WEBVTT - 10/06/21 DPS Best Of 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:03.600 You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:07.040 Sports Radio. John Smoltz joining us John part of the 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:11.200 Fox Sports one broadcast Red Sox raise for Game one 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:13.840 and Game two that starts tomorrow night, followed by MLB 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:19.040 Network's exclusive broadcast of Game three on Sunday at four Eastern. 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:21.840 We were just talking about stadiums. John. If I said 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:28.040 best stadium to pitch in, what would you say today? 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:31.680 Best stadium? I mean, the old Astro Stadium just doesn't 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:35.360 get any better than that. I mean, throw fastball, see 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:37.200 if they could hit it out of the stadium. There's 0:00:37.200 --> 0:00:41.199 not many of those anymore unless Wrigley's blowing in, So 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:44.080 I would say if the wind's blowing in Wrigley. But 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:47.440 in the stadiums today, I mean, Dodger Stadium's pretty fair. 0:00:47.760 --> 0:00:51.120 You know. I'm not this marine layer thing that's been 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:54.120 talked about whether it's gone or there. Ball travels that 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:58.120 doesn't travel at night, travels during the day. But Dodger 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:01.600 stadiums a pretty fair place to to pitch when the 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:05.920 thick marine error is at night. What's the worst stadium 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:09.559 to pitch in? Oh my goodness, there's more of those 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:13.880 than there's ever been it's like, you know, Camden Yards 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:17.320 is a great place to hit. A small American ballpark 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:21.600 in Cincinnati. I call it small American ballpark because it's 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:25.000 very tiny. The Central seems to be one of the 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:27.640 worst places to pitch when it comes to the teams. 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:30.840 And of course Colorado's not fun at all when you 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:34.560 think about a visitor in Colorado. Great place to watch 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:36.800 a game, not a great place to pitch if you're 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:39.200 a pitcher. What about San Francisco and that feels like 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:43.240 it there's parts of it that's a good pitchers ballpark. Yeah, 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:45.880 the new stadium is fantastic as far as the weather. 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:47.960 You know, the weather at old Candlestick could have been 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:51.400 you start at seventy and you finish at forty. It 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.040 seemed like when the layer would come in over that. 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.440 I don't know who thought putting a stadium right behind 0:01:56.480 --> 0:02:00.200 that rock was a good idea, but I wasn't. I'm 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:03.720 a fan of the new stadium in San Francisco. Very fair. 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:05.920 If you hit it down the lines, you can go. 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:11.080 So they've they've maximized what I thought was the impossible, 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:14.160 in the fact that they hit so many home runs. 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:16.000 I didn't think that was part of the I mean, 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:20.440 this has been the most amazing year of storylines, of 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.680 predictions that you never thought would happen. They're leaving the 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:28.799 case for the most unpredictable success story. How does it happen? 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:32.320 You know what? I'd like to say, this is not 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:34.840 a formula for success long term. Year to year. They 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:37.680 have made every right decision. They've had every right player 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:41.960 in the right spot, give their organization, managerial all their strategy. 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:44.280 I don't know that that can continue year to year. 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:47.320 You can't keep plugging in those kind of things. But 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:51.600 I will say this, they're older guys that which I'm 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:54.240 a fan of because you know, analytics as you're old, 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:56.840 so you can't play at thirty. They've had a little 0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:59.440 chip on their shoulder, they've been healthy and they have 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.400 delivered big time. So that has been a kind of 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:06.320 like an organization filled with players that you see there 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:08.960 longer than most and it's paying off. They won a 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:11.799 few championships this year. I'll be the first to tell 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.960 you I got on the beginning of the year, no chance. 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:18.000 They weren't even in the discussion. And that's why I 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:20.600 said it's the most remarkable year I can ever remember. 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.320 From a team that maybe should have won seventy five 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:26.160 to eighty games, won one hundred and six or seven. 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:29.200 That to me is a great credit to their organization. 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:32.480 Are you all on board with the playoff format, the 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:36.440 one game playoffs? No, No, I never have been. I 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:41.080 can say that consistently. I understand why it was put 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:43.720 in place. Ironically, it was probably put in place because 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:48.640 of the nineteen ninety three Giants and Braves race to 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:50.920 the Pennant and we wanted on the last day and 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:52.720 the Giants had one hundred and three wins and didn't 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:55.640 make the playoffs. There comes the one game playoff to 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:59.880 try to secure a team like that situation now fast 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.600 for this year. If both these teams end up not 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:06.480 moving on, you're going to see a change. I believe 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:11.040 in the playoff format because it's hard to imagine that 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:13.240 you would have one hundred and five win team, which 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:16.760 easily could lose to the Saint Louis Cardinals not move on, 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:21.480 and our whole season is based on the most wins. 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:24.840 I think, if anything, Dan, I would tweak if they 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:27.000 don't want to make a whole sale change, I would 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.919 tweak a scenario where you have tonight the Cardinals should 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.919 have to beat the Dodgers twice, right, I mean, the 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:36.520 Dodgers won one hundred and some games. The Cardinals did 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:39.240 a great job down to stretch, but the team with 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:41.720 the best record in the Wild Cards should at least 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:44.960 have an advantage to where they only have to win 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:48.680 once and the second team has to win twice. Personally, 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:51.000 I'd like to see playoffs always have a two out 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:53.360 of three no matter what scenario you set out. It 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:55.680 needs to be a series. You need to have a 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:58.400 fighting chance, and I think we need to start rewarding 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:00.840 the teams who have the best record them a buy 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:03.239 so that when they play a team that's already played 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:05.799 two out of three, there's your incentive for the team 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.680 that's won all those games. Otherwise, you know, it is 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.479 a little bit more random. Let me look at last 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:15.960 night's game. Aaron Boone takes out Garrett Cole, and I 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:19.280 don't know if you run the risk of embarrassing your pitcher, 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:23.880 your three hundred million dollars pitcher in a situation like that. 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:27.039 I mean, I applaud Aaron Boone for doing it because 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:29.920 I think it was the right call, But man, that's 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:32.880 difficult for a guy who's probably got his job on 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:36.200 the line, and you're going out there and taking the 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:38.479 ball from your starting pitcher. What did you think of 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:42.520 that move at the time. Well, let's just say Garrett Cole. 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:44.919 The last three outings haven't been Garrett Cole, and I 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:47.320 know he had the hamstring injury, and there's probably something 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:50.560 to do with that, because when Garrett Cole doesn't look 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:54.200 like Gret Cole, you throw everything out the window because 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:57.119 it's that one game scenario that you needed a great 0:05:57.240 --> 0:06:00.280 performance and it just didn't look like he was on 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:02.080 the top of his game. You don't have the time 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:04.760 and luxury as a manager to factor in all that. 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:06.480 So I thought it was a really good move to 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:08.640 just at least give them, and it worked out because 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:10.880 they got out of an impossible situation. Homes did a 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:13.799 great job. So those one game playoffs or another reason 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:17.279 why I don't like it, they're manager killers. You basically 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:20.200 don't have the luxury of a lot of things because 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.560 the panic and stress on that game doesn't leave you 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:26.479 any room for air. And the Yankees aren't good enough 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:32.040 to hate anymore. Right, one World Series in seventeen years. 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:35.880 That's a good point because you know, the stress on 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.160 the Dodgers and the Yankees was the highest it's ever been. 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:40.240 The Dodgers won the World Series last year, they hadn't 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:43.600 won in thirty some years, those two iconic organizations. There's 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:46.200 so much pressure on the Yankees right now and certainly 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:48.840 that organization for what they built. But you're right, this 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:52.760 year just was a roller coaster year. They've been through everything. 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:56.080 Their offense was hot and cold, and I think that's 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:58.520 not a good formula for a deep run. I mean, 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:00.680 they're certainly going to be right back next year and 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:03.440 could be the favorites. Who knows what the off season brings, 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:07.920 but this year was the streakiest, most unpredictable baseball season 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:11.320 I've ever seen. You're talking about teams losing records on 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:14.640 the road, and then you're talking about home teams, teams 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:18.640 that have won games over ten in a row multiple times. 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:20.760 So it's a crazy year. It's one of those that 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:22.480 I think a lot of people were waiting to see, 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:26.120 after the COVID year of the short season, how it 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:28.360 was going to play out. He's John Smoltz, the Hall 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:30.720 of Famer, and he'll be part of Fox Sports ones 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:35.240 broadcast Red Sox at the Rays game one and also 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:38.560 game two that starts tomorrow night. I look at the 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:42.160 Dodgers situation where you've been great all year long, but 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:45.360 then you run into one of the hottest teams that 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:50.600 we've seen in recent memory. How do you handicap this 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:54.920 game with these two Well, the beautiful thing for both 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:56.920 teams they have the pitcher they want on the mound. 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:58.720 Sometimes you get into these games you don't have the 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.560 luxury the Dodgers almost forced to play that. It would 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:03.360 have been interesting to see how the Dodgers played the 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:07.240 one game playoffs to determine a division championship had they 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:09.720 been in that spot. So I think there's some relief 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:12.320 in that regard where they can put everything towards this 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:15.440 one game. But it's a high stress and kind of 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:18.680 flip with a coin. Adam Wainwright the veteran, of course, 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.480 my former teammate. Both pitchers know how to pitch in 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:24.960 big moments, so that won't be unnerving. It's going to 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:27.240 come down to who can, kind of like last night's game, 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:29.400 who can score first and create pressure on the manager. 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:33.040 I couldn't help but notice, and maybe there's nothing to it. 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:35.880 When Kershaw was pulled from his last start. He kept 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:39.240 the ball. He walked off the mound with the ball. 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:42.719 I know he doesn't need Tommy John surgery. He's been 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:45.600 through an awful lot. Do you think there was anything 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:47.800 too that that Kershaw kept the ball when he walked 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:51.360 off the field. You know, until you mentioned it, probably 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.079 wouldn't have thought twice about it. But having the kind 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:56.640 of career he's had and where he's at his career, 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:58.959 I know this year there was a lot of talk 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:02.480 possibly of could he be headed for Tommy John. You 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:06.079 know you're talking about Kershaw and Burlander two. I consider 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:09.600 surefire Hall of famers that have some life left in 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:13.280 their game and probably don't need anything more to get there. 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:16.120 But I know Verlander coming back from Tommy John as 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:18.880 an older guy, he wants to win a lot more games, 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:21.800 and I would think Kershaw is similar. But winning the 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:25.240 World Series maybe takes a lot of less stress off 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:27.760 of him from having to prove to people so many 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.720 much more. But it's a great question. I didn't even 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:32.920 think about it because you don't ever take a ball 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:37.640 off the mound as the season ends. Yeah, you don't, 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.360 like you have to hand it to the manager when 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:45.400 he comes out that that's part of the ceremony there. Yeah, 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:48.840 it's an interesting, interesting thing to follow us. I'm sure 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:52.480 the Dodgers are monitoring that very closely. Yeah, and he's 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.600 going to miss the postseason because he's got that forearm 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:59.000 elbow injury like it. I don't know exactly what that is. 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:03.720 It more elbow than more arm. John. You know, typically 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.440 in a picture, the opposite's work or the top of 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:10.600 the arm is going to be you're concerning here. If 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:13.079 it's the bottom side, you're not as concerned. But four 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:16.600 arms never a great issue to have unless it truly 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:21.480 is not connected to the elbow, which is hard to 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:23.960 imagine that they wouldn't. A lot of four arm injuries 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:26.959 usually turn into what people talk about as a precursor 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:29.880 to Tommy John, but not necessarily in his case, it 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:34.199 could be something different. Before you go, introduce America again 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:40.320 to the Tampa Bay Rays, I just don't get it. 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:42.800 Like I really am in awe of what they've been 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:46.800 able to do. I will spend all day Thursday getting 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:50.720 introduced to the Tampa Bay Rays because I'll be doing 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:53.720 a deep dive into their rotation, which is almost brand new. 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:58.400 Their bullpen Is as interchangeable parts. Their offense seems to 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:03.520 just slug wander franco Is at their real deal because 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:06.080 when everyone was wanting him up in the beginning of 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:08.640 the year and they delayed his clock for obvious reasons. 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:12.520 But they're going to start two rookies that you rarely 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:15.280 see from a team that almost won the World Series, 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:19.160 that left two of their stud starters to go somewhere else. 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:25.280 The Rays are an amazing organization that quite frankly, a 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:27.800 lot of people stop trying to figure out and they 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:30.559 just go with it. And when they push a button, 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:32.880 you know it might be the right button. Of course, 0:11:33.000 --> 0:11:35.800 last year the button that was pushed in Game six 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:39.000 build their formula of while they went about their business. 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:42.160 But a lot of people you would wonder what would 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:44.360 have happened if they left him Blake Snell. They don't 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:47.120 even think about it. They turned the page because they 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:50.800 are on a quest to prove everybody wrong. Oh, it's 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:53.120 great to catch up with you, John, have fun with 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:55.839 the Red Sox and the Rays. Thank you, Bunn, looking 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:58.600 forward to Thanks. That's John Smoltz, all of Famer MLB 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:03.960 Network Analyst. Be on Fox Analyst. Be sure to catch 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:06.800 the live edition of The Dan Patrick Show weekdays at 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:10.600 nine am Eastern six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:15.079 and the iHeartRadio WAPP bringing Chris Mannix. Here, we got 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:17.800 a lot of NBA stuff happening, but it's happening off 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:20.160 the floor. Here. Let me start with the nets with 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:24.840 Kyrie Irving, and let's assume that he continues this stance, 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.640 he's not getting vaccinated. What's going to happen here? Is 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:35.000 he tradeable? Chris? He is largely untradeable. I would say 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:40.120 I don't think anybody is completely untradeable, but the teams 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:43.920 I talked to around the league about Kyrie's trade value 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:48.920 are essentially operating under the assumption that if you trade 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:52.040 for him, there's a decent chance he'll just retire and 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:56.320 decide doesn't want to play anymore as a player. There 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.480 are lots of teams that would love to get their 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:02.040 hands on him. He has a relatively reasonable contract with 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:05.040 only one year left on it. He can opt out 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:09.160 after next season. But the off the court stuff and 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:14.280 the uncertainty surrounding what he wants that makes it him 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:18.199 very very difficult to trade. What is this costing him 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:22.319 financially or what could it cost him. Well, my understanding 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:28.160 is that I don't know what, if anything, the nets 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:32.120 are ginging him for missed practices this week. I don't 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:34.079 know if they're doing anything. You know, they don't have 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:37.800 He's not breaking their rule. He's breaking the city ordinance 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:40.840 or the executive order, whatever you want to call it. 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:42.680 So I don't know if they're ginging him anything. But 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:46.480 my understanding is that if he misses I believe it's 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:50.839 Friday's preseason game in Brooklyn, it's around three hundred and 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:54.640 eighty thousand dollars and will be three hundred and eighty 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:58.000 thousand dollars every time he miss the game. And the 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:03.920 NBA has been very clear players miss games because of 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.280 these city ordinances, Uh, they are going to get fined. 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:10.840 They will not be paid, you know, effectively game checks 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:13.840 as a result of it. That is, in his own words, 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:18.000 exactly why Andrew Wiggins decided to get vaccinated this week. 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:20.760 He didn't want to lose all that money. So if 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:24.760 Kyrie decided to sit out, the big ding comes when 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:28.360 that first game happens on Friday, and if he can't 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:31.600 play these home games, he also can't play. Although it'd 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:35.120 be one trip to San Francisco, he can't play. He's 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:37.160 not going to play in the games against the Knicks 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:41.600 because that would have the same ordinance. Uh yeah, play, 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:44.280 It's not it's not applicable. I don't think in San Francisco. 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:48.240 I think there's an exemption for road players coming in 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:50.920 so that that game, I believe he could play him, 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:55.520 but he could not play in Madison Square Garden under 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:59.480 these these carent rules. It's look the NETS they have 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:04.200 been just hoping. I think it's basically crossing their fingers 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:08.960 that Kyrie would come around to the vaccine. That's why 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:12.720 they have done everything possible, going back to Sean Marks's 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:17.160 media availability about three weeks ago, to diffuse this situation. 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:21.320 They have been hoping that the threat of losing money, 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:23.880 which is not the NETS saying will take away money. 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:27.960 It's the NBA and the city and the presence of 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:31.920 Kevin Durant, his close friend James Harden, a fellow superstar, 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:36.360 would convince Kyrie to get the vaccine. To this point, 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:39.640 and I've checked in when NETS people almost every day 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:41.920 trying to get a grasp on as to this point, 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:46.240 that hasn't happened. And as ESPN reported last night, and 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:50.320 they're right. The optimism is kind of waning here that 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:54.680 Kyrie is going to get vaccinated by Friday, and that 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:56.520 puts the Nets in a hole, in a very weird 0:15:56.560 --> 0:16:01.120 situation because not only Dan can ky not playing these games, 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:04.600 he clearly can't practice. And Steve Nash said yesterday he 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:08.240 has no intention of like moving the NETS practices back 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:11.160 to Jersey or wherever they used to practice in near 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.840 the Meadowlands. They have a state of the art facility 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:16.400 in Brooklyn built for a few years ago. They're not 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:19.760 doing that for Kyrie Irving. So this presents, really, I mean, 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:21.280 we use kind of phrases like this a lot, but 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:25.640 an unprecedented situation evolving between Kyrie Irving and the Nets. Look, 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:28.000 if he feels this strongly about it and doesn't want 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:30.640 to play, and you know he's going to retire and 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:32.760 he wants to sit out the season, then fine, I 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.760 mean I understand it. If he feels strongly about it. 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:39.240 I just don't want this to be a yeah, notice 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:42.840 me and I'm quirky, I'm interesting, and hey, all right, 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:45.720 I'm going to get the vaccine. And it feels like 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:49.240 that's where we're headed with Kyrie as far as Ben Simmons. 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:53.280 Ben is just sitting there, has his trade demand, and 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:55.160 all of a sudden he looks up and he goes, 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:58.600 wait a minute, I'm losing how much money? What kind 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:02.840 of reaction is going on around the league with Ben Simmons. Well, 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:07.440 the question team executives to say to me isn't it 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:11.040 isn't the Sixers resolve they're wondering about right now because 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:14.760 the Sixers have not moved off their position that to 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:17.800 obtain Ben Simmons, you've got to give up a lot. 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:21.399 You've got to give us either a player the equivalent 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:25.360 of Ben Simmons or multiple players that would add up 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:28.720 to the value of Ben Simmons. That has not changed 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:31.879 over the last couple of weeks. As this, you know, 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:34.720 the sit out by Ben Simmons has happened, and the 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:37.399 Sixers position, and I get it is that there's a 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:40.640 lot of volatility at the top of the NBA right now. 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:44.320 I mean, we don't know how Portland's season is going 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:47.439 to start, and what the Blazer's mindset might be in 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:52.240 December about Damian Lillard and or CJ. McCollum. We also 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:54.720 don't know if the Wizards come out of the gate slow. 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:57.399 With Bradby Beale able to opt out at the end 0:17:57.400 --> 0:17:59.960 of the season, will they decide now at the time 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:03.159 to deal deal So it doesn't make any sense for 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:07.800 Philadelphia to deal Simmons right now. The Simmons side, though, 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:12.520 like they've been told expressly that these checks, they ain't 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:15.040 getting that money back, Like that's not something like a 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:18.439 team that trades for him can backpay him. This is gone. 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:21.159 Like the money he lost in that Toronto game on 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:24.040 Monday three and to sixty thousand dollars, that's gone. I 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:25.840 don't know what the Sixers have been dinging him every 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:29.320 single day, but that's gone. That's why the Sixers did 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:32.760 a pretty shrewd thing when they put that money into escrow. 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:34.560 I mean I kind of described it in the column 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:36.720 that it was basically a piggy bank that they could 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.640 dig into whenever they wanted to and up until about 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:42.320 eight point two to five million dollars. And that's what 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:44.399 they're going to do over the next month or so. 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:48.080 If Ben Simmons sits out till mid November, he'll lose 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:50.680 like seven and a half million dollars out of that money. 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:52.840 So I think the question that comes up I know 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:55.280 the question that comes up amongst people around the league 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:59.119 is just how resolved is Ben Simmons to lose that 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:01.359 kind of money. You can say, well, he made fifty 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:03.560 seven million dollars in his career on court. Why he 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:07.320 made more off the court doesn't matter. Like, that's millions 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:10.239 of dollars that is gone, and I think people are 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:13.040 wondering just how long Simmons will be okay with that. 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:16.879 I still don't understand this. Ben Simmons plays poorly. He's 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:19.640 mad that people expect him to play great since he's 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:22.160 one of the top end players. We keep hearing he's 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:24.760 an All Star and he's a defensive Player of the Year, 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:28.560 all of these great things, and then he gets sensitive 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:32.040 and he wants to be traded. So what am I 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:36.880 missing here with Ben? Like? Are there bad people here 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:39.760 on the other side with Ben? And I know Joe 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:41.919 l Embiid and Doc Rivers said what they said, but 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:44.640 all right, maybe they were being an honest, tough thing 0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:47.679 to hear. But you know, when why doesn't Ben Simmons 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:49.720 put on his big boy pants and say, you know 0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:52.440 what I'm gonna show you guys. I'm gonna I'm gonna 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.120 earn your trust again instead of saying I want out 0:19:55.280 --> 0:20:00.760 trade me. Well Simmons position is that the Sixers don't 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:04.760 want him back because they want to continue building on 0:20:04.840 --> 0:20:07.840 the Ben Simmons dwell mb to buyas Harris group. They 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:10.680 want him back to see him play well over a 0:20:10.720 --> 0:20:13.399 couple of months, get his trade value back up, and 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:16.159 then deal him away. Ben Simmons just isn't down with that. 0:20:16.359 --> 0:20:20.199 I mean, all that being said, he's still getting paid. Like, 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:23.160 this is your job. You signed this contract. You didn't 0:20:23.200 --> 0:20:25.600 have to sign a long term deal with Philadelphia a 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:28.440 couple of years ago. You chose to, and because of that, 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:31.040 you have to show up regardless of what the seventy 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:34.200 Sixers ultimately want to do with you. And I agree 0:20:34.240 --> 0:20:37.240 with you that you know this is not like Philadelphia 0:20:37.359 --> 0:20:41.040 committed some kind of cardinal sin against him. Doc Rivers 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:44.880 said something he most certainly regrets right now. Dwell emb 0:20:45.119 --> 0:20:46.840 just said anything and some of the stuff that comes 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:50.520 out of his mouth is definitely critical of Ben Simmons, 0:20:50.560 --> 0:20:54.200 But who cares. I mean, if that's the worst thing 0:20:54.600 --> 0:20:57.560 the seventy Sixers have done to you, lots of other 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:01.920 players have experienced a lot worse, including Joel embiid earthly 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:05.240 during the process. So I mean Simmons doesn't want to 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:07.600 come back because he thinks that if he plays well 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:10.920 by mid December or February at the latest, he's gone. 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:14.080 But that's the price of signing that contract and being 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:17.679 paid like a max player. All Right, you're yearly Laker 0:21:18.560 --> 0:21:27.040 prediction titles. This gets clipped and I wind up. This 0:21:27.240 --> 0:21:29.840 is like, you know, it's like the low hanging fruit 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:32.400 to pick against the Lakers this year because I don't 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:35.720 know how it works, and a lot of people, most 0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:37.880 of the people I talked to around the league don't 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:41.600 really know how it works. I mean, the Lakers, assuming 0:21:41.600 --> 0:21:45.000 Anthony Davis buys into playing center, they could be really good. 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:47.200 I mean Davis at the five, Lebron at the four 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:50.480 two shooters around Westbrook. I can see how that works. 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:54.520 I could also see how Westbrook's presence makes them an 0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:58.240 elite regular season team because Westbrook has proven he can 0:21:58.320 --> 0:22:00.439