The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Should the Lakers Really Have Expected Better? Plus, Baron Davis and Life Advice.

Episode Date: April 30, 2024

Russillo starts the pod by welcoming in NBA obituary season and lays out what the Lakers could do next (0:35). Then, Baron Davis joins to explain his Laker fandom, discuss super teams, and reveal his thoughts on Elton Brand (15:45). Plus, another Alliance pick (41:27) with Kyle and Ceruti, and Life Advice (46:18). Is my friend's addiction to flag football a problem? 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: Baron Davis Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, and Mike Wargon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's podcast, it is kind of that NBA obituary season. So we'll take a deep dive into Lakers after being eliminated last night and also why this season is very unfair to coaches. And we've got Baron Davis on. We'll get into what he had to deal with with 50 Lakers buddies over his house and some of the other big stuff that he's doing and ask him that Elton Brand question. And life advice in the Alliance pick. It's the Ryan Rosillo podcast presented by FanDuel. Take a shot at betting the NBA with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Right now,

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Welcome to NBA obituary season. I'd like to treat this a little bit differently, maybe than some others do. When I look at the West and I look at some of the potential endings and the ending we had last night in the first round for the Lakers, I'm more along the lines of like, hey, this conference is loaded.

These top three teams are all pretty special. Okay, sorry. You know, it didn't really work out. So what does it really mean? A lot of times I think I'm just gonna look at him and be like, sorry, you know, didn't really work out. So what does it really mean? A lot of times I think I'm just going to look at him. Be like, hey, you lost to a really good team and I think in the case of Denver, LA, we'd all agree. LA lost to a better team in Denver, right?

It's not exactly breaking news. If you want to talk disappointing. If the Celtics can't get out of the East this year, even with a prisingus injury that does change things, limit some of the things that they'd be able a Przingus injury that does change things, limits some of the things that they'd be able to do. A stretch five that the other big guys that they would go up against

that would have to chase a little bit more than say the way they use Horford, although he's certainly a stretch five as well. Some of the lineups where they played both of them together and the fact that Horford at this age is now gonna take on all these primary minutes until we know what's going on with Przingus long-term here, but it didn't look good last night.

But at Boston with the way Milwaukee has fallen apart here with the four or five matchup, probably not scaring you all that much. But Philly were to come back somehow, just throwing them into the mix. But at Philly with Embiid going like, what would he look like in another couple weeks? Would he be in better shape? Would it be worse shaped physically? And then ultimately it really is Brunson because they look like the best remaining team in the East. You'd think Boston would have enough perimeter defenders to be able to throw a Brunson to win four of seven games against New York. That's how I feel today,

but the Prisigas thing limits them. But as far as bad endings, like there's a potential bad ending for Boston, that'd be way worse than any of these teams that I see in the West because of the competition. So let's talk about the Lakers because the Lakers are a team that is covered obsessively locally, which makes sense, but also nationally. It's kind of the way it plays out with LeBron still being the biggest brand star in the league. It makes sense locally. It's kind of like the arm again, stuff the next day, like all these things need to change.

I always joke about how we shouldn't actually talk about the Super Bowl after the Super Bowl. We should talk about it a week later. Clearly, it would never happen. But like whatever happens in that game, the recency bias of all of these eliminations that are about to happen in the playoffs, it's like that 24 hours, everybody's so upset. You start like almost becoming irrational about some of the things you think the team needs to do. Right. But if we look at the different things the Lakers are

looking at here, whether it's Starvin Ham's future, LeBron's contract, trade partners, potential stuff that could happen this summer, D'Angelo Russell's player option, there's a few things here that I want to touch base on. All right. So that I want to touch base on. All right? So the rumors of what LeBron wants are three years, 164 million. That's what we know, at least publicly,

is sort of like, yeah, that's what it'll take for a new deal for him. I thought he was really good last night. The shot making for him is incredible. Once AD got hurt with that shoulder injury, which at the time you were like, wait, he's down from that collision, but shoulders can be a little weird. I thought LeBron cranked it up. He knew. Then I was worried, is he going to crank it up during him trying to save this with AD lingering here? Is he going to be worn out at the end? And he wasn't. He was still really good.

So the production continues to be observed for him. Season 21, Reggie Miller. It's the second best shooting percentage of his career at still a 30% usage rate. Something I was looking at him over the years where I felt like his three point attempt rate was going up. So if you look at how a guy plays, it'd be like how often is he getting

to the free throw line? How many of his attempts, what percentage of his attempts overall shots? like say you're taking 10 shots a game, how many of those are threes? Well, he was trending towards leaning on the three point shot attempts more, but this year it was the lowest three point attempt rate in six seasons. Combining that with the best he's ever shot it from three. She like, God, and he still has the ball all the time.

He does float a bit and he still puts up the numbers. The defense is not a plus. If he's on the ball and he has to do something, okay. But if he's off the ball, he's not gonna move a ton. This isn't new, but I've just heard some people, you know, say, oh, he's still out there as this two-way play. He's not, he's not any of those things. And it's okay.

Cause I can't even believe he's this offensively at 39. The energy he needs to battle with Aaron Gordon on the glass in some of these moments late, it's not a great match for LeBron, you know? And there's just some guys too, just be like, look, I think I probably need to use more of my energy on offense anyway, to get us a better look,

than making sure I'm dialed into every single rotation. And as I say these things, you're like, wait, did someone in the media both praise and critique a high profile athlete? Has that ever happened before? Yeah, that's what we just did. We just did, we're giving you the full scope. So I wouldn't love the idea,

as great as the production has been, of giving LeBron James 164 million, because of like, what's it gonna look like in three years? Now three years ago, I wouldn't have thought it was gonna look like this, but I mean, look, at some point, I think we have to be reasonable. Like, what will that look like?

What will that number mean? And will it matter? Or are the Lakers like, I don't know who cares so it'll look bad in three years maybe these next two if you add a piece here tweak there this team can really contend in the west it could also and it likely is a public tactic of negotiating like play just throw up what the maximum number is there and then let them know that that's what we want and you know we'll see what happens. I'd love if you were running the Lakers,

if you were Jeannie bus, if you're pulling could just go, Hey, we want you back. We're going to pay. Is there any way we don't have to pay you like the full thing because of the other teams that have cap space? Do you want to go to Detroit, Orlando, Toronto, Utah, Charlotte, Philly's out there lingering with a huge amount of cap space, but would LeBron going to Philly, whatever else they did, which is unknown at this point, would

that actually be better positioned for LeBron to continue to contend for championships than what the Lakers have right now? I don't know. That's a tough one to hit your wagon to beat, although you could say the same thing about AD, but he ended up healthier this season. So that's just the results of this season. You could argue, all right, well in the East, he'd probably have a easier path than what we have right now. It feels like a stacked West. So I'd be shocked if he opts out and leaves. He may opt out of his player option. He has to make that decision by June 29th, but he could opt out of it, get the new deal or he could opt into it

and then add two years in the extension. And you know, with LeBron, there's always going to be the crazy stories like two years ago when he was kind of floating the idea of like, yeah, I see myself coming back to Cleveland a little more time. Well, that was about leverage. That was about putting pressure on the Lakers. He loves doing this stuff.

Sometimes I think it's complete waste of energy and totally pointless or like when he was flirting with New York, if that's even what it was before the trade deadline, he of course wanted him to trade a pick, throws on the next towel. We all talk about it for two days. Is if any front office would be like, well, kind of on the fence if we should do anything.

Wait, he put on a next towel? All right, let's move on first for Gafford. Next towel. The funny thing about not using any assets to just add to a team that probably was going to beat any of the best teams in the West anyway, and maybe you disagree with that, but we'll get to it. Is that now they're armed with maybe enough stuff to outbid

somebody else for the next guy that is on the move, whether it's the rumor names that we know about. Seems like everybody thinks Trey Young's done in Atlanta. That's just what everybody keeps saying, but you're reading the same stuff I am. I have not heard anything definitive on it. The Donovan Mitchell thing where it feels like Cleveland's going to be forced to figure this out to get some kind of asset for somebody back that no one is predicting that he would stay in Cleveland long-term. And Zach Levine, who's always been a LeBron favorite.

Maybe there's some kind of play there and maybe you win the trade bidding because you didn't make a move before the deadline and be impatient and now they have more picks to go ahead and do this. There's also the names out there because I still feel like we're on the cusp of something weird, whether it seems to feel like, hey, we've kind of been the same for a while,

maybe it's time to shake it up or the player that we don't know yet that's gonna to do something. It's going to say, I actually want out of here because it has been quiet for a while. Really, it's going back to what hardened the beginning of the year. That's a long time for it to be a quiet season as far as the demands are concerned. So I still think we have the potential just based on the amount of time that has gone by that it's been kind of quiet. So who knows? Who knows what is out there as an option that we're not even thinking about today

at the end of April, beginning of May. But the default setting for NBA GMs is usually of any of the sports, tweak here, tweak there, but we're gonna run it back. We're just gonna run it back. We don't like, hey, look, we may need to move on from somebody, but we don't like what we're being offered. So we're just gonna run it back.

And if we're healthier, we'll just be better. That's the assumption a lot of front offices make. The general Russell ones interesting, even though it's minor in the grand scheme in the LeBron stuff and some of the other things we're going to talk about because with an $18.7 million player option for general Russell, I'm like there's no way he's not picking that up. It's a lot of money for him. Well, he played really well second half of the season,

like really steady, steadier than I thought he could play. Don't love all the playoff stuff. We know the goods, we know the bads. I don't love an unsupervised Angela Russell with a new team in their cap space, as opposed to supervised Angela Russell, where he knows he still kind of has to keep it in line a little bit with the Lakers,

with guys like LeBron and AD there. But now I look at it going, like he might be somebody that they regret not having. If he opts out of that player option because of these teams that we talked about that have cap space, somebody is going to spend their space on some of these guys. The Dylan Brooks lesson that we all learned last year. Darwin Ham. Before I get to him in this season, I want to bring up the Phoenix thing one more

time, because as Bill and I were doing the Sunday pod talking about Phoenix and how disappointing that is, and that may be the team that can't look at themselves and say, ah, whatever, we lost a really good team. Like we're fine. They're not fine. But Shams having these reports up both involved in the Lakers report for the athletic and then the Phoenix stuff. Like this was all ready to go.

And this is the part of the like this was all ready to go. And this is the part of the coaching thing I think is incredibly unfair. Cause it's like, okay, so the person who's in charge, although when you're an NBA coach, it's hard for you to be in charge the way someone is in charge of your nine to five. But like think about your life. I don't like doing this with sports

because they're just different than us and they're more special than us. But you think you'd get a quote from anybody in your office about the supervisor that wouldn't be glowing at some point over the year? Like, of course there are times. And these guys are completely different because they are so special at what they do.

The minute they have some doubt with you, they're like, oh, well, I didn't love when the coach did this. I love that part of the Phoenix story was that Vogel yelled at them after scoring single digits against the Clippers. And it was like, yeah, I didn't feel real. It's like you guys didn't crack 10 points against the Clippers to start that game. Like, but you don't like the message, right? If you, if you can find someone else to blame other than yourself, human nature is we always take that

path. So even though I like the cop of the everyday thing, knowing that in this case, really, the employees, the players are some of the most talented individuals in the world doing something that a lot of people are paying attention to. I think the cop works in that it feels unfair to the coaches because it's same things happening to Ham towards the end of the season, different moments of the season, and then there was the big wrap-up in the Athletic today about all the things that he didn't do right. It's like, okay, here we go. Now, I thought Ham struggled with the rotations, but I also thought they brought in a lot of players

and free agency that I'll expect to play. So instead of burying a couple of them, I think Ham struggled with the rotations, but I also thought they brought in a lot of players and free agency that I'll all expected to play. So instead of burying a couple of them, I think Ham was just trying to kind of figure things out and hope it would be a little bit better or quicker. But like the thing you figure out with Ken Reddish is like, oh, this is why he was available for this amount of money. This is why Jackson Hayes was available for this amount of money. The Prince thing doesn't make a ton of sense. Worst plus minus, I believe on the Lakers this year.

And he moved off of it. He benched Reeves, which didn't make sense. He was late on the Ruey thing, but once they added Ruey and they kind of knew who they were, they were a really good offense to close the NBA regular season. They finished 19 and seven. Like I said in the beginning, they're a good team. They're a good team this year. Ended up being a little bit better than I thought they would be. But if they had had a better, tighter rotation and Ham had figured these things out earlier, what does it mean? Maybe they get to a five seed. Maybe it's a four seed. Maybe they play the Clippers in the first round and if they're hurt, they get through the first round, then they play OKC. I'm not picking them against OKC. No way. So then it means what? The Lakers get through the first round. They had a better seed. Ham was more steady as a

coach. He was better with his rotations. He didn't experiment as much, but they lost OKC in six. But a game here game there bounce that maybe they're this close to the Western Conference finals. The point is is that. There are a lot of endings in the playoffs and I think it'll happen this year in the West where you're like, oh man, what is wrong with us? And the real answer to that, it's not so much what's wrong with you, it's just that other team was better. Denver's better than LA. I think we have enough evidence now to prove that Denver is just a brutal matchup for the Lakers. Even though the Lakers led so much

of the series, they're just not at their level. I don't think we need to see more games of it. I don't think it's just about luck. I don't think we need to see more games of it. I don't think it's just about luck. I don't think it's about coaching. The closing minutes are just stronger with the activity of the Denver players than those of the guys on the Lakers. But if the Lakers had made it through against an easier first round and then lost later in the playoffs, then it would be packaged as if they were a little bit closer

and then you would just run them all back. Run it back, make that trade and then who knows, are they the favorites in the West? When the packaging can be completely different, but it likely means you're just the same team. And this same team moving forward, whatever the LeBron extension ends up being. And maybe with that big piece that's out there, if they wanna move all the picks again, which just means they're completely mortgaging all of this post-LeBron stuff, and maybe means the Lakers picks are more valuable

in the trademark because they're like, wait, if they're trading us unprotected future first down the road and then LeBron's post 40 ADs health stuff, like those could actually be spun depending on the protection. As like,, like those could actually be spun depending on the protection as like, man, those picks might be something I want to get into with a GM that is in a steady situation who's going to be there long haul or just took the job. But that's always my point with this NBA obituary season.

It's like, all right, so you lost in the first round. You can sit there and say like, oh, we made it to the Western Conference finals. You might be the exact same team. The path was different. And it might not mean anything different about who you actually are as a franchise. Started the show talking some hoops. We'll keep talking some hoops today. A guy that I love watching play when he's in the league and he's doing big stuff after his playing career that we want to get to as well. It's Baron Davis. What's up, man? Thanks for doing this. What's up, Brian? What's going on?

We're talking Lakers to start the show today. I imagine you grew up a Lakers fan, right? Yeah, for sure. You know, born and raised here at L.A., South Central Los Angeles, the Lakers was like, I was always, you know, Lakers, the Dodgers, at the time we both had the Rams and the Raiders. So, you know, sports was like, it was always in, I would say in the LA DNA, but basketball is the culture, you know what I mean? And so the Lakers said that, you know, I would say I was born in 79, that was the year Magic won his first title, you know, April 13th. So that's the year. The season was over and we were on a quest, baby. So, you

know, I say I'm a Lakers Finals baby. So I've always been a Laker fan, man. I've always been a Laker fan. It's always been hard not to be a Laker fan, because I'm from here and just my city. That makes sense. But I think I know enough of you guys who's like, all right, so you play. You play a long time. Would you watch last night's game? Do you care?

Absolutely. Okay, all right. So you were- I do watcher. You know, you gotta think, now that I'm retired, it's not just me watching the Laker game, it's like me watching the game with my friends. And everybody's Laker fans, bro.

It is like the craziest, it's almost like a Laker bar over here. Or when the Knicks play, it's like a Knick bar. So people come over to, you know, or when the next place like a Nick bar. So people come, you know, over to our slick studios. And then I looked up last night and there's about 56, you know, people here and they all sat down and cry. Damn near crying. You know, it's like, yeah, it's like, all right, let's go. I had to leave the Laker therapy session, the Laker fan therapy session last night while we were watching TNT.

I may need an after show for fans going out in the playoffs, shoot. For some therapy, boy. That was, woo, that was some shit. Man, I wish you was here. And then Ryan, if you were here, you would have been like, damn, you know, is LA gonna make it as a city? It was like, go ahead.

I'm just teasing her. No, because I'm thinking, I have dumb questions I would ask you, right? Right now, maybe in a podcast, but if it's your buddies, right, but are they saying like, oh, they gotta bring LeBron back or they can't bring LeBron back? Like that's gonna be a brutal spot for you for them hoping you have an insight that none of them,

and then of course the game is always, they don't even care about your answer they want you to hear their answer anyway but like what's that role like for you trying to explain to them like now they should do this not do this I mean I don't even have a chance to explain it's just basically saying like yeah man I know you know it starts with the complaint and we didn't have our full team. Got it. We didn't have this guy. Got it. What if we had all these dudes? Then got it. Um, you know, everybody wants LeBron to come back. Um, I would say from, you know, from the, from the fan perspective,

uh, but you know, just kind of looking at it all, you know, just from like a basketball mind, it's like the Lakers just got to get the right pieces around what they have, right? You got an older LeBron, you got AD in his prime, it's not really been utilized, you know what I mean, the right way to the best of his dominating ability, you know what I mean the right way To the best of his to the best of his dominating ability, you know what I mean And he hasn't been treated like a champion even though he won a championship that was a bubble or not And the Lakers need the right pieces they need need some pieces, man. You know what I mean? It's like, you know, they went out this off season, they had a good team, it looked like they were gonna be,

you know, a dominant team when they won the play-in. You know what I mean? But they still needed to work out some kinks, some rotational issues, you know, who plays with who, who is playing in position, out of position. You know, they just never really felt like the cards were always aligned or you know what I mean? Or like it was set up properly. Or if it was, you know, it's just like the rotation one rotating, you know what I mean?

The jelly one really jellied and they still, but they play so hard. You can't take anything away from how hard they played. I just think it's, playoffs are, you got a small margin for error, you know what I mean? And you can't get in and out of rhythm, especially when you got great players. And your greatest players can't be the hardest player. Hustle guys and the energy guys that you need for the team.

So that was my little kind of way that I was trying to calm Laker fan and Laker fan nerves. But like you know you got LeBron he's going on 39 40 or something like that. AD and his prime. D'Angelo Russell is balling. You know what I mean? Now like who else and what are they gonna do consistently each each night right? Who's that defensive guy right? Who's the rebounder? Who's the, you know, who's the three point shooter? Right. And so Lakers, the Lakers issues, nobody else had really had a defined role. Yeah, it was tough for them to kind of figure it out when they did.

I still feel like they ran into a really good team. Like I started today by saying, look, I think the Lakers are good. They're not special. The West is loaded and they lost to maybe the best team in the league. If you're the Lakers though, Baron, say you're running it, right? Would you give LeBron the full three or extension? No. I mean, I wouldn't, you know what I mean? If I was running the team, you got to think the top two teams in the league are the youngest teams in the league.

Right? We're at the bottom of the barrel, right? Barely made it in due to the play in, you know what I mean? I don't know. I would try and do something different. I wouldn't do it through your extension. I mean, unless you can get the right, like now, unless you can get the right pieces,

you know what I mean? But at some point you gotta like, like in the Lakers are in like purgatory, right? Because you're at the bottom of the playoff pool, you're not gonna qualify for the lottery. You probably don't even have any picks I don't know what kind of picks they have this year or in future drafts And so if you extend LeBron three years, you know what I'm saying? Then you got to go put some you got to go bring in another dog

You got to go bring in somebody to complement AD LeBron is gonna be LeBron and do all the things that needs to happen but there's also a way that I see LeBron in the fourth year of that third year extension being like an incredible you know point forward right that he is. He may not be as athletic but he'll make big shots he He'll make winning plays. He'll shoot the ball better. You know what I mean? He's growing with age and his game is getting a little bit more efficient, I would say, if you look at it. But you got to bring in a dog. And so who are you bringing in to compliment AD?

That's what you need. You got to build the team around AD. You can't build the team around LeBron. When you were playing, you know, we've been in an age where guys are talking and, you know, I always thought it was kind of silly when people would be like, oh, well, when it's Team USA, all these guys buddy up and it's like, man,

that's just any business. This doesn't make any, just because they're all hanging out doesn't mean they're all gonna get their way and then everybody's gonna end up on whatever team. But like, what was going on when you were playing and guys were talking about moving around that maybe we never understood from the outside? Like the conversations that are going on right now with the players, like the stuff you experienced when you were playing being

like, wait, if you're going to go there, what's going to happen here? Like, what was that like when you played? Yeah, it wasn't really cracking like that for us when I was playing. You know, it wasn't like a lot of teaming up, you know, like, you know, LeBron, you know, the Boston thing was probably like one of the bigger things that happened and that was a trade, you know what I mean? When LeBron and they did the thing with the Heat, that was the first time, you know, that we had kind of, I had seen that, you know what I mean? And so, you know, it took two or three years for that to fully develop and by that time we were I was out but you know, just kind of knowing the league and knowing what do is it. They're friends, right?

And so now that the season is over you know, it used to be you have your your uh Eval or final walkout meeting, right? Those walkout meetings are way different, right? Because a lot of them may be sales pitches to try and keep a player more so than like being mad at somebody and tell them, you gotta go work on your game this summer.

You know what I mean? Like back in our day, it was like, you had, you know, you had your exit meeting and the coach, you know, the coach came to an agreement like, yo bro, you didn't start this year, you're rookie year, you better be starting, you better go work on your jumper, you better go do all this. If it was today's time, I could have shook. You know what I mean?

And be like, all right, I'm cool. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. So the players have the power, they talk a lot, they right, I'm cool. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what? So the players have the power. They talk a lot. They're trying to power up. You know, I think the issue is like, they all trying to figure out, like they're friends, right?

And so they're all trying to figure out like who's doing what or where can they go? Who can they play with? And so like, not everybody's basketball smart. You know what I mean? Like it's like, man, that's my dog. Like you may, you may love a player, right? And you may love a player's game, but that does not translate to you guys are going to have, you're gonna jail, right? I think it's different for someone like a KD, right? Because he is a, you know, he is an assassin. He is a trained assassin, you know what I mean?

So his skillset and what he does can translate to any team, you know what I mean? But I don't think that's the case for every superstar, you know what I mean, and we've seen that just now in Phoenix with Bradley bill, right? Phoenix thinking that oh, let's go out and get a big three. They traded Chris Paul. They traded Aiden you know, they got Bradley bill in Nerkage and Look at their results, you know what I mean? Like a lot of times, you know, you gotta have a right compliment Of guys right and the reason why Miami worked because Lebron was the lead the way way was to and Chris Bosh was number three, but he held everything down, you know what I mean and

Yeah, not every team has that you know what I mean When we were talking a little bit about the movement I just remember when I was first started at ESPN, I'd take all those summer shifts, right? Because nobody wanted to work. So I'd take all those summer shifts and then it was 08 and it just made me think, I was like, oh, that's right. Because I'm sure you've been asked about it, but like the Elton Brand thing where you go

to the Clippers and then all of a sudden like, wait, what's going on? Like, I don't know if that was something that you didn't know or if that's just different than what would happen today where there would be no surprises. Well, I just think, you know what, that was Brandon's sucker to this day, you know what I mean?

He will always be a sucker to me. Just as a man, you know, just he disappeared. But like in today's day, that wouldn't happen. You know what I mean? Like it wouldn't have, you know, just he disappeared. But like in today's day that wouldn't happen, you know what I mean? Like it wouldn't have, you know, it like if you wanted to, if you, if I wanted to go and play in LA with Elton Brand and the Clippers and shit, it would have been more than, you know, just one person. And then, you know, it was, and then I wouldn't hide behind his agent at the end of the day. But it was like these guys are getting paid so much money that I don't even think it matters. And it's

real for them. You know what I mean? And that's it. I mean, I just think that, you know, it's funny enough, I have a podcast interview with Lee Steinberg from our show, Business Inside the Game, and he was on Brands Agents. So, you know, it's basketball, man. You just gotta deal with everything, you know? You gotta take everything and strive, right? But, you know, in that situation, had I known

or had we both been in this era, it would have been a lot smoother. You know what I mean? Yeah, I would imagine that that would all have been a lot more coordinated. You mentioned business as the side of the game. And once we got the promo for it and everything and like, look, I've been out here a little bit in LA and I would hear you come up and be like,

oh no, Baron Davis is in on this. He's doing this. He's doing that. And like, I think there's just so many athletes that go, okay, hey, I'm famous. I've got to start a production company. And then you'll go on the website and like the website is still under construction. You have been doing the real shit here for a long time. And I think the fascination that I would have is like, when, when did you decide how did you make it real? How did you work this in a way where it feels so much more real and all these ventures and what you're trying to do to get people connected? Uh, they just put in the work, right? It's just kind of like you step outside of sports, you retire, you go into business, and then you go in similar to a rookie.

You don't know anybody. You're trying to figure out what's your routine, who are your teammates, who are your allies in the community. And so I'd say, you know, it takes some time. And for me, I had a vision that, you know, my first four years of retirement was gonna be like school. I was gonna be on a listening and learning tour. And, you know, a lot of times I was just like

seeing and hearing and witnessing and being like, damn dude, I'm at this conference. I ain't get shit from it. You know what I mean? Like I gotta go make something out of this, you know, being here at this conference, right? One, because I wasn't sure of what I was doing. And two, I didn't, you know,

it was like a lot of those things I didn't, you know, I was just there to listen and I didn't know anyone, right? And I think from that point it was like, there should be something for me, like a group, a club. So as you start creating like your ecosystem, your community, I realized that that was the most important factor that every industry was looking for,

was a community of people that were like-minded, that they could relate together, pay a similar to basketball, hang out together, talk about who's getting traded where, if you can get traded together. And then it made the deals easy, right? Because now you got 14 brains that you can source to help you make the right decision. You know, whether it's an investment, whether it's what you're building, whether you need to pivot, whether you need help, you know what I mean? So it's for me, business inside the game is now my opportunity to take all the things that I've learned and be able to articulate that to an athlete, articulate that to a musician, a celebrity, and like

never, they don't have to leave their space to know where their power and their superpower lies and also all the connecting points to other industries, right? So whether it's finance, accounting, real estate, I mean, they all exist in these industries that we come from. It's just there's no, you know, common denominator or common communicational tool. Right. And so people become fragmented, you know what I mean? Based on their industry. And so what we did was with big was like, let's create a membership club, right?

Let's create these conversations and solve problems. Let's bring in thought leaders, innovators, and let's start identifying and amplifying the right people on our platform, you know, through our media and interviews and, you know, experiential summits. And then that way the entrepreneur wins, the investor wins, athlete wins, the celebrity wins, right, because they're a collective, they're a collective their collective ecosystem, right helping solve a problem Can you give me an example? So like women in leadership, right? There is you know this huge thing and women and you know women in sports is growing, you know women in venture It's a small number, you know women in tech It's a small number and so, you know's a small number. And so, you know, in order for us

to really amplify, you know, women, right, the goal is to identify the right women, put them in the right collective group, and start championing the right message. So they go on tour, the WNBA All-Star weekend will be their summit, right? And you're going to have all these incredible women, you know, there to give the game, right? Successful, right? New and upcoming entrepreneurs able to pitch and showcase investors there to invest in these entrepreneurs. And then all in all, it's there to celebrate the game of basketball because these women are women leaders in the world. Right. And so when you think about tech, music, basketball, sports, women in leadership, for us, it's really the service to this group of individuals and members that want to be connected at a WNBA and go to the WNBA All-Star, but also want to sit and have dinner, right,

and talk about, you know, the frustrations of raising money, right, but have the right investors there that are looking at the frustration of finding women entrepreneurs to invest in. Okay, that makes sense. You're one of my favorite players to watch, man. Like, I think you were the kind of player that other players were like, I can shoot and I do the right, to watch, man. I think you were the kind of player that other players

were like, I can shoot and I do the right, but I wish I could play like Baron Davis. I wish I could just humiliate other people. And when you were angry and you were amped up in a game, there'd be times I'm like, I don't think anybody's better than this guy right now. I loved it. Just like this aggressive rawness that had a little,

it had some flavor on it too. And it just had all these things. It was awesome. Yeah, some grit, some intelligence, some ignorance, some, you know what I mean? Kamikaze. There's no fear. Yeah, it's just an artist.

I look at basketball as like, you know, I always look at basketball as like I was a painter. And so this is like my style of painting. And so if I ever become not original, then I'm no good, right? And so, you know, can I paint in a way that my teammates love it, the opponents fear it, but they love it,

and then people who are watching like, damn, you know, that was highly entertaining, you know what I mean? Like they were entertained. And so that was, cause of my canvas. So when I'm watching playoff games and I see the matchups, I'll think like, okay, well, what does this team do? Well, that, that may be a problem for this team.

You know, like, here's an example. I'd watched New Orleans, Sacramento. I was like, well, if they have to play each other. It's just, there's just too much size. Like all the Sacramento wings just look small next to all the big wings of New Orleans, whatever that one plays out. There's other ones, there's plenty of ones that I get wrong. What do you see that maybe we don't always see when you're trying to see two

teams go up against each other and you're like, okay, wait, this thing is a problem that maybe didn't show up in the regular season, but in the playoffs, is there any of the teams problem that maybe didn't show up in the regular season, but in the playoffs. Is there any of the teams now that you watch, you're like, hey, this is something they can do better than everybody else. This is something that makes them vulnerable. Yeah, I mean, just by watching the game, right?

You learn a lot by watching. Sometimes I would say with a ignorant eye, and when I say that, like, you may not be, you know, I didn't watch Minnesota play this year at all until the playoffs, right? And so watching that series against Phoenix, it was like, I almost had like this, there was no preconceived notion, you know what I mean,

outside of like the highlights and knowing how these guys play. But seeing how deep they were, right, as a unit, right? On the wing, at the guards, and then you look on the bench and it was just like, oh, these guys are positioned, they're serious, right? And so, and you look at a team like that and you say they this Denver Series with Minnesota and Denver is gonna be crazy

Because they are the perfect matchup For the Denver for the Denver for the Denver Nuggets because they can they can play with size They can play, you know, Kyle Anderson at point guard. You know what I mean? And so, there is no height advantage with Denver. You know what I mean? And I just think it's gonna be just a great matchup. I think it's going to be a great matchup.

And I was, and I was so happy to see Minnesota play because I was like, I didn't know if they were that serious or not, but they're a serious team. Yeah, that was impressive. Well, I want to congratulate you on those stuff with, um, with big. And if you want to check it out, um, I was looking at the event stuff here, but it's team big.io is the website. They have partnership stuff, the membership stuff. Launching our house this year, man.

This is, you know, it's going, it's going well. We got a big all star weekend. It's in San Francisco, 2025, get your tickets now. It's gonna be cool. Like we got some good stuff, good findings. And then- Yeah, you got the Martha's Vineyard Film Festival in August. That's where I'm from.

So, we're gonna try to dial it in. Are you from Martha's Vineyard? Yeah, what's high school there? Oh wow. That's crazy. That's nice. Nice place. It is. It's a nice place. Small. It's a nice place. Small. It is a nice place. It is small.

How did you travel to away games? So when we played Nantucket, the whole high school basketball team would load onto a little prop plane, two planes, Varsity JV. There wasn't a first plane, second plane for the more established guys like in the NBA, first and second bus. And then I remember, like it was so new to me, because I transferred in and then we got to Nantucket and the guys are like, hey, we really hate each other. And I was like, whatever, like it's two islands. And then, yeah, they really hate each other. And there was a cop waving our team bus in through traffic and a cop gave us the finger as the finger bus went by.

Which I thought was great, because he did it in a very Massachusetts way. And then he was like, I'm not gonna do that. I thought was great because he did it in a very Massachusetts way. And then in football, they would just shut down. So they would ferry over everyone in the community in the winter. They'd run multiple boats if you played away. But then when we played teams on the Cape, we'd have to get out of high school. It was great being on any teams. Like I ran track one year just to get out of school. Early.

Because our meets, yeah, our games and meets would have to be so early so that we could catch the last boat back. So yeah, not quite like LA high school basketball. Boat hopping, you know what I mean? It's just like LA traffic though. Yeah, takes us long. as long yeah, it's a good hey man as always appreciate the time Baron We have the Alliance NBA Playoff Edition here we are mixing it up a bit we got two selections from

We got Saruti with two selections today. Yeah, Kyle threw a jab in the group chat last night. Yeah. Like, well, Sarutti stopped gambling last year, so let's have him pick two. I was like, all right, dude, fine. I'll do it. And I'll hit them both, what's up?

Your demeanor about that last year was just so great. You're like, I don't really see what the big deal is. I figured it out. I just sat down for like 10 minutes and like, tell me I'm wrong. They kind of nerfed it. I don't even want to get into it because then everyone's it out. I just sat down for like 10 minutes and like, tell me, tell me I'm wrong. They kind of nerfed it. I don't even want to get into it because then everyone's going to be like, go shooters an idiot. They kind of nerfed it. I did find a little loophole. It doesn't, you know,

I'm not going to hit a hundred percent of my bets, but you know, I felt I was, I was feeling good and they completely screwed me. Well, now you can't. I was doing like all parlay all total. You can't even parlay that now. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Maybe he did solve it and then it was, you're right. They called up Vegas and were like, Hey, we got a conspiracy. Got to nerf this guy. Yeah. Anyways, this guy's firing $20 bets down paying up two to one

on Arsenal props. Cut this fucking guy off. All right. Let's see. It's just the way it was delivered last year. It was, Let's see. It's just the way it was delivered last year. It was it was incredible. I almost like to hear that segment again. Play it. You should have a great greatest hits episode this summer. We just play certain lines from it. I think it would just be Kyle for like 95% of it, which would be great. I would listen. Alright, so we've got

Sixers at the Knicks game, Knicks favored by four and a half. The total on this one is 204. Take the board, Saruti. All right, I am going to go with Embiid, although there was a report this morning that Embiid's got a migraine and missed shoot around, so now I don't know. Six and seven's everywhere,

but I'm gonna take him to have four more assists. I think he's gonna have a big game no matter what, but I think this total is just kind of too low. I think he actually probably gets it early. So I'll go four plus assists and then I'll also go Josh Hart to record eight or more rebounds. I mean, he had 17 last game. He's a monster.

I think he, I think he gets eight. Okay. I like it. I think it'd be to be better prepared for some of those late doubles. If it's a close game, maybe Maxie hits those open looks off the double. I like where your head's at, Serdy. Kyle? I've gotten into a bit of a rut with the rebound guru part of my life,

so I'm staying away from that. We're just gonna simple OG Ananobe 15 or more points. I think it's very doable. The Embiid big headache slash migraine really put a little pep in my step when I saw that. Really hope he's okay, but yeah, OG 15 or more points. What dueling theories within the Alliance itself. I didn't expect that today. I was looking at some of the payouts. OG to score 25 or more is plus 1100. Some of these should be higher payouts, but I'm not going to go down the list of all those.

I'm going to go Di Vincenzo, hitting back to back threes, felt like something went off with him where it was like, okay, I need to start dialing it up here. I know he had a good game overall, but it's not like he went off in game two. So I'm gonna say Di Vincenzo gets his three or more threes tonight.

So what does that payout surrey? That's plus 400, right on the money. That's where we wanna be, wanna be in that 400 range. Although maybe we just go for it one time where, what were you saying Kyle, the prop on total is odd or even. The first basket ones, I don't even know what to do with those because you're just like, all right, first basket is in the mix baked in up. This is over

like two seconds in People let what about the rest of the game? I mean The first basket and odds it evens blows my mind because it's like oh, we should do both of those That would be great our lame together and then you got a and then final score even And then you got to and then final score even I like imagine I just I'm like imagine you're a guy and you bet the total score odd or even and you're just watching the entire game to know if it's that's that's the pay like to play roulette like what do we do? What are we doing? Right? And are you talking to your roommates going like I got to feel I just it feels like a 104, 102 ending. For me. I would hope the guy would win and be like, yeah, I kind of had this, I kind of had this read on it today, just a lot of clarity. Sorry to that man if he's listening, I guess.

We'll finish. Okay, so that's the pick plus 400. We're due, we're due boys. I like it. I like the plan. 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. Life advice, the email address is lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. Today's life advice is brought to you by Lakinta by Wyndham. Next time you have to travel for work, consider staying at Lakinta by Wyndham. They have everything you need to get the job done, including free high-speed wifi,

free bright side breakfast with fresh waffles, eggs, and more, and a fully equipped fitness center to help you unwind after. Tonight, La Quinta, tomorrow, you shine. Book direct at LQ.com. How was everyone? Too great. Yeah. Good spirits.

Feeling great. Great spirit. Okay. Well, let's get to the emails. All right, my friend plays too much flag football. Hey, Ryan, with Kyle mentioning flag football on the last two pods, it made me think about my buddy Ned. Hope that's not a real name,

but we'll see where this goes. It's not the biggest problem in the world. It's not like he's drinking too much or he's stealing from his friends. He just played too much flag football. My friend Ned S is hooked on heroin and I don't know. We live. No, all right.

So maybe think about my buddy Ned and his now addiction with flag football. For background, Ned and I went to a small D3 school for college where we both played wide receiver and loved our experience. We went 35 and five over our time in college, won the conference three times and drank beer to celebrate each win since graduating. Hell yeah. Yeah, fucking right.

I actually love it. So I don't know if somebody's being sarcastic or not. But no, well, this guy's definitely your friends are going to know, or maybe none of them actually listen to the pod. Who knows? Since graduating, Ned and I both moved to Chicago where I got a full-time job and Ned continued his education. He even names the school here, so I don't know. Ned is a great guy, but as I stated previously, he is addicted to flag football. He plays in three flag leagues

and even travels back home to New York City to compete in the Scamogue, another flag league, don't know that one, with some of our college teammates. Every week I get the same text, quote, you should come to X location, there's a flag league we would dominate in. I love that text.

I also get added to a group chat with some of his flag buddies and all they do all day while I'm at work is talk about flag football schemes, both offense and defense. I'm no Sean McVeigh, but it's five on five football. You don't need to play book the size of an encyclopedia. I don't know how else to say, so I'm just going to come out and say it. In college, Ned never played. Twist.

Not saying I was an all-American or even a starter, but I knew my skill level and knew when to give up. Last time I talked with Ned, he was talking about sending film to teams over in Europe and seeing if you can play in a German Italian football league. How do I talk some sense into my friend and get him to grow up and focus on his future?

Why do you care? Okay, good point. Yeah, who cares if he never played? I mean, I never played at the college level I'll still get in on a flag football thing. Like that's not the Yeah Barrier of entry is like how much did you play on your d3 football team? But it's never pissed you guys off if somebody if like you have a buddy that's like way too into something You're like, all right, man

You know Brian like pissed you off and Danny tried to be a day trader for like a couple of weeks. Remember? I don't know. Like, I think that's a normal dude thing. It's like, all right, man, we get it. Like, you know, you hit the gym, like, come on, like, see how long this lasts. I mean, clearly this guy's more dedicated to it because you're that annoyed about it. I just, I don't think it's like weird for him to be annoyed about it, but yeah,

like it's not, if he keeps doing it. Like you don't have to like check him on his life. This is like, hate or energy though. Like you're definitely, there's check him on his life. This is like hater energy though. Like you're definitely like, there's definitely some hate in this dude's body, but I'd say, why can't you just look at it as like, listen, this guy is like, you know, he's not, he's not falling off the exercise thing.

He's found this thing. He's passionate about it. And maybe one day I really want to play flag football. And that's my guy. I have a guy I can go to as we discussed like last week or whatever, you know, these things aren't like it's not like finding a pickup basketball game. These things are you know, fewer and farther between. So like you actually do

get a hankering for you know, the old throw the old pigskin around again, then you know exactly where to go. And this guy's, you know, he'll be happy to bring you in the fold. And other than that, I don't see how this affects you. Okay. And aside, do you remember me being mad about Danny day trading? Because I did it for a bunch of years. No. And it was bad.

Maybe that was a bad analogy, but I remember you making fun of him about it. And because Danny likes to fancy himself that sometimes. And I don't know, I remember you making fun of him. But that's a totally normal dude activity. I don't think it was harmful or whatever. That's what guys do. 100% chance I was making fun of him, but that's a totally normal dude activity. I don't think it was harmful or whatever. That's what guys do. 100% chance I was making fun of him. That I disagree upon,

but I don't think I would've felt like it was bad because... Yeah, you weren't trying to help his life out. I try to not be a hypocrite with that kind of stuff. And I know for a fact, there were times when I was day trading when Scott, because I would get bored sometimes in the show with Scott, because I was always used to driving and then when I wouldn't drive, like I would just, especially in the beginning of the show where I'd always, you know, meaning hosting, so you come in and out of the brakes, you tee up every guest, you kind

of drive the conversation, the whole thing. So in the beginning with Scott, I had a hard time with it because I was like, Oh, I just sit here now the conversation, the whole thing. So in the beginning with Scott, I had a hard time with it because I was like, oh, I just sit here now? Like, this is weird. And then I'd be trading. And then I remember I asked the same question he asked to the guests, did it like twice,

and then a little listening. Did we already tell the story on the pod? I think so, yeah. I think it was a while ago. It's a bad example. What if, hypothetically, what if Kyle and I just got really into pickleball and every time we hopped into the Zoom Riverside River,

we just started talking about risk techniques and equipment. Like you'd be annoyed. You would be like us. Every day for like weeks. I see the football schemes, how that could maybe, maybe that's the one thing where you're like, you're monopolizing our hangout time. But other than that, I wouldn't be worried

what this guy does like on his own time. If the show text thread was constantly about pickleball, I would not like it. Right. Same. Yeah, so, but I do know that as I've gotten older, I don't wanna concern myself with what other people like if it's not hurting anybody. I think it's more important that people have things that they enjoy.

There's a lot of people walking around that don't have anything that they actually enjoy. So I'm in a place where I'm like, cool, I think that's great. I think it's weird. I think it's great that you like it, right? Whatever that thing is. If a guy wants to go to a 20 fish show as a year, just let him do it, you know? Right. That's how I feel.

And the answer to all these things are jokes. They're not like sit downs, right? The answer isn't like, hey, I'm really concerned that you're like stunted, you know, growing, you've stunted your like brain growth by being here and doing this stuff. Like we're really concerned. The way that you solve this is just jokes, right?

That sting a little bit. Jokes that sting. Jokes that sting. Yeah. Jokes that sting. And then you can back off. You monitor the situation like, all right, that one went too far. We found the line. And I think that's, I think that's perfect. Right. Cause I had, uh, I don't know what it is. I think it might've been a South shore thing where South shore of Austin, those guys, maybe in high school, their first experience drinking beers in a field, somebody

would throw Billy Joel on. So there was a bunch of people my age, when I was in my twenties that loved Billy Joel. And I did not love Billy Joel. There's never been a Billy Joel moment in my life. I appreciate it. There's a bunch of artists. I'm a bit of a- You didn't like Tom Petty. I don't, I get it. I get why people like it. The Springsteen thing, I saw him once at an event that we were there for the Final Four.

The energy, the passion, the songwriting, all of it. If somebody's like, hey, I love Bruce Springsteen, I don't tell them no. I don't tell them that they're wrong. But in my 20s, when the Billy Joel thing happened, I was like, did you bring your dad again? So like, I would have made fun of it in my 20s, when the Billy Joel thing happened, I was like, did you bring your dad again? So I would have made fun of it in my 20s. And now if somebody's like,

I go see Billy Joel six times a year, if that's even possible, I'd feel like I think that's great. I think that's great for you, that you went to go see something that you care about and you feel some sort of joy from. So as we circle it back, or maybe we call it a hook route here, just let this guy like it.

And you did bring up something that I thought was interesting in that he didn't play. It actually makes sense that he's this into it now. Right. He's got unfinished business. Because he didn't play. I treated every pickup game from my mid-20s and early 30s, like some referendum on payback of never having things work out for me in my very limited basketball thing. So I took it way too fucking seriously.

I'd be super into it. I'd be looking at shoes, which is what guys can shop for shoes and never want to play basketball, but I was really, really into it, but not to the point where I was going to send film to anybody. That wasn't, I mean, that'd be a massive waste of postage. So the point with this is, yeah, he's going to the extreme, but he's fulfilling this void in his life because he cared enough about college

football to play for a D three team that he never actually played for. You played from what it sounds like. You said you weren't even a starter, but you played. So I know the guys that played kind of make fun of the guys that didn't play and the whole thing, but everybody after their playing career, they either have satiated that hunger or the hunger grows even deeper. And he's in that phase right now. Probably doesn't have a family, right? You know, so I would just let them get out there on those go routes. Let them just continue to run the go route of life.

I think these are, and these are free. That's great. Talk about t-shirts. Um, I think that this is also, these are recent college grads. So this is minus 1000 that this ramps down fairly soon in the- Not even on the board. Yeah, this is crazy.

I don't know why you, like, the emailer is not wrong about anything. I would just say, let it go, man. Let it ride out. And yeah you probably should make fun of him. You're like hey did you hear back from the Italian gladiators yet? I heard Franklin was thinking about sponsoring them. I had a buddy that played soccer I think in Switzerland. You know he's a good player. Played in college. Went there and you know I think he got hurt and then he was like, I'm going to go to Sweden now or something like that. I was just like, what are you doing? But then I realized like, that's fucking awesome.

That's like my dream. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Like he, he did it for a little bit and it wasn't going to work out. It wasn't going to go anywhere. He was maybe delaying the real stuff. I, this guy has a job at least, right? He's not like signing up for stuff like it was always just kind of funny when you play pickup basketball or something. The guy would be really good to be like, let's do it like I played some semi pro like we're down the street. Like what are you talking about?

Played some semi pro. Then I had a buddy who played hockey at UVM. Jason Hamilton. Stud, great guy, all time great guy. I remember we were bartending together. He was done. And I was like, are you going to like? You can play in the miners and he's like, dude.

As soon as I'm done skating off the rink, I'm throwing all of my stuff away. He's like, that's it. I've been doing this since I could before I could talk. I'm done. And just people are different about it. Yeah, I will say, you know, I have a couple of buddies who played soccer in college.

And like to tell them how into the sport I am now and how not into the sport they are as like having played it, it does feel a little bit weird. I'm like, am I doing this right right now? I should like these guys like actually played at a high level. And I'm over here like, you know, grinded tape watching all these games. They're like, Yeah, I don't really know what happened last week. I don't follow it anymore. Like, man, really just put me in my place there. I don't blame the person who played for thinking. I know I was a loser about the basketball thing. I know. I know. I don't care. Because in

the moment, I was like, this is I care about this more than anything. Can I ask you an unrelated question? What is, what is the name Ned short for? That's not just, his name is not just Ned, right? Is it Edward? That's my guess. Incredible, incredible question. I've just never thought about it. Because a young guy named Ned, you just don't hear a lot of those and it could be made up. Who knows? Um, but. No, it is. Edward Jack is short for all sorts of stuff, right? That you wouldn't expect. Jack. Jack. Yeah. Where the fuck did Dick come from? Sorry. Dick's Richard.

Richard. Right. Yeah. Which again, I don't get it. Why? Why? Yeah. I told him I'm with you. I don't get it. Like, why would that be a thing? But it is. Yeah, it's like is Jim Jimothy? Yeah, Edward Edmund Edgar. Not a lot of Edgars around or if I was if I was Edgar, I'd go Ned or Ed. There is no it is a kind of a cool name. Let's bring it back.

I'm sure the Ned Flanders peak stuff wasn't great for some of the Ned's out there. Yeah. Yeah, but Ned Stark brought it back. Yeah, you just wait long enough. Good recovery. Okay. Let's find another email.

I was looking up Ned. So I lost it. Famous Ned's? Famous Ned's, Ned's of the world. Okay, is it time to give up the home gym? Let's stay on this. Guys kind of weaving in and out of the physical challenges of life. 5'11", 185, no impressive bench or squat stuff.

And that's the issue. I'm emailing you at 5 a.m. for my garage, all of which has been converted into a gym over the past three years. As far as home gyms go, it's pretty nice treadmill, Peloton, Power Rack with bench, dedicated stretchers, I'm emailing you at 5 a.m. for my garage, all of which has been converted into a gym over the past three years. As far as home gyms go, it's pretty nice treadmill, Peloton, power rack with bench, dedicated stretching area, an 80 pound heavy bag.

Wow, this is unbelievable. Is there any kind of membership fee? Do I have to pay a fee and then it's every month? It's not extravagant, but nice enough to be a common topic of conversation when exchanging pleasantries with neighbors in the yard when the garage door is open. So here's the issue. My physique does not match the niceness of my gym. I'm not obese, but I'm kind of chunky and without much muscle mass.

The disparity between my gym and my body is never more evident than when passersby look confused as they try to understand why the skinny fat, soon to be 40-year-old who's clearly winded for five minutes of rudimentary gardening has a hex deadlift bar hanging from the frame of a power rack in his garage. So how did this current state of affairs come to be? Three years ago, the home gym was pitched to my wife as a time and money saver compared to an external gym. However, the assumption of how much time and energy I would have to work out

during a given week was laughably inaccurate. I'm at a startup. My wife also works pretty aggressive hours. Number of kids is now at two. With no family around to help, we tag team the childcare duties. I really can't sleep less than six hours per night and be functional. So spare time and extra energy are at all time lows. So is it time to sell this stuff and use the space for something more useful that won't leave my neighbor so confused like parking cars? Or do I keep everything for when I have time and energy to use all this stuff regularly in like three and a half years when both kids are in school and don't think

I'm cool enough to play with anymore. I'm leaning on keeping the dream alive. I mean, I might only need one more piece of equipment for that six pack. Honestly, you could tell me to suck it up and find the time alive. I mean, I might only need one more piece of equipment for that six pack. Honestly, you could tell me to suck it up and find the time now and I keep the stuff, which might be the right answer, but it's not practical one, at least not now.

If you don't need the money, you don't need the space, why get rid of it? I would hold onto it and keep it, because if you sell it, then it's never gonna happen. Like you're done, right? Maybe you'll go to a gym someday, but you're never gonna like rebuild the gym. So that ship's going to sail if you sell it. Yeah. And maybe the startup isn't a startup and the kids are in school. So maybe like, maybe like double your

amount of time and you're like, all right, this is actually not crazy. Or you're just lying to yourself and you do have the time either way, keeping the gym, I think is the move. And the neighbors, you're being self-conscious about the neighbors. Like, yeah, what does that guy have a pull-up bar? I mean, look at him. Look at him. He can't even get up. He's fucking kneeling on the ground, trying to pull out weeds. He's looked like he's really struggling.

No one's thinking that probably. Almost. We're just keep it half open. So you don't feel, you know, you know, some people aren't watching you, but you just look at the airflow. You just duck under the door. Yeah. You keep it close too, but you're never working out there in the first place.

So it's not like you're hiding anything that you're doing. Who knows what they're saying about you? Be like, you know, that guy doesn't look like much. Good for him, man. He's getting after it. Or they're like, guy might be like a pocket bad-ass. I know he's a little thick, but see that hex bar, probably doing trap stuff. I love the home gym as somebody who went way too overboard during COVID and bought everything

and would be like, oh wait, these are available now done. And then you get them, you're like, I don't know that I'm really going to use this. I have a few pieces, but I'll tell you what you're not going to love is getting out into that secondary market of trying to sell your stuff to strangers. Well, I would say Facebook marketplace has kind of made that easy. I'm not on Facebook. I don't know. I think I kind of disagree. I think we're an eBay podcast, Steve. So maybe strike this right here.

All right. eBay too. It's fine. Whatever you want to do. I didn't go either of those houses. Whenever I have something in my house that I don't want, I just put it on Facebook Marketplace. Then I don't want to move. It's big. It's like, I put it on there. Someone come take it. So you're like heavy in the Facebook Marketplace? Not like, I wouldn't say heavy. Someone come take it. So you're like heavy in the Facebook marketplace? Not like I wouldn't say heavy, but we had like this extra mattress and you know, you could pay to like bring it to the dump, which was this whole thing. Or you can just, and it wasn't even that nice,

or you just put it on Facebook marketplace and say free and someone just comes and takes it for free. So there you go. Well, I don't want to give my stuff away, but I have too many things. Right. So I, I eventually eventually question about my Facebook marketplace habits and I answered it. I'm not saying you're right for free. Yeah. Yeah.

Uh, but I had, you know, I basically listed everything. It's all in good condition. Some of the stuff's barely used. And then I went to list it and somebody was like, how's that going? They asked me what I did. And, uh, she was like, are you trying to be murdered?

I was like, I don't think so. I was like, I'm just trying to get a decent price on some equipment. But you know, it just turns into a free for all. Like I listed this bench that's really nice. I think it was 700 brand new. And I listed it for 250. And a guy was like, we just take 250.

I'm like, well, you're fucking, we're done. We're done. You and I are done. There's no bartering. I don't want you showing up to my house. I want to talk to you I don't want to email you anymore Like we're just you know, I can't bring it somewhere for someone they've got to come get it from you which also yeah again That's what I do. You just leave it outside. Don't even have talked to anybody So the reason we're even telling any of this stuff is because do you really want it to our emailer? You want to enter that world? When that

world like what's up with those bumper plates? Oh, there's a mark there. You know, so I would say keep it especially as Saruti pointed out if the car thing isn't a situation if your wife isn't like, Hey, can we put the car inside of the garage? If parking is not a challenge every single night. So like when I had a full garage build out there for a little while, parking was actually not an issue because it was just my car. Probably why I didn't get married during COVID because I was like, you know, what if I get married, you know, she's going to want to put her car in there. And I was like, I'm getting pretty good with some of

these squats with the Kabuki bar. I can't, I can't get married now. I can't get mad. You know, so then when I moved, right. So then when I moved, I was like, all right't get married now. I can't get mad. You know, so then when I moved momentum, right. So then when I moved, I was like, all right, what do I do with this entire squat rack thing? I was like, I do love it. And I do love doing some of the stuff on it. So I was like, I'm just going to keep it and have the garage. It's not super ideal right now.

It's not pitched well either. So who knows what sort of habits I'm getting myself into, but I think there's still hope for you. I still think there's hope for you and you wanted to do it to save money, but it sounds like how expensive would it be to look up some trainer to come to your house and do a workout with maybe if it's not even you do it for your wife. I mean, if she's still motivated to want to keep it around, doesn't care about the parking part of it.

I still think there's hope for this gym and all of its accessories. It sounds like it's an incredible setup. You've put the time in, man. You can't get in there for 30, I don't know, the two kids thing and the startup. I get it. I'm not going to pretend. Yeah, but he can see the finish line of when all that shit starts to lighten up. I mean, I don't know who knows how long you're a startup for, but the kids definitely grow at a normal pace. At a certain point, they're gone for six, eight hours of the day. Like that should give you time. It sounds like you work from home. Yeah. Who knows? Maybe you open it up to the neighborhood. If that's your only concern, you know, make up some t-shirts, start taking dues, raise powerhouse,

hand in a mouth, you know, a great name for a bar. Yeah. I'd, I'd, there you go. But maybe you put it in the, although that's probably pretty dangerous liability issues. I say key. I knew I was going to say keep it, but I hold out hope. Like I have some surfboards where I was like, you're not getting rid of this. There's a, there's a phase where you're going to be back in that phase may never happen, but at least I'm equipped for it. If it were to happen, that's how I look at stuff. Unless I was married to somebody who's like you need to get the shit out of here. But you don't seem to have that problem. So sounds like you're

winning guy. Yeah. I'd trade with you right now. All right I think that'll do it. Today's life advice was brought to you by Lakinta by Wyndham. When you've got business to take care of whatever it is by Lakinta by Wyndham. When you've got business to take care of, whatever it is, Lakinta by Wyndham will help take care of you. Book direct at LQ.com. Tonight Lakinta, tomorrow you shine. Thanks to Wargon, thanks to Saruti, thanks to Kyle as always.

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