Transcript

Dan Le Batard 9/7/22 🔥 The Big Suey: The NBA 2K Gatekeepers

From The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 49 min · 9,321 words · 52 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Dan Le Batard 9/7/22 🔥 The Big Suey: The NBA 2K Gatekeepers", an episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz published September 7, 2022 (49 min, about 9,321 words). It mentions 7 people, works and ideas, including Amin Hassan, Fubo Sports Network, Ronnie 2K, Basketball Illuminati, Untold.

What this episode is about

The discussion centers on the ongoing controversy surrounding NBA players' rankings in the video game NBA 2K, highlighting player frustrations with their ratings, such as Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson's reactions to perceived unfairness. The segment also features humorous commentary and reflections on the nature of the rankings, sparking debate about athletic performance and recognition within the gaming world.

Key takeaways

  • NBA 2K ratings are the ultimate case of 'don't take it personally, it's just a video game!'
  • Kevin Durant’s ranking angst reveals the absurdity of ego in a game defined by stats and pixels.
  • Amidst off-court drama, players seek validation in player rankings like teenagers chasing social media likes.
  • The New Media era turns rankings into public debates, exposing the absurdity of arbitrary gatekeepers in sports.
  • In sports, prestige hangs by a thread; even a 1-point difference can ignite narratives more gripping than the game.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Amin Hassan, DraftKings, Ronnie 2K
  2. – 10:00: Ronnie 2K
  3. – 15:00: Fast and Loose F1, Amin Hassan, DraftKings, Basketball Illuminati
  4. – 20:00: Basketball Illuminati, Untold
  5. – 30:00: DraftKings
  6. – 40:00: Fubo Sports Network

Notable quotes from "Dan Le Batard 9/7/22 🔥 The Big Suey: The NBA 2K Gatekeepers"

  • Foreign presented by DraftKings why are you listening to this show the podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan Le batard podcast I'm sorry I'm not going to apologize for that in fact the only.
    about DraftKings · at
  • Best laugh as well will be later on the show so we will have plenty to cover here Amino Hassan joins us and we are grateful for his presence I wanted to ask you for a couple of different things first of all there is.
    about Amin Hassan · at
  • And finding disrespect wherever you can find it and the internet is plentiful in this regard but less Kevin Durant not get enough of his disrespect from the internet he now goes after Ronnie oh yeah Ronnie 2K what a guy my favorite part is.
    about Ronnie 2K · at
  • World's most prestigious and fastest F1 teams challenge each other on the world stage on fast and loose F1 you'll hear from the top drivers managers and team owners to get…
    about Fast and Loose F1 · at
  • Relationships I thought that not player evaluation was the strength there well I would be remiss to not say today's edition of basketball Illuminati we address many of these…
    about Basketball Illuminati · at
  • Preview and people can see it noon September 12th FUBU Sports Network airing it out with hoosh and Scandrick it is with Orlando Scandrick the former Cowboy what are you guys…
    about Fubo Sports Network · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Amin Hassan — Person · Guest analyst (basketball commentator) · 2 mentions · first at
    Provides the episode’s main basketball analysis: dismisses 2K ratings outrage, explains Warriors cap decisions, critiques the Knicks’ Mitchell pursuit, and discusses holes in the Donaghy documentary.
  • Ronnie 2K — Person · Referenced public-facing figure for NBA 2K ratings · 2 mentions · first at
    Becomes the target of Kevin Durant’s complaint about his rating, illustrating how players treat game-ratings as a legitimacy battleground and publicity engine.

Companies & orgs

  • Fubo Sports Network — Company · Affiliated Media · 2 mentions · first at
    Platform hosting TJ Hooshmanzada's new sports show, mentioned as a significant partnership.

Media & podcasts

  • Basketball Illuminati — Media · Referenced Podcast · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as a source for in-depth basketball analysis, particularly regarding the NBA and player ratings.
  • Untold — Media · Critiqued Documentary · 2 mentions · first at
    Discussed critically for its handling of the Tim Donaghy scandal, with claims of inaccuracies.
    Something a lot of holes in it huh holes a lot of holes so you definitely don't want them what happened there with Untold they've done good work but they trusted Donahue a…
  • Fast and Loose F1 — Media · Sponsored Content · 2 mentions · first at
    Promoted as a new podcast about Formula One racing, hosted by Will Arnett.

Sponsors

  • DraftKings — Company · Sponsor · 3 mentions · first at
    Primary sponsor of the podcast, mentioned multiple times throughout the episode.

Full transcript with timestamps

foreign presented by DraftKings why are you listening to this show the podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan Le batard podcast I'm sorry I'm not going to apologize for that in fact the only difference seems to be this Imaging I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries that if they're just there that hasn't happened to you guys I've done it and now here's the marching band to Nowhere that face and the habitual liar stugots is off doing God bless football things he'll be back at the end of the hour for TJ hush manzada and we've got some sui categories today three sui categories today Chris Cody says he loves the most uncomfortable moment oh is that a oh my God I could we could have just played the entire Paul O'Neill interview honestly it's the rare usually in in one interview there will only be one nomination Dan is nominated twice in Nepal interview the start of it and the

end of it so check that out today best story will be later on in the show and best laugh as well will be later on the show so we will have plenty to uh to cover here Amino Hassan joins us and we are grateful for his presence I wanted to ask you for a couple of different things uh first of all there is a great deal of controversy with NBA players and their 2K rankings oh this is the season Kevin Durant says it's laughable that he gets a 96 instead of a 99 Clay Thompson does not like that as a shooter he's Luke Kennard he's 88 instead of uh the 99 that Steph is and a whole lot of people are wondering whether Jimmy Butler should be 5.5 points better than Paul George so your thoughts on the 2K rankings first of all laughable that's another word I forgot on the list the other day laughable oh it's laughable this is something I can laugh at that's what that's what laughable means it doesn't mean you're

actually laughing at it it means this is something I can laugh at it's laughable stupid word stupid word get it out of the Lexicon uh this is the dumbest thing ever and they do it every year I had this conversation in my group chat with my my cousins and my friends who work in the music industry and they were saying one of them said I wish there was something reputable like this for music and I said you think this is reputable is it well the players all seem to respect it's like no it's a video game they play and they're feeling hurt that their number isn't as high as they think they should be which is literally every single athlete every single player in the NBA looked at his rating and said not high enough right every single one starting with Kevin Durant all the way down so the idea that this has any sort of weight or Merit no it's just if it were a game they didn't play right if we're if we're NBA Live for

instance nobody would care because they don't play it but because they play this game on in their free time they want to know that I'm represented the way I am which is why by the way one of the most popular features in 2K is the what is my player right because that allows every single human being on Earth to have that same feeling I should be rated higher I'm gonna go work out and do this and that but all of it is dumb and meaningless and just there just to stir up conversation at a time typically we have nothing to talk about oh but they legitimately get their feelings hurt yeah but it's not it's not fraudulent to say that Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson and we've talked about this in general just the spitting Defiance of the Warriors winning the title whether the new Norm is going to be more and more craving of more and more respect and finding disrespect wherever you can find it and the internet is plentiful in

this regard but less less Kevin Durant not get enough of his disrespect from the internet he now goes after Ronnie oh yeah Ronnie 2K what a guy uh my favorite part is Durant kind of does that and then all the people responding to him and then his responses to the people that's the funny part that's what the f because he says that thing and like two minutes later someone has uploaded a very like well-produced Tick Tock Style video where the Tweet is the green screen and the guys recapping what happened when Kevin Durant got upset like on a very serious news report way and dreads like my man you were quick with it I just yes jump to it there's another one where the guy says that's because you don't have the it package Durant says what comes with the ID package he's a funny guy I I how can you not love someone getting indignant and calling laughable I just shouldn't be 96 I'm a 99. I I need three extra points it's not

good enough that my grade would be an a I need to be a slightly higher a all right so first of all it says a Ronnie 2K I'm going to need an explanation on why I'm not 99 this has become laughable so for him this is a trend of things that are happening and this is just the cherry on top but then the guy tweets that little video and he says you uploaded this in record timing my boy God damn this is a funny response and then some dude says cause you haven't showed the he's it Factor big bro and that's coming from a fan of you this guy's real serious so Durant responds what comes with the he's it package what does come with me like you're at a car wash it's the highest tier of package or they detail your car that's exactly what it is it's two hours of detailing but like this for me is in some ways like not to get too serious about 2k ratings but this is in some ways what the New Media is all about it's just

basically like who are The Gatekeepers of who says that I'm good or not and it's just some dudes that make video games that determine who are who are the best players in the video game right there's not a ton of science behind it they're not the people who know most about basketball just as we the media are like how are we The Gatekeepers on what's good and what's bad and Stu got's yelling at Kevin Durant making for making the wrong decision like why does stugots get to be the one who determines that but that's why this is great right because it's like a bunch of people you don't know and they're like white clay freak out to this and then you just give them a random number knowing that you're gonna get them upset and by the way then they're all talking about your video game so like the worst ratings you give them the more upset they get the more there's free publicity for this video game where everybody's talking about the

video game because they're upset about these arbitrary numbers looking art shot 45 from three last year it's harsh to say I'm only as good as Luke Canard he's career 42 and a half percent from three it's a good three-part it's just a funny name there's no one listening to this physical appearance who doesn't understand why Clay Thompson would be offended that his shooting rating is the same as Luke Canard it's simply a funny name and as an added bonus he looks the way Luke Canard does the the other part of this is that clay isn't a guy who talks isn't a guy who reacts a lot but when he does it is very like vociferous so think about when the top 75 players came on he wasn't on the list he was legitimately upset to the point where the war warriors were so tickled that he was so upset they hung a number 77 Jersey in his locker like hey he almost made it you're the 77th best player of all time but clay that that it hit him

that that thing hit him hard and so this is like another example of him that I think feelings slighted uh perhaps because of his injury for those wondering because Amin said they put a 77 what happened to 76 it's because there were 76 players in the top 75. thank you it's a good it's a good qualifier there that you're offering Billy I have some basketball questions even though this is very much football week what are the Warriors going to do with their salary cap problem uh such that it is I know that they go well into the luxury tax but they've got to make a decision between Draymond and Wiggins and clay and pool they can't keep all of those guys correct after next season so what is the decision that they're going to end up making do you think I think the name of the game is to win as many of these things as possible until you can't until it's not viable anymore and right now they're in a

position where their window is as open as it's as it's been um they gave up they did the right thing this off season where it's like hey we had some role players they played well they went and got more money elsewhere adios have a nice life Gary Payton go back home to Portland or wherever you're from uh hey bielito you go back to Europe cool Otto Porter Chicago or whatever he went yep that's cool too or Toronto went to Toronto like and then we're gonna replenish we got um the Michael Green they got uh Dante divincenzo and Dave rookie is coming through they got or young young players young players coming through which they plan for they planned last year that we're gonna play these guys as rookies because eventually that's the succession plan for those guys so for now they don't have to do anything Jordan Poole is the most pressing issue and um if he doesn't get extended here before the start of the Season he's just

going to be a restricted free agent next summer and we see that that typically tends to favor the team in terms of control right whether you're DeAndre ayton and you didn't want to be there and they're like too bad we're keeping you or you're Colin sexton in Cleveland and they're like we don't know what to do with you and then here comes uh Donovan Mitchell deal boom well sign and trade you there there's value in holding a restricted free agency right so there's no to me there's no pressing concern to get Jordan pool done particularly as as Tyler Tyler hero still isn't done he's not done yet no so it's like what Tyler hero gets what Colin Sexton got what RJ Barrett got like all of these numbers I think are going to factor into what Jordan Poole gets because that's his peer group this episode is brought to you by the new podcast fast and loose F1 Formula One drivers Live Life in the Fast Lane

both on and off the track and wondry's new podcast fast and loosed F1 hosted by Will Arnett is here to cover it all from McLaren to Ferrari to Mercedes from Lewis Hamilton to Daniel Ricardo the world's most prestigious and fastest F1 teams challenge each other on the world stage on fast and loose F1 you'll hear from the top drivers managers and team owners to get inside access into the high stakes drama of the chase to win the greatest racing competition smartless co-host Will Arnett will be joined by two-time world champion the flying fin Mika hakanin revealing the high-speed twists and turns after every F1 race listen to fast and loose F1 on Amazon music or wherever you get your podcast or listen ad free by subscribing to wondering Plus in the wondery app Dan Le batard Amino Hassan stugots the amino acid this is the libertar show with the stugarts we are presented by draftking Sportsbook

an official sports betting partner of the NFL download the DraftKings Sportsbook app today and use code Dan for a special offer when you sign up that's code Dan only at DraftKings Sportsbook we get somebody writing in from yesterday's Knicks take that's some stew level hot take from Danny saying Nicks are mismanaged disaster because they didn't trade the kitchen sink for Mitchell however if they did and are at the bottom of the standings come All-Star Game Dan will be first in line to shout that they're a mismanaged disaster I will be first in line knock people out of the way 20 years I've gotten to be at the front of that line and I always get to be right on mismanaged disaster another decade of irrelevance coming from the Knicks yeah they'll be ridiculous you don't have to knock anyone out there the bouncer's just gonna pick up that velvet roll right here this way Mr levitar come we got

your table ready where do you stand on the Knicks and them missing out on Donovan Mitchell and you're more qualified to speak on what I was talking about CAA running the Knicks Leon Rose running the Knicks and he was supposed to get the players with relationships I thought that not player evaluation was the strength there well I would be remiss to not say today's edition of basketball Illuminati we address many of these things talk about that Donovan Mitchell deal and what happened with the Knicks basketball Illuminati keep your third eye open available ready to get podcasts we also talked to Sean Patrick Griffin uh who we kind of did a post-mortem on that Donahue documentary and let me tell you something a lot of holes in it huh holes a lot of holes so you definitely don't want them what happened there with Untold they've done good work but they trusted Donahue a little too much to be honest and they didn't vet some of the

stuff he was saying until to me the the power of Untold is we get these people in the chair you're gonna hear from these people and now what they say is just but we're going to take their word for it but we get them in the chair so they got done in the chair and they got Batista and Martino but the reality is yeah there were things that were you know what John Patrick Griffin who wrote the book gaming the game which was the in-depth definitive you know account of what happened in the Scandal he says there's stuff that I know because I wrote this book and if you read my book you'd know it too and then there's stuff that just doesn't make sense like just on a surface level very lazy uh kind of um documentary work if you will there's a part where he starts off first of all he mentions a lot of stuff non-sequitous stuff that has nothing to do with him oh that King's Lakers game one of the worst

officiated was there was there any kind of fixing going on no you don't know okay so what are you doing you're just saying things the other thing was they never mentioned this in a documentary and this is in the book they said oh he's 37 and 10. he's the Elvis he's 37 and 10 on games that he officiated in when he had to official pick games that he wasn't an official in including a handful that were Scott Foster games his guy he went to like one in six or one in seven he was so bad they told him never mind let's just stick with the the ones that you're repping because clearly you have no insights clearly you don't know what you're talking about and so there was a lot of stuff like that just very the code they talk about uh how if I ask about your brother Chuck it's a home game if I ask about John it's a road game right uh it's a road the road team because they feared they were being wiretapped sure hey let me

ask you something how does that code work when there's 13 games on the schedule meaning that can only apply to one game which game do you think he's talking about Scott Foster's game is he talking about Tony Brothers game Derek Stafford's game I got you off the topic you can cover you can get more of this one basketball one last thing because Tom came up with this one they had the clip with uh Nick's heat and Derek Stafford hated Pat Riley and Isaiah Thomas is his boy and I knew he would try to stick it to him Tom went back and watched that game did the analysis Derek Stafford called 16 calls nine of them were for the Knicks seven in favor of the Heat Tim Donahue made 18 calls care we set the line how many do you think were for the Heat and how many for the Knicks why don't you just tell us 16 calls for the Knicks 16. wow so if you're talking about the Knicks covering a spread because one of

the refs had ulterior motives that's absolutely true but it wasn't Derek Stafford it was Tim Donahue and he walked around in this documentary throwing accusations left and right that would just patently false that anyone who did five seconds of research like Tom did or read a book that Sean Patrick wrote would have known immediately this guy's full of [ __ ] but they didn't but and everyone's running around saying oh this document I knew it I knew the NBA was rigged I knew oh they're trying to silence this guy oh oh David Stern would have had a drone strike to stop it no man no the guy's a liar don't watch Untold the documentary series with Donaghey do listen to basketball Illuminati if you want to be properly informed on this again though you're having trouble answering my questions because I asked you about the next all I got out of that story is Tim Donaghey should be a celebrity prognosticator this year again

oh we've used him before yeah repeat offenders yes we have used him before the Knicks the Knicks okay so here's the interesting things about the Knicks we start with everyone missed the boat everyone's asking did the Knicks not offer enough were they offering too much data no one stopped to ask is Donovan Mitchell a good fit for this team for five dollars for five million dollars for one draft pick a second round pick for all the draft picks is he a good fit for this team let's assume they got Donovan Mitchell they didn't have to give up their precious RJ Barrett Donovan Mitchell RJ Barrett Julius Randle Jalen Brunson does that sound like oh cohesive pieces that really complement one another no it's a terrible fit Donovan Mitchell's a star yes the the only reason they were chasing him was because he's a star because he was a CA guy if you stop there and say wait a second what am I building

what am I trying to build to even if Archie Barrett isn't there Brunson just left Dallas because he doesn't want to play behind a guy who's ball dominant right nothing personal just like hey I think I'm a lead guard I think I proved it when Luca was out I want to be a league guard I'm going to do it in New York awesome and then a month later you're trying to go get another guy to make him go back to what he was doing come on man it's all ridiculous no one stops to ask should we do this it's just can we do this but should we do this the answer should have been no so the next I think died the bullet in not allowing their own lunacy to get them into a situation that was doomed to fail the problem is once you get into this you're in a lose-lose situation if you got them it wouldn't have worked and everyone would have said you gave up too much if you don't get them everyone's saying I thought you

were a guy that's supposed to get us guys Leon Rose and on that note and you guys are gonna love this one you guys know who did the negotiation for the Knicks who's gentlemen for the Jazz for the Jazz it was Justin zanek who is the GM is Danny Angels the president of basketball operations Justin xanick is a GM he does the day-to-day stuff for the Knicks it wasn't Leon Rose this agent negotiator got a shark from the business world right who has relationships everywhere that's what they sold us on it wasn't Scott Perry the GM who does the day-to-day stuff it was Gerson roses who was hired uh recently as an advisor guys I've never heard of an advisor leading the negotiation on and that's not a knock on Gerson right Gerson is it sounds like a knock-on no it's not it's it sounds like a knockout it's it's not because we're not going on here we're knocking on Gershon you shouldn't have been doing the negotiation you're saying

he shouldn't have been doing them I'm saying as as an advice if he had a different title so it's not the it's not the man I'm talking about it's the position in the company right I would trust myself to negotiate on behalf of Meadowlark but my title does not lend itself to be someone who should be speaking on behalf of Meadowlark right his title does not lend itself to be someone who should be speaking on behalf of the team advising sure and put sure but leading the the negotiation again not about Rosas it's about an advisor not your president who's a freaking former agent and was brought in here because of relationships and negotiating and he's literally over two on both of those things mismanaged I can go to the front of the line and accuse them of being mismanaged right this way Mr levitarg how about bleachers how about Bleacher Report yes please I'll have the platter of Nicks are always in a

lose-lose situation no matter what the situation is uh the Bleacher Report says that the Miami Heat have the ninth best starting lineup in the league this as the 76ers add montrez Herald it seems because Daryl Mori and James Harden cut a wink wink deal that allows the Sixers to have room we seem for uh mantras Harold Mantra where did his son the Sixers I thought he signed with the Philadelphia Rockets I gotta check my notes Here hold on yeah no Daryl Mori James Harden Daniel house no this is the Rockets man I don't know he's talking about PJ Tucker that's a Rockets it's like they came to an agreement that like these are the only 12 players in the entire NBA that we like let's bring them all here tat Bell right you forgot PJ Tucker no he said PJ Tucker Steve Martin sorry Steve Martin's on this team too this is what's happening here this is just the Sixers are recreating they're making James Harden as comfortable as he

was in Houston when he was MVP let me ask you something or James Harden is making James Harden as comfortable as he was when he was in Houston as the MVP let me ask you a very serious question everyone's like oh my God they got Montrose Harold oh they're so much deeper why are they talking like that I don't know I want to get excited they talk like this I don't feel like that Billy does that a lot but I don't feel like mantra's Herald is the one that causes fans to talk like they are though I've been on the internet anyone ask the question why was mantra's Herald available to be signed in September he's bouncing on a lot of teams he put up good stats and there is a good regular season stats with the Clippers he was six man of the year with the customers yes he was in a very small concentrated role we're just going there give us energy uh roll hard on the basket to the basket grab rebounds but

like be terrible defensively not space the floor not be generally be unskilled in a lot of other areas and he wanted more and he went a couple of places and more was not to be found for him and here we are he's available in September to get signed that's usually not a good sign I I have a reason why he's available to sign in September what oh because he had a pending legal issue yeah well the pending legal issue is that he was charged for felony marijuana trafficking and it was reduced to a misdemeanor so I guess that makes it more palatable to sign sure what do you mean sure like I just I mean you wouldn't sign someone if they were all they were facing felony charges I wouldn't sign him if he wasn't replacing felony charge that's my point what's up everyone Ted Daytona here you guys know I love staying active whether it's hitting the gym shooting Hoops or any other kind of sport even I have

trouble with staying consistent but I want to let you guys in on a little secret come here come closer I know the gym intimidation Jim intimidation shout out to Chris Cody is a real thing and it's tough to get over that when you're getting back in a swing of staying active the most important thing is showing up and having a plan which is why I love fitbot it's the smart workout app that customizes an exercise program to my goals equipment and schedule I could even do it in the shipping container if I had to some of my favorite things about the fitbot app is the user-friendly interface that takes me step by step on building a workout plan that's right for me their algorithm uses data and analytics to scientifically build your best next workout and maximize results for personalized workouts I get tougher as you do join me and download the fitbot app fitbot works on your IOS and Android devices too get 25 off your subscription

or try out the app for free when you sign up right now at fitbod.me Dan again that's 25 off your subscription or try free right now at fitbod.me slashdown photography is not as hard as it's made out to be and now with computers I mean you can make anything look like anything it's almost cheating it's not fair if you push a button it takes a thousand pictures you're gonna find a good one in the batch there were a lot of photographers there uh taking a thousands of pictures one got that photograph okay good rhetoric stugots haven't you ever passed by photographers I guarantee you when that shot was taken we didn't just hear that's not what you heard if you were by that camera

with his two guards we're presented by draftking Sportsbook an official sports betting partner of the NFL download DraftKings Sportsbook app today and use code Dan for a special offer when you sign up that's code Dan only at DraftKings Sportsbook I mean I got a nice little production going got everything ready [ __ ] that is TJ hoochmanzada we love his work going back to college love his work back when he was scoring touchdowns and was it getting frisked by Chad Johnson in the end zone or was he was he frisking you or were you frisking him when you guys were running rough shot that team won 10 or 11 games right that team had no writ no business that team never has any business winning 10 or 11 games no I'm not talking about I'm not talking about the Bengals I'm talking about going back to college now that was actually you know who that was it was a Ken Simonson frisbee we had talked about it the whole

week uh just being in college man number I matter of fact I think we won I think we are 11-1 we lost to you dub we missed the field goal at the end of the game but it was uh yeah we were good we're the best team in the country when I got to uh Cincinnati got drafted to the Bengals it was funny because Peter Warwick and Ron Dugan's uh were on that team they went to Florida state Florida State played Oklahoma that year for the national championship and I told him I said man we're the smoke shop but yeah we were pretty good it was Ken Simonson I don't know if you guys remember he was our running back man if I'm not mistaken one of the top rushers even to this damn uh Pac-12 history again those two guys did you hear what the man said he is of the belief and I'm not going to argue with him because that team was overwhelming and then they won their bowl game by a million points he's making the argument that his Oregon

State team is the best team in the country that year that nobody wanted any part of what was happening in Corvallis amen we actually had a lot of guys off that League played a ton of years in the NFL like that kind of goes unnoticed it myself Chad we had Nick Barnett we had dwan Edwards and then we had some other guys actually play a handful of handful of years in the league but we're a pretty good team man it's we're just a bunch of guys from Juco and then the high school kids that actually got a chance uh they played well I want to talk to you about your podcast I want to talk to you about football in general and your Bengals career but take us back to that Juco LED team you guys were Renegade you were dangerous you were overwhelming how much fun was it to play with a bunch of guys who felt like mercenaries it felt like you guys were ahead of the curve on now we're gonna put together a hodgepodge of people from

all over and we're gonna drag you and we're gonna celebrate while dragging you it was a lot of those guys me personally I played against him in Juco um and so we a lot of us took our recruiting trip up to Oregon State and we was like man we come here we can do damage and I believe it was like 10 or 11 of us we all just signed with Oregon State and we actually did you gotta understand when you go to Juco man you're getting it out the mud and specifically for somebody like myself uh and a lot of people know this but I didn't play a lot of football growing up um I played one-year high school high school football my entire life I didn't graduate from high school I wasn't much of a of a student and going to Juco was it was like that light bulb went off and I kind of got my you know what together and just playing with those guys and playing against them I knew if a lot of us decided to go to Oregon State we were going to be good

and we were you didn't graduate from high school no I don't have a high school diploma at all and you were able to do that to Parlay that into okay I'm just gonna be I'm gonna be a Juco transfer and you were thinking of it as a career so when I tell people that they always like man when at least back then you know I'm a little older now as we know when you go to Junior College you don't have to have a diploma I just took the assessment test and I've always thought I was a smart and an intelligent guy I just didn't apply myself I didn't like structure I didn't like people telling me what to do and so when you told me what to do I was going to do what I wanted to do so that's why school and just playing sports wasn't for me at an early age but I scored high enough on assessment I got into Juco I played my first year and the head coach was Frank mazzotta he was like I think you can get a scholarship out of this

and you need to start going to school but what you need to do is go get your GED so after my first year at Junior College he signed me up for the GED I went took the test obviously passed it with flying colors um but it was because of Frank mazzotta telling me like you're gonna get a scholarship so you need to go to school you need to get your a you need to focus you're gonna you're gonna be able to do something with this and that was the reason I decided I need to focus and start being a student TJ you know what I apologize Dan I apologize to you because I've looked back at that season and you're right they beat UCLA they beat USC they beat Notre Dame they crushed Notre Dame they beat Oregon you were the most and it was a bunch of guys who like TJ did not want to be told what to do and they found their coach in they found their coach yes and the guy and the guy who was not going to tell them what to

do correct I will say this about about time I got to Oregon State I was okay with being told what to do because unless you're Your Own Boss somebody's gonna tell you what to do so you're either going to uh fall in line and you're going to have a long hard life and so I didn't want the long hard life and so you you fall in line it's not to be a leader you got to be able to follow and so I truly believe that and somebody's gonna have to tell you what to do and I'm coachable I can be told what to do it was just growing up with no Father Figure God never had nobody you got to do this I've always done what I wanted to do so anytime like I went out for football in high school and the coach was he was tough man he was a tough dude and he would start yelling and I would yell back and he'd be like get out of here and I'll be like I'm leaving and so it was like if I want to play football I got to listen to somebody

how improbable is your story right because it's not I don't think it's normal to have as long a career as you did with that as the path it's not normal I was fortunate man and I know that I was I didn't play sports growing up like a lot of these guys did and so for me to play as long as I did and be in the situation that I'm just the way I grew up anybody that know people that grew up with me they knew my lifestyle and how I grew up man I when you say come from nothing I'm in the picture my family is in that dictionary come from nothing that's us um we didn't have much man we moved around um from place to place Section 8 getting kicked out I mean I I didn't have people murdered in my house because of the lifestyle that my mother was living and so to be in a situation that I'm in now but to make it the way that I did um we still talk about it but at least the guys that I grew up were like bruh

you really fortunate to uh and I I used to say lucky and people talk you got to stop saying you're lucky um but just fortunate and blessed well let me ask you some follow-up questions there how much did you move around oh man I moved around been I've been from Southern California I moved around from place to place to place and then I lived in Texas for a period of time I lived in Oklahoma for a period of time and then came back to California come from nothing means what come from nothing means you're on Section Eight you're on welfare your life's getting cut off I got an older sister two younger brothers we sharing one box of macaroni and cheese one box of Rice-A-Roni all of us um parent mother on drugs so you know back then you're on welfare the first and the 15th all that money go to drugs and so we we got a fan for yourself I was 13 years old dad living like a grown man I was out there on the streets and

I'm on the corner like I was a grown man at 13 years old you say the way your mother was living that's what you're talking about you you're talking about the drug use yeah yeah I mean it is and then to this day Dan I've never I've never done a drug in my life I've never smoked anything a day in my life because I saw the effect of that and I didn't want that for myself and so never done anything in my life cigarette cigar weed never smoked anything a day in my life how were you able to avoid trouble given that there are a whole lot of people who just find trouble because desperation forces it upon you I was like I was 13 years old I was on the corner at 13 years old I'm thinking I'm grown thinking you know thinking I can handle myself like a man and so when you you experience that at a young age you kind of you you got to grow up I got two younger brothers I was taking care of them and I was 13.

they were like my kids you know like I was hustling and so I was buying them school clothes and making sure they went to school and I wasn't going to school like when I was high school I didn't I missed a whole year of high school I didn't even go to school I didn't even attend the day of school in high school for an entire year because I was on the streets taking care of my little brothers were you scared or does the fear eventually leave because you feel bulletproof and you're having success you feel you feel like whatever happens happens like I can hold my own looking back on it like I have a son like I couldn't imagine him doing what I did at 13. I couldn't imagine that but you do it and you adapt because you see this is what you see every day I saw it every day and so I felt like I was good um I felt like I could protect myself but you do feel bulletproof for sure yes were you actually armed you must have

been at 13 right because you had to protect yourself uh a little bit a little bit I mean you're you're you're you're you're a strong person correct like you you admire you look back at what you overcame and you are proud of yourself correct yeah I am that that's why that's who I am um I don't I don't want I don't wish that on anyone because a lot of kids used to come to being in the streets or or do you end up in jail or you end up dead or just whatever may happen um I was again one of the fortunate ones I'm I'm not it wasn't some oh I would love to do that again but it made me who I am like my little brother um he saw what I was doing and he did it and he went to jail for a long time and so I was a bad example to him and he wasn't as fortunate as I was to stay out of trouble and so that was just part of my story is who I am but it made me who I am did you have a chance or opportunity to choose a different path or like this

is this is what it had to be because you shouldn't be in charge of a family at 13. I mean it was either uh again my mother we live with my mother and my sister was pretty much raised by my grandmother and so my sister when I was hustling was with my grandmother at the time my sister is older than me and so my mom was on drugs I'm the oldest one in the house now so in that sense I gotta look at my mama's not around I I got to look after him I got to make sure they're eating and so I see what's going on in my neighborhood I see how to how they get money I'm gonna get money how you get money then did Chad Johnson change a lot from college to the pros you spent so much time together were you a part of him deciding or were you near it when he decided no I'm going to go the Ocho Cinco route there's a marketing machine here I'm gonna go brand management I'm going to turn this into an act because

there's money in it Chad is a smart guy um Chad is a genuinely good person nice person will give she's probably too nice too giving um but in college I was a talkative one you know I was the [ __ ] talker so to speak Chad experienced success before me in the NFL um but Chad is smart he knew he wanted to Market himself I don't believe he knew how big it can get it could get in what he was doing but Chad is a genius bro Chad is a genius when it comes to the way he marketed himself and look what he's done for him now he's been out the league for a decade and you say Ocho Cinco everybody knows who that is he's done a hell of a job with that but I don't know if he thought about it or if it was just him having fun and it morphed into this you are doing a season preview and people can see it noon September 12th FUBU Sports Network airing it out with hoosh and Scandrick it is with Orlando Scandrick the uh

former Cowboy what are you guys doing there what is it that you want to accomplish why are you pairing with him so me and all doing it on football it's uh we did we did a podcast last year called about the game in Orlando and I just thought our chemistry was was we did a really good job with it it was good we had really good chemistry me in Orlando dead in Orlando I don't know how much you know about Orlando but he's just gonna say whatever he feels um I believe we're knowledgeable about football and a lot of guys will say oh we're knowledgeable but both of us we're not I'm not gonna not say what I feel because I don't want to offend somebody if somebody's not doing or playing the way they should play I'ma say it and I know how it is I didn't play the way I wanted to play [ __ ] I dropped balls I drop punts I missed assignments and so I get it it's not what a guy's trying to do but uh it needs to be pointed out if

you're not doing what you're supposed to do and so me and Orlando is going to give a a raw perspective of what needs to be done each Sunday and if you're not doing it uh we're gonna let it be known I failed there I is not obviously FUBU it's fubos you're probably not the first it won't be the last one it is fubo and it is fubo Sports Network that he's doing the podcast with with Orlando Scandrick on TJ I have the Dolphins winning the Super Bowl do you agree messing around I had them win the Super Bowl listen I'm going to teach you about this business where are you guys at right now we're in Miami what are you doing you gotta listen once in a while you have to come out with a wild prediction and hopefully it lands okay and if it does everyone will remember you forever and if it doesn't Okay so that's that's the advice that you have for this man the life advice on how to do this in this business yes just

say ridiculous things yeah you know what though I don't believe the Dolphins are going to make the Super Bowl but I believe the Dolphins are going to have a really good season I truly do people get on too I like tour I really I think Joe is going to be fantastic and I I just don't understand when you look into it in college his receivers were so good that he actually went to the Miami Dolphins and he played with lesser Talent he played with lesser Talent at the Miami Dolphins than he had at Alabama he has those receivers now that can create separation that can run that he had in Alabama his offensive line is going to be better he has a lot of fast guys on offense he moster can run like they have explosive athletes on the offensive side of the ball I believe two was going to do well um Super Bowl no but I I believe the Dolphins will surprise some people don't beat the Patriots this Sunday that's for

sure that a boy uh that's for sure he has said what else do you have for us uh if you were to take his advice and give us what is uh one of your more surprising or extreme positions hey something in the sport that people are that other people aren't saying what would it be I believe the Philadelphia Eagles quite possibly will come out the NFC whoa why are so many why are so many people saying that why Eagles hype trainers why do so many people I mean if you look at them defensively they're they're stouted across defensive line check linebackers check secondary with Darius Slay and they get Brad buried they have it's really going to be can Jalen hurts take that next step if Jalen hurts takes that next step the Eagles are going to be a really tough team to beat they have two receivers that can really play in Devonte Smith and AJ Browner they we know they can run the ball it's and all this is dependent on can Jaylen Hurst

take that next step I believe he will now it's not going to be easy the the Realms they're not just gonna give it up but the Rams have a tough schedule man they play the uh AFC West they got a tough schedule and and then the Bucks I I don't know what's gonna happen you know when Tom Brady takes a sabbatical and training camp and how all this plays out um the Bucks are going to be tough to beat but I just I like what the Eagles I like what they did in the draft they got young at positions that uh they needed help at if Jalen Hurst takes that next step uh I think the Eagles can be special sabbatical in training camp yeah sabbatical like I'm just for me I love Brady man but I just don't believe you can do that I don't believe you can do that it's just I don't care who you are yeah you're Tom Brady and when you tell the coach that he's gonna okay it but you can't do that really so you think that his teammates

don't allow a wider birth just because of the absurdity of there's one guy in the sport you might make a different set of rules for I mean they'll allow it because they don't have a choice right you know uh Todd balls not Tom you can't you can't go okay I'll retire then so it's either that or this maybe not that black and white but I I just feel like when you're the quarterback and you're the leader of that team everybody has problems I get it every everybody has problems but to lead in training camp for a week and a half if things don't go well they're going to point to that and if things do go away oh see it's Tom Brady it's not a big deal and I don't believe it's going to matter because Tom was that good but you can't be a leader of a team and take time off because you have problems everybody has problems you're speaking to a mentality too in that Clubhouse in the locker room in the Huddle right where it

the ethos and the principle is so strong of We're All in This Together like that the the lack of dependability I'm not surprised to hear you say that but I don't hear a lot of people saying it because it's Tom Brady yeah and it's because of the type of teammate and God is Brady's been his entire career and you you're in New England answer this in New England he wouldn't even think the ax bill that you're not asking uh hey can I take this week and a half off can you imagine him sitting down asking Bill that he wouldn't do it and so you go to Tampa it's that parent that you know I'm gonna go ask my mom or my dad because I think I got a chance to get away with this and that's what he did in Temple I'm you just I just don't think it's the right thing to do you can't tell me um we in This Together We gonna do this together and then you have a problem and you leave and that problem can be huge I

get it but there's a lot of guys that have a lot of problems that never get into the locker room because they know this is my job and I have to do my job it's a must that I do my job and I can't take a sabbatical because I have a lot of [ __ ] going on do you have a corner who spent more time than most talking to you that had a lot to say that you remember off the top of your head uh yeah I mean it was always a chance we played the most um but I talked a lot um I would probably say Ike Turner Ike Turner my why'd I say Ike Turner um and it's with age I don't know why it is that uh I don't know why Tina Turner's abusive husband was running around in a secondary chasing you I can't even think of his last name what from the Steelers Ike the Sykes last night oh my God why am I forgetting drawing a blanket my entire room now is drawing up I Taylor I Taylor I knew it was an Ike with a T I know it was Ike with a t but yes

Ike Taylor like Ike Taylor he didn't really start it but if I said something uh it was all game all game and so Ike Taylor uh uh from the Steelers yeah he and by the way I think Ike Taylor's probably one of the most underrated DBS that played in the league at least when I was playing everybody else got the credit in Pittsburgh he didn't get his own pot of Malo is going to Porter it was going to that front Casey Hampton and those guys but like Taylor was underrated but yeah if I ever you say something crazy like Taylor it's all game August he's not gonna forget about it it's the entire game so just be ready did you run into a corner who was more likely than most the statute of limitations is up on this you it can be said now you don't have to give everybody uh the bravado was there a corner the night before you're like oh my God my hands are so full this is going to be really difficult nah I never

looked at it like that I remember uh we're playing the Raiders and if you recall when they had namdi and who was the other Corner she went Fabian Washington uh Marvin Lewis pointed out to me and Chad like they played man-to-man all game you guys can't get open We're not gonna win and I could be wrong here but I think me and Chad both had almost 100 yards at halftime so there was nobody that the confidence level had to be in your offense so strong that there was nobody that was feared the night before yeah I think I I'm a confident person anybody that knows me um I believe in myself wholeheartedly uh it doesn't matter who I'm going against uh and obviously Chad he believes that as well and as I'm telling you this my wife can hear everything that I'm saying and she said Ike Turner wow boy what are you thinking it is fubo it's the sports network airing it out with hoosh and skandrick he is co-hosting alongside Orlando

Scandrick and September 12th it's noon Eastern thank you TJ appreciate the time sir hey man you guys enjoy that time in Miami and if the Dolphins make the Super Bowl at least I know one person that said it first

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Dan Le Batard 9/7/22 🔥 The Big Suey: The NBA 2K Gatekeepers"?

Dan Le Batard (Host), Stugotz (Host), Amin Elhassan (Guest), TJ Houshmandzadeh (Guest).

What is "Dan Le Batard 9/7/22 🔥 The Big Suey: The NBA 2K Gatekeepers" about?

The discussion centers on the ongoing controversy surrounding NBA players' rankings in the video game NBA 2K, highlighting player frustrations with their ratings, such as Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson's reactions to perceived unfairness. The segment also features humorous commentary and reflections on the nature of the rankings, sparking debate about athletic performance and recognition within…

What is mentioned in this The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz episode?

7 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Amin Hassan, Fubo Sports Network, Ronnie 2K, Basketball Illuminati, Untold, Fast and Loose F1. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Dan Le Batard 9/7/22 🔥 The Big Suey: The NBA 2K Gatekeepers"?

The episode runs 49 min; the transcript is about 9,321 words in 52 timestamped sections.

More from The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.