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Speaker 1: The volume. It's the Colin Coward Podcast presented by FanDuel.

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Speaker 1: eight hundred gambler dot net, West Virginia. This is Prime Cuts,

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Speaker 1: the best of the Colin Coward podcast. So years ago

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Speaker 1: when I was very very fortunate and got a job

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Speaker 1: out of college in Las Vegas working for a baseball team,

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Speaker 1: the Las Vegas Stars. So I did that for a

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Speaker 1: couple of years, sales, couple innings of play by play,

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Speaker 1: and then I transitioned into working for a local NBC affiliate,

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Speaker 1: KVBC Valley Broadcasting company. Late Jim Rogers was willing to

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Speaker 1: hire me. I was a weekend sports guy and then

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Speaker 1: to a sports director and during that one of the

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Speaker 1: things that I'm from the Pacific Northwest, as many of

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Speaker 1: you know, that was really cool for me is sports books.

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Speaker 1: I'd never been to a sports book. I'd never been

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Speaker 1: to Vegas, so I hung out in sports books a lot.

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Speaker 1: I thought they were real, the coolest things in the world.

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Speaker 1: I would finish my eleven o'clock sportscast on a Friday

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Speaker 1: during the football season, I would go to Palace Station

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Speaker 1: on Sahara, not far from my station in North Las Vegas,

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Speaker 1: and I would place bets college football bets, have a

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Speaker 1: ninety nine cent breakfast, meet some guys, and then I

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Speaker 1: would go home, sleep in back Then you'd wake up

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Speaker 1: in the morning and you know, the Florida State Seminoles

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Speaker 1: will be feates and the Miami Hurricanes at nine in

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Speaker 1: the morning. Now they put all the really good college

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Speaker 1: football games mostly in the late afternoon and night. But

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Speaker 1: I loved sports books and I love the guys that

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Speaker 1: run them, And it was very obvious there were two

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Speaker 1: things where the books made a killing, and they were

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Speaker 1: completely electric, NFL Sundays and March Madness. And this past

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Speaker 1: year the NFL ratings were up. And what is significant

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Speaker 1: about that fifty four quarterbacks or close played. Fifty four

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Speaker 1: different quarterbacks played, So the ratings shouldn't be great, right,

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Speaker 1: the stars drive any sport. But the ratings were up,

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Speaker 1: and the ratings were up because of gambling, the rollout

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Speaker 1: of gambling in this country, and which I'm a proponent

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Speaker 1: of and have been forever. So the other thing that

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Speaker 1: was wild to see. So when I moved to Vegas

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Speaker 1: out of college, the Runnin Robbinals, Jerry Tarkanian, Larry Johnson,

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Speaker 1: Stacy Augman, Anderson Hunt most is a scurry. Greg Anthony,

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Speaker 1: you know, I got to cover that team. It was wild.

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Speaker 1: But I would hang out in these sports books like

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Speaker 1: everybody else, eating cheap food, drinking beer. March Madness in

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Speaker 1: the NFL and other sports, certainly you'd have action, but

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Speaker 1: those moved the needle and they still do. So the

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Speaker 1: March Madness ratings have been really strong, you know, and

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Speaker 1: people tend to have opinions that work for their agenda.

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Speaker 1: If you hate the NBA, you're like, see the basketball

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Speaker 1: is better. No, it's not. There's no reason college basketball

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Speaker 1: is getting these ratings. Nobody knows any of the players.

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Speaker 1: I mean, if you're a Miami Hurricane fan, you'd do.

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Speaker 1: But San Diego State fans don't know. Again, if you

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Speaker 1: followed college basketball twenty years ago, the Stars, the Patrick

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Speaker 1: Ewings twenty five years ago, Christian Latner's they came back

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Speaker 1: for a third or fourth year. Now, if you go

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Speaker 1: to a street in Smith and look at their All

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Speaker 1: American team, it's like four freshmen they were in high

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Speaker 1: school the year before. It's a very transitional sport, very transactional.

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Speaker 1: And then you throw the portal into it. Christ half

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Speaker 1: the league half that. There's three hundred and sixty Division

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Speaker 1: one programs. Five kids per team are transferring. It is

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Speaker 1: just a non stop merry go round of one and done,

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Speaker 1: players in and out of universities, in programs. There's no

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Speaker 1: real emotional, visceral connection most casual fans to the teams.

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Speaker 1: You know the coach, maybe, you know the brand of

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Speaker 1: Kansas Archer accused, you know all the players. And we

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Speaker 1: don't watch soccer just because of soccer. The soccer that

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Speaker 1: gets the most views, has the biggest stars, the biggest brands,

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Speaker 1: English Premier League, and so there's no reason for college basketball.

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Speaker 1: You don't watch just for passion. Little League World Series

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Speaker 1: has passion. It doesn't get huge ratings. A lot of

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Speaker 1: things have passion. The College Baseball World Series has passion,

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Speaker 1: it doesn't get huge ratings. We bet on two things

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Speaker 1: in America, the NFL and March Madness. And I mean,

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Speaker 1: I'm watching this weekend. Know any of these Creton players

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Speaker 1: don't follow Creton basketball. You can pretend you do. You don't.

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Speaker 1: People within one hundred miles of that school unless they

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Speaker 1: went there, they don't know who plays for Creton. So

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Speaker 1: I think it's great. But it shows you the importance

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Speaker 1: of that connection to betting on sports, and we're really

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Speaker 1: seeing it. I think it's been a lot of fun,

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Speaker 1: but I'm not gonna lie. A big part of it

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Speaker 1: is you're not churning off games, even lobsided games, because

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Speaker 1: you want to see if you hit the over the

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Speaker 1: under of the line. It's the power. If you really

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Speaker 1: look at the people that have left sort of traditional

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Speaker 1: linear TV, if you look at cord cutting and cable

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Speaker 1: sports rating should not be up. You can make a

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Speaker 1: lot of reasons why people are are not watching stuff.

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Speaker 1: College basketball, NFL, the big winners, the big winners in

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Speaker 1: the legalization of sports betting. So I watched two baseball

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Speaker 1: games and two things were very noticeable. The game really

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Speaker 1: moves now. The pitch clock speeds it up about twenty

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Speaker 1: to twenty five minutes a game. It is very noticeable

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Speaker 1: it moves. It's swift, which sports should be. And also

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Speaker 1: there were more base runners. I can't prove that, but

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Speaker 1: I noticed in the games I watched, more stolen bases,

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Speaker 1: more activity. You know that thing people like to watch

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Speaker 1: called action. Those were the two problems with baseball over

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Speaker 1: the last decade, declining attendance and declining TV ratings. The

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Speaker 1: games were too long and didn't have enough activity. Hockey

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Speaker 1: is over three hours, lots of activity. Football over three hours,

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Speaker 1: lots of plays, fewer huddles, more activity. Baseball was getting

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Speaker 1: up around three hours. No base runners, so you needed

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Speaker 1: to change the defensive shift. Those outs now become singles

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Speaker 1: and doubles. More runners on, more stolen bases, more first

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Speaker 1: a third, more second to home, more activity. It was

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Speaker 1: noticeable in the two games I watched. But here's the

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Speaker 1: thing about baseball. Football is different. I've never gone to

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Speaker 1: a football game and not tailgated college or pro. Ever,

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Speaker 1: I've never just shown up and gone to a game.

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Speaker 1: You tailgate. It's understood you give half a day to

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Speaker 1: a full day. If you're a Patriot fan in Foxboro,

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Speaker 1: you get up, you have breakfast, you're gonna tailgate, and

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Speaker 1: then you're gonna go to the game, and then you're

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Speaker 1: probably because Foxboro's hard to get out of, knocked down

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Speaker 1: a beer or abrought before you go home. You give

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Speaker 1: the day to football, so time becomes less crucial. Sundays

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Speaker 1: in the fall eight home games. Those are eight sacred

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Speaker 1: family and friend moments, pictures, videos, food. But the more

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Speaker 1: games you have, the less it becomes an event. Basketball

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Speaker 1: forty one home games. I've never tailgated for a basketball game.

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Speaker 1: Baseball eighty one home games. Too many games for the

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Speaker 1: games not to be succinct. It doesn't matter if it's

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Speaker 1: a Broadway play, it doesn't matter if it's a movie.

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Speaker 1: You go to a movie once a month, you're gonna

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Speaker 1: give it two hours. You get a bite to eat

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Speaker 1: before the movie, you go to the movie. After the movie,

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Speaker 1: you go out and get a glass of wine with

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Speaker 1: your wife. You know you do that once a month.

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Speaker 1: If you went to a movie four days a week,

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Speaker 1: five days a week, you're not going to do that.

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Speaker 1: It's too costly. You don't have that time. So the

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Speaker 1: diehards will bitch and complain, and that's fine. They always do.

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Speaker 1: I mean, go to Twitter, go to social media for

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Speaker 1: five minutes. There are people on there. Their entire feed

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Speaker 1: is about complaining. I don't think it's just to get clicks.

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Speaker 1: I think they're miserable. Some people aren't happy unless they're unhappy,

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Speaker 1: and so people come complain. Hey, Colin, you don't worry

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Speaker 1: about it. You and the TikTok generation. I'm fifty nine

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Speaker 1: years old and I think baseball is slow. I'm not

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Speaker 1: on TikTok. I'm barely on Twitter. I'm never on Instagram.

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Speaker 1: I have eight social media accounts. I don't have a

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Speaker 1: password to any of them. They're run by my staff.

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Speaker 1: I occasionally post on Twitter. That's it. Baseball was too

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Speaker 1: slow and it's a killer with eighty one home games

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Speaker 1: and one hundred and sixty two minimum over the course

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Speaker 1: of a season. So people are going to complain. The diehards,

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Speaker 1: they're irrelevant. They're not going anywhere. They're scorpions in the desert.

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Speaker 1: You can't kill them. The bottom line is keep it moving,

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Speaker 1: more base runners, more fun, and about the only downside

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Speaker 1: in the stadium. You know you always go to a

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Speaker 1: baseball game. You have a couple of beers. You may

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Speaker 1: not have time for a third. Now, beer sales might

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Speaker 1: decrease slightly. I think the sport Budweiser Stella Corona will survive.

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Speaker 1: But I noticed it about a month ago. I got

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Speaker 1: in my car from my house to go to the

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Speaker 1: grocery store. It's about an eight minute drive. It was

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Speaker 1: a Dodger game, and they got through an entire inning,

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Speaker 1: and I thought to myself, the late Vince Scully, what

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Speaker 1: would he have done with a sport that moved so

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Speaker 1: quickly his stories? There would have been no time, but

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Speaker 1: Vince Scully would have made his stories more succinct to

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Speaker 1: fit in to the time. I will watch significantly more

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Speaker 1: baseball this year. And by the way, die hard guy,

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Speaker 1: you're not going anywhere. You'll still watch two. So baseball

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Speaker 1: Nick Cohn, my friend and former agent, stops by the

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Speaker 1: volume today from a practicing attorney to a mega agent

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Speaker 1: to now the CEO of a public company w WE.

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Speaker 1: So WrestleMania goes Hollywood Saturday Sunday at so far spectacular Venue,

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Speaker 1: a spectacular venue. Roman Rains takes on, Cody Rhodes, brock Lessner,

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Speaker 1: John Cena, the Amazing Charlotte Flair, and others. So there

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Speaker 1: are events weekly. This is your super Bowl, This is it?

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Speaker 1: Is it stressful for Vince, for you, for the performers.

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Speaker 1: Do you does it feel different? Well, look, I'll tell

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Speaker 1: you this. I can't speak to being a performer, obviously,

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Speaker 1: it's not what I do. But going out in front

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Speaker 1: of seventy five thousand fans a night, or whatever it

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Speaker 1: might be. I remember hearing a story from Sugaray Leonard

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Speaker 1: years ago. He said there's nothing like ringwalk. He said,

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Speaker 1: you got seventy five fifty thousand people cheering for you,

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Speaker 1: cheering your name. I get into the ring and I'd

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Speaker 1: say to myself, holy shit, actually have to fight, which

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Speaker 1: I always thought was funny. But for us, I think

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Speaker 1: WW is a well oiled machine. We have almost a

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Speaker 1: thousand employees. Everyone's focus is on WrestleMania, so it's no

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Speaker 1: more stressful than any other week at WW. So not

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Speaker 1: that it's a playbook, but when you first came to WWE,

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Speaker 1: you did things that you and I had privately discussed

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Speaker 1: for years about my business, which is play the hits.

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Speaker 1: You know, the top five or ten percent of any

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Speaker 1: business are going to be your most dynamic revenue producers.

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Speaker 1: So you have really zoned in on your brock lessners.

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Speaker 1: John Cena Charlotte Flair has never had a bigger profile

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Speaker 1: Roman Reigns you even you've elevated that. So is that easy?

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Speaker 1: It's what you did in your career. So was that

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Speaker 1: on your note card of things to do when you

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Speaker 1: became you know, the CEO? Was that one? Or were

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Speaker 1: there things that I don't notice that a non WWE

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Speaker 1: diehard wouldn't notice that you had to work on. Or

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Speaker 1: was the system and the platform pretty solid and it

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Speaker 1: just needed tweaking. I think a couple of things. Play

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Speaker 1: the hits and part I learned from you. So if

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Speaker 1: you look at your content on your daily show, it's

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Speaker 1: some version of NFL, NFL, NBA, Lebron big story of

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Speaker 1: the day. But it's not, and we had this conversation

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Speaker 1: on day one of your show. It's not let's put

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Speaker 1: on this personality from baseball who's only known in a

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Speaker 1: local market. We don't need to mention any names, right right,

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Speaker 1: It's play the hits. What does the audience want to see?

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Speaker 1: So I think the way that Vince and team built

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Speaker 1: WWE was if you get a John Cena, if you

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Speaker 1: get a Rock, if you get a Roman Reigns, showcase them.

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Speaker 1: And if you showcase them as long as you can

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Speaker 1: build opponents consistently, and there's not one person carrying the

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Speaker 1: load as big as Roman is. All of the other

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Speaker 1: superstars that you mentioned, they all carry a lot of

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Speaker 1: stroke in our company. They all have big voices. So

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Speaker 1: for all of those people to be on display over

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Speaker 1: a two night event at WrestleMania this coming weekend, we

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Speaker 1: think it might give us a winning hand. So you've

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Speaker 1: always had good instincts when you were an agent, and

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Speaker 1: then you go to WWE and instead of dealing with

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Speaker 1: high maintenance people like me, you're dealing with a billionaire

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Speaker 1: who had created something revolutionary, transcendent, and with that comes

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Speaker 1: its own challenges. Was it the transition from representing sportscasters

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Speaker 1: now you had big names, herb Street names two now

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Speaker 1: working alongside Vince McMahon. Was the first six months? Nine

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Speaker 1: months a year? Was it difficult? Was it? You take me?

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Speaker 1: How would you describe it? So I'll ask you a

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Speaker 1: question back, and then I'll answer your question. When we

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Speaker 1: worked together and I had the good fortune of being

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Speaker 1: your agent, do you feel that I worked for you

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Speaker 1: or that you worked for me? Well, it was symbiotic.

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Speaker 1: I thought we worked it was a great partnership. But

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Speaker 1: at the end of the day, my belief as an

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Speaker 1: agent is that I worked for you. That's how I

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Speaker 1: set it up in my mind, and yes, a great partnership.

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Speaker 1: Typically you don't feel that, oh, I just worked for

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Speaker 1: this guy, And it was never that way with you,

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Speaker 1: But I was looked at it that way, and I

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Speaker 1: always thought to myself, if I could help to deliver

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Speaker 1: the goods to you, then you in return would extend

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Speaker 1: the partnership and pay me commensurately or pay the agency commensorately.

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Speaker 1: I took the same approach with Vince had the good

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Speaker 1: fortune of starting to represent ww in their media rights ventures,

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Speaker 1: so got to know him, got to triple age Kevin Dunn,

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Speaker 1: all the other good folks at WWE. So I had

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Speaker 1: a really good glimpse of the company from the outside

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Speaker 1: looking in. So when I started, I took the same approach.

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Speaker 1: There's only one boss, Vince, so I'd certainly try to

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Speaker 1: get his buy in on material things. It's no different

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Speaker 1: than a client. If you have a different point of view.

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Speaker 1: You and I would talk about it in private, and

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Speaker 1: when we'd come out of the room, we were bonded.

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Speaker 1: That was our position it wasn't a Hey, guys, bad news.

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Speaker 1: Colin doesn't agree with me, so this is what we're

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Speaker 1: going to do. You had your point of view. I

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Speaker 1: had my point of view. You ultimately got to make

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Speaker 1: the decision. Once you made the decision, it became our decision.

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Speaker 1: And I think I took the same approach to WWA

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Speaker 1: the creative side. How much impact I would imagine substantial

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Speaker 1: did Vince have on creative and was he willing to

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Speaker 1: let you early on tweak or give strong opinions on

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Speaker 1: the creative side. I really haven't had much to do

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Speaker 1: with creative, so certainly the talent deals I'm across, all

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Speaker 1: the venue deals and all those things. Vince obviously created

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Speaker 1: the entire company, but I think what he set up

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Speaker 1: was a system in place with Triple H, with a

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Speaker 1: gentleman named Bruce Fresher, where the company could keep going

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Speaker 1: creatively and keep thriving even if one day. Vince obviously

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Speaker 1: knew he would leave the earth at some point, as

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Speaker 1: we all will. I think the best organizations are set

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Speaker 1: up so if one person, even the founder, leaves, the

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Speaker 1: organization keeps moving. And I think what you saw over

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Speaker 1: the last six months or so was that creative continued

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Speaker 1: to thrive, Ratings continue to thrive, relevancy continued to thrive,

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Speaker 1: but all credits to Vince for setting it up. Surprised

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Speaker 1: me about Vince obviously smart, driven, passionate, what would surprise me?

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Speaker 1: He can be an introvert in private settings. He does

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Speaker 1: not dominate a room, especially with people he doesn't know.

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Speaker 1: He's a really good listener, And the rule of thumb

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Speaker 1: with Vince is you can say anything you want as

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Speaker 1: long as it's said in a respectful way and in private,

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Speaker 1: And if you think about it, those are kind of

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Speaker 1: your rules and my rules in private conversations that you

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Speaker 1: and I had had about your career, I would not

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Speaker 1: say those in front of a group of other people.

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Speaker 1: Maybe you in front of Anne other close confidants, but

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Speaker 1: your business. So if I had a different point of

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Speaker 1: view than we talk it through in private. So it's

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Speaker 1: all the stylistic thing. He's also extremely generous and has

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Speaker 1: financially helped He won't say it, he doesn't like to

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Speaker 1: take credit for that, but has financially helping a whole

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Speaker 1: lot of people, which you know, not that many people

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Speaker 1: know about, but I've seen that side. It's a very

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Speaker 1: sweet side. Does he still you know they used to

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Speaker 1: say the late great Bill Russell throw up before every game,

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Speaker 1: which is hard to fathom, but that was the kind

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Speaker 1: of anxiety. He viewed it as a real positive, like

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Speaker 1: when I stop being nervous. Steph Curry has talked about this,

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Speaker 1: There is an anxiety even as the best shooter in

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Speaker 1: the world. What's Vince like on WrestleMania night. Definitely not

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Speaker 1: the throw up guy, but definitely we got to be

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Speaker 1: laser focused here. So Russell minga night going into the show,

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Speaker 1: that's not the night to be cracking jokes, right, And

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Speaker 1: anybody who wants to do that. If you're going into

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Speaker 1: a quarterback Super Bowl game, you want to go crack

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Speaker 1: jokes with a quarterback, give him space, let him breathe.

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Speaker 1: If he wants you to come around and say, hey,

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Speaker 1: let's crack some jokes, you come around and crack some jokes.

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Speaker 1: But it's not that sort of anxiety with him. He

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Speaker 1: doesn't operate that way. Yeah, he's such an iconic figure.

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Speaker 1: I wonder if part of what made this whole thing

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Speaker 1: work and continues to work is that Vince still works out.

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Speaker 1: He understands the life, the physicality of the wrestler. When

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Speaker 1: I look at Vince, it's such a Dana White. By

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Speaker 1: the way, similarly, totally you know Vince, to me, I

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Speaker 1: feel like he's an athlete to this day, is he? Yes?

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Speaker 1: And look, I think even think about your own life.

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Speaker 1: From my point of view, you've never been a big drinker.

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Speaker 1: I'm not Maybe when you were at twenty well last

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Speaker 1: night and and I went outfferent, that's different. You're with

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Speaker 1: your wife, you're having a good night, that's different. I'm

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Speaker 1: talking about in business settings or that part of why

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Speaker 1: I've never seen you be a big drinker. You got

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Speaker 1: to work the next day and you got to have

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Speaker 1: the goods. And in our business, collective business, you got

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Speaker 1: to earn your keep every day. So the hey I'm tired,

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Speaker 1: I can't do it today, Okay, maybe you can have

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Speaker 1: one day like that, but if you have a week

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Speaker 1: like that, you have a month like that, you're gonna

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Speaker 1: have a problem. I think it's the same way with

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Speaker 1: the Vinces of the world, with the Danas of the world.

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Speaker 1: They got to go every day, so whatever they need

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Speaker 1: to keep themselves fresh and clear headed is what they're

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Speaker 1: going to do. There's never been a moment since I've

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Speaker 1: known the guy, Vince or Dana, where I've ever spoken

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Speaker 1: to either one and they're like, ah, I'm just tired.

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Speaker 1: I'm feeling a little down today. Never, it's the same

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Speaker 1: opening of a phone call with each of them. Hey, Hey,

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Speaker 1: are you doing good? How are you doing? You have

403
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Speaker 1: time to talk business? Yep, whom we talk business. There's

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Speaker 1: never an eye you know, my kids. So everyone has

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Speaker 1: their problems, and you know this trill. If you really

406
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Speaker 1: want to get ahead, you got to understand no one

407
00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:58,760
Speaker 1: really gives a fuck about other people's problems. We've talked

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00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,560
Speaker 1: about this before, Like, I'll call him my flights delayed.

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Speaker 1: You know it's another album. Just call me when you land, man,

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Speaker 1: Like I don't know how to tell you, Like, we

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Speaker 1: all got problems. Even I shouldn't rush to Twitter and

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Speaker 1: complain about Delta. People do that. They do it all day,

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Speaker 1: and I get it. They're trying to get Delta's attention.

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Speaker 1: I get it's frustrating. Yeah, when you flying things a late,

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Speaker 1: no one gives a fun It's sort of like, you know,

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Speaker 1: in the middle of the night, if you've ever stubbed

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Speaker 1: your toe on your bed, right, you tell the person

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Speaker 1: the next day. You should see my toe. No one,

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Speaker 1: no one gives a shit. And I don't mean about

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Speaker 1: serious things in life. Yeah, if a friend's really sick

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Speaker 1: or whatever, of course you care about that. When someone's like,

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Speaker 1: oh I have the flu, Like, okay, take some fair flu.

423
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,320
Speaker 1: Call me in three days, man, Like we got to

424
00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:41,760
Speaker 1: move here, Vince is that way? Dana's that way? John Cena,

425
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:48,880
Speaker 1: Charlotte Flair obviously, brock Lessner, Yes, who again is such

426
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:56,000
Speaker 1: a unique physical presence? Just finally does how the audience

427
00:24:56,119 --> 00:24:59,600
Speaker 1: reacts not just ratings, but do you watch how the

428
00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:04,320
Speaker 1: audience reacts to your wrestlers? Did not elevate or puncture

429
00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:08,320
Speaker 1: a career. To us, that makes our breaks, our performers.

430
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:12,159
Speaker 1: So if the audience is into someone, even if us

431
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:14,360
Speaker 1: folks in the back of the house haven't seen it,

432
00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:16,919
Speaker 1: we're going to give that person a push. If we

433
00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:19,600
Speaker 1: think someone's a big star and the audience, now, we'll

434
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:23,080
Speaker 1: stick with it for a while. Early on with Roman reigns,

435
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,600
Speaker 1: it wasn't working the way wwe thought it would work.

436
00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:28,960
Speaker 1: They stuck with it, They stuck with it, they stuck

437
00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:32,320
Speaker 1: with it. Finally, when he went heo again the villain character,

438
00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:37,200
Speaker 1: it worked like wildfire, and you hear the audience's reaction

439
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,720
Speaker 1: to him the head of the table. They acknowledge me

440
00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:42,399
Speaker 1: whatever you know it is that he's saying. They react

441
00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:44,879
Speaker 1: no matter what someone once told me. They say, you

442
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:47,040
Speaker 1: know what the opposite of love is? And I said,

443
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:49,639
Speaker 1: I don't know hate And they said, no, apathy. They

444
00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:52,479
Speaker 1: said love and hate are close cousins there, right, So

445
00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,640
Speaker 1: if you love our performers, that works. If you hate

446
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:59,240
Speaker 1: our performers, that works. If you don't care about the difference,

447
00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:07,760
Speaker 1: is the killer the killer? That's the killer. Aaron Rodgers,

448
00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:11,000
Speaker 1: this Jets thing, you know, it felt I don't know

449
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:12,600
Speaker 1: why it did, like it was just going to happen

450
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:14,760
Speaker 1: when free agency and then when you went on McAfee

451
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 1: would all just kind of come to fruition. And that

452
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:20,560
Speaker 1: clearly is not the case. Now nothing is actually happening

453
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,320
Speaker 1: right now, right, there's no practice, there's no OTAs, nothing

454
00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:27,399
Speaker 1: really happens till after the draft. And really it feels

455
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,359
Speaker 1: like the timeline right day one of the draft, because

456
00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:32,720
Speaker 1: if they want that thirteenth pick, and if the Jets

457
00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:34,359
Speaker 1: are hesitant, because both of them feel like they're in

458
00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:36,280
Speaker 1: a little bit of a staring contest. If you're the Jets,

459
00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:38,440
Speaker 1: I'm not going to give you that thirteenth pick till

460
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,080
Speaker 1: the last hour, when, in my opinion, I would capitulate

461
00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:43,240
Speaker 1: and give you the thirteenth pick, but that'd probably be it.

462
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:45,959
Speaker 1: Give you pick thirteen. Maybe some conditional next year, but

463
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:48,840
Speaker 1: that's it, and maybe they're trying to give some package

464
00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:50,960
Speaker 1: of like a two and a two next year or something.

465
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:54,280
Speaker 1: But that's where it feels like we might have another

466
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,480
Speaker 1: thirty days of this before the draft. We're just kind

467
00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:58,600
Speaker 1: of sitting here looking at each other. That would feel

468
00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:04,240
Speaker 1: like you and I also think. I mean, Green Bay

469
00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:08,120
Speaker 1: has got their quarterback at practice ready to go. They

470
00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:10,800
Speaker 1: can stall all they want. They don't need a quarterback.

471
00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:14,440
Speaker 1: He's in the building. So their takeaway is we want

472
00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:16,800
Speaker 1: two firsts. We're going to get a tight end and

473
00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:19,880
Speaker 1: a receiver, two big needs that could go the rush

474
00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:22,720
Speaker 1: of the draft after that could mostly be defense. They're

475
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:26,040
Speaker 1: going to be stubborn. And you know, it's like I've

476
00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,560
Speaker 1: been in enough contract negotiations in my career, probably twelve

477
00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,920
Speaker 1: where sometimes I've had a little average, sometimes i haven't,

478
00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:36,200
Speaker 1: but it usually wraps up pretty quickly because we both

479
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:40,359
Speaker 1: want it done. I do think, and maybe it's only

480
00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 1: ten to fifteen percent of it. I think green Bay

481
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:45,439
Speaker 1: is going to say, you have been put screwing around

482
00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:51,360
Speaker 1: with us for three years, so welcome to your party.

483
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,160
Speaker 1: And so I think a little bit of this because

484
00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:58,439
Speaker 1: green Bay, come on, they say what you want. But

485
00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:01,080
Speaker 1: I mean I would give up as for Aaron Rodgers,

486
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,159
Speaker 1: I wouldn't give up much after that, maybe a conditional third.

487
00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:09,240
Speaker 1: They can't be that far apart John they can't. I mean,

488
00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:12,000
Speaker 1: nobody thinks he's worth two wants at this point because

489
00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:14,439
Speaker 1: nobody knows if he's gonna play for two years. He

490
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:16,880
Speaker 1: just said a chance he was going to retire three

491
00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:19,960
Speaker 1: weeks ago. So that, honestly, that kind of hurts the

492
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,879
Speaker 1: Packers in the sense that this whole situation is just

493
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:26,040
Speaker 1: kind of a sad ending to a weird situation these

494
00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,000
Speaker 1: last couple of years because he had so much individual

495
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:31,320
Speaker 1: success win those MVPs and those two flameouts are just

496
00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:34,040
Speaker 1: I mean, they're pretty historic losses, both at home the

497
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:36,000
Speaker 1: Niners game, I mean the Niners in score an offensive

498
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:39,160
Speaker 1: touchdown and that Tampa game loss. I mean, those are

499
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,680
Speaker 1: just it's just been a bizarre way to end a

500
00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 1: career that you had so much problem and had high highs,

501
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:48,600
Speaker 1: but they were mainly in the regular season. Well also

502
00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:53,120
Speaker 1: not everybody. I mean, you were in the scouting game.

503
00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:55,400
Speaker 1: You obviously were good at it. You loved it. Some

504
00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,480
Speaker 1: guys are lifers. You looked at it and thought, probably

505
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:01,640
Speaker 1: hard to make money here. I don't like the travel,

506
00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:05,520
Speaker 1: you know, I'm guessing I didn't like it. I am

507
00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:07,760
Speaker 1: more addicted, and so I think I've had more success

508
00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:10,520
Speaker 1: doing this what I've been part of as a podcaster.

509
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:14,320
Speaker 1: It comes more naturally to me. I can control more that.

510
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,360
Speaker 1: I saw the addiction in Howie Roseman and Andy Reid

511
00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:19,160
Speaker 1: and bread Beach, and I went, I don't know if

512
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:21,280
Speaker 1: I love it as much as those guys do, and

513
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:22,880
Speaker 1: if I'm going to be in the industry and want

514
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,080
Speaker 1: to go, I'm gonna get capped. And it's hard to

515
00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:29,040
Speaker 1: do that job if you're not an addict. Well, it

516
00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:32,320
Speaker 1: really is. It's why Tom Andy Belichiack, I mean, Saban,

517
00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:35,680
Speaker 1: the best are Mark Few, Mick Cronan. I mean, these

518
00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:39,320
Speaker 1: guys are addicted to the game. Listen when I got

519
00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:41,200
Speaker 1: when I got out of college, John I Gotta, I

520
00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:43,640
Speaker 1: was very fortunate. I got a Triple A baseball play

521
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:45,960
Speaker 1: by play job. So I did sales in an ending

522
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:47,880
Speaker 1: of play by play, which became two Winnings, and I

523
00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:51,440
Speaker 1: travel a little bit, but I thought that's what I

524
00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:54,640
Speaker 1: wanted to do. And then about year three, I work

525
00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:57,600
Speaker 1: with you know, like Ken Korak is the voice of

526
00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,560
Speaker 1: the A's yeah, and it has been forever O yeah.

527
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,360
Speaker 1: And there were guys like that in the league and guys.

528
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:09,200
Speaker 1: You started meeting these guys and you're like, they loved baseball.

529
00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:14,280
Speaker 1: John Miller loved baseball, and I liked baseball, but I

530
00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:18,320
Speaker 1: liked football, and so and this this circles back to

531
00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:21,200
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers. I think he really likes football, but he's

532
00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:25,160
Speaker 1: not UM. I don't think he UM. I don't think

533
00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:28,280
Speaker 1: he's addicted to it. And so what's happening is all

534
00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:31,080
Speaker 1: the great young quarterbacks are addicting. You know, they're ascending

535
00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:33,480
Speaker 1: and they love it. And he likes it. And you

536
00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:36,120
Speaker 1: see his offseason workouts. Last year, I just didn't think

537
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:39,920
Speaker 1: he played particularly well. So, you know, it's like in

538
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:43,400
Speaker 1: my whole career, I've seen guys. I'm pretty addicted to

539
00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:49,160
Speaker 1: this job. It's hard to stay at the top of anything.

540
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,640
Speaker 1: You can do it on some natural talent. But as

541
00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:55,960
Speaker 1: you age, if you're not addicted like Aaron, you start

542
00:30:56,520 --> 00:31:01,280
Speaker 1: eroding really fast. Like like I thought Cam liked football,

543
00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:06,000
Speaker 1: he eroded really fast. Big Ben. His off seasons were

544
00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:10,160
Speaker 1: legendarily soft right beers and as Jake Glazer said, beers

545
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,040
Speaker 1: and camping with the kids. Right. So, I think you

546
00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:17,360
Speaker 1: aged really fast in athletics if you're not addicted to it.

547
00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:21,160
Speaker 1: Lebron's addicted to it. He's aging gracefully. And that's why

548
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:23,400
Speaker 1: when you look at the young quarterbacks like the Mahomes,

549
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:27,400
Speaker 1: Josh Allen, contract situations Boom handled, Trevor Lawrence, that thing

550
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:29,680
Speaker 1: will be handled quick, Herbert will get some Joe Burrow.

551
00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:33,880
Speaker 1: It'll just be smooth. And this Lamar situation last week.

552
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:37,480
Speaker 1: My theory is this, these gms on these teams are

553
00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:40,160
Speaker 1: getting calls from someone they don't know and they don't trust.

554
00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,000
Speaker 1: They do behind the scene deals all the time with

555
00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,360
Speaker 1: the Rosenhouses and the Tom Connins, but the level of

556
00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:47,840
Speaker 1: trust they've been working for decades. You're calling me asking

557
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:50,720
Speaker 1: about trades. I don't know you. I'm not going to

558
00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,880
Speaker 1: lose my team's second round draft pick over tampering or

559
00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:56,680
Speaker 1: with something, and this situation has jumped to shark now

560
00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:58,840
Speaker 1: and part of it is on Lamar. And I'm not

561
00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:01,960
Speaker 1: super pro age not anti if Richard Sherman with the

562
00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:04,680
Speaker 1: Niners handled his contract himself and it was fine, but

563
00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:07,920
Speaker 1: in this situation they got a problem on their Lamar's

564
00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:09,959
Speaker 1: camp like that they need to kind of rein this

565
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:11,479
Speaker 1: in if they want to get out of there, if

566
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,560
Speaker 1: they want this money. You can't operate trying to get

567
00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,080
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty two hundred million dollars with this

568
00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:22,000
Speaker 1: level of direction because it's not going well well if

569
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,560
Speaker 1: you When I watched the Error movie with Michael Jordan,

570
00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:27,720
Speaker 1: one of the things Michael and his mom are really

571
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:33,240
Speaker 1: good at is making these big decisions. David Falk, Phil Knight,

572
00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:39,360
Speaker 1: Sonny Vaccaro, Dean Smith, Michael's mom and Michael were really

573
00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:43,520
Speaker 1: good big decision makers. Lebron By and large chose pat

574
00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:47,680
Speaker 1: Riley and d Wade and Eric Spoelstra. Then the Lakers

575
00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:52,760
Speaker 1: brand has enormously helped his business. But some athletes are gifted.

576
00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:56,000
Speaker 1: I'll give you Carmelo Anthony. So when Carmelo was with

577
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,960
Speaker 1: the Denver Nuggets, he demanded the trade to the Necks.

578
00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:03,320
Speaker 1: It actually screwed him. He made it so public that

579
00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:05,640
Speaker 1: the Knicks were trapped. Had to give up a ton

580
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:07,240
Speaker 1: to get him. He gets to New York, they don't

581
00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:09,800
Speaker 1: have anything, right, he's the he's the ten million dollars

582
00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:14,000
Speaker 1: chandelier in the empty mansion. And so he Carmelo didn't

583
00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:18,160
Speaker 1: surround himself with good people that should have said, don't

584
00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:23,560
Speaker 1: do this. So Lamar's kind of the classic. He just

585
00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:26,760
Speaker 1: he doesn't have the right people around him to give

586
00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:31,120
Speaker 1: him guidance. By the way, most people don't. I didn't

587
00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:35,480
Speaker 1: get twenty four, like, like, I get it. Michael was

588
00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:39,400
Speaker 1: so great. The league made sure, probably you get the

589
00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:42,440
Speaker 1: right people, right. Yeah, there's a lot of greatness there.

590
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:45,600
Speaker 1: Or Lebron James, like the NBA made sure, let's steer

591
00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:47,960
Speaker 1: you to the right to the right people, right. But

592
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:54,560
Speaker 1: I feel like Lamar, yea, all of us need guidance,

593
00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:56,600
Speaker 1: especially at twenty four to twenty five. I just don't

594
00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:59,040
Speaker 1: think he has the right people around him. Well. I

595
00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:01,480
Speaker 1: saw Richard Truman and set on his podcast on the

596
00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:05,120
Speaker 1: volume check that one out to Calvin Johnson about these

597
00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:09,560
Speaker 1: guaranteed contracts and for most players, because the guaranteed number

598
00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:12,200
Speaker 1: kind of hovers between. You know, let's just say forty

599
00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:15,480
Speaker 1: to sixty million. But these quarterbacks, even low ones, are

600
00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:19,399
Speaker 1: one twenty one, forty one fifty. You basically play out

601
00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 1: your entire contract always because the way it works on

602
00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:24,560
Speaker 1: the cap, they can never cut it. It took Matt

603
00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:26,480
Speaker 1: Ryan until he's like thirty eight years old to finally

604
00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:29,680
Speaker 1: get cut. Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, they have played their

605
00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:32,600
Speaker 1: entire time on that contract that we said was terrible

606
00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:35,360
Speaker 1: like four years ago. So if you just sign the

607
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:37,800
Speaker 1: two hundred twenty million dollar contract with one hundred and

608
00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:41,360
Speaker 1: forty five guaranteed, the likelihood you're gonna see ninety percent

609
00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:44,959
Speaker 1: of that is really really high. Just Derek Carr played

610
00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:47,799
Speaker 1: out his entire contract on the Raiders until they kind

611
00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:49,200
Speaker 1: of messed with it last year to kind of do

612
00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:52,280
Speaker 1: an extension and then boom, he gets another eighty million dollars.

613
00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:54,200
Speaker 1: So I mean, as a quarterback, you are in the

614
00:34:54,280 --> 00:34:57,239
Speaker 1: driver's seat. So they're arguing it feels like over kind

615
00:34:57,280 --> 00:34:59,520
Speaker 1: of nominal stuff in the big picture of what he's

616
00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:03,440
Speaker 1: ultimately gonna make. Yeah, and again, if he had a

617
00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:07,279
Speaker 1: really good team of managers around him, he'd get it.

618
00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:11,120
Speaker 1: You can't ask athletes to be great athletes and like

619
00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:15,600
Speaker 1: financial wizards. I mean, look at I've negotiated twelve contracts

620
00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:18,720
Speaker 1: or been part of twelve negotiations. I have great people

621
00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:21,399
Speaker 1: around me. I would get taken to the cleaners. I'm

622
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:23,759
Speaker 1: not a lawyer, I'm not a litigator. So it's like,

623
00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:29,359
Speaker 1: I just I just feel like And also I've said

624
00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:31,279
Speaker 1: this before, I said it last week. Kawhi Leonard and

625
00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:36,240
Speaker 1: Lamar have this sort of unorthodox personality. They're not trusting.

626
00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:39,880
Speaker 1: So Kawhi uses you know, as Dennis uncle Dennis, right,

627
00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:43,520
Speaker 1: which is I'm and then you know m Lamar used

628
00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:47,760
Speaker 1: his mom. Well again, it's not the end of the world,

629
00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:51,160
Speaker 1: but I think it comes down to both are not trusting.

630
00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:54,840
Speaker 1: Lamar was overlooked by a lot of people. He watched

631
00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:57,040
Speaker 1: himself in high school and college be dominant, and yet

632
00:35:57,040 --> 00:35:59,640
Speaker 1: he falls he didn't trust people. Kawhi Leonard was overlooked

633
00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,520
Speaker 1: by a schools even though you know he was dominating

634
00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:05,560
Speaker 1: guys in an early age. And so you know, they

635
00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:08,960
Speaker 1: come into the sport. They're kind of unique personalities, they're

636
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:13,160
Speaker 1: non trusting, they take an unorthodox agent stance or route.

637
00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:17,879
Speaker 1: It's it's I've said this before about Kauhi. I'd love

638
00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:21,640
Speaker 1: to have him on my team San Antonio Toronto. When

639
00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,439
Speaker 1: the cultures built, you can't build around him. He walks

640
00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:27,200
Speaker 1: into the facility. I've been told three forty five, I'm

641
00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:32,480
Speaker 1: not playing tonight that yeah, so he can't be your one,

642
00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:35,520
Speaker 1: and I you know, I listen. I'm rooting for Lamar

643
00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:37,759
Speaker 1: to sign because he makes the league better. He's a

644
00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:40,359
Speaker 1: fascinating player, and I think he's already good guy. But

645
00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:44,439
Speaker 1: you know, man management has an advantage if you don't

646
00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:48,799
Speaker 1: have equally strong management surrounding you. You think there's been

647
00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:52,360
Speaker 1: a lot of talk Frank's history with bigger quarterbacks in Carolina.

648
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:55,040
Speaker 1: They make the trade obviously last week Peppers. Yeah, I

649
00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:56,839
Speaker 1: mean it's his team, but he's going to all these

650
00:36:56,840 --> 00:37:00,120
Speaker 1: pro days. He's right by. You know. I heard you say,

651
00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:02,120
Speaker 1: you know, just kind of a way to get make

652
00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:04,759
Speaker 1: sure we're bring a huge contingency here. See how he

653
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:07,319
Speaker 1: handles himself. Clearly, CJ's a pretty high level guy. You

654
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:10,360
Speaker 1: do the same with Bryce. Do you think they already

655
00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:11,960
Speaker 1: know who they're going to take, because that's what it

656
00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:14,680
Speaker 1: feels like, they're going to take CJ. Strout, But you know,

657
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:17,759
Speaker 1: this I've been in these meetings. There's still a lot

658
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:20,480
Speaker 1: of debate going on, especially when the other guy in

659
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:22,840
Speaker 1: Bryce is a really high character guy at the highest

660
00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:25,440
Speaker 1: level also and has had so much success. So I

661
00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:28,440
Speaker 1: could see the conversations, you know, running right up for

662
00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:31,279
Speaker 1: the next three or four weeks up until the draft. Well.

663
00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:35,040
Speaker 1: I talked to an NFL GM this week who told

664
00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:38,319
Speaker 1: me will Levis has the fewest there's three or four

665
00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:40,600
Speaker 1: key traits that you have to have, and that will

666
00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:42,960
Speaker 1: Levis had the weakest of the four because he was

667
00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:48,600
Speaker 1: reckless accuracy issues. This GM said, of the top four quarterbacks,

668
00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:50,960
Speaker 1: he has the fewest traits you really want, so take

669
00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:54,080
Speaker 1: will Levis out, so it comes down to the final three.

670
00:37:56,480 --> 00:38:00,880
Speaker 1: I think the size fairer not is something as a

671
00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:03,280
Speaker 1: number one pick. I mean, Kinder was a little small,

672
00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:05,400
Speaker 1: he didn't want to get hit anymore. Baker was a

673
00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:08,279
Speaker 1: little small Manzelle was a little small. Two was a

674
00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:10,520
Speaker 1: little small. We got a history here. You take a

675
00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:15,319
Speaker 1: small guy up top, the hits land differently, So I

676
00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:19,680
Speaker 1: think there are concerns about Bryce Young. I think they

677
00:38:19,719 --> 00:38:22,480
Speaker 1: wanted to see C. J. Stroud, They wanted to meet

678
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:24,640
Speaker 1: him and look him in the eye, and they think

679
00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:31,400
Speaker 1: that CJ. Stroud has some of Bryce Young's accuracy and experience,

680
00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:34,400
Speaker 1: and they kind of just wanted to see what's he

681
00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:36,799
Speaker 1: like as a kid, because I think they look at CJ.

682
00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:42,480
Speaker 1: Stroud and say, well, big school with NFL receivers, really

683
00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:47,160
Speaker 1: good coach, you get hard coached, very accurate, very composed,

684
00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:49,600
Speaker 1: doesn't make a lot of mistakes. CJ didn't have a

685
00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:51,480
Speaker 1: lot of big interception games. I think he had one

686
00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:54,400
Speaker 1: or two big bad games in bad weather in the

687
00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:58,400
Speaker 1: Big Ten. So my guess would be they wanted to

688
00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:01,040
Speaker 1: go CJ and say, hey, does he have enough of

689
00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:04,839
Speaker 1: the Bryce Young kind of cool confidence composure, and if

690
00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:06,960
Speaker 1: he does, we get three and a half more inches

691
00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:10,359
Speaker 1: and twenty more pounds because if you look at their

692
00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:13,400
Speaker 1: college stats, there are some similarity as an accuracy of

693
00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:17,640
Speaker 1: delivering the football. And remember Frank Reich's history, He's a polisher.

694
00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:23,600
Speaker 1: He takes guys that can be a little wild Anthony Richardson, yeah,

695
00:39:23,640 --> 00:39:28,200
Speaker 1: and polishes them up. But I don't think Anthony Richardson

696
00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:30,879
Speaker 1: like he didn't feel like a one year I mean

697
00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:32,879
Speaker 1: he could be a two year build, and I don't

698
00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:37,319
Speaker 1: think Frank wants to wait two years to have a

699
00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:39,560
Speaker 1: guy ready to play at a high level. Yeah, I

700
00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:42,200
Speaker 1: think the outlier, and Josh Allen has really kind of

701
00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:45,200
Speaker 1: skewed everything. But most of these guys tend to be

702
00:39:45,239 --> 00:39:47,880
Speaker 1: in the history of the game more Malik Willis than

703
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:50,920
Speaker 1: Josh Allen. I went to a spring training game yesterday

704
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:53,200
Speaker 1: and it was the Dodgers against the Royals, and it's

705
00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:56,720
Speaker 1: Dustin May the Dodgers, the big redhead kid who throws

706
00:39:56,800 --> 00:40:00,680
Speaker 1: ninety eight six fives and then well he's on the

707
00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:03,600
Speaker 1: probably the eighteenth hole of his career. This guy's made

708
00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:05,800
Speaker 1: three hundred and fifty million dollars. It was Zach Grankie,

709
00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:07,680
Speaker 1: who's a small player, and it kind of hit me,

710
00:40:07,719 --> 00:40:10,360
Speaker 1: like everyone's banking on May to have this long career

711
00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:13,239
Speaker 1: make all this money, but it's just potential size. He

712
00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:15,839
Speaker 1: got rocked in the game. And then you see granky who,

713
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:18,279
Speaker 1: when I googled, three hundred and fifty million dollars in

714
00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:21,160
Speaker 1: his career was incredible for a large percentage of it.

715
00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:25,160
Speaker 1: And small guys, if they are special, can dominate now

716
00:40:25,239 --> 00:40:28,239
Speaker 1: their floor. Like you know, if Bryce Young's gonna hit,

717
00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:31,000
Speaker 1: he's gonna be really good. But it's much harder for

718
00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:32,839
Speaker 1: him just to be And this is where I think

719
00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:35,480
Speaker 1: people talk themselves out of it. If it doesn't go perfect,

720
00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:38,239
Speaker 1: How does he just be like Jared Goff, you know,

721
00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:40,719
Speaker 1: or Alex Smith, because there aren't just Usually the small

722
00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:43,319
Speaker 1: guy isn't just solid. Look at Kyler, he was either

723
00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:45,799
Speaker 1: going to be really good or he's gonna stink. There's

724
00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:48,360
Speaker 1: not just like slow and steady. So that's where I

725
00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:51,839
Speaker 1: think the debate on Bryce is legitimate. But if you

726
00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:53,839
Speaker 1: do believe he's going to be special, and there's only

727
00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:56,560
Speaker 1: a small percentage of those guys, doesn't even just because

728
00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:58,840
Speaker 1: you were special in college does not translate to the pros.

729
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:00,440
Speaker 1: You know, we have a long history guys that are

730
00:41:00,440 --> 00:41:03,680
Speaker 1: great in college that can't play in the NFL. I

731
00:41:03,719 --> 00:41:05,960
Speaker 1: tend to think he's gonna be an incredible player just

732
00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:08,959
Speaker 1: because I heard Bucky Brooks and Danner Jeremiah talking about

733
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:11,360
Speaker 1: this that we talk a lot about small guys getting injured.

734
00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:16,080
Speaker 1: Most quarterbacks in recent memory, they get hit, get hurt,

735
00:41:16,719 --> 00:41:19,400
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, Trey Lance's big, Jimmy Garoppolo's bigger.

736
00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:22,040
Speaker 1: That you get hit, you get hurt. With the size

737
00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:24,640
Speaker 1: of these defensive linemen and linebackers, coming into the game,

738
00:41:24,719 --> 00:41:28,200
Speaker 1: so it's more about just protecting your quarterback. Herbert broke

739
00:41:28,239 --> 00:41:32,040
Speaker 1: some ribs last last year, so well, Stiffer's falling apart.

740
00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:35,879
Speaker 1: He's thirty four years old, so you Russell's breaking down.

741
00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:38,520
Speaker 1: He's had knee surgery. You know, he's what Russell Wilson

742
00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:41,319
Speaker 1: is thirty three, thirty four years old, so you know,

743
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:44,560
Speaker 1: I would take Bryce Young, but I do understand the

744
00:41:44,719 --> 00:41:46,640
Speaker 1: argument on the other side of the ledger on the

745
00:41:46,680 --> 00:41:49,080
Speaker 1: small thing though, if you hit with a small that

746
00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:51,719
Speaker 1: this guy can be And from the character stuff, you know,

747
00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,520
Speaker 1: Kyler was a questioned coming out by the people internally

748
00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:59,279
Speaker 1: christ Bryce's character just like CJ's is really I think

749
00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:02,480
Speaker 1: these guys are very very well liked from a character

750
00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:06,480
Speaker 1: teammate football intelligence standpoint well. And also Bryce was a

751
00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:09,440
Speaker 1: rock star at high school at fifteen in LA and

752
00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:11,520
Speaker 1: then he goes to Alabama and he's a rock star

753
00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:14,600
Speaker 1: right out of the shoot, so like he's been on

754
00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:18,280
Speaker 1: the spotlight forever. So I feel like c J. Strale's

755
00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:23,600
Speaker 1: personalities a little more, at least I've heard he's a

756
00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:27,280
Speaker 1: great has great leadership qualities. But I feel like Bryce

757
00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:31,040
Speaker 1: Young as a number one pick would be unaffected completely. Yeah,

758
00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:33,520
Speaker 1: he was the best high school. I mean he was.

759
00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:35,920
Speaker 1: I can remember talking to somebody when he was a

760
00:42:35,960 --> 00:42:39,160
Speaker 1: sophomore on the USC staff and they're like, oh, yeah,

761
00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:42,359
Speaker 1: it ball comes out different. Then he goes to you know,

762
00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:47,680
Speaker 1: his just sort of spatial awareness, pocket awareness. It's way beyond.

763
00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:51,719
Speaker 1: I talked to Frank Reich. I can't give away too

764
00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:53,800
Speaker 1: much we talked about, but he asked me about some

765
00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:56,719
Speaker 1: quarterback stuff and I said, listen, I saw. I saw

766
00:42:56,760 --> 00:42:58,479
Speaker 1: a lot of Bryson High School, a lot of tape,

767
00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:01,320
Speaker 1: and I'm like, coach, he just sees the field different,

768
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:04,240
Speaker 1: like his head is just all over the field. Whereas

769
00:43:04,239 --> 00:43:07,520
Speaker 1: c J. Stroud Lancer line, his dad works in the NFL.

770
00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:09,880
Speaker 1: Lance does a good job for NFL dot com. He

771
00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:12,880
Speaker 1: said to c J. Stroud as Jared goff shirt And

772
00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:18,279
Speaker 1: by the way, that's not terrible, no, And he's more

773
00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:24,400
Speaker 1: athletic than Jared too. The East is going to entirely

774
00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:27,719
Speaker 1: come down to matchups and who plays who in any

775
00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:30,239
Speaker 1: of those teams has a chance should they catch the

776
00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:32,799
Speaker 1: right matchup. You're right, though. The Western Conference is so

777
00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:37,040
Speaker 1: much more wide open. I Denver starting to get it

778
00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:40,600
Speaker 1: together a little bit, but I still fundamentally, I still

779
00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:44,520
Speaker 1: fundamentally don't like some of their core basketball identity things

780
00:43:44,680 --> 00:43:46,880
Speaker 1: with the fact that they don't have a great defensive

781
00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:49,439
Speaker 1: front court. We talked about an hour last show about

782
00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:52,160
Speaker 1: how in NBA history you just need to have at

783
00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:55,680
Speaker 1: that four or five position all time great defensive players

784
00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:57,560
Speaker 1: to have a fighting chance, and they just don't. And

785
00:43:57,920 --> 00:44:00,560
Speaker 1: Jamal Murray runs hot and cold, which is concerning, and

786
00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:02,880
Speaker 1: I think that knee it kind of continues to flare

787
00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:05,240
Speaker 1: up for him from time to time. Sacramento is actually

788
00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:07,439
Speaker 1: taling off and their defense is getting worse and worse

789
00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:11,240
Speaker 1: as time goes along. Memphis again, they're getting it together,

790
00:44:11,719 --> 00:44:14,200
Speaker 1: but without Brandon Clark, it's a depth issue. And I

791
00:44:14,239 --> 00:44:17,000
Speaker 1: still don't trust their half court offense. And then again,

792
00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:19,560
Speaker 1: it really just everything points me back to the Warriors

793
00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:21,560
Speaker 1: and the Lakers, and I keep coming back to two

794
00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:24,239
Speaker 1: things for each team. For the Warriors, can they win

795
00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:27,480
Speaker 1: without Andrew Wiggins? And for the Lakers, I don't think

796
00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:30,200
Speaker 1: they can. I just don't think they can. You know

797
00:44:30,239 --> 00:44:34,239
Speaker 1: what's interesting is with the Wiggins piece in particular, like

798
00:44:35,280 --> 00:44:38,080
Speaker 1: and it's almost a testament to how great that core is.

799
00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:40,319
Speaker 1: That they've managed to win as much as they have,

800
00:44:41,040 --> 00:44:44,439
Speaker 1: but they they're coming back from major deficits in all

801
00:44:44,440 --> 00:44:47,399
Speaker 1: of these games. Like they beat the Pelicans, they were

802
00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:50,640
Speaker 1: down twenty. They beat the Sixers, they were down eleven

803
00:44:50,680 --> 00:44:53,560
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter. They came back and almost beat

804
00:44:53,600 --> 00:44:56,439
Speaker 1: the Timberwolves. They were down nine early in the fourth

805
00:44:56,480 --> 00:44:58,839
Speaker 1: quarter in that game. You know, even that Bucks game,

806
00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:00,840
Speaker 1: like they were down eight with two minutes left, Like

807
00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:04,560
Speaker 1: Steph and Clay and Draymond and Steve Kerry. They're just

808
00:45:04,760 --> 00:45:08,200
Speaker 1: grinding out wins. And it's crazy because when you're looking

809
00:45:08,239 --> 00:45:10,640
Speaker 1: from the standpoint of the standings, you're like, they're actually

810
00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:13,280
Speaker 1: in good position to potentially get the five seat. Especially

811
00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:15,800
Speaker 1: with the Clippers remaining schedule, they might end up getting

812
00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:17,640
Speaker 1: the five set. And I actually like their matchup with

813
00:45:17,640 --> 00:45:20,400
Speaker 1: Phoenix because Phoenix is such a bad perimeter defense team.

814
00:45:20,719 --> 00:45:23,200
Speaker 1: But the thing is is when they get to those

815
00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:27,759
Speaker 1: higher level, high pressure situations and late rounds of the playoffs,

816
00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:30,640
Speaker 1: you just need Andrew Wiggins you do. One of the

817
00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:33,400
Speaker 1: most underrated parts of their playoff run last year was

818
00:45:33,480 --> 00:45:35,640
Speaker 1: the job he did on Luca don chich In, the

819
00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:38,000
Speaker 1: job that he did on Jason Tatum and taking him

820
00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:40,920
Speaker 1: out of that equation makes everything so much more difficult

821
00:45:40,960 --> 00:45:43,200
Speaker 1: for them. And I want to so bad believe in

822
00:45:43,239 --> 00:45:45,360
Speaker 1: what they can do. But here's the thing. If Wiggins

823
00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:47,200
Speaker 1: isn't coming back, I just don't think they can do

824
00:45:47,239 --> 00:45:51,560
Speaker 1: it well. And also, Jason, is Wiggins in shape? No

825
00:45:52,080 --> 00:45:54,640
Speaker 1: sot so I was told he wasn't going to play

826
00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:57,400
Speaker 1: for the regular season. He was. Nobody knew about the playoffs,

827
00:45:57,400 --> 00:45:59,720
Speaker 1: and nobody knew at the time I reported it, nobody

828
00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:02,919
Speaker 1: knew they're gonna make the playoffs. Right, So let's say

829
00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:05,640
Speaker 1: he comes back and is not in shape. This is

830
00:46:05,680 --> 00:46:10,920
Speaker 1: the NBA. It's hard enough in November to enter this

831
00:46:11,040 --> 00:46:13,840
Speaker 1: season not in shape. You can't play yourself into shape

832
00:46:13,840 --> 00:46:17,800
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. And he's the best on ball defender,

833
00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:23,279
Speaker 1: high IQ, super twitchy, I mean Jason. They have no

834
00:46:23,360 --> 00:46:28,320
Speaker 1: front court scoring none, so I mean Weisman. They moved

835
00:46:28,320 --> 00:46:31,120
Speaker 1: off him eventually because you know, he just didn't fit

836
00:46:31,200 --> 00:46:34,800
Speaker 1: the time. Everything with them, I've been told, cursed feeling

837
00:46:34,960 --> 00:46:38,759
Speaker 1: is as long as Steph is great, They're gonna do

838
00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:41,200
Speaker 1: whatever it takes for Steph to have a chance to

839
00:46:41,239 --> 00:46:44,440
Speaker 1: win a title. The organization, I've been told Steve feels

840
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:47,279
Speaker 1: we owe Steph just as many titles as we can

841
00:46:47,320 --> 00:46:49,160
Speaker 1: give him. So they're gonna make moves in bail on

842
00:46:49,239 --> 00:46:52,200
Speaker 1: young guys. Now. The good thing about Wiggins out is

843
00:46:52,239 --> 00:46:56,239
Speaker 1: Kuminga has gotten more of a chance. But he's so raw,

844
00:46:56,840 --> 00:47:00,960
Speaker 1: he's so inconsistent. I mean, that's the different between talent

845
00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:04,239
Speaker 1: and wisdom. Jordan Pool's good but has bad nights. You

846
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:07,520
Speaker 1: kind of know what you get from Steph Kominga again,

847
00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:12,320
Speaker 1: crazy twitchy, but there are nights you get sixteen minutes

848
00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:14,880
Speaker 1: and six points and he's just not there. So I

849
00:47:14,920 --> 00:47:18,560
Speaker 1: think in the building they know they can't win without Wiggins.

850
00:47:18,560 --> 00:47:21,600
Speaker 1: I've been told they know that it just doesn't work. Yeah,

851
00:47:21,640 --> 00:47:23,840
Speaker 1: with the communicay thing, it's funny. I I always joke like,

852
00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:26,759
Speaker 1: as a young basketball player, every time you have a

853
00:47:26,800 --> 00:47:29,359
Speaker 1: good game, you kind of look back and you think

854
00:47:29,400 --> 00:47:31,440
Speaker 1: about what caused you to have a good game, and

855
00:47:31,480 --> 00:47:33,080
Speaker 1: you kind of commit that to memory. And every time

856
00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:35,120
Speaker 1: you have a bad game, you kind of think about

857
00:47:35,120 --> 00:47:36,799
Speaker 1: what caused you to have a bad game. You know,

858
00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:39,920
Speaker 1: this specific process thing that you did poorly, or this

859
00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:42,120
Speaker 1: specific thing with your form that got out of whack.

860
00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:44,680
Speaker 1: In Over the years, as you become a more experienced player.

861
00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:46,799
Speaker 1: That's what causes you to become more consistent as you

862
00:47:46,920 --> 00:47:48,919
Speaker 1: learn how to avoid the things that lead to bad

863
00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:51,120
Speaker 1: games and you learn how to replicate the things that

864
00:47:51,239 --> 00:47:53,319
Speaker 1: lead to good games. And that's the thing. Cominga has

865
00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:55,919
Speaker 1: actually done a lot of Wiggins esque stuff. He's done

866
00:47:55,920 --> 00:47:58,560
Speaker 1: some isolation scoring at the end of shot clocks. He's

867
00:47:58,560 --> 00:48:02,600
Speaker 1: done a really good on defense, like he did a

868
00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:04,640
Speaker 1: pretty damn good job on Luca the other night when

869
00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:07,520
Speaker 1: he was guarding him. And then he's working really well

870
00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:10,600
Speaker 1: in the Warrior system, cutting and finding ways to be

871
00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:13,160
Speaker 1: impactful offensively. But the problem is is then he'll have

872
00:48:13,200 --> 00:48:15,040
Speaker 1: a night where he goes one for seven and gets

873
00:48:15,040 --> 00:48:16,760
Speaker 1: to trust a little bit off the ball. So that's

874
00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:21,040
Speaker 1: the inconsistency piece. The Suns are undefeated with Kevin Durant

875
00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:24,680
Speaker 1: in the lineup. Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and

876
00:48:24,680 --> 00:48:27,080
Speaker 1: DeAndre and if I have played one hundred and fifty

877
00:48:27,120 --> 00:48:30,440
Speaker 1: four possessions together and they are outscoring teams by thirty

878
00:48:30,520 --> 00:48:34,879
Speaker 1: points per one hundred possessions and they're amazing on both

879
00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:37,719
Speaker 1: ends of the floor. Are you buying Phoenix. I'm a

880
00:48:37,719 --> 00:48:41,919
Speaker 1: little bit worried about them. Being thin and it's easy

881
00:48:41,960 --> 00:48:44,040
Speaker 1: to push them around a little bit. And then their

882
00:48:44,040 --> 00:48:47,480
Speaker 1: perimeter defense is a legitimate concern from a matchup standpoint.

883
00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:50,879
Speaker 1: But whatever I'm saying, the scoreboard says they're kicking everyone's ass.

884
00:48:50,920 --> 00:48:53,960
Speaker 1: So where are you at with Phoenix? Their bench scoring

885
00:48:54,080 --> 00:49:00,400
Speaker 1: is tenth So they have Warren Craig t Ross. It's okay,

886
00:49:00,440 --> 00:49:03,239
Speaker 1: it's not dynamic, but you know this, go to the

887
00:49:03,239 --> 00:49:06,160
Speaker 1: finals last year. Seven guys for the Warriors and seven

888
00:49:06,200 --> 00:49:08,719
Speaker 1: guys for the Celtics got big minutes. You shrink that

889
00:49:08,760 --> 00:49:12,200
Speaker 1: thing fast. I think the concern Chris Mannox was on

890
00:49:12,239 --> 00:49:15,600
Speaker 1: my show today and I think he's right. My concern

891
00:49:15,760 --> 00:49:17,839
Speaker 1: is they have a lot of elements. I like an

892
00:49:17,840 --> 00:49:22,600
Speaker 1: experienced coach, two dynamic scores, semidecent length and rim protection.

893
00:49:24,840 --> 00:49:28,919
Speaker 1: The issues Chris Paul like there have been nights like

894
00:49:29,040 --> 00:49:32,800
Speaker 1: he's not close And this happens to NFL wide receivers.

895
00:49:33,800 --> 00:49:36,279
Speaker 1: They hit thirty four and it's like, who's that. You

896
00:49:36,360 --> 00:49:39,920
Speaker 1: can't separate, Like that's a position where you fall up

897
00:49:39,960 --> 00:49:43,120
Speaker 1: a cliff fat It's gradual for a left tackle, you know,

898
00:49:43,200 --> 00:49:47,719
Speaker 1: Andrewworth for the Rams, it's very slight, very gradual. Receivers

899
00:49:47,760 --> 00:49:51,560
Speaker 1: fall off cliffs. Chris, Like, if you went into a

900
00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:53,920
Speaker 1: series and you took a one oh lead, there's an

901
00:49:54,000 --> 00:49:56,560
Speaker 1: argument to be made you could rest him in game

902
00:49:56,560 --> 00:49:58,960
Speaker 1: two for game three, like it, don't you almost get

903
00:49:58,960 --> 00:50:01,600
Speaker 1: to a point where you lead a series three one

904
00:50:01,760 --> 00:50:04,839
Speaker 1: you just rest him. So and by the way, this is,

905
00:50:05,120 --> 00:50:07,200
Speaker 1: I mean, I can remember great players. Barkley at the

906
00:50:07,280 --> 00:50:10,280
Speaker 1: end just wasn't the same. He needed an extra day's rest.

907
00:50:10,920 --> 00:50:14,919
Speaker 1: So the question is they can win a series like that?

908
00:50:15,200 --> 00:50:19,640
Speaker 1: Can they win three? Probably not because but everybody's got

909
00:50:19,680 --> 00:50:22,000
Speaker 1: a little bit of this. Robert Williams for the Celtics,

910
00:50:22,560 --> 00:50:28,760
Speaker 1: huge concern right in terms of health, k d and Chris, Paul,

911
00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:32,920
Speaker 1: big concern Kawai and Paul George. I mean, Denver's one

912
00:50:32,960 --> 00:50:36,719
Speaker 1: of the few teams we don't really worry about that

913
00:50:37,719 --> 00:50:39,960
Speaker 1: most of your yeah, I mean most of your good

914
00:50:39,960 --> 00:50:41,680
Speaker 1: teams in the league. I mean I'm one of those.

915
00:50:42,080 --> 00:50:44,680
Speaker 1: You know embiid it's always a finger crosser to me,

916
00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:47,640
Speaker 1: like he I've seen it, the way he plays fast

917
00:50:47,680 --> 00:50:52,600
Speaker 1: and hard. And Anthony Davis right, so i'd like most

918
00:50:52,680 --> 00:50:56,360
Speaker 1: teams in this league have a guy that is a

919
00:50:56,440 --> 00:51:00,400
Speaker 1: health or age liability. And I think that's the Phoenix issue.

920
00:51:00,440 --> 00:51:03,400
Speaker 1: I think the bench is good enough. Yeah, you know,

921
00:51:03,480 --> 00:51:05,920
Speaker 1: Chris Paul has actually become a target. I remember I

922
00:51:05,960 --> 00:51:07,759
Speaker 1: was watching a game like a week and a half

923
00:51:07,760 --> 00:51:10,360
Speaker 1: ago or so where I was watching Joe Ingles just

924
00:51:10,480 --> 00:51:12,719
Speaker 1: barbecue like he couldn't keep Joe Ingles in front. And

925
00:51:12,719 --> 00:51:15,480
Speaker 1: then I was like, oh, like, this is a this

926
00:51:15,560 --> 00:51:16,799
Speaker 1: is a problem, and that is going to be the

927
00:51:16,800 --> 00:51:19,239
Speaker 1: big question mark I think this offseason is whether or

928
00:51:19,239 --> 00:51:22,160
Speaker 1: not they're better off trying to use Chris Paul's salary

929
00:51:22,239 --> 00:51:24,360
Speaker 1: as a vehicle with which to bring back some higher

930
00:51:24,440 --> 00:51:27,000
Speaker 1: level role players for a team that needs more, you know,

931
00:51:27,080 --> 00:51:29,120
Speaker 1: kind of like an adult in the room ball handler.

932
00:51:29,320 --> 00:51:30,920
Speaker 1: So I'll be interested to see what they do there.

933
00:51:30,920 --> 00:51:32,640
Speaker 1: The one of the major concern I have with Phoenix

934
00:51:32,719 --> 00:51:35,239
Speaker 1: is they do not generate rim pressure. All three of

935
00:51:35,280 --> 00:51:37,759
Speaker 1: their guys, Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant are

936
00:51:37,840 --> 00:51:39,759
Speaker 1: driving to pull up, so when they come over those

937
00:51:39,760 --> 00:51:42,520
Speaker 1: ball screens, they're constantly getting that ten fifteen foot area

938
00:51:42,560 --> 00:51:44,960
Speaker 1: and they're trying to pull up. And the inability to

939
00:51:45,040 --> 00:51:47,880
Speaker 1: have a guy on the roster who's relentlessly attacking the

940
00:51:47,960 --> 00:51:51,759
Speaker 1: rim which collapses the defense and creates close out opportunities

941
00:51:51,800 --> 00:51:54,520
Speaker 1: for your teammates. That's the one thing that kind of

942
00:51:54,560 --> 00:51:57,319
Speaker 1: concerns me because when you're a heavily Let's just put

943
00:51:57,320 --> 00:52:00,600
Speaker 1: it this way, the Suns were already team that took

944
00:52:00,600 --> 00:52:02,640
Speaker 1: the second most pull up jump shots in the entire

945
00:52:02,719 --> 00:52:05,520
Speaker 1: league off the dribble jump shots. That was before Kevin

946
00:52:05,600 --> 00:52:08,160
Speaker 1: Durant came. And Kevin Durant is the most prolific pull

947
00:52:08,200 --> 00:52:10,719
Speaker 1: up jump shooter in the league. So the thing is

948
00:52:10,719 --> 00:52:13,000
Speaker 1: is if they're pull up jump shots don't fall, do

949
00:52:13,080 --> 00:52:16,040
Speaker 1: they have a second punch, And that'll be the one

950
00:52:16,200 --> 00:52:19,000
Speaker 1: that if they do lose. I think that's how it'll happen.

951
00:52:19,040 --> 00:52:21,480
Speaker 1: It'll be all their pull up jump shooting going cold,

952
00:52:21,719 --> 00:52:24,160
Speaker 1: probably in a physical matchup where guys like Devin Booker

953
00:52:24,160 --> 00:52:27,040
Speaker 1: and Kevin Durant gets fatigued by constantly having to fight

954
00:52:27,080 --> 00:52:29,399
Speaker 1: for every inch of position and them not getting enough

955
00:52:29,480 --> 00:52:33,000
Speaker 1: lift on those shots and not knocking them down. Before

956
00:52:33,040 --> 00:52:34,640
Speaker 1: we move on, I wanted to ask you, did you

957
00:52:34,680 --> 00:52:38,960
Speaker 1: see that quote from Charles Barkley directed towards kd or

958
00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:41,239
Speaker 1: he said he is sensitive. It's weird. I said to

959
00:52:41,280 --> 00:52:43,120
Speaker 1: you for three or four years now, I'm not sure

960
00:52:43,120 --> 00:52:44,920
Speaker 1: why he reacted to it. Again, I don't care where

961
00:52:44,960 --> 00:52:47,000
Speaker 1: it goes. He's a great, great player. I think he's

962
00:52:47,000 --> 00:52:49,320
Speaker 1: a good guy too. He's sensitive, and I'm not worried

963
00:52:49,360 --> 00:52:51,800
Speaker 1: about it. Did you did you see that altercation between

964
00:52:51,800 --> 00:52:55,359
Speaker 1: those two guys. Yeah, I've always thought, you know, I've

965
00:52:55,400 --> 00:52:58,160
Speaker 1: got kids, so some people are just more sensitive. Like

966
00:52:58,320 --> 00:53:00,680
Speaker 1: when I was in my twenties, like I didn't get it.

967
00:53:00,719 --> 00:53:04,160
Speaker 1: I was kind of a relentless, full steam ahead. Then

968
00:53:04,200 --> 00:53:06,160
Speaker 1: you have kids in your real life. I got six

969
00:53:06,280 --> 00:53:09,560
Speaker 1: two biological four steps. Some kids are more sensitive. You know.

970
00:53:09,600 --> 00:53:12,759
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers is really sensitive to criticism. Kyler Murray and

971
00:53:12,840 --> 00:53:16,440
Speaker 1: his people are Kevin durant Is It's okay. He's in

972
00:53:16,480 --> 00:53:18,560
Speaker 1: touch with who he is. I have a soft spot

973
00:53:18,560 --> 00:53:23,640
Speaker 1: for Kevin Durant. I think he's I think he is

974
00:53:24,040 --> 00:53:27,200
Speaker 1: the only player in the league takes centers out. If

975
00:53:27,200 --> 00:53:29,040
Speaker 1: you had a one on one tournament in the history

976
00:53:29,040 --> 00:53:31,880
Speaker 1: of the league. I think Durant's the only person that

977
00:53:31,880 --> 00:53:36,040
Speaker 1: would beat Lebron and Michael Jordan. I think he's just.

978
00:53:36,480 --> 00:53:38,799
Speaker 1: I think he is just. He can put it on

979
00:53:38,840 --> 00:53:40,680
Speaker 1: the deck, you know, take centers out. You know, I

980
00:53:40,680 --> 00:53:43,080
Speaker 1: don't want to see Kareem against Ray Allen or something.

981
00:53:43,120 --> 00:53:45,520
Speaker 1: He is insane. But if you're talking like you know,

982
00:53:45,680 --> 00:53:49,040
Speaker 1: Dirk Nabitski, Durant, be honest or the high end. I

983
00:53:49,080 --> 00:53:52,600
Speaker 1: think Kevin's one of the greatest scorers. He's also a

984
00:53:52,640 --> 00:53:55,560
Speaker 1: willing defender. I think he's really smart. But he's a

985
00:53:55,600 --> 00:53:58,480
Speaker 1: different cat. You know his upbringing. He's just different. And

986
00:53:58,560 --> 00:54:02,440
Speaker 1: it's like, I'm going to accept that everybody comes from

987
00:54:02,480 --> 00:54:07,479
Speaker 1: different backgrounds and Barkley's you know, listen, I think about

988
00:54:07,520 --> 00:54:10,000
Speaker 1: this all the time. If I was a pro basketball

989
00:54:10,000 --> 00:54:14,200
Speaker 1: player and literally one of the greatest players ever was

990
00:54:14,400 --> 00:54:18,279
Speaker 1: ripping me on television and all my friends are dming me,

991
00:54:18,760 --> 00:54:20,960
Speaker 1: like Adam Silver said a year ago, because my players

992
00:54:20,960 --> 00:54:25,319
Speaker 1: are miserable. So I'm old. I don't I don't care

993
00:54:25,480 --> 00:54:27,480
Speaker 1: right like, and I don't sit on the internet. But

994
00:54:27,719 --> 00:54:30,160
Speaker 1: I didn't. Generationally, Jason grow up with a phone. I'm

995
00:54:30,200 --> 00:54:33,120
Speaker 1: not on it all the time. I mean, I Friday,

996
00:54:33,320 --> 00:54:35,319
Speaker 1: when I leave work till Sunday, I'm not even on

997
00:54:35,360 --> 00:54:37,520
Speaker 1: my phone. I got my staff said, I'm not even

998
00:54:37,520 --> 00:54:40,239
Speaker 1: closed to it. That Kevin grew up and that you

999
00:54:40,280 --> 00:54:43,480
Speaker 1: did in the iPhone generation, it's a magnet. My kid's

1000
00:54:43,480 --> 00:54:45,799
Speaker 1: eyes are on it all the time, and he gets

1001
00:54:45,840 --> 00:54:48,279
Speaker 1: a little beat up by it. So I'm sympathetic. He

1002
00:54:48,400 --> 00:54:52,760
Speaker 1: is sensitive, but I'm going to embrace that. I would

1003
00:54:53,000 --> 00:54:56,239
Speaker 1: love to see him went in Phoenix. I really would

1004
00:54:56,280 --> 00:54:59,959
Speaker 1: love it. I think it would be it would valid

1005
00:55:00,160 --> 00:55:03,000
Speaker 1: date a lot of because listen, we both knew this

1006
00:55:03,600 --> 00:55:06,600
Speaker 1: when he left Golden State. It was a it was

1007
00:55:06,640 --> 00:55:10,280
Speaker 1: a really bad career decision. I've compared it to Mahomes

1008
00:55:10,280 --> 00:55:12,800
Speaker 1: saying I've got a buddy, I'm gonna go to the Jets. No,

1009
00:55:13,239 --> 00:55:16,680
Speaker 1: don't do that, don't. It was the same thing. But

1010
00:55:16,760 --> 00:55:20,160
Speaker 1: in basketball, we tend to give the star a little

1011
00:55:20,160 --> 00:55:23,520
Speaker 1: bit more of a mobility edge, the shoe sales. It's

1012
00:55:23,560 --> 00:55:26,640
Speaker 1: more of an individual game. There's not the team construct.

1013
00:55:26,719 --> 00:55:30,760
Speaker 1: You know. We Lebron leaves. Of course he does Mahomes leaves.

1014
00:55:30,760 --> 00:55:33,680
Speaker 1: You're like, why, So I find myself I'm not supposed

1015
00:55:33,680 --> 00:55:35,560
Speaker 1: to root, but I find myself sort of rooting for

1016
00:55:35,640 --> 00:55:37,799
Speaker 1: Kevin to succeed. I'm rooting for him too. I think

1017
00:55:37,840 --> 00:55:39,799
Speaker 1: I think it's such low hanging fruit to be like

1018
00:55:39,840 --> 00:55:42,840
Speaker 1: the only one with Steff. Therefore, he's not a real champion,

1019
00:55:42,920 --> 00:55:45,160
Speaker 1: like to me, Kevin Durant has always been a phenomenal

1020
00:55:45,160 --> 00:55:47,960
Speaker 1: basketball player who just got partnered with two extremely volatile

1021
00:55:48,000 --> 00:55:50,960
Speaker 1: point guards Russell Westbrook on the floor Kyrie Irving off

1022
00:55:51,000 --> 00:55:53,080
Speaker 1: the floor. That ended up being kind of what submarined

1023
00:55:53,120 --> 00:55:55,239
Speaker 1: a lot of great point's. Great point Yeah, and I

1024
00:55:55,400 --> 00:55:58,120
Speaker 1: and I am rooting for him to have that legitimizing title,

1025
00:55:58,160 --> 00:56:01,000
Speaker 1: just like I rooted for it with Steph in last

1026
00:56:01,040 --> 00:56:03,880
Speaker 1: year's playoff run because a lot of people undercut some

1027
00:56:03,920 --> 00:56:05,879
Speaker 1: of his success because of Kevin Durant, which I thought

1028
00:56:05,880 --> 00:56:09,120
Speaker 1: was ridiculous. You know, Katie went after the whole concept

1029
00:56:09,200 --> 00:56:11,799
Speaker 1: of these older players being disrespectful, and you know what's

1030
00:56:11,840 --> 00:56:15,320
Speaker 1: so interesting to me about that, Colin is like, usually

1031
00:56:15,400 --> 00:56:19,000
Speaker 1: there's a camaraderie with the players, like our job by

1032
00:56:19,080 --> 00:56:22,560
Speaker 1: virtue of our need to be authentic demands that we criticize.

1033
00:56:22,680 --> 00:56:24,520
Speaker 1: That is part of what we have to do. But

1034
00:56:24,680 --> 00:56:28,440
Speaker 1: what's interesting is players in the league are typically pretty

1035
00:56:28,440 --> 00:56:32,520
Speaker 1: tight knit with criticism. For instance, Russell Westbrook was objectively

1036
00:56:32,600 --> 00:56:34,640
Speaker 1: awful with the Lakers for a year and a half.

1037
00:56:34,880 --> 00:56:36,959
Speaker 1: You couldn't find a player in the league who would

1038
00:56:36,960 --> 00:56:39,200
Speaker 1: throw him under the bus every time someone would interview

1039
00:56:39,239 --> 00:56:40,200
Speaker 1: them and they'd be like, what do you think about

1040
00:56:40,239 --> 00:56:42,920
Speaker 1: Russ with the Lakers? Russ is a former MVP, is

1041
00:56:42,960 --> 00:56:45,560
Speaker 1: in Hall of Famer. Love that guy, you know, I'm

1042
00:56:45,640 --> 00:56:47,759
Speaker 1: rooting for him. He's like, no one would criticize because

1043
00:56:47,800 --> 00:56:50,200
Speaker 1: like there's this tight knit like respect among the players

1044
00:56:50,280 --> 00:56:53,600
Speaker 1: were generally speaking, they speak positively of each other in

1045
00:56:53,600 --> 00:56:55,960
Speaker 1: a way that the media has a little bit more

1046
00:56:56,000 --> 00:56:58,640
Speaker 1: free reign to be critical. That's what's so weird with

1047
00:56:58,680 --> 00:57:01,560
Speaker 1: this older generation. And I'm so glad Kevin Durant's going

1048
00:57:01,600 --> 00:57:04,960
Speaker 1: at it. It is bizarre the sheer amount of these

1049
00:57:04,960 --> 00:57:09,160
Speaker 1: older players that are being outwardly disrespectful of these players,

1050
00:57:09,200 --> 00:57:12,920
Speaker 1: they do not feel the same level of obligation to

1051
00:57:13,000 --> 00:57:16,600
Speaker 1: kind of keep that tight knit like kind of mutual respect.

1052
00:57:16,600 --> 00:57:18,959
Speaker 1: And I do find that super interesting. Do you buy

1053
00:57:19,120 --> 00:57:22,080
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant when he says that he doesn't care about

1054
00:57:22,160 --> 00:57:26,880
Speaker 1: legacy anymore? No, every No, he cares. Everybody cares. I mean, I,

1055
00:57:27,480 --> 00:57:30,000
Speaker 1: you know, legacies a lot of vanity, but and I

1056
00:57:30,040 --> 00:57:32,160
Speaker 1: don't spend a lot of time on it. But I

1057
00:57:32,200 --> 00:57:34,600
Speaker 1: don't want to end my career poorly, right. I want

1058
00:57:34,600 --> 00:57:38,000
Speaker 1: to end it having some control, you know, being part

1059
00:57:38,000 --> 00:57:40,640
Speaker 1: of the volume when a network kicks me off the

1060
00:57:40,640 --> 00:57:43,520
Speaker 1: air because my hair is even grayer than this. So

1061
00:57:43,840 --> 00:57:46,760
Speaker 1: I think, I think everybody you know, as you age,

1062
00:57:46,760 --> 00:57:48,840
Speaker 1: you just you think about that stuff. And you know,

1063
00:57:48,880 --> 00:57:51,600
Speaker 1: Brady at the end wanted to have more control, wanted

1064
00:57:51,600 --> 00:57:52,920
Speaker 1: to end it, so he picked a team with a

1065
00:57:52,920 --> 00:57:55,200
Speaker 1: bunch of good receivers and an offensive coach. I mean,

1066
00:57:55,200 --> 00:57:59,240
Speaker 1: he knew what he was doing. He Tom Brady figured out. Listen,

1067
00:57:59,760 --> 00:58:02,520
Speaker 1: I can't carry the load anymore. I'm on the routine

1068
00:58:02,600 --> 00:58:05,600
Speaker 1: with a bunch of really good receivers in Tampa, really

1069
00:58:05,640 --> 00:58:09,040
Speaker 1: good tight ends. Bring Antonio Brown and Gronk, and I'm

1070
00:58:09,040 --> 00:58:11,760
Speaker 1: not going to have to lift as much like Matt

1071
00:58:11,760 --> 00:58:14,560
Speaker 1: Stafford got old. Oh, i got McVeagh as a coach. Oh,

1072
00:58:14,600 --> 00:58:17,760
Speaker 1: I've got Cooper Cup. Oh, I've got like I think,

1073
00:58:17,800 --> 00:58:20,320
Speaker 1: you know, as you age, you still have it, you

1074
00:58:20,360 --> 00:58:23,960
Speaker 1: just don't have it forty eight minutes a game as

1075
00:58:24,000 --> 00:58:28,880
Speaker 1: an NBA player, or seventeen games relentless as a quarterback.

1076
00:58:28,920 --> 00:58:31,600
Speaker 1: So I think I think Kevin is aware of his legacy,

1077
00:58:31,600 --> 00:58:33,959
Speaker 1: and his legacy is going to be a better version

1078
00:58:33,960 --> 00:58:36,040
Speaker 1: of Dirk Navitsky. I mean to me, He's going to

1079
00:58:36,080 --> 00:58:39,040
Speaker 1: be a more well rounded version of Dirt Navsky, a

1080
00:58:39,040 --> 00:58:43,560
Speaker 1: more lethal version with more titles, and that's a pretty

1081
00:58:43,560 --> 00:58:46,120
Speaker 1: good spot. Dirk's an Alteimer. He's going to be a

1082
00:58:46,120 --> 00:58:48,000
Speaker 1: better version of that, sort of like Michael's a better

1083
00:58:48,080 --> 00:58:50,080
Speaker 1: version of Kobe. It's a pretty good space to be.

1084
00:58:50,160 --> 00:58:52,520
Speaker 1: That's an Altheimer. Yeah, you know, I buy him to

1085
00:58:52,560 --> 00:58:57,600
Speaker 1: a certain extent, Like I do think he cares about

1086
00:58:57,680 --> 00:59:00,840
Speaker 1: legacy at least a little bit, but I do believe

1087
00:59:00,920 --> 00:59:03,000
Speaker 1: him that he I think he's just the way I

1088
00:59:03,000 --> 00:59:05,800
Speaker 1: would describe it is similar to what we go through

1089
00:59:05,960 --> 00:59:08,400
Speaker 1: as members of the media. You obviously with a million

1090
00:59:09,160 --> 00:59:12,200
Speaker 1: a ton more experience, but you know how like I'm

1091
00:59:12,200 --> 00:59:13,360
Speaker 1: not sure what it was like for you when you

1092
00:59:13,360 --> 00:59:15,200
Speaker 1: first got into the business, because I know there wasn't

1093
00:59:15,280 --> 00:59:18,560
Speaker 1: social media, but like, obviously I came in right with

1094
00:59:18,600 --> 00:59:21,560
Speaker 1: the Twitter trolls and the relentless social media harassment. So

1095
00:59:21,600 --> 00:59:23,840
Speaker 1: I've got lots of people that would DM me and

1096
00:59:24,680 --> 00:59:27,040
Speaker 1: talk shit and say all these awful things. And what's

1097
00:59:27,040 --> 00:59:30,280
Speaker 1: funny is like it pretty quickly, within about a year,

1098
00:59:30,400 --> 00:59:34,000
Speaker 1: I realized, like, oh, like there's a significant segment that

1099
00:59:34,040 --> 00:59:36,760
Speaker 1: you will never satisfy, Like you're just there. They're gonna

1100
00:59:36,760 --> 00:59:38,760
Speaker 1: hate you no matter what you say, and you can

1101
00:59:38,760 --> 00:59:41,160
Speaker 1: never win. So just focus on doing your job and

1102
00:59:41,640 --> 00:59:44,200
Speaker 1: look at the results. There's way more people who support

1103
00:59:44,280 --> 00:59:46,479
Speaker 1: you than than don't. And I think I think Kevin

1104
00:59:46,520 --> 00:59:49,320
Speaker 1: Durant has kind of come to a similar realization. I

1105
00:59:49,360 --> 00:59:52,000
Speaker 1: think he realizes now that there is a segment of

1106
00:59:52,040 --> 00:59:54,360
Speaker 1: people that no matter what he does, no matter where

1107
00:59:54,360 --> 00:59:56,720
Speaker 1: he wins, no matter how much he succeeds on the

1108
00:59:56,760 --> 00:59:59,520
Speaker 1: basketball court, they'll call him a cupcake, and they'll say

1109
00:59:59,520 --> 01:00:01,560
Speaker 1: that he doesn't defend, and they'll say that he jumped

1110
01:00:01,560 --> 01:00:04,480
Speaker 1: on steps bandwagon. I think Kevin Durant has just come

1111
01:00:04,520 --> 01:00:07,120
Speaker 1: to terms with the fact that he's never gonna be

1112
01:00:07,120 --> 01:00:10,000
Speaker 1: able to satisfy everybody. And I think that he's I

1113
01:00:10,040 --> 01:00:12,480
Speaker 1: really do believe that he has come to the other

1114
01:00:12,520 --> 01:00:15,040
Speaker 1: side of things where he's like, I'm just gonna play

1115
01:00:15,080 --> 01:00:17,560
Speaker 1: the best I can and I'm going to win as

1116
01:00:17,640 --> 01:00:20,200
Speaker 1: much as I can, and whatever happens in terms of

1117
01:00:20,240 --> 01:00:23,240
Speaker 1: the legacy is clearly outside of my control. So I'm

1118
01:00:23,240 --> 01:00:25,240
Speaker 1: at peace with that. I do think he cares about

1119
01:00:25,240 --> 01:00:27,280
Speaker 1: his legacy, but I think he's at peace with the

1120
01:00:27,280 --> 01:00:30,480
Speaker 1: fact that he can't control it. Yeah, and I think.

1121
01:00:30,520 --> 01:00:33,960
Speaker 1: I mean, the most criticized player in the NBA is

1122
01:00:34,040 --> 01:00:39,440
Speaker 1: Lebron James. I mean I always said this about Barack Obama.

1123
01:00:39,520 --> 01:00:42,120
Speaker 1: You didn't have to agree with his policies. You can't

1124
01:00:42,120 --> 01:00:44,360
Speaker 1: get worked up because once he wore a Baize suit.

1125
01:00:44,920 --> 01:00:48,200
Speaker 1: It was a beautiful family, smart guy. If that really

1126
01:00:48,320 --> 01:00:50,560
Speaker 1: ruins your day, fuck out of here. You're just a

1127
01:00:50,600 --> 01:00:53,320
Speaker 1: miserable person. Like that's just not good enough, right, You

1128
01:00:53,360 --> 01:00:56,480
Speaker 1: don't have to like his policies. But he wasn't weaponizing

1129
01:00:56,560 --> 01:01:02,840
Speaker 1: social media, So you know, I think I always figure, like,

1130
01:01:04,560 --> 01:01:08,440
Speaker 1: you know, like we forgot about Joe Montana very quickly,

1131
01:01:09,120 --> 01:01:11,760
Speaker 1: and I mean went from you know, Montana was the

1132
01:01:11,800 --> 01:01:15,600
Speaker 1: goat Brady beats Atlanta. We've never talked Joe Montana since.

1133
01:01:15,640 --> 01:01:19,520
Speaker 1: It went like Brady to Mahomes and Joe Montana's out there. Hey,

1134
01:01:19,520 --> 01:01:23,640
Speaker 1: I got four right. But I think Joe Montana is

1135
01:01:23,640 --> 01:01:26,240
Speaker 1: so happy in his personal life. If you ever see

1136
01:01:26,280 --> 01:01:30,120
Speaker 1: him around his wife, they're like teenagers, cud league kiss

1137
01:01:30,520 --> 01:01:33,320
Speaker 1: this cutest couple. And I think the happier you are

1138
01:01:33,320 --> 01:01:35,840
Speaker 1: in your personal life, none of that stuff matters. Joe

1139
01:01:35,880 --> 01:01:38,720
Speaker 1: knows who he is. I mean, we literally went from

1140
01:01:38,760 --> 01:01:43,280
Speaker 1: Brady we talked Rogers Mahomes. It is like Joe Montana

1141
01:01:43,520 --> 01:01:49,880
Speaker 1: never played. It's insane. And I think as Kevin ages,

1142
01:01:50,920 --> 01:01:54,520
Speaker 1: I think young people tend to think they've got it made.

1143
01:01:54,520 --> 01:01:56,840
Speaker 1: They're not married, no kids, they're happy in their twentiest.

1144
01:01:57,160 --> 01:02:00,200
Speaker 1: Research shows you get happier as you age because there's

1145
01:02:00,280 --> 01:02:03,120
Speaker 1: less societal pressure. You kind of prune your tree. You

1146
01:02:03,120 --> 01:02:05,680
Speaker 1: don't really care who cares about you. I think as

1147
01:02:05,880 --> 01:02:09,680
Speaker 1: as Kevin is aged, this is very human. He's he's

1148
01:02:09,720 --> 01:02:13,120
Speaker 1: more comfortable with who he is and it's been clearly

1149
01:02:13,120 --> 01:02:16,160
Speaker 1: defined who he is. He is, you know, I would

1150
01:02:16,200 --> 01:02:18,640
Speaker 1: say this, he's one of the ten best basketball players

1151
01:02:18,680 --> 01:02:21,920
Speaker 1: I've ever seen, and I've I've been watching since Wilton

1152
01:02:21,920 --> 01:02:23,760
Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy two seventy three. He's one of the

1153
01:02:23,800 --> 01:02:28,160
Speaker 1: ten best basketball players on his good nights I've ever seen.

1154
01:02:28,360 --> 01:02:30,400
Speaker 1: Injuries have not helped him in the last four or

1155
01:02:30,400 --> 01:02:33,440
Speaker 1: five years. He is brittle now, so it's it's it's

1156
01:02:33,440 --> 01:02:35,160
Speaker 1: hard to put him on that top five or six.

1157
01:02:35,520 --> 01:02:39,680
Speaker 1: He's probably would say top twelve, but he is really

1158
01:02:40,440 --> 01:02:42,360
Speaker 1: he's kind of a one on one. I mean, he's

1159
01:02:42,520 --> 01:02:45,480
Speaker 1: he's a unique I mean Mark fu coach gun Zag

1160
01:02:45,720 --> 01:02:48,480
Speaker 1: he coached on those Olympic teams, and I think I've

1161
01:02:48,480 --> 01:02:50,000
Speaker 1: told this story. I was talking to him one time

1162
01:02:50,040 --> 01:02:53,120
Speaker 1: about what it's like, and I said, anybody surprised you?

1163
01:02:53,200 --> 01:02:58,440
Speaker 1: He said, even among great players, Kevin Durant's ridiculous. Like,

1164
01:02:59,080 --> 01:03:01,040
Speaker 1: even among all the great players, they got to work

1165
01:03:01,040 --> 01:03:04,760
Speaker 1: to get their shot. Durant just gets it, gets a

1166
01:03:04,960 --> 01:03:08,360
Speaker 1: great shot, not a good one, a great one against

1167
01:03:08,480 --> 01:03:11,919
Speaker 1: our greatest players. Every time down the floor. He's like Colin.

1168
01:03:11,960 --> 01:03:14,040
Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of basketball. There's just nothing like

1169
01:03:14,200 --> 01:03:17,880
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant. Yeah, the putting him all time all time

1170
01:03:17,920 --> 01:03:21,320
Speaker 1: list gets so convoluted by centers because they're just they play.

1171
01:03:21,720 --> 01:03:23,920
Speaker 1: I take him out almost me too. I keep a

1172
01:03:23,920 --> 01:03:26,800
Speaker 1: completely separate list. It's like, just here's all the best

1173
01:03:26,880 --> 01:03:29,080
Speaker 1: perimeter players of all time, and I think Kevin Durant

1174
01:03:29,120 --> 01:03:31,720
Speaker 1: is clearly one of the ten best perimeter players of

1175
01:03:31,760 --> 01:03:33,680
Speaker 1: all time. How do you even compare him to someone

1176
01:03:33,720 --> 01:03:37,160
Speaker 1: like Wilt. It's a completely different sport. I think you

1177
01:03:37,200 --> 01:03:39,440
Speaker 1: make an interesting point though. It's it's really this simple.

1178
01:03:39,440 --> 01:03:42,640
Speaker 1: Have you become secure in who you are and what

1179
01:03:42,680 --> 01:03:45,680
Speaker 1: you've accomplished, then you're never going to allow some stranger

1180
01:03:45,720 --> 01:03:48,720
Speaker 1: to convince you you're something less than that. And again,

1181
01:03:48,800 --> 01:03:52,080
Speaker 1: I do believe that Kevin Durant in a previous version

1182
01:03:52,080 --> 01:03:54,160
Speaker 1: of himself, you know, five seven years ago, I think

1183
01:03:54,200 --> 01:03:56,360
Speaker 1: he did buy into that stuff a little too much

1184
01:03:56,600 --> 01:03:58,439
Speaker 1: and he let the noise get to him a little bit.

1185
01:03:58,560 --> 01:04:01,000
Speaker 1: But I do believe him he's made a little bit

1186
01:04:01,040 --> 01:04:04,120
Speaker 1: of a transition into a new phase where he's more

1187
01:04:04,280 --> 01:04:05,880
Speaker 1: kind of at peace with the fact that he can't

1188
01:04:05,880 --> 01:04:09,320
Speaker 1: control that stuff. So I want to talk about the

1189
01:04:09,400 --> 01:04:11,800
Speaker 1: Lakers for a minute, because Colin, I'm gonna be honest

1190
01:04:11,840 --> 01:04:16,000
Speaker 1: with you, every time I watched them, especially with Lebron,

1191
01:04:17,240 --> 01:04:19,520
Speaker 1: with him being back, I am so tempted to pick

1192
01:04:19,560 --> 01:04:22,240
Speaker 1: them to come out of the West. They are four

1193
01:04:22,280 --> 01:04:25,640
Speaker 1: and one when Lebron is played post deadline. That one

1194
01:04:25,760 --> 01:04:28,560
Speaker 1: loss was a loss to the Bulls that they immediately

1195
01:04:28,560 --> 01:04:30,840
Speaker 1: avenged and kind of kicked the shit out of him.

1196
01:04:31,280 --> 01:04:34,240
Speaker 1: And and in that game, Anthony Davis had a weird game.

1197
01:04:34,240 --> 01:04:36,120
Speaker 1: He only took eight shots. It was just a weird

1198
01:04:36,200 --> 01:04:39,320
Speaker 1: loss for the Lakers. On Sunday, they are outscoring teams

1199
01:04:39,360 --> 01:04:42,560
Speaker 1: with Lebron on the floor by twenty points per one

1200
01:04:42,640 --> 01:04:45,160
Speaker 1: hundred possessions. Since the deadline that is the same type

1201
01:04:45,160 --> 01:04:47,040
Speaker 1: of number that I was giving you with the Warriors

1202
01:04:47,080 --> 01:04:49,920
Speaker 1: in their top five starting lineup. Metric now againt a

1203
01:04:49,960 --> 01:04:52,960
Speaker 1: small sample size, but they've been dominant. Here's a crazy

1204
01:04:52,960 --> 01:04:56,640
Speaker 1: staff for you. The Lakers starters against the Bulls, by

1205
01:04:56,640 --> 01:04:58,000
Speaker 1: the way the Bulls came into that game, is the

1206
01:04:58,040 --> 01:05:01,240
Speaker 1: fifth best defense in the league. They are an amazing

1207
01:05:01,320 --> 01:05:03,800
Speaker 1: perimeter defense. They contain the basketball better than just had

1208
01:05:03,840 --> 01:05:07,760
Speaker 1: any team in the league. The Lakers starters scored at

1209
01:05:07,760 --> 01:05:10,320
Speaker 1: a rate of one hundred and fifty five points per

1210
01:05:10,320 --> 01:05:13,880
Speaker 1: one hundred possessions against that Bulls unit. With that starting lineup,

1211
01:05:14,120 --> 01:05:18,200
Speaker 1: the combination of amazing off ball offensive skill with guys

1212
01:05:18,200 --> 01:05:22,160
Speaker 1: like Austin Reeves and D'Angelo Russell, and then Lebron James

1213
01:05:22,160 --> 01:05:24,400
Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis just being two of the biggest walking

1214
01:05:24,440 --> 01:05:28,520
Speaker 1: mismatches in the league. How awesome is that that? It's like, Oh,

1215
01:05:28,520 --> 01:05:31,080
Speaker 1: our guards are struggling with the Bulls ball pressure. We'll

1216
01:05:31,120 --> 01:05:33,840
Speaker 1: just have Anthony Davis bring the ball up the floor

1217
01:05:33,880 --> 01:05:36,520
Speaker 1: because Vussovic can't guard him, and then we'll post up

1218
01:05:36,600 --> 01:05:39,560
Speaker 1: Lebron James on Alex Cruzoe and get fantastic shots. Every

1219
01:05:39,560 --> 01:05:42,000
Speaker 1: single time. I think they're going to get mismatches like

1220
01:05:42,080 --> 01:05:45,480
Speaker 1: that in every single series in this playoff run. Should

1221
01:05:45,480 --> 01:05:49,560
Speaker 1: they stay healthy? So, I again, there's two things that

1222
01:05:49,600 --> 01:05:54,000
Speaker 1: concern me Lebron's health Anthony Davis is inconsistency and health,

1223
01:05:54,040 --> 01:05:55,760
Speaker 1: because he is the kind of guy that'll take eight

1224
01:05:55,760 --> 01:05:58,160
Speaker 1: shots one night against the Bulls, even though he's being

1225
01:05:58,200 --> 01:06:01,040
Speaker 1: guarded by like Derek Jones Junior, and then take twenty

1226
01:06:01,080 --> 01:06:03,160
Speaker 1: shots and score thirty eight against the same team the

1227
01:06:03,160 --> 01:06:05,960
Speaker 1: next night. That's definitely a wild card. But I do

1228
01:06:06,040 --> 01:06:08,480
Speaker 1: think when they're clicking on all cylinders, I think they

1229
01:06:08,520 --> 01:06:11,120
Speaker 1: have a higher two way ceiling than any of these

1230
01:06:11,120 --> 01:06:13,400
Speaker 1: teams in the Western Conference. Am I too high on

1231
01:06:13,440 --> 01:06:16,120
Speaker 1: them or do you agree? Well, there's one thing they

1232
01:06:16,160 --> 01:06:18,920
Speaker 1: do exceedingly well, and this is where they're the opposite

1233
01:06:18,960 --> 01:06:21,120
Speaker 1: of Phoenix. They're gonna get a lot of free throws.

1234
01:06:21,680 --> 01:06:25,200
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis attacks the basket. Lebron attacks the basket. Usually

1235
01:06:25,240 --> 01:06:28,480
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves attacks the basket. So they're the opposite of Phoenix.

1236
01:06:28,480 --> 01:06:31,520
Speaker 1: Phoenix is always bitching about free throw opportunities. Lakers are

1237
01:06:31,520 --> 01:06:34,480
Speaker 1: going to get to the line. Everybody's gonna say it's rigged. Now,

1238
01:06:34,560 --> 01:06:38,120
Speaker 1: this is what they do. They don't pull up Reeves.

1239
01:06:38,840 --> 01:06:43,560
Speaker 1: He's a contact machine. He's always eliciting contact. You know

1240
01:06:43,840 --> 01:06:47,320
Speaker 1: again the other night, I mean, Anthony Davis shot one three.

1241
01:06:47,640 --> 01:06:49,919
Speaker 1: He gets to the line, but Lebron puts his mind

1242
01:06:49,920 --> 01:06:52,280
Speaker 1: to it. He does, so they're gonna get a lot

1243
01:06:52,360 --> 01:06:56,480
Speaker 1: of free throws. The downside is that's a lot of contact.

1244
01:06:57,200 --> 01:07:01,080
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis hits the floor, so I kind of know

1245
01:07:01,120 --> 01:07:03,560
Speaker 1: what I see. They're gonna get people in the foul trouble.

1246
01:07:05,520 --> 01:07:09,080
Speaker 1: Darvinham is an excellent defensive coach. The minute Westbrook left,

1247
01:07:09,120 --> 01:07:12,440
Speaker 1: he got buy in from the role players and their

1248
01:07:12,520 --> 01:07:16,240
Speaker 1: defensive efficiency went through the roof. So they play real defense.

1249
01:07:16,320 --> 01:07:18,560
Speaker 1: They have a defensive coach. Vogel is a pretty good

1250
01:07:18,600 --> 01:07:21,840
Speaker 1: defensive coach. Defensive coach, they have guys that attack the basket.

1251
01:07:21,840 --> 01:07:24,000
Speaker 1: They're gonna get free throws, meaning they're gonna be fairly

1252
01:07:24,040 --> 01:07:27,320
Speaker 1: consistent on offense. What I see is the liability, and

1253
01:07:27,360 --> 01:07:30,440
Speaker 1: I don't believe role players win titles. Molik Beasley, where

1254
01:07:30,440 --> 01:07:33,560
Speaker 1: did he go? Ruey can play twelve minutes and give

1255
01:07:33,560 --> 01:07:35,400
Speaker 1: you one shot and no points. I mean, he's just

1256
01:07:36,080 --> 01:07:42,960
Speaker 1: That's why he moves their bench at times. Is just

1257
01:07:43,160 --> 01:07:46,480
Speaker 1: not there now. They tend to be guys that will

1258
01:07:46,520 --> 01:07:51,120
Speaker 1: commit on the defensive end. But I think you're going

1259
01:07:51,160 --> 01:07:53,840
Speaker 1: to get a very consistent effort. They'll play good defense,

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01:07:53,920 --> 01:07:55,920
Speaker 1: they'll get to the free throw line. They're gonna be

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01:07:55,960 --> 01:07:59,080
Speaker 1: in games. Absolutely going to be in games. Whereas you watch,

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01:07:59,520 --> 01:08:01,800
Speaker 1: you know they're teams like if Phoenix doesn't hit shots,

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01:08:02,040 --> 01:08:04,280
Speaker 1: they don't get to the line as much. They're gonna

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01:08:04,320 --> 01:08:07,960
Speaker 1: get blown out. By the way, the Warriors don't get

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01:08:08,040 --> 01:08:10,880
Speaker 1: much front core scoring. They settle on jumpers. They're gonna

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01:08:10,880 --> 01:08:13,280
Speaker 1: have nights. They don't get to the free throne line.

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01:08:13,600 --> 01:08:17,959
Speaker 1: So anytime. The Lakers actually have the worst style, considering

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01:08:17,960 --> 01:08:22,080
Speaker 1: they have injured players, they're constantly in contact. Their players

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01:08:22,120 --> 01:08:24,960
Speaker 1: create it. So the good news is they're gonna get

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01:08:24,960 --> 01:08:27,000
Speaker 1: to the free throne line. And if you do that,

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01:08:27,840 --> 01:08:30,680
Speaker 1: you force other teams to make substitutions, you get them

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Speaker 1: out of their game because of foul trouble. So I

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01:08:32,720 --> 01:08:35,960
Speaker 1: think the Lakers will be really a really consistent team.

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01:08:36,360 --> 01:08:39,640
Speaker 1: And you just cross your fingers on health Reeves. You know,

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01:08:39,680 --> 01:08:41,679
Speaker 1: when it first started, I thought, is he Jeremy Lynn

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01:08:42,360 --> 01:08:46,800
Speaker 1: a limited player who's getting minutes because they just because

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01:08:46,840 --> 01:08:50,759
Speaker 1: Carmelo's out, Jeremy Lynns. They just need his energy, right,

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01:08:51,120 --> 01:08:55,599
Speaker 1: And I thought, okay, Lebron that they just need his energy.

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01:08:55,920 --> 01:08:59,360
Speaker 1: But he really is an excellent passer, gets the free

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01:08:59,360 --> 01:09:03,360
Speaker 1: throne line commit He's a willing I always say, is

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01:09:03,400 --> 01:09:06,960
Speaker 1: he a willing defender? Westbrook's a terrible defender, Kyrie's a

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01:09:07,120 --> 01:09:11,880
Speaker 1: terrible Lucas a terrible defender. Reeves is gonna stick. He's

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01:09:11,880 --> 01:09:28,639
Speaker 1: a real player. He's a starting NBA player. The volume.

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01:09:32,000 --> 01:09:35,439
Speaker 1: Make sure to check out The Draymond Green Show. I

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01:09:35,520 --> 01:09:37,800
Speaker 1: brought Draymond Green into the volume because one of the

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01:09:37,840 --> 01:09:42,360
Speaker 1: more entertaining voices in sports. Unique perspective understands behind the rope.

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01:09:42,800 --> 01:09:46,240
Speaker 1: Also chops up with guests like Gary Peyton, Zach Levine,

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01:09:46,280 --> 01:09:50,600
Speaker 1: Tracy McGrady. Make sure download The Draymond Green Show wherever

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01:09:50,760 --> 01:09:55,799
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts, only on the Volume podcast Network.