Welcome in What's Right with Nick Red Episode three thirty seven, Live from I'll just be honest, one of my favorite places in the entire world. The World Series of Poker Events Center were at Horseshoe Resort and Casino, which is connected to the Paris Casino, which is in Las Vegas, one of the five greatest.
Cities in the world.
Now, you might say, Nick, sounds like you crushed in your poker tournaments yesterday. You're in such a good mood. That's actually the opposite of what happened.
Uh. I.
You know, nobody likes a bad beat story, so I won't tell them, but I gotta tell you they listen if you know they got a bad beat me to beat me, it's just what happens.
It's just what happens.
But despite all that, Demonse, I gotta tell you, I've been in Vegas for thirty six hours, and I it feels like seventy two, but in a great way, in a great in the greatest way, I had been here. And listen, Game one of the finals is tonight. We will get to that. You guys haven't heard my thoughts on the Knicks firing Tom Thibodeau, So We're gonna get to all of that just momentarily, but I just want to set the scene for what we're doing.
Uh And by the way, if you.
Guys can't say, we are in the Thunderdome is what they call it. This is where I am doing this show from. Is the table that I envisioned that I would have been playing on yesterday going for a bracelet in the ten K Dealer's Choice. Unfortunately, I did not last that long in that tournament, and in order to be able to play at this table you need to advance further in the tournaments than I have yet advanced.
But again, it's only been one day. Despite all of that, it's been amazing because and I'm not gonna do too much poker stuff because I know some listeners don't care, but anyone who has seen Rounders knows who Johnny f and Chan is.
The world's back to World Series of Poker.
Main evant champion legend, the guy that Matt Damon just had to go play at the Mirage and I think four hundred eight hundred or whatever it was limit poker and put a bluff on him within ten minutes of being in Las Vegas, after landing around midnight Tuesday night, I was in a game where sitting on my left was Johnny Effing Chant.
It's just the greatest. I mean, I gotta.
Say, the single greatest, maybe the single most gratifying part about whatever little bit of fame or notoriety I have is that I get to play in all these card games. Now, maybe the people in the card games are like, the single best thing about Nick Wright making some money is that he plays in our card games.
I don't know. I don't know what they think. I just know it is.
An absolute dream. So we will get to more of that at the tail end of the show. But the final start tonight we're not gonna be on TV because the euro Soccer Championship is not bocking us off TV. So I'm here and we will get to that. But first we have to do what we always do. What missed the cut? Miles Turner, A man after my heart wants a Lego Larry O'Brien trophy.
Oh my goodness, Demonte, did you know that?
I I So I bought the car I have the They make a Lego version of it, and so I bought it and built it and showed that to Wilds and he said someone had gotten his kids like five thousand piece lego version of the car they have, but no one in their house wants to build it, so they they bring it to work.
And I'm I'm just building it for him. I'm building in the car for him to then give to him. Uh.
Jack Kagleon goes over five in his Royals debut and people are like, oh, Nick, he went over for five Royal scored ten runs just because of the threat of Jack Jeffrey Allen Kaglion in the lineup. And I guess Shiloh Sanders used a sword in an Oklahoma drill.
I don't. I'll be honest.
I am not that interested in any of the Shiloh Sanders content. But there's a cool video, all right, demanse, Let's get to what was the shocking news of Tuesday afternoon a few hours after the pod, and that's what the New York Knicks did.
Yeah, so, after two games away from the NBA Finals, the New York Knicks have fired TIBs. We talked on Tuesday. You seem to think that his job was pretty secure. Myself as well. I couldn't see them fire and TIBs but here we are. They fired him. Where did they go from here? What's the assessment?
Okay, so.
I react, this happened ten minutes before the TV show started, right, And I actually said on the air, sometimes the reacting to breaking news are my favorite shows when I look back on them, and sometimes they're the most annoying shows because I'm like, gosh, darn it, I just didn't have that piece of information, you know what I mean, And so everything that we said ends up becoming irrelevant a few hours later.
I think the TIBs show might end.
Up falling into the former category my favorite shows, and here's why. So my snap reaction to the TIBs firing was there's really only three.
Ways to view it.
Like, there's only three, I guess rationales to the firing. Rationale one was they So let me back up. The reason I'm framing it like this is because everyone is framing it the way you did, Demonse, which is it was the best season in twenty five years. You made your first conference finals in twenty five years, you were two games away from the NBA Finals, you were favored to go to the finals, and you fired your coach. So logically speaking, that would mean one of two things is true.
Either A, at.
The end of the regular season, they had determined we're moving on from Tom Thibodeau. Anything short of a championship or making the finals, we're firing that. That's where they were kind of like the Nuggets were with Michael Malone.
But the Nuggets just did it.
Beforehand, and they weren't going to let this playoff run dissuade them. That's kind of option A, option be if if that's not the case, if at the end of the regular season his job was safe, then that would mean option B, which is somehow this playoff run hurt TIBs in the front office er ownership's eyes, right if he would save after the end of the regular season. That they looked at it and they were like, you know what, Demons was right. That victory over the Celtics
was a fluke. Shouldn't have happened down fifteen in every game. We're actually not that good, you know what. I Like, we were trailing Detroit a bunch, we got lucky against Boston, and so like those are in theory, the only.
Two viable paths.
And this is why I'm kind I feel like Tuesday's TV show is going to age. Well, I said that, and then I said, there is, however, a third path, a third rationale I should say, which is they are firing Tom Thibodeaux because there is a player they are trying to acquire that they think they will be more
likely to acquire if they fire Tom Thibodeau. And the what I was implying without really saying, is was it possible that someone from Giannie's camp said, Hey, you know, if person X your coach, maybe not only you know, would it push Janis closer to asking for a trade, but maybe he would ask for a trade to the Nick specifically. So I just kind of threw that out
there as a possibility. I don't think you would have to fire a Tibbs in order to give yourself a better chance to get Kevin Durant Yannis is the other big name out there, So I just threw that out there on Tuesday and then demanse, did you see the kind of weird report about one of the coaches the Knicks might want to go after?
Because I did.
It was a coach who currently has a job, and it was Jason Kidd. And if people remember Jason Kidd coached Janice in Milwaukee, and when Jason Kidd was fired, Yannis, the reporting was he called Jason Kidd and said, is can I fix it? Should I call ownership and say, unfire you? I'm paraphrasing, so again I'm not I am I'm literally I could not be further away from reporting anything here. I have been gambling NonStop for the last thirty six hours. I've not been working the phones. I've
been playing poker. I'm simply saying the firing TIBs. It was odd enough that a little alarm bells went off. And then when I because the reporting Demanse was there were two coaches who currently have jobs the Knicks were interested in. It was Jason Kidd and emy Udoka and I'm like, okay, well, emy Udoka is not going to be available, like and so it felt to.
Me and again maybe maybe I'm wrong, like.
Udoka was included in that, like, hey, yeah, there's a lot of you know, established coaches that you know we might.
Like, but it's really that one name.
It's just that it was really about exactly.
And then this morning on the walk over from Aria where I'm staying to Horseshoe where the World Series of poker is. I was listening to Brian windhorse Show The Hoop Collective and anybody, by the way, who tweeting me or asking me or whatever about Lebron once again going at Wendy, I would please. What I would like to say about that is it makes me very sad and I wish he wouldn't do it, and I you know, I appreciate you respecting my privacy at this time, I
do not like it. But bright I was listening to Brian Windhorst on his great podcast with Tim bond Temps and Tim McMahon, Tim McMahon who covers all the Texas teams for ESPN, and the Jason Kidd thing came up, and Tim McMahon did not who just wrote a book on Luca, who's very close to the MAVs. When the Jason Kidd thing came up, Tim McMahon did not say, Oh, no chance, there's no way the MAVs are letting him leave.
There's no that didn't happen.
So Jason Kidd might want to leave Dallas. I sat they have.
Cooper Flag coming, but it's still kind of a toxic situation. And here's the other thing. Even if like it wasn't a toxic situation, so much easier to win in the East. Right now, right now, I'm gonna add one other piece of this because obviously Jim Dolan was involved to some level. I don't know how much of a level, but to some level. Okay, So I'm gonna the I'm gonna build a long bridge.
To get to this point.
Somebody I DIDNN interview a couple of weeks ago, and that silly like face of the network thing came up again when the guy asked me about FS one and me and I answered what I've always answered, which is, for the last almost decade, Colin Cowhard has been an hat for every single day, the face of FS one, and he will be until he stops broadcasting for us.
And people think, like, that's just you know me, you know, kind of paying tribute to a guy who's my professional idol and friend, and you know all that, and some of that's true whatever, but it's also it's not like an America his title. He's also as like the kids on Twitter would say, still throwing ninety eight on the
black whenever he wants. Because Coward had the best Jim Dolan take ever, and he just said it as an aside a few years ago, and it's so perfect that I'm here in Vegas when we're talking about this, which is coward said, do you know why the Knicks all of a sudden got good, good management, good coaching, They were a functional adult franchise. And he said it was because Jim Dolan was building the Sphere in Las Vegas and was not and was distracted. And I'm like, oh,
that's exactly right. Like Jim Dolan's favorite toy forever, ever since he inherited cable vision and MSG from his dad, has been the Knicks. But then his company was building the Sphere in Vegas and that was his new toy, and so he had to leave the Nicks alone.
And like, all right, Leon.
Rose and Worldwide West, you guys handle it like you know what I mean.
And it's it's the greatest take.
It's and it's why Colin's the greatest ever do it because nobody, nobody else's brain works that way. But the moment he said it, I'm like, god, damn it, you're a hundred percent. It makes perfect sense. It's exactly what happened. It's exactly what happened. But here's here's my contribution to that. Take guess what demands The sphere is built and it's up and running and it's self sustaining, and the Nicks just had this magical.
Playoff run and so guess what this is?
Like a toy story, Buzz Aldrin Woody situation that that you threw in the back of the closet because the other one was taking up your attention.
It's like away, by the way, what did I say? What did I say?
Oh, Buzz Alter, that's actual.
He's the third man to walk on the moon, or second man to walk on the moon. Sorry, Buzz Buzz Lightyear and Woody.
No.
But then all of a sudden, the Nick, the Knicks, the sphears up and running. The Knicks are fun now, shalow maze there they're making runs. Jim Dolan's like, I'm back, baby, Let's make some Let's make No, I'm not saying they're gonna suck. What I'm saying is, all of a sudden, they're making drastic moves again. Right, He's like, what if we fire the coach? What if we try to poach Jason Kidd? What if we do this? So it's just I and with all that said, I don't necessarily think
this is the wrong move. Here is, though I do have the I want to bounce this off you pal okay, because people were disappointed with the Like I'll give the fair criticisms of Tibbs in a second, But here's one of the things, like that the Knicks were bad defensively in these playoffs for large portions of it. Here is what I would be worried about and the risk they would run they are running. Is it because Tibbs calling card his whole career has been great defense?
Right? Is it possible.
That the defense the Knicks had this year, while maybe disappointing to some, was actually the best defense you can realistically have if Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony Towns are your two best players, you know what I mean? Like, were they actually, because of Tibbs better defensively than they should have been? But because of those two guys defensive limitations, was it still not good enough?
Pardon me?
Like, that's that would be the That would be the concern that I think is potentially a real concern.
Right right? That makes sense? He was just working with what he had. I mean, obviously, I have no choice but to play cat and Brunson, what are you gonna do? Right?
So here's now here's what I think is a fair criticism of Tibbs and also.
A reminder for everybody.
And this applies mostly to basketball coaches, but you can find a way to make it apply to any walk of life. It's always risky to make it clear to your boss that you don't think your boss has done a great job. And here's what I mean Tibbs's stance of and he bent on it a bit at the very end in.
The playoffs, but was probably too late.
Stance of I have to play these five guys forty plus minutes because I don't have enough other good players is always risky when the person who picked the players can fire you like it wasn't intentional. But whenever a coach this this happened. This is why Calvin Booth was mad at Michael Malone and then the owner there was like, you're both fired, but it was Michael Malone was like, no, Russ has to play forty plus minutes because the young players stink, and the Calvin Booth was like, I picked
those young players. I think they're quite good and so if you're like, if you're Leon Rose and Timms is like, sorry, Mkale Bridges has to play forty five minutes a game because I can't play Landry Shammitt or Delon right, Leon Rose is like, I don't know. I thought those guys were good enough to bring in here. That's always a bit of a bit of a risk. Now, I also think they did not get enough out of Mikale Bridges this year, and you can put some of that on Tibbs.
And I also do think this there is and we talked about this. We don't have to spend too much more time on it. There is a real benefit or a real risk to not experimenting with lineups in the regular season is you don't get the real time reps and be like, oh shit, Delon Wright plus Douce McBride, cat Og and Michale Bridges, that lineup can cook, like the different lineup combinations or whatever. Oklahoma City now they
won sixty eight games, but they are the standard. Oklahoma City played every lineup combination imaginable through the regular season, and now they go into the playoffs with real date on all of it. So I know we have TIBs follow ups. But so let's get to them. But there's my big picture TIBs take. And I apologize to Adam Silver, who just did a great interview on Breck Fastball and uh Thunder and Pacers fans because they're like day one of the finals and you're talking about a fired coach.
In my defense that we did a lot of finals preview stuff on Tuesday because the final, like that is a weird thing about the NBA Playoffs. It's just every night eyes bleeding from watching so much basketball and then there's like a week where we're just chilling and and so.
But uh but all right, what are the tips follow ups going?
And be honest, lo key always shaking up the NBA man.
Well, again, this is just a this is just a theory by me.
I'm not reporting it.
It's it's not even close to one hundred percent, just an idea.
It's just go ahead, So we'll do a game of likely maybe what if to see who will be the next head coach at New York. So it's like it's likely that Blank will get the job, but maybe Blank gets the job, and what if this person gets the job? So likely?
Okay, so the I mean Brrew kept Bruce kept saying, I want to make sure I get this right. Uh what who gosh darn it, it wasn't. I'm gonna Johnny Bryant. Bru kept saying Johnny Bryant and.
Brew Brew is one of them.
Now, Bruce said he didn't make any calls, he didn't know anything on it.
It was just his speculation.
But then right after the show, Johnny Bryant was the Vegas favorite for it. Now, it's also true, this is one of the rare times where like first things first might have kind of helped set the line in Vegas because this thing.
Broke it two fifty.
Bru is on the air at three oh two talking Johnny Bryant, and then the sports books like what do they you know, I think they're probably you know, what are people saying? Whatever it was? And so I don't know if that was kind of the tail.
Wagging of the dog.
The odd thing to me about Johnny Bryant, and I said this to.
Brew was right.
Now, he's the Cavs associate head coach. He was an assistant under TIBs. So do they fire TIBs to.
Bring in Johnny?
I don't know, but Brew, so I think likely it's Johnny Briant. And the other piece of this is the Knicks fired TIBs the day Johnny Briant was named a finalist for the Son's job, he then didn't get the Sun's job. Maybe it's Jason Kidd, And then the what if is this demanse because this is the other piece of it. I haven't talked about what if it's Rick Brunson because if it's not, that's an awkward piece of this, which is.
When they're interviewing.
Head coaches, do they say, by the way, one other thing, you can pick your whole staff except for one spot Rick Brunson's got Like are they firing Rick Brunson?
That would seem.
Tricky, Like you know what, like honestly, like what he's doing. No, not, I don't think. I don't think so at all. My is no, no, no, I I don't think he is at all. My point is that usually a new coach brings in their own staff. But when one of the coaches on your staff is the dad of the best player on your team, like that's ah, you know, that's just kind of a tricky tricky thing. I think the Jason Kid thing, though, has I think there's a little fire to that smoke.
All right. Before we get.
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All right, Demanse, let's get to you know, kind of part two of our NBA Finals preview. We did a big part one on Tuesday. Let's keep it going.
Yeah, so Game one of the finals is tonight. Okay, AC is minus nine and a half. What are your thoughts? How do you think? How do you see this game going?
So there's been at these card games, obviously not I mean particularly the cash games I've been playing.
All these guys are.
Somewhere between degenerate to semi pro sports betters, like they're all they're all you know, the they're just all. I shouldn't say all, but most are just betting sports all day. And so the number one thing people are wanting to talk to me about is you know, what do I you know?
What do I like?
Which the finals? Whatever it is? And so and I you know, I've told everyone Bat of the Year. Okay, see minus a game and a half again. I well, I guess we can get more of the bet stuff in a second. I don't want to step on it, but somebody yesterday made who was it that made this case to me? I'm trying to remember. I don't remember
who it was. One of the guys I was playing with made the case essentially that Indiana, if you were going to construct a team to give OKAC problems, it would look a lot like Indiana, where their best player is not the like overpowering wing, that the scoring wing, that the thunder have, all these guys to throw at right in Dorton, Carusoe and Wallace.
And all that.
That they play such a fast pace so you can't set the defense. That they played kind of different. All of those, all of those things I thought were good points.
The point that I made back to him was.
I I don't I think that is. I think Indiana is built and stylistically built like a team and plays a style of a team that could give OKAYC some real trouble.
I just think they.
Need a little more talented roster. So if like I right now, Demonte, you tell.
Me if you think this is disrespectful.
I think the Pacers have on like a school grading scale A plus AA minus.
I think the Pacers overall talent.
Is about a B level, and I think they're coaching and style of play elevates them up.
To an A minus a team.
But I think they have the overall talent of like, you know, that ninth best team in the NBA, the eighth best team in the NBA, but because of their coaching and their style, they play like they are the fourth or.
Fifth best team in the NBA, which and you might be like, they're in the finals.
Yeah, but the conferences to me are stacked a little differently, so you could make the finals still be the fourth or fifth best team. So my point is this EVE, instead of having B talent overall, they were like an A minus talent with this coaching and this style, that could be maybe enough.
To throw a real scare in Oklahoma City.
I just don't think they I don't think they have the horses, and I would be.
I can't. I'll be honest.
I can't imagine the Spaces winning this series.
Well no, not.
Only that, I can't imagine the Pacers winning this series. I can't imagine it going seven games. But I also I almost said, I you know, I hope I'm wrong, but I've placed a sizeable wager on this, on this, so I don't. I no longer hope i'm wrong. I now hope I'm very correct. And well, I mean it's just is the truth. Like I picked Okay c to beat Minnesota. I was, I was truly rooting for Minnesota because I like Aunt and I that was but I since I never bet Okay, See, that was like a
pure honest rooting that I was doing. This is I you know, if not for the bet, I probably be rooting for the Pacers.
But I can't, you know, I just I just can't.
All right, asked before we get to the bets, ask some the follow ups here if you will.
Yeah, So, what are you personally most excited about this series? I mean it sounds like maybe cashing in on your bet.
No no, no, no, the the actual Well, there's two things I'm most excited about.
I want to see if Shae.
Can elevate in my eyes and in the eyes of the country because and I don't think this is unfair. I don't think this is disrespectful. I think this is just how it works. I think Shae so Shae is right now, pardon me. If they win the championship, Demonse, it's the most points per game in the regular season a player has averaged that won the championship. Ever, it will beat Michael Jordan's record. Right now, the record for that is Michael Jordan thirty two point six. Second place
on that is Kareem thirty one point seven. Those are the two highest single season point averages that you then won the championship. And you might be like, no, that can't be right. No, the year Kaream average thirty five, they didn't win the title. The year Michael average thirty seven, they didn't win the title. The year's the year Michael average thirty three, they didn't win the title. The year Kobe average thirty five or thirty one or even thirty,
they didn't win the title. Obviously, Harden never won the title. The Durant never averaged more than this, So like that would Lebron his highest scoring year, which was like year three or four in Cleveland, they obviously didn't win the title.
So that that's a.
Record that has stood for thirty two years that Jordan has had, and that that's kind of anecdotal and just a small little piece. But the point I'm making is I still think there's a lot of people.
That feel like Shay is.
On the Anthony Edwards Tatum tier and not the joker Yiannis tier. And when I say a lot of people like I'm I've been one of them, Right, a great finals performance and a championship has to elevate him, and you might say it didn't for Tatum. Well, Tatum didn't. That's why I said a great fight. Tatum had a good finals, but Tatum also wasn't the league MVP that year. So that I'm excited to see. The Other thing I'm most excited to see is, uh, how Halliburton tries to
deal with this Okac defense. And I'll add another kind of fact piece to it, okay, se I wonder if they're going to be a little caught off guard in that. So like Dort, Dort, utility is, Hey, who's your big, powerful wing who scores you know, can score thirty. I'm going to be just as strong as him, even though I'm undersized, and get into him, right, Caruso can guard.
You know, I'm going to be as strong as anybody.
Halliburton's never trying to overpower anyone, and so like well, Halliburton's kind of style be a little difficult for them to adjust to.
I don't think so, but I'm excited to watch that. All Right, what's the next.
Uh, what do you think the rest of the league can learn from these two teams you know making it to the finals team basketball emphasis, I feel like from these two teams.
So I think that I think the quick answer is demonse.
That in the in today's era of the NBA, you should not simply try to you know, to go after the.
You know three superstar and then like you.
Don't want a team that is too top heavy and because of that you don't have enough depth. I do think that is a real learn I also think that the we are how do I how do I phrase this right? I think the skill level demanse has gotten so high. There was a time in the NBA not that long ago where can you get me a bucket?
Was the single most valuable thing, and that still is the most valuable thing for the superstar, you know what I mean, can even when the whole defense is built to stop you, can you get me a bucket?
Right? But now for the role players, I think.
The can you get me a bucket being the most important thing has been replaced by can you.
Defend? In big like?
Are you let me rephrase it, are you a good enough defender to where the other team doesn't see you out on the court and say we're gonna target him?
Every time until he's off the court.
And I think what the Pacers and the thunder have is a bunch of different five man lineups they like where nobody out there is get him in a pick and roll every single time.
And I think that because you know, I don't.
It's not true that everyone, but more guys in the modern NBA can shoot than ever before, Demonse, more guys, you know, are skilled than ever before. So you can find guys that can come off the bench and bury three like you can like Campaign, that guy's a veil like. There's a million of those guys. But Campaign couldn't play in these playoffs later for the Knicks because he would just be relentlessly targeted defensively, and they ended up going to Delon Wright, who really is not a great example
because he couldn't really hit a shot. But because it's can't, can we put a five man lineup out there? And this wasn't my theory, but I loved it that we have entered the weak link era. And I don't know if it's forever, but it's just or even if it's long term, but with it where it is, as long as your best player is good enough to get you in the club. To get in the room, that you cross that barrier of entry, then it becomes all right, who's your worst guy that you're gonna play real minutes for?
And is he, you know, a competent, good enough two way player. So that's kind of what I would take.
Away from it.
Now we can do a little bit on these finals bets if you'd like.
Yeah, so we talked last last show about your bet of the year. You wanted OKAYC minus one and a half at.
Minus one and a half games. Well, listen, it was minus two sixty five. There's minus two seventy five. It's now minus two ninety. I'm not saying and I moved that line, but I'm actually here to tell you if you move that line, I'm I'm I'm certain I did, and I don't even necessarily mean from Tuesday's pod and the TV show, I think that had something to do
with it. But I think what had more to do with it is me talking about it so much amongst some of the biggest sports betters in the world the last thirty six hours, and I think people have been walking up to the window and basically saying, give me the nick right special and so yeah, I mean I think this thing will be minus three hundred by the time the series starts.
Uh, go ahead.
So and you also just we also discussed an exact series bet you had. Okay, see game one, okay, see game two, Indy Game three, okay, see game four, Indy. Game five, okay, see game six. That's at plus thirty five hundred.
Are there five to one?
Right? Go ahead?
Uh, here's the thing on that. I I think I'm making that bet.
Just a little. It's thirty five to one. So just this a little bit with the intention demands.
That I might that would be a hard one to hedge, but it's the first four games. I feel that it's Game five in that that's tricky that you.
Talk a lot about like hedge potential, and I can't hedge here. It can't edge there. Aren't you like the non hedging guy.
Yeah, that that is correct. I am. I absolutely am the non hedging guy.
And I've said this before and the producers. I don't even think that's a question from Deman. I think by the producers trying to trying to catch me in something. I there the caveat two. I don't hedges unless I make a bet with the intention of hedging, like I'm betting to hedge it.
But here's the point I'm making.
I think the probably the the smarter way to make that bet and not really act instead of hedging or whatever is to take I think okay See game one, okay See game two, Indie game three, okay See game four is how those first four games are going. It's the game five that's the tipping point game. But I
don't see. I think okay See is winning the first two and then when a team's up to AH and the other team goes home and we've seen it from OKAC already this playoffs, they relax a bit and then okay See takes back control of the series.
I will say.
One other thing, as long as if you just wanted to bet Okac for the series, I do think just betting Shaye to win finals MVP is smarter. And you might say, like, well, what if Shae gets hurt. If Shae gets hurt, they're not winning the series anyway, probably, so like the bet, you know what I mean, the BET's dead and I do think that I do think that you are like the OKC is like minus seven hundred and Shay's minus six hundred. Again, those are significant.
Obviously you're laying a ton of juice there, but I do think that that would be the better way to play it. All right, let's talk a little. Let's quickly get through some of these other things.
So the Sun's hired former Cleveland assistant Jordan not as their new head coach, and they also lowered the asking price for Kevin Durant. So what's what's going on?
Here's what I read this morning that I let me find this exact story, and I want to make sure that I'm not getting bad aggregation.
Okay, No, this is from.
Phn X Suns, which you might be like, what the hell is that that? So, uh, there's a company that started like four different cities. It's called All City and they basically do media for sports teams in Denver, Philly, Chicago and Denver Philly, Chicago, Oh, and Phoenix obviously, and they do a good job. Our buddy KRN Demons works for the Chicago on Hgo, So it's Chgo in Chicago, d n v R and Denver, pH l Y in Philly, and phn X in Phoenix.
Like you guys get it. How they're doing it.
So here is what Gerald, I apologize. Gerald Borges, is I assume how you pronounced this b o U r g u e t. Borget is how it's spelled. But Borget Borges, I don't know.
In the story about Jordan Att.
This is what he writes, and this is the because keep in mind, Uh, he's a Michigan State alone. Mattishviia, their new owner, was a Michigan State walk on, and I am going to read you directly from pieces of his article. As a Michigan State alum, there will own doubtedly be pressure on this first year head coach proved that The Sun's exhaustive interview process is more than just
an inevitability. Similar cries of sparty favoritism rang out after owner mattish Via hired Brian Gregory, a foreigner Michigan State assistant with limited NBA front officis appearance, as the Sun's new GM. That will only grow louder now that Phoenix has hired Ott, who graduated from Michigan State and serves as video coordinator under Rizzo from twenty eight to thirteen. Uh, let me go on further from here. This is the
part that I uh not for nothing. Devin Booker also approved of the higher ESPN sham Sharani reported that Booker was involved in the final stages of the Sun's interview process and stamped Ott as his top choice, while another source conformed confirmed that to pH and X Sports that Booker loved him, having love and support of book You know, the face of the franchise matters. That's not the part of this that I am most interested in. Let me
let me find Okay, here we go. According to another source, Ishbia emailed the Sun's basketball operations team internally on Wednesday, taking accountability for not doing enough to establish a cult in identity in Phoenix. The Sun's owner stated that quote or is that he tried quote running the typical NBA owner playbook of hiring experts, signing checks and getting out of the way, but no one was happy with that outcome.
In other words, Matt Ashbia is like, you know what, this situation needs more, Mattishbia, that's a problem, boys and Mattshbia has surveyed the Phoenix Suns, who were fucking fine. They had made the finals, they had the best record in the league. The next year he bought the team, it's been nothing but disaster, and he has surveyed it and he's like, you know what, I after some real soul searching.
You know what.
This organization needs more of this guy. So I mean, I'm just here to tell you I feel really bad for Suns fans.
I mean, it is you're.
Gonna get sixty cents on the dollar for Durant unless I mean the Towns thing would be probably one hundred and twenty five cents on the dollar, but that's probably not happening.
And I just don't.
What do you think is a worse fan situation right now? Between being a Suns fan or a Mavericks fan.
Oh well, it's they're so different. If you're a MAVs fan and you could just Men in Black neuralizer again, that's a now its Men in Black, a thirty year old movie. If people don't if people don't know Men in Black, they had these little they look like pens, little lights called a neuralizer I think, where if they flashed it at you, they could erase you know, whatever they wanted from your memory, like the last five minutes,
the last year, or whatever it is. That was for some reason, I referenced the Men in Black neuralizer thing all the time. And now I'm realizing I'm an old man and I don't know that everyone's seen the movie, but yeah, I.
Would think so.
But here's the thing, Demons, you're kind of an old man too. As you said the other day, you're pushing thirty, like we got we got kids out here that haven't There are people watching the podcasts that haven't walked inside a movie like.
You know what I mean.
If it's not on.
TikTok or YouTube shorts, they're like, that's whack Will Smith?
Get out?
All they know of Will Smith is that he got punched in the face of the oscars or no, I'm sorry that, yeah he did the slapping. My apologies, all right, but that's not the point. Back to the topic. If you were a MAVs fan and you could get men in Black neuralizered into forgetting that Luca was ever on your team, it's kind of fun and exciting. It's like, oh, we got this generational prospect coming up. Anthony Davis is good,
Kyrie's coming back? Like who maybe who knows the problem is that just like panging regret at all times that you used to have Luka Doncic and this madman got rid of him. I would never be able to get over that. But there's still good basketball to come. The Suns are objectively screwed for the next five to seven years,
and there's just no way around it. And so I just think it's the worst situation imaginable and I don't and Manash bea looking at it and being like, I'll fix this with more of me is one of the craziest things I've ever heard.
All right, let's talk USA versus the World.
Oh yeah, so Adam Silver confirmed. I think this is on breakfast ball. Actually that the next Olympics, the next Olympics, or the next All Star Game, I'm sorry, will be team World versus Team USA. How do you feel about this? Do you think this will change or fix the the lackluster All Star Games?
So, to be fair, he said, some form of US against the World. So here's the only way I.
Think you could do it.
I think, because as people have pointed out, you're not gonna.
Have twelve and twelve.
I I think the way you have there. I'll just be honest, I don't know that this is going to work, because I think this is the only way you can do it. I think you have to pick your twenty four all stars, and what you're gonna end up with is, you know, eight international and sixteen American, and then you're gonna have to figure out which four Americans are gonna have to play on the international team.
And that's gonna be weird. I think that's how it's gonna work.
It's like, where are your roots at? Well? But hey, back into your ancestors.
No, no, well, I mean I don't know what they're I don't so I I like the idea. The problem is the numbers on it. I do think that. Here's the other thing. All of our MVPs now are international guys, but it's also uh exkews to not the best roster build. And here's what I mean. It's Shae, Luca, and then a bunch of bigs Joker, Giannie, Embiid and they if you know Embiid were to get back to form s Bonus Rudy, you know what I mean.
Like, so you it's you don't have.
Thank goodness, Shay's Canadian, you know, like, and Luca obviously is uh Slovenian. But it's so I don't really wilds is right, that it used to work, it can work again. It's just on the players to play defense. And Wilds is also right that the best plays and highlights anyone's ever seen all have something in common and attempted awesome defense, and that's what makes the highlight great, and they've just kind of lost their way on.
It a bit.
I do want to do quickly one NFL story before we go, and then we can talk a little World Series of Poker stuff at the end.
But I do want to talk to CJ. Stroud story quickly. CJ.
Strausen throwing a pass at OTA's. It seems like he's got a shoulder injury thing going on. Demico Ryans is reporting that he's not He's not worried at all, but it also seems like it could be possible that he had a surgery that they're trying not to highlight or something like that. Is there a problem in Houston? Take the Jacks to win the division? I'm sorry, it's the perfect Jacks plus that's plus three hundred right now is to take the Jackson. I've been all that for like
the last two and a half months. Yeah, you only got to worry about the Texans. This guy's shoulders hurt, right, now take the Jackson and for some reason the odds went up since that information came out.
Well, I think the odds went up.
Actually was less about that and more maybe there was a little Titan smoke because Cam wore but the.
But I that that's why I want to talk about this story.
Well, you are right, buddy, That's why I wanted to talk about this story. Was I do think the Jags win the division is a good bet. Shoulder soreness, long lingering shoulder soreness for quarterbacks and pitchers concerns the hell out of me.
And c J.
I don't like it's it is odd enough that it is raised in alarm. You then add to it demands that the offensive line was.
Brutal last year. They traded away.
Tonsil, they have you know, Digs isn't there, which is fine. Tank Dell's not going to be there all year. I think there's real So yeah, yes, you got there before I did. I think that the Jags to win the division. I know this is a shock to no one, is my takeaway on this. And I think Houston listen Houston's past defense last year, by the end of the year was the best in the league, and Dimiico's excellent and that should be good enough to you know, keep them.
More than relevant. But you know, in the mix. But I the.
Jags prove it here for Trevor, Travis Hunter, Brian Thomas, Liam Cohen. I like all of it, all right. So World Series of Poker we're here. We're like so we're at the Horseshoe. The events are. This is one of them. So if you guys look behind me, this is and I'm gonna move out of the camera view for a minute so you can.
See like that to one of the stages.
This is the you know, there's one hundred tables set up in here. There are there are demand's a three other far bigger like convention holes where these games are being played. So it's just thousands and thousands of thousands of players and if people are interested today, my plan is, let me see when it starts. Let's see what the plan.
Let's see what's on the docket for today. Because I expected to still be you know, today is the final table for the ten K Dealer's Choice, which is the tournament I was in yesterday morning that I'm no longer in. So because I got knocked out, but that happens. So the so the tournaments that get rolling today that I am interested in is the fifteen hundred dollars Badogie, which starts When does that start? So that starts at two pm, right, yeah,
two pm. The other one that is a possibility, let me look and see, is well, there's a twenty five K no limit hold on that I'm not playing in and is going to be one of the hardest tournaments
of the summer. I'm not playing that. There is also is today, oh today is the oh okay no, So it's just the fifteen hundred dollars Doogie that is today, and then over the weekend is the ten K seven card stud So that so just one tournament today, which means I need to play well in it or else I'm gonna have nothing to do.
So that's my plan for today.
Gotta lock in, man, I really gotta I got a lock in yesterday. Now, I've been playing very well in that post tournament cash games, but that's not the that's so I'm people care.
That's not why I'm there. It's exactly right. I'm there to I'm here to final.
Table a World Series of poker event and have a shot at a bracelet. It's the only reason I'm here. I need to play better. That's why I'm here to tell you now. Did I play great yesterday?
Of course?
Did I get terribly, terribly unlucky in the pot limit Omaha eight or better?
Yeah?
At one point, demons, out of the nine hundred and eight players in the tournament.
Was I seventh in chips? I was? I have screenshot to prove it, I do.
Shortly after that, did I play a pot that would have put me second in chips where I needed to fade six cards and I would have had the second most chips out of this nearly thousand person field.
I did, but I didn't fade those six cards.
And I'll be honest, I didn't deal with that beat the way I probably should have, and I kind of tilted off from there. It's part of the listen, it's part of the experience. I just got to stay locked in. So I want to thank, by the way, all the great people at the World Series of Poker for giving me this.
Room. I don't know if you guys can see.
But the What's Right logos are set up in there, which is so incredibly cool to me and I people might be like, why didn't you know where were the Instagram updates yesterday? I was too devastated by the beat to update anybody. But that's you know what we're gonna lock in.
We're gonna do so kind of clear your mind of yesterday's loss so you can go.
Oh the mid and black neuralizer. Wow, what a fat what a quick photoshop? You look fine.
Not the greatest picture of me I've ever seen, I gotta tell you, but you look great. This is why people should subscribe on YouTube.
This is why they should, you know, because if you're listening to a podcast, you don't get this.
But also, by the way, subscribe on podcasts. All right, listen. This was a lot of work for a lot of people.
So a huge thanks to Maries, Candani, Uh, Brent Hanks, Ty Stewart, everyone involved with Poker Go and with the World Series of Poker.
UH for helping me get this set up.
Obvious, huge thanks to everyone at the Volume and Blue Duck for you know, getting this tech stuff set up and DraftKings as always for all the support.
UH.
If there is a there is a chance we do a brief semi emergency pod sometime, but you know, over the weekend in relation to Game one of the finals. We'll see how that. We'll see how that goes. But yeah, demand's a great job. Like rate, subscribe, review, and send me good poker vibes because the fifteen hundred dollars Badugie bracelet, it's gonna look great on this risk right here, See you guys soon.
What's right,