NBA Talk with Evan Turner

gotta go get Dante DiVincenzo, bro. By the way, there's only like eight white guys in the whole NBA, bro.
Peyton Richard. Oh, damn, bro.
I forgot. I think Peyton's black.

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Tell us what we're doing good. Tell us how much you like Matt's USC hoodie.
That's a dope hoodie. It is.
It's comfy. We just got it in the mail.
Oh, no.

My wife gave it to me. You know what's sad for me, Matt? Like, I will never have that feeling.

of like wearing a hoodie with the college i went to not even just because you were like actually i don't that is sad i don't know why i don't know i'm laughing at you that you have no you have no affiliation to any school school yeah it's not even like oh well it looks different on you no it doesn't count like community college college of staten island that doesn't count you know like i'll never have that feeling of putting on like roots to your high school you got roots to your high school bro i don't have roots did you go to high school high school

I dropped out in eighth grade, bro. Yes, I went to the high school that there used to be an old TV show called Welcome Back Cotter.
You might be a little too young. I've heard of it.
I've heard of it.

Like, my school was based on that show. It was young John Travolta playing Vinnie Barberito, Mr.
Cotta. So, no, I have none of that like school pride stuff.

You don't. Well, one thing I do have a lot of pride in is my Knicks and watching basketball.
And this is basically the first. This is how we know the NBA now has started.
I get to talk hoops.

You get to talk hoops. We got Evan Turner joining us on the podcast.

Now, for you youngins, if you don't know Evan Turner, great NBA career, number two overall pick, played at OSU, Nay Smith player of the year.

But also now post-career, he's one of the first player, former athletes, newly retired, to get behind the microphone, do the podcast stuff. He's maybe one of the best NBA follows on Twitter because he

like trolls outside. He's just a troller.

I love it.

He's just good, man. He's just a great dude.
He's got a big personality. He's a hooper, obviously.

I ran into him last month at the Ohio State game, kind of dapped up and saw him on the field, just said, what up? So it's good to have him on. And I know you're fired up, bro.

It's, I mean, it is basketball season. I mean, we're in the heart of the playoffs, but basketball's picking up.
Um, and a lot of just crazy going on in NBA, man.

Yeah, I want to talk to him too about that, the NBA all-star format now with the two NBA teams in the world.

Because I'm seeing a lot of things on Twitter of like, yeah, the world team, the world players have really caught up. I'm like, caught up? Go back.
They're padded.

They might be very. I mean, look at the Olympics last year.
It took a Herculean effort by Steph Curry to win that game. game.

And now you're, I mean, the top five players in the NBA, arguably, are all European.

If I forced you into an Olympic men's basketball bet right now for 2028 Olympics, gold medal basketball, if I said, Matt, gun to your head,

your life is on the line. You've got to pick a team.
Are you still picking TV? Yeah, I would still pick the U.S. just, I mean,

probably no Curry on that team.

Yeah, I mean, it's Anthony Edwards. It's probably,

I mean, gosh, I mean, it's

you just ran out of players after Anthony. Tatum, probably in four years.
It's Tatum. Yes, it's Tatum.
It's Brown. Jalen Brown.
You know, it's just going to look a whole lot. Cooper flag, probably.

Like, is KD even still on that team?

Two years, right? Zero chance. LeBron's gone.
Curry's gone. KD's gone.

Austin Reeves, my boy.

Austin Reeves might be on this.

I mean,

look, I know. We have some fun talks with Evan Turk.
SGA

put in our chat.

It sucks that you have to remind everyone, SGA

is Canadian. He's not American.
Devin Booker will be back on that team. Donovan Mitchell.
Yeah, maybe we get Jalen Brunson back on. Jamal Murray.
I'm just looking at the leading scorers now.

Jamal Murray's Canadian. That's right.
Jamal Murray's Canadian. Julius Randle, maybe.
Yeah, I mean, dude. Julius Randall.
I mean, I love Julius Randall, but

Slim Pickens, bro. I might have to take the field on that one.

Yeah, I got so one of Evan Turner's buddies, Chris Mannix, former Sports Illustrator writer, like him and I got into this big argument about Jalen Brunson not.

being an all-star three years ago and then two years ago not being an all-star starter and mannix oh and i mannix always says like that's because new york knicks fans don't vote they're too good to vote like why does sga plays for oklahoma city why does he get more votes I'm like, the entire state, the entire country of Canada votes for SGA.

It's not like Oklahoma City voting for the entire country of Canada is voting for SGA, justifiably so. So we got Evan in a minute.
Time now for our Wendy's fresh take of the week.

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And you and I talked a little bit off the air.

Obviously, we're all enjoying this Miles Garrett performance. And then I even looked on a lot of the betting sites.

And Carson Sweshinger is like favored heavily to win defensive rookie of the year for the Browns. They obviously hit on Judkins too, but we know the quarterback situation and other things.

And Miles Garrett's being talked about now as the new name that's the greatest player who's on the worst team.

The sort of not like the waste of talent in a way, meaning like he's not playing meaningful games. He's played three playoff games, I believe.

And it got me thinking, and that's going to be our Wendy's fresh take.

Who's the greatest player to be wasted away on a bad team? And I think we could use all sports for this because it's not just football. It bleeds into every sport.

I think mine is, mine might be number one. Number one in no matter what score.
You have no idea what I'm going to say.

If you told me the sport, I might be able to guess, but no, I don't know who you're going to say. Baseball.

I have a thought, but I want Mike Trout. Mike Trout has been with the Angels since 2011.
And Look at this up. Mike Trout, probably, right?

I think anyone would argue that he's probably the greatest baseball player of our generation, right? The last 10, 15 years. Otani, obviously, is probably taking that torch, but like

11-time all-star, three-time MVP, all of these things. And he's stuck in Orange County, California for the California Angels.
By the way, I grew up, I mean, I grew up right by there.

So like, I'm not hating, like, it's one of the worst organizations of all time. And by the way, he loves it and he he could have, but like

in terms of winning and the product he's never going to win. He's never going to win a World Series.
They can't sell out their stadium. The Orange County fans are terrible.
Like they just are.

Like even for the Ducks and for all the sport, like it's just, it's just not a great sports place. And so I just feel like he's a hell of a player.
He's going to be one of the greatest of all time.

It's just like, it did. He's just going to be like,

they pushed their chips in when they got Otani, right? And every like, they let Otani go.

No, I know, but that's, that didn't even work like otani had to leave in order to not be mike trout in order to when was can we when was the last time they made the playoffs can we look that up i don't know i still remember well that world series they won because they knocked i was at one of the games which was crazy and they had like a really really fun team i don't know if anyone in the chat wants to put in the last play it might you might have to go back to like

potentially like 2007 or eight like i think one of the a-rod yankee teams might have knocked the angels out i think they've been in the playoffs maybe once maybe twice since that world series appearance 2014 2014.

anyway we can move on i just think mike trout is like it'll be the biggest what if he's going to be great one of those all-time greats that will never win a ring unless he just goes to the dodgers which is not off the table at some point they could afford mike trout too right reunite him with otani yeah bro we'll take him

well

There's a few good in baseball, but mine is football.

If it's Miles Garrett, and Miles Garrett has played in playoff games, I'm going to give you a name of someone who's not seen in a lot of playoff games.

And by far, this was the best player to be on the worst teams, and that's Calvin Johnson. It's not close.

How do you take a receiver like that who was getting double teamed in the red zone and still catching 14 touchdowns at his size and his skills? He's a monster putting up 1,700-yard seasons.

No playoffs, not even no playoffs, not even in hunt. You put Calvin Johnson.
They've been in the playoffs one year, right? One year, I think.

I think they might might have made it one year, and I think it was a one and done.

And there was just a lot of bad losers. Well, that's like, yeah, that was the curse of the Detroit Lions forever.
Think of how many Thanksgiving games Calvin Johnson. Not that, look, he's playing.

It might be why he hung it up, dude. Honestly, it's just like tired of losing.
Barry Sanders, I mean, Barry Sanders, I think, played in like six playoff games, I think, or at least three. Oh, wait.

Yeah, six playoff games. He hung it up early.
Megatron for me,

but my baseball honorable mention was Don Mattingly because I'm a Yankee filmer.

That was my guy who never, they were just such bad Yankee teams and they didn't sniff the playoffs till his very end of his career.

Sad. Well, you know who made some playoff games? Evan Turner made some playoff games and he survived Philadelphia.

He was in the very beginning of the Trust the Process Sixers, 15 and 50 when they traded him in February. And then he had a good run with those Blazer teams.

He just kept running into the freaking Warriors. That was the Portland Trail Blazers problem.
So let's bring on Evan Turner. Maybe he'll let me call him E.T.
I kind of want to call him E.T. Let's go.

Today's guest, former number two overall pick, a decade-long NBA vet, All-American Naismith Player of the Year, Buckeye legend, where we hooked up about a month ago, podcast philosopher, an elite storyteller.

He doesn't sound like little Yachty. Little Yachty actually sounds like him.
The host of Sports Illustrates open floor podcast, Evan Turner. My man, what is up? Welcome to Throwbacks, bro.

Man, just living the dream. Just living the dream, man.
Good to be here with y'all. I was really excited.
This one podcast I was excited to do, bro. I love what you do on Instagram.

You're a TikTok star. I'm always supporting it.

Hey, thanks for making your bed in the background, bro. Where are you at? I see.

Yeah, I'm literally, I told you, I'm in a trap, man. I'm in Stanford.
You know, you don't make your bed if you're going to get back in it. You feel me?

You know what's, you know what, you know, when you're old, when people recognize you now for TikTok and

not being a football player, that's the life that I'm in right now, but it's okay. It's okay.

Dude, I said I saw you at Ohio State game

like last month, which was awesome to see you.

I'm curious to ask you about the rivalry of Michigan and Ohio State because we...

being involved with the now for football, just covering it for like the last 10 years, I've seen like the legitimate hatred in the football side.

Is it the same for basketball when you guys play Michigan?

I probably back in the day it was because we kind of, you know, the rivalry always kind of like trickled over and we kind of always had close games.

But after Roddy Gale transferred from Ohio State and now he's playing for Michigan, I don't know what the hell those kids think.

You know what I'm saying? Like

out of all the schools you could have went to, you went there. But we, you know, back in 2010, we had a pretty big game versus Michigan where I hit a big shot in the quarterfinals.

And that was a big game. And that meant more to me than anything in my college career.
So I thought that was pretty cool, especially verse a team. We were competing verse.

What was your recruiting like for us? Like, we've had a few players on me talk to Arian Foster about his recruitment and stuff like that. Basically, asking how much money did you get paid?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, say that. See, I wasn't that good, I wasn't that good, I wasn't that good.

So, that's not straight, I was probably top 50, but I was in the class with OJ Mayo, Derek Rose, Kevin Love, like

Eric Gordon, like some killers. So there's some like Mike Beasley.
It's guys before me that

took all the money. You know what I mean? By the time it got to me, they were like, we got bus hair for you and like a meal cart.
And then you can get it out. Same hotel you're in right now.

And basically,

but there's a roommate with me. There's a tall white guy named Kyle Mattson that was staying on the other side of the room.
But now it's like, I was mostly like a Midwest guy, though.

So I was a Big Ten dude. So

I thought at one point I was going to go to Wisconsin. And then, you know, obviously I had Illinois on me because I'm from Chicago.
So Illinois at the time had Eric Gordon committed.

And he's like top five in the country. And we were waiting for Derek Rose.
So I was kind of waiting to see if Derek Rose was going to go to Illinois.

And we would have did like a three-headed monster like tight situation pause. But that never played out.
I went to NBA camp one week and hung out with John Diebler, Coast Akufis, and Dallas Martidal.

And they had the whole, yeah, and they had the whole whole team with Greg Odin and Mike Kinley the year before coming in. So they had Maya kind of loaded up.

And I was like, shit, I want to get with the Buckeyes and there's history from here.

I love, I, uh, I went to a, I, God, what did I got? I think I won like the Archie Griffin Award in college. I went to a

in 2005, I went or four, I went to an Ohio State game. Um, I was just telling, we had Myron Piggy.
I don't know if that name rings a bell. He's like the godfather of AAU basketball.

Does that name ring a bell? Yeah, yeah.

So we had him on the pod last week. And you mentioned OJ Mayo.
I actually helped recruit OJ Mayo to USC. I'll never forget.
I was,

yeah, because I was. Did you give him a job?

I mean, I was on a golf cart.

I was on a golf cart with them going around campus. They say, bro,

this is your city. You're only going to be here one year anyway.
You might as well go to USC and ball out, which he did. And then obviously,

you know, play in the NBA. So

we uh,

you want to hear a funny recruited story, yes, yeah, I would love to.

I was getting recruited by Notre Dame, right?

So, uh,

so he called me on like a Tuesday, Rod Balanis. And he's like, Evan, what are you doing this weekend? I'm like, uh, just shit, just chilling.

Like, so they want to come down here, it's going to be pretty rocking. Like, uh, it's going to be pretty crazy.
We got USC coming in. I'm like, oh, no, I'm cool.
I think I'm just going to hang out.

Like, you know what I mean? Like, because I had nowhere to get nowhere to get there. I was like, no, I'm cool.
Like, from Chicago, I'm straight out just watching on TV. So I called my AAU coach.

I'm like, yo, Nordaine's trying to get me to come on a recruit a visit. And he's like, yo, you're going and I'm taking your ass.

He's like, it's either Matt Liner or Reggie Bush is winning the Heisman, but those are like two of the most elite athletes I ever seen at their age.

So I remember driving from South Bend, I mean, from Chicago all the way to South Bend. We watched a game, I believe it was like the Bush push, right? Yeah.

So I remember being in like the student section on the other end.

I can't see. So we don't know what's going on.
I just remember you guys cheering. I remember like a bunch of people just crying all around me.

And like literally, and I remember like my coach was like, yo, that's the greatest game you'll ever see. Like those two kids put the game on their back.

Like Leiner's pushing Bush for the highest minutes. Like, that's how you got to be.
I just remember like, oh, that's always been like a pretty big thing. So I was like, damn, like.
Leiner's a man.

He's on MTV Made and he's like hitting all the old teams. Like,

man, that's, that's, that's who you got to be. And Nick Young was talking about.

Dude,

I got punked. Remember, we talked about Ashley Kitcher punked me on it.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. And he was.

It's,

that's interesting, too, because that game, it's like always, I love, I mean, like you do, I love hearing stories because it's like, it's that game and the USC Texas game, the game we lost.

It's like, where were you when you watched that game? And there's so many great stories. That's awesome that you were,

that you were in that. Yeah, that was a hell of a game, man.
God,

I just Notre Dame. Notre Shame, we called him noter shame can't stand

were you ever nervous during that game or no

um

you know what

or were you like overly con like you did y'all really think y'all can

yeah like no i there was i mean i would if i i'd probably be lying if i said there wasn't a little bit of doubt but you know how it is like when you're in even in a hoop game like when you're in When you're in the thick of it and you're not like, I'm just the only time I was actually nervous was for, it was like fourth and 20 and I'm like, or third and 20.

I'm like,

we're on our own 20-yard line. They have all the momentum.
Notre Dame isn't typically loud, but like that game was the loudest it's ever been. And it was like, hey, get half back,

check down to Reggie, and let's

fourth and 10 in football. It's the best play in college football.
Check it to Reggie.

Fourth and 10 in football is pretty hard to convert, man. I don't care what level.
Like, it's just, there's not a lot of plays that are like designed to do that.

So, but I'll never forget, man, we were, we were real confident. It just was like, I'm just in a zone like, all right, it's fourth to nine.
I'm going through my process of like the line of scrimmage.

Do I audible? What do I see? Like, you don't really have time to think about being nervous.

I do, I do always say, though, if I didn't score that, that if Reggie doesn't push me, like, it's probably the biggest regret I have in my entire life because I wouldn't have got in, but thank God.

Now, that's crazy. I remember they were getting so crazy at Notre Dame.
Some white lady was next to me. She's like, you come to Notre Dame.
We burn couches. And I'm like, what the fuck does that mean?

She's like, we burn couches. So every time I get drunk, I'm always like, well, you burn couches.
What the fuck does that mean? I have no clue. And everyone's like, what the fuck is he talking about?

I'm like, I don't know.

The greatest part about that, Jerry, that game is if you watch, like, you can see highlights on YouTube, the stands after we score.

their faces like the students i remember watching it's just like like someone died like like their their like their sister just died.

I think that's the most dejected I've ever seen a home crowd after a game. And I've watched millions of games in every sport.
That's the most dejected I've ever seen. Let me

a random question, though, because I always love asking this about sporting events. Is that like that? Probably maybe one of your most memorable sporting events is just pretty cool.

Outside of the NBA, do you have like one that you've been to that you're like, holy, that was awesome?

Could be golf. I'm out.
Like, I know Jerry's an like golfer, all that kind of stuff.

Or one that you want to go to.

I always thought like European soccer was lit. I went to the English Premier League Championship back in like, what was that?

When they had the shootout at the end, was that 2021 or 2020 or something like that? I think it was 2020.

Yeah, I thought that whole environment was pretty dope, but. I don't think anything like a performer I ever seen, like Steph Curry is unbelievable to see in person.

Like, to be honest I've never seen him in person yeah oh you haven't damn you should bro I remember watching him in game seven when they came back of down 3-1 versus OKC

and I remember

I remember him just getting hot getting hot hot and he hit it three and like turns around the crowd and it's like screaming like we're not going home we're not I was in a building I remember I was like 28 years old I was like bro why is this dude my age giving me chills like you know what I mean like everybody around me was like bro I'm so inspired, but I just never learned how to shoot.

But man,

that's why I'm so inspired. Well, by the way, he's one of one.
Like, there'll never be another Steph Curry. I mean,

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Well, speaking of that, though, too, if you remember, I think it was game, I don't know if it was game six or one of the games, Clay then got like nuclear hot, too.

But now it kind of, yeah, and I wonder how you feel about this. Like, it hurts my soul now, like, seeing people talk shit to Clay.

Like this whole, you know, this whole thing. Why is he getting hated on, man? I just,

I got like, bro, I love, like, Clay's dope. Don't ever get it wrong.
Yeah, I think Clay is dope as hell. I think, uh,

I think Clay sometimes pokes the bear.

We don't see that part. Yeah, and everybody loves Clay.
And I'm like, oh, Clay is so funny. And it's like, Clay's not really funny, but okay.
But, like, they'll poke the bear. And, like,

like, I remember one time, like, actually, Clay slid on my DMs the other day, right?

Because.

Because I've been trolling him for like six months, just how he pokes the bear. Like, you know what I mean? He did it with the homie Rodney Magruder.
Yeah.

And then uh, he did it with a couple other, like, lower people.

Where I'm like, Clay, like, you doing it, like, one, you're like, oh, he might not be in a league again, that's corny as hell, but then, two, it's like, bro, this is a small, like, you're a big dog, this is small, probably, what are you saying?

So, I remember I had this little uh synopsis where I went in about Paul, George, and Joel and B teaming up. I was saying they wouldn't be good,

all this goofy shit, and um,

so I'm sitting there, and I just see like monsters, like, Clay, like, going going and like yo, this gotta stop like what's to him like type of thing. And I'm like, damn, Clay, like,

I can't, damn, Clay, like, type. And I'm like, you could have at least added me.
So, like, for the next like year, I just started trolling him and everything I saw in the comments.

So, recently, Jay Will, when Jay Will and Pat Beverly, yeah, that little test, which was stupid. Like, you know what I mean? Jay Will was great on there, though.
No, no, he definitely was.

And he's awesome. And I think, yeah, you know, I love Jay Will, one of my favorite point guards.
So they go in, they say whatever they say. I troll again, like, damn, twin, they say you tender.

You know what I mean? So I'm just enjoying my day. And then before I know it, I get a DM like, hey, bro, you good? And I'm like,

I might have to beat up a beige dude. Like, you know what I mean?

If Clay says anything close to all.

I'm going to purple that man. But, but

to be completely honest with you, I think,

no, Clay's a dope dude. Clay's an unbelievable dude.
I think sometimes when people chirp, you know what I mean?

I think they get off to seeing like this response out of Clay because you've never really seen it. You understand what I'm saying?

Like, Clay talking trash, Clay kind of, you know, coming down from his throne to, you know, go talk to like rookies. Like, bro, you can't argue with like 22-year-olds.
They'll fight over cereal.

Like, you know what I mean?

Why? I feel like.

Why is the NBA?

I feel like the NBA is the only sport that trolls each other, the players, like whether it's online or like in football i'm trying i'm trying to think as you listen you're talking i'm like thinking like well football you could actually hurt you could actually you know about y'all can fight like

y'all are like dangerous like us we're like man the refs are you guys you guys are like any petties like yeah yeah it's not on site it's not it's not on site it's not on site yeah that yeah no you're right it's just interesting because i got i love it because you guys are all just talking back and forth to each other but then nothing ever happens but in football like no one's gonna fight fight in football either but like man you don't see you don't really hear current players talking smack about current players and like trolling each other they do it on the field and that's it i just think it's funny i mean megan like maybe it's like megan the stallion maybe he's ruined him i don't know that's what no no bro to be honest with you man literally we gotta let people just be happy and they yes

yes

especially when like the man is winning like like we'll be like oh you dated meg the stallion like yes i'm dating mag the stallion i'm dating a beautiful talented woman that's 5'9 that can breathe and get in money.

You know what I mean? Like, damn, like

everybody else, you know what I mean? That's why you say, God bless, and you tip your cap and you just keep it moving. And that's what I said.
I said, bro, you won. You've been winning.

Do not listen to them clowns. Do you want another random recruiting story on Clay Thompson? I need to tell you this, Jerry.
I tried to recruit Clay to Modern Day in high school.

He went to, he ended up going, he's from Orange County. Yeah, he ended up going.
High school recruiting?

High school Clay Thompson. Ask him.
True True story. He went to ended up going to Santa Margarita.
And he was like a low-level recruiter. I think, where'd he go? Washington State, right? So, like,

but modern day was loaded in basketball. And I think

I was in college at the time because he's younger than me. I was trying to get him to

Taylor King.

Taylor Klee, Taylor King used to pull up from 50 and buckets. Obviously, in college, you don't do you remember Taylor King, Jerry?

Shockingly, I don't. I usually remember.
Was it your year, Evan? Yeah, it was like OG Neil and Taylor King since we were kids, but uh, Taylor King gave me 40 on the AAU circuit one time.

I believe I'm talking about like just doing straight-ups. He was like a 6'7, a white kid, 6'7,

slow, but just could drain lefty

lefty. And then went to, I think he went to Duke right out of, and then he just, I mean, he never like he never saw the feel.

Shout out to Taylor King, real life Kenny Powers. That's wild.

Am I lying? No,

you can take that out.

You can take no, you're good.

You know who else we talked about last week? Let's see if you Shea Cotton. You remember that name? Yeah, bro.
I saw that documentary, bro. He was a dog, right?

He, yeah, he was. I mean, he was a freak, dude.
Yeah, the beast was a big fan. He DM me last week, Jerry.
I told you.

He was a freak.

Yeah, guys. I mean, we didn't really get a lot of that in CYO basketball.
You know, I didn't see a whole lot of 50 spots, even though I saw,

you know, Felipe Lopez, Stefan Marberry. I'm the old head, but yeah, I didn't really get a lot of that in CYO basketball.
But shout outs.

Who's the best you think ever came out of New York? Because you've seen with your own eyes, Jerry. Well, we talked a little bit about it with Myron Piggy.

Like, I still, I mean, I think over time now, it's Marbury just because what he went on to do in the NBA. But in the moment for high school and AAU, it was Felipe Lopez.

I don't know if you're old enough to remember that name. Yeah, I remember Dominican.

Rice University played on the gauchos and like the dude you know dominican dude coming you know stayed at home at st.

john's and queens like he had the whole city behind him and it just he played in the nba he just didn't but uh he was supposed to be he might have been like cover a sports illustrated kind of high school player yeah i remember the name bro i was a kid so my brother graduated in like 96 so i was hip to like you know what i mean i watched him play kg you know what i mean back in the day when he yeah and then telfair marberry's cousin was at the time, too.

Like, he was picked as the next. He's going to be maybe even better than Marberry.
And then,

you know,

Telfair Telfair was on the cover of every magazine that year coming out. That was

when stars are really stars. You know what I mean? Like, well, yeah, I mean, those games with Marbury and Felipe Lopez were so packed, they started playing at MSG.
That was like their spillover.

Hey, we're going to have the game at MSG. That's fine.

Did you

see the CP news?

you got like cut in the middle waved in the middle of the night yeah bro that's what the hell is going on with that man they're trying to win i guess they're like bro we could have had you we need that spot oh like clearly

like we like it's either that or i want to do like some conspiracy theory thing and be like it was a james harden move i feel like james and cp ate each other and it's like check

i applaud james on that so he's got to i mean he's got to be done at this point right like he'll go because this is his farewell farewell tour anyway.

Yeah, unless some SGA comes and gets them and sends them to like OKC, like, you know what I mean? Or, like,

maybe, I mean, it's, it's all about what he wants to do. I would just go to a super contender and call it a day because that's what he thought he was doing this year.

Like, he didn't expect to play that much. And granted, it's terrible how they did CP3, but I think you have no chance.

You have no choice with the Clippers because they spent so much money on that culture. You know what I mean? Like,

their next little get back or whatever is they don't don't have any like picks or anything like that they traded their future so i just feel like now they're like bro we either have to win now or like save the organization from just completely going back to what they've been prior to when they had laker derek or whatever clippers are like that buddy who like it's just going through some shit you're like you know let's just go easy on let's go easy on chris he's going through some stuff and what's funny is like they got the all-star weekend is going to be at the into it this year right

this whole new yeah with the whole have you been to that spot that place i haven't i have not bro i'm still waiting till inglewood gets a little safer it's safe over there

it's all good now bro they got certified by the way i had court i had courtside seats for for jerry clippers i think it was rockets and he turned me down

Really? Intuit. I mean, why wasn't at the card and wasn't playing, so I didn't want.
No, you had a meeting. You had a show meeting with a showrunner or whatever that was.
I did.

But I wanted to ask you, you know, obviously, everyone talks about like, oh, the all-star game, no one watches all this stuff or whatever. And now they have this whole new format, right?

You're familiar with the format. It's the two

USA teams and the world. And I was watching, I'm reading all these articles and watching people like, wow, the

world players are really caught up, caught up to

the American players. And I'm looking at the world team.
I'm like, caught up. I mean, it's Luca,

Wemby, Jokic, Shay, Giannis. I'm like, caught up.
Those are like five five of the best 10 players in the NBA.

They're beating us.

No, 1,000. I mean, I like to see that type of stuff because I think it's entertaining.
I think it's something that, like,

whether you think so or not, our culture loves like these types of battles and like the opposites and more, like, America against the world.

Or even at college, we did a black first-white scrimmage in the pickup game on our own. The coaches didn't do it.
And you should have seen how hard we were playing for our race. You know what I mean?

So,

it wasn't a pickup game. You guys are like actually picking up probably half four at least.

Yeah, we're hearing ERs being dropped. We're calling, you know what I mean? We're like, whoa, taking this.

So, Matt and I got into

a little debate yesterday when we were prepping for you. Somehow it came up like, who's the best? Like, what's the best white team in the NBA, but no Euro.

Now, like, taking it the world players, like, can't take Jokic, can't take Luca.

We agreed on like three, but then we had like one. And the player we disagreed on is a player I think you probably know well.

And I'm curious to hear your thoughts. But, Matt, you want to go down your team or you want to ask?

I'm just saying, I've, I've, I, I've been my all, my, my starting five all-white boys in the NBA, not Euros.

So I went my boy Austin Reeves, okay, dog, okay, Chet Holmgren, dog. I'm taking that

Knipple. I know he's a rookie.
He's young. He's young.

I like.

Have you heard? Did you hear a hard? Did you hear all the boys talking about it? They said, that boy is going to be, is going to be nice. Okay.
And his numbers are good. His numbers are unreal.
Yeah.

Yeah. You're right.
18. Then I, then I did, and Jerry debated me on this.
I said, I said, a healthy Tyler Hero, whether you like him or not, dog. Never know.

And my point guard, and then my point guard,

I went Alex Caruso. He just won an Alexander.

Thank you, Avin.

Bro, this Alex Caruso thing be getting overboard. overboard.
They say he suck it. He only plays hard in the games, bro.
Could you imagine? So what does it matter? He just won a championship.

I like Alex Caruso, bro. Bro, you got to go get Dante DiVincenzo, bro.

By the way, there's only like eight white guys on the bottom of the broadband. If there's real hair once on your team, you're going to struggle.
It's like, you know what I mean?

If there's no, no gingers on your team, you might struggle.

A name that I didn't think about.

Here's where we started. DiVincenzo might as well be.
He's like half black. First of all, I love Dante DiVincenzo for that shot against the Sixers in the playoffs.
That was like the coldest shot ever.

You knew he was going in.

He didn't even say your boy, Jerry. So here's the guy I threw up and Matt completely hated.
Not hated on him as like a player, but just like not making the squad.

And maybe he is the sixth man, but I might slot him in either over probably over Caruso. You got enough defense on that white team.
Peyton Pritchard. Oh, damn.

Bro, absolutely. I forgot.
I think Peyton's black. I forgot, actually.

Exactly.

Bro, Payton's the codest. Yeah, you're wild, bro.
You're wild. But I give you credit for Tyler Hero because you can't hate on Tyler Hero at this moment.
By the way, Jerry hates

that.

I love Tyler Hero. I don't see him play enough.
He's always out in the playoffs. He's always out.
And I feel bad. I want him to play.

And he's like,

steroids, bro. Yeah, he's got any five beat beat a starting five for the worst NBA team.

So you're talking about the Wizards?

Are they beating the Wizards?

Are they beating the Wizards?

I don't think CJ McCollum is going to lose to a group of whites.

CJ's going off this year, too, man. That's what I'm saying.
CJ's my dog, too. And respectfully, y'all only got one defender.

I mean, well, Caruso will try to lock down, but I mean, CJ got a lot of water.

Yeah, my boy Austin. No, don't do that.
Do not do that. Aaron Austin, I mean, Tyler Hero.
Tyler Hero.

Kanipo's playing defense. He came from Duke.
He plays hard. You're absolutely right.
I mean, you're absolutely right.

I think Kevin Durant would find that interesting. You know what I mean? If he matched up first.

I think

Caruso is a lockdown defender. He's 6'5 ⁇ .

He can score a little bit.

You can't lock down these great players, bro. It's good write-ups.
I love what Caruso does. It takes a team effort.
And Caruso's let.

He plays so hard, bro. But if you put Caruso on a real killer for 48 minutes, somebody's going to be like, bro, somebody out there.
I love Caruso.

It also helps that you got Chet and Dort and, you know, like all of OKC. They're just like a bunch of rat, like wolves, you know, they just hunt on defense.
Yeah.

But you know, ball, I appreciate that.

You're singing, bro.

Yeah, he's going.

He's actually.

Well, shit, this comes out there. He signed with SMU this week.
He's going there for a while. Oh, wow.
Yeah. Okay, okay.
Yeah, but he was a hooper. I was, he was a hooper.

I was following him when he was a shorty. He was dark and shit.
He had a good freshman year and everything. Yeah, he was playing.
He played like the whole made hoop circuit.

He played with, you know, Koa Pete, the baller for Arizona. That was his dog.
Yeah, he's a dog. Oh, wow.
Yeah, he's a dog. He's a top five pick probably next year.
He played with him

and a bunch. And like Arenas' kid, Ariza's kid, all that, like Matt Barnes boys, like out here in SoCal.
So they were all on the circuit together. Yeah, but football was,

I mean, talking about white kids, dude. He's like 6'3 and a half, 6'4.

Oh, damn. Oh, yeah.
He was like tall. He was a freshman, wasn't he?

Yeah, he's, I mean, he's tall, but he just, yeah, he, I was like, you better either be a sick ball handler or be able to jump like 45 inches. But no, but

he's playing QB, man. So

he'll be in college in like two months.

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You know what I want to ask you? Is this true? Can you confirm? What's up? Did you go to the high school from what I think is the greatest sports documentary of all time, Hoop Dreams? Is that true?

Yes. So

I want to stick up for gene pingatore because he was like a father figure up until i died so i'm talking about like middle of the night called when he was there and like just not me like the homies like you understand i'm saying so i remember where i was at when i found out he passed like that was like uh my

yeah gene pingatore is a man um hoop dreams is a reason why i went like my brother was going to the school at the time he was 12 years older than me and i just remember my mom like as i got older it's like you're going to st.

Joe's, King of Torres is going to teach you how to be a man. So I grew up in the same neighborhood that like Walter Gates and Arthur AG did.
So I took the same bus and all that nonsense.

But it was three hallways. We were like the number one team in the state for like most of my four years.
And it was like,

it was a dope experience. It made me who I was.
So yeah, that was hard. That to me, I'll always say, yeah, I always say like, it's not even just like one of the greatest sports docs of all time.

It's just one of the greatest documentaries of all time. Unless I watched it a hundred times, uh, and then yeah, that just popped up on like the researcher.

I'm like, oh my god, I gotta ask him about that. Cause I try to tell every like, even like younger people, like, watch hoop dreams, and like, ah, it's too long, it's like two hours long.

Like, really, that's too long for you to get through, yeah. But but as an athlete, it walks you through like the ups and downs of the four years and like how shit can change.

Like, like, Will Gates was the man coming in as a freshman. And obviously, he ended up doing well.
And Arthur Agee played freshman and barely barely played varsity and then leads his team downstate.

I thought it was an unbelievable documentary. And it was just, it was hard, bro.
That was a big part of my childhood. That and Sunset Park.

Sunset Park. Sunshine.

Time to get it.

By the way, Terrence Howard playing just like a Dennis Rootman speaking. Oh, that was, I'll tell you what, that and Above the Rim.
Above the Rim was one of my favorite movies.

Yeah, yeah. The funniest thing from Sunset Park when Butter would be telling all the lies.
He's He's like, yes, I'm laid up with this one honey last night.

Like, that's, that's what I think when I tell all my stories. I get to tell them like a bullshit story like butter.

But, but no, those were those were definitely dope movies. I want to

say,

Jerry, it's funny. Um, obviously, I know everybody loves entourage.
And uh, I remember going through like my fourth year in the league. I was leaving Indiana Pacers.
I lost my qualifying offer.

So I was kind of like floating, you know what I mean? And I remember

basically talking to my agent we're trying to like wait around get me in the right position and and like man they might not do this or they might not do that and i had to pull like a vincent chase moment and be like

i'm not getting a star rolls anymore big dog like you know what i mean but like

that was some real like

and just the roots and like literally getting it out the mud and like i had to go to like boston for two years i was able to sign for a 70 million dollar contract just like taking a step back but like when i was looking for like signs like that was one of them i remember being like

if Vincent Chase can do it, and his homie stays on cherry,

well,

no, but it brings me to like a question that I've asked athletes in the past, and I still haven't gotten kind of, I got a great answer from Zion one time.

But so, I was at a Knicks game one night, it's like two years ago. Fortunately, they, I think, I only still act so I could get those courtside seats.
I really think I would never act again.

And after the game, CJ was on that team, right?

And then after the game, Zion, like, I feel a big pat on my shoulder, like one that's like, that's not like my buddy patting me. He was like an overly big person.

And I'm looking at Zion and I'm like, oh, I, this video of this, and like, he kind of comes close.

He's like, I just want to tell you, I just started watching Entourage when I was hurt all year last year. And I was like in a dark place.
And it kind of brought me out.

And I, I wanted to, I kind of like asked him, like, what did you like about the show? And he gave me a decent answer. But I ask you, it's like athlete, you would think actors maybe liked the show.

No, for me, for whatever reason, athletes, it resonated with athletes significantly more than with actors or directors or anyone in the movie business and i always wonder why and even that story you're telling me though like it was like the ari vince relationship that you kind of identified with yeah and i think also too just outside looking in i think it kind of humanized what we were going through you know like i'm a kid from the hood so like when you like when you're pushing me through stuff it's like if y'all thought y'all from queens and broke like i'm from the other side of tracks where they like they cut off everything so you feel right so like when it came around, I'm trying to, it kind of helped me understand my agent.

It kind of helped me understand like my friend group of how to move, but at the same time, be unapologetic for like enjoying my life.

And like, I think a lot of times when it came down to it, it'd be like, oh, no, you didn't feel so niggerish living your life because Vince.

was enjoying himself living this life or like these dudes are going through real things and like at the same time it was okay to be yourself as opposed to be a brand and um i thought that shit was i thought that was dope and like uh

shit like you said, like, they did a great job of just like, every time you put it on, it felt like a sunny day.

And it could be like snowing outside or whatever, but like the shit was just, it did so much for me, bro.

And I just thought like Vince and like the loyalty y'all all had was like something that like you really needed.

Because coming from like a star like situation, you don't understand how much your group, your friends, or like your environment really pumps you up and like.

carries you over the hurdle when like you forget who the fuck you are or like and also how that can go wrong though like how sometimes you see the wrong the wrong group kind of you know the wrong dudes get brought along and we've seen that story before too which to me always hurts when you just see that someone just getting taken advantage of because they had their winning ticket and then everyone's along for the ride and it's just for bad reasons you know

uh well i know we gotta we gotta get you out of here in a minute i want to ask right before we let you go so one of the things you do for me hey i i your twitter account's awesome it's like a must follow oh i got a lot lots to see you.

I just, because, like, I, I love, and you know, we're, we're in an era where, like, a lot of, you know, even now, current active players talk on podcasts and stuff, and they, they're always kind of just getting their story out.

And then great, that's great. I think that's a good thing.
You, you could tell you still watch and you keep up, and you just kind of keep it real and talk honest. So, I wanted to ask one question.

It's like the only real basketball question, not prediction stuff. I feel like the West, look, it's OKC, it's Denver, it's Houston, and then

put my Lakers up there. The Lakers, sure, sure, the Lakers,

sure, right? But yeah, I'm a Knicks guy, and I and you played, you know, for Indiana, you played for the Celtics, the Sixers. Yeah, what is going on in the East?

I can't, for the life of me, figure out, like, what team, when you watch, that you look at, I know you got some Bulls love in you.

What team, when you watch, you're like, that team could make it, that team can make it, because I think the East is the most wide open it's ever been.

Yeah, no, the reason why I say this for sure, the Knicks, I definitely think the knicks i'm a celtics

fan so i like the celtics for sure i hatelin brown just crushed the knicks last night and i hate this team with all my heart but i'm not a hayin ass dude i really think the 76ers if they get it together can make it to the eastern conference oh i hate them too because at the end of the day yeah because your third best like your second if the second best player is joel and b and your third best player or fourth best player is paul george you got a loaded nine or ten and Maxie is hooping like Iverson.

Yeah. Bro, like that boy is not missing, bro.
And I hate the Sixers, but I'm literally like, hey, the second they get back and Nick Nurse can like coach.

Like, I also think if like Tatum came back, they could make it out the East. That's how easy the East is this year.
Like, do you know what I mean? So, like.

I'm giving it up to, like, Maxie's on a different level, but every time he matches the TV and watch it, man. Bro, he's scoring everything.
Just pay attention.

Every time you turn on the TV for the Sixers, watch how often he he scores it looks like a highlight tape like a joke he's averaging 33 right now well the thing that first of all i always say with the fit fit you have your own reasons for hating on philly i get it i mean uh i i we're not going to talk about uh that for that season when they had they traded you though but you they were 15 and 50 so we could leave that out for now but i just always say like i tweet a lot about basketball.

You could say anything to me on Twitter. I don't care.
Like, you cannot offend me. It's almost impossible.

The only people to ever almost make me quit Twitter was 76er fans during the NAT6 playoff series. They were hitting my career, where I grew up, my mom, my bro, everything.
I'm like,

my feelings are genuinely hurt, you asshole.

Yeah, it's really brotherly love. Like, it's almost funny because you see him in the street.

Cause you see him in the streets and you're like, bro, you don't care. You just, I damn near killed myself last night.
And they'll just laugh harder.

And it's like, this is a cousin's house you don't want to go to, bro. You know what I mean? It's like, yeah, they're different.

And it's just, it's hilarious. And it's just Philadelphians, man.
And like, I mean, it threw snowballs to Santa. Like, it just is what it is.
Like, you know what I mean? I think it could be worse.

You just got to have

to have cities like that to

appreciate Detroit and Memphis, you know?

Well, dude, we appreciate you. I got, so you got to come back because I have like nine.
I didn't even get to pitch you my bad idea about the commissioner cup, whatever it's called, the Emirates Cup.

Then I wanted to pitch you. Give me one.
Give me one. I want to hear it.
Well, you know, look, I love that the player's playing to get some money.

We see Josh Hart unfortunately got robbed for the buck fifty in his hotel. And since then, he in the commitment in the Emirates Cup, he's been putting up like 20, 12, and eight.

That dude wants that money back. That's like, yeah,

he's been a demon in those Emirates Cup games. Uh, all right, real quick one.
Ready? Winner of the Cup gets home court advantage throughout the playoffs, regardless of seed. Shut up, bro.

I'm gonna say it was a good idea. I said

you're diminishing the whole regular season.

We want these cup games to matter, right? We want these games to matter. No, absolutely too.

This is coming from a guy that always played on the middle of the pack team. Like, you know what I mean?

And we sit here, you'll be like, hey, we're not tripping, but I shot 20 free throws the whole season and James Harden shot 25 last night. Like, cool.
That's, that's fine.

That's all good. You know what I mean? Like, damn, okay, I got to play versus four of the best players in the history of basketball in Golden State.
Cool.

You guys hold off three years, reserve, three, four years so we can all watch a Cavaliers Warriors thing. Okay, cool.
Like, that's like, no, bro, throw me a fucking bone every now and then. All right.

Like, put something low enough for the rest of us. I got something.

I got another one.

That's winner.

Winner gets auto six seed.

That's a great. You would think that, but you would think the teams that win might not need it.
Well, here we go. Look at the teams that have got.
You would think the teams that

need it.

But tech, the teams that usually win the cup don't need the six seed they're usually well above the sixth seed i i'm a bulls fan i guarantee you they started off so well and possibly the mixed in cups cup games i guarantee you they'd be a playing team by the by the time of this but they could win the cup or they you know i mean it could have been they could have had a status to win the cup

you like that home court thing though you like that home hasn't gained his eighth seed but you're playing the thunder you got home court advantage what a ring that's like that that's like the baseball all-star game the winner gets home field in the World Series.

That's in the World Series. That's ridiculous.
Yeah,

that was tough. But anyway, if you're the man, bro.
Thank you.

Hit me up when you're on the West Coast, dude. All right, bro.
I definitely will, man. You're doing your thing, man.
Thanks for thinking of me. Eddie, you're doing your thing, bro.

All right. Annie Agar joining the show, courtesy of Twisted Tea, as she does every week.
Grab a refreshing Twisted Tea today. Not that Annie grabs a refreshing Twisted Tea every day.

I didn't mean it like that. She's joining us today.
I might. I might just I might make this podcast pretty fun.

Dominant performance. She's back for more Twisted Tea trivia.
Matt trying to just continue his no doubter playoff season. Like Matt's officially like a playoff team in Twisted T trivia.

I'm scrambling. I was trying to think like what team I'm most likely.
I feel like I'm like the Texans just trying to make like a late rally after a horrendous start. I just saw something today.

It said if they lose to the, if the Chiefs lose to the Texans, they have a 12% chance of making the playoffs. Slowly.

You guys, have you really paid attention to this week 14 slate? If you want to talk about basically the playoffs starting today,

you got Cowboys, Lions

on Thursday night. Like both those teams have to win if they want to get in.
Steelers, Ravens, similar situation. Colts, Jags, division on the line, potentially.
And the Colts.

The Bengals, Bills, it's not necessarily

Bears, Packers is like, you know, Annie, too, like, everyone now is talking again, like, this is one of the greatest rivalries in sports. But when was the last amazing Bears-Packers rivalry? Right.

This is the first one in decades. Oh, yeah.
Well, since Aaron, everybody said, oh, it's not even a rivalry anymore because he just owned them, you know? He shushed them. He since

them.

I don't remember a game going into a game with the Bears having the advantage or like the advantage of the

pressure being on us. Yeah, I don't really remember that.

You guys are six and a half points favorites. Yeah, I know.
I know, which scares me a little bit. I saw that.
That's a fishy. I don't like that.
I know.

I think it's only because they're Bent Lambo, but yeah, but

it's a fishy, fishy launch. I still don't think people are just like the Bears.
It's like one of those things. It's like,

are they that good? I think people still don't buy it. Tailboy, I still think their passing games aren't great.
But I think after that win last week, you got to see.

Two running backs averaged over six yards of carry against the Eagles. Two running backs.
I'm stressing.

I feel very bad. I think it has been Smoke and Mirrors up to last week, but they kicked the Eagles' ass.

And they beat the Eagles where the Eagles are almost impossible to beat on the line of scrimmage, like bowl-sized ball. And

Ben Johnson goes shirtless in the post-game celebration. He's kind of jacked.
Will he be the first coach? You know what I love?

I love when players to show that Lambo's not cold, they go out there shirtless, right?

Will Ben Johnson be the first coach to go out shirtless to prove that the cold weather don't bother him?

Why does he anybody free hot dogs that hand out why does anyone mark mark ingram talks about that he's like so stupid i've played with guys and i'm like man i'm trying to be comfortable

i was gonna say it's it's the dumbest thing that players could do college guys do it all the time and it's like it's the silliest thing in my opinion yeah yeah when i see like quarterbacks wear sleeves i'm like yeah put it on put cover your arms be comfortable be warm why would you not if i was the if i was an nfl player i would be the biggest cold weather just scared My hands would be in warmer.

I'd have warmers tainted. Those big parts of my body.

There's nothing better, the big coats. I remember we were in that blizzard game in New England, like in 08,

and it was probably 20 degrees and freezing and snowing. But those, those seats have heaters.

I was on that thing with my, with my hands under my ass the whole time with a big coat on, just sitting there. Like, please don't have to go in the game.

I actually ended up playing in that game. But yeah, oh, it's so nice on the sideline.

Former Packer, Will Blackman, former giant, good DB, has this great story about like his first real cold weather game in Lambeau, and he just didn't want to like seem like it was cold.

So he kind of went up to Favre and was like, man, this is fun, right? This is done. Favre was like, no, it's fucking cold outside.

He's like, the minute I saw Favre was cold, all the blood drained out of my body.

I think it's an age thing, too. You get to a certain age.
Like, I mean, I'm not. saying that I'm you're not at that age yet Annie.
No, but I but I'm getting there. I'm cold.

I don't want to go outside. If I'm going to be cold for even five minutes, I'm, nope, I'm over it.

Or you start getting injuries because it's cold. Like, Matt, when it's cold, Matt's fucking hips probably seize up, but he can't bend down.

All the metal in my body just starts tingling, dude. My shoulders, my hips.

I have two questions for you guys before we get started, and I'm going to phrase them as more likely. Okay.
You guys just choose. Okay.

And they're selfish questions because of the two teams I watched the closest in a way, Giants and Browns. First, more likely.
Giants will have a rookie head coach or a vet head coach.

Ooh,

could be Mike Tomlin if the Steelers part ways at Windows. That would be, you know, yes, everyone's talking now about Shula with the Rams and that defense.

I would probably lean toward a vet over just for the possibility or like the options are more.

What do you think, Matt?

That's a great question.

Yeah, well, so if Dayball was a rookie. By the way, Dayball might get the Penn State job, guys.
That would be sad. That would be crazy.

Because

Satake's out. It was kind of like Dayball's in the mix.
Oh, good. Good.
He deserves a great job. That'd be good for college football off Dave.
I don't know.

I kind of like the rookie just kind of creating

a little bit of an energy and a spark and a youthful type like, you know, like

energy because they got those young dudes out there. I don't know.
That's true. Well, I would go defense.

I would go a defensive-minded head coach and go get a great offensive coordinator.

If ever a time, whoever it is, rookie or vet, and obviously they're not rookies, like if you go get Shula from the Rams, the DC, but Matt, have you ever had a teammate literally miss meetings more than Abdul Carter?

Like, this is now the second time

benched for the first quarter. Did you guys see the tweet? Oh, he fell for it, right? Yeah.
He fell for it. The fake Giants account.
Go ahead, Andy. Set it up.
It got me for a minute.

Set it up for Matt. He didn't see it.
I don't know if I can say this on the pod. There was a reason.
He was watching, somebody tweeted out the reason that he

was set out the first drive is because he had an issue in a meeting where he was watching an adult film. I'll say.
It was like a reporter.

And his headphones disconnected during the meeting is what they said.

So the tweet always hilarious. And it was put out by a guy that has like a picture that looks like he's a legit reporter.
And it says in his bio, like Giants reporter. And the world fell for it.

So much so that he came out and tweeted and said, If you guys believe this shit, like this isn't real, hilarious.

He probably just slept through it, man. Like, that I've had a million guys have done that.
You get fined, you know, and if you're a first-round pick, nothing's going to happen.

But if you're like a seventh round or something, a couple times, you're gone. Yeah.
Well, they got to go. I didn't even have that in college, not that I ever slept through a class.

Tom Coughlin would never stand for that.

Second, more likely, 2026 football season for the Cleveland Browns. Who's most likely to be taking taking the first team snaps?

Shador Sanders or Deshaun Watson, who I believe was just like cleared to practice. Deshaun Watson.
Yep. Deshaun Watson.
I think that's hot. 100%.

And what a story, like to prove, again, we're in speculation that, like, could you not see this story on ESPN? Like, Deshaun Watson lights it up through four games and all of a sudden.

I don't even remember the last time I watched him play. Because he hasn't played in forever.
Can't even remember. Yeah.

Well, those are my two, those are my two more likelies. I agree.

I think, like, nothing says, like, if you're writing a script, the better script is now Deshaun Watson's like a relevant NFL quarterback. Yeah.
So that's crazy.

All right, Annie, let's get to my torture for the week.

I have to win this one. It's a must-win.
Buddy, you have to win everyone. I don't even think you can win everyone for the job.
Every game is a must-win game for Jerry. We got a lot of weeks.

We got like seven weeks left. Six weeks left.
I will preface this by saying Eddie is now on my

list, our producer, because all of these questions relate to the Bears so thank you for that Eddie thank you for that little

momentous moment it's gonna be great okay it is Bears Packers week guys are you ready yep

first question who was the only Chicago Bear to ever win MVP

Walter Payton yep wow Jerry God that seemed like too easy I know I had double I was thinking Gail Sarah was I thinking Gail Sarah's not Walter Payton's too easy okay question number two Who is the quarterback?

The last time the Bears were a one seed in December.

Rex Grossman? Yeah.

Yeah. I didn't think that was the year.
That was the year

we played them. Oh, wow.
Oh, that's real fair. That's crazy.
Hey, Matt, this week you're playing the one seed in the NFL, Rex Grossman. Well, it's the last time they went to the Super Bowl, dude.

They went to the Super Bowl that year, and

they played Peyton Manning in the Colts. I'm assuming that's the year.
06. You gave Matt a question involving a game that he didn't innovate.

Yeah, okay. That's fair.
That's fair. One, one.

Who, okay. He wouldn't have got that anyway.

It was either Grossman or Cutler. That was it.
It was one of them. It could have been Kyle Orton.

No way. No way.

Who was the last Chicago Bear to win rookie of the year?

Oh, Khalil Mack.

Nope. Good.
Good guess though. No.
Defensive rookie of the year?

The last Chicago Bear to win

rookie of the year.

Oh, I have a horrible guess.

Yes. And and then we're back.
Then we're back to even. We can keep going.
Yeah, take a guess.

Matt Forte. Nope.
See, I went, I went, I went, I went niche. I tried to catch

it.

It's well, this is a Chicago hint. I don't know if you guys will get this one or not.
It's on every billboard on your way out to O'Hare. I'll tell you that.
He is on every single billboard.

He's a very well-known name.

There's a play on words with O'Hare,

is what is why he's on every billboard.

It was in 2000. I'll tell you that.
I don't know if that helps. 2,000?

2,000. Chicago Bears.
Very well-known name. Yeah.

Bears,

offense or defense. Brian Erlacher.
Yeah. Yeah.

Let's go.

That was good. Yeah.
He with the whole going bald thing. Yes.
O'Hare is literally every billboard on the way out. There is Earl Lacher.
Okay. So he won.
Now we have two pitches.

What college did he go to, Jerry? Um,

oh, why am I blanking? New Mexico. Okay, keep going.

Matt, by the way, I shot two scenes of Brian Erlacher on Entourage, so don't act like I don't know about Brian Erlacher. I'm just asking what college he went to.

So, technically, we should get mad about that.

Oh, yes, we should get mad. Me and him had an intimate conversation.

Right.

Okay.

First picture: who is this Bears player?

Roma Dunze. Yep.
Good.

The hint was going to be something about his dad, but I didn't need to go that far.

All right. I think we're tied up.
How is that not fair? He's their receiver now. I mean,

yeah, 2-2.

Last question. Who is this Bears player?

Oh, my gosh. That is.
It's a tough one because this didn't look like him for a second. to me.
Oh, it's DeAndre Swift. DeAndre Swift, right? Yeah, I thought it was.

I thought it was, but then you talked me out of it. You talked me out of it.
This is what happens every week. You go up 2-1, and I just slide in in the fourth quarter, bro.

I thought it was DeAndre Swift, but then everybody was like, no, it doesn't look it's not him. Well done.

Everybody, meaning who? You just. By the way, he looks like a middle linebacker.
I knew he was a running back, but I was thinking it was like,

he looks like a middle linebacker right there.

Well, Jerry, you're down 11 to 3, bud.

11 to 3 in weeks.

But the total questions is a lot closer. Buddy, it's 38 to 25.
I mean, I'm killing you. Is it? Yeah, dude.
Just add, use your math right there. You can add.

We got a long way to go. We got a long way to go.
And you keep a prize. Do I get a prize, Annie, for winning this?

Yeah, we haven't figured out what that is yet. We haven't figured that out.
He gets a case of twisted teas. Well, I think Jerry, we should have a lot of fun.
I've bought 20 of them.

Jerry, something

funny at Super Bowl effect. Yeah, yeah.

We were going to do something like a more of like a punishment for the loser instead of a

easy to ask this when you have a nice cushy lead. This is like, you know, who would not like you, Matt? Michael Jordan would not like you.

Michael Jordan didn't like the guys who talk trash and they were up 20 points. You know who you talk trash when you're down 20 points.
Do you want me to start giving you strokes?

Like, what do you do here?

I want nothing. I want to be a handicap for Jerry.

I want absolutely nothing. I'm going to get you.
Don't worry. I got you right where I want you.
I I am not worried one bit, dude.

I mean, I just come on here and just, I mean, it's like no prep, nothing. Rex gross.
What are you going to prep for in trivia? I mean, just without knowing the topic. All right.

Well, thank you, Twisted Tea. Everybody, grab a refreshing Twisted Tea today.
I really got to get one on the show next week because I got to drink my troubles away. Annie, thank you very much.

Go enjoy viewing big week. I think we got it.
I need a good new T in this TV situation.

showing my face if the outcome is not what I wanted because I'm in the city of Chicago. So you're not going to get a lot of material for

this week. So I can't wait for it.
All right. Thank you, Annie.
We'll see you next week. We'll see everybody next week.