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Grab yours now at still blue coffee.com Amazon and select retailers nationwide. On today's part of my take, we have NBA champion Pat Conant and awesome, awesome interview with Pat about winning the title, Giannis his career. Really great stuff. We also have some Olympic talk because the Olympics have started, but fuck the IOC and fuck NBC and their coverage of it.
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Fans are back. Tick Pick dot com slash take. Today is Monday, July 26th and we officially suck at basketball. I've got Olympic fever, big cat.
Well, we suck at five on five on five. And we didn't, and our men's three on three team didn't qualify. No, when I think of, when you say we suck at basketball, my mind automatically goes to women's three on three. Yeah, we're fucking dynasty in that one.
Three on three. I watched an entire game between Belgium and Japan on Saturday morning. It was one of the worst sporting events I've ever witnessed. It looked like a Saturday morning pickup game.
I then tweeted out a clip of it and the IOC and their infinite wisdom. I incorrectly said it was NBC. It is the IOC. It doesn't want anyone sharing any Olympic clips, pictures, anything, because God forbid anyone talks about the Olympics and these random sports that you stumble upon that you're like, oh, this is fun.
No, they want them. It's like Fight Club. Don't actually never talk about the Olympics. First rule.
Do you think that when they're selling advertisements to potential sponsors, they're like, hey, just so you know, all the videos that will be coming of any sport, they're all going to come from our account. So you don't have to worry about spending money on our official tweets and then having barstool, big cat tweet out an advertisement to go watch the show that your sponsor. Yeah, because I can't understand, like you could, I could sit down with the head of the IOC, the head of NBC, and I would sit there for the rest of my life waiting for them to give me an actual explanation as to why tweeting a 20 second clip of a random sport like handball. I would do that smoked in the face.
But actually technically a penalty, which is the pussy of the handball. Yeah, no, that's not my handball. Back in the 90s handball when like men played handball, that shit was like, that's how you scored most of the ball in the bad boy era. But that clip, which you see it and you're like, oh, handballs on, let me go watch it.
Nope. Do not talk about it. I would respect it more if the IOC sat down and they're like, you know what? We'll let anybody share clips as much as they want, except those bastards from part of my tape.
Yeah, fair. Those guys, we're going to DMCA the shit out of them the second they put something up. Way to go IOC, the Olympics. Listen, I guess it's good that they put the US game on the cock at 8 AM.
I would have probably put the most popular sport, the thing that people want to watch the most in America, maybe on NBC proper. But it turned out to be a favor because we do suck at basketball. France beat our ass in a way that I actually like, if you told me before that France just beat us, I'm like, okay, you know, they're pretty good. You know, Rudy, go bare, platoon, whatever.
Yeah, poor as D.I. Not walking through that door, but it was. Yeah. But no, we actually were leading with like three minutes left and totally blew it and the France had like a 16 to run to win the game.
I was a France legacy game. Yeah. And it looked like your three on three clip where the US just couldn't make a shot. Yeah.
Three wide open threes in a row and then just broke up. And Vince Carter was on the call, which was supposed to be like another dunk on France because it was famous dunk and then it was reversed. Here's just an idea. Maybe at some point, USA basketball should consider putting the best basketball players on a team and not the best athletes on a team.
Yeah, a team. A team. And then they should get that guy from Miracle to Coach it or at least some guy wearing a plaid jacket. Yes.
And then have him abuse the players before the games until they reach a point where they almost break. But then all fall over the coach. I really do think that the Wisconsin Badgers could win the gold medal because it does feel like that's the style of basketball that it takes. Yeah, we have a better chance at winning the title than this group right now.
Just practicing together. Just like knowing each other's names. Yeah, the Houston Rockets were really. That's like 60% of the job.
Were they the worst? Yeah. Houston Rockets with John Wall on the team. Yeah, I think it went.
And it's the birthday curse. The birthday curse of Kevin Durant when he wasn't his birthday and they sang the SVPed him. It wasn't his birthday. They sang Happy Birthday.
No, I like that. That's why you have Javil McGee on the national team. Yeah, you can just do pranks that make no sense. How about that reporter?
Did you see that clip? A reporter asked Javil McGee if his mom is still alive. That was weird. He's like, yeah, she is.
I'm just thinking it too sick because she played in the Olympics. Yeah, is it Jeff Ireland? Is your mother a prostitute? Yeah, whoo.
That was a tough one. But yeah, the Olympics are here. I don't know. Time zones fuck me up.
I also, I'm just going to say this. It sounds very stupid to say, but I don't trust whenever it says live in the top corner. I still don't trust it. No, because sometimes it's not even live.
Right. The live is not actually live all the time. I've got a number of Olympic rights. Number one is they always start the opening ceremonies like five days after the Olympics start.
Yeah. So you know how college football does week zero, which we love? The Olympics go two steps further and they have day negative two. Day negative one.
Day zero. Because there's some sports that they need to play a lot of rounds. I think softball started on wins. Yeah, but why not just have the opening ceremonies start.
So before the shoot. And then they always end after the closing ceremonies. Yes. There's always like two events that are like the Battle of New Orleans where you have like them finishing out the competition after the event is officially closed.
Yes. I don't know. I guess I have Olympic fever. Oh, you know what?
I'd say my Olympic it's a mild fever. It's a 99.5. I'm going to work. Yes.
I'm going to work with this fever. Listen, I would not mask up if I was feeling sometimes of Olympic fever. I think I would also like to see more of the superimposed flags in the swimming lanes during the swimming events. I miss that.
It's really cool because it's so, you know, a lot of water and they're just going right over their flags. Kind of disrespectful. I don't like the earbuds on the skateboarders. Yeah.
I like that a lot. You should not be allowed to unless you're listening to the Tony Hawk Pro Skater soundtrack, which I assume that they're just listening to the beginning of Superman by Goldfinger every time they start unless that's what they're listening to. I don't like it. I'd like to feel like, I don't know if you're running a marathon.
You're not allowed to have your buds in, right? No, I don't think so. I don't know what they're doing. I also think they've completely bastardized skating.
Like they do one trick and then they judge it. Like give me the full two minutes, you know, going around trying to get the fucking the tricks off. I don't know. I just, I'm not a big fan of it.
I think they should have sharper swords and fencing. Yeah. Like give me an element of danger. There should be death.
Yes. Not death, but like maiming. Yeah. All right.
What's this tweet you just sent us? How does this guy getting to tweet it? This is not right. Oh, they fucked up the beginning of the triathlon.
Everything's tough. Yeah. And, and, and, and no fans. I can't go back to no fans.
I just, I need fans. So whatever. I was just thinking that skateboarding should include getting away from cops. Yeah.
So they're wearing like polo shirts and nice pants and athletic shorts. They all dress the same. Yeah. Yeah.
If you land an Ollie and no one's wearing cargo shorts, did it ever really happen? Oh, yeah. They got cargo pants on right now. I need to see like actual like, stucy baggy shirts.
Yep. I need to see some chains. I need to see police officers. No, no, rent a cops.
I need to see like a rent a cop driving around in a golf cart trying to arrest all the kids. Yes. By the way, three on three, they should call your own foul. There's no reason there should be a rep for three on three.
I do love how it's ones and twos though, which makes the two point shot. That's in that clip that you put out. No, I didn't put out a clip. Oh, you know what clip?
The clip really put down forever. Yeah. No, three on three and they should really like, why not have one on one? Why not have four on four in a way too small of a gym where there isn't even a three point line in the corners?
You know what my favorite part to the Olympics so far has been? There's this kid. I think he's 20 years old from the United States. He was competing in the rifle competition, the shooting competition.
And he was hitting like close to bull's eyes every time. And when you shoot in the rifle competition, you have like, you look like a cyborg. Yeah. It looks like you're wearing Google glass and like a mirror over your eye and all this shit.
That to me should go also. When you hit the rifle, there's no need to bring a mirror into the situation. You have a gun and then you have a target and that's it. Yes.
And the kid from the United States, he won in dominant fashion and then he was pissed off because he didn't win as much as he wanted to win and he looked like he was going to shoot everybody around him. And he had a guy like people were scared walking past the cycle kid. Man, all right. So Olympic fever.
I also wouldn't mind if in the skateboarding they just had one guy who was way too old who was just buying beer for everyone. And that was an Olympic competition because I assume every skate park has that. That would be a nice wrinkle. Like a creep.
Yeah, yeah. Just a creep. Just a resident creep. And who could be the creepiest creep?
Yeah, I think it's not Olympic sport. I mean, if we're going to go if we're going to do this silly shit, let's go all the way. You did your the break dancing is an event? Yeah, I think it's not there yet.
Oh, so it's like next. Yeah, yeah. It's next one. So I think the IOC sits down before the Olympics and they because I know lacrosse have the same thing lacrosse is back for the 2024 games.
Not not back right now. Oh, and also the Russians. We're not allowed to say the word Russia. It's not it's not the Russian team.
What is it the Russian Olympic Committee? So they're not wearing the officially. They all did steroids. Yeah.
Rock nation is what they should actually call them. Yes. Okay. So, all right.
So, I think the official title is Mount Rushmore of events. Sports we could meddle in maybe. We will do that after our interview with Pack Conant. Let's talk about some other sports.
So Aaron Rodgers, will he won't he? There's a big, I don't know, like I don't even know if it was real, but essentially a bunch of sports books took down the Packers win total because they thought Aaron Rodgers was going to retire. Then he puts up a picture of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippin and so does Devontae Adams, which I guess they're trying to say the last dance, which would mean they would both show up. But then what is the last dance for Aaron Rodgers losing in the NFC championship game?
Like what, they're not going for the sixth title. Let's run this back one more time where we disappoint everything. Let's try to lose as the number one seed. Yeah.
Let's come back and then have everybody at the end of the regular season talk about how I'm the best quarterback in the NFL. Now you're the best wide receiver. And then that's it. That's it.
That's it. That's it. That's it. It's over one more year.
Okay. I'm telling you, I think Aaron might go off the grid. I hope he retires. I hope he finds peace.
I think he will. I think if I were to put money on it right now, it's like 30, 30, 30, 30, 30 percent that he retires to host Jeopardy, 30 percent that he plays and acts surly. Yeah, probably for the Broncos. And then the other 33 percent or whatever is that he just like goes and lives in the mountains of Peru.
Yeah. And we don't hear from him every every like six months will put up an Instagram post. I mean, like look at me. I'm in a market somewhere.
Yeah, I've got hair. Come try to find me. He'll probably do something crazy like buy an actual Waldo sweatshirt. Yeah.
And then take a picture himself, upload that and then boom back to the little ayahuasca. I just want to have this on the record. So the takeies are on Wednesday. Everyone get ready for the takeies.
Unbelievable. We just finished taping it. Blake of the Year was exceptional. So get ready for the takeies on Wednesday.
We are on vacation this week. We'll have three shows. So don't worry about that. But if Aaron Rodgers does show up to camp as planned on Wednesday, just remember when you treat me mean things in my vacation.
Yeah, he's trying to unplug for his middle. So don't do that. Don't do that. Don't treat me.
Respect my time off. I don't get much. Listen, he's with his family. He's being a dad.
Yeah. Don't tweet me mean things. And if he doesn't show up, I'll take a break from vacation. So tweet it to me.
All the mean things that you would say and I'll copy big cat on the ones that are most relevant. Please don't. Please don't. Please don't.
I'll fill it to me. I'll do it. Don't do it. Don't do it.
All right. What else? I just got to give a shout out to the New York Yankees. They are inventing new ways to lose.
So Thursday night we saw them with four pass balls to lose the game. I think two of them are wild bitches. Two are past. The catcher looks like he was trying to catch a butterfly.
Yeah. Those two have never worked. They met earlier that day. Never.
They have to. And then today they had a no hitter going into the eighth up for nothing and lost five four. Yep, that's tough. That's it.
And then Aaron Boone was like we faced diversity before. That guy. Does Aaron Boone have anything in his head? I feel like he's a complete robot.
Yeah, why do people still think that Aaron Boone is getting a full of doing a good manager? I don't think anyone. Well, we have two young fans. Aaron fucking Boone.
Does anyone still think that quick straw pull, fire him or keep him? Billy. I need to fire him. Jake.
This is the big one. Booing out. Jake. Never calls for another man's job.
Yeah, I don't think it's the Yankee way to camp in the middle of the season. I'm not expecting. I mean, George Steinbrenner fired Billy Martin like seven times. At least from what I can remember.
Remember, don't fire a manager. I'm pretty sure they got rid of George already just because he had braces as an adult. Do you think they should? I'm not in a position to say whether they should have shown it.
God damn it. I just don't understand how you let him throw the third wild pitch. Like the first two like take him out like the guy definitely was not in any position to be on that mountain. Or the fourth one.
Yeah. Yeah, the third. Yeah, much less get to number four. He should not have been throwing number three.
But honestly, that was a very fun inning to not watch. But we were sitting here in this room while Frank the Tank narrated what we. Stell blue coffees, new can lattes are here crafted with a hundred percent Colombian coffee. Each can is a good source of protein and comes in two smooth flavors.
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Yeah. So on Friday or Thursday night, we were recording at like a big album listening party at the Falcons field, whatever is called Mercedes Ben Stadium. And then it was the album supposed to come out Friday. He apparently opened a studio inside the stadium and right after the concert has been working on the album and just staying at the stadium.
And there was a soccer game there on Saturday and he was just like walking around. Yeah, I saw that. You know what? The pantyhose.
So he can Kanye West can just basically do whatever he wants. Well, I was just freaking out like wondering where the album is. And then he just showed up at this game with pantyhose. It wasn't soccer.
It would be very relatable though of Kanye West like told everybody, hey, my album's coming out this week and then completely spaced and forgot to do any work on it. Which is probably what happened. Yeah. So quickly can I put an album to you?
The good news is it's not going to be worse than his last weird album. Right. I love the life of Pablo. Yeah, life of Pablo is great.
The last album that I was a Christian. Yeah, the only good song on there was the one he did with Kenny G, which is just the most bizarre thing to say. Although he does have a song with Jay Z on this one, right? Yeah.
I think it's more than normal album. Okay. All right. So let's have it.
I know. Please give it to us. Drop the album. Drop the album.
Do the album tweet, Kanye. That's it. Okay. Good.
Who's back. I was confused because on Friday I pulled up Spotify. Yeah. Like, Psycho's subscribed to.
Yeah. So I'm glad to know that I'm not too far behind. Nope. Nope.
My who's back. We can Dexter. Dexter's back. You guys remember Dexter?
I don't watch it. So it had maybe the worst ending of any television series of all time. And that's including the Sopranos where just cut to black when Tony was sitting in the diner. And then that guy walked in and looked like maybe he's going to shoot him.
It's including that one. Yep. Dexter, the finale of Dexter. People still get mad at us.
Spoiler alert about Dexter. Yeah. What do you mean? Show came out 15 years ago.
Yeah, but people, you guys think we have younger listeners like myself who didn't watch it real time or too young. And so they're like, what's the good show that I watch? So then they start watching it now thinking that they can just watch it really nearly because no one's going to spoil it because no one's going to ask. And then it was sports podcast and all of a sudden the show goes, wait, wait, wait, wait, where's the line?
What can I not spoil here? Can I spoil the ending of Jurassic Park one? Can I spoil the whole thing? You know what I'm saying?
I'm not saying exactly what happens. Like maybe you can like what you used to do with me before you just turn to blatant like assholes where you'd kind of like it would imply spoilers. Right. You might tell me and then I just turn it and you just tell me exactly what happened.
I mean Bobby Balakawa gets shot in the train. Balakawa. You knew that one. But the ending of Dexter was way worse than Sopranos.
If you haven't seen the ending of Dexter's spoiler alert, but it's not really spoiler because you're actually privileged if you haven't watched this, he just walks off into the woods and becomes a lumberjack. And that's the- No, everybody hated it. Everyone that watched all the seasons of Dexter hated the ending of it. They're finally like six years later, eight years later, however old it is.
They're like, hey, we fucked up. We're going to bring it back. So Showtime is bringing Dexter back. And I'm excited about it because the first two seasons that were awesome.
So if they could figure out a way to undo the- you know what? Even just do the thing where you're like, it was a dream and have him wake up in the first episode and be like, he never actually walked off into the woods. That would be fine by me. Okay.
My who's back is fake love. So fake love is back. If you saw Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez had quite a weekend. She had J-Lo's 52nd birthday and then there was a picture that came out that Ben Affleck just pomming her ass, which I guess was a throwback picture because that happened like 15 years ago.
It's like when Eric Musselman does the pictures. Yeah, right. But it was both of them. Oh my God, that guy just ate shit.
That was awesome. Holy fuck. Encycling. Yeah, he ate it, dude.
He just hit his break and went over the curbs. That was so sick. I wish you could see a replay. Oh, I'm going to clip it.
That was you can't- do not post it. Do not post it. Just for private use. Do not post it.
Send it to me for private use. That was fucking my phone for private. Awesome. He went face-versal to the curb.
Hope it's okay. Okay. It's fake love because it's all publicity stuff. The fact that they're remaking old pictures, they don't actually love each other.
Imagine doing this. Imagine having a relationship that is all for the tabloids and for people to talk to you as a couple and Ben Affleck and all this. It's disgusting. It is gross.
Imagine if you were in a relationship with Jennifer Lopez and all you were doing it for was just to get into page six. Right. Just to have people talk about you and be like, oh, look at that. He's not just weirdo after that.
Look at J. Lo and Eira. I mean J. Lo and Ben Affleck.
It's fucking bullshit. It's bullshit. It's absolute bullshit. So true love is dead.
Fake love is alive. Who's back in the week? This is a sham of a relationship. All right.
This is like, let's just go down. Dude, he just ate shit. The road turns. He didn't turn.
He didn't turn. He doesn't do it. In his defense there was no sign. There was no sign saying, hey, you might want to take a right here.
Oh, that's awesome. All right. Who's back in the week Jake? Yeah.
Yassil Puig is back. He is in the Mexican league, a team of Eligia de Veracruz. He got hit by a pitch and there was a brawl. So back in the mix.
All right. So he's back doing Yassil Puig. Yeah. What happened with Yassil Puig?
Because I feel like he was about to take over the world for like two seasons. Yeah. And then he just started striking out I think and not being good anymore. Please go to awesome arms.
Got awesome arms. Yeah. So there was something like, wasn't he, there was like kidnappers or something? Someone tried to extort him.
It's, you get through being a, no, no, there wasn't a, no, no, no, I know who you were being a, you know, and the machete's and shit. Something happened with someone trying to extort him. Either way, Billy, what's your who's back of the week? Yeah.
Oh. Oh. Yeah. So he was, he was committed to Ohio State.
He then flipped to Miami where he didn't see any playing time and tried to play wide receiver. And he is now transferring to University of Nevada to hopefully start his quarterback and continues career. Let's go. Yeah.
I always like it when wild card quarterbacks end up going to wild card schools. Yes. That makes it seem so much cooler. Yes.
Okay. So we're root form, huh? I actually am. I mean, yeah, why not?
It doesn't really hurt me to root for him. True. Right? No time out of my time.
Electric. Right. But we'll see if he's actually good. Okay.
Good. Who's back everyone? What do you got? Did you find the extortion?
No, there's also something that I should have involved. It's new team names, the Guardians. Oh, yeah. That's from Friday right after the quarter.
So when it got announced, I was like, well, this is lame. And then about an hour passed and I was like, I don't really care. Guardians works. Yeah.
So the Guardians, it's not a bad name when you take into account that there's giant statues on the side of the bridge or called the Guardians of Cleveland or the Cleveland Guardians, whatever. Yeah. Those are cool statues. Right.
I like it. But I get it because it scares kids and all that shit. And then the other thing is this is just looking to the future for when the watching football team eventually gets a name. Everyone's going to hate it no matter what it is.
But then you realize I don't really care that much. And you also realize there's a ton of team names that are equally as stupid. They just came way, way long ago. The Utah Jazz is the dumbest name in sports.
It really Lakers. Yeah. I mean, there's just a bunch of dumb. If they came out right now and they say the New York Metropolitan's people are like, what are we doing here?
Like, if it was just the Boston Red Sox? Yeah. They came out right now and they say the New York Metropolitan's people like what is what what are we doing here? Like if it was just the Boston Red Sox.
Yeah, the the the knickerbockers. There's so many team names You're like this doesn't make any sense. So I'm in on the Guardians. Sorry for those tweets How to get the tweets off though isn't there is there any other teams that have that name the Guardians?
Yeah, it was the Alex is the XFL team is there like a handball team or something? Oh, yeah, who cares? Yeah, who cares is there? I bet you the Cleveland.
Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Good call Hank. Yes.
We should at least bring this up There's a handball team and Ravel in his infinite wisdom did his hey look at me I was able to do a search and found out that the roller derby team Yeah, the former Cleveland Indians didn't didn't secure the Instagram handle or whatever and then Pat McAfee Tweeted out a picture of them a team picture and Ravel was like look it's two women on the team They're five women on the team three of them are maybe different looking women than I don't even know what no they're women I thought right away. I was like that's five women. I looked at it too, and honestly I have short hair that's the only thing either Ravel only looked at the left side of the picture or he just doesn't know what women look like Yeah, what a while is a possibility hold on I want to watch this clip real quick one more time Oh, what's going on? He's going he's going he's going he's going he's going and yeah, he forgot to turn and oh fuck boom Shit, oh, he actually might have got really hurt listen.
You got you know how to turn if you're biking, okay? Okay, hopefully he's okay thoughts a prayer sec. All right before we get to Pat Conanton Chevy the strongest most advanced Silverado ever Silverado strong advanced dependable hard working Silverado is dependable like the people who drive them The design is big bold and commanding and this truck turns heads apart with grit and determination anything as possible and Silverado is a partner in that Tailgating calling towing off-roading moving day helping out your friend or family member move road trips Chevy Silverado is the truck if you're thinking about owning a truck Chevy Silverado is the truck to do to buy Show up whisper PMT or take into a salesperson's ear. They will give you a hundred dollars off your new Chevy Silverado Everyone's now it's a ripple effect across the studio of people watching this guy eat shit I'm gonna watch it one more time the strongest most advanced Silverado ever I'm gonna watch the Chevy is the best you know it would have helped that guy if he was in a Chevy Silverado not on a bike So I got the big screen going up Silverado strong advanced dependable hard working Chevy Silverado the best truck ever created Okay, here he is Pat Conanton Okay, we now welcome on a very special guest he is an NBA champion for less than a week now it is Pat Conanton Let's obviously start there One have has the party stopped has it slowed down or is it still going?
I hope it's still going But how is like the last couple nights been the party number stops? So you're gonna appreciate that but last few nights We've got a little more R&R rest and recovery giving a little bit more low key okay, okay And now has it you've been I assume you've been introduced a few times now as NBA champion That's got to be pretty cool. Has it like have you had that moment where you've been able to let it's you know set Set a land and be like holy shit. I got a ring.
I'm part of history. No one can ever take this away from me I'm an NBA champion. That's how you introduce me for the rest of my life. I Actually, I haven't had that particular moment.
I would say you know some from the text that I've gotten some people to have just Called me chant now moving forward or claimed they're going to I started to set in I'd say each and every day that kind of goes By it sets in a little bit more what we did it's unique right because like you went in NCHM And shit, it's one game. It's one night like that's where all your eggs are in NBA championship It's a two-month process. You got to go through every single round you got to go through all these different things So the actual culmination of that night it takes a minute for it to set in because of the entire journey it took to get there Yeah, would you say that this is the toughest NBA championship to win of all time? I mean look we played the Brooklyn Nets in the second round They got three superstars.
I got three MVP candidates I think it was definitely one of them if not the hardest we started off with a team that we own revenge to And then the Atlanta Hawks are a good young team You know they got some good young talent and the Phoenix Suns are obviously a great team So I'd say it was one of I think obviously not having to go through LeBron helps a little bit Yeah, also the Nets have four superstars to forget about like Griffin. Yeah. Oh, good call. I thought you're gonna give the nod to my guy Joe Harris Oh, yes, yes, great play.
It is crazy though You mentioned it like it's it's crazy to think how much time has passed because I look back at like game one of the entire playoffs And I thought to my side you go to overtime against the heat It's like oh the heat are gonna be a problem for the box again. That feels like 10 years ago I'm sure it's the same for you Like throughout the entire two months did you go zero dark 30 where you just locked in no social media like basically eat sleep and you know Basketball all the time. Yeah, actually with zero dark 30 this entire year Well, social media post I had was right before our first game in Boston my hometown I guess there was one aside coach break a little bit of flag at one point time I had to show my support but that was a quick sign on sign out I went zero dark 30 the whole time and maybe maybe LeBron's on to something work. So what's your burner then?
The bra I don't have a burning yet. I'm not that technologically advanced I think I'd now that I'm an NBA champ I should probably figure out a burner we should take some like burner account username You know suggestions. Yeah, I think you definitely should have a bird you're at that point not Matthew Delavidova should be your I Play with deli for a year. Yeah, that would be a pretty good.
I could just you think PC burner would be too obvious PC burner What about your I don't know if anyone in your entire life calls you this but on basketball reference your nickname is vanilla thunder Actually heard that I've never been physically called out by anybody. So I don't know where it came from. Yeah, those are the type of names You read it you're like there's no chance anyone calls you vanilla thunder You know, I kind of thought you were gonna add at least for what I heard I thought you were gonna add vanilla thunder with the big stat line on game six because I got a little bit of a Chirp dude. No, that wasn't a chirp.
That was the big you won my big heart of the game I okay, so this segway still question I wanted to ask you because there were you know, you're it's a weird situation because you're Incredible athlete want to get through like we'll talk about your backstory, but you're now in the NBA finals You're clearly not asked to do a ton offensively You're doing like incredible stuff on defense and rebounding you know eight rebounds in game six How do you like figure out a way to stay engaged in all times when you know that hey going into this game? I might only have four shots tonight like I did the ball might just not you know, it might just not be the night where I have to Shoot a lot. How do you say engaged and how are you like able to get rebounds and and do everything you do that might not show up on the Stat sheet? Yeah, that's a great question.
I mean Seriously, I'd say it's the mental side of the game I'd say a lot of that comes down to the mental side of the game Obviously everyone sees the physical side of it the athleticism the things that you know, yan's transformation from when he was drafted to now Physically, you see all the shot making you see the dunk you see the playmaking things like that I'd say the mental side of it is what I've really tried to progress on throughout the season and especially in the playoffs because My role is unique. There's gonna be nights where I get nine threes It's gonna be nice where I get one or two There's gonna be nights where I don't touch the ball for the first half and then I'm expected to make one or two shots in the second half But the one thing that has to remain consistent is my ability to positively affect the game throughout whether it be rebounding whether it be Defense whether it be taking charges whether it be just causing havoc, whatever it might be so for me I just kind of mentally remind myself. Hey, just usually I've let us is him that nobody thinks I have You know, usually I've let us is him throughout the game find ways to impact use my instincts Do things that they may not show up on the statute But it's gonna force coach but to continue to put me in the game or keep me in the game because that way when Drew or Yannas or Chris or the Guys that have the ball and play make obviously on a consistent basis when they do get double and triple team and the ball does get Kick to me. I'm a little bit more engaged to make the shot as opposed to just being cold and like firing it up Right, so a little follow up So let's say there were times during the playoffs like you get three shots if you airball one of them where you miss one badly Doesn't hurt a little bit more because that's the mental side that I feel like is really remarkable that if you have three four shots a game And you had more games with with more and you miss one badly to be able to be like alright I gotta keep my confidence up because if you have 25 shots a game and you miss one badly who cares you're shooting the next possession down Right now you're right so I say it's funny because that's where the majority of my growth this season came from They're the stretch during the regular season I played back in Portland where I know started my career and I threw the first one off the you know backboard and the second one Barely hit the rim and I realized like I went into a shooting slump for like the next week or so And it was because of that and so how did I look at myself and be like hey?
How do I grow from this and learn from this because it's gonna happen again? You know I hope to play in the NBA for 10 12 15 years who knows you're gonna miss bad shots You're gonna miss them poorly and fast forward the Atlanta you know game one we lose and I miss a shot that could have tied the game or put It's up by one and it was an air ball and I think what I've learned is you've got to somehow understand a miss It doesn't really matter what kind of miss it is. Can you self-evaluate why you missed it and for me the Atlanta one? It was times for a moment.
I let the environment kind of dictate how I shot it I got too excited for it. I was like oh, I'm gonna make sure I win the game before I even shot the shot So how do I self-diagnose that so at the next time? It's just hey the balls coming to me find a friend of Ram and let it fly I'm happy you brought up that one because I think I just have the tweets I don't have like what the context is I just have one from June 24th. It just says oh no Pat Conant I think that was that yeah, I would probably be it I mean that was probably one that's good I wasn't on social media for sure.
Yeah, I'm sure the messages the tweets the mentions were probably not crazy No, but the next mention I have you is I never should have doubted Pat Conant and on July 14th I'm looking at your stats here in just about across every category every student category your regular season stats compared to your playoff stats every season Your playoff stats are much better like you improve as a shooter in the playoffs whereas a lot of people go the other way Do you feel different in the playoffs you get in the zone? Yeah, I mean somebody said I should I should trademark it as playoff Pat it's just a different mentality But now I think for me. I enjoy those big moments I think when you're when you're able to calm your mind down and understand hey I'm just trying to find a way to win the game like that's that's the biggest thing to me The reason the Atlanta one bothered me a little bit while I was in the gym that night early the next morning was we lost If I had missed a shot badly and we didn't lose and I found a way to help my team win the game That's a different story, but I just want to try to find ways to win the game and in the playoffs That's when it really shows during the regular season, you know playing time and things that coaches look at will be a little bit more statistically oriented During the playoffs. I'm just trying to find guys that can help and win games And that's where I try to make my mark and I've been fortunate to do so quite a bit since I've been a Milwaukee Okay, so another dumb question about the mental side of the game Which I think this is why people like our you know our show because we asked these kind of dumb questions So have you ever found yourself in a playoff game and a regular game being caught being like holy shit What you honestly was so cool and like didn't get back quick enough or like kind of kind of get caught because like we're watching it And we're our mouths are on the floor with some of the blocks some of the dunks Has that ever happened where you were maybe like a split second You didn't get back fast enough or you know You lingered a little too long because he did something so incredible Yeah, I got a perfect one for you There's a there's a picture of it where if you zoom in on my face you see me like It's the blocky hat versus the under eight the other day and game three I believe three or four Yeah, that was at the end of the game.
That was incredible I the rebound was supposed to come right to me if you watch the film it was coming right to me I didn't move thank God PJ Tucker like was still in in like his self mind But I'm just I was like he did through the law. I thought it was I thought he had it and yonder comes from nowhere And pins it off the glass hit it off the glass and it took me a split second to jump back to him by that time Pj already grabbed the rebound so we were good That's amazing because that's obviously one of the highlights of the NBA finals You know that game that block was just incredible art. I'm watching it real quick That's that's that's perfect though because that's the human side I know obviously you're blocked in its high-stakes stuff But then Giannis is doing stuff that like you can't it's it's incomprehensible sometimes his athleticism and what he's able to do on the court Also, I'm watching this play right now You need to get credit for it assist on the block because as eight is making the back to work cut you point at him And you're like yelling at Giannis like back door back door Yeah, and then you know it's something that's physically impossible for human to do and blocks that shot But we need to start keeping track of assist blocks because that would be one for you Maybe the best of all time. Yeah, I mean, I'm telling them hey look Yes, I can't do anything about this you need to go do something about that real quick because if not you might lose I'm watching this and it actually like it's very very small So you're you actually harder on yourself than in reality there But you can see your body kind of relax for a split second I think you would have gotten it anyway because PJ talking about kind of stole it from you But that's so funny that it's that block because it really was I mean I watch it a million times being like how the fuck did he recover and get that high and block it at that level man crazy If you saw if you saw the picture from like it's got to be either underneath the backward or behind the backboard in the glass or whatever It is it's a picture of him doing it and it's at the time of the block or like right after yeah And the still frame if you zoom in someone send it to me I don't my fault you zoom in that's where you see me like that's incredible and also quick second But but to give you credit the honest I read somewhere that honest actually is jealous of your ability to show up to the gym and like jump out of the Out of the gym without any warm-up.
So you guys are like workout buddies, right? Yeah, yeah, so me and I have a nice little friendly competition on who can lift more during certain I can exercise You know pound for pound who's stronger things of that nature and I kind of started right when I got in Milwaukee three years ago Obviously he gets all the credit for being as strong as he is from where he came from and when we first got there I said hey look you deserve all the credit But don't think that I think you can be being a weightlifting contest. That's not gonna happen Okay, so we need to redo that the picture that went viral in game six of they showed Giannis when he was drafted and Giannis today and it was like he grew seven inches and gained 50 pounds We need one where like when Giannis met Conantin and Giannis today. That's all you like you get credit for that 100% The last three years I'm gonna take a look at like it There's a few I'll send you guys a few photos There's a few where after he gets an ant one my big thing is like put my arm up like this like how strong is And there's a few great still still shots where like his face is like Like it's right at the moment and I haven't I haven't lasted a month social media for yet I want to make sure we want to championship before I did but where I said look even the MVP jealous of some of the Strength and conditioning guys on this team.
Yeah, what about his eating habits? Do you think that he was actually able to finish all those Chick-fil-A minis? I actually have no doubt he was able to finish all those Chick-fil-A minis I think he loves Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A's his thing and the man can eat food I mean 50 minis is that's just a ton of food That's more impressive we were saying then any of the blocks any of the alley-oop's any of the dunks that he's had if you're able to put away 50 Chick-fil-A minis in one sitting that's actually just super human stuff Yeah, I mean his nickname is freak. He's the Greek freak I tried to get a little campaign going during the playoffs when I was interviewing on NBA TV with Jared Greenberg I think you know he's the Greek freak on the Irish freak, but it didn't take unfortunately Nike stuck with the Greek freak stuff And they didn't have no one we can get on that.
We got the PC freak. Yeah, we can get Irish freak. We got you. Yeah.
Yeah I assume you jump higher than most Irish people what about his so the other part of his freak is the knee injury After that happens was he telling you guys like don't worry I'll be okay because I still don't it feels again like 10 years ago But he's up there now with Adrian Peterson obviously Adrian Peterson's towards ACL But how he got hurt how bad it looked and then how he was able to come back. It still kind of blows my mind Yeah, I think to be honest, it's kind of under undersold. It's under talked about like you look at the way I mean you look at what Chris Bosch was saying like they were worried about certain blood clots things that Chris Bosch went through Chris Bosch was worried about him playing again or next year let alone playing again the playoffs I think it just kind of shows a his growth like on serious notice growth as a leader like you look at some of the stars throughout the Sports of these playoffs some of them that got hurt they weren't down on the bench. They weren't standing up They weren't taking guys inside talking to him during the games like guys was doing that throughout those two games These comments finals which really helped us.
They really helped us get through and he was addressing the team collectively before the games Which I think just speaks to the growth that he's had as a leader especially vocally He's always had obviously the work ethic side of it and then just the treatment in the 24 seven things that he was doing in order to try to put his body in a position to heal and get back And you know be there for game one of the finals and then to put up the numbers he put up during the finals I mean that's coming off of a hyper extended knee that You know if he wasn't as strong as he was or he hadn't put in the work in the weight room who knows what that injury actually Yeah, so were you were you confident like I guess how soon after the injury? Were you thinking like okay? He's gonna come back? He's not done because as fans We just we assumed he was done until next year like maybe even gonna miss some time into next year given how serious that injury look Yeah, so him and I because we've lifted obviously together for a few years now He's sprained his ankle over the last few years and I've sprained mine once or twice and the thing that we kind of say to each other Every single time we go over like don't feel pain like be stronger than pain like stronger people are hard to kill but don't feel pain When he was walking out that plane later that night I was I didn't go over and say to him.
I was like I'm a little bit concerned. Yeah, it's okay. I feel pain just this one I feel pain on this one like I was feel pain on this one Yeah, but I'd say probably like the next day or two seeing the progression that he had just in walking and I read it walking It's way different than running playing going left and right laterally jumping and floating things like that But his his walking improved significantly, so I thought that's when guys had a little bit of more hope and he said hey look We're focused on the series do not focus on me focus on winning the series You're as a you know voice to help you guys win the series. I'll make sure behind the scenes I'm taking care of myself to put myself in position.
I hope we come back He's a freak But you're freak too and one thing that I think is under we don't talk about enough is your performance in the slam dunk competition When you jumped over sure well you jumped over Giannis, which is pretty cool But you also jumped over Christian yelich friend of the show over current guest when you were planning on jumping over Christian Was he like did they tell you like please don't bump your testicles against my head? No, so we practiced and I showed him video of me jumping over a video guy that we have that's so you know I could do it was more or less I would say the city and state of Wisconsin I was concerned about because I was jumping over the two MVP's I was gonna try to get our rogers They'll jump over all three MVP's but I didn't make it to the next round And so I didn't have that opportunity But I would say there was a lot of breath holding from both the Brewers ownership and management and then the Bucks ownership and management I was like yeah, this is what I'm planning on do it was a great I'm sure you're rocking the the white man can't jump the And then the problem with the dunk over Giannis I thought was there was almost too much nuance to it The tapping the ball on the backboard. I don't know if the judges saw that when it happens in real time Yeah, so I would say they didn't see it until there was slow motion in the arena So being in the arena and afterwards I knew it was gonna be kind of tough from the state So we guys went over and like kind of pointed when they replayed it in the arena on the big screen It was almost like a bigger reaction than what I actually got to dump down It was like a double reaction like I got the dumb down people like oh and then they showed on the arena people like oh And like it was the second one that I think kind of helped But the first one I think was the one that had the most controversy because I was the only guy in the first round to get the Dunk down on the first try jumping over yellich in the white man can't jump costume and my man D waya gave me an eight Oh, that's tough. Yeah, have you ever talked to him after that?
No, I haven't I haven't spoken to him. I told him I was gonna take me a few years to get over it because he had a fellow Miami heat guy in the dumb contest that happened to make it to the next round as opposed to maybe because of that E person I yeah, that's bullshit. Um, we're gonna get back to the interview pack on some just a second But before we do 3C 3C 3C 3C is back. I love 3C.
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So I said we're gonna talk about you know, you know, you're path to the NBA So I think people know but if they don't you're an incredible baseball player you get drafted by the Orioles in the fourth round You decide to play basketball instead of baseball But actually let me go back so I read that essentially your life changed in one week at an AAU camp Is that is that like true or is that kind of an embellishment of a story that some writer made up? You know, maybe a little bit sexier so they could you know have an awesome article? I'd say it was my life in basketball changed in one week for sure I would say baseball and it was actually probably right around exactly 11 years ago this week It was a week in July. I never played AU basketball really could I play baseball in the summer like that was my thing?
I played basketball all fall went through baseball spring and summer and So I didn't really got seen for basketball my the only offer I had going into that tournament was from a division to school Bentley University for basketball I had baseball offers from everywhere starting since I was like a freshman in high school And I told all the baseball coaches Hey, I just want to wait and see what I can do with basketball and all of them looked at me like Why like right? Let's be honest you're a six-five like I why are you waiting to see what you can do in basketball? Like let's do the space ball thing and so I finally got down there And I went down with the AU program It was like magic from back home and I got to play in front of some division one coaches And I left there with like 30 division one offers and when I really knew like things were changing Like coach Bray my obviously college coach was like the first guy that really saw me and offered me But when I really knew things were changing we we had lost the game and you know No, say you turn it's like you're at like the nice facilities until you lose and you're in like some random gym Like the second court is given like it's like torn up It's like there's only one court is dividers and there's those little crappy like metal sands And I got Ben Holland coach Bray Bruce Pearl I got all these had coaches sitting on those away from the main event and that's what I kind of do Hey if they're coming to these shitty gyms to see me things are looking up That's incredible So like you if that week doesn't happen you're probably in you know in the minors Maybe the majors at this point and your life is just completely different But you went down you bald out and then everything flipped and it's like now everyone looks at you pack comments in the basketball player Who's just like that? Yeah, it's just like that and I think like the funny part about it is you know I worked I worked really hard before I went down there and I got myself even better shape But a lot of things was which is ironic and different back when I was there There wasn't all this high school mixtape there wasn't as much coverage of the EU or the high school circuit So not many people knew who I was unless I went to nationals But like the first few games in nationals just during warm-ups I did some 360 dunk said it's a windmill I did some things and like everyone starts turning their heads like who's this guy?
We've never seen it before he's doing all this that's that's nothing you bet on yourself like you wanted to always play basketball You get the you so you got a signing bonus from getting drafted by the Orioles for $400,000 while you're still at Notre Dame That must have been hard too to be like I could go get paid to be a professional athlete right now But I'm gonna keep playing basketball. Yeah, so I went I met with all those scouts my junior year the baseball scouts I also you know I was an athlete in baseball. I wouldn't say I was a pitcher. I was an athlete I could throw it hard I had a little bit of a control issue from time to time I better get in the box never a little bit nervous because I really know where it was going sometimes in warm-ups I'd say I went over the catcher's head and hit the backstop and come all the way back to me like things like that So when I was talking all the scouts they were like hey look We'll take a chance on you there guys that wanted me to get into the first round guys I want to be in the second round and I said to all the one thing I want to do is come back to Notre Dame to finish out My basketball career, you know coach break gave me the opportunity I thought it was important for me to make sure that I finished the four years that he gave me scholarship for and Finish out my degree and things like that.
I was set to graduate a semester early and the Orioles said yeah sure What's you doing? No problem? And the exact quote they sent me was like we have no problem You do it because we know there's no future for you in basketball And so I went I actually went and I took the signing bonus and I played that summer I played minor league baseball in Aberdeen, Maryland for the short season a the Aberdeen Ironbirds pitch probably started four or five games And then went back to Notre Dame and played basketball in my senior year and never ended up going back Damn and so I'm reading a quote here from one executive said he definitely cost himself some money my return to school I think it ended up pretty good for you like if you were to do it all over again probably do the same thing Yeah, for sure 100% I think the funny part that not a lot of people know was I had the the Yankees sitting in my living room back in my senior High school offering me a couple million bucks to four go going to college at all to play baseball But I felt like if they were offering me that then that opportunity would still be there as long as I advanced in college and I felt like it was easier for me in both sports to progress if I was trying to do them on the same campus working With each coaching staff not having to fly places to be get better But being able to just walk across campus granted it was snowy and negative degrees temperatures and self-end Yeah, are we gonna hear in a couple years like if you have a contract coming up? You're like well, I'm thinking about going to play baseball as leverage You know Russell Wilson does that every couple years.
I'd like to hear back how to think it involved in that too Yeah, I mean look maybe not in a couple years, but when it comes five or six years down the line when I'm get to that point There'll be a few stories leaked to me playing long toss in the summers and you'll see you know We throw it from the plate over the green monster as Fenway when I'm back home in the off season and stir up a little bit of controversy I mean the Yankees love pitchers with control issues right now. You fit in there It's true wait alright So I'm mad though that you ruined one of my questions because you admitted to have a control problems because I did want to bring up the first pitch That you throw in 2019 for the Brewers So I watched it and I was like this guy played baseball because you fucking airmailed that thing Hold on I'll pull it up for pft right now you airmailed that thing So that now it makes sense though So you're basically saying this was commonplace for you like this This is this involved you because this was a kind of routine pack on its warm up where you might hit the guy who's holding the camera You know 20 feet behind home plate. Yeah, so two tidbits for you one There was our social media girl was holding the camera and she was watching the camera not like the pitch to make sure she got it She did not move an inch and I have her footage it went right by She didn't move an inch she was stoic through the whole thing like nerves was steel And then the other tidbit is there was a time in high school where I hit the first batter of the first four innings To the point where the parents on the other team thought that I was doing it on purpose And I was like look I'm honest I'm not doing on purpose I did the first time the first four innings and then I struck out the remaining three guys of each inning So I had a level 12 case after four innings, but four hit five pitches I just wanted to pitch out of the stretch. I don't know what happened That's one of the best stat lines ever.
It's actually great because you set the tone right away like the next batter that comes up They're not digging in they're not You should have seen the first batter of the fifth inning So four innings pitched 12 strikeouts no hits four batters hit. Yes. What does that look like? That's incredible Yeah, so it was a unique stat line one of the one of the HPP's Hit the kid in the helmet and I caught it came right back In the air in the air.
Oh, that's ridiculous. Yeah, I thought it was apparent. I probably would Now we have it you should have just said that right away after that first pitch because it was a very bad first pitch and you were a former baseball player But now I love it. You're just wild thing you're Ricky Vaughn.
Yeah, well, you know when I threw that first pitch I was still on a bet minimum. I was a one-year team option the second year I don't want the Orioles or anybody thinking hey this control might really suck like I like we might have to rethink this Whole fourth round draft thing I had to make sure that this basketball thing was really gonna work out before I really started The you know give myself a hard time and show the world what I try really was that's awesome Oh, we have a recurring debate on this show between myself and Big Cat on whether or not It would be better to just be able to step back and just be wet shooting threes or to be able to step up and just throw down Dumps in a pickup game So you're probably the perfect person to ask because you dabble in both you're an athletic freak So what does vanilla thunder say to that? Thanks for sure I mean I've been you know one of the best basketball experiences of my life goes back to high school I went into the mission Hill projects in Boston with this team from Lynn Which were a bunch of guys I used to play against and played with an AAU and we played against the mission Hill projects team Which had Shabbat's Napier who's a close friend of mine? There were a lot of division one guys there.
We walk into the gym one of the guys on land Reached out to me before I got there and said hey before you get here Let me know I'll come out and get you and then I'll bring you in so I'm the only white guy in the gym I walk in my dad comes with me a little kid runs up to my dad and goes Hey, like you meaning like we were doing was ever looking like in that gym Shabbat showed us up the place goes wild because she's got back from Yukon for the summer So he was a year above me and so we play we're playing the first half we're tied I hit I think four or five three in the first half and people were impressed But like it was still like they were rooting for Shabbat's mission. Oh projects beginning in the second half There's a block. I'm coming down the right wing I got two guys on the mission hill team one who's like kind of lining me up and the other one who's just trying to come over from the Week side and I go up off one and I put both of them in the room I've done both of them the game stopped I got people running on the floor I got people going nuts. I got people yelling things like this white boy can play who is this kid like the whole the whole nine And so I would say to you guys the threes were they were fine in the first half But we shut down a game with the dunk now in my defense my argument has always been not about Pat Coniston level pickup hoops It's about like Saturday morning everyone's fat running around and if someone dunks It's a try hard move like I've I play a pick up games where a guy will dunk and everyone like alright dude So yes, I would agree in what you just described is a lot different like if you're playing with guys above the rim dunking Yeah, you're dunking on people is fucking sick.
I you probably have not played in a in a Level of play that I play at since like probably fourth grade where it's just everyone's just running around missing shots And sucking and then one guy will show up and dunk and everyone be like alright dude like come on really So actually I would agree with you only because I have seen my buddies play I have gone to a few of the pickups that my buddies play over this hour and Whenever a guy hits a three, especially if it's a few feet behind the line There's a lot of trash talking going on where it's like oh he got lucky. He won't do it again the second He hits a second three. It's like off even a broken clock right twice a day second He hits a third three it just keeps going and that's when people start to get pretty And you and pick up hoops like you're playing at 21 or something And it's like you could you could basically rattle off three wins if you get hot at three You know I mean like we're just bang bang, but yeah I mean what you describe is very cool. Yeah I appreciate it Have you have you considered like just making yourself available to go over to Tokyo and play in the Olympics and just we need a shooter We need we need a pack of over that yes, please help Yeah, I was buying for my guy when we were selling the final or in the playoffs in the finals I was I was buying for my guy Duncan Robinson to get called up over there I thought he would have fit him perfectly with them deep trees, but Yeah, if they give me the call I'd be happy to go over my guy Dame still over there or is over there Hops the fight with the Portland drew and Chris over there drew had a great first game But it's a different brand of basketball.
I think that's what you know It's different than the NBA there's less spacing the ball has to move more people have to move more It's got to be shared more it's not as much isolation and those guys that play in the NBA that then go play for their countries They're used to that they grow up playing. Yeah, no Can you explain like a little bit more in depth because I'm really dumb so I've heard people say that like there's more spacing involved And it's a different game and it's not just like okay We have the players who are by far the best athletes in the world and some of the best scores in the world like Kevin Durant Like they don't obviously have anybody that can match up what Kevin Durant's able to do offensively But what are the differences in the rules that make it so much more difficult for guys that just play the United States We're in the NBA so the three point lines close so immediately when guys are guarding around the three point line You got five bodies within a tighter space and that's before you put the offense in there the key is a little bit smaller So there's no defense of three seconds So you can sit in the key for as long as you want gold tending if the balls on The ball touches the rim you can bat it off So you'll see guys throw up free throw it'll roll around the rim and you'll see you're the good European guys jump up and bat it off the rim When in the NBA that might roll in and count There's like little nuances like that where when you you can mitigate the athleticism It's basically how I describe it to people like when you're able to shrink the court a little bit You're able to give Kevin Durant less face You're able to give a guy like game was super fast less space It's all it becomes more about skill and then you look at guys like a little bit Don't shoot you look at guys like Rudy Fernandez who didn't make it in the NBA But when he was playing for Spain in those exhibition games, you know He was killing the United States and I was all who's not in the NBA anymore But he's still having a significant impact in the Euro League basketball and the Olympic basketball So it just kind of mitigates that athleticism I think that's where Americans and the United States have always made their bread and butters We're just a little bit more athletic than the Euro in the European You can also say the roster construction is baffling because we don't have like a true point card or centers Which is very weird like when you play because all these other teams have huge guys Like they all like you said the point about athleticism You can play a big guy who doesn't move like in the NBA today's NBA You have to if you're a center you have to be able to guard anywhere on the court Hopefully hit threes and when the athleticism goes down you can play like old school centers a little bit more No, you're 100% 100% I would say I mean let me ask you guys a question What do you think less guys from the NBA unless Americans wanted to go? I think it has to do with this covid. Yeah, there's no fans over there I think for some reason and this Olympics isn't even in a fourth year.
It's because there's a delay to you right? So I think there's a little bit of hey, we want to get ready for next year in the NBA We'll catch the next Olympics and you know 2024 and this one's not as important Which is a shame however, I still believe we should win it based off the talent that we have on rock agreed So that actually leads me to the question the debate we had on the show Chris Middleton and Drew Holliday Did you have a moment where you looked at them like drunk at the party or the parade being like come on guys? Let's keep partying don't get on this flight. Yeah, so the previous Thursday and Drew Hollley was on my bus and I turned around I took a bus selfie and then I turned around and I looked at Drew and my man drew was sitting there like I need some rest Because I got a fly on a flight to Tokyo tomorrow and I was like is it still worth it?
Yeah, I'm after winning it like is it still worth it? Yes, and I mean both of them, you know had the same answer like Chris Middleton You know, he's a guy that was just like I want to be able to compete for him to go metal These chances don't always come around same with Drew and I couldn't fault him for that I mean at the end of the day if you're looking at hey, we won the NBA championship and we got gold medal in the same year That's a pretty hell of a story here. That's a hell of a year So I couldn't fault him for it But when I asked him it was worth it to both of them They both thought about it for a split second longer than I thought good I'm happy that you at least brought up because I agree like at the end of the day playing the Olympics That's something special you remember forever You got to suck it up for a week in a flight But I'm happy that you asked him because that's that's what like every like regular fan guys sitting at a bar Was thinking like whoa, I would I just party my face off for a couple weeks and just pretend the Olympics didn't happen I did tell them hey look if you want the other way you can look at this is just party and don't sleep So that's like those by really fast because you're just passed out on Very good so we saw we saw PJ Tucker speech the dog speech. He wants dogs.
He looked like he was having a pretty good time Do you think that was he partying the hardest or was there some guy who was low-key partying hard than PJ? No, I think it's it's evident PJ Tucker was partying the hardest like PJ is one of those guys I mean obviously he came to us probably a third of the way through the year So he's with us for like two thirds of the year. Um, he's one of the best teammates I've ever had he's a guy that he's a great locker room guy He's a great human being in general obviously the stuff he does on the court is those winning type plays Which you know I res relate to really easily but just as a human being he's great and he's been through a Incredible career I mean like I went overseas for a few years to come back to the NBA so for us to win he was one of the guys I was most happy for that we're able to get him a championship and let's just say he took full advantage of winning that championship afterwards Like he was the Not the most he was the guy who I was getting snapchats from people with in Milwaukee that he was still out at a few bars by the time It was over like he was he was he deserved. Yeah.
Yeah, there was a couple funny like just a bar that you would never expect an NBA champion to be at The day after he was an NBA championship and people like tweeting it being like PJ Tucker spot everyone at this bar a beer pretty cool move So that's the way to live it. Yeah, and that's the type of guy he is Yeah, he's the type of guy where you know he celebrates things that are worth celebrating and obviously an NBA championship is worth celebrating But he wants everyone to feel the same type of thing and the city of Milwaukee embraced him when he got there I gave him some food spots because he's a big food and coffee guy to go to and they treated him really well And he wanted to make sure that the fans felt the love back That's awesome. All right, so I had one last question. This has been awesome man We really appreciate you doing this the game seven against the Nets.
I was there I I didn't for a second think that Kevin Durant had a three there Did you think that he had hit a three or did you it's because actually on the board on the jumbotron? It said three pointer. Did you think your season was over in that moment or were you like no? It's but was definitely on the line.
No, I didn't so I wasn't on the court for that play I was standing off, but I wasn't on the bench. I was almost at the scorers table And I couldn't I didn't have a great angle I had a great angle of like shot I didn't have a great angle while the play was going on so I was with you I was looking up at the jumbotron watching the play unfold and the second he spun and turned around when I was Looking at Jellosha I saw his foot look like it was on the line So I knew it was a two and then I looked at the play and it was like it was going in the hole Like when he let that thing go I was like god damn this thing's again Yeah, and to be honest with you that's why like if you put into perspective a Game that felt like you won the NBA championship It was that game like that game was an instant classic you had Kevin Durant hit and shots to put it into overtime at home You know a hostile environment like winning that game showed the type of character and you know camaraderie that we had a steam I love it. I mean I couldn't agree more that felt like the first moment was like oh the boxer punching back this year It's not like last year. They have the tell them as you need who were you rooting for?
I was rooting for Blake Griffin I actually was bizarre if you were watching it like I only would cheer for Blake Griffin He had a fucking awesome game if they had five Blake Griffin's out there. We wouldn't be interviewing you right now Because you wouldn't be an NBA champion I will say I will say he did play really well He was exactly what PJ talker he was a dog that old series so we can his transfer his transformation from Detroit to Brooklyn was yep Was like night and day was like yannes is rookie year to this year Yeah, I was great Just need a little fresh air some of that famous New York City fresh air and then all these things able to dunk again Yes, yes, well, yes, yes Is this has this week been better than your one week in a like AAU legendary performances, which is the best week of your life? Oh, that's a great question. Yeah, it's a week.