March 7, 2025 • 39 mins
Doug shares his thoughts on Lebron James and his sensitivity to criticism about his son Bronny. Doug welcomes NBA Insider Marc Stein onto the show to talk about Lebron and the Mavs. Plus, Monse Bolanos takes Doug through a game of I Got Dibbs.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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So I feel like I'm in great company. I know exactly.
I feel like I'm in great company. But I think,
what happened to you boy about I don't even know
weeks I think about two weeks.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Ago has now happened to stephen A. Smith? And like
I said, I'm in good company.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
It is the Doug Gottlieb Show broadcasting from the tiraq
dot com studios.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
All right, let's get after it.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
I I everyone I think by now has seen the
video of Lebron James after the Lakers win yet again.
And again I'm not a lip reader, but apparently telling
steven A. Smith to leave my son out of that,
you know what, Leave my son out of that.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
You know what. Now steven A.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Smith is celebrating the fact that he just signed a
twenty five million dollars a year deal reportedly for his
new contract, which again I don't know how much Cowherd
makes or Dan Patrick makes. Those guys I believe are
at the top of the field in terms of salary,
but I'm guessing that puts steven A. Smith as, if
(01:54):
not the most he's in any conversations, the most powerful
guys in broadcasting. Now, of course, if you follow your
boy on social media, I was, I got I guess
twitter bombed if you will, by Lebron going back a
couple of weeks ago Monday, where on his day off
on President's Day, by the way, fresh off our first
(02:16):
win in a couple of months, he made fun of
our record, and no one actually knows why because Lebron
simply tweeted it, didn't tweet at me, tweeted, you know,
quote tweeted. But the assumption was it was about any
sort of negative feedback about his son, right, it's a
(02:36):
fair assumption, Jayce douw am I making fair assumptions about
what he said to stephen A last night.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
We have Steven A explaining what the what it was.
So for the listeners that haven't seen it, Lebron what
approached stephen A in the middle of the game. Was
it like at halftime or something. I'm not even sure.
There was a lot of video, It's all around. And
then stephen explained it in the first couple of minutes
of First Take today.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
That wasn't a basketball player confronting me.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
That was a parent. That was a father.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
And I can't sit here and be angry or feel
slighted by Lebron James in any way in that regard.
By all accounts, he's obviously a wonderful family man and
a wonderful father kids very very deeply about his son,
and based on some of the comments that he had
heard or shall I say I think he thought he heard,
he clearly took exception to some of the things that
(03:33):
he heard me say and he confronted me about it.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Right, So he's talked about his son. Okay, here's the deal.
Lebron James is was and has always been wrong about
this one. Is was and has always been wrong about
this one, because if your son is a high school
(04:01):
kid and we're talking about a game here, a game there,
and there's no reason to point things out.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
And again.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
We can go back to breaking down somebody's high school tape,
rating them in college or whatever. And I have no
doubt that what Lebron hears is ten x to what's
actually said. A lot of what is said or what
is repeated is people on social media, and we've done
a terrible job as society.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
First of all, let's just be honest.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Twitter is a joke now because every comment on some
level matters because there's no delineation between people with blue
check marks. You can pay for a blue check mark.
And so many of these shows it started with entertainment shows.
News shows are like that. Some sports shows do it
where you amplify random's tweets with these are people that
(04:56):
they just don't matter. Now, if you want to go
back and pick out any of the things that I've said,
I'll stand by them, but they are analysis of a
high school or college or now professional basketball player. But
here's the thing, Hey, Lebron, and again, Lebron will be
able to get away with it. You will have people
that will take Stephen a stance where they go, well,
(05:17):
this is a dad protecting his son. I get it,
I get it, I get it.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
No, it's not.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
This is professional basketball, this is the NBA. There are
four hundred and fifty jobs in the entire world.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
And the poem or the.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Speech that is sent to me more often than anything
I've ever received since becoming a head coach is the
man in the arena. That's the old Teddy Roosevelt, the
man in the arena. And no one knows what it's
like unless you're the man in the arena. And so
the point about Ronnie James and his play and our
(06:04):
depiction of his play, or our depiction of how lebron
has made everybody tell this is why JJ Reddick said, oh,
he's earned everything he's gotten. Of course he belongs here.
Because if you don't say this, it's no different than
what Trump does. You either kiss up to these people
or they act like you're the world's worst person and
(06:26):
they shame you, or they blame you, or in Trump's case,
you know, they try and throw litigation at you. The
Trump expression. And I know this from somebody who worked
for Donald Trump is you're either at the table or
you're on the menu. Right, you're either at the table,
(06:46):
you're on the menu. It's just bully tactics. And that's
what Lebron did. Yeah, he's a dad and just like
a bad aau dad. Okay, just like a bad aau dad.
You don't confront people by your son. Now, if you're
an Aau dad and some hanyakas in the stands and
they're taunting him and teasing him or whatever, and it's
(07:07):
somebody likes Steven A Smith who like you, don't taunt
and tease when you're Steven A Smith. You're just some
loser fan, you know, just some loser fan. But Bronnie
James is in the NBA and he's in the NBA
because Lebron wants him in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
That's the only reason why, only reason why there is
no world in which Bronnie James is in the NBA
if his dad isn't making it happen. Now, he's not
the only NBA player who's who's there because somebody there's
favors in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
There are fewer than there used to be but there
are favors.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Obviously, Giannis's brothers have been in the NBA and they stink.
He's a much more skilled basketball player than Yannis's brothers.
But he's tiny and he's non impactful, and he's taking
up a roster spot from a legitimate NBA player, And
that is legitimate criticism of a professional basketball player. He
(08:10):
is not a middle schooler, he is not a high schooler.
He is not even in college. He is collecting a
salary and guaranteed that salary for four years. And so
if you don't think that critique of your son is
above board, then why is critique of anybody above board?
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Because he's your son. Dude.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Hey, this is why I remember back the last time
Lebron was a free agent and everyone knew he was
going to LA and you had people putting out there,
maybe you go to San Antonio. Greg Popovich has a
couple of rules of joining the Spurs.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Do you have?
Speaker 1 (08:51):
The Number one rule of joining the Spurs is get
over yourself. And when you're criticizing people and confronting them
or tweeting at radio hosts who coach a Division one
college basketball team and quote tweeting and sub tweeting about
people because they've been critical of your NBA son. You
(09:17):
are definitely not over yourself. Definitely not over yourself. I
have said and will continue to say that if this
is the worst thing Lebron James does, right, force the
Lakers to draft his son, and then you know, and
then the forced narrative of there's lots of other teams
(09:38):
that were interested in drafting Browny, Like, no, there weren't.
It doesn't mean that he wasn't going to be a
good college basket player eventually. It doesn't mean that he
doesn't work hard.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
He does.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
There's four hundred and fifty jobs. Those are the best
in the world. What are we doing? But if you
can't take that criticism because it's your son, like so,
we're supposed to not be honest about our portrayal of
Browny James?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Is that what we're supposed to do?
Speaker 1 (10:13):
So again, do I think Lebron James is a bad person?
Speaker 5 (10:17):
No?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Do I think he has a black heart? New? Do
I think this is who he really is? Yes? Yes?
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And look I get it, Okay, it doesn't feel good
when people make comments about you, especially when they don't
really know. And I'm sure Lebron's thing is like, hey,
my kid, he went on a very good team at
SC last year he had the heart attack, Like that
stuff was scary. I'm with him every day. He wants
it really bad. It's very personal to him.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
But once you're in the NBA, like, sorry, man, like
this is the NBA. This ain't show friends. This show business.
This ain't show friends. This show business. And Steven As
saying the quiet part out loud, say what all reasonable
(11:07):
and reputable people say, who was it? Was it Jalen
Brown over the summer that was sitting courtside in summer
league that was caught lipping. He's not an NBA player.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
He's not.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
And if Lebron, you're going to go and confront everybody
who has that that belief in your son. And again,
the only way for Brian to do it is to
overcome and to make the league and to look like
a valuable commodity. He hasn't looked like that. And you
can give me the one or two G League statistical
quality performances. The reality is I have friends that evaluate
the G League. You know, his last big game he
(11:45):
was completely inefficient. No, yeah, by the way, he was
going against Isaiah Thomas, who's a former star in the
NBA but hasn't been a star in like a decade
and is fighting his way to try and get back
and can't guard anybody because of his hip and his side.
And he still dominated the game against Bronni. But that
(12:05):
that's that's not personal, that's professional. Right from a personal standpoint,
lebron James has been a good He's been a good person,
a good human, a good dad, and a good husband.
That's okay, that is uh, the the professional way to
(12:26):
look at his personal life. But our evaluation of Bronnie
James is just that, dude, he's an NBA player. Do
I think that it was a joke that Jonathan Jevoni,
who's like been the gold standard in NBA pre draft
rankings for a long time, he put him as the
(12:46):
tenth best prospect. This is going back before his before
his freshman year at uh. This is going back before
his uh his freshman year at USC. Do I think
the Yeah, he shouldn't have been a McDonald's All American.
And I know that not because I'm a hater. I
know that because I lived in southern California. I went
(13:09):
to high school games he played in the Mission League.
He wasn't one of the five best players in the
Mission League. I don't think he was one of the
ten best players in the Mission League that season. In
addition to which he was out of high school that
was loaded with talent, and they didn't actually win that year,
so there was no statistical metrics or there was no well,
(13:31):
you know, you can't see it in stats because they
win a whole lot more because of BROWNI that's not hating.
We're talking about McDonald's All American Game, which again it's
been political in the past, no doubt, you know, and
I'm not denying that politics play a part in lots
of people getting lots of opportunities in professional basketball. My
(13:53):
dad's one of my dad's mentors, and a man he
worked for is named tex Winner. Text Winner is the
architect of the triangle offense. And so when I first
got invited to mini camp with the LA Lakers in
the fall after my senior season, I was playing professionally
for a team in Russia but training in Italy, and
(14:15):
I flew back for a mini camp to try and
make the VET camp with the LA Lakers. I only
got that opportunity because text winner watched all my games
like me and probably did my dad a soilid. But
that doesn't get me on an NBA roster, that doesn't
get me a four year guarantee. But my dad's also
not Lebron James, so I get it. Politics has always
played a part in getting opportunities.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
But once you get that opportunity, you put yourself out there.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
You're the man in the arena, and if you're not
good enough, people are allowed to comment on it, especially
ones that evaluate basketball. And again, no one understands more
than me how people who don't pay attention can make
comments about things they have zero idea about. Even Lebron
(15:05):
he had comment about my team. Do you think he
had any idea? Okay, all of the injuries and misfortune
that we had and the youth that we had and
when we got to day don't care because all he
sees his final record and he thinks it's funny. Okay, fine,
His comments don't have value to me. Okay, they don't
have value to me, but somebody that analyzes basketball. And
(15:30):
I put myself as a man in the arena by
standing on the sidelines and saying I want to coach
a team, and look, we won four games.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Our season is done.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
We're finished, okay, And oh yeah, by the way, my morning,
among the things I was spent doing was we're putting.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Up our record all over our building.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
We are what our record says we are, and we're
either gonna beat that next year or we're gonna live
down to that number. But the point is that if
you want to be, if you want your son to
be in the NBA, you have to be willing to
be criticized. Right that Just the world isn't full of
(16:08):
people who can take criticism.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
It's just not. The world isn't full of people can
take honest feedback. It's just not.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
But there is no world, no world in which a
dad who single handedly makes it so that his son
is on an NBA team that he plays on, can
accost the biggest name in sports about the analysis of
(16:37):
his son.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
And look, do I think that Stephen A is a
basketball analysts? I don't.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
And even Steven A would tell you, like he's not
basketblay analyst, like he played one minute, he played what
one college basketball game? He's a sports talker, but his
opinion does matter. And if you put your like, it's
okay for him to call rass stowtness terifits is terrible,
rass stotonness terrif was a hell of a player overseas
(17:02):
and at times a decent NBA player.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
It's that's okay.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
But commenting on Bronnie james lack of readiness for the
NBA is not get a get over yourself, which is
not which.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Is why he would never be a spurt.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
So yeah, that that's honestly, stephen A felt the rat
of what it's like to be an AU coach, was
that to be a college coach and Lebron James, as
amazing a basketball player as he is, he's cashing in
the equity he has and all the Lebron's sickopants like yeah,
(17:37):
you tell him, Lebron, Bronnie's off limits. Why he's not
a child. He's a professional basketball player. And if you're
going to be a professional basketball player, you have to
be better or you have to you're going to go
through that level of criticism time and again.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
That's how it works. It's just how it works.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
I'm just I guess I should be surprised, but I'm
not that Lebron who coached AU last year.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Is handling it just like an AAU parrot.
Speaker 6 (18:14):
Would be sure to catch the live edition of the
Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific
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Speaker 2 (18:26):
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Speaker 2 (19:20):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Let's uh, Let's let's reset a little bit of the
topic of the day. It is the Doug Gottlib Show
here on Fox Sports Radio. The Lakers are the hot
or one of the hottest. Calves are actually the hottest
team in the NBA. And we'll talk about Charles Barklay's
rant towards people on ESPN. But I still think the
topic of the day is Lebron James uh trying to
(19:44):
put Stephen A. Smith in his place because he was
talking about his son. My point remains, Hey, dude, your
son's in the NBA. This is not a middle schooler
or an AAU game that another parent is heckling your
son out of the stands. This is the foremost talker
in the sports talker world that covers the NBA. Your
(20:06):
son is a professional. You know, I don't know exactly
how you think it should be handled. You know, you're
the one who wanted him and pushed him and forced
him into the NBA. And why I say forced not
forced Bronny, but clearly forced the Lakers to UH to
take him. Mark Stein joins us. Of course, he has
a substack called the Stein Line. You should definitely definitely
(20:28):
read that. He joins us now on the Doug Gottlieb
Show here on Fox Sports Radio. Mark, what is what's
your take on how Lebron has had a critique of
his son?
Speaker 5 (20:37):
Well, here's the thing, I don't know exactly what what
Stephen I said that bothered Lebron. Was it about his
son or was it was it about Lebron? Like, I'm
not following the commentary closely enough to tell you so
without knowing specifically what he's upset about. I mean, look,
(20:59):
everything you that is true. Bronnie's in the NBA now,
and he's going to be criticized, analyzed, dissected and evaluated
like anyone in the league. That's for sure. But like
I said, I don't know what he specifically took issue with,
and you know, I think you need you know, if
(21:21):
we knew that, it would probably be easier for me
to react to it. But look, I guess I see
both elements of this. I mean, you know, when you're
a parent, you you know you you love your kids
to a degree that you know sends you to an
(21:42):
angry place on an occasion, Like I could just think
of watching my younger sons whole club soccer and high
school soccer career. Is there a shout or two or
three at the referees or whatever that I wish I
had back over that time? I would say probably, I
would have to say yes. But like I said, it's
(22:03):
hard for me to judge not knowing the specifics. Is
he mad about criticism of Bronnie or is he mad
about something else? Stephen A gad about the dynamic, and
like I said, I truly do not know the specifics
because I haven't been following it. But okay, your basic points.
If it's about Bronnie criticism, yeah, Bronnie's in the NBA
(22:24):
now and he is subject to the same analysis and
criticism that any NBA player would be.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Okay, here's what Stephen A said earlier today on his show.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
That wasn't a basketball player confronting me.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
That was a parent, that was a father.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
And I can't sit here and be angry or feel
slighted by lebron James in any way in that regard.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
By all accounts.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
He's obviously a wonderful family man and a wonderful father kids,
very very deeply about his son, and based on some
of the comments that he had heard or shall I say,
I think he thought he heard, he clearly took exception
to some of the things that he heard me say,
and he confronted me about it.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
So again, not specifics, but generally it's over the criticism
of his son, of of of any parts of that.
I just I don't know what to do with it.
And what's gonna happen is you know this mark is
there is a large group of people who Lebron James
(23:30):
could It's not really that much different than Trumper's. It's
really really similar that no matter what he says or
what he does. And again, Lebron has not unlike the president.
He has committed no crimes. He has never declared bankruptcy,
there's no infidelity, like there's a lot of positive checks
that Lebron has nothing is he's done nothing wrong to
(23:52):
harm society. But in this particular case, like people being
critical of his son being in the NBA, Sorry, dude,
your kids in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
That's wrong.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
But you're gonna get people go yes, and even Steven
A clearly backing down.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I can't get mad at him. Why not?
Speaker 5 (24:10):
Well again, even in that clip, we still don't know
exactly what was said that Lebron took issue with. And
like I'm telling you, I'm certainly not following. I mean,
because I don't view this as the number one story
in the NBA today. I mean, everybody has their own scorecard.
For me, that's you know, I've really paid very little
(24:31):
attention to this. I mean, I know it's a it's
you know, the perfect kind of material for cushion shows
and debate shows and talk shows. But like you know,
it's the Lakers are about to play the Celtics. You
know where I live in Dallas, where there's much more
pressing issues than you know, this fat or whatever. Oh,
(24:54):
like I said, in the general in the general sense
or the general point, no question, if you know, if
if you want to take issu, you know, Bronnie's game.
He's in the NBA now and and he's going to
be you know, he's subject to the same level of
criticism as any NBA player. But like I said, we
(25:14):
don't know that that's what Lebron took issue with. It
was it something else?
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Was it? You know?
Speaker 5 (25:20):
Was it related? Again? I don't even want to guess
because I didn't watch it and I certainly didn't hear
you know what Lebron said to stephen A court side
at the game because I wasn't there. But like I
said to me, it's like again, there are there are
there are more. There are much more interesting NBA topics
on my scorecard right now.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I'm with you, but I do it is a It
is a big thing when it's stephen A and it's Lebron. Okay,
So let's get to the MAVs side. O buy Like
I feel, I feel empathy for Nico Harrison.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
I do.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
You know Mark Cuban coming out saying he should have
gotten a better deal for Luca. That doesn't help, okay,
But what hurts even more is Anthony Davis has been
hurt and now Kyrie's out for the year, So we'll
never really know what that deal would have looked like
for the Maverick side, at least for year one and
probably moving forward. What's the state of the state in Dallas.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
Well, there's certainly very little empathy right now because one
of the main issues that a lot of people took
with this trade is Anthony Davis at his peak is
a top ten player. That was the Mavericks belief that
they are getting a top ten player. And the way
he looked in the first half of his MAVs debut
(26:48):
against Houston, he was every bit a top ten player.
He was an absolute dominant force at both ends of
the floor. But then he got hurt in the third quarter.
There is a chance that that will be the only
game he plays in his first half season as a Maverick.
And that was one of the main complaints that not
(27:09):
only did the Mavericks not get enough draft compensation in
this trade and did not get Dalton Connects in the trade.
They didn't come close to getting Austin Reeves, but let's
just say, could they have gotten Dalton connect and another
first round pick. They didn't get either of those things.
And they traded Luka Doncic, who just turned twenty six,
(27:32):
for a player who's turned thirty two. He's six years
older with an injury history. And if you're trading Luka
Doncic because of supposed concerns about how his body is
going to hold up, and the main player you get
back has an injury history and is also unavailable to you.
I mean, there's not going to be empathy and la
(27:54):
Kyrie Irving is you know, more heartbreak for a fan
base that was already heartbroken. He is beloved in Dallas.
He has been, you know, after that trade was made
amid much second guessing, and you know that certainly was
not a trade that was immediately hailed as a win
for the Mavericks. But Kyrie Irving has been so good
(28:15):
in Dallas. He has loved here and to see him
the stain and acl fair the way he did with
as well as he's playing, and you know, he's really
been the one who has tried to you know, he's
really been the one trying to empathize with Mavericks fans
who you know are still you know, there's still just
(28:39):
a huge sense of disbelief here that Luca was traded.
I mean, it's like it's been almost forty days and
it is still very hard to believe. And then you
see the way he closed out the Knicks last night,
and it's just, you know, the wounds open all over again.
And in a month he's going to be in Dallas
playing against the Mavericks in the Laker Jersey. So I mean,
(29:00):
and the cycle just goes on and on and on.
And it's really crazy to think that this Mavericks team
that was in the finals less than a year ago,
and that even in January while Luka Doncis was still
out from that cap strand, I mean, the Mavericks are
still looking at themselves as a title contender. And now
because of in the wake of the trade and all
(29:21):
the injuries that have piled up, I mean, the MAVs
suddenly really has to go for draft position now, like
that really is their best play to fall out of
the top ten in the West and see where they
land in the lottery, And even if it's only thirteenth
or fourteenth, getting a first round pick out of the
season is probably the best thing they can do at
(29:43):
this point. And that is just a crazy turn of
events in such a short time.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Does Nico keep his job after this year?
Speaker 5 (29:50):
I do think so, because I just I can't believe
if your mav ownership and you bless this trade, that
you're now going to turn on the guy who made
the trade aid in a matter of months. I mean,
and look, this trade concept was Nico Harrison. He was
the driving force behind the trade, but ownership signed off
(30:12):
on it, and ownership owns the trade as much as
he does. They're going to have to collectively get through this.
The rest of the season is going to continue to
be ultra painful, but they have to try to get
through this, and they have to try to get Anthony
Davis and Kyrie Irving on the court healthy together and
(30:32):
see what they can do as a duo. But I mean,
you said it there. I mean, we don't know how
long it's going to take for Kyrie Irving to recover
from an ACL there. I mean, he is a maniacal
worker in the gym, so just not being a doctor
in any way, but just my instinct is that he'll
find a way to make it a shorter recovery time
(30:54):
as humanly possible. But he's obviously going to miss some
time next season. It's not like he's going to be
ready to go in training camp. And you just don't know.
You just don't know how long it's going to take
with an ACL And you know, sometimes guys make it
back faster in the modern day than you would think.
(31:16):
But this is the main problem this franchise has right now.
The only thing that's going to change. The noise and
narrative around the Dallas Mavericks is to win, and right now,
with all these injuries, they are not in position at
all to win. Let's basically go ahead, I've gone on enough.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
No, you're you're, you're good.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
I apologize. Cleveland's won twelve in a row, twelve. We'll
get to Oklahoma City in a second. But what's the
level of belief around the league in this team in
the playoffs?
Speaker 5 (31:49):
Well, let's think it's the third time this season that
the Calves have won twelve in a row. Do you
know the only other NBA team that has pulled that off?
There's only one other team in league history.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
I'm gonna guess the Warriors when they won seventy three.
Speaker 5 (32:03):
It was actually the six seven Mavericks who started zero
to four, won sixty seven games and lost in the
first round of the playoffs. That is the only other
team in NBA history that has done with this. Cavs
team has done three twelve game winning streaks. Now, I'm
not suggesting that Cleveland is going to lose in the
(32:24):
first round of the playoffs, but it just does remind
you that they're probably going to have the best record
in the league, but there will be an element of
you guys have proved nothing yet show us in the playoffs.
That's just the way the NBA is. It's the way
the NBA has always been. And I think deep down
Cleveland knows this. But I really applaud them for, you know,
(32:49):
they didn't They didn't have to do anything at the
trade deadline. I could have said, we're standing pass and
just keeping our team as is, but you know, they
they they risk their chemistry by trading away Kris Lavert
and George Nyang to bring in to bring in Hunter
from Atlanta, and he has been like you saw the
(33:12):
way he played. You know, he gives them a wing
who can who can guard Tatum. Now you're not gonna
shut Tatum down every game, but he's much better than
anyone they had previously to throw at Tatum. And so
I just I think you have to have fit the
calves for recognizing that. You know, even though things are
(33:34):
going so well, you know, they weren't afraid to get to,
you know, to do the Hunter trade with Atlanta and
get Javonte Green off the buyout market. So they've strengthened
on the wing and you know they they're gonna end
up in the regular season. They will have done everything
they possibly could. But is it enough? Like, is it
(33:56):
enough to get out of the East. You know there
will be skepticism until they actually do it.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Mark Stein, longtime NBA writer and in Saturday publishes, set
a substack called the Stein Line. There's so much more
to bite into. We'll get to it next week. Steinny,
thanks so much for joining us.
Speaker 5 (34:14):
Sounds good Man.
Speaker 6 (34:15):
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Stut Gottleib Show, Fox Sports Radio. You can stream this
show and all of our Fox Sports Radio shows live
twenty four to seven or improved iHeartRadio app. Just search
Fox Sports Trading in the in the app to stream
us live. In one of our newest features the app,
you can select Fox Sports Radios one of your presets,
just like presets in the old radio dial. Be sure
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pop up at the top of your screen. Stug Gottleib Show.
(34:47):
Here on Fox Sports Radio. Let's get to Monsey, Blagos
for the game.
Speaker 6 (34:53):
This is game time on the Doug Gottlieb Show.
Speaker 7 (35:03):
Yeah, we're gonna kick off Friday with I Got DIBs.
Speaker 8 (35:09):
All right, we're all gonna be a part of this.
Speaker 7 (35:11):
We're gonna be calling DIBs on various different topics, and
we're gonna start with the NBA MVP. Anybody got any DIBs?
I mean, there's an obvious one, but I'm not gonna
you got DIBs?
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Go Nikolay. Oh my gosh, that's what I was gonna say.
But that's because he's gonna be the MVP.
Speaker 8 (35:28):
He should be the MVP every year.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
I mean, if we're being really honest.
Speaker 7 (35:32):
Yeah, I don't think he's gonna win it, though. I
think it's gonna be Shay. So since you took who
I was gonna take, I will take DIBs on Shake,
Gil j just Alexander.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
I'll take get DIBs And this will be very controversial.
Speaker 8 (35:44):
Oh, Lebron James, stop it, stop it right, Jams.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
If he leads this team to the second best team
in the West at the age of forty, given the
massive change in the middle of the season, I think
he deserves to be the MVP.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Why would be the MVP he's not the best players to.
Speaker 8 (36:01):
Bam, this isn't the best player thing. This is most valuable.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
So if they if they add Luka Doncic and Lebron
was already there and they're winning more games, isn't Luka
Doncik more valuable?
Speaker 3 (36:15):
No, that's I think it's an indictment on Anthony Davis.
Speaker 7 (36:18):
Wow, catching strays.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Who is hurt?
Speaker 8 (36:21):
Yes, he's always hurt. That's the problems of the NBA.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
I mean, Luca's been hurt too, that's true.
Speaker 8 (36:30):
I guess I got DIBs on Jason Tatum.
Speaker 7 (36:31):
Nice, Okay, all right, all right, let's move on to
this one here. I want to see what you guys
are gonna say, team that you'd like to see Miles
Garrett go to Dibbs Chargers.
Speaker 9 (36:42):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Dibbs Lions. Yeah sure, why not.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
He's a Lions fan, right right, right, right.
Speaker 8 (36:51):
Yeah, And I'm in here with Chargers fans too.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (36:53):
But we just got we just released Joey Bosa literally
like it's like, oh, perfect, come on over.
Speaker 9 (36:58):
And the Lions have been trying for a couple of
years now to find someone opposite Aiden Hutchinson to really
make that defense thing.
Speaker 6 (37:04):
We have nobody.
Speaker 7 (37:05):
I mean, I get you, I get you. You got
one coach, Then you want to throw out there.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
I don't like Miles Garrett, so I don't give a
crap work.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Wow, Never apologize once to my guy for making up
that he dropped an end bomb.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
No one's no time for Miles Garrett.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Sorry, A smart guy, talented guy, great football player. Don't
care apologize and then we'll we'll move on.
Speaker 9 (37:30):
It is his his value is getting a bit lower
now that we're also getting like Trey Hendrickson up on
the up on the block too. Like it's and it's
not even clear the Browns are going to trade Miles Garrett,
whereas Henderson's like available.
Speaker 7 (37:40):
Yea, you make a good point. I'm wondering if he
isn't going to go anywhere. All right, quickly, here, guys,
national champion in college basketball.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
I got dams On, I get I love Duke Duke. Okay,
I love I love Duke.
Speaker 8 (37:54):
All right, I'll take Dibbs Saint John's ooh ooh. I
like Bruce.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
Pearls Pearl as well.
Speaker 8 (38:04):
You know what, I'm gonna go dibbs On.
Speaker 9 (38:06):
And it's a long shot, but I really believe I
want him out on top Michigan State Wow Party.
Speaker 7 (38:10):
All right, they're wrong there, All right, Well, I guess
that's game time.
Speaker 6 (38:19):
This is game time on the Gottlieb Show.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
It's Doug Gottlieb Show. It's Fox Sports Radio. As we've
worked our way into March March Badness, well underway. Like, no,
it's not yet, it is. If you win, you keep playing.
It's just like any Turman. You win, you keep playing.
You win, you keep playing. By the way, the podcast
version of the show is available as soon as this
(38:43):
show finishes. Just type in Doug Gotliber your podcast, Subscribe, download, rate, review.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
You can take us with you wherever you go.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
Just type in Doug Gottlieb wherever you get your podcasts. Okay,
come up next to the Doug Gotlib Show live from
the tireg dot com studios. Wait to hear what Charles
Barkley said about Kendrick Perkins.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
Oh, it's next.
Thanks for listening to The Doug Gotlieb Show podcast. Be
sure to catch us live every weekday three to five,
twelve two Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
App as car Doug Gottlieb Show.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Sports Radio coming to you from the tyrack dot com studios.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Tyrack dot com. Well let me get there.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Unmatched selection, fast free shipping, free road has protection over
ten thousand recommending sallars tyrat dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
It's the way that tire buying should be. Hey, welcome in.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
So I feel like I'm in great company. I know exactly.
I feel like I'm in great company. But I think,
what happened to you boy about I don't even know
weeks I think about two weeks.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Ago has now happened to stephen A. Smith? And like
I said, I'm in good company.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
It is the Doug Gottlieb Show broadcasting from the tiraq
dot com studios.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
All right, let's get after it.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
I I everyone I think by now has seen the
video of Lebron James after the Lakers win yet again.
And again I'm not a lip reader, but apparently telling
steven A. Smith to leave my son out of that,
you know what, Leave my son out of that.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
You know what. Now steven A.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Smith is celebrating the fact that he just signed a
twenty five million dollars a year deal reportedly for his
new contract, which again I don't know how much Cowherd
makes or Dan Patrick makes. Those guys I believe are
at the top of the field in terms of salary,
but I'm guessing that puts steven A. Smith as, if
(01:54):
not the most he's in any conversations, the most powerful
guys in broadcasting. Now, of course, if you follow your
boy on social media, I was, I got I guess
twitter bombed if you will, by Lebron going back a
couple of weeks ago Monday, where on his day off
on President's Day, by the way, fresh off our first
(02:16):
win in a couple of months, he made fun of
our record, and no one actually knows why because Lebron
simply tweeted it, didn't tweet at me, tweeted, you know,
quote tweeted. But the assumption was it was about any
sort of negative feedback about his son, right, it's a
(02:36):
fair assumption, Jayce douw am I making fair assumptions about
what he said to stephen A last night.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
We have Steven A explaining what the what it was.
So for the listeners that haven't seen it, Lebron what
approached stephen A in the middle of the game. Was
it like at halftime or something. I'm not even sure.
There was a lot of video, It's all around. And
then stephen explained it in the first couple of minutes
of First Take today.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
That wasn't a basketball player confronting me.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
That was a parent. That was a father.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
And I can't sit here and be angry or feel
slighted by Lebron James in any way in that regard.
By all accounts, he's obviously a wonderful family man and
a wonderful father kids very very deeply about his son,
and based on some of the comments that he had
heard or shall I say I think he thought he heard,
he clearly took exception to some of the things that
(03:33):
he heard me say and he confronted me about it.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Right, So he's talked about his son. Okay, here's the deal.
Lebron James is was and has always been wrong about
this one. Is was and has always been wrong about
this one, because if your son is a high school
(04:01):
kid and we're talking about a game here, a game there,
and there's no reason to point things out.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
And again.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
We can go back to breaking down somebody's high school tape,
rating them in college or whatever. And I have no
doubt that what Lebron hears is ten x to what's
actually said. A lot of what is said or what
is repeated is people on social media, and we've done
a terrible job as society.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
First of all, let's just be honest.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Twitter is a joke now because every comment on some
level matters because there's no delineation between people with blue
check marks. You can pay for a blue check mark.
And so many of these shows it started with entertainment shows.
News shows are like that. Some sports shows do it
where you amplify random's tweets with these are people that
(04:56):
they just don't matter. Now, if you want to go
back and pick out any of the things that I've said,
I'll stand by them, but they are analysis of a
high school or college or now professional basketball player. But
here's the thing, Hey, Lebron, and again, Lebron will be
able to get away with it. You will have people
that will take Stephen a stance where they go, well,
(05:17):
this is a dad protecting his son. I get it,
I get it, I get it.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
No, it's not.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
This is professional basketball, this is the NBA. There are
four hundred and fifty jobs in the entire world.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
And the poem or the.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Speech that is sent to me more often than anything
I've ever received since becoming a head coach is the
man in the arena. That's the old Teddy Roosevelt, the
man in the arena. And no one knows what it's
like unless you're the man in the arena. And so
the point about Ronnie James and his play and our
(06:04):
depiction of his play, or our depiction of how lebron
has made everybody tell this is why JJ Reddick said, oh,
he's earned everything he's gotten. Of course he belongs here.
Because if you don't say this, it's no different than
what Trump does. You either kiss up to these people
or they act like you're the world's worst person and
(06:26):
they shame you, or they blame you, or in Trump's case,
you know, they try and throw litigation at you. The
Trump expression. And I know this from somebody who worked
for Donald Trump is you're either at the table or
you're on the menu. Right, you're either at the table,
(06:46):
you're on the menu. It's just bully tactics. And that's
what Lebron did. Yeah, he's a dad and just like
a bad aau dad. Okay, just like a bad aau dad.
You don't confront people by your son. Now, if you're
an Aau dad and some hanyakas in the stands and
they're taunting him and teasing him or whatever, and it's
(07:07):
somebody likes Steven A Smith who like you, don't taunt
and tease when you're Steven A Smith. You're just some
loser fan, you know, just some loser fan. But Bronnie
James is in the NBA and he's in the NBA
because Lebron wants him in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
That's the only reason why, only reason why there is
no world in which Bronnie James is in the NBA
if his dad isn't making it happen. Now, he's not
the only NBA player who's who's there because somebody there's
favors in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
There are fewer than there used to be but there
are favors.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Obviously, Giannis's brothers have been in the NBA and they stink.
He's a much more skilled basketball player than Yannis's brothers.
But he's tiny and he's non impactful, and he's taking
up a roster spot from a legitimate NBA player, And
that is legitimate criticism of a professional basketball player. He
(08:10):
is not a middle schooler, he is not a high schooler.
He is not even in college. He is collecting a
salary and guaranteed that salary for four years. And so
if you don't think that critique of your son is
above board, then why is critique of anybody above board?
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Because he's your son. Dude.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Hey, this is why I remember back the last time
Lebron was a free agent and everyone knew he was
going to LA and you had people putting out there,
maybe you go to San Antonio. Greg Popovich has a
couple of rules of joining the Spurs.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Do you have?
Speaker 1 (08:51):
The Number one rule of joining the Spurs is get
over yourself. And when you're criticizing people and confronting them
or tweeting at radio hosts who coach a Division one
college basketball team and quote tweeting and sub tweeting about
people because they've been critical of your NBA son. You
(09:17):
are definitely not over yourself. Definitely not over yourself. I
have said and will continue to say that if this
is the worst thing Lebron James does, right, force the
Lakers to draft his son, and then you know, and
then the forced narrative of there's lots of other teams
(09:38):
that were interested in drafting Browny, Like, no, there weren't.
It doesn't mean that he wasn't going to be a
good college basket player eventually. It doesn't mean that he
doesn't work hard.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
He does.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
There's four hundred and fifty jobs. Those are the best
in the world. What are we doing? But if you
can't take that criticism because it's your son, like so,
we're supposed to not be honest about our portrayal of
Browny James?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Is that what we're supposed to do?
Speaker 1 (10:13):
So again, do I think Lebron James is a bad person?
Speaker 5 (10:17):
No?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Do I think he has a black heart? New? Do
I think this is who he really is? Yes? Yes?
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And look I get it, Okay, it doesn't feel good
when people make comments about you, especially when they don't
really know. And I'm sure Lebron's thing is like, hey,
my kid, he went on a very good team at
SC last year he had the heart attack, Like that
stuff was scary. I'm with him every day. He wants
it really bad. It's very personal to him.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
But once you're in the NBA, like, sorry, man, like
this is the NBA. This ain't show friends. This show business.
This ain't show friends. This show business. And Steven As
saying the quiet part out loud, say what all reasonable
(11:07):
and reputable people say, who was it? Was it Jalen
Brown over the summer that was sitting courtside in summer
league that was caught lipping. He's not an NBA player.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
He's not.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
And if Lebron, you're going to go and confront everybody
who has that that belief in your son. And again,
the only way for Brian to do it is to
overcome and to make the league and to look like
a valuable commodity. He hasn't looked like that. And you
can give me the one or two G League statistical
quality performances. The reality is I have friends that evaluate
the G League. You know, his last big game he
(11:45):
was completely inefficient. No, yeah, by the way, he was
going against Isaiah Thomas, who's a former star in the
NBA but hasn't been a star in like a decade
and is fighting his way to try and get back
and can't guard anybody because of his hip and his side.
And he still dominated the game against Bronni. But that
(12:05):
that's that's not personal, that's professional. Right from a personal standpoint,
lebron James has been a good He's been a good person,
a good human, a good dad, and a good husband.
That's okay, that is uh, the the professional way to
(12:26):
look at his personal life. But our evaluation of Bronnie
James is just that, dude, he's an NBA player. Do
I think that it was a joke that Jonathan Jevoni,
who's like been the gold standard in NBA pre draft
rankings for a long time, he put him as the
(12:46):
tenth best prospect. This is going back before his before
his freshman year at uh. This is going back before
his uh his freshman year at USC. Do I think
the Yeah, he shouldn't have been a McDonald's All American.
And I know that not because I'm a hater. I
know that because I lived in southern California. I went
(13:09):
to high school games he played in the Mission League.
He wasn't one of the five best players in the
Mission League. I don't think he was one of the
ten best players in the Mission League that season. In
addition to which he was out of high school that
was loaded with talent, and they didn't actually win that year,
so there was no statistical metrics or there was no well,
(13:31):
you know, you can't see it in stats because they
win a whole lot more because of BROWNI that's not hating.
We're talking about McDonald's All American Game, which again it's
been political in the past, no doubt, you know, and
I'm not denying that politics play a part in lots
of people getting lots of opportunities in professional basketball. My
(13:53):
dad's one of my dad's mentors, and a man he
worked for is named tex Winner. Text Winner is the
architect of the triangle offense. And so when I first
got invited to mini camp with the LA Lakers in
the fall after my senior season, I was playing professionally
for a team in Russia but training in Italy, and
(14:15):
I flew back for a mini camp to try and
make the VET camp with the LA Lakers. I only
got that opportunity because text winner watched all my games
like me and probably did my dad a soilid. But
that doesn't get me on an NBA roster, that doesn't
get me a four year guarantee. But my dad's also
not Lebron James, so I get it. Politics has always
played a part in getting opportunities.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
But once you get that opportunity, you put yourself out there.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
You're the man in the arena, and if you're not
good enough, people are allowed to comment on it, especially
ones that evaluate basketball. And again, no one understands more
than me how people who don't pay attention can make
comments about things they have zero idea about. Even Lebron
(15:05):
he had comment about my team. Do you think he
had any idea? Okay, all of the injuries and misfortune
that we had and the youth that we had and
when we got to day don't care because all he
sees his final record and he thinks it's funny. Okay, fine,
His comments don't have value to me. Okay, they don't
have value to me, but somebody that analyzes basketball. And
(15:30):
I put myself as a man in the arena by
standing on the sidelines and saying I want to coach
a team, and look, we won four games.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Our season is done.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
We're finished, okay, And oh yeah, by the way, my morning,
among the things I was spent doing was we're putting.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Up our record all over our building.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
We are what our record says we are, and we're
either gonna beat that next year or we're gonna live
down to that number. But the point is that if
you want to be, if you want your son to
be in the NBA, you have to be willing to
be criticized. Right that Just the world isn't full of
(16:08):
people who can take criticism.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
It's just not. The world isn't full of people can
take honest feedback. It's just not.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
But there is no world, no world in which a
dad who single handedly makes it so that his son
is on an NBA team that he plays on, can
accost the biggest name in sports about the analysis of
(16:37):
his son.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
And look, do I think that Stephen A is a
basketball analysts? I don't.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
And even Steven A would tell you, like he's not
basketblay analyst, like he played one minute, he played what
one college basketball game? He's a sports talker, but his
opinion does matter. And if you put your like, it's
okay for him to call rass stowtness terifits is terrible,
rass stotonness terrif was a hell of a player overseas
(17:02):
and at times a decent NBA player.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
It's that's okay.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
But commenting on Bronnie james lack of readiness for the
NBA is not get a get over yourself, which is
not which.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Is why he would never be a spurt.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
So yeah, that that's honestly, stephen A felt the rat
of what it's like to be an AU coach, was
that to be a college coach and Lebron James, as
amazing a basketball player as he is, he's cashing in
the equity he has and all the Lebron's sickopants like yeah,
(17:37):
you tell him, Lebron, Bronnie's off limits. Why he's not
a child. He's a professional basketball player. And if you're
going to be a professional basketball player, you have to
be better or you have to you're going to go
through that level of criticism time and again.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
That's how it works. It's just how it works.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
I'm just I guess I should be surprised, but I'm
not that Lebron who coached AU last year.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Is handling it just like an AAU parrot.
Speaker 6 (18:14):
Would be sure to catch the live edition of the
Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
The Man.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
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Speaker 2 (19:20):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Let's uh, Let's let's reset a little bit of the
topic of the day. It is the Doug Gottlib Show
here on Fox Sports Radio. The Lakers are the hot
or one of the hottest. Calves are actually the hottest
team in the NBA. And we'll talk about Charles Barklay's
rant towards people on ESPN. But I still think the
topic of the day is Lebron James uh trying to
(19:44):
put Stephen A. Smith in his place because he was
talking about his son. My point remains, Hey, dude, your
son's in the NBA. This is not a middle schooler
or an AAU game that another parent is heckling your
son out of the stands. This is the foremost talker
in the sports talker world that covers the NBA. Your
(20:06):
son is a professional. You know, I don't know exactly
how you think it should be handled. You know, you're
the one who wanted him and pushed him and forced
him into the NBA. And why I say forced not
forced Bronny, but clearly forced the Lakers to UH to
take him. Mark Stein joins us. Of course, he has
a substack called the Stein Line. You should definitely definitely
(20:28):
read that. He joins us now on the Doug Gottlieb
Show here on Fox Sports Radio. Mark, what is what's
your take on how Lebron has had a critique of
his son?
Speaker 5 (20:37):
Well, here's the thing, I don't know exactly what what
Stephen I said that bothered Lebron. Was it about his
son or was it was it about Lebron? Like, I'm
not following the commentary closely enough to tell you so
without knowing specifically what he's upset about. I mean, look,
(20:59):
everything you that is true. Bronnie's in the NBA now,
and he's going to be criticized, analyzed, dissected and evaluated
like anyone in the league. That's for sure. But like
I said, I don't know what he specifically took issue with,
and you know, I think you need you know, if
(21:21):
we knew that, it would probably be easier for me
to react to it. But look, I guess I see
both elements of this. I mean, you know, when you're
a parent, you you know you you love your kids
to a degree that you know sends you to an
(21:42):
angry place on an occasion, Like I could just think
of watching my younger sons whole club soccer and high
school soccer career. Is there a shout or two or
three at the referees or whatever that I wish I
had back over that time? I would say probably, I
would have to say yes. But like I said, it's
(22:03):
hard for me to judge not knowing the specifics. Is
he mad about criticism of Bronnie or is he mad
about something else? Stephen A gad about the dynamic, and
like I said, I truly do not know the specifics
because I haven't been following it. But okay, your basic points.
If it's about Bronnie criticism, yeah, Bronnie's in the NBA
(22:24):
now and he is subject to the same analysis and
criticism that any NBA player would be.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Okay, here's what Stephen A said earlier today on his show.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
That wasn't a basketball player confronting me.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
That was a parent, that was a father.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
And I can't sit here and be angry or feel
slighted by lebron James in any way in that regard.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
By all accounts.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
He's obviously a wonderful family man and a wonderful father kids,
very very deeply about his son, and based on some
of the comments that he had heard or shall I say,
I think he thought he heard, he clearly took exception
to some of the things that he heard me say,
and he confronted me about it.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
So again, not specifics, but generally it's over the criticism
of his son, of of of any parts of that.
I just I don't know what to do with it.
And what's gonna happen is you know this mark is
there is a large group of people who Lebron James
(23:30):
could It's not really that much different than Trumper's. It's
really really similar that no matter what he says or
what he does. And again, Lebron has not unlike the president.
He has committed no crimes. He has never declared bankruptcy,
there's no infidelity, like there's a lot of positive checks
that Lebron has nothing is he's done nothing wrong to
(23:52):
harm society. But in this particular case, like people being
critical of his son being in the NBA, Sorry, dude,
your kids in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
That's wrong.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
But you're gonna get people go yes, and even Steven
A clearly backing down.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I can't get mad at him. Why not?
Speaker 5 (24:10):
Well again, even in that clip, we still don't know
exactly what was said that Lebron took issue with. And
like I'm telling you, I'm certainly not following. I mean,
because I don't view this as the number one story
in the NBA today. I mean, everybody has their own scorecard.
For me, that's you know, I've really paid very little
(24:31):
attention to this. I mean, I know it's a it's
you know, the perfect kind of material for cushion shows
and debate shows and talk shows. But like you know,
it's the Lakers are about to play the Celtics. You
know where I live in Dallas, where there's much more
pressing issues than you know, this fat or whatever. Oh,
(24:54):
like I said, in the general in the general sense
or the general point, no question, if you know, if
if you want to take issu, you know, Bronnie's game.
He's in the NBA now and and he's going to
be you know, he's subject to the same level of
criticism as any NBA player. But like I said, we
(25:14):
don't know that that's what Lebron took issue with. It
was it something else?
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Was it? You know?
Speaker 5 (25:20):
Was it related? Again? I don't even want to guess
because I didn't watch it and I certainly didn't hear
you know what Lebron said to stephen A court side
at the game because I wasn't there. But like I
said to me, it's like again, there are there are
there are more. There are much more interesting NBA topics
on my scorecard right now.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I'm with you, but I do it is a It
is a big thing when it's stephen A and it's Lebron. Okay,
So let's get to the MAVs side. O buy Like
I feel, I feel empathy for Nico Harrison.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
I do.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
You know Mark Cuban coming out saying he should have
gotten a better deal for Luca. That doesn't help, okay,
But what hurts even more is Anthony Davis has been
hurt and now Kyrie's out for the year, So we'll
never really know what that deal would have looked like
for the Maverick side, at least for year one and
probably moving forward. What's the state of the state in Dallas.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
Well, there's certainly very little empathy right now because one
of the main issues that a lot of people took
with this trade is Anthony Davis at his peak is
a top ten player. That was the Mavericks belief that
they are getting a top ten player. And the way
he looked in the first half of his MAVs debut
(26:48):
against Houston, he was every bit a top ten player.
He was an absolute dominant force at both ends of
the floor. But then he got hurt in the third quarter.
There is a chance that that will be the only
game he plays in his first half season as a Maverick.
And that was one of the main complaints that not
(27:09):
only did the Mavericks not get enough draft compensation in
this trade and did not get Dalton Connects in the trade.
They didn't come close to getting Austin Reeves, but let's
just say, could they have gotten Dalton connect and another
first round pick. They didn't get either of those things.
And they traded Luka Doncic, who just turned twenty six,
(27:32):
for a player who's turned thirty two. He's six years
older with an injury history. And if you're trading Luka
Doncic because of supposed concerns about how his body is
going to hold up, and the main player you get
back has an injury history and is also unavailable to you.
I mean, there's not going to be empathy and la
(27:54):
Kyrie Irving is you know, more heartbreak for a fan
base that was already heartbroken. He is beloved in Dallas.
He has been, you know, after that trade was made
amid much second guessing, and you know that certainly was
not a trade that was immediately hailed as a win
for the Mavericks. But Kyrie Irving has been so good
(28:15):
in Dallas. He has loved here and to see him
the stain and acl fair the way he did with
as well as he's playing, and you know, he's really
been the one who has tried to you know, he's
really been the one trying to empathize with Mavericks fans
who you know are still you know, there's still just
(28:39):
a huge sense of disbelief here that Luca was traded.
I mean, it's like it's been almost forty days and
it is still very hard to believe. And then you
see the way he closed out the Knicks last night,
and it's just, you know, the wounds open all over again.
And in a month he's going to be in Dallas
playing against the Mavericks in the Laker Jersey. So I mean,
(29:00):
and the cycle just goes on and on and on.
And it's really crazy to think that this Mavericks team
that was in the finals less than a year ago,
and that even in January while Luka Doncis was still
out from that cap strand, I mean, the Mavericks are
still looking at themselves as a title contender. And now
because of in the wake of the trade and all
(29:21):
the injuries that have piled up, I mean, the MAVs
suddenly really has to go for draft position now, like
that really is their best play to fall out of
the top ten in the West and see where they
land in the lottery, And even if it's only thirteenth
or fourteenth, getting a first round pick out of the
season is probably the best thing they can do at
(29:43):
this point. And that is just a crazy turn of
events in such a short time.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Does Nico keep his job after this year?
Speaker 5 (29:50):
I do think so, because I just I can't believe
if your mav ownership and you bless this trade, that
you're now going to turn on the guy who made
the trade aid in a matter of months. I mean,
and look, this trade concept was Nico Harrison. He was
the driving force behind the trade, but ownership signed off
(30:12):
on it, and ownership owns the trade as much as
he does. They're going to have to collectively get through this.
The rest of the season is going to continue to
be ultra painful, but they have to try to get
through this, and they have to try to get Anthony
Davis and Kyrie Irving on the court healthy together and
(30:32):
see what they can do as a duo. But I mean,
you said it there. I mean, we don't know how
long it's going to take for Kyrie Irving to recover
from an ACL there. I mean, he is a maniacal
worker in the gym, so just not being a doctor
in any way, but just my instinct is that he'll
find a way to make it a shorter recovery time
(30:54):
as humanly possible. But he's obviously going to miss some
time next season. It's not like he's going to be
ready to go in training camp. And you just don't know.
You just don't know how long it's going to take
with an ACL And you know, sometimes guys make it
back faster in the modern day than you would think.
(31:16):
But this is the main problem this franchise has right now.
The only thing that's going to change. The noise and
narrative around the Dallas Mavericks is to win, and right now,
with all these injuries, they are not in position at
all to win. Let's basically go ahead, I've gone on enough.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
No, you're you're, you're good.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
I apologize. Cleveland's won twelve in a row, twelve. We'll
get to Oklahoma City in a second. But what's the
level of belief around the league in this team in
the playoffs?
Speaker 5 (31:49):
Well, let's think it's the third time this season that
the Calves have won twelve in a row. Do you
know the only other NBA team that has pulled that off?
There's only one other team in league history.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
I'm gonna guess the Warriors when they won seventy three.
Speaker 5 (32:03):
It was actually the six seven Mavericks who started zero
to four, won sixty seven games and lost in the
first round of the playoffs. That is the only other
team in NBA history that has done with this. Cavs
team has done three twelve game winning streaks. Now, I'm
not suggesting that Cleveland is going to lose in the
(32:24):
first round of the playoffs, but it just does remind
you that they're probably going to have the best record
in the league, but there will be an element of
you guys have proved nothing yet show us in the playoffs.
That's just the way the NBA is. It's the way
the NBA has always been. And I think deep down
Cleveland knows this. But I really applaud them for, you know,
(32:49):
they didn't They didn't have to do anything at the
trade deadline. I could have said, we're standing pass and
just keeping our team as is, but you know, they
they they risk their chemistry by trading away Kris Lavert
and George Nyang to bring in to bring in Hunter
from Atlanta, and he has been like you saw the
(33:12):
way he played. You know, he gives them a wing
who can who can guard Tatum. Now you're not gonna
shut Tatum down every game, but he's much better than
anyone they had previously to throw at Tatum. And so
I just I think you have to have fit the
calves for recognizing that. You know, even though things are
(33:34):
going so well, you know, they weren't afraid to get to,
you know, to do the Hunter trade with Atlanta and
get Javonte Green off the buyout market. So they've strengthened
on the wing and you know they they're gonna end
up in the regular season. They will have done everything
they possibly could. But is it enough? Like, is it
(33:56):
enough to get out of the East. You know there
will be skepticism until they actually do it.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Mark Stein, longtime NBA writer and in Saturday publishes, set
a substack called the Stein Line. There's so much more
to bite into. We'll get to it next week. Steinny,
thanks so much for joining us.
Speaker 5 (34:14):
Sounds good Man.
Speaker 6 (34:15):
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Stut Gottleib Show, Fox Sports Radio. You can stream this
show and all of our Fox Sports Radio shows live
twenty four to seven or improved iHeartRadio app. Just search
Fox Sports Trading in the in the app to stream
us live. In one of our newest features the app,
you can select Fox Sports Radios one of your presets,
just like presets in the old radio dial. Be sure
to preset Fox Sports Trading the iHeart Radio app. It'll
pop up at the top of your screen. Stug Gottleib Show.
(34:47):
Here on Fox Sports Radio. Let's get to Monsey, Blagos
for the game.
Speaker 6 (34:53):
This is game time on the Doug Gottlieb Show.
Speaker 7 (35:03):
Yeah, we're gonna kick off Friday with I Got DIBs.
Speaker 8 (35:09):
All right, we're all gonna be a part of this.
Speaker 7 (35:11):
We're gonna be calling DIBs on various different topics, and
we're gonna start with the NBA MVP. Anybody got any DIBs?
I mean, there's an obvious one, but I'm not gonna
you got DIBs?
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Go Nikolay. Oh my gosh, that's what I was gonna say.
But that's because he's gonna be the MVP.
Speaker 8 (35:28):
He should be the MVP every year.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
I mean, if we're being really honest.
Speaker 7 (35:32):
Yeah, I don't think he's gonna win it, though. I
think it's gonna be Shay. So since you took who
I was gonna take, I will take DIBs on Shake,
Gil j just Alexander.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
I'll take get DIBs And this will be very controversial.
Speaker 8 (35:44):
Oh, Lebron James, stop it, stop it right, Jams.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
If he leads this team to the second best team
in the West at the age of forty, given the
massive change in the middle of the season, I think
he deserves to be the MVP.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Why would be the MVP he's not the best players to.
Speaker 8 (36:01):
Bam, this isn't the best player thing. This is most valuable.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
So if they if they add Luka Doncic and Lebron
was already there and they're winning more games, isn't Luka
Doncik more valuable?
Speaker 3 (36:15):
No, that's I think it's an indictment on Anthony Davis.
Speaker 7 (36:18):
Wow, catching strays.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Who is hurt?
Speaker 8 (36:21):
Yes, he's always hurt. That's the problems of the NBA.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
I mean, Luca's been hurt too, that's true.
Speaker 8 (36:30):
I guess I got DIBs on Jason Tatum.
Speaker 7 (36:31):
Nice, Okay, all right, all right, let's move on to
this one here. I want to see what you guys
are gonna say, team that you'd like to see Miles
Garrett go to Dibbs Chargers.
Speaker 9 (36:42):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Dibbs Lions. Yeah sure, why not.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
He's a Lions fan, right right, right, right.
Speaker 8 (36:51):
Yeah, And I'm in here with Chargers fans too.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (36:53):
But we just got we just released Joey Bosa literally
like it's like, oh, perfect, come on over.
Speaker 9 (36:58):
And the Lions have been trying for a couple of
years now to find someone opposite Aiden Hutchinson to really
make that defense thing.
Speaker 6 (37:04):
We have nobody.
Speaker 7 (37:05):
I mean, I get you, I get you. You got
one coach, Then you want to throw out there.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
I don't like Miles Garrett, so I don't give a
crap work.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Wow, Never apologize once to my guy for making up
that he dropped an end bomb.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
No one's no time for Miles Garrett.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Sorry, A smart guy, talented guy, great football player. Don't
care apologize and then we'll we'll move on.
Speaker 9 (37:30):
It is his his value is getting a bit lower
now that we're also getting like Trey Hendrickson up on
the up on the block too. Like it's and it's
not even clear the Browns are going to trade Miles Garrett,
whereas Henderson's like available.
Speaker 7 (37:40):
Yea, you make a good point. I'm wondering if he
isn't going to go anywhere. All right, quickly, here, guys,
national champion in college basketball.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
I got dams On, I get I love Duke Duke. Okay,
I love I love Duke.
Speaker 8 (37:54):
All right, I'll take Dibbs Saint John's ooh ooh. I
like Bruce.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
Pearls Pearl as well.
Speaker 8 (38:04):
You know what, I'm gonna go dibbs On.
Speaker 9 (38:06):
And it's a long shot, but I really believe I
want him out on top Michigan State Wow Party.
Speaker 7 (38:10):
All right, they're wrong there, All right, Well, I guess
that's game time.
Speaker 6 (38:19):
This is game time on the Gottlieb Show.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
It's Doug Gottlieb Show. It's Fox Sports Radio. As we've
worked our way into March March Badness, well underway. Like, no,
it's not yet, it is. If you win, you keep playing.
It's just like any Turman. You win, you keep playing.
You win, you keep playing. By the way, the podcast
version of the show is available as soon as this
(38:43):
show finishes. Just type in Doug Gotliber your podcast, Subscribe, download, rate, review.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
You can take us with you wherever you go.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
Just type in Doug Gottlieb wherever you get your podcasts. Okay,
come up next to the Doug Gotlib Show live from
the tireg dot com studios. Wait to hear what Charles
Barkley said about Kendrick Perkins.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
Oh, it's next.
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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