Aaron Torres & Jason Martin talk NBA Finals Game 4, KD Trade Destinations, Knicks Head Coaching Search, & MORE!

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Don't listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Welcome man, everybody, Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Saturday Er Tours.
Jason Martin broadcasting live from the Fox Sports Radio studios. Busy, busy,
busy weekend here in June. As the segre just told you.
The Florida Panthers up three to two in the Stanley
Cup Finals. By the way, the Dodgers apparently saved all

(00:24):
their runs for tonight. I was at the game last night.
Uh wasn't a very pretty effort for the Dodgers. They
are now up seven nothing in the third against the Giants,
and of course we are between games four and five
of the NBA Finals. Jason Martin, what's up, buddy? How
you doing? Guess Jase is not doing that well. Have
we lost Jason Martin already? Wow?

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Oh oh oh no, no, no, no, I'm here. I'm sorry.
Oh sorry. I wasn't paying attention. I did not think
that I was gonna be able to get this one
card out from underneath that stack, and I was able
to draw it. I figured it out, man. I had
to finish that game of Solitaire before we get show.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
WHOA Shots Fired? I get it. We'll talk about Solitaire
a Smith later on in the show Highest Paid media
member in America. That was actually good. I was not
ready for Yeah, you actually threw me for a loop.
You had told me you had something for me off
the top. I thought we actually lost you. Turns out
you were just playing Solitaire during Oh, by the way,

(01:25):
one of the most entertaining NBA playoff games we've had
all season long. So let's start with the game itself.
Then we'll talk about the twenty million dollar broadcaster who
decided that he would rather play Solitaire than watch that game.
Oklahoma City ties the series up two games a piece,
one eleven, one oh four. Shay gilges Alexander fifteen points

(01:47):
in like the final six minutes of that game. It's funny.
J mart I was actually at the Dodgers game. As
I said on Friday night. Dodgers did not look very
good on Friday. They're playing much better tonight. But I
was kind of texting you throughout for updates and it
felt like Indiana was in control. For the record, I
went back and watched it today, so I'm not talking
about some game that I did not see. But Shay

(02:07):
is great. Late, there's some foul questions late there's some
push off stuff, some Shay shuffling his feet stuff, but
the Oklahoma City Thunder close out the victory, comeback from
down eight points going into the fourth quarter. They end
up winning one to eleven, one oh four, tying the
series up at two games apiece. What are your thoughts

(02:28):
on this series that now heads back to OKC tit
to two.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
They should have lost. I mean, the Pacers really did
control it. The crowd was super into it. The third
quarter belonged to Indiana. They had their biggest lead early
in the fourth quarter, everything trending away from the Oklahoma
City Thunder, and somehow Oka See still got out of
there with a victory. That was more of an escape,

(02:54):
but it was because of the brilliance of SGA. Whatever
you want to talk about, whatever may have happened down
the stretch, all this stuff. The difference was Oklahoma City
made plays late and Benedict Matheren couldn't shoot a free
throw to save his life late in that basketball game
for Indiana. He was he did his best Nick Anderson
impression in that one. But this was an SGA. This

(03:16):
is why he won the MVP. Like this, this is
the reason why because that's what an MVP of the
league is supposed to do. He carried them when they
had to have it most down the stretch because everything
seemed to be trending the Pacers way. They were getting
the better of the Thunder Defensively, Miles turn was playing
a really great game on the defensive side of the ball.
They just seemed to be in a flow. The crowd

(03:39):
was very energetic, and it really did feel like they
were about to lose meeting the Thunder and this was
about to be a three to one game and SGA
just flat out wouldn't let it happen. And you know,
that's again, that's what you need your guy to do.
He has to be there for you, even when the
role players maybe aren't having their best night because they're
on the road and the rims just they things are

(04:00):
just not as comfortable for you. Your star has to be
there no matter what. And that's what the MVP of
the league did. He ended up with fifteen points in
that fourth quarter. Was a great night and for him
when it comes to the assist totals, of which I
think he had none, but just one of those games
that you're going to look back on and think if

(04:20):
the Pacers do lose, it's because they could not hold
that lead. They could not hold that guy back. They
couldn't find a way to defend him without at least
getting whistled for fouls if nothing else. And it felt
like a pivotal kind of turning point moment the thunder
and not coming back from three to one in that scenario,
but two to two they have all the momentum and

(04:40):
it's back at home court. They don't have to win
in Indiana again.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
Yeah, it's funny, you know, not seeing it live and
then being able to go back and watch it. It was
really interesting. A lot of the discourse about the referees,
and you know, you wonder in real time how bad
it is going back expecting a referee spectacle. Listen, there
was some flag or fall stuff early whatever that didn't

(05:05):
impact the game. But it's funny because the big push
off Shay Gil just Alexander slash foot shuffle. You know,
I saw highlights of it when I got home. I
saw clips of it on social media. And then you
go back and you realize that that play happened to
give Oklahoma City a one oh four, one oh three
lead with over two minutes to go, so not great

(05:28):
at math. But even after that play okay, see out
scores Indiana seven to one. And so I just bring
it up because, again, having not seen it live, you
assume the worst. You assume it's this crazy rev controversy,
and no, it's just people complaining on social media. I
actually do think that. To me, the story, I think
the story is really two things. Is one, continue to

(05:50):
be impressed by Indiana. Maybe at this point we shouldn't
just be impressed, we should just acknowledge they're a great team.
But you look at how many different and I know
this is the narrative with them, but independent of the
fact that they lost, how many different guys they can
beat you how great ob Toppen was in game four.
This after Ben Mathern has a historic game off the
bench in game three, not to mention Aaron Naysmith, who's

(06:12):
had some big games throughout the playoffs, not to mention
obviously Tyre's Halliburn, Pop, Pascal Siakam whatever. So that was one.
But two, I also just think you got to give
credit to Oklahoma City because again you have this again,
I had this perception that there was just this crazy
refereeing malpractice controversy, and that wasn't it. What ended up

(06:34):
happening was Oklahoma City made it. They They did enough
to kind of stay within striking distance, and then when
it mattered most, they made the plays a worthy two
to two series. And I'll say this, you know, I
don't know if you have anything else on on game four,
j Mart, but as we go into the final three here,

(06:54):
you know, whenever you're tied to tow after four games, it
feels like it can go either way. But I really
feel like this can go either way. Where I think
even last week when we came on air, OKAC was
down one, I felt pretty good about them coming back
to win this series. I don't really know that I
feel that way, not because OKAC isn't that good, but
just because of what Indiana continues to prove night after

(07:15):
night after night.

Speaker 3 (07:16):
The only thing I'll point out is the same thing
that I texted you last night and the same thing
that upset me last week, and that was the discourse
that this was a generational mismatch where the thunder were
just gonna absolutely just boat race the Pacers and embarrass
them and they had no business being in the finals
and all it was a ridiculous notion. Then it's a
ridiculous notion now, and that's coming from an Oklahoma City thunderfan.

(07:39):
In me, it's absurd because none of these guys, almost
nobody on the floor has finals experienced. Can that's a
completely different animal? Yeah, got right.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
Let me ask you a question because I was thinking
about this. Do you think that you know, listen again
and we talked about this last week. I don't think
I heard anybody make the legitimate argument Indiana is gonna
win this series. But do you think that the takes
that everybody liking OKA see and the takes of generational mismatch?

(08:12):
OKC in five whatever, okay, c sweet? Do you think
it was because we undervalued how good Indye just is period?
Do you think we maybe overvalued OKAC because they had
a dominant regular season? Like where do you think the
take came from? Not just generational mismatch, but virtually everybody

(08:34):
with a microphone and a platform picking OKAC to win,
most people picking them to win in pretty convincing fashion.

Speaker 3 (08:40):
Let me let me ask you this. I'll pose a
question back to you. Sure that'll kind of reveal my answer.
If you took the exact same team, Okay, indyed Tom
Mia put them, yes, and put them in Boston Celtics uniforms,
or put them in New York Knicks uniforms, or where
the Western Conference finals and you put them in LA

(09:02):
Lakers uniforms. Are we getting the same conversation.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
It's a great question and the answer is no. If
that's right, If Tyrese Halliburton was on the Knicks, we
would be talking about Tyres Haliburton the way we talked
about Jylen Bronson. But keep going.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
I don't know if you have anything to add, but
I I mean, I know, I think I think that
makes the point. I mean, it's just I think I
think the reason is because it's Indiana. It's because it's
the Indiana Pacers, and they're not one of those they're
not they're not a team that's supposed to be here,
and so when they get here, it's not about how
talented they are, it's about this fluke thing that happens

(09:38):
to have happened this year. And then you can then
pick it apart. Well, Haliburton's not your traditional scorer. He's
a past first point guard. And I mean Pascal Siakham.
He's your most dominant offensive player. And I mean, look
at this collection of guys. I mean, they're a bunch
of role players, but these are not the comments that
you make about them if they're wearing Knicks uniforms or

(09:59):
if they're in big market. That's the I mean, that's
the problem with the discourse, period is I mean a
lot of the people that are commenting on the Pacers
or over just overlooking them. They're overlooking them because they
didn't watch them all see and that that right there
explains it in a nutshell. They deserved more respect a
long time ago, but that respect has to be gained

(10:20):
because people watched them and knew how good they were.
And I don't think that. I don't think that a
lot of people that covered the league for a living
spent enough time paying attention to a lot of other
teams in the league because they were too busy watching
a circus in LA and they were watching the big
markets because they know what's gonna rate. And then they
got caught with their pants down because the Pacers turned

(10:41):
out not just to be good, but to be great.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
I think, excuse me, I'll take on my throat there,
so I actually have an agree with you one hundred
percent is that it is interesting to me that it
just feels like the people that are paid a lot
of money to do this, they just don't know how
to talk about the Pacers. It's like, at least with OKAC,
they were the number one seed. They win sixty eight
regular season games, so you could kind of see this

(11:06):
coming where it's like even now with the Pacers, it's
like again generational mismatch. Oh, they win, But is Haliburton
a superstar? Apparently there was a there was a back
and forth with Haliburton and Solitaire A Smith this week.
I actually missed it, so maybe you can inform me
on that. Later I saw a take of you know,

(11:27):
the star of the Pacers is actually Rick Carlisle and
not any of the players. It's just like, it's just
you might have even sent me down. It's just so
obvious that not only was nobody anticipating this, nobody even
knows how to contextualize it or make it interesting. And
by the way, maybe there is no really interesting angle

(11:48):
on a team that nobody averages more than twenty points
a game that has eight, nine, ten guys that can
beat you on any given night. But I don't think
it changes the fact that this team is just a way, way,
way better team than anyone realized, probably up until about
Game two or Game three, not Game two, but game
three of this series, where it's like you even go
back to two weeks ago. Tonight the Knicks lose to

(12:11):
the Pacers, it is perceived to be such a bad
loss that the Knicks feel the need to fire Tom Thibodeaux,
and so I just think again, for whatever reason, the
media can't figure out a way to make this Pacers
team interesting, And maybe there is no way to make
a team interesting that has ten guys that can beat
you at any given night. But it is so clear
that nobody knows how to contextualize this and just don't

(12:32):
want to give them credit for exactly what they are
independent of whether they win or they lose, the fact
that they are a great team.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
Indeed, I mean, I think all of that is absolutely right,
But I also think that you you sort of gave
away the way that they should be talking about Indiana
in how you I don't even think you noticed it
while you said it. But today's media does not know
how to talk about.

Speaker 2 (12:56):
Teams great cop.

Speaker 3 (12:58):
They know how to talk about stars, they know how
to talk about individuals. The way you talk about Indiana
is in the context of a unit. The fact that
they have ten guys that could beat you on any
given night, mathering to have a big game top and
like you mentioned, could have a big game. Obviously, Tyres
and Pascal Siakamkuld Miles Turner can go off. All of

(13:20):
them can contribute, and all of them play roles that
are integral to that team's success. But we are used
to talking about Josh Allen and talking about Patrick Mahomes,
and talking about Travis Kelcey and Taylor Swift and talking
about Lebron James and talking about Giannis Atatakumpo and talking
about all these individual basketball players. Indiana comes along, and

(13:42):
Indiana is more of a throwback. They remind you a
little bit just in how they're talked about and the
way that they're viewed. Kind of like that Pistons team
that won a championship that had a bunch of dudes
that were really, really talented, but they didn't have that
leap off the screen kind of superstar that you can

(14:03):
talk about like that. Halliburn, to me, is a superstar.
We're not going to jump into that nonsense. But I
think that's the large part of it is media has
forgotten how to talk about an entire team and to
break it down from that kind of an analytical perspective,
because that doesn't work on the cover of a tabloid.
And that's what so much of media discourse because of

(14:25):
this debate, culture has actually devolved into.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
I'll tell you what. It's a perfect segue to what
I want to talk about next, which is a guy
that's sort of still a superstar but isn't really a superstar,
but is a superstar. But we're talking about him like
it's ten years ago, and we're you know, we're ignoring
teams like the Pacers and whatever. But boy, oh boy,

(14:50):
we got to get into Kevin Durant next because there
is an update on where he wants to play. But
I wonder how much of an impact it'll actually have.
We'll discuss that now. Aertorus Jason Martin on a busy
Saturday night. Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 4 (15:04):
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Speaker 2 (15:16):
Welcome back everybody, Fox Sports Radio aertors Jayson Martin broadcasting
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(15:37):
Saturday and Sunday morning right here on Fox Sports Radio
and the iHeartRadio app. So Game four NBA Finals is
in the books. Once we get through the Finals, it's
onto the NBA offseason. One move that I don't think
will wait until we get a resolution on the NBA

(15:58):
season is the status of Kevin Durant. So Kevin Durant.
We know since the NBA trade deadline in February, the
Suns have been at least poking around to see what
a market might look like. It feels like it's heated up.
It feels like it is going to be happening soon.
As a matter of fact, bring it up because we

(16:18):
did get a report within the last hour of coming
on air that Kevin Durant if he is going to
be traded, which it sounds like it's he has told
Shams Tarani at ESPN that he prefers to land with
the Heat, Rockets and Spurs as the three team. So basically,
let me let me contextualize this a little bit. The
Sons are looking to trade Kevin Durant. They are going,

(16:41):
they have publicly or they have told teams that they
are going to trade him to the spot where they
can get the most in return. But after he has
contract extension coming up, they can extend it for whoever
gets them can extend it for two more years. The
only teams that he has told the Sons that he
would sign an extension with the Heat, Rockets and Spurs.

(17:02):
So those are his three preferred trade destinations. J Mart
and I'll let you take the floor because last week
we talked a little bit about is Kevin Durant not
that he's not a great individual talent, but does he
elevate teams the way that he has perceived to be.
But three teams, one of them got the two seed
in the Western Conference this year, another one very clearly

(17:22):
on the way up in San Antonio, Just what do
you make of this story, Kevin Durant all of that.

Speaker 3 (17:29):
The one that's most interesting to me, and the one
that I think really tells a lot is Miami. The
fact that Miami is in this list, I just gotta
ask you, what are you going to Miami to do, Kevin?
Because you're not going there to win championships because they
are not a Kevin Durant away from a title. You're

(17:52):
in a better situation now, potentially, like who are you
going to join that's there, that's going to take you
the promise life. Jimmy Butler's not there anymore. Uh, That
team is not really talked about it all anymore. You
want to go to Miami and live, that's fine, but
you don't even have to be an NBA player to
do that, especially with the money that you've already made.
So that's irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. The other

(18:14):
two makes some sense to me when it comes to
San Antonio with Wemby and all that, and of course
they have a draft, they have a draft pick that
might be appealing. And then you've got Houston, who is
certainly a team that has risen under Emyodoka. But like,
I look at all of it and I think to myself, Okay,
So if I'm Miami, what am I bringing him there for?

(18:35):
Are you gonna buy tickets give to see him play
basketball when he's not gonna win, Like, when they're not
gonna win a championships? What's the draw? Like, if you
are bringing in Kevin Durant, your rationale has to be
he's the missing piece for us to go in he's
the leader, or he's the guy that is going to
take us to the promised land. Eric Spolster already knows

(18:56):
that's not gonna happen in Miami with Kevin Durant. He's
a smart guy, one of the best coaches of all
time in the league. Like, if he's not gonna come
bring you a championship, then why would you pay him
money to go there? Like he's just at that point,
he's just an exhibition act. And I think that that's
probably gonna get old real real fast. On the other side,

(19:17):
I mentioned last week because I keep seeing all these
people suggest he needs to go to Minnesota, I'm just like, man,
if I'm Anthony Edwards, if I'm somebody representing Anthony Edwards,
if I'm somebody in Minnesota's organization. I do not want
that for Anthony Edwards because I think that he will,
he will bring out those tendencies and Edwards that we
want to get past, which is the ones where I'm
just a baller. I don't want to be a leader.

(19:39):
I can't be the guy that you know, all ships
arise around me and all that. It's like, I'm just
a stud as a basketball player. You don't need another
one of those there. You need somebody to help mentor
Anthony Edwards. I don't think Daran is that guy at
this point in time. So I look at all this
and I'm just kind of like, it just tells me

(20:00):
he doesn't care that much about championships anymore, Like it's
not as important to him anymore. And maybe it hasn't been,
you know, since he won a couple and since all
these other things are happening. I mean, he went to
Brooklyn to go play with his best friend, then he
went to Phoenix in that situation, which has been an
abject disaster. All the things he seemingly has had his
hand in when it comes to how he's picked teammates

(20:21):
and what he's done and coaching searches and all this
other stuff. None of it has been particularly flattering to
his reputation and his legacy in the league. So now
we are going to be honestly, we're gonna be gas
lit into thinking that Kevin Durant is going to turn
somebody into a contender. One he has to be available
on the floor, not injured. Two he has to be

(20:42):
completely engaged with whoever it is that he goes to,
whatever team that he goes to. And three, if he
has any kind of a slump, he's got to hope
that the media is nice to him, because then he's
gonna shut down again. Like, there's nothing about this we
talked about related to the NFL, you know, moves that
were just not going to turn out to be much

(21:04):
of anything. Durant's a really good player, but I don't
think that heat got him going somewhere is gonna shift
much of a balance of power of anything in twenty
twenty five.

Speaker 2 (21:13):
Yeah, the heat thing does feel like a lifestyle thing.
It feels like there has to be another move to go,
like because then you know, the other variable, which is obvious,
is what are you giving up to get Kevin Durant?

Speaker 3 (21:28):
Right?

Speaker 2 (21:28):
You know, is Kevin Durant with Tyler hero On bam
Adebayo a little bit interesting? Maybe? But are you even
able to keep both of those guys if you get
Kevin Durant. I'll defend KD on one thing, since I
have been pretty critical these last few weeks, I don't.
I don't think at this point, like you know, I
was talking to somebody in the back here before we

(21:49):
started the show of I think the NBA media still
covers the NBA of add this superstar to this big
brand and watched the magic happen, and I don't think
that's really the case anymore. I don't think that's how
you build teams. It's not how Okac's built. It's not
even how Boston's been built, Indiana's been built whatever.

Speaker 3 (22:10):
Anyway, Actually, you know what it is, it's exactly how
okay See was built. In reverse. Well, it's the Clippers
that went after the Star and Paul George that sent
SGA in company to Oklahoma City that changed everything. It
was them trying to add a star and win a
championship that actually reverse, it actually worked in reverse for

(22:32):
the team that was actually unloading the Star in that scenario.

Speaker 2 (22:35):
I was actually, this is totally not related to Kevin Durant,
and we'll get back to Kevin Durant in half a second.
I was watching the NBA Final the game this afternoon,
and I'll be honest, maybe there's an example of this
that I can't think of, but watching a game the
two best players on the floor that everybody universally agrees
are awesome in an NBA Finals, we're both traded, like

(23:00):
you know, Halle and Shay, and it's just like, I, I,
is there an exact It's not like a let's talk
about this and debate it conversations. Just I was just
thinking that. I was like, is there an example of
just like like, yeah, okay, guys have been traded and
Lebron has played for different teams and whoever. But it's
like they were both I don't want to say Halle
was like an afterthought, but it was kind of like, okay,
it felt like a pretty even trade, some bonus for

(23:23):
Halle back in the day. Anyway, Just something to think about,
something that you want. I think it's a great point
by you. I'll defend KD on one thing. I've been
very critical of him. I said last week, you know,
I agreed with you on Minnesota. I do think Houston
is interesting because the one thing, first of I I

(23:43):
don't think I don't think that, I don't think san
Antonio makes sense. I just think you're just stunting the
growth of that entire organization by adding Kevin Durant. Now,
I think Kevin Durant, it makes sense for him to
want to go play with Wemby and Darren Fox and
Steph cast like it. Houston, I do think culture's already
set with Imeadoka. He feels like one of the few

(24:04):
guys in the league that Kevin Durant isn't gonna walk
in and push around, like you know, he's the captain
of that ship and you're either gonna fall in line
or you're not. And then the other thing with them
their defensive culture. They were clearly in that Golden State
series lacking a go to guy, a middle of the
road team offensively this year, that's the one where it's like, Okay,

(24:25):
that one kind of does make sense and I would
kind of be it, But again, it's what are you
giving up? If you know, if you're having to give
up a bunch of really talented young pieces, I mean
part of what made them so talented. And I'm not
saying this kid's like the most unbelievable player ever, but
amen Thompson being an elite defensive player. Now you're just
again doing the thing where you trade the young assets

(24:46):
that are actually the reason that you're winning for the
superstar that's kind of passed his prime.

Speaker 3 (24:50):
You know, yeah, I mean that's what Phoenix did.

Speaker 2 (24:52):
Exactly.

Speaker 3 (24:52):
Problem with the problem with getting Kevin Durant is you
gave up all the things that we're gonna make make
you a Kevin Durant away, and then you you just
got Kevin Durant and you were, well, all those other
things away at that point, like what you have to
give up? And that's why you look at somebody. That's
why you look at for instance, San Antonio and you say, okay,
well see they have a draft pick to play with here, sure,

(25:14):
and that makes it a bit more intriguing from that
perspective for them. I agree with you a million percent
what you're saying about Houston dead on. You're exactly right,
like they could actually benefit from him, but they won't
be the same group if Kevin Durant goes there because
Phoenix is not just going to let him go for nothing.
They wagered their whole franchise basically to bring him there,

(25:37):
and it did absolutely nothing for them. They're going to
be in a complete and total rebuild after a free
fall at this point, so they are going to find
a way to get their pound of flesh back out
of this if at all possible. So Houston is not
going to get Kevin Durant cheaply in this circumstance. And
so that to me, I think is the big question.

(25:57):
And you laid it out, what do you have to
give up to acquire the guy? And at that point
is it worth that or how much you've given up?
Has that just eliminated any chance that you can win
a title with or with them or not.

Speaker 2 (26:10):
It's an interesting conversation. It feels like the trade is happening.
I'll just kind of put a bow on this. I
don't get the sense that the Spurs are that interested.
So it feels like maybe it'll be the rockets, maybe
it'll be the heat. The one thing I will add,
just doesn't feel like the Again, it speaks to the
conversation that you and I have had the last two
weeks that I feel like most of the main most

(26:31):
of the mainstream media again wants superstar player, big brand organization,
drop him in a pot mix make for an interesting story.
It's like, okay, cool doesn't help you know again, not
how Indy was built? Okay, see was the reverse Celtics
or the whatever point I'm trying to make. It'll be
interesting because it does feel like trade is coming soon.

(26:52):
Fox Sports Radio Aeron Tors Jason Martin, broadcasting live from
the Fox Sports Radio studios, will come back speak into
big markets, Jamar, what the is going on with the Knicks.
Have you, by the way, have you had to officially
announce that you are not leaving your current job. I
don't know if that if that's been actually.

Speaker 3 (27:09):
You kind of spoiled the lead here. I have decided
to stick where I am. I just have no interest
in that job at this time. I was actually going
to make that announcement.

Speaker 2 (27:19):
Oh darn it.

Speaker 3 (27:20):
But that's all right, it's no, it's fine. It makes
it easy. It's kind of a seamless transition for me.
I just I like where my family is right now.
I like how how things are going in my life,
and the idea of coaching the Knicks just kind of
turns my stomach quite frankly.

Speaker 2 (27:34):
All Right, So J Mart, along with Billy Donovan, Quinn Snyder,
Jason Kidd, Chris Finch and others are out who's actually
and we'll discuss that next. First, di seger one, I
want to know what's trending. Two, have you had to
officially let your has your representation let the Knicks know that?

Speaker 5 (27:51):
Well, I don't want to speak for you. I don't
know if you're involved or not. First off, there is
no such representation, So I span here.

Speaker 2 (27:57):
I think they called under spandre since in television have
Age would take the job.

Speaker 5 (28:02):
We just would like everybody to know publicly in New
York that if you would like to pay us not
to coach your team, we're up for that, yes, because
eventually that's what happens with everybody.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
Thirty million dollars worth of home not catching. I think
that's what Tips is. Getting something in that ballpark if
it extends out.

Speaker 5 (28:18):
But by all means, fire him and then and then
think of a replacement plan.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
Also, I don't want to I stole J Mart's thunder
on his news. I'm gonna spoil my take right now.
I didn't really have a problem with the firing until
I realized they had absolutely no plan. We'll get to
that in just a few minutes, but continue with your year.
Is Phil Jackson on the list? Phil anyone? No, he's asleep.
He actually just felt he'd waken.

Speaker 5 (28:42):
Up by the way you were talking about the Paul
George trade, and I looked up that deal again and
it was Paul George to the Clippers for Shaye Jill
shake Kill, just Alexander and a pretty surrounder in twenty
twenty two and the first round of the year before that,
But the one that was twenty twenty two draft choice
was Jalen Williams, Yes, and then a first rounder of

(29:03):
the year after that, and a first round of the
year after that, and to this summer and one next year,
and it's, you know, nothing against Paul George. He's twenty
points a game for his career and was better than
that with the Clippers.

Speaker 3 (29:13):
But well, you know, podcast man.

Speaker 2 (29:15):
As I've told you many times, you do have something
against Paul George. My wife because that news broke in
the middle of our wedding, and for about ten minutes,
everybody was on their phones trying to figure out how
the heck, Paul George got traded.

Speaker 3 (29:26):
But anyway, remind George ruins everything.

Speaker 2 (29:30):
Yeah, except for one franchise the NBA. Well, we're both nay.

Speaker 3 (29:34):
He ruins everything in the state of California.

Speaker 2 (29:37):
That's true.

Speaker 5 (29:37):
That's The NBA Finals continue Monday. Indiana and Oklahoma City
series tied it too. We had the series tied it
too in the Stanley Cup Final until Florida one on
the road tonight five to two at Edmonton. Great stat
from Sportsnet in Canada. How long have the Oilers actually
led in the five games of this series? The answer
is under thirty five minutes total. All the Panthers have

(30:00):
led for two hundred minutes so far in the series.
It's three games to two Florida and the Panthers will
host Game six on Tuesday. Meanwhile, we had WNBA today
with Caitlin Clark on the court and Indiana beating New York,
which was nine to zero one oh two eighty eight.
Clark had missed five games with a string quad but
had twenty five points in the first half thirty two

(30:23):
for the game. Victories for Minnesota and Golden State. Sam
Burns leads the US Open by one stroke. College Baseball
World Series wins for LSU and UCLA. The UFL Championship
Game has just ended, DC the title ist, beating Michigan
fifty eight thirty four fifty eight thirty one points in
the second quarter of that game. Daniel Suarez won NASCAR's

(30:45):
Infinity Race in Mexico, his home country, by the way,
FS one carrying Mexico's soccer team. Right now as the
Gold Cup opens and at the La Rams Stadium, Mexico
up in the sixty six minute three to one over
Dominican Republic USA Open Tomorrow, the tournament is on Fox
and FS one, and we've got two late games. In
Major League Baseball, Clayton Kershaw absolutely owned the San Francisco

(31:09):
Giants in his career six scoreless innings at his advanced
age tonight and it's seven to nothing LA over the
Giants going to the bottom of the sixth and these
two rivals are tied for first in the NL West
right now, Kershaw has only thrown seventy pitches in the
sixth inning. He has in his career against the Giants
had about sixty starts, about four hundred innings and over

(31:32):
four hundred strikeouts against him. Career era against San Francisco
coming into tonight was two point zero four, and he's
tacked on six scoreless in this one. Cleveland is tied
at Seattle to two in the top of the six
everything else is final. An amazing win at Arizona for
the Diamondbacks, who won five straight. They scored five in
the bottom of the ninth to beat the padres encloser

(31:55):
Robert Suarez eight to seven. Boston had the game that's
for most of the country on Fox TV, beating the
rival Yankees four to three. Atlanta over Colorado four to one.
The Rockies are thirteen and fifty seven now and the
winning pitcher was Spencer Strider, who had been on five
this year. Strider with thirteen strikeouts against Colorado in six innings.

Speaker 2 (32:18):
No runs allowed.

Speaker 5 (32:19):
Philadelphia edge Toronto three to two on a solo homer
in the eighths. Tampa Bay beat the Mets in New
York again eight four. Back to you, Thank you very much,
Steve Sager.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
This is Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Saturday Air towards
jas Martin broadcasting live from the Fox Sports Radio studios.
By the way, got a payoff a Rockies thing from
last week. You and I were talking about it was
the final it was the Sager's final update, and I said,
Bernie Fratto, I know you're listening. If somebody just blindly
bet against the Rockies every single game from the start

(32:52):
of the season on, what would they be up? And
he texted me, yeah, both of us he was.

Speaker 3 (32:58):
He was obviously listening because it was before I was
able to walk away from my headset. Yes, he already
had texted the answer at.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
Ten fifty five Pacific one fifty five Eastern time yesterday,
he said. Last Saturday, he said, Hey, Aaron a Better,
who faded or bet against the Rockies in every game
would have been up twenty eight hundred and seventy five
dollars as of last Monday. So basically twenty eight to
one on your betting odds if if you were just

(33:26):
blindly betting, that was as of two mondays ago. I
can't speak to what it is now. So Fox Sports
Radio rators Jason Martin will come back. We will have
the next conversation. Ja mart is out, de Sager is out,
So who's in for the next week. Maybe Brianna bri
she's got enough jobs. We'll discuss the first.

Speaker 3 (33:45):
She could be the first women's coach in the NBA.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
Well, shei right out of candidates, so we'll see what happens.
Fox Sports Radio, Welcome back, everybody. Fox Sports Radio, Aer Torres,
Jason Martin broadcasting alive from the Fox Sports Radio studios.
All right, so, I guess you could say we teased it.
We're frankly just having a conversation. The New York Knicks

(34:10):
last played two weeks ago. Today fired their coach the
following what Monday or Tuesday? So about I think thirty
I think forty eight to seventy two hours after their
season ended two weeks ago on Saturday. Still, not only
do they not have a coach, it feels like they
they just now finally have a plan. They of course

(34:34):
asked virtually every organization with a sitting head coach to
interview them. Off the top of my head, and I
don't have this to memory, but Jason Kidd, Billy Donovan,
Chris Finch, Quinn Snyder, there's maybe one.

Speaker 3 (34:48):
Or two others, but of course there's Jay Wright.

Speaker 2 (34:51):
Jay Wright, Rick Patino, maybe a Dan Hurley. Anyway, there
is reports today that they're gonna interview and speak with
Taylor Jenkins and Mike Brown this week. Now there's a
separate conversation about Mike Brown, but at least they finally
at least they're finally going after people that they might

(35:12):
actually be able to hire. Another's a different conversation to
take it where you want, Jmart is this about because
to me, I know, I just said take it where
you want. I'll just give you my spiel is And
I said it before Desager got to his update is
I had no problem with the firing because, as I
said last week, it felt like, if you bring back TIBs,

(35:32):
it's gonna be the same thing, overplay the veterans. This
that the other thing. I was also naive enough to
believe that in firing TIBs there was actually a plan
to replace him. Instead, it's a cluster. Now the floor
is officially yours.

Speaker 3 (35:48):
Yeah, Like, I kind of agree with what you're saying.
I'm okay with the firing as well, based on your
rationale there that if you have problems with the in
which he was coaching the team, and it wasn't just
an overreaction to losing to Indiana, who you also probably
disrespected in your own mind, just like the media and

(36:09):
everybody else did then then okay, but it's not even
that they haven't hired somebody. I understand that can take
some time or whatever. Right, you're working things out and
all this, but it doesn't even seem like they knew
who they wanted to hire exactly. Like that's like at
least you got a list, right, Like there's like, yes,

(36:29):
you're asking a ton of people about their coaches and all,
but I mean, I mean based on what because you
because they're coaching now, are they better than what you had?
Are you now scrambling at some point? Did you was
there a plan A that we are completely unaware of?
Like it makes your organization look well, disorganized, but it

(36:51):
also makes that job look like it's not a job
people want. Like the whole thing just reflects poorly on
a team and on a franchise that really, this should
be the best time that they've had in a while.
Like the owner is still the owner. You can't do
anything about that right now. But Brunson, you've got a
legit superstar. You've got a likable group of guys to

(37:11):
follow on that team. Looks like a pretty bright future
there in New York. There's energy again, the celebrities are
back in the building and they're buying into what can happen,
Like it's starting to become a show again. That should
be a job that a lot of people want, and
they just don't. And then you're going to teams and
you're begging them for you know, permission to talk, and

(37:33):
the teams are shutting you down. And so you didn't
have a plan. You also didn't have leverage, and you
don't seem to have like the a job that it
feels like this could be right now. So what's the cause? Well,
I mean, Dolan is probably one of the largest reasons,
but more than anything, it's just like, what exactly were

(37:54):
you attempting to do by firing Tom Thibodeaux? What were
you trying to attract? Because it has this has gone
just incredibly poorly, Like it's it's actually it's actually got
to be humiliating for that organization, not even like those
that weren't party to that decision, that work in that
front office or whatever like that. They've just got to

(38:15):
be like, what are we doing here, folks? Like a
few weeks ago we were in the Eastern Conference finals
and now we look like the Keystone cops like it's
an embarrassment. It really is, like it's a huge blemish
on that franchise.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
There's no doubt, And I don't really know what else
there is to really add other than that. It's just
it's just disappointing because one those fans listen. I know
the Knicks fan narrative gets a little bit overblown at times,
but like, those fans have been incredibly loyal us for
the past twenty five years, and to see this situation

(38:50):
where you finally have something going in the right direction.
You have a star in Jalen Brunson, you have the
pieces around him. Is it a perfect team?

Speaker 4 (38:58):
No?

Speaker 2 (38:59):
But to our point from earlier the show, part of
it is of course that the Indiana Pacers are just
better than people realized. And so now I just it's
just sad to me because it feels hard to see
a scenario where the Knicks are in a better situation
a year from now than they are than they were
two weeks ago. And I just feel bad for the

(39:20):
fans and the players. So we'll see what happens. Nick's
uh set to meet with Taylor Jenkins and Mike Brown
this week. I hope they have a coach by this
time next week, but who really knows. Fox Sports Radio
Air towards Jason Martin, broadcasting live from the Fox Sports
Radio Studios. Plenty more to come, including guess who's back, Oh,

(39:40):
Caitlin Clark. We're discussing her next Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (39:44):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (39:47):
Welcome in everybody, hour two towards Martin. Fox Sports Radio.
We are broadcasting live from the Fox Sports Radio studios,
taking up till two am Eastern Time. Fretto of the
Bernie Fratto Show will follow us here in just a
little bit. Cannot wait to hear what Bernie has to
say about a busy, busy, busy week in sports. If

(40:11):
you missed our one, you can always go back and
download the podcast. We talked Game four of the NBA Finals,
We talked what are the next doing with that coaching search?
And of course we talked Kevin Durant. You know, I mean,
big name, but wherever he lands isn't really gonna make
that much of a difference. So we'll get back to
some of the NBA talk in just as a matter

(40:32):
of fact, twenty minutes from now, we will dive into
the NBA talk or lack thereof, with a certain twenty
million dollar a year media member who may have been
caught playing Solitaire in the middle of a crucial game
four last night.

Speaker 3 (40:47):
So I'm gonna put my mind sweeper game down now
since we're back on the air.

Speaker 2 (40:51):
Yeah, I'm angry. Birds is going to be put to
the side here for half a second. But let's switch
gears here and we'll again. We'll get back to the
NBA in just a few minutes. But WNBA.

Speaker 3 (41:06):
Man, it's good to know, man, I mean, the season
started today started. It's exciting. Meant, the last one felt
like it only lasted a couple of weeks, Like, gosh,
sport is really getting good, because man, I want it
more like it was only there for it seemed like
it's like eight games or something like that, and then
then all of a sudden, it just completely disappeared from existence.
I guess they crowned a champion. I missed. I missed

(41:28):
the entire playoffs, But good to see it back today.

Speaker 2 (41:32):
Well, in all seriousness, there's there's two different angles to
talk about.

Speaker 3 (41:35):
Oh, I was totally serious.

Speaker 2 (41:36):
Well, so here's the thing. So Kaitlyn Carr comes back today.
She was awesome. Uh, Indiana Fever playing the undefeated at
the time, New York Liberty. Indiana wins one oh two
eighty eight. Caitlin Clark thirty two points, seven of fourteen
from three, eight rebounds, nine assists. She'd have seven turnoffs.

(41:58):
So there's that, and it comes on the heels of yeah, basically,
the WNBA basically ceasing to exist without her. This was
from an article that I saw earlier in the week.
The two NBA games, the two NBA TV games that
feature the Fever without Kaitlin Clark were down forty percent

(42:19):
from Fever Dream on NBA TV when she played Sunday's
game against the Sky. I think it was Saturdays actually,
because that was the game we talked about last week,
was down thirty percent from the season opener. So basically,
and let's see here, I want to make sure I
have this right. Basically, Indiana Fever lost somewhere between thirty

(42:44):
to forty percent of their audience without Caitlin Clark. She
was back on Saturday, so we can talk about her performance.
But I think probably the more interesting thing is that, basically,
if we needed confirmation that the WNBA is in a
league as much as it is a person that draws
interest in a bunch of other people playing basketball. I
think we got it while she was gone these last

(43:05):
few weeks.

Speaker 3 (43:06):
That's right, that this was the worst news for everybody
hoping for her to fail, or the other players in
that league who are just walking just envy machines when
it comes to her and the way that they relate
to her and what they have to say about her.
Her coming out and having thirty two, just going absolutely
insane from distance like five to six feet beyond the

(43:28):
arc repeatedly in this game, and beating an undefeated team
that has been one of the best teams in that
league for a while, like this is the worst news ever.
She doesn't stink, folks. One of the reasons why she
has talked about the way she has talked about is
because she's really good at basketball. And yes, she possesses

(43:50):
some charismas she possesses some things that that league has
not had in a while. And it started with just
being in the right place at the right time in college.
And now we get to this point, you wonder how
big a star she is. I mean, there was a
Big Time feature piece this week about how she and

(44:12):
Tyrese Haliburton have like this great friendship, that they're thickest
thieves and that they drive one another to succeed. We're
in middle of the NBA Finals and we're talking about
a w NBA player inspiring a w an NBA superstar
in that same city.

Speaker 2 (44:27):
And real quick, it's believable too, Yes it is. But
like you know, there's been stories of like, oh, this
women's player and this men's player have really struck up
a friendship. It's like, no, I could see how two young,
super dynamic players and a player as captivating against Caitlin
Clark could inspire. I don't want to say it makes
you sound sexist or something, but like I could see

(44:49):
this scenario where Tyrese Haliburton really is looking at her
and saying like, wow, I could.

Speaker 3 (44:52):
Learn a thing or two yeah, and vice versa. And
so that to me just it talks about you know
what she is. And so, yes, swimming was not a sport.
Michael Phelps was that sport for a long period of time.
Before him, it was Mark Spitz. And you know, there
have been a couple of moments like that track was

(45:14):
about one guy for a very very long time when
it came to bolts and things like that, and that's
what some sports are. And the difference between the Olympic sports,
for example, and what you have with Caitlyn Clark is
they get to play every year and you can maximize
that all the time, whereas swimming can maximize it, you know,

(45:35):
once twice in a four year span, depending on championships
that then lead to the Olympics, and then you know
that career. You don't ever know how long it's going
to last, how many times they're going to want to
do it. All of that. Katie Ldecki another example or
something like that, like we're not paying attention to every swimmer,
We're paying attention to one, and we're not focused on

(45:55):
anything about them other than their greatness. And so when
you look at this, the WNBA has this unique thing
here where Caitlin Clark is in that league like she's yours.
You can do so much with her. So stop working
against her and stop talking badly about her, and stop
flagrant fouling her to death and all this other stuff,

(46:18):
and stop talking behind your teeth about her seemingly in
every interview, and tell your legends to stop talking about
her in the way that they are, Like, we can
all see there's a meal ticket here, Like today was
the first game that that league has had since her
injury that anyone paid attention to whatsoever, Like you texted

(46:41):
me multiple times today about that game and what was happening.
You've got people that cover sports that are far bigger
stars in this industry that we're talking about that game,
and you have some that don't cover sports that we're
still talking about that game. She's a happening, She's an event.
She's that like, she's the one. That's what she is

(47:02):
for that league. She's the one, and the league is
either going to have to embrace that or they're going
to perish behind it because her injury basically sidelined that
entire league. And when she came back, and here's another
example of it, the Olympics not putting her on that team.

(47:22):
No one cared about the women's team whatsoever in the Olympics. Basically,
the w NBA stopped their season so that they could
do that Olympics thing and Clark wasn't a part of it.
So women's basketball just went away for a while. That
tells you what a needle mover she is. In fact,
not just what a needle mover. She's the one needle

(47:44):
mover in that sport, and everybody needs to stop denying it.
That is trying to create some other kind of story,
because it's a fairy tale, folks, it's a fable. No
one is buying it well.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
And I think the worst part about today for the
other or however many players there are in the WNBA,
if there's just this notion that she's popular because WNBA
fans are racist and da da, and this is not well.
Brianna Stewart is one of the best players in the league.
Sabrina Iyesku is one of the best players in the league.

(48:16):
Caitlin Clark with thirty to eight and nine, and listen,
I don't want to say she single handedly beat him,
because he's got some other talented players on the team.
But it's like, okay, if you want to argue that
she was just some you know, she she was great
in college and she carried some momentum into the league.
Now I think it was stupid. I think it was stupid.

(48:37):
Let me let me preface by saying that if that
was actually your argument, I think it was a very
poor argument. But if that was your argument, okay, and
that oh it's just a bunch of Iowa fans and oh,
I mean it's just a bunch of racist people that
just like her. It's like, okay, well, she comes back
off of a quad injury. By the way, I think
that's the other thing. It's not like she uh, she
hurt her you know, non shooting pinky finger like a quad.

(49:03):
She couldn't move, She probably couldn't do very much on
the court activity until the last couple of days. Immediately
comes back drops thirty two points on seven or fourteen,
shooting from three with eight points to nine and six.
So this notion that somehow she's only popular because she
again because of some momentum from Iowa or racist fans

(49:24):
or whatever other dumb narrative people want to put out there.

Speaker 3 (49:28):
Listen, man, that league, that league above all, sorry Anna Row,
but that league above all is one that is much
more colorblind in its history, right, Like, I mean, let's
really think about it. Rebecca Lobo, Sue Bird, Diana Tarossi.
Like you've had You've had them from all walks of life.

(49:49):
You've had them across racial linch, You've had maya more.
You've had them coming from the same school in candas Parker, like,
you've had all sorts of great players in that league,
all sorts of representation coming from that number one pick,
to all of a sudden single this one out and
say this is an example of blatant racism. Is just

(50:09):
flat out wrong, like it's misapplied and it's honestly malicious
because you don't like you cannot honestly intellectually make that argument.
You are either lying to yourself or you're trying to
create controversy where none exists. That league has never ever

(50:31):
been talked about in that way because again, I think
maybe more so than just about any league that I
can think of, there have been a myriad of white
stars that have been a myriad of black stars. In
terms of just great players in that league. There's never
been a Caitlyn Clark. And it's not because she's white.
It's because she's Caitlyn Clark.

Speaker 2 (50:51):
I don't think there's any doubt. And I was just
saying that as and I know you know this, but
I was just saying that as whatever justification. And by
the way, let me even say this, I'll actually defend
some WNBA people because I was one and again maybe
it's the Yukon and me. You know, I probably paid
a little bit more attention to some of these college

(51:11):
players through the years than the average person. But to
your point, you know, it be my alma mater. I'm
defensive of Maya Moore and Breonna Stewart and Diana Drausis.
And I remember even saying at the time, it's like
people are acting like there have never been great women's
basketball players before Caitlyn Clark. But I think what is
indisputable is that not only is she popular because she's

(51:34):
really good, but it has officially translated into the WNBA,
and it's like, you know, whatever you think about oh
Iowa and you know the if you remember the criticism
at the time, Oh she gets to shoot whenever she wants,
and the whole system, whatever it was, All I'm trying
to say is that it is now indisputable she has
come into this league. She was incredible last year. I mean,
I remember early in the season we were talking about

(51:56):
some of the stats that had popped up about I
think she had already set the record or tie the
record for most twenty five point tennis this game. Whatever,
it is, the only point I'm trying to make is
that whatever argument anybody had that it was something other
than just being a really good basketball player for him,
For her to come back with one leg, you know,

(52:19):
basically playing on one leg and doing what she did tonight,
it was pretty incredible.

Speaker 3 (52:23):
I mean, ultimately, they needed her to be bad and
she's not. Yep, And it's really that simple. She's really
good at the sport and the other thing. And I
do think this is part of it. She also just
wasn't irritating, she wasn't annoying when she was in the spotlight,
when she did interviews, there was a down to earthness

(52:46):
to her, which is why I think so many people
balked when she sort of bent the knee and tried
to like do everything she could to downplay her own
success when she was winning all those awards last and
all that other stuff, because she used to just kind
of go about her business and what happened around her happened.

(53:06):
And that seemed to be kind of a direct shift
in mentality and approach and it didn't feel very Caitlin
Clark light. But yeah, like she's still trash talking and
everything on the floor, but the way she carried herself,
conducted herself, dealt with media, dealt with children, dealt with
all of this stuff. Like she was above reproach in

(53:27):
so many ways, and so she didn't give you, you know,
any grounds for complaint. There was no really, there was
no room to be upset with her. And I think
that drove a lot of people nuts as well. Because
you can do all the opposition research that you want
to on her, you weren't going to find a whole lot.

Speaker 2 (53:44):
It's an interesting deal.

Speaker 3 (53:46):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (53:46):
And again, I just think that there's a lot of
things that I don't think anyone with common sense thought
were disputable, but they are pretty indisputable. After one game
back Fever beat the undefeated New York Liberty one two
eighty eight thirty two who eight and nine for Caitlin
Clark and again seven to three pointers made Fox Sports

(54:06):
Radio er towards Jason Martin. We are broadcasting live from
the Fox Sports Radio studios. Remember you can stream the
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(54:27):
be sure to preset Fox Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio
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of your screen. From the highs of the excitement in
Indiana on Saturday to the lows of a sad game
of Solitaire in the same arena, we'll discuss all that next.
Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 4 (54:48):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
Welcome back everybody, Fox Sports Radio aer towards Jason Martin
broadcasting live from the Fox Sports Radio studios. Want to
talk about our buddy over at the other network, Solitaire
a Smith in just one moment. But speaking of glamorous,
Steve Desager, take it away, my friend, what is trending.

Speaker 5 (55:21):
Solitaire A Smith. Don't know why we didn't think.

Speaker 2 (55:23):
Of that very I think that JMRK kind of dropped
it in a text threat I'll dropped.

Speaker 3 (55:27):
It in a text. I hadn't seen it anywhere. I
figure somebody did have.

Speaker 2 (55:30):
How is that not everywhere? At this point? I feel
like Will he gives about fifteen minutes, it will.

Speaker 5 (55:34):
Be standing by.

Speaker 3 (55:35):
Well.

Speaker 5 (55:36):
We've got two late games in Major League Baseball. Two
outs in the ninth, the Dodgers lead eleven to nothing
over the Giants, and keyk Hernandez infield or outfielder is
on the mound and he's got an ERA of one
point eight to zero in relief this year. By the way,
the Dodgers are ready to go back up by one
game over the Giants in the NL West standings. To see,
Padres were two games back, but they gave up five

(55:58):
in the bottom of the ninth. At Arizona, Diamondbacks beat
him eight seven for a fifth straight victory. Cleveland is
leading in the top of the nine three to two.
At Seattle. Boston beat the Yankees four to three. Atlanta
defeated Colorado four to one. The Rockies record thirteen and
fifty seven wins for the Phillies. The Rays and Miami
won at Washington for to three. The Nationals have lost

(56:20):
seven in a row. Game five of the Stanley Cup
Final went to the Florida Panthers five to two at Edmonton.
Two goals for Brad Marshawn at age thirty seven. He's
the oldest player ever to score at least six goals
in a Stanley Cup final. He has six goals in
the five games so far, and Game six is at
Florida on Tuesday. The NBA Finals continue Monday today. In

(56:43):
the WNBA, Caitland Clark thirty two points. Indiana beat New
York one oh two. Eighty eight victories for Golden State
and Minnesota. Sam Burns leads the US Open by one stroke.
Adam Scott has tied for second place at Oakmont, Pennsylvania.
Victor Hoveland three back Rory McKell shot a third round
seventy four after barely making the cut. He's now ten

(57:04):
over par. Phil Mickelson yesterday admits the cut at eight
over at ten over on Friday, where Dustin Johnson and
Bryson Deshambo Justin Thomas was twelve over par. Not golfing
this weekend. At College Baseball's World Series, number six seed
LSU tonight defeated number three Arkansas four to one. UCLA one.
It's opener today against Murray State six to four. Daniel

(57:27):
Suarez won NASCAR's Infinity Race in Mexico, his home country.
He had started at the rear of the field in
a backup car after crashing in qualifying soccer in La Tonight,
Mexico opened the Gold Cup tournament with a three to
two win over the Dominican Republic. US men's soccer as
the host for it this month on Fox and FS one.
Fox will have the US first game against Trinidad on

(57:50):
Sunday and now the record for the new US coach
just five and five, and the Americans will be co
hosting the World Cup in a year. Miami hosted the
opener of the FIFA Club World Cup tonight at zero
zero tie against El Aliya Club from Egypt. Attend in
sixty thousand and the UFL Championship game went to d
C fifty eight to thirty four over Michigan.

Speaker 2 (58:10):
Back to you, thank you very much, Steve Sager. One
other update. We have reached the point of the Dodgers
Giants game where Kike Hernandez is on the mound pitching,
throwing fifty six miles an hour fifty six mile an
hour fastballs down the play.

Speaker 5 (58:26):
When he pitched earlier this week, about literally half of
his pitches were under fifty miles per hour.

Speaker 2 (58:32):
So is he throwing like knuckleballs or does he just
have he can't his arm can't be that week, just.

Speaker 5 (58:38):
Little curve balls, slow slower than matting prick. I played
in a little league where our star pitcher actually threw
harder than fifty.

Speaker 2 (58:47):
Five miles an hour, no doubt.

Speaker 5 (58:49):
At eleven, twelve years old. And yes, he's just allowed
a home run and then two outs in the nights
so ran slam.

Speaker 2 (58:54):
An eleven nothing game became an eleven four game really quick.
So I'll see it will be curious see how many more,
how much longer Dave Roberts lets them have fun out there,
but two outs in the bottom of the night.

Speaker 5 (59:05):
So it's three walks and a homer. Yeah, that's what
he's given up on in relief. And you notice he
wears that little half helmet as the protection, which none
of the regular pictures do.

Speaker 2 (59:16):
Oh but just in case of a line drive comeback.
Sure I did see that helmet. All right to Seger,
thank you very much. This is Fox Sports radio eron
tours days. By the way, say would be back about
fifteen minutes with his extended update. Hopefully the Dodgers could
close this out. If not, it's all right. So actually
funny story. I was at the Dodgers game on on
Friday night. Wasn't I able to watch Game four live?

(59:38):
We'll get back to Game four in a minute. And yes,
I went back and watched it on Saturday. For people
to say, oh, you're just talking about a gaming to watch,
But did happen to pop on social media for half
a second?

Speaker 6 (59:48):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (59:49):
And I saw the picture pretty early, most famous picture
since what I don't know, Watergate or something. I don't
know was there even pictures in Watergate? Anyway? Steven A Smith,
the highest paid sports media member that I'm aware of,
certainly in the opinion space, is caught online with a

(01:00:11):
picture of him playing Solitaire in the middle of Game
four of the NBA Final. Shout out to Kimberly, who
tweeted out the original picture. She said, how can you
have all these opinions while you're playing Solitaire instead of
watching the game. The original tweet got over seven thousand views.

(01:00:32):
Steven A eventually found the tweet said quote, Yep, that's me.
Who would have thought I can multitask, especially during timeouts.
Hope y'all are enjoying the NBA Finals. This is going game.
This is going seven games Now Peeps. Then from there
also followed up with a screenshot of his Solitaire game.

(01:00:54):
I would add multiple people have the full video in
which it is very clearly not during a timeout. He
is very much not multitasking and is very much just
playing Solitaire during a game in which he is being
paid millions of dollars to analyze it. J Mart, how
fired up are you on this?

Speaker 3 (01:01:14):
Not really, if only because I don't know how long
he was looking down, Like I find it funny first,
Like I think I think it could have been a
lot better response from Steven A if he's just like, yeah, man,
like in game, plants down. Yeah, Like this kind of

(01:01:34):
stuff happens, right, and then you could joke about it
and just kind of be sort of self deferential instead
of like trying to defend your honor in this case,
like just just own up to what was going on here.
But the whole I can multitask, especially during timeouts. Well,
if it wasn't during a timeout, then you know somebody
was gonna find that and they were going to be
able to prove it out. Like I remember, I've been

(01:01:55):
in press boxes before covering some college stuff or something
like that. Between innings. I don't know if it was solitarire.
I'm sure I played something. It happens, and we all
have games. You'll have a game or two on your
phone or something like that. A lot of people do.
This is not like some outrageous thing that could have happened,
but like him like coming out here because if my
scar's reputation, I think makes.

Speaker 6 (01:02:17):
It reveals it for what it is. It's just like, yeah, dude,
you screwed up and you got caught. You got to know, man,
somebody is gonna see it if you're doing it, so
make sure you understand what it is that you're doing
in the moment. But like, I do not care that
much about it because I've listened to Steven A.

Speaker 3 (01:02:37):
Smith for so long at this point, even though pretty
much don't do it at all anymore that I pretty
much don't think he watches much sports like based on
most of his takes and the way he operates. I
remember talking to somebody. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna
actually name drop this person in this conversation, but I
had a conversation with somebody that you would know in

(01:03:00):
sports media. It's been around for a long time. Has
a lot of respect. Not somebody that works for Fox,
by the way, But we were talking about steven A
and he said, Man, I actually really like steven A
now that you know, now that he understands that this
whole thing is just he's just playing a character. It's
not about him knowing sports and I have to know
anything about college sports and have to watch college football

(01:03:21):
or know anything about the NFL, because he's not trying
to act like he's smart anymore. He's in on the joke.
Everybody's in on the joke. Now, He's just a character.
He's just a television personality. He was saying that an
he meant it, and I was thinking about it, and
I was just kind of like, how much of an
indictment is it? And then when you watch it under
that context, you're like, Yeah, dude's just playing a role.

(01:03:42):
Like it's not even that he's being given his opinions.
He's just whatever his opinion is on any given topic,
Like do I think he's watching tennis, Do I think
he's watching golf? Do I think he's watching half the
NBA games he claims to be watching. Do I think
he's really well versed on college football? And all these things. No,
I mean he knew about then for a very very
long time, but these days, I mean, his schedules pretty

(01:04:06):
packed up. So like, I actually thought that was a
pretty insightful comment from this person who basically was just like,
I don't think that he's paying much attention anymore. He's
just playing a character. He's just being Steven A. Smith.
He's an entertainer for a living. He's not an analyst.
So at that point, I don't care if he's playing solitaire,
because his analysis is something to text seriously anyway.

Speaker 2 (01:04:25):
So two things. One. First of all, we do have
an update from Dodger Stadium. It is interesting enough where
Dave Roberts has actually brought in a real pitcher for
those joining us. It was eleven nothing. They brought in
keyk Hernandez. He walks three batters, gives up a grand slam.
There was then runners on first and second, still two outs,
ground ball of the shortstop, throwing error, another run score,

(01:04:48):
So it's eleven five with two runners on. So I
just bring it up because Dave Roberts does go to
the bullpen. I didn't see who's coming in, but a
real pitcher is in fact comingy looks like Anthony Bonda
will be the guy who hopefully closes out this game.
As far as steven A, let's get back to steven A. Okay,
so listen. I don't want to be mister you know,

(01:05:10):
get super fired up and angry about everything. But what
I first of all, and I actually do agree with
the sentiment that you said of I think not long ago,
at some point steven A kind of figured out like, oh, like,
nobody's actually like paying attention to me because I have
the most accurate takes on anything. And by the way,

(01:05:31):
that's a lot of our job. Whether it's yeah, it's
to be interesting and it's on first take, it's on
any TV show, it's on whatever. I guess the only
thing that I would push back on is that he
is very specifically on NBA Finals coverage to be an analyst.

(01:05:54):
And I think that you know, we've spent a lot
of time talking about the poor broadcast. He asked in
crew minus Mike Breen, the poor studio crew, the poor
halftime crew, how excited we are for inside the NBA
And it's like you are on set with a former
championship winning GM Bob Myers and whatever you think about

(01:06:14):
Kendrick Perkins, he does have an NBA Championship ring, and
like you are on there to be an actual analyst,
and so, like I do think it's a little embarrassing
for ESPN. You've kind of given this guy a position
that he really, frankly has no business having, which is all,
by the way, very good at his job. Whatever, I

(01:06:35):
don't care, and I'm not a purse watcher. I don't
care how much money he makes. He's earned it whatever,
that part I don't care about. But like he is
in the role of an analyst very clearly not paying attention.
And by the way, he doesn't have fifteen years in
the NBA like Kendrick Perkins to fall back down. He
doesn't have fifteen years in the NBA like rich Jefferson
to fall backup. So that would be my pushback. If

(01:06:56):
he was in the arena and his only job was
to be a first take host on Monday reacting to
Game four, that to me is different than a dude
who is a supposed analyst that is going to be
on at halftime and in postgame supposedly breaking down the game.

Speaker 3 (01:07:13):
Okay, don't disagree there. I think that yeah, like I
mean to him being on the booth. Yeah, he should
be paying very very close attention to what's going on.
And again, the person who caught him, I mean, did
they watch him for ten minutes? Do we know if
you was stare at the phone the whole time. I'm
not reaching to defend him. I'm just I'm not like

(01:07:34):
so blown away by this. I mean, Charles Barkley's watching
hockey while TNT is on the air, like I don't
even mean during the games, but he'll watch it during
the fourth quarter, but they'll be doing inside the NBA,
and he'll actually be looking they'll show the camera shot.
He won't be looking at the camera. He'll be looking
at the television next to it and commenting on the
hockey game that's happening. That's part of his shtick. And

(01:07:55):
so it's a little bit different than this analogy. I agree,
if you're on the boot, you should be paying tension.
I also am just kind of like man, like, no
one is held to account for their dumb takes anymore.
Like I don't know when, I don't know when they
ever were, but we certainly have reached a point where
you can say the most ignorant stuff to a large
audience on a day to day basis. You're never going

(01:08:18):
to be held to account for it if you're interesting,
like we talked about, if you're entertaining all that kind
of stuff, because it's more about your personality than it is,
you know, your credibility. And I think that's the part
of it, Like what is ESPN's actual credibility at this
point when it comes to the minute by minute analysis

(01:08:39):
that they provide. I think it diminishes by the day.
Even those that are good at it eventually kind of
fall prey to the ESPN way of doing things, for example,
and they kind of they all sort of end up
doing almost the same exact kind of thing. And Steven
has been there for a long time and he's high paid,
and he looked he's good at the entertainment side of it.

(01:09:02):
That's very very obvious, like his persona, his character, what
he's been able to craft and all that kind of stuff.
Like there's a reason why you know, he is paid
as much as he is because he attracts attention positive
and negative, and people do come out of their way
to see him. But it's like, do I care what
he has to say about individual things that are happening

(01:09:25):
in sports, not really, because I don't know that he's
actually putting that much thought into it. And so I
look at all this and everything you say is I
agree with. I just can't, like, I can't raise myself
to the level of caring because I guess my bar
for what media has become in this era is so

(01:09:46):
low that it's just like, I don't surprise me. I
don't even care.

Speaker 2 (01:09:52):
I'll put a button on it by saying this. I
will be genuinely fascinated. You know, every single I think
really too thing inside the NBA coming to an end
on TNT, coupled with what is just mediocre, studio, mediocre,
whatever it has, it does become like a daily talking

(01:10:12):
point now about inside the NBA coming to ESPN. And
this is something I know you and I have talked about,
which is just I'm just genuinely curious. Is he cut out?
Does he finagle his way in?

Speaker 3 (01:10:25):
Like?

Speaker 2 (01:10:25):
Is he on set with Chuck and Check?

Speaker 3 (01:10:28):
That's gonna be that that moment is gonna be. That's
gonna be the one where it crosses that rubicon. It
can't come back from they need to. I don't know
that they can Aaron, but they need to avoid doing
that at all costs because it's not going to get
the reaction that they want. It's just not it's it's

(01:10:49):
not worth it. They need to still look like a
separate entity that is one hundred independent. It still needs
to almost look like it's on TNT, and they still
need to be themselves. And the second that he shows
up there, the second there's a split screen with the
two of them, that show is dead.

Speaker 2 (01:11:09):
I hope that doesn't happen. I think every legitimate fan
of not only the NBA, but inside the NBA feels
the exact same way that you do. Jmar So, Fox
Sports Radio Air towards Jason Martin, broadcasting live from the
Fox Sports Radio Studios. I will come back. We've talked
a lot of NBA, but there is all sorts of
stuff that has happened throughout the day, and Steve de

(01:11:30):
Sagra get you caught up on everything if you missed.
That's next. Fox Sports Radio. Welcome back, everybody. Fox Sports
Radio Air towards Jason Martin, broadcasting live from the Fox
Sports Radio Studios. As we do every week around this time,
let's toss over the news desk to Seger give us
our extended update for tonight guys.

Speaker 5 (01:11:49):
The NBA Finals continue on Monday, Indiana and Oklahoma City
series died at two and then we're gonna have a
game six at Indiana on Thursday. If you saw the
finish last night, you know that the MVP SGA had
fifteen points score just in the last five minutes of
that game on the road. That's the most by a
player in the last five minutes of a Finals game

(01:12:12):
in the last fifty years. Know, the TV ratings have
not been good, but that's when you compare it to
other NBA Finals, so it's a fair comparison.

Speaker 2 (01:12:21):
The ratings are not good, period, but Adam Silver disagrees.

Speaker 5 (01:12:25):
But television ratings in general are not good. You'd need
to put this in context. The first three games of
this series, or you know, some of the lowest ratings
we've ever seen for the Finals. They're also the highest
ratings for any TV channel in the last month, those
first three games.

Speaker 2 (01:12:40):
So you're on Adam Silver's pran.

Speaker 5 (01:12:44):
I'm saying, no, NBA Finals should be doing better than this.
But when I hear things like and I'm quoting including
on this network nobody's watching. Really, nine million people watch
Game three of the NBA Finals. Tell me a TV
program that gets nine million people watching. There's a reason
why the NBA has a new TV contracts starting next year,

(01:13:04):
and it's because it gets better ratings than normal TV programs,
and in most cases three to five times more than
regular TV programs.

Speaker 2 (01:13:15):
So yeah, it was.

Speaker 5 (01:13:15):
Only nine nine point two million for Game three on Wednesday,
for example, very bad ratings for the Spring Football League,
which ended tonight. The UFL championship game was taking place
at the Dome in Saint Louis, DC over Michigan fifty
eight thirty four. The game MVP former Ole Miss quarterback

(01:13:36):
Jordan ta'amu four touchdown passes. He was twenty one of
twenty eight for three hundred and ninety yards tonight, but
almost every team, seven of the eight in the UFL
had their average attendance drop this year. According to Sports
Business Journal, Michigan's was up and Michigan made the final,
and the Michigan Panthers had the league MVP. Bryce Perkins,

(01:13:56):
former Rams backup QB. He had four touchdowns one interception
in the loss tonight, but TV viewership was most definitely down.
It was less than a million already last spring, and
now it's under six hundred and fifty thousand TV viewers
per game this spring. As for Major League Baseball, everything's final.
You might remember how dominant a closer Cleveland had last

(01:14:18):
year up until the Yankees playoff series. Emmanuel Classe is
not having that type of season this regular season. He
took the loss at Seattle tonight, giving up two runs
in the bottom of the ninth, four to three.

Speaker 3 (01:14:30):
Mariners.

Speaker 5 (01:14:31):
Jose Ramirez, a quiet All Star every year for the Guardians,
did have a solo homer. He's been on base thirty
nine straight games now. And what a comeback at Arizona,
beating San Diego eight to seven. The Padres now three
games back in the division. Giants are one back. We'll
get to that in a moment. But Arizona's won five
straight games. They scored five in the bottom of the

(01:14:53):
ninth to win eight to seven, Especially notable because they
scored the five off the Padre closer Robertsrez, who has
the most saves in the major leagues this year, twenty one,
and his ERA was one point seven to eight coming
into tonight. In fact, for Arizona. This is already the
third time this season they've come back from being down

(01:15:13):
at least four in the ninth to win a game
three times already in the first half of this campaign.
No other MLB team has ever had three such wins
before All Star Break, and All Star Break has existed
since the nineteen thirties. We had a Dodger win over
the Giants that washing in the ninth eleven to five.

Speaker 2 (01:15:33):
The final.

Speaker 5 (01:15:34):
Clayton Kershaw, the winner, not only seven scoreless innings and
only eighty one pitches thrown, he threw a three hitter
for those seven innings. Clayton Kershaw is now just twelve
strikeouts away from three thousand for his career. Shoe Otani
had a leadoff homer, later a solo homer. He has
twenty five round trippers this year and two hundred and

(01:15:55):
fifty career home runs in the major leagues. Texas won
in a eleven innings over the White Sox, five to four.
That is the first extra inning game of the year
for Texas, ending their franchise record seventy games to start
a season without a single one going to extra frames
until today. The amazing stat is from longtime baseball writer

(01:16:16):
Bob Nightingale that the Rangers this win today was the
first time they've overcome any deficit of more than one
to post a victory, So congratulations. Texas has won six
of seven. And then there's the game that was in Atlanta,
Braves four to one over Colorado. Spencer Strider the winner,
thirteen strikeouts in six scoreless innings. And by the way,

(01:16:39):
lefty Chris Slee will pitch not tomorrow but instead against
the Mets this next week. Ronald Dcunya had a two
run homer three runs scored. He's batting three to eighty
seven coming back from injury. But the Rockies are thirteen
and fifty seven, the worst overall record after seventy games
since nineteen oh one. Their offense today went four for

(01:16:59):
three thirty two with nineteen strikeouts, four hits, nineteen strikeouts
at Atlanta, so the road record of the Rockies, and
again it has been a rocky road. Six and thirty
for Colorado. Boston over the Yankees in the Fox TV
game for most of the country four to three, and
it was four to nothing after six innings. Carlos Rodan

(01:17:20):
took the loss. D H Gen Carlos Stanton of New
York could be activated next week. Houston won its fourth
straight game, got a run bottom of the ninth to
beat Minnesota three to two. The wind to closer Josh
Hater and pretty quietly nationally. There's been a superb starting
pitcher in Houston this year. Hunter Brown did not get
a decision, but his era is one point eight eight.

(01:17:42):
He's eight and three twelve strikeouts for Brown in his
seven innings against the Twins. Tampa Bay beat the Mets
in New York again, eight to four. The Mets home
record was twenty seven and seven until losses against the
Rays Friday and Saturday. At Philadelphia, the Phil's got a
solo homer bottom of the eight fur Max Kepler and
won three to two over Toronto. The Philly scored two

(01:18:03):
times in the fourth, went on a basis loaded walk
and a bases loaded hit batter, and wound up winning
three to two. Miami sent Washington to a seventh straight loss,
four to three. In the final, the Nationals got two
runs in the bottom of the ninth on a wild
pitch and on an air and had bases loaded and
left them loaded and lost yet again, and the Reds

(01:18:24):
hit four home runs. They won at Detroit eleven to
one Detroit. He is having a great year, forty six
and twenty six the record, but Jack Flaherty took the loss.
He allowed three homers today, including a grand slam, and
the Tigers offense went just four four thirty. And as
you mentioned, Caitlin Clark had thirty two points in the
Indiana WNBA win over New York today which was nine

(01:18:47):
to zero.

Speaker 2 (01:18:47):
Thank you very much, Steve Saga. Saga with us for
another hour. We're taking it up till two am Eastern.
Should mention be sure to check out the Fox Sports
Radio YouTube channel a ton of great videos from all
of our Fox Sports Radio shows. To search Fox Sports
Radio on YouTube and you'll see a bunch of video
highlights from our shows. Be sure to subscribe so you
also have always have access to all of Fox Sports
Radio's great video content. Our three coming up, and boy,

(01:19:11):
oh boy, oh boy, do we have a lot to discuss.
We will reset game four, we will talk game five.
Adam Silver defending the ratings. We got another hour left
plenty to get to. This is Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (01:19:24):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (01:19:27):
Welcome man, everybody our three tours Martin Fox Sports Radio.
We are broadcasting live from the Fox Sports Radio studios,
taking up till two am Eastern time. Yes, we are
live here at one oh one Eastern. We're taking the
up till two am Eastern. Bernie Frado of The Bernie
Fratto Show follows us. You know, Bernie's got all sorts

(01:19:51):
of good stuff coming on a busy couple days. NBA, WNBA,
NBA Draft come up, NFL. By the way, we didn't
miss anything NFL related today because I know Aaron Rodgers
wearing a wedding ring, but I didn't know if that
was a plus plus material that America expects from us.

Speaker 3 (01:20:13):
Otherwise, I hope not, I really hope not.

Speaker 2 (01:20:17):
Well, let me ask you have we Is there any
big I'll just give you the floor because we're gonna
get back to the NBA in a second. We'll talk
a little bit about Adam Silver talking ratings, will preview
game five. Is there anything NFL related that we missed
or that you feel like we need to hit on.

Speaker 3 (01:20:34):
I mean, I don't know that there's a there's not
a plus stuff, no question. I mean the Aaron Rodgers things,
I mean he said it's good for his soul and
went away. And he comes back and he's married. He's
just he's Aaron Rodgers. Yep, like any anybody that thinks
that the Steelers are better right now than they were
three weeks ago. I got a bridge to sell you,

(01:20:55):
and I want some of what you are, what you have, Like,
I don't. I just don't see it, man, I do
not see it. Good for him though. I mean, I'm
glad he got married. I hope it's the right woman.
I hope that they have a wonderful life together and
that you know, this helps kind of ground him a
little bit and it gives him the thing that he's
been missing. But like it's just the most Aaron Rodgers

(01:21:16):
thing I've ever seen. Like it's just an he comes
back and I'm a new guy, and I did this
for my soul. And this time it didn't take a
darkness retreat and it didn't take glamping at Coachella or
whatever it is that it is he's doing. But is
that a plus material? No, I don't think so, not
for a show like this. And then you think about it,
I mean, the ab thing is just a sad, sad

(01:21:38):
story and there's not really anything to say other than
just it's just a bad It's just bad all the
way around, and then everything else is just Dak Prescott says,
legacy doesn't matter. I want a championship. And everybody's got
their take about this and Trey Henderson and it's weird,
Like you see all these guys that are sitting out

(01:21:58):
of camp right now, guys that are leaving camp, they're
trying to get new deals and all this. It's just
this stuff's going to be ironed out. But I do
think it's interesting that Aaron Rodgers took up so much
of the Steelers' attention and TJ. Watt is trying to
get a new contract and went home, like way to
keep your eyes on the ball, Like way to be

(01:22:19):
focused on the on the right thing. Like do I
think they're going to get that taken care of? Sure
of course they will. But it's just this is just
kind of silly season to me right now in the NFL,
Like everything that we're seeing right now is either a
sad story, a weird story, or something that's not going
to be a story by the time the season gets here.

Speaker 2 (01:22:37):
All right, let me ask you, then one follow up
to the follow up to the follow up Shador looking
like the best quarterback with no pads on and no
real defense. Does that off Matt? No, I'm serious. I mean,
does it matter to you or is it just because
I mean there are four pros in that in that
in that facility, and well, I mean there's five dudes.

(01:22:58):
Deshaun Watts is clearly not playing but shit or I
don't know. I mean he kind of looks like the
guy Colorado that completed seventy four percent of his passes.
But does that matter to you or not?

Speaker 3 (01:23:08):
Yes? It does, Okay, I mean it does as much
as something can. On June fifteenth, like the free fall
made no sense, like outside of some of the stories
that came out after the fact. Notice we talked about
that and you know, it is what it is at
this point. But if that dude's QB one in week one,

(01:23:29):
I'm not surprised. I mean, I think it's a big
enough story just because it's just it's going to prove.
The problem now is like Tyler Schuck, you better be
good like some of these other dudes, better be good.
And we said before the biggest loser of that draft
was Dylan Gabriel. Yeah, it all played out because I mean,
he's the he's the dude without a country at this point,
Like he could have gone almost anywhere else and been

(01:23:51):
in a better spot than having a dude drafted after him.
That pretty much up until whatever that dis course was
leading up to the draft, all of a sudden, Shador
just kept on falling and he became the narrative driver
about everything that was going on. But the minute they
drafted Shador, you knew Dylan's days were numbered when it

(01:24:13):
came to what he's going to be able to do there.
So yeah, I'm interested in it because it's just kind
of proving what I thought was true accurate that, yeah,
he's pretty good at football, and if he can keep
his head around him and make sure that the decisions
he's making, the people he's surrounding himself with and all
that are going to be positive for him, grow up,

(01:24:35):
maybe mature just a little bit and some of that stuff.
I mean, dude's got a pretty bright future. I'm not
surprised that it's turning out that he can play pretty well.
We'll see what happens when the season comes around. There's
gonna be some growing pains, but I certainly didn't think
he was going to be a bus to begin with.
So I'm fascinated and I'm kind of rooting for him,
quite frankly.

Speaker 2 (01:24:54):
Yeah, we'll keep you updated on all that. And I
actually kind of am rooting for him too. I thought,
I thought the narratives, you know, like they were what
they were, and you know, some of it I'm sure
is to blame for him. By the way, I'll also
say this really quickly. We'll get back to the NBA
in half a second. Deon Sanders is going to constantly

(01:25:16):
have a microphone in front of him. He is a
college football coach that has media availabilities multiple times a week,
and he clearly has friends in the media that he's
happy to hop on their podcast, slash radio show, slash
YouTube show, whatever at a moment's notice. He is going
to be asked about his son. He is going to
defend his son and support his son like every father would.

(01:25:39):
It's not a national talking point. Every single time he
says something, I'm sorry, like I don't even remember what
he said like two weeks ago, but it was like,
oh my god, did you hear what Dion said about Shador?
And it's like, yeah, yeah, a dad thought his son
got screwed and deserved better. That's called literally everything that
ever happens to its child and every father ever that's

(01:26:02):
not a story. Like I'm sorry, I don't know anyway,
really quickly.

Speaker 3 (01:26:07):
I mean, you're not wrong, everything's right. I mean, yeah,
he's going to continue to say stuff, and you're going
to have to continue to remember who he is. The fact,
everyone's always going to want him to talk, and then
they're going to pick apart what he says, and a
lot of it may turn out to be unfair, forced
to do, or in how it is covered after the fact,

(01:26:27):
but it's going to continue to happen. And dion Is
is never going to see a microphone. He's going to
shy away from. So I mean it's a it's a
marriage made in heaven when it comes to that side
of it. And you're right, like, hey, look it's Father's Day, right,
It's Father's Day at least Father's Day. Yeah, so you
know this is what fathers do. Like hopefully you you

(01:26:49):
were not defending your child when they are in the wrong.
Hopefully you're taking them aside and saying, hey, you know
what you got this one wrong, Bud, And you're not
defending them when they've done something awful. But you're always
going to try and stand there and take a bullet
if you can. Like, you're always going to stand there
and try to find something in it that you can

(01:27:11):
turn to a positive, that you can turn to a good.
That's what love is. That's what being a father is,
That's what being a mother is. Is what all of
these things are. Dion is just reacting the way a
father does. We've criticized others for doing that, but athletes
fathers are fathers just like everybody else. And who's the
most famous father right now that we can think of,

(01:27:34):
Probably Lebron James because of everything that happened with Bronny.
I mean, he's certainly on that list, that's the way.
And then before that, it was what LaVar Ball probably
like it would be some people like that. And what
was the one thing that I always one thing I
always said about LeVar It's the same thing I would
say about Lebron in general, and certainly would say about Dion.

(01:27:54):
I mean, I respect the fact that they are, you know,
trying to I think they might be misguided in some
ways and sometimes like we all are, but they are,
you know, trying to love their child. They're trying to
put them in the best position for their child to succeed.
And that what Olden Polony said to you a couple
of weeks ago as well, that he would do the
same thing for his son. Like who wouldn't write like

(01:28:17):
you would do that in this case. That's not defending
anyone or anything else, but like, this is not out
of school for Dion to be doing this. This is
exactly what you would expect anticipate Dion Sanders to do.
And to then look at them be like, how dare
he say this? That's just ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (01:28:35):
Yeah, now, I just I mean, and again the other
thing is too like listen, uh, you know with LeVar
he was seeking out microphones. There's just always going to
meet microphones in front of Dion Sanders. That that's the
fundamental difference about it. I'm not critical of LeVar either.
I actually, you know, at the time, I you know,

(01:28:56):
when I covered Lonzo in high school, I always like
the var person.

Speaker 3 (01:29:00):
I do think he lost the plot a little bit.
I think at some point it did become way too
much about him. But I think that I think he
was in it for the right reasons for a while.

Speaker 2 (01:29:11):
And oh, by the way, all three of you know,
two of his kids are worth hundreds of millions of dollars,
the third one. I'm not a music person, but apparently
he's doing pretty well in music. It's like LeVar did
pretty well, but LeVar, you know, was seeking out microphones.
It's like, I don't get the sense that Dion is
seeking out a platform to talk Shador. But every time

(01:29:32):
that he has interviewed, and again, when you've been around
the media for thirty years like he's been, you're going
to have friends, you're going to do radio interviews, you're
going to do podcasts, and that is going to be
a constant topic of conversation. And by the way, now
that we're on this subject, i'll just say this, like, yeah,
if he came out and was like, yeah, Kevin Stefanski
doesn't know what he's doing. Yeah, that's a talking point.

(01:29:52):
Oh you know, Dylan, Dylan Gabriel should have been the
end of it. That's a talking point. But whatever, I
can't even find what he said a few weeks ago,
but it was the most generic like, yeah, I was
disappointed in his fall. I didn't see it coming. It's like, well, yeah,
none of us did. That's not a topic, and I
just it is what it is. It's just I just,

(01:30:13):
you know, I think you talk about like losing the narrative,
like I think some of the Colorado stuff got a
little too crazy the last two years with Dion and
Shaudor there, and now it's like I already see it.
It's like, yeah, people are gonna ask him about his
son again. If he's not criticizing Sefanski, if he's not
criticizing the Browns organization, if he's not criticizing the other

(01:30:35):
guys in that quarterback room, I don't think it's a
story to say that a father supports his son, especially
again when he's gonna have a microphone. So all of
a sudden, we weren't talking NFL and we just did, yeah,
twelve minute shaud Or segment. So I'll say this, I
mean Shandor certainly elicits emotion and just about everybody and oh,
by the way, including Dion, Fox Sports Radio Era Tors

(01:30:57):
Jays Martin will come back when we do. We'll talk
a little bit about Game four of the NBA Finals,
and oh, by the way Adam Silver, Oh my goodness,
he's got some takes on the stagnant NBA Finals ratings.
We'll discuss that next to Fox Sports.

Speaker 4 (01:31:13):
Radio, Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup
in the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports
Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR
to listen live.

Speaker 2 (01:31:27):
Welcome back, everybody. Fox Sports Radio er toris Jason Martin
broadcasting live from the Fox Sports Radio studios. Just a minute,
we will get to some very interesting comments from Adam
Silver and his perspective on NBA ratings being down for

(01:31:47):
the playoffs. Before we get to it, though, really quickly,
Game four on Saturday on Friday night, we talked about
it to lead the show, and you know you can
go back dello. The podcast will preview Game five here
in just a moment. Any final thoughts j mart on
that game. I thought, you know, kind of, honestly an

(01:32:09):
hour one, a lot of the conversation to turn into
how we're even covering the Pacers. Yeah, yeah, I'll say
that is a team that could and frankly maybe should
be up three to one. You know, listen, I think
it's it's become a talking point especially in the context

(01:32:29):
of the ratings, which we'll get into in a second
of Like, we can discuss the ratings while also acknowledging
that these are two awesome basketball teams and that for
the most part, these games have been awesome, and just
be curious for any closing thoughts on Game four, which
of course finished up about twenty four hours ago.

Speaker 3 (01:32:47):
Now, yeah, look, I mean the Thunder escape. They it
really probably should have been three to one on SGA
just wouldn't let them lose down the stretch, and the
Pacers made enough unfore starrs to go along with the
whistle that were going against them as well late in
the game. But I mean Mather have missed several free throws.
They just they couldn't hit distance. They were really hot

(01:33:08):
for three quarters and then they couldn't hit any threes.
I mean, was that I sent you with like twenty
five seconds left, the Thunder had two threes in the game. Yep, Yeah,
they were like two for seventeen. It was awful. But
they still end up winning that game they probably shouldn't have,
And the Pacers, if they do lose the series, are
going to look back on letting that ten to eleven
point leads slip and say that's where we that's where

(01:33:30):
we lost the finals. Right now, it's even it's on serve.
They've just got to now break again. They're gonna have
to win on the road. They didn't have to do
that until Oklahoma City did what they did in Game four.
But winning that is huge because now all they have
to do is win in front of their home crowd.
And if they can do that two more times and
they're going to be champions. But yeah, it's been a

(01:33:53):
good series, and I think both teams are geling well.
They're kind of coming into their own. I think both
teams are starting to play better back basketball. There. I
think the aura surrounding the finals as you get a
little deeper into it now, I think they're whatever the
jitters are. They may have shifted a bit, they may
have diminished a bit. I think the basketball has become

(01:34:14):
a little bit more solid, and it's certainly become more
dramatic this series. It's got the potential to be really
really stellar if indeed it does go seven. And I mean,
I'm a Thunder fan, but I don't feel particularly comfortable
right now. I did feel like whoever won Game four
really had the inside track to win the whole thing,
but it's been so tight and the games have been

(01:34:34):
so hard to determine ahead of time. What is going
to happen? That this Indiana team has proven so many
things and so many narratives incorrect during this playoff run,
that there is no reason in the world why they
couldn't win this series. I still am going to pick
the Thunder to win, and I had originally picked them

(01:34:56):
in five, and you know it could still be true
in six, but it it does seem like it's destined
for seven.

Speaker 2 (01:35:01):
Honestly, I know I keep teasing that we'll get to
these Adamsilver comments, But let me ask you a question
I was thinking about today. Which team do you think
it's more important to close out and actually win the title?
Obviously neither team wants to lose an NBA Finals. That
goes without saying, but I think you can make the

(01:35:22):
argument for both teams. I mean, Okac is super young
and super talented, but as you always say, windows don't
really exist, right. You know, eventually, with the way the
salary caps set up, they're gonna have to make some
tough decisions, and they're just in the West, which is
basically a meat grinder to get through. You know, I
think the counter with the Pacers is, you know, really

(01:35:46):
good organization. But you know, is this something that's maintainable
year over year over year. Maybe it is, I don't know,
But which team do you think it's more important to
close this out and win a championship, knowing that getting
to the finals and winning these things is really hard.

Speaker 3 (01:36:00):
I feel like the nucleus of the Thunder, the youth
of those guys. Uh, the way their contracts are set
up and the way the future kind of stacks for
them is better. I think they're you know, they're gonna
be there. They have the better chance to be there longer.
I think the problem for the Pacers is things things
did fall for them, well, like what they did to
the Knicks. Notwithstanding, you know, Boston was supposed to be here.

(01:36:24):
They were pinned in. They weren't even penciled in. They
were pinned in by everybody, Tatum rips the acl Of course,
Philadelphia turns out not to be what they were supposed
to be. But there's a lot of stars in the East,
Giannis and the Bucks and all of that. Like, we'll
see what the future holds there. Maybe the East is
going to open up a little bit more. But it
feels like, and this is see, this is me going

(01:36:45):
in the same direction that we were chastising others in
the first hour. But it's like, it just seems like
the Pacers' chances of getting back it just it feels
like they're kind of like, how are they here? But
we know how great they are, So maybe that's not
even fair. Your point about the West is true. I mean,
the West is absolutely loaded, but the thunder aren't going anywhere,

(01:37:07):
and they already I mean, that's a sixty eight win
team that we're talking about right now, a sixty eight
and fourteen team in that very same West this year.
And some of those teams are getting better, but some
of them are getting older and maybe they're falling off
a little bit more. So I think it's the Pacers
because I think that it's harder to attract another free

(01:37:29):
agent to Indiana, and Oklahoma City really doesn't necessarily need
that other piece. Maybe Indiana doesn't either, It's tough. I
think both of them need it because neither one of
them can just guarantee that they're ever going to be
in this position again and neither one of those franchise
has ever tasted it.

Speaker 2 (01:37:47):
Okay, one more question, and this is kind of random,
but I was thinking about this too. So if the
Thunder don't end up winning it, you know, obviously, and
we talked a lot in hour one about the idea
of you know, people were calling this a quote unquote
generational mismatch, and it was, you know whatever. And I

(01:38:08):
think obviously part of it was Oklahoma City won sixty
eight games in the regular season. That is obviously insane.
The point we all know about the point differential records
all that. But I was thinking about this today. Does
having incredible regular seasons matter like it used to like
and I'll give you a random example, right, but like
it used to be in college sports, Like you know,

(01:38:29):
if you had a number one high school recruiting class,
it used to mean something. Now it's like, ah, you know,
some people don't even recruit high school. They go portal whatever,
blah blah blah. And so I bring it up because
I don't want to diminish what Oklahoma City did in
the regular season. I don't want to make this sound
like I'm saying that I don't think Indiana is a
deserving champion if they win. But I was just thinking

(01:38:51):
of like the barometer of winning sixty eight games in
the regular season. As crazy as it sounds, I just
don't feel like it really should be as much of
an X factor in how we judge team Like. Dominant
regular seasons to me, shouldn't matter as much as they
did twenty five years ago because we know that a

(01:39:12):
lot of these best teams, a lot of these good
teams don't really take the regular season very seriously. I
hope that point made sense. I hope it doesn't sound
like I'm diminishing what Oklahoma City did, but I'm curious
for your perspective.

Speaker 3 (01:39:23):
Look, I mean, that's gonna be the case until it's not. Right.
Cleveland just proved it only one seed with a great
record and it didn't matter. The example I always think
about is a Utah Jazz with that very same Donovan
Mitchell a couple of years ago, was the number one
seed in the West and got blown out fairly early

(01:39:44):
in that playoff run. The NBA is known for a
regular season that is not, you know, particularly important to
those that play in that league for a while, and
so you'll have a few teams that are real, try hard,
and all their guys play and they dominate. Then they
get to the play and they run into Golden State
when they really care, or Lebron and his squad when

(01:40:05):
they really care, or whatever it is, and then you
kind of separate the week from the chaff, and yeah,
the regular season then gets diminished. That's it. If the
thundergo win a championship now and you think about what
they've done on the road to get there, knocking out Minnesota,
knocking out Denver in a grueling series, dominating their first
round matchup, and all this, like, I think, then it matters.

(01:40:28):
But until that point, I think there are more data
points to back up your question being right than otherwise.
That doesn't. But what happened before doesn't necessarily foretel what's
gonna happen now. This Thunder team has passed every test,
but a lot of these teams that have had these
dominant regular seasons very much so throughout history, really it

(01:40:54):
doesn't end up meaning that much because for them, it's
like they won their championship because they cared all the
way through a reg season, while a lot of the
stars kind of coasted and waited for their moments sometime
around March, and then kind of you know, started getting
into real playing shape and were lathered up and ready
to go by the time the playoffs started, and then
all of a sudden you realize, oh, yeah, they were good,

(01:41:14):
like you'll see like a team like Portland. For years,
Dame would have them in the mix. They get to
the playoffs and he would keep them alive, but he
had played so many minutes during the regular season he
would almost always be banged up by the time that
they got to the playoffs because he had to be
that good the entire time for them to be in
the position that they were, where some of these other

(01:41:36):
teams didn't. So I think the question is one hundred
thousand percent fair. You don't want to overrate what's happening
in the regular season, but you don't want to completely
eliminate it when what you're seeing clearly is something that's
going to translate as opposed to something where you're taking
advantage of kind of weakness on the other side.

Speaker 2 (01:41:55):
Makes total sense, and I'm glad the question the way
that it was frame made sense is well, it was
just something I was thinking about here on a Saturday
while we were getting ready for Game five on Monday night,
so we'll come back. We'll preview Game five coming up.
But we do have to get to Adam Silver's comments
this week, and I know Jay Mart's fired up by them,
so we'll discuss that next before we do. Though. Final
time this evening, Steve de Seger, what is trending?

Speaker 5 (01:42:18):
Hello again? Everything final? UFC Atlanta has just finished up
with a victory for Kamari Uzman. Before that, Rose Namajunis
was a winner. We had no WNBA tonight or tomorrow.
The NBA Finals continue Monday with Indiana at Oklahoma City,
series tied at two, and then we'll have Game seven
Thursday at Indiana. The Rockets reportedly gave center Steven Adams

(01:42:40):
a three year extension. He would have become an unrestricted
free agent. Caitlin Clark had missed the last five games
with a string quad. She had twenty five points in
the first half today. Indiana won one oh two eighty
eight against New York, which had been nine to oh.
Clark finished with thirty two points from three point range.
She was seven of fourteen. Clark with NINAS seven turnovers.

(01:43:01):
Minnesota is ten to one after ripping La one oh
one seventy eight. Golden State won the night game at
home over Seattle seventy six to seventy. Game five of
the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers up three
to nothing early third five to the final at Edmonton.
Panthers lead the final three games to two, two goals
for Brad Maar Shandy as six goals in the five

(01:43:22):
games so far. In last year's final, Florida beat Edmonton
in seven. The year before, Florida lost the final in
five against Vegas. They could clinch game six in Florida
on Tuesday. A Game seven of the series would be
back at Edmonton on Friday. Still, no Canadian team has
won the Stanley Cup since nineteen ninety three. Sam Burns

(01:43:43):
leads the US Open by one stroke. Adam Scott is
tied for second place at Oakmont, Pennsylvania Victor Hoveland three.
Beck Rory McElroy shot a third round seventy four after
barely making the cut. He's now ten over par. At
College Baseball's World Series, UCLA won its opener six Murray
State Tonight. Number six seed LSU defeated number three Arkansas

(01:44:04):
four to one. The UFL at its championship game in
Saint Louis, DC beat Michigan fifty eight to thirty four.
Daniel Suarez won NASCAR's Infinity Race in Mexico, his home country.
Mexico's national soccer team was in La, opening the Gold
Cup with a win three to two against the Dominican Republic.
Attendance fifty four thousand. Again, the US hosts this tournament.

(01:44:26):
In fact, Fox and FS one will have the game's
first game for the Americans Sunday on Fox against Trinidad.
Miami hosted the opener of the FIFA Club World Cup
and played to a zero zero tie against an Egyptian
side l Ali. Attendance was sixty thousand there at Dodgers Stadium.
LA was up eleven tozing in the ninth against the

(01:44:46):
Giants eleven to five. The final, sho Heeotani with a
leadoff homer and later a solo shot, his twenty fifth
of the year. That's career home run number two fifty
for Otani in the Majors. Dodgers and Giants had been
tied for first in the NL West, but Clayton Kershaw
dominated San Francisco again seven scoreless innings just three hits allowed,

(01:45:06):
and he's now just twelve strikeouts away from three thousand
for his career. Arizona scored five runs in the bottom
of the ninth to beat the Padres eight to seven.
Beat closer Robert Suarez. Arizona's won five in a row.
Padres now three back in the division. Seattle, with two
in the bottom of the ninth, beat Cleveland and closer
Emmanuel clauss A four to three. Boston was up four

(01:45:28):
to nothing on the Yankees after six innings, four to three.
The final, Atlanta down Colorado four to one. The Rockies
have a record of thirteen and fifty seven, the worst
overall record after seventy games since nineteen oh one. Road
wins for the A's and Cardinals. Home wins for Houston
and Baltimore. Texas in eleven beat the White Sox five

(01:45:49):
to four. Tampa Bay beat the Mets again in New
York eight to four. The Mets home record had been
twenty seven and seven until this weekend series. Solo homer
in the eighth at Philadelphia, Phils beat Toronto three to two,
Cubs two to one. Over Pittsburgh. Cincinnati hit four home
runs and won eleven to one. At Detroit and Miami
sent Washington to a seven straight laws four to three.

Speaker 2 (01:46:10):
Back to you, Thank you very much, Steve de Seger,
have a great evening soon. You'll be back tomorrow with Okay,
Arnie didn't give you the night off? Okay, good to no,
good to nonob kick Fox Sports Radio Air Tours Jason
Martin broadcasting live from the Fox Sports Radio Studios, taking
you up till two am Eastern. All right, I've been
teasing these quotes for about a half an hour straight now,
Adam Silver, Yeah, defending his his products. So we had

(01:46:37):
the lowest rated Game one and the lowest rated Game two,
los rated Game one. How about this los rated Game
one of the Nielsen ratings era which dates back to
like the nineteen eighties, outside of the two bubble seasons,
which is twenty twenty, twenty twenty one. You know, stadiums
were at half capacity. Game two was then low more

(01:47:00):
rated than that. Well, Adam Silver had some defense things
to say. He said, quote, it's an interesting time in
our society. We have two markets. This part was kind
of boring, but as a media matter, people compares to
twenty years ago. But Games one and two so far
are the highest rated programs in May and June so
far on television. If something beats us, it's another sports program.

(01:47:24):
Twenty years ago, we often didn't win the night when
the finals were on, but the absolute rating is lower then.
And this was something we talked about last week, the
criticism of the presentation. You know, we used to have
these great decals, the Lari O'Brian Trophy. Adam Silver said, quote,
I've seen some chatter on social media about on court decals.
People don't realize they went away a decade ago because

(01:47:45):
there were claims that Kendrick Perkins knows this. They were
slippery better.

Speaker 3 (01:47:50):
That's what he said. By the way, you didn't just
say Kendrick Perkins knows this. That's what he said on
the broadcast. Kris Perkins was two seats away from him.

Speaker 2 (01:47:57):
Correct. Yeah, and he said we're back to adding them virtually,
so those are on. Uh what, I know you're fired
up about the decals. So, by the way, I'll say this,
Milika Andrews set up the question with you guys have
awesome decals. I don't think they're awesome, but basically she said,
you guys got details on the floor for the NBA

(01:48:18):
Cup why not the NBA Finals? And again he said, quote,
I've seen some chatter on social media. People don't realize
they went away a decade ago because they were slippery.
Over to you, Jason Adam Silver, are you buying the
decal theory?

Speaker 3 (01:48:33):
Listen? I am so frustrated by this. I like, do
not just lie to my face what you just said
about what Malika Andrews said to set this up. It's right,
there is tape. You can go to YouTube, you can
google it, you can find photos. Guess what is dead

(01:48:54):
center in the court during the IST this end season tournament.
Guess what is just right there huge on these courts?
The trophy, a logo of the trophy, A meaningless trash
bag tournament, absolute garbage refuse matters not. You can tell

(01:49:18):
me until you're blue in the face that this thing counts.
It does not. No one is going to remember who
the championship of the IST is. You are not the
ist of anything. It does not matter. So the logos
that are apparently like banana peels in Mario Kart in
the NBA Finals, are they better? Are they like magically

(01:49:42):
safer during this garbage tournament that you're hosting that has
nothing to do with crowning a champion of your sport.
This like manufactured thing that you've created to try and
drum up interest at the beginning of your season. You're
gonna put the logos on those floors, but then you're
gonna say on national television, I've hit those logos. Kendrick.

(01:50:03):
You know this. They went away ten years ago because
they were hurting people. So were they not hurting people?
Can we use the logos from the nd season tournament,
the ones that aren't hurting people, the ones that are
one hundred percent safe? Can we use those in the
NBA Finals so that your floor actually replicates something that
looks somewhat special the way that it used to. Like,

(01:50:23):
you can't tell me that it's dangerous when you did
it in this whatever the crap that exhibition tournament is
that you continue to run at the beginning of your season,
because if it's not safe for the NBA Finals, then
why on earth are you putting your meal tickets, your
your millionaires, your players, your your assets. Why are you

(01:50:44):
putting them at risk in something that doesn't matter? When
you're trying to argue that you wouldn't do it in
something that does like that fails every possible logical test
known to man. Like Adam Silver has said a lot
of stuff that you can criticize him for, but this
is just a blatant lie like this, This makes absolutely

(01:51:06):
no sense whatsoever. And the fact that Malika Andrews set
it up the way that she did, and then he
basically was just like, these are not the droid you
are looking for. That was like his response. And it's
just like, dude, like you're gonna have You're gonna have
to do better than that. Like you're going to have
to do better than that because we have eyes, and

(01:51:28):
we have cameras, and we have YouTube, and we have
Google and we have images, and we have videos and
tape and everything else under the sun that shows that
you were using logos in this n season tournament. But
all of a sudden, now everybody's slipping and falling. Like No,
Adam Silver absolutely not like say anything else other than

(01:51:49):
what I consider to be one of the dumbest responses
you possibly could have made, because it's just like it
takes all of one second for anyone with a brain
cell to say, wait a second, didn't she just say
that they were using these tournament logos back in like October,
and he said that they've been gone for ten years

(01:52:09):
in the NBA finals, So what was the rule that
brought them back in October? But they're still completely defective
and we cannot use them in June, Like it just
makes no sense.

Speaker 2 (01:52:21):
Really well stated. I will just add on the idea
that we shouldn't criticize the ratings because the NBA is
the highest rated thing on TV right now in May
and June, yes.

Speaker 3 (01:52:35):
Real hot month for TV. By the way, they're adam,
like you're calling that out, Like that's that's when that's
when the networks really do premiere their best stuff. It's not.
I mean TV has changed anyway, but like, make that
argument about September and October, don't make it in May.
The one thing to anybody that knows anything about TV
knows is that the shows that the networks expect to

(01:52:56):
fail premiere in February and March, and then the ones
that they know are going to fail are the summer
months shows. So let's make that argument when TV is
actually being watched and people are not outside touching grass.

Speaker 2 (01:53:09):
And I'll say, very quickly, is that also part of it?
Is that literally, live sports events are the only thing
that people tune into. And if you want to argue that,
oh well, I mean it's we're still higher rted than
anything else on TV. Okay, cool. Women's NBA title game
yukon South Carolina peaked at nine point nine million viewers.
That's more than Game one or Game two of the
NBA Finals. The College Basketball Semifinals fifteen point five million viewers,

(01:53:35):
basically twice what Adam Silver in the NBA got in
Game one, Game two of the NBA Finals. Oh, by
the way, the title game between Florida and Houston eighteen
point one million viewers. So yeah, congrats on being the
highest rated thing in May when nobody's watching TV. It's
because you're live sports and you are still falling well

(01:53:57):
behind most other live sports. Fox Radio Aertors will come back,
Aertors and Jason Martin, I should say, come back, wrap
the show as critical as we bet of Adam Silver.
We have enjoyed the first four games of these finals,
and we will preview game five. That's next. Fox Sports Radio,
Welcome back everybody. Fox Sports Radio. Aer Tors Jason Martin
broadcasting live for the Fox Sports Radio Studios eleven minutes

(01:54:20):
from now. Bernie Fretto will follow us. Stay tuned for
Bernie at two a m. Eastern. By the way, a
couple things one, make sure to download the podcast as
soon as we get off air. The podcast will be
going up. Just search Fox Sports Radio wherever you get
your podcasts and leave a five star rating and review
to help us out Again. The show will be on

(01:54:41):
shortly after we get off air. Lastly, Happy Father's Day
on the East Coast in the Midwest time zone and
or Central time zone. There's no Midwest time zone and
a Happy Father's Day to you. Jayson Martin. Hope you
guys have something fun planned for tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (01:54:58):
They've got it plan. We'll see. My wife can tell
me that my gift was in stages and so it's
not all going to be ready on Sunday, but like
part of it has arrived. I have no idea what
all that means, but that's exciting. It's kind of a
US Open final round, which usually happens on Father's Day.
I'm certainly excited about that. See who comes out of

(01:55:19):
Oakmont with the victory first Father's Day without Dad. So
that's gonna be Its just gonna be an interesting day.
But you know, two lovely daughters and can't really complain
about where I find myself in life right now. So
I'm I feel like Happy Father's Day is just a

(01:55:40):
way to be around them and kind of feel blessed
by them. So I feel like that's I'm looking forward
to that once we wake up in the morning.

Speaker 2 (01:55:48):
Awesome. Well, Happy Father's Day to you. Happy Father's Day
of my dad. He actually had a little bit of
a health scare the last couple of weeks. He's doing
good now. He definitely is not listening. He's not a
sports fan and a ready to tell me that. Yeah,
I love what you do, but you know it doesn't
really listen. So anyway, Happy Father's Day to him, love him,
and you know, Happy Father's Day to you as well.
Let's wrap the show. You mentioned us open onside it.

(01:56:12):
By the way, feels like the leaderboard is lacking a
little bit. I mean, do you want to give people
that haven't been maybe necessarily paying as much attention since
it is one of the four majors, we haven't discussed
it at all. Today. You sent us a clip of
Rory McElroy, who's going back and forth the media. That
feels like the most interesting narrative out of that out
of that tournament. But tell us for people who haven't

(01:56:34):
been paying attention to what they need to know going
into the final round of the US Open on some
not a.

Speaker 3 (01:56:37):
Lot, I mean, the star of most of a lot
of US Opens turns out to be the course. And
Oakman is one of the all time toughest. We know
this historically, and so this is kind of this is
a tournament where this kind of thing happens more than
any other, because even the best get completely flummoxed. You
see the plus tens for the Bryson Deshambeaus, and Gottie

(01:57:00):
Scheffler is struggling, and Rory McElroy is struggling, and all
these guys that you have all of this hardware, they
look like us when they play these courses. And so
it can be anybody that just for whatever reason gets
hot that weekend and can win. I mean, that's always
the story of golf, but it tends to be more
the story at the US Open. So keep your eye
on Adam Scott. You know he's been nibbling around the

(01:57:23):
top for several tournaments over the last couple of years.
So you look at him right now, right there, pretty close,
he could potentially be your winner tomorrow. But it's also
possible somebody goes out there and has like a three
four under round, nobody else above him, plays well, and
he finds his way there. So that's always the fun

(01:57:43):
thing about it is somebody goes out there and shoots
like a sixty eight that can actually put them in
position to win the entire tournament. So that's one of
the reasons why it's one of my favorite sporting events
without question every year is because the course just new
so much. And it's one of the reasons why you
can point to Tiger's dominance is because when he won

(01:58:07):
at Pebble Beach and when he won at Bethpage Black,
and when he won you know, US Opens, he did
it in such a dominating fashion that it's just it's
it shouldn't be done that way at the US Open.
US Open is always a tournament should be like minus
two and minus one, like Payne Stewart won at I
think at plus one at Pinehurst, for example, So it

(01:58:27):
should be fun. It always is. Sunday is gonna be uh,
it's gonna be close. I don't know that. I don't
know that you can pick a winner right now.

Speaker 2 (01:58:34):
Really quickly. Game five, NBA Finals, two games apiece. I'll
say this because I don't know. I don't think the
series will be over by the time next next Saturday.
I think Indian's winning the series. I'll just say it
right now. OKC is favored to win Game five. They're
actually a nine and a half point favorite. What do

(01:58:56):
you expect from Game five?

Speaker 3 (01:58:58):
I think I think Indiana is going to feel the
effects of blowing Game four. I think they're gonna feel
like they should have won it, and I think that's
why Olcahoma City will win that game and win the series.

Speaker 2 (01:59:08):
All Right, we gotta get out of here. I want
to thank the crew of Mary Mack, producer brief, Steve
the Sager from a partner, Jason Martin, I'm mere, Torres.
Make sure to download the podcast coming on next Bernie
Fredo of The Bertie Fredder Show. This is Fox Sports
thirty

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