The Bernie Fratto Show talks Lakers Early First Round Exit, NBA Playoff Format, Henry Ruggs, & MORE!

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Well that's right, you heard demand that time of week.
My name is Bernie Frattle. We are coming to line
from the Fox Sports Radio compound here in Las Vegas.
We'll take you up to three am Pacific, six am Eastern.
And my goodness, do we have another jam pack show
for you right on cue another big week at another

(00:25):
big day. By the way, if you had sovereignty in
the Kentucky Derby, congratulations, you backed the right horse. Apparently
he was a mutter, maybe his mother was a mutter.
But you are a winner if you backed sovereignty. I
unfortunately had pile my on a tip from Raffie Cifaretto.

(00:46):
And if you didn't watch the Sopranos you didn't get
that reference, Shame on you. And as you had the
Clippers and James Harden today, well I think he backed
the wrong horse. And if you had the Lakers, you
serve lead back the wrong horse. And I've waited for
three four days now to get this narrative off my chest.

(01:07):
I want to reframe it. I want to establish the
real narrative, because the narrative that's been banned about is
what I honestly object to see. I realize that there
are some folks walking the planet. I won't mention any names,
you know, like Nick Wright or Shannon Sharp, who just
believe it just simply the Lakers god given right to win.
And when they lose, you know, Lebron's always got some

(01:30):
lame excuse. And we're going to get to JJ Reddick,
and we're going to get to a lot of it.
But what I really want to do is establish the
real narrative, or at least pose it in the form
of a question, did the Lakers lose or did Minnesota win?
Come on, man, sit on here? Does anybody anywhere want
to give the Timberwolves a modicum of credit for the

(01:52):
way they scouted the Lakers, the way they played the Lakers.
I want to share some inconvenient truths about your Los
Angeles Lakers, who, by the way, ended this season by
losing nine straight games on the road. And we'll have
Mark Medeena on in about eighteen minutes, and we'll revisit that,
ever so briefly, because I wondered if that might be

(02:13):
a peccadillo when the playoffs started, you gotta win on
the road. Hello, and the Lakers finished the season by
losing ninth straight road games, including two on the road.
This is the team in February, it was being compared
to know Bill Russell's Celtics, right because just because, What
if I told you that the Big three of Luca,

(02:34):
Lebron and Austin Reeves while they were on the floor
against Minnesota for one hundred and forty cumulative minutes, we're
accumulative minus twenty four in points. Oh, by the way,
did the Lakers fool like a cheap chair late in
every game? You tell me? Minnesota closed Game three on
a thirteen to one run, They closed Game four on

(02:55):
a five zero run, and Game five on a sixteen
to eight run. What if I were to tell you
that the Lakers were outstored, outscored excuse me, excuse me
cumulatively in the fourth quarter in the series one twenty
seven to eighty five. Did the Lakers lose? Or did
Minnesota just beat them like a rented mule? What if

(03:18):
I told you points in the paint Minnesota had two
hundred and fifty, the Lakers had one hundred and seventy four.
That's a seventy six point discrepancy. Propagated over five games,
which comes out to what almost sixteen points a game
on the paint and the deficit. What if I told
you the second chance points? Minnesota also led ninety four

(03:39):
to sixty nine. Oh, Nick, right, I'm paging you again.
After Minnesota's twenty one of forty two performance from behind
the arc in game one, he proclaimed, well, they're not
going to be able to do that again, And I
go one on my shirt and said they're not going
to have to. And Game five I arrest my case.
Minnesota was a an impressive seven of forty seven from

(04:03):
three point land. They missed forty three pointers, They shot
fifteen percent from behind the arc, and still won by
seven points. And how about Luca. They rushed him, they
blitzed him, they targeted him, they trapped him. How if
I had a nickel for every time, especially in the
final two games, Luca would bring the ball up before

(04:23):
and cross the timeline and they would trap him. They
bothered him badly, and that did not allow the Lakers
to get into their offensive set, as whatever their offensive
set was going to be as valuable. Seconds ticked off,
and then I mentioned Luca doesn't want to play defense.

(04:44):
I'm sorry, I've been doing this too long. Luca's been
a pro eight years in in the NBA, He's been
a pro twelve years. This is who he is. His
body is not a temple. It looks like an amusement park.
I don't know what he eats. I don't care what
he eats. And I get it he's a prolific scorer.

(05:04):
But when they blow by you nine times in Game five,
you're I'm looking at a guy who doesn't want to
play defense. Defense is desire. We're gonna get to that
more a little later heading into the series. And actually
the headline should be in the series ant Man versus
camp Man because Lebron, you couldn't do when it mattered most,
don't tell me you could, and don't give me this crap.

(05:25):
Well I got Well, I gotta think about it and
talk about wife and talk to talk to the family
and talked about battle, and we'll see if I come back,
and shut up. You're coming back next year, and you're
coming back the year after. I'll guaranteed minimum two more years,
probably three. You know I know that because the minute
Lebron decides he's not coming back, he'll announce it. A
year ahead of time, so you can get your your

(05:45):
balloons in parades ready. He's gonna want the cream. Abdul
Jabbar farewell tour. The self proclaimed Kingdom Goat is gonna say,
celebrate me please. We're not getting rid of this guy
for at least two more years, probably three. But heading
into the playoff, Minnesota knew one thing. The Lakers ranked
fifteenth in opponent fast break points, which is a sign

(06:06):
of both poor transition defense and an inferior lack of
athleticism to recover. When Minnesota decided they were going to
push the pace that Chicago Bulls back to back victory
that I talked to Mark Mendina about about a month ago,
I asked him if that was the blueprint, because the
Timberwolves constantly capitalized on broken plays and poor rotations. They

(06:28):
burned the Lakers with easy points before the defense could set.
And this is all against the backdrop of massive, sky
high expectations. When Luca was added to the roster on
February second, and then there became this resurgent Lebron James,
the Lakers, they all told us they were expected to
contend for the title. I never said that to be fair.

(06:50):
I never predicted Minnesota would beat the Lakers either, but
I wasn't buying them his team, and I don't want
to hear this crap with Luca. We didn't have time
to mesh. Shut up. You had plenty of time to mesh.
And here's how I know that because in February sixteenth,
nineteen eighty nine, the Dallas Mavericks sounds familiar. They traded
Mark McGuire to my Detroit Pistons for Adrian Dantley, similar situation.

(07:14):
Mcguired were not as welcome in Dallas. They wanted him
to lose weight, he didn't play a lot of defense,
a little bit of a malcontent. I'm not saying Luke
was a malcotent, not at all. February sixteenth, nineteen eighty nine, Well,
that had plenty of time to mesh. And Pistons went
on to win back to back titles coached by Chuck
Dailey eighty nine, eighty nine to ninety beat the Lakers
in eighty nine and in Portland ninety. But I digress.

(07:39):
The truth of the matter is Minnesota one. They thoroughly
outplayed the Lakers in every facet of the game. They
beat the Lakers in five games. Basically, it was a
combination of size, rebounding dominance. The Lakers struggled with their
fast break defense. The Timberwolves also exploited the Lakers defensive limitations,

(08:04):
particularly around Anthony Edwards, and he benefitted from the added
motivation motivation excuse me because he was an underdog. This
is kind of a bullet point breakdown that I prepared.
The te Wolves had a size of rebounding advantage. They
possessed a significant size advantage, and they knew how to
take advantage of it, particularly with Rudy Gobert twenty seven points,

(08:28):
twenty four rebounds he'd been averaging six to three. They
dominated the Lakers on the glass, especially in that final game.
This allowed them to get more offensive rebounds and more
second chance points. Secondly, the fast break defense the Lakers
go back and rewatch the games. They massively struggled with
transition defense that allowed the Timberwolves to easily score on
fast break situations. How about the you know, the Lakers

(08:52):
defensive scheme which was designed on stopping Anthony Edwards, that
all that did was creating mismatches and opportunities for other
two Timberwolves and for their players to thrive it step up,
and they did. How about the motivation of the underdog role?
The Timberwolves entered this series as the underdog. I get it.
They were a six seed, but they swept Denver. Last year,
Denver swept the Lakers. The t Wolves made it to

(09:15):
the NBA Conference Finals last year. Coincidentally, they lose to
Luca on Dallas. This year, they smoked Luca. And let's
not forget the Lakers' offensive struggles. The Lakers missed a
significant number of open shots, especially in the fourth quarter
of the last three games, that hurt their comeback efforts.
Rudy Gobert, that Game five will go down in history

(09:37):
for the Rudy Gobert fans and anybody who follows the NBA.
The standout performance twenty seven points, twenty four rebounds, and
give it up to ants impact. This is a man
with tremendous offensive prowess and what he did with that
was put the Lakers in a difficult position, forcing them
to commit to him defensively, which opened up opportunities for

(09:57):
other t Wolves players. And he didn't play great game
in Game five, and he admitted it. The Lakers struggled
to capitalize on the opportunities they created, particularly in the
fourth quarter. All Right, Anthony Edwards, like I said, the
star who people are falling in love with, Some are,
some are whatever. In Game five, just fifteen points on

(10:20):
five to nineteen shooting, missed all eleven of his threes.
But I've told you that before the game. But you
think the Lakers were lost by seven? But they had
another breakout star and Jade McDaniels. He had eight points
and three rebounds in eighteen minutes. Yes, he filed out,
but he was impactful. Naz Reid three points, two rebounds. Okay,
none of that mattered though. Even though McDaniels, Edwards, and

(10:41):
nas Reed did not have great games, it didn't matter
because the Wolves out rebounded the Lakers fifty four to
thirty seven that night, outscored them twenty two to four,
and bench points twenty to ten, and second chance points
in fifty six to forty in the paint. That was
just Game five. Julius Randall shook off early fouled trouble.
He finished with twenty three points, five rebounds, four assists,

(11:04):
and added all up. It was a gritty, gutty win
victory for a team the Minnesota Timberwolves that had really
needed to prove they could do that much of this season.
But if you go back from the start of the
series to the end, the t Wolves were the better team,
the deeper team, certainly the hungrier team. They build enough

(11:26):
momentum and it's seventeen to four. Finished down the stretch
very quietly in the NBA season, and they were undaunted
by the fact that they were going up against the
three seed with Luca and the Lakers and Lebron. Mike Connley,
who I'd been a fan of since he was Ohio State,
said to see that it wasn't a fluke. I want
you to see that we came in and we did this.

(11:48):
We were the team we think we can be, regardless
of who they had over there. It says a lot
about our resiliency and patience through this whole deal. Conley
had a key three pointer late in the game to
give the Wolfs some cushion. In the elimination game, the
series began crazy with Laker arrogance. You know, it was
a vast majority of national punnits picked them to win

(12:10):
in five gentlemen sweep. I swear I heard Shannon sharpersay
and they would go on to beat Okay, see if
I didn't, I didn't, I don't know. I haven't been drinking.
But it's really funny. When the t Wolves won Game one,
the Lakers do a little pro clutching because Anthony Edwards
taunted him, and he taunted Luka doncik And what did

(12:30):
they say? Oh boy, you awakened the monster. How dare
you poke the bear? The Wolves are cooked now, by
the way, on Wednesday night, Luca did score twenty eight points,
but he was just seven to eighteen from the field
and two of eight from behind the arc, and he
couldn't guard a park car. And you know it. But
oh no, the Lakers punted, says, you act like you've

(12:51):
been there before, t Wolves. That's what the echo chambers said.
When the Lakers even the series after Game two, they
all laughed at Minnesota's confidence buckled how loudly Minnesota celebrated
in Game one and even whispered about how immature they were.
They went out and enjoyed the LA nightlife where they
were in town. Unless we forget the t Wolves managed

(13:12):
to win two or three games played in Los Angeles. Finally,
it was went on after the series was tied at one.
The Plundets went on to say, Luca and Lebron will
own the timber Wolves and clutch situations. Yeah. Sure, Well,
during the season, the Wolves are one of the worst
clutch teams in the league, but they were completely different
when the playoffs started. Three to five games were decided

(13:35):
in the clutch what I would consider in the clutch,
and the Wolves were three and zero with the best
offensive rating one hundred and seventy points per one hundred
possessions and the second best defensive rating eighty two point four.
In the playoffs, they outscored the Lakers by forty two
points in the fourth coarter in the series, and all
the characterization about the Lakers being a juggernaut and the

(13:56):
Wolves being mere roadkill, the Lakers won one more game
in the regular season than the t Wolves did, and
once Luca joined them on the court, they were frankly
only nineteen and thirteen with the fourteenth raded offense in
the seventeenth rated defense. So there you have it. But hell,
the Wolves were nineteen and ten over that same span,
but got no respect. They had the sixth graded offense

(14:17):
at the nine raded defense and a plus seven to
one rating. The Wolves entered that series believing they were
the better team, and they proved it. That's the narrative.
The Lakers didn't lose this series and blow it, the
t Wolves won it. Coming up, we dive much deeper
into this and a bunch of other NBA news with

(14:37):
our guy Mark Medina. I'm Bernie Frattle. Were comedy line
from the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. Here in
Las Vegas. Keep it locked. You're listening to the Bernie
Frattle Show on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (14:48):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsportsradio dot
com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
All right back on the Bernie Fraderick Show Fox Sports Radio.
Come your live from the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio
Studios will take you up to three in Pacific, six
am Eastern. We have so much to get to tonight
as usual, three simple words. It's that time. Mark Medina
Medina Magic are Fox Sports Radio Guru, NBA guru, and

(15:23):
he saw it all up close and personal, and uh, Mark,
I'm gonna do kind of a rapid fire deal with
the Lakers we'll move on to other things, but I
want to start with this. I'd mentioned after Game one,
I saw some things that were concerning that I thought
would would carry over, and I believe they did. I
don't know if you're in my opening monologue, I gave

(15:45):
a lot of damning numbers that were inconvenient truce about
the Lakers. Listen, you can bring back the big three, Luca,
Lebron and Austin Reigion. You probably should, but I feel
like there're problems run very deep, and I'm gonna start
with this Mark Williams. Okay, there's this narrative Mark that
they just needed the center, and Rudy Gobert exposed that well.

(16:08):
After the trade that didn't happen, Mark Williams went on
to average fifteen points and ten rebounds. Could you take
us behind the curtain and find out why they kind
of botched that trade?

Speaker 4 (16:18):
Yeah, I mean they claim that he didn't pass his
medical I mean his injury concerns are well documented now.
Earlier in the season, I had talked to Mark Williams
and he was adamant the injuries are behind him. I
think that there was also a little bit of buyers
for more so the adult connect really good shooter rookie,
you know, the idea that he'll continue to develop, but

(16:39):
they were able to rescind it. But the Lakers knew
and we all knew that they were going to be
exposed defensively. But surprisingly they held their own the regular
season with their defense with Jackson Hayes, small ball lineups,
and neither those options were really sustainable in the playoffs
because the caliber play is better game as a you know,

(17:00):
the opponent has more time to adjust. So I think
that was the issue number one, issue number two. You know,
Luka Doncic. He was brilliant, but also sometimes showing bad
habits of playing too much ice football, dealing with the
ailments with his health, and then Lebron father times studding, uh,
you know, more and more prevalent around his style play.

(17:22):
So you add all that up and it wasn't a
good mook.

Speaker 2 (17:24):
Every so quickly they were starving for points at the
end of every game. The te Wolves closed him out
in games three, four, and five with substantia runs. They
ras scored by forty two points Q in the fourth quarter.
Dalton Connect couldn't have helped him at all. In Game five,
I don't want to. I don't want to be second guests,
you know, Monday morning quarterback. But I was going to
bring up Dalton connect and I'm glad you did. He

(17:47):
couldn't have helped him. You know what, take us inside
the Ivory tower in the game five or team four
when No One, no One came off the bench.

Speaker 4 (17:56):
Yeah, I think they're calculus. Well, what No One connect
is he's a good shooter, but he he had fallen
out of the rotation because he hadn't been consistent elsewhere.
You know, the the calculus why they went with their
starters in game five is that's what was working. Game
four was that's what was working at the time. They
went on a run to open the fourth quarter, and
I think at that point, JJ Reddick was starting to

(18:17):
feel uncomfortable. Okay, even if I make an adjustment, all
of a sudden, the game is going to turn the
other way. There were also not really any dead ball situations,
and he didn't want to burn a time out just
to get a sub in in case he needed in
the final minutes. So it didn't help that they that
he played all his starters because of fatigue and just

(18:38):
having you know, some depth but I think if the
Lakers took care of all the other things, Luke of
being a better version of himself, Lebron being a better
version of himself. You know, he had some lake A
Miski's misshots, turnovers, and you know the small ball lineup
at least providing more perimeter defense than they did, it
wouldn't have been an issue. I would also to say

(19:01):
if the rests got the tripping call right on Luca,
Doctor J McDaniels told me he was adamant that Lucas
stepped on his foot, not the other way around, but
the NBA determined otherwise.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yeah, fair enough, And I'm not going to beat JJ
Reddick oft for his rotation. They almost pulled it off, Okay,
they did, so let's just leave that there. But I
think I want to get some more very pertinent issues.
It makes my teeth itch when I heard Lucas say
things like, well I'll get on and you get there
to February second, we do have time to mesh'. That's
bullvine scatology. I'm gonna tell you why I was a
stringer for the Bad Boy Pistons Chuck Day on February sixteenth,

(19:35):
nineteen to eighty nine, the Pistons acquired Mark McGuire coincidentally
from Dallas. John McLeod didn't like him anymore for Adrian Dantley.
McGuire said he wanted to lose weight. He'd been a
bit of a malcontent, didn't play a lot of defense. Well,
they meshed, and the Pistons went on to win back
to back championships. I don't know how meshing those two
months would have helped the fact that Mark I couldn't

(19:58):
believe it. Luca had the ball up the court, cross
the timeline, they would trap him. Now, Lucas so skilled
he found a way to pass out of it, maybe
behind the back pass or whatever, some dipsy doodle, and
all of a sudden, valuable seconds are coming off the clock.
The Lakers can't get into their offensive set, and they
had many poor possessions because they kept trapping him, because

(20:21):
it was lack of athleticism. You got the floor, You
know what I'm trying to say. Just respond to that.

Speaker 4 (20:26):
Yeah, I mean, look, two things can be true once more.
Time together is beneficial though iron out chemistry even more.
But I'm with you at the broader point that they
had plenty of time to become a really good duo,
and they were a good duo but in the regular
season when their defense was up to snuff, and so
I think what they need more time for is the
Lakers to construct a better roster around Luca and Lebron.

(20:49):
I think in the playoffs, as I mentioned before, Luca
was playing too much isoball to my like and I
understood a Game one because no one was hitting shots,
but it became more and more prevalent that he was
doing that, even when you know he was feeling sick
in Game three and nursing an injury back in Game five.
But again, if the Lakers had better defense, more consistency

(21:12):
with the rest of the rotation, I don't think the
so called chemistry issues would have been there. So yeah,
next season they're going to be better with more time,
That's always what happens. But the bigger factor is will
there be a better supporting cast around him? And we'll
have to wait and see. I mean the Roe Polenka
is his press conference this week, he said that the
biggest priority is, you know, addressing their center situation, but

(21:34):
he also even though they do have a lot of wings,
he wants to see what else is available, So let's
just put this to rest. I don't see the Lakers
big game hunting because I don't think they have a
lot of assets to work with, even if Janna Sante
Tokunpo is available. But you know, think of guys like
Miles Turner or you know Brook Lopez for Milwaukee, like

(21:55):
those are the kind of centers that are more realistic
that they'll be able to get and then we'll see
what I of them.

Speaker 2 (22:00):
We'll talk more about this in the coming weeks. But
good luck with that, Lakers, because all your rosters under contract,
I think, except for maybe Jackson Hayes. Ironically, the last
thing I'll say, Mark is this, and I'm going to
make a very bold statement, and it may may ruffle
some feathers. I trust my eyes. They tell me a lot.
Luca doesn't want to play defense. I see nine blowbys

(22:21):
in a single game. Defense is desire. This is not
you can say he's only twenty six, he's been in
the NBA eight years and he's been a professional basketball
player twelve years. This is who he is. Every year
that goes by, his body looks more like an amusement
park than a temple. I have no faith. I have
no faith that this guy is going to get on

(22:41):
the treadmill and want to play defense. Is nothing more
than desire. I don't see him Mark. You got the response.

Speaker 4 (22:48):
Yeah, I think he's still young. He's with the Lakers.
He knows this is a blank slate. I also saw
him play defense in the regular season. Again, I think
that because he wasn't feeling the burden to produce so
much offensively because everyone else is struggling, that gave him
more energy to provide on defense, as well as the
fact that there was a good amount of supporting cast

(23:11):
help around him, or it wasn't on him to be
the defensive guru. His calling cards always going to be
scoring it. Don't get me wrong, but I do think
I am relatively optimistic that he can come into even
next season not seen as a defensive liability. He's not
going to make an all defensive team, and I'm not
going to trust sell anyone of billi goods on that,

(23:33):
but I do think that he'll have a buy in
of being in better shape, getting his health right, and
just gained more acclimated. I mean, again, they they're in
this kind of middle area here because when they made
the trade.

Speaker 5 (23:46):
I didn't.

Speaker 4 (23:46):
I thought that day he could be a contender. It
was more of a lightning a bottle chance. I still
thought they're a flawed roster because of what we're talking
about with when you give up someone like Anthony Davis.
They didn't have a lot of defensive depth outside of
Jared Vanderbilt. But it was more about a long term
play off getting Luca another star for you know, the

(24:06):
final years of Lebron James Post Lebron Bron. At the
same time, this was disappointing. They were supposed to at
least get the second round, and while the circumstances are
completely different, they ended the season the same way as
it did last season, where they lost in the first
round in five games. So it's definitely underwhelming to say
the least.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
Well, it's you're never gonna like the way you lost Mark,
But when you look at the plus minus with Luca,
Lebron and Austin Reeves on the floor of minus twenty four,
Minnesota closing their games out with big runs in the
final three, Lakers getting outscored massively in the fourth quarter,
getting owned on points in the paint, second chance points

(24:47):
right on down the line. They were beaten like a
red and mule. Okay, they were soundly. Let's just move on.
I'm tired of ab Lebron's got to think it over.
He'll be He'll be in legal least three more years.
I'm standing on that.

Speaker 4 (25:00):
Oh he's back with the Lakers. He's got fifty two
million reasons why so, yeah, we'll know when he's.

Speaker 2 (25:05):
Going to retire. He'll give a three year notice and
he'll say I want everybody to give me a parade.
You'll know. And so let's just move on. Look, I
think you've been fair and objective about throughout the throughout
the way. And now listen, Uh, the Lakers are are
a polarizing franchise. Now, they're an iconic franchise in history,
the lexicon of sports. But but they're they're a they're
they're a team of eras. And this era is turning

(25:28):
into a clown era in my humble opinion. And I
didn't bring up Brownie this time. We'll just let's just
let's just hold on to that.

Speaker 4 (25:35):
Well, I guess technically you did.

Speaker 2 (25:37):
You're right, I just didn't. I All right, shame on me.
All right, let's move along. Ever So, quickly, Greg Popovich
steps down your thoughts.

Speaker 4 (25:47):
Yeah, it's uh, there's a lot of emotions or I
don't think it should be surprising given what's happened with
his health this past year. But you just think, you know,
when you have the winniness coach of all time, you
start thinking, Okay, well he's just going to keep coaching forever, right,
And obviously that's that could never happen. But he's just
been such an iconic coach with helping the Spurs win

(26:11):
five championships in different eras. You know, first it was
all about with Tim Duncan, and you know, with David Robinson,
and then Tim Dunker with Monti Genoboli and Tony Parker,
and then all those three guys, both with Kawhi Leonard
and there's just so many different imprints that he's had.
Obviously we talked about the winning, but just his role

(26:31):
with the international player you know, international games growth. I mean,
he and the Spurs for ant office were really good
with evaluating foreign talent knowing how to use them. Well,
you know, Moni Genobili and Tony Parker became you know,
gems that were all stars and they were unknown prospects.
And just the way he was able to help foster

(26:55):
this really good system of structure, accountability, but all so
a safe environment for players to express themselves and feel
like this is more than just basketball, and just having
that environment where they would go on road trips and
you know it's not just about basketball, but you know,
getting team dinners and visiting different things in a certain city,

(27:18):
and usually in professional sports that's not possible. But because
he was such a great coach, he's part of a
winning environment. He was able to get to buy in
as far as everything else. And you know, I think
the last thing is his coaching tree. I mean, basically
every head coach in the NBA is literally connected to him.
So it's just a hell of a legacy. But I

(27:40):
think the cool thing is, even though it is tough
to see that he's stepping down as coach, and you
know it was his decision, but I think, you know,
obviously health dictated that that he's still able to have
a role with the Spurs, you know, and it's not
just a ceremonial role. I mean, he is president basketbll operation,
so he's going to be part of the lead voice

(28:01):
on the front office and still having an imprint in
the organization.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
Winning as coach of all time in five championships. Speaking
of coaches, give it up to David Adelman. It seems
like Denver has really regrouped under him. He seems to
be doing a fine job. The Nuggets move on. Is
just it for them? Or could the Nuggets find lightning
in a bottle themselves?

Speaker 6 (28:23):
Now?

Speaker 4 (28:23):
I think this is a the Oklahoma City Thunder. They're
arrested after sleeping the Memphis Guazzies. They are number one
in the West for a reason because shake Gilgess. Alexander
is going to win MVP. JAYL Williams became an All
Star because now he's a more consistent secondary scorer, and
they just have so many wing players. Let me be
clear here, the Denver Nuggets have played really well with

(28:45):
David Adelman and Nikolay Jokic is a walking triple double.
Jamal Murray has become the better version of himself. Same
thing with Peron Gordon. But I think that it was
more about the Clippers self destructing than anything. I mean,
this is even more disappointed. This is the most disappointing
season in the choir. Leonard Kawhi, Leonard Era and that's

(29:09):
saying a lot because the Clippers have had a lot
of disappointing postseasons since he joined the team. And here's
why the most disappointing. This team finally is fully healthy
in the playoffs. All the other years there's only some
ill timed injury. Here, Kawhi was healthy, James Harden was healthy,
Nooron Powe was healthy, Feats the zoo box is healthy.
And prior to Game seven, it was anyone's game. A

(29:31):
lot of close games, you know, the Clippers had to
blowout win against the Nuggets Game three, and he thought, Okay,
they're in control, the Nuggets winning nail bier off of
an Aaron Gordon put back dunk in Game four, Okay,
that's fine. But then they get blown out in Denver,
get game five, they get blown out again in Game seven.
It's just unacceptable. I mean, for they did not after that,

(29:53):
with exception the first quarter, they did not seem like
a team that really cared about trying to save their
season and on the road and it just seemed like
they're ready to go to Cancun before the game was
even over. So I would say this Minnesota, when we're
looking at the Lakers. They deserve a lot of credit.
Anthony Edwards taking his game at another level, Rudy Golbert

(30:14):
showing he's a respectable player, Julius Randall showing he and
Golbert can co exists well, and good roster depth with
Nas Reed and Jade McDaniels. But I would argue that
the Clippers lost against the Nuggets in much more brutal
fashion than the Lakers did against Minnesota.

Speaker 2 (30:33):
US quick winking and nod to Russell Westbrook, who I
think is playing with great energy and he's been very opportunistic.
He's made some key threes. David Adelman seems to have
gotten the most out of him. So listen that.

Speaker 4 (30:46):
Yeah, can I just interject here, I mean, that's not
going to be sustainable. I mean, Russell west rs Russell Westbrook.
Let's get it clear here. How of a competitor. You know,
he is well respecting the locker room because of his
resume and the fact that he works really hard. But
a lot of this just had to do with the
fact that he was facing his former team. He is

(31:08):
he epitomizes any time, you know, because of how he
is against former teams. He's how that jealous x is
anytime they cross paths with their former partner, they always
want to be you know, seen it at their best,
and then once that partner is away, you know, then
becomes the same old toxic nonsense. So it's not sustainable. Again,
He's a great guy off the court, but on the

(31:31):
court it's not sustainable. I guarantee you when he plays
a thunder, he's going to brick shots again and not
play defense.

Speaker 2 (31:38):
So not wrong. Look, look, you're not wrong. And one
of the jam Lebron's greatest moves was acquiring Russell Westbrook.
Last thing, Mark, We'll let you run. So we saw
a playoff James Saturday night. As in Harden, What else
is new? You get playoff Jimmy in a game seven, dude.
The Golden State Warriors, the savvy, wise, old, experienced Golden

(32:01):
State Warriors have enough in the tank to go into
Houston Sunday and get it done against a pretty athletic,
opportunistic demon. I think Gamian o'doka has been a good job.
Who was that game Sunday?

Speaker 4 (32:14):
I don't know, because the Warriors they've been here before.
You know, they've won a Game seven against Houston five
years ago. With Steph Curry and Raymond Green. Completely different context,
completely completely, but they've also you know, they've also squadered
three one series leads like they did in Cleveland twenty sixteen.
Again completely different context. But as it pertains of this series,

(32:35):
I think the Rockets aren't more control because now they
have home court. They're a young team, they're very defensively savvy,
they're very physical. Yes, and yes they're young, but Fred
van Vliet is a great veteran winning player. I would
like to think that Steph Curry can play the best
version of himself. Same thing with Jimmy Butler, same thing

(32:57):
with Raymond Green. But it's just mind boggling that they
wet the bed in Game five and Game six. So
it's anyone's game. Anything can happen. But if I were
to have to give a guess, I would actually say
Houston because they've just been playing better basketball the last
two games. And you know, I say this with the

(33:18):
caveat that the series isn't over. The Warriors can very
well rectify it. And a lot of times in playoff series,
games don't necessarily, you know, development in a certain game
don't necessarily carry over into the next game. But if
I'm having to give a prediction, we'll be using somewhere
because the last two games they've been playing much better.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
I'm in agreement, all right, Marc already looking forward to
next week. You know there's going to be news and
we'll tackle every bit of it.

Speaker 7 (33:44):
Thanks thanks to.

Speaker 2 (33:45):
Medina, Thanks buddy, appreciate you. It's Mark Medina, our Fox
Sports Radio NBA guru. Come it up, Get your fingers ready.
We are seventeen minutes away from the midnight hour from
where I see here in Las Vegas. It's twelve midnight
literally from where you sit, perhaps literally and certainly figured it.
Will you get the last word eight seven seven nine

(34:07):
nine six six three sixty nine eight seven seven nine
to nine on Fox We will have three three good
topics for you to weigh in on, and I really
look forward to what you've got to say. We got
a lot of good, thoughtful callers. By the way, be
sure to check out Fox Sports Radio's YouTube channel. There's
a ton of great videos for many of our Fox
Sports Radio shows. Just search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube.

(34:29):
You'll see a whole bunch of video highlights from our shows.
And be sure to subscribe so you'll always have instant
access to our Fox Sports Radio videos on YouTube. Coming
up to midnight hour, get ready, we're looking forward to
hearing from me. I'll set up the three topics. I'm
Bernie Friddle comedy line from the Las Vegas Fox Sports
Radio compound. Here in Las Vegas, that's the Department of
Redundancy department. So keep it locked right here. You're listening

(34:51):
to the Bernie Frattle Show on Fox Sports Radio. Right
We're back on the Bernie Frattle Show comedy line from
the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radios. It is just getting started.
We're eleven minutes away from the midnight hour. From where
I sit, it is midnight. From where you sit, it's midnight. Also,
well for me, it's midnight literally be twelve am Pacific

(35:14):
time here in eleven minutes, perhaps the same for you,
but regardless, the man that hour has a double entendre.
It means you get the last word eight seven seven
nine nine six six three sixty nine eight seven seven
ninety nine on Fox. I really look forward to what
the folks have to say tonight. The first two topics
are somewhat related, and I want to know from you

(35:36):
because my mind is made up. I do not think
the Luca Lebron tandem will ever met a championship in
Los Angeles, not even close. The matter of fact, my
colleague Steve Hartman, who I respect a lot, has advanced
what I think is a pretty shrewd narrative. He thinks
they should Lebron should move on now and get what

(35:58):
you can. And say, Lebron, where do you want to go? Right?
You know, you're basically a mercenary and maybe you win
somewhere else and you'll, let you know, hook your hit
your wagon with someone else. So you tell me, is
the Luca Lebron tanam gonna work? I mean, Luca does
not want to play defense. You can't have nine blowbys.
I don't want I really don't want to hear that
he's young. He's not young. He's been in the NBA

(36:20):
eight years. He's been a professional basketball player. At twelve.
The Lakers were pull axed Man. They were minus twenty
four cumulatively and plus minus with the Big three on
the floor. Minnesota closed out all three games with big runs.
The Lakers were out scored cumulatively in the fourth quarter
one twenty seven to eighty five. They were hammered in
the paint dominated dominated paints, and points in the paint

(36:43):
dominated second chance points. You get it. Okay, what's gonna
change next year? What Luca's gonna go to Orange Theory
Fitness and come back and look like Kawhi Leonard? Yeah? Sure,
I think led Zeppelin will record the Gilligan's Island theme
song and sell a man copies too while you're at it.
So question number one, will they win anything with Luca?
Will they figured out? If they got some sort of

(37:04):
magic formula. I couldn't see. They just didn't have time
to mesh. Not buying that either. I told you about
my bad boy Pistons. When they acquired Mark Acguire sixteen
days later, then Luca was acquired, they meshed. Okay, they
traded Dantley for Aguire and they went back to back championships.
The second thing is I like JJ Riddick.

Speaker 6 (37:23):
I do.

Speaker 2 (37:23):
I just like the dude. I like the cut of
his jib. Not everybody's not everybody's cup of tea. But
I'm not questioning whether or not he's got the temperament
to do this. He's got the brains, he's got the decisiveness.
I think he's got the leadership qualities, but there have
been some things that have spilled over. As a matter
of fact, he was called out on social media. He's
taken some heat for some comments he made after the

(37:45):
team was eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday. He was
accused of hypocrisy on what saw on what some people
saw as excuses after the Lakers lost in five games.
He used to do the same thing to Doc Rivers
just last year. He said, there's always an excuse for
this Doc Rivers guy. There's never accountability. So do you
think JJ Reddick is the mand to lead this team

(38:07):
to the Promised Land? So question one, Luca is it
going to work out with Luca in La? Two? Is
JJ Redick demand? The third one? And this is a
highly charged issue. You may remember Raiders wide receiver Henry
Ruggs had a terrible situation in November twenty twenty one.
He was involved in a fatal crasher in Las Vegas

(38:28):
that killed a twenty three year old lady, a terrible
and her dog, and his blood alcohol content was zero
point one six. He was driving one hundred and fifty
six miles an hour on a main drag here in
Las Vegas three forty am and he's in jail. He's
in jail. But interestingly enough, Henry Ruggs is eligible for

(38:50):
parole on August fifth, twenty twenty sixth and he's been
talking to teams when he hasn't been. But his former
Alabama teammate Josh Jacobs has been talking to NFL teams
hoping that if Ruggs is released on parole. We're not
running away from that, but that could happen in twenty
twenty six Would he get another chance? Do you believe

(39:10):
Henry Ruggs deserves another chance? I want to hear what
you folks have to say, and at the end of
the hour, I will give you my thoughts. So question one,
you tell me, is Luca and Lebron gonna work? I
say no, not, no, hell No. Is jj Reddick the
man to lead him to the promised land? I like him?
I mean they won fifty two games this year, and

(39:31):
third should Henry Ruggs. We are a country of second chances.
Henry Ruggs of Alabama, the Las Vegas Raiders, who's in
jail for manslaughter vehicular manslaughter? Does he deserve a second chance?
We want to hear from you. Eight seven seven nine
nine six six three sixty nine, eight seven seven nine
to nine on Fox, it is time for the midnight hour. Lakers, Luca,

(39:54):
JJ Reddick, Henry Ruggs. Keep it lock. You listen to
the Bernie Fradle Show Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
Don't listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (40:03):
Well, that's right, you heard the man Bernie Frales Show
keeps rolling right along. Coming to lie from the Fox
Sports Radio compound here in Las Vegas. We'll take you
up to three am Pacific, six am Eastern. Just getting started.
So you heard the three topics? Will the Lakers and
Luca figure it out? Is JJ Redick demand leading the

(40:25):
Promised Land? It's just Henry Ruggs deserve a second chance
to come back to the NFL. We've got people online.
Eight seven seven nine nine sixty three sixty nine. Please
be patient. We will get to all of you. I promise.
I don't want anybody turned away. I appreciate all the
callers you take the time to call us. Hear what
you gotta say. So, without further ado, it's been that hour,
all right. Jim in Massachusetts leads us off once again.

(40:47):
Welcome back in Jim, Hey.

Speaker 8 (40:49):
How you doing bern Uh, Yeah, I think the Lakers
are going nowhere. I've told you this before. Now, I
remember a while back when they got Luca Medina saying
they're going to tire his number and this is going
to be a good thing for the Lakers, and this
and that, and now look where you are and the
terry on the Sunday is where was Reddick? Where were

(41:10):
the adjustments all during the playoffs?

Speaker 6 (41:14):
You know, where was he?

Speaker 8 (41:16):
No way to be found.

Speaker 7 (41:17):
Then he has a postgame press.

Speaker 8 (41:18):
Conference saying, oh, we got to get people in shape
and this and that. You know for the season, it's
a year round thing.

Speaker 9 (41:24):
Well, when you got.

Speaker 8 (41:25):
Him there, why didn't you get a nutrition into something
you saw to deal with issues? You know, it's just
this thing like there some glory team and let's let's trade.
Let Lebron go off somewhere. They're going nowhere. You're just
living on yesterday's laurels.

Speaker 2 (41:41):
I just thought, well, we're an agreement and this one
main thing, Jim, what you see is what you get
with Luca. You can tell me that you're blue in
the face. Not you. But he's twenty six, he's been
a professional basketball player twelve years. This is who he is,
A prolific scorer period. You got the floor.

Speaker 5 (42:02):
Yeah, that's true.

Speaker 10 (42:03):
I mean you can't get into everybody's head.

Speaker 8 (42:04):
Maybe he just wants to, you know, do his seventy
two games or whatever they play, and.

Speaker 2 (42:09):
By now it's not that hard to figure out, I know.

Speaker 8 (42:13):
And collect his check and go about his way. I
don't think, you know, championships all this other stuff is that.

Speaker 10 (42:19):
Big in his brain.

Speaker 8 (42:20):
You know. I mean to have that talent, to have
the talent he's got and not take care of your
body because you only got like a ten year window
tops most another Brons played forever.

Speaker 2 (42:31):
You know, you know what have you know, you know
what have uh? You know who would have excuse me, Jim,
you know who would have sent him packing red Aurbach
after eight years? You would have said, okay, son, this
is a two way league. You've got to play defense.

Speaker 8 (42:47):
It would have been quicker than that. It would have
been quicker than that. You know, it's all about culture.
It's all about what you want and out there it's
just running gun and hope for the best. And they've
never played beef.

Speaker 10 (43:00):
It is what it is, and it's just.

Speaker 8 (43:02):
Glorified trip of how the lake is and this I
just don't understand the aura and all this when you
can see on the TV it ain't happening, you know,
well it ain't.

Speaker 2 (43:13):
It's the group think, echo Chambers. What happening Henry Ruggs.
Did he deserve another chance to get back into the NFL?
And I'm gonna get my thoughts at the end of
the hour.

Speaker 8 (43:22):
Well, you know, hey, everybody deserves to make a living.

Speaker 7 (43:25):
But he made a big mistake.

Speaker 8 (43:26):
But I remember, wasn't there a guy that played for Cleveland,
a wide receiver slaughter who ran over somebody in Miami.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
Yeah, and ran.

Speaker 6 (43:35):
And ran over him again. He went over once, turned around.

Speaker 10 (43:38):
Ran over him again.

Speaker 8 (43:39):
He didn't get cut or anything. It's all about see,
it's all about talent and winning. And if they had,
you know, eleven mass murderers on the field they went,
no one would care.

Speaker 9 (43:51):
And that's what's wrong with society. I mean, that's what's
with everything.

Speaker 8 (43:55):
It's all about greed. It's all about money. All these
parents that think they got the next you know, Larry
Byrd or Lawrence Taylor on in this aau and all
the business just chasing the you know, the ring and
the merry around and it's not it. You know, it's
just just sad the way society has gotten about this

(44:15):
and about sports and everything. It really is, you know better,
it's better to be a decent human being than to
try to reach for all the glory and.

Speaker 2 (44:27):
All right, Jim, thanks so much, buddy, And hopefully people
can be both. I certainly think that way about Magic
Johnson and uh and I felt that way about Doctor
Jay and a lot of guys. Karen in Minnesota, Johnes
just welcome in.

Speaker 11 (44:42):
Yeah's a going good good So I agree with you
with the Luke. I don't think that he is going
to necessarily do anything for the Lakers. I think that
it was more of like a show that he was,
you know, to go over there, and I just I wonder,
you know, what happened, what happened with Austin Reeves, Like
why he wasn't able to pull through and kind of

(45:04):
do something for them. No one's talking about that.

Speaker 2 (45:08):
It came up as this series went on that they
needed him to play better and he just couldn't quite
up his game to the level to put other people
on his back. And it's been talked about, but not
to any great degree. I think most of the focus
has frankly been on Luca and JJ Reddit anything else.

Speaker 11 (45:28):
No, Yeah, I just think that they should probably just
have Lebron, retire Luca, go somewhere else figure it out
from there. And I don't think they're going to do
much honestly what they're pairing. They had a great run.
I thought they were going to beat us, To be
honest with you, I thought I was going to go
into Game seven, We're going to lose by two, and
I was just going to be devastating but super happy

(45:50):
that we went we made it. However, I don't think
that they have.

Speaker 12 (45:55):
All of what they're looking for, So all right, I.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
Appreciate you checking in in top credit to the Mina Timberwolves.
As I said in my opening monologue, the narrative has
been the Lakers got beat and they didn't live up
to expectations. The narrative should be his Minnesota beat them
like a rended mule. Hey, Kyle, Kyle in Vegas Joint.
Just welcome back in, buddy. How are you?

Speaker 10 (46:16):
What up?

Speaker 2 (46:16):
Bernie?

Speaker 10 (46:17):
What up?

Speaker 9 (46:17):
What up?

Speaker 2 (46:18):
Hey?

Speaker 9 (46:19):
So listen, you already know we got to talk because
we did, I say last week I said as soon.

Speaker 10 (46:24):
As they lose.

Speaker 9 (46:26):
It was going to be. Luca is the scapegoat for
Lebron's failure. Lebron had failed, he failed, he failed, he failed,
So I don't want to hear it. I heard all
the topics this week about oh, the Lebron's gonna come
back and win it, and and Shannon Sharp is now

(46:47):
eating quote. Nick Wright has been always proven to be
nick wrong so far. To me and my gets every
debate wrong. He says everything backwards. He wants to push,
he wants to push. The Lebron narrative is the greatest
thing since sliced bread. But Lebron James, to me, is
that first piece of bread. Everybody has to touch over it,

(47:08):
but nobody really wants it. He's not gonna get it.
He's not gonna win the next championship. Call it quits.
You're not Tom, you don't have seven You're not the greatest.
You're the most longest active player that's winning accolades yet
true enough, but you're not You're not the goat, brother.
I'm sorry, take several seats. Luca, on the other hand, again,

(47:28):
like you said, twelve years into the business, you don't
want you don't want your body to be in that condition,
because if you did it truly, you would go find
the best of the best. You're making close to two
hundred million dollars, my guy, go get yourself into shape.
Even if you do it privately, go do it. You
couldn't play for the heat and pat Riley because he

(47:50):
would have had you down to zero percent body fat
and playing somewhat defense. If you go to Tims in
New York, he's gonna have you playing defense. My guy,
you're getting blown. Pass it, said Bernie. I called it.
I said, those younger chaps that link the defense of
Soda is going to stifle them, and it's exactly what
they did.

Speaker 2 (48:09):
Now.

Speaker 9 (48:09):
Lastly, Henry Ruggs, my Alabama brother, my Ama Mater friends.
I don't know him personally, but does he deserve second chests?

Speaker 6 (48:19):
Yes?

Speaker 9 (48:19):
Is he going to get that second chest? Most likely
not Kareem Look at the difference between Kareem Hunt and
Ray Rice similar incidents once back in the one one
was able to get back in the league. The other
one never recovers from it. So at the end of
the day, it's up to what the NFL owners and
the personnel want moving forward. But lastly, before I go,

(48:44):
I do want to say Bernie that I'm going to
call this now. Whether it's Golden State or Houston that
plays Minnesota next, they both still have the biggest problem.
Who's going to be your big when it comes down
to bear how a unheard of Monsters Gang twenty seventy

(49:04):
twenty four. They shot that, but look whack and you
got a guy that was literally supposed to be nothing
for the series turned it into something completely different, Gang
Changer one under Vernie. Love you not I thinking all
the great success.

Speaker 2 (49:19):
Appreciate you, Kyn good stuff as always, step in Kansas
City back for somemorrow, Always welcome, Steve. What do you
got for us tonight today?

Speaker 13 (49:27):
Vernon Vernie?

Speaker 7 (49:28):
What's that?

Speaker 13 (49:29):
Buddy?

Speaker 14 (49:29):
What?

Speaker 7 (49:29):
The Collins have been really good tonight?

Speaker 15 (49:31):
Man?

Speaker 2 (49:32):
I gotta say, oh.

Speaker 7 (49:34):
They've been fantastic. I mean, we're we're trying to build
a dynasty in the Oklahoma city here with deanness and
the trade for draft picks. So it's going to be
delicious to watch the Lakers crash and burn. I almost
I almost feel sorry for Jeanie Buzz. This is such
a dysfunctional situation. That last collar nailed it with with

(49:55):
Lebron the low key drama king. I can't wait to
see him get his come up and finally and watch
this thing just absolutely go nuclear. I mean, they should
really be smart and get rid of Luca right now,
but I doubt that will happen. I mean, like, like
like people were saying that the guy is uh, when

(50:17):
you're when you're in the competition for the greatest, you
don't have to proclaim yourself the greatest and say that
your title was the greatest with Cleveland because you did
more with lest That just rubs a lot. He just
rubbed a lot of people the wrong way because he's
always kind of snarky and he's always kind of he's

(50:37):
sort of liked the low key Kevin Durant, but he
doesn't have enough courage to be the bad guy. So
Lebron just sort of just kind of like lays lays
in the weeds. I mean, he's just sort of a
he's just sort of a low key jerk. I don't
know what we should love the guy. You know, he's
he's well, at one point.

Speaker 2 (50:57):
I think I think he was, and he became very polarizing.
Let's move off with Lebron real quickly on JJ Reddick.
Can he be the maestro to get this team where
they want to get?

Speaker 7 (51:09):
I'm sorry, Bernie, I don't think Greg Popovich could say this,
could say I could save this situation right now? Sure
enough to be to be honest about Henry Ruggs.

Speaker 2 (51:21):
You're a big Chiefs fan. You remember Henry Ruggs with
the Raiders? Did he Will he get a second chances?
He's desert man.

Speaker 7 (51:27):
Give the guy. Kareem Hunt deserved a second chance, So
give Ruggs a second chance. And I wanted to ask
you too about Bernie. What do you think about Bill
Belichick's reputation?

Speaker 5 (51:38):
Is he is?

Speaker 7 (51:40):
His reputation going down the tubes now. I'm just kind
of curious at how the how the world sort of
views what's going on with his new brand management and
all this, all this craziness that Carolina thanks.

Speaker 2 (51:54):
A lot, Steve. Bill Belichick will get none of my airtime.
The whole situations are complete for Gayzy, I don't know
what the hell's wrong with him. Man. You must have,
you know, got some bad pasta or something. Wouldn't He's
an idiot right now, a complete idiot. Uh And let's
just leave it there. I'm sorry. I don't have a
better answer for you. See, I just don't have anything
to say about that knucklehead Spockswed in Oregon. What's up, buddy?

(52:18):
What are you drinking tonight?

Speaker 5 (52:19):
Hey?

Speaker 6 (52:20):
Baby?

Speaker 12 (52:20):
I am drinking a fabulous I PA. I've been at
the alcohol so I'm sober, you know, And I know
that my starcasm could be little missunderstood. So I'll try
to be a little bit more careful tonight.

Speaker 2 (52:32):
Now we know your style, so you were you let
her rips. Let's start with we will Luca will Luca?
You know? Uh, actually, actually I can't even get the
damn question out. You know what I'm trying to say?

Speaker 6 (52:45):
Go ahead, I do? Could I start backwards?

Speaker 5 (52:48):
Though?

Speaker 6 (52:49):
I would like to address to Henry the Henry go
ahead question? Go ahead first? And I don't know the details.
And it's like he.

Speaker 2 (52:56):
Was going one hundred and fifty six miles an hour,
zero point one six a legal limit. Donal maythorrow far
Here we're into a young lady sitting by herself at
the stop at night, three in the morning. If she
burned to death in her car with her dog. He's
in jail right now. He is parole up August twenty six,
and I think there are a couple of NFL teams
that are interested if he gets out.

Speaker 12 (53:18):
He killed a woman, I'm yes, he did. I really
have a problem with money and talent trumping justice.

Speaker 2 (53:28):
Well, he's listen, he's serving us, paying his death to society.
The question, the question is whether a god he gets
out in that that that remains to be seen. He's
up for parole in August of twenty twenty six, and
so right, let's not spend a lot of time real
quickly understood. What do you got for me? On on
Luca and JJ Reddick?

Speaker 12 (53:50):
Okay, JJ Reddick. JJ Reddick is not the leader that
the Lakers need. He is too eager to go ahead
and other people under the bus. I was a company
commander in the Army whenever if we didn't accomplish the mission.
I never threw my people under the bus. I took
responsibility for what was going on. I let my NCOs

(54:13):
throw the people under the bus and get him trained
up better. It's not it's if JJ is is going
to be that kind of a leader. I don't think
he's going to get a locker room and I don't
think he's going to be successful.

Speaker 2 (54:24):
All right, listen, I appreciate you, spots and thank you
for your service to our country. As usual, callers are fantastic.
We're just getting started. Antonio and Miami, Jerome, Andrew, Poppy
McCall in Minnesota. You are all up next in that order.
Don't go anywhere. I want to hear from Alia. Just

(54:44):
be patient, sit back, put your feet up. We'll get
to Alia, and I want you all to get plenty
of everytime. You know our three topics we're gonna you know,
is Luca gonna get the Lakers in the Promised Land?
Will they figured out? JJ Reddick? Is he the right guy?
And then the just Andrew Ruggs deserve a second chance.
I'm Bernie Fraddlewick comedy line from Las Vegas, Fox Sports
Radio Studios. Keep it locked. It's the midnight hour and

(55:06):
listening to the Bernie Frattle Show on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (55:09):
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.

Speaker 2 (55:21):
Fire back on the Bernie Frattle Show. The Midnight Hour
continues off to a rollicking start. We go out to Miami.
We're joined by Antonio. Tonio, Welcome into the Bernie Frattle Show.

Speaker 6 (55:32):
How are you, hey, Bernie.

Speaker 16 (55:34):
I'm sorry it's Tony from Miami, but I gave you
the full name.

Speaker 2 (55:39):
It's all good. I remember you.

Speaker 16 (55:41):
Okay, it's been a while, but yeah, I want to
start with Luca. Luca needs to doesn't need to lose weight,
he doesn't need to do anything. If they don't want
to give him the money, that's fine. Luca needs to
be Luca Kyrie and Steph Curry. I can keep on going.

(56:01):
Don't play defense. Luca cannot guard a handicapped parking space
at Walgrain's three hours after closing, and that is absolutely fine.
They need to embrace Luca for what he is and
just build.

Speaker 10 (56:17):
A round that.

Speaker 6 (56:18):
Rob.

Speaker 9 (56:19):
I'm sorry, Robblow or you.

Speaker 16 (56:21):
Know the general manager there is the Polinka I believe,
builds around that and they're going to be fine. The
big problem is Frank Underwood or Lebron James or whatever
you want to refer to him as the slippery slimy

(56:41):
just quiet, like the other callers were saying, which are excellent,
he just seems to be around when credit is coming.
But when when when someone's to blame? Uh, you know,
he's he just kind of steps out of the car
and quietly tiptoes away.

Speaker 2 (57:00):
Know.

Speaker 6 (57:01):
I think they got it. I think it might.

Speaker 2 (57:03):
The question is are they ever going to figure it out?
That's the question.

Speaker 16 (57:05):
Here, the question those two will never figure anything out there.

Speaker 2 (57:10):
Great, let's move on from that. How about JJ Reddick.
Is he the right man for the job? I like him,
but I don't know. He's been a weird three weeks.

Speaker 16 (57:17):
I think he reminds me of a sequel to Jerry
Maguire with Bob Sugar, except playing more than a hole.
I like him for l A. I don't think they'll
ever get out of the second round, but I still
like him for LA. Here work together, I think that's fine,
JJ Reddick, I mean, and let's be able to get

(57:38):
you know, a couple of people said Brendan Malone. I'm
finning with JJ Redicks from now. I don't think he
was the major problem. I think he'll be better next years.
I think he's the personality of what al he's about.
I used to live out there for a few years.
I think JJ Reddick he's not the main problem. Lebron

(57:59):
is the problem?

Speaker 2 (58:00):
Okay, real quickly. I just got about ten seconds, big
fellow Henry Ruggs. Did he deserve a second chance?

Speaker 16 (58:06):
Absolutely not. I have no respect for a calculated bank
heist when then gets hurt with them whatever that was,
whatever that is, and I see it down here a lot.

Speaker 17 (58:19):
It's sickening.

Speaker 16 (58:20):
It's mostly insecure young man with very small hands doing that.

Speaker 2 (58:26):
All right, buddy, appreciate you, Tony. Always strong stuff. Ladies
and gentlemen. We go to a fan favorite and we
are now about to read from the Gospel of Jerome
in Charleston. Joe, Welcome in, buddy.

Speaker 10 (58:39):
How are you You know you've got something? They're showing
up on this show. You lucky. I'm greeting you with
my presidence this evening. That's what you try? Basketball did
against Go to New York, Go New York. Goo that meltdown.
Will I ever recover from that?

Speaker 6 (58:57):
I don't know.

Speaker 10 (58:57):
It's a good thing I've watched and win that two
bot trophy because it makes me sleep a little better
at night.

Speaker 2 (59:04):
Medic And it's all about inexperience. I talked about it
last week. They had everything but experienced Jerome and I
think they made a quantum leaf this year. And you look, man,
you'll get over it. Man, you're Jerome. You lie down
philosphical comprece some more milk off music, Right, you be
all right.

Speaker 10 (59:22):
I don't drink and I don't smoke. To right, that's
not going to work, all right, But anyway, they're going
to have to miss it. They're going to have to
make a blockbuster move in the off season some kind
of way, some kind of mapping.

Speaker 2 (59:38):
Talk about the Lakers.

Speaker 10 (59:39):
Now, yeah, you're better off going.

Speaker 2 (59:41):
To Blockbuster Video. They're out of business. They got they're
all under contract, Jerome. I mean, maybe they can retrade
for Mark Williams and change their mind. I don't see
your solutions, big fellop.

Speaker 18 (59:54):
Sorry, go ahead, someone's gonna have to do something because
the whole thing go.

Speaker 10 (01:00:00):
That's getting late early. Look, I only see him playing
one more year in LA and I think does continue
his career more likely, I think it'll be somewhere else, Okay,
because he's still pretty darn good. All right, I'll say
what he's other to Bron. He said about my Lebron.
I love Lebron.

Speaker 2 (01:00:18):
Okay, he's still productive.

Speaker 18 (01:00:21):
Can yeah, but I just thought I just told him, Look,
they gotta do something, man, Hey, they got and the
only guy would trust would be of course that team
would be the Live Brown of Bobby Knight.

Speaker 10 (01:00:33):
And you talk about it bracing her. Yeah, you played
the r for defense like that, Bobby doneld brace You're
a braksyall right. Sure, there ain't no way you're gonna
let somebody play matter door l defense like that. No way,
not for Bobby Knight, no kind of way, Live Brown.
He is the more common kind of guy as far

(01:00:54):
as Henry Rogers dog. Uh, no way now uh never again,
you should have thought about that before you got that
dog or rocket ship and what you do. No, you
got it Jack written mare perspective. You got your whole
life for have you do it all the way? No way?

(01:01:14):
Ever again go up to Canada.

Speaker 2 (01:01:17):
Appreciate you draw him a lot, buddy, I listen. I
appreciate your candor a lot, and uh your ability to
draw uh from other perspectives. I really enjoy it. I
drew all the calls. But Jerome, Jerome, we got a
style of your own. And you know that's we love that.

Speaker 5 (01:01:32):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:01:32):
Andrew and Bakersfield back on the Bernie frattle show. How
are Andrew?

Speaker 19 (01:01:36):
I'm all right?

Speaker 16 (01:01:36):
How are you good?

Speaker 19 (01:01:39):
I gotta I gotta say what my my man Ray
would say.

Speaker 5 (01:01:44):
What you say?

Speaker 19 (01:01:45):
You guys are nuts.

Speaker 6 (01:01:47):
Okay, let's make it.

Speaker 19 (01:01:49):
Let's make it interesting. Okay. When the trade happened, everyone
was bashing on Nika Harrison. It's the greatest trade over.

Speaker 2 (01:01:57):
I wasn't. Let's give it three, but go ahead. I
just want to know. Listen, I listen. I want to
plenty of airtime, but I want to stay on topic.
You got Lebron and Luca. They are two p's in
a pod right now. They burn this year. Are they
going to.

Speaker 10 (01:02:11):
Figure it out?

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

Speaker 19 (01:02:13):
When I was watching the game, I'm blind, but I
can tell from my perspective that they had no team
defense and Lebron. It starts with Lebron and Kobe always
used to say defense wins championship.

Speaker 2 (01:02:30):
Okay, so are they gonna here's the thing. You got
the three best players, Austin Reeves, Lebron who can play
defense sometimes, and Luca, who can't guard a park car.
Are they going to figure it out?

Speaker 20 (01:02:41):
Yes?

Speaker 8 (01:02:41):
Or no?

Speaker 19 (01:02:42):
Reeves gotta go.

Speaker 2 (01:02:43):
I think okay, fair enough? How about JJ Reddick?

Speaker 19 (01:02:47):
JJ Reddick I think he's a good coach, but he's
Oh by the way, I want to give props to
Shack for getting a coaching job too, But I think
JJ Reddick is good.

Speaker 2 (01:03:00):
All right? Uh finally, Henry Rubbs, you know the story.
Does he deserve a second chance to get back in
the NFL?

Speaker 19 (01:03:06):
This is the first I've heard of it, so I
don't really have a comment right now. I'm thinking about
the top of the hour.

Speaker 2 (01:03:11):
I'm gonna give my comment here. I want to bring
everybody up to stuff, and I'll give you my honest opinion. Andrew,
appreciate you as always, man, Thanks for checking invest to you.
Poppy in San Diego. What's up, Poppy?

Speaker 21 (01:03:23):
Just a beautiful day here in San Diego, sandy beautiful
rain here.

Speaker 22 (01:03:27):
Yeah yeah, So onto the Luca look. Lucas a little
bit chunky. Hopefully he gets motivated and goes on a
diet because there's a lot of influencers over there in
La a lot.

Speaker 2 (01:03:41):
He needs more of a diet, man, Luca.

Speaker 10 (01:03:45):
So Baby, something's got to do, right, Bertie.

Speaker 2 (01:03:49):
He can mixing a salad all day. He needs some
uh orange steery fitness or some yoga or some damn
thing and then it needs to it ain't in the
cards for Luca. I'm just gonna say it right now.
Saving this sound like if I'm wrong, play it back,
Lucat Yeah, no, go ahead, go ahead, Sorry, Pop you
got that?

Speaker 21 (01:04:09):
Yeah, som Luca, I'll say in Spanish, go on to diet.
And also JJ Reddick, Wow, like JJ Reddick.

Speaker 6 (01:04:17):
I love him.

Speaker 22 (01:04:18):
He's a successful coach.

Speaker 21 (01:04:20):
He's done a podcast.

Speaker 10 (01:04:22):
He's a podcast coach.

Speaker 21 (01:04:24):
Lebron James hired him.

Speaker 6 (01:04:26):
He's done more than a previous coach, Darvin Ham.

Speaker 21 (01:04:28):
You know, so he's doing better, like he's doing it right.
I love he's really smart because now we're in a society,
Bernie Is you know, you got to be political correct.
You can't really say it really direct because you know,
if I was JJ Reddick, I'll be scared because Genie
Buzz will fire me if.

Speaker 2 (01:04:45):
I say, Frank Vogo wins the championship, he got fired.
Darvin Ham gets him to the conference finals, he gets fired.
You know, what do you think about Henry Ruggs. You're
a big fellow.

Speaker 21 (01:04:55):
Yeah, and Henry Ruggs. You know, I think everyone deserves
a second chance. I don't agree with he and you know,
rest in peace to the you know, poor person in
the bat in your home state and the dog that
passed away. But Kennedy Ruggs is paying the punishment right
now if he does the time served. He's getting paid
two dollars and fifty cents in prison right now for
making license plate or whatever he does in prison. But

(01:05:18):
he does deserve a second chance. And I hope whoever
he's gonna second chance, he learned from it. But you know,
it's up to the universe and see what happens, So
hopefully he gets the second chance.

Speaker 2 (01:05:28):
Bernie, all right, Poppy, always appreciate you, Bud. Let's go
back out to Minnesota. Michale joined us from Minnesota. Welcome
and Michael, how are.

Speaker 23 (01:05:36):
You very well? Bernie always a pleasure.

Speaker 2 (01:05:40):
Thank you.

Speaker 23 (01:05:42):
Lebron, Luca not gonna happen. Lebron's too old and Luca's
just a low.

Speaker 2 (01:05:52):
Yeah. I think you got to play defense, listen. I
trust my eyes. They tell me a lot. Those nine
blowbys in Game five, No, forget it. I don't care.
You know he can hire a body by Jake and
by the video, I don't get it. Ain't the cards.
I'm agreeing with you. How about JJ Reddick. I like him.
I might be in the minority right now, but you
think eventually he can be a guy that can you

(01:06:14):
know he's he the right guy for the Lakers.

Speaker 5 (01:06:18):
Right guy.

Speaker 23 (01:06:19):
Yes, he is a super smart individual and yeah, he
just got to put a better team around him.

Speaker 2 (01:06:26):
Finally, Henry Ruggs, Will he get a second chances? He's
a serve a second chance?

Speaker 23 (01:06:32):
Absolutely not, and I need to give a he there
to Jaden for seeing Fear and Luca and not letting
it go.

Speaker 2 (01:06:39):
Yeah, burn again, it was just tremendous. Thank you, Mikheil.
You saw that too. We saw that to Congratulations to
your Timberwolves. Rick and Louisiana's up next. Welcome into the
Bernie Frattle Show.

Speaker 5 (01:06:50):
Yes, hello, Bernie, thanks for taking McColl s. I want
to start with Rugs first. I'll say second chance. Give
him a second chance, but shouldn't be solely on just
him playing in the NFL. You should have him a mentor.
But I don't know about it in Nevada, but here
in Louisiana, I had a friend that when he had
a drinking problem, he had to blow into a device.

(01:07:14):
And if he blow into the device, and it was
it would read it the truck wouldn't start, so that
could eliminate some of it, or else he has to
have somebody driving him.

Speaker 7 (01:07:25):
Wherever he go.

Speaker 2 (01:07:28):
First, and that's August early August twenty twenty six. You're
not wrong, that's not uncommon for some folks. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:07:35):
Yeah. And also you know, like with Michael Victory, he
had a you know, Tony Dunee that was kind of
mentoring him. So I think he would need that as
well if he was going to come back. But as
far as Luca and Lebron, the way they're set up
right now, no, because what Iron was, what I recognize
is if you're playing the player, then the starters for

(01:07:59):
the whole second half. That's one of two things. So
I'm kind of going over into whether you know, the
coach should remain if if that's a coaching decision, or
if he has the players. That's the two questions. Is
it him?

Speaker 2 (01:08:14):
That's a good way of putting Rick because they managed
to win fifty two games, and they got every Regaga
in February and then the playoffs started. But he thought
the Lakers would win and they I mean, they got
pull assed, man, So you got to bring up a
good point there. He may be the right coach if
you get him the right players ain't right.

Speaker 5 (01:08:32):
But I know one thing they need. Anthony Edward stopp Her.

Speaker 2 (01:08:35):
I love a man. I love yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:08:38):
I mean nobody was able to stop himsel Now they
got a defensive problem.

Speaker 2 (01:08:43):
No, they got a major one. So all I appreciate
you a lot, Rick as always, man Well and Guardiana,
what's up, buddy?

Speaker 20 (01:08:51):
They say I'm lazy, but it takes all my til.

Speaker 6 (01:08:58):
Just won't a see. Hey hey, Bernie, So check it out. Man,
I'm in La. I saw this thing firsthand. If they
can trade Lebron and lsun to the Dallas Mavericks to
get Jason Kidd and ouset jj Reddick, then maybe this

(01:09:19):
Luca team has a chance. But they have to surround
Luca with defenders. Okay, Lebron's ship has sailed, man, We've
seen it. Yeah, he was productive during the regular season.
There's no more fear factor to him. All of these
youngsters want to give him his lunch and they've been

(01:09:40):
doing it. Anybody can win in February, Bernie, but not
everybody in the first round. You know what I'm saying.
It was fool's gold from the beginning. And I'm not
a Luca fan, but Jason Kidd knew how to get
that guy in the right frame mind and had the

(01:10:01):
right players around him. That's why I'm saying Jason said,
we should have never let Jason Kidd go. Remember he
was on the staff. So that's first things first. The
Henry rugsting again. Man, you know, I'm a diehard Raider fan,
and we've seen it before. Leonard Little killed somebody, and

(01:10:23):
the guy who escapes me from the Ravens killed that
dude on the way home who was actually a longshoreman
getting off of work. Guy from the Ravens. The receiver
killed them too, and they both got second chances in
the NFL. Now, in my opinion, they should have never
gotten second chances in the NFL. Man. You know, Blind

(01:10:47):
Scott brought up a good point earlier in the week
to Ben Mallory. You can pay your debt to society
as far as jail, but what about the family of
the fit that thought.

Speaker 2 (01:11:00):
Because I'm gonna have to after we're done with all
the callers, I'm gonna give my thoughts and my thoughts
on getting a second jence. But go ahead, finish up
your thought. Man.

Speaker 6 (01:11:08):
Well yeah, man, And I loved him as a player.
He was you know, speed dean and great receiver.

Speaker 2 (01:11:15):
Yeah, but I don't.

Speaker 6 (01:11:16):
Think you could give him another chance.

Speaker 12 (01:11:18):
Man.

Speaker 6 (01:11:19):
That won't be a good look for the NFL, to
be honest. And hey, man, you can't pay back the family, man,
That would be a big slap in the face to
the victim's family. So I like that for you, Bernie,
loved you.

Speaker 2 (01:11:33):
Always appreciated.

Speaker 18 (01:11:34):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:11:34):
Well, thanks so much. Here's what we're gonna do the
midnight hours rolling. We've got Hugh on the five, Mike
the Leprechaun Elliott, and Utah Allen and Saint Louis Twner Minnesota.
You're all getting on. This is a deal. If you
dial in before one m Pacific time for m Easter.
If you dial in and get in the queue, you're
getting on the air. If you don't mind waiting, holding
through the brake. I don't want anybody to cut off.

(01:11:54):
I don't want anybody to cut short. We got to
do our delio here and play by the rules. But
you're all getting on. I don't want anybody not getting on.
So again, Hugh on the five, Mike and Leprechawn Elliott,
Allen Tyler. We're gonna take you all on that order,
and if we don't get to you by the top
of the hour, hang on, We'll get you right after

(01:12:15):
the top of the arm I'll get into my Henry
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(01:12:36):
every Saturday and Sunday morning, right here on Fox Sports
Radio and the iHeartRadio app. Keep it Locked. The Midnight
Hour is continuing on Bernie Fradder. We're coming to the
line from the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. Keep
it Locked. You're listening to the Bernie Fraddler Show on
Fox Sports Radio. All right back on the Bernie Frattle Show,
coming to you live from the Las Vegas Fox Sports
Radio Studios. The Midnight Hour, Rageous on, let's go back

(01:12:58):
out to the phones, huge joint. You welcome back into
the Bernie Fradtershire.

Speaker 9 (01:13:02):
Who are you, hey, Bernie?

Speaker 2 (01:13:05):
Are you good?

Speaker 6 (01:13:07):
All right?

Speaker 8 (01:13:08):
So yeah, I'm on the five.

Speaker 14 (01:13:09):
I'm probably going to be heading towards.

Speaker 6 (01:13:12):
A poppy way.

Speaker 8 (01:13:13):
Actually I'm going south.

Speaker 7 (01:13:15):
So right, I've got something.

Speaker 16 (01:13:16):
To tell you.

Speaker 14 (01:13:18):
That's you foreshadow my answer to all three things. I'm
a UNLV graduate from nineteen ninety one, So put yourself.

Speaker 2 (01:13:27):
I saw your team play in person three times, and
the nineteen ninety team was the national champions. The ninety
one team was undefeated before losing to do continue on.

Speaker 14 (01:13:38):
Okay, and also, yeah, I was sitting the Gucci row
like with.

Speaker 6 (01:13:42):
Sugary Leonard and you know.

Speaker 14 (01:13:45):
Right, so I have to all right, so where am
I going?

Speaker 6 (01:13:51):
Okay?

Speaker 2 (01:13:51):
Remember Oliver Miller of course Arkansas?

Speaker 6 (01:13:54):
Okay?

Speaker 14 (01:13:55):
Yeah, So if Oliver Miller was playing the NBA today,
he would look like Luca like right, he wouldn't be
he wouldn't be beating people up down below.

Speaker 2 (01:14:06):
Two different players. Man, Oliver Miller was a lot more
physical and a lot more.

Speaker 14 (01:14:10):
Well, he would Yeah, that's that's my Well, my point is, though,
the way the game has changed, he would just be
throwing up forty forty foot or you know, forty foot threes. Right,
So if Luca applied himself like Oliver Miller and he's
got more skill, it.

Speaker 8 (01:14:27):
Would be then then yeah, maybe, But the essence of this,
if your ant had Cole should be your uncle.

Speaker 2 (01:14:35):
If Luca he doesn't want to apply himself, Luca does
not want to play defense.

Speaker 9 (01:14:41):
That's the point.

Speaker 14 (01:14:42):
That's the point.

Speaker 8 (01:14:44):
And so the question is will this team ever, you know,
between these two guys, ever make it well?

Speaker 24 (01:14:49):
Between him and and Lebron who's now basically like Albert
Poohol just you know, trying to just try and pat
his staff get further away, further away, further away.

Speaker 14 (01:15:00):
At the top, top top score and all that stuff.
It's like, no, it ain't gonna happen.

Speaker 6 (01:15:05):
And then as far.

Speaker 19 (01:15:06):
As the coach, I would say, you know, the team.

Speaker 14 (01:15:09):
That the Lakers have now, I think the Clippers have
a better coach for that team for the Lakers. But
if you take away the two superstars, then you know,
Reddick could probably coach up a good, young, hungry team.
I think that's that's would be that would be his
best fit.

Speaker 7 (01:15:27):
But having to deal with these two guys.

Speaker 14 (01:15:30):
No, he's not right now, He's just not. By the way,
he went to Duke, so who knows, you know, to keep.

Speaker 24 (01:15:37):
That whole narrative going about real quickly.

Speaker 2 (01:15:40):
And by the way, just to be fair rested, rest
in peace, Oliver me. Well, he just passed away about
two months ago. Kidding, yes, and and and and the
thing is, your comparison is apt. He was. He had
weight problems his entire career, but he played hard. He
played very hard, all right, real quickly on h On

(01:16:00):
Henry Rutgs the.

Speaker 8 (01:16:01):
Second Yeah, you know, okay, very quickly.

Speaker 14 (01:16:04):
In general, I think everybody would say people deserve a
second chance, and I would like to give him a
second chance if he's humble when he gets.

Speaker 6 (01:16:15):
Out of prison.

Speaker 14 (01:16:17):
But the fact that he's already talking to nflers about well,
he's not Josh.

Speaker 2 (01:16:24):
I'm gonna I'm gonna lay that out after the top
of the hour. Josh Jacobs, his teammate at Alabama, is
acting on his behalf.

Speaker 10 (01:16:30):
Yeah, you know what, Well, screw him.

Speaker 14 (01:16:33):
I mean, everybody should just pipe down, let the guy
come out.

Speaker 6 (01:16:37):
I mean, if he should be, he.

Speaker 14 (01:16:39):
Should go into a different career when he comes out
of jail to show that he's humble, and then maybe
he can circle around after. But you shouldn't be come
out of jail and you know going to a you know,
going to a workout.

Speaker 6 (01:16:51):
There's just no way. Guy. The guy needs to pay
his pennant first.

Speaker 2 (01:16:56):
Fair enough, we'll see where this goes. I'll have a
taught at our top. Good good stuff. You appreciate you
mans be, don't be a stranger. All right, We're gonna
squeeze in one more here before the top of the hour,
and then after that we'll get to Elliott, Alan Tayler,
and Rebecca. Uh, Mike the leprecaun becoming a regular. Welcome
back in Mike, how are you?

Speaker 6 (01:17:14):
Thank you?

Speaker 23 (01:17:14):
Third time caller?

Speaker 25 (01:17:15):
You're the second most famous famous Ben Benny or Bernie sorry,
Bernie Sanders.

Speaker 7 (01:17:20):
Is on the less you're number two.

Speaker 8 (01:17:22):
But anyway, yeah, that's all right, Uh yeah, I know,
I might.

Speaker 2 (01:17:26):
It makes my teethhitch. I mean, if that guy doesn't
shut up, I'm gonna have to change my name. But
you got the floor.

Speaker 25 (01:17:32):
You can't teach an old dogs new tricks, that's the saying.

Speaker 2 (01:17:36):
And he's definitely an old dog. He's an ugly one too.
Go ahead.

Speaker 25 (01:17:39):
Oh no, no, no, I'm talking about Lebron and Lucas.

Speaker 2 (01:17:42):
Oh I'm well fair enough. Oh I'm sorry. You're way
ahead of me, Mike, see Mark much sharper than I am.

Speaker 6 (01:17:48):
Well.

Speaker 23 (01:17:48):
I sorry for them.

Speaker 2 (01:17:50):
Go ahead a couple of minutes here, let me. I
don't think you go ahead.

Speaker 9 (01:17:54):
They're dead weight on defense.

Speaker 25 (01:17:56):
As you know, the saying again, offense sells tickets in
LA or anywhere, but defense ruins championships.

Speaker 2 (01:18:03):
I think there's a lot to that, I really And
that's an old cliche, but I'm with you, and so
you're I'm in a way of saying it ain't gonna work.
By the way, Henry Ruggs deserve a second chance to
get back in the NFL.

Speaker 6 (01:18:15):
Yes, okay, if.

Speaker 20 (01:18:17):
He does, and I'll tell you why, go ahead again?

Speaker 25 (01:18:19):
Another cliche to err his human to forgive divine. If
I were him, I would offer if he came out
of jail, he should get a job whatever he.

Speaker 20 (01:18:28):
Can work out all he wants. That's for his mental health.
But he should offer ninety percent of whatever salary he
makes to that family if they have a foundation, and
keep whatever he needs for his own needs.

Speaker 6 (01:18:39):
To be humble.

Speaker 2 (01:18:40):
Very call Mike, very Mike the leper count. First of all,
I like what that's excellent, call Mike. Don't be a
stranger listen. First of all, it was simplistic but spot on. Well,
you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Luca, he
ain't twenty six. He's an old dog. He's twelve year
NBA player, twel year pro hit. Your NBA player, Lebron.

(01:19:03):
He is what he is. Take him as he is
and as far as I'm gonna get to the Henry
Rooks thing after the top of the hour, but we're
also gonna get to Elliott, Allen Tyler and Rebecca and
I want to read Don's tweet. He said the LBJ
fifty two million dollars salary cap hit he's forty. Let's
be honest. He needs to go where take less. He's
a third option on a winning team. JJ meads more humility.

(01:19:25):
Luca is who he is. You'd be better off on deef.
He didn't complain about every offensive possession and got back.
By the way, Lebron and Brownie made five million two
So the James family taking a fifty seven million in
cat face, right, we'll continue on after the top of
the hour with the men at our callers keep it locked.
You're listening to the Bernie Fraddle Show on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (01:19:46):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (01:19:49):
Well, that's right, you heard the man. Bernie Fraddle Show
keeps rolling right along. My name is Bernie Frattle. We
are company line from the Fox Sports Radio compound here
in Las Vegas, taking up to three in Pacific sixteen,
having a rocking good time tonight on the midnight hour.
As he continues, you've got a little bonus time, a
little overtime, and the bended hour, So let's go back
out to the phone. Lines were joined by Elliott in Utah. Elliott,

(01:20:12):
thanks for hanging on. You're up next.

Speaker 17 (01:20:15):
Hey, Bernie appreciates you. Man, appreciate you being up at
this hour. I'll be quick, Luca, I think we're all
forgetting this guy went to the finals last year. Does
he suck at defense? Absolutely doesn't play it, Lebron. I mean,
I know what's going on with that guy, but they've
proven you put the right roster around Luca and this

(01:20:36):
guy will take you places. Man, And with that, I
think JJ is the right coach for him. He's young,
he leans into the advanced analytics. The way that he
played Yogic this year was incredible. In my opinion, I
think he's one of the few coaches who really had
a great game plan for Jokic. So that's my Lakers take.

(01:20:57):
And then as far as the Henry Ruggs, I actually
love that last Callers take. I believe we all get
second chances as well. And yeah, I think like half
or seventy percent of his salary if he gets a
second chance, should go to the family until they get
a certain amount of money, and then the rest of
it his career earnings. You know, a certain percentage should

(01:21:18):
go to like drunk driving awareness something like that.

Speaker 2 (01:21:20):
So all right, excellent Carle Elliott, don't be a stranger. YEA,
that was Mike the Leprechaun. And I'll get into this
topic later when I finished with the callers. You bring
up a good point, Elliott. Look if you surround Luca
with Austin Reeves, who I love, but is he defensively
challenged and Lebron, who I think is still productive in spurts,

(01:21:43):
but his best days are way behind him. In my opinion,
you just proved it in the playoffs when it mattered
most if you shrown him those guys and Luca's going
to be handstrung. So they made this deal to get Luca.
They're going to have to rebuild this roster, and that
includes Lebron not being there because I can't see you
take our fifty two million in cap space. What you're
going to do? You get these younger athletic teams. And

(01:22:05):
I agree, I like JJ Redick. I ain't giving up
on that dude. It's just been been a rough three weeks.
Alan Saint Louis Joys, you say, I welcome into the
Bernie Fradle Show.

Speaker 26 (01:22:14):
Well, good morning, Bernie.

Speaker 2 (01:22:15):
How you doing. Good? Good morning, sir.

Speaker 26 (01:22:17):
Enjoy your subject as always, thank you. On the Lakers.
You know, the problem with the Lakers is Luca can't
play defense. I mean, Luca may not want to play defense,
but he's surrounded by a bunch of other players who
can't play defense.

Speaker 2 (01:22:31):
Very true, Rue, So his lack.

Speaker 26 (01:22:34):
Of defense is glorified because he's the star. It's like
the previous Carlin mentioned. You surround him by other players
who can play defense. His lack of defense may not
be as bad that he can concentrate on what he
can do offense offensively. As far as J. J. Redick
is concerned, I think, you know, the regular season record

(01:22:57):
is fine, but your coaching prows come out in a
seven game series. That's when quote unquote adjustments are made.
And I think when he said let those guys play
that whole half, not only he sent a message to them,
he sent a message to the guys who never got
in the game and how do they feel about him?

(01:23:18):
So he's going to have to, you know, talk to
those guys. And they're also got to make a roster
adjustments too, because the guys on the team, it's obvious
he didn't want to play his big man who they
didn't think. They made Rudy Gobert and look like Will Chamberlain,
they said, literally, and that is that has never happened

(01:23:38):
in Gobart's career. As far as Henry's concerned, you know,
I hear people with different opinions. First of all, I
think he deserves a second chance. You know, he's doing
his time, and you know, we can't dictate what the
judicial system does. If they say two years, he does

(01:23:59):
two years. We have to accept that during his time. Now,
as far as his giving money to other families. I'm
not sure about that because you know, does he give
money to the other family because he's just a football
player make a lot of money. But does the male
man who gets out of jail, gets out of prison,
when he goes back to work, does he have to

(01:24:20):
give family money? So I think we get the star
thing kind of kind of we get called up in
the starret thing first, but I think he deserves the
second chance and from Saint Louis. And we had the
situation there with Leonard Little, yep, with Leonard Little, so
you know it's not it's already pressed has been said.

(01:24:40):
So hopefully when he gets out he'll do the right thing.
But as far as the monetary is unconcerned, I won't
get into that. That'll be up to l take care
of Bertie.

Speaker 5 (01:24:49):
Good time.

Speaker 2 (01:24:50):
I appreciate you, Man, appreciate you. Alan, Thanks so much.
I'm glad we're hearing from so many Minnesotans tonight, Tyler
and Minnesota you are up next. Go ahead.

Speaker 13 (01:24:59):
Hey, I'm just wondering, like the Henry rugg stuff. I'm
not all about anything against Henry Ruggs. I'm just all
about like, you can't do that and then get away
with it and then get back in the league after that.
Like I'm not opposed to the guy himself or what happens.
You get a lot of money, you go fast, you

(01:25:22):
make bad decisions. That's what happens when sometimes people get
a lot of money. But you also can't let that
guy go back in the profession and makes him making
a lot of money. That also could be looked at
it by other people that why are you making this

(01:25:45):
money other than you're just a gifted athlete somewhere. And
that's not one of my main questions too.

Speaker 2 (01:25:54):
All Right, I'm gonna address those. Any thoughts on whether
or not Luca he figures it out, the Lakers figured
out with Luca, and.

Speaker 26 (01:26:01):
Well, the other one is that Luca is like with Luca, nobody.

Speaker 13 (01:26:06):
Wants to play defense there.

Speaker 9 (01:26:08):
But you know, the one.

Speaker 13 (01:26:10):
Thing I think about is remember the video that came
out last year which nobody talks about, but the GM
or whoever he was, the president, I don't know who
he was, but he came through Luca's drinking a bud
light there. He grabbed the bud light so smoothly swiped
it out of there, and it obviously looked like the

(01:26:32):
main public. That obviously the GM and Luca obviously didn't
get along. Which titles are not entitled. I don't know
if that's the right word, but that he traded him
to the Lakers, which everybody looked at that is that's
a horrible trade.

Speaker 2 (01:26:51):
Well, there's no queestion.

Speaker 13 (01:26:54):
We all watched that video that he took that beer
Luca's hand. Luca looked at him like, what the heck
are you doing? And then obviously nothing came of that.
But now we see that he got traded with a Lakers,
so obviously that GM must have thought something of him
that he wasn't meant to be there.

Speaker 2 (01:27:17):
So all right, buddy, it's not I appreciate you, Tyler,
don't be a stranger. And before I get to Rebecca
and Nate, our last two callers, she's a couple of things.
The Nico Harrison trade will always be second guessed because
he got virtually nothing in return, not nothing in return,
but he could have theoretically got a lot more. When
the trade happened, I said, let's wait three years and
see what this looks like, because I saw the frustration

(01:27:39):
on the man's face. Nico Harrison he says, I ain't
paying this guy three hundred and fifty million dollars. I'm
not doing it. When he's going up and down the court,
look like he's dragging a trailer. I realize that he
can score thirty eight points a game. I realize he's
prolific offensively. But I gotta tell you, Minnesota's coaching was
so brilliant trapping him after mid court. I don't want

(01:28:02):
to go back into that. Maybe I will at the
end of the show. Second thing, just so we know
everybody knows the facts. Leonard Little was a player for
the Rams, and in the late nineties, he was on
his way home from a birthday party and he ran
over a young lady and was in Saint Louis. His
blood alcohol content was zero point one point nine, way
over the legal limit. He pled guilty to you involuntary

(01:28:23):
and manslaughter, and he got ninety days in his city workhouse,
a probation, in a thousand hours of community service. He
went back and played six more years in the NFL.
So there's precedence here now. The Henry Rugs situation was
far more horrific in terms of going one hundred and
fifty six miles an hour, and I live here in Vegas,
and I saw the accounts and talk to people. The

(01:28:44):
young lady burned to death in our car was horrible,
just horrible, and he was Tina intur So. I don't know.
There's no easy reconciliation here. I'll give you my thoughts
after we get through all the callers. Let's go back
out to Minnesota where Becca. Welcome into the Bernie Frattle Show.

Speaker 23 (01:29:04):
Hi, Rebecca passed out, But I just want to start
by saying we have to start to stop deciphering.

Speaker 6 (01:29:11):
Who is wrong? Is more wrong?

Speaker 23 (01:29:13):
Wrong?

Speaker 6 (01:29:13):
Is wrong?

Speaker 4 (01:29:14):
Is a wrong?

Speaker 2 (01:29:16):
Okay, let's fill into blinks here. Okay, fair enough. I
would just say this, we can't solve the problems on
this show. This is an open forum, and I don't
want to get into what about it is. And that's fair,
But since Leonard Little's name was brought up three times,
I wanted to set the listeners straight on why there

(01:29:38):
may have been a parallel. The issue here is whether
or not Henry Ruggs gets a second chance. Why are
we even talking about it? Well, I'm going to tell
you why. Coming up, Nayton, Texas wrap it up for
us tonight on the midnight hour.

Speaker 13 (01:29:53):
All right, Bernie love a show.

Speaker 6 (01:29:56):
That's a few times they called in.

Speaker 13 (01:29:57):
Really appreciate you having me for sure?

Speaker 2 (01:29:59):
Sure, sure the all.

Speaker 15 (01:30:01):
Right, so Luca in particular, and all right, so Nico's frustration, like.

Speaker 6 (01:30:06):
I get it, and he did what it is.

Speaker 15 (01:30:08):
I'm like, I'm I'm from here, I'm born and raised
in DSW.

Speaker 6 (01:30:12):
I get there.

Speaker 7 (01:30:13):
I don't think there's ever gonna be a chance.

Speaker 6 (01:30:15):
To like Nico.

Speaker 15 (01:30:16):
Actually, like, you know, let's say, gets it clear by
by us, you.

Speaker 6 (01:30:22):
Know what I'm saying.

Speaker 16 (01:30:23):
Uh.

Speaker 15 (01:30:24):
And one of the reasons that Luca dominated was so
good around it, it's because he had a whole ass
team that sorry for cussing, the whole team that was
built around him, because he's not a defensive player, right,
he's not, and so you you build around him, you
get bigs around him.

Speaker 6 (01:30:42):
That it was good.

Speaker 15 (01:30:43):
The reason why we went to the finals last year
is because we built the team around him.

Speaker 6 (01:30:48):
And so he goes to the.

Speaker 15 (01:30:50):
Lakers and it makes sense. And we saw it in
Game five. Man, that was it was kind of hard
to watch. There's there wasn't any sort of synchronicity, there
wasn't any sort of defense being played, and that actually
goes with in season trades. They generally don't work out.
You know, the first year that Kyrie and Luca played together,
they weren't very good together either.

Speaker 2 (01:31:09):
Let me ask you a question. Eight you know, since
you're they're there in DFW, it sounds like you're a
Mavericks fan, or at least you follow the team. I am.
So Luca's okay, this is not his first barbecue. He's
been in league eight years. I remember covering him in
the Summer League back in the summer twenty eighteen. When
he came in, he was a young little kid looking
he's aged to me. Now, I'm asking you a question.

(01:31:33):
Have you seen a progressive uh sort of what's the
word I'm looking for? Have you seen his body change
over the years? Give us some perspective on that because
you see him year in year out.

Speaker 15 (01:31:48):
Okay, So I'll give you. And this is what a
lot of people want to hear. Whenever he first comes
to training camp, does he look a little budgy, But
then he starts training and then he gets back into
it and.

Speaker 6 (01:32:00):
He gets back in shape.

Speaker 15 (01:32:02):
And one of the things I think that a lot
of people have an issue with it is that very
first day that he shows up a training camp, maybe
he has an extra ten pounds or something of a
little flat.

Speaker 1 (01:32:11):
You know, I don't disagree with that stint though.

Speaker 2 (01:32:13):
It's the desire to play defense. He had nine blowbys
and that's Game five. Only I don't see a guy
that looks to me like he really wants to play defense.

Speaker 15 (01:32:24):
And I don't even necessarily disagree with you.

Speaker 7 (01:32:26):
And here's here's my.

Speaker 15 (01:32:28):
Also, I'll add into it. Dirk was never really really
known for his defense either, but they built in twenty eleven.
They built a team around Dirk to make sure that
he had the defense surrounding him.

Speaker 13 (01:32:42):
That's why last.

Speaker 15 (01:32:43):
Year's team was so productive and so phenomenal. And that's
why Luca effectively carried this team score wise, points wise
to the finals. Now, don't get me wrong, I am
fully aware and as a fan, as a Luca lover,
I love him. I don't know if you remember, but
I told you a couple of weeks that I'm rooting

(01:33:03):
a couple of weeks ago. I'm rooting for the Lakers
for sure because of you.

Speaker 6 (01:33:07):
Know, karma.

Speaker 15 (01:33:08):
Uh, But sure, I don't think that you know the
Lakers had anything going for him defensive wise, and that's
why it ended up failing. Don't get me wrong, I
do understand the fact that Luca, You're one hundred percent right,
Bernie said, No, it looks like he doesn't want to
play the defense.

Speaker 6 (01:33:28):
He doesn't want to do that.

Speaker 8 (01:33:29):
He wants to score, and he scores a lot.

Speaker 15 (01:33:31):
He scores more than anybody else in the league.

Speaker 6 (01:33:33):
That is my issue.

Speaker 15 (01:33:35):
He's one of the most prolific, it's not the most
prolific scorers in the in the league, and I feel
like people aren't given that credit. You can build the
defense around him, and that's what.

Speaker 13 (01:33:48):
We did last year.

Speaker 6 (01:33:49):
We did it last year.

Speaker 15 (01:33:50):
And Nico Harrison just completely ignored all that, ignored everything
about that, and it.

Speaker 6 (01:33:56):
Was just like, oh, all right.

Speaker 15 (01:33:57):
The first week of training camp he showed up a
little pudgy.

Speaker 6 (01:34:01):
And that was it.

Speaker 15 (01:34:01):
And that was the you know, the you know put
plot that they just washed the hands of it.

Speaker 2 (01:34:05):
Well look at it, and it's stand the line. I
think stand the line. Look, I think Nico struggled with
decision more than people realized. It came down to one thing.
Nate my humble opinion, I know it's against a law
of practice psychology was out of license. But I'm gonna
do it anyway, Nico said, I can't pay this gay
Throe a undred fifty million. I'm not going to admit
that in public. Ain't gonna do it. Ain't gonna do it.

(01:34:26):
I've been talking to him for two or three years
about this. Yea, I scores a bunch of points. Dave
Kingman hit a bunch of home runs with the Cubs,
and then ever won Jack and I think he got
he got to his wits end. And if you've ever
been an employer and people don't change certain habits or that,
you know, I don't want to go down that road.
This is a highly charged situation. Acknowledging all along that

(01:34:47):
Luca is a tremendous fan favorite and was a key
cog in getting the Mavericks to the Conference finals last year,
even though they got smoked, but he got them there.
He was a key part in helping them get there.
But think that was in this is now. And yes,
if you surround Luca were the right people, maybe they

(01:35:09):
win a championship. But it's theoretical. You got the last word,
so and.

Speaker 15 (01:35:15):
You're one hundred percent right. And Bernie, I'll give you
that credit without a doubt.

Speaker 14 (01:35:19):
It is a maybe, it's a big maybe.

Speaker 15 (01:35:22):
But we've seen it before, and even with the Mavericks,
we've seen it before. You build around the player that
has incredible offensive talent with the defense to support him.
Dirk is Dirk didn't play defense either. He was not
a good defensive player, and he won he big twenty
eleven is heralded as the best finals run of all time,

(01:35:46):
and it was based off a character that could not
play defense. Now do I agree that like that's gonna
happen every single time? No, So I do understand the
fact that it's like, all right, if that's the case,
let's trade them out and go from there. However, you're
trading one of the most prolific scorers of all time,

(01:36:08):
even better than Dirk, even better than the.

Speaker 6 (01:36:11):
Scorers out there.

Speaker 15 (01:36:12):
You're trading him away, and you're pissing off your fan
base in the process.

Speaker 2 (01:36:19):
All right, well again, great call. I remember the twenty
eleven Dallas Mavericks team. Well, it was the second year
I lived in Las Vegas. I watched most of those
games at the m resort of the hell of a comeback.
They won fifty seven games in the regular season and
won the championship. They were ranked dated overall defensively heading
into the playoffs, the Lakers were sixteen. They managed to

(01:36:40):
be a strong defensive team because they had enough dogs
in there like Tyson Chandler and Sean Merian and Jason Kidd,
so they had some guys who could play defense. But
your comparison is noted somewhere along the line, Dirk didn't
present the same limitations, at least from a perception stacepoint

(01:37:01):
to the management and whether it be Mark Cuban, whether
it be Nico Harrison, whoever the brass is. They said,
we ain't paying this guy at three hundred and fifty
million dollars. That's if I'm going to reduce this to
its simplest common denominator. I'm certain that that's what it
came down to. We're not paying this guy three hundred
and fifty million, which you would have been eligible for

(01:37:23):
here in July. Fantastic job to everybody on the midnight hour.
We'll have another good one next week coming up. I'm
going to unpack the Henry Rex situation bringing up this
stuff and tell you what my thoughts are. It'll be
somewhat of an amalgam of a lot of the callers.
We've got a lot of thoughtful callers. By the way,
shortly after the show, this podcast will be going up.

(01:37:46):
If you missed any of tonight's show, be sure to
check out the podcast. Just search Fox Sports Radio The
Bernie Frattle Show wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure
to review follow the podcast rated five stars again. Just
seart Fox Sports Radio of the Bernie Frattle Show wherever
you get your podcasts. Sea Tonight show posted right after
we get off the air. All right, coming up, I

(01:38:07):
dive into the Henry Rug situation. I lay it out
for you. What's going on? Why did I bring this
up tonight? I'll check all those boxes in just a second.
I'm Bernie Fraddle. We're coming to you live from Las
Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios here at Las Vegas Department
of Redundancy Department. Keep it lock you listen to the
Bernie Fraddle Show on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (01:38:25):
listen live.

Speaker 2 (01:38:37):
All right, back on the Bernie Fraddle Show, Fox Sports Radio,
come to live from the Las Vegas compound here of
Fox Sports Radio. We'll take up to three am Pacific,
six am Eastern, once again the minnight hour. The calls
We're outstanding. We talked about whether or not Luca and
the Lakers would ever figure it out and coexist and

(01:38:59):
win a champions whether or not JJ Reddick was the
right guy, is the right the right guy? I don't
get to that. And Henry Ruggs, Now for those of
you who perhaps maybe under a rock, or aren't art
and football fans, or just fell out of a touch,
Henry Ruggs was a prolific wide receiver at University of Alabama,

(01:39:20):
very fast, checked all the boxes, had by all accounts,
should have been you know, a very you know, productive
player for the Raiders. But in November twenty twenty one,
Henry Ruggs here in Las Vegas was involved in a
fatal crash that killed a twenty three year old young
lady by the name of Tina Tintor. Now. The Las

(01:39:42):
Vegas Metro Police said Ruggs showed signs of impairment after
they respounded to the collision, and then ruggs blood alcohol
content was zero point one six. That's more than twice
Nevada's league limit. That was according to the police report.
The authorities also said Ruggs was driving his at speeds
as fast as one hundred and fifty six miles an

(01:40:03):
hour at three forty am when he crashed into the
young lady's SUV. I believe she was parked at a
red light, best of my understanding. Now I know the
street he was driving on. To be going one hundred
and fifty six is beyond approach. I cannot describe how
irresponsible that is, but it happened. Henry Ruggs is in

(01:40:23):
prison and he's actually now training to get a second
chance in the NFL after that twenty twenty one crash,
and interestingly enough, he is eligible for parole for the
first time August fifth, twenty twenty six. And his former
teammate at Alabama, who's also a prolific running back for

(01:40:47):
the Raiders now with the Green Bay Packers, Josh Jacobs,
said he's been talking to teams on Henry Ruggs behalf
to give him another chance, and then a couple of
teams seemed willing to give him a chance that was
a How do we know this? Well, there is a
podcast hosted by Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, who was a

(01:41:10):
great running back in the NFL, and Channing Crowder, an
NBA player, And apparently I'm guessing I think that Josh
Jacobs was a guest on the Pivot podcast and he
shared the story. Jacobs and Ruggs were t mits at Alabama,
I think for one year. I think they crossed over
one year. And he says he loves Hunter Ruggs. He

(01:41:32):
keeps in close contact with him while he serves his
president sentences. Prison sentence that he got was three to
ten years. He pled guilty to felony drunk driving. So
when August twenty twenty six rolls around, he's going to
have his first chance to be eligible for parole. The
first thing that has to happen is the parole board
has to grant that release and be out on parole.

(01:41:54):
And then Jacobs told him, he says, if you get
that chance, man, don't look back one decision. Don't define
you who you are as a man. All Right. This
is a very highly highly charged situation. Just a few
hours after the crash, the Raiders released Henry Ruggs, which
is understandable, and Rugs hired a high power attorney. And

(01:42:20):
this is where we sit. So after listening to all
the opinions, and these are my thoughts. First of all,
if he pays his debt to society based on what
the judicial system says, and he gets out on parole,
and parole is a pretty tight leash. You can't you
can't screw up, you'll be right back in jail. But

(01:42:41):
it's not on the room of possibility that he would
get out on parole and that he would get an
opportunity to be part of an NFL team again at
that time. If he gets out and there's just no
way of knowing, and it's still fifteen months away, there's

(01:43:03):
no way of knowing. But theoretically, if you were, he
might have an opportunity to latch on with somebody in
the twenty twenty six NFL season. So where do I
weigh in. I think the family does have to sign
off on this. If the judicial system says you've paid
your debt, but you're gonna be on parole, you got
to straighten up and fly right. And an NFL team

(01:43:26):
says we'll hire you as an employee, we think you
can help us win games, and the family signs off
on it. Look, they lost a daughter and his sister
in a most horrific way. They have to weigh in.
I'm not implying they're paid money. I don't know. Might
the Leprechaun. It was a good call, but then one

(01:43:47):
of the other callers from Saint Louis said, no, you
don't have to pay him money. Okay, that's why they
mend that hour is so good because you know, the
most boring conversations where everybody agrees, so for what it's
worth it. Leonard Little's name came up, and he was
the ram player who killed somebody's mother in nineteen ninety
eight and came back and played several years in the NFL.

(01:44:08):
He paid his debt, as it were, he allegedly paid
that family a settlement some I don't know how much
it was. It was never published, but that could maybe
go a long way. You're never going to bring that
person back, so I have to accuse myself. I can
only say, if the law decides one thing, we have
to respect that or national laws. If the NFL says, hey,

(01:44:31):
you know, as far as we're concerned, We've done our
due diligence, and we think he can come back and
be a productive member. I can't second guess that, but
I do think the family has to be consulted. As
it has been reported, the Leonard Little Klan never apologized
to the young man's mother who was killed. I think
he lives in Chicago, and he was reached for interview

(01:44:52):
as recent as a couple of years ago after the
Rugs sing and says he still keeps his mother's clothes
in the closet. He's not ready to give her up yet.
So these are difficult, difficult, difficult things, right, they are
not easy, and I I don't I don't know what's
gonna happen, but we'll keep an open mind. And that's
that's why this whole subject came up as far as uh,

(01:45:15):
as far as you know, whether or not Henry Ruggs
would get a second chance. I mean, why we I've
always had a rule in radio. Why are we talking
about this today? Well that's why because Josh Jacob's Ruggs
teammate at Alabama, UH, broached this on the Ryan Clark
and Channing Crowder uh you know podcast the other day.

(01:45:37):
So there you have it. We'll just have to see
where the story goes. Now. I I loved the JJ
Reddick higher when it happened. I like outside the box, Hires.
I was very pleased to see our colleague Doug Gottlieb
getting an opportunity to, you know, achieve his dream as
a Division one college basketball coach. Uh because formulaically, a

(01:46:01):
lot people are hired for the same reasons over and
over and to fill your rights high So think outside
the box now and then now, I thought Riddick did
a good job this year. Look, he's he's got a
bit of a red ass man, he's got a quick trigger.
But she had to know that by now. Yeah, I
mean he went at it with Kendrick Perkins on the
air a couple of years ago about something he added

(01:46:21):
a duke. And I know a lot of folks make
it out, make it a sport out of hating duke.
I'm not necessarily one of those people, but you kind
of knew what you were getting with JJ Reddick. Now,
after winning fifty two games and having you know, half
the Western hemispheld believe the Lakers just had this god
given right to show up and win, and at the

(01:46:44):
end of the show. I'm going to I'm going to
lay out the inconvenient truce again. The Lakers just didn't lose.
Minnesota wamped them. They pull asked him, Okay, there's just
no question. But all of a sudden, now after the fact,
JJ Reddick is taking some heat for carrominans he made
after his team was eliminated. He was actually accused of
hypocrisy because some saw him was making excuses after the

(01:47:07):
Lakers lost in five games to the Timberwolves, and Reddick
admitted that the Lakers playoff rotation had not played together
much that might have been a factor in their defeat.
I'm not buying that. But look, if you juxtapose his
most recent comments go back to June of twenty and
actually was before that. He had a famous rant on

(01:47:31):
ESPN's first Take before he became coach of the Lakers,
and actually it was to the point it was in
February last year, twenty twenty four, he pissed off Patrick Beverly,
and Beverly threw shade at Redick, who, while he was
an analyst for ESPN, went viral because he criticized Doc Rivers,

(01:47:56):
who and Patrick Beverly had played under Rivers. He tore
into Rivers because he was always making excuses. So he's
always throwing guys under the bus, and there's never any
accountability with him, all right, And he went on to say,
we've seen the trend for years, So trend is always
making excuses. Doc, We get it. Taking over a team
in the middle of the season, it's hard, but you've

(01:48:17):
always got an excuse. Blah blah blah. I made a
lot of inflammatory comments, and you know it came back
to bite Reddick last year. Was coming back to bite
him this year because if you juxtaposed those comments with
what Reddick just said the other day, now that he's
head coach of the Lakers, which he accused Doc Rigor
was always making excuses for the failures, the implication is

(01:48:40):
Redick's now doing the same thing the excused Rivers are doing,
and now he's a head coach. And he went on
to say, you know, we only played thirteen games with
our playoff rotation. These things take time. It doesn't happen overnight.
Then he went on to say, you know, we need
to be in better shape. We know, we know what
you're talking about. You're talking about Luca Now I get it.
Lebron was dog tired and he had some bad turnovers

(01:49:01):
and he was trying to play defense. Okay, and look, JJ,
Reddick is polarizing, and like anything else in life, any
other opportunity, either produce results or you don't. And Doc's
been around twenty five years, Reddick's just starting out with this,
so I thought he had a good first year. Obviously,

(01:49:23):
expectations fell way short because of what the group think
Echo Chamber said, not because of what was reality or
what should have been reality, but because people who had,
you know, expectations about the Lakers that just turned out
to be false. They were they were their objective truth

(01:49:46):
in our personal feelings, most of these opinions were subjective.
Nick Wright is very successful in his craft, but he's
a fanboy when it comes to the Lakers in the
Kansas City Chiefs, he just is, and he should own
it more than he did. But we all see it.
And you know, I don't recall him ever being objective

(01:50:06):
about the Lakers or Lebron. And this has had to
be a tough pill to swaller because, as I said,
this is a situation where Minnesota beat the Lakers. That's
the narrative. The Lakers didn't, you know, lose just because
they were beaten. And Game five was a microcosm, and

(01:50:28):
you know, between the size and rebounding advantage and the
fast break defense and the Lakers attempts to defend Anthony
Edwards and not being able to quell Minnesota's energy or
their motivation, and the underdog role, and of course not
being able to stop Rudy Gobert their offensive struggles. Right
down the line, the Lakers were soundly beaten. JJ Reddick

(01:50:51):
will forever be called out for not going to his
bench at all in Game four. It almost worked. That's
why I'm not calling him out. We wouldn't be talking
about we were robbed of what should have been a
Game six on Friday, and what would have been hopefully
would have been great to see a Game seven on

(01:51:12):
later today, which we'll get with Golden State and Houston.
But that's the way the cookie crumbles, by the way.
You know what, why are we not giving the Denver
Nuggets a little credit for what they did. Let's dive
into that for just a second, because they truly overpowered
the Clippers and they had their turmoil right before the

(01:51:34):
season when they fired their coach and they managed to
rebound from it. Let's see what I did there. By
the way, for the best pregame show every weekend, be
sure to tune into Fox Sports Radios. Countdown presented by
bet MGM every Saturday and Sunday morning from nine am
to noon Eastern six to nine am Pacific, will count
you down to all the biggest games. Tune into Countown
presented by BETMGM every Saturday and Sunday morning right here

(01:51:57):
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeart Radio app coming up.
Let's give the Denver Nuggets their props. They sent the
Clippers packing one day. If the sports gods would just
give Ben Mallor a break and let the Clippers for once,
for once, I'm Bernie Fraddle come to your line from
the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. Keep it locked
you listen to the Bernie Fraddle Show on Fox Sports Radio.

(01:52:20):
We're back of the Bernie Fraddle Show, Fox Sports Radio,
coming to live from the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio compound.
Here we'll take after three and Pacific sixty of eastward,
just thirteen minutes away from the dance sens Nation sweeping
the nation. What kind of brand new fool of you
followed by what my name. Well, the Lakers take up

(01:52:40):
a lot of air in the room, and I get it,
and you get it too, all right, especially in light
of the trade, which you know Jason Kidd compared to
Babe Ruth. Okay, let's pump the brakes on that. But
it's as big a trade in the NBA since Cream
Abdul Jabbar was traded to the Lakers fifty years ago.
It's that bag. And so there is narratives. There are narratives.

(01:53:03):
I'm going narratives, but I'm about the other LA team.
I gotta tell you, you got to feel for James Balmer.
He does this thing called the wall, you know, in
their arena, and he flew he flew fans to Denver
and put him up and all that. This guy has
done everything. And they put a good roster on the floor,
and like Mark Mnina said, they're all healthy, and yet
they still got completely overpowered by the Denver Nuggets. It

(01:53:26):
was close after one quarter, but Denver pulled away in
the second and they completely shut down the Clippers offense.
So now Denver advances to face Oklahoma City, that's no prize.
They go ten deep mark things though, Loklahoma City will
make quick work of them. But I gotta tell you,
as long as you got Nicole Jokic, I like what
Aaron Gordon's done, Jamal Murray, They've still got some championship DNA.

(01:53:51):
I don't think they're getting past Oklahoma City, but at
least they lived to fight another day. So how did
the Nuggets do this? Because remember they had so many storylines.
A month ago they fired the coach and all season
what was the biggest issue with Denver? It was the
same one that the Lakers turned out to be their bugaboo,
and that was lack of a bench. And frankly, this

(01:54:13):
was a series. If you watched, it was a seven
game series. The bench struggled mightily to generate offense unless
Jokic was on the floor. Now, in game seven, you
know you had a couple of unusual suspects, Peyton Watson
and Russell Westbrook. They kind of provided the minutes in
production and all of a sudden, game sevens are route.

(01:54:35):
You go into the second quarter seventeen unanswered points to
twenty four to four, run thirty five points. Denver explodes, goodnight,
thanks for coming, don't forget to tape your waiters and waitresses.
Look Denver's bench, and this is if the Lakers had
done this or been able to do this, or JJ
Readick maybe given him the chance, We're never gonna know.

(01:54:57):
The Nuggets lack of depth there's not only been a
season long issue for this current season, It's been an
issue for multiple seasons. And that's the reason I'm told
while general manager Calvin Booth and Mike Malone, who's been
with the organization in a long time and had a championship,
were fired the last week of the regular season. Now

(01:55:21):
in Game four, the lack of a bench really manifested itself.
They're in our own coach, David Adelman, who's done, I
think a pretty damn good job. He devoted just seven
minutes totally to reserves in the second half. Now, part
of it was because Russell Westbrook was hurt, but part
of it was the same reason for Malone. He didn't

(01:55:41):
trust the young players that Calvin Booth drafted, and Calvin
Booth didn't retain the veterans that Malone used. That resulted
in kind of this very thin bench, a very unproven bench,
of inexperienced bench. I think there were issues between Booth
and Malone. Anyway, they've ended up both getting fired. Let's
face it, the Nuggets, when Nikola Jokich is not on

(01:56:04):
the floor, they're not anywhere near the same team. You
just watch, even for two three minute stretches. Right Ironically,
Jokic struggled at the beginning of the game, but Adelman
arrested him to start the second quarter, and somehow Russell
Westbrook and I didn't get this for most of the year.

(01:56:25):
He's one of the veterans former coach Michael Malone relied
on probably too much, and Peyton Watson, who's just a
twenty two year old wing and his role was never
really completely defined under the old coach. They supplied the
minutes while Jokic rested, regrouped, steadied himself, got back in

(01:56:46):
the game and double Yolkic does what Watson and restbur did,
combining for seventeen points in the first half, including a
five to seven all why Jokic got rest well, the Clippers,
who have a very injurious bench, had just seven and
during that time seven points outscored seventeen to seven. Eventually,

(01:57:07):
Jokic got back on the floor, got it going that's
what he does. He's a Hall of Famers, a three
time MVP something, the best player in the game. And
so now you know, Denver did what they needed to do.
So the question is what the hell happened to the Clippers.
I don't know, man, I just don't know. And you

(01:57:29):
can you can right it off to energy or locked
thereof they didn't have it, and the Clippers had a
twenty six to twenty one lead after the first quarter.
But then all of a sudden, Russell Westbrook comes out,
goes crazy, hits a three, draws a file on Bogdanovitch,

(01:57:51):
gets back to back steeles, Caps attend to run all
of a sudden, the game's never the same again, and
Aaron Gordon went off to the Clippers never let again,
and the Clippers looked like a team that couldn't handle
the energy the Nuggets had at home. Westbrook matched Kawhi
Leonard for a quarter high ten points. Both players essentially
spent the entire period on the floor, but by halftime,

(01:58:13):
the Nuggets had outscored the Clippers fourteen and four on
fast breaks, nine to four on second chance points, in
thirty to twenty six in the paint. They were nominating
the game. What happened to the Clippers' legs? They didn't
have their legs. They missed thirteen of eighteen shots outside
the pain. Vika Zubatch was in foul trouble. He never
gets into foul trouble. That's a sign of fatigue. Norman

(01:58:33):
Paul was in foul trouble. He had more files in
the first half. He had three first half fules. He
had more falls than points or at least buckets. And
then once again, James Harden playoff. James plays forty six
minutes in Game six, had a slow start, bad turnovers, Early,
missed four field goals early, and Nicholas Batoum started the

(01:58:54):
second half in place a Derrick Jones. The Nuggets said,
all right, we're coming after you. We're going for the throat.
Seventeen oh run. Tough ending for the Clippers in a
series which perhaps it looked like going the distance wouldn't
have been their best interest, But I think it's going
to be a hard pill to swallow. They were eliminated
by a Nuggets bench led by a player Russell Westbrook.

(01:59:16):
They had on their sea team last weeks and didn't
want I think Mark Madina laid that out Russell Westbrook
had extra motivation coming up. The dance sensation Sweeping the Nation?
What kind of brand new fool you followed by what
my name? Keep it locked? You're listening to the Bernie
Fraddle Show on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (01:59:34):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (01:59:37):
Well, that's right, you heard the man. My name is
Bernie Frattle. We are coming a line from the Fox
Sports Radio La Vegas compound and the Bernie Fraddle Show continues,
take you up to three am Pacific, six am Eastern. Again,
I want to thank all the phenomenal callers in the
mind that hour tonight to good every week, but tonight's

(01:59:59):
so matter was a little bit more highly charged. And
we'll have more of that in weeks to come. But
you know, we've come to that time in the show,
that juncture in the show. You know what you love it?
You can't live without. It's a dance sensation sweep the nation.
See because on our show, like Yogi Berra once said,
you can observe a lot by watching, and that's what
we do. And across this great land of ours, from

(02:00:21):
Seed to Oily Sea, will people engage in activities and
sometimes these activities are frivolous and stupid and not very smart.
But they're innocuous. Other times they're more serious, and other
times you want to follow the law. They could even
land you in jail. But any way you slice it,
any way, to characterize it, any way you describe these behaviors,

(02:00:41):
they always leave us scratching our head and asking ourselves,
what kind of brand new fool you So tonight we
take you to New York City. And this one is
a weird one, like most of them are. And I'm
sure folks know that joy riding is a crime. It
can be a felony. It can land you in jail

(02:01:02):
for up to a year, finds all kinds of stuff.
If you take someone's card take it for a joy ride.
We've all heard the colloquialism is about throwing somebody under
a bus or getting run over by a bus. You
get it right, Well, this one involves joy riding and
involves a bus. And this one's a little weird. They

(02:01:23):
didn't New York City Police didn't even release this guy's
name because he happened to see a bus, an American
Airlines bus at JFK Airport sitting by the road idling
and no one was in the bus, so allegedly, I
guess you have to use the word allegedly. He said,

(02:01:45):
what the hell? He decided he would take the bus
from Lock twelve at the Queen's Hub somewhere around two am,
and the New York An NYPD wouldn't give the man
his name. He's a forty three year old man. He
jumped in and drove off. Well, here's what's interesting if
you know New York City. He got on the Grand
Central Parkway into Manhattan, then drove south bomb on the FDR,

(02:02:09):
which he's about a good twenty minute ride, and he
eventually got caught at Cabmin Plaza West and mid Off Street,
where police pulled him over. Fortunately no injuries were reported.
The NaN's name was not released, but turns out the
dude has a body of work. He has been arrested

(02:02:30):
nine prior times, but none for taking a bus on
a joy ride. I guess he wanted to add that
to his body of work. He does have a criminal
history and he is arrest dates going all the way
back to twenty fifteen. Butmanned unnamed man in New York

(02:02:51):
City taking the American Airlines bus at Jfcairport and making
all the way to Manhattan, which is a good twenty
minute drive. Maybe you must know how to drive a
bus because that ain't a easy vehicle to drive. So
maybe he's a former bus driver. I don't know, I
don't care. All I know is unnamed man joy Ride
bus driver been arrested nine times. What kind of brand
new fool are you? Okay, Brianna, you got.

Speaker 6 (02:03:14):
The floor alrighty?

Speaker 27 (02:03:16):
So keeping in tradition with producer Shay and going Florida
Man again. So a Florida man was banned from Disney
World after allegedly attempting to sneak a wallet full of
cocaine into the Magic Kingdom. Dustin Wallace, age forty four,

(02:03:37):
was arrested in late March and charged with possession of cocaine.
According to the affidated Affidal, Oh yeah that's the word.
I was like, Oh, it didn't sound right when I
said it. He was going into the park with his
son and was stopped at the checkpoint when they entered
the security guards line, and when he was scanned with

(02:03:57):
a metal detector they took out. They saw that something
was kind of weird with his wallet. So when the
Disney security officer opened the wallet. It seemed a little
bit bulky, so they opened it and they saw the
bag of a white substance. And you know, since they
didn't really know what it was, I mean, it could

(02:04:18):
have been, you know, a variety of things, I guess.
The security officer told Wallace to leave the park and
warned him not to return to any Disney hotel, park
or any kind of property, and that you know, if
there was any issues, they would be in contact with him.
So a field test allegedly came back positive for cocaine
and security called the Sheriff's office to report mister Wallace.

(02:04:42):
When the Sheriff's office arrived at the Magic Kingdom, they
took a statement from him and said that he had
been using it for one month because of quote stress
from work. He admitted to the police that he put
the drugs in his wallet and it was attempting to
bring it inside the park in case he quote got
stressed out. He was then taken into custody and booked

(02:05:06):
in a nearby jail, and his bail was set about
at twenty five hundred dollars. His case is still currently pending.
Dustin Wallace also involving your son in all this drama
when you're supposed to just go Disneyland and hang out
with like have a family day. What kind of brand new.

Speaker 7 (02:05:22):
Fool are you?

Speaker 2 (02:05:23):
Well? That is one damn fool, one damn brand new fool?
All right, another rousing edition of what kind of brand
new fool you? Which now allows us to segue into
our second favorite bit, which we refer to as what
my name? All Right? I am the most recent NBA

(02:05:47):
player to get twenty rebounds in a game. As a
matter of fact, I got twenty four rebounds in a
game the other night. Mark Ramsey, what my name Here's
there's a clue. His team just advanced to the second
round of the NBA playoffs.

Speaker 28 (02:06:06):
They called him gobarrassing.

Speaker 2 (02:06:07):
Mister Gobert, nicely done the little playing words there, Mark
all right? Winter winner win or winner. Well, you know,
getting twenty rebounds in a game is really a heck
of an accomplishment. But there are two NBA players that
stand above all others. I mean, they're way ahead of
anybody else. So I am the holder of the most

(02:06:33):
twenty rebound games in the history of the NBA. Brianna
what my name? Here's a clue. I also won eleven
championships during my tenure. Bill Russell, absolutely Bill Russell, the
Boston Celtics. Well, Bill had to break somebody's record, and

(02:06:56):
he well, I don't know he broke his record. But
this guy's number two only just a few rebounds a
few games. Russell had like one hundred and twenty four
of them. This guy had like one hundred and thirteen,
and then after that the next one's got like twenty.
But this gentleman was seven feet tall, played for the Lakers,

(02:07:17):
and his nickname rhymed with stilt, Mark Ramsey, what my.

Speaker 28 (02:07:20):
Name Wilt Chamberlain.

Speaker 2 (02:07:24):
It is, in fact, Wilt Chamberlain. His name was. His
nickname was Wilt the Stilt. All right, Well, you know
we've talked about the Lakers and could they win a championship,
and with this crew, et cetera, et cetera, we beat
it to death on the midnight hour. I'm the last

(02:07:46):
Laker coach to actually win a championship, and it wasn't
that long a goal. Here's a clue. I did it
in the bubble, Brianna, what.

Speaker 19 (02:07:54):
My name is it?

Speaker 27 (02:07:55):
Frank Vogel.

Speaker 2 (02:07:56):
It is Frank Vogel. One of my favorite. Frank Vogel
has quite an interesting NBA career, and he was relieved
of his duties a couple of years later. And then
Darvin Ham gets into the conference finals and he's relieved
his duties a right. Continuing on with an NBA theme,

(02:08:16):
As an NBA head coach, I have won more games
as an NBA head coach than anyone in history. Mark Ramsey,
is my name? Don Nelson, pat Riley or Greg Popovich?
What my name?

Speaker 28 (02:08:37):
Only because he's in the news.

Speaker 25 (02:08:38):
Popovic.

Speaker 2 (02:08:39):
It is Greg Popovic. It is Greg Popovich. He's won
more NBA games than any other player he coached twenty
nine years. Well, what's interesting is now the Greg Popovich
was the longest reigning tenured NBA coach, But now that
Greg Popovich is gone, I am the longest tenured NBA

(02:09:03):
coach currently Brandon what my name? Here's a clue. I
once coach Lebron and we won a championship with Lebron.
Eric Eric spolsterra is the name? All right, great job
you guys, I think you're undefeated two weeks in a row.
Didn't miss anything. Good job, good job on the brand

(02:09:26):
new Fool and all that stuff. And by the way,
I should remind everybody you can stream this show and
all of our Fox Sports Radio shows live twenty four
to seven in the new and improved iHeartRadio app. Just
search Fox Sports Radio in the app to stream us live.
And one of the newest features in the app is

(02:09:47):
that you can select Fox Sports Radio is one of
your presets, just like the presets on a radio dial.
So be sure to preset Fox Sports Radio in the
i Art Radio app and will always pop up on
the top of your screen. One of the things I
wanted to get to tonight was is it true that
the NBA is looking to copy the NHL? Well, they are.

(02:10:10):
We all know how bad, what a train wreck disaster
the NBA All Star Game has been in the last decade,
and it turns out the NBA played very close attention
to what the NHL did over it's All Star break
this past February, and it looks like they might want
to replicate that model. As a matter of fact, just

(02:10:31):
this last week, Adam Silver, the commissioner and president of
League Operations Byron spoul Well, they held a press conference
with the media in New York and they both said
they're interested in going to a format similar to what
the NHL had with its four Nations face off, but
rather play an All Star game. The NHL what they

(02:10:51):
decided to do this last year, as you saw it
as a hell of a deal. They had players competing
against each other while representing their countries. The four countries
involved were Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. Now
the USB Canada in a very heated ron robin game,
even though Canada ended up winning the rematch in a
championship game to capture this first ever event. Now Matthew

(02:11:14):
could chuck out hurt and was out ten weeks, but
he's now returned to the Florida Panthers. But that's how
serious this was, and that's exactly the reason why the
NBA doesn't take their own All Star game very seriously,
because they don't want to get hurt. It's as simple
as that. They don't want to compete. They don't want
to get hurt. But the beauty of it is the NHL.
It was very well noticed that these players went all

(02:11:38):
out in terms of effort, and the games frankly delivered
huge ratings. Now the NBA has faced exactly the opposite
issue players don't give any effort in the All Star Game,
so the raidings have been declining. And the concept here
that Adam Silver I think really started the glom mounts

(02:11:59):
started last summer with the Olympics, he said, given the
strong quote here's his quote, given the strong interest we've
seen in international basketball competitions, most recently in last summer's Olympics,
and parents, we're discussing concepts with the players representing their
countries or regions instead of the more traditional formats we've
used in the past. And the quote. Now, next year's

(02:12:20):
NBA All Star Game is going to be in Los
Angeles at the intwit Dome, and Steve balmerville I called
him James Balmer Earlier'm in Steve bamber at the end
Twodome in Los Angeles. NBC is got the TV rights,
and given the fact that LA is also going to
host the twenty twenty eight Summer Olympics, which will also
be televised by NBC, apparently NBC is very much on

(02:12:43):
board with pushing this format that would see the players
face off against each other, based on the way the
NHL did it with other countries. So what's interesting this
year won't be that far off. In February NBA All
Star Week and is gonna coincide with the twenty twenty

(02:13:03):
six Winter Olympics held in Italy, which NBC also has
the TV rights too. So well, let's come to pass.
I don't know. I just don't know in past years.
I know, in twenty ten they had the World Classic
with the NHL, and the NHL players are just hardwired differently, okay,

(02:13:25):
and it's a different game.

Speaker 23 (02:13:28):
You know.

Speaker 2 (02:13:28):
Look, there were a lot of people who weighed in
on the comments, had great idea. You know, Russian players
weren't allowed to participate in the NHL, but Team USA,
you know, showed their metal and and you know, but
the comments are like Adam Silver is chasing his tail.

(02:13:50):
Will this happened? I'm gonna be honest, I'm dubious that
they're ever gonna get out of their own way and
make this happen. I don't think it will. But at
least they're talking about it. At least they know that
they've got to do something because what's doing, what's happening
now is working. Conversely, what if I told you baseball
the first month of baseball is in the books. April Okay,

(02:14:13):
even though you have two teams playing in minor league parks.
You get the Oakland A's playing in Sacramento in a
minor league park, and you've got the Tampa bay Rays
playing in a minor league park in George Stown Brenner
Stadium in Tampa. Even with that, major League Baseball attendance
is at its highest after one month in ten years.

(02:14:34):
It's an incredibly strong historical start. The average attendance per
game twenty seven sixty one. Now, if a team averaged
that for a season, now we know it's across the board.
Not everybody's got that much, and the Dodgers and Mets
lead the way. They're going crazy. But if every team
averaged that, you'd have well over two million in every park,

(02:14:57):
which is incredible. You know, I know that Major League
executives had high loops for another season with the rule
changes and so on and so forth. Major League Baseball's
ahead a last year's pace, all right, And there's a
lot of momentum. The pitch clock has been well received,
there's more action, You've got the broad appeal of more
you know, major stars emerging. You know, guys like shoey

(02:15:19):
Otani and Aaron Judge, but also Paul Skiing to Pittsburgh.
Elie de la Cruz. Give it up to the Dodgers.
It's incredible. They're averaging fifty one thousand and three to
sixty four per game. Well, they are the World Series champions,
defending World Series champions. They do play in the league's
largest stadium, but look, the Dodgers have been in League
A tennis leader for over ten years. The biggest story

(02:15:41):
at the gate this year is City Field. The Mets
are up by more than fifty seven percent. They're averaging
thirty seven thousand fans per game, by far, major League
Baseball's largest in Greece. Now, why you know, I joked
around and made a lot of fun about Juan Soto's contract.
He had a record setting free agent contract, get a

(02:16:02):
bunch of you know, goofy incentives in it, you know,
three and seven hundred and sixty five million dollars. But fans,
it turns out in Queens, want to go out and
see him play. And he's had And by the way,
the Mets have had a massive hot start on the field.
And again it's not across the board. You've got some
struggling teams like the Rockies. They've won what four or

(02:16:25):
five games already ready. I mean, that's that's brutal. Again,
you still got, you know, the A's and race playing
in minor league stadiums. But believe it or not, the
A's are actually up at a tenants at Sacramento Sutter
Hearth Sutter Health Park, more so than they had in Oakland.
And you know, the Razor are having some issues at

(02:16:46):
in their minor league park. But there's gonna be something
also this year that's going to take place at Bristol
Motor Speedway in Tennessee. They're gonna have the Major League
Baseball Speedway Classic. It's going to be one special event
game at the Bristol Motor Speedway. I believe it's designed
to generate the largest single attendance of any game ever

(02:17:06):
in history major League Baseball history. I saw the number somewhere.
I'd have to look it up, but it's a massive number.
One last thing, because I have a lot of friends
that are Mets fans, and the Mets are off to
this crazy start, and I think it's always good for
baseball if the New York teams are doing well. Remember

(02:17:27):
the Mets ended on a heater last year, got to
the playoffs, then the Aduan. So if for any reason
the Mets say, get to the World Series this year
or do something crazy in the postseason, point to April eighteenth,
And I know that sounds random, but this was sort
of a point of demarcation for the Mets season. Juan

(02:17:48):
Soto stepped up to the plate. It was a game
against Cardinals. It was in the fifth inning, there was
one out, the metsro trailing two to one, and Juan
Soto had been off to a really slow start, a
very slow start, and he was feeling it was he
was feeling it in his body language. You know, he's human.
He wanted to live up to the seven and sixty

(02:18:08):
five million dollars contract the Mets gave him, The fans decided,
people in New York decided, we want to give an
emotional lift, and they gave him a rousing standing ovation.
I think they did something similar a couple of years
ago in Atlanta. For it escapes me the player that
uplifted him in or Philadelphia maybe it was, I think.

(02:18:31):
And it was a real relief for Soto. He really was.
He'd been hitting terribly up to that point and in
the second pitch, he ties the score with a single.
The New York wins five to four. And he'd been
not doing real well, and I think he admitted that
the flushing crowd there in New York really uplifted him.

(02:18:53):
He had had three weeks of really, you know, having
sort of a lousy stretch of ball, and Solos still
hasn't really reaved it up right. And the Mets, by
the way, they're missing forty percent of their plan rotation,
Edwin Diaz is out, et cetera. But somehow they're twenty
two and eleven. I think they've only lost like one
game at home throughout three and a half games in

(02:19:15):
the NL East, and they got all kinds of breathing room.
How the Mets doing this well? Give it up to
Pete Alonso. He spent the winner, you know, a fighting contracts,
but he's back. Francisco Lindor, you know, he hasn't had
a great year yet, but he's had his moments. They
got a young second basement. Most importantly, this Mets pitching rotation,

(02:19:37):
which you can barely name any of them, is leaving
the majors in era. And the big breakout has been
a twenty nine year old named Tyler McGill. He's always
had kind of this heavy fastball, but he's never really
reached into his own and this year, all of a sudden,
he has. He's got a one point seventy four eight.
So look, I know people are waiting for the Mets
to come back down to earth. Maybe they'll regrets, but

(02:19:59):
give it up to baseball. I think it's great that
people are getting out to the park. School's not even
out yet. The weather certainly hasn't turned into a lot
of Eastern cities you get your breakout days, but this
summer should be quite the baseball renaissance. Coming up, we
continue on with the Bernie Fraddle Show. I'm Bernie Fraddle.
We're coming to your line from Las Vegas, Fox Sports

(02:20:21):
Radio Studios. Keep it locked. You're listening to the Bernie
Fradle Show on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (02:20:26):
listen live or back on.

Speaker 2 (02:20:38):
The Bernie Fraddle Show Fox Sports Radio. Next week, I'm
going to dive into this a lot heavier because I
get a kick out of it. Every year, the Athletic
has an anonymous NBA poll and they cover a lot
of ground and ask a lot of questions, and three
of them really caught my eye. There's a bunch of it.
It's worth doing a whole segment, and I'll do it

(02:21:00):
next week. But one of the questions was who's the
league's most overrated player? But don't tell this to his dad.
Tyres Halliburton ran away with it. He got the most votes.
Interestingly enough, Rudy Gobert was second and Jimmy Butler was fourth.
One of the other questions was five years from now,
who will be the face of the league? Victor Winbanyama

(02:21:22):
ran away with it fifty four point three percent, Anthony
Edwards thirteen percent, Shay Gil just ten, Jason Tatum six,
Luca two point nine percent, John Moran two point two,
Paul Benkarro and k Cunning up. We're going to get
into this a lot heavier next week because there's a
lot of really good stuff. Who will win the NBA title?

(02:21:44):
Who's really the MVP? These are anonymous NBA players. Who's
the best run organization, who's the worst run organization, Who's
the league's most underrated player, and again they didn't the
players didn't hold back. Just a lot of good stuff
aside from your own coach, who's your favorite coach, who's
the best coach, who's the worst coach?

Speaker 29 (02:22:05):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (02:22:06):
Which player in the league would you least like to fight? Well,
we'll share that next week. We'll share that. Actually is
a ton of them. In the meantime, you know, we
do cover it all on the show, and the bottom
line is football is managing to make the news year round.
F O T B A L. I'll just have the

(02:22:27):
draft fot is coming up. You know, Shador Sanders, it's
his world. We're just visiting. But we also cover the
other sport internationally spelled f U T B O L football,
which is also known as soccer. It's time Chris Purfett's
World of.

Speaker 29 (02:22:41):
Soccer, the greatest goals, the thrilling finishes, the international drama.

Speaker 1 (02:22:58):
It's all here in this from the World of Soccer.

Speaker 30 (02:23:02):
So we've been saying for a while, Bernie that it
was a foregone conclusion of Liverpool winning the Premier League.
Well they made it official last weekend. And how official
they made it with a victory over Tottenham Hawkspur and
Arnslaught first time at the Helm for Liverpool, taking over
for the legendary Jurgen Klop and somehow not just starting

(02:23:23):
the season with a lot of questions about this Liverpool squad.

Speaker 28 (02:23:26):
Would it be their final year together?

Speaker 30 (02:23:28):
Would we see the last of Mohammed Salah or a
lot of the rest of this Liverpool corps that had
been together through the pandemic years through the early twenty twenties.
Would this be the last time we've really seen them?
When this be the high water mark? Well, by the
time we've now reached May, most of the big pieces
have signed to new contracts and Liverpool stands atop the

(02:23:48):
Premier League, not really even a contest. We were just
kind of waiting for things to become official and they
have now with this victory. For the twenty twenty four
to twenty twenty five season, tied Manchester United for the
most English football titles twenty for each club, and the.

Speaker 28 (02:24:05):
Way Arnslott did it is very reminiscent.

Speaker 30 (02:24:08):
I would say, if you want to take a look
at someone like Ben Johnson of the National Football League,
what I mean by that is creativity, creativity, creativity, creativity,
Arn Slot for a lot.

Speaker 28 (02:24:19):
Of his career.

Speaker 30 (02:24:21):
If you listen, if you look at the article that
came out from ESPN from Beth Lindap and val Alaine
van Hilton, they had talked about a lot of talk
with former teammates and people that Slot had worked with,
where he was just looking at film all the time,
studying a lot of Manchester City film, studying how.

Speaker 28 (02:24:40):
To make good corner kicks, how.

Speaker 30 (02:24:42):
To make set pieces and being a fan of offensive football.
That really really put Liverpool. Took all of this talent
that Liverpool had that we knew they had had, and
put them in the right places to make just unbelievable
plays across there, to have the flexibility to change his
formations up and never really give a club the same

(02:25:02):
look every time. You know, a lot of other managers
tend to be stodgy, it's like, oh we play three
four three. But with Slot it was always different in
a lot of different ways, and he inherited a ton
of talent at Liverpool and we have to give credit
to those players as well. As you had an unbelievable
amount of guys who had been playing together, working together

(02:25:24):
as a team for so long, Liverpool might not have
the riches of say a Manchester City. But what they
did have is a fantastic star in Mohammed Sala. What
they did have was a season great defender in Virgil Vanjique.
What they did have was Luis Diaz, They had Cody Gakpo,
and they had all these guys who knew how to
work together, how to attack together, and play very well.

(02:25:47):
And that is exactly what you've got out of Liverpool this.

Speaker 28 (02:25:51):
Season as they climbed to the top.

Speaker 30 (02:25:53):
And we have no I mean we've talked a lot
about them, and I feel like Liverpool now stand about
here is came into the season with so many questions
about what their future would be. This is one of
the great clubs that I know. A lot of Americans
love to enjoy Liverpool. It's a club with a lot
of history. You'll never walk alone. They stand for the

(02:26:14):
working classes of Liverpool. They have that blue collar attitude
about them. It has been a club that has enamored
a lot of people to love them and to come
into this season they had with not a lot of expectations,
with Clop bailing out and with a lot of looks
that they'd be losing some of these guys on free
transfers and instead you've locked up the core again. You've

(02:26:34):
got some real success to arnslaught. It's very hard to repeat,
especially if you're not someone like Manchester City and just
you know, flaunting financial rules. But for Liverpool they have
a real chance to once again go at the top.
Man City will be really feisty next year. Arsenal you
gotta think they keep being the bridesmaid, never the bride.

(02:26:56):
But Liverpool at fifteen points ahead of anyone else right now,
just was not even closed for the entire season.

Speaker 28 (02:27:04):
It was not and sometimes that's fine.

Speaker 30 (02:27:06):
Sometimes you're not going to get these hotly contested tables
like we get in.

Speaker 28 (02:27:12):
In Siria right now, which if.

Speaker 30 (02:27:13):
You're watching Italy Nopoly with a three point lead heading
into Sunday over inter Milan, who continues to have to
battle in the Champions League as well, definitely the bigger
prize for them, But for Napoly it would be great
to win a scudetto there. But there is something to
the fact that Liverpool honed in won the Premier League title,
which is as prestigious as you can ask for a

(02:27:36):
domestic league title, and next year you know they're just
going to try to shoot and maybe you see if
they can add another and definitely if nothing else, to
get back to the Champions League and winning ways there.
In the world of European football, it's always about what's next.
You never rest on your laurels. You have the open
bus parades and have that fun, but it's always something

(02:27:56):
else to chase. And for Liverpool they'll enjoy this and
then next year it's back to the grindstone all over again.
And what we're looking forward to, what's next for us
in the world of soccer. We're gonna have the second
leg this week of the Champions League semi finals inter
in Barcelona, tight on aggregate, a slight one goal lead

(02:28:16):
aggregate for Paris Saint Germain as these switched the games
to Paris taking on Arsenal in Paris and Barcelona inter
Milan at San Sero, the Cathedral of Italian soccer. We
cannot wait. We'll see you next time, Bernie. On the
world of soccer.

Speaker 2 (02:28:35):
We'll give it up to Liverpool, as Chris said, fifteen
points ahead of Arsenal, second time they've won the Premier
League in five years and then did it without buying
any high priced players. So there you have Christophets World
Soccer coming up. We wrap up the show. I'm going
to revisit some inconvenient truths for Laker fans. You didn't

(02:28:56):
just lose to Minnesota, Minnesota Road, you like rented mule.
I'm Bernie Fraddle. We are company live from the Las
Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. Keep it locked right here.
You're listening to the Bernie Fraddle Show on Fox Sports Radio.
All right, we're wrapping it up on the Bernie Frattle Show.
I'll thank my producers Mark and Brianna all your hard

(02:29:17):
work and professionalism very much appreciated. Well, it's been a
hell of a week in sports. It's been a hell
of a dame in sports on Saturday. If you had sovereignty, well,
you backed the right horse. If you had James Harden
and the Clippers, you backed the wrong horse. And if
you had the Lakers and Luca and Lebron and company

(02:29:40):
and Austin Reeves and JJ Reddick, you really backed the
wrong horse. But if you had we had a lot
of callers from Minnesota and then I was glad to
see that during the midnight hour. Boy, they deserve their
props because I don't like this narrative. This narrative that
you know, according to Nick Wright with all due respect
act and maybe Shannon Sharp with all due respect, it's

(02:30:03):
like the Lakers have a god given right to win.
Just just win. Man, look what they did in February
and March, and now look now look at them. Well,
I think the real narrative is not that the Lakers lost.
It's at Minnesota one. Come on, man. I started the
segment off by saying it was ant Man versus camp

(02:30:25):
Man because they couldn't. The Lakers couldn't. These are some
inconvenient truths about the Lakers series against Minnesota. Give the
devil their due, the Big Three, and by the way,
let's it should be noted the Lakers, for all their
glory and self proclaimed righteousness with their fandom, ended the

(02:30:47):
season by losing nine straight road games. They lost both
road playoff games in Minnesota and beat by the way,
Minnesota beat the Lakers two on three at their place.
The Lakers lost nine straight road games. Well in the
series against Minnesota. I tipped my cap to Chris Finch

(02:31:10):
and Mike and nore in company for the game plan
they put together. They knew the Lakers only ranked fifteenth
in opponent fast brain points, and that was a sign
of poor transition defense. Their athleticism, frankly manned top to bottom,
didn't match up with Minnesota's. It made it difficult to
recover with Minnesota pushed the pace and the Timberwolves constantly

(02:31:31):
capitalized on broken plays poor rotations. They burned Los Angeles
with easy points, oftentimes before the defense could be set.
And this is against the backdrop of sky high expectations.
When they added Luka Doncic on February second, and it
gave Lebron a real resurgence, people thought they would contend

(02:31:53):
for a title. Come on, man. And then at the end,
Luca has the audacity to say we didn't have enough
time to mesh No, that is Bulvine scatology. I take
you back to my bad Boy Pistons nineteen eighty nine.
On February sixteenth, when they acquired Mark MacGuire from the
Dallas Mavericks for Adrian Dantley, they had two less weeks

(02:32:13):
to mesh well. They won back to back championships, beating
in Lakers in eighty nine and Portland in ninety. But
I digress. Given the size and rebounding advantage, the fast
break defense and defense against Anthony Edwards that the Lakers
tried to prosecute, and then while focusing on Edwards, it
created other mismatches and opportunities around the rest of the
floor which Minnesota took advantage of. Minnesota clearly clearly embraced

(02:32:40):
the role as an underdog, even though they made it
to the conference finals last year. They beat they swept
the Denver team who beat the Lakers. So these are
the inconvenient truths. In addition to the nine straight road
games having lost at the end of the season with
the Big three on the floor, Luca Lebron and Austin Reeves,
relatively their plus minus was minus twenty four. If you

(02:33:06):
think the Lakers faded down the stretch in their final
three games, you'd be right. Your eyes did not deceive you.
In Game three, Minnesota closed out with a thirteen to
one run, In Game four they closed out with a
five zip run, and in Game five, sixteen to eight run.
As a matter of fact, the fourth quarter was an
absolute debacle for the Lakers. Throughout the series, they were

(02:33:29):
outscored cumulatively. The Lakers were by the t Wolves in
the fourth quarter one twenty seven to eighty five forty
two points. It's an average of eight points per quarter
in the five games. Not good. By the way, the
Lakers in their three launches led at one point in
the fourth quarter in each of those games. I'm not done.

(02:33:50):
How about points in the paint. Minnesota put up two
hundred and fifty points in the paint to the Lakers
one seventy four. That's a delta, a seventy six against
again propagated over a five game series. That's just under
sixteen points a game in the paint that Minnesota, uh,

(02:34:11):
you know, surpassed the Lakers on second chance points. Minnesota
had ninety four for the series. The Lakers had sixty nine.
And I know that after Game one, when Minnesota was
twenty one to forty two from behind, the r Nick
Wright went on to say, well, they're not gonna be
able to do that again. I remember on my show

(02:34:34):
saying They're not gonna have to based on everything else
I'm seeing and mismatches that are going to carry over
as the series continues to progress. Case in point, in
Game five, remember the Lakers lost by seven one h
three ninety six the game in and on a sixteen

(02:34:55):
to eight Minnesota run. Well, what if I told you then,
not only did Minnesota knock twenty one to forty two
doing they need to from behind the arc, they went
seven to forty seven, They missed forty three point shots,
they shot fifteen percent from three point land, and yet

(02:35:16):
still won Game five one o three to ninety six.
And along the way, they rushed him, They blitzed him,
They targeted Luca. They would trap him just after crossing
the timeline, which bothered him tremendously. Now, Luca is a
very skilled player, so he'd managed to wiggle his way
out and maybe throw a little dipsy dodo behind the
back pass or something and get it to an open Laker.

(02:35:38):
But but at that time, six seven valuable seconds had taken,
had come off the twenty four second clock, which did
not allow the Lakers to get into their offensive set
and oftentimes settled for a shot that hit the front
of the rim or worse. And oh, by the way,
when Luca had to get back on defense in Game

(02:35:59):
five alone, there were nine blowbys blow right by him. Look,
defense is desire, that's what it is. I'm gonna beat
you to that spot. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna
do it again. I'm gonna frustrate you. I'm gonna bother you.
Luca doesn't do that. I get it. Luca is a
prolific offensive player. He's a fan favorite. Luca doesn't want

(02:36:20):
to play defense. This is who he is. I'm sticking
to that. If you're telling me he can turn into
something better. And I'm not talking about Dennis Robin or
Joe Dumars or the glove Gary, I'm just talking about
a serviceable NBA defensive player. Well, don't tell me, show me.
Don't tell me, show me, show me that Luca is

(02:36:40):
willing to do that. I don't think he wants to.
I really don't, and we're gonna find out. And don't
tell me. He's only twenty six. He's been in the
league eight years. He's a veteran. He's been a professional
basketball player for twelve. Luca's been a professional basketball player
and some very high leagues since he was fourteen years old.
This is who he is. And by the way, Game

(02:37:02):
five on the Road was a microcosm. Behind Rudy Gobert's
twenty seven points and twenty four rebounds, the t Wolves
completely dominated Game five, as much as one team can
dominate another when the margin to victory is only seven points.
And the reason it was is because the Timberwolves were
incredibly bad from three point range seven to forty seven.

(02:37:23):
And oh, by the way, Anthony Edwards, the star who
everybody's falling in love with, and they shook because he's
a good player. He only scored fifteen points at night
on five to nineteen shooting, missed all eleven in his threes,
but he had breakout stars Jade McDaniels. He only had
eight points in eighteen minutes, filed out. Navried only had
three points, but none of that mattered. Why John Wooden

(02:37:45):
said it best, there's a place in Heaven for rebounders.
The Wolves out rebounded the Lakers fifty four to thirty
seven that night, outscored them twenty two to four, bench points,
twenty to ten and second chance points, and fifty six
to forty in the paint. Even Julius Randall shook off
the early foul trouble to finish what twenty three points,
five rebounds, and fourth This in the end, a gritty,

(02:38:07):
gutty victory for a team that throughout the season didn't
have a lot of that. They had a seventeen and
four run to finish the season, and no one noticed
because you're all too busy staring at the Lakers, who
finished nineteen and thirteen. Oh by the way, the Lakers
were a three seed the t Wolves worth six seed.
No one thought the Lakers would lose to the Tea

(02:38:27):
Wolves much less than five. We'll see what happens in
the future, but the Lakers, I don't have any faith
that this Luca Lebron thing is gonna work, and they're
running out of time. In the meantime, we'll have another
great game on Sunday night between the Golden State Warriors
and the Houston Rockets. Good look to Ryan Hollins team

(02:38:49):
that's gonna end up doing it for the Bernie Frattle Show,
I'll see you next Saturday night at eleven pm Pacific.
In the meantime, keep it locked right here for the
great Andy Furman on Fox Sports Radio.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}The Bernie Fratto Show talks Lakers Early First Round Exit, NBA Playoff Format, Henry Ruggs, & MORE!