Speaker 1: You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Speaker 1: Sports Radio. Who whoa our number three here on the
Speaker 1: Dan Patrick Show. It's me Jason McIntyre and joining me
Speaker 1: today LaVar Arrington, my guy, the Penn State legend from
Speaker 1: a Washington redskin. I could say Washington redskin because it
Speaker 1: was a redskin. Yes, I grew up in the DC area.
Speaker 1: I was born in New York, but grew up in
Speaker 1: the DC area and Washington was everything. So naturally I
Speaker 1: was like, I'm a Jets fan, Stay away from me,
Speaker 1: you Washington animals. And of course Washington was good back
Speaker 1: in the day, so I uh, and the Jets were
Speaker 1: not and the Jets are still not good. I thought
Speaker 1: we'd spend the final hour breaking down the Jets twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one off season. Zac Efronic quarterback. Now that sounds
Speaker 1: like watching paint draft. Yeah, they're not a playoff team
Speaker 1: this year, but they're on the right track. I will
Speaker 1: say that with mister salah As the rather talk about
Speaker 1: there the relationship between the quarterback and his mom and
Speaker 1: how that's playing out social media. No, is that not
Speaker 1: going I have been blissfully ignorant to that. You know,
Speaker 1: I gotta say LaVar. You know, we talked about it
Speaker 1: a little bit on the Rachel Nichols Maria Taylor ESPN
Speaker 1: Power Struggle Powder Keg story about ignoring it, just like
Speaker 1: staying off social media is healthy for your mind, and
Speaker 1: ignoring a lot of stuff is healthy for your mind.
Speaker 1: Let's be realistic, Okay, whatever you just said about the
Speaker 1: Jets quarterback, the rookie and his mom on social media,
Speaker 1: like in the grand scheme of things, that's completely irrelevant, right, Like,
Speaker 1: I don't think it's going to impact how you wager
Speaker 1: on the season, predicting anything. It just doesn't matter. And
Speaker 1: there's a lot of that happening on social media for instance,
Speaker 1: you know the Rachel Nichols Maria Taylor topic we had
Speaker 1: last hour kind of like doesn't really matter. It's a
Speaker 1: little brush fire. It should be sorted out here in
Speaker 1: the coming week and we'll move on and like in
Speaker 1: the some stuff are really fascinating. Yeah, And you know, Frankly, LaVar,
Speaker 1: the last decade in the NBA finals, we've had Curry
Speaker 1: or Lebron and for the first time in ten years,
Speaker 1: neither of them is in the finals. Do you think
Speaker 1: that means because there isn't as much juice for Chris
Speaker 1: Paul versus Drew Holliday that we're gonna see some stories
Speaker 1: bubble up. This dude to eight a million hot dogs
Speaker 1: on July fourth, Joey CHESTNUTT like, I don't know. Normally,
Speaker 1: I don't think that's a story at all, But I
Speaker 1: did look in some websites that I read, and like,
Speaker 1: his stuff was plastered everywhere, Like, do you even care
Speaker 1: about that? Or do you care about the NBA Finals
Speaker 1: which start tonight? Yeah? I care about the finals, man, Okay,
Speaker 1: all right, I'm not really worried about Zach's mom and
Speaker 1: her helping out people with getting in shape and helping
Speaker 1: their relationships and stuff. I did go look at her
Speaker 1: page though, on the Graham Well, yes I was. I
Speaker 1: was intrigued enough the stories that were surfacing about him
Speaker 1: wanting her off of social media because of the impact
Speaker 1: that it was having on him, and I did go
Speaker 1: visit the page. But I am certainly not more interested
Speaker 1: in that than I am to see how these finals
Speaker 1: kick off tonight. I mean, I think it's going to
Speaker 1: be exciting. It's funny because Instagram has become huge. We
Speaker 1: talked about name, image and likeness earlier in the show
Speaker 1: and a lot of these female college athletes are have
Speaker 1: huge followings and they're going to be getting paid. One
Speaker 1: of the most interesting stories I heard, and this is
Speaker 1: a little off topic of the NBA finals, was from
Speaker 1: somebody we both know and they said they knew somebody
Speaker 1: who was up for a top job at the w NBA.
Speaker 1: And one of the biggest situations that the w NBA
Speaker 1: was trying to handle was, Hey, we have a lot
Speaker 1: of like women ballers who are huge on Instagram, but
Speaker 1: they don't want to play in the w NBA because
Speaker 1: they can make more money from the grand and social
Speaker 1: media then they could play in the w NBA and
Speaker 1: having to travel on buses and planes and practice and
Speaker 1: games and how hard that is and how time consuming
Speaker 1: it is. Levark, this is like a new frontier, is
Speaker 1: it not? Social media and being able to make money
Speaker 1: off it for basically doing not that much. Okay, So
Speaker 1: I'm I'm old, but I'm not out of it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're not out of times. Come on, and I use
Speaker 1: social media and I gotta say it isn't you know
Speaker 1: the whole thing with the Kardashians and how that turned
Speaker 1: into a thing, and yeah, they have no talent and this,
Speaker 1: that and the other. And you know, for me, you
Speaker 1: do have to have a game plan. You have to
Speaker 1: have a strategy, you have to have execution, you have
Speaker 1: to have consistence. To be attractive. Your body has to
Speaker 1: be in tiptop shape. That's not matter, but not always
Speaker 1: see that. The thing about it is is that you
Speaker 1: have to have an angle and when you do, when
Speaker 1: you it's much like what we do in media. You
Speaker 1: have to create an angle and you have to create
Speaker 1: an identity, something that people can identify with and something
Speaker 1: that they can make a schedule for. I schedule myself
Speaker 1: to look at this, this, this, this, this and this.
Speaker 1: And if you can do that, and you can do
Speaker 1: it successfully, then you can monetize your brand in your
Speaker 1: likeness and your image on social media. So I wouldn't
Speaker 1: say it's it's you get a whole lot for nothing,
Speaker 1: because it's a very tedious job to create a facade.
Speaker 1: So let me counter with two questions, LeVar Okaya, what
Speaker 1: is the Milwaukee Bucks identity? Right? Why are we watching them?
Speaker 1: What do we care about them? And be what's Kim
Speaker 1: Kardashian's identity? You can take either one, Okay, I would
Speaker 1: say The reason why you watch this finals with interest
Speaker 1: is because it's a break from the norm of all
Speaker 1: that hardcore rap that's gotten to be a little bit
Speaker 1: out of control. Was cool to dance. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: it is. I think that is the identity is is
Speaker 1: the NBA has created a machine that's largely driven by
Speaker 1: a few different franchises and the rest of the people
Speaker 1: just get the scraps from the table now and and
Speaker 1: listen for what it's worth. We saw this take place
Speaker 1: with Golden State, right if you would have said the
Speaker 1: first the first appearance that Golden State made in the
Speaker 1: Championship round, you know, people are looking at it from
Speaker 1: the same perspective when something is new, you you you're skeptical,
Speaker 1: You wonder about it, and sometimes either you want to
Speaker 1: know more or you to touch from it. This is
Speaker 1: two new teams that are going into battle for a
Speaker 1: championship crown. I think there's there's entertainment. We get back
Speaker 1: to the second Kardashian question, but to push back to
Speaker 1: your pushback, Okay, you know I felt like the Warriors
Speaker 1: were built around Steph Curry. Their identity was him. He
Speaker 1: had built up an underdog narrative at Davidson, and then
Speaker 1: he had really morphed into a family guy. And you know,
Speaker 1: Steph Curry I called in the face of the NBA
Speaker 1: for a few years. There we've got a guy who
Speaker 1: changed basically the geometry of the league. You've got to
Speaker 1: guard me thirty feet from the hoop. Oh, And I
Speaker 1: am a baby faced assassin, and I'm a family guy.
Speaker 1: And I bring my little daughter and my other kid
Speaker 1: on stage to the podium like family guy, three point
Speaker 1: marksman below the rim player in an above the rim league,
Speaker 1: Like I love Steph Curry's identity. We don't need to
Speaker 1: go to Lebron's identity. But you still had it still
Speaker 1: had to get defined. Okay, but not really still don't
Speaker 1: have a definition of the Buck's identity because I'm guessing
Speaker 1: ultimately it comes down to it's Jannis the plastic man
Speaker 1: who takes three steps from half court and can dunk,
Speaker 1: and he's hurt and he's not playing, you know, But
Speaker 1: there you go. That's I mean, that's a storyline. Even
Speaker 1: if the identity is Jannis being the main guy, which
Speaker 1: he is in the storyline of him being a back
Speaker 1: to back MVP, which very few people have ever done.
Speaker 1: If that's the storyline, and that's the I or if
Speaker 1: that's the identity that gives you the storyline that you're
Speaker 1: looking for, that's still a very interesting storyline to watch
Speaker 1: play out. And then to go to Kim Kardashian. Let's
Speaker 1: go to Kim ki. Okay, let's because Kardashians before he
Speaker 1: goes to Kardashian. This to me is tangentially connected to
Speaker 1: an LSU gymnast having a million Instagram followers and she's
Speaker 1: gonna make six figures even though she's not an Olympian candidate,
Speaker 1: but she has a monster Instagram following. You can go
Speaker 1: look her up. I forget her name, but she's an
Speaker 1: LSU gymnast and she's very go ahead. I would certainly
Speaker 1: say that Kim Kardashian's identity is one of the biggest
Speaker 1: influencers in social history, social media history of all time.
Speaker 1: I think I think she became a phenomenon based off
Speaker 1: of obviously the phenomenon of content um that that surfaced
Speaker 1: and that got things going. But let's be clear here,
Speaker 1: so many people kind of diminish and minimize what Kim
Speaker 1: Kardashian has been able to do. I would liken Kim
Speaker 1: Kardashian to Keenan averyway Ins or other other people who
Speaker 1: have leveraged their fame to create success and opportunity for
Speaker 1: the rest of their families. I mean, think about it.
Speaker 1: Some people can say that Bruce Jenner was the catalyst
Speaker 1: because he was so famous as as an Olympian. Quite frankly,
Speaker 1: there are very few people who knew Bruce Jenner as
Speaker 1: as the the you know, olympian that did so well.
Speaker 1: People may have known or had an inkling of it,
Speaker 1: but not very much, not enough to move the needle
Speaker 1: in current society. And Kim Kardashian made it so relevant,
Speaker 1: made the family so relevant that she actually gave Bruce
Speaker 1: the opportunity to change his entire gender, like his his
Speaker 1: entire sexual orientation. So I would say the brilliance of
Speaker 1: Kim Kardashian is she's influenced an entire an entire generation
Speaker 1: of people to getting um esthetically improved on a regular basis.
Speaker 1: And for what it's worth, if you look at social
Speaker 1: media long enough, everybody looks like a knockoff, Like all
Speaker 1: of the model type ones that that leverage social media anymore.
Speaker 1: Their lips are done a certain type of way. There
Speaker 1: here is a certain type of way in color. Their eyebrows,
Speaker 1: their eyelashes, their eyeliners, their their their shapes and their
Speaker 1: figures and what they're wearing. It's all a very carbon
Speaker 1: cut of of Kim Kardashian. Which the interesting thing is
Speaker 1: then you have one sister that capitalizes on it and
Speaker 1: becomes a billionaire off of off of cosmetic products. I'm
Speaker 1: guessing the wig Ins reference has to do with sort
Speaker 1: of in Living Color, the TV show that was basically
Speaker 1: all but think about all of them, so many of
Speaker 1: yes Jas, Fox on the Car, Tommy Davidson, David Allen Gray.
Speaker 1: Now in mid nineties, it didn't get much better, maybe
Speaker 1: early nineties. Then in Living Color, J j J was
Speaker 1: on their Fly Dancer, Fly Girl Listen LeVar. My parents
Speaker 1: did not want my brother and I watching that show,
Speaker 1: so they banned it because they had seen some skits
Speaker 1: that were like pushing the envelope. We would secretly record
Speaker 1: it right on VHS and of course watch it later
Speaker 1: because we loved it. You know, there's no way to
Speaker 1: secretly record they they just let you get away. You
Speaker 1: would do. We would set the timer on the VCR,
Speaker 1: make sure the TV was off, and we would like
Speaker 1: put a tape in front of the VCR so you
Speaker 1: wouldn't see that it was like read and recording or whatever.
Speaker 1: We had systems, me and my bro I tried to
Speaker 1: do that with HBO and Cinematch late Night, and that
Speaker 1: kind of came up in our conversation early on. But
Speaker 1: I always got candimas, yeah, I mean, I'm just saying,
Speaker 1: And there was only cable on two TVs in the house,
Speaker 1: right so so, and the one didn't have a VCR
Speaker 1: and the other was in my parents room, So you
Speaker 1: had to be super creative and how you were doing it.
Speaker 1: But we wouldn't sneak to do it. I would let's
Speaker 1: do it when they weren't at all. It's pretty smart
Speaker 1: you to reference Kardashian and like in Living Color, I
Speaker 1: like that now when you look at the Warriors, I
Speaker 1: would say that Curry was a springboard for everything Golden
Speaker 1: State's become. I mean, do we know who Draymond Green
Speaker 1: is if not for Curry. Clay Thompson was really good,
Speaker 1: but before that he was like at Washington State. His
Speaker 1: big story was he got popped for marijuana and fell
Speaker 1: a little bit in the draft. And like because Curry
Speaker 1: started it. Everybody became a star. Andrea Gudala became a
Speaker 1: Finals MVP. Kevin Durant went to Golden State and we
Speaker 1: talked about identity, Like Durant went to Lebron route. I'm
Speaker 1: going to be the villain, Okay, I'm going to do
Speaker 1: the thing that nobody wants me to do. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: wear that black hat and I'm gonna play that game.
Speaker 1: And what has it done? I mean, Kevin Durant is
Speaker 1: a colossal global star, right. Kim Kardashian a global star,
Speaker 1: though I will admit Kardashian did notice early. Oh, if
Speaker 1: I date an athlete, I then have crossover fans. Athletes
Speaker 1: are are there? Fans of athletes are passionate. She dated
Speaker 1: Reggie Bush. She then moved over to music in Kanye West,
Speaker 1: so she has your right had a plan to be
Speaker 1: a star again. I just struggle with these NBA finals.
Speaker 1: There are none of these crossover, huge cultural people except
Speaker 1: possibly Devin Booker, who is dating Kendall Jenner. Yeah, you're
Speaker 1: going for I feel like I feel like, I think,
Speaker 1: what does Chris Paul have an identity? Yes, he's one
Speaker 1: of the greatest point guards of all time. He's in
Speaker 1: State farm commercials. He's shown a side of him and
Speaker 1: these commercials as of late where you know, we've always
Speaker 1: looked at Chris Paul as the quiet type and and
Speaker 1: and not, you know, seemingly as very marketable, almost like
Speaker 1: how we look out of Kawhi Leonard. And I think
Speaker 1: we have gotten to know that that Chris Paul does
Speaker 1: have personality. Chris Paul can can be, you know, someone
Speaker 1: who agitates and gets under your skin life. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean real. I don't know if I could say this
Speaker 1: word on air, but I alway, Sam it rhymes with
Speaker 1: the word click. That's Chris Paul's identity. Okay, all of
Speaker 1: his former teammates hate him? Do they not? Go ask
Speaker 1: Black Griffin about Chris Paul. Go ask DeAndre Jordan about
Speaker 1: Chris Paul. He's not well liked. Right, we can agree
Speaker 1: on that agitator is almost soft LaVar. Yeah, it can be.
Speaker 1: But again, if I'm looking at identities, I think there
Speaker 1: are a lot of identities that are going into this series,
Speaker 1: and I think that you have to be open minded
Speaker 1: enough to not limit it to just saying I hope
Speaker 1: I can see Kylie Jenner there on the sideline clasping
Speaker 1: on Devin Booker. Oh there you go. I'm more interested
Speaker 1: in watching, Okay. I mean, yeah, you're right anyway. I'm
Speaker 1: not thinking about out them in that way regardless, But
Speaker 1: I'm just thinking about the identities that I get an opportunity,
Speaker 1: you know, these, as a former pro someone who's never
Speaker 1: made it that far in in competition, I just always
Speaker 1: saw how big of stars guys became after they won.
Speaker 1: I mean, ray Lewis actually like was on trial, like incarcerated,
Speaker 1: you know, and then a year later totally erases, you know,
Speaker 1: to a lot of people. I mean on a national scale,
Speaker 1: what happened and becomes this mega star based off of
Speaker 1: how he played. You know, you you look at the
Speaker 1: you know, a Kurt Warner He's putting Sharman's and Bounty
Speaker 1: on counters in a grocery store and becomes a Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer. You know, it's it's just to me when
Speaker 1: you look at where you're you're I mean, look at
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard. No identity, he does not have one, but
Speaker 1: his identity is there's no identity. Get view, all right,
Speaker 1: we gotta take a break, LaVar, let's take We're coming
Speaker 1: back with a guest. You know him well, he covers
Speaker 1: the NBA. We'll ask him about his level of interest
Speaker 1: in these NBA Finals, or does he care more about
Speaker 1: Damian Lillard getting demanding a trade or Ben Simmons possibly
Speaker 1: getting traded, or I don't know, does Kawhi Leonard leave
Speaker 1: the Clippers. We'll talk about all that next here on
Speaker 1: The Dan Patrick Show. Thanks for listening to The Dan
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Speaker 1: the Peacock Act. Back here on The Dan Patrick Show,
Speaker 1: a gorgeous Tuesday morning in Los Angeles, LaVar Arrington and
Speaker 1: Jason and McIntyre in the building and joining us. Now,
Speaker 1: what are the top NBA insiders out there? FS one
Speaker 1: NBA analyst ll Yeah, he's a superhero basically, yes, Rick Buker, Rick,
Speaker 1: how are you man? I am doing well, gentlemen. I
Speaker 1: hope your holiday weekend was a good one. And now
Speaker 1: we get the NBA Finals kicked up with two brand
Speaker 1: new teams to scene. So I'm I'm excited about it.
Speaker 1: I'm interested to see what happens. Yeah, well, what are
Speaker 1: you most excited about? That? Chris Paul finally gets to
Speaker 1: the finals? Devin Booker on a big stage? The Bucks
Speaker 1: without Janis is not very exciting, and it's he's listed
Speaker 1: as doubtful for Game one. I don't know, Rick, have
Speaker 1: you heard if he's going to play at all in
Speaker 1: the series? I have not heard. I think there's some
Speaker 1: some cautious optimism that he will play at some point.
Speaker 1: How soon and obviously how long the series goes on
Speaker 1: is going to to determine that. But Jason stop with
Speaker 1: the Milwaukee Bucks have to have Janni Santa Takumpo or
Speaker 1: they're not interesting. Did they not going to close out
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Hawk and did we not see them play
Speaker 1: a completely different way? I mean, there's intrigue here whether
Speaker 1: Jannis plays or does not play because of the whole
Speaker 1: question that has loomed over the Milwaukee Bucks, which is
Speaker 1: do they need more around Janni Santa Tecumpo or does
Speaker 1: Jani Santa Takumpo need to be more? And and I
Speaker 1: honestly feel as if it is the ladder rather than
Speaker 1: the former. And what we saw against the Hawks and
Speaker 1: Drew Holiday's ability when allowed to be a true point
Speaker 1: guard and Brook Lopez having a paint that he can
Speaker 1: step into and not have to be a floor spacer,
Speaker 1: tells you that there's a there is bonafide talent on
Speaker 1: this Milwaukee Bucks team. I worry about their depth in
Speaker 1: this series, and I'm not going to say that they
Speaker 1: are better without Yannis, but I think there's a lot
Speaker 1: of intrigue here on the Milwaukee buckside as well, and
Speaker 1: I have every reason to believe that they could go
Speaker 1: into Phoenix without Yannis and steal one of these first
Speaker 1: two games. Still, I love it, Rick, You've kind of
Speaker 1: hit the nail the way I've been hitting it. Um
Speaker 1: During the conversations, I would ask, and you said you
Speaker 1: didn't want to venture off into saying they were better
Speaker 1: without Yannis, and I get that. But with that being said,
Speaker 1: the different style of basketball that they played. I keep
Speaker 1: referencing last year we saw this this team lose based
Speaker 1: off of Yannis going out. This year, we see them,
Speaker 1: with the addition of PJ. Tucker and Drew Holiday, as
Speaker 1: a team that has seemingly more toughness about them, more
Speaker 1: more grit, and more of a willingness to raise their
Speaker 1: games and compete. And when Jannie went out, it seemed
Speaker 1: as though it went to a whole other level. In
Speaker 1: a way, if they get Yannis back, it's a great addition.
Speaker 1: It's not the total sum. Yeah, I look, this is
Speaker 1: what and this is kind of falls on Mike Budenholzer
Speaker 1: to make this happen, and based on his lack of adjustments,
Speaker 1: I'm not confident that he's going to be able to
Speaker 1: massage this. But I've always felt that Jannis, if you
Speaker 1: use him properly, you can make him fit with the
Speaker 1: rest of his team and take advantage of the different pieces.
Speaker 1: But every time I see them give him the ball
Speaker 1: at the top of the key, it scares the daylights
Speaker 1: out of me. I don't want him with the ball
Speaker 1: that far away from the basket, because there's the temptation
Speaker 1: to shoot it from that far and the temptation to
Speaker 1: put the ball on the floor in attack. In transition,
Speaker 1: fine against the set half court defense, I want him
Speaker 1: catching the ball below the free throw line, so there's
Speaker 1: minimal dribbles and minimal exposure that he has before he
Speaker 1: gets his feet into the paint. And I believe that
Speaker 1: when he's most effective as when he's not handling the ball,
Speaker 1: but when he's the roller, when he's setting the screen
Speaker 1: and he's rolling off Chris Middleton or Drew Holiday. I
Speaker 1: just I'm with you in that I'm not saying that
Speaker 1: they are better without him, but I just I feel
Speaker 1: as if they have to put him in his proper
Speaker 1: role and we've become so used to calling him an MVP,
Speaker 1: and he's the centerpiece of the team, like he can
Speaker 1: be the centerpiece of the team, but he doesn't necessarily
Speaker 1: have to be the centerpiece of your offense. And we've
Speaker 1: seen it. I mean, Bobby Portis came in and I
Speaker 1: was hoping that Jannis was. Bobby Portis is not as
Speaker 1: talented as Jannis, not at the kumpo, but because of
Speaker 1: the way he his patience and his willingness to just
Speaker 1: see the glore and make the next right play and
Speaker 1: not force anything, he was incredibly effective in every way offensively.
Speaker 1: Now I keep waiting for the his his stagecoacht to
Speaker 1: turn back into a pumpkin, Like when does the expiration
Speaker 1: date on Bobby Portis having some of these games, Uh,
Speaker 1: when do they figure him out and it and it
Speaker 1: hasn't happened yet. But you know, ultimately, I the Phoenix
Speaker 1: Suns can throw a lot of different bodies at him,
Speaker 1: which is why getting Jannis back I think is key
Speaker 1: to them winning the series. I think they can steal
Speaker 1: a game in Phoenix. They cannot win the series without
Speaker 1: Janist Compo simply because of the depth in the matchup. Yeah, so, Rick,
Speaker 1: I don't want to beat up on the Hawks too much,
Speaker 1: but you know, we're talking about an NBA finals now
Speaker 1: where we've referenced Bobby Portis and Drew Holliday and Brook
Speaker 1: Lopez like that. Rick. You know, I love the NBA.
Speaker 1: We've debated the NBA for years. I will argue with
Speaker 1: you for hours on end about who's a top ten
Speaker 1: player and Devin Booker's greatness and Steph Curry bubble. I
Speaker 1: love the NBA. This to me is a tough sell.
Speaker 1: I mean, the Bucks without Janni's beating up a beat
Speaker 1: up Hawks team that outside that had no All Stars
Speaker 1: is like, like, what are we talking about? Like, I mean,
Speaker 1: I just I see the sun's rolling over them, and frankly,
Speaker 1: I see this being a laugher. Um, you know Drew
Speaker 1: Holiday hold the last one. Drew Holiday gave up forty
Speaker 1: eight to Trey Young in the opener. Okay, like Chris
Speaker 1: Paul and Devin Booker are not losing sleep over Drew
Speaker 1: Holliday's defense. I know he's a he's a good defender
Speaker 1: on the perimeter, but this is this, this just reeks
Speaker 1: of a bad matchup for the buck are you? Are
Speaker 1: you suggesting that Chris Paul is a more uh dangerous
Speaker 1: scorer than Chris Paul in the mid range, is a
Speaker 1: better score than Trey Young. Devin Booker is probably on
Speaker 1: par with Trey Young as a score. Yeah, I M,
Speaker 1: I respectfully dis disagree. I think Drew Holiday is a
Speaker 1: much better or defender than Pat Beverly is. And I'm
Speaker 1: not going to take one game, game one of a
Speaker 1: series and have that a reflection of who Draw Drew
Speaker 1: Holiday is as as a defender. Um. I mean, Trey
Speaker 1: Young can get really hot and can get hot from distance,
Speaker 1: and that's generally how he gets it going. I look,
Speaker 1: this is what I think the appeal of this series is,
Speaker 1: and it is largely Chris Paul and whether Chris Paul
Speaker 1: can win that ring and get a stamp of legacy
Speaker 1: that has been wanting for his career, and that his
Speaker 1: talent has sort of teased us that he deserves. I
Speaker 1: think everything centers around that. But I believe that Drew
Speaker 1: Holiday can can can do a number on Chris Paul.
Speaker 1: I think he can limit him. I think he's demonstrated
Speaker 1: that in throughout at various times throughout these playoffs, and
Speaker 1: it's just a matter of ultimately how they match up.
Speaker 1: And you're talking about Devin Booker and him laughing at
Speaker 1: what they're going to put up defensively. If I'm the
Speaker 1: if I'm the Milwaukee Bucks, I'm thinking, Okay, Devin Booker
Speaker 1: has to guard somebody. Is he gonna guard through Holiday?
Speaker 1: Is he gonna guard Chris Middleton? Either one of those guys,
Speaker 1: that's advantage Milwaukee so and brook Lopez and Deondre And
Speaker 1: people are thinking Deondre a and has got it decided
Speaker 1: advantage over brook Lopez because he put you know, Andre
Speaker 1: Drummond in a body bag and um and and was
Speaker 1: very effective against Nicola Yoki. Yeah, neither one of those
Speaker 1: guys is the defensive player that that brook Lopez is.
Speaker 1: Brook Lopez has been out standing defensively. He's He's one
Speaker 1: of the biggest reasons why the Milwaukee Bucks rolled through
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Hawk without Janni Santa to compo. So I
Speaker 1: think that matchup is going to be a lot more
Speaker 1: intriguing than people think. I just I think the series
Speaker 1: has the potential. Now. The downside is Milwaukee only plays
Speaker 1: a rotation of six guys. That's why I don't think
Speaker 1: that they can win the series unless they get Janni's back.
Speaker 1: But that rotation and the way they were playing against
Speaker 1: Atlanta and the confidence that they have coming into the series.
Speaker 1: Going into Phoenix, this is a very young team. The
Speaker 1: finals are just a different dynamic and playing at home
Speaker 1: sometimes can have the reverse effect on a team, especially
Speaker 1: a team like Phoenix. As you noted, you're not alone
Speaker 1: like Phoenix for the first time is a decided favorite
Speaker 1: to win the series. They weren't that against the Lakers.
Speaker 1: They were favorite against the Nuggets, but not strongly. People
Speaker 1: still had questions against the Clippers. It was they were
Speaker 1: only favored because of the health of the Clippers. That's
Speaker 1: the only reason people thought the Clippers were the better team.
Speaker 1: And so this is the first time where like all
Speaker 1: the pressure Chris Paul's supposed to be Finals MVP. The
Speaker 1: Suns are supposed to win in five games. If they
Speaker 1: fall behind by five, seven, nine on their home floor
Speaker 1: in game one, it's suddenly gonna be wait, whoa what
Speaker 1: what's going on here? And that's where I think the
Speaker 1: Bucks have an opening. Okay, deciding decisive deciding factor here
Speaker 1: to me is if they will continue to take the
Speaker 1: offense through Middleton and will Chris Paul. Will Chris Paul
Speaker 1: continue to be aggressive and trying to create the space
Speaker 1: for other guys, or will he get too close to
Speaker 1: the sun and will his wings melt and he crashed
Speaker 1: to the ground as Icarus And my humble estimation, those
Speaker 1: are the two deciding factors. Is he a facilitator or
Speaker 1: is he going to try to score Chris Paul? Is
Speaker 1: Chris Middleton going to stand up tall in the biggest
Speaker 1: moment of his career or will he defer? What say you, well,
Speaker 1: Chris Middleton will give you some good games and he
Speaker 1: will give you some off games. He is, That's just
Speaker 1: who he is. He's not, you know, people labeling him
Speaker 1: as a superstar. I'm not. I am even uneasy with
Speaker 1: people who are suggesting that he's the most talented player.
Speaker 1: People gave him credit for the Bucks winning Game six.
Speaker 1: I thought it underserved through Holiday and brook Lopez. I
Speaker 1: don't want too much of Chris Middleton. I want some
Speaker 1: of Chris Middleton. What the Bucks when the Bucks are
Speaker 1: at their best is strength in numbers. It's Drew Holiday
Speaker 1: getting a piece of the action. It's brook Lopez getting
Speaker 1: a piece of the action. Bobby Port is Chris Middleton
Speaker 1: where you are sharing the responsibility and even at the
Speaker 1: end of the game, find the matchup that you like
Speaker 1: as opposed to handing Chris Middleton the ball and just
Speaker 1: saying go, I just don't think he has the talent
Speaker 1: to be that kind of guy to win a title
Speaker 1: in the finals for Chris Paul. For me, it's simply
Speaker 1: can he is he going to stay in one piece?
Speaker 1: I mean, we got the hand ligament, we've got the shoulder,
Speaker 1: like something always seems to be breaking down along the way.
Speaker 1: That compromises him and you know, until he gets to
Speaker 1: the finish line. That is going to be my number
Speaker 1: one worry. And the other part is can you rely
Speaker 1: on Chris Paul being a scorer. He's been sensational and
Speaker 1: continued his role as being a playmaker and getting everybody involved.
Speaker 1: But Devin Booker, you're Devin Booker. Jason McIntyre, who is
Speaker 1: this all world player has quietly been very up and down,
Speaker 1: very inconsistent. Did you know that Chris Paul, for all
Speaker 1: of his shooting woes that were well documented after he
Speaker 1: missed the first two games of the conference finals, Chris
Speaker 1: Paul is actually shooting better overall and from three point
Speaker 1: range then Devin Booker in these playoffs. Can you imagine that? Now?
Speaker 1: How can if you are the scorer, you're not much
Speaker 1: of a defender, you're not a playmaker, and you are
Speaker 1: shooting worse than Chris Paul overall and from three point range,
Speaker 1: and you are the superstar, you are the best player
Speaker 1: on the team. I'm sorry, we need to revisit that.
Speaker 1: If this trend continues, Oh, Tim, Devin Booker hate from
Speaker 1: Rick Buker. All right, Rick, let's spin it forward. We'll
Speaker 1: have fun with Ben Simmons trade ideas. By the way,
Speaker 1: somebody just texted that Ben Simmons, who bailed on the Olympics,
Speaker 1: is now at Wimbledon. I guess today or yesterday hanging
Speaker 1: out with his girlfriend. So I'm sure he's working on
Speaker 1: his jumper across the pond. But yes, exactly, he's focus.
Speaker 1: That's where he's focused on his girlfriend. Very attractive, a
Speaker 1: lot of followers on Instagram. But more importantly, where's Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons getting traded? Give me two spicy landing spots. We
Speaker 1: know like half the league wants him. I love a
Speaker 1: good byelo opportunity. I would definitely make a run at
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons, but to be my like small ball five
Speaker 1: full time, not my point guard. Yeah, there's two places
Speaker 1: that I could see, and this is only based on well,
Speaker 1: I mean, mostly speculation as far as let's say it,
Speaker 1: educated guesses. In terms of teams that might take a
Speaker 1: look at him, one is the Portland Trailblazers because they've
Speaker 1: been looking for a point, a playmaking point forward forever,
Speaker 1: and they certainly need to upgrade their defense, so he
Speaker 1: makes a ton of sense. They have several high priced contracts,
Speaker 1: so you could make the money work. And the Boston
Speaker 1: Celtics are the other team. In terms of breaking up
Speaker 1: the Jayson Tatum Dylen Brown combination, it makes sense for
Speaker 1: both sides. Dylen Brown gets to go into Philadelphia, I
Speaker 1: would expect that that would be the one that would
Speaker 1: be moved and gets the chance to be a little
Speaker 1: bit more of a go to guy consistently, rather than
Speaker 1: sharing that role with Jason Tatum and Brad Stevens. Gets
Speaker 1: to big, make a big, bold move and again they
Speaker 1: need defense, they need you know, rim protection. Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: quietly can be that. So I could see those two places.
Speaker 1: I can I can at least make a case for
Speaker 1: those two places making sense based on their history and
Speaker 1: what they've been looking for and what they're coming off
Speaker 1: of this past season. Oh wow, if you want to
Speaker 1: get in one more, LaVar, I'm a little I shot.
Speaker 1: I shot Jason and fire into silence. I mean, I
Speaker 1: like the idea they are they already good day, They
Speaker 1: already moved on from Kemba. They moved on from Kemba.
Speaker 1: I would be surprised. But he just had July fourth
Speaker 1: and celebrated with fireworks and the next day we have
Speaker 1: silence from Jason holiday fireaway, LaVar Arrington. I just think
Speaker 1: final My final question to Rick Buker would certainly be,
Speaker 1: if you choose the wrong team to win it all, Rick,
Speaker 1: will you be able to handle that emotionally? And mentally
Speaker 1: or will you too, Like most athletes who come up
Speaker 1: short at times in their career, needs some emotional and
Speaker 1: mental rehab going into the off season. You know, I've
Speaker 1: been at this long enough, LeVar, and I've picked wrong.
Speaker 1: My Chloe skills have not always been on point that
Speaker 1: I've built up. You may not notice. I may look
Speaker 1: like um a marshmallow on the outside, but in the
Speaker 1: interior there is a tough cookie. I have built up
Speaker 1: the scar tissue from years of questionable choices in my
Speaker 1: life and in my career. So I think I'm I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be okay right now. I got the Sun's winning
Speaker 1: winning the title in six. If Janice comes back and
Speaker 1: plays and gets back by say the third or fourth
Speaker 1: game of the series, then I have the Bucks winning
Speaker 1: in seven. Smart man. He is Rick Buker. You can
Speaker 1: follow him on Twitter. Rick. I look forward to chopping
Speaker 1: it up with you in the near future. And you
Speaker 1: and I Leavar and I love working with you. Man.
Speaker 1: Congrats on all the success. Keep it up. Thank you, gentlemen.
Speaker 1: Have a great day coming up next here on the
Speaker 1: Dan Patrick Show, LaVar Arrington and I we'll probably batch
Speaker 1: Rick Buker for some of his takes more maybe not. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll be back to wrap up the show. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to The Dan Patrick Show podcast. Be sure to
Speaker 1: catch us live every weekday morning nine until noon eastern
Speaker 1: six to nine Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, and you
Speaker 1: can find us on the iHeartRadio app at FSR or
Speaker 1: stream us live on the Peacock app. Whoa back here?
Speaker 1: On The Dan Patrick's Show final segment, Leavar, I say
Speaker 1: this all the time, but three hours just flies by
Speaker 1: when you're having fun, right, Definitely? Ly does? I mean
Speaker 1: it's so easy to do. I do a Saturday show
Speaker 1: solo and it's not a super challenge. I've been doing it,
Speaker 1: I think five years. But when you do two people
Speaker 1: for three hours, it's like, bro, it's a cake again.
Speaker 1: Much like Kim Kardashian. There's a lot of work that
Speaker 1: goes into making it look and feel like cake. No
Speaker 1: pun intended, un but I'll tell you what. Doing during
Speaker 1: the show with the right people, um always makes it
Speaker 1: pretty dope. So I enjoy doing the show. Yeah, a
Speaker 1: lot of fun. Um. I'm just curious to have you
Speaker 1: guys done any travel or do you have any travel
Speaker 1: plans for the rest of the summer. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I live in a home that's like a vacation home.
Speaker 1: And and so it's like for for us, when we
Speaker 1: were looking for the home that we really wanted to
Speaker 1: settle into and be in for the next you know,
Speaker 1: four or five six years of our lives. Um, we
Speaker 1: wanted to feel like we were vacationing in Palm Springs,
Speaker 1: and we were able to find the property that did
Speaker 1: just that. So we haven't. We generally every summer until
Speaker 1: we moved moved into this home this past January, we
Speaker 1: would always vacation to Palm Springs. We're pretty simple. Every
Speaker 1: once in a while we'll go to Mexico. That's a big,
Speaker 1: big one for us. But we haven't gone to Mexico
Speaker 1: this year, and and ever since coming here, we don't.
Speaker 1: We haven't gone to Palm Springs because it just feels
Speaker 1: like we're in a vacation home anyway. So it's kind
Speaker 1: of cool to feel that when you're at home. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's awesome. We are still renting because you know, you
Speaker 1: move out to California. We were in Pennsylvania before we
Speaker 1: got out here. I came out here one and stuff,
Speaker 1: and you know, you had a big yeah, like we
Speaker 1: got like an acre, we had a pool. You go
Speaker 1: out to LA, it's like, yo, we got a little
Speaker 1: shoe box for you to live in. So we had
Speaker 1: to consolidate, you know, we decided we're gonna rent while
Speaker 1: we look. And then housing prices are through the roof,
Speaker 1: so we're still playing that game where we're stacking chips.
Speaker 1: You know. Basically, I work five jobs to try to
Speaker 1: make a good living out here in LA. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, the hustle. Oh, I get it, I get it.
Speaker 1: It's not I mean the amount of money that you
Speaker 1: can generate versus the amount of money that you have
Speaker 1: to spend seems to be a little bit off. Yes,
Speaker 1: that's also too. But at the same time, you know, Leavar,
Speaker 1: I realize this when we owned our house in Pennsylvania,
Speaker 1: I don't love being a homeowner because I don't know
Speaker 1: about you. Are you handy around the house? I'm not. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm not either. And then what about in the yard,
Speaker 1: like do you like mulching and doing cutting the grass
Speaker 1: and like odd jobs and gutters and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: I always have people doing that. I like to stimulate
Speaker 1: the economy as well. But as a homeowner, you quickly
Speaker 1: realize that it gets expensive, and it does, but it's
Speaker 1: also part of it. You know. I like clean bits
Speaker 1: and clean carpets and rugs. Yeah. Like I like smelling
Speaker 1: a freshly clean place. I like our yard to be manicured.
Speaker 1: I am into mowing my lawn. No, you're one of
Speaker 1: those guys. Well, and I enjoy cooking too. And it's
Speaker 1: like it's thinking time for me. It's it's a it's
Speaker 1: an opportunity for me too. It's like therapeutic, you know.
Speaker 1: So it just gives me time to myself. I'm doing something,
Speaker 1: so I'm going to be left alone. I'm not going
Speaker 1: to be bothered with complaints, tattle tales and noise. Um.
Speaker 1: And so it's like the weight room, um, doing lawn work,
Speaker 1: you know, stuff like that. Um yeah, I enjoy it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well yeah, I'm just my thing is I work hard
Speaker 1: during the week leavar and on the weekends. I don't
Speaker 1: want to spend five hours tending to my lawn, like
Speaker 1: I want to go play basketball or I don't want
Speaker 1: to go hang with my friends. I want to hang
Speaker 1: with the kids, do stuff with the family. Like, I
Speaker 1: don't know, man, you live one life. I don't want
Speaker 1: to spend it around my yard doing doing that kind
Speaker 1: of I just I want to get out and see
Speaker 1: the world. Um and uh, I like getting out and
Speaker 1: seeing the world in my backyard. I just do. I
Speaker 1: don't know. With you, I don't want to be cleaning
Speaker 1: it up and stuff like that. Um. I don't want
Speaker 1: to be a uh you know, one of those people
Speaker 1: that's just always in their yard. But for some people
Speaker 1: that just really works. Yeah, yeah, it just works from Yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe that's their identity to bring it full circle. You
Speaker 1: like what we did there. I did like what you
Speaker 1: did there. So why do we get out on this
Speaker 1: n Give me your NBA Finals official pick and MVP.
Speaker 1: I'm going to I think, uh, I think this is
Speaker 1: the Sun's year. I think they will pull it off. Um.
Speaker 1: I'm hesitant to say it, but I think they are.
Speaker 1: And I think Booker Booker gets it in a close
Speaker 1: edging out of Okay, here's a surprising one for you guys.
Speaker 1: Of uh of Jah Jay Jay uh What's what's what's
Speaker 1: Jay's last name? Joe Crowder Jack Ray Crowder, Jay Crowder.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be the Finals MVP. He's going to come
Speaker 1: in a close second. Not to k Yeah, that's what
Speaker 1: I think is going to happen. I don't mind that matchup,
Speaker 1: you know. I did hear Rick Buker say, oh, Devin
Speaker 1: Booker's gonna have to Chase Middleton. No, that job will
Speaker 1: fall on mcl bridges or Jay Crowder. You know, good luck.
Speaker 1: Chris Middleton posted up the rock that is Jake Crowder.
Speaker 1: All right, that's been a fun show. Fun LeVar Arrington,
Speaker 1: Yes over NFL legend UM, hot take artist UM and
Speaker 1: myself Jason McIntyre. We hope everybody has a great month
Speaker 1: of July. Enjoy the soccer, Enjoy the NBA Finals. Next
Speaker 1: time you hear from us when we talk in NFL,
Speaker 1: it's The Dan Patrick Show. We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan
Speaker 1: Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific
Speaker 1: on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeart Radio app.