The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 2: Chris Haynes on Jimmy Butler

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

Chris Haynes joins the show, but before we get to his latest information on Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat's potential divorce, we need to examine whether he's a collector or a hoarder as he takes us through the antiques in his room. Then, we dive deep into the Jimmy Butler saga as Haynes explains the latest news out of Butler's camp in response to a report about his private flights and Airbnb's, how Bradley Beal's contract has been a holdup in negotiations, and why Butler will continue to bet on himself. He also shares details of a potential meeting of the minds between Butler and Pat Riley that never materialized and added to their rift. Plus, accounting errors, addressing the media, and sprint speed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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And for more heartburn relief fun, be sure to follow Tums at Tums official on Instagram and TikTok. This is the Don LeBattor Show with the StuGuts Podcast. We have a real generation gap going on right now between old people and young people because Chris Haynes sat in the middle of our show and he's got some old, old school video games behind him and Stu Gotts just shouted into the din, my god, Chris Haynes, you've got the most amazing studio except for 20 year olds. What he's got is a museum of old shit

that only old people care about except for those jerseys and an odd collection, an unusual collection of jerseys behind him. So Chris Haynes, thank you for being on the show. We want the latest NBA information on Jimmy Butler and others, but what are you going for with your studio setup? And thank you for being on the show. We want the latest NBA information on Jimmy Butler and others, but what are you going for with your studio setup? And thank you for having it that way,

because it does appeal to me, and Stugats and Greg Cody, but I'm guessing not many people under 40. And I'm 42, by the way. So no, just going for that vintage look, a vintage sporting arcade look. I'm all into collecting like old antiques. Like I have an old Coca-Cola vending machine.

I'm talking about like this vending machine was like being used in the 60s. Like Tab, it has Tab on it. What are the, Tab is one of the options. What are the drinks on that? Pepsi, it's a Pepsi. Oh, god, Pepsi. It's a Pepsi. Oh, god, Pepsi. It's a Pepsi.

I have old mailboxes. I have just old signs. So that's what I was kind of going for. But basically, what I want to do is just stake my territory in this area with all the five women I have living in this house. And so when they come in here and they see all this, they know there's nothing in here for them.

So they shouldn't be coming in here, but that was the plan. Are you a hoarder? I wouldn't say I'm a hoarder. No, I'm not, no, no. There's a fine line between collector and hoarder though. Like we can acknowledge that. I'm not a hoarder at all. Like this, I'm not a junkie.

I don't, it's like, it's not like Sanford and Son where you're just collecting a bunch of junk. No, I really like, I'm not a junkie. I don't, this is like, this is not like Sanford and Son where you're just collecting a bunch of junk. No, I really like it. I look for stuff. Yeah, I really look for stuff like things that are still cool, especially if they can still be used. Like I just like old vintage antiques. What's the thing that you have that you've collected

that you're proudest of? Well, but just, if I may, just a second, I don't want to just skip past the insult, the casual insult of the man is a collector of antique things and Billy has accused Him of hoarding like no, I've no no no no no I asked the question Appreciation on fine things that say something about him and Billy is accused him of not being able to discard junk It makes him defend himself with, I'm not Sanford and Son. I ask because like, have you ever seen the show

American Pickers, for example, where they just drive around the country and they look for people's crap and then they're like, oh, this is a treasure. And then they go and they sell it like in their thrift stores. Like, I'm just kind of wondering if that's the world that you found yourself in,

where you're going around on weekends and you find yourself in Nebraska and you're in a barn and you're looking for old Pepsi machines, you know? Yeah, yeah I do. I do frequent a lot of thrift stores, Salvation Army stores, because you know every now and then you can just find some things that people just discard it and they just consider it old and you know, but I like to bring it back to life a little bit.

You know, like I got old barbecue pits, like I'm talking about, I have a, let me stop pits, not plural. I have a let me stop piss not plural I have a barbecue pit that's that's probably was made late 60s right and I kind of restored it so one day I'll show you I'll show you guys some pictures of what I'm working with but no it's not too much but yeah it is a hobby of mine for sure you know what I like a hoarder yeah you know what I learned the difference between hoarding and collecting too is, Dan, is that it's not rust, it's patina.

That's what you say. When something's all rust, you say, no, no, it has some patina on it. I don't understand what any of you are doing, because I believe that Antique Roadshow is one of the great stories of privilege that you will find anywhere in America because of the amount of bargains

that people like Greg Cody have in their garage and they don't know it because they've got some valuable heirloom that's been passed down through generations. And Chris Haynes is out here saying, I'll go to a thrift store in Nebraska to see if somebody like Greg Cody has discarded some $3,000 thing for $11

because he's a fool. But that's hoarding. It's not hoarding. It's value propositions. It's not in any way hoarding. One man's trash is another man's treasure. I really don't understand what you guys are doing here. This will settle it. Chris, have you ever purchased something at any of these stores and then thrown it away? No, no. If I, if I purchase it, no, I'll purchase it. It's not hoarding. It's treasure hunting. The ability to not throw anything away is hoarding.

Well, okay. There's value in it. I have a question for you. Seems like the Heat are hoarding Jimmy Butler because he doesn't want to be here and they don't want him here. But they don't want to trade him anywhere. So what are they doing with Jimmy Butler?

Well, they made it known that they're entertaining offers. As I can tell right now from the people that I've spoke with around the league, the Miami Heat aren't anywhere close to, you know, a Jimmy Butler trade. What I can tell you right now is that I think he's a few games removed. I don't know the games off the top of my head.

Maybe you guys know how many games left from his suspension, but I'm told he is fully prepared to return to play and play for the Miami Heat if he is not moved by the time his suspension is lifted. So, you know, Jimmy Butler right now, he's in a, he's in, you know, I'm gonna share what I can. So you guys ask away, but you know, it's been a very difficult season for him,

you know, starting off season with Pat Riley's comments and some things that happened over the summer that kind of led to where we all at today. So, you know, it's been very interesting. So definitely this is something that I'm definitely monitoring until it's resolved. At Jimmy's age, what do you put his trade value? Well, the thing that I wanted to talk to you about Chris adding on to that and I do want you to answer

Stugats his question about what it is your most valuable collectible is I actually wanted to have Mark Stein on today No insult to you. You're one of the great information guys But his story had some details that I had not seen anywhere, and I'm thinking that now we will have leaks back and forth because there's going to be strategic maneuvering around some of this. And furthermore, yeah, Jimmy wants to go to Phoenix, but Bradley Beal's most owner's contract in the sport right now, I've never even heard of someone saying of a contract in the sport, that can't be moved. Every contract can be moved,

but the Beal one seems worse than all the others. If Jimmy thinks he's gonna get to Phoenix and that Pat Riley's just gonna take that contract and the third team's not gonna take it, he's out of his mind. Like that's not how this is gonna go at the end. I would assume they just keep Jimmy Butler for as long as they want and say,

go ahead and opt out and see if you can get $52 million somewhere else. Like Jimmy Butler's not going to get to go to Phoenix because Miami's got to take on Beal. That's the worst contract you'll find in the sport, is it not? Because it's a no trade clause. Yeah, I mean, that's why only few players have those. And Bradley Beal is one of them. And he is what's making this situation that much more difficult. If you think about

it, Phoenix Suns, they desperately want Jimmy Butler. They're trying to do all that they can. They're trying to look under every rock and cranny and try to figure out if there's a move that can be made and if there's a team that will take on Bradley Beal's deal. It has to be a team that is willing to take that on. And that is the troublesome part about this situation. So that's why I'm saying, like, you know, I didn't think, I thought it was, I thought it was pretty scarce to think that

Jimmy Butler will be traded during the seven game suspension in the first place. And so if Phoenix is indeed the ideal destination. So yeah, I'm with you Dan, it's gonna be tough. But as soon, you know, as trade deadline approaches, teams start getting desperate and Bradley Beale over there in Phoenix, I reported last week, they moved him to the bench and people started to speculate,

well is this Phoenix trying to make life miserable for Bradley which will I guess for their standpoint hopefully invoke that he will you know decline that that arm but Chris if I may because this is the human interest part of this is interesting to me Bradley Beal went there because that was gonna be the big three. It's not good enough. The other bigger two of the big three now would prefer Jimmy Butler to Bradley Beal and Bradley Beal's like,

nope, that's why I have this no trade. You can go and do whatever it is you want. I'm not gonna be sent somewhere even though I don't have value because my contract is too bad. You're stuck with me. Just because you guys want to win a championship with Jimmy Butler. Like, no.

No doubt. Brad picked, due to that no trade clause, Phoenix were one of the teams that he picked that he will use that for to get over there. So he's not going to spend all that time in Washington. He really did like Washington, but he understood it was time to leave. But Phoenix was one of the few teams that he chose to go to, so you're not just going to be able to just get him up and out

that quick after spending all that time in Washington, now he's in Phoenix and think he's just gonna make life easier for you guys just to get Jimmy Butler. No, it has to work for him as well, so as of right now I'm still told that Phoenix hasn't reached the point where they even Can't you know approach Bradley bill about the situation? So as of right now, we're still pretty early What is the second most onerous contract in the sport? That is a good question. Um, is it far and away Bradley Beal? Like is it no question that the contract that can't be moved if there is such a thing

is Bradley Beal's? I just think just that, you know, if he didn't have that no trade clause, you know, he's a movable piece. That makes it difficult. That makes it difficult. And, you know, and look, I think people will say, you know, people will look at Bradley Beal,

that he's probably not the player he was in Washington, you know, he will argue, no, he's still that player, he's still capable of doing that, but he's in a different role and he's asked to do different things, he's asked to sacrifice, you know, he made comments publicly about, you know, the team trying to, you know, put him into a point guard role. He's never been that guy and I've heard, you know, I've heard that the coaching staff over there, they've tried to tell him that he needs to be more like Drew Holiday. And that's not Bradley Beal, that's not his game.

So at the end of the day, even though he's not experiencing his best season over there and he's not in an ideal fit for his talent, he's still not gonna just be moved anywhere, any place. Cause even though basketball is not going good, Phoenix, the weather is still pretty good over there. So he's not just going to be shipped anywhere against his will. Chris, after the initial reports were that Jimmy was willing to play anywhere in the NBA, basically outside of Miami, you furthered the story along by

mentioning that teams like Memphis and others had been told not to trade for Jimmy Butler. Now reporting, I believe it's from Mark Stein and Jake Fisher together on this one, talks about Jimmy taking private flights, staying in Airbnbs away from the team, and the story has sort of gotten to this place of talking about the personality and things that locally,

you know, some reporters knew down here for years with Jimmy. When you hear all of this stuff start to come out, what are your initial reactions to that? So, I do have some insight from Jimmy's camp and those individuals. And to speak from the flights, I was told that, excuse me, I had to take some notes here. In the last five years that I was told Jimmy took less than five separate flights from the team and four

of them were during the finals against Denver when his father was sick. So, you know, they're clearly trying to diminish, I guess I should say, I guess the narrative that he was just flying privately and separately frequently. And so with that being said, that's that. And then from Jimmy Butler's perspective, let me just add this. So over the summer, I was told, let me see, yeah, I threw a summer,

so that's Pat Riley, he had his comments. And I remember, Dan, I don't know if you guys remember, but I came, I was doing the playoffs. It was the Heat, I wanna say Heat Boston. And that's when Jimmy, I was doing sidelines for TNT at the time, and I was able to speak with Jimmy during the game and he had some comments. It was kind of, you know, egging on the Boston Celtics fan base. And then I believe he had some more comments later that day or the next day.

And I think that's what Pat Riley was referring to about, you know, if you're not playing, you probably should stay quiet. Obviously that rubbed Jimmy the wrong way. He felt like that was taking things too far And both sides and trying to take you guys to the Exodus and both sides Pat it was informed Pat Riley was informed that a face-to-face was needed was necessary with Jimmy after all that went down. And Jimmy was under the assumption that Pat was going to visit him in the off season, have that face-to-face. Jimmy told him about the off-season place he has in San Diego and that it never materialized.

Pat never went out there. So they didn't communicate via text, phone conversation, or face to face. The last time they communicated was January 1st when he brought them into the office and talked about they didn't think he was putting forth the effort. So, from there all the way back to the end of last season, that was the time frame in which there was no communication. And there were some other things that happened in that summer too that kind of got it to an uneasy place for Jimmy and the Heat at the start of the season. Started training camp I should say. So there's just a lot of things behind the scenes.

Let's go through it though because I was suspicious when Jimmy showed up late to media day because all of this has been brewing for a while and the reporting on this has been pretty detailed. I should tell people Chris Haynes is a veteran NBA reporter. His brand new YouTube channel is called Haynes Briefs. It debuted earlier in January and he has worked for Turner Sports covering NBA games and reporting on the league. Before Turner he was with ESPN, Yahoo Sports, Comcast, SportsNest, Northwest covering the Blazers as well. Kane's brief I mean that's good. Underwear.

Yes that's it that's it he's getting in there and he's showing you the innards of people's underwear because what you're telling us with your reporting is that Jimmy Butler was indeed pissed off about shut up, you didn't play on the Celtics, and it escalates from there with pettiness and silliness to we're not talking and I want a face-to-face, and we need a face-to-face and we're equals here, and then Pat Riley's saying, nah, not giving you a face-to-face,

we're not equals here. You're saying it's some of that, that you can't treat stars like that anymore. This'll be what happens. Yeah, that happened as well, well there was something else then too that kind of rubbed him a wrong way as well towards the end of last summer there Jimmy and them were informed of a clerical excuse me an accounting error towards the end of last summer in which he didn't get his pay. He didn't get his paycheck on that period.

And it took the team about 10 days for him to get his payment, but that's never happened. So you got all that going on top of an account error where he didn't get his paycheck. And so things were just feeling a little bit off at that point. And then during the off season, his agent, Bernie Lee, informed the Miami Heat that, hey, if we want to get an extension done, we're going to do it in an off season.

And if no deal is done when media day hits or when training camp hits, then they're just going to play the season now and see what happens from there. And so that deadline passed, went and passed, still there was no communication. There was nothing, there was nothing indicating that they were gonna do something or not gonna do something, it just passed. So he goes into training camp and now there's a new offense and a new defense that's being installed.

And from Jimmy's standpoint, it doesn't cater to his skillset. So now they want to shoot more threes and they wanna play more zone defense. And you look at just the way his season started off, his usage rate is the lowest it has been in the last 10 years. I believe the 2014, 15 season, um, you have to go back that far. So these are all the things behind the scenes. Just saying the year 2025 already makes me feel like I'm living in the future,

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I need to calm you down. That's right, they lose in Miami, they don't get a chance in Boston. Oh, they are going to have their ass, you know what, in Boston, you know. Stugats. They were wrong, they were, are they going to lose a job? No, are they going to get a cutting

pay? No. What are they going to do? Keep predicting what is the obvious. They are going to say, oh the nuggets are going to win. Oh Denver the altitude. And you know what? The heat are going to win it all. This is the Don LeVatar Show with the Stugats. There's more though, Chris, please. So take us through and thank you. Take us through what Jimmy feels about how the heat handled all the time he needed for his taking care of the death of his father. And I would imagine whatever,

I don't know who this information benefits, the private plane stuff But you're hitting a real soft personal spot on a prideful person if we're gonna if he suspects that the heat is Leaking that while he was trying to visit his father. He was being unprofessional Yeah, and that that hurt as well for sure You know, you know it's leaking and it's coming out that the Heat are entertaining offers. Now this is before obviously Pat Riley put it out publicly in a statement that they are. And so, you know, that's bothering him because now it's going on for a few weeks. You know,

it's just this constant, you know, it seemed like every other day there was something about Jimmy being sided with this team or being connected with this team, he either interested in here or there. And so from their standpoint, they're looking at it like who's leaking this? It looks like it's coming from directly from the team. And so again, like these are, you know,

this is just, you know, creating a sour environment and a sour relationship from what otherwise has been pretty good. He's had a really good run with Miami, couple finals trips, and so it's just been a lot. And then once he got back, so you know, there's a lot, like damn, like I really have to, I really gotta look at a lot of my notes that I have.

But it's- Keep going though, Chris, go take a trip. I'm trying to remember as much as I can. No, the reason I want, I know Stu Gantz wants to get in here because he's desperate. Everyone here right now is- He can read me the notes if he wants.

Yeah, but everyone here is desperate to give you, they want takes from you and I want the reporting because the reporting is fresh and this is one of the great guys in the information business. His information's not wrong, so it's not gossip. It's journalistically reported, and because he's old school written it down, he doesn't want to get anything wrong. So Chris, take your time.

I want to go through. I will get to Zion Williamson and the other stuff, but I want to show people the innards of how a human relationship deteriorates into divorce when two people think they're responsible for the success of the other person. And so please take us through whatever you think is a lot here because I want I want people to understand why it is that Jimmy Butler might be hurt and also I want them to understand why the pressure of get in there and do your damn job already you're being paid 50 million dollars is the weight of the machine on his shoulders when he said here wait a minute i was grieving my father's death we're gonna play this dirty

we're gonna play dirty on on personal flights when i don't even know who that benefits who doesn't benefit to have leaked that their personal full of flights during the finals all that does is cause jimmy uh... butler heartache that's personal but is the heat leaking that yeah that's what we don't know. You know, there's people that talk from both sides, different sides of the table, so you never know what it is,

but from their standpoint, it looks that way. It looks like it could be coming from the team. And, you know, I tried to reach out to the Heat before I came on, Dan, just to give a heads up about some of the things that I had and some of the things that I was going to say. I didn't get a response back in time. But with that being said, you take back when he was away when he was sick.

So what would this be? This would be late December, possibly late December when he was a little, he was absent for a few days, few games. He came back, he was still working out at the facility. He came back and then he had to address media. The first day he got back to practice. And I don't think he appreciated that because at that time the trade rumors were getting out about the heat

possibly looking to move him. And so he felt that it was uncomfortable and uncalled for that the first day that he gets back, he has to answer to news that's being put out by who he can only assume. And so, you know, you got those things and then let's get to the game in which the Heat criticized him, brought him into the office the next day, and basically called into question his effort, or lack thereof, I should say.

And that's when his agent, Bernie Lee, informed him, like, look guys, Jimmy's trying to do what he can. He's not in an ideal situation as far as basketball fit anymore because seem like the team is going away from Featuring him as the marquee player and he said that's fine. But you know now you're questioning if he's You're questioning if he can if he's given the the effort Excuse me while I look at my notes on this cuz because I want to add, I want to make sure I don't get this wrong.

So there we'll have to report it. Well, I will give you a moment, because some of this is unfair, because the reporting, he's doing it, and he's trying to be fair, so just, I will filibuster for a moment here for you by being fascinated by a number of the things here, one of which includes, yes, of course, as Tyler Hero becomes an all-star with all of the usage rate, Jimmy Butler's not going

to like the transition out of Jimmy Butler very much. Like why would he like that? It decreases his value as he heads into a contract dispute. Like it's a, it's the corporate move you make while also allegedly improving your team, but you're asking Jimmy Butler to be the second player on Tyler Hero's team, and that's a little complicated for Jimmy Butler's ego, given what he's done the last five years. Yeah, and he believed he still can play at that level. He talked about it, he said it publicly, I forgot what video was, that I feel like he still had a few years left of his prime. So when he'd accused him of a lackluster effort

in that game, his agent brought up some data from Second Spectrum showcasing that in that game that Jimmy had his highest miles per hour rate in that game, meaning he ran the fastest, fastest he has in any game that season and he was he was the top player as far as acceleration in that game and so you know they were just trying I'm just showing like the back and forth just showing like the data they're trying to present to showcase like no he was not

well what do you think is true you're very fair you're very responsible what do you believe to be true here? Because Stugats is just dying to yell, is there anything that Jimmy Butler appreciates? And get your ass back on the court. I mean, he's making $50 million this year, more than LeBron, more than Jason Datum, and he doesn't seem to appreciate anything

that he'd have done. I think he's human, and I think he's frustrated with the direction of where the team is headed, on the basketball court that is. And then when you have your work ethic question, something that he, you know, you can, I've covered some of the best players in this world, in this game. LeBron James, talk about work ethic lebron james Chris paul guys like that jimmy butler's in in that mode as well

And so um to hear something like that that's calling the question now you can say like look man, you know Is his demeanor a little bit off? Um, can you see it visibly that he's frustrated? Maybe I I couldn't sit here and tell you that he's not giving it. I know I understand we're really parsing the hairs of Is he trying? But he's also joyless because he's not happy and when you're not happy it can look like you're trying less if you're bringing To the office a whole bunch of shit before and after the games. I know Roy's dressed as a gladiator

He brings it in every day. Every single day he storms in here with a mountain of shit on his shoulders. And they broke into his cars today. But Jeremy has a question for you here and I want to get out of the Jimmy Butler conversation after this. Chris, I'm fascinated here

because obviously the personal relationships have deteriorated over the course of several years, but really in particular since this summer. And yet, a lot of the conversations we're having on the court fit, well, Jimmy wanted regular season help, now seemingly has it based off the way that they're revamping the offense. Would all of this be a moot point

if he had just gotten paid this off season? Would any of that really be mattering right now in the same way that it does when he hasn't been paid? I was told in this situation that it's not about the money. Um, it's about more so the relationship and the way things have gone. They missed a paycheck. They missed a paycheck. Call accounting, call accounting. They missed a paycheck. It's not about the money, but call accounting. Call accounting.

They're 10 days late. He believes he's going to get paid regardless, whether that's with Miami or with somewhere else. But is he? Because this is an interesting test now, Chris, because I'm gonna sound like a heat mouthpiece here, but when I talk about owner's contracts, if Jimmy Butler is only willing to play as a malcontent, everyone knows to be careful trading for that. And so whether you do test Jimmy Butler on Jimmy, do you think you're gonna get more

than 52 million next year? Because you might have to come back here and accept that option after all of this and are you going to try and do this again because we're fine with just the salary cap space if we get it for jimmy butler and and that becomes a game of chicken for not going to get if the heater looking at you and saying what they're not going to get anything good for jimmy bother what would you say will get the cap space and will just take the rest of your year and a half of value and not make you tradable as a 36-year-old star that's worth more than 52 million.

I could make the argument if I was arguing on their behalf that his is the most second, most onerous contract if those are the conditions. Hmm. Hmm. That's a good, you know, you make good points, valid points. I would say the Los Angeles Clippers kind of had a you know you make me make a point about a point i would say the los angeles clippers kata had a similar siege ask you to similar situation i would say is that

as x toxic as this one has become with paul jores they just let him use the yall letter player like that that calabra go away without getting anything return date they just completely watch their hands from my allow they allowed Paul George to go sign with Philly and he went and got his number, went and got a max deal. So Jimmy Pella, one thing about Jimmy is man, he's going to bet on himself. I know this is a long time ago, but you know, he turned down a rookie extension offer, I

believe it was like 44 million at that time, which was a nice figure at that time for him And he turned it down ended up making an all-star team and and got paid handsomely later on So that's just his makeup. That's his DNA I'm just telling he believes and he feels like whether he's getting paid with Miami He feel like he's gonna get paid elsewhere as well. So do you believe I'm trying my best The way I believe it For a few teams and I believe it just the way that Phoenix has been so aggressive and trying to Get this done and trying to see what they can do

Um, I don't believe it for the entire league for sure But I do believe it for but you only need one suitor and the idea like You believe it for a few teams. But you only need one suitor and the idea. That's it. Like, Desperate Phoenix is the most desperate thing there is. Like that owner's willing to make seismic change because he's like, yeah, bring me Bradley Beals contract. Bring me, and now flip Bradley Beals contract.

Like that's the team you want interested in. They're the only one who's going to be desperate about it. Yeah. And you look at, you know, look at what they've done with the coaches. They've had three coaches in three years fired Monty Williams brought in Frank Vogel fired him at the one season Mike Budenhoz I believe they the sons of one believe three in a row to this point so they're kind of turning it around but you know I was hearing some things about you know players being you

know frustrated and there's being tension in that locker room right you know right before I reported about Bradley Bill and Yussef Nerkis being benched. So there's still things going on over there, but what they've shown is that, that owner, he's aggressive over there, he's gonna make change, even if it looks like it might be a rush job,

he's gonna do what he feels is needed to make that team better. I wanna get you out of here, and I don't know which of the two questions to ask you so you choose okay I want to would you prefer to talk about the drama and all of the interesting around Zion Williamson or would you prefer to talk about the wonderful basketball moment of Cade Cunningham going into Madison Square Garden and announcing himself as an all-star because he

insists on making the Detroit Pistons something that they were supposed to be when they gave Monty Williams all of that money and all of a sudden they immediately get rid of the richest coach in the NBA and they become a legitimate team that can do something like that in Madison Square Garden. Let's talk about both there.

Wow. If I make you choose, I'm doing the sociological. He chose both. I'm doing the test of choose the games of the transaction which one's more interest or your favorite collectible I mean we could go there or whether you're a hoarder Let's go let's go with Kate because I want to give I want to get a Detroit piston and some love This is a team that's been Floundering at the bottom of the Eastern

Conference for countless years. We wondered if they were ever going to, in this decade, make any type of noise. And Cade Cunningham, there were a lot of people that written them off, you know, wrote them off. And even, was it last offseason? Yeah, it was last offseason. He got his extension. People were wondering if he was going to get his extension. Well, he got it. Got the rookie max extension and now he's flourishing. He's doing an unbelievable job.

He's a legitimate all-star candidate. I mean, playing a point guard position at that size is just a nightmare for opposing defenses. So, you know, you got to give him credit. You got to give the coaching staff credit. They brought in veteran guys over there. Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., Tobias Harris. So that's one thing, Dan, that a lot of young teams have been doing as of late, is not bringing in veteran guys to help nourish,

to help mentor and teach these youngsters how to play. A lot of times when you have young teams and no veterans in there, these guys are not putting together the proper effort and professionalism on the court and they're surely not putting out that professionalism off the court. You need veteran guys like that and I think Detroit made a great decision in bringing in vets to help cultivate this team and you can see the fruits of that labor right now. Billy wants the Zion take. Give it to me. I think he still plays. I think yeah I think we're too far down the road in Zion's career

for him to keep having these mishaps. I reported you know it was repeatedly tardy slips for practices and shoot-arounds. The last straw was him being late to the Kestetine flight to Philadelphia. When you have a target on your back, and he has a target on his back just from the numerous injuries and the constant people berating him about his conditioning and not taking it seriously. When you have all that against you already, you can't behave in this type of manner. Because all it's going to do is highlight and reveal that you really aren't taking it seriously.

And so he has to change that narrative. He looks good. The way he's come back this season, he looks, he probably looks like the best physical shape I've seen him in as a pro. But he has to continue and these things cannot happen. One more thing I want to say about Zion. For the Pelicans, it was only a one game suspension. But teams don't like, one game suspension that's light.

Teams don't like to put their business out on Front Street like that especially pertaining to Zion Zion doesn't like things being leaked about him the organization knows that so for them to come out publicly and suspend him for a game just shows you where they where they're at with Zion and how fed up and frustrated they are with his lack of professionalism up to this point. So that's what it showed me mostly, is just the fact that they felt

there was time to do something. How do you feel about Funyuns? I used to like them as a kid, not so much now. Bad breath, you need gum and peppermint So that's true. That's true Billy stinks Billy's whole face stinks Thank you Chris good seeing you. Thank you for the time. Thank you for Anything any anything on the notes there that we didn't get to and if you want to get to the favorite collectible I did not get to the fate your favorite of all the junk that you're hoarding in your house. I

I did not get to the faith your favorite of all the junk that you're hoarding in your house. I Got a lot of those guys two pages worth of notes, but uh, I gotta save some for hangs briefs Well, I love you so much Dan. I had to give you something. Thank you. How about the best collectible first two gods a little gift On the way out. We appreciate all the information. You saw how desperate we were about it We were salivating right give us give us morsels of the gossip. You saw us. It was pathetic. It was desperate. Yeah. That's all good. That's why I got number love for y'all. But my best collectible, let me throw away my best collectible. I will say it has to be, oh, well, I have a 19 I have a 1953 grand piano

My mom plays the piano. My mom plays the piano. I inherited from her I don't play the piano, but I that's that's so my most prize show I wouldn't sell that I wouldn't sell that because I think her grandmother gave that to her. So that's that's something I'll keep All right, everything else for sale. Everything else is for sale. It's Haynes's brief is the YouTube link. Get over there to where he's doing stuff because the information is very good. Thank you Chris. Good talking to you. Thank you guys. Let's do Against the Spread here Chris Cody. Let's do it. That's right, it's time for Against the Spread! And it's presented by DraftKings.

DraftKings, the crown is yours. Roy kick us off. Alright, the Panthers are at the doubles tonight. The doubles are a goal and a half favorite. The Panthers are coming off of a loss in Philadelphia where they blew a two goal lead. The Panthers have covered the puck line in 23 of the last 24 games when they were underdogs

versus Eastern Conference teams. That's including the five game winning streak. However, they have lost eight straight games as road underdogs on the second leg. All right, he's a champion gladiator homer. He is picking. Something's gotta give. They don't have Egg Blat tonight.

Also, the Devils won six straight home games. But I think the Panthers will cover tonight. Against the Spray! That's how you do it with useful information, man. Yes. Speaking of useful information. Proud of you. You know, Matt Stafford has the highest winning percentage in the NFL as a quarterback in December, January,

and February since joining the Rams. He has 15 touchdowns and he's five and one in the postseason as a Ram. They go into Philadelphia, they're plus six in this game. Taking the Rams plus six. A lot of people are doing that. Again, Scots, friends! Philadelphia they're plus six in this game. Yep taking the Rams plus six Billy did you like that information people were eating up to Chris Haynes information good info. Did you like it? I didn't say you liked it. That's good. It was about 15 minutes too long. He's a hoarder 20 from fireside

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