We recorded the show in Orlando, Fla., this week so we’ve invited NBA star Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic to play a game called “Abracadabra!” Three questions about great magicians.

Click the audio link above to see how he does.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

And now the game where famous people are asked about obscure things. We call it Not My Job. People who visit Orlando are excited about the theme parks like Dinosaur World and Gatorland.

(CHEERING)

SAGAL: But the people who live here are most excited about their basketball team, their Orlando Magic, and its star small forward…

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: …Aaron Gordon. Aaron joins us now.

Aaron Gordon, welcome to WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME.

AARON GORDON: Oh, thank you. I appreciate you having me on.

SAGAL: It’s great to have you.

GORDON: All right. All right. All right.

SAGAL: You’ve got fans. I’ve got to ask you – I should admit I’m not, you know, conversant with, like, the basketball stuff – how is it that someone the size of the Statue of Liberty…

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: …Is a small forward?

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: I would like to think of myself as a powerful small forward…

SAGAL: Right.

GORDON: …You know? It’s just, like, kind of a mix of a couple of different things.

SAGAL: Is it, like, a power forward, and then there’s a small forward?

GORDON: Yeah, exactly.

SAGAL: Yeah.

GORDON: So it’s kind of like a lot of – maybe a hyphen in it.

SAGAL: Hyphen? Yeah, OK. Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

MO ROCCA: Is the power forward more of a ball hog? Because it sounds like the small forward is nicer and shares the ball more.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Yeah.

GORDON: When it comes to rebounding, yes. A power forward can just be as ball hog-ish (ph) as he’d like to be.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Now, we found out something interesting. You did a lot of sports growing up, as we might expect from a guy of your talents, but you also played hockey.

GORDON: Yes.

(CHEERING)

GORDON: Yes – ice hockey.

SAGAL: So what ultimately made you choose basketball over hockey?

GORDON: I just kind of had a natural affinity for basketball.

SAGAL: Your whole family…

GORDON: Yeah.

SAGAL: …Is a family of basketball players. Your parents play? Your father play?

GORDON: Yeah. Dad played at San Diego State.

SAGAL: Yeah.

GORDON: And…

SAGAL: And your brother plays pro ball.

GORDON: He played pro ball overseas. He’s been to a bunch of places. So he plays, and then my sister played at Harvard…

SAGAL: Right.

GORDON: So she was a Harvard basketball player. And I was.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Right. So I imagine your friendly games at home are absolutely vicious.

GORDON: Oh, my gosh. Oh, they were…

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: …Gruesome at times.

SAGAL: Really? You guys – because I know that one of the things the NBA is known for is trash talk. Do you trash-talk your siblings?

GORDON: Oh, definitely.

SAGAL: All right. Tell me something.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: All right. Let’s go with what you say to your sister.

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: It’s kind of like the saying – I’m the youngest…

SAGAL: Right.

GORDON: So, just by nature, I’m the most annoying.

SAGAL: Right. Of course.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: That’s your role. I have a younger brother. Yeah.

GORDON: More like, nah-nah-nah-nah-nah, I’m better. You’re not. You know what…

SAGAL: Yeah.

GORDON: …I mean? Along the lines of…

SAGAL: Yeah.

GORDON: Yeah.

SAGAL: Yeah. I mean…

GORDON: That’s about it.

SAGAL: I mean, just do you, like, leave your NBA contract out on a table?

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Oh, I’m sorry. I left this here. Let me pick it up.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Oh, some money fell out of my pocket. Let me grab that, as well.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: So here you are in Orlando. You’re playing ball. What kind of town is it for playing basketball?

GORDON: It’s a great city. It’s…

(CHEERING)

GORDON: …You guys are awesome.

SAGAL: I’ve always wondered about this because everybody knows that sports fans get very passionate. Do you guys care as much as, like, we do about whether you win or lose?

GORDON: Oh, man. That’s a great question. You know…

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: It’s – they’re really fanatics, you know what I mean…

SAGAL: Yeah, I know.

GORDON: …In every sense of the word, you know?

SAGAL: Yeah.

GORDON: They’re – I think they care about it equally if not more than we do.

SAGAL: Really?

GORDON: Yeah. Yeah.

SAGAL: Do you ever feel like looking over at the fans and going, guys, it’s a game. Nobody died.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: We’re all actually friends.

GORDON: Yeah. They, like, look me in my eyes and say, I hate you.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Really?

GORDON: Whoa. I don’t think I did anything to deserve that, but, you know…

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: I’m just going to cordially beat your team, but…

SAGAL: OK. All right.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: I actually – one of the – this – I guess hockey, the fans are closer because they’re on the other side of the glass, but there’s glass. You guys are, like, closest to the fans of any professional sport. You actually sometimes fall on top of them.

GORDON: Yes.

SAGAL: And is that weird? I mean, because if you’re – like, has one guy in – like, sitting down front like a Jack Nicholson type ever, like, said something to you, like, right in your face?

GORDON: Oh, no. See, I think they understand that there’s no barrier.

SAGAL: Right.

GORDON: You know what I mean? So in hockey, there’s that glass barrier.

SAGAL: Yeah.

GORDON: You know, it’s kind of like having two dogs on opposite sides of the gate.

SAGAL: Yeah.

GORDON: You know? Like, they’re, like, barking at each other.

SAGAL: Yeah. Yeah.

GORDON: But then, when you leave the gate, they’re, like, oh, OK. Just, you know, sniff each other.

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: So there’s no barrier, so the fans kind of keep it to themselves because, you know, we have access to them.

(LAUGHTER)

ROCCA: Have you ever had to console a fan that was upset with your performance?

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: Oh, definitely.

ROCCA: And how do you do that? How do you approach that?

GORDON: Hey, it’s OK. I understand. You’re very into this game right now.

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: But I’m going to continue to do what I do.

SAGAL: Right.

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: So, like – and they’re like…

(APPLAUSE)

GORDON: OK. You know, OK. They don’t really talk after that.

SAGAL: Yeah. You are known for your enthusiasm for the slam dunk contest.

GORDON: Yes.

SAGAL: Yes.

GORDON: Yes.

SAGAL: And…

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: You did a slam dunk in which you vaulted on top of and then over the mascot. And you just – did you just go up to the mascot and say, you’re just going to stand there, and I’m going to jump up, put my hands on your head and go over you, and you’re going to hold up the ball. And the mascot was, like, OK.

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: Pretty much.

SAGAL: The mascot – is he, like – the mascot does not say no to Aaron Gordon.

GORDON: It’s actually – it’s really funny because Stuff the Magic Dragon – he’s a great mascot. You know what I mean?

(CHEERING)

GORDON: He’s a great mascot. He is. He’s this, like, green dragon. He has these stars on the top of his head. And, when I was practicing, I couldn’t get the grip of the ball right. So I was, like, Stuff, buddy…

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: You might need to take the stars off your head. And he was really going to take one for the team. He was a team player. And we did it, and I got the dunk. But I could just see the sadness in this mascot…

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: …In his body language – like he had lost a part of himself with the stars. You know, so…

SAGAL: Stuff…

GORDON: Yeah. So we were, like, OK. We put the stars back on his head. Just – I had to make it work for the sake of him.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: That’s a heartwarming story.

GORDON: Yeah.

(APPLAUSE)

GORDON: That’s my good friend these days.

SAGAL: Well, Aaron Gordon, we’ve invited you here to play a game we’re calling…

BILL KURTIS: Abracadabra.

SAGAL: You play for the Orlando Magic, but what do you know about the real magic – by which we mean magic shows?

(CHEERING)

SAGAL: We’re going to ask you three questions about great magicians. Answer two of them correctly, and you will win our prize for one of our listeners – the voice of their choice on their voicemail. Bill, who is Aaron playing for?

SAGAL: Hal Ray of Tampa, Fla.

(CHEERING)

GORDON: OK – Florida boy. All right. Here we go.

SAGAL: All right. Here’s your first question. One of the great magicians of the late 19th century was Harry Kellar. How did Kellar learn to do his greatest trick, the levitating woman? Was it, A, he was a practicing Buddhist who attained enlightenment and was given control over gravity…

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: …B, he tied the woman to a thousand trained fleas, who flew her upward…

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: …Or C, he walked up on stage while another magician was doing the trick, ran around back to see what was done and then ran away.

GORDON: I’m going to go with the latter one.

SAGAL: You’re correct.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

GORDON: All right. I like that. I like that.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: It was pretty daring, but that’s how you get to be a legend of magic. All right. Second question – let’s see if you do as well. Another great magician of that golden era of magic was Carter the Great, and one of his famous tricks was which of these? A, the magical divorce, a trick in which he made his own wife disappear…

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: …B, the disappearing theater in which the entire audience found itself in a suddenly vacant lot sitting on their butts; or C, the vaguely disquieting meal in which Carter ate an ear of corn raw.

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: I think I’m going to go with B.

SAGAL: You’re going with B – the disappearing theater. All of a sudden, everybody was out there sitting on their butts in a field.

GORDON: That’s the one.

SAGAL: That’s the one. He picked it. Sadly, he missed this shot. No, I’m afraid.

GORDON: Oh, dang.

SAGAL: It was actually the magical divorce. He made his wife disappear. His wife eventually decided that wasn’t funny.

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: So she’s still around.

SAGAL: She’s still around. She stayed married to him…

GORDON: OK.

SAGAL: But he changed the name of the trick to the phantom bride. So this is your last question. If you get this right, you win.

GORDON: OK.

SAGAL: Some magicians have been able to use their skills in real life such as in which of these? A, Doug Henning, who used to skip out on dinner checks by making himself disappear during dessert…

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: …B, Penn Jillette, who for three years has made himself look like he’s lost a hundred pounds by constantly surrounding himself with trick mirrors…

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: …Or C, David Copperfield, who once made his wallet disappear while he was being mugged.

GORDON: I’m going to go with Copperfield. It’s C.

SAGAL: You’re going to go David Copperfield. That’s right, Aaron.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

GORDON: Yay.

(APPLAUSE)

GORDON: Thanks.

SAGAL: He says he was being mugged outside walking to his car after a performance. Some guy came up, tried to mug him, and he made his watch, wallet and passport disappear.

(LAUGHTER)

GORDON: Oh, man.

SAGAL: Bill, how did Aaron do on our quiz?

KURTIS: Two out of three is a win.

SAGAL: Congratulations.

(APPLAUSE)

GORDON: Thanks.

SAGAL: Aaron Gordon is the small forward for the Orlando Magic. Aaron Gordon, thank you for joining us on WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME. Aaron Gordon, everybody.

GORDON: All right.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MAGIC”)

B.O.B.: (Singing) I’ve got the magic in me. Every time I touch that track, it turns into gold. Everybody knows I’ve got the magic in me.

SAGAL: In just a minute, Bill sits on his phone in the Listener Limerick Challenge. Call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT to join us on the air. We’ll be back in a minute with more of WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME from NPR.

Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

NPR’s Scott Simon speaks with ESPN’s Howard Bryant about the tensions between Draymond Green and Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Some weeks, I just kind of wade through the news to be able to say time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: The gold standard, Golden State Warriors, play the Dallas Mavericks tonight. But is their greatest foe a quarrel between two of their stars? And, hey, anybody here want to host the 2026 Winter Olympics? Hey there, Duluth, you hear us? Are you just going to stand there with your hands in your pockets? We’re going to turn now to Howard Bryant of espn.com and ESPN The Magazine. Howard, thanks very much for being with us.

HOWARD BRYANT, BYLINE: Good morning, Scott. And how are you doing?

SIMON: I’m fine. Thank you. There is real bad feeling between Draymond Green of the Warriors, who has used what I’ll refer to as intemperate sexist language, to question the commitment that Kevin Durant has to their team. But is this just part of what comes with winning – that pressure?

BRYANT: Well, that was very artful – very artful description there, Scott. Yeah, I think that…

SIMON: Thank you. I worked at that one, if I say so myself.

BRYANT: What you’ve got is that the Golden State Warriors are human, after all, and I think that the challenge of winning these championships and to be a great team is starting to show. And I think that the other part of it, too, is that everyone knows that Kevin Durant can be a free agent at the end of the season, and they had a blowup. And there’s no question at all that this is not just run of the mill we’re part of the family disagreement here. These two guys had a real blow up, and it’s about a real issue, which is about Kevin Durant’s commitment to the team, even though he is the best player on the team. He’s the one of the greatest players who ever played the game. And this is the – this is sometimes what you see at the end of a dynasty. It’ll be very interesting to see how they play going forward because it is early in the season. But this is a major fracture. Steph Curry’s injured, so when he comes back, maybe they’ll get some unity there. But for a Draymond Green to question – essentially to say that Kevin Durant had one foot out the door for a team that is easily one of the greatest teams that we’ve ever seen in the history of this game is no small thing.

SIMON: He’s got to be looking at the Lakers and LeBron, right?

BRYANT: (Laughter) Or the Lakers or the Knicks or wherever he wants to go or to stay in Golden State. Once again, any team that’s got Kevin Durant on it is going to be a championship contender. He’s that good.

SIMON: Yeah. Quickly, the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors played last night – a real thriller in overtime. The Celtics won 123-116. Are we looking at the finalists for the East?

BRYANT: You sure are. At least, you should be, and Milwaukee is in there as well. But you saw a playoff game last night – playoff-level intensity. Toronto had beaten the Celtics earlier this season. The Celtics knew they had to get this game. They’re trying to find their way in the East. And I’ve always said that the NBA is the best player wins game, and right now, Kawhi Leonard of Toronto is the best player to me in the Eastern Conference. And Kyrie Irving reminded everybody not so fast. This was playoff-level intensity. Anyone who saw that game saw something really, really special. I’m looking forward to seeing what these two teams do as they go forward for the rest of the season.

SIMON: Howard, they can’t seem to give the 2026 Winter Games away at the moment. There are lots of cities saying no. I had some fun mentioning Duluth, which actually would be a brilliant choice if they’re interested. I don’t know if they have the space or hotel rooms. But what are the reservations that a lot of cities have?

BRYANT: Well, the reservations are that this is a scam. It’s done. This is – the allure of hosting the Olympics is not what it used to be. The money is as severe as it’s been before – as it’s ever been – in terms of the cost. If you look at what happened in Brazil, the infrastructure – it sits there. For the Summer Olympics, it’s been sitting there, and it’s overgrown, and it’s unused. And the bang that you’re supposed to get for having the Olympics – it just doesn’t come back in terms of getting your money. So it’s not something that’s as prestigious as it sounds. And I’m really happy, actually, in this this time of private companies and sports teams really shaking down cities to get team – or to get teams or to get the Olympics that there’s pushback. This is not what it should be.

SIMON: I mean, are resort towns and dictatorships all that want to host the games at this point?

BRYANT: Well because those are the – those are the last places where you actually do, where the dictator wants to show that his city or state or country has some sort of prestige on the world stage, that’s where the – that’s where the allure is. But for established places, the money – it’s just not worth it.

SIMON: Howard Bryant, thanks so much.

BRYANT: Thank you.

Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Cody Parkey just looked puzzled. He had hit the upright four times on field goal and extra point tries. The analysis on Fox: “Boy he can hit those uprights, can’t he?”

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning. I’m David Greene. The kicker for the Chicago Bears may have had a game for the history books yesterday. I say may because I don’t think this stat is actually kept. Cody Parkey hit the upright four times on field goal and extra point tries. Parkey just looked puzzled. This was the analysis on Fox.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: And that…

(SOUNDBITE OF METAL CLANGING, CHEERING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Boy, he can hit those uprights, can’t he?

GREENE: I mean, should he be playing a game where the point is to hit a smaller target, like maybe pool? It’s MORNING EDITION.

Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

NPR’s Scott Simon speaks with ESPN’s Howard Bryant about the start of the NBA season and the lack of breakout teams in the NFL.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

And now it’s time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: Olympus has fallen – at least slipped a little. The Milwaukee Bucks clobbered the Golden State Warriors in Oakland on Thursday, 134-111. And also, where are all the premier franchises in the NFL? Howard Bryant of ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine joins us. Howard, thanks so much for being with us.

HOWARD BRYANT, BYLINE: Good morning, Scott. How are you doing?

SIMON: I’m fine. And as they say in Milwaukee, fear the deer.

BRYANT: (Laughter) Fear the deer.

SIMON: Was that a fluke on Thursday? By the way, the Bucks have an absolutely great player – well, more than one, but absolutely great player. He has an unfortunate name that owes to his Greek heritage. And I know you’re a classical Greek scholar, so I’ll leave you to say Giannis’ name.

BRYANT: So you’re going to force me to say Giannis Antetokounmpo? Yes, I did…

SIMON: Way to go, Howard.

BRYANT: …I did it right. That’s two in a row – exactly. He is the Greek Freak. He is a spectacular basketball player who was really passed over by virtually every team because they didn’t think his game was polished enough. And then, boy, he took over and really raised his level of skill. I mean, he’s an unbelievable basketball player.

And what happened the other night in Oakland is not a fluke. Sure, Golden State did not play very well, that’s for certain. But last year, we saw it in the seven-game series between the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks, and Milwaukee is knocking on the door. They’re one of those teams that you’re going to have to watch out for because LeBron James isn’t here anymore. He’s in the Western Conference with the Lakers.

And so we like to talk a lot about how the Boston Celtics are the favorites and how this team is supposed to be the one that’s going to match up best with the Warriors, but I really enjoy what’s taking place in the NBA right now, especially in the Eastern Conference because you’ve got Toronto that now has Kawhi Leonard, who got traded over from San Antonio. You’ve got the Celtics, who are a wonderful ensemble cast who haven’t really put it together yet. They got hammered last night in Utah. And you’ve got Milwaukee, who had this fantastic win. They lost in Boston last Thursday. And then they come into Oakland, and they beat the best team in the NBA.

So certainly, there are a lot of teams to look out for. And, believe me, Milwaukee is definitely one. Fear the deer, indeed.

SIMON: Yeah, fear the deer.

Let’s talk football for a moment. We’re past the halfway mark of the NFL season. Maybe the LA Rams, but other than that, not a breakout team, right?

BRYANT: Well, you know, for everything that we talk about with the Golden State Warriors and the Warriors being this team that nobody can beat and that there’s no suspense, there’s plenty of suspense in the NBA. But when it comes to football, Scott, I got to tell you, the NFL has gone out of its way to promote mediocrity.

The league is set up, pretty much, for everyone to go 8-8 this year, and maybe 12-4 next year and then maybe 8-8 the next year. And so it really does take about half a season to find out who’s going to be good. And so we’re starting to reach Thanksgiving. We’re starting to get into that, what I call, separation time, where you’re going to see who’s really good.

The Rams were undefeated; the Saints beat them. I think the Saints may be the best team in football right now. You’ve got the NFL champs, the Philadelphia Eagles – they’re 4-4. The Patriots are still really good. The Chiefs are outstanding; they lost to the Patriots. The Steelers were fantastic the other night…

SIMON: Yeah.

BRYANT: …Against Carolina.

But as of today, nobody’s really that good. But then again, nobody is really that bad either. I’m thinking in about three weeks, after Thanksgiving, you’ll start to see who’s going to emerge. Last year, nobody thought that the Eagles were Super Bowl favorites, and they ended up winning the whole thing.

SIMON: Yeah. Well, we know it’s hard to have – almost impossible – a dynasty these days. But it’s hard, even, to put two championships together, isn’t it?

BRYANT: Well, absolutely. And that’s why what the Patriots have done has been so fantastic.

SIMON: Well, Howard Bryant of ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. Thanks so much for being with us, Howard.

BRYANT: No, my pleasure.

(SOUNDBITE OF HUNTERTONES’ “PARUSHA”)

Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.