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Welcome in episode sixty four of What's Right with Nick Wright, the podcast and YouTube show. And before we even get into today's show, before we get into what we're not discussing on today's show, I want to discuss what's happening on the television side of things. As was announced yesterday morning, we have a new FS one lineup. First Things First is now moving to the afternoons. You might say it's still called First Things First. Your damn straight, it's still
called First Things First. Have to help build that brain for five years or not changed the damn name and it still works. Yeah, it doesn't work time wise, But you know how people start arguments a lot, they say First Things First. Let me tell you something. Even hip hop songs have it a lot, So it doesn't have to be in the morning. Was Biggie only wrapping in the mornings when he did? No, he wasn't, So the name is staying in the mornings. However, Craig Carton is
coming to FS one. Listen. If you're not in the New York area, you're not familiar with Craig, or you're only familiar with Craig because of the controversy that he was involved in a few years ago. I'm gonna say this, Craig Carton is as talented a broadcaster as exists in the nation on the sports side of things. He's a Syracuse guy like I am, so I'm also partial to him. He also used to have me on his radio show, so I go a long way back with Craig. I could not be happier that he is the one taking
over mornings on FS one. Then there's undisputed unchanged the Herd changed in this regard. Joey Taylor no longer gonna be alongside Colin and said, is Jason McIntyre more on Joy in a moment?
Then?
And I've had great partners on First Things First over the five years one two hundred and fifty eight shows that we've done, of which I've been a part of one thousand, two hundred and probably forty of them. But my two best partners ever are Kevin Wilds and Chris Brussard. That is First Things First, moving forward three pm Eastern every day three pm to four thirty, me Brew Wilds. That then leads to Emmanuel Acho Joy Taylor. That's why she's leaving the Herd. She's joining Acho and LaShaun McCoy
Shady McCoy, former great NFL running back. So that's the end. Then NASCAR Race Hub for our racing fans. So seven am to seven pm Eastern we are live. I am thrilled for a million different reasons. There's an emotional side of it for me, which is I get to now take the baton from Colin Cowhard, which is a dream come true. There's a personal side of it for me. For ten years in a row, I've had pre five am wake up calls that's now gone. I have not been able to take my kids to school for a
single day. For the entirety of your little sister's life, I've never taken her to school. I now could take them to school, and because of the schedule, I get to pick her up from school every day. The last time I took anyone to school to monsday was when you were in junior high school. Our entirety of the time living in Houston, I was doing mornings. Entirety of the time living in New York, I was doing mornings.
So from a personal standpoint, it's great and sleep. If I'm going to be totally candid, I also think the sports media landscape in that time frame that we're on, there's an opening to make some noise. So for all those reasons, I'm excited. I'm excited. Oh and we're in a brand new studio. So all that's coming Tuesday. This coming Tuesday, the new FS one lineup. That's the television
promo portion of the podcast. Now to the podcast portion of the podcast, before we get to our topics here, as we always do, is what did not make the show? What did not make the show is cam Smith, the number two rank golfer in the world, going to the Live Tour for one hundred million dollars. When I saw this news is the first time I was like, ooh,
PGA Tours gotta start being nervous now. Now the if they offered Tiger eight hundred million, he said no, if Tiger or Rory left, I don't know if the PGA Tour could withstand it. Now. I don't think they will, but they lost, can't they now have? The Live Tour is making serious inroads now, Julian Edelman teases is on retirement. Nobody cares Julian, and a question of an over under four and a half honey deuces that I consumed at the US Open last yesterday when I was there all day.
The answers under The answer is under, sir, I'm a responsible man. It's not under by a lot, but it's under.
I don't know if we're saving that. I think that might come up later.
It might come up later in the show. Okay, listen, I'm now before we get to the show, since you've decided to use the word schmizz before I even have introduced you, I'm going to say on the air, but I keep telling you off the air you have gotten too comfortable, not too comfortable in what you're saying, but in how you're delivering it. You see my excitement, you see my energy. You're just like you seemed pretty schmiz bro.
That's not gonna play. Need I need a little more energy from you, my partner in our brand new studio. All right, demanse, what are we starting the show with today?
Jimmy g is officially returning to the forty nine Ers YEP. Is the highest paid backup quarterback YEP. Forty nine Ers couldn't find a trade partner all off season.
YEP.
Does this mean that nobody wanted Jimmy or the forty nine Ers aren't quite in on Trey Lance yet.
Oh see, this is not about Trey Lance. This is about the fact that Jimmy Garoppolo and his agent and the Niners, they surveyed the landscape and they said, will anyone in football give up even a sixth round pick to have Jimmy Garoppolo for more than twenty million dollars? The answer was no. Then the question was, okay, if Jimmy were to take eight million dollar pay cut and gonna instead of making around twenty four million, if he was gonna make sixteen million, will anyone give us a
fourth round pick if he's cheaper? The answer was no. So the Niners then had to make this decision. Should we just release him and get no value for him whatsoever? Or is there an amount of money that is in line with top flight backup quarterbacks that he will accept that he will be in on that. Obviously, for the Niners, who is the best possible backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The guy who knows the system, who's been there, who knows
the players, knows the personnel. So if you want to say, well, Tyrod Taylor is a great backup quarterback Finer Teddy Bridgewater. Those guys are great backup quarterbacks, and some people would say I'd rather have those guys. If you were on the Seahawks, would you rather have those guys as your backup quarterback?
Maybe?
But on the nine, Jimmy Garoppolo is the best backup quarterback by a mile because he knows the system, He's familiar with everybody. This is not about people that don't want either they don't want Trey Lance to succeed, or more accurately, they are emotionally or take wise invested in Jimmy Garoppolo being more than he was. Are trying to turn this into an indictment on Trey Lance. It is
not an indictment on Trey Lance. It is the Niners, in my opinion, taking advantage of the fact that nobody wanted Jimmy Garoppolo, and that's why he was willing to accept six million dollars as his salary. And I'll add this, I know he has a quote no trade clause unquote not really what that means is they won't trade him anywhere he doesn't want to go. But no team would trade for jim Garoppolo if he doesn't want to be there, because nobody wants their quarterback to not want to be there.
So what the Niners did here in getting him to agree to this lower salary that he can make, you know, an extra ten million with playtime incentives, is it made him exponentially more trade a bull. Why because if somebody's quarterback goes down in the first couple months.
Of the seasons, contract.
Exactly right, and then you go to Jimmy and say, hey, there's this team they would like to trade for you. We couldn't get a sixth round pick for you. They're desperate right now, They'll give us a third round pick for you? Or do you want to go there and become the starter? So I think this is a win for the Niners. I think this is a way to save face a bit. If you're Jimmy Garoppolo, I do not look at this as an indictment on Trey Lance whatsoever. Not at all. Is this an indictment on Trey Lance?
All right? What's next?
The Eagles trading for a new defensive back yesterday and suddenly everyone is in on them.
They had a good we had a good draft and got aj Brown.
Dallas is already down Tyron Smith and Washington and Giants aren't very good. The Eagles are now plus one forty to win the division. Yeah, are you in on that?
No, I listen Tyrone Smith's injury for Dallas's massive right, it's, in my opinion, the biggest injury that has happened this offseason. Okay, there's there's no question about it. I think, though, there has been a little too big of an overreaction, and I think the Eagles became like the out of nowhere the in team. Right. My buddy Adam Lefgo, who does a great job on inside the NBA. He and I went to college together. He used to have an amazing
football podcast. He's still a great NFL guy, but people know him for the NBA, so he's a diehard Eagles fan. He texted me when I was in Italy saying he was crushed. I wasn't picking the Eagles to win the division. I understand the Eagles have an excellent roster, and I understand the Eagles, or at least I believe they have a better coach than Dallas because their coach is at Mike McCarthy. I get all of this. I think people are glossing over too quickly the deficited quarterback between Dak
Prescott and Jalen Hurts. I would like to believe in Jalen Hurts. I like the people that represent him. I like the way he handled himself in college. I think he has been a tremendous young man, and I think he has conducted himself at every stage of his career with class and grace. H I think he's probably the twenty fifth best starting quarterback in football. I'm doing that off the top of my head. And listen, this is one of them. This is could be the Andrew Wiggins moment.
This could be the time that someone says, oh you doubted this guy. May be and I'll be happy to be wrong about it. But and maybe I'm a little too scarred from that playoff game against Tampa where he looked so in over his head. But the Eagles to me, Chauncey Gardner Johnson's a nice player. He's a good slot corner. It looks like the Eagles are gonna play him at safety. And they got him for I mean, getting him for a fifth round pick is great value. I understand that.
But he is not a good enough player that. I feel like the reaction to this trade was as if they had just traded for for what's a good example of someone who's been traded recently. It was a reaction like when it was similar to the Chargers acquiring Khalil Mack. Now, Khalil's been banged up the last couple of years, but it's like, oh my god, look this guy could transform their defense. I don't look at it that way at all. I look at this as a nice addition. And I
like the Eagles offensive line. I love the Jordan Davis kid. I wanted the Chiefs to draft him. The A lot of things about the Eagles I like, and I understand the cow The left tackle injury with Tyron Smith is a major one. But I looked at the Cowboys as being three games better than the Eagles going into the season, or you know, a month ago. Does Tyron Smith's injury and Chauncey Gardner Johnson's edition is that a three game jump?
To me?
It is not. It is not a three game jump. And so the if the when the Eagles were right now you said plus one forty, they're dead even with Dallas, depending on where you get it, they're both plus one forty five or one team plus one forty one teams plus one thirty five. They are almost identical. Do I think the Eagles are as good as the Cowboys? I don't. I flatly don't. And so no, I'm not I'm gonna
beat They've become like the hipster pick. I listened to Bill Simmons talk about could they be the one seed, what their props on them going to the Super Bowl are. At the end of the day, it's still to me is a coach and quarterback league, and I have major questions about their quarterback and significant questions about their coach. And so no, I'm still gonna go with Dallas. Not I think it's a mediocre division, but I soldink Dallas the best team in the division, all right.
Next A Genie Buss said it christ yeah.
The set in an interview with the athletic Russell Westbrook was the Lakers' best player last season.
Oh, that's delightful.
She eventually walked it back and said that the word that she should have used was consistent, and she said it's really tough to when when Anthony Davis isn't on the court and Lebron was actually hurt a lot of the season, but Russ showed up every game and played as hard as he could every night. Yeah, she actually backing Russ or is she trying to increase his trade value?
I listen with Genie Buss, you never know. I honestly don't know what she's doing. There is no Uni averse where Here's what Russell Westbrook was for the Lakers. He was the most available player. He was at and played eighty games. He was the most available player.
Does available not full hand in hand with like consistent?
Well, listen if and I I am using this just simply as a metaphor. Because you are not late for work, you are great at this. But if you were late for work every single day, that is consistent, you are consistently late. So in this regard, Russ was consistent. He was consistently terrible. Every night you knew it. Russ was going to show up, play thirty plus minutes and be back.
Okay.
So I don't think that's what she was meaning, though, And when calling him their best he was here and back. Calling him their best player is an absurdity. Look, Lebron was sensation last year. Yeah, Lebron was thirty eight and six on better than fifty percent from the field. Now, he missed twenty games, missed the quarter of the season. That's a problem, and that's why Lebron wasn't the best
forward or this. If Lebron had put up those numbers and played seventy five games, he would have been the second best forward in the league last year, behind Gianni's It would have been Giannis and Lebron. Because he did miss those games, one could argue Tatum was better some are you know Durant missed a bunch of games too. Durant's numbers were similar, like because he missed those games. That's why you knock him down a pick. But Russ was below. Russ was a hindrance to winning when he
was on the court. You would have been better off with just a random bench player. And so the last year, I'm not saying that's who he's gonna be for the rest of his career, but that's what he was last year. That is what he was. It didn't fit, it didn't work. He also seemed to get worse at the things that he hadn't been good at before, like his I mean
some of it. I mean, there's a long highlight reel of this obviously of the stuff yes, yeah, I mean shots by four feet yeah, and the no. I think he got in his own head and that was a problem for him. Like I don't think Russ is done as an NBA player. I'm not arguing that, but it shouldn't be debatable what he was last year. So why would Genie Bus say this? Either because she's being irrational or because they are trying to find a way to build up his trade value a bit. Now, I don't
think think Bus's quotes build up much. Go ahead, what do you think?
I think it's like, hey, man, he's gonna be here next year. You might as well give him a little bit of confidence.
You know, he can't be there next year. They can't actually be they have to.
When you're speaking from like an emotional standpoint, I feel.
Like to a agree, yeah, I think he's gonna be there.
Now, you think he's gonna be there all year? I mean I don't. You'll just be punting on this season. You just you can't win. Now if Russ would, it.
All depends on how the start of the season goes.
Like the I feel like the only knowledge that we have is of what Rust did last year.
That's fair.
I have no idea how I feel like these players are gonna mesh this coming year what they've done during the offseason.
But no, that's fair. I just don't Rust doesn't seem like he's gonna change. And Russ needs to be on a team that he is the focal point of that he has the ball in his hands, because when when he is that, you get the good of him. Yeah, the good of him is the energy, the intensity, the freedom for him to drive to the basket. And you still deal with the bad, but at least you get
the good. When Russ is your third option, you get the bad, the lackadaisical defense, the lack of spacing, all that stuff without the good, right, And that was the problem, which is why I argued all year. Have him be the super sixth man, lead the bench unit. When you take eighty and Lebron out, put Russ in. Let him run with that, I thought, But he didn't want to do that. We'll see what Darvinham can do. Also, we'll probably see Russ in Indiana. I don't think Indiana the Lakers.
All right, what's next?
All right?
So Lebron said on Sports illustrated that he wants to play in the NBA, but not one, but both of his sons. Yeah, he said he's been paying attention to as the twenty year, twenty twenty four, and twenty twenty seven first round picks, the.
Whole twenty twenty four, twenty five, six twelve.
Okay, twenty twenty four through twenty seven. Yeah, that's what dashes means.
Yeah, there, but could be a lot of the Lakers haven't trade any picks after twenty twenty five. Yeah, to play with Bryce, Lebron will be well into his forties, which is a crazy thing to think about. He says he thinks he could play for a while. Who knows if his sons will even be good enough to play in the NBA. Yeah, do you think he's serious about this?
Okay, here's what I think Lebron is doing. People get caught up in, Oh, is bronni really an NBA player? Oh, now they're talking about Bryce? Is Bryce really an NBA player? Okay, I'm gonna try to be very clear because I think it's so obvious what Lebron is doing, and you can
say it's bad. It is exactly what I would do if I were in his position, and in a very different version, it's what I have done in his position in my field, leverage his own power to try to get his kid foot in the door somewhere he otherwise wouldn't have the chance. So Bronni is undersized. Bryce. I don't think anyone's ever thought of as an NBA prospect.
Maybe he will be. I mean, he's very young, all right, but I think Lebron recognize that as long as he is performing at a high enough level, there will be incentive for a team to take a flyer on his kid. And if you believe your kid is gonna work hard enough, train hard, have high enough character, all those things that if he gets his foot in the door, can Seth
curry this thing? Because that's what happened with Seth. Seth kept getting chances because of Steph, just like Yannis's brothers keep getting chances because of Yanni's and Yannas's brothers haven't proven to be have enough talent to be able to fully take advantage of those chances, right Seth. As Seth was cut from G League teams, Seth got cut by multiple teams, and now he's gonna make eighty million dollars playing pro basketball. But if it wasn't for Steph, he'd
have been in Europe five years ago. Teams kept giving him a chance. So what Lebron is clearly doing is trying to set up a scenario where if Lebron is an A plus player or even an a minus player, Bud, he's Lebron, so he brings all the attention, ticket sales, revenue. Right, you want to be in the Lebron business, you've got to also be in the Bronni business. Let's start with I don't think it's because he thinks Bronni is a
one and done caliber player. I don't think it's because he thinks Bronni is worthy of And that's the time. I'll be very quick to finish this. You know, a first round pick, it's I am, I'm Lebron James. If I were in the draft, or do you spend the twenty seventh pick on me, We'll all come play with you. I'll come play with you. Would you just trade the twenty seventh pick of the draft for me? Okay, bonus, you also get my kid. That's the trade. Now you have an investment in my kid. He gets to train
with me. He gets to be around me every day, he gets to play in the G League. He might have his first round pick guaranteed contract, So you haven't you haven't sent it for at least two years to get the most out of it. And I believe at the end of that he's gonna show I can be Gary Payton the second I can be a valuable role player. That's the idea here, and the reason I think people are missing it is maybe because they For me, it is like a very personal thing, not because of Lebron
but because of this. Listen. The fact of the matter is, and I'm not taking a shot at you at all. If you you you didn't have the resume or the experience because you have you do this with me, but you also have a job with Fox. I knew that if you got in the door, you distinguish yourself with your incredibly charming people like you. You're hard working and
you're sharp. So I leveraged it. I said, hey, take the interview, knowing listen that that you were gonna really have to blow that interview for them to not hire. They were doing it because I have earned the respect of the company over the course of six plus years of employment that they're like, Okay, worst case scenario is in six months we tell him it's not working out. Listen, he's late every day, he doesn't do this whatever. But I knew that wouldn't happen. And so now people will say, oh,
that's nepotism. Of course it's nepotism. Of course that's what it means. But well, listen, there have been a lot of companies for forever. Who runs it, the kid of the guy who started it? Who are those things like that? It doesn't always work in sports, and it's not always people that look like you or Bronni that are getting to take advantage of it. But I have no shame in that, and so I totally get what Lebron's doing. I support what he's doing, and it's absolutely what I
would do if I were in his position. We'll be right back.
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All right, welcome back in episode sixty four of What's Right with Nick Wright, Live from our brand new studio this Tuesday, First Things First comes to you starting at three pm Eastern every day, live from that new studio that is not in Harlem, that's in Midtown Manhattan. We're here in Harlem, inside trinage demanse. What are we starting with for our second segment?
We are starting with a little bit of tennis.
Oh yeah, you missed it yesterday, buddy.
I missed it.
Yeah.
I was kind of sad that you guys went without me.
But okay, well don't worry. It's going on for another eleven days.
Okay, So we.
Got plenty of times you will be in attendant to the US Open, don't you worry.
Go ahead?
Uh So, tough beat for Simona Hallip after you predicted she'd win it, What were you?
No? I just you're gonna say I predicted she'd win the title. Listen, I said, I am picking Nadal and Cocoa golf. I said, those are my picks. I said it my head, gunder my head. If I had to, I would have picked Medvedev and Hallip, but those I those weren't my picks. My picks were Nadal and Goco Golf. And I also told you guys that I was in attendance at the US Open a few years ago when Hallip is the one seed lost in round one, which should have been a little a warning sign it could
happen again. So I don't try to throw shade at me.
But Fairy did go ahead, uh take Before Serena's next match she won round one, you said that she was gonna fail.
No, hold on a second, I said she can't win the tournament. I didn't say she's gonna lose in round one. Now, the US Open thought she was gonna lose in round one, which is why this whole ceremony like it was gonna be your last match, right when it's not her last match.
She still got it. I really think. I'm not gonna say I think she's gonna win, but I really want her to win.
I would love for her to win. Unfortunately, by the time people will hear this, she will have already lost. She's gonna lose.
Remember that.
I hope it's wrong. I hope that's not true. But she's gonna lose tonight. Which is you guys are hearing this Thursday. We're doing it Wednesday.
Go ahead.
You went yesterday to the US Oh yeah? Is the US Open the most fun sporting event to a ten in America?
Oh? What a question?
What a question.
Oh, it's a great event. It's a great event because you go early in the day, demanse. There's twenty courts, right, so you have ASH, which is the huge stadium. Okay, and you have to have specific If you buy a ticket for ASH, you can then go to any court you one. But you have actual seats for ASH. I, by the way, and section fifty four, row B that's center court, almost as close as you can get. It
was elite watch. It was elite seats. They were elite seats and the entire I had section fifty four, row B, seats five and six. But there's there's eight seats per section. Okay, Your mom and I had been there like an hour. No one else was in the other six seats in our section. Our buddy Mark Carmon was in you know he.
Didn't with you guys.
Well, he didn't have the seats that I had, but so but I got him down with us. He had met two girls on the plane that he brought them down, so we had this whole section because there was no one there. Yeah, he met these two girls from Chicago. Yeah, I love it.
So what's up with that situation? He met them and they.
He met them on the plane. They were all going into the US Open and they exchange numbers and then like, by the way, hold on, I'm gonna mouse them to you. Wow, I know, surprising, right, Yeah, I know. And so they so they all sat with us and watched. But so here's the If you have tickets to ASH, you can then go anywhere you want. If you have tickets to Louis Armstrong, which is the second big stadium, okay, you can go into Louis Armstrong or anywhere you want except ASH.
Or you can get grounds passes, which lets you go to any of the games except the ones in uh ASH. So Louis Armstrong there's open seating and then there's actual assigned seating. So if you buy a ticket to ASH, you can go to everything. But in the beginning of the tournament. There's so many matches going on. You can see the ninth rinked player in the world playing on a small court over on the side. You can sit front row right, and it's all day long. It's a
great drinking of it's a great day drinking. Walk around, feel bougie. People are dressed fancy. There's a little polo store. It's nice, man, it's nice. You've been there.
It is nice. It's definite. Is nice?
Is it so? I don't know if it's the best. Here's the thing. It's the best single location, multi day event in America. Yeah, because it's over two weeks. You can go in the evening, you can go in the morning, and go whenever you want. It's right off a train stop. It's so good. Now, little little knowledge, little tennis knowledge for so Venus or Serena is probably gonna lose tonight. If she wins tonight, it's an unbelievable She's playing the number two player in the world. She's gonna lose. I
hope I'm wrong. She's gonna lose. Spicy Man Nadal played this kid i'd never heard of. Last night, which was Tuesday night again, We're a day behind when you guys are hearing this. Lost the first set and then crushed in the rest.
Of the way.
Okay, I am so excited. I will spend a lot of money to go watching the doll front right.
I saw n the Doll last night. I actually was watching the US Open from the location that I was at.
Oh okay, I thought you you saw him out on the town in New York. No, no, he's unbelievable.
Yeah no, I sat last year.
I sat front row with Daryl Morey GM of the Sixers. Oh yeah, he took me and we sat front row to watch Djokovic. I'm gonna sit first three rows to watching the Doll at some point this tournament. That's happening. That's the tennis corner. More on that on Tuesday. Okay, what's next?
Waituh, it's time for this that Yeah, this is the old game. The Knicks extended RJ. Barrett complicating a deal for Donovan Mitchell. Nick fans still hope it gets done. It gets done. Who would Knicks be better off with Donovan Mitchell or RJ Barrett?
Well, one for one Donovan Mitchell, but RJ. Barrett plus Quentin Grimes plus a bunch of picks. I'd I'd rather have the players than Donovan. You know what I mean, say it again, young, I mean RJ Barrett young guys. Of course they're young, and the draft picks are important. Like I I think Donovan Mitchell is a good but very flawed player, and I would be hesitant to give up if you have a Donovan Mitchell, Jalen brunts and backward, you have two six two guards that are defensive liabilities.
Like there's a clear ceiling there. I still think the Knicks are gonna get Donovan. By the way, pardon me. I know the RJ deal complicates it, but I still think they're gonna get Donovan, all right.
Next, Baker Mayfield is ready for his Week one matchup with his former team.
He told NFL Network he's gonna the Browns up.
Wow.
I really wanted to say that Carolina minus two point five or Cleveland plus two point five, or.
Just so you know, when we're doing this you're new to the game, things say half half, two and a half, and yeah, two point five is acceptable. But it's a little note to the listener, like, ah, this guy doesn't bet Carolina. Okay, Carolina no, no, no, I think Baker is going to come up. By the way of things up Sorry our text step. You know what I learned and Laurie are great social media manager is here in studio today. My mahomes Top one hundred take did like better numbers
than ninety percent, which said the Mahomes. Remember I was eighth on the top o. Yes, did better numbers on social the nine of the clips we do, and I was like, why it wasn't even that interesting of a clip. But you know why because I said fucking in the caption and people like cursing. That's what I've determined. People were like, oh, this really is a non TV nick. He's dropping f bombs like they were thrown off by it. And Laurie because she's a social media maybe I'm gonna
include the F bomb in the caption. People are gonna see it. And it did numbers. So not gonna today because we've already you know, I think now we've dropped four f bombs in about ninety seconds. But moving forward each show, there's gonna be one one clip that I think if I think something's gonna do particularly well on social, I'm just gonna drop a bomb in there. But I
like Carolina. I like Carolina to be Cleveland. I like Baker to play well, and as long as McCaffrey's healthy, which we don't know how long that'll be, I think Caroline is a frisky team, all right.
Next, for what it's worth, folks, I'm definitely with Carolina as well, thank you.
But before a Slovenian basketball game, Luca donci is reportedly drinking soda and smoking a cigarette. Good pregame routine or the best pregame routine?
Oh god, I'm gonna call it a good pregame routine. Holy crap, I'll tell you why. Okay, Luca's got to know better than to drink soda. Listen, I'm not gonna knock him for a delicious cigarette every once in a while. You just need a delicious cigarette, you just do.
I gotta know not to drink soda.
SODA's toxic. Soda is no good for you. Like like Luca, I can look the other way on the cigarette. Let let's put healthier things into our body than cola. Though that I'm gonna turn the other way.
Are we being serious right now?
Yeah? Of course I'm being serious. Of course. I listen to guy, the guy's clearly addicted to smoking. Like, I'm not gonna knock him for it. I I've been with your mother for fifteen years. On our first trip together, I put on nicotine patches because we were traveling. I was like, she hates smoking, I'm gonna wear nicotine patches. Wrong, arm, I'm still wearing them. It's been fifteen years of nicotine patches.
Cigarettes are a hard habit to kick. And the fact that Luca is out here kicking ass and taking names while dragging a few heaters, it just adds to his legend. Uh. A great story of Lott of Devots. Lott of Devots who now runs the Kings. He was a great center for the Lakers and the Kings for a long time, a very good center. People didn't know why he fell in the draft, and it was because when teams went to go scout him in Serbia.
Uh.
I think it was Serbia. I apologize if I have his native land wrong. Uh. When they went to go scout him during timeouts, he was smoking cigarettes and they're like, oh, that ain't gonna work. The guy was just just killing eaters, and Luke is just keeping the legend going. I love him so much, guy, I love him all right.
Next rookie receivers. Sky Moore was pranked by the Chiefs receiving corpse. Uh core.
That's a weird word. The P and the S are silent core. Wait, but when you say marine corps, he spelled like that. It's not never corpse.
Corpse incorporated corporate.
Yes, but corpse with an e. It's like a dead body. Yeah, but this one, it's just core. Odd word. No worries, Go ahead, all right?
At his rig the restaurant and bottom of bill for nearly twenty three thousand dollars. Turns out it was a fake bill. But this is a common practice. Is rookie hazing a part of the job or is it not?
Okay, it's part of the job as long as it's not.
This twenty three thousand dollars.
Yeah, it's not right to make it, to put a guy in a position to spend that type of money on a meal when because you got have real wealth exactly.
Oh yeah, I mean I was like, his family gonna look at that type of situation.
One hundred to him and it's gonna be like, oh, you can spend that money on this? Why can't you buy me a car my house payment. So the fact that this was a joke, I'm fine with it. I'm fine with the prank of making him think he has to pay, right. But the days of twenty thousand dollars dinners, because guys are ordering bottles of Louis the fourteenth, which are like four grand at the you know, at Capitol Grill. Those gotta go. It's it's one of the particularly in
the NFL, when guys have short care and non guaranteed contracts. Right, So, I'm good at the ricky hazing. I'm good to a lot of things guys do. The shaved heads, the fashion shows, all that stuff. The talent shows. Don't make these guys spend five figures on some nonsense for a laugh when that you know, you don't know how long their career is going to go. Making them think though they spend five figures and then being like Noah, no, that ain't it, or the veterans are paying for it. That I'm all
good with. We'll be right back, all right, Final Block, Episode sixty four, What's right with Nick? Great? By the way, the next time folks see me on this pod and on television, not only are we going to be in a new studio on TV and we have the new studio here, but uh, I'm doing a very bold haircut.
Yeah, I think Deanna is gonna have like a major Like, I think it's gonna be a thing.
What do you mean, like, I don't know. I just feel like.
You're worried about how Deanna is going to react to the haircut.
Yeah, Mom, it's probably not gonna be great with Mom either.
Oh, I'm worried about how America is going to react to it. But I'm trying it. I'm I'm going for it. I showed the haircut. I'm getting to Wild's. Wild's so funny. He's so funny. Wild said you didn't score enough goals last year, just saying I'm getting the haircut of a European soccer player. But we'll see, we'll see how it works out. The worst case scenario, just shave the head. Okay, what are we doing for the final block?
All right? Man?
Last episode, you had to take about Mahomes being ranked number eight in the NFL Top one hundred. Yep even said the ranking the ranking invalidated the whole list. Uh huh, I know you don't re replies, but I've got a few for you.
Oh so you're gonna show him to me? Yeah, we're gonna apply y to the mahomes thing. I agree. Just like ranking Luca in your fifty invalidated your list. See how it works, all right, macnzials will do with you in a moment. What's the next one? Let me then that's Matt Goun with a bunch of numbers, Just like putting MJ. Thurd on your top fifty list in validated that list. A little shrugging guy emoji Damien.
I's got android, all right, what's next? Love you?
Nick? But Alyssa as MJ at three and lebron at one also cannot be taken seriously, and then another laughing emoji from hey Tao, are there any more? Are we done here? Okay, so here's the thing. First guy, it was first name, last name, bunch of numbers. Those replies are meaningless. Anyone who's handle is first name, last name, bunch of numbers is a bot or is acting like a bot, not interested in what they have to say. And I explained the precedent for the Luca ranking. How
many times do I have to tell people this? Now? The other two people, I will take them. I will at least respond to them in kind. I don't know how many times I have to explain to you that a arguing that Michael Jordan cannot ever be third is not about Michael Jordan, and it's not about Lebron James. It is directly about Kareem. And I will not stand for the constant disrespect for the captain. I won't do it. How many MVPs does Michael Jordan have the answers? Five?
I get choked up to talking about it. How many does Cream have they answer six? Is Michael Jordan even one of the four all time leading scorers in the NBA? He is not. He's barely had a Dirk Novitzky. Kareem's the all time leader. Yep, Kareem play again. I'm not doing the Jordan Kareem thing once again. However, these folks that are always insistent that Jordan can't be ranked third, they,
whether they understand it or not, they're really arguing. What they are arguing is that Kareem doesn't have a case to be the goat. He does. Three guys do, so a guy who might be the goat is third. That's how this works.
Right, everybody can't be number one.
No, And if let me trying to find another great example. Okay, you know what, We'll wrap the show with a little miniature Nick's tennis corner. Most people would agree the three greatest tennis players ever are the three guys crushing it right now. Feers obviously not playing much anymore. But Federer, Nadal, Djokovic. If you asked one hundred dieard tennis fans who the greatest tennis player of all time are, you're probably gonna get at least twenty five that say Federer, twenty five
that's saying it all, twenty five that say Djokovic. What that means is, if there were ever a perfect unimpeachable list, someone that a lot of people, a big percentage of people think is the greatest ever would come in third. You now, when it comes to basketball, happen to be lucky enough to live in a world where you do
have a perfect, unimpeachable list. It's my fifty greatest players last fifty years, And after crunching all the numbers and doing all the analogy, we have Michael Jordan and third, I'm not taking any more questions on this I will talk to you all next week from our new podcast studio, from our new television studio, and with my brand new haircut.
That's today's show. Oh wait, wait, I won't talk to you guys next week, though I will, but you guys are gonna hear from me again before next week because all right, first NFL gambling show comes out Friday. We recorded it earlier in the week, so the next time you'll actually see me doing new stuff is next week. But you have one more pod and YouTube show coming out this week that's on Friday. And now the show's open.
Hey guys, by the way, I didn't get the Byron Scott thing. All right.
I don't know if we can put this on so that everybody keeps asking, you know, what's happening with the Byron Scott thing. Nothing's coming of it. I didn't get the job. You guys didn't do enough.
Okay, that was a sad way to end the show.
But I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
I'm gonna get the last word on all these shows. So now it was like a little like feel bad for me moment. Oh hey, guys, get the Alright, talk to you guys next week,