The Pat McAfee Show Live From Gainbridge Fieldhouse | Wednesday June 11th 2025

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[Music]. The following program is a collection of. students talking about happenings in the. sports world. It is meant to be comedic, informative. The opinions expressed on. this show do not necessarily reflect the.

beliefs of their peers, their boss, or. ESPN. There may be some cuss words. because that's how humans is the real. world talk. If you are a young, please. seek permission before watching any. further. Hey, what? Let's go. This show sticks. And the fact that you. listen, we are very, very thankful for. you. McAfee on the line with a gorgeous. assist. The alltime leading tackler for.

the Green Bay Packers. You can't. stop. Damn it. Be a friend. Tell a. friend something nice could change their. life. [Music]. sport. Hello, beautiful people and. welcome to beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana on this NBA Finals Wednesday, June 11th. This program starts right. now. Finals are happening for the first time.

here in Indianapolis, Indiana in 9,126. days. It hasn't been since the year 2000. that this beautiful state of basketball. has hosted an NBA finals with this. beautiful piece of hardware on the wall. To be clear, this one behind me, not. real. This one actual Larry O'Brien. trophy. I will do it. Do it. Do it. Do. it. Do it. Don't be scared. Do it. You.

got it. Yes. So shiny. I don't love it, but last year. I didn't touch it and the Pacers lost in. the Eastern Conference Finals. This year. I get an opportunity to touch this. beautiful gold piece of legacy making. hardware that will transform this city. into not only being the state of. basketball, but the franchise of. basketball. Tonight in a series that's.

tied 1-1, where the Pacers won into. Oklahoma City, stole game one, lose game. two. Tonight, our city is going to be on. display as Gamebridge Fieldhouse is. about to be upside down. SGA is obviously a living legend who is. an MVP and a superstar in this league. for a long time. There's a lot of beasts. on that Oklahoma City team, but in this. city, on this day, in this state, I think. tonight's going to be a great time. The. man talking [ __ ] right there. He's a.

13-year NBA veteran, friend of the. program, co-host of the knuckleheads. podcast, ESPN NBA analyst, ladies and. gentlemen, Quinton Richardson. Mixed Rich and Darius Miles, who's 6'. 100, made his trip up here to Indiana. this morning to celebrate this NBA. Finals. The toxic table is here at. Boston Connor and at Ty Schmidt. I. appreciate you, boy. Good to be here, man. in the finals. Let's go. Ty.

Schmidt, you're from Iowa. The NBA. finals are obviously something that. you've looked forward to your entire. life, but now that you're here, the. energy is palpable throughout the city. Is it not, Ty? Yeah, without a doubt. I. mean, you know, the Eastern Conference. Finals, that was one thing. That was. sweet. We're talking about the NBA. Finals here. Okay. You talked about. legacies being made. As soon as we're. done with game two, all the talking. heads, hey, Tyrese Halbert, this guy's. not a superstar. See, we talked about. it. You can't you can't do it against. the big guns in Oklahoma City. I'm so. excited for Tyrese to maybe, you know,

have another I don't know 30-point. triple double tonight. I think that's. coming. I think it's in the air. I. really do. We'll have a conversation about this. Pacers team with Sham Shirania here in a. matter of moments. One half of the. Hammer D Cowboys AP Tone is here. Tone, what are the lines we should be looking. at for tonight's game three of the NBA. Finals? Tonight's line is minus 5 and a. half to Oklahoma City Thunder. Once. again, the Pacers are being. disrespected. They were disrespected in. game one with that line and they won. that one. They are once again dogs at.

home. They have not won a game three. yet. Uh OKC has not covered as a. favorite on the road yet. Something is. going to give tonight. Yeah, absolutely. And 9-year NFL vet, a man who calls. Indianapolis one of his homes, travels. here for four days a week, all year. round to do this particular program. Was. a legendary member of the Indianapolis. Colts. Ladies and gentlemen, Darius J. energy out here is crazy, man. Debut, it's great energy in.

Indianapolis. There's a lot going on. around here, including uh the official. transfer of power of the Indianapolis. Colts to the Ursa Daughters. Uh Casey. and Kayn and Carly did their first press. conference yesterday. I had no idea what. to expect of this new generation of. Indianapolis Colts. Y what were Carly, Kaylin, and Casey going to be like as. owners? Feels like they are setting a. tone early about the standard. Then you. got the Pacers doing their thing. The. Fever going to get Caitlyn Clark back. soon. It feels like Indianapolis is.

becoming the sports hub that it's always. been known to be. Trending trending in. in the right direction in uh tonight, man. The energy that I know is going to. be in the building. I can feel it. already out here. The energy is going to. be crazy. Uh the team brings it. The. team always brings the juice. Uh we. stole one. Okay. Well, I'm saying we. because you know I'm here obviously. through and through. But I am a Yes sir. fan uh as it is right now. So I'm. excited. I'm excited. Yes, sir. I am. Hey, it's a big big I love that shirt.

you got on. Love the shirt the boys got. on. It's a big moment for Hi, man. Cuz. the superstar conversation is out there. and this is when your team uh needs. most. And this is when you step up and. really make a name and a legacy for. yourself and the whole program as a. whole. Okay, Quen Richardson, let's talk. about this. The NBA talking heads uh. have an interesting way of doing things. You know, uh the old heads for a long. time hated the common or the game that. is now too soft, too weak, these guys. aren't this. Now the whole conversation. has become who are the superstars of the. league. Whenever you have two young.

superstars leading two young teams to. the finals, it feels like a lot of the. old heads, especially in sports media, have not come to respect them yet. Is. that an accurate depiction of how Tyrese. and SGA are kind of being talked about. at this moment or what are your thoughts. on that whole superstar narrative that's. being talked about right now? Yeah, from. when I played in the league, man, if. that word wasn't such a lightning rod, we looked at it as players. The way even. now the way I look at it when I talk to. my peers, me and D, are you an all-star?

Are you all NBA? Were you an Olympian? Why? Do you had a Max deal? Why? Super. max. What? If you got all of them, you. can call me what you want. You can call. me what you want. If I got a supermax, if I'm an all-star, if I'm Olympian, you. can call me whatever you want. The. bottom line is I'm doing the same things. that the superstars and the allstars are. doing. I'm right there with them. So, you can call me what you want to call. me, but I'm here. How do you feel about. Tyrese Hallebertton? Last year leads a. team to an improbable Eastern Conference. final. They get swept. This year, they.

come back. Coach Carlile obviously an. absolute dog, a wizard on the. chalkboard, and also his culture and his. motivation. Pascal Seakam has been a. beautiful trade last year to fit into. this culture. Feels like Nemhard can go, Nmith can go. Literally the entire team. can go. Tyrese Hallebertton though is. the I don't want to say the engine, but. basically the straw that stirs the. entire drink. How do you feel about how. Tyrese is handling the job that he has. been put in? And how do you think he is. doing with his Pacers team? I I kind of. look at him like when I played for the.

Phoenix Suns in '05, Steve Nash, it was. the proverbial started disturbed the. drink. We had all of these guys that. could score and everything, but if it. wasn't for Steve distributing the ball. and making things go the way it went, we. weren't as good. That's what these paces. are. If if if if Hi isn't being the. Halley the great version of himself, they're going to struggle because a lot. of those guys rely on him to deliver the. ball and set them up and to get them. those shots. And when you have a team. like that is predicated off that when. they stop him, it kind of stunts. everything else and they got to go to.

plan B and figure things out. Yeah. Miles Turner, obviously a man uh name. that I mentioned or didn't mention in. that group. He's been here 11 years, has. been a phenomenal pacer. He's up, I. think, after this year. We'll talk to. Shams about that here in a matter of. moments. Let's pivot now to the Oklahoma. City Thunder. SGA is unbelievable. This. guy, so I wanted to believe the. narrative that everything he did was. [ __ ] I I wanted to believe the. narrative that he was the free throw. merchant, that he was a foul artist and. everything like that. watching him play. against the Pacers. He might get to the.

foul line, but he's not like that as his. entire game. He is a weapon. Coach Carlo. actually said, "You can put 34 points. down on the score sheet for Shay before. the game even begins." Do teams just. concede that like, "Hey, we know SGA is. going to get his points. How do we stop. everybody else?" Or what is the mindset. you think for that stopping that. offense? I mean, that's what he's. become. If you look at it, this is his. third season in a row averaging over 30. points. He's entering a class where only. Wilt, Kobe, Michael, those type of. dudes. And when you get start putting in. boxes and in in classes with those guys,

he's put himself in that position like. he scored 20 points over 60 times, 25. over 65, 30 over like four. He's showing. that it does not matter. No one in the. league can stop me. I can get 30 on. anybody. He's He's literally going about. his business that way. And if he has a. off night, it could probably be like 24. 26. He's he's put himself in that. position now. You know, everybody. compares Tyrese's stats to like SGA's. and everybody else. Two different roles. on the team. Absolutely. Two different. players. They don't even do the same.

thing. So, whenever people talk about. Tyrese and they immediately go to. points, how do basketball heads feel. about that conversation? I think they. bring it up because there's that stat. sitting out there of when he scores 20. points, the record that the M that the. Pacers have. And I mean, that's that's a. that's a that's a good point, but I mean. at the same time, who is Tyresese Halle. Burton? How many points has he averaged. for his career? He's not a 20. like he. he can, but that's not really what it is. for him. He's a ball distributor. He. gets the he's an extension of the coach. on the floor. He gets everything right. and gets everybody situated and put. people in places where they can score. I.

think you said yesterday or maybe a. couple days ago, I forget. You said. people see how hitting these. game-winning shots and they're like, "Oh, this guy is score. That's what he. is." It's like he can score. He is. certainly a dog in clutch time. I think. the stats are going to come out after. this season that he's maybe one of the. greatest clutch players in the history. of basketball. But that's not his mind. his mindset is how can we get the entire. team rolling and they've certainly been. able to do that. I think his overrunner. on assists tonight is 9 and 1 half or 8. and 1/2. So like that I mean that's all. season long he is the highest in that. category and then his points is 16 and a.

half 17 and 12. So it's like it's like. the sports books knows what he is. A lot. of people know what he is but I think. you're you're so right like him hitting. all these game winners makes people. think like he's filling up 30 points a. night. They want more. Yeah. And the. thing about Harley he's been. historically efficient over the run. So. obviously against this OKC defense, it's. been a lot to tougher. You talk about. SGA, what he's been doing on the. offensive end, obviously the MVP, but. he's a beast on that defensive end, too. He Yeah, he gets his hands on on a lot. of basketballs. That whole team is they. they they grind, they suffocate you. And.

uh if they keep it going, they're a. tough tough team to beat. But Holly got. to be efficient. And I think he does. have to be a little bit more aggressive. early on if you really want to beat this. Thunder team. If you look at what the. Thunder do, listen to the postgame. comments of Esie Edwards, he he's a. 30-point dude. And he was like, I can't. get no shots. And he was like, I don't. feel like I'm playing bad. I just I. can't get attempts. I can't get field. goal attempts because the way they're. guarding me. When you look, it's hard.

for you as a scorer to when you cross. that half court and you look at the. basket and you see four other sets of. eyes, you see arms in the lane and. everybody Yeah. Yeah, they are. I understand what you're. saying. Oklahoma City bops a lot of. wood. Pause that. But yes, they do. They. do. They they listen. They like And then. if like, have you looked at Lou Dort? Yeah. The Dorture Chamber. That's one of. the greatest of all time. You know what.

house that. a brick? What? What is it? A brick. machine. Like he shoots bad shots. No, he is. He is. Listen, that dude is a. unit and he can, like you said, he can. move. He can move. He can move his feet. out there. Like for him to be that big. and strong, he shouldn't be able to. guard Tally Tyresese Tally Burton. Okay. So, if the Pacers win all their home. games going forward, they win an NBA. title, right? They stole homecourt. advantage. by winning game one. That is uh that is.

just a matter of fact. So, if they win. tonight, obviously if they win uh Friday. night and then they win game six, which. I believe is next Thursday, maybe they. just have to win their home games. How. important is homec court advantage? And. obviously the Pacers have been able to. go into other people's barns and get. wins. But it feels like with what. Oklahoma City's fan base can bring and. what I think tonight is going to be like. in Gamebridge, is it a mental advant. what is the you sleep at your own house? Like why is home court such a big deal. whenever it comes to basketball? I think.

it's more so it comes down to the fans. It comes down to the fans and you being. in your building. I think, you know what. I'm saying? That's why guys work work so. hard to get the best record during the. season so they can have that because. when you're like if all else fails, that. crowd can can ignite you. You feeling. down, you doing this or that. They get. TJ McConnell to come in and make a. little diving play and the crowd goes. nuts and then like that can really. ignite teams and teams can draw from. that. So I think to me that's the. biggest difference when you talk about. the difference in homec court advantage.

like that especially when you got a a. fan base like here in Indiana and a fan. base like there in OKC. These are two of. the better like more collegey atmosphere. teams that we have in the league. Okay. So OKC I think coach Carlau even. mentioned it whenever he said that our. fans are going to have to show up. tonight for game three. He said we would. get on a little bit of a run and then. Oklahoma City fans would not relent. like it was like it would continue and. then almost you felt like them fighting. momentum for the team and then the the. hoop can look bigger I assume whenever.

you're at home you get rolling I just I. mean yeah the fact of the matter is. these are you you play here more like. all of the other arenas you go to once. or twice here there you play here all. the time so you used to it used to the. the the depth perception behind the rim. everything that's in the arena it's just. you just more locked into it because. you're here all year playing yeah and. you got John Melanchamp sitting there. for. I don't know if that's happening. Diddy. about Jack. Still a heater. Let's never forget that. It was like we were talking about after.

game two though, like there were a. couple moments in that game where the. Pacers would hit a couple threes and. they'd cut the lead to like 12 and it. was like, okay, here comes here comes. the run and because it was in OKC and. the crowd was still behind them like. boom, Thunder go on an 80 run quick and. kind of just squash it and it gets back. to 20. And it was kind of like that the. entire game. you felt like, hey, if this. is in Indiana, if this was at. Gainbridge, like that 12-point lead, maybe they, you know, get a couple more. steals and cut that down to six and then. now we got a real game, but instead. every time the Pacers got a little.

momentum, OKC went right back down and. got a bucket immediately. Got some stats. from Hembo here on uh basketball. efficiency for the Pacers in this. particular series. Uh the Pacers have. led for a total of 1 minute 53 seconds. and a third. Crazy that gets it done. Uh, Pacers shooting has been night and. day this series when the ball moves with. energy. Shooting off passes, they're 51. of 92 for 55%. Shooting not off pass, they're 25 of 72, 35%. Which is what.

you're talking about with uh the. Oklahoma City defense. We're able to. move with pace against a lot of teams. Feels like this Oklahoma City team has. been able to match. So, whenever. Oklahoma City scores or whenever the. Knicks scored or when the Bucks scored. or when the Cavs scored, we were able to. push that thing down the court. and the. other team had no idea. They scored two, bang, we just knocked on a three because. we're able to move with efficiency. It's. like the Oklahoma City team gets back. They're able to run. They're they like. focus on the defensive end and making it. difficult. They obviously also have. Dejino who's a great coach. Indiana's. done a great job defensively when.

grinding out Oklahoma City possessions. The Thunder have shot one and seven one. for 17 in games one and two in the final. six seconds of the shot clock. So, if. the Pacers make Oklahoma City earn it, feels like Oklahoma City's going to miss. it a little bit. Uh, will Indiana win in. transition tonight? Asked Hembo. They've. scored 23 transition points in games one. and two. That is nine points fewer than. their per game average entering the. finals, which is exactly what I just. chatted about. And will Tyrese. Hallebertton get anything easy tonight? Asked Hembo. In 73 minutes in games 1.

and two, he's drawn only two fouls. Yeah, he has not attempted a single free. throw. A lot more. Feels like these refs. are working a little bit. And then the. Thunder playoff scoring margin when. they're home plus 236. Jeez. Where. they're on the road minus 48. They are 0. and7 against the spread on the road, 8. and three against the spread at home. And that's because the away fan base is. making her up on her. Joining us now,

ladies and gentlemen, a senior NBA. insider for ESPN, friend of the program, a man who has incredible hair and he's. very handsome. Friend of the program, Sham Sherania. What's up? What's up, Shams? Sounded. good, sir. Sir, good to see you, man.

Yeah, behind the cross, dude. Just just. want to mess my hair up. Crown the king. The hair still looks good, brother. The. hair still looks good. I appreciate the. sunglasses, by the way. My eyes are very. sensitive to the sun. Yeah, you're a. journalist. We understand there's some. softness in this entire thing. Uh Shams, welcome back to Indianapolis, Indiana. We're thankful to have you. Look at the. fans. Look at it. It's a lot. It's It's. There's a lot more people than last. time, but it was fun being here two. weeks ago. I'm glad to be back. I agree.

A couple weeks ago, whenever we did. this, we gave about a 12 to 24-hour. heads up to the city. And, you know, a. lot of people have jobs out here in. Indiana. This is a uh this is a working. city. The fact that people showed up for. us, we're very appreciative of. And. also, this backdrop here is maybe the. nicest in the city. Shout out to. Gainbridge. Shout out to the Pacers. Shout out to the Simons doing all this. for the city. Like they're rebuilding. the city almost downtown. Got a new. restaurant over here, a new area. I mean. facility. The Pacers are really doing it. here. So we're thankful. But anyways,

let's get to tonight. Any news that we. need to know about heading into game. three of the NBA finals, Sham Shirano. So I mean what we saw in game two and. really in game one as well is like. Oklahoma City, their defense absolutely. stifling. You know, the one thing. obviously that caught my eye. Tyrese. Haliver was limping after the game uh in. Oklahoma City. He wasn't on the injury. report, everything I hear, there's no. concern about his status tonight. All. the feel is he's fine. He's going to be. good to go. He But what what did catch. my eye again is him limping right there.

Uh and he said he had a lower body. injury. I did some digging on it. I am. told it is a ankle issue, some soreness. that he's dealing with. But listen, Pat, around this time of year, and Q Rich. knows this, this late into the playoffs, guys are going to be dealing with all. kinds of nicks and bruises and all kinds. of different things. Uh, but this is an. ankle issue for Tyresese Hallebertton. that obviously he's going to play. through. He's going to he's had three. days in between games. He's going to be. a go tonight. Okay. So, we should not be. worried about Tyrese Hallebertton. Tyresese Hallebertton told us don't.

worry about him yesterday. So, I I do I. don't expect to be, you know, that this. to be an issue. But again, this is. something to to keep an eye on. Okay. Thank God. Thank God. Especially with. how much [ __ ] has been talked about. Tyrese Hallebertton over the last couple. days. This feels like a Tyrese. Hallebertton game. Yeah. 21 points. pretty much and 10 assists when they win. in the playoffs. It is like 12 points. and six seven assists when they lose. So. the point being they haven't lost much. this playoffs and so having him play at. that elite level obviously very.

important for this Pacers team to win. tonight. Agreed. Anything out of the. Oklahoma City camp or are they. completely healthy and ready to go? They're ready to go. But one thing we. saw after after they make that big. change completely putting it putting in. Case Wallace in into the starting lineup. to start the series. I think that was a. shock not only to people in the series, fans around the series, uh executives. that are watching the series. Uh but. they kept that starting lineup in game. two. And Mark Dagen, the Thunder coach, he's changed the lineup so much this. year. What's his name? Mark Dagenol. But.

we we kind of just said I think D Dagod. But I think we gave him the nickname. Dag. Dags. Dags. Oh yeah. I think I. think to to kind of simplify it for us. here. But for who? You're saying for us. simpleton. Listen Pat, you butchered his. name. I tried. I tried my best. I didn't. butcher it as bad as Connor did a couple. weeks ago. None of us. Coach Dags. changed the starting lineup. He sticks. with it. We assume he's going to do the. same thing and and he stuck with it in. game two, too. I think there was even.

some thought there like, okay, you know, I was on the ground in Oklahoma City. There was some thought, okay, he must be. going back to Isaiah Hardenstein, going. back to that double big lineup, but he. stuck with it. I expect it to be the. same, but this is a coach that is always. going to going to try things. What I. love about the Thunder is from one to. really 10, 11, 12 deep on this roster. They're willing to go into their their. depth. Kenrich Williams, Jaylen. Williams, these guys sometimes barely. ever play, but they can play. Jaylen. Williams can get triple doubles. Aaron. Wiggins wasn't much of a factor in game. one. Comes in basically as a as a hero.

in game two. Okay, so let's talk about. some things from this series uh that'll. be offseason conversations. Obviously, Miles Turner, he has been here for 11. years. We love him here in Indiana. He. cut a promo after winning the Eastern. Conference Finals. That was wonderful. I. think he's done great things in the. city. We believe he is up, I think, if. our last conversation is accurate. What. does it look like for Miles Turner going. forward? I assume a lot of people are. going to want big Miles on their squad. How old is he and what does it look like. this off seasonason? He's going to be uh.

a free agent and it's crazy. He's. essentially What's his exact age? Do we. do we have it? He's what? 29. 29. He's. been here for 11 years. 11 years. So. clearly a guy that is still young in. age, very young in in this league. There's going to be a couple teams that. are going to look at him. The the issue. this offseason, there's one team with. salary cap space and that's the Brooklyn. Nets. And so what other teams make sense. from a sign and trade perspective? I do. know of a couple teams at least that are. looking into signing trade. possibilities, but listen, the Indiana. Pacers know they need to have Miles.

Turner back. They can't afford to lose. him. So, he is in line for a big payday. this off season. Um, I expect the Pacers. to do everything they can to keep him. There's mutual interest. [Applause]. You see how surprised Q Rich is? He's. never seen this many white people on. beat. That was incredible work by you guys. There is mutual interest, but but Pat, the most interesting thing to me is the.

Indiana Pacers have not paid the luxury. tax since the 2005 2006 season by giving. Miles Turner a deal that he's likely. going to be in line for. They will be. entering the luxury tax for the first. time in 20 years. I'm told the. organization is prepared and expecting. to pay the luxury tax next season. Hell. yeah, Simon. Backto back conference. finals runs this season. I think they. want to give this core a chance. Win or. lose in this finals, they want to give. this core a chance to try to get back. again next year. Get back again the year. after that. We're going to win. Thanks.

I don't need to win. Uh Ty has a question for you. Seams. There are some reports that came out. that said, hey, there's a good chance KD. is going to be moved within like the. next couple weeks here. And then we. started hearing, hey, guess what? He. wants to go to the Knicks. Uh even. though they don't have a head coach. What do you know about the KD situation. and where do we stand right now? the the. Kevin Durant situation is ever since the. NBA trade deadline, I think everyone. around the league understood this is. someone that's going to likely be on the. move. And I'm told the Suns uh Kevin.

Durant's business representative and. boardroom CEO Rich Kimman, they're. working on his trade as we speak. The. teams that are mainly featured right now. that have interest in Kevin Durant to. trade for him, this is ongoing interest. and I I think this is the focus right. now. It's the Houston Rockets, the San. Antonio Spurs. Mhm. the Miami Heat, the. Minnesota Timberwolves, and the New York. Knicks. I I do expect potential. I do expect potentially some wild card.

teams to get in the mix as well because. listen, this is Kevin Durant. For him to. be on the market, he's the biggest. domino right now that's fully available. on the market. And last season, we saw. his play. I mean, he was one of just a. few players. I mean, he's the best. mid-range shooter in the league, the. best shooter off the dribble, the best. shooter in in when when you have a. defender in front of you in the. mid-range show. He's still playing at an. elite level. Obviously, wants to compete. for a championship. But those five. teams, I'm told, that's the focus of the. trade conversations right now. Talks are.

going to pick up and escalate between. now and the NBA draft, June 25th. One. other thing that's going to be a key. point here, he's he's entering the final. year of his deal at over $50 million. So. whether he wants to extend what his. future is, that is also going to play a. part. Okay. So the Pacers obviously are. so focused on winning a title, we. haven't got a chance to really dive into. Kevin Durant coming to Indiana. We'd. love to have you here, KD. The Darela. would be great in Indiana. Also with. Tyrese, all KD's got to do. Kevin Nmith. just chilling. I mean, we would Hey, we.

got great apartments here, Dant Kevin. Durant. We got great food here and we. got a team that works their asses off. So I think you would love it here. But. out of those teams you just mentioned, what do you think is the most intriguing. or most likely? Well, you look at. Houston, obviously they made a good run. to the playoffs this year for the first. time since 2000. I I think they're a. team that that has the potential pieces. to make a deal happen. San Antonio is an. interesting one as well, and there was. mutual interest between Kevin Durant and.

both of those teams at the NBA trade. deadline. There's been interest with the. Timber Rolls as well. But that would be. Ant, right? Minnesota. I mean, if if. you're the Tim Rolls and you can keep. Anthony Edwards and you can keep Nas. Reed, you can keep Jaden McDaniels. potentially to make a deal, I think that. would be appealing for them. Uh, and. then the Knicks there, they did make an. offer from what I'm told at the NBA. trade deadline. Of course, no deal. happened then, but the Knicks are going. to be a team that could get involved. that are involved here and could make. offers again. And Miami, that is another.

team that I'm told has been engaged with. the Suns over the last week. DB's team, whatever. Um, I I expect a Pacers fan. Hey, if you can bring Kevin Durant in with. Tyler Herro, Bam Adabio. I think that's. another thing where if you're Miami, you. can compete and this is this is a a. factor as well. I know the Pacers are in. the East. We're not trying to talk down. on the East, but there are some teams in. the Eastern Conference that are viewing. this conference as wide open. And if you. can go get a Kevin Durant, it's not wide.

open. You can get a Kevin Durant. Who. Who's a Kevin Durant away? That's going. to be the question that people are going. to have to ask. All right. You mentioned. the Knicks there. Q has a question for. you. Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot of talk. I. mean, obviously they they they after the. season, they let go of Tib. So, what are. you hearing about the Knicks coaching. situation? Who's going to be the next. coach for the Knicks? What I keep. hearing from people around the league. queue is like, what are the Knicks. doing, right? What are they doing? When. you when you fire when you fire a coach. who made it to the Eastern Conference.

Finals for the first time in 25 years. and you don't really it doesn't seem. like they had a direct path to a coach, whether it's someone that's available. like a Taylor Jenkins, a Michael Malone, a Mike Brown, uh whether it's a coach. from another team. Like this is not the. first time a coach from another team. might move. But as I reported last night. this morning, the Knicks made permission. requests over the last 24- 48 hours on. Chris Finch of the Minnesota. Timberwolves, Ema Udoka of the Houston.

Rockets, and this morning Jason Kidd of. the Dallas Mavericks. All three were. given swift denials. I I'm told I'm told. like like these were the reactions. Teams are saying no, hanging up. Teams. are saying f no. teams are saying like. having the owner call and say what is. like we're not doing this and so I I I. think like those were the reactions that. I heard from those three denials and so. now the Knicks where they're going to go. from here I think one thing they're.

going to keep an open mind on all these. candidates I I do give them credit for. trying to see what could be out there. with some of these available coaches but. again this is a very unorthodox process. by the Knicks in their front office and. James Dolan that ownership group. But if. they end up with a coach that they. wanted, you know, from from the. beginning, may maybe it's someone we. know. What about you, Sean? Why don't. you go coach him? Not a big idea. Big. city. tips and you don't have a guy and you.

asking guys that are already under. contract with somebody. That's that's. beyond me. How do those calls usually. go? like has anyone been trained? It's. it's usually can we have permission to. interview headach. all of these guys had multiple seasons. on their contract left and yeah you're. right Jason kid got traded from the. Brooklyn Nets to the Milwaukee Bucks. over a decade ago for uh second round. draft compensation. This time around. Dallas said no Jason Kidd is staying.

with the Mavericks. He's not going. anywhere. I don't know if now would be. the time for Jason Kidd to want to leave. the Mavs. I think if you talk to him. middle of the season after they trade. Luka away, I think he could have got him. potentially out of there. But with what. they're building, shout to Nico down. there, too, by the way. Nico might have. this whole thing figured out. legitimately down in Dallas. They might. have a squad. Jason leaving right before. that would be wild. I appreciate the. fact that James Dolan is uh basically. just seemingly flying by the seat of his. pants right now. We'll find the right. guy. We'll get it done. Q Rich, I have a. question for you. Tibs gets fired.

because players Do coaches get fired in. the NBA because players don't like the. coach? I don't understand like the power. structure of how this works. Tibs got. fired because Dolan didn't like him. What do you think the thoughts are on. how or why he got removed? I don't know. the real answer to that, but I mean from. the from the from everything that you. hearing and it sounds it sounds like. that came from above. I mean, you know. what I'm saying? When you hear from the. players, they all signed off on Love and. Tibs like Jaylen Brunson and and. company. But, uh, from what I hear from. it, you know, the streets is talking, it. sound like Dolan wanted it to be done.

It sound like he wanted it to be over. with and he wanted to go in a different. direction cuz like Denver firing their. coach and GM when they did what 8 days. before the playoffs start or whatever. It's like who did that? How did that. come to be? And then now I guess you're. still asking questions cuz in my eyes. the way I view the basketball league uh. basketball players is like they're in. charge like the the head superstar on. the team has more power than everybody. else. I'm not saying that's different. than the NFL with quarterbacks. I think. there's a select amount of quarterbacks. that obviously have more say than. anybody else. But in the NBA, it feels.

like the superstars have more power than. maybe any other sport. So, it's like. whenever Malone gets fired, I just. assume, well, the players had to sign. off on this for this to happen. But, we. never really get an answer either. New. York is a is a is a very special place, though. So, I don't know if that all of. the rules to go for everybody else go. for them. Happened in Memphis, though. It's a different place. right before the playoffs. Denver did. it. But listen, Denver, Josh Kroni in. that organization, the governor of the. there, he he put his name on it. He was. he's been doing he's been in the media.

He's been very upfront about why they. did it. And listen, it led to some. success. He felt like the team wasn't. going to make a run unless they made a. change. They made the change. They got. to the second round, one game away from. the Western Conference Finals. This is a. different situation. There hasn't been. much, of course, coming out of the. Knicks. But listen, they have always. moved in shadow. They they've always. moved in in this in this cloak of. secrecy, but now is a point where you. get denied by three teams in the span of. 24 hours. And like to get three coaching. denials in the span of 24 hours, that's.

not something that bodess well. Desirable. Yeah, that's not a desirable. thing. What did you expect? See, that's. the thing is like these coaches are. under expect that you about to go take. somebody's head coach and they just. going to say, "Sure, take them." Like. what? No, I think these teams are taking. offense to it to an extent. That's. that's my feel for it as they should. because again, these guys are under. contract. Whoa. Whoa. That's how a lot. of people feel. Now, I'm not saying. that's how we feel. Uh, but there. there's chance. The words of others do.

not necessarily reflect the words of. ours. But with that being said, there's. a lot of people that feel that way. And. it sounds like there's more teams. starting to feel that way as they. continue trying to poach their player. Dock New York. Yeah, I agree. I duck. them, too. You got to duck them. You got. to duck and move with the Knicks. Uh, Debb has a question for you, Sean. Yeah, you talked about KD uh being on the. move. Obviously, the other big fish and. I think the last time you were here, you. pegged this as the most craziest off. season ever. Giannis. Yes, that was. right. That was the proper wording. A a.

lot a lot probably hinges on Giannis and. DMPO and his future, right? And I know. there are some comments, you know, he. made a broad, you know, he's a guy. that's always been loyal. If he can win. in Milwaukee, he of course wants to win. in Milwaukee. His biggest issue has been. how does this team stay competitive and. compete in the Eastern Conference? because there's going to be Damen. Lillard's out for an extended period of. time next season, if not the entire. season. Um, they have one first round. pick they can trade and they don't have. many highv value contracts. So, can you. bring some of your free agents back?

Like the free agency of Brook Lopez, Bobby Portoris will be very, very. important to this team. Gary Trent is. another guy that I think is going to be. very important. Can they bring those. three guys back to the fold? And how. does that impact Giannis? Is there any. other move you can make around the. edges? I will say on Giannis Edmpo, unlike Kevin Durant. Whoa. I didn't know he had expect. Kevin Durant is someone that I expect. around the draft. There could be some.

movement with like I I think there's a a. very good chance Kevin Durant is traded. damn before the NBA draft June 25th with. Jon Koopo. From what I'm told his his. status will not be tied to the NBA. draft. It won't be tied to free agency. It's much more likely that his future. plays out into July and into August in. terms of him seeing the landscape of not. only the Bucks, seeing the landscape of. the league, seeing what other teams do. I mean, listen, when you're a star of. that caliber, the league moves how you. want it to move. The league will move.

when you're ready to ask for a trade or. if you're ready to then say, "I'm I'm. staying. I want to be back." Of course, around the league, there is a level of. skepticism because Jiannis Dumpo has. been loyal. He's been there 12 years. His brand is all about loyalty right. now. So there there's a level of. skepticism. Does he really go through. with it? There's a difference between. being open-minded and from what I'm told. exploring other options. Actively. exploring other options. There's a. difference between doing that and asking. for a trade. He's in the process of. figuring out exactly what he wants to.

do. Actively exploring other options. He's watching film of other teams trying. to see which team he could be the free. train. You see what they're doing. see. where can potentially get to that can. make a deal with Milwaukee that can make. it happen. And then the biggest point is. having to go in there and ask for a. trade. I think everyone around the. league looks at this summer as probably. the period. If you're going to do it, it's now because of of where they're at. with their situation with the roster. They're depleted uh with with their. assets. And realistically, this is a.

team that's lost in the first round. three years in a row. So, can this team. take a step to contend? So, if you're. staying now, you're probably looking at. this as a lifer if you're honest. Okay. And go ahead, Q. With his loyalty. though, don't you think by him even. having this open like this kind of lets. you know that I'm out the door? Cuz he. never does this. He shuts it down almost. every time. So, to me, the fact that. he's actually telling them that I'm. exploring or doing whatever he's doing. to me, that's letting you know that. like, hey, I'm definitely like could do. something right now. I think the way the.

Bucks view this is this is something. that they're fine with Giannis. like. they in their minds he's always going to. be exploring every year what's his best. path and what the Bucks are kind of. selling Jonian Dumpo and what what other. teams have have essentially been sold on. as far as the Bucks path is you. essentially take somewhat of a gap year. you retool this team but from my. understanding I think John Horst and Doc. Rivers genuinely believe this team can. compete in the Eastern Conference now. whether you think it's it's that old. adage that the East isn't where it. probably you know the West might be.

whatever the case feel they compete. We'll see. Might win the in the Eastern. Conference. You see this son of a [ __ ]. right here? I get it. I get it. I'm just. telling you how they feel. I And the. other point is also selling Giannis and. Dumbo on. Can I Can I hug it? Can I hug it? Do it. Do it. Hoist it. Wow.

Heavy. That thing is heavy, man. That. can go real good or real bad for you. I didn't touch it last year. I'm just. saying. I didn't touch it last year. Good point. I wasn't around it last. year. The other thing if you're the. Bucks is like what makes Yian and Dubo. comfortable here. And one thing that. they have pitched him on also is having. the ball in his hands a lot more next. season. He played obviously when you're. playing with a guy like Damen, he ain't going nowhere. He's a dog. Dog. Hey, he's good vibes guy. That's what.

I'm saying. Anytime I see him playing. basketball, everybody's smiling. I don't think there's going to be any. surprise if Tanasa Dumbo might be on. this race. Okay, that's good news. All. right, last question. Uh, we appreciate. you taking the time to travel to. Indianapolis. Obviously, it's your job. You're getting paid to do it, but you're. the best. Uh, Connor has a question for. you. Yeah, Sean, I loved your last. answer. Uh, my favorite part being when. Q Rich looked over here at us like, "You're the biggest idiot that's ever. spoke about basketball." Uh, definitely. one of my favorite moments since you've. been on. But wait, what did I say? I.

don't even know to be honest. But if. this is the most craziest off season. ever, you know, Giannis and KD, that's. cool. But are there darkh horse teams? Are there darkhorse players? Like, could. we see a Donovan Mitchell type move. where a team hasn't, you know, gotten. over the hump? A Mobly even with with. Cleveland. I know Scotty Barnes has been. kind of thrown around some uh trade. scenarios. Is there kind of other. bigname players and teams that might be. trying to make a splash here? I don't. see those three that you mentioned right.

there. Diamond Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Scotty Barnes, but there there are. always in every offseason there's going. to be wildcard pieces. Um, we'll see. I. I I don't know them quite yet. That. that'll go on between now and the NBA. draft, but I will tell you like you have. the Giannis situation and that's more of. a slower burn, right? You have Kevin. Durant, which I think is active as we. speak. But the the other big ticket item. I think this offseason is the Celtics. and what are they going to do? And the. primary focus from my understanding with. the Celtics offseason has been Drew.

Holiday, Christopheringis, Sam Hower, their trademarks. Hower. Now are teams. making big offers and calling about. Jaylen Brown and and Derek White 100%. The Celtics prefer not to trade him from. my understanding. But listen, if they. get a big offer, they have to look at. everything. And I think they're going to. get, you know, offers on on the three. guys that they're focused on. They're. going to get offers potentially on Derek. White and Jaylen Brown. And I think. between now and the draft and free. agency, they're going to evaluate what. makes sense from a value perspective and.

that's where they're going to move. Everybody but Tatum essentially. Okay. Big changes coming. Maybe Missoula is. going down in New York. Pritchard. Pritchard stay. We're I'm not expecting. that one. All right. Uh anything going. to take place uh today? Any more. breaking news going to be coming out of. the Sham Shirania Twitter account? You. never know. But if it is, I'm right. there. You're the man. Ladies and. gentlemen, senior NBA in this man. The. man in them.

You did do that. Yeah, you did do that. I saw that happen. You broke out the. fresh fresh at Alexander McQueen. Them. brand new right there. Please. Hey, just. real quick. That hype. You thought he. said something incredibly dumb. Why'd. you give him a look about what? No, it. wasn't him saying anything incredibly. dumb. No, but. it is when he said the Bucks can compete. in the East or the East. Yeah, he was. saying that that it wasn't him saying. it. He was saying that Doc Rivers really.

believes that that Bucks team can. compete in the East and I don't really. think they can with Dame Litter not. being So, you're saying the theory that. was being hypothesized was crazy to me. They can't compete without Dame. Where. do you think Giannis goes? His style of. play, can it fit in everywhere or no? Yeah, he he anywhere. He can play. anywhere. He can play for the Pacers. Anywhere. Pacers. Any the craziest thing. is my destination for for the best. platform for for Giannis and KD in my. opinion is the same place. It's the.

Spurs. I think they I think they can fit. in seamlessly and I think the Spurs have. like assets where they don't have to. completely deplete the roster in a team. to where they can make the move and. still have a team to compete with. Conor's been pitching this trade. proposal for Giannis with the Mavs. I. think that's they they should just trade. the number one pick for Giannis. Just. one for one. They get Cooper flags. They gonna need more than that. Equal. trade. Okay. They're throw throwing a. little sweetener. Maybe Gaffford, maybe. Klay Thompson. You throw something in. there. But they're talking about Cooper.

Flag being a 500 to a billion dollar. type player as far as the market comes. Do they not think about that in these. trades just because Giannis? I don't. think they going to do that. I think. Nico has had enough of the trade this. year so far. I think gonna just, you. know, the fans are pretty hyped about. Cooper Flag. So ladies and gentlemen, joining us now. is a lad who went to Pike High School. here in Indianapolis, Indiana. Currently the coach of them, NBA champion, Allstar, host of the Club.

520 podcast. Ladies and gentlemen, legends. Absolute legends. High school. Weak, huh? Nah, we lit. Weak. Hey, first of all, Jeff, uh, thank. you for representing Indianapolis,

Indiana so damn well. You're a legend. appreciate having give back to the city. 317's tatted right there on your. forearm. I respect how much you've given. back here and remained here even though. you didn't necessarily play here. With. that being said, your Club 520 podcast. is unbelievable. I appreciate that. Yeah. Taking over right now and you. should be incredibly proud of that. Thank you. Thank you. No problem. Thank. you for adding to the sports media. world. Thank you for sticking around. Thank you for coaching your high school. and thank you for letting the world know. that Indiana is a hoop state. I don't.

think a lot of people understand how. many greats have come from this state. and how serious basketball is. Can you. explain a little bit about that? N. basketball is everything here. You drive. around the city, you'll see goals in. every driveway, every backyard. Basketball is king here. And um growing. up here, playing basketball my whole. life here. I think I'm a better. basketball player than most people from. like Chicago or any of those areas. because I grew up. Damn cute. Oh my [ __ ] I forgot he was. here.

Chill, where you from, man? I'm from the. hunts. Wild hunt Chicago. Look, no disrespect Indiana, Indianapolis, but like we not going to. do that. We not going to do that. Shtown. pay these country boys nothing. We We Now listen. now. Listen. Chicago is is is a is a. best. We we breathe that now. Okay. We. do that. We do too. Pike High School. They want no problem with winning Young.

High School. He knows. We're trying to. set up a game actually. It won't end. well for y'all. All right, let's talk. about high school hoops here. The arenas. here in Indiana, it's like 10 15,000 for. high school hoops. How has it been. getting back into coaching high school? And what are your thoughts? No, it's. been great. Uh, every time we play, it's. a it's a soldout gym. I get booed or. they talk about the podcast every single. time. But it's cool, man. It's uh it's. been a lot of fun. I mean, giving back. to the kids. I absolutely love that. But. our team should be pretty pretty good. this year. We kind of won it all, right?

Nah, we have it's some good teams here. You know what's your problem, Q? I. thought he won. I thought Hey, I thought. he Hey. Okay, we in real work in. progress. Okay. Rebuild. Rebuild. You. just got this. I feel you. Uh, let's. talk about this Pacers team. Obviously, you understand the buzz that's around. the city. Last year, Eastern Conference. Finals, we get swept. Nobody's even. allowed to talk about it almost because. of how it ended with Boston. Now this. year back again, now we're in the. finals. Yeah. How do you feel about this. particular team and the way Coach Carlo.

has run them? No, it's an exciting team. I think they play a beautiful brand of. basketball. Everybody gets a chance to. be great on the floor. Um I didn't. expect this from the pace. I'd be lying. if I said I did. Um after the way they. started the season, but uh Tyrese's been. a magnificent. The last minute of the. game, I mean, he's the guy you want with. the ball. But uh I ain't going to lie, I'm probably not a fan favorite right. now cuz uh I think OKC is going to win. the series. Yo yo. kid. Yeah. Oh,

I I got to be real. I'm watching the. prodical son. The prodigal son. Debb has. a question for you, Joe. We were talking. about up here with Shams. I know you. played with Giannis. I believe you told. a story about how different his energy. is with his brother around. Um, where do. you how do you see that really playing. out for him and where do you see him. fitting if he does move from Milwaukee? Uh, I can't really picture a team. without Giannis in Milwaukee cuz uh, he. just been there for so long. But if his. brother is anywhere around that city, he's going to be there. And I said it.

the other day on a podcast like, man, if. you want to sign Giannis, you probably. should sign his brother cuz they're. they're connected. But if I seen him. leave, I'm I'm sure he probably wants to. go to a big city. So I imagine like New. York, somewhere in New York, Brooklyn or. Indiana. Indie. Yeah. Y'all guys want Giannis here? We'll take. anybody, brother. Kevin Durant, if. you're good at basketball, we'll have. you. Kevin Durant needs to come here, too. Oh my god. We just need to sit. there just like this. So, let me ask you. that. Who would you trade for Kevin. Durant? Nobody. We're just We're just. signing.

runner and we'll give the first round. pick for 2045. That's how you guys. operate in the NBA. I think you giving. up the 2033 and the 2045 first round. KD. for a three-year-old. Exactly. If you. was in Sacramento, you probably can make. it happen. But. Connor has a question for you, Jeff. Yeah, Jeff, I love the podcast story you. told on there about pushing LeBron just. cuz why not? It was incredible. SGA. feels like one of those guys you would. probably just shove at the end of the. game. How would you guard a guy like.

that? And how frustrating is it when you. know, hey, if I bump this guy, uh, you. know, he might flow back and draw a foul. on me, but if I don't bump him, he's. going to go right by me and, you know, score. Yeah, he's kind of impossible to. guard. He's like James Harden in the era. where I played. You couldn't touch him. It's kind of you couldn't really figure. out a way to stop him. Uh for the. Pacers, I think you just got to. eliminate everybody else. Like last. game, Kuso had a big game. Aaron Wiggins. had a big game. You got to take them. guys out the picture. Um SGA's going to. get 30 points. I mean, it's proven. He. averages 30 every game. So, if we could.

eliminate everybody else, I think the. Pacers got a really good shot. I got the. Pacers actually winning game three, though. Oh, don't snip snap. I don't. even hear snip snap. the first game. You in or you out? What. are you? Listen, I'm just a fan. Okay, so good. Okay, let's just see. Good. game. Let's see. Seven game series. Um, so take me inside the locker room. I. don't know your guys' uh culture well. enough whenever it comes to game. planning. So, the coach will actually. say or you guys will all have an. understanding SGA is going to score 35.

points. So, if we see him lighting it. up, we still are not changing our. strategy at all. We're kind of just. sacrificing SGAA having a massive night. and then you're just trying to eliminate. the other pieces. Yeah, pretty much. That like that's a full mindset that. everybody has. I mean, I would say Q. It's not it's not necessarily like. you're going to let him like you do your. work. You try and make everything. difficult as possible, but you can't. hang your head or get down if he scores. because he's proven this is going to. happen. You can't let that like deter. your energy. Like, yeah, you try to stop. him. You don't want you don't just let. him score 30, but you understand if he.

gets his 30, this is normal. We have to. kind of try and suppress any of these. other dudes. Like you said, you can't. have Wiggins, Caruso, just guys popping. up out of nowhere getting 20 and 18. Like Wiggins hasn't had 18 or 20 the. whole playoffs, I don't think. Yeah, Caruso gone crazy just is wild. Hey dog. Hey Pies on. Let's relax, dude. Okay, let's relax here. Indiana needs this. He. understands that. Uh Kurich tells us. that a big like kind of mantra for you. guys, especially if you're playing a. good a good offensive team, is you bop.

wood. Do you bop a lot of wood? Did you. bop on cannot say that you know this I. don't know if yall watch the podcast. that's a wild statement. all NBA defense all NBA defense you bop. wood. they do that they do that at Duke like. Wa started that they smack the floor by. like yeah bumping wood no we say slap. the floor I'm sorry smack wood okay. [Music].

crazy that's a that's a mindset. Yeah. Tonight I'm bopping wood. You got to. sign up for that start to finish. I slap. the floor. I never slapped the floor. I. didn't do any of that. I'm not bopping. wood, slapping wood, any of that. All. that is a crazy pause. This guy's not committed on defense, man. I can tell. I can tell. Unbelievable. Uh, is that what you signed up for, though? No, I didn't. Okay, Ty has a.

question for you, Jeff. Jeff, when we uh. talk about the Pacers, everyone talks. about their pace and like how difficult. that is. And then you got a team like. OKC who can actually kind of match it. How demoralizing is that when they've. been kind of just running everybody else. out the gym and then you get to the. finals and it's like, oh [ __ ] this team. can actually like do they need to maybe. like slow down a little bit and look for. better shots or like how does that uh. cuz it almost seems like they're playing. right into what OKC does well. defensively. Well, they got to be them. I mean, what makes the Pacer great is. their pace. They have to be them. And um.

the thing they do have to do great, guys make shots. I mean, Tyrese is ahead. of the Snake. Tyresese got to be. aggressive all the time. Like if that's. making plays for others are getting to. the basket and scoring, he has to be. that. And uh the last game, I don't. think he was as aggressive in the first. half. But I think we'll see a different. Theres tonight. Jeff, I know you're a. professional legend in the sports world. out of Indianapolis, Indiana. This is uh. McKenzie McAfee. She is also going to be. a a legend.

[Music]. She's beautiful. My wife uh just. surprised me with her down here. Obviously, the city has come out. Uh. baby girl, you like the Pacers or No, we. doing Pacers. High five for Pacers. Boom. I got to change my pick now. I'm going. for the Pacers. Here we go. McKenzie. Thank you. Uh. Debbut has a question for you, Jeff. Uh. we've talked about the defense. Uh Pat. uh goes to calls it different. You talk. about slapping the floor. You play for. Tibs. Obviously a defensive minded.

coach. Knicks go all the way to the. Eastern Conference Finals and then they. let go of Tibs. Uh how do you think I. know the players came out and spoke, you. know, positively about him, which I feel. like most guys would, but how do you. think they really felt about Tibs and. what was it like playing for him? And. who do you think would fit in with that. uh Knicks roster as it is constructed? Uh, I'm imagine the guys that played a. lot like Tibs, but if you didn't play. that much, you probably didn't like him. I mean, that goes for probably most of. the locker room. But if I was a player. that played for Tibs, and I did, and I. was a starter, I loved them cuz I knew I.

was going to get a chance to make my. money cuz I was going to be on the floor. all the time. Yeah. But as far as um him. getting released and from the team, I. was surprised because they made it to. the Eastern Conference Finals. They. ain't been in 25 years. But it's like I. get it too cuz they needed to play some. more people. They needed some more. pieces and they needed to use their. bench. And I think they had quality. players on the bench. We just never got. a chance to see him. But as far as that. can help that team, they need a scoring. guard that can also help, you know, be. like a combo guard, can help Jaylen. Brunson. I mean, it was so much pressure. on him to do everything. Bring the ball.

up, score the basketball, run the plays, even though they ran all the plays for. him. Yeah. But he just needs somebody. else that can relieve some pressure with. that scoring. Him and Cat. Gotcha. I. didn't like watching Brunson play. basketball. Uh, every time he touched it. and had any space at all, he was It's. good. Is that who he is? Is that what. he's going to be for the rest of his. career? Like I didn't It was. unbelievable to watch, especially. because of his size. And obviously in. real life, I assume he is tall when he's. walking around, but on the court he's.

not as much. He'll go into the paint. I. mean, he's going into the big guys, creating enough space, and it's falling. every single time. To your point, it. felt like he was the only one really uh. being dependent upon. It's like, can he. do that for the rest of his is that what. we should expect from Jaylen for the. rest of his There's no way he can keep. that up for the rest of his career. I. think he's going to be a 20point score. for the rest of his career. But I think. it was unfathomable to as soon as he. would get the ball, you just knew what. was happening. And up close in person, you know, he's a guy that also gets. fouls called. I think a lot of scorers.

get a lot of fouls called on them or. whatever. So that was like another thing. people were calling him flopper, flopper, flopper, which is certainly an. advantage to his game, but if he had it, he was knocking it down. He was. coldblooded. It'll be it'll be. interesting who the next coach is. whether they still play that way because. his usage rate was through the roof. He. had the ball all of the time doing. whatever he wants. So it'll be. interesting if the new coach whoever. that is comes in if they take that same. approach is like give him the ball and. get out the way or they try and you know. some guys have schemes and like sets and.

offenses that they run and it'll be. it'll be interesting to see who the next. coach is and how that dynamic works. I. saw a lot of Knicks fans saying put. Brunson on the bench and I was agreeing. with him. Yeah, over there. Yeah, everybody on the other. team would like you guys to do that. Just so you know that as you go forward. Go ahead, Debbie. No, I was about to say. I You talked about calling sets. I feel. like I didn't see many sets and I don't. know being from the outside looking in, I would assume different coaches call. more sets, more set plays, but I just. felt like the ball went to Brunson and. it just stopped. You know what I mean? And I remember Kobe years ago talking.

about I think James Harden and like. look, you can average 37, you can win an. MVP, but you're not going to win a. championship like that. Is that kind of. how y'all see it as well? Yeah, for me. that's definitely how I see it. I mean, you got to have more movement, especially with all the guys they had. I. mean, Michael Bridges was a 25 point. scorer when he was in Brooklyn. We know. what OG and Novi could do. I think you. got to move the ball and use some of. those pieces. I mean, some of them on. max deals. Yeah. And crazy. Yeah. Like I. mean OG was the highest paid on the. team, so him not to even get that many. touches or to be even a part of the.

offensive scheme like that, I think it. was kind of tough to watch. Uh, speaking. of leaving the Knicks, um, have you ever. seen somebody be able to jump as high as. Obie Toppin? No, Obie Toppie different. Is he the most explosive player to ever. play? Legit. Is he the most? I don't I. don't know about that. I think that he. got a unique combination though cuz like. he's definitely a a lethal. He's got. bounce, but you got to take into. consideration he has crazy long arms. His arms have a lot to do with how he. can dunk so effortlessly cuz the length.

on his arms is crazy. He did a he did a. double pump dunk in the fourth quarter. against the Knicks to take the lead. Got. fouled. They didn't call it cuz he's OB. topping. If he was anybody else, they. would have called it. But he hits his. head off the rim seemingly on a very. regular basis. And he he's shown up for. the Pacers in a big way. It's like every. player we have has shown up in their. role. How important is that for a team. that's going to have success? And is. that Carlile or who is that? It has to. be Carl. Car was unbelievable. Yeah, all. these guys got unbelievable confidence. They take shots that you normally.

wouldn't see some of the role players, I. would call them, take shots. I think. Nimhard in game one, he did a between. the leg, between the leg, step back. three, and a clutch moment. And usually. your star player or your go-to guy has. the ball in those moments. And for him. to take that shot, just let me know what. kind of team they have. They have a real. life all together one unit team. Okay. Carl don't get enough love, man. He's. one of the best coaches in the history. of the game. like he's a championship. coach. He's got pedigree. Every team. he's coached always have an identity.

They they hang their hat on something. Whatever their identity is, they show up. as that. And I think when he gets. through, man, he's going going to finish. up and go down as one of the best. coaches ever, man. Carile is a is is a. is a he's he's a dude. I agree. Wild. doppelganger for Jim Car. Crazy. That's. I mean like even the younger they were. showing pictures of him back whenever he. was with Reggie Miller when he was an. assistant coach here. He looks like a. young Jim Carrey and then whenever he's. now he obviously looks like an older Jim. Carrey and what he does and the way he. coaches we love it here in Indiana. I.

think it fits the state and the city. perfectly especially with the way you. like to watch basketball. Speaking of. fitting the state perfectly, Jeff, you're the man. Thank you for. representing this city. Like that, baby. I like that. Southside, baby. Where's my. Indians? Cleveland or Indianapolis? All right. Hour one is wrapping up here in. beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. It's. been 9,126. days since this city has hosted an NBA.

Finals game. Tonight will be absolutely. insane. Owl too. We have Udonis Hasslam. joining us and others. Be a friend. Tell. a friend something nice that might. change their life. My daughter's here. somewhere. Let's go find her. See you in. the next hour. Goodbye. Thank you, Jeff. Hey, bro. I didn't know you was supposed. to. All roads leading to Eugene. And I can't. help but say, "Hey, hey, hey, [Applause].

hey, hey, hey. You make me want to jump. Put my hands. up and pick my heels up and all again. now. [Applause]. [Music]. [Applause]. A little bit now. A little bit now. A. little bit softer now. A little bit. softer now. A little bitter now. A. little bitter now. A little bit louder. now. A little bit louder now. A little.

bit louder now. A little bit louder now. A little bit louder now. A little bit. louder now. A little bit louder. And it's awesome. It's a great day. organ. We got a cannon. Oh, wait. We are. We are. We are. Thank you. [Applause].

[Laughter]. [Applause]. I love I love this stuff. [ __ ]. [Applause]. [Music]. Yeah. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Up next. We got engineers. We got. doctors. We got economists.

We got real tests that have real real. implications happening. and all of these. sons of said give me college game dang. instead of studying. I had some questions about coming out. here to Berkeley but after experiencing. it is very evident that this is one of. the best cities in this here United. States of America.

USA. USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA. And this. represents everything that is great with. this country, with our sport. It doesn't. matter which way you view the world. It. doesn't matter which part of the country. you're from. College football runs. through our soul. And that is what a.

celebration today is all about. I am. thankful to be here amongst these nerds. and future geniuses and future people. that are going to run this place. It's. an honor to be in Berkeley. It's foggy. I think there's some skunk. The. following program is a collection of. students talking about happenings in the. sports world. It is meant to be comedic. informative. The opinions expressed on. this show do not necessarily reflect the. beliefs of their peers, their boss or.

ESPN. There may be some cuss words. because that's how humans in the real. world talk. If you are a young, please. seek permission before watching any. further. Hey, let's go. This show sticks and the fact that you. listen, we are very, very thankful for. McAfee on the line with a gorgeous. assist. The alltime leading tackler for. the Green Bay Packers, you.

Damn it. Tell your friend tell a friend. something nice could change their life. [Music]. Hello beautiful people and welcome back. to beautiful Indianapolis Indiana on. this NBA finals Wednesday June 11 2025. the program starts now. finals are happening here for the first. time in 9,126.

days. It's been since the year 2000 that. the Indiana Pacers have hosted an NBA. Finals game and tonight it is about to. be electrifying inside a Gainbridge. fieldhouse, dead center of Indianapolis, Indiana. Look at that scene, dude. Yeah, we are very lucky to be down here. Shout. out to the Simon family and the Pacers. for trying to rebuild this entire part. of the city. This is one of the best. backdrops we have ever seen in this. state. And uh these people have come to. hang out with us during our lunch hour.

It's a beautiful day here in Indiana. It. could be a great night if the Pacers are. able to take a 2-1 series lead in the. NBA finals over the Oklahoma City. Thunder in a pursuit of. Mr. Beautiful area. Yes, sir. I'll tell. you what, I tried to pick this thing up. earlier. It is heavy. I don't know how. you weekend we weekend basketball. players have been able to live this but. I do appreciate it and we are lucky to. be here. Uh one half of the hammer. Cowboys AP Tony is here. Tony any. updates on the betting lines that we. need to know for tonight's game three.

It has not moved. It's been 5 and a half. all week long. The series price is. Thunder minus 550 to win the series. Now. SGA is the same exact isus 550 to win. the MVP because if the Thunder win the. series that man's going to be the MVP. Uh but I don't know if you heard during. the uh break Hugh Rich was shooting. He's obviously never seen White Man. Can't Jump because he didn't talk about. Billy Hoe at all, but he's saying it's. too windy for him to shoot out here. Yeah. A little right to left. A little. bit of right to left. See, that's the. thing about you very, very, very good. basketball players. Yeah. Did you play. much pickup outside when you were.

growing up? When I was growing up? Yeah. But that's a long time ago. Long time. ago. We got keys to every gym when we're. in the NBA. So whenever we go shoot in a. different city, we can show up at a. university or a high school or maybe. even the NBA gym. Guys like us, we got. to come outside. Yeah. We got to be. outside. We got to deal with the. elements a little bit. Were you not. making shots during the break? I didn't. make one. I didn't make one. I only shot. two. I was watch I said the wind comment. when I was watching Sean shoot though. I. was just noticing that the the wind was. kind of carrying. Yeah, Sean's had a.

rough outing out here as well. My. daughter McKenzie put a couple up and. put them down. I appreciate it. She's. awesome. Starter show. star of the show. right there. Yeah, that's uh the second. time McKenzie's come to the show and. been on the show. That was a real. surprise there whenever Jeff Teague was. giving a great answer. Jeff Teague who I. wanted to pay respect to and I. appreciate him coming on show. First. time he's been on Club 520 podcast host. and then right over here I see my. daughter and I'm like oh my god my. daughter is here and uh it's great to. see her. It's great to see all of. Indianapolis. It's great to see the. toxic table at Boss of Conor and at Tai. Schmidt. Con man, you live downtown. You.

pay taxes to this city. Obviously, you. would like to see the Pacers have a big. night. Yeah, I need a big night and. we've talked about a lot of X's and O's. You know, I'm worried for one just. because I haven't heard one let's go. Pacers chant since we've been here. Basically, all we hear is about the. Thunder crowd. That's all we hear. Had. to give it to him. Yeah. Hey, this. Thunder crowd's crazy. [Applause]. They've kind of been snoozing in the. game three. Look, it's just I'm just. telling you how I see it, okay? And the.

game three thing, one of the game threes. was on the IND500 day. You can kind of. throw that one out the window. Never won. on Indy500. You can throw that one out. the window. The the one before uh when. they played Cleveland, that was the one. where I looked around while I was in the. arena like, "Oh, maybe these fans don't. care about basketball. Maybe maybe this. isn't the state of Indiana." Cuz I I've. been told they're loud and rompish. But. I I haven't heard much cheering today. for the Pacers. What are you talking. about? They're trying to watch the show. They're trying to be a part of the show. I I suppose you know what's a great way.

to be a part of the show. Awesome Pacers. Chance. That'd be nice. We got the finals trophy right right in. front of us. I've heard Obie Top. enchanted. That's it. I haven't heard. any Pascal anything else. This Larry. O'Brien is going to be staying here in. Indianapolis, Indiana for at least a. year. Might be. I'm not saying I should. I've already done too much. I've already. done too much. I'm very thankful that. they beat the Knicks with everything. that kind of happened with me in that. whole series. Sure. Like very very. happy. I wasn't the jinx, you know. I.

wasn't the curse. But I'll tell you. what, get a chance to lift this bad boy. up. I would like to do that again with a. parade here in Indianapolis. And Tai. Smith, I know you've been talking about. what the city would be like if there was. a parade coming through town and how. many whisies you would potentially take. down in celebration of a tie. I mean, I. I have no idea if you could even put a. number on it. I think I think we might. be just doing bottles, you know, because. if the serves win like weekend the. Bernies, you're getting carried out of. there. Without a doubt. Yeah, that's tie. football without a doubt. This game. tonight. Yeah, without a doubt. Carried.

out. I mean, he might actually have to. drag me out. I don't carry me out. Puke. everywhere. I mean, I'm still in the. farm for a Pacers championship. Might. [ __ ] my pants. I don't know. That's I. mean, we'll see. We'll see what happens. But that's why the Pacers need to win. tonight. Q Richel bump wood. You poop. your pants. We got good things happening. here in Indianapolis, Indiana. 9year NF. not together. We've heard stories that. and also not going to judge if that's. what you're into. Nine-year NFL vet. Darius J. Butler is here. Hey, speaking of I'm I'm excited. I'm.

excited as well. Obviously Larry Brian. here. Pacers compete for a championship. My uh my Florida Panthers complete. competing for another Stanley Cup. But. uh in the break, me and Tone just kind. of passing each other. A lot of. basketball talk, which we love. But boy, I can't wait till football season. Well, the game day the game day commercial was. on when when you guys were down in. Bloomington, everywhere else, and I was. like, "Oh my god, it's just so. Everybody's getting excited for the. Chicago Bears, huh? That's what's Bears. Bears again. This man is a diehard.

Chicago Bears fan. This is 13ear NBA. too, Rich. Is that Caleb Williams on. your floor?" No. No, it's Rex. Chicago. Uh, the Bears are going to be okay. Thank you. Thank you. I'm looking. forward to it. But it's been a long time. coming. A lot of hurt hurtful years I've. been enduring. I I couldn't even say. anything to my friend. Cubs, Black Cubs, everything else. Chicago. Yes. Everybody's good. All those teams are. good. Yeah, we got championships and. everything. Since when? Check it. I. don't I mean we have championships and.

everything. And also you guys and. everything. And Zo just reminded me uh. Chicago native as well. Uh we also have. the Pope. So true. Good point. Congrats. Good point. God bless. Don't forget. about the fire. They bought the Bears. stadium land. Booyah. So, let's talk. about the NFL a little bit since we're. all talking about that uh or wanting to. talk about that. Here in Indianapolis, we're in the middle of a massive. transition. Obviously, Jim Ers passed. away two weeks ago. Rest in peace to him. and thank you to him for everything that. he did for the city. Thank you, Jim. And.

for the Colts. So many things behind the. scenes that nobody will ever learn. about. And I'm sure his family members I. don't even know about cuz Jim Mercy. would literally just watch the news, see. a story and then he would have Pete Ward. go and try to take care of it and then. he would tell the person don't say. anything cuz there's uh you know big tax. stuff and everything else that could. potentially happen. So just kind of keep. it behind closed doors. Don't want to. out anybody for anything but that's. literally how Jim operated here in. Indianapolis. So he passes on he passes. on the team to his three daughters. And. we all wonder to ourselves, yes, these.

three ladies have grown up in the. league. They've grown up around some of. the greatest of all time at all the key. positions in the sport of football and. in the league of the NFL. When you talk. about quarterbacking, they've had Pton. Manning here. They've had Andrew Luck. here. They've had Bruce Arens here. They've had Clyde Christensen here. And. the girls have been around all of them, talk to all of them, hopefully learn. from them. When you talk about front. office, well, Bill Poland was around for. a lot of their developmental years where. they were able to ask questions and. learn from Bill Pollon who's a Hall of. Famer in the general managing. And then.

I just mentioned a guy named Pete Ward. Pete Ward has been the CEO of the. Indianapolis Colts. So the president of. the Indianapolis Colts since they got. here in Baltimore has handled so many. different deals and negotiations and. seen the league come from one thing into. this mega mega league that it is today. So when you talk about three girls that. are potentially ready for the. opportunity, I think the Urs daughters. would certainly be ready for the. opportunity, but we have no idea how. it's going to go. We saw one particular. quote uh get sent around via Twitter and. it basically everything they're saying.

right now is about how they're expecting. to be the best. They're expecting this. team to be great. They're expecting. everything to get better than what it. was. And she also talked about how some. people have maybe made fun of her for. wearing a headset on the sideline and. have a play sheet on her arm and how. she's been in different various things. Her quote about that was, "How do you. know who's making the mistake if you. don't know what the hell is going on?". She basically said, "I was wearing that. headset so I could learn how these.

things all take place." She didn't play. football growing up. She didn't get an. opportunity to be in the huddle or in. the meeting rooms, and she has tried to. take every opportunity to catch up on. all the information. She said sometimes. people will say wide receiver ran the. wrong route. Well, what if actually the. wide receiver was tagged the wrong route. and it wasn't the wide receivers's. fault. It was either the quarterback's. fault or the offensive coordinator's. fault. She's been on the headset for the. last 3 years. There's been a lot of. people that have questioned it, but all. she's done is taken notes, realized what. people have done, gone to meetings, try.

to learn everything about it, so that. when she inevitably becomes the owner. like she is today, she can be confident. in her role. Here's her speaking about. the standard of the Indianapolis Colts. And I want to let the Earth daughters. know, the owners of the Colts, I love. what you're doing here early to set the. precedent. Mike, we're we we are very confident. Having said that, I think, you know, as. my dad said before he passed, um, you. know, Chris and Shane know that they. have things they need to fix. And, you. know, we talked about not micromanaging.

people, but also we have a standard here. and it hasn't been good enough. And you. know, winning is great, but I would even. take it a step further and saying, you. know, we're really committed to being. the best. And if we're the best, we will. win games. And I think Chris and Shane. are totally capable of doing that. And. we're confident that they can. Uh, I love what she's saying. Listen, we. want to be the best. We don't just want. to be good. We don't just want to win. games. We want to be the best. Chris and.

Shane know that they need to do better. What did you hear there, Darius J. Butler? Uh, like you said, it was a. little more to the quote that I heard at. least and just her speaking. I don't. what the standard is. Obviously, the. standards is is championships and the. long-term commitment. I don't think she. made any long-term commitment to J uh. Shane and Chris. I think they get it. done as well. But look, the standard is. the standard. You got to get it done. This city is looking for another. championship and looking for to contend. Pat talked about the great quarterbacks. that we have here. We haven't figured. that quarterback situation out since. Andrew Luck left. So, that's step number.

one. If you don't have a quarterback, you don't have a chance. But they've. been getting prepared. My last year. playing here was 2017 and Carly was very. hands-on then. So, I'm sure she's more. than prepared to take on this role. And. they've made some great moves this. offseason. They really open up the. checkbook, especially on the defensive. side of the ball. Brought in Denny Dimes. to compete. Starting quarterback job. We'll see how that works. Drafted Tyler. Warren. I'm super super happy about. that. Got some great pieces on the. outside. Jonathan Taylor, one of the. best backs in the league. So, I'm. excited right now. It is June, but I am. excited about the coach future for sure.

Made a lot of moves on the defensive. side. I think what you hear from Carly. there about the expectation of being the. best. Sounds like she's going to be. willing to pay though too, right? Like. anytime you hear an ownership say these. types of things, it's like, all right, that's going to fall on your shoulders. as well on how we're able to get these. contracts done. Feels like they're ready. to go all in. Yeah, I thought that was. awesome. It was like, hey, listen, this. is our money. This is our family's. money. Like, I want to know if we're the. coaches and the GMs that we're paying. millions and millions and millions of. dollars to. Like, I want to make sure we. have the right guys. I'm not just going. to like listen, I understand that I.

didn't, you know, grow up in the. football world or I haven't been a coach. or whatever the case may be, but it's. like, hey, we're not just going to throw. money willy-nilly around and be and be. okay with that and just let a guy lose. year after year after year. So, a little. accountability like it was awesome to. hear. Yeah. And, you know, I talk about. how McKenzie's got some stuff to say, too. She she can't censor herself. She's. going to wait until it's just a digital. started early. She's going to be ready. Yeah. She doesn't she can play the piano. a little bit. She bats on it. But. whenever you talk about like I I and.

this might be the wrong way to look at. it, but I think whenever there's a new. ownership or new management or anything. like that, everything they do is setting. a precedent. Everybody is watching. everything that they're doing. Players, agents, coaches, front office, other. teams, everything they say and do is. going to be magnified because it's the. first time they're doing anything. They. a guy exits the front office shortly. after Carly gets in there. she starts. talking about standards and what she. wants. It's like I think these are all. great precedents that are being set by. the Ursa girls who now take over the.

Indianapolis Colts. Yeah. I mean, they're saying all the right things like. when you when new ownership and it's not. exactly like new ownership because they. were born and raised in all this, so. they they know what to do. Their dad. taught them a lot, but they're saying. all the right things and and I think set. setting the precedent and saying that, you know, Chris and Shane Styen like it. hasn't been perfect yet. They believe in. them. Same with they said the same thing. about AR. Like his start hasn't been. great yet, but they still they said they. show they're not giving up on anybody. yet, but they're saying like, "Hey, the. clock is ticking. We need to get this.

done now." There's a couple times where. Carly was giving an answer as McKenzie. has exited the stage. Good job, pretty. girl. Yeah. Give yourself a round of applause. She's awesome. That is so cool. Uh. anytime I get to see her. Um whenever uh. what did you just mention there? the uh. about how they they were they said, "Hey, AR, Shane, Chris, it hasn't been. great so far, but we still have hope in. them." Yeah. So, when she was talking at. the press conference, you you saw her. there was a couple times where she could. have went one way or she went another.

way. And it was like you see her trying. to figure out like, do I bury here or do. I take high road or how do I word this. particular high road cuz everything is. magnified now. She's been doing media. for the last few years. She's been at. the owner's meetings for the last few. years. Whenever you're alongside Jim. Mercy, I think it was the family, but. now that you're the acting owner, she's. the one from the Colts in the room. It's. like feels like she's done everything. she possibly could to be prepared. Got a. lot of. Yes, sir. Nice. Yes, sir. That guy's. fired up. Yes, sir. Oh, that's engine.

11. That's firefighters. Fire. department. Hey, we appreciate you. Engine 11. I like that. Good call. Good. line there. It feels like she is in and. she's a lawyer, I think, originally. So, we're talking about a big brain. Yeah. Talk about a big brain. All the girls. obviously big brains, but like I think. her willingness to want to learn, but. there's a lot of people that want them. to fail for sure. I mean, I was looking. at the internet. There's a lot of people. really that Yeah. I They might be fake. people on the internet. Might be bots. I. There's a lot of fake stuff on the. internet. That's a lot There's a lot of.

There's a lot of things being said in. the same fashion by a lot of different. accounts seemingly much regular much. regular basis now than it had in the. past on the internet. But nonetheless, there's people that are going to want. them to fail. I think they know that as. well. I think they understand the. position they're in, and I think they're. excited for it. Well, and if you're some. of the players on the team, too. like. we're we're talking about them talking. about Chris and Stiken. But if you're a. player on the team that's been paid, you. might have been comfortable last year, but now that there's new ownership and. they're talking about getting, you know,

possibly having changes if things don't. get better, then if you're Jonathan. Taylor, I won't go there with Pitman, but if you're some of those guys who are. vets who are Ballard's guys, I mean, you. guys talk about all the time they bring. in a new GM, that GM is going to want. his own guys in there. So even if you're. one of those dudes who's been paid and. you feel like you're an established vet. and you're safe, like that that's just. not the reality. So, you also have to. ball out. I mean, you talk about new GMs. and how they operate. I I just broke. some Colts record went into free agency, I was told by the new GM at the time, there is no loyalty between us. I did.

not draft you. And it's like I thought I. did pretty good. You. did okay. But I understand there is an. arrest. There is a mug shelter. There. are some tweets. I could see where. you're coming from. But with that being. said, I like this place. That was pretty. good. You were in a you were in an. office somewhere else whenever all that. was happening. But they do they have. their own vision of the team. Chris. Ballard and Shane Stiken a lot of. pressure this year. I think that's how. we like it. But I think there's also a. lot of high hopes because there's a lot. of talent on that roster and the URS. family has paid a lot of people on that.

roster. So for them to continue to not. make the playoffs and be a winning. organization. I think we'll see that. change. Let's go to another winning. organization that has a lot going on. right now. Uh Pittsburgh Steelers have a. new quarterback. His name's Aaron. Rogers. Yeah, they do. Little hesitation there's. out of friend of the program. Hey, shut. up. I think that's a boo with the Pittsburgh. Steelers. Not available. No, I think. it's the quarterback. A lot happening.

with Aaron Rogers in Pittsburgh right. now. Uh Diggs, what is your take on how. the Steelers Aaron Rogers relationship. has begun? Like, I mean, I don't I don't. have to get a take. Everyone saw the. videos of him out there on the practice. field yesterday just absolutely slinging. around. I mean, look at that. Have you. ever seen a better throwing Wilson? That's a That's a fourtime NFL MVP. Q. Do you know that four time? Unfortunately, I do. And the Steelers. basically got him. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm. in Chicago. I forgot that. You don't. have to say that. True. Don't say that. Uh he was out there slinging around.

yesterday. He was slinging to DK. The. Steelers got DK Mecca. MC Mechaf this. year as well. Easy for you to say, Mr. It wasn't Wasn't easy. It was Mr. Meov. Uh Aaron's not a not a not some MAGA. guy, but no, they looked great out there. yesterday. He talked to the media. He he. said, you know, he's done things for ego. in his past. He didn't make this move. for his ego. This was for his soul. He. wanted to play for another legendary. franchise like he did for the Green Bay. Packers. The Steelers are very similar. Everything went well yesterday. He said. it started with Coach T. The respect for. Coach T that he has is a big reason why.

he's there. And he's looking to uh bring. number seven back to the city of. Pittsburgh. Yeah. He was asked what a. championship would mean for him at this. stage of his career. And he turned and. said, "Well, this would be seven for. Pittsburgh, right? That's what it's all. about." It's like, great answer. Great. answer. He was also asked about uh a. piece of jewelry I believe. ring finger. Is that an aura ring or. anything else that wedding ring? Yeah, it's a wedding ring. Congratulations. Thank you. How long? Uh.

it's been a couple months. Few more. here. Few more talk. Hey, congratulations. Congrats. Yeah. Is he married then? Does that mean. he's wearing a wedding ring? ladies. married for a couple months. You guys. not listen. I'm happy for him. If he's. We would like to let you know, Aaron, we. are incredibly happy for you if you're. happy no matter what the case is. You. can see clearly he did not want to. really talk about it. Let's move along. But it is very notable, especially when. you're a quarterback. Exactly. You know,

cuz it's going to be on there a little. bit little different weight. distribution. Happy for Aaron. We're. happy for you, buddy. Happy for you. Let's talk about the. Detroit Lions. Obviously, this is the. brand new Lions. And because of that, Dan Campbell now is only 28 wins away. from being the all-time leader in wins. for the Detroit Lions. 28 wins. Now, obviously, 17 games in a. season. This dude is awesome. Okay, your. thoughts as basketball player on like.

super meatthead like coach in football. I love the enthusiasm. I think he. translates to his team. Like when he. first came, he was talking about biting. limbs and stuff. I was I was crying, laughing, but like you you've seen. different different people like that in. sports resonate with a with a group of. guys and like you see the impact he's. had on that team and I love it. Every. time I see him it's like he's the dude. get your heart your blood boiling and. going. So Carlile is like a attention to. detail accountabilitydriven coach. I. think I think he's like pretty well.

known as being like a hard-nosed coach. How many different styles of coaching is. there in basketball? Feels like there's. a lot of facilitators trying to make. everybody happy. He feels like there's. some uh what was Phil? Phil Phil was. like a guru spiritual. master. Carlile was pretty attention to. detail. Like what is the normal head. coaching attitude? I think like you said. it's a lot of different ones, man. It's. it's it's a lot. Some guys like like you. say really get after it and really the. coaches that I like are the ones that. don't back down. They're not afraid to. get up in whoever face it. They I like. the guys that that address the top guys.

first and then it it just flows down. through the team. Cuz if you could check. the the superstar, everybody else going. to fall in line like he handling him. like that. We know what happened to us. So like I like those coaches. Ladies and. gentlemen, joining us now, he's a. threetime. NBA champion. His number is retired in. Miami. Feels like he could beat. everybody's ass in this entire state. Ladies and gentlemen, you.

[Applause]. He came up here with the champion. He. got a championship ring today, too. Holy. [ __ ] He got a championship ring on. that. How you feel? And a watch. Cool. That is a nice watch. You look clean as. [ __ ]. But TV ready. That suit is not off the. rack. Look at him. Holy [ __ ]. Nice shoes, boy. Look at you style [ __ ].

today. Thank you. Look, the domesticated. version. Domesticated version. You showed up to. work today, boy. Look at that. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Got a ring on you. I mean, sheesh. How many years in the NBA in. total? 20. Jeez. 20. This guy's going to. be collecting his 401k. as soon as he's done with an NBA salary. You look unbelievable. The championship.

ring looks spectacular. Obviously, that's what we're all hoping for here in. Indiana. The Pacers have never won an. NBA title. Whenever you think about the. grandness of that, is that something. that the players think about? The weight. of that you think is on the Pacers. shoulders or are they just worried about. individual games? No, I think the weight. of it is definitely on their shoulders. They understand they have a chance to. make history. Um, it's not easy to get. to where they are. Obviously, I think. nobody would have picked them to get. this far, but me loving the underdogs, I. picked the Pacers of winning this. series.

But if if it's one thing that I do think. they have, there you go. Finally. [Music]. Okay, that's good stuff. Yeah, great stuff. Great stuff. We appreciate you doing. that, too. Tricky. Tricky Ricky. Rick. Carlile. Yes. Tricky. I think Rick. Carlile is going to let these guys know. what time it is. They understand the.

moment. They understand that they're. fortunate to be in this situation. They. will not take this for granted and they. will give their best version and give. their best foot forward. So, I'm with. them. You're undrafted. So, I think. that's potentially why you love the. underdog story. I think you're also a. guy that was a uh culture setter for. teams. We have a guy named James. Johnson. Have you seen this guy? That's. my guy. That's my guy. Okay. He was my. young fellow. Okay. So, that makes a lot. of sense. With that being said, uh I've. heard he has a black belt. Everybody. just says like I heard he had a black.

belt like he is the real deal. Oh, I. seen it first. I seen it firstand. Okay. I love that. I'm going to ask you about. his role and you think the importance of. it cuz I watched it against the Knicks. So, there was three Knicks fans that. were sitting front row. I just so. happened to be in those seats that were. next to the bench. Felt like I was part. of the team. We got a big win last. night. Okay. So, there was a uh timeout. happening and there was three Knicks. fans that were front row and this guy. was a great [ __ ] talker. Obviously, clearly out of New York, had a little. bit of an accent, but he was targeting. Tyrese Hallebertton in this timeout. loudly. Okay, coming over my shoulder.

James talks to this man, says something. horrendous. I would I would say. something very very very uh I mean, just. a shot right across the bout. That guy. immediately turns his attention off of. Tyrese, talks to James Johnson the rest. of the game. Okay, that's leadership. Bingo. That's leadership. Like, I. literally watched his role unfold in. real time. Everybody thinks he's like a. a guy that'll come and clean up or like. a a body guy if there's a fight, but I. saw him literally take a [ __ ] talker.

away from Tyrese to him. That role seems. to be very vital. Also, a lot of. clapping, a lot of upping, everything. like that. Is that the role? And is that. how you kind of felt throughout a lot of. your career? Yes. then that is a very. important role to be a not only a. protector but also a connector and James. Johnson is a guy who not only protects. those guys but he connects those guys in. the locker room when we talk about being. a part of something that I was a part of. when you talk about culture that's a. brotherhood that is something that is. not just built in practice from those. practice hours that is spent time off.

the basketball court getting to know one. each other's family getting to know how. somebody got to where they point and. also it's something that me and James. always say have enough heart for. everybody have enough heart for. everybody If this guy doesn't have. enough heart, don't worry about it. I. got you. If you don't have enough heart, I got you. Don't worry about it. We'll. be fine. I remember when there was a. conversation, I think, about Jimmy and. Spo getting into it a little bit. And I. don't remember if you came out publicly. and said it or if everybody else was. saying it for you. Uh, UD will fight for. Coach Pra. Anybody if you Yeah, I was.

going to whoop Jimmy ass. So, it's okay. And I and I love Jimmy. That's nothing. against Jimmy. But before I let one guy. take down this locker room, I whoop your. ass. That's awesome. Uh, it's very. evident why all your teams, there's 15. other guys here got the right mindset. Before I let this one guy take down. these whole 15, I whip your ass. So, we talked to Mark Messier the other day. Uh, and he's considered like the captain. and he was giving a speech basically for. the Edmonton Oilers if he was their. captain. Do you find yourself doing the. same thing for teams? Cuz I just heard. your leadership on display for that one.

comment, let alone over 20 years in the. NBA. Do you feel like you uh get in a. moment where you're like, I wish I could. say this to this team or this at this. particular time? All the time. All the. time. And that's why I got into TV cuz I. sit at home watching games and I started. to complain and throw [ __ ] at the Excuse. me. I start to complain and throw. Oh, okay. I can say good. I started. complaining and get frustrated at home. And that's why I got into TV because I. always have something to say. Even now. with social media now, you can reach out. to these young guys. How many young guys. got DMs from me? And I ain't sliding. your DMs for the wrong reasons. I'm.

sliding I'm sliding your DMs to give you. advice. I don't even know you. Have. never met you. Have never played with. you. But if I'm watching your game and. you're not playing the game in the right. way, you might get a DM from OG about. that's that bull. Let it out. You could. have said it there once again. We. figured that out. Uh would have loved. it. And I like that you're sending DMs. to guys and telling them, "Hey, on the. defensive end, Q Rich says it all the. time. We need to bop some wood down. there.". Bob has a question for you. I don't know. if I use the term bop some wood, but. something like that. You can probably.

take it after this. Bob wood. Everyone's. doing it right now. Uh UD you were uh I. think you still are in player. development for the Heat. Yes. Um do you. just kind of look at like a player like. Pascal Seakum and show guys like hey. this is how you can go through the G-. League through do it the right way and. then you know become allNBA become a. champion. What is kind of your. excuse me strategy for developing. is one of my favorites. I I love I love. using guys like Pascal Seakum, guys like.

myself because at the end of the day, you got a better chance of being me or. Pascal than you got to be LeBron. Y. that's just the reality of the. situation. I think everybody looks at. what LeBron is and what he's capable of. And I take nothing away from, you know, what he does on the basketball court and. how hard he works. But at the end of the. day, everybody ain't going to be 69, 270. and and can run a 43 and can jump 48. inches in the air. That's just not the. reality for everybody. So I like to lean. in on the hard work. I tell everybody, don't trust me. Regardless of what I. say, I can say anything. Trust the work. that you put in. The work is never going.

to lie to you. So, I love workers. I'm. always going to bet on the guy that's. going to put the work in. Work ethic is. the greatest thing on earth. It's the. greatest trait to have. Seakum, you talk. about being 69, being able to run a 4-3. He's unbelievable. Oh, yeah. He He's He. ran the Knicks off the court. I I mean, it was very clear what he did. He wins. the MVP. And his wingspan might be 8. foot. I I it's and he's he's I'm going. to give you a guy bins that [ __ ]. Reminds me of a guy you played with, Reggie Wayne. Oh yes. He just get out. there and go get it, don't he? He just.

get out there and go get it, don't he? I. know them hurricane boys now. I'm a. hurricane guy. I know all the hurricanes. that came through here. Edge. The Ed. James, the Reggie Ways. I know all them. guys. I know you didn't play with EJ, but he was here though. I I love Edge. I. heard Edge speak uh at he spoke at Mr. Us's funeral. It was maybe the greatest. speech of the entire day. very edge, very you throughout the entirety while. honoring Jim Ersce. But yeah, the U has. a great history here in Indianapolis. Reggie so smooth. I think that is a. great way to describe Pascal because. he's just so damn smooth. Debb South.

Florida boy has a question for you. South Florida boy, first of all, thank. you for everything you did for the city. organization down. uh for game three with the Panthers even. with BAM when the drum needed that big. ass to bring that energy. But um we. talking about leadership, hard work, work, all that. We had a conversation. I. think about uh Mike Beasley with the. 101. You talked about if he was drafted. to a different team. Maybe things have. went a little differently. I I know. So. like go heat culture. That's one of the. buzz words almost like Patriot way in.

football. What is it really about being. in that building with Rouse? We had. Braun on. He mentioned it too. What is. it about you 20 years? So what is it about being in that. building that's kind of different than. other builders? I'm looking at some of. these free agents. Giannis KD. potentially on the move that could. potentially fit in down there. What is. it about that building who can't fit in. it down there? The thing about heat. culture is he he culture is about. something that's always going to be. bigger than you. That's the first thing. and foremost when you step into heat. culture that it's always going to be. bigger than you. Even the superstars,

it's going to be bigger than you. It. ain't going to be bigger than rowdy, but. it's going to be bigger than you. So. when you step into So when you step into. that arena, you understand you're. stepping into an atmosphere where you're. asked to sacrifice from the jump. immediately. I understand what you did. when you was at Chris Bosch. I. understand what you did when you was at. LeBron. I understand what you did when. you were here Dwight. That doesn't. matter anymore. We all have to. sacrifice. So when you talk about heat. culture, it's about sacrificing, man. And that's a foreign language to a lot. of guys when they get in this position. It's easy when they say you have to. sacrifice or you D have to sacrifice.

But then when the coach say I got to. sacrifice, it's a who? Me? Me too? No, not me. So now when you have 15 guys, 16, 17 guys on the same page, one accord. willing to sacrifice for one common. goal, I think that's when you get into e. coaching. A lot of times you just don't. have that in every locker room because. you have superstars, but we had the big. three in the little 12. And the little. 12 was just as valuable as the big. three. And you don't have that in every. locker room. A lot of times you have the. superstars and the other guys kind of. just hang out over here. Now I said from. this point cuz he's in a special unique.

situation cuz he was there for his whole. career. I'm a person that's been in a. lot of different locker rooms and can. speak to why that's different because. when I you remember when I got there. with Devil the first day when I got. there him and James Johnson in the gym I. got straight off the plane. When I say. straight off the plane, don't take me to. no hotel, nothing. I got my bags in the. locker room. First thing you do, strip. down, waiting body fat, then you go run. until you throw up. And I'm not UD I'm. not that I came down in the locker room.

UD was sitting there. I'm I'm I'm over. here just laid out. You did JJ UD say I. ain't even going to too much about lie. to you boy. He like they trying to see. if you going to quit. He like they just. throwing the kitchen. He's like they. throwing you ain't supposed to be doing. the stuff you doing yet. He was like you. ain't give up though. He was like he. like Bill going to take a picture of. your throw up every day. I thought the. workout was done. I done threw up down. here this court cuz he come walking down. there and snapped a picture said it's.

his what's his what's his quote? It's a. great day to work. Great day to work. Great day to live. Great day to live. So. it's not like that everywhere you said. Listen, the thing the thing that makes. it different because Yeah. Everywhere. you go, can you win in 2025 like that? 2026. Yes. Yes, you can. Yes, you can. But like the difference is this. Cuz. like I've been places say like like Bill. the guy we talking about. He come say, "Do you got to work out? You got to. lift." He going to tell you that and. walked away. Other places you got people. that's going to try and massage the.

situation and work with you and we could. work. Nah, look. This what you got to. do. If you don't want to do it, go up. there and talk to Pat. It's frowned. upon. It's frowned upon for the guys. that quit. It's frowned upon to not be. in shape. It's frowned upon from the. other 14 guys. So before Pat has to say. something before supposed to say. something, the guys in locker room have. already policed this situation. If you. quit now, then you can quit in the. fourth quarter. I don't know how you I. love that. I just got uh back from Paris. Island uh boot camp for the Marines and. love everything about it. But it's like.

that's their mindset is like uh we need. to it needs to be hard now cuz whenever. we're out there together obviously it's. different than a basketball game or a. football game, but we're going to need. you when we're out there. So we're not. scared of hurting your feelings right. now because we're going to need it. inevitably. I do wonder in basketball if. in 2025 2026 I can go because I think. Carlile kind of has a similar operation. and he talk about the cardio. JJ Reic. mentioned it with the Lakers. We need to. be in better shape. It happens in. pockets. Even playing no games out here. Papovic before he stepped away wasn't.

playing no game. They had it's it's. places where there's a real culture in. place. Obviously Miami is a is a. standard, but I mean it's it's still. pockets of teams around the league that. they they operate in that way. Well, how. did it work with Shaq then? because it. felt like at least in Shaq's. documentary, he he would basically talk. about the first two months of the. regular season is when he's just getting. into shape and then by by Christmas he's. living. How was it in Miami with Sha? How was it? They had to alter it a. little bit for.

he was he wasn't on this the 5% body fat. scale like everybody else. He used to. put oil on Yeah, we'll get into that. He. got he got down to about 10 12% body fat. which which was great for him. Yes. But. he used to put baby oil on. So when they. try to pinch him, they try to pinch you. to take the body fit. It used to slip. So he probably was. about 15. But after it slipped, it was. about 10 to 12. But that's just when I. got there. No, when I got there, they. would tell they they would tell the. stories of like how they had how they.

had to get a new scale cuz he would he. would try and hide the scale. They had. the joint. Did you What was it? You. animals on these scales, right? This is. the move. So we had guys that would be. trying to get around the scale. Every. Friday it was a weigh in. So Thursday. nights, guys were drinking the things. that you do before you do a colonoscopy. just so you [ __ ] your pants out. Let it. all night. Yeah. AQ Shipley is the. person I'm referring to. He had to lose. like 12 lbs every Thursday night. He get. on a scale and he would try to sneak. just one finger on the thing in front of. you could lift off like 5 lbs if you.

just press. like making all these rules. It sounds. like Shaq with the baby oil was uh was. the right play. I think AQ Shipley maybe. should have been lubing up a little bit. Yeah, but 7 foot three 300 lb greased up. 300. I was like, "Yeah, you go ahead. take your body fat by yourself. I'm I'm. going to just wait outside." Conor has a. question for you. Yeah. W with that era. the sh like you played through both of. them. There's there's old clips coming. out of the finals in, you know, 2006 and. there's two guys on the block and now.

everyone's out on the perimeter. How was. that transition for you as a player and. just kind of watching the league change. as you know from 2006 for the next 20. years? I mean fortunately for me I was. undersized anyway. So once the league. started to change a little bit the the. the guys that could guard multiple. positions kind of came into play. I was. one of those guys that guarded multiple. positions. Um the thing that changed for. me was when the three-point line became. the most important thing. You know what. I'm saying? It was just we don't want. anything but dunks and threes. We don't. want any mid-range. So once the.

mid-range got taken out of the game, I. think that changed my career a little. bit. But um I think you made some threes. though. That was crazy towards the end. I couldn't believe that. But you made. some You know me, perception ain't. reality. How are you able to shoot with that. pinky? Oh, this one. Yeah, feels like. that would Yeah, but I feel like that. would jab. Not at all. Not at all. Off. the ball. That's just like a guide. It. ain't really doing much. Yeah, but I. mean that thing's not guiding anything. It's saying turn right. Just put it on. the side of the basketball. Yeah, it. don't matter. How long finger been like. that? Uh, you said that Pingy gang. Long.

as I can remember. Pinky gang. Long as I. can remember. What's What's the point of. getting it fixed? I'm probably gonna. break it again. That's what I said. I'm. just gonna break it again. Jersey or. basketball? Basketball. Just bang. Yeah. How many busted fingers in basketball? Lot. I broke I've broken them all. They've all been broken. Well, carrying. around all those rings. Getting a little heavy down there. They've all been broken. But guess what? Never missed the game. Never came out. Hell yeah. That's what I'm talking. about. John has a question for you. Yeah, you've been so much on so many good. teams. You talked about all those teams.

that went to the finals. I mean, you as. an eight seed, you guys went to the. finals. You went Shaq and Wade, the big. three. What was the one constant with. all those teams on why they went to the. finals? And do you see that in either of. these two teams? We weren't the best. team, but I think we were the most we. were the most connected team. Yeah, we. were the most connected team. And and. that's what I learned from the great. leaders. I think all the leaders that I. played with, the Shaqs, the LeBron, um. the Alonzo Mornings, is regardless of. how good you are, how good you coach, if. you don't really mess with your teammate. like that, if y'all don't really get. along, if y'all haven't created a. brotherhood in this locker room, because.

I tell you what, it's easy to punch in. from one to two or whatever your hours. are. But when you're playing for a. brother instead of a teammate, it just. takes it to a whole another level for. you. So, I think the power of. connection, and that's what you guys. have here. This is what these guys were. talking about in Indiana, the power of. the brotherhood. Come on. You know what. I'm saying? To me, that beats a talented. team seven days a week and twice on. Sunday. I'm taking the brotherhood. I'm. taking the connected guys. Okay. You. picked the Pacers in this series. Go. ahead, D. No, with on that note, like. obviously lifetime Heat fan. You were. there 2011 Heels. You go up against a.

Carile coach team. What is it like being. in the trenches against a team that's. coached by Obviously that was a much. different team? Very different makeup, but I feel a lot of similarities with. this uh Pacers team. What's What's it. like being in the trenches? Ricky, what. you call Rick, Trigger, Trigger, I'm. tell you, Trigger. Rick is a hell of a. coach. Rick Carlau is a hell of a coach. And not just offensively, because we. talk about what they do offensively, but. defensively as well. He threw a zone at. us in that finals. And you would think. that 15 grown men can score on the zone.

We didn't know what the hell to do. Went. all the way to the finals and could not. score against a zone out of all things. So, Rick Call out through that. So, you. know, for me, um, I I I I look at Rick. Carlile and I look at that team and I. say to to myself, he's the X factor. You. have a lot of guys you you you have Obie. who's going to step up. Benedict finally. got it going last game. He's a guy who. you depend on offensively as well. Miles. Turner got it going. Um, but I think. Rick Carlau is the X-actor. Okay, let's.

talk about Dags on the other side. People saying he's an incredible coach. Obviously, he's younger than coach. Carlile for the Oklahoma City team. What. do you see from their squad that he. potentially brings? hell of a he's a. hell of a coach and also he's a Gator so. go Gators. I got to give him that now. I. got to give him that. Got to give him. that. I got to give him that. You guys. might have a football team again, you. know. Basketball champs. Yeah, basketball champs might have a football. team again too. Oh yeah, that QB and. also uh Napier's like culture like. settle it in. Yeah, they turned it. around, not give up last year. Yeah. Yeah. But I I love what he does. And one. thing what I'll say about Dageno is how.

you can tell that he's a good coach is. that he got a young team playing the. right way on both sides. It's not just. playing offensively the right way. They. play defense the right way. They hold. each other accountable. The five guys on. the string. You can tell guys are. rotating and pulling triggers. You can. tell they go through dummy defense in. practice. Yeah. You can tell they dig. the elbows. They take their 2.9 side. They do everything. So, they're very. well coached. Digging elbows. Bopping. wood. Wood. That's coach Carlile team. I. had a lot of up here. Yeah.

I wonder what's going on. What should we. look for? You guys need to relax with the way you. think about stuff. You guys are saying. that we're talking basketball. This is. sports program. Yeah, that's what we. doing. Talk basketball, right? I'm. talking basketball. Bob Wood. Uh UD. What should we look for tonight at the. beginning that's going to indicate who's. going to win this game? Can we tell? Well, I think both teams are going to be. more settled in. I think we we've only. had six lead changes in two games, which. is crazy. You know what I'm saying? Six. lead changes in two games total is. crazy. So, I think this will be more of. what we're accustomed to. A lot of lead.

changes. I do think Tyrese Harenberg. will be a lot more aggressive in the. first first half to set the tone of the. game. Even if it's not in full court in. half court, I think he needs to target. those bigs in the pick and roll. They're. in the drop coverage. That way he can. get to his pull up three. You also got. the throwback to Miles Turner. So he. need to attack the five man. On the. other end, when I look at OKC, man, I. was a little disturbed because once. again, I picked Indiana. It was scary to. me that they went on that run in the. second quarter without SGA in the game. That that made me a little nervous if. I'm Indiana. So, I'm looking for those. guys on OKC to look at that lineup and.

say, "Okay, we went on a 19-2 run with. SGA on the bench to finish out the. second quarter. We can go with this. lineup a little more." So, I'm looking. for them to play that small lineup with. just one big, but to have Wiggins, um, Kase Wallace, Caruso, and Jay Dub. running the point. That was a good. matchup for them. That was a good. lineup. All right, we'll look for that. Uh, obviously need to pick and roll with. the big man. Picture it. Do the whole. thing. Got the five. Hit that. Yeah. Dig. elbows out. Chop wood. Bob Wood. Uh, we appreciate you so much. Are you on TV today or are you just.

always dressed? I'm on TV today, but. this is domesticated OG. God ain't. Don't y'all to get him. fooled. Now listen, he show up and he. look presentable like he's supposed to. be for work. He dressing in flip flops. if he ain't doing this. He got flip. flops. Comfort going. Yeah, you should. We Chicago turn Florida boy. You don't. wear gym shoes no more. Flip flops all. the time. Yeah. Yeah. No. Yeah. Once. again. Once again. I just look like. this. Don't run up on me on the streets. playing. That's not I'm not the guy. I just look. like this. No, you are the guy. Class of.

98, too. You know, we same class in high. school. This guy been playing against. each other for years. Since 15. That's. when we first met each other. Yeah. Cuz. in basketball, you guys like in high. school basically playing against guys. that you know are going to make it, right? We met each other in New was it. New Jersey at ABCD Adidas camp. We we. got this thing. We say real recognize. real. So when I got to the camps, I'm. like don't want to hang out with those. guys. Don't want to them Chicago guys. look like the kind of guys look like my. kind of guys. He's like, "These Chicago. guys look like our kind of guys." You. know what I mean? Jeff Teague buried.

Chicago in the first hour. I don't know. if you heard him. Yeah, he buried right. to his face. Well, he actually was. looking this way. Said Indiana's better. at basketball. Yeah, Indiana's better. basketball. Indiana ain't got no chips. All right, ladies and gentlemen, Indiana. ain't got no chips. A man who's won. three NBA titles, a cultivator of. culture, incredibly flying, tough guy. Ladies and gentlemen, Donis has. [Applause].

My dog. Yeah. Appreciate. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Rich. Hey, thank you, UD. Q, Rich. Thanks for just crumpling that. plastic bottle. That's what that was. Yeah, just just squash a plastic bottle. right into your microphone. Oh, my bad. I didn't know I did that. No, it was. awesome. It was a nice little It was a. good moment. Kept it alive. UD's a dog.

Oh, yeah. Since day one, man. The dog. You said since he was You were 15 years. old, you guys know each other? Yep. Met. each other. It was NBA camp. Actually, NBA camp, New Jersey. Yep. Him uh just. talking about the culture so much more. similar to football than I realized cuz. I always just thought down there. What's. that? Down there in Miami. Yeah. But he. then he started talking about here in. Indiana. Then we started talking about. Oklahoma City. They start talking about. Missoula. He started talking about all. these other coaches that are like hard. Eay I think is also a hard nose coach. It's like basketball is much more.

accountability driven than I imagine cuz. I always thought it was just I mean yeah. I play pickup basketball. The guys who are on the floor are the. ones that are going to side this. It's. like there's so much more to it if you. want to be great. I love hearing that. Q. was uh like when it was the Heles big. three like was he the leader on the team. or was it Dway? Do you know? I don't know who they would say, but I. know he was he was one of them. It's not. a locker room that he's been in and he's. not going to be one of the leaders. That. just those type of things are are are. natural. You can't just pick and choose.

He he that just rise and he's you can. see it. It oozes out of him. He's a. leader. Everything about him, he shows. leadership and any room he's in or team. he's going to be a part of, he's going. to be one of those guys. I love hearing. that leadership matters because I think. sports kind of create those at a more. rapid rate than anywhere else. listening. to Mark Messier. What was that? Yesterday. Yeah. They just want to ice. skate through a wall. Yes. And then you. got UD in here talking about what. players need to do and teams need to do. He said he's sending DMs while watching.

games. Can't be having it. That's not. our league. I love the care. I love the. compassion and I love the leadership. And I also love that we're getting free. food. I think Yeah, I believe they're. bringing some food up. Ladies and. gentlemen, uh I believe the Gainbridge. Fieldhouse, uh the official chefs of the. arena wanted to make us some food. I I. I'm not 100% sure. What? Yes, sir. Come, please. Thank you so much. Chef chef, [Applause].

thank you so much. Hell yes. Uh okay. Uh, are. Chef Albano? You got it. Chef Alban, can. you uh can you turn it again? Right over. here. Face this way so we can get you on. camera. Showcase that beautiful face. Chef. Chef. Uh, what do we have here. surrounding the Larry O'Brien trophy? So, Levy's bringing to the table today. to support this wonderful championship. run here. We got some awesome food. Hell. yeah, Levy. Thank you, Levy.

We're going to start out with our. three-point combo. You've got Italian. meatballs, Italian beef, and chicken. parmesan. Oh, three point combo. It's a. Steph Curry food. Okay. All right. Next. up, we got our Indiana pork stir. We've. got a grilled brat, bacon jam, a crispy. pork tenderloin, bacon, and a little bit. of spicy brown mustard on there. Oh. yeah. This This sandwich has a bone in. it. I don't think that is No, I have to.

do a little demo here for you, Pat. Okay, hold on. Let's make sure the. camera gets it cuz it feels like this. meat might be moving. Go ahead. All. right. So, we've got a one lb. bronosaurus bone here. Okay. Slow smoked. overnight. We're serving it on the bone. But watch this. Watch this. Let me see. Angel. That was insane. Hey, good meat burn. right off the bat. Pop that ball at me.

All right. Right here. This is from our. friends from Smoking Goose just down the. street. Locally crafted pork belly and. cheese curd sausage. Killer. Wow. Yeah, that is super gizzy. And uh last. item here, a little different. This is a. tuna pokey nacho. Oh, tuna. Really. tasty. Not the hokeyp pokey. Some fresh. tuna. The tuna pokey nachos. Uh, these. look delightful. Chef Albono, thank you.

so much for bringing these out. Thanks. for sliding your meat off there. And uh, this is unbelievable work by you guys. and the entire crew. Thank you. Go. Pacers. Pacers. Thank you, Chef. Thank you, Chef. Chef got some pizzazz to him. love his meat. Where did they fly the Italian food in. from? Uh there's no Italians really out.

here in Indianapolis, but who would I be. not to eat Chef Albano's meat here. before we get out of here? Um we have. about eight more minutes here on ESPN. before we go digital. And what I want to. let you know is going to happen in the. digital portion of this. Q Rich is going. to try to accomplish the impossible, which is make a few shots in the wind, which I've heard is going to be a. difficult task. We'll also talk to the. co-host of the Knuckleheads podcast, legend Darius Miles, who is here. And.

we'll also break down everything else. happening around the sports world. Before we head off to digital land on. this beautiful NFL finals Wednesday, June 11th, let me uh take down this slow. roast overnight meat that Chef Alano. brought out here. Would you like to try some of this. kosher meat? I think I think DB want to. try the designer. Designer Lizzy. Here's. a little pork tendee with a little bacon. mash swine, my brother. Here's a three.

point. Here's a three-point meat for. you. And then there's a chicken monster. This is the tuna hoke pokey, which I. think we should keep right here. I think. we should keep that probably in here. Okay. Uh, cheers to Chef Albano. Cheers. to the Pacers. Cheers to the city of. Indianapolis. Cut this. And we. appreciate the hell out of the free. food. Pick it up. I'm supposed to just. pick up the entire Yeah, they don't they. don't cut this thing or I believe that. tuna is actually fresh catch the canal. as well. Well, you don't want to go in. that canal.

Just a heads up, it is a direct path to. jail. Okay. From what I've been told, um, you didn't go in. Allegedly. Allegedly. Allegedly. That's There is a story. Never mind. Um, let's talk about some. good [ __ ] happening around the world. Jeffrey uh Jeffrey Lur, owner of the. Philadelphia Eagles, is donating $50. million to the Children's Hospital of.

Philadelphia for an autism research and. development. Thank you, Jeffrey Lur, for. doing that, especially with how much we're learning. about uh autism and the numbers of. people that are having this at uh more. it's it's more rapid now than ever. before. Jeffrey Lur putting up his own. money. 50 million. It's the largest. donation obviously in this field to do. some research behind it and hopefully. combat it a little bit is a beautiful. thing. I always like when rich people do. the right thing. Yeah, that's awesome,

man. Definitely. Like you say, autism is. a huge thing and we're becoming more. educated about it. So, that's definitely. to a good cause, especially as somebody. who has a 2-year-old. You know, I have a. daughter and uh hopefully continue to. grow the family. It's like these are. always things you got to think about now. with like her development and other kids. that you meet. How's it going? Jeffrey. Luri said, "Let's at least try to play a. little defense against it." I love that. Not always are billionaires uh, you. know, philanthropic with their money. A. lot of billionaires potentially do. things to offset other stuff and they. don't actually want to give. This feels.

like something of genuine want. This is. just like how Jim Ers operated. And I. think if you listen to the speech that. was given at the funeral with a lot of. the other owners, there's a lot of. people saying like, "Hey, if you have. the means, you should." That's kind of. what Jim Ersce operated like. And I love. to see other owners doing it as well. Yeah, it's awesome. I like you talk. about it and it's definitely growing and. growing growing. 50 million I assume is. going to go a long long way. You talked. about it being the the highest donation. of of all time for um that like owners. like was was he at the funeral? No, I do.

not believe he was. Cuz I was say I. wonder if he was, you know, little. inspiration by it. Yeah. Little draw, a. little inspiration. I hope that comes. and uh I hope the world continues to get. better by people who are in a position. to make the world better. Let's talk. about some good stuff happening in. baseball. Did you hear about a home run. robbery? Ty, I believe there is a. highlight maker playing baseball right. now. Yeah, Denzel Clark for the Oakland. A is an absolute beast. You can see this. is uh Nolan Chanel and uh this might be.

the best catch in the last 50 years. Phil, this this dude got called up like. two weeks ago. 2 3 weeks ago. Like I. think uh yeah, like May 26th maybe was. his first day in the bigs. He's had. three of these highlight catches. already. Here's another one against. Toronto. I believe he's actually from. Toronto. Just robbing another homer. casually like you know, you see the. first one and he makes that one which is. an incredibly tough catch. He makes it. look so easy. And then the last one I. everyone talks about that one against.

the A's being the best one. I think this. is his best of the three against the. Orioles. Just full send right into the. wall. Broke the wall. Yeah, exactly. and. to hold on to the ball through that like. this guy is arguably already the best. center fielder in baseball. He's only. been in the show for like three weeks. So just I mean the A's absolutely stink. So this is kind of the only thing to. watch when you're looking at the Oakland. A's. The pitcher reaction every time is. awesome. Yeah, the pitcher knowing that. they just gave up a home run or a big. hit and then him saving their life is.

fantastic. Uh same pitcher on two of. them and then a new one. So they love. this guy. So, this is Golden Glove. awards. Yeah. And is there a Golden. Glove at every position? Yes. Okay. So, if he doesn't play the entire season, you said he just got caught up a couple. weeks ago. Is he still in contention for. set awards because of the highlights and. because how play? Uh, so Golden Glove is. is more like fielding percentage. It's I. mean, they they definitely like take. into account guys making plays like. this, but it's pretty much like how. clean is he going to play. If he's not. having a bunch of errors and he has a a. high fielding percentage, then he'll.

have a good opportunity. But obviously. for baseball, you make a couple catches. like this and kind of get on everyone's. radar. Yeah. There's a good chance that. he's going to win a gold glove this. year. And they're playing in a minor. league park this year, right? Correct. Okay. So, he's climbing minor league. walls. I can't wait to see him climb all. the walls. Yeah. Maybe get some. pinstripes on him. Huh. We're Pittsburgh. Pirates. We're okay with our center. fielder right now. Uh his batting. average is absolutely dog shite. So, he's kind of a one-dimensional player at. the moment, which is okay. It's okay. He's in Oakland. Um but yeah, he Why.

not? I'll take pin stripes on him. Q. Rich, you live in Florida. Do you golf. at all? A little bit. I'm toying with. it. Getting better. Okay. You know. what's happening this weekend? I do not. The hardest tournament of the year is. happening in the beautiful Eastern Hills. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The US Open in. Oakmont, a place that you used to caddy. at as a young buck is primed and ready. to kick some golfer ass this weekend. Yeah, I catti there going into my senior. year of college. Uh fortunately drank. Did you do this? Uh no, I did not. You.

know, the the Greenskeepers are the. highest of high uh jobs there. They are. they're held to a different standard. than the Caddies. Um but they've talked. about all week long how the rough is. insane. There's videos of all the. golfers dropping it in the rough and not. being able to get out and stuff like. that. There was a golfer yesterday who. puted it on one down the hill 120 yards. to about 3 ft. Uh all the golfers are. saying that this is the hardest course. that they have ever played. Rory said he. shot an 81 here last week and didn't. think he played very bad. Uh he said he. birdied the last two to shoot 81. So.

yeah, it's going to be awesome. Uh the. dentist uh where the dentist Matty vote. leads everything off tomorrow morning. with the first T-shot. So that'll be. fun. But yeah, it's going to be awesome. all weekend long in Oakmont, PA. 90% of. the course is in Plum PA. Just so. everybody know, yeah, so everybody knows. Plum uh Senior High School is where the. ballers ball and the players play. Yeah, always know that. In the East Hills of. Pittsburgh, they will host the US Open. this weekend. and Scotty Sheffler are. the odds on favorite because of how. great of a golfer you have to be to win. any US Open. We continue here in.

Indianapolis, Indiana as the NBA finals. are here for the first time in 9,126. days. We appreciate all these people. hanging out. We appreciate you watching. at home. We'll continue on YouTube, ESPN. Plus, Disney Plus, and Tik Tok Live. Be. a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. Pacers in. six. We'll see you tonight. [Applause]. Not too many of those. I really got them.

going. Conor, now it's just us. Now, now it's just us. Now it's just us. We're no longer on TV. We're no longer on the airports, uh, televisions across the country, cafeterias, and all that type of stuff. Did you feel like they performed better. in the second hour? I I think those fans. had a great hour. Yeah, no doubt they. perform better, but when we're talking. like I don't want to take lines from her. already, but Carly, you say Gordon, right? She said the standard's the. standard. Okay. I thought Evan Cohen. said that. No,

that was Evan Cohen said that. That was. Dan Orloski from Evan Cohen. A little. different. I would never say what Dan. says cuz he is such a potty mouth for. one, but two, I hate the guy. But think. about three here. Okay. The standard, you never know. Depends on the day. The. standard's the standard. Okay. So, what. the Patriots fans have done, which has. been great, it can't be the same because. we're talking about the Thunder fans who. are way up here, levels above everybody, which is just what people have said. I'm.

not saying that the old basketball. coach, Rick Carile, said that, too. These fans are different. So, if Indiana. wants to get there, they got they got to. be different. The whole let's go Pacers, it only works so many times. Maybe they. better have a a different type of chip. Listen to this. Listen to this. Andy, huh? Not bad. Pretty daunting. Pretty. daunting. Not bad at all. Are you going. to be out there, Andy? Oh [ __ ] That's what you lead in those.

Coach Dags is like, "Turn it down in. here." I hope so. I've never heard that. before. I They get a little louder every. time, too. I like them. Andy, you hear that? Cur a making [ __ ] I like. it. I like it. I hope so. If Dono knows. anything about coaching, which he does, he's going to have them ready for Did. the Clippers even have fans? I can't. remember. Damn. Hey, come on. Come on. Don't do that. We had fans. I mean, we. were the little brothers. We were in the. background where the Lakers were winning.

three piece. So, I we got it. But, you. know, we started a little movement and. now you see what's going on. The wall. get out to the wall. No, we can. Me and. D Miles got a lot to do with the the. early years. I was in the into a dome. Uh Saturday. I was in there. Phenomenal place. Yes. And Balmer's focus on toilets. I had to run and go to the bathroom. during show. Didn't miss a moment. Not a. sing. There was no line cuz I have to go. to a place in the arena normally closest. to the commentator's desk. I'm going.

into the public's bathroom. I'm going to. the bathroom with the WWE universe. during most shows. Have somebody with. me. Are they security? Not really. Okay. They're just like kind of a a producer. It's running alongside of me. So, we run. in there. Normally, everybody's kind of. blindsided by it. Like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Right. And I'm like, "Excuse. me, can I get in front of you to uh. piss?" Cuz there's normally a line or. whatever. Have to have that conversation. every single week. Balmer's place. No. lines. Wow. Right in there to pee. It. might have been the greatest, most.

convenient arena I've ever been in in my. entire life. Does that mean the Clippers. are ever going to win or No. I hope so. I hope so. So, they deserve it. I mean, Balmer, too. But I mean, the people that. have been there for a long time, you. know how it is in these organizations, man, they deserve it. They they like. when you got to understand when we first. got drafted and you you're a pro. Think. about this. We practiced at Southwest. Los Angeles Junior College. Yeah. You. told us about that. Yeah. Good place. That's a nice facility. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nice part of town. But my high. school my high school facilities were.

better than that. I'm not lying. We. couldn't take showers after practice. We. would have to put towels on the on our. car seats and ride to home and go take a. shower wherever you live in the NBA. In. the NBA. And then the next facility we. got was like a it was called a Spectrum. Club, but it was like basically like a. high-end 24-hour fitness or something. It was a it was like you would come out. of practice and be like 70 year olds. getting their getting their milkshakes. and stuff at the over here. Like then. they got their own facility one time. Donald Sterling. That's crazy. He spared.

no expense. Yeah, I thought he No, like. all of LA and he still didn't give us a. facility. That was a great says he was a. really good guy. That's not certain. I've seen that from the Clippers show. I. was at the ESP after that um after the. whole uh Oh, yeah. Sterling. Yeah. Yeah. The phone calls and Yeah. Yeah. voicemails. That's what it is. We. learned a lot about Sterling. We learned. a lot about him. And uh Drake was the. host of the Yes piece. Oh, right. And uh.

he sang a song uh Sterling Never Loved. Us, something like that. And everybody. started singing. And uh I'll tell you. what, I became an enemy where I was. sitting. I want to let him know I'm not. on Sterling's side. I'm on everybody. I'm on It might appear. I understand. It. might look as if I'm I am not. He didn't. love me either. This guy, I don't think. he loved anybody. To hear that you guys. were practicing in a junior college gym, though, that is a wild thing. That's. like what was happening in uh Cincinnati. for a while. Um, Cincinnati Bengals, uh, for a long time had to travel down to.

the University of Cincinnati to practice. in their bubble. So, they were in the. Super Bowl. They were going to play in. the Super Bowl against Los Angeles Rams. Won the AFC. Improbable win with Joey. Burrow being a dog. It snowed so bad. they didn't have an indoor facility. They had to travel to the University of. Cincinnati down the street to prepare. for the Super Bowl to play the biggest. game that you could potentially be in. cuz they didn't have anything. They have. since put up a bubble. So, they have an. indoor facility. Okay. New people in. charge. They've obviously paid Jamar. Chase. They've paid De Higgins. They.

paid Joey Burrow. They have a team. that's ready to go. Now, we're learning. about the Shamar Stewart situation where. they're putting a clause into the. contract that nobody else has. We talked. about this yesterday because Florio has. reported the inside look at why Sheamar. Stewart hasn't signed with the. Cincinnati Bengals fans. And we just. read this, talked about it, talked about. how ridiculous it was. Cincinnati. Bengals fans are not happy with us. talking about this. Oh, what else is. new? They're not happy with us talking. about this at all. They're saying that. we are a part of the problem, that we. are the ones that are just blindly.

following. I believe I was called a. bootlicker by some of these Bengals. fans. And I'm like, what are you doing. supporting a team that didn't even have. an indoor facility when your team was in. the Super Bowl and now trying to wedge a. closet that nobody else does? And also a. Trey Hendrickson situation. Now, they. clearly point out TJ Watt's not had mini. camp. Are you going to talk about that? We have, but Trey Hendrickson has come. out publicly and said, "Hey, let's get. this sorted." The Bengals are right back. into a Bengals situation. I feel like. Duke and them will be able to figure it. out, especially with this new Bengals. feel, but it's wild that they seemingly.

go through the stuff that nobody else. goes through. Also, TJ's going to get. paid. Okay. I don't It feels like Trey. may not get paid. The our our owner, the. Steelers owner didn't come out and say, you know, TJ should be happy with what. he's getting paid right now. Um the the. Bengals s they did do that. Um and it's. not like this is a one-off with Trey uh. and with Shamar Stewart. It's this has. been a long long time. I remember they. were charging $700 for the watch parties. and stuff like that. You know, obvious. you talked about the indoor facility, but this is not a one-off for the B. It's not like we're making [ __ ] up and,

you know, they've been this first class. organization for the longest of times. Um, so the Bengals fans are the worst. We've said that they're the worst fans. in the NFL. I think we can agree that. it's coming from a Steelers fan. That. guy, that guy at the Bengals jersey gave. me a thumbs up. He's like, you're right. So, you know, this is classic. I think. they're a good fan. Well, now with that. being said, it does feel like your fans. Oh, they get disrespected the easiest. The softest. Yeah. I don't want to say.

the softest either because they're Ohio, you know, so I don't want to say they're. soft, but they do feel personally. offended a lot for things that they. shouldn't be offended by. They should. ask they should be asking the same. questions we are of their ownership but. I think they feel a loyalty to ownership. to fight and they do for a lot of things. that they should not be fighting for. I. think it's also another like not having. an indoor facility. We were getting. attacked for mentioning that. It's like. you should not be attacking us. We are. trying to make your team better here. Every other team in a four season.

climate has an indoor facility in 2020. 2021. So, like you guys not having it, you shouldn't be attacking us for. pointing this out. You should actually. be wondering why your team that you care. so much about is doing things at that. level. That's how I feel. But some. Bengals fans are like, "Nah, there's no. reason to attack us. Shamar Stewart's. lucky to be a Bengal. He should want. that clause in there. And if he can't. play, he shouldn't be paid." It's like, "Well, nobody else is doing that." Well, that's cuz the Bengals are smarter than. everybody. It's like that is that's not. how it works. That is a perfect example. of them bringing it on themselves as an.

organization. You talk about the Shamar. Stewart situation, like this is. something we all know is it's going to. get figured out, but it's not like. they're debating between or negotiate. between5 or $10 million a year on a. contract. This is something going into a. rookie contract and you're trying to put. a brand new clause in this guy's. contract that you've never done with. anyone else before. And then if you look. at this prospect specifically, off the. charts talent-wise, but didn't have a. ton of production in college. You. drafted him in the first round. So, this. is a guy that needs every rep he can get.

in the offseason and you're going back. and forth about something that's going. to get figured out. The TJ Watt. situation, we see, you know, this type. of situation NFL, in the NBA, probably. every year when it comes to, you know, trying to reset that market or get up to. a number that has reset the market. So, that that'll get uh done, I think, as. well. But, it's Jamar Stewart uh. situation just another thing in a long. line of bungle mishaps. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Oh, by the way, the last time uh. TJ sat out mandatory mini camp, uh he. kicked the door down to get his deal. done and then he uh set the record for.

most sacks in a season. Oh, say you. should do it again. Look for that. Y. Aaron Rogers quarterback, too. Four time. MVP. Aaron Rogers. Five time. You're. singing You're singing quite a different. tune it seems like this week. Five. Well, that's my quarterback. I'll take a. bullet for that guy. I uh I did tell him. that I didn't want to phrase it as if. you win cuz I didn't want to add any. negativity, but I texted him. I said, "When you win for the Steelers, that. city will murder people for you for the. rest of your life." That's right. He has.

not responded, but I know the message. got through. Okay. I was super worried. Uh I sent it in this week and there was. an article about a 41-year-old man who. died doing Iawaska down in Peru or. something. I was worried it was Aaron. for a second, but then they tweeted he. was at camp, so like we're good. Tease. of peas. That was right that was right. next to each other. I do wonder if we're. still I think he may have closed that. chapter. He's a married man now. Yeah, he found himself unless he got married. to the mother. Mother. Yeah. Committed. his life to I didn't even think about. him marrying Iawasa. Yeah, there's a.

chance. He always if he's happy. Hey, we're happy for you. Do you have any. guys who I don't know what that is? See? Yeah. You don't know what that is? No. Does feel like quite a Caucasian thing. So, um Jordan Puyer. Well, true, true, true. Jordan Puyer is big, big advocate. of it. Basically, you go down into a. jungle. Okay. And there's some teas that. are created by a natural iawaska plant. down there. And basically it is a. spiritual experience that is to reset.

kind of how you view life and change. perspective. I guess it's been happening. for hundreds thousands of years or. whatever. Aaron went down there. I think. he was looking for some answers, looking. for a different light. I think a lot of. military folks do it. A lot of people. with PTSD do it. It's been around very. long time. I think you uh you go through. a lot to get to the point of the DMT. being released and you getting to the. lifealtering experience, but I think I. think it's a uh I think you it's coming. out of the attic and the basement. I. think you're uh same time experience.

Same time. Yeah. You know what I'm. talking about? Euphoric. We're talking. Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm good. But it changes. your life. And I think Aaron gives a lot. of credit to it for changing his mental. and his perspective on things. And after. he did it, he went to win the MVP two. times. So it's like he's a big advocate. for it. I don't think everybody's just. supposed to do Iawaska, but I do believe. if you have some stuff going on, it has. been an answer for some people and for. others not. No, I don't know if I have. the uh commitment to do it. I've never. heard of it. No, I take an edible to. call an ambulance. So I don't think I. should be doing my last. Your heart does.

say get me out of here. Weak mind, weak. heart can't be doing. Strong man. Thank. you. That's what they say. Joining us. now, ladies and gentlemen, is a uh. basketball legend. Everybody knows his. name. What you don't know is the fact. that he has a size 18 shoe and he's had. that since he was 16 years old. Ladies. and gentlemen, co-host of the. knuckleheads podcast, legend Darius. Miles.

No shaking. I ain't shaking your hand. Put this over your shoulder here. Yeah. Boom. Boom. Hey, you didn't want to walk. all the way down there cuz the knees are. hurting. Yeah. Yeah. From yesterday. You. know, he bone on bone. No cartilage. either. Yeah. How tall were you? 6'9. Okay, let's talk about it. How tall were. you in sixth grade? About 6 foot 510.

something like that. 6'5. Sixth grade. About sixth grade. About. 510 6 foot around that time. And. whenever you got to high school at the. age of 16, you had a size 18 foot. Yeah. When I was wearing the 18 when I was. like in sixth, seventh grade. So, we all. knew you were going to grow into it and. become this massive man. Yeah. And uh on. the basketball court in high school, obviously McDonald's All-American. superstar, legend, went to the NBA out. of high school. You kind of knew that. Everybody knew that whenever they were.

kind of directing you as a high. schooler. Uh people used to say it, but. where I'm from, you can't believe it. until it be right in your face, in front. of your eyes. How was the NBA experience. as a high schooler? It was great. I had. the opportunity to get drafted with Q. We got the opportunity to go to the same. team. So, uh, after the draft, our first. private jet, we got on the jet, flew. from Minnesota to LA. And, you know, it. made it an easy transition having Q and. Keon and Cory and these guys that I. played against or was bigger brothers to.

me being the opportunity to play with. them. Yeah. I couldn't imagine being 18, 19 years old. Like Miles Turner's been. here for 11 years and uh he's 29 years. old. So he literally came to the city as. an 18-year-old, 19-year-old given a lot. of money, given a lot of expectation, and then also a huge workload, which is. what the NBA is, 82 games, traveling on. the road, everything like that. What. doesn't get talked about enough, you. think, about the NBA experience? Is it. how grueling and grinding the entire. season is? cuz I don't think that gets.

chatted about cuz of how big you guys. are with how much you have to run and. travel and rest let alone on planes with. you eating your knees like everything. you do. Is that kind of not talked about. you enough? You think? No, it's it's not. talked about. Uh I think I seen. something with Paul George where the uh. this year his body just wasn't working. right for him where he couldn't really. get the opportunity to get out there and. play. Uh you don't know the the the. strain and the the wear and tear you. give your body. You have to eat right. You have to get your proper rest. It's a.

lot of stuff that come with it that you. don't see. You just see when the game. come on at prime time and you expecting. us to deliver and sometimes your body. just won't let you deliver. How about. the Iwasa? You do that. Who. Conor has a question for you? Yeah, De. Miles. Uh Cooper Fly's going to come in. at 18 years old. you know, I think he. obviously reclassified to go to Duke. and, you know, now he's going to be one. of the younger guys, picked one, it. feels like in recent memory. Uh, how. long is it going to take? Cuz with WBY,

it was uh kind of a, "Hey, get ready. We. coming." But now it's been two years. The Spurs haven't been in the playoffs. Obviously, he missed uh everything after. the All-Star break last year, but it. feels as though a lot of times, especially with those top guys, I if. you're not good immediately, it's what. the hell is going on with this guy? What. how long do you think it'll take Cooper. Flag to kind of get to a level that. everyone's like, "Okay, he he's. arrived." And what is the biggest. learning curve you think from, you know,

high school to the NBA? Is it all the. time you have off? I know Pat and Debbut. have talked about it with the NFL. You. lot of free time after that first. season. Yeah. You got free time, but. what is the biggest difference you. think? I think the best thing for Cooper. Flag is that the Dallas Mars got the. number one pick. Uh me and Q got drafted. to the worst team in the NBA. These guys. won 17 games out of 82. Himm given the. opportunity to uh be coached by JK, have. AD there, have Kyrie there. A team. that's ready to win now, it's a easier.

transition to kind of plug him in and. not have a big expectation for him right. away. Like if he would went to Utah or. the Wizards, everybody expect him to. come in average 30 triple doubles and. all that stuff and it was gonna be hard. because they gonna get in their butt. whooped. So, you know what I'm saying? The best thing he got in this situation. is the the Dallas Mies and stuff. Yeah, let's talk about it. Like you had to put. on weight. You had to put on weight to. compete with them. But this day, it's. more about a skill. It's more on the.

perimeter. Even the centers play on the. perimeter and shoot jumpers about the. game. Yeah, I I love I love the game. I love every. every stage of the game, you know, from. the from the 70s, from the 80s to the. '9s to now. It's just, you know, it's. evolving, you know. I wish I could have. got a chance to play in this. We not the. OG's on the porch saying, "Get off my. lawn." We like all versions of We like. all versions. We understand. Yeah. This. game caters to what I did when I came.

out. I was a tall 69 guy who can. dribble, play on the perimeter, was. fast. He would be nuts in this area. He. caters to my game. Like uh I was more of. the prototype coming off of KG getting. drafted at 96 to me getting drafted in. 2000 to seeing the Kevin Durant and. these guys that being 69 that can shoot, dribble, and do everything. Size 18 foot. shaking people would be wild to watch. Yeah, I assume those things. Yeah. Oh. yeah. Bopping wood. Popping wood. I'm.

popping wood for sure. Bopping wood for. sure. Go ahead, Ty. Uh, I guess this is. for both you guys. Did you have any idea. of the cultural impact this was going to. have when you started that you'd have, you know, like sixth graders in Iowa, white kids who went to Catholic school. doing it after that's Tai. He's talking. about Tai. He's talking about himself. We were all doing it. We were all doing. it. It was It was the the tightest [ __ ]. ever. Did you guys have any idea that. was going to take off the way it did? No, we didn't. But one thing I do. appreciate about this era, uh, cuz we.

got like kind of how AI got crucified. for the things he did with the tattoos. and the cornrows. We got kind of. crucified for celebrating when we was. one of the worst teams, you know what. I'm saying, in the league. So, uh, we. didn't have the best of record. We had a. a decent record. We was coming up, but. we celebrated on teams. And, you know, back then that was more offensive to. teams. Like, teams took that a certain. kind of way. But if you look at the. league now, guys got their own signature.

celebration. They they celebrate after. every three-pointer, throwing up threes, all that stuff. So, I just feel like we. just helped the culture out transition. to another level. And we really didn't. know, like you say, how you the the. reach of it. It was no social media, none of that. So, we didn't know until. like, you know, you come back all of. these years later and we create a. podcast based on that and you see the. response. Like that's like we that's. when we really got to see like damn like. they was really you know rocking with us. and then everybody doing that like throw.

one up do like it's like yo that's crazy. and then like you say hella hella. stories about. guys that are now young adults or full. adults that was like yo man my whole. sixth seventh grade team used to do that. like whether it's you know people like. we had a big following in Asia they was. making comic books of us over there that. we didn't even understand what they were. saying because it was all in like in in. Japanese and and stuff like that. So, it. was like it was it was looking back in. hindsight and coming to the point it was. like, damn, we really had a lot of.

people running around doing that and we. had no clue. One of the greatest. celebrations of all time. I mean, easy. to do and looks cool, you know? Easy to. do and looks cool. Uh, how do you feel. about John Morance's grenade? Well, I'm sorry. Sorry, not grenade. He's taking the words other people are. saying, throwing them out and then he. doesn't want to hear them. Doesn't want. to hear it. We love it. We actually did. a full brainstorm for him whenever there. was a conversation about him no longer. doing the gun. We said, "Listen, we need. John Marant playing. We don't need. suspensions. We don't like that you're.

being unfairly targeted in your eyes, but this is your life. You got to deal. with it. Get a sword out." Yeah. Chop. somebody's head off. The head off. anything you want to do. I'm a big guy, friend. It was It was It was cringy when. I seen it for the first time, but I. What? I just want the grenade. No, it's. a throwing of the words. No, I thought. it was going to be another suspension. I'm glad it wasn't. I just I'm like, y'all, I just want to see the kid play. and be great. I want to see him get back. to superstar status, you know, cuz he he.

has the game. He has the aura around him. to be there and just leave all the the. stuff off the court alone. Agreed. We. need him as a superstar. Keep doing your. thing. John Darius has a question. Yeah. Speaking of kind of off the court, Jordans, he talked about the c cultural. impact of the celebration. We know the. cultural impact of Jordan. Uh you guys. been team Jordan for a long long time. How did that come about and what was. that like? Yeah. Remember, how did that. come about? I want to know how did that. come about? We uh doing our draft and. and uh we was getting drafted. We always.

been Nike guys. So we expected to be. with Nike, but um you know back then the. contract, shoe contracts and stuff. wasn't wasn't big. It kind of hit a. little point at a certain point. So AN1. was sending us a bunch of good like. trying N1 was just trying to get. everybody sending us a bunch of stuff. So they we had so much stuff that only. thing you could wear was N1 cuz they was. sending it every day. So we had we went. to Santa Barbara camp. We was going. there since high school. Every summer we.

going to Santa Barbara. Michael Jordan. Flight School. Michael Jordan flight. school. So we get to Santa Barbara and. Mike see us with the A1 girl and he was. like man I thought y'all was Nike guys. We was like, "Yeah, but they ain't. giving us no deal." We thought we was. going to get a deal, too. And he was. like, "Yeah, I don't know about y'all. wearing that." So, he's like, "All. right, I'm going to make a phone call. for y'all." So, uh, we went back to the. hotel. Next morning, our agent called. us, was like, "Man, what y'all do?" He. was like, "What?" He was like, "Man, Nike just sent me a contract where they.

going to pay for your your endorsement, but you going to be sponsored by. Jordan." And you know the roof went off. after. it was another knock at the door and we. getting like five, you know them old. school TV boxes that was like this like. five boxes full of just Jordan. My. grandmama was wearing Jord. How much Jordan we would get. That's. crazy. Let's talk about the knuckleheads. podcast a little bit. How often do we. release them? Q Rich, how long has this. been going and what is the plan? I don't.

know when we started it. I I get asked. that a lot. We started uh five and a. half years ago. Let's go. Yeah. So, right now we in the middle of. renegotiating our contract. We are no. longer We had We had five five and a. half dope dope amazing years with the. Player Tribune, but now we are leaving. the Players Tribune and we are in the. midst of of signing with with new folks. Oh, it's up to something season. Up to something season. Okay. I like. that. We looking for, you know, these. NBA type deals. Free agent.

Let's talk about some of the free. agents. Uh Giannis is going to be moving. potentially. I guess that would be a. trade, not a free agent. Miles Turner is. about to be a free agent. He's about to. get paid here. Kevin Durant potentially. on the move. What are your thoughts on. any of the big names that could be uh. you know, shifting? I feel like uh I. feel Giannis should stay, you know. Uh I. always felt LeBron Cleveland. championship was always bigger than any. other championship he won in any other. city. When you win a championship in a.

smaller city, it means more. It's almost. like that's a two, three. Hell yeah. It. almost mean like one championship is. like two, three championships in a small. and I feel like he can get the most. money in with Milwaukee. They will. eventually build something around him. and I think it'll be good for him to. stay. All right. We appreciate the hell. out of both of you for traveling up. here. Q Rich, will you uh shoot a couple. shots here for maybe some giveaways? Where do you want to shoot from? Would. you like to shoot from the stage? Would.

you like to shoot from down on the. court? Where? No, I'm going to shoot. from down on the court. I ain't like. you. I ain't nice like that. Oh, okay. Okay. Well, before the show started, you. know, I had to test the waters a little. bit. Uh, the hoop looks big. Q Rich, I. think your microphone works down there, too, right? Yeah. Okay. You want mobile? All right. D Miles, anything to say to Q Rich. before he attempts to win some people. some money? Uh, you know, this is my old. This is my oldest boy. You see what you.

started? Bought the wood. Hey, do you. know what you started? Yes, this is my. oldest boy. So, I got a lot of faith in. him. Gary has faith in him. Rich, hold on one. second. Bouncy ball. That's a uh Think. about That's a rubber ball. Yeah, very. bouncy. rubber ball. A little bit windy, we will say. There's a little bit of a. breeze. You got double rims out here. That's okay. Yeah. Well, yeah, double. rim makes you a better shooter. You will. have a uh we have five balls here. How. many shots will you make? Two, I hope.

Two of five. You got the high school. three-point line. Yeah, that's a high. school three. Where am I shooting from? I'm just pick you pick. I don't care. Where you want me to shoot from? Black. That's not me. Is he talking to me? two. Yeah, that's good. Hey, hold on. Were. you What's his nickname? Just so I know. who we're talking to. So we Oh, this is. uh Darius Niles aka the blackest one. You know, when he was in the perfect.

score, he he his co-stars all went on to. become Marvel, Captain America, and. Marvel heroes. So, we was wondering why. they didn't bring him and make him a. superhero. So, I dawned him as the. blackest one. That's his superhero name. Okay. Shout out. Uh, am I uh I don't. know how to operate. He was stuck right there. I could be a. part of his faction. I'm going to say I. don't I don't want to point things out. For sure. I'm not saying it. It's okay. to say the blackest one. The blackest.

ones. Two. The blackest twos. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Blackest maybe three. Uh, we got we got one blend milk and uh. black. Uh, anyways, he thinks you're going to make the shot. Yeah. Okay. The I'm not saying it. Um, is that a good shot for you? Cuz I I. need to judge how many you're going to. make, how many shots, what's the number. two make for the giveaway? I I need a. lot of information here. Out of five. shots. Out of five shots, I think he's.

going to make two to three. Okay. So, the overall I took the ring off because. of the ball. because of uh you know it's. a rubber ball. So if you make that's. terrible. If you make three Yeah, if you. make three of these shots, we will give. 30 people $500 who are totally. [Applause]. watching at home. All you have to do is uh use the hashtag.

Pacers in six. and screenshot the screen after he makes. three out of five. Q Rich, I would like. to wish you luck, sir, as you attempt. the impossible with the wind the way it. is. I get a warm up, son. Would you like. a warm up? I'll take one more just to. see what's going on. to the show. Now I'm back to the show. It was great talking to you guys though. Nobody else could hear us. If you would.

like to take the warm-up, it would not. count if it goes in though. We have to. have some sort of rules and regulations. here. That's cool. Okay. So, you would. like a warm-up? Yeah. Ladies and. gentlemen, Q Rich, a man who is a. three-point shooting champion in the. NBA, is opting for a warm-up to kind of. gauge the wind. Go ahead. Yeah. See? Oh, [ __ ] Yuck. This is your guy, Darius. Hold on. Hold. on. Q Rich. Hold on. Be worried. Would.

you like another gauge shot? Nope. You. would not like another one? No. All. right. Q Rich, if you go three or five, 30 people will win $500. You're watching. at home. Q Rich. All right. We're okay. She's got four shots. Three or four. There's one. I see him. He was one of two. All right, you make these two. Yeah, these next two are good. Good pass in.

rhythm. There it is. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Do you feel that pass? The wind. has certainly picked up. It is a bit. breezy out here at the bicesentennial. Oh Jesus. He he like a old school car. It just. take a minute to warm up once again. One more here. Let's see. That's when.

[Music]. the. Oh jeez. It is Indiana. Indiana. I'm from Chicago. From the windy city. I. mean, we set you up for failure here. It. is breezy. It is. That's okay. You got. You got to You got to You got to get me. back to the Thunderdome indoors. Rich, hold on, Rich. Let's just act like we're. doing something here. It does.

Hold on, Rich. Have you tried that tuna. yet? So, I think the tuna pokey nachos. here are so damn good. Fire, man. What a. show it's been, hasn't it? These people. have been great out here. That meat. It. was good meat slide. Now, to end the. show today, I think it's only right that. we watch one of the greatest basketball. shooters of all time kind of do his. thing. We're sitting in the middle of. like a 20 mph wind right now. 15 20 mph. wind gust out here at the bicesentennial. plaza outside a beautiful Cambridge. Fieldhouse in lovely Indianapolis,

Indiana. If you've never been, please. come to our city. We are incredibly dog. friend. They got dogs out here. There's. a service dog right here hanging out. Let's put him to sleep over there. But. to end this show in this wind, I think. if Q Rich is able to make one. three-point shot, I think 25 people. should win $500. Sounds like fair. This will also be an omen on if the. Pacers will win this evening. Oh man. Oh. man. Yes, this is a universe ball and a.

25 $500 winner ball. He's trying to be. bored out of here right now. Hey crowd, would you like this to be a universe. ball? crowd. is in unanimous decision. They do want. this shot to count. clearly. One more time a second vote. Would you like the fate of tonight's. game to ride on this particular shot. here? Yes, they're saying they're saying. no. Rich, thank you so much for doing.

that. 25 people can win $500 and the. Pacers are guaranteed to win tonight if. Q Rich makes this shot to wrap up this. glorious get back. I'm going. I'm going. to throw these out to everybody. All. right. For the people. Guaranteed. Y'all got Oh, hey, ladies and gentlemen. Just like the. people said, that shot was not an. indicator on what tonight was going to. be. Big thank you to Quinton Richardson. for joining us today. Hey, that ball.

looked like a tumble weed back in the. old. feel that G. Big shout out to Derry. Smile starting by. [Applause]. Sean Sherania stopped by. Jeff was here. Hell yeah. You guys was. here. and all the wonderful people stopped by. We appreciate you so much. Toss the. table. Great work. AP Tone. Good job. Darius Butler, incredible. Back in the.

truck. Good work, boys. Back in the. truck. Are you giving it to everybody. that set this up from ESPN in the. production crew, Scott with the jib, the. whole team with audio, camera, staging, lighting, you name it. We appreciate the. hell out of you. Great work. Not easy. To Captain El Nikki, we appreciate the. hell out of your service to you. Uh, Indianapolis, Indiana, you're the man. Thanks for hanging out here. And uh to all you watching at home, know.

tonight on ABC in that building right. there, there's going to be an. electrifying environment. There's going. to be a team that wants to get back in. the lead of this NBA Finals. And there's. going to be a sport played that this. state loves through and through. That's. a bonehead of Q Rich. This is Larry. O'Brien. From all of us here at NBA at home, sports are amazing. The NBA finals are. tonight on ABC. Go Pacers. Tell the friends something nice that. might change in life. We're in this.

thing together. Team on me. Team on three. Kitch, be in the team. Oh, my bad. My bad. I. was trying to get some friends back. Yeah, I understand. Hey, you did a great. job today. The Pacers are going to make. more shots than you. Thank God for that. Team on three. 1 2 3. Goodbye. [Applause].