The Ewing Theory, Featuring Ja, Trae, and Paolo | Real Ones

The Ringer NBA Show

The Ringer

Sports

4.4 • 9.3K Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2025

⏱️ 73 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Logan Murdock, Raja Bell, and Howard Mf’n Beck are back with another edition of Real Ones, this time examining the Ewing theory as it applies to three of the league's favorites. Ja Morant, Trae Young, and Paolo Banchero are all highly touted stars in the league and the cornerstones of their respective franchises, but with their teams performing better without them, are there destinations that could better fit their skill sets where they could contribute to team success? Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane had another crash out against the Knicks when he unnecessarily threw the ball at Knicks forward OG Anunoby. The guys try to figure out the reasoning behind some of his outbursts. Plus, the return of the mailbag! (0:00:00) Intro (1:00) FanDuel ad break (2:44) Ja Morant Ewing theory (22:12) Amazon Prime ad break (22:46) Trae Young Ewing theory (38:11) Paolo Banchero Ewing theory (44:40) What’s going on with Desmond Bane? (54:40) Mailbag! Check out Howard Beck’s latest piece on Giannis:https://www.theringer.com/2025/12/09/nba/giannis-antetokounmpo-nba-trade-rumors-all-in-history Hit the mailbag! [email protected] Hosts: Raja Bell and Logan Murdock Producers: Victoria Valencia and Clifford Augustin Additional Production Support: Ben Cruz, Conor Nevins, and John Richter The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out rg-help.com to find out more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Shopping. Streaming. Celebrating. It’s on Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Poppin, Logan Murdoch here for Real Ones. I had a great time with Roger Bell and Howard
0:11.3	M.M Beck on this episode of Real Ones where we talk about the Ewing theory. You guys might know a
0:16.8	little bit about that, how a team fairs when a star player is out of the lineup. And if they fare better with these stars out of the lineup, we talk about Jha, we talk about Trey Young, and we talk about a little mystery guy that you guys will see during the episode. It might get a little controversial. And then we talk about Desmond Bain and the ethics of a crash out. And then we get to your mailback questions.
0:37.6	It was a really, really fun episode. I think one of our best of the season, had a lot, a lot of fun. So check that out. One real housekeeping note. Real onesmailbag at gmail.com. Real onesmailbag at gmail.com. Real onesmail.com will be answering your questions next Tuesday. So tap in for that. but for now a great episode of Real Ones with myself,
0:56.3	Rajabelle and Howard... answering your questions next Tuesday. So tap in for that. But for now, a great episode of Real Ones with myself,
0:56.4	Rajabelle, and Howard Beck.
0:59.8	The Ringer NBA show is presented by Fandall.
1:02.5	Fandall, Sam Game Parlay's quick bets for jumping in live in your way
1:06.3	so you could build the bet that fits your play.
1:08.3	Plus, don't miss out on holiday offers and surprises all month long.
1:11.7	Download the Fandul app or head to fandul.com slash ringer MBA to get started. 21 plus and present in select states or 18 plus in present in D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem, call 1-800-Gandr. Or visit RG-Help.com. call 188-78-98-9-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut.
1:31.2	Cliff. dot com call 1 888 789 777 or visit cc pg.org slash chat in connecticut cliff play the theme
1:32.2	music it's bobbing real ones Logan Murdoch here roger bell there Howard Beck and the mother
1:42.6	effing cut this is is Tuesday, real ones.
1:45.1	Let's get right to it, man.
1:47.0	This was suggested in the prepod meeting yesterday that Roger is always invited to but never shows up.
1:54.4	So we're going to get right to it.
1:56.8	We're going to talk about the Ewing theory and see if it applies to a few players throughout the league.
2:04.2	Now, for everybody that needs a refresher on the Ewing theory, it was made famous by our distinguished boss, Bill Simmons.
2:12.6	And it suggests that a team performs better after a highly publicized star player leaves, despite initial
2:19.8	expectations of decline because the team stops relying on one individual and plays more
2:24.5	cohesively.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 11 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Ringer, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Ringer and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.