
Hour 2: Chris Haynes on Jimmy Butler
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz- 191 views
- 14 Jan 2025
Chris Haynes joins the show, but before we get to his latest information on Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat's potential divorce, we need to examine whether he's a collector or a hoarder as he takes us through the antiques in his room. Then, we dive deep into the Jimmy Butler saga as Haynes explains the latest news out of Butler's camp in response to a report about his private flights and Airbnb's, how Bradley Beal's contract has been a holdup in negotiations, and why Butler will continue to bet on himself. He also shares details of a potential meeting of the minds between Butler and Pat Riley that never materialized and added to their rift. Plus, accounting errors, addressing the media, and sprint speed.
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This is the Dan Levatore Show with the Stugatz podcast. We have a real generation gap going on right now between old people and young people because Chris Haynes sat in the middle of our show, and he's got some old, old-school video games behind him, and Stugatsch just shouted into the den, My God, Chris Haynes, you've got the most amazing studio, except for 20-year-olds. What he's got is a museum of old shit that only old people care about, except for those jerseys and an odd collection, an unusual collection of jerseys behind him. Chris Haynes, thank you for being on the show. We want the latest NBA information on Jimmy Butler and others, but what are you going for with your studio set up? Thank you for having it that way because it does appeal to me and Stugats and Greg Cody, but I'm guessing not many people under 40.
I'm 42, by the way. So no, just going for that vintage look, a vintage sporting arcade look. I'm all into collecting old antiques. I have an old Coca-Cola vending machine. I'm talking about this vending machine was being used in the '60s.
Like tab. It has tab on it. What are the-Yeah, exactly. Tab is one of the options. What are the drinks on that?
It's a Pepsi. Oh, God. It's a Pepsi. It's a Pepsi. I have old mailboxes. I have just old signs. That's what I was going for. But basically, what I want to do is just stake my territory in this area with all the five women I have living in this house. And so when they come in here and they see all this, they know there's nothing in here for them. So they shouldn't be coming in here. But that was the plan.
Are you a hoarder?
I wouldn't I'm a hoarder. No, I'm not a hoarder at all. There's a fine line between collector and hoarder, though.
We can acknowledge that.
I'm not a hoarder at all. I'm not a junky. This is not like Sanford and Son, where you're just collecting a bunch of junk. No, I really like it. You have a Pepsi machine. I look for stuff. Yeah, I really look for stuff, things that are still cool, especially if they can still be used. I just like old vintage antiques.
What's the thing that you have that you've collected that you're proudest of?
Well, but if I may, just a second, I don't want to skip past the insult, the casual insult of the man is a collector of antique things, and Billy has accused him of hoarding.
No, I asked the question. The lines are blurred.
He's got a taste appreciation on fine things that say something about him, and Billy has accused him of not being able to discard junk. It makes him defend himself with, I'm not Sanford and Son.
I asked because have you ever seen the show American Pickers, for example, where they just drive around the country and they look for people's crap, and then they're like, Oh, this is a treasure. And then they go and they sell it in their thrift stores. I'm just wondering if that's the world that you found yourself in, where you're going around on weekends and you find yourself in Nebraska, and you're in a barn and you're looking for old Pepsi machines.
Yeah, I do. I do frequent a lot of thrift stores, Salvation Army stores, because every now and then you can just find some things that people just discard it and they just consider it all. But I like to bring it back to life a little bit. I got old barbecue pits. I'm talking about, I have a Let me stop pits, not plural. I have a barbecue pit. That's probably was May late '60s, and I restored it. So one day, I'll show you guys some pictures of what I'm working with. But no, it's not too much, but it is a hobby of mine for sure.
You sound like a hoarder. You know what I learned, the difference between hoarding and collecting, too, is, Dan, is that it's not rust, it's patina. That's what you say. When something's all rust, you say, No, it has some patina on it.
I don't understand understand what any of you are doing because I believe that Antique Roadshow is one of the great stories of privilege that you will find anywhere in America because of the amount of margins that people like Greg Cody have in their garage, and they don't know it because they've got some valuable heirloom that's been passed down through generations. Chris Haynes is out here saying, I'll go to a thrift store in Nebraska to see if somebody like Greg Cody has discarded some $3,000 thing for $11 because he's a fool. But that's hoarding. It's not hoarding. It's value propositions. It's not in any way hoarding.
One man's trash is another man's treasure.
I really don't understand what you guys are doing. Here, this will settle it.
Chris, have you ever purchased something at any of these stores and then thrown it away?
No. If I purchase it, no, I'll purchase it for-It's not hoarding, it's treasure hunting.
It's treasure hunting. The ability to not throw anything away is hoarding.
There's value in it.
I have a question for you. It seems like the heat are hoarding Jimmy Butler because he doesn't want to be here, and they don't want him here, but they don't want to trade him anywhere. So what are they doing with Jimmy Butler?
Well, they made it known that they're entertaining offers. As I can tell right now from the people that I've spoke with around the league, the Miami He aren't anywhere close to a Jimmy Butler trade. What I can tell you right now is that I think he's a few games removed. I don't know the games off the top of my head. Maybe you guys know how many games left from his suspension, but I'm told he is fully prepared to return to play and play for the Miami Heat if he has not moved by the time his suspension is lifted. Jimmy Butler right now, I'm going to share what I can, so you guys ask away. But it's been a very difficult season for him starting offseason with Pat Reilly's comments and some things that happened over the summer that led to where we where we all at today. It's been very interesting. So definitely this is something that I'm definitely monitoring until it's resolved. At Jimmy's age, what do you put his trade value at?
The thing that I wanted to talk to you about, Chris, adding on to that, and I do want you to answer Stugatz's question about what it is your most valuable collectible is. I actually wanted to have Mark Stein on today. No insult to you. You're one of the great information guys. But his story had details that I had not seen anywhere. I'm thinking that now we will have leaks back and forth because there's going to be strategic maneuvering around some of this. Furthermore, yeah, Jimmy wants to go to Phoenix, but Bradley Bill's most owner's contract in the sport right now. I've never even heard of someone saying of a contract in the sport, that can't be moved. Every contract can be moved, but the Bill one seems worse than all the others. If Jimmy thinks he's going to get to Phoenix and that Pat Reilly is just going to take that contract and the third team is not going to take it, he's out of his mind. That's not how this is going to go at the end. I would assume they just keep Jimmy Butler for as long as they want, say, Go ahead and opt out and see if you can get $52 million somewhere else.
Jimmy Butler is not going to get to go to Phoenix because Miami's got to take on Bill. That's the worst contract you'll find in the sport, is it not? Because it's a no-trade clause.
Yeah. I mean, that's why only a few players have those. Bradley Bill is one of them. He is what's making this situation situation that much more difficult. If you think about it, Phoenix Suns, they desperately want Jimmy Butler. They're trying to do all if they can. They're trying to look under every rock and cranny and try to figure out if there's a move that can be made and if there's a team that will take on Bradley Bill's deal, and it has to be a team that is willing to take that on. And that is the troublesome part about this situation. So that's why I'm saying, I didn't think. I thought I thought it was pretty scarce to think that Jimmy Butler will be traded during this seven-game suspension in the first place. And so if Phoenix is indeed the ideal destination. So, yeah, I'm I support you, Dan. It's going to be tough. But as soon as trade deadline approaches, teams start getting desperate. And Bradley Bill over there in Phoenix, I reported last week, they moved them to the bench, and people started to speculate, well, is this Phoenix trying to make life miserable for Bradley?
Which will, I guess, for their standpoint, hopefully invoke that he will decline that trade cause that he has.
But Chris, if I may, because the human interest part of this is interesting to me. Bradley Beale went there because that was going to be the big three. It's not good enough. The other bigger two of the big three now would prefer Jimmy Butler to Bradley Beale. Bradley Beale is like, No, that's why I have this no trade. You can go and do whatever it is you want. I'm not going to be sent somewhere, even though I don't have value because my contract is too bad. You're stuck with me. Just because you guys want to win a championship with Jimmy Butler. No.
No doubt. Brad pick due to that no trade clause, Phoenix was one of the teams that he picked that he will use that for to get over there. So he's not going to spend all that time in Washington. He really did like Washington, but he understood it was time to leave. But Phoenix was one of the few teams that he chose to go to. So you're not just going to be able to just get him up and out that quick after spending all that time in Washington. And now he's in Phoenix and think he's just going to make life easier for you guys just to get Jimmy Butler. No, it has to work for him as well. As of right now, I'm still told that Phoenix hasn't reached the point where they even can't approach Bradley Bill about the situation. As of right now, it's still pretty early.
What is the second most onerous contract in the sport?
That is a good question. Is it far and away Bradley Bill?
Is it no question the contract that can't be moved if there is such a thing is Bradley Bill's?
I just think just then, if he didn't have that no trade clause, he's a movable piece. That makes it difficult. That makes it difficult. And look, I think people will look at Bradley Bill, that he's probably not the player he was in Washington. He will argue, no, he's still that player. He's still capable of doing that, but he's in a different role, and he's asked to do different things. He's asked to sacrifice. He made comments publicly about the team trying to put him into a point guard role. He's never been that guy. And I've heard that the coaching staff over there, they've tried to tell him that he needs to be more like Drew holiday. And that's not Bradley Bill. That's not his game. So At the end of the day, even though he's not experiencing his best season over there and he's not in an ideal fit for his talent, he's still not going to just be moved anywhere, any place. Because even though basketball is not going good, Phoenix, the weather is still pretty good over there. So he's not just going to be shipped anywhere against his will.
Chris, after the initial reports were that Jimmy was willing to play anywhere in the NBA, basically outside of Miami, you furthered the story along by mentioning that teams like Memphis and others had been told not to trade for Jimmy Butler. Now reporting, I believe it's from Mark Stein and Jake Fisher together on this one, talks about Jimmy taking private flights, staying in Airbnbs away from the team. The story has gotten to this place of talking about the personality and things that locally some reporters knew down here for years with Jimmy. When you hear all of this stuff start to come out, what are your initial reactions to that?
I do have some insight from Jimmy's camp and those individuals. To speak from the flights, I was told that... Excuse me, I had to take some notes here. In the last five years, I was told Jimmy took less than five separate flights from the team, and four of them were during the finals against Denver when his father was sick. So they're clearly trying to diminish, I guess I should say, I guess the narrative that he was just flying privately and separately, frequently. And so with that being said, that's that. And then from Jimmy Butler's perspective, let me just add this. So over the summer, I was told... Let me see. Yeah, I do a summer. So that was Pat Reilly. He had his comments. And I remember, I don't know if you guys remember, but I came, I was doing the playoffs. It was the heat. I want to say heat, Boston. And that's when Jimmy, I was doing sidelines for TNT at the time, and I was able to speak with Jimmy during the game. And he had some comments. It was egging on the Boston Celtics fan base. And then I believe he had some more comments later that day or the next day.
And I think that's what Pat Reilly was referring to about, if you're not playing, you probably should stay quiet. Obviously, that rubbed Jimmy the wrong way. He felt like that was taking things too far. And both sides, I'm trying to take you guys to the exodus. And both sides, it was informed. Pat Reilly was informed that a face-to-face was needed, was necessary with Jimmy after all that went down. And Jimmy was under the assumption that Pat was going to visit him in the offseason, have that face-to-face. Jimmy told him about at the offseason place he has in San Diego, and it never materialized. Pat never went out there. So they didn't communicate via text, a phone conversation, or face-to-face. The last time they communicated was January first, when the heat brought them into the office and talked about that, and didn't think he was putting forth the effort. So from there all the way back to the end of last season, that was the time frame in which there was no communication. There were some other things that happened in that summer, too, that got it to an uneasy place for Jimmy and the heat at the start of the season, started training camp, I should say.
There's just a lot of things behind the scenes.
Let's go through it, though, because I was suspicious when Jimmy showed up late to Media Day, because all of this has been brewing for a while, and the reporting on this has been pretty detailed. I should tell people Chris Haynes is a veteran NBA reporter. His brand new YouTube channel is called Haynes Briefs. It débuted earlier in January. He has worked for Turner Sports, covering NBA games and reporting on the league. Before Turner, he was with ESPN Yahoo Sports, Comcast, Sports Nest, Northwest, covering the Blazers as well.
Haynes Brief. I mean, that's Good. Underwear.
Yes, that's it. He's getting in there and he's showing you the innards of people's underwear because what you're telling us with your reporting is that Jimmy Butler was indeed pissed off about Shut up, you didn't play on the Celtics. It escalates from there with pettiness and silliness to we're not talking, and I want a face-to-face, and we need a face-to-face, and we're equals here. And then Pat Reilly saying, No, I'm not giving you a face-to-face. We're not equals here. You're saying it's some of that, that you can't treat stars like that anymore. This will be what happens.
Yeah, that happened as well. There was something else, Dan, too, that rubbed him the wrong way as well. Towards the end of last summer, Jimmy and them were informed of an accounting error towards the end of last summer, in which he didn't get his paycheck on that period. And it took the team about 10 days for him to get his payment, but that's never happened. So you got all that going on on top of an account error where he didn't get his paycheck. And so things were just feeling a little bit off at that point. And then during the offseason, his agent, Bernie Lee, informed the Miami Heat that, Hey, if we want to get an extension done, we're going to do it in an offseason. And if no deal is done when Media Day hits or when training camp hits, then they're just going to play the season out and see what happens from there. And so that deadline passed, went and passed But still, there was no communication. There was nothing. There was nothing indicating that they were going to do something or not going to do something. It just passed. So he goes into training camp, and now there's a new offense and a new defense that's being installed.
And from Jimmy's standpoint, it doesn't cater to his skillset. So now they want to shoot more threes, and they want to play more zone defense. You look at just the way his season started off, his usage rate is the lowest it's been in the last 10 years. I believe the 2014-15 season, you have to go back that far. So these are all the things behind the scenes.
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Dan Levatard. All these high-paid analysts, I don't want to mention names, TNT, ESPM. Oh, yeah. They are dead. They're not going to make it. Even if they win, if they lose in Miami- I need to calm you down. I need to calm you down. That's right. If they lose in Miami, they don't got a chance in Boston. Oh, they are going to have their ass. You know what? In Boston. Stugats. They were wrong. Are they going to lose their job? No. Are they going to get a cutting plate? No. What are they going to do? Keep predicting what is the obvious? They're going to say, Oh, the nuggets are going to win. Oh, Denver, the altitude. You know what? The heat are going to win it all. This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugats. There's more, though, Chris, please. Take us take us through, and thank you. Take us through what Jimmy feels about how the heat handled all the time he needed for his taking care of the death of his father. And I would imagine whatever I don't know who this information benefits, the private plane stuff, but you're hitting a real soft personal spot on a prideful person if he suspects that the heat is leaking, that while he was trying to visit his father, he was being unprofessional.
Yeah. And that hurt as well for sure. It's leaking and it's coming out that the heat are entertaining offers. Now, this is before, obviously, Pat Reilly put it out publicly in a statement that they are. And so That's bothering him because now it's going on for a few weeks. It's just this constant... It seemed like every other day there was something about Jimmy being sided with this team or being connected with this team. He either interested in the rest of the here or there. And so from their standpoint, they're looking at it like, who is leaking this? It looks like it's coming directly from the team. And so, again, this is just creating a sour environment and a sour relationship from what otherwise has been pretty good. He's had a really good run with Miami, couple of finals trips. It's just been a lot. Then once he got back, there's a lot. Dan, I really have to I really got to look at a lot of my notes that I have.
Keep going, though, Chris. Go take a trip. I'm trying to remember as much as I can. I know. The reason I want... I know Stugatz wants to get in here because he's desperate. Everyone here right now is- He could read me the He quotes if he wants. But everyone here is desperate to give you... They want takes from you, and I want the reporting because the reporting is fresh, and this is one of the great guys in the information business. His information is not wrong, so it's not gossip. It's journalistically reported. Because he's old-school written it down, he doesn't want to get anything wrong. Chris, take your time. I want to go through. We'll get to Zion Williamson and the other stuff, but I want to show people the innards of how a human relationship deteriorates to divorce when two people think they're responsible for the success of the other person. Please take us through whatever you think is a lot here because I want people to understand why it is that Jimmy Butler might be hurt. Also, I want them to understand why the pressure of, get in there and do your damn job already.
You're being paid $50 million is the weight of the machine on his shoulders when he's sitting here, wait a minute, I was grieving my father's death. We're going to play this dirty? We're going to play dirty on personal flights when I don't even know who that benefits? Who does it benefit to have leaked that there are personal flights during the finals? All that does is cause Jimmy Butler heartache that's personal. But is the heat leaking that?
Yeah, and that's what we don't know. There's people that talk from both sides, different sides of the table, so you never know what it is. But from their standpoint, it looks that way. It looks like it could be coming from the team. I tried to reach out to the heat before I came on, Dan, just to give a heads up about some of the things that I had and some of the things that I was going to say. I didn't get a response back in time. But with that being said, you take back when he was away, when he was sick. So what would this be? This would be late December. Possibly late December, when he was absent for a few days, a few games. He came back. He was still working out at the facility. He came back, and then he had to address media the first day he got back to practice. And I don't think he appreciated that because at that time, the trade rumors were getting out about the heat, possibly looking to move him. And so he felt it was uncomfortable and uncalled for that the first day that he gets back, he has to answer to news that's being put out by who he can only assume.
And so you got those things. And then let's get to the game in which Then he criticized him, brought him into the office the next day, and basically called into question his effort or lack thereof, I should say. And that's when his agent, Bernie Lee, informed him like, Look, guys, Jimmy's trying to do what he can. He's not in an ideal situation as far as basketball fit anymore because it seemed like the team is going away from featuring him as the marquee player. And he said, That's fine. But now you're questioning if he's given the effort. Excuse me while I look in my notes on this because I want to add, I want to make sure I don't get this wrong. That's a reporter, Dan.
I will give you a moment because some of this is unfair because the reporting, he's doing it and he's trying to be fair. So I will filibuster for a moment here for you by being fascinated by a number of the things here, one of which includes, yes, of course, as Tyler Hero becomes an all-star with all of the usage rate, Jimmy Butler is not going to like the transition out of Jimmy Butler very much. Why would he like that? It decreases his value as he heads into a contract dispute. It's the corporate move you make while also allegedly improving your team, but you're asking Jimmy Butler to be the second player on Tyler Hero's team, and that's a little complicated for Jimmy Butler's ego, given what he's done the last five years.
Yeah, And he believe he still can play at that level. He talked about, he said it publicly, I forgot what video was, that feel like he still have a few years left of his prime. So when the heat accused him of a lackluster effort in that game, his agent brought up some data from Second Spectrum showcasing that in that game, that Jimmy had his highest miles per hour rate in that game, meaning he ran the fastest as fast as he has in any game that season, and that he was the top player as far as acceleration in that game. And so they were just trying... I'm just showing the back and forth, just showing the data they're trying to present to showcase. No, he was not- What do you think is true?
You're very fair. You're very responsible. What do you believe to be true here? Because Stugatz is just dying to yell, Is there anything that Jimmy Butler appreciates? And get your ass back on the I mean, he's making $50 million this year, more than LeBron, more than Jason Tatum, and he doesn't seem to appreciate anything that he'd have done.
I think he's human, and I think he's frustrated with the direction of where the team is headed on the basketball court, that is. Then when you have your work ethic question, something that he... I've covered some of the best players in this world in this game. Lebron James, talk about work ethic. Lebron James, Chris Paul, guys like that. Jimmy Butler is in that mode as well. To hear something like that, that's calling a question. Now, you can say, Look, man, is his demeanor a little bit off? Can you see it visibly that he's frustrated? Maybe. I couldn't sit here and tell you that he's not giving-I understand we're really parsing the hairs of, is he trying, but he's also joyless because he's not happy.
And when you're not happy, it can look like you're trying less. If you're bringing to the office a whole bunch of shit before and after the games, I know. Roy's dressed as a gladiator. He brings it in every day. Every single day, he storms in here with a mountain of shit on his shoulders. They broke into his cars today. But Jeremy has a question for you here, and I want to get out of the Jimmy Butler conversation after this.
Chris, I'm fascinated here because obviously, the personal relationships have deteriorated over the course of several years, but really in particular since this summer. And yet a lot of the conversations we're having on the court fit, well, Jimmy wanted regular season help, now seemingly has it based off the way that they're revamping the offense. Would all of this be a moot point if he had just gotten paid this offseason? Would any of that really be mattering right now in the same way that it does when he hasn't been paid?
I was told in this situation that it's not about the money. It's about more so the relationship and the way things have gone. He's always about the money, Chris.
Always.
He missed a paycheck.
He's not about the money, but call accounting. Call accounting. They're 10 days late.
He believes he's going to get paid regardless, whether that's with Miami or with somewhere else.
But is he? Because this is an interesting test now, Chris, because I'm going to sound like a heat mouthpiece here. But when I talk about owner's contracts, if Jimmy Butler is only willing to play as a malcontent, everyone knows to be careful trading for that. Whether you do test Jimmy Butler on Jimmy, do you think you're going to get more than 52 million next year? Because you might have to come back here and accept that option after all of this. Are you going to try and do this again? Because we're fine with just salary cap space if we get it for Jimmy Butler, and that becomes a game of chicken. If the heat are looking at you and saying, They're not going to get anything good for Jimmy Butler, well, we'll just keep you here, and then we'll get the cap space, and we'll just take the rest of your year and a half of value and not make you tradable as a 36-year-old star that's worth more than 52 million. I could make the argument if I was arguing on their behalf that his is the second most onerous contract if those are the conditions.
You make good points, valid points. I would say the Los Angeles Clippers had a similar situation. I wouldn't say as toxic as this one has become with Paul George, they just let him Usually, you don't let a player like that caliber go away without getting anything in return. They just completely washed their hands from and allowed Paul George to go sign with Philly. And he went and got his number, went and got a max deal. So Jimmy Butler, one thing about Jimmy is, man, he's going to bet on himself. I know this is a long time ago, but he turned down a rookie extension offer, I believe it was like 44 million at that time, which was a nice figure at that time for him. And he turned it down ended up making an all-star team, and got paid handsomely later on. So that's just his makeup. That's his DNA. I'm just telling you, he believes and he feels like, whether he's getting paid with Miami, he feel like he's going to get paid elsewhere as well. Do you believe it? I'm trying my best. I believe it for a few teams, and I believe it just the way that Phoenix has been so aggressive in trying to get this done and trying to see what they can do.
I don't believe it for the entire league for sure, but I do believe it for a few teams.
But you only need one suitor and the idea... That's it. Desperate Phoenix. Phoenix is the most desperate thing there is. That owner is willing to make seismic change because he's like, Yeah, bring me Bradley Beale's contract, and now flip Bradley Beal's contract. That's the team you want, interested, and they're the only one who's going to be desperate about it.
Yeah. And look at what they've done with the coaches. They've had three coaches in three years, fired Monty Williams, brought in Frank Vogel fired him after one season. Mike Budenholzer, I believe the sons of one, I believe, three in a row to this point. So they're turning it around. But I was hearing some things about players being frustrated and there's been a tension in that locker room right before I reported about Bradley Bill and Usa Nerkus being bench. So there's still things going on over there. But what they've shown is that that owner, he's aggressive over there. He's going to make change even if it looks like it might be a His job, he's going to do what he feels is needed to make that team better.
I want to get you out of here, and I don't know which of the two questions to ask you, so you choose, okay? Would you prefer to talk about the drama and all of the interesting around Zion Williamson, or would you prefer to talk about the wonderful basketball moment of Cade Cunningham going into Madison Square Garden and announcing himself as an all-star because he insists on making the Detroit Piston something that they were supposed to be when they gave Monte Williams all of that money, and all of a sudden, they immediately get rid of the richest coach in the NBA, and they become a legitimate team that can do something like that in Madison Square Garden.
Let's talk about both there.
Wow. If I make you choose, I'm doing the sociological- We chose both. I'm doing the test of choose the games or the transaction. Which one's more interesting? Or your favorite collectible. I mean, we could go there. Or whether you're a hoarder.
Let's go with Kate, because I want to give the Detroit Piston some love. This is a team that's been floundering at the bottom of the Eastern Conference for countless years. We wondered if they were ever going to, in this decade, They make any type of noise. And Kade Cunningham, there were a lot of people that written them off, wrote them off. Was it last offseason? Yeah, it was last offseason. He got his extension. People were wondering if he was going to get his extension. Well, he got it, got the rookie, Max extension, and now he's flourishing. He's doing an unbelievable job. He's a legitimate all-star candidate. I mean, playing a point guard position at that size is just a nightmare for opposing defenses. So you got to give him credit. You got to give the coaching staff credit. They brought in veteran guys over there, Malik Beesley, Tim Hardaway Jr, Tobias Harris. So that's one thing, Dan, that a lot of young teams have been doing as of late, is not bringing in veteran guys to help nourish, to help mentor and teach these youngsters how to play. A lot of times when you have young teams and no veterans in there, these guys are not putting together the proper effort and professionalism on the court, and they're surely not putting out that professionalism off the court.
You need veteran guys like that. And I think Detroit made a great decision in bringing in vets to help cultivate this team. And you can see the fruits of that labor right now.
Billy wants the Zion take.
Give it to me.
He still plays. Yeah. I think we're too far down the road in Zion's career for him to keep having these mishaps. I reported it was repeatedly tardy Tarty slips for practices and shoot-arounds. The last straw was him being late to catch the team flight to Philadelphia. When you have a target on your back, and he has a target on his back just from the numerous injuries and the constant people berating him about his conditioning and not taking it seriously, when you have all that against you already, you can't behave in this type of manner because all it's going to do is highlight and reveal that you really aren't taking it seriously. And so he has to change that narrative. He looks good. The way he's come back this season, he looks... He probably looks like the best physical shape I've seen him in as a pro. But he has to continue, and these things cannot happen. And one more thing I want to say about Zion. For the Pelicans, it was only a one-game suspension. But teams don't like... For a one-game suspension, that's light. Teams don't like to put their business out on front street like that, especially pertaining to Zion.
Zion doesn't like things being leaked about him. The organization knows that. So for them to come out publicly and suspend him for a game just shows you where they're at with Zion and how fed up and frustrated they are with his lack of professionalism up to this point. So that's what it showed me That's what it showed me mostly, is just the fact that they felt it was time to do something.
How do you feel about Funions?
I used to like them as a kid. Not so much now. Bad breath. You need gum and pepperments right after.
That's true. Billy stinks. Billy's whole face stinks. I'm not making out with anybody. I don't care. Thank you, Chris. Good seeing you. Thank you for the time. Thank you for the information. His favorite collectible. Anything on the notes there that we didn't get to? If you want to get to the favorite collectible, I did not get to your favorite all the junk that you're hoarding in your house?
I got a lot of notes, guys. Two pages worth of notes, but I got to save some for hang's briefs. But I love you so much, Dan. I had to give you something.
That's a great name. Thank you. How about the best collectible for us two guys? It's a little gift on the way out. We appreciate all the information. You saw how desperate we were about it. We were salivating. Give us morsels of the gossip. You saw us. It was pathetic. It was desperate.
Yeah, it's all good. That's why I got a number love for you all. But my best collectible Let me throw away my best collectible. I will say it has to be... Oh, well, I have a 1953 grand piano. My mom plays the piano. My mom plays the piano. I inherit it from her. I don't play the piano, but that's what I have. That's probably my most priest. I wouldn't sell that. I wouldn't sell that because I think her grandmother gave that to So that's something I'll keep. All right. Everything else is for sale.
Everything else is for sale. It's Haynes' Brief is the YouTube link. Get over there to where he's doing stuff because the information is very good. Thank you, Chris. Good talking to you. Thank you, guys. Let's do Against the Spread here, Chris Cody. Let's do it.
That's right. It's time for Against the Spread. It's presented by DraftKings. Draftkings, the Crown is yours. Roy, kick us off.
All right, the Panthers are at the Devils tonight. The Devils are a goal and a half favorite. The Panthers are coming off of a loss in Philadelphia, where they blew a two goal lead. The Panthers have covered the park line in 23 of their last 24 games when they were underdogs versus Eastern Conference teams. That's including the five-game winning streak. However, they have lost eight straight games as road underdogs on the second leg of a back to back.
All right, he's a champion gladiator. Homer, he is picking.
Something's got to give. They don't have a play at the night.
Also, the doubles win six straight home games. But I think the Panthers will cover tonight.
Against the Spray.
That's how you do it with useful information, man.
Yes.
Speaking of useful information, you know Matt Stafford has the highest winning percentage in the NFL as a quarterback in December, January, and February since joining the Rams. He has 15 TDs, and he's five and one in the postseason as a Ram. They go into Philadelphia, they're plus six in this game. Taking the Rams, plus six. Against the Spray.
Billy, did you like that information? People were eating up to Chris Haynes' information. Good info. Did you like it? I didn't sense that you liked it. No, it was good. It was about 15 minutes too long. He's a hoarder. 20.
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All set for your flight?
Yep, I've got everything I need: eye mask, neck pillow, T-Mobile, headphones.
Wait, T-Mobile? You bet.
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Okay, I'm going to leave you to it.
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