Best of NBA News Part 1: LeBron James CALLING OUT Jaylen Brown talking TRASH about Bronny, NBA sends their OWN Doctors to check Lauri Markkanen’s Injury

This is the biggest night in podcasting. The countdown is on to our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Live from South by Southwest, March 16th, we'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry. It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world. Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is... See all the nominees now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. Hey guys, it's your favorite Unc here. Go ahead and click that subscribe button below so you don't miss a single episode of Nightcap. That button right here. Come for the sports, stay for the stories. LeBron James spoke about his relationship with Jalen Brown. Let's take a listen. This was after yesterday's game, guys. Uh-oh. I think he just used the motivation of a lot of people just saying that they're going to have a down year because, you know, obviously JT being out, you know, them losing Drew, Al, you know, Leeds, Prazingis Leeds, their whole championship team pretty much is kind of revamped, and he used it as motivation to keep them afloat. They're playing great basketball, and it's because of him and the rest of those guys he's taking that next step. You know, our relationship has been, you know, pretty respectful. besides the shit he said about Bronny at Summer League but other than that but other than that other than that you know we've been alright you know we guys know we'll be alright we'll be alright yeah we'll be alright I think he went on he went on social media and said something about it it's all good but Bronny got a long way to go but that's another story so but the kid I mean listen JB is doing shit he's playing great basketball man and you can't even you can't fight his out on you know this whole MVP thing, I don't understand why his name is not getting talked about some as well. Like nobody gave them a shot to start the season. And he's after what, 30? Yeah. Just under 30. Yeah. Just under 30. Yeah. It's a popularity contest sometimes. It is dope. That's dope. That's how you answer a question as a true professional, despite some of the things that might've been said, you know, about your son. Hey, our relationship is respectful. Right. I mean, most of the time it's hard to gauge how someone truly feels, especially when cameras are in front of them, because anything LeBron says, you know, it catches fire. So he has to be careful and he's very media savvy in the way he answers questions. So based on what we just saw and what we just heard, you would think it was no problems at all. Despite some of the things that JB might have said. Hell, when it comes to basketball, yes, he's playing well. What is he supposed to say? He's playing bad because he's not. Even with JT out, he's the reason why the Celtics are doing as well as they're doing with the supporting cast that JB has. Now, even with the stuff he said about my son, that's a whole different question that he's not going to answer truthfully on camera. Well, I mean, he kind of got into it. But this is what I don't understand. Joe, help me understand. Joe, you got kids. Ocho, you got kids. I got kids. Yeah. Let's just say you got your son. He a mess up. if a co-worker says something about it, you're going to feel some type of way. Absolutely. I don't know why people can't get that through their head. Right. At the end of the day, whether or not LeBron James is good enough to be in the NBA, that's still his son. So imagine a lot of you guys out there got effort for sons and daughters. When somebody says something about them, you feel some type of way. Yes or no. It's a simple yes or a simple no. Because I know I would feel some type of way if somebody said something about my kid. That's still his kid. Absolutely. I don't know why people, it's true. It could be true. But if somebody says something about your kid, are you going to be okay with that? Are you going to be saying, hey, they told the truth? No. Your son go to jail. Your son get popped. Your daughter get pregnant as a teenager. You okay if a coworker, someone you know, says something about your child. Are you going to be okay? No. But because it's LeBron James, Y'all like, oh, he blowed it out of proportion. At the end of the day, the only condition, unconditional love, is a parent and a child. Yeah. Because you love your child regardless. It doesn't come. Well, in a relationship, well, as long as you take care of me, as long as you don't cheat on me, as long as you don't believe. And I get it. But a parent and a child is a different type of relationship than a relationship with someone that you start outside. And I don't know why people can't understand that. I can't. And also, Joe, before you go, I need people to also understand. Now, even though it is your child, once you get and you reach that pinnacle of being an NBA player, sometimes even your peers were criticized, not just your father, but, hell, your son can get it too. It gets to that point to where now you're fair game because now you're at the upper echelon of the childhood dream, the NBA. so therefore the criticizing is going to come not just from fans hell not just from media but from your peers as well. Let me ask you a question Ocho how old can your kids be before someone can criticize them and you be cool with it never that never that no no no wait listen no that's not what I was saying I was saying understand what comes with the territory once you have that of said being in the NBA that's all I don't even know it at all. Joe, even though it comes with the territory, and we know it's the same thing. And people are like, well, you said this about Russ. I never played the music about Russ. I talked about Russ about the ill-advised shots, the costly turnover, the matador defense. And people try to compare me saying Russ was not playing good basketball, Russ isn't the same player that he once was, as the guy that sent Russ' wife and talked about Russ in the same breath. How is that the same? It's not. All I'm saying is that, look, yes, LeBron knows that there's some criticism that's going to come. They criticized LeBron, and he just got more points than anybody in the history of the game. He's about to play the most games in the history of the game. He has the fifth most assists. Nobody that's in the top 10, nobody's in the top 20, comes close to LeBron as far as assists. He understands that. But at the end of the day, there's still a place that's my child. And I'm going to protect my child. It's just, it is what it is. And it's us that somehow, Ocho, I thought that's what we do. See, we're the only ones that feel bad about helping our child get ahead in life. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They do it all the time. Where Jerry Jones' kids work at, Joe, or Ocho? With the Cowboys. What? You mean to tell me your dad can help you get ahead? How many times have we seen that they help their kids get ahead? But we're supposed to feel bad if we help our kids get ahead. Right, right, right. Damn it. If my kids wanted to work in media, you best believe they got a job. And somebody might not have one, but they going to have one. Hey, go ahead, Joe. Hey, listen, I think it goes back, you know, to the last time I was on here with y'all. A heavy is a head that wears a crown, fellas. Absolutely. This is part—hey, look, this comes with the territory. Unc, I know what you're saying. Yep, that's my child. And I'm going to defend him every chance I get. You say something about him? Because we're in a funny stage to where in hoops, we've never seen this combination before. We've never seen a father-son duo teammates actually cross over. Yeah, yeah. They actually have the league at the same time. And they're on the same team. Hello. So, look, now we're having to deal with this in real time. And obviously, you know, Brownie going to have people shooting at him. It's just what it is. He's LeBron's son. He's going to get everybody's A game. Every time he touched the floor, he got a target on his back. Yes. That's what it is. And he has to be aware of that. And I just think, man, it's unfortunate. But I love the fact that LeBron gave Jalen Brown his props. His flowers. Yeah. You know what I mean? Two things can be true. I didn't approve of what he said, but he's an MVP candidate. He played his ass off. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. because they came into L.A. last night and put on the show. And beat the brakes off him. You hear me? Yeah. Peyton Pritchard. Hey, Ocho, you still think you can take Peyton Pritchard? Man, Ocho. Huh? Hey, boy, hey, young boy, nice, huh? You hear me? Hey, hey, hey, Joe. Hey, boy, Mr. Pritchard, nice, ain't he? Yeah. Hey, he gets you that money on Ocho. Yeah, and that's the thing. You look at him. Hey, you look at him, and he'll go to a rucker park and drop 30 or 40 on somebody here. Yeah. Because they looking at him like, oh, man, that little white dude ain't about to do nothing. And you look up next day, you know, his team got 140, and he got 50 of them. Man, look, that boy, what he had, 30-something legs off the bench. He came in getting straight to it. Boston got, hey, look, I know we didn't gave him they props, but Boston's going to be in the thick of it, man. They've been looking good as of late. They've been looking good. I'll give you another example. The same thing what people say about Magic. I had Magic on the show. So I asked him, and I was like, Magic, when did you know that your son, EJ, wasn't going to be a basketball player? He wasn't going to play football? He's like, Sharp, you know, there were signs. We saw things. He didn't want to play with trucks. He didn't want to do things. And people want Magic to disown his son because he chose a life that's different than what was a heterosexual man. Yeah, hell nah. Hell nah. Magic say, hey, Magic say, I believe in God too, but that's my son. Absolutely. Absolutely. Hey, if one of my kids chose to live a different lifestyle, guess what? I take that up with God when I get up there with him. That ain't got nothing to do with y'all down here. Right. Whatever God got in store for me and my child, I'll take it up with him once I get up there. Yeah, most definitely. I mean, obviously, you can't. That's one thing, regardless of what they choose to be. It might be against your will. It might be against what you, maybe something you didn't want, Joe. Yeah. Boy, I ain't disowning nothing. Now, whatever you decide to do, now, what you're not going to do, if you're going to be whatever it is, whatever you identify as, you better be the best at it. Don't you embarrass me. Don't you half-ass it. Now, if you're going to be gay, you better be the best of gay out there. Be it. Be it. Whatever you're going to do, you better be the best at it. Don't embarrass me. Listen. Hey, Joe, I don't care what you're trying to do, but you better be one of the best at it. How many times have we heard, boy, that child can't do nothing wrong in his mom or dad's eyes. Boy, that child is terrible, but mom and dad can't see no fault in their own child. We've all been there. I'm like, damn, my kid really that bad? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. They that bad. But look, I agree with you, Ocho. Joe, it comes along with the territory. What comes along with the territory that when you play a professional sport, there's going to come criticism. You see it from peers, be it from the media, whatever the case may be. It doesn't make it any easier because a lot of times, Joe, you said something very interesting. You said, hey, they're going to go at him. Well, if I can't get your dad, I'm going to tell your kid ass up. Yeah. Because remember I told you, Ocho, the dude couldn't beat my brother, So he tried to get you. Yeah. Yeah. So, hey, they could never do anything with LeBron. So they go at Bronny. Absolutely. That's just the way it is. I had it in high school when playing sports. Oh, you started a little brother. Okay. Yeah, I'm his little brother. But don't sleep now. Yeah. I'm going to light y'all ass up too. Up too. But look, I think, you know what? You know, sometimes closeness brings resentment. You see, Jordan didn't get this kind of resentment right because there wasn't nobody close to him. Kobe didn't get this kind of vitriol because there wasn't nobody close to him. And one of the things that people say about LeBron is that what? He wants to be friendly. He wants to be light. Hey, I just... You know what? The fact that you just said that Jordan wasn't friendly, huh? Hell no. Nah. Kobe wasn't friendly. Well, I know Kobe wasn't friendly. And Kobe became friendly after he retired. Yeah. They didn't care nothing about having no friends. No, and Jordan still ain't got a whole lot of friends. Jordan messed with like Oak. That's really the only dude Jordan still rock with. Man, listen, Jordan over there having a ball over there at NASCAR. He said, I'm tired. He went back-to-back racing, Daytona and in Hampton. He said, I'm tired of basketball. I'm going to NASCAR. He said, look. It is. But no, no, no, no, no. Jordan, no, no, no, no. Jordan didn't give a D. Kobe didn't care about nothing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hold on. Wait a minute. I'm confused. Let's separate the two now. I'm talking about on the court. I know they don't care nothing about that. Off the court either. Damn, for real? Yeah. Some sharks, boy. Hey, Joe, I mean, honestly, my personality, it wouldn't allow me to live like that. On the field, yes. Even on the field, I was fun, entertaining, but I'm going to kill you. like my mentality was I'm going at your heart as a player but I can't have that same mentality off like I gotta talk have fun hang out but what y'all doing you wanna go smoke you wanna you know whatever it may be but the fact that they were really like that outside of basketball they had a singular focus all the time and they couldn't turn it off couldn't turn it off look if you playing cards whatever you playing they wanna kill you at Ocho. That's just how it is. Yeah. Jordan bet everything. He's not going to do anything for fun. Ain't nothing for fun. Ain't no shooting no pool for fun. Ain't no playing no cards for fun. Ain't playing no golf for fun. He don't do anything for fun. Nothing. He want to see how you work under pressure. Yeah. Everybody don't work good under pressure on Ocho. It busts pipes, but he can make diamonds as well. Everybody don't work well under pressure. And it's even worse with the money in your pocket. See, if I believe, hey, we ain't got the money in the playoffs, old Joe, you know what I'm saying? But just imagine, just imagine you had to put the money that you receive in the playoffs, you had to put it up. And then if you got it, if you won, they doubled it. They gave it back to you. So Jordan going to put, hey, let's bet $50,000 on this hand. Huh? $50,000 what? $50,000. $55 on a hand? Yeah, bye. That's the only hand you're going to get. Bye. Right. Javon Crawford told a story. Dude had money, wanted to bet Jordan $100,000. Let's flip for it. Jordan said, I ain't got a whole lot of time. Let's flip for it. You call it. And he said, no, I'm good. Jordan said, hey, I ain't got a whole lot of time. I'm in a bit of a hurry. Go ahead, call it. Flip for it. Hey, dude love to gamble, man. He love to gamble. Anything that's competitive. Yes. Yes. And I think that's how him and Oak bonded because Oak love to gamble. They love cards. They love playing Bure. They love playing guts. I mean, Jordan go to the – they love that. I ain't got it, Ocho. I ain't listening. I'm telling you. Boy, you make mistakes, man. Yeah. Because they ain't no chips. They got real cash stacked up there. Yeah. See, like when you got a chip, Ocho, you don't look at – you don't see it. Sometimes you don't see it as money. Right. But when you actually got money, you got 50, 100, 200,000, a quarter of a million on that table? Oh, we. Yeah. Man, stop. It hit a little different. I can't. Hey. I can't even fathom. I can visualize what y'all are saying, but I can't fathom sitting at a table with 20, 50,000 in chips, 100,000, 50,000 in chips. I mean, where do they do that at? I mean, I understand people do it because they have, you know, they're vices, but man. Hey, Joe. What's up? When I go to Vegas, $100 is my limit. Maybe $200 on the blackjack table. $25 table, Joe. You ain't winning. That's as far as I'm going. You ain't winning nothing with that. I like the small win, Joe. To go in there with $100 and leave with $400, that's a win to me, Joe. I know it ain't going to move the needle, but just the fact that I don't gamble, but I will try it every blue moon. I only go to Vegas maybe once, twice a year, Joe. That ain't bad. That's not an addiction. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I ain't playing. I call that circumstance. I just happen to be there. Right. You don't gamble in Vegas? No. I hadn't actually been to a table in probably sat at a table probably in 20 years. Damn. No, no. I come to Vegas now. I'm going to get a little gambling in. If I lose $1,000, I'm done. That's my limit. Okay, Joe. Okay, Joe. What are you playing? Quarter slots? Nah, I'm playing, I'm playing, I'm shooting craps. I might play a little blackjack, but I ain't going too crazy. Excuse me. Yeah, you see, you tried to, you look, you the same kind of gamble. You want to load up on the six and eight. You going to try to. All right, but hold up. But hold up. While y'all playing, though, I was staying at the wind one night, and I won 27,000 with this little playing blackjack. Woo, Joe! Oh, 27,000? Shooting dice. Three-card poker? I was shooting dice on the crap table. Oh, you look. Okay, you on the crap table. I was on the dice, no lie, I was on the dice probably about 35, 40 minutes. Yeah. When you got hot like that, Joe? Man, I had built it up until I had about 400, 500 on almost every point. And I just kept rolling. So listen, hold on though. When I won I had initially won 29 So once I won that I started taking all my money off the board I was like you know what I know I ain going to be this hot too long When I fall off I walking out the door I took my money. I was gone. Yeah. The thing is, you bet it the hard way. Because it gives you odds, what, 8 to 1, 10 to 1 odds on 6 and 8? Yeah. So you get the hard 8 when you roll 4-4. You get a hard 6, 3-3. You get 10, you know, a 5 and 5. Yes, sir. You bar it. 5 and 9. Hey, look, you just want to roll numbers. You just want to stay on the dice. That's all you want to do, just roll the numbers. Just roll the numbers. Oh, man. What? Kill them, Ocho. Hey, I bet if me and Burns go to the table, we betting somebody crap out. Bro, what are we doing here? Like, bro, this ain't a team sport. We not team. I bet you crap. You did. Not pass the dice. Hey, Ocho. Ocho. Y'all don't play no poker or nothing? I used to play poker. I played in the World Series of Poker one time. Did you really? I did. Yeah, Joe, you'll be mad at me, Joe. You can't play no poker? Joe, I don't even understand the game, bro. Oh, man. Joe, I got to rely on the people sitting next to me when I'm playing blackjack and rely on the dealer if I don't have nobody there. Oh, man. Well, you go to the wrong casino. They don't let you talk. You can't do that. Right, right. Huh? They don't let you go to the wrong casino. They won't let you talk. You can't talk. Oh, for real? Hell no. The only casino I go to is Vegas. You know, the hard rock right here down the street for me. I'm saying there are a lot of casinos. You got the wind. You got R. You got hard rock. You got the Vodice. Yeah, I don't know nothing about them. You got the palms. Hey, Joe, and that's a good thing too for me, Joe, is the fact that I don't understand all the games at the end of the casino. Right. So there's really no interest in me wanting to play or let alone gamble. So not only am I cheap as hell, I don't understand the goddamn game they got no way. In blackjack for me, I play a little $100, $200, $25 games simply because I just know I got to be the dealer. That's all I know. Right. Okay. Okay. Well, I mean, look, I don't like the shoe. I like single deck or double deck. When they start getting to that shoe, they got six decks. I don't really care too much for that shoe. That shoe, man, that shoe have you messed up. The thing is, with Blackjack, one bad play can mess up the whole shoe. Man. And you just get your head busted for the rest of that shoe. Somebody take a car, take the dealer bus car. Hey, you mad at them on us. You start a fight over there. That's why I don't really play Blackjack too much. No, I said don't even worry about it. That's why I picked my money and gone somewhere. because sometimes I be feeling like they brought this dude in here to F the game up but I'm like I'll go play blackjack sometimes I'll play power guy I'll play three card poker or I'll play craps that's all I play no roulette they play the shots they just play slot machine I ain't got time for that y'all don't play the roulette you can just bet on the colors nah hell nah nah hold on uh uh on roulette hey roulette that's the one the table go around in the circle and they say bet on red right you can bet red or black but you're going to come out better betting a number though I'm bad yeah I'm good I'm good I don't like that hey Joe I don't like to bet no money where I'm not in complete control of the outcome if I'm not in complete control because the cards don't know you you think the cards know you no I'm just saying in general that's why I don't like gambling because the outcome is not in my control. And the Dice damn sure don't know you. No, we. Absolutely not. Man. Absolutely not. But, no, we got to go to the bank. So, Joe, will you come out here? Because I'm going to go to one night. I'm going to go with Dana. I'm going to go to the casino with Dana. Dana will be playing 100,000 hands, 200,000 hands. Ooh. I'll be watching, y'all. What you think I'll be doing? I played 100, 200. Not no thousand. Hell no. I would love to be there just to watch that. Just to see it in person. Just to see it in person. Again, knowing you got it, but you'd never do it, but see other people do it because they got it and could afford to lose it. I can't recoup no 200,000. You know how long I got to work to recoup 200,000, Joe? I ain't catching no touchdown, Joe. Oh, Joe. Ocho, we had to go out there and gamble with Unc a little bit. Just a little bit. Just a little bit. Just a little bit. How much we talking? 10K. Huh? 10K. That boy ain't spending no 10K. Ah, shit. The devil is... Hey, Joe, I done had these same pants on for goddamn two months. You think I'm going to spend 10K at the casino? Like, come on, man. Hey, Ocho, we going to hit them. Hey, me, you, and Joe going to go to the crap table. is just going to be us at the crap table by ourselves. Nah. Hey, we betting all the points. I'm going to be on the dice. Because you know the coffee snake I will, I call the dice before they start rolling. Hey, and Joe, you know if they know we coming, if they hear we coming, they going to fix the table so we walk out of there with nothing. Oh, man, come on. They going to fix the table so we walk out of there with nothing. They don't know we coming. Huh? They don't know we coming. I bring my cash. We bring it to you. I bring my own cash. Hey, change them out for chips. Or you can say, hey, Money plays? Hey, that's not a good idea. That's not a good idea. They say the house never loses. That's what I heard. Hey, you watch too much TV, Ojo. No, I saw the gambler. Hey, you saw the gambler. Get him, Jimmy Smith. Ha! Yeah, I've seen the gambler. I've seen it. Mark Warburg? Yes, sir. I don't want that to be me. I don't want that to be me. You don't know when to stop. Now you're owing people money because you're trying to get yourself out of debt and get out the hole. I don't want to get beat up because I owe the shark. Nah, nah, nah. Hey, you see a, what you call them, Matt Damon and Rounders, right? Ooh. And Teddy KGB? He ain't seen that. He don't know nothing about that. Nah, what movie is that? What's that? It's a gambling movie. What's the name of it? Teddy KGB. What's it called? Rounders? Rounders. Rounders? That must be old, huh? It is. It is. but it's a good-ass movie. It's good. With Matt Damon and Edward Norton. Yeah, I like Matt Damon, though. Matt Damon, he hard. But, yeah, we come on out here. Let's get this. Jalen Brown says, I feel like I'm the best two-way player in the world. Joe, do you agree? Is he the best two-way player in the world? Right now, yeah. I'm going to say yeah, Ocho. He makes it a point to, you know, own his matchup night in and night out and not only that not only is he you know owning it on defense but offensively he following it up with 30 a night man you know I think he's playing extremely great basketball and rightfully so he's in the MVP conversation man there's still a lot of basketball left Uncle Nocho he a dark horse in this thing now he a dark horse in it yeah I definitely think look I always I thought he was supremely athletic. The bounce that he has, he's worked on his game. You can tell that he's worked on his game. The outside shot is a little bit more consistent now. The three ball is more consistent. He always had the ability to, you know, sometimes he get a little loose with his handles, but he's always had the ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the right. Because he has supreme athleticism. And you go back and look at when they won the championship, he took it serious. He took Luka. He said, no, I got Luka. 94 feet. Hey, hey, 94 feet. That's his job. His job, pick you up, weigh you down, so in the fourth quarter you ain't got no gas, and he's still going. And that's how he's been playing, man. Kudos to Jalen Brown, bro. He's been fun to watch this year. It's actually been fun to watch the Celtics, just their whole team. It ain't just been him. Okay, Ocho, he got other guys who done stepped up, and they've been playing well. Oh, yeah, Hauser and Derek White. Hauser, Ms. White, Richard. They got a big down there. Meta? The big dude who was beating stuff up last night. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, man. I know you. Yeah. They got another. And Vucevic, like I'm saying, the more comfortable he get, the better off they're going to be. They're going to be right there fighting in the thick of things in the Eastern Conference. Yeah. Yeah. You know, hey, JB done cut his hair. He ain't fooling nobody. Yeah. You done let that base you ain't go? That big empty? Hey, he didn't. You know, honestly, Uncle Joe, you know, JB done took it real serious. obviously with all the stuff, a lot of talk about, you know, JT going down and how the Celtics weren't going to be the same. For sure. And he took all that talk personal because basically y'all telling me I can't carry no franchise. Y'all telling me, you know, JT is the better player of the two, you know? So let me get out here and show y'all. I already had to deal with the bull crap when it came to the goddamn Olympics. Now you're saying I can't carry a franchise. Man, hold my beer. Right. Watch this. Right. He's been showing up. He's been showing out. showing up and showing out ever since. You're absolutely right, Ocho. He's taking the challenge every night on both ends of the floor. Yes. And he's done it at a very, very high level. And, man, I'm talking about every night he win his matchup. Okay, Ocho, he wins his matchup every night, which gives him a great chance to win. Yeah. Hey, Joe, how tall is JV? About 6'5", 6'6". That's it? Yeah. I thought he was tall enough. I thought he about your height, Joe. Yeah, you about 6'6". Joe, how's the whole you with, Joe? I'm about 6'8". Yeah, I like me going right around you, bro. Go right around who? Huh? Hey, one thing I can do is slide these puppies, Ojo. Where I'm from, if you couldn't play defense home, boy, you couldn't get out there on the court. I'm trying to tell you. You hear me? Joe, you can't slide no more, man. If your electric slide day is over, Joe. Who? Back in the day, electric slide? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, Joe. I know you can slide one way. I mean, how fast can you get back with your lateral movement, Joe? Man, first off, your handle ain't like that to be moving nobody side to side while you talking about something. Man, stop it. How you know, Joe? You got to cut it out, Joe. Stop the cap, bro. When we going to play, Joe? I'm sick of this shit. Well, I told you when we going to play. We going to line it up. Hey, you in Atlanta? Yeah, I'm here right now. What's going on? Hey, listen. Are you prepared to play right now? Because I could fly down for the week and chill. I told you, man. Can you give me at least an April? Hey, he scared. Hey, I got his spooked. I got his spooked. Hey, you spooked. Hey, Joe, you scared, Joe? I need to April, bro. Can I have to April? Give me about four more weeks. Listen to me. Let me see. Whatever you can do in April, you can do right now, boy. Number two, I'm going to say to the help of you, my boy. Not with me. Not with me. I'm telling you, boy. Your knees going to buckle, boy. Huh? Ocho, Ocho, we already know you the big capital, man. Everybody know that, bro. Everybody know that? Hey, Joe, one thing I do is I compete, Joe, in everything I do, Joe. And, hey, I'm going to compete and I'm going to show up. You didn't compete with us in New York? In that All-Star game, Ocho. Huh? In that big three All-Star game. What about it? Listen, that's what Joe was asking me. Let me tell you something. What about it? I keep telling you all a million times in that big three, I ain't messing up nobody money. Especially that much money them boys betting. I let them take care of their thing and got my ass out the way. Because I ain't paying nobody $20,000 to get in the way and show I can motherfucking hoop. Excuse my language. Sorry about that. But, Joe, boy, you ass grass, boy. Heavy is the crown, right? We'll see who be wearing it after we've done it. JB came in a Sunday game averaging a career high, 29 points a game, seven rebounds, almost five assists. He showed up. He had 32. Peyton Pritchard had 30. and they roll the Lakers. What's your Lakers going to do, huh? Nothing. They can't play defense. They can't guard anybody. You know they couldn't play defense last year. Yeah, they still can't. They can't. They can't rebound. They can't. They can't keep nobody in front of them. That's why I can't stay in front of nobody. They get beat off the first dribble. Oh, man. Which compromises your defense for the rest of the possession. Once you get beat off the first dribble, you compromise the rest of the possession. It's a wrap. It's a wrap. You got us in the hucklebook. Now we scrambling, trying to catch. It's over with somebody going to be open. Yes, sir. Sliding all over the place. This is the biggest night in podcasting. The countdown is on to our 2026. I heart podcast awards live from South by Southwest March 16th. We'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry. It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world. creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is... See all the nominees now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app, Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and free agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stops. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency, the combine, the NFL draft, pro days, trades. This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move. We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Anthony Edwards say Memphis has dirty hotel rooms When I go to Memphis I'll be like Damn, this ish be dirty I walked to Memphis Hotel one time It has stains and ish on the bed Come on man, they ain't clean the bed like that Wait, hold on You talking about the NBA Hotel Or just a regular hotel? Because the NBA, you have to stay in a four- or five-star hotel if it's available. Right. I know Memphis got some four-seasons, some rich cards or something. Yeah, they got to have something nice. So maybe he just had one bad experience. That one bad experience, it could spoil a lot, especially if he said it's out publicly. And this hotel can get bad reviews based on that one experience where a hotel worker decided not to clean up the right way. Now they got everybody thinking the hotel dirty. they got four season wrist cards in Memphis yeah damn you ever had that happen to you all when you go see a hotel and it wasn't up to par I'm trying to think not the bed yeah are you one of those that check everything you check the towels you check the sheets you look up on the stuff I've never been like that Look, what I do, Ocho, is that when I go somewhere, I take X amount of cash, and I always leave. When I leave the room, normally when I leave, there's going to be people cleaning. I'm like, ma'am, I left money in the room. You clean it. That's all I say. Just clean it. I'm leaving for the day. They're going to clean that room. They're going to have extra towels. They're going to have my phone cords, charging cable. They're going to have that thing folded up nice and neat. They're going to have the bedroom slippers right there inside the bed. They're going to have extra water. They're going to do all that. for easy little $30, $40. Boom. Every time I leave, when I come in, hey, turn down service, normally when I'm turned down because I don't want to leave the room. Right. But every morning and when I leave to go, when I leave the hotel, I always do that. I always do that. You only give them $30, $40? I give them $30, $40, yeah. Damn, huh? I mean, you could at least made it $100. huh like a little hundred y'all make somebody day I guarantee you that 30-40 how many people you think in the hotel that they clean that they get somebody leave a tip for I mean probably not many exactly I'm just saying you don't leave nothing who Ocho see he gonna tell chat this man tell me I need to leave a hundred he leaves zero yeah I'm think about what he just said he said Shannon needs to leave a hundred I said well you don't leave nothing you right on I had to pay for the hotel the hotel charged me instantals and you telling me I need to leave something for the so you think I stay at the hotel for free yeah you know you're a rewards member I ain't no rewards member you're not I tip when I go to restaurants though I mean that's you know I ain't never thought about doing it at the hotel I'm gonna try that next time I'm gonna try that oh yeah oh really oh we need to go to We need to go to Memphis to get some barbecue I got to take for some barbecue No, Memphis. Yeah, Memphis. My mouth tuned up for some barbecue. Hey, Memphis known for that barbecue, boy. Yeah. Ain't Kansas City known for barbecue, too? Kansas City known for barbecue, too. I mean, look, Texas, Tennessee, probably Kansas City, North Carolina mainly southern states I mean obviously Kansas City is in the Midwest for the most part you talk about Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, southern states. It ain't nothing like it ain't nothing like having no ribs man that fall off the bone man and obviously I know we gonna get killed Ocho but I eat pork ribs I mean I man listen I don't care what it is I'm finna eat it but you ever had Tony Roma's? Pause. They're better restaurants, but I'm just saying. Pause, Ocho. You need to pause with that. What I said? You're talking about whatever it is. I'm going to eat it. Oh. We talking about food, though, huh? I don't know what you're talking about. Okay, pause. Pause. I don't know what you're talking about. But there are very, very good barbecue places, but I just remember growing up in Highland Miami Lakes, I would usually go to Tony Roma's, and the goddamn ribs fall right off the bone. Yeah. Baby back ribs. oh my goodness it was perfect I haven't seen Tony Romo's I want some dry rub ribs dry who? dry rub what that mean? huh? why you say it dry? because it's a rub it's a seasoning that they put on them and they're dry they're not wet like with sauce okay yeah I ain't never heard that your lingo be different sometimes you say stuff I never heard before. All right, Chad. Y'all see what I be going through, man. Y'all see what I be going through, Chad. My bad. Yeah, well, I'm in the Muslim reserves, Ocho. One week out of the month, two weeks out of the year, I don't eat no pork. Okay. Okay. I like that. But I eat everything on the pig except the squeal. What? Oh, yeah, we got to go to destination. Yeah, in Marietta, California? Yeah. that tendinism. Oh, wait a minute. Nah, we... Didn't he take... Didn't something happen with that? I don't know. Yeah, the tendinism dude, he left, he got fired. The dude took the lead. Something like that. Yeah, the old man gone. Yeah, well, wherever he go, we'll find him. Yeah, we gotta find him, man. Hell, he ain't in witness protection. Yeah. He fell out with the owner after he... You know, he advertised and breaded and marketed his establishment. You know, dude, they fell out. Yeah, but we got, hey, look, we going to the county. We going, damn. When is the, don't they got a fair here? When is the Vegas thing? What did you say? What did you say? Oh, oh, but the tendonism guy? Oh, I don't know about the tendonism. All I know is that I see the thing is and so I don't know whatever. They fell out or he got a new restaurant. I don't know. I don't know, Chad. So don't start me the line. Yeah. We gonna find him. We gonna go. We gonna go. We gotta go try that. Yeah. So, but no, but we gonna go to some good old pork. I'm gonna give some good old pork ribs. I like tips. Rib tips? Yep. Oh, yeah. I ain't a brisket guy, though. You like brisket? I eat everything, boy. I done told you about talking like that. I'm talking about the ribs. I don't know what you're talking about. Chad, we can never discern what he talking about. Hey, I'm talking about the ribs. I enjoy a little bit of everything. Here in Vegas, right? Okay. Yeah. No, I don't want none of that. I don't want no sushi pizza. Man, you ain't fair to tear my stomach up. Sushi what? Sushi pizza. Mmm. Yeah, I already, yes, Les BBQ, the guy that be cooking them oxtails. Yeah. I already ordered some of them. I already ordered some of them. And I had some sitting in my sister. Oh, I be ordering all kind of stuff. I be ordering cakes. I got to try that. Sweet and savory Atlanta. Safana. Oh, they done sent my brother cakes. They done sent me cakes. Oh, I buy stuff out there. If it look good and you close or you'll send it. Right. Count me in. They'll tell you I'll buy it. Yeah, but I done hit the mocktails. They're expensive. I'm not going to lie. They're expensive. But they good. They good. He smoked. They got a nice smoky tail. They like that size. What? I got to try that. Where that's at? Oh, yeah. That thing. Where is that? Your ass talking about it. Asha, eat it, chat. There ain't nothing. Look here. Mikey, she is the female version of Mikey. Give it to Mikey. and he would try it? Hold on. That live serial commercial? You talking about Mikey from the serial commercial back in the day? Yes, that's Ash. Hey, that commercial was classic. Yeah, that's Ash. But no, no, but I haven't really had no experience like that, Ocho, with a hotel where, you know, you know, not like what Aaron is talking about. No, no. Yeah, I've never had that. I never had that situation either. This is the biggest night in podcasting. The countdown is on to our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Live from South by Southwest, March 16th, we'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry. It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world. Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is... See all the nominees now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. audible is a proud sponsor of the audible audio pioneer award explore the best selection of audiobooks podcasts and originals all in one easy app audible there's more to imagine when you listen sign up for a free trial at audible.com i'm daniel jeremiah and i'm greg rosenthal and this is 40s and free agents the games may be over but the nfl never stopped this is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency, the combine, the NFL draft, pro days, trades. This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move. We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaking of, the NBA is sending their own independent doctors to verify Laurie Markkinen's MRI from an injury and to practice today per NBA porter Tony Jones. Joe, is this what it's come to? Yeah, because the NBA say, man, we ain't going. We ain't going. Matter of fact, we've been sending our doctors down there to see what's going on with these dudes because this tank of stuff, man, they got out of hand, and I think that's what the NBA think. That's why they say we're sending our own doctors down there to check on Laurie Markkinen to see what's going on. Yeah, this is what it's come to. But the thing is, Joe, you know your body. I mean, the doctor say you seen five, but no. My ish hurt. So what do we do? What do we do, Joe? I mean, most guys, I mean, a lot of times if it's something serious, they go get a second opinion. They don't never take the guy's first opinion. I mean, you got something going on, Joe. I don't know if you missed any time during the season, but if somebody said, well, Joe, you got this, you're like, you know what? Let me go grab that second opinion. Yeah. Yeah, you go get a second opinion for sure. I guess this may be the second opinion. I don't know, but the NBA say they want to know. Hey, they starting to investigate a lot more, man. It's been a lot going on. You see they just shut Jaron Jackson down. He had to have surgery. He hasn't surgery for something. Yo, you mean to tell me you're going to trade all that, give up all those picks for a guy that you got to have surgery? What they do that at? Think about what they gave up to get him. and now you get a guy he played a couple of games going off and then the fourth quarter you sent him Laurie Barkley was going off sent him in the fourth quarter NBA said man y'all full of caca that's why they sent them people down there yeah we ain't trying to hear all that yeah yeah we gonna be able to determine this here and you see the NBA said you know what ain't no more lottery protected y'all want to take you do the game with the picks let somebody land them top three picks somebody got him. Because you know how to joke that. Top three protected, top five protected. MBS in hell now. Ain't nothing protected. Listen, because I think Utah can still I think they can get the number one pick. Yes, they can. And I believe if they get the number one pick they taking the bonzer. That's what I think. I think for whatever strange reason I feel like he going to stay in Utah. I don't know why. It's just... So, I get it. I mean, I think the thing is that when you play, and it's like, they're playing too many games. Well, damn. Okay. They'll... Too many. I'm sure the NBA won't have a problem cutting the games, but they want to cut that pay too. So, because the thing that the players want, Ocho, is that they want less games, but we still want to make 70, 80 million dollars. It may say, oh no, here you go. Yeah. Yeah, I don't think we need less games, man. It's been like this since the 70s. As long as I can remember. And I've been a lot longer than both of you. So as long as I can remember, Joe, they played 82 games. Hey, listen, and them dudes playing in Chuck Taylors and Converse out there. They didn't have technology. Shelltoes. They didn't have the, like Joe said, the shoe technology, the eating technology, the training technology, the medical equipment technology, the doctors. Everything is so much more advanced. So can you imagine, and if you look at track and field, Locho, when these guys were running these fast times with just regular shoes. Yeah. Just imagine that they had those carbon fiber shoes and they had these Mondo tracks like they got right now. Mm-hmm. Man, you say both by the man 9'3". Yeah. Ain't no telling how far Jonathan Edwards would have jumped. He jumped 60 and a half feet. Ball beam him when he went 29, two and a half of the altitude in Mexico City. They ain't have no technology like they got now. And I'm not saying athletes, but when you combine athletes getting better and technology right alongside it, you got the perfect storm. Yes, sir. Hey, look, I kept me a fresh pair of orthotics in my shoes. I did too, Joe. What? A pair of who? Orthotics. Orthotics. You ain't had that, Ojo? Nah, yeah, uh-uh. I had them. I had them. Hey, Joe, I had, obviously, I was a Reebok during that time. I had them take all the lining out my shoe. I had no support. Why is that? So basically, because I need to feel the floor. You know what I mean, Joe? You ever had on a track spike or like a waffle shoe? Yeah. That's what I wanted my cleats to feel like. I need to feel the floor every time I step and touch and when it's time for me to break down, I don't want no support. I don't want nothing restricting my ankle. Yeah, it's weird. I got to feel the floor. I don't know. It's weird. You used to get taped like that. Oh yeah, I got taped directly to my skin. Shit, my bad. Hell nah, man. I look at these guys right now. I look at the Montez Adams. That man out there playing with no, he playing out there with footage and no tape. I say, what? Yeah, same, same. The only time I put on tape, Joe, it was more for fashion. It wasn't for my ankles or nothing. It was just laid on there. Cause I wanted to make sure everything was able to roll and be real smooth. It was weird. Ocho, I had to have some tape. Yeah! I had to be taped. I had that pre-rap jumping. Nah. Yeah, I had to be taped up. You can't feel nothing, Joe. I need to be secure. Boy, my ankle bone be on the ground. Oh, nah. Ocho, you gotta understand. I was a hard planner. I'm talking about, I'm talking about, I'm not like you Ocho under 200. That's 230 getting moving and having to stop on a dime. Oh no. Right, right, right, right, right. Oh yeah, I forgot, Ocho a little dude, he wouldn't understand. Yo, Joe, Joe, don't do that, Joe. I had a little size of him when I was playing. Hey Joe, if you take my cleat, right? If you take my cleat, you get, you get bended like this. And you can fold it. Oh no, oh no. You can fold it. it felt just like a track shoe. I just had a cleat bottom on the bottom. Nope. Oh man. Man Joe, I had mold skin, you know one of those strips that you put up there like that? And then I had the mold skin taped around directly to my skin. Yeah! That's what I had. Hey listen. I needed mine to feel secure, Ocho. Hell yeah. I'm telling you. Man listen, I ain't played, boy. I used to get heavy taped. I didn't get it like that for practice now, Ocho. You know I just go out there with pre-wrap and regular tape. Right. When it came down, you read? Right, right. Right. I go out there for warmups with the regular, like practice tape. Soon as I come back in there, I take that off. All right, let's get it. Yeah. Yeah, I don't understand how people, I don't understand how people wear ankle braces on. They put, they tape up their shoe, then they put on the ankle brace, then they put their shoe on. That's Lyman do that. Everything is restricted. I'm like, what are you doing? It made no sense to me, but it made people comfortable. I said linemen tape up all that stuff. Cause you know them linemen, they have on high tops. You know, they have, but they have rubber bottom shoes. They don't do studs. Most linemen don't do studs. No. Right. We have, I played with Zim. He's the only offensive lineman I've ever seen wear low tops. For real? I've never seen an offensive lineman. Hey, you wore low tops. And no spare. Is it mandatory to wear knee braces In college. Most guys, if you wear a knee brace, you've had a knee injury. Like, you look at Brady, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, John. John played his career. John never had an ACL. He tore his ACL in high school, and they removed it. So he didn't have an ACL at all. Damn. When I first got there, he didn't use to practice with a brace. No, as a matter of fact, he really didn't. He didn't practice with a brace. He only played in the brace, but he practiced without it. But most of the time, Joe, if somebody's had, especially linemen, offensive linemen, they'll continue to wear it. Quarterbacks will wear it. Tom Brady, once he tore his knee, I don't think Brady ever took the knee brace off. Peyton, you know, guys like that, yeah. I mean, I could imagine a skilled position player playing with a big old Dunn Joy on. Nah, I couldn't. But I noticed a lot of them linemen dudes. I know they be because they always getting rolled up on. Yeah, exactly. I think in college it might be mandatory. Most college teams have all their offensive linemen wearing knee braces because of that what you said, Joe, they get rolled up on. But no, I don't know how y'all do it. I be looking at them guys in amazement with no tape. I'm like, man, that must be real. I do too. I could do it. And in football, hey, I be thinking the same thing because in football, especially the way they be tackling them receivers, the ones who be out there with them little no-show socks on. I be like, man, how this dude, it's like every play, it's almost a career and they play. Man, and especially cause the hip drop. That's what got me, Ocho, taping my ankles like that cause guys with hip dropping you. Yeah. And see back then, they didn't call it a high ankle sprain, they just called it an ankle sprain. And so you like, man, this thing taking forever to heal. This ain't no typical ankle sprain. I never rolled my ankle like most people roll their ankle over the top. Roll it like that. I pro made it in. I rolled mine in because I got dragged down from behind, Ocho, like that there. Man. I know that job. Boy, that must have been real nice to be able to wear no tape, Ocho. Huh? Because that must have been real nice. um hey and that you know what honestly for me to be able to do that playing at that level as quick and as fast as i was it all had to do when i was little running around with no shoes on i could not play throw up tackle in the street you know you play freeze you're in a car coming you know i always either had on socks or i had on no shoes so i need i needed to be able to feel to the floor even once I made it It weird But you played in molded bottoms You didn play in studs though did you Oh yeah, molded. I don't play in no studs. Even when we played the Steelers. Even when we played the Steelers, remember how the Steelers purposely had that bad feel as an advantage to them? I still wore, I still wore a regular. You still wore molded bottoms? Yeah, still wear molded. I never slip, never slip. I'm always over, what's the word I'm looking for? I was always over my, yeah, always. And I never, yeah, I never extended. I never extended. Or playing, oh, you playing on your inside foot and slip. Like, bro, you know it's wet out here. You trying to play it like you trying to speed cut like it's dry. Mm-hmm, yeah. Man, drop your hips and get up, put that weight on. The guy start skating, put the back of the foot down, Ocho. Mm-hmm. That's it, man. But my first, I think my first like 10 years, Ocho, I wore molded and then I went to the Speed TDs. Speed TDs molded too, right? Okay, okay. What they actually called tempo bottoms. Yeah, I know you're talking about it. That's what they call them. Nice boy. Hey, so how often did y'all go through like different shoes? Every week. You playing a new pair every game? Yeah, every week. So what I would do is that I would wear a new pair of shoes on Friday to get them broken in, and then I would play in them. Then I would practice in those Wednesday and Thursday, break out a new pair for Friday, playing those on Sunday. Yeah. I like new shoes. I hate it when my shoes got too broken. Oh, hell no, man. I probably played in a new pair of shoes like every three games on the old Joe. Because I hate it when they got too broken and too loose. I like my shoe to be snug, tight. Yeah, okay. Yeah, I was going to say, you play in a new pair of shoes, but I think Jordan played in a new pair of shoes every game. Yeah. Damn. Man, you know how brand new shoes hurt your feet? You know, Shade said it hurt like brand new shoes? Yeah. Hey, you remember when you was a kid, Joe, your shoes too small? you hitting the bottom of the hill. Trying to get them toes down from the house. Oh yeah. But I hate that. I hate that. That's how I got that. That's how I got this whole hammer toe I got over here. From winning two little shoes. Yeah, you know you can go get a little surgery for that too now. Nah, I ain't hurt man. I'm playing, it took me through my whole professional career. Ain't no need to get me. Jake is over with. Jose, he ain't get no surgery unless he have to. What? Voluntary surgery? Cosmetic surgery? Oh, that was right. Hey look, I don't know how many times y'all ever been under that knife, but I done been under it quite a few times. It ain't pretty. I ain't never been under that, Joe. That's probably why I'm suggesting it, my bad. Hey, man, look here. I had broke my collarbone and it almost broke the skin, so I got a knot right here. Ah! I said, Mr. Sharp, we can file it down. I said, man, do you know how I pay for that to be to file bone down? I said, it ain't bothering nobody. Always hurting. Right, right. And if I don't really walk around, I ain't at the beach, I ain't walk around with no shutoffs, ain't nobody gonna notice it. Right, yeah. And like when I do a photo, they just switch it to the opposite side. So if I'm facing this side, they'll take the bone and put it on this side so you won't even notice it. Damn. Okay, I see what you mean, okay, okay. Yeah, man. Uh-uh, nah, he'll die. One of that knife ain't no joke, boy. I got 18 screw, three plates in my face, man. Oh, yeah. I'm over the ball. You got that fractal orbital. Damn, but you got elbow, Joe? I went up to dunk the ball and Stackhouse tried to block it and he kind of bodied me and I slipped off the rim, hit face first. I saw that guy happen to a guy in high school. He tried to dunk the ball and the guy undercut him. And the first thing he hit was this. Ooh. Yeah. Yeah, I was in bad shape. I was in bad shape. How much time you had to miss, Joe? We was in the playoffs. This was the first round. It was the first round of the second round of the playoffs. And that was the first game. Damn. Man, I missed the rest of that series. I think we beat them in six. Right. I was out about two weeks. And that was early. I came back early. Whole hour bloodshot red, you know, just from the surgery and all that. Right, right, right. It took a minute for that redness to get out my eye. Hey, you had the mask on? Yes, I had the mask, I had to wear it. I still got the mask, I still got it. Batman Joe, whatever that I'm talking about. You can't breathe in there. That was back in 2005, you couldn't breathe with that mask on. I had to have a thing. You had to wear one up. I was blocking down, doing a combo block, power block, 16 power, I'll never forget it. Lyman come around, pulling, fist go right through my face mask, bop. Damn. Fraction my orbital. Yep. I don't know about you, but mine hurt. What?! That one hurt. Man! Hey, I remember I was laying on there, I had my face, hand like this here. I was like, oh man. In Greek, Steve Antelabas, we call him Greek though. He got it Sharpie, what's wrong? I said, Greek, it just felt like my face exploded. So he said, hey, can you get up? I said, yeah, but I don't want to. Hey, listen. Man, that thing was hurt though, Joe. So they got me that x-rated. Had a complete blowout the floor. Cause your eye sits in the socket, the whole floor was there. Yeah. Ooh. I know I was in pain, boy. I'm talking about, I would tell them, give me morphine, give me something, man, y'all gotta give me something. Nah, I ain't want nothing. I ain't, I don't do the pain medicine. Cause the pain medicine have you constipated. I had the, my head, listen, listen, I came down, hit my head on the floor, so I don't know if it was from that. Yeah, probably. My head was ringing so bad. Yeah. Yeah, and you know, like once something like that happened, they don't want you to fall asleep. Nah, they keep you up. That's what they say, you know, you okay? Don't fall asleep. I said, man, as soon as I get home, I'm going to bed. Right. You don't fall asleep. Man. No, that thing don't bother me. I think my orbital, I think my orbital was more painful, but I don't know. Maybe I dislocated my elbow too. Cause you see how my elbow bent like this? It bent like that the other way. So it's bending like this, it bent like that the other way. Damn. What the hell happened? Tried to catch a pass and Romo had my arm, I couldn't get my arm through. So I landed, he landed on top of me and bent it up. Oh God. What did I say to you? I had elbow surgery. I had elbow surgery too, huh? I had elbow surgery too. I had three chip bones in my socket. I woke up one morning, my arm was stuck like this here. I couldn't open it up. Oh, you had loose bodies in there, huh? Oh, man, yeah, Dr. Andrew got me right over there in Alabama. He died in Mobile or Montgomery? I think he had. Birmingham. Birmingham, yeah. I think so. God damn, boy. Y'all been on the table like the little Operation. You know, remember the little game, Joe? Yeah, yeah. Remember Operation? Yeah, old Joe. But y'all had everything done, boy. Joe, Kevin Durant says he would like to play for Team USA when his team suits up in 2028, MLA. Katie said, you guys, the media, have projected that narrative. Where did the last dance thing come from? I didn't say that. I wasn't playing. LeBron said he wasn't. You didn't hear that from me. I've got to stay on top of my game. I'm not expecting. I want to produce on the floor and make Grant or whomever is making the decision want to put me on the team. I don't want to just, not just seniority. I want to still prove I can help the team win. KD makes the team. He'll be short a couple of, I guess what, a couple of months? Show I'll turn him 40. because if LeBron were to play, he'd be 43, and Steph would be 40. You said make the team. What do you mean make the team? No, I'm saying if you were to play, you want to be on the team. Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Yeah, he going to, hey, man, look, for the love of the game, bro, like the dude loves to play Uncle Ocho. They can say whatever they want to say about him. He enjoys playing the game, and every time he steps on the floor, you know what you're going to pretty much get from him. Now, if he's still healthy at this point, still playing at a high level, Yeah, I would love to see him out there as well playing with some of these young guys to help lead the charge. I mean, every time he's played on the USA team, whenever it has been, he's always showed up and showed out. Yep. I can see that. Four gold medals. Yes, sir. I can see it. I can see it. I can see it. What, he'll be 40 what? He'll be 40. A couple months shy of 40. Yeah, he'll be able to do it, man. He'll be able to do it. because ESPN predicts the 2028 Olympic team. Cooper Flagg, Con Knipple, Jorlin Duren, Armin Thompson, Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Anthony Edwards, Chet Hongren, Jalen Williams, Tyrese Halliburton, Bam Adebayo, Jason Tatum. I don't know, I don't know, Joe. I don't know that team bringing the gold back. I like Cade and A.E. at the one and two. I like, I ain't going to lie, boy. I like Con Canippo. I ain't going to lie, Uncle Ocho. He's going to shatter that rookie three-point record. I mean, he's going to put... This mofo might have 300 threes. Man, listen. Hey, I'm talking about he's shooting the blood out that ball. You hear me? Oh, yeah. He can go now. I like the Eman Thompson kid. I like Durin. I like the scene. I like the scene. Uncle, what you don't like about it? Is it the bigs that you don't like? Got the bigs. Who going to do something with Yoki? Who going to do something with Wimby? We. Because Bam going to need some help down there, him and champ. Yeah, absolutely. Hey, Bam, Bam, would Bam be considered undersized big? Yes, yeah. Like a tweener or more, like power forward, center, he could play both? Yeah, he like a hybrid because he can handle the ball, Ocho. He can initiate the offense. He can pass. He can playmate. He can do a little bit of everything. Bam like a little wild card. I like having Bam in there. Yeah. But, hey, Unk, who is a big in general? that can go in and just... We ain't really got no big Americans. Yeah. Nah, not no bigs who can guard. Not no traditional bigs. We got stretches. That's what Cheney is. A traditional big wouldn't work in today's game anyway. Well, obviously, you got to have somebody that can bang with Yoke. Okay, okay. You got to be able to bang with him. You got to be able to keep him off the glass. You got to make him work on the offensive end. Right. Because he going to get his. And the problem that you have with him is that he gets everybody else involved. hey Taylor might say damn that yeah y'all ain't play me like he might say damn that hey Joe I see a name that ain't on here averaging 29 points a game and then the MVP discussion Jayla Brown said kick rock he said first of all he said yeah how they don't have him on here that's crazy he said BHPD disrespecting me and closed by Vietnam oh man uh that's crazy I can see KD playing I don't think Steph I think Steph was all in on that one Steph said look this is my first and last I'd have brought the family to Paris and we good we got the gold medal I'm good and the performance that Steph put on you'll never forget that that's the greatest Olympic in a game ever that was classic I wouldn't go back and mess with that I wouldn't go back and mess with that Uncle Ojo I wouldn't either and when he shot that he shot that thing man and he just way way I'm like god he shot that thing with somebody not only draped on it but he had KD and LeBron to his left wide open he said hey he said cause if y'all if y'all wanted to shoot it y'all would never pass it me because you're not getting it back. Right. Hey, I said, what? Oh, my God. They put on a performance, boy. Man, you know everybody lickin' their chops on us, Joe and Ocho. You know Canada want to try to get their lick in. The Serbs want to get their lick in. Greece with Giannis want to try to get a lick in. Slovenia with Luka. And listen, they waiting, too. Hey, and Jeremy. Remember Jeremy to beat him in FIBO a couple years ago. And little Schroeder. Schroeder, he a different player. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. They got their work cut out for him. Because they got a big target on their back. Big target. I don't know. Maybe Joel Embiid will be healthy enough to want to play. Hey, listen. I give Joel Embiid my knees, man. If I can give him my knees, man, just to get him healthy, get him running up and down that court, man, and doing what he could do for the Olympics. He could take my knees, man. And then, you know, the French definitely won. Wimby say he already looking at 28. You hear me? Wimby say he already, after they say, I'm looking to get my lick back in 28. Yeah. Yeah, it's going to be a good one, man. The world has caught up to us, fellas. In basketball? Yeah, from a talent perspective, they ain't scared no more, Uncle Ocho. Playing under those rules? Playing under those rules, those FIBA rules? Oh yeah, it's a whole different game. They could knock the ball out the rim and all kind of foolishness. Yeah. It's gonna be a tough one for us. We'll pull it out though. Speaking of that, Kevin Durant also spoke about the narrative that the world is catching up to Team USA. Katie says, all I hear is AAU is destroying the game. The Euros do it right while the Americans do it wrong. It's a lot bull jive with that. I can read between the lines. It's a shot at black Americans. We're controlling the sport. They're tired of us controlling the sport. France is coming for y'all. Really? Man, we smacked them boys. Right. Man, Katie, you got to come back and die. Yeah. Hey, I like the energy. I like the energy, fellas. Hey, listen, because I'm with him on that. Man, listen, we the best. I think has the world caught up? Yeah, but I think guys have kind of got a little bored with this for whatever reason. But we got to get back to dominating, man. We got to get back to dominating, fellas. I'm saying from top to bottom, it ain't no teams betting us from top to bottom on Uncle Ocho. No, but when they first started, they might have had four or five players in the NBA. Every team that sends somebody to the Olympics, they got NBA players. Yeah, you're right. So that's the difference between now. No, nobody has the depth that we have. It's just like the American Sprinters. nobody have the depth when it comes to 100 meter sprinting 200 meter sprinting 400 meter sprinting nobody got that depth right but they got a couple yeah i mean they you heard what you just said a couple i don't think they have enough but when you but ocho but here's the thing when they played in 92 you couldn't find a foreigner in the top 25 right the top seven eight players in the nba currently are foreigners. The game has evolved. They have evolved in general. They've gotten better whatever it is that they do in their ecosystem and having kids go through whatever type of training they do. Now you have more players in the NBA that are foreigners. But I still think as a whole, collectively as a group, they will never be able to dominate us, especially at said craft, especially in Olympics. yeah well they done beat us before so once you get beat right it's hard to keep them wolves off once them hyenas found out they can take down a Cape Buffalo it's hard to protect them calves it's hard man them group of names you just put up even though we ain't got no big they ain't letting us down I sure hope you're right Ocho That mean your perimeter guys got to be lights out. They got to be on point. They got to be on point. I like that Con Caniple for the simple fact he can shoot threes. You got to have somebody that can be a knockdown three. You got to have a couple of those guys. Yeah, because you're going to have guys who can go off the bounce, who can create opportunities for other guys, and you just want them other guys like Con Caniple to be able to knock down shots. Man, I watched him play, Ocho Concanipo. He don't even really look like no NBA player. But when I'm talking about getting it done, oh, my God. The boy out there getting it done, Ocho. Every time you look in the box, he got 20, 27 points. Like, I'm talking about shooting it, man. This is the biggest night in podcasting. The countdown is on to our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Live from South by Southwest, March 16th, we'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry. It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world. Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is... See all the nominees now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com.