Greatest NBA Christmas Games with Kenny DeForest

Ahhhhhhhh! It's the holiday season once again, and although this year may be different for many of us out there, one thing will remain the same – NBA Christmas games! So rejoice in the joy of the Christmas basketball spirit with The Greatest duo and their guest, Kenny DeForest (James Corden, Seth Meyers) as they get you ready for the occasion and discuss the best of the NBA Christmas games.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Greatest a production of I Heart Radio.
Welcome to another episode of the Greatest Christmas Edition. I'm
one of your hosts, C J. Toldano, and I'm joined
here by my lovely wife and co host Megan Gaily.

(00:21):
Hi everybody, there's a lot of energy I feel. I
feel like that's that's five pm coffee. That sounds um
good for the podcast and bad for everything else. Um no, no,
no, no no, all right, well you're gonna get us sued
Um not if I'm just doing my own little voice. Listen.
I know John Williams has people and he listened to

(00:42):
John Williams. People listen to sports podcast making sure. Okay,
isn't there like a fair use one that I can
do jingle that's got to be out in the Library
of Congress. Yeah, Library of Congress. Um, it is Christmas time,
almost the end of the year. We are wrapping up

(01:03):
so many things. But Christmas means sports kind of sports
kind of I mean, yeah, this is and shouldn't bring
our guests bad. I was gonna do a nice little
lead up, and you know, NBA and Christmas go together
hand in hand for us at least, And I feel

(01:23):
like for a lot of our listeners were like, who
are some real big basketball heads in our friend in
comedian community, And so I thought, do you want to him?
You've got this train going, Okay, well here's the train
is continuing to go. So we thought we'd bring on
our very very funny friend. You may have seen him
on the Late Show, Late Late Show with James Cordon,

(01:44):
Late Night with Seth Meyers. Very funny comedian, very good
basketball player, Ladies and gentlemen, Kenny DeForest, Oh my god,
thank you and thank you for getting my most valued
credit there at the end. Basketball players always, I would
trade it all. I would trade it all to be
known as a good basketball player. I mean you and
I both know it's like that is definitely networking out here,

(02:05):
as if you're good at basketball and like can can
hang in these games and you're one of the one
of the better people. What we were watching like an
Elf documentary about the movie not Elves, but I am
fascinated and when especially when they sneak in at night.
I love those guys. And they were saying that like
Elf got made because of a game that was Jimmy

(02:26):
Miller's maybe Mosaic. Yeah, because yeah, they like it was
pitched at a basketball game and and like went up
the flagpole out a basketball game. They had a whole graphic.
I don't know if elves sneak in at night. I
think you might be thinking of vampires, but you know,

(02:47):
I'm thinking of they're gonna say freaks. Um. I am
thinking of that story where like the shoe cobbler couldn't
get it done in the day, and then there were
elves that would come in and finish the shoes at night,
and he was like, who's you thinking of? Are you
thinking of an ad campaign by the keebler? Else? Cook?
I think this was like a real story that was
actually probably just talking about like marriage, you know, just

(03:10):
like a man being like how did this get done? Um?
And it's like I want to believe it's his wife. Yeah, exactly,
magical little man in the Yes, yes, that finished all
my tasks. Um, But there is some sort of oh gosh,
I'm seeing a very ugly man on my computer. Just
who's on TV? I just sometimes with the men they

(03:32):
put on TV. It's so hilarious to me. Um, Kenny,
how are you doing? Happy holidays? Thank you, Happy holidays
to you guys. I'm doing that. I'm doing okay. Yeah,
like you know, obviously it's a weird year, but it's
weird for everybody, and I'm healthy and uh, luckily we
have this technology. Man. It's I just did like a
Zoom holiday show with the butter Boy crew. They're in

(03:53):
New York. Amazing evening. Get to see some friendly faces
and talk hoops, which is my favorite ship. I'm good
that show has like a green room too. That's whenever
there's like Zoom shows, I'm like, oh, I was kind
of here just to like talk ship, and that was
my main point. It's weird because there's people don't realizing
is there's the people I missed that because I'm in

(04:15):
touch with my friends, you know what I mean. I'm
talk to you guys. I've seen you guys some. But
it's the people in comedy that if you called them
it would be weird, but you're seeing them all the time,
you know what I mean. And like I felt like
a Partner was one of those people in New York
where I just love her so much, but like if
I called a partner, I should be like, dude, what
is happening? Um? Yeah, I saw her on a bus

(04:37):
today and was thrilled, Oh wow, it's amazing. She's on
It's like a Ben and Jerry's Netflix campaign. Her wand
to Psychs and Fortune and I waved to them just
standing waiting in line to get into the bank. What
a sad Wait what you saw them out? No on
a but no, like they were like on the bus,

(04:59):
you know, like saw herself on the bus. I saw
these women. I like, I thought, like the world has
gotten so bad, like some of the best comedians we
know have to travel on buses and people the sites
has just taken the God. Okay, that's good news, good

(05:20):
news that they're on busses and in that way. But um,
but yeah, so Kenny, we and I hope I'm not
outing you, but we midway through the pandemic where we
thought there was gonna be a little bit of a handle,
we got tested and then immediately after getting tested, me,
you and another comedian played basketball. I mean twenty one,
I guess you could call it. Uh and and I

(05:41):
think I've told you it hurt for a week. Oh
I was so fun, dude, And like I've been playing
a lot before the pandemic hit, like really getting back
in the groove, and so it's just that classic story
of like, oh I can still just do what I
was doing four months ago, five months ago after doing
nothing but sitting on my seating, okays, and yeah I was.

(06:02):
I was destroyed. I was sunburned. I was like hydrated
for three days. I couldn't drink enough water. And then
like two weeks after that, I drove by that court
and you know, it was one of the few rims
in LA that still had the rim up because the
city took him down. Um. I drove by like two
weeks after we did that, and there was like fifteen
guys standing around playing five on five like stubbing in

(06:25):
and I was like, that's it. And then a week
later I drove by in the rim was down. I
was like, they it, but that mean that because that
was like it was a half court, and like you said,
they took down a lot of the rims. And so
I know there have been like on Twitter and just
like some like feeds I've seen people are like, hey,
heads up, I saw a rim still on the backboard.
And then almost seeing like through all the basketball accounts

(06:47):
that we follow, just full five on five like sanctioned
high school games. I mean, college is still going up,
but like high school just like who is who is
like make king sure protocols in place. I know, dude,
my buddy coaches high school and sometimes I like live
stream and watch his games. That's what that's what we're

(07:09):
quarantine watching high school boys basketball on the internet. And
uh and but yeah, it's like none of the parents
were in masks. This is like in the Midwest, so
of course it's just like no masks and uh yeah. Man,
It's like I go back and forth on it because
on the one hand, it is tragic. If you think
about like a high school senior who spent their whole

(07:30):
life preparing for this season. Really it's like your senior
year is always what you're dreaming of and then to
have that just completely taken away. I mean, you know
that's your therapy right there, you know. So the part
of me that's like, yeah, if they can do it safely,
let him have the season. But you're right, it's like
the n b A had billions of dollars making sure
those plays, you know, those are like millions, multi hundreds

(07:51):
millions of dollars investments. Those they're like, yeah, we're not
getting these guys sick. But high school. Yeah, it's just
like I guess the honor system, which yeah I heard
about a personal or a basketball team was a super
sprinter um and the boys like knew they had it,
but we're like, we want to play, and so they
didn't say anything. And then you know, I mean, these
aren't even high school kids. These are like young kids.

(08:14):
But like, okay, you see these games and the parents
aren't wearing masks. It's like, okay, well that's that's step one.
That's like that's the easiest thing to do. So if
they're not even doing that, fucking blow it all up.
They're not doing anything. You know, like you there has
to be and like the Notre Dame football coaches like
a parents can't come. He was like threatening to pull out.

(08:36):
So like, especially in high school, I understand that parents
want to be there, but it's like these are the rules,
and if you can't do this one rule, then you
fucked it up for your kid. I'm fortunately, when they
go to therapy talking about their basketball season, they should
talk about what a selfish bitch their parents are. Oh yeah,
I mean that is like one of my big when
I see adults that can't seem to understand that it

(08:59):
should be about the kids. It like sends me into
a spiral, honestly, And yeah, that's one of them. It's like, dude,
you can live stream the game, you could have the court,
you could drop your kid off at the game, wear
a mask the whole time, and then go home and
do what I'm doing, and like YouTube live. It's like, yeah,

(09:20):
it's infuriating. It's infuriating. Yeah, man, it's really And I
think about like the college kids that lost March Madness,
you know, like the guys that aren't good enough to
play pro, but again spent their whole life. You know,
the guy that's like the tenth man for Duke, you
know that, Like I get to go to Duke and
March Madness and then it's just gone last year, you
know what I mean. And we have on record superstars

(09:41):
who made their name in March Madness and like bump
their stock up. Steph Curry is one of them, Like
Steph Curry became a name during March Madness, and you know,
and so like who knows and hopefully fate and all
in like there's programs and stuff after or even during
this in bubble or something, but like it was, it's

(10:02):
handling correctly by and it's because of a lot of
egos of not the players h And that's like unfortunate. Dude,
did you see that interview Like the Alabama head coach.
It was like recently he was like, I don't know
if we should keep going. And then they interviewed, they
asked Alabama coach. It was such an ego dick answer
where he's like, you really say that if they hadn't
just lost yea, which we don't know your name, we

(10:25):
don't know who you are. And coach K has seventy
five courts named after him, so like him, Um people,
I don't know if you guys um knew this. But
as of I think last week, the Supreme Court has
decided to hear a case brought by collegiate player representatives

(10:46):
against the n C double A for for pay and
for all of these it's not gonna unfortunately, I don't
think it's gonna result in like pay, but it may
result in like computers and then getting money for grad
school and like a different like share in in revenue
at least, And so I think that marks the first
time that the Supreme Court will be hearing a case

(11:09):
on something like this, and I know all three of us.
I think that they should all be paid. So it
definitely does feel like a step in the right direction.
The reason it went to the Supreme Court all the
lower courts rule that's n C double a sucks um
and so they just now the Supreme Court just needs
to uphold the lower courts rulings. That's amazing. You know
a lot of times it's not the first court case

(11:31):
that does it right, just it's kind of like it
loosen to the jar and then the next case gets
an open type deal. And my thing is, it's like, dude,
there's people that work on campus. They have campus jobs,
Like you don't have to pay these guys like life
altering money, but they are employees of the school essentially.
You know, it's no different than working at the bookstore.
I perform for paying audience, Like even if it's just

(11:53):
a cut of ticket sales, you know, that's like your
jersey or you know, like, I don't even think they
need to pay everybody. Some of these people are rich.
And you know, I know someone who went to college
on a sailing scholarship. You know, obviously she's fine, Okay,
she doesn't need the money, but some of these other
people you know, Like, that's such a Megan Gaily sentence.

(12:14):
I knew someone. He went to my brother and I
thought they were going to get married at when she
almost was in my family. Lovely girl. Um, but I
did not need a scholarship. You know, you have to
be to learn how to sail in Indiana. This was St. Louis.
Do you know how to be to learn how to
sail in St. Louis? That's almost even rich people from St. Louis.

(12:37):
This this person aside, she was lovely. Other rich people
from St. Louis fucking suck. Okay, to shift this back
to more fun in the love of the game, Kenny,
I do for our listeners because they're your comedian. You
can look up all your stuff online. But also I
wanted to know a little bit more about your back.
I feel like I know a little bit about the
real athlete. Yeah, walk us through sort of your early

(13:00):
experiences as a basketball playing kid or other sports. When
where did you start? Um, well, my dad, My dad
was a hooper, Like he still plays. My dad is
seventy two and he is literally trying to keep himself
in shape so we can keep playing mentally when things
come back. You know, he played at JUCO and he
pounced around, played in a couple of smaller schools and

(13:22):
landed at JUCO and then got really involved in like
the hippie scene and sort of just phased out of basketball.
But I was just kind of like, you know, it's
like kind of the cliche born with a ball in
my hand, But my earliest memories are I had like
a little Fisher Price poop in the basement, and I'm
an only child, so my dad would like rebound and
feed me the ball. So yeah, exactly, and so I

(13:44):
loved it. And even like when my mom told my
dad she was pregnant, she was like, do you want
to boy or a girl? And like his answer was,
I just want a little round baller, like from from
the from the jump, That's what I was into. And
so you know, I started off playing like why league.
I played soccer too when I was young, like every
other kid in America before we all decided that for

(14:06):
some reason, we ate soccer and that's why our national
team is so bad. But we all play as kids.
I don't understand play. My brother Ryan played and he
was so bad that my mom didn't even have Michael
or me play. She just was like, we're just a
tennis family. I think that's so funny. You suck so
bad so they can't because I can't watch this anymore.

(14:27):
I'm done. Yeah. And then in fourth grade is when
I got a little more serious. There was, in fact
interesting who this is. I guess I can name draft
here a little bit. Lucas Harrold. He pitched in the
major leagues for several years. In fact, one year, so
he grew up. I grew up like four blocks from him.
And one year I turned on the ESPN and Tony

(14:48):
Kornheiser was giving an impassioned speech about how Lucas Harold
is there used to be in the young discussion was
like it was when he was went the Astros and
they were awful, but he still had like a sub
four e r A and he was like, anyone who's
only given up three runs on his team deserves to
be a discussion. So anyway, he was obviously a very
serious athlete. And so his dad called my dad's fourth
grade and there was an AU program starting and they

(15:11):
were looking for players, and so he was like can
I recommend you? And my dad and I talked, He's like,
do you want to do this? It's like yeah, I
mean I'm in fourth grade, so as much as I
can think I want something, yeah, let's do it. And
I tried out and made you know, made the team
and uh so that played you from fourth grade through
my senior high school, same team, Springfield Rockets, and uh

(15:32):
I just loved it. Man, I just like fell fully
and load like I was. You know, it was that
deal where every Christmas, every gift was basketball, Every Birthday,
every gift was basketball. My room was just basketball, basketball, basketball.
It's all I cared about. You know. My A well
messenger screen name was like Rockert. What was my number?

(15:54):
I was young Jerry West Baby and so yeah, dude,
I was just really really it's all I cared about.
And then you know, I played football in middle school
and freshman year high school, and then the star basketball
player at my high school actually tours a c O
playing football, and then the basketball coach is kind of like,
y'all need to not do that, and uh so I
quit and just focus fully on basketball. So sophomore years

(16:15):
through senior jeff basketball and then yeah, I played soccer
through middle school but quit at some point because ay,
you just took all my time. So yeah, that was it.
And then my senior year had a good season. I
was kind of a late bloomer. I was young for
my class, and so I thought I wasn't gonna be
able to play college. And then I kind of like
filled out towards the end of my senior year and
I did one last It's like almost like what I'm

(16:38):
sure some of the guys are doing to try to
get NBA that missed out in March Madness. It was
like a post graduation recruitment camp. It was like all
the guys that maybe should play in college that didn't
get scholarships, one last look, and uh, I had a
really good showing there, and I got recruited to play
at this D two school in my hometown. My high

(16:58):
school rival teams coach took over as the head coach
that year, so he already liked me, and so I
walked on. But you know, it was kind of like
your recruited walk on. He even told me, he called me,
He's like, I have a plan for you. You're not
just a practice squad player or whatever, And uh, yeah,
but I don't know. Mentally, I had started a bunch
of ship happened to me at the end of my

(17:18):
senior year that, um, we don't need to get to
a bunch of difficult ship happened in my life, and
I think mentally I started to crack a little bit,
and uh, I started boozing, which I've never done before,
and started partying a little too hard. And I think
also I thought I wasn't gonna play, so I started
drinking like I was done, and then all of a
sudden I could play. But it's kind of too late,

(17:39):
already already uncorked the bottle. No, we're in the comedian
origin story. Yes, yes, Now this is where it's really
worry well. It's also it's not that different from hearing
you talk about it from your dad's career, Like so
was he like, oh, Kenny, not that path or like
also like I don't can I not, I wasn't gonna

(18:01):
be in the NBA. You're not gonna be in the NBA.
Live it up, dog. Yeah, it was kind of that,
Like my dad was kind of uh, he was always
just so chill, Like my dad never was like, let's
go do drills. You know what I mean, Like I
didn't have that dad. I think he always my parents
wanted me to be well rounded, and I think they
knew the deal, like this is going to end at
some point, you need to have other skills. But yeah,

(18:22):
I think, you know, my dad even told me early,
like be careful party and you know, I've seen how
you drink. And I was like, yeah, whatever, whatever, old
man um, but yeah, and then you know, so I
think it was kind of like he he would love
to see me play four years. But ultimately I don't
even know how much it mattered because my need. By
the time practice started my freshman year, my knees started

(18:44):
to act up and I got an X rade and
I had like fifty tears and both my poteler attendants
just from like wear and tear. Like it wasn't one
thing I did. It was just all the years of
mileage and the way I'm built. You know, one legs
longer than the other and I'm bow legged, and these
different things just put so much press on my knees
and so I kind of lost this step I didn't

(19:04):
have to lose, and so I was just a practice
squad player. I lost my confidence and then got surgery.
Between freshman and sophomore years. I'm coming back, you know.
I like I stopped partying and I really focused and
got back in shape and I was like, this is it,
this is my last and then I got surgery. I
got the same surgery the Hindes Ward got right before

(19:24):
the Super Bowl. It was like you get the plasma
injected right in your tendons. Actually was like the first
person in the Midwest to get that surgery because my
friends dad was like one of the leads orthopedic surgeons
in the Midwest. He's like my friend's dad and he's like,
I'll do it for free if you'll be the guinea pig.
And I was like, okay, so I did so. Yeah,
I needed to say I'll take the vaccine. I don't care,

(19:46):
and uh so my knees felt better and I came
in and shape and then like as soon as I
got cold, my knees just locked up again and it
was exactly so I got an X rating in the
same situation, and I was like, dude, I'm done. I
finished the season because I tried to quit like two
months into my sophomore year, and my coach is like

(20:07):
we've just finished the year. We need you in practice.
And I was like yeah, I closed it out and
it was hard, man, It was really that is the
comedian origin stories, c J. Your because it like I
was just like, yeah, there's a lot of there's a
lot of former athletes in comedy. I think there's a reason. Definitely,
you need somewhere to put that energy and you're not
gonna sit in the office, you know, and the like

(20:29):
the reps like comedy and reps like the reps situation
or like mentality came from sports. Do it over and
over again and you'll see results. And just like yeah,
at first I thought you meant like agents and managers.
And I was like, okay, so your managers your a
AU coach, Michael Michael Jordan has had a really good manager.

(20:52):
Really send his tape. This is this is sort of
like a broader question I have for you your high
school basketball coach, being like, hey, I don't want you
guys to play football and more because you could get hurt.
C J and I have this conversation, like I always
think about this. You know, there were kids growing up
who were like three sports, Like my dad played three sports,
and then like in college. I think at one point

(21:12):
was playing like two sports like that was like an option,
and now kids are like, you got to play baseball
twelve months a year, no matter what kids are having,
Like Tommy John surgery very young, do you do you
wish you had been able to play football? Or like
would he have been like, Okay, you guys can play
baseball because there's less risk, or like what did it

(21:35):
feel to have to just be like, oh I have
to do this one thing now for the rest? Yeah.
I I've actually thought about that quite a bit. I
I do think it's better to let kids do multi
sports because, for one, you're training your body in different ways.
I think it might be less wear and tear. Like
for instance, football obviously is growing physically, but it's also
on grass, so it's not the pounding on your knees.

(21:57):
You know, it's the same pounding on a hardwood floor
every day for a year, all the time. You know
what I mean. It's like, you know, in football, you're
working you like your short area burst muscles, and then
you run track and that's like your distance muscles. You're long.
You know, it's like working different muscle groups. I think
maybe because my dad was a three sport athlete as well,
and so he he also had a real problem with
that situation with coach and also just practically speaking there,

(22:21):
you know, I might have had more of a future
in football. You know, three white guy with big hands,
that's good for football. That's just like yeah, right, yeah,
yeah yeah. So you know, but ultimately, you know, I'm
at peace with all of it because basketball with my
favorite sport. And I think one reason that one thing

(22:42):
I realized on a philosophical level is I feel like
basketball culturally that's like my culture. Now. I'm not an
active player. I played pick up. I have fun with it,
but I mean I like being in the culture of basketball,
like NBA Twitter is my favorite Twitter. NBA people are
my favorite people. Like when NBA people talk about politics,

(23:03):
I agree with them, you know what I mean. It's
like the broader culture of basketball. I'm just glad I'm
in that culture. And that's kind of where I'm at
spiritually with the whole thing. That's how I'd come to
peace with all of it, which has taken years. But um,
I think that's one of the major selling points of
basketball in general. You know, I don't know if gymnasts
get to have that same you know, just because basketball

(23:25):
is so huge and it just permeates and the people
are such superstars and you can go to games wherever,
like it's you your career ended, but like you're being
a part of basketball will go on forever. And I
think and it's also like, yeah, it's just I'm white
and from like the whitest part of the country, like

(23:46):
you are too meggat Like if it wasn't for basketball,
I probably I don't know what I would be, like,
you know what I mean, Like that's the ship that
I'm grateful for. Like, you know, I it's nice to
be in a locker room where you're a minority and
have that experience and get exposed to that at a
young enough age where you could adjust your mentality and
be like, oh my god, half the should I heard

(24:07):
as a child was really dumb and ignorant. But you
don't necessarily realize that unless your child, Like you know,
the reason that baseball players are still there's like still
trumpy baseball players. Besides Gordon Hayward, there's no trumpy basketball
get that should beat out of you practice You're like, oh, yeah,
I'm dumb. It's definitely a recurring thing on here, whether
we bring it up, our guests bring it up. But

(24:28):
like the NBA, we yeah, we look towards them to
lead social you know, social change, and like, hey, how
should we perceive this, whether it's Madam Silver or the
players themselves, like, besides China, besides you know what, we'll
get them there there. You know, when me too happened,
I feel like I had this. Maybe even someone else

(24:50):
came up. We all get one person that we're like, listen,
I know they got me too, but I want to
keep them. I'm not subscribing. And then that's like maybe
that's the NBA with China, that's the that's their blind spots.
But they really like our shoes, guys. That's it's like, yeah, Lebron,
Lebron should not release China edition shoes. Hasn't right now,
like just late take the your foot off the pedal

(25:12):
a little bit. But did that? The GM ended up
getting fired Yeah darn, he's at the Sixers. Oh but
he got fired from Houston, right. He laughed and went
to the seventies Sixers and was like but we were like,
you're right, you're right, and they were like Okay, yeah, okay,

(25:34):
So today's topic is going to be greatest NBA Christmas
Day Games. Yeah, and we're feeling festive. Gosh, it's a
great lead up to this year's NBA games. So the
league starts again tomorrow Tuesday. So excited, so good it is.

(25:57):
Um Yeah, I was like dying for it. Ring when
if the bubble started, like it really changed moods in
this house. Megan sort of saw how tense I was.
Is a similar situation with you, Like your mood is
just instantly better. Yeah, And like it was cool for
me to to to our point before we jump in,
if you don't mind a little small tangent, but to

(26:18):
the social justice thing, like my girl is not a
huge basketball fan of and trying to get her into it.
She's not a sports person. And it's funny when people say, oh,
if you're too politically vocal, you'll lose fans or whatever.
But she walked in the room and Doris Burke was
just breaking down what happened to George Floyd in a
very honest way, and she like sat down and she
and like it was like her and I don't remember

(26:40):
who she was talking to, what they were like and
Brianna Taylor murdered in her bed by police. This is unacceptable.
And she's just sat down and was like, oh, is
this what the NBA is about? And she like watched
the whole game with me. By the end of that day,
she was asking me questions about the luxury text, like,
you know, like it was pretty amazing, and you know,
black lives matters on the court, it's right there. And
so it was really a cool moment because then she

(27:03):
started sharing that experience with me, which is all I've
ever wanted. And yeah, man, it's it's cool. And she's
from Indiana, Like I don't know if you guys know
how much Indiana is like basketball is our fucking thing.
Like you don't drive by a house without there being
a basketball hoop outside. I mean even the Pacers, like
intro is like in states it's basketball, but during it's

(27:27):
like we're so intense about it. So if that state
couldn't make her be into it, I didn't know if
anything ever could. So I'm thrilled. And I think them
losing fans is a lie um that they tell people
to stop doing things. I think they I think it's
a net gain. I think they end up gaining slightly
more whoever than whoever they lose. Yeah, ratings were done

(27:49):
for everything because people are people that you're like fine
losing too. It's like, what like I would it's as comments,
we know this. You'd rather have a half full audience
that really wants to be there than that's like shitty,
and so it's like, yeah, if we're losing the racist
then like that's how how were you watching basketball? Anyways?

(28:09):
But like, please see yourself out. We're very pleased to
not have you be a part of this anymore. Alright,
So to reiterate the topic greatest NBA Christmas Games, should
we take a break. Let's take a break and then
I'll come back. Perfect, all right, and we are back.

(28:36):
We're joined our very funny comedian guest, Kenny DeForest. That's
all you, Kenny. Just so Megan's dad will be wondering
that as he was listening to what position did you play?
I was a like a two three from my AU team,
and then I was our starting center in high school center.

(28:57):
That's how That's how you can tell how serious a
you is is that you were a t a U
but then back in your your local team you're a center. Yeah, exactly. Yeah,
we have like a six ten Division one center in
high school. That was fun. C J. And I discovered
a man this weekend. You'll love this Kenny. He is

(29:19):
seven four, a freshman at Perdue, started playing basketball three
years ago and now is on a full scholarship at
a Division one powerhouse. And he's Asian and he's from
Canada and he played hockey his whole life. And then
they were like, you're seven four, we think maybe you
should play basketball. And he was like, welly him and
hockey pads was a very funny picture. Yeah. I got

(29:43):
to look up Joey Joey. Yeah, just getting checked, just
getting fully checked at the decap Yeah. Okay, So Kenny,
you are going to lead us off with your number
three pick for greatest NBA Christmas Day Games. Okay, So
I had to pull up a list. Yeah good, because

(30:08):
there was a list that had like a game in
nineteen seven. I'm like, you've lost your mind. I saw that.
It's like, oh, thank you. Um, I'm gonna go for
for number three just because the reason I like this game.
Lebron has done enough since then. But it was the
two dozen tend Lebron triple double brusha Lakers because he

(30:30):
had just gone to the Heat and it felt like
a statement game. And you know, Christmas is cool because
it's like the Christmas Day games are kind of the first,
like real games and the like, nothing feels like it
matters until then. It's just like early there's all that
talk and the Christmas Day it's like here we go.
And so him to come out triple double against Kobe

(30:55):
and I watched that game. You know, I obviously don't
remember it like play by play, but you know, it
was kind of it was just like a statement game
for him. And I don't think we've ever seen a player.
We definitely haven't seen a player that's skilled, that dominant,
that's had to prove himself so many different times because

(31:15):
we just refused to accept that he's like one of
the greatest of all time. We just which I honestly
think was good for him because you know, he came
into the league the chosen one and that has killed
I mean, ask O J. Mayo, how you know what
what that did for him? So I think the skepticism
from the public has fueled him in a lot of ways.

(31:35):
But yeah, I have a triple double. And also it
said in this and I didn't realize this at the time,
but he became the only player joining Oscar Robertson, John
Halet Check Billy Cunningham as the only players to record
a triple double and Christmas Day. So you know, it's
like the start of this Lebron Heat era. There's all
this pressure from the from the announcement and he comes
out and drops a triple double. That's amazing. And triple

(31:57):
double on that Mi Heat team where you have Wayne,
Wayne and Chris Bosh next to you like that, that
is a lot like I wonder if there was some
sort of agreement like hey, Lebron, you gotta go off
like because yeah, that's it's a lot of like ball
in your hands when you have one of the best
teams of all time, right, yes, I believe so, yeah. Yeah,

(32:18):
it's always at Staples Christmas. Yeah. And also if you
think about this too, now he's one of the best
coaches in the league, but this is the earliest spo too.
People don't know anything about at the time. He was
kind of this unknown so to get when on Christmas
over the Lakers is just it's huge. Do you think
his eyes looked crazy then too, was he was he

(32:39):
always that intense or has the intense like I feel
like when he first came it was more kind of
like laid back, chill Miami guy. And it's gotten more
intense with He's got Filipino dad energy for sure. But
then it also creeps in that he's like he was
a video guy, but he is like a legitimate just
like basketball heard and yeah, I feel like maybe early

(33:02):
on there's a little bit of faking it, like holy shout,
I have to coach Lebron, Wade and Bosch and all
these people. But now he's just like one of the
most veteran like I love him. I love him. Um. Okay,
great first pick. I will go next. Um. I did
not want to be disrespectful to the game that happened
in ninety seven. So for any of our listeners that

(33:23):
feel passionately about it, it was the New York Knicks
versus the Providence steam Rollers, so we can't leave them out.
And then the first sentences the steam Rollers no longer exist,
like what I have a jersey? I thought they were
the best league past team to watch this year. Okay,
so my my number three pick is the two thousand

(33:43):
sixteen Calves Warriors. Shoot, that's gonna be a lot overlap. Okay,
So yeah, there's only so many games. I picked this
one because it was the first time Lebron and Durant
we're facing each other since two thousand and twelve. And
then it was also the game that put Lebron over
three hundred points on Christmas and the only other two

(34:06):
players that had done that were Kobe and Oscar Robertson.
So it felt sort of like a flagship game for him,
like to go when you have like a record like
that and to like go into that company. And also
the Cabs came back and beat the Warriors by one,
and so it felt sort of like foreshadowing. It was

(34:26):
a very long fourth quarter. But Kenny, go ahead, what
you what were you gonna say? Oh, I was just
gonna have two back in Cleveland, you know that whole
that whole narrative to like for him to hit that
milestone in Cleveland after the way. I was actually in
Cleveland when he announced he was going to Miami with Ramon,
and it was like crazy, it was it was insane

(34:49):
to be there. It was like it felt like a
like a tragedy asolutely like that, that same feeling and
uh so you know, as fun as it is to
shift on Cleveland, but you know, we love Cleveland. So
my last night told me a good friend of mine
told me that I'm an honorary Browns fan, and it
meant a lot to me. Yeah, she's her sister got

(35:11):
engaged at the brown Stadium. So I was like, if
anybody can tell me, it's you. That's amazing. I want
to add to this game because it was one of
my picks. I think it was either going to be
my first or second. But sorry, no, no, it's totally okay.
So everything that you guys saw too was it was
it was the Calves beat came back from three one
the finals, and then it was they went out and

(35:31):
got Katie and we're all Matt like that was again.
I still don't know if I'm right with it, but
I love Katie so much. But to have the game
in Cleveland, the Warriors are like, no one's beating the Warriors,
and just so much ship happened. Like if you watch
the condemsed game on YouTube, it is like thirty seconds
of quarters one through three and then the last eight

(35:52):
minutes or all fourth quarter because it was like Lebron
and Katie were exchanging dunks. Richard Jefferson had one of
the sickest posters at like age thirty eight. Kyrie again
just was Kyrie. He had like some game winners and
then the last shot was like a step three but
it was um. We saw what two more finals appearances

(36:12):
between them after that, and it really just felt like
on Christmas, You're like, you want to see two of
the best, and that was probably like yeah, midway through
that sort of rivalry. And it was maybe the last
Christmas game in Cleveland for a while because I think
it went to the Golden State after Is this the
game where you had to watch in separate rooms? That's
what I was going to get to so real quickly.

(36:35):
For Christmas, I would go spend spending in Vegas with
my mom and Yah. It was second year of her
boyfriend living in the in their house too. And then
this was also the introduction to my mom's boyfriend's daughter,
who is a die hard Golden State fan, like Filipino
Philippinos from the Bay. It is huge and so we

(36:59):
me and my brother Lebron fans. I mean, he's a
Celtics guy, but like love Lebron, So we had to
and like there was already tension between our families, and
so me and my brother watched it in one room
and then his daughter, my mom's boyfriend's daughter watched it
in the other room. Didn't speak, just you would just
hear like yelling in one room and then the other
as it was going back and forth. And then we
never talked about the game out that's so funny, just

(37:22):
walked out, like, so he wants to watch who wants
to watch it? Some wonderful exactly. But man, so that
was that was the first year of Durant in Golden State,
all right, Yeah, that's another factor. I mean for them
to lose them too, because you know, at that point too,
we were already tired of Golden State and Kevin Durant.

(37:42):
It's like, come on, man. So there's just like narrative
that they're infallible, you know, And so for them to
lose on Christmas Day, it's always good to be reminded
that there's a reason to watch the games, because that's
one of the big narratives of people who don't like
the NBA. It's like before the season even starts. You
already know who's gonna win. There's a whole idea that
it's rigged and all that ship, which I think is
so stupid. And for them to lose on Christmas Day,

(38:06):
it's like December twenty sixteen in America had a real
go into it, you know, like, really we really needed basketball?
Yeah we did, we did. That's crazy. He was president
yeah yeah, well he wasn't. He wasn't inaugurated yet, he

(38:28):
had not been um, he wasn't like sitting yet, but
he was president elect during this game. I know. Listen, millennials,
we've seen more than we've should have had too. Sorry, okay,
leave me a one star review, you fucking boomers. Pieces
of ship. Now if you were if you were piste

(38:48):
off about the omission of the Providence basketball, you're also
going to be mad about our stance on Trump. That's
just accepted. No, there, chill. Anyone who liked him left
a long time ago. Um, okay, see give us your no.
So I don't want to because we don't have that
many picks to go through. So we'll just go to
break and we'll come back with our number two pigs.
Oh no, he sounds sad. I'm not sad, all right,

(39:18):
and we are back. So Megan, continue to steal my game.
And you know what, now that I see it on
your paper, I do see it in big. It's bold
and big. It's bold and big. No, it's okay. We're
just speaking to all these games that are all fan favorite.
So can you hit us with your number two? Can
I insist that you go first? Since you didn't go
in the first round two games? I have two games

(39:39):
that I could pick from here, and actually that I
feel like, yeah, and I feel like one of these
might be one of your picks. So I'm going to say,
I'm let's say the ninety three Bulls Knicks game Christmas
Day obviously because and I didn't know much about this
game because I maybe stopped watching for a second because

(39:59):
so this this is the first school work got in
the way, and it was Jordan's left he went to
be retired, and so I think I think it's ninety four, right,
I think it was season or no, maybe, but but Pippen,
uh yeah, Pippin goes off for thirty six. Yeah, yeah,
that's okay. So and and those are and I need

(40:19):
to because I bring it up on his podcast A lot, Man,
I want to like watch every game when Jordan retired
and just to see how Pippin carried himself and like
the pressure, whether he lived up to it or not.
And obviously we know about the one playoff game where
he just sat down. But I just I do love
sort of pipp and revenge games. One it was against
the Knicks on Christmas NBA on NBC. Those are hard

(40:42):
to beat, but yeah, I just love seeing pip and
flourishing because it is that true answer of like, oh
what if Pippin wasn't there, or like Pippen played by himself?
Is he a superstar? And this is one of those
games where he proved it. This was my this was
my this was gonna be number one. But it's fine
because I had three other games to from. That's how
much I love Pippin. Because I grew up a Bulls fan.

(41:03):
Mom and dad are both from Chicago area, so I
was raised die hard even when I was raised Gary,
and so we watched all of those games. Who would
you been a fan of if you were if your
parents weren't from Chicago. That's a good pros. Yeah, West
covers all the Bulls exactly. No, you better back that
statement up. The Midwest is a big bulla Kenny go on. Sorry,

(41:29):
yeah listen unless hear an Austin Crozer fan and then
you love the Pacers. Oh no, I just splashed my face.
Um yeah, man, And I just feel like Pippa never
got his due, and it was that whole like without
Michael Jordan's they wouldn't be anything. And on top of that,
coup Coach never got his due, you know, like those
two guys were legitimate standalone stars and a standalone superstar.

(41:54):
And I think since that era has been left in
the rear view, Pippen has retroactively gotten his you. But
at the time, you know, nobody wanted to give it
up to him because you know, he played with the
go and just for him to go off on Christmas
like that, he played every minute of the game. And
also to like you watched the last dance, was that
narrative of hip and like sitting down he couldn't fight too,

(42:17):
motherfucker played fifty two minutes on Christmaers and overtime. Yet
you know, like come on now, that's crazy. So I
I love it and I love hip and yeah, I
just it was cool to have a season where he
got the show buddy, just how good he is. You know. Yeah,
I'm always wondering the eating schedule. I think about this,

(42:37):
um for this for the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders that have
to cheer on Thanksgiving and they weigh in. I watched
the show, so they're not eating Thanksgiving. But then I'm like,
do they eat it after? So, like, did Pippin and
the team get like prime rib or ham and mashed
potatoes after? I just like, or do they just go
this isn't Christmas and we're doing Christmas the next day?

(43:00):
Like I would love if someone can vlog if they're
playing on Christmas, what the experiences like and what they
do for their holiday. I would love that. Of course,
this is the nineties, they're probably like, yeah, I gotta
eat a whole hand before they get right right, We're
gonna burn some calories. From what I've seen, Yeah, it's
like there there's like a catered meal maybe after or
the day before, like if they're on the road or

(43:21):
something like that, they do like a little meal. But
a lot of these guys have heard just be like, oh, yeah,
we give up Christmas to play in the league. And
it's totally worth it. Okay, that makes sense. But then
their kids are their kids getting Christmas? Like I just
need to know, maybe I just need kids. Their kids
are living in mansions. I'm not going to pass the
hat for them, but like, does Santa bite a cookie

(43:43):
at a D's house? That's all I'm asking. Okay, okay,
can you give us your number two pick? All right,
then I'm gonna pick this one. I'm gonna go two three.
When Tea mac was at the Orlando he and it
was Lebronze Christmas debut, and I I loved Tracy McGrady
and I have a big soft spot in my heart

(44:05):
for all those guys that came right after Jordan's where
nobody was trying to give them their due. Really, lebron
and Kobe, I guess are the ones that kind of
snapped that. But like the Jerry Stackhouses, the Vince Carter's,
the Tracy mcgrady's, the guys that came in the league
and just because they weren't quite Mike, people wanted to
act like they were nothing, you know. And so Tea Mack,

(44:29):
I mean, and this is not a Christmas game, but
that game when he was with the rockets and scored
what was it, like, sixteen points in in seconds or something.
It's pine like, this guy was electric, an absolute superstar
and really was one of the I mean, the post
Jordan's days were kind of dark for a minute as

(44:50):
an NBA fan, So for him to emerge as a
star like that, you know it, it was like him
and Ai and Vince Carter, like, do are the guys
that sort of breathe life back into the league that
post Jordan law? Yeah, Kobe, they really breathe life back
into it. And then Lebron came man and then now
we're in this new era that's probably better than the nineties,

(45:11):
I would say. But for Tracy to get his on
the debut of The Nude Chosen One was kind of
cool to me. For him to be like, hold on,
don't forget about the guy who came out of high
school first, you know what I mean? And so that's
why I picked them. Yeah, Team Mack in general, he
just deserves so much more love. And I love that
you bring that up because it totally is right. Is

(45:32):
the reason why I feel like Tea Mack wasn't talked
about in the same echelon as like Jordan and all
those guys, because one of the media just wasn't on
board in the beginning to sort of shape that narrative
and go, man, he's really proving us all wrong. It's
just you know, he was just good and we just
were like, yeah, we gotta start watching him. But he
was Yeah. I mean he was one of the best
players for a good what eight years, nine years. If

(45:55):
he had stayed healthy, who knows where he would have
ended up on the on the all time list, you know,
like his scoring averages, he was on pace to be
in that Eche a lot of guys and he just
you know, his knees and all that stuff. But I
bet he loves that he sucked up Lebron's Christmas. I
bet he thinks about that every Christmas. It's like, oh,
that was fun. But Lebron did everything he had to do,

(46:17):
just like put together a good like solo game. He
was a boy. If anything, Lebron was like still he
was probably missing Christmas, Like wait, will you know I'm
at the stadium? Does he do we have a chimney? Um? Okay,
does this mean it's my turn? Okay, I'm going purely selfish.

(46:39):
This is the two thousand nineteen Clippers Lakers Christmas Day game.
And I'm picking it because we were at it and
it was really fun. It felt super festive and just
it's if you have a chance to go to an
NBA Christmas game, I like, highly recommended. It was so
fun and like a nice change of pace. It's like
the movies, but like times one thousand and then I

(47:02):
also picked it because that game, Kyle Kuzma was the
Lakers leading score He had four points than A d
and Lebron And it was a good game. The Clippers won.
They were down the entire game, they had like a
huge comeback in the fourth quarter, and um they ended
up winning one eleven, one oh six. And this was

(47:23):
really I mean, I know it was only a year ago,
but it was really like the Clippers aren't the team
to be like it was all about Kauai and Doc
and everything they had like done they were. This made
them like season series they went up to and oh
on the Lakers, Like it's just seemed like they kind
of had their number and so I think it's interesting

(47:46):
to see how that played out too. And I think
the Lakers were up like fifteen with a few minutes
left to go, and the Clippers came back so easily,
and I'm like, this is the this I don't if
you were asking that, I was like, Clippers are winning
the Sea in four short um. Little did we know
that the year would just go to complete hell or
the next few months, but things would change. But yeah,

(48:10):
I've always I mean, we grew up watching these games
on TV and still to this day, like whenever we
get to like be feed away from the players or
see these games live, it doesn't seem real, and especially
on Christmas because as a kid, you're like, you can't
I could have been fathom a Christmas away from my family,
like not having dinner or just like you know, that's
so the fact that we were I mean, shout out
to Megan who like begged her her reps. The agency

(48:34):
manager wants to get us some tickets. But that was
a really, really fun experience. I didn't even have to
beg I just had to circle that. I know, I
wrote an email and then I had to follow up
on that email and then they were like, Megan, we're trying.
That's amazing and it's crazy that I repeatedly through quarantine.
But this year's about like moving through like concrete. And

(48:58):
I remember when you guys went to that, know, like
I think we talked or maybe I just texted you
after I saw a tweet or something, but yeah, dude,
I mean last offseason was so exciting and that just happened,
you know, like Kauai and PG coming to the Clippers.
Then they're gonna move their jet stadium and like fully
separate from the Lakers. And I was like, I'm gonna

(49:18):
live in l A. When there's this battle frill a
going on, I'm going to games. I cannot wait. And
I mean my preseason picked to when it all was
the Clippers. I just that lineup was so deep, and
I felt like I also at the time did not
think Rob Lincoln was gonna be a good GM. He's
proving me wrong this offseason. They nailed it. But I
was like, man, they're there too. They don't have enough depth,

(49:40):
and the Clippers up so much depth and they have
like an amazing defensive lineup with Pbeva on the floor,
they have an amazing offensive line up with Loue Will
on the floor, and they're just gonna be able to
mix it up and interchange so much and they're switched
a bowl and all the and then yeah, the Lakers
are like, yeah, but we have the two we have
two top five players in the sand. Yeah know, what

(50:00):
are you gonna do? Yeah? Yeah, that's awesome, that's awesome.
You guys are there for that playoff p r I. Um, okay,
let's take a quick break and then we'll be back
with our number one picks and we are back. C J.
Do you want to go first? Um? Okay? Um, so

(50:22):
my well, let's tell Kenny, Kenny, since you our guests,
you'll you'll be the big finale. Hopefully we don't take
any off the board for you. I'll wait to do
my honorable mentions. Okay, okay. So this is another Bulls game,
two thousand eleven Bulls Lakers. So the fun thing about
this game was that it was a lockout season. Um
and so the Christmas Day games were actually the first
games of the season. This is the first year after

(50:44):
d Rose won the m v P, so d Ros
is like still prime this Bulls team. And I know
Kenny chime in whenever, but like this was like one
of the this is what got me really back into
the NBA. This was like yeah, we were living in Chicago.
It was just like this team that kind of organically
came together, hometown kid, and it was yeah, Bulls versus
Lakers as Staples Center, Kobe and the Lakers and the

(51:07):
Sunday Whites. And it was a very close game. And
let's see, I had some notes here. De Rose went
off five Kobe and seven Kobe and palstall on the
team together. So the last this is the sequence. It
was a lull dang Steele de Rose game winner and
then there's enough time for a Lakers possession Noah block.
So like if you were a fan of this team,

(51:29):
literally everyone doing their part and it was like, oh,
this is like the NBA is back, and it was
just it was just exciting. One of my favorite favorite
games ever, dude, And I agree with you. This is
the team that got me back into it. Like joke
of Noah just retired. I hope you better sign him
to a ten day so we can retire a Bull
all time. Honestly, it's like Jordan Pippen, you were tweeting

(51:52):
about it. Yeah, you're like, he's like my favorite, and
I loved watching people respond to you. I love him
so much, man, He's just it's just like because I
remember when they picked him, I was like, like, what
you know, it's like this big, sort of undersized, unskilled,
seeming big guy. But he was a fucking star. I

(52:13):
mean out of that national championship team. It was like, oh,
this is like a mega star, household name. So it
wasn't you know, it wasn't like a Trabitsky pick, no fense. Yeah,
but it's always scary. Thanks for that. It's always uh,
it's always scary though, when those there's those great college teams,
there's always one guy that looks incredible on that team

(52:37):
because it was so much talent that isn't ready. And
luckily it was Corey Brewer, thank god, because Hortford and
joke him Noah were both great NBA players. Horford still
is and but dude, yeah, and like yeah, the Derek
Rose and I'll admit, dude, I wanted easily that draft.
I was like, you need easily. He's a stud and
we need a we need a big guy. You know,

(52:58):
he's so skilled. I watched the uh the college uh
when Derrick Ross missos free throws and started crying, I
was like, no, can't have that in this locker room
and have people are crying with the miss free throws,
No sir, and boy boy was I wrong? And uh yeah,
and he rose. I just loved him so much and uh,
I forgot there was a lockout to like to break

(53:19):
down on Christmas, like Christmas sort of miracle for everybody
that's a good pick man, and uh like you said
that secret and lou all ding too. It's another all
time favorite fill that Tom Thibodeau almost killed still hooked
up to an I V. God. Well, the Lakers are
paying him for the next one three three years, so

(53:39):
he the Bobby Bonilla basketball Yeah, so yeah, all right.
I mean it feels reminiscent to this year. I think
this year is gonna be. I mean, I know they're
starting tomorrow, but then the NBA game or the Christmas
Day games are going to be the second game. You know.
So that's pretty fun too. Not a lockout, just a
global pandemic. Okay, my number one pick, Kenny, I really
hope I'm not taking your number one, but I fear

(54:02):
this is two thousand four Lakers heat. Is this your
number one? No? No, I had it narrowed down to two.
That was one of them. But I just decided on
the other one right before you started. So I literally
scrolled down to the I was like, no, I think
I want this one and I'll explain why. But that
was the other one I was considering. Yes. So this
was Shock's return to l A, the first time him

(54:25):
and Kobe were seeing each other, presumably since he had
left the Lakers for the Heat. It was icy. Um,
they wouldn't look at each other, you know, it felt
in the grand scheme of like what we know about life.
It felt sort of like petty. But it was great theater,
and their feud was really like larger than life. And

(54:47):
and now that he's past, you'd like to think that
it was not. It wasn't deep. You know. It was like, oh,
we we are working, relationship got fractured, but we have
like love for each other and I almost kind of
want to watch this game again and and be able
to like pick that out. But Shaq actually ended up
fouling out. He spent most of the fourth quarter on

(55:09):
the bench, and the Heat were still able to win
because Kobe missed a game winning shot at the last second.
Still scored like sixty I mean, I mean, no, not sixty,
but I think ended up being um like forty five
points or something crazy, So it like truly delivered on
everything that people wanted it to. And I think this

(55:32):
also felt really like, Oh, Christmas Day is like when
there's gonna be these crazy must see matchups. I will
have to say in closing, I desperately wanted to pick
a Pacers game just anywhere on my list. The Pacers
have not had a Christmas Day game since two thousand four,

(55:53):
That is the year I graduated high school and I
get botox a lot. Now it's been too long. It's
fucked up. They have stars, Victor Oladiople loves Christmas lights,
give them a Christmas Day game. I even went to
like google it and there were all these There were
like three articles that were like, well, no, no Christmas

(56:13):
game for the Pacers again, Like it seems like it's
almost this like snub or this fuck you. No fan
base loves Baby Jesus more than Indian or not. Like
people will go to church, they'll open their presence, they'll
pray to their Lord Jesus Christ, and then all they
want to do is watch basketball. And I just need
you all to give it. Is it because our owners
are Jewish, what's happening give it to us? Yeah, I

(56:36):
don't know. And here's the thing, as a bols find,
I guess I'm supposed to hite the Pacers, but I
think I love them. I do. I Like I always
love Reggie, I always loved Jalen Rose, Mark Jackson. You
know those teams drought Rick Smith's. I used to practice
that Rick Smith's buzzer beater that steps through from us.
I mean I used to practice that constantly. And I

(56:56):
think y'all, y'all are good and honestly you're like you
have so many trade pieces too. I think the Pacers
are gonna make noises year in the East. So maybe
maybe next Christmas, Yeah yeah, let that like it'll be fun.
Well hopefully Oladippo will be a hundred. I want because
I want to see, like what a healthy Oladipo warrant.
Like t J. Warren Nell has had his break out

(57:18):
Brogden's great Miles Turner. I think he's just gotta like
maybe he knows since no movement happened, that he's got
to prove himself maybe get his value up. So like
I'm happy didn't make any blockbuster moves, but also to
like missed opportunities with Pacers Christmas games. I feel like
there was maybe a year or two where it would
have been awesome to see it a Heat Pacers Christmas

(57:39):
Day game if those Cats pacer ge the Cabs Pacers
like playoff series were always i mean seven games, like
in the first second round, like that would have been
a fun matchup that I think they missed. So that's
my Christmas wish. All right, Kenny, bring us on home
with your number one pick for Greatest Christmas to Megan's

(58:00):
game real quick and then because it'll it'll segue into mind.
I watched the highlights of that game the Heat Lakers,
and it was like a skeleton crew that Kobe was
dealing with two because they lost Shack. Chris Man was
the starting center, you know, like Chucky Atkins was the
starting point guard, which hey, I got love for Chucky,
but he's a six man. He doesn't need to be

(58:21):
your starting point guard. And so the fact that that
game was as close as it was just shows Kobe's
greatness too, Like the highlights of that game, or just
him catching the ball at the high post, backing down,
turning fade away like Carl floor, you know what I mean.
And it's just like that guy was other worldly good.
Which I'm going to segue into a Lakers win here,

(58:42):
since this is the year of Kobe love doesn't eight
when the Lakers beat the Celtics rematch, I think we
gotta go out with a Kobe win for sure, and
a big thing for me, my all time favorite coach,
Phil Jackson. This was his thousandths win and so he
got on Christmas, made him the fastest coach in history
to that mark. I fucking loved Phil so much, and

(59:05):
especially after the last Dance, I'm sure you felt the
same way watching him deal with Rodman. That guy like
he's a philosopher, he's like more, he's more than a coach. Yeah,
the fact that he understood Dennis Robin the way he
did let him go, brought him back, just put his
arm around him like he was. He deserves it. Man.

(59:26):
I love Phil, and so for Kobe to get a
big win against the Celtics, which obviously at that time
was the powerhouse team, the first Big Three. People want
to act like the first Big Three and no sir
um and yeah, man, I just it's funny like Kobe,
I have to admit I did not appreciate him during

(59:47):
his prime because I was one of those stubborn Michael
Jordan fans that just didn't want anyone. But also that
shows you how great Kobe was. He was like the
first guy since Jordans that I felt like, Oh I
got a cheer against this guy. That's how much I
knew how good he was. And also I think I
heard him that he modeled his game so much after Mike.
You know, it's like you're watching Michael Jordan's two point out.

(01:00:08):
A lot of people kind of don't. I don't think
I appreciated it as much because that was the most reason. Yeah,
it was like he was like it was like a
great cover band, you know what I mean, Like that
was great, but that looked just like the guy you're
trying to beat. But man, he he was special, and
especially on Christmas man he played he was also one
of the all time great Christmas Day performers. So that
was my pick. That's great. I mean, the Kobe Jordan's thing. Again,

(01:00:31):
I'll probably talk about this every day till till the
end of time, like but no almost in it. One
is death obviously made me look back on just life
and just like appreciating greatness and everything he had given
to us, and especially what he was doing in the
later part of his life with you know, um, you know,
trying to put up bringing the women's game up. But

(01:00:52):
also it almost wasn't until I saw the last dance
and he gave credit to Jordan. He was like, there
wouldn't be me without or like he should finally not admitted,
but like the intention of like no, I did take
Jordan's moves. Of course I did. And then I like
I factored in with everything else my work ethic, and
it's not easy to copy Jordan's and that's it's like,

(01:01:14):
of course, yeah, that's awesome. People are copying Jordan's great
Like that's not that's not a bad thing. Yeah, man,
it's like, of course you did, you know what I mean,
Like I don't know. I even remember when everything happened
with Louis c K. People were like, are you gonna
same thing? I was like, no, because I clearly copied him,
you know what I mean, Like, it's so obvious that

(01:01:35):
I looked up to Louie that for me to go
online and be like what a discret, like it just
felt gross. I was just like, honestly, I'm bummed about it.
That's my answer. You know. I feel like as a
comedian as supposed, I can get to understanding that ship
with Kobe where it's like, yeah, I copied the best, Like,
what do you want me to say? You know what
I mean, It's what you do. It's what you do
when you're learning. When you're learning any new skill, you

(01:01:57):
look at the best to ever do it. You know,
this is all Nicki Minaje wants Cardi B to say that. Yeah,
thank you, just thank you, and I definitely took some
from your point, so I actually I feel like it's
something like that thank you. We were listening to Master.
It was the last thing listen to Master. Yeah, I mean,
she is a top five rapper of this generation, and

(01:02:19):
I in like, we gotta stop putting the female like
qualifier ding again, yeah, and stop beating them against each
other curious she's I mean, Jesus Christ, it's insane. I
love Cardi too. I just wanted to be friends. Um
one honorable mentioned that. I want to point out there's
a lot of Knicks games on this The one I

(01:02:40):
like though, is this Nick's Celtics ninety five. I was
not here, Kenny. I don't know if you were here. No,
CJ was not here. Um. But this is very much
viewed as Patrick Ewing's like coming out the Knicks were
down by five, and as a rookie, so this was
his first season, he scored already two points. They went

(01:03:01):
to double overtime, the Knicks ended up beating the Celtics,
and then everybody was like, oh, I guess we know
who Patrick Ewing is if they had not already known
him from Georgetown. So that's for people that were alive
and like the next great. And I never appreciated youwing
fully either that actively as a Bulls fan. Teams were

(01:03:24):
just wean, but we always crushed him because we had Michael.
But so it made me think all those guys sucked.
And then you look back and you're like, nah, he
was amazing. He's amazing. Yeah, it's almost you look back
on it, it's like tragic at him, and I don't
I didn't mean to laugh like him and Barkley and
uh stalked in him alone, like they didn't get championships
because Jordan was so good. And then you're like, it's

(01:03:44):
not because they're bad. It's just yeah, kind of the wrong.
He was so dominant that the most competitive assholes on
the planet are still willing to be like, yeah, dude,
I mean, of course I don't have a championship. Michael
Jordan was for those guys to say that knowing how
they're wired is crazy, and it seems like the only
one who won't is maybe Gary Payton. The last dance,

(01:04:06):
he was like, no, I'm better. Like he wasn't saying
I'm better than him, but I was like, oh, okay,
he was living on an alternate universe. Yeah, which I admire.
I guess the baby shout out to Glove, Yeah, shout
out to him. Um gosh. I think on Christmas, which
game are you guys most excited about this year for? Yeah,

(01:04:29):
but I know that I think the Warriors nets obviously.
I've been watching in the preseason k D and Kyrie,
just seeing him on the court again and seeing k
D again, like I just like I was kind of mad.
I was, no, I was absolutely mad, like Katie went
to the Warriors because it wasn't that I didn't want
him to get one, but I just felt like we
couldn't fully appreciate his greatness because he couldn't take over game,

(01:04:50):
like he wasn't their only option. No, it felt it
felt icky. Okay, he joined the champion at Lebron. It
was it was. It was a concept, you know what
I mean, like the Heat should be very good. We
don't know the words, like, hey, it's one of the
all time great teams. And they added Kevin durant Um.
So this is the slate. Pelicans Heat. That is the

(01:05:14):
first game, and then Warriors Bucks. I'm kind of excited
for that. Nets Celtics, Celtics, Mavericks, Lakers, and then Clippers
and Nuggets. That is a fucking great slate, man. I mean,
first of all, Pelicans are gonna be I'm I'm gonna
watch a ton of Pelicans is here because I obviously
in Brandon Ingram, who I'm really excited about Ingram. So

(01:05:38):
you know, as Pelicans heats, so obviously defending Eastern Conference
champions versus Pelicans, that's excited. Was the next game Warriors Bucks.
People forget we keep forgeting about the Warriors. Man. I
keep talking about like how good the West is and
the song goes, oh yeah, and the Warriors like fun yeah,
and like they lost Clay. But people haven't been watching

(01:06:00):
Telli Ubre because he's been not bad teams. That dude
is developed. He's not Clay Clay is unbelievable. But Ubre
is gonna be able to catch and shoot. Yeah, that's
one thing he can do. And Wiggins, I think is
in a finally you know, Steve Kurterer. If anyone's gonna
get Andrew Wiggins strained out of Steve Kerr. And so
if if Wiggins can take a step and Ubre takes

(01:06:22):
a step, those two combined can help replace play. Yeah,
and you still have Draymond and Step you know. So,
so then we have nets Celtics that will be very fun,
awesome Kyrie back against Boston. That's that's a good story
stage the arena, you know. And now it's kind of
the Boston team that feels like you can really root
for them, you know, like the Celtics team minus Gordon Hayward.

(01:06:45):
I am like, oh yeah, I'm into them. I love
Red Stevens truly. Yeah. Um. And then Mavericks Lakers Lebron
versus Luca. Yeah, yeah, that's exciting. Yeah, that feels like
the most like fun one. And then Clippers Nuggets Oh boy,
the Clippers. It's really um it'll be interesting to see

(01:07:08):
what happened on Serge man. Surge is a great pick
up for them well and they say yeah, they say Montrez,
while he was a great six man, he just couldn't
be the big man that they needed like they were.
That was the only sort of weakness. They're like ship
like Whoky guard Yoki. They were trying to throw Zoo
back at him. But like Surge is, if you can
have them healthy or have him just like in the

(01:07:30):
right spot during the playoffs, they'll blow by most every team.
You know. Certain brought up Miles Turner earlier. Miles Turner
used to watch Surgeon Baka film because that's what Myles
Turner can do. Should I tweet at it? Yeah? He Surge.
He surge Miles because he can space the floor. He's
a legit three point shooter. Now he's still a plus

(01:07:52):
rebounder and he's not gonna leave the league in shop
blocks anymore. But they don't need him to. You know,
he's still quick enough to guard Yoki and that's really
what they need. And maybe most importantly is that he's
a proven Kauai teammate, like they were talking about chemistry issues.
Kauai need like he needed more familiarity in this in
the locker room and man at the center position, Surge

(01:08:12):
is like the exact guy that Kauai pick. I mean
he called him or I think he like Texan was
like you coming or what which is really funny. So these, um,
these games start at nine am and presumably we'll go
till about eleven pm, so you've got full day. You
don't even you may not be able to be with
your family. We got five well not we I didn't

(01:08:32):
do anything, um, but there are five NBA games that
can take the place of your family. I like Lebron
better than some of my family, you know, not nuclear,
not nuclear mom and dad, but like outside, um, Kenny,
where can people? Where can our listeners find you? At? Ken?
D E F O R E S T not two rs.
For some reason, people want to put a second are

(01:08:53):
in there. Um, I would say Instagram is is what
I prefer. I'm also on Twitter, but I think about
deleting it every day, So follow me on Twitter and
Instagram and then well you know, if I quit Twitter,
then NBA Twitter's like probably the only thing keeping you there. Yeah,
and We're in Christmas Eve of NBA Twitter right now,

(01:09:15):
so it's gonna be tough to back out. I'll be
on Twitter. You can find you can you just gobble
in the fun and leave the rest. I mean that's
very I don't know what I'm talking about. My dive
head first into the shitty every day. Um, I got
all Kenny stand up to Oh yeah absolutely, and um
Pro Bowl announcement came out today Rodrigo blanket ship left off.

(01:09:37):
I'm pretty fucking pissed. I want to recount. I want
to recount. How about that? Oh yeah he need Yeah,
for sure. The forest Buckler will be there someone as
someone else got a spearhead your campaign. I'm spearheading Hot Rods.
But the Forest Buckner you got sucked over to Kenny Moore.
We got a player named Kenny on her team. Kenny
Moore's change good and they both got snow up. Wow.

(01:10:01):
This is wow wow Wow. Um doesn't Kennymore just sound
like a guy who lives in Indy. I love that name.
It's just so Indy to me. Um, you can find
me at better Megan Gailey on Instagram, at Megan Gaily
on Twitter. Oh my half hour is on YouTube right now.
The link is in my Instagram bio. I think it's

(01:10:25):
only up for a few more weeks, So gather the
family around, or if you don't have family that you
can't see, gather me around. I'd love to be your
little bitchy aunt or sister or whatever you need me
to be. I will be for you all right at
c J Tolodonna on everything. And that's it you guys.

(01:10:45):
Merry Christmas, Happy holidays. Please stay safe but not there yet.
Do your do your very very best. Don't drink and drive.
I don't know that feels like a holiday when you
got to throw out there, Kenny, thank you so much.
Merry Christmas, pleasure, Merry Christmas, Happy holidays, everybody, Thank you

(01:11:06):
all right, see you next time. The Greatest is a
production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my
Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.