The Big Lead with Jason McIntyre: 05/19/2018

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Good morning, Los Angeles
and the rest of America. I am your host, Jason McIntyre.
Do you live from the Geico Fox Sports Radio studios.
Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on
car insurance. Visit Geico dot com for a free rate quote.

(00:26):
I thought I'd start to show some royal wedding talk
a right, guys, man, and you turn on the TV.
It's everywhere. Don't worry none of that. Today we're on
serious Channel nine three. I know that means we're gonna
have a lot more callers than normal, and we're gonna
be talking a lot of NBA today. But I need

(00:47):
to start here. May is the month that instantly gets
me thinking about what college graduation. Oh yeah, it's that
time of the year, folks. I opened I d m
s on Instagram or Twitter, and all these young kids
are asking me for advice. Jason Way, man, you really

(01:07):
made it in media, You really broke through. How did
you do that? Any advice? And the emails start pouring in,
and you know you can you can see the eagerness
and the young kids. Hey man, it's a tough job
market right now, especially trying to crack in a media
fewer and fewer jobs available, with every passing month newspapers

(01:28):
laying gutting their staffs to the point where it's like, geez,
I guess you gotta latch on with the website, or
maybe you're cracking with a radio station, or try to
get in on the ground level of TV. And you
know what else is going on right now that has
me very excited, and that's the NBA Playoffs. So I
decided I would open the show by merging the NBA

(01:49):
Playoffs with advice to college graduates. Now we've got a
young man in the studio here, Iowa Sam, how many
years out of college are you? Iowa Sam, I am
seven years after seven years, and I was a late graduate.
Does the month of May always remind you of college graduation?
You know, the flowers are blooming, the weather is getting better,

(02:11):
Summers almost here, and of course, Iowa Sam, it's that time. Hey,
you gotta start to lock down a job because you know,
you want to have fun in that summer after college graduation,
but you also need to crack into your field and
get started. You don't want to fall behind. So here
is my kind of love letter to college graduates, and
I'm gonna work in the NBA plaff because I think

(02:33):
the two can be merged. And I would say the
number one piece of advice that I'm giving the college
graduates today, when you look at the NBA playoffs, you
can see something that's happening that's that's pretty groundbreaking, and
you need to operate this way coming out of college
and humans as well as NBA players. They are humans.

(02:54):
I know they don't seem like mere immortals, but they're
inclined to follow the masses, pack mentality, group think, and
I say college graduates, to hell with that. It's gonna
get you nowhere. To follow the crowd. My inclination has
always been when everybody's zigging, I'm gonna zag. That's one

(03:15):
of my keys to gambling. If I see everybody loading
up on Lebron in Game two, Oh, he can't lose
Game two, I don't know. Everybody's usually wrong. You know,
I'm gonna go with the Celtics, and Boston trampled Lebron
in Game two, specifically the fourth quarter. But when you
dive deeper into diverting from the pack, there's no greater

(03:38):
example than this than the Golden State Warriors. They have
built what is possibly the greatest dynasty in NBA history.
I've already I've I'm on record saying they're gonna pass
Jordan's modern dynasty. We're not talking about the Celtics from
the fifties when they were a handful of teams in
the league. In modern NBA history, the Warriors have built
an amazing dynasty by avoiding pac Mente. Right there is

(04:01):
everybody in the eighties and nineties and even the two
thousand's operated under traditional positions point guard, shooting guard. We
need a power forward that's lumbering, who could rebound, and
we need a back to the basket center. The Warriors
did none of that. And what did happened in the
NBA playoffs. They zoomed past everybody. Remember a few years ago,

(04:23):
the Clippers were supposed to be the next great team
Lob City. Steph Curry and the three point shooting Warriors,
who don't play with a center, surpassed them easily. The
San Antonio Spurs, they were a great dynasty. Not until
the Warriors showed up and they zoomed right past San
Antonio and this, folks, this avoid the pact mentality also

(04:47):
worked for me in media. I could tell a little
over a decade ago that newspapers were slowly dying, magazines
starting to lose their influence. So I started a blog.
My friends and family thought I was kind of crazy.
I didn't have a great game plan going in. I
just knew I had to do something different, and ultimately
it led me to this radio show and getting on TV.

(05:11):
So the number one lesson college graduates zig when everybody's zagging.
And there's no better example than the Golden State Warriors.
So the second thing, and it's really only a two
pronged attack, I think if you follow this, I think
you're gonna be in good shape. So zig when everybody
is zagging is number one, and the second one is
the phrase added value. I don't know if anybody's watching

(05:34):
the show Billions right now, just a tremendous show, highly recommended,
But one of the big things on that show is
added value. Right. So in addition, you know, to this
radio show and going on FS one, I have a
website and people have been emailing these college graduates lately.
Hey Jason, do you guys have any openings? Here's my resume.

(05:55):
I I like basketball, I've written about football. I say, okay,
that's great. Do you know how many other people can
say the exact same thing. Where's your added value? What
am I getting from you that I'm maybe not getting
from everyone else? And I don't want to have to
ask you that. I want you to tell me that.
If I've got to tell you, so, what do you

(06:16):
do that separates you from the pack, You've probably already lost.
You've got to do that before I even have to
ask the question. So think about this when these guys
are sending me emails saying, hey, I know sports, I
can I can help the website. All right, that's great.
You can write sports. Can you do video? Because video
is important on websites these days. You've got to be

(06:37):
able to go on uh, Periscope or Facebook Live and
hold it down and speak eloquently and know what you're
talking about. You've also got to have the ability to
start a podcast and generate a following that way. Listen
podcast is another revenue stream. I mean, there's websites out
there operating solely on money from podcasts. How good are

(06:59):
you social media? I you kind of hate Twitter? I
I do too. It's part of the Beast. You've got
to do it. I like Instagram. Maybe you like Instagram?
Are you doing Facebook? You've got to promote your work
multiple ways. Added value. Now, think about the NBA playoffs.
What are we seeing right now in the final four

(07:22):
in the NBA with added value? Well, you know this kid,
Clint Capella is really good on Houston. He's a great
young player. He's probably gonna get paid this summer. But
guess when the Houston Rockets were at their best in
Game two when they inserted p J Tucker at center
and p J Tucker, Oh yeah, you made a couple

(07:43):
of threes. No, it's not just the corner threes from
p J Tucker. And my favorite stat of game two,
by the way from Rockets Warriors, p J Tucker made
two three pointers in college and his three years of Texas,
p J Tucker made five three pointers in Game two.
It's amazing how these players have more from oh yeah,
I do this well to oh the NBA needs this.

(08:06):
P J Tucker has added value by saying, sure, I'm
only six eight, but I can go in the block
and play center. Need me to defend Steph Curry on
the perimeter? Sure I can move my feet quickly enough.
Need me to set screens, need me to be a
rim roller, You need me to post up Draymond Green.
Added value? People, added value so much. Marcus Morris was

(08:28):
one of the most unheralded moves the Boston Celtics made
in the off season. They essentially traded Avery Bradley, who
was a very good two way guard, to Detroit in
exchange from Marcus Morris. And people, Marcus Morris, what does
he do? Boy? If you watch these Boston Celtics, I
know Al Horford has added value all over the court.

(08:48):
Smart passer, good defender, good three point shooter. Marcus Morris
is known as the Lebron stopper. And I know there's
a Lebron stopper, but Lebron shooting four or a fourteen
from the field so far against Marcus Morris. Marcus Morris
is an energized guy for this Celtics team. He's yelling

(09:09):
at Tristan Thompson. He's gonna talk trash. He can bang
some threes. Added value, people, I know that you can write.
I'm sure the guys who run this Fox Sports radio
stations say get emails and pitches all the time. Hey,
I had a radio show. Okay, that's good. A million
guys had radio shows in college. What's your added value?

(09:30):
You could even stretch this to the NFL draft that
we had recently. Right, the Giants took sa Kwon Barkley second,
and Giants fans are ticked off. They wanted Sam Donald.
My Jets got Sam Donald. I'm excited. Added value. Sae
Kwon Barkley isn't just a running back. Sa Kwon Barkley
is a great blocking back. He can catch passes out

(09:53):
of the backfield. He's a three down back. There's a
reason these guys, these sunning backs, are going so high
in the draft. Now, Todd Gurley added value. He blocks,
he catches, he runs. Ezekiel Elliott, he blocks, he catches,
he runs, added value. I can't stress this enough college graduates.

(10:14):
When everybody is zigging, you've got a zag Never follow
the group, and always provide added value that separates you
from the pack. And and if you look closely at
these NBA playoffs and you've got Celtics Calves tonight at
eight thirty, and you've got tomorrow Warriors Rockets, you can
take life lessons from Brad Stevens from Steve Kerr, from

(10:36):
Steph Curry, It's everywhere. Just look around, open your eyes. Hell,
we're gonna talk NBA draft later in the show. You
guys know, if you follow me on social media, I
see Sam kind of smirking. Oh, NBA draft. Let listen.
People love the NBA draft. Okay, I love the NBA draft.
DeAndre Ayton is rumored to be the number one pick.

(10:58):
Everybody has DeAndre and a seven footer. He's built like
a La Juan Alright, college graduates, I just spent ten
minutes telling you to zig when everybody's aggs. Guess who
I've got a top my NBA draft board. Take a
guess it ain't DeAndre Ayton. Zig when everybody's zagging. I
can't stress this enough. People, that's the move in post

(11:21):
college life, and hell in the rest of your life.
Think about it that way. We have a loaded show today.
I actually was nervous that we don't have enough NFL
in the show. But there is some NFL talk here
at the end of the hour and in the next
hour as well, but coming up next year on the
Big Lead Fox Sports Radio. I'm really getting sick and

(11:42):
tired of this. Steph Curry slander. I keep telling myself
I'm not gonna get worked up on the show, and
I've done a good job of that the last few weeks. Right,
I'm not getting angry at anybody, but folks, listen, don't
come after Steph Curry and I gotta tell you why
because you're wrong. We'll do that next care on the
Big Lead, Fox Sports Radio. What does it mean when

(12:07):
Geico says just fifteen minutes could save you f or
more on car insurance? Means you probably should have gone
to Geico dot com fifteen minutes ago. I actually liked
no NBA the last two nights, got to spent time
with my family, got to catch up on some DVR viewing,

(12:28):
played a little basketball myself. Jumper not very wet on Wednesday.
Did it a game winner? Though I know you care folks.
You know that I'm a Steph Curry fan. I've said
this many times. The first when I started a podcast, Jeez,
must have been like twenty or something. The first guest

(12:52):
I had was Steph Curry. He was not yet a
massive star. I had a friend who knew him. Um
he was. He was very play isn't guy? He was?
It was before he even signed that extension. I believe
he got he was a forty eight million, but whatever
it was, he got like a bargain basement offer because
he had the ankle injuries, and he took it obviously,

(13:15):
and then you know, YadA, YadA, YadA, he became the
second greatest point guard in NBA history. And folks, I'm
not going to back off that. I said it last year.
And a Doug Gottlieb guy who has a show here
on Fox Sports Radio. I went on his show yesterday
and he's like, come on, is this Steph. I'm like,
look at the numbers. What do you what metric do

(13:36):
you want to judge? Is it stats? Is it m
v P s, is it MVP votes? Is it winning?
Is it leading the league in three point shooting five
years in a row? Reggie Miller was a great three
point shooter. He never led the NBA in three pointers
made five years in a row. It's just like people are, yeah,
I gotta calm down. I just get too worked up

(13:58):
from these unprov oaked attacks by these dopes who are like, oh,
Jeff Curry out an awful game. People making excuses like
I missed thirty one games in the regular season, thirty
one is out for essentially two months, and now you
come back and you expect him to be great two
weeks later. I'm not gonna rattle off his resume. It

(14:24):
speaks for itself. But I really think when you see
all these people bashing Steph Curry, Oh, you only had
eighteen and eight in the first game, Well they want
he shot over fifty from the field. What do you want?
You know, Sam, he set the bar so high. It's
like with this radio show, right, we start the day

(14:45):
setting the bar for Fox Sports Radio so high that
Mark Willard and Chris Bussard and Rob Parker, all the
guys that follow this. Listen, Man, if you don't come correct,
you know people are gonna be like, I don't know.
I mean, Steph Curry was so good the last four
regular seasons that people expect him. Oh, you've got to

(15:09):
continue doing that the playoffs. Know that it's a different game.
Look at James Harden. How come nobody's talking about this.
James Harden three for fifteen on three pointers in Game two.
He worked his butt off in Game one, scored like
forty one point. He looked tired in Game two. We
saw this last series against Utah, he really started to
wear down. We saw this last postseason, Harden started to

(15:31):
wear down. James Harden shooting from deep in the playoffs,
that's your m v P. I'm just saying the playoffs
are different. They defenses make things difficult, they slow the
game down. And of course, yes, let's focus on the
attacking Steph Curry. Well, Jason, you never said against the

(15:52):
Pelicans that Curry was coming off an injury. I mean,
it's a different brand of basketball. Did you watch the
Pelicans series, folks, region Rondo is not a threat to
shoot from anywhere ever. Nobody will give you ten three
point shots, Rondo. If you make three year lucky. They
didn't put pressure on Steph Curry. Stef Curry was fine.

(16:15):
Stef Curry dominated the Pelicans when he came back from injury.
So now he comes back against the Rockets and they say, well,
we're gonna put him in a blender on every play.
We're gonna screen him into death, we're gonna drive on him.
We're gonna do make life tough on Steph Curry at
both ends. Because listen, when you're working on defense, after
the pick and roll puts you on Harden and Stef

(16:36):
Curry's gotta come down the floor and then run through
a gauntlet of screens to get open. That's gonna wear
you down. You're gonna get tired and coming off missing
thirty one games two weeks and you're still getting your
legs back. Now, Curry is too much of a man
to say he's not the great line from Wedding Crash.

(16:57):
There's no excuses. Played like a champion, right But Steph
Curry has always played like a champion, And I this
is funny. I can tell you right now. There's people
yelling at the radio, but he sucked in the finals. Well,
it just so happens that I've got the finals averages
right here. Are you ready to get a grip everybody?
Steph Curry in the finals last year the average twenty six,

(17:21):
nine and eight rob Did you get that back there?
Steph Curry twenty six points a game in the finals
last year, nine assists and eight rebounds. Two years ago, now,
remember two years ago. This is the series where the
Andrew Bogan got hurt, Draymond Greey got suspended and the
Calves got their flukey title. Curry got hurt in the
first round, he slipped on the floor against Houston on

(17:43):
a wet spot, tweaked his knee. I think he missed
six games. He had a good but not great finals
twenty two, four and three. Now, those are not great numbers,
especially when you were the m v P. He did
shoot from three in the series. Three years ago in
the finals, Steph Curry when they won their first title,

(18:03):
he averaged twenty six, six and five. So I just
gave it to you, folks. Three straight years in the finals,
Steph Curry's average between twenty two and twenty six a game.
What are we bashing him for? Doesn't show up in
the finals. Here's the stat because we're on in l
A this morning. This is the stat, Rob that's gonna

(18:23):
light up the phone boards. And I don't want to.
I don't want you taking any of these calls. Fun
fact career scoring playoff average Kobe Bryant twenty five point six,
Steph Curry eight. Boo yah people. Steph Curry in the

(18:44):
playoffs has average for his career more points than Kobe, Dirk,
Karl Malone, Kareem abdul Jabbar and oh yeah, this guy,
shock Rob, you're shaking your head. I didn't prepare you
for this ahead. Steph Curry has a career playoff scoring
average better than Kobe, Dirk Maleman, jabbar and shock, what

(19:06):
do you got, robbed Laker fanboy? What do you got?
Steph Curry has been the Kevin Love of the Golden
State Warriors during the Western Conference Finals. Disrespectful you can
and when I first told you, you you laugh like that
and you're like, oh man, that you got a point.
He's been getting he and he's not getting keV Kevin

(19:27):
Love is told go sit in the corner, wait your turn.
That's not how they do Steph Curry on offense, listen, yeah,
oneither gonna attack him. That's what you do. That's what
smart teams do. He's being he's be getting a little exposed,
well not really on defense, he's getting attacked exposed. I
don't know when they wait seventeen seconds in the shot
clock just so they can get Steph Curry on you.

(19:50):
That's kind of getting exposed. Well again, you know they
can do that all they want. I maintain because they
did that in Game one, rob Steph Curry got attacked
in the picking all I showed twenty times, gave no
stop lying game to twenty three times. Here's what happened.
In Game two. They had Game one in the bag.
They won one. All you needed was one win on
the road. If you look at the rotations, they were

(20:13):
a step slow, a little indifferent. They didn't care as
much because they had Game one, and this has been
their problem. And Steve Kerr one of the first things
he said was, you know, this is a Rockets team
that won sixty five games. We can lose. You know,
these guys can win the series, essentially saying, man, this
is one of the things that I tried to light

(20:33):
under our guys all year. They would not take games
seriously because they knew in the playoffs they would roll people,
and they have rolled everybody. And in Game two, the
rotations were a step slow, they didn't care as much
about switching, and they lost the game. I don't see
I don't think we're gonna see that in games three
and four. I mean, they've had a few days off now,
they've heard people say the Rockets can win this series.

(20:56):
Rob the Warriors are taking the next two games from here,
I agree with you. That has nothing to do with
whether or not Steph Curry has been a little bit
exposed in this series. Listen, why are you saying exposed
when it's attacked exposed? Give me like I said last round,
Ben Simmons got exposed against the Celtics. He did, Okay,

(21:16):
that's a little different score. He had a one point
game against the Celtics. One. Steph Curry is not getting one.
Steph Curry could score thirty five points and have seven
assists in seven rebounds in each of these games on offense,
and he's still getting exposed on defense. They are seeking
him out. You have to find the weakest defensive player.
He is their weakest defensive starter. There's no denying that

(21:39):
he's the weakest defensive player in the rotation. Nick Young
is in the rotation. Stops he That was like Young
buckling down. Um, Quinn Cook, he's not playing he should be. Um. Yeah, listen,
maybe he is the weakest players, but I still don't

(22:01):
think that means he's getting exposed like this guy who
lead the league in steals two years ago. I think
I know that's not the best defensive metric. Hey, you
want to talk about exposed. Who's the worst defensive player
this year? Steph Curry or Lebron that's a no brainer. Yeah,
speaking of Lebron on the fly, we came up with
this topic, um because I I had said that I

(22:24):
think the Calves are done. I think the series is over.
Now are they gonna win another game? Or two? Sure,
maybe even three, but I don't think there's any chance
they win this series. But then I started talking to
producer Rob and I started I saw like an Instagram
post kind of bashing the Calves, but not in the
way you'd think. And and I'm gonna pose this question next.

(22:48):
I don't think Lebron's getting enough blame for what is
happening in Cleveland. And I know that sounds a little crazy.
Give me some time to explain that Lebron deserves a
little more blame that he getting. We'll talk about that next,
but first let's go to Isaac Loewen Front for the
latest disapport. Good morning, Jason. We begin in the Stanley
Cup playoffs and the feel good story of the expansion

(23:10):
Vegas Golden Knights. In Game four of the Western Conference
Finals Friday night, they were tied at two with the
Winnipeg Jets. In the third period, Can have forced around
behind to the right way buck win shanks for times.
Pick up snip, give you Anne, he shout speak the

(23:33):
call on Fox Sports Radio thirteen forty. That was the
game winner in the Golden Knights three to victory. They
lead the series three games to one and are now
just one victory away from the Stanley Cup Final in
the first season of their existence. Hey, great news. There
is a quick way you can save money. Switch to Geico.
Go to Geico Dot comment In fifteen minutes, you could

(23:53):
say fift or more on car insurance. In Major League
Baseball Friday night, Jacob deGrom struck out thirteen and seven
innings with no walks in the Mets three one win
over the Diamondbacks Wilson Romo's two home runs and the
Tampa Bay Rays eight three win over the Angels. Hey,
SEUs Aguilar two home runs and the Brewers eight three
win at Minnesota. Finally, Ian Desmond a home run in

(24:15):
four RBI and the Colorado Rockies six one victory over
the Giants at San Francisco. Jason, it's all yours, Thank you, Isaac.
Back here on the Big Lead Fox Sports Radio. Cloudy
morning out here in l A. We are coming to
you live from the Geico Fox sports radio studios. Fifteen
minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

(24:38):
Visit Geico dot com for a free rate. Quote. Hey,
we're gonna do some uh some an interesting segment on
the gambling situation in this country, sports gambling. Obviously, we're
gonna do that in fifteen minutes. I think you're gonna
like it because you know, we talked gambling extensively on
this show. We don't talk a lot about marijuana on

(24:59):
this show, but Merri and it will make an appearance,
uh in that segment on gambling. And remember, I know
there's a lot of NFL fans. You guys want me
to offer up takes and um over under totals. I'm
about to book my Vegas summer trip, so I will
start to roll out the ideas of NFL over unders,

(25:20):
you know, futures tickets. I got a couple of good ones. Well,
we will do that in the coming weeks here on
the show. But right now, you know, Calves play tonight
a thirty Eastern against the Celtics, and and everybody expects
the Cavaliers to win their favored by six. I talked
zigging when everybody's aggs everybody's taking the Calves tonight. Oh.

(25:43):
The Celtics are bad at on the road and the
playoffs are one and four. Lost three against Milwaukee. They
won Game three in Philly when everybody thought they were
going down. I got a little help from the in
nep seventies sixers and the The Calves lost their first
game at home this postseason to Indiana. They got smoked

(26:06):
by eighteen. They needed a Lebron buzzer beater to fend
off those pesky, choking dogs, the Toronto Raptors. So let's
not act like the Calves are infallible at home. They're
not the Warriors with Durant at home. The Warriors with
Kevin Durant in the playoffs at home are fifteen and oh,
with an average margin of victory of fifteen points. They

(26:28):
don't lose at home in the playoffs with Kevin Durant.
So you can lock that bad boy down Calves Celtics.
I think the Calves are in trouble. I think the
series is over and I don't think Lebron James is
getting enough blame. And here's why this. I know this
is counterintuitive, and there's a lot of Lebron fans out

(26:49):
there who are gonna be I rate. Let me make
the case and then maybe Rob Will will take your calls.
But I want to start here. George Hill lead the
NBA in three point shooting when he came to Cleveland. Oh,
it's a great, perfect Yet they got a point guard
who's gonna lead the league in three point shooting. That's

(27:10):
perfect to play with Lebron. Let's do it. It makes
a lot of sense. George Hills shooting twenty seven percent
on three pointers in the playoffs. He led the league
in the regular season for you know, the sixty fifty
games or whatever he was in um Sacramento. Why is

(27:30):
he shooting from three in the playoffs. I don't know.
I know what you're saying. He stinks, okay. Jordan Clarkson,
he was in the mix for six Man of the
Year when he was on the Lakers. Dude, listen. I
went to several Laker games this year. I watched them
a lot. Jordan Clarkson can get buckets. He comes off
the bench chucking. Never seen a shot he doesn't like,

(27:53):
average fourteen a game in twenty three minutes with the Lakers.
He didn't get off the bench in game too. What
so we got George Hill, Jordan clarkson Rodney Hood. I
know everybody thinks he's a bomb. He didn't want to
play and uh, you know Bench Warmer time against Toronto

(28:16):
and Rodney Hood stinks. And yeah he's not being he's
not a good player. But he averaged sixteen a game
in Utah this year he was averaging sixteen a game.
He's a total non factor with the cas down. Are
you seeing this narrative? This building? I mean, we've been
through this over Kevin with Kevin Love the last four years,
he's been the scape gild The guy was a top

(28:38):
ten player, rob Are we confirming Kevin Love was a
top ten player in Minnesota in the league before he
got to click. Yes, he's not. He's not even a
top player right now. So are you seeing what I'm doing? Folks?
And then you tossed in Larry Nance, who had a
promising start to his career with the Lakers. Everybody who
gets around Lebron is somehow getting worse. Why is that?

(29:01):
Think open your mind for a second, tune out the
Lebron Jordan's nonsense, and think about this. George Hill has
gotten worse this year Jordan Clarkson has gotten worse this year.
Rodney Hood has gotten worse since coming to Cleveland, Larry Nance,
Kevin Love. At some point, Sam, sometimes you gotta look

(29:22):
yourself in the mirror and say, maybe it's not everybody else,
Maybe I'm the problem. Maybe just maybe it's about me,
because like and Sam, you've been in these I'm assuming
you've been in these spots in your life where you
just keep like blaming other people. I've been here before,

(29:42):
I blame other Oh man, this guy is a jerk
to work with. I can't stay in that dude. That
guy's a bleep. And then you say that enough times
and then you're like, wait a sec, wait a second,
all these people, is it possible that maybe it's me
and I need to change something about the way I'm operating.
Does that make sense, Sam, Because that's what I'm not

(30:03):
killing Lebron here. I'm just saying there's a lot of
guys who were good players before they got to Cleveland,
and now in Cleveland they look like garbage? Is it, Tylu?
Is it something about Lebron now? Laker fans? And again
we're on out here in l A, which is big

(30:23):
in the first hour because the Laker fans, man, it's
not like they got anything going on Friday night out
here in l A. You know they they're begging for Lebron.
I think it makes sense. But do we have to say, wait, wait,
Kyle Kuzma got an awesome start to his career. Is
Lebron gonna make him regress? Brandon Ingram? He looked awesome

(30:43):
last year? You know what, what are we doing with
Lebron on a pedestal comparing him to Jordan when he
can't make any of his teammates this season better. I'm
just posing the question because I think he deserves a
little bit of blame. Yeah, Rob, do you want to
take these callers before we go to break real quick? Yeah,
let's go Patrick out here in l A. Patrick, you're

(31:06):
on with Jason McIntyre, the big lead Fox Sports Trade Ja. Jason,
you're killing it today. Thank you. A couple of quick
things if you let me go over it. The one
is after you do the path on the Kobe comments
us earlier when it comes to Steph Curry and you're
hitting in the head with the nail on the head
with Lebron, this guy's done it since he took high
school kids to March Madness as Davidson Mack who was

(31:28):
Clay Thompson and drey Mondree without Steph Curry, this Guimond
everyone nobody around him into great players. What's the in
Harrisson Boris guy got paid to the Steph Curry. It
is not Andrea Goodala was an amazing aby every team
he went on before he went to the Golden State.
This guy did not build the super team. The super
team got built because of him. And now he's trying

(31:49):
to Maria Kevin Durant to an NBA championship. That is
not his fault. You got to Lebron just like you're
saying with Lebron James, people are like, oh, he's thinking
the worst rosters ever. Are you kidding me? There are
stars that would kill for the rosters that Lebron has
gotten to play with his career. And when you know
Ellie is not clamoring for Lebron, that is the l

(32:09):
A media clamoring for Lebron. Everyone you talk to from
l A doesn't want Lebron. And it's not because he's
not a great player. It's because if this was the
World Cup and we were USA Lakers were USA. Would
you want to go get every best Brazilion you can't
to win a title? Is that gonna make make your title?
Just let me let me ask you this. If you
don't want Lebron, who who do you want? Patrick? Because

(32:31):
the Lakers need players. Lebron's gonna put butts in the
seats and make them super relevant. I either I want
to do with the Golden State or what you're seeing
with Boston. The way the CBA has been written, the
way you build a team as you try and develop
it yourself. You build your young players, say Paul George's
art iguadala, and see what happens next year. And you
know what, if we don't get there, at least we

(32:53):
built it and we can die on that. I like
the royal weed. Patrick, thank you very much for the call.
All right, let's quickly go to g W and SINC.
We need to balance the show. G W, you want
to defend Lebron. You're on with Jason mcbry said, I
appreciate you taking a call, And apparently, according to the
last call, a happy hours started early. He talked about

(33:13):
the Warriors building a team organically, but how Kevin Duryant
g W g W. They drafted Corey, they drafted Clay,
they drafted and they and again Andrew Equaldala through a trade,
chanl le Mesting through a trade, the current centers through
a trade, and they picked up the second best player
in the league. Because the previous year Lebron James and

(33:35):
Kyrie Irban punked the Golden State Warrior so bad, they said, hey,
we better get Kevin Durant. Let's not forget that. Go ahead,
let's not forget Lebron brought a team what seven again,
the seventy three win team. They were dead three one
in the finals, and they came back and beat Golden
State on their floor. You had their center, Andrew Bogat
got hurt, their only room protector and got suspended one game.

(33:59):
Raymond was the be No, we continue to play that
Graymond got He got suspended one game for what game
six and seven at home? Right, but because of the
accumulation of technical fouls, if he had another hole, he
would have been suspended again. Absolutely ridiculous arguments. So great
gree care play basketball because he had technical foul issues. No,

(34:22):
you go out there and play and play the way
that he does. As a Swiss Knight, uh knight who
can do a lot of things. Well, let's not act
as if what he wasn't prepared for Game seven? That
are just accumulated. Daymond Green had thirty, thirteen and nine
in Game seven. He was awesome, okay, and they lost.
Stephen Curry. Steph Curry didn't show up. Did he he

(34:45):
agreed with him? Did he actually tried to say that
Steph Curry is the type of guy that will get
other people involved. He's a shooter. And for you to
even try to suggest it what Lebron doesn't make other
players better? Because I'm not saying that. I'm just saying
right now this see g g W and thanks for
the call this season, Clarkson, Nancy, all those they haven't

(35:06):
gotten better? All right? Coming up next year on the
big lead Fox Sports Radio, legalized sports gambling. It's a
win win for everybody. I'll explain why next. Little Drake
this morning, Huh. I gotta say, uh Drake, I've come
around on his stuff. I think he's the best rapper
out there now. I got more Drake on my iTunes

(35:28):
than I do Kanye West and little whoever combined all
the little guys whoever they Little Wheezy and all these guys.
No thanks. I'm more of a fan of the the
guys who kind of articulate a little better. There's a
lot of this mumbly rap today. Me goes. Drake's kind
of in that clan, true clan too. He kind of

(35:48):
mumbles a little bit. You can hear this song. I'm
mumbling at this hour anyway, because I'm tired. But yeah,
it's just me. I've been working all night. Iowa Sam
back here on the Big Lead, Fox Sports Radio. Great news.
There's a quick way you could save money. Switch to Geico.
Go to Geico dot com and in fifteen minutes you
could say fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Legalized

(36:10):
sports gambling is here. I love it. I mean, I'm
sure you do too, if you listen to this show regularly.
You know, we give out picks, a lot of winners,
made a lot of people. You know, I've taken some
vacations on gambling from on from sports, Like gambling on
sports has paid for at least two pretty good vacations
for me. And now it's legalized. But I don't expect

(36:35):
it to kick in instantly like this idea that TV
networks are gonna have gambling shows this fall. I think
that's a little far fetched. I think you'll slowly dip
your toe in. Remember, the NFL doesn't love the idea
of point spreads left and right. They were slow to
come around on fantasy football, They're gonna be slow to
come around on sports gambling. Plus, the states have to

(36:58):
kind of make a d old that yeah, they want
to legalize it. Now. The one thing I haven't heard
anybody say is why certain states are so interested in
sports gambling. So I was looking around on the old
interwebs about states financial situations, and you're not gonna believe this.

(37:21):
I mean, this is absolutely shocking that the states that
are nearly bankrupt or broke all one in on legalized
sports gambling, led by New Jersey. Of course, according to
a two thousand seventeen fiscal rankings website, New Jersey was
dead last in the country in terms of fiscal ranking.

(37:45):
Dead last. New Jersey's leading the charge for sports gambling.
They want your money, they need your money. We know
how they call what do they call the lottery, Sam,
You've heard it's called the stupid tax. Right. Well, I
went to pay the stupid tax. I gave ten bucks
to the mega millions in law right for the stupid time. Well, listen,
unless you really really are good at sports gambling, and

(38:07):
that's tough. And I'm not saying I'm great at it.
I like sports gambling a lot. I've had some success.
Obviously you've had your down years as well, but you're
probably gonna lose to the house. There's a reason there
are casinos in the desert, opulent, beautiful places in the
middle of Vegas. Like, folks, New Jersey needs your money.

(38:28):
The forty ninth ranked state physical condition Illinois. They're broke. Massachusetts, Kentucky, Maryland,
all these states badly need sports gambling. Now look at
the top five states. Florida believe the number one. I'm surprised.
Florida always part of the wacky news. But two through

(38:49):
five you're like, there's no gambling talk here. North Dakota,
South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming. They're fiscally fine. They don't need
sports gambling money. So the states that are desperate for it.
Similar to uh legalizing marijuana, there are some states that
have made it legal. They love the money that's rolling in.

(39:11):
They love it so now they want your money. Now,
the NFL and NBA they also want to cut of
that called an integrity tax. Now that's gonna be a
bit of a hurdle. They they're asking for one percent percent,
they'll probably get a quarter of a percent. But here's
the best part about that. A quarter of a billion

(39:31):
dollars is enough to raise a quarter one percent of
a billion dollars is enough to start to tick up
the salary cap just a little bit, just a little.
So the trickle down from you gambling and losing is
that NBA salaries are gonna go up a little bit,
NFL salaries are gonna go up a little bit. We

(39:51):
saw this with the TV deal in the NFL salary
cap spike, NBA salary cap up thanks to new TV deal,
new money, more money, more money for the players. So
it's a win win for everybody. And even radio shows
like this. We are able to have gambling advertising now
because before there was this stigma that you don't want gambly,
that's ugly. Websites can have it. You know. It's just

(40:15):
such a win win. I don't want to hear the negativity.
I don't want to hear the pessimism. Gambling on sports
is good for everybody, all right? Coming up next year
on the Big Lead Fox Sports Radio with one hour
in the books, it's time to look at the NBA
off season, and folks, I know you're excited. I've got
some cold water for you. It may not be that awesome.

(40:39):
Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, our number two here on
the Big Lead Fox Sports Radio. I am your host,
Jason McIntyre, coming to you live from the Geico Fox
Sports Radio studios. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent
or more on car insurance. To visit Geico dot com

(41:00):
for a free rate quote. Kind of a gloomy Saturday
start out here in l A. It's been, you know,
kind of a little overcast. I'm a little slow to
wake up. But the Royal Wedding is on TV, so
now I know I have to spring into action. Just
kidding everybody. We we had an awesome first hour on

(41:22):
the show if you missed it, and the second hour.
It's making me a little nervous to dive into this
topic because I know people are excited about the NBA
off season. Okay, people love it. I mean last summer
was absolutely bonkers. Even if you weren't a big time
NBA fan, you went crazy last summer with how much
stuff was popping. Now we know that college football in

(41:46):
the NFL are the two premier sports in this country.
That's a fact. Okay, the NFL by far has the
largest TV ratings, It's not even close. College football also
also massive TV ratings, and there's also a sense that
those sports have urgency. You go oh and three in
the NFL, your chances of making the playoffs are like

(42:06):
one percent or less. College football, you lose a game,
chucks a you're gonna get to the playoff. You lose
two games. Season feels like it's over. There's no real
urgency in the NBA. And that's why, you know, the
regular season has been, I believe rendered massively irrelevant. Like
it just is. It's totally irrelevant. And now the off

(42:27):
season matters more than the NBA regular season. Nick, you're
a big NBA fan, you would agree the NBA off
season is all about hope, the potential for change, the
potential for trades. You're you're you're with me on off
season for NBA better than regular season. I mean, it's

(42:48):
really been in the last few years that this happened,
that this has happened now. I do want to say
one thing. I opened the show with a letter to
college graduates about how to handle graduating college and going
out into the quote unquote real world. And the number
one lesson I had for everybody was zig when the

(43:12):
masses are zagging, you never want to follow the pack.
You don't want to run in the herd. You know,
it's like avoid group think. So what is everybody saying
about this NFL off season? Sorry, NBA off season? Everybody
is saying, well, last offseason, holy cow was off the hook.

(43:33):
So many dudes changed teams, trades, stars, holding their franchise hostage.
It was the best. Well, this summer is gonna top it.
We got Lebron, we got Paul George, we got Kawhi
Nard wanting out. Oh my gosh, what with the Rockets?
Totally folds here? Could Chris Paul do you leave Houston? Hey?

(43:56):
What about DeMarcus Cousins and the Achilles injury? And then
second tier guys like Jabari Parker's not saying in Milwaukee
it was a number two overall pick. He went before
Joel em beating the draft just f y I, Julius
Randall could leave the Lakers, Aaron Gordon of Orlando, Clint
Capella and Houston. There's just a lot of compelling storylines

(44:17):
around this NBA off season, and now here comes the
bad duds. When everybody's zigging, you need to zag as such.
I gotta say, folks, I'm worried that maybe this NBA
off season is not as juicy as we think. Everybody's

(44:38):
hyping the heck out of it. Listen, there's a good
chance that the Spurs suck it up and Kawhi Leonard
checks his pride at the door and they go in
the room and they say, let's shake on it. I
want to stay here, and Kawhi Leonard comes off the market,
Nick and Rob that listen, that could happen. There's plenty
of time left for those fences to be mended. Chris

(45:01):
Paul could say, I love Houston, I love playing with
James Harden. I'll take a discount to stay here. I mean,
there is a chance. Brian Windhorse has come on this
radio show and said, listen, Lebron could just opt in
for one more year if he sees the Warriors or
a Juggernaire. He doesn't want to leave, Let's see if
we could get a little better. Maybe we we rent

(45:23):
Paul George to take a chance on him if he
wants to opt, if he if he doesn't want to
becoming free agent. Like, things could happen to make it
not that exciting that offseason, and that that's entirely possible.
Let me remind you of something that was a big, huge,
massive story on this radio station, TV everywhere. Odell Beckham.

(45:47):
You guys, remember when Adam Schefter said O'Dell Beckham was
gonna be traded before the draft. He came out and
said that, well, if Schefter says that it's a lock,
Odell Beckham is still in the New or Giants. And
I just saw a story on my screen that Odell
Beckham is gonna show up at voluntary minicamp. Huh, Odell Beckham.

(46:12):
Now I don't know if I should go down in
the scorpion and the frog path again. Maybe I need
to to remind you, But again, this goes back to
what I was saying. I don't think the NBA off
season is gonna be that good. Everybody's saying something's gonna happen, folks.
Lebron I mean, jeez, Game two in Boston, there's no

(46:35):
way Lebron loses this game. Celtics by double figures. I'm
just telling you, and to the college graduates, I cannot
hammer it home enough. When everybody's doing something, Oh this
is so cool, you gotta do it, man, it's it's
a thing. Oh, everybody's picking them ride with those guys.
Sit back and do I want to be part of group? Thing?

(46:56):
Do I do? I want to follow the pack? Do
I want to, you know, go on my own path
over to the side. Now, I did fall for the
Odell Beckham stuff. I thought Beckham was definitely getting dealt.
But and not to go off on a tangent. What
has happened with Odell Beckham? And and and allow me
to go back to the Scorpion and the Frog story

(47:17):
is Odell Beckham has temporarily cleaned up his act, showed
up last month, showed up at the facility, said all
the right things. Voluntary minicamp coming up. I'm gonna be there.
I'm Odell Beckham. So and it's only because I love
the Scorpion and the Frog story so much. The scorpion

(47:39):
needs a ride across the river. He says to the frog, hey,
give me a ride. Frog says, are you out of
your mind? I know what you're gonna do. You're gonna
sting me and kill me. And the scorpion says, now,
why would I do that? Why would I do that?
Then we'll both die, And the frog says, oh, okay,
you know what, You're right, I'll give you a ride. So,
of course, halfway across the river, scorpion stings the frog,

(48:02):
and the frog says, oh, no, we're gonna die. Why
did you do that? And well, I can't help myself.
That's who I am. People don't automatically change. They temporarily
improve to do their best. Like when your wife tells you, hey,
you gotta take out the trash more. You'll do a
great job for like two weeks and then you know
what you're gonna You're gonna kna forgets. You just don't

(48:25):
like doing it. That's who you are. You're not to
take out the trash guy. Odell Beckham has cleaned up
his act temporarily. He wants that contract so bad. He
wants that big, big money. Will you know what's gonna happen?
And take this to the frigging bank. Odell Beckham, if
he gets that contract, is gonna act a fool. I

(48:47):
guarantee it do something to tick off his quarterback, his coordinator,
his coach. He's gonna do some tantrum on the sideline.
That's what people do. And and and to drag this
situation over to the NBA. Folks, I'm telling you just
don't get too excited about the NBA off season. Just

(49:11):
be patient. It could it could, if things could be awesome,
it could be incredible. But let's be really. I mean,
is anybody backing up the Brins for DeMarcus Cousins, anybody
at all? It's coming off an Achilles injury, twenty eight
years old, these two hundred sixty five pounds, He's had
weight issues in his career. Get real. I can see

(49:34):
Kawhi Leonard in the Spurs patching it up. Nick. I
know you can do it too. I mean, it's fun
to talk about Kauai to the Sixers. The Sixers are
out here. We need a guy, you know. Maybe listen,
I said, Lebron and Paul George to the Lakers forever.
It's been eleven months. Well, I don't know, maybe Westbrook

(49:55):
on one of these paintball trips with Paul George, says said, Man,
we're getting rovers and back a month into the season.
We're gonna buy out Mellow, you know, and Mellow will
go wherever he wants. And in fact that locker room
we can ride together. Now, hopefully Paul George doesn't fall
for that scorpion in the frog trick. And then there's

(50:17):
Lebron and and this is the one. You know, the
speculation has been heavy. Now I Lakers fans, you're not
gonna like this. Nick, You're gonna hate this. Rob You're
gonna hate this as well. Speculation has been heavy that
Lebron's going to Houston or Philly or l A. I'm
gonna quickly remind you of what happened with four players

(50:38):
last year. The Bulls traded Jimmy Butler, and I looked
this up. Do you know how many reporters had the
Bulls trading Jimmy Butler to Minnesota? Zero? Nobody had that
out of left field. If you go look up the
stories like I did, all the talk was Jimmy Butler
to the Celtics. The Calves are gonna get Jimmy Butler.

(50:59):
Minnesota sneaks hit Nobody was talking about Minnesota. So that's one.
Chris Paul with the Clippers, Oh he's gonna resign, you'll
get the super Max, didn't offer the Supermax traded him
to Houston. Came out of left field. No reporter covering
the NBA had that. Nick and Rob you remember that, right?
It was like, whoa Chris Paul in the What so

(51:21):
Jimmy Butler, Chris Paul? Next up, Kyrie Irving demands a trade.
Kyrie Irving made a list of where he wants to go.
People said Spurs, Oh he's gonna Spurs, or or he
won in Minnesota because he's ted with Jimmy Butler. Kyrie
could go here there Nobody except for this show, we

(51:42):
did have it. We discussed it, Celtics. It made sense,
but the consensus was not that Kyrie Irving's going to Boston.
And then finally, Paul George demanded a trade from Indiana,
and guys, do you remember Paul George of the Calves.
Everybody was saying it the Rockets, they're gonna of Paul George.
The Wizards were discussed, the Clippers and the Lakers. Where

(52:04):
did Paul George end up? Okay, see So, folks, I
just went down the list for you. No reporter was
even close on Jimmy Butler, nobody was close on Chris,
Paul Kyrie, Irving of the people did not have that,
and Paul George. So you're telling me that Lebron's automatically
going to one of those teams, that Kauai is automatically
go one of the Sixers or Lakers or Clippers. I'm

(52:28):
just saying, take a deep breath. It's fun to speculate.
I love speculating, but in reality, guys, I'm just saying,
usually nobody has a trade destination, a free agent signing.
The stuff comes out of left field. I mean, we
could even go back to Lebron's decision with Jim Gray.

(52:50):
I don't think anybody had that, and then I mean, Rob,
you'll have to remind me. But when Lebron decided he
was going back to Eveland, I think like of the
people had staying in Miami or something else, right, I mean,
I don't exactly remember how that went down. I do
remember being in a doctor's office and I was not,

(53:11):
uh like on the internet, and I started getting text
Lebron is going back to Cleveland. I was like what
on earth had to race home? Um, but again, folks,
zig when everybody's zagging, everybody's saying this NBA all season's
gonna be crazy. I've got my concerns. I've got my

(53:32):
concerns coming up next year on the Big Lead Fox
Sports Radio. Man, if you listen to my poost uh
my podcast with Cris Boussard's his podcast, but we go
on in debate. We went at it this this week
on should the Celtics trade Kyrie or Gordon Ayward? And
it's like, I mean, you gotta be kidding me, Hey,

(53:56):
why are you blowing up a team that you've never
seen play together? They shouldn't absolutely do nothing. But there
is one thing that I think is worth discussing. We'll
do that next you on the Big Lead Fox Sports Radio. Alright, alright, Nick,
stop the song who is? First of all? Who is this?
Tell me who this is? It's hot new one. I

(54:21):
know it sounds gimmicky. It's not good because where's the
a Lonzo stuff. Dude, Come on, hey, it's the off season. Yeah,
I don't know. I hadn't heard that much of Cold
Beasley by the way, last week when I uh producer
Robs that when I compared Brad Stevens versus tylu To

(54:44):
Eminem versus Cold Beasley peat people people on social media
really like that a lot. Um. We're back here on
the big lead, Fox Sports Radio, Great News. There's a
quick way you could save money. Switch to Geico, go
to guy Go dot com, and in fifteen minutes you
could say or more on car insurance. All right, before

(55:05):
we get to the Celtics, we got Aaron Torres coming
up here in eight minutes. Apparently he does not like
my NBA mock draft. I love my NBA mock draft.
But before before we get to the Celtics and Aaron Torres,
Robin Nick, I quickly need your thoughts last segment. I
I didn't want to be Debbie down around the NBA
off season, but I need your thoughts on on Kawhi Leonard.

(55:25):
I know this stuff is fluid, it changes like the
wind changes. Just each of you quickly your thoughts on
where Kawhi Leonard ends up this summer back in San Antonio.
That's boring, but Kawhi Leonards boring is lt. I don't
think that it's gonna remind you a lot of when

(55:47):
Kobe asked for that trade a couple of years back,
and he's ready to go money to play in on Mars,
I believe, and ultimately the owner said, hey, you know
you're too valuable. I'm not gonna trade five regular I'm
not gonna receive five regular sized diamond for one Ultimate
sized diamond. So I think that they'll find a way
to work it out. Yeah. I can't see it either.

(56:08):
I think it's boring. Sel I would love to see
a team just break the bank and just give up
all these assets, but I don't think it's gonna happen.
I think I think they'll hash it out. Yeah, I mean,
you gotta have to sweeten the deal significantly. And and
you know the other team you're gonna have to sweeten
the pot with is the Boston Celtics because they look
like they've got the next potential dynasty in the East.

(56:32):
I keep arguing with Chris Bussard. He's got to show
Sundays on Fox Sports Radio. It's not quite as good
as this one, but he brings the heat and he's
telling me they should try to trade Gordon Hayward and
Tatum is better than Gordon Hayward. Guys, listen, we cannot
say Jason Tatum is better than Gordon Hayward right now?
Will he be better than? Probably could be better. Probably,

(56:56):
Gordon Hayward's a very good player. You A, you can't
trade him without seeing him with this team. And B
he's Danny Aingel's guy. He's Brad Stevens guy they lobbied
hard to get. Gordon Hayward. Okay, his demeanor, unselfish, great attitude,

(57:18):
standout individual. And and you know, yes, I'm gonna mention
the elephant in the room. He's a white guy who
could be a star in Boston. Okay, that that stuff
matters a little bit, not a lot. But don't you
You'd be dumb. You'd be lying to yourself if you
say that didn't matter. So this is their starting lineup
next year, Kyrie Irving, Jayleen Brown, Jason Tatum, Gordon Hayward,

(57:41):
Al Horford. That's nasty, folks. That's sixty wins. They won
fifty five this year with no Gordon Hayward and and
and Brown and Tatum are essentially rookies. I mean, twenty
and twenty one years old. Brad Stevens elevates everybody. Everybody

(58:05):
This is the Brad Stevens that you need to focus on.
Isaiah Thomas, Avery, Bradley, Jake Crowder all looked really, really,
really good last year with Brad Stevens. They were all
shipped out of town. You could toss Kelly Olnik in
there too. Three of those four guys got traded from
the team. The Celtics trained them too, because they were like, whoa,

(58:27):
what do we get here? I'm telling you, Brad Stevens
elevates players like I don't think, like we've ever seen
in this league. Brad Stevens. Yeah. People are saying, if
you could have Brad Stevens or Lebron, who would you

(58:48):
who would you rather have? And you can know you
could say, well, Brad Stevens is not getting injured, Brad
Stevens is not getting suspended, Brad Stevens is not getting old,
because coaches don't really get old until they're like, and
there's what six, these are seventies? Popovich is nine. I'm
telling you, Brad Stevens can work Wonders. So why would
you blow this team up? And there's no logical reason

(59:10):
that you would blow this team up? For Kawhi letter
because I'm being honest with you, I don't. I would
not trade in any package Tatum or Brown for Kawhi
letter and I know he's a top five player. By
the way, at uh high noon on the East Coast,
in thirty minutes, by popular demand, I'm gonna unveil the

(59:32):
ten best players in the NBA. And we had a
I don't even know, spirited debate about it. I don't.
I have not revealed him to Nick yet, but Rob
is aware, and Rob I could see his head kind
of exploding when I said, when guy was in the
top ten already, I can't thirty minutes. Okay, just be patient.

(59:52):
Russell Westbrook didn't make it. He's number ten. That's the
only thing I'll revealed. He's shocked that he's only number ten.
Uh So, when you look at the league, I would
not break up the Celtics for Kawhi Leonard. Anthony Davis
is not gonna be on the market, so don't mention him.
They just want to playoff series. Davis average thirty and

(01:00:14):
thirteen in two rounds. He's ridiculous. They look good around him. Okay,
they're not trading Anthony Davis, so don't mention him now.
But the guy you can mention is Karl Anthony Towns.
And Brian Winhorst, who has been a guest on this show,
speculated that things are getting unhappy in Minnesota with Karl
Anthony Towns. I don't know if you follow it closely.

(01:00:34):
They just let go an assistant coach who was towns
like right hand guy. Karl Anthony Towns still on his
rookie contract average and twelve last year. His numbers dipped
this year to one and twelve after they added Jimmy Butler.
So the speculation is, would you now, Robin Nick, this

(01:00:57):
is coming at you hot. If the timber Wolves called
Brad Stevens and Danny Age and said, hey, guys, give
me Kyrie for Karl Anthony Towns. Kyrie Irving clutch game seven,
game winning shot in the finals, multiple time All Star,

(01:01:19):
amazing handle. He's got to be a top six point
guard in the league, maybe top four three. I don't know.
The one knock I'm gonna say before you guys reveal
your answers, Kyrie Irving has had some injury problems. I
believe he's been seven seasons and in four of them
he's had injuries, including this one. Although This wasn't a

(01:01:41):
new injury. This was like this had to do with
a previous surgery. So would you Nick pretend like you're
Danny Ange and the Timberwolves call you and say Karl
Anthonny Towns for Kyrie Irving your thoughts? No, I wouldn't
do it, really no, that's it's a tough one though.
But I just don't want to look at and he's
a great player, but I just don't. It's too soon too.

(01:02:03):
Karl Anthony Towns, for the record, people, is twenty two.
He's twenty two three November. He has not missed a
game in three seasons. Rob, Karl Anthony Towns for Kyrie
Irving your thoughts as a Celtic, Yes, your palli Yeah

(01:02:24):
really yeah, I would. Wow, I did not see that coming.
I'll tell you why. The drop off between Kyrie Irving
and Terry Rogier is smaller than from Karl Anthony Towns
to Marcus Morris. And he's younger and he's cheaper. Kyrie
Irving drop off to Terry Rosier. So Terry Rogier has

(01:02:45):
a good postseason and now it's not a big no,
but I mean he could be a serviceable point guard
when you have Hayward, Tatum, Brown Towns. M interesting that
that was an angle I didn't consider. He can play
the Jeff t uh. Jeff t has never won anything,
but he you know, hey, an open jump shot get
you fifteen points. I suppose Jeff t can make open jumpers. Um.

(01:03:09):
So the knock on Towns was just defense. But Stevens
could get the best out of him, obviously, because that's
what he does. He made of his threes this year. Now,
I would not do it because I am so in
the tank for Kyrie Irving. A fun fact, I bought
a Kyrie Irving jersey. I can't wear it anymore because
it's the Calves one. It's one of those awesome throwback

(01:03:31):
calves from the eighties, like the like the burnt orange
and blue. It's sick. If you go on my Instagram,
there's a photo of me wearing it a couple of
months back. I love Kyrie, so I would not do it.
I think with Kyrie, Gordon, Hayward and the young guys,
I'm telling you, folks, this team is gonna win sixty
five games six. I think they I think they have

(01:03:52):
the East wrapped up for the next several years. Who
seeing what happens with the Sixers? Okay, Simmons and Embiid. Okay,
how about this real quick before we go to break
Celtics now, Calves, Celtics and Sixers right now, give me
the four best players if they were to go head
to head in that series. Who's number one? I would

(01:04:14):
say Ben Simmons right now or just right now, Celtics Sixers, Yes,
I would say the best player is Ben Simmons, yes,
Second best Kyrie Irving, yes, Third, Joel Embiid yes, Fourth,
Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown? Right now? Whoa J Brown plays defense?

(01:04:38):
He does? I know that you you're you're a big
fan of the numbers, but there is another half of them,
so so Nick, That goes to I don't think the
Celtics have the East wrapped up for like the next five.
Will they be the favorite? Yes? And and yes, Tatum
looked better than Simmons in that series. But a bottom line,
I cannot blow what up not for Carlintony towns Now.

(01:04:59):
Anthony Davis is an another story. I think he is.
You know that guy could be Anthony Davis ceiling top
twenty player all time NBA history if if his whole
career works out. I mean he's gonna be a massive start.
He's a twenty five and the average he's twenty six,
averaged thirty and thirteen in the playoffs. Like he is
a monster, all right? Coming up next year on the

(01:05:21):
Big Lead Fox Sports Radio. Luca don chitch Am I
saying that, right? I I just Luca don chitch I
said when I did the NBA mock draft that when
everybody's zigs, I liked to zag naturally. I've got Luca
number one in my NBA mock draft. Well, our guest

(01:05:43):
does not agree with me or anything I'm saying about
my mock draft. Will tell you why. But first let's
go to Isaac Loewen Crown for the latest and support.
Jason Johnny Manziel announced this morning that he is joining
the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian Football League on
a two year deal. Isaac, Hey, Isaac, let me jump in.

(01:06:04):
How many Hamilton's Tiger Cats games have you ever seen?
I think the next one will be the first. Okay,
so are you gonna watch now because they have Johnny football?
Are you gonna be like, Oh, I'll check the highlights
preseason game against the Toronto Argonauts coming up just a
couple of weeks from now. Uh No, to be honest
with you, nobody cares about I do love. However, the

(01:06:27):
way he made the announcement via a bar Stool Sports
video and to paint the picture for what you're about
to hear, it's a selfie video that Manzell shots somewhere
along the Canadian border. And I'm being that vague because
it appears Manzel himself doesn't even know where he is.
It appears that he's at some sort of abandoned airport,

(01:06:50):
train station, or bus terminal, and Manzell looks like he's
the only one there. It's a setting so gloomy and
desolate it could pass us for the North Korean border
instead of the Canadian border. Listen, I'm formally signing UM
in the CFL number one. I've decided to sign with
the Hamilton Tiger Cats. UM. I'll be up here for

(01:07:13):
what looks like two years, UM getting back to playing ball.
That's where it comes down to, That's what I missed doing.
I'm somewhere I don't even know where, on the Canadian border,
trying to figure this whole thing out and figure out
UM I guess how to play football in Canada. So
to recap what instantly became one of the great quotes
in recent sports memory, I'm somewhere I don't even know where,

(01:07:37):
on the Canadian border, trying to figure this whole thing out.
Not even Canada's own Drake could come up with lyrics
like that. Finally, from America Sport in Canada to Canada
Sport in America. Stanley Cup Playoffs Friday at the Vegas
Golden Nights to be to the Winnipeg Jets three to
two in Game four the Western Conference Finals for three
games to one series lead. Jason has been one of

(01:07:58):
those memorable days in sports. Back to you, I care
more about the Royal wedding than I do Johnny Football, honestly,
Johnny manzel Man, Come on, guys, a clown back here
on the Big Lead Fox Sports Radio. I am your host,
Ladies and gentlemen, Jason McIntyre coming to you live from
the Geico Fox Sports Radio Studios. Fifteen minutes could save

(01:08:21):
you f or more on car insurance. Visit Geico dot
com for a free rate quote. All right, joining the
show now. He's the co host of Spaniard and Torres
eleven pm to one am Eastern Saturdays on Fox Sports Radio.
He is Aaron Torres. Aaron, good morning. How are you.

(01:08:41):
You know, I'm doing well. G You know, I said,
I do sense a lot of negativity from you this
morning though. You know, I went on your Twitter because
I want to see what you were talking about with
the NBA Draft, and all I saw was no Ward,
it's the it's the summer event of the season. Man
and now Manzel too. Yeah. Huge, hey so. And in

(01:09:03):
the last segment we talked about the Celtics of whether
or not they should blow it up with Kay, trade
Kyrie or trade Gordon Hayward. There is some speculation Karl
Anthony Towns could be had first, perhaps Kyrie Irving. You know,
I'm I would never do this, uh Rob, who you
know well, our producer, he would would you trade Kyrie

(01:09:25):
for Karl Anthony Towns? Uh No, I don't think so.
You know, Look, you know I've really struggled with this
kind of topic as well as I get ready to
do our show this evening of is this a topic
the only like you know, like obviously guys like you
and I and Rob, guys that work in this industry
were supposed to have strong opinions about everything. I don't

(01:09:48):
really know where I stand on just like the whole
concept of Kyrie and the Celtics. But I will say
the one thing that does drive me bonkers on Twitter
whenever the Celtics play is, oh my god, up to nothing.
Can you imagine what they would be like if they
had Kyrie and Gordon Henyward. And it's like my only
real responses, like you do understand Marcus Smart wouldn't be

(01:10:10):
playing like forty seven minutes if Kyrie Irving wasn't there right,
like like Terry Rosier would not be doing what he's doing.
So you know, I don't know if I would have
the guts to pull it off. But the one thing
I would say is, you know, Brad Stevens has put
these guys in an unbelievable position, you know, the guys
that we were not expecting. But I don't think it's

(01:10:31):
like that. You know, the Celtics would then become you know,
this seventy two win Jugger, not if they added Kyrie
Irving because it would just change roles. So that's my
only real thought on that. I don't know if I
would actually move them. I don't know if I just
do it. Yeah, It's it's one of those like people
can't want to constantly fix the Celtics, which I kind
of hate. Can we just can we just let them

(01:10:52):
breathe for a moment? Like even the Sixers, their coach
came out and said, you know, we need another major start, Like, dude,
it's just year one of Ben Simmons and Joela Beat
Can you all pipe down for a moment. Nobody had
you guys as the fourth seed. Nobody had you winning
around like four months ago. That's what I was gonna say,
Like two seconds earlier in the same press conference, he

(01:11:15):
was like, yeah, I had to tell the guys, you know,
no one expected us to be here. And if I
had told you on day one of training camp that
we were gonna win around in the playoffs, I'm with you, man,
Like I get for a team like Houston where your
your core is in their prime. Okay, see whatever you
think of Russell Westbrook, And I know various uh colleagues

(01:11:36):
of ours on Fox Sports Radio have various opinions on
Russell Westbrook, But the point is, like those guys are
in their prime. I'm on board with you with the Celtics,
with the seventies sixers, with a lot of young like
a lot of these young teams, like just let it happen.
It's going to take time. Uh, these things don't happen overnight.
We're talking with Aaron Torrez, Fox sports radio host. He

(01:11:57):
has a show Saturday night eleven pm to one am
Eastern on Fox Sports Radio. So, Aaron, Uh, I know
you're a big college hoops fan. Um, did you watch
any of the combine the last two days? Because I'm
telling you, man, I saw Dante de Vincenzo, the Villanova star,
just basically write his ticket in the first round. There's

(01:12:17):
no way he goes back to Villanova. I think he
could cracked the lottery when all is said and done.
Your thoughts on just the NBA Combine in general, do
you like it? And Mr de Vincenzo, Yeah, I think
he for sure. Dante de Vincenzo was one of the
big winners. And it is ironic, right, I mean, like
you know, obviously Villanova had a lottery pick in Michale

(01:12:37):
Bridges and Jalen Bronson who might be a first rounder
as well. So it's not like NBA people weren't familiar
with him, but it is weird that if he didn't
have that thirty one point performance with against Michigan, that
he probably wouldn't even be here. But I'm with you, Jason,
and it was funny because I was thinking about it
last night. Is is you know, with this combine, there's

(01:12:58):
so many guys, including Devincenzo that kind of came to
gauge their stock where can they go? And I think,
not only is he a big riser, but I think
this is a weird draft where once you get past
the probably the top seven eight players in this draft,
I think it really just becomes a total crapshoot of
fits and needs and yeah, like I didn't mean to

(01:13:19):
cut you off there, but you know, it feels like
this draft, you know, other drafts, you know, through the
teams and even into the twenties, you feel like there's
going to be some semblance of an order um and
it just feels like once you get past those top
eight ten picks, it really is just gonna be neat.
And one that's interesting because again last year erin, you know,

(01:13:39):
not many people had Donovan Mitchell as a star. Remember
his college coach tried to say, dude, yeah, come on,
you gotta come back. I mean, I that's on the record.
He said that. I actually didn't. I was shocked that
he left Louisville. I was like, jeesus, this guy a
first round lock and then you start doing the workouts
and word trickles out. But I because of what happened

(01:13:59):
with Usma and Josh Hart and as I said, uh,
you know, Donovan Mitchell, I don't know that you can
say that after the first seven or eight. I mean,
what do you think of Colin Sexton? Is he gonna
take the league by storm? Is that is that possible?
I love the kid Moe Wagner from Michigan. I mean
I I is he gonna be an impact starter instantly?

(01:14:20):
I don't know. Hell de Vincenzo, you know, Jay Billis
was saying yesterday at the Combine, don Davie Vincenzo, if
he goes and he goes to a team that's in
the playoffs, he's gonna be a rotation player. Oh yeah,
and all all I was saying with, you know, once
you get past the top eight ten, I'm not saying
that you can't find an impact player or even a star.

(01:14:41):
I'm just saying, is that there really it is just
going to be a free for all. You know, It's
funny like like last night, you know, one just kind
of reviewing some stuff from the combine, but to um,
you know, no one I was gonna come on today
and no one that I'll be talking about this all
this stuff at various points over these next couple of months.
You know, I really sat down and kind of looked
at uh, you know a lot of different mocks, and

(01:15:03):
it really does feel like there's really only about thirteen
or fourteen guys that you feel totally confident are gonna
end up in the first round. And then you start
getting to what I was saying, kind of flavor of
the week. You know, who do you like? Do you
like do you need a big Do you go with
somebody inexperience like Mitchell Robinson? Do you go with somebody

(01:15:24):
that has the experience like Moe vatn Or do you
go with uh, you know at guard Dante de Vincenzo,
Do you go with Anthony Simon's the high School? Like?
Like the point is is that I, first of all,
I think that there are a lot of really good
players to be had later in the first round. I
actually think I'd rather be drafting it, like you know, twenty,
than I would be at twelve for the exact yeah,

(01:15:45):
like for the exact reason that you just said, Jason,
I mean, I think de Vincenzo is a guy like that, uh,
Aaron Holiday, the brother of Drew Holiday. I think you
can get him in the twenties. So I think it's
a weird draft where like I said, one, once you
get past ten or twenty, there's gonna be it's just
gonna be the wild, wild West. But then too, I
think you might be able to get a better player

(01:16:05):
at twenty two, or at least a more instant impact
player than you do at twelve or thirty. That's good stuff, Aaron.
And and to echo what you said, there is a
lot of chatter that the Clippers could try to package
twelve and thirteen to move up. Maybe maybe you're onto
something you plugged in with the Clippers are and good stuff,
Aaron Torres, Thank you very much for joining us. You
guys gotta listen to Aaron Torres and his co host

(01:16:26):
Spaniard at eleven pm Saturdays on Fox Sports Radio. Coming
up next year on the show. You know, I've been
a huge fan of Hard Knocks for a while, but
the last couple of years it's really really been uninteresting
to me. But now Baker Mayfields on the show. Oh,
I'm all in because it's gonna be such a train wreck.

(01:16:47):
I'll tell you why next. Progressive Insurance, creators of the
Name your Price tool Choose from a range of coverage options,
has picked the price that works for you. Visit Progressive
dot com to day. Back here on the Big Lead
Fox Sports Radio, I'm your host, Jason McIntyre, coming to
you live from the Geico Fox Sports Radio Studios. We

(01:17:10):
are a royal wedding free show. So many moons ago,
when my New York Jets went on Hard Knocks, I
fell in love with the show. You know, Rex Ryan
was body Mouthie loved it, and the Jets you know,
had gone to two AFC title games with Mark Sanchez.

(01:17:32):
You got to get a window in the rack. It
helped the Jets popularity. But since then there has been
one team to go on Hard Knocks to make the playoffs,
one the Houston Texans. I don't think this is good
news for the Browns. The Cleveland Browns are the next
Hard Knocks team. And here's why Tyrod Taylor is their

(01:17:54):
starting quarterback. He is a very quiet, unassuming, not a
raw rock kind of guy. And Tyrod Taylor just got
the Buffalo Bills, the sad sack Buffalo Bills to the playoffs.
He's gonna be the starter for Hugh Jackson. Hugh Jackson knows. Listen, man,
I'm one in thirty one. The only way I keep

(01:18:15):
my job is do I get to five hundred. Maybe
the playoffs a good showing. Well, of course, Tyrod Taylor
is gonna give me a good showing. But now you
bring the Hard Knocks cameras in there. They're not coming
for Tyrod Taylor. They're not coming for Josh Gordon, They're
not coming for Hugh Jackson. They want Baker Mayfield. And

(01:18:37):
Baker Mayfield is gonna be the backup and Baker Mayfield
is not gonna be happy, and it's gonna be a
train wreck and it should make for good television. I mean,
I I was like a big buyer on the Browns.
I liked their season win total over but if if
Baker Mayfield's involved, it's like starting eight games in no way,

(01:18:58):
no shot a rookie six ft quarterback in Cleveland, Like,
wake up, folks, Tyrod Taylor is the guy. And I
almost wonder if Baker is gonna be so magnetic on
that show that people are gonna want him to start
over Tyrod. Anyways, Like remember Jared Goffwin on there a

(01:19:18):
couple of years ago and look like a buffoon. He
like didn't know where the sun rose or something like that.
Like that's embarrassing, so hard knocks. I'm excited. Hey, can
we take this call real quick? This guy's been waiting
for twenty minutes. I feel bad. Colin in New York,
thanks for waiting so long. You're on with Jason McIntyre
Fox Sports Radio. Hey, how you doing. You were talking

(01:19:41):
about Kyrie or earlier. Um, I think the Celtics did
pretty well with him, you know when they had him.
I mean, why would you why would you want to
trade him when you got Brad Stevens. You know, you
look at look at that. Maybe it's a dynamic like uh,
I don't know if I could say, you know, Phil
Jackson and Jordan's and that's in that whole squad, you
know inter thing? I thought, let me ask you this,

(01:20:01):
Colin Kyrie Irving has how many years left on his contract? Yeah?
See that's where it gets That's where it gets a
little sketchy. So he's got this year, well next year
in the summer, you're gonna have to pay him, and
I don't know if they want to be paying him
huge money. They don't know. Now if you can, if

(01:20:24):
you can unload him and then make Terry Rosier your
guy at a much cheaper That goes to Rob's point
here about Hey, Terry Rozier not a humongous drop off.
There's a drop off, no doubt, but salary wise, you
free up cap room. Thanks for the call, Colin, so
again listen. Uh we talked about it earlier on the show.
Do the Celtics tract? I would not break it up

(01:20:46):
under any circumstances. But at some point, if they're gonna
have to make a decision, do we trade Kyrie to trade? Heyword,
I don't think so. What do we do with Tatum
and Brown? Can we get Anthony Davis? It's gonna be
a fun few years ahead for Boston. They've got four
but ential top ten picks next year in the draft
coming up next. What you've all been waiting for the
ten best players in the NBA. We ranked them next

(01:21:09):
high noon on the East Coast. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome
back to the Big Lead on Fox Sports Radio. I
am your host, Jason McIntyre, coming to you live from
the Geico Fox Sports Radio studios. It's easy to save
fift cent and more on car insurance with Geico. Go
to Geico dot com and in fifteen minutes you could

(01:21:33):
say fifteen per cent or more on car insurance. The
only hard part figuring out which way is easier. All right.
I know our regular listeners, and we got a lot
of them. I've been waiting for this moment for quite
some time. I've been teasing it here for the last
couple hours. I'm going to try the impossible in a moment,

(01:21:56):
I am gonna rank for you the ten best players
in the NBA right now. Producer Rob is nervous, especially
based on how we talked about this earlier in the show. He's,
you know, well, let's just say firm disagreement. Uh. Nick. Also,
I think he's gonna have a lot of disagreement and you,
of course they're gonna be irate at some of the
stuff I'm doing. But I call it like I see,

(01:22:19):
just really quickly, let me tee up. Tonight, We've got
Celtics Calves Game three, Calves favored by six. I don't
love the Calves at home tonight. I don't love the
Calves at all. They've had a lot of time to
think about the disastrous start to this series. There's a
team that's been through a lot here in the last
thirteen months, from trading Kyrie, trading half the team at

(01:22:44):
the trade deadline, Kevin Love admitting to panic attacks, Derrick
Rose vanishing from the team. You could go on and on.
This team has been through a lot. If they lose
this game tonight, if it's closer in the fourth quarter,
the fatigue will wear them down. It would not surprise
me if Boston won. I don't want to take the
Celtics plus six. But what I like doing is in

(01:23:04):
game gambling. If the Calves, you know, starting a big
hole or race out, I could judge it based on that,
or maybe the foul trouble. But I do think the
Celtics are gonna keep it close. I do think they're
gonna win one in Cleveland. All right, onto the big story.
The top ten players in the NBA. Right now, we're
gonna count down ten to one. I'm not gonna hit

(01:23:25):
you over the head with stats. Again, this is not
how I would you know, rank the players on how
it would start a team. Okay, because that's gonna be
different from where the ten best you look? Line them
up right now? The ten best players in the league,
number ten. I'm starting with Mr Russell Westbrook average a

(01:23:48):
triple double two years in a row. I believe he's
the tenth best player in the NBA. Right now? Why
are you shaking your head? Nick? We just we literally
just started the list. Is that a slap in the bases?
Keeping Wait, wait, wait, slow down. We're in no rush.
We're gonna give everybody their fair share. Here I have
Russell Westbrook is the tenth best player in the NBA.

(01:24:09):
Here's why he's a ballhog. He doesn't make anybody better.
He's a stat pattern and he only shot on three pointers.
Russell Westbrook tenth best player in the NBA. How was
that a slight? You guys are laughing at me in here. Okay.
If there's what thirteen guys fourteen guys on NBA roster
times thirty, I mean there's probably what over players in

(01:24:31):
the league. He's the tenth best. And that's a slight
two seasons. You know what, Russell Westbrook tenth best player
in the league. Rob is ducking over there. Uh he
and he's training a new producer. And I can see
the guys just laughing. I know, slight to Westbrook. I'm
gonna keep it real raw. Initially Westbrook was twelve, and

(01:24:52):
then I thought deep right to put him in tech.
I have no go on. I have no beef with Westbrook.
I just he's a good individual player. That's why I
saw this list. He don't make anybody better. Hey, Kevin
Durant ditch ing for a reason. Paul George is about
the piece out for a reason. Russell Westbrook number ten,
Number nine. Jimmy Butler. I love Jimmy Butler. When you

(01:25:16):
talk about two way players, folks, Jimmy Butler is the man.
His averages were modest, five and five, but he does
it all. Jimmy Butler is a poor man's Kawhi Leonard.
Jimmy Butler is very very good. Another guy I thought
that should have made this list that didn't. Joel him
Be just missed it. He's awesome and he's he could

(01:25:37):
be defensive Player of the Year, but dude, Al Horford
took him to school so badly in that series. I
mean the Sixers essentially, we're like, we can't have Joel
Embiid guard Al Horford and he's man handling Kevin Love
right now. Yeah, I mean, listen, Al Horford is very good.
I didn't consider him for this list. But so the
tenth best player in the NBA right now Russell Westbrook

(01:25:58):
number nine, Jimmy Butler number eight, and this is the one.
You know, I know, you guys are gonna hate this.
I think the eighth best player in the NBA right
now is Ben Simmons. This is a guy who I
believe is the best rookie in the NBA since Magic Johnson.
The seventies Sixers last year won twenty eight games. They
had Joel embid for like thirty something. They won twenty games.

(01:26:20):
They won fifty one this year with Ben Simmons twenty
one years old, average sixteen eight and eight and he
can't shoot. Literally made zero three pointers and he's still
average sixteen eight and eight. Now, the real reason again,
this a big part of this is a big part

(01:26:42):
of best player in the NBA. Is you can play
two weights. Ben Simmons can guard all five positions. He's
going to get consideration for all NBA thirteen. He's going
to probably be on second team All Defense. That's how
good of a player Ben Simmons is. So I've got
him eight. I've got Russell Westbrook ten, Jimmy Butler nine,

(01:27:03):
Ben Simmons eight. Quick reaction, rob Any early thoughts, I'm
gonna let you a veil this before you all right,
keep johnning them down. Number seven. Nice, I've Janice is
the seventh best player in the NBA. Listen, he was
fifth and per player efficiency rating this year, can play
all five positions, basically transition a point guard for the

(01:27:23):
Bucks this year. Uh Now, the thirty percent shooting from
deep is what's holding him back. I love Joanna. I
think he's a foundational player in the league. Borderline unguardable. Um.
I think he's the seventh best player in the NBA.
Massive upside. You'd be an NBA NBA m v P
one day, sixth best player in the league. I'm gonna

(01:27:44):
go with James Harden. Not a lot of pushback from
Rob or Nick on that one. So We've got Russell
Westbrook ten, Jimmy Butler nine, Ben Simmons eight, Janice seven,
James Harden six. He's gonna win m v P this year.
James Harden. Don't play a Likadieva none really really good
offensive player makes everybody better. And folks, listen, one through

(01:28:06):
six is super tight. There's not a big gap. I
think six to seven. There's some gap in seven to ten,
you know, but I think James Harden's sixth best player
in the league. Five Kawhi Leonard awesome. He was listening, uh,
top three m VP finalists last year, the best two
way player in the NBA. I mean, Kawhi Leonard is

(01:28:27):
gonna give you, you know, stellar defense on the best
opposing player. He's a he could be pointing game guy.
He is just an awesome basketball talent. Hawhi Leonard. Fifth,
I'm gonna go Steph Curry. Fourth. I know that a
lot of people are expecting me to say Curry third.
Um I had Steph Curry is the fourth best player

(01:28:48):
in the NBA. Third Anthony Davis. I just think Anthony
Davis took a step this season and right now he's
a He's just a cut above Steph Curry. Anthony Davis
is a freak. I said it earlier in the show.
He averaged thirty and thirteen in two playoffs series. They
swept a good Portland's team. He shot fifty in the

(01:29:08):
playoffs this year. Anthony Davis is a monster. He is
going to be And I know this is a hot take.
According to some NBA Twitter Jabrones, Anthony Davis has the
potential to be a top twenty all time player in
the NBA history. He's awesome. He's gonna be better than
Charles Barkley. I mean, there's no doubt about that. In

(01:29:29):
my mind. Anthony Davis has a He's not a great
three point shooter, but he can make threes. Anthony Davis
is an incredible basketball player. I have him is the
third best player in the NBA. So counting down ten
Westbrook nine, Jimmy Butler eight, Ben Simmons seven, Honest six,
James Harden five, Kawhi Leonard for Steph Curry three, Anthony Davis,

(01:29:52):
and you guys know the top two number two Lebron.
Lebron's amazing. He's thirty three. He's you know, he had
my MVP vote this year, and I think the number
one player in the NBA right now. And I've said
this since the NBA Finals last year, Kevin Durant. So
that there's my top ten. Rob is going. If you're
a listening, you'll see this on hopefully Instagram and Twitter.

(01:30:14):
It's getting up on Twitter right now. Uh, there's lists
cause outrage regardless fans out there. Fan is short for fanatic.
People are crazy. I get it. You're not gonna like it,
but I have Kevin Durant is the best player in
the NBA. I've been unwavering and that since since he

(01:30:34):
crushed Lebron head to head in the finals, since Christmas
Day when when there was no Steph Curry, Durant shut
down Lebron in the final minute twice. Uh. Defensively, Duran's
a better defensive players than Lebron. There's no doubt. He's
a better scorer, he's a better shooter. I mean, he's
he's a better now Lebron, better passer, better rebounder. But

(01:30:55):
Kevin Durant is the best player, all right. So now
I'm gonna open the floor to you guys. I saw
Rob taking copious notes Nick after he got past the
Russell Westbrook tenth best player in the NBA. UM who
wants to get it started? And I'm ready from whatever
you want to come at me, I will say, Joel
and be just missed this list. UM. A couple other

(01:31:19):
players narrowly missed. Listen. Draymond Green is top twenty. Draymond
Green is an awesome player. Now he's got to make
a three pointer in this series. He gets the rockets
to be a threat. But Draymond Green is He's certainly
top twenty. Gordon Hey were his top twenty. I don't
think Donovan Mitchell's here yet. He's rapidly rising. But let's
hear it. Let's hear the complaints. I know there's gonna

(01:31:40):
be a lot so farre away. The Russell Westbrook slander
has to stop. This is embarrassing, Jason. You're supposed to
be a respected member of the media. You have a
national radio show that is very well produced. Then you
go ahead and put Russell Spreak at number ten. Where

(01:32:01):
should he be? Top five? At least? Who are you
pooting from the top five? Kauai. You're not booting Curry.
You're not pooting Anthony Davis. I would boot Anthony Davis.
What man, I don't, man, Rob, I wouldn't do that.
Anthony David is one of the three finalists for m
v P this year. He's great. Like you said, it's
not a slight that you're you know, number six overall

(01:32:22):
like James Harden. Okay, what tell me? What is Westbrook
better than Anthony Davis? Uh? Passing? Okay? What else? He's
not a better score He's not a better three point shooter,
and the stats will back me up on that. He's
not a better rebounder. Uh. You know, Anthony Davis can
beat him on You're you're looking at the numbers. You're
looking at much of the numbers. He's you're, okay, better

(01:32:44):
defensive player Anthony Davis. Rust. So Westbrooks impact on the
game is bigger than the impact Anthony Davis couldn't get
out of first round second year in a row. Anthony
Davis got out of the first round this year with
nobody with Drew Holiday. He ran into that jazz juggernaut.
You want to do the most choked on my I
mean thank if Russell Westbrook would have ran it too.
Damian Lillard the ultimate playoff choker name. I actually had

(01:33:09):
Damian Lillard in contention for the top ten. Well, I'm
glad you didn't. Would that have earth you? Nick? David?
Lillard's awesome but not top ten? Okay, how about this.
If you're starting a team right now today and I
give you the choice, Damian Lillard or Westbrook, who do
you want? I go Lillard in a heartbeat, Westbrook, Westbrook. Stop.

(01:33:30):
Nobody wants to play with Russell Westbrook. Guys, Steven Adams?
Does Steven Adams? You give Steven Adams? That's that's about
him being a KEYWI more than anything. Um I is
that the biggest gripe? What's what's the Westbrook of tenth?
Or is there more? My biggest one is Ben Simmons
in the top ten. I figured I would hear that
Ben Simmons is not a top ten player yet he's

(01:33:53):
going to be absolutely he might so okay, So you
guys would boot Ben Simmons. Who are you putting in?
I would put in Paul George Wow. Fans, okay, see fans.
And that's how stupid and reductive these discussions get because
too many casual NBA fans I don't realize there's another

(01:34:15):
half of the game's very good defensive player. He's incredible.
Um anyone else any other I think I put Chris
Paul in there, then get the hell out of here.
Chris Paul, Come on, I don't even like him. Listen,
Chris Paul is one of the biggest hacks in the NBA.
Every time he takes drives the lane, somebody fouls him.

(01:34:36):
He never fouls anybody. He hits people in the nuts. Okay,
I don't like Chris Paul. I'm out on Chris Paul.
You know, maybe we'll maybe next week after the Rockets
get dusted, Rob will let me do an entire segment
on how Chris Paul is so overrated, criminally over it.
Losing to the Warriors does not make you over He's
a bust be lost Game seven, Bodyward last year at home.

(01:34:58):
If anything, you want to hot take fire, Clay Thompson
is overrated. See now you know now you hear that,
that that tells you how dumb your Westbrook take is
because it's the counter or that one. We're trying to
balance each other out here. Oh, I gotta tear up
the show into Clay Thompson is overrated. Coming up next,

(01:35:20):
um that we're gonna talk about Lebron not getting enough blame.
But this claytoms and thing, I can't let that slide.
All right, we'll be back after you're on the big lead.
Fox Sports Radio spirited debate during the break about Clay Thompson.
I mean, Rob, I think he's gonna get called into

(01:35:41):
court for slander of Clay Thompson overrated a joke. He
conceded that Clay's a top thirty player in the league,
which he is, and if we went down the list,
he might crack top. So let's let's back off Clay Thompson. Okay,
we don't know what he would be out out of
the system because the system in Golden State calls for

(01:36:03):
him to do one specific thing, come off screens and
bang threes and then guard the opponent's best guard. And
he does a good job of that. What does it
mean when Geico says just fifteen minutes could save you
fift or more on car insurance? Means you probably should
have gone to Geico dot com fifteen minutes ago. So
I got a text message here during the break Westbrook

(01:36:25):
at ten, be honest, have you been drinking today? From
NFL writer who you know and was listening and thinks
I'm drinking to put Russell Westbrook as the tenth best
player in g I don't think that's I don't think
that's hars. I think ten is accurate. Yeah, I gotta

(01:36:46):
say he started out outside of the top ten for
me and then crept his way in ultimately. Um, all right,
So we talked earlier in the show about Lebron James
and historically he has made players around him better. He
got j R. Smith paid, he got Tris In Thompson paid.
They want a title when they were down three one

(01:37:08):
to the Warriors. I know the circumstances were very unique,
with the Andrew Bogan injury, the Dramon Green suspension, and
winning Game seven on the road was impressive. Lebron made
everyone around him better. But for some reason this year
he's not doing that. Maybe you can help us decipher why.

(01:37:30):
Take Rodney Hood. Rodney Hood averaged sixteen a game in
Utah this year. He was starting to emerge as oh yeah,
this guy was the first round pick for a reason.
Rodney Hood can stroke it. Rodney Hood is a disaster
in Cleveland. Jordan Clarkson, I'm not kidding you when I

(01:37:52):
tell you, Jordan Clarkson was a contender for six Men
of the Year with the Lakers earlier this season. He
gets traighted to Cleveland, has that honeymoon read with Lebron,
and then all of a sudden, Jordan Clarkson gets did
not play in Game two. So how is Lebron, who
has had a history of elevating players, all of a
sudden struggling to work with Rodney Hood and Jordan Clarkson.

(01:38:16):
Oh and George Hill? Who can forget George Hill who
led the NBA and three point shooting in Sacramento for
the better part of this season. In the playoffs, he's
shooting on three pointers. How does that happen? I believe,
And now that I've had an hour to think about it, Rob,

(01:38:38):
I think Lebron has that free agency cloud hanging over
his head. I don't think he's happy that Kyrie Irving's gone,
and he's just I don't trust these guys. They're not delivering.
I mean, Kyle Korver is his most trusted lieutenant right now.
Kevin Love, who mind you, was a top ten player

(01:39:00):
in Minnesota by any statistical measure you want. And then
he comes to Cleveland and he becomes a spot up
shooter in the corner, and he's a pick and roll
guy and he's getting lit up on defense. So why
isn't Lebron getting any blame for this? And of course
you know the the gas bags who love to just

(01:39:21):
ball wash Lebron all the time. Well, Jason Lebron had
a triple double in Game two, it's not his fault. Well,
he scored twenty one in the first quarter, and did
he get everybody else involved? Was he making the right pass? Well?
Or is this Brad Stevens is just such a genius

(01:39:41):
and Danny and just built a great Celtics team where
they make it so that like four different guys can
go at Lebron. And we talked about this before the series.
This is why I thought the Celtics would win the series.
I was one of the few voices in media saying
the Boston Celtics can win the series. And here's how
you need to look at it. The You can throw
Marcus Morris at Lebron next possession. Maybe it'll be Marcus Smart,

(01:40:04):
then it'll be Jayson Tatum, then it'll be Jaylen Brown
and back to Morris. You give Lebron a bunch of
different looks, and then he's got to calculate his head,
what's going on around the court, what rotations are the
Celtics doing. Lebron's very cerebral. He's an intelligent basketball player.
We know that. But he's really struggling against these Boston Celtics.

(01:40:25):
And I'm gonna be honest, Rob Listen, I know you
and Nick love Lebron. I like Lebron a lot. My
kids have Lebron jerseys as well as Steph Curry jerseys. Um,
I gotta say Lebron against the Pacers struggled a lot
against Bogdon Bugdanovich. I'm not I'm not making fun of him.

(01:40:50):
I know people were tweeting at me, Lebron struggling against
a plumber. That's what Bogdon looks like. Uh, Listen, Bugdanovich
had his moments, and I know Lebron at forty five,
game seven, you know, and Lebron was awesome, But that
was the Pacers and they had to go seven, and
then they're gonna have to go seven, probably against Boston.
I don't think they're gonna do it. I think Lebron

(01:41:12):
deserves a little bit of blame here. Now, Lebron didn't
make the team that that was Kobe Altman. And don't
tell me Lebron plays GM. Lebron played GM when David
Griffin was there, and then Dan Gilbert obviously screwed it
up letting Griffin go last offseason. Remember, they were chasing

(01:41:35):
Chauncey Billups to be their GM. Chauncey Billips like must
have known about the Kyrie stuff or he looked at
the roster was like these guys. Remember this was one
of the great offensive teams in NBA history. Last year
they average more points on a finals losing team than
anyone else in NBA history. They just they couldn't stop

(01:41:58):
the Warriors. So now Lebron asked to elevate the play
of his new teammates and he's not doing it. As
I said earlier in the show, at some point, everybody's
got to look themselves in the mirror and say, you
know what, Maybe it's not these jerks that I work with,
all these clowns. Oh, it's that guy's fault. He can't

(01:42:19):
do his job. He's not good at this. Maybe you
need to look in the mirror and say, what if
the problem is me. I don't think this means Lebron
just becomes passive. But I do think it adds a
question if you're the Lakers, Lebron historically has been the system.

(01:42:42):
Do you want to bring Lebron in and run the
Lebron system or do you want to run Warriors light,
which is what they were trying to do. I know
the stats didn't say they were there, whether it's assists
or total passes, but they want to do that. They've
just got a young team and they're figuring it out.
And I've got some concerns about Lebron. Before we get
the break here, Nick and Rob, will the Celtics win

(01:43:04):
one of these two in Cleveland? I say yes, Nick,
you're saying yes, they'll win Game four and go up three.
One quick reminder last year Calves dominate the Celtics in
the first two games in Boston, come back in Game

(01:43:25):
three and losing what was called the Marcus Smart game.
So Marcus Smart had twenty seven points in their Game
three win, hit the game winning three And I looked
this up. Marcus Smart in that series against Boston last
year twenty four points total in four losses. He had
twenty seven in Game three. So do you guys remember
what happened in Game four. That was the Kyrie Irving game.

(01:43:48):
Kyrie Irving came out in the third quarter. I think
he had twenty five points. Go look it up on YouTube.
Kyrie Irving third quarters Celtics Playoffs. Kyrie was unbel leavable,
carried them out of the doldrums. Then Kyrie and Lebron
put the dagger in the Celtics in in in the
fourth quarter. And I'm telling you they miss Kyrie so badly.

(01:44:12):
I think the Celtics get one in Cleveland, and I
think the Celtics are going to the NBA Finals coming
up next year. On the Big League Fox Sports Radio.
A message to all you college graduates out there. Winning
after college not that different than what we're seeing in
these NBA playoffs. I'll explain, but first let's go to

(01:44:33):
Isaac Lowenkron to the latest in sports. Jason Johnny Manziel
announced this morning that he is joining the Hamilton's Tiger
Cats of the Canadian Football League on a two year deal.
He made the announcement in a selfie video posted by
Barstool Sports. Listen, I'm formally signing u in the CFL
number one. UM, I have decided to sign with the

(01:44:54):
Hamilton Tiger Cats. Um, I'll be up here for what
looks like two years. I'm getting back to playing ball.
That's where it comes down to. That's what I missed doing.
I'm somewhere I don't even know where, on the Canadian border,
trying to figure this whole thing out and figure out, um,
I guess, how to play football in Canada. In the
wake of this momentous announcement, we now take you live

(01:45:16):
to the Hamilton Tiger Cats season ticket office, where operators
are standing by. In a related story, I'm a horrible
human being anyway. Elsewhere in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Friday night,
the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Winnipeg Jets three to

(01:45:37):
two in Game four of the Western Conference Finals for
three games to one series. League great news. There's a
quick way you could save money. Switch to Geico. Go
to Geico dot compet in fifteen minutes, you could say
fiftent or more on car insurance. Jason, it's all yours.
Thank you, Isaac. I don't think you're all horrible just
because you took a shot at Johnny Football. Oh, I

(01:45:58):
appreciate that. Unfortunately, in every sense of the word. I
am a horrible human. Oh jeez, oh, Isaac. I don't
want to get too personal. I hope everything's going okay
at home. No, just because I mean to Johnny Manziel,
just kicking him while he's down north of the border.
Enjoy Canada, Johnny football. Uh so, Rob, let me quickly

(01:46:19):
ask before I dive into this next topic. Are people
crushing me on social media for the top ten list?
You've been crushed worse before. That's early. I mean there's
a few. You lost all credibility on the very first
one down. There's another one. Whoever, this fool is with

(01:46:39):
Ben Simmons is the eighth best player in the league.
Is hashtag hysterical? So stuff like that. Yeah, that's good
to hear. Um. I guess these people didn't watch a
lot of Ben Simmons. Man. I'm telling you, man, that
dude is nasty. Boston kind of shut him down though. Alright.
I opened the show today talking you know, may reminds

(01:47:02):
me of one thing, and that's college graduation. It's funny
I graduated college. I have not been back to campus
because it makes me too depressed. Because like, college is awesome.
I don't want to go back there now. Everybody's getting
wasted in great phenomenal shape because that's what you do
in college and eat unhealthy and I mean, like, I

(01:47:23):
don't need to go back to that, you know. So
it's a little depressing for me to think about going
back to college because I still vividly remember my last night,
graduation night, even though I was wrecked. I can still
remember the parties and the excitement and the goodbyes and
all that. Um and like, you know, you saw that
one super hot chick that was in your classes you
could never muster the energy to talk to, and then

(01:47:45):
you just go up to and be like, hey, what
are you gonna do after college? You know, like oh yeah?
And then it's funny. I saw that girl, uh in
New York City a couple of years later, and um,
she didn't look as good. You know. It's what, Yeah,
that was me. Sorry, Isaac, I'm a bad person like
you are. Um, but college graduates having at that tough

(01:48:06):
moment of what do I do for the rest of
my life? Oh my gosh, college is over. Where am
I going to get a job? And I got a
lot of people dropping in my d MS on Instagram
and Twitter and emailing me. Hey, you know, I do
this well and I like this, and I've done this,
and you know, I try to reply to all of them.
I haven't gotten to all of them, but you know,

(01:48:27):
sometimes I'll carve out some time on weekends to clear
out the inbox and reply to people. But I would
say there's two things that college graduates need to know
heading into their work life that's gonna that's gonna help immensely,
and I can glean them from the NBA playoffs. And
the first thing is when everyone is zigging, I like

(01:48:50):
to zag. Whether it's Game two in Boston, Oh Lebron
is definitely gonna win. That's what he does. Come on,
best player on the plan it blah blah blah blah.
I like the Celtics in Game two and Boston won
by double figures. Game one, Houston, Oh Rockets got a
great chance. Yeah give me give me the Warriors, whereas

(01:49:11):
were underdogs, believe it or not, in Game one, and
they won handily in Houston. But there's no better example
of zigging when everybody's zagging then the Warriors. And how
this dynasty was built. They said, forget traditional positions, we
don't need a back to the basket center of power forward.

(01:49:31):
They were tinkering with that with Mark Jackson. Their old coach,
David Lee was a power forward. They had Andrew boga
its center. They were good, and then Steve Kerr took
him next level by going small ball, death line up,
Hampton's five, whatever you want to call it. Zig when
everybody's zagging, they went small ball. Five guys who could
make three pointers, switch on everything, and they shocked the

(01:49:55):
league and built a dynasty. So college graduates, that's rule
number one. When everybody's something, don't follow the crowd. Don't
follow the herd. You've heard a group think. Go on
social media. Everybody's always agreeing about NFL, about n b A.
I'm telling you, I did a list this week for
the NBA draft lottery. I'm sure everybody has had DeAndre

(01:50:18):
eight and number one. That's all. Anybody was talking. Seven
ft or chiseled, he's the next to La jah one.
I had Luca don Chez, the Slovenian guard, the wing
who's nine team, he's nasty. I had him number one.
Everybody goes one way, I'm gonna go another. I did

(01:50:38):
a top twenty five players under the age of in
the NFL. I had Deshaun Watson is number one. People
freaked out on me, Jason, No way, it's Todd Gurley,
It's Jared Goff, It's Jalen Ramsey. No, it's Deshaun Watson.
Did you see Deshaun Watson last year college graduates? In

(01:51:02):
five games, he was on pace to shatter every rookie
quarterback record in league history. Just obliterate them. He went
into Seattle and tour the Seahawks and knew you knew,
you know what. He went into New England and carved
up Bill Belichick like it was nobody's business. A rookie.

(01:51:24):
I know he got hurt another a c L injury.
Not good, obviously not good. With the advancements in medicine technology, surgeries, dude,
Tommy John surgery, we got some baseball fans here, right.
Tommy John Surgery used to me and you were done
for the year, like toast, you were gonna be probably

(01:51:45):
missing a year and a half. It was like ten
fifteen years ago, Tommy John Surgery. Now you're back in
five or six months. The advancements have changed things so much.
I'm not concerned about the Shaun Watson zig when everybody's zagging, folks,
that's number one. So number two message to the college
graduates added value? What else do you bring to the table?

(01:52:09):
I had a guy email me, hey, Jason Man that
the Big leads a great site. You guys have been
around for a long time. I love writing about sports.
Here's some ideas I have. Here's what I've written. Okay,
that's nice. I got a lot of guys saying that.
I got a lot of guys lining up with impressive
resumes and good clips. But what added value do you
bring to the table? If we need you to hop

(01:52:31):
on a video and do a debate video for five
minutes about Kevin durand first Lebron can you do that?
How are you on social media? Can you anger the
masses with the take? Can you back it up? Can
you generate a following? How are you digitally overall? We

(01:52:53):
know anybody could just write a story, But what added
value do you bring to the table? Can you start
a podcast? Can you hold a thirty minute podcast and
get people to listen? Added value? Don't keep it all
basic and tell me you can write. You know how
many people are lining up for wanting to get a
Fox Sports radio show on the weekend. There's a lot

(01:53:16):
of guys in a lot of markets who are damn good.
What else do you bring to the table? Added value?
I mentioned se Kwon Barkley. Giants fans I rate that
they drafted se Kwon Barkley are running back. Second. Kwon
Barkley isn't your average running back. He's gonna be an
awesome pass catcher. Same way Levian Belle is, same way Ezekiel, Elliott,

(01:53:40):
Todd Gurley. Added value. He's a great blocker. Se Kwon
Barkley is a three down running back. That's why you
draft him. Second added value. And I think when you
look in these NBA playoffs, you look at guys like
p J. Tucker, Marcus Morris, Draymond Green, look at the
add value they bring to the table. There's you know,

(01:54:02):
in that six six to six eight, six nine range.
They'll defend a guard on the perimeter, They'll defend a
center capably. They're not gonna get dusted. They learned, Oh,
if I'm a stretch four or I'm playing a five
in small ball, I better be able to make three pointers.
Added value. College graduates just remember these two things. Zig

(01:54:24):
when everybody's zagging, don't follow the crowd. Don't do it.
It's gonna get you nowhere. And second added value, bring
more to the table than everybody else. You can do it, folks.
And good luck out there college graduates coming up next year.
On the Big Lead Fox Sports Radio. We wrap up

(01:54:45):
the show with you know, it's not a positive story,
I'll say that, but I'm gonna say this, there is
good coming from it, and hopefully there's more back here
on the Big Lead Fox Sports Radio. Just talking with
Steve Hartman, legendary radio voice out here in l A.
He's coming up next with Brady Papingo on Fox Sports Radio.

(01:55:09):
Fox Sports Radio lineup, folks during the week it's good.
During the weekend also excellent. We had Aaron Torres, who
hosts the show tonight on Fox Sports Radio. He visited
earlier to talk NBA mock draft. Uh. I just got
a really good group of dudes at Fox Sports Radio,
keep on listening, doing a lot of fun stuff. So

(01:55:31):
this final topic, you know, I definitely didn't want to
open the show with it. I know. Uh, every day,
every Saturday morning, when I wake up early to drive here,
I turn on our rival network team, just hear what
they're talking about. They opened their show with this, and
I was like, that's that's just too somber. I can't.
I can't. Uh, it's just it depresses me, uh to
even discuss it. And the only reason I'm bringing it

(01:55:52):
up is because an NFL player got involved and did
a nice thing. But obviously you by now have heard
about the school shooting in Texas. Just another tragedy that
makes me just angry. If you, like me, have two
young kids who are going to school, yeah, this this
this stuff freaks you out. Um, and it's it's it's ugly,

(01:56:15):
it's really it's depressing. Your heart just bleeds for these
families who send their kids to school and then there
it's not coming home. You know, it's gotta stop. And um,
I don't know what it's gonna take for it to stop,
but something absolutely has to be done. It's got to happen,

(01:56:35):
like sooner than later. I mean, heck, when I dropped
my kid at school, I asked the office like, Okay,
what kind of protections do you guys have? As some
dude rolls up here like, I mean, why don't we
have police officers in every school. Why don't we have,
you know, metal detectors at high schools. We we gotta
do something, something's got to be done. Well. JJ Watt

(01:56:57):
did a really really nice thing. JJ Wat, the Houston
Texans star who has been just tremendous in the community
in Houston. We know what he did with uh what
was it Hurricane I forget the name of the hurricane Nick,
Hurricane Harvey or there was a really bad hurricane in Houston,
UM and Texas. And he don't he raised a ton

(01:57:17):
of money. I think over thirty million dollars five million,
some obscene number. J J. Watts do on an outstanding
thing for this school in Texas that had the tragedy
or ten students I believe died. What is going to
pay for the funerals for the ten or eleven students
UM who passed away? And I just I just think J. J.
Watt's doing a real nice thing that is above and

(01:57:41):
beyond what I would expect any athlete to do. That's
just a good human being. And you know, I know
football gets bashed a lot, and we have this war
on football happening, but I just wanted to give a
shout out to J. J. Watt. You know from my
family to his that that's just a really nice esture.
And um, you know, I don't want to bring the

(01:58:03):
show to a screeching halt. But this is why I
didn't open with this talk. You know, if again, if
you've got kids out there, you know, it's just it's scary.
It's a scary time. Um. We did have a great
show today, tremendous NBA banter. I made the mistake during
the break of going on to social media and seeing, oh,

(01:58:24):
let's see what people think of the top ten players
in the NBA list, And as Rob expected, there is
a lot of hate. Most of it stems from me
putting Russell Westbrook tenth. I I don't think that that's
a bad thing. I don't see how when there's over
three players in the end NBA saying the Russell Westbrook

(01:58:48):
is the tenth best player in the NBA is like
a knock, Like, what's wrong with that? How is that
a slight? Russell Westbrook is a darned good player. He's
immensely talented. I mean, do you average a triple double
two years in a row. You've gotta have some skills.
But again, basketball is listen closely, Robin Nick. Basketball is

(01:59:13):
a team sport, team passing the ball, working well with others,
playing defense. These are things Russell Westbrook does not excel at.
It's a ballg Russell Westbrook does not play well with others.

(01:59:35):
That's why I have in tent. I mean, don't share
the ball like Curry. I have him above Kyrie Irving.
Isn't that gonna make you happy? People? Rob now wants
to read some of his favorite tweets, calling me a buffoon.
I don't know basketball, stick to hockey. I mean, I've
never said a five. I had never said a word

(01:59:58):
about a hockey on the radio. I guess in my life.
Can I just give you my top two favorites? Give
me your top five number one, Jason, in no particular order.
You are worse than Skip now with this foolishness. I
used to like your takes. Durant one assist in two
playoff games plus game two. His team sucked with his

(02:00:19):
one on one play, asked Draymond's mom. I didn't like that.
Hold on, what do you mean? Asked Draymond. Draymond's mom
was kind of saying that Katie want a little too.
I so heavy in game two. So we're judging the
best player in the NBA on two playoff games. Here's
another one, got it? This list is trash at Jason R.
McIntire needs to be drug tested. It's all wrong. Of

(02:00:42):
America will agree? Get this list? TF by Timeline. I
can't say what means, all right? Yeah? Yeah, hold up
for judging people on two games. Russell Westbrook making this list?
He took forty three shots in game sixte Are you
kidding me? Forty three shots? You want him in your

(02:01:05):
top ten? Let me give me a break, all right?
What else you got? Any other? Bashing? So absurd? At
number one, I would put em beat in the top ten.
Issad of Simmons. Curry is at least top three. Nobody
better outside of Lebron and Katie. You fool. I spent
a whole segments defending Steph Curry, and I get this buffoonery.

(02:01:26):
Uh social media, listen, man, everybody have a safe weekend
out there. Um enjoy games three, Uh Calves Tonight Warriors tomorrow.
Thank you to Nick, rob Iowa, Sam, thanks for listening.
The podcast will be up on social media. Everybody have
a good time.

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