Chapter 1: What are Amin's thoughts on Inside The NBA?
This is the Dan Levitar Show with the Stugatz Podcast. Amin's going to join us in a little bit here. We'll get his weekend observations. I also want to get his thoughts on the conversation we were just having and play for all of you Mike Wilbon's last appearance with us where he was complaining like an old guy the way that Barkley and Shaq do about today's NBA.
I was actually surprised by his response. because Mike Wilbon has loved basketball like very few people I've ever known in my life. To see him sour on today's sport actually caught me off guard. But before I do that, I wanted to ask David and all of you if you're watching specifically what's happening
at CBS as Stephen Colbert does the best show he's ever done, freest show, talking politics nightly in a way that he's uniquely equipped for, and to see Jimmy Kimmel's evolution from the man show
to now he's regularly tackling politics and the both of them are doing something that's in the realm of Bill Maher while the established late night entity of Johnny Carson falls apart because Jimmy Fallon can't do what Colbert has always done. and what Kimmel has grown into doing, but CBS is bought and paid for.
Chapter 2: What does Amin reveal about his Weekend Observations?
What's happened to one of our legacy media items is about to collapse as soon as Colbert leaves, and you will see nothing on there ever again that feels anything like what Colbert is presently doing. His show's on fire. Like, if you watch right now, he's honoring
What Jon Stewart did when bringing The Daily Show up as a credible news outlet that's fighting for democracy, and it's a jester fighting against our dull, incompetent, corrupt, felonious king. A court jester who's doing his job correctly.
But are you watching, David, everything specifically happening at CBS, where there is a billionaire corporate takeover that is trying to turn it into something that more resembles Fox News and isn't in any way something that is...
uh... in anyway aspiring to objectivity well fox news is actually not all that uh... in good graces either with the government and really what the bigger concern is is whether or not you can threaten to take away the license of a media company for not talking about an issue the way the president wants you to talk about it.
That to me is the most concerning issue where you need them to talk about the war in Iran in a certain way, or you will threaten them with their lifeblood. It is absolutely should be scary to everyone here, no matter your political views. if there is a risk of a state-run media. And that's what we're talking about.
I have not seen what is presently happening in media in my entire lifetime, not adult lifetime. Even reading about history, I'd have to go back to McCarthyism to feel anything like what it is that is presently happening with the government weaponizing all sorts of things in order.
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Chapter 3: How does Mike Wilbon feel about today's NBA?
What about Cuba? I thought that was state-run. That was part of the problem with the state-run media. No, but that's talking you're talking about 1959. That's before McCarthyism. You're talking about something.
The last thing that I could remember that feels anything like what is presently happening in and around the media where the government is actively trying to create fear that changes the way that all of these free speech enterprises do business. It's something I've never seen in my life. This is something that no one listening to this has seen in their life.
They're coming after Tucker Carlson, too. I don't know if you guys saw that, accusing him of being some sort of Iranian spy, essentially, because he was texting back and forth with someone before the strike happened. And that part was very surprising to me. Oh, it's not surprising. Right.
He's now that's the whole problem with dealing with authoritarian policy is that you think you're in, but then you're out. And when you're out, you can't get back in. And everybody who's in becomes out. And then all of a sudden you're left with one person sitting alone at the top. Trump has lost Alex Jones. So this is the process that happens.
Chapter 4: What are the implications of Stephen Colbert's late-night show?
And so the question is, can we hold on long enough? Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones now aren't far right enough. Thank you. It's not about far right to me anymore. It's really not about make America great. It's really about who is going to only do what he wants, when he wants you to do it, the way he wants you to do it. It's not really about far right or far left.
Yeah, he's lost plenty of people on the far right that don't think he's far right enough because of what he ran on. Like Nick Fuentes is essentially a Nazi. He's a white nationalist. And he's telling everybody to vote Democrat because this guy ran on Epstein files. This guy ran on no wars. Like those are two central platform issues for many on the far right.
Isolationism, you can't be claiming that when you're in yet another Middle Eastern war with no real plan. So he's lost a lot of people that are still white nationalists on the right for not going overboard. One of the things that you have to focus on as we hit the midterms and as we go on is what position will Republicans take? And is it possible that you can go back to being a Republican?
Because what got lost with Trump 45 and Trump 47 is people who are run-of-the-mill Republicans, there was no room for them anymore. And if you're seeing the possibility of room again, and that room is manifested by voting Democrat,
that's when you get well that's what let's talk about the control of the media let's talk for a second about a post-truth world because uh... i think we're already there when you talk about the things that my parents warn me about which is you can't trust the propaganda you can't trust the media you cannot trust the way the communism fell in cuba in the uh... late fifties and early sixties has all of the things in it that were presently talking about
minus the artificial intelligence, minus the fact that I now, and this has been the case with me for a while, but I'm a little stunned to see it happening with the young people around here, I just don't know what's real anymore when I'm watching just about anything, and my wife, who's younger than me, can spot
all of this stuff better than me when i'm watching an ad and she's like that's not a human being talking that's a fake mouth on that person and i'm like i don't see what you're seeing here but it's happening now all over the place in a way that's more confusing than it's ever been and it's only going to get worse imagine when the propaganda was just you can't believe what you're reading in a newspaper because they can fake that now my eyes are consistently lying to me
No, we're beyond cooked. And I don't know if we ever get back from it because AI is only going to get better. But this started really in the 20-teens with Facebook targeted messages that essentially helped sway that election. And now here we are where you're counting fingers and looking at how much coffee might be spilling out. That's always my go-to. I got to look at the fingers. It's insane.
And the conservative oligarchy's assault on truth has been a wild success. Sometimes it looks like, hey, the verified account doesn't have a blue check anymore, have fun. That's because you get to decide your own truth, which means we get to manipulate you and we get to devise our own truth too. We don't actually have to be accountable if we're beholden to journalistic principles.
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Chapter 5: What concerns are raised about media objectivity?
Mochetta comes over to the house and I pull out the Miller Lite. Miller Lite made that casual hang a memorable good Miller time with my good friend Mochetta because Miller Lite brought us together. We took that first sip after we toasted our beers and we knew we made the right call. We watched a game. All of a sudden, we're standing up on our feet.
Big threes are being drained and white cans are being clanged. See, times like these, that's exactly why Miller Lite is my go-to. Clean, refreshing, easy to drink, brewed for taste with simple ingredients. The original Lite beer since 1975, and it still hits different for yours truly and his good friend Mochetta. Cheers to legendary moments made with Miller Lite. Great taste, 96 calories.
Go to MillerLite.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Dan Levatard. My algorithm on Instagram is dance all boobs. Stugatz. It's a good algorithm.
This is the Dan Levatard Show with the Stugatz. Amin is here, and I want to get him in on the conversation we were having before this one. Amin, Zaz was wondering whether Inside the NBA has gotten too negative as a studio show. Let's play this sound of Michael Wilbon again.
Michael Wilbon, obviously, a voice from my youth on loving basketball more than all of the other sports by leaps and bounds, and I was really surprised when this was his answer to my question recently.
The sport today, in its evolved form where players are getting hurt all over the place, they're playing a different style, 53s a game, everything that's happening in the sport, do you love it the same way that you did? I hate it. I hate it this week more than ever.
I wanted to come and sit down and watch a real game between Oklahoma City and San Antonio the other night, and then I find out half the people aren't playing, which is the norm. It's the norm for half the people you paid to see, whether you paid to see in person or at home on one of the nine streaming services that makes it so you don't even know where the games are.
You don't even know where they are. Is it on Prime? Is it on ESPN? Is it on NBC? NBA TV? Where the hell's the game? I can't find it. I was with Charles Barkley one night in Arizona recently. We were having dinner, and we were like, hey, we've got to go watch that game. And Charles and I both looked at each other and go, where's the game? Where is it?
Two people who are employed to talk about basketball on national television don't know where the damn game is. Yeah, but that's just old guys. No, it's not old guys. No, it isn't. It actually isn't. I asked my son about it. He's 17. He plays high school basketball. I don't like all-star weekend.
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Chapter 6: What does Amin say about Marco Belinelli's documentary?
And we've seen it all the time, even within the context of the show, against Barkley, telling him, your opinion doesn't matter because you've never won a championship.
Chapter 7: What are the highlights of Amin's Weekend Observations?
This is all someone who is playing a role on TV and a role that's rewarded him quite handsomely. When it comes to Wilbon... I this is where I see him getting old because he's complaining about not knowing where the game is. Instead of saying, wow, the game is now on in more places for people who don't have to get a league pass subscription.
Instead of doing that, he's he's complaining about in the first year of a new TV rights deal, having to find some new stations. That's all it is. Five years from now, will we still hear these complaints? Probably not. But what do you make in general of the negativity of the coverage? You still love the sport. You get mad at Mike when he's that critical of it. Your passion shows all the time.
Your enthusiasm has not waned. Jeff Van Gundy was let go, at least in part, because he was criticizing officials too much. Your enthusiasm for the game is infectious. What do you make of old people railing against the game? I don't think Jeff Van Gundy got let go because he's critical.
I think Jeff Van Gundy got let go because ESPN does weird things sometimes where they let people go who are more than qualified to do their job. I truly believe that. Because let me put it this way. If the NBA was pressuring ESPN about coverage, there'd be a lot of people who got let go. There'd be a lot of people who got let go who didn't get let go. I mean, you can believe what you want here.
I have slightly more information than you do here on why it is and how it is Jeff Van Gundy was let go, and it's not quite as random as one bozo executive making dumb decisions. Happen to know? They had a problem. I do happen to know. Sounds like a happen to know. It is a happen to know. Wait, do you know Jeff? They happen to haveā He happens to know. They have a problem.
They had a problem with how negative he was on the officiating. Sure. Sure, sure. But, you know, again, ESPN, I don't think I ever will use them as the kind of the weather vane of which way, or bellwether, there you go, of which way, you know, these things are going. But overall, Dan, negativity sells across the board in everything, it seems like.
And I think people went 10 toes in on just this negative coverage. And it's funny, I heard you earlier mention, oh, players don't like Barkley. Man, like, I've listened to some of these player shows. They don't sound enthusiastic or positive either. It's just they don't like when someone else does it, right?
When they complain about who are these guys that are, you know, who haven't played, how dare they have opinions. I'm like... Because some of your opinions are all about, hey, when I did it, it's all about, again, servicing your legacy and your resume rather than just saying it how it is. And Zazz, I thought you were absolutely right.
I mean, I guess everyone go play some bets tonight because Zazz got something right. Like the idea of like, hey, man, it's OK to say Saturday night was a fun game and we don't have to look at it in the big picture. Does this mean they're going to win a title? No, we can just talk about Saturday night. Two good teams in the Western Conference jockeying for position.
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Chapter 8: How does the discussion shift to the impact of AI on media?
Make no mistake. Anonymity for that piece of shit movie is back. The gone boring drivel. Oh, I have to listen to this all weekend long. Oh, train dreams are so beautiful. Boring. Nothing happens in it. Train dreams. It's like picking all the boring parts of Red Dead Redemption 2 and making a movie out of it.
Oh, you want to just pick certain herbs and flowers and then ride around for 20 hours across the American West? Yeah, that's it. Congrats to Team USA. Way to go on the road in a hostile environment and get a win. It's got to hurt for the public, right? If Team USA had lost, there's literally dozens of other sports that we turn our attention to. Like, okay, cool. What's next? Let's do that one.
This is literally the only thing that DR has. You know what they say. Albert Pujols is their manager? Work in a salad. Whoa. What? You and me can't be making that joke. Need to be said. The work in a salad? Work in a salad. I do as my fifth meal. Is he looking big these days? I didn't see. That's what he's saying. Who made it a salad? Why is that, Dan?
Why is it black people can make black people jokes, but fat people can't make fat people jokes? Yeah. If you guys made a black person joke, I'd be offended. But if I make a fat person joke, you're offended. But if you make a fat person joke, now it's taboo? It's called hypocrisy, Amin. Ah, thank you. Thank you, Roy. You're welcome.
Victor Wembenyama said the other day that the inflammation and swelling is down all over his body, except for in one place. Hey, Wemby. Leave the cheeky humor to Ant-Man. Your job is to be the NBA saint. Nobody comes to a Jerry Seinfeld show expecting Richard Pryor material.
If you're looking for an independent sports and entertainment podcast network with great content like Pack Your Knives, Basketball Illuminati, Here's the Science, and Cinephobe, Check out Count the Dongs. I mean Dings. Count the Ding. Count the Dongs is a totally different website. I think you've got to be careful with that. Don't type that in. Dark web.
That's called a callback, folks, in comedy to things that happened in yesterday's show. Speaking of Cinephope, Cinephope episode 303, the long-awaited, much-requested, everyone's been dying for this one, Tommy Boyd. This movie set the standard for comedy for a generation of white people, including my co-host and my freshman year college roommate at Georgia Tech. For black people, not so much.
Cinephobe, wherever you get podcasts. You guys like Tommy Boy? Let me ask Zaz. You love Tommy Boy, right? Love it. Never seen it. Excellent movie. I wasn't even going for that joke, Zazz. Never seen it. Roy just called it excellent, though. What do you do with that? Because this does not fall along your racial lines, your convenient racial tropes. Yeah. Roy, you're not being an ally right now.
I'm sorry, but it's a foul. You keep a six-pack of soda in here? I'm with you, mean. Swag. The Ravens. Roy disagrees. But what about Roy? What about Roy's opinion here? Roy sideswiped you. He is saying that he is a black person who liked Tommy Boy. Roy, watch me be an ally. Dan, we are not a monolith. There you go. That's how you do that. Good job. Good job. Tommy want wingy.
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