Lakers Getting Hot, Opening Up the Mailbag, USC Women’s BBall Coach Lindsay Gottlieb joins

You have one of the greats now and who will be for the next 10 to 15 years, Juju Watkins.

What was recruiting her like?

So Juju said, can you talk at this time, this day?

And I was like, eight and a half months pregnant.

So I'm like waddling around my neighborhood.

And she said, she's coming.

And I swear that like at that moment, my water could have broken. welcome to another episode of throwbacks don't forget to throw us a follow at throwback show or email us feedback at throwback show we're going to read some of your emails later on in the show but coming up uh in the next block we got a really really, really good guest.
Couldn't help our boy, Matt, getting one of his fellow Trojans on. Who's joining us today, Matt? Lindsey Gottlieb, our women's head basketball coach.
By the way, women 26-2, they just whooped on UCLA at the Pauley Pavilion last week. Most likely will be a number one seed in the NCAA tournament.
And Lindsey's awesome. I've known her for a couple years when she got the job at USC.
Crazy kind of interesting background. I mean, we coached for the Cavs for a year, so was in the NBA, has won everywhere she's gone, and coaches hands down the biggest superstar in women's basketball, probably outside of Caitlin Clark at the moment, and moment and juju watkins who jerry i've seen play a couple times in person and she's she's a beast man she's do you feel you'll be the best person to ask right um and i know football and basketball are not necessarily uh one and one for one comparable because of so there's so many more players with football but do you feel any like oh three vibes for this ladies

team they got the superstar they're with they're kicking ass they're gonna be all eyes are gonna

be on them in the tournament like they're being watched at a level and scrutinized at a level that

you know starting to get some uncharted air it really it's it's it eerily reminds me of it because

when you go back to our day prior to p carroll coming who p carroll's first year was my first

year so we had one bad year and then we just went off you know carson's last year we just

Thank you. really reminds me of it because when you go back to our day prior to Pete Carroll coming who Pete Carroll's first year was my first year so we had one bad year and then we just went off you know Carson's last year we just won 11 games and that was kind of the start of that that epic dynasty run and in that run we became it was a little different because back then the Lakers I think Shaq had just left yep so the Lakers kind of were they had the three-peat and then they they had a couple of bad years there.
Dodgers weren't great. The Kings weren't great.
UCLA football. I mean, just we were the team of LA.
There were no NFL teams at the moment. And so we just, the buzz was so big, and everybody came out to see us, the celebs, the stars, I mean, just everybody.
And it became normal, and it became, that's just who we were. And were and we rode with it pete loved it embraced it and it just was a part of our thing i you know football isn't there yet at least it is it hasn't been there for a while there's no other sport at usc that's having a bigger impact on la than usc women's basketball at the moment and that's because their coach is great and make no mistake.
That's because they have the number one star in college hoops and Juju Watkins. And you saw it.
I mean, we saw at the UCLA game the other night, like the celebs that were there, like it's ridiculous. Like it's, and this is, this is where women's basketball is at, which is pretty exciting.
And Lindsay is right in the thick of all of that coaching. Um, one of the best teams in college football or college basketball.
I do have something I would like to discuss with you. Uh, it's sports related, but it's also going to lead into, I guess, parenting to a degree, although I don't know how relatable it is.
So, uh, first of all, our Nixon Lakers battling tonight. It's going to be awesome.
Wow, have things changed. I tried so hard breaking down that trade for the Mavericks, being like, no, I still like their team.
Now with the Kyrie injuries, this is, I don't even know. I have a few Mavs fans in my life.
And do I send flowers? I want to send something. I was a Mavs fan when Luka was there because I love Luka.
I love Kyrie. And they got a great fan base.
Great fan base. They have a great fan base.
I've been to a game. It's just fun.
It's a fun team to root for. It's an easy team to root for.
I rooted for them when they had Dirk. I used to love watching them play.
And now it's like you lose Luka and now now you lose Kyrie. Here's why it's worse to me than anything everyone could have expected because if the Mavs managed to stay healthy, maybe they wouldn't have been a championship contending team.
Who knows? They would have been good and fun to watch, though. With AD and all that? Now they lose AD and then Kyrie for the year, but the kick in the balls is the fact that the Lakers have figured it out this early.
They were already figuring it out before Luka. Like, they were rolling.
And, you know, now that they – they're a two-seed, Matt. They're tied for the two-seed.
They're ahead of the Nuggets. And they have the third-best home record in the league.
They're 23-7. And they're 500 on the road.
Oh're ridiculous the whole first week of the trade and we talked about it was how are they gonna fit how's lebron like how is this there's too many ball handlers blah blah blah blah blah and credit jj reddick like jj's like people question that higher because oh it's lebron's boy and i've known jj forever like jj's podcast partner yeah Yeah. Like JJ could arguably be coach of the year for what he's been able to do with this team.

Now he's got superstars.

I get it.

But like for what he's been able to do and I,

people look,

I love the,

I love basketball.

I watch these teams.

People need to start to worry about the Lakers in the playoffs.

I just,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, the playoffs. I just, I, I, I, the size, size clearly may, it may, you'll catch Jay.
They're going to run into some problems and that's going to happen. But JJ is obviously a mastermind of, of just figuring it out.
They have stars everywhere. They have great role players.
Maybe they don't need a true, maybe they don't. And LeBron's turned into a two way player again again.
He's like awesome on all NBA and everybody said, Oh, they're not gonna be able to play defense. Well, like wrong LeBron's playing great defense.
Austin re I mean, they're not great at one-on-one defenders, but I don't, I don't know. I'm with you, man.
Like it's, it's exciting again to finally have, cause the Lakers, the last handful of years they've they've been in like they've just

underachieved with AD and LeBron it's just the play-in tournament and they they barely limp into the playoff and maybe they win one I know we won it for we won it the COVID year the bubble year but it's just been disappointing now it's like we're the two seed we're not going to catch OKC but we're going to be a two or three seed in the in the in the playoffs let me ask you this before we move on to my parental dilemma that I have.

That is a dilemma too.

I got to imagine though, it is. seed in the playoffs.
Let me ask you this before we move on to my parental dilemma that I have.

That is a dilemma, too.

I got to imagine, though, it is

an advantage to have a coach

that is so recently

retired that he's played

against, what, 85%

of the NBA players right now?

He played with Luka. That's what I mean.

That's got to be

an advantage. I don't know.
It makes common. I know you can say, look, you go watch a film, you can get to know the players the other way.
I just look at, that has to be, if the guy, if the former player wants to coach and has that analytical part of his brain, and he just played against these guys, that's got to be a big advantage. Well, I think the thing that separates JJ is he's, I mean, the X's and O's in the way his, because you heard it on the podcast.
It was just like, wow, because he's so, he's a basketball IQ as high as anybody, right? Like LeBron. They can just see the game, talk the game, figure it out.
And some people were just born to be coaches. I think JJ was that.
I mean, clearly he didn't have to get into coaching. He was making a shit ton of money with the pod, doing games like living a pretty stress-free life and now he's the head coach of lakers he's great on first day the biggest thing the biggest thing in coaching and we see it in all sports and i've i've been a part of this is in football it was always you had like you see a lot of these coaches that just stick around forever because people are kind of afraid to like change the norm and adapt and you have coaches who have their boys and like they just it's like like i've been around good coaches i've been around real shitty coaches at the highest level and it's it's sometimes you want to just see like gosh i wish maybe a former player could come in because they see the game different or a younger guy that's why like mcveigh was so great just because they're so like they're changing the game they're they're adapting they're figuring out and that's what i see happening with the lakers and jj and that's what you don't see with a lot of these nba coaches that are just like they've been around a long time and like but at some point you need to be able to adapt to today's game or adapt to this generation of player whether it's just personality based like you got to be able to you know deal with these players on a personal level on on a level that you know know, you know, like you look at like Popovich and I know Popovich didn't help you look at some of these older guys.
It's just like, it's hard to deal with 19 year old kids. You know what I mean? So I just think JJ's hit it.
He's obviously played with all these guys, as you said, played against all of them and it's paying off, man. He's been terrific.
Yeah. I just think it's going to be really interesting.
And I love that we have a coach on today. Because if you look what went on in college football with, like, Michael Vick.
And, like, guys that you never even really knew wanted to coach took a job. And then, by all accounts, I guess JJ has always wanted to coach.
I don't know. But the podcast and the commentating seemed like, oh, wow, he's so good at this.
And it's natural fit. Do we now see a run on this like, oh, look who just retired.
Do you want a job? Do we see a run on that? It's interesting. We're going to see more.
And you look at basketball, it didn't really work out for Steve Nash. Jason Kidd's been great.
You know, he's coached for a long time. But you're seeing it more in football.
Vic, Deshason yeah george obviously coach prime like i know i think ray lewis threw his hat in the ring for something ed reed like you're gonna see a lot i'm probably missing guys you're gonna see a lot more and i think it's going to be especially if some of these guys just have a little bit of success because all it takes is a little bit because a lot of these schools i mean i'm around this game like they they love the fact that that a coach played at the highest level and can kind of relate to these players so it's gonna be curious to see over the next five to ten years how many former athletes are coaching at the professional ranks all right we're gonna do the mailbag later after we talk to coach this would have been my mailbag question to you what's what's up what's up what's up with you over there man so all of you listening out there too feel free to tweet at us with your responses if you have a heads up for me because i think i know what to do i'm not quite sure so when we were at the super bowl doing the the live show from the fanatics carpet you know i got an email um from my agent saying hey we we have this offer for you and right away i saw nick's's game. I'm like, okay, what do we got?

What is this?

It was basically, you know,

Crocs is doing this collab with Monsters, Inc.

And Pixar, like they always do,

they've done it with like cars and all those movies.

And they want you to wear some of the, you know,

the Crocs to courtside at the Knicks game.

And I was super into it.

And I thought, oh, wow, this would be really cool.

My son, who's not even six yet, loves Monsters, Inc., loves Crocs. We can make a father-son trip out of it.
This will be like once in a lifetime. Great.
So it all happens. I take my five-year-old.
We stay in the city. We walk to MSG.
We go through that whole crazy VIP experience. And now he's sitting courtside with me for the whole, and Matt loves it.

He loves basketball.

Every day he wakes up, he says,

did the Knicks win?

Tell me about the game.

All this stuff.

He's in on basketball.

I love it.

And he's only been to one other game before this.

We went to a Cavs game, and we were lucky.

We sat in someone else's suite.

By the way, this is not on my dime,

so I'm not balling like this.

But here's the question,

and you must have been through this with Cole, and you're going to go through this with your other three children. Courtside and a suite? That's not real life.
I did not grow up that way. Neither did I.
I sat in every seat in Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden. And, yes, I'm allotted these cool opportunities.
I don't know if that's going to last forever, number one, maybe if throwbacks continues to grow. Who knows if I pop up on TV? But number two, I want them to know that this is sacred.
This is special. This is not how it goes.
So what do I do here? He's too young to explain it to. I told him a million times.
Of course, I had to whisper to him, this isn't real life. Let me ask you a question, though.
If, and this is more about us as parents, if the Knicks call you up and say, hey, Jerry, we have this collab, whatever, the same situation. Same situation.
But it's not courtside. But it's still free tickets.
Something tells me that you, Jerryr say well shit man i'm not gonna take my kid to this if i'm sitting 15 rows up like center court that's see that's my dilemma with this because one you look at it two ways and i dealt and i can get into cole but you look at it two ways it's like you've built that relationship with the Knicks. That's your baby.
You love it. They take care of you.
You could probably sit in a suite for any Cavs. Like, you get taken care of by the sports there for what you've been able to do.
And I love sports. I think they're aware how much I love it and appreciate it.
And you love it. And I think that's why Knicks, I think people take care of you because you're a genuine fan.
And I in the same position i think with la sports and like like i can make a call and probably sit in the suite at any game and i'm not boasting i just probably can do that and that's that's that's a great it's great to be able to do that now i can't i gotta be honest with you if the lakers text me and say hey dude we got two tickets that are like lower bowl 20 rows up. You want to take your five-year-old? I'm just not sure how I'm going, dude.
And that's because I have been so lucky to be able to sit. You know what I mean? So that's why I asked you.
Ticket snob. We're tickets snob.
Yeah, I mean, we're tickets snob in a way. A little bit.
You'd rather watch it at home than be 20 rows up-old. It's hard for you as a dad.
You're not going to go fly to New York if they take care of you, put you up, and sit 20 rows up with your boy. You're just not going to do it.
You're not going to do it. Here's what I'd say.
I wouldn't do it with him now at five years old because I need to figure out how much he loves it, but I want to keep exposing him because I think it's helped. I think him going to two games in a month has helped him like really enjoy basketball and he's playing now.
I feel like if it was like a year or two and that offer came through and he, and I knew like he loved basketball. Yes, I would do it.
I, but I, I'm, I'm, what I'm asking is like, no, I know it's like, should like, should I just not wait for these opportunities where I get these elaborate invites? And I don't, by the way. We go to Guardians games here in Cleveland all the time.
And going to a game with a five-year-old in general is hard, okay? It is. It's not like that's easy.
It's different if it's like my 16-year-old nephew who would sit anywhere, and I would go sit with him. Uh, I just, I'm worried those are his only two experiences.
And like my fear is what if we go sit 20 rows back and he's like, dad, why are we all the way back here? If that happens, that's my biggest fear. These kids, I mean, the same thing I have with Cole and you know, again, very similar, like taking them to stuff.
You get, you get, you get behind the scenes, you get to go in the locker room. Like you just, you just get shit.
That's cool. They're like, holy shit.
Like, let's go similar like taking them to stuff you get you get you get behind the scenes you get to go in the locker room like you just you just get shit that's cool they're like holy shit like let's go like i want to bring my son and he experienced and then it's like hey dad why aren't we doing this or why aren't we in the suite or hey are we gonna meet kobe again this time like no no no no we're like we're sitting at the second bowl all right i'm gonna get you some popcorn you're gonna shut up i'm gonna watch the game right and he you know, he had a relationship with the Clippers and the time and all that. It's like he just became numb to going to games.
He went to every game. He's seen it.
Yeah, and he's seen it. So it's like, hey, bud, like, it's funny.
I will say this. It kind of goes through phases just like in anything.
You have your toddler phase. You're all about the parents, right? They want to be around you.
And then you go into middle school and then they become kind of assholes and they get they go through puberty and they don't want to be around mom and dad anymore they had their friends over like there's that phase and then you and then you kind of come back and then it's high school and then they become even worse and then like then it comes back full again and now it's like the other day when we went toakers-Mavs game, we ended up sitting in a sweep. But Cole was like, yeah, let's go to the game.
I could have bought any ticket in the house. He just wanted to be in the arena, which is pretty cool.
And I wasn't about to spend $1,000 to sit in the nosebleeds per ticket to see that game. Is that what they were running for, that Luka game? $1,000 a ticket for the? The top section was $700 or $800.
Damn. The lower bowl was $200 or $300 or something just for that game.
So I'm with you. I think it's a balance.
Dude, you and I grew up the same way. I grew up.
I went to one. I would go to one, maybe a Dodgers game, maybe one at the top.
We would to disneyland maybe once a year and i grew up 20 minutes from it we would go to maybe lakers showtime kind of late 80s early 90s maybe like maybe and that was to get into the door just to sit at the top like i remember going to a clippers game at the old la sports arena and we were like nosebleeds and it was maybe it was clippers lakers and like that was just you looked forward to that it was it was like christmas is like i can't wait to go to the game with my my dad or my brother and you just enjoyed the experience so it's shit man i took cole on a like freaking a private plane extravaganza a couple months ago yeah you went on arguably the greatest father college football trip ever that was trip ever. That was for me like once in a lifetime.
And it was so funny because I think I told you, but we were in the plane and he goes, he was like, dad, this is unbelievable. And you saw appreciated it.
Again, I think you just appreciate it. It's just, we always say it's like- It's not real life.
It's not real life. Ages and phases, man.
Like they just that they appreciate it when they're older when they're younger they're in it they don't know any better so you just look i just don't think you pass up you can't pass up opportunities though like if you get to experience because then you'll you'll regret it like you get to experience let me ask you a question when you're flying you're not flying are you flying you're just flying economy the whole crew are you going first class where like when we went when him and i went to New York or no? Well, you probably got flown by them. I'm just saying in general.
Because the first class is another thing. Cole's experienced first class before, and I was like, bro.
We fly coach, man. We fly.
The Ferraris fly coach because, number one, I think my Brie likes to be in the same row as as both kids it's easier when you have kids and you're just you know and they're so young yeah um look there's if there's ever two things i'm ridiculously like uptight about yeah sorry we all have a thing it's sports tickets and like look for a long flights. Guys, it's just awesome.
You know what it is. I know it's unaffordable and most of the world can't do it.
I get it. And that's why I would ask anybody else too.
If you're getting this amazing invite to take your kids to a Knicks game court, you would take it. No matter who you are, whether you could buy the tickets or you couldn't.
So that's the discussion I was having with a friend. He's like, you know, you got to just maybe take them to sit in the nosebleeds.

And I'm happy to do it, but what's my alternative?

Bullshit, dude, you ain't doing it.

You're not doing it.

That's my point.

No, you're not.

You will never take your boys to the nosebleeds to Madison Square Garden.

I sat in the nosebleeds at the old Yankee Stadium

and watched Dwight Gooden's no-hitter and didn't leave.

No one knew he was throwing a no-hitter.

It's like the Asian.

There's zero chance, bro.

There's zero chance you're sitting. Bro, I'm not even sitting in the nose i'm not gonna do that i just gotta balance it out so when he's like 11 years old and i'm like hey son i got good tickets to the uh whatever calves nicks like if he's like courtside if he says courtside and i'm gonna i'm gonna probably play i want people watching send us to the mailbag us a question.
Give us an experience that you've had with your kid. Help us because it's definitely a balance.
We don't want sports spoiled. We don't want it.
Yeah, but shit, that shit's great. I'm grateful.
I got to another. Here's the Twitter argument of the week for me, right? Because, you know, I only really tweet about the Knicks.
And I went on Ian Bagley's show, the beat reporter for the Knicks. But he's more than he.
He's the voice, like, journalistically for the Knicks that, like, you want to get real information. And I went on his show with someone with this other amazing content creator, Mill.
And this one dude on tour was like, this guy, he ain't going to say anything controversial about the Knicks. He doesn't want to lose his tickets.
He's not wrong. He is wrong.
No, he's not. Matt, I criticize the team all the time.
By the way, who's the owner of the Knicks? Dolan? No, Dolan. Yeah.
He doesn't like anyone talking shit about his squad. I criticize the Knicks all the time, but I don't do it in like a way.
This fucking team sucks. We'll get you garbage.'t do it like that you walk the line i walk the line i make actual points okay i instead of so i'm sorry i speak my mind i'm not controlled by my what would you do if you lost your what would you would you be heartbroken if you lost your knicks connection like if they just if they just said hey jerry sorry buddy we're just uh we don't have these tickets for you anymore uh that'd be a sad day at the farah voice goes up um you know what i it would be sad and i would just say though wow what a run what a run i had what a run i wasn't supposed to be there anyway so what a what a run but here's what people forget oh you are so full the shit.
You'd be so fucking bummed. I would be bummed, but I would stay.
The overarching feeling would be like, what a great run. But you got to remember, I was going to the Knicks games in 06, 07.
Go look at the Knicks roster in 08. Go ahead.
They won 19 games. They won 19 games.
And I was sitting courtside. I couldn't even name a player on 08.
Exactly. Chris Duhan, who I love, by the way, had 20 assists in the game.
Sprewell? Was Sprewell back in the next? No, Sprewell was gone. Way gone by then.
It was like the Nate Robinson, David Lee. Oh, David Lee.
Yeah. Alan Houston is way older.
Never mind. Alan Houston finished up around 2002.
Yeah, he was right. So, anyway.
Alright, it's time now for our Fresh moves of the week brought to you by wendy's go to wendy's and taste the difference in a hamburger this is where matt and i point out a fresh move of the week you're not gonna like this one my friend okay there's been a lot of chatter with the giants and this aaron rogers stuff right aaron rogers no longer with the J, looking for a home. Rumors are he was talking to the Giants.
Who knows? Of course, the initial reaction is like, wait, why? Why would any, both sides want to do this? I'm going to give you a potential fresh move of the week. Giants sign Aaron Rodgers to a reasonable number.
Very, very reasonable. Which they'll get a reasonable number.
Yes, absolutely. Right.
Just going to a one-year deal? Yeah, one-year deal. 25, 25? Maybe even less.
Maybe even less. Who knows? We'll see.
Maybe more reasonable than that. Okay? But somewhere in there.
And then they take a player at three, whether it's Travis Hunter or an edge rusher. they go maybe defense friendly first or what, and just pick a position cause they need a million, maybe sign a wide receiver in the off season, Cooper cup, something like that.
And then if you could pull this off and this is where I need your help. I'm, I'm pulling up the draft right now.
The second, how far up would the giants need to trade from their second round spot to be realistically have a shot at jackson dart because he's rising isn't he so so oh yeah so the the giants will pick third and they'll be third in the second right okay so he won't be there no he won't so i gotta be honest with you please i think one of the two quarterbacks is going to be at three for the Giants I don't think I don't think Shador and Cam are going one and two I think one of them might fall past that I don't I just I don't I don't know I think it's one of those years where every every year there's always a year where you reach and you take quarterbacks and I think both of those guys are really very, very talented. I just, are they walking in and changing the course of a franchise day one? I don't, you know, I think that's always the question.
There's a lot of risk with both of them. There's just a lot of, there's, yeah.
I just think this one is different. And again, like last year's class was ridiculous, right? Like Daniel's, like you just like, all of them played great, Bo Nix, Drake.
I mean, it was, that might go down. You got four studs in the first round.
Penix ended up starting late. Like you might have five or six, like, you know, McCarthy.
Yeah. Sam Donald's not coming back.
God, that is a crazy. We might be.
It's a crazy. It's a crazy.
And they all, most of them had all tremendous success as a rookie. All that being said, I think the Giants are going to have a chance to get a quarterback at three is what I think is going to happen.
Now they might. And they might.
So they might get one of those guys. But that's my fresh move.
I'm set. My fresh move is trying to say Cam Ward should do.
I agree with you. One of them might be there.
But if you have the chance of getting an elite, whether it's edge rusher, you know, like DB, like if you have a chance to grab that and still get a quarterback that has a lot of upside and you have Rodgers to shepherd it for a year, I just feel like you're left with a better chance of speeding this awful process that the Giants are in. They do.
They need a run. They need so much.
I like Tyron. Tracy, they might have something.
At three, you're going to get, At three, you can get – I mean, like, Abdul Carter is going to be gone in the top three. You're going to get an elite pass rusher.
You can get Travis Hunter, an elite player, athlete. Ashton Jenty is going to go in the top ten.
I don't know if he's three for the Giants at running back or you go quarterback. To your point, it would be kind of nice if you get Rodgers for a year and you can get Dart, who who kind of very similar to rogers a little bit of gunslinger can move can move and like rogers could run well on his prime uh i just don't i think dart is going to go somewhere in the mid to mid first round i just think someone so they might not be able to get there it's a pretty unique draft uh you told me travis hunter i think i think the giants are going to have a chance to pick a qb at three is what i'm QB at three, is what I'm telling you.
I don't know if they will. This draft's going to be awesome.
But most importantly now, we've talked a lot about coaches. Let's bring on coach Lindsey Gottlieb.
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See guaranteed details at TurboTax.com slash guarantees. Okay, I am so excited right now.
I have chills. I almost played our fight song because on throwbacks this week, we have the Women of Troy USC head basketball coach, Lindsay Gottlieb.
What is up, coach? Thank you for joining us. Thanks for having me.
This is super exciting.

First of all, before we dive in to the year that you guys are having, and I know it's not done and

there's, and, and just the state of women's basketball, because I think it's never been at

its, it gets at its highest peak right now. You're from New York and Jerry's from New York.
And I,

since we've done this podcast, I've learned more about New York Knicks and Yankees than I want to. So my question to you really quickly is, are we a Knicks fan? Are we a Yankees fan? Are we a Mets? Are we a Nets? What are we? We are Yankees and Knicks all the way.
There you go, Jerry. There you go.
Every week we do this podcast, there is something about the Knicks that happens. It's always something.
As there should be. Yeah, you grew up with the same kind of torment as I did, but Matt's on some run, okay? Dodgers win the World Series, Luke is in LA, and now USC beats UCLA, number one seed.
He's on some incredible, LA in general is on an incredible run right now.

I always say there's nothing better, like having lived in LA for so long, you know, it's just when the vibes are right and high like this, it is the best city in the world. I really believe that.
Yes, totally. So as a New Yorker, you never lose those roots of Knicks.
I mean, you were in that Patrick Ewing era as well, right? I mean, it was, it was, that's what I grew up with, but I don't feel like my LA kind of my LA grounding now, it doesn't feel as competitive, you know, in the way that you think it might like my history, my childhood is New York, but now I'm all in, you know, it was a little hard this year with the Yankees-Dodgers thing, but generally I feel like I can be both an L.A. sports fan and a New York sports fan most of the time.
Well, I was at game five. I'm a diehard Dodgers fan, so I was at game five in New York rubbing it in.
Jerry does have courtside New York Knicks seats, and he just took his son a couple weeks ago Jerry, Jerry's living a good life over there. I don't own those seats.
Coach, what first regular season title since 94, you know, you kind of see all the stats, 26 and two, the big 10 tournament starts this week. Most likely going to be a number one seat.
I want to jump ahead, but you guys are having an incredible year. Just can you sum up just a season so far? I mean, I've been to a couple games.
I've felt the buzz around this team. Obviously, you have the star in Juju.
Just for you, for this team, what makes this year so special? Yeah. Well, first, just to go back a little bit.
When I took the job, you know what an incredible place USC is, Matt, and what it should be, but let's be real. You know, there were 500 people in the stands and I had recruits saying other coaches tell me you'll never get fans here.
And so now it's never lost on me when I walk in that building and there's 10,000 people and it is buzz. And so that's the overarching thing that I'm like, you know, that's really incredible to have been part of that trajectory.
But for this year in particular, you know, we had Juju returning, you know, her freshman year kind of spoke for itself. And then we added the number one recruiting class and the top, you know, portal transfer Kiki URIFN and another really big transfer in TVO.
And all of a sudden there are these expectations, like here we are launching

from upstarts last year to in the real national conversation. And we didn't shy away from those expectations, but I'll tell you, it was, it has been not harder, but it's been a challenge, right? Like to just, you don't throw talent together and all of a sudden be as great as you're supposed to be.
And so I think this year really is what I'm most proud of is that, um, the team has committed to, uh, figuring out how to have great individual players that become a really, um, cohesive team. And I think our depth was on display against UCLA.
I think our star power was on display. I think our toughness was on display.
And so, um, that to me has been the most significant thing that we took a bunch of really good people with high expectations and I hope we've delivered. And now, you know, March is in April is when, you know, the real stories are told and we hope we can keep it going.
Yeah. You know, Matt was mentioning like the Knicks courtside, all the celebrities that, that game.
I mean, there was some people in that building and whether the road team or home team, it doesn't matter. That was such a huge draw.
Did you at any point, I mean mean I know you're probably so locked in or did any of the players just look around and go this game feels a little bit bigger than this just as important just feels a little bit bigger it was bigger there's no doubt it was it was huge last year when I looked across and LeBron was sitting courtside I had to remind myself he's not here to watch me he's watching the players crazy thing um Michael B Jordan jordan came this year earlier and snoop and we've had a ton of people so by the time we got to ucla this year i think the players kind of expected it's crazy like i didn't even know until after that you know john legend was there and obviously cheryl and reggie and jason sudeikis comes all the time it's this sounds crazy but like it's of now, this is what people expect with LA women's basketball. How cool is that? You know, it's, it's really neat to be a part of it.
It's, it's, it's actually, I was thinking about this before this interview, cause it reminds me a little bit of my time back at USC when we were, we were, we weren't very good. Then Pete took over and we obviously just catapulted into the national conversation a lot like you guys are doing and we had you know we had at that time snoop has still been a big usc fan will ferrell it was always just a who's who and it became so people always ask me like it just became normal for us like at this point just like we just were like dapping up snoop on the sideline just became an everyday thing which is crazy to say and you guys are getting that and much deserved and it's so fun like when i went to the game this year i was sitting next to i got courtside usc women's basketball jerry so beat that as you should as you should next to juju's family who's just like this is it was just it was just really fun to be there and soak that up and because i remember going i mean back in college you, went to a couple of women's games.
Like I just, it's just a different feel for, for the celebrity thing. Is there someone that I know you're locked in, but that you were like, I would love to see this person across courtside.
Is there some of that? Like you would just love to see at one of your games? Serena Williams. That's been, that's been my ride.
oh my gosh and i just saw that she is now an investor um in the toronto tempo the new wmba team which is so cool i mean but i think we all have our different ones i think juju had one where she said you know senile a didn't love in basketball then she came so that was cool um i think michael b jordan was a big one for some of our players uh so that was neat but for me well well serena and the obamas that would be my two probably top top top ones we're gonna we're gonna get them there this this podcast is gonna get them there that's awesome i think was that was that game you think maybe one of the biggest regular season games of all time in women's basketball if you really think about it and because And because the rivalry as well. I think so.
I mean, look at what was on the line, right? A Big Ten regular season championship. We literally had the same record, the crosstown rivalry, you know, the national rankings.
Definitely the biggest one that I've been involved in. I've been following you for quite some time.
I have some Cleveland roots as well. I married a beautiful woman from Cleveland.
We spend a lot of time here now, but I think it was maybe like the Players Tribune piece you wrote, or I don't remember what, but I heard you talk about just how you're like a X's and O's nerd, right? And that's awesome. And I love that.
Is it hard to like, I always wonder this with coaching and coaching and coaches like can you turn that part of your brain off like when you go home right I know you have kids you have a family it's like or you me I don't think I would ever be able to turn it off I think X's and O's is a fan while I'm here with my kids my kids are like what are you doing I'm like I'm wondering how Brunson's gonna work with Kat like I can only imagine what it's like for a coach who actually does this for a living. So what's that like for you, whether you're going into a big game like UCLA, like, are you able to do it at work and then come home? Or is it still something that comes home with you? So when I go home and yet the kids and the chaos, but like, if I'm watching a game at home, I'd love to just watch games like a fan.
So you think about what coaching adjustment they made or what's going on but like my husband will be like talking about the coach and being a fan you know or like talking about they should have done this or that I'm like can you let me just watch like I just want to watch it's what happens I don't care about the outcome it's fun you know so I try to shut off the the analyzing of what was run and how they're defending a screen you can't totally shut shut it off like you're always watching, but I like to be able to watch basketball for fun because it's so different than studying and studying your own team and trying to think about how you can be better or what we can do differently. So I like to just try to watch sports as a normal person at home.
There is zero. I get asked all the time if I would ever coach or get into coaching.
I do love coaching. I love coaching my little kids.
But I when I coached Cole's flag football team, and this is true story, we you know, you build you sports is fun to watch. It's fun to coach at that age.
And we built like we were really good in flag football. We won all these championships.
And then you built you build rivalries within the league with other teams. And when he got to like six, seventh, eighth grade before high school, I would watch film of flag football games that would keep me.
No, I swear. I couldn't turn it off.
And my wife was like, what the hell is wrong with you? They're in seventh grade. And I wasn't like a yeller or a screamer, but I was just like, if I'm invested in this, I'm going to watch lost i had sleepless nights coaching my oldest son's

flag football team so it is very hard to turn off i want to ask you coach about you know jerry mentioned x's and o's and you look at your career and ucsb you led them to the ncda ncda tournament cal i remember when you were at cal and you had a final four run i think and then came to usc so you've built and won everywhere you've been.

Is there Pete's number one thing? a final four run, I think, and then came to USC. So you've built and won everywhere you've been.

Is there Pete's number one thing in building was just competition. It was like every like relentless pursuit of competing at the highest level and everything you did, which would breed success everywhere, right from the starters to the backups, all those things.
Is there an underlying ingredient for you on how to build a championship team?

I mean, I would almost say if his one word was competition, I would almost say my one word would be relationships. Like you just can't do it anymore, um, in college without having a pulse on the people.
Um, and so I think it's building relationships within your team, like player to player and respect and how they interact with one another and whether that is competing as well. And then within the organization, the assistant coaches and me and the players, I think there has to be an ecosystem of that piece of it before the X's and O's even matter.
But then I would say the second thing would be just this, this attempt at excellence and what that looks like, because, you know, this year we were, we were pretty good. We were good enough to win even when we weren't at our best.
And so it became about how do we create a culture where they still want to get better even when we're winning. So maybe that's the competitive part that comes out as well.
Now in the NBA relationships relationships still really matter in the NBA as well, but that's probably the most X's and O's I did because you don't have all the other stuff. You're not going to class and you're not recruiting.
So there was a lot of just like sitting around and X's and O's, which was incredible too. But college, I think the human relationship piece is just so important.
I love that you were all locked out before drafting Darius Garland. That was one of my favorite stories I read in a long time in the Players Tribute.
You must have been freaking out. We couldn't get in the building.
I was like, wait, what's going on? It was awesome. But how about the Cavs now? Are you a Cleveland sports fan at all? Matt and I talk about this a lot because our kids are being raised in Cleveland.
I will never give up the Knicks. I just can't.
So I'm willing to give up like if they want to like the Guardians, I'll let it go. The Browns, whatever, Browns are Giants.
They're going to be in sports therapy no matter what. But I just can't like the Knicks know and the Cavs have been insane this year.
Like really, really – that game against Boston down 25 and then still coming back. I don't even know how they did that.
Were you on the staff when Luke was on the staff, Walton, or no? No. Oh, you guys missed.
We missed. But obviously, you know, he's really tight with J.B.
Bickerstaff. He brought on Luke, i think when i left maybe the year after i the year after i left so luke's i think luke's in luke's in detroit now um i got one more you know you brought because like i love what matt was saying too about like everywhere you've got like you know how you approach a new i'm gonna call it like a project but you're at a new place and maybe it's a place that hasn't been winning and then you you mentioned even like JB's with the Cavs for a long time.
It kind of ran his course. Then he goes to Detroit, a place that hasn't won in a very long time.
And JB was now like, oh, he couldn't get the cast. And now they're on this amazing trajectory.
So I mean, there's so many moving parts when you get to a new job in general. So do you ever find it hard to like, where do I start? Or do you always have a clear picture of like, we start here and build out from after this? I think you have to have a clear picture before you start.
And for me, when I talk to young coaches or assistants who want to become head coaches, you got to take the right job for you. because I don't know that, you know, when I was in the Pac-12, Scott Rueck went to Oregon State, who was at the bottom, and he built them to be really good.
I don't know that I could have done that at Oregon State, but I could do it at Cal and I could do it, you know, at USC. I think you have to know what your messaging is going to be.
You have to know what it's going to entail. You know, is it a culture, you know, fix? Is it totally starting from the bottom? Is it taking, when I got to Cal, it was a group that was talented, but maybe it underperformed and it was saying, we have what we need in this room.
Now let's take the next step versus here. I had to, you know, really kind of start over a bit in terms of establishing what we want to be, but you got to know what place you're coming to is a good fit for you to recruit to.
It has to be authentic. And then you come in with a plan and then, you know, plans get expedited when you get a juju walk in, so walk in the door.
Well, I was, I was going to ask you, you come to a place and you see all the ladies behind you, Cheryl Miller, at least, I mean, some of the absolute greats to play the women's game. And then you have one of the greats now and who will be for the next 10 to 15 years.

When you talk about a superstar, I know you probably talk about her ad nauseum.

And people ask what it's like in this.

And she's just incredible.

I've seen her.

I've told Jerry, I'm like, you have to see her in person.

She's ridiculous.

Like, she's just ridiculous.

And I think J.J. Redick was at the game the other night.

And he said, like, she's one of one.

You're probably running out of adjectives to describe her how what who who does her game remind you of maybe it's a men's game you've been you're on the cast maybe it's some of the all-time women like who does she remind you of when she plays basketball i mean the the first one that comes to mind is kobe i i know that sounds so i love it yeah but it's not you know like like I just think about her at her size. Right.
She's six to wing strong, strong. She's a natural scorer.
Her body control, the hang in the air, the take the contact. she's a killer right like the Mamba mentality thing has it and the defensive abilities

I mean she just was named not only

Big Ten Player of the Year but on the first team all defensive um but then on from a female side i would say maybe some maya more as well um maya was just so smooth and um utilized the inside outside game because of the ability to shoot it and um playing the post a little bit but um those are the two that I would most like in her to the get her game. I'm a diehard Kobe.
It's my favorite athlete of all time. It was fun when Matt and I shot at USC and we did it.
You know, you said you watched it. I'm horrified that you watched our three point shootout, even though that was kind of the point.
I'm still upset with my, my, my score. Cause I know I'm a lot better than that, but it that but it's okay go ahead yeah no we so we were on like a little bit of a break and we went to go get lunch now i didn't go to college really like i went six months i already was like getting ready to move to la to pursue acting i never had that big campus feeling so anytime i've gotten that chance to witness that i always think it's pretty cool so we go we go to get lunch and you know, all the kids are, I call them kids, young people.
I don't want to sound too old. And then like, just looking over at this young lady who's like a backpack and I'm like, Oh shoot, there's Juju right there.
Like online to get some kind of salad bowl or something. You don't realize it was so funny.
It was the most routine day for them. And I'm over here like oh no this is this that's one of the best players in the world right now and i forget that just like everyday campus life maybe it's because i didn't experience it but that was pretty cool just to see him and and all in their element just going about their lives it was cool it's i mean i love that for her right like you want them to have life.
I mean, there's so much of her existence now that isn't totally normal, but she's 19, you know? And, and I think the other quality about her beyond the basketball talent is sort of the grace with which she handles all of this. she's all about la and her community and the the school and she's completely um humble and

really a great teammate and beloved by our teammates. And then at the same time, she is becoming this really mega star and she handles that well too.
She's kind of stepping into that greatness and she handles that like, hey, I've earned this. And at the same time is going to get her salad bowl.
Right. Whatever she, yeah, I South.
I don't actually don't know what she was eating that day. I don't want to spread a false story.
I know she's like LA homegrown and, uh, urban Meyer always tells this funny story when he got Tim Tebow and this was a long time ago and it was signing day and he was in the car and urban is very, very, very, very intense. And Tebow was like the prize get, like he was close and he was on the phone with them and his phone died right before he was gonna, Tim was calling him to say he was gonna commit to Florida.
And this is when I think he probably did it on TV. I don't know, but he was calling him to tell him, coach, I'm gonna be a Gator and it died.
And he, coach tells a story. He was panicking.
He was like, I didn't know what to do. Like do like he was freaking out is there was it an easy recruiting process for Juju is there a story I mean I've talked to Lincoln about just some I mean you know in the NIL world it's just some of the ass and demands from some kids and I'm sure maybe more so in football but like it's kind of wild what was recruiting her like was there is there a funny story or is there a story that you can tell just in recruiting? That's just wild.
Yep. Well, I mean, the first thing is given all of the stories you hear now with NIL and all of that for Juju, it was, um, unbelievably small, um, internal, like they didn't put things on social media.
I always tell people Juju is a Hooper who has become a star. She is not a social media star who happened to play basketball.
Right. So she didn't put out a top 15 and then a top eight and then a top five, like her, no one really knew with the recruiting, um, what they were doing.
Cause they didn't publicize it. Uh, it was very authentic and getting to really know her and her parents, like the small circle.
So that part, it wasn't like a circus with all of the outside stuff, but, um, it took a long time, you know, because I think they, they really wanted to do the whole thing. So, um, and there was, you know, now she's got the documentary series that's now out, um, uh, on Peacock, but that was following it.
So she visited us all the way back in September. And now this thing was stretching on and she did do like a public announcement on ESPN or something, but to her credit, because she's such a, just a good person.
She said to her parents, like, mom, I need to tell Lindsay, I don't want her word anymore. And I was seven and a half months pregnant, maybe eight and a half months pregnant, eight and a half.
Cause my daughter was born on October 14th. And so the announcement came closer to signing day.
So she said, I need to tell Lindsay. So she just said, can you talk at this time, this day? And I was like, let me go for a walk.
So I'm like waddling around my neighbor. And she said, she's coming.
And I swear that like at that moment, my water could have broken. You probably burst into tears.
You're probably very emotional too what i sure was there were definitely there was there was a public announcement maybe a week or two later but she did let me know at that point and i think you know she and my daughter are pretty close so maybe it's because you know my daughter got a little shake in there and you still get her for two more years too isn't that amazing that's crazy yeah it's wild it must be pretty wild now too because we mentioned like the comfort of like being on campus and i know like even playing ucla it's still a road game but you're still in la going on the road now with this team you know everyone's kind of gunning for you those road games i don't know if they feel like the most intense that you've been involved in so many. But I imagine traveling with this team just may feel a little different.
I'm just guessing here. Yeah.
I mean, part of it is, you know, right, the newness of the traveling with sort of Juju and the team started, but also our first year in the Big Ten. So you're going to these places.
But I saw some stat recently where whatever someone's average attendance was, was like tripled when we were there. So we played in front of, you know, 20,000 in Iowa, 15,000, you know, Rutgers averaged like 1300 and they had 10,000 when we played Maryland was sold out.
And it's really neat. You're seeing a lot of juju buns and jerseys and other places and you see their fan base come out, you know, in full force.
So it's been it's been really neat, you know, to see that and be a part of it. It's good for all of our players.
Right. I think it's really raised the profile of everybody.
And and that's kind of why you make the move to the Big Ten to allow them to play in these big cities and big markets, you know, in front of incredible fan bases. I'm curious, Coach, because Caitlin Clark is sort of just help.
I mean, there's a lot of women, obviously, and this has been the last couple of years, but Caitlin Clark really like has become the face of women's basketball and in a positive way, in my opinion. And she left last year.
And in a way, Juju has inherited being the face of women's basketball. How have you talked to her about that did you ever talk to her and just give her perspective because Caitlin deals with a lot of scrutiny which she doesn't deserve she's a hooper too I think and just loves basketball but did you ever have any conversation with Juju and just hey you now are going to be the face of women's basketball whether you like it or not and how she kind of handles herself yeah and and And I'm with you on it.
I think Caitlin's been amazing. We saw Caitlin at the Wooden Awards last year where Juju was a finalist and Caitlin was winning it.
And Caitlin made a point to say, I had this sort of public attention for a year and a half, two years. Juju's going to have it for three, three and a half.
Right. And Caitlin said to me, here's my number, reach out, let me know how I can help.
How can I help her navigate? It was really cool. Cause you think about it, who else understands what Juju may be experiencing other than someone like Caitlin.
So, so yes, I think, you know, with Juju, I've talked about how can I put things in place to let you be you, to let you, you know, be at your best, but also help you navigate this. So we have talked about that.

You know, we had a moment right after last season where she and I went to a Dodgers thing.

It was like the foundation thing, like a big fundraiser, but the team comes.

And that really hit me where, you know, you have all the Dodgers there and these fans

are like screaming Juju's name, you know, with the bun and everything. And I'm like, oh oh like this is a city of stars and she's a star within here what's going to happen you know nationally and so i think she's kind of uh seen her life change a bit with it um but again i think her family's put great resources around her just to allow her to be you know a kid but also i think she takes that on and takes the responsibility and understands it comes with being who she is it's a lot like when jerry walks around and they say turtle that's turtle it's not not quite the same buddy you still i don't relate no i don't relate to that at all but you know what i did relate with uh after the game when you mentioned that like your husband can't even come to the games a hundred percent that would be me yeah like i have a hard time my wife was like a gymnast for a while i have a hard time if she's doing a cartwheel on the beach i'm like oh god i hope she sticks it i hope she i completely and you mentioned already like when he watches games at home so i already i don't i don't know your husband for at all i completely relate to him i would never be i would chew through nail chew through a nail.
I would be a mess. I would be a mess.
He's like your more classic sportsman. I mean, Matt, he would probably talk to you for hours about USC football and, you know, I mean, everything, right? And so you add in like that now he knows all these officials and he's like, oh, you have this official on the game.
Oh, he's intense. He's intense.
He's intense. It's very, it's very fun.
So, yes, he's all in. I think it's great, Lindsay, because, you know, you have two kids, right? You have two kids.
You're married. And just the role model that you are for a lot of – And I'm just like we did a lot with girls flag football with our leagues out in Orange County and I and again I just from an outsider just like I feel a lot of pride in growing that I feel like you like should feel a lot of pride in just what you are doing for the women's game and I know nationally and you're coaching and I think you guys are going to win it all this year knock on on wood.
You're going to win a national championship. But do you feel like, do you ever kind of take a breath and just be like what you are doing? You're obviously, I mean, Juju, talk about Juju, but the team and the recruiting that this is, all of this stuff.
I just, I think it's really awesome to see what you're doing. Do you ever kind of pinch yourself and just say what your role is in helping women's basketball continue to elevate.
Well, thank you. I appreciate it.
I think the main thing is trying to just be present in all facets of my life, like to be a wife and a mom at home, to do this job, but also to integrate the two. As you guys know, sports is a lifestyle.
You don't get to shut it off. My family's involved and they come here.
But if I can do anything to show women or women's basketball that you don't have to sacrifice one thing or the other, I certainly have a ton of help. You know, we have childcare.
I have a really supportive administration, but I don't think anyone should have to sacrifice, you know, if they, if they want to be a mom and coach or try to integrate, you know, the two worlds. Um, and we all have a responsibility, I think with the women's game to continue to, um, help grow it because that's the stage that it's at.
Um, and even, you know, when I was in the NBA, a lot of people ask, like, all I could do is show up as myself. Right.
And I only had one, my son, Jordan at the time and wouldn't have Reese yet, but you know, I had to try to be the best coach I could be. I wasn't trying to be anyone else in that league.
There was no one really like me, like the guys, um, and, and, and be who I was and hope that that opened up some eyes, you know, as well, but coming back to women's basketball, I think, um, yeah, I take a lot of pride in just trying to do what I do well so that other people believe that they can do it that way and also to help grow the game too. And wow, did you upgrade your winter life going from Cleveland to...
I'm in it right now. It's the worst in the world.
Jerry will send me videos. I'm like, God, you got to get back to LA, dude.
I got to get back to LA, coach. I got to get back.
No disrespect to Cleveland, Ohio, but there's nothing better than LA. Well, good luck, coach.
Thank you for joining us. Yes, thank you.
I've obviously, you know,'s nothing better than nothing better than la well good luck coach thank you for joining us yes thank you obviously you know we met a handful of years ago but super proud of you and what you've done and you're gonna keep keep crushing it so good luck bring home a title bring bring home a title no pressure kind of get like you and your squad matt um well that was a long that was a long time ago yeah that was a long time ago they live forever that's why jerry and i that's why jerry and i are together because we were we were roaming the streets of la at the same time in two different 2003 what a time well it's definitely a thrill for me to be on with you guys um come out to a game we will be hosting the first and second round so oh i'll be there for sure i went to uh i went to the kansas was that. Was that sweet 16 last year? That was fun.
That was fun. That place was buzzing, man.
I'll be there. I'll be there.
I'd love to come. Love to come.
Great. Great.
All right, coach. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Okay.
All right. Take care.
All right. We're going to do the throwbacks mailbag now.
Thank you to everybody who sent in some mail again you could hit us up at throwback show on social media or you could email us at feedback at throwbacks show.com and let us know so we got a few good ones we picked out two for today glenn from chicago emailed us said i saw a report that the next edition Hard Knocks offseason will actually follow Bill Belichick and the North Carolina Tar Heels football team. Matt, would you have been OK with cameras planted all over the USC facility when you were in college? And Jerry, what about on the set of Entourage? So we got to clear one quick thing up.
As of, I think, yesterday, they have now declined. They have not been able to work out a deal, North Carolina and NFL Films or whoever does hard.
So it's actually not happening. So someone came to their senses, is my thought.
Do we have full editing approval, post-editing? Yeah, of course. I will say, I think.
Or maybe that's what they were arguing about. Who knows? When I was playing, if they went to USC, Pete would have probably said, fuck it.
Yeah, let's do it. Because he loved that shit.
And I would have done the same thing. If this, like the way it is now, and I was playing in this era of social media, I probably would have said, absolutely not.
We did have Matt and Reggie TV back in the day, though. What is Matt and t they we had i'm gonna find a clip man i gotta put someone i get the randomest people will send me a clip of the archives from like oh four oh five and we would go around we had microphones and we would go around and like it like like like mtv cribs oh here's my apartment at the whatever here's uh a day in the life of practice.
We would kind of basically a behind-the-scenes look at the USC football team. I have no fucking clue where it lived, dude.
I don't know what... I don't remember back then, but it was like Ryan Khalil would come on.
Ryan Khalil was great. Ryan Khalil has a whole production company now in my center.
He was super into that. Find these episodes.
I know. I'm going to try and I'm trying i i've been sent they've been sent to me from like from now like the the uh the video guys at usc because they go through all the archives like holy shit we just saw matt reggie tv it is horrible to watch we did one at um was it jimmy kimmel or jay leno we were on the jay leno show so we brought like we did like an episode there and it's again it was just like probably the old school camera you put on.
Right. You had some digital video camera.
Um, so yeah, back in the day, hell yeah, I would have done that. What was, what was like, what was your part? What was like your USC apartment? Like, did you have like a dope spot or is this because it was before NIL, you didn't really have a dope spot? No, I didn't really have a dope spot.
Um, my junior, my junior, I lived at a place called Cardinal Gardens. Off campus? How far off campus? Hey, next time you're in LA, we'll go to the Cardinal Gardens? I do.
It was like the poor man's Melrose Place. Remember when Melrose Place, you walk in and you had like- The pool.
The pool right in the middle. Yeah.
And then the apartment's kind of like U-shaped around it. Well, this was

Cardinal Gardens. Was it all student athletes or students? No, it was small, maybe 40 apartments,

maybe more or less 40. And it was two stories.
And one of my best friends at the time,

his frat, most of his frat was living in there. So the year I won the Heisman,

I was sharing a room. I had a one bedroom.
I was sharing a room with my boy. We had two beds in our room.
This is my junior year, dude. It's a Heisman Award winner.
Heisman Award winner. This story is hilarious, dude.
Sharing a room. We almost, our best friend was the apartment next to us.
We almost knocked, we were like, fuck it, let's just knock the wall down. And just be one.
You guys are big enough. You no one went in the pool there were bikes in there lord knows what the fuck was in that pool dude it was disgusting but it was just it was just it was college man it was freaking fun dude i had my white ford ranger i was living the dream dude living the dream so if they were gonna do i guess it would be like a behind the scenes of Entourage while we were making it.
Um, I'd say no only cause not even cause like some crazy salacious reason, but like you're doing a show and you're mic'd all day and you're on camera all day when you actually call cut and you have like a 20, 40 minute break. Like the last thing you want to do is probably be on camera because you're on camera all day.
And also I find it interesting, but I think making a television show is not nearly as cool and fun as a football team, like behind the scenes. I guess if you were going to do like, hey, we're going to go to the production office of Entourage, like how Hard Knocks went, you know, into the front office and you would see like doug with the writing process and casting and see maybe more of those decisions less with the us and more of the production that might be cool i like the behind the scenes stuff of like making the shows and all that so like i i don't know i would watch it um i want to i we have another mailbag i want to ask i want to read this one because i want to ask you okay Okay, so Brian in Albany said this.
Kendrick Perkins says, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, your beloved Knicks, need to stop podcasting and just focus on basketball. You guys think something like hosting a podcast can negatively affect their goal of winning a title.
I want to say that because Paul George just said he stepped away from podcasting to focus on basketball, right?

Well, no, no, no.

He didn't.

No, no, no.

And Andrew Dunling, our producer, to focus on a championship run.

To focus.

Let's get to the exact quote.

Because they're shit right now.

So to focus on a championship run.

Okay.

So your beloved Knicks, two of your best players, the heartbeats of your team.

I mean, great.

The great players.

Does it bother you at all that they're podcasting during a season?

You know, there definitely have been times, especially after losses and stuff like that.

And then you go watch a podcast and you're like, man, but look, guys, it ain't like they're

saying, hey, Tibbs, we're going to be late to practice because we're finishing our podcast

with Edie Falco.

All right.

They're doing it on their own.

I don't know. saying hey Tibbs we're gonna be late to practice because we're finishing our podcast with Edie Falco all right they're they're doing it on their own I love it man I love it well here's what I liked about it most recently and we'll talk about Kendra Perkins in a second but on their last episode Brunson and Hart talked about because it was coming off the back-to-back Cavs Celtics blowouts right where they got they got just routed and they talked about it in a very like open honest way I thought it was it's not the media answer that we get when the guys are at the locker room oh we gotta play harder they were pretty raw Josh Hart said something super interesting he was out I think against the Cavs uh on before the Celtic game and he yeah, I watched at home like a fan and I shut it off in the third quarter.
And I'm paraphrasing. He's like, we looked like trash.
I was like embarrassed. I couldn't believe that we got blown out like that.
Like watching it on TV was a whole different experience than when you're playing in the blowout. And, you know, I think they talked about it in the right way.
So I don't think it could negatively affect their goal of winning.

The only way I could see it doing that is if, like,

guys on the team started getting, feeling a certain kind of way about it.

You know? Yeah.

Like, in-house stuff.

For sure.

I'm all for it.

I think for so many years, for decades,

very few athletes have had, like, a voice outside of,

great point you made, like, locker room. Like, you're going to give the PC like you're going to give the pc you're going to give the basic answers yeah you're not going to get one you don't want to talk to these media people because they don't really have your best interest anyway so there's never really been an outlet for players just to share their thoughts whether it's on their games whether it's on opposing teams i mean draymond kind of i think kind of jj redick was doing that obviously like Draymond, Micah Parsons has the big one in the NFL where it goes on every weekend, just talks about other teams, talks about player situation.
I think it's kind of refreshing, man. Like I think it's refreshing.
I love it as a former athlete, but I love, I love the, I love behind the scenes stuff. I do.
I've been in a lot of those locker rooms, so I know what it's like. But I love seeing professional athletes who are making $30 million a year talk about how

embarrassed they were when they play.

Because it just gives the fans another way of personalizing with these guys, I think,

on a different level, which I love.

I love it.

I think most of these guys who do it, they're professionals, man.

They're not going to let that get in the way of, hey, I'm going to do this instead of like going to get my shots up. Like you build your schedule.
Yeah, it's ridiculous. I mean, in the world where we all kind of say in terms of athlete, especially basketball, motivation, dedication to it, you do the what would Kobe do? Yeah, Kobe would probably never do a podcast in season or whatever while he was still active.
I just don't know if they weren't doing the podcast, would they be at the gym? I feel like those are off days. They're probably doing two or three in a day.
And as long as they're giving us the raw behind the scenes and giving us something that we're not getting from the media, I think it's good you know i mean you talked about reggie and you doing that show but you guys on a pod back in the like if pods were around then oh we're gonna get reggie on no but i'm saying you two back then that would have been one of the biggest podcasts in the world you and reggie in season go while you guys are on the run and then like once a week we get a podcast from matt and right everybody Everybody would have been listening to that shit. I love it.
And you're going to start getting more college kids that are going to do it once they're going to. All these kids are about, even in the pros, they're about building a brand, however you want to define that.
These opportunities now are more and more in the podcasting space and just digital space. I'm all for it.
I love it. I can understand how if you're playing like shit and immediately, like, oh, he's so distracted.
Like, come on, you're doing that once a week and you're talking ball during that time, you know, for the most part. I will say as long as they don't start – well, I guess this is more like retired players, but like recently retired players, as long as you don't start doing the either overly critical or just saying stuff to get, you know, views and stuff like that, which, um, I, I think could tend to go on and like, just don't do what everyone else is doing.
Like you're a current or former player. You could give us stuff that no one else, like the Vernon Maxwell story on all the smoke.
I don't know if you've seen it when talk about how Laja once slapped the shit out of them. Halftime.

That's what we, that's what we, that's what you guys do.

The dudes from the eighties and nineties are different.

They're, they're, they're built a different way, man.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Good mailbag stuff though.

Send more.

Keep it coming.

Again, I want you to take me to a USC women's basketball game.

I want to see Juju in person and good luck to the, what do we call it? The Trojan women, women of Troy. What do you call? Women of Troy.
Women of Troy. Big 10 champ, or Big 10 tournament starts.
Yeah. Good luck.
Yeah, we'll see. Could be probably a number one seed.
I mean, it's going to be UCLA. It's probably going to be them and UCLA in the Big 10 championship again for the third time.
And UCLA is great too. That would be crazy.
Corey, their coach, friend, she's great.

Yeah, they're legit.

Those are two of the best teams in the country.

All right.

Have a good week, everybody.

We'll be back next week.