The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Bronny James to L.A.: History and Criticism of the Pick. Plus, Dave McMenamin on the Lakers.

Episode Date: June 28, 2024

Russillo starts the pod with his thoughts on the Bronny James pick and the historical moment we’ll get this season (0:33). Then, Dave McMenamin comes on to further explain the Bronny pick, discuss the Lakers' talent development, and reveal what moves the team could make to improve (9:51). Finally, Life Advice with Kyle (31:39)! Should I be offended by the secret celebrity room at Equinox? Check us out on YouTube for exclusive clips, live streams, and more at https://www.youtube.com/@RyenRussilloPodcast The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out rg-help.com to find out more or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Dave McMenamin Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, and Mike Wargon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode, well, you guessed it. We're going to talk about Ronnie James going 55 to the Lakers, the historic part of it. And then the other stuff that I think is worth discussing. We'll do some of that with Dave McMenamin, a little outlook on the Lakers and the rest of the West as we get ready after the draft for some of the free agency stuff, some of the other potential trades that could be out there. We have a mega Kyle life advice today. Make your nights unforgettable with American Express.

Unmissable show coming up? Good news. We've got access to pre-sale tickets so you don't miss it. Meeting with friends before the show? We can book your reservation and when you get to the main event, skip to the good bit using the card member entrance. Let's go seize the night. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash y amex. Benefits vary by card, other conditions apply. Last night the Lakers with the 55th pick in the NBA draft in the second round, obviously, took Bronnie James, LeBron's son.

That in itself, I think is an incredible accomplishment and it's going to be a historic moment when they're both on the floor together in an NBA game. Dave McBennamen, who we're going to talk to later on the podcast, tweeted out a picture of Bronnie Jr. and his dad. Bronnie wasnaman, who we're going to talk to later on the podcast, tweeted out a picture of Brawny Jr. and his dad. Brawny was a little, little kid years ago. I think it's in the Cavs practice facility. And when you see that picture and you realize that this entire thing has become real, I'd like to think even the most cynical of us could at least appreciate

that moment and what this is. And look, there's a lot of other stuff that I want to get to with this topic, but I think that on its own, if you could just look at it and be like, Hey, a father is going to play with his son in an NBA game and make history. And here they are. Here's this picture years ago and this whole plan and hoping that they could pull this off. Well, they did it. And I do think that on its own, that's an incredible thing.

I mean, this is something LeBron and his camp have been talking about. I think the first time I'd heard about it was like five or six years ago. I do think that on its own, that's an incredible thing. I mean, this is something LeBron and his camp have been talking about. I think the first time I'd heard about it was like five or six years ago. And you're starting to pay a little bit more attention going like, is he even going to be good enough to kind of pull this off? Well, they accomplished it. They accomplished it. And it's going to become real this upcoming season.

I remember thinking it was really cool when Ken Griffey senior played with his son, Ken Griffey Jr. Same lineup, 1990. I checked the box scores the next day, wondering what they did. They eventually both homered in the same game. First time that had ever happened, I believe same lineup, father and son in a baseball game. Yes, Ken Griffey Jr., a better prospect than Brawny Jr.

But I imagine that first game when Brawny checks in, takes the floor with his father, I'm going to be watching a lot of you will be watching. And that moment, if you can detach it from all the other conversation around it, it's going to be something most of us can appreciate. And even people that make assumptions about me, you know, childless or whatever, like, man, I'd like to think my head and more importantly, my heart are going to be in the right

place in watching that actually happen. You could also say, Hey man, it's a 55th pick. Who cares? Not like the Lakers gave up some huge asset or risked losing out on somebody else by doing this. I've been telling you for years, I think second round picks are like one of the most overrated things, some team would be like, Oh, they have seven second rounders in the next four years. Like, Oh my God, it's incredible. I feel like it's a lot like the seventh round

pick in the NFL where they'll take some rugby player going, I wonder if this guy can play guard. But there are a couple of things that I do want to bring up. I thought the coverage last night was a little weird in a way. I understand the celebration of history and what this means for a father and son, but it felt like we were getting lectured a little for the other part of this, which was clearly the only reason he was drafted is because of his dad. Nepotism came up. Stephen A said, quote, I don't want to hear it on nepotism. Even though six years ago he said, Romo success as a broadcaster because of nepotism. And five years ago, he said that James Dolan was silver spoon and born on third base.

Nepotism is always a fun conversation because the people that benefit from it want to tell you that it's not really the reason. I think, okay. Um, not all the time. Right. And then on the other side of it, the person, the father or mother that's in

power that can help out a son or daughter, like it's their kid, you know? I think most people would want to make sure their kid has a great chance of fulfilling their dreams. And if they're going to get criticized and the way they do it, they're going to be like, all right, whatever. I don't want to hear it. And that was part of the conversation last night because nepotism is rampant and coaching. There's some ownership front office stuff that happens, especially with new owners in sports, where all of a sudden you start looking at like the executive directory and you're

like, wait, what? Look at how many, how many family members are working for this team. But what are you supposed to do as the person in charge? Tell your kid no, or give this high profile job to a stranger? Uh, it's, it's a no, or give this high profile job to a stranger. Uh, it's, it's a bit, it's probably a challenge, but I do think that there's a difference between ownership and some of the corporate structure stuff, as opposed to somebody getting a uniform.

You may disagree. Do Bucs fans think the Knossos is cool? Do you think there's other players in the Bucs that are talking about the Knossos going it's a good thing he's on our side. Now the draft in itself has become a very positive thing. And I think that's been going on for years. Uh, it's a celebration of a bunch of young men realizing their athletic dreams in ways that most of us will never ever come close to tasting.

And even though I could maybe really dug deep on a player and I'll watch him and I'll think they'll stink. And then I hear five guys on the desk talking about how amazing that player is and it's taken 22nd, I'm like, oh, that guy can't even dribble. And I'm at home watching it. I go, okay, what do you really want? Do you want someone up there to say this guy can't dribble? Now you may want? Do you want someone up there to say this guy can't dribble? Now you may want that.

And I may want it as an NBA fan, but the draft, both NBA, NFL, even some of the NHL stuff that I've watched the past baseball, I used to watch the baseball draft, it is about a celebration. And I think maybe it's a nice thing that everybody decides on that night and through those rounds that they want to be positive, but I would have just loved a little bit more of a basketball conversation around it. Givoni who runs circles around me as a draft guy, because I'm simply just a part-timer, but this was different in the way the buildup happened and the way the coverage went down. If you go back to the 24 mock that we first saw over a year ago in 23, he had

Brawny as the 10th overall pick. I'd imagine that was motivated by like, who cares? It's 23 and we can change it next year. There's certainly the medical part of this that limited how much James could even work with his team as a freshman coming in that puts you at a disadvantage. But if we just go based on the games that we watched, if you watched all of them, you didn't really notice him. He was listed at 6-4.

That's not true. His shooting splits were 37, 27, and 68%. He was clearly a smart player, makes some nice passes, does some role player things. When people start saying like, he could be like a Drew Holiday. You mean like a Drew Holiday who's like awesome before he came the fourth or fifth option for the Boston Celtics? So that's a pretty big assumption. Maybe I wanted that a little bit because I felt like when I watched SC games, it wasn't James on the back of the jersey. I would have never gotten done watching those games. Be like, you know, who I liked was that guard that

came in off the bench. I just don't think that would have happened. So what does that mean for Ronnie? Because this part of the story seems like it's ignored quite a bit. Like how much does he want this? What kind of pressure is he going to face? What's going to happen if he's not making any kind of impact and he's taking up a roster spot? What happens if the Lakers struggle? Like, is this actually a really tough spot for him? Now you could say, well, yeah, if he did it the other way, he'd also not have been drafted. So if this is the way to get him there, then this is the way to get him here, despite some of the concerns that I would have because look, the roster spot question, it's not a great one.

A lot of hardcore fans can lose track of who the 14th and 15th guy on a roster is, but if there's any kind of roster spot, Jim, he's not getting cut. Um, if there's a trade where you've got to match up salaries, I'd imagine his salary isn't getting thrown in the mix. And maybe those aren't significant enough to you, but the most realistic scenario is what if they struggle? Would it come up? Would it be added to the list?

Because you look at a loaded West and already the people lined up, I think to hope JJ Reddick fails. Like every time they put up that graphic of the youth coach thing, right? And head coach of Lakers, like, you know, why they're putting that up. Cause it just looks bad. And so Reddick could potentially have to deal with this, but it gives them a huge advantage with the relationship that he has with LeBron. That not every coach would have coming into this being the new Lakers head coach.

But if they were to struggle and he's on the team, it's just going to get added because that's what we do. Because when we look for things to blame, we start adding together a list of things that may not even be relevant. Right? I remember when Belichick things started going south for the Pats. We were like, wow, you know, he made his son Steve, the defensive coordinator. And people would be like, yeah, I know. What's up with that? The defense was actually good. Nobody cared about that part of it.

It just sounded bad to add it to the list of all the other things people were upset about the Pats decline. If the Lakers struggle, it's going to be out of the list, even if it has nothing to do with Ronnie, because it probably won't have anything to do with him. I'm impressed that LeBron Rich Paul pulled this off. It was impressive for the historic part of it and impressive that it seemed like everybody was completely on board with it. But as historic as this is, I wonder about Ronnie. I wonder about how he's going to feel and if the moment is going to be worth everything that could potentially follow. I think we have the perfect guy to come on and talk about last night and kind of looking ahead with the Lakers and some of the other stuff, Dave McMinneman, who

covers the NBA for ESPN.com. And I think that's a great way to get on and talk about last night and kind of looking ahead with the Lakers and some of the other stuff. Dave McMinneman, who covers the NBA for ESPN.com. But I think you've had a very intimate relationship as far as LeBron story and knowing about all these things. You tweeted out a picture last night that I think all of us loved, even if we have questions about what this means. But let's go back to kind of your LeBron relationship

and covering him. Cause I remember like the first time I heard kind of from the inner circle of like, yeah, we want to play with the sun one day. And I remember thinking like, uh, okay, good luck. And now it's going to be real. Do you remember what those first conversations were like with him on an open to make this happen? I think the first time I heard of it was we were in a road game in Orlando and it had to be LeBron's second season back in Cleveland. So the championship season. And we were just having a casual conversation

after the game about the school options for Bronnie because it was now at a place where, well, we need to make sure he has the right coach to continue on his track to play in the league someday. And it was like, that's a little premature, but he was like, well, you know, he handles the ball better than I do at this stage. He shoots the ball better than I did at this stage of my life. And whether it's being a proud parent or having a true sense of an eye for talent,

LeBron was convinced back then that Bronnie had a path forward. And there's kind of that side of things where we saw Bronnie show a ton of talent at Sierra Canyon and McDonald's all-american But obviously the USC chapter didn't go as well as planned because of this severe medical situation. He was involved in I'm very happy for Bronte to be drafted in the NBA and I can only imagine what it's been like for him to live in LeBron's shadow.

The other thing I think we have to acknowledge is that LeBron has to, being this public figure since he was 15 years old, to me he's trying to find whatever his off ramp is of his career is gonna be. And some part of this feels like a legacy play for LeBron to have his son playing with him and that kind of can free him from the state of his life as a player. And that kind of, there's a tension there between that and Bronte telling reporters in New York before

the draft or excuse me, in Chicago at the draft combine that he wants to be able to carve out his own path and make an aim for himself. It's gotta be hard for both those things to occur at the same time. Okay, because you just hit on something I probably was gonna ask about later, but I don't wanna lose track of it, so let's stay with it.

We'll just kinda mess around with the timeline here. LeBron is chasing this ghost of Jordan. I mean, that's the standard of everything. I think it's very political. I don't think anybody's changing their vote no matter what happens. And I think there were times in the past where I could kind of sense, like I felt like they were brainstorming and then they would kind of publicly explain. Like when LeBron said, Hey, I have one of the two toughest finals ever.

The 16 finals, I'd give them that. But then he was like, then it's the bubbles finals. I'm like, I know the bubble, but it was challenging for everybody. And I don't think Miami was some monster team that you weren't going to be. I think most of us have picked the Lakers in that series, but I go, why would he do that? And I'm like, oh wait, like if I can't get six,

even though he's been in more finals, I can suggest that my resume like has two, the two toughest finals wins of all time. And I thought that was like a very calculated thing. And now that his son is in, I mean, it's absurd that we're even holding LeBron to the standard of like, can he still ring chase at this stage of his career? But do you think, or is that where you're telling me is that now it's a bit of a pivot where it's about family and it, it lessens some of the pressure, the pressure that he's also put on himself

by chasing basically one man's legacy. Yeah, I do wanna kind of course correct what I said. I mean, certainly this will allow him to kind of have that ending chapter no matter what happens competitive basketball wise, but he's not mailing it in when it comes to that. And quite frankly, we're waiting to see what happens time wise here with his player option that he has until Saturday at 5 p.m. Eastern to decide to pick up or not the 29th of June.

We could see where he takes a little bit of time there in order to continue to exert whatever leverage he can on the Lakers so they just feel a little more, I don't know, pressure is not necessarily the word urgency to get this roster in a spot where it truly can do the thing like JJ Reddick said at the intro press conference where they could be in the conversation for a championship contention because clearly they're not right now. They're like, they're not even close. I know they played a really competitive first round series with the Nuggets and you know, that was the defending champion. But some major stuff has to happen here. Lebron's the type of guy who wants his cake and eat it too. So he would love to have the championship on top, but I just think this gives a.

Kind of poetic ending, no matter what happens, competitive basketball wise. The Lakers tenure is different because I think he's been a better partner with the Lakers than he was where in the past, it's just like, look, I'm going to do. Whatever I need to do. And I don't think he deserved any criticism for leaving Cleveland to go to Miami. And then the second time around like I get why he does it but it's a hard He's a hard guy over his career to kind of long-term plan with and I was like even he I don't think

Action like yeah, okay, and now I'm opting out and I'm signing somewhere else, but I got my son into the NBA like that's That's not happening Okay, right. So yeah, so even That's not happening. Of course not. Yeah. Okay, right. So even when he opts out and he likes to make it a little uncomfortable, he's done this at every stop because he feels like that then translates to like a little bit more urgency

with people making decisions. I think sometimes I'd agree with him. Other times I think it's a lot of energy spent on something that's pretty much predetermined already. But your expectations are what? That he opts out and hopes that that makes it a little awkward after they just drafted his son. Yeah.

I mean, I guess the awkward part of it, I think it's, it's just the, um, like you hold up, hold up your end of the bargain here. Um, and then we'll be a willing participant in inking the contract and being a visibly comfortable and happy partner and for a Lakers brass that doesn't necessarily enjoy the choppy waters of the press that can come in the comfortable circles that they live in at LA. He can make life a lot more palatable if he's a willing participant in where things are going. But I think that needs to be shown to him. And again, I'm not suggesting that there's going to be anything protracted coming out here, or this is going to be something where there's any

sort of dissension between the two camps, but this is how he's conducted his business in the past. And the biggest question mark now is just what's the roster going to look like? There's some major work to be done for this team to look like a team that you could consider even avoiding the play-in tournament, let alone being a championship contender. Who are the remaining realistic targets to pull off raising the talent level

for say the starting five for this team? You know, I don't think anything is super feasible during the summertime. I think we could go into February, where they are pulling off kind of what they did on the fly two years ago, where, you know, at that point, you can make a move. Of course, D'Angelo Russell, we have to see what happens there, whether he opts out or not. You know, if he was to opt in, then you have that $19 million salary combined with two future draft picks and you could probably get something done.

But barring that, you'd have to be willing to part with probably someone like Austin Reeves or Rui Hachimor to even begin a conversation about the guys you could target. I don't really want to play the name game. Someone they certainly could use and I'd probably be marketed out of it but something like Jonas Valenčunas who you know by all accounts is no one really thinks he's going to be staying in New Orleans if you can get him by by any stretch of the imagination and whether that is you know opening up the full mid-level exception by LeBron taking a haircut on the extension that

he signs. Like, obviously, that's probably below market value for Valentunis, but I don't know where his head's at, you know, in terms of he's done a lot in his career and would he be intrigued by living in Los Angeles and playing with a team that is kind of foot to the fire every night? Some guys like that. Some guys, you know, when they get to certain stages of their career, like, let's go live that experience. I don't know, but certainly at the top of the list, they needed a true big. Christian Wood already opted in. Jackson Hayes as player option. Both those guys had moments where they were effective players last year, but if they want to maximize LeBron and AD in the frontcourt, they need a true big

to pair with them. I could ask, hey, why would D'Angelo opt in knowing that he completely takes out the control and it's what, the one year around 19 million? Yeah. I think the only reason he would opt in is if we see that the Philly money is drying up from some other target, Orlando money is drying up from some other target, San Antonio won't plan anything. It would just be the market would bear that out for him. Now, obviously, I thought he had a wonderful season for the Lakers and a mediocre playoffs. It wasn't as lousy as his playoffs the year before, but he didn't get it done when they needed him. And I think that can kind of really inform

the market's opinion of him overall. I personally think in a situation where he wasn't in the pressure cooker necessarily the Lakers provide, he could actually be a really viable asset for another squad. But I don't know how the rest of league looks like that, especially when the kind of the same teams that he would be looking to get big money from, or have guys like Paul George and Clay Thompson at the top of their wish list.

All right. Let's go back to the Brawny part of this. Was there any debate? I mean, was this always happening? Were they always landing him at 55? No, listen, there was a, I don't know if strategy is the right word, but Clutch Sports and the James family were interested in not just helping out Bronnie's dream of making it to the NBA, but also helping out his kind of assertion that he wants to carve out his own path.

And so Rich Paul was looking around the league for other opportunities that would have the right coaching staff, front office, ownership, player development that would believe in Bronte and give him a chance to become a player and not just be an ornament at the end of the bench and sell merchandise. That said, as we heard Bob Meyer say on the draft broadcast, not every team would provide that. And so at the same time, you're guarding against another team that you wouldn't feel comfortable having him be there, taking him and kind of losing some kind of control over the situation in terms

of what you can do to ensure that he does get all the resources and organizational support. So if, you know, if a team like the Phoenix Suns and James Jones, they had a second round draft pick or they were able to buy a second round draft pick or trade into a second round draft pick, like, I think that's a comfortable situation. If Dallas wasn't drafted in 58 in second round and higher, a comfortable situation is there are people in place that those organizations that the James family and clutch sports are very comfortable with. Um, those things didn't happen.

And so we end up with Bronte on the Lakers, which again is, it's a great fit in terms of story in terms of like the Lakers player development staff You can say a lot of things about the Lakers and the warps that they have I think one thing that they shown pretty consistently over the last six or seven years since Rob Palinka Has taken over that they they have been able to develop young talent, bring guys in to the team and they're better by the time they leave. That's a good thing.

The tough part is that, you know, Rodney is right there next to his father every step of the way and how do you really carve your own path that way? I mean, I can't imagine him, especially for a team that has playoff aspirations in the tough west, like he's not going to be in the rotation. Um, I would agree with you on the Lakers development stuff. And a lot of times you start going over like later picks with them. You know, man, these guys are pretty good at this. Like I would put them on the higher end of teams that find, find the diamonds

in the rough, which isn't always the case with some of the better teams. Cause the better teams are looking at everybody being like, does this guy, even in any scenario, get 15 minutes with us regularly? And maybe some teams put less effort into it because they really like their one through eight, one through nine and they're just not as worried. I think the Lakers do deserve a lot of credit for that. But even with this, with the disappointing year with Brawny, the medical stuff that you mentioned, the reality is easily coming in for the novelty of it in the beginning and

then probably blowouts the other way, but then it leads to circus is not fair, but it, it, it becomes almost like the taco fall thing where taco falls with the Celtics in a blowout and it's like put in, put in the huge attraction here. And I don't know if that is good for a team or if everybody's been sure enough that it won't matter. I don't know if it makes it even tougher on brawny because I think. For the longest time when he was in high school we were starting to talk about him over there bill and I were talking about I remember like the first time we really talked about like you know what like I think he's sixteen or fifteen now at this point I don't want to sit don't want to sit here. I don't know. I'm not really locked into this high school stuff. So I don't want to trash it. But then once you become an actual draft prospect,

like every draft prospect, I'll say the good and I'll say the bad. And I don't know if LeBron was doing it to build up Ronnie's market, but when he had made that quote about like, he could start right now and he did it in the locker room and he yelled it, like if I had been a teammate at that time, I'm like, I don't need this. But again, if you're the dad and the proud dad and you're talking up your guy and you want to try to get him some

Buzz with your platform then okay, I understand. I may not like it but then when it became real in the pre-draft process and people started trashing him as a prospect and then LeBron tweets out like Why can't just let the kid be a kid and he got called out for that immediately being like, you're the one that's been talking him up this whole time. I think he even deleted that tweet and people can be emotional about this. Especially when you talk about somebody's son. How do you see the series of events leading into kind of like what the expectations are for, I'd say maybe the most passionate NBA fan base. And I think most smart Lakers fans like aren't expecting, Hey, how come,

how come he's not shooting it better? All that, like none of that really matters. I just, I wonder if they were to struggle, if this would become an added thing to criticize, even though it would be completely unfair to Bronnie. I think the biggest X factor here, and like, I don't think we can over emphasize the point of this is that last summer in a sweaty gym at USC, the kid had a heart cardiac arrest and like that kind of like threw everything off in terms of the prism that we can rationally judge where he is or where he should be or where he could be as a player right now. And I think like that's, I can't expect a fan to rationally be able to kind of compartmentalize

that along with their judgment when they see the kid average less than five points per game to rebounds on a team that was pretty terrible or certainly mediocre at best with the Trojans last year. All of those things, it's kind of hard to wrap your head around it. That's why you do point to nepotism or you do point to the Lakers just doing whatever LeBron wants and the Lee GM stuff coming back out. But I think there are a lot of like, high quality characteristics that he brings to the table, including the way he bounced back from the cardiac correct, even though it didn't come back to being a first team All-American or anything like that, or even first team all freshmen in this conference. But like, that's like that takes so much.

And I think the people around the Lakers who have seen that behind the scenes are genuinely impressed by that. And if you're gonna invest a second round draft pick, who, I mean, this is first of all, this is something that's been bothering me for months now. How many second round draft picks in the 50 through 58 or 50 through 60 range have we spent any amount of time

dissecting the way we have with Bronnie James? It's ridiculous, one of my buddies from Philly where I grew up texted me yesterday, big Sixers fan, like, you know, way to go Lakers, wasted that pick. And I went on Bass Pro Reference, I found the list of the Lakers, excuse me me the Sixers draft picks for the last 20 years and I said all right Tim show me all the the 50 through 55 picks that you cared about in Sixers history you don't like it's it's just it's become such a talking

point that doesn't even make sense at this point. And it's kind of dehumanized who Bronnie James is, which really is a 19 year old with incredible athleticism who has proven through metrics at the NBA draft combine to become an elite shooter and who has been around the game of basketball his entire life. And so certain things that may be, you know, welcome to the bright lights, the big city for another prospect, he's been internalizing since he was, you know, a toddler. I think there's a lot of good reasons

why you invested Rodney James. Poor Tim catching strays on a national podcast here. We completely agree, cause when I talked about it in the open, we completely agree on the 55th pick. Cause realistically to say, oh, they, they burned the Yassin's like, no one cares. I think there's, I think they're collectively so overrated. Like when Hink used to stockpile all these second rounders and people get all excited about it, I was just like, okay, cool.

Um, but I do worry about once we get past how cool that moment will be. And then if the Lakers aren't good enough, right. And then it just be like, he's going to get criticized. Like he'll have, he'll have nothing to do. Browning James will have nothing to do with the Lakers either meeting or not meeting the expectations they have for the season. All right. On the way out here, just to recap, it sounds like you're telling us and you're not reporting or breaking anything. So we're just re-emphasizing that. It sounds like the LeBron

part of this is the opt out, figuring out the number and then that huge addition, if you're waiting for it this summer, you might have to be waiting a little bit longer. Is that what you're saying? Yes. I would imagine unless D'Angelo pops in, which again, I'm not expecting that to happen, and you're looking at filling out this team around the margins and getting to February and having those two draft picks in your hands when you call all the teams that are at that point deciding to tear down and look towards the lottery. The picture you tweeted out last night was really cool. I imagine you had that one planned for a while and it worked and I think people really liked it because I think it was the

first time I actually talked to Branie James after I took that photo. It was the first year I was covering LeBron in Cleveland. And yeah, they were just playing one-on-one after a practice. And yeah, first of all, Bronnie was like nine or 10 at that point. I'm not really going up to players' kids all the time, but I had showed it to LeBron

and then Bronnie was in the locker room. I was like, hey, look, you like grab my phone, big eyes and a big smile. He's always been, you know, I can't say that I know Bronnie very well at all. But you, you observe a lot. I've seen him just be like a great kid, basically great older brother, respectful kid. And I've seen him play basketball a decent amount. And there's reasons why the Lakers should be interested in him if his name didn't end in James. All right.

I appreciate it, man. Enjoy the next few days. Still a lot of stuff coming for the team you cover. And of course covering it all on ESPN.com. Thanks, Dave. Thanks, Ryan. You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari. 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you can possibly

imagine. And best of all kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Today's life advice is brought to you by La Quinta by Windham. Your work can take you all over the place, like Texas. You've never been, but it's gonna be great because you're staying at La Quinta by Windham. They're free.

Bright Side Breakfast will give you the energy for the day ahead and after you can unwind using their free high-speed Wi-Fi. Tonight, La Quinta. Tomorrow, you shine. Book your stay today at LQ.com. Today's life advice, the email address as always, lifeadviceRR at gmail.com. Kyle Only, Sansaruti. Crazy. How are you feeling about that? All right?

I'd normally be a little more upset, but I got so much going on in the middle of the eye of the storm packing to do my three week trip back to the crown jewel Poughkeepsie, New York, and I'm leaving on Monday, so we're going to make sure everything's correct. Doing a lot of laundry. Are you excited? Exciting times. Oh yeah.

I know it's just a little stressful, you know, getting some time off. Oh yeah. Well, I'm taking three weeks, buddy. Who? So Rudy approved it. So if anyone's got a problem with it, you know who to call. But, uh, yeah, that's good.

I would do life advice if I was asked. It's nice to be asked things, but I'm not going to do any real work. It is nice to be asked things. You said that a little bit earlier off the air and I think it's a good reminder. It's nice to be asked. Yeah. You're probably big likes to be asked guy cause you're a big no, not going to make good reminder. It's nice to be asked. Yeah. You're probably big likes to be asked guy. Cause you're a big no, not going to make that, but it's nice to be asked.

Yeah. I learned, I've learned, um, should have said yes a few times. Should have said yes a few more times because the asks are like me. Do you never dry up a little bit? You say no, no, we could ask him. He's not going to go. He's not going to do it. Uh, but you know what? I've been getting out golfing. Golf with a stranger yesterday, invited, invited

to golf with friends today. So you're going to do it. I said, yes, I actually asked them if I could golf with them. And they were like, seriously, that's why you're in such a good mood today. You got golf in your future. I'm like, I've been, I've been like the, the backup guy because dudes thought I couldn't golf on Thursdays because of my pod schedule, but it's been different with Bill the last couple of weeks. And they're like, I just, the last two Thursdays, I just been shoehorned into a golf thing and my whole day just changes. I'm like, you know, I'm not letting anything get me down. I got golf later. Yeah, I do want to join a course at some point, but I don't know when,

I don't know where I'd like to play a little bit better. Pretty rough day yesterday. Joining a course is like having a pickup truck, right? Dudes are just asking for favors at that point. I'm like trying to, Tate's a member of a pretty nice golf course and I think I've asked him maybe too many times, but. I don't care. I mean, I like pickup trucks.

You like helping dudes with your pickup truck though? That's the thing. Back then. Yeah. I didn't, I didn't mind. What are you doing? My friend. Yeah. If you were my friend and you needed my help and I had a

pickup truck, it was going to make your life easier. I mean, sometimes I miss a pickup truck. I want to bring my dad a mattress, but I was like, I can't, I can't do this now. I was like, man, you'd had the truck, but I want like a dually and it's not going to fit into anything. I want, I want that massive wind thing on top of the roof of the cab. I just want the whole thing. You're like, is this Rip from Yellowstone? You're like, nope, it's Ryan from Manhattan Beach.

There's no way I could park it anywhere. No, there's no chance. There's no chance. I would just be driving around being like, is there any way, should I park at the Target, the back end by the mulch and then walk two miles into town because I can't parallel park it anywhere. I'm afraid some people are even the parking spots are made for that thing. So yeah, I might just buy a house in the woods just to have it and I'll never drive it.

Like, where did he buy land? Did he, did he get something up in whitefish? Nope. He's like in Alberta or something. But a house for his truck. Tons of acreage. There's no electricity or plumbing to the thing, but it's his truck he has.

It's insane. Okay. So speaking of Kyle, let's, let's focus in on him a little bit here. 44, father of four daughters. My 19 year old just finished sophomore year of college. Yeah, big time. Might have the hat and shirt. Pre-law had a summer internship at a nonprofit after getting the job.

They told her she'd be playing in golf outings once or twice a week for an area charitable organizations, for area charitable organizations. She was concerned she may have oversold her golfing abilities in the interview. So score for me, we have been golfing two to three times a week after work. Oh, how about this guy play a quick nine? She shouldn't have been worried. She's above average, but I'm not complaining because my wife can't get mad at me for spending so much time on the course.

She code. Um, the other reason I think about joining a course is I post calf tear. I was getting shots up earlier this week and I'm not ready to retire from basketball. I just figure I'll blow up both Achilles or an ACL at some point. I'm just expecting it. But man.

It's a nice compromise if you're like, yeah, I'm not going to run fives today. Well, I just, I'm never going to play basketball where I go, okay, cool. I'm not going to drive and move around and try to do all the stuff. I'm not going to Westbrook these motherfuckers. Are you kidding me? Yeah. I'm just not. As soon as I touch the stuff. I'm not going to Westbrook these motherfuckers. Are you kidding me? I'm just not. As soon as I touch the ball, I turn into a lunatic. So I can't, I'm never, like, I just know everything

that I'm signed up for, like everything that's in my future for all of those injuries. I don't care, accepted it. But at some point it's going to have to be golf, I imagine. Anyway, all right. So while we play, we listen to the pod and she's become a big fan, especially of life advice. Last week, my youngest daughter turned 12.

She's a big Harry Potter fan. Harry Potter. So as a present, we got her a cameo from an actor in the films. It was a big hit. Afterwards, I asked my 19-year-old if she could get a cameo from anyone who would she want it from. With no hesitation, she said, without a doubt, nephew Kyle. Come on. I know Kyle's making his way in the world, thought he should know about this untapped potential out there. So instead of doing that, do you

have a message for this 19 year old that you don't know? I thought it was gonna be a new golf thing because I'm a new golf guy, but it sounds like I should be taking tips from her. I was gonna say don't keep score. It only gets worse. Had a lot of great shots yesterday, but sounds like she's good. I'd say raise your bar a little bit. I'm not going to do cameo. We've done this before. I think it's just hilarious. Whatever price I pick is either going to be ridiculously high or kind of embarrassingly low. So, uh, it's two sides of the same coin. So I won't be doing cameos, but, uh, thank you very much. Um, for your, for your thoughts.

Okay. That was, that was nice. Very professional. Uh, all right. Uh, Hey guys, this one's titled Ryan's a liar. Um, thanks. Hey guys, I've emailed in before. I asked the Herbst question at Denver show, but was not in attendance.

Poor man's Primoz Brezic. I forgot his name. I remember him last year. What was the question at the Denver show? Herbst, best dive bar ever. We went. You and I hung out there socially afterwards. Nice.

Yeah. It was tough. We put together a huge Denver crew on a Tuesday. I was impressed. Lost a guy that day. It was a good time. Yeah. You lost a guy. I had guys checking in being like, don't do that on Tuesdays very often.

Work is tough. So, uh, the email continues cause I'm curious now subject line may be a little aggressive, but Ryan seemed pretty adamant about skipping the pre-draft coverage this year, what suckered him back in A call from Bill on Monday of draft week. I haven't gotten into it, but yeah, your boy, your boys had a lot going on the last, I would say two months. So with everything that was going on, I was like, what am I doing? Cause last year I didn't do anything on the draft. So I also had this epiphany while I was in a hotel room a year ago, I was like, what am I doing? Cause last year I didn't do anything on the draft.

So I also had this epiphany while I was in a hotel room a year ago where I was like, maybe you don't need to do 70 scattering reports anymore because you actually didn't do anything this year. And I wasn't upset about it. There was no, cause I'll just probably too honest times. There was no like upset element of not being on draft coverage the way we had done it before, but I, I was kind of like, all right, well, that's what we're doing. So then I'd kind of gone into this being like, look, I'll probably watch 30 to 40

guys, probably not with the same depth that I've done the previous 20 years. But if I'm not going to be doing anything. Yeah. He was like, we're going live first and second round. I go, look, I can do the first round because I've watched enough to have an opinion, but I didn't feel great about my opinions and this draft class on top of everything else. I'm just sitting there going like, what's wrong

with you? Like I can't figure out. Uh, and then I said, I can't do the second round. Like I just can't. Just, there's no way I could be an asset. There's more qualified people than me. So that's why we're on Friday and the whole thing. So I was excited to do it to be honest with you,

because I love the draft. So, um, no complaints. And I guess I did lie. I lied to myself. Okay. Uh, I don't want my wife's vegan friends at my house anymore. Five nine, one 85 mid thirties, no gym stats,

mostly body weight exercises four times a week. I bet you that guy's not tearing his calf, good for you. Basketball comp, mostly a facilitator these days, can find angles and passes but can't really shoot. All right, couple weekends back, my wife's friend from college and her husband visited from out of town for the weekend and stayed in our guest bedroom.

My wife and her friend are still close and the husband and I get along fine. They have a young daughter who's close to my daughter's age so we thought it'd be great for us to hang out, for our kids to play together. The issue arose due to the fact that the entire family is vegan. This includes their young daughter. We were prepared for this, we thought, and it planned very vegan friendly meals. Unfortunately, their child would not eat what we cooked and they basically fed her only white rice berries and hummus all weekend, every meal. When I asked them if this was normal, they said this is basically what their daughter eats at home.

I refrained from asking them how basically what their daughter eats at home. I refrained from asking them how they knew their daughter was born vegan. Good writer. Good thought. Good instincts to not ask that question. They started making me uncomfortable as it felt like this kid was being malnourished under our

roof. At one point, the husband mentioned how their pediatricians said their child was in the lowest percentile for weight and growth and got an icy look from his wife. Yeah. That's what we were going to bring up as she's eating her 13th berry of the day. Like actually our pediatricians like it's concerned. Levels are way off. The wife, the mom, the vegan mom, just being like,

all right. So I was stressed out the whole weekend after they left. I told my wife, I didn't want them in her house again. I get the parents being vegan, but it feels weird to me to force a growing child to be vegan. I try very hard not to judge other people's parenting because being a parent is hard, but I think I have to draw a line in the sand on this one. Am I wrong about this? Am I being too judgmental?

No, you're wrong, dude. I thought this was going to be like a, do you have anything else? Actually, we're vegan, but we also don't have anything that's been in a factory either. I thought it was going to be something like that. Yeah, I think you're overreacting. You're just a little uncomfortable. I think when anyone comes into your space, there's going to be something about them that'll make you uncomfortable or something like that, you know So I think that's this is to thermostats I mean, are you a shoes off house? The guy won't take his shoes off or he's the one guy that takes the shoes off And you're like, why are you doing that? That's weird It's like I was raised that way like it could be a small thing and I think in the scale of what

What you could be I think this isn't so bad. It's a little uncomfortable, but I thought they were like asking you to go above and beyond but you just don't like that this kid has one of the worst palettes anyone's ever seen but i don't think that should that should bother you too much i thought this was way worse it's not so okay but your answer is based more on your expectations of where you thought it was going and i too when i read, thought that it may lead to a potential conflict. So was there anything? I mean, that's just tough.

It's just tough to tell another person like, hey, I mean, think about the exercise you would have to go through. You tell your wife, because you know they're going to want to hang out again, your guesthouse sounds sweet. And like for another couple to be comfortable enough to stay in your guesthouse for the entire weekend, you've got the kid connection and all that kind of stuff. And then your wife is really good friends with her. So that means that are like committed to it a little bit. I don't know how far away they live.

So maybe it's not really that much of an issue. She should probably factor that into the whole part of it. But to then tell your wife, like, I don't want them here again, cause their kid only eats rice. That seems a little excessive. Yeah. I think you're, you're gearing up for an argument with your wife. I think she's going to be like, you're insane. What are you talking about?

And if you, if you defend that position, I think you're just not going to like where it goes. I would just, just find a way to be less weird with it. Yeah. Cause everybody has, like anybody that has friends over that has kids, there's going to be something where you're like, wait, this is how you guys do this? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I remember, I remember there was a, it was like, you know, again, everybody's in the friend zone when you're like seven. But there was, there was a classmate of mine

I thought we might've been seven. I'm trying to remember when I moved. I can always remember like what age I moved and then what year it is. So this was prior to moving when I was seven. So I was five, six going into seven. And I remember there was a girl in my class and we were friends. Yeah. Huge year for me. And we went over there and their parents, they didn't know what a television. So it was activity based. Like everything was activity based. huge year for me and we went over there and their parents, they didn't own a television.

So it was activity based, like everything was activity based and I can't believe I'm telling the story. So like the zip line was a key element of the entertainment. And I'm just like, this is the greatest thing ever. Like they have a zip line in the backyard and then her parents were definitely like on the hippie side of things.

And so for whatever reason, there was some like, I think they were reading us like something about like Native American history. And then they dressed. Yeah, but dude, this is where it gets weirder. Like then they dressed us up. And I had like, I can't, this is so weird now that it's, I've never really thought about this. It's been like 40 years, but I was wearing like a sarong, right? And my dad came to pick me up in his truck, like fresh from laying brick and his seven

year olds in a skirt. And he's like, what's going on here? And they were just like, they thought it was cool. And we're dressing us up as native American kids. And we were just in the backyard, like, we're just like, we're just like And they were just like, they thought it was cool and were dressing us up as Native American kids. And we were just in the backyard, like reenacting. I don't know if we were reenacting

specific historical battles, the Blackfeet, but you get the point. Like, I guess that was something they did. And so I was- Did that kid come over to your house and just binge your TV? My brother dated a girl whose parents wouldn't let her, she would just come and like catch up on like ER

or whatever the fuck was going on. It was just like, oh my God, she comes over here and she's glued to the TV because it's not allowed. Yeah, you just have to imagine like if you're, if you don't know what's going on is the dad and my dad's come to pick me up being like, they dressing my son up in girls clothes. Tell me exactly what happened over there.

Yeah. Give me a play happened over there. Yeah. I give you a play by. I want to watch TV. You know, chief, where are the cartoons? So, uh, I just think there's all sorts of stuff. Think about this. You're likely going to get in arguments with your wife to the rest of your marriage. Is this really one that you want to use? Or that you want to use or can you get to a place where,

all right, yeah, like the kids eating a ton of hummus, rice and berries, and that's just what's going to happen. And there's no way you can ever tell them is they're just going to hit you back with the preservatives and additives and every other thing. And it's not that they're even wrong about those things, but I don't know. Maybe you make a protein shake and you throw some berries in it and you ask the kid if he wants to take a sip

and then, you know, there you go, start, start gain season. Yeah, don't fight with your wife about this. This is silly. Okay, there's one other one here I actually really like. Chief wanna watch TV is one of the best things I've ever heard. Great job. I use the cartoons line first.

I think that would have been funnier and then it was going to be as funny in the second delivered quitting Equinox because of a secret celebrity room. Five nine, two 75, three 75 bench four 25 deadlift. I don't squat. Okay. So this guy is a bowling ball of muscle. Those are some massive numbers. Uh, the bench in particular.

Okay. Basketball cop poor man's mark assault. Decent mid range shooter. I have a move where I back my man down from the wing to above the free throw line, spin into a fade away from my sweet spot. Can usually get away with that two, three times before my man starts reading it. Good to know. Do you even want to share that with us? Now it's out there. Anyway, I was at Equinox one night, noticed the door open that is usually closed.

Inside I saw what appeared to be a smaller private gym. I took a look inside and no one was in there. So I walked around in the back. There was an incredible locker room set up with what can only be described as a farce, five star amenities, about 10 private full bathrooms, very large lockers in a separate area with what can only be described as five-star amenities, about 10 private full bathrooms, very large lockers and a separate area with couches and a TV. Now this is separate from even the executive locker room,

which is upstairs with the regular lockers. Upon walking out, another member comes up and is also surprised by the room, and I'm telling her about it. A member of the janitorial staff comes up and closes the door in front of us without saying a word with a vibe like no one is allowed in there. I go upstairs and ask about the room and I'm told that it's a private gym for when celebrities or other high profile guests come. When I go home,

I decide that I don't want to go to Equinox anymore. I canceled my membership at the end of the month. My logic is that if I'm paying that much for gym membership, there shouldn't be anywhere inside that I don't have access to. Also the idea of, quote, high profile guests need to be separated from anyone else struck me as a bit ridiculous. NBA teams come by our location and I never seen anyone bothering them, including my own Boston Celtics who I didn't say a word to out of respect for the work they were putting in.

That's a real fan right there. I told my friends this and they said I was being ridiculous. To be clear, I did not say any of this to anyone who works there. I just told the account manager I was moving out of state. Ultimately, if I pay for, wow, you're really covering your bases here. So no one thinks you're a lunatic.

Ultimately, if I pay for a gym, I don't wanna be restricted from any part of it. Am I being unreasonable or am I justified in not wanting to pay for a gym membership just to feel like a second class citizen? I think the only weird thing about this is you lying about why you're canceling. I think that's fine. I think you're like, I don't want my dollars go into this if I can't use it.

I would have maybe asked if you could, is there like a tier for me to use that room or whatever if they're just like, now you're just not, you're not good enough to be in this room. Then yeah, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Um, I don't know if you'll find a cooler gym than Equinox around you though. So you might be losing out there. So whatever you end up with next, you might be like, damn, they don't even have keels in the shower here.

Like what the fuck? Yeah. I'm using like a green sludge in the shower now. What the fuck is this? So, um, you might end up hurting for this, but you know, sometimes standing on your principles, you know, sometimes you make a sacrifice. One of the things I was most excited about when I moved out of West Hartford was joining Equinox.

I think I joined the one in Greenwich, Connecticut immediately knowing that I was moving to Manhattan beach, even though I wasn't going to get moving. Get a good land to land before you. Just want to start the process up. Uh, so as a long time Equinox member, I am a big fan and for me, someone who travels, especially when you're in other major cities and you can just sit there and roll into one knowing that your

account works, depending on what kind of membership you have. That's amazing. The private high profile thing. I appreciate the assumption. I've never even heard of this. I didn't know anything about it. I know there's actually like a few economics that I can't even go to.

And so I can understand like the shock of seeing I've read the email and was like, I guess I didn't even know about any of this stuff. Here's what I would say. And I don't want people to take this the wrong way. I'm okay with exclusion sometimes. And there are times where I have been excluded and I'm like, yeah, I get it.

So this is not me coming at you from the elitist. I have access to all these things. There's a lot of stuff I don't have access to at all. And there are times where I try to be reasonable about it and go, yeah, like I don't belong at that. I don't, I shouldn't get an invite to that. I'm not that person. I'm not, I'm not actually look at this group differently shouldn't get an invite to that. I'm not that person. I'm not just a fucking podcast.

I'm not gonna actually look at this group differently if you were happy to have me. Yeah. Yeah. If you accepted me, I'd be like, this isn't that great. I don't wanna be a part of this club that wants me. Yeah, so I think there are very different principles that people have where you're thinking,

okay, well, first of all, are you paying as much as the other people are paying? Is there potentially like another tier of payment that gets you access to this or is it with the way everybody's obsessed with filming everywhere, it's like, hey, if you're kind of famous, let's not have somebody potentially getting some footage of the goods. Yeah. That room is for people whose PR guys call before they show up. Like, Hey, is there anything we can do? Yeah. And I'm sure there's some people getting into it that

you're like, what's that guy? What are his downloads? Why is he in there? But I think all of us should have a little bit better approach of just going like, yeah, I don't belong in that. I don't belong in that. I don't like, why do you care? You like the gym. It's an awesome gym. Yes, it is an investment in comparison to other gyms, but that's kind of what you're paying for your P in a way you've already decided that by joining Equinox, you're okay with the exclusion of others because they don't want to

make that financial commitment that isn't isn't for everybody, which I totally understand, but I, when I hear about like golf, I don't know, I don't want to make that financial commitment that isn't isn't for everybody, which I totally understand. But I, when I hear about like golf courses and stuff, it's like, Oh, that place is like, really I don't, I'm not offended. I just concede. I think your, I think your next gym is going to let you know if you're upset about this or not. I think it depends on where you end up.

I'm sure there's like mom and pop equinoxes out there. They're not equinox, but they're like a level of service that you'd expect from an equinox or something like that. But I think if the next place you land, if the difference is that stark, you might think about how important those principles are to you. But for right now, I think it feels good.

You're like, fuck me? Well, fuck you. And that feels good to say, but if you can't go back, that might not feel as good. So I guess enjoy this moral high ground while you have it, because you might, you might actually want to backtrack. Yeah. Will you actually go, you know what? That was a pretty sweet gym.

I shouldn't have done this. I don't think that most Equinoxes have this by the way and I've been to a bunch but maybe I don't need to make him maybe that's the whole point is that all of them have it and I just never knew. I would think the one by you probably would have it unless there that's just an area where it's like everyone everyone already knows what it's like to be celebrities here so we're just we're cool with it I don't know. Yeah. Uh, I don't, I don't know. I, if they had it, it would be news to me and I've been there since 18.

All right. Last one, six, five, two 20, no gym stats, but my hidden talent is that I was a semi-pro bowler back in the day, though I don't hit the lanes much anymore. As an early career attorney. Have you, have you tried to book a lane lately? Dude, no kidding. Might as well join a fucking Equinox. I always wonder about that.

Alternative income is bowling coming back. A lot of these bowling alleys are turning into like the one in Poughkeepsie turned into like a bowling alley slash ax throwing slash laser tag. It's like they just, they keep going bigger and bigger. Feel like your insurance goes up with ax throwing. Definitely. Especially you see those videos. Like, is this worth it to have it not have a hatchet incident for three years, but then you have that one.

It doesn't seem worth it. Yeah. It doesn't happen with darts. I think darts are underrated. I think more people should. That's scary. I know, but just the, the activity alone, every time I play darts, I go, you know what, I really like darts.

Yeah. I enjoy darts. Don't regret playing that, playing that round of darts. Yeah. Darts should be more popular. Agreed. If you're listening right now, you're short and your wife's short, get your kid on darts. All right.

So my question for the three of you is, have you ever dealt with a spouse or certificate other not liking one of your favorite pieces of clothing and what was your approach to navigating the situation? Uh oh. I recently purchased the Rossello branded Legends hoodie in camo print. And while I'm a big fan of the hoodie, my wife doesn't love it. She's from the South and I guess she just isn't fond of camo print. That's a subtle thing.

I would, yeah, I would have thought that's- That doesn't sound right at all. I got to think this camo print. That's a sudden thing I would, yeah, I would've thought. That doesn't sound right at all. I gotta think this camo bubble is coming. Like there's gonna be, I don't know how much longer this camo run can keep going. I've told her it's more of an urban camo and she's yet to be convinced.

Anyway, I'm curious if you guys have ever run into a similar situation, thanks and love the pod. You think my wife loves my vintage G unit shirts? Definitely doesn't love those. But, uh, sometimes you just gotta put them out there and just say, I'm a grown man, I dress myself and I just try not to wear it too often. So you're still rocking those unironically or kind of ironically, but you know, you actually think you look sweet.

It's not ironically, I'll tell you, uh, they don't make heavyweight tees, at least in the stores that I'm shopping. I'm sure you can find them. Every once in a while I'll come across. So I'm like, yep, gonna buy that. But the G-Unit, that just that style of clothes, they respect a large band. You know, there's less and less of those brands out there now. Shout out to Polo. Shout out to Harley Davidson. But I think that's just one thing I'm not going to compromise on. I'm not doing it because it's like, oh, look at this shirt. It's like, yeah, I want you to know that I listen to G-Unit most days. But also, I enjoy that style of shirt.

And I like the way I just like the quality of those older shirts. So yeah, I wear those not often, but I'll just I kind of shut the argument down. Like I'm not going to say, well, why don't you like it? Or why shouldn't I? I'm just saying this is one thing I'm going to wear. I'm doing it. Sorry We're not going to a place where you know, we're gonna be taking a bunch of pictures and you're in a beautiful sundress and I'm wearing you know

shorts in the in the heavyweight beefy tea, but There are times when I'm just like you can tell the way I respond that I'm not gonna argue about this And I'm not mad that you don't like it But it's just I'm moving on and you're gonna be the one person still waving your arms and I'm not going to argue about this and I'm not mad that you don't like it, but it's just I'm moving on and you're going to be the one person still waving your arms and I'm still moving on. So that's one of those things that I just do. I think it's all about the domain. You didn't even write that down. Yeah, you just, you had that ready to go. So as the market has pivoted to soft and gray, you have stayed strong with, I want coarse and white. I want it. I want to wear something that feels like cardboard.

Sometimes, yeah, sometimes. It's the right temperature. You know what I mean? Like New York, like humid summer, probably not going to do that. But spring, totally. Spring. Okay.

Fubu, good for spring. Even I was like, maybe I shouldn't wear Fubu. I was like, wait, what does it stand for? All right. Okay. That'll do it for life advice. Today's life advice was brought to you by Lakita by Wyndham. Know that wherever your work takes you, Lakita by Wyndham has everything you need to get the job done. Book direct at LQ.com.

Tonight, Lakita, tomorrow, you shine. And you're going to be a great person. You're going to be a great person. You're going to be a great person. You're going to be a great person. You're going to be a great person. You're going to be a great person. You're going to be a great person.

You're going to be a great person. You're going to be a great person. You're going to be a great person. You're going to be a great person. You're going to be a great person. You're going to be a great person. You're going to be a great person. You're going to be andham has everything you need to get the job done. Book direct at LQ.com. Tonight Lakinta, tomorrow you shine. Thanks to Oregon, thanks to Kyle.

Certainly be back next week. We're gonna be Monday, Wednesday next week. So still doing two pods a week. Check us out on YouTube as well and subscribe to Ryan Russo podcast, Ringer, Spotify. Must be 21 and older, 18 plus in DC and present in select states. Fandual is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC.

Gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit Fandual.com forward slash RG in Colorado, DC, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and Vermont. Call 1-800-NEXTSTEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 in Arizona, 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut. 1-800-9 with it in Indiana.

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