The Big Suey: I Might Say *****
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz- 535 views
- 28 Feb 2024
David is still here for us to celebrate 1000 episodes of Nothing Personal and continue our surge pricing conversation, discuss the Carolina Panthers tickets, and Rob Manfred hating the show. Then, a viral Price is Right clip, Chris Wittygham gets roasted by a WGN host, and Dan was fooled by the internet again. Plus, we discuss the pressure LeBron James has put on his son through a series of tweets.
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You're listening to DraftKings Network. Welcome to the Big Sui, presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show? The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan Lebitard podcast.
I'm sorry. I'm not going to apologize for that. In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging.
I have been tempted in restaurants walking past tables to grab somebody's fries if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys?
I've done it. And now, here's the marching man to nowhere, Fatface and the habitual liar.
During the break, not surprisingly, Steugat He got delighted. His face, awash in glee when he created a For Rich People Only Wendy's Express Lane.
A willing to Pay More Only Express Lane. That's it. That's all. Sometimes you're in a rush. There's a separate lane for people who are willing to pay more. A dynamic lane. Right. If you If you want to wait and pay normal prices, feel free to do so. That's fair.
Yeah, make everything first class and coach. Make everything... I mean, it already is. Sort of that. It's just not quite as-Your highways are like that. It's not quite as overt as what Wendy's is presently doing.
It does seem like it's hard for Wendy's to please people outside of just lowering their prices.
I disagree.
Which they probably could do. No, I'm not saying- That's how you could do dynamic pricing. Like, Oh, this is an off hour. It'll be lower money.
Before this conversation, I've always thought of Wendy's as a place that only pleases people, that it's a place that is his only pleasure. I would bathe in a bathtub full of that frost.
You just got me back with the frost. He did. Things were different when Dave was around, Dan. That is true. Ever since we lost Dave, things have been totally different. Do you guys buy the Frosty Key Tag? I have one in my wallet. Why? Because this is a whole- That must be from six years ago. No, this is from this year. It says 2024. Before, you could buy that Frosty Key Tag for $1, and it is always at the end of the year. You get the Frosty Key Tag, and with any purchase, you just show them that, and they give you a small Frosty for free. With any purchase, it used to cost a dollar. Now, it's up to three dollars. It's gone. Last year was $2. Now, it's $3. That's still a good deal. It is, though. This is arguing David's point is that I'm now paying triple what I paid two years ago for it. But in my head, I'm like, Well, I just get three frosties a year, and it's already paid for, so it's good. I was willing to pay $3 for it when two years ago, it only cost $1.
We have been remiss in not celebrating- Where did my key tag go? David Samson. Has it. And nothing personal have celebrated today. He just got off the air celebrating their thousandth episode. Are we doing anything more to celebrate that with David other than that crappy fanfare?
Well, like we do around here, we want to celebrate his one thousandth episode in song.
We love you. We've got you. We've all got each other. Let's go right now. One, two, three, Brett. One, two, three, Brett.
Why am I sitting in a ball globe chair? You're the strangest guy alive.
Sold a team for about a billion dollars.
You, you're not for me, Clive.
It's all business, nothing personal, honey. I'm cashing in on this podcast in money.
It's time to celebrate 1,000 episodes where I tell you to wait to see.
Oh, as I'm running through the tall sky, Scraper's got some news that made me go PP. There's a news show in town, Pablo Tori finds out, and I'm seithered with a jealousy.
Just put me in the main show feed. What's the problem with the movies that I'm seeing? That furk is out of touch.
I find it hard to have human feeling. You fear dogs a bit too much.
Dan Leventard says, I'm made out of wires.
The word of the day is short selling buyers.
It's time to celebrate 1,000 episodes where I tell you to wait to see.
Are you going to download another thousand episodes? Well, I guess I'll have to wait to see. That really doesn't feel like a celebration of David Samson or his thousand episodes. He does like the song, though.
We do a thousand every three weeks.
So thank you. That is the most production value that you've ever added to nothing for a small. I appreciate that.
You were screaming for a doorbell one day.
It does exist a little bit on the periphery of what it is that we're doing here, but congratulations on a thousand episodes. It's a big milestone, a long time to talk to yourself, many episodes to tell people that what they need to do in sports is wait and see.
It's something that started off small, and you actually were one of my first guests in a Samson sit down. All I remember of our show is that Mike Ryan basically wanted all of it edited out because he was so concerned with what we were talking about. It seems like a long time ago, and it's four years ago. But we are going to keep going. Thank you for bringing us on board. Love being a part of Metalark. I don't love the position you put me in, Dan, outside of the podcast, which you do purposefully and you it both in the name of content, but also in the name of running a business. It causes issues with Greg and with so many other people within Metalark. For that, I'm not happy, but to be able to do the show under the Metalark umbrella, for that, I am happy.
Promo code, hee-haw 21. It's 21% off a little more than Samson Sucks 20, the 20% off code. The Carolina Panthers, speaking of sucking, they were really terrible last year and then raised their ticket prices. Your thoughts there.
I think, again, I want to hear from the room because if you're going to complain about them raising the ticket prices, the reason why they're able to do it is that people are willing to pay more even though the team is 2 and 15. Now, they could have done better PR. We used to raise ticket prices in different areas after losing seasons, but always announced that the majority of seats are lower or overall, there's zero increase because we wanted the people paying more to pay more than more. We wanted the people who don't really pay at all to keep paying nothing at all. And so the Panthers' PR was terrible. But in terms of raising prices, just so you know, there's no correlation between losing and the inability to raise prices. And Caroline is showing that now.
Can you tell me where we are with Vegas and Oakland and the Oakland A's?
Rob Manfred came out. We didn't even talk about this, what happened with your interview with Rob and the ramifications of that last week. But he came out and said It's solid. Solid as a rock, Asford. They are going to Vegas. There's just no deal. I haven't seen any deal. I haven't seen any signed documents. Haven't seen whether a ballpark can fit on nine acres. Oakland has to announce where it's playing for the next few years before they get a stadium opened. I think there's just so much green to cover. Can you still birdie a hole when you're 300 yards out? You can. You better hit three really good shots in a row. I think that's where Oakland is right now. In terms of their payroll and all the complaints about John Fisher and the hope that he sells. Just know that people used to fly banners over Shea Stadium asking the Willponds to sell. Everyone wanted Laurier to sell or Heisinga and then Henry. Everyone wants everyone to sell until someone else buys and then they want them to sell. The A's are not being sold today or tomorrow. I think the A's could still stay in Oakland, believe it or not, but we'll wait to see.
But it's looking like you're going to be wrong on that once the commissioners says it's solid, correct?
Well, but what else is he going to say? You think he's going to actually get an interview?
He doesn't have to say anything. He doesn't have to say anything. You do.
That's the job of the commissioners, actually, to push things along by promulgating hopes, if not falsehoods. That's what we would ask Bud Sealey to do throughout our whole process in Miami, is to get out there and either be the bad guy or the good guy, depending on what we needed at a particular time in the process. It has nothing to do with the reality. It has to do with positioning and dynamic of the negotiating relationship. So a commissioner's job, and you see Roger Goodell doing this all the time, you say things. Everything is with a purpose. So every word Rob says has a meaning and is done for a reason.
Is he a smart guy?
Extraordinary. That's actually not true. No, don't do this again, please. You're going to get all of us in trouble, Dan.
Well, what was the blowback last time? Because you and I didn't actually talk on the air. We didn't talk off the air either. You just said that we were blackballed or that our show was blackballed from baseball, and it was the first I was learning of it.
Well, it got aggregated, and it got the attention of baseball, and they made a statement saying that it wasn't true. So the good news is that you can now, whoever you want from the commission's office, you should ask. Maybe they'll come on the show to do an interview with you. I was always under the impression because like with the Marlins, we couldn't get any of our players to really go on your show because they viewed you as overwhelming and mean and trying to trick them and trying to get them. And so the players just wouldn't do it. And then the owner didn't want anyone doing your show. So it's not an uncommon thing for people not to want to do your show, as manifested sometimes through your guest list. So I would say that the commissioners says that maybe someone will come on again.
But when the spokesperson denies it and you're claiming the opposite, what's true and what's not true there?
I'm really more of a consequentialist, and I don't want to get in trouble again. But isn't the proof in the pudding Has anyone been on your show?
I mean, we don't ask for many baseball players, to be fair, and I didn't even notice what you're claiming is a blackballing. It's not something that I know.
I don't like that word. Did I use the word blackball?
Yes.
We've had Marlins on. We've had Marlins on.
Skip Schumacher in studio. Yeah.
It's an unfortunate word. I'm glad, actually, the Marlins are more taken to you. And I like that they send free stuff to all of you now. That's something that's really good. You get those media packets with schwag. That's a positive. Maybe it'll get you... What they really want you to do is speak positively about the Marlins.
Yeah, I think he's spelling it with a C-H there. I think he's putting... It's not a W in swag. It's a S-C-H is how he's spelling it. Swag. What movie are you reviewing for us this week?
I'm going to give oxygen to a movie that I'm very sorry to do, but did anyone see the new Jennifer Lopez documentary?
No, but I saw she posted a misquoted review on her Instagram story saying that it was like a brave movie, but the full context was like, it was brave that she made this terrible movie, essentially.
She paid for it herself, right? Didn't she pay $20 million to tell the story of her love life?
Well, so she paid $20 million, but of course, you in the room paid the $20 million. Everyone who buys the tickets and everyone who does everything with her, that's who paid for it. It's called This is Me Now. It's all about her love life. It's all about how she wants love and has never had love and now has love and didn't before. It's It's really just a big music video. It's so bad that it only got green-lit because it's JLo, and Ben Affleck plays some bizarre character, and a guy named Fat Joe is her therapist. A guy.
A guy named Fat Joe. A guy, Joey Crock.
Well, the guy, the real fat Joe, plain fat Joe. It's only 66 minutes. That's the good news. The better news is I've saved you and your entire audience 66 minutes of your life. You do not need to see this under any scenario. It is horrible.
Samson, thank you. Real quick, we've got less than 30 seconds left. I urge the audience to check out nothing personal. What are you and Adnan Virk willing to say about what you're going to do for the Oscars?
Twenty seconds? Thanks for the promotion. We're trying to work with Metalark so we can do a live show from Miami, like an Oscar party, a pre-party, and then a watch party during the Oscars. I have no indication whether it's green-lit or not because I can't get anyone to return a call. So, Dan, if you could possibly... The Oscars are in 10 days. Okay, great. It'd be good to know.
Great. You're all invited to a party that none of you are going to attend, an Oscar party that we may or may not do. Thank you, David.
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Learn to make time for what makes you happy with Betterhelp. Visit betterhelp. Com/dlbtoday to get 10% off your first month. That's Betterhelp. H-e-l-p. Com/delb. Don Levatard. Well, Charlie sent... Charlie had this... Charlie, as far as I know, so just Charlie's title in my phone. Are you going to say anything?
Stugatz. How familiar were you at the time with Chewbacca? Like, your upbringing had how much Chewbacca in it?
This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugats.
Juju, please put it on the poll at Levitard Show. Will you always stop and watch a game show video that has gone viral? Because I believe that the way that all of us consume game shows today in the modern age is when a Wheel of Fortune clip or a Jeopardy clip, or in this case, a Price is Right clip makes an appearance nationally. I believe this has to be. Maybe there is a spin in the history of Price is Right that is as great as what we're about to watch here, but I don't think there's ever been anything better, Stugat. So as a way In the sense of setting this up, I'm going to tell you that the participant who is now spinning the wheel is doing so after the first spinner has gotten 90 cents, the second spinner has gotten 95 cents. Now this is the third spinner.
What's the goal of this for people that don't know?
Well, the goal is to get a dollar. Yes, closest to a dollar. Two spins or a spin that will get you a dollar or closest to a dollar.
I said everybody knows the rules, and no one in this room knows the rules of prices. What did you guys do when you were sick at home? Well, Maury, probably. Maury? Maury? I don't know. I've never seen a second of the price is right. What? The price is right is a staple to a sick day. All I know, this is what I know. Steve, come on down. Yeah. And then he goes, and then that's all. They don't do that anymore. What? Yeah. Now the studio of COVID ruined everything. The Price is Right being the most important of things were ruined by COVID. Now they just have eight people in the audience, and I think everyone gets called. Yeah, they have little pods of people. It's a whole annoyance. It's not a thing. You want to know a fun Hollywood fact about the Price is Right that I was given, Dan? Yes. The Price is Right and Bill Maher used the exact same stage. He just moved all the props off of the stage for Price is Right, and then Bill Maher does whatever he does at night. That's hilarious. I did watch that documentary about the guy who perfected the Price is Right.
Did you guys see that? That guy was wrong. That guy was wrong. The guy would watch- Price is wrong, Happy Gilmar. That's the only thing I know. Bob Barker, when he punches Happy Gilmore. Hell of a left hook. We actually share a studio without kick.
Those are not apples and oranges on the analogous comparison.
Price is Right and Bill Maher are on opposite ends of the fun spectrum, are they not? Yeah, fair point. Don't know much about either, honestly.
Okay, take me through here because there was a lot of stuff that I found objectionable about what you guys were saying there. But one thing I didn't understand at all. At the center of the Price is Right documentary you guys are talking about, were you saying that the subject of the movie was wrong or was wronged?
Wronged with a D. The man went and he did his studies and he knew the prices of things based on watching the show. They recycled the same prices over and over again, and he just had a list of what all the prizes were worth. When he had to guess the prices, he knew them because he watched the show so much. Now, he was an idiot for getting it down to because then it's like, Well, hold on, something's up here. You got to sell it. Exactly right. Be off by $25. You got to do like, Oh, I don't know. Yeah, fake it a little bit. Really? Agonizing over it. Look out to the crowd. What do you guys think? Smugness was the real crime there, I suppose. This is what I will describe, I'm going to just say it, the greatest set of spins in the history of Price is Right.
Really? I'm going to set it up again for you guys who don't know how this game is played. The He's got to get 100 cents, a total of 100 cents, because the first two spinners are as close as you can possibly be. There are no one cent on the wheel. It's just five cent increments.
So the first spin was 90 cents, the second one, 95 cents. So he has to get 95 or a dollar.
With two spins, he's got to get to 100. He's got to get over 90 and 95. It's damn near impossible. But look at what happens here.
You want to say hi?
My mom, my brothers, my sisters, my nieces, my nephews, and all my friends I met today on the way here.
Thank you.
Thank you. Oh, man. Just to taunt you. So lands on 90. Basically, at this point, the only things that help him on the wheel are five and a dime. But then, if he wins, he gets another spin. Five or a dime are the only things that help him here. Oh, he just got a dollar on the wheel. So you would think-Exactly a dime. I thought, yes, it lands on a dime, and I thought, okay, this is as good as this video gets. This is miraculous just by itself that this guy was able to land on the one spot on the wheel that helps him win. But now he wins a bonus spin. What a wheel round.
That was a 95, a 90, and then a dollar for Mew.
Everybody was spinning big. Oh, my God! Everybody was spinning big on that one. This wheel's got some mojo in it right now. You got a thousand bucks. You're on your way to the showcase. Now you get an extra chance to take money from us. One spin, five or 15, gets you $10,000. Dollar gets you $25,000. Good luck. One spin.
Spin for your life.
Come on, money. He's got to land in one of three places to win money, and there's only one place on the wheel he to get all $25,000. No. No.
Lands on a dollar. $25,000.
$25,000. You will all stop on that, correct? You guys will all stop on game show winning joy that goes viral, correct? Or- Or misery, yeah. Which one will you stop on more? You're going to stop on more. Instead of joy, you're going to stop on the person you can make fun for being dumb, right?
I would like the camera on the guy who spun the wheel and got 95 cents because 95 cents never loses. Never loses in price is right. It's just like, Yep, you're out of here. Right.
That person looked like P. J. Washington at the end of the game.
Flexing.
That flexing and then.
Does that not happen a lot? I don't know.
It doesn't happen a lot, but that I've never seen happen. That sequence of events, it's as mathematically improbable as any sequence of events that could possibly happen.
I see that everybody has name tags, right? Everybody in the crowd also has name tags. Does that mean that they're eligible to go on the show and spin? Yeah, the crowd does seem to be bigger than it was the last time I went to watch. That sounded loud. People can't be happy for the guy because they're like, damn, that could have been me. No, you're always happy. That's the thing. You cheer for everyone. You help everyone. The whole crowd is yelling, crisis. It could have been me, and it's not. I know. That's the only place in America. There's a tinge of jealousy. I don't care what anyone says. Do you think people shout the wrong prices so they do poorly? So there's still a spot for them?
That's a good question. I would. I want to ask the entirety of the group here. Whittingham took quite a beating here just for the year that he was here. Yesterday on the show, everyone turned on him for being publicly a coward who has walked away from his crusade of being a pioneer who normalizes the word penis to a national broadcasting audience. He ran into a nemesis here. You guys help me out. I don't know who Pat Tomasulo is from Chicago. Is he a famous His name is Chicago sports radio or sports television personality? Can any of you help me with who this is?
He's a sports anchor on WGN Morning News in Chicago.
He went after Chris Wittingham. Excuse me. Chicago. Tomasulo went after Wittingham.
Is this Jim's brother?
It's not Tomasula. It's not the Swamp Monster.
I'm glad you brought him up, though.
Yeah, thank you. That didn't stop me at all. It was a very good joke with a total- Brings us Totally different name, not the accurate name or the guy that I'm talking about. Tomasula. That would have been a better time to keep your microphone off.
Everyone's happier thinking about Jim Tomsula.
Put it on the poll at Levitard Show, Juju. Is everyone happier when they think of the swamp monster, Jim Tomsula?
I have to be honest, I am. I mean, he should have left his mic shut, but I am happy he brought the name. Next time, I'll do it straight to your ear. Thank you.
Pat Tomsulo goes after Wittingham this way.
Broadcasters are on platforms, smaller than that, that don't use the word either. And so why am I going to continue? We made headlines. It turned into a thing on the show. This is a big program with a big reach. And yet somehow, I was the only one. What? The only one? Yeah. Let me tell you something. I walked so you could run. That's right. I've been saying penis since before you could shave, which, judging by the looks of you, was yesterday. Nobody else is doing it. For the last 10 years, you turn on this show any day of the week, I might say penis, I might say testicles, I might say Vastefran's frenulum, corpuspongiosus, prostate, whatever I got to say to accurately convey information to my viewers is what I'm going to say. Are there days when I can do better? Of course, sometimes I'm lazy. I might say that a guy got hit in his Indiana bones or his Chuck Diggens.
But I will be dead if I let you ignore the sacrifices I have made in the name of journalism, quite frankly, for a better America.
In America, where every man's broad stripe and bright stars is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. That's right.
God bless America. We were really disappointed as a show in Whittingham yesterday.
That's a real chucklefest, that show. My boy dropped some bar real. Far so. You wrote it in a prompter, which is the best part. I I might say, Oh, I might say, You, I might say, Clitoris. I might say, Vuelta. I might say, Lillia Minora. I might say, Lillia Majora.
There's a lane here. If Pat Thomas Sulo can take that lane. There's a lane here for you, Jessica, to be the shocking announcement. Running out of body parts.
Someone feed me another one. Indiana Bones was good. Stars and Stripes was good, too. Bringing America into it.
I need to make a couple of It happens from yesterday. I got fooled by the internet again. It happens. Kemba Walker did not score 92 points overseas.
What?
You and I also described every time the entire show, when it was talking about NVIDIA, pronounced it wrong because I pronounced it the only way-NVIDIA? That's the way. It's an N and a V. That's how I thought everybody would pronounce it. We all pronounced it wrong. But also, Billy is now feuding with Disney adults. Do we need to make a correction here? Because I I don't know that you've had a bigger fight than the one you're presently in.
I have a public apology coming out. Well, not apology, but I tried to address this on mystery Crate this week because factually, there were some things that I was inaccurate about. I feel like, as you know me, I'm all about accuracy. I did say that Disney's Magic Kingdom used to be the happiest place on Earth, and now they changed to the most magical place on Earth. Apparently, Disneyland was the happiest place on Earth always, and in Orlando is always the most magical place on Earth. But that doesn't change the fact that some of the things that I said may have been accurate about them not being super nice, and they used to be nicer. Then I said that there should be separate lines for adults, and there should be separate lines for people with children. Then Disney adults were mad about that, and I said, You know what? I feel like if you actually think about it, this would make a faster experience for you guys as well, because kids take forever in these lines, but they weren't happy about that. I might say,. Don Lebatard. Let's go to 80. His name is Bo.
Wow. I think Billy typed an eight instead of a B. Fine. It's a clear as day.
All right, $2.
Stugatz. Number eight.
It's Chris Carter on the line.
Cee Cee. Go ahead. This is the Don Lebatard show with the Stugatz.
Vov is the one that made me laugh, and I do wonder if any of those words are allowed to be said in the state of Florida, any one of them. I'm not sure. We might have to bleep all of those out now. Stugatz, I am having trouble, as many people are, because when- Look at you. When Billy says he is all about accuracy, I feel like it's harder to be accurate than it has been in a while, because I'm watching Drake May throw a ball effortlessly 80 yards, and I have to go around the room and ask everybody, Is this a real thing, or is this like what they did with Michael Vick in a Nike commercial many years ago, where he threw a ball out of a stadium because everything can be changed by artificial intelligence?
That was real.
That one was real? Drake May effortlessly throwing the ball 80 yards. I know Caleb Williams and some others aren't going to be throwing at the combine. Drake May clearly will be throwing at the combine if that's what he's going to show off, isn't it?
I was talking about the Vic 1, by the way. He's not going to throw the combine because he released that video and everybody's like, Okay, he's got the chooch. We don't need to see him throw.
So we know this video is real.
I'm staking my claim that the video is real. Tony told us. Are we getting close to the point where potential draft prospects could decide to not participate in the combine and release AI videos of themselves doing things they can't actually do?
I love If there's a way to do it, Bron is going to do it for Bronnie soon.
That's weird. That story is weird, right? Yes. Which part of it? Well, where he was talking up his son and saying he should be drafted high, blah, blah, blah, whatever. Then as things are playing out, and obviously Basically, his son had a medical issue and is coming back from that. But as things have played out and people have projected his draft stock falling, now LeBron has pulled a 180, and he's like, Why is everybody putting so much pressure on him? He just let him play. It's like, Well, you did this. Let him be a normal kid. On March sixth, LeBron tweeted, Man, Bronnie definitely better than some of these cats I've been watching on League Pass today. Shit, lightweight, hilarious. No pressure. With laughing emojis. Then yesterday, Can you all please just let the kid be a kid and enjoy college basketball? He can't be a normal kid, Dan. He's LeBron's son. I mean, I don't know what LeBron is doing here because a guy posted a mock draft, had Bronnie going in the second round. And by the way, if I'm the Knicks, I would trade up, get Bronnie this year, and I would get LeBron James.
I would do that if I'm the Knicks. But a guy did a mock draft, and he had Bronnie in the second round, and LeBron commented on that and then deleted the tweet. That's absurd. What are you doing? The reason there's pressure on Bronnie is because of you, because you're his dad. And that's okay. It's okay. But he's added to the pressure with, I want to play with them. Basically telling him, get out of college as fast as you can because I want to play with you. So I can play with you.
It is understandable that all of the internet will fall on the head of America's most famous athlete and an American sports internet pioneer in terms of following. Parents make mistakes all the time. It's a fairly regular thing. Being the son of LeBron James in basketball seems like something that would be hard to overcome for any child, also for a father who wants good things for their child, but also doesn't want cause things that damage their child. Bronnie, evidently, from what people are saying, isn't all that good by pro-prospect standards. He has fallen off some mock draft boards because he probably will have to wait till 2025 to be pro-ready. Lebron is talking now. The reports are that LeBron wants a three-year, nine-figure contract. So that LeBron, somebody's going to pay LeBron James if he wants three years at tens of millions of dollars a year, they're going to pay for whatever the LeBron James circus is in his 40s when he wants to play with his son. I understand every criticism of LeBron James. I understand LeBron wanting to play with his son. I also understand LeBron not having any idea how to parent this publicly.
How many mistakes did you make with your first... Anyone listening to this? I made a ton of mistakes, Dan. With your first child, with a child. But this set of circumstances where you want to do the best thing for your kid, ensure his future, have him separate and apart from your name when he's going to have... Man, do you think it's hard to be Marcus Jordan? Do you think it's hard to be Michael Jordan's kid?
Yeah, but Dan, the point is, yes, I made a lot of mistakes. My wife, we made mistakes. We didn't blame others. What LeBron is doing is blaming guys who are coming up with mock NBA drafts and coming up with where Bronnie is going to fall. It said mock NBA drafts. It's not their fault that Bronnie's life is difficult. It's not. He's not running family business. This isn't a paint store that you can hand off to your kid. This is the NBA. You either are good enough or you're not. It obviously is not easy being the son of one of the greatest basketball players of all time. But him talking his son up as being a great prospect, you'll find out if he is or he isn't based on his abilities. It's no swipe on him. He just is the basketball player that he is.
Jessica, are you over under four sneezses a day? Oh, my God.
Way over. Sorry. I agree with With your point, though, parenting is really hard. If you're a public figure, there's probably things that you would want to take back. All of my dog's IP now belongs to David Samson. I would have changed that if I were to go back. Lebron just didn't read the room on, Okay, I'm the best basketball player of all time. This is going to be so much pressure on this kid. If I don't say a word, there's already pressure on him. He's the second best of all time. You're just saying it was a mistake. What am I asking for? He needs to come out and apologize for his mistake. I don't know what I want here, but he just clearly added to the pressure on his kid, and now he's getting mad at the media for stuff that he made more than it needed to be.
Understood. I understand why it is that everyone likes to blame LeBron and want him to be more accountable at every turn. But any of you, as a parent, if you would have made a mistake that harm your child, would you then sit it out after that, or would you try to protect your child? Because I think it's a pretty strong instinct. If your child already has the pressure of you, you've added to the pressure. He's had heart trouble, and now you have to turn on the television and watch your kid get devoured for not being as great as... Great as basketball.
He's not getting devoured. His stock is falling like any other basketball player.
I know, but what the judgment on Bronnie is the expectations because he's your son arrive in an unreasonable place. You make them worse even though your life path had you being able to handle all of this at that age in an unprecedented fashion. Now you realize as the father, Oh, my son might not be me. Some of the things that I want as a father, not just a father, Stugas, but a father who's living the life LeBron James has lived for 20 years where everything is catered to you at every turn, feeding your selfishness, supporting your selfishness, pulling you away from your kids at every turn because your life is the thing that It matters the most to every human being who enters your orbit. I'd have a hard time raising a child under those circumstances and always doing the right public things. That LeBron James has spent 20 years of what has been his public life since '16, navigating this slalom course.
It's amazing.
Well, publicly, and now asking him, Also, do it perfectly on behalf of your son as a father. It's just a tough ask. He's going to make some mistakes.
But I think we all agree that it's a difficult ask of LeBron James. I think we all realize we would make similar mistakes to LeBron James, the ones that he is making. But don't blame a guy who's putting up a mock draft. I mean, your son should be treated like any other basketball player. In fact, he probably gets perks because he's LeBron's son.
All fair. Now, the question is, you're the dad who's make the mistake. How do you fix it? How do you fix it? Publicly, privately, how do you fix it?
What's the mistake? What are we trying to... I don't understand.
I'm adding the pressure. Lebron James' son already had pressure to be great, but when LeBron James notarizes, this guy's already better than NBA players.
Yeah, but I think most reasonable people are like, this is just a parent viewing their kid in an unrealistic light. I don't think people are actually like, oh, my God, he's not as good as LeBron said. Let me slide him down on the mock draft. They're just putting him where he is. They're not being mean to him. Totally fine with that. Lebron thinking that his kid is a lot better than most people do. That's fine. I mean, that's natural. Most of our players do that. On LeBron's kids' teams, I'm sure he was the best player most of those teams. How many other high school games is LeBron watching? He's the best player LeBron has seen, but that doesn't mean he's the best player out there. If I'm LeBron, I think we go back to the AI thing. We harness the power of artificial intelligence. We put out clips of Bronnie doing things that he's not actually doing, but we pretend that it's actually him. We get him drafted. If I'm LeBron, that's how I'm using my fame. That's what he should be doing. If I'm LeBron, I start doing mock draughts, and I put Bronnie number one in every mock draft.
Yeah, in You're a influencer. You're a lucrative. You got to put him number three, though. You put him number one, it's like, oh, just to sell it. That's the thing. It's like the price is right. This guy. It's like you can't guess it on the dot. You can't be putting out AI combine videos that are super impressive. They have to be reasonably impressive. If he really wanted to do the right thing for his son, he'd buy a foreign team overseas that doesn't have a good TV deal, right? Then you start doing the AI thing. Once you send him to USA, everybody can see him. If he's not really that good, you hide him away and you start putting out the fake videos and the fake stats. Because we saw, and Paulo Torres finds out, that that's the thing that happens. You just make up stats in the NBA and you put that out there.
For those of you who do not know, that is a Tom Haberstro story involving the Grizzly's statistician, and Pablo Tori finds out he's doing some excellent journalism there. What were the most amazing things you learned about all of the fraud in the '90s?
Well, what was amazing about it is that it seemed like this was all just a marketing ploy. As the Vancouver Grizzlies were a new expansion team, their stat guy got direction from the team. Hey, choosing stats here and there while we're at home is okay. There was an example of... He said he was a Lakers fan, and nick Van Exel ended up in a classic game of his with 23 assists. But when you go back and look at the film, there's an example in the first play of the game where the ball is inbounded to him, and then he gives ball to Eddie Jones, and that's not on screen. Then Eddie Jones dribbles six times by himself, up the court, pump fakes, hits a three, Van Exel gets the assist. What it says is that while guys were at home, the splits on blocks, on steals, on assists, it was all greater for those teams. Michael Jordan, when he wins Defensive Player of the Year, the numbers are a bit juiced by the Chicago statisticians in '88. No, they're not. Okay. Who are we ripping here? Who do we rip? It's a great question. Everyone from the '90s.
We don't need to rip anyone. We That's what LeBron needs to do to be a good parent, lie about your child. And he did it. No, but who's the fraud? Whose stats were inflated so much? I just want to rip someone. Who do I rip? Stockton, maybe. Stockton was the example that they used. Yeah, you give that guy an assist. He's John Stockton.
I think what you want to do here, Steegart, so that you can always put yourself in positions to win, I think who you want to rip is LeBron James as a father.
I think that's what you want to do. Spring.
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