King of the Court
Dallas Pulls Off Massive MLP Upset + MLP Playoff Recap
Send us Fan Mail The MLP playoffs delivered some major surprises, and we're breaking down everything that happened in Newport. The Dallas Flash pulled off a massive upset over Ben Johns and the LA Mad Drops after looking like their season was falling apart just a few months ago. We break down how Dallas turned things around, J.W. Johnson's incredible run of form, LA's DreamBreaker decisions, and whether Ben Johns actually "quit" or Dallas simply outplayed them. We also break down Brooklyn's win over Columbus, Jackie Kawamoto's clutch performance, the Shock continuing to dominate, New Jersey surviving Palm Beach, and our predictions for the MLP semifinals and championship. Then we get into whether drafting singles specialists actually makes sense in MLP, Tyler's PPA Challenger experience in Seattle, a controversial new PPA side-switching rule, and some of the upcoming players making noise at Challenger events. Finally, we discuss the PPA's new World Pickleball Rankings system, why singles, mixed doubles and gender doubles are being combined into one ranking, and some of the strange results the new formula could create. Thanks for watching King of the Court! Subscribe for more pickleball news, analysis, opinions and behind-the-scenes stories. 00:00 – Coming Up on KOTC 00:46 – Welcome Back to King of the Court 01:35 – Jimmy Goes Sleeveless 02:18 – Pickler Universe's New DFW Facility 03:06 – Ranking the Best & Worst Airports 06:04 – Dominator Pickleball 07:34 – Jimmy Gets His New Montis Shoes 09:00 – KOTC All Access Hits 140 Members 09:49 – MLP Newport Playoff Recap 10:45 – How Dallas Completely Turned Its Season Around 12:21 – Why Dallas Didn't Blow Up the Team 13:38 – The Moves That Changed Dallas' Season 15:04 – Dallas vs. LA & the DreamBreaker Decision 16:38 – Did LA Make a HUGE Mistake? 17:19 – Ben Johns & Max Freeman Struggle 18:14 – Did Ben Johns Actually Quit? 19:04 – J.W. Johnson Is Playing Like the Best in the World 20:44 – Dallas Pulls Off the Massive Upset 21:32 – Brooklyn vs. Columbus 24:09 – Brooklyn Advances 25:17 – The Shock Absolutely DOMINATE 26:44 – Fives vs. Palm Beach Recap 27:31 – Tina Pisnik's INSANE ATP 29:34 – Can Anyone Beat New Jersey in a DreamBreaker? 30:17 – MLP Semifinal Predictions 31:49 – Why Dallas Is the Team Nobody Wants to Face 33:14 – Who Wins the 2026 MLP Championship? 33:58 – Are Singles Specialists Worth It in MLP? 35:32 – How MLP Draft Strategy Could Change 39:10 – The Problem With Paying for Singles Specialists 40:05 – Potential MLP Changes for 2027 40:50 – Tyler's Seattle Challenger Recap 42:25 – PPA's NEW Side-Switching Rule 43:06 – Why Players Don't Like the New Rule 43:54 – PPA Challenger Men's Doubles Recap 46:05 – Mixed Doubles Challenger Results 47:40 – Challenger Women's Doubles 49:27 – How Challengers Differ From the PPA Tour 50:16 – PPA Australia + Upcoming Events 51:08 – KOTC Live Podcast in North Carolina 53:16 – Mark Wahlberg Shows Up at MLP 54:43 – PPA's NEW World Pickleball Rankings 56:10 – The New Ranking System Gets Weird 57:57 – Major Ranking Surprises 59:25 – Will the New Rankings Bring Singles Back? 1:00:11 – Could Players Be Forced to Play Singles? 1:01:31 – Final Thoughts Website: https://www.tylerloong.com/ KOTC All Access https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDiH-sjthLCovD8i79-AkWg/join Code “KOTC” for insane discounts at: https://www.clubpickleballmastermind.com/kotc KOTC Merch - Use “KOTC” kitchpickleball.com NEW KOTC DISCORD https://discord.com/invite/kNR65mBemf NEW KOTC CAMEO https://www.cameo.com/morekotc Instagram: Tyler's IG - @tyler.loong Jimmy's IG - @jimmymiller_pb KOTC IG - @morekingofthecourt Facebook: / tyler.loong -- Support the show
