What's Wright - Nick Wright reacts to Lakers RECORD sale, LeBron James impact + Thunder-Pacers Game 6 predictions

Nick Wright discusses the fallout from the Los Angeles Lakers record $10B sale and what it means for the future of the Lakers and LeBron in LA. Then, Nick gives his final predictions for Game 6 of the NBA Finals between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City Thunder and Tyrese Haliburton’s Indiana Pacers. Later, Nick debates NBA ring culture and Caitlin Clark’s impact on the WNBA. Finally, as always, Nick and Damonza answer your questions. 

0:00 - Straight to Voicemail - brought to you by Boost Mobile

6:10 - Nick reacts to Lakers record sale

32:22 - Pacers path to win tonight

48:07 - What is OKC’s legacy

55:18 - Has ring culture gone too far?

1:14:35 - Caitlin Clark’s trajectory

1:19:56 - Damonza’s snake update

#Volume

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome in What's Right with Nick Right? Episode three forty one.
This episode of What's Right with Nick Right is presented
to you by boost Mobile. The Lakers have sold, We
likely get a new champion tonight, more mayhem in the
WNBA that I actually think is the best thing imaginable
for all parties involved, and a massive development in the

(00:28):
lives of one of the hosts of this show. We
will get to all of that on the show. First
of all, a reminder to everyone like rate, subscribe, review,
We appreciate that we're kind of stuck at like two
hundred and eight on YouTube, So if you're watching right
now on YouTube, you're probably already subscribed. If you're listening
to this later in the day, maybe check us out

(00:49):
on YouTube, and definitely subscribe on iTunes, Spotify all that.
Speaking of subscribing to things, I may have put the
First Thing's First crew in a bit of a tough
spot because we have been on a slow try track
to a million, and I was very confident that we
were gonna get to the million before the end of
the NBA Finals, and so I said and then kept saying,

(01:12):
if we don't get to one million before the NBA
finals end, then we are shutting the channel down and
starting over. Now, I don't know that I really had
the authorization to do that, but that's what I said.
And I'm a man that while I bet a lot,
I've never not paid a bet. And so this is

(01:32):
a little cross promotion if I could, because we the NBA,
you know, the season could end in thirteen hours, and
First Things First is at nine hundred and ninety eight thousand,
four hundred and two, so we need sixteen hundred just
under YouTube subscribers on First Things First, or I'm gonna

(01:52):
be in some trouble. So if you want to cross
subscribe that at least for the day, that would be
greatly appreciated as well. Tonse, how are you pretty good?

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Pop's amazing? How you doing?

Speaker 1 (02:04):
I'm doing well. The first things first, we're gonna get it.
You have the Suite at Home silver plaque from YouTube.
We're gonna get the gold plaque, unless, of course, we
have to start all the way back from zero, which
would not be great before we get to straighten the
voicemail brought to you by Boost Mobile. We do for
new viewers or listeners, We do have an annual tradition

(02:25):
on this show that my guess is Demanse doesn't quite remember,
but he is featured in. So it is time to
rehash our yearly challenge a quick update on it. Go
ahead and roll the tape. Much like last year. I
have a crisp clean, one hundred dollars bill right here.

(02:45):
This will become yours if you can name the two
teams in the Stanley Cup final.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
This is Stanley Cup is a that's that's hockey.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
So, Demanse, I did you favor this year? I waited
until it was over, so maybe it has come across
your feed.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
The oilers were in it.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
The oilers that I'm not even gonna make you say
where they're from. The answers Edmonton. They and they played
and they lost two drum roll.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Hold on, let me get the espn ap real quick.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
No, no, no, I'm gonna was it Panthers last year,
because That's what I'm gonna go with this year.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Was it the Panthers?

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Wow, let's go nail it. It was same. What a shock?
You nailed it? Panthers oilers for the second straight year
in the Stanley Kop A little mini dynasty in Miami.
This is straight the voicemail brought to you by Boost Mobile.
Noah Lyles calls off his race with Tyreek Hill as

(03:59):
no Allile has done the impossible, which is make the
American one hundred meter dash gold medalist unlikable. Well done.
Noah Lyles and Tommy DeVito and Jackson Dart discussed going
on Love Island. Here's I've never watched a single second
of Love Island. I do, though, say with some level

(04:19):
of confidence that if someone if Tommy DeVito came to
me and was like, what is the single best way
to maximize my earnings over the next five years, keep
grinding at the NFL as a third or fourth string quarterback,
or try to get on next season of Love Island
and see what that parlay's into. I'd say, buddy, put

(04:42):
the football down, throw some tanning oil on, get your
ass out there on Love Island. That would be my
sincere Deloitte style consulting advice. All right, like rate, subscribe, review,
do all that demands. You're not in person, So while
you are reading this question, I am going to sell
you one hundred dollars because of fair is fair. You

(05:05):
nailed it, and I don't think you cheated. I know
I didn't cheat it. My history is a natural reaction
of being thrilled that you nailed it. I'm proud of
you are. Let's go ahead and get started. Uh.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
So, the Bus family is selling their majority steak for
the and the Lakers for a little bit over my
net worth the sale to Dodgers owner Mark Walter.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
So that's a team valuation at a record ten billion.

Speaker 3 (05:31):
What do you think? What are your thoughts on this sell?
What does it mean for the Lakers?

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Okay, so this means a ton and where I think
people are going to be a little confused. Hold on
one second, go ahead and send their next pay one
hundred bucks fresh in your account. You should get the
text here any moment. Thanks thanks for.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
The panthers and oils, oilers for being consistent you go,
and thank you to.

Speaker 1 (05:58):
Me for not saying, by the way, I need the
cities they're from, because I don't know if he's even
nailed that. But it doesn't matter. All right, this is monumental,
So let me let me kind of do this the
long way because I think it's the right way. So
doctor Buss bought the Lakers, gosh, almost fifty years ago

(06:22):
and was an unbelievable steward for this franchise. It obviously
already had a history because Wilton Jerry West had been there,
but Doctor Buss ushered in the Showtime era and helped
really ensure the Lakers became the premier franchise in the league.

(06:50):
And during Doctor Buss's tenure, when he was alive, they
basically had no lean years. You went straight from Showtime
into a brief post HIV for Magic, you know valley,

(07:11):
but you still had Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exell, he
still had you know, you weren't a laughingstock. Got shack
right into Shaq and Kobe. A brief valley for three
years with Kobe, but you still had Kobe, and then
right into Kobe Powe and they were, you know, for
forty years, consistently excellent. And then he passed the team

(07:37):
went down, was passed down to his children, and then
they had the first actual real bad stretch of Lakers basketball,
the tail end of Kobe's career, the very end post Achilles,
and then the few years after him when they had
you know, the number two pick, like three out of

(07:59):
five years when they couldn't get things right, and then
Lebron came in and saved them. But while that was happening,
there was a lot of inter family fighting, should we sell,
should we not sell? Who's going to be in charge?
Genie ends up taking over Genie. There's six Bus kids.

(08:20):
The rule was the majority have to agree to a sale.
You know, a few years ago pre COVID. I believe
some of the bus kids wanted to sell. Genie staved
them off, and now I don't know if it was unanimous,
but according to Ramona Shelburne, who knows Genie Bus very well,

(08:42):
she was on board with the sale. And the other
important piece of this that people have to understand. And
I apologize if people already understand this stuff, but I
would imagine some people they need this background. The Lakers

(09:05):
did spend money on the court, so they were, you know,
over the last decade, I think spent the seventh most
in luxury tax money of any team. Now you might
say you're the most valuable franchise, you're in the second
biggest market. Seventh most is still kind of on the
thriftier side. And people bring up the fact that they

(09:25):
let Alex Crusoe walk because of finances, But they were
not a spendthrifteam. On the court, they maybe didn't spend
the way They certainly didn't spend the way the Clippers
have or the Warriors have or the Suns are right now,
but it should be noted the Clippers and the Sun

(09:47):
spending that way has not done them any good. So
on the court, they were not cheap. It was everything else.
It was them low balling ty Lou because they were
cheap with coaches. It was that they did not have
the scouting department and the analytics departments and the other

(10:10):
things that go along with really making your franchise cutting
edge and giving you every edge you can have. And
it was because they were cash poor. And I know
that sounds weird, but when it's a it's not that

(10:32):
incredibly dissimilar to what you at times see with the
Dallas Cowboys, which is it's this brand, it's the most
valuable team in the league. However, the ownership group, their
business is the team. And when your business is the

(10:54):
team as opposed to the team being one of your businesses,
you don't have these incredibly deep pockets to dip into
at all times. And because of that, and this was
a big criticism I had had of the Lakers for years.
They were run like a family business. It was Genie
Buss and Rob Polenka. Polenka who was there because he

(11:20):
was Kobe was essentially family. Rob was Kobe's guy, so
he gets kind of godfathered in Kurt Rambis, who was
essentially family. Linda Rambis, Kurt's wife, who was one of
the most influential people in the organization, and that you
know magic before he walked out because he said Rob

(11:43):
was basically a snake in the grass. That was the
brain trust, and they were not maximizing the advantages they
have naturally of being the Los Angeles Lakers. It is
actually not that diy similar to what the Los Angeles
Dodgers had going on when Frank McCourt random Now they

(12:06):
were better run than the Dodgers and are not comparing
Genie Busts to the mccourts. However, Frank McCourt, particularly post divorce,
was cash broke to a degree. And what happened with
the Dodgers they got bought by this same group that

(12:28):
now just bought the Lakers, and they became a rocket ship.
Now baseball's not basketball. Baseball has no salary cap, baseball,
you can just buy players. Basketball is not the same.
But that's not all. The Dodgers didn't just throw money
at everything. They hired the best GM in the world,

(12:51):
and Andrew Friedman are president of baseball Operations. They greatly
improved every aspect of their organization. And so, as crazy
as this sounds, the person the only person involved with
the Lakers who I'm sure saw this news and I'm

(13:16):
sure he knew what was coming and was a little
nervous or non you know, nonplussed about it, was Rob Blinka.
Because this group has shown we value cutting edge front

(13:36):
offices and we are willing to spend on coaches and
gms and team presidents. And so that is the Lakers
already had this built in mega advantage of being the Lakers,
being in LA, being the number one free agent destination,

(14:00):
all of that. If you then add to it that
they are now going to have as deep pockets as
any team in the league and be as well run
as any team in the league. It is really really
great news for Laker fans. I think it's great news

(14:21):
for the NBA as a whole. I don't you know,
if you're a fan of another team, it's a bummer.
And I think that one of the you know, evening
of the playing field, so to speak, was that the

(14:42):
Lakers weren't fully leveraging the fact that they're the Lakers,
and that they should be they you know, willing to
spend whatever, and that they should be run by the
smartest people. They should be considered the premier job in
the NBA. The Lakers head coach should have never Luke
Walton into Frank Vogel and I listen, Frank Vogel won

(15:03):
a championship. I understand that, into Darvin Ham and and
so that's what, in my opinion, this is. That's why
this matters. And then you get to the ten billion

(15:26):
dollar number, which by the way, I was on Collins
Pod last night and I got this wrong. So the
Celtics just sold for six. I didn't get that wrong.
And when I saw the Celtics sell for six, they
don't own their arena and the Lakers sell for ten,
I thought the Lakers owned Staples. They don't. They don't

(15:50):
own the arena. And so the fact that they went
for sixty seven percent more than Boston is jarring. And
the fact that we have had in a decade, a
progression of when Balmer bought the Clippers, that was twenty fourteen.

(16:16):
The Clippers were good and had stars. They're obviously not
the Lakers, but they are in Los Angeles. People were
shocked that Steve Balmer was willing to pay two billion
dollars for the Los Angeles Clippers. That was eleven years ago.

(16:43):
When the Suns went for four, the Hornets went for three,
the Celtics went for six, and the Lakers go for
ten billion dollars.

Speaker 3 (16:59):
The cops going, so, why are these teams selling right
now with the expansion coming, Like, wouldn't it be time
to hold on to your team?

Speaker 2 (17:07):
What's going on?

Speaker 1 (17:08):
Well, so that's so. So here's the other piece of
it with the expansion. So there is going to be expansion,
and you know it's almost assuredly going to be Seattle
in Vegas, and the expansion fee is probably going to
be six billion dollars six billion, right, So that six

(17:35):
billion plus six billion is twelve billion. Where is the
expansion fee go? It goes to the thirty other owners.
It's the basically the tax the new owners have to
pay because now the pie is not going to be
split thirty ways. It's going to be split thirty two ways,
so they have to buy their way into that. So
what's twelve billion divided by thirty The answer to that

(17:58):
is four hundred million dollars. So every owner when they expand,
if the expansion would bee is six billion, will get
a check for four hundred million dollars. I understand, demons
your thought on shu. You know, why wouldn't you just
wait until you get that check. Here's my guess. My

(18:21):
guess is that was built into the sale. Like so
when you see ten billion, is the real value that
was kind of agreed upon nine and a half billion,
But it's like, hey, do it now and I'll get
that four hundred million in a year. I'll give that

(18:42):
to you on the front end. So the it would
that four hundred million is a real number, but it's
also amazingly only four percent of this sales price, and
so that's not gonna be the hang up here. I mean, yeah,

(19:02):
these numbers are. It's so well. The way our brains
deal with numbers is funny because in a lot of ways,
like if you heard somebody uh like some to at
least for my brain, like seven hundred and ninety five

(19:25):
million dollars feels like when you hear that, like it's
more than one point two billion, just because like the
not even though obviously it's it's sixty percent of it,
at least to me in my head. So, like four
hundred million sounds like obviously a massive amount of money,

(19:45):
and ten billions sounds like a massive amount of money.
But when you put in context four hundred million is
you could stack up twenty five different four piles of
four hundred million, and that would then be ten billion.
That's when you really conceptualize what we're talking about here.

(20:07):
Go ahead with the with your follow.

Speaker 2 (20:09):
Ups, Uh, what does this mean for your boy Lebron?

Speaker 1 (20:14):
So not what people think. So I think the initial
reaction is what does this mean for Lebron, like with
his future with the Lakers. But he had a good
relationship with the Buses. I'm sure he'll have a good
relationship with this group. My guess is he already knows
this group, especially because I mean they already owned twenty

(20:35):
six percent of the team, right, so the they So
I don't you know whether or not Lebron was going
to stay with the Lakers for the rest of his career.
I don't think is really impacted by this, especially because
a lot of the different things I'm discussing that the

(20:56):
Lakers can improve upon, they're not like a me quick
fixes or you know, quick changes, and Lebron doesn't have
that much time left. What it oddly means for Lebron
is his ultimate goal of owning that team in Vegas

(21:17):
just got that much harder because this cements like there
may be there would have been a pushback a bit on.
Wait a minute, the most of franchise has ever sold
for it is six billion dollars, and now that's what

(21:40):
you want, you know, the two new owners or ownership groups,
it would be probably for the expansion teams to pay
like you can't say so you're saying we are, as
you know, the most valuable team in the league when
the Celtics cell for six and then essentially you're gonna
charge me six to by the Las Vegas team or

(22:01):
six to buy the Seattle team. But now that's not
the case. Now the most expensive team sold for ten,
So Adam Silver will be able to pitch six as
Hey Bright price the brick's only going up. It's sixty
percent of what our most valuable team is worth, and

(22:21):
so Lebron's Lebron's got made more money in his career
on and off the court than any American athlete other
than Michael Jordan and maybe Magic because of all the

(22:41):
Magic's businesses, any you know, big time American star athlete.
But just because he's made over a billion doesn't mean
he has anything close to a billion cash. And now
we're talking about the franchise being six billion. So I

(23:03):
know Lebron has been adamant forever that he wants to
one day be the owner of an NBA team. And listen,
there might be an ownership group. I would imagine there's
an ownership group that would say, hey, you put in
five percent of the six billion. You put in three

(23:23):
hundred million, and you will be the you know, face
of the franchise, lead voice, all of that. But if
you're not the majority financial owner, you're always kind of

(23:45):
at the mercy of the guy or guys who are.
And that's also why this is now the third straight sale.
Might be yeah, it's the third straight sale that we
have heard. Oh don't worry, the previous owner is gonna stay.

(24:06):
The governor Cuban said he was gonna do it. That
didn't last with Grousbeck with the Celtics said he's gonna
do it. We'll see, And now Jeanie Buss, their statement
was she's gonna stay on as governor. I don't know
man teams that buy guys groups or guys that buy

(24:27):
teams don't typically do it because they don't want to
run it. And so we'll see there. All right, what
else do we have?

Speaker 2 (24:36):
How much do you think the Luca trade played into
the price of.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
This None at all, None at all, Like I it
would have mattered. It would have mattered. Demand's a for
a different market, and matet well, maybe a tiny bit,
maybe the fact that the Laker's future is now secure

(25:02):
in theory for the next decade. But they still got
to get Luca resigned. Now, he did send a nice
tweet about this that makes it seem like he's happy
about it, But there is because it's the Lakers. I
don't think it's not the same way that if Luca

(25:24):
had been traded to Memphis, what that would do for Memphis?
You know what, Like the the Lakers just have this
inherent value that other teams simply do not have. Uh
So I don't think it played as big of a
role as people think. I do think here's the other

(25:44):
piece of it before we move on. I I wonder
how this landed on the desk of a bunch of
NFL owners where they're like, hold on a second, here

(26:05):
it like, I'm gonna look it up real quick. What
did the hold on? What did the Commanders sell for?
Was it six billion dollars sales price? I should have
looked this up before. Yeah, six billion? Okay, if you
I'm not listen. I don't think Jerry Jones wants to
sell the Dallas Cowboys. But if the Los Angeles Lakers

(26:32):
are worth ten billion dollars, are the Cowboys worth fifteen? Honestly?
Like if the most valuable team in the NFL in
the NBA is worth ten, are when the the Broncos

(26:52):
just sold for four point six five to the Walton
Penner Group, Right, well, that's a bargain. I think if
the Sun, if the Phoenix Suns are worth four, the
Denver Broncos in that league are only worth four six five.

(27:19):
So the NFL is the the dominant league obviously in
this country. And if we now have what is this
eleven figure sales for? Is that right? Eleven figures, yeah,

(27:45):
nine zeros, uh eleven figure sales for the NBA? Then
what are the Cowboys worth? What are the Steelers worth?
What are the Niners worth? Like to me, those are

(28:09):
real questions. What are Mike Kansas City Chiefs worth? Are
the given the NFL versus the NBA? Like how much
bigger of a brand are the Lakers than the Chiefs?
They're a bigger brand, but the NFL is such a

(28:33):
bigger business, Like, if the Lakers are worth ten billion,
are the Chiefs worth seven and a half? Maybe? And
so I just I there was a time when and
I talked with Colin about this last night, that it

(28:54):
felt like these sports teams would only go up in
value and were undervel I I wonder if we are
reaching equilibrium where these teams are properly valued the and
then my favorite like anecdote about how quickly this has moved.

(29:20):
And I understand one is baseball, one is basketball, and
one is Los Angeles, one is Kansas City. But I
can't get over this. In the year two thousand, so
not the seventies. In the year two thousand, the Kansas

(29:41):
City Royals sold for ninety six million dollars Wow. Think
about that. It's like think in in I won and
so the.

Speaker 2 (29:58):
And they're saying there just told me.

Speaker 1 (30:01):
I didn't know that the Rays are about to sell
for one point seven billion. The Rays are the Rays
the least valuable team in baseball? What did the A's
just sell for? I don't know. The A's are probably
the least valuable, but maybe not now that they're in Vegas.
But I think the valuations are catching up with reality

(30:23):
at this point. But ten billion dollars is a gobsmacking number.
And one last point, I think the other thing you
do worry is something Simmons has talked about a lot,
and he's smart on the new owner syndrome thing coming
into play. In general, you worry about that. You worry

(30:45):
way less when it's a group that owns the Dodgers
and Chelsea already. It's like, no, they know what they're doing,
they know how to do it all right. The NBA
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Speaker 1 (32:46):
All right, demon's eight, let's get to those NBA finals
and let's get to the Pacers side of things.

Speaker 3 (32:53):
Halliburn, unfortunately, is currently a game time decision with that
CAF injury he got in the last game Indiana season
is obviously on the line. What do you think they
need to continue this crazy run and get the Dubs night?

Speaker 1 (33:07):
Listen, I let's talk about Halliburton for a second, Pal, Yeah,
because you thought I was too hard on him.

Speaker 3 (33:15):
I mean with him being a game time decision today,
then I mean he really must have been feeling something
the other day when I.

Speaker 1 (33:22):
Don't doubt that he was feeling something. He has to play, right.

Speaker 3 (33:28):
Yeah, I mean like, if it's a game time decision
and it can be done, sounds like they're on the
fence about it.

Speaker 1 (33:33):
And listen, if he goes out there and it's like, oh,
he can't move or he can't help us, then you
just put him on the bench. And I end like
and let McConnell play. And I under people are more
scared understandably about calf injuries than really any other type

(33:56):
of injuries. And it's because of the Achilles and it's
because we all have KD PTSD, which I understand. But
here is what I would consider the major major distinction there.
Kevin Durant got injured in the twenty nineteen playoffs on

(34:18):
May eighth and was instantly ruled out for a while
and then came back June tenth. Okay, that is not
this situation. Kevin Durant got hurt in a game, left

(34:40):
the game and then you know, mid third quarter, and
then was just gone, gone for a month. Tyrese Halliburton
got injured in this game, missed a few minutes, and
then played another twenty seven So I I've be If

(35:01):
Haliburton plays through something and then suffers a devastating career
altering injury, that is the worst case scenario. It's a nightmare.
Everyone obviously would feel sick about him. I understand that.

(35:21):
But the KDS situation was so drastically different, where he
suffered an injury that immediately knocked him out not only
of that game, but of the next month of basketball.
And then when he came back. Yes, he was hitting
jump shots in those eleven minutes, but he was not

(35:44):
moving anything like himself and wasn't moving laterally in any
of that stuff. That's not what I saw. I'm obviously
not a doctor. I would have to. I believe Tyre's
Halliburton gonna play tonight, And to answer Demons's question, to

(36:08):
keep this miracle run alive, he has to play, and
he has to be impactful. Like the Pacers are not
as good as the Thunder are? Are the Pacers better
than their seed? Yes? Where the Pacers underestimated these playoffs
by many people, myself included, hand up, Yes, are they

(36:30):
as good as the Oklahoma City Thunder this year? Absolutely not,
No matter when how you slice it, where you look
at it, from from it, they're not as good as them.
Their their path to winning the series involved exactly what

(36:54):
they had done for the first three and a half
games of this series, stealing game they had no business winning.
Check in game one, win their home games, check in
game three, and check through the first three quarters of
game four. What in my opinion, they could not survive

(37:21):
was just like they won one they weren't supposed to
win in game one, they then lost one they weren't
supposed to lose in game four. Like you can look
at it and be like, oh, that evened out, Yes
it did, but they're not good enough compared to the
thunder to survive the lucky games evening out. They needed

(37:46):
to win the lucky game and not lose the unlucky game.
And so what is their path tonight? Their path?

Speaker 3 (37:59):
Say it again, fucking Jaylen Williams up. That's just surface level.
But I think I stop him.

Speaker 1 (38:06):
I don't actually think. I think their path is an
offensive one, not a defensive one, demonte. I think their
path is that at home. Matherin, who by the way,
it's his birthday. I didn't know that until you guys
told me. Matherin has one of those eighteen points in

(38:28):
fourteen minutes types of nights for the first time all series.
Miles Turner plays an A level Miles Turner game. Because
when I was laying out how can the Pacers win
the series, one of the things I said was, Miles
Turner's got to have at least one like, oh shit,

(38:51):
Miles Turner crushed and like Miles Turner this year, I'm
looking at it right now. Five times twenty five plus
twice scored thirty plus Miles Turner this year, uh, seven
times hit five or more threes in a game, Like

(39:12):
that's he has that in him. I'm now checking his
playoff career high. Miles Turner in the playoffs twice has
scored twenty nine points in his career. Miles Turner in
the playoffs five times hit four or more threes in
his career, including twice this year. That's gotta happen, like

(39:34):
they This is that absolutely, because I think Halliburton's going
to play and I think he's going to have to
be effective, but I don't think it's realistic to be like, hey,
remember that thirty point triple double. Was it zero turnover
game or something close to it? You add against the Knicks,

(39:56):
excuse me, recreate that. So you're not going to get
a monster Halliburton game. So what you need is your
other guys who can get hot to get hot. Because
I also don't think here's the other thing, demonse. I

(40:17):
don't think they have the ability to just flat shut
down Jalen Williams or shit. I think you can hope
they miss shots, you know, like.

Speaker 3 (40:28):
The Williams, I feel I feel like he got a
lot of easy buggets, like somebody has to be glued
to him. There was a lot of easy like transition,
rotation type of problems.

Speaker 1 (40:39):
That's totally fairer. That's totally fairer. But I guess you
can ask nies Smith Nie Smith because he is strong
enough to try to deal with him. The problem is
like nim Hard's not big enough, all right, and you

(41:00):
really want Nie Smith dealing with Shay like the and
so this is why the Thunder are great team. They
they there's just a lot of different ways they can
beat you. And so I so I think that obviously
they need Halliburton to play well. You can't rely on

(41:24):
TJ McConnell, you know, giving you whatever he gave you
eighteen off the bench again, you can rely on him
giving you something. But that was an unbelievable McConnell performance.
The guy I'd be looking at tonight. The two guys
X factors for the Pacers are Matherine and Miles Turner. Like,

(41:44):
can Mathne and Miles Turner combine? I this is gonna
sound like an insane ask, but for them to win,
I think Mathne and Miles Turner have to combine for
forty five honestly, like like each of them either each

(42:09):
of them get to twenty or one of them has,
you know, close to thirty. I think that's what they're
and and by the way.

Speaker 3 (42:18):
Yeah, Jay and all that pass in there as well.

Speaker 1 (42:23):
I mean, you got all the pacers to me is
here's the thing. And you respond to this. If we're
talking about the pacers winning, it is a given's gotta
be excellent. Oh you know what I mean, Like I'm
just I'm baking that in. That is gonna give you

(42:43):
at least twenty five, like he just has to. But
it's the it's where you're getting the other. You know,
if Ifam gives you thirty, let's say he gives you thirty,
where are you gonna get the other eighty five points
you need to win, need one hundred and fifteen. And

(43:05):
I know this sounds like the most surface level simplistic.
You know this isn't the Zach Lopod like the and
I say that out of respect to Zach. I get that.
But you need one hundred and fifteen points tonight. Yeah,
every time you scored one eleven you've won. Let's call
it one fifteen. Let's also pencil Pascal Siakamen for thirty.

(43:30):
We got eighty five more points we need. I think
it is irrational to pencil Haliburton in for more than fifteen,
all right, so let's give him the fifteen. Now we're
at forty five. Nied Smith and Emhard they combine for

(43:53):
twenty five. Now we're at sixty five. We need fifty
more points. You need fifty more points. So McConnell, Turner, Mathern,
can the three of you get me fifty? Pascal gets

(44:14):
me thirty. Halliburton's you know fine, Nie Smith and Nimhart
are out there for their defensive contributions. Can Turner, McConnell,
Mathern combine for fifty? That's your path? And then game seven,
shit happens like that's like the what's the path for

(44:37):
Game seven in Oklahoma City? I don't know, Man, somebody
get hot and the that's kind of that to me.

Speaker 3 (44:49):
Somebody's gonna be off for okay, see what like, somebody's
not gonna have it. I just feel in the page
about for tonight, for game tonight, for tonight fro see.

Speaker 1 (45:00):
Yeah, I mean it's uh.

Speaker 2 (45:02):
Somebody's not gonna happen.

Speaker 1 (45:03):
I mean, well, let's talk about the well, we'll talk
about the Okac piece of this in a minute. I
know you have one follow up on the Pacers.

Speaker 3 (45:09):
If they lose this game, is this the end for
the Pacers or is this just the beginning?

Speaker 1 (45:19):
I mean, end is too strong.

Speaker 3 (45:27):
But I'm gonna say they're not gonna make it this
far for a while again or something like that.

Speaker 1 (45:33):
Yeah, that's what I'm gonna say. I don't Yeah, I mean,
the Pacers have been impressive. They have held their own
that more than held their own in this series, you know,
more than held their own in these playoffs. They've been
great and they have held their own in this series.

(45:56):
With that said, part of the legend that Tyrese Haliburton
has created this series is this guy hit four, hit
a buzzer beater in every single round of these playoffs,

(46:16):
hit a buzzer beater in every round of the playoffs.
He has four for his career. Now shots to tire
or take the lead in the final second or whatever
of a playoff game. The all time record is eight

(46:37):
by bron so that part of their run is probably
not year over year sustainable. Now, I do really like
their roster, and I do really like what they are building.
But the question I think people fairly would ask is

(47:04):
I mean, I just I'm being nicer, and nicer is
the own word. I'm being more optimistic because I it
feels rotten for the greatest Pacers season we've seen ever,
and that's what this is to be like, yeah, and

(47:25):
you'll never be back. But gets Man takes a leap,
Halliburton becomes a slightly more consistent score Like, no, they
have I don't think they are I don't think they're
going anywhere as far as like, oh, we'll never hear

(47:45):
from them again. But if I if you were to
be like, hey, even money, bet even money take either side.
Do the Pacers in the next five years win the
Eastern Conference again? I would think the smarter money would
be on no that, And so it doesn't. I'm not

(48:10):
saying they're done, it's over. It's they're not an old
team all that. But would I take, you know, set
the over under over the next five years, the rest
of this decade on Pacers Conference championships, after this year
out a half, I'd probably take the under. I would
take the under.

Speaker 5 (48:32):
Blending Vice's signature dynamic storytelling with the high octane world
of sports, Vice Sports brings an exciting and diverse range
of programming that goes beyond the game. From action pack
live events to gripping behind the scenes documentaries to hard
hitting investigative pieces and in depth profiles of athletes, coaches, teams.
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(48:55):
makes sports truly unforgettable. Catch live events and other exclusive
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Speaker 1 (49:00):
On Vice TV.

Speaker 5 (49:01):
Go to vicetv dot com to find your cable channel.

Speaker 1 (49:09):
All right, let's go to the thunderside of things, pal All.

Speaker 3 (49:12):
Right, so a new champion will be crowned either today
or Sunday. So let's go through a couple of scenarios. Uh,
first bucket, we've got of OKC wins. Do you think
they go down as a as an all time team
or if things changed over the years as.

Speaker 1 (49:26):
Far No, this isn't all like so they they would go,
what's the math of eighty two and eighteen? If they no,
eighty two and hold on, how many games have you
lost these playoffs? Three one, they've lost six, they were

(49:50):
sixty eight. Yeah, so eighty two and twenty if they
eighty four and twenty, pardon me, they're If they win
the championship, they have the league MVP, and they now
have just from a box checking standpoint, it's like, oh,

(50:10):
do they have a second legitimate star probably in Jalen Williams.
They also will become and this will be as far
as an all time team, something that's important, something people
reference in the future, which is that swarming perimeter defense.
And so do I think that the it's a tricky

(50:38):
kind of turn of phrase. The there is only one
team that we look at as an all time team
that it wasn't part of a bigger run, and that's
the eighty three six ers where they only won the

(50:59):
one championship and they added Moses Malone that year, but
it kind of was part of a bigger run because
the Sixers had made three NBA finals in the years
in the five six years leading up to it, so
it was a bigger run. And then Moses Malone drops in.
But all of the other all time teams that we

(51:23):
talk about, the seventeen Warriors, the thirteen heat, the two
thousand one Lakers, you know, the ninety six Bulls, the
eighty six Celtics, the eighty five Lakers, like those teams
they won. You know, it was a bigger run that

(51:45):
they were a part of. So to join those groups,
actually you have to go on a run. What happens
is teams go on a run and then we say,
of those during that run, what was their best team.
That's kind we kind of reverse engineer it. But if
we just talk about every year is totally independent, single

(52:11):
season in a vacuum, this was I don't know, one
of the fifteen most dominant seasons in NBA history. I
don't know if it quite cracks the top ten. That's
that's where I think I would have it land one

(52:32):
of the fifteen most dominant years in league history. I'm
not gonna do the you know, go through all of them.
And if we were to just say, since the ABA
NBA merger. So in the last forty five years, single season,

(52:53):
it's definitely one of the ten best, one of the
ten best. It's not one of the five best, but
it's one of the ten best. And it is. It's
the best single season champion we've had since the Steph
kde Warriors. Like, this team is better than last year's Boston.

(53:16):
It's better than the Nuggets, it's better than the twenty
two Warriors, it's better than the twenty one Bucks, it's
better than the twenty Lakers, it's better than the nineteen Raptors.
So it's the best team we've had in almost a decade.
And it's one of the fifteen best teams ever, and

(53:37):
it's one of the ten best teams of the modern era,
so to speak. So that's where I land go ahead.

Speaker 3 (53:46):
If the Pacers win tonight, what type of pressure is
gonna be on Okay, see in Game seven?

Speaker 1 (53:53):
Well, that's a that's a whole other thing. And I
mean I have been and I either way, we're gonna
do something of like an emergency show quick show tomorrow.
I am. I I'm gonna table that question for tomorrow

(54:24):
because I don't think it's gonna happen. But it obviously
all of this comes unraveled if not only do you
not win the championship, but you're up three to two
in the series and you lose a Game seven at home.
So that's a you know, that's a whole So all

(54:45):
of the if the Thunder lose tonight, what's on the
line for game seven? Uh, we can deal with tomorrow
if they lose tonight. But it wasn't better the year
for nothing, demonse, and better the year lives?

Speaker 2 (54:59):
Well, it does live.

Speaker 1 (55:01):
Well now I needed, I needed a furious fourth quarter
Game four comeback, but better the Year lives. This is
a message that applies to ninety nine percent of you
listening right now, because that's how many of you can
be covered by fast and reliable service on the Boost
Mobile network with ninety nine percent nationwide coverage. And if

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You got another thing coming right now. When you switch
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(55:48):
This may only apply to ninety nine percent of you,
but I'm one hundred percent positive. Boost Mobile just gave
all of us a really great deal. By the way,
a reminder in store off for thirty five dollars. Device
setup fee may apply. Requires credit qualification, ID verification and
activation on a sixty dollars plan. Taxes extra five G

(56:11):
speeds not available in all areas. All right, let's get
to the other topics of the day before we get
to the major news in one of our personal lives.

Speaker 3 (56:21):
But go ahead, got some juicy stuff here. So your
guy Lebron take a shot at the idea of ring culture.
He said, I don't know why it's discussed so much
in our sport and why it's the end all, be
all of everything.

Speaker 2 (56:34):
Do you agree with him? So?

Speaker 1 (56:36):
He said a lot, And I agree with some of
what he said, not all of what he said. And
I here is what I truly believe. I truly believe

(56:58):
that how someone plays in the postseason and in the
biggest moments should have a massively outsized impact on how
we view them. Okay, I believe that, and I think

(57:23):
that it is They're across sports but basketball in particular
because the shorthand of what like where in a team
context championships matter the most to least to me, is

(57:47):
directly correlated to, or I guess indirectly correlated to how
many people are on the team, how many people are
on the field. And the fewer people on the field,
the fewer people on the team, the more impact one
person can have. Right. And so basketball because you play
offense and defense, because the teams only have twelve guys. Really,

(58:09):
because you play five on five, it's going to have
more of an impact on how you're viewed well your
team does. Then baseball, when there's nine guys you know,
batting and a picture all that. Football it's really just
about the quarterback. The quarterback's the only one that we
say as an outsized impact on winning, and so you know,

(58:34):
we judge them according to how they do in the
biggest moments. So I think that is acutely important. Where
I think it gets misconstrued to a degree, or where
it gets warped is what do we do with the

(59:00):
moments where a guy plays unbelievably but his team loses anyway,
or the moments where a guy plays terribly or poorly
or below his standard, but the team wins anyway. That's

(59:22):
where ring culture really gets the conversation becomes a frustrating one.
And by the way, while this is a lot of
this applies to Lebron, almost none of it applies to Jordan,

(59:44):
and that is where again fair is fair. You can't
look at any one of Jordan's six championships and be like, yeah,
but you know he got carried there. No, he was
consistently ex in those postseasons where they won, and he

(01:00:04):
was consistently excellent in all of those finals, with the
only exception maybe being the final three games against Seattle
in ninety six, but they were already up three to nothing.
So some guys it and there. And the flip side

(01:00:26):
of that coin is you can't really look at any
or at least many and maybe any of the James
Harden seasons and be like, man, he did his part
that whole postseason, Like maybe there's one in Houston that

(01:00:47):
I can think of, but usually it's like, no, he
didn't come through. So I think Lebron's frustration comes from
uh number of places, and I think they're legitimate, and
so I'm going to use him as an example, and
then I'm going to use other guys. So when everyone

(01:01:11):
thought we were going to get Lebron Kobe in the
NBA finals, when the Lakers got pal and the Calves
were really good, and the Calves had been to an
NBA finals in seven, Lebron James played in a conference

(01:01:33):
finals against the Orlando Magic where he averaged thirty nine,
eight and eight. That was that was, Those were his averages.
Some people consider it to be the best series he
ever played. He hit a buzzer beater to win I

(01:01:56):
think Game two of that series. From three, he played
forty four minutes a night, averaged thirty nine points, eight rebounds,
eight assists. They lost in six games. So was was
that a Lebron James moment or was that a Cleveland

(01:02:16):
Cavalier moment? And then to really crystallize what I think,
And this is the simplest way I can put it.
And I'm curious, like, demand's a your reaction to this
kind of thought exercise on rings and Lebron because the

(01:02:36):
Lebron rings stuff, it's really a Lebron Jordan thing and
all of it, right, Like that's really what a lot
of this comes down to. Does should not. Does Should
Kevin Durant's life choices have any impact on who is

(01:03:00):
a better basketball player between Michael Jordan and Lebron James,
Like in from a logical perspective, should it should? Like,
if we are debating who is better Michael Jordan or
Lebron James, should we weigh into it the choices made

(01:03:22):
by Kevin Durant? Like does that even make sense?

Speaker 3 (01:03:26):
I mean, I understand how somebody would make that argument.

Speaker 1 (01:03:33):
Well in at least in my opinion that it doesn't
even like it. It sounds absurd to even say, like, no,
we're saying who was who was better at basketball? These
two people? What you know, what a third party decides
to do with their life should not weigh into.

Speaker 2 (01:03:52):
It unless it directly.

Speaker 1 (01:03:56):
But it might. It might be the decide factor. It
might be oddly, Kevin Durant choosing the Warriors over the
Celtics might be the reason people think some people think
Jordan's better than Lebron. What do I mean? What I

(01:04:17):
mean is if Katie doesn't go to the Warriors, and
if Lebron goes back to the Finals after pulling off
the three to one upset and averages thirty four to
twelve and ten, which is what he averaged in the
twenty seventeen finals, and then goes back in twenty eighteen

(01:04:41):
and averages thirty four, nine and ten, which is what
he did in the twenty eighteen finals, and they just win.
Then I don't think anyone's like, oh, then I think
the probably the goat debate is over. And so that
sounds kind of ham handed the way I described it.

(01:05:02):
So it's like, Nick, you're acting like something that didn't
happen did happen, or something that did happen didn't happen.
I get that. The point I think Lebron is making
is if I can have a back to back NBA
Finals where I perform at the highest level I've ever

(01:05:26):
performed in my career, and I came through and I
was excellent, should the fact that my team was not
quite good enough in the context of we were up
against one of, if not the greatest team of all time.
Should you then simply go back to the rings piece

(01:05:51):
of it. When people talk about and and I hate
that I'm doing this lately, but it's just kind of
the way it has come up. When people talk about
Kobe Bryant having five rings should there be the qualifier
of yes, he does and he's one of the all
time greats. It also should be noted that he won

(01:06:16):
his first ring by playing in a series where he
averaged fifteen four and four on thirty seven twenty shooting
splits like does that so like? Is? Is that that's
where the team accomplishment versus individual accomplishment? To me, you

(01:06:42):
have to actually look at it with real nuance to it.
And I think the other frustrating piece for Lebron personally
is it simply did not use to be this way.

(01:07:02):
And by that what I mean is the original NBA
debate that old heads old old heads will still have
is Wilt versus Russell, and the ring count there is
eleven to two. The then biggest debate ever was Bird

(01:07:28):
versus Magic, and the ring count there is five to three.
There are plenty of people Laker fans who think Shack
was better than Kareem, even though the ring count there
is six to four. When Michael Jordan retired the first time,

(01:07:53):
and he had three and Magic had five, and Bird
had three and Kaream had six and Russell at eleven,
the statue said the greatest there ever was the greatest
there ever will be, and he was regularly called the
greatest player of all time before he got one, and

(01:08:17):
so it has not always been as simplistic as it
has been broken down to. Where I disagree with lebron
is and what I do think is fair is in
the NBA, assuming you play for a long time, if

(01:08:43):
you never win a championship, there is a ceiling onto
how high up the pyramid you can go, just like
there is for NFL quarterbacks. But the ceiling is like
Dan Marino, a lot of people can to in one
of the five greatest quarterbacks ever. There is like who
is the greatest player in NBA history without a ring?

(01:09:06):
Is it Barkley? Is it Malone? Is it Elgin Baylor?
Is it James Harden?

Speaker 2 (01:09:11):
Like?

Speaker 1 (01:09:11):
Who is it? Whoever it is? It's they are. They're
outside your top five, they're outside your top ten, They're
probably outside your top fifteen. I think that's fair that
you couldn't have just been unlucky for fifteen years if

(01:09:31):
you were a legend. But I also think that that
they're like Barkley is an interesting one because Charles Barkley
did run into Michael Jordan and three straight postseasons for him.
He ran into him when he was with the Sixers

(01:09:54):
in ninety he ran into him when he was with
the Sixers in ninety one, and then he ran into
him in the NBA Finals in ninety three. And there's
no shame that you couldn't beat prime Michael Jordan. But
then the next year when you have a fair fight

(01:10:19):
against Houston in the when Jordan's gone, and not only
does it go seven, and you kind of are the
guy that left your man for the you know, the
disc Oh, that was a different series when he left
his man for the three. My apologies, but in that
series against Houston, your teammate didn't let you down. Kevin Johnson,

(01:10:46):
he's really good and you were really good twenty three,
thirteen and four, but a team was better twenty nine,
fourteen and five and four blocks a game. Like so
it's not to me just like we're if you put
a Teme above Barkley, it's not flatly that well a

(01:11:11):
Teme has two rings and Barkley as zero. It's that
in root to both of a Tem's rings, he played
your team with similar quality supporting casts and was considerably

(01:11:31):
better than you. And so like that part of it.
That's the nuance that I think gets lost at times.
And I think that there are a lot of factors here.
And so like when Lebron says, don't tell me Iverson
wasn't a great player or Steve Nash wasn't a great

(01:11:53):
player because they didn't win a ring. Nobody is saying
they weren't great players. But for those guys, what stemied
them from winning rings often was a greater player not

(01:12:13):
only beat them, but outplayed them in a series. And
where it gets tricky is when you have great players.
And this is very rare, but it happens great players

(01:12:35):
who don't play well in a series, but their team
wins anyway. And then there is the thing that has
happened fairly often in NBA history, which is a legendary player,
the Jerry West corollary, which I'll bring them up for
the thirtieth straight podcast, that a guy is just all

(01:13:02):
time great and consistently is on the short end of
the stick in a playoff series, even though he individually
is spectacular when his team is not good enough and
so and West is probably and I'll leave it at this,

(01:13:24):
and we're going way too long. I apologize but whenever
I have a chance talk Jerry West, I have to
Jerry West. Nineteen sixty two NBA Finals losing seven to Boston,
he averages thirty one and five. Nineteen sixty three NBA
Finals loses in six to Boston. He averages thirty and seven.

(01:13:46):
Nineteen sixty five NBA Finals, losing five to Boston, he
averages thirty four and six. Nineteen sixty six NBA Finals
loses in seven to Boston. He average just thirty four
and six. Nineteen sixty eight NBA Finals loses in six

(01:14:06):
to Boston. He averages thirty one and six. Nineteen sixty
nine NBA Finals loses in seven to Boston. He averages
thirty eight, five and seven. Like when if you're Jerry West,
you're damn right. Those those rings are team accomplishments, and

(01:14:29):
the Celtics were an all time great team, and I
just kept fucking losing to him, and so like that
is to me now if you looked at it, like
and I'll look through for West. If there's an instance
of this, I don't really think there is, but well

(01:14:49):
here's one old Jerry West. NBA Finals nineteen seventy three
loses to the Nick averages twenty one to three. It's like,
oh okay, now he's thirty four, which that time's old.
But like they were the dif Champs. Part of the problem, right, right,

(01:15:12):
he wasn't he wasn't good enough? Right? The issue is
what about when I'm good enough in every way possible
and you can't, we can't win. That's the nuance to it.
All Right, We're gonna have to very quickly do the
Caitlin Clark thing. I'm gonna be late for work myself
to get to the major news.

Speaker 2 (01:15:32):
Things are getting spicy in the WNBA.

Speaker 3 (01:15:35):
They were they were trying to be Kayln Clark ub
scratching her eye got very chippy.

Speaker 2 (01:15:40):
You always say that.

Speaker 3 (01:15:41):
People take the wrong stance when this stuff happens. What's
the correct take on this whole situation going on in
the Wnbakaitln Clark.

Speaker 1 (01:15:49):
Listen, here's the very short version, and I should have
one a longer version of this. This is probably bad
for our podcast analytics because there is nothing that social
and algorithms like more than Caitlyn Clark content. And now
I don't have time for it, So maybe I can
do it more, you know, tomorrow or next week, probably

(01:16:11):
next week we can dig in more. The short version
is this, this is all going according to plan. This
is ideal. Caitlyn Clark is holding up her end by
being awesome and by being a trash talking jerk on
the court. Love it. Her teammates are holding up their

(01:16:33):
end by having her back. The other players in the
league are holding up their end by not liking her. Perfect.
Couldn't have written a better script. It is great for interest,
it is great for rivalries. Thank god this one involved
all white girls, so we didn't have to deal with

(01:16:53):
any of the like, oh my goodness, is she being
targeted by the scary black girls in the NBA? All
that just horrible racist bullshit. And instead it's like, Nope,
Caitlyn is talking trash to this girl. This girl's hard
fouling her. Her teammates, Sophie Cunningham, Missouri's own who got
a black belt in taekwondo at the age of six.

(01:17:15):
I looked it up. That is true. University of Missouri
verified it. She's like, I will, I will f you
guys up. All of it's great, and Caitlyn's a killer,
a killer, and that team can win. That team absolutely,
She's second league, in points, second league, in assists. You

(01:17:36):
want her to have an edge. You want the other
players to not like her. You want her to walk
around trash talking, and you like you want people. Here's
what we need. We need some people to dislike Caitlyn
Clark because of the basketball and that's gonna come now.

(01:18:00):
Like we need people who be like, she talks too
much trash she you know, she is very dramatic when
she gets pushed. She also, you know, will kind of
not kind of she will taunt you and then she
will hit thirty five footers and scream about it. That's great.

Speaker 3 (01:18:21):
Knows that she's probably untouchable. Like what do you mean,
I mean she's is she not the best player in
the WNBA right now?

Speaker 1 (01:18:30):
Like what do you mean by untouchable?

Speaker 3 (01:18:32):
Like it's just like she's to know that you are
that guy or that girl at this time, this early
in your career, just exactly right.

Speaker 1 (01:18:42):
Yes, And I don't know. Listen, the FISA Colier might
be the best player in the league. There's a few
other people, but she is certainly the shortest of the list,
and she's certainly one of the definitely one of the
five best, probably one of the three best and maybe
the best. And but this the pearl clutching of oh

(01:19:04):
that she could have gotten really hurt. It's sports, it's sports.
She'll be fine, Like, none of these are the The
only thing that happened that can happen in basketball that
really worries you is somebody like soaring in the air

(01:19:27):
and they get undercut. That's not really that big of
a concern in the WNBA because the game's played beneath
the rim. I enter like there can be horrific elbows,
I guess, but that's not really what we're talking about.
None of this stuff is going to result in major injury, Like,
what are we talking about? And so nobody needs to

(01:19:49):
freak out. It's great for Caitlin, it's great for the league.
It's you couldn't write a better script. And I'm glad
she's back. I'm glad she's kicking ass. I'm glad she
is embracing maybe being a bit of a villain. All
that ten out of ten, No notes, if we could

(01:20:14):
maybe possibly get the biggest alleged Caitlin Clark fans and
the biggest alleged Angel Reese fans who are actually just
using those two people, as you know, racial proxy wars
on each other. If we could somehow create a social

(01:20:38):
media network and just only let them in and not
let anyone else in, and just let them argue amongst
themselves there, that would be great. But aside from that,
I'm thrilled with it, and it makes the summer way
more interesting. All right, let me give a little background here,

(01:21:01):
So Demonse and I hope this. I hope you take
this the way I intend it. Demanse probably should have
is the wrong word. But if you play out Demonse's
life one hundred times, some of those times he ends

(01:21:21):
up being a veterinarian. I believe that like that was
that was a path that like I think you had
a real you have such a passion for animals, and
like we're like as a little kid into it. I
probably didn't do a good enough job pushing you on it. Also,
it is a ton of school, and it's really hard,
Like it's one of the hardest things there is. And

(01:21:43):
I always kind of like felt bad or not bad,
but it's like, ah, like the I again, I'm gonna
make this a little more dramatic than it needs to.
But then it's like, uh, you know, I I was
barely know. I was very young when I became Demand's dad,

(01:22:03):
and so I kind of i'd become a better parent
for I was a better parent for Doora than I
was for you. And I'm probably a better parent for
Deanna than I was for Doora, because you just learn,
you know, you learn, and you and you get older
and you know all of this, right, there is an
element of it. The oldest kid usually gets away with
the most, but also as the most we're just guessing

(01:22:26):
parenting type of stuff, and so I sometimes look at
the fact that I'm like, oh, man, like that your
sister's passions. I really kind of like tried to incubate
and yours with animals. I didn't do as good of
a job. But despite that, in my opinion, what is

(01:22:48):
really really cool is you found a work around which was, Okay,
I'm gonna be involved with animals somehow. I've always loved snakes,
and so I am. You know, you owned a snake
when we were when we lived in Houston, and then
when you moved out to La you kind of you
got into the snake business. And so I will then

(01:23:13):
kind of, you know, allow you to take it from here.
On what the last few years of the snake business
for you, what it has meant and what it has been.
And then we get to a big culmination.

Speaker 2 (01:23:26):
We go ahead. Yeah, I mean it's it's been pretty crazy.

Speaker 3 (01:23:30):
I probably got a snake before I got a couch
moving out here, but I got I was trying for
a while, was breeding these snakes. Seemed like nothing was
going to come of it. And she was always watching
the YouTube, studying up on the knowledge, and you know,
been pairing the male with the female for like the
last eight months or so, and kept checking the thing.

(01:23:52):
She was showing the pregnancy signs, doing all the stuff,
wrapping on the water bowl, the whole nine and just
nothing was coming. I didn't even notice really a growth,
couldn't tell their eggs in there. Yesterday, I go up there,
I open up this thing, open up the takeoff her
a little her high, and she's wrapped around the eggs.
I sent it to the What's Right group chat immediately

(01:24:13):
and called yeah now, and she's very, very upset. As
soon as she got separated from the eggs, though she
was she was completely back to normal.

Speaker 2 (01:24:21):
Honestly, it felt a little bad, but so separate.

Speaker 1 (01:24:25):
So again, you separated her from the eggs because the
best way for the eggs survives to put them in incubator.

Speaker 3 (01:24:33):
It's like a sixty percent chance that she's able to,
you know, incubate those successfully. It's about ninety percent with
the incubator. You can just kind of give it better odds.
And I didn't remove the eggs or the snake from
the eggs. I actually took them up to the pet
store that I always go to Alan's Pet Center out there,
and oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:24:51):
Let's give them. They've been awesome to you, so let's
just go ahead unpaid endorsement.

Speaker 2 (01:24:55):
One hundred percent. They've always been super nice to me.

Speaker 3 (01:24:57):
I feel like I'm probably one of their more loyal
custom just because the amount of snakes that I have
and how often it is that I.

Speaker 2 (01:25:03):
Need to go. But they always hold it down.

Speaker 3 (01:25:06):
And they came there, they took the snake off the eggs,
they put the eggs in a bucket, and they personally
incubated them for me.

Speaker 2 (01:25:13):
So it was this is Allen's.

Speaker 1 (01:25:15):
Say the name of the place, it's Allen's.

Speaker 3 (01:25:17):
With an A though it's a L L A N
S Pet center. They've got one on Pico and They've
also got another one located in East l A.

Speaker 2 (01:25:26):
I always go to the one in Western And.

Speaker 1 (01:25:28):
Who's the guy who helps you?

Speaker 2 (01:25:30):
That is Drew. It's Drew, that's his name. Honestly, forget.

Speaker 1 (01:25:38):
I didn't want. I didn't want to put you on
the spot because I didn't know if you didn't want
to say, but uh no, but so but this is
so can I give a little more background here? So
this has been like fulfilling but also expensive and frustrating.

(01:25:59):
And they're been more than more than a time or
two where you have wondered should I should I go
back to, you know, owning one snake that I like
as a pet, but not you know, but abandoning it, right,
Like that's fair to say that you're like the because

(01:26:21):
the and you're trying to do this, you know, on
the fly or on your own and so now and
so and again I don't know. I actually also oddly
owned a ball python when I was growing up, and
then you wanted a ball python when you were growing up,
But we never had talked, like you didn't know that.

Speaker 3 (01:26:37):
I had had one, and it was it was is crazy.
I didn't know up until like three years ago.

Speaker 1 (01:26:41):
But uh, the the special thing is like the different
morphs are like in theory, we won't see until these
eggs are born. But in theory you could have some
really special, one of a kind, one of a kind snakes.

Speaker 3 (01:27:03):
Yeah, I mixed a three gene snake to a five
gene snake, So I mean there's just a lot of
possible combinations. It gets pretty high on high and it
could be pretty low. But it means just the fact
that I was able to do it, it is very fulfilling,
like it worked out.

Speaker 1 (01:27:18):
I'm gonna I'm now going to maybe embarrass you, but
it's worth it. Demanse told me when he first started this,
when he actually said, okay, I've got the female or
I'm getting the male or whatever it was. When you
were first doing the breathing, you said you were like,
if this actually happens and one of these snakes gets pregnant,

(01:27:42):
lays eggs, and the eggs hatch, You're like, I think
I'll cry. And I thought it was such like a
cool thing. I know, sorry for embarrassing you. I apologize,
but it's a cool thing. And here's the other thing, man, like,
uh and I listen. If people have tuned out orever.
It's fine. I don't care the but this is, this

(01:28:05):
is part of the reason I do this show the
way we do this show. Because Son's on the West coast,
I'm on the East coast. He's busy. I'm too busy.
And so there's like these points of connection, and I
think the audience gets it.

Speaker 6 (01:28:19):
But it's so so cool to just teach yourself something
like you didn't go the school route you went.

Speaker 1 (01:28:31):
I've got to learn it on my own and through
trial and error. And listen, we again, this might just
be one phase of the trial and error, like we'll see,
but whether there's proutal concept that you can do it
now and you in theory, and this is also kind

(01:28:52):
of where you're supposed to be in my opinion, in
your mid twenties, you now kind of and this is
you know, you know allah your mother. You kind of
now are working three jobs. A Fox job for real,

(01:29:13):
your Fox job which pays you. You have the podcast,
which pays you. And you have your side thing, which
up to this point has just sapped money generated from
your Fox job in this but now in theory, you
know what I mean, can be its own sustaining profitable thing,
and it's something you love, so I think it's great.
So I wanted to do this for three reasons. One

(01:29:36):
is I wanted to celebrate that Demonse had done this.
The other one is, even though that Demonze didn't ask
to do this, I know how much those people at
Alan's Pet Center have you know, been nice to you
and kind of given you advice or you know, been
cool to you. So I wanted to give them a
shout out. They're not given the Demonsig's bought all this stuff.

(01:29:57):
This is not giving them free stuff, but they've been
really nice, so I want to give them a shout out.
And the third reason was this, if there are people
out there that are actually oddly snake people and you know,
have pointers or tips or whatever tms on Twitter or
Open or Instagram or whatever, like, there's got to be

(01:30:19):
a few people listening that are like, oh, I oddly
have a you know, I'm a snake guy too, So
you know, hit Demon's up. All right, keep me posted
on this, and uh, keep everyone posted on it. Uh.
Great job Blue Up, great job Volume, great job DraftKings,

(01:30:39):
great job boost Mobile. See if Bet of the Year
comes through tonight and subscribe on YouTube iTunes, Spotify, and
subscribe to the First Things First Channel because we needed
a million or I'm gonna be in a lot of trouble.
Talk to you guys all soon. What's right,