Best of NBA News Part 1: LeBron James CALLING OUT Jaylen Brown talking TRASH about Bronny, NBA sends their OWN Doctors to check Lauri Markkanen’s Injury

16:50Shannon Sharpe:But when you actually got money, you got 50, 100, 200 ,000, a quarter of a million on that table? Oh, oui. Yeah. Man, stop. It hit a little different.

17:01Chad Johnson:I can't. Hey. I can't even fathom. I can visualize and what y 'all are saying, but I can't fathom sitting at a table with$20 ,000,$50 ,000 in chips. $100 ,000,$50 ,000 in chips. I mean, where they do that at? I understand people do it because they have their vices but man. Hey Joe, when I go to Vegas, $100 is my limit. Maybe$200 on the blackjack table. $25 table, Joe. That's as far as I'm going. You ain't winning nothing with that. Joe, I like the small win, Joe. To go in there with 100 and leave with 400, that's a win to me, Joe. I know it ain't going to move the needle, but just the fact that I don't gamble, but I will try it every blue moon.

17:46Chad Johnson:I only go to Vegas maybe once, twice a year, Joe. That ain't bad. That's not an addiction. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I call that circumstance. I just happen to be there.

17:55Shannon Sharpe:Right. You don't gamble in Vegas? No. I hadn't actually been to a table in probably sat at a table probably in 20 years. Damn. Nah, nah. I come to Vegas now. I'm going to get a little gambling in. If I lose$1 ,000, I'm done. That's my limit. Okay, Joe. Joe, what you playing? Quarter slots? Nah, I'm playing. I'm shooting craps. I might play a little blackjack, but I ain't going too crazy. Excuse me. Yeah, you see, you try to. You're the same kind of gamble. You want to load up on the six and eight. You going to try to. All right, I ain't playing, Ocho. But hold up, while y 'all playing, though, I was staying at the wind one night, and I won 27 ,000 with this little playing blackjack.

18:44Shannon Sharpe:Ooh, Joe! 27 ,000? Shooting dice. Three card poker? Five card? I was shooting dice on the crap table. Oh, you okay? You on the crap table? I was on the dice, no lie, I was on the dice probably about 35, 40 minutes. Yeah. When you got hot like that, Joe? Man, I had built it up until I had about 400, 500 on almost every point. and I just kept rolling. So listen, hold on though. When I won, I had initially won$29 ,000. So once I won that, I started taking all my money off the board. I was like, you know what? I know I ain't going to be this hot too long. When I fall off, when I fall off, I'm walking out the door.

19:20Shannon Sharpe:Right. I fell off, took my money, I was gone. Yeah. The thing is, you bet it the hard way. You bet, because it gives you odds, what, 8 to 1, 10 to 1 odds on 6 and 8? Yeah. So you get the hard 8 when you roll 4-4, You get a hard six, three, three. You get 10, you know, a five and five. Yes, sir. You bar it. Five and nine. Hey, look, you just want to roll numbers. You just want to stay on the dice. That's all you want to do, just roll the numbers. Just roll the numbers. Oh, man. What? Kill them, Ocho. Hey, I bet if me and Burns go to the table, we betting somebody crap out. Bro, what are we doing here?

19:54Shannon Sharpe:Like, bro, this ain't a team sport. We not team. I bet you crap. You did. Now pass the dice. Hey, Ocho. Ocho, y 'all don't play no poker or nothing? I used to play poker. I played in the World Series of Poker one time. Did you really? I did.

20:12Chad Johnson:Yeah, Joe, you'd be mad at me, Joe. You can't play no poker? Joe, I don't even understand the game, bro. Oh, man. Joe, I got to rely on the people sitting next to me when I'm playing blackjack and rely on the dealer if I don't have nobody there.

20:28Shannon Sharpe:Oh, man. You go to the wrong casino, they don't let you talk. You can't do that. Right. Right. Huh? They don't let you go to the wrong casino, they won't let you talk.

20:37Chad Johnson:You can't talk. Oh, for real? Hell no. The only casino I go to is Vegas. You know, the Hard Rock right here down the street for me. I'm saying there are a lot of casinos. You got the Wynn, you got Ari, you got Hard Rock, you got the Vinicius. Yeah, I don't know nothing about them. You got the Palms. Hey, Joe, and that's a good thing, too, for me, Joe, is the fact that I don't understand all the games that are in the casino. Right. So there's really no interest in me wanting to play a let alone gamble. So not only am I cheap as hell, I don't understand the goddamn game they got no way. In blackjack for me, I play a little$100,$200,$25 games simply because I just know I got to be the dealer.

21:14Chad Johnson:That's all I know.

21:15Shannon Sharpe:Right. Okay.

21:16Chad Johnson:Okay.

21:17Shannon Sharpe:Well, I mean, look, I don't like the shoe. I like single deck or double deck. When they start getting to that shoe, they got six decks. I don't really care too much for that shoe. That shoe, man, that shoe have you messed up. The thing is with Blackjack, one bad play can mess up the whole shoe. Man. And you just get your head bust for the rest of that shoe. Somebody take a car, take the dealer bus car. Hey, you mad at them on us. You start a fight over there. That's why I don't really play Blackjack too much. No, I said, don't even worry about it. That's why I picked my money and gone somewhere.

22:01Shannon Sharpe:Because sometimes, man, I be feeling like they brought this dude in here to F the game up. No, man, I said that. I might play. But I'm like, I'll go play blackjack. Sometimes I'll play pile guy. I'll play three-card poker. Or I'll play crap. That's all I play. No roulette. They play the shots. They just play slot machine. I ain't got time for that.

22:22Chad Johnson:Y 'all don't play the roulette?

22:23Shannon Sharpe:You can just bet on the color. Nah, hell nah.

22:25Chad Johnson:Nah, I don't know. Uh-uh. On roulette? Hey, roulette, that's the one the table go around in the circle, huh? Yeah. And they say bet on red, right?

22:34Shannon Sharpe:You bet on whatever. I mean, you can bet red or black, but you're going to come out better betting a number, though.

22:39Chad Johnson:I bet. Yeah. I don't know. I'm good. I'm good. I don't like that. Hey, Joe, I don't like to bet no money where I'm not in complete control of the outcome. If I'm not in complete control -

22:50Shannon Sharpe:When you're not in control of the outcome, because the cards don't know you. You know what I'm saying?

22:52Chad Johnson:No, I'm just saying in general. That's why I don't like gambling because the outcome is not in my control. And them Dice damn sure don't know you. No, we.

23:02Shannon Sharpe:Absolutely not. Man. Absolutely not. But, no, we got to go to Vegas. Joe, will you come out here? Because I'm going to go to one night. I'm going to go with Dana. I'm going to go to the casino with Dana. Dana be playing 100 ,000 hands. 200 ,000 hands. I'll be watching y 'all what you think I'll be doing I'll play 100 200 not no thousand hell no

23:33Chad Johnson:I would love to be there just to watch that just to see it in person just to see it in person again knowing you got it but you never do it but see other people do it because they got it and could afford to lose it I can't recoup no 200 ,000 You know how long I got to work to recoup $20 ,000, Joe? I ain't catching no touchdown, Joe.

23:55Shannon Sharpe:Oh, man. Ocho, Ocho, we had to go out there and gamble with Uncle a little bit. Just a little bit. Just a little bit.

24:02Chad Johnson:Just a little bit. How much we talking?

24:04Shannon Sharpe:10K. Huh? 10K.

24:08Chad Johnson:That boy ain't spending no 10K. Ah, shit. The devil is... Hey, Joe, I done had these same pants on for goddamn two months. You think I'm going to spend 10K at the casino?

24:20Shannon Sharpe:we gonna hit him me you and Joe gonna go to the crap table it's just gonna be us at the crap table by ourselves nah we betting all the points I'm gonna be on the dice cause you know the common snake I will I call the dice before they start rolling

24:33Chad Johnson:hey and Joe you know if they know we coming if they hear we coming they gonna fix the table so we walk out of there with nothing they gonna fix the table so we walk out of there with nothing they don't know we coming

24:44Shannon Sharpe:they don't know we coming I bring my cash. We bring attention. I bring my own cash. Hey, change them out for chips. Or you can say, hey, money plays.

24:56Chad Johnson:Hey, that's not a good idea. That's not a good idea. They say the house never loses. That's what I heard. Hey, you want two-month TV, Ojo.

25:06Shannon Sharpe:I saw the gambler.

25:08Chad Johnson:Hey, you saw the movie. Give him a minute, Smith. Ha! Yeah, I seen the gambler. I seen it. You saw the... Mark Warburg? Yes, sir. I don't want that to be me. I don't want that to be me. You don't know when to stop. Now you're owing people money because you're trying to get yourself out of debt and get out the hole. I don't want to get beat up because I owe the shark.

25:28Shannon Sharpe:Nah, nah, nah. Hey, you see what you call them? Matt Damon and Rounders, right? Ooh. And Teddy KGB? He ain't seen that. He don't know nothing about that.

25:39Chad Johnson:Nah, what movie is that? What's that?

25:41Shannon Sharpe:It's a gambling movie.

25:43Chad Johnson:What's the name of it?

25:44Shannon Sharpe:Teddy KGB. What's it called? Rounders? Rounders. Rounders? That must be over, huh? It is. It is. But it's a good-ass movie. It's good. With Matt Damon and Edward Norton. Yeah. I like Matt Damon. Matt Damon, he hard. But, yeah, we come on out here. Let's get this. Jalen Brown says, I feel like I'm the best two-way player in the world. Joe, do you agree? Is he the best two-way player in the world? Right now, yeah. I'm going to say yeah, Uncle Ocho. He makes it a point to, you know, own his matchup night in and night out. And not only that, not only is he, you know, owning it on defense, but offensively he following it up with 30 at night, man.

26:29Shannon Sharpe:Yep. I think he's playing extremely great basketball, and rightfully so. He's in the MVP conversation. Man, there's still a lot of basketball left. Uncle Ocho, he a dark horse in this thing now. he had dark horse in it yeah I definitely think look I always thought he was supremely athletic the bounce that he has he's worked on his game you can tell that he's worked on his game the outside shot is a little bit more consistent now the three ball is more consistent he always had the ability you know sometimes he get a little loose with his handles but he's always had the ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the right because he has supreme athleticism and you go back and look at when they won the championship he took it serious.

27:12Shannon Sharpe:He took Luka. He said, no, I got Luka. 94 feet. Yeah. 94 feet. That's his job. His job, pick you up, weigh you down, so in the fourth quarter you ain't got no gas, and he's still going. And that's how he's been playing, man. Kudos to Jalen Brown, bro. He's been fun to watch this year. It's actually been fun to watch the Celtics, just their whole team. It ain't just been him. Okay, Ocho, he got other guys who done stepped up, and they've been playing well. Oh, yeah, Hauser and Derek White. Hauser, Ms. White, Richard. They got a big down there. Metta? The big dude who was beating stuff up last night.

27:50Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, man. They got another. And Vucevic, like I'm saying, the more comfortable he get, the better off they're going to be. They're going to be right there fighting in the thick of things in the Eastern Conference. Yeah, yeah. You know, hey, JB done cut his hair. He ain't pulling nobody. Yeah. You done let that Beijing go? that big DMT.

28:11Chad Johnson:You know, honestly, Uncle Joe, you know, JB done took it real serious obviously with all the stuff talked a while to talk about, you know, JT going down and how the Celtics weren't going to be the same. And he took all that talk personal because basically y 'all telling me I can't carry no franchise. Y 'all telling me, you know, JT is the better player of the two, you know? So let me get out here and show y 'all. I already had to deal with the bull crap when it came to the goddamn Olympics. Now you're saying I can't carry a franchise ass, man, hold my beer.

28:41Shannon Sharpe:Right. Watch this. Right.

28:44Chad Johnson:He's been showing up, he's been showing out, showing up and showing out ever since.

28:48Shannon Sharpe:You're absolutely right, Ocho. He's taking the challenge every night on both ends of the floor. Yes. And he's done it at a very, very high level. And, man, I'm talking about every night he win his matchup. Okay, Ocho, he wins his matchup every night, which gives him a great chance to win. Hey, Joe, how tall is JB? He about 6 '5", 6 '6". That's it? Yeah. I thought he was calling that. I thought he about your height, Joe. Yeah, he about 6 '6". Joe, how tall you with, Joe? I'm about 6 '8".

29:21Chad Johnson:Yeah, I like me going right around you, bro.

29:24Shannon Sharpe:Go right around who? Huh? Hey, one thing I can do is slide these puppets, Ojo. Where I'm from, if you couldn't play defense homeboy, you couldn't get out there on the court. I'm trying to tell you. You hear me? Yeah. Joe, you can't slide no more, man. And your electric slide day is over, Joe. Who? Back in the day, the electric slide? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

29:43Chad Johnson:Hey. Hey, Joe. I know you can slide one way. I mean, how fast can you get back, you know, with your lateral movement, Joe?

29:51Shannon Sharpe:Man, first off, your handle ain't like that to be moving nobody side to side while you talking about something. Man, stop it.

29:57Chad Johnson:Stop, stop. How you know, Joe? You got to cut it out, old Joe. Stop the cap. You got to cut it out, Joe. Stop the cap, bro. When we going to play, Joe? I'm sick of this shit.

30:05Shannon Sharpe:Well, I told you when we going to play. We going to line it up.

30:08Chad Johnson:Hey, you in Atlanta?

30:10Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, I'm here right now. What's going on?

30:12Chad Johnson:Hey, listen. Are you prepared to play right now? Because I can fly down for the week and chill. I told you, man. Can you give me at least an April? Hey, he scared. Hey, I got his spook. I got his spook. Hey, you spook. Hey, Joe, you scared, Joe? I need to April, bro. Can I have to April? Give me about four more weeks. Listen to me. Listen to me. Whatever you can do in April, you can do right now, boy. No. What you gonna say for the help of you, my boy?

30:37Shannon Sharpe:Not with me?

30:38Chad Johnson:Not with me? I'm telling you, boy. Your knees gonna buckle, boy. Huh? You better buckle up.

30:43Shannon Sharpe:Ocho, we already know you the big capital, man. Everybody know that, bro.

30:47Chad Johnson:Everybody know that. Hey, Joe, one thing I do is I compete, Joe, in everything I do, Joe. And, hey, I'ma compete and I'ma show up. Well, hell, you didn't compete when you was in New York?

30:56Shannon Sharpe:All-Star Game, Ocho.

30:58Chad Johnson:Huh?

30:59Shannon Sharpe:In that big three All-Star Game. What about it?

31:03Chad Johnson:Listen, listen. That's what Joe was asking me. Let me tell you something. I keep telling you all a million times in that big three, I ain't messing up nobody money, especially that much money them boys betting. I let them take care of their thing and got my ass out the way because I ain't paying nobody$20 ,000 to get in the way and show I can motherfucking hoop. Excuse my language. Sorry about that. But Joe, boy, you ass grass, boy. Heavy is the crown, right? We'll see who be wearing it after we've done it.

31:31Shannon Sharpe:JB came in a Sunday game, averaging a career high, 29 points a game, seven rebounds, almost five assists. He showed up. He had 32. Peyton Pritchard had 30. And they roll the Lakers. What's your Lakers going to do, huh? Nothing. They can't play defense. They can't guard anybody. You know they couldn't play defense last year. Yeah, they still can't. They can't. They can't rebound. They can't. They can't keep nobody in front of them. You can't stay in front of nobody. They get beat off the first dribble, which compromised your defense for the rest of the possession. Once you get beat off the first dribble, you compromise the rest of the possession.

32:09Shannon Sharpe:It's a wrap. It's a wrap. You got us in the hucklebook. Now we scrambling, trying to catch. It's over with.

32:14Chad Johnson:Somebody going to be open.

32:16Shannon Sharpe:Yes, sir. Sliding all over the place.

32:18Chad Johnson:This is the biggest night in podcasting. The countdown is on to our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Live from South by Southwest, March 16th, We'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry. It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world. Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is... See all the nominees now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards.

32:48Shannon Sharpe:Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com.

33:05Chad Johnson:I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and free agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stops. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency, the combine, the NFL draft, pro days, trades. This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money on 40s and free agents. we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move.

33:42Chad Johnson:We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and Free Agents on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

34:09Shannon Sharpe:Anthony Edwards say Memphis has dirty hotel rooms. When I go to Memphis, I'll be like, damn, this ish be dirty. I walked to Memphis Hotel one time, it has stains and ish on the bed.

34:24Shannon Sharpe:Come on, man. They ain't clean the bed like that.

34:27Chad Johnson:Wait, hold on. You talking about the NBA hotel or just a regular hotel?

34:32Shannon Sharpe:Yes, because the NBA, you have to stay in a four - or a five-star hotel if it's available. Right. I know Memphis got some four-seasons, some Ritz-Karrens or something.

34:41Chad Johnson:Yeah, they got to have something nice. Maybe he just had one bad experience. That one bad experience, it could spoil a lot, especially if he said this out publicly. and this hotel can get bad reviews based on that one experience where a hotel worker decided not to clean up the right way. Now they got everybody thinking the hotel dirty. They got four seats of risk cards in Memphis. Yeah.

35:09Damn.

35:11Chad Johnson:You ever had that happen to you all? When you could see a hotel and it wasn't up to par?

35:15Shannon Sharpe:I'm trying to think.

35:19Chad Johnson:not the bed. Yeah. Are you one of those that check everything? You check the towels, you check the sheets, you look up on the stuff? I've never been like that.

35:28Shannon Sharpe:No, look. What I do, Ocho, is that when I go somewhere, I take X amount of cash, and I always leave. When I leave the room, normally when I leave, they're going to keep a cleaning. I'm like, ma 'am, I left money in the room. You clean it. That's all I say, just clean it. I'm leaving for the day. They're going to clean that room. They're going to have extra towels. They're going to have my phone cords, charging cable. They're going to have that thing folded up nice and neat. They're going to have the bedroom slippers right there inside the bed. They're going to have extra water. They're going to do all that for an easy little $30,$40.

36:03Boom.

36:04Shannon Sharpe:Every time I leave, when I come in, hey, turn down service. Normally when I'm turned down because I don't want to leave the room. Right. But every morning, and when I leave to go, when I leave the hotel, I always do that. I always do that.

36:19Chad Johnson:You only give them$30,$40? I give them$30,$40, yeah. Damn, huh? I mean, you could at least make it$100. Huh? Letting that light a little$100. Y 'all make somebody day?

36:35Shannon Sharpe:I guarantee that$30,$40, how many people you think in the hotel that they clean that somebody leave a tip for? I mean, probably not many.

36:44Chad Johnson:Exactly. I mean, I'm just saying, You don't leave nothing. Who? Ocho.

36:53Shannon Sharpe:See? He's going to tell Chad, this man tell me I need to leave$100. He leaves zero. Chad, think about what he just said. He said Shannon needs to leave$100. I said, well, you don't leave nothing. You right on?

37:14Chad Johnson:I had to pay for the hotel. the hotel charged me instant dentals and you telling me I need to leave something for the so you think I stay at the hotel for free? yeah I'm not you're a rewards member I ain't no rewards member you're not? no I tip when I go to restaurants though I mean that's you know I ain't never thought about doing it at the hotel I'm going to try that next time I'm going to try that

37:47Shannon Sharpe:Oh, yeah. Oh, really? Oh. We need to go to Memphis to get some barbecue. I got to take for some barbecue. No, Memphis. Yeah, Memphis.

38:04Chad Johnson:My mouth tuned up for some barbecue. Hey, Memphis known for that barbecue, bro. Yeah. Ain't Kansas City known for barbecue, too?

38:11Shannon Sharpe:Kansas City known for barbecue, too.

38:12Chad Johnson:Yeah.

38:12Shannon Sharpe:I mean, look, Texas, Tennessee, probably Kansas City, North Carolina, mainly southern states. I mean, obviously Kansas City is in the Midwest. Right. But for the most part, you're talking about Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, southern states.

38:32Chad Johnson:It ain't nothing like having no ribs, man, that fall off the bone, man. I know we're going to get killed, Ocho, but I eat pork ribs. I mean, man, listen, I don't care what it is. I'm finna eat it. But you ever had Tony Roma's? Pause. I know there are better restaurants, but I'm just saying.

38:51Shannon Sharpe:Pause, Ocho. You need to pause with that.

38:53Chad Johnson:What I said.

38:54Shannon Sharpe:You can talk about whatever it is. I'm going to eat it.

38:56Chad Johnson:Oh. We talking about food though, huh?

38:58Shannon Sharpe:I don't know what you talking about.

39:00Chad Johnson:Okay, pause. Pause.

39:01Shannon Sharpe:I don't know what you talking about.

39:03Chad Johnson:But, there are very, very good barbecue places, but I just remember growing up in Highland Miami Lakes, I would always go to Tony Roma's and the goddamn ribs fall right off the bone.

39:15Shannon Sharpe:Yeah.

39:15Chad Johnson:Baby back ribs. Oh my goodness. It was perfect. I haven't seen Tony Romo's.

39:21Shannon Sharpe:I want to go to Charlie, but I want some dry rub ribs.

39:24Chad Johnson:Dry who?

39:25Shannon Sharpe:Dry rub. What'd that mean? Huh? Why you said dry? Because it's a rub. It's a seasoning that they put on them and they're dry.

39:36Chad Johnson:Okay. They're not wet

39:37Shannon Sharpe:like with sauce.

39:39Chad Johnson:Okay. Okay. Nice man here. Yeah, I ain't never heard that. Your lingo be different. Sometimes you say stuff I never heard before.

39:48Shannon Sharpe:All right, Chad. Y 'all see what I be going through, man. Y 'all see what I be going through, Chad. My bad. Yeah, well, tell me, tell me. I'm in the Muslim reserves, Ocho. One week out of the month, two weeks out of the year, I don't eat no pork. Okay.

40:03Chad Johnson:Okay. I like that.

40:04Shannon Sharpe:But I eat everything on the pig except the squeal.

40:07Chad Johnson:What?

40:11Shannon Sharpe:oh yeah we got to go to destination yeah and marietta uh california yeah that tendinism

40:19Chad Johnson:oh wait a minute nah we didn't he take didn't something happen with that i don't know yeah the tendinism dude he left he got fired or uh the dude took something like that yeah the old man gone well where we go we'll find him Yeah, we got to find him, man. Hell, he ain't in witness protection. Yeah. He fell out with the owner. After he advertised and breaded and marketed his establishment, dude, they fell out.

40:57Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, but we got we going to the county. Don't they got a fair here? When is the Vegas thing?

41:10Shannon Sharpe:what did you say what did you say oh oh about the tendonism guy oh I don't know about the tendonism all I know is that I see the thing else and so I don't know whatever they fell out or he got a new restaurant I don't know I don't know chat so don't start

41:25Chad Johnson:me the line yeah we gonna find him we gonna go we gonna go we gotta go try that yeah so

41:34Shannon Sharpe:but uh No, but we go to some good old pork ribs. I like tips.

41:47Chad Johnson:Rib tips?

41:48Shannon Sharpe:Yep.

41:49Chad Johnson:Oh, yeah.

41:50Shannon Sharpe:I ain't a brisket guy.

41:51Chad Johnson:Do you like brisket? I eat everything, boy. I done told you about talking like that. I'm talking about the rib.

41:58Shannon Sharpe:I don't know what you're talking about. Chad, we can never discern what he talking about.

42:05Chad Johnson:Hey, I'm talking about the ribs. I enjoy a little bit of everything.

42:09Shannon Sharpe:Here in Vegas, right? Okay. Yeah. No, I don't want none of that. I don't want no sushi pizza. Man, you ain't for the tear my stomach up. Sushi what? Sushi pizza. Mmm. Yeah, I already, yes, Les BBQ, the guy that be cooking them Oxtails. Yeah. I already ordered some of them. I already ordered some of them. And I had some sitting to my sister. Oh, I be ordering all kind of stuff. I be ordering cakes.

42:50Chad Johnson:I gotta try that.

42:53Shannon Sharpe:Sweet and savory Atlanta. Safana. Oh, they done sent my brother cakes. They done sent me cakes. Oh, I buy stuff out there. If it look good and you close or you ascend it, count me in. They'll tell you I'll buy it. Yeah, but I'll hit the mocktails. They're expensive. I'm not gonna lie. They're expensive. But they good. They smoke. They got a nice smoky tail. They like... That side. What?

43:25Chad Johnson:I gotta try that. Where that's at?

43:27Shannon Sharpe:Oh, yeah.

43:30Chad Johnson:Where is that?

43:32Shannon Sharpe:Ash Ash eat it chat There ain't nothing Look here Mikey She is the female version of Mikey Give it to Mikey He'll try it Hold on That live serial commercial You talking about Mikey

43:44Chad Johnson:From the serial commercial

43:45Shannon Sharpe:Back in the day Yes that's Ash Hey That commercial was classic Yeah That's Ash But no No but I I haven't really had No experience like that Ocho with a hotel Where you know you know

44:03Chad Johnson:not like what Aaron is talking about no no yeah I've never had that I never had that situation either this is the biggest night in podcasting the countdown is on to our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards live from South by Southwest March 16th we'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative talented creators in the industry it's truly a who's who of the podcasting creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is... See all the nominees now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards.

44:38Shannon Sharpe:Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app, Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com.

44:56Chad Johnson:I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and Free Agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stops. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency, the combine, the NFL draft, pro days, trades. This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and Free Agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move.

45:33Chad Johnson:We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

46:00Shannon Sharpe:Speaking of, the NBA is sending their own independent doctors to verify Laurie Markin's MRI from an injury and to practice today per NBA porter Tony Jones. Joe, is this what it's come to? Yeah, because the NBA say, man, we ain't going. We ain't going. Matter of fact, we better send our doctors down there to see what's going on with these dudes. Because this tank of stuff, man, that got out of hand. And I think that's what the NBA think. That's why they say we're sending our own doctors down there to check on Lloyd Markham and see what's going on. Yeah, this is what it comes to. But the thing is, Joe, you know your body.

46:34Shannon Sharpe:I mean, the doctors say you've seen five. But no, my ass hurts. So what do we do? What do we do, Joe? I mean, most guys, I mean, a lot of times if it's something serious, they go get a second opinion. They don't never take the guy's first opinion. I mean, you got something going on, Joe. I don't know if you missed any time during the season, but if somebody said, well, Joe, you got this, you're like, you know what? Let me go grab that second opinion. Yeah. Yeah, you go get a second opinion for sure. I guess this may be the second opinion. I don't know, but the NBA say they want to know. Hey, they starting to investigate a lot more, man.

47:11Shannon Sharpe:and it's been a lot going on. You see they just shut Jaron Jackson down. He had to have surgery. He had to have surgery for something. Yo, you mean to tell me you're going to trade all that, give up all those picks for a guy that you got to have surgery? Where they do that at? Think about what they gave up to get him. And now you get a guy who played a couple of games. Now, he played a couple of games going off, and then the fourth quarter you sent him. Lauren Barkley was going off, sent him in the fourth quarter. NBS said, man, y 'all full of caca. That's why they send them people down there.

47:43Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, we ain't trying to hear all that. Yeah, yeah, we gonna be able to determine this here. Hey. Yeah. And you see the NBA say, you know what? Ain't no more lottery protected. Y 'all wanna take, you do the game with the picks, let somebody, land them top three picks. Somebody got it. Cause you know how to joke, top three protected, top five protected. NBA say, hell no, ain't nothing protected. Listen, because I think Utah can still, I think they can get the number one pick. Yes, they can. And I believe if they get the number one pick, they're taking the bonzer. That's what I think. I think for whatever strange reason, I feel like he's going to stay in Utah.

48:26Yeah.

48:27Shannon Sharpe:I don't know why. It's just. So, I get it. I mean, I think the thing is that when you play, and it's like, they're playing too many games. Well, damn. Okay. They'll, I'm sure the NBA won't have a problem cutting the game, but they want to cut that pay too. So because the players want, Ocho, is that they want less games, but we still want to make 70, 80 million dollars. It may say, oh no, here you go. Yeah. Yeah, I don't think we need less games, man. It's been like this since, as long as I can remember. 70s. As long as I can remember. And I've been a lot longer than both of you, so as long as I can remember, Joe, they played 82 games.

49:07Shannon Sharpe:Hey, listen, and them dudes playing in Chuck Taylors and Converse out there. They didn't have technology. Shelltoes. They didn't have the, like Joe said, the shoe technology, the eating technology, the training technology, the medical equipment technology, the doctors, everything is so much more advanced. So can you imagine? And if you look at track and field, when these guys was running these fast times with just regular shoes.

49:34Chad Johnson:Yeah.

49:35Shannon Sharpe:Just imagine if they had those carbon fiber shoes and they had these Mondo tracks like they got right now. Man, you say both by the man nine three. Yeah. Ain't no telling how far Jonathan that was with a jump. He jumped 60 and a half feet. Bob Beeman when he made 29, two and a half of the altitude in Mexico City. Man, they ain't have no technology like they got now. And I'm not saying athletes, But when you combine athletes getting better and technology right alongside it, you got the perfect storm. Yes, sir. Hey, look, I kept me a fresh pair of orthotics in my shoes on that Ojo. What?

50:14Chad Johnson:Man.

50:15Shannon Sharpe:A pair of who? Orthotics. Orthotics. Orthotics. You ain't had that Ojo? Nah, yeah, uh-uh.

50:22Chad Johnson:I had them. I had them. Hey, Joe, I had a, obviously, I was a Reebok during that time, I had them take all the lining out my shoe. I had no support. Why is that? So basically, because I need to feel the floor. You know what I mean, Joe? You ever had on a track spike or like a waffle shoe?

50:42Shannon Sharpe:Yeah.

50:43Chad Johnson:That's what I wanted my cleats to feel like. I need to feel the floor every time I step and touch and when it's time for me to break down, I don't want no support. I don't want nothing restricting my ankle. Damn. Yeah, it's weird. I got to feel the floor. I don't know. It's weird.

50:57Shannon Sharpe:I'm getting used to get taped and nothing like that. Oh yeah, I got taped directly to my skin. Shit, my bad. Hell nah, man. I look at these guys right now. I look at the Montae Adams. That man out there playing with no, he playing out there with footage and no tape. I say, what?

51:15Chad Johnson:Yep, same, same. Listen. The only time I put on tape, Joe, it was more for like fashion. It wasn't, you know, for my ankles or nothing. It was just laid on there. Cause I wanted to make sure everything was able to roll and be real smooth. It was weird.

51:32Shannon Sharpe:Ocho, I had to have some tape. I had to be tape. I had that pre-rap jumping. Nah. You can't feel nothing, Joe. I need to be secure. Boy, my ankle bone be on the ground. Ocho, you gotta understand, I was a hard planter. I'm talking about, I'm stuck. And you're talking like, I'm not like you, Ocho, under 200, that's 230, getting moving and having to stop on a dime? Oh no. Right, right, right, right, right. Oh yeah, I forgot, Ocho, a little dude, he wouldn't understand.

52:08Chad Johnson:Yo, Joe, Joe, don't do that, Joe. I had a little size of him when I was playing. Hey Joe, if you take my cleat, right? If you take my cleat, you get bended like this. Oh no, oh no. You can fold it. But if it felt just like a track shoe, I just had a cleat bottom on the bottom. Nope.

52:26Shannon Sharpe:Oh man. Man, Joe, I had mold skin, you know one of those strips that you put up there like that? And then I had the mold skin taped around directly to my skin. Yeah! That's what I had. Hey, listen. I needed mine to feel secure, Ocho. Hell yeah. I'm telling you. Man, listen, I ain't played, boy. I used to get heavy taped. I didn't get it like that for practice, now Ocho. You know I just go out there with pre-wrap and regular tape. Right. When it came down, you read it. Right, right, right, right. Right. I go out there for warmups with the regular, like practice tape. Soon as I come back in there, I take that off.

52:57Shannon Sharpe:All right, let's get it.

52:58Chad Johnson:Yeah. Yeah, I don't understand how people wear ankle braces on. They tape up their shoe, then they put on the ankle brace, then they put their shoe on. That's Lyman do that. Everything is restricted. I'm like, what are you doing? It made no sense to me, but it made people comfortable.

53:17Shannon Sharpe:I said Lyman, Lyman tape up all that stuff. because you know them linemen, they have on high tops. You know, they have, but they have rubber bottom shoes. They don't do studs. Most linemen don't do studs. No. Right. I played with Zim. He's the only offensive lineman I've ever seen wear low tops. For real?

53:40Chad Johnson:I've never seen an offensive lineman. Hey, you wore low tops. And no spare.

53:44Shannon Sharpe:Is it mandatory to wear knee braces if you're a lineman? In college. Most guys if you wear a knee brace you've had a knee injury like you look at Brady Tom Brady I'll be scuba Tom Brady Peyton Manning John John played his career John never had an ACL He tore his ACL in high school, and they removed it so he didn't have an ACL at all Damn um when I first got there he didn't used to practice with a brace No, as a matter of fact, he really did he didn't practice with a brace He only played in the brace, but he practiced without it but most of the time Joe if somebody's had especially linemen offensive linemen they'll continue to wear it quarterbacks will wear it Tom Brady once he tore his knee I don't think Brady ever took any brace off Peyton you know guys like that yeah I mean I could imagine a skilled position player playing with a big old Dunjoy on nah I couldn't but I noticed a lot of them linemen dudes I know they be cause they always getting rolled up on I think in college it might be mandatory Most college teams have all their offensive linemen wearing knee braces because of that, what you said, Joe, they get rolled up on, but.

54:54Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. Nah. Mm. Dang. But nah, I don't know how y 'all do it. I be looking at them guys in amazement with no tape. I'm like, man, that must be real. Nah, I do too. I could do it though too. And in football, hey, hey, hey, I be thinking the same thing because in football, especially the way they be tackling them receivers, the ones who be out there with them little no-show socks on, I be like, man, how this dude, It's like every play, it's almost a career and they play. And especially cause the hip drop. That's what got me, Ocho, taping my ankles like that cause guys with hip dropping you. And see back then, they didn't call it a high ankle sprain.

55:33Shannon Sharpe:They just called it an ankle sprain. And so you like, man this thing taking forever to heal. This ain't no typical ankle sprain. And I never rolled my ankle, like most people roll their ankle over the top. Roll it like that. I probate it in. I roll mine in, because I got dragged down from behind, Ocho, like that there. Mm. Man.

55:58Shannon Sharpe:I know that job. Boy, that must've been real nice to be able to wear no tape, Ocho. Huh? That must've been real nice.

56:08Chad Johnson:And that, you know what? Honestly, for me to be able to do that, playing at that level, as quick and as fast as I was it all had to do when I was little running around with no shoes on I could not play throw up tackle in the street you know when you play freeze you're in a car coming I always either had on socks or I had on no shoes so I needed to be able to feel the floor even once I made it it's weird

56:36Shannon Sharpe:but you played in molded bottles you didn't play in studs though did you?

56:41Chad Johnson:oh yeah molded I don't play in no studs Even when we played the Steelers, even when we played the Steelers, remember how the Steelers purposely had that bad feel as an advantage to them? I still wore, I still wore the - You still wore a motor model? Yeah, still wear a motor. I never slip, never slip. I'm always over, what's the word I'm looking for? I was always over my - Oh, the ball on your feet. Yeah, always, and I never, yeah, I never extended.

57:04Shannon Sharpe:I never extended. Oh, you're playing on your inside foot and slip like, bro, you know it's wet out here, you trying to play it, like you trying to speed cut like it's dry. Mm-hmm, yeah. Man, drop your hips and get on, put that weight on. The guy start skating, put the back of the foot down, Ocho. That's it, man. But my first, my first, I think my first like 10 years, Ocho, I wore molded. And then I went to the Speed TDs.

57:38Chad Johnson:Speed TDs, molded too, man? That's what it's called. Okay, okay.

57:42Shannon Sharpe:What they actually call tempo bottoms.

57:44Chad Johnson:Yeah, I know you're talking about it. That's what they call it. Nice boy.

57:48Shannon Sharpe:Hey, so how often did y 'all go through like different shoes? Every week. You play a new pair every game? Yeah, every week. So what I would do is that I would wear a new pair of shoes on Friday to get them broken in, and then I would play in them. Then I would practice in those Wednesday and Thursday, break out a new pair for Friday, playing those on Sunday. Yeah. I like new shoes. I hate it when my shoes got too broken. Oh, hell no, man. I probably played in a new pair of shoes like every three games on El Joe. Because I hate it when they got too broken and too loose. I like my shoe to be snug, tight.

58:32Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. I was going to say, you play in a new pair of shoes, but I think Jordan played in a new pair of shoes every game. Yeah, yeah. Damn. Man, you know how brand new shoes hurt your feet? You know, Shade say it hurts like brand new shoes. Yeah. You remember when you was a kid, your shoes too small, you hitting the bottom with your heel. Ooh, kicking them heels, girl. Oh yeah. Man, I hate that. I hate that. That's how I got this old hammer toe I got over here. From winning two little shoes.

59:06Chad Johnson:Yeah, you know you can go get a little surgery for that too now.

59:10Shannon Sharpe:Nah, I ain't hurting man. I'm playing. It took me through my whole professional career. Ain't no need to get any jacers over with. Jose, he ain't get no surgery unless he have to. What? No voluntary surgery? Cosmetic surgery? I don't know how many times y 'all ever been under that knife, but I done been under it quite a few times. It ain't pretty.

59:29Chad Johnson:I ain't never been under that, Joe. That's probably why I'm suggesting it. My bad.

59:33Shannon Sharpe:Hey, man, look at it. I had broke my collarbone and it almost broke the skin, so I got a knot right here. I said, Mr. Sharp, we can file it down. I said, man, do you know how I pay for that to be to file a bone down? I said, it ain't bothering nobody. Always hurt. Right, right. And if I don't really walk around, I ain't at the beach, I ain't walk around with no shutoffs, ain't nobody gonna notice it. And like when I do a photo, they just switch it to the opposite side. So if I'm facing this side, they'll take the bone and put it on this side so you won't even notice it. Damn. Okay, I see what you mean.

1:00:05Shannon Sharpe:Okay, okay. Yeah, man. Uh-uh, nah, hell nah. One of that knife ain't no joke, boy. I got 18 screw, three plates in my face, man. Oh, yeah. I'm breaking my orbital bone. Damn, but you got elbow, Joe? I went up to dunk the ball and Stackhouse tried to block it and he kind of bodied me and I slipped off the rim, hit face first. Ah. I saw that guy happen to a guy in high school. He tried to dunk the ball and the guy undercut him. And the first thing he hit was this. Ooh. Yeah. Yeah, I was in bad shape. I was in bad shape. How much time you had to miss, Joe? We was in the playoffs. This was the first round.

1:00:50Shannon Sharpe:It was the first round of the second round of the playoffs. And that was the first game. Damn. Man, I missed the rest of that series. I think we beat them in six. Right. I was out about two weeks. And that was early. I came back early, whole hour bloodshot red, you know, just from the surgery and all that. Right, right, right. It took a minute for that redness to get out my eye. Hey, you had the mask on? Yes, I had the mask. I had the mask. I still got the mask. I still got it. Batman Joe, whatever that I'm talking about. Well, you can't breathe in there. That was back in 2005. You couldn't breathe with that mask on.

1:01:26Shannon Sharpe:I had to have a thing. You had to wear one up? I was blocking down, doing a combo block, power block, 16 power, I'll never forget it. Limon come around, pulling, fist go right through my face mask, bop. Damn. Fractured my orbital.

1:01:46Shannon Sharpe:Yep, I don't know about you, but mine hurt. What? That one hurt. Hey, I remember I was laying on there, I had my face hand like this here, I was like, oh man. Yeah, and Greek, Steve Antelobos, we call him Greek, though, he got it Sharpie, what's wrong? I said, Greek, it just felt like my face exploded. So he said, hey, can you get up? I said, yeah, but I don't want to. Hey, listen. Man, that thing was hurt though, Joe. So they got me that X-rated. Had a complete blow out the floor. Cause your eye sits in the socket, the whole floor. Yeah. Ooh. I know I was in pain, boy. I'm telling you, I would tell them, give me morphine, give me something, man, y 'all gotta give me something.

1:02:30Shannon Sharpe:Nah, I ain't want nothing. I ain't, I don't do the pain medicine, cause the pain medicine have you constipated. Oh, I had the, my head, listen, listen, I came down, hit my head on the floor, so I don't know if it was from that.

1:02:43Chad Johnson:Yeah, probably.

1:02:44Shannon Sharpe:My head was ringing so bad.

1:02:47Chad Johnson:Yeah.

1:02:48Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, and you know, like, once something like that happened, they don't want you to fall asleep.

1:02:51Chad Johnson:Nah, they keep you up.

1:02:53Shannon Sharpe:That would just say, you know, you okay? Don't fall asleep. I said, man, as soon as I get home, I'm going to bed. Right. I said, you don't fall asleep. Man. No, that thing don't bother me. I think my orbital was more painful. I don't know. Maybe I dislocated my elbow too. Because you see how my elbow bent like this? It bent like that the other way. So it's bending like this, it bent like that the other way. Damn. Damn, what the hell happened? Tried to catch a pass, and Romo had my arm. I couldn't get my arm through. So I landed. He landed on top of me and bent it up. Oh, god. That's what I'm saying, too.

1:03:41Shannon Sharpe:I had elbow surgery. I had elbow surgery, too. I had elbow surgery, too. I had three chip bones in my socket. I woke up one morning, my arm was stuck like this here. I couldn't open it up. Oh, you had loose bodies in there, huh? Oh, man, yeah, Dr. Andrew got me right over there in Alabama. He died in Mobile or Montgomery? I think he had. Birmingham, yeah, I think so.

1:04:12Chad Johnson:God damn, boy, y 'all been on the table like Operation. Remember the little game, Joe?

1:04:18Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, yeah. Remember Operation?

1:04:20Chad Johnson:Yeah, old Joe. But y 'all had everything done, boy.

1:04:28Shannon Sharpe:Joe, Kevin Durant says he would like to play for Team USA when his team suits up in 2028 in LA. Katie said, you guys, the media have projected that narrative. Where did the last dance thing come from? I didn't say that. I wasn't playing. LeBron said he wasn't. You didn't hear that from me. I've got to stay on top of my game. I'm not expecting. I want to produce on the floor and make Grant or whomever is making the decision want to put me on the team. I don't want to just, not just seniority. I want to still prove I can help the team win. KD makes the team. He'll be short a couple of, I guess what, a couple of months?

1:05:05Shannon Sharpe:Should I turn him 40? Because if LeBron were to play, he'd be 43. and Steph would be 40.

1:05:14Chad Johnson:You said make the team. What do you mean make the team? No, I'm saying if you were to play, oh, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Yeah, he going,

1:05:21Shannon Sharpe:hey, man, look, for the love of the game, bro, like the dude loves to play Uncle Ocho. They can say whatever they want to say about him. He enjoys playing the game and every time he steps on the floor, you know what you're going to pretty much get from him. Now, if he's still healthy at this point, still playing at a high level, yeah, I would love to see him out there as well playing with some of these young guys to help lead the charge. I mean, every time he's played on the USA team, whenever it has been, he's always showed up and showed out. Yep. I can see that. Four gold medals. Yes, sir. I can see it.

1:05:50Shannon Sharpe:I can see it. I can see it. What, he'll be 40 what? He'll be 40. A couple months shy of 40. Yeah, he'll be able to do it, man. He'll be able to do it. Because here's ESPN predicts the 2028 Olympic team. Cooper Flagg, Con Knipple, Jalen Durin, Armin Thompson, Scotty Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Anthony Edwards, Chet Hongren, Jalen Williams, Tyrese Halliburton, Bam Adebayo, Jason Tatum. I don't know, Joe. I don't know that team bringing the gold back. I like Cade and A.E. at the one and two. I ain't going to lie, boy. I like Con Knipple. I ain't going to lie. Okay, Ocho. He going to shatter that rookie three-point record.

1:06:38Shannon Sharpe:I mean, he going to put... This mofo might have 300 threes. Man, listen. Hey, I'm talking about he shooting the blood out that ball. You hear me? Oh, yeah. He can go now. I like the A.M.E.N. Thompson kid. I like Duren. I like the scene. I like the scene. What you don't like about it? Is it the bigs that you don't like? Got the bigs. Who going to do something with Yoke? Who going to do something with Wimby? We. Because Bam going to need some help down there, him and Chad. Yeah, absolutely.

1:07:08Chad Johnson:Hey, would Bam be considered undersized big?

1:07:12Shannon Sharpe:Yes, yeah.

1:07:13Chad Johnson:Like a tweener or more, like power forward center. He could play both.

1:07:16Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, he like a hybrid because he can handle the ball, Ocho. He can initiate the offense. He can pass. He can playmate. He can do a little bit of everything. Bam like a little wild card. I like having Bam in there.

1:07:27Chad Johnson:Yeah. But who is a big in general that can go in and just -

1:07:32Shannon Sharpe:We ain't really got no big Americans.

1:07:33Chad Johnson:Yeah.

1:07:34Shannon Sharpe:Nah, not no bigs who can guard. Not no traditional bigs. Right. We got stretches. That's what Chad is.

1:07:41Chad Johnson:A traditional big wouldn't work in today's game anyway.

1:07:44Shannon Sharpe:Well, obviously, you got to have somebody that can bang with Yoke.

1:07:47Chad Johnson:Okay, okay.

1:07:48Shannon Sharpe:You got to be able to bang with him. You got to be able to keep him off the glass. You got to make him work on the offensive end. Right. Because he going to get his. And the problem that you have with him is that he gets everybody else involved. Hey, Tater might say damn that. Yeah, y 'all ain't play me like that. I ain't play me. He might say damn. Hey, Joe, I see a name that ain't on here, averaging 29 points a game, and then the MVP discussion. Jay LeBrowse said, kick rocks. He said, first of all, he said... Yeah, how they don't have him on here? That's crazy. He said, BHPD disrespected me and closed my vid down.

1:08:26Shannon Sharpe:Oh, man.

1:08:31Shannon Sharpe:That's crazy, then, guys. Yeah, but I can see KD playing. I don't think Steph was. I think Steph was all in on that one. Steph said, look, this is my first and last. I'd have brought the family to Paris. Hey, we good. We got the gold medal. I'm good. Hey, and the performance that Steph put on. Yeah. I wouldn't go back. You'll never forget that. Yeah, I wouldn't go. That's the greatest Olympic in a game ever. Yeah.

1:08:54Chad Johnson:That was classic.

1:08:55Shannon Sharpe:Man, listen. I wouldn't go back and mess with that. I wouldn't go back and mess with that, Uncle Ojo. I wouldn't either.

1:09:06Shannon Sharpe:And when he shot that thing, man, and he just, that's way, way, I'm like, God. Hey, hey, he shot that thing with somebody not only draped on it, but he had KD and LeBron to his left wide open.

1:09:18Chad Johnson:Mm-hmm.

1:09:20Shannon Sharpe:He said, hey, hey, he said, if y 'all wanted to shoot it, y 'all would have never passed it to me, because you're not getting it back. Right. Hey, I said, what? Oh, my God. They put on a performance, boy. Hey. Man, you know everybody looking their chops on us, Joe and Ocho. Man, what? You know Canada want to try to get their lick in. The Serbs want to get their lick in. Greece with Giannis want to try to get a lick in. Yeah. Slovenia with Luka. Yeah.

1:09:55Chad Johnson:And listen, they waiting, too.

1:09:57Shannon Sharpe:Hey, and Germany. They waiting. Remember Germany beat them in FIBO a couple of years ago. And little Schroeder, Schroeder, he a different player. Oh, yeah. Schroeder, Schroeder, he different. Yeah. Oh, yeah. They got their work cut out for them. Because they got a big target on their back. Big target. I don't know. Maybe Joel Embiid will be healthy enough to want to play. Nah.

1:10:21Chad Johnson:Hey, listen. I give Joel Embiid my knees, man. If I can give him my knees, man, just to get him healthy, get him running up and down that court, man, and doing what he can do for the Olympics, He can take my knees, man.

1:10:33Shannon Sharpe:And then, you know, French, the French definitely want it. Wimby say he already looking at 28. You hear me? Wimby say he already, Wimby, after they lost, he said, I'm looking to get my lick back in 28. Yeah. Yeah, it's going to be a good one, man. The world has caught up to us, fellas. In basketball? Yeah, from a talent perspective, they ain't scared no more, Uncle Ocho. They ain't scared. Playing under those rules? playing under those rules, those feeble rules? Oh, yeah. It's a whole different game. They could knock the ball off the rim and all kind of foolishness. Yeah. It's going to be a tough one for us.

1:11:10Shannon Sharpe:We'll pull it out, though. Speaking of that, Kevin Durant also spoke about the narrative that the world is catching up to Team USA. Katie says, all I hear is AAU is destroying the game. The Euros do it right while the Americans do it wrong. It's a lot of bull jive with that. I can read between the lines. It's a shot at black Americans. We're controlling the sport. They're tired of us controlling the sports. France is coming for y 'all. Really? Man, we smacked them boys. Right. Man, KD, you got to come back and die. Yeah. Hey, I like the energy. I like the energy, fellas. Hey, listen, because I'm with him on that.

1:11:44Shannon Sharpe:Man, listen, we the best. I think has the world caught up? Yeah, but I think guys have kind of got a little bored with this for whatever reason. But we got to get back to dominating, man. We got to get back to dominating, fellas. I'm saying from top to bottom, it ain't no teams betting us from top to bottom on Uncle Ocho. No, but when they first started, they might have had four or five players in the NBA. Every team that sends somebody to the Olympics, they got NBA players. Yeah, you're right. So that's the difference between now. No, nobody has the depth that we have. It's just like the American sprinters.

1:12:20Shannon Sharpe:Nobody has the depth when it comes to 100-meter sprinting, 200-meter sprinting, 400-meter sprinting. Nobody got that depth.

1:12:28Chad Johnson:But they got a couple.

1:12:31Shannon Sharpe:Yeah.

1:12:32Chad Johnson:I mean, you heard what you just said, a couple. I don't think they have enough.

1:12:37Shannon Sharpe:But Ocho, but here's the thing. When they played in 92, you couldn't find a foreigner in the top 25. Right. The top seven, eight players in the NBA currently are foreigners. Foreigners, yeah.

1:12:49Chad Johnson:I mean, the game has evolved. They have evolved in general. You know, they've gotten better, whatever it is that they do in their ecosystem and having kids go through whatever type of training they do. Now you have more players in the NBA that are foreigners. But I still think as a whole, collectively as a group, they will never be able to dominate us, especially at said craft, especially in Olympics.

1:13:15Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, well, they done beat us before. You know what I mean? Once you get beat. Once you get beat. Right. it's hard to keep them wolves off. Once them hyenas found out they could take down a Cape Buffalo, it's hard to protect them calves.

1:13:34Chad Johnson:It's hard, man. Hey, them group of names you just put up, even though we ain't got no big, they ain't letting us down. I sure hope you're right, Ocho.

1:13:45Shannon Sharpe:That mean your perimeter guys got to be lights out.

1:13:48Chad Johnson:They got to be on point. They got to be on point.

1:13:54Shannon Sharpe:I like that Con Caniple for the simple fact he can shoot threes. You got to have somebody that can be a knockdown three. You got to have a couple of those guys. Yeah, because you're going to have guys who can go off the bounce, who can create opportunities for other guys, and you just want them other guys like Con Caniple to be able to knock down shots. Man, I watched him play, Ocho Con Caniple. He don't even really look like no NBA player. But when I'm talking about getting it done, oh, my God. The boy out there getting it done, Ocho. Every time you look in the box, he got 20, 27 points. Like, I'm talking about shooting it, man.

1:14:30Chad Johnson:This is the biggest night in podcasting. The countdown is on to our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Live from South by Southwest, March 16th, we'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry. It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world. creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is... See all the nominees now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards.

1:15:00Shannon Sharpe:Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app, Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen.

1:15:12Chad Johnson:Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I am Greg Rosenthal. I know that, Greg. We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL offseason. This is where teams are built. Free agency, combine, pro days, trades. Every move matters. From my draft boards and mock drafts to my vaunted top 101 free agents and how rosters come together. Quarterback movement. Surprise signings. We'll tell you what it means and who really wins. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search 40s and free agents, and listen now.