PMT DB
PMT DB
Rachel Nichols on NBA Super Teams, LeBron's Subtweets, and Radio Wars
The era of the Radio War has officially arrived. Big Cat and PFT Commenter found themselves in the crosshairs of Philadelphia’s own Anthony Gargano, who called the hosts "D-bags" on 97.5 The Fanatic after they landed a GQ feature. Naturally, the only way to handle a challenge to your masculinity in the media world is to invite the man on the show and then make him listen to the *Rocky* theme song on a loop for forty-five minutes while he sits on hold. It’s Radio War 101, and the guys executed it to perfection, checking in on "Big Ant" just enough to make sure he hadn't hung up in a fit of rage.
Mount Rushmore of Bad Guys
To pass the time while Gargano marinated in Philly-themed hold music, the guys drafted the Mount Rushmore of Bad Guys. PFT led the charge by selecting a cinematic icon he hasn't actually bothered to watch yet.
PFT CommenterTony Montana is a top-tier bad guy, even though I've never seen 'Scarface'
My bad guys are, number one, Tony Montana. Now, I've never actually seen Scarface, but I'm told he's like the bad guy. I've seen the clip where he says, 'you need to point as a bad guy, and I'm the bad guy.'
He didn't stop at cinema, reaching back into the ultimate source material for his next pick, noting that the guy in the first half of the book was a real "hard ass."
PFT CommenterGod from the Old Testament is a top-tier bad guy
So I'll segue right from there into my number three which is God, God from the Old Testament. Kind of a bad guy. Threw a lot of stuff at people. People forget that. That God was kind of a hard ass.
Not to be outdone in the controversy department, PFT threw a local hero under the bus, much to the chagrin of New England Hank.
PFT CommenterTom Brady is a bad guy
Number four on my Mount Rushmore of bad guys. Tom Brady. [Belichick] never got suspended. True. He only got fined.
Hank stayed on brand with some high-fantasy villains and Russian mobsters, while Big Cat took a trip down memory lane to the squared circle for his top pick.
Big CatScott Hall (Razor Ramon) is the baddest bad guy in wrestling
I will go off movies now, Scott Hall, Razor Ramon. Maybe the baddest. ... Razor Ramon is the baddest of the bad then? Yeah, exactly.
Rachel Nichols Joins the Show
In a historic moment for the program, Rachel Nichols became the first female guest to enter the fray. After some initial nerves about talking to a woman, Big Cat and PFT grilled her on everything from the ESPN cafeteria's yogurt bar to the internal politics of NBA superstardom. Rachel didn't hold back, especially when it came to the recent move of Kevin Durant to the Warriors and the concept of player mobility.
Rachel NicholsNBA players should have the right to choose their super teams
I do believe that grownups should have the right to decide where they work. Kevin Durant was in Oklahoma City for almost 10 years. And if he wants to go play somewhere else, it doesn't really feel good for me as some random person sitting at home and saying, you know where I think you should live your life and work every day. I'm not a big fan of like the franchise tag.
PFT tried to float a theory that the newly formed super-team might struggle to find their rhythm early on, but Rachel was quick to shut down the idea that a team returning its entire core would have a "rocky" start.
PFT CommenterThe Warriors won't be good for the first half of the 2016 season
With Kevin [Durant] going out there, I have a theory that they're not going to be very good for the first half of the year next year. Only one ball.
Rachel NicholsThe Warriors will still be 'pretty good' to start the season because the team has played together for a long time
My theory is that you [PFT] don't know basketball that well then. ... unlike the Miami Heat that year, all but one of those players, they've been playing together for a long time. So it's not like the whole group is coming together the way they did in Miami. It's just really working one guy into the equation. ... they'll still be pretty good at basketball. They just might not be as good as they are by the time they hit their stride in the playoffs.
The conversation took a more serious turn as Big Cat, a lifelong Cubs fan, asked for Rachel’s perspective on the team trading for Aroldis Chapman. Rachel provided some veteran journalistic insight into the difference between players who show genuine remorse and those who simply treat investigations as an inconvenience.
Rachel NicholsAroldis Chapman should have issued a stronger public apology after his domestic violence incident
I would have liked him to make a stronger statement of apology publicly because I think that not only is that important in sort of the evolution of him and how fans might want to feel about him, it's important for kids who put those little Cubs uniforms and caps on every day and come to the park. ... I would have liked to have seen more of that from him personally.
Of course, it wouldn't be an NBA discussion without mentioning the King. Rachel offered a pragmatist’s view on the drama that surrounded the Cavaliers' championship run, essentially pointing at the trophy as the ultimate "shut up" to the critics of LeBron's social media habits.
Rachel NicholsLeBron James' subtweets didn't matter during the season because the Cavaliers ultimately won the championship
I'm saying that I have so many more important things in my day to care about than like what for. ... Here's how we know [it's not a big deal]. They fucking won the NBA title. Like, that's how you know it wasn't a big deal. ... It clearly didn't matter.
PR 101 and the End of the War
In a classic PR 101 segment, the guys analyzed Le'Veon Bell’s excuse for missing drug tests. Bell claimed he simply got a new phone and didn't see the notifications, a strategy PFT found remarkably sound from a legal perspective.
PFT CommenterClaiming you got a 'new phone' is a bulletproof excuse for missing an NFL drug test
The more I think about it, the more it's a bulletproof excuse for Le'Veon Bell. ... Isn't it like getting served? If you never get the call, then you don't have to pee. Unless you see the cup in front of your penis, you don't have to pee into it.
They also touched on the Heat’s recent moves, where Pat Riley seems to be playing the long game by acquiring players like Dion Waiters on the cheap. Big Cat sees it as the beginning of the next era in Miami.
Big CatPat Riley is building his next super team by 'hoodwinking' Dion Waiters
Pat Riley, he just took a step back down towards Earth on the stairway to heaven because this is how you build your empire back up. You hoodwink Dion Waiters a little bit. And the next thing you know, you got your next super team in place.
To wrap things up, the guys finally let Anthony Gargano off the hook. In a shocking twist, the radio war ended in a peace treaty. Gargano admitted he was just a "jealous, green-eyed monster" over the GQ feature, and the guys admitted they were just laughing at him while he listened to *Rocky* for an hour.
It’s a beautiful thing when two grown men can call each other names and then become best friends through the power of content.
