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Speaker 1: The volume. The Colin Coward Podcast presented by FanDuel Sports Book.

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Speaker 1: Get started now, sign up promo code Colin so they

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Speaker 1: know we and I sent you. The Colin Coward Podcast

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Speaker 1: presented by the Fan Duel Sports Book. Hi everybody, and

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Speaker 1: welcome in to the Thursday Morning Podcast. I think you're

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Speaker 1: gonna love our guest, Ethan Strauss. I introduced you to

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Speaker 1: Ethan for those who don't know him about a year ago.

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Speaker 1: He's just terrific. He was one of my first guests,

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Speaker 1: thought provoking, pushes back. Left the NBA and the Warriors

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Speaker 1: and covering the league to start his own business and

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Speaker 1: he is flourishing. But first, fake questions, real answers, stuff

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Speaker 1: I want to talk about. Don't want to wait for

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Speaker 1: you to ask me the question. Dear Colins. Sean mcvay's

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Speaker 1: new contract will make him the second highest paid coach

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Speaker 1: in the league. Do you think he deserves it? Yes,

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Speaker 1: because he's not only a Super Bowl winning coach. He's

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Speaker 1: not only a winning coach, he's an innovator. Much like

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Speaker 1: Belichick was, Sean Payton was. Is that I'm never ever

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Speaker 1: bothered by high salaries if somebody is not only productive,

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Speaker 1: but is creating new revenue streams, new ideas businesses. I'll

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Speaker 1: give you an example. Michael Rubin. He's the CEO of Fanatics.

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Speaker 1: It's an official merchandising store for Major League Baseball, NBA, NHL, NASCAR.

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Speaker 1: So in the late nineties when we didn't know what

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Speaker 1: the heck to do with the internet, right, nobody was

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Speaker 1: selling anything online, and he created a company called GSI

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Speaker 1: Commerce that helped other companies and older executives get into

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Speaker 1: e commerce. It was very risky at the time. I

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Speaker 1: mean you go back thirty years ago, there were not

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Speaker 1: a lot of takers, right, certainly no executives who knew

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Speaker 1: at these massive companies what the online world was going

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Speaker 1: to look like. It seemed risky. Well in twenty eleven,

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Speaker 1: ten years ago, eleven years ago, he sold his company

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Speaker 1: to eBay for two point four billion dollars. He's an innovator,

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Speaker 1: and I root for people who are innovators, and that's

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Speaker 1: why I love Sean McVay. Sean McVay said, there's no

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Speaker 1: reason to play any good starters in the preseason. People

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Speaker 1: boxed you won't be ready. In September, he won his

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Speaker 1: first eight games. Now the league copies him. He was

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Speaker 1: a big believer in being collaborative as a coach. It's

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Speaker 1: a players league, much like the NBA, strong player leadership

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Speaker 1: on teams, listening to players much less hitting in practice.

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Speaker 1: People rolled their eyes look at their defensive rankings. He

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Speaker 1: moved off Jared Goff, basically unheard of in the NFL.

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Speaker 1: Moving off a Super Bowl quarterback heading into his prime

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Speaker 1: unheard of. When you find a guy that not only

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Speaker 1: wins at the highest level, but he is creating new

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Speaker 1: cultures and ideas, pay them whatever the market bears. I

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Speaker 1: think Michael Rubin Sean McVay both innovators and their universes.

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Speaker 1: Dear Colin, we may not have baseball in April. What

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Speaker 1: do you make of that? Well, if you own a

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Speaker 1: baseball team, the worst month is actually April. Ever watched

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Speaker 1: an April baseball game and a northern climate, it's raining,

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Speaker 1: there's no fans. You have to pay all the bills

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Speaker 1: in April, you have to turn the lights on at

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Speaker 1: your stadium, pay all the employees, all your players. But

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Speaker 1: it's your worst revenue month, especially for Northern tier teams

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Speaker 1: of Pittsburgh and New York, Seattle, Minnesota Twins, Cleveland, Chicago teams.

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Speaker 1: So if you asked owners what's their favorite month, Well,

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Speaker 1: it's July, it's September. If you're a playoff team, it's October.

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Speaker 1: Those are additional revenue games you didn't even plan right.

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Speaker 1: But of course owners are going to push back early

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Speaker 1: because they get rid of their costliest month. April. We'll

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Speaker 1: get it figured out. There's too much money at stake.

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Speaker 1: We'll get it figured out. But April pretty predictable. The

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Speaker 1: owners don't care if they lose those fifteen to twenty games.

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Speaker 1: Dear Colin, you don't talk politics much. What did you

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Speaker 1: make of Joe Biden's State of the Union. Well, here's

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Speaker 1: what I made of it. The next day, seventy eight

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Speaker 1: percent of Americans approved. What does that mean? Seventy eight

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Speaker 1: percent of people in America are also not on Twitter.

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Speaker 1: I have warned you for years about this. Joe Biden

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Speaker 1: is too boring to be controversial. If you went to

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Speaker 1: Twitter during the State of the Union, it was a

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Speaker 1: tire fire outrage the next day for a majority of

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Speaker 1: Americans older Americans who are not on Twitter, seventy eight

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Speaker 1: percent approval. This is not a political statement, it's a

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Speaker 1: social media statement. Don't buy into what you read on

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Speaker 1: social media. Most adults who are busy are not on

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Speaker 1: it regularly. Dear Colin, what can Kyler Murray learn from

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Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield lots of missteps? Well, nothing really, but general

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Speaker 1: managers can all learn something from Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield

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Speaker 1: and Aaron Rodgers. You can't change a player's personality. They

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Speaker 1: are what they are and money only amplifies it. There's

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Speaker 1: a lot of egos in football, and not just with

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Speaker 1: the players, and many times we think we can solve

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Speaker 1: a player. Let me have a chance with him, Kyler,

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Speaker 1: There's been warning signs for three years. Baker Mayfield keeps

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Speaker 1: having missteps. Aaron Rodgers, he's been dramatic since his second

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Speaker 1: third year in the league. Remember when he first got

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Speaker 1: the starting job and he was mad at the cow

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Speaker 1: Bears where he went to college because he first went

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Speaker 1: to a junior college and apparently he wasn't getting along

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Speaker 1: with somebody at Cow And on Monday Night Football when

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Speaker 1: they announce where you went to college, Aaron Rodgers said,

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Speaker 1: Beaute community college. Aaron's been kind of a pain in

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Speaker 1: the ass and high maintenance for a lot of years.

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Speaker 1: You're not going to change him. People don't change, especially

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Speaker 1: when they get rich. It only amplifies their personality. Dear Colin,

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Speaker 1: what's the dumbest thing you heard this week from Oklahoma

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Speaker 1: Sooner fans? Great question, It's hard to choose, but here's

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Speaker 1: the latest. Every year with Lincoln Riley things got a

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Speaker 1: little worse. Oh really, I looked at Bob Stoop's last

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Speaker 1: five years at Oklahoma and Lincoln Riley's five years at Oklahoma.

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Speaker 1: Lincoln Riley he had a better record. In fact, he

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Speaker 1: lost two games exactly every year. He lost to Alabama

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Speaker 1: once and Georgia once, and he also lost to the

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Speaker 1: best college football team I've ever seen, LSU. He did

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Speaker 1: lose one game to Arrival that's allowed Texas, and he

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Speaker 1: lost to Oklahoma State two. You have a right to

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Speaker 1: lose to Alabama. LSU Georgia, an occasional rival. In one

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Speaker 1: of Bob Stoop's final years, he went eight and five.

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Speaker 1: Oklahoma look at their history, almost never loses five games.

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Speaker 1: If you have to go to statistics to make arguments

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Speaker 1: that Lincoln Riley is not a good coach, well, the

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Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys have offered him a job. He is viewed

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Speaker 1: by nflgms as the next Sean McVeigh in an offensive

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Speaker 1: leaning culture of college in pro football, he's considered the

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Speaker 1: best college offense of coach. Stop making pathetic argument sooner fans.

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Speaker 1: You know it and I know it. The reason Brett

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Speaker 1: Venibles has a chance to win early because of all

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Speaker 1: those recruits Lincoln Riley and his staff got to Norman. Well,

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Speaker 1: my guest today is a fascinating guy, Ethan Strauss. You

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Speaker 1: can subscribe to his substack at House of Strauss dot

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Speaker 1: substack dot com. I am a follower and a frequent listener,

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Speaker 1: and so I used to be able to bring Ethan

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Speaker 1: on all the time. Now he's his own industry and

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Speaker 1: it's very difficult to find the time to bring Ethan on.

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Speaker 1: But what Ethan did is something that I've always been

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Speaker 1: fond of is that Ethan looked at his career. He

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Speaker 1: was very successful, worked at the athletic covered the best

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Speaker 1: basketball team initially and then the league as a whole,

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Speaker 1: and had battles and run ins. He was somebody who

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Speaker 1: did not take the company line. And then he decided,

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Speaker 1: looking at the landscape, I'm gonna do this on my own.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna go out take a chance. And that's a

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Speaker 1: scary that's a scary place to be. And Ethan, let's

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Speaker 1: get an update on your subscriber total, because it went

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Speaker 1: better than you thought. You probably, like any regular person,

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Speaker 1: had a little anxiety. How are your substack totals these days?

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Speaker 1: And how are you doing? Oh? Should I be honest

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Speaker 1: about that, Colin, because you know, when somebody is playing

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Speaker 1: music on the street, you don't want a bunch of

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Speaker 1: money in the hat. You want to seem like they

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Speaker 1: should save you. And you're desperate in theory, right, But

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Speaker 1: it's going well. I do want to raise some money

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Speaker 1: to be able to pay my editor in perpetuity. I'm

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Speaker 1: nearing the two hundred thousand dollars mark. As far as revenue,

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Speaker 1: which half a year, ind I would say is pretty good.

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Speaker 1: Over eighteen hundred paid subscribers, over eight thousand on the

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Speaker 1: free list. So it has gone than I expected. And

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Speaker 1: what's so great about it from my selfish perspective, is

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Speaker 1: that it doesn't just go back to zero after year one.

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Speaker 1: In theory, if I continue to do a good job

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Speaker 1: and serve the customer, then it's something that you can

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Speaker 1: build on. So it goes from seeming so risky colin

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Speaker 1: to being a lot of security, and not just security

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Speaker 1: because people listening don't care about whatever my job. Security

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Speaker 1: is the great thing about it is when you have it,

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Speaker 1: you can say what you want. That's what I'm into,

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Speaker 1: That's what I'm in it for. So you had something

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Speaker 1: very interesting the other day and I thought it was fascinating.

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Speaker 1: It was NBA local ratings and it told us a

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Speaker 1: lot about the league. Okay, there was a you know,

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Speaker 1: you and I have talked about ratings before. And let

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Speaker 1: me start by saying, all these leagues make their money.

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Speaker 1: Everybody's dying for content. Hockey has not only a huge

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Speaker 1: Canadian tele vision contract, but a massive American TV contract,

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Speaker 1: and virtually nobody watches it in America at a national level,

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Speaker 1: so people need content. But what I found that was

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Speaker 1: fascinating with it a golden state. The Warriors had by

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Speaker 1: far and away the largest number. Second was Cleveland without Lebron.

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Speaker 1: At the bottom of the list was Brooklyn full of stars,

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Speaker 1: Clippers full of stars, Lakers middle of the pack, though

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Speaker 1: full of stars. Here is my takeaway on Cleveland is

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Speaker 1: that Milwaukee was also way up there, and so was Philadelphia,

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Speaker 1: so it wasn't a market thing necessarily. Cleveland's on a

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Speaker 1: major market Ethan. My takeaway was we team and US matters.

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Speaker 1: Yes that if you have Darius Garland and young players

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Speaker 1: Evan Mobley, you can bring on a Jared Allen, but

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Speaker 1: the audience wants to feel connected to the players and

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Speaker 1: they don't when you bring in kde Kyrie Harden. That

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Speaker 1: they were next to last in ratings and the Cavaliers

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Speaker 1: without Lebron are a strong number two. That was my

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Speaker 1: takeaway on the list teams Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Embid's been there

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Speaker 1: a long time. Teams that feel cohesive, not only in

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Speaker 1: the locker room, put to their community. It's not as

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Speaker 1: star driven as we think. That was my interpretation yours.

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Speaker 1: That is also my interpretation, And it doesn't matter if

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Speaker 1: the media has been lecturing so much of the public

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Speaker 1: that they shouldn't care. And I'm going to get into

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Speaker 1: a broader media theory of how the NBA went wrong

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Speaker 1: here connected to this, But yes, I completely agree. People

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Speaker 1: like familiarity, they like feeling that they saw somebody grow

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Speaker 1: up before their eyes. There's a connection. It matters. You

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Speaker 1: can't just program people into loving teams they never loved before. Either.

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Speaker 1: If they never loved the Clippers, it's gonna be hard

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Speaker 1: for them to start loving the Clippers or the Nets

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Speaker 1: if they loved the Knicks. But I think where the

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Speaker 1: NBA went wrong and how it promoted itself, it's a

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Speaker 1: funny quirk that I don't think anybody could have predicted.

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Speaker 1: I think what happened, Colin is that it became such

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Speaker 1: a fixation as to who breaks the news, and it

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Speaker 1: became a war woes versus shams that became the focus. Well,

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Speaker 1: the problem with that is this, you need agents in

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Speaker 1: order to win that game. I'm not saying I could

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Speaker 1: win that game, by the way, I'm not looking down

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Speaker 1: my nose. I couldn't be that guy. It's not in

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Speaker 1: my skill set. But you need to do what agents

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Speaker 1: want in order for them to feed you, and so

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Speaker 1: the media members started talking from the perspective of agents,

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Speaker 1: and that's a problem because the perspective of agents is

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Speaker 1: at cross purposes with the perspective of fans. No fan

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Speaker 1: ever watched Drew Rosenhouse behind a podium explaining why a

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Speaker 1: star was in a holdout and thought, that's my guy.

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Speaker 1: He speak in my language. So I think in addition

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Speaker 1: to what you're saying, a lot of the promotion of

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Speaker 1: the sport got out of whack because it started to

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Speaker 1: be about this guy's unhappy. You should be sensitive. You

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Speaker 1: shouldn't be mad at him because he failed you. He

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Speaker 1: wants out, Oh, he wants out again, And a lot

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Speaker 1: of people just changed the channel and they didn't want

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Speaker 1: a sport that featured a bunch of guys that really

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Speaker 1: were advertising no concern about them. In the podcast business,

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Speaker 1: I've been in this now for a year at the Volume,

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Speaker 1: and we had a really really cool growth for us.

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Speaker 1: We're a small company, but we're really proud of our growth.

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Speaker 1: And one of the things that not that it's a

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Speaker 1: trade secret, but I have found with the Volume, and

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Speaker 1: I didn't know this initially. In fact, my instincts were

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Speaker 1: the opposite of this. I call it Buddies over Broadway.

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Speaker 1: I initially thought bringing on big guests would get my

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Speaker 1: highest download. They don't. What people want from my podcast

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Speaker 1: is me talking to buddies Ethan Strauss, Ryan Rissillo, Michael Silver.

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Speaker 1: They want my friends, Nick Wright. What we found is

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Speaker 1: people love podcasting not for the stars, but for this connection.

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Speaker 1: You're listening to a conversation between two friends and you

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Speaker 1: feel like you're dropping in and would I would say this.

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Speaker 1: Nobody would deny that star power doesn't have influence. But

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Speaker 1: I do think Remember the John Stockton, Karl Malone, Michael

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Speaker 1: Jordan's last Final that was predicted to be a dud.

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Speaker 1: It's the highest rated finals ever. Remember the Subway series

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Speaker 1: Mets Yankees, predicted to be a dramatic ratings hit, it

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Speaker 1: was at the time, the lowest rated finals ever. Stars

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Speaker 1: matter when the star has a compelling story Michael Jordan's

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Speaker 1: last game. Can Lebron finally bring a title to Cleveland?

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Speaker 1: But the idea that stars alone move needles is completely

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Speaker 1: overrated from my perspective now that I run a business, Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's stories over stars. I found something similar with you,

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Speaker 1: where when I have my friend em and l hassan

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Speaker 1: On and amine is known in media, but for whatever reason,

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Speaker 1: the chemistry just tends to get the most listens. People

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Speaker 1: want something organic, they want something that feels real. But

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Speaker 1: to what you're saying, it's story over stars almost you

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Speaker 1: want stars plus story, and the greatest story is often

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Speaker 1: one of contrast. That's the epic battle. You mentioned that

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Speaker 1: it's Lebron, it's Michael Jordan's last dance, but it's also

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Speaker 1: the big Chicago Bulls versus the small market Utah Jazz. Interestingly,

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Speaker 1: what is the highest rated Western Conference Finals? It is

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Speaker 1: Sacramento versus the Lakers. It's not the Lakers against the

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Speaker 1: big market team. It's the glamorous Hollywood Shack and Kobe

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Speaker 1: Lakers against scrappy, underdog, blue collar Sacramento. That is a

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Speaker 1: story people are drawn to. So when David Stern said

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Speaker 1: his preferred NBA finals would be the Lakers versus the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: through the years you were an NBA reporter. Through the

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Speaker 1: years I have watched NFL reporters. They're all different. Glazer

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Speaker 1: very connected to players. He's not a volume reporter. It's

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Speaker 1: more of a big story guy. Schefter's a volume reporter.

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Speaker 1: Peter King ignores the draft. He's more of a storyteller.

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Speaker 1: I Rappaport story breaker. H Schreeger's kind of occasional story breaker,

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Speaker 1: but a contextualizer and a personality that all these NFL

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Speaker 1: reporters have a lane. So in the NBA, I'm sure

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Speaker 1: that's the same, but it does feel like Sham's woes

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Speaker 1: and a lot of them are story breakers, not as

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Speaker 1: much contextualizers. Now correct me on this. Give me five

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Speaker 1: or six NBA reporters that you would view similarity to

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Speaker 1: my sort of labyrinth of NFL guys. How each one

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Speaker 1: fills a different tunnel in your experience with the NBA.

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Speaker 1: Line them up, how did you view them? So? I

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Speaker 1: think Zach Lowe and Kevin Arnovitz are just incredible at

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Speaker 1: writing an article that explains the NBA to you. I

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Speaker 1: think Zach Lowe probably the most valuable media member on

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Speaker 1: the NBA side because he can do so many things.

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Speaker 1: He's gotten incredible versatility. It's not just the writing, it's

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Speaker 1: also the granular observation. He's completely sourced up. He's also

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Speaker 1: a good interviewer. He's a direct interviewer, and so he's

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Speaker 1: filling a variety of roles. As far as getting him

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Speaker 1: with the players in that Jake Laser way, I would

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Speaker 1: say Chris Haynes is really good with that, so I

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Speaker 1: would view him in that capacity. You mentioned the news breakers,

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Speaker 1: and I'm probably offending a lot of other people, but

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Speaker 1: that's how people are getting slotted in. And there are

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Speaker 1: a lot of great storytellers, to be sure, a lot

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Speaker 1: of great writers. I just don't think that the sport

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Speaker 1: and especially ESPN NBA has been emphasizing what they do

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Speaker 1: over the last few years. Yeah, I mean, listen, the

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Speaker 1: Woes thing is interesting because you spent some time on

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Speaker 1: this and it got I imagine if you looked at

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Speaker 1: your numbers, it got good feedback. Right that he didn't

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Speaker 1: think the hardened Simmons trade would happen. Woes is not

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Speaker 1: wrong often, you know my takeaway on Woes. I don't

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Speaker 1: know him. I've talked to him a couple of times.

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Speaker 1: You know, I had heard he could be kind of territorial.

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Speaker 1: I heard that ten years ago. He's very he could

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Speaker 1: be very territorial. So was Peter Bessie, you know, very combative.

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Speaker 1: I don't think Woes is as combative, but when he

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Speaker 1: could be, so you know him better than I do.

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Speaker 1: But when you were critical of Woes, what was the pushback?

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Speaker 1: What did you hear that maybe wasn't public? You know

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Speaker 1: what's funny, Colin about what I do, and I've learned

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Speaker 1: a lesson from it. I don't get any kind of

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Speaker 1: pushback anymore. And it's funny to me because back when

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Speaker 1: I was at ESPN or the athletic I would get

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Speaker 1: a lot of pushback. You know, I say something about

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Speaker 1: the NBA, the NBA doesn't like, I'm getting lit up.

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Speaker 1: In a phone call, I say something about a player

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Speaker 1: that the player's agent doesn't like, or somebody else in

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Speaker 1: the team, I'm getting lit up. And maybe some people

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Speaker 1: are publicly critical now, but I've learned a lesson that

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Speaker 1: there's no real leverage point when it comes to what

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Speaker 1: I'm doing. And it's taught me that the amount of

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Speaker 1: pushback you get isn't necessarily about how angry you make someone.

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Speaker 1: It's about how much they think their anger can influence

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Speaker 1: the situation. And so that didn't really happen. I got

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Speaker 1: more people coming to me and saying, Hey, that's what

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Speaker 1: I was thinking. I can't say it. I would have

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Speaker 1: gone further. And I don't even think the criticism Colin

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Speaker 1: is all that much. I'm with you. I think that

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Speaker 1: you're great at understanding this, that people's strengths are indivisible

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Speaker 1: from their weaknesses, right. I think in order to be

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Speaker 1: what Woes has become, you need to have just a

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Speaker 1: burning competition within you. You've got to be somewhat ruthless

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Speaker 1: in the pursuit of your goals. And I'm just looking

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Speaker 1: at a thirty thousand foot view and describing what's going

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Speaker 1: on with the league, how it's kind of messing with

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Speaker 1: the ESPN's coverage in a way, and I'm just describing

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Speaker 1: it as dryly as I can. But as much as

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Speaker 1: I would like to say, hey there was some sort

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Speaker 1: of criticism that came to me on it, it really

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Speaker 1: has not happened. It really didn't go that way. And

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Speaker 1: maybe I'm just not reading enough because frankly, I'm not

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Speaker 1: on Twitter a lot. Yeah, you know, it's Twitter's interesting

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Speaker 1: social media as a whole. I think it evolves. I

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Speaker 1: think when people are offended by Twitter, they don't understand

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Speaker 1: quite what it is. I'll give you an example. A

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Speaker 1: toilet has water, but you can't yell at it because

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Speaker 1: it doesn't quench your thirst, right, right, So that's not

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Speaker 1: the application for it. Twitter is not about honesty. Twitter

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Speaker 1: is not about really reporting. Twitter is about brief, emotion

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Speaker 1: filled opinions, what comes to you without great thought and

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Speaker 1: the inability to give it great detail. So I'm never

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Speaker 1: overly offended by Twitter. Has your view on social media

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Speaker 1: over the last five to ten years has it changed?

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Speaker 1: Have you evolved looking at it and thinking, Wow, I

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Speaker 1: used to be offended, Now I'm not anymore. How do

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Speaker 1: you view it? Yeah? I have almost more respect for

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Speaker 1: it and less respect for it. I have more respect

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Speaker 1: for its ability to derange people and to screw up society,

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Speaker 1: but I have I have less respect for the average

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Speaker 1: opinion I see on it. Right, And I try to

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Speaker 1: hold true to one basic principle because it is a maelstrom.

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Speaker 1: And you see all these media people and they're about

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Speaker 1: whatever the fashionable thing to be mad about is they're

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Speaker 1: not even aware that they are just reacting to what

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Speaker 1: is presented to them, and it's not even an organic

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Speaker 1: feeling they have and whatever they're angry about, they're going

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Speaker 1: to forget about because there's going to be something new

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Speaker 1: that's fashionable to be angry about a week from now.

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Speaker 1: They're totally caught up in it. They're totally hooked. And

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Speaker 1: it's something my mom said to me. And I'm hoping

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Speaker 1: that some other media people they're listening can take this

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Speaker 1: less into heart and apply it to what they do,

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Speaker 1: because I have. She said to me, Look, your job

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Speaker 1: is to ask yourself, would a reasonable person find this reasonable? Right?

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Speaker 1: You know? Forget about Twitter, forget about whatever the trend is,

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00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:57,080
Speaker 1: forget about whatever people are saying. If everybody's acting insane

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00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,320
Speaker 1: that day, they're all acting insane that day. Just vision

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Speaker 1: somebody who's not on Twitter reading what you said. You know,

424
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:06,600
Speaker 1: maybe they disagree with it, but will they tell themselves

425
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:10,840
Speaker 1: that's reasonable, that's a reasonable take. That's the heuristic I'm

426
00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:13,840
Speaker 1: operating under. That's what I'm shooting for. And it's hard

427
00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:17,199
Speaker 1: because it's a distraction device, it's also a coercion device.

428
00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,359
Speaker 1: Twitter is you feel like you have to not say

429
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:23,840
Speaker 1: certain things, You feel like you have to say certain things,

430
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:26,840
Speaker 1: and so I just use it to pump out my articles,

431
00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:28,560
Speaker 1: to share the links, and I don't even try to

432
00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:32,080
Speaker 1: participate because, like I said, I have more respect for

433
00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:34,320
Speaker 1: it in terms of what it can do to people,

434
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,160
Speaker 1: and I have less respect for it in terms of

435
00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:40,520
Speaker 1: what is being discussed on there. Well, a great example,

436
00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,800
Speaker 1: seventy eight percent of America is not on Twitter. Seventy

437
00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:47,000
Speaker 1: eight percent of America approved of Joe Biden's State of

438
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:49,440
Speaker 1: the Union. If you were on Twitter, it was a

439
00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:51,400
Speaker 1: ship show. You would have thought he was the most

440
00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:54,159
Speaker 1: offensive person on the face of the earth. Joe Biden

441
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,720
Speaker 1: is too boring to be consistently offensive. He puts me

442
00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:01,160
Speaker 1: to sleep. In fact, I'd argue people didn't vote for them.

443
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:04,560
Speaker 1: They voted against Trump. Yeah, they voted against anxiety, they

444
00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,920
Speaker 1: voted against weaponizing social media. They didn't vote for Biden

445
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,399
Speaker 1: needs a one term president. So I thought this week

446
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:12,840
Speaker 1: when I watched the State of the Union approval rating,

447
00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:16,560
Speaker 1: I'm like, it lined up perfectly with most adults, Like

448
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:22,159
Speaker 1: you don't want anxiety, people don't seek anxiety. I'm not

449
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:25,119
Speaker 1: a neurotic person. I have other flaws, but I'm not

450
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:29,280
Speaker 1: overly neurotic. And so many people in the media are

451
00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,600
Speaker 1: very neurotic and they come to Twitter like it's the

452
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,760
Speaker 1: therapist couch, and it's a lot more than that. And

453
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,960
Speaker 1: you know, it's also a place to compete over status

454
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,640
Speaker 1: because it's inherently competitive. It's all gamified. You see how

455
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:45,280
Speaker 1: many retweets you get, you see how many likes you get,

456
00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:48,520
Speaker 1: so that starts to become what you're competing over, and

457
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,400
Speaker 1: you can just lose the thread completely of what somebody

458
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:56,280
Speaker 1: would be interested in, whatever your target audience wants. And

459
00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,720
Speaker 1: so it's enjoyable to just again have my own shop.

460
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:04,520
Speaker 1: And you know, my readers might not be the average anything.

461
00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:06,920
Speaker 1: I have no idea, but I just tend to do

462
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:09,120
Speaker 1: it according to what they want. That just seems to

463
00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:13,920
Speaker 1: be a healthier dynamic than the Twitter dynamic that's totally deranging,

464
00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:18,280
Speaker 1: you know. So one of the things you touched on recently, Ethan,

465
00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:21,280
Speaker 1: was the NBA looking to ban media from the locker room.

466
00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:25,280
Speaker 1: So I was in locker rooms for years. I graduated

467
00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:29,280
Speaker 1: from it. Maybe I'll go back for a master's course

468
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:31,560
Speaker 1: at some point, because I do sort of miss the

469
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:35,880
Speaker 1: camaraderie after games with other reporters, going out for beers

470
00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:37,960
Speaker 1: after a game and postgame. I do miss that. It's

471
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:39,720
Speaker 1: one of the few things I miss that I was

472
00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:43,240
Speaker 1: doing in my twenties and thirties. So for people that

473
00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:46,640
Speaker 1: have not heard your podcast or your belief on this,

474
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:50,640
Speaker 1: take them and then we'll discuss. Yeah, it's funny because

475
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:53,640
Speaker 1: I'm not in locker rooms anymore just like you, and

476
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:56,520
Speaker 1: I don't really need to go back in to help myself,

477
00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:58,200
Speaker 1: but I'm just giving my take on it. So when

478
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:02,960
Speaker 1: Adam Silver is up there there and he is saying that, hey,

479
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,280
Speaker 1: we don't really want media back in the locker room,

480
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,960
Speaker 1: it's anachronism, it was funny because he almost caught himself,

481
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,360
Speaker 1: like he got tangled in his own web of rhetoric

482
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:15,480
Speaker 1: because he made it about how there was some digression

483
00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:18,320
Speaker 1: he got on about how is anachronism to ban women

484
00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:20,320
Speaker 1: from the locker room, and that was ridiculous and that

485
00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:22,560
Speaker 1: was insane. But now we need to ban everybody in

486
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:24,760
Speaker 1: the locker room, and it's an anachronism to have anybody

487
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,800
Speaker 1: in there. It's just wait a second, what like that? Huh?

488
00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:30,560
Speaker 1: And he was really laying on this idea that it's

489
00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:34,280
Speaker 1: privacy and guys are changing and because a lot of fans,

490
00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:37,000
Speaker 1: I think they take in the product and they don't

491
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:39,040
Speaker 1: see how the product is made. That sounds a little

492
00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:44,080
Speaker 1: bit reasonable, but generally there aren't media members hovering around

493
00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:47,880
Speaker 1: guys when they're changing, and the guys can actually change

494
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:51,520
Speaker 1: in a private way if they absolutely want to. You're

495
00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:54,200
Speaker 1: supposed to wait for people to get changed these days

496
00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,080
Speaker 1: before you approach them and ask questions. I think the

497
00:30:57,160 --> 00:30:59,760
Speaker 1: real risk of the locker room and the thing players

498
00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:04,000
Speaker 1: dislike the most, because I heard way more complaints about

499
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,520
Speaker 1: this than you know, get away I'm changing. It's the

500
00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:10,520
Speaker 1: idea that somebody from the media is going to hear

501
00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:13,640
Speaker 1: something they're saying and put it out there. I think

502
00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:16,080
Speaker 1: that's the big fear. And you'll hear them talk to

503
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:19,720
Speaker 1: one another just to stop. You know, the police are here,

504
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:22,720
Speaker 1: you know, don't you know, be careful, and sometimes they

505
00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:25,240
Speaker 1: they'll forget, and they'll be in a loose conversation and

506
00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:28,520
Speaker 1: they'll be talking about things that they wouldn't want said

507
00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:32,040
Speaker 1: out in the world. And yes, locker room talk is

508
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:36,280
Speaker 1: a thing. It does exist. Guys in there are discussing

509
00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:40,000
Speaker 1: things that in no way the NBA would want out

510
00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,400
Speaker 1: there in the world. And I think that's what they're

511
00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:45,680
Speaker 1: afraid of, and that's what they're trying to protect against

512
00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,160
Speaker 1: and they can make everything a bit more controlled. Now,

513
00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:50,440
Speaker 1: the downside is this callin It's that you get a

514
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:52,760
Speaker 1: lot of great stories in the locker room. It's oh, yes,

515
00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:56,040
Speaker 1: no question. Yeah, it's way easier. I mean I can

516
00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:58,880
Speaker 1: think of stories that I was able to construct after

517
00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,760
Speaker 1: a huge playoff game because I could just go like

518
00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,280
Speaker 1: boom bing, you know, go to Steph Curry, go to

519
00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:07,560
Speaker 1: Clay Thompson, go to you know, Kevon Looney, whoever, and

520
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:10,120
Speaker 1: learn things that would have taken me months to learn

521
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:13,440
Speaker 1: about what just happened. And I think it's easy to

522
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:15,520
Speaker 1: say I don't care about that if you're a fan,

523
00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:20,200
Speaker 1: I don't care. But ultimately everything is derived from story.

524
00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:23,840
Speaker 1: We understand everything through story. When the guys are announcing

525
00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:25,719
Speaker 1: the games, and Jeff Van Gundy, when he's not on

526
00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:29,040
Speaker 1: some random tangent and doing his own podcast, he's usually

527
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:32,360
Speaker 1: talking about something that he read and that is informing

528
00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:35,000
Speaker 1: what he's telling you on the broadcast. It's just going

529
00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:37,200
Speaker 1: to make the media product worse. I think. To get

530
00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:39,440
Speaker 1: the media out of the locker rooms, and if the

531
00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,240
Speaker 1: NBA has concerns about people over hearing something they shouldn't hear,

532
00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:47,680
Speaker 1: something offensive, something personal, guy cheating on his wife, whatever,

533
00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:51,040
Speaker 1: then maybe approach that in a separate, more targeted way,

534
00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:53,200
Speaker 1: and don't just get rid of something that I think

535
00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:57,840
Speaker 1: has served you well for decades. You know, when you

536
00:32:57,880 --> 00:32:59,680
Speaker 1: and I talk, we often do and I don't do

537
00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:04,479
Speaker 1: this very often, but you have interesting sort of takes

538
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:08,800
Speaker 1: on it on the media. And I don't use it

539
00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,040
Speaker 1: on my radio show much or my television because I

540
00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:13,000
Speaker 1: don't think it's as captivating. But I do talk a

541
00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,320
Speaker 1: little bit more about it in podcasting because I'm in

542
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:19,080
Speaker 1: the business and I do feel sometimes there's just interesting stuff.

543
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:22,280
Speaker 1: If Troy Aikman leaves Fox, you know, have a take

544
00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:26,959
Speaker 1: on it. People, you know, there's access one of the things.

545
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,440
Speaker 1: And I don't know if it's a criticism, but it's

546
00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,840
Speaker 1: something I see over and over that I joked about

547
00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:39,160
Speaker 1: the other day on television. I saw my dad mad

548
00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:41,920
Speaker 1: one time as a kid. He went out to the sprinkler,

549
00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:45,800
Speaker 1: asked me to fold the hose, and he got right

550
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:48,360
Speaker 1: next to the sprinkler and unfolded it and it soaked him.

551
00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:51,240
Speaker 1: And he was in his white medical jacket going to work,

552
00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:54,680
Speaker 1: and he was really mad. And so I did not

553
00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:58,160
Speaker 1: grow up in a household of outrage. My mom occasionally

554
00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:00,440
Speaker 1: got mad at my dad. He'd come home with too

555
00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:04,920
Speaker 1: many pops and she yelled at him. But something I

556
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:11,239
Speaker 1: see a lot of is outrage, and I see it

557
00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:15,320
Speaker 1: much more in the political media, and it is something

558
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:18,640
Speaker 1: I think it's such a disservice to fans, because I

559
00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:21,920
Speaker 1: do think it sort of ramps up fans and it

560
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:25,120
Speaker 1: makes it look as though we're crazy people. Yeah, and

561
00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:29,520
Speaker 1: I'm not somebody that believes that, you know, the media

562
00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:32,520
Speaker 1: is anyone thing. A hospital isn't anyone thing. There's chief

563
00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:35,840
Speaker 1: of staff, there's doctors, there's nurses, there's janitorial, there's a

564
00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:38,560
Speaker 1: gift shop. There's a million things at a hospital. But

565
00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:44,680
Speaker 1: the media outrage, I think punctures the credibility long term

566
00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:49,080
Speaker 1: of us, and I think we should be suppressing outrage. Yeah.

567
00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:52,360
Speaker 1: I have always felt I should be the judge. The

568
00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:56,120
Speaker 1: audience can be the jury, the athletes can be the

569
00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:59,719
Speaker 1: prosecuting attorney in the DA right, or the people on

570
00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:03,879
Speaker 1: tr am. I overstating the outrage. Do you notice it?

571
00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:06,560
Speaker 1: Because it just feels like more and more it's becoming

572
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:10,799
Speaker 1: sort of accepted that you can be regularly outraged in

573
00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:13,720
Speaker 1: the media and in real life, I don't think people

574
00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:17,279
Speaker 1: are Yeah. Yeah, I think there is a cost to

575
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:21,960
Speaker 1: appearing unhinged. And a lot of media people on social

576
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,240
Speaker 1: media compartmentalized and they hope other people compartmentalize, but maybe

577
00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:29,200
Speaker 1: the people watching you are not going to compartmentalize. And

578
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:31,720
Speaker 1: it gets tricky here. But I know media members where

579
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:34,400
Speaker 1: I want the fans to love them. I think that

580
00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:36,920
Speaker 1: they're incredible at what they do. And I'll have a

581
00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:39,760
Speaker 1: conversation and maybe I'm with my cousin. I'm thinking about

582
00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:43,479
Speaker 1: a specific conversation and he's just railing about this guy

583
00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:46,080
Speaker 1: because of what he's like on Twitter, and I say,

584
00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:48,800
Speaker 1: you should love this guy. He covers your favorite teams,

585
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:52,000
Speaker 1: he does an incredible job, nobody works harder. And my

586
00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:55,640
Speaker 1: cousin goes, yeah, but I hate him. And that's the effect.

587
00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:59,880
Speaker 1: I think that sometimes is unseen that you are turning

588
00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:03,000
Speaker 1: people off to what you're saying. You're maybe rilling them up,

589
00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:07,040
Speaker 1: but it's not compartmentalized just because you want it to

590
00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:10,759
Speaker 1: be compartmentalized. You are in public, people can see you,

591
00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:13,800
Speaker 1: and a lot of times it seems like the only

592
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:17,800
Speaker 1: people that you're assuming can see you are your peers

593
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:21,000
Speaker 1: whom you're trying to impress in a particular way that

594
00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:23,960
Speaker 1: doesn't serve the interests of the customer, who can feel

595
00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:27,560
Speaker 1: your disrespect and sometimes in tipathy. And it gets particularly

596
00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:31,440
Speaker 1: bad when they're lecturing the fans and they're telling fans

597
00:36:31,719 --> 00:36:34,520
Speaker 1: what they should be, what they should be mad at,

598
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:37,919
Speaker 1: how they shouldn't be outraged. You know, people saying, don't joke,

599
00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:40,879
Speaker 1: you know Ben Simmons, you shouldn't be critical of him

600
00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:43,840
Speaker 1: because he might you know, he has a legitimate issue,

601
00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:46,439
Speaker 1: and it's no joke. And it's almost a front lash,

602
00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:49,120
Speaker 1: like they're not even reacting to anything anybody said. They're

603
00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:53,360
Speaker 1: already lecturing the fans. I think that's that's where the

604
00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:58,040
Speaker 1: dynamics gets bad. That's where they often, I think, incur

605
00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:01,719
Speaker 1: a lot of contempt and it becomes mutual. And it

606
00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:03,439
Speaker 1: becomes mutual on the other side of it too, because

607
00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:05,600
Speaker 1: it's got this other problem. I didn't expect us to

608
00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:07,879
Speaker 1: talk so much about Twitter, but hey, the NBA went

609
00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:09,800
Speaker 1: all in on it, which is a whole other topic.

610
00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:12,640
Speaker 1: You know, this was a deliberate strategy by the league

611
00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:15,440
Speaker 1: with Jack Dorsey used to run Twitter, and they try

612
00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:18,040
Speaker 1: to integrate one another. But the other issue with it

613
00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:21,200
Speaker 1: is that it teaches the media to hate the fans

614
00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:25,960
Speaker 1: because you don't remember the nice thing that's said about

615
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:29,319
Speaker 1: you on social media that just rolls off you like

616
00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:34,280
Speaker 1: water off a duck's back. You remember the thing that's terrible.

617
00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:37,200
Speaker 1: And so a lot of media people will see that

618
00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:41,600
Speaker 1: those few mentions from fans that really hurt their feelings,

619
00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:44,600
Speaker 1: and then that taints how they view it because you know,

620
00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:48,399
Speaker 1: if god, I'm trying to phrase this in a way

621
00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:52,360
Speaker 1: that's not completely disgusting, but you know, if you're drinking

622
00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:55,680
Speaker 1: a cool glass of water, colin and ninety percent is

623
00:37:55,719 --> 00:37:59,239
Speaker 1: just fresh, wonderful water. But the other ten percent is,

624
00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:03,920
Speaker 1: let's say something scatological, it's not a good taste. And

625
00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:07,200
Speaker 1: so that's what that's what the media people are getting.

626
00:38:07,239 --> 00:38:12,120
Speaker 1: They're getting that experience, and it's making them angrier and

627
00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:16,320
Speaker 1: worse towards the people they should be serving. With sports

628
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,680
Speaker 1: betting taking off, it's important to find the experts you

629
00:38:18,719 --> 00:38:20,520
Speaker 1: can trust to help you make some money right. Check

630
00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:24,239
Speaker 1: out the favorite sports betting podcast powered by FanDuel only

631
00:38:24,239 --> 00:38:27,200
Speaker 1: on the Volume Podcast Network. My buddy Chad Milman pro

632
00:38:27,239 --> 00:38:29,839
Speaker 1: better Simon Hunter from the Action Network twice a week.

633
00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:33,040
Speaker 1: Here to help you become a smarter football better. Every

634
00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:35,759
Speaker 1: Tuesday and Thursday, Chad and Simon break down the strategies

635
00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:38,480
Speaker 1: professional sports betters, the ones they use to find the

636
00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:41,320
Speaker 1: right games and the right time to bet. Download the

637
00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:44,920
Speaker 1: favorite sports betting podcast only on the Volume Podcast Network.

638
00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:51,880
Speaker 1: You still get information despite not being in locker rooms nightly.

639
00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:56,320
Speaker 1: I am a believer that the one thing you can't

640
00:38:56,440 --> 00:39:01,160
Speaker 1: change with an athlete is indifference. You'll love the sport

641
00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:05,040
Speaker 1: or you'll love what the sport provides for you. I

642
00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:08,320
Speaker 1: don't buy Ben Simmons. I don't think he'll ever be solved.

643
00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:12,160
Speaker 1: I don't think he's competitive. I don't think he loves

644
00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:15,840
Speaker 1: the game. They've often said this about NBA centers. The

645
00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:18,359
Speaker 1: reason there's so many busts is because they were six

646
00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:22,080
Speaker 1: feet eleven and seventh grade and basketball was just the

647
00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:26,320
Speaker 1: easiest thing for them to do. You know, Ben Simmons

648
00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:29,680
Speaker 1: is almost six to eleven and a guard. I don't

649
00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:31,919
Speaker 1: think the Brooklyn Ben Simmons thing is going to work

650
00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:37,160
Speaker 1: using your access. I've heard he's just not I've heard

651
00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:42,439
Speaker 1: he's odd, not a great guy, indifferent, doesn't love the game.

652
00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:45,640
Speaker 1: What do you make. I think Harden and Philly's going

653
00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:48,120
Speaker 1: to work magically and quickly, because I think he's just

654
00:39:48,239 --> 00:39:52,640
Speaker 1: one great player joining a very positive, optimistic, joyful locker room.

655
00:39:52,800 --> 00:39:55,080
Speaker 1: What do you hear about Simmons that maybe I haven't heard.

656
00:39:55,719 --> 00:39:58,440
Speaker 1: I just remember there is somebody in the league, a

657
00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:01,680
Speaker 1: player who met him, and the first question Simmons asked

658
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:05,560
Speaker 1: him was what's the first car you bought when you

659
00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:10,400
Speaker 1: came to the NBA. And that caused this player to go, oh, oh,

660
00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:12,920
Speaker 1: that's not it's not a good sign that this rookie

661
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:16,080
Speaker 1: is coming. And that's this is the first topic of conversation.

662
00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:18,719
Speaker 1: It's not what I need to get better at. You know,

663
00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:22,000
Speaker 1: how do I acclimate like that's that's the focus? Now?

664
00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:25,520
Speaker 1: You could accuse me of overreading that or oversimplifying. I

665
00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:29,239
Speaker 1: think we have swung way too far in this other direction.

666
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:32,239
Speaker 1: And you've called it safety ism, of almost doubting our

667
00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:36,280
Speaker 1: own instincts in media and trying not to be critical

668
00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:39,080
Speaker 1: in that way and not insinuate that a guy has

669
00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:41,520
Speaker 1: a lack of love for the game. But I think

670
00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:46,160
Speaker 1: that is an anecdote that reveals something, and I agree

671
00:40:46,239 --> 00:40:49,880
Speaker 1: with you, And maybe there are criticisms of James Harden

672
00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:51,960
Speaker 1: that he could be checked out or parties too much

673
00:40:52,040 --> 00:40:54,480
Speaker 1: or whatever. But the thing about James Harden is he's

674
00:40:54,520 --> 00:40:58,600
Speaker 1: a basketball genius. You know, he might not ingratiate himself

675
00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:01,320
Speaker 1: to you as a fan when he's flopping and figuring

676
00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:03,479
Speaker 1: out new and creative ways to get a foul call.

677
00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:07,120
Speaker 1: But you asked Quinn Snyder, coach of the Jazz, and

678
00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:10,160
Speaker 1: he will speak reverently because he's had a game plan

679
00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:13,479
Speaker 1: against James Harden and figure out all kinds of ways

680
00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:16,120
Speaker 1: to stop him. And the guy just always seems to

681
00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:18,440
Speaker 1: solve the puzzle. You know, he didn't solve the puzzle

682
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:21,160
Speaker 1: against those great Warriors teams, but that's a hell of

683
00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:25,040
Speaker 1: a problem to solve. But Hardens a basketball genius. He's

684
00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:28,480
Speaker 1: MVP level. And if you want to talk about the

685
00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:32,560
Speaker 1: intermedia game and how it influences the reporting, in the

686
00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:35,280
Speaker 1: aftermath of that trade, it almost seemed like MBA Media

687
00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:38,680
Speaker 1: was saying, Hey, it's pretty even I like Ben Simmons

688
00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:40,560
Speaker 1: is a fit. I think that has a lot to

689
00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:44,600
Speaker 1: do with James Harden not having an agent and Ben

690
00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:47,600
Speaker 1: Simmons being represented by one of the most powerful agencies

691
00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:51,160
Speaker 1: that that was even the ruling on that trade, I

692
00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:54,080
Speaker 1: believe has something to do with it. Well, you know

693
00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:58,080
Speaker 1: you talked about initial instincts and agents. Eric Burkhardt is

694
00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:00,879
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray's agent, and he's well liked and well known,

695
00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:06,960
Speaker 1: and I am a believer that first instincts matter. I

696
00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:09,400
Speaker 1: remember Nick Saban saying Johnny Manziel is going to be

697
00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:11,680
Speaker 1: great at the next level. And Nick Saban knows a

698
00:42:11,719 --> 00:42:14,120
Speaker 1: lot more football than me. But my initial instincts on

699
00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:17,239
Speaker 1: the first two times I heard Johnny Manziel talk off

700
00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:21,120
Speaker 1: the field, I said, I said it to this day,

701
00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:25,840
Speaker 1: I said, total bust, undraftable. I thought he was selfish,

702
00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:28,600
Speaker 1: he was into Johnny Manziel. He had no self awareness,

703
00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:31,600
Speaker 1: despite the fact he had small shoulders, small hips. He

704
00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:35,880
Speaker 1: was a small person. My first instinct on Kyler Murray

705
00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:38,520
Speaker 1: is that he was odd. He did an interview with

706
00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:43,200
Speaker 1: Dan Patrick that was so bizarre, and my takeaway was

707
00:42:43,239 --> 00:42:46,760
Speaker 1: you would never see that from Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, Peyton, Manning,

708
00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:51,680
Speaker 1: Eli Manning, Drew Brees, Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert. At the time,

709
00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:54,840
Speaker 1: I didn't know Herbert would be a great NFL player,

710
00:42:55,520 --> 00:42:58,399
Speaker 1: But I think it is interesting about that is there

711
00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:01,719
Speaker 1: is this concern that don't have a generalization based on

712
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:08,719
Speaker 1: an initial conversation. But with football, my initial feeling on

713
00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:13,400
Speaker 1: Cam Johnny Manzel, Aaron Rodgers a ten years ago, I

714
00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:18,640
Speaker 1: said his body language is Jay Cutler. It's horrible. Did

715
00:43:18,640 --> 00:43:23,759
Speaker 1: you ever have go back to your NBA days? Did

716
00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:29,359
Speaker 1: you know instantly Draymond's a fascinating player, Draymond very much

717
00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:32,520
Speaker 1: a grinder, chip on the shoulder, dropped to the second round.

718
00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:38,240
Speaker 1: Did you know instantly this guy is glue, He's great,

719
00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:40,520
Speaker 1: He's going to fit with all these guys. Take me

720
00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:44,200
Speaker 1: to your relationship with him early. Yeah, I didn't know instantly.

721
00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:46,680
Speaker 1: I don't know how anybody could because Mark Jackson was

722
00:43:46,680 --> 00:43:49,640
Speaker 1: playing him at the three, but he was making plays.

723
00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:53,640
Speaker 1: He was involved in that first playoff series, and even

724
00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:56,680
Speaker 1: if he didn't really have it figured out offensively, there

725
00:43:56,760 --> 00:43:58,920
Speaker 1: is something to him. Good things happen when he was

726
00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:01,600
Speaker 1: on the floor. I think I was. I was pretty

727
00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:04,400
Speaker 1: early to the idea of him as this all world

728
00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:09,200
Speaker 1: switchable defensive player. I don't I don't attribute that to

729
00:44:09,640 --> 00:44:11,560
Speaker 1: me being any kind of genius. I just think it's

730
00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:14,400
Speaker 1: easier to hear a car alarm when you're near it, right,

731
00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:17,400
Speaker 1: It's easier to see something if you're on the ground.

732
00:44:17,480 --> 00:44:19,600
Speaker 1: I made a prediction in twenty fourteen that the Warriors

733
00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:22,439
Speaker 1: were going to win the championship. They won the championship,

734
00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:25,040
Speaker 1: and that's something that people sometimes say in my favor.

735
00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:28,120
Speaker 1: Obviously I've gotten other predictions wrong, but I keep saying

736
00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:30,759
Speaker 1: the same thing, which is that I was there at

737
00:44:30,760 --> 00:44:34,800
Speaker 1: training camp. I was watching this team go from looking

738
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:37,360
Speaker 1: like hey, staff figure something out in the pick and

739
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:40,080
Speaker 1: roll play after play too, Oh my god, look at

740
00:44:40,080 --> 00:44:43,000
Speaker 1: this offense is unlike anything I've seen in my life. Okay,

741
00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:46,239
Speaker 1: I'll predict the win the championship. It's easier to hear

742
00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:48,960
Speaker 1: a car alarm when you're close to it. A lot

743
00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:52,960
Speaker 1: of media people are accused of homer biased. Okay, that

744
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:55,919
Speaker 1: can happen, but again, it's a lot easier to see

745
00:44:55,920 --> 00:44:59,040
Speaker 1: a new trend to notice if somebody's good. Yeah, if

746
00:44:59,040 --> 00:45:03,520
Speaker 1: you're actually there and so, yes, I was early relative

747
00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:06,720
Speaker 1: to other people in seeing what Draymond Green could become.

748
00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:09,319
Speaker 1: I wrote a lot of the early articles for it

749
00:45:09,400 --> 00:45:12,200
Speaker 1: on ESPN. But I don't attribute that to my having

750
00:45:12,239 --> 00:45:15,360
Speaker 1: any special kind of insight. I just attribute that to

751
00:45:15,440 --> 00:45:20,360
Speaker 1: him being a revolutionary defensive player who just came along

752
00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:23,359
Speaker 1: at the exact right time for that team and flourishing,

753
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:26,799
Speaker 1: and maybe I was just around that before really hit

754
00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:30,120
Speaker 1: critical mass. You know, I've said Ethan for years, I've

755
00:45:30,160 --> 00:45:34,560
Speaker 1: said the one place where fans no more than media

756
00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:39,319
Speaker 1: because in the NFL, I can watch every Charger game

757
00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:42,440
Speaker 1: and every Bengal game. There's just not that many games.

758
00:45:44,040 --> 00:45:48,000
Speaker 1: But in a volume sport like baseball that even Peter

759
00:45:48,120 --> 00:45:51,040
Speaker 1: Gammon's in his prime is not watching every Mariner game.

760
00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:55,960
Speaker 1: Where fans really have an advantage on the media is

761
00:45:56,040 --> 00:46:00,319
Speaker 1: baseball bullpens. You can go to a box score and

762
00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:02,520
Speaker 1: keep up with each row. If you live in Boston

763
00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:04,360
Speaker 1: and look at his nightly. You know, you can go

764
00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:07,640
Speaker 1: look at the stats. This is where fans have a

765
00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:09,920
Speaker 1: big advantage. If you're a diehard baseball fan and you

766
00:46:09,960 --> 00:46:13,279
Speaker 1: watch your team every night, I always say, what do

767
00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:16,319
Speaker 1: you feel like when they go to the bullpen? And

768
00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:18,400
Speaker 1: you'll have a feeling because when I was, when I

769
00:46:18,480 --> 00:46:21,600
Speaker 1: was a seamhead back in like sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen,

770
00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:24,480
Speaker 1: twenty years old, really into baseball, you would have a

771
00:46:24,520 --> 00:46:27,360
Speaker 1: feeling about every single member of the bullpen. And there's

772
00:46:27,440 --> 00:46:30,080
Speaker 1: no way to know that as a national guy, there's

773
00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:33,440
Speaker 1: no way to know that. There's always the setup guy

774
00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:35,720
Speaker 1: you love and the setup guy that makes you nervous.

775
00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:39,440
Speaker 1: And I think going back to that, you can skim

776
00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:44,000
Speaker 1: and cover the NFL, mostly the NBA, a lot of sports.

777
00:46:44,239 --> 00:46:48,319
Speaker 1: You can't skim a bullpen. And so your point is

778
00:46:49,400 --> 00:46:53,879
Speaker 1: with the NBA, you're the first to see it now now,

779
00:46:54,080 --> 00:46:56,000
Speaker 1: But I could skim the Warriors and have a feeling.

780
00:46:56,080 --> 00:46:57,759
Speaker 1: So I'm going to go back to the Warriors on this.

781
00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:00,719
Speaker 1: I think they're fascinating. I don't know if you can

782
00:47:00,760 --> 00:47:05,000
Speaker 1: win a championship and be that small. I still don't

783
00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:08,960
Speaker 1: know if James Wiseman fits. But the interesting players Jonathan

784
00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:13,719
Speaker 1: kuminga six seven athletic, totally springy and a willing defender.

785
00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:17,080
Speaker 1: So when you when you look at this Warriors team,

786
00:47:17,840 --> 00:47:20,320
Speaker 1: because you see them more than most, you're now in

787
00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:22,520
Speaker 1: you have a bridge. Now you're kind of a fan

788
00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:25,040
Speaker 1: because you've covered them and know the people, and you're

789
00:47:26,040 --> 00:47:30,880
Speaker 1: in a media space. So that's a nice intersection. What

790
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:33,520
Speaker 1: do you make Can they beat Phoenix? Do you trust

791
00:47:33,560 --> 00:47:36,440
Speaker 1: them in the playoffs? Does the size worry you? On

792
00:47:36,480 --> 00:47:39,279
Speaker 1: the Warriors. It's funny you did ask about the one

793
00:47:39,320 --> 00:47:41,880
Speaker 1: team that I can say reliably that I watch, because

794
00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:44,040
Speaker 1: now that I do what I do, it's it's different.

795
00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:46,399
Speaker 1: I talk to a lot of gms, I talk to

796
00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:48,840
Speaker 1: a lot of people in the league, but I'm not

797
00:47:48,880 --> 00:47:51,279
Speaker 1: watching all the time, right I'm not. But I am

798
00:47:51,280 --> 00:47:54,000
Speaker 1: watching the Warriors on the exercise bike. I am doing that.

799
00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:57,880
Speaker 1: They are the local team I am, you know, among

800
00:47:57,960 --> 00:48:01,440
Speaker 1: the many people who are helping the Warriors get double

801
00:48:01,840 --> 00:48:04,839
Speaker 1: the local ratings of the next most popular team. They're

802
00:48:04,960 --> 00:48:06,719
Speaker 1: very easy to watch, and I feel like I have

803
00:48:06,719 --> 00:48:09,719
Speaker 1: an understanding because they have that core I feel the

804
00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:13,279
Speaker 1: same way you do. It seems like too small. It

805
00:48:13,360 --> 00:48:15,879
Speaker 1: seems like that's a lot to even hope for with

806
00:48:15,880 --> 00:48:19,360
Speaker 1: Wiseman at this age, especially when he had these instincts

807
00:48:19,400 --> 00:48:23,960
Speaker 1: that looked rather shaky when he did play before getting

808
00:48:24,040 --> 00:48:28,480
Speaker 1: hurt last season. And they don't seem as complete as

809
00:48:28,520 --> 00:48:31,080
Speaker 1: Phoenix does. They don't, you know. Maybe we'll see that

810
00:48:31,239 --> 00:48:34,240
Speaker 1: heart of a champion stuff, maybe we'll see them dig deeper.

811
00:48:34,320 --> 00:48:37,000
Speaker 1: But I think it would be an incredible story of

812
00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:39,799
Speaker 1: the Warriors. One again, I can say, because I'm not

813
00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:42,440
Speaker 1: traditional media, you can't say what you're rooting for it. No,

814
00:48:42,560 --> 00:48:44,520
Speaker 1: I'm rooting for them. I would love the Warriors to

815
00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:47,279
Speaker 1: make a run and win a championship, but it would

816
00:48:47,280 --> 00:48:50,520
Speaker 1: surprise me if they did. That's what I would say.

817
00:48:51,640 --> 00:48:54,399
Speaker 1: So Ethan, I'm going to give the floor to you

818
00:48:54,800 --> 00:49:01,719
Speaker 1: because our conversations tend to be kind of substantive, but

819
00:49:02,280 --> 00:49:04,440
Speaker 1: not directed in any one place. We kind of just

820
00:49:04,520 --> 00:49:07,000
Speaker 1: bounced around and talk about what interests us. What have

821
00:49:07,120 --> 00:49:10,840
Speaker 1: I not addressed today that you're interested in? Yeah, I

822
00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:13,520
Speaker 1: can't really, I can't really think about I take your lead.

823
00:49:13,560 --> 00:49:16,560
Speaker 1: I would say that my website is substantive, but not

824
00:49:16,600 --> 00:49:20,879
Speaker 1: in any particular direction. Um, and that's what people get

825
00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:22,440
Speaker 1: from it when they come back to it if I

826
00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:26,319
Speaker 1: would do a particular a particular plug. But yeah, I

827
00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:28,680
Speaker 1: can't really come up with anything. I think you asked

828
00:49:28,719 --> 00:49:31,480
Speaker 1: great questions and I answered them as they could. I

829
00:49:31,560 --> 00:49:34,000
Speaker 1: didn't come in with an agenda. I thought your job

830
00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:37,560
Speaker 1: Morant take was was interesting. Let's talk about John Morant. Yeah,

831
00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:41,760
Speaker 1: let's do that. That's that's something that discuss, Okay, because

832
00:49:41,840 --> 00:49:44,160
Speaker 1: it was there was an irony to it is almost

833
00:49:44,160 --> 00:49:47,919
Speaker 1: a paradox. You were railing against the safety is when

834
00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:51,360
Speaker 1: being concerned. You you were railing against the safety is

835
00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:55,080
Speaker 1: m of assessments of players while being concerned about John

836
00:49:55,120 --> 00:49:57,520
Speaker 1: Morant's safety. So I found it to be an intriguing

837
00:49:57,600 --> 00:50:00,239
Speaker 1: take in that way. You were voicing your concern earn

838
00:50:00,800 --> 00:50:03,920
Speaker 1: that he would get hurt. And it's funny. It's like

839
00:50:03,960 --> 00:50:06,279
Speaker 1: you don't hear that concern from media people a lot,

840
00:50:06,320 --> 00:50:09,760
Speaker 1: even though injuries are a big factor. Everybody talks about

841
00:50:09,840 --> 00:50:12,160
Speaker 1: how teams are going to do as though we're playing

842
00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:15,720
Speaker 1: NBA two K and turned injuries off. But it's something

843
00:50:15,719 --> 00:50:20,480
Speaker 1: to discuss, and it's an important, important question, not just

844
00:50:20,560 --> 00:50:23,560
Speaker 1: for the Grizzlies, not just for John Moran, but for

845
00:50:23,680 --> 00:50:27,560
Speaker 1: the league, because that's the next guy. The league is

846
00:50:27,600 --> 00:50:30,560
Speaker 1: in a precarious point. I think they are. They need

847
00:50:30,600 --> 00:50:37,240
Speaker 1: stars and rootable people that ingratiate themselves, fun young people

848
00:50:37,320 --> 00:50:40,480
Speaker 1: like him, older fans like him. Yeah, yeah, And we

849
00:50:40,560 --> 00:50:44,600
Speaker 1: talk about instincts. You know, my job is to describe things,

850
00:50:44,680 --> 00:50:47,799
Speaker 1: but a lot of what matters is ineffable. You can't

851
00:50:47,840 --> 00:50:50,080
Speaker 1: put words to it. I watched John Moran. I go,

852
00:50:50,520 --> 00:50:52,600
Speaker 1: that guy's got that thing. You know, I don't know

853
00:50:52,640 --> 00:50:55,880
Speaker 1: what that thing is, but he's got that thing. Johannis

854
00:50:55,920 --> 00:50:59,680
Speaker 1: doesn't have that thing. Love Jannis, love watching him. Incredible player,

855
00:51:00,239 --> 00:51:04,600
Speaker 1: doesn't have that thing, doesn't have that transcendent superstar in

856
00:51:04,640 --> 00:51:07,439
Speaker 1: the United States of America. Why doesn't it. Oh yeah,

857
00:51:07,480 --> 00:51:10,560
Speaker 1: Kawhi doesn't have that thing. You know. Steph Curry has

858
00:51:10,560 --> 00:51:13,400
Speaker 1: that thing. Lebron James has angered a lot of people,

859
00:51:13,400 --> 00:51:16,879
Speaker 1: but Lebron had that thing. John Morant has that thing.

860
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:18,680
Speaker 1: He has that thing that Derek Rose had before he

861
00:51:18,719 --> 00:51:20,719
Speaker 1: got hurt. He has that thing that Alan Iverson had

862
00:51:20,880 --> 00:51:23,240
Speaker 1: when he was at the peak of his powers. That

863
00:51:23,719 --> 00:51:26,560
Speaker 1: is not only a superstar, but that's somebody who is

864
00:51:26,600 --> 00:51:30,520
Speaker 1: potentially box office somebody who could save your league. He

865
00:51:30,680 --> 00:51:34,520
Speaker 1: is the most important player in basketball. That might sound

866
00:51:34,520 --> 00:51:37,399
Speaker 1: like an exaggeration because he plays in Memphis and because

867
00:51:37,440 --> 00:51:39,560
Speaker 1: he's new on the scene, but this is a league

868
00:51:39,600 --> 00:51:44,240
Speaker 1: right now that has post Jordan popularity. While their versions

869
00:51:44,280 --> 00:51:47,400
Speaker 1: of Jordan and Lebron and Steph are still playing and

870
00:51:47,480 --> 00:51:50,560
Speaker 1: getting older. They need somebody to take the reins. So

871
00:51:50,600 --> 00:51:53,040
Speaker 1: that's why I watched it with interest, And I think

872
00:51:53,040 --> 00:51:56,080
Speaker 1: that people don't make the assessment you made call him

873
00:51:56,120 --> 00:51:58,839
Speaker 1: because they fear it will be taken the wrong way.

874
00:51:58,880 --> 00:52:01,880
Speaker 1: They fear. It will mean to a lot watching that

875
00:52:01,960 --> 00:52:05,080
Speaker 1: you're rooting for an injury to happen. But I listened

876
00:52:05,080 --> 00:52:08,040
Speaker 1: and I thought, yeah, that's a concern. He's flying in there.

877
00:52:08,320 --> 00:52:11,480
Speaker 1: He's got a skitty frame, you know, it's a it's

878
00:52:11,480 --> 00:52:13,560
Speaker 1: a scary thing. I hope they take care of him

879
00:52:13,560 --> 00:52:16,960
Speaker 1: and they're careful. Yeah, he's one hundred and seventy four pounds.

880
00:52:17,040 --> 00:52:21,880
Speaker 1: Derek Rose was two hundred. He is rail thin. And

881
00:52:22,239 --> 00:52:25,040
Speaker 1: what's interesting, he really does compare to Rose where he's

882
00:52:25,320 --> 00:52:32,799
Speaker 1: beyond springy, super twitchy, wildly exciting, a highlight machine, struggles

883
00:52:32,840 --> 00:52:35,560
Speaker 1: from three, forced to go to the rim, and Derek

884
00:52:35,680 --> 00:52:38,520
Speaker 1: Rose and him both played in the NBA without the

885
00:52:38,560 --> 00:52:40,680
Speaker 1: hand check. You can't stay in front of him. You

886
00:52:40,800 --> 00:52:43,040
Speaker 1: simply can't stay in front of him. You know, I've

887
00:52:43,160 --> 00:52:46,360
Speaker 1: argued this. I think I've told you I think the

888
00:52:46,440 --> 00:52:49,239
Speaker 1: NBA should bring the hand check back. You think it

889
00:52:49,280 --> 00:52:53,800
Speaker 1: makes the league more physical, It doesn't. It keeps great

890
00:52:53,880 --> 00:52:59,160
Speaker 1: guards out of the lane where they get hurt. You can't,

891
00:52:59,239 --> 00:53:02,920
Speaker 1: you cannot defend. You can absolutely not stay in front

892
00:53:02,920 --> 00:53:07,680
Speaker 1: of great guards. Translation they go in, they're outweighed by

893
00:53:07,719 --> 00:53:11,839
Speaker 1: eighty pounds. The floor is hard, the contacts brutal. Look

894
00:53:11,840 --> 00:53:14,239
Speaker 1: at the number of injuries to point guards over the

895
00:53:14,320 --> 00:53:19,600
Speaker 1: last five years, it's brutal. Wall Westbrook, Chris Paul de

896
00:53:19,880 --> 00:53:23,040
Speaker 1: Rose for the record, Morant has been dinged up a

897
00:53:23,040 --> 00:53:25,839
Speaker 1: couple of times already. Yeah, and I also just think

898
00:53:25,880 --> 00:53:29,239
Speaker 1: that Donovan Mitchell and I also just think that, you know,

899
00:53:29,280 --> 00:53:33,560
Speaker 1: maybe the theme of this podcast is how sometimes you

900
00:53:33,600 --> 00:53:37,239
Speaker 1: can just outthink instincts by getting a little too into

901
00:53:37,280 --> 00:53:39,959
Speaker 1: the numbers, thinking that you can just figure out what's

902
00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:45,480
Speaker 1: popular algorithmically as opposed to just being a person algorithmically.

903
00:53:45,600 --> 00:53:48,040
Speaker 1: I think the NBA looked at the situation and said,

904
00:53:48,440 --> 00:53:52,160
Speaker 1: people love points. People love when points are scored. More

905
00:53:52,280 --> 00:53:57,320
Speaker 1: points good, more points equals viewers. Let's change the rules

906
00:53:57,360 --> 00:53:59,959
Speaker 1: and make sure that guys are scoring as many points

907
00:54:00,160 --> 00:54:02,800
Speaker 1: as possible. And what does it lead to a bunch

908
00:54:02,800 --> 00:54:05,560
Speaker 1: of flopping And it turns out that the fans actually

909
00:54:05,640 --> 00:54:08,760
Speaker 1: don't want one hundred and forty two to one hundred

910
00:54:09,040 --> 00:54:12,120
Speaker 1: and forty one. That's not what they want. It sounds

911
00:54:12,160 --> 00:54:14,560
Speaker 1: good in theory, it's not what they want. They also

912
00:54:14,640 --> 00:54:17,320
Speaker 1: don't want seventy five to seventy two, as was happening

913
00:54:17,360 --> 00:54:20,279
Speaker 1: in the early two thousands. There's a balance, there's a

914
00:54:20,280 --> 00:54:23,400
Speaker 1: platonic ideal. They probably want it and that one hundred

915
00:54:23,440 --> 00:54:25,880
Speaker 1: to one hundred and ten range, and when it's the playoffs,

916
00:54:26,000 --> 00:54:28,080
Speaker 1: they might want it a little bit lower because it's

917
00:54:28,080 --> 00:54:30,959
Speaker 1: a grueling battle and every possession feels like life and death.

918
00:54:31,320 --> 00:54:33,440
Speaker 1: That's what they want. So I don't know if hand

919
00:54:33,520 --> 00:54:36,279
Speaker 1: check is the solution, but it does seem like the

920
00:54:36,400 --> 00:54:39,080
Speaker 1: NBA needs to do a few things to bring the

921
00:54:39,120 --> 00:54:42,200
Speaker 1: game back to something that is recognizable to people who

922
00:54:42,280 --> 00:54:45,680
Speaker 1: have watched it forever instead of being a flopping plus

923
00:54:45,719 --> 00:54:48,120
Speaker 1: three point contests. Credit to them for starting to call

924
00:54:48,160 --> 00:54:51,320
Speaker 1: some of those flops. But yes, sometimes you can outthink

925
00:54:51,360 --> 00:54:56,160
Speaker 1: yourself and there are limitations. There are limitations. You can't

926
00:54:56,200 --> 00:55:00,600
Speaker 1: just press turbo on the points and be rewarded with

927
00:55:00,640 --> 00:55:04,719
Speaker 1: a ton of people watching. Ethan Strouss please subscribe to

928
00:55:04,760 --> 00:55:08,799
Speaker 1: a substack at House of Strauss dot sub stack and

929
00:55:08,880 --> 00:55:13,120
Speaker 1: that is House of st r a U S. S.

930
00:55:13,160 --> 00:55:18,160
Speaker 1: He is Ethan Strouse. He's always interesting. My man, keep crushing.

931
00:55:18,239 --> 00:55:22,560
Speaker 1: I'm not going to ask a lot because you're very busy.

932
00:55:22,719 --> 00:55:24,560
Speaker 1: I love it. I'm so proud of you. Yeah, I

933
00:55:24,560 --> 00:55:27,320
Speaker 1: just love you. Called me fascinating. A suburban dad getting

934
00:55:27,320 --> 00:55:30,840
Speaker 1: called fascinating. Quite a coup of Colin anytime. Love to

935
00:55:30,880 --> 00:55:49,360
Speaker 1: be here. Appreciate the support, Thanks man, thank you. The

936
00:55:49,520 --> 00:55:49,920
Speaker 1: volume