Where we left our homes up in Bristol Bay for the waters off Miami shore with a Hitler with the helm helmet, our severance pay, we buy the pirate flag once more, pirate radio with the ship and we get wind in our sales and the sky is blue. There's a devil partner. So much work to do. Pirate radio where the ship is a wreck ship state the deck as Michael Hull Those fellows make more. And Billy is a worry that he's got the scurvy because of the lives of store pirate radio with the ship.

And we got wind and our sales and the sky is blue. There's a devil pano. So much work to do. Pirate radio. Now Roy is a chum when he's on the. He's the COO when we spring a leak and Stu is a messy business, and that's and so sounded worse, we pirate radio with the ship and we get wind in our sales and the sky is blue. There's a piano. So much work to do, pirate radio.

Someone yelled out, who the hell is cabin boy? Somebody named Tony. Who knows, once we got the skipper. Well, I mean, jump ship because he knew we would sail to. Pirate radio with the ship and crew, we got wind in our sales in the sky is blue, there's a devil up our nose, so much work to do.

For the pirate radio, Dan, do you have the Twitter app or do you just always use Safari here, you mean or on your phone here? It's bothering you that much. You get notifications every time you do it, you do. What do you get notifications on my phone? Anyone that has access to the ATLA Batard show account on their Twitter gets a notification. And on top of that, I get an email because the emails downloaded, that's fine.

I use echo phone. God, I was doing it to try.

I was doing the reason I was downloading it was because I was trying to be in it less.

That's why I can I can assure you, is someone that gets a notification to you or not. What was that. What was that. Why did you make that noise? After I said I go for the world, I just it was like an original iPod Touch app.

How do you how do you post your photos? Be a white frog.

It does take me a few minutes. I mean, I'll send you directions as to how to download the app to your cities email.

I mean, I do have a Twitter app as well.

What happens is that your phone is just on my first page and I don't want to scroll over to page three. So I just that's the part I feel bad about for Mike, is these getting those notifications is 3:00 in the morning. Yeah, yeah.

It's I understand why you're going through Safari, because I think you told me long ago you deleted the app in an effort to be on it less. And every time I get a notification, I'm like, wow, he succumbed to this horrible addiction.

And every time I sign on and it's funny that I haven't learned this before, now, every time I sign on, I know Mike's watching me. Might know something about me every time, Big Brother, but three in the morning.

What's the addiction? Cocaine.

What are you doing? His sleep patterns are all off. I'm under stress. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, I'm sorry.

If you haven't been next to me for 24 months, what do you think is happening with me? When you think he's up at three o'clock in the morning, do you really think to yourself it must be the cocaine now?

Occasionally I do. You're just a weird creature, though, with or without stress. You've always been up bit like we are now. You get weird hours. I've always been someone who goes to sleep late. Now I'm somebody who occasionally falls asleep at nine p.m. and just can't stay up beyond nine p.m.. We're like, my body just shuts down and next thing you know, I'm sleeping from nine to two and that's it. That's all the sleep I'm getting.

You don't go back to sleep like you don't need an hour. I'll know what I'm doing is work related stuff. What I'm doing from two to five is the area in our schedule that we have to get stuff done that Mike is doing on off days. And we're talking right now without the shipping container because we're having technical difficulties, because they're all sorts of complications involved in trying to do this show the way we used to do it without the infrastructure we had before.

I want to say you didn't ask for any of this, but you asked for all of this. I mean, you asked for all of it.

What's funny about today's issues? Because I actually think it's on the Internet service provider and we're just sort of at their mercy. But today marks the first day I decided to tell our onsite engineer, Bob, in the miners helmet, hey, don't worry about coming in today. Everything seems to be working. All right. So what happens? Inevitably, the Internet is down and I have no connectivity to the remote people now are our show is on unsettled ground, but we can offline record.

So this local hours just confined to the four people in this studio, Dan, Stu, myself and Chris Whittingham.

And where are we with Lefko and Greg Cody and McGill and doing the show the way we normally do the show?

Yeah, Inamine as well. We have no Internet. Yeah.

So they will join us whenever we have Internet will be them joining us. Right. I could get them over the phone, but the the jolly men of the shipping container, they won't I can get them on the phone I think. I think the phones are working.

Bob rushing in to the phones are working.

Bob is sort of in a holding pattern because I don't really know if Bob can help right now. I'm waiting for an answer on whether or not this is on us or our ISP.

How would Bob not be able to help when he'd be able to get that answer? If Bob can't help, what does that mean? No one can help Bob right now is that if something happens to Bob, we have no way to be the number one podcast in sports.

That's not true. I mean, we can't do it this way.

Bob and Bob is here because Bob is here because I can't do the Bob shit when I'm also content creating. But we're all in a group chat right now. We're all just waiting the same for the same answer. Is it something on our end that we can fix on our show is buffering is what you're saying? No, we're not buffering now.

We're just not working. You have to be connected to the Internet to Buffer.

I think here's a look. Bob is not a computer guy. OK, well, what is it?

You on the cover of Forbes? The guy is up and running and part of that one of the parts to that is the computer guy. He's an all he is a one stop shopping mall.

He's Hosie Kando. I understand Bob is just known as the fixer and an 80s utility.

I was thinking there's no one, only me and you could not go a more recent utility man than 86 Mets. Go ahead.

Well, I think it was 86 cardinals with. OK, but go ahead. Give me the updated utility.

No need to stop here for a moment. I go I go old as well. I'd go someone like Mike Mordecai, I'd go mid 90s Marlatt. That's a good one.

So what about Bob gives off computer whiz to you? Exactly. Is it the miners helmet? Because, look, Bob is an old school radio engineer. When he can he knows his way around a computer like he connected some of our printers, but he's got a bell SML handle and tapes with two index fingers. He's not our IT guy.

OK, no, but here's the part that's not fair about it. All right. That that Mike might think that that's clever and might think everyone's guffawing what idiots these guys are. They don't know anything. But the question began with three a.m. why are you up at 3:00 a.m.? And I legitimately got a call from Mike Ryan, a text, rather, from Mike Ryan the other day in which because I'm just scanning through things so quickly, I thought that our other engineer, Alex, who's been wandering around here, I read his text so quickly that I legitimately thought Mike was telling me that he was going to become our guest booker, that our engineer was going to be the guy who was booking guests for us because everyone around here right now was doing about ten jobs they don't need to be doing.

Our engineer is not our guest Booker. He was just putting a couple of names on our radar because we need gas, but without Internet guests are pointless.

Guys, what names did he put on the radar? Just out of curiosity, what are you doing? I'm just wondering why the the engineer is suggesting yes to us at the end of the opposite. Well, to call him an engineer is slightly dismissive because he's our operations manager. OK, this is top level stuff. He has done a lot of experience and an impressive resume.

So if he hears now is producing Bob, the engineer now insulted because you dared to compare him to Alex, who's not an engineer?

Well, Bob's the engineer and Alex is the operations manager. Bob's also the IT guy. And Alex gets Booker. Alex is not the guest speaker. Alex is a I understand you're doing a lot of work and sometimes at work, I mean requires you like a Dragonfly Jones tweet. Apparently I'm not I'm not really sure what we're doing.

Oh, that's Juju. That's not me. Is either interested in being general sales manager. I actually have an interesting candidate in mind for that.

So people have been reaching out, Samier. Yeah. And I'm trying to navigate not being rude because they look at. Oh, wow. That's perennially a top three sports podcast in America, depending on the given weekday, it's No. One in the nation and they assume we have our shit together. Meanwhile, I'm talking to you from a studio that has no Internet presently, and I have no answers as to whether or not it's our ISP or if it's an on site solution.

So, oh, I got a text. Sorry, put it on the pole.

I was going to say Garmo, but we can't get a hold of him. So Winningham put it on the pole. Do you know what an ISP is at Libertador Show, yes or no? I wanted to talk about what happened with LeBron yesterday. I don't know how much you've seen Strogatz because you've been engulfed in some stuff. So you know what I'm talking about when I say LeBron James, who has dominated the marketplace in our world and I mean in Miami for four years, but our world of sports, where it's been fascinating actually to gots to sit right in the middle as it's happening of some of the stuff that I told you that happened with Jordan, that we that because he did his losing on the front end and then spent ten years of racing that losing and it wasn't real losing, he was still great, but he'd get to the second round and there'd be people questioning him.

He's not strong enough. You can't win that way. Ball, hog, all the stuff, the stuff that was stupid about Michael Jordan, instead of enjoying the first part of, wow, this is the best I've ever seen. And then it becomes, oh, no, this is the best I've ever seen. And nothing is able to attack that. Not even LeBron James, who is 70 pounds heavier and does all the same things that Michael Jordan did, because the question.

Winner, winner, winner. Who's going to beat him now? Now look at what's in front of you and look at how maybe the Clippers, the Lakers have gotten better and Marc Gasol is on their team. Whether you think he spent or not, he's now doing with the Lakers the same thing he did here where he gets here. And it's like the centers have to be Joel Anthony and Eric Dampier and it starts sparks and then he builds the economy around himself.

So he adds Anthony Davis and he adds all these little pieces here and there. And in two years when he's thirty eight, because his career has been properly managed by himself, his body, the people around him, that people spend a million dollars keeping that body healthy a year, you know, because he does all that, it's looking like he's going to win throughout his late 30s. Is it not now that the numbers on what athletes can be when they take care of their bodies is different, changed by.

Science and Tom Brady, I'd say the only thing that could get in his way is, is the Clippers are yanase. But yes, it does appear like LeBron is going to tack on some more titles here into his late 30s and early 40s. And that's all I've been marveling at LeBron lately and maybe a newfound respect for him that he's not missed a game this year. He's 20 years into this and he still cares about a game on a Tuesday night like it's the NBA finals.

Like he's yelling at referees. He's giving max effort. And I'm amazed by that, that he loves basketball that much, that a game against the Atlanta Hawks last night means that much to him. It just does incredible winning him.

Would you do me the favor, please, of getting a mean on an old fashioned phone line, as Blake has had to leave the studio because he's got to handle some stuff. But I want to talk to him because I don't think that Stewardson I understand this. This may have happened to a lot of you who don't have going on in their lives what's Dugard says going on in their life, in his life. But the standings are a bit upside down at the moment.

So when you say maybe Giannis Giannis has done next to nothing this year. Oh I know that that box team and it's not that he doesn't look great but that that Bucs team is what it was last year when it was eliminated in the second round. And so they're whatever the challengers are and whether you believe it's Utah, Philadelphia through twenty games because that's what the top of the standings looks like, the Lakers are better than they were last year. And I don't know we can say that about anything anybody else except maybe the Sixers in terms of what the top bracket net is.

Well, no, the nets are the worst defense in the league to God. It's like they'll win some they'll win a bunch of games during the regular season. But there's simply no way, even as the nets are the best offense in the league and the best offense ever, the way they're pacing.

Well, I'm agreeing with you because I'm saying maybe the Clippers, maybe Giannis just because he's so talented. The big addition Gasol and Schroder. I mean it's been right, they're better than they were last year and I fully expect the Lakers to win a title this year. But if you're asking me who can get out of the way and I know your original question is what happened last night and a fan getting ejected, but who can get in the way?

I would say the Clippers perhaps.

Maybe Durant maybe Giannis those are the only three and that that's why I wanted to bring in amino hacen who would have been joining us by internet but we're just bringing him in by phone line because we wanted to do this local hour with him and wanted to talk a little bit about what's going on with the heat because last night they had their full squad and eventually when we talk about LeBron bodies, that's one of the things I think of is Goran Dragic from a war torn to hell, who is Tufte his way through everything to get to the all star game in that particular sport as an undersized, tough dude, that dude's body is clearly breaking and has been for two or three years now because of the strain of all of that.

Yeah, and he takes care of himself and he's unbelievably tough and he cares. But Goran Dragic is younger than LeBron, is he not? I believe so, yeah.

I'm thinking right. By a good deal. By a good deal. OK, so I mean, we're just talking about the idea that LeBron in his late 30s is is still a body machine that doesn't have a whole lot of precedent. Dragic is thirty four by the way. Yeah.

I mean LeBron that's I mean, I think that's probably the thing that separates him from pretty much every single player where ever played this game. You wanna talk about the difference between the greats and him. He never gets hurt. He's got two weaknesses that I think I've identified. He rolls his ankles sometimes, never misses a game because of it. He tied the knot tighter. Richardson goes out there and the other thing is he gets cramps. He gets cramps from time to time.

Other than that, the guy's had absolutely no musculoskeletal are issues in his career in a career that is, what, seven, eight years deep. Where he plays a lot of minutes is the very first day he stepped on the court where he rarely takes games off when he plays deep into the playoffs, where he plays for USA Basketball. Think about how much mileage this man has compared to any other player in NBA history and then compare it to his injury history.

It just isn't natural. It's it's the most unique thing about him.

I would say it is it saying he said after after the game the other night, I mean, that he doesn't get tired and I believed him.

Do you I mean, you know, I think I think no, I would say go back to that Cleveland team in like 2007.

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And so you may ask yourself, well, that was an odd way to use. I mean just to bring him in and ask him two questions and then laugh about LeBron amazing body and then he's gone. And it's just part of our technical difficulties where things are falling apart around here. In the first week of February, we rattle and clang and it really does feel every day like the nuts and bolts are loose on the tire of a jalopy in the car.

And they're just nuts and and springs and Sprocket's, you know, landing in on the sidewalk because the car is moving a little and stably. It was all exciting. It was fun in January, but I'm starting to get nervous. I got to be on. Yes, yes.

January. There was drinking at nine a.m. on the second day. Freedom, freedom. And now the pirates are tired. It's one of those sick days at sea. The waters are choppy, it's cloudy and unpleasant out, and we all smell like fish. And I mean, it's one of the pirates on the pirate ship. I mean, said, in fact I mean said if you're going to be a pirate, what was the quote that was so great that I was yelling at you about last time?

Because we ended the first segment sloppily, because we're having technical difficulties. But I wasn't talking to a mean because there's stuff going on with the Heat and basketball that I do want to talk to him about. We might have lost the shipping container for the entire show. We will let you know we were trying to get the Internet working. Right now, we're at the mercy of Atlantic broadband. If you live on the beach, you know, that is a mercy that you never want to be at, to be in our brielle's as hell than being at the mercy of Atlantic broadband.

But I mean, you come back in here and I'm just curious because I want to talk about some other things in basketball. But in the middle of what you were saying in the last segment, I believe you tried talking about the skeleton to call injuries. You used an adverb of some sort or an adjective using the word skeletal incorrectly. Do you remember what you did there?

I didn't use it in his musculature and the skeletal skeletons like the two different things right now.

That's not what he said. Skeletor, you said his I think you said there's something wrong with his musculature and a skeleton, and I think it's his skeletal structure. I think you did a Chris body. I think you did emerge starching of words there.

But when you say when you say his body has no precedent, I want to get into what happened last night with this fan because I thought that was interesting from a number of different angles. And we can have some fun with it as well. But the question we were bringing you on to answer is, is LeBron going to spend his late 30s doing what Jordan did, where we're going to look back at what we did to him through two and three championships.

And we're going to be like, man, we shouldn't have been doubting that dude. He got to six or he got to seven. Oh, absolutely.

Absolutely. I mean, look, then there was a point in the early 90s or like 89, 90, where people were saying Michael Jordan is the best player in the league and he might be the best player of all time. And there were all these people said, what, this guy who can't get out of the Eastern Conference, this guy a bull, a me first guy. I mean, it's funny, you can go back and watch the NBA on NBC Intro's or Marv Albert.

Yes. Well, Michael Jordan never going to come to you. Or will he be like O.J. Simpson and Bob Lanier and he starts naming all the Ernie Banks, Mr. Chicago, but not Mr. Cobb.

Never been to hold on a second half. What is this point? Hold on now. Well, it is it's a means that, Harry, it means Marv Albert. But I need you to do it all over again because it had too many stumbles in it. So if you want another crack at Marv Albert being judge, 80s, 90s broadcast for standing firm on the high, questioning Michael Jordan in the same way. Franciszek, question those eighties hurricanes.

Go ahead, do Marv Albert, because that was the Marv Albert amines. Marv Albert, correct?

Yes. That is Marv Albert. Yes. All right. You want to welcome people into the NBA? What is it? The NBA on NBC? Go ahead. Yes. Calculate the metric by which we judge all athletes, some of our great I've never played at the highest stage, Mr. Cobb, three time MVP but never played in October. O.J. Simpson rushed for 2000 yards but never played in a Super Bowl. And Michael Jordan say he's the greatest of all time.

Well, protractors point out his play playoff today on NBC yet well with the news.

Don't go away.

Chris, I want you to put on the front in the back end of that, John Tesh gave us the rights to that music in perpetuity. So you should absolutely splice that in. So it sounds like we planned it all. I mean, that was amazing. I salute you for being the first person ever to use the word detractors. Not on off a script like no one speaks like that. No one says detractors unless they're writing an essay for television.

I've watched that video too many times. It's a pretty good morning. It's not. But we'll take it like today where nothing's working. You worked. I mean, like, well, it's not just that I love that he that he tried it. His point stands. Yes. We did this to Michael Jordan. And I was talking before you came on. I mean, about the thing with Michael Jordan is he gave us 10 years of winning to erase all of that so we could just forget it here with LeBron.

It's been herky jerky and I'm sure there are many people listening. Oh, Dan, what are you doing, giving LeBron two or three more championships? But the conversation we were having is the Lakers are better this year. I mean, who else can you say that about filling in the top tier? You could say it about Philadelphia. Who else can you say it about?

I think Milwaukee is better and I think they're trying new things. I know their record isn't as stellar as we've been accustomed to seeing the last two years, but I think they've addressed their debt. They've gotten a lot better and they're trying different things. If you watch the Bucs play, they're trying stuff. Ryan isn't on the ball where he's on the baseline and Jrue Holiday is running high pick and roll with either Lopez or Khris Middleton. And I think the additions that they had of Augustine as a backup point guard, as Bobby Portis is the backup they like, that makes them deeper and better than they've been the last couple of years.

But it's right now it's just not looking very fluid. But, you know, you're right. You're not wrong. The Lakers are the clear favorite. And if they lose, it will be something pretty miraculous that would happen. I mean, are the Clippers better? I'm not. Well, I guess chemistry is is the difference, right? They seem to be in a much more harmonious chemistry place than they were a year ago. I would say talent wise, top to bottom, they're not as talented as they were a year ago.

But maybe this year the pieces fit a little better. Maybe Ty Lue has everyone bought in and that's sometimes that's all the difference you need. What about stigmatises next?

He's been dying to talk to you about his Knicks and the change. He's already the eighth seed. And we've got to get Mike Green in here, stop wrestling engineers to the ground because he's got to start worrying about his heat losing at home to Charlotte. Oof!

That was a tough one for the heat yesterday because they should have won that game. They're up ten with about three minutes to go. And then the shot selection just gets wonky and they couldn't stop Malik Monk on the other end, that last three pointer that wanted to tie it up bam out of by I don't know what he was thinking. Was you worried about the guy driving past him and laying it up? So what? Who cares? You got to jump there.

And then Jimmy Butler on the other end. You know, I know he's got a reputation for being what I call Mr. October and and, you know, kind of a closer and all. But the shot selection just wasn't what they needed at the time. And those are kind of the problem with the heat is that's a loss. If they are shots, we can let that one get away, can move on. But when you're as bad as they've been early on because of all the injuries, losses like that, no, not that's like no, we need this win in a way that we probably wouldn't have.

A year ago, he asked about my next.

Oh, my goodness. I mean, the Knicks are the Knicks. Yeah. The good news is they're defending they're defending at a very high level the top five defense in this league. And, you know, Tom, tomorrow obviously deserves a lot of credit for that because it's a lot of the same guys that were here last year. Usually when you look at a defensive jump, it's because we went out and got Kevin Garnett or someone like that to kind of change things up and in this case is just a coaching staff thing.

But their offense is terrible to guys. And RJ Barickman, bless his heart, I like him. He plays hard. But men, there are times that he just doesn't seem very good.

I don't know, Mike, you're worried about your heat, are you not?

Yeah, last night was super concerning. This was supposed to be the start of the run. OK, schedule lightens up and you finally have your full team for the first time since like the third game of the season. They should have covered easily. I had action on that game, no doubt, but they end up losing. And it's just I mean, when I watch the. Even when they're not at full strength, they they assume they have this gear, I don't know if it's because the resting on their laurels, because they made it sound sad.

You sound sad, sad and scared.

They seem to think that they have this gear that I don't think they have. They're trying to coast to wins the big three.

You see it look, I mean, has been great on this subject over the course of five years in terms of what his basketball knowledge is for real in that we keep overlooking over the last five years what happens to this team every time that Goran Dragic is something less than Goran Dragic like? I don't know why we keep doing that. As if he doesn't matter, as if I mean he wouldn't have a huge part of this. I just don't get why we do that to him.

I mean I think Mike does that too and that's an it started years ago. But then you're right, when Goran is in 100 percent, it's very obvious in the way he plays and it's very obvious in the way the team plays. And, you know, a game like last night, we're down the stretch. You really needed someone to kind of calm everything down. And while you love Jimmy's aggression and his ability to go get one, I don't like it when Jimmy Butler brings the ball up the floor and then kind of just ISO's his way.

It really harkened back to Mike. You remember a couple of years ago was saying when they were doing that with Dwayne Wade before he left. And I said, that's not how you want to win games like that every night. Just give it time and get out of the way. This is it isn't right in terms of his talent level at this current period and what the defenses are expecting, they need to have a lot more kind of involvement of other people and get Jimmy on the run somewhere, catching it on the move of ball.

And so last night was an example that I think is going on. We're healthy and we're playing and I don't think he's healthy. That's why he wasn't out there. But if you were helping your point, you give it to him, you let you run something, and then you test Jimmy on the wing where he can.

Mike is getting mad at you. Mike is getting mad at you. Big doing what? Gore was one four nine, but he's not Steph Curry.

If he puts up a one four nine, we don't have to automatically assume, oh, what's wrong with him? He wasn't playing because of the pandemic protocol, not now, because of some injury. Now, granted, he's got to be banged up because of the quick turnaround, but I don't think it's forcing the one four nine occasionally. Goran Dragic is going to give you one. He has it. They haven't had the.

I'm sorry, Mike. I didn't think Gordon's got to take the last shot. I told him to run for a hundred. I'm just saying you need someone out there to run an offensive set so that it's not Jimmy versus the world.

But I think Mike is saying that Goran has been out there. He's been fine. In fact, I'm looking at the game logs right now. He's actually played well. The team just hasn't been healthy. Goran has been out there more than the other people. Like, if we're going to point to a player not being there, you can point to Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler did not talk to the media last night. Jimmy Butler threw up one of those awful ISO three pointers to end a game.

That's one of those late game execution calling cards is what it is at that point. They had their full arsenal of weapons last night and they blew a 10 point lead with three minutes left against the Charlotte Hornets. They are not the same team. Presently, we assume they have this other gear, but they haven't tapped into it. The defensive intensity is simply not there. There's bad decisions being made. There is a ball movement happening late in game.

Like I said, in watching them, they kind of feel like they think they can hero ball their way to victories. And that's not what got them to the dance.

But you're asking me about gears, though, Mike, and what I am doing is the same thing you're doing, which is. Well, the gear is when everyone is healthy, they'll look a little more like they looked last year. But again, when when you're looking for covers on these games and I'm watching them play against Sacramento and barely eke out something in a game, they need it there at home. Sacramento has to come to them. You've got to win that game.

They're barely making it out with their their full complement. Except Goran is out in that game. He sat out with some strange something or another and then he plays in this one and he's won four nine against Charlotte in the game at home that you have to have as yet as you get out of the bottom of the standings because you're one of the most disappointing teams in the league. The the gear I'm expecting from them is health. And what I'm telling you is Goran is part of that health.

Goran banged up as part of that health, them as their strongest version of themselves from last year. Goran got to be right. And at this age, with that body, it's hard to ask him to always be right.

I don't know what it is we're doing right now with Goran Dragic. He's not the problem. He had a bad game.

Let's stop saying I'm talking about the last two games.

Michael, what the issue here is, is that Goran succeeds when the team has ball movement and puts him in the right positions and he's chucking up that top of the key three pointer. It's just ISO right now. They're not they're not doing the things that their identity was built on when they were successful last year. It's it's plain as day. It's painful to watch. They're not limiting turnovers. They're given teams. Pick six is the other way constantly.

I think that's what the problem here is, is they think they're better than they actually are.

I'll tell you the problem. The problem is and you're not giving them any credit, the Charlotte Hornets, that team for the next ten years, I am telling you. Right now, and I know I mean, OK, basketball experts are going to agree with me, Michael Jordan has done a great job because Lomell Ball, I am telling you that kid is a star, is a star now, and he's going to be a star for the next 20 years.

He wasn't good last night. He was just OK last he started last night. But that kid is good. Zeller's playing good. Heyward's good. PJ Watkis in his article last night as well. Your counter was on his. He's coming off the bench and the ball has been playing so good off the bench. He finally got a start and I think Rozier was hurt and Malik Monk finally paying dividends. How about that. I mean, I mean the Hornets are a good solid team.

I mean I, I like I was the guy says Michael Jordan has done a great job.

He's been terrible for fifteen years. Lamella ball might be good. Michael Jordan has done a great job. Also Michael Jordan might be in bed with hedge fund guy Abi. But if the ball is great then Jordan, I mean, great job, right?

I mean, that's, that's, that's the way it works in the student's analysis. As you went right into your mode. It's the first time I've seen about ten days here. Yeah. Gears and we're talking not just gears. I mean, we're talking about are the heat lazy, complacent? Did it go to their heads. They're being sloppy with the ball. Pick six is their fame. Went to their heads. They're intoxicated. Like it's not about basketball.

We're not actually analyzing the basketball. It's like saying they've gotten they don't have a gear. I don't know what you're doing. I am actually analyzing the game. I'm giving explanations. Give my ball intangibles. No, that's not an intangible turnovers. This is not an intangible that it's tangible. You know, you're assigning the turnovers to being less risk. They're being more reckless because they care less. Well, No. One, they're probably having more turnovers because the likes of Gabe Vincent are out there and they have a rotation of eight guys and none of them were good.

The problem with last night and why I reacted so poorly to last night is they had everybody they were doing the same G League stuff that the guy that the replacement level players were doing and they ran into a juggernaut.

I mean, Michael Jordan is doing a great job.

I don't think there's a funnier name comedically than Mike could have slapped me in the face with, like a fish than Gabe Vincent when all of our all of our previous is he the new Solomon hell like what just happened there where it rendered all of the first twenty games irrelevant? All the analysis. It doesn't matter whether it's Goran Dragic or their lackadaisical. Wait a minute, why is Gay Vincent playing for them. It's a funny name comedically. Davidson can't put it on the pole please.

Winningham can a guy named Gabe Vincent ever be really good at basketball? I love the game played last night.

It was Max Strus. Glad we finally didn't have to rely on Gabe Vincent. I'm worried because when the team has been fully healthy, they don't look good. You can understand why they're dropping games for the Nets when they're counting on big minutes from Gabe Vincent. I'm not getting mad at that, but holy shit, the team that made it to the NBA finals can hold a 10 point lead against the Charlotte Hornets with three minutes left.

But make you say they haven't been playing well when they're fully healthy. How many you can count on one hand, the number of times they've been fully healthy this year. Yeah, four. That's a leg. I'm saying last night, yes, they made mistakes down the stretch. They should have won that game to close it out in in a vacuum, you would say, man, we blew that one. But it's OK. The reason why it's so dire is because of the bad stuff they've had.

But the best they had is because they haven't been playing well. It's because they haven't been healthy. So can we allow them in their first game in about a month or so, more than a month of all being together? Can we allow them, hey, some rust, this kind of work it out as they get back to whether they want to? Because I'm pretty sure if you're noticing these things and I'm noticing these things, it's not like walking into practice.

All right, guys, let's get them shots of people probably talking about it. You've got to give them the the the kind of the benefit of the doubt that they're going to get this turn around in time. There's still a lot of season left. And for that is they've had a thought. They're not that far from home court advantage, let alone any fair.

Fair enough. And I generally agree with you, but every time they drop a result like that, I'm worried because you say it's a long season, but it's not as long as it used to be. Every time they drop a game to the Charlotte Hornets or blow a big lead or get blown out early and try to make it look close at the end, I am dreading a Brooklyn Nets first round matchup because there's not much they can't make up that much ground in a 72 game season.

I don't think.

I mean, they can if they give Bradley Beal, that'll help. And it wouldn't surprise you if they did. Right. Because one of the things also, Mike, that I think is fair to say, if you're expecting these giant leaps like you've already seen where Bam, Bam Adebayo is putting that standard where you're expecting these leaps, I don't know. I mean, if you're buying using the counting stats through four years to compare him to Giannis because bam out of bios statistically through the counting stats doing year for.

What it is that Greek freak didn't cheer for, but Tylor hero, it might be unfair to expect Tylor Hero to immediately start or return back to the place. Hey, can you give us 37 a night in the finals. Like can you do that for us in a game in an important playoff game against Boston in the Eastern Conference finals. Like he hasn't been that this year. He's been plenty good and fine for a 20 year old. But if you can't, what is the evolution process that we're supposed to be expecting there?

What's fair to him?

Definitely not 37 on any given night. You know, I was doing Hoop Dreams with Kendrick Perkins a few months ago, and Burke said it was going to be an all star next season. And I said absolutely not. Just there's nothing in his his current trajectory and the situation he's in that's going to allow him to be an All-Star, because I know it's going to sound harsh. He's not that good. Could he be an all star in his career?

Absolutely. Right now? No, no. He's a guy that has some good playoff games that took advantage of some situations and opportunities. It's not unlike what Sam Cosell did as a rookie for the Houston Rockets in 94. He was instrumental in winning a championship. He had big games here because he had this poise in his swagger. But why you can't then just forget? Well, because he did it once or twice in a big stage environment. Now, he can do it over the course of an entire season, better than almost every other player in the conference.

There's just too much expectation for a guy who not only a young guy as far as like his age, but a young guy in terms of men, like just absorbing all this stuff. You know, he's got Jack Harlow making a song about him and you have a little bit of putting the cart before the horse with him. And I think Miami is doing a good job of internally not putting those expectations on him, letting him grow into what he can possibly become.

But the reality is the biggest thing that Tallyho has going for him is he's a pretty nice centerpiece for a trade if you're going to try and swing to someone else.

All right, Mike, hold on a second. I can't believe that you weren't coiling just recoiling away from the microphone. I mean, Alhassan just smeared your face with the take Tyler heroes. Not that good. And Tyler here has been the reason that you don't have Bradley Beal. I would assume already that the Heat fan base as of a game ago, like he just you didn't even stop him on Tyler here is not that good when all of a sudden now it's going to take six and 12 for everybody to come over to the side of OK, you give up Tyler here for him because you need Bradley Beal to rescue us.

How did you not react to Tyler?

Hero is not that good because I've been going through his girlfriend's iji looking for a smoking gun as to why he was out the previous games with the health and safety protocol.

COTTIER Yep. Worth it. Yeah, probably always, you know.

But but then to be fair, I don't think Tyler here is the reason why Bradley Beal is not a Miami Heat player. I think the reason is what Whitney brought up a week ago or two weeks ago. It's those magical words. Pick inventory, right? If you're the Washington Wizards, you've got to trade. Bradley Beal. I see what Drew Holiday went for. I see what Paul George went for. I see what James Harden went for. I want that kind of package with a million bucks in.

Miami's biggest problem is because of old pick they've done from deals of Christmas past. It's hard for them to cobble together enough of their own first round pick. And what they can do to get around that is offer picks. What say you end up worse than I or better than I do you get to have my pick, my better pick and I'll pick your worst. But you can do that. You can go out and acquire extra picks out on the market by treating other guys.

But that obviously makes the mission of getting Bradley Beal and getting the Bradley Beal package together a lot harder than if you just had your own Dan Inamine.

Respectfully, Bradley Beal is not here because Bradley Beal hasn't demanded a trade anywhere. He wants to be a wizard. He doesn't want it badly enough.

I mean, he doesn't want it Bradley enough.

Oh, I do love that. That is the assumption at this point in Miami. That's the arrogance and entitlement of Miami. I mean, well, Bradley Beal is not here only because we're not willing to give up Tyler here. Right. It doesn't have anything to do with what Bradley Beal might want. Right. That's not in play.

I would say that I Bradley Beal hasn't publicly told people that he wants out, that that's how I would frame that. We don't know publicly if he wants to be traded, because the reality is when you look at Harden, when you look at Butler, when you look at Anthony Davis, the reason we knew they wanted to be traded is because he came out and said, I want to get traded. And the reason why they did that and made such a public stink about it is because after privately expressing those wishes.

They were rebuffed by their team. Right. The team didn't take it seriously or outright said, no, we're not going to trade. You don't care if it gets uncomfortable. And so once you have that kind of conversation, a contentious conversation with your team where you're like, hey, thanks for the memories, I'd like to move on. And they're saying, no, you ain't going nowhere. Oh, he'll be fine. He'll be, you know, you know, change his mind.

Then you have to escalate to the next step and the next step is making a mess. Bradley Beal has privately expressed his desire to get traded to Wizards management. Wizards management tells him, you've got it, man. Thank you for the memories. We're going to do everything we can. Now we want a big package, which is going to it might take a while, but you just got to trust us, just like we did with John when we traded John Wall.

And we'll take care of it if that is the scenario that's happening there right now. You see what you see, which is Bradley Beal doesn't request the trade to the man to go to Miami or anything, but also he looks frustrated as hell after every law where he just looks exhausted and and he's rolling his eyes. And in the postgame press conferences, he's talking about the asking, are you frustrated? And he says, is the sky blue? That is the behavior of someone who is holding his tongue.

You said thanks for the memories. Name a memory Beal for Bradley Beal the other night when they beat the Nets that no one two years from now.

If I ask you about that you won't remember. Like I'm trying to put myself in Bradley Beal shares and I'm thinking okay if I have this contract I get traded to the heat. The money's not going to get any bigger, right? It's not going to get it's not going to be more than it was with Washington.

Like, why not? Yeah, but you have no expectations there.

You kind of show up when you feel like showing up. You know, you're a loser in a riot like, I don't know, there's no pressure. I think Beal kind of likes that. I think he's I think what he's doing after the games where he looks disappointed. Is he selling you on the fact that he's disappointed? I think Beal is perfectly fine. Scored thirty five a game with no pressure, no expectations and no one paying attention to guards.

To echo your point, he did score sixty in a loss one time. You had to look it up though. I know. I kind of. I was like I Googled that to confirm like I thought he scored. All right, so there's that career I like.

Let's agree. It's a short it's a short highlight package. They were they were good when Wall was healthy.

First of all, it's about the money is bigger because he goes to Florida and there's no state income. That makes a massive bet. You're right. Second of all, you're you're arguing with me about remembering something two years from now. What was the name of the girl to hit the game winner in the college basketball? Yes.

What was the score? The biggest one was Colorado. What was the school? Who was playing? What was the school who won the championships to God said biggest shot ever, male or female. He went he overcorrected on being trying to be extra woak.

Was it was it a need?

What was the team? Do you remember what the team was? I mean, we're going to let you go on that note, because we got to get Adam Lefko in here. But we've got a new shirt going up in world of Suey Dotcom and in honor of a mean he's on the pirate ship, even though the CEO is not sure why he's on the pirate ship. And even though he's not being paid and he was suspended without pay because he's not being paid on a pirate ship with no Internet.

And he said the other day right now, yes, no Internet. But right now what's happening is that Amien Alhassan is saying to us, what was it? What was the signature quote from last week? You got to let a pirate do what a pirate do or what was it?

Actually, a pirate will do, pirate shit and so on.

Everyone loves pirates. And so until they start doing pirate.

All right. And so in honor of that, a shirt has gone up at World of Suey Dotcom. If you want to support all the things I mean is about I love this is so far my favorite of the shirts my brother has made. Have you seen. It's not. Oh, that's fantastic. Yes.

And so it's a world of silly dot com if you want to support the. I mean, cause we didn't even get we didn't even get to LeBron making courtside Karen trend last night. What give us a minute of thoughts there before we get to let it go.

Let me tell you right now, no offense to my friends that turned sports like Adam, but the idea of having an all star game in Atlanta, this is what I'm worried about. It's a powder keg. You have a wide open city. You have a global pandemic. You have a weekend event that always attracts people who are trying to have the time of their lives. Pandemic began. All of this converging on Atlanta, a city known for its nightlife.

I am terrified and courtside. Karen is like a harbinger of death of coming. Like this is what's going to happen. You're going to have a bunch of crazy drunk people around NBA players and expect nothing to go along.

I can't believe that we found ourselves in Atlanta on the first day of Black History Month with LeBron James. As crowds are allowed, crowds such as they are. Right, because it's not very large, crowds are allowed into the game. And this woman from a cartoon world from just I don't even know how to explain who this woman is, but the idea that she would be courtside in the mutated form of what America has become post pandemic, where there are no crowds and even.

Heckling is something, what Russell Westbrook during the fight or during the playoffs last year, didn't he have a family ejected for heckling him? And it was like the weird pandemic moment last Utah. Someone shouldn't be somebody shouldn't be in a situation where they're behaving as if it's a finals game in Miami during a pandemic. How many people were in that crowd that night? And then LeBron and we go down this this this hole where it's LeBron fighting courtside. Karen, is Karen the only word that's been weaponized so far by the left against the right, the courtside, Karen, where you've got a benign word like WOAK or Snowflake or whatever else that Karen is just a reference to a white woman, isn't it?

And that's why LeBron made a trend last night when he called her courtside. Karen, because there are no black parents. Is that what it is?

Well, Karen is more about your behavior than it is who you are. But it just so happens that ninety nine point ninety nine percent of Karens are white women.

And so what did you make of the back and forth last night? Because she she she immediately became Instagram famous by retelling that she told LeBron she was going to bleep him up.

Yeah. I mean, I think that's what's at play here. Whatever was exchanged, LeBron himself said I didn't want them to be ejected. I think they needed to be ejected. But the moment she got ejected, her and her husband should capitalize on this 15 seconds of fame that I think that's bedeviling our country now. And really the society this idea that like something happened to me, let me see if I can, like, push the ball forward and and make more of a stink.

And that's what you try to do on her Instagram. So just going on and on and cussing. And I'm just like, what's the point of this? Why are we paying attention to this? Why are we giving this woman longer than the 15 seconds to Soho?

Karen was Puerto Rican then. OK, well, because she was cartoonish, because the entire controversy was cartoonish and funny and because LeBron stirred it up by calling by saying that courtside Karen was mad. Mad. How vulnerable do you feel right now? Very much. You guys just left me hanging there. It's a perfect way to end the segment. Thank you.

I mean, go buy his pirate shirt, Matt.