Thee Sam D

Podcast

The weekly podcast. Audio from Monday's livestream, published same day.

Podcast

College sports is in shambles

Tennessee is dropping $280 million on a hotel and entertainment district next to its stadium while the coalition pushing the Protect College Sports Act, Ted Cruz, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee, and now Deion Sanders, insists college athletes are the ones bankrupting the sport. Sam runs the receipts: Big Ten revenue near $1.5 billion, a $200 million Miami Nike deal, Ohio State's $54 million roster budget, and argues the anti-NIL push is really about restricting how much of that money reaches predominantly black rosters, sold to the public through a rotating cast of black faces, Jay-Z during the anthem protests, an HBCU player and Deion Sanders now.

Colin Kaepernick's new memoir tour supplies the historical receipts on that pattern, plus audio of Robert Kraft confirming he blocked Macklemore over his Palestine comments. Also covered: why Ben Johnson's Bears finally look like themselves in week one instead of a quarter of the way into the season.

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The Clippers Got Off Light...So Did Everybody Else

The NBA handed down the largest owner fine in league history and it still isn't a punishment. Steve Ballmer eats $30M out of a petty cash fund on a team he bought for $2 billion in cash, Lawrence Frank loses six months of pay four months after signing a four-year extension, and the five first-round picks stripped from the Clippers are only their own picks, which means the two unprotected firsts coming back in the Kawhi trade quietly replace most of what was taken.

Meanwhile the man the league says had the least knowledge of any of it is the one sports media wants suspended. The penalties are performative, the embarrassment is the only real cost, and the reason Stephen A. is demanding Kawhi's money back has nothing to do with Kawhi and everything to do with holding onto second place behind a punter.

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Episode 337 — The Browns QB Decision Nobody Wanted to Make

Naming Deshaun Watson the Browns starter over Shedeur Sanders isn't a vote of confidence. It's Cleveland running out the only calculated move it had left, and the real story was never the quarterback competition. It's the $86.2M dead-cap monster of a contract that made this outcome inevitable, plus the $200M guarantee ticking toward vesting in March 2027.

From there: 49ers owner Jed York getting arrested at a trailer park over $140 while worth half a billion, Jon Gruden's rehabilitated return to the ESPN booth while suing the league for $150M, and why NIL was never the villain. College football just finally stopped pretending it wasn't already a business.

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Episode 336 — Stephen A. Smith, Pat McAfee & The Grift Taking Over Sports Media

The NABJ thumbs down award is accurate. The pattern of going at Jemele Hill, Jasmine Crockett and Cari Champion is real, and the question nobody in the chat could answer is still sitting there: name one person who isn't melanated that Stephen A has ever come at with that same energy. But NABJ fired the first shot at a man with a huge platform and a decade of receipts on them, and if he opens that bag it's scary hours for the organization.

The reason he's grifting in the politics lane is money. Pat McAfee took his spot, got tighter with the executives, and then greeted Trump on the tarmac as an album rollout. Marquette King has three albums and no tarmac. Dan Orlovsky's QB traits rankings have a CAA client in six of seven categories.

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Drew Brees is a Hall of Fame Grifter

Drew Brees got enshrined in Canton and gave a nearly 30 minute speech thanking everybody under the sun. Here is the other file on him. AdvoCare, the wellness company Brees fronted, paid $150 million in 2019 to settle pyramid scheme charges. It charged people $59 to become a distributor and then required $1,200 to $2,400 in product purchases to unlock all forms of compensation, and once Brees was the face, that push landed on the same low income New Orleans households he gets credit for inspiring after Katrina. Stack the Kaepernick takes in 2016 and 2020 on top, then the $8 million blue diamond ring that later appraised at $3.75 million.

The rest of the show: Roger Craig had to tape his Hall of Fame speech because he has vascular dementia, Ahman Green revealed he has Parkinson's, CBS is looking for a way out of the $72 million it still owes Tony Romo, and Clay Travis trademarked a site that covers sports and politics.

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NFL and ESPN link up to cover up Kyle Shanahan car accident

Kyle Shanahan broke his nose, three ribs and his hand, needed more than 40 stitches in his face and suffered a severe concussion in a July 14th car crash. Nobody reported a syllable of it for almost two weeks. Then the 49ers put out a statement at noon on a Saturday, Adam Schefter tweeted it at 12:01, and ESPN had a full article with police quotes and John Lynch quotes at 12:02. That's a coordinated news dump timed to the hour training camp opened, run by the insider who wrote a book with Mike Shanahan.

The rest of the show follows the money. Chris Forrester, who recorded himself snorting lines while employed as an NFL coach, runs camp in Shanahan's place. ESPN's summer NFL desk has no Ryan Clark and no Cam Newton, but plenty of Dan Orlovsky, Dan Graziano and Tim Hasselbeck arguing about pedicures in late July.

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Podcast

LeBron Chose To Work Smarter Not Harder

LeBron signed with the Philadelphia 76ers on a two year, $8 million deal, $3.8 million guaranteed in year one with a $4 million player option behind it, and the money was never the point. At 41, soon to be 42, you don't sign up to drag Cleveland through a season or babysit Minnesota. You go to the team that needs you the least. Philly already had Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe. That's working smarter, not harder.

From there: why Maxey not being a point guard makes LeBron the point guard, how Philly's interchangeable wings were built to get through the Knicks, LeBron's "this is my last decision" statement read as cinematic mode, and why five rings only matter as a step toward six. Cleveland and Golden State come out of this the biggest losers, and the Fanatics ownership angle explains the rest.

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Reacting to the ESPN layoffs plus why LeBron is still the face of the NBA

Ryan Clark helped rebuild ESPN's NFL coverage and got told he was done in the middle of NFL Live. The performance case doesn't exist. What exists is last September, when Clark told Peter Schrager "that's the non player in you," Schrager said don't belittle me, and Clark went to the Elon app that same day to apologize. Schrager is connected. Ten months later Clark is gone, Cam Newton is gone, and Pat McAfee is reportedly negotiating north of $60 million a year at a network the NFL now owns 10 percent of.

LeBron takes the second half. At 42 he has the whole league on standby while Rich Paul insists "we're not making this about attention and a spectacle." Also here: Tom Pelissero, David Lloyd and Charles Davis cut, the Awful Announcing rising stars list, Iverson's 2001 Sixers, and whether Caleb Williams cracks a real top five.

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Why Is Victor Wembanyama Taking A Pay Cut?

Victor Wembanyama signed a five year, $252 million max rookie scale extension with a player option in year five, and he took the 25 percent number instead of the 30 percent supermax that escalates to $303 million. That is $51 million handed back, a month after Jalen Brunson left $113 million on the table and the Knicks ended a 53 year drought with it. Jay Williams already reported that owners are walking into meetings asking superstars why they won't do the same.

Austin Reaves cut his raise in half, 4 percent instead of 8, on a four year $180 million deal in California. Sam pulls up Spotrac live and walks the OKC, Minnesota and Philly cap sheets. The back half goes at Jay-Z: the Target exclusive during a boycott, and the Kaepernick NDA bar he got wrong.

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LeBron James Wishlist Revealed

Rich Paul stood at a whiteboard and walked the world through LeBron's free agency, and it went viral because nobody has ever done that from the inside. The core five are the Sixers, Heat, Wolves, Nuggets and Cavs. The Warriors, Mavs, Celtics, Spurs and Knicks are on the outside looking in. The tells are the asterisk next to Tyrese Maxey, the minus next to no Darius Garland, and Kyrie Irving not appearing anywhere in the Dallas box.

Then Ja Morant, who played 20 games last season and hasn't hit 50 since 2022-23, somehow lands in Portland behind Dame and Scoot. Plus Michael Strahan's Good Morning America sit down with Chris Johnson, and Shams reporting that Kawhi Leonard hired a new agent.

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Podcast

NBA Free Agency: Lying Season Has Returned

Lying season is here and the rule is simple: believe 15 percent of what hits your timeline until July 6. Shams reports Draymond Green declining his $27.7 million player option, the timeline instantly builds a Warriors big four with LeBron and Anthony Davis, and three hours later Kristaps Porzingis signs a two year $40 million extension that eats the exact money LeBron was supposed to sign for. Bobby Marks says the deal is dead. Another capologist pulls up with a five step plan to keep it alive.

Then the NFL side. Michael Strahan interviewed Chris Johnson on Good Morning America and never asked whether football gave a 40 year old ALS. Plus the Beasley gambling indictment, Landry Shamet's six mil a year, and Kawhi talks with Toronto that read like a sentence.

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LaMelo Ball teams up with Anthony Edwards

Minnesota sent Naz Reed, a 2033 unprotected first, three first round pick swaps and three second round picks to Charlotte for LaMelo Ball and Josh Green. That is a bigger pick haul than Miami had to give up to get Giannis. Anthony Edwards finally gets a shot creator who can take the ball out of his hands and orchestrate, which is real. He also gets a front court of Rudy Gobert and nobody, in a conference where you have to go through Wemby and Chet.

From there the stream gets into whether the league can punish the Clippers without letting Kawhi walk into free agency clean, the Joe Smith precedent from 2000, what big is even worth trading Jaylen Brown for, and why Charlotte's image cleanup story falls apart the second you look at the names they kept.

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Miami Heat stole the Nigerian Freak

Miami got Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis for four players, the 13th pick in a draft the big boards cut off after seven guys, a second rounder and pick swaps in 2030 and 2033. Sam calls that a steal. Tyler Herro's ceiling is third option on a champion, Kel'el Ware isn't ready, and Kasparas Jakucionis wasn't even a lottery pick. The bigger story is Jimmy Haslam, who owns the Bucks and the Browns, deciding after a year and a half of Giannis and Myles Garrett that he wanted young controllable pieces instead of inheriting Jaylen Brown.

The rest of the stream goes to the cap sheet, where Miami has 18.1 million to fill four roster spots under a first apron hard cap, the Carmelo Anthony trade as proof the Knicks never actually paid much, Kendrick Perkins getting answered with point forward Bam Adebayo, Norman Powell's price, and why Sam Presti should flip Chet Holmgren.

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NBA Finals Game Five: Rinse And Repeat

The Spurs led every game in this series and lost four of them: up 14 in game one, 12 in game two, 12 in game three, 29 in game four, 16 last night. The four letter network had them at 92, 73, 100 and 95 percent in those four losses. Sam's read is that this Finals is San Antonio's missed opportunity before it is New York's coronation, and Wembanyama said it himself in French after the game: too many moments where I'm passive.

Jalen Brunson closed with 45 on 14 of 27, 4 of 7 from three and 13 of 15 at the line, and that's the Finals MVP. Also in here: Charles Oakley watching a Knicks title from a visitor's seat while James Dolan apologized to everyone but him, Mitch Johnson doing dry Popovich humor with no Popovich resume, and a warning about every New York media voice who just found basketball.

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NBA Finals Game Four: Throwing Away A Ring

The Knicks are going to win a championship and the Spurs are handing it to them. Three of New York's four wins have been giveaways, and Game 4 was the worst of it: San Antonio up 29, jacking threes with 19 seconds on the shot clock, then coughing up the largest halftime comeback in playoff history. Sam's reason is the one he always gives. Point guards matter, and nobody on that floor knew to slow it down.

The rest of the hour: De'Aaron Fox going up for a layup instead of dribbling out the clock, Wemby playing 42 minutes in a game his team led by 30, Mike Brown working the refs after Game 3 and cashing it at the line in Game 4, OG Anunoby's case for Finals MVP, Knicks fans egging Wemby while Charles Oakley stays banned, and a closing plea to the basketball gods that costs Carmelo Anthony.

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NBA Finals Game Three: Big Vic Returns

Somebody in San Antonio was listening. After game two Sam retired the Big Vic nickname and started calling him Tall Vic for settling for 18 footers. In game three, three of Victor Wembanyama's first four buckets were dunks and he finished with 30, 5 and 5 at 22 years old. That is the whole argument. Get the tallest man on the floor a paint touch and everybody else eats, and it should not have taken being down 2-0 for a front office full of Hall of Famers to figure it out.

The other half is the Knicks giving one away. Karl-Anthony Towns took 10 shots after averaging 20 and 13 through two games, Jalen Brunson went 11 of 25, and Mike Brown spent the postgame working the refs the way Pat Riley used to. Plus roster building next to Wemby, Brunson's shot chart, and a fight with hotel Wi-Fi.

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NBA Finals Game Two: Is it Big Vic or Tall Vic?

Victor Wembanyama got the ball back with the Finals on the line and gave it away three times: an errant pass to Stephon Castle who was already turned upcourt, a foul on Jalen Brunson, then two contested jumpers from 18 feet with Mitchell Robinson on him. He finished 29 and 9 with 23 of it coming in the second half, and that is the problem. Four shots in the first half, one shot the entire second quarter, no foul trouble, no injury. Big Vic is Tall Vic now, Rudy Gobert with a three ball, and the league that needs him to take the baton from LeBron is in trouble.

Sam also gets into Karl-Anthony Towns going 21 and 13 and somehow having Vic shook, Mikal Bridges holding the lead with a bench unit, nine Knicks playing double digit minutes under Mike Brown, and why one ring makes 53 years of misery worth every pick they gave up.

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NBA Finals Game One: Vets Take Out The Youngins

Victor Wembanyama finished with 26 and 12 and the Spurs still coughed up a 14 point third quarter lead at home. Sam's read is that the 12 boards are misleading. Vic went 6 of 21 with nine three point attempts, six of them in the second half, from a player who took two threes in the 40 and 20 game that opened the OKC series. Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson never had to worry about him in the paint.

Around that, Sam gets into Kenny Smith calling the pace at halftime, the 11 of 43 the Spurs shot from three in their own building, Josh Hart's 15 boards and six dimes, and Jalen Brunson going to the locker room twice and still getting up 31 shots. Plus the four letter network putting an AI generated Tony Parker on the broadcast instead of paying Getty for the real photo.

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Drake London Makes More Money Than Myles Garrett

Drake London just signed four years for $141 million with $100 million guaranteed. That guarantee ties CeeDee Lamb for fourth among active receiver contracts, and it is more guaranteed money than Myles Garrett, a man who is either the best defensive player in the sport or the best player in the sport, period. London didn't even make the consensus top 10 receiver list last year. That is the NFL in a nutshell, and it's exhibit A for what the players union hasn't done.

Everything else on the board is money too. The Rams get Garrett for Jared Verse, a 2027 first, a 2028 second and a 2029 third, and they move to plus 500 to win it all. Aaron Donald tells Jordan Schultz he's flirting with a comeback. A.J. Brown goes to New England for a first and a fifth. The Giants sign Odell, JuJu and Braxton Berrios.

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Knicks Win A Series Of Zeroes

The Knicks are in the Finals for the first time in 27 years and they got there by beating a team that quit after one game. Cleveland's zeros pile up: James Harden 0 for 6 from three, Jarrett Allen with zero personal fouls in a closeout game at home, 11 of 40 from deep as a team, and nobody willing to put a Knick on the floor. Effort and heart are different things, and what Cleveland lost was pride.

The rest is cleanup. Kenny Atkinson can get a team to relevance but not over the hump, Jarrett Allen's three years and $91 million is a contract Cleveland has to attach a first round pick to move, and the greatest Knick of all time posts crowning Jalen Brunson skip past Walt Clyde Frazier and Patrick Ewing. Sam also explains why he needs Knicks fans believing into June.

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Super Bowl 60 Recap: Talent > Scheme

Super Bowl 60 was a dud of a game and it still settled an argument. Seattle had better players than New England at almost every spot, and Mike Macdonald built a plan that made the gap impossible to hide. The Seahawks blitzed 20.7 percent of the time in the regular season, fifth lowest in the league, then came after Drake Maye 33.3 percent of the time in the first half. Josh McDaniels spent the night trying to scheme Mack Hollins, Stephon Diggs and Hunter Henry open. It didn't work, because it can't.

The rest of the show gets into Will Campbell isolated on DeMarcus Lawrence after four sacks and 15 pressures in three playoff games, the number that had Maye pressured on nearly 48 percent of four rusher snaps, Kenneth Walker's coming payday, and some 49ers shade on the way to the Super Bowl 61 odds.

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Ego Trippin

Two of the top four spenders in free agency this offseason are playing for a Lombardi, and the reason Denver isn't one of them is Sean Payton. Down to Jarrett Stidham at home in a snowstorm, Payton let him drop back 31 times with no true number one receiver on the roster, while Mike Vrabel's Patriots gave Rhamondre Stevenson 25 carries and won 10 to 7 on 65 team passing yards. That's a coach getting about $20M a year, allegedly, trying to be the next guy to drag a backup to a Super Bowl.

From there it's why Drake Maye still hasn't shown Sam a franchise quarterback, how Seattle went from Geno Smith to Sam Darnold without flinching, McVay's third down problems, and the pod leaving the Elon app and the China app for Bluesky.

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Mike Tomlin Did It Without A QB

Mike Tomlin steps down in Pittsburgh after 19 years with a Super Bowl and no losing seasons. The part nobody wants to sit with is that he did it without a quarterback. Kenny Pickett went 14 and 10 for him. Aaron Rodgers went 10 and 6. Then Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, Mason Rudolph and Mitchell Trubisky, and only Trubisky carries a losing career record as a starter. Miami passed on him in 2007 for being "too hip hop." Nine jobs are open now, and Atlanta is the one that makes sense.

The Packers left seven points on the board and gave Josh Jacobs six yards on his last 11 carries while sitting on a 13 point lead. Philly fired the OC, but the drops and the third and shorts weren't play calling. And sports media spent the weekend at the neck of a credentialed Black woman for consoling Liam Coen at a podium.

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