Nightcap Hour 1: Nuggets OUTLASTS the Lakers COMEBACK + LeBron BREAKS ALL-TIME FGs Record + Spurts BEATDOWN the Pistons + Trea Young MAKES Wizards DEBUT + Shams REPORTS Jayson Tatum WILL PLAY

Ready for a different take on Formula One? Look no further than No Grip, a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series. Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the underexplored pockets of F1, including the astrology of the current grid, the story of the sport's most consequential driver's strike, and plenty of other mishaps, scandals, and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent gumster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to No Grip on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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... 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Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us as the Nuggets pull a full game in front of the Lakers. Now, thanks to a 121-13 home victory, Nikola Jokic, another triple-double. He ends up having 28 points, 12 rebounds, 13 assists. He was joined by Jamal Murray, who played exceptional tonight, 28 points on five and nine from the three-point line. He was sensational. They got an all-around team effort. They had five guys in double figures, and they holed out the Lakers who made a late charge, but they were not able to get over the hump. Thank you for joining us. Y'all know who I am. I'm your favorite Unc, and that is my partner and co-host, the Liberty City legend, the bingo ring of fame honoree, a former pro bowler and an all-pro, that is Chad Ochocinco Johnson, and the third member of the Big Three rounding it out tonight. Y'all know him. Arkansas. Yeah, a little bit, a little bit. Please make sure you hit the like button and do us all a favor. Go subscribe to the Nightcap Podcast feed, wherever you get your podcasts from. We would like to thank each and every one of you. It's nice like this that we really, really appreciate your support because none of this happens without you. So again, thank you for your support. Those looking to purchase a bottle of Shea by LaPortier, head over to LaPortierCognac.com. If you cannot find it in a state or city near you, premium VSOP cognac, the best tasting, smoothest VSOP cognac on the market. Don't take my word for it. Try it and compare it against other cognacs, and you'll see we have the best cognac on the market. Please drink responsibly and stay safe. The Nuggets beat the Lakers 1-21-13. Rough night for the Lakers in Denver. They lose eight into a knee injury early. LeBron had an elbow injury late. Luka picks up his 15 tech, and Smart can't convert a couple of threes in the clutch, and they lose, snapping their three-game winning streak. LeBron, 16 points. Luka had 27 points and 11 rebounds, seven assists. Austin Reeves had 16 points. They got 19 points from Jackson Hayes off the bench, and Rui played really, really well. Six and nine from the floor, four or five from the three-point line, but it was just not enough to overcome the balance effort from the Denver Nuggets with five guys in double figures led by the two-headed monster Yoke and Murray. Joe? Ojo, you got something? I'm going first. I watched the game, bro. Go ahead. Go ahead. Hey, listen, I watched this thing from the beginning all the way to the end. Now, Joe, I don't know what the hell going on, but I know them boys run up and down the court. I can understand based on what I saw. Joe you hear me yeah the Lakers played some good ball but again their defense has been their Achilles heel all goddamn night long well hell all season long yeah now they did just enough just enough to be able to stay within the game to almost have a chance to to come back at the end was that also reason the free throw line that missed that second shot yeah yeah yeah all right boom he could have tied the game right there would have been 112 112 and then they went down I think they got a stopper if I'm not mistaken. They came back down and Marcus Smart missed the goddamn three to tie the goddamn game up. Then this goddamn Joker, he ain't got no energy. He ain't got no energy. He's tired. He drived to the bucket, hit a little float off the backboard. Boom, that basically sealed the goddamn game. How was my basketball analysis? You did well. You did pretty good. That was pretty good. I appreciate y'all. I'm locked in. I thought Joker Jim Murray was just too much for the Lakers. Okay, Ocho, I don't know what it is, but Jamal Murray plays great against the Lakers. He loves, I don't know what it is, by sending them Lakers signs. But he comes out hot. He come out cooking. And, you know, it was a very important game for both teams. You know what I mean? It gave the Nuggets, what, a whole full game ahead of the Lakers? Yep. So, and Yoka's just too much in the second half, fellas. You got to pick your poison. Because if you double him, he's going to always make the right play. And them guys who he throwing to, I ain't going to even lie to y'all, Uncle Ocho. Some of them dudes I ain't never heard of before in my life. But they out there making shots and making plays, bro. They out there making shots and making plays. So I commend Big Jokic because as soon as he catches the ball, Uncle Ocho, he's scanning the whole court just to see who's open. He's going to find an open man every time. Yes. He's going to make you pay. He does a great job of that. But the Lakers weren't aggressive tonight. They got outscored by 18 points at the free throw line. That lets me know they're not aggressive. LeBron James, two free throws. Luka Doncic, four free throws attempts. Austin Reeves, three free throw attempts. Jackson Hayes, five free throw attempts. That tells me they're not aggressive. At some point in time, the Lakers are going to have to run an offense like everybody else. They cannot send LeBron to the nail. Get the pick. He goes to pick somebody. He's picking Austin Reeves or Marcus Mark. Now he's going to get the ball at the nail, Joe. That ain't no damn offense. All this ISO one-on-one. Run an offense. Right. Right. You have moments and times where it's time to isolate, but for the most part, to get continuity or to kind of get everybody moving, touching the ball, trying to catch a rhythm in some form or fashion. But I thought what they went with that little bitty team, Ocho, they was able to get back in the game. Because there was a few times I thought the Knuckles was going to blow this thing out the window. I was like, man, they're going to blow these boys out. But they was able to fight and stay within reach. Ocho, all you want to do is give yourself a chance, bro. They gave it back. Get down the stretch. You can't ask for too much better than that. You missing Aiden. You just was too small now. You been missing nothing. And this man has the nerve to say, they trying to turn me into Clint Capella. We don't want you to – I don't care who you become. Just don't be DeAndre Aiden. I don't give a damn if you come Clint Capella. Hey, I don't care. You can be Acapella. Just don't be DeAndre Aiden. Because that's the guy that's getting them killed. If you notice, the energy picks up when they bring Jackson Hayes in the ballgame. This man, he missing layups. He missing assignments. He doesn't have no idea. His energy, it just brings everything down. You can see. Watch their body language. When he misses a bunny, everybody just drop their head like, damn, here we go again. Lord, have mercy. And I don't know what's going to happen. I recommend that the Lakers just move on because you're not going to win with him. Portland didn't win with him, and nobody's going to win with him. You just move on. Just cut your losses while you're here. Well, listen, right now, this is what we got to do right now. We got to lift him up, man. Some way, somehow, we got to get some good positive play out of him. If we're going to get rid of him, there's something okay. But right now, we got to deal with this. We need this man just to some way, somehow, advance in the postseason. So I think he got to figure it out, man. He was playing well early in the year. I understand, bro, was missing a lot of the time, so he was probably getting more touches. We need him to assert himself down as a big fella, bro. They need him. Well, hey, Joe, most of the time, either you got it or you don't. Either you got it or you don't. So the sample side that we've seen from DeAndre Aydin, to a point when he was in Portland, now he with the Lakers. Phoenix, go back and look. He with Phoenix, too. But what you see is what you get. It's not like he going to miraculously change overnight just because he playing for the Lakers. You knew what you signed up for when you signed him. So now you done signed him and thinking things were going to turn out and be different. Well, this is what he's always been. You're hoping, Ocho, Joe, and I think you can attest to this. You're hoping that in the final year of his contract, he's going to ball out. Normally, guys in the final year of their contract, Ocho, you know, hey, football, what do they do? Guys normally have 15, 16 sacks. Guys have 100 catches. Rush for 1,300, 1,400 yards. Get him five or six picks. So that's what we're hoping. You know what? We got the carrot. We're going to dangle this carrot, which is a big contract out there in front of him to get him to play. You can motivate with fear. you can motivate with reward. At the end of the day, the only motivation is right here within you. At some point in time, those stimuli will be removed, Ocho. You will have enough money. Me threatening to cut you or to move on. When I remove the stimuli of reward or punishment, then what motivates you? Okay, I got a question, Unc. And Joe, you could probably answer this better, Unc. You probably know any because your basketball knowledge is out this goddamn world. got them to the stratosphere. So how about we approach the game differently offensively and instead of Luka having the ball most of the time, how about we run the offense through DeAndre Aiden to start games off to get him comfortable and to get him going? The same thing like how you feel when you touch the ball early in the game, then I got you all four quarters. How about we do the same thing with DeAndre Aiden to get him some confidence, to get him going early so we got him throughout the rest of the game on both ends of the court? I like how you think. They try to pick and roll, Joe. They try to get him lobs. He's not a guy. He's not a guy. He's not a guy that you run an offense for because that's not what he is. He's not that skill where I can jump him, give him the ball. He should have went and trained with a king so he can work on a postgame because he doesn't have that. His hands are terrible. Let's be all the real with it. And so the thing is, you've got to – Luka has to have the ball. Luka cannot play without the ball. He can't. He just can't. He needs the ball. And so they do a great job of giving him the ball, let off the reads, and LeBron is playing okay without the ball. I just wish he did something. Occasionally, Ocho, they try to overplay him, try to deny him the ball, and he'll sneak back door, Joe, and you know he's going to lay up, get him a dunk like that. But normally he's at the nail or he's standing up in the corner. And at some point in time I'm like, bro, go ahead and take the two. They keep trying to tie it up with Marcus Smart. Hey, take the two. It's okay to take two. Yeah, yeah. Hey, listen, for me, see, Andre Aiden has kind of teased us a little bit, okay, Ocho, because he's shown that he's capable of, you know, being a big-time player within this offense. He's shown that earlier this year. We just need him to be decent, bro. That's it. They don't need him to be out of this world. They need him to be decent. You need A.R., LeBron, and Luka. Yeah, they're going to have to be efficient from the outside, But for the most part, you need your rim running big. That's why Jackson Hayes has so much success when he comes into the game. Thank you. Rim run. He just rim run. He's like a deer. He's just running up and down the court. He's going to catch him two, three live just by running. Yep. Aiden ain't doing that. Aiden waiting for that little pocket pass so he can drop his little flow shot up there. He ain't. He ain't missed. Yeah. And then drop his head. And, like, we surprised. Like, we actually thought you was going to make that shot, bro. We did. he's the only one surprised that he missed that shot. As you mentioned, look at Jackson Hayes' energy. You look at the team energy when Jackson Hayes comes in the ball game. He's hauling ass. He'll get the rebound. He's looking the outlet, and he's running a dead-ass sprint to the front of the rim. Yeah, yeah. He gets an offensive rebound. He's like, you know what? I can't go back up. Let me find somebody to get the ball to. If DeAndre ain't getting the rebound, I bet you a doorknob to a bucket of Calvin Doerr. They're going to take it out of his hand, and he's going to be like, damn. Damn. Damn what? You actually thought we thought you was going to go back up with some authority and put the ball in the basket? We didn't. We didn't. LeBron and the energy tonight from LeBron. Joe, what is this? Two points in the third quarter? Four points in the fourth quarter? Joe, what am I supposed to do with that? 11 shots in 34 minutes. What am I supposed to do with that? what's he trying to prove I mean are you hearing the outside noise and everybody saying we'll be glad when LeBron leave this is come on LeBron 11 shots in 34 minutes yeah I agree I agree I think he definitely has to assert himself more 11 shots ain't gonna get it I know it's a little altitude there in Denver but for the most part him and Luka gotta be they gotta be assertive man I don't care if he go five for 25, he got to get up at least 20 shots for me. I'm going to be honest with you. Just for them to compete, man, because his aggressiveness, it opens up the floor for everybody else. You know who's been really aggressive that I didn't know had this side of him? Luke Kennard. I'm used to Luke Kennard as a catch and shoot. But Luke Kennard, if you run him off the three-point line, he'll put it on the floor and get to the float game, or he'll go all the way to the rim. I've been very impressed with Luke Kennard. I thought he's played well. He's been one of the best surprises for the Lakers. I thought tonight Rui was sensational. He was. Honestly, and I might be in the minority, I wouldn't have brought LeBron back in the ball game. I'd have left Rui in. Rui was cooking. I would have. He was making some shots. Yeah, he was getting it done. He was getting it done. I agree with you. Luke Canard has definitely been a positive, bright spot for the Lakers. He's just so crafty and knows how to manipulate the defense because he's such a great shooter. and he know guys are running out to him uncontrollably. He's taking advantage of that. He's taking advantage of it. Shooting, getting in there, getting his little middie off, making plays. Yeah, Luka and I have been great. He's been great for the Lakers. And you know what, Joe? I was hoping. Like, you know how you sometimes like, okay, that's a kid or a pet. Well, you know, he's going through a stage. He'll grow out of it. I've given up. I was hoping that this was a stage Luka complaining every time. He's not going to grow out of it. This is who he is. So you know what? He's not going to stop complaining. I'm going to stop complaining about him complaining. I've come to accept this is who he is. This is who he's going to be. And Laker fans, you've got to deal with it. You've got to deal with it because every time he shoots the ball, he gets fouled. He gets to the free throw line. He got a take last night or the other night, Joe. Even after he got to the free throw line, they called a foul and he's still complaining. I'm like, so what do you want him to do? And if you shoot a shot and they don't call a foul, Joe, when was the last time? So, you know, the official, like, you know what? I missed that call. Y'all bring the ball back. Y'all foul Luka down here. Right, right. Let him go to the free throw line. They don't do that. Nah, nah. And it make it look bad, too, man, when you down there complaining. Look, the refs are going to make mistakes. I think we all know that. They ain't going to call everything. But the ones that they don't call, I ain't never been the player just to, unless you just deliberately just foul me. Hey, man, get back on defense, man. Help us in a positive way because down there complaining, we – You got us a five – they on five on four. Five on four, it's a wrap. We're going to give up something. So, I agree with you. It hurt them in a lot of ways too. You know what I mean? Because he do it every game. He do it every game. Joe, Ocho, they can't defend five on five. What do you think the chances are they're going to defend four on five? Nah. Think about it. They swing the ball. They're getting layups. I mean, I was like, Lord, have mercy. This is – look, the match they can do is make the playoffs. Hopefully they can stay in the sixth spot. They want it done. They're not beating anybody. They don't defend well enough. They're not – because think about it, Joe. They were down 15. They cut it to five, and then they go three consecutive turnovers. Now it's back to 12. Yeah. 12, yeah. They cut it back down to six. Then they go turnover, turnover, a terrible shot. Now they're down 13-14. That's not sound basketball. That's not good basketball. They take these ill-advised shots in which they're out of position. Now they get run out. I'm like, bro, they keep going under the screen Hardaway Jr. He makes his first shot. You can't go under no screen. Zero. You've got to run him off the spot. Ready for a different take on Formula One Look no further than No Grip a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing most coveted series Join me Lily Herman as we dive into the underexplored pockets of F1 including the astrology of the current grid Lewis Hamilton, Capricorn Sun, Cancer Moon. Wouldn't you know it, Michael Schumacher is also a Capricorn Sun, Cancer Moon. The story of the sport's most consequential driver's strike. We have one man who, upon hearing that he was going to be fired, freaked out, and apparently climbed out the window. of the bathroom? And was Daniel Ricciardo's illustrious F1 career a success story, a cautionary tale, or some combination of both? He started getting all this attention, and he maybe started to think, I'm bigger than this, I'm better. And plenty of other mishaps, scandals, and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to No Grip on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 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 iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what they're thinking, but they definitely ain't got no pushback on the I mean, on the defense, when it comes to guarding them, guards out there on the perimeter. No. Like I'm talking about, they don't got no resistance on the pick and rolls. It's like they let you get to your spots or wherever you want to get to. If you let a dude just be comfortable and get to any spot he wants to on the court, man, you at his mercy, bro. Yeah. You at his mercy. Get whatever you want. Them dudes getting what they want, left and right. They out there shooting darts. You A, you want candy? You want cookies? You want chips? Just pick what you want. Because like you said, Joe, there is no resistance. I mean, I'm looking at them, I'm like, ain't no way you're this bad defensively. And that's why. They don't break down, they're not in any guard position. Let me tell you what they try to do, Joe. You see them in position, they try to hip you. They try to bump you and make you change direction. Nobody is in a guard position. Right, right. That's why you see the upper echelon teams in the NBA, the OKC's, the Spurs, Celtics. They pick up full court, Uncle Ocho. They make it uncomfortable for you the whole entire game, bro. It ain't no sitting back, okay, I'm going to catch my man at half court. No, man, they up. They making you work, turning you two and three times before you bring the ball over to half court. You know what I mean? using up half of the shot clock so when you get it over, you got less time to get into your offense. You know what I mean? It's the little things like that that makes the game a lot harder for these NBA teams and only a few teams who understand it. But they can't guard. LeBron can't guard. Who's asking a 41-year-old to defend? Never in the history of the game. As great as Jordan was at all defense, Kobe were. As they got older, they were not the same defensive players. And none of them was playing, only Jordan was playing in his 40s, although he wasn't in year 20 plus on. But, you know, he took the three years off, I mean, the year and a half off, and then he took a three years off. So he was in his 40s when it was like year 14, 15. Kobe was, I mean, Kobe came in as a 17-year-old. But as Kobe got older, he couldn't defend like he could when he was in his 20s. And we understand that. So to ask LeBron to sit in the chair at 41 years of age with all those minutes, With all those field goals, you're just pie in the sky. Austin Reed is never going to be able to play defense. Luka is never going to be able to play defense. So the only guy that you really got that can defend or tries to defend on a consistent basis, every position, is Marcus Smart. Okay, but there's only one of him. Aiden ain't no defender. He's not. That's why the Lakers are going to have some major decisions to make this summer, Uncle Ocho. It ain't really that major, Joe. Yeah, it is. You know what you mean. Yeah, I'm saying because AR is up. You know, they're going to have to pay AR, and you're going to have to pay them top dollar. Yes. And I don't know. Now, you know, that's the homeboy, but I don't know if that's going to help the Lakers, you know, advance in the postseason. I'm just going to keep it real. Yeah. No, they're not. Because, I mean, look, if you look at backcourts that were really, really good. Let's go back to the Pistons. What could they do? They could defend, but they had defenders. They had Mahorn. They had Lambert. They had Sally. They had Joe Dumars. Go back and look at the bad boy two Pistons. Big Ben, Rashid. They had guys that would defend. What's the lefty? What's the light-skinned guy? For who? For Detroit. Rip Hamilton. No, not Rip. The lefty. Tayshaun Prince. Tayshaun Prince. They had guys that could defend. You don't have enough guys. Look at OKC. What can they do? Defend. Defend. Look at Minnesota. You got McDaniels, but you got Rudy. Yeah. Whatever you think about Rudy, he is a rim protector. Now, is he an on-the-ball defender? No. But he makes you think twice about bringing your ass up in there. There you go. Because you know there's a potential chance. there's an 80, 85% chance he's gonna swat it up out of there. And if he doesn't swat it, he's gonna make you alter it. The same thing with Wemby. You know, hey, I done seen guys have a two on one, like nah, that's to his advantage. We need a three on one in order to have an advantage. Wemby make him turn it around out of there. And like I said, you look at Luka, Luka and AR, they're dynamite, offensive firepower. Yeah. But they can't stop anybody because the opposing backcourt is going to match them. They're going to get layups. And this is where it hurts you at in the clutch. Because while you're struggling and you're down late down in the shot clock, they're getting layups. They're getting floaters. They're getting easy shots. Or they're getting wide open shots where you're running it down, you're following it down to the very end, and everything is tough. Yeah. Yeah. How about they let Brother Reeves go and let him sign somewhere else and they bring in defensive players that they need to play defense? They're not going to let him go. They're not going to let him walk out the door. But he's a homegrown player. It's hard to let homegrown players. I mean, he was an undrafted free agent. And he's turned himself into this. Yeah, he's nice. He's turned himself into this. No, he's phenomenal. I love the way I love, and every year he's gotten better. He's gotten better. He's improved in an area of his game, which shows you that you can improve incrementally if you put the time in. This notion that you can improve, you can. I'm not saying he's going to ever be Jordan, James Harden, Dwayne Wade, but being an undrafted free agent and had he not gotten hurt, he probably would have made the all-star team, Joe. Oh, yeah, I agree. He's been balling his sailor. He took advantage of all the opportunities that came his way, especially early with LeBron being out and him and Luka basically being the focal point on offense. Man, look, he's great in pick and roll. He can create off the dribble. You can't go under on the pick and roll, so you always got to go over. So he's always going to have you in the hucklebook to where, okay, do I take away this midi, this two-pointer, this lob, or this three? So he's always going to give you a chance. I love watching him as a player, how poised and patient he is. You know, on the floor, he never seems in a rush. And he plays well off Luka and LeBron. That's why I like folks about it, yeah. Yes. Udonis Haslam complains Luka whining toward the refs to a young Jason Tatum. The next step of evolution for Luka, stop whining. Stop complaining to the refs. You're not going to beg your way to a title or cry your way to a championship. I remember this with young Tatum. And he has evolved and made these changes. When we were there in those battles with the Celtics, as soon as he starts complaining to the refs, I tell our guys, now we got him. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I don't – the funny thing about it, Uncle Joe, saying now we got him and he's still dropping 30 and 40 and 35 on you. No, no, no. They ain't talking about then. They ain't talking about now. He's changed that. He doesn't complain like he wants to. No, I'm just saying, using that analogy, when Luka is cooking every night, even though he's complaining, he's still cooking every night. But guess what? His other guy coming right back at him getting 35, and he's getting them when they matter in the clutch situation. Yeah. And guess what? So while he's complaining and getting teed, because he got 15, he gets one more, he's going to have to miss a game. No, they already said he was suspended, though. What is it, 15 or 16? 16. Yeah, they said he's suspended. He gets one more. He got to get one more tech, and he's suspended for a game. Yeah. So that's the problem that you have. And the refs is at some point in time, it's the boy that cried wolf. Yeah. Man, you ain't get foul. right right yeah the funny thing about it too Joe I don't joke maybe I might be wrong you would know better but refs that have players or secret players that complain like that all the time wouldn't they be a little bit more reluctant not to even give you the call because you're kind of irritating hey that's what I would think Ojo that's why I've never been a complainer about calls and I hate seeing guys do that every trip down the court talking to the ref man the ref got a job to do too do your job man we'll be alright you know what I mean Yeah. So it's annoying, bro. It's annoying, especially when you just continuously do it throughout the whole entire game. Yeah, but I'm like UD, huh? Yeah, I know we got him. Once you get him complaining to the refs, yeah, you know the ref probably be a little reluctant to blow his whistle. Right. You know, here and now. That's just human nature, bro. Because he missed a point-blank layup, thought he was going to get fouled. You remember he beat the guy, did a great move, and he thought the guy was going to foul him, try to get contact, and whipped it. Yeah, yeah. But look, enough about the Lakers. And we'll get back to the Lakers. We'll talk about LeBron in a minute. But when you get Nikola Jokic and you get Murray playing like this, they're going to be tough to beat. Yep. When they're efficient like that. Jokic went to – he had the quietest 28 points. And when you looked – I mean, you looked up and like, damn, he got a triple-double at the end of the third quarter. Hey, Uncle Joe. What's up? Hey, I think he be pulling the wool over our eyes, Uncle. What you mean? Goddamn Joker. Why you say that? Like be faking like he tired, but he don't really be tired. He be breathing hard, hands on his hip, but you steadily cooking every goddamn body. Yeah. Something ain't adding up. One plus one equal two, but the way you looking and the way you playing don't go together. Yeah, yeah. You see him on the bench, Uncle, he look like he about to fall out. that's a large man. That's a 7-foot man that's 280 pounds and he's moving up and down the court. So it's taking a lot out of him. And he's the focal point of their offense and he runs the offense. So he's going to have a... I mean, you don't see very many bigs. Teams run their offense through a big. Right. They do that with him. They does. And they're able to do that with him because his IQ is through the roof, Ocho. You know, as far as awareness, making guys around him better, getting his own shot when need to, he don't have no weakness, bro. Hey, Joe. He has none. Hey, hold on. He don't have no weakness, right? He don't have no weakness. You see how John Morant looked when he exploded? Yeah. You see how D-Rose looked before he got injured, how he exploded? Russell Westbrook, how he exploded? their lateral movement, their quickness. It's like, wow. There's nothing about him. It's like he's moving in slow motion. Or maybe I'm tripping. Maybe there's something wrong with my little 13-inch TV. It's like he's not even moving. But everything go in. Everything be working. Ocho, it's called deception, bro. He's deceptive with everything that he does. You know what I mean? He's precise with it. Quick moves. He's scared. He get right to his little go-to, couple spins in that post, then he going to jump hook you to death now. He going to jump hook you to death. You saw the little sky hook in the paint? Man, he going to jump hook you to death. He got some of the best touch I've ever seen around. For a big guy, it's hard to find. Joe, I need somebody to tell me who had better touch around the rim. I'm talking about from 8, 10 feet, either hand, lefty, righty, off the ground. One leg. Float, yes, yes. I agree. He got great touch, man, for a guy his size. And that's why he'll be able to play a long time because he's a below-the-rim center who just has great touch around the basket. Yep. But the thing is, you go look at the really great players. Look at Bird. You're like, he ain't athletic. He cooking, folks. Look at Luka. He ain't athletic. All those players, and yo, they play below the rim. Yep. Hey, you know what's funny, too? What's that? You know how much I love footwork. You know how much I can appreciate footwork. Now, I might not know what the hell players they got there running, but it's one thing I do pay attention to, to understand how they're able to do what they got to do. Hey, as slow as he look, as tired as he may play, but young bull got some feet on him. Oh, yeah, yeah. Hey, he got some feet on him to beat that guy damn big, but the fact to me, I'm trying to get it to register to me that your footwork is phenomenal, but you're not moving fast enough to beat the dudes the way you're beating them. You know why? You know what I'm saying? Yeah, but you know why? What do they play a lot of in Serbia? Soccer. You ever see what? Look at Luka. What are they doing with the ball? Olajuwon. Why was Olajuwon able to beat somebody? He grew up playing soccer. Yeah. Footwork, yeah. D-Nash. Yeah. That's it. I drop step. He take that big swing. Or he face you up. It's old way. Hey, that face up be slow as hell, man. But see, the thing is, all he wants to do, he's trying to see. When Yoke face you up, he's trying to see, okay, where's the double coming? I know they're not going to leave you one-on-one with me. I know that. Somebody's coming. I just need to know where you're coming from. Oh, okay, here he comes. So if you notice, they bring the double. He was throwing the pass way across court. Bruce Brown in the corner. Wow, wow. It's like a quarterback. If you bring the blitz from one side, I know where you're vulnerable because I know you had to replace this guy that's coming extra. So now I know where you're vulnerable. That's how big guys, guys that see, okay, you brought the double team. You're supposed to be guarding him. Well, if you guard over here, Brett got your little small ass over here bothering me, who over here? Now, I got an instant second. Okay, they rotated. Good. Perfect. but you didn't rotate enough. Because it's hard. Okay, it's kind of like with, who broke Luka down? Oh, Grayson Allen. Broke Luka down, here come LeBron. Pass to the guy LeBron was supposed to be guarding. Here come Austin Reeves. He kicks to the guy to Austin Reeves. Hey, guy late getting out there. Yes, sir. As Jose Gooseneck. Gooseneck, they late in the dollar show. We got you. So LeBron James breaks the all-time NBA field goal record with 15,838 field goals. He passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once again. Remember, he passed Kareem for the most points. I remember when Kareem broke that record. Actually, Kareem broke the record at Thomas and Mac right there in Vegas. See, Joe, they used to go, they used to try to get the interest in the NBA, they would be playing all over. Yeah. Boston would play in Connecticut. Atlanta Hawks would play in New Orleans. Yeah. The Lakers would be all over. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because they were trying to drum up interest because the interest wasn't what it is now. Right, right. So we're trying to drum up interest. And so teams that, cities that. Ready for a different take on Formula One? Look no further than No Grip, a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series. Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the underexplored pockets of F1, including the astrology of the current grid. Lewis Hamilton, Capricorn Sun, Cancer Moon. Wouldn't you know it, Michael Schumacher is also a Capricorn Sun, Cancer Moon. The story of the sport's most consequential driver's strike. We have one man who, upon hearing that he was going to be fired, freaked out, and apparently climbed out the window of the bathroom. And was Daniel Ricciardo's illustrious F1 career a success story, a cautionary tale, or some combination of both? He started getting all this attention, and he maybe started to think, I'm bigger than this, I'm better. And plenty of other mishaps scandals and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years Listen to No Grip on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts 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 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. Yeah, 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. to space, go to this place like that. Joe, what do you think? You think someone else is going to get over 15,000? Because when it's all said and done, it'll probably be over 16,000 field goals made. Man, he going to have to be different. What I mean different is, he going to have to have some real discipline, Uncle Ocho. Because this man here 23 years, bro, I'm talking about him been playing at a crazy level for over two decades. Like, come on, man. I don't know. I don't think, I don't know. No. I don't know if we're going to see nobody get that, bro. The longevity that LeBron has had, because he's never had an injury that's kept him out a significant time to where he's had to miss like half a season or a single season. And he's been dominant every year he's played, so I don't see nobody catching that, bro. I mean, you know, think about it, Ocho and Joe. A 21-time All-NBA selection. That's crazy. 21 times he's been an All-NBA selection. 22 times he's made the All-Star team. Tom Brady played 23 years, so Tom Brady is a 22-time All-Star. You know, baseball players used to have a bunch of, I think, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays got 25, 27 All-Star. But here's the thing, Joe and Ocho, they used to have two All-Star games. So you could make two All-Star teams in one season. Yeah. Oh, the rules were different back then. They used to have some crazy rules back then. But to play at the level at which you play, think about it. Greatness is monotonous. It's boring as hell. Bring your own food. You get up, get to shoot around, get your workout, practice, go home, sleep. Now you got kids. Mama going to have to make sure the kid's quiet because you can't have any interruptions. You do that over and over. Think about it. Basically, it's a situation where you're doing the same. It's Groundhog Day. Yeah. you wake up and do the same thing just to chat stay with just a second just imagine if you had to get up and do the same thing over and over and over again even if you say well if i was making this i was making that it's easy to say if you was making this because here's what i know you're making the money you're making now and that you didn't probably thought you was going to be making when you was a kid and you can't do the same thing over and over and over and over same thing over and over and over and over and over for 23 years. Some people get bored. Some people don't understand it. It's great. Greatness is boring. We talk about 23 years. To give everybody perspective, I'm not sure how many people are in the chat, but think about all the people in the chat when the New Year's hit. How many of you said New Year's resolutions? We in the month of March. I guarantee you, 98% of y'all have that resolution is going to shit. excuse me, is going to the wayside. Because you're able to do it when the new year first start off. Hey, Unk and Joe, in the gym, everybody mind their mom in the gym. Can't even get on the equipment. It's too crowded. They on the weight bench, they all in the way. You can't get on nothing. You get about three months into the new year, gym empty as hell. Give it two weeks. The first, like January 1st, Ocho, the first week, don't even go to the gym. Oh, man. Hey, hey, hey. Next week, damn, look at all this equipment I got. Y'all got new equipment? Yeah, it's hard, though. It's hard. People don't understand the sacrifice it takes. You know, most of the time you see something that LeBron is able to do over such a long, extended period of time. And the fact that, to me, the fact that people are able to find things to say bad about him based on what he's accomplished when he had so much riding from being being a high schooler coming into the nba and exceeding all expectations to where he's at now and still people still have you know everyone everyone has a right to their own opinion but but to to to to watch greatness like this live in person i don't think people will understand or appreciate it until he's actually going from the game and then you're able to see for yourself, you know, I mean, obviously the product that's going to be left in the NBA is going to be good, but it's not going to be anything like that. Look, if they criticize you, they talk, you got to be great. They don't talk about average or mediocre people. It's part of it. Because I've got your greatness. I've got to find something to say you're not as great as you think you are or as people say you are. So I've got to find something to chip away. Yeah. If he was just a regular guy, ain't nobody criticizing. A guy that played 15 years, averaged 10 points, ain't nobody criticizing him. Right. But as you go up levels, and there's levels, there's great, and as you keep going, great tips. The moment people start to add that EST, you can be great. G-R-E-A-T, great. Then you can be E-R at E-R. But when you start adding that E-S-T. Yeah. it's a different ball game yes absolutely and that was you Unk that asked if we ever see someone achieve what he's done you know the longevity I don't think we'll ever see a player with that for one that kind of discipline right yes in the injury history right so many different factors so many things have to go right Joe and then obviously someone that is physically imposing where over the years in the different areas that he's played in because he's played so long that he's been able to evolve with the game itself. Yes. And improve on his game, where regardless of what era or what time he's playing in, he's able to adapt to it. And that's something he's been able to do as he's gotten older as well. Yeah, hey, look. But when it's all said and done, Uncle Ocho, the man going to have almost every record in the book, bro. Yeah. He going to sit top of the charts. And ain't nobody going to be able to catch him probably as long as we live. unless they come out with something they can keep these guys on the floor. But he got it sold up, bro. But you know what, guys? It's the – if you just look at his points, you're like, damn, that's a lot of points. Right. But look at his assist total. Yeah. He's top five in assist. That's what I'm saying. A guy that is a pass-first guy. the guy that is passed first scored more points than anybody else in the history of the game and then they used to kill him for not having that killer mindset with the ball now he got all the now he got all the records i i'm confused when it's no 10 whatever seconds not having that mamba mentality not having that killer instinct like jordan but but but the stats say otherwise. But, but I keep telling you, if I like you, there's nothing that you can do to make me dislike you. If I don't, I don't care. LeBron James walks on water. They're going to say, yeah, he's walking on water because he can't swim. Damn! No help! Hey, that's a good one. He cured cancer. What about diabetes? What about heart disease? I like that. That was a good one. He cured cancer. I know two guys would have cleared it in two years. Here he is in year 23, and he's just not finding a cure for cancer. Yeah, yeah. That's the way it is. And you have to understand that. The greater you become, they try to knock you off the pedestal. The more they ridicule, yeah. They're going to come. They're going to come. And he's done a great job. He's not in the tabloids, you know. But I guess that's what they want. Everybody wants to get something on him so bad. so bad. I've never seen anybody, I've never seen an athlete that people want to see fail. Not everybody, because he has a lot of support. You don't get, you don't, you know, his shoes and what he does off the, you know, as far as endorsements and advertising, you don't get to that level. But when they said who is the most hated athlete, who has the most negative social media. Right. He gets it every year. Yeah. So it's just not in our imagination, guys. The facts back it up. It is what it is. Yeah. Wimby had 38 points, 16 rebounds, 5 blocks, and a 121-106 win over the Pistons. San Antonio won 13 of 14 games and remains second place in the West with a 45-17 record. I don't know. I mean, come on, Joe, man. You ain't supposed to be this tall and be able to do that. You're supposed to be awkward. You're supposed to be, when you start getting that tall, you're supposed to be Manu Bo. You're supposed to be Boban. You're supposed to be George Murassan. You're supposed to be Sean Bradley. You're not supposed to be this athletic. You're not supposed to be able to handle the ball and change directions and do what he does. Excuse me. He blocked the shot on one end and then ran down the court and got a lob on the damn mother. He'll cheat code, huh? He'll cheat code, man. He nice with it, boy. Five blocks, 38.16 rebounds. I mean, hell, he took Duran out the game. He wasn't even a factor in this game, was he? He must have got hurt or something. He only played 12 minutes during. His feeling was getting hurt early. But here's the thing, though. If you can't pull him away from the rim, he right there. So if you get an offensive rebound, what you going to do? You going to put it back up? No, you can't. He going to fly. Yeah, he going to fly swat there. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. I see big Isaiah Stewart back, though. He had 18-5. Big fella, the big bully. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it might have been his first game back, too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He played decent. But, I mean, K-10 for 26. It's going to be hard for them to win if he ain't efficient, Uncle Ocho. And these Spurs, man, hey, the other day was just Vassal, who I said won the game for him. Now, look, Boxer had 29, and Wimby had 38. They got a team full of guys who scrap. Yeah. They like OKC. They can guard. They can go off the dribble. They can cause havoc on both ends of the floor, man. And they pick up and play full court like that, too. They young. You got them young legs, Joe. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they push you to the brink, bro. Hey, look, San Antonio, they've been having an interesting season, Uncle Ocho. They done beat. three times so they got some confidence going to the playoffs ain't nobody gonna want to see them boy no ain't nobody gonna want to see them boy them boy they're cutting up hey Uncan Joe you remember the episode of Martin when Angry Man be on there which one you remember Angry Man from Martin he just always be angry no okay okay it just I'm not telling a joke I'm like I'm being dead serious but Angry Man from Martin they remind me you remind me of isaiah stewart remind me angry man oh do it yeah the character from martin he always angry but the fact you coming off suspension right and you coming off the bench and you had you you played 30 minutes and had 18. yeah and he's supposed to be in the start line up no he don't he come on he come out the bench ocho he he he had nights like this to where he give you a huge spark on the offensive end right but for the most part he the muscle i mean he can make a shot now Now, don't get me wrong. He was playing well for him before, you know, obviously before he had his suspension. What did he play? He played a four, huh? Four, five. Four, five. Hey, Eddie hit some threes. He was three or five from the three, Joe. That's what I know. I'm saying, like, he'll shoot that thing. Hey, Joe, you know what they could have did tonight? What's that? They could have had Isaiah Stewart start and intimidate Wimby the whole game. No, you're not. No, no. He's short. He too short. He going, what? What? Everybody too short. Hold on, he's short, but he gonna do his work early. Meaning he gonna meet Wimby probably them that half court Ocho and he gonna make him bump and grind all the way down. We're gonna try to wear him down. That's the only thing you can do, man. That's the only thing you can do. Joe, when Cade is 10 or 26, it's gonna be hard for them to overcome that. They shot 40% from the floor. I know. That's what I've been saying. Like, he has to be efficient for them to win. Okay, Ocho, this ain't no team to where he can play mediocre and they can still win. Nope. Like, he's got to put up big numbers and he's got to be efficient, and he got to get these guys involved. The Thompson kid must have got hurt too because I see he played two minutes. He was out. Yeah. Yeah, during his problem was foul trouble, Joe. he had 5,000 only played 12 minutes damn yep so that means he was in he's hey y'all go ahead they tried to rage bait they got all these guys talking about oh he just got better than LeBron we see y'all rage bait we ain't paying y'all no attention they talking about Wimby nah nah they talking about some guys that they might not even be in the league anymore but Champagny Fox Look, if Fox get going. Hey, he nice with it, huh? That lesson be killing folks. Yeah, he hard to slow down. He hard to slow down. And both guys shot 50% from the floor. You let women shoot 50% from the floor and you put them on the foul line 11 times? They're going to be hard. Because, look, they still get good contribution from their bench. They didn't get a whole lot tonight, but I thought Harper and Johnson, I like Brian, too. All those guys come in high energy, play well. Harper always under control. Good poise and patience guy. And it'll be a different story for that rookie of the year, Uncle Ocho, if he wasn't on this good team that he on. Talking about Dylan Harper. If he was on another team to where he could really make go. He could play in major minutes. Yeah, yeah. But, I mean, he's been effective for them. He's been effective for them. He going to help them. Well, Knapple should be winning rookie of the year. I agree. I agree. That's just my opinion. Trey Young makes his wizard debut. He had 12 points, six assists, while playing just 19 minutes. He'd been sidelined with a knee and quadricep injury and was on a minutes restriction. Juju Reese, who's the brother of Angel Reese, in his third career game, had 18 points, 20 rebounds, 10 on the offensive end. He was 5 of 7 from the floor. He was 8 of 8 from the free-throw line. Most rebounds in the game by a rookie this season. Ace Bailey crashed Trey's debut, scoring 21 of his career-high 32 points in the first half. Look, I mean, I, kid, I mean, 20 points, I mean, your third career game, Ocho, I mean, Joe and Ocho, and you're not expecting a guy to do this. Talking about 20 rebounds? Yeah! He got a knack. Them Reese's got a knack for rebounding that ball. Get that ball. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, hey. Because that surprised me. I had never really seen him play. I have not either. And 20 rebounds, man. That says a lot. Good active big. I mean, he 8 for 8 from the free throw line. So he's probably, he's pretty aggressive. That's probably another bright spot for Washington. Mm-hmm. So, you know, hey, AD gets back. Utah is like, okay, they're sending people out here to check on us. We better try to win this game. We better try to win this game, Joe. Kyle Filipowski, he had 20 points. Cody Williams had 13. Isaiah Carrier had 27. H. Bailey had 32. Blake Henson had 10. Bryce Insubar had 14. They got contribution. Yeah, they got some young boys who can get to the money, Uncle Ojo. But what's the kid that normally been killing for Utah? I think he's from Bates. Oh, Keontae George. Yes. That boy been getting down. But when he don't play, Isaiah, call your steps right in, man, and pick a right where he left out, 27-11. It's good to see Ace Bailey get off to a great start, 32 points, 12 for 19. They got some bright spots. They got some young talent. Yeah, yeah. But they say, no, we still want DeBonza. There you go We got the talent But we want A DeBonza you look at and the Wizards they had Joe they had seven guys in double figures They shot 47 from the floor 43 from the three line 18 made threes They were terrible from the free-throw line. They missed 10 free-throws. Damn. Yeah, they got to catch a rhythm, huh? Got to get Trey in the form. Obviously, you know, he playing that point guard position. So he's going to have the ball a lot of times in his hands. So they got to get him in the rhythm. Well, look, next year they have AD. AD and Trey in the pick and roll should be deadly. But what about the growth of these other guys around them too, though? They got some guys, man. They got some guys who can play, Uncle Ocho. They ain't just going to be, you know, unless Trey and AD going to be dominant outside of that. Yeah. They got some young boys over there who can go. Man, look here. If Trey could have the kind of success he had with Clint Capella, I know damn well he could have good success with AD. With AD, yeah. Well, it just depends on what AD we're getting. A healthy one? We're getting the one to stand on the floor. How can we get that one? That's what I'm saying. You're getting the healthy one. All right. According to Shams, Jason Tatum will play this season and could make his debut Friday against the Mavs. J.R. Smith says the Celtics have been, always been, this is what Swish said, the Celtics have always been Jalen Brown's team. Even players believe it, and that the media is the one trying to make it Jason Tatum's team. Joe, what are your thoughts? Oh, man, I don't think, JB and JT don't need to get into that, bro. Obviously, you know, everybody going to have their own opinions. They going to say about who team it is. just go out there and ball and win championships and let the chips fall where they may because at the end of the day when you're done ain't nothing that's gonna matter bro that's really important though right hey Joe listen to me real quick now I know I don't know much about basketball like y'all two but I do know something about players that have pride and that have ego especially when two of the better players on the same team now when Jason Tatum comes back tomorrow against the Mavs. I'm hoping his mentality, I'm going to put my pride and my ego aside. I've been hurt for a long time. I know I want to get myself in rhythm. I know I want to be a part of this team and part of this offense and get going and show everybody I can still be the old Jason Tatum of old. But please allow the offense and the way things are going, the consistency and the continuity allow Jalen Brown to still steer the ship. that's all I think he'll still he'll still put up his normal Ocho meaning Jalen Brown but I do think Tatum is coming in to assert himself be aggressive nah Joe you can't do that Joe you can't do that coming off of Keeley Joe Ocho what other reason they bringing him back at this point of the year we trying to give up and win the playoffs man we got to test out that Keeley's these last 20 some odd games yes yeah yeah they not bringing that man back just so he can just fill his way in and now now now we need you to be him i agree and he gonna be him i think for me look they don't need to get in that because that that that's the quickest way if the camps to start splitting you up oh man because yeah but hey yeah man you know you better to him, man. You ain't gotta say that, but we know it. Everybody knows it. And then, you know. You start having pulling and tugging different ways. And you know, like, it's like, you want to keep them two together, bro, because they're so dynamic together. It's almost, to me, Uncle Ocho, I know Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown have won a championship, but it's like Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, when they was playing together in Toronto, it's like, bro, you ain't supposed to let them, you ain't supposed to let not want them get out the door. You got to make that work some form of fashion. Right, yeah. And I look at Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown, same thing. They done won. They've been to the finals and lost, the Eastern Conference finals and lost. And they've been to the finals and lost and been to the finals and won. So I just think through everything that they've been through, man, you keep them dudes together, I think they can at least get you another one for sure in the next year or so. Hey, Joe, you don't think he going to hurt himself though, Joe? I like what you said. You say, you know, he got to come back. and I know they're bringing him back for a reason, but you said he needs to assert himself. That's doing a little too much, Joe. I think they've been in practice, training. I think they wouldn't put him out there if they didn't think he was ready. I agree. Yeah. I mean, hey, Joe, what's one thing? Football, basketball, I don't care what sport it is, especially at the highest level. You know, practice ain't the same as the basketball game. It ain't the same as the real game, Joe. I know that. I know it ain't, but I bet you they done had him out there scrimmaging five on five, going up and down an extensive number of times, testing out that Achilles, seeing where his wind is at. And I bet you they built his tolerance up to the point to where he could come in and play at least 25 minutes. Yeah. You know what I mean? I ain't going to play him no 40 minutes, Ocho, but he probably started off about 25, close to 30 minutes. Yeah, he's going to be on a time restriction. But listen, hey, Joe, I'm going to watch this game, Joe. I don't want to see him put the ball on the floor, Joe. What? I want to see him come out the pick and roll. I want to see him pop and shoot. You know, I just want to see him put the ball in the flow and have to make Erky Jerky a sudden movement, Joe, where you got to push off. It just, that scared me, Joe. I know. I don't even know for like that. I know. It make me nervous. I know, but he going to test that, Ojo. He going to do all that you say. He going to pick and pop. He going to dribble it out the pick and roll. He going to do all that. He going to post stuff. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey, Elm, you hear my basketball lingo? I've been working on my shit now. I think that's the thing. I mean, sometimes things, that's not even true. But people start putting that out there in the universe. Yeah. And, you know, they start to consume it. Teams start to consume it. And we saw it happen. That's what happened. Whose team was it in L.A.? Shaka Colby's. And they started to buy into it. It's my team. Nah, I'm big brother, you little brother. I'm Batman. man, you Robin, like, no, no, no. That was Shaq's persona and personality, though. You know, to a Kobe at the time. He was playing that big brother role. But let me ask you a question. Kobe ever strike you as a guy that wanted a big brother? I mean, let's be all the way real. I know him a little bit. I don't know him like you know him, Joe, and been around him. But did Kobe strike you as a guy that wanted a big brother? No, no, no. So, and after a while, like, hey, you know, Kyrie and LeBron, you know, Shump said, you know, Kyrie wanted to beat LeBron. He thought he could lead a team. I'm like, hold on. Okay, you had a great opportunity. You go to Celtics. You don't get to say, well, I want to lead a team. I want to be the guy and go team up with Kevin Durant because you're not going to be better than KD. And then when you bring James Harden in, So where does that put him in the pecking order, ISO? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. There's a pecking order with them three on the same court? Of course. With KD Harden and Kyrie. Kyrie Irving, the greatest handler of the basketball that got the ball on the yo-yo. He ain't better than KD. He ain't better than KD. I know he's not better than him. We talk about two. We talk about different positions now. Come on. Hold on, man. But that's my point. He said he wanted to beat LeBron. He didn't want to play second field. He felt LeBron was getting things, perks, and so forth that he wasn't getting. So my thing was is that, okay, if that's the case, you go team up with KD. The best situation, the ideal situation for him, Joe, was to do to get Boston with those young guys, JT, Marcus Smart, JB, to get those guys to the championship. And now you've got something. sometimes you don't realize how because somebody makes something easy look easy that don't mean it is easy it's not you know tom brady made winning look easy so everybody now think oh man he should get to the super bowl he a franchise quarterback just because you lead a franchise that doesn't make you a franchise quarterback you're just a quarterback of a franchise there's a difference between being a quarterback of a franchise and a franchise quarterback. There are two different things. But Brady has made it like, man, everybody, I mean, it ain't easy. It's not. Winning is not easy regardless of the sport. Mm-hmm. And the more players that you have involved, the harder it is to win. Mm-hmm. See, you guys that believe the same thing, like the only common goal guys is for us to win the championship that's the only common goal i won't if you want to be all nba if you want to make the all-star team you want to win six man of the year i want you to do all of that but i don't want any of that to come at the expense of the team success it's hard for some of these guys to put the egos to the side that's why that's why i commend uh the warriors bro for you know sticking together winning four titles you know not letting egos get involved and they just, you know, obviously traded clay. But when you got from what you heard from Kyrie playing with LeBron, it's like, man, they were such a great duo, Ocho. It's like, damn, you just know they could have won at least two, maybe even three more titles. You know what I mean? Yeah. I don't think LeBron – I could be wrong, and it's easy to say, but we'll never know. I don't know if LeBron – if Kyrie stays, I'm not sure LeBron leaves and goes to L.A. because he has a piece there. He knows he can win with Kyrie because he's already done it. He knows he has a guy that he can hand in the ball and say, young man, do your thing. Yeah, I think it was a business move. I think he was leaving going to L.A. regardless. Even if Kyrie stays? Yeah, yeah. I think he was going to L.A. He was thinking about the next chapter of his career. I don't think it had nothing to do with if Kyrie stayed or left. I think he would have always took this opportunity to go play for the Lakers because it was so prestige. and he understood what it would do for his brand and his legacy. Yeah. If he came to L.A. and won a title, which he did, it was in the bubble. You know, a lot of people put an asterisk behind that, but, you know, he came and delivered. So anybody that won a championship during COVID is an asterisk. Who won the championship? Tampa has got an asterisk. Was it the Dodgers or the Braves that won the championship? There's an asterisk. Anybody that won a championship during COVID, there's an asterisk about it. So we'll make that easy. Any team that won a championship in 2020, there's an asterisk. Asterisk, yeah, okay. Yeah, well, yeah, you know how they say, you know, it just wasn't the same, wasn't no travel. But I commend what they did in the bubble. It was fun to watch. So I don't put no asterisk beside it. I'm just saying. Joe, think about when COVID and people couldn't stay at home. People had to get out. So just imagine, you can't leave this place for three months. How many people can stay in your house for three months? It ain't a lot. It ain't a lot of people who can stay in their house for three months and not go nowhere, real talk. It ain't. It ain't. Yeah, and to do that and still be able to perform when need be, it was special. And with no family around, Joe, because I think they let the family come in later. But in the beginning, they didn't have any family. Right. Right. Right. Man, please. Look, I just think the thing is that the pecking order in football is a lot different than basketball because the superstars, they control everything. And I don't think you'll ever see a situation like that in football, Joe, in Ocho, for the simple fact, the quarterback is the top dog. Yes. So who's challenging him? And another quarterback on the team. Well, it happened with Steve and Joe. Okay. And they had to make a decision. And they chose Steve. Yeah, Joe went to Kansas City. He did. He got hurt. See, the thing is, he got hurt. Steve won the MVP. So, Joe, oh, Joe, how do we go back? We got a guy that won the MVP. He's like seven years, six, seven years younger. how do we go back to the guy now we know what this guy's done joe had won mvp joe was a three a three-time super bowl mvp and a four-time super bowl champ oh but this young oh joe this young guy nature the business oh joe when t.o got good what did they do with jerry he had to go it's what they do once they see Joe once they see that younger player has developed and you can get that high salary and get that money off the books and get production for a lower price man stop playing until it's time to pay that young player and then the cycle repeats itself that's what happened here to my Atlanta the Hawks. Trey got hurt. They went with the young fella and they end up, you know, trading Trey up out there. I already know. I know what's going on. Oh, yeah. Hey, Jalen Johnson, right? Yeah. Yeah. I got to meet young bull when I come out there, boy. I got to meet young bull. And here's the thing. This is why quarterbacks, Joe, don't want the backup to play. Right. Right. They don't give him no rip. Drew Bledsoe Who got hurt, what happened? Who got hurt? He got Wally Pilt, Drew Bledsoe. Yeah. Drew Bledsoe. He let people see Tom. And that was a wrap. That was, it was history. Hey, cause you get your opportunity, you got to show out. You got to. That's why they don't, that's why they don't take no slap. They don't let you take no slap. You know what I got to kneel down. You might like the way you kneel down or something. Hey, you know what I'm saying? Hey, to kneel down, huh? Yeah, you might like the way he kneeled down or something. Nah, I got it. Hey, stay your ass over here. Hey, that's why they don't let him get no reps in practice. None. Hey, nah, nah. None. Mm-mm, no sir. No sir. Wonder why the backup get out there looking like he don't know what the hell's going on. Hey, you better learn through osmosis. You damn sure ain't gonna get no meaningful reps. Hey. what's the guy the Tampa he came from came from Indy he's the offensive coordinator Indy with Peyton Manning and he said the one that just retired yeah I forgot his name but anyway they asked him why don't you let the backup quarterback get any reps he said we don't practice we don't practice because that's what happens if Peyton goes down and we don't practice that so he better stay up Tom Moore yes we don't practice that it's different man it's different but I will commend the Patriots on this because you know the more you win and ask anybody about when you win everybody thinks they're the main reason why we won. The groundskeeper. Man, you see how we had that grass edged off? You see them lines? Perfect. The craft, the people that bring the food, hey, you know you had some good food now. Hey, we cooked that thing to perfection. The way they cleaned, people taped ankles, the physios, the massage therapists. And then guess what? Everybody comes back and tries to do a little bit more when what they were doing was plenty enough. for the Patriots to keep that thing together for 20 years. Yeah. We know Mr. Kraft has an ego. We know Coach Belichick has an ego, and we know Tom has an ego. For them to keep that thing together for 20 years, that in and of itself is a feat, and you won't ever see it again. Not in my lifetime. They had that thing running military style over there, didn't they? Absolutely. Absolutely. grip on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 audio books, 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 am Greg Rosenthal. I know that, Greg. 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