumb owner in the league. If you're going to allow that to happen, you're incompetent. As Fred said, I don't know how you made money. Rodney made money in your life, and if you.
I mean like I would tell you to google. I would tell you to google how he made his money and involved two words I and do.
I do mm hmm.
Here's the thing, Dan, and we talked about this certainly, and I know you'll agree. If Rob Polinco wants to bring somebody up from the G League, that's your job. Rob. You make a decision if you want to fill out the ninth spot on the roster. Okay, Rob, go ahead. If you're gonna trade Lebron James, then you're gonna have a conversation with Genie Boss.
I mean, usually guys, if you're gonna trade future first round draft picks, like I mean, that's usually, like I'm telling you, like, that's usually where the bar is on this type of stuff, right when you get everybody involved and like like sure there may be like kind of the rubber stamping, but usually if you're talking about like what the team's gonna look like in two years from now, you know, ownerships involved, and this is the type of trade that like, honestly, like is gonna have you know,
a ten year minimum ramification on the Dallas packricks, Right, Like you're just the and you just I don't know what needs to happen for you to be a MAVs fan and to feel good about being in that arena again.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, Fred Fred just put it out that that you don't make a decision without the owners signing officer. Sure, are you agreeing with that? Are you agreeing with that? Or no?
Look, ownership obviously signed off on this. I'm just saying, though, if you're the person who has the idea, you got to own it.
And he's owned it. He showed up at the arena. He owns it. But what I don't like is that the ownership threw him under the bus and said it's all on them. They made the decision or he made the decision. I trust the management all of that. When yeah all got in a room and had a conversation about this is what we're going to do, and instead of saying collectively as an organization, we made this decision, you said, Hey, I hired the guy to make the decisions,
and he made that decision. So I'm out of this.
Ronnie. I don't disagree with you. I will just say that I believe you know there are seating capacities on lifeboats.
Yeahs town, It's just like you know fire Nico is a snappier chant.
Then sell the team Patrick like there's an element of that too, right, Like and Nico was the first person, Like he was the one who executed the trade. He was the first person out there to justify it. And like one of the craziest things about this trade, and like had it even worked for Dallas, like really truly worked, right, Like I remember in the day after that that deal talking to people down there who were like skeptical that their fans would accept it even if it came with
a championship attached to it like that. That's and I think that we saw that bear out right, Like you saw how those people reacted to Luka Doncic, You saw how Luca reacted to those people. You know, That's that's probably why, like even you know, I'm not sure there are people in that crowd that would trade it.
Here's my where's my question? Since we're we're putting like Luca on this big time pedestal now, right because he went back to Dallas and went crazy, are we going to put him under the same Are we going to put him under the same standard as Lebron James or anybody else. He's got to come He's got to come here and win a title within the next two three years.
I mean, I think that's the expectation. Yeah, okay, you know.
I'm just checking. I'm just checking. I'm just checking because because everybody's like, now, okay, we've got our guy. This, this is the standard, this is he's the epitome of everything. And we won the trade and we won all this and came here. You gotta go win it. You gotta go win a title. And if he doesn't win a title here, are we going to keep him under the same scrutiny as we do other people that goes go to places and don't win a particular title.
I mean I think, like I mean, I would, I guess, I hope. So I think you know are you? Are you?
Are you?
You are going to commit to being angry about time?
I want you to say that within you give him a timeline within two three years, three years, three years, got to win a title here.
Actually, I'm smarter than to do it last time. There was a three year timeline issue around the Lakers, like you know, Jimmy puff off his chop. I will not make any timeline predictions. What I will say is that like, yes, he will have access to and he currently has access to you know, a team that believes it is good enough to win a championship right now, if he doesn't perform in the playoffs, he will hear it. You will hear it from me, They'll hear it from fans. That's
a thousand percent. I think what will happen? I think the reason Rodney, why you're hearing this from me today and why my fans are are are riding like so hard for Luca today, right is like I mean, was how vulnerable he was?
Right?
Like, That's what it is is that you like, it's from a it's you know, we saw the We saw the hug Lebron James gave him as he walked up the court. We saw his lip quiver as he looked at his like, you know, professional basketball life sort of you know, be condensed into a two minute package, you
know what I mean. And then like not only did he do all of that stuff, and you know, particularly the emotional sort of toll of like you know, being there and you know, like going through what was obviously like a very emotional thing for him at a place that he didn't want to leave, right, He didn't want He didn't ask for this, which is unique in the NBA when it comes to star trades. Right, it almost never happens this way, you know, to then not only do that, but then to go play the way that
he played, particularly right away in the first quarter. It is sort of the quote unquote like Luca Magic. And I think I think Laker fans like while like you know, understanding that you don't hang banners for special nights in Dallas, you know, in early April, and that there are bigger goals.
I think people should feel comfortable plenty, comfortable celebrating what was like a special game, like a really special moment, particularly in a franchise by the way that is like full of these types of moments and these types of games, right, and and is comfortable linizing them like that. It can be both. It's not a title, right, it's not a title.
But you know, like nobody want a title the you know, the night that Kobe outscored the Mavericks figure it right in Dallas, Like nobody want to tell that the game people talk about like you know that that's a special No, No, let's.
Not put I know, I know, and and I may get killed for this, but let's not let's not put it up there. Look, Celtic City just came out right, we just watch I don't know if you watch it. I watched it. I'm not a Celtic fan. I hate the Celtics. I'm a Laker guy. You know, the first time that the Lakers beat the Celtics in the finals, after they chronicled Jerry West, you know, you know all of that, all of those things, you know all of those things, and then finally, you know, magic with the
hook shot. Winning and beating them in Boston Garden was a big deal. And I just heard some people, you know, equating it like, oh my god, this is this is on the on that line. No it's not.
It's champs. But I mean, I think though, and I think this is like a larger sort of I don't want to say, and Rodney at like, you know, I've got a lot of love for you, Ronny, So if the fields pointed at you, I apologize, Like I refuse to believe that there are just seventeen good moments in Lakers history, like more than that, you know what I mean.
And I think that as fans. I think that as fans sometimes when it comes to basketball, like in particular, in our conversations about basketball, we're way too binary when it comes to championship or not championship. That the amount of uncontrollables seriously that go into winning a championship. Luck flat out luck. Like like you you talk to people around the NBA, you talk to coaches, you talked to players, people who have won the title, stuff like that, Like
luck is always a part of it. And if you don't, if you don't, like you know, own that and like sort of understand that at the end of the day, Like there is like an element of this that's just like you know, like either your role snake eys or a seven, Like it's kind of out of your control. So you just I think you have to make the most and enjoy when the game gives you an opportunity
to celebrate it. And like, I just don't know what else you could have wanted out of that game, Like I wrote this, like everybody there got what they wanted, except maybe for Nico Harrison, you know what I mean. Like like like the fans got the show they wanted from Luka Doncrich, you know, like the the Lakers got
the win. You know, the people in the crowd got to celebrate a player that they felt like a really really deep connection with and like, yeah, Laker fans should be excited that they're the ones who get to keep them, Like they should be excited about that, like it was an exciting thing. Now if he goes zero for twenty in the playoffs or you know, like stinks, like those two things can both be true. He could have provided this incredible moment and then also stunk in the playoffs
and and have to assess that. And if you stink enough, you know that the shine comes off the great moments. But but I think you know this early into his is ten years a Laker, like you know, put putting it out him that he needs to win a championship in a year or two. You know, I maybe maybe I just covered too many games this season, like.
Dance.
It's not stupid.
People.
I think it's bad practice, I know, but we do. We do it though, drive too fast too on the freeway. I shouldn't, I know, but we do it.
And why don't we do it with him?
I made myself for lunch today buttered noodles because it's delicious. I shouldn't have done it. I should ate a vegetable.
I'm like a figure exactly.
No, and I should know better. But but like you know that just because like we don't have to do it that way. We don't have to. Look, he needs he's not at all time, La, he's been for you.
You're missing the point, a man. To the point is we do it for other people. We do it. We did it for Lebron when he first came here. We did it. He's got to win us a title and to Rodney and the clock ticking age age, no, it's who he is, Lebron, right, we got to do it. And then when he did it in the bubble, people discredited it because.
It was the bubble. Those are crazy, right, so so, but we did it for him.
We did it. We did it for him when he went the Miami. We did it for I mean, are we not doing it for for him? Now? Why are we not talking about Okay, when's that title coming?
What happened twelve hours ago?
We didn't do that for other people? Though, it is my point, we should I get.
My point is we should, Dan, We.
We should respect everybody's religion and culture and everything. But we don't. Okay, you.
Of course, Okay, so.
Let's not let's not be.
I think I think specifically like here, I do think, Okay, there is a belief, there is a belief that this Lakers team is good enough, okay, and I believe that
and that and and like we'll see what happens. I think if this team is not good enough, okay, and for some reason it doesn't work on the playoffs, this is going to be an incredibly critical offseason, right as they try to put together, like the most their first real crack at like a thoughtful way of building a Lukadacic team, right because they haven't done that yet, Like this is still all kind of being held together by scotch tape to a degree, right, Like this wasn't the plan.
It came to them. They've made it work with what they've had. This summer, they will have an opportunity to like actually like build the house that they want to build around Lukudancic. Okay, whether that's one summer or two summers to do it, that's that's when the real work happens. I just like, and look, he should be held by high standards. He's going to make sixty million dollars, you know,
like seventy million dollars. That comes with responsibility. He needs to be available, he needs to be trying on defense. He needs to look like he's in shape like that stuff all is going to fall on his lap and it should today like right now. I just think that's just like a wild place to go.
No, no, no, no, listen. We talked about it for an hour, Dan, just so you know, I celebrated what he did. It was an incredible moment for a guy because I had that moment. I had that moment as a player in Detroit are facing Detroit when I was in Philadelphia playing him in a playoff game where it was a revenge type of game and I had one of the best games I've ever had against them, and
we blew him out. So I understand that. I understand all of that, and I get all of that, and and I I appreciate what he went through because it's not easy when all of it is on you, all of all of all you want to do as a player, all you want to do is go off against your former team. And he did that in that moment when everybody was either rooting against him or rooting for him. Most people are rooting for him to go off against Dallas, and that's not easy.
For the craziest thing in there was that like I mean, I don't know who was rooting against.
Him, nobody, nobody really why.
That's why this was different. This was different than almost any game that I've ever been to. You know, I wasn't thinking the other night when I mentioned sort of like to Lebron, like hey, like you've lived a version of this, and like, no he hasn't. People in Cleveland not were furious with him, hated him, you know, Yeah, like he chose I think, you know, he chose to kind of do things the way that he did them.
I think, you know, like there was again an element you saw even like Trey Young tweet about this is like this was done to Luca, right, and yeah, there was the revenge element. Like to me, like the things that I think I want to focus on and like wanted to focus on and try to focus on them, like my stories and stuff like that too, is like
that stuff is all true. It was like though, like the things that I thought the biggest takeaway for me from that game, at least in the short term and potentially in the playoffs long term, was that like the Lakers really felt like a team. Yeah, like you know what I mean, a group that's been kind of put together like on the fly, Like there's real long term utility, I think, and like the most powerful images of the night.
In addition to like Lucas sitting there his lip quivering, honestly, his teammates celebrating him in the huddle, you know, like that that is a moment that doesn't happen in the NBA this way, you know, really.
They played for him, They talked about it, they talked about it, and they for him, and like you never see that. And then and the you know this because you cover the n b A, the n b A of of of the sports, it's more individual than all of the other sports, and you don't see that very often where a team comes together and go, we got your back tonight. And and they.
Didn't shoot last night, you know what I mean. Like he wasn't he wasn't mad that he didn't get the ball, like like he talked about how like you know, he told me that this was like what they should have was that they like really love each other already, but it's been a short amount of time and like they're they're like, you know, Austin told me he was too afraid to even look at Luca during the pregame because you like, he didn't want to see him because he
knew what it would I meant to him, you know, like I think that that to me is the stuff now. And look like I asked Jaj about after the game, he said that we don't know, Like we don't know if they're gonna win a championship. I can't tell you. We don't We don't know what the matchups are going to look like. We don't know if they're going to draw the Clippers, who are like red hot, and the
Clippers beat him in the playoffs. It could happen, right like the Clippers have beating Lucada just before in the playoffs. You know, it's been hard. They've lost to him too,
But but we don't know. I think what we do know what we do know, and I think this is where you know, my focus is, and I think fans focus should be too, is like you know, in the story of this team, and in the story of this team this year, and then really the story of this franchise moving forwards, Like if this works for Luca with the Lakers, if this works, we can point back at this night and you know, like He's in his postgame interview right like, and he really said it for the
first time, like this is home, but it's time to move on. And part of moving on is building a new home somewhere else. And it looked like that Luka Doncics last night was at home with the Lakers.
All right, Well, Dan, thanks for coming on, guys.
Love, I've got more. I've got more noodles to go make with but with butter, with butter from the Dad from like the Dad the Dad Playbook is like, you know, it's like what I grew up, Rodney grew Apasta was for me when my mom was out of town, chicken nuggets in the toaster oven. There are some butter noodles an them, and it's just like it's just like a trip to Venice.
Hey, Dad of the Year, Dad of the Year, love it. Take it easy, all right. So Kevin has been working on this Luka Dancic Report. We'll call it that and we'll have it next.
Yeah. Mercy, mercy, Marvin Gay have some mercy not of mercy going on right now. Rodney Pete fred Rogan getting real with you. I don't know if they can allow me to get real. I don't know if they I don't know. I don't know. I don't know if they allow me to get really real on here as we close out the three hours. But we'll see. We'll see Rodney pet Fred Rogan on a Thursday.
Okay, I don't know. If on Instagram you check this out. I find it absolutely hilarious. I think it's one of the funniest things. Some people don't like it, to be very honest with you. It's called Meme Runner GPT, and it's AI generated. And what these guys do is they take players and put them in a news conference setting, and the players say what you think or what you would want them to say, what you would want them
to say. I mean, it's really brilliantly done. And anyway, they had Luca Dandrich so they did what on Luca after winning last night in Dallas. So if his news conference could have been really what he wanted to say, it might have gone like this.
All betrayals happened for one reason. Benedict Arnold betrayed America during the Revolutionary War because Congress didn't give him enough respect. Rudis stabbed Julius Caesar in the back because he became too powerful, and Judas turned Jesus over to ponscious Pilot because he was greedy and wanted a little silver. History is full of traders, men of low character, cowards so comprehensively dishonorable that we're still disgusted by their treachery centuries later.
But none of these examples will ever compare to the actions of that treasonous rat, Nico Harrison. After I single handedly brought the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last year, the man traded me to the Lakers because I like a little beer. It's an unspeakable act and the people of Dallas will never forgive it. Sure, I might have shed a tear or two during the pregame show, but
I wasn't crying about the video. I was crying about the pain I was about to inflict on my former teammates because tonight was about payback and the Slovenian Stallion was playing for vengeance. Forty five points on sixteen of twenty eight from the floor. By the end of the game, the fans were all chanting, Fire, Nico, Fire, Nico. Tonight wasn't just a basketball game. It was Nico's public execution and I was the hangman. I'll see you in the afterlife.
I don't know.
Some people don't think those are very funny. I'll always find them just hilarious, justin hilarious. What do you think, Rodney, Yeah, they're very very interesting and hilarious. I've seen them with Otani.
And those. Yeah, tany ones are are funny. It's uh, it's uh interesting the ones that that you you know, people pick and choose to put out there as much as possible, you know, because there's a flip side of that coin, as Robert de Niro would say, and he there's a flip side of that coin. You know, it's it's the lebron flip side. As I tried to point out with Dan Moiki, it's the oh yeah, you guys were in the ABYSS after Kobe retired, right and you had family infighting and you had to go to court
to figure that out. I came to town and got you a championship. And nobody appreciates that. I mean, there's a lot of flip sides, and I've seen that one too, and it's it's interesting, which is also scary what AI can actually do, What AI can actually do with this, But I just was thinking about the what we just talked about with Dan and just it. I get it. I understand the excitement, and I'm not down to trying to downplay it at all because it is exciting where
it is. And that night last night was I was all for it because I felt it one hundred percent. I felt the emotion I felt going back at your old team. I felt all of that. I really did.
And then and then I started to think about just, you know, just a lot of things that get lost into all of this is that we have vilified, vilified Lebron James for the last two three years since he's been here, even that he won, even though he won a title after the Lakers were in Lakers were the laughing stock of the league before he came, after Kobe retired. They even before Kobe retired where they had no chance of winning. They were the laughing stock of the league.
And he came and they and they want a title, but nobody wants to give him credit. Even on this station, we talk about Lebron ruined the franchise, and then we talk about him signing off on on on people that come here, as if he made the decision for Russell Westbrook or whatever. But we don't give him credit for making the decision or signing off on the Luca trade.
It's all about Luca. It's all about Rob Palinka. It just it just is really, when you really think about it, it is absurd how we blame him for all the bad stuff that happens with the Lakers, even though they want a title, and we blame him for not or for bringing in guys that were his buddies or whatever, and yet we don't give him any kind of credit for Luca. As we praised Luca, and we praised one, you know, Rob Polinka and the Lakers for making this trade,
and everybody bilifies Nico in Dallas. Nobody gives him any credit for basically okay in this trade. Because to think that he didn't have any kind of idea that this was going on is absurd because if you believe that he had ideas on other things that happened with this organization, and then you don't believe that he had anything to know or anything to do with this situation going on with Luca here, then your delusion.
Know h.
Good, all right, we will wrap up our world of delusion when we return yeah, bet we will, Ronnie, that's that's cold. We just disagreed. I'll throw back Thursday. Uh yeah, well listen, we appreciate everybody listening today. Obviously Rodney quite passionate when it comes to Lebron and the way and the way that he is perceived in the marketplace, and uh, it is a point of passion for him. I'm just
at the opinion. Look, you know last night was about Luca and certainly that little chat meme runner GPT thing. Oh okay, it was about Luca. If Rodney's still there, Uh, it was about Luca. But I do understand his his passion and his feeling about Luca, I mean about Lebron. I do understand that. And yeah, he becomes very passionate about it. And that's what we do. That's who we are. We're supposed to express our passion when we do this, and that'll do it for us today. Now tomorrow, Dodgers
are back in action. They are taking a day off and probably enjoying that as they regain their bearings. We'll have Dodger Talk tonight on the radio station with David Vasse and our special guest will be Buster one. So seven o'clock be listening for that, Ronnie. Thank you, Kevin really appreciate it, and we'll talk to you guys tomorrow