The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Tony's Iceman Review + Zaslow's Cavs Prediction + Were The Maple Leafs Always The Problem, Not Mitch Marner? | Hour 1

41 min
May 15, 202615 days ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show discusses Drake's surprise triple album release (Iceman), the Cavaliers' potential Eastern Conference Finals appearance without LeBron James, and analyzes the Toronto Maple Leafs' playoff performance, arguing the team structure—not Mitch Marner—is the problem. The show also covers Vegas Golden Knights' unexpected Western Conference Finals run and debates whether winning without a championship is meaningful.

Insights
  • Drake maintains streaming dominance despite losing the Kendrick Lamar beef, suggesting commercial success and critical acclaim are increasingly decoupled in hip-hop
  • The Cavaliers' aggressive roster construction (Mitchell, Harden, Allen trades) validates front-office strategy even if a championship doesn't materialize, shifting focus from outcomes to process
  • Mitch Marner's postseason excellence reframes the Toronto Maple Leafs' playoff failures as a systemic team issue rather than individual star player underperformance
  • Vegas Golden Knights' Western Conference Finals appearance despite winning fewer regular season games than the Panthers demonstrates playoff seeding and matchup dynamics matter more than regular season records
  • Wembanyama's potential dynasty with San Antonio could reshape the GOAT conversation within a decade if he wins 3-4 titles, challenging the traditional MJ-LeBron hierarchy
Trends
Hip-hop album release strategy shifting from traditional promotional windows to surprise drops and multi-album releasesNBA front offices prioritizing aggressive mid-season trades over draft-and-develop models for playoff contentionDefensive-first team construction gaining competitive advantage in NHL playoffs (Vegas Golden Knights model)Generational player evaluation shifting from individual stats to systemic team context and supporting cast qualitySports media increasingly separating regular season performance metrics from playoff success predictabilityEmerging player dynasties (Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) reshaping historical GOAT comparisons in real-timePlayoff seeding and matchup dynamics proving more determinative than regular season standings in modern sportsTwo-way player value (Mitch Marner defensive prowess) becoming underestimated in traditional narrative-building
Companies
Toronto Raptors
Drake's promotional campaign for Iceman album featured Raptors freezing his seats and ice blocks on Toronto streets
Toronto Maple Leafs
Discussed extensively regarding playoff performance and whether Mitch Marner or team structure is the core problem
Cleveland Cavaliers
Analyzed for Eastern Conference Finals potential and aggressive trade acquisitions (Mitchell, Harden, Allen)
Detroit Pistons
Discussed as underdog opponent facing elimination against Cavaliers in Game 6 of playoff series
Vegas Golden Knights
Analyzed for unexpected Western Conference Finals run despite winning fewer regular season games than Panthers
San Antonio Spurs
Discussed as potential dynasty with Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox, facing Colorado Avalanche in Western Finals
Colorado Avalanche
Positioned as favorites against Vegas in Western Conference Finals matchup with superior depth
Miami Heat
Referenced for LeBron James departure and subsequent Cavaliers' success without him in Eastern Conference
Oklahoma City Thunder
Discussed as comparison point for how fan sentiment can turn against previously likeable teams after playoff success
Montreal Canadiens
Defeated Anaheim Ducks in playoff series with strong performance, advancing to next round
People
Dan Le Batard
Primary host leading discussion on sports topics and playoff analysis
Stugotz
Co-host contributing commentary on Drake album, NBA playoffs, and sports narratives
Tony Reali
Discussed new home move and internet installation, contributed to hockey and sports analysis
Mike Ryan
Provided analysis on Drake's streaming dominance, Cavaliers playoff prospects, and Vegas Golden Knights
Dave Dameshek
Discussed Cavaliers contention, Wembanyama dynasty potential, and NHL uniform aesthetics
Drake
Released surprise triple album Iceman with extensive promotional campaign in Toronto
Kendrick Lamar
Discussed in context of Drake beef and comparative streaming success metrics post-GNX release
Mitch Marner
Praised for postseason excellence and defensive prowess, reframing Leafs' failures as team issue not player issue
Victor Wembanyama
Discussed as generational talent with potential to win 3-4 championships and reshape GOAT conversation
James Harden
Trade to Cavaliers discussed as validation of front-office strategy for Eastern Conference Finals run
Donovan Mitchell
Acquisition discussed as example of Cavaliers' aggressive roster construction strategy
John Tortorella
Praised for coaching Vegas to Western Conference Finals despite unconventional locker room practices
Anthony Edwards
Discussed for confident demeanor heading into playoff game against San Antonio Spurs
LeBron James
Referenced as context for Cavaliers' 34-year absence from Eastern Conference Finals without him
Michelle Beadle
Asked about how many Spurs championships would satisfy fans in Wembanyama era, answered four
Quotes
"Drake has emerged victorious somehow. I thought Kendrick Lamar ended his career."
Dave DameshekEarly segment
"Drake is more popular on streaming because white girls love Drake. But if you like artistry, if you like just the music, I don't look at Drake the same way."
Mike RyanDrake discussion
"Mitch Marner, this postseason is rewriting the narrative that surrounded him. And this is increasingly looking like a Toronto Maple Leaf issue and not a Mitch Marner one."
Dan Le BatardHockey segment
"If you're in the finals, you have a shot. Like, you're right there. You're good enough."
Mike RyanCavaliers discussion
"TV is my best pal. He's always there. I can be in any remote location driving across America. If I see that motel sign past midnight and it says has HBO or has cable, I pull over and I'm right as rain."
Dave DameshekInternet installation discussion
Full Transcript
This is the Don Lebatore Show with the Stugatz Podcast. DROP KICKS! DROP KICKS! Oh my God. The crown is yours. There you go. Where's Dave? What are you, what are you damaged? This is what he does during the breaks. What? Wait, he's there? Okay. It's my new character. It's my new character. It's the anonymous witness. I can't reveal who I am. It'd be a terrible one. It could imperil me. For the audio audience. You don't even know who's talking right now. You don't know who's talking right now. It could be anybody. For the audio audience is completely, it's pitch black in Dave's screen. Why is it completely dark? Well, I'll be here to talk for Dave. So this is how I would disguise my voice so that you wouldn't be able to recognize me. So wait, wait, wait. It was me the whole time. Oh wow. Wow. Give it up for Dave. Wow. Why is your room dark? You know what I'm doing? It's dark. See? Because it gets very hot in here. It gets 200 degrees in here. So I turned the light off to chill things out for a few minutes while we're in the light. But now Dave went away. You don't know if Dave's here or not anymore. It could be a completely different meeting. Wait, who's talking? Inhabiting this. Right. Exactly. Exactly. Even if you'd disguise Dave's voice, you'd be able to tell it were him right away. Any time a modulated voice goes, what's a poop fella? Ah, da, da, da, da. Like, it doesn't matter how you modulate it. We park our cars in the same garage. Oh la la. Am I right? Pixmark Steelers. Oh, oh, oh. Mario LeBue. Who gives a crap? Hey, quickly, can I say this? Quickly. Because as those backwards hat reminds me, is the Steelers are playing the Saints in Paris. And that made me obviously think of a beret. And then I was thinking of, is a beret the worst choice of hat you could make in the year of the Lord 2026? And I know that the easy answer is, well, you'd rather wear a beret than a Blinken hat. But if you went to a hat store, they're not selling a Blinken hat in 2026. But you probably could find a beret. Is that the bottom of the barrel when it comes to hats? Zaslow as a hat wearer? How say you? What about those Kangol hats? Totally different thing. A beret is not a Kangol. Kangol is not a beret. Black Unks, grandfathers of all kinds. Bruce Arians would not be caught dead wearing a beret. But those guys, did you say black Unks? Yeah, that's what he said. The black Unks are still wearing Kangol? Absolutely. With the leather sandals too, with the towel right over the shoulder on the grill. But wait, Sam Jackson wears his backwards, right? Or some of his characters. He only wore it in Jackie Brown's one movie. He wears it all the time. Or Payne Stewart or Ben Hogan or somebody like you swing it around. And I don't think I could pull that look off, but I think Zaslow, you would look neat in that. I think, in fact, I would rather, if I had to choose a hat for you, if I were your friend trying to put you in a good spot here, I would say wear the Kangol for the rest of life if the only other choice was a beret. I think we would point and laugh at you much more in the beret. Well, I would never wear a beret. I mean, two things that everybody knows about me. I'm not a cock and I would never wear a beret. Everybody knows that. But when- A cock in a beret, now we're really talking. Now I know three things about you, because you hate Bill Goldberg too. Oh, everybody knows that about me. Two things everybody knows about me. I'm never a cock and I hate Bill Goldberg. Everybody knows that. I used to have a Miami Heat Kangol when I was a teenager. Really? Yeah. Front or back? How would you wear it? The logo would be in the back, so I would wear the brim in the- like I'd wear it backwards. The brim would be in the back and I'd wear, you know, the logo in the front. Yeah, I had a Miami Heat Kangol. Whatever. That's his thing. He has to wear it backwards. Yeah, whatever, man. So, aw, I had a great- Dave, I had a great head of hair. You wouldn't- like I wasn't walking around with the dome, you know, big-eyed head when I was a teenager. I had a great head of hair. What happened? Life. I mean, honestly, what happened? I did morning radio for seven years. Oh, yeah. That's what happened. But the old man's got a good lettuce? Or nah. No, no. Tell us about the time you went bald, Zasla. It wasn't- it didn't happen just one day. It was over a course, you know. Probably started happening in my early 30s. Yeah, probably early 30s. Man, I knew you at 23. It happened before then. Really? Yeah, brother. All right. You're always the last to know. All right. There you go. But man, Dave, you wouldn't believe it. Oh, my God. This- this put him and that had a hair? Find the ladies off of the stick. You know what I'm talking about? Devastating. Listen, I know I'm doing all right in the hair department, but man, if I had the main that I was sporting back in my mid-20s, I would be a senator by now. Yeah. I hear you. All right. Well, you know, nobody's perfect. So what is this I hear about Drake dropping a new album last night? And the reason I bring this up, because like I don't care about Drake, it's not the kind of music I listen to. I don't understand how music is these days where all and seems to be like solely a hip hop thing, right? Or maybe Taylor Swift does this too, but the album will just drop out of nowhere. Oh, my God. Drake has a new album. What happened to the days that there was a- there was an on sale date that the album is coming out and you hype it up for three, four months. You got a single that comes out on the radio this week. Another single comes out next week. And then eventually you can buy the entire album. Now we just drop albums without any promotion. That's weird. Well, no, Drake has had a long runway of Iceman. He's had multiple, multiple, multiple promotions from Toronto Raptors freezing his seats to having, you know, 80 tons of ice blocked in Toronto's like main street over there, putting the date of the Iceman drop inside the blocks of ice. So people had to go and dig in and wait till it melted. Is that what the album's called? May 15th Iceman is what it's called. Yeah. May 15th is when we got it and that was about a couple of weeks ago. I think it's Little Tease. Like that's what you get nowadays. Little Teases, little hints. You also get the surprise drop out of nowhere and Drake did both. Or two. Yeah, Drake did both big time because he promoted Iceman and the surprise this time was there were two more full length albums. Yeah. So one is dubbed to be like an R&B slower music Drake. One is his rap, which is Iceman. And there's another one, which is kind of more like club mixed DJ kind of like, honestly, nevermind was that he did with black coffee, which as it ages, That's Nirvana nevermind. Nevermind. Nevermind. That's Nirvana. Honestly, nevermind though. Oh, all right. So he dropped three albums. Album Lamar. Can we go back very quickly? We're going to talk about a five two liar. Is that what we're going to do? Dave Damage. Check out the day that Drake drops Iceman. We're going to talk about a five two liar. Let me cook on Kendrick. Go ahead, Dave. No, that's what I was going to ask. I thought that Drake. That last check for me, I thought Drake had been shamed out of society by Kendrick Lamar and here he is. But then my wife, I mean, oh no, Drake has emerged victorious somehow. I do the math for me on that one. Who can explain? Is that true? Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Without a doubt. Without a singular doubt. I thought Kendrick Lamar ended his career. Please, are you, that's how I know you're not listening to Drake or listening to hip hop whatsoever because Drake has like four other number one songs since GNX drops, since the whole thing would not like us. Since all that stuff, Drake has been the number one streamed artist in hip hop still after that. I mean, people say Kendrick won the beef of their song versus songs, but in terms of just popularity, Drake won. Like Drake's, it's not even close. Is that true, Mike Ryan? Drake is that much bigger? Are you a cuck to be lighting Drake? You're not a cuck to be rooting for Drake who you got humiliated? I think you are. So yes, Drake is more popular on streaming because white girls love Drake. But if you like artistry, if you like just the music, I don't look at Drake the same way. And I go to Drake concerts. I like Drake. Like Kendrick says, I like to dance to his music too. It's fine, but I will never look at him the same way. That guy took a bad public L, as bad as you can get. I can't get over, I can't imagine that I wake up one morning and all of a sudden Pearl Jam dropped a new album last night out of nowhere. That'd be crazy to me. And I understand you're saying that's not exactly what Drake did, although you thought he was coming out with just one album, he came out with three, but this happens all the time in music now, right? Especially in hip hop, where it's just a surprise. Oh my God. So has anyone listened to the new? Iceman. I've been, I'm halfway through it. I was listening on the way in, bangers. A lot of good songs, a lot of good lyrics. Bang. And obviously he had some stuff that he had already released prior to, what did I miss? The one with Central C. So there's a couple out there that have already been listened to, but great bars in the song so far. I haven't listened to the other two albums that were the surprise drops, but I'll get, I'll get around to it. Dave, you'll get around to it? No, no, probably not. I do think the old lady will put it on the Alexa and then we'll, I have to keep it down because the Alexa is right over there and she'll hear me talking about her and she'll start talking and chime into the conversation. We don't want that. Um, but yeah, I do think, I bet you that the wife and, uh, and Alexa will team up to play some Drake and I'll hear whether I want to or not. But do I have interest in it? I think it's the spirit of your question. No, no, I do not have any interest in it. Does it surprise you when last night was weird. There was no NBA last night. Does it surprise you when I say that if the Cavaliers beat the Pistons tonight in game six, that it'll be the first time without LeBron James that they advanced to an Eastern Conference final since 1992. That's 34 years ago. They have not been in the Eastern Conference final without LeBron James since 1992. When I say that, does that surprise you? Is that the Jordan shot over Elo? No, that was the first round and that was maybe like 80, 88 maybe. Yeah. And that was the first round. Yeah. And that was the first round game. But 1992, Mark Price, Brad Doherty, Eastern Conference Finals. I think the Bulls, Bulls won. Uh, I think the Bulls won that series in six. It was actually the first year that Miami Heat made the playoffs. Bulls swept him in the first round. Uh, it's not a good series, but game three was fun. I mean, it was only a five point Bulls victory anyway. Uh, the last time that the Cavs were in the Eastern Final without LeBron James, 1992. So I guess it's a roundabout way of saying this is kind of a big deal. This game tonight for the Cavaliers. It is. And look, Miami, a lot of Heat fans prided themselves on their ability to rebuild themselves so quickly, get back to an NBA final so quickly after losing LeBron. But since LeBron left Cleveland, Cleveland's learned to be a super aggressive franchise in the trademark yet. They, they outbid everybody for Donovan Mitchell. This James Harden move was kind of inspired. Jared Allen as well. Jared Allen as well. Like they have a nice roster and they're not afraid to make big, bold moves with their head coach either. I think that they've actually stabilized as a franchise here lately, kind of taking other teams as lunch money. Not only that, it shows the win of getting a Donovan Mitchell and makes the trade like vindicated James Harden, the same thing. Like all of these things are pushing forward. It's like, all right, we won. Right. Like, like even if we don't win the Eastern Conference, even if we don't make it to the NBA finals, you've laid the groundwork for the moves that we've been making as a front office are working. Looking for something that gets the adrenaline pumping. That's the NASCAR Cup Series. Every race brings the best drivers in the world together. All pushing for the moment that puts them in victory lane. 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Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash D L B. That's better H E L P.com slash D L B. Don Lebatard. I saw a post on Twitter yesterday how the Toronto Maple Leafs. Yeah, that they won the division. Guess what? It's been two years and that's two years too long. Stugats. Take that ass too. Oh, we're taking two asses. This is the Don Lebatard show with the Stugats. You see the league's last two minutes or more came out yesterday and confirmed Tony Brothers saying after game five that it was incidental contact. The league confirmed the no call at the end of regulation, which I'm surprised to see. I thought it was definitely a foul. Glad they didn't call it, but thought it was a foul. But I'll tell you, if I'm a Detroit Pistons fan, I'm glad that the league's last two minute report confirmed that it was a correct no call because the only thing worse than not getting the call in that spot is when the last two minute report comes out and tells you, yeah, we missed it. You should have won, but tough shit. There's nothing we could do. Like even if I don't agree with the call and don't agree with the last two minute report, I'm glad that the last two minute report is saying, no, we got it right because what the hell are you going to do about it? You know, the exact opposite effect that was intended a decade or so ago when they started going to Mike Pereira and all those guys in the booth to sort of explain to the public what the officials thought was is the exact opposite result of what they wanted. They wanted to make us feel at home watching on TV. Exactly what you're describing. See, it was validated by another voice, an official voice there. And instead, they're like, yeah, I don't think I agree with that one. It just made us much crazier about what what the old men calling things with their eyeballs are doing when we can see in high-deaf television. Everybody in the world, except those guys, the irony that everybody watching the game sees the truth, but we don't want to hurt the feelings of the official. So we just have to roll with their call is such an insane spot. That we've arrived in. I do love that. But back to the the point you're talking about with their validated that the Cavaliers are validated by James Harden. I don't think even the greatest Cavaliers fan thinks that this ends with them winning the title. So then what value does it have to do it? And I think that it is a canary and a coal minus sorts for you heat fans right now. You sure you want Yanis because unless it yields a title, what are you doing? And the same applies to forgive me. I'm a provincial thinker. Same goes for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yeah, Aaron Rodgers give us our best chance to attend wins. What is that going to matter? Who cares if it doesn't yield a title run? What are you doing? You're wasting time. I feel like, in fact, one more cross sports analogy. Brett Favre kind of took over that Vikings team when they almost went to the Super Bowl. The entire story had they gone to the Super Bowl would have been Brett would have been Brett Favre. It would have blocked out the son of the entire Vikings thing. And the same goes for the Cavaliers. The whole thing is the redemption of James Harden or not. The Cavaliers are incidental to this. I think the reason that you do it if you're the heat and also why if the Cavaliers win tonight. The Harden trade, even if they don't win the championship, the Harden trade ends up working for them, ends up being a positive. You want to have a shot. That's what it boils down to. But you don't have a shot. That's my point. It's the mirage of look how relevant we are. Look, we made it to the Eastern Conference finals. We're one of four teams to make it this far. But you also know that there is a ceiling on that. It might be a high ceiling, but it's not winning the title in Heusen. But it's not winning the title and hoisting the overline at the end of it. But you see that's what we're really just delaying. Aren't we delaying? I'm all about the journey over destinations, as I my favorite seasons in the last decade or 15 years as a sports fan. I knew during the process this doesn't end in a title. That's not where the Cavs are, though. I suspect that Cavs fans are thinking, man, it's about time this team is ripening. It's time for a title run. And that's just not realistically in the offing. Yeah, I think we disagree in that because I think if you get to the championship round, like, let's say Cleveland wins tonight and they beat the Knicks, which I don't think is going to happen. But they get to the championship round and they're playing San Antonio or they're playing Oklahoma City. They're going to be massive underdogs. They're not going to win that series. But that's where I think my opinion there disagrees with a lot of people, which is. I think if you're there, you have a shot. Like, I think if you're there, you're good enough. Like, this brings us back to, oh, the heat were not good enough with Jimmy Butler, you know? And I disagree with that because I think if you're in the finals, you're good enough. Like, the only team that's good enough to win the championship isn't just the team that won the championship. Like, they won the series. They were the better team. OK, but there are multiple teams that are good enough to win the championship. Only one of them is going to. They were good enough in the bubble. But I thought the Denver series told them that. I mean, they were there. Like, they were there. Yeah, but they weren't close in that series. Yeah, I don't see it that way. I think if you're there, if you're in the finals, you have a chance to win. Like, you're right there. In football, that's true because, as they say, you know, and why March Madness is compelling is because for a 40-minute stretch, anything might happen. In a football game, it's plausible that anything might happen. But in a seven-game series, it's not. Yeah, I think that the trade is going to be validated for Harden. I don't think that Detroit survives tonight. I think Cleveland winds up finishing them off. And I know you could say, hey, you know, Detroit, they Detroit won a huge game seven last round. They came back from a 3-1 deficit. They could win this game and force a game seven back in Detroit. But I would I would quickly point out, yeah, they came back from the 3-1 deficit against Orlando. And they were down by 24 in the third quarter of game six, getting waxed by the magic. They had no business surviving that series and Orlando just couldn't score. So like, as impressive as it is that Detroit came back from 3-1, they were getting smoked in that game six. In Detroit's options for winning this game or losing this game, right? Is it all predicated on the Cavs? Right? Is it like, if James Harden has a bad game, then the Cavs are going to lose. Can Detroit do anything to win? I think that I think Cleveland can win even if Harden is not great tonight. Like Duncan Robinson is still questionable. He may not play tonight. They get nothing out of jail in Detroit, which my God, I don't know what they're going to do in the offseason. Money wise with him. And we saw last game, Cunningham. Yes, he had a lot of turnovers, but Cunningham can still have a 39 point game and it's not enough and they still wind up losing. The Cavs are not lost at home yet. This postseason, I think Cleveland finishes them off tonight. And then you got Spurs and Timberwolves tonight. Anthony Edwards, like he was asked about going into this game. And does the whole, we're not worried. Everything's cool and all that. And you know what? When Anthony Edwards says it, like I believe it. Like Anthony Edwards to me is one of those guys in the league who seems to be even keel, no matter what. Super confident, no matter what. I don't know that Minnesota wins this game tonight, but I think Minnesota has a chance of pushing it to a game seven. I don't know how any of us are actually rooting for Minnesota because you want Wembleyama versus Oklahoma City. I know I got it. Go ahead, Tony, please. No, no, go ahead. Go ahead. You guys should both keep saying go ahead to each other. Well, no, but please, the floor is yours. Please, please, please go. Lights out. A third party wants to weigh in on this one. Yeah, listen, I'm curious, are we sure if you're an NBA devotee, you sure you want the Spurs to win this year? Because I feel like the long night is about to begin. And maybe you want to get one more title in before Wembley fully takes over. And I think it's setting up in people. We were having the conversation on Football America that you can listen to as soon as this show is over today. That the idea that, you know, Tim Duncan was great, he won five times. Yeah, but he had Manu and he had Tony Parker. Well, those guys are those guys because they were in those big spots and won titles. De'Aaron Fox will be perceived as the equivalent of those. He'll be iconic if they do. It's not like Wembley's doing it on his own. I think that maybe is old news to a lot of people. But my point is, I think there's a decent chance that Wembley and the Spurs reel off the next three or four here, right? So don't you want to root against the Spurs because people hate Dynasties. I don't hate Dynasties. I think they're good for sports. But people who lament that same team keeps winning it and this is getting boring. Well, guess what? It's about to start right now. So whoever it is, root for that team over Wembley because the dominance is we're at the forefront of it. Right? OK, so this is interesting, right? Because a year ago this time, we would be saying the same thing about Oklahoma City, where it's like, wow, this is a really likeable team. It's cool if they win their first championship here. I like rooting for this team. No, don't you remember that national ad campaign? What a pro wants. I was so sick of this team by the second round. Hated them with a fiery passion. But we did not foretell Oklahoma City being this team that everyone's like, oh, shakey Oda's Alexander, he's tough to watch. Lou Dort, dirty player, Chet Holmgren, flopper. Like we we didn't have any of those thoughts last year foul merchant with shakey Oda's Alexander. Like the tide turned with them really quick. Is that going to happen with San Antonio? Because right now you look at this first team and they're fun. And Wemba Nyama is he's incredible to watch. But are we now going to sour on them after they win a championship? Well, it's interesting. It's sort of rooting for the bully in a sense. And the whole elbow to the throat incident kind of proves that point. It's a recurring thing for me is to pity the bully because when he when the common factor in these big collisions that you see in big time sports, whether it's Shaq or the reason that I am so empathetic to those people is Mario Lemieux, that when you are or Jerome Bettis or Mark Bavaro, the Giants tight end or Rob Gronkowski, Eric Lindros is probably the most tragic figure in this regard. When you are always the one in the collision, it takes multiple people to slow you down. Your body is the one that's going to wear out, even though you're the bigger guy. It's the weird paradox that goes on in sports. And so already you're starting to hear that with Wemba Nyama. I get it that he threw the elbow, he looked the guy in the eye and then and then threw the bow into him and that's bad form. But on some level, you got to protect yourself if you're taking a beating like that. And I do think people are already ever so slightly starting to demonize Wemby a little bit for defending himself. I think it could draw comparisons to Zazz. You remember when LeBron James upset almost by himself that pissing team? Yeah. And it felt like they were a year early. He scored like 24 consecutive points for the Cavs in Game Six. Yeah. Yeah. And LeBron was awesome. Everybody was like, this is incredible. He has arrived. And then quickly thereafter, you know, he's always in the conversation and you have this cult of personality that's beloved by seemingly half the fans and then hated by the other half of the fans. I think that's where we'll get with Wemby. Wemby has one dominant run. Everybody will be like, this is a crazy novelty. Amazing. And then he enters a conversation year after year after year and then it will seem unfair. Tony, you know that moment at a party or a tailgate where everything just sort of clicks? I know it well. It's usually when I show up, everybody goes crazy. Yeah. You usually take all the credit for it. But it's because Tony usually walks in with Quervo. Blocking like this. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Quervo is a thing that turns hanging out into this is the night. It has that effect on people. It does. You usually take the credit for it. But again, it's the Quervo effect. It's like that moment in a big game where everyone in the crowd just starts standing up, hooting and hollering. Keep it Quervo. Keep it Quervo, baby. The NBA Playoffs are here and Drafking Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA brings excitement to every game all postseason long. When the lights get brightest, the best players in the world show you exactly who they are. Playoff stars turn it up round by round and Drafking turns it up with them from the first round through the finals. Bet player props, bet live and stay in the action the entire time. 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This is the Don Lebatard show with the Stugats. Here's a question for you that is, you know, pretty hyperbolic. I asked a week ago how many titles will be satiating to the Spurs fans. 15 years from now. Will three do it for the Wemby era? Will four do it? Where does Wemby finish? Yeah, didn't we ask Michelle Beetle? We did ask her that she said four, which I think is a kind of a fair answer, even though it's a pretty tall standard, even for seven foot four Wemby and his pals. But then also, you know, Dan is among many people having the where does Yoke its rank among centers and is he the greatest score of all time and all that kind of stuff. Where I mean, it's unfair to the kid, obviously, to some degree. But where does Wemby wind up in our mind? Like, is he a part of the enduring MJ V LeBron conversation? Is it a three headed conversation? Ten years from now, I think there's a decent chance the way things are tracking that it will be the thing that gets in the way of it is I'm waiting for Wemby to break. That body don't look right when he's running up and down the floor. It just doesn't seem like it can take guys taken runs at him. And the best thing he has going for him is that the air has changed in which he doesn't have to play through the low pivot anymore. Because if he did, I don't think he would have a shot. But I think as it stands now, it might be a decade from now. Who's better, MJ LeBron or Wemby decade from now? It took LeBron 20 years to try and be even in the same stratosphere as Michael Jordan. And when he's going to get there in 10. If he wins three or four titles, that's how things go. Yeah. So, LeBron wasn't winning titles. That's why he wasn't in the conversation. So that's tonight. We got both those games tonight. Both those series can end tonight. Last night, though, with no NBA, we had the hockey. The Vegas Golden Knights, they advanced the Western Conference. Final, they beat Anaheim and Montreal. Tony, I heard you even checked in to that Canadian's victory. All the Habs. All the Sabres last night. All the Habs as I turned it on with two minutes and 27 seconds left in the second period. I saw one goal from the Habs and I was like, all right, I'm good. It's five, three. You picked the wrong stretch. It was like a 30 second stretch in which there were three holes in the first period. I was watching the equalizer two, so I switched that on a commercial break to see what the. There were two equalizers in that game. And then Montreal pulled away. What a performance by the Canadians. They can now close it out in a game six at Bell Center tomorrow. On the other series, though, which the Knights blew out the Ducks, Mitch Marner, my goodness, Mike, did you see that first goal of the game? Easily best goal to play off. Easily, I would agree. Mitch Marner, this postseason is rewriting the narrative that surrounded him. And this is increasingly looking like a Toronto Maple Leaf issue and not a Mitch Marner one or William Nylander one, which is perfect. So like a Boston Matthews one out of Toronto, he's going to become like the best player in the league. I guess I'm also looking at Austin Matthews. I'm like, wait a second, you're the overrated one over there in Toronto. Because Marner, I always thought Marner's defensive prowess was so underestimated. He is a terrific two way player. He is showing it day in, day out. He's making his line mates look incredible. They really unlock something between Marner and Carlson, too. They play brilliantly together, watching this team. And it was a very bizarre series win. Tortorella, we are living in the United States of Tortorella. He did not make the locker room available. Yeah, did you see that, Dave? I did. Bizarre stuff from Tortorella, but also par for the course, because he's an enduring weirdo. That mean that it's paying off, certainly. Vegas says how many fewer wins did they have than the Florida Panthers this season? Vegas, like I have a hard time accepting that Vegas is now in the Western Conference final. Look, the Panthers missed the playoffs. The Panthers had a very disappointing season. They only won 39 games this year. The Vegas Knights won 38. Like Vegas won fewer games than the Panthers this year. Vegas was four games under 500 this season. It's pretty impressive. Yes, Chris. Yeah, Mike. I'm reluctantly doing this, but I think John Tortorella and the Vegas Golden Knights, Mitch Marner, they deserve a toe. They do. They're worth a toast. Wow, they're worth a toast. Presented by Cuervo. Keep it fun. Keep it Cuervo. Here's to Mitch Marner. Look at you guys. Now, this sets up for a very interesting series between Colorado and Vegas. You have two recent Western Conference Cup winners. Teams that are always in that conversation. 22 and 23. You have Vegas playing their best hockey of the season. And where Vegas is certainly a way more interesting threat to Colorado than Anaheim would be is there is always going to be an elite defensive forward on the ice for Vegas. Here, here. I cannot wait to watch McKinnon and McCarr try to rush past that blue line and have Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner waiting for. Why did you say here? Here, here. Why didn't you say that when you're toasting someone and someone makes a good point? Someone in the background needs the L here. Here. Oh, now, ultimately, I think Colorado's depth is just insane. Here, here. And they the their talent will win out. And they had a relatively easy time with Minnesota. And I do believe Minnesota to be a better team than Vegas. But styles make fights. And I think that this Vegas team playing this way with their defensive forwards and with Mitch Marner being totally unlocked. This guy was a joke. He tried a spinning goal against the Florida Panthers. And it led directly to a goal for the Florida Panthers. He was a punch line and probably unfairly so. This could be a really interesting. Well, yeah, now he leaves and they finished what like next to last in the Eastern Conference. Keep it fun. Vegas playing appropriately or not playing with house money here. You think they are playing with house money? Dave, you think Vegas is playing with house money? I mean, they have no business being there based on exactly what you just said, based on what they did in the regular season. I think the ad should smoke them. I think Mike is exactly right. I know the it's simple math, but they they the games were closer, maybe a five game series and everything else. But the abs did ultimately handle the wild, who are way better than the Knights. And the question I have for drip drill, pal, Mike Ryan is what is the bigger eyesore? The avalanche against the Golden Knights, two awful uniforms for two would be dynasties in the NHL. Or would it have been the head to toe orange against the abs? I mean, that would have been so vomitous. You have to watch it in black and white or maybe just listen on the radio, right? I think Vegas gets a bad rap. I understand the by the way, the home sweaters look way nicer in person than they do on. No, they don't. I think they are ugly. All right. Well, what are you talking about? That's a horrible color of gold that they wear. I think it looks nicer in person, but I think the road whites are fine. I'm with you, though. This is this is a much better uniform matchup, though, than we would have gotten with it with the Anaheim Ducks. Anything close to red when Anaheim is going up against someone, that color clash is not easy on the eyes. Actually, come to think of it, are the abs? Because if they win this cup, they're not dynastic or they're kind of in that conversation. What is the worst uniform for a dynasty we've ever seen? I'm going to float to for you right now. The OKC Thunder, that's part of the reasons as though that's why we reject them. We don't like them because their uniforms are ugly. They just they're like, what's your color scheme? What colors do you want to use? All of them. We're going to take every color under the sun and put them into our uniform. That sucks. And then the other one is the Tom Brady Patriots, Pat Patriot. We should have been the uniform instead. We got flying Elvis for the entirety of that run, that miserable run. Keep it fun. Keep it quervo. No hockey tonight. So we gave you a little bit of hockey there. The hockey will will finish off this round, possibly tomorrow. Now, there's no episode of Mystery Crate. That comes out today. All right, you're going to love it. Grit, I got old, old stories. Chris tries to come over the top and you have your what is it? New story, you have a new story. New asset. So check that out today. New episode of Mystery Crate every Friday. That's my gimmick. Tony, though, Tony talks about moving into his new home. And the moving situation. All right. So tune into Mystery Crate and you can hear about that. Don't ever ask me to help you move. I will never do that. But how is everything coming along with the move? We're on our way. We're about halfway done with all the stuff. I'm going to get a U-Haul truck tomorrow. I'm going to back up in front of the house of my in-laws, drop all my stuff in there and take it to the new house. But today I'm going over there later today to get the Internet installed with the Internet Service Provider guy. You know what? Let me stop you there real quick. When you move into a new home, Internet Service, the TV Service, has to be like the first thing that gets done. Right? Like I remember any times that I've moved, I have the TV slash Internet guy installing everything in the home before the furniture has even arrived. Like it's the very first. And I feel weird about that because I feel like my wife is thinking, all right, this is not even remotely as important as everything else that needs to go on. But I'm thinking myself like, no, no, no. This is the most important. That's what makes a house a home. Right. As I was watching the bubble playoffs from the floor. Yeah. TV slash Internet installation in your new home is paramount. All right, go ahead, Tony. So I got the couch, so I won't have to sit on the floor, but I'll sit on the couch and watch the guy do whatever he's got to do. But for this particular Internet Service Provider, which I've had at my previous rental house, I called them up and I said, hey, do you guys have fiber in the area? They said, yep. I said, all right, perfect. I'm like, all right, we got the fiber. You know about that fiber, Dave? I do know about that. I gotta have it contained. I can I weigh in on what Zaslow just said there, because I think he really hit on something important. People talk about, you know, maintaining friendships, but they come and go. Family is deeply important. People say it's the most important thing. I'd like to amend that. My one friend, my enduring friend, who's been there through thick and thin through all the decades of nerddom and otherwise is television. TV is my best pal. He's always there. I can be in any remote location driving across America. If I see that motel sign past midnight and it says has HBO or has cable, I pull over and I'm right as rain. Thank you, TV. So they hit me up with, hey, all right, so Friday's good. We'll give you a window of two to five for the guy to be there. And I'm like, two to five. What are we doing? He's like, yeah, it also could take two hours. If he's there, it could take two hours of him to work. I'm like, OK, so I'm sitting at the house that doesn't have internet, doesn't have TV for five hours. So the window is really two to seven, two to seven, because he's going to be working on it. So now I'm sitting here and so I'm like, all right, what are we doing with these windows of time? Why can't we make it like, like, all right, here it is. You got one 30. It's going to take them 30 minutes. It's going to take them an hour, but you got one 30. He's going to be there at one 30. Not this time thing. Like the windows of time is crazy. If they give you a specific time, if they give you a specific time, they're just going to be late constantly. Yeah, but then I can call and bitch about it. Because if they're like, all right, we'll be there from two to four, but the guy shows up at three fifty nine. I can't bitch. Honestly, man, a three hour window is like a small window. I've had ones where it's like noon to six. It's like, what the hell is that? Three hours is like a small window. I feel like these days normally they're coming on a specific day and you'll get a call in the morning with the time. It calls. They've called me 20 times, by the way. Do you want to change it? No, I don't want to change it. I want to keep it. Is this the TV service man or Yanis, the bigger pain in the ass? I can't tell who has a time keeping time. Well, no, Yanis is the bigger pain in the ass because ultimately the TV service guy is going to fulfill your every wish and need. Ah, right. Take him, Miami. He get the TV service guy. He's the missing. I'll let you know his stats when he walks up. He's a big guy, you know, maybe like, is that not a tremendous feeling when the guy like when he says, OK, we can do this and we get like when he's figured out the lay of the land. All right, we can solve this. And he tells it's going to be shorter than the timetable to. It's a beautiful feeling when you can get done what you need to get done. I'm telling you, when you move into a new home, by far the most important thing is the TV and the Internet guy. Don't come out. Going for two when you're up by five, switching the zone when man isn't working. Oh, and building your new stadium in the state your team actually plays in. In sports, some things just make sense. You know what else makes sense? Drinking Jagermeister shots. Ice cold. Drinking it any other way would be like punting on first down or letting your worst hitter bat first or like going for two when you're down three with a second ago. It wouldn't make any sense. So don't let the team down when it comes to Jagermeister. Drink it cold. Oh, don't drink it at all. Jagermeister, damn, that's cold. Pretty responsibly, Jagermeister, the cure, 35% alcohol by volume imported by Master Jagermeister US White Plains, New York.