Stuck out here, when you talk to Dell technology adviser, they are focused on you, ready to give advice on everything from laptops to the cloud and offer tailored solutions powered by Intel. Vibro platform to keep your small business ready for what's next. Call Dell Technologies adviser today and 877 Ask Dell. That's 877 Eskdale. We are lucky to be joined today by Miami Herald columnist Greg Codi, who sat in front of his television last night and in his underwear, he wrote a column about a upset that we have not seen in Miami Heat history.

Miami has never won that series as an underdog. Crazy that Milwaukie season is now over. Mike, entertainment purposes only. You had the Miami Heat. You put your money where your mouth has been your annoying, cocky Heat fan, and today you get to crow because what is the price you got on that Heat series?

Honestly, not that great of a price considering the magnitude of the upset. Plus three forty five series price, a couple of units on that one. Danso Nice little payday. Got a little nervous with Giannis being out that game because obviously Milwaukee is much better without him but the Miami Heat do the thing and get the gentleman sweep five Cocchi he pin that always says heat in five was actually right this time. Who is nervous.

Who is nervous in the first quarter. Let's go admit it they both calm me down to you guys. So quarter speech.

They looked so bad they looked so bad early in that game thrown the ball away. You realize how spoiled you are in terms of how they handle the basketball, that when they look incompetent, you're confused by it. You are soothed by the words of spo the first quarter words of SPO.

I was just pacing my house and when he when he was just like, look, we want this really bad. We're going to be fine, we're going have a good second. I was just like, oh wow, we are going to be fine. So it's just he knows, knows the right notes to hit.

Then he hit the white notes. He knew he knows the white notes to hit because Tyler Zero is I mean this is really impressive. Not since Dwayne Wade has the Miami Heat had a rookie that has performed on that level. On that stage. In that way. Tyler Hero is you know, we made fun of the Chris Paul, Mark Johnson, Chris Paul. He was born for this moment. Tyler hero seems so ready for that clutch that that crunch time performance.

And man, this is such a great draft pick that nobody was really on board with, including myself.

There's a few things I'm not certain that three one, there is any pacing situation, especially after the first quarter. SPO speech was fantastic. Chris is right. There's no question about it. A fantastic speech. But the next time you get mad at me and Mike for the smallest of transactions, remember Jae Crowder, OK, that's why Mike and I get so excited about the transaction. That guy has played all NBA defense and he'll give you a big three after Big Three in the fourth quarter every game.

He has been marvelous for the I.

I will not dispute what you're saying, but on the other side, that was key transaction. George Hill going one for eight from Milwaukee. You guys really celebrated for a long time. Yeah.

What do you mean no? No, but you forget that. Yes, we did celebrate for a long time because you mocked me and Mike when the Bucks got your children last year in the playoffs, I believe it was your conference semifinals. Georgia, let's look at twenty five point game. And Mike and I were making fun of you the next.

The reason these moves matter, the reason that I mock you is because somebody is going to do it. Last night it was Rondo and Kuzma. Somebody out there is going to give you a game like I don't, I don't want to argue about this. Let's celebrate. Let's rather let's he he's been great. There's no disputing that. Not only is he been great benching Meyers, Leonard has been a smart and what seems like in retrospect an obvious move.

But let me talk a little more about this Tyler hero situation, because I don't actually believe Greg and you'd tell me if you've known this in heat history, because maybe Wade conjured the same sort of specific feeling I'm talking about here. There is something about Tyler Heroes, combination of looks like a child and also the sweetness of his jumper that I can't remember another heat player where people just consistently watch him play. And the response early in his career is, this dude's fearless.

Like, how often do you say that about a 20 year old? And he gets it all the time, like anybody watching Tyler Hero because of when he's willing to take shots because he will take any shot because they used him last night. They trusted him for thirty seven minutes, the same amount as Jimmy Butler played in the game. The idea do you remember Mike Wade? Do you remember Cody Wade being this kind of fearless like? I understand that he came on as a rookie, I believe Stand benched him and in late game early in his playoff career, because the Miami Heat don't tend to trust rookies.

But I don't remember fearless being attached to somebody this way in the heat. I mean, one of his game winners was at the at the hoop, yeah, I remember Dwayne Wade being fearless, but that's the greatest player in franchise history.

Oh, but I'm not saying he wasn't fearless. I'm just saying that the immediate reaction to Tylor Hero every time I'm with anybody who's watching him play is the baby face and then he's an assassin and people are like, why is he not more afraid.

Yeah, I ask the same things about Dwayne Wade. Dwayne Wade was baby face when he first got here to its wild to see those videos back there and Dwayne Wade was probably even more impressive with is doing is unexpected for a later round pick. Remember, I mean Dwayne Wade was one of the more highly touted prospects in that draft, but yet not since Dwayne Wade. Have we had this. And that's that's not an insult against Tyler Hero. That that is a flattering compliment because he is playing at a level that no one really saw coming.

He's for this franchise. He's the generational rookie in this sense. You know, Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra, they don't often put their bankroll on on rookies. They're a team that likes veterans. And Tyler, here I am literally wearing a T-shirt older than Tyler here. And I'm not exaggerating. He's twenty. He looks like he's seventeen. You can put them in any high school hallway. He wouldn't be out of place. And it's when he's shooting, it's it's you know, he can miss three threes in a row, which I think he did last night, and he's still taking them in clutch shots.

He's got all this confidence. And I think he's been more than impressive. I think he's been a key character. I spent a lot of his rookie season thinking, well, this is a guy who's going to have a nice little niche in the NBA as the sixth man, as a role player. I'm rethinking I think this kid is able to be a starter in this league and do well.

With Butler being a star who likes to facilitate and pass, I feel like Tyler here could be the closer on this team next season or going forward. He has that type of just like I want this final shot, I can see him being like the guy we give the ball to.

And also Jimmy trusts him that way and Jimmy is willing to play that way. I would say a couple of things about what your father just said. One of I can't believe the highest praise that Tyler hero could get today is the idea that you had him as a sixth man after breaking down, grinding through the tape, and now you're willing to upgrade him to an NBA starter and that sure about it. Did I know he considered it? And also, that shirt you're wearing is older than Pat Riley.

It's not just merely older than Tyler hero. You have unbelievably old shirts. I guess what I would say to you guys, I guess what I would say to you guys, because I don't mean to put Tyler hero in the Dwayne Wade class. I don't think that that is a fair place to put him. I just am startled by the number of people who are noticing his fearlessness when that's not something that. How often do you hear that said in basketball periods do got about anybody like the idea that this would be a consensus observation that people are making just while they're watching him?

It's at least in part because he looks twelve years old.

Yeah, it's twelve years old. It's a rookie. He's doing it in big moments. But you kind of question just how big the moments are. These moments are different. It's on a neutral court. I mean, there's no traveling. There's no twenty thousand fans. Can we at least acknowledge that we're talking about this as if it's the normal NBA playoffs? And I'm not trying to just Farad's Tyler Herut, but he's never gone on the road NBA playoff game in front of twenty thousand people and hit the kind of shots that we're talking about that yet.

It's I'm sorry. It's big difference. You have the factor. OK, OK. No idea what he is. I know what he looks like in a neutral court. OK, I have no idea what he looks like in front of twenty thousand.

This is wonderful. This is so very good guy. All right, Tyler here. Let's tap the brakes on Tyler Hero because we need to see him do it in a road playoff game that hasn't existed since he's been in the league. So just to be clear, the gods want him to show you something in a game that he hasn't been allowed to play in yet, like there has been literally zero playoff road games for him to do this in front of a crowd.

And Stewart is like, yeah, yeah, whatever. Tyler here, you did it in the bubble, but do it in front of a road playoff crowd, whatever it is that we're allowed to have road playoff crowds back. I think everything about Tyler hero's game and confidence is the opposite of what Stewart said, I think he is well suited to go into a hostile environment and feed off that the way so many top players do and stick to saying isn't crazy, right?

Like you can't call someone an NBA champion until they've won an NBA championship. Right. So people have to do things before you can crown them. Certain things, Dan.

Before I could crown them. Fearless, though, because he took plenty of shots and there's no fear here.

He played in front of a lot of people this season and took shots at the end of games in front of big crowds like he did in front of angry, muted video boards.

In this be one of those things that we're giving it to him because he's white. I mean, we're not and not a lot of people are calling Jamal Murray fearless right now, and he's having a pretty good class. That's part of it, too.

That's allowed to be part of it. What do you guys make of what John has had to say publicly yesterday? I'm not going anywhere. I don't go, you know, around people. I go through them.

When I see a wall, I go through it, I guess, except for one that was designed by Erik Spoelstra Then you pass out of it Giannis Giannis has actually been the great superstar you would always hope for if you're a small market team in Milwaukee is considered that he's always said the right things publicly about his future in Milwaukee. He's even d'albert back some so it was good to see him ramp it up. If you're in Milwaukee Bucks fan, he said strongly, I'm not going to request the trade that that's what he said.

We'll see if he accepts a supermax offer because that will be more telling than his quotes.

So help me understand, this is a Heat fan, because we've been here a few times, right. Where I remember specifically, we all remember the Miami Heat being in a situation where they were 42 and forty. It was a lovable team early Dwayne Wade, Caron Butler, Brian Grant. And all of a sudden, yes, Shaquille O'Neal was available and they had groomed a roster where they basically put it in front of the Lakers and said in exchange for Shaquille O'Neal.

You can have anyone on our roster except for Dwayne Wade, and they took you saw them take the young players that people liked and Lamar Odom and Caron Butler. Now, what do you do? This is interesting to me. I know it's a sports radio topic, and to me it's obvious. OK, but I'm guessing Heat fans have also fallen in love with this present incarnation of the team, which I don't believe can beat the Lakers or the Clippers in a finals series.

I believe it's an excellent team, but I don't see them winning the championship. And therefore, if you get in one of these positions where the only way you could get Giannis is of course you're going to have to be willing to give up someone from among Duncan and you got to make the contracts match up from Bam from Tylor Hero saying getting them a year early as you just said, that he's not going to demand a trade if the if he doesn't accept that supermax Milwaukee's like OK, we see the writing on the wall, we're going to actually open this up to bidding.

I'm saying if you don't, if you obviously the preference is to get them for free. But given the series that you just saw, I'm guessing most Heat fans would balk at the idea of trading something for the MVP of the league.

Yet considering what we what we just saw, I think most most fans, he fans, even on this show, you had plenty of people that wanted Russell Westbrook the name. And we're willing to part with Bam, anybody who went on to make an all star game. And Tyler Hero who's really ascending in the in these playoffs. I think we have to reevaluate, like even the Bradley Beal stuff. I don't know if I'm ready to let go of Tyler here.

As fun as that Heat team was the one with Karen Butler, a young Dwayne Wade and Brian Grant like that team got eliminated in the second round by Pacer team. The Miami Heat just beat the best team in the league and made it to an Eastern Conference finals in Tyler Heroes first year bam out of bio's first year considered. Oh, wow. Look at this player. He's finally getting the playing time. Whiteside is out of there. This guy can actually be someone that you build a team around.

So it's not exactly apples to apples because this team is actually more successful when you look at it than that team. We're talking about training for the MVP. I mean, so I don't know if they can make the money work and you're pairing them along with Jimmy. But I mean, any time you can get that guy and put those two together, I think it's you got to explore. But if he's willing to explore it as a free agency, I know he's not willing to be traded.

But if he's willing to let them play to let that season play out and then would consider another city, another city, I'd rather see him go that route. But if there's a trade scenario, you trade whatever you can to get a generational talent like Yoni's, who's twenty four years old, and you put it next to Jimmy Butler for the next five years. I don't care how good these guys have played during this postseason run, you have to make that trade for you.

I think you're I think you're building around the wrong player there. So guys like you're just making the assumption that it's Jimmy Butler that has to say and I know he's a guy that did this whole culture thing, but I think many NBA GMs, if they look at, OK, I'm building my team out for the for this generation, I bam out of bio. Jimmy Butler and Tyler Hero, I think is going to have a lot of NBA executives that actually put Jimmy Butler third on that list.

When you consider his age and the apparent ceiling of one big amount of time and what we've seen from Tyler here on his rookie season, that's what I was just going to say.

I feel like we've actually reached the point where Heat fans would rather keep Bam and Hero than Jimmy Butler. That's the playoff series we just saw to God damn it, so do bam.

I know. Like everybody else, bam! Kind of was just like the guy with his lunch pail. This series, he didn't get a lot of credit. He was so good defensively in this series like Bam is. I'd rather get rid of Jimmy Butler there. I said, OK, I'm keeping Bam and here he's such a terrible segment to be doing.

No, no it's not. I'll tell you why it's not. I'll tell you why it's not. We will get back to celebrating the heat in a second. First of all, Lawrence, first of all, it's not a terrible subject, at least part, Mike, because I told you already that everything about the moves that the trade deadline and the playoffs were built to not only extinguish Giannis this season, but to get him in the future, to beat him in a way that gets him in the future.

All of what you just saw in that Heat series supports that plan and I find I love that struggle. I think Strogatz is right on this and yet the rest of the room is doing what I figured he'd fans would do, which is falling in love with the guy and saying, never mind, I don't want the MVP of the league who's twenty five.

But you guys are also forgetting trades are not one sided. Right? Like if you're getting the best player in the league, the MVP of the league, you have to give things up. It's not just I would rather give up Jimmy Butler. It's not really up to you when you're getting the MVP of the league. Yeah, of course. You want the younger pieces, but so will they. So do you want Yoni's or do you want the younger pieces?

Because you can't have.

That's why it's a great conversation. No, I don't. But here's the thing. You this is a younger piece. He's twenty five. Yeah. Yeah. We just do that fantasy football move or we throw like four bench guys at the bottom with Jimmy Butler.

This is, this is absurd guys. He just said he's not demanding a trade. He's lying. His contract is up in a season where you don't actually have to trade for him. If Milwaukee decide to open it up to bidding, then yes, you're probably going to have to part with something. But for right now, why are we even having this conversation? Why? Because it's a good sports radio conversation that's always lamenting the fascination with a transaction and you're just pulling money out of your ass right now.

I'm not pulling it out of my ass when they're quoting youngness as saying specifically, I don't want to get traded. I know because the speculation around him is that this will end his life in Milwaukee. Yeah, I think he probably does want to be traded, actually, but I will say this, I don't think anybody on the heat should be considered untouchable. Nobody if we're talking about Giannis Antetokounmpo but I think the combination should be untouchable. In other words, I would give up them.

Yes, I would give a butler, I would give up hero, but I wouldn't give up a combination of them. But but yeah. You can't consider anybody untouchable if you're talking about arguably the best player in the league. I think everyone's on the table except for Jae Crowder.

He also said he's not requesting a trade. He didn't say he wouldn't accept the threat, that he wouldn't hint at wanting it like I requested.

Mike is so mad right now. He's just he is beside himself because he wants to celebrate the heat, but he doesn't want the MVP of the league and doesn't want to even have conversation. But I do want the MVP of the league. And it's just not a realistic conversation. It's certainly not an appropriate conversation to have on the heels of the Miami Heat, gentlemen, sweeping the Milwaukee Bucks and that two time reigning MVP and defensive player of the year.

Let's celebrate the guys on the team. We did that a little bit with Tyler Hero, but stop trying to show Jimmy Butler out the door. Stop trying to trade Tyler hero. Let's celebrate them because they just made it to an Eastern Conference finals. What a tremendous season.

When have we been in the business of having realistic conversations with heat acquisition and a totally fair he's he's just mad at us because we're not running around here and we can do that. We can run around here and celebrate the victory. But also it can be pretty exciting.

We're trying to build a dynasty and not just celebrate the ECF. We're trying to take over this league for ages.

I'm not about just this year on a neutral court. We've got to go on the road eventually.

It wouldn't be that guy. Don't have some vision, guys.

Don't think I don't notice the people driving this conversation or the people that wanted Russell Westbrook here to take the heat to win three, the people that believed in this team.

And now we're ready to compete, not not to ruin this party, but the Celtics look pretty good there.

Is that this conversation again, after that series like the Celtics, I'm not sure is.

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Geico for bundling made easy. Go to Geico Dotcom today. One of Stewart's greatest strengths around here, maybe his greatest strength, I don't know what Stewart would assign as his greatest strength, but I think it's working in very tight windows comedically where he gets in and out quickly on something funny. And yesterday we were talking, of course, as we usually are, about Connor Air had just seen it. And so we were talking about John Malkovich character Cyrus.

And under his breath, the Billy just said the virus. And Stuart's immediately said after the virus, attaboy to support Billy, because the clichéd move of when you hear Robert Parish just give his nickname the chief, it's automatic to God has been doing it for years. In the segment we just did about Tyler Heera, when Chris Cody, Pink and Freckled, jumped in with what about his whiteness? What about his whiteness? I wanted to scream at a boy.

Chris, you enter the conversation. I wanted to scream it to you because. Yes, because the Celtics got one of these guys like they become heroic. Oleynik Charles Barkley will not refer to Olynyk is anything but the guy in the ponytail leading in the league like a decade. He's referring to him as the guy with the ponytail. I do believe that we extra celebrate these guys and find them extra fearless when they're Loukia Donchak or when they are Tylor Hero and they're running into, you know, the buzzsaw of a bunch of black dudes in a black dominated sport.

And they're like, no, I belong here. I'm twenty years old and I belong here. Any who. Oh, my God. Can I just. Can we just talk about this first quarter again? I know we talked about it last segment. Uncle Mo, what a crazy thing Uncle Mo is where you guys terrified.

Like, how how scared are you? Let me look around. Tony, you were scared in that first quarter. Like, I've never been scared, Chris.

One of the things is this. Look, what I find really interesting about the whole Commissario ever period possible.

It's a I believe it. The Halloween horror nights.

No, never. But also I don't put myself in positions to be afraid. But there's a whole another story about the roster construction of this team.

If you were to trade for Yoni's and you were to get rid of one of those, you know, quote unquote Big three, wouldn't it be to surround Giannis with shooters?

And if you're getting rid of some of those shooters that spread the floor for him, wouldn't that be a problem because then you're just taking the Milwaukee Bucks sans Khris Middleton and bringing them here and it just doesn't work right. So you have to have the spacing to play with the Hornets and if Jimmy is there with Giannis who who's who's actually shooting the ball.

Uncle Mo. Attaboy. Yeah Tony.

I would say they made something out of Duncan Robinson. He was undrafted, they made something out of Damon Jones. He led the league in three point shooting after being a journeyman shooters or something they can find. Mike Ryan is so frustrated that again, Tony, you dragged this into the transaction instead of celebrating with enthusiasm, the greatest upset in the history of Heat playoff basketball. Can we preview the next round?

I like that Celtics conversation. There's so much time for the honest conversation. So much, Mike.

We spent years talking the last time a 25 year old MVP looked like he might be available. We spent two damn years talking about the idea that LeBron might want to team up with Dwyane Wade, saying he's he he looks available because he just got eliminated in five games. Is that what you're saying? Because he is not down for this. He's not playing along. He's not doing the thing. He's not even doing the Bradley Beal thing of suspicious social media behavior.

He close that door in terms of demanding a trade. You need someone to sort of comply with that whole that whole premise.

What is happening here that Mike Ryan is the voice of reason on this. And during the break and during the segment, Cody and Billy have been calling Giannis a liar. Simply that nobody nobody, nobody in the room. I haven't heard anyone from among us side with Mike on this.

He's on a quote. He just said flatly he's lying. No Billy said he wants to try.

Billy in the break said he's a known liar. Accuse him of being this.

No, it's not amongst NBA circles, you guys. He's just doing that thing right where you have to make your fanbase happy. Just had this crushing defeat. You were the one to see your stars and injuries. Like, I'm not going anywhere. I'm never.

Did you guys forget what Kyrie Irving did in Boston? I'm never leaving, boss. And then I requested a trade like two minutes later and he says, let's let's make, let's make a bet. His yacht is going to finish his career in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I mean, no, I say no.

Yeah. I mean what is this bad. No one actually did you done so ok.

I would say no on Mike. I mean, Paul McCaskey Star are very into there.

Are you sure. Are you sure about that. I have no idea if gets Milwaukee fans are nervous and Giannis is doing nothing but mollifying them right now. Nothing more. Nothing less than I say. We put up acquiring Giannis until the summer of twenty one and right now we celebrate the heat because they're doing something fantastic. It's the first finals since fourteen first number five seed of any team to reach the finals since thirteen. That's seven years and I tell you what they're doing right now is the best feel good story in the league for me and symbolically for me.

This is the heat getting past, finally getting past the big three. You're putting that in the back and moving forward. I think this is symbolically the heat. Pat Riley is saying today for the first time, I think, since LeBron left, I have a team I can win with. I have a final four team. I have something I can build around. Riley's done the right thing. All the moves he's made. Spoelstra is an elite coach.

Everything about the team. What they've done is just spent the past week and a half showing Giannis firsthand eyewitness. This is everything good about the Miami.

Paul McCaskey did not start his career in Milwaukee, he did not end his career in Milwaukee. Paul McCaskey had eight different stops in his NBA career.

This is what's funny about that. Listen to this, OK? Because I didn't know where it is that Paul McCaskey had ended up or not ended up. I, for example, was just watching some television last night. And I don't remember Gary Payton being with the Celtics, put it on the pole at time show. Do you remember Gary Payton in a Celtics with the Celtics before he showed up with the Heat?

I did not I did not remember that had a boy.

I did not remember that at all. I just love, though, that all students had it in the holster. Was the name Paul McCaskey. He just. Did you go did you go past Bradlow house physically and end up on McCaskey physically just because you wanted to grab a different player like you took a total journeyman? Did he even play the majority of his games in Milwaukee, Mike, when he played for eight different? Yes.

Then I feel confident in saying the bulk of his career was spent in Milwaukee. It's sort of like half Milwaukee and then half Houston, Detroit, Cleveland, Golden State, Google, Paul McCaskey, people.

For those of you who do not know him because you got was absolutely going for a comedic name there and a comedic visual, and he succeeded with everything.

But the fact that he played for eight teams and eight eight eight start there and there I was thinking maybe Sidney, Bob, grief, maybe, you know, like a list or something like that.

But those guys, Terry Cummings, those guys had natural just not funny names and had an actual chance of starting in Milwaukee. McCaskey worked out swimmingly for this show.

I do think it is to Greg's point, it is a good time to praise Pat Riley. I'm not going to go as far as to say every move that he made was right because he handed out some really bad contracts and he had to dig himself out of those Whiteside, James Johnson, Dion Waiters contracts. However, he would have been there if Chris Bosh didn't have the blood clots. You've seen what LeBron has done to Cleveland twice when he's left that organization for the Miami Heat to be back in the Eastern Conference finals, not just surviving LeBron leaving, but surviving Chris Bosh having to cut his career short when his game would have aged beautifully.

This is a year after the franchise player retired. This is incredibly impressive by Pat Riley to get Jimmy Butler with zero cap space.

Chris, speaking of Pat Riley, did you guys see Magic Johnson legitimately hot take on Twitter last night? It was not a classic Magic Johnson tweet. I'm going to read it for you. With the Miami Heat advancing to the Eastern Conference finals, Pat Riley proved again why he is the best executive in the NBA. Are people saying that? I feel like that's a genuinely hot take from Magic Johnson.

I think a lot of people think that we will be reminded of it again if they do indeed play the Celtics about the story where he on company letterhead sent out his spokesman to say f you to Danny Ainge, the Celtics general manager, like basically just notarized it and sent out somebody to say the quote, f you, Pat Riley. It's been interesting to watch this turn all of a sudden to best executive in the NBA because they pulled off an upset that doesn't have a lot of precedent in the sport and certainly doesn't have a lot of precedent in his time here, even as they're the team that has gotten to the Eastern Conference finals over the last decade.

More than any team in the sport, they've done it seven times while the Knicks haven't done it any. Cleveland only did it six times. Miami has been to the conference finals more often this decade.

I was feeling nostalgic because yesterday you asked how long have we been, you know, occupying the old Cowherd slot? It was actually five years ago to the day that we took over from that. But when we started on National the Eastern Conference finals, where the Boston Celtics against the Miami Heat, they both teams survived generational teams leaving, aging, retiring, moving on with LeBron James, moving on to two other teams since then to be back in that spot, potentially you have Heat Celtics again eight years after the fact.

I mean, teams searched for this Eastern Conference finals appearance for generations, but thirty years to be able to survive that in eight years time and be right back with Heat Celtics is pretty cool.

Is he better at this than than he was coach? I mean, to be able to do it? Yeah. The Hardaway team, the Alonzo Mourning team, the Shaq and Wade team, that obviously the big three and then the turn that around this quickly, where with a couple of drafts and assigning a Jimmy Butler, you get bam, get Tyler here, you get Jimmy Butler, you get Duncan Robinson and he's back in the Eastern Conference finals and he has Cap Kakeru headed into free agency.

I mean, he's pretty damn good at what he does, and I'm not certain. That he's better at this than he was in coaching in the NBA and he's one of the greatest coaches ever. I think the key for me is that Pat Riley essentially admitted he made a colossal mistake with Hassan Whiteside and moved on from him quickly. He gave Hassan a really big contract at a time when the Hassan type big man was sort of fading from relevance in the NBA.

He quickly discovered that Hassan Whiteside is the opposite of whatever heat culture is. And instead of sticking for two or three more years and saying, I want to give us the chance to prove me right, he moved on from them. And that was the absolute key to turning around this team.

Not only that, Greg, but when you look at his track record, he's never been a guy that's built a team through the draft. Right. And then all of a sudden, you hit on a 13th pick, you hit it on 14th pick. And they're probably one of the two best players from those drafts. And you're like, wait a second. This is now another about face turn for Pat Riley instead of doing it through free agency, growing his team organically, grassroots style.

I think his greatest gift. Excuse me, Tony, I'm sorry to interrupt you. I think his greatest gift as the architect of this team is when you look around the league and you see that Budenholzer was coach of the year in Atlanta and they had a 60 win team. And now look at Atlanta. You look the entire time that the Heat have been doing this, Sacramento can't get out of its own way. Phoenix is at the bottom of the league.

The thing that has been most stunning is that across three decades basically in this town, his teams are almost always relevant stewards like you have whenever they get down. They're not down for very long. And I think it's underappreciated in this market. The way they stole the town from the dolphins, the way that they did it is because, like the dolphins with Marino, where the dolphins never had a losing season with Dan Marino, no matter what the incarnation of the team, except when Alonzo Mourning kidney botched everything and when Chris Bosh health botched everything, things that can't be foreseen, they're always somewhere in the top of the league in terms of respect, feeling like a contender, being relevant.

It's not that common a thing. And yet Mike Ryan here is got his head in his hands because he's saying, how does Erik Spoelstra feel listening to this conversation about how great Pat Riley is?

I mean, you're celebrating the guy whose big achievement in getting this team together outside of obviously getting Jimmy Butler was zero cap room, which can't be overstated because that's incredibly impressive. But what he did to help this team was undo the contracts that he's signed. Erik Spoelstra had to be out there coaching them. Erik Spoelstra had to go win twenty one out of twenty games with some of those bad contracts. Erik Spoelstra will always be underrated nationally. He doesn't have a coach of the year, but he has one of the greatest playoff winning percentages of all time to be in the Eastern Conference finals with this team, a team that many were saying, why Jimmy Butler going there?

That's a first round exit at best. Give Spoelstra more credit. I don't think you could win twenty one out of twenty games. I'm not sure how math works, but I'm pretty sure that's cocaine. My kid Homer math, that is exactly how we experience that year with a one of the Dion Waiters game winner candidates.

Mike is a magician this morning. I'm pretty sure he started the Pat Riley conversation and now he's annoyed with it. This is just Sheff's kiss.

Of course, I might I might remind everyone that Erik Spoelstra is very much a Pat Riley discovery as well, pulled him right out of the film room. So Riley gets credit there, too. But you're right, Spoelstra is an elite coach. You know, five years ago, the default answer greatest coach was always Popovich. What's that answer now? And I would propose Spoelstra in a finalist for that answer.

I really am a magician. I really am a magician because this little cloud started with, hey, let's go get and complaining. Hey, let's give some people credit. And now we're fighting over who to give the most credit to absolute rejection. But I'm glad Gregg said what he said.

There is no Erik Spoelstra without Pat Riley. I mean, that is it. Pat Riley has made this dad so proud in so many different ways over so many generations, with so many different teams. It is absolutely amazing. I mean, Erik Spoelstra owes everything to Pat Riley and this entire town over there. We did Pat Riley that right there.

There's one thing we can all go. There's one thing we can all agree on.

And that is let's go, let's go, let's go. Come on, Roy, let's go.

Can you feel the heat down in your soul?

Can you feel safe? Pat Riley.

OK, are we sure Pat Riley like New Tyler here? It was. And he was like, I take the kid from Kentucky. He said, he's good. To your point, though, Greg, there is no there obviously is no Erik Spoelstra without Pat Riley. But Pat Riley, the guy that, you know, Magic Johnson is saying he's the greatest executive ever. There really is no great Pat Riley, the legendary front office executive without Erik Spoelstra.

Erik Spoelstra is winning the games. Erik Spoelstra is younger. Pat Riley is out here in the bubble wearing his mask upside down. Eric Spoelstra is in these meetings connecting with the younger players. These younger players remember Erik Spoelstra as a championship head coach. Gordon Hayward didn't even remember Pat Riley as a head coach. He only had memories of Pat Riley as an executive. It's because of successful coaching ten years like Erik Spoelstra is.

I think what we're getting around to is all agreeing that Riley and Spoelstra in tandem or maybe the best executive head coach combination in the NBA.

And there it is. There it is right there. Ladies and gentlemen, putting a bow on the segment. I need to give Tim Reynolds credit for that Eastern Conference finals start on the Miami Heat, making it to more of them in the last decade than any team in the conference. And also, I don't think we've done nearly enough of this today. I suspect we'll do more of it during the national show this tweeter wrote in. And I think you guys need to make fun of me about this.

Before the series even started, just hearing my analysis on this show, the tweeter writes in, Dan, you've got a little stuck out in you with this heat bux take. If the Bucs win, Dan will expect an apology from everyone to him. But if the heat when he will expect an apology from everyone to Pat Riley. And there we have arrived. Ladies and gentlemen, we have spent the segment apologizing to Pat Riley. Attaboy. And here is the sound of stewards having Pat Riley's back the entire way.

Has Pat Riley failed? Dwayne Wade seriously has Riley in the organization because then all these other teams, all the other contenders went out and made moves in the heat. Have it done a single day? What have they done for Dwayne Wade? They got him. Jermaine O'Neal, a broken Jermaine O'Neal. He's going to leave here and he should leave here.

They got him. Shaq Yeah. And a championship since then.

Let's sell them on this notion of all these guys were going to get that. You know, these guys want to come here. None of them. He's failed. Dwayne Wade failed. The feds failed the city. So good.