Let's do it right, all right, Welcome, Wow, the guests right out. You already messed us up. All right, Take two. We're all pros. Here we go. Welcome everybody to another episode of Running the Break with Alex and c J. I'm CJ told Donna when the hosts joined by my co host Alex Wong and that voice you heard before, um the show if the show title living came in. One of the hosts of NBA on TNT Tuesdays with Shack, Candice Parker, Dwyane Wade, Ladies and gentlemen people, Adam Lefco is joining us today. Wow, the audience here is intense good. You know, I just don't like when other hosts have a clean start to their show. So I was getting a little bit jealous that CJ got to bring us in, you know, I I yeah, I thought I thought Adam was a pro. I thought Adam was a pro at this and know clearly TV has gotten to him and he no longer respects the podcast format. But it's okay. It's okay if fame gets to everyone, you know it is. It's tough, Alex, and I know you're going through it too. Like I can just I can tell the way you're living your life. People are coming up, Oh my god, you're Alex running the break? Can you sign my baby? It's tough already, the yeah, no, this this, this happens. No, this vibe is gonna be great. You know, I feel like c J. I feel like you know Adam, uh you know pretty well, maybe better than me. But but you know, I think for the listeners to you know, people are obviously, you know, as basketball fans, very familiar with with Adam's work, with Adam's wardrobe, which will definitely get into. But I love to hear Adam kind of your your backstory, backstory of how you know you you ended up in this position that you are now. It's I came at a very interesting time where media was changed in alex So when I graduated college, I was trying to get on TV and I'll go quickly through it, but just in terms of media, I was sending out my tapes on a VHS just to let you know, like where it was in two thousand eight. First job was in Hastings, Nebraska. I was a news reporter. I was covering city council meetings. I covered a goat fashion show. One time, uh, and they let me do on Friday nights high school sports and so that was like my Oh, I knew I wanted to get into sports, So I did that. Then after two years, I sent a DVD so as technology changed, and I got a job in Louisville, Kentucky. At Louisville, Kentucky, I did sports for about three and a half years. There was a lot of times where I thought I was gonna quit, and I just said, you know what, I'm gonna have fun. And I started weaving in different shows and topics into my sportscast. So I did wrestling that I did Seinfeld than I did rap and back when you can go viral, so like I did, and all the places that weren't answering my calls or my emails and the agents they all hit me up. And I ended up landing a job at Bleacher Report, where I was doing thirty videos a day back when media did the pivot to video, and I would just stand in front of a camera and I'd be like, the big question for the Houston Rockets, Who's gonna take him to the championship. That's why we need to find the three free agents to get them there. I have John Simpson from the Houston Chronicle John, and then I would just like nod for forty five seconds and then they'd be like, Okay, now we're gonna go to the nets. And I would just do that for like eight hours a day. Then I started doing a podcast with Chris Simms and that started to grow a little bit, and then Turner started trying me on things. I hosted the Match with Barkley and Samuel L. Jackson, like the pregame show, and that was a trip. Man. Then they threw me on an All Star game and I was doing play by playoff rookie sophomore, and in my mind it was like, let's just keep doing these as well as I hand and knock him out of the park, and they'll keep giving me the opportunities. And then twenty nineteen, they took me out to lunch and they're like, look, we're doing a new Tuesday show and it's gonna be Shack and Candice and Wade, and I'm getting ready for them to ask for me to be like the social media reporter to like comment on the fire tweets that we've seen this week, and they were like, we want you to host and Alex I swear I stood up, I walked around the entire restaurant and I sat back down and I got con curse on this. Yeah, we'll edit it out or I go, I go keep with me. And they all left and I was like, you're not And so that that's how it started and the Tuesday show, though, to be honest, I was worried about it at first. Our first episode was the same week that Kobe passed and they so we canceled our first episode because they had that incredible episode inside Staples Center with Ernie and and and Shack was crying. And then two and then a month in the pandemic hit and I was like, I don't know if this show is gonna make it, but I think the relationship of everybody there, Shack, Wade, Candice, Me, we we legitimately like each other, and uh, it's it's been a lot of fun. So that's I would say, the truncated journey of how out there. I mean, well, so we'll get into that. I want to get into the specifics of that because I got to spend some time with you at the Turner Studios, TANC Studios and uh and at bleacher and all that, and like, I know, just you talk a lot about what the green room is like, but I do you You mentioned in your early part of your career you were you know, dropping in like Seinfeld and like rap, like you were going viral essentially before that was like kind of a known, like defined thing to get noticed. So like, can you just kind of describe like specifically what you mean by dropping in Seinfeld stuff, because there's some story that's kind of like one of the first things I knew about you. Yeah, Like when I first got the Bleach Report, people are like, are you the rap guy? And I was like, yeah, that's me. Like every two months, World Star Hip Hop will be like top seven cool like most down TV actors, and they made that list. What happened really was I was having an existential crisis because I was like six years old and I'm doing local news and I feel like only people over the age of seventy are watching. And I was like, um, I hate this, like I'm regurgitating Twitter for old people in video form. And so I I went out one night with my friends and they were like, Hey, tomorrow say happy birthday Tiffany on TV, just to say happy birthday and I went home and during a Saints highlight, I was like, Drew Brees drops back, throws it deep and happy Birthday, Tiffany touchdown Saints. And I got these videos sent to me of people losing their minds, like high five in and pointing at it, and I was like, oh my god. My friends watched the news, and so I went on Twitter and I would say, Okay, we're doing rap and people would send me rappers names or lyrics and all that. And what I just did was I made a doc where I had like all three hundred tweets of like different stuff, and then I would write my sportscast and I would treat it like a mad lib where I would be like, Okay, somebody wrote jay Z twenty two two's, let's see if anybody scored forty four points tonight, and I would like do that. I'd be like, he drops twenty two twos, and so I would try to get like forty Like I got like forty something references in it was. It was crazy. Our ratings were normally a three on Sundays. By the by the third week of me doing it, they were at a nine, which is like NFL Sunday ratings, which was crazy. It just it showed me a few things. Number one, you should make the content that people want to watch. And then also we are just a delivery method. Is that it is not about us. So how can you how can you use your platform to make it fun and interesting and not make it about yourself? That was definitely like after that, I was like, Okay, we're crowdsourcing everything, let's just listen to people. That's amazing because you know, I tell a lot of people that try to get into like creating content, especially in sports, and one of the things that you said just now is like you got to create for the audience. I know it's such a such an obvious thing to say, but a lot of times I feel like, you know, if you're not thinking about interacting or having that connection with the audience, like a lot is just lost there. Before we even move on in your career, you mentioned you covered a Goat fashion show. Is that I'm gonna since this is a fashion friendly podcast, we're gonna need to get get some you know, get some details on that. Adam. It is a Saturday afternoon and when you were covering news and Central Nebraska on the weekends, you just get emails, Hey, we're having an open house. Hey. And I saw a goat fashion show and I was like, I'm going to that. And I walk into like a huge barn slash convention center and I walk in and they're like, kind of got next. It is Norma Norma wearing a green parka with red booties, and they would like have it go up a little ramp and then down a ramp. And there were judges that were taking it very seriously, like conferring with each other and taking notes. And I didn't stay to the end, but I remember that it was a large goat. Uh, a very large go at that one. So xl XL dudes can have fun too. This guy went from covering goats to covering the goats Man. Another another clip that stands out from your early career because again you were you were going viral before even doing the big outlets like like bleacher in and TNT. The Rondo clip. Now, I had seen this Rondo clip before I even knew you. And then I remember again when I met you, and like, you know, you you meet somebody r a worker, You're gonna be with them for a while, and you're like, I'm gonna google them and see like what their backstories all about. I remember, so what it is. It's it's I think it's when you were in Louisville, right, and you're in Kentucky, um, and you I think it's a throwback clip to Rondo dunking. And then you know, again, I don't know how appropriate this is. Well we'll call it. You called it clowning, but he kind of like sat on the defender while hanging on the rim and you're calling his shoulder like right next to his face. What happened was is at every television station they have archives and typically it's very old forms of technology like beta tapes or vhs like I mentioned, and they're on the walls and it's something the sports departments all have and it's it's like their history and it's stuff that they all shot. And so I remember, I'm like, I'm in the middle of Kentucky. They covered Louisville, they cover Kentucky, and let me see if I could just find old clips just for myself, because something, dude, when you're in like these small medium cities, like there's not allowed to do. And so I was like, I want to make content, and I found I'm just watching old Rondo high school clips and he does it, and as soon as I see it, I'm like, this is going viral. And that's why if you watch the clip on the graphic on the bottom, I put my Twitter at name like a little bubble there because I was like, I know this is gonna but unfortunately I've changed my handle since then, But it was it was Adam Underscore left Cool, which I thought it was like a nickname. I mean, just oh no, no, I am Prince, which was my first A O L screen name. It was just that thing. Though. It's like everything is a resource and and it's not just it's I mean the amount of times I'm sure you guys see it too, where I go on TikTok and it's like, here's the incredible story of Terry Rosier, and it's like a story that we all know, but they're just retelling it. Good content and good stories never go out of style, and to me, it was just like a treasure trove. But the guy that pushed Rondo off in that video was Michael Bush, who was an NFL running back. No, that's kind of it's perfect that you say that, like you were going through the archives. I mean every social media platform out there right now, it's like on this day ten years ago, not even like it's ran, it's like on this day fourteen months ago. It's like it annoys me when it's like I've seen a clip so many times and we just keep using it for views, Like it just seems cheap, doesn't it. It's cheap a little bit. I mean, dude, it angered me in the first year that I was at Bleacher Report because I mean my route was a little different of like creating, not curating, and so I was like meeting these these young kids not to name names, Omar Rajah one of my best friends, but it was like, dude, you're just gonna run back big three highlights, uh. And that's how this account seven. But then I've grown to respe act that because it is presentation. It is like, you know, feeling the sports fans mood and sentiment out there that it doesn't it becomes less random. But you know, like you said, TikTok, like it's like any teenager with a passion for sports can start an account, and it's like, what is their curation angle? How are they presenting this stuff? Like it's just kids with the mic going like, yeah, let's break down, uh the theory that Jimmy Butler is Michael Jordan's son, and it's a mixture what happens if Ray Allen doesn't hit that shot? And it's like, man, we did this a decade ago. Yeah, so no, it's a it's um it's funny because like on the flip side, the one positive I would say about this stuff is that I'm always surprised at how like a newer generation of sports fans just don't know stuff that we take for granted. Like I remember having a conversation recently talking about the time when Lebron had his was it forty eight special against the Pistons when he scored like what twenties straight points you know in the fourth colore and over time the Cavaliers waiting want want to seven out a fishness call for time? Forty eight points for Lebron James. He has scored the last time twenty five points for Cleveland, twenty nine of the last thirty. He hit the last eleven Cavalier field goal. And I was talking to this younger, younger basketball fan and like he had no idea and he was like, yeah, I gotta pull this up on YouTube, so like, I totally agree with you guys. But then sometimes I realize that is why that economy that like throwback like economy, you know, is always thriving because there are always people who like are coming up as younger fans who really don't know this stuff, and it just it messes me up to think about something that happened and say, like the mid two thousand's is now honestly considered a throwback, Like that's fifteen plus years ago, and that's mess Have you seen clips with this Ben Wallace guy? He was like like, I'm like, I'm in Toronto, so like I always got to tell people because they only know Hakimlajo from when they when he came to the Raptors at the end of his career. I'm like, yo, you gotta put some more respect on a chem okay, Like he's legitimate. The only center that I've seen dominate left cos Cowork or Shock like during his career, Like Keim's the only guy I could say that hat Shocks number. I just got back from summer, Like this is the second time I've had a conversation this week about how chem LaJuan might be one of the most underrated players in history of the game. What a ship by Chem the Houston Rockets stunned, the Orlando Magic shuck shut up the the most under I would even go like, at least for that era, and you know who, I feel like it's becoming more underrated as we go is Tim Duncan. Like, like, people respect Tim Duncan's resume, but we never mentioned Tim Duncan in the same way that we talk about his peers. I'm like hearing all this buzz about this Victor Wembaiana kid, and the first thing that comes to my mind is Tim Duncan because that was really like, I know, Lebron, but like the season before Tim Duncan went to the Spurs, it was like, who's going to get this guy? And Tim Duncan was a superstar that let everything else happen. I think my theory is that big guys don't get celebrated long term. Like we have the Greatest of All Time conversation and Kareem, who has six titles, six m vps, the most points ever, is never mentioned. And I don't know if it's because we don't relate to them, because none of us ever had the chance to become Shack. But he could have been Steph Curry if we shot enough. Um, but yeah, big guys don't get enough love, but a la Juan definitely doesn't get enough. Well. I also just think it's it's it's as simple as two people banking shots off a backboard. Is not a highlight, you know what I mean. But again, our job hosts, jobs, curators, jobs is like look at the footwork of a chima Juana showing the spare. Nothing Patrick can do down to a team, find a turn baseline he I'll tell you lies you on heres, David Robinson, Jeff Bamboogel, Let's look at you remember that era in the in the mid two thousand's where a player comes up short in the finals, are in the playoffs, and then they spend that summer training with the team and like up, you gotta go train with the team. When Lebron lost to the MAVs, he was in the lab training with a team, you know what I mean. And he was he had that video of that like up an under moved that he was learning. Yeah, um, all right, we could post tomorrow and people be like unseen footage but we have a lots did you know we have we have behind Lebron's career. Um, let's go to break. We'll come back and I want to get into some of this T n T stuff that you're just absolutely killing. So let's go to break and when be right back on running the break. All right, we're got commercials to We got commercials. You just heard an awesome commercial. We support every product that was just said. We're joined by TNT Bleacher Reports, Adam left Coo Adam uh So, like we said, you are hosting NBA on TNT Tuesdays and not just Tuesday's other stuff. Um, people are kind of saying you're filling in or you're replacing for Ernie. Truth to that or not? What? What? What do you think it's like? Um, if you're on a team with Brady right and he's still winning Super Bowls. I am the biggest fan of Inside the n b A. I watch every episode and I have watched for years because I think it's the best television. I think Ernie can do this forever. And if I'm doing the Tuesday show and he's doing the Thursday show, what an honor to be his teammate And so that's really how I look at it. I'll say that I've enjoyed the fact that the Tuesday show definitely has a younger field to it, just because all of us are younger. Like Shocks the old man on our show, and he's like the young whipper snapper that's annoying on the Thursday show. Um So I think what's cool is is our show gets to bring out a different side of Shack where he kind of rules the roost and he has that G four team classification. But Ernie, for me, has been somebody that I've tried to emulate because I think we all go on different hats, but who he is as a person, no ego. The janitor gets the same respect as Barkley. I'm gonna research my ass off for every single show, and most importantly, I'm gonna do it with empathy, and I think those are kind of the lessons that I take from him. But there's no better feeling, CJ than when I get to go there on a Thursday when he's working and he comes out and he goes hey, kid, and I'm like, damn like it just you know what I mean. So, but dude, I was just in tel Aviv, like like hanging out with friends, which is a very underrated city. It's like one of the coolest places I've been. And like a barista came around and was like, hey, man, I just want you to know, like I'm a big fan. I love NBA on T n T. And I was like, dude, we don't come on until three in the morning. And he's like, oh no, I watch all the YouTube clips and you're like that c J. That's when it's crazy. That's when you're like, I mean Israel and that's just how big NBA on T n T is. But to be in that seat, it's a dream come true now that you've had a chance, obviously Adam, to be part of this team and and get a glimpse of the behind the scenes and what are the things you think that makes the show so great? I think number one is the mindset that good ideas can come from everywhere, and we will throw away the entire show if something funny happens, where if Shack says, you know, I think the moon is closer than California. I know. We had an entire like two hundred block where we were going to break down the nets. Free Agent moves, it's gone, and I think in a lot of other TV networks, we're gonna get it back, and there it's like no, we're just gonna go off the rails. I think another thing is we talked before about crowdsourcing. I kind of think NBA on T and T was the first one to do photo shops and head swaps and all that. And I think they're also the only show to do Twitter interactions correctly, where we allowed tweets that insult us and we're all willing to take a joke and it creates it breaks the fourth wall. But as c J mentioned earlier, the green room, Alex, Me and Wade have a saying the show happens in the back where when we're in the back, we are chopping it up. We're making fun of each other. Wade's teaching Candice how to do like a different drop step. Shack is like, come and listen to this beat, and he like plays me a beat and he's like, what do you think about this hook? I'm a badest man, And I'm like that's great, Shack, like that's great. But what happens is is like then we're walking out and like we're shooting and we're hanging out and then we sit down and we don't. I don't use any teleprompter because what I've learned is that when I write words, they read them. And so what I try to do is I'm improvising everything. I'm ad living everything, because then Wade might look at Shack and be like, Yo, why do you have that look on your face? And then it it's more normal instead of them preparing what they're gonna talk about out. So I think it's we don't have discussions about what they're gonna say. We legitimately like each other. It's a great environment at all of the producers, and people have checked their ego to let us go and not have to just execute the game plan. It's kind of why I think it works. I was reading in an article you had mentioned, and I know you're not replacing Ernie, you're your own guy, but like the advice that you got from Ernie was, you know, he's kind of like the worst air traffic controller, which I think kind of lends to what you were saying. And yeah, you know your roles, so how so kind of break down those roles of of the Tuesday Night Show? How you see it. Dan Patrick's advice to me was to be John Stockton. What he was mainly saying was, if you leave the game with five points and fifteen assists, that's a good stat line for you. And so my notion is I want to throw the best alley oops in television. And it's not just giving an easy answer or saying something that's going to take it away. It's I hang out with Wade the night before the show and I heard him tell a really good story about Steph. I'm gonna find a way to get to that story when we're talking about the Warriors, or if I if I'm in the back and Candice is watching a game and she goes cut cut and they don't cut when we're doing the highlights, I can get to it by saying something to the effect of what are they missing from this offense? They like get to that great point and then with shock. My role c J I think is don't be the nerd that tries to calm him down, like because when I'm at home, I want Shack to go. And so my my thing is if he starts making jokes, I will light that fire. I will add kindling to it. But I know when I need to get to commercial, I know what topics we have to hit, I know what graphics we're going to show. But truly, the whole time, I'm thinking what would I want to watch right now? And then how do I how do I get that? And then to just be made fun of, Like I'm very okay with that. All right, enough about your co host. We got to talk about Adam here. Like I'm tired of hearing about Shack and d Wade. I know enough about them. I see throwback videos of them every day. Adam, you know, we gotta talk about your fashion because because I know you be getting fits off and and Adams on a video call with us right now. We see I see those Jordan ones in the back. I see the sneakers in the back. Yes, yeah, he got back door. He got he was a backdoor? What was a guy? And I got those are available? He's right, here's my guy. Like when you when you knew you were taking this role, obviously a very prominent television role, like what was your thought process in terms of your fits? So fashion was from the beginning of the Tuesday show a topic that me the producers figured out, how do we integrate this. So we have like bur Kicks Cam, we do fit watch the if you look, our desk is different than the Thursday desk and there's a hole in it and the main reason is to show off our sneakers and so every like there was a lot of intention in terms of style, just because so much of talking about the n b A is did you see what this guy wore in the tunnel? Candidly, I the last two years I have let's say we have eight episodes or ten episodes. I will go and figure out eight to ten pairs of kicks that I really want to rock, and then I will go to a suit guy and I will have him build suits off of the sneakers because that's my don't because to me, that's the most no one's gonna be like where did you get that suit? Like, no one's gonna ask that. They're gonna be like good suit. But people are gonna be like, damn, I love those sneakers. And there is I know you guys know this, There is no better feeling than getting that compliment. Like when I go on to Twitter and they're like damn, how did you lett go get those? That's that's better than incredible transition or I love this guy, you know, like we all know, when somebody compliments your sneakers, you're good for the rest of the day. And then also I have the suit guy bring my legs shorter to show off the sneakers, and I need to have my sock game tight. I think for me, it's and then I I still not I didn't steal. I read this thing from Virgil where he talked about like the three percent rule that everything is repetitive and classic and familiar and it's your job to change it just three because if you try and change it too much, it won't resemble a classic and look man like Ernie's got the bow tie, like he owns the bow tie. And I was like that, I'm not gonna wear a tie. I'm not a tie guy. And so that's kind of why I started doing turtlenecks, because I was like, one, I think this lane is open, and to like, we're just we're gonna change a little bit. Now there's a lot of creepy dudes that were turtlenecks, so I'm fighting that, but we're gonna we're gonna get on the other side. Just every creepy fifth year old dude always has a turtleneck, so I'm just trying to change that. One of the hardest things is wearing sneakers with suits. It's always like since the eighties, you know, when people were doing it, and it was like celebrities doing it, and of course like it's their celebrities. They're famous, are the most beautiful people in the in the world. It's hard from to mess it up. And then Norman people were like, let's throw sneakers with a suit. That will make me fun. I hate dress. Shoes are uncomfortable, but man, it is a challenge. It as a risk. And so you're talking about shorts, are the pants are a little bit shorter and all that. It's like, this is a lot of work to pull that off. Number One, you know that a company is in trouble when the older executives start wearing sneakers with their suits to get closer to their employees. And c J and I both know this very well. It's a it's one of the signs of the apocalypse of your let's talk about can we just say so hold on, I want to I want okay, Sole he almost ended my friendship with him because of what you're saying. He made a rule with me that I will never wear high top sneakers with a suit where the suit like falls over the sneaker. He was like, a Jordan one with us with a suit is like the worst thing ever. And last year opening night of I was in Milwaukee and I didn't have enough time and I just grabbed like a green one and a green suit and it just was kind of rippling. And he sent me a text and he was like, I don't know if we can be friends, and like, I warned you about this, but that's why I do a lot of low tops, because I think you need that gap. I have like elevens and all that they're just not being worn. I know that everyone says it could go with a tuxt, they're just lying like I don't think it can. All right, Well, are you gonna say no? I mean, we're actually that that I used to get made fun of in the Bleacher Report offices in two thousand sixteen at seventeen for having cropped pants and it's like, guys, we're just launched out of them. Well, I mean, it's just like it was. It was basic math. It was like we're launching a sneaker offshoot of this brand, and I want to show off my sneaker corporations. I'm not even gonna single this out to you know where we work, but it is like you work at a cool new sports startup or company. You know you're coming from other brands or companies, and you're like, I gotta get a pair of Jordan's. And man, I used to call them third because our are our kind of company would be broken down by the second floor creatives, third floor sales, and so I would call them third floor Jordan's um And it was just very clear because it would be Jordan's plus what they usually wear, tucked in Oxfords and whatnot. And I I am like, kudos for trying. But guys, it takes a little bit more than just buying the sneaker. No, you need to you need to find like a it's like a kind of a personal style lane, right, Like you can't just just be like I'm gonna pick up a pair of Jordan's. Yeah, now when now when they put out like the general releases, you know, me and my buddies are always like, would Sam from accounting words? And if he would, then it's you know, it's a drop, it's not a cop. It's really interesting too. Is so when I wore the sleigh he crocks on TV and because now like foams and crocs are everywhere, and when I wore them in anybody that was over the age of fifty was like, what are you doing, Adam? This is not okay? And when I tell you that, like the interns and the production assistance turned around they were like, how did you get that? When I tell you that, these people went on stock X and then they saw what they were going for and they were like, interesting, can you tell me more? And I was like the flip was so serious. But that's that's what I love about about sneakers and so much is that when you really when you really know, and you know what the hunt is like, and you know what it's like to add to your collection, and you know what it means to get the fit off right. It is an art form. And and for people that just want to know, well how much do they cost? That to me that's the dead giveaway. And so I never want to cross that threshold. All Right, We're gonna go to break and when we come back with Adam, we're gonna talk a little bit about where MBA coverage is going in his opinion. All right, and we're back. Sorry, and we're back again. Three tries, Adam decides, keep interrupting me, but it's it's all good. Um, we're back here running the break. Adam left co NBA on T n T Tuesdays and just NB n T and in general. Adam, So, NBA coverage, you know, used to cover NFL. You made that transition to the n b A. I mean just from knowing you like you were, you were really known. That was your calling card as the NFL, and you made that transition pretty seamlessly. How did you do that? Was their studying involved or were you know, You're just trusting sort of your your instincts. You drastically change your inputs. So every morning I have been waking up and reading NFL newspaper clippings and going on Twitter to all of the NFL accounts that I followed, and I just switched it up. I I created list, I started following new people, and I started reading the beat writers for every team every morning, and that would take me like two hours to just go through. Because I'm not gonna get on TV and then just be like Jordan or Lebron, like I need to truly know this. But I think it's a skill that I learned over the years. When I was in Nebraska, college football was religion, and I knew more about Nebraska football history and Tommy Frasier and and and and and all these players. Then when I moved to Kentucky College, Bass Cobal is king and so I had to study back when Rick Pattino was at Kentucky and Calipari had Marcus Camby at you Mass and all that. Then when I got to Bleacher, it was NFL, and so you just you learn how to adopt and when sports is your job, it's actually fun to really make it work and to do deep work and to not just assume that you know everything. And then the other thing I studied was my co hosts. So I would watch clips of Shock being interviewed and Wade being interviewed and kind of see their mannerisms and their speech patterns. But the thing that I've always liked about the n b A is the community of people that enjoy discussing it. When I was covering the NFL, if you say I don't know about this team, their fans are gonna brate you and yell at you and call you a homer n b A. If you go I don't know about this team, the fans are are really going to be like, yeah, this guy is a problem. I want to go and get this guy. It's more productive of um, but it's also now so much more player centric. I know more Lebron stands than I know Laker fans, and it's it's getting like that all the time. So and everything with this offseason, it's crazy, but it's just it's staying informed and caring. Yeah, I imagine too that being around Shock and Candice and Dwyane Wade, and probably maybe when you guys are even off fair at the studio, just watching listening to them talk about ball, you probably learned so much just from that. When so I would like go to Wade's house and we'd we'd watch the games and the things that he would point out, I wasn't even seeing. Candice and I love to have a joke where one team will jump out to like a six lead, and in the beginning I would be like, man, I can't believe it's gonna be a blowout, and she she like the first three times was like, what do you talk like the other team's gonna win, and like every time it would happen. But you you learn to shut up and listen, and the best to do is be a student every day. Um, I think the worst thing that a host can do is to argue with their analysts. And if you'll notice, there's a lot of times where I'll start talking and then I'll go, let me ask Candice, And there are a few times we're like no, no, no, no, we want to hear what you were going to say because I know on the fan opinion. But yeah, you learn it through osmosis, and you learn it through not thinking like that you know more than them because you definitely they've forgotten more than you've ever known. I do want because I used to text me Shock Stories. I used to like, watch you guys, and then I would text you like, man, you're killing the ball and You're like, Shack, just to this. Is there any podcast save Shock Stories you can tell us? Oh, there's tons, I'll tell you the So the first show that we ever did together, we were all in the same room for forty five seconds beforehand, so like Shack was running late and they're like one minute to air, and I haven't even we haven't even sat down together yet, and and people are gonna be like, I don't know about their rapport and I'm like yeah, because like so he sits down and he just he gives me a pound and all that and we get through. The second episode was the episode where me and him became BFFs. We had to shoot this thing at the end of the show where we're all standing, and so we stand. He goes, have you ever seen that clip of the football player feigning? And it's that clip of Bruce Smith where he's doing an interview and then like kind of gets frazzled and just falls and he's like, we should recreate that, and so I'm thinking he meant like next week or eventually, and I was like, yeah, so, like I would just be talking. And as I'm doing that, he takes like two or three steps back, trips himself over the stage, breaks the stage like you hear a crash. He falls back, almost hits his head, and the studio is erupting, Oh my god, did you get that on camera? Is he okay? We it's like running over and being like, uh, meanwhile, Shack rolls over looks at me, winks and rolls back, and I just like, I'm like, what is happening right now? And I go in the back and I'm just standing there. I was like, this guy is a psychopath. He's a twelve year old kid, and and and he was like, do we get that good? And he was like, hey, make sure that it looks like it's behind this. Like he's always thinking about that stuff. But what I love about him is he always wants to entertain. Uh. He loves when I do white guy voice. It's one of his favorite things where I'll be like, that is swag on a thousand and he's like that again, through that again. Um. But he's honestly one of the nicest guys. He's so much smarter than people give him credit for. And he plays the mark. Meanwhile you're the mark. There was one night where somebody brought in a portable speaker and it was the worst thing ever because he DJ for two and a half hours while we're trying to watch the games. But he's a DJ that changes a song every seconds, so it would be like you're like just getting into it and be like and he'd be like fist pumping and you're like, we need to go to set, and he's like one more song and you're like, Shack, but he's the best, man, He's the best. That's amazing, man. You know. The other thing I want to ask you just about the coverage too, is like, and we don't need to kind of slander the competition or anyone directly, but it's like, there's so much basketball coverage out there, you know, halftime shows, pregame shows, postgame shows. Why is it that there hasn't been really a competitor to what Turner does, to what TNT does. I think Bill Simmons said this a few years ago, and I think he was right, where a lot of the other shows are pregame shows and we are a postgame show. And I think that's one thing, because pregame show you're setting everything up. I think number two is a lot of those other broadcasts are defined by the producers. We're gonna do fifteen seconds here, and then Jalen is gonna talk for fifteen seconds, and then this guy's gonna talk for fifteen seconds. Then we're gonna go to a sound bite, and then we're gonna toss. The rundown for us is blank it's talk about Celtics Warriors. It's like when I hear about Curb your Enthusiasm, where they're like, here's where we're gonna start and here's where we're gonna finish, but like there's a lot of ad libbing in the middle. I think that's where the freedom comes from. And then I think, third, and probably most importantly, there has never been and there will never be another Charles Barkley, and I think that it's just important to give that man his flowers, because again I am, I am in Israel. I take my wife to Jerusalem. We're walking around. A different kid recognizes me. The tour guide goes, wait, what do you do? I tell him. He freezes. This is a man that walks the same steps that Jesus walked, and he freezes, and he goes, Charles Barkley is a revelation and he is my favorite person in the entire world. That's the power of this man. This man can walk into a bar and have eighty people thinking he's their best friend. Um, I think him. Ernie Kenny and Shack they created a true vibe. A lot of those other networks have changed their talent a lot. And as we see in the n b A, the fan bases that have had consistency, the Warriors, the Spurs, you you have more, You're more in love with them than a team that's signing new people all the time. I think it's a lot of those things, but all the people I work with make it special. I hope one day you know how we have the goat conversation we talked about Kobe lebron Uh you know MJ. Like for real, Shock and Chuck are just like when it all said and done, the input to the game, to the culture. People said, like I read this one joke, it made me laugh where they're like Shack is like the real life Krusty the Clown, but like in the in the best way, Like he is endorsing every well, He's just like endorsing everything like printer, cartridges, life insurance, car insurance. But then that's not the only aspect is like he's DJ in Vegas. He has his own show. He's a story goes viral where he bought a kid just like on a sneaker shopping spring. And then he's also hosting this like are there multiple shocks out there? You know? And it's it's so mind blowing that. Maybe that's the theory I want to put. Yeah, shock is the definition of a guy who's just doing side quests in his life at this point, like he's accomplished everything and all the things that you just mentioned, DJ, they're just side quests. And the reason he DJs is because he told me it's the closest he'll ever get to walking out at Staples, he said, seventy thousand kids waiting for a beat to drop, and then it hits. He goes, It's the closest I can get to catch in that alley from Kobe. And and the thing is is that's what happens with athletes, is they retire and their entire athletic life is over. They are no longer basketball player common they are just that guy and eventually it turns into man. All you do is talk about the past, and so finding that rush and finding that thrill. He is always curious and he's always childlike. But side quest, side quest shack is a real thing. One last question that we're at here, Adam, your favorite sneaker. So this is one air Max atmost just because love the color of the check. It's a little bit hard to match with because it's not yet turquoise and it's not yet yet blue. The pair that I don't have that I that is one of my favorites. He had a Rocket Sacks, Tom Sacks. The mar to me is like the shoe that I might have to spend a lot of money to get for this next season because I really want it. But I am going to go for this show with the ivors and answers because I I was an Iverson fan, not a Jordan fan, and so I went from the questions to the answers, and then all the shoes back then had the zip up, like Gary Payton's had the zip up, and Iverson tend to zip up. Can I say one story before we go? Yeah? I was, honestly, I just I know you're a busy guy. Bro. It's July. You know, I might go get a coffee. I don't know who knows, but uh. One of the greatest sports moments of my life happened at All Star in Cleveland. I was at this like after hours party and I'm hanging out with Wade and Taylor Rooks is there and she goes, do you want to meet Alan Iverson? Because she had just interviewed him, and I was like, and I had I had had some drinks and I was like instant yes. And so we walk over and he is a few steps up, which is great because now we're like the same height, and there's a blue light on the wall that is just having him glow. He is illuminated. And I go over and Taylor goes, hey, Alan, this is Adam and he dabs me up and he looks at me and and he goes, you host that that show on T n T And I was like, yeah, the Tuesday show and he's like, hell, yeah, man, how you doing it? And so immediately already I'm like, wow, he even knows that I exist. And I launched into a monologue that I did not prepare for. I was like, I was like, Alan, I just want you to know that I had Iverson's not Jordan's, and you were my favorite athlete growing up and what you did from my area Philadelphia will never be duplicated. And all I want for you when this life is to be happy. And he like looked at me and he was like, I put you man, and I was like, I appreciate you Allan, and I and then I went and whenever you want to Spot on the Tuesday show two seconds, five minutes, ten minutes, Open Door and he looks at me and and he goes, I love you, man, and I was like, I love you too, Alan Iverson, and I go, how would I get in contact with you? Like? Should I slide near your d M s? And he goes, nah, give me your phone and he types his number into my phone and he had said and then he reaches out and his friend takes his phone and he looks and I still have a two on five area code which is Philadelphia. And it pops up and it says Philadelphia. And he looks at me and he goes, you ain't been around and he hugs me bro and we start doing like that weird bounce thing and like I almost rubbed his back, but I was like I'm not gonna do it, and We're like bouncing and he was like, I love you, man, and I was like, I love you too. And I look over at Taylor and she's just like stunt. I thought they were friends. She was like I barely know him, and I was like, oh, we're in love. You couldn't tell me nothing. For the rest of the night, c J. I was bouncing around. I was like pointing at Janice and he was like, who are you pointing it? Like I was walking through like it was like it was the Good Fellas scene. I was like, what up, Lebron and he was like, don't talk to him and I was like, I don't care. That was the greatest moment in my life. And then I got nervous that he'd forget so I sent him a text that night being like, hey man, it's Adam. I'm the white guy that I was t NT. And we met tonight and he sent me He sent me a heart emoji, and I was like, I might have to I might have to leave my wife because me and al Everson we're gonna be together forever. I tweeted every other day that the Iverson hug is becoming as iconic as the Iverson step over how many moments it goes viral. I mean, I get I hate bringing up but when Kobe is passing, you know when that happened him and Wade him and all, he's just the great connector. Again, he didn't win a ring in, and I think people talk about you know, Chuck, not whinn you ring. I don't care about rings when you have the impact that these guys have had on the game. That Iverson hugging people is like, Man, I'm glad I've lived a life of being a fan of this game when I got to witness people like Iverson on and off the court. Wade and Candice both wore finger bands because Alan Iverson wore finger bands. They are They both wore number three, partially because Iverson wore number three. You think about what he changed with hairstyles. You think about how I feel like every player in the NBA has a sleeve of tattoos and that was not the thing beforehand. And Shack has I think three or four guys that he refused to foul hard because he wanted to watch them, and it was Alan Iverson, white Chocolate, Jason Williams, he says, T mac and Vince Carter. He said, anybody else, you're driving through the lane and like, nah, I'm putting you on the ground. But though guys, he was like, I want to see what they can do. And I don't know anybody that doesn't love Alan Iverson because he You're absolutely right, you do not need a championship to be considered one of the greatest. And he is undoubtedly one of them. Amazing. All right, well, I mean we couldn't have ended this this episode on a better real quick Adam, can we tabulate how many amazings were said? Like Alex sent me with a few and it was really good, incredible, you're incredible, this is our this is our Seefel reference. That's good. Yeah, I want to know how many amazings? So you're incredible? Mine is definitely that's my Uh. We all got a word h A lot of big big um yeah, big huge Listen, we'll go back. Well, I'll tweet out there every time Adam says like dam Adam, they can people follow you at Adam left coo l E F koe. Uh. Yeah. Just doing social media, I don't really do it as much as I used to. Uh, you don't have to. That's the thing, like you don't know when you don't need it anymore. Social media is a gateway to succept to share my story. But no, I have to because I need to see pictures of CJ's baby, and so that's that's the main reason I go on. That kid is adorable. You'll need him in person soon. I'm excited. He's gonna be gonna be calling his highlights Sunday. Um, I love that everyone follow Adam left Co, watch him on t n T, watch him on Bleacher. I'm sure you're gonna do some NFL stuff coming up soon. Um, thank you so much, Adam, Thank you to our producers and Running the Breake Alex anything before we go, no man, subscribe to Running the Break If you enjoyed this episode, you know we've had some great guests lately, including Adam today, and we've got some great guests lined up too, so so lots of great content coming up in the summer and damn you know, huge incredible in the break Outlet Outlet Hm