Steve Hartman & Anita Marks Talk NBA Free Agency Madness, NFL Trades & More!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Please, you're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
All living the dream once again here on a fully
loaded Sports Saturday. This is Fox Sports Saturday and we're
broadcasting live from the Fox Sports Radio studios. And look
who's back. Anita's back? Hi, Anita, how are you today?

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Happy birthday? My are belated? Yes, who's born on fourth
of July? Only you, dude? Well, you know, here's the
thing about being born on the fourth of July. A
it's a very easy day for other people to remember.
When you think about most holidays. How many holidays is
actually born are no more for the date than the
actual name of the holiday. I mean, it's Independence Day,

(00:40):
but no where recalls that. They always call it the
fourth of July, So it's an easy day to remember.
By the way, my former boss Al Davis fourth of July,
George Steinbrenner fourth of July chats.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
There are some big shoes to fill. I tell you,
we got a ton to do in a very short
amount of time, Anita. By the way, Adam Kaplan, our
NFL insider, it's gonna be joining us here in about
eighteen minutes.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Next hour. We'll check in with our NBA insider, Mark Medina.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
But before we do that, I want to find out
about your Fourth of July because I understand Anita, that
you you are quite the grill master.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
I have become that. So I moved into a new
apartment here in Hoboken, New Jersey, and I have this
wonderful backyard, which is like unheard of in this area
of town, right, And so I have a deck in
a huge backyard. I ordered this fantastic like swinky adult
pool and arrived from China. I was worried about the tariffs.
It arrived. It's great. My summer's rolling. I don't cook.

(01:42):
I'm not a cook. I'm not a chef. I don't cook.
I'm like, you know what, I gotta buy a grill.
I've got a deck, I've got a pool, I've got
a backyard. It's what you do, right, Steve.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
Absolutely, it's what you do.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
So I went out I bought this, you know, Like,
I texted a bunch of my dude friends like, hey,
what kind of grill you know? Guys like you know
like every like you know, Oh, you got to get
the weber. You got to get the weber with the
two things on the side that keep your stuff hot.
I'm like, all right, all right, so I I buy
this grill. I can't stop grilling.

Speaker 4 (02:15):
I am.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
I have become a girl master, even to the point
where now I subscribe to a meat delivering company.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Okay, so you posted this on Instagram, right, and you
sent me this, and I was like, as you're opening
this box and there's enough meat there to last several lifetimes.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
It seemed like to me, I mean, so do you
cook it all at once? I mean, did you use.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
Because Fourth of July holiday is and by the way,
because it's on a Friday, this year really becomes a
Fourth of July weekend, right, And but I mean this
is this is the consummate day for barbecue is the
fourth of July. So did you cook it all? Did
you select a few things? Did you share it with
friends over? How did this all work?

Speaker 5 (02:58):
Yest year?

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Exactly?

Speaker 3 (02:59):
I had about about ten to fifteen people come over
a lot of apparol sprits, and so I start off
with the sausage with a little siracha dipping sauce. Then
I moved to the skirt steak with a little chimmy
tura dipping sauce, and then and then it's all about
It's all about the chicken. Either it's it's the barbecue
chicken or the bitchin good It's like a what do

(03:26):
you call it? The chicken the buffalo chicken sauce, so
I marinated in it's a whole thing.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
It's like, like you into this.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
I've got it down. I've got it down. My Fourth
of July was fantastic, Probably not is as great as
your birthday. But I will say this, because you mentioned
the fourth of July falling on Friday. Do you realize
now for the next four years, we are now set
with fourth because next year Fourth of July will be
on Saturday, so we'll still have that Friday off as
a holiday, right, same thing for Sunday, and the following

(03:58):
year will be Monday. So let's you know, let's put
a big green bow on this conversation and let's be
excited that like, Fourth of July is not going to
fall on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday from the next
three to four years. How great is that?

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Absolutely great for all of us and for all of
our listeners out there. I hope you're Fourth of July
was great. Hope you're going to continue it. The entire
weekend and hang out with us today. Now I want
to get to something early on with you, Anita, because
you sent me.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Something about the Big Beautiful Bill.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
So I saw something posted about NFL owners and the
Big Beautiful Bill about some of the tax write offs
that a very bitter Donald Trump. He was bitter because
he tried to buy the Buffalo Bills years ago and
was denied, just didn't quite have enough capital to buy

(04:49):
the bills.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
And he basically had told people.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
That if I if I ever become a president, I'm
going to get these guys, I'm coming after that because
they didn't want me in the club, so to speak.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
And really that's a big part of it.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
And so it was part of this big Beautiful bill,
and then it got eliminated at the last second some
kind of tax right off where it had been less
of a tax right off, you know, not a more,
but a less of a tax right off for these
NFL owners. But when we talk about these tax right offs,
this can have a major impact on the sports gambling industry.

(05:24):
I'm talking about the legal sports gambling that goes on
around the country. Now, obviously this is your forte this
is one of the great times when I have you
on that. You know, we want to get into a
lot of the dynamics of wagering and everything else. Got
some WNBA stuff We're going to get to a little
bit later on. But explain for us and a large

(05:44):
share of our audience right now that is very much
in favor of sports gambling legally, how the rule whatever
was put in the Big Beautiful Bill could have an
impact on legal sports gambling.

Speaker 3 (05:58):
Yeah, first things first, regardless of what your political allegiances.
Put that aside, Like, I don't understand why this bill
is being called beautiful because it's it's far from it,
especially for gamblers. Okay, so pretty much, and I'm gonna
try this to put this in the simplest terms as possible.
So pretty much at the end of the day, what

(06:18):
this bill is doing is that it is eliminating the
winning betters, so books for the longest time, you know,
I and for folks who are just listening, like this
is my forte. This is what I do for a living.
I'm a betting analyst, so I typically try to tell
people what to gamble on and more time than not,

(06:39):
try to help them win money. And if you're winning
anywhere between fifty four to fifty six percent.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
You're good.

Speaker 3 (06:45):
What's going to happen with this big I'm gonna call
it the horrible bill, is that you are going to
have to pay money taxes on your losses. Usually you
pay taxes, Steve on your winning.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
That would make sense. Yeah, you win something, you got
to give a little back. So you're now saying that
if you lose, you're going to have to pay taxes
on your losses.

Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yes, pretty much so so, but where this all comes
from is that books have been trying to eliminate the
winning betters, like the real savvy, like the guys from
like n It and you know those that like try
to find the little nuances of of bookmakers making mistakes. So,
you know, they tried to limit their amount of money

(07:33):
that they can wager, they tried to ban them, they
put a twenty five cent tax on them per bet.
They've been trying to lose for a long time. Now
this big beautiful bill comes in and the margins are unwinnable.
So pretty much what happens is you get a penalty,
a ten percent right off on on on losses and

(07:53):
so so so okay, so just to put it in
layman's terms. You know before, if you want to hundred
thousand dollars a year and lost one hundred thousand dollars
a year, you wouldn't have to pay taxes right right now,
You're going to have to play pay a ten tax
on your on your losses.

Speaker 5 (08:15):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
So in other words, what you're saying, I'm gonna really
break this down at a what I call from me an.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
Idiot level, that.

Speaker 2 (08:25):
You are basically being penalized to win.

Speaker 3 (08:29):
Just no, you're being penalized just to camble. All right,
So you're actually you have to pay, you have to
pay the government just to be able to gamble.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
Okay, because the majority listen.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
At the end of the day.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
Okay, but where is this money going? See, this is
what I don't understand.

Speaker 6 (08:45):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (08:45):
I don't know where that money sets. Well, we don't
know what any of our tax money is going.

Speaker 5 (08:49):
We never have.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
That's the problem.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
But when we when we talk about legalized sports gambling,
you know when it was not every state is embraced it.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
I know California hasn't yet.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
But so you're saying, and the idea again of legalizing
sports gambling or sports betting is to generate a lot
of revenue for these individual states. That's why so many
states are saying, absolutely, let's do this. But now you're
saying that this ruling or this input into this bill

(09:21):
could actually discourage people from engagement in sports betting.

Speaker 3 (09:25):
Absolutely, so, again, just putting in simple terms, if you
win one hundred thousand dollars and you lose one hundred
thousand dollars, you're winnings right like, so you will have
to pay. You could only write off ninety percent of
your losses, not one hundred percent of your losses. So
what it's doing is it's really forcing you to have

(09:50):
I mean, yeah, you have to have a you know,
you have to win a lot of money in order
to just break even.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
Well, my biggest concern, Anita, is is this going to
cut into your barbecuing because if you don't have Is.

Speaker 3 (10:03):
That how we're is that how we're bringing this.

Speaker 2 (10:04):
Full well, I mean, I mean I'm trying to figure
this out because I'm worried about you, Anita. I mean
a lot of people are gonna have to figure this
out for themselves, but for you and have spent so
much time and continue to spend so much time breaking
it all down.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
Uh And and your reward is.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
A beautiful apartment with a beautiful backyard now that you're
able to barbecue and saky pool waky pool and everything,
and all of a sudden that if you lose, I
you know, I hope you don't lose much, but if
you do, all of a sudden, you got to pay
on that.

Speaker 3 (10:32):
Here's what it comes down to, Steve, I'm gonna I'm
gonna need more shows with you.

Speaker 2 (10:38):
Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna have an open, open ticket
for that.

Speaker 3 (10:41):
I promise you need fox to uh to to book
me for more shows with you in order to facilitate
my gambling habit. It's it's it's really seriously, it's I
mean it's you. You literally are paying the government just
for the mere ability to gamble. And and the majority
of people are not going to be able to break even,

(11:02):
let alone win money, and especially the really the heavy rollers,
the big time. This is very damaging. It's extremely damaging,
and it's going to change the landscape of gambling.

Speaker 6 (11:14):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
All right, so that's big news.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
If you weren't aware, and Anita's filling the in on
something you did not know about.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
Don't blame her, don't blame the messenger.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
But I thought it was important because we do have
a lot of gamblers out there listening and just wanted
to keep you updated. All right, speaking of gambling, the
National Football League view you wager on the NFL. We
all love the NFL, and we're going to break down
the latest news coming out of the Shield. Adam Kaplan,
our NFL insider, will join us. This is Fox Sports Saturday.

Speaker 7 (11:46):
Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller.
Would mean a lot to have you join us on
our weekly auditory journey.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
You're asking, what in God's name is the Fifth Hour.

Speaker 7 (11:55):
I'll tell you it's a spin off of it Ben
Mather Show, a cold hit overnights on FSR.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
Why should you listen?

Speaker 7 (12:01):
Picture if you will a world where we chat with
captains of industry in media, sports, and more every week
explore some amazing facts about human nature and more.

Speaker 6 (12:10):
Listen to The Fifth.

Speaker 7 (12:11):
Hour with Ben Malo on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast,
or wherever you get your podcast.

Speaker 8 (12:15):
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 (12:27):
Steve Harvin and Anita Marx Here Fox Sports Saturday. We're
coming live from the Fox Sports Radio studios. Don't forget
to check out Fox Sports Radio's YouTube channel. Ton of
great videos from many of our Fox Sports Radio shows.

Speaker 1 (12:41):
Just search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
You're gonna see a whole bunch of video highlights from
our shows. So be sure to subscribe so you always
have instant access to our Fox Sports Radio videos on YouTube.
All right, let's talk a little NFL right now. And
joining us, of course, is the man that is simply
the best, the best, a legend in our minds and
those of many others. The great Adam Kaplan is joining

(13:06):
us right now. First off, Adam, how was your fourth
of July?

Speaker 9 (13:10):
I was good, Yeah, it's good. Lots of family stuff.
Couldn't get down the shore. But I would have loved
to get to the Jersey Shore, but.

Speaker 6 (13:17):
Couldn't do it this time around.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
But what about you, Well, it was my birthday. It
was a birthday I shared with my old boss, Al Davis.
I think it's one of the reason we had a
connection and we had the same birthday on the fourth
of July.

Speaker 6 (13:28):
But you know that, you.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
Know, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (13:31):
I mean, I think years later, I think he always
was very nice to me after I left the organization,
but when maybe I should have mentioned him when I
was working for him. All right, I want to talk
about the Steelers, the whole opposite of the Raiders, the
franchise of the Raiders hated the most. And Omar Khan
gets an extension on his deal now and again there's

(13:54):
a little bit of a you know, asterisk here because
the guy's been in the organization for well over twenty
years and they tend to sort of keep it in house.
But is this a reward for landing Aaron Rodgers or
making the deals for Metcalf and Ramsey. Exactly why is
he being rewarded? Because you don't give a GM an

(14:15):
extension unless you believe you're heading in the right direction.

Speaker 9 (14:20):
Yeah, so he got a three year extension and they
were not going to let him, you know, finish the
season without getting a new deal. This is this is
this kind of the.

Speaker 6 (14:27):
Way it works.

Speaker 9 (14:27):
And you're right, Omar had done all their contracts. He's
a contract negotiator, only he didn't really have a personnel background, Steve,
which is really interesting, but talking to people know him,
he went out of his way to try to learn
about tape and learning about football and Andy while the
assist general manager. He went to school with it Tulane,
so he learned football, you know, over the last fifteen
twenty years, and I give him credit. So, Steve, one

(14:50):
of the things that just really is interesting is covering.

Speaker 6 (14:53):
Them in the league. For as long as I have
the Steelers.

Speaker 9 (14:56):
Have been one of those old school teams that doesn't
really get involved with trades. Effect if they do anything,
they trade play that don't really acquire them. But it
really started. You mentioned DK Metcalf that was so Unsteeler like.
So Metcalf will make thirty five million this season. Okay,
thirty five million dollars is what his cash total is
going to be the season.

Speaker 6 (15:12):
That's a lot.

Speaker 9 (15:13):
And you know, they made a decision after last season
that George Pickens would not be coming back under any circumstance,
They're going to move him. They felt that because they
were not going to extend his contract, it felt like
it just would not be a situation where they can
get through without it and being disturbance. So they made
the decision to make that trade with Dallas, and they
brought in Metcalf who's going to replace him. And you

(15:34):
know about Rogers. Obviously Metcalf and Rodgers worked out together.
So they got that taken care of it.

Speaker 6 (15:38):
And I know people are saying if oh, they're going
for it.

Speaker 9 (15:40):
Yeah, I don't disagree with that, but this is it's
just it's spending the cash that they're spending. They just
acquired Jalen Ramsey will make just around twenty million this season,
right John O.

Speaker 5 (15:52):
Smith.

Speaker 9 (15:53):
Not only do they acquire him, and I know Steeler
fans like, wait a minute, we were paying We're paying
Pat Fry with twelve and a half million, and now
we're going to pay Jonasmith twelve million, twenty four and
a half million at tight end, Like this is not Steve,
this is not like the Steelers.

Speaker 1 (16:08):
So obviously there but the rewarding him. So maybe this
is the direction they want to go.

Speaker 6 (16:14):
Well, no, this is a new thing.

Speaker 2 (16:15):
Now.

Speaker 6 (16:15):
Now I'm going to give you a nugget here. So
you just mentioned the direction.

Speaker 9 (16:19):
There's been a talk inside their building for last year
they need to be more aggressive. Any While, the assistant
general Matcher came from Philly. He worked closely with Howie
Roseman for a number of years. No one more aggressive
at general manager than Howie Roseman. He's fearless, he's not
worried about being wrong. He's just going to go for it.
And as you know, he's won two Super Bowls in

(16:41):
eight years as a general manager. And n Yanie's a
little bit more reserved, you know, knowing him another way
he deals with things. But I know there's been a
movement inside their building to be more aggressive and that
that's honestly, that's the thing here.

Speaker 6 (16:52):
And he's I omore. I know he'd work with you're.

Speaker 9 (16:57):
The previous regime, the previous front office. But this is
a this is this is different here at Steve, which
is a good point here.

Speaker 5 (17:04):
I agree with you.

Speaker 6 (17:05):
This is completely different and I like it. They're being
very aggressive.

Speaker 3 (17:09):
So let's and high. By the way, it's been a minute,
happy fourth.

Speaker 6 (17:12):
Too, Yes, Anida, how are you?

Speaker 3 (17:14):
I can tell I'm great. I'm great twenty five I
as well would have loved to have made my way
to the shore, but I did not. Either you and
I are in the same boat. But let's talk about
the addition of Smith, and let's talk about the addition
of DK and Aaron Rodgers when and Arthur Smith being
the offensive coordinator, what do you like? I'm seeing a
lot of twelve personet Like, what are you envision there

(17:37):
are for this offense this season? And how productive do
you think they can be?

Speaker 9 (17:43):
All Right, Nina, So let's start talking about Arthur Smith
the general. He's just me the offense accordion who calls
the plays. Right, He's a heavy twelve personnel guy. So
that they were already doing it with Darnoll Washington as
the backup. So my understanding was, you know, when you
look at Darno wathingon the third round of Georgia in
twenty twenty three, his weight's been sort of an issue.
He's not progressed as a pass receiver as they would

(18:04):
have liked. And jon O Smith there's no offense to
pat Friarmouth. Jonah Smith is a better football player. The
reason why the Patriots gave Jonah Smith the second highest
tight end contract at the time when they did this
in twenty twenty one, is because he was phenomenal with
the Patriots. And look it, I mean he's phenomenal with

(18:24):
the Titans. On Arthur Smith, they didn't work out with
the Patriots and he moved on and they caught him
after two years. But he goes to Atlanta and revised
his career under Arthur Smith again, and then he goes
to Miami.

Speaker 6 (18:34):
He ratches it up a notch and he wanted more money.

Speaker 9 (18:37):
The Dolphins told him, we're not going to do They
told Drors announced his agent, we're not doing it.

Speaker 6 (18:41):
And they found a team that they were able to
move him to.

Speaker 9 (18:45):
And this is a team that is going to play
a ton of two tight ends. And now, by the way,
now Johona Smith, it turns thirty later this year. If
he's on a one year deal, if he plays well,
they could bring him back.

Speaker 6 (18:57):
And they don't really see neither. They don't really have
a second receiver minor standing as they believe.

Speaker 9 (19:01):
It'll be Roman Wilson, who didn't really play much. He
was hurt last season the roundof Michigan. But the third receiver,
the second receiver in this offense won't get the ball.
It's going to be Metcalfe one, Firemouth two or three,
johnad Smith two or three.

Speaker 5 (19:13):
That's it.

Speaker 9 (19:14):
That's the pass target tree. There's no other They don't
run a lot of three receiver sets. So that's it.
I mean, it's a very simple offense. But the pressure
is let me tell you something. Pressure is going to
be on Arthur Smith this season. Like you can't have
an offense like last season and get away with it again.
Pressure is absolutely going to be on him.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
We are now in the month of July here, and
last time I checked.

Speaker 1 (19:37):
My calendar, by the end of this month, we're gonna
have a Hall of Fame game. We are going to
have a Hall of Fame game. Give us a little
sense right now.

Speaker 2 (19:45):
And there's one other thing I want to bring up
as well as we get ready for the start of
the season.

Speaker 1 (19:50):
I see where the.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
Governor of Ohio's approved money for a new stadium for
the Browns. So what is now the life expectancy of
NFL state is it?

Speaker 1 (20:01):
Is it twenty years? I mean, if.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
You're spending a billion, two billion, whatever it takes to
build one of these stadiums, and they expect every twenty
years now for you to tear that thing down and
upgrade with a new stadium. Is that where we're heading
right now as far as NFL teams are concerned.

Speaker 9 (20:18):
Yep, twenty to twenty five here, Steve is really it, Yeah,
because you have to have all the amenities. And it's
as fascinating that Cleveland's is going to get this Stone stadium,
and I I'll see the Browns of the summer in
training camp where they come to Philly for join practices
for the preseason game. So I look forward to talking
to their front office and management that's there. But yeah,

(20:38):
this is the new deal here. I mean, this is
really in. And you also want your own practice facility,
and we've seen that in recent years where teams are
finally like teams in hot weather.

Speaker 6 (20:48):
It's really interesting.

Speaker 9 (20:48):
The Jaguars never had one shot con finally got one built,
the Buccaneers finally got one built some years ago. And
then you obviously want, you know, your own stadium, and
we're seeing that. So to move this along, Yeah, the
expectancy is no more than twenty five years, it's And
the other thing is how much public money. That's the
big debate Steve, as you know, is how much public

(21:08):
money are you going to get? And how much is
can you financed it privately and publicly? That that's always
the fight.

Speaker 3 (21:16):
Before we let you go. I'm curious there's one team
that I am just loving heading into this year. And
that's the Washington commanders.

Speaker 9 (21:25):
Everyone else is now where were you last year, Anita.

Speaker 3 (21:30):
Listen? I was on the Eagles last year. I just
and you mentioned Howie. I just think the Eagles take
a step back this year. I don't like all that
they've lost on the defensive side of the Yeah, yeah, yeah,
but you know, I know Washington's defense is nothing to
write home about. But I think I think Daniels can
take us, you know, can build on his his Workie campaign.

(21:52):
The addition of Deebo Samuel, they improved the offensive line
for me. I really I think the commander are and
as you said, a lot of people are on them.
Are they really the sleeper to really make some noises?

Speaker 6 (22:05):
Definitely not.

Speaker 3 (22:06):
Yeah, probably not at this point.

Speaker 6 (22:08):
But no, they're not asleep, and no they're there.

Speaker 9 (22:10):
As you know in the gambling, there their win totals
like the nine and a half.

Speaker 3 (22:13):
So what's your team? What's your team?

Speaker 9 (22:16):
I see every Steve's Let let's give Steve credit. Heath
Denver was his. I didn't see it. The outsmaker's stand
at five and a half wins, I didn't. I didn't
see that at all. Actually, like the under I got
that wrung.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
That was my one pick in need of that pre
season pick.

Speaker 2 (22:29):
I picked the Broncos with their rookie quarterback to make
the play playoffs.

Speaker 9 (22:33):
There might be the only one in this country because
in need of the line, whatever book you looked at,
it was either between four and a half or five
and a half wins. So the Seahawks are my team
that nobody's talking about because every year we just similarly
can't find that team, like the year the Jaguars came
out of nowhere and Doug Peterson doug first year. Unfortunately
after that it was terrible. Seattle's my team. No one's

(22:53):
talking about that division. The NFC West is wide open.
Sam Darnold, I'm gonna he's playing the same offense that
he did last year. West Coast old school, West Coast
did a great job with it. I like their draft
are starting to build there. They're my upset special to
be a wild card in the NFC.

Speaker 2 (23:10):
All right, final question, are the Eagles ever going to
get their Super Bowl rings?

Speaker 5 (23:14):
Yeah?

Speaker 9 (23:15):
This is crazy. Well, they'res just to get them this month.
Yeah I got delayed. Yeah, that was a bizarre situation.
The last time that they won in seventeen. It happened
in June that they got them. And I'll tell you what,
Jeffrey Loriy, their owner, is incredible. Like talking to some
of the coaches, fron Offs people, they spare no expense
in partying and all that. They're the one organization that

(23:35):
just does it. They just do it right. And you know,
I mentioned Howie Roseman, he's turned his career around. And
when you've got to support of your owner Anita and Steve,
when you know he could have let Howie go after
Doug Peterson got fired, and he stayed with him and
that was a great move. Not most owners would not
have done that. But Jeffrey Lourie is a phenomenal owner
and I'm kind of surprised by the way he's not

(23:56):
got involved in other sports like Josh Harris, the six
sh owner who who also owns the Commanders and his
ownership group. Kind of surprise Jeffrey's not owned other sports properties.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
Well, enjoy the rest of your Fourth of July holiday.
I mean, it's a weekend situation here, so Adam, enjoy
the rest of the weekend, and thanks so much. We'll
check in with you next week sounds good. See Adam Kaplan,
our NFL insider Johnny is there. Now let's find out
what is a trending? And Martin is standing by.

Speaker 1 (24:28):
Right now, I am you are you turn your hat around?

Speaker 5 (24:33):
Why is that? You know, Steve? This has been a
point of contention the last few weeks.

Speaker 1 (24:37):
And then the fact that you continue to wear it
weekend after weekend after we'd never seen it.

Speaker 2 (24:42):
So Anita is new to this, So I'm going to
fill her in on this. So Anita, he has to well,
here's the deal. Does the color or the logo make
a cap? For instance, I was in New York City
with my boys back in twenty seventeen.

Speaker 1 (24:59):
I love how and I had a black.

Speaker 10 (25:00):
If somebody asked the question, they then quantify why they
feel the way they feel with letting him.

Speaker 1 (25:07):
I'm just going to ask this.

Speaker 2 (25:09):
I was, I was in New York and I I
had a make a difference.

Speaker 1 (25:15):
I had a black Yankee cap, but the the New
York logo was also blackened out.

Speaker 3 (25:19):
So I've seen that happy right.

Speaker 2 (25:21):
And I loved it. It was a really really cool hat.
But in other words, what what what? What Martin's been
worrying is a Dodgers cap. But it's black, it's not blue,
and so he insists it's not a Dodgers cap. It's
an l A cap. How do you feel about that?

Speaker 3 (25:37):
I have to see it.

Speaker 1 (25:39):
It's the l A logo, just like you would see
on a Dodger's cap.

Speaker 3 (25:42):
Said, it's just it's all black. It's it's it's similar
to your Yankee head.

Speaker 2 (25:45):
Correct, it's a black cap instead of a blue cap. Right,
is that a Dodger cab or is that just an
l A black cap.

Speaker 3 (25:52):
No, it's a Dodgers hat. Right, you bought it as
a Dodgers hat. It's a Dodgers hat.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
I did not buy.

Speaker 5 (25:58):
I asked you a question. What color does the Dodgers?

Speaker 3 (26:00):
Where? Blue?

Speaker 5 (26:02):
Rest my case?

Speaker 1 (26:03):
Okay, see he goes by the Yankees.

Speaker 3 (26:05):
The Yankees don't wear black either. The Yankees wear like
a deep blue pinstripe.

Speaker 1 (26:09):
He thinks this span like he thinks the Yankees would
be a Yankees. Yeah, he would not call that a Yankees.

Speaker 5 (26:15):
Yeah, it is the Yankees. Where you know the Navy.

Speaker 1 (26:18):
The fact is you show up with this cat now
all the time. So you're trying to make a statement here.

Speaker 3 (26:23):
But is it is it the logo. Is it the
same font?

Speaker 1 (26:26):
It's the exact same.

Speaker 3 (26:27):
It's the font of the Dodgers.

Speaker 1 (26:29):
The las.

Speaker 5 (26:33):
Does you say Dodgers anywhere?

Speaker 6 (26:35):
It's black?

Speaker 5 (26:35):
It's a black hat.

Speaker 3 (26:36):
Are you not a Dodgers fan? What's I don't? Are
you not a Dodgers fan.

Speaker 10 (26:41):
I'm Dodger ambivalent. Unlikely when they do well. And I
live in Los Angeles, it's a happier city where the Dodgers.

Speaker 1 (26:47):
He didn't like him yesterday eighteen to one.

Speaker 5 (26:48):
That was ugly. Yeah, I saw the scrolls like, oh.

Speaker 3 (26:51):
Wow, were there any garbage cans in the dugout?

Speaker 2 (26:53):
I don't know, but that was the worst loss in
Dodgers Stadium history.

Speaker 10 (26:57):
I heard the color co one of the color conversators
not to bring up old wounds, but it's almost like
they know what's coming. It was that way. It was batting.

Speaker 2 (27:05):
They had one guy that came in, the guy named
Noah Davis, gave up ten runs in one inning.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
All earned.

Speaker 5 (27:12):
That's impressively bad.

Speaker 3 (27:14):
That is very impressively bad.

Speaker 10 (27:16):
Let's run through the active baseball games. I won't take
up too much more of your time. Top of the
eighth inning, the Orioles and the Braves six to six.
The bottom of the eighth inning, the Bruins and the
Marlins two to two. The Yankees and the Mets on
FS one right now, the Mets with an eleven to
five lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, Yankees
wearing the Navy hat. They're not wearing black or white.

(27:38):
Oh my goodness, and a Mets batters got hit in
the head. Jack, Watch right there, just got hitting the
head by Sandridge. That's a tough one. That is he's
going to be checked out. It looks like he's okay,
but that was a scary thing to just turn and watch.
Bottom of the eighth inning, the Diamondbacks with a five
to one lead over the Royals.

Speaker 5 (27:57):
Back to you, guys. See this is the problem.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, I know.

Speaker 10 (27:59):
This is the The Mets have these funky gray hats on.
This is not a Mets hat.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
I agree, see, don't get me agree. No no, no, no, no,
oh they're a Mets cap. But they're an ugly Mets cap.
Oh is what I'm saying. Hey, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
good thing. I want to boo. That was like care
him off his elbow into his ear.

Speaker 2 (28:19):
See that he wants to change the subject. I do
because that's not what I said. What I said was
it's not something I would wear. Okay, ugly, thank you
very much, Martin.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
We appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (28:28):
By the way, we're coming you live from the Fox
Sports Radio studios. You can stream this show and all
of our Fox Sports Radio shows live twenty four to
seven and the new unapproved iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
Just search Fox Sports.

Speaker 2 (28:38):
Radio on the app to stream a live and one
of the newest features in the app is it can
select Fox Sports Radio as one of your presets. You
don't like the presets on your radio dials, so be
sure to preset Fox Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio app.
It will always pop up at the top of your screen. So, Anita,
I was going to ask you, you know, we have
our great Show's Countdown on the Weekends presented by MG

(29:00):
where the guys talk about you know, the week ahead
and games that day. To bet On and Jeff Schwartz
who used to do a regular Saturday show with me
before he became part of that Sunday show. I kidded
him a week ago because he filled in last week,
and I said, Jeff, I listened to you guys all
the time, and all you talk about is WNBA. That's

(29:24):
all you talk about. I mean when they're saying, all right,
what's your best play of the day. Even crack Cracker
Burger is like WNBA. So I want to ask you, Anita,
because I started behind the scenes with sort of like
asking Jeff about betting WNBA versus NBA, and he goes, well,
NBA is very much a challenge, but it seems like

(29:45):
they haven't quite figured out the w NBA yet. And
if you do your homework and you really break it down,
there's some great plays out there, seemingly every day. So
how have you hand handled the obvious increase interest in
the w NBA, not just a viewers standpoint, from my

(30:07):
gambling standpoint, it's.

Speaker 3 (30:09):
A great question, and it's it's really interesting, right because
more people are gambling on the w NBA, more people
are watching the w NBA, all because of one human being,
and that is Caitlin Clark. And you cannot convince me otherwise.
You you talked about w NBA, you mentioned w NBA

(30:31):
it was a showkiller. Now it's not. And she she
hasn't even been.

Speaker 1 (30:36):
Playing right, She's that with this coin injury.

Speaker 3 (30:38):
She's out with a groin injury, and we're still talking
w NBA and oh, by the way, I do have
a w NBA play for you tonight, seven o'clock. The
Sparks going up against the Fever. I do like the Fever,
even though Caitlin Clark is out Fever favored by minus
five and a half and their their last game. I
went against them because they were coming off of the

(31:01):
Commissioner Cup win against the Links, and I'm sure you
saw the video.

Speaker 6 (31:05):
They're in there.

Speaker 3 (31:06):
They're towerkin, they're popping the bubbly, they're doing right. Like
nobody parties like the Fever right, And so I'm like, okay,
now they're going up against the Aces, who've been struggling
as of late. So but like, these girls were partying
hard after wishing winning the Commissioner's Cup, and I went

(31:27):
up against them and they crushed the Aces by twenty
seven points. So I'm not gonna gamble against them again.
They are surprisingly good even without Caitlin Clark, which is scary.
They've won four of their last five. Why they're getting
the ball more into the paint with Boston and Howard
Mitchell is shooting thirty seven percent from downtown.

Speaker 6 (31:48):
You know, there's just it.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
I will say this, the WNBA is a little bit
more easier to handicap because you have a lot more
consistency with the players. I will say that. But my
play tonight is the fever at minus five and a half.
And again we are talking WNBA. We are watching WNBA
because Claitlyn Clark is now. I've you can sit there

(32:12):
and I know you and I have been covering sports
for a long time. Right what Michael Jordan had in
regard to the NBA, what Tiger Woods had in regard
to the to the PGA, Caitlin Clark has that type
of power and that type of influence and that type
of draw to a sport that, let's be honest, was

(32:35):
struggling before.

Speaker 2 (32:36):
I one hundred percent agree and I've said this right
now today. She is the most influential athlete in the world,
hands down. She is the most influential in terms of
spotlight on her individual sport by far. You mentioned Jordan

(32:56):
back in the AA, you mentioned a Tiger Woods, You
mentioned Muhammad Ali back in the world of boxing, back
in There are very few of these where you can
see a discernible difference on when they're playing and when
they're not playing, and just the magnitude of their presence
in terms of interest and eyeballs.

Speaker 1 (33:14):
It's a very short list, but as we see it.

Speaker 2 (33:17):
Here today in twenty twenty five, she is the single
most influential athlete, man or woman on the planet.

Speaker 3 (33:27):
I'm just going to share this really quick. The Indiana
Fever franchise is currently valued at three hundred and thirty
five million dollars, making it the third most valuable WNBA team.
The value represents a significant two hundred and seventy three
percent increase. I'm going to repeat that again because I
want folks to marinate in this two hundred and seventy

(33:48):
three percent increase with the with the addition of Caitlin
Clark and now the WNBA the league's total value reaching
three point five billion dollars, all because of one year
human being. You're absolutely right, Steve.

Speaker 2 (34:02):
It's crazy, I mean crazy, but it is a reality,
all right. Coming up on the other side, we've got
to get to some NBA news, uh, and obviously free
agency underway. We're gonna get some thoughts about teams that
have helped themselves eventually we're gonna get to the Lakers.
But let's talk Eastern Conference wide open right now. With
obviously season ending injuries to Jason Tatum Halliburton, Uh, you know,

(34:27):
Dyllian Damian Lillard is out of Milwaukee.

Speaker 1 (34:31):
When it doest settles, which way should.

Speaker 2 (34:34):
We lean as the team to beat in the Eastern Conference,
We'll break it down.

Speaker 1 (34:39):
This is Fox Sports Saturday.

Speaker 2 (34:44):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio Steve Hartman and
Anita Marx here Fox Sports Saturday.

Speaker 1 (34:50):
We're live from the Fox Sports Radio studios. All right.

Speaker 2 (34:54):
In the next hour, Mark Mendin, our NBA insider, will
join us. We'll get into the this with Lebron James, obviously,
the changing dynamic in the Western Conference, Kevin Durant now
a Houston Rocket.

Speaker 1 (35:07):
What's going to happen with the Warriors? Is Lebron gonna
get traded?

Speaker 2 (35:10):
All of this kind of stuff will break down coming
up in the next hour, but right now, in need,
I want to focus in on the East.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
And this is just.

Speaker 2 (35:20):
To me, it's really crazy because obviously no one expected
the Indiana Pacers to win the Eastern Conference this past season.
It was a team that was made up of rejects.

Speaker 5 (35:31):
Think about it.

Speaker 1 (35:32):
I mean, you know, every one of.

Speaker 2 (35:33):
Their key players was deemed expendable by another team. Not everyone,
but most of their key players were deemed expendable by
another team, and they piece it all to the other.
Give Rick Carlisle credit. He proved that he is one
of the elite coaches in the NBA. And it had
it not been for the injury to hall of Burton
the games And by the way, what was your play

(35:54):
on Game seven? Because you know, this was a series
that I dismissed Indiana like most people did. I was
trying to okay, and I won't pick them at four.
Indiana will get a game, you know, they'll get a game.
You know they've shown a lot of spirit in this postseason.
But honestly, Oklahoma City, coming off you know, one of
the ten best regular seasons in NBA history, should steam

(36:17):
roll this team.

Speaker 1 (36:17):
They didn't. Two questions, what was your play going into
Game seven?

Speaker 2 (36:23):
And if Halliburton, who got off to hot start in
that Game seven, had stayed healthy, would we be sitting
here talking about the NBA champion Indiana Pacers.

Speaker 6 (36:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (36:32):
So I made a hard pivot prior to the championship
series starting, I had OKC in five. I thought, just
like you, I thought Pacers will win one game. I
just thought, okay, see was that good? And then and
then once the series began and I started seeing what
whoa like Pacers like? They're playing with house money. Nobody

(36:53):
like you said, who was on the Pacers. They weren't
expected to be here. Halliburton was just arguable no offense
to you know, our our NBA MVP and SGA. But
to me, Halliburton was was outperforming anyone on that court
in that series. So again, had OKC in five pivoted hard.

(37:17):
I thought I had the Pacers on the money line
in that game. If Halliburton would not have gone down,
I think the Pacers would have won. I think we
would have had a game seven, and I would not
be shocked at the paper Pacers won the NBA Championship
this year. Quick, little cool nugget, Steve Jenny Bousek, who's
the beautiful blonde you see sitting next to Rick Carlisle

(37:38):
on the on the Indiana Pacers bench, My teammate in
flag football. Really, she was the assistant coach for the
Miami Soul. She came to Miami, I met her, we
started playing football together. I was her quarterback. I'm not
sure if you've heard the stories that she designs plays
for the Pacers based on her flag football.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
I had no idea.

Speaker 3 (37:59):
You didn't know this. So she designs NBA plays for
the Pacers based on my flag football plays that I
designed for our team.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (38:11):
Yes, well, then she gets a lot of credit that
she's probably not getting right now until this very moment.

Speaker 3 (38:17):
So and mark my word, Steve, she will be the
next head coach of the Pacers. You heard it here first.

Speaker 1 (38:23):
Okay, slow down a second here, slow down, by the way.

Speaker 3 (38:26):
I'm just throwing it. I'm throwing it out there. I
think I think Rick Carlisle is grooming her to take on.
I think you will see Jenny Boosek be the first
female head coach in the NBA.

Speaker 1 (38:38):
Okay, so I would give her a lot.

Speaker 2 (38:40):
You know, we talk about Becky Hammond, obviously you're talking
about another woman now that has got connections to the NBA.
When the Knicks, we're talking about Don Staley. No knock
on Don Staley, who obviously proven to be one of
the best college basketball coaches in the country. But if
you don't have that NBA experience. I mean it's I mean,
it's it's an endless list of some of the most

(39:02):
successful college coaches of all time that have tried their
hand at the NBA with no NBA background, and they
have failed miserably. So I dismissed that. So when we
look at the East right now, the Pacers obviously without Halliburton,
and obviously their big man has gone as well. And
then you look at Boston, what exactly is Boston just

(39:25):
gutting their organization right now? I mean Tatum obviously most
likely is out for the year, and then they just
decide we got to unload people. Is that a reset
all of a sudden? Obviously the odds on the Celtics
have fallen through the into a hole that's ridiculous from
where they were just a year ago. What exactly do

(39:46):
you see with the Celtics and how are they going
to put that thing back together? Because like the Lakers,
like the Next like certain organizations in this league, this
league needs the Celtics to be competitive.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
Do they? I don't know.

Speaker 3 (39:58):
I mean, listen, if ever there was a time I'm
to push the reset button, it's now, because you're not
gonna have Jason Tatum this season, so I understand why
they're doing that. But you know, the Knicks new head
coach in Mike Brown, some question marks there.

Speaker 1 (40:12):
Awful Higher, it's awful higher.

Speaker 2 (40:15):
I love Mike Brown. He's a great guy. I got
to know him a little bit when he was at
the Lakers. I can't think of a worse fit for
New York City than Mike Brown.

Speaker 3 (40:24):
It's wide open for Cleveland, it is. It's wide open
for Donovan Mitchell. A healthy Donovan Mitchell, top five and
clutch time scoring.

Speaker 2 (40:32):
But they were so disappointing in the playoffs this past year.

Speaker 3 (40:36):
But the competition in the East is it's it's it's
going to be non existent.

Speaker 2 (40:41):
All right, Well, we were thinking of Cleveland and Oklahoma
City sort of on the same level, different conferences. Cleveland
didn't make it, Okase did. We're gonna get to Lebron.
Where's he going next? We'll tell you Fox Sports Saturday.

Speaker 1 (40:53):
You're listening to Fox Sports.

Speaker 2 (40:57):
Rolling along here on another busy sports Saturday. Sports Saturday,
we're broadcasting live from the Fox Sports radio studios. Mark Mendeina,
our NBA insider, will be joining us coming at Pier
in about twenty minutes, he'll break down a lot of
activity around the NBA.

Speaker 1 (41:14):
So Anita.

Speaker 2 (41:15):
At the end of last season, when the Lakers embarrass
themselves in that playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves and
JJ Reddick one of the worst coaching jobs in the
history of the NBA postseason, I said at the time
that Lebron James had played his final game as a Laker.

Speaker 1 (41:37):
And everybody's like, oh, what are you talking about?

Speaker 2 (41:40):
WHOA what are you talking about? Well, then, what was
it a week ago?

Speaker 5 (41:44):
Right?

Speaker 2 (41:44):
And he decides to pick up his player option, And
I came on, I said, well, looks like I was wrong,
and then all of a sudden, not so fast.

Speaker 1 (41:55):
So here here's here's what we hear. And really it
comes from Rich Paul.

Speaker 2 (42:02):
I mean, he's the guy that sort of throws it
out there right when he talks about that, Yes, he's
picking up his player option with the Lakers, but you know,
he's about winning a championship sort of like, let's see
what the Lakers do in the offseason.

Speaker 1 (42:16):
Of course, when you say that, well, the Lakers are
very limited on what they can do because of the
contract he just signed.

Speaker 2 (42:22):
And that's why you have to settle for a DeAndre
Ayight and we'll get to that in a moment, Anita,
But just staying with the Lakers and Lebron James, you're
still talking about a player that has to be recognized
as one of the top fifteen, if not top ten.

Speaker 1 (42:38):
Players in the league.

Speaker 2 (42:40):
A year ago, he scored twenty four points a game,
seven rebounds, eight assists, shot over fifty percent from the
field thirty eight percent from the three point line. He's
still one of the absolute elite players in this league.
But he comes with a hefty price tag. Yes, it's
a dumpable contract because it's an aspiring deal. What's your gut,

(43:00):
am I going to turn out to be right with
my prediction that he had played his final game as
a Laker or come start of this season, will Lebron
James still be in a Lakers uniform.

Speaker 3 (43:13):
So there's a lot to unpack here. Yes, listen, and
you talk about Rich Paul quote unquote, Lebron wants to
compete for a championship. He knows that the Lakers are
building for the future, he understands, but he values a
realistic chance of winning it all. It's impossible for the
Lakers or any team to win having to pay him

(43:37):
fifty two point six million dollars, okay at his age,
and not to say, you know, one could argue top
ten player in the NBA still, but at his age,
you know, you're talking about load management for him. So
you need to find the right elixir of paying him
a salary that you can afford that the team doesn't

(43:59):
can penalize with the apron blah blah blah. That's above
my pay grade in regard to how that all works.
But and then having a roster and a bench, especially
as long and is as grueling as the NBA is.
I mean, look, we just got done talking about what
a plethora of guys who already have Achilles injuries right

(44:20):
to be able to come in and compete and sustain
and win. So Lebron at his age, the load management
that comes with him at this stage in his career,
but having to pay him fifty two point six million dollars,
no team could win with that. So if Lebron really
wanted to win, Steve, here's the question, here's the real question.

(44:44):
If Lebron valued and how much money does one human
being need in a lifetime? Right, Lebron James has made
enough money for his children's children's children's children to not
have to work a day of their lives. So if
what really matters for Lebron is to win a championship, Steve,
he should have opted out. You're you're you're now forcing

(45:05):
you're now forcing the Lakers you know, to to Well,
they can't trade him because he's got he's got a
no trade clause where he wants to go. They don't
want him because they would have to give too much
up to get him, and realize that they wouldn't win
with him because they would have to give so much

(45:26):
up in regard to players and potential draft picks for
the future. You don't wanna, you don't wanna handicap your
organization because you bring him in to try to win
one where you just don't have the right mix of
roster depth and and and the taxes or the apron

(45:47):
that you have to pay.

Speaker 2 (45:48):
Well, but here is the thing, Anita, and and by
the way, this was all orchestrated by team Lebron. So
when we go back when uh, you know Sham's is
putting out something by five weeks ago, you know the
rich Paul's out there saying, well, it looks like we're
gonna have to pick up the player option. That was
his way of saying, Lakers were looking for a long

(46:09):
term deal. Yeah, we'll take less, but we want years. Well,
once the sale of the Lakers went down, that was
out the window. I mean, that was not gonna happen.
They were not going to give him years. And so
they're like, we'll screw you. Then we'll just pick up
the option. And that's that's pretty much how this played out.

Speaker 3 (46:27):
But let's let's let's take let's take the let's take like,
let's really talk about Lebron James, Steve right again. How
much money does one human being need in a lifetime?

Speaker 1 (46:36):
I understand it, but I remember the conversation.

Speaker 3 (46:38):
I wanted to win. Yeah, here and and let's and
here's the bigger The bigger conversation is, you know, the
conversation of Michael Jordan Lebron James the greatest of all time?
If he really and we live in a society, we
live in a sports uh youse where we value championships.

(47:02):
I do not in team sports. I think it's a farce.
But that's a conversation.

Speaker 2 (47:07):
Well, I agree with you because I've always said this
about championships. I told this to Kobe to his face.
When you say I'm a five time champion, you're you're wrong.
It's not an individual a team sporting. You were on
five teams that won championship. You can talk about all NBA,
All Star Games, scoring, all that's individual stuff. And when
you talk about, well, you know I won five championships,

(47:29):
No you didn't. You didn't win five championships. You were
on five championship teams, whether you were the key guy
or the last guy on the bench. That is a
team and not an individual accomplishment.

Speaker 3 (47:39):
So you and I agree on that, But the majority
of the country they do not.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
They don't even think about it.

Speaker 3 (47:44):
They know.

Speaker 1 (47:45):
And that's when people there's a five time champion.

Speaker 3 (47:47):
When people say that Tom Brady's the greatest quarterback of
all time, I laugh. But of course, you know, when
you hashtag Tom Brady on on X, the emoji of
a goat comes up. It makes me want to vomit.
But nonetheless, if Lebron James, we live in this world
where we equate championships in team sports to the greatest

(48:08):
of all time, if he really wanted to win a championship,
he would have opted out, and he would have done
what Tom Brady did for years and years and years
with the Patriots, and that's take less money so that
your team could build the right personnel around you that
you have the best offer.

Speaker 2 (48:26):
He did that in Miami, though, Anita, I mean he
took the exact same salary, not just Dwayne Waye, but
Chris Bosh.

Speaker 1 (48:33):
He took the exact same salary. Look Kobe Bryant back.

Speaker 2 (48:36):
In the day when he signed that three year extension
after blowing out his achilles, I asked him. I asked
him point playing. I said, Kobe, would you ever take
less money to, you know, maybe free up some money
to sign other players? And his answer was, it's not
my problem. And you know what, Laker fans had no
problem either, because he had earned that, at least in
their minds, for everything he'd given the Lakers over the year.

(48:58):
Of course, by his last season, they were a seventeen
and sixty five basketball team.

Speaker 1 (49:03):
I just everything you're.

Speaker 2 (49:05):
Saying, I'm on the same page as far as Lebron
is concerned. But also understand this, at no point of
his career as Lebron ever been the highest paid player
in the NBA. Ever, neither was Tom Brady. Tom Brady
always took less money, did he not?

Speaker 1 (49:19):
He was never the highest paid quarterback in the NFL. Ever,
So don't I don't know.

Speaker 2 (49:25):
I mean, in some respects, I understand Lebron, Lebron's situation,
but the way this played out this time, I just
think he was like, don't screw with me, because I'll
screw with you guys. And again if you're the Lakers.
This is why the new ownership is so key for
the organization. They need to turn the page. I love

(49:47):
Genie Buss, but you know it's all about her friends
taking care of people that are loyal to her.

Speaker 1 (49:52):
Those days are over.

Speaker 3 (49:54):
But here's another thing. When it comes to Lebron James,
I feel like every organization he's with in is poor,
like him and pat Riley with the Miami Heat. You
mentioned the Miami Heat poorly, No.

Speaker 2 (50:06):
Well, poorly for pat Riley and poorly for Lebron. He
went to Cleveland and won another championship, right.

Speaker 3 (50:11):
But then, but then what happened ownership with with Cleveland
ended poorly, right, Like, I just I feel like there,
I feel like it's always something. It's like you know,
you've got these organizations that bend over backwards, pay him
a ton of money, allow him to you know, decide

(50:32):
or or be a decisional factor in regard to coaching
and roster and that. Like, you know, he pretty much
is like a pseudo owner on whatever team he's on,
his group, his you know, posse whatever they get, you know,
certain treatment, right like can park underneath the stadium whatever.

(50:54):
It's like, organizations bend over backwards, gives him whatever he wants.
But then and then and then we're always here. We
always end up here where it's like.

Speaker 2 (51:06):
Not not on good footing, but they got a championship
out of it. I guess that's his play. Here's what
I see in the resume of Lebron James and as
are someone that has faulted well no seven years, either
missing the playoffs or being bounced in the first round.
Five of those seven years, a flukish run to the

(51:27):
Western Conference Finals where they got swept out by Denver
a couple of years ago, and then the.

Speaker 1 (51:32):
Bubble Championship, which was never celebrated in La So no,
I mean there's and.

Speaker 2 (51:37):
By the way, that was preceded by five losing seasons
I mean this, See the Lakers are becoming that myopic
organization where they still talk about the greatness of the
Lakers when the fact is, in the post Doctor Bus era,
this team is a loser and has been a loser
far more seasons than a winner. And that's where they

(51:57):
are right now, and they're trying to get relevant. The
league did them a huge favor by allowing the Luka
Doncis steal to come about.

Speaker 1 (52:05):
This is why I keep waiting for the NFL.

Speaker 2 (52:07):
The NBA front off, the league office is somehow intervene
here and figured this whole thing out where Lebron can
win and the Lakers can win. I think there's just
more people involved than just those in the Laker organization.
All Right, we'll have more in this later, but coming up,
we're gonna break down more on this and some of
the other moves that have been made during this free

(52:27):
agency period around the NBA winners losers. We're gonna break
it down with Mark Medena or NBA Insider. This is
Fox Sports Saturday, Steve Harvin and Anita Marx Here Fox
Sports Saturday. We're coming live from the Fox Sports Radio
studios for the best pregame show every weekend. Be sure

(52:49):
to tune into Fox Sports Radio's Countdown presented by bet
MGM every Saturday and Sunday morning from nine am to
noon Eastern six am to nine am Pacific, going to
countdown all all the biggest games. Tune into Countdown presented
by bet MGM every Saturday and Sunday morning right here
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. Well, speaking

(53:10):
of the best joining us right now, they can break
down the NBA and all the craziness that's going on
right now with free agency.

Speaker 1 (53:18):
Mark Medina is joining us once again.

Speaker 2 (53:21):
All right, Mark, we got a lot of ground to cover,
but let's start at the top. Or it could be
the bottom if you want to look at it that way.
The Lebron James situation, so again, you know that I
said Mark at the end of the season after they
were blown out by Minnesota in the first round, that
Lebron James had played his last game as Laker. I
went on, Rick, I say he will never play another

(53:42):
game as a Laker, and then he signs his player
option a week ago, and I'm like, well, maybe I
was wrong.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
Well, maybe I wasn't wrong.

Speaker 2 (53:52):
So two questions here are the Lakers actively seeking to
trade Lebron James, And are there any interested parties at
all for the services of a player who still has
to be ranked among the top ten or fifteen players
in this league but comes with a fifty two million

(54:12):
dollar price tag for next season.

Speaker 4 (54:15):
Yeah, Steeve a lot of good questions you presented here.
I don't think the Lakers are actively looking to trade
Lebron James, but they're certainly listening. But I think what
the feedback is is that teams are saying, thanks, but
no thanks. They love Lebron James is a talent, but
it's not worth having to put up assets at equal

(54:36):
fifty two million dollars, and I think also the Lakers
aren't going to conclude that there's any assets combined that's
worth it. And so I do still think that he's
playing not only with the Lakers to start this season,
but to end this season. But I think that this
is the latest example that this is just going to

(54:57):
be a transactional relationship on both sides. It's that Lebron,
they'll punch in and punch out and still produce an
all Star caliber level, but there might be more oxygen
stucked out of the room when things don't go his
way with the roster or team chemistry. And from the
Lakers standpoint, they'll appreciate what he provides on the court,

(55:19):
but they'll also roll their eyes and kind of huff
and tough in silence and resentment when he is pouting
about this. It's just very wild, but not surprising that
it's gotten to this point because ever since the Luca
Doca trade, the writing on the wall was that the
Lakers are trying to pivot from the Lebron James era.

(55:43):
But I think in their mind it didn't have to
be in either or Lebron should still be on the
team and help pass the torch to Luca, and I
think that that's what their conclusion is going to be
moving forward. But his statement certainly didn't help romanticize any
feelings on other sides.

Speaker 3 (56:00):
So Steve and I were talking before you joined us.
You know, at the end of the day, if it's
about winning, Lebron could have should have opted out and
then go in and play and try to find a
team that you know would best fit his skill set
at forty his his load management, that's going to best

(56:22):
suit him to potentially go in and win another championship,
and he did not. Kind of do you agree with
that notion or not?

Speaker 4 (56:32):
I think you make a great point. I think here's
the problem. Lebron James wants to have his cake and
eat it too, so he wants to get paid. And
if he were to opt out, he would see that
there's not a market for fifty two million dollars for him,
you know. And I think that the Lakers, you know it,
it's important for them to take care of star players.

(56:54):
In Lebron's defense, he's still playing at a reasonably high level,
least enough to make an all start team, but he's
not going to be commanding the kind of top dollar
that he would get in, you know, earlier in his career.
And I think, let's be frank, guys, if he did
take take a pay cut, on one hand, he would

(57:16):
be lauded for the sacrifice and all that, But if
it got to the point where it's mid level veterans
minimum just to join a stacked team already, you know,
we saw what happened when Kevin Durant joined the Golden
State Warriors. His championships wouldn't be met with the same
kind of respect, especially when it comes to goat debate
as it was in normal circumstances. So you know, I

(57:38):
don't fault Lebron for that, especially even though he's a billionaire.
If he wants to be an owner down the line,
every amount of money he makes is going to count
toward his ability to do that. But I think with
him opting in, he should have sent the message, you
know what, he does want to win a championship, but
it should be about, hey, I want to help the

(57:58):
Lakers win a championship season. So you know, again, regardless
of the decisions he's he's making, it's been unfortunely been
about he wants to have his cake in.

Speaker 2 (58:10):
Either two and then he had the DeAndre Ayton situation.
So this is a guy a classic example. He's not alone,
by the way, and this is in sports across the board,
where guys put up numbers that you look at the
surface and like, wow, I mean, this guy's played seven
years and he has averaged a double double every one

(58:31):
of those years, every one seven for seven. So you're like, well,
okay's consistent and he you know, this is what you're
looking for for a big man. Then you dig a
little deeper and then you find out that he is
one of those athletes that literally produces empty numbers. And
if you really look at it, his best numbers were
his second year in the league and both rebound and scoring.

(58:52):
So he made peak here. But here's the problem for
the Lakers with the Aighton situation. If he actually has
a great year, he'll opt out.

Speaker 1 (59:02):
Yeah, he'll opt.

Speaker 2 (59:03):
Out, and he'll look for more money elsewhere, and that'll
be the end of it. If he doesn't pan out,
you're saddled with him for a second year. I mean,
to me, I look at this as sort of a
lose lose. I know, he wasn't their first priority. It
was sort of just, you know, the last man standing.
But I don't see any upside at all with DeAndre

(59:24):
Ayton unless they were to win a championship this season.

Speaker 3 (59:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (59:28):
I mean, here's the thing. This is what happens when
you sign a wild card player to fulfill your literal
number one priority that you've set on record to address
this offseason with getting the center position. Now, part of
that had to do with the fact that he's best
center available. They already struck out on Brook Lopez and
quint Capella wasn't available. So he settled for planed CD

(59:50):
or F or whatever. But the point that he made
about DeAndre and with his numbers is completely on point,
because if it was just about that, you would think
he's a great player, he's unstoppable. But the problem is he's
had a lot of injuries. He doesn't always perform consistently
when he's, you know, not the number one option, which

(01:00:10):
happens a lot. Sometimes he'll get frustrated. And I think
that this quote that he said to me last year,
in the midst of being with Portland, having a lot
of injuries, the scrutiny his time with Phoenix, I asked
if he had something to prove, and he said, this
is a direct quoie. He said, I don't have anything
to prove. I'm a MAX player and I'll continue to
be a MAX player. That did not sit well with

(01:00:30):
people in the organization, and he's not a MAX player
moving forward. I think it's also telling that there is
a recipe for him to have a quote unquote bounce
back year because of the reputation, because of the Lakers
championship history, and players like Lebron, James and Luca could
keep him in check. But Chris Paul kept him in
check in Phoenix, and he bought in, but then he

(01:00:51):
soured on it eventually, And so I think it's telling
talking to Michael Thompson. He's a proud Bahemian. He has
this kinship with DeAndre and if you know him well,
Michael is a Laker fan. He's very optimistic and so
he is of a believer that this will be the
redemption year. But I think it's very telling that Michael
talking to him. He talked about DeAndre Aiden's career as underachieving.

(01:01:15):
He projected him to be a multi year All Star
already and he hasn't been that because of what we
just outlined. He looks straight on paper, but he doesn't
utilize the talent to the best of his capabilities, and
a lot of it is self inflicted.

Speaker 3 (01:01:30):
In looking at the West right, you saw Denver pretty
much give OKAC their best run for their money in
the championship. We could sit here and argue if Haliburton
wouldn't have gone down, maybe the Patiers would be the
champions right now. I love what Houston did bringing in Katie,
and I like the moves that Denver made. If there

(01:01:53):
is a team outside the Lakers that you think can
upset the Apple Cart with OKC.

Speaker 1 (01:01:59):
Who is it?

Speaker 4 (01:02:01):
Yeah, I think it's what you mentioned. I would put
Houston the best team to challenge Okasee. And it's not
just Kevin Durant, who's obviously a huge player, because you
know he's had injury concerns ever since injuring his achilles
in twenty nineteen, but went on the floor. He's still
one of the most efficient scorers in the league. But
also what Houston didn't give up. They still have Aman Thompson,

(01:02:22):
who's a great wing player, one of the fastest players
in the league. They still have Alfern Goun who's morphing
into a very elite center. They have a great coach
in Imo Odoka, who's turned the teams the defensive identity around.
They also have another championship tested player, Bred van Leek,
great competitor, great locker room guy, great two way player.

(01:02:43):
I would put Denver Dennis third because you have an
MVP candidate in Nikoleokat Shamal Murray is healthier. The fact
that they traded Michael Porter Junior is huge because he
was a great player, great scorer, but he's an inconsistent defender,
and he also had a lot of injuries throughout his career.
But the fact that they're able to get Cam Johnson,

(01:03:04):
who is much more consistent as a two way player,
automatically thrust Denver back to the mix. You also throw
in the fact that they got Bruce Burrow Bowen in
the free agency market after losing him in free agency
two years ago. He was a very important wing defender
on their championship team in twenty twenty three. So as
of right now, I would put OKC number one, and

(01:03:27):
then number two Huston and then Denver three, and the
rest of the West is kind of up for perhaps
at this point.

Speaker 1 (01:03:34):
I know we're up against the clock.

Speaker 2 (01:03:35):
I got to sneak in one more, Anita, and I
gotta do this Yannis. Obviously they dumbed the Lillard. I
don't know why you'd be upset because he can't play
next year. You bring in Miles Turner, who's a solid player.
Didn't cost you an arm in a leg to get
Miles Turner. Is janis happy enough to want to stay
in Milwaukee. You look at his deal he signed through

(01:03:55):
twenty seven. Then he's got the player option for the
twenty seven to twenty eight season, and how's this all
going to play out for Giannis and Milwaukee.

Speaker 4 (01:04:03):
We'll make it quick staved per the clock, per Christains.
Giannis isn't happy that they waved Damian Lillward, but it's fine.
He wasn't gonna play next season anyway because of those chilies.
Dame's actually fine with that because open slate of rehabbing
options and he's still going to get paid. I don't
think Giannis is going to be upset enough to request
a trade, though, because it's in his nature to be loyal.

(01:04:24):
But they did get Miles Turner. He's a great center,
and so there's a lot of question marks about the Bucks.
But I do think the Bucks should trade Gianness just
to start over. They've lost three consecutive first round exits.
But I don't think Giannis is going to be angry
enough to say that one out.

Speaker 2 (01:04:38):
All right, great stuff, as always, Mark, very busy around
the association.

Speaker 1 (01:04:43):
Well check in with you next week. We appreciate it, Mark, thank.

Speaker 4 (01:04:45):
You, Dave and need to the best appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (01:04:48):
That's Mark Medina there, oh, Anita, we got a lot
to talk about it on the other side.

Speaker 1 (01:04:52):
But first, but first, let's find out what is trending
right now? Why do you look different to me all
of a sudden?

Speaker 5 (01:05:03):
Do you put your glasses on?

Speaker 6 (01:05:05):
Well?

Speaker 5 (01:05:05):
I do that to read. Those are my readers. I
can't see that well.

Speaker 10 (01:05:08):
I mean, I just I don't know. I can't answer
the question. Steve, I'm not inside that.

Speaker 1 (01:05:12):
Uh looks like he tilted his black Dodgers cap farther
back on his head. I was going to say, is
it a busy day today? Eh?

Speaker 10 (01:05:22):
Yeah, I mean ESPN is showing the Savannah Bananas right now.

Speaker 2 (01:05:26):
So they're the hottest team in baseball. Apparently they sold
that Angel Stadium twice. I think the Angels could do that.

Speaker 10 (01:05:32):
No, in fact, I know they can't do that right now.
I went to an Angels Tigers game earlier this season,
and it was more to park than it was to
actually watch the game.

Speaker 1 (01:05:43):
Yeah, that's but they're very popular. I love that stuff.

Speaker 5 (01:05:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (01:05:48):
So, we had actually two of the best teams in
baseball playing right now, the Detroit Tigers and the Los
Angeles Dodgers. Spent with Torkolsen just hit a home run
to give the Tigers and won nothing lead over the
Guardians show. Hey, so tiny pitching and hitting. Today's fifteen
pitches into his second inning on.

Speaker 5 (01:06:05):
A three to two count with nobody out.

Speaker 10 (01:06:07):
I think gave up a hit in his first Yeah,
gave up, excuse me, one hit in the top of
the first inning.

Speaker 5 (01:06:13):
But back out there now and yeah for one inning.

Speaker 10 (01:06:17):
Pitch complete, but he's as he delivers his the payoff
pitch to the first batter of the second inning. But
earlier today we saw the Twins beat the Ray six
to five, Cardinals beat the Clubs eight to six, Blue
Jays and extras four to three over the Angels, Red
Sox ten to three over the Nationals, Phillies five to
one over the Reds in extras. The Orioles beat the

(01:06:39):
Braves nine to six. That was a six to six
game for a most of it. The Mets just took
care of the Yankees twelve to six. Yankees in a
world of hurt. Recently, and the Diamondbacks beat the Royals
seven to one. Clark Schmidt expected to undergo Tommy John surgery.
Aaron Aaron Boone said that he had torn ucl and
At Wimbledon, Novak Jokovic became the third player in the

(01:07:01):
history of the Grass Tournament to reach one hundred victories
as he advances to the fourth round, so does Ben Shelton.

Speaker 5 (01:07:06):
Mike Brown, New York Knicks.

Speaker 10 (01:07:08):
Head coach, reportedly for four years forty million dollars.

Speaker 5 (01:07:11):
His new contract. It's not bad work, I can get
to Steve.

Speaker 1 (01:07:14):
No, No, that's not a bad job at all.

Speaker 2 (01:07:16):
Good stuff. I always appreciate Martin. Thank you very very much.

Speaker 1 (01:07:20):
And you got your show coming up with Zach Harper
right after ours. Looking forward to that. Once again.

Speaker 2 (01:07:25):
This is Fox Sports Saturday, Steve Hartman and Anita Marks
with you, coming to live from the Fox Sports Radio studios.

Speaker 1 (01:07:31):
Don't forget after the show.

Speaker 2 (01:07:32):
The podcast is going up, So if you miss any
of today's show, check out the podcast. Search Fox Sports
Radio wherever you get to podcasts, and follow and review
the podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:07:42):
Rate it five stars of course.

Speaker 2 (01:07:43):
Again, just search Fox Sports Radio wherever you get to
podcasts and you see today's show posted right after we
get off the air.

Speaker 1 (01:07:50):
Keep in our eye on show.

Speaker 2 (01:07:51):
Hey Otani right now, Anita, and he's in his second inning.

Speaker 1 (01:07:56):
This is his fourth start.

Speaker 2 (01:07:58):
First two starts one inning each, last start two innings.
He's gonna go two innings again today.

Speaker 1 (01:08:04):
Do you get excited? About baseball.

Speaker 2 (01:08:07):
I mean, is it something that you really get excited about.
I know, from a gambling standpoint, baseball is a tricky sport.
I've known people that make money on baseball, a lot
of money actually, but it's not something that people are
always talking about. As I mentioned, when we talk about countdown,
they're talking WNBA, not Major League Baseball.

Speaker 6 (01:08:28):
Right.

Speaker 3 (01:08:29):
By the way, the Dodgers, I had them on the
money line coming into this matchup at minus one, considering
they got spanked yesterday in their own ballpark. Tani, I
do believe he's going to have a longer leash today.
The bullpen at full disposal. I think we see Tanner,
Scott Houston, has Valdez. He's got a forty eight percent
hard hit rate, which is bottom ten major League Baseball

(01:08:49):
against this Dodgers lineup. So I do like the Dodgers.
As you said, they're already up one to zero top
of the second. But to answer your question, I live
here in New York. I have to be dude.

Speaker 5 (01:08:59):
Yeah, I know.

Speaker 2 (01:09:01):
Well, by the way, the Mets did a number on
the Yankees today.

Speaker 1 (01:09:04):
What's wrong with the Yankees?

Speaker 3 (01:09:06):
Well, now Schmidt, they're saying he's gonna have Tommy John
So now you know.

Speaker 1 (01:09:12):
By the way, okay, can I stop you for a
second here.

Speaker 2 (01:09:15):
So I grew up a million years ago when actually
pitchers through complete games, I mean, as many as thirty
complete games in a year was not outrageous by any stretch.
I remember one year Mickey Loulitch with the Tigers through
three hundred and seventy six innings in one season, three
hundred and seventy six. We were talking about this other
day because I was at the Kershaw game.

Speaker 1 (01:09:37):
Well, I was sort of there.

Speaker 2 (01:09:38):
I was doing TV, so one of those things where
I was doing a preview and a lie from Dodgers
Stadium on TV for the four of the five to
six o'clock I was there out there right and then
you know, but they say, well, you got to get
back to the studio by eight to fifteen. We got
some rehearsal stuff you gotta do. I got no problem.
Three innings against the White Sox. He'll get three strikeouts
at three innings. No, he didn't. And I had a

(01:10:00):
leave and I actually missed the moment when he got
to three thousand. By the way, if starting pitching, he
continues as it is, he will be the last pitcher
with three thousand strikeouts.

Speaker 1 (01:10:09):
Just do the math.

Speaker 2 (01:10:09):
They're not even going to pitch enough innings for any
pitcher ever to get to three thousand career strikeouts. But
it just seems crazy. I mean, the Dodgers arm injuries everywhere.
The less these guys pitch, the greater the degree of injuries.
I mean, the old time, they never had these kind
of injuries. Ever, these guys could pitch year after year,
two fifty two, seventy.

Speaker 1 (01:10:31):
To three hundred innings year after year. Well, what did
they throw his hard? That's the point, in other words,
the idea of a pitcher. I remember many conversations with
pitcher and this was like in the early nineties when
already we're seeing a slight transition in terms of expecting
pitchers to go nine innings, maybe it was eight innings
or seven innings.

Speaker 2 (01:10:51):
And the pitchers that would go nineties always say this, Anita, Look,
every bat, we would set up the hitter for the
next to bat. So I'm looking at the lineup, I'm
going in the mindset I'm going to see this guy
three or four times during the course of the game.
So the way I pitch him the first time is
going to be different than the second time, and you're
not just sitting there trying to throw the ball one
hundred miles an hour on every pitch. I don't know

(01:11:12):
where where are the analytics here? You're paying an insane
amount of money because all these contracts are.

Speaker 1 (01:11:18):
Guaranteed for zero production. It doesn't make any sense.

Speaker 2 (01:11:22):
I don't know who came up with the analytics that
you don't you know, like swing as hard as you can.
It is the best thing to do if you strike
out all the time, or just throw the ball as
hard as gam for as long as you can.

Speaker 1 (01:11:33):
It's stupidity.

Speaker 2 (01:11:34):
And so it just drives me nuts that somehow people
are making millions of dollars laying out these analytics that
are costing these franchises millions of dollars in unproductive salary.

Speaker 3 (01:11:50):
It's just and we see this. It's you know, in
the NBA now it's become a three point shooting game,
right in Major League Baseball. You know, it's it's it's
about the hundred mile per hour fastball. And you know
you're forcing your body to throw a ball in a
very unnatural nature that your body was not built to do.

(01:12:15):
And doing that consistently, it's gonna break down and you're
gonna get injured. So no, it's it's it's not it's
not the wisest thing. But to go back to your question,
you know it's unfortunate. I don't know why baseball. Well,
I okay. One of my beliefs is the reason that

(01:12:36):
I think the w n b A is so successful
is because now you've got this like, you know, larger
than life, Caitlin Clark, that's taken over the world. Right,
so now people are watching, Uh the w n b A.
Major League Baseball doesn't have that player. I like, like,
I think it's.

Speaker 1 (01:12:55):
Really what about does he move the needle?

Speaker 3 (01:12:58):
Who know who can? Who can connect with him?

Speaker 5 (01:13:02):
Right?

Speaker 3 (01:13:02):
He's got a translator, you don't. You don't see him
on a lot of Major League baseball is missing personalities
that people can connect to and and like or hate
and want to watch either have success or have major failure.

(01:13:24):
They don't have those people. They don't have those athletes,
so nobody's tuning in. It's it really, it's it's it's unfortunate.
It really is unfortunate. I mean, you can't you look
at the stadiums, you look at city. You look at
at Yankee Stadium, seats are empty. Folks don't want to
go to baseball games anymore. It's not the same Steve.

Speaker 2 (01:13:45):
All right, So I'm one hundred percent on the same
page with you on the Otani situation for much of
the reasons you do.

Speaker 1 (01:13:51):
This is what I mean. People might take this the
wrong way. Don't. It's just a fact.

Speaker 2 (01:13:56):
The fact is is that if you're a foreign born
player and speak a different language, and you have value
to an American team, where obviously more people speak English
than any other language here in this country, you need
to learn the language. I remember Fernando Vevenezuela, so he
broke in. This was a nineteen twenty year old kid.
He had an interpreter for three years. By year four,

(01:14:19):
Fernando was speaking English. I remember I Vladimir Guerrero played
seventeen years in Major League baseball, never uttered a word
of English, which is one of the reasons he wasn't
a marketable player, even if he was a Hall of
Fame player. And now we got sho Heyo Tani seven
eight years in a Major League baseball celebrating, by the way,

(01:14:41):
his thirty first birthday today. Why is there still an interpreter.

Speaker 3 (01:14:45):
There that probably doesn't want to doesn't want that.

Speaker 1 (01:14:48):
You can't tell, well, you can't tell. I know he
knows English speak it. It would make a world.

Speaker 2 (01:14:55):
Of difference from a marketing standpoint. You know, the doctors
aren't going to do anything that's disrupt I get it.

Speaker 1 (01:15:00):
I mean, he'd have.

Speaker 3 (01:15:01):
More requests for interviews, he'd be asked to do more.
Probably doesn't want it. It probably doesn't want it. And like,
I'm just gonna use this as an example. I'm totally
different sport, individual sport, not a team sport, but still
kind of It's still I find it fascinating with what's
happened with Bryson D. Shambeau went as one of the
most hated golfers, hated right like the mad scientist right like,

(01:15:25):
and was very self absorbed. Thought he knew it all,
designed his own clubs, knew it better than anyone else.
And then and then the PGA Tour came out and said, hey,
whoever gets the most followers, whoever gets the most social
media interaction, gets an extra million dollars three million dollars

(01:15:46):
at the end of the year. Bryson D. Shambo dove
into that like nobody's business. Now everyone loves him.

Speaker 1 (01:15:55):
He's the guy out side. That's the joke of the
whole thing. I mean, yes, this is the PGA Tour
anything still loved.

Speaker 4 (01:16:02):
But whenever he.

Speaker 3 (01:16:02):
Plays in a major he's got more people following him.

Speaker 1 (01:16:07):
He's signing all the autographs.

Speaker 6 (01:16:08):
He scutty, I.

Speaker 3 (01:16:09):
Know, but why Because he's become a personality that people
can connect to through social All.

Speaker 2 (01:16:17):
I know is if if you work for a company
and you're a high profile employee of that company, they're
always going to ask you to go the extra mile.
That's normal, but apparently not in the sports world. All right,
coming up on the other side, Anita, I'm gonna hold
you to it. Some plays coming up. I'm keeping an

(01:16:38):
eye right now on this Sparks Fever game. Tight score
right now, three minutes to go in the second quarter.
This is Fox Sports Saturday, Steve Harvin and Anita Marks
Fox Sports Saturday once again live from the Fox Sports
Radio studios. Want to thank our crew today, Martin Weiss
getting ready for a show with Carrie Rhodes. I understand.

(01:17:00):
So you and Carrie coming up next right here on
Fox Sports Radio. Mary Mack uh to be Mary Mack.
She just has fun in life, and that's the way
it's supposed to be. Ian also has fun as our producer,
but sometimes he gets pretty serious. What sort of comes
with the job. I understand that, Ian, But great job

(01:17:22):
by everybody out there, by the way, Anita. These days,
I split my time between La and Phoenix. I'm in
LA because I got a ton of TV work over
the last couple of weeks, but I will be heading
back to Phoenix Wednesday. The temperature that day will be
one fifteen fifteen, yeah, one fifty. But it's a dry heat,

(01:17:44):
you know, well, it seemed like a lot of chapstick.
It's not even that people like I said, there's like
zero percent humidity. You know, it's dry. It's like it's
like oven heat as what I call it. You know,
like we're you you are, you're gonna get humidity. My son,
my oldest son, was just in New York a couple

(01:18:04):
of weeks ago, and it was just unbearable, he said.
With the humidity was right through the roof. Oh yeah,
he said, it was ninety percent human It's like two
two three weeks ago.

Speaker 5 (01:18:14):
Two weeks ago.

Speaker 1 (01:18:15):
He was there and the humidity was off the charts.

Speaker 2 (01:18:17):
Uh, you sense pictures. I mean when you're not grilling,
I mean you're enjoying the pool time.

Speaker 1 (01:18:22):
It looks beautiful. I mean, blue skies and everything else
look wonderful.

Speaker 3 (01:18:26):
Isn't that a fun pool?

Speaker 1 (01:18:27):
That is a fun pool? Yes, it is.

Speaker 3 (01:18:29):
It's it's I tried to like, you know, it's an
above ground pool, and I try to explain it. It's
kind of it's like adult swinkie pool.

Speaker 1 (01:18:35):
Yea, right, but it but it works. But it is
the humidity intense right now?

Speaker 3 (01:18:39):
Or no, we've had we've had a horrible spring. I
mean the amount of rain, the amount of rain we've
had here is just it's it's it's definitely it's. Uh,
it's what's the word I'm looking for. It's put a
damper on my pickleball game.

Speaker 2 (01:18:55):
Oh that's right, you're pick a ball game. Yeah, yep, yeah,
you gotta be careful with that halftime. By the way,
Fever leading the Sparks by.

Speaker 3 (01:19:02):
Three and the Dodgers are up now two. Oh how
long do you think Otani goes?

Speaker 1 (01:19:08):
They said yesterday he was only going to go two winnings.
That's it.

Speaker 5 (01:19:12):
That's all.

Speaker 1 (01:19:13):
They said he was going to do two winnings.

Speaker 2 (01:19:15):
They didn't use anybody, like I said, so weird with
the Dodgers, you know, here they are with the best
record in baseball game ahead of the Tigers and keithke
A Hernandez and Miguel Rojas, two position players have each
pitched in like half a.

Speaker 1 (01:19:28):
Dozen games this year.

Speaker 2 (01:19:29):
Like either they're blowing out somebody or they're getting blown
out because they've run out of arms. They are supposedly
getting glass now back soon. He pitched a really good
game minor league rehab start, so he'll be back soon,
you know. But obviously they're not going to take any
chance of Otani. What they want is a healthy Otani

(01:19:49):
come October. That's their priority. They're not worried about games
right now when you're sitting atop the West by what
six or seven games. So yeah, they're not going to
force Outani. I mean, he wants to pitch more, they're
just not going to let him yet. It'll come soon.
Any other games you like to tout coming up here
on the Ledger this week? Anything spark your interest?

Speaker 3 (01:20:11):
No, And I like what you did there, because the
Sparks are down by three at the half but not.
I mean, really, what's going on?

Speaker 1 (01:20:20):
Well, that's my whole point.

Speaker 2 (01:20:22):
I mean, I guess it's just w n B A
w NBA WNBA, that's all it is. I mean, it's
just unreal how we've suddenly come to a time where
people are like, give me some give me some WNBA
fan for me, SIM want to make a bet.

Speaker 3 (01:20:38):
This is this is, this is what we've amounted to.
I'm looking at the games tomorrow. I mean, listen, you've
you've got the Liberty at home against the storm and
Liberty are favored by five and a half at home.
I like the Liberty going Liberty.

Speaker 5 (01:20:54):
There it is.

Speaker 2 (01:20:55):
We'll break down all the WNB four and it's great
to catch up with you. As always, We'll do it
again down the line. Keep it here on Fox Sports Radio.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Fox Sports Radio News

Host

Jonas Knox

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

The Joe Rogan Experience

24/7 News: The Latest

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Steve Hartman & Anita Marks Talk NBA Free Agency Madness, NFL Trades & More!