The Pappet Pod with Ron.

Ron. Welcome to another absolute banger. We are locked in, and it's New Year's somewhere. What's going on, my brother?

What's up, buddy? Where are you at?

I'm on a little baby moon. I'm in Turks and cake. Cheers, my friend.

Hey, you ain't wrong. Everything cool?

Everything's fantastic. Just celebrating. My wife and I love to travel, so we're not going to be able to travel as much once we have the baby. So we're just getting in the last little travel right now.

Love that. I love that. Erkson Cancos, that's where you're at now. How long have you been there? When did you leave? When you're coming back?

Three days. I just got here yesterday leaving right after New Year's. So It's just a quick one, just a quick one, but get some vitamin C. You know what I mean? Or vitamin D. Vitamin C would be orange juice, right?

All right. I think it's sunlight also, but...

I need the sunlight. I need the sunlight. I just got out here. It's beautiful, though. It's absolutely beautiful. That color of water that you really just can't make up.

Give me weather like. What's the weather comparison?

Brother, it's picturesque. You know what I mean? It's '76 type of vibe. No Philadelphia basketball team, but it's a nice '76. It's magnificent out here. And then I had the towel on my shoulder, and the towel was wet, and now my shoulder looks wet, so I don't know what to do, bro. Do I look crazy? I feel like I got to put the towel back on the shoulder.

Yeah, you got to put that. Yeah, you go. Leave that motherfucker right there.

That doesn't look like I have the towel shoulder. But, yeah, brother, we are locked in. Happy New Year and Happy Hanukah, brother. How are you celebrating?

So I'm going to I might do a little dinner, but for the most part, it's going to be chill vibes. I'm going to open up my New Year via FaceTime with family, loved ones, the lady. You know what I'm saying? Make sure I pour in the people that pour in to me type of vibe.

How do you guys celebrate Hanukah out there? I know that... I heard you just saying that you need 40 candles. I was under the impression that it was eight candles. I don't realize it's 40 crazy nights.

Yeah, me also. So I've been playing in Israel, obviously, and I wanted to dive in a little bit of the culture. We did a little bit of Yom Kippur, we did some Shabbats. We're able to talk about the culture since I've been here. So I got a flight, flight leaving LA, straight flight to Tel Aviv. And I was told that on this Friday, when I land, I have to light candles before 5:30. Mind you, Hanukah is already started me being back in the States, so I'm really on day three or four. So taxi brings me home. I mean, driver brings me home. Everything's cool. I got like 20 minutes to light candles. I don't know how to do it, what to do it. Nor do I feel like... Instead of me reading up on it, I feel like I can go directly to any type of social media and inform myself way faster. So I lit the candles for Hanukah, and then you're supposed to let every candle burn out. So day one, use the middle one to light each candle. So the middle one The middle one is the... I'll show you on this one.

So the middle one is the most like the leader. He lights each one and you go from right to left. So So day four, boom, day three, light, day two, light, day one, light. It's a prayer behind each candle. Like I said, the middle one is the leader. But you have to let all these candles burn until they're done. And then you have to start that I'm in the process over day five. So you just use four candles, but now you have to start over. So now you're at nine. You know what I'm saying? It keeps going up. So, yeah, the candle pack I got, I was wondering why it came in so many fucking candles. It was like 50 fucking candles, and Now, by being informed by some people from the Jewish community and some people from Israel, they let me know that I'm going to need almost 55 candles, some type of shit.

So what I'm hearing is invest in candles around this time of year and then short the candles once New Year comes. I feel like that's a brilliant strategy. I didn't realize there was such a big candle market around Hanukah.

Yeah. So I learned a lot fast. I learned a lot fast. I learned a whole bunch fast.

How are they doing it different than Christmas? How is it different as far as the gift giving from what you're used to?

I believe it's day one, one gift. I believe it's a gift every day.

Interesting. And what's the magnitude of the gift? How good are the gifts?

I think the gifts go from small gifts all the way up into big gifts.

Oh, So on the last day, that's when you get the PlayStation.

Type shit. If I'm correct, I don't want to be guessing, though.

Interesting. I only ask because I know it's the gift-giving season, and I also know that you've been in the spirit of gift giving because I just saw a video on your social media where Louis Vuitton bags were being brought into the practice at Israel. What's the deal behind that? It said, Secret Santa. I mean, who's celebrating Santa? Who's just getting free Louis Vuitton. What was the whole story behind that?

So while I was in the States rehabbing on a quad, I guess the team had a Secret Santa. And since I wasn't here, I wasn't able to participate. But in my mind, I wanted to do something nice for the guys anyway for Christmas because that's real big in the NBA. The main guy comes. I remember Dwight Howard came one time for Christmas. He bought the whole team, Rolex. All team, Christmas, Rolex. Every motherfucking get a roll. You roll as you want to count on Roll, you roll. Like, Rolex.

What?

So ever since then, I've tried to do something nice with my teammates every Christmas. But yeah, I remember that shit. I remember that shit. Like, shout out to Dwight Howard, man. I don't know if you watch the pod, but you definitely see us around. Appreciate that Roll. Yeah, bought the whole team, Rolex. He stood for it. So I wanted to do something cool for the team, and I was able to talk to some good people from Louis, and they had some great ideas, and we got some caleons, and I tried to make it personal. I think I got my guy, Joe Rags. He liked glasses. I think Louis was able to find me some glasses. Everybody else got wallets. I think the Cap told me I met his wife. His wife left me in the home. He cooked dinner on the grill, so I got his... Instead of giving him a gift, I got his wife a gift. And placing him. So, yeah, it was cool. It was a vibe. It was nice.

That's so nice. Do you get a discount from Louis when you buy in bulk like that? Did Dwight Howard get a Rolex discount when he bought all those Rolexes? I don't know.

I don't know, but they took care of me. Yeah, Louis took care of me. They took care of me.

That's what I'm wondering. Did Dwight Howard, that's such a nice gift from him. Which contract was he under at that time? Because I mean- The Rockets. I know it wasn't the Vet Minimum contract. You know what I mean?

He came in that motherfucker with Rollies. I remember that shit. It was yesterday. He said, I'm going to get the whole team, Rolex for Christmas. I'm like...

Bro, that's so legendary.

Rolex. But I'm like, I ain't thinking nothing of it. Like, all right, I barely know him. Maybe he just saying some shit, a new stud on the team, you feel me? Whatever. I'm going to walk in, get the green boxes everywhere. I'll blood what's his. Are you a real one? Real one, real deal Holy field one.

No, that's so real of him. I would have been like, I'm more of a Patek guy. One guy did say something like, Yeah, I don't want to roll you.

I want this.

What?

Yeah, and that guy got it, too.

What? I mean, were they- I wasn't going to say that, but since you brought it up, I might as well just come out with a little itsy-bitty true. Who did it, dude?

No, I can't do that. I can't break that code.

That's so funny. I'm trying to think who is it. Was it Harden?

Chill, chill, chill. The first thing happened to me that's never happened to me before, Ron.

What's going on? What happened?

I'm at a restaurant, a phenomenal restaurant, a restaurant called Bar 51. The food is truly amazing. Great meat, great small menu, great vibe. Energy is great. The music is great. Music stops wrong. Mind you, I'm already done eating advertisers. So I'm just patiently waiting on my main course. Music stop wrong. I see people grabbing coats and telling me, Let's go. And I go, Let's go where? And they say, The sirens. The sirens are a... I experienced my first safe room.

What?

I experienced my first safe room, but it was completely nothing.

Doesn't sound like it was nothing. Where was the safe room? At the restaurant?

In the restaurant, but it was literally completely nothing. I walked in a room, everybody was on their phones. Seven minutes later, everybody walked out, finished dinner. Completely nothing. Completely nothing. Completely nothing. Why did you all just waste our time? We could have just continue to set at the table type of nothing. Completely nothing.

Well, who do Where does that even get the word from? They hear the siren and they get in, or is there a text chain or something?

I think it's a little smoke still from Yemen or something like that. I don't know. I'm just looking on my citizen app type of vibe. You feel me?

They have a citizen app over there?

Yeah, a type of shit. It's a citizens app. Just change citizens with motherfucker missile might come type shit. You feel me? But Barry I expected more. I say that. I expected more. I expected much more than what happened. It was almost quite irritating, to be honest. Everyone had the same energy. Like, yeah, man, it happens all the time, man. Nothing's happened. They put us in this room for six minutes and we go back out and finish dinner. So I wasn't approved of the safe room. I'm going to say that my experience with the safe room wasn't what I thought it was going to be for my first time. You feel me? I thought I was going to be in that bitch pilowed up And you feel... I don't know what I thought, Ron. I'm going to be honest. I don't know what I thought, but it was a waste of time, Ron.

Did you have your Nintendo Switch on you or anything? I feel like I'd have my Nintendo Switch in a holster if I was over there at Having to potentially go into a safe room. I want something, you know what I mean? A book or something like that.

But it wasn't even a safe room. It was like a room with the door open. A guy come out, make a call. Everyone doesn't even go in. It was like just a group of people just standing around on their phones.

Underwhelming?

Yes. I expected more. I'm going to be honest. For my first safe room, I expected more. It was completely nothing. Nothing. Not even a sound. You didn't even hear a sound. You didn't hear a siren. You didn't hear anything.

Not even?

Nothing.

What the hell? So tell me this, because I think I had the wrong perception of safe rooms. Are safe rooms designed to protect against armed intruders, or are they designed to protect against bombs?

I think a mixture of both. Yeah.

If I'm buying a safe room, I want it to be a catch all.

I want that motherfucker to be all purpose safe room. I want to be able to take shit, lay down, watch TV, drink water. You can't come in this bitch. You can't come get me. Shoot dice, play card game, make love. I want all purpose safe room, bro. I ain't allowed to.

Connect fours in there.

Big latch on the door, like door, foot. But yeah, it was completely underwhelming. A very underwhelming to a point where I'm like, this is all the fuss is about?

Well, hopefully that's your only safe room experience. I guess that's my hope for you, that it's not a repeat experience. And then what? You just went back to eating the fish?

Eaten the tuna tartar.

You went right back to the tartar?

They playing New York with Jay-Z in the background.

Concrete jungle where there's a safe room Boom.

You feel me? They playing Alicia Keys in the background. You want to shop, Mr. Beverly? No, I'm cool. Thank you. So, yeah, that was my safe room experience. My first one, very underwhelming.

What day was that? Christmas?

No, that was yesterday.

That just happened yesterday?

Yeah, that was not even 24 hours ago, bro. That was last night's dinner, probably still being I enmeshed it in my belly.

Were you scared when it happened? I'd be scared of shit.

No, I just didn't know. The element of surprise was the first thing in the kick, and I'm like, But you got to think, I'm like, safe room. So me, I'm My neck like this out the window. I'm looking up. What the fuck?

I feel like someone passed me the strap.

You feel me? That's the type of time I'm all like, Hey, man, what's going on? And then Walked around the corner to this room, and it was open, and it was stairs, and it was people walking in and out on the phone, and it was people with their drinks still in their hand, very casual, very normal. I forgot my drink, man. I should have brought my people sitting in chairs, legs crossed, looking out the window. I'm telling maybe out there for five minutes and back at the table.

So they got windows in the safe rooms?

I mean, it was a safe room, but people weren't even in there. They went back out to just be in the hallway of whatever building we were in. What the hell? They had windows, yeah.

I mean, well, I'm glad you're safe. I think that you're still able to enjoy yourself, but be safe is, I think, the most important thing for you as my friend. That's the way that I frame it, that I just want you to make it home safe, like Nipsey I said. So it's New Year's Eve right there. What is it? About to be midnight? What time is it out there?

It is currently what? 9:08:04, Ron?

So you are about to have your New Year's Eve right now.

Yeah, actually, right now it is New Year's, wrong?

Mazel. Wait, it's 8:04 in the morning?

No, I'm saying when the epic comes out. Oh, yeah. Oh, it's true. Happy New Year.

Happy New Year to all of our loyal supporters. 2025, going to be the best year yet.

Yeah. So yeah, four hours. Everyone knows we're pre-recorded, so we record Tuesday for an episode for Wednesday. So right now, it's 8:00 PM, 4 hours into the new year, Ron.

Interesting. Well, how did you spend your New Year's night last night?

Very classy Derry DeMere.

That sounds magnificent.

Yeah, great grow up. Probably one of the best restaurants in Tel Aviv, probably one of the best burgers in Israel I had yesterday. And It's ranked also. Amazing burger. Probably the best burger in Israel.

Unbelievable. Have you ever fucked with beef Wellington?

No.

Beef Wellington, beef where there's the steak, but they wrap it in a pastry and then cook it in the oven. So the pastry raises. It's like a loaf of bread with the whole steak inside of it. It's amazing.

Does it taste like a burger?

It tastes more like a steak with a croissant around it, and it's fantastic. But that's my New Year's meal, and I really can't wait.

Beef Wellington.

It sounds British. Biff Wellington, old boy. A French '75 in the Biff Wellington, please.

Hey, he's back. My friend, my other friend is back. I like him.

Dom Perrion, 1975, and make it It's a bubbly for me. That's what my order is looking like, bro.

Hey, if he was a human being, what would we name him?

It's like a Charleston or a Chesterfield. Or maybe Charleston Chesterfield.

Norman. Normandy. Charles Chesterfield, Normandy.

But it has to be like the seventh.

Fuck it, the sixth.

All right, the sixth, and his boys will be the seventh and eighth. Charles Chesterfield, Normandy, the sixth.

Air to the thrones. Listen, every time we do pop from now on, I'm going to go, Hey, Ron, where's Charles I want you to go right into.

My mother prefers that you keep it to the full Christian name of Charles Chesterton, Normandy the sixth. Charlton. Yes, brother.

He's great.

You think if I went to England, I could pull it off? You think I could fool the bros over there? Yes. You think they'd really believe it?

Yes. Something like a collar shirt and a sweater, Mr. Rogers vibe and something else with your hair, 100 %.

I think that they would think I'm making fun of them. I think they'd be like, You fucking Yanks don't make fun of us. We don't sound like that. That's not how our voices sound. Leave us alone.

We have to talk about the obvious for all the stuff that I was able to first two things, first and foremost, shout out to what was it, Boardroom?

Shout out to Boardroom.

And Those rankings were not rankings. They were alphabetically in order.

Right. So Boardroom named the PappF pod with Ron as, I think, one of the most influential podcasts led by an athlete.

Go on to 2025.

I was excited because there was a limited amount of white brothers on that list. I think the two Kelsies were on there. There was another white brother who was a co-host that was on there, but limited amount of white brothers on there. So it's always nice to have a seat at the table, even if it's not the table table, the seat next to the table. You know what I mean? So shout out to Kevin Durant, shout Shout out to Rich Kleinman. Shout out to everybody over at Boardroom. Those are the bros.

The bros, they made it happen. So that was a vibe. It's always good getting... We know how talented we are, obviously, and we want to show the entire world how talented we are, but to get recognition from anyone outside our camp, our team is always a plus. So Boardroom, we appreciate it. Love, love, love, love, love.

Yeah, Boardroom has done a great job of building a really good company, really good social media presence. And I'm pretty sure they sold maybe once or twice. I think they sold for $180 million and $300... I don't even know. But there's M's and nine-figure deals behind their name. And so it's really a tip of the cap to how well they do making a brand and a lifestyle brand. And I think it just shows that we talk a lot about LeBron's business and how good he is of a business person, but I don't think that we talk enough about how great KD is as a business person, too. He has so many ventures. He has ownership in so many different franchises. I feel like every time I look up, KD is buying a ultimate Frisby team or something like that. And he's like, yeah, ultimate Frisby is going to be the way of the future. And then the next thing you know, ultimate Frisby is on ESPN, and he's just killing it. So tip of the cap to KD on his business acumen. Child to KD.

He's money. Sniper. Shout out to Katie, Treyfie, I love that.

Wait, I also saw you on a bunch of streams this week with the dude Neon. What the fuck was that, dude? How did that happen?

So We've been trying to do some streams, just try to catch the right way with the stream vibe, because I'm a big fan of all streams. I think stream in 10 years, I think that's all it's going to be is everyone's stream. We were supposed to have someone Aiden Ross to feel through while I was rehabbing in Cali. First off, the The support and love that I got when I returned back to Los Angeles, California, was unbelievable. Something was wrong. My first day, something was wrong with my central air conditioning and the guy who came to visit. He walked me through the gate, and I see him on his Friday. For me, every Friday, Shabbat, and I see him in the Yamacone. Oh, okay. He came, he wanted a guy. I opened the door. I mean, he just Oh, my God, Patrick Beverly. It said it on paper, but I didn't know it was real. Everything you're doing for the Jewish community, everything that you... So everywhere I went around LA, everywhere I went, bro, I'm talking about every Jewish person I ran into wrong. It was unbelievable amount of love and support they showed while I was on the stage, bro.

Almost equal to the love I get here in Israel. Everybody Everybody I met, everyone I met, bro, every Jewish person I met, male, female kid, bro, was in awe, completely in awe. What you doing for Israel? Speaking up, just being there. What you doing just My time back home was a vibe. So fast forward, I could DM, Kid Named Neon. Mind you, the only way I know Heard, Neon, is because of his smile. This motherfucker with the no teeth. That's the only way I know him. We're trying to schedule stream, but he's out the country the time I'm there So I guess he says, I'll cut my trip short. I'll cut my trip short to come do the stream. So I'm like, All right, cool. He cut his trip short. We do the stream. We go to a warehouse. I forgot what a warehouse is, but the warehouse is in the stream. The warehouse is fucking phenomenal, first off. Damn, I got to make sure I get to the name before they add people. But the warehouse was phenomenal. I just didn't know he had... I've seen him, and this is my first time ever seeing a stream kid up close and personal.

And And he had this big ass bodyguard, and I'm like, Fuck you got this big ass bodyguard for? When I asked my homie, I'm like, Yo, you see this shit? My homie like, Hey, no, bro, he needs security. That one's like, wow, Pat. So I'm like, Oh, yeah, he's supposed to have been being canceled four or five times. I'm even surprised that you even doing stream with this motherfucker, right? I He whispering this while I'm looking at Neon. I'm like, oh, shit. I don't know what the fuck I just stepped into? What type of cancel? So, yeah, the stream turned out to be really, really fucking good, really good, really Really good. Really good. Really good. Yeah.

It's so interesting because that dude is like a polarizing figure. Every time I see him, he's just like, I don't know, Chad, what do you think Chad? Ben over like a question mark just on his phone on stream, Fuck it, chat. What are they saying? But he's a bit of a crash out. He'll just say some absolutely wild shit. I feel like I saw close to him telling Skybreed, she needs to get back of porn or saying crazy shit about Kai Sinat's mom or whatever. This is very inside streamership. But I think that he means well, and I think that he just wants to get bigger and more famous. And I don't know how So it seems like he's trying to do so much to do it. But wasn't he plugged in initially by Aiden Ross? Is that how you guys got linked up through Aiden Ross?

No, I think Aiden Ross plugged him. I don't know if that's how we got linked. Probably so, I don't know. But I think Aiden Ross plugged him. But I mean, this motherfucker was giving off food to the homeless. I couldn't listen.

I tell him my brother- That's love. That's what I mean. That's such a well-intentioned thing, but he only gets public for the negative.

I can only go off of what I know and see from what I see with my eyes. You feel me? And that's the only thing I can go off from. I can't judge anybody by their pass or what other motherfuckers say. So first day, I meet them, we go pass out food to the homeless. So I respect that off the strength. But yeah, he wild, though. He wild. I see why he got security. That little motherfucker crazy. He wild.

Yeah. He's the type of dude to just say some reckless shit in a parking lot out or whatever, and he just get charged. And then a 6, 7, 400 pound bouncer is going to have to toss somebody away or whatever. It seems like in some ways that's his playbook. But the streaming shit is a whole new world, and I think that he is somebody who has found success in it. And you have to tip your cap to somebody to find success however they find it.

Yeah. I had his ass outside running naked, Ron. I'm not even talking about you want to challenge me in a motherfucking shooting contest like I'm on fucking Rudy Pooh. He challenged the dude, the Melo Ball, but then beat him.

He did?

Yeah, he beat his ass like a drum, bro.

Who? Liangelo?

Yeah, I think that's the one. Jello? Yeah, I think that's the one. Yeah.

That's so interesting.

It's a different world. He said the money they make, the pressure they have, he said he streamed It's every single day, like six, seven hours a day. That's a whole nother hustle.

What pressure was he talking about?

I mean, just the pressure of saying some shit, not running into a motherfucker to live like that every day. You know what I'm saying? Like state to state. You don't know who you pissed off, you don't know who you offended or you do know. And you feel me? You got to watch how you step in certain cities. That's a lot of motherfucking pressure, Ron, for a motherfucker that's 5, 9, 130.

Yeah. The other option is not to say that crazy shit, but at the same time, it's also... With streaming, especially, you see how many people watch every day, I'm sure. And so you see when your numbers go up, you see when your numbers go down, you see the things that make your numbers go up. And sometimes jumping out the window is one of the things that makes your numbers go up. And so then you get addicted to it. You're like, okay, well, I need I taught myself, and suddenly you're doing crazier shit. They said it was a humiliation ritual when you had them running around in the streets Really? Yeah. When they said that you had them running around in the underwear, they said that you had them on some humiliation ritual shit.

I don't even know what that is, bro.

I think that it's like people fantasize about Hollywood being initiated into Hollywood or whatever that you have to humiliate yourself publicly. I think it's a bunch of malarkey at the end of the day.

Actually, that was his idea. I don't go come over that shit. You want to shoot? Yeah, we go shoot. I'm going to put this belt across your motherfucking ass. I'm going to be done, too. And I'll honor the bet.

Was there a belt to ask Was there a belt to ass celebration that just happened? Did Ammon Ross, St. Brown, do a belt to ass celebration or something? Am I making that up, a football player?

I don't know.

I'm not sure either. Let's talk a little bit about basketball. Let's talk about the NBA. Is that cool with you, my brother?

I love NBA, and I love basketball. Let's go. You're sounding like- They fired Mike Brown.

They fired Mike Brown. They did Mike Brown dirty. They did Mike Brown incredibly bad. I saw Mike Malone talking about it, and he hit the nail on the head. He basically said that they have no balls and they're cowards because they fired Mike Brown after practice, after media availability, while he was on his way to the team playing over the phone. That's cowardly. If you're going to fire somebody, you have to do it face-to-face.

This is my first time hearing this, though. You You're hearing streets. You hear that, bro? Your ear is on a motherfuck concrete. You hear me wrong? You hear everything, my boy. You're on a wall.

What do you think about the way that they fired him? Do you think that I'm right? You think that Mike Brown... I'm sorry, Is that Mike Malone's right? Or do you think that they hired him, they could fire him however they want?

I just feel like being a guy who's been traded. Did they pay They pay the players more than any other product that's... You feel me? That's a part of the NBA. You feel me? Obviously, the coaches, the general and the leader, and players how to follow the coach. But it's There's plenty of players that knew they was going to get traded. The team still allowed them to play the game. They could have got injured. They couldn't did anything. Could have hurt themselves, could have did anything and was going to trade them the next day. I think that's just the nature of the beast. That's just how the NBA is. I understand that coaches, you feel me? And I respect it. I hear you. I understand both sides, but now you all get a little taste of how we be feeling. Feel me? Now you all get a little taste of how you wake up from your nap getting prepared to play a game, you get a text, you've been traded. Or you sign an extension with a team and you're looking for houses to buy, you're about to close on the house and you need to put money down and you're about to get traded.

Or you go to a guy, you ask them, Hey, am I getting traded? They tell you no. Okay, cool. You move your kids down there to school and you do this and that, and then you get traded. So it's part of the game. It doesn't surprise me. And trust me, it's way wilder stories than what I'm given off. You feel me? These are just stories that happened to me. You know what I'm saying? And I'm not a max or anything like that. So I can just imagine it's even way worse stories out there. But motherfuckers get traded every day and they find out on Twitter, not even a phone call. You feel me? We find out on Twitter before anything. You know what I'm saying? So I hear the other side and not, man, I'm remorseful for it, but this shit been happening in the players since the beginning of the time, my dog.

Yeah, that is unfortunate. And it also seems like that teams who are not doing well, it's almost like the third option. I think in offseason, obviously, you could sign players. Throughout the year, you can trade players. But if you want to get new life into your team who you feel like is underperforming. I feel like the Kings have just been on a little bit of a slide, a little bit on the Schneid. But that's a thing that... When you're trading players, you have to match up salaries, you have to find someone else to take on your player. When you're signing somebody, you have to convince them to come here. If you just fire a coach, it's almost like the easy way out where you can just do it all on your own from the organization standpoint and just get rid of somebody without having to match up or without having to court somebody else. So I think the Kings are hoping that that's what will reinvigorate the team, but I don't think it is. I think the King's problems are more of a roster construction, and I think that Mike Brown is a good coach.

Yeah, I agree with the King's issues being roster rather than coach. But I also feel like right now they got a bad hand by being in the West, bro. You know what I'm saying? I'm going to be honest. If you take this 10, you put them in the East, Mike Brown still has his job. I mean, that's just the honest of it. You feel me? The West That's just hard as hell, bro. The West is extremely, extremely tough, bro. And that division that the Kings are in, that division is extremely tough.

I also think- Go outside, Ron. No, no. So I also think that the Kings gave themselves a little bit of a disservice when they had such a good start to the season with Was it last year or two years ago, when they're third in the West? Two years ago. Two years ago. Two years ago, when they're third in the West. So it builds up this expectation that the Kings are a team that could be a top three team in the West, that team that is going to be a championship contender or a playoff problem, when in reality, they're a high energy team. The roster composition fit really well, and they were able to overachieve. And I think that they set themselves up with expectations that were higher than their ceiling actually is. And then they add in a guy like De Rosen, who is... I mean, he's one of the highest scoring players who are still left in the NBA right now. So obviously, his body of work speaks for itself. But the play style that you need with De Rosen, is it this fast, free-flowing play style that benefits De'Aaron Fox, where it's like this guy is like, De'Aaron Fox may be the fastest guy in the league, so he'll benefit from a run out or something like that.

Then Derozen is a guy who drives more than the half-court. It almost changes your play style, or maybe I'm completely wrong. You tell me.

Right. So I think the play style gets you through the regular season. Your play style, you're able to beat teams on back-to-back to come in tired based on your play style. My biggest takeaway from DeMar DeRosa being on the Kings is now, instead of becoming a one-trick pony regular season team, you become a legitimate payoff team now because everyone knows in the playoffs, it's all about matchups. But the fact that they fired Mike Brown, he can't even see it through the playoffs. He can't even see this team through the payoff. Demar De Rosen is a playoff player. You get DeMar De Rosen to close games. Your pace, the way you play, what else is around that, that gets you throughout the season. Okay, motherfucker, get hurt, the way we play, we got back to back. We got them coming in. Okay, cool. We got a high pace. So possession, they tired. They don't have a lot of legs. We get them on the back to back, they're tired, blah, blah, blah, this, this, this, that. But when you stick DeMar De Rosen, boom, put them on that team. This team is now, okay, cool. We can't get a bucket.

We can't play as fast as we want in the play-offs. Now we can slow it down. We can throw it to a guy that can get. They didn't even let it go through. You got to see that through. You have to see that through.

Who are you even going to add to As a coach right now at this point that's going to give you a better option and who's going to be able to use these chest pieces or whatever ingredients are in the kitchen to make a better dish than what Mike Brown was making. I don't think that anybody is cooking You have something better than Mike Brown could have cooked, especially when you're going in.

Yeah, you got to let that see that through the year. Demar DeRose is a playoff player, man. You got to see that through, especially with the coach you have now. Now, he He can mix it up now. Now he's won championships. I don't know, very interesting to me, Ron. Very interesting.

As the NBA season progresses, we're seeing more changes, the winds of change, blustering through Los Angeles and taking Dilo all the way to Brooklyn in a very interesting trade that you weighed in a bit on X. But I want to hear about what you really think of the entire trade that sends Dilo Russell out of Los Angeles and back to Brooklyn.

So the exchange that I had on X was quite interesting, right? And I love the Laker fans because the Laker fans, the real ones, they know basketball because they've seen it a lot. They've been through it a lot. What they don't understand is their effect on making their own team better. They talk so bad about their players that they actually decrease their value. So now when trade comes, and any team... We had Mark Kuban on, and he said it was plenty of things that he would love to do deals with. If you're America's team and the Lakers, ain't nobody just giving you shit. Any trade you have has to be that someone go, No, we want this. No, we want this. Obviously, because you're the Lakers. No one's trying to help the Los Angeles Lakers, far as trade-wise, the management-wise, and getting players that they want back. Okay, cool. We know you guys want this guy. He's a second round in every other team. But to the Lakers, he's two first rounds. Fuck it. No one's trying to help the Lakers. But when you have a fan base that a guy shoots bad. Everyone goes on Twitter.

Everybody sees everything. I don't fuck what type of player you with. Everyone goes on Twitter and they crush guys and they decrease their value. Now you want your team to get better, but you don't put them all for now so bad. Every motherfucker around the NBA here, the only thing the media is talking about is that. Next thing you know, a player where you could have got, I don't know, two solid pieces for it, now you only get one piece for it type Yeah. It's just the Laker faith, where they got to just understand that it's karma when it comes to putting down your own players. Because now you either have guys and GMs around the league who try to take advantage of that. Well, he has been shooting bad, and this, this, that, and that, and that, and this, and they try to bring up these numbers and all that. And most of the time, it's all mental because you see Tori and Prince and Michael and Malik B. He's some of the best three-point shooters in the NBA right now.

Interesting.

You see Russ. You feel me? Russ is having one of the best years he's had. When Russ went to the Clippers, he had another great year. You know what I'm saying? So I just got to watch out, man, because all that stuff on the internet ain't always good for players.

Well, it's great for LeBron, and it works really well for LeBron. And I think that some Lakers fans have this expectation that you're going to have five LeBrons or something like that. And that's just not how it works. That's not how you can correctly build a team, and that's not how the salary cap is built. They're lucky they have a LeBron and the AD. But as far as the fits for the team, we talked a couple of weeks ago about how the Lakers do need some perimeter defense, and in some ways they got that?

I'm confused.

The Lakers added perimeter defense with the trade? Dorian Fittie-Smith. No? All right, set me straight then.

No, he's a better defender than most wings, yes. And he could shoot Trey Wall, yes. But again, he's coming from the East. He's coming from the East. He's played in the West in Dallas. He was put him out first round every year. I was on the team when Kawhi average them there at 40.

Got it. So I think the people in a vacuum look at him as a better defender D'Angelo Russell. But I also see your point, and I think it happens a lot when guys wind up on teams like the Nets, where it's like, okay, I'm on the nets now. My stats are going to go up through the roof because of the team on that I'm on.

Lakers need five, bro. We keep talk. Lakers need a five. They get a five with stuff. They make another move and get a five with the piece they have. Yeah. But you get Fannie Smith. I like Shaq Milton with them also because he's one of those guards that can play off the ball. He doesn't need the ball, right? But I'm saying, who's your guard off the bench?

Yeah. And it's tough because Jake is relegated to that ninth guy role, where he's not in the top eight. We saw it with the wolves, too. He wasn't really in that rotation. But it seems like, skill-wise, he could be a guard off the bench, but he never never gets that look, it seems like. And I don't know, Gabe Vincent?

It's the way they can improve their roster. And I guess this is in their mind, one way, adding defense, adding Add another player who doesn't need the ball, which means you can keep the ball in the Bryant hands more, Austin Reeves hands more, you can get the ball AD much more. I don't see how that helps their defense defensive rebounding issues. They give up a lot of second-chance points that are really not good in transition. Every damn NBA team is not good in transition. But three-point shooting is based off being able to create for someone else. You take away a playmaker. They are going to get buckets. Ron going to make the right play. Ad, he going to get bucks unless he's a double team. Who else playmaking?

It's a fair question.

Going in there to pass, not going in there like, Oh, I can't score. I have to pass. Going in there, I give up a two for open three. I give up an open layup to a wing wing, corner, open three, a swing, swing, open three. I don't know who else on the roster can do that at a high level in the West.

And did they give up three second-round pics with it, Yeah.

That's a lot.

What do you think the next three years look like for D'Angelo Russell?

What's his trajectory? It depends on what he goes now. They said something about buy-out, and I see someone said something about Philly.

That would be interesting.

So let's just see when the dust clears, let's just see how it looked because he might shake something. I mean, he might land somewhere good. He has a good agent. You feel me? He might land somewhere good and take advantage of the opportunity. Boys still can hoover He ain't like here, mom. You know what I'm saying? He ain't like you. He's just going to be out of the league. He can still hoop. So let's just see. And when he was with the Lakers, he won them games. He played well. Before he got to the Lakers, he was shooting a career high three, four percentages. He go to the Lakers, he can't throw it in Again, my fact, what I was saying earlier, stuff on media, what you hear, this, this, this. You feel me? They demoted him. He went to bench. You feel me? It got a little success with him. He stayed on bench as we talked about in the episode before. Man, this might not be good for him. You go on the bench, you got to stay on that bench, especially if they're having success. And at the bench comes trade. So we did speak about that.

So I don't know, man. He works hard, so we just see how he lands.

I DMed him and I said, Now that you're in Brooklyn, maybe we could ride E-bikes together. He didn't answer back. I guess maybe there's something in his contract that he can't ride E-bikes or something like that. That must have been why he didn't answer back, but happy to have him in Brooklyn. You know what I mean? I feel like I could plug him in with some real estate stuff right by Barclay or Dumbo. I feel like Dumbo could be a win for him if he wants to move into the neighborhood.

So basically, you're the king of Brooklyn. That's what you're telling me.

No, I'm just like... I could just plug him into really good real estate options. You know what I mean? I wouldn't say that I'm the king, but I know the king, and he was just playing with the king. I could be an asset to him if he even just wants to ride E-bikes, but it seems like that's not what he's into as much right now. But people come to New York, they get different interests, and I'm excited for it. But let's keep it in LA for a little bit because LeBron just He turned 40 years old.

Impressive.

Impressive.

Another trip around the sun. I've seen a motherfucker at a restaurant, cut out cardboard LeBron James, every motherfucker surrounded, taking pictures, celebrating his birthday. Black And Captain America, my son. For real. What he's done, he's really made the world a better place.

Yeah. Didn't have a single game came in his 30s with less than 10 points, I think has more points in this calendar year, his 39 to 40 calendar year than he did in three or four other years. So in some ways, he's getting better. He said that he could He said that he could play five more years. He said that he could play five more years if he wanted to, or he said if he wanted to- Seven to five more years, 47. Yeah. And I think that now he's not competing against basketball players. I think he's competing against Tom braided, who won a Super Bowl at 45. Okay.

If he do this right, man, and he a strategic motherfucker, he on paycheck because that motherfucker play chess, and everybody around all his homies play chess, too. I think That's a possibility, man. Besides the assists and steals, he may be able to hold a lot of records.

If he wins more overall titles, that would be fucking insane. That would be so impressive. But speaking of playing chess, did you see that Victor Wendellyama was in New York playing chess on a random cross street? He basically sent out a tweet. He was like, Hey, I'm about to go play chess if anybody wants to link up. Just playing chess against strangers, two security guards sitting there with him and a big group of people while a seven-foot-three wonder kid is playing chess.

How did the outcome of those games go? Because they never talked about that.

I mean, if he's playing against real chess players, he's probably getting smoked. No offense to him, but those bros on the corners in New York that play chess, that's all they do. That's all they do. Those dudes are geniuses at chess. It's so fucking impressive how good they are at chess. So no knock to him. But hey, there's a lot of crazy stuff going. I mean, the chess world is taking over. I wouldn't be surprised if KD buys a chess team sometime soon because I'm looking at the Chess world. The number one chess guy in the world, Magnus Carlson, just got kicked out of a tournament because he wore jeans. He wore jeans, so he couldn't play chess, the number one guy in the world. He wouldn't change his pants. If Chess keeps on blowing up like this, we could turn this into a Chess podcast real fast. Which brings me to our new Amsterdam Starting Five, Starting Five Chess Pieces. And I'm not talking about on the chess board, I'm talking I'm talking about on the basketball court. So who's your starting five chest pieces? Where are you putting them? We got- I want five, man.

Okay. Who's the five?

Jokish.

Okay.

I think he's the ultimate chest piece.

Okay. Very nice. He can move all directions. I'm not calling him a queen, but he is a bit of a queen out there as far as the chest, because he could go as many forward as he wants, as many backwards as he wants. He could be a rebounder, get you 20 a night, get you 20 dimes a night, or he could put 40 on the scoreboard for you. And he seems like a fun guy to play with. So I like Joker out there at the five-man chest piece?

In my four man, I'm going Wemby.

Okay. Wemby. Interesting that you're not putting him at the five.

He's the horse, the one that can go up to L-shaped, up to cross, up to left, two.

He could be shaped like an L, but he's not taking the L. That's Wemby. He's going to be your Knight, and he's going to be at your four spot. Very nice chest piece right there. But he can defend the Wemby, he could defend the rim, but he could defend the perimeter, too. That's a versatile What's the title? One, two, punch, you have.

I'm putting Giannis at my three.

Giannis at the three.

Not a power forward. He's the one to move diagonal.

Yes, he can move diagonal to Bishop. The The bishop. The bishop can go in any direction. That man is the purest slasher, and if you see him coming your way down the lane, get the fuck out of the way.

Yeah. I'm going to go I'm going to go A-R.

A-r. A-r. I'm going to call him. Right after the Christmas game winner. Okay, He's a pawn, but he's going to be starting at your two.

Yeah, he's going to be starting at my two.

You need pawns, the chess board. And that's a good lesson for Lakers fans. There has to be pawns out there. Everybody can't be the king. Everybody can't be the queen.

Yeah. I'm going... I'm going to go Kobe White as my point. I another pond.

Two ponds, Kobe White. How is he a chess piece?

I just feel like he's... He blends in with all the ponds, all the point guards. He has flashes of, Okay, yeah. He might be front-line. He might move up a couple of spots, sacrifice his game for the betterment of the team. I like him as a pond. I like those two as two ponds.

Those are two great ponds, and And behind you, you got Wemby, Giannis, and Jokic.

That's a nice chess board.

That's a very nice chess board. But are you worried about your shooting on your chess board over there?

No, I'm fine because I think those guys can shoot it just enough. That's why they're ponds. They can shoot it just enough that you can respect it, and they can play off the ball. So if the ball is on their way to them, they can catch and go instead of catch holding an ISO. They're not a bunch of guys that catch it a night, so they play with a bunch of pace. They make tough layup. They make free throws. I just think the high low and Yana is pushing the ball, I think... Trust me, if the Bucks had a chance to get Kobe Wright or Austin Reeves, any team will get those two guys together.

Now, what's been going on in the NBA with all the fights that have been going on? Everybody is boxing out here. It's Najee Marshall going head to head. Put him Who is he fighting against? Nerk. Nerk. Nerkich was fighting Najee Marshall. They got suspensions. That's what I'm saying.

Nerkich over here talking about Draymond, calling him classless and all that, and he just spending for a fight, hit a motherfucker in the head.

And then- He's a disgrace to the league.

He needs to be kicked out the league. And then it's so funny, six months later, you're out here hit motherfuckers in the head.

That is funny how the world It works. And then answer me this. Did Tyler Hero get stolen because he's a white dude?

It shouldn't be like this, but he's just not a regular white dude.

He's like that.

You feel me? He got swad of a black man. So it gives the next Black man just a little... If it was Black on Black crime, maybe it just be a little jersey hole and he talk some shit. But since it is Tyler Hero, Jersey hole, you ain't going to do shit, a little throw on the ground type of shit. It ain't fair, but it's because it's Tyler Hero.

Amen. Yeah, he got in a little bit of a scuffle with one of the Thompson twins, and he was talking his shit afterwards. But I hate to see the white brothers getting picked on just because of the color of their skin and the content of their characters.

No, we're not going to say picked on. This is a minority league. We're not going to say picked on, relax.

I'm just joking. But yeah, speedy recovery to AR, who was talking his shit. Even right afterwards, he was mouthing. He was like, he lost. Talking shit. And then in the locker room, he was saying, I guess that's what happens when a guy's hooping on you. I think he had 25. He said when somebody has given you assists, he had nine dimes, I think, in that game. So keep on hooping, young fella. The whole world's watching. We all got eyes on you. Speaking of, don't look now, okay? Don't look now. But the Philadelphia 76ers have the second best record in the East over the last 10 games, eight and two, including four straight victories. Are you starting to believe?

Of course.

They're saying, Yabu Sele, sixth man of the year, potentially. I believe in the coaches. I believe in the nurse. You You know what I'm saying? You have to sell a six man of the year, potentially. I believe in a coach.

I believe in a nurse. You know what I mean? I love nurses. I believe in nurse. I believe in Tyrese Maxi. I believe in Joel and B.

I believe the children are in our future, brother.

I believe in Paul George. I believe in Paul George.

I think that it seems like they are going to make some move, though, because in some ways, the Eric Gordon experiment hasn't worked out in the way that some people wanted. And I think that there could be a bit of roster shuffling, starting lineup, shuffling. I don't know if Caleb Martin and obviously Kelly Ubre are there filling out the potential starting roster spots, but they could look for a two. They could look for a four and shuffle everybody around. Luckily, a lot of those guys can play positionless basketball, and their enigmas, they could do lots of different things, including Kelly Ubre, who I just saw, plays guitar now and has been studying John Mayer's freefallen live in Los Angeles, that he's learning how to do the guitar solo. Did you know that he had that club in his bag? Did you know he could play guitar? Guitar?

I didn't. I didn't know that. No.

What's more impressive, him being able to play guitar or Wemby being able to play chess?

Tess, WMDBE.

Okay, last thing I want to hit you with before we get out of here. It's a new year. It's the new you. What's your New Year's resolution, Pat Bave?

I think just to be better. Right? Better father, better friend, better teammate, better boyfriend, better podcast host, just to be better.

Very nice. I think that that's something that everybody can strive for. It's not a journey where you cross the finish line. Life is an ever-ending climb, and it's always been an uphill battle. What about you? Sub 4 Minute Mile. So To get it to like 358, 359, something like that. Sub 4-mile, I think it's doable, but I'm going to have to grind. So wish me luck and wish me loose hamstrings and strong calves.

Hey, listen. Happy New Year, my good friend.

Likewise. I love you to death.

You already know the vibe.

Likewise.

Tell Lady A.

Whooshah. Yeah.

I'm going to say one more thing before I let you go because I thought about contractions, and this made me think of this. You know it's like a stomach flu going around.

Yeah, I know. A lot of people I know had it.

Yeah, and I got it. I had it.

No. How was it?

Oh, my goodness.

What did it feel like?

It felt like someone was pouring warm water down my back, but it was me using the bath bathroom, not through my PP, through the other end. I mean, wrong. I was shitting liquid, pure liquid for two days straight. Not a fever. My stomach felt like it was a knot in that bitch the size of a donut, but circling with razor. Anything that I attempted to eat or drink, it just chopped it up. And if it was none in there, it just chopped up my motherfucking stomach. Anything that didn't get all the way down to my stomach because they were afraid of the twirling raises at the bottom, I puked back up. Mind you, I never throw up. I'm not the throw up guy. I'm really a gangster when it comes down to I maybe throw up if I mix the champagne with the hennesey a little bit. But other than that, I can mix drinks and all that and still stay above float. Ron, I got pillow on floor and bathroom in LA early. I mean, I'm literally calling earl. I'm literally doing Christmas shopping, getting out the car bent over like I'm Lady A.

Like I'm in the pregnant phase and the contractions are, and I'm breathing slow and I'm breathing fast, and I can't go into Lululemon because my stomach hurts that bad. So I'm outside on the curve because I feel like I got to throw up again, and I'm telling the Uber guy, calm down because you hit the bumps and I don't want to throw up in your shit. It was absolutely God awful. If I was 70 years old and experienced this, I could have died.

Are you serious? It was that bad?

And then, Ron, if I'm being detailed because I am detailed and I like to be detailed. Ron, I'm old school. I love the baby wipes, but I'm a tissue guy also. But Ron, I was wiping my ass was so motherfucking long and so hard. Ron, my ass started to become raw. I had to change it over to wipes. You understand me? It was to a point where I was wrong. I was getting up one o'clock in the morning, 2:50 17:00 in the morning, 19:00 in the morning. I'm talking about I'm running on my heels to the bathroom because I'm clenching my ass cheeks so motherfucking tight. You understand what I'm saying, Ron? I'm just talking about pure liquid to the point that, damn, did a little bit come out right now as I'm... It was God off it. It was God off of Ron. If you were seven years old and got this, this could kill you. This could actually kill Just kill a man. In the middle of the night, Ron, I had to sleep on the side. And then I read on the Internet that don't go to sleep because when you go to sleep, it's the worst.

So now I'm sitting up and I'm talking about the twirling razor blades on the bottom of my stomach that's the size of a donut that's literally chopping the insides of my stomach to fuck up or anything that I eat to fuck up. When you lay down, it's like a motherfucking That's the ultra fast mode where you can't even see the razor blade. It looks like just one. It's chopping shit up so fast. I was bedside for three days. For sure, I had to lose weight. 100 %, I had to lose weight. I had to lose weight. And then they told me to drink electrolytes, and I drunk electrolytes, and I didn't gatorade. It was wow. It was absolute It was absolute pure pain that I was experienced for those three days straight. So that stomach flu is real. You guys put on your coats, you guys put this infections on your hands, and stay safe out there, Ron, because that shit went on the... You almost lost a friend.

The pop-up pot was Ron.

Love, guy.