The Late Night Happy Hour with Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

They're the hosts of a new hoops pod, and one well worth finding in a crowded basketball podcast space. They're Jordan Ligons and Haley O'Shaughnessy, of the Spinsters. We welcome them on, talking...

-How Jordan's great aunt went from a Lakers fan to a Celtics fan... in the 80's! Like, really, how does that happen?

-Jordan is a die hard Lakers fan, Haley a huge LeBron fan. Are either of them enjoying the amount of work he's having to do right now to keep the Lakers afloat without Anthony Davis?

-There is a tremendous amount of focus on the number of minority head coaches, more specifically Black head coaches, in the NBA. Much less attention, however, goes to the WNBA, where there is only one Black female head coach. This in a league where more than 4/5ths of the players are Black women. Why doesn't this get more attention?

-Finally, we play a game: What if teams could trade titles like draft picks? What would you want for LA's '09 title? Is '10 off the table? Should OKC trade that one random title from Seattle? What would you get for it?

Michael Lee of the Washington Post is one of the best sportswriters in the business. He joins the Happy Hour (after Andy and Brian spend some time on LeBron James, the Brooklyn Nets and Meyers Leonard) and goes deep down memory lane for some great stories around his childhood fandom, what came later with supporting Eddie Jones, sharing a great story about Kobe and Magic and more.

-Is LeBron James tired in a way that matters in playoffs?

-Is Brooklyn solving its defense problem with some defense, and more offense?

-So... you buying what Meyers Leonard (Here, Michael joins and weighs on on why he believes a locker room would welcome him back.

-Thursday was the anniversary of the Lakers trading Eddie Jones to Charlotte... and not coincidentally was the day Michael gave up being a Lakers fan. Why?

-Micheal explains is background in art.

-On his first interaction with Kobe, someone Lee disliked back from being such a big Eddie Jones fan.

-Michael remembers his close friend Sekou Smith, who died recently from COVID.

It's among the most unique podcasts out there. Lour After Hours, a gathering of huge Dan LeBatard Show fans, has grown organically into a huge community of podcasters and guests, with all kinds of interesting characters.

So how did this all happen? What brought the crew together, and how has it grown into something with this big a life? That's where we start when joined by five members of the Lour crew (Jeff, Jeanette, Art, Lou and @BeepCount). Which Lour folks have taken on the personalities of the show crew?

From there, we talk action heroes and coked out bears. Elizabeth Banks is set to direct a film - true story! - about a bear that finds, then eats, a massive amount of coke, then dies of an OD. Which action hero character is best suited to take on this sort of challenge, were an action hero deemed necessary?

Then, we play a game around the best films of 1998. If you had to build a poker hand of cinematic dominance, which movies would you include? Then how would you create a hand out of Meryl Streep films?

Finally, we get hats!!!

One of the things making LA special is its extensive mural culture. Across every neighborhood in the city, people can find a variety of public art chronicling the LA's history, culture, citizenry and more. Robert Vargas is a big part of that, responsible for a diverse group of murals across Los Angeles.

We start on his upbringing in Boyle Heights, a hub of mural culture in the city. When did he find art? What type of support did he get from his family? Why did he turn to murals as an expression of his talent?

Why is mural culture so important to L.A.? Is it a different process with different objectives when completing one in Boyle Heights vs. the Valley vs. the Westside?

We talk about his Kobe murals, the newest at the Zambezi off Jefferson in Santa Monica. What inspired him? What kind of images did he choose, and why?

We move from Kobe, one of the most visible people this city has ever seen, to his inclusion of a member of its most invisible community. For a mural downtown, he started by painting a homeless man named Craig. Why is it so important to have representation of people like that, who so few people ever really see?

Finally, on Friday we had 710 ESPN's Steve Mason on the show, who showed us two oil paintings from his oil painting phase. We have Robert review them.

Finally, we discuss Meyers Leonard and the anti-Semitic slur he used Tuesday. What could/should the fallout be?

So what's it like to be permanently banned from Twitter? How do you get yourself back on? And what does a person have to do to get kicked off in the first place? Comedian Mike Mulloy of FadedComedy.com joins, and that's where we start. Good news, it wasn't for leading an insurrection!

After, we talk about the challenge of comedy in the pandemic, when for him very little has seemed funny, and his crew at FadedComedyLA had their legs cut out from under them by COVID. Few parts of the universe have been more badly damaged over the last year than the universe of standup.

How has all of this impacted his ability to enjoy the NBA? Well, for starters he feels bad for even watching. Especially since his Celtics are underperforming.

Finally, what would you do if you found 68 lbs of cocaine, worth $1.5 million bucks?

Steve Mason has been a mainstay of LA radio for multiple decades. We've known him for almost two... and on Friday's Late Night Happy Hour learned all kinds of new stuff about the guy.

We start on vaccinations. He got one, hanging out at the local Rite-Aid. Turns out, they had some spares. So what's he going to do with his newfound freedom, once he and his partner get the other half of the vax? From there, we turn to his oil painting days, something he revealed this week promoting his show. Turns out, painting was a phase, one of many, and arguably the most normal.

After, it's on to the Dodgers and the Rams. How excited is he for returning to the stadiums? Are the Dodgers going to be pushed by the Padres? Will the Rams be able to navigate some important personnel losses this offseason? Has any shine worn off Sean McVay?

We discuss Steve's "Culture Pop" podcast which has pulled in some great guests of late. Just how close was he to landing a career in musical theater? What about pandemic TV? Why have certain shows hit and others not? Is Better Call Saul better than Breaking Bad? How will popular shows like Succession handle the pandemic?

All of that and more on Friday's Late Night Happy Hour!

He's all sorts of busy, doing NBA coverage for The Athletic, hosting shows (Like BOMM) for the Count the Dings Network, and a regular job at Wieden/Kennedy. Tavonne Edwards joins the Happy Hour.

After breaking down his extremely judgmental mattress, we stumble into a Knicks conversation. They're as good as they've been in years, but does that actually make them good? We discuss.

What about the Western Conference? The Lakers are banged up, the Clippers have had Covid-19 protocol issues, the Jazz have lost three of four... who's the best squad? According to Travonne, it was the Lakers before, it's the Lakers now. Why? Superstars. The Lakers have super-elite ones, other teams don't. There's a difference he says between franchise players and All Stars.

What about the All Star Game? Why is it happening? Is the league garnering any goodwill with players by focusing so much on HBCUs, Black owned brands, Black artists and more? Not as much as they'd like, Travonne says.

Finally, we wrap talking about his shows on the BOMM Podcast series, and the new series, "Soul of a Nation."

If you frequent The Ringer, you know his work, either written for their NBA and MLB departments or as part of the production team on the popular "Binge Mode" podcast

Zach Kram joins the Late Night Happy Hour, and we start with the NBA game of the night, with Utah and Philly, two teams vying for seeding and respect. Philly wins, behind a monster game for Joel Embiid. Is this the year where the huge talent and big numbers translate into something bigger? What's different about Embiid this year?

And what's different about hoops? What does the next generation look like? Kram makes a great point about how this is the first generation of kids who grew up watching shooters like Steph Curry or Damian Lillard, and bigs who regularly shoot - and make - 3's like Karl Anthony Towns. The game is only going to evolve more into a pace/space/skill direction.

We talk All Star controversies. Why is Mike Conley not heading to Atlanta (at least not yet)? What should the NBA be doing to make the game better, and get more worthy players involved?

What about the league's refereeing problem? What might fix it?

We then dive into "nerd tv," specifically around Star Wars and Marvel. Why do these projects seem to translate so much better to TV, especially when looking at Star Wars? Because, dirty little secret, most of the movies kind of suck.

Finally, we look at Fernando Tatis, Jr., and why he's arguably the most important player in baseball, even if he's not the best.

Anthony Slater, who covers the Warriors and the NBA for The Athletic, joins to talk Western Conference contenders, refereeing, the state of Golden State and more.

We start by maybe, just maybe, encouraging Lakers fans to slow their roll on Damian Jones. He's looked good in his first two games in purple and gold - hasn't missed a shot! - but there's a reason the center has been let go by three teams over the course of a very short career. But is there a role he can fill? Can the Lakers expect the buyout market to yield... anything?

Next, it's the Phoenix Suns, who beat an undermanned Lakers team Tuesday night. How good are they? Can they challenge the perceived elites in the West? Why has Chris Paul been able to resurrect his career in ways people may not have seen coming? (Plants!... in part.)

Does the NBA have a referee problem? The game Tuesday, a marquee matchup on national TV, was undercut by the quick-trigger ejection of Suns star Devin Booker. What can the NBA do about that, and what appears to be a crazy number of reviews, particularly in late game situations?

Why has Steph Curry been able to rebound so well this year, after an injury plagued 2020? What has made this year unique, relative to others in his career. And do the Warriors regret taking James Wiseman over LaMelo Ball?

He's the host of Food Network's "Spring Baking Championships," and five seasons of "Cheap Eats" on Discovery+. He's been featured on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate," and more. He joins the Late Night Happy Hour.

-We start on the mechanics of shooting food TV shows in the midst of a pandemic. What changes? How much does he actually get to each? Does Duff Goldman share food?

-What will "normal" look like, when it comes to food and eating after the pandemic? What habits have people developed that they'll keep? What snaps back? How will restaurants that have managed to survive while changing menus and making new offerings respond? Will they go back to what they were doing before, or is how we eat out destined to change long term?

-Everyone knows there's a secret menu at In'N'Out.But not everyone knows how to maximize its potential. He brings you the ingredients of "The Ali," a massive and incredibly delicious looking off-the-menu option for your fast food jones.

-And speaking of fast food jones, he also provides a McRib hack that not only improves the sandwich, but also provides a blueprint on how to spruce up virtually any sandwich.

-Finally, we debate the merits of ground turkey. It's flavorless compared to good ground beef... but sometimes that can be a good thing.