Kevin Durant will play in Game 5

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(01:05):
League Baseball, kerfuffles continue and oh yeah, by the way,
we have the NBA. The structure of what the Pelicans
would like a deal to look like has been put
out there, but again that feels like asking price, asking
price more than invoice. Price what people are actually going
to pay. We'll discuss that. I have some insight and

(01:28):
info into some a couple of interesting things going on
within the NBA, and we got a little bit of
NFL football talk as well with some things that have
happened over the weekend. But tonight could be the final
basketball game. I mean, obviously you've got the World Cup,
which is gonna take place to summer, but the final

(01:51):
domestic basketball game until next year's NBA season, and it
would happen north of the border. The Raptors have a
chance to close out the Golden State Warriors, and it
it would feel like an ending of the dynasty. It
doesn't mean that it is. No one would force Kevin
Durant to leave, no one would force them to allow Clay.

(02:15):
They can keep all of these guys, but it does
feel like the potential changing of the guard or ending
of venera if it were to happen tonight. With that
in mind, I think this is fascinating theater, which is

(02:38):
what the NBA has captured and other sports are trying
to capture. Asian war Danowski reported moments ago that Kevin
Durant is going to play tonight. That's not really a surprise.
Jay Williams was on Get Up and he said he
had dinner with k D last night and said that

(03:00):
Katie is gonna play, So not a surprise. If he practiced,
as long as he didn't reinjure the thing, he's going
to give it a go. No idea how good he's
going to be. But I do think that in terms
of drama, how do we get here? How do we
get to this place? And I don't just mean the
Durant injury or the Looney injury or Lebron leaving the

(03:24):
East and headed to the West, That's part of it.
How do we get here? We got here because the
Golden State Warriors won seventy three regular season games, and
what's widely misreported or we we only have kind of
report half of the facts. We we do this in news,
we do it in sports. I go the war the

(03:47):
Calves beat the best team ever like in the regular
season record wise, yes, but remember that same Warriors team
was down three games to one to Kevin Durant and
the Oklahoma City thunder Do I remember that? And then
that same Warriors team lad the Calves three games to
one and ultimately succumbed two Lebron James and Kyrie Irving

(04:12):
and the Cleveland Cavaliers. And because Harrison Barnes was open
for a reason, right, he was the guy like, somebody's
got with at least somebody open. Let's leave Harrison Barnes open.
And they had to make the decision do we resign
Harrison Barnes or do we go after a big fish?
And there was no bigger fish than Kevin Durant. And

(04:37):
Durant has been as good or better than advertised in
the biggest moments the two NBA Finals that he's played in,
and they've won two championships since he arrived. Never forget
that the three games to one lead and the exposure
of their weakest link was the impetus behind the Warriors
seeking out Kevin Durant, and a three games to one

(04:59):
lead in the inner bill for the Thunder to close
out the Warriors was the impetus behind Kevin Durant seeking
some something better. In terms of supporting cast, there's something
about a three games to one lead and the lack
of finality to it, And then you factor in that

(05:20):
Kevin Durant reported wandering I out of Oakland soon to
be San Francisco. Has to do with the fact that
he just wants to be respected as the best player ever.
And because it's always been Steph Curry's team, because he
won two m vps, he never felt like he got
the love that he deserved. A matter of fact, he

(05:43):
was only getting the loved that he thought he deserved
before he got hurt. And then, of course, and then,
of course, the Warriors end up running off four straight
against Portland after closing out the Rockets, and people had
the audacity to are the sentence they might be better

(06:03):
without Kevin Durant, the guy who left because he didn't
have a good enough supporting cast. The team that needed
Kevin Durant to become one of the great teams of
all time could potentially be disbanded because Durant didn't get
the respect and adulation and love that he felt like

(06:26):
he deserved. Can ride in on the white freaking horse
on the road in Toronto and saved the day. Sign
me up, Sign me up for the drama of the NBA.
Sign me up. The Slim Reaper cometh and the hell

(06:46):
comes with him. I have no idea how healthy he'll be.
And though I would prefer a percent Kevin Durant. I
will point out an eight percent. Kevin Durant makes a lot,
makes a lot of people feel better about the Warriors chances.
But k D is gonna play down that magic three

(07:07):
games to one on the road in a backs against
the Wall elimination end of season game. Dude, how many
people we're saying they're better without Kevin Durant. Calhert said
it like Travis said it. I believe Nick Wright said it,

(07:30):
and they always fell back on the wall and all
they're already wand and wine without that yet don't care.
What is it? The only thing that matters is not
regular season stats, but what you do against the best
of the best. And granted there's other factors. Clay hadn't
been healthy, didn't play one of the games. Looney is
not healthy, didn't play one of the games. Stephs had

(07:51):
to carry this burden. Andre Goodala is not healthy. I'm
not disputing any of that. The guy, when healthy, win
Right is the best around player in the sport going
against the other best all around player in the sport
in Kawhi Leonard, and it's a three games to one lead.

(08:11):
Where have I seen this before Oh yeah, it twice
has involved the Warriors, and it's what led us to
being here, all right. The the end, the the NBA
hasn't captured every market. There's plenty of people who still
think everybody travels in the NBA, and games are fixed
in the NBA and all kinds and and the lottery

(08:33):
is fixed in the NBA. There's plenty of parts to
the but the NBA has cornered the market on drama.
From regular to post to off season. There ain't nothing
better than the drama of the NBA. And as much
as you could say, well, I mean, who didn't see

(08:55):
it coming. I didn't see Cleveland come back from three
games to one down. I didn't see Kawhi Leonard being
traded to the Toronto Raptors. I frankly, I didn't see
Kyrie Irving being traded to the Celtics, or that the
Celtics would be worse this year because their chemistry was
so dysfunctional. I didn't see these things. So I think

(09:21):
this is gonna be an amazing night one way or
the other, the potential end to this Warriors dynasty, or
maybe not, the potential end of the one year run
in Toronto for Kawhi Leonard, who seems to have no
human feelings of any kind. I do believe there's the

(09:42):
potential there that he's actually a robot. But potential, Like
they asked him after Game five, like what would it
or game four? What would this mean for the people
that Torontally God, I don't know. You have to ask
the people in the streets. I'm if if he broke
out the I'm just here to of play basketball, you'd
go like, yeah, that's about right. It feels like a robot.

(10:05):
I mean, you can leave the champion of the NBA,
a country that adores you for the Clippers, the third
tenant in a building they don't own. Okay, who's never
gotten past the second round of the playoffs. Sure, but
anything is possible because of the drama of the NBA.

(10:28):
Uh not breaking news that Kevin Durant has chosen to
arrive in the arena on an actual white horse. That's
maybe that's just me hoping. That's just me hoping. Marcus
Thompson from The Athletic joins the show. How healthy is
Kevin Durant? Right, that's the big question, and what does

(10:49):
tonight mean in terms of the future of the Warriors
we'll discuss next. Be sure to catch live editions of
the Doug Dot Leap Show weekdays in noon eastern three
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart
Radio app Doug Otlap Show Fox Sports Radio. We'll get
with Marcus Thompson in a second. He covers the Warriors

(11:10):
for the Athletic. He's also written a new book, Kevin
Durant Relentless Pursued to Be the Greatest stands the reason
tonight could be all about k D and um. I'd
love to get his perspective on how healthy Kevin Durant is,
what our expectations should be of the Slim Reaper. That's
the nickname I've always liked and apparently Katie didn't like.

(11:30):
And I think it's perfect. What do you think it's perfect? Man?
The visuals of Pebble Beach. Summer has finally arrived here
in southern California. Toasty outside, toasty outside. Marcus Thompson joins us, Marcus, Uh,
what are you hearing about how healthy Kevin Durant is

(11:51):
a man? Well, you know, very time lived. All right,
We'll get Marcus in a second. Otherwise I'm gonna have
him more to a cheeseburger and fries with a drink,
because it sounded like a bad drive through connection. Welcome buck, Joe.

(12:12):
He's right, that's what it sounded like, a little bit,
a little bit. The correct answer is a four by
four animal style, right, that's how you order your burgers
from from in and out. Ramos is an animal style,
animal style. I love it that way, Yeah, Ramos, I did.
Uh we let the kids play hookey today. One of

(12:32):
my daughter, my daughter, one of my daughters is off school.
The other one is doing really well in school, so
we're like, and then my my son has a season
passed two Knots. For people who aren't from southern California,
there's more than just Disneyland. There's Knots and of course
there's six flags and uh so Knots is like, uh,

(12:52):
you know, it's good little roller coaster park. Went on
a couple of rides this morning before heading up to work.
It's pretty awesome, pretty pretty pretty good morning hookie day
at the Gottlieb household. Let's get back to Marcus Thompson.
Everyone's tight lipped, but what what did come on? Dude?
You got sources? You you wrote a freaking book about
Kevin Durant that you're currently selling. It's on Amazon, it's

(13:13):
a best seller. Give me some insight. How healthy is he?
We can't know, that's the problem. If if that was
If that was the case, you know, we'd already be
riving him for not playing, or like more patient about
him not playing. Either way, I do feel like this
is nearly earlier than anticipated, maybe maybe a little bit

(13:36):
rushed back. I think it was a four to six
week injury that ended up. This is about four weeks
now in a couple of days. So I don't know
what's his win gonna be. You know, forget the calf.
If this calf is fine, he's gonna be tired. So
I don't know what. I don't know what we get.
And then how does he play in the circumstance, Like
all these are questions that we kind of gotta wait
to speak. But I'm excited, and I broke out kind

(13:59):
of the sign if against the three games to one,
right his team that the thunder was up three games
to one on the Warriors and they couldn't close. And
then the reason one of the big reasons the Warriors
needed to get Kevin Durant was, they were up three
games to one, and Harrison Barnes just couldn't do it.
Was wasn't as wasn't what they needed to make them

(14:20):
one of the great teams of all time. Kevin Durant was.
And both of those series back, you know, three years
ago turned on three games to one. There's some significance
to that. Oh man, this is like what was that
Jim Carrey movie numbers where he's like, that's what it
feels like. The Warriors can't get away from three one.
I remember earlier they blew a thirty one point lead

(14:41):
to the Clippers and then everybody made that connection. I mean,
this is poetic justice right here. If they could come
back from a three one deficit and erase the one
blemish on their record in this five year run, like
I'm sure they would find some uh you know, some
joy in that, but also you know, if if they don't,

(15:02):
it kind of fits that it that that's how the
era is, like they gave it another all and it
wasn't enough. Doug gott Live Show, You're on Fox Sport Trading,
and then there's the and again this is kind of
part of the book and people trying to figure out
who Kevin Durant is. Here's the guy that he just
wants to be respected as one of the greats of
all time, as the greatest in the game. And up

(15:24):
until before he got hurt, he probably wasn't getting that respect,
right And now the sudden, uh, now the sudden he is.
So I think it's I think it's fascinating to see,
like now a sudden he's getting that respect and he
has a chance to cement that if after a couple
of weeks ago, when people are saying they're better without him,

(15:45):
they realize just how much they need him. I mean,
he's already won in that regard, right because the comment
that consisted they cannot win a series about giving her
in and they got Steph Curry, they got Clay Thompson
and they got Draymond Green, and they can't be the
Raptors without k D. So if he is not, you
know all that right, if he struggle, if this first

(16:06):
game back in the struggle, the answer to why the
Warriors lost will be because Kevin Durrant was out. So
I mean, whether whether we give it to him or not,
like you know, publicly or on Twitter or whatever, it's
gonna end up with him being recognized as the best
player in the game. Like even if even if it
means the dynasty ended because he wasn't there like that,

(16:29):
that's proof. I think the Bay Area will embrace him
because of that too. I think they know, like they
him on the court, if he's like hurt hit jumpers
are trying to fight through that, They're gonna love him
for that. Yeah, it's it's gonna be remarkable to watch.
Do you think they can do it? I mean they
are kind of held together by like we're we are

(16:49):
diminishing the fact that though Clay looked really good the
other night, there was a moment where he tweaked the
hamstring again. You know, Looney's got to take a shot
in order to get out there and feel good enough
to play forgive it on trigger. Dollar is held together
by duct tape. Like, what's the reality too? I know
how we all want this kind of fantasy moment where
they figure out a way to win a couple of
games and force the game seven, But the what's what's

(17:12):
the reality? The reality is it's all too much right,
and they've met a team that matches up with them,
so well, like a complete team that's well constructed, that's
got a lot of players that bother them. And this
is five years of build up, right, five years of
playing until June. You can see it in the legs,

(17:32):
you can see it in the shooting. Also, the roster,
you know, didn't they haven't maximized the little chances they
had to fix. The roster haven't really worked out like
it feels like the culmination. Uh, it's gonna take something
extra to pull out, and I don't know if they
have it. If they have it, it would be the
greatest testimony to their championship pedigree. Right, it will be

(17:55):
the It will be the greatest accomplishment that they have.
It will be kind of like what lab it's but
like this team was dead in the water and they're
done and they're playing with reserves and probably wouldn't even
be playing otherwise, and somehow they came back. If they
pull that off, it will be epic. I just don't
think it's real. Just it seems like a lot to
ask after five years, have you ever seen anything like

(18:20):
Kauai Leonard, not just in terms of as a player,
but a guy who offers nothing in terms of any
sort of emotional feeling as to how he's feeling, right, Like,
I mean even I'm sure you saw the interview after
game four where he was asked about what this means
that Toronto. And look, he's not wrong because he hasn't

(18:42):
been in Toronto long enough to know and understand. But
the idea that he would he would say, like, you can't,
don't ask me as somebody in the street, like you know,
I just want to play basketball. Have you ever seen
is there anything anybody else like this? Not at this level? Right?
This is great. He's like the Yogi Bear of our time. Right,
He's so literal, and he's like making a mockery of

(19:02):
how we asked questions without even trying to make a mockery.
He's just being a real frank and literal. I think
it's kind of incredible. Actually, you know, we've been sold
so many brands as pr concoctions and players and all that,
Like this dude is just generally himself car Rolls do
ballance and straight answers. Right, you can't make this stuff up.

(19:23):
He's incredible. Doug Gotlives show here on Fox Sports Radio. Um,
what is the sense in Toronto? Like Jurassic Park. They
were lining up, but at nine am. They slept overnight,
they were out there camping it rained and I woke up,
went to shoot around, and there's already a line around
the building. It's nuts, you want to shoot around? What

(19:45):
was it like? It's just everywhere? You know what it
reminds me. It's very much like when the Warriors got
good and you could not walk anywhere in the Bay
without seeing anything Warriors or hear people talk about the
Warriors like it's all over. It's it's it's an epidemic.
Everybody's talking about it. It's everywhere, Raptors gear everywhere. They're

(20:05):
expected that they should to celebrate tonight. And this is
like a really unique part of of the NBA history.
Right There's never been an entire nation that's celebrated championship. Right,
Like it's not a city, it's not a region, not
even the state. An entire nation is behind this team.

(20:25):
It's gonna be kind of cool if they went at
to see to like be here for that part. Uh,
it's any sense under rent Um has his emotions or
feelings or anything changed because of Um. Now how it's
obviously need him. I imagine that it helps. I don't

(20:46):
think it was a good thing with people kind of
questioning like if he was playing on not playing on purpose,
like I mean, Kevin, the rent is a basketball that
this is just life. Hoop meets bor to him than
just about anything. So there's just no way he's not
playing games if he could play. But I think the
end of the story will be will be better for him,

(21:07):
Like it'll it'll be a better narrative. He's earning people's respect.
He's gonna play. He walked past us today. He was
focused at his hood on when when Duran puts the
hoodie on this over right, like that's when he's that's
when he's locked there. He didn't look anybody in the eye.
And let me tell you, Doug, like it's about a
hundred meters people waiting. Everybody would completely silent when he
walked by. It was unbelievable. He just shut up the

(21:30):
whole media. Everybody's having their side conversations. Kevin Day walked by.
You can hear a pit drop. It was like, man,
I came to my head, was no one that should
have all that power? So what but why are you
so down on it being too much for them to
win a game, it's still allowed to ask. I mean,
they're gonna double team stests plays, playing on the Halm stream.

(21:52):
We don't even know what Katie has right, and and
and they've got eight guys who just gives the Warriors
problems siks lit gassaw size. I mean, they're they're starting
because it's and three days, three days ago or I'm sorry,
three weeks ago. We thought he was done for the year.
And he comes back and it's like, yo, where's the

(22:13):
ten And he's like, man, I just came back from
the Achilles and a quad injury, like calmed down. It's
still a lot to ask for them. They're just it's
just five years. It looks like at the no no, no,
I I understand that, but you know they did. They
won one without him and you know, yeah, yeah, adding
the super weapon again. I'm with you. I have no idea.

(22:36):
I have no idea what we're going to see, but
I also know that, you know, for what can you
do it for one game? I think the answer is yes,
like I I would not, they can, no question they can.
The question is will they I just looked at a
team at home and there and what was probably the
last game Oracle and they tried to dig and they

(22:58):
didn't have it. So maybe the two days helps a lot, right,
maybe you know no one that elimination is really here
or help a lot. But I mean just for them
to watch them try to dig forward and not have it,
they just look like a team that has been playing
over five years. I don't know how you get that back.

(23:18):
And a lot of it has to do with Toronto
feels like a team with destiny. Man, this is this
is not just a regular team. There's a team that's
and they they're playing like it. Sergeron Bacca has resurrector.
He's never been as good as life, like a six ten.
He was in his peak and he wasn't doing this
now for eleven blocking every shot like that. Man, maybe more,

(23:40):
maybe start passing out bull Peter's pizza. Yeah, that that
that would be. I wonder how that would taste. Um.
The problem with that it like again, the finals are
about matchups, and now all of a sudden you add
Durant and that allows him to go back to the
Hampton five lineup and it makes a big guy really
struggle to stay out in the floor, right, Sergebaka let alone, um,

(24:05):
you know, let alone market, let alone, Marcus al whereas
you know when Looney's out there or especially when Cousins's
out there, that all of a sudden clogs things up
and doesn't allow them to be the warriors. Like maybe
I have maybe I'm too positive with it, but I
understand all the ramifications of when you get Durant out there,
how much it changes the entire dynamics of the series.

(24:25):
It changes everything. It changes everything for stuff like if
they're gonna play this defense on Steff where it's like
we've got two guys on you and the third guy
waiting to help, like Kevin Duranka punish you. It's been
Alfonso McKinney and Quinn Cook and Jonas Durevko and Andre
Gondala and Draymond Green and those guys can't punish him.

(24:45):
But at the same time, Katie really about to play
thirty five minutes a night, like I mean, it's at best,
right it becomes a close game, like nobody I don't
know if the Words can blow them out close game
down the stretch, what whe do they have Like that's
the question for me. What would they have left in
a fourth quarter with Kauai doing his thing, and now

(25:06):
the Warriors got two injured stars, Steph Curry being trapped,
and a bunch of other guys who either aren't shouldn't
be in this moment or have been at this moment
for seventy years, right like Sean Livingston and a dollar.
You dude's got thirty plus years of miles on their legs.
Like that, That's the question I would say, Um, did

(25:28):
they cost themselves the series? Shitting Clay Thompson in Game three?
I think I think so. I think so, And you know,
maybe he couldn't go. But against a team like this
in this situation, you just they I mean, they just
had to basically give away a game, and you can't
do that in the finals, and you especially can't do
that in their shoes. That's why I think it would

(25:48):
be It would be incredible if they win this series.
It wouldn't be like, oh, that's the Warriors, the inevitable Warriors,
Like No, this would be some epic stuff. This would
change the tenor of how they're viewed in history at
awesome stuff. Marcus Thompson. The book is Kevin Durant's relentless
pursuit to be the greatest, of course, that continues on tonight,
even though the book is now available. Follow him on Twitter.

(26:09):
Check out his work in the Athletic Marcus Enjoy Jurassic Park.
We'll talk to you soon. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Doug dot Leap Show week days at
noon Eastern three pm Pacific. Doug Gotlip Show here on
Fox Sports Radio. Do Do Do Do Do Do Um.
The Big Poppy story is sad, scary. Luckily appears he'll

(26:33):
be okay, right, that's all reports is got liver damage,
but he's gonna be okay, And those are reports. But like, uh,
I have a I have a lot of other questions,
like why would somebody just want to kill David Ortiz? Okay,

(26:55):
remember it's a we're not talking about in the contiguous
United States. Like why would anybody want to kill anybody?
I don't really know, but that if you watch the video,
that was not a robbery gone wrong. He was not
held hostage right like you you um was that man
on fire? Right? Everybody scared of the man on fire concept?
Where they they you know, they hold you or somebody
close to you hostage. A rich person in order to

(27:18):
in order to get you to pay a huge ransom.
Like that's not what this is. This was like David
Poppy hanging out, somebody rides by and shoots him purposefully,
and and I don't I mean, could could it be
like jealousy? Like I guess but there has That doesn't

(27:41):
make I need somebody to make a sense of it
for me, and he can't give me this well senseless violence. No,
it wasn't like he was staggering in the street and
he somebody saw his watch and they're like, oh, you know,
it's senseless violence, or was like crossfire from gangs. Was like, no,
somebody tried to shoot and kill David Ortiz, who's kind
of like the most likable former Dominican superstar who's back

(28:07):
in his home country. Like that doesn't make any sense
to me, not a gang dude like music, you've got
anything for me? Can you make any sense of this one?
There's one theory out there right now. Um. This is
from the Daily Mail and also from the New York Post,

(28:27):
which is signing the Daily Mail. Apparently these could have
been to you know, in quotation, mark cops that were
hired by a drug lord that thought he was having
an affair with his wife. See there you go. I
don't know how is this a Reddit deal? Is this
is this reddit? Where did you get this? The Daily

(28:48):
Mail and New York Post. Yeah, so now we're getting somewhere.
Right now, we're getting somewhere. Because I hate to break
it to you, though foreign countries are dangerous. Superstars don't
get shot for no reason. Now, it doesn't mean that

(29:09):
he was having an affair with the drug lord's wife.
And oh yeah, by the way, if you're gonna have
an affair with somebody's wife, probably a bad idea to
be a drug lord. They Daily Mail did reach out
and to Ortiz is representative Leo Lopez. He's denying that
it had anything to do with the woman, but quote,
there is no doubt it was an act of hired killers. Yes. No,

(29:32):
I'm just saying, like, okay, so why you have to
you have to at least ask the reasonable question, why
would somebody want to shoot David Ortiz? There is no
money involved in it, right, Like, it's not the way,
not the way it works. You know, you could say, well,
his wife with um life insurance policy. Like, again, I

(29:55):
don't know, is David ortives. Marin have no idea think
you is. I'm pretty sure he is. But there's there
There has to be, even if the reason is incorrect,
right like he got cross Ways with a drug deal.
He got cross ways or something in the government, he
got cross ways with a highed killer like there's something.

(30:18):
There's gotta be some reason, because as dangerous as foreign
countries can be, when you're essentially a dignitary I did,
wouldn't make any any sense to me otherwise anyway, uh

(30:39):
who wild? Plus we got the US Open this weekend.
Rory McElroy wins the Canadian Open, which is prepping him
for Pebell Beach in some way. Obviously completely different course.
College baseball still going, still ongoing, but we had some
incredible superregionals, including who knew Michigan had a baseball team
and they beat u C l A, who is the

(31:01):
number one seed? L A was the one one seed
I didn't. But up coming next to the Jets and
the Texans have new g MS Big Deal, a little
deal or no deal you'll find out next. Fox Sports
Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports radio dot
Com and within the i Heart Radio app search f

(31:23):
s R to listen live. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Doug got Leap Show weekdays at noon
eastern three pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
I Heart Radio app. Doug Gotlip Show. You're on Fox
Sports Radio every day at this time. We get you
updated on stories today, forecast things that are to come.
We do so by playing a game. This is game

(31:48):
time on the Doug got Leaps Show. Game time on
the Doug Gotlip Show here on Fox Sports Radio. Isaac
Lowen cron. What is the game, Doug, Let's find out
what the deal is today? Deal, little deal, no deal.
The New York Jets have hired respected former Philadelphia Eagles

(32:08):
Vice president of player Personnel Joe Douglas to be their
new general manager. They made the higher official late Friday.
Is the hiring a big deal, a little deal or
no deal? It feels like a big deal, you know. Um,
they decided who they wanted to go after, and I
guess there was some negotiations and they went with the

(32:30):
old made of an offer he couldn't refuse, right They
This was not something where they just kind of made
an offer and then they were we're gonna go cheap
on it. I've heard about so many other teams going
cheap on their offer, so um, I think this feels
like a big deal. A guy who has you know,
who has some authority. It's a weird process to have
your head coach already in place, but there has to

(32:50):
be some form of professional relationship and personal relationship already existing.
And the Jets have some good players. They're gonna have
to build a better team. And I'm sure the timing
is purely coincidental in relation to this next item. A
few hours earlier on Friday, the Houston Texans abruptly fired
their general manager Brian Gaine, and now, with Douglas suddenly

(33:14):
off the board, their top target reportedly New England Patriots
longtime director of Pro player Personnel and Nick Kisserrio. Yeah,
I I don't. I don't know. The Douglas thing has
a correlation. It is an odd timing to fire after
O T as right, you do O T s and
now you're gonna fire your GM. That just that's weird.

(33:36):
The New England, Uh, the New England fit. You know
you have Bill O'Brien's your head coach. He came from
New England. So this feels like Bill O'Brien having more
and more control. He's kind of survived past coup attempts
at his career. A lot of palace injury there with
the Houston Texans elsewhere, Carolina quarterback Cam Newton will begin
throwing this weekend mandatory minicamp after his off season show

(34:00):
older surgery. The return of Cam big deal, A little
deal or no deal? Oh, that's a big deal. That's
a big deal. I mean he was throwing groundballs there.
He's never been accurate, but he's never been more inaccurate
than he was at the end of at the end
of last Sea last season, so he really struggled. Now,
it was supposedly just a minor procedure is done by
the team's position, but he has been out a substantial

(34:22):
amount of time. Cam Newton returning to throw a football
is a big deal onto the NBA, where the Houston
Rockets and Mike Damn Tony have once again opened up
discussions about a contract extension for the head coach, with
Darryl Morey and Tilman for Tita even traveling to visit
Dan Tony in West Virginia. The return to negotiations between

(34:43):
the two sides. Big deal, a little deal or no deal.
It's a big deal, but it's Can we all admit
it's kind of a weird deal, right, Like? I love
you well, you don't want to give me a contract
extension with the wording that I want? Well, I don't
love you that much. Let's you know, let's let's let's
let's shut it down. And everybody came out. I just
this is just a weird deal. No other way, no
other way to put it. Speaking of weird deals, what

(35:05):
a perfect segue to this next baby. Justin Bieber challenged
Tom Cruise over the weekend to an m M A fight,
tweeting I want to challenge Tom Cruise to a fight
in the octagon. Tom. If you don't take this fight,
you're scared. You're spelled y oh you are instead of

(35:26):
with the apostrophe ari e. But nevertheless right so he
loves using those oh you r's north of the border
and you will never live it down. Who is willing
to put on the fight at Dana White? Now? Since then,
Connor McGregor has offered to host about and before you
weigh in, here's the tail of the tape. Bieber twenty

(35:49):
five years old, five nine, reportedly a hundred forty six pounds,
Cruise fifty six years old, five seven and thought to
be between a hundred fifty and a hundred seventy pounds
depending on what the scientologists, excuse me, depending on what
his next movie role is Bieber versus Cruise, big deal,
a little deal, or no deal? I know what I'd answer.

(36:12):
It would be a big deal if it happens, but
it could be no deal because it's not gonna happen.
But you agree with me that Cruise would just destroy
Bieber within thirty seconds? Right? No? What? No? All right?
How would it go? Oh? I think Biber would that
would win this one? Like I think Bieber would legit
train for it. Like I think. You know, he's a

(36:34):
little bit crazy. You gotta be a little bit crazy.
And Cruise isn't he He's also older. I don't like
like Tom Cruise doing some of his own stunts is
not Tom Cruise. Would he getting a scrap? Whereas I
do feel like there's probably a chance that Beaver's got
into a scrap or two. I really want to see
this happen. I actually kind of do too. Celebrity Fight

(36:55):
Club out of claimation and into real life. You and
I could be the broadcast team. There we go, I'm
in Finally, Johnny Manzel has expressed interest in playing on
the XFL team in Houston. Big deal, little deal or
no deal. It's a big deal. It's a big deal,
you know. And it feels like there was a weird

(37:15):
ending to the Canadian deal, then a subsequent divorce from
his wife, and of course he wanted to play in
the A A F and now all of a sudden
he's gonna play in the xf He sounds like the
perfect guy for the XFL. Perfect guy. This is game
time on the Duck Gotli Show. Here's the Twitter question.

(37:36):
I want you guys to think about this. Which celebrities
would you actually like to see fight? Because I don't
actually I like, do I want to see that one? Yeah?
But it wouldn't be my first celebrity fight. That's that.
That that there's the question, who would you like to
see fight? Music? You have any early leaders in the clubhouses?

(37:59):
You're kind of your mind, Like the first thing you
think of is I got I got nothing for you
right now? Mhm. Okay, good talk. You've got nothing like
you couldn't go like Kevin Hart Eddie Murphy. Sure that
sounds like a good one. Kevin, you had got nothing
for me the framework of a deal the Pelicans want.

(38:22):
But who does that eliminate? We discussed next. We are
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(38:43):
Leap Show weekdays at noon eastern three pm Pacific. What
Up Tuck Got Leap Show? Fox Sports Radio. M m
m m m m m m m m m m
mmmm so um, Anthony Davis available, we'll talk about it

(39:10):
in a second. Doug Gotlip Show is brought to you
by Farmers and Farmers. We've seen almost everything, so you're
not how to cover almost anything with It's game time.
Haven't experienced player help you stay ahead of the game.
Put their experience into play at farmers dot com. Are farmers? Um?
Look if there's some interesting stuff going on in the
NBA as we get ready for the off season. Interesting

(39:34):
stuff going on? First, Kevin rants gonna play tonight. We
talked about it earlier, but I can't think of a
better scenario for a guy who's been yearning for respect
and admiration then coming back from an injury and dramatically
changing the NBA Finals, Right, can can you think of
a better There is no better way. No one cares

(39:59):
about All Star Game m VPS hell. Kevin Durant, in
all honesty, was the best player on the last two
national teams he played on, but people don't even care
about that. We care so much about the NBA Finals.
And to come in down three games to one and
the Warriors can't escape three games to one ahead or behind.

(40:19):
What an incredible achievement that would be if he can
dramatically change this series, which feels like a formality, right,
it does? It does it? It feels like Marcus Thompson
joined this last hour he of course, um um, He
of course rights for the athletic covers, he covers the Warriors,

(40:45):
and he's written a book on Kevin Durant, and I
think it's fascinating, just fascinating to watch. In that he
he said, like, look, this is how it feels like.
The end, doesn't it does. I feel like the end
of anybody else. It feels like the end of me.
So considering all of those things, considering you know, the

(41:15):
fact that Toronto is ready, there's this feels like, do
you guys remember the story of when the Lakers played
the Celtics at home in the I'm gonna say it's
the sixties, and they had the balloons Jack Kent cook
with and they had the balloons up in the rafters
and the Celtics came in and won the game. They
were so expectant on the series to be over that

(41:37):
they ordered balloons and there's all these balloons and take
ready to fall the second that the Lakers won, they
didn't the Celtics one, and that kind of goes down
and infamy. That's what it feels like for the Raptors.
Like we as Americans are trying to um are trying
to figure out a way, figure out the way in

(42:01):
which we can get it to be okay in our
minds that Canada has an NBA championship team. We're like
Jurassic Park. We got six of those movies in the bank.
We're tired of the dinosaur logo. We're tired of Drake.
We're like, we're working through the process of just accepting

(42:23):
that as sports fans, we've all come to the place
of where it's all right, it's gonna happen, and the
series isn't over, but it does feel like it's over.
And then walks in Kevin Durright, And then there's the
other part to it, which is really interesting. Then there's
the Kauai Leonard who I mean, entering the season, we

(42:43):
all thought he's gonna end up in l a And
we still kind of listen to him and go he
doesn't have any sort of affinity for any any human being,
let alone the people of Toronto. But we're all just guessing.
And then you start to wonder, all right, Paul George
didn't want end up in Oklahoma City, he did, he stayed.
Gwire Letter didn't want to end up in Toronto. He

(43:05):
if he wins, does he stay? And then how does
that affect Anthony Davis? Which brings us to Anthony Davis.
So the framework has been put out there, all right,
The framework has been put out there. The framework is
really really simple. David Griffin's new general manager or the
new president of the New Orleans Pelicans and here's what

(43:30):
he wants. I want all Star. I want a Butting
All Star, and I want a draft pick. I want
three levels of player. It does remind me a little bit,
a little bit of Austin Powers too, right, I want
a solid gold toilet baby. But it's just not in
the CODs, right. You want an All Star, a Butting

(43:51):
All Star, and a draft pick for one guy who
may or may not resign with the team. And of
course this means you're only trading that much if it's
a guy, if it's a place you think he can resign.
So the first thing that does is it does to
your You're asking prices so astronomical that it does feel

(44:15):
like it eliminates probably the Celtics, because the Celtics have
no real understanding or feel for whether or not he's
gonna resign with the Celtics, and to this point he
hasn't listened to their team, And it might well eliminate
the Lakers. Now, the Lakers could feasibly figure out a

(44:39):
way to get a multi team deal together so they
could get an All Star. I just I don't understand
the strategy. I don't I don't understand the strategy, Like
there's there's two strategies in having a an auction for
a home. Have you guys ever seen in these Like

(45:01):
you go online, you look for homes like, man, that's
a really low price, and then you look and says, well,
the auction will occur. So what they do is they
usually list a low price with the idea of people
are gonna bid over the top of each other. Now,
whoever leaked this, obviously that's what David Griffin has told people,
and seeing as everything out of the Lakers seems to leak,

(45:22):
it's a pretty good possibility that that's the team they're
in fact talking about. But again, we'll give him a pass.
We don't know what what team or teams leaked this
to Adrian Warsnowski, But that's the framework. Doesn't eliminate the
Lakers from doing a deal, right because they don't have
another All Star on their roster, And while Kyle Kuzuma

(45:44):
may be a potential store or a Lonzo Ball may
be a potential All Star, and the fourth pick could
in fact be the fourth pick, Like, if that's what
he has to get in order to make everybody happy,
you're gonna need somebody else to co operate with the Lakers.
Whereas if I'm if I'm the Pelicans, if that's asking price,

(46:06):
invoice price, which is what all the dealerships will take. Right.
We read the true car ads, Right, they figure out
a way like, well, this is what we paid for
the car. We'll figure out a way to make fifty
bucks in the car. We know there's other ways to
make money, but invoice price should be Hey, if I
can get a Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram at a
fourth pick, think about what the New Orleans Pelicans lineup

(46:31):
could look like. A Lonzo Ball, tremendous defensive player who's
going to and continues to get better offensively with one
NBA off season, Drew Holiday who's been an All Star
I believe, dynamic defensive player, combo guard, Brandon Ingram who
tremendous defensive length, and Zion Williamson. That's my one, two, three, four. Like,

(46:57):
I don't think the Lakers want to come off of Kuzma.
But if you add in Kuzma and you take out
somebody else, like, I still think that's a really good trade.
Do you know what it doesn't include? It doesn't include
an All Star, So I don't love this from the
Pelicans putting that out there. I also wonder if it's
this was just put out there to one team that
does have an All Star or they feel like could

(47:18):
make it, could make this kind of trade like a
Brooklyn Nets. But it also seems to eliminate the chance
of the Boston selfis because it's such a high asking price.
You're like, man, you're gonna chase bitters away. You gotta
be very careful about asking too much. I would ask

(47:39):
for nothing at all. I think that's the I always
think that's the best strategy. When you have the asset
that people want. You have the asset people want, Well,
what do you want for your car? I don't know
what do you want to give me for it? And
if they say something that's so lowly like yeah, it's
not not in the ballpark, because the Lakers will come

(48:03):
fired out like, hey, we're gonna give you. We're gonna
give you brandon Ingram, We're gonna give you the number
four pick in the draft. You know, we're gonna give
you a bunch of other stuff, some expiring contracts. We'll
give you this, We'll give you that. They don't want
to They want to come off a few assets as possible.
Well what about Kyle kuz But well I don't know
about that one. And then they start bidding against themselves,

(48:24):
let alone bidding against other people. But I do feel
like once you put out there that you have to
have an All Star, it means the Lakers got to
get somebody to cooperate. And that's been the hardest part
about the Lakers pointing off these deals, is getting anybody
to cooperate with Polinka because no one wants to see
them get Anthony Davis? And who's the All Star out

(48:45):
there to be traded? Sam Ammick from The Athletic joins
the show. Where does he think Anthony Davis ultimately ends up?
Plus there was some talk that Sam wrote about a
frustration from the Warriors perspective on Kevin Durant's lack of
return from an injury. What our expectations of k d

(49:05):
tonight find out next. Fox Sports Radio has the best
sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our
shows at Fox sports Radio dot com and within the
I Heart Radio app search f s R to listen live.
So Tonight's could be the last game, and I don't
even want to say domestic basketball game until next year's

(49:27):
NBA season because it's actually not played domestically, right, we
don't consider Canada to me, like if you drank Canadian
bios on a domestic beer cud of close. But then
Kevin Durant showed up and he's supposed to play. Sam
Amick joins the show from the Athletic Doug Gotlip Show,
Fox Sports Radio Live from Southern California. Um, you wrote

(49:48):
this earlier, like when it's like two days ago. Well,
there's very real hope that Durant will be able to
play in Game four. To push through in much the
same way as play Thompson cousins Igudal and Looney have
done of late with that didn't happen when they saw
their season compromised more than ever without him, they'd grown
hopeful for his return after seeing him on the court.
The irritation grew in large part because they simply doesn't

(50:10):
understand why he wasn't there. He's supposed to play tonight.
Do we know why he wasn't there in Game four? Uh, Doug,
thanks for having me as always. I mean, the simple
answer is he wasn't cleared and that's the I mean,
there's nuance here, there's distinction. Um, we we all know.
So Rix selibraanis the Warriors trainer, and the Warriors are
certainly you know, having Kevin's back when it comes to

(50:33):
this situation, making it clear that that Rick did not
give the green light. Now you know, the trainer player
relationship is always going to be a collaboration. Uh, it's
it's a constant reporting of how are you feeling? You know,
just what do you think you're capable of? What you know,
what's going on in your mind, what's going on with
your body? And they try to get it right and
and listen, it's you know, Game three, Clay Thompson wanted

(50:54):
to play. They wouldn't let Clay play. Um. I think
the the headline here in retrospect is, you know, it's
it's it's communication, um breakdowns. I think within the organization,
I don't know what the perfect way is to handle
these types of situations. You know, do you do you
bring the trainer in every couple of days to talk

(51:15):
to the entire team and tell them what's going on
with your star. So there's no you know, no confusion
whatsoever because the human component is that I think and
I've learned even a little bit more since writing what
I wrote. It came out yesterday morning. But the human
component is that sometimes you know, even guys in the
locker room are are are reading reporting that comes from

(51:36):
outside the walls. You know, there were other reports previously
that Kevin was targeting Game three and and so it's
just hard to control expectations even within the locker room.
And because the stakes are so high and it's not
just a championship on the line, I mean, it's it's
a little you know, legitimate dynasty. Uh, you know, emotions
are high and and uh and that's kind of how

(51:58):
it took them down that road. It. You know, now
they got a chance to see if they can't swing
this thing the other way. How hell're easy. I can't
get a gauge on that. I mean, Steve Kerr said
at shoot around this morning that he looked good, you know,
during the session this morning. Um, you know we've only
seen him walk back and forth. I really, I probably

(52:19):
couldn't even handicap a percentage on it. I mean, I
can't tell you that when he first I mean, for one,
they never announced the specific um grade of the cash strain,
and that created just a ton of uncertainty I think
about what he was dealing with. And even Steve again

(52:40):
this morning admitted that in the beginning they were talking
about maybe a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months,
and so that's hard for a coach to know how
to even control his own expectations. Um, but Kevin Durant
has shown in the past and specifically some okay see
memories come to mind where he had foot injuries coming
off surgeries and he was definitely not even close. But

(53:03):
his lengths and his ability to shoot the ball and
and have some of that gravity that Steph Curry always
has when it comes to attracting the defense, it's a
game changer. So even if he's you know, it's it's
gonna kind of tilt the landscape here. I had Marcus
Thompson and also from the Athletic who was written the
book a new book on k D, and I said, like,
how crazy is it that it's at three games to one?

(53:27):
Is when he comes back? Right? Because three games the
one was the Thunders lead over the Warriors. Three games
the one was the Warriors lead over the Calves, which
ultimately led them to pursuing Kevin Durant right like, and
and to have Kevin Durant, who's been searching for respect
and admiration, to have a chance to earn re earn
everyone's respecting the admiration on the biggest stage and let

(53:48):
alone on the three games to one potentially come like.
It's just I don't know if it's ironic or what
the actual word would be, but kind of remarkable that
that's how the series sets up. I don't think we
can put the adjective on it until we know what happens.
I will preemptively and we are getting way ahead of
ourselves here. I mean, listen, if he pulled he and
they pulled this thing off, I mean, they would be

(54:10):
storybook you know what I mean, it would be. It
would be a book end ending two and then we
then we wait and see if he sticks around in
free agency. But I mean for his individual legacy, if
Kevin Durant came back and come, you know, and inspired
them to shock the world and beat the Raptors, not
only becoming just the second team to come back from
three one, obviously they were the victims the first time,

(54:30):
but to do so when two of the final three
games were on the road, which is in that regard,
that's exactly what the Calves did back in you know,
two thousand sixteen. That'd be incredible. Um, And he would
get you know, endless praise, you know, and you could
just you couldn't say anything to this guy. But you know,
they gotta win one tonight. Then they got to get
back to Oracle. I think they would be fired up

(54:51):
for that, because we all know that building is coming
to an end of moving in San Francisto tomorrow. Um.
And I've covered two of these, you know, both of
these series. I covered person and watching the Warriors come
back from three one against Kevin's Thunder team in the
conference finals and two dozen sixteen. You know, that was
a time when I thought the Thunder were clearly the

(55:12):
better team, and I thought the Warriors were cooked, and
then they shocked us, you know. And the Cavs thing
was a little more unique because of the Draymon Green suspension,
the Andrew Boget injury, but they still got that job done.
I've seen it actually unfold. And what's remarkable is the
cliche of you know, just one game at a time
is entirely authentic. It's very It's just it's real. If

(55:33):
they win tonight, then all the pressure goes the other
way and they're in business and they gotta keep it
going if they can. Sam Ammy joining us on The
Doug Gotlip Show on Fox spoort trade to other NBA
story of the day. This comes from Ajor Warsnowski. Is
the Pelicans basically laid out or somebody laid out to woes.
What the Pelicans have said is what they're thinking. The
trade value is for Anthony Davis, an All Star, a

(55:55):
young player who has the potential to be an All Star,
and a draft pick or two. Right, So obviously there's
a thought that multi team deals can come up with that,
but that seems to be a pretty high asking price
for a team like the Celtics that we have no
guarantee of keeping them, and that would that would mean
the Lakers who have to work with somebody because they
don't have an All Star to go out and get. Yeah,

(56:20):
I would agree. It's also you know, I mean, it's
also this is classic negotiating, where you know, you start
high and you work your way down and your reality
is going to set in to see what the market
looks like. The Celtics situation is easily the most problematic.
I mean, you know, I need to start digging on
on that story a little more in the coming days here,

(56:40):
but I mean, at first glance, it's just, you know,
things have changed for Boston. The inability to know what
Kyrie is doing in free agency just unofficially feels like
it it's kind of newter the Celtics candidacy with the
A D sweepstakes, because the whole idea for them the
entire time was that Kyrie was all in, and then
A D really wanted to play with Kyrie, and so

(57:02):
you you give up Jayson Tatum, you give up Jalen
Brown and whatever picks they want to get him, and
then you have your team. But you you just simply
cannot put that kind of you know, value on the
table if you then are gonna turn around and watch
Kyrie walk away and watch Anthony not want to be
there anymore when he comes up in free agency. So
the Lakers and Nicks, I think, are you know, neck

(57:23):
and neck? And I feel like I've talked to people
about this. The Lakers, I think they're in a decent spot.
I don't know if they do a multi team thing
if they get other big names in there. But they've
got a pretty darn good young core and and I'm
not some people feel like the value of the four
pick it's just, you know, significantly lower than the three
because of the drop off after r. J. Barrett, you know.

(57:44):
And I get that, but I'm not sure it's as
great as people have said elsewhere. You know, And we'll see,
we kind of see. Dave Griffin is the one in
charge here, and unless you can get between his ears,
you know, it's hard to tell where this thing is going.
I've been told no way Michael Jorge used the super
Max on Kemba Walker that just financially that that doesn't

(58:05):
work for him, and that would allow Kemba kind of
the easy out of it. Hey, I want to stay,
but I wanted to stay for the super Max. Um
How likely is he to end up with the Nicks
or is he kind of that because like, look, if
the Lakers have to move a Lonzo Ball, like they
got to get themselves a point guard, and Kemba would
be the other one who's out there, I could see.

(58:26):
I couldn't see Kemba being excited about the Lakers possibility
if if that's a guy that that they you know,
if they went through the list and they were missing
out on other guys and and they came at Kimba,
I don't just handicapping it. I don't get the sense
that he's, you know, all that excited about the New
York possibility. He's he's already, you know, on the record,

(58:46):
publicly professed his love yet again for Charlotte and I
I don't know Kimba all that well. That the little
I do know him, I feel like there's there's definitely
room to talk between the Supermax and between something that
makes him feel appreciated and respected that comes in lower.
I don't think he's one of those guys who's going

(59:07):
to bounce simply because he didn't get the Supermax. Because,
for one, just mathematically economically, there's a massive gap there
where Charlotte can still and Michael can still say Cambda
like we're giving you a lot more than anybody else,
and that should account for something. And you know, I mean,
this guy had kind of the most economic contract in

(59:27):
the NBA for the last few years, and every time
he would get asked about it, about playing well below
market value, it's his his ego never really seemed to
get in the way, and I mean, I think that's
a credit to him. And I also I think color
is the way that you know, that should color the
way we look at his situation. Um, he really it's rare,
and you know this, Doug, for guys to for, you know,

(59:49):
just to be so out there when it comes to
how much they love one team going into free agency,
typically you want to keep your cards close to the vest,
and he's just been all in on the Charlotte thing.
I still think probably he still winds up going out there. Okay,
they can't offer the most money. Everybody who isn't a
fan of the team, who can offer them the most money?
Doug gotlip show fox Port trait. That's the voice of
Sam Amock from the Athletic covering. Uh, the covering the

(01:00:12):
NBA is an incredible job. Um okay. So so the
Kyrie thing to Brooklyn feels like a reality. What happened
to k D playing with him? I don't have clarity,
I mean conceivably just in terms of stated the obviously
you know it could still happen in Brooklyn, and that
is something that they have a ton of interest in.

(01:00:35):
I don't know how Kevin might see the Brooklyn possibility.
You can connect obvious dots when you know, jay Z
has got his history with Brooklyn. I know he's not
part of their group anymore. But you know, and Kevin
made news years and years ago joining Rock Nation, and
you kind of knew for a long time that he,
you know, among his many potential basketball fantasies, was this

(01:00:57):
idea that that he'd kind of be the king of
New York. And if he thinks you can do that
better in Brooklyn than New York, because the Nets have
a more capable organization, then maybe he switches gears. You know. Uh,
the other character here and the prominent players is his agent.
And you know manager Rich Climate, who you know has
a lot of ties to the Knicks, and people have
long thought that that, you know, richest preference was to

(01:01:19):
put in with the Knicks. And that's that's the kind
of the whispers around the league. And you know Rich
has done interviews recently where he said that Kevin has
not made his mind up. This is not something that's
already scripted, already kind of set in stone. So we'll see.
I mean, but the Kyrie Kevin relationship and friendship is
very very real. Um. You know, those two guys just

(01:01:40):
are are very affectionate, and they love each other's game
and they would love to play each other. So I
don't think that's dead by any means. But you know,
in real time here, I mean what we talked about
that what if earlier? I mean, if if the Warriors
can turn around and pull off this series and he
can be a hero in the Bay and and get
you know, one of the first statues up at the
new Arena, then maybe Kevin feels different he going into July. Yeah,

(01:02:01):
And then there's Kemba. Then then there's Kauai Leonard who
normal human beings, normal human beings would see the love
affair that the forget the city of Toronto and the
g t O, but the entire country has now with
this team and with him as a player, and think well,
maybe I should stay. But he is not a normal
human being. There's a very good chance that he's at

(01:02:21):
least a percentage robot, right like he just he does
does not He He spends zero time worrying about the
the human human interaction. At least in the public he does.
I'm sure in private he he's a regular guy. So
with that in mind, any sense for how a win
tonight sways him in the future. So I had, I mean,

(01:02:45):
the closest I can come to to insight there it's
not bad, is that I had a really enjoyable conversation
yesterday with Danna Green about Kauai and and he's kind
of the closest thing they have to a Kauai whisperer.
You know, he was. He's been with him for most
to his career. Um, you know, in San Antonio days, well,
I mean really his entire career, san Antonio getting traded

(01:03:06):
with him to Toronto. They've won, you know, championship together. Um.
And Danny told me in no in certain terms that
he thinks that the results of these playoffs have impacted
Kauai's mentality in his mind. That doesn't mean he's coming back,
but he was not of the mind that Kauai had
his mind made up one way or the other no
matter what happened. And I tell you I don't get

(01:03:28):
out to Toronto very often. I've obviously now been out
here quite a bit during these finals, and even today,
you know, I'm walking near the arena and you've got
just massive wallpaper up, you know, next to the arena
of Kauai's shot to beat Philly. Um, and you've got
Kauai's face everywhere. We the North King of the North, Uh,

(01:03:49):
you know, talking about signing the guy. The love is
all over the place, and there seems to be a
lot more noise of late than maybe he turns around
and signs a relatively short term deal with the Raptors
to see this thing through. Because as much as I
know for a fact that he wants to be in
southern California, you know, his his home area. Again, Um,
the dude wants to win. And I think you're smart

(01:04:11):
enough to know that if you have a formula that
that's at least going to remain in place for the
following season, maybe two, then that's gonna be hard to
walk away from. What do you think happens tonight? I
you don't have to predict win or loss, But did
give me give me a sense for what you because
you know, you do get feelings. You get you get
a feeling of what you said, how do you think
something's gonna go? Because there was a little bit of

(01:04:31):
a defeatist feeling from the Warriors after Game four, like
this is the end. Um, but it you know, Kevin
Durant back around. What's what's the feeling you get? Um,
it's dramatic. Kevin's an incredible player who before he got hurt,
we were back to saying he was the best player
in the game. Um. I I think that I think

(01:04:54):
the Raptors get it done. And maybe I'm wrong, but
they you know, this crowd, the emotion, and I think
they haven't intelligence and maturity in that locker room to
know that you can't let a champion out of the corner.
They've got the Warriors where they want them, guarantee you.
The message internally is that if you mess around, this
thing's gonna get real ugly, real quick. And I think

(01:05:14):
they're gonna be locked in tonight. And as as great
as it is for the Warriors to get Kevin back,
it's just it's it's just a lot, you know. I
mean earlier in the playoffs. I'll make this quick, Doug.
But Draymond had talked about how DeMarcus Cousins coming back
into the playoffs after his long absence was like a
kid who was in private school his whole life, kind
of getting dropped in the hood and saying, hey, you know,

(01:05:36):
good luck surviving and figuring out this new landscape. That
element is even tougher for Kevin because of this stage.
Now he can handle it. But I've just spent Raptors
are sitting there like, all right, well, we're mostly healthy
and we know who we are, and you know, we
would like to go ahead and raise that trophy at
home and uh and finish the job. And I think
they're definitely capable. Same Aimic from The Athletic covering the NBA.

(01:05:58):
Following on Twitter read his work in Athletic Sam, great stuff.
Appreciate you join us. We'll talk to you soon. You
got it. Thank you. Doug rom was here in my motorcycle?
I have not really My brother in law had one
heat when I was like seven, but I'm not not
a big fan of the motorcycle. We'll met you there. Music.
It's gonna be a no. My brother, my brother is

(01:06:18):
a student at U c l A had a motorcycle.
My parents didn't know. Uh, this is he is twenty
years ago whatever. And I was never a motorcycle guy.
Although this is you know, years ago is when like
Harley Harley's are still cool but they were like super cool.
Then I was like, maybe I want to Harley. I
don't know, And I wrote on the button backers motorcycle
just to Tommy Burger, just to go get a burger.

(01:06:40):
And I was like, I scared me so bad. I
was like, no, thank you. I was just scared. So
he was a big motorcycle guy, and my parents didn't know.
And in Los Angeles traffic jams, motorcycles kind of weave
in and out of traffic. I just thought that's the
most insane thing ever. So his buddy, who got him
into motorcy cycles, bought a new motorcycle and he rode

(01:07:02):
on the back of my brother's motorcycle to go or no,
he wrote in a car to go pick up his
new motorcycle. My brothers following him home, and he like
punched it on his new bike, went over some train tracks,
lost control, went up in the air, fell down, broke
his leg. My brother like sold his motorcycle the next day.
He was like, you see that in person, You're like

(01:07:22):
h new And oftentimes motorcycle guys will tell you like, hey,
it's not about just us, it's about cars not seeing us,
but it is about you and that you're riding something
where there's just no protection at all. There's just nothing.
It's just you and pavement. So anyway, but the there
had there has to Like superstar athletes who are world

(01:07:46):
renowned as good ambassadors are not. There's not just an
assassination attempt unless there's a reason. And when when you
hear there's no robbery, that means that something that like
something went wrong between him and somebody and somebody seemingly powerful.

(01:08:07):
Chris Carter thinks both Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard could
both end up on the next next season. Thank give
my thoughts. Next, be sure to catch live editions of
The Doug dot Leap Show weekdays at noon Eastern three
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart
Radio app. Doug got Lip Show. Fox Sports Radio might

(01:08:28):
have screwed up today, guys. So um well, I told
you guys, I let my kids have a little bit
of a hooky day. Um My, one of my daughters
out of school, the other two are not. And so
we got the buddy and my son and him have
season passes, and so he took him to an amusement
park and I posted on Instagram. My wife was like,

(01:08:48):
why did you post on Instagram? His principle follows you?
What do you think should I take it down? No music?
You think should take it down? Yeah? I think you
should take it down. What are you going to tell
the principal take my son out of school so I
can have you have fun out? Fourth grade? Dude? College

(01:09:11):
college is right around the corner. It's fourth grade. I mean,
I think it's one of those things where it's not
as if that's the worst thing in the world by
any means. But I also don't think knowing that his
principle follows you, that you should continue to leave it up.
Uh yeah, yeah, I mean I guess, but like, okay,

(01:09:41):
so do you guys know how to like can I
save it and then put it out later? I don't know,
because then it wouldn't look like it's during the day.
It's already out, like right, Like, am I taking it down?
Is it? You know what I mean? I'm sure he's
not watching like going through I g like, where is
he got leave today? Oh? There he is. I followed
his dad. This is not like Ferris Bueller's day off

(01:10:03):
where he's gonna track us down because he's missed so
many days. It's like fourth grade. You're serious about this music,
aren't you. I'm just telling you what I would do,
like if you posted it and then your wife is like,
what are you doing? Here's principal follows like, oh yeah,
probably a bad look, and then just delete it. Um okay,

(01:10:25):
I guess I could. I just don't want to. Isaac.
You want to help us out with this thing? Are you?
What do you think on this deal? Sorry, I'm actually
monitoring David Ortiz being transported in the Dominican Republic. They're
carrying it live. Can you repeat that real quick? Okay?
So we we we Let let my kids play hooky
today and go to an amusement park. And I posted

(01:10:46):
like some action shots on social media and he's in it,
and and the principle follows me on Instagram. Uh well,
if the principle is cool enough to follow you on
Instagram and hip enough and savvy enough, yeah, I wouldn't

(01:11:07):
worry about it. It's not like that episode at Save
of Saved by the Bell where Zach Morris got in
trouble because he claimed he was going to the synagogue
on a religious holiday but instead was spotted at the
Temple Dodger Stadium. That was actually on an episode of
Say by the Bell, So you have nothing to worry about. Okay, good,
let's get to now. I would have thought the youngest

(01:11:31):
on the crew was like the biggest curmudgeon on the crew.
Let's uh, this is earlier today, Chris Carter had this
to say, not just about Kadi, but also Kauai ending
up in New York. They will definitely have a meeting
with them. And I believe that the Knicks they have
a presentation that during to present to him, just like
they do, and they've spent a lot of time and
money to try to If Kauai is gonna stay outside

(01:11:53):
of California, why wouldn't he come to New York City
compared to staying in Toronto. So I do believe that
they do have the probability. It's high. It's higher than
people think. Okay, So I think the Knicks have a
better chance than every team in the league except for
the Clippers and the Raptors. But I still don't think
it's that high of a probability. For me, I would
go fifty percent Clippers, Raptors, Knicks. As we said, let

(01:12:17):
me tell you what those other teams don't provide Kevin Durant,
he won't be with the Clippers, he won't be with Toronto.
What if Kauai and Kadi decided to pair up. I
think Katie would go for that. Yeah, I just this
is like we're like searching for things, you know, I just,
I mean honest, Like Kawhi Leonard, if you're gonna leave Toronto,

(01:12:37):
if you're gonna leave a championship team, you you're either
you're only going home and oh yeah, by the way,
like all these guys have an ego and if you're
a Kawhi Leonard, like, well, I've won a championship in
San Antonio, I'm not there. They're not a championship team.
I got a chance to win a championship in Toronto.

(01:13:00):
Why can't I win a championship in l A right,
Like I have won a championship in the East, had
win a championship in the West. You know? You know
what I'm saying. So like the idea that he has
to go with k D in order to win, like
you might just sit there and go like, hm, I
don't want to. I don't know, that's my um. I

(01:13:21):
don't think they both end up in New York. I
don't think. Do I think they could play together? Of course,
I actually think they'd be very, very good together. They're
both tremendous defensive players. They're both tremendous offensive players. They
though they are willing to take and make the big shot.
It's not the Kyrie show where they have to, you know,
go through the legs fifteen times. Like I think Kyrie

(01:13:42):
is a harder guy to play with than they are.
But just the idea of this late in the game,
going like, hey, do you want to play with me?
My first day in California, I remember um I got
named Kirk Jensen. I met him on the plague ground.
I said, do you want to be best friends? He
said yes, We've been friends ever since. That can't happen

(01:14:04):
last day of school. This is last day of school
in the NBA. Speaking of Kevin Durant, So tonight, tonight,
the Slim Reaper makes his return. The Durantula makes his return.
Kevin Durant is, by multiple metering reports, going to play

(01:14:26):
this evening. So when he plays this evening, it will
be drama unlike anything we've seen since willis read what
you should know about Willis Reid and why the NBA
is all about this drama. Next in The Doug Gotlip Show.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug dot
Leap Show week days at noon Eastern three pm Pacific.

(01:14:49):
What Updug Got Leap Show? Fox Sports Radio. M m
m m m m m m mm. A lot of
things I want to get to today, Doug oallup shows
brought to you by Farmers and Farmers We've seen almost everything,
so were not to cover almost anything when it's game time.
Having experienced player help you stay in the game with
their experience in a play at Farmers dot com. Farmers.

(01:15:13):
So we are collectively and uh we meaning not John
Ramos and not Isaac Lowen Cron collectively are headed up
to Pebble Beach, which is um It's near Monterey, It's
on the coast. It's an hour or so south of
San Jose Airport. And I think we've all made the
decision to drive by that all making mean Ryan Music music,

(01:15:35):
You make decision to drive, Yes, going to drive? What's
your what's your general plan? I don't necessarily have one yet.
Dan Buyer and I discussed very briefly the idea of driving.
Dan has since been on vacation, so I was just
sort of waiting for him to return from that and
to hammer out the final details. I have a baseball

(01:15:56):
game to attend. They'll be driving late. Yeah, taking the
night drive it is less scenical. Quicker, yes, yes, and
quicker is good, although I mean, in all honesty, I
could just stay somewhere kind of midway, like halfway. It's
a five hour or so drive. That way, I get
the sunrise up the coast before before heading up to

(01:16:20):
pebl Beach. So that's that's a that's a distinct, distinct possibility. Um, well,
I'm watching like Nascars on TV today? Did they have
a NASCAR event there's did you get rained out yesterday?
I have no idea I did happen to see that.
I think I believe it's possible that Stanley Cup finals

(01:16:45):
are still going on, right that didn't Boston go into
San Jose and get a win and fortunate to go
back to Boston? So I mean to St. Louis, what
did I say? Yeah, Boston went into St. Louis and
got a win, which is kind of similar what we
have tonight. And and I like how am I home

(01:17:06):
court advantage? Some of it can in fact be overrated.
Case in point, the Warriors have only one one game
in this series and they wanted on the Raptors home floor,
and they did so without Clay Thompson at the end
of the game. Now, it should be pointed out that
they happened to do it in spite of the fact

(01:17:27):
that they didn't. They didn't score a field goal in
the last what six minutes of the game, So it
was it was not a thing of beauty by anyone's estivation,
by anyone's estimation. But the NBA is it's about drama, right,

(01:17:49):
It doesn't even shy away from the fact that it's
about drama. And could there be any more dramatic moment
then what Kevin Dury could pull off to night. Now,
the first thing is um he's going to do a

(01:18:10):
will pull a Willis Reid. And by that, I mean,
do you guys remember the Willis Have you ever heard
the Willis Reid game? And so Willis Reid came back
in Game seven against UM against the Lakers, and he
had had a really bad ankle injury. And this is

(01:18:30):
obviously before the years of the the ice and stem.
You know, they probably put a stake on it back
in the day. But what's interesting about the Willis Reid
game was that he actually didn't play very well at all.
He scored like the first bucket and then nothing, nothing.
And Willis Reid is one of the all time great

(01:18:51):
respected not just New York Knicks but um but NBA
big men. Ever. I mean, he had outstanding games, not gonna,
not gonna lie to you, but the Willis read game
in question scored a bucket like that's it. Now, Durant's
gonna have to do more than that. Obviously he'd be

(01:19:13):
a threat. And when you're a threat, that opens up
space for Clay and maybe more importantly for Steph Curry.
Although we've been told by some people, some people that
when it happened for Steph Curry, Kevin Durant got in
his way, right, remember that, Remember that discussion that they're
not as good, that Kevin Durant stops the ball, that

(01:19:34):
they're not as I remember all that. Sure, I remember
that too. Doesn't mean it was reality, doesn't mean it
was reality. So look, I I look at this and
I think to myself, he's gonna have to do more.
Than Willis Reed and just show up and tip his
cap and bring an emotional edge to the team. He's

(01:19:56):
gonna actually have to play basketball, and when he plays basketball,
he's gonn had to play great basketball in order to
do so. But think about all of these factors coming
into one. The first is first is the series is
three games to one. And while three games to one

(01:20:17):
may not mean a ton to you and to me empirically,
because only one team has come back. That one team
that came back was against the Golden State Warriors in
the NBA Finals and they had to win two road games.
That's what the Calves did, right, It's exactly what the
Calves did. Secondly, the reason that was the reason that

(01:20:40):
the Warriors reached out to Kevin Durant, and probably the
only reason that Kevin Durant thought about leaving Oklahoma City
was that they were up three games to one, and
even though he played poorly in Game six, he didn't
have enough people to pick him up. He knew he
needed a supporting cast in the UH. In the Willis

(01:21:02):
Reed game, Willis Reed, excuse me, scored two buckets. He
was two or five for the from the floor. I
think Durando obviously have more field goal attempts, and if
healthy has a chance to show just how dynamic he
is at both ends. He also dramatically changes the matchups
in this series, because if they go Hampton five lineup

(01:21:24):
now of a sudden, Pau Gasol or even Serge Ibaka
doesn't have anybody they can guard like Serge Ibaka, I
guess he can guard Draymond Green or or maybe Andrea Goodala,
but it's a lot harder matchup for him than when
it's Kevan Luney, than when it's Andrew Bogutt, then when
it's de Marcus Cousins. He changes the matchups for the

(01:21:46):
better for the Warriors. He's an elite level offensive player,
and if even if he's not as good as he
normally is, the respect that he deserves from the defense
means you're gonna guard him not just with one guy,
but with a guy and a half. He attracts your attention,
and this is the other part to his game which

(01:22:07):
is going to allow him to play for as long
as he wants to play. He's still seven feet tall,
so he can still shoot over most anybody in the NBA.
And while that's not his highest percentage shot is still
a higher percentage shot than what they were getting out
of his replacements. Kevin Durant is a guy who the
only reason theoretically he would leave the Golden State Warriors,

(01:22:30):
where he has won two championships and a finals MVP,
is for the respect and admiration that it's his team
and he's the go to guy, and he's the best player,
and he was finally getting some of the he's the
best player before he got hurt. Would there be any
argument if he came back and changed this series and
won this series. No, And with all the upcoming offseason drama,

(01:22:52):
the NBA likes it even more, and ere we all
like any more when it's when it's regular season drama,
when it's what's on the floor drama. And though though
the Raptors have looked like the confident team, you'd be
a confident team too if you were healthy and the
other team was not. Let's let's not forget that. As
great as the Raptors have been, it was a tie
game and Quiet Letter needed the craziest shooters role in

(01:23:15):
order to in order to get to the Milwaukee Bucks Series,
and they have not played the Warriors, when the Warriors
are fully healthy and the only place the Warriors have
won is in Toronto, and let's see if the Raptors
can in fact close out. The hardest thing to do
is to get those last three ounce on the Yankees
and Yankee Stadium right. Last three outs of the Yankees

(01:23:37):
are a lot harder than the first. Well, the last
on the two time defending champions with Kevin Durant back,
are a lot harder than the previous three wins. Think
of what could happen if you just win one game.
Now it goes back to Oakland and they have the

(01:23:57):
energy and Kevin Durant, and then it goes back to
ter and all of the pressure ships from the Warriors
to the Raptors with just one game. So the details
are out on what it's gonna take to get Anthony Davis.
Is this a true asking price or is this just

(01:24:18):
sticker and you're gonna get sticker shock? Find out next.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app
search f s R to listen live. Fox Sports Radio

(01:24:38):
saw this story of Major Wards Nowskip David Griffin's, the
New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations. He
started to provide some potential suitors with a framework of
the package he is seeking in a trade for all
NBA forward Anthony Davis. All right, So the teams that
have inquired the Clippers, the Lakers and Nicks, and the Nets.

(01:25:00):
The Boston Celtics had long considered run at Davis, but
they must take into consideration the future of Kyrie Irving.
I've been told the Celtics one in regardless of Kyrie.
So what they've been told um, and he hasn't sounded
convinced that one team is likely to fulfill his wishes

(01:25:21):
for the deal. Is that he wants an all star.
You know, is pursuing a combination of assets, including an
All Star player, a young player with all Star potential
in two first round picks. Those wants are a sliding scale.
For example, the better the player, the soft of the

(01:25:42):
request in the draft picks, and vice versa. Yeah, because
an all Star player, the Knicks don't have one, the
Nets have one. But it would have to be a
sign in trade, and that would mean that the Pelicans
would want D'Angelo Russell, and I don't know if they'd want'
angelo Russell the Clippers. The Clippers have an All Star
player that they can actually move, I don't believe they do.

(01:26:05):
And the Lakers don't have one. Now they have young players,
they have draft picks, and Nick's have one. Lakers have one.
But in terms of All Star player, who's the All
Star player outside d'anzela Russell who could be moved? And
I don't know if the New Orleans wants it. I

(01:26:26):
don't think this is a great strategy. Stating what you want,
especially when it's this type of ask, only leads to
the likelihood likelihood of you over promising and under delivering. Right,
that's what's gonna happen. They're gonna overpromise and they're gonna

(01:26:46):
under deliver. Because he's telling everybody this is what I want.
That doesn't mean you're gonna get it. And again, like
the reality of Negotia Asians, this is the reality of
Scott Boris. Right, Scott Boris does this with his clients.

(01:27:07):
We heard this with Bryce Harper, Wow, he's worth four
hundred million dollars and then you hear that's only three
hundred million or so over thirteen years, you start to
look at the million dollars for you're like, man, that's
not very much when the reality of it is it's
a crazy amount of money. Now Boris can simply sit
there and go like, hey, end of the day, I
got my guys two d hundred million dollars. But he's

(01:27:29):
done this about many times where he sets out some
ridiculous number that no one's ever gonna get to, and
he does fool some people, so like, wow, we end
up saving money, but most people realized he overpromised under delivered,
especially to clients, So I don't see that's a a

(01:27:52):
a remember for Kauhi Leonard. For Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs
got DEMARDA Rosen, who's an All Star caliber player, and
they got Yaka Portal who is a young player, no
real All Star aspirations whatever. He's in the league sixteen
minutes a game. There was no two first round picks,

(01:28:12):
So that's really the president that's been set right, that's
really the value for Kyrie Irving was Isaiah Thomas, who
was coming off of an injury, and it was um,
what's the guy's name from playing Marquette with the with
the then he he actually didn't make it through the year.
He went to Utah. Why can't remember his name? Yeah,

(01:28:36):
Jake Crowder, right, it was Jake Crowder Isaiah Thomas. And
that's not that's a All Star caliber player in Isaiah Thomas,
but no real young superstar. And it was a three
for one deal and they got the first round pick,
but that's for Kyrie Irving who was there too. So

(01:28:56):
that and that, by the way, is a deal which
was consummated it in Cleveland, and that's where he's getting
that value. But there were no All Stars and potential
All Stars in it. And remember and that was Kobe
Altman had pulled off that deal after he left, who
was one of his protege's. But remember even when they
got Isaiah Thomas, they were getting Isaiah Thomas who was

(01:29:16):
coming off of a hip injury and he barely played
for Cleveland, was in the last year of his deal.
So we can sit here and go like, well, they
got an All Star, Yeah, but he wasn't an All
Star at that point. So I think this is a

(01:29:37):
little bit of a I mean, you're you're it's a
little bit of a gamble. I don't understand why why
this has to get out, what the win in in
it is? And if I'm New Orleans, I'm just quiet. Now.
They did say, hey, we want all bids in by
June because this deal has to be made before the
NBA Draft takes place, because the pick only has value

(01:29:59):
and could be done draft night. Sometimes you guys hear
these like draft night trades, like oh a draft night trade.
For those trades were already consummated. It was just simply
all right, listen, draft this guy for us. Yes, rhyme music.
Another part of this report something that I don't really
seem to understand, uh. It says the success of Kawhi

(01:30:21):
Leonard rental in Toronto has also seemed to embolden factions
of Davis's non preferred smaller market destinations to inquire with
New Orleans on trades. League sources said, you have Kawhi Leonard.
That sure, it seems to have worked out for Toronto,
regardless of whether he stays or leaves in free agency.

(01:30:42):
But can't you just look at the Celtics and what
happened with the Kyrie situation and have just as much
skepticism about whether or not it will work out long term,
and not only that, they also feel like we only
only this is what we do in media when we're
trying to when we're trying to sculpt the narrative, we
only tell kind of half the story, right, That's what
we do. And it also feels like it's two completely

(01:31:03):
different situations in that Toronto was this team that was
consistently a player in the Eastern Conference but could never
get past Lebron James. Now Lebron James isn't even there. Plus,
they upgrade tremendously by getting a player like Kawhi Leonard, who,
prior to his injury, was one of the best two

(01:31:24):
way players in the league. So I don't think Anthony
Davis is as good as Kwai Leonard. And plus I
don't think any of these other teams are nearly on
the same level in terms of team construction to where
getting a player like Anthony Davis instantly makes them into
a title contender quite like Kawhi Leonard does. Probably not,
but again it depends upon the team, right Like in fairness,
I generally agree with you, but it depends upon the team.

(01:31:50):
So you know, if he goes to like pick a
team that he goes to remember Kawhi Leonard. He he
may in fact, and I do. I'm with you. He
has often championship experience. He's more of a ball handler.
I think he's a better shooter than Anthony Davis. Um
they're different in terms of how they play and how
they defend. Their both tremendous two way players. But he

(01:32:12):
also went to a team that had competed for was championship,
was missing that one guy. They had everything but the
ability to get over Lebron James. So timing was everything
and surrounding personnel was everything. Now, if you can find
that exact same circumstance, I think it's different for Anthony Davis.

(01:32:34):
I do, Who would that be? I mean, you don't
think if Anthony Davis goes to the Clippers for the
right right pieces, they couldn't contend. Seeing as if the
Warriors are to lose kd Yes, I do they think
they could. Like there's a chance that the Houston Rockets
still get blown up, that's a possibility. Well, there's a

(01:32:55):
chance that Chris Paul continues to get older, which is
a reality, and he's not as good, which is a
very good pos stability. So I generally agree with you,
like I think of Kauai as slightly better than Anthony Davis.
People in the NBA think Anthony Davis is the top
five talent. That's why they're going to command a high price.
That's why he's gonna get every page penny they can
pay him. That's why this has turned, you know, the

(01:33:16):
NBA on its head and that one of their best players,
one of their best players, has been available and wanted
to be traded with a year and a half left
on his deal. But what would would Kauai let heard
have won a championship everywhere he could have been traded. No,
probably doesn't win one, even if he's traded to the

(01:33:37):
Lakers going back to last year because they didn't have
the But in this particular case, the Raptors had most
of the pieces they were able to keep, and then
they went out and added some pieces late to kind
of complete the puzzle. Doug otlip Show here on Fox
Sports Radio National Police taking David Ortizio. He gets it
gets better. But that is a crazy, crazy story. Uh

(01:34:00):
also crazy story the similarities and so many of these
star players, right, Clay Thompson only offered a scholarship by
one pack ten school that was Washington State. He goes
on to superstardom. You have Steph Curry whose dad Del Curry.
Of course mom, they both played at Virginia Tech. Now
offered a scholarship. There, goes to Davidson, becomes a two
time m v P. And then on the other side

(01:34:21):
you have Kauie letter to who if the Raptors win tonight, heck,
if they win any of these next three games, he'll
be the finals m v P. And if you think
about it now, Kawylard was a well respected high school player.
He was the Gatorade California Player of the Year, but
he wasn't McDonald's All American because he was seen as
an undersized big guy. Another pack twelve schools offered him

(01:34:45):
a scholarship. He goes to San Diego State Stars almost immediately,
and then after two years leaves and goes to the
NBA and has only blossomed since arriving in the NBA.
The man who offered him that scholarship Seni year State
legendary coach for the Aztecs now hired is Steve Fisher.
He's kind of to spend some time of this year
on Fox Sports Radio coach. How are you hello, Doug.

(01:35:06):
I'm I'm doing great. Thank you first time. I think
that says a lot about the scouting reports on all
some of these guys. Uh. There is no perfect blueprint
for who's gonna make it, who's not going to make it. Uh.
But I think your points well taken, Kauai. It was
right there. And then as the season went on, you know,
they beat Modern Day, they went to sit Championship. He

(01:35:28):
becomes Player of the Year in California, and I think
they'd already selected the McDonald's team, and they're all Americans,
but we knew, and I think those that missed out
on him after the fact that he was a really
good player. Okay, when the first time you saw him
was when I saw him, I believe the spring after

(01:35:52):
his sophomore years. When I first saw it, I just
remembered a law athletic player that could do a lot
of different things. And the one thing I noticed very
quickly was he had hands. I made this statement often.

(01:36:13):
He had a hand bigger than anyone I've ever seen,
with the exception of Chris Webber, and that caught my
eye right away. Also, he shows up on campus, what
was he like somewhat like he is now, very reserved,
very quiet, very focused and driven. You didn't have to

(01:36:34):
worry about is he going to get up and go
to glass. You didn't have to worry about him. And
in the difficulties, you knew that he was going to
do the right things on off the court. And then
you've seen I mean, there's a player. You've seen those
guys that want to tell you how hard they're working.
Ka I didn't want to tell you. He wanted to
show you what he had done when he wasn't at

(01:36:57):
you with you at practice from three to six. I've
never ever had someone who has worked his hard away
from the coaching staff and the mandatory stuff to get
better and grow his name. And he does it in
a fashion. There's no wasted time in the gym. He
goes in there to work and he really does work.

(01:37:18):
Does he have any human emotions? That's the big that's
the He just seems so stoic in his answers, in
his attitude, and no, not never too high, never too low.
Have you ever seen him have like more human emotions?
I have. I think he does that away from the
glare with his close friends. I've seen him do it

(01:37:40):
in the confines of a locker room, or he'll laugh
and play around and do stuff and have his seen
him on rare occasions after a big win show his emotions.
Steve Fisher, our guest legendary head coach of Santego State
of course of Michigan. Alright, so you mentioned Chris Webber, Um,

(01:38:01):
he was an incredible player. Obviously you had the Fat five.
Now Juwan Howard's back coaching Michigan where you won a
national championship. I am. I'm wondering though about when you
saw Qui did you ever did you honestly think here's
the guy that could be seen as the best player
in the world. Like he's he's on that stage, he's
playing like it, he's likely to be the finals MVP

(01:38:21):
for a second time. When you're watching him evolve and
improve under your tut ledge a Santego stage, do you
everything he could be the best player in the world. No. No,
And anybody that would say that it would be less
than honest with what they said. I did feel Doug
that when he got on campus and we saw him
work out and play and practice, I said, he is

(01:38:47):
a pro. If he can stay healthy, he will play
in the NBA. That was pretty much a given when
we saw him. Uh, but never ever dreamed that he
could be would have become what he has right now.
It's really it's it's really amazing. Um, there is the
sense that he wants to return home to Los Angeles.

(01:39:09):
Obviously it's from Riverside, which is not right next to
Los Angeles, but it's a lot closer than Toronto is Um,
what do you think of this, of this idea that
everyone knows he wants to be in l A. You know,
it's like it's likely somebody starts saying something and then
everybody picks up on it, and nobody knows. I guarantee

(01:39:31):
you the people that are saying that, I've never talked
a lot about it, because he's not talked to anybody
about it. He is a Southern California guy. I know
that he loves Southern California. You probably know he's come
back every summer since he went to the League inn
and rented in Lahorea. He has recently bought a home

(01:39:52):
in Rancho Santa Fe. So I do think he will
have a permanent home in Southern California. Whether that's going
to be for permanent living now or after he continued
to play. I think he will come home. I'm pretty
sure he'll come home at the end of the season.
And whether he's stayed in Toronto or comes back to
l A, San Diego will be his home base that

(01:40:16):
he loves it here. The trainer, our strength coach that
works at San Diego State is his personal strength coach.
So he works out with him all spring, all summer long.
Uh down here, and I know that pattern will continue.
You know, it's interesting how you go back to this
time last year and not everybody was saying great things

(01:40:38):
about him because he he had said he was hurt,
and their trainers had said they thought he was okay
to play, And so he went from a guy who
some believed was a bit of a malcontent to now
everyone got glowing with incredible respect for his game. How
much do you think that affected him that that, you know,
just the idea that that at least some within that

(01:40:58):
or Spurs organization thought he should play. I know it
hurt him. I know he felt it. I know he
would never say that. But it's really nice for those
of us that care about him to see the narrative
how it's changed, and and that piece of it is

(01:41:18):
in the in the distant rear view there, but it
was there front and center, and everybody was talking about
some of the things you just about Kauai as an individual,
and I don't believe personally that any of that was true.
He's never been a mouthol kent. He's never been greedy,
he's never been someone that has tried to get out

(01:41:41):
of doing something. He loves the basketball court. That's where
he wants to be. So I'm really really happy that
the success that he has had individually and the team
has had is at the forefront of everything right now.
Last thing before I let you go, I haven't asked

(01:42:01):
you personally how you enjoying retirement. I'm having a great time.
You know, sometimes you you do think, and he said, boy,
I wish that I'd stayed longer. But this has been
a decision that my wife, Angie, and I have been
talking about for some time, even before we we retired. Uh.

(01:42:22):
I'm very happy. I'm still working part time for saying
able to stay, which makes me feel good that they
still want me around. Mark. As you know, my son
is still coaching at Sanino States, so I bring him
in every day, drop him off, and all the staff
that I hired take him around and pick him up
at the end of the day. So it's a really

(01:42:43):
really neat feeling to have to have been at a
place for eighteen years and now still being part of it,
even though I'm not coaching, Uh Juwan, Howard gets the
head coaching job at Michigan when you're coaching the Fab
five and you guys went to those two final for us,
did you ever think when you look there that you
want Howard be a would be a head coach? Probably not,

(01:43:08):
uh Joan. You know, some of the going things I
said about Kauai are also true with ja want But
he wanted to play. You know, when the guys are there,
they want to play forever, and he almost did. And
I believe he played nineteen years or close to it
in the NBA. When he decided that he wanted to coach,
he talked to Dutch and I about it, Bryan Dusher

(01:43:29):
and uh He was with the Heat and they really
appreciated what he brought to the locker room. So he's
behind the bench, did other things, and then the last
few years he moved to the front front row as
a full time front row assistant. I personally thought he
would wind up being an m b A head coach.
Two or three years ago, I said, Joan is gonna

(01:43:51):
be a head coach. It's gonna be in the n
b A. But I'm happy for him, happy for Michigan,
and he's going back and I think he'll do a
great job coach. Thanks so much your perspective. We look
forward to watching Kauahi player for player KWHI letter play tonight. UH.
Make sure you send our regards to Angie, your lovely wife,
and to Mark and to his family. Thanks for joining
us on Fox Sports TRADEO. Thanks please you do the

(01:44:12):
same to your family and I very very much enjoy
your show. Thanks so much. That's Steve Fisher, head coach
of the Aztecs of Sandy State. Full disclosure, My brother
was an assistant for six years. He was not on
the staff when they signed Kawhi Leonard. He had just
left UH the year before. He's at cal and Um
after Ben Braun was fazed with ben Ron Benn fire

(01:44:34):
up for seven months and then Mike Montgomery comes in.
Remember the first guy My brother took Mike Montgomery to
see play was Kawhi Leonard and Kauai again at that
time was seen as a power forward er center, and
Mike Montgomery had the same thought as everybody else in
the Pac twelve. I think he's great, but he's too
small to play power forward or center in the pack

(01:44:55):
twelve at six five or six six, So they took
back Buck. Anybody ever heard Buck Bock? It's great kiad
by the way, great name Buck. Apparently the Knicks are
drafting r J. Barrett, at least according to r J. Barrett.
Find out why next. Be sure to catch live editions
of The Doug got Leap Show weekdays in noon eastern

(01:45:17):
three pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I
Heart Radio app Doug got Lip Show, Fox Sports Radio MHM.
Every day of this time, we uh get your update
on all the stories of the day, what could lead
to changes in the games of the night. We call

(01:45:37):
it the press, the press. Isaac Lewen Cron what he got?
Thank you, Thank you for the nice introduction and resultant applause.
We got Doug Duke star RJ. Barrett working out today
for the New York Knicks. And after the workout, not

(01:45:58):
only did Barrett say that he's not going to work
out for any other team. He says that he really
really wants to be a nick Listen, no, I do not.
I won't be being with any other team. So it's
this and the Jet. Expect the mix to take you,
and man, you know that if that ends up and

(01:46:18):
I'm still there three yeah, sure, I would love to
fim take you. And this wasn't like Sago has been
the only need to work out. Sure, you know, that's
the place I want to be. So, you know, I
hope they jock me. This is the place I want
to be, so I hope they draft me. Weird kids
these days, Doug, they don't know what they don't know.
I'm happy as hell. Remember, your dad's a dad's player

(01:46:40):
to I mean, he's he's a well rounded kid who's
well traveled, you know. And I'm sure he's a little disappointed.
He thought he was going to be the number one
overall guy and his teammate Zion Williamson just kind of
boat raced him, and then John Morant, who was Zion's
AU teammate for a portion of time, uh surpassed him.
But this is a a little bit of power play,

(01:47:01):
right because the Knicks. Well, the Knicks could try and
trade for Anthony Davison, trade that pick, and he doesn't
want to work out for them. He's saying he doesn't
want to be there. He won't work out for the Lakers.
The Lakers have only been able to get one player
in for a workout. One player. That's Jared Cover who's
not seen as the top five pick, and they have
the fourth pick. They want to see him. Um the

(01:47:21):
only other guy they think they'll bring in his camera
as who can't work out because he had some abdominal surgery.
So this is kind of part for the course, guys
finding a spit, a spot they like in only working
out for that spot. And your timing is actually perfect
because this tweeted just seconds ago by Sham's Tarantia. He
reports that Anthony Davis has focused on the Lakers and

(01:47:42):
Nicks as the two desired long term destinations. That just
tweeted seconds ago by Sham's Rania. I mean it's no shock,
but then again, I mean the Celtics aren't on that list.
So that's just tweeted by Sham's second ago speaking of
the Lakers, right, Gen Rondo an interview with our own
Rick Buker on Bleacher Report, talking about the dynamic in

(01:48:06):
the Lakers locker room last year between their young players
and Lebron, James and Rondo said, every guy on our
team Lebron was their favorite player growing up. Everyone had
the shoes, his jersey. You're the biggest fan of the world.
It's like you're playing with m J. And then you
get there and it's like your mom and dad or
the person that you looked up to be idolized doesn't

(01:48:26):
watch you unquote. So sad I actually thought it was
a really interesting interview. You know. He even talked about
how he had been a pain that you know what
for much much of his uh uh, for much of
his career, Like he just he never went by a
weight room. He just didn't think he needed it. Like
there was he admitted some some faults, some flaws there.

(01:48:50):
But and I also think that there's some reality to it.
You know, all you ever want to do is play
with Lebron. Lebron comes down. Then Lebron and it wasn't
just that Lebron didn't want them. When le Bron's around them,
he acted like they were all cool. Then he gets
hurt and all of a sudden they hear that Lebron
doesn't want them and he's never around. So I think
he explained it as well as he could. But there's

(01:49:11):
more to it than that, and it does leads you
to understand why the chemistry got so bad. I'm sure
you've encountered people that you know, idolized or looked up
to growing up. I mean, what were your experiences positive? Negative,
somewhere in between, somewhere in between just depends on the
person I like. I mean, look my experience at CBS
and ESPN UM here, everybody's been great. I can't think

(01:49:34):
of anybody who's Nobody's been and nobody was really a
jerk that at at CBS, there were a couple of
people that I was a little bit underwhelmed, like I
thought they were the greatest ever. Was a little bit underwhelmed.
There are a couple people that are a little bit overwhelmed, like, Wow,
that's why that guy is that guy? Um? I an
eagle who joined us last week, right, like I work
with an eagles, Like holy cow? Is he First he's

(01:49:54):
the funniest human being I know and I've never heard
him curse. And secondly, he's an amazing play by play
guy to where you're you just just said, when you're doing
game next to me, you're looking him like that guy
for real, he's that good. I had that experience that ESPN.
There's some people that you've grown up listen to that
aren't the greatest guy in the world, and some people
that are amazing people out there and pressed that was

(01:50:16):
the press. Who interesting day? Right? Music? Who do you
got tonight? Man? This is the toughest. Uh, I'm gonna go.
I'll go with the Warriors. Um, okay, you're gonna go
with the Warriors? What about you there? Ramos? I like

(01:50:37):
to I think they should put the foot down on them.
I like Toronto tonight. Put the foot down on them,
put the foot on the old neck and just foot
on the foot on their neck. Is the thing? The
foot down, like the foot to the floor down on,
put it down on, put it. I think we'll give you.
I think we'll give you a pick. Who do you got,
oh Canada? I think this is the beginning of an

(01:50:59):
amazing series. I think the Golden State Warriors go in
and get a win tonight. I don't know if they
win the series. I think they win tonight and they're
underdogs for the first time. I believe in the series
and um, I think that will change. Gametown will be
about to pick them. I'll take the Warriors to win.
And yeah, that guy set pretty amazing. This is the dog.

(01:51:21):
Gott leaps shell. Christ Busharto join us tomorrow on Fox
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